Page:The way of Martha and the way of Mary (1915).djvu/204



. . . who made West East

And gave to Man

A new heaven and a new earth,

As Holy John hath prophesied of Me.

West seems to have the tradition of the way of Martha, England especially. Our Victorian era, of which the popular teachers were Kingsley, Carlyle, Ruskin, was essentially an era of work and deeds rather than of faith. As children, we in our prime to-day were brought up on the gospel of work. Thoughts about one's soul were considered rather ignoble: they were smoke that we had to consume ourselves. We were urged to forget the question of our souls and work. The whole world was working, all the factories of England sang together. Every man in England, from the highest to the lowest, knew when he wakened each morning that he had that day some real and indispensable work to do. The child must learn his lesson in that light. "If I hear of an artist of promise," says Ruskin, "the first question I ask is, 'Does he work?'" Ruskin