What sort of a place was that court where Daniel was? Half shambles and
half pigsty. Luxury, sensuality, lust, self-seeking, idolatry, ruthless
cruelty, and the like were the environment of this man. And in the
middle of these there grew up that fair flower of a character, pure and
stainless, by the acknowledgment of enemies, and in which not even
accusers could find a speck or a spot. There are no circumstances in
which a man must have his garments spotted by the world. However deep
the filth through which he has to wade, if God sent him there, and if he
keeps hold of God's hand, his purity will be more stainless by reason of
the impurity round him. There were saints in Cæsar's household, and
depend upon it, they were more saintly saints just because they were in
Cæsar's household. You will always find that people who have any
goodness in them, and who live in conditions unusually opposed to
goodness, have a clearer faith, and a firmer grasp of their Master, and
a higher ideal of Christian life, just because of the foulness in which
they have to live. It may sound a paradox, but it is a deep truth that
unfavourable circumstances are the most favourable for the development
of Christian character. For that development comes, not by what we draw
from the things around, but by what we draw from the soil in which we
are rooted, even God Himself, in whom the roots find both anchorage and
nutriment. And the more we are thrown back upon Him, and the less we
find food for our best selves in the things about us, the more likely is
our religion to be robust and thorough-going, and conscious ever of His
presence. Resistance strengthens muscles, and the more there is need for
that in our Christian lives, the manlier and the stronger and the better
shall we probably be. Let no man or woman say, 'If only circumstances
were more favourable, oh, what a saint I could be; but how can I be one,
with all these unfavourable conditions? How can a man keep the purity of
his Christian life and the fervour of his Christian communion amidst the
tricks and chicanery and small things of Manchester business? How can a