It is natural that the advocates of international Peace should[Pg xi] sometimes grow discouraged and impatient through what they are tempted to consider the slow progress of their cause. Sudden outbursts of popular feeling, selfish plans for national aggrandisement, unremoved causes of antipathy between neighbours, lead them to overlook the general tendency of circumstances and opinions which, when it is regarded on a large scale, is sufficient to justify their loftiest hopes. It is this general tendency of thought and fact, corresponding to the maturer growth of peoples, which brings to us the certain assurance that the Angelic Hymn which welcomed the Birth of Christ advances, slowly it may be as men count slowness, but at least unmistakably, towards fulfilment. There are pauses and interruptions in the movement; but, on the whole, no one who patiently regards the course of human history can doubt that we are drawing nearer from generation to generation to a practical sense of that brotherhood and[Pg xii] that solidarity of men—both words are necessary—which find their foundation and their crown in the message of the Gospel.
Under this aspect the Essay of Mr. Arnoldson is of great value, as giving a calm and comprehensive view of the progress of the course of Peace during the last century, and of the influences which are likely to accelerate its progress in the near future.
Mr. Arnoldson, who, as a member of the Swedish Parliament, is a practical statesman, indulges in no illusions. The fulness with which he dwells on the political problems of Scandinavia shows that he is not inclined to forget practical questions under the attraction of splendid theories. He marks the chief dangers which threaten the peace of Europe, without the least sign of dissembling their gravity.