has higher conceptions; when a man fights in the Spirit of God, and
looks to Him for strength and for guidance, he has Omnipotent forces on
his side. That is why we ought to have won months ago. In reality,
this war at the beginning, was a war of might against right, and we
have been making it a war of might against might, and we have been
willing to sacrifice right for might.'

'But surely,' I said, 'you who have seen a lot of fighting, and have
been over the top several times, know that the conditions are so
terrible that men do need help. You know, as well as I do, that an
artillery bombardment is hell, and that it needs a kind of artificial
courage to go through what the lads have to go through.'

'And that brings me back to the point from which I started,' he cried.
'Are we willing to win this war at the cost of men's immortal souls?
Mind you, I don't admit your premise for a moment; to admit it would be
to impugn the courage of tens of thousands of the boys who have all
along refused to touch it. Do you mean to tell me that the abstainers
in the Army are less courageous than those who drink? Does any one
dare to state that the lads who have refused to touch it have been less
brave than those who have had it? To say that would be to insult the
finest fellows who ever lived. But here is the point; we admit that
drink is a curse, that it is a more baneful enemy than the Germans,
that it is degrading not only the manhood of England, but cursing
British womanhood, and yet we encourage its use. Now, assuming that
our victory depends on this stuff, are we justified in using it? It
may be rank treason to say so, but I say better lose the war than win
it by means of that which is cursing the souls of our men. But we are
not faced with that alternative. Our Army, brave as it is, great as it
is, glorious as it is, would be braver, greater, and more glorious, if
the thing were abolished for ever. And more than that, by making a
great sacrifice for the sake of our highest manhood, we should link
ourselves to Almighty God, and thus realize a power now unknown.'

'Is that what the New Testament teaches you?' I said at length. 'Is
that the result of your becoming a Christian?'

'Yes,' he replied eagerly. 'I have read through the New Testament
again and again. Every word which is recorded of our Lord's sayings I
have committed to memory, and I am sure that what I say is right.
Either Christianity is a dead lett