and destiny. What seems good, may be evil all the while; and what is
deemed useful, harmful. No man can choose the things meet for him,
because he knows not his own needs, but is like the little child sitting
in the meadows, that sucks for wholesome milk the juice of the deadly
nightshade. The babe does not know that the nightshade is a poison; but
its mother knows. This is why goodness is to do the will of God.

"It is false to say, 'Tis I teach goodness, and goodness is to obey the
city laws.' For the Laws are not of God; they are of man, and share in
man's craft and cunning and imperfection. They are like the rules
children make in the Square of Viterbo, when they are playing ball.
Goodness is not in customs nor in laws; it is in God and in the
accomplishment of God's will upon earth, and it is neither by law-makers
nor magistrates that God's will is accomplished upon the earth.

"For the great men of this world do their own will, and their will is
contrary to God's. But they who have stripped off pride and know there
is no goodness in them, these men receive noble gifts, and God Himself
distils His sweetness within them like honey in the hollow of the oaks.

"And we must be the oak-tree full of honey and dew. Humble, ignorant and
simple folks, these have knowledge of God; and by them shall God's
kingdom be stablished on earth. Salvation is not in the strength of laws
nor in the multitude of soldiers; it is in poverty and humbleness of
spirit.

"Say not, 'Goodness is in me, and I teach goodness.' Rather say,
'Goodness is in God on high.' Over long have men hardened their hearts
in their own wisdom. Over long have they set up the Lion and the
She-Wolf above the Gates of their Cities. Their wisdom and their