speak so, because I suppose that is what he, as a soldier, would
have thought), to carry out God's commands on earth.

Now remember that he was the first heathen man of whom we read, that
he acknowledged Christ. Remember, too, that the next heathen of
whom we read, that he acknowledged Christ, was also a Roman
centurion, he whom the old legends call Longinus, who, when he saw
our Lord upon the cross, said, 'Truly this _was_ the Son of God.'
Remember, again, that the next heathen of whom we read as having
acknowledged Christ, he to whom St. Peter was sent, at Joppa, who is
often called the first fruits of the heathen, was a Roman centurion
likewise.

Surely, there must have been a reason for this. There must be a
lesson in this; and this, I think, is the lesson. That the
soldierlike habit of mind is one which makes a man ready to receive
the truth of Christ. And why? Because the good soldier's first and
last thought is Duty. To do his duty by those who are set over him,
and to learn to do his duty to those who are set under him. To turn
his whole mind and soul to doing, not just what he fancies, but to
what must be done, because it is his duty. This is the character
which makes a good soldier, and a good Christian likewise. If we be
undisciplined and undutiful, and unruly; if we be fanciful, self-
willed, disobedient; then we shall not understand Christ, or
Christ's rule on earth and in heaven. If there be no order within
us, we shall not see his divine and wonderful order all around us.
If there be no discipline and obedience within us, we shall never
believe really that Christ disciplines all things, and that all
things obey him. If there be no sense of duty in us, governing our
whole lives and actions, we shall never perceive the true beauty and