THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 302, 16 September 1940, Page 6

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments—Reflections

After the bombing of Buckingham Palace the King and Queen carried on with their duties as previously arranged. Carry on for victory.

Queen Elizabeth’s prayer just prior to the defeat of the Spanish Armada on July 29, 15S8: “O! let Thine enemies know that Thou hast received England which they most of all for Thy Gospel’s sake do malign, unto Thine own protection. Set a wall about it, and evermore mightily defend it. Let it be a comfort to the afflicted, a help to the oppressed, and a defence to Thy Church and people persecuted abroad. And forasmuch as this cause is new in hand, direct and go before our armies, both by sea and land. .. • Thou art our help and shield. O! give good and prosperous success to all those that fight this battle against the enemies of Thy Gospel.” A sudden change in the wind helped the English to feel that God had intervened on their side. They took as their motto: “He blew, and they were scattered.”—From ‘“The Record,” July 26, 1940, forwarded by a correspondent.

’ “They are marching against England, are they. Well, let ’em find their sea boots and march. But this time they don’t do it behind three thousand tanks grinding down long straight roads over the bones of murdered refugees. They will do it, if at all, over the cold, grey, hungry sea. So there, my fellow-intellectuals, my fainthearted colleagues, Is our faith. You remember the old words: ‘Then said David to the Philistine: “Thou contest •to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, Whom thou has defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee. . . . The battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” ’ In this faith, listeners everywhere, we rest.”—Mr. J. B| Priestley, in a broadcast to the United States.

A middle-aged German woman has just been-sent to jail for three months, as a Berlin dispatch states, because she “questioned the veracity of German High Command communiques.” Poor lady! She hadn’t read the unexpurgated editions of “Mein Kampf” as faithfully as she should. She should have known that under totalitarian regimes the only persons privileged to question the veracity of the Government’s lies are those who concoct them. Now, no doubt, she realizes that the truth is no dreamy abstraction under such regimes, but merely a lie with sufficient brute force behind it. The High Commad must have been telling the truth. Isn’t she in jail?”—-From a “New York Times” editorial.

The wheel has turned full circle: “ ‘Britain must learn that there is no place for her on the German map except as a German possession.’—Kaiser, 1914. “ ‘Never fear that the burnt-out comet of England and her little tail of Colonies will survive. The Empire will fade as a star in the morning sky.’— Ditto, 1915.

“ ‘Our enemies will die of fear and hunger.’—Ditto, 1916. “ ‘We will frighten the British flag off the seas and starve the British people till they kneel and plead for peace.’—Ditto, 1917. “ ‘ln a month all will be over with the nation of shopkeepers.’—Ditto, rather early in 1918. “.‘Britain will belong to Germany before July is out.’—Hitler, 1940. “The reader may observe that we are back to the point where we started.” —“Glasgow Herald.”

“The failure of the League of Nations was largely due to the absence of a central control which could harmonize the freedom of each with the proper functioning of the whole of the human society. We therefore aim at a society of nations which will supply this defect and which will possess a central organization equipped with the necessary authority and powers to supervise the common concerns of mankind. Intercourse between nations will be free, and commerce, economics, and finance will bo freed of all hampering restrictions and obstructions. As between man and man there shall be social justice; as between nation and nation there shall be the rule of law, the absence of violence, and the maintenance of peace. In such an international society there will be no place for selfappointed leaders and Fuehrers.”— General Smuts.

The wife of a British officer who shared in the defence of Calais explains why she prefers her three children to remain with her in England, instead of going to relatives overseas: “It .seems to me,” she says “that one of the most important things in life is to learn early to stand up to whatever comes along and to meet it and defeat it. If I send the children away will they ever learn that? Isn’t it better to risk the body for the sake of the spirit? The collapse of France seems to me to show us that we have got to stick it out—and our children must learn that, too. If we can’t or don’t stand up to Nazism now and for ever, we never shall." An extract from a private letter received in New Zealand.

Ideals. To live in the affections; not to dwell iu pride. To cultivate courtesy, which fosters brotherhood and is lhe manner of lhe heart.

To be gentle with those who serve, since they are not free to resent.

To avoid arrogance, which corrodes the man and estranges his fellows. To mingle freely with all classes, and thus to know mankind.

To lie mastered by no habit or prejudice, no triumph or misfortune

To promise rarely, and perform faithfully To curl> the personal Wants, which expand easily but shrink with difficulty. To forswear luxuries, ever indulged by shunting the cost on others. To be just, man’s supremo virtue, which requires the Ibest. of bead, and heart.—Robert McMurdy.