234 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN 



enjoyment in the use of our mental powers ; for the 

 enjoyment of any activity is proportional to the height 

 and glory of the purpose for which it is employed. 

 As long as we are content to use only our lower mental 

 faculties and to gain low ends, our use of even these 

 will be feeble and ineffectual, and our lives will be 

 poor, weak, and unhappy. 



But future man will subordinate these lower powers 

 to the higher. He will utilize aU that there is in him. 

 And his efficiency must be vastly greater than ours. 

 And finally, and most important, these men will be 

 all-powerfnl, because they have so conformed to en- 

 vironment that all its forces combine to work with 

 them. 



England under Elizabeth seemed to rise above itself. 

 Think of HoUand, under William the SUent, defying 

 all the power of Spain. Look at Bohemia, under 

 Ziska, a handful of peasants joining battle with and 

 defeating Germany and Austria combined. Think of 

 Cromwell and his Ironsides, before whom Europe 

 trembled. These men were not merely giants, they 

 were heroes. And the essence of heroism is self-for- 

 getfulness. The last thought of William the Silent 

 was not for himself, but for his " poor people." And 

 those rugged Ironsides, " fighting with their hands and 

 praying with their hearts," smote with right good-will 

 and irresistibly, because they struck for truth and 

 freedom, for right and God. These are motives of in- 

 calculable strength, and they transfigure a man and 

 raise him above his surroundings and even himself. 

 The man becomes heroic and godlike, and when pos- 

 sessed by these motives he has clasped hands with 

 God. He is inspired and infused with the divine power 



