IN these days of heavy armaments and increased military and naval equipment, it is refreshing to find that those who stand at the head of the great fighting forces of the world look upon these terrible engines under their command as merely temporary means for the preservation of the peace of nations, rather than as the paraphernalia of aggressive and conquering legions. We read this between the lines of the Rectorial address of Mr. Haldane, delivered by him at Edinburgh University. Mr. Haldane is British Secretary of State for War, as well as Lord Rector of this great Scottish University, and it is not at all surprising that his address, which was entitled "The Dedicated Life," should have dealt, in some measure at least, with the problem of international peace. His statement that "it is not brute force, but moral power, that commands predominance in the world," is in line with the teachings of the Master, and his further statement that "perhaps the time is near when armaments will count for so much less than is the case to-day; that they will tend to diminish, and ultimately become extinct," was most hopeful.
Mr. Haldane said that "the first purpose of a nation— and especially, in these days of growth all around, of a modern nation—ought to be to concentrate its energies on its moral and intellectual development;" and again, "The man who would lead others must himself be capable of renouncing. Not in some world apart, but here and now, in the duty, however humble, that lies nearest us, is the realization of the higher self—the self that tends Godward —to be sought. And this carries with it something more. To succeed is to throw one's whole weight into the work; and if the work must always and everywhere involve the passage through the portal of renunciation, be special and even contracted, then the only life that for us human beings can be perfect is the life that is dedicated. The lives of all great men have been dedicated; singleness of purpose has dominated them throughout."
We believe that the days when personal bravery on the battlefield was looked upon as the only bravery, have passed forever, and that we have truly entered upon the era wherein the "red badge of courage" is not the sine qua non of greatness. Greater, far greater, than he who takes men's lives in war is he who saves their lives as Christ Jesus saved them, in peace. Of infinitely more service to the world is he who cements the nations of the earth in one grand brotherhood, than he who through force of arms imposes his will upon many nations. The "dedicated life" is that which conforms to the commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Of this great commandment Mrs. Eddy writes: "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,— whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing than can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed" (Science and Health, p. 340).
