525 6 py 1 God and War By PROF. L.T. TOWNSEND, D.D.,S.T.D. Author of Credo, God-Man, etc. PRICE 25 CENTS CONTENTS PAGB No Accidents in this World 3 God Rules in Human Affairs 4 When Will the Present War End 5 Will the Armies of the Kaiser and His Allies or those of Great Britain and Her Allies be Victorious 5 Numbers and Guns not Always Decisive 6 Germany and the Turks Need Chastisement 7 Great Britain, France and Russia Need Chastisement 7-8 Are the United States to be Involved in the War 8 The United States are Guilty of Sins of Conmiission and Omission 9 Mexico and Armenia 10-13 John Bright's Prediction 17 Mr. Bryan's Views Invite War and Disaster 17 Lincoln Colcord's Vision of War 21 God not Always for Peace 21 The Command, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" 22 Bible Revelation and War 23 War a Necessity in a World of Wheat and Tares 27 War 'and the War Spirit of Service to the World 30 No Apology called for in the Announcement of Christ — *T am not come to send peace on earth but a sword" 37 Monetary Cost and Death Roll of War 37 False Views of Life and Death 38 Is God Working out a Plan that may Involve the United States and the Entire World in War 39 Self-assurance Invites War 39 The Peril of Conflicting Interests 40 Isolation No Longer a Protection 40 The Monroe Doctrine ; 41 The United States No Longer Feared 41 The Possible Bankruptcy of thd 'Warring Nations 43 Germany and Japan 44-48 Carranza and Villa 48 What May Become of the War Loan 50-51 A Nation's Only Hope are Preparedness and a Trust in God 52-55 God and War By PROF. L. T. TOWNSEND. D.D.,S,.T.D. Author of Credo, God-Man, etc. Published by CHAPPLE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Ltd. BOSTON. MASS. 1915 Copyright, 1915 by L. T. TOWNSEND. CI.A42()242 \(^ DEC II 1915 God and War THERE are no accidents in this world," was the opening sentence of the eulogy spoken by Charles Sumner after the death of Abraham Lincoln. And the longer one lives the more inclined is one to introduce that sentence, "there are no accidents," into one's religious creed. In an oration of Edward Everett are these words : When a great event is to be brought about in the order of Providence, the first thing which arrests the attention of the student of history in after-times is the appearance of the fitting instruments for its accomplishment. They come forward and take their places on the great stage of action. They know not themselves for what they are raised up, but there th6y are. Daniel Webster expressed the same thought when saying: God has a Providence in human affairs; and it is a part of that Providence to triumph over error, and to assign to the actors in great events their proper places. Victor Hugo in his remarkable essay on Mirabeau con- cludes his analysis thus: Who among us does not feel, amid the tumult of the tempest, amid the conflicts of all the systems and all the ambitions that raise so much smoke and dust, that under yonder veil still hiding from our eyes the providential statue hardly yet hewn, behind the cloud of theories, passions, and chimeras, crossing, jostling, and devouring one another in the fog; beyond that sound of the human word which speaks all tongues at the same time through all mouths, under that violent whirlwind of things, man and ideas called the nine- teenth century — who does not feel that something great is being accomplished? And God remains calm and does his work. And who in this twentieth century if he thinks soberly for an hour or more does not feel that God, in the midst of the present * This booklet is the substance of an address deHvered before the National Reform Convention at Park St. Church, Boston, Mass., October 19, 1915, by Professor L. T. Townsend, D.D.,St.D. 4 GOD AND WAR awful tumult of inconsistencies, remains calm as He did in the nineteenth century and does His work now as he did then? The foregoing quotations show conclusively that these men were able to grasp in some measure at least the sublime truth, that God rules in the affairs of men, in times of war as well as in times of peace. And these quotations also show that the men who spoke those words were in fellowship with the inspired writers of the Book of Books. One of its greatest, wisest and earliest writers thus repeats the words of Jehovah: See now that I, even I, am he and there is no God with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hands. — Deut. 32:39. And this, in the prophecy of Isaiah, is of the same theistic complexion : I am the Lord and there is none else; there is no God beside me. I girded thee (speaking of Cyrus), though thou has not known me. — Isa. 45:5. This same thought is spoken by another of the Jehovah prophets : And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the armies of Heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? — Dan. 4:35. These quotations, and there are many others of the same import, make it clear that modern atheism, that rules God out of pretty much all equations, except those where we may con- veniently admit Him, and that plunges us into a sea of anxiety and perplexity whenever anything untoward happens, had no grip on those Old Testament prophets. And is there any other message that would more likely afford assurance and comfort in view of what is now transpiring at home and abroad than this, — that God's hand is directing whatever is taking place, sunshine or tempest, though to our impatient age he seems to linger when we think there should be haste. During this hour, then, let us dismiss, if we can do so, the atheism of the day and bring God back to our thoughts — the God who notes the fall of the sparrow, who numbers the hair of the head and who cannot, therefore, be disregardful GOD AND WAR 5 of what is now taking place among the peoples of Europe and Asia, or be unmindful either of what our own country is doing in the way of helping on a carnage unequaled in ancient or modern warfare and doing our part of it for gain and nothing else. This that we have been saying should help in answering three or four questions that are being constantly asked. The first is this: When will the war close; in one more year, or five or ten? No man on earth can tell, is the reply, unless the gods reveal it to him. There have been already many predictions and the time has passed when some of them, if true, should have been fulfilled. And others of them are much out of the way so far as one can now" see. The only sane pre- diction seems, therefore, to be this : When the Almighty Ruler of the Universe sees that there has been accomplished what he intended when he permitted the nations of Europe to make war upon one another, then will the war close, and not a day, nor an hour sooner. We may hold peace conventions, but that will not end the war. Men of wealth may contribute millions of money to secure peace but that will not end the war, and as for that matter, such money might as well be thrown to the bottom of the sea. The head of the Roman Catholic Church may admonish and plead and pray for peace until his voice is hoarse, or hushed in death, but that will accomplish no more in the future than it has in the past. Christian men, churches and conventions may vote and pray, but that w^ill not bring peace to the fighting nations. And the only way to pray for peace is the way men should pray for all things else — always closing with, "Thy will be done." God's plans concerning the war may be a long way yet from their accomplishment. And the end, as we said before, will not be until his plans and purposes are accomplished. God's plans may be to punish a disobedient world, on an arena larger than we yet have dreamed, before peace shall be restored. The second question often asked is this: Will the armies of the Kaiser and his allies in the end be victorious, or will victory be with Great Britain and her allies? There are people who talk as if very sure that the armies of Germany and Austria cannot fight much longer and must surrender. They do not see how Germany can contend suc- cessfully against superior numbers, aided by money, war muni- 6 GOD AND WAR tions and sympathy from the United States. So it would seem, if God has no interest or control in the affairs of men. The only way, however, to answer the question is this: God and not man is on the throne and victory will be as he intended when the war began. If it is best, all things con- sidered, that Germany shall dictate terms of peace and have her say as to settlements, boundaries and indemnities; and if it is best for Great Britain, France and Russia to be humili- ated and beaten under the blows of the Teutons, or be plunged into bankruptcy, and if God has so determined, then the question of numbers, money or sympathy will play but a small part in having it otherwise. Victory is not always with the strongest battalions is what sacred history has recorded. We are assured that one shall chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight, if the Lord be so minded. The sword, the spear and the shield in the hands of a giant shall avail nothing against a pebble, if that is the Lord's plan. Trumpets and pitchers with nothing but candles in them, in the hands of only thi-ee hundred men who could shout, "The sword of the Lord and Gideon," put to flight, in a panic the mighty hosts of Midian. The words of assurance spoken to the people of Israel by a servant of God were these: When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh luito the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel; ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint; fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. — Deut. 20:1-4. And later we read these words : And the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. And they pitched one over against the other seven days; and so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. x\nd Ben-hadad fled and came into the city, into an inner chamber. — / Kings 27:30. "Two little flocks of kids" put to flight a mighty host! GOD AND WAR 7 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose, and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. — // Kings 6:7. Comp. Amos 2:14-16. And other unaccountable and uncontrollable panics have decided, instead of numbers and guns, the fate of armies. And in some instances we now see that such panics were for the best, all things considered. According to the rules of war, Napoleon should have con- quered at Waterloo. He never could understand why he was defeated. But God knew, and He is above the rules of war. But the question recurs, Will Great Britain and her allies or will Germany and her allies be victorious? No man on earth knows, is the repeated answer, though all men on earth can guess or may think they know. But it is God alone who will determine in the end who shall conquer and who shall be defeated, and his decision all things considered, will be wisest and best. It may be difficult to see why Germany with her monstrous materialism, her brutal military ambitions and disregard of international law, and her murderous assaults upon passenger steamships, can be victorious. Nor is it much less difficult for one to see why the abominable Turk, the ally of Germany, with a cruelty almost more than barbarous and blasphemous, should not be overwhelmingly defeated and swept from the face of the earth. But, on the other hand, Great Britain has hardly been on such good behavior as to insure the Divine favor. Nor has she been scarcely less ambitious than Germany and perhaps no less arbitrary and despotic in ruling some of her dependencies than Germany has been. Can God approve of a government that places a tax of two hundred and twenty-five million yearly upon the poor people of India, expending one hundred million upon an army in which no Indian can be an officer.'^ Is England dealing fairly when in proportion to the income of the people she places a tax nearly twice as heavy upon India as upon her home country .f^ An Indian's yearly income on an average is only ten dollars, while that of an Englishman is two hundred. 8 GOD AND WAR Sir Henry Cotton shows that the average per capita deposits in the banks in England is one hundred dollars, while the aver- age per capita deposit in India is fifty cents. May not such greed and oppression justly provoke God's displeasure and chastisement? At all events England is now having to part with some measure of what seems to be ill-gotten wealth and in ways least to be desired. Nor should it be forgotten that England has attempted the starvation of all the German people and would do it today if she could.* And may not France with her social evils and religious disregard need correction ? And is it easy to see why the brutal ally of Great Britain and France, we mean Russia, with her tyranny and long persecution of the Hebrew people, having Siberia for a prison house, should pull out of the conflict with victory perched on her banners? While, therefore, there are many things of which we are not sure, there are other things of which we are sure — two at least, one of which is that while Germany and allies are guilty of what deserves correction, England and her allies are a long way from meriting divine approval. The other thing of which we are sure is that whoever gains the victory, the kingdom of Christ will make an advance and the hand of God will be seen when the smoke of battle clears away. This brings us to the third question: Are the United States to be involved in this war; or after the war will they be called upon to adjust some unadjusted disputes, and do this at the mouth of the cannon? The reply is, that no man knows. No magician, or astrologer, or sorcerer, or Chaldean, or states- man, or jurist, or poet, or essayist, or clergyman can answer that question, with an assurance that the answer will be the right one. Strenuous efforts are making to keep ourselves clear of trouble. Petitions have been going up to the President of the United States to keep his hands off, and many seem to think that he has been navigating the ship of state on the whole with remarkable wisdom; and perhaps he has, but he has been far at sea and his course has been about as vacillating as it could be, and for all he can do, the ship may go on to the * It appears to bs well established thit the German Emperor wanted peace during his reign. He was spoken of by Mr. Carnegie as "The peace-loving monarch." It also has been shown thit French soldiers, enemies of Germany, entered Belgium twenty-four hours ahead of the Germans. GOD AND WAR 9 rocks any day or hour. And all his advisors are equally ineffi- cient in protecting this country against being involved in war. It is God who has that matter in hand; and if he sees that we need severe chastisement then it will come, in one way or another, sooner or later; and if war, all things considered, is the healthiest form of correction for us, then it will be war, and twenty presidents and forty Bryans, if lecturing before Chautauqua assemblies three times a day cannot prevent it. And who can doubt that this country needs chastisement — a country that has no constitutional recognition of God; a country abounding in prosperity, with only a formal kind of gratitude once a year to the Merciful Giver of All Things; a country whose civilization is permeated with commercial greed and other unsanctified ambitions; a country that is now congratulating itself that while Europe is bankrupting, we are heaping up money by the million, without caring whether the war is prolonged by it, provided we can sell the goods at a profit; a country in partnership with a traffic whose victims of misery and death outnumber many fold those of the battle- field; a country that manufactures rum and sends it by the shipload to the poor and benighted people of Africa, simply for the money gotten out of it, though it adds wretchedness to a people already wretched enough, as God knows. We are not entirely given over to badness, there is a measure of good- ness, but the iniquity, hypocrisy and greed of which we are guilty is incredible — amazingly so when we stop to think about it. And as a nation, we are remiss and sinful in other matters — in sins of omission as well as those of commission. At this point one could not do otherwise than expect a few words as to our remissness in Mexico. And may I be pardoned for saying that I have been a student of Mexican affairs and history for several years. I have been through the country from the Rio Grande to Progreso, Yucatan. I have eaten the food of the poorest people and have slept on the floor of adobe huts, where there was but one room for an entire family, where there never had been a bed or chair, and have eaten where there never had been a table, a knife or a fork. I have worn the dress of a Mexican and have been asked by tourists if I could speak English. I have preached in Mexico with a revolver in sight in my belt, and have been a witness of things so distressing that they are difficult of belief. On the 10 GOD AND WAR other hand, I have been entertained by some of the wealthiest famihes in the RepiibHc and received from the Governor of the Federal District passes that enabled me to visit places from which the general public is excluded. I met a cordial reception in the national palace at the hands of President Diaz and had for an escort his only son. In a word, through the guidance of four brave missionaries, including the very effi- cient superintendent, Dr. J. W. Butler, I have had very rare opportunities to study the people of Mexico under all condi- tions of life, in that wonderful country. I may be pardoned for saying this much, because of my desire to establish the claim that from personal observation I have some knowledge of Mexico and her people. Since our war with that country, 1848, there have been twenty-five revolutions and during the century of Mexican independence there have been seventy-five years of war. And during all these years the great mass of Mexicans, eighteen millions out of twenty, in a country unmatched in natural resources, have remained half famished, kept in ignorance and superstition, suffering every conceivable wrong and crying to God for help and mercy. During the last four years our country has been hearing that cry as never before and yet we, their neighbors, have been waiting and watching and doing scarcely anything by the way of actual relief. Is that playing the part of the Good Samari- tan whom Christ commended? Rather, have we not been acting the part of the priest and Levite, who passed by on the other side of the road leaving the victim of robbery, for all they, cared, to die of the wounds that had been inflicted? And fittingly that priest and Levite have been held up to the world for two thousand years as examples of all that is despica- ble in human nature. And almost worse than this, we have sold to the different warring factions of Mexico, until the recognition of Carranza, poAvder and guns simply because we are making money out of it. We have been taking from that people all we could get, but have done nothing that amounts to a bundle of shucks to end the causes of their trouble. Cowardice and selfishness as to our conduct of Mexican affairs is the verdict of a world of surprised lookers-on. Ours is the cowardice of a people who have lost their faith in God and his righteousness. And we are GOD AND WAR U losing at the same time the most splendid opportnnity any nation ever had to act the part of a good Samaritan to this next door neighbor. And beside this, we are losing perhaps the best opportnnity the United States ever will have of teach- ing the whole world a lesson in moral grandeur by doing for the millions of those wretched peons what a Christian nation ought to do. And yet there are men among us who seem to care nothing for all this, and who would have conditions continue there just as thq^ have been for two hundred years rather than lift a finger to make them better. The miserable feeling is that we^ must do nothing that can get us into trouble, and that the look- ing after Mexicans is, after all, none of our business. None of our hu.nness? God asked Cain this question, "Where is Abel, thy brother?" Cain replied, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" In other words, it is none of my business where Abel is. That was Cain's answer to God's question. But Cain was a murderer and God cursed him. Our neglect of opportunity and duty in Mexico may prove more troublesome later on, than anything now threatening on this side of the Atlantic; of this we will speak later. Had faith in God, instead of cowardice and selfishness been in control, we, before now, could have saved hundreds and thousands of lives; we could have brought peace to that country after giving assurance to her people that we were there, not to add to our territory, but to help settle their differences and to end their warfare. We did give that assurance on a small scale while in Vera Cruz, and in doing so we lost no friendship on the part of the Mexican people. But we cowardly withdrew and their troubles have not diminished since our warships sailed away. Our government could have lifted that people on to a plane where they would have had what never has been theirs, since the fall of Montezuma — the treatment due human beings. We could have lifted Mexican women out of a pitiful degradation and have introduced them to the blessings of a Christian civiliza- tion. We could before now have shown the poor peons how to build houses of brick instead of mud and have shown them how to hope instead of living in despair. We could have shown them how to rise from almost helpless apathy into the altitude of the sons of God. 12 GOD AND WAR But there they are, a wretched people still, and we have been for two years waiting and watching; and at Niagara Falls, in New York City and Washington we have been and are still hobnobbing with A. B. C, But some one may be saying, Have we not recognized Carranza as the ruler of Mexico, and is not that a step forward? Does any one who knows Mexico believe that that recognition will right the wrongs of two hundred years ? If his recognition is redemptive, the step should have been taken two years ago and have shortened by so much the misery and death roll of that people. And notice this vacillation, that after adopting the policy of non-intervention, and after proposing to unite the different warring factions in order to secure a stable government, we have recognized the only leader among them all who spurned the proposals of the United States. Such is the man that the United States have recognized as the head of Mexican affairs — a man capable of perpetrating unspeakable villianies, unprint- able outrages, and unthinkable brutalities. His recognition means that Mexico is to be governed not by the worthy men who have fled the country, but by a gang of criminals, led by a prince of criminals, whose word and promise mean absolutely nothing. From our point of view, the recognition of Carranza is a crime against civilization and against humanity, and if we mistake not, he will prove not many months hence to be the most obdurate and troublesome foe to all things our government had hoped for, and in case of war, so far as an alliance between the United States and Mexico is concerned. Villa, bad as he is, would have been far more trustworthy and of greater service. After being helped into a position of authority by the United States and furnished with munitions of war, Carranza is just the man to sell out to Japan, Germany or any other country, or make alliances with them unfavorable to the United States, if a tempting offer were made. The recognition of that man Carranza from almost every point of view is not a step forward but a long step backward. Unfortunate Mexico, unwittingly but cowardly betrayed by the United States of America! And by this betrayal we have advanced towards the war zone instead of moving away from it, as presently will be seen. But we must leave Mexico, and call attention to another GOD AND WAR 13 splendid opportunity for the United States, to say something, or better do something, that might establish our right to an existence among the nations of the earth and gain God's approval. We have in inind the persecution of the people of Armenia. For information on this subject we have the report of the secretary of the Committee on Armenian Atrocities, Professor Samuel T. Dutton. And we have the statements of returned missionaries and those of the correspondents of the London Chronicle and the London Times. And we have the report of Monsignor Diilci, the apostolic delegate to Con- stantinople, and these earlier reports are now vouched for by British and Italian consuls, by physicians who are on the spot, and by officers and teachers of schools and colleges. These reports are so well authenticated that no possible doubt can longer be attached to them. The one impression received is that nothing more terrible and horrible in the way of fiendish persecution can be shown on the blood-stained pages of all the centuries. There has been a studied and systematic effort on part of the young Turks, led by Enver Pasha to exterminate an entire race of people. Those of the Armenians who are expelled can carry scarcely anything with them and their belongings that are left are taken possession of by Moslems who move into the vacated houses. In some instances women, stripped naked, are compelled to march day after day in that condition. Those defenceless and innocent non-Moslem Armenians are imprisoned, tortured and unspeakably mutilated. The population of some of the districts is completely annihi- lated. In a single afternoon the entire Armenian population of Trebizond, numbering ten thousand or more, were mur- dered. There are among those victims Christian families of the highest standing and young men and women who have been teachers and who have graduated from American colleges. Estimates are made that not fewer than two millions of these people have been murdered by the Turks since last May, or sent into exile — an exile worse than would be death by hang- man or gunman. The caravan routes are marked by the most gruesome sights imaginable of unburied and naked corpses. The mode of exile has been to send from each Armenian village day by day as many persons as a railroad train could 14 GOD AND WAR carry. An American missionary, who arrived at Constanti- nople the first week of last month, said that he had seen not fewer than fifteen thousand Armenians waiting at railroad stations to be sent "on a journey from which none would ever return." When these exiles reach Konish, or some adjacent station, they are taken from the train, conducted over Mt. Taurus, supplied with a small amount of food and are told to continue their journey to Mosul where they will find safety. But before many hours have passed they are met by marauding bands of Cossacks, Kurds and Bedouins who rob them of everything they had taken with them, then kill, or leave them to die of starvation and thirst. Not one of those victims ever is known to have reached the looked-for destination. Should one try to escape in any other direction than the one designated, or try to return to his own country, the journey would be a short one, for Turkish shepherds have orders to shoot all such at sight. And no one acquainted with Turks believes this inhumanity will cease until all Armenians are exterminated unless there are forcible measures to prevent it. Germany and Austria will not back up any protest that may be offered, and it is suspected that Germany is involved in the murderous plot. Count von Reventlow, in a Dutch publication, October 7th, unblushingly upholds these Turkish massacres. After referring to the request of the American Government that the German ambassador at Washington should use his influence with the German Government in behalf of the Armenians, the Count adds these words : There can be no question of meddling, at the instigation of a third party, with the affairs of our Turkish ally. If the Turkish authorities believe it opportune to take vigorous measures against unreliable, bloodthirsty, riotous Armenian elements, it is not only its right, but its duty to do so. Turkey can rest assured that Ger- many will always regard the matter as one concerning Turkey alone. So nmch for the German attitude. England, France and Russia can dp nothing for they are at war with Turkey. Mon- signor Diilci rightly declares in a published statement that if effective protest and help come at all it must be from America. But in all these months what has America been doing.?^ W'C have conferred with the German ambassador in W^ashing- ton to have these atrocities stopped. And our Secretary of GOD AND WAR 15 State sent a request direct to the Turkish government to desist from further persecutions. And is this all that our great Christian country is going to do about it? Great God! The wonder is that we have escaped chastisement as long as we have. But the mills grind late! Well, then, it is asked, W^ould you have the United States declare war against Turkey? W'e might do a worse thing. But if we should say to Turkey with something of the fiery em- phasis that the case demands, You stop your murderous work or we will stop it for you, so help us God! If we would say this, as it ought to be said, and with faith in God, such as we ought to have, Turkey would not exile another Armenian. Had we the faith in God and the courage of Cromwell, our country would have no fear of war with Turkey, whatever we might say or do in behalf of the Armenians. Cromwell, with sword in hand, said to the Duke of Savoy, "You stop the slaughter of the Alpine W'aldenses!" The duke trembled and obeyed. Is it to be supposed that if we had Cromwell's faith and his courage that Turkey would not tremble and obey if we gave command? And may we add that if we had faith in God and the courage becoming such a nation as ours, and had said to Germany when beginning to trample Belgium under foot, you stop or we will join the Entente Allies and fight you to a finish, Germany would have made her best bow and have found some other way to enter France. In evidence of what we are saying may^ we recall a few facts from a page or two of history, beginning in 1864. It was then that Maximilian sought to found a Roman Catholic empire in Mexico. He was supported by Austria, by France, and by the Vatican. And this was during the closing dark days of our Civil War, when it was thought that the critical conditions then existing were such as to prevent any protest on the part of the United States. But Secretary of State W'illiam H. Seward sent this mes- sage to Napoleon III: "You had better withdraw the French troops from Mexican soil without any unnecessary delay." Napoleon waited for no second admonition, but withdrew his army from Mexico, leaving Maximilian to his own fate. Austria did nothing. And the Vatican in no way interfered with the ruling of the United States, though Carlotta, the wife of Maximilian, went to Rome and plead with the Pope to help 16 GOD AND WAR her husband. She plead for two hours, left the Vatican, and has been a maniac ever since. Under a former Democratic administration, Mr. Cleveland notified the great British empire that the United States would take a hand in settling the Venezuelan matter. England might have said, "You attend to your business and we will attend to ours." But she did nothing of the kind; she did what the United States required. Does any one imagine that if Grover Cleveland were now our Democratic president that he would have allowed the British government during a year and more, in nearly a hun- dred of her ports, to hold up two thousand ships carrying American cargoes? Cleveland would have said, "Those ships are loaded with food for the hungry; it will damage if detained, and American shippers will lose millions of dollars ; let them go or the United States will set them free." In fewer than ten days the cargoes would have been on the way to their destination. Secretary of State John Hay made what would seem at the present time a tremendous stretch of American authority, if not an audacious interference in European and Asiatic affairs of state, when he informed the world that China must not be involved in the war between Russia and Japan, but nuist adhere strictly to neutrality. At that time not a country in the world ventured to question the requirement of our secretary. Europe, China, Japan, and later, Russia submitted and fell into line. The administration, right or wrong, recognized the Repub- lic of Panama. The Republic of Colombia bristled at the time, then became ostensibly submissive. The rest of the world hardly passed a criticism, but followed the example of the United States, recognizing tlie new republic. When a sort of rebellion started on the Isthmus of Panama, a few words were spoken by our representative there, a few blue jackets appeared on the scene, checked the uprising and quiet reigned as if there had been no outbreak. And now, what is the moral of these sayings and doings of the United States if not this, that we once were what we are not now, and that we have degenerated, and that if we keep on much longer we shall fail of having "an all-sufficient excuse" for an existence as a great republic, and leave a page GOD AND WAR 17 of history that will bring a blush to the faces of our descendants when reading it. It was John Bright, always our staunch friend, who said, that if the war against the Union (1860-1864) failed, and if the United States remained united for forty years, not a gun could be fired anywhere in the world without our consent. But John Bright then had in mind such a president as Lincoln, such a secretary of state as Seward, and such a secretary of war as Stanton. It is hardly believable, or scarcely thinkable, that Lincoln and Seward and Stanton would have permitted the humilia- tions that have been coming to our country almost every day of the week for the two or three years that have passed. And were John Bright living today it is likely enough he would take back every word of his remarkable prediction. From some points of view, in trying to escape from war, we are inviting and provoking it. And from similar points of view, Mr. Bryan and those who axe obstructing war pre- paredness are doing more than all our militant progressives in America to bring on the very thing they are trying to avert. The government protests, and Bryan-like gives a toss of the head, and wink of the eye, as much as to say, we can't fight, we won't fight, we would rather die than fight, which, of course, negatives any protest and invites more insults and a possible disaster. We may be pardoned for saying an additional word or two about Mr. Bryan, not because he is Mr. Bryan, that would make it scarcely worth while, but because he is a Chautauqua speaker, and represents a following, many of whom are honest but none the less perilous to the best interests of this country. We regard Mr. Bryan as one of the most danger-inviting men in this republic. He continues to boast that he has been instrumental in securing thirty or more peace treaties, but fails to see that at present they are scarcely worth the paper they are written on, and that they may prove, sooner or later, a serious entanglement and embarrassment to the United States. Such treaties are for times of peace, but avail nothing in times of war. July 1st of this year The Temps (Paris) published the following open letter by Baron Destournelles de Constant to William J. Bryan: 18 GOD AND WAR I fully understand that it is repugnant to you to see the United States join the belligerents and give the lives of your sons on the same side as ours, but it is much more repugnant to encourage crime by making it certain of immunity. The silence of the United States government in regard to the invasion of Belgium has surprised all your friends. The German people themselves wouM have been grateful to you for opening their eyes to the truth, which their own government has conceated from them. They would certainly have been impressed by the infamy and the enormity of the crimes for which they have been made responsible, if you had raised your voice; then they might, perhaps, have recoiled with horror. And what are you doing now.'* You are preaching peace. What kind of peace? A peace that will enable German militarism to retire from the struggle unhurt, to make preparations for another attempt whenever Germany thinks there is a chance to realize its fatal schemes of conquest. Excuse me, my dear Mr. Bryan, if I speak thus frankly. You are acting against your own purpose. You are running the risk of prolonging the war by your eloquence. You will cause still further bloodshed. The recruits who enlist under your flag are so many supporters lost to the good cause — the cause you have advocated all your life. We do not want the kind of peace you suggest. We do not understand it. We want to remain unregenerate sons of the French revolution and the defenders of liberty and justice, just as you are the sons of American independence. The peace that you expect to see when the combatants are worn out will not be our peace. Such a peace, or rather truce, would be worse than death. Does Mr. Bryan listen to this friend of his who doubtless has studied the peace and war problems with far more thorough- ness than Mr. Bryan ever has? Not at all, but he goes on repeating for the fiftieth time his Chautauqua lecture that contends for peace at any price. In the Wildman News Series, 1915, Mr. E. L. Fox reports an interview with Professor Ludwig Stein who had been the most noted disciple of the world's peace that Europe has known. In this interview the professor makes this confession: You cannot know or feel what it is to reach my age and then to realize that everything you have worked for is futile. It is a ter- rible thing to have attained sixty and then to have to renounce all your ideals — years and years of ideals. But I am convinced, alas, that the world today cannot be governed with oil of roses, but only with blood. It will take about a hundred years to educate and solidify the white race alone. It will take about ten thousand years, let us say, to educate all the races of the world and achieve a world brotherhood. GOD AND WAR 19 The great mistake that is made is in thinking that the ideals of the Bible are possible today. They are utterly impossible. I suggest armament for the United States. You say that this is against every teaching of the peace propagandist in your country. Alas, armament is for this day and generation. If the people of the United States believe that the peace movement is bound to save them from war, they have either totally misconstrued it or they have been grossly misinformed. A nation must be prepared for war. If the rulers of a nation leave their country unprepared they are guilty of criminal neglect. In China its four hundred millions of people are unprepared, and are therefore at the mercy of a few million Japanese who are prepared. That is because in this generation might is right, and all that we workers for peace can do, without injuring our States, is to face the facts of this- generation, be prepared for war, if war there is to be, and keep on working for our ideal. Anything else is a dream. No statement of the case could be wiser than this of Professor Stein. But does Mr. Bryan listen to this distin- guished advocate of peace who has been compelled by the stern logic of events to abandon views formerly held and advo- cated .^^ Mr. Bryan listen! Is that his way? Is it occasion for surprise, therefore, that the general public has a growing conviction that Mr. Bryan's conceit is of colossal magnitude? And, as before suggested, Mr.' Bryan's position and effort are leading straight away from the path of peace to that of war. And God does not seem to be profoundly recognized by him as he should be, though prayer is offered three times a day. The words of Mr. Bryan, repeated by him east and west, are enough to make the blood of a sensitive man boil. This is what he says: If any nation challenges us it is our duty to say, "With the wel- fare of a hundred million of people to look after, and the priceless traditions to preserve, we will not get down with you and wallow in human blood." Such a statement is an insult to every soldier who has fought for his country's honor or safety. Almost everything this ex-secretary of state has said, or has done, makes one feel as Elbert Hubbard was wont to say: "If this is the path of sanity, kindly direct me to the bug-house." Mystics have their place and are entitled no doubt to a goodly seat on some platform somewhere, but at the present 20 ^ GOD AND WAR time that place is not in tlie halls of legislation, nor in the United States war office. Not mystics, but courageous, wise and unselfish God-fearing statesmen should be in evidence there. Oiu* peace advocates some day will learn, too late, perhaps, that the way to have peace is not to be too eager for it, but to be ready to engage in war, when it is an honorable war- fare that confronts us. He that is willing to lose his life shall in the sublimest sense find it. One of Emerson's immortal stanzas fits the hour in which we are living : Though love repine and reason chafe, There came a voice without reply, — '"Tis man's perdition to be safe When for the truth he ought to die." One is reminded in this we are saying of an incident in Israelitish history. It was in the days of Jeremiah the prophet. At that time there were i)eace-at-any-price people who through fear of the king of Babylon thought best to go to Egypt in order to escape war. But the Lord through his prophet gave this admonition and command: Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to dehver you from his hand. But if ye say. We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the Lord your God, saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of a trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell; now, therefore, hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; then it shall come to pass that the sword which ye feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egyj)t, and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the ])estilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. And ye shall be an execra- tion, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more. Know certainly that I have admonished you this day.— Jer. 42:11-19. That seems to be what Jehovah thinks of a people who would piu'chase peace at any price. The trouble, as we said before, is that we are ruling God and his righteousness out of the equation and substituting GOD AND WAR 21 in their place a peace that is shanieful and a safety that is disgraceful to our humanity, and as the prophet said, a peace that is ''an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach," a peace that makes war on the United States not only possible, but probable. Peace advocates could do worse than commit to heart Lincoln Colcord's poem, entitled, Vision of War. This is what he says about peace: Peace is the cry of the world, O let me be! Peace is the cry of the body, O hurt me not! Permit me to eat my fill, sleep, be warm and contented; I wish everyone in the world were as happy as I am; And I think if everyone had lived as well as I have, and worked as hard, he might be just as happy; So let us have peace, and all will turn out well. What ask you, Soul? Ask you these things? (Tell me first if there are any wrongs to be righted; Tell me if justice is everywhere accomplished; Tell me if all men, rich and poor alike, are paid according to their just deserts; Tell me if governments are performing Avorks of brotherhood and love ; Tell me if parliaments are voting righteousness; Tell me if citizens are intelligently supporting righteousness; Tell me if democracy is free and universal; Tell me if greed, and selfishness, and insincerity have vanished from the world; For I am pledged beyond transgression to fight the fight of truth, in every time and place; And until I look upon the face of truth enthroned, I may not rest or falter.) And now are we confronted with this question. Is not God for peace, and notwithstanding our transgressions and remissness, cannot he interpose and save us from war and bloodshed? The careful student of history is often inclined to think that God is for war, and very decidedly. Let me say in passing that the assumption that God is always for peace is as unwar- ranted in the sacred Book and by existing facts as anything one can imagine. They were the false prophets, under the old dispensation, who were all the while crying for peace. They were on the other hand the Jehovah prophets who constantly responded, there shall be no peace. 22 GOD AND WAR We are aware, nevertheless, that the Bible is appealed to by our peace advocates and for a proof text they repeat the command, "Thou shalt not kill." Those words were placarded on the walls of the Congregational Hall, Beacon Street, of a Monday morning a while ago when the ministers had assembled there to talk of peace. But if these words, "Thou shalt not kill" are forced into a literal and unqualified meaning then our forefathers should not have battled the Indians who raided for seventy years the frontier settlements of New England. If the command, "Thou shalt not kill" is without limitation, then one should not protect one's self by killing tigers, wolves, wildcats, snakes and other destructive animals. All boy scouts should be disbanded for a part of their duty has been to kill flies, mosquitos, and gypsy moth pests in their breeding places or elsewhere; and all meat- eaters are under condemnation, for they are in league with the butcher. But is not this forcing an interpretation beyond sensible limitations? Well, then, let the interpretation be limited to our hiiman kind. May I, or may I not, strike the villain who is assaulting my wife or child, even if the blow I strike is fatal? The judg- ment may be wrong, but one may doubt very much' the Christianity of a man who, seeing a brute making an assault on a woman or a child, hurries home to read a chapter in the Bible and offer prayer for his daily bread, instead of leveling his gun, if he has one, straight at the miscreant and pulling the trigger when the sight is at its best. But what have our peace advocates to say as to that other command? "Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed." "Thou shalt not kill"! Those words under a strict, literal interpretation are nonsense in the kingdom and administration of God, and it is well to remember that "W'itli- out the shedding of blood there is no remission." "The scarlet thread" is an ordination of heaven and is an object4esson on every page of geological and human history. The evident meaning, therefore, of the command, "Thou shalt not kill" is this, "Thou shalt not commit murder." And war is not always murder. If it were then some of the com- mands of Jehovah are murderous. We read in the book of Chronicles that the armies of GOD AND WAR 23 Reuben fought the Hagarites and were victorious, and the reason given is this : "Because the war was of God." And other passages read thus: The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name; shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Thus saith the Lord, I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and I create evil; I the Lord do all these things. One man of you shall chase a thousand : for the Lord your God he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised. But what you are quoting, someone is saying, is from the Old Testament. Well, we have the feeling that the Old Tes- tament is still of use and contains lessons of much value that the twentieth century would do well to heed. The critical Bible student, without difficulty, is able to find the Old Testa- ment concealed in the New, and the New concealed in the Old; the Book is one, though the Testaments are two. But let us turn for a moment to the New Testament and we shall find that the war spirit of the Old Testament is not an absent factor. We read in the New Testament that: There was war in Heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought with his angels. — Rev. 12 : 7. We need not discuss the question whether this passage is to be interpreted literally or figuratively, but manifestly in in either case the meaning is that no place in the universe is too sacred for warfare if causes exist that demand an armed force, either that of aggression or resistance. Probably our peace advocates would have urged Michael to let the dragon alone, that it was none of his business; and then there would have been peace in Heaven (?) No! There would have been hell in Heaven. Peace did not come there until the dragon was vanquished and cast out, and his angels with him. (Rev. 12:7-9.) It was the Apostle Paul who commended those biblical heroes who "waxed valiant in the fight" and "turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Heb. 11:24.) A profounder state- ment of the rightness and purpose of enforced judicial and military authority cannot be found than that announced in Paul's letter to the Romans: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt 24 GOD AND WAR thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same; for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. — Romans 13:3-4. And what saith the Lord, our Master.'* "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I am come not to send peace but a sword." — Matt. 10: 34. He that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buv one. — Luke 22:36. This command shows this at least, that there are times when the sword is called for. Is the reply heard that Christ was more an advocate of peace than of war.^ To be sure; but the peace of wdiicli he spoke to his disciples was not freedom from war among nations, but rather w^as the peace of God in the human soul; a peace that can triumph amid tempests, pestilence, the carnage of battlefields, and death in any form — that was the peace of which Christ spoke, and that he still gives to those who follow him. The battlefield rather than freedom from war is the world's inheritance and will be of God's permission, if not of his order- ing, to the end of time, and nothing Christ ever said promises any different outcome. This is what he says: And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles. — Matt. 24:7-8. Do the great men of the day, and our peace advocates think they know better of these things than did the Lord Christ? And in the modern sense Christ was not altogether a peace advocate. He made an assault upon the Scribes, Phari- sees and hypocrites in language that almost strikes terror to those who now read it. And he drove headlong from the temple traders and money-changers who had made the temple of God a place of merchandise. But someone asks, what about a passage in the prophecy of Isaiah w^hich reads thus: GOD AND WAR 2.5 They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. — Isaiah 2:4. Though this is from the Old Testament, still our peace folks are ringing all sorts of changes on the words, regardless of the seeming conflict with the prophecy of Christ and with words spoken elsewhere in both the Old and New Testaments. But let us see as to the significance of these supposed Old Testament prophetic words. The reading is this: And many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. This is to be noticed, that these are the words of a gather- ing of Gentile people who were looking and hoping for peaceful conditions they never found. These, therefore, are not the words of Isaiah, whose prophecies are never in conflict with the teachings of Christ. Isaiah merely recorded the words of the people who spoke them. The Bible reader should always distinguish between what the Bible says and what is said in the Bible. And then there is another announcement apparently overlooked by the advocates of peace in which this command is spoken: Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. — Joel 3:9-10. To tell the truth, w^e are tired of the unqualified reproaches cast upon war and of the oft repeated saying that "War is hell," though these words were first spoken by one of our bravest and noblest generals. Pardon me for saying that I am not altogether unfamiliar with war. 1 was in the war that cost the United States millions of money, and in round numbers, north and south, five hundred thousand lives, the flower of that generation. 26 GOD AND WAR I fought through the jungles and swamps of Louisiana and along the bayous of Mississippi and before the rifle pits of Port Hudson, and until the present war with its submarines, Zeppelins, and shells filled with poisonous gases, unknown in the days of our Civil War, I venture to say that there are no horrors in warfare except death and mutilation that I have not experienced or witnessed. The present war with its carnage, and appalling sacrifice of human life, horrible beyond description, is also in some measure understood, and yet we insist, while there have been and are still battle scenes that are like hell, that war is not always hell, and that there are conditions and experiences far worse than war. "The destruction of life is bad," says Dr. Hedge, "but it is not the worst of evils. The waste of property, the desolation of cities and villages, the ruin of families, the tears of widow\s and orphans are bad, but the sacrifice of justice, the abandon- ment of principle, the loss of a nation's rights, are worse, in- finitely worse, for these are the only things that make life worth having; and if these can be maintained only at the expense of life, who would not say, let life be the price and let it be spent like water for the redemption or preservation of these better and greater things." "W'hile to engage in war without a clear necessity is a crime," says Southey, "still when the necessity is clear, it then becomes a crime to shrink from it. The soldier is not regarded in the Scriptures as the author of war, nor is he armed to encourage war; but is a minister of righteousness authorized to protect society and maintain order and tranquility." It would seem, therefoi'e, that the beautiful plea of non- resistance and non-interference under certain conditions in which society any day may find itself is defensible upon no conceivable ground; it is neither safe, sound, philanthropic nor religious. While we do not agree with everything said by ex-Presi- dent Roosevelt, yet his speech at the University of Paris while touring Europe, is beyond criticism : The good man should be strong and brave, that is to say, capable of fighting, of serving his country as a soldier, should the occasion arise. There are well-intentioned philosophers who declaim against the iniquity of war. They are right, provided they insist merely GOD AND WAR 27 on the iniquity. War is a horrible thing; and an unjust war is a crune against humanity. But it is a crime of this sort because it is unjust, not because it is war. The choice should always be in favor of right, whethei- the alternative is peace or war. The question should not be simply: Is there going to be peace or war.? but should be: Shall the cause of right prevail.^ Are the great laws of justice once more to be observed.? And the reply of a strong and virile people will be: Yes, whatever the risk may be. The fact is that the day on which moral evil entered this world and corrupted human hearts, upon that day the sword began to have its use— even at the gates of Paradise and in the hands of angels and will continue to have its use until evil no longer exists. Wliile wheat and tares grow together on the same soil, and on the same soil they will grow until Christ comes, conflict with arms must be provided for. Peace measures in which the sword is dishonored or forgotten more than once have been tried; but with results strikingly uniform. Carlyle, speaking of a time in Great Britain when peace senti- ments were in the air, employed these words : The English nation, having flung its old Puritan sword and Bible faith into the cesspool, or, rather, having set its old Bible faith, minus any sword, well up in the organ-loft, with plenty of revenue, there to preach and organ at discretion, on condition always of meddling with nobody's practice, thought the same a mighty pretty arrangement, but found it hitch before long. And if there were no force back of civil law it would be only a name and one would scarcely dare walk day or night the streets of any large city. And if there were no warships, the plunder and treachery of black flags would imperil the commerce of all oceans and seas. It is equally true that all judicial processes rest upon this fundamental principle of restraint by fear or force. Whenever the existence of law and a magistrate to enforce it are neces- sary, that moment the presence of the sw^ord and likewise its use, are also necessary. It is a maxnn recognized by all jurists and statesmen that "Law is a dead letter unless there is force behind it." No representation or symbol of justice is complete except sword in hand — a sword always unsheathed. To lose faith in the Puritan sword and to fling it as Carlyle would say, "into the cesspool," or in other words, not to provide adequate military defences, and not faithfully to 28 GOD AND WAR cultivate the military spirit at least until evil in the land shall cease, is not only treason to the state, but is unchristian in spirit. The day for melting cannon into church bells will be when men do as they would be done by, loving philanthropy better than greed or plunder. The longed-for day for beating swords into ploughshares will not have its sunrise until ploughshares can tin-n the furrow without fear of the bludgeon, nor until all other industries can be pursued without fear of cobble- stones, in the hands of an angry mob; but that day is not yet. It is not fitting at this time to engage in a discussion of the merits or demerits of any of our great labor strikes. But our contention with peace advocates in every case is this, that they are wrong in trying to put an end to war, instead of trying to put an end to that which makes war necessary, and there- fore justifiable in the sight of an infinite God. When strikes are in progress, the calling out of the militia, and even the calling out of the regular army, are not things to be deplored. It might be, in the state, a crime not to do this. Wliat is to be deplored are the causes that demand the presence of the state and national troops. The brickbat in the hands of workmen, the grinding greed of mine owners, and the ostenta- tion of wealth, are the cause of the trouble. Wlien, therefore, the brickbat goes to his place in the sidewalk, and mine owners are fair and considerate in their dealings, and when Christian socialism prevails, then guns may be stacked and swords go into the scabbard; but not till then. There exists at the present time an organization known as the "Carnegie Endowment." Its treasury holds one hun- dred million dollars, with an annual income of five hundred thousand. If this income is to be used to remove the causes of war, we commend it; but if used for seeking peace at any price, we would put every dollar of it back into the iron mines from which it was dug. Such endowment may become an agency very embarrassing to the general government and by its ample supply of funds may some day be a national menace, "a meddlesome nuisance," and a curse worse than national poverty. And the same may be said of the two million dollars set aside by Mr. Ford, of automobile fame, for use against national armament and in the interest of the peace propa- ganda — as if money in a world like this can secure or keep the GOD AND WAR 29 peace! Peace is not a thing to be bought or bribed, flattered or coaxed. It will come of itself when the world is ready for it. Most of the peace efforts now making are, therefore, of the least possible account. The society called the "League to Enforce Peace," a name that seems self-contradictory, of which ex-President Taft is president, and the "National Security League," the "Massachusetts Peace Society," "The Navy League," "The Woman's Peace Party," and others like them, are of no avail except as they make for preparedness, and help in the recognition of God as the infinite Ruler, at whose disposal is the destiny of nations. When the Apostle to the Gentiles said, "W^ork out your own salvation (preparedness) with fear and trembling (without conceit), for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (the co-operation of God and man)" (Phil. 2: 12), he announced what is fundamental and, there- fore, applicable to individuals and to nations the world over. Any different scheme for securing peace is to play with bubbles, or possibly with matches. Herbert Spencer showed himself not a keen prophet when he wrote that competition in traffic and industry among the nations will some day take the place of war. For was it not jealousy between England and Germany, growing out of corn- petition in traffic and industry, that had no little to do in bringing on the present war? A statement made by Admiral Fisk, that one may think needs qualification, is to the effect that while Christianity, as compared with civilization and commerce, furnishes the greatest hope for universal peace, yet even Christianity will fail to bring peace to the world, if not permitted to bring something else first. As evidence of this, the Admiral points to the singular fact that the warring nations are now evoking Christianity in order to stimulate patriotism, arouse the war spirit and thus actually to exert a powerful influence, not towards peace but towar