CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2758, 29 April 1916, Page 12

CHURCH AND WAR

ALL THINGS WILL BE CHANGED

NCW MEASUREMENTS AND NEW I VALUES.

The presidential address, delivered by tho Hev. J. H. Shakespeare at the recent meeting of the Free Church Council, held at Bradford, was a vigorous appeal lor Nonconformist union at a grave moment in our .national history, Tho address concluded as follows: — '

'"We are on the verge of a new era. History is about to take a now departure, - Our world will never bo tho same again. In. this awful cataclysm the things diat.can be shaken will remove that tilings that cannot be shaken •may remain." ■ There bave'been such titanic changes when the old world has slipped "away and'a new world lias bogun. ■'.. Not ofteli heralded with blast of trumpet or roll of drum, but discerned by those who can read the signs of the times. All things_ will be ' : sense, of security of our island, home, and oC the inviolable seas; tho place of women in the. world and their, share in the world's work. "Above all, three million men will return to civil life who have faced the realities of life and death, of time and ; eternity: in the trench and in tho gallant charge, and who have done this at tho call of a united Empire and for the grandest and most splendid ideals. They have got new- measurements, new values, they have seen how little there is to separate the i?ree Churches at a parado service. In ihat i day.' when / peace spreads her white wings over our world again, the Church which will win and hold its manhod and womanhood will be that'which knows what are the things that' matter, which has a great and united 'call, the appeal of Christian unity ind not or a sect. " In the last dajs,' saith God, your joun,; men shall see visions and j'our old.men.shall dream dreams.' ' I apped to "dl concerned not to rest untd tho stands! d is planted upon the Free Church heights, and upborne, by the breaffli of.the Spirit, it flings its challenge to the New Age." JUSTICE. ■THE BEIGN OF LAW BETWEEN NATIONS. In the course of a sermon preached in Durham Cathedral before His Majesty's Justices of Assize the Dean (Dr. Henson) said The.Judges, carrying on their solemn work in the midst of ai great war, point the direction in which the world must find release from the horrors which now enfold it in a NeSsus robe of suffering. What" the world wants is the reign of law between nations, fulfilling in the economy of international politics the same beneficent part as that which within' civilised communities is played by the Law Courts in private strifes. War is the very negation of law. As Cicero said, "Silent leges inter arma"—"Laws'speak no longer v hen ncapons claJi." And the converse is ..true. Under the sovereignty of' law weapons have no use, for between tho combatants there stands a'Judge, supreme over both, a righteous Peacemaker between ; them. "The work of righteousness shall bo peace; and tho, effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever." It .is related of the famous Spanish Queen, Isabella of. Castile, that she loved to see a criminal on the gallows, because, she said, "Even through his halter she could seo the prospect of peace." la the final defeat of Germany the world sees" "to-day the _ prospect,of peace, and in no..other direction, because peace, patched up prematurely while the main offender still cherishes the belief in the possibility of, victory, and treasures the purpose of renewing tho conflict, would only be the link between epochs of war. Peace must bo bui't on justice, and justice demands the punishment of wickediiecs, as well in the high concerns'of nations as in the small affairs of individuals. Mercy itself has no plea 'for the obstinata; criminal,, but hastens with outstretched, .hands tojilead, for the.penitent. Justice can'only then resign the sceptre t<i mercy,,when the interests of both havh become identical, for justice is (to borrovy a famous metaphor, familiar to tlisi ears of Bntish lasers) as the lions a! Solomon's tl lone, supporting it from below "It is m abomination to Kinrj.s to commit wickedness, for the throne; ps established by righteousness."' That

lesson lias been slowly learned here at home; we are learning it in ]argey applications through the fearful experiences of war. IF, as the fruit of such immenso sacrifices, the lesson is learned, and the society of civilised, men shall iu a measure hitherto unknown he based on essential justice, then assuredly, as future . generations'. look back 'on this vast and cruel f.fmftki, they will recall with gratitui!* and homago the men who, in trench and stricken field, on land and sea, far to the East or close to their native, shores, drew sword in the Lord's brittle, and gave their lives for the truth. The fortunes of the fighting ebb and flow like the ocean tides, and as yet -we know not whore, and how, and when the victory shall come; but the cait/;o of justice is the cause of Him -in Whosß hands are gathered the threads .of human destiny, aud in Whoso reckoning tlie years' are not counted. "Tiny mercy, 0 Lord, reaeheth uiito the heavens; sind-Thj Fnithfulaess unto the clo.wds. Thy righteousness standeth I liko the mountains; Thy judgments are I like the great deep. Thorn, Lord, ohalt save both roan and beast; how excellent is Thy mercy, 0 God; arrw'l the children of men shall put their trust under tho shadow of Thy wings." CANADIANS AT CATHEDr/AL. SERMON BY CARDINAL BOURNE. A service was held- on February 10 at Westminster Koniiln Catholic Cathedra! to commemorate the going into i active service in Elrinders or the Canadian troops.

At the closo of the Mass Cardinal Bourne delivered a strikingly simple and eloquent allocution ;to the soldiers and distinguished members of tho Canadian community present. His Eminence said:

"On this, the ajnriversary of the entry of your still yoniij;, but very noblo nation on the battkiield, you have rightly come together as Christians and Catholics to give thanks to Almighty God in this Cathedral church of the first oity of the Empire, • to give thanks to Almighty God for His protecting hand, which has beea upqn you throughout tho last twelve/months. You have come to beg that t'ai.t protecting hand may still be with aad upon you in all tho days of combr.t that still lio before you. And you have come, 1 am sure, to beg tho mercy of Almighty God and eternal peace and rest for those of your comrades who have already made the supreme sacrifice of their livos. Many groat and liable things have taken placo during the/last eigliteen months, but when hereaf j.er the record of those days comes to be written in tho annals of the Empire, surely there will be few moro nobis things written down than what you Canadians have already done in defence, of your country and the Empire. Yon havo given up your homes, those homes you had built up, either in the widespread legions of the' Ear West, or, in the great populous cities of Eastern' Canada. "Vou have left your homes wild given up tho comforts you were accustomed to; you have crossed the ocefen—what to seek? Danger and wounds, and perhaps death. The young men of Canada,' in ever-growing numbers, hive come forward to tako their part iii assuring to this, the greatest Empire; the world has ever seen, a unity of puiipose such as past ages never witnessed. And that they have done, not under compulsion of the law, but urged simply and solely by their own conscience and the love of the country that gave; them birth. "We of the Motherland aro glad today; to join in your thanksgiving and in ybur supplications for the future. We look forward together to that day for whw'fl we all long and hope_ and pray, upnil. which this'terrible conflict will end in ,'ultimnte victory. And wo also givo thinks with you "to Almighty God for His protection in the past. We bog of Him always to watch over you and giiard you, and, if it be. His Holy Will, take you back into the safoty and scour-i i.ty of your ■ homes. If, on tho other' laund, it be His Will to ask of you that ;,'reat sacrifice which so many of your oountrymen have already made —to give up' your lives, to die in defence of a ; sacred cause, thou ire beg Him to grant J you all to be prepared to pass out of l\ this life free, from all sin, and worthy I of the reward promised to .those who fight steadfastly to the end.

"Go forward, then, full of courage and high hope to the task that still awaits you. Think of the memory of those : gone before you, and emulate their heroic deeds. Let their memory never'bo forgotten. Go forward, determined to do your duty, whatever and wherever that duty may be, to uphold your faith and the Catholic name, and

' show yourselves worthy of the faith which is the source of all your strength. Go forward bravely and generously for God, your country, and the King." THE NATIONAL MISSION. WHAT THE BISHOPS ARE SAYING. In nearly all of the official Diocesan Magazines' the Bishops refer to tho forthcoming National Mission cf llepentauce and Hope. The "Guardian" gives the following i-xtracts from these and other Episcopal utterances. Every parish priest, every churchwarden, every schoolmaster or mistress, every man or woman, old or young, is asking God now to show us our place in tho great endeavour and to strengthen us to use'it rightly. .It is not a mission from clergy to laity, or from old to young, or from rich to poor. Itis n joint endeavour, a mission—God grant it be so—of witness. Our central effort will be in October and November, but the preparation,, personal and corporate, must begin without a day's'delay.—Archbishop of Canterbury. It seems to me that with the twin thoughts of repentance and hope in our minds we shall feel, and feel increasingly, that wo are not going to make this thing, but that it, or rather God through it, is going to make us. "The Church is a failure," the voices cry, and we are going to learn in our repentance where and why this is true, with the hope of some new and better start'. Repentance s.»ys to us: Deal thoroughly with the wounds of the Church, be far more ready to acknowledge them than has been your wont; Hope says: Have courage to believe in new beginnings and to look for things which you have been wont to think impossible.—Bishop of' Winchester, in an address at Wolvescy Church House, Winchester.

■ We are all thankful that the Church should be increasingly conscious of tho possibility of getting out of touch with the people, and that there should lie special effort made to influence national life. But we must get out' of the old ruts if we are to succeed. The Church has not so far during the war been able to say that spiritually she' has made the nation devout; in fact, it is still doubtful whether the people are oven earnestly patriotic.—Bishop of Birmingham. Let us all remember that the National Mission has behind it the full authority of the whole of the Bishops in England, and therefore, in +fie best interests of the movement, it is well to avoid all criticism and for the wholo Church to give herself to prayer. I think that this'ycar we must determine to concentrate on the distinctly spiritual, side of our work. With so many men and young men away there is a splendid opportunity to close down a number of those organisations which, however excellent they may bo in some respects, do tend to lessen the time for the'more spiritual part of our ministry. —Bishop of Chelmsford.-

Who can qucston the need for such a call, not merely with a view to the future when tho war is over, but also as it affects our present use of this grave experience through which as a nation we are passing? Without such an awakening wo can neither, do our duty as a Church and Nation now in this terrible upheaval, nor can we, when in God's good time peace is.restored, use aright the opportunities which must inevitably present themselves.—Bishop of Chichester.

Some of us have been somewhat critical of tho proposal. But now that it lias been decided to hold it, and a letter from the Archbishops has been issued, it behoves us all to arrest our critical faculties and. to turn the opportunity to the best spiritual purpose.—Bishop of Oxford.

Our effort, we must remind ourselves constantly, is not fo be spasmodic; courting disastrous reaction—it is not' to begin and end in the year 1916. It is tho effort to lift ourselves and one another to a surer senso of our responsibility as professed members of the Church of Christ, our responsibility for giving our witness and bringing our witness to bear upon our national life. Tho effort is to be continued, we trust, with fresh enlightenment and a new senso of power through the many difficult years that lie before us. —Bishop of Southwark.

The whole meaning of the Gospel message! and its relation to tho <liuly life of us all is not generally understood, and it is our task to bring this home. AYliy it has not been understood is a question which the clergy especially may well ponder. Have we taught it in its fulness .Have we understood it fully ourselves? Have our methods of working been so conventional that they have not life and force?. Have our struggles to maintain loyally some par-

ticulnr aspect or school of Christian truth, in antagonism it may be to some other, spoilt the beauty of the message as a whole? From such inquiries the clergv at this crisis are, I believe, not flinching. The task of the mission is that clergy and laity alike and together should recover a knowledge and practice of tlio relation of the Gospel to daily life. And to this we may look forward with great hope if we begin in repentance.—Bishop of Worcester.