r the calling out
of the reserves; his faithful subjects again and again lay down their
property and lives at the feet of him they call, only with their lips,
their adored Monarch. On the other hand, desiring to distinguish
themselves before each other in deeds and not in words only, they tear
away the fathers and the bread-winners from their orphaned families,
preparing them for slaughter. The worse the position of Russia, the more
recklessly do the journalists lie, transforming shameful defeats into
victories, knowing that no one will contradict them; and they quietly
collect money from subscriptions and sales. The more money and labor of
the people is devoted to the war, the more is grabbed by various
authorities and speculators, who know that no one will convict them
because every one is doing the same. The military, trained for murder,
having passed years in a school of inhumanity, coarseness, and idleness,
rejoice--poor men--because, besides an increase of their salary, the
slaughter of superiors opens vacancies for their promotion. Christian
pastors continue to invite men to the greatest of crimes, continue to
commit sacrilege, praying God to help the work of war; and, instead of
condemning, they justify and praise that pastor who, with the cross in
his hands on the very scene of murder, encouraged men to the crime. The
same thing is going on in Japan. The benighted Japanese go in for murder
with yet greater fervor, owing to their victories; the Mikado also
reviews and rewards his troops; various Generals boast of their bravery,
imagining that, having learned to kill, they have acquired enlightenment.
So, too, groan the unfortunate working people torn from useful labor and
from their families. So their journalists also lie and rejoice over their
gains. Also probably--for where murder is elevated into virtue every kind
of vice is bound to flourish--also probably all kinds of commanders and
speculators earn money; and Japanese theologians and religious teachers
no less than the masters in the techniques of armament do not remain
behind the Europeans in the techniques of religious deceit and sacrilege,
but distort the great Buddhistic teaching by not only permitting but
justifying that murder which Buddha forbade. The Buddhistic scientist,
Soyen-Shaku, ruling over eight hundred monasteries, explains that
although Buddha forbade manslaughter he also said he could never be at
peace until all beings are united in the inf