Evening Capital And Maryland Gazette

ARE WE DOWNHEARTED?

Maybe thoughts are things. Maybe they aren't anything. It's difficult to prove, any way you look at it. But as a working hypothesis, it's worth while granting that they are real.

Therefore, while the Huns push hard and win here and there until a watching nation holds its breath over the outcome, it's a good time to practice that "thoughts are things" philosophy. That is to say, it's not a time for fear. It's a time for every strong thought, every brave thought, every feeling of absolute security that our forces cannot help but win. Losses are but temporary, defeats of small importance. The big fact is that sooner or later we will win.

The boys over there have a song with which they are wont to greet new Prussian drives. It's a cheerful jingle which enheartens their defense:

"We beat 'em at the Marne,
"We beat 'em at the Aisne—
"We gave 'em hell at Neuve Chapelle,
"And here we are again!"

And there, indeed, they are, every time. And will be until the final shot is fired. Another cheerful thought to hold is that little phrase with its worlds and worlds of meaning, the four-word greeting which was the whole of Gen. Pershing's speech when the Americans joined their French allies in a ceremony of honor at the tomb of Lafayette. When the headlines say the Huns advance, and your back hurts and your heart has a tendency to sink, pull up your heart and stiffen your backbone and raise your head and say with all your soul,

"Well, Lafayette, we're here!"