' iM ill n:: tiii: II :: nil I ! mi;:: iilii ; >: iij i i:: ilil' 1 1 i 'i ' FEB 9 1916 ^ ) BR 115 .P7 C86 1915 Cunningham, William, 1849- 1919. Christianity and politics CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS ( BY WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM, D.D., F.B.A. ARCHDEACON OF ELY BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1915 COPYRIGHT, I915, BY WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Published November iqis PREFACE The bearing of Christian teaching on the life of the community is a matter of great interest from many points of view. In lectures at the London School of Economics in 1913 I endeav- oured to deal with the relations of Christianity and Economic Science, reserving for the time the practical questions as to political duty: this was the subject of the course of Lowell Lectures which I had the honour of delivering in the autumn of 1914. There has been the greatest difference of opinion between different bodies of Christians as to the mode of bringing Christianity to bear on po- litical life, and the differences are so fundamental that it is worth while to examine them in turn, and see how far each opinion has justified itself as a matter of practical experience. The more we are aware of the danger of giving exaggerated importance to any half truth, the better prospect there will be of finding common ground, on which all can work together without any sacrifice of principle. The Lowell Lectures, as originally written, were chiefly concerned with the internal government of a community; but the war has given importance to all questions of international PREFACE , relations; and in revising the lectures for publica- tion I have endeavoured to take account of national life in all its aspects. The appendix, on the Attitude of the Church towards War, is part of a memorandum written at the request of a Committee of the Lower House of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, which had been appointed to consider the subject of the Church and War. W. C. Teinitt College, Cambridge, 80 July, 1915. CONTENTS Introduction * War as an Anachronism. Appeal to Christianity. Disappointed Expectations. Maxims for Society. Personal Sense of Duty. I. Christendom and the Reformation . . 8 s I. The Papacy. Spiritual and Civil Authority. The Secularising of Papal Power. The Counter-Reformation. II. External Spiritual Authority. Bishop Ketteler and Social Questions. Papal Claims. Diminishing Influence. Failure to give Definite Guidance. ni. The Aloofness of Anglo-Saxon Peo- ples. Papal Enunciation of Truisms. Suspicion of Clerical Interference. Loss to Christian Studies. II. Church and State in England ... 30 I. National Life. The Church as National. The Appeal to the Bible. Loyalty to the Crown. Sense of Mission. The Gentry and the Council. Vll CONTENTS II. The Administration of a Christian Realm. Ecclesiastical and Civil Authorities. The Relief of the Poor. The Enforcement of Fish Diet. Objection to Usury. Attacks on the Stuart Administration. in. The Right to Coerce. Coercing People for the Common Good. A Common Order in Worship. Economic Progress. The Art of Leadership. III. Presbyterianism and the Supremacy op Scripture 63 I. The Scriptural Model for a Polity. Reaction from the Synagogue of Satan. A Godly Nation. The Magistrates and Force. Freedom for Capital. The Spiritual Independence of Ministers. n. Presbyterian Theocracy. A Christian Community. Education and Poor-Relief. Industrial Requirements and Prudential Virtues. Capital and the New Slavery. III. The Danger of Misusing Scripture. The Bible and Principles for a Polity. Economic Laws. Society and Individuals. IV. Independents and the Supremacy op Conscience 92 I. Personal Conviction and Gathered Churches. Gathered Churches. The Duties of the Community. Attack upon the Parochial System. • • • vm CONTENTS II. Administrative Duties and the Society OF Friends. OflBcial Duty. Civil Rights. Public Responsibilities. in. Christian Associations. Withdrawal to the New World. External Relations and Internal Regulation. The Two Spheres. IV. Unassimilated Elements in English So- ciety. The Clarendon Code. The Assertion of Personal Rights. The Elimination of Religion from Politics. V. The Grounds of Civil Obedience. The Duty of Civil Obedience. Refraining from Active Obedience. The Appeal to Force. Duty to the Community and to God. V. Religion and Public Spirit . . . .127 I. Self-Discipline and Growth. Personal Religious Life. Services and Societies. John Wesley and Methodism. II. The Duties of the Community. Pulpit Exhortations. National Mission and National Duty. Self-interest and Public Spirit. Trading Companies, and Planters. Duty to the Poor and to Dependents. Hospitals and the Humane Society. The Anti-Slavery Movement. in. The Prosperity of the Community. Improving Landlords and Enterprising Capi- talists. Individual Loss and the Progress of the Com- munity ix CONTENTS VI. HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION , ~ . 167 I. The Abandonment of Laissez-faire. Adam Smith. State Support of Philanthropic EfiForts. Public Health. The Com Laws. n. Coercion and Duties of Other People. Public Opinion. Public Benefits and Ideal Justice. in. Reliance on State Interference. Desire for Political Power. Decline of Personal Responsibility. Coercion of Other Nations. Humanitarianism and War. IV. Political Christianity. The Church as the Handmaid of Politicians. , Fanaticism. The Special Work of Christianity. VIL Class Interests and National Inter- ests 200 I. Substitutes for the Sense of Duty. Co-operative Societies, and Copartnership. Friendly Societies and Trade Unions. II. Inadequacy of Class Interests. Beneficial Effects. Possibilities of Conflict. III. National Interests. The Evils of War. The Insecurity of Peace. Sordid Polities. VIII. Christian Duty in a Democracy . . 219 I. Modern Perplexities. Indifference to Religion. Social Unrest. Spiritual Influence. Personal Responsibility to God. CONTENTS II. Duties as a Citizen. Party Government. Disparaging Politics. y Motive Force for doing Duties to the Commu- nity. Duty as to Investments. III. Duties of Private Life. The Employer of Labour. Public Companies. IV. Christian Organisation. Personal Sense of Duty. Intellectual Error. Inspiring Examples. Local Organisation. Appendix 247 The Attitude of the Church towards War. ^ I. The Acceptance of War as Inevitable IN AN Evil World. The Sub-Apostolic Age. Christians and Military Discipline. St. Augustine and Just Wars. n. The Christian Polity and the Conse- cration OF War. The Extension of Christendom by Force. The MiUtary Orders. Private War and the Peace of God. Wars of Religion. The Protest of Anabaptists and Friends. Sanctified Common Sense. Index . "^ 9,^^ CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS INTRODUCTION The European War has caused an extraordi- nary strain on the resources of the nations en- gaged in it. Each combatant is trying to put out its full strength and to organise the energies of labour and the wealth of capitalists with a view to military operations; each is striving to the utmost to obtain success. Such a trial of strength must have far-reaching results; war is an ordeal which not only strains material resources, but tests the habits of thought and accepted axioms of political life. Till July of last year there was a general be- lief in England and America that war had become an anachronism; that, though it might survive among half-civilised and decadent peoples, it could no longer occur amongst the most highly developed nations. It seemed impossible that there should be such an outrage on civilisation. On the one side, humanitarian sentiment was likely to prevent an outbreak of war, with all the misery it entails; on the other, the interests of the nations of the world were so interdependent that it seemed unlikely that any could gain by means of war. But events have proved that the hopes 1 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS which were so generally entertained were base- less; a nation, distinguished for scientific culture and for effective organisation, has forced on a war, and horrors which were looked upon as a thing of the past have been let loose on a larger scale than ever before. Pacificism, which professed to be the last result of scientific sociology, has been dis- credited as impracticable in Europe, since events have proved the ineffectiveness of humanitarian sentiment and prudential calculation, to prevent an appeal to arms. During the last year there has also been fresh recognition of religion as a force in political life; for a century and more there had been a tendency to wave it aside and discard it as no longer a matter of public concern. The persistence of the philanthropists was not indeed wholly forgotten, and Christianity was expected to interfere with the internal affairs of the nation, and to rouse the national conscience on such questions as the sweating of labour and the improvement of hous- ing. Apart, however, from social reform, religion seemed to many men to be a matter of private concern, and no one regarded it as entering di- rectly into the field of international politics. With the stress and anxiety of war all this is changed, and Christianity has taken its rightful 2 INTRODUCTION place. The depth and fervour of religion in Russia has been a revelation to the Western world. The Kaiser has appealed to the faith of his people that God will give victory to the Germans, and render Teutonic ideas triumphant throughout the world; while English statesmen call on the Church to use her influence and support them in a sacred cause. The present war has forced men to realise, as they were ceasing to do, that Christianity has an im- portant part to play in shaping the destinies and maintaining the influence of a nation. Christianity, when thus appealed to, speaks with an uncertain sound; different ideals are cher- ished and different opinions are put forth as to the attitude which is right for the Christian man in regard to war. Religion may be the strongest in- centive to courage in battle, as it was in Old Tes- tament times, and in the tide of conquest by which Mohammedanism was spread in the East and West. Their religion was the inspiration for the struggle of the Huguenots in France, and the Ironsides in England; but it seems to have in- creased the bitterness of parties and to have added fuel to the flames of political passion. Their common Christianity did not prevent the out- break of war between European nations; yet this is inconsistent with the conception of Christianity as first preached and as now accepted. 3 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS Many who feel little need of a religion in their own lives approve of the ideal of society which Christianity sets forth. It promises the advent of a Prince of Peace, and holds out the hope of a time when war shall be no more. Those who are enamoured of this prospect for the world at large are disappointed that the expectations which Christianity has raised have not been fulfilled. Its failure to maintain peace at the present time seems to them to discredit religion as unpractical, and its teaching as unfitted for the present world. But this raises the question whether the failure is due to Christianity itself, or to mistaken methods of pursuing the Christian aim. An inquiry as to the method by which Christianity is likely to work most effectively, as a power for regenerating human society, is not only interesting but fruitful. Forgotten controversies come to have a new meaning, when it is remembered that the men who took part in them were making different ex- periments as to the method of realising the Chris- tian aim in this world. In the seventeenth century and subsequently one experiment was tried after another; and various bodies attempted to found a Christian polity that should be in complete ac- cordance with the will of God. We can examine these polities in turn, and see how far the basis on which each rested was really sound. Some relied 4 INTRODUCTION on the positive guidance of a living authority; ^ some treated the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as an ultimate standard;^ while others insisted that the individual conscience must be supreme.^ We can note how the structures, which were built on one or other of these foundations, have been arraigned at the bar of history, and how defects or exaggerations have been exposed. This enquiry is not idle, if we are prepared to learn by the experience of the past. Beacons, which warn us what to avoid, may give us important guidance as to the course we ought to pursue. Christianity still maintains a claim to mould personal life and national life; but religion would do well to abandon the pretension to lay down principles in a form in which they are directly applicable to the circumstances of any commu- nity, at the precise stage of development which it has reached. In the modern world there is prog- ress and growth; and no maxims can be formu- lated which apply to every age alike. The laws of Political Economy are ultimately based on experi- ence, and hold good for long periods; there is need to take them into full account, but none of them is to be treated as valid for all time. One sys- tem of Political Economy after another has been superseded, and none has attained finality. Our 1 Chapter I. ^ Chapter III. ^ Chapter IV. 5 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS religion fails to live up to its true character if it attempts to enunciate maxims which give direct guidance to political communities. For "Chris- *'tianity is the Eternal Religion which can never "become obsolete. If it sets itself to determine "the temporary and the local, the justice of this "tax, or the exact wrongs of that conventional "maxim it would soon become obsolete, — it "would be the religion of one century, not of all."^ It is to the personal heart and conscience that the teaching of Christ makes its primary appeal; the Christian man is taught to aim at so passing through things temporal that he shall not lose the things eternal. The problems of modern life are complex, and the misery of human beings in the most ad- vanced communities is appalling. It is therefore right that we should try to learn from past experi- ence. Christian effort is wasted when it is frit- tered away in every direction, instead of being concentrated on the field in which it can work most effectively. Christianity has a unique power for dealing with the heart and conscience of the individual man, and it will do well to exercise this power to the full, as the best means of bringing its influence to bear, indirectly but not the less really, ^ F. W. Robertson, Sermons (2d Series), ii, 7. 6 INTRODUCTION on Society as a whole. There is hope that the part which rehgion has to play in political life may be more effective than ever, if Christian men can learn from their own past failures, and not only awaken to a keener sense of personal duty, but also keep an open mind to the actual conditions in which they live. Humanitarian sentiment is a power for good, though it cannot create a new earth. 1 Class Interest and National Interest are notable forces, though they are mischievous if they are allowed to operate blindly. 2 No exclusive Christian principle of action in social affairs is to be advocated as a substitute for the play of hu- man activities. Divine power can so master them as to give each its place, and bring them all to co- operate for the common weal. If the good and the evil elements in the social forces of the day are recognised. Christians need no longer treat them as antagonists, but welcome them as possible allies. "He that is not against us is on our part." 1 Chapter VI. 2 Chapter VII. I CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION I. THE PAPACY Throughout the whole of Western Christen- dom there had been a general agreement, during the Middle Ages, that the Papacy was the chan- nel by which the Divine Will for all conditions of human life was authoritatively made known; and also that it was the organ by which Christian duty could be enforced, either by the spiritual censures or through the co-operation of Christian princes. Generations of men grew up in a society which was permeated by these views and accepted them without serious question. Hildebrand succeeded in maintaining the supremacy of the spiritual power, while its independence of secular authori- ties appears to be guaranteed by the possession of the States of the Church; and this view has never been abandoned. It is still claimed that the tem- poral power "was conferred many centuries ago by Divine Providence on the Bishop of Rome that he might without let or hindrance use the "authority conferred by Christ for the eternal 8 Si it CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION "welfare of the Nations." ^ However imperfectly this might be realised in actual life, there was at least a general recognition of one harmonious system throughout Christendom so long as one common authority on moral and social duty was generally accepted. "This Apostolic Chair it "was that gathered and held together the crum- "bling remains of the old order of things; this was "the kindly light by whose help the culture of "Christian times shone far and wide; this was an "anchor of safety in the jfierce storms by which "the human race has been convulsed; this was *'the sacred bond of union that linked together "nations distant in region and differing in char- "acter; in short, this was a common centre from "which was sought instruction in faith and re- "ligion, no less than guidance and advice for the "maintenance of peace and the functions of "practical life." ^ Hence it is maintained that the improvements in social life, during the Middle Ages, were accom- plished by the influence exercised on secular au- thority by the central spiritual power. "The "Almighty therefore has appointed the charge of "the human race between two powers, the Ecclesi- ^ Pope Leo XIII, The Pope and the People, Select Letters and Addresses on Social Questions, 17. 2 Ibid., 19. 9 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS « astical and the Civil; the one being set over Ol- ivine, and the other over human things. Each in *'its kind is supreme, each has fixed limits within "which it is contained, limits which are defined by "the nature and special object of the province of "each; ^ . . . one of the two has for its proximate "and chief object the well being of this mortal life; " the other the everlasting joys of heaven. What- "ever, therefore, in things human is of a sacred "character, whatever belongs either of its own na- '*ture or by reason of the end to which it is re- "f erred, to the salvation of souls, or to the worship "of God, is subject to the power of the judgment "of the Church. Whatever is to be ranged under "the civil and political order is rightly subject to "the Civil authority." ^ gut as there is no equiva- lence between these two aspects of human life, there can be no hard and fast line drawn between the two powers. "Just as the end at which the " Church aims is by far the noblest of ends, so is its "authority the most exalted of all authority, nor "can it be looked upon as inferior to the Civil "power, or in any manner dependent upon it." ^ "God has willed that one should be the head of "all, and the chief and unerring teacher of truth." ^ 1 Pope Leo XIII, The Pope and the People, 79. 2 Ibid., 80. 3 Ibid., 77. * Ibid., 77. 10 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION This was the conviction which governed society during the Middle Ages; and it is easy to show that, so long as it held sway, the national jeal- ousies and the social difficulties, which have arisen in the modern era, were less chaotic, since there was a spiritual authority, to which appeal might be made, and which had a recognised posi- tion for dealing with them. During the later Middle Ages there had been a widespread complaint that the Church was be- coming secularised. The temporal power was not merely a guarantee for spiritual independence but a basis for frequent interference in European politics and for rivalry in magnificence with other courts. The life of St. Francis and the foundation of his Order is a monument of disapproval of the secu- lar elements in ecclesiastical institutions, even among those who fully acknowledged the author- ity of the Pope; and this alienation was strength- ened in many quarters by the Renaissance and the progress of humanism. The secular aspect of the Papacy became more pronounced than before, and the critics were furnished with new weapons to attack the old order. All this paved the way for the rejection of the claims of the Papacy to exercise authority 11 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS over civil powers. The severance of Christen- dom, and the revolt of the Lutherans and the English from Rome, were far less due to the theological questions about the Sacraments, which came into the forefront in the contro- versies of the day, than to the fact that the claim of a secularised Church to exercise spiritual au- thority over the civil power no longer found the acceptance which had been generally accorded to it for centuries. It is clear that in various parts of England, at all events, strong antagonism was felt to the disuse of the old ritual and to the changes introduced by Henry VIII. Indeed it is commonly admitted that the English Reforma- tion was political, rather than religious, but it is a mistake to ascribe it to a personal whim which was carried through in a high-handed fashion by Henry VIII. The King was only able to give effect to his views, because the traditional respect for the spiritual authority of a secularised Papacy had been already undermined. There was one particular exercise of the Papal authority, as an international arbiter, which gave rise to widespread resentment among people in England, especially English mariners; they had been keenly interested in the voyages which led to the discovery of the New World ; and they bitterly resented the decision of the Papacy, which 1^ CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION handed over these new lands either to Spain or to Portugal, and left no scope for the northern peoples to have a share in this great develop- ment. The English pioneers in trade and colonization were not to be held back by a decision of this sort. They refused to admit the authority of the Poten- tate who had pronounced it; and, as time went on, popular feeling became more and more bitter; not only were the English prohibited from direct ac- cess to the new lands, but trade with Spanish and Portuguese dominions was hampered by increas- ing difficulties. The Inquisition looked askance at English merchants who temporarily settled in Spanish ports or at the Canaries.^ The story of cruelties which were undertaken in the name of religion, and which were exemplified in England during the reign of Queen Mary, had a great effect in awakening a widespread repugnance. A wave of horror spread over England at the massacre on St. Bartholomew's Day. Many men who did not aspire to form their own opinions on theological questions had difficulty in believing that an au- thority which could only be maintained by such measures was really and truly Christian, and the respect for the Papacy as a spiritual authority was dissipated. 1 Royal Hist. Soc, Trans, iii, (Series iii,), 257. 13 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS The disorders which arose in connection with the Reformation movement were so various and so embittered that there seemed to be good ground for beheving that the restoration of the authority of the Pope was a necessary prehminary to any reconstruction of social and poHtical Kfe. This view was enthusiastically maintained by Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits, who became the devout adherents of the Papal See: under their leadership the Counter-Reformation had no little success in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It seemed for a time that if the Traditional Eccle- siastical authority were exercised on modern lines it might be completely reinstated in Western Christendom. The Jesuits have been the object of frequent suspicion as a political danger, but they have kept their ground and continue to be the backbone of Ultramontanism; and the principles they promulgated in regard to political and social life have greatly influenced the position which is taken by Roman Catholics in the present day. Devout Roman Catholics appear to hold that Christianity can only be brought to bear on social and political life through the agency of a Divinely appointed spiritual authority, and that the recog- nition of this authority is a necessary preliminary to any efforts for the amelioration of society which can hope to be fruitful and lasting. In democratic 14 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION countries Roman Catholics are reactionary politi- cally, even when they have been specially active in advocating particular social reforms. II. EXTERNAL SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY A very remarkable work for dealing from a Christian standpoint with all the acknowledged social evils of the day — the miseries of the poor, the responsibilities of the rich, the greed and ruth- lessness of capital, and the disintegration of soci- ety — was initiated by Bishop Ketteler of Mainz. He made a striking pronouncement at a Catholic Congress, in 1848, as to the importance of the task of bringing religion to bear upon social con- ditions,^ and eventually he had an extraordinary success in organising a body of earnest Christians who devoted themselves to social reform. The history of the German Catholic Congress shows how rapidly this work has developed. It has brought devout Christians into close contact with the aspirations and efforts of the democracy for material improvement. ^ It has done much to smooth away the influence of class prejudices, and it has brought various societies for the promotion of human welfare into closer and conscious co- operation.^ It has also exercised a considerable ^ Plater, Catholic Social Work in Germany, 8. 2 Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, 112. ^ Plater, op. ciL, 99. 15 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS political influence through the Centre Party in Parliament, and the activity of its newspaper press. The principles and the methods on which Ketteler acted have received the sanction of Papal authority, and have inspired in no small degree the remarkable series of Encyclicals which Pope Leo XIII gave to the world. But the effort to undertake and carry on this social work of reorganisation was intimately connected, in Ket- teler's own mind, with the recognition and main- tenance of Papal authority. His own determina- tion to throw his personal activities into the cause of the Church seems to have been due to his in- tense feeling at the indignities put on the Arch- bishop of Cologne, when he was imprisoned at Minden in 1837.^ Towards the close of his life, when, in May, 1873, the laws which interfered with the liberties of the Church, in teaching and preaching, were passed, Ketteler took a leading part in the fight for spiritual independence which was known as the Kultur Kampf; it was only when the State had withdrawn from a position that was proving untenable that the Christian social activi- ties which he had initiated could be effectively resumed. His attitude on this matter has also been endorsed by the Pope, who writes, "Seeing, "therefore, that all the hopes of Italy and of the 1 Plater, Catholic Social Work in Germany, 5. 16 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION "whole world lie in the power so beneficent to the "common good and profit, wherewith the author- "ity of the Apostolic See is endowed, and in the "close union which binds all the faithful of Christ "to the Roman Pontiff, We recognise that nothing "should be nearer Our heart than how to preserve "safe and sound the dignity of the Roman See, "and to strengthen ever more and more the union "of members with the Head, of the children with "their Father." 1 The claim, which was put forward by Leo XIII in regard to Christian action in the time of peace, is renewed by Benedict XV as essential for the effective action of the Church in the present war: "For a long time past the Church has not enjoyed "that full freedom which it needs, never since the "Sovereign Pontiff, its Head, was deprived of "that protection which by Divine Providence had " in the course of ages been set up to defend that "freedom. ... All from far and near who profess "themselves sons of the Roman Pontiff, rightly " demand a guarantee that the common Father of "all should be, and should be seen to be, perfectly "free from all human power in the administration "of his apostolic oflace. And so while earnestly "desiring that peace should soon be concluded ^ The Pope and the People, 21. 17 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS "amongst the nations, it is also Our desire that "there should be an end to the abnormal position "of the Head of the Church, a position in many "ways very harmful to the very peace of nations. "We hereby renew, and for the same reasons, the "many protests Our Predecessors have made "against such a state of things, moved thereto not "by human interest, but by the sacredness of our "office, in order to defend the rights and dignity "of the Apostolic See." ^ The assertion of this claim, to maintain or rein- troduce the recognition of an external spiritual authority, has been the cause of political difficul- ties and divisions in not a few countries; and this may be noted, not with the view of coming to any decision as to the right or wrong of the claim, but simply in order to gauge whether there is any im- mediate prospect that it will become effective. If Christian Social Reform is dependent on the recognition of an outside spiritual authority, it is to be feared that this reform will be indefinitely delayed. The controversy in regard to the Kultur KampfnTose out of the desire of Prussia to assimi- late the population of recently acquired provinces on the Rhine and in Poland, so that the whole realm might become more homogeneous. The re- sult of the struggle has been to accentuate these 1 Encyclical, 1 November, 1914. Tablet, 12 December, 1914, p. 170. 18 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION differences, to lower the respect for civil authority, and to diminish the sentiment of loyalty.^ At the same time, it may be doubted whether the Chris- tian influence, as thus organised, in regard to so- cial matters is really increasing. There is at least some reason to believe that the Roman Catholic element in the north of Germany is becoming of less importance relatively in the life of the State, and is not growing so as to hold its own in existing circumstances. 2 In Belgium the Catholic Social Movement had been wonderfully successful in exercising a very real political influence by securing a majority in the Belgian Chambers; since 1883 a large number of valuable measures for the limiting of the hours of labour and the improvement of the conditions of work ^ have been passed. With these the cleri- cal party are in fullest sympathy, and may fairly claim credit for them, though it is not clear that they have initiated them or could have carried them through unaided. There was also much un- certainty as to the power of the clerical party to retain their position and to continue to exercise a dominating influence. Further, while this movement does not appear 1 G. Bazin, Windhorst, 250. A. L. Lowell, Governments and Pat' ties, II, 12. 2 Rost, Die wirth. und kult. Lage der deutschen Katholiker, 184. ' Max Turmann, Le developpement du Catkolicisme social, 96, 272. 19 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS to be growing in the country in which the first impulse was felt, it shows few signs of spreading; it has not been successfully initiated either in Italy or France. In France there is indeed such a division of opinion, between those who are in sympathy with socialism and those who are in sympathy with individualism, that there is little hope of such effective organisation for social pur- poses as has been created in Germany.^ During the last generation, an immense amount of labour legislation, in regard to Workmen's Compensation and Insurance, and the regulation of factories, has been passed in France, but the Roman Catholic influence in support of it has been so slight as to be almost negligible. The Encyclicals of Leo XIII are exceedingly in- teresting as showing the sympathetic attitude which had been adopted by the Pope and very many clergy of the Roman Church towards the aims of the democracy. But they are not after all very successful in giving us authoritative guid- ance in regard to the social difficulties of the day. They are indeed valuable as a statement of a care- fully formed opinion; but the very form, which they necessarily take, prevents them from meet- ing the actual requirements of the day. The dicta ^ Day, Catholic Democracy, 282. 20 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION of an external authority must necessarily be stated in general terms, and by the laying down of broad principles. In international disputes the Papal pronouncements have been ineffec- tive because they are merely the announcement of humanitarian sentiments ^ or the statements of truisms about natural justice; they show no signs of insight and power of discrimination. There never has been a war when it was impossi- ble to put forward some grievance as a pretext for appealing to arms or to maintain that justice re- quired that a wrong should be avenged. For the Sovereign Pontiff, " as supreme interpreter of the " eternal law," to "proclaim that for no reason is it "allowable to injure justice," is a waste of words, so long as he thinks it improper to "entangle the "pontifical authority in the disputes between "belligerents." ^ Similarly, the difficulties of life 1 Benedict XV, "Letter to the Catholic World," The Tablet, September 26, 1914, p. 436. "Those who rule the affairs of peoples " We urgently implore and conjure that they now turn their minds "to forget all their own discords for the sake of the salvation of "human society; that they consider that already there is enough " misery and trouble in the life of men that it should not be rendered "for a long time more miserable and troubled; that they be satisfied "with the ruin wrought, the human blood already shed; that they "initiate councils of peace and reconcile themselves; for thus will "they truly deserve well of God and of their own peoples, and will be " benefactors of the civil society of the nations. And for Us, who at " this, the very beginning of Our Apostolic Office, see grave troubles " in the terrible disorganization of all things — let them know that " they will be doing a thing most pleasing to Us and one which from "all Our heart We desire." 2 The Tablet, January 30, 1915, p. 156. 21 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS in a progressive state of society are primarily those of applying the principles. The conditions of life, and the possibilities of individual improve- ment and of collective production, are changing from day to day and hour to hour. New forms of social organisation are being evolved; traditional principles seem to be mere statements of truisms or of pious aspirations, and an external spiritual authority can do little in bringing these principles into effect. The Roman Church is compelled to abstain from direct political action; she cannot identify herself with any political party in the State nor with Socialism in so far as it asserts the predominant importance of materialistic aims; and as she cannot coalesce with the extreme Col- lectivism of the Socialist school, she is also de- barred from allying herself with the extreme Indi- vidualism of the opposite Liberal school.^ But party government is the most effective agent for political action in democratic communities, and of this weapon the Church, through its acceptance of an external spiritual authority, cannot make use. Even in giving advice to private individuals the scope of the action of the Roman Church is limited. There are many particular questions of right and justice on which her members are divided, and from which the Church holds aloof. ^ Day, Catholic Democracy, 233. 2^ CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION Types of these questions are — the exact fixing of the limits of State intervention, the arrangements of just wages as between masters and servants, the determination of the relative value of different kinds of labour, and the precise apportioning of the rewards of industry to the various agents who conjointly produce it. In regard to such questions the Church has no immediate message, and she refuses to arbitrate. ^ Nor has the Pope ever suc- ceeded in reconciling the conflicting claims of different principles which are urged by various parties in the present day. Much is said of the principle of justice, but it is not always easy to see in what way this principle is interpreted. In the early Middle Ages the principle of justice as an economic guide was chiefly concerned with the consumption of goods, and was interpreted as meaning that every member of a community should share according to his needs. In modern times it had been more generally interpreted with reference to production, and as implying that each member of a community should share according to his contribution to the resources of the com- munity. 2 But neither of these interpretations will serve in great modern democracies by itself and alone; from the principle that each should share 1 Day, Catholic Democracy, 234. ^ Cunningham, Christianity and Economic Science, 29. 23 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS according to need the conclusion may be deduced that any or all have a right to live in idleness. On the other hand the principle, that each should receive in strict accordance to the contribution he makes to the resources of society, is very hard upon the helpless and inefficient. Neither state- ment can be applied generally to society, with- out serious mischief; while it seems impossible to reconcile these formulae when stated in general terms. The problems presented to the Christian man by life in modern society solvuntur amhulando. The difficulty about Christian principles van- ishes if they are regarded not as principles for the organisation of society, but as the basis of personal duty in society; they may furnish us, each and all, with conceptions of what our per- sonal conduct ought to be. The principle of dis- tribution according to need is the basis of the personal Christian duty of alms-giving, and it is for each one of us to interpret his ability con- scientiously for himself. The principle of remu- neration according to contribution is the basis of the social duty of work. It is incumbent upon each man to see that his work is so diligent and thorough that he is making an adequate contribu- tion for the share he receives from society, and this applies as much to those who are engaged in CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION organising business or in the pursuit of knowledge as it does to manual labourers. In actual life and personal conduct, there is little difficulty in recon- ciling the two principles, and it is possible to be strenuous in giving effect to both. What is chiefly needed from the Christian point of view in the present day is the exercise of a spiritual power to awaken individuals to a sense of duty and to in- spire them to do it. The Salvation Army has had an extraordinary influence in convincing men of the reality of the spiritual as a factor in human life, because it has dealt with individuals per- sonally; while the laying down of external prin- ciples in general terms would be of comparatively little help in the special circumstances of the present day. From the religious point of view the social doctrine of the Encyclicals is excellent ethically, but it is unconvincing and uninspir- ing; it has not the marks of spiritual authority to which the individual conscience is drawn to respond. III. THE ALOOFNESS OF ANGLO-SAXON PEOPLES While the Roman Church as an effective guide in the solution of political and social difficulties seems to have made little progress during the last decade on the Continent, there is no indication 25 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS that the Anglo-Saxon peoples are prepared to re- verse the decision which was taken at the Refor- mation and to accept guidance from Papal au- thority.^ There are no signs in the political world of a readiness to submit to an external spiritual authority; but this does not mean that these peo- ples are altogether indifferent about bringing a religious influence to bear on political life; it means that they hold that spiritual influence may be most effectively exercised on the individual personally, — that the appeal to the individual conscience is the most direct which can be made, that it is least encumbered by secular forms, and that it bears fruit immediately in action on a larger or smaller scale. Hence it appears probable that whatever progress the Roman Church may make in recovering lost ground, as regards the spread of theological doctrine and habits of wor- ship, there is no weakening in the opposition to accepting the guidance of an external authority in political and social life. The English Reformation was based on this principle, and the deep-seated repugnance to national submission to Rome still rests on the same foundation. There is a very general tendency to regard the Roman Catholic community with suspicion, and 1 There is a widespread feeling, put by M. Latapie indefinite form, that the Papal See may be so far concerned in protecting its own in- terests as to fail to be an impartial arbiter. Times, 23 June, 1915. 26 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION to believe that they have a sense of duty to look primarily at the possibility of fostering the Ro- man Church, and only secondarily at the good of the community as a whole, whether it is a city or a nation. From the point of view of the Romanist, who believes that the good of the community as a whole can only be attained through submission to the Roman Church, this distinction does not exist; but it is strongly present in the minds of many members of the community, and the con- flict is always apt to arise over questions in re- gard to marriage and to facilities for the religious education of children. Owing to these points of cleavage it becomes difficult to treat society as a homogeneous whole, and the effectiveness of national organisation is endangered. But further than this, these points of difference may be the occasion of deep-seated cleavage. In the Prussian Kingdom the influence of the Papacy was strongly felt among the Poles and the people of the Rhine Provinces, and the Kultur Kampf proved a hin- drance to the growth of a national life. In a simi- lar fashion the Papal influence is strong among the Celtic population of Ireland,^ and the fear of the measures which might be adopted in a Dub- lin Parliament and of partiality in the adminis- tration of the laws through clerical intrigue, has ^ Plunkett, Ireland in the New Century, 99. 27 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS haunted the people of Ulster in their opposition to Home Rule. It is even possible that a similar cleavage will show itself in some of the United States; and that in these areas, where the French Canadians or the Irish are a dominating majority, alarm may be raised as to the possibility of a complete departure from the American tradition in regard to political and social life. How far these fears and suspicions may be justified is not a point on which it is worth while to express an opinion, but the fact remains that the Roman Church has had, and is likely to continue to have, comparatively little opportunity of bringing reli- gious influence to bear on the political and social life of the Anglo-Saxon peoples. From many points of view this severance is a matter of great regret, especially as it has pre- vented Christian opinion in England and America from taking such full account, as it deserves, of the work of Roman Catholic writers. Amid the chaos of opinions which are expressed by different authors in the name of Christianity, or as deduc- ible from Christianity, Roman writers have pre- served a remarkably sane and judicial tone; even those readers who do not find them convincing can hardly fail to regard them as impressive; they never allow themselves to forget that the work 28 CHRISTENDOM AND THE REFORMATION of the Church is essentially spiritual, and that the importance of material conditions is only incidental and not the main work for which the Church exists. They do not allow themselves to fall into false abstractions, and to look on society as merely mechanical, but give its full importance to human personality. They are not carried away by the feeling that we have entered on a new era, to which the experience of past ages is altogether irrelevant, so that it may be ignored. The fact that the various writers look at these problems from a common standpoint and have adopted the same principles, gives a certain unity to their treatment of the questions that come under re- view. They put forward not merely the expres- sion of personal opinion, affected by personal temperament and individual experience, but the teaching of a school. The broad lines which are laid down in the Encyclicals are worked out in fuller detail by Turmann in a book which is espe- cially interesting in the discussion of usury and capital; ^ and the writings of Father Day on De- mocracy, of Cardinal Vaughan and of the late C. S. Devas on Economics, if they do not give definite guidance to the community as to practi- cal conduct, are at least a very great help to clear and consistent thinking. * Max Turmann, Le dSveloppement du Catholicisme social, 152. II CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND I. NATIONAL LIFE There were many personal elements which en- tered into the English Reformation and tended to obscure the main issue, but a fundamental prin- ciple was involved in the breach with Rome. King Henry VIII claimed that the Crown was supreme over all causes in England and he refused to allow appeals in ecclesiastical matters to Rome. He was followed in his repudiation of the spiritual author- ity of the Roman See by Edward VI, Elizabeth, James I, and Charles I. This protest against Ro- man encroachment on the English realm, as they had come to regard it, was not merely negative; it implied that England was a self-sufficing Empire which could rule its own affairs of every kind. Church and State were two aspects of the same community; and, during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, this double character of national life was consciously borne in mind in all administrative details. During the Middle Ages it had been recognised that there were two aspects of Christendom, a spiritual side controlled by the 30 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND Pope, while the Emperor was supreme over civil affairs; but the area where the Imperial authority extended was not coterminous with that of the ecclesiastical rule of the Papacy, and the frequent antagonism of the two heads of Christendom pre- vented the ecclesiastical and civil authorities from conscious co-operation. In England the area of royal authority both in Church and State was clearly defined, and there was a fusion, or at all events close co-operation, between the two bodies of administrators such as had never existed be- fore. Henry VIII and his son, Elizabeth and her two immediate successors all endeavoured to order the national life as a Christian polity, — to exer- cise administrative authority in regard to things spiritual, as well as civil authority in secular affairs. The title page of Cranmer's Bible, which represents King Henry VIII as distributing the Bible to be a guide for national life, depicts the Bishops and ecclesiastics on the one side and the civil authorities on the other, and represents both as the media by which right feeling and good government might be diffused among the people. The claim to exercise an administrative author- ity in spiritual affairs was not by any means new; it had been universally held that the civil power in the person of the Christian Prince was called upon to foster religion, and this duty might obvi- 31 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS ously involve attempts to improve ecclesiastical efficiency. Much had been done in Spain to re- move abuses in the Church, and the establish- ment of the Inquisition in 1497 was an earnest attempt, on the part of the Crown, to maintain at once purity of religion and purity of race. Papal authority over ecclesiastical affairs in Spain was reduced to a minimum. Again, the Emperor Charles V had endeavoured to mediate between the various religious parties in Germany and to establish an Interim over ecclesiastical arrange- ments by secular power. The claim of Gallican liberties in France was another step in the same direction, and Henry VIII was probably hardly conscious that he was going beyond existing pre- cedents; both he and Elizabeth carefully guarded themselves against any claim to personal author- ity in things spiritual, but relied on the Spirit- uality of the Realm for guidance instead of on an external spiritual authority. But this distinction could only be drawn because King Henry was able in the Reformation era to put forward a new spiritual authority to which he might appeal. With the written guidance of the Bible on the one hand to give evidence in regard to the essen- tials of Christianity for all time, and the living tradition and institutions of the English Church on the other, he maintained that the religious 32 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND aspect of national life could be rightly ordered without habitual reliance on an outside authority. The English Church was thus truly national, but it also maintained its character as spiritual, since it did not recognize any earthly power or written law as in itself supreme but looked to a living God above all earthly things. In the Prayer Booh the blessing of God is asked for the King and Parliament and other Civil Authorities, who are directly responsible to God for the management of public affairs. The Lutherans had maintained the strong conJBdence which Luther placed in the Princes, through whose exercise of their powers the cause of the Reformation was preserved and law and order maintained; the Kaiser continues this tradition, and is ready to identify the particu- lar polity over which he rules with the Kingdom of God. In the seventeenth century this was com- monly done by professing Christians, but, in the present day, it seems to be fanatical; even in Tudor and Caroline times, however, the English Prayer Booh and Homilies gave no countenance to this error. The existence of bad princes who bring punishment and defeat on their people was not forgotten: ^ the truth that God is the supreme arbiter and that we should approach Him, not with a consciousness of right, but confessing our 1 Homily 21. 33 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS sins and humbly imploring His blessing, so that our efforts may bring about the triumph of good and promote His glory, is the dominant note in the prayers for time of war and for sailors before a battle; there is no hint of exclusive claims to Di- vine favour and the tone throughout is spiritual, as the prayers are concerned with actual conflicts, not merely with the results that may be secured. The language of the English Prayer Booh is won- derfully free from the assumption which runs through the Old Testament, and which was in- herited from the Middle Ages, of identifying an earthly polity with the cause of God. The English Church, in repudiating the author- ity of the Pope, did not accept an absolute mon- archy, and did not treat the Bible as the last word in all matters of secular government. The appeal to the Bible was a fundamental factor in the Reformation both in Germany, Scotland and England; but in England it was different in character from that of the thorough-going Pro- testant. The Calvinists turned to the Bible as a supreme rule of life; while the English Reformers regarded it as a test by which to judge of the cum- bersome and unnecessary in ecclesiastical institu- tions and religious worship. They recognised that there were corruptions in the Mediaeval Church and that many observances were superstitious; 34 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND they needed a test by which to discriminate as to the things which might be sacrificed without loss. The New Testament was evidence as to primitive simpHcity, it therefore showed what was essential for all time; and they treated usages and doctrines, which could not claim scriptural authority, as excrescences which need no longer be preserved in the religious life of the realm. Monasticism had been developed in the West in the fourth century and there was no scriptural authority for the ex- istence of monastic institutions; it was generally admitted that there was need for reform, and the silence of Scripture was an excuse for a sweeping dissolution. The changes which were made by Cranmer in doctrine and ritual were put forward as applications of this principle; and on the other hand, the English Reformers retained everything that appeared to be consonant with Scripture, when allowance was made for the inevitable differ- ences between the conditions of a missionary church in a heathen empire and the institutions which were appropriate to a Christian polity. They found ample evidence of ecclesiastical organ- isation in Apostolic times, and of the enforce- ment of ecclesiastical discipline. It did not appear that there was any necessity to alter the form of government which had come down con- tinuously from a distant past, or to do away with 35 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the episcopate and the enforcement of ecclesiasti- cal discipHne in ecclesiastical courts. The direct appeal to the Bible severed the English nation in its ecclesiastical aspect from Latin Christendom, while the limited nature of that appeal as a nega- tive test and the preservation of the traditional ecclesiastical institutions separated it from the Protestant communities, whether Lutheran or Calvinistic. There were circumstances which had tended to bring the Central Government and the people into closer touch during the sixteenth century, and helped to strengthen the sense of national solidar- ity. The centralising policy of the Tudors had broken down much of the feudal independence of the great families, and rendered the royal will more effective in all parts of the realm, than it had been before the Wars of the Roses; but while the royal power was unrivalled, the Crown was yet becoming more directly and more frequently de- pendent on taxation for the means of the govern- ment of the country. The King could no longer live of his own; he was forced to rely on the con- tributions of the people and the general resources of the realm. Hence the community of interest between the King and his subjects came more clearly into consciousness, and Hales explained 36 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND that the King cannot have treasure when his sub- jects have none.^ Royal interest was combined with royal duty in efforts to see that the people prospered. The people looked consciously to the Crown as the power which would save them from absorption in one or other of the great Latin monarchies, and the Crown looked to the general prosperity and loyalty of the realm as the main support on which reliance could be placed. The central government had also taken over a large number of administrative duties which had hitherto been administered locally by civic au- thorities or manorial lords. This local administra- tion had apparently fallen into hopeless decay during the fifteenth century, and the attempts to galvanise it into life were by no means successful. Under Elizabeth the gigantic task was undertaken of putting all local administration under the direct supervision of the Crown. Parliament legislated on such subjects as the conditions of work, and the terms of employment, the rates of payment, and the provision for the poor, the quality of goods, and the conditions of sale, and especially as regards the food of the people. In regulating the details of economic life, the towns of the Middle Ages had attained their greatness by conscious ef- forts to promote the good of the civic community ^ Hales, Discourse of the Commonweal^ 35. 37 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS in the long run, and to put down all that savoured of mere private interest and was inconsistent with the good of the town as they conceived it, espe- cially with its ability to discharge the burden of royal taxation. In the Elizabethan period this civic sentiment was superseded by a wider and na- tional enthusiasm. There was a conscious desire to bring the various economic forces in all parts of the realm into co-operation so that they might promote the prosperity, and especially the political power of the community, — not merely of a town, but of the realm as a whole. The Crown could be regarded as detached from local and private interests, and as concerned with the prosperity of the whole realm. It was occupied with larger interests than those of particular localities and particular trades, though it was concerned to see that each locality and trade was contributing to the common good. Hence there was the emer- gence of a new public spirit; the Crown and Lords and Commons as legislators, and the King and his Council as administrators and supervisors, were making themselves responsible for national pros- perity in all its forms. The more enterprising sec- tion of the community was especially dependent on the good offices of the Crown. The opening of new markets and the obtaining of trade conces- sions could only be secured by political negotia- 38 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND tions with foreign powers; while good order within the realm, and the provision of an adequate food supply in many towns and districts, were secured by effective administration. Industrial and com- mercial interests were consciously dependent on the Crown, while the Crown was directly inter- ested in their prosperity. It is also true to say that the organisation of the Church was rendered more national than it had ever been before. The separate uses of different dioceses were swept away; and the two provinces of Canterbury and York were brought into closer contact when the same regulations were enforced upon both, and a common order, embodied in the Book of Common Prayer, was adopted through- out the realm. The clergy, who had accepted the Reformation movement, were keenly alive to the dangers of the situation, and relied upon the Crown as the bulwark against the Counter- Reformation on the one hand, and the revolution- ary changes of the Calvinists on the other. Their sense of dependence on the Crown, as the ad- ministrative head of the Church, called forth expressions of loyalty which seem in the twen- tieth century to be exaggerated. The homilists lay a somewhat disproportionate stress on the duty of civil obedience, and Elizabeth took it for granted that one of the main duties of the clergy as 39 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS preachers was to inculcate the duty of loyalty to the Crown, so that the administration of public affairs might be conducted smoothly and without friction. From the circumstances of the time the Crown was the representative of the community as a whole, both as regards the religious side of national life and well-ordered economic progress. The Crown was a source of honour or advance- ment, the power and honour of the Crown was in- extricably connected with the welfare, not of one section of the community only, but of the whole; and hence loyalty to the Crown was the most obvious of social duties. Just as attachment to the Reformed religion and loyalty to the Crown were curiously blended in the patriotism of Elizabethan times, so reli- gious and secular aims were combined in the attempts which were made for the expansion of England. The sense of religious mission, which had pervaded Christendom at the time of the Cru- sades, w^as not wholly dead; it was revived in a more definite form as a sense of national mission to the tribes of the New World. So long as Eng- land stood upon the defensive there was little scope for this feeling to assert itself, but the dis- comfiture of the Spanish Armada opened up new possibilities to the English. Hitherto they had 40 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND been on the defensive, seeking to maintain na- tional existence; but in 1588 they had proved their right to take a part in the struggle for world power. The rival which had hitherto threatened their existence now barred their progress. Spain had absorbed Portugal, and the English resent- ment was concentrated on tlie institutions, com- mercial, political and religious, of the Spanish Monarchy. Englishmen had a conscious pride in their own country which comes out in Harrison and Holinshed and the Debate of the Heralds ; they felt it a duty to prevent the Spaniards from domi- nating the American continent, and to bring Eng- lish influence to bear on the development of these vast territories. The Journal of Drake and the accounts of the first colonists in Virginia ^ are sufficient to show how closely the sense of a na- tional mission to benefit the world, by diffusing English influence, was combined with the practi- cal objects which the pioneers of the English Em- pire had in view. In the sixteenth century and for long after- wards the landed gentry were politically the most important element in the population. Under the old fiscal system they contributed very largely to public resources, and they were also, as magis- * Cunningham, Growth of English Industry, ii, 336. 41 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS trates, responsible for local government and for carrying out administrative regulation. There always had been land owners; but the landed gen- try of the Elizabethan period had a somewhat different character from their predecessors. The great families with their household of retainers, who had fought in the Wars of the Roses, were extinct as a class; and many of the new gentry were inclined to devote themselves to the im- provement of their estates and to the duties of civil life. In some cases it appeared that agricultural im- provement was pushed on ruthlessly, in disregard of long standing customary rights; ^ where these changes brought about a definite increase in the resources of the realm, it was plausible to plead that a public benefit was attained in spite of the incidental grievance created; and the Crown rec- ognised that the influence of the resident gentry was essential to the good government of the coun- ties and placed on the justices an ever-increasing burden of responsibility. ^ The obligation to per- form unpaid service for the community had been recognised from time immemorial in regard to such parochial offices as those of the church warden and the constable,^ but under the Tudors 1 Tawney, Agrarian Problem, 373. 2 Webb, Parish and County, 294. ^ Webb, op. cit., 15, 40. 4S CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND this principle received an extended application in connection with county government. There are numbers of proclamations which show how ear- nestly the Government desired that the gentry should reside on their estates.^ The number of manor houses, which had no military character, though they were often protected by a moat, are monuments which show that a large measure of success was attained. There were undoubtedly wastrels among these landed men who were of little good either to themselves or to their neigh- bours; but an extraordinarily high sense of duty, both to their posterity and to the public, became traditional among them as a class. It was their ambition to hand on their estate improved to a son; and the desire to found a family and to provide for its prosperity in the future, was the motive which led to the introduction of new methods of land management, and to agricultural progress. On the other hand, the desire to attain to status in the management of county affairs, was an am- bition that was widely cherished through the class, and made men eager to give their leisure to public duties. The Lords Lieutenant and County Magistrates were men who were entrusted by the Crown to organise the county for military * Cunningham, oy. cit.y ii, 105. 43 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS purposes and for the punishment of crime. The Council exercised an effective supervision, and were prompt to deal severely with neglects; and this impressed on the country gentry, as a class, a strong sense of duty to maintain good order. As owners of property they were conscious of re- sponsibility, and their status among their neigh- bours really depended on their readiness to under- take public duties, and the skill with which they discharged them: they were the chief agents on which the Crown could rely for securing good government within the realm; and they also took an active part in the enterprises which led to the expansion of England. Younger sons, who had little prospect of securing a maintenance for them- selves at home, had enterprise enough to attempt, with some of the family dependents, to carve out estates in lands across the seas and thus to estab- lish plantations. There has often been occasion to dwell on the defects of the English country gentle- man, but it may be doubted whether there has ever been a body of wealthy men with such a deep sense of the responsibility of property, and of the duty of managing it well. Certainly a strong tradition has been established among them as to the obligation of a leisured class to expend time and trouble voluntarily over public service. 44 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND II. THE ADMINISTRATION OF A CHRISTIAN REALM Since there was so little attempt to separate the religious from the secular aspects of national life, it was natural that no hard-and-fast line should be drawn between the organs which were primarily concerned with the one and those which were primarily concerned with the other. In the Middle Ages a great deal of the work of civil ad- ministration had been put in the hands of ecclesi- astics, partly because they were more competent than other men to discharge the delicate duties of diplomacy and to be entrusted with great respon- sibilities; and the old tradition was maintained to a certain extent after the Reformation, especially in the time of Charles I. General dissatisfaction was expressed at the way in which the King placed ecclesiastics, like Laud and Williams, in civil offices ; but these were only a striking example of a common characteristic. In the Elizabethan pe- riod and under the Personal Monarchy, the ele- ments which are now habitually distinguished were confused in the Christian realm, as then con- ceived; the religious and the secular were blended, and the whole realm was organised with the view of promoting the good, religious, political and economic, of the community. Since Church and 45 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS State were not thought of as distinct, but as one community in two aspects, it was natural that the authorities in Church and State should co- operate for the common weal, and should try to promote it by any means that lay to hand. At the centre of government, where supervision was exercised over the whole realm, clergy and laity might be called upon to work together in the King's Council: in larger areas, such as the county, the civil magistrate was the effective authority, though bishops and archdeacons had an important part to play; while in smaller areas, such as the parish, the responsibility rested with the constable as well as with the parish priest; and the churchwardens were concerned in seeing that the national life, both in its civil and in its religious aspect, was well ordered. The chief administrative difference lay in the manner in which the different authorities could enforce their decisions; the civil authorities could of course fall back on fine and imprisonment and other serious punishments, while the ecclesiasti- cal courts were for the most part only able to im- pose spiritual censures on the laity, though heavy money charges might occasionally arise in connec- tion with their proceedings, and they could de- prive the clergy of their livings; in fact the differ- ence between the two sets of authorities might be 46 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND indicated by saying that whereas the civil power could exercise coercive jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority was on the whole restricted to moral suasion. One of the most noticeable changes of the Eliza- bethan period was that which was carried out in regard to the relief of the poor. The great social upheaval which accompanied the Reformation, and the stimulus to industrial and agricultural improvement which was given by commercial ex- pansion, resulted in a dislocation of the old social order, and a great increase of pauperism. The old facilities for the distribution of charity no longer existed, and the alms which were given in the par- ish churches were not adequate to meet the case. Drastic Poor Laws were passed, and a new system of administering poor relief was brought into operation, and entrusted to civil authorities who had the power of distraining for the quota at which the well-to-do owners and occupiers in a parish were assessed. The administrative change in creating civil parishes, for the administration of funds collected under compulsion, had very im- portant after results, as it gave the right to certain persons to claim relief as due to them under the law of the land. Had the administration contin- ued under the ecclesiastical authorities with a 47 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS moral and not a legal character, this claim would not have been set up. For generations it gave rise to much litigation, in attempts to establish in different cases the precise locality which was re- sponsible for the maintenance of some particular persons; and in the period of distress, which arose in connection with the Industrial Revolution, this system had a very demoralising effect on large sections of the community who had become de- pendent on State aid. These ulterior conse- quences could not of course be foreseen; and when the main responsibility was transferred to civil authority, scope was left for the exercise of Christian charity as a personal thing through the old ecclesiastical channels. The alms at the Com- munion continued to be distributed to the poor and were often employed to give additional help to those who were not wholly dependent on relief. There was also, in the later sixteenth and seven- teenth century, a widely diffused readiness to make lasting provision for certain classes of the poor; in almost every parish in England, charities were founded for such objects as providing the necessitous with fuel and cloaks in winter, for the distributing of doles of bread, for erecting alms- houses for those who were past work, or for pro- viding schools. The spirit of neighbourliness and of Christian beneficence as a personal duty con- 48 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND tinued to flourish, even after the parochial duty to maintain the poor had been transferred to civil authority. It was thought convenient to enforce other duties, which were mainly political, through the ecclesiastical administration. The institution of Lent was one that had given rise to a consider- able demand for fish, and there was some fear at the time of the Reformation that the fishing trade would suffer through the disuse of the practice of keeping fish days; accordingly statutes were passed in Parliament to keep up the tradi- tional habit on political grounds; the fishing in- dustry was a great school of seamanship and sup- plied mariners to be employed in the defence of the realm and in commerce; the decay of seaman- ship would be a disaster to an island realm. Since, however, the practice had had an ecclesiastical character it was convenient that it should be maintained by ecclesiastical authority.^ Laud's correspondence shows that he was at pains to en- force it strictly, and did not readily give licenses to those who desired to evade the restrictions on their diet. Parliament insisted that the compli- ance with this order had no religious character, but found it convenient to exercise moral pressure 1 Cunningham, op. cit., ii, 72. 49 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS on the public through ecclesiastical administra- tion. Ecclesiastics were also concerned in maintain- ing the traditional standard of duty in regard to the employment of money and the getting of gain. Public opinion, at the close of the six- teenth century, had become very lax; and under the changed circumstances which accrued from the large importation of precious metals from the New World, the hardships which might easily arise in old days in connection with certain forms of bargains, were likely to be rare. The old dis- tinctions as to what was right and wrong appeared to be untenable or idle, but Bishop Andrews ^ and others of the leading clergy adhered to them. How far there were systematic attempts to en- force the traditional morality in the ecclesiastical courts 2 it is impossible to say; but the duty of presenting those who made an extortionate use of their capital is laid down in the 109th Canon of 1604 ; and the Statute of 1624, which permitted the taking of moderate interest, so far as civil author- ities were concerned, carefully disclaimed giving any decision in regard to cases of conscience. The sense of personal duty, in regard to the manner in 1 Cunningham, op. cit., ii, 153. 2 One case is recorded at Pickering in 1600. Yorkshire Archceologi- cal Journal, xviii, 331. 50 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND which money was employed, was not allowed to fall out of sight in the Stuart times. The Council in 1622 1 took a very decided view as to the duty ^ E. M. Leonard, Early History of English Poor Relief, 147. The Council writes "to call before yo" such clothiers as yo" shall thinke fitting and to deale effectually w*^ them for the imployment of such weavers, spinners and other persons as are now out of worke. Where wee maye not omitt to let yo" know that as wee have imployed o' best endeavor^ in favo'" of the clothiers both for the vent of their cloth and for moderation in the price of wooll (of w^^ wee hope they shall speedily find the effects). Soe maye wee not indure that the cloathiers in that or any other countie should att their pleasure and w'^out giving knowledge hereof unto this Board, dismisse their worke-foelkes, who being many in nomber and most of them of the poorer sort are in such cases likely by their clamo" to disturbe the quiet and governmente of those parts wherein they live. And if there shalbe found greater numbers of poore people then the clothiers can reviue and imploy. Wee thinke it fitt and accordingly require yo" to take order for putting the statute in execution, whereby there is provisione made in that behalfe by raising of publicke stockes for the imployment of such in that trade as want worke. Wherein if any clothier shall after sufficient warning refuse or neglect to appeare before yo" or otherwise shall obstinately denie to yeeld to such over- tures in this case as shalbe reasonable and iust; yo" shall take good bonds of them for refusing to appeare before us and immediately certifie their names unto this board." The Council also say the woolgrowers must sell their wool at a moderate price, and finish up with the statement of the general principle on which they act. "This being the rule," they say, "by w<=^ both the woolgrower, the cloathier and merchant must be gov- erned. That whosoever had a part of the gaine in profitable times since his Ma^^ happie raigne must now in the decay of Trade . . . beare a part of the publicke losses as may best conduce to the good of the publicke and the maintenance of the generall trade. " Privy Council Register, 9th Feb: 162i The ten counties to which this letter was sent are as follows: — Wilts. Gloucester. Somerset. Worcester. Dorset. Oxford. Devon. Kent. York. Suffolk. Compare also Butler, Victoria County History, Gloucestershire, ii, 159. 51 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS of capitalist employers in times of bad trade to- wards those whom they employed. It has been the fashion to treat the break-down of the Personal Monarchy under the Stuarts as a matter of temperament, and to contrast the loy- alty which was evoked by Queen Elizabeth with the unpopularity of James and the suspicions aroused by Charles I. It is doubtless true that the traits of personal character had somewhat incidentally contributed to the downfall of the system. But these trivialities were by no means the sole cause of the collapse of the Personal Monarchy. The system of rule in Church and State was anomalous, and it would hardly have been possible for the most ingenious statesmen to continue to steer the ship through these troubled waters with success; indeed it may be urged that there were some aspects of national life in which the prosperity, which had begun under Elizabeth, continued to make further progress under the Stuarts. There was a great increase of national resources of every kind ; commerce was expanding, new industries were being developed, and pains were being taken to reclaim large areas for culti- vation and to improve production from the soil. The problem of absorbing the poor in the eco- nomic life of the country seems to have been prac- 52 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND tically solved for the time. The plantation of Ire- land had gone on apace, and the colonisation of the New World had begun. The Personal Mon- archy of the Stuarts appeared to one shrewd ob- server, during the period when Charles dispensed with Parliament, to be justifying itself in England by its success,^ but the system was inherently un- sound ; it had no real stability and fell to pieces as soon as it was openly attacked by the Scots. The English Personal Monarchy was a serious attempt to maintain the mediaeval tradition, but to render it national, and to organise a polity in which the national life, economic and civil, should have a religious character and in which Christian principles should be supreme; yet it proved to be a failure in practice, for it is impossible to continue to coerce a free people even for their own good. From whatever point of view the system was considered it seemed to be utterly indefensible on grounds of principle. From the religious standpoint the new system was condemned for reasons that were very similar to those which had been alleged so effectively in regard to the Papacy. The ecclesiastical courts were the special object of attack; they seemed to be a mere travesty of a spiritual authority, since they were quite ineffective in putting down the ^ Clarendon, History of the Rebellion, i, 159. 53 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS generally admitted disorders of the Church. On the other hand, they took cognisance of all sorts of secular matters, such as the promotion of the fishing trade and the proving of wills. There was ample ground for contending that ecclesiastical discipline had become completely secularised, and that it ought to be brought into closer accord with the religious sentiment; it was urged that this could only be expected if the ecclesiastical tradi- tion were still further modified and brought into closer accord with Scripture. Rites and practices were insisted upon by ecclesiastical authority for which no definite support could be quoted in the written Word, even if they were not actually con- demned; whilst scant respect was shown to those who scrupled about the remnants of Popery which had not been purged away. But the chief ground of offence lay in the fact that the ecclesiastical system was so closely de- pendent on the Crown. Romanists and Noncon- formists alike were concerned to maintain a more , complete spiritual independence, and to insist that the Crown could only have a subordinate place in a Christian polity. The position in regard to national religious life, which had been assumed by the Crown, however it might be safe- guarded and explained, was so unsatisfactory to many earnest men of diverse views that they 54 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND agreed in rejecting the English Church as lacking in spirituality. There was also abundant ground for complaint from the point of view of civil and constitutional lawyers. Their jealousy was roused by the con- ferring of offices on ecclesiastics, as well as by the part they played in the Councils of the Realm. There was grave doubt as to the constitutional character of the Courts of the Star Chamber and of the High Commission; they were represented as fussy and unreasonable, and their practices as inconsistent with recognised English liberties. The law which was enforced in ecclesiastical courts had never been passed by Parliament; and Englishmen might be called upon to answer in regard to alleged offences which were unknown to the law of the land. The records of St. John's par- ish at Huntingdon show that Oliver Cromwell ^ was publicly censured and subsequently did pub- lic penance; but unfortunately we are left without information as to the faults with which he was charged. There could, however, be no doubt that there were hundreds of respectable people who had some cause for personal resentment when the Long Parliament commenced its attack on the Church. * Oliver Cromwell was publicly censured in church in 1621, and he did public penance in 1628. His precise offence is not noted, but at the latter date Laud was Archdeacon of Huntingdon, and there was a dispute going on about a lectureship. 55 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS The most effective attack on the government was from the economic side. The period of Per- sonal Monarchy under EHzabeth and the Stuarts was a time of very rapid change. Times of rapid change may be periods of great improvement, though serious evils are often incidental to the transition. The government endeavoured to promote improvement, but to restrict it in such a fashion that the incidental evils should be reduced to a minimum. They were thus laid open to criticisms from two points of view. Complaint might be alleged of the hardships which arose through the draining of the Fens and the progress of enclosure, but there was a more general outcry against attempts to regulate prog- ress on the ground that they hampered it unduly. It was constantly said that steps which had been taken by the government to regulate progress and to foster it were not really beneficial, but re- stricted the natural growth. Foreign commerce was almost entirely in the hands of regulated com- panies which had obtained concessions for carry- ing on business at particular points in foreign parts. The Merchant Adventurers, who finally settled at Hamburg, were supposed to regulate the export of cloth to the chief markets of the Continent in such a fashion that there should be a steady development of the sale abroad at remu- 56 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND nerative prices. They were meant to be an organ for securing healthy conditions for the manu- facture of cloth for export. James I, with his Scottish experience of national trade, had viewed these companies with suspicion; and though they maintained their position, complaints were fre- quently made, both by the manufacturers whom they were supposed to assist, and by the inter- lopers and independent traders who were de- prived of opportunities for pushing foreign trade. Still more exception was taken to the granting to patentees of concessions for the exclusive right to manufacture some marketable article of gen- eral demand. They were supposed to introduce the best methods, to maintain a high quality in the wares, and to give favourable conditions to the employees. But many grievances were alleged both by the consuming public, and by the rivals who were restricted from entering into competi- tion. At this distance of time it is impossible to judge each case on its merits, and it is at least highly probable that patents were sometimes is- sued as a method for levying a form of indirect consumption; but a question of principle was involved in regard to economic progress. The Stuarts had aimed at healthy progress and espe- cially at minimising the fluctuations of trade, while the critics took their stand on the principle 57 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS of allowing freedom for the individual to employ his capital in any branch of industry or commerce he preferred. The advocates of unfettered pro- gress won the day, and the capitalist class in the towns, especially in the city of London, were the backbone of the armed resistance to Charles I. III. THE RIGHT TO COERCE The Personal Monarchy of Elizabeth and the Stuarts was the first attempt to establish a Chris- tian polity on a national basis, and the whole cir- cle of human life was taken into account; there was no attempt to pursue religious or political or economic aims to the exclusion of others. The Crown recognised that these three strands were closely intertwined. In some ways the conditions under which this experiment was made were fa- vourable. It was possible for the Council to work by means of existing and recognised agencies, without creating a new system in Church or State. Conscious efforts were made to maintain old tradi- tions, and it seemed unnecessary to win accept- ance for any new theory of political life or social duty. Yet even under these circumstances this national Christian polity was a complete failure; and if we are to learn from experience it is import- ant to take the reasons of that failure to heart. We have consciously entered on a democratic era, 58 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND and realise that improvement in Church and State can only be effected through a widely diffused sense of duty and the willing co-operation of the citizens; it cannot be brought about by coercion alone. Coercion may be exercised by a personal monarch who claims the right to rule, as was done by Charles I and his council, and it may be extraordinarily efficient, as it has proved in Ger- many, where the loyalty of the people has rallied in such an extraordinary degree to support the designs of the Emperor. The right to rule may also be claimed by a triumphant majority, which insists that minorities must suffer and is prepared to enforce its will ruthlessly; but there can be no stability in a community where there is constant submission to superior force and where civil order does not justify itself by public opinion or rest on popular consent. Civil authority is much less likely to commend itself in attempting to promote the common good than in prohibiting and putting down obvious wrong; and the collapse of the mon- archy of Charles I is a warning for all time. It may be possible to levy taxes and obtain money for objects which many citizens regard as of doubtful utility, but they will not willingly alter their own habits as to diet, or the management of their own affairs, for reasons which do not com- mend themselves to their own judgment. They 59 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS are specially sensitive if they believe that the common good is not really involved, but that their interests are being sacrificed to those of more favoured individuals. The aims of Elizabeth and the Stuarts were for the most part judicious. History has failed to justify their methods, but it has also condemned their opponents. The Nonconformists of the Elizabethan era were deeply attached to Calvin- ism, they found their inspiration in their belief as to personal predestination to be the instrument of carrying out God's Will here and of sharing in glory hereafter. The unpopularity of the Church of England in religious circles in the early seven- teenth century was due, so far as doctrine is con- cerned, to her unwillingness to accept Calvinism; but in this she was wise. Calvinism in its strict form has been completely outlived; and the Chris- tian denominations, which originally took their stand upon it, are vying with each other in dis- carding it. The Elizabethan Nonconformists were also inclined to refuse compliance with usages in Christian worship for which no warrant could be found in Holy Writ; they hesitated about lessons from the Apocrypha, the keeping of Christmas Day, and the use of organs; but their descendants have abandoned that principle, and are ready to employ the aids to worship against 60 CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLAND which their forefathers protested as a ground of offence. There was a general agreement in the Eliza- bethan period that there ought to be a common order of service, and that there should be some safeguard against the vagaries of Anabaptists. But those who agreed on the desirability of a na- tional use differed greatly in regard to the ques- tion as to what that common order should be. The compromise which was embodied in the Booh of Common Prayer has justified itself as a common order for the nation, both at the time at which it was compiled, and in subsequent cen- turies as well. Even in the economic regulation, which caused so much irritation, the critics of the government have been condemned. The granting of conces- sions to commercial companies was dropped for a time under the Council of State, but the diflScul- ties which ensued were so great that Cromwell revived the practice of authorising such compa- nies. The main lines, by which the Crown had endeavoured to direct economic activities so as to promote the power of the nation, were acted upon by Parliament after the Restoration; and the Council gave much attention to the founding of factories and the planting of new colonies, and thus carried out the schemes for expansion which 61 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS had occupied the attention of James and Charles I. In all these matters it may be fairly claimed that the aims of the Stuart Kings and their advisers were far-seeing, and that their critics were short- sighted and concentrated their attention unwisely on immediate interests. Modern rulers, who disregard this warning and make fresh attempts to coerce free persons for the common good, would do well to assure themselves that the particular projects at which they aim are really for the common weal and that their action will be recognised as really public-spirited. They have also need to be sure that the agents by whom pressure is brought to bear in any given direction are honest and tactful. If they fail in either re- spect their schemes are sure to be subjected to criticism, which may be ill-natured and short- sighted, but may yet appeal sufficiently to the popular imagination to render their schemes un- workable and to baulk their endeavours for the public good. A free people can only be led, and can never be successfully driven. It is the art of leadership to convince the people that some scheme of policy is really for the common good, so that they may be willing to comply with it in spite of the sacrifices it may entail. Ill PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE SUPREMACY OF SCRIPTURE I. THE SCRIPTURAL MODEL OF A POLITY A GENERATION had passed away after the time when Henry VIII had defied the authority of the Pope (1533) before a similar change occurred in Scotland (1560). The pent-up forces in the North- ern Kingdom were very violent when once they were let loose, and a new conception of a reformed Christian polity had taken shape under the guid- ing hand of John Calvin at Geneva. The Refor- mation Movement in Scotland was a veritable revolution, since it was a conscious repudiation of the past, and a genuine effort to introduce some- thing that was wholly new. The aim of King Henry VIII and the English Reformers had been to retain as much as possible of the mediaeval tradition of a Christian polity, but yet to build it on a national basis, and to use Scripture as a test which should show what ought to be discarded as unnecessary in a Christian com- munity. But the antagonism to the old order in Scotland was much more intense; there was no 63 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS disposition to recognise that it had any good about it at all; it was repudiated as a mere carica- ture of what a Christian polity ought to be. The parochial system had not been of such long stand- ing in Scotland as in England, and it never attained the same importance in the religious life of the country. The great monastic estab- lishments had relatively a far greater importance in Scotland than the corresponding institutions in England; and the monastic ideal appeared to be inconsistent with Scripture; indeed the whole eccle- siastical system, with its approval of celibacy and discrimination in regard to abstention from meats, came under St. Paul's condemnation as a doctrine of devils.^ The English Reformers complained that the Mediseval Church had failed to realise her ideals; but the Scottish Reformers insisted that the ideals were false and mistaken. The mon- asteries had been founded for the pursuit of a religious life apart from the world; while the Scot- tish Reformers demanded that the religious life should be lived in the world, and that religious institutions should thereby render secular activi- ties completely Christian. The Scottish Reform- ers thanked God who had delivered the kingdom from the superstitions of the Roman Anti-Christ, and enlightened it with the rays of His own light » I Tim. IV, 1-3. 64 PRESBYTERIANISM AND SCRIPTURE (1572).^ It was their endeavour to render the breach with the "synagogue of Satan" as com- plete as possible. At the same time they held firmly to the an- cient aim of establishing and maintaining a Chris- tian polity. This conception had dominated Christian life in Europe since the fall of the pagan Empire; and it came into fresh prominence in the troublous time of the Reformation. The indi- vidual reformers and separate congregations felt their helplessness: it was only as organised com- munities, maintaining their independence of the Papacy and the secular powers it could put in mo- tion, that the reformers could hope to keep alive the light of the gospel in the world. Just as Israel had been a witness for true religion to the world, so the Scottish Reformers were inspired with an enthusiasm for maintaining a national testimony to pure Christianity. The Scottish Estates in 1572 put forward a formal confession of the national faith. "Long have we thirsted," they say in the preface, "dear brethren, to have notified to the " world the sum of that doctrine which we profess, "and for the which we have sustained infamy and "danger: but such has been the rage of Satan "against us and against Christ Jesus His eternal 1 Dunlop, Collections of Confessions of Faith, ii, 14. 65 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS « Verity lately now again born among us, that to this day no time has been granted unto us to clear our consciences as most gladly we would have done; for how we have been tossed here- tofore, the most part of Europe, as we suppose, does understand." ^ They anxiously insisted that Scripture was the supreme standard by which they had been guided and to which they desired to conform in any point where they might have mis- apprehended it. *'We have chief respect to our weak and infirm brethren, to whom we would communicate the bottom of our hearts, lest that they be troubled or carried away by diversity of rumours, which Satan spreads against us to the defeating of this our most godly enterprise; pro- testing that if any man will note in this our confession any article or sentence repugnant to God's Holy Word, that it would please him of his gentleness and for Christian charities' sake to admonish us of the same in writing; and we upon our honour and fidelity, by God's grace do promise unto him satisfaction from the mouth of God, that is from His Holy Scriptures or else reformation of that which he shall prove to be amiss." The necessity of the combined action of king and people was further accentuated by the Band of Maintenance in 1588, in which the King, ^ Dunlop, Collection of Confessions, ii, 15. 66 <( <( << (( ({ Browning, op. cit., 379. '' Ibid., op. cii., 388. 108 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE The difficulties with which these congregations had to deal did not merely arise from their envi- ronment, but were partly due to the difficulty of maintaining a high Christian standard in their internal life. Those who, as members of the Covenant of Grace, had been admitted into Chris- tian fellowship, were inclined to claim that none of their brethren was justified in overruling the con- scientious convictions at which they had arrived. Mrs. Hutchinson claimed a right to abstain from the religious ordinances which the community maintained, and to criticise in forcible language the discourses delivered by the ministers. She maintained a double weekly lecture " where after "she had repeated the sermon she would make her comment upon it, vent her mischievous opinions as she pleased and wreathe the Scriptures to her own purpose."^ It is not necessary to try to unravel the threads of this famous controversy; but it may suffice to point out that while the conscience is supreme within, the expression of conviction in word or deed may be rightly taken into account by an external authority. Even in the most spiritual community those who claim to be within the Covenant of Grace are not thereby excused for disparaging the Covenant * Short Story of the Rise of the Antinomians, quoted by Willcock, Life of Sir Henry Vane^ 46. 109 it CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS of Works. "The Kingdom of God is within "you." These practical experiments were perhaps of less importance than the habits of thought on political matters which they expressed and helped to perpetuate; the conception of a Christian polity as one community considered in two aspects, civil and religious, was abandoned in favour of the view that the two spheres, the civil and the spir- itual, were distinct. Roger Williams formulated it thus, "We acknowledge the ordinance of mag- "istracy to be properly and adequately fitted by " God to preserve the civil State in civil peace and "order; as He hath also appointed a spiritual gov- "ernment and Governors in matters pertaining to "His Worship, and the consciences of men, both "which Government, Governors, Laws, Offences, "Punishments are Essentially distinct, and the "confounding of them brings all the world inCom- *'bustion." ^ This endeavour to draw a clear line between the two spheres is very tempting, but it is well to notice what it implied. The spiritual sphere was regarded as definitely religious, where all was to be ordered under a conscious sense of duty to God, but it does not seem to have been possible to maintain the same standard in regard to civil life. From an early date the membership 1 Quoted by Willcock, Life of Sir Henry Vane, 149. 110 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE of the churches in Massachusetts was not iden- tical with the residents of the community ; and when the unenfranchised at last secured a voice in the civil government, it came to be clear that the principles to which appeal was made in the reli- gious sphere were not identical with the prin- ciples to which appeal was made in the civil sphere. The civil sphere was no longer con- sciously religious; and hence the standards of right and wrong were given, not by spiritual authority but by natural reason or utilitarian considerations. The attempt to establish a per- fectly pure Christian community had resulted in driving the regulation of civil affairs and secular life into a sphere where religious considerations were at all events not primary, if indeed they were relevant at all. The attempt to separate the spiritual from all contact with a mundane envi- ronment and to keep it immune from contami- nating influence, resulted in the disparagement of civil and political society as merely mundane, and led to the abandonment of efforts to control them by means of religious influence. When the con- scious effort to realise the Will of God was con- fined to the spiritual sphere, the first step was taken towards recognising the will of the people — good or bad, wise or foolish — as paramount in the civil sphere. Ill CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS IV. UNASSIMILATED ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH SOCIETY At the Hestoration, Parliament took up the endeavour to assert the old conception of a Chris- tian polity more vigorously than ever before. Twenty years' experience had forced many men to feel that the reassertion of the old order in Church and State was the only safeguard against the destruction of the parochial system and the dangers of military despotism. The Presbyterians, who held to monarchical government and national Christianity, were unable to get a hearing for the system they would have preferred. It was remem- bered against them that the rebellion in Scotland against Charles I had led to the outbreak of civil war, and their ideals of loyalty were not easily comprehensible by the English mind. The Long Parliament of the Restoration endeavoured to safeguard the restored system in Church and State, by turning against the Puritans the weapons which they had forged for attacking the Church of England. The Clarendon Code was the result; and, as a consequence, the various Puritan bodies found themselves in a much worse case than be- fore the Civil War; then they were only thwarted and hampered by ecclesiastics whose position was constitutionally doubtful, but henceforth they in INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE were harried by the authority of Parliament and under the Statutes of the Reahn. The relig- ious elements that could not be assimilated to the restored order in Church and State were necessarily placed in a position of antagonism to the institutions of the society in which they lived. While the Puritans were an object of suspicion to the civil authorities, on account of their politi- cal principles and their affinities with the Dutch, there was not much in the restored monarchy that could claim their respect. The Court was corrupt; the severity which had been imposed on the na- tion generally by the anxieties of the war and the administration of the Puritan regime was suddenly relaxed. The restored clergy did not always commend themselves by their preaching, or by their lives, to their parishioners; it must have been exceedingly hard to feel that there was any Christian obligation to obey such a govern- ment. On the other hand, the loss of the liberty of forming gathered congregations, which they had enjoyed during the Interregnum, was bitterly re- sented, and the Puritans felt it a religious duty to stand on their civil rights, to work hard for an extension of these rights and to endeavour to obtain the repeal of all the disabilities under 113 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS which they lived. These circumstances combined to give its special character to the Dissenters' sense of the duty of a Christian citizen. They were inclined to explain the duty of obedience to human law away altogether. Mr. Thompson, a dissenting preacher, argued that "Scripture tells "us we must obey the men only in and for the "Lord, which limitation," he said "being ad- "mitted, I still assert that I have not broken the "law of God, though I have the law of man." ^ On the other hand, there appeared to be ample reason for Dissenters to appeal to religious motives to induce men to stand upon their civil rights. It is true that the determination to assert personal rights of any kind is not at first sight in accordance with the Christian spirit, and though ample excuse may be made for earnest men in the position in which they found them- selves, their circumstances did not fit them to throw much light on the difficult question as to the personal duty of the Christian citizen towards those in civil Authority. The doctrine of the two spheres was in itself an obstacle in the way of making any such attempt. In the Presbyterian Theocracy the ejffort to bring religion to bear on economic transactions had ceased, and the tri- umph of Independency and the doctrine of the * Caxton, Independency in Bristol, 49. . 114 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE two spheres had a similar effect in disassociating religion from politics. This leaven worked so effectively as to produce a marked change in the character of the English Realm at the time of the Revolution and the ac- cession of William and Mary. It may be said that the traditional conception of a Christian polity, with a well-ordered religious national life, fell into desuetude; although formally retained, the relig- ious factor, as a dominant influence, was elimi- nated. The State continued to acknowledge religion, but ceased after the reign of Queen Anne to make active efforts to foster or promote it. This was inevitable, since two incompatible ideals of what a Christian polity should be were simultaneously accepted by the Crown. Presbyterianism became the established form of religious organisation in the Scottish Realm, though episcopacy was re- tained in England, and this course was confirmed by Parliament in the Act of Union. This politic indifference to the religious aspect of national life was a bitter disappointment to those who had sacrificed much for the Presbyterian Theocracy, and also to those who were most enthusiastic about the principles for which the English Church had suffered terribly under the Puritan regime. 115 [CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS Indifference to religion on the part of civil authority was noticeable, not only at home but in the plantations. In the colony of Carolina, for which the constitution was drafted by John Locke, the religious enthusiasm which had had such a large part in the planting of other settle- ments was completely absent. The Elizabethans would never have thought of settling a body of Roman Catholics in the New World. There are no signs of the sense of national mission, which had taken hold of the Elizabethans, nor of the desire to establish an uncorrupt Christian com- munity, which had inspired the settlers in New England. The religious motive was no longer effective, but considerations of finding employ- ment for our population and increasing our trade were mainly at work: the economic rather than the religious aspect of society was becoming a primary consideration. John Locke not only helped to devise a consti- tutional scheme for a new colony, but formulated a theory of civil government which has had an extraordinary influence from his time onwards. It has been widely welcomed because it provides a political doctrine from which religion has been practically eliminated. Civil society is spoken of as based on purely utilitarian considerations, and as formed by individuals who enter into a contract 116 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE with one another to sacrifice some of the personal liberty they enjoyed, on account of the greater advantages which accrued to them by living to- gether in society. The Independents had con- ceived all Churches as gathered by the association of individuals into a solemn Covenant with God, while Locke conceived of the State as formed by a prudential contract of individuals with one an- other. The Independents had found it hard to combine submission to authority with the con- viction of the supremacy of the individual con- science, and Locke and his followers have had the same difficulty in devising a duty of civil obedi- ence, and of showing how the liberty of the indi- vidual is to be rendered compatible with the authority of the State. V. THE GROUNDS OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE There is an obvious incompatibility between the duty of obedience to the Crown as it was put forward and acted upon in the reign of Elizabeth, and the assertion of the supremacy of the con- scientious conviction of individuals. In her days the Crown had been solely responsible for the public good, and it was by obedience to the Crown that the subject was best able to contrib- ute his efforts, in co-operation with other subjects, for the common good. Loyalty and obedience to 117 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the Crown were regarded as almost the sole duty of the subject; but even though we regard the view that was then commonly held as exagger- ated, the duty of obedience remains, and is still incumbent on all the members of a community. Citizenship in a democratic state has a two-fold character; the citizen has a voice in the govern- ment of the country and helps to decide what the law shall be, but he is also a subject who must obey the law. The fact that he has the privilege of sharing in the responsibilities of government does not absolve him from the duty of obedience. When the decision of the country is once taken on any point of policy, the citizen, who may think that that decision is mistaken, is no longer justi- fied in setting up his own judgment against that of the community of which he forms a part. When the government of a country has decided upon going to war, the citizen, who is opposed to all wars, is bound to acquiesce, at any rate by silence, so as not to weaken the hands of his countrymen in the struggle on which they have entered.^ In democratic, as in other communi- ties, the conflict between personal conviction and ^ This acquiescence need not involve any tampering with con- science. If there were a definite conflict between his conscientious conviction and the demands of the government for his active obedi- ence, as in the conscription of a Quaker, he could save his conscience by firmly refusing to serve, and at the same time show his obedience to the State by submitting to the punishment imposed. 118 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE civil obedience may arise, and it is impossible to deal with it in general terms; at the same time some considerations may be adduced which help to show that, if the difficulty is carefully faced, reconciliation may not be impossible. It was pointed out in the seventeenth century that the duty of civil obedience did not neces- sarily involve an active compliance with the commands of a civil authority, and that no one was bound to do, at the bidding of man, that which he consciously believed to be wrong in the sight of God; he could sufficiently show his respect for the civil authority, if, while refusing to do what was commanded, he submitted without complaint to the punishment. William Stubbs, whose writings against the hierarchy had led to his punishment by the loss of a hand, showed his respect for authority by immediately using the maimed stump to lead a cheer for the Queen under whose authority he had suffered. The story of the three Jewish youths, who re- fused to obey Nebuchadnezzar and submitted cheerfully to the punishment he imposed, was a scriptural instance which was habitually urged in this connection; but under changed circum- stances it is hardly possible for anyone to show his respect for authority by the manner in which 119 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS he submits to punishment. His punishment is sure to be taken up by a section of the pubKc, and to be used as a means for agitating against the manner in which authority has been exercised. Passive obedience, as practised in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, was a genuine method of expressing respect for civil authority, but passive resistance, as recommended in the twentieth cen- tury, has merely been an insidious method for paralyzing civil authority and bringing it into contempt. Again, in a democratic community, the duty of civil obedience does not involve abject subservi- ence, or abandonment of a claim to resist in self- defence. The private individual is, by common consent, justified in appealing to force in self- defence, and in a free government, no man is bound to divest himself of his civil rights. There may be resistance to the King's advisers and ad- ministrators on the part of those who hold "that **the King can do no wrong," but that his Minis- ters have been guilty of encroachment on the rights of the subject. Hampden's refusal to pay ship-money was not so much disobedience as a form of raising a grievance, and bringing it for- ward to be settled by law. Further, there may be a question as to the title of anyone to exercise rule. There were conscientious men who rejected the 120 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE title of the Austrians to rule in Lombardy, or of the German Empire to authority in Alsace. The protest against usurped and arbitrary power may arise in many democracies owing to the difficulty of determining whether some particular adminis- tration is giving effect to the will of the people or not.^ This is the ground on which the Ulster Cov- enanters have taken their stand, while strongly asserting their loyalty to the British Crown and the British flag. While the duty of obedience is no longer pressed in such an absolute form as was once the case, there is in the present day a great readiness to as- sert conscientious conviction as paramount, and as something which it is a duty to insist upon at all hazards; but there is at least a presumption that anyone, who thus constitutes himself a su- preme judge of what ought to be done in the com- munity, and insists upon giving effect to his con- viction, if need be by force, is mistaken. There can be no pretension that it is ever right for the private individual to avenge his private griev- ances himself, and it is difficult to contend that this is either the best or the only way by which what are felt to be public wrongs can be righted. Defiance of authority, with an appeal to force * A. Lawrence Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, 12. 121 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS in connection with any alleged injustice, is cer- tainly evidence of the reality of a grievance and the earnestness of those who desire to have it removed. Their conduct is commonly excused on the plea that force and defiance of the Govern- ment is the only method by which the desired concession can be wrung from the Government. But this plea is not convincing; it is often said that the peasants succeeded in shaking of! serfdom by their rebellion in 1381; but the more the case is considered, the more it may be doubted whether their appeal to force did much to improve their condition. The process of commuting personal service for a money compensation had been going on rapidly before the time of the revolt; it is not clear that it was greatly accelerated. In Scotland, where there was no peasants' revolt, the rural population obtained to economic freedom and shook off the vestiges of serfdom much earlier than they did in England, and the economic con- dition of the labourer in some of the English coun- ties to which the revolt did not spread, has long been as good, or better, than'that of the labourers in Kent or Essex; nor is it evident that the ma- terial prosperity of the French peasantry was im- proved by the Revolution. So far as these stock instances go, it is not clear that appeal to force justified itself by its successes, for it must be re- 122 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE membered that this method for securing a remedy is very clumsy and expensive. Those who entered on the Civil War, to defend English constitutional liberties against the encroachments of Charles, may well have been disappointed at the result which was achieved, when the military despotism of Cromwell was thrust upon them; there had not been a very decided gain for constitutional liberty in spite of all the expenditure of blood and treasure. There may be good reason to defy civil authority and resist it, if there is a high probability of success in establishing a better system of gov- ernment; but it must always be a political crime to try and obtain a particular privilege by means which hamper the exercise of authority or bring it into contempt. The reckless assertion of individual convictions has been greatly encouraged by the more general acceptance of the view of the State as a mere ag- gregate of atoms, and the inability to look at the community as an organic whole. ^ If the commu- nity has no real life of its own, but is a mere name for a greater or larger mass of individual human beings, there is diflSculty in conceiving of any duty to the community, or of thinking of it apart from private activities. We can trace the play of 1 Cunningham, Christianity and Economic Science, 86. 123 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS individual interests, present and to come, in eco- nomic science, and we can lay stress upon the power of humanitarian sentiment and the princi- ples of ethical science. We may be satisfied to be swayed by one or other of these considerations in turn; but we can hardly hope to be self -consistent, or to bring these two sides into relation, unless we have some such conception as that of duty, in which considerations of interest and of sentiment may each find a proper place. Economic science can enlighten us as to certain evils we would do well to avoid, and sentiment may supply a driv- ing force to initiate improvement, but the two sides must be brought together if we are to have a real guide to progress. Though we may analyse the community into the individuals who compose it, we cannot account for individual rights or aspirations without look- ing beyond them. Each of us has been placed under obligations by the social system, and the developed material conditions in which we have been born; we have relations of neighbourliness to our fellow-citizens in our own locality and our own country, and we are bound to strive to pass on to others a civilised society that is as good or better than that which has been our heritage. The national life has a character of its own, and is not a mere stream of individual lives, each guided 124 INDEPENDENTS AND CONSCIENCE by its private tastes and interests. The sense of membership of a community and obHgations to the community have been an inspiration for the heroes of the past, who devoted themselves to the cause of their country; and there cannot be a wholesome life in the present, unless men are prepared to admit their obligations to the com- munity as a whole and are ready to discharge them at some sacrifice. The sense of duty to the community is a very real force in the present day, and it is not easy to account for it on rational grounds, if we acquiesce in the elimination of the religious element from politics. Why, anyone may ask, should I be taxed to provide education for the community? If I have no children, the facilities for instruction are no good for me. Why should I pay for an Army and Navy if I disapprove of war? Why should I de- velop resources for the benefit of posterity since posterity has never done anything for me? Why should I yield obedience to the magistrate unless I see that it is my interest to do so ? To the religious man, whether Theist or Christian, such self-interested questionings seem idle and irrele- vant, and the answers are plain. The religious man believes that God governs the world, that the destiny of the nation is in His hands, and that it is through them that He 125 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS accomplishes His purpose for Mankind. In His Providence the civil ruler has come to wield earthly power; and by rendering what is Caesar's to Caesar we are rendering obedience to the God Who has placed him where he is. St. Paul elabo- rates the argument and says, "Let every soul be "subject unto the higher powers. For there is no "power but of God: the powers that be are or- "dained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth "the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and "they that resist shall receive to themselves dam- " nation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, "but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of "the power? Do that which is good, and thou " shalt have praise of the same. For he is the min- " ister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that "which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the "sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a "revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth "evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not "only for wrath but also for conscience sake." Such Christian teaching gives us light as to the real nature of the obligations we owe to the community, while it also furnishes us with an incentive for doing these duties at some personal sacrifice. V RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT I. SELF-DISCIPLINE AND GROWTH The Ecclesiastical Courts had been so unpopu- lar as to become a political danger under James I and Charles I, and little attempt was made to re- vive them after the Restoration. They were not used to enforce the observance of fish days, and such secular ordinances; and in so far as ecclesias- tical discipline was re-introduced, it seems to have dealt chiefly with moral offences, such as drunken- ness and slander. In this modified form it did indeed give rise to some complaint, but there never seems to have been any general attempt to enforce it systematically, and we hear little of it after the beginning of the eighteenth century when Bishop Wilson tried to re-introduce it in the Isle of Man.^ In so far as this religious discipline was revived, we see that it had a somewhat different character from that enforced in the Presbyterian theocracies. There the end in view had been the preservation of the Christian community from ^ J. Wickham Legg, English Church Life, 256. For instances of public penance in Yorkshire in 1731 see Whytehead, "Discipline of the Church," in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal^ xix, 80. 127 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS scandal; but the aim of those who desired to re- store ecclesiastical discipline in England was to bring about the repentance and restoration of the sinner personally. The Commination Service, and the public discipline of which it is an echo, were intended to be a definite call to repentance on the part of sinners, in the hope that they would use the season of Lent aright, and could thus be restored to communion at Easter. The tendency of the Calvinistic doctrine of pre- destination and election had been to throw the need of individual growth in the religious life somewhat into the background; but the religious revival, which arose under the influence of Cosin, Thorndyke, and other Caroline divines, was a conscious reaction against Calvinism. Though external discipline remained in abeyance, there is ample evidence that large numbers of Church- men were trying to live more strictly, and to dis- cipline themselves to comply with the standard of Christian life embodied in the Prayer Booh. Care was taken to provide opportunities for daily prayer by ecclesiastical authorities,^ and daily services were very generally available in London churches in 1714,^ though the numbers rapidly * J. Wickham Legg, English Church Life, 79. 2 James Paterson, Pietas Lundinensis; also Strypes Stow (1720), bk. V, p. 19. 128 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT declined after this date; special attention was called by the Bishop of Ely to the desirability of providing opportunities for daily prayer at vil- lages that lay along the great North Road.^ There is every reason to believe much greater advantage was taken of these services by parishioners at the beginning of the eighteenth century, than in the twentieth when they have been once more gener- ally revived. More remarkable evidence still is 1 Dr. Stevens, Vicar of Tadlow, has kindly given me a copy of an interesting letter in his possession, from Dr. Turner — one of the Seven Bishops — to Mr. Say of Caxton: — Ely, Sept. 11. 1686. Good Brother, — The good character I have received concerning you from our R[oyal] Mistress in Holland, has given me a particular confidence in yr: care to putt the Direction's of my printed letter in practise. Yr parish, if it be not so numerous as I suppos'd yet lyes on the Great Northern Roade : it would be for our churches Honor and for the consolation of well dispos'd Travellers to find Daily Prayers in yr: Church. I press them all over the Diocese where it is practica- ble, but at Caxton I wd : have them by all means, tho' you begin with a congregation of butt a widdow or two. Have them if you please at six or seven in the morning, if that will be best for passengers. My good friend you have been bredd in a camp of Toyle and Hardship. I know the putting my orders in execution, that is the making so many careless people Christian indeed, will cost you a great deale of Labour: but do not grudge it; you are sure of as great a Reward in Heaven; and in good time you may find you account by it here, for I do not forget what her Highness commanded in favour of you, and now I give it to you under my own hand that I will remember it to your advantage; you shall not stay long at Caxton if I can help it. But in the meantime do your own Business with all your might, and sett into its presently before the Visitation; By which you will more than a little oblige. Sir, Yr: affect, friend & Brother, Mr. Say of Caxton. Fran. Ely. P.S. If you have no little schoole in yr: town I shall wonder, and you ought to procure one. If there bee one, then you need not want a congregation for both morning and evening prayers. 129 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS furnished by the number of voluntary societies which were formed for mutual encouragement in the devout life; a very interesting account of them is given by John Chamberlayne in 1708: "The "Religious Societies are so called, because the "particular end and design of them is to improve "themselves and others in the Knowledge of our "most Holy Religion, and to animate one another "in the serious practice of it. They were begun in "London about the year 1678, by a few serious "young men of the communion of the Church of "England, who, by the Advice and Direction of "their Spiritual Guides agreed to meet together "frequently for religious Conference, and by "Prayer and Psalmodie to edifie one another. ". . . They industriously apply themselves to "the relieving poor Families and Orphans, set- "ting Prisoners at Liberty, solliciting Charities "for the pious Education of poor Children, Visit- "ing and Comforting those that are Sick and in "Prison, and Reclaiming the Vicious and Disso- "lute; in promoting Christian Conference, Decency " in God's Worship, Family Religion, and the Cate- "chizing of young and ignorant People."^ Simi- lar societies were formed in other towns, notably in Truro. 2 1 MagnoE BritannioB Notitia (1708), p. 276. Compare also Strypes Stow, bk. V, p. 40. 2 J. Wickham Legg, English Church Life, 299. 130 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT The most remarkable development was among the group of men which gathered round Wes- ley at Oxford and gave rise to the great reli- gious movement which still bears the name of Methodist. The genius of John Wesley used the system, which had been devised for the mutual encouragement of pious men, as an organ of mis- sion work, and for the strengthening of those who were impressed by the power of his preaching. Wesley's own position, as revealed in his Jour- nal, is somewhat anomalous; he had been an enthusiast for the maintenance of Christian institutions as established in the land. He set himself earnestly to live up to them in Oxford, and he was eager in trying to maintain Church dis- cipline among the people in Georgia. He had a strong sense of the importance of Christian rites, and he based his claim to preach on the fact that he was an ordained priest of the Church of Eng- land. This was the warrant of his mission; but while he relied so much upon ecclesiastical order, he thought it inadequate, and had little scruple in waiving it aside. His sense of a spiritual mis- sion refused to be restricted by the bounds of the parochial system; "all the world is my parish." He believed intensely in the working of God's Spirit in the individual heart and conscience. He accepted the Christian polity and ecclesiastical 131 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS ordinances as affording a useful atmosphere; but for him, fellowship in a Christian polity was a poor thing, unless there was the growth of per- sonal Christian life. His followers were encour- aged to provoke one another to love and good works in class meetings, and to stir up the gift that was in them; but the societies he founded were strictly religious societies, and were concerned in fostering the personal religious life of individuals. Wesley did not differ from other English churchmen either as to the duty of maintaining religious ordinances within the realm, or the im- portance of diffusing religious truth among Eng- lishmen settled abroad. There was no divergence from the current view of the duty of the State; but Wesley left it to others to discuss the manner in which these national duties should be done. His whole energy was devoted to fostering the growth of spiritual life in individuals. In so far as he paid attention to secular affairs in political life he was only concerned to notice how they re- acted on the personal religion of men and women. From this standpoint he is inclined to depre- cate earthly cares and worldly interests as un- favourable to spiritual progress. He feared material prosperity as a danger to Methodism. "Religion," he said,^ "must necessarily produce 1 Southey's Lije, u, 522. 132 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT **both industry and frugality, and these cannot "but produce riches. But as riches increase, so *' will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its "branches. How then is it possible that Meth- " odism, that is, a religion of the heart, though it " flourishes now like a green bay tree, should con- " tinue in this state .^^ For the Methodists in every "place grow diligent and frugal, consequently they " increase in goods. Hence they proportionately " increase in pride, in anger, in the lust of the " flesh, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life." Ample evidence might be adduced to confirm his view; the very success of the monasteries as cen- tres of organised economic life, had been prejudi- cial to their religious tone and'influence, and the experience of the Society of Friends has been similar. ^ In his sermon on the use of money Wes- ley warns against the personal sins that may arise in connection with earthly gain.^ But just be- cause his religious teaching is so personal, he has given little suggestion as to the moulding of so- ciety itself on Christian lines, or as to the means by which a more Christian polity may be secured. This lay beyond his purview; indeed it is one of the most mteresting points of contrast between ^ J. J. Fox, Enquiry into the Causes of the Weakness of the Society of Friends as a Christian Church (1859). 2 The Use of Money. Wesleyan Methodist Union for Social Service, Social Tracts, New Series, No. 1. 133 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the work of John Wesley and the work of General Booth, that the latter realised how unfavorable physical surroundings may be, and that they often may prove an almost insuperable hinder- ance to the growth of personal religious life. The importance of material conditions in regard to the outcast and the miserable has been the most important development of Salvation Army work; but the aim in view has been that of Wesley, in reclaiming individuals, rather than that of re- modelling society itself. II. THE DUTIES OF THE COMMUNITY There is very little trace among the Calvinist communities of a conscious mission to the world. The Scottish nation, and the gathered churches in New England, were keenly conscious of their posi- tion as testifying to the truth — like a city set on a hill; but they inherited the Old Testament at- titude of mind; and they had little sense of a duty towards heathen peoples which was incumbent upon a Christian nation. But in England the sense of the destiny and of the duties of the nation had never died out; it had been awakened by the danger of absorption by Spain in Tudor times, and it was quickened by the threats of French en- croachment. Seventeenth and eighteenth century sermons afford ample evidence of the manner in 134 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT which this and the other Christian duties of the community were kept before the pubKc mind, and show that this central conviction was the founda- tion of teaching in regard to the duties of Chris- tian men in their social relations. The most ob- vious duties, in the period before the Industrial Revolution, were not the same as those which claim attention at the present day; but the dusty volumes and forgotten pamphlets of the eigh- teenth century give ample proof that preachers inculcated high ideals of national life. During the seventeenth century and the early part of the eighteenth the pulpit exercised a remarkable in- fluence. Pulpit eloquence was cultivated as a rhetorical art, both in France and England; and well-selected libraries of literature contained a large number of volumes of sermons. Before news- papers came into general use, they were the most effective channel for influencing public opinions; there were many benefactions for providing spe- cial sermons, and official sermons were regularly preached before public bodies. We have there- fore a large body of evidence so little known even to students,^ that it seems desirable to quote con- siderable passages at length, in order to give an idea of current teaching on political and social duty. ^ Copies of most of the sermons quoted are accessible in the British Musemn Library. 135 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS The sense of a mission to the world, which had been so strongly felt by the Elizabethan pioneers of empire, was kept alive and reinforced; and this comes out especially in connection with the plant- ing of Georgia. In preaching before the trustees, Glocester Ridley insisted that the economic ob- jects which he enumerated should be subordi- nated to religious aims. "Prudential and human "motives are but the intermediate wheels and "springs of Providence, which the all- wise Con- "ductor employs to produce a much grander "effect, the general and eternal welfare of man- "kind. . . . The reasons before mentioned are "very justifiable and commendable motives of "themselves; but when ranked, where Provi- "dence esteems them in subordination to better, "and only as a means subservient to a nobler "end, the design of planting Georgia is a glorious "effort of the human mind, reflects the highest "honour on those engaged in it, deserves the "prayers and concurrence of all good men, and "may depend upon the assistance of heaven to "accomplish His own decrees." The same doc- trine was reinforced by the Reverend George Harvest in 1749. "The relation in which we stand "to the Western Isles, by the appointment of "Providence, has afforded us an opportunity of "propagating the Gospel among their inhabit- 136 (( t( <( (( RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT "ants. This relation obliges us, as a Christian "nation in Society, to endeavour to promote both "their temporal and eternal interests. And even "supposing, not admitting, supposing I say the "Utility of this Colony of Georgia to be yet a matter of some doubt and uncertainty, I will however appeal to the Christian politician whether the glorious prospect of promoting Re- ligion — which is above all else valuable — the "salvation of souls, . . . the extending of the "Kingdom of God upon earth, — whether these "be not things of infinitely greater moment than "any Temporal Emoluments or Advantages." Bishop Terrick of Peterborough, when preach- ing before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, urged that our successes in the Seven Years' War, "great in themselves and glorious "to the British arms, have extended our Em- "pire and opened a large field, which in every "view, whether of Religion or Civil Policy, "demands our culture and improvement. This "is indeed an object too great and extensive "for the abilities of this Society: it is a Na- "tional concern, and will, I doubt not, be con- "sidered with the attention it deserves. It would "indeed add a lustre to the glories of a successful "war, could we trace the progress of true Chris- "tianity, wherever our arms have conquered, 137 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS "and by introducing the Arts of Civil life and "the milder genius of a pure Religion, could "boast of the triumphs of Truth and Knowledge "over Popish error and Heathen ignorance. This "would be an event, which would shine in the "Annals of our History, and do honour to our "National character. And sure it may be con- "sidered as a circumstance, which, as it gives "the most favourable impressions of the Spirit "of our Religion, we hope may have some influ- "ence in preparing the way for its more general ** reception; that wherever the natural courage of "our troops led them on to Victory, the mild and "generous temper of the Gospel disposed them to "triumph with humanity." At a later date the duty of living up to new national responsibilities was borne in mind; during the Napoleonic wars an earnest warning was given by Dr. Carey, in a sermon preached before the House of Com- mons as to the danger of looking at merely mate- rial interests in our relations with the world. He pointed out that the lust of commerce is as great an enemy to the peace of the world as the lust of Empire, and that the spirit of commerce may easily degenerate into a spirit of avarice and greediness and even of oppression. The effort to maintain high ideals of national life has been steadily pursued by pulpit orators, and found 138 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT admirable expression in Dr. Whewell's sermon before the Corporation of Trinity House in 1835.^ 1 This carries the chain of testimony farther. " And though the ways of Providence must ever be to us dim and mysterious, and though a reflection which thus points at them may appear to be vague and unsubstantial, we shall yet, I think, find in it something which may breathe a warmer air of love, and a nobler glow of hope, over the machinery of our national prosperity. For, can we doubt that this nation has been invested with wealth and power, with arts and knowledge, with the sway of distant lands and the mastery of the restless waters, for some great and important purpose in the government of the world, by Him who guides the course of nations? Can we suppose otherwise, than that it is our office to carry civili- zation and humanity, peace and good government, and, above all, the knowledge of the true God, to the uttermost ends of the earth ? When we see how the political power of ancient Rome, the extent and unity of the great empire of antiquity, ministered to the diffu- sion first, and afterwards to the ascendancy, of the religion of Christ; can we doubt that God uses the institutions of men for the furtherance of His own secret counsels? Can we doubt that the command which man, in modern times, has acquired over the ele- ments; the facility with which he visits the remotest regions; the rapidity with which the discoveries and inventions and thoughts 'of one country are borne to the ears of all; the power that cilivized 'nations now possess in comparison of those that are barbarous; the 'ascendancy which opinion has acquired over brute force; the 'supremacy of mind over matter — can we doubt, I say, that all 'these circumstances are intended to do their work in carrying on 'mankind to a better knowledge of their duties and their hopes; in ' advancing them a further step in that school of moral and religious ' education in which God is ever instructing them? And, thus view- 'ing the history of the world, the offices of nations, and the uses of 'their powers, we cannot doubt that all our gifts also, the qualities ' and possessions which belong peculiarly to this country, are given 'us for improving the world, as well as advantaging ourselves; — 'given as talents, which we are to reverence as the instruments of ' high purposes, as well as to use as means to selfish ends. Our place ' among the isles of the ocean, our fair havens and lofty beacon-sites, ' our commerce and our fleets, our stores and treasures, are thus held 'by us as subjects and servants of the Governor of the Universe. ' Nor is this all : our better and finer possessions, our advantages of ' character and mind, are no less held and exercised under His con- 'trol and guidance; — the endowments of the soul, courage and 139 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS There was very little official response to these appeals, on the part either of officials or of those "inventioD, energy and endurance; the indomitable will, which no re- *'sistance of the elemental world can tame; the heart which can brace "the sinews under the fierce smiting of the tropical sun; the eye "which can look steadfastly, though the ice close round like a tomb, **and life seem departing with departing hght and warmth; the tem- "per on which hope deferred acts only as a fresh stimulus to action; "the sagacity in governing distant lands, which is sharpened, not "baflBed, by variety of circumstances. Nor can we less believe, that "the benefits which, as a nation, we have enjoyed, are gifts which ** require to be administered for the purposes of the great Giver. Our "long course of health and wealth, of prosperity and happiness; the "foresight of our ancestors, estabhshing for the guardianship and " promotion of valuable objects peculiar institutions, fitted to avert "the evil, to look onward to the good; the steady course of our his- "tory, in which, however changes and struggles may have taken " place, such institutions have always ridden buoyant on the tossing "waves; — all these blessings and benefits, which we perhaps some- " times consider as mere matters of pride or advantage to ourselves, "are, in truth, in the scheme of God's providence, something of a "higher bearing, of a larger scope. They are, we may venture to "believe, the instruments of a good, which however it may begin " with us, is to extend to the uttermost parts of the earth, and to the "remotest ages; they are among the means by which light and life, a " clearer light and a purer life, are, as we trust, to be diffused to the "isles of the Gentiles; by which the reign of savage usages, of blind- "ness and grossness, shall gradually yield to law and reason, to "moral feelings and religious influences. We cannot and need not "trace the thousand workings by which we improve while we civilize "man; by which the teaching of mere human knowledge and refine- " ment, and even commerce and travel, may be expected to prepare " the way and supply the means of religious teaching, in future times "as they have done in times past. But we cannot so far disbelieve "the progress of the better cause, as not to hold, that the activity "and enterprise, the maritime wealth and power, of the most active, "and most enterprising nation, and the most powerful on the ocean "of any which God ever placed on the earth, will be mighty to pro- "duce that good which such means are fitted to produce; and that "thus they are part of that great machinery which is to go on work- "ing till the knowledge of God shall cover the earth as the waters "cover the sea. " But, considered in this, point of view, such institutions [as Trin- 140 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT who had concessions from the Crown, like the various trading companies and the trustees for ity House] seem to start up before us in new dignity and grandeur. If, indeed, the naval greatness of England holds such a place in the designs of Providence, then all the implements of that greatness, all the functions of those who watch over and minister to it, ac- quire at once an aspect of serious and elevated importance. If her ships and fleets, while they pass to and fro, are thus the messengers of civilization and Christianity, as well as the bearers of wealth and ' power, we may well be careful of their management, and tender of 'their safety. When we light the frail skiff round the stormy prom- 'ontory, or mark for it a safe track along the low and treacherous * shore, we know that we have earthly interests, and human life, the 'dearest of earthly interests, depending on our care; but that is not 'all; we have also in our hands a portion of that great interest of 'advancing peace, and knowledge, and truth, of which the good ends 'not in our day, nor on our earth. When we illuminate and direct 'the way of commerce and curiosity, of pleasure and gain, over the ' great deep, we also send law and order on their course, we light the ' gospel on its path, we make the way easy for some benefactor of * mankind to go forth on his errand in hope, or to return in safety to 'his native land. " 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers,* says the Apostle, ' for 'thereby some have received angels unawares.' Be not careless or ' slothful in aught that concerns the safety or activity of the naviga- 'tion of this country; for many a messenger of God for good, con- 'scious or unconscious of his character, is, we trust, confided to its 'charge. How can we doubt that the office of our shipping in pro- ' moting the progress of man's improvement is most important, the 'commission of those who are the guardians of its safety most 'momentous, when we consider what it has already done? It has ' girdled the earth with the arts, the laws, the knowledge, the faith 'of these lands, where such blessings are in their most mature 'growth and fairest bloom; it has more than once been a bulwark ' against a tyrannous and iron despotism, seeking to trample down 'the barriers of nations in its barbarising and degrading career; it 'has called forth in the men of the land a practical strength and 'clearness of the head, an energy and devotedness of the heart, ' which we all admire, and feel that we ourselves are bettered by our 'admiration, for virtue is stronger by the sight of virtue. The 'empire of the ocean is a sacred trust. Well, then, may we rejoice 'to see religious offices breathe their solemn and majestic air over 'the institutions to which such a trust gives birth. Well may we 141 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS plantations. After the Revolution and espe- cially after the long Whig Supremacy, govern- ment practically ceased to take an active part in fulfilling the national mission and commend- ing Christianity to the world. Bishop Berke- ley had a bitter disappointment in finding that the political leaders on whom he relied had no serious intention of supporting his project for a Missionary College on the Bermudas ^ and that they had no sympathy for schemes for fostering national religion among the colonists. So far as the material prosperity of the country was concerned it seemed to be sufiScient for gov- ernment to guide and direct those who were push- ing their own business. There was no general recognition of the danger accruing from eager- ness to make a fortune, and there were many who recognised the benefit which accrues to the community from the enterprise of self-interested individuals. It was generally felt in the eighteenth century that so far as the landed interests were concerned their rents were secured, and that they "recognize, in such a combination, a call to us to administer all that "concerns so mighty a train of operation in a reverent spirit, as "becomes those who are engaged, not only in the diffusion and mul- "tiplication of temporal blessings, but also, as we hope, of others of "which the benefit ends not with temporal things." — (From the copy in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.) 1 Fraser, Life oj Berkeley. 142 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT might be rightly called upon to do a duty to the community, but with the moneyed interests it was different. They ran great risks in developing commerce, in planting colonies and in starting in- dustries, and it was possible to contend that in undertaking such risks for the service of the com- munity they were doing all that could be required of them, and that they had no further duty. Par- liament was frequently engaged in inducing men to enter on methods of employing their capital, which would be of advantage to the State, by offering bounties and preferences; and those who earned such public rewards might well feel ex- empt from any duty to contribute out of their gains to the good of the community. The State had played upon their self-interest, and self- interest was a guide to their public duty. This principle, which had been already accepted by Calvinist moralists, and which lies at the root of the laissez-faire system of economics, was not universally accepted, however, and it was severely criticised by the Reverend John Geree in an Assize Sermon at Winchester in 1706. "And then it mightily imports us to root out of "our Minds this Principle of Self-interest, this in- " ordinate Desire of promoting our own Advan- "tage, tho' by methods apparently unjust; so the "first thing in order to it, is to examine whence a 143 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS Humour, now so generally prevalent and reign- ing in the World, does proceed, and in what it is founded: and that is, either in Luxury and Ex- travagance, for the feeding and supplying of which Men are forced to have recourse to such unwarrantable Practices; or else in Idleness, which puts them upon the shorter and less labo- rious methods of Fraud and Injustice, for the providing those Conveniences which Industry might have furnished them with; or lastly in mistaken notions of what is necessary to their Happiness, which enlarges the catalogue of their Wants, and renders them unsatisfied with an ordinary Fortune, tho' more than Nature re- quires, and what Frugality perhaps would look upon as a Competency. Were we once arrived at this Point, that we could retrench our Expences, and confine them to what comports best with that condition wherein Providence has placed us; or that we could shake of[f] that sloth which ties up our Hands from working out our Fortune; or could rectify our notions of what is really and truly necessary to our Happiness in the World, and square them by the Rules of right Reason; our Desires would then be easily reduced within the compass of what is just and honest. We should not then be tempted to con- clude all our own that we could get; but all our 144 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT "own when we had satisfied the several Ties and "Obligations that lay upon us, whether of Fidel- "ity to the Publick or of common Justice to all "men; of Gratitude to Benefactors, of Charity to "the Poor, of Kindness to Relations and the like. "And I instance the rather on Gratitude, Charity "and Natural Affection, because these by Men "too greedy of their Interest, are so commonly "over-lookt. In fine it might be presumed that "then we should acquit ourselves in all the Parts "of Duty to our Neighbour, keeping Truth in our "Promises and Contracts, so as not to disappoint ''him or fail in our Engagement to him, tho' the "Performance of it should prove to our own "Hindrance,''^ This was a forcible exposure of the mistake in thinking that, so long as a man attends to his private duties and is guided in business affairs by his own interest, he does all that can be rightly required of him; there is need as well of consciousness that he is part of a com- munity. Each individual ought to be willing to take the trouble of doing his share of the duties which are incumbent upon the community, and this is the very meaning of public spirit. The 1 The theme was a favourite with those who were called on to preach anniversary Sermons to the gentlemen who had been edu- cated at St. Paul's. Archdeacon Tenison, afterwards Bishop of Os- sory, recommended a public spirit, because it "produces in every one " of us an extraordinary diligence in the discharge of the duties that " belong to our several stations." 171 1. 145 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS eighteenth century was a time of official apathy, and neglect on the part of the government, to live up to a high ideal of the duty of the community, but it was also a time when the foundations of a better order were being well and truly laid. Reli- gious influence acting on individual minds was creating a sense of public spirit which found ex- pression in humanitarian measures at home, and a greater sense of national responsibility for native races abroad. Though national duties and respon- sibilities were little appreciated by civil authori- ties, they were more and more taken up by private citizens and by associations of private persons. Commerce and colonisation were the two oc- casions of contact which might be utilised by individuals or associations of individuals to supplement official action, and to carry out the mission of a Christian nation. Of all the regulated companies, the Levant Company was that which came into most direct contact with the Mohammedan world, and where the impor- tance of maintaining Christian testimony was most strongly felt; there were eminent men who had successfully held the position of chaplain at the factory in Smyrna. One of them. Dr. Chis- hull,^ in appealing to the members of the Company ^ Guildhall Library. 146 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT in 1698 as to the duty of conducting commerce to the glory of God, puts forward a striking concep- tion of the duty of the Christian merchant: "As "the example of each single person is always to be "measured by the character he bears, so in some "sense it is true that none bears a greater charac- "ter than those whom Providence has ordained to "any foreign employment. For the charge which "they carry with them is in truth an inestimable "charge; no less than the credit of their religion "and their native Country. They ought to ap- " prove themselves abroad, not only as persons of "sober and honest conversation; but, what is "much more, as becomes true Englishmen and "sincere Christians." In the sermons preached before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel there was frequent appeal to the London merchants, who made a profit through trade with non-Christian peoples, to discharge an obligation which was specially in- cumbent upon them by deputy. This help, says Bishop Trimnell of Norwich in 1710, "is more particularly to be expected from such persons as of any wealth and trade in these countries, be- " cause they have by the direction of Providence a "more immediate relation to them." There was a very strong feeling in England that the West In- dian planters, while making large fortunes, were 147 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS very neglectful of any sense of Christian duty to- wards those whom they employed. "Too many "complaints," says Dr. White Kennett, subse- quently Bishop of Peterborough, preaching before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in which he was keenly interested, "have been made, "that some of our Planters have formerly ob- "structed the Conversion of their Slaves, from a " strange Suspicion that they would be then of less "value to them. And that some of our Traders "among the remoter Indians, have artfully in- " cited them to Wars and Battles, that after a Vic- "tory on either side, they might purchase Slaves "in greater numbers and at easier Rates. I wish "these Men could take the Sin and Scandals upon "their own Heads, and not cast a Reproach upon "our Religion and our Nation. An infinite Re- "proach it is for any Christian People to sacrifice "their Religion in the sight of the Heathen, for a "little worldly Gain." The most notorious case of this neglect arose in connection with the conduct of those who interfered to prevent their slaves from receiv- ing baptism owing to their scruples about the legality of retaining fellow Christians in slavery. Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London, took an ac- tive part in exposing the shallowness of this ex- cuse. 148 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT Public spirit was also called upon to perform the duty of the community in seeing to the wel- fare of those persons who were least able to care for themselves. The sermons before magistrates gave frequent opportunity for dwelling on this as a matter of public importance to the com- munity. Dean Mills, of Exeter, preaching on behalf of the Devon Hospital in 1748, insists that public interest is closely connected with, and in some measure dependent on, the lives and health of the industrious poor. "These *'Men are the Sinews of our Government and "the Sources of our Wealth, and as the Riches "arising from them consist in their Industry, their "Health is at least of equal importance to the "Public as their Life; for they no longer live to "Society than they can serve it by their Labour; "whenever Sickness ties up their industrious "Hands they are worse than dead to the commu- "nity, for the Balance is then turned on the con- "trary side, and instead of being an addition to "our wealth they become a heavy burden to the " public." Matters which were of such importance in the interests of the community were primarily to be considered as the duty of magistrates, but they were incumbent^ in a greater or less degree, on all the members of the community. In an Assize 149 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS Sermon at Maidstone in 1750, the Reverend Peter Pinnell pointed out how much might be done by the magistrates for the improvement of society. * Without their vigilance the best of laws are like * medicine well prepared while distempers rage *for want of application. The jurisdiction of the 'gentlemen is so extensive that the very seeds of * crimes, whether they appear in idleness, irregu- *larity or any kind of offensive behaviour, may *be choked by a proper exercise of their authority, *and flagrant vices happily prevented by a sea- *sonable ad version upon the first buddings of im- * piety, and consequently multitudes who might 'otherwise be immersed in all filthiness of flesh *and spirit may become diligent in their respec- tive callings." He also argues that such duties are incumbent on all men of wealth and social position, and thus leads from the subject of offi- cial, to personal responsibility. "It has been fre- quently observed by writers on the subject of Morality that every good Man is a Magistrate, — a Magistrate constituted by Nature though not appointed by the governing Power. ... It is incumbent upon every Member of Society to have Regard to the Ends of Public Justice, which are the Restraint of evil Communications and the support of good Manners, yet still it par- ticularly affects those whose Fortunes afford the 150 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT cc << fairest Prospect of Success; for in all Matters "that respect our Duty, the Measure of our Obli- "gations is to be estimated by our Ability; Since "then Wealth and Honour are the circumstances "that generally give us a superiority over other "men whereby we may easily prepare them to "regard our Counsel and to transcribe our Copy, "since having secular ties upon them, we may, by these very Cords which bind their temporal Concerns, draw them to a consideration of their spiritual interest." Dr. Mapletof t, writing on the Principles and Du" ties of the Christian Religion,^ insists that Christian duty to our neighbour includes care for depend- ents; he inveighs against a negative religion, and urges that while it should begin at our families, it should extend to all we have any concern with or reap advantage from. "Such are all tenants "to their respective Landlords; all poor labour- "ers and handicraftsmen to those that respec- tively employ them; and all dependents and all inferiors to those who are their superiors, or who can make any such pretence to take a more par- "ticular care of them, than of others who are in a more distant relation. Thus all noble, great and wise men, and all men in general, whose lands and revenues are improved for them by the toil 1 1712, p. 412. 151 (( i( it CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS "and sweat of the poorer sort, and all great trad- **ers and dealers, who live easily and grow rich by "the hard labour and pains which others take for "them, will find themselves obliged by the laws "of Christian equity and charity ... to make "provision first for the souls, and then too, for a "competent subsistence for them and their fami- "lies, and suitable relief of the necessities of all "those by whose sore travail, and usually too "great hardships, they live in so much plenty and "esteem." Eighteenth century preachers cannot be charged with any apathy in regard to the duties to the community or the value of public spirit; but the first efforts to improve the tone of society itself as well as by moulding public opinion, were very disappointing. At the close of the seventeenth century, when so much was done by Dr. Thomas Bray and his associates for fostering the Christian religion, through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, attempts were made to carry on something which might be called home mission work by means of the Society for the Reformation of Manners. It started w4th great promise, but its career of usefulness was some- what short-lived. The reformation of evildoers 152 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT . was the object it professed, but before long its main activities were devoted to the stamping out of vice by informing against prominent offenders, and bringing them before the civil magistrates for punishment. The remedial influence of the mem- bers was seriously affected, and they shared the discredit which attaches to common informers.* The story is a further warning, if any were needed, against the illusoriness of attempts to secure real moral progress by external compulsion, whether exercised by Church or State. A much more last- ing and abiding influence for good in society was due to those clergy who personally undertook the ofl5ce of Justices, and helped to raise the standard of the manner in which magisterial duties should be discharged. ^ There was more success in the efforts to remedy physical evils, and in particular, to make provi- sion for the poor. The eighteenth century was marked by great development of hospitals, where the poor could receive medical and surgical treat- ment. Provision of this sort had been made in mediseval Christendom both by episcopal authori- ties and in monasteries. There had also been hos- pitals founded by private benefit, in many towns, but these mediaeval institutions were for the most * J. Wickham Legg, op. cH., 302. * Webb, English Local Government, Parish and County, 350. 153 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS part turned to other purposes at the Reformation, and no new provision seems to have been made. At the close of the seventeenth century in London, St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas's were the only hospitals in London, and in the country generally there were no hospitals at all.^ But a change was marked by the foundation of Guy's Hospital in 1725; and the reign of George II may be regarded as a great era of the foundation of hospitals in county towns. There were many pulpit appeals on behalf of these institutions. It was felt that this public duty could be best discharged, not by official administrators, but through voluntary help; an opinion which is still generally maintained. "The claims of the sick "poor," said Dr. Parkinson, in preaching for Addenbrooke's Hospital in 1787, "received addi- " tional force from their relation to the rich and to "the State. Were some general malady to invade "the health of the peasant, manufacturer and me- "chanic, honour and wealth and learning would "become insignificant, as the necessary wants and "conveniences of life would be ill-supplied, and "the State would sink into poverty and weak- "ness. . . . The health of a poor man, often in- " jured in the service of the public, ought to have 1 In twenty -three counties of England there were no hospitals in 1710. 154 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT been protected with more vigilance, because more valuable than property. It is the whole of a poor man's possessions, and much dearer than riches to others ; since by losing it he is not only deprived of subsistence, which is equivalent to the greatest treasures, but sustains perhaps great bodily pain, for which nothing can be an ** equivalent. . . . Presuming that the permanent establishment of hospitals for the sick is the best remedy, it might be concluded that govern- ment should have made such provision. But the conduct of the government in only taking the infirmaries under its protection, which are for those disabled in the service of the State, may be justified on these grounds, — such asylums would have to be supported by additional taxes on the rich, and being obviously more expensive ** would have required greater exactions than "their voluntary contributions. All services in "them would be performed for wages, and there is something unnatural and shocking to a man of feeling to show compassion only for gain, or from compulsion. But what will have most weight with humane persons is that they would have to comply with compulsory statutes, instead of being able to gratify their feeling for the unhap- piness of a brother by relieving his distress." Bishop Butler, in preaching on this topic, pointed 155 (< ti (< (< C( (t << (< (< t( C( (( n CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS out the obligations of the middle class as well as of wealthy traders to show this public spirit, — "The improvement of trade and commerce has "made another change . . . and I think a very "happy one, in the state of the world, as it has "enlarged the middle rank of people; many of " which are in good measure free from the vices "of the highest and the lowest part of mankind. "Now these persons must remember that whether "in common language they do, or do not, pass "under the denomination of rich, yet they really "are so, with regard to the indigent and necessi- "tous; and that considering the great numbers "which make up this middle rank among us, and "how much they mix with the poor, they are able "to contribute very largely to their relief, and "have in all respects a very great influence over "them. It is not only true that the rich have the "power of doing a great deal of good and must be "held highly blamable for neglecting to do it; but "it is moreover true that this power is given them "by way of Trust, in order to their keeping down "that Vice and Misery, with which the lower "people would otherwise be quite over-run." Still greater evidence of the new care for the physical conditions of individual life was shown in 1774 by the foundation of the Royal Humane Society. A small society had been founded in 156 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT Amsterdam in 1767, and William Hawes, a pub- lic-spirited physician, who practised in the Strand, was strongly convinced of the possibility of resus- citating some of those who were apparently drowned; he gave from his own pocket rewards to all who brought the bodies of the apparently drowned to his surgery, and he was so suc- cessful that a circle of friends desired to relieve him of the financial responsibilities and to carry on the work on a larger scale. This was the first of the great philanthropic movements where care for individuals was put in the forefront, and the benefit and interest of society was relatively out of sight. Just as John Wesley's preaching, and the class system which grew out of it, was primarily devised for the fostering of personal religious life, so some of the philanthropic movements of the eighteenth century took the form of pitying per- sonal suffering and seeking to relieve it, where the interests of the State were only remotely con- cerned. The other philanthropic movements of the later part of the eighteenth century had the same character. Attention was directed by Howard to the miserable conditions of the prisons, and much was done under his initiative to improve the state of affairs, and to do away with jail fever. In much the same way we may note sympathy with 157 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS child suffering, and a desire to remedy it. The cruelties which were inflicted on the boys who assisted in chimney sweeping, when first pointed out, came as a shock to the pubHc conscience, and endeavours were made by statute to prevent the continuance of the evil. Sir Robert Peel felt the defectiveness of the arrangements for children, who were apprenticed in his spinning mills, and brought in a measure which might introduce better conditions, both for health and for educa- tion. The close of the eighteenth century saw the formation of a Society for Bettering the Condi- tions of the Poor, and the members seem to have felt their way to the conclusion that the truest benefit they could confer on the rising generation was to provide more general facilities to fit them for their place in society. The British School So- ciety and the National Society are monuments of this new care for education as a means of making the most of each individual life. This feeling of pity for individuals was not con- fined to those who were of our own blood, and our own country. It entered very largely into ques- tions which arose in connection with the foreign possessions and foreign trade of the country. Burke's eloquence awakened a new sense of our responsibilities for the subject populations of 158 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT India. The imagination was struck by the pic- tures which were presented of the cruelty of slave raids and the misery of the Atlantic passage, and the Movement for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was carried through with success, while there was also a new development of missionary enterprise. The aim of the founders of the Soci- ety for the Propagation of the Gospel had been to extend the Christian polity in the world, but the founders of the Church Missionary Society and Baptist Missionary Society were convinced that the dark places of the earth were the habita- tions of cruelty, and were inspired by a sense of pity for those who were personal sufferers. From the beginning of the century to the close there are signs of public spirit, and active beneficence, which was initiated by individuals, or bodies of individuals, who thus made up for the neglects of the State. III. THE PROSPERITY OF THE COMMUNITY When we consider the keen efforts which were made throughout the eighteenth century to stir up public spirit, and to rouse the sense of pity, and when we note the response which was made to these appeals, it seems extraordinary that so many twentieth-century writers should speak of the eighteenth century as if apathy and neglect 159 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS were its chief characteristics. There is, however, some Httle excuse for this exaggeration when we consider material progress within the realm. In the view which was commonly taken of the pio- neers in the agricultural and industrial revolu- tions, the adoption of improved husbandry in- stead of old methods of tillage was a benefit to the State; it added to the food supply and gave an opportunity for the growth of national wealth and national power. Looked at from the national standpoint it was a gain; and the incidental suffer- ing which occurred in the march of progress did not receive the attention it deserved. Arthur Young was full of admiration of the improving landlords, who incurred great expenses to do away with the obstacles to better husbandry which were imposed by the system of common cultiva- tion in common fields. It was only towards the close of his life that he came to realise that the revolution, which he had described with such en- thusiasm, had tended to depress the rural labourer and leave him in a condition of hopeless poverty. He commended the change from the point of view of the material resources of the community, while the other side was not obvious. In a similar way it was felt that the men who had enterprise enough to open up new coalfields in Scotland by sinking their capital 160 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT in mines, and providing the necessary equip- ment for carrying on the industry, were con- tributing to the material prosperity of the na- tion. They were regarded as pubKc benefactors, and regarded themselves in that light; many of them felt no responsibility for the moral and re- ligious welfare of the new population that had sprung up in connection with their enterprise. The parochial system, at any rate in Scotland, was unable to cope with the difficulties which arose in the congested districts, and there seems to have been an appalling neglect of the most elementary requirements of civilised life among the mining population. The assistant commis- sioner, who reported on the condition of Scottish mines, felt that he was making a new demand on the obligations of the mining companies and the land-owners, and feared that it might be neces- sary for the State to bring compulsion to bear upon them in regard to the condition of their de- pendents. "Let it not be imagined for a moment," he said, "that gentlemen who have shown such "enterprise and skill as is displayed at [Gart- " sherry] have not deserved well of their country, — all I strongly insist upon is that their own interest, as well as those of the country, require that a quota of this wealth shall be deemed due, from the very first creation of a public work, to 161 (S « 2 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS **be set apart for the religious and secular educa- "tion of the population employed." ^ He regarded voluntary effort as inadequate and held that "Parliament must . . . provide for every member "of the State his birthright by the laws of Eng- "land, instruction in the duties, the warnings, "the promises and the consolations of Chris- "tianity; such instruction can be adequately and "regularly supplied only by making the cost of it "a necessary incident to all increase of property "which involves an increase of population." The capitalists were so clear that they were ful- filling their duty in promoting the wealth of the community that they felt no responsibility about their dependents. At the beginning of the eigh- teenth century there had been a contrast between the tradition of the landed interest in recognising public responsibilities, and the attitude of the moneyed interest in failing to acknowledge them. But as the century advanced and capital was invested in the improvement of agriculture and the development of mines, the capitalists' point of view was retained; they were satisfied with themselves for promoting the material progress of society as a whole, at the very time when a sense of pity for individuals and duty towards 1 Parliamentary Papers, Reports, 1842, xvi, 355. 2 Ibid., 349. 162 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT individuals was being more generally aroused. It is not true that the country was apathetic, but it is true that those who were devoting their wealth to promoting the material progress of the coun- try were blinded by self-satisfaction, and failed to recognise the obligations they were incurring in regard to human lives. When we once realise that the indifference to the sufferings of the working classes, which char- acterised the early part of the nineteenth century, was not due to moral obliquity but to intellectual error, it becomes a warning for all time. It helps us to see how mischievous an intellectual error may become, and what danger may arise from mere confusion of thought. The men of that time identified the prosperity of the community with the prosperity of the individuals who composed it. English industry and commerce had grown extraordinarily in spite of the war, and it was not unnatural to assume that individuals must necessarily be prospering too. This assumption seemed to be a mere truism, so that the men of the time felt no call to look behind it, and rendered themselves incapable of attending to or interpret- ing the misery that was going on under their eyes. They regarded this as a transient phenomenon which would soon be outlived, and might there- 163 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS fore be neglected. It was not till after thirty or forty years of miserable suffering that the public conscience was roused to the fact that the in- dustrial and commercial prosperity of the com- munity was being purchased at the expense of the physical injury and moral degradation of men, women and children, and that the material pros- perity might be purchased too dear. So far from its being true to identify the prosperity of the community and the prosperity of individuals it is safer to generalise from the experience of the early nineteenth century, and to say that the material progress of society, especially when it is rapid, involves a certain amount of individual suffering. This seems to be a pessimist doctrine, and there is a temptation at the present day to fall into the old error, though from the opposite side. It is plausible to maintain that whatever is for the material good of the individuals who form the community, is also for the good of the community as a whole. But though it appears that national wealth consists of the sum of individual wealth, we are mistaken if we think of national life as consisting only of the aggregate of individual lives of the men and women of the country at the present time. We cannot identify the two and argue from one to the other, without falling into 164 RELIGION AND PUBLIC SPIRIT serious error, both in the interpretation of his- tory and in the practical proposals we advocate. It is easy to show that individual suffering has again and again been incidental to the progress of society, and we may, if we choose, fix our eyes so earnestly on the individual suffering as to ignore the national progress.^ On the other hand, it is well to remember that what makes for the com- fort of the masses in the present generation does not necessarily result in the material welfare of posterity in the long run. There are two points of view which must always be distinguished in our minds: the good of society on the one hand, and the welfare of the individuals who compose so- ciety on the other. While this distinction needs to be drawn even from an economic point of view, it is still more important to keep it in mind when we try to take account of culture and character and other elements in human welfare. Nor have we, in a progressive society, any fixed or definite standard by which we can judge of improvement, either in society as a whole or in individuals. We have not attained a goal from which to judge aright of each step in advance; we are only looking on at a process. We may, however, see that the national life and individual lives are closely inter- connected and act and react on each other. The ^ Hammond, The Village Labourer, p. 26. 165 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS advance of society opens up more possibilities for individuals; and the individuals, who make the most of the opportunities that are open to them, are helping to secure each position that is gained, and are pioneers in social progress. VI HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION I. THE ABANDONMENT OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE It had been generally held during the Middle Ages, and in the seventeenth century, that the man who thought only of his private interest was a positive danger to the community; but during the eighteenth century a remarkable change may be observed, at all events so far as material pros- perity is concerned. At the beginning of the cen- tury according to current opinion the force of self- interest was one that might be guided and con- trolled so as to work for the common good, and Parliament busied itself in the effort to bring private interests into harmony with that of the public. But as time passed, it came to be more and more recognised that State interference was not really as necessary as had been supposed for the promotion of public interests, and an era began when it was held that government would do most for the material prosperity of the country by leaving private interests alone. Adam Smith had reached this conclusion as a matter of practi- cal experience, and from an examination of the 167 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS expedients by which statesmen had endeavoured to build up the material prosperity of Great Britain, while French economists expounded a similar doctrine as a philosophical principle. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, educated opinion in Great Britain accepted the principle of laissez-faire with confidence; men were inclined to believe that the way in which Parliament could do most for social reform was by abolishing the restrictions which had been imposed in less en- lightened times. It was in this spirit that the Elizabethan arrangements for industrial training by means of apprenticeship and for regulating the rates of wages were swept away as anachronisms and absurdities. The present generation, after a century of laissez-faire, takes a different view of some of the institutions that were then abolished and does not regard them as either unnecessary or prejudicial. In the second quarter of the nineteenth cen- tury there were, however, signs of a reaction, and it came to be generally recognised that State in- terference might be desirable in exceptional cases. Two causes contributed to this result, and so weakened the hold which laissez-faire had es- tablished on the public mind. First, philanthro- pists were conscious that their efforts to relieve dis- tress were spasmodic and irregular; they felt that 168 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION the evils against which they were endeavouring to contend could not be effectively dealt with un- less the State came to their aid; this was especially recognised with regard to the protection of chil- dren from injury. There might be a careful and considerate master with careful and considerate foremen, here and there; but philanthropic senti- ment could not secure a change of system unless it were supported by the strong arm of the law. Again, the reforms which have taken place in the Civil Service itself have given the public con- fidence in official administration, to which it had no claim at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The agitation which led to the appointment of a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1830, and of a Royal Commission in 1833, re- vealed a state of affairs in the factory districts which convinced the public that State interfer- ence with some of the largest industries of the country was necessary; hitherto the public had taken for granted that individual suffering was merely transitional, but it now became plain that individual suffering, when cumulative and per- sistent, did serious mischief to the community. The public conscience was awakened by Mr. Michael Sadler and Lord Shaftesbury in regard 169 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS to the question of the employment of women and children, and this was taken up thoroughly. This was the first important step, but it led to many others; and a great advance was made in 1842, as the result of enquiries in regard to the em- ployment of children in mines and in other dangerous occupations. The establishment of Factory Inspectors has done much to improve the conditions of work, by systematically calling attention to evils that can be remedied by State regulation, and to the improved forms of regu- lation which may be introduced. It is unneces- sary, however, to follow out the story of this leg- islation; for our purpose it is sufficient to point out that the public conscience, when roused, suc- ceeded in restricting the mischiefs which arose in connection with the industrial employment of capital. Since the time of the Stuarts, all attempts to regulate by public authority the manner, in which capital was invested in industry, had broken down. The Church had failed to secure a re- sponse from the conscience of the upright man, in regard to the moral distinctions which were drawn; and the attempts of James I and Charles I to direct private capital into the channels in which it should best subserve public purpose, had been abandoned. Both civil and ecclesiastical author- 170 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION ity had been worsted in the seventeenth century in their attempts to control the great instrument of material progress; but the industrial revolu- tion and the misery it entailed, despite the si- multaneous increase of national wealth, forced the conviction on the public mind that capital could not be trusted with irresponsible power, but must be checked where patent evils had arisen. At that date, however, State interference was still re- garded as an exceptional thing ; and the onus probandi, in any further interference with laissez- faire, continued to lie with those who advocated restriction. Since it was admitted that State interference might be occasionally necessary in the interests of the community, there has been a constant tendency to urge that a case has been made out for legislative regulation and official superin- tendence in some new direction. A very great ex- tension of the principle occurred after 1831, when the outbreak of cholera caused a public scare, and drew attention to the conditions in which masses of the population lived. The most serious rav- ages of this disease, and of typhoid fever, had been in the Black Country and in the manufac- turing districts round Manchester and Glasgow. A Royal Commission was appointed to enquire 171 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS into the preventable causes of disease, to con- sider how far improved drainage and sufficient water supply would contribute to a diminution of mortality, and what precautions should be taken in the case of noxious manufactures. Ad- ministrative machinery for dealing with public health was started in 1848, and progress was stim- ulated by the later outbreaks of cholera in 1849 and 1854. The measures that were first taken tentatively, were only the beginning of an ex- traordinary development of governmental activ- ity, which concerns itself not so much with the conditions of work as with the conditions under which people live. The growth of scientific knowl- edge has not only given us the means of curing what is injurious, but has rendered preventive measures possible. Progress has been made in many directions, especially as regards drainage and water supply, but the problem of housing both in urban and rural districts presents many problems that are still unsolved. Such regulation in the interest of public health had only a very indirect bearing on the question of laissez-faire and the freedom of the capitalist to conduct his business in his own way, but there was a great deal of change of public opinion on this point. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century it was generally held that trade unions 172 ■ HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION were mischievous because they interfered with the freedom of the capitaHst to carry on his busi- ness in the fashion in which he could make it a success. The limitations of hours, which had been urged by philanthropists for the benefit of women and children, operated so as to define the condi- tions of labour of every kind; and during the latter half of last century trade unionists have been able to secure the assistance of the legisla- ture to carry out their policy. The right of col- lective bargaining has been recognised, and trade unions have been placed in a privileged position by the Trade Disputes Act, so that employers have difficulty in obtaining redress for injuries in- flicted upon their business by their men. There has been at the same time a tendency to adopt, and to enforce, the principle of a minimum wage, which shows that the doctrine of laissez-faire in regard to the employment of capital and industry has been absolutely abandoned. Laissez-faire had been first advocated by Adam Smith and his disciples with reference to the for- eign trade, and they had a long continued struggle in order to secure its acceptance in this depart- ment of national economic life; but they may be said to have succeeded in 1846 when the Corn Laws were repealed by Sir Robert Peel. Even in 173 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS this connection, however, there have been signs of a reaction. The Fair Trade Movement of 1880 was the precursor of the more vigorous agitation for fiscal reform, which was started by the late Mr. Chamberlain in 1903; and an immense amount is now done by the Commercial Depart- ment of the Board of Trade and in other ways for promoting commercial prosperity.^ Hence we are justified in saying that the policy of laissez-faire is no longer assumed as axiomatic, but has been completely discredited. It is very seriously called in question in those departments where it has not been already abandoned. II. COERCION AND THE DUTIES OF OTHER PEOPLE As public opinion was gradually awakened to the evils which had arisen under a system of laissez-faire, there was a new readiness to rely on the State and to recognise that certain conditions of life and employment were important to the community. It was felt that the State had a duty in regard to the overworking of women and chil- dren, and to the conditions of work and employ- ment. Philanthropists were especially eager that the government should interfere and pass hu- manitarian legislation, and coercion by the State * Ashley, Preface to British Dominions. 174 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION seemed to be the simplest way of forcing other people to do their duty. What the better man would do voluntarily, and what was in the inter- ests of the State in the long run, could not be adopted generally, so long as the shortsighted self- interest of a few individuals was allowed to stand in its way. And hence philanthropists and hu- manitarians had a strong conviction in favour of coercion by the State; but while we recognise its merits, there is a danger of exaggerating the influ- ence which it may exercise and of forgetting to take account of the conditions which are neces- sary for its success. It cannot be effectively brought to bear unless it is supported by public opinion, and even at its best there may be inci- dental disadvantages in relying on governmental machinery. Public opinion is more easily roused to demand governmental action in regard to any mischief than to the desirability of introducing positive improvements. The work of the fac- tory commissioners, and of those who are em- ployed in tracing evils which affect public health, and in insisting on such matters as the notification of disease, have been of the highest importance. On the other hand, serious complications may arise when an attempt is made to confer bene- fits on the public at the expense of the rate- 175 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS payers or citizens. No improvement in ma- terial conditions will benefit all citizens alike; some sections or classes are likely to gain more obviously than others, and a proposal that fails to appeal to the sense of justice will not be taken up with any enthusiasm. A public park may be of great advantage to a civic com- munity, but wherever it is placed it may be of constant advantage to some of those who pay for it, while others who reside at a distance will have little opportunity of enjoying it, and in this there is an element of unfairness ; similarly it is possible that a boon may be conferred on men who cannot afford to take advantage of it; public holidays may be much enjoyed by those who are in com- fortable circumstances, but the casual labourer cannot afford the luxury of being idle, and may feel it a hardship to have leisure imposed upon him against his will. In other cases where the State by a system of Insurance insists upon compulsory thrift, there may be a legitimate grievance at having to pro- vide for the future in the form, and on the terms, which the State lays down. Any pretension on the part of authority to coerce men for their own good is likely to be more or less resented among people in whom the sense of personal liberty is strongly developed. 176 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION Coercion by the State is a powerful instrument for dealing with masses of men, but it cannot be rightly adjusted to suit the circumstances of par- ticular lives, and even as to the effects which will be produced upon society there may be much un- certainty. Those who are responsible for action by the State must give their minds to forecast probable results, and to deciding as to what it is wise to do under the circumstances. But no human legislator or body of legislators is om- niscient. However well intentioned they may be, they are never perfectly informed, and social legis- lation is particularly liable to have incidental re- sults that were quite unexpected; even in the case of transplanting some expedient from a place where it has worked well to another district, there is no certainty that it will be beneficial. The plot of garden ground that is ample in some condi- tions of soil, would be practically useless in another village. Experience which shows that a scheme is working well, as a means of facing a temporary difficulty, throws no light on the accumulative effects it may have in the long run, if it comes to be regarded as a permanent institution. The fact that the system of granting allowances in addi- tion to wages staved off temporary distress in many quarters, will not lead us to commend the wisdom of a policy which resulted in such wide- 177 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS spread pauperisation. No hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the preventing of evil and the promoting of good, and no clear line can be laid down as to matters in regard to which the State ought or ought not to interfere; but it is clear that coercive authority is at its best, when it is aiming at eradicating some obvious physical evil, and that it is likely to cause much greater friction and to be much less certainly beneficial when it aims at conferring a general benefit, and a public boon. III. RELIANCE ON STATE INTERFERENCE A farther remarkable change in the attitude of the public mind towards State interference took place at the close of the nineteenth century. Up till 1880 ^ there was a general impression that State interference might sometimes be a neces- sary evil, but that it was so inconsistent with pop- ular liberty that resort should not be had to it until all other methods of remedy had been tried. There was besides, in many circles, a feeling that government work was badly done; that officials were apt to be the slaves of routine, and that work was carried on more efficiently by private persons than by the State; State superintend- ence and inspection might be approved, but State * See my article on "Progress of Socialism in England," Comr- temporary Review, January, 1879. 178 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION interference continued to be looked upon with suspicion. Towards the close of the century, however, a great impression was created by the success which had attended the remedial legislation in regard to the conditions of work in factories and mines, and the conditions of life of the working classes. The coercive power of the State was seen to be exceedingly effective in putting down mischiefs that had grown and flourished until it was brought to bear; an impression became widely diffused that, since this beneficent force was avail- able, it was a mere waste of time to rely on feebler instruments for the redress of wrong. The change, by which private businesses were transformed into limited liability companies, was going on at the same time; and there was difficulty in main- taining the superiority of private enterprise in the face of the successes of these great bodies for associated enterprise whose organisation was similar in many respects to that of a department of State. Under these circumstances there was a sudden reaction; and many people, who had hitherto been suspicious of State interference, began to be enthusiastic for it as the best and practically the only method for introducing real improvement in the condition of society. One of the results of the spread of this convic- 179 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS tion has been to stimulate the desire for obtaining political power, as it seemed that this gave the best means of removing social grievances. The fact of the success of the miners' agitation for an eight-hour day and of the demand of the trades unions for the passing of the Trade Disputes Act showed that a large section of the community could use their political power so as to give effect to their wishes for themselves. And this has stim- ulated the demand for Women's Suffrage, as it is widely believed that women cannot hope to obtain a redress for their grievances so long as they are excluded from political power. There is a danger, however, of forgetting that State interference is a very rough and ready in- strument, that a measure from which much was hoped is often disappointing in its working, and that any social legislation is certain to have in- cidental results which had not been foreseen, and which may be deleterious either to individuals or society. In one direction, indeed. State interference may be positively injurious. When any duty is directly undertaken by the State there is apt to be a diminution of the sense of personal responsibility, and to be a discouragement to the discharge of personal duty. The standard 180 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION which the State can enforce is generally a mini- mum interpretation of what is right; and parents, who have kept their children at school for the minimum period enforced by the State, are apt to think that they have done all that is needed, and do not aim at anything higher. The payment of old age pensions by the State has been an enor- mous boon to many of the aged; but it appears to have diminished, and in some quarters to have extinguished, a sense of duty on the part of grown- up children to do anything whatever for the bene- fit of their parents. The danger of a decline in the sense of personal responsibility is most apparent in the industrial world. The capitalist — the employer who car- ries out all the conditions that are required by the factory inspectors — may feel that he is dis- charged from any obligation to take further con- sideration for the conditions under which his em- ployees live and work; while it is abundantly clear that no increased sense of responsibility has grown up among the working classes pari passu with the increase of their political power. There is a lack of discipline either to their own leaders or to other officials, that does not promise favour- ably for the future. State interference is a crude instrument for conferring physical boons, and it seems as if it might be really injurious to personal 181 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS character. Whatever good it may accomplish among masses of men there must be other means of rousing higher ideals in individuals; personal ideals and personal effort initiate improvement that goes beyond what current public opinion demands. The State can at best only bring the laggards up to a level that is generally approved. Powerful as it is, where it can be applied, coercion by the State is never inspiring; we can hardly be kept up to the level we have reached, and we certainly cannot go beyond it, unless we can rely on a high sense of personal duty as well. Humanitarians, who are most ready to have recourse to coercion within the Realm, are some- times inclined to believe that it is possible to dispense with it altogether as between nations. They are deeply impressed with the horrors of war and believe that duty and interest alike ren- der the appeal to it unnecessary : but, however the nations may be raised to a higher moral standard in future, a progressive society is likely to find diflSculty in reconciling the keeping of promises with the desire of increased opportunities for progress; there is no immediate prospect that war will altogether cease in the near future. So long as any nation is in danger of being carried away by national greed and the desire to exploit other 182 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION countries, there is a risk of an outbreak of war; and hence there may be a duty for a country to engage in war, not merely to defend itself, but to maintain the peace of the world and to secure opportunities for human progress. In so far as there is a national duty, there is national disgrace in neglecting it. From a religious standpoint each nation is responsible to God for the power and opportunity it possesses, and this power and in- fluence is not to be enjoyed selfishly, but to be employed generously and for the good of its neighbours. The people, who are content to look on and to watch the harrying of the weak by the strong, are guilty of selfish connivance at a crime, if they could have used their influence to prevent or to stop it. There is something of the spirit of Cain in seeking for an excuse for disregarding this obligation. To make common cause with those who are oppressed, or exploited by ruthless at- tacks, may be a duty, and in God's sight the neg- lect of a duty is a crime. In Old Testament times the selfish indifference of those who held aloof when they might have struck a blow against an invader, was bitterly denounced. Nations which do not use their opportunities aright are in dan- ger of losing the prestige and influence with which they have been entrusted. On the other hand, humanitarianism has not 183 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS always been ready to refrain from attempting to force other nations into improved conditions of life. Chivalrous attempts to coerce half-civilised or decadent governments may be generous and heroic, but they do not make for peace. The knight errant, who went about to redress wrongs, found plenty of occasion to pick a quarrel; and the nation, which feels free to champion the cause of oppressed humanity anywhere, may expect to be often embroiled with other peoples. Public opinion, which refuses to take up a quarrel unless there are definite grounds for it, is sound; and it is a Christian duty to avoid occasions for war in every possible way. Any country which is punc- tilious about demanding respect for her citizens and their rights may only be asking what is just, and yet be blamable for allowing the matter to become a cause of quarrel. Though it is not pos- sible to stamp out war, it ought to be possible to refrain from giving way to national passion and to limit recourse to war to cases in which it is undertaken as the necessary means for securing public good, or righting a public wrong. Chris- tianity goes further than mere humanitarianism in guarding against the occasions of war, while it has in the past set an example of trying by agree- ment to reduce the horrors of war; there is still need to make more generally applicable the prin- 184 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION ciples which the Mediaeval Church enjoined in regard to private war.^ The truce of God was designed to limit the scope of war and to protect the civil population from its ravages; whereas it is sometimes urged in modern times that the most humanitarian course is to render war ruthless, so that it may be speedily over. But the Christian tradition as to the conduct of war has been ex- tended by such agreements as the Geneva Con- vention and the Red Cross Movement. The principle that war, when it is necessary, should be conducted with a full sense of responsibility to God, applies not only to national action but to the personal character and conduct of the soldiers. All honour is due to the men who voluntarily risk their lives and submit to discipline, so as to be the instruments through which their country fulfils a duty. There is no profession which gives greater opportunity than soldiers have for cultivating the virtues of courage and devotion to duty, and the manly habits of chivalry, modesty and obedience. The civilian may pursue the routine of daily life in a Christian fashion, but the soldier may be inspired by his religion to conduct that is heroic. We cannot afford to ignore the teaching of the Middle Ages as to the conduct of war, and we have the means of bringing it to bear not only through ^ See Appendix on the Attitude of the Church towards War. 185 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS knightly orders, but by international agreement and through the personal sense of what is honour- able. Just as we cannot rely on the coercive power of the State as the sole instrument of improvement within the country, so we cannot rely on the proposals made by humanitarians as sufficient for introducing a permanent remedy in international relations. Humanitarianism is excellent as a pal- liative in dealing with the symptoms of human passions which express themselves in war; but we shall make a grave mistake if we allow ourselves to suppose that because it succeeds as a palliative, it is making progress towards effecting a cure. Its diagnosis is defective, and the remedies it proposes are quite inadequate. It is shortsighted and fixes its gaze on the physical suffering of indi- viduals, and neglects the real source of the mis- chief, in human passion and ambition, and the lasting effect on current opinion and feeling in a community. It concentrates attention on the dispute between one nation and another, and the possibility of adjusting their respective interests, and neglects the crime of breaking the public peace and the need of obtaining some guarantee against a repetition of the crime. The action it would propose is merely repressive — the ulti- 186 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION mate suppression of war by international author- ity, and in the mean time the Hmitation of arma- ments. But these suggestions are inadequate, and it is not easy to see how an authority could be built up which would inspire respect and enforce its dictates, and the supposed advantage which would ensue to the cause of peace from a reduc- tion of armaments is illusory, though there would be a large financial saving if it could be carried through. But the expectation that by reducing the means of carrying on war there would be less danger of the outbreak of war, does not rest on any basis of fact; it is a mere assumption. The provision of apparatus for meeting the danger of fire, and the cultivation of efficiency in the organ- isation of the brigade, does not tempt the authori- ties of a town to set it on fire. There are no men who are more familiar with the horrors of war than the British soldiers; and the effort to make that army efficient does not lead them to endeav- our to embroil their country with other nations. It is absurd to raise an outcry against a military caste, and to overlook the real causes of war in the national pride and determination to assert a na- tional interest; from these democracies have no immunity. Humanitarianism lays the blame on the means of carrying on war, as if they were bad in themselves, instead of inculcating a sense of 187 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS responsibility in the use of them. In the same way, because nations have been organised for war, humanitarianism deprecates the very exist- ence of nationality; it disintegrates society into a mass of separate individuals, with nothing to take them out of themselves, or to elevate them above the narrow life of dwelling on their own interests and indulging their own tastes. The love of coun- try is the form in which higher and wider influ- ences make their strongest appeal; the history of a nation is a continual source of inspiration from the past, and shapes the form which aspiration takes for the future. To attack national life, as if it were in itself evil, because it has become the basis of military organisation, is to abandon and destroy the most effective instrument for enno- bling the people of any community, and for ena- bling them to bring a wholesome influence to bear on the world. In pinning its faith to changes in the conditions in which war has arisen, humani- tarianism is shallow and superficial; it would limit the means of warfare, and break up any organisa- tion which lends itself to war; but Christianity takes the more practical course by attempting to go to the source of the evil, in human hearts and dispositions. There is no hope of any thorough cure so long as we are content to look at con- ditions and means and organisation for warfare, 188 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION and do not seek to deal with the arbitrariness and passion in which it has its source. Christianity goes straight to the root of the matter; it seeks to eradicate the evil element in national life and thus aims at producing a complete cure. IV. POLITICAL CHRISTIANITY Exaggerated reliance on the coercive power of the State has given rise to a new view of the nature of Christian duty. Those who are respon- sible for framing any legislative measures which may bring about social reform, have not an easy task in trying to carry them through. There are probably vested interests with which they may have to contend, and there is always a difficulty in overriding private rights in order to secure an admitted public benefit. It is also certain that there will be grave differences of opinion as to the best method of dealing with any particular evil; and those, who are fully convinced of the neces- sity of State action, may often be much divided as to the form which that action can wisely take. Under these circumstances the bold politician feels the need of extraneous help to strengthen his hands, and is inclined to believe that he has little chance of effecting his purpose unless it can be carried through on a wave of popular feeling. In this way Mr. Lloyd George appealed to a 189 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS gathering of the clergy of all denominations at Cardiff in October, 1911, and urged that it was their chief duty as Christian ministers to rouse the public conscience to the existence of some evil, so as to give ample support to those politicians who were endeavouring to devise a remedy and to bring it into operation through the coercive power of the State. He said he had come there to help to rouse a spirit that will compel every party in its turn to deal with these social evils; "and 'that," he said, "seems to me to be the sphere of * influence of the churches, — not to support par- * ticular parties, not to advocate particular meas- *ures of reform, but to create an atmosphere in * which it will be impossible for anybody to re- *main a ruler of the realm unless he deals with * those social problems. . . . The first thing we have got to do is to create a temper, a spirit, an atmosphere that will compel men of all parties to deal with these problems, whichever party is in power for the time being. The responsibility of the churches is this. The churches of Christ in this land guide, control and direct the con- science of the community. No interest, how- ever great it may be, can long withstand the resolute united opposition of the churches. Public opinion in this land invariably responds to the call of the United Churches. . . . He did 190 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION **not agree with the view that the Church was "concerned solely with spiritual things. . . . "Those who held this narrow view were false to the traditions of the Christian Church. To-day we had greater poverty in the land in the aggre- gate than we ever had. There was a more severe economic bondage; for labour to-day was not always guaranteed sustenance or security — a condition of things foreign to the darker Middle Ages. "What was the function of the Church in refer- ence to social evils.? The function of the Church is not to engage in party brawls. It is not to urge any specific measures. It is to create an atmosphere in which the rulers of this country, "whether in the Legislature or the municipalities, not only can engage in reforming these dire evils, but in which it will be impossible not to do so."^ That a Cabinet Minister should express this view of the function of Christianity is natural enough. Many of the church-going public refrain from taking a very active part in party politics; but those voters, who cannot be counted upon to vote on party lines, may exercise a great influence in turning the scale if they can be induced to intervene; and pulpit addresses might be an effective means of reaching some of the doubtful 1 The Times, December 30, 1911, p. 5. 191 « it « << • <( << CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS voters. It is a matter of surprise, however, that these views should have been received with enthu- siasm in a large gathering of Christian ministers, since this new opinion assigns such a meagre place to Christian influence. This doctrine would have been indignantly repudiated by the leaders of any of the great religious movements since the Refor- mation; for the doctrine that the Church is only to be the handmaid of politicians, and to help them to carry on their work implies the degra- dation of the ministerial office. If the best that Christianity can do is to help the politician to carry through his crude measures for the benefit of the masses, the Church abandons the claim to inspire with high ideals, and to raise the tone of ordinary life. Neither the Presbyterians, who rated ministerial authority so high, nor the Inde- pendents, who were so eager to withdraw from the cares and entanglements of secular life, would have regarded the undignified role which Mr. Lloyd George assigns them as at all appropriate to the Christian ministry. Despite his disclaimer, it may be doubted if Mr. Lloyd George really holds that ministers of religion should be content with creating an atmos- phere. It is rather a futile occupation; for many years past there has been an active commendation of universal peace, and a propaganda against war- 192 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION fare. Fifteen years ago the Czar took an active part in promulgating such views through the Con- ference at the Hague: but the energy of national life demands scope for expansion; it is not to be held back by platitudes. The war in the Far East, the war in the Near East, and the ruthless invasion of Belgium, are striking illustrations of the ineffectiveness of the solemn enunciation of humanitarian sentiment. To produce the desired result, it is necessary not only to create an atmosphere, but to agitate it into a gale. Such agitation must almost neces- sarily involve the clergy in active participa- tion in party politics, by signifying approval of the measures of one party, and denouncing the neglect of the other. Party government is, on the whole, the method by which action can be taken in democratic communities. Its disadvantages are obvious, though it has many merits which may easily be overlooked; both parties are agreed on the aims they pursue for the good of the com- munity; they differ as to the means which it is wisest to adopt at any place or time, and as to the relative importance of certain courses of action. In all political action moral questions are in- volved, as to the bearing of proposed changes of the law on human relationships. There is no 193 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS proposal witli regard to the material welfare of the community which does not affect individuals personally; but fanaticism fastens on the moral element, in particular questions, and treats it as if it could be isolated so as to be the sole issue. The ministers of religion, who at any time feel it a duty to bring their influence to bear in favour of the measures proposed by one particular party, ^ are liable to the temptations which beset all those who are engaged in political agitation, of using exaggerated language which may neither be strictly true nor wholly charitable. Indeed the preacher who makes an occasional incursion into the sphere of party politics is in greater danger of becoming a partisan than the practised political speaker, who is habitually on his guard. The man who feels that he is advocating a great moral cause, is in danger of doing it fanatically, and of disre- garding any questions that are raised as to the wisdom and probable results of the particular measures proposed. The clergy, who are habitu- ally thinking, not of the results of action, but of the motives which lead to it, are particularly apt to attribute interested motives to their political opponents, instead of contenting themselves with arguing as to the wisdom or unwisdom of the measures proposed. 1 Cunningham, The Cure of Souls, p. 186. The Clergy and Party Politics. 194 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION The relative merits of Free Trade and Protec- tion have been a subject of constant discussion in Great Britain for the last twelve years. Like other political questions it seems to be in part a question of expediency; the Tariff arrangements which are best for a community at one time, may not be best at another; and that which is best for one country may be injurious to another. But in 1904, when this question had become the main issue at one or two by-elections, several eminent ecclesias- tics felt it a duty to throw themselves into the fray with fanatical zeal. They contemptuously brushed aside the "salient details" in regard to the economic questions as "superficial dis- cussion," and called attention to "certain fun- "damental judgments ethical and social" which seemed to them "to be profoundly involved in the issue." It will not then be deemed impertinent or intrusive," they say, "if those who are charged with any special responsibility for the national conscience venture to detach and emphasize these essential considerations which are vital to the verdict that is to be given." They therefore invited additional signatures to a declaration in which they denounced a system of Protection, because "in itself it inevitably tends "to evoke the motives and foster the tendencies "against which we are all accustomed to protest 195 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS "as immoral. It cannot succeed without increas- "ing the severance of nations; it intensifies ri val- ines and strengthens barriers; it is a foe to peace, "and to the hopes of a wider unity of workers. "No nation can adopt it without danger to the "uprightness of its pubHc life; it makes bribery "pay; it creates monopoHes; it opens the door of "Parliamentary lobbies to all those influences "which it is our main object to exclude. It is "bound by its very conditions to tell hardest "against those who are least able to protect them- " selves." ^ When we remember how recently Great Britain has abandoned a protective system, it is not easy to be patient with this disparage- ment of our countrymen in previous ages; neither France, Germany, nor the United States, not to mention our own colonies, can be expected to take this claim on the part of Free Traders to superior virtue quite seriously. The moralist is in some danger of falling into shallow cynicism, when he denounces motives which are gratuitously attributed to opponents, instead of contenting himseK with considering whether his own opinions are well founded or not. He professes, too, that he does not take part in public affairs regularly, but only when he sees that a moral question arises; but he may be guilty 1 Guardian, 23d November, 1914. 196 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION of introducing this element of bitterness and of lowering the whole tone of public discussion. It is specially to be feared that the Christian minister who feels called upon to use the pulpit for polit- ical agitation, is going outside the terms of his commission; he has a trust imposed upon him, and it is his duty to declare the eternal truth which has been revealed to man by Our Lord. But in connection with the passing of any legisla- tion the questions which arise are chiefly matters of expediency, and of forecasting the probable re- sults of the measure. These are at best matters of opinion. The preacher's opinion may be a good opinion, or it may be a mistaken opinion, but it has no pretensions whatever to be a declaration of Divine Truth. The seventeenth-century Calvinists endeav- oured by means of Ecclesiastical Courts to coerce men into conforming to a godly polity over every part of which scriptural authority could be claimed. The Neo-Calvinists, with modern ideals of what a polity ought to be, are inclined to invoke State aid to bring pressure upon other people so as to force them to do their duties. Humanitarians are often content with pointing out the neglects of other people, and with saying they should be forced to live up to a different standard. It is 197 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS unfortunate that so much Christian energy should be directed into channels where newspapers and public meetings can act more effectively, and should be diverted for the special work, for the welfare of the community, which Christian- ity can do, and which is in danger of being neg- lected if Christians fail to undertake it. The coercive power of the State is effective within certain limits, but it has limitations: it can put down patent evil, and thus improve the condition of the masses. It can even coerce so as to bring the general level of life up to a given standard, but it has very little power of taking an initiative or acting as a pioneer. This can be best done by individuals; and the history of social improvement of every kind shows that individuals, who cherished a high ideal or had a strong sense of duty, have made a new departure which public bodies have been gradually per- suaded to follow. While the State is powerless in this matter and may even narrow the scope of in- dividual action, Christianity can bring an enor- mous influence to bear on individual lives person- ally. It can set before them high ideals for human life both personally and socially, and it can stim- ulate a sense of duty. This is the special work which Christianity has done in the past, and is doing at the present day, and there is no other 198 HUMANITARIANISM AND COERCION doctrine which can claim to do it more effectively. Christianity need not content itself with merely aiding in the coercive activities of the State, since it can supplement these activities by influencing individuals in a fashion that the State cannot attempt. VII CLASS INTERESTS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS I. SUBSTITUTES FOR THE SENSE OF DUTY The nineteenth century had awakened England to a sense of the danger of giving free play to ego- ism and individual interest, and to recognise that it might be necessary to introduce coercion for the sake of the community as a whole. On the other hand, more and more stress was laid on the growth of class interest; many workingmen began to look beyond their own immediate surround- ings; they endeavoured to take account of a longer prospect than their own lives, and to have regard to others who were situated similarly to them- selves. The associations of men for common ob- jects have had a very high value; but for this very reason there seems to be a danger of exaggerating what they can accomplish, and of looking on loy- alty to an association as if it could be a substitute for any deeper sense of duty. The principle of association is deeply rooted in English soil; the guilds of the Middle Ages can be traced back to very early times, and survivors of them still exist. It may be said, however, that on the whole 200 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS mediaeval guilds existed to carry out common duties, — either in regard to religious conduct, or in insuring that industrial callings were practised in such a fashion as to promote the good of civic communities. Again in the eighteenth century the societies to which allusion has already been made, were founded chiefly for the purpose of supple- menting the efforts of the State in discharging public duties. The nineteenth-century associa- tions have, on the whole, been of a different char- acter; they have been formed by groups of men who desired to promote certain interests which they had in common, and they have brought about a great change in the condition of the work- ing classes, not only on the material side, but intellectually and morally as well. One of the greatest difficulties with which the labouring classes had to contend during the Long War arose from the high prices which they were charged for goods, especially in cases where they were far from a town, and were compelled to deal at one particular shop. With the view of meeting this difficulty a village shop was established on co-operative principles in Mongewell in Oxford- shire in 1797, and its success was such as to secure the attention of philanthropists. Not much came of the matter, however, for nearly thirty years; till a similar experiment was made at Rochdale by 201 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the Pioneers; and since that time the co-operative movement has developed in other directions, so that there is an enormous network of stores in which the trading is carried on by means of cap- ital formed by those who deal at the shop, and on terms on which the consumers of goods get the full benefit of the profits in their own retail trade. Besides the saving thus effected, and the improvement in the quality of the goods supplied, there has been a gradual development of esprit de corps in the consciousness of combining with many others for a common object; while the car- rying on of the business of these societies is very educative, from the number and varied nature of the interests with which these societies are con- cerned. Robert Owen, who had managed a cotton mill at New Lanark, formulated a new view of society which seemed to open up immense possibilities; he recognised that the interests of capital and la- bour were the same in the long run, and he en- deavoured to carry on the cotton manufacture on the principle of inducing all who were concerned in his mill to devote themselves to this common interest. For some time the business prospered, but his subsequent experiments at Orbiston and New Harmony in Indiana, were never successful. He had, however, attracted an immense amount 202 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS of attention, and had succeeded in creating the impression that there was a great future before the principle of co-operation in the organisation of production. Since his time there have been many experiments in copartnership; notably one in coal mining at Messrs. Briggs' collieries in 1865; and though there has been much discouragement at the slowness of the progress, there is an increas- ing circle who have confidence in the movement. Very striking successes attended the efforts of Sir George Livesey to introduce this system into the South London Gas Works, and he seems to have overcome the difficulties in a business car- ried on under special conditions. As there are comparatively few fluctuations in the output, the circumstances of the business are special, and there are other trades in which it may be im- possible to make any change of the kind. But even if it cannot be regarded as a panacea, the principle of association may be so introduced as to ease the strain in the relations of capital and labour, and to secure a real gain where it proves successful. The Friendly Society Movement is another ap- plication of the same principle; many such associa- tions were formed in the eighteenth century, and they obtained important status from the Act for 203 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the Encouragement of Friendly Societies which was passed in 1793. They fell under a cloud at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when politi- cal conditions roused public suspicion in regard to the purpose of Working Class Associations, but they have outlived this suspicion. The Manches- ter Unity of Odd Fellows has had a prosperous career for more than a century, and the Foresters and Hearts of Oak are also great national insti- tutions. There have been hundreds of village clubs which have devoted themselves to the same work of encouraging men to combine to ensure against the pressure of occasional stress from ill- ness or unemployment. It is perhaps the greatest compliment which these societies could have earned that so much of their work has been taken over under the Insurance Act of 1912: though it may be feared that government routine will hamper individual initiative and prevent the growth of esprit de corps. Most remarkable of all has been the growth of trade societies in which men have combined to maintain a common standard of life. The mem- bers of trade unions have been brought into con- flict with employers at many different points, but their aim through it all has been the maintenance and improvement of their standard of life. They have done excellent work, that is hardly heard of 204 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS by the public, in bringing cases where the law has been neglected under the notice of inspectors, and in checking malingering and assisting in carrying out the Compensation Acts fairly. The organisa- tion of labour has proved on the whole a conven- ience in large businesses which have outgrown patriarchal methods of management, though friction has arisen and is likely to arise over the policy which the unions sometimes pursue. Where they have attempted to secure a benefit by re- strictive methods that raise the price of goods to consumers, their action has interfered with the development of their own industry and been in- jurious to their own class. But even when occa- sional errors of judgment are taken into account, the beneficial influence they have exercised has been very remarkable. They have called forth a strong esprit de corps, and have awakened among their leaders an earnest desire to take an active part in the government of the realm, and thus to maintain the important interests for which they are banded together. II. INADEQUACY OF CLASS INTERESTS The co-operative movement, which rests on the principle of association for the pursuit of common interests, has received a cordial welcome in many quarters, and has roused the most sanguine ex- 205 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS pectatlons. The advocates of laissez-faire and of freedom for the individual felt that this move- ment was, at any rate in its beginnings, entirely consistent with the doctrine to which they were so much attached. The individual was wise to combine with other men to advance their inter- ests, so long as they did not inflict injury upon others or the public; and the co-operative move- ment, which had the effect of cutting down mo- nopolists' gains and securing a better supply of the necessaries of life, was a form of self-help with which they could heartily sympathise. Co-operation also met with the approval of those who were enthusiasts for education. The very essence of the system lay in helping men to have a more intelligent understanding of their own interests; not to be content to live from hand to mouth, but to consider by what steps they and their fellows might improve their posi- tion in the long run. The leaders of the co-opera- tive movement from the first realised this so strongly, that they set aside a portion of their trading profits for educational purposes; they recognised that the greeds and passions of the moment were enemies with which they had to contend, and that the progress of their move- ment involved the cultivation of enlightened and rational self-interest. 206 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS Further, there were eminent men who recog- nised that the co-operative movement was conso- nant with the teaching of Christianity, that men learnt, in pursuing a common rather than a private interest, to think not only of their own things, but also of those of others. In the " forties " Mau- rice and Kingsley threw themselves heartily into advocating the movement, not only by writing Tracts for the People, but by the experiments which they started; and in the "eighties" Bishop Westcott cherished high expectations of the re- sults which might be obtained through the further progress of co-operation. At the same time it is to be feared that these hopes are somewhat exaggerated, and that the principle of association for promoting common interests will not suffice to solve the practical diffi- culties of the day. It does not foster a sense of duty to the community, but aims instead at secur- ing objects which men have in common, and at satisfying wishes of which they are conscious. All can realise the benefit of obtaining better goods at lower prices, or the advantage of se- curing themselves against unforeseen emergen- cies; they can easily understand the good which may accrue, if not to themselves to their chil- dren, from anything that is done for raising the 207 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS standard of living. But although it is true that all the citizens are interested in the prosperity of the nation as a whole, it is yet true that the advantages are so distant, either in place or time, that it is difficult for the individual to realise them at all, and that they do not appeal to him. He may be shocked to hear of inhumanities in dis- tant lands, but he does not see that they are his affair, or that he can help them; and he may be interested in forecasts in regard to posterity, but he does not find them convincing or take them to heart. He is in danger of ignoring the duties of the community except in so far as he and his neighbours are concerned. A political society built on the model of a voluntary association for the pursuit of common interests can hardly take into account the far-reaching influence on the world, or on its own future, which may be exer- cised by a great polity. The possibility of pursuing class interests in such a fashion as to be injurious to the nation ought to be taken into account, for it may fre- quently occur in actual life. Class interest, like individual interest, may fail to promote the common good. The question whether any body of men are pursuing their interests in a fashion which is injurious to the community as a whole, cannot be easily decided. In the early years of 208 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS the nineteenth century educated opinion was unanimous in the belief that associations for improving a standard of comfort for the labour- ers by securing an advance of wages were inju- rious to the community as a whole, and that the injury was sure to react severely on the position of those who relied on such mistaken means. Dr. Chalmers repeated the typical opinion of the religious and charitable men of his day, and legislators endeavoured, with imperfect success, to stamp out such combinations altogether. In England in 1906, public opinion had so entirely changed, and there was such a general consensus in the belief that trades unions were wholesome elements in the organisation of industry, and especially beneficial to their members, that they were put in a position of privilege by the Trade Disputes Act. But more recent experience has raised the question afresh as to whether their ob- jects, and the manner in which they pursue them, are in real accord with the good of the community as a whole. This case at least illustrates the pos- sibility that one section of the community may conceive of their own good, and may pursue it, in such a fashion as to be injurious to the commu- nity in the long run. There is another point on which the opponents of combination for trade purposes, in the begin- 209 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS ning of the nineteenth century, laid stress. There may be a conflict not only between a class and the community, but between the interest of the class, on the whole and in the long run, and that of the individuals who compose it. There is an impor- tance in providing conditions that are favourable to the development of the individual, and to his enjoying the fullest life possible. Individualism may be so pursued as to promote anarchy; but on the other hand the interests of a class or the com- munity may be treated as paramount, so that no adequate scope is left for individual self-develop- ment. Where personal interest conflicts with the interests of the class, and a man likes to sacrifice his individual interest voluntarily, his conduct is public-spirited and admirable; but if the sacrifice is demanded from him against his own judgment and enforced by external pressure, there is a dan- ger of the establishment of a new tyranny. When the principle of association involves a lifelong agreement it leaves no room for a change of mind under changed circumstances, and it needs to be corrected by some guarantee for personal liberty. The freedom of the trade unionist in regard to the political action of the association to which he belongs has been a burning question in recent years. 210 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS ' III. NATIONAL INTERESTS It is becoming increasingly difficult to cherish the hope that personal interests and class interests will be reconciled by associations, and it seems still more improbable that national interests will freely co-operate for the good of the world as a whole. Undoubtedly war is the greatest evil from which human society at present suffers: not only is there the horrible destruction of human life which it involves, but the waste of resources and the widespread poverty which follow in its train. Politicians fear that the rivalry in armaments must sooner or later result in the bankruptcy of one or more of the great nations of the world; and attempts have been made to show that each would gain in material prosperity by entering into an agreement to refrain from war in the future. The argument obtains more force when it is re- membered that a community consists of many individuals; it is plausible to say that for the country to go to war is not in the interests of private individuals, unless in the possible case of army officers or army contractors; and hence it is argued that if the aggregate voice of the mass of the people could make itself effectively heard, wars would never break out. But there is little evidence in support of this contention; the repub- 211 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS lican States-General were not less militant in the seventeenth century than the British monarchy. A democracy may be very ready to take offence on slight provocation, and a democracy is apt to resent being bound by old agreements in which the present generation have no voice. During the hundred years' peace between Great Britain and the United States it is difficult to see that the thorough-going democracy has been more careful than the monarchy to act as a good neighbour and to avoid occasions of irritation. Mr. Norman Angell and his followers have attempted to prove that it can never be in the interest of any nation to go to war, and that it would therefore be to the interest of each coun- try to refrain from putting forth its full strength in anticipation of war, and to trust instead to agreement between nations. Apart from the diffi- culty of framing an agreement that should con- tinue to be applicable, and binding in the chang- ing conditions of national life, there can be no confidence that an agreement, which rests on interests, will not be broken whenever it becomes the interest of any of the parties concerned to throw over the others. In the Middle Ages the Church endeavoured to play the part of an inter- national authority which could back up its deci- 212 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS sions by spiritual censures; but there seems little reason to hope that an international agreement would be permanent when there was no effective means of immediately enforcing it. So long as national ambition exists, and nations are pre- pared to push their own interests unscrupulously, it would be reckless for any country to allow its very existence to become dependent on the com- placency of its neighbours. While attempts to avoid the horrors of war by arbitration and agreement are to be eagerly wel- comed we make a mistake if we regard them as more than temporary expedients. They do not in themselves effect any permanent cure, because they do not get rid of the rivalries which bring about international quarrels. Warfare is only one of the forms in which national jealousies express themselves; national ambition and the greed of private persons within the nation have shown themselves again and again in deliberate attempts to exploit other countries and to enforce them to remain economic dependents and thus to be in danger of political subordination. Jealousy of Eng- lish commercial greatness was one of the causes of the Napoleonic Wars; "commerce, though it " was truly one of the greatest earthly blessings which God bestows, and is even the chief instru- ment which He employs to bind the nations of 213 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS "the earth together, has nevertheless, it must be "owned, a tendency in itself to produce this insa- "tiable appetite of accumulation, and we cannot "be ignorant that other nations reproach us per- "petually with what they call the unfair and un- " reasonable extension of our commerce. Nor do "they scruple to tell us that the lust of commerce "is as great an enemy to the peace of the world as "the lust of empire." ^ A generation later, when Great Britain had been enormously successful in developing her manufactures, there were English- men who hoped that her industrial supremacy would enable her to dominate the markets of the world and to keep less progressive countries in a condition of economic dependence.^ A free trade policy was successfully advocated as a means of attaining this power of dominating the world economically. Had the countries of the world been willing to sacrifice themselves an era of uni- versal peace might have ensued, but those who anticipated its immediate advent did not foresee that great communities would be unwilling to sacrifice their own material development. The sci- entific advance of Germany and her skill in or- ganisation has enabled her to become the suc- cessful rival of Great Britain industrially and to 1 W. Carey, Bishop of Exeter, Sermon (preached before the House of Commons, 1809), p. 13. 2 Cunningham, Case against Free Trade (2d edition), p. 141. 214 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS make a bid for economic dominance on which world-power may be successfully based. With changing degrees of development, as well as through the exhaustion of natural resources, the enonomic relations of different countries are con- stantly changing, their interests do not remain the same; but the experience of the past gives little ground for the assumption of doctrinaires that con- sciousness of economic dependence is a condition which necessarily favours international friendship. Neither welfare within the nation nor universal peace throughout the world can be securely based on the play of class interests and national inter- ests; concentration on material prosperity will never cure the evil that arises from overvaluing the material side of life. No readjustment of political maxims within the nation, and no crea- tion of new machinery throughout the civilised world, will itself do away with jealousy and greed. The consideration of interests can never be a sub- stitute for a sense of national duty and of per- sonal duty; these deal directly with the cause of the evil and may thus effect a permanent cure. Both in the world at large, and in different coun- tries where the sense of the duty of the commun- ity and of duties to the community is imperfectly understood, there is a danger that powerful inter- 215 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS ests will encroach on individual liberty, and there is little hope of progress in society. We cannot rely on the material prosperity of the community as a whole, still less on that of any section of the community as a proof that life is healthy. It is indeed difficult to find a test by which to judge of the good and bad in the national life of progres- sive communities. No formula, either economic or moral, lies ready to hand and enables us to give a definite judgment; there may be great differ- ences of opinion in the interpretation of righteous- ness and justice at any given moment, and even if the principle be clear, the difficulty of forecasting results or interpreting motives makes it difficult of application. The most trustworthy guide as to the good or evil of the life of a community is afforded by the personal life and character of the citizens who compose it. If they have a strong sense of duty and a patriotic enthusiasm there is not likely to be much amiss with the community. On the other hand, the political character and good citizenship of the individuals is most obvi- ously displayed when it is seen on a large scale in the conduct and character of the community which they constitute at the time. A body of self-interested individuals cannot help forming a sordid polity; they are brought to- gether by a consciousness of their own interests, 216 CLASS AND NATIONAL INTERESTS and the main motive of each is apt to be, to see that he gets his share out of the common benefit. This is the attitude of mind which leads to cor- ruption on the part of officials and which induces powerful sections of the community to feel justi- fied in condoning unfairness on the part of ad- ministrators or legislators. Those who are advo- cating real improvements may be tainted by this spirit. They may recognise that the public im- provements cannot take place except at individ- ual loss; they are ready to insist with Mr. Birrell, that minorities must suffer, but they will be at pains to see that someone else does the suffering, and that they are not called upon to sacrifice themselves. A polity composed of individuals, associated for their own interests, cannot hope to have much influence for good on the world; it will be content to be self-centred and to live its own life in splen- did isolation; it will have no sense of duty to its neighbours except that of setting them an exam- ple, and no care for humanity at large. Such a polity is not unlikely to measure itself or others by a sordid standard, and to be guilty of dishon- ourable conduct. Where considerations of inter- est are strongly felt and opportunities are favour- able, the promises embodied in solemn treaties are likely to be worthless, as we have seen in the 217 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS annexation of Bosnia by Austria, and in the Ger- man invasion of Belgium. For the welfare of the world it is not only important that a nation should be as good as its word, but that friend- ship between nations should be a reality, and that a national obligation to sacrifice something for a friend should be admitted. The main obstacle to the peace of the world at the present day is due to the manner in which national interests are al- lowed to obscure the sense of national honour. A political system which rests on a mere consider- ation of interests fails to offer scope for individual development or to hold out hope of nobler national life. VIII CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY I. MODERN PERPLEXITIES Our survey has shown that there is little hope that religion can be effectively brought to bear on political life by external authority. The attempt to do so was one great occasion of the revolt against the Church of Rome, and the pretence to mould political life on a scriptural model was never acceptable to Englishmen when it was attempted by Presbyterians. From the time of Locke onwards there has been an increasing tend- ency to regard secular welfare and civil right as the matters with which the State has to deal; and to disclaim any public duty, not indeed of acknowledging religion, but of maintaining and fostering it. A man's belief is generally regarded as his private concern with which no public body should interfere. The Anglo-Saxon peoples are inclined to boast of the religious toleration which exists among them; and this may be interpreted as meaning that the government, as a govern- ment, is for the most part, indifferent to religion. The provision of chaplains for the Army and 219 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS Navy and of chaplains in workhouses is quite exceptional, and hardly affects the truth of the general statement. The public, on the whole, think that the introduction of religious ques- tions into political life is a disturbing element which is at once irrelevant and confusing, and that civil legislation and administration go on more smoothly when this cause of possible fric- tion is eliminated altogether. Still, the effort to carry on the government of nations and the organisation of society on lines in which religion is ignored, while successful up to a certain point, has not been altogether satis- factory. K we fall back, like the seventeenth- century Quakers, on piu'ely mundane considera- tions for civic affairs, we are compelled to look for guidance either to human sentiments or to human interests; but neither can be trusted abso- lutely and completely. Humanitarianism has done much; but the field where coercion is appli- cable is limited, and it does not give much hope of progress for the future. "While the appeal to interests is always powerful, there is no security that there will be any stability in the institutions which rest upon it. In a modern democratic community there are facilities for securing the welfare of the community such as never existed 220 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY before. With popular representation there is a possibility for obtaining a full knowledge of pub- lie requirements, and throughout Great Britain there is widespread political interest. This is largely due to the manner in which departmental administration is ramified, till government inter- ference touches such masses of people in the conduct of their affairs and the conditions of their life. Yet there is a wide-spread feeling of imrest, and complaint is being constantly made of the whole social fabric. There are many social- ists who insist that the edifice must be re-built from the foundation, and anarchists who desire that the foundations should be re-laid, in order that we may see more clearly where to begin to build. But the new foundation is not far to seek; though there may be an intellectual difficulty in showing how the various elements may be com- bined, there is no practical difficulty in proceed- ing with the work. The one great need is the cultivation of a personal sense of duty, so that each citizen shall live his own life in the fashion in which it may contribute most to the service of his country, and through his country to the good of the world. The democratic citizen has a voice in directing the life of the country, and he also leads a life of his own. In so far as his sense of duty comes to bear in either field of action, he 221 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS is able to bring the force of sentiment and the force of interest into co-operation. The free man is not necessarily carried away by either one or the other; but he is able, as opportunity is afford- ed him, to bring both into play. Christianity had much to do with the awaken- ing of public spirit in the eighteenth century, and it has a unique power for maintaining and fos- tering the sense of pubHc duty to-day. Where authority ends influence begins; and Christianity will work along the lines of least resistance if it appeals, not to society as a whole or to men in masses, but to individuals personally. The ex- perience of centuries in the past, and of earnest Christians in the present day, furnishes over- whelming testimony to show that an influence may be brought to bear on personal habits of thought, which will affect all a man's activities both in his private relations and in his public duties. This influence is spiritual, both because of the insensible manner in which it operates, and of the various directions in which its effects may be shown. There is no element of compul- sion about it, as it is not enforced either by civil authority or ecclesiastical censures; it appeals di- rectly to the personal will of the individual man or woman, and by means of an attractive force; the influence from each of these personal centres 222 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY may ramify in so many directions as to permeate and gradually to transform the whole of society politically and economically. This is the method of working which seems to be in closest accord with our Lord's instructions in regard to the Kingdom of God. He speaks of it as planted within; and illustrates its effect on society by the salt which can prevent corruption and the leaven which may work through the whole lump. There was with Him no suggestion of enforcing a code on a newly constituted society, but of planting a spiritual power which might trans- form the kingdoms of the world. The Christian man, who desires to do his politi- cal and social duties, may well be oppressed with a sense of the stupendous task that lies before him, and confused as to the manner in which he can best set to work. The world is so evil, the mechanism of modern society is so complex and remorseless, that there is a temptation to shirk the responsibilities altogether, and to plead that if he tries, he may do more harm than good. But this faithless habit of mind is inexcusable, and our Lord warns us against it again and again. The servant who, out of a false humility, or because he was remiss, hid his talent in the napkin was severely punished : we are bound as Christians to make the most of our opportunities whatever they 223 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS may be. The warning is constantly reiterated, but it is put most strikingly in the parable of the sheep and the goats, where readiness to use oppor- tunities of service is so wonderfully commended, and the wickedness of those who neglect them is condemned. There are two fundamental principles which cover Christian duty in all the relations of life. The sense of his responsibility to God for the use of his time, and of his responsibility as a trustee for the use of the possessions he holds, should control the Christian in his manner of using them; while the recognition of these re- sponsibilities to God helps to throw hght on the duties he owes to his fellowmen. From the re- sponsibilities in regard to time there follow the duties of work, and of diligence while at work. This is a duty which is incumbent on all Chris- tians whatever their circumstances may be. Some are compelled by the stress of need and desire of independence to work at a calling which brings them a reward; while those who enjoy an independence are free to choose the work which they think they can do best; but on all there is the same duty of diligence; "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." The sense of this responsibility will foster habits of 224 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY self-discipline. A warning is needed against frittering time away in pastimes which are not really recreative, and which do not confer pleas- ure on others, so that they have no beneficial result on any human being. The other principle, of responsibility for pos- sessions and the sense of trusteeship in using them, is to be borne in mind as a help to avoid recklessness and waste, as well as greed and op- pression. No man has a right to gamble, and run the risk of losing the wealth which has been lent him for a time; and no man has a right to use the power which wealth gives so as to oppress his fellowmen. These are the principles of self- discipline which a Christian is bound to keep before him; they are far more fruitful than the prudential maxims in the Proverbs. The Chris- tian character is modelled on the belief that man is called upon, not merely to obey a Divine Code imposed at Sinai, but to co-operate, in each new age, for the regeneration of mankind. A few words may serve to point out some of the ways in which this sense of responsibility can operate, and to show how spiritual influence, working in the individual heart, may be brought to bear on national life in its political and economic aspects. 225 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS II. DUTIES AS A CITIZEN There is a very strong temptation to many men at the present day to refrain from taking any part in poKtical activity. The reasons that are alleged by those who desire to excuse themselves are plausible: they see the futility of much political discussion, and are tired of the mutual recrimi- nations of political parties. They see no great difference of principle between one party and the other, and they are ready to suspect that the members of each are simply playing for their own ends, and not specially concerned for the good of the country. Personally, I believe that these charges are grossly exaggerated, and that, on the whole, the party leaders have thrown themselves into political life, often at considerable personal sacrifice, because they were anxious to help in carrying out measures which they believe would tend to the good of the country materially and morally. That there may be decided differences of opinion as to the method which it is most wise to adopt, having regard not only to the present but to the probabilities of the future, is true enough. That there may be differences, too, as to the relative importance of one particular step or another is also true. That a man's opinions on these points are likely to be affected by his special 226 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY circumstances and his forecast of his personal interest and of that of men who are situated as he is, is undoubted; but this is no sufficient ground for cynically asserting that the opinion is dishonest, though it is a reason for criticising any policy carefully. With all its defects, party government is the method by which government is likely to be car- ried on in democratic communities. Its defects are to a large extent the price which must be paid for the liberty which democratic citizens enjoy. "When power is widely diffused, there must be uncertainty about the formation of decided pub- lic opinion, and difficulty in shaping measures by which that public opinion is brought into effect. Party government is the best instrument which has yet been devised for carrying on the affairs of State among a free people; and it is by finding out the party with which he most strongly sympa- thises, and with which he can work most cordially, that any citizen may bring his individual opinion to bear most effectively on the course of national affairs. The man who tries to be independent of party condemns himself to mere futility; or, at the best, he becomes an opportunist who tries to see what help he can get, from each party in turn, in advancing the cause in which he is interested. This is not a dignified attitude to take; and it 227 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS only attracts the men whose judgment is so one-sided that they are devoted to one particu- lar element exclusively, and are indifferent to the good government of the country in all other respects. All the action taken by the State is necessarily political; it is concerned with the defence of the realm from without, the administration of jus- tice, and the maintenance of good order within. The manner in which the duties of the State are discharged is of the highest importance, not only for the present generation but for posterity; the mistakes of one generation are visited on their children and children's children. The man who is so careless that he excuses himself from doing his best to understand political questions, and to give an intelligent opinion upon them, is un- worthy of the privileges of citizenship, and can- not escape his share of blame for any mischief that he might have helped to prevent, if he had been unselfish enough to take trouble in the matter. The political influence of a nation offers the means by which an individual may most effec- tively do something for the benefit of humanity at large. Some members of the Society of Friends had felt the horror of slavery from the time of 228 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY George Fox, who protested against it; ^ but the in- stitution, and the commerce which arose in con- nection with it, continued to grow; and even the protest of Woohnan and Lay had little effect out- side the circle of the Society of Friends. It was only when Clarkson and Wilberforce made it a political question, by bringing it before the British Parliament, that any real hope was awakened of removing this evil from civilised society. When it once became a political question the progress was rapid in regulating and abolishing the trade, and subsequently in freeing the slaves; and when a lead was given by one country, others were en- couraged to follow on the same line. Since we see the enormous power which the State possesses for putting down evil, and the misery which may en- sue from ill-judged action on the part of the State, it is a matter of the deepest regret that so many men should disparage political activity, and should put forward such flimsy excuses for neglecting to do their best in discharging the responsibilities of citizenship. The duties of political communities he in the mundane sphere, and the action of a Christian citizen does not necessarily differ from that of a * Whittier's Appreciation, prefixed to the Journal of John Wool- man, p. 8. 229 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS man of any other religion, or of none. The doing of justice is a thing in which all good men of any religion will readily join; the forecasting of what is wise in the interests of the community, is an intellectual effort, and differences of opinion as to what is expedient need have no direct connec- tion with differences of religious belief. Chris- tianity can, however, supply a motive force which will lead a man to see that he is not justified in attempting to live for himself alone, but is bound to do his best for other men as well, and to make use of his privileges on their behalf. Christianity may do little to help us to forecast the precise nature of what is best for the community at any place or time; but it does afford an incentive for trying to see our duty and for persisting in doing it. It is the privilege of a citizen to take part in doing the duties of the community, in advancing the welfare within, and exercising a wholesome influence on the world without. Administrators and government officials of every sort may be conscientious, or they may be careless in discharg- ing the public functions with which they are en- trusted; and Christianity enjoins the conscientious doing of every duty. "Whatever thy hand finds "to do, do it with thy might." Public-spirited citizens will seek to do their part in support- ing the action of civil authority, and in helping to 230 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY bring good laws into effective operation. They may also feel called upon to supplement the activ- ities of the State by voluntary action and to try to engage in duties, such as that of fostering reli- gion, which they believe to be incumbent on the community, but which the community does not attempt to discharge or discharges inadequately. The chief duty of the citizen to the community is that of civil obedience, and it seems unnecessary to add to what has been said on this point above; but the citizen also owes duties to the State in respect of his time and of his possessions. A question has been much discussed in recent years as to the personal duty of the citizen to fit himself for the defence of his country. This duty has been recognised in most continental countries, where the danger of military invasion is very great; and the public generally acquiesce in the sacrifice of time, and the acceptance of onerous and costly service which private citizens may be suddenly called upon to perform ; the personal duty is enforced by conscription. There is a readi- ness on the part of many British citizens in the colonies to fall in with this conception of the per- sonal duty of citizenship. The fact that this duty has not been generally recognised in England has led, within the last few months, to a regrettable failure to fulfil a national obligation. English 231 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS I honour was involved in the maintenance of the integrity of Belgium; but when a blow was sud- denly struck at the independence of that little nation, it was impossible for England to take as prompt measures as she would have desired to strengthen Belgium against invasion. The provi- sion which had to be made for defending the shores of England from a German raid rendered it impossible to act as promptly, and on as large a scale as would have been desirable, in the sending out of an expeditionary force. It is impossible for an Englishman not to feel that, if the duty of the citizen to fit himself for the defence of his country had been more generally recognised, England might have been able to do more to save Belgium from the misery of being overrun by an enemy. Duty to the community should also be borne in mind by men of means in deciding as to the invest- ment of their property. In the seventeenth cen- tury, as we have seen, this question hardly arose. The capitalist was almost certain to invest his money in some fashion which would lead to pro- moting public interests by the development of home resources, and the promotion of inter- course with other countries. At the same time it was strongly felt, even then, that some employ- 232 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY ments of capital were more beneficial to the com- munity than others, and that it was desirable to give encouragement at national expense to those who used their wealth in such a way as indirectly to promote a great public interest, like the main- tenance of a maritime marine. Since the time of Adam Smith the State has ceased to try to direct the employment of capital; but with the enormous increase of wealth in the nineteenth century, there is need to take the question into consideration, and not to assume that we are justified in neglecting it altogether. The public- spirited man will not content himself with seeing that he gets the largest possible return for his money, but will consider also the effect upon the good of the community. It is generally recognised that in time of war the floating of a loan on behalf of either belliger- ent would be inconsistent with the spirit of neu- trality, and that lending money is one method of increasing the resources of a State. The good citizen is surely called upon to consider whether he is justified in lending money to a foreign gov- ernment, especially if there is reasonable prob- ability that that foreign government is likely to become a hostile government. This principle applies less directly to the use of capital for de- veloping the resources, increasing the communi- 233 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS cations, or otherwise promoting the material wealth of a country that is a possible enemy. The Englishman might surely be expected to show a preference in his investments for devel- oping the resources of the British colonies, rather than for benefiting those regions with which he has no political affinities. There is also much room for consideration as to the manner in which capital is employed within a country. Those who can offer direct employment to labour are helping to relieve the wants of the poor in the most wholesome fashion. The employment of capital in agriculture or in any industry is sure to be a public benefit; while capital engaged in trading, though indirectly involved in the de- velopment of national activities, does not affect the market for labour so directly, or confer an immediate and regular benefit upon those who live by wages. The investment of capital in demoralising places of amusement, or in afford- ing facilities for dissipation, may be exceedingly remunerative; but it is a form of sordid gain which the good citizen who desires to keep public interests in view, will be likely to avoid. III. DUTIES OF PRIVATE LIFE The Christian man is called upon to use the co- ercive power of the State to put down the evils of 234 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY society, and thus to keep the national life up to as high a level as possible; but he has also duties to do of his own. He is called upon to aim at being better than his surroundings so that he may help to transform them; but he finds him- self in a highly organised society where he has comparatively little freedom for personal ac- tion, and therefore but little personal responsi- bility. He is a part of a great machine, and if he neglects the running of that machine, he is likely to be crushed himself, and to bring injury to those with whom he is related by the ties of business. This holds good of all questions in regard to the relations of capital and labour, where the remu- neration of labour depends ultimately on the sale of the product. Impersonal organisation of busi- ness may be beneficial both to capital and to labour; but competition is so keen that there is little room for the capitalist acting personally, and on his own responsibility, to make changes in the terms of employment; there is therefore no Christian obligation to do what the employer has no opportunity of doing, though he may be of good service in suggesting remedial legisla- tion. At the same time there are various forms of employment which are not concerned with sup- 235 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS plying a market with finished goods, and where competition does not tie the hands of the em- ployer. Domestic service is an obvious case in point, where the rate of remuneration and the conditions of life are entirely under the control of the employer personally, and where there is no excuse for ignoring the Christian duty of caring for the comfort and welfare of dependents. The days have gone by when the householder was jus- tified in believing that the inculcation of the pru- dential virtues of diligence and thrift was his sole duty to those under his charge. The claim for opportunities to live a fuller life must be met; there is a different standard from that which was formerly in vogue, with regard to the conditions which are necessary for health. The Christian employer of such labour is responsible for ruling his house so that the dependents shall have the opportunity of living a wholesome human and Christian life. Even in regard to employment where work is done with reference to a market, such considera- tions may be taken into account in regard to the manner in which the business is conducted. It is right to remember that the mechanism of so- ciety is not a mere mechanism, and it is a Chris- tian duty to take any occasion that may arise for making a Christian influence felt. Among 236 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY the merchants of the seventeenth century there were men who reahsed that their contact with foreign countries, for purposes of business, gave occasions which might be utihsed for Christian objects; and the man who is anxious to do so will find that the contact which arises in the way of business does give opportunities for exercis- ing a humanising and Christianising influence on his dependents. It seems a little thing, but it is important for the master to bear in mind that those he employs are human beings, and to endeavour to preserve the courtesies of life, and not to hurt their feelings by the manner in which he issues orders to his dependents or reproves blunders. So much of the work of modern society is car- ried on by associations, that there is great need to consider the personal responsibilities of an indi- vidual with regard to the conduct of an associa- tion in which he has a part; and a good deal is said from time to time about the blame which attaches to shareholders in industrial or commer- cial companies. There is indeed a danger that the management of such companies may be carried on more mechanically, and with stricter attention to economic considerations, than would be the case where the personal influence of the head of 237 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the firm can lubricate the running of the whole machine. This consideration raises a question which was involved in the mediaeval objection to usury. Has anyone a right to bargain himself out of re- sponsibilities for the manner in which his business is conducted? The usurer, in the mediaeval sense of the term, bargained himself out of the risks of business, and this was regarded as unfair to those who were actually carrying on the undertaking from which the man who had loaned his capital expected to gain. The debenture-holders and bond-holders, in public companies, have bargained themselves out of any share in the control of the business, and therefore out of any responsibility for what is done in conducting it. Should a scan- dal arise, such as has shocked the world in con- nection with the collection of rubber, would the debenture-holders be justified in regarding them- selves as free from all blame .^ With regard to large associations, such as railway companies working in this country, it is clear that there are opportunities of criticism which are likely to bring any legitimate cause of complaint to light; and that real evils on a large scale can be more effectively dealt with by the coercive power of the State, than in any other fashion. The shareholder has also the opportunity, by subscription to benev- 238 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY olent societies and other charities, to make some provision for the good of his dependents outside, and not to confine himself to the strictly business relations which exist between himself, as an em- ployer, and his unknown dependents. Even the conscience of the most scrupulous railway share- holder may be satisfied by taking advantage of these opportunities, and he may feel that he is at once conferring a benefit on the public by the use made of his capital, and endeavouring to secure that the welfare of the employees as human beings shall not be forgotten. When we recognise the various channels through which personality may make itself felt, and what far-reaching effects it may have in per- meating society, we need not be oppressed by the pessimism which is so generally expressed. There is indeed reason to despair of the coercive force of the State; we see that its scope is limited, and that, however much may be accomplished by asso- ciation for the pursuit of a common interest, this principle does not touch the root of the evil. But when these great social forces are regarded as in- struments to be used by men with a strong sense of duty, we may feel that they are most potent weapons for putting down evil, and for fostering certain forms of good. If coercive powers and voluntary associations are supplemented by the 239 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS endeavour to bring Christian belief to bear habit- ually on personal conduct, the means are avail- able by which the regeneration of society may be accomplished. IV. CHRISTIAN ORGANISATION The question remains as to the best means of invigorating this sense of personal duty. There is no need to enter on invidious comparisons or to make exclusive claims for Christianity. Patri- otism and other ideals have been very effective in taking men out of themselves, and saving them from being swayed by mere self-interest; it will suflSce to say that since the time of our Lord this religion has shown a very great power of stimulat- ing the sense of personal duty. It is by consciously endeavouring to foster this sense of personal obli- gation that the Church can best co-operate with the State. This is the specific contribution which the Church can make to the welfare of the community. Compared with the State, the Church has little coercive power, and in bygone days the attempts to exercise coercive power were not so successful as to encourage us to at- tempt them again. But Christianity can exer- cise an attractive influence, it can set forth ideals of personal conduct and provide incentives for striving to realise them. The influence is spiritual; 240 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY it is not concerned so much with eradicating what is bad as with fostering and encouraging what is good. Its attractive power may draw forth the best that is in a man, and thus enhst his wilHng co-operation in the cause of good. This spiritual power can give insight to discern where duty lies and can inspire to perseverance in doing it. Though the aim we set before us is distinctly practical, we need not yield to the temptation to disparage the intellectual side of Christianity; for intellectual elements are involved, if practical efforts are to be effectively maintained. The con- demnation of intellectual error is most clearly shown in the practical results which follow from it. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." Seventeenth-century Calvinism, by its insistence on the overwhelming majesty of Divine Omni- science and Omnipotence, had a depressing effect on human activity. It had an affinity with fatal- ism which, while it may call forth unstinted de- votion on the part of the man who believes him- self to be a chosen instrument of God, condemns others to feel the uselessness of human effort, and leaves little scope for the cultivation of personal virtues. Again, the Deism, which was so widely diffused in the eighteenth century, by accustom- ing men to think of an impersonal God who had 241 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS created a mechanical order in the Universe, de- prived religion of the confidence in a Divine Father and the sense of a personal duty to Him which had been revealed to the world by Chris- tianity. Since theological errors may be so fatal to the influence of Christianity as a practical force in the world, intellectual efforts to detect such error and to guard against it are not useless and are not thrown away, even though this intel- lectual influence on the doing of Christian duty is very indirect. The work of the Church in inspiring and foster- ing the sense of personal duty can be most effect- ively done by setting forth the encouragement which may be derived from the lives and exam- ples of other men; what they have done shows what is possible to us. As Robert Browning says: "The secret of goodness and greatness is in "choosing whom you will approach and live with, "in memory or imagination, through the crowding, "obvious people who seem to live with you."^ We cannot afford to neglect any study that enables us to feel the inspiration that is given by human lives. The life of our Lord stands unique and alone, * Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett (9 July, 1846), II, 318. 24.2 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY with intense patriotic enthusiasm, and a willing- ness to sacrifice Himself utterly. The rites which He ordained are the means by which men and women throughout all ages and in all lands may be brought into closest conscious union with His life; and in all the struggles of the saints in every age, there is a manifestation of the Christian spirit in circumstances in which our Lord was never placed, and under conditions which may be more familiar to us than those of His life in Pales- tine. In the lives of those who have departed in Christ's faith and fear, there is an example which may help us to interpret our own Christian duty, and may encourage us to do it. The work of the Christian Church *may be most effective when it is catholic, and ready to draw examples of Christian heroism from the men, in any age or at any time, who profess and call themselves Christian. Scholarship can enlarge the range from which inspiration is drawn by leading us to the Old Testament as well. The more we can study that collection of books so as to get at the personality of the holy men of old who helped to compile it, or whose doings it describes, the more we shall feel the reality of the personal power of religious influence. The careful study of philology, and the purely scientific investigation of literary forms, 243 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS and of place and time of writing, are necessary preliminaries to obtaining a vivid conception of the personal faith and struggles of men and women in pre-Christian times. But the more we can apprehend their conditions and the victories of their faith, the more keenly may we feel it our duty to live up to the fuller light we have received. Christianity, in all its aspects, cannot have its full effect upon society unless attempts are made to bring it to bear, not only on those who are con- sciously attracted by it, but on all and sundry, the indifferent as well as the hostile. No better method of attempting this has been suggested than the organisation of the Christian Church, on a local basis. In seeking to increase the effectiveness of Christian influence in Scotland, Dr. Chalmers^ contended strongly that territorial organisation was the system by which the greatest economy of effort might be secured, while yet that effort was so directed as to bring the whole popu- lation within its range, and to leave none who were beyond the sphere of its influence. Thus or- ganised the work of the Christian Church may be adapted to each, while it reaches all. The princi- ple of territorial organisation, which has a long history in Virginia, and has been maintained by * Chalmers, Civic Economy of Large Towns, i, chapters 2, 3, 4. 244 CHRISTIAN DUTY IN A DEMOCRACY Episcopalians in the United States, has recently found more general acceptance. "Responsibility- Districts " have been adopted by many denomina- tions, in New York and other cities, as an essen- tial step to grappling with the problems they present.^ In this way the sense of neighbourli- ness, which is natural to human beings living in society, may be employed for the ministration of Christian charity and for union in common worship. There are many complaints of widespread in- difference to Christianity in the present day, and men are likely to be indifferent to a political Christianity, which has no message of its own to offer, but is content with backing up the crude efforts of the State. They are likely to be indiffer- ent to a Christianity which pursues and is wholly absorbed in intellectual speculations and literary pedantries, as if they were an end in themselves. But the world is ready to respond to a Christianity which sets forth a faith in the living power of God and holds out fresh hope for mankind; and which, by fostering the sense of personal duty, can exercise an immediate and a far-reaching influ- ence in the regeneration of society. We have no need to despair in presence of the perplexities of 1 Federation, published by the New York Federation of Churches, VII, no. IV, 2583. 245 CHRISTIANITY AND POLITICS the day; there is a call to every Christian man to use the extraordinary power in the hands of the State for repressing the evils among the masses, and also to seek to make his own personal life a better expression of the mind of Christ. THE END APPENDIX APPENDIX THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH TOWARDS WAR The apostles as witnesses to the Divine Power of their Lord were charged with the message to convince mankind of His power to forgive sins, and to implant in them the assurance of a resurrection from the dead. They were convinced that this faith would leaven human society, as it had already regenerated their own lives, but they had no definite rules to lay down for the conduct of human society: they had a spiritual truth to reveal, and this was the secret of their success. They were not primarily reformers of secular society, and so they had no definite rules to lay down for civil society in every age. They expected that the present evil world would be swept away and a heavenly realm of perfect peace and happiness be established, but they did not single out war as one special feature of the present evil world to be dealt with by itself. And so, though the spirit of Christian doctrine is wholly op- posed to War, as generally caused and habitually con- ducted, there was not in primitive times any definite protest against this particular symptom in society of the evil disease in human hearts. The attitude which was taken at first has been on the whole maintained, both in the early Church and in recent times; but the Christian opposition to war has been expressed in different ways in different ages, according to the conditions of society and the circumstances of the day. There are three main periods to be distinguished. (1) The first four centuries and the acceptance of War U9 APPENDIX as inevitable in an evil world. (2) The consecration of War as an instrument to be used by the Christian Polity, from the fifth to the close of the seventeenth century. (3) The recognition that War is an evil, and that those who are responsible for appealing to force in international differences are guilty of a crime, is characteristic of modern times and has been inciden- tally discussed in the foregoing pages. The Christian antagonism to War cannot be formulated as an eternal truth for all time. The duty of a Christian towards War and his responsibility for War were necessarily different in the case of a slave in a heathen empire, and in the citizen of a democratic nation, who has a voice in the government of the country; but the constant effort to bring the spirit of Christ's teaching to bear on actual life, in each age in turn, has resulted in the growth of a body of experience, and has given rise to a certain consensus of Christian opinion. I. THE ACCEPTANCE OF WAR AS INEVITABLE IN AN EVIL WORLD The first Christians were conscious that they were members of a spiritual kingdom and owed allegiance to Christ as their king; but this did not absolve them from obedience to earthly monarchs, unless they were commanded to do something that was inconsistent with their allegiance to Christ; they were to be good citizens and so to commend their religion to those around them. This was all the more difficult as their neighbours and the heathen magistrates soon viewed them with suspicion; they could not understand what the men of the Third Race were aiming at.^ Justin Martyr 2 and other apologists insisted that the kingdom at which Christ aimed was not of this world; though * Harnack, Expansion of Christianity, i, 300/. 2 Justin Martyr, ApoL, i, 11, 14. (Migne, vi, 341, 348.) 250 APPENDIX their religion emanated from Judaism they were quite distinct from the Jews, and there was no danger of their taking up arms in defence of their religion as the Jews had done over and over again. ^ They claimed to be a peaceable and unarmed folk. They found, how- ever, great difficulty in keeping themselves true to their profession in a pagan atmosphere. There was much in heathen society that was likely to contami- nate them, and it was not easy to be in the world and not of it; there were dangers of showing a greedy and grasping spirit in the conduct of their affairs, and they were put on their guard against the scandal caused by litigation or extortion. They could not countenance the shedding of blood for mere amusement, and kept away from gladiatorial shows; ^ but so far as we can rely on the argument from silence. Christians do not appear to have been repelled by bloodshed in war. Pliny ^ does not complain of them, and there seem to be no special warnings in regard to un-Christian conduct in connection with military service. Nor is this silence due, as is sometimes alleged, to a Christian habit of refraining altogether from serving in the army. Tertullian, in repelling the charge that Christians were infructuosi in negotiis, insists as a well-known fact that Christians take part in all the duties of life. " We make "use of the forum and the market, and the baths and " the shops and other social institutions of our age. We "both sail and fight by your side." * And his evidence at a later time is even more definite. "Tell me a war for which we have not been useful and ready, even when inferior in numbers, ready to be cut down as none would be whose tenets were not that it is more « 1 Origen, Contra Cels., vii, 26. (Migne, xi, 1457.) 2 Athenagoras, Leg. 'pro Christ., 35. (Migne, vi, 969.) » J. F.Bethune Baker, CAmect, or to re- strain those who were eager to pursue their personal interests by any means in their power. The revolt against the authority of the Pope almost necessarily resulted in an outbreak of embittered struggles: to the Catholic powers it appeared a religious duty to stamp out the rebellion against the Spiritual Head of Christen- dom; to the people of Great Britain, the Lutherans and the Huguenots, it appeared a religious duty to main- tain a struggle against a secularised Christianity which was endeavom'ing to suppress the free growth of na- tional life. In Christendom, as severed by the Re- formation, War was more directly associated with Religion than it had ever been on European soil be- fore. At the disruption of Christendom, there seemed to all parties to be a clear call to employ War for spir- itual purposes. The Reformers of the sixteenth cen- tury were still true to St. Augustine's hope of estab- lishing an earthly polity in which Christian ideals should be the supreme guide in all the relations of life. Luther and Cranmer relied on Christian Princes to use their power to maintain traditional Christian institu- tions, and thus to create a national Christianity which should be free from the abuses that had destroyed its spiritual influence. Calvin and his followers endeav- oured to substitute a new and scriptural Christian polity, but also thought that it was not merely allow- able, but a duty for the Christian man to fight in 258 APPENDIX defence of the true Church. The Wars of Rehgion in France and the Thirty Years' War in Germany were the consequence of this conviction as to reUgious duty; and it was strengthened by the consciousness that a war of aggression had been divinely sanctioned in the Old Testament. The extermination of the Pequod Nation seemed to the men of Connecticut to be God's means of giving his beloved rest; the religious zeal of the Covenanters in Scotland expressed itself in re- bellion against an uncovenanted king. The perpetration of the worst horrors of war in the name of Christianity caused such a shock to devout feeling that there was a strong reaction, and the opin- ion began to be expressed that the use of force was under all circumstances inconsistent with Christianity. This was the attitude of the Anabaptists; to a con- siderable extent the doctrine was new, though it had much in common with the teaching of the Montanists. The Montanists had pressed scriptural teaching as a reason for abstaining rigidly from the incidental evil of heathen society, but the Anabaptists appear to have interpreted the New Testament as condemning the whole framework of Civil Society. There are several of the Thirty-Nine Articles which are directed against them.^ "The laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous and grievous offences. It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the magistrate to wear weapons and to serve in the wars." Again, "The Riches and Goods of Chris- tians, are not common as touching the right, title and possession of the same, as certain Anabaptists do vainly boast;" and so also in regard to a Christian man's oath. It is to be noticed that the Anabaptists did not so much object to war because it involved the slaying of a fellow creature, as on more general * Gibson, Articles, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix. 259 APPENDIX grounds; they denied any distinction between official and private life, and held that what was unlawful for the private Christian was also to be condemned when done by a magistrate; at least this is the impression that is derived from the language of those who con- demned them. They certainly appear to have com- mitted themselves to a false spirituality in the limita- tions they laid on the power of the magistrate for the punishment of evil-doers. From this point of view it followed that War was in itself wrong; that since a private p>erson might not kill in a private quarrel, a collection of private indi- viduals were not justified in using force either. The principle that War was under all circumstances and in itself wrong, which St. Augustine had condemned as Manichaean, was taken up by the Anabaptists and, descended to George Fox, it was enthusiastically adopted by those who formed the Society of Friends. There can be no doubt that much plausible argument can be adduced in favour of their position from the New Testament. The Early Christians were pre- . eluded from taking an active part in public life, and they made experiments in communism; it would be easy to argue that they maintained a merely negative attitude towards civil government; but it is not in ac- cordance with the teaching of the Gospels and Epistles to say that this negative attitude is enjoined on Chris- tians for all time. The odium which was expressed towards the Quakers, both in England and America, was due to the fact that they were able to take advan- tage of the existence of Civil Society, while they pro- fessed to hold aloof from it; they were not consistently following the example of the Early Christians, as they had no scruple in securing their rights by litigation, and had no rules to enable them to refrain from hard bargains in business. Apart from such apparent in- consistencies, the real weakness of Quakerism and of 260 APPENDIX all forms of Quietism is that since they regard Chris- tianity as having a negative attitude towards civil affairs, they have no positive teaching to give as to the way in which Christianity may be brought to bear on political life and national duty. The problem as to the method of reconciling his duty as a Christian with his duty as a citizen is left to each individual to solve for himself, often by some compromise which leaves his conscience uneasy. The exaggeration which insists that War must be avoided, as in itself an evil thing, by Christian men under all circumstances, had re-introduced the cleav- age between civil society and Christianity which had come to an end at the Peace of the Church. On the one hand, Christianity appears to be represented as aiming at an external change in society which most men re- gard as impracticable, and as being futile and ineffec- tive in so far as it has not secured it. On the other hand, the State and politics are regarded as being of the earth earthy, and left to be controlled by the play of private interests, and without any conscious reference to spiritual truth. Besides this, it is not pos- sible for the Christian who takes this view of civil so- ciety to maintain a merely negative attitude towards the government of the country in which he lives, and on which he relies for protection; he is almost certain, in refusing to conform to the institutions of society, to undermine its authority, even if he does not actively oppose it. And thus he is in danger of being brought into direct conflict with apostolic teaching as to the Christian attitude towards civil magistrates. ^ Further, this negative attitude is neither inspiring nor effective. Christianity as thus represented has no power to encourage the citizen in the discharge of public duty either in peace or in war. Those who be- lieve that war is an im-Christian thing are not ready to 261 APPENDIX admit that the profession of a soldier is permissible for a Christian, still less to recognise that the soldier by his readiness to sacrifice his life in giving effect to a national duty, and by submitting to discipline, is in a position to cultivate devotion to duty and chivalry, and thus to be an example to civilians. The recogni- tion and cultivation of those virtues is the best safe- guard against the temptation to which a soldier may be specially exposed. Nor is this negative attitude fruitful so far as the public is concerned, for it does little to kindle enthusiasm, or to advance the cause it has at heart. The spread of private opinion that slavery was un-Christian was very slow indeed, even among the Society of Friends, and failed to create an atmosphere in which slavery could not exist. The testimony of the Quakers does not seem to have had much to do with the extraordinary change in the atti- tude of society towards War which took place at the end of the seventeenth century. The conflicts be- tween different types of Christian polity had created a horror of war as an evil, and had worn out the strength of the conviction that any one ecclesiastical system was exclusively Christian. With the close of the sev- enteenth century the attempt to identify the kingdom of God with any particular national polity ceased so far as the government of Great Britain was concerned. The recognition of two national polities, with one Crown and one Parliament, was an abandonment of the exclusive claims of Anglicanism or Presbyterian- ism to control national life; and the plantations, in Maryland and Carolina, were founded in a secular interest and with no definite religious affinity. St. Augustine's conception of the City of God had ceased to dominate public sentiment in England, and the gov- ernment no longer regarded it as a duty for the nation to fight on religious grounds. The experience of the sixteenth and seventeenth 262 APPENDIX centuries has not been in vain. We have attained to a firmer hold on the conception of the kingdom of God as spiritual; and there is a general opinion among Christians that an appeal to arms is never justified as a means of advancing the progress of that kingdom. We feel that there is an inconsistency in attempting to promote Christ's cause in the world, by means which Christ habitually disclaimed. The distinction on which the Second Century Apologists insisted, be- tween the methods of Judaism and the methods of Christianity, has been reaflfirmed by the experience of subsequent ages. On the other hand, when a nation engages in war, for an object that frankly concerns earthly life and earthly schemes, it is not necessarily to be condemned as unchristian. We are bidden to make "friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness"; and we ought to aim at so conducting ourselves in warfare as to be the bet- ter for having come through the ordeal. Recourse to War may be essential for the preservation of national life; participation in it may be a national duty. But for a country to engage in War light-heartedly^, or to treat it as an excuse for the indulgence of cruel and cowardly passions towards a peaceful population, is to disregard Christianity altogether. The protest, which was made by the Church in the Middle Ages, is needed still, so long as there are men like Bernhardi, who glory in War for its own sake, and claim that this habit of mind is compatible with Christianity.^ 1 Germany and the Next War, p. 29. INDEX INDEX Alms-giving, 78. Anabaptists, the, 259, 260. Angell, Norman, 212. Anglo-Saxon peoples, and the Roman Church, 25-29. Army, British, percentage of va- rious denominations in, 105 n. Band of Maintenance, the, 66, 67. Baxter, Richard, 88; quoted, 97. Beggars, treatment of, in Scot- land, 86. Bible, Cranmer's, 31. Bible, the, in the Reformation, 34; its use by the English Church, 34-36; misuse of, 54; danger of misusing, 87-91. Book of Common Prayer, 61. Booth, General, 134. Bray, Dr. Thomas, 152. Bright, John, 80. Browne, Robert, quoted, 92, 93, 94. Browning, Robert, 242. Burial, Christian, 99, 100. Burke, Edmund, 158. Butler, Bishop, on relief of the poor, 156. Calvin, John, 63; on taking of interest, 71. Calvinism, reaction against, 128. Capital, use of, 50-52; freedom for, 58, 71, 72, 87; and labour, 80, 81, 82, 234, 235; selfish, 143, 160-62; cannot be trusted with irresponsible power, 171; relation to the community, 232, 233, 234. Carlyle, Thomas, 77. Catholic Social Movement, the, in Belgium, 19, 20. Chalmers, Thomas, 77, 88-90. Chamberlayne, John, on the Re- ligious Societies, 130. Charity, personal, 48, 78, 79. Children, in industry, 158, 170, 173. Chishull, Edmund, on the duty of the Christian merchant, 146, 147. Christian associations, 106-11. Christian organisation, 240-46. Christian polity, national, 58, 63-73. Christian principles, 23, 24. Christian realm, administration of a, 45-58. Christianity, and the nation, 2, 3, 5, 14, 108; method of, 4; and the individual, 6, 7, 198, 199, 222; and social conditions, 15; on the side of the rich, 88; political, 189-99; and public spirit, 222; supplies a motive force, 230; the intellectual side of, 241, 242. Church, the, as the handmaid of politicians, 189-92; attitude towards war, 249-63. Church and State, in England, 30-62; two aspects of the same community, 30, 45, 46, 110; system of rule in, anomalous, 52; the old system restored, 112; co-operation between, 240. Church of England, truly na- tional, 32, 33, 39; its appeal to the Bible, 34-36. Churches, responsibility of, 190, 191. Citizen, duties of, 226-34. Citizenship, in a democratic state, 118. 267 INDEX Civil obedience, grounds of, 117- 26; chief duty of the citizen, 231. Class interests, and national in- terests, 200-18; growth of, 200; inadequacy of, 205-10; may fail to promote the com- mon good, 208, 209; and indi- vidualism, 210. Clergy, the, in politics, 194, 195, 197. Coal mining, in Scotland, 160- 62. Coercion, of a free people, im- possible, 53, 62; the right of, 58-62; and humanitarianism, 167-99; and the duties of others, 174-78; between na- tions, 182; has limitations, 198. Collections at church doors, 76. Collective bargaining, 173. Community, the. Christian, 74, 95; and the individual, 100, 101, 124, 145, 163-65, 169; an organic whole, 106, 123; sense of duty to, 125; duties of, 134- 59; prosperity of, 159-66. Concessions to commercial com- panies, 61. Conscience, the supremacy of, 92-126; of the individual, 100, 101. Co-operation, in production, 202, 203; in education, 206; con- sonant with Christianity, 207; does not foster sense of duty to the community, 207, 208. Co-operative stores, 201, 202. Corn Laws, repeal of, 173. Counter-Reformation, the, 14. Cromwell, Oliver, compelled to do public penance, 55. Crown, the, and the people, 36- 40; loyalty to, 80; duty of obedience to, 117, 118. Democracy, Christian duty in, 219-46. Domestic service, 236. Duty, personal, 7; oflicial, 100- 02; of citizenship, 102, 103, 114; of civil obedience, 117- 26; to the community, 125, 126; substitutes for the sense of, 200-05, 215; Christian, in a democracy, 219-46; need of a personal sense of, 216, 221, 240; two fundamental princi- ples, 224, 225; of a citizen, 226- 34; of private life, 234-40. Ecclesiastical courts, 53-55, 127. Ecclesiastics in civil offices, 45, 46. Economic dependence, 214, 215. Economic forces, 38, 39, 61, 116. English Church, the, truly na- tional, 33, 39; attitude toward the Bible, 34-36. Feudal anarchy, 256, 257. Fish days, 49. Fox, George, 100, 103. Free Trade, 195, 196, 214. Friendly societies, 203, 204. Friends. See Quakers. Gambling, 225. Gathered churches, 92-100. George, Lloyd, 189-91, 192. Geree, Rev. John, on self-inter- est, 143-45. German Catholic Congress, the, 15. Gibson, Edmund, Bishop of London, 148. Guilds, mediaeval, 200, 201. Hampden, John, 120. Harvest, Rev. George, on the planting of Georgia, 136, 137. Hawes, Dr. William, founder of the Royal Humane Society, 157. Henry VIH, 12, 30, 31, 63. Heriot, George, 79. Home Rule, 27, 28. Hospitals, development of, 153- 55. 268 INDEX Humanitarianism, and coercion, 167-99; a palliative, 186; and war, 187, 188; deprecates na- tionality, 188. Hutchinson, Anne, 109. Independents, and the supremacy of conscience, 92-126; antago- nists of existing parties, 93, 94; divided life into two spheres, 95, 110, 114; in Holland and the New World, 106, 107. ^ Individual convictions, assertion of, 121, 123. Individualism, and class inter- ests, 210. Individuals, and society, 91, 100, 101, 124, 145, 163-65, 169; per- sonal religious life of, 131-34; influence of Christianity on, 198, 199; and associations, 237, 238. Inquisition, the, 13, 32. Interest, on money, 50, 70-72. International agreement, 212, 213. Itinerant preachers, 97, 98. Jesuits, the, 14. Kennett, White, Bishop of Peter- borough, on sacrificing religion for gain, 148. Ketteler, W. E., Bishop of Mainz, 15, 16. Knights Templars, 256. Knox, John, 75. Laissez-faire, principle long ac- cepted, 167, 168; reaction against, 168, 169; abandoned, 173, 174. Landed gentry, 41-44. Leadership, the art of, 62. Leisured class, and public serv- ice, 44. Levant Company, The, 146. Livesey, Sir George, 203. Locke, John, 116. Love of country, 188. MacKenzie, Sir George, 84. Magistrates, empowered to pun- ish, 69, 101; duty and oppor- tunity of, 149, 150. Mapletoft, Rev. John, on care of dependents, 151, 152. Mass, celebration of, 74. Material prosperity, 142, 143, 160, 164. Merchant Adventurers, 56, 57. Methodism, 131-34. Military service, and the early Christians, 252, 253, 254. Mills, Dean, of Exeter, on the health of the poor, 149. Minimum wage, 173. Ministers, spiritual independ- ence of, 72, 73; in politics, 193- 97. Monasticism, 35, 64. Money, getting and using, 50, 51. Montanists, the, 259. National interests, and class in- terests, 200-18; conflicting, 211. National jealousies, 213, 214. National life, 30-44, 188. Nonconformists, English, 60. Obedience, civil, 117-26, 231. Old-age pensions, 181. Old Testament, the, and the Scot- tish Reformers, 68-70, 81; value of, 243. Owen, Robert, 202. Pacifism, 2. Papacy, the, spiritual and civil authority of, 8-11; secularisa- tion of, 11, 12, 258; an interna- tional arbiter, 12, 13, 21; ex- ternal spiritual authority, 14- 25; limitations, 22, 23; and Anglo-Saxon peoples, 25-29. Parkinson, Dr., on the claims of the sick poor, 154, 155. Parochial relief, Scottish, 76, 77. Parochial schools, 75. Parochial system, of the Church 269 INDEX of England, 94, 96; abolition of, in South Wales, 96, 97, 99. Party government, 193, 227. Party politics, 191, 193, 194, 195, 226. Passive resistance, 120. Patents, 57. Peasants' rebellion, the, 122. Peel, Sir Robert, 158, 173. Penn, William, 103, 108. Personal conviction, as basis of Church life, 92. Personal Monarchy, the, 5G, 58; breakdown of, 52, 53. Personal responsibility, sense of, 180, 181. Philanthropy, spasmodic and irregular, 168, 169. Pinnell, Rev. Peter, on magis- trates, 150, 151. Political economy, 5. Polity, Christian national, 58, 92; scriptural model of, 63-73. Poor reUef, 47, 48, 76, 86. Pope Benedict XV, quoted, 17, 21 n. Pope Leo XIII, quoted, 9, 10, 16, 17; Encyclicals of, 20-25. Predestination and election, 128. Presbyterian theocracy, 73-86; the Bible in, 87. Presbyterianism, and the suprem- acy of Scripture, 63-91; in Scotland, 115. Public benefits and justice, 175, 176. Public health, care of, 171, 172. Public opinion, 175, 190. Public spirit, religion and, 127- 66. Pulpit, influence of the, 135. Puritans, the, 112, 113. Quakers, and administrative du- ties, 100-06; their sense of personal duty, 100; declined duties of citizenship, 100, 101, 102, 104; their use of the New Testament, 102; attitude to- ward war, 260, 262. Reduction of armaments, 187. Reformation, Christendom and the, 8-29; the Bible in, 34-36. Reformation, the English, 13, 30, 63, 64. Reformation Movement in Scot- land, the, 63-73. Religion, a force in political life, 2, 3, 219; and social conditions, 15; eliminated from politics, 114-16; and public spu-it, 127- 66; indifference to, 219. Religious mission, England's sense of, 40, 41, 136. Religious toleration, 219. Ridley, Glocester, on the plant- ing of Georgia, 136. Robertson, F. W., quoted, 6. Roman Catholic writers, 28, 29. Royal Humane Society, the, 156, 157. Sabbath, sanctity of the, 74. Sadler, Michael, 169, 170. St. Augustine on war, 254; the City of God, 255. St. Francis, 11. Salvation Army, the, 25, 134. Seamanship, essential to an island realm, 49. Self-discipline and growth, 127- 34. Self-interest, 142-45, 216, 217. Serfdom, 83, 84. Sermon on the Mount, the, 91. Shaftesbury, Lord, 169, 170. Slavery, capitalist, in Scotland, 82-85. Smith, Adam, 167, 173. Society for the Reformation of Manners, J 52. Spiritual independence, 72, 73. State insurance, 176. State interference, questionable, 167; may be desirable, 168, 171; may cause complications, 175, 176; better for dealing with masses than with individ- uals, 177; reliance on, 178-88; may be injurious, 180. 270 INDEX Stubbs, William, 119. Synagogue of Satan, breach with the, 64, 65. Terrick, Richard, Bishop of Peter- borough, 137, 138. TertuUian, on Christians in war, 251, 252. Theocracy, Presbyterian, 73-86; in the Old Testament, 90, 91. Time, responsibility for the use of, 224. Trade interests, in Scotland and England, 79, 80. Trade unions, 172, 173, 204, 205, 209, 210. Trimnell, Charles, Bishop of Norwich, 147. Usury, 70, 238. Wales, abolition of parochial system in, 96, 97, 99. War, the European, 1. War, an anachronism, 1 ; always a pretext for, 21; attitude of various Christian bodies to- ward, 105; duty of citizens in, 118, 231; not likely to cease in near future, 182, 183; duty to avoid occasions for, 184; con- duct of, 185; real causes of, 187, 189, 213; evil of, 211; and national interests, 212, 213; loan, 233; attitude of the Church towards, 249-63; Christian opposition to, 249, 250; acceptance of as inevit- able, 250-54; consecration of, as a means of spreading Chris- tian polity, 254-59; private, 256, 257; for spiritual pur- poses, 258, 259; considered wrong in itself, 260, 261; may be national duty, 263. Wealth, responsibility for, 225. Wesley, John, and Methodism, 131-34. Whewell, William, on national life, 139-42. Williams, Roger, 108, 110. Women and children, employ- ment of, 170, 173. Women's Suffrage, 180. Young, Arthur, 160. CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS U . S . A Princeton leological Seminary Libraries 012 01245 1730 Date Due f r 2 1 "38 Mr22'Jtf \ \ ^ tl