ave, to which he is followed with blessings. God forbid we
should not call it beautiful. It is beautiful, but not the most
beautiful.

"There is another life, hard, rough, and thorny, trodden with
bleeding feet and aching brow; the life of which the cross is the
symbol; a battle which no peace follows, this side of the grave;
which the grave gapes to finish before the victory is won;
and--strange that it should be so--this is the highest life of
man.

"Look back along the great names of history; there is none whose
life has been other than this. They to whom it has been given to
do the really highest work in this earth, whoever they are, Jew or
Gentile, Pagan or Christian, warriors, legislators, philosophers,
priests, poets, kings, slaves--one and all, their fate has been
the same--the same bitter cup has been given them to drink."

Another passage of deep and melancholy beauty cannot be omitted
from this volume. It records in language of haunting loveliness the
passing away of feudalism and chivalry and of a thousand years of the
pageantry of faith:--

"The great trading companies were not instituted for selfish
purposes, but to ensure the consumer of manufactured articles that
what he purchased was properly made and of a reasonable price.
They determined prices, fixed wages, and arranged the rules of
apprenticeship. But in time the companies lost their healthy
vitality, and, with other relics of feudalism, were in the reign
of Elizabeth hastening away. There were no longer tradesmen to be
found in sufficient number who were possessed of the necessary
probity; and it is impossible not to connect such a phenomenon
with the deep melancholy which, in those days, settled down on
Elizabeth herself.

"For indeed a change was coming upon the world, the meaning and
direction of which even is still hidden from us--a change from era
to era. The paths trodden by the footsteps of ages were broken up;
old things were passing away, and the faith and life of ten
centuries were dissolving like a dream. Chivalry was dying; the
abbey and the castle were soon together to crumble into ruins; and
all the forms, desires, beliefs, convictions of the old world were
passing away, never to return. A new continent had risen up beyond
the western sea. The floor of heaven, inlaid with stars, had sunk
ba