THE wisest prince that ever sat upon a throne has told us that righteousness exalts a nation. Proverbs xiv., 37. It is not valour in war but righteousness. It is not policy in government but righteousness. It is not wittiness of invention but righteousness. It is not civility in behaviour but righteousness. Nor is it greatness of command but righteousness that is the honour and the safety, that is the renown and security of a nation. That nation that exalts righteousness, that nation shall be certainly exalted by righteousness. It is not Ahithophel’s policy; it is not Jeroboam’s calves in Dan and Bethel; it is not Jehu’s pompous zeal; it is not Goliath’s sword; it is not rich mines of gold and silver, nor magazines, nor armies, nor councils, nor fleets, nor forts—but justice and righteousness that exalts a nation, and that will make a mean people to become a great, a glorious and a famous people in the world. The nation is a ring, and righteousness is the diamond in that ring; the nation is a body, and righteousness and justice is the soul of that body. Ah! England, England, so long as judgment runs down as waters in the midst of thee, and righteousness as a mighty stream, thou shalt not die but live, and bear up bravely against all gainsayers and opposers—but no longer.
—THOMAS BROOKS (1662).