I will be submissive, faithful and obedient to his Royal Majesty,—­and his lawful successors in the government,—­as my most gracious King and Sovereign; promote his welfare according to my ability; prevent injury and detriment to him; and particularly endeavor carefully to cultivate in the minds of the people under my care a sense of reverence and fidelity towards the King, love for the Fatherland, obedience to the laws, and all those virtues which in a Christian denote a good citizen; and I will not suffer any man to teach or act in a contrary spirit.  In particular I vow that I will not support any society or association, either at home or abroad, which might endanger the public security, and will inform His Majesty of any proposal made, either in my diocese or elsewhere, which might prove injurious to the State.

And later on this heaven-guided ruler conceived the scheme of a Berlin-Bagdad railway, for which he needed one religion more; he paid a visit to Constantinople, and made another debut and produced another god—­with the result that millions of Turks are fighting under the belief that the Kaiser is a convert to the faith of Mohammed!

#Der Tag.#

All this was, of course, in preparation for the great event to which all good Germans looked forward—­to which all German officers drank their toasts at banquets—­the Day.

This glorious day came, and the field-gray armies marched forth, and the Pauline-Lutheran God marched with them.  The Kaiser, as usual, acted as spokesman: 

Remember that the German people are the chosen of God.  On me, the German emperor, the spirit of God has descended.  I am His sword, His weapon and His viceregent.  Woe to the disobedient and death to cowards and unbelievers.

As to the Prussian state religion, its attitude to the war is set forth in a little book written by a high clerical personage, the Herr Consistorialrat Dietrich Vorwerk, containing prayers and hymns for the soldiers, and for the congregations at home.  Here is an appeal to the Lord God of Battles: 

Though the warrior’s bread be scanty, do Thou work daily death and tenfold woe unto the enemy.  Forgive in merciful long-suffering each bullet and each blow which misses its mark.  Lead us not into the temptation of letting our wrath be too tame in carrying out Thy divine judgment.  Deliver us and our ally from the Infernal Enemy and his servants on earth.  Thine is the kingdom, the German land; may we, by the aid of Thy steel-clad hand, achieve the fame and the glory.

It is this Herr Consistorialrat who has perpetrated the great masterpiece of humor of the war—­the hymn in which he appeals to that God who keeps guard over Cherubim, Seraphim, and Zeppelins.  You have to say over the German form of these words in order to get the effect of their delicious melody—­“Cherubinen, Seraphinen, Zeppelinen!” And lest you think that this too-musical clergyman is a rara avis, turn to the little book which has been published in English under the same title as Herr Vorwerk’s “Hurrah and Hallelujah.”  Here is the Reverend S. Lehmann: