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That I should in one way or another have solved this mys- 

 tery of mysteries seemed to my friend a matter of course. 

 "I have not even a theory of magnetism" was my reply. 

 We ought to learn to wait. We ought assuredly to pause 

 before closing with the advances of those expounders of 

 the ways of God to men, who offer us intellectual peace at 

 the modest cost of intellectual life. 



The teachers of the world ought to be its best men, and 

 for the present at all events such men must learn self-trust. 

 By the fullness and freshness of their own lives and utter- 

 euces they must awaken life in others. The hopes and 

 terrors which influenced our fathers are passing away, and 

 our trust henceforth must rest on the innate strength of 

 man's moral nature. And here, I think, the poet will 

 have a great part to play in the future culture of the world. 

 To him, when he rightly understands his mission, and does 

 not flinch from the tonic discipline which it assuredly 

 demands, we have a right to look for that heightening and 

 brightening of life which so many of us need. To him it is 

 given for a long time to come to fill those shores which the 

 recession of the theologic tide has left exposed. Void of 

 offense to science, he may freely deal with conceptions 

 which science shuns, and become the illustrator and 

 interpreter of that Power which as 



"Jehovah, Jove, or Lord," 



has hitherto filled and strengthened the human heart. 



Let me utter one practical word in conclusion take care 

 of your health. There have been men who by wise atten- 

 tion to this point might have risen to any eminence 

 might have made great discoveries, written great poems, 

 commanded armies, or ruled states, but who by unwise 

 neglect of this point have come to nothing. Imagine Her- 

 cules as oarsman in a rotten boat; what can he do there 

 but by the very force of his stroke expedite the ruin of his 

 craft? Take care then of the timbers of your boat, and 

 avoid all practices likely to introduce either wet or dry rot 

 among them. And this is not to be accomplished by 

 desultory or intermittent efforts of the will, but by the for- 

 mation of habits. The will no doubt has sometimes to put 

 forth its strength in order to crush the special temptation. 

 But the formation of right habits is essential to your per- 



