Evil drags horrid catastrophe behind
it; but an act of virtue is only a silent offering to the
profoundest laws of life; and therefore, doubtless, does the balance
of mighty justice seem more ready to incline beneath deeds of
darkness than beneath those of light. But if we can scarcely believe
that "happiness in crime" be possible, have we more warrant for
faith in the "unhappiness of virtue"? We know that the executioner
can stretch Spinoza on the rack, and that terrible disease will
spare Antoninus Pius no more than Goneril or Regan; but pain such as
this belongs to the animal, not the human, side of man. Wisdom has
indeed sent science, the youngest of her sisters, into the realm of
destiny, with the mission to bring the zone of physical suffering
within ever-narrowing limits; but there are inaccessible regions
within that realm, where disaster ever will rule. Some stricken ones
there will always be, victims to irreducible injustice; and yet will
the true wisdom, in the midst of its sorrow, only be fortified
thereby, only gain in self-reliance and humanity all that it, may
lose in more mystic qualities. We become truly just only when it is
finally borne home to us that we must search within ourselves for
our model of justice.
Pages:
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166