in it. Far more, as things now are, we see men
sinking into sameness--an inorganic, unwholesome sameness, in which the
higher nature is subdued, and the _man_ is sacrificed to the profession.
The circumstances of his life are his world; and he sinks under them, he
does not conquer them. If he has to choose between the two, God's
uniform is better than the world's. The first gives him freedom; the
second takes it from him. Only here, as in everything, we must
understand the nature of the element in which we work; understand it;
understand the laws of it. Throw off the lower laws; the selfish,
debasing influences of the profession; obey the higher; follow love,
truthfulness, manliness; follow these first, and make the profession
serve them; and that is freedom; there is none else possible for man.

Das Gesetz soll nur uns Freiheit geben;

and whatever individuality is lost in the process, we may feel assured
that the devil has too much to do with, to make us care to be rid of it.

But how to arrive at this? so easy as it is to suggest on paper, so easy
to foretell in words. Raise the level of public opinion, we might say;
insist on a higher standard; in the economist's language, increase the
demand for goodness, and the supply will follow; or, at any rate, men
will do their best. Until we require more of one another, more will not
be provided. But this is but to restate the problem in other words. How
are we to touch the heart; how to awaken the desire? We believe that the
good man, the great man, whatever he be, prince or peasant, is really
lovely; that really and truly, if we can only see him, he more than
anything will move us; and at least, we have a right to demand that the
artificial hindrances which prevent our lifting him above the crowd,
shall be swept away. He in his beautiful life is a thousand times more
God's witness than any preacher in a pulpit, and his light must not be
concealed any more. As we said, what lies in the way of our sacred
recognition of great men is more than anything else the Protestant
doctrine of good works. We do not forget what it meant when the world
first heard of it. It was a cry from the very sanctuary of the soul,
flinging off and execrating the accursed theory of merits, the sickening
parade of redundant saintly virtues, which the Roman Church had
converted into stock, and dispensed for the benefit of the believers.
This is not the place to pour out our nausea on so poor, yet