16 JANUARY 1915, Page 15

PATRIOTISM AND CHRISTIANITY.

two Tim EDITOR Or Tea " EPICTATOR.71 Sts.—The following words from Dr. Edward Caird's Ballot College Sermons, published in 1907, are, I think, worth recalling now. It will be observed that the non-Christian type of patriotism described is spoken of as if it were some- thing altogether belonging to the past "Christianity . . . put an end to the 'exclusive claims of any nation to be the chosen people, and to the conception, so prevalent in antiquity, of the deity, as a national God who was indifferent or hostile to all other nations" (pp. 1084). "We have learned from Christianity to regard national life as part of something wider than itself- we cannot feel like those for whom heaven seemed to be their steadfast ally against all their foes ; whose God indeed was almost an embodiment of their national unity ; and who regarded all other nations as without any human or divine right against then, if not, indeed, born to be their servants " (p. 85).