ent with all the means which
thou hast employed?"

This was the serious question. The answer could be more or less
satisfactory, just as the Reformer understood the mission of his life.
"The years of our life are three score and ten, and by reason of
strength they may be four score." As a rule, the half of this period
may be devoted to active duties. He, then, who does not shrink from
laying before the world the results of honest research and conviction;
he who breaks a path and removes obstacles, that stand in the way of
others; he who wishes not only to sow but to reap, to behold the rich
fruits of his labor, can neither be idle nor reflect too long, in every
case, about the choice of means. These are often, in and of themselves,
by no means blameless, and yet the only ones by which the end can be
speedily attained; for usually adversaries are to be dealt with who are
not all scrupulous themselves. They must be beaten by their own
weapons. Such in all ages, has been the policy of men, especially those
whom history calls great. The Jesuits were neither the first, nor the
only politicians who adopted the maxim, that the end sanctifies the
means; although they perhaps have given it the most damnable
application. If a man is fully bound by his calling to act with
promptness and decision, if the present generation, or his fatherland,
suffers or gains by his action, then his task is doubly difficult, and
cases may be supposed, where he is not left free to choose between
means that are censurable and those that are praiseworthy, but only
between those that are less censurable and those that are more so. Such
is the unenviable position of the statesman; and it will thus continue,
until public life is so transformed, that fair and pure measures will
suffice for its maintenance; in other words, until the visible
revelation of the kingdom of God here below, which Christ proclaimed,
which he foresaw, and for which he himself scattered the seed in the
earth.

This kingdom of God is that of universal freedom, truth and love. It is
built only upon a faith not imposed, upon a personal conviction. Hence,
to promote it is a very different mission, one that belongs to the
preachers of the Gospel. They should employ none but the purest means,
since their aim is altogether pure and holy. Whether its coming will be
slow or rapid, is not for us here to consider. They are to seek
greatness not by ruling and domineering, but by serving and