er which man can bring to bear on the
accomplishment of its work: the state does itself honour, and gives
itself stability by supporting it; monarchs are never so royal as in
lending to it their influence; all the world's riches are never so
precious as when they are poured into its treasuries, and are employed
in the promotion of its ends."

And this is no more than the simple truth. The kingdom is worthy to
receive the tribute of all the monarchs, the nobles, the wise ones, the
rich ones of the world: the more it has of the good-will and help of
every man, from the king to the beggar, the better for the kingdom, the
better for mankind. All that we say is, Let it win them. Let it win in
its own way, by putting forth its own power, the nursing care of the
noble, the rich, and the wise. Leave it to employ its own spiritual
force to do this and all at which it aims. Lend your heart to it, your
hand, your tongue, your pen, your purse, and everything else which it
can command and use to win its way to human hearts. But if you bring
your human authority to bear to win from your subjects and dependants an
outward homage, if you endow it with dead gifts administered by the
scribes and lawyers of this world, if you lend worldly pomp and power to
those who claim to be its ministers, you oppress and stifle it, and
destroy its power of progress in the world. It wants free air, the free
air of willing obedience, loyalty, and love. Rob it of that, it dies. It
is not of this world. Every gift that is wrung for it from an unwilling
hand beggars it. Its riches are the gifts of free will. Mere gold, with
no spirit of loving loyalty in the giver, is worse than dross to it; it
cankers and eats into its life. The power which has troops of soldiers
and legal tribunals behind it blights it by its very breath. All that it
asks is freedom; power to do what Christ did, in the way in which He did
it; power to bear witness to the truth, and weaken the long silent
echoes of truth in human hearts. We have cut off its heavenly
connection, and rooted it in the powers and policies of this world; and
now we wonder that it languishes, and that one half the people in a
Christian kingdom believe nothing of its truth and care nothing for its
King. Oh! for the days of apostolic trust and simplicity, when the
disciples, "continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of