William E. Sellers

“ Only he who has conquered himself in time of peace can aspire to be a fighting man under the Sun flag. The brilliant and faithful deeds of the soldier on the battle-field are nothing but the flowering and fruition of the work and training of his daily life in time of peace. A man whose life is in disorder in time of peace would have a rather difficult task if he tried to perform with correctness and success the duties of a true soldier on the field of battle. ”

“ Now, let us get among the Christian workers and see what they are doing there.
We are impressed with their magnificent opportunity. The men who have been fighting know what it means. They have looked the king of terrors in the face, and they feel the need of a Saviour as never before. The men who, as yet, have not been to the front cannot escape an indefinable dread, and they, too, are ready for the gospel message. While the wounded—suffering, and maybe drawing near to death—eagerly drink in the words of life.
We will listen to some of the chaplains as they tell their own tale. ”

“ In this war woman has been as brave as man or braver. She has given of her best and dearest, she has worked and prayed and endured. And away out there among our wounded and dying, far from the excitement of battle, by day and by night she has given herself—all she is and all she has—to the service of her country. ”

“ Far away from loved ones—far from home—wounded to the death, the soldier found in the love and presence of Jesus his Saviour and friend, rest and peace. And his comrade in the hospital remembered his dying song and passed it on that it might become a message to many another when they too came to die—
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. ”

“ Always bright and hopeful, brave and zealous, ever ready to help anyone in any way he could, and yet so humble and retiring that it was always his beautiful Christian character rather than himself that seemed to stand forward. The quality of his handshake won all hearts, and even now one seems to feel his vigorous grasp so characteristic of his thoroughness. A great gentle plaything with the children, a pacifying, controlling influence with boys and lads, a quiet sure leadership with men, is it any wonder that such a man was loved and honoured? ”

“ Now was the opportunity also for the chaplains to dispense the gifts from home to the war-worn men. How delighted the men were with them, and how every gift was regarded as the gift of love! Even war has its bright side, and surely one of the brightest spots on the bright side of war has been the spontaneous offering of kindly hearts at home to our soldiers abroad. In almost every home in the land skilled and unskilled fingers have been at work. Knitting had almost become a lost art, but now every school-girl knits, and knits not for herself but for the soldiers. ”

“ For the most part he is a right down good fellow, but, so far as I can judge, he has not the type of spirituality of which we see so much in the Army. He is all sorts of things rolled into one—sea-lawyer, letter-writer, story-teller, lecturer, schoolmaster, game-director, and a host of other things beside. He must be absolutely sincere if he is to be any good at all, for he never gets away from the busy life of the ship, and he of all men "cannot be hid." Often he is the friend and counsellor of the men, sharing their joys and sorrows. ”

“ The King of the Belgians has lost his helmet. His uniform is war-worn, his hair untidy. His scabbard is empty, but he has not parted with his sword. He still grasps it in his strong right hand.
"You have lost everything," says the Kaiser—"Liège, Namur, Brussels, Antwerp." "No, not everything. Not my soul."
But the King of the Belgians was not alone in the claim which Punch puts into his life. Every Christian man fighting for his country, and many another, wounded, frost-bitten, dying, can answer "Not my soul." ”

“ The guns hardly cool from their deadly fire, soon to belch out death again, the men in the depth of winter caring naught for the cold or for the enemy's shot and shell, using their brief interval to lead their comrades to Christ. Pray on, Salvation Army lads! You will fight all the better for your country because of your fight for the King of Kings, and if death stares you in the face you will know that you have spent your last moments in pointing your comrades to the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world. ”

“ When the last lot went, I prepared for the Holy Communion on the theatre stage, and nearly a hundred came back to receive the Blessed Sacrament—officers, non-commissioned officers, and men kneeling on the muddy floor, remembering, worshipping, receiving into their hearts by faith, the vital power to fight, and, if need be, to suffer and die for the righteous cause. The Cross of Christ seemed to be so real, and its meaning so clear, to men who are really living away from the world's conventionalities, and up against death and the other life. ”

“ Of the generosity of the public, the kindness and appreciation of the generals and colonels and officers generally, and perhaps, most of all, of the untiring and self-denying labour of those who have manned the huts through these long months, short-handed, overworked, cheery, and eager, in cold and mud, it is impossible fully to speak. Let it suffice to say that the Young Men's Christian Association is deeply humbled and proud, by reason of the honour God has manifestly conferred upon it in giving it this supreme chance of serving the interests of His Kingdom. ”

“ We all went into the battle singing "You made me do it, I didn't want to do it," but when we got in the trenches it was like hell. You should have seen some men dropping on their knees and praying. Why, the whole regiment seemed to be praying. I know I was praying, and somehow I felt better, and I've prayed every night running since.'
"That plain tale is the parable of many an awakening. It is the parable of the soldiers' need and vision and faith. They have seen something, and that something which is responsible for the question they so frequently ask, 'What is it like at home? ”

“ The work of our chaplains and doctors and nurses has been heroic, and the no less noble work of Christian soldiers fills us with thanksgiving.
The war began with retreat. That apparently invincible German army strode ruthlessly through Belgium, leaving fire and rapine and death in its track. It found a garden, and it left a wilderness; prosperity, and it left starvation. It will be remembered for all time for barbarities that disgraced war. Belgian mothers will tell their children, and the story will be passed down the ages, of broken hearts and ruined lives, and a tortured devastated land. ”

“ As we go, not seeing any danger, suddenly over us bursts a shrapnel and shells of the 'Jack Johnson' type, ploughing up the ground, and comrades fall. Some are killed outright; others are severely wounded. I rush here and there to assist with a handshake or a 'God bless you.' I pass on to lead those left, and then right into the thickest of the fray with heavy rifle and machine-gun fire. But nothing daunts the British soldier, and on we press until at last the enemy turns and runs in fear. ”

“ We are an excellent army on parade, an excellent one to fight, but we are worse than an enemy in the country." How greatly times have changed since then!
Sir George White once said that recklessness and lawlessness will carry men a certain distance, but when men are half fed, when nights are wet and cold, and when nerves are broken down by shot and shell, then the lawless man disappears. It is when he is called upon to take the place of a comrade shot on a lonely picket that the man who has disciplined himself proves the true soldier. ”

“ Proud we are of the fact that every individual man now in the greatest army that Great Britain has ever raised is serving of his own free choice, and happy indeed to be of service to his King and country in the hour of need.
"This great body of men is necessarily composed of many types, drawn as it is from all quarters of the British Empire, and representing every political opinion and all religious denominations, but co-operating in perfect unity. ”

“ If we carry these statements on to their issue, then surely the Christian soldier should fight best of all. He has not only the discipline and training of the Army, but moral discipline and training as well. And he has something more—the spiritual fact which dominates his being and transfigures and transforms him. To him death is not death, he lives and will live, and in the worst of all fiery furnaces there is always with him "the form of the fourth, like unto the Son of God." ”

“ Now is the time for the churches to prepare. We are told that the enthusiasm of last September is dying out of our churches, that in the busy work of the following months we have forgotten to pray. We are even getting used to the war. Let the churches of our land bestir themselves. These men will need our choicest care, as they deserve our most brilliant example. Christ has not left Britain for Flanders. He is here too, and we must seek Him in penitence and prayer, that when the lads come home His Church shall be found ready for her Christian task. ”

“ And when the men are permitted to come on shore what a welcome they receive at the various Sailors' Homes, and hearts are gladdened and resolutions strengthened, for the return to sea. The work at sea must be trying in the extreme—the constant watchfulness, the eager waiting for the enemy who never comes, the patrolling in the midst of winter tempests, enough to try the nerves of the strongest—but all the time the certainty that the old-time message will receive fresh illustration each day—"England expects that every man will do his duty." ”

“ I must not close this chapter without a word about the well-appointed hospital ships which ply backwards and forwards between the French and British coasts, each with its doctors, nurses, and chaplains on board, bearing a freight of suffering humanity, such as our coasts have never seen before. Everything in order, everything in the way of comfort and ease provided. It was a dastardly act to aim a German torpedo against the Asturias. Fortunately the attempt failed, but what profit would it have been if this life-giving ship had been sunk? Enough surely has been done to take life. ”

“ And in order to get as full an answer as is possible we must turn to the men themselves, and as we do so, we offer for all of them the beautiful prayer which the Archbishop of Canterbury has put into our lips:
"O Thou that slumberest not nor sleepest, protect, we pray Thee, our sailors from the hidden perils of the sea, from the snares and assaults of the enemy. Steady and support those upon whom the burdens of responsibility lie heavily, and grant that in dangers often, in watchings often, in weariness often, they may serve Thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord. ”

“ May I describe one service in a Y.M.C.A. tent? It is Sunday evening. The various Parade services of the morning have been held, the Church of England in the open air, and the Congregationalists and Wesleyans in the tent. But now a sergeant is in charge, and for half an hour he allows the men to choose what hymns they like, and right heartily do they sing. But now an Anglican archdeacon is on the platform, and with eager words and practical advice is urging the soldiers to live as Christian gentlemen. Then follows a Wesleyan minister with many a story and many an appeal. ”

“ No pressure is brought to bear on any soldier to enter the Glory Room. There are the reading rooms, games room, refreshment room as everywhere else, but night by night an increasing number of lads find their way into the Glory Room. There prayer is wont to be made, and Sankey's hymn-book, loved of the Christian soldier, is in evidence. Never a night passes but some soldier lad comes home to God, and "Glory crowns what grace has begun." ”

“ Many a trembling German fallen into the hands of the British, terrified because of the frightful stories he has been told of British cruelty to prisoners, has been cheered by the kindly words and acts of British soldiers.
A young officer writing to the Times says: "We are out to kill, and kill we do at any and every opportunity. But when all is done and the battle over, the splendid universal soldier spirit comes over all the men.... Just to give you some idea of what I mean, the other night four German snipers were shot on our wire. ”