Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
I will tell you. There is an old book, written in Latin by a
heathen gentleman of Rome, who lived in St. Paul's time, and wrote
this book about twenty years after St. Paul's death. It is a little
book; but it is a very precious one: and I think it is a great
mercy of God that, while so many famous old books have been lost,
this little book should have been preserved: for this Roman
gentleman had travelled among our forefathers; and when he returned
he wrote this book to shame his countrymen at Rome. In it he calls
us 'Germans;' but that was the Roman fashion. By Germans they meant
not only the people who now live in Germany, but the English and the
Danes, and the Swedes, and the Franks, who afterwards conquered
France. In fact he meant our own forefathers. And he said to the
Romans,--
'Look at these wild Germans. You despise them because they go half-
naked, and cannot read or write, and live in mud cottages; while you
go in silk and gold, and have all sorts of learning, and live in
great cities, palaces, and temples, in worldly pomp and glory. But
I tell you,' he said, 'that these wild Germans are better men than
you; for, while you are living in sin, in cheating and falsehood, in
covetousness, adultery, murder, and every horrible iniquity, they
are honest, chaste, truthful; they honour their fathers and mothers;
they are obedient and loyal to their kings and their laws; they shew
hospitality to strangers; they do not commit adultery, steal, bear
false witness, covet their neighbours' goods. And therefore,' this
Roman felt (and really it seems as if a spirit of prophecy from God
had come on him), 'something great and glorious will come out of
these wild Germans, while the Romans will rot away and perish in
their sins.' That was true enough. We see it true at this day.
For what happened? That great Roman empire, Babylon the great, as
St. John calls it in the Revelations, perished miserably and
horribly by its own sins; while our forefathers rose and conquered
it all, and live and thrive till this day. But it is curious that
they never throve really, though they made great conquests, and did
many wonderful deeds, till they became Christians: but as soon as
they became Christians, they began to thrive at once, and settled
down, and became that great family of nations, and kingdom of God,
which we call Christendom; England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany,
Sweden, and the other countries of Christian Europe; which God has
so prospered for his Son Jesus Christ's sake, in spite of many sins
and shortcomings, with wealth and numbers, skill, and learning, and
strength, that now the empire of the whole world depends upon these
few small Christian nations, which in our Lord's time were only
tribes of heathen savages: so that here again our Lord's great
parable was fulfilled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account