A Painful Omission.—In a recent issue of The Sword and the Trowel, Dr. Dixon rightly draws attention to the absence of any religious reference in the diplomatic documents relating to the war. Under the heading of “A Painful Omission,” Dr. Dixon says: “In no official document from England, France, Russia, or Italy have we seen a reference to God. Our public men who are known to be Christians seem to avoid studiously all mention of God in their speeches. We are told that this omission is caused by the reaction which everyone feels against the flamboyant manner in which the Kaiser proclaims himself the representative of God on earth. But are we justified in ignoring God because we believe that His name is taken in vain by an egotistical, if not an insane emperor? Will the God who has been England’s protector so often in the past, hold this nation guiltless in ignoring His very existence in this time of national need?”
Some Good War Books.—In these days when one’s thoughts are so much taken up with war, it is an edifying and instructive exercise to read the lives of soldiers good and true who, while serving their earthly king with honour, never forgot their allegiance to the King of kings. Among these may be mentioned the biographies of Colonel Gardiner, Colonel Blackadder, and Captain Hedley Vicars. In the same line an interesting booklet has recently been reprinted by Messrs. Farncombe, entitled Sin and Grace; or, The Early Life and Closing Days of a Highland Soldier. The booklet is sold at sixpence. It may interest our readers to learn that Bunyan’s great classic, The Holy War, describing in his own inimitable way a mightier conflict than that in which the nations are at present involved, may be had from Messrs. Bagster, London, for sixpence. It is in small
compass, and the type is quite good for young eyes; it makes a very useful gift to our soldiers.
Foolish Superstitions.—Readers of the daily press since the war began must have noticed a strange phenomenon in the number of prophecies about the war which have received prominence—some of them silly old wives’ fables. That so much prominence should be given to these fables in respectable journals is a sign of the times. Another matter worthy of severe condemnation is the senseless, if not worse, practice of adopting mascots. A mascot is simply a talisman, and by the superstitious is believed to act as a kind of protective in the time of danger. The Bulwark has done well to protest against the growing practice of such superstitions. “In Regent’s Park recently,” it says, “a strange and despicable performance was enacted, when 1,200 officers and men of a battalion of the City of London Rifles were each publicly presented with the ‘touchwood’ charm by a French actress.” No doubt, in many cases, the men attach no significance to these charms, but the fact that these practices should be tolerated among educated men is a bad blot on our twentieth century enlightenment. The habit of consulting familiar spirits did not cease in the days of Isaiah, and the warning that was addressed to Judah is worthy of being repeated—”Should not a people seek unto their God? the living to the dead?”