And so far from their having a slavish spirit in them, they
were the most bold and independent people of the whole earth. Their
soldiers conquered almost every nation against whom they fought,
because they always obeyed their officers dutifully and faithfully,
believing that it was their duty to God to obey, and to die, if need
was, for their country. Old history is full of tales, which will
never be forgotten, I trust, till the world's end, of the noble deeds
of their men, ay, and even of their women, who counted their own
lives worthless in comparison with the good of their country, and
died in torments rather than break the laws, or do what they knew
would injure the people to whom they belonged.
And so with us English. For hundreds of years we have been growing
more and more free, and more and more well-governed, simply because
we have been acting on St. Paul's doctrine--obeying the powers that
be, because they are ordained by God. It is the Englishman's respect
for law, as a sacred thing, which he dare not break, which has made
him, sooner or later, respected and powerful wherever he goes to
settle in foreign lands; because foreigners can trust us to be just,
and to keep our promises, and to abide by the laws which we have laid
down.
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