out
the lights and quench the guests.

CHAPTER VI.

THE TRANSIENT AND THE PERMANENT IN THE DESTINY OF MAN.

A COMPANION of Solomon once said to him, "Give me, O king of
wisdom, a maxim equally applicable on all occasions, that I may
fortify myself with it against the caprices of fortune." Solomon
reflected a moment, then gave him, in these words, the maxim he
sought: "This, too, shall pass away." The courtier at first felt
disappointed, but, meditating awhile, perceived the pertinent and
profound meaning hidden in the transparent simplicity of the
words. Are you afflicted? Be not despondent or rash, This, too,
shall pass away. Are you blessed? Be not elated or careless, This
too shall pass away. Are you in danger? in temptation? in glory?
Still, for your proper guidance, in relation to each one,
remember; This too shall pass away. And so on, under every
diversity of situation in which man can be placed. Whatever
restraint, whatever encouragement, whatever consolation he needs,
it is all contained in the profound thought, This too shall pass
away.

This maxim for all times needs to be supplemented by a
corresponding maxim for all persons. There is a truth constantly
suited for the variety of immortal souls, as the foregoing one is
for the variety of temporal changes. Let us see what that truth is
and set it in a fitting aphorism.

The desires of the human soul are boundless. Nothing can satisfy
its wishes by fulfilling them and circumscribing there a fixed
limit. It would devour the whole creation, and hungrily cry for
more. Whatever extension of power or fruition it can conceive, it
wants for its own, and frets if deprived of it. Now, if the spirit
of the Creator is in the creature, this illimitable passion of
acquisition cannot be a mere mockery. It must be a hint of the
will of God and of the destiny of his child in whom He has
implanted it. It is prophetic of something awaiting fulfillment.
But what is the prophecy, and how is it to be fulfilled? The
answer to this question will give us that maxim of eternal
humanity which accords with the maxim of transient fortune. And
thus it reads: Over all the things for which men struggle with
each other, there is one thing, out of the sphere of struggle,
which indivisibly belongs to every man, and that one thing is the
whole universe! Be not baffled by the appearance of transcendental
mysticism in this maxim, as the ancient inquirer was by the
appearance of commonpla