spirit of optimism. That same spirit carried into the sphere of
finance might ruin a firm. The success in one branch might therefore
well be the failure in the other, and vice versa. No young man,
therefore, has failed until he has succeeded.

If I had to choose one single and celebrated instance of this doctrine I
should find it in the career of Lord Reading, Viceroy of India.

It may be objected that, as he is of the Jewish race and religion, his
is not a fair test case by which to try the abilities and aptitudes of
the young men of Great Britain. I do not accept the distinction. The
powers and mental aptitudes of the Jews are exactly the same as ours,
except that they come to full flower earlier. The precocity of this
maturity is interpreted as a special genius for affairs--which it is
not.

Lord Reading started his career on the Stock Exchange, where he failed
utterly. No doubt experience would have brought him a reasonable measure
of success; but it was equally clear that this was not the sphere for
his preeminent abilities. He therefore broke boldly away and entered at
the Bar, where his intellect secured him a reputation and an income,
especially in commercial cases, which left his competitors divided
between admiration and annoyance. In a single year he made L40,000. The
peg had found the round hole. His eminence procured him the
Attorney-Generalship. Yet with all his ability and his personal
popularity he was not a real success in the House of Commons.
Parliamentary warfare was not his aptitude. So he became Lord Chief
Justice. His great personal character and reputation gave Lord Reading
in his new position a certain reputation as a great Lord Chief. From my
own limited experience I do not agree. I had to watch closely a certain
case he was trying, and I did not think Lord Reading was a great judge.
He failed to carry the jury with him; the final Court of Appeal ordered
a new trial, which resulted in the reversal of the judgment. Such a
thing might happen to any judge, but a strong one would have put a
prompt end to proceedings which were obviously vexatious and entailed
great cost by the delay on defendants, who had obviously been dragged
improperly into the action. But his real opportunity came with his
mission to the United States during the war. No ambassador had ever
achieved such popularity and influence or brought back such rich sheaves
with him. As a diplomatist, a man of law, and a man of business,