CHAPTER VIII
BROTHERHOOD

THE word brotherhood has become hackneyed,
I suppose because we hear so much of it and
see so little result. The scoffers laugh at the
word because it is misapplied, but all struggle
-after it in one way or another.

A brotherhood does not consist in people with
no backbone, who lean on and " cadge " their
fellows, slackers who wish to have their own
bed easy, made up at the expense of others, and
by others' exertions. To be brotherly is not to
be "mushy," or sentimental, or weak. It is
true that the world is dominated by the idea
that strength is might, that physical strength
means power, that force is that which must
rule, that gentleness is considered weak, a soft
answer cowardly, and quietness and stillness a
sign of weakness. This is no Hew idea but has
been so all through long ages. The parable of
the Good Samaritan is often cited, the story of
the traveller who fell among thieves who rob-
bed him and left him half dead. A certain