mouth and silver tongue of famous pulpits. Let us be willing to know the truth, to admit the light whatever it reveals, to follow the light wherever it leads. No matter how untuned the trumpet, let us obey its warning; no matter how uncouth the gramophone, let us listen to its message; no matter how humbling or painful the witness of mirror or barometer, let us cleanse ourselves from the blemish revealed by the one, and prepare ourselves for the storm foreshadowed by the other. Dear is my friend, but my foe too Is friendly to my good; XXXIII HUMILITY Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another; for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.-1 PETER v. 5, 6. I N every possible way and at every possible point revelation sets forth the charm and obligation of humility. The New Testament never loses sight of the lovely grace and never fails to extol it. Our Lord, who of this grace was the supreme illustration, most emphatically and repeatedly enjoins it upon His disciples; and Paul, Peter, James and John again and again exhort their brethren to lowliness of mind. It is an error to regard humility as a separate, definite virtue; it is much rather an attitude and a disposition of the soul. It is the way in which we feel towards God, in which we regard ourselves and our fellows; towards God it implies the sense of reverence and dependence, and towards our fellows, deference, consideration, and helpfulness. Harnack justly remarks: "Humility is not a virtue by itself; but it is pure receptivity, the expression of inner need, the prayer for God's grace and forgiveness-in a word, the opening up of the heart to God"; and united with this meekness of godliness are the love and service of our neighbour. Humility is an abiding disposition towards the good, and that out of which everything that is good springs and grows. Let us note the conditions which render this grace possible, the elements which constitute it. The primary condition of humility is the consciousness of personal greatness. Secularism is accustomed to inculcate humility by belittling us. Its favourite line of argument is to contrast our weakness and mutability with the vastness, splendour, and permanence of the universe; thus subjecting our pretensions to contempt. But to insist on our abject insignificance is to render humility impossible. There can be no sense of lowliness without the consciousness of loftiness-only greatness can be humble. And if humility requires that we should esteem and minister to our neighbour, it implies that we cherish a high sense of our neighbour's worth and dignity. If, according to the text, we ought to gird ourselves "with humility, to serve one another," it must be because we are persuaded of our common grandeur, and not of our common insignificance. The consequence of gibing at the vanity, impotence, and humiliations of humanity is to induce cynicism, not the meekness which honours and helps our fellows. Our Lord never sought to humble us by caricaturing us, but in His blended majesty and lowliness discovered the nature and secret of humility. With the consciousness of personal greatness, however, must go the knowledge that our greatness is derived and dependent. The secularist rebukes pride by contrasting our life and lot with the stability and magnificence of nature, but his method is mistaken. Whatever may be the humiliations of humanity, we are yet conscious of our superiority to dust, however it may be transfigured, or however much there may be of it. Revelation sets us before the face of God; declares His greatness, wisdom, holiness, and love; avouches that we are His offspring, and that we have nothing that we have not received from Him; that He is our King and Judge; and thus our sense of greatness is chastened and hallowed by the vision of supreme and eternal greatness. Abolish God, and there is an end of the humility of men. What authority remains to rebuke rampant arrogance after His fear is removed from before our eyes? Then we are greater than all else; we are absolute masters of the situation; no place is left for gratitude, reverence, or service. Before the face of God seraphim veil their face with their wings; and in the presence of His glory vanity is shamed and abased. Tempted to selfishness, domination, and vaingloriousness, we are humbled "under the mighty hand of God." Finally, humility is perfected in the consciousness that our greatness is redeemed greatness. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up," is the admonition of St. James. We are called to estimate ourselves in the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Created in honour, and set over the work of God's hands, we have fallen from our high estate, and it is only through sovereign mercy that the dropped crown has been restored to us. How much there is in the gospel of redemption to overwhelm us, to fill us with humility! Everything from which we have been saved, everything that we possess, everything for which we hope-all is of the free grace of Him who died for us. Well may we with the elders cast our crowns on the jasper pavement at the feet of the Lamb, and ascribe to Him all glory and praise! These are the large considerations which at once preserve our sense of innate greatness, and yet bend us low in humility and adoration. Lowliness of mind is the ground and condition of all rare excellences. We see this in every direction. The scholar must enter upon his task with modesty and humility if he is to excel; a sense of cleverness and self-sufficiency may easily prevent success. Writing to his son at the University, Sir James Paget remarks: "I am very sorry for the failures at Christ Church of which you tell. I suspect that cleverness was at the bottom of the failure, for it is a character of mind the exercise of which is so instantly and pleasantly rewarded that the temptation to cultivate it is always present, always diminishing the feeling of need to work with better mental powers for better rewards that are far off. Certainly, of all good mental powers cleverness is the most dangerous, unless it can be held down, even with violence, by some better power, and made a lower servant where else it would be master." So the sense of cleverness, of self-sufficiency, robs men of coveted prizes of scholarship. How eloquently Ruskin dwells upon the peril of pride in art and the constant need in the artist of sincerity and simplicity! When Mr. Tylney Wellesley, afterwards fourth Earl of Mornington, was Master of the Mint, he caused a certain number of shillings to be struck, on which |