“Just prior to that time, in the first of my Sunday evening sermons in this course, I had praised the Kaiser.  I believed in the German ideals, I believed in German progress, German inventions, German principles.  But I was wrong.  I have now become convinced of what I never imagined before—­that in the German viewpoint the only sin against the Holy Ghost is military impotency, and, to use Treitschke’s words again, the only virtue is militarism.”

The pastor of Plymouth uttered this attack upon Germany with a scornfulness which the printed word can hardly indicate.  He was as strongly against Germany—­more strongly against Germany now than he had before been in favor of Germany, he said.  It was a position, he said, to which everybody in the United States was turning, and it was inevitable that Germany should find the world against her.

In his frank avowal of his position regarding Germany and the Kaiser, Dr. Hillis admitted, too, that his sermon last night had contained more than appeared on the surface.  When he stated in the sermon that no man or ruler should ever adopt the view of the peasant and the cave man, and try to make the Eternal God a tribal God, he had the Kaiser in mind, said Dr. Hillis.  The sermon is published in full in today’s sermon pages of The Eagle.

In addition, Dr. Hillis said that while he believed that his sermon could not be considered in any way a violation of President Wilson’s appeal for neutrality, yet, indirectly, the passages to which exception had been taken could be rightly construed as an attack upon Germany and the Kaiser.

“You believe that it is right for a minister to use the pulpit to express his own views upon a subject like this?” was asked.

“I do not believe that it is right for a minister to air his peculiar political views upon any subject—­personal, social, or economic,” answered Dr. Hillis, emphatically.  “The church is a conservatory where a warm, genial atmosphere should be created.  My conception of the work of a minister is that he is to create an atmosphere in the church on Sunday so that the Republican with the tariff, the Democrat who believes in free trade, and the Single Taxer can all grow and express their judgment during the week.

“The sun and the Summer shine for all kinds of seeds and roots, and the minister and the church should create an atmosphere in which all temperaments and races and faiths can grow.  It is quite true that there were some of my German friends and members who rather protested against my view last night.  But they had the same right and liberty to protest that I have.  A German physician told me plainly that he thought that within six months I would change my view, and with the new light go over to the position of his native land, and even thought that I might retract all my studies, that are apparently prejudiced in favor of the republic and self-government and the liberty of the press.  Well, if I do change my views and am converted to his viewpoint, I certainly will retract my statements.  But I think this improbable.  The task of converting me should be let out as a Government contract—­in piecemeal.”