prosperous as they themselves are. We may attribute it more simply
and more piously to the wear and tear of frail humanity. For it may
be that very few human souls can stand for many years the strain of a
great rule. I do not mean that they break down from overwork, but
that they are pulled out of shape by it; and that, especially, the
will becomes enormously developed at the expense of the other powers
of the soul, till the man becomes, as he grows older, imperious,
careless of, or irritated by counsel, determined to have his own way
because it is his own way. We see the same tendency in all
accustomed for a long while to absolute rule, even in petty matters;-
-in the old ship's captain, the old head of a factory, the old master
of hounds; and we do not blame them for it. It is a disease incident
to their calling, as pedantry is to that of a scholar, or astuteness
to that of an attorney. But it is most dangerous in the greatest
minds, and in the highest places; and only to be kept off by them, as
by us, each in our place, by honest self-examination, diligent
prayer, and the grace of God which comes thereby. Once or twice in
the world's history a great ruler, like Charles the Fifth, cuts the
Gordian knot, and escapes into a convent: but how few can or ought
to do that? There are those who must go on ruling, or see their
country ruined; for all depends on them. So had Queen Elizabeth to
do; so had Dietrich of Bern likewise. After them would come the
deluge, and did come; and they must endure to the last, whatever it
may cost to their own health of character, or peace of mind.

But most painful, and most dangerous to the veteran sovereign, is it
to have learnt to suspect, perhaps to despise, those whom he rules;
to have thrown away all his labour upon knaves and fools; to have
cast his pearls before swine, and find them turning again and rending
him. That feeling, forced from Queen Elizabeth, in her old age, that