d women?

That depends upon what you mean by an honest man. A great saint once
said that an honest man would certainly not be hanged, but that it was
by no means equally certain that he would not be damned. A man may do
sundry wicked and crooked things and not forfeit his title to be called
honest. The majority of Satan's subjects were probably honest people in
their day.

The quality of being an honest man, according to many people, consists
in having the privilege of doing a certain amount of wickedness without
prejudice to his eternal salvation. The philosophy of this class of
people is summed up in these words: "Do little and get much; make a
success of life from the standpoint of your own selfishness, and then
sneak into heaven almost by stealth and fraud." That is one way of
doing business with the Lord. But, there are greater things in heaven
and on earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.

Human natures differ as much as pebbles on the sea shore. One man's
meat has often proven poison to another. In the religion of Jesus
Christ there is something more than the Commandments given to Moses.
Love of God has degrees of intensity and perfection. Such words as
sacrifice, mortification, self-denial have a meaning as they have
always had. God gives more to some, less to others; He demands
corresponding returns. These are things Horatio ignores. Yet they are
real, real as his own empty and conceited wisdom.

CHAPTER XL.
THE PROFESSION.

ONE of the advantages of the monastic life, created by vows, is that it
is wholly in keeping with human nature such as God created it. Men
differ in their spiritual complexion more widely even than they do in
mental caliber and physical make-up. All are not fitted by character
and general condition for the same 'career; we are "cut out" for our
peculiar tasks. It is the calling of one to be a soldier, of another to
be a statesman, because each is best fitted by nature for this
particular walk of life. The born poet, if set to put together a
machine, will, in the majority of cases, make a sorry mess of the job,
and a bricklayer will usually prove to be an indifferent story-writer.

So also one is called to be a good Christian, while his brother may be
destined for a more perfect life. If there are vocations in the natural
life, why should there not be in the supernatural, which is just as
truly a life? If variety of aptitudes and likes determine difference of
calli