Scripture: "God hath made of one blood all nations of men."—ACTS xvii. 26.
A former Prime Minister of England said in regard to the Boer War, that it "served to maintain the principle that the smaller nationalities should not be oppressed. That is to say, that all these precious lives and the treasures of gold were offered up in vindication of nationality, which may be regarded as a gift of God, as the divine right of each nation, according to its special nature, to preserve and develop its individuality in the service of the common life of all the world. This war will develop national feeling more intensely, and will increase a national consciousness, and arouse hope amongst the peoples who have hitherto been considered the most backward in the world. People will slowly learn that national feeling depends on character, and character depends on religion.
"In a struggle such as this we cannot expect the breach to be healed at once; but we can cultivate a spirit of Christian sympathy with those who differ from us, and cease to regard each other with suspicion and distrust. We can trust the honesty of each other's convictions, and take more trouble to understand one another."
This extract speaks most strongly of the divine right of national feeling, yet we must also clearly understand that the feeling, as a merely human force, is under the power of sin. Let us remember "every creature of God is good, for it is sanctified by the Word and by prayer." Without that sanctifying process, national feeling may become the prey of ambition, and the source °fhatred, and aversion, and contempt for other nations. God has, in Christ, placed all men under the law of Heavenly Love. It is the holy calling of every Christian, and more especially of every minister of the Gospel, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to point out to others the way by which national feeling may attain its twofold aim: (1) the development and uplifting of the people themselves, and (2) the right attitude to other peoples in the upbuilding of all mankind.
