298. [275.] I was told regarding those preachers in the west that they are not concerned to know their evils or sins, because God knows them, and not they. Nor do they wish to know with any affection any other concepts than those which support their faith. They look down on those inhabitants who live in the south and east as simple, who are, so to speak, earthbound in their thinking. They believe, too, that the thinking of those people is not elevated but debased, when in fact the complete contrary is the case.