ntlessness, and so on,
and reject all else. Each one of these aspects of the Christian faith is
doubtless very interesting, but none of them by itself is an adequate
representation of Christ. "They have torn the soul of Christ into silly
strips, labelled egoism and altruism, and they are equally puzzled by
His insane magnificence and His insane meekness. They have parted His
garments among them, and for His vesture they have cast lots; though the
coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout."

The characteristic word for Mr. Chesterton and his attitude to life is
_vitality_. He has been seeking for human nature, and he has found it at
last in Christian idealism. But having found it, he will allow no
compromise in its acceptance. It is life he wants, in such wholeness as
to embrace every element of human nature. And he finds that Christianity
has quickened and intensified life all along the line. It is the great
source of vitality, come that men might have life and that they might
have it more abundantly. He finds an essential joy and riot in creation,
a "tense and secret festivity." And Christianity corresponds to that
riot. "The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while
it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to
give room for good things to run wild." It has let loose the wandering,
masterless, dangerous virtues, and has insisted that not one or another
of them shall run wild, but all of them together. The ideal of wholeness
which Matthew Arnold so eloquently advocated, is not a dead mass of
theories, but a world of living things. Christ will put a check on none
of the really genuine elements in human nature. In Him there is no
compromise. His love and His wrath are both burning. All the separate
elements of human nature are in full flame, and it is the only ultimate
way of peace and safety. The various colours of life must not be mixed
but kept distinct. The red and white of passion and purity must not be
blended into the insipid pink of a compromising and consistent
respectability. They must be kept strong and separate, as in the blazing
Cross of St. George on its shield of white.

Chaucer's "Daisy" is one of the greatest conceptions in all poetry. It
has stood for centuries as the emblem of pure and priceless womanhood,
with its petals of snowy white and its heart of gold. Mr. Chesterton
once made a discovery that sent him wild with joy--

"Then waxed I l