Page:The Parochial System (Wilberforce, 1838).djvu/131

 the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into the Church, by offering to her, for her Lord's sake,our earthly treasures, to be employed as her instruments in the discharge of the blessed task imposed on her by Him, the task of bringing the means of grace, and the hope of glory, to the homes of all her children. We may not stoop to lower grounds; we will not assume a false principle, although we could prove, that even on that principle the nation would still be bound to undertake the work. There are many who love to assume that the secular prosperity of the nation is the sole object of government, and that it has accordingly no concern with the questions of religious truth or falsehood, with virtue or vice as such, but only as they bear upon the public interests. They avow, in short, that expediency, and not right, should be the rule of governments; that the law of God is for individuals, and the law of interest for kingdoms and empires. If we would, we might occupy this low ground with the certainty of victory. We might show from experience as well as from Scripture, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." We might plead, that men fearing God, and daily worshipping His name, will be better subjects, better neighbours, than those who know nothing of Him, or of their own highest interests and duties. But we may not abandon that higher position on which we take our station; and in