I cannot but think that one of the truest ways in which Christianity has made humility at once a commoner and a nobler grace, has been in the way it has furnished work for the higher powers of man, which used to be idle and only ponder proudly on themselves. Idleness standing in the midst of unattempted tasks is always proud. Work touches the keys of endless activity, opens the infinite, and stands awestruck before the immensity of what there is to do. I am sure we all know the fine, calm, sober humbleness of men who have tried themselves against the tasks of life. It was great in Paul, and in Luther, and in Cromwell. It is something that never comes into the character, never shows in the face of a man who has never worked.
