feel content with one's lot. Indeed, I think it is impossible, unless there is a high conception of the function of our environment and the true purpose of existence. Often have I thought how desperately circumstance controls life. I have said to myself, if my father had not died, or if this or that calamity had not happened how much hard, uncongenial work that brought only bread, and ministered to no thought, gave no knowledge and inspired no intellectual power, should I have been spared! How much richer and fuller would now have been my life, but for the rough, cruel storms of circumstance!" "Yes, judged from the ordinary points of view, and by conventional considerations, all that might have been so," said Bernard. "But I am anxious to hear what theory of life you now hold in view of the experience you have had, and the thought you have given to this subject. You were saying that the large majority of great men are born surrounded by a set of hard circumstances over which, it is asserted by some, they have little control, and by others that through the strength of their own wills men can force their way upward through the most difficult environments; or, stated broadly, that circumstances make a man, or a man makes his circumstances. What is your opinion?" "Well," said Horace, “there is a sense in which I hold most strongly the truth of the latter assertions. If by upward' is meant steady growth in noble character, then the strength of a man's own spirit, derived from the source of all moral power, will enable him to convert and use all the influences emanating from his environment into a means of developing a true and holy life. Qualities of mind and heart are inherent in men, and hard circumstance is but the grindstone or the lathe by which their brilliance is revealed. That diamond in your ring furnishes an illustration, and I will repeat you a little poem à propos to our subject :— What brilliancy this stone displays! How brightly glows each facet fair! Shine from this diamond rich and rare! What wrought such glory in the gem But grinding hard and friction long? Compact of atoms pure and strong! How sweet its tints! how crystalline! Of this bright, perfect, heavenly stone! And as the polish and the lathe Call forth the brilliant's beauteous power, But He who made this jewel bright Will mould our minds, our hearts refine, "And so with these thoughts in mind I feel how impossible it is for me to predict what would have been the effect of the positive life I have just wished had been mine, instead of the negative one which has fallen to my lot! I say 'negative' because of the privations of which I am so often conscious, but when I ponder more deeply the effect of all the circumstances and influences which have made up the sum of my thought, feelings, and actions, I see how presumptuous it is to call that negative which one day may appear to have been intensely positive. And when I remember what men have often said to me upon my congratulating them on their various good fortune, I cannot help feeling how few are contented with their own surroundings. Something always seems to be wanting. A man is born, for instance, in affluent circumstances, he has had a good education, mingles in intellectual society, has opportunities of travel, becomes associated with learned societies, has a happy home, a beautiful residence; indeed, everything in his environment seems to be conducive to pleasure and delight. But even under such conditions I invariably find that one thing is wanting. It may be that good and robust health is denied him, and this one negative element in the sum of his happiness imports a spirit of discontent. Or when this blessing of health is enjoyed and all the other things I have mentioned, save one, fall to a man's lot, that one thing absent mars the delight which all the other comforts and amenities can contribute. But we should never forget that circumstance is but the casket or the shell of life, its jewelthe soul, the vital principle which moulds the outer environment forms alone the true man. Now let us consider what are the effects of those circumstances which are usually considered favourable. Are they calculated when we come to analyse their products, to produce strength of will, power of resolution, self-determination and earnestness in overcoming difficulties? What produced the glory of Alexander, Cæsar, Charlemagne, Wellington, and other great military commanders? Was it not the hardness, the difficulty of their circumstances, and their ultimate triumph over opposing forces? Were there not times in their history when they must have felt that it would be an infinite relief to them to be able to escape from the enormous tasks which rested upon them? But did not these very tasks constitute the discipline out of which their greatness was evolved? What then is the purpose of all environment? Should we have heard of martyrs but for persecution? Should we have known fortitude and bravery but for danger and calamity? Could we experience sweet sympathy without sorrow? Could we know patience without suffering, or perseverance without deferred accomplishment? Are not all virtues of life relative and complemental to difficulty, trial, persecution, toil, anxiety, and care? And these are the conditions which surround almost every man and woman in more or less degree in business and the home. And knowing this, ought we not to estimate the character of others by the spirit they display in their own peculiar environment? Let us ask ourselves again what then should be the purpose of our life? Should it not be a constant endeavour to lay the influences of our circumstance under contribution for the development of a noble character; and instead of grumbling at the hard conditions of our lot, should we not rather regard the hardness of these very conditions as an indication of the greater glory which shall illume our lives if we are faithful to the light given unto us-that 'light which lighteth every man coming into the world'! I am, of course, using the term 'circumstance' in its broadest sense, for I maintain that with our limited foresight, it is impossible to pronounce what circumstances are favourable or adverse to the formation of any individual character. That which appears to us most favourable for the evolution of a noble life may, with respect to certain characters, have precisely the opposite result; because the exercise of the will and the daily expression of an earnest spirit are absolutely necessary in order to mould for the attainment of our object the constituents of our environment. "The first step towards a true life is to obtain a right conception of a perfectly pure, beautiful, and noble character; and all who are capable of forming an estimate of goodness are agreed that we have in Christ alone the highest type of man. But every man's idea of Christ will depend upon his knowledge of His sacred character; and every one must seek to discover for himself what are the elements of moral and spiritual beauty. Once, then, having obtained a clear conception of the Divine investiture, in which man may clothe himself, it is next our duty to ascertain what are the faculties which have been bestowed upon us, and what vocation in life they indicate for us. When this has been discovered, henceforth the construction of a true life should be the supreme purpose to which all intellectual effort, all religious exercises, all business endeavours, all home intercourse-in brief, all the thoughts, words, and actions which occupy our time and energies, should be rendered subservient. Our business, profession, companionships, pleasures, everything which engages our attention should be regarded as instruments and influences to be used and directed by our higher spirit for the purpose of building up true manhood and womanhood within us. For surely there can be no comparison between the infinite wealth of a beautiful character, permeated by the spirit of love, and the greatest treasures of knowledge, or riches of gems and gold. The germs out of which a noble character may grow exist in every man and woman, and circumstance is but the soil in which they must be vitalised and developed. That this is true we have only to turn to the pages of history to discover how the bravest, the sweetest, and the strongest natures have sprung from what men would regard as uncongenial and impossible conditions of growth. But do not some of the loveliest and most delicate flowers bloom on the rugged rock? Who, then, shall say what is the right soil for the evolution of a perfect life? "The circumstance of danger brings into prominence courage; when suffering and misery are dominant characteristics of environment, patience and sympathy shine forth as ministering angels, and shed bright and cheering warmth upon yearning spirits and broken hearts. A power of will, of infinite range, is resident in every human breast; and to strengthen its force, and render it capable of greater intensity of action, should be our constant endeavour. But since all spiritual strength can alone be derived from the great source of wisdom and love, if a man heartily desires to become godly—that is, God-like-he must seek by prayer to be instructed and guided through the darkness and error which encircle him. Whoever lives in this spirit shall discover beauties and wonders in the higher realms of thought and emotion, transcendently surpassing all that natural science is bringing to light; for in the spiritual world processes are going on corresponding to those in the natural. How marvellous an awakening has there been to the beauties and wonders of the material universe since the days of Roger Bacon, and of the author of the 'Instauratio Magna'! The educated mind is seeking to ascertain causes, and enquiring into the processes of physical life. Everything is looked at analytically and comprehensively, on the surface and in the interior. And may it not be true that similar evolutions are at work in the realms of the spirit and heart? For just as men in the olden days used to speak of the sun and moon, the mountains and rivers, the valleys and rocks, and of all the impressive beauties of nature, but without understanding their structure or the laws that governed them, so men have spoken of the human heart, its passions and woes; and only now are they seeking to comprehend scientifically the elements of man's triple life. Psychologists are doing for the mind and heart what physicists are doing in the realm of natural science. And will not their discoveries be of infinite help to men in enabling them to understand the influences which sway their life, now elevating and inspiring it, now racking and ruining it? And being so instructed, where a man has utterly failed to realise long cherished hopes, or where the deep love of a woman has met with coldness, and her life seems blighted, instead of being carried on to destruction by the storms of passion, the enlightened reason shall control the wild force of the human heart, and even in the densest darkness the true purpose of life shall shine forth as a beacon light, and the bitterest disappointment be converted into a means of advance to a higher sphere of thought and love. "What has made the greatness of the men with whose name biography teems? Is it not owing in large measure to their will power, overcoming circumstance, and though not always meeting with success in a worldly sense, yet always being successful in the culture of those faculties with which heaven had endowed them? The more difficult and trying the circumstances, the more manly and heroic appears the spirit which can triumph over them. Do we not prize most that which is not in our possession, or which can only be obtained by hard effort and persevering endeavour? But I fear I may weary you, Bernard, with this long prosaic discussion, so I will read you a poem embodying some of these thoughts. Shall thy circumstance control thee? Shall it fix thy path in life? Shall it dominate thy spirit? Nay, thy will shall bend its force; Circumstance is but a mountain, O'er, then, or round thy journey take. But let faith and love thine actions Spurn the hollow world's attractions, Seek Heaven's light of hope and grace. "Yes, Horace," answered Bernard, "I think you have indeed given expression to a great truth, and with you I believe that a man should not be judged by the amount of knowledge or wealth he possesses, nor by his learning or experience, but by that strength of will which he has developed through hard circumstance and resolution to realise a noble ideal. `And would not this idea make us excessively careful in passing judgment, or even giving our opinion upon the life or conduct of any of our fellows? In this age of criticism men think far too seldom of the deep import of those words :-' Judge not, that ye be not judged.' For how infinitely little can one man know of another's real and inner life! How seldom do we search and examine ourselves; how seldom look into the depths of our hearts! But in suffering the outward is forgotten, the inward only claims our thought, and sorrow thus becomes a great teacher. Sorrow in life has been compared to the minor strains of music in a few verses I will try to remember They run thus :— Life's music!-hath it minor strains, That wail thro' every heart, and breathe In the music of our actions There are tones both weird and thrilling, Agitating us, then stilling. Oft they come so soft and sighing, If they tell of mothers dying, From their children torn asunder. Then a rapturous chorus swelling- Ah, should we wish the minor strains The tones that thrill but do not sing? |