No 4564 Pte J.W. Brotherhood

Signalling Section

3/5 Leicesters

Bulwell

Notts

Jan 20^th 016

Dear Rev Walters,

            I have just been wondering what the future holds in store for us as a nation & also individually, because I think it is possible for one to form a just conclusion.  There are days ahead of us, but what kind of days will they be?  Days of Peace & Happiness, or days of darkness & despair?

            It seems to me to be fare presumption to suppose that victory will eradicate all evils, or even bring a new-soul to England.

            What I think is this: the soul of England will be richer clothed, it may be in garments of blood but also in garments of an imperishable nature.  She will be clothed with honour, & shielded by Freedom.

            Nations rarely seek honour to the sacrifice of wealth, or sacrifice blood to bring freedom to others.  The sacrifice of life & blood is far richer than the sacrifice of wealth.  Wealth perishes.  Honour ever lives, it knows no death.

            But what England has done is a true test of what she is able to do; & what England is able to do will reveal the elements of what Her “Soul” consists of.

The “Old Book” has a double application when it says ‘No man liveth unto himself”. There is always a 2^nd considerate & sympathy.

I think life is hard & cruel where there is no victory to cheer, or defeat to rally us.

The standard of one’s life should never be judged by the peace one enjoys, but rather by the foes conquered, & the victories won.

And that is how England will be judged in future days, the England of tomorrow will not be the England of today; every victory makes her stronger; every sacrifice stimulates Her to greater endeavours.  We do not shed blood for nought!  We harbour not the lust of greed, but the love of righteousness; & by Her sacrifice England has an Heritage in every land.  Therefore England‘s soul grows stronger; richer in power; & more resolute.

England has not a new soul, but greater ideals; the old soul has had a revelation, & revelation brings experience, & experience, generally speaking brings power.

Therefore will the days that are to come bear comparison with the days that are past?  Will they bring a new & greater dread, or will a new world burst before our eyes, & world of beauty & grandeur?

I think the spirit that is now developing will bring a limitless power & freedom to the sons who have fought & worked, & to the daughters who have loved & wept.  No true son of England is afraid of the future days.  We wait for it as we wait for the Morning Sun to rise & drive away darkness.

To the future we say “All Hail” We welcome thee as the new-born day; to the past we say “Farewell”.

There are scenes in these days that make us shudder; but the future shall give light to our eyes, & joy to our souls, & there shall be sung songs of exaltation such as the world has never known or heard before.

Sir, the day is breaking.  And we would re-echo “Break Divine Light.”

What a light it will be.  Soul-filling enraptorum.  Europe’s “Sentinel” re-echoes the question of the ages – “Watchman, what of the night?  Behold the morning cometh.”  There is a rift in the Lute.  There is breaking on our ears the music of a distant song.  Not a song to quicken the steps of the defeated, but a song of Victory & of Hope, a song that shall give step to the mareking hosts, who, having delivered freedom from bondage, now return home to peace & happiness.  The future days, in my opinion, will bring to us a greater spiritual experience.

There are men in the trenches, who have witnessed scenes of horror.  They have watched, nay, taken part in the struggle between life & death, Hell & Heaven.  What will their experience be?

Methinks that the soul-struggle is terribly great when one fights for humanity.

Life to such men will have a deeper meaning.  A new seriousness, will enter in into them, & they will regard life as a sacred possession & home as if it were heaven.  The cry is going forth today – what will the churches do with the returning millions as they gather home from the Battlefield?  But a greater question to my mind is – what will returning soldiers do with the church?

To the church that accepts the new experience of her followers there will come a blessed ministry, not from the pulpit alone, but from the Pen.  The whole church will be inspired & invigorated.  But what of the church that ignores the cry of her followers, & who refuse to accept those visions which have been given?  What of such a church?  She will be shunned.  Hated.  Despised.

The church that accepts the new-found Doctrine of Humanity is the church of the future, not that the “Old Doctrine will be despised, nay, they will be loved more & more, but we shall read the Human in the Divine, & realise that every man is worth saving.

Our heroes will not shun the ministry of church, but will rather seek to enrich it.  Visions always enrich, and life without vision is like Heaven without God.

The church will embrace her returning sons, & Her returning sons will offer of their best to the “Great Cause” that has tended & cared for them, & offered such a welcome within Her borders.  The church will adapt herself to the new conditions as She hears of the new experiences of Her followers, & after having heard such experiences She will break away from Her former self & embrace a Freedom Divine.  The Old trammels of Bigotry will be cast off, & an evangelation of the masses will be the result.  Just one other thought.  The future days will reveal a united humanity.  What I mean is – A man will value a man.

Robert Burns has well said – “A man’s a man for a that”.  No matter how men may differ, the soul is ever the same.  The one interest of men will be, how they can best serve God, King & Country, & especially each other.

A man will value his neighbour, not merely as a neighbour, but as a valuable unit of his country, & of the District in which he lives.  A deeper unity will enthral the human race.  Not a unity that will bind, but a unity that will give liberty to thought & freedom to speech; yea, the poor shall meet with the rich, & the rich with the poor, & each class will recognise that neither are dispensable, but that both are valuable units in the life of the nation, & that both are needed to carry on our National Programme.  United we stand.  Divided we fall.  And should we fall, our loss would be greater than our gains, & we should be plunged into the very jaws of Death.

But Sir, We have sought & found liberty.  Our men have bled & died for freedom.  The Empire has given of its best, & we through that sacrifice have gained liberty.

Shall we lose what we have gained?  Or shall we cement those bonds which so closely bind us together?

Thank God for the vision of a brighter future.  There are wonders untold is store for us, & the one just conclusion we arrive at is – that a new England is rising up, & a generation of patriots is taking the place of pessimists.

Edge of page torn off. ***** ***** con***.  We **** to live.  And who but those that come after us will better appreciate the sacrifice that has been made?

There is a great deal more I should like to have written, but what I have written is what I believe.  Sir you may differ from me in many things I have said, & if that be so I should like to hear what your views are, as they would help me very much.

But upon one thing we are agreed.  We win.

Please accept my best wishes, & I do pray that your ministry will be very effectual.

            I remain

                        Your very sincerely

                        PTE J.W. Brotherhood.

In envelope addressed to Rev T.W. Walters, Vicar of Whitwick, Whitwick, Leicestershire.

Letter postmarked Bulwell Nottingham 21 JA 16.