Page:Man — Fragments of Forgotten History.djvu/14

x the bustle and stir of a populous city; his youthful steps had threaded crowded thoroughfares and his mind was instructed in many an old seat of learning. Time had left on him footprints which bad burnt deep into his soul. But inquire not into the origin of the students of The Holy Lore, and let not the curious hand rake up the cold ashes from the funeral pyre of the past. It is enough to say that the slow dissolution of selfishness had pushed the mystic back, step by step, from the busy walks of daily life, the ever-expanding circle of duty had caused the early bonds to burst and the narrow heart to break and scatter its fragments far and wide. Sustainad [sic] by the traditions of his race and cheered by the sad benevolent smile of one, not to be profanad [sic] by mention here, the mystic student treads the up-hill path of duty to his country and his kind, though not without occasional checks from despondency and sorrow, produced by spectacles of sin and pain. The increasing serenity of his life deepened the pity in his soul for others whose course diverged from his. O that man should be unhappy though his spirit is the very essence of bliss! But the Eternal Necessity works on its never-ending woof of progress through discord and imperfection.

Roll on dark cycles of descent; our hands, though armed with the energy of self-sacrifice, clutch at the spokes of thy wheel in vain! To the last turn will that wheel revolve. We have only the privilege of pursuing our work in silent expectation of the day when thy resistiess [sic] course will backward wind, but even now we have the glory of an unselfish