e world? That of a man, who is forcing his way alone through a
thick and pathless wood, where he has never been before, to a place which
he has never seen. What is our wisdom--What does a wise man say of his?

"So runs my dream; but what am I?
An infant crying in the night;
An infant crying for the light;
And with no language but a cry."

Yes. Our true knowledge is to know our own ignorance. Our true strength
is to know our own weakness. Our true dignity is to confess that we have
no dignity, and are nobody, and nothing in ourselves, and to cast
ourselves down before the Dignity of God, under the shadow of whose
wings, and in the smile of whose countenance, alone, is any created being
safe. Let us cling to our Father in Heaven, as a child, walking in the
night, clings to his father's hand. Let us take refuge on the lowest
step of the throne of Christ our Lord, and humble ourselves under His
mighty hand; and, instead of exalting ourselves in undue time, leave Him
to exalt us again in due time, when the chastisement has told on us, and
patience had her perfect work; casting all our care on Him, who surely
cares for us still, if He cared for us once, enough to die for us on the
cross; caring for God's opinion and not for the opinion of the world.
And then we shall be among the truly humble, to whom God gives grace--
first grace in their own hearts, that they may live gracious lives,
modest and contented, dignified and independent, trusting in God and not
in man; and then, grace in the eyes of their fellow-men, for what is more
graceful, what is more gracious, pleasant to see, pleasant to deal with,
than the humble man, the modest man? I do not mean the cringing man, the
flattering man, the man who apes humility for his own ends, because he
wants to climb high, by pretending to be lowly. He is neither graceful
or gracious. He is only contemptible, and he punishes himself. He
spoils his own game. He defeats his own purpose. For men despise him,
and use him, and throw him away when they have done with him, as they
throw away a dirty worn-out tool.

Not him do I mean by the humble man, the modest man. I mean the man who,
like a good soldier, knows his place and keeps it, knows his duty, and
does it; who expects to be treated as a man should be, with fairness,
consideration, respect, kindness--and God will always treat him so,
whether man does or not: but who, beyond that, does