From ‘Education and Honour’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915:
Under a voluntary system—which indeed takes off the lid, as General Baden-Powell would say—service rendered to the country depends entirely upon a man’s own feelings as to what he ought to do. In other words, his service will be in proportion to his recognition of personal obligation—in proportion to his honour. In what are called the upper classes the war has shown this sense of honour to be extremely high. The young man who has been to a Public School or to one of the Universities and who remains at home without adequate excuse doing nothing is so rare as to be very conspicuous.
In other classes it is otherwise.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
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.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in