satisfaction there may be in the doing of evil; but none the less
does each wrongful deed clip the wings of our thoughts, till at
length they can only crawl amidst all that is fleeting and personal.
To commit an act of injustice is to prove we have not yet attained
the happiness within our grasp. And in evil--reduce things to their
primal elements, and you shall find that even the wicked are seeking
some measure of peace, a certain up-lifting of soul. They may think
themselves happy, and rejoice for such dole as may come to them; but
would it have satisfied Marcus Aurelius, who knew the lofty
tranquillity, the great quickening of the soul? Show a vast lake to
the child who has never beheld the sea, it will clap its hands and
be glad, and think the sea is before it; but therefore none the less
does the veritable sea exist.

It may be that a man will find happiness in the puny little
victories that his vanity, envy, or indifference win for him day
after day. Shall we begrudge him such happiness, we, whose eyes can
see further? Shall we strive for his consciousness of life, for the
religion that pleases his soul, for the conception of the universe
that justifies his cares? Yet out of these things are the banks made
between which happiness flows; and as they are, so shall the river
be, in shallowness or in depth. He may believe that there is a God,
or that there is no God; that all ends in this world, or that it is
prolonged into the next; that all is matter, or that all is spirit.
He will believe these things much as wise men believe them; but do
you think his manner of belief can be the same? To look fearlessly
upon life; to accept the laws of nature, not with meek resignation,
but as her sons, who dare to search and question; to have peace and
confidence within our soul--these are the beliefs that make for
happiness. But to believe is not enough; all depends on how we