nature, and yet more royal when he rules his brother man, is he not most
royal when he so rules himself as to do the right even when it is
distasteful?

A man who had declared his aversion for what he called the dry facts of
political economy, was found one day knitting his brows over a book on
that subject. When a friend expressed surprise, the man replied: "I am
playing the schoolmaster with myself. I am reading this because I
dislike it."

Difficulties are often really helpful. They enlarge our experience and
incite us to do our best. "The head of Hercules," says Ruskin, "was
always represented as covered with a lion's skin, with the claws joining
under the chin, to show that when we had conquered our misfortunes they
became a help to us."

One of the greatest hindrances to obedience is a false pride. The
thought of living under the will and direction of another is exceedingly
unpleasant, and where such a pride bears rule in the heart, a cheerful
obedience is almost an impossibility. We often fail to obey simply
because we are unwilling to acknowledge ourselves in the wrong.

Obedience is also hindered by ignorance. One of our commonest errors is
that which teaches that authority is always pleasant, and submission
always painful. The actual experiences of life prove that the place of
command is usually a position of great anxiety, while the place of
obedience is generally one of ease and freedom from care.

Indolence also opposes obedience. In our selfish love of ease we allow
duties to go undone until the habit of disobedience becomes almost