books and papers with pleasure and instruction that once filled him with dark passions and angry outbursts; if his Calvinism lets him read Thomas A Kempis and Jeremy Taylor and William Law; if his High-Churchism lets him delight to worship God in an Independent or a Presbyterian church; if his Free-Churchism permits him to see the Establishment reviving, and his State-Churchism admits that the Free Churches have more to say to him than he had at one time thought; if his Toryism lets him take in a Radical paper, and his Radicalism a Unionist paper—­then let him thank God, for God is in all that though he knew it not.  And when he counts up his incalculable benefits at each return of the Lord’s table, let him count up as not the least of them an open mind and a well-conditioned heart, an unprejudiced mind, and an impartial heart.

7.  And now, to conclude:  Take old, angry, ill-conditioned Prejudice, his daily prayer:  ’My Adorable God and Creator!  Thy Holy Church is by the wickedness of men divided into various communions, all hating, condemning, and endeavouring to destroy one another.  I made none of these divisions, nor am I any longer a defender of them.  I wish everything removed out of every communion that hinders the Common Unity.  The wranglings and disputings of whole churches and nations have so confounded all things that I have no ability to make a true and just judgment of the matters between them.  If I knew that any one of these communions was alone acceptable to Thee, I would do or suffer anything to make myself a member of it.  For, my Good God, I desire nothing so much as to know and to love Thee, and to worship Thee in the most acceptable manner.  And as I humbly presume that Thou wouldst not suffer Thy Church to be thus universally divided, if no divided portion could offer any worship acceptable unto Thee; and as I have no knowledge of what is absolutely best in these divided parts, nor any ability to put an end to them; so I fully trust in Thy goodness, that Thou wilt not suffer these divisions to separate me from Thy mercy in Christ Jesus; and that, if there be any better ways of serving Thee than those I already enjoy, Thou wilt, according to Thine infinite mercy, lead me into them, O God of my peace and my love.’  After this manner old, angry, ill-conditioned Prejudice prayed every day till he died, a little child, in charity with all men, and in acceptance with Almighty God.

CHAPTER IX—­CAPTAIN ANYTHING

   ’I am made all things to all men . . .  I please all men in all
   things.’—­Paul

Captain Anything came originally from the ancient town of Fair-speech.