The Discipline of War | Page 5

"I will not."
And now to go a step further--the disciplining of the body, care in
regard to eating, drinking, amusements, and the like; strictness as to
luxuries and things which, though lawful, may not be expedient, not
only tend to bodily strength and mere physical well-being, but brace up
the will power, because they entail the constant exercise of it.
Here is where the practical wisdom of the Church comes in as regards
fasting. One day in every week is set apart, beside other days and
seasons, as a reminder of the fact that fasting is a duty of the Christian
life, just as much as almsgiving and prayer--a duty sanctified by the
example enjoined by the precept of our Lord Himself.
True, no hard and fast rules are laid down, but a little sanctified
common sense will dictate to us how to make fast-days a reality, by
some simple acts of self-denial.
Our last thought is one of intense practical importance--our attitude at
the present moment towards strong drink.
Lord Kitchener and the Archbishop of Canterbury have both on several
occasions called the attention of the nation to the terrible evils arising
from the unhappy custom of treating soldiers to strong drink.
Punch, always on the side of morality and rightness, has dealt with it in
the following trenchant fashion:--
TO A FALSE PATRIOT
He came obedient to the Call; He might have shirked, like half his
mates Who, while their comrades fight and fall, Still go to swell the
football gates.
And you, a patriot in your prime, You waved a flag above his head,
And hoped he'd have a high old time, And slapped him on the back,

and said:
"You'll show 'em what we British are! Give us your hand, old pal, to
shake"; And took him round from bar to bar And made him drunk--for
England's sake.
That's how you helped him. Yesterday Clear-eyed and earnest, keen
and hard, He held himself the soldier's way-- And now they've got him
under guard.
That doesn't hurt you; you're all right; Your easy conscience takes no
blame; But he, poor boy, with morning's light, He eats his heart out,
sick with shame.
What's that to you? You understand Nothing of all his bitter pain; You
have no regiment to brand; You have no uniform to stain;
No vow of service to abuse; No pledge to King and country due; But he
has something dear to lose, And he has lost it--thanks to you.[1]
[Footnote 1: O.S. in Punch, November 4th, 1914. By kind permission
of the Proprietors.]
A man who had so distinguished himself at the front as to be mentioned
in a despatch came home slightly wounded. In less than twenty-four
hours he was in a cell at a police station, 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, the desire to show kindness. In their well-intentioned ignorance
this man's friends--yes, they were real friends--knew of only one way
of displaying friendliness--they gave him liquor.
I am not going to blame them, nor him entirely; I am going to lay some
of the fault upon ourselves.
Since the beginning of the last century the habits of the upper classes,
to use a generic though unpleasant term, have improved immeasurably.
Then excess was more or less the rule among men of good position,

was to a certain extent expected and provided for; witness The School
for Scandal, or the leading novels of the period. Now, the man who
disgraces himself at a dinner-table is never invited again.
And even as we go down in the social scale much improvement is
apparent. Those who remember Bank Holidays on their first
introduction will recollect that the excess of the working classes was
quite open and shameless; but to-day some effort is generally made by
the victims, or their friends, to hide the disgrace, because Public
Opinion is improving. That is where we come in.
Many causes of intemperance in strong drink are matters for legislative
or municipal action; for example, overcrowding, insanitary dwellings
or surroundings, sweating, excessive hours of labour, adulteration of
liquors. But there are two factors upon which we can exercise direct
influence, because they are connected with that great corporate entity
called Public Opinion.
First let us take the one upon which we have already touched--the
notion that friendliness and good fellowship are essentially connected
with strong drink. This is at the bottom of those terrible scenes when
troops are leaving our great London railway stations. Scenes so
inexpressibly sad to all thinking people.
Everyone who abstains entirely, or who takes the khaki button--a
pledge not to treat nor be treated to