1915-01-05tt

The war in Europe frequently was used as a basis for church sermons in Hamilton, and such was the case on January 3, 1915 when Rev. W. E. Gilroy’s preached to a capacity congregation at thr First Congregational Church ;

“ During the sermon he made references to a letter he had received from the front, and quoted two clippings from the Times, giving particulars of the exchange of mince pies and Christmas courtesies between the British and Germans in the trenches.

“ He said : ‘ It is almost impossible to imagine such a thing happening. It reminds me of Hardy’s poem, ‘The Man He Killed,’ where Hardy says that one man was fighting against another for no special reason, and if he had met the man under any other conditions, he would have bought him a drink.

“ ‘There is nothing in war to make men like it. The story I have just read you is indicative of the fact that love for fight is not in man’s blood. British did not want to fight, and I think the great majority of Germans did not want to fight, at least many of the industrial workers did not, and if a large number did, it was because they were mistaught and educated on military lines.

“ ‘A spirit of disgust is among many of the men who are fighting and who are crying out against this war. It is a disgrace to civilization in this twentieth century. We hear so much about the downfall of democracy. Democracy has never had a fair chance. This message and the exchange of mince pies between the soldiers carries a great message to us. When men will sacrifice their lives for King and country, they should be given something better than a death on a battlefield. There are many better things for them to do.

“ ‘War cannot destroy the fellowship of men when they are left alone or given a chance to get together. The men who are most are the ones who have no malice in their souls, even they be justified in going to war.

“ ‘This letter relates a great deal of what we have seen in the daily papers, but when you get a letter from the trenches you realize the facts more than when you see it in the papers. Many of the people here at home who are bigoted and prejudiced are the ones who did not go to the front, and would not, and this letter from the trenches should teach them to be more broad-minded than they are at this new year’s time.

“ ‘Wars make wars, and through all time, there has been war, industrial, religious and other kinds. This is a fight for the right and an exchange of mince pies would do many of us even in the church a great deal of good.

“ ‘There is not as much malice at the front between the armies as  there is here in Canada, where there is no fight at all, and to start the new year right, let us all get around a little mince pie and do away with the malice.’ ”¹

¹ “Message From the Trenches : Rev. W. E. Gilroy on Lessons From the War”

Hamilton Times.    January 5, 1915