CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3006, 17 February 1917, Page 6

CHURCH AND WAR

THE CLOUD OF WITNESSES

SERMON BY SIR G. A; SMITH

Sir George Adam Smith, Moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland, preached an impressive sermon at Bb. Coiumbo's, London, on a recent Sunday afternoon. He had returned 'from the front, and no one doubted (says the ".British Weekly") that he would Jink up the home' line with the rain-sodden trenches of Picardy. The church wa'B orowded. Not much .khaki was visible, for the soldiers arc away on active duty. A kilted officer was. among the sidesmen,-but the' splendour of Highland uniforms will not he seen again at the festival • till ,the. war is over. For the' moment all colours ®re subdued, like the light in stained-glass windows on a December day, and the mourners go about the stroets. Dr. Fleming's intercessory prayer might have had as its motto, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." It will long be held in memory. The lessons (Isaiah xxxv'. and part of Hebrews xi. and xii) wore read by Lord Balfour of Burleigh! While- the 23rd Psalm was sung to tho historic tune "'Wiltshire," tho Moderator entered' the pulpit. He announced as his text the words of Hebrews xii, "Seeing then that we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." So great, a cloud!—so idense a-cloud! It "is a single word, which sometimes represents' thp mass of clouds that pile themselves on the horizon, ami,which is also applied by poets to the throng of men on the battlefield. This cloud has drawn close and descended on those .who aro still lighting, and seems to lie about them. Bengpl uses the phrase "the urgent cloud." "Two years ago the cjoud of witnesses lniug somewhat far off on the sky, drifting a littl.o nearer as a parent, ,a friend, a comrade, passad awu.Y from us- But the war has brought the cloud very close to our Scottish people, whose sons • havo fallen by thousands. To us that cloud is full of dear and kent faces." 'Nor does tho iloud of witnesses consist o n|y of the fallen. Here the Moderator'touched on his visit to France, and pictured the scenes on the hospital ships which! ho saw Jaaded at' the.French quays. Jile has taken the Communion with Scottish, soldiers about to outer the trenches, and . has seen the shrunken inarching back, worn and weary ; but steadfast. "To see mere boys going forward wider tho guns to battle was to foel like .a deserter. And the thought ctvine,; tooj that any njean. or selfisli act in the future, any compromise with right or duty, would be like failing them." ~

The preacher (said liq had seen or corresponded wit|i most pi' tho families of the students or graduates of' Aberdeen University who 'had fallen, and recently he had visited tho island of Lewis, whiph pijt of its 30,000 popular tion hp/1 sent 000(1 men to the colours, lioss-shire, Caithness, Sutherland, and the Orkneys.' Almost'every family was in somo way connected' witji;. the war, and many hud niado - Lhy uttermost offering, ' "(livery home wa saw in tcjsyns and villages'or rising from the moorland stood as a symbol of sacrifice, and every heart seemed an altar. Among all these people wo found no despair, wo\ beard no word of conir plain);; iigthing but patient resignation and hope,' and the simple faith that the Lord rodemneth tiio soul of His servants, and that- nonp of them that trust in Him shall'be desolate." G'entl.v the Moderator touched on the future stalo of tho fallen. 1 Hp declared boldly that such deaths in such a cause call 'only ho the onr.nincft on -some.higher form, of,service, -A solemn warning .was uttered against the error of certain noble minds tjiat contact with the dead may be reached through the} spiritualistic seance. "That h«.s boon a. very ancient effort, and, hs Ujc Old Tpstapjept shows, it has never been made excopt a t the cost of tho rational and ethical elements of religion." At ; the morning serviet) Sir Georgo. frgm two tests: Ps.' ]xxxvi, ~16, "G ( ive strength unto "Thy servant, and save tho'.son of Thino handmaid," and Ps. cxvi., 16,'"0 Lord, truly lam Thy servant, and tho (son of Tiling handmaid-" It was a serjnon whioh thrilled and strengthened, thoso who heard it to go out ,and meet what Sir George called "thoso jiohlor agonies whips have fallen upon onr nation and upqa each of us Singly in the present tragedy of tho world." /Ilia appeal to thp individual . was insistent. "Our nation and tho sabred cause committed to her depend on the faith #nd : tyurity, the honour and obedience towards God Himself of her individual members, on the resolution and buoyancy, of her single souls. And theso arc to be maintained only by communion with Him Who .iaid, "jVly grace is sufficient for thee." . In a very beautiful passage, Sir Gfinrgfl remarkfid'; "Intgrjjretgrs hare been divided as to the meaning of tlie word 'son of Thinn handmaid.' In all this dobato we Scots can havo no difficulty. What >l!o others seem to ho alternatives, wo combine. None of us can separate tho niptlipr jit whose Icncos wo first learned io pray from tho mother Church in wlipse jap she laid us. To ts Sc'ots Church and home* are one. . . .. As you, this congregation, well know, the presenter has given heroic oyidenco of thp integrity and dpvotion of the children of our Christian homes."

TWO IDEALS. TRUSSIANISM VERSUS CHRISTIANITY. In its review of "Europe TTfIT/ound," a recent hook by Lisle March Phillipps, the -"Times"- Literary Supplement states that Mr. Phillipps, who is not only a Liberal politician, hut ail artist —that ik one who sees in artistic production the expression of the human spirit—aims at showing that tho contrast between the _ Prussian spirit Cf tyranny and the spirit of ' liberty is not only political and intellectual, but also spiritual, and in the ultimate analysis' defines it as the conflict between pliilosophy and religion. This leads him to show that the thought and ideal of Prussianism avowedly and necessarily imply the' categorical contradiction to Christianity, while, however much it may be voilcd and obscured by tile weaknesses and inconsistencies whether of the individual or of the nation, the cause for which the Allies are strugn glinfr is in effect the ultimate truth of Christianity as expressed in the doctrine of the Incarnation. • "Thus every inquirer who realises what is at stake, wlio appreciates tho need of authority if religion is to be saved from tli o philosopher and prevented from being turned, into an instrument of tyranny, will find his eyes turning to the Incarnation. . . Accept' .the Incarnation, and you place liberty on a sure foundation. Accept the fact of Christ's divinity, and the simple salient landmarks of the faith set up by Christ remain intact. . . . Instoad of spiritual servitude, with its inevitable corresponding effects on life and character so terribly demonstrated in the histories of tho old Empires, tho postulates spiritual liberty, together with, in the long run, the effects on life which flow from that source." , . By a process of thought lyJiich lias been common among the deeper thinkers, at least in England, during tho past generation, lie finds the fullest expression of this spirituality in mediaeval art of the Renaissance, which during the last three centuries has more and more dominated Europe, and of which the ultimate result must, bo, and in fact has been, to establish a form

of artistic expression which is understood by nnd belongs alono to tliose who have n. higher intellectual training, and thereby tonds to relogate to a position, of fnndaiuontal inferiority tho poor, tho unediicated, that is, tho peoplo. Ho might well have illustrated this —which we believe is/, in faot, the expression of a profound truth—hy the curious anil •fana.tdcal hatred: of mediaeval and Christian -art shown by tho most advanced representatives of modern GermaJl opinion. Opposed to this ideal of liberty with tho fullest spiritual consciousness of the individual man, wo have that which lie calls the Prussian' ideal, Of this it is the characteristic not merely, that it aims at tyranny aiul domination—for that,-as ho shows, has been common enough in the history of tho past and; of the that it puts forward tyranny and domination as an absolute ideal, and for the first time in the history of the world has enabled it to coma forward as, a great positive doctrine,

THE .FRENCH WAR LOAN. HIGH PRAISE FOR THE CLERGY. Thanks to the moroseness of a few ■ irreconcilable Anti-clericals in the I French Chamber, the credit duo to the i bishops and clergy for their efforts on : behalf of the recent, war loan lias been ■ handsomely acknowledged (says the i London "Tablet")- After twenty-seven months of war, even the jnhst optjinisi tic estimate did not place the responso : at more than ten .milliards of francs. : This expectation was surpassed by a million and a half, and iivo milliards of the eleven and a. half milliard's- was subscribe in cash. In bringing about ; this splendid result the clergy had a ! large share. As exhortations' we have 1 quoted from time, to timo will have shown, tho clergy, undcrthe inspiration : and direction of. the bishops, showed themselves devoted and ardent workers in the support and even the collection of subscriptions to "the loan. Indeed, their co-operation was.so openly and' so plainly successful, that Jl. Itibofc, jii his financial statement, alloted- a high place to the bishops and clcrgy ill his enumeration of the national forces that had contributed to tho success of tlie loan. Such an acknowledgment was too much for the unteachablo Anti-clericals of the Extreme Left, who immediately made an. interruption, Resenting this petty injustice, M. Ribat stopped reading,and, turning to the noisy fanatics, sonorously and emphatically " repeated the words of praise and thanks that were due to the patriotic efforts of the bishops and clergy, and reminded the Chamber that' they had been similarly active 'in the .support of the previous loan and collection of gold. How few sympathised with the malcontents was shown by the cheers which greeted tips : declaration, cheers which found an echo in tho. l'ress. A "TANK 1 ' AND A CHAPLAINHOiiJJV' OIFGATH EI! JN G HUSONERS. ' In tho darkness of 3 o'clook in the morjiuig a "Tank" advanced as far as this enemy's frpnt-lillfi trouch (writes a London "Times" copr«s'tK>n(iont)«' lliiabla to reach advantageously ' .the, iedouht, ill the positioivwliichit lay, tho crew of tho tank .oliiubed out. of the fortress with their mjiohins-g!i»s and proceeded to train them tifo.i the it:.doubt at ft rango c)' 50 yard? or so. The spectacle was nmi'o than the garrisprj pf the redoubt could stand; and before the maglii.H.Q-g'l!!S had opened fire'from their new position i), flag was hoisted out of the depths of the earth and tlio redoubt surrendered. It contained 3{io unwoipided men. In such an operation as this many men do deeds which deserve, as I haw said, to bp sung almost as much as thoso of officer of whom I. have told. Qno tvould like to tell at length the tajo of rtfett tBo trench jntrtar battery, the name of tvJiosq ffitfec" fend still more that of his mother) is kr.swn. whnrfvor "the English language is spoken, who led the-"Tank" intp action against tho redoubt. T.fc was Hot setrictly his business, hut ho ''knew the road" (haying been .putting nioriars into t|ie beastly placo for hftlf a day)i and did moat gallantly a service) of great danger. There is 'also the ohaplain of tho troops in' support on the further left, .who, most insubordinately, went over the paragots !i with his men— unarmed save for 3. lingo .eutluisiasra and his fear of God.—ana then made a hobby of gathering prisoners, «s if Ko w(?rfl forming a collection of them. Ho went fearlessly, and unscathed about the open and. whoodled the cowering Germans out of shell holes and hiding ? laces, talking gently to theni in his rish way, and leading them back to wliere they would, bo safer. A BROTHER'S FAREWELL, LETTER, Here is a lfirttcr to his brother, written'by a French soldier, who fell noxt day on the field of honour:— ".If you receive this letter I shall ha.ve fallen, tt is God's will, and there is no cause for despair. - Many others, better men than I, have already fallen for,duty and country's sake. I send these last words to you that you may prepare our' father and mother for ,th'e news that will afflict, them so sorely. I should have liked to have Jived for them who had only lived for us. It is not God's will, to which I submit myself as tho only roality, for is it not through Him and to return to Hun that we' are on earth at all? Happy shall I bo if this sacrifice which T malce with all my heart for my faults ijiia,U bring me His everlasting friendship."