out running into more minute
discussion, I say again--that there is no substantial ground of
supremacy in aught that is merely accidental or external; and he who
rests upon such claims stands upon a pedestal as uncertain as it is
spurious.

"If a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive
lawfully." This was the old rule of the Grecian games, which would not
permit the prize to be gained by any unfair or incomplete methods. It
was applied by the apostle to a specific work--the great work of the
Christian ministry. But it is a law which prevails in all human action.
And, while it suggests that spurious precedence for which there is so
much striving, it also indicates the fact that there _is_ a real
difference of degree among men, and that there are proper methods of
obtaining supremacy.

And, as I look around in the populous city, in order to illustrate the
grounds of this lawful precedence, I observe, in the first place, that
there are men who occupy the higher places by ordinance of nature so to
speak; or, more properly, by the purpose of God. It is a fact in nature
that all men are created equal, and it is also a fact in nature that
all men are not equal. All men are created equal as to the essential
rights and privileges of humanity. They have a claim to live; they have
an impartial share in the Divine Love; they have a right to liberty, to
freedom of thought and of limb, by a constitution older than any
historical document, drawn up in the court of God's decrees and
authenticated by His handwriting in the soul. Thus far all men are
_created_ equal, and, if it turns out otherwise with them, it ensues
from what is _made_ by man, not what is commanded by Heaven. But so far
as quantity of nature is concerned--original capacity and spiritual
gifts--men are not equal. And if it is asked--"Why are they not equal?"
I answer, it is by appointment of the same Sovereign Mind which has
ordained that "one star shall differ from another star in glory." But
each form of being has its own capacities, and if these are filled the
moral harmony is secured. Through all prevails the law of compensation,
balancing the vicissitudes of experience. And, among these diversities
of human capacity, some must of necessity occupy the highest place--men
whose native genius carries them up in a splendid orbit, and endows them
with control. And the world at large always acknowledges the rectitude
of this appointment. It che