CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2681, 29 January 1916, Page 9

CHURCH AND WAR

• THE CLERGY AT THE FRONT "A TOWER OF STRENCTH AND A RALLYING POINT." Mr. John Redmond, referring to his recent visit to the front, said: "No one could go as I went and see the Catholic, Protestant, and Presbyterian chaplains working hand in hand in ( the true spirit of Christian brotherhood, or witness, as I did, the wave of religious emotion and enthusiasm which sways the troops of all religions, without admitting that with all its horrors war does bring out something noble in human nature. The priests and parsons are doing the noblest work,

and many of the generals and commanders I spoke to said that, altogether apart from the religious administration of these men, each one was a tower of strength, a tonic, a rallying-point for the regiments to which lie was attached, and that they were invaluable."

A WONDERFUL SERVICE. "MADE US FEEL THAT DEATH WAS NOTHING." An officer in tlio Indian force now operating m Mesopotamia ' writes 'as tollons to the London."Morning Post": fne Bishop -of Lahore is with us (our r*ost advanced position), and the great man and his two chaplains are amongst us, living as we do and sharing our discomforts. It is very noble of him to come, as he is an oldish man, and I need hardly say how much we all appreciate his devotion. We shall, all of Us, be in battle before long, and the Bishop and his men are' here to see us' through with it. It is- grand of them,' an T presence will be of the greatest help to us, especially to the sick and wounded. There is Holy Communion every morning at seven o'clock; so that some time during the week every one will probably get a chance ot attending. » , evening we 'had service at six o clock, just as the sun set, and a nearly full inoon rose in the sky. It was a wonderful .service, the men in 'shirt sleoves, with their rifles beside them, on three sides of a 'square, with the officers on the fourth side,' and' slightly in advancej the Bishop and his chaplains in the centre of the square with the Union Jack draped over 'some planks to make an altar. Save that an aeroplane hovered round and swooped down like a great, bird returning to eartli to rest, the endless buzz close by, and from the outposts the signal lights flashing across the Headquarters, the camp might have been at' evening service in_ peace, time Our thoughts went far from war as wo sang the old hymns and'listened to one of the' finest sermons I ever heard—most inspiring, simple, and eloquent: a sermon that the slowest ■ witted of the men could understand. . The old man, with, his hands lifted up in the moonlight, took us out of ourselves hack among our own .families and our own . people, to our own towns and village homes. He made us see the privilege of fighting in this war,' fighting with God, for God; and he made us feel that death was nothing, a mere glorious entry amongst the hosts of the Lord and His Elect. •

He has visited, t'he scenes of air our battles, consecrating the cemeteries and burying places, and, lonely graves of those,who have, fallen on oiir long line of advance. _ The difficulties and hardships and risks he must'have 'experienced and been subject to have been very great; but. he has done all this, and surely no man .-ould have done more, for our dead and living.

A BENEDICTINE SOLDIER. I ' ' , SUPREME BRAVERY. In a letter to the "Semaine Religieuse de ]a Rochelle," a priest to ' the Cathedral now a lieutenant,' -writes of certain attacks in the Champagne district:— "The dominant talk here among officers and men who have returned from these attacks is of the heroic death of Pere R-icard, 0.5.8. A former student of Saint-Cyr, he became a Benedictine. He went to the front as a sub-lieuten-

ant, was twice wounded, and had just been promoted to full lieutenant. I believe he was the officer' held'in the highest estimation of all his comrades. He compelled respect, and it was said of him: 'He is a superman; he dominates us all.'' Everybody rendered homage to the nobility, greatness, and extraordinary dignity of his character, and he was certainly one of the finest figures, of a' priest I have,ever known. His company had to attack a second-lino trench protected by an entanglement of barbed wire.some thirty metres deep. He had' brought up his company, and the'men were at work cutting the wire' -yvhen he was hit for the first time. He retired to get his wound dressed and returned immediately to his men. Struck again, he.again returned after a hasty dressing. The next bullet killed him. His heroic conduct is the admiration of everybody; the bravest feel themselves surpassed. Pere Ricard to all a soldier's bravery joined the most perfect spirit of priestly sacrifice.!'

5 SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIANS. I" ' THE RECRUITING APPEAL. At all tho three I sions held ill Scotland recently, the great- question discussed was the relation of ministers to tho recruiting appeal. The Procurator of the Church of Scotland (Sheriff Johnston, K.C.), with lawyer-like precision, gave the quietus to the notion that it might be possible to form one or two battalions of Scottish ministers, as the most' careful calculations disclosed that there were not more than 380 ministers of military age ill the A Church. A resolution was adopted recommending Presbyteries to do all they could to encourage and assist minis-. [ ters in placing their services at tlio military disposal of the country, and asking the committee to confer with representatives of other Churches when found expedient. The United Free Church Commission gave an 'even stronger lead to its younger ministers. They most earnestly exhorted the men of their Church to give the appeal their most serious consideration in view of the tremendous issues for Christian civilisation and freedom which are at stake, not only for this nation and Empire, but for Europe and for the world. They did so in the confident expectation that all who were, or could be. free to serve, and were not already engaged in some form of national service, would respond to tliis_ call upon their manhood, and would join tho ranks of those who had already given themselves to 'maintain the cause of righteousness and to secure a, worthy and abiding peace. ; _ ■ Somo of the most distinguished clergy of .tho Presbyterian Church' have devoted a great deal of their time to: work among tho soldiers. An official roll reveals the striking fact that, with very few exceptions, all the manses of the. Established Church of Scotland have given every available sou to the service of the Empire. The total works out at 00 per cent. It is claimed that the devotion of the sons of the Manse to the State has never been so complete and so splendid as it.is to-day. KEEN INTEREST. 1 PREACHER BOMBARDED WITH QUESTIONS. At the evening service at Carrs Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham, a letter was read from the pastor, tho Rev. Sidney M. Berry, who was with Berry,.mnfttu

"First of all, give my heartiest greet® ings to all the members of the church, and tell them from me that all the expectations I had formed on the importance of the work out here axe more than fulfilled. This letter is being written in a tent, by a very uncertain light, and very soon I am to give a religious address to the men, and to be bombarded with their questions afterwards. This is the method which I find drives the message home in the very best way. And don't they ask questions eagerly, and especially the men who have' had a taste of actual fighting. The stern issues of life and death have brought some of them, for. the first time 'intc touch with the realities, and their religious questioning rises from a fresh and intense interest. lam engaged on this Hnil of work most nights in the week in one or other of the' six centres of work which we liave in this district. Last night (Sunday) I was taking the service at our hut on tho railway station, where we get the men- passing through on their way to and from the fighting line. It was a striking experience, and I had a clearer sense of the supreme urgency of the message of the Gospel than is ordinarily in the rniiid when preaching."

BAPTIST CHAPLAIN'S LETTER. ' A TOUCHING STORY. ' '' •When the Rev. D. J. Hiley.'the pastor of Chatsworth ltoad Baptist Church AYesfc Norwood, decided to become .Army chapluin, Gvcrvono who knew,him recognised that ho was an .ideal, man l lost (says the "Christian World ). Physically big and strong, with a lino fund of humour and a great, ■generous heart overflowing with sympathy, it is difficult to conceive a man more suited for the arduous and responsible duties of a chaplain to H.M. Forces. So popular is ho already with the men that,: as he says in a .letter to his congregation, he has, like a popular doctor, to book times for, the men to visit him, and ho gets to know so much about them" that he could write their biographies. • , ■ ■ When he bade farewell to his congregation some six, months ago, he told tliem that lie was simply obeying the. supreme call of duty; and that he was going to the front prepared to help the boys in any emergency. -• In a letter to his congregation he tells,a touching story. He says: "The other night I went to a big hospital, which used to be a casino, on. one of the. Jovely boulevards facing the sea at 'Havre. Some of tlio men are' convalescent, others are.bruised' and broken lor life, and oh the enormous stretch of beds are wan and. eager faces whoso minds and hearts ■ are far away over the sea to their beloved homes.

"As I sit in a corridor facing the sea and. Tvatcli' tlio sua sink and the moon spread her silver, sheen over, the rippling, waves I- am called to see-a man who is. dangerously: ill, ' He is a sweetfaced boy of nineteen, who has played a bravo part, but who is now .m'the last long vale of tears.- We talk of Jesus and His abiding love, and -lie •starts up and says: .'I was thinking just then of father and mother and home-. I should like to see them before I go.' I have to make a great effort at self-control. 'Yes, you would, my dear lad; but I will stand in their place as far as I can.' He gives me his last messages, and as the time for departure draws nigh le still holds my hand. Then he whispers: 'Will you.kiss me for my mother 1' I kiss him, and feel that my heart must break as he passes to his eternal nome."

FRENCH PRIEST SOLDIERS; . A BISHOP IN THE RANKS. The Rev. F. A. Cardew, an Anglican chaplain of a. Paris church, in ; tli9 course of a lecture at the Bedford College on bis experiences during the war, ,said:— "TheOhurch in France was taking » deeper and surer. hold upon the affections of the people every day that passed. It was instructive to note how this change came about. It had done so in a totally unexpected way, and it illustrated how measures designed to injure the Church had turned to her Rood. In 1889 and' 1905 a hostile Government passed a law compelling all priests and ecclesiastical students to serve in the. ranks of the army. It was hoped in this way to stem the jfcide of religious vocations. The cry was sent up, "Les cures sac au dos"—Let the priests wear the knapsack as other men. This law had to-day sent into the trenches and barracks over 20,000young priest-soldiers. ■ It was the influence of theso young soldier priests which had worked such wondroua changes on the army and manhood of the nation.

"Among the clergy at . the fjgntwere three bishops—Mgr; Ruch, .Coadjutor dE Nancy, a braucardier (stretcherbearer) ; Mgr.. Perros, Vicar-Apostolio jf Siarn, 2nd Lieutenant in an infantry regiment; and Mgr. Mourey, Bishop of the Gold Coast, a simple private and under the orders of a young cure. "Imagine," said the lecturer, "our dearBishop of London a private soldier under the command of one of the curates sf his diocese." . . . And it was tvell known that, whenever were called for.to perform some dangerous task the French soldier priest was the first to step forward saying, "I am an unmarried man." As giving some insight... into tha spirit of these priests fighting in the trenches, the lecturer- read passages from two letters. Tho first, was from a noting priest who exerted a .splendid influence in the workmen's clubs of.hisparish in the diocese of Paris and was a.' sergeant in his regiment. He was Icilled in Lorraina on-September'6. A iveek before his dbatli he wrote to his jure:— , .. "I|have n.ade the sacrifice of-'my life thoroughly, and' I trust cheerfully. I jffer it' for all "I love—my parents! my Eriends, and especially for my dear parish of Le" Perreu'x, that I love-more than .ever., I be]ieve that the. blood of the priests of. France ;is' necessary-.'for the • redemption of our'nation.! 1 QUICK PROMOTION. The Jlev. Frank Edwards, a - Hull Wesleyaii: minister, • who; enlisted as a private in-the Royal Fusiliers, has had extraordinarily r,apid. : promotion. He passed speedily'through the grades of non-com. rank_to platoon sergeant, and in March received a-commission in- th& same battalion." 'At' School of Musketry ho'gairied'the'"distiriguished" mark, and was/appointed muiketry officer to the battalion with the rank of lieutenant. His" efficiency" in this capacity attracted the'-notice of.the General, and he has.now-been : made captain of C Company. AN INVENTIVE MINISTER. The Rev. D. R. Lewis, the Baptist minister at West Vale, Halifax, has recently perfected a new weapon' by which Zeppelin air craft may be attacked. Tho invention has : been offered to the Government, ivbich is corresponding with'the inventive minister with a view to its adoption. Mr. Lewis, .who is a former Manchester College student, has several mechanical inventions to his nredit, including some improvements in agricultural machinery and some navaj. appliances. NARROW ESCAPES. The Rev. H. B. Cowl, a Wesloyan chaplain, was severely wounded in the recent fighting in Flanders, and also had a narrow escape from death on his iva.v home. He was on board the hospital ship Anglia when she was sunk by x mine, and was thrown into tho~se», ; but managed to climb on '. to a raft* ind was saved. He is now malting