" PECOATI I"
[To THE EDITOR OF T111"SPECTATOR.''] Sia,—How is it that we are compelled to admit that there is still something imperfect in our National Service P Is it not because we have failed to follow an old and wholesome prece- dent? We have not united in a general confession, "the congregation ail kneeling." This is the only attitude which all who love their country must adopt to-day. It is the first step to unity, and preliminary to all effective service. "I have sinned I " must be spoken with emphasis and unanimity, " We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done." Then, and only then, may we go on to say : " Spare thou them, 0 Lord, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent." It is sad to see how many there are who still refuse to bow their heads. Some still pin their faith to the old Jewish rite of the scapegoat. If a victim can he found and despatched into the wilderness, the kneeling and confession may bo avoided. Now, as always, the Pharisee is the danger, and there is no Pharisee like the hardened party politician. To confess his fault is the destruction of his creed. The apology and humiliation are reserved for the rare occasions when a vice is of necessity abandoned. But those leaders who give up the old assumption of impeccability will not only escape con- demnation, but in proportion to the fulness of their confession they will be trusted, loved, and honoured. "Peccavi I" is the stepping-stone to true wisdom and insight. What does it matter now whose sin was the greater—A in sacrificing truth to theory, or B in sacrificing truth to party ? All, all have sinned. Some of us wilfully blinded our eyes. Some saw, yet would not make the sacrifice the truth demanded. But there is one section which can scarcely be said to belong to the " congregation." Most hateful and most dangerous to unity are those self-elected aristocrats of intellect and censors of international morality who, instead of confessing their own grievous sins, sit in judgment over the rest of us, calmly weighing the respective merits of the German and Briton, giving a reluctant award with a farthing damages for us, or "Not proven" for the German. These men are not fighting for our cause. They are camp-followers, seeking political plunder amid our grief, sorrow, and sacrifice. They are in league with those who are fighting to bar humanity from the
land of promise.—I am, Sir, &c., T. Homes,
Kirby Muzloe.
Previous page
