TOPICS OF THE DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20958, 10 November 1939, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Soul of a Nation. “Not long ago a friend said to me: ‘I don’t believe you can rightly speak of the soul of a nation at all; there is no such thing.’ I wonder whether he would say the same now? A national spirit or soul will hardly go into words at all. But it can be recognised by an attitude, a behaviour in the face of great events—events great enough to dissolve individual differences of temperament and opinion, and to make us realise that we are of one spirit. The Englishman distinguishes instinctively between right and wrong, and tries to act accordingly. When an Englishman has to judge a policy, the main question he asks is not ‘Will this course of action increase the glory of Great Britain?’ but ‘ls it right?’ and this is why the Englishman has so often interfered elsewhere to prevent or redress a wrong, always to the great annoyance of some of our neighbours who think it is no business of his. It has been said that Englishmen never fight wholeheartedly unless they have been persuaded that they are fighting for somebody else or for some cause larger than their own. I think that is true.”—Dr. David, Bishop of Liverpool, in a sermon preached in Liverpool Cathedral.