ement without which it cannot be made perfect.

Section II.

Submission.

There are events, seemingly adverse, which in themselves are transient,
and inflict no permanent discomfort, but which necessitate the surrender
of cherished expectations, the change of favorite plans, it may be, the
life-long abandonment of aims and hopes that had held the foremost place
in the anticipated future. Here submission of some sort is a necessity.
But the submission may be querulous and repining; it may be bitter and
resentful; it may be stern and rigid. In the last of these types only can
there be any semblance of virtue; and this last can be virtuous, only
where inevitable events are attributed to Fate, and not to Providence. But
if a wise and kind Providence presides over human affairs, its decrees are
our directory. The very events which hedge in, mark out our way. The tree
which has its upward growth checked spreads its branches; that which is
circumscribed in its lateral expansion attains the greater height. The
tendrils of the vine are guided by the very obstacles placed in its way.
Thus, in human life, impassable barriers in one direction prescribe aims
and endeavors in a different direction. The things that we cannot do
determine the things that we ought to do. The growth which is impeded must
give place to growth of a different type, and to us undoubtedly more
wholesome, more congenial with our capacities, more conducive to our true
well-being. What seem obstacles may be supports, giving the best possible
direction to our active powers, and so training our desires and affections
as to lead to higher happiness and more substantial good than could have
otherwise been attained.

*Submission*, then, *must be grounded in faith*. The inevitable must be to
us the appointment of Omniscient Love. In our childhood the very regimen
and discipline that were least to our taste proceeded often from the
wisest counsels, and in due time we acquiesced in them as judicious and
kind, nor would we in the retrospect have had them otherwise. As little as
we then knew what was best for our well-being in the nearer future, we may
now know as to what is best for us in a remote future, whether in the
present or in a higher state of being. All that remains for us is
acquiescence, cheerful and hopeful, in a Wisdom that cannot err, in a Love
which can will only the best of which we are capable.

*Submission* i