THK I'KIXCII'LKS OF WOK' I.D- K M I'l II K. 



29 



Divine Freedom. 



The Sovereignty of God; Sovereignty is the first principle 

 of Empire, but Liberty is not less a principle ; and Liberty has 

 Divine sanction, for man is made in the image of God, and 

 ought to show the image of Divine Freedom. The Sovereignty 

 of God and the freedom of man received their supreme 

 expression in Christ, and therefore should be shown forth in 

 Christianity. 



The Divine Freedom is manifested to men in the freedom 

 with which God bestows His gifts. He is not only the rightful 

 Recipient of all worship, thanks and praise, but the Giver of 

 all gifts, whether for body, mind or spirit. Therefore man, in 

 turn, must show his freedom by that which he gives to God and 

 to his fellow-men. True Liberty manifests itself in sacrifice 

 and service. 



Our subject is Empire, not Eeligion ; therefore the sacrifice 

 and service with which we are here concerned is self-sacrifice 

 on behalf of our fellow-men, and service rendered to them. 

 These are true principles of Empire ; principles that bind men 

 together, and build them in organic unity, and yet leave freest 

 play to individual qualities and powers. 



Is it a new thought that liberty and self-sacrifice are 

 co-extensive ? But history shows that it is so. Athens 

 sacrificed herself because she was free, and she was free because 

 she had the spirit of self-sacrifice. And the same holds good 

 to-day : Belgium, like Athens, sacrificed herself because she too 

 was free ; and having thus sacrificed herself, she has secured 

 her liberty ; all the power of Germany cannot enslave her. 

 So with the self-governing Dominions of our Empire ; 

 they are free, and because they are free they have freely 

 put all they possess for the help of the Mother-land. 

 Similarly with our own young men who have offered themselves 

 by the hundred thousand for the war: theirs was the self- 

 sacrifice because theirs was the freedom — to offer or to refrain 

 from offering. 



And Liberty is service. The true symbol of Liberty in 

 Empire is not the blood-red Phrygian cap, but the towel girt 

 round the loins for the washing of the feet. No nation has 

 surpassed the British in valour and military skill, but however 

 we obtained dominion over India, it is not by the power of the 

 sword that we retain it to-day ; it is by the power of service : 



