THE IDEAL MAN 175 



being accustomed to meet and mix with men in 

 many different walks of life and of many different 

 nationalities. And he will be a man of the home in 

 the sense of being devoted to his own family circle. 

 He will be at home in the town and at home in the 

 country ; adapted to the varied society, interests, 

 and pursuits which town life can afford, but devoted 

 also to the country, to the open air and elemental 

 nature and animals and plants. 



A fixed principle and firm determination with 

 him will be to do his duty to do his social duty, to 

 do the right thing at whatever temporary cost to 

 himself. The right thing for him will be that which 

 produces most good. And he will deem that the 

 most good which best promotes human fellowship, 

 warms it with love, colours it with beauty, en- 

 lightens it with truth, and sweetens it with grace. 

 Finally, and culminatingly, he w r ill have that spiritu- 

 ality and fine sensitiveness of soul which will put 

 him in touch with the true Heart of Nature and 

 make him eagerly responsive to the subtlest 

 promptings which spring therefrom ; so he will be 

 possessed of a profound conviction, rooted in the 

 very depths of his being, that in doing the right 

 thing, or in other words pursuing righteousness, he 

 is carrying out the will and intention of that Divine 

 Being whom we here call Nature but whom we 

 might also call God. 



This, or something like it, is the ideal of a man 

 which most of us would form under the impress and 

 impetus of the indwelling genius of Nature. But 

 this ideal can only be reached by an individual when 

 his country also has reached it. He will be driven, 



