The Discipline of War

ipline o

SUNDAY

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dy, and bring i

substance, ever present to our senses-our body. A man may deny point blank the existence of his soul-using the word in its ordinary acceptation-he cannot say, "I have

fibre of it changes in the course of seven years. Therefore in itself it cannot maintain our identity. Have you ever pinched your nail, right down at its base, and watched the

emains, deep-seated in the self-

our existence. It is the machine by which the personal self acts, speaks, lov

nly for the salvation of the soul. If this were so, then the

was to give to the body the possibility

t the "Word was made flesh." From that flows forth the high posit

receive the Sacraments, which

al body of our Lord, His spiritual body after the Resurrection, His mystical body, the Church, in which sense He H

pline of

ow-chested, feeble specimens of underbred humanity, have now-expanded into well set up, hardened men. The body has been disciplined by drill, exercises, route-marching, and the lik

w generations, either the present war would never have taken place; or the results

s, broadly speaking, higher than that of training camps at home, especially of those where little or no supervision is exercised as to str

lth, frequently ill (probably this was the thorn in the flesh), yet accomplishing vast

cipline of the body. It must not have its own way, or it

eing resisted, becomes at last what the doctors call a "physical" craving that, humanly speaking, cannot be overcome. By constant yielding

in which, as S. James says, the man is "able to bridle the whole body" (S. James iii. 2), and test ourselv

reveal this at once, for conscience, unless

I can't help it," there your body has vanquished you. It is absorbing your personal

like; strictness as to luxuries and things which, though lawful, may not be expedient, not only tend to bodily st

rt, beside other days and seasons, as a reminder of the fact that fasting is a duty of the Christian life, jus

sanctified common sense will dictate to us how to make

actical importance-our attitude at th

occasions called the attention of the nation to the terrible evils

ty and rightness, has dealt with it

ALSE P

bedient t

shirked, like

eir comrades

swell the fo

patriot in

a flag abo

'd have a hi

him on the b

'em what we

hand, old p

m round fro

drunk-for E

ou helped hi

nd earnest,

self the so

've got him

hurt you; you

nscience tak

boy, with mor

eart out, sic

to you? Yo

all his b

o regiment

no unifor

service

o King and

something d

lost it-tha

, and the next day fined forty shillings. Oh! the pathetic pity of it. That man got into trouble through the exhibition of one of the purest and best features of our human nature,

him entirely; I am going to lay

urably. Then excess was more or less the rule among men of good position, was to a certain extent expected and provided for; witness T

oduction will recollect that the excess of the working classes was quite open and shameless; but to-day some effort is genera

nitary dwellings or surroundings, sweating, excessive hours of labour, adulteration of liquors. But there are two factors up

wship are essentially connected with strong drink. This is at the bottom of those terrible scenes when t

to strong drink during the continuance of the war-is helping to knock a nail into the coffin of o

way in which you take it. I purposely exclude spirits, which I am fanatic enough to think should only be used medicinally. But every individual total abstainer helps to swell t

hom I never come in contact?" Tell me what influence really is

he fact that "if one member suffer, all the members suffer wi

ll spread to desolated homes, to stricken lives, in crowded slums

though He was rich yet for our sakes beca

from a Christian heart, but what reached its

tations during the