Lastly, we have this plea:--"I know quite enough to speak to my own people; I shall always be superior to the good souls which are committed to my charge." ... It is not superior to, but in unison with them that you should be. ... Let us see, however, what your knowledge really is, in connection with the good souls you speak of. Whenever you address them from the pulpit, is their attention riveted? do their countenances beam, do their eyes glisten, or are they moistened with tears? Do you hold them under the spell of your words? Do you possess their souls, together with your own? ... "Alas! no," you reply; "blockheads that they are; they yawn, they dread the sermon, and are delighted on finding that at Mass the Gospel is immediately followed by the Creed." ... Away to study! then; ... brush up your knowledge and your heart; betake yourself once more to the study of your people; find out their weak and their strong points; study their minds, their manner of looking at and apprehending things; and then you will come forth to proclaim the truth pithily and powerfully, and will take up your proper position. {285} The general impression, however, appears to be that a preacher has but to open his mouth and the people should listen to him with ecstasy; otherwise they are called dull and stupid. Instead of speaking to them a language which they understand, they are treated to a theological theme amplified; whereon they remark:--"All that is undoubtedly very grand; but it does not concern us." Or, as an operative once said:--"If that is the word of God, it is not addressed to us; it must be intended for the rich." ... Study, then, is necessary to qualify us for doing good to all; even to the lower orders, the poorest and meanest. We have remarked elsewhere, that it is more difficult to preach to the ignorant than to the literary: more preparation is required. Hence it is that there are more men fitted to address the upper than the lower classes; and yet the latter form nearly the whole of the community. ... Be it ours, then, to attain that superiority which knowledge confers; whereby also we shall be able to lay hold of both small and great, through the medium which they severally offer for being so secured. The world thirsts for knowledge; let us give them knowledge; let us make ourselves masters of knowledge, for then we shall undoubtedly be stronger than the world. {286} We shall then be invested with a twofold power: the power of human and the power of Divine knowledge. The world possesses the power of human speech only; we shall possess that, and the power of God's word likewise. In a word, the world possesses the earth; absolutely nothing but the earth: we, too, shall possess the earth and heaven besides. {287} Chapter XII. Zeal.