Sir,—There is one privilege which an Englishman has which is not shared by any other European nation. That privilege is neither asked for nor desired by other nations in Europe, for they are more democratic than we are. The privilege I refer to is the right which an Englishman has to refuse to defend his country. Some journals and some people seem to think that this right is the most priceless and precious privilege of all. They think the right of the individual rises superior to the need of the State. It will be a great calamity if this war concludes without every man being brought to feel that the country which bred him and which protects him has the right to claim his services.
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Historically, the richest and poorest men on the planet tend to father a lot more children than the men in the middle. With the former, its because there’s so much for the spawn to inherit, hence all the aristocratic Fitzes; the latter, because so many offspring die in infancy. The men in the middle tend
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