The Spectator

Duty calls

He will otherwise become ‘a proper object of public censure and contempt’

issue 23 April 2016

From ‘The Volunteer Training Corps’, The Spectator, 8 April 1916: If we were the Government, we would state plainly that in the opinion of His Majesty’s advisers no man over military age of good physique will be doing his duty to the nation who does not join a Volunteer battalion… it should be clearly understood that he was not performing his proper duties as a citizen, and that even if the state did not think it worth while to compel him to perform them, he would be a proper object of public censure and contempt.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in