BRITAIN AND GERMANY I

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1090, 31 March 1911, Page 2

BRITAIN AND GERMANY I

STIRRING ORATION BY PROFESSOR HARNACK. PEACE, THE PASSWORD. NOTABLE GATHERING OF THE CHURCHES. Tho culminating feature of Professor Harnack's all too brief visit to England took place in the Small Queen's Hall, London, on February G, when ho deliver-, od a great oration at the inaugural meeting of the British Council, which has been created to foster friendly relations between tho peoples of Britain and Germany. The "platform" was a striking tribute not only to tho representative character of the council, but to the admiration felt for Dr. Harnnck, one of the first scholars and one of the most influential personalities in Europe. pr. Harnack was accompanied by his mend Dr. Spicckcr, and among others supporting tho Archbishop of Canterbury, who was m the chair, were the Bishops of Hereford, Southwark, Lichfield, and t ~!, 5 r - cl 'ff°rd, Monsignor Moyes, U>n l Blythewood, Lord Kinnaird, the Rev. u Silvester Home, M.P., Mr. W. 11. Dickinson, MP, Mr. J. Allen Baker, M-L„ Sir John Kennawav, Bart., Sir George White, M.P., Dr. "Scott Lidgett, •Key. J. H. Shakesneare, M.A., Mr. Barrow Cadbury, and Sir Mark Stewart. In a brief speech the Archbishon donned the purpose, of the meetim? and the aims of the British Council. "Wo want," said Dr. Davidson, "each of the two great nations to have a solid 'core of men and women who will make war, or the spirit which gives rise to war, difficult, unlikely, and ultimately imnossible." After Dr. Sniocker, president of tho German Committee, had assured his hearers that "tho German people has no greater desire than to live in neaco with 2,' 1 : IF* neighbours, and especially with the British nation," Professor Harnaek rose and received a stauding welcome. In the prime of life, of medium height, with a noble head, a slender, erect figure, and a clear, strong voice, Dr. Harnack possesses every gift of the orator. His face revealed the. subtlest change of his thought as, with free and graceful gestures, he delivered in German a sneech which from its opening to its close maintained the highest level of thought and feeling. Itis a very high honour and pleasure he said, "to address this assembly in the name of the German Committee. I alone bear the responsibility of what I may say to you; but be assured that the spirit of respect and of admiration, of friendship, and of peace, which animates myself m relation to your neople, permeates also the German nation. "Priceless Treasure." "All of us wish pence-but the wish alone does not produce this priceless treasure, and tho wish aloi.e is not able to preserve it. Peace is a fruit, and fruits are harvested only when good seed has been, sown, and the young plants tended until they yield their produce. Rightly then have the united committees of the churches of Britain and.Germany called themselves not committees for tho fostering of peace, but committees for the fostering of friendly relations between tho two P ? oples V.„ P , cnce , is likewise not the.fruit ot a skilful political policy. A skilful policy may accomplish, much good, and may for a long period postpone strife ami war, but it has no power to guaranteo peace. Policy can but shape; it can never create. Political policy can onlv accomplish so much as the forces operative- among a people permit. Political policy is the exponent, not the basis!''-' Indeed, m our day it is too often -latent war. .... , . ~ "We dare not cast forth this ideal' of brotherhood from the realm of politics; wo are bound to recognise its validity even there. .Wo ought not to act as i'f our' Christianity bound us only in-tho homo and in the Church, whilst elsewhere its authority failed; as if the sword of the barbarian maintained a lawful place among us! Strike out tho wars which have been undertaken from motives of covetousness and envy, ambition' and pride,-and we shall. see how. .much occasion and material of.war and bloodshed would still bo left! If the conviction.that wo are brothers has indeed permeated the peoples, and they labour in fraternal rivalry, we may bo: content to wait and see . whether the natural and calm course of things will really affect any people so evilly that it is compelled to draw the sword. I will tell you what would really happen—the case of a people sinking into the.depths will,only occur when the people no longer'works, and when it no longer works it will bo no longer able to draw tho sword. But who among us would desire such a fate for any one of the European peoples?, Rather wo would look on them as brothers alongside ourselves. "Among all these brothers, none in Europe stands nearer to us than the English people. We are bound to the English by blood relationship, by a national culture essentially the same" amidst all differences, and for centuries past by a vast interchange of thoughts and resources. Joy has been shaken forth as from a horn of plenty,' joy in the aid which we have rendered' to one another. All that separates us is changing and perishable; but the elements that bind us together are pure and eternal; we are linked by brotherhood, by the possession of a common ancestry and common heroes and leaders. We are linked by a common joy in the good, the true, and the beautiful in its Teutonic form. The Dirty Web of Envy. "On the marble walls of your house and of ours," he concluded, "let no spider hang her dirty web of envy, and let no knave be permitted to disturb by provocative words the rivalry of wortliy labour. To suppress these mischiefs will be tho most important service of your | committee and of our committee in our own land. Nevertheless, we shall also have a positive work to do—to promote a continuously more activo interchange of our mental treasures, so that, as liio years pass, we may know one another better, tho brotherly sentiment between us may become warmer, and the capital of our common joy may for ever increase. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, penco'—be that our password!" Dr. Harnack spoko throughout with intense earnestness, and his speech was frequently interrupted by applause. At its conclusion tho Bishop of Southwark (Dr. Talbot) said: "You may go far before you will hear a finer speech than the one just delivered." Dr. Talbot, in moving tho first resolution embodying the constitution of tho British Council, referred to the armaments of Europe as "a portentous and scandalous fact." Dr. Clifford, in seconding, spoke of the joy it was to some of "us younger men" to see Dr. Harnack, who had been on our library shelves for many years. Dr. Clif- ! ford expressed the opinion that the moral i emotion of tho nation was being transferred towards peace. The second resolution appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury President of tho council, and electing the vice-presi-dents, was moved by the Bishop of Meath,' and seconded by Mr. J. Allen Baker, M.P. The third resolution electing the officers aucl Executive Committee was moved by Monsignor Moyes. who brought the cordial good wishes of the Archbishop of Westminster, and seconded by Sir Mark M'Taggart Stewart. Dr. Harnack, nsked by a representative of "The Daily News" whether undogmntie Christianity as presented in his work entitled "What is Christianity?" was making progress in Germany, replied. "Undogmatic! No. He who believes in God is not 'undogmntie'! As regards tho presentation of Christianity in . .my book that presentation is gradually finding acceptance, but T find that the extremists are not pleased with me. I am not destructive enough for them," smilingly added the Professor.