They are words worthy even of Burke, with a touch of the manly pride, and glorious self-respect, of Nehemiah, Others may have done it; I do not judge them, they have their own conscience; but so did not I, thank God! This sturdy independence and proud despisal of opposition is seen in many forms, but in some form or other is needed to give stability to a character. Heine, as different in temperament and life and principles from Burke as could well be, gives utterance to a similar thought. Speaking of something as a public duty to which he considered he had consecrated his life, adds in his keen, biting manner, "The hatred of my enemies may serve as pledge that I have fulfilled this duty truly and honourably. I will ever show myself worthy of that hatred." Some of the men who never had an enemy never deserved one. A fine, easy, affable tolerance may be only indifference to moral distinctions. The reputations whose praise is in every one's mouth may be built on lack of principle.

We are too pliant and flexible, and flabby. The world's true benefactors have always been Protesters, Protestants, recusants. Great movements of thought have ever sprung from dissent, dissent from the established and traditional and conventional. The Christian faith spread all over the world, wherever men's

consciences were awakened, so that they could no longer continue in the old faith and practice, when they said about heathen practice, So do not I. The same is true of every period of freedom of thought and extension of religion, as with Luther at the Reformation, "So help me God, I can no other." For a strong, healthy, moral nature there must be this individuality, with a life of its own, able to stand alone, sure that

Because right is right, to follow right

Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.

At the same time mere dissent, mere protest, mere abstinence is nothing in itself. Mere negative virtue is worthless unless it is an indication of deep-seated positive principle. Righteousness is not all negation. All protest must have a positive, an inward source. It must have its roots in a love of truth for its own sake. It must have its motive not in crankiness of mind, or love of singularity, or display of individuality. Some men's protest of what they think evil is spoiled by sourness, or selfrighteousness, or crabbed singularity of temper. "So did not I," said Nehemiah, "because of the fear of God." His attitude was the fruit of principle. His

protest was religious, because of higher dictates. God's law was so present with him that he could not act contrary to it. It was because he was so consumed with the desire to please God that he never thought of pleasing himself. His heart was fixed, and so his feet took the path of God's commandments. God's law was the rule of his life and so he found it easy to deny himself. The fear of God cast out all other fear.

The only effective way of expelling evil is by inserting good. The only successful way of abhorring the evil is by cleaving to the good. The secret of strengthening the life to resist temptation is by the introduction of a new motive. The love of the higher makes the lower impossible. The lower drops off as the higher is assumed. The new affection kills the old lusts. The new affection inspires to new obedience, The love of Christ drives out the old loves. The love of Christ gives new desires, new ambitions, new pleasures. It gives the whole life a new standpoint, which alters the complete view. So that it is a precise statement of fact to say, Once I was blind, but now I see. I loved things which now I hate. I hated things which now I love. Once I pleased self, and thought of self, and pampered self, but now I turn round about, and put my feet

to another road. Once I did these things, which it is a grief to remember, once I did so in easy unconcern, but now so do I not, because of the fear of God, because of the love of Jesus, whose I am and whom I serve.

VII

THE SERPENT AND THE DOVE

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.-ST. MATTHEW x. 16.

It seems impossible to combine these seemingly opposite qualities; and yet in the true culture of character, as in all other forms of culture, the ideal is balance of opposing elements. The complete character must be full-orbed, with no undue development on one side, poised amid the warring forces of human nature," below the storm-mark of the sky, above the flood-mark of the deep." The difficulty of life is to live, to live truly and completely, to make the most of one's self, to become the highest character that is possible. Practically, we see the difficulty of combining the opposites in such an injunction as this of our text-of duty to self and duty to others, to be wise for self-protection and simple in our relations with men. It is easy to be one-sided, here as elsewhere. It is easy to specialise in character, to develop one side at the expense of the soul's complete life.