cision was a wise one is nothing to
the point; it was his decision, and he had the right to exercise it.
It brought trouble. That was a contingency to be reckoned in the risk;
but having taken it, he had no right to sacrifice his manhood to his
trouble. He might not be able to resist the strength of the
circumstances that selected him for a commercial victim, but he was
bound to overcome the weakness in himself to which the circumstances
appealed. He might not be responsible for losing his business, but he
was responsible for losing himself.

We talk about people doing wrong from force of circumstances. Well,
every man who knows anything about it, has felt something of the touch
of omnipotence there may be in circumstances. It is not always either
kind or wise to try to hearten people who are in difficulties, by
concealing or underrating their force and gravity. It is a terrible
experience for a man past a certain age in his life, to find himself in
the grip of financial difficulties, and face to face with social
annihilation. I have seen men there, and the very thought of it
unnerves me.

But past it all, the old saying holds good, there is nothing in life we
can afford to do wrong for; and if, in the stress of circumstances, a
man elects to take a wrong turn, he takes it according to the teaching
of the text, because the inclination towards wrong is there, waiting
its turn. We may sympathize with a man who goes down in his outward
affairs and social status before the impact of circumstances he cannot
resist, but we must maintain at the same time, that while circumstances
may explain the trouble, whatever it is, they cannot justify
wrong-doing either to escape trouble or as a refuge when in it.

Victor Hugo declares that for every crisis we have in us an instinct to
meet it. That is a fine saying. If any man, who has had some moral
training, will obey his first instinct of right, it is marvellous what
possibilities there are at the heart of it. If, finding himself after
the best he can do apparently defeated, he will take heed and be
quiet--that is, do the best he can with what is left, and trust God--he
will also find that the resources of the old word are not yet
exhausted: "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the
upright in heart."

He may have to lose his means, and step down in the world, as it is
called, but let him do it with a clean conscience and a fine integrity;
and just as "man