IN THE FOREST OF ARDEN. 169 



which the estates of our neighbors were exposed ; 

 when we compared our noble-hearted friends with 

 their meaner companionships ; when we compared 

 the peaceful serenity of our hearts with their per 

 plexities and anxieties, we were filled with inexpress 

 ible sympathy. We no longer pierced them with 

 the arrows of satire and wit because they accepted 

 lower standards and found pleasure in things essen 

 tially pleasureless ; they had not lived in Arden, 

 and why should we berate them for not possessing 

 that which had never been within their reach ? We 

 saw that upon those whom an inscrutable fate has 

 led through the paths of Arden a great and noble 

 duty is laid. They are not to be the scorners and 

 despisers of those whose eyes are holden that they 

 cannot see, and whose ears are stopped that they 

 cannot hear, the vision and the melody of things 

 ideal. They are rather to be eyes to the blind and 

 ears to the deaf. They are to interpret in unshaken 

 trust and patience that which has been revealed to 

 them ; servants are they of the Ideal, and their 

 ministry is their exceeding great reward. So long 

 as they see clearly, it is small matter to them that 

 their message is rejected, the mighty consolation 

 which they bring refused ; their joy does not hang 

 on acceptance or rejection at the hands of their fel 

 lows. The only real losers are those who will not 

 see nor hear. It is not the light-bringer who suffers 

 when the torch is torn from his hands ; it is those 

 whose paths he would lighten. 



