50 CAUSES liiYOLVl^'G HtA:;Cli A^D E.NGLA^^D CHAPTER VII. CHAP. VII. Temper of the English an obstacle to the main- tenance of peace. Their desire for war. Causes of the apparent change in their feeliUL'. Welcome or unwelcome, the truth must be told. A huge obstacle to the maintenance of peace in Europe was raised up by the temper of the English people. In public, men still used forms of expres- sion implying that they would be content for England to lead a quiet life among the nations, and they still classed expectations of peace amongst their hopes, and declared in joyous tones that the prospects of war were gloomy and painful ; but these phrases were the time-honoured canticles of a doctrine already discarded, and they who used them did not mean to deceive their neighbours, and did not deceive themselves. The English desired war ; and perhaps it ought to be acknow- ledged that there were many to whom war, for the sake of war, was no longer a hateful thought. Either the people had changed, or else there was hollowness in some of the professions which ora- turs had made in their name. AVhen, by lapse of years, the glory of the great war against France had begun to fade from the daily thoughts of the people, they inclined to look
