The truth is, of course, that no man is too good for this job. He may be a specialist, and more valuable to the community where he is than he would be (to the community) in a Y.M.C.A. or a Church Army hut. He may be a Cabinet Minister, a Bishop, or a Judge: that does not make him too good to minister to the men who have borne the brunt of this war: it only makes him too busy and perhaps too old. One must not even now be extra liable to 'die of winter,' as the Tynesider said, nor yet too dainty about bed and board. But the better the man, the better he will do this work, the more he will bring to it, the more he will find in it; the greater will be his tact, the greater his loving-kindness and humility; the readier will he be to recognise many a better man than himself in our noble rank-and-file—to learn all they have to teach him in patience and naturalness, unselfishness and simplicity—and to perceive the higher service involved in serving them, even across a counter.
To Him Who made the Heavens move and cease not in their motion—
To Him Who leads the haltered tides twice a day round ocean—
Let His name be magnified in all poor folks' devotion!
Not for Prophecies or Powers, Visions, Gifts or Graces,
But the unrelenting hours that grind us in our places,
With the burden on our backs, the smile upon our faces.
Not for any miracle of easy loaves and fishes,
But for work against our will and waiting 'gainst our wishes—
Such as gathering up the crumbs and cleaning dirty dishes.
It may or may not be that Mr. Kipling is thinking of the Y.M.C.A. I do not know the title of his poem, or whether it has yet appeared elsewhere, or another line of it. These lines I owe to his kindness, and as usual they crystallise all that one was trying to say. But to some of us the crumbs that fell were a feast of fine humanity, and great indeed was his reward who gathered them.
Printed in Great Britain by Butler and Tanner, Frome and London.
Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the original edtion have been corrected.
In "Under Way", equal fimrness and good-humour was changed to equal firmness and good-humour.
In "Christmas Day", abroad on the battlefield was changed to abroad on the battle-field.
In "The Babes in the Trenches", The fire was out; it seemed was changed to The fire was out, it seemed.
In "Orderly Men", a period was changed to a comma after copies for myself.
In "The Hut in Being", 'I don't want the political'! was changed to 'I don't want the political!'
In "War and the Man", argumentum at hominem was changed to argumentum ad hominem.