sake of their health of body or the welfare of their souls! For health
of body they go barefoot in the daytime or sleep in wet sheets at
night; for the good of their souls they go on pilgrimages and into
retreats, or submit themselves to other forms of spiritual exercise.
They go even farther in their pious credulity. There is not a hardship
or a folly, or a risk of body or soul, or any form of martyrdom, which
is not accepted by thousands in the hope that it will save their souls.
And all the time the simple way to the meaning of life lies straight
before their feet,--a way, however, let us last of all remember, which
it is not enough to know, but which is given us to follow. This is the
truth which a scholar of the time of Luther teaches, though he himself
had not fully attained the truth. Not, he writes, by knowing the way
but by going it, is the meaning of life to be found. He put into the
mouth of Christ his lesson:
“_Why art thou then so faint of heart,
O man of little faith?
Have I not strength to do My part
As God’s word promiseth?_
_Why wilt thou not return to Me
Whose pity will receive?
Why seek not Him whose grace can free
And every fault forgive?_
_Why was it hard the way to find,
Which straight before thee ran?
Why dost thou wander as though blind?
’Tis thine own choice, O man!_”
NOTES
NOTE 1
_“Friedrich Max von Klinger,” says Professor Hilty, “was born in 1752,
at Frankfort. His family were poor, and after he had with difficulty
pursued his studies at the University of Giessen, he became at first
a play-writer for a travelling company. He then served during the
Bavarian War of Succession in a corps of volunteers. Later he became
reader and travelling companion to the Czarevitch Paul of Russia,
afterwards the Emperor. He was made Director of the corps of cadets
of the nobility, as well as of the Emperor’s pages, and of the girls’
school for the nobility. Under Alexander I. he was also made Curator
of the University of Dorpat. In all these relations of life, which
were as difficult as can be imagined, in his contact with actors,
crown-princes, Czars, noble pages and women of the court, diplomats
and professors--who, taken together, are certainly not of the classes
most easy to deal with--and living at a court thoroughly degraded and
beset by self-seekers of the lowest kind as was the court of Catherine
II., von Klinger preserved his candid character and moral courage and
gained the high respect of his contemporaries. In Goethe’s Wahrheit
und Dichtung, he mentions von Klinger as follows: ‘This maintenance
of a sterling character is the more creditable when it occurs in the
midst of worldly and business life and when a way of conduct which
might appear to many curt and abrupt, being judiciously followed,
accomplishes its ends. Such was his character. Without subservience
(which, indeed, has never been a quality of the natives of Frankfort)
he attained to the most important positions, was able to maintain
himself there and to continue his services with the highest approval
and gratitude of his noble patrons. Through all this, he never forgot
either his old friends or the paths which he had come.’ In the later
years of his life, Goethe renewed the study of von Klinger’s writings,
‘which recalled to me his unwearied activity and his remarkable
character.’”_
NOTE 2
_Dante, Purgatorio, xxvii, 126, 131._
NOTE 3
_Jakob Böhme, from a supplement to his works (Historische Uebersicht)._
NOTE 4
_Dante, Purgatorio, xxvii, 115._
NOTE 5
_Dante, Purgatorio, ix, 19._
NOTE 6
_Dante, Inferno, iii, 1, 9._
NOTE 7
_Dante, Purgatorio, iv, 88._
NOTE 8
_Dhammapada, transl. Charles R. Lanman, in Hymns of the Faith, A. J.
Edmunds, Chicago, 1902, page 38._
THE QUEST OF HAPPINESS
A STUDY OF VICTORY OVER LIFE’S TROUBLES
BY NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS
_Pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn; author of “The
Influence of Christ in Modern Life,” etc._
_Cloth, Decorated Borders, $1.50 net_
COMMENTS
I find “The Quest of Happiness” a very rich and beautiful work. It
is eminently a book for the home. Wherever it is known it must make
life sweeter and more wholesome. PHILIP S. MOXOM, _Pastor of South
Congregational Church, Springfield, Mass._
It is a book full of help and sympathy, marked by a wide acquaintance
with literature and with life, and by a true insight into those
conditions which make for the truest and best existence. S. P. CADMAN,
_Pastor of Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn_.
It is a consummate statement of the highest conception of the nature
of human life, and of the only methods by which its meaning and
possibilities can be attained. Dr. Hillis is not only a great master of
style, but a serene satisfaction with God’s method of moral government
breathes from every page and makes the teacher trustworthy. CHARLES
FREDERIC GOSS.
“The Quest of Happiness” is Dr. Hillis’s very best book. It is strong,
vivid, clear, and has a certain indefinable human quality which will
be sure to give it a large circulation and make it a source of great
helpfulness. I especially enjoyed the “Forewords.” They would make an
attractive volume in themselves. AMORY H. BRADFORD, _Pastor of First
Congregational Church, Montclair, N. J._
THE PLEASURES OF LIFE
BY
SIR JOHN LUBBOCK
[LORD AVEBURY]
_Cloth, 12 mo_, $1.25
It is good to read his cheery chapters, and to rejoice that there is
one such glad optimist in this sad world. _Boston Herald._
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people. _The Dial._
A good wholesome book. The literary variety of expression is charming.
_Home Journal._
THE USE OF LIFE
BY
SIR JOHN LUBBOCK
_Author of “The Pleasures of Life,” etc., etc._
_Cloth, 12 mo_, $1.25
One of the most astounding men of letters of to-day. An exceptional
weight attaches to the kindly philosophy of his latest long talk “The
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his meditations. _Philadelphia Record._
Inspired by a wholesome optimism, sound common sense, and a reverent
recognition of the higher truths of existence. Just the volume that
needed to be written on a subject full of vital interest to every
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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
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