We have had no desire to attain to an authentic history, but have rather aimed to record our impressions and facts in a simple way. But wherever historical facts have been used, it has been largely to justify the measure of praise accorded and to offset the criticisms of prejudiced minds.
This volume is written at a time when, after the shock of terrific warfare, the world has not yet found its balance—when, in the midst of confusion, justice and truth call loudly for the democracy for which we have paid.
If for all time the world is to be free from the murderous scourge called war, it must make universal and eternal the practical application of the time-worn theory of the brotherhood of man. May this volume written in all love and truth, though perhaps imperfectly, serve to lift some souls nearer to this ideal.
THE POTENT HOUR
The hour is big with sooth and sign, with errant men at war.
While blood of alien, friend and foe, imbues the land afar,
And we with sable faces pent, move with the vanguard line,
Shod with a faith that springtime keeps and all the stars opine.
Georgia Douglas Johnson.