great and goodly cities which they builded not, and wells digged
which they digged not, farms and gardens which they planted not,
that we too might fear the Lord our God, and serve Him, and swear by
His name;--as sure as He commanded Abraham to respect the property
of his neighbours, so has He commanded us;--as sure as God taught
Abraham that the nation which was to grow from him owed a duty to
God, and could be only strong by faith in God, so it is with us:
we, English people, owe a duty to God, and are to deal among
ourselves, and with foreign countries, by faith in God, and in the
fear of God, "seeking first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness," sure that then all other things--victory, health,
commerce, art, and science--will be added to us, as the first Lesson
says. For this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the
nations, which shall say, Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people! For what nation is grown so great, that hath
statutes and judgments so righteous as these laws, this gospel,
which God sets before us day by day?--us, Englishmen!

And I say that these are proper thoughts for this place. This is
not a mere preaching-house, where you may learn every man to save
his own soul; this is a far nobler place; this building belongs to
the National Church of England, and we worship here, not merely as
men, but as men of England, citizens of a Christian country, come
here to learn not merely how to save ourselves, but how to help
towards the saving of our families, our parish, and our nation; and
therefore we must know what a country and a nation mean, and what is
the meaning of that glorious and divine word, "a citizen;" that by
learning what it is to be a citizen of England, we may go on to
learn fully what it is to be a citizen of the kingdom of God.