icated, he was deaf. One knows why. If Germany and Austria fail
in this war, as they will fail, the Catholic bodies of Germany and
Austria, the strongest Catholic political parties in Europe, will be
broken. Millions of the Catholic subjects of Germany and Austria will
pass under the rule of unbelieving France or schismatical Russia. So the
supreme head of the Roman Church wraps himself nervously in a mantle of
political neutrality and disclaims the duty of assigning moral guilt.

On us in England was laid only the task of defending our homes and our
honour. It is in those other countries that we most clearly see
Christianity put to the test, and failing deplorably under the test. I
do not mean that there was no opportunity here for the Churches to
display their effectiveness as the moral guides of nations. In those
fateful years between 1908 and 1914, during which we now see so plainly
the preparation for this world-tragedy, they might have done much. They
did nothing. They might have seen, at least at the eleventh hour, the
iniquity of sustaining the military system, and have cast the whole of
their massive influence on the side of the promoters of arbitration. I
do not mean that any man should advocate disarmament, or less effective
armament, in England while the rest of the world remains armed. As long
as we retain the military system instead of an international court, the
soldier's profession is honourable, and the man who voluntarily faces
the horrors of the field is entitled to respect and gratitude. But in
every country there was an agitation for the _general_ abandonment of
militarism and the substitution of lawyers for soldiers in the
settlement of international quarrels. Had the Churches in every country
given their whole support to this agitation, and insisted that it is
morally criminal for the race as a whole to prolong the military system,
we might not have witnessed this great catastrophe.

Before, however, I press this charge against the Christian bodies, let
me discuss the third plea that may be urged in defence of the Churches.
It is the plea of those who are so eager to disclaim responsibility that
they are willing to allow an enormous decay of religious influence in
the modern world. You have repeatedly told us, they say to the
Rationalist, that Christianity has lost its hold on Europe. You speak of
millions who no longer hear the word of Christian ministers, but who
_do_ read Rationalist literature