Nations And The Moral Law
I believe there is no permanent greatness to a nation except it be
based upon morality. I do not care for military greatness or military
renown. I care for the condition of the people among whom I live.
Crowns, coronets, mitres, military display, the pomp of war, wide
colonies, and a huge empire are in my view all trifles, light as air
and not worth considering, unless with them you can have a fair share
of comfort, co
people. Palaces, baronial castles, great halls, stately mansions, do
not make a nation. The nation in every country dwells in the cottage.
I ask you then to believe, as I do most devoutly believe, that the
moral law was not written for men alone in their individual character,
but that it was written as well for nations.
If nations reject and deride that moral law, there is a penalty which
will inevitably follow. It may not come at once, it may not come in our
life-time; but rely upon it, the great Italian is not a poet only, but
a prophet, when he says:
The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite,
Nor yet doth linger.
JOHN BRIGHT.
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