I am a man of peace, I am the enemy of war--it is my faith and creed; yet I repudiate the principle put forward by the Earl of Eglington, that you shall not clinch your hand for the cause which is your heart's cause, because, if you smite, the smiting must be paid for." He was interrupted by cheers and laughter, for the late event in his own life came to them to point his argument.
"The nation that declines war may be refusing to inflict that just punishment which alone can set the wrong-doers on the better course.

It is not the faith of that Society to which I belong to decline correction lest it may seem like war." The point went home significantly, and cheering followed.

"The high wall of Tibet, a stark refusal to open the door to the wayfarer, I can understand; but, friend"-- he turned to the young peer--"friend, I cannot understand a defence of him who opens the door upon terms of mutual hospitality, and then, in the red blood of him who has so contracted, blots out the just terms upon which they have agreed.

Is that thy faith, friend ?" The repetition of the word friend was almost like a gibe, though it was not intended as such.

There was none present, however, but knew of the defection of the Earl's father from the Society of Friends, and they chose to interpret the reference to a direct challenge.