His  All  in  All  appears  serene
"With  the  thinnest  human  veil  between."'

4.  This  age  is  more  practical  than  devout;  and  it  is
for  the  sake  of  action  rather  than  emotion  that  doctrine  is
neglected.  The  mistake  is  just  as  great.  We  cannot  do
rightly  unless  we  know  truly.     God's  will  must  be  under-

^  Attention  may  be  called  to  the  most  significant  and  valuable  Report
of  the  Archbishops'  First  Committee  of  Inquiry  on  The  Teaching  Office  of  the
Church.  The  candid  and  courageous  confession  of  failure  should  not  be
taken  up  as  a  reproach  by  the  other  churches  against  the  Church  of  England
solely,  as  much  that  is  thus  said  is  mutatis  mutandis  true  of  all  the  churches  ;
but  although  express  mention  is  not  made  of  the  attention  to  ritual  as  one
of  the  causes  of  this  failure,  the  writer  is  persuaded  that  it  is  one  of  the
factors  in  the  problem  generally  to  be  taken  into  account.  The  other
churches  have  much  reason  for  heart-searching  as  regards  the  effectiveness  of
their  preaching,  despite  their  greater  interest  in  it,  in  the  abundant  evidence
which  has  been  gathered  among  the  soldiers  at  the  front  and  in  the  camps
of  the  prevalent  ignorance  of,  and  indifference  to  the  Gospel  of  the  vast
majority  of  the  manhood  of  the  nation.  The  volume,  giving  the  results  of  a
searching  inquiry,  entitled  The  Army  and  Religion^  is  a  solemn  summons  to
all  the  churches  to  self-scrutiny  in  regard  to  all  their  methods  of  work,  and
especially  the  spirit  in  which  that  work  is  being  done.  The  content  and
the  character  of  the  preaching  especially  calls  for  examination,  and  in  this
examination  it  is  hoped  that  this  volume,  although  not  written  with  this
specific  object  in  view,  may  be  of  some  worth  and  use.
