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career. He is happy who finds a work proportionate to his physical powers; a field of enterprise wide enough for the range of his spiritual faculties. But, in a general way, the ties and restrictions of a man's daily work in the world bind him down to fixed lines of thought and mechanical processes, so absorbing as to leave him weary when the day is done, though probably giving little space for the exercise of his choicest gifts; yet leaving, in the course of years, a marked impression upon the man, who becomes so worn down, and his originality so modified by influence of his externals, as scarcely to seem the same individual. The duties of life are mostly so grave and work so stern, as to leave small room for the cultivation of power and practices that lie outside the range of ordinary occupation; and the sexton, just mentioned, becomes all a grave-digger, the sailor all a seaman, the collier all a coalwinner, the artist all representation, the doctor all professional. Some, of course, there are who by native strength, joined on to unwearied determination, effect good work and enduring, quite outside the range of their daily tasks, and withal keep themselves from becoming too much imbued with the tone and colour of their craft. But such men, generally, are of unusual strength of mind; the majority, like a yellow brickmaker, telling to the world their handicraft in plain colours. And, with many men, life becomes a battle so severe, they are thankful to succeed in maintaining their place and lucrative task in the world: seeing that the race is so crowded with runners, and once out of the lists no place may offer again.

It seems to be a standing-order in the universe, that the simplest and homeliest work well done is better than the most brilliant achievement of faculties mis-applied or put to base purposes; the influence of plain and even coarse work, honest

ly and faithfully done, has more beneficial effect upon a man than even better employments that come not in the way of necessity and are merely recreative: for though thereby the wings of the spirit become dusted with little cares and trivial details, hindering its flight into higher regions of æsthetical atmospheres, still that man is in his duty, where he fears naught, and is on the side of order, battling for the right. For the rest, he may leave the higher themes, now of necessity disre-garded, for higher conditions; and trust to find full scope for any slumbering faculties of spirit (that now do but manifest themselves by at rare intervals struggling towards the light), in the boundless prospect opened out by the Christian faith beyond the grave.

I once knew a man of unwonted power of mind, of wide sympathies, large of heart, penetrated more than most people with sadness at the stern necessity of sorrow and pain and separation, and the narrow chambers of human existence here, at the littleness of daily tasks when the loving soul is boundless in its longing to give happiness to others, at the strange mysteries of a creation where the hawk eats its prey alive, and quiet worth is so often ground. down or persecuted by prosperous villany. The lot of this man, spiritually so strong, was cast among the rapid wheels of a prosperous manufacturing district, where for years, bordering on twenty, he had control and management of some hundred or two of men, besides all the care and responsibility and heavy writing-work by necessity pertaining to such a trust. Perhaps never was there a more faithful deputy, or one who discharged his work, so various and conflicting,. with greater conscientiousness and accuracy: nor, I may add, with more profitable success. Entering upon such a life at an early age, the task and responsibility were felt.

the more, and probably increased the natural tendency towards melancholy in one unusually sensitive. I have heard my friend remark that on Saturday evenings, when the last man was paid and the desk locked up for the week, it was a luxury to sit down. Now, in such a case the influence of externals must surely tell there must be some marked power exerted by all this work and responsibility, this close confinement in a dark smoky neighbourhood such as that was, all acting upon a nature extremely alive to the beautiful in whatever form, and upon a spirit dwelling often, as I have good reason to believe, upon loftiest themes. Narrow details, where the mind felt capable of dealing with widest principles little ministrations, where the soul felt it would love to aid in the grandest services: dirty, contracted, joyless buildings, when the misty mountains, the broad purple sea, the sweetly pastoral fields, were delighted in beyond measure. And :such externals did undoubtedly weigh down the spirit and oppress the entire man by their care, their responsibility, their petty and numerous details. I once remember seeing him seated in a friend's garden, miles away from that smoky district, and remarking how greatly he seemed to enjoy the simplest flowers, and what relief came out upon his features. In this case the influence of externals was mainly seen in a tone of quiet dejection, often pervading the whole man; a dejection without bitterness, caused by soiling of the spirit's pinions by dust and :sorrow of time. Yet did he maintain a noble persistency in performance of duties arduous for one so young, with a wonderful degree of accuracy and strict attention. Judging from his care in minute particulars, you might have supposed at first sight that his mind had found its best employment. Yet behind and above all this lay extraordinary power for soaring into his region of highest

æsthetical themes, for contemplating sublimest subjects, for taking lofty walks in literature, and especially in art. If one subject more than another suited him, it was art: there he was at home: his paintings and drawings are yet treasured in several quarters, now while the graceful hand that traced them is lying at rest. It would seem as if his life should have been spent in the cause of art, to him so dear and familiar. Yet did he produce admirable work for long years out of the dust and smoke and little details of careful work in its far from congenial form. With a rigid watchfulness over self, he combined unflinching discharge of duty and that all the while when the spirit glowed into fervour at the artistic in nature and the natural in art, though he was able but very sparingly to indulge therein. In such cases is the greater honour. Happily his heavenward tendencies were not warped back to earth, like a twig bent down to catch a mole. His was an instance where the loftier and more ethereal qualities of the spirit were kept alive in the midst of the deadening effects of terribly oppressive work. But his was a nature unusually strong, and able to mount above the weight of many cares. See him in the Highlands, or seated on a great stone in the bed of the Dee at Llangollen, and you would not suppose him capable of managing all the ramifications of a great manufactory. See him among the rapid wheels, or seated at his desk doing some writing of superb finish, and you might little imagine his love of the beautiful. To such a man we must yield unwavering praise, in so far as while inwardly aspiring after the noblest wants of the human spirit, he is outwardly battling for low but necessitous things of the body all in the way of duty and good, brought more to others than to himself. Surely such a man on whom the influence of externals exerts no be

clouding or enslaving power, but who keeps bright the facets of his spiritual vision to take in all heavenly impressions, must be reserved for better things: and those high powers, mostly dormant here, be kept for loftier enterprises in some other state of being.

It is remarkable how certain trades and occupations give a peculiar flavour and distinguishing quality to their followers: none more conspicuously than horse-dealing. Why rascality and over-reaching should be so intimately connected with horse-dealing, over and above most other business, is hard to say; but it is certain that horse jockeys and dealers are a class sui generis, to whom pertains a definite odour of getting the better of you in a bargain, of selling a screwy old horse at the price of a good one, with a flavour of highly seasoned stable slang. Frequent a fair or two, and mark the physiognomies of the men selling horses, and you will find a large amount of low cunning, with an expression of being given up to animal appetites, coupled with very coarse language: a class of men in very long waistcoats and tight trousers, mostly snuff-coloured; men who, as Dickens says, "regale themselves with a straw in their mouths; men who often carry a crooked ash stick, when they have no whip. Now, why should traffic in one of the noblest animals of creation be so connected with villany, any more than traffic in sugar or leather? Yet to visit some fairs, see the faces of the men, and hear their gross language, you might think you had come across the accumulated rascals of the kingdom.

Coming now to say a few words on the influence of different externals as powerful over the same person at different times, it is of no use to affirm that the mind may be the same under any circumstances. True, we may carry about with us a secret rejoicing no outward things, how

ever disastrous, can greatly disturb; or we may be plunged in remorse or sorrow to a degree that no measure of favour in externals can remove. But in a general way we are all largely affected by externals, and changes come over the mind with change of scene, or company, or house, or worldly circumstances. That young fellow Theresa has jilted for a rich, soap-boiling tradesman, may well retire among the wilds of Wales, or Scotland, or the glories of Switzerland: ease will come the sooner from the attractive features of those countries: the grand and beautiful in nature will surely, if but slowly, draw away the mind from morbidly dwelling on its own little affairs. Once I sat on the Great Orme's Head, with a lovely sky above, and below and afar lay the purple sea, dappled with cloud shadows, and, near the shore, creamy with foam of tumultuous waves, whose grand tone fell most agreeably on the ear. Near me sat a friend, lately troubled a good deal by menservants and other annoyances at home. "How one's own vexations seem nothing in sight of such a scene!" he remarked: and I truly felt the same. If you have been harassed more than usual, or wearied by some little care that with all your effort cannot be got rid of; if, by long application in one direction of mental strain, your mind has become warped into one-sided views, and near vexations seem so much larger than distant comforts,-leave all behind for a few days, if you would recover tone; get off to the sea, and lie for the space of three hours with nothing in sight but tossing waves, breaking whitely at your feet, and a far vessel, or steamer leaving a long trail of smoke, with a white bird undulating through the blue: you will probably become easier of heart, clearer in mental vision, more charitably disposed towards all men, more hopeful for the future. As you do nought but hear the sea

booming on shore, you will very likely forget the weight of that mortgage on the old family estate, the care of parish duties, the tedious, noisy round of London City, the slandering gossip of Mrs. Jones over the way, or whatever was worrying you but lately.

There is nothing like communion with nature to give relief to humanity oppressed with little cares, and things often look so different when we shift our point of view. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed with small cares and many trivial details, that our view of the grand features of life becomes obstructed, so that we misjudge the whole by distortion of objects near, like a fly complaining of the roughness of the marble pillars of the Parthenon. We need to stand away to admire the whole. And in like manner, depend upon it, will there be found to be a unity and plan and a beauty about God's dealings with us in this life, taken as a whole to the formation of character, though, separate, bits may seem rough and retrograde,

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it sometimes surprises. even ourselves how quickly our thoughts and views. and feelings become changed with change of externals. We leave a host of trivial cares and little vexations, and the regular round of daily work, grown oppressive by repetition and being dwelt upon so long,, and among the variety of mountains, rich in beauty, or by the sounding shore, find relief (like the setting aside of a load), and a different view of things: the tone of the mind becomes changed, and passes into more healthy phases.

Again, we find a strong love and admiration of the beautiful called out of their slumber. The usual externals of home life may have less notably excited us into admiration; but beautiful scenery, or grand mountain forms, arouses in us feelings and infinite longings we may till then have not supposed ourselves capable of. Ardent desire for more habitual

rejoicing in the beauties of creation may come upon us with the strength of a passion, and that only a few hours removed from times when dull uniformity of routine claimed all our thoughts. Few things can charm the human mind like beauty in external objects. That insatiable thirst. for beauty and truth implanted in the soul, which nothing but God Himself can fully satisfy, receives. some little pleasure when any external things present forms of remarkable beauty or phases of uniform truth. And we may affirm that the contemplation of beauty and truth without, in forms external, aids in assimilation of our own character towards that which is good and consequently beautiful. The reformation of character in all of us needs, we know, another Agent; but the presence of things lovely has a tendency to allure us in the same direction. Thankfulness also rises in the heart at the sight of any object of peculiar beauty or sublimity-thankfulness unconscious or expressed ; and expressed it should ever be, deeply within the heart, though no human eye may see down to its gladness. Sight of a sweetly innocent childish figure will sometimes do this, and out of its gloom the heart responds. The solemn and somewhat stern countenance of a true man, and the open face and clear forehead and calm eyes of a good woman, will sometimes do this: and we suddenly feel glad, without well knowing why. Form and colour of lovely flowers, as the lily of the valley or the rose, will sometimes do this and a quick passage of rejoicing goes across the heart. The assemblage of mountains circling round some calm lake, that mirrors. the purple shades of their steaming flanks, will sometimes do this: and we rest as in a trance under their spell. The far concave of night, glittering with stars, will sometimes do this: and we long for wings to scale their amazing distance, while

a thrill of awe comes over us as we adore Him who so scattered them like dust over the void.

In no few cases is it desirable to hold our ourselves aloof from the influence of externals. Bad example and bad practice often go together: and it is well known few things influence character so much as example, and bad society is to be shunned as we would avoid a plague. It is difficult to keep altogether aloof from the absorbing influence of some kinds of externals, as they surround and woo us to themselves. We must then make an effort and a firm stand. I suppose many persons have felt a sort of dread lest individuality should be lost in the confusion of a great city. To me this feeling has sometimes brought a very definite sense of danger lest I should lose my own idiosyncracy among the crowds and noise of a thickly-peopled town. A gifted authoress once spoke to me of having experienced this in a strange degree; as though the separate life and responsibility and character were being lost among so many. Of course it is but a transient feeling, experienced, perhaps, only by a few unaccustomed to frequent great crowds. But the same principle seems to work in the unbridled license of a mob. Men then urge one another to deeds they would singly shun, and under cover of numbers the vilest atrocities are sometimes perpetrated. The world has had a terrible instance of this in the horrible excesses and black barbarities committed by the mad Commune of unhappy Paris: crimes for wilful violence and sheer malignity almost unparalleled in the history of the world, and such as have made all Europe shudder. In a mob no man feels himself responsible: a great crowd acts as one man : then in that loss of personal responsibility and veiling of individuality, the worst traits of humanity are liable to shew themselves, and ungoverned passions find vent in deeds of foul atro

city. The contagion of a lawless mob runs like a pestilence among the scum of such a city as Paris : the result being deadly to order and humanity. One's own individuality seems shifted on to the shoulders of others, in a great crowd united for common ends, and a ready excuse is found for base deeds when imitation supplants self-rule, and excitement takes the place of reason.

Influence of externals becomes blended with power of the Unseen in the case of example of good men. They are greatly blessed who grow up under the benign influence of good parents or good teachers, who are as mirrors reflecting fragmentary but beneficial images of some phases of the perfect goodness of God. The very external aspect, and bearing, and tone, of one sincere man or woman have great attractive power: by some subtle spiritual influence we positively feel better in their company. I think of one, two, several persons, within whose influence it seemed good to live. Contact with their solemn, thoughtful, yet kindly lives seemed to take down one's own frivolity, or selfishness, or impatience. Such men, in quiet moments, are generally grave, perhaps even stern, yet can quickly turn to play with a little child. I have known one whose grave yet kindly presence seemed quietly to rebuke me: it seemed to hold something of the two silences closing in its own brief life. The eye and the smile of sincere persons are exponents, generally, of worth of character lying below, and let you down further into the depths of their spiritual life than do most other features or expressions. But generally the whole man expresses more or less his character; and, in the case of deeply earnest and thoughtful people, sincerity stands at nearly every loophole, ready armed for the foe, and steadfastly telling its sympathy with every tried but patient child of man. It is good to come near one of these men of power,

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