but we must never mistake it for Liberty of action.  Liberty of action is restrained by law in the world of nature, and must be equally restrained in the world of men.  But insist on Equality in work!  What do I mean by Equality in work?  I mean this,—­that every man’s work is entitled to consideration and respect, in every phase of life.  The road-mender works well and makes a smooth way for men and horses;—­he deserves my honour for his skill,—­he has it,—­he shall have it,—­for I know he can teach me many things of which I am ignorant.  The chief of the State works well,—­organizes;—­puts grave matters in order and establishes necessary government—­he also shall have my respect,—­he has it,—­he deserves his carriage and pair as fully as the road-mender deserves his dinner.  We should not grudge or envy either man the reward due to their separate positions.  The nightingale has a sweet voice,—­the peacock screams—­the one is plain in colour, the other gorgeous,—­and there is no actual equality; yet the one bird does not grudge the other its position, inasmuch as though there is no Equality there is Compensation.  So it is with men.  There is always Compensation in every lot.  So it should be; so it must be.  Equality in work means simply, respect for every kind of work done, and contempt for none except for him who does no work at all!  And lastly the word ‘Fraternity.’  Glorious word, meaning so much!—­holding suggestions of peace, joy and purity in its mere utterance!  Not a Fraternity of possession—­for then should we become lower than the beasts, who have their own separate holes, their separate mates, their separate young—­but Fraternity of Faith!—­the one Faith that teaches us to cry ’Abba Father,’—­that makes us understand Christ as our Brother—­and all of us the children of one family,—­one creation moving on in process of evolvement to greater things!  Let any priest tell me that I am not a child of God, and I will retort that he, by such an utterance, has proved himself a child of the devil.  Ignorant, sinful, full of miserable imperfections as I am, I am of God as the ant is, the worm, the fly!—­and if I have no more of God in me than such insects, still I am thankful to have so much!  What priest shall dare to say how much or how little of God there was in the composition of this man lying in the grave at our feet, who was my father?  Excommunication!  Who can excommunicate the soul from its Creator?  Who can part the sunbeam from the sun?  Excommunication!  The human being who, on what he calls Church authority, shall thrust his brother away from any form of communion which he himself judges and accepts as valuable, is one of those whom Christ declared to be ’in danger of hell-fire.’  For there is no man who can, if he be true to himself, condemn his brother man, or say to him, ’Stand back!  I am holier than thou!’ Therefore, for him whom we lay down to rest to-day, let there be pardon and peace!  Let us remember that for all his sins he atoned, by