Moreover, as Sir Arthur Helps has wisely pointed out, "the enlarged view
we have of the Universe must in some measure damp personal ambition. What
is it to be king, sheikh, tetrarch, or emperor over a 'bit of a bit' of
this little earth?" "All rising to great place," says Bacon, "is by a
winding stair;" and "princes are like heavenly bodies, which have much
veneration, but no rest."

Plato in the _Republic_ mentions an old myth that after death every soul
has to choose a lot in life for the existence in the next world; and he
tells us that the wise Ulysses searched for a considerable time for the
lot of a private man. He had some difficulty in finding it, as it was
lying neglected in a corner, but when he had secured it he was delighted;
the recollection of all he had gone through on earth, having disenchanted
him of ambition.

Moreover, there is a great deal of drudgery in the lives of courts.
Ceremonials may be important, but they take up much time and are terribly
tedious.

A man then is his own best kingdom. "He that ruleth his speech," says
Solomon, "is better than he that taketh a city." But self-control, this
truest and greatest monarchy, rarely comes by inheritance. Every one of us
must conquer himself; and we may do so, if we take conscience for our
guide and general.

No one really fails who does his best. Seneca observes that "no one saith
the three hundred Fabii were defeated, but that they were slain," and if
you have done your best, you will, in the words of an old Norse ballad,
have gained