THE GREAT MANUSCRIPT 



influence from the dead and the living could 

 be seen, they might be found to bear a strik- 

 ing resemblance to the great water systems 

 of the world, with their myriad rills, brooks, 

 rivers, lakes, and oceans. Some of us con- 

 tribute little rills of influence and others are 

 Amazons of power and inspiration. Many 

 are placid dreaming lakes, and a few fur- 

 nish the world with its great mental oceans, 

 as Shakespeare did; and still others, like 

 Phillips Brooks, temper the psychical zone 

 in which they live by a warm Gulf Stream 

 from their own great hearts. 



Strangely like the history of physical 

 streams, too, is that of psychical currents 

 which may become obstructed or stagnant, 

 or may receive tributaries that pollute or 

 purify them. Nor less than the physical 

 river, whose waters are ever changing within 

 its banks, does the river of thought, feeling, 

 and action change from day to day, often- 

 times, like its counterpart, washing itself 

 clear, in the long and widening channel of 

 the years. 



Thus does the history of the individual 



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