[Ads-l] Quote: There are no atheists in foxholes

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

I'm just following up on Garson's 2016 message introducing his
comprehensive entry on "there are no atheists in foxholes" (
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/11/02/foxhole/).

There (and below) he presents a November 1914 appearance of "there are no
atheists in the trenches." (Note that it contains the line "Tell the
Territorials and soldiers at home that they must know God before they come
to the front.")

At the moment, it looks like the formulation "no atheists at the front" may
have appeared (only) slightly earlier than "no atheists in the trenches."
See examples below. "No atheists at the front" didn't have the staying
power of "no atheists in the trenches," however.

It's hard to know what the original letter from a chaplain (or "letter from
a soldier in the trenches to a chaplain") contained, but the so-far
earliest references to it use "no atheists at the front." Of course, it's
entirely possible that "no atheists in the trenches" may predate that, but
we haven't yet found evidence of it.

BTW, Barry Popik (cc'd here) has pointed out that "there are no atheists in
hell" is 19th-century (
https://barrypopik.com/new_york_city/entry/there_are_no_atheists_in_foxholes).
You can find 17th-century examples of this aphorism on Google Books, but
I've located one in epigrammatic form from 1619 that's not in that
collection.

-- Bonnie

---------------------------

[begin quote]
Extracts from a letter of a chaplain at the front were read on Monday by
the Lord Bishop of Liverpool at a meeting of the Mother's Union at the
Philharmonic Hall.

[...]

"Do tell the Territorials and soldiers at home that they must know God
before they come out, if they would adequately face what lies before them.
They will need all the religion they have got, or can have ... There are no
atheists at the front, and men are not ashamed to say that though they have
not prayed before, they are praying now."
[end quote]

In "Notes by the Way," The Ormskirk (Lancashire) Advertiser, 22 October
1914, p. 4.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ormskirk-advertiser-etc-no-atheis/141945706/
.

A slightly modified form (along with a different description of the letter)
appeared just four days later.

[begin quote]
The Bishop read extracts from a letter from a soldier in the trenches to a
chaplain, in which he said "There are no atheists or unbelievers at the
front now. Tell the Territorials at home that they must know God before
they come out."
[end quote]

In "Local War Notes; The Bishop in the Pulpit," The (Gloucestershire) Echo,
26 October 1914, p. 3. Via Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

But we're back to "no atheists at the front" just a few days later in The
Bristol Times and Mirror,
https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-post-no-atheists-at-the-front/141945935/
.


On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 10:46 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
> Back in September 2006 Bonnie Taylor-Blake posted a great message to
> this mailing list about the expression in the subject line and about
> an earlier saying "There are no atheists in the trenches".
>
> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2006-September/063012.html
>
> I've located an earlier citation for the "trenches" adage in "The
> Western Times" newspaper of Devon, England in November 1914. A speaker
> at a memorial service for a fallen soldier held at St. Matthias'
> Church, Ilsham read from the letter of an unnamed chaplain serving at
> the front.
>
> [ref] 1914 November 6, The Western Times, Col. Burn's Late Son:
> Torquay's Expression of Sincere Sympathy, Quote Page 8, Column 3,
> Devon, England. (British Newspaper Archive)[/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The writer further said, "Tell the Territorials and soldiers at home
> that they must know God before they come to the front if they would
> face what lies before them. We have no atheists in the trenches. Men
> are not ashamed to say that, though they never prayed before, they
> pray now with all their hearts."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Bonnie also pointed to an interesting precursor attributed to "Henry
> More". Apparently, the actual author was the playwright and religious
> writer Hannah More, and I've located a relevant citation for her:
>
> [ref] 1815, An Essay on the Character and Practical Writings of Saint
> Paul by Hannah More, Volume 2 of 2, Fourth Edition, Chapter 19, Quote
> Page 232, Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, London. (Google Books
> Full View) link [/ref]
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=35wUAAAAQAAJ&q=agony#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Under circumstances of distress, indeed, prayer is adopted with
> comparatively little reluctance; the mind, which knows not where to
> fly, flies to God. In agony, nature is no Atheist.
> [End excerpt]
>
> A research summary is available on the QI website here:
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/11/02/foxhole/
>
> [Begin acknowledgement]
> Special thanks to Bonnie Taylor-Blake who uncovered the version of the
> adage that referred to trenches instead of foxholes. She also found
> pertinent instances of the precursor quotations ascribed to Michel de
> Montaigne and Hannah More. Additional thanks to Charles Doyle et al
> for the research on this topic in "The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs"
> and to Barry Popik for the research available on his website.
> [End acknowledgement]
>
> Garson
>
>

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