&7 



saying that^ after all, he only endured a lot like other men, 

 which no efforts on his part could alter or mitigate, and which 

 it was the part of a man to bear with equanimity. 



Thus with the ancient world ; but need we go back so far ? Is 

 nothing similar to be seen to-day ? Let us not revel in illusions ; 

 we are forced to admit that, despite Christianity, belief in 

 Fatality, which was the dominant principle of all Pagan nations, 

 is still the creed of a vast number of our contemporaries, — does 

 it not lie enshrined in the heart especially of the suffering 

 classes ? 



It finds expression in sadness or violence in all their greatest 

 movements, but the most striking thing is that this creed is 

 definitely expressed and openly avowed by thinkers and writers 

 who hold a high place in the world^s esteem ; who declare that, 

 neither in their own existence nor in that of humanity, can they 

 recognize any other action than that of natural laws; they 

 reject the intervention of Providence as a dream of man^s 

 childhood. 



When such views are so openly held and advocated, it is a 

 proof that they have made progress, and we may not lightly 

 pass them by unnoticed. There is hardly one of us who has 

 not at some time or other, however firm his faith, been tormented 

 by such thoughts ; not one but has sometimes doubted whether 

 his life was guided by a loving Will ; doubted if his prayers were 

 heard. Temptation all the more terrible, for that it does not 

 present itself under a definite shape, but glides into our hearts 

 to chill all impulses of love and confidence in the loving Father- 

 hood of God. It is this awful phantom, Fatality, that I wish 

 to combat in this paper; and will it not be a victory worth gain- 

 ing, if, instead of the invisible and ghostly enemy who harassed 

 and oppressed us, we may see, however dimly, watching over 

 our life with loving care, the shinings of the radiant coun- 

 tenance of the God whose name is Love ? 



The first thing which hides from our eyes Providence, and 

 leads us to belief in Fatality, is the inflexibility of the laws of 

 Nature to which we are necessaril}^ subjected. If we could see 

 Nature in some sort sympathize with our emotions, saddened by 

 our griefs, smiling at our joys, we should easily recognize the 

 manifestation of a Father's love. It is thus children do think in 

 their simplicity ; for them the rolling thunder is the menacing 

 voice of God, the earth with its lovely flowers is the garden of 

 the Lord, each bright and shining day is a festival, God makes 

 them, to fill their hearts with joy, everything testifies to them of 

 the presence and action of God. But now-a-days scientific 

 examination tends to substitute for Divine action the workings 

 of great natural laws which govern the world, and it is the 



