Page:The Praises of Amida, 1907.djvu/103

 many weak points in his spiritual constitution, and was consequently the victim of many temptations. He was a man of good family, had lost his father very early and had been consequently almost entirely brought up by his mother. Indeed, he was at first a decidedly healthy-minded, loveable, lad. As he grew older he entered the University, where he came under the influence of writers like Herbert Spencer, through whose teachings he became so visionary in his ideas that he ended by concluding that to hold private landed properly was an injustice; and even resolved to hand over to his peasants the whole of his patrimonial estates. But, in spite of all his sacrifices, the cruel waves of misfortune, so inseparably connected with this vale of tears, made no exception in his favour, and in due time he became, pure and guileless though he was, the slave of adverse Fate. He discovered that the pure Idealism, which had hitherto been his guide, was but a poor leader through the intricate mazes of actual life: almost simultaneously he arrived at the conclusion that the idealistic