found the real field for his talents.

From the Law Courts he has journeyed to a position of great
responsibility in India. Some voices are already acclaiming the success
of the new Viceroy. It will be wiser to wait until it is clear whether
his versatile genius will find successful play in its new environment.

But the moral of Lord Reading's career is plain. Do not despair over
initial failure. Seek a new opening more suited to your talents. Fight
on in the certain hope that a career waits for every man.



XII


CONSISTENCY


Nothing is so bad as consistency. There exists no more terrible person
than the man who remarks: "Well, you may say what you like, but at any
rate I have been consistent." This argument is generally advanced as the
palliation for some notorious failure. And this is natural For the man
who is consistent must be out of touch with reality. There is no
consistency in the course of events, in history, in the weather, or in
the mental attitude of one's fellow-men. The consistent man means that
he intends to apply a single foot-rule to all the chances and changes of
the universe.

This mental standpoint must of necessity be founded on error. To adopt