[⭘] The Occident, vol. 12. It is a pity that no selection of S. R. Hirsch’s Essays has as yet appeared in English.
[⭘] Sermons, i. ‘Faith’, the last sermon preached by him. The Jewish idea of faith is that of fidelity, absolute loyalty to God. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.’
[⭘] Young Sorley, writing a few days before he fell in battle, says: ‘Real faith is not that which says “we must win for our cause is just”; but that which says “our cause is just; therefore we can disregard defeat”. All outlooks are at present material, and the unseen value of justice as justice, independent entirely of results, is forgotten. It is looked upon merely as an agent for winning battles.’ (Letters of Charles Sorley, 1919.)
[⭘] Halevi’s Ode to Zion is one of the noblest religious poems in the literature of the World:—
Pure and faithful, ever spotless,
Was his song, even as his soul was;
Soul, that when the Maker fashioned,
With His handiwork delighted.
Straight He kissed the beauteous spirit;
And that kiss of grace, re-echoing,