He would not for a moment allow the failure of Christianity. The
Churches had, he said, been so successful in compelling the world to
recognise the evil of aggressive warfare that even the Germans were
eager to describe their action as purely defensive. "The Pagan glory of
war for its own sake was gone." And when we acknowledge the comparative
failure of religion in Germany, and restrict our attention to the sphere
of our own clergy, we find that they have created an entirely new
spirit. The lust for territory and for gold is felt no more in England.
Here there is no mafficking over victories, there are no hymns of hate.
The British nation has been sobered by the influence of Christianity. We
may regret that the German people has not proved equally susceptible,
and its pastors equally energetic, but we cannot bear their burden.
Their naughtiness alone has disturbed the moral progress which, even in
this department, Christianity was fostering.
This is, I think, a very usual attitude of the clergy, and I have
already appreciated the sound element of it. There is no comparison
between the behaviour of the two nations. Whether England deserves quite
all the compliments which Mr.
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