THE ACCIDENTS OF LIFE. 273 



1 Full many a gem of purest ray serene 



The dark unfathomed caves of Ocean bear ; 

 And many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its sweetness on the desert air.' 



" These rude men are but testifying to the great truth, 

 that man is the creature, in a greater or less degree, of cir- 

 cumstances ; that he is great or small, polished or rude, 

 wise or simple, according to the accident of his birth, or the 

 surroundings in the midst of which his journey of life lays. 

 True, there are intellects that will work themselves into 

 position, men who will hew their way upward in spite of the 

 difficulties which beset them, as there are others who will 

 plunge down to degradation and dishonor, in defiance of ten- 

 der rearing, of education, of association, and all the allure- 

 ments to an -upward career that can be presented to the 

 human understanding. But these are so rare, that they may 

 be properly regarded as exceptions to the general rule ; so 

 rare, indeed, as to prove its truth. You and I can look 

 around us, and from among our acquaintances select many 

 men and women, whose genius and solid understanding, and 

 whose virtues too, have remained undeveloped, and probably 

 will do so till they die, from lack of opportunity for their ex- 

 ercise. Accident seems to have stricken them from their 

 legitimate sphere. Circumstances, for which they were not 

 responsible, and over which they could exercise no control, 

 have barred them out from their seeming true position in 

 the world, and the genius which was intended for the day- 

 light and the eagle's flight towards the sun, is left to skim 



12* 



