If our Forerunner also disappoints us; if we enter where He is, only to find that He is not there; or that, though there, He is not able to satisfy our hope in Him, and make us like Himself, then we shall be of all men the most miserable.  But not till then.  No; not till then.  And thus it is that Captain Good-hope has his billet in our heart; thus it is that his blue colours float over our house; and thus it is that his three golden anchors are blazing out in all their beauty on the best wall of our earthly house.

3.  ’The third was that valiant captain, the Captain Charity.  His standard-bearer was Mr. Pitiful, and for his scutcheon he had three naked orphans embraced in his bosom; and he also had ten thousand men at his feet.’  O Charity!  O valiant and pitiful Charity!  Divine-natured and heavenly-minded Charity!  When wilt thou come and dwell in my heart?  When, by thine indwelling, shall I be able to love my neighbour, and all my neighbours, as myself?  When, in thy strength, shall I cease from repining at my neighbour’s good; and when shall I cease secretly rejoicing over his evil?  When shall I by thee renewing me, be made able to cease in everything from seeking first my own will and my own way; my own praise and my own glory?  When shall it be as much my new nature to love my neighbour as it is now my old nature to hate him?  When shall I cease to be so soon angry, and hard, and bitter, and scornful, and unrelenting, and unforgiving?  When shall my neighbour’s presence, his image, and his name always call up only love and honour, good-will and affectionate delight?  When and where shall I, under thee, feel for the last time any evil of any kind in my heart against my brother?  Oh! to see the day when I shall suffer long and be kind!  When I shall never again vaunt myself or be puffed up!  When I shall bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things!  O blessed, blessed Charity! with thy divine heart, with thy dove-like eyes, and with thy bosom full of pity, when wilt thou come into my sinful heart and bring all heaven in with thee!  O Charity! till thou so comest I shall wait for thee.  And, till thou comest, thy standard-bearer shall be my door porter, and thy scutcheon shall hang night and day at my door-post!

4.  ’The fourth captain was that gallant commander, the Captain Innocent.  His standard-bearer was Mr. Harmless; his were the white colours, and for his scutcheon he had three golden doves.’  My brethren, how well it would have been with us to-day if we had always lived innocently!  Had we only been innocent of that man’s, and that man’s, and that man’s, and that man’s hurt! (Let us name all the men to ourselves.) How many men have we, first and last, hurt!  Some intentionally, and some unintentionally; some deliberately, and some only by accident; some of malice, and some only of misfortune; some innocently and unknowingly, and whom we never properly hurt.  Some, also,