57 
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 worlds 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 w r hich hides from our eyes Providence, and 
leads us to belief in Fatality, is the inflexibility of the laws of 
Nature to which we are necessarily 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 
