It may seem strange that in our supposedly advanced state of civiliza tion recourse to arms should be necessary; yet, so it is and justly so. A nation, giant-like in its material strength, has encroached upon the rights of others, and its rulers, arrogating unto themselves the things that are God's, have claimed for Cæsar's dominion over both soul and body. This is no mere rhetorical flourish but a plain statement of fact. In confirmation thereof we need only quote the words addressed by the present Emperor of Germany to a body of military recruits: "You are now my soldiers. You have given yourselves to me body and soul. There is now but one enemy for you and that is my enemy." There can be only one result accruing to the world from doctrines such as this, the clash of arms and the upheaval of Christian civilization. Do not imagine, however, that we are in this war for altruistic reasons or in defense of foreign nations. We are in it, despite every honorable effort to hold aloof, because our economic life has been disturbed by the machinations of an insidious foe, because our women and children have been ruthlessly slaughtered, because our Flag has been insulted and the lives of our citizens imperiled and destroyed on the high seas, because our sovereignty and our honor have been impugned. Show me the man who says we ought not to have entered the conflict and I'll show you the poltroon and the coward. Point out the individual who wishes disaster to any of our Allies and I'll brand him a traitor. We are now fighting in the holiest cause the world has known since the first Crusade; fighting, not for glory nor for empire, but fighting for justice and humanity; nay more, fighting in defense of home and kindred, fighting for the principles which our forefathers shed their blood to establish and perpetuate, fighting for the integrity and the honor of our beloved country.

God bless you, then, for this beautiful celebration of to-day. It proves beyond doubt that there are no secret enemies among you and that you are prepared to "do your bit" to further the noble cause to which our honor and our treasure are pledged. Whilst we sit here in security, let us not forget that our Flag has already been carried over the top and its brave defenders now lie in the damp and cold of the shell-torn trenches. A feeling of heartfelt sorrow should mingle with your joy, whilst from your inmost heart you breathe forth a prayer to the God of Mercy for your loved ones beyond the sea.

Faithful alike to Christ and Cæsar, such is the duty of every citizen. Love of country is not merely a patriotic duty, but an obligation binding in conscience; and no church or organization insists upon this doctrine more earnestly than the Catholic Church. We who know her best can assert without fear of contradiction that there is not in this great land

of ours a Catholic school or a Catholic society or a Catholic leader of men but instils into the hearts of our youth a chivalrous love for those two maidens fair under whose banners every true knight must be enrolled and at whose beck every hero must accept the gage of battle: the one, old as the centuries, yet ever young; the light of truth illumining her countenance; the scars of battle gleaming on her brow like diadems of surpassing glory; her fair form girt with the shield of Faith and wrapped in the mantle of Virtue; the infallible Church of God. The other, strong with the vigor of youth; her features resplendent with the very joy of living; her eyes darting forth a message of freedom to the oppressed of all the earth; her hand holding aloft the torch of Liberty; her wondrous presence shielded by an emblemOld Glory there which has never yet been trailed in the dust, and which, with the help of men like you, never will; Columbia, Queen of the Western Sea.

In conclusion let me remind you that your country has given to the world the basic principles of human freedom. While float the Stars and Stripes, these principles are safe; when hauled down in surrender, tyranny shall resume its sway. Yours it is to determine the result. Which shall it be? We are now engaged in the most titanic struggle history has ever known, bent on safeguarding the doctrines of liberty and extending their application to peoples less favored than ourselves. Stand ready, then, to give your life's blood, if necessary, in so holy a cause; for, upon you, young men and others like you, it rests to see that "Government of the people, for the people, and by the people shall not perish from the earth." Such is our interpretation of those words of the Master, "Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's."

§ 90

A MAN'S SOUL AND HIS WORLD

By William Jewett Tucker

(Sermon delivered in Dartmouth College Chapel.)

"What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"-MATTHEW Xvi, 26.

It is among the traditions of the classroom of Mark Hopkins, I have been told, that he once put the question of our Lord to his class in this way: "You would like to have the world, as much of it at least as you want. Would you be willing to have the world, all of it that you want, and be deaf? Perhaps you would.

"Would you be willing to have the world, all of it that you want, and be deaf and dumb? Perhaps you would.

"Would you be willing to have the world, all of it that you want, and be deaf and dumb and blind? Perhaps you would, but I doubt it: for the time comes in such a reckoning when you must face the issue of being or having."

This question of Jesus, if put before men as an alternative, can have but one answer. There is such a radical difference between being and having that few men will deliberately sacrifice anything which they feel to be a vital part of themselves for things that lie outside themselves. It requires very little reasoning to understand that the loss of a sense means a corresponding loss of the world, that it takes so much out of the value of things for which the exchange is made. And as men go deeper in their reasoning they can see that the principle acts with increasing force the farther it reaches below the range of the senses. No one of you believes, on second thought, that you could use or enjoy the world without a conscience any better than you could without sight. You can see that the world is not the same object of pleasurable desire with those in whom the moral sense has been reduced or enfeebled, just as you can see the loss to those who suffer from physical disabilities.

We may assume, I think, that there is substantial agreement, so far as the principle goes, that a man cannot afford the world at the cost of his soul. But in any endeavor to apply the principle we find ourselves confronted at once with the very practical difficulty that as everyone See page 671.

of us has his soul, so everyone of us has his world. Naturally and rightly we wish to make the best of each. Interpreting the common desire by our own desires, we are not to think that the average man wishes to throw away his soul any more than he wishes to give over one of his senses. That is not the way in which men lose their souls. Neither are we to think that the average man ought to throw away the world in so far as it is his world. To entertain this opinion seriously would carry us back into the narrowest type of medievalism.

What, then, shall we say is the true and proper relation of a man's soul to his world?

If we had been present when our Lord put the question now before us, we should doubtless have wished to say to Him,-"Master, must a man lose his soul in trying to gain his world? You say, ‘if a man gain the whole world and lose his own soul.' Is that the alternative? a man lose either his soul or his world?"

Must

It seems, I say, as if we should have wished to put this direct question to our Lord, had we heard the words which fell from his lips. But why should anyone to-day doubt the answer in the light of his after teachings, or in the light of his whole personal life? Christianity, as it comes to us from Him, does not mean other-worldliness. It does not mean medievalism, the monk's world. Nothing is further from the spirit or the word of Christ than any mockery of man in his relation to his world. The world element in our lives may waken the pity of Christ, it is so transient; it may call out his warnings, it has in it such possibilities of evil; but nowhere does He speak of it in contempt, or in scorn, or in hate. A man's world may represent that which he has rescued from the fleeting years, that which he has conquered from the grasp of evil; or, it may represent the honorable accumulations and earnings of his life, the very increment of his soul, his knowledge, his work, his friends, his plans and struggles and hopes, against which his soul can have no contention, and from which it can suffer no loss.

And there is a sense, truer even than that in which we have the world by gain or conquest, in which we have it by original endowment, just as we have our souls at the hand of God. The prodigal was right when he said, "Father, give me the portion of goods which falleth to me." His sin consisted in that he gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and wasted his substance in riotous living. Had he remained at home he would have heard for himself the word which came to his brother, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." We make the fatal concession when we yield our rights of ownership in this world. There was the very point of Christ's temptation and of his victory. When the tempter came to Him, and showed

to Him the kingdoms of the world, and said to Him, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me," he overreached and betrayed himself. The answer of Christ was instant.

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." This world is God's world. It goes with the worship of Him. It belongs to His worshipers. So Christ met his temptation. He saw at once the unreality and sham of it. The tempter stood before Him with the offer of something which was not his to give. It was a piece of bold, naked assumption Christ saw the deception, and met the deceiver with the word of rightful authority. The usurper of this world. found himself in the presence of the true heir and master of the world, and in this capacity the representative of humanity. That was the issue of the final temptation of our Lord.

But as for us, we are still deceived and betrayed. We acknowledge at once the evil ownership. We allow the assumption that the world has gone out of the hands of God, and therefore out of our hands as God's children, and having made this fatal allowance we naturally begin to ask at what price we can get back the part of it which we want. And so concession follows concession. The premise once granted, there is no rescue from the inexorable logic. Nothing then remains to a man. who wants the world except the surrender of so much of his manhood as seems necessary to the attainment of his object. Here we have the explanation of the choices of many men. One profession, or business, or calling, is chosen rather than another, because it is assumed that the less Christian a man's profession or business or calling is, the more of the world there is in it. And this choice made, then the method of the profession or business or calling follows the same assumption. It is the next logical step to assume that the less Christian the method is the more of the world will be the result. So the principle of exchange becomes a recognized principle. Christ saw it at work in his day. Anybody can see it at work still. There are few men, I believe, who go into their various pursuits without the latent feeling that concession or compromise may at some time become necessary to success. solve that when the issue comes they will sacrifice success. through life without raising any clear or sharp moral issue. If they lose morally, the losses are gradual and unnoted. All that can be said of such men is that their character lacks fiber or tone. Here and there a man sees the issue, accepts the assumed condition, and deliberately surrenders his manhood. He takes his soul into the market place, puts his price upon it, and sells it. Hence the constant succession of tragedies in the life of a great city. Transactions of this sort do not appear in

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