city which did something which displeased him, and so he captured it, and butchered-so historians tell us-over one million of its inhabitants. It is not worth while to read the life of a man like that. Some people might even now be willing to call him one of the world conquerors, but I am sure you are not. He succeeded in getting a large part of China under his heel, but he soon died and then his big empire faded away. If you stand up a man like this Mongol butcher by the side of a man like Patrick, one looks like a savage and the other a saint. Do you know who said that the name of the wicked shall rot? The name of Jenghiz Khan is one of the names which the world does not care to remember. I should rather remember a man like Winfried. That was his first name, but when historians now write about him they always call him Boniface, which means Benefactor. That was what Winfried truly was. He was a great doer of good deeds. He was an Anglo Saxon and was born in England, and there is where he lived until he was over thirty. His life there was comfortable and safe, but he could not get Germany out of his mind. He knew that the Germans knew little or nothing about the Prince, and he longed to cross the channel and teach them his message. We must remember that in the days of Boniface the Germans were worshipers of idols and that the Pagan priests hated the name of Jesus. One of their gods was called Thor, and in one part of Germany there was a huge oak sacred to this god. It was the chief object of popular worship, and Boniface having arrived in Germany, decided to cut it down. It was a dangerous thing to attempt to do, but Boniface did not shrink. On a day appointed Boniface went out with an ax and proceeded to cut the tree down. Thousands of the people had gathered around the tree expecting to see Boniface fall dead for attempting to do such a wicked thing. They were sure that their god Thor would never allow a stranger like Boniface to cut down his most sacred tree. But wonderful to say, a thunder storm came up, and while Boniface was using his ax, a stroke of lightning tore the tree to pieces. Thousands of Germans then and there became convinced that the God of Boniface was greater than any of their gods. I cannot begin to tell you all of Boniface's adventures, or relate all of the things that he suffered. No soldier with a gun ever had a harder time than he had. When he was an old man of seventy-four he took fifty soldiers of the Prince with him and made a journey into a part of Germany where the name of the Prince was specially disliked. One night a crowd of Pagans swooped down upon him and his companions and killed them every one. It is said that the old man, seeing he must die, quietly laid his head down upon a Bible, and in that position received the blow which ended his life. To die on a Bible is surely as brave as to die on a field of battle Who do you think was the greater man-Boniface or Napoleon? They call Napoleon the great, and great he certainly was in the art of digging graves and piling burdens on the backs of men which they have been compelled to carry to the present hour. Napoleon was a great general, but he was not great as a man when measured by the standard of the Prince. The Prince said that if any man wants to be really great he must serve. That is something which Napoleon did not try to do. Like an animal he looked out for himself. It was his ambition to compel others to serve him. He liked to get men under his thumb. He wanted to lord it over all Europe. It is said that his ambition cost the lives of three million men. He was such a pest that at last they caught him and shut him up on an island, and kept him there till he died. On his island he used to think of himself and the Prince and he confessed that his own life had been a failure. Boniface lived only to serve. His ambition was not to kill men but to kill foolish ideas and savage customs, and to establish the reign of love. He was as courageous as Napoleon and far more manly, and whereas the splendor of the name of Napoleon is slowly fading the name of Boniface will shine like a star forever and ever. We now see the difference between the soldiers of the Prince and the soldiers of Mars. Mars is the god of war, and Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The soldiers of Mars never stay at home. They go abroad to win glory. Their ambition is to subdue their neighbors. They want to steal what their neighbors possess. If their neighbors object to giving up what the warriors demand, then they are killed and their cities are looted and burned. All the famous soldiers of Mars whom I have mentioned were big burglars and butchers. The world is not likely to forget them, but it is impossible for the world ever, to love them. Only soldiers of the Prince are loved after they are dead. Like the soldiers of Mars they do not stay at home, but when they go abroad it is only to do good. They do not go to get but to give, not to gain power but to serve, not to have a comfortable time but to win glory for the Prince. Paul could not stay at Tarsus. When he met the Prince he felt he had gained something which he owed to all the world. He could not stay even in Asia. One night in his sleep he seemed to hear a man in Europe calling to him again and again: "Come over and help us!" Patrick could not stay in France, and Columba could not stay in Ireland, and Augustine could not stay in Italy, and Boniface could not stay in England. They all had to go among strangers because these strangers needed them. The soldiers of the Prince pay no attention to boundary lines: they step right over them as though they did not exist. Warriors of Mars drive nations apart, whereas the soldiers of the Prince knit nations together. Soldiers with guns cannot be called world conquerors. They make a great stir and seem to be subduing the world, but their work does not last. The empire of hate soon crumbles: only the empire of love endures. Soldiers of Mars destroy. It is not difficult to do that. Babies can do it, and bulldogs, and monkeys, and savages who do not wear clothes. The soldiers of the Prince build. They build the city of God. Its foundations can never be shaken. The nations are going to walk amidst the light of it, and |