Entertainment of Troops.—Recently at the annual meeting in Glasgow of the Diocesan Council of Glasgow and Galloway of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, the Rev. W. N. Gordon Boxer expressed his disappointment that at parties got up to entertain our soldiers, very few of them put in an appearance. He instanced one case in Glasgow where fifty men were invited by a Woman’s Guild to a “steak and kidney supper,” and not one of them came. Of course Mr. Boxer tried to saddle the blame on the officers who do not take pains to make these entertainments sufficiently well known, but we think other reasons could be given. The truth is that the desire of the soldier for entertainments is amply catered for by men and women who manifest no love for religion, and though the majority of the poor young men of the Services may have but very hazy conceptions as to their spiritual needs yet they realise that it is the duty of the Church to look after these spiritual needs. When therefore, they see professing men and women, and too often ministers, giving them nothing higher than what the world gives them, it causes that often they cannot find words strong enough to express their contempt of the hypocrisy of people who still retain a profession of religion, and have nothing for men who may soon be facing the realities of death and eternity but the carnal joys of the world’s entertainments.
The Prime Minister’s Broadcast on Sabbath.—We understand from the public press that the Prime Minister gave a broadcast on a recent Sabbath evening. While we appreciate that Mr. Churchill’s time is fully occupied and that his responsibilities are great, we maintain that there is not a shred of excuse for this flagrant disregard for the holy law of God. When God says, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,” He binds that command on all classes of the people, and nothing that does not come under the category of necessity and mercy ought to interfere with obedience to it. Mr. Churchill has set an example which we have no doubt will be followed by others, and in that way has done great harm. When will our statesmen cease to show a hostile attitude to the Sabbath and attend to the words of the Holy Ghost in the second Psalm, “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.”
Opening of Theatres on Sabbath.—It is with feelings of profound sorrow that we read in the public press that under a Defence Regulation announced in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary, licensing authorities may, on the representation of local authorities, authorise the opening of theatres and music-halls on Sabbath. Britain is taking one step after another in showing a defiant attitude towards God and towards everything by which he is making himself known, and in that way our legislators are in effect saying that we are going to win this war whether God will be on our side or not. In this we are very much afraid that our rulers are provoking God to leave us, and that would be the greatest calamity that could possibly overtake us. It wrought havoc among others when they had to mournfully confess, “But thou hast cast us off and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.” How sad that we should be making the needs of our armies an excuse for thus defying God to His face. Let all who are of a serious mind take note; God has his own way of punishing men for their obstinacy.
President Lincoln’s Army Order on Sabbath Observance.
—On 16th November, 1864, President Lincoln issued the following Order to the Army and Navy:—”The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath, by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine Will, demand that Sabbath labour in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperilled by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High.
“‘At this time of public distress (adopting the words of Washington in 1776) men may find enough to do in the service of their God and their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.’ The first General Order issued by the Father of his country after the Declaration of Independence indicated the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended. ‘The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavour to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of the country’.” God and His institutions were then acknowledged and men prospered. What can we expect to-day when He is ignored and defied?