198 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. XIII] 



any one or more individuals in whom they are specially 

 interested. But a great number of these occurrences in every 

 one's life are apparently what we term chance, and even if all 

 are so, the conclusion I wish to lay stress upon is not affected. 

 It is, that many of the conditions and circumstances that 

 constitute our environment, though at the time they may 

 seem unfortunate or even unjust, yet are often more truly 

 beneficial than those which we should consider more favour- 

 able. Sometimes they only aid in the formation of character ; 

 sometimes they also lead to action which gives scope for the 

 use of what might have been dormant or unused faculties (as, 

 I think, has occurred in my own case) ; but much more 

 frequently they seem to us wholly injurious, leading to a life 

 of misery or crime, and turning what in themselves are good 

 faculties to evil purposes. When this occurs in any large 

 number of cases, as it certainly does with us now, we may be 

 sure that it is the system of society that is at fault, and the 

 most strenuous efforts of all who see this should be devoted, 

 not to the mere temporary alleviation of the evils due to it 

 but to the gradual modification of the system itself. This is 

 my present view. At the time of which I am now writing, 

 I had not begun even to think of these matters, although 

 facts which I now see to be of great importance in connection 

 with them were being slowly accumulated for use in after 

 years. 



