REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY 47 



the freedom of the Gospel Ministry, Indeed, they spoke 

 with such scorn of paid preachers, or '' hireling ministers '* 

 as they called them, that I used to think them a little 

 wanting in charity. But the War has taught me that it 

 was not really lack of charity ; it was clear spiritual 

 insight. They saw that the paid preacher is never free. 

 He is in honour bound to preach what he is paid for 

 preaching. Those who '' pay the piper ** have a right 

 to choose the tune. That is, in large measure, the 

 explanation of the fact that the Churches have always 

 been ready to throw a cloak of religion over any devilry, 

 however devilish. 



But surely this great principle that ministry should 

 be free, is not only applicable to the vocal ministry. 

 All our work should be regarded as ministry, and is 

 prostituted when it is done for money. A man's living 

 ought to be assured to him. Then, and then only, is 

 he a free man ; free to do his work for the love of his 

 work and for the love of his fellow-men. Thus, and thus 

 only, can true art be developed. No great art was ever 

 produced for money. The mercenary element kills 

 art. And as the greatest art is the art of living greatly, 

 so great lives can only be lived when the mercenary 

 element has been eliminated from life. 



True art is sacramental. It is the outward and 

 visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. It is the 

 outward expression of the spiritual life. And all work 

 ought to be that, and if it is not capable of being that, 

 there is something seriously wrong with it. 



There is a great deal of misunderstanding, even among 

 members of our Society, concerning the true Quaker 

 view of Sacraments. It is often said that Friends take 

 a purely spiritual view of the Sacraments. But Sacra- 

 ments cannot be spiritual. They must perforce be 

 *' outward and visible,'' and therefore material. And if 

 the inward and spiritual grace does not find outward 



