This leads to the consideration of the religious condition of our
troops as affected, first, by the churches and worshippers of France,
and, secondly, by their own experience in this war. More than one
mentioned the pleasure felt at the sight of the little wayside shrines
which they passed on their march. Others commented upon the large
numbers of people they saw flocking to their early communion....
What his experience of war is doing for the soldier in regard to
religion is remarkable. It would have been possible that the sight of
humanity striving to the death and inflicting horrible suffering might
have made our young fellows despair of Christianity. They might have
argued that it was of no avail to teach the religion of Jesus when no
effect was produced upon international conduct; but they have been
able to look more deeply into matters and to realise that not Divine
intention was at fault, but human refusal to follow true teaching. They
have been able to see God through the cloud of smoke raised by shot
and shell, and the Presence of the Divine has not been obscured by
the horrors of war. Conscious of the seriousness of the work in which
they are engaged, feeling every moment the nearness of eternity, our
soldiers have in no craven spirit, but with a due remembrance of their
relationship to God and to eternity, turned to religion as a stay in
the hour of conflict....
Although I must refrain most reluctantly from saying anything about
the great military personages whom I met in France, and with whom I
was so greatly impressed, I may perhaps refer to two French persons of
distinction, in no way connected with the war, whom I was privileged
to meet. First there is that outstanding personality the Mayor of
Hazebrouck, Abbé Lemire. He and I were brought together because he is a
clerical municipal dignitary and I was the first clergyman who was ever
a mayor in this country. He, however, does more than I have ever been
able to do, because he is a member of the Chamber of Deputies, and here
in England the doors of the House of Commons are still shut against the
clergy....
He is an extraordinarily winning personality, and as we walked through
the streets of his city every woman and child and old man had something
to say to him. With one he would discuss the imprisonment of a soldier
son in Germany; with another the fact that a married daughter had had a
bouncing boy who would be, so prophesied the Abbé, a soldier of France
in years to come. To another in deep mourning he had a word of comfort
to give; until at last I said to him that he appeared to be not only
_le maire_ but also _le père_ of Hazebrouck....
Another beautiful character is the present Archbishop of Rouen.
Carrying well his seventy-six years, thanks in no small measure to the
loving care of his secretary, the great dignitary has passed through
the recent critical time for his Church, retaining throughout his
breadth of view and his sweetness of nature. Turned out of his official
residence, he has built himself another, beautifully situated, in the
grounds of which may to-day be seen English doctors and nurses, and
even wounded, resting and gaining health. The morning upon which I saw
him I had been celebrating the Holy Communion in the chapel of what
once was his palace. When I asked him whether he felt any objection to
this being done by our English clergy, he answered, "Certainly not."
And then, after a moment's thought, he went on: "After all, what does
it matter whether one celebrates in one vestment and another in a
different one, if at the root of things we are the same?"
(The Bishop now relates his impressions of the various countries
engaged in the War, all of which, with the exception of Japan, he has
visited. He believes that the War is to result in a great spiritual
awakening throughout the world.)