“God only knows who is a hypocrite, and who is not”

Toby Shandy’s expression about who may be a hypocrite in prayer makes divine judgment, rather than outward appearance or human suspicion, the measure of sincerity. In a conversation with Corporal Trim, he checks Trim’s disparagement of soldiers and comforts him with the claim that duty matters more than whether it is performed in a red coat or a black one.

The Rebuke

Trim observes that a soldier who has time to pray does so as heartily as a parson, though without the parson’s fuss and hypocrisy. Toby immediately objects that Trim should not have said this: only God knows who is a hypocrite and who is not. The rebuke restrains a familiar contrast between soldier and clergyman, refusing to treat either profession as proof of a person’s inward character.

Judgment Deferred

Toby locates the answer at the final, general review on the Day of Judgment. Only then, he tells Trim, will it be seen who has done their duties in the world and who has not; people will be advanced accordingly. Trim hopes that this will be so. Toby says the principle is in Scripture and promises to show it to him the next day, grounding his reassurance in religious authority while postponing any definitive judgment of individuals.

Duty Beyond Uniform

Toby draws out the practical comfort of this belief: if they have done their duties, it will not be asked whether they did them in a red coat or a black one. The contrast makes uniform a sign of occupation, not a reliable measure of moral worth. The exchange thus joins religious humility to Toby’s respect for the soldier’s vocation, while leaving the distinction between sincerity and hypocrisy to divine knowledge rather than human accusation.

Return to Trim’s Story

After offering this consolation, Toby asks Trim to continue his story. Trim resumes by recalling his visit to the lieutenant’s room, which he says he did not make until a specified period had expired. The shift back to the embedded account gives Toby’s brief theological intervention the character of a pause in their conversation: it corrects the terms of judgment without displacing the story Trim has been telling.