number one. This is the age of selfishness. Second: the opposite pole of
thinking; every man to do somebody's else work for him. This is the dry
rot of sentimentality that feeds tramps and enacts poor laws such as
excite the indignation of Herbert Spencer. But the third stage is
represented by our formula: every man must render and receive the best
possible service, except in the case of inequality, and there the
strong must help the weak to help themselves; only on this condition is
help given. This is the true interpretation of the life of Christ. On
the first basis He would have remained in heaven and let the earth take
care of itself. On the second basis He would have come to earth with his
hands full of gold and silver treasures satisfying every want that
unfortunate humanity could have devised. But on the third basis He comes
to earth in the form of a servant who is at the same time a master
commanding his disciples to take up their cross and follow Him; it is
sovereignty through service as opposed to slavery through service. He
refuses to make the world wealthy, but He offers to help them make
themselves wealthy with true riches which shall be a hundred-fold more,
even in this life, than that which was offered them by any former
system."

This applies to political life no less than to industrial life. We live
under the fairest government on earth. But it is not self-sustaining.
Nor is that all. There are selfishness and injustice and evil in the
world. More than that, these forces are never at rest. Some desire to
use the processes of government for their own ends. Some desire to
destroy the authority of government altogether. Our institutions are
predicated on the rights and the corresponding duties, on the worth, of
the individual. It is to him that we must look for safety. We may need
new charters, new constitutions and new laws at times. We must always
have an alert and interested citizenship. We have no dependence but the