QUAKERISAI AND THIS WAR.
[To TER EDITOR 01 TIIN "SPECTATOR."] SIR,--I happened to pick up a copy of the Spectator of June 26th in the reading-room and read in it a letter on
"Quakerism and This War," and then a paragraph beneath it signed "Ed. Spectator," in which it thanked Heaven that there were some young " Friends " who were ready to take up arms and fight for their country, and some older " Friends " who dared to back them up. I cannot help being rude about it, but I think it a rotten, narrow thing to say. A more reasonable and gentle-toned letter could not have been written by a Quaker in defence of his ideals, except, as you remarked, in what lie said of our foreign policy, and in answer to that a blustering, would-be patriotic remark is stuck in, running down the Quaker and his ideals. I reckon that Quakers, as far as their principles allow them, are just as patriotic as, if not more so than, the average Englishman, certainly the man who writes the article is; and considering what they have to put up with, it seems so unnecessary to rub in what everybody has been dinning into their ears the last nine months. This is supposed to be a country of religious toleration, and as long as the Quakers are not aggressive against the war and are not used as a shelter by any " slackers " I do not see what there is to complain about. We are all led by different routes according to education, mental capacity, &c., to have our own vision of the universal Master Christ, and that ought to be enough for anybody. Personally, I shall be just as proud to fight for the Quakers as anybody else, for I shall feel that, though they may not themselves fight, in spirit they are utterly grateful to us fellows, far more so than many a British citizen of ordinary type.—I am, Sir, &c., N. P. GRUBB, Second Lieutenant, 9th Batt. Gloater Regiment.
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey.
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