en and nations? High religious
profession, with an ungodly, selfish life. It is the worst and most
dangerous of all sins; for it is like a disease which eats out the heart
and life without giving pain, so that the sick man never suspects that
anything is the matter with him till he finds himself, to his
astonishment, at the point of death.

_National Sermons_. 1851.

True Poetry. September 25.

Let us make life one poem--not of dreams or sentiments--but of actions,
not done Byronically as proofs of genius, but for our own self-education,
alone, in secret, awaiting the crisis which shall call us forth to the
battle to do just what other people do, only, perhaps, by an utterly
different self-education. That is the life of great spirits, after,
perhaps, many many years of seclusion, of silent training in the lower
paths of God's vineyard, till their hearts have settled into a still,
deep, yet swift current, and those who have been faithful over a few
things are made rulers over many things.

_MS. Letter_. 1842.

Office of the Clergy. September 26.

There is a Christian as well as political liberty quite consistent with
High Church principles, which makes the clergy our teachers--not the
keepers of our _consciences_ but of our _creeds_.

_Letters and Memories_. 1842.

Opinions are not Knowledge. September 27.

. . . As to self-improvement, the true Catholic mode of learning is to
"prove all things," as far as we can, without sin or the danger of it, to
"hold fast that which is good." Let us never be afraid of trying
anything new, learnt from people of different opinions to our own. And
let us never be afraid of changing our opinions. The unwillingness to go
back from once declared opinion is a form of pride which haunts some
powerful minds: but it is not found in great childlike geniuses. Fools
may hold fast to their scanty stock through life, and we must be very
cautious in drawing them from it--for where can they supply its place?

_Letters and Memories_. 1843.

The Worst Punishment. September 28.

God reserves many a sinner for that most awful of all punishments
(here)--impunity.

_Sermons_.

The Divine Order. September 29.

Ah, that God's will were but done on earth as it is in the material
heaven overhead, in perfect order and obedience, as the stars roll in
their courses, without rest, yet without haste--as all created things,
even the most awful, fire