gh sympathy with him who
came to save the lost and reconcile the estranged. "The common
people," it is said, "heard him gladly." And the people it is who
should welcome his religion, which condemns the selfishness alike of
the tyrant and of the demagogue, and rebukes at once the arrogance of
an aristocratic and the meanness of a servile spirit by its pregnant
charge to "honor all men." All men? What, of every class and
condition? Yes, men of every name, rank, and complexion. Hear it, ye
slaves, and ye masters of America. Hear it, ye nobility, and you the
starving millions of Britain. Hear it, ye rulers, and ye defrauded and
oppressed subjects of Continental Europe. Aye, hear it, ye nations of
the East, where first the blessed words were spoken, though since long
buried in oblivion. Words of righteous and joyful import to those to
whom false opinion and unjust institutions have denied the place which
by the will of their Creator they are entitled to hold,--standing
erect by the side of their fellow-men, and not crouching submissively
at the feet which trample or spurn them. Alas! how few yet comprehend
the law, on which the morality of every Christian people, and every
Christian believer, should be built--"Thou shalt love thy neighbour,"
be he who he may, thou shalt love him "as thyself."

It must now appear in what sense I use the expression, the religion of
politics. We sometimes hear of the _morality_ of political life, but
the term is not comprehensive enough for my purpose. I do not indeed
acknowledge a morality that is not based on faith in God, whose will
is the only standard, as from his government must be derived the
sanctions, of virtue. But a compliance with the requisitions of
morality is not all that should be demanded of him who enters
political life, or of any one in the discharge of his functions as a
citizen. He should remember what is due to God, as well as what is due
to man. Let us see how the principles which we have laid down will
affect political action.

First, a man must carry into political life a sense of God as the
Source of power and privilege. The air and the light are not more
truly his gifts than are the civil institutions which we enjoy. We are
fond of describing the virtues and deeds of our ancestors; our
grandsires are regarded with mingled admiration and gratitude. It is
well that we turn back to those days of fortitude and energy, and seek
there the springs of our present prosperity