A British Soldier Comforting a Dying German

This beautiful picture which I saw in the “Sunday at Home” for April rivetted my attention. It depicts a scene on a battlefield. Far away from his home, the German soldier lies dying. In his home, maybe, his wife is talking to his little Karl, or Gretchen, about their father far away — the father they will see no more on earth. Beside the dying German we see a British soldier, holding his hand, and gazing upon his face with the tender solicitude of a woman. What has brought them thus together? The useless rifles lie upon the ground, and they are friends instead of foes. Hark! the British soldier speaks, seeing a look of great pain pass over the face of the dying man: “Can I do anything for you?” The answer from the feeble lips comes tremblingly, “Nothing, unless you would be so good as to hold my hand until all is over.” The Tommy said, “I gave him my hand, and stayed to the end. It seemed to comfort that poor chap a lot.”
We only hope he was able to speak of the Saviour to him. What are we doing for these dying men on the battlefields, of the world today? Are we helping to send them the Word of God, that can take the sting from death, and tell them of a heaven where death never enters, and of scenes “where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest?” God press our responsibilities to our fellow men upon us more and more.
A Colonel writes to us saying, “My son was in the Neuve Chapelle fight. He had just given his orders to his Lieutenant and Sergeants when a shell reached the battery, killed the Lieutenant and wounded three Sergeants. We cannot help being anxious for our dear ones, but what a difference it makes when we know they are in Christ.”