iers in Christ's army. They are labourers
in Christ's garden. They are on God's side in the battle of life, which
is the battle of Christ and of all good men, against evil, against sin
and ignorance, and the numberless miseries which sin and ignorance
produce. They are not the profligate; they are not the selfish, the
idle; they are not the frivolous, the insolent; they are not the wilfully
ignorant who do not care to learn, and do not even--so brutish are
they--think that there is anything worth learning in the world, save how
to turn sixpence into a shilling, and then spend it on themselves. Not
such are those who may hope to have their prayers heard, because they are
worth hearing, and worth helping. But they are the people who say to
themselves, not once in their lives, not once a week on Sundays, but
every day and all day long--I must be good; I will be good. I must be of
use; I must be doing some work for God; and therefore I must learn. I
must learn God's laws, and statutes, and commandments, about my station,
and calling, and business in life. Else how can I do it aright? I dare
no more be ignorant, than I dare be idle. I must learn. But how shall I
learn? Stupid I am, and ignorant, and the more I try to learn, the more
I discover how stupid I am. The more I do actually learn, the more I
discover how ignorant I am. There is so much to be learned; and how to
learn it passes my understanding. Who will teach me? How shall I get
understanding? How shall I get knowledge? And if I get them, how shall
I be sure that they are true understanding, and true knowledge? Mad
people have understanding enough; and so have some who are not mad, but
merely fools. Wit enough they have, active and rapid brains: but their
understanding is of no use, for it is only misunderstanding; and
therefore the more clever they are, the more foolish they are, and the
more dangerous to themselves and their fellow-creatures. Knowledge,
too--how shall I be sure that my knowledge, if I get it, is true
knowledge, and not false knowledge, knowledge which is not really
according to facts? I see too many who have knowledge for which I care
little enough. Some know a thousand things which are of no use to them,
or to any human being. Others know a thousand things: but know them in a
shallow, inaccurate fashion; and so cannot make use of them for any
practical purpose. Others know a thousand things: but know them all in a
prejudice