312 ESSAYS I A' PJIILOSOFHY 



the Good, the spring of all excellence and worth, by 

 our recognition of the society of minds in our primary 

 act of being conscious of oin-selvcs. Strange ele- 

 mental paradox, self-affirmation by self-denial, self- 

 denial in self-affirmation! Ego per alteros ! — Jte 

 that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth 

 his life, the same shall fuul it f And thus the easy 

 argument of exhibiting the least conditions sufficient 

 for experience, so like a simpleton in its seeming 

 clutch at the thin surface of things, carries in its 

 subtle heart the proof of an imperishable persis- 

 tence in all that gives life meaning and value. 



