The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-11-13

The guns In France make so vast a
ciamor that they shake the windows
and. doors of our homes in England.
Night after night. for the last few
days. have sat listening to their
great thuds, unable to read. unable
to think, unable to do anything but
sit in the twilight with those unceas-
ing Dooms rumbling through the CORR
doris OF consciousness, holding tn
soul In = spell.
What must it be like in France. II
here In Sussex that dull thunder rolls
it's sullen menace across the hills? I
picture the sight. remember the
descriptions of Philip Gibbs I recall
what men have told me whose Jackets
have been soaked in blood. whose
xaces have been disfigured, whose
legs have been blown away, whose
bodies have been whipped and slashed
with pain. / know what it must be
Ike In France. 1t Is like hell.
Yes, but 1t is like heaven, too. Such
deeds of love are done ON those Quak-
ing ebatt1efieIds. such acts of self-ob-
livion, az exalt humanity. Men die
without a tremble, their souls lifted
up ON the white pinion of uncon-
ncious sacrifice This very day have
been told q story by one whose life
Il spent In the casualty clearing sta
tionz, where almost every day scores
Of men die before his eyes. A boy
with his legs all smashed lay gasping
ON q stretcher. Someone In khaki
leaned over him. We'll, you've been
badly hit ?'' "A damned good bit of
luck" gasped the soldier; "hope It'll
get me to oil Blighty." flush, my
lad" said the other, I'm a Roman
Catholic chaplain" what! are you
a padre ?" yes" The boy stared up
at him through his agony, and then,
between his gasps. he said: ''Unbut-
ton my shirt Put your hand ON my
hsart; press it there. That's right;
now, pray for me-" He died with .
smile on his face before the prayer
was finished
Why did thissnameless youth, whom
some mother counted the music of
her life. die on stretcher? What for?
What purpose did his death serve?
Louder than the guns in France is
the voice of man, the voice Of hu-
mainly addressing its earliest cry to
tho heavens, Why?
Mans Free Choice
Are you not aware Of that voice
wherever you go, that voice OF men
and women asking at the end of three
years why all this slaughter should
60 on?
: And what answer comes from Heay-
On? None.
Why? La Heaven deaf to our cries
Is the agony OF the human race moth
ing to the universe? LIS God. II there
DO @ God. busy about other things?
Do you not see that the silence Of
fhes universe IL essential to the pro-
gross OF humanity? God has SO made
IAN that we must choose for ourselves
where we will go and how we shall
act. Our minds. our bodies. our SOUL
depend upon 1t. All ts,s cavilling dis.
cushions about heredity, environment
and freerwill were answered by NIL.
ton long ago. and In Four words
Reason" he says, els but choosing
We are rational beings None will
deny 1t. Those who argue 30 learned
ly about free-will and determinisn
confess at least that man has reason
Well. what Is reason but choosing
A man, whatever his parentage or en-
yfronment. whatever influences sur
round him. can always choose wheth
will turn TO the right or the left. Ant
upon this free. unfettered. unaidet
! choice of the invidiual man the whole
progress of humanity depends.
What had happened to US IL angel
came at our call, IL for every tear ii
our eyes there was q spirit consoiini
Us. II for AL our ills there was heav
emily physician? We should make tht
, earth a monastery. Effort. struggle
courage, and resolution-these thing
enlarge US, mark us as immortal.
Choice of Two Roads
no certain of Heaven, with no hell
from other stars, he has chosen good
and for good has laboured with al
his soul. even to the point of self-sac
rifice. He has said, Good is tn,
highest" and he has struggled to fol
1 low Good, not knowing whether h
must die in the end Like dog, or ris
immortal. God has made his Heave,
certain. He has presented to mai
only a choice between right ant
wrong.
And, SO, to the nations of the cart
destiny il now propounding the sam
question which confronts every son o
man from the first dawn of self-con
seriousness: Which road7
Look at the two roads,
On one is Britain, France, America
end Free Russia. On the other Hob
cnzollern Germany, Hapsburg, Aus
fria, and Turkey dripping with tn
blood Of Armenian women and chill
dren,
God does not help. No angels hell
this side or the other. The thuds o
the guns bring down no stars to earth
N is left for each nation to decide OF
which road it will travel to the futur
Of the human race. Which road?
And on the choice of the nation
{mark this) absolutely depends tn
whole future of humanity.
Suppose the majority of the rae
Two thousand years ago had chosel
cyfl instead of good. Imagine tn
lcondition of humanity Suppose tn