precipitate himself into the deepest hell, and perish everlastingly. It is necessary that man should know this, although, in the mercy of the Lord, he is prevented from feeling or realizing it: for if he were conscious, all the time, of his real state of evil, he would be in despair. Yet it is right that he should know and believe it, as a truth of Divine Revelation, for otherwise he cannot be truly humble, otherwise he cannot feel his need of a Saviour, nor utter with sincerity the prayer, "Deliver us from evil."
At times, indeed, man does realize how evil he is, and the more interior and spiritual-minded he becomes, the more clearly does he perceive this. For it is a great truth, that the purer and the better a man becomes, the more humble he is; because in the higher light to which he thus attains, the more distinctly does he understand the nature of evil, and the more plainly does he perceive it in himself. Hence, as we are instructed, the highest angels are the humblest of all. The reason is,—that from a state of good, evil can be seen: but evil cannot see itself. Hence, they who are immersed in evil, have the least perception of their own evil. The lowest and most sensual men think themselves good enough: even the infernals do not imagine themselves to be evil, because, being not above it but in it, they have no perception, by contrast, of what evil is: evil to them is good. Hence we may perceive how dangerous a state a man is in, who thinks himself good enough: it is the most certain proof that he is not so. He who is well satisfied with himself, may be assured that he has the least reason for being
