Diagnosis of the Englishman

By John Galsworthy


This article originally appeared in the Amsterdaemer Revue,
having been written during the lull of the war while England
fitted her volunteer armies for the Spring campaign, and is
here published by special permission of the author.

After six months of war search for the cause thereof borders on the
academic. Comment on the physical facts of the situation does not come
within the scope of one who, by disposition and training, is concerned
with states of mind. Speculation on what the future may bring forth may
be left to those with an aptitude for prophecy.

But there is one thought which rises supreme at this particular moment
of these tremendous times: The period of surprise is over; the forces
known; the issue fully joined. It is now a case of "Pull devil, pull
baker," and a question of the fibre of the combatants. For this reason
it may not be amiss to try to present to any whom it may concern as
detached a picture as one can of the real nature of that combatant who
is called the Englishman, especially since ignorance in Central Europe
of his character was the chief cause of this war, and speculation as to
the future is useless without right comprehension of this curious
creature.

The Englishman is taken advisedly because he represents four-fifths of
the population of the British Isles and eight-ninths of the character