When Dr. Abbot, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, drew the
character of his deceased friend Thomas Sackville, (1) he did not
dwell upon his merits as a statesman, or his genius as a poet, but
upon his virtues as a man in relation to the ordinary duties of
life. "How many rare things were in him!" said he. "Who more
loving unto his wife? Who more kind unto his children?--Who more
fast unto his friend?--Who more moderate unto his enemy?--Who
more true to his word?" Indeed, we can always better understand
and appreciate a man's real character by the manner in which he
conducts himself towards those who are the most nearly related to
him, and by his transaction of the seemingly commonplace details
of daily duty, than by his public exhibition of himself as an
author, an orator, or a statesman.

At the same time, while Duty, for the most part, applies to the
conduct of affairs in common life by the average of common men, it
is also a sustaining power to men of the very highest standard of
character. They may not have either money, or property, or
learning, or power; and yet they may be strong in heart and rich
in spirit--honest, truthful, dutiful. And whoever strives to do
his duty faithfully is fulfilling the purpose for which he was
created, and building up in himself the principles of a manly
character. There are many persons of whom it may be said that
they have no other possession in the world but their character,
and yet they stand as firmly upon it as any crowned king.

Intellectual culture has no necessary relation to purity or
excellence of character. In the New Testament, appeals are
constantly made to the heart of man and to "the spirit we are of,"