and from him who has little, that little
shall be taken away."

To become perfect it is not required that we should be born without any
animal desires. Such a person would not be much above an idiot; he
would be rightly despised and laughed at by every true man and woman;
but we must obtain the power to control our desires, instead of being
controlled by them; and here lies the true philosophy of temptation.

If a man has no higher aim in life than to eat and drink and propagate
his species; if all his aspirations and desires are centred in a wish
of living a happy life in the bosom of his family; there can be no
wrong if he follows the dictates of his nature and is satisfied with his
lot. When he dies, his family will mourn, his friends will say he was a
good fellow; they will give him a first-class funeral, and they will
perhaps write on his tombstone something like what I once saw in a
certain churchyard:

Here is the grave of John McBride,
He lived, got married, and died.

And that will be the end of Mr. John McBride, until in another
incarnation he will wake up again perhaps as Mr. John Smith, or
Ramchandra Row, or Patrick O'Flannegan, to find himself on much the same
level as he was before.

But if a man has higher aims and objects in life, if he wants to avoid
an endless cycle of re-incarnations, if he wants to become a master of
his destiny, then must he first become a master of himself. How can he
expect to be able to control the external forces of Nature, if he cannot
control the few little natural forces that reside within his own
insignificant body?

To do this, it is not necessary that a man should run away from his wife
and family, and leave them uncared for. Such a man would commence his
spiritual career with an act of injustice,--an act that like Banquo's
ghost would always haunt him and hinder him in his further progress. If
a man has taken upon himself responsibilities, he is bound to fulfill
them, and an act of cowardice would be a bad beginning for a work that
requires courage.

A celibate, who has no temptation and who has no one to care for but
himself, has undoubtedly superior advantages for meditation and study.
Being away from all irritating influences, he can lead what may be
called a selfish life; because he looks out only for his own spiritual
interest; but he has little opportunity to develop his will-power by
resisting temptations of every kind. But the man w