all for his condemnation. Therefore, he said,
he abhorred himself. He had no merit which could entitle him to look
for favor. He had labored on to the end, but he had labored with a
full knowledge that the best which he could offer would be unworthy of
acceptance. He had been told, and he believed, that a high Spirit not
subject to infirmity had done his work for him, and done it perfectly,
and that if he abandoned all claim on his own account, he might be
accepted for the sake of what another had done. This, he trusted, was
true, and it was his sole dependence. In the so-called good actions
with which he seemed to be credited, there was nothing that was really
good; there was not one which was altogether what it ought to have
been.

He was evidently sincere, and what he said was undoubtedly true--true
of him and true of every one. Even in the vehemence of his
self-abandonment a trace lingered of the taint which he was
confessing, for he was a polemical divine; he had spent his life and
gained a reputation in maintaining this particular doctrine. He
believed it, but he had not forgotten that he had been himself its
champion.

The examiner looked kindly at him, but answered:--

"We do not expect impossibilities; and we do not blame you when you
have not accomplished what is beyond your strength. Only those who are
themselves perfect can do anything perfectly. Human beings are born
ignorant and helpless. They bring into the world with them a
disposition to seek what is pleasant to themselves, and what is
pleasant is not always right. They learn to live as they learn
everything else. At first they cannot do rightly at all. They improve
under teaching and practice. The best only arrive at excellence. We do
not find fault with the painter on account of his first bad copies, if
they were as good as could be looked for at his age. Every craftsman
acquires his art by degrees. He begins badly; he cannot help it; and
it is the same with life. You learn to walk by falling down. You learn
to live by going wrong and experiencing the consequences of it. We do
not record against a man 'the sins of his youth' if he has been
honestly trying to improve himself. We do not require the same
self-control in a child as in a man. We do not require the same
attainments from all. Some are well taught, some are ill taught, some
are not taught at all. Some have naturally good dispositions, some
have naturally bad dispositions. Not one has had