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Page 27
A newspaper which says at one time, "France must be rolled in mud and
blood, her colonies must be taken from her and given to Germany, she has
no sense of honour"; and at another time describes every German as a
Hun and hails France as the glory of civilization, does not encourage
the judicious reader to look for guidance in its editorial
pronouncements. But the newspaper which felt itself obliged to offer
France a respectful admonition on one occasion and even to oppose French
policy with firmness and to express sympathy with the Germans might
afterwards acclaim the great virtues of France and oppose itself to the
German nation without any loss of our respect. In the one case the
inconsistency arises from hysterical and immoral passion, in the other
from a moral principle.
There is only one region in which consistency has the great sanction of
an indubitable virtue: it is the region of moral character. A good man,
a man who makes us feel that righteousness is the breath of his
nostrils, may change his intellectual opinions many times without losing
our confidence, deeply as we may deplore his change. Goodness has an
effect on men's minds which can hardly be exaggerated. Conduct is the
one sphere in which consistency has an absolute merit. A man whose whole
life is governed by moral principle has a constituency in the judgment
of all honest people and may be said to represent mankind rather than a
party. Even a cynical opportunist like Lord Beaconsfield had to confess,
"So much more than the world imagines is done by personal influence."
Mr. Churchill has not convinced the world of this possession. He carries
great guns, but his navigation is uncertain, and the flag he flies is
not a symbol which stirs the blood. His effect on men is one of
interest and curiosity, not of admiration and loyalty. His power is the
power of gifts, not character. Men watch him, but do not follow him. He
beguiles the reason, but never warms the emotions. You may see in him
the wonderful and lightning movements of the brain, but never the
beating of a steadfast heart. He has almost every gift of statesmanship,
and yet, lacking the central force of the mind which gives strength and
power to character, these gifts are for ever at the sport of
circumstance. His inconsistencies assume the appearance of shifts and
dodges.
There is one particular way in which I think his inconsistencies have
been dangerous to his career. They have brought him too often into
inferior company.
Lord Northcliffe, with all his faults, is a man to whom statesmen may
speak their minds without loss of influence, but there are other
newspaper proprietors, financiers of commercialized journalism, with
whom a man of Mr. Churchill's power and position should hold no personal
relations. His is a mind which stands in need of constant communion with
men of culture and refinement. He knows the world by this time well
enough, what he does not know are the heights. His character suffers, I
think, from association with second-rate people. He is too heedless of
his good name.
Is it too late for him to acquire strength of character? His faults are
chiefly the effects of a forcible and impetuous temperament: they may be
expected to diminish as age increases and experience moulds. But
character does not emerge out of the ashes of temperament. It is not to
be thought that Mr. Churchill is growing a character which will
presently emerge and create devotion in his countrymen. Character for
him must lie in those very qualities which are now chiefly responsible
for his defects--his ardour, his affectibility, his vehemence, his
impetuous rashness, his unquestioned courage. One thing only can convert
those qualities into terms of character, it is a new direction.
There is perhaps only one other man in the present House of Commons who
could do more than Mr. Churchill for his country and the world. All Mr.
Churchill needs is the direction in his life of a great idea. He is a
Saul on the way to Damascus. Let him swing clean away from that road of
destruction and he might well become Paul on his way to immortality.
This is to say, that to be saved from himself Mr. Churchill must be
carried away by enthusiasm for some great ideal, an ideal so much
greater than his own place in politics that he is willing to face death
for its triumph, even the many deaths of political life.
At present he is but playing with politics. Even in his most earnest
moments he is only "in politics" as a man is "in business." But politics
for Mr. Churchill, if they are to make him, if they are to fulfil his
promise, must be a religion. They must have nothing to do with Mr.
Churchill. They must have everything to do with the salvation of
mankind.
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