. is overbearing, irritating, and, as respects the requirements of their mortal nature, thoroughly provoking. He brings out into strong relief the objectionable features of all with whom he comes in contact, just as the presence of a dog in the house impels even the most inoffensive and noncantankerous of cats to display an unprepossessing amount of claw. The mischief which the moral and mental dwarf works, by stirring the evil passions of men and inciting them to deeds of disagreeable acerbity, is very serious. Nevertheless, the lucky monster himself commonly escapes without inconvenience, and continues to exult in his peculiar power of making everybody around him uncomfortable without being himself a sufferer.

In public, and especially in public life, there are many of these mental dwarfs, so many as to form a pest of prodigious importance to the community. It does not follow because a man is a dwarf, that he takes a pigmy view of things. He not uncommonly propounds gigantic schemes, in part, because it is the reverse of true that little things please little minds, and, partly because suffering no inconvenience from the way in which he incom

modes other people, he is not deterred from bringing about extraordinary revolutions. In a crowd the dwarf has a far greater chance of escape than ordinary mortals. Moreover, he does not so frequently knock his head against the tall and overtopping things in this world of hard fact and circumstance, and he forgets their existence, or altogether ignores them in his conduct. From his propensity to crawl and grovel, he is, perhaps, prone to take low and underground ways of reaching the objects he has in view. On the other hand, being a creature of little weight and cat-like propensities, he climbs fearlessly where men of normal stature are unable to follow him. Combine the instincts of the monkey, the cat, the crab, the mole, and the ferret, in one monstrous compound, and you have the dwarf mental and moral. The species, intellectual, moral, political, and even religious, is by no means extinct. That there are individuals of each variety alive, and at work mischievously and provokingly in our midst, to the vexation of more sensitive temperaments, and to the serious discomfort of the world is sufficiently clear.

E

VII.

EQUALITY.

A LEVEL is always dead.

There can be no life

without organisation, and that implies the subordinating of every part to the whole, and of some parts to others, all ministering to the general result. This is not a mere theory, but a simple statement of the law of fact which governs every living thing. The reason is evident. It is not only a consequence of the expediency of dividing labour, but a necessity of the need for rule. There must be at directing authority outside the power which requires direction. This question is not one of essential superiority as between the several parts of the body -each is good and respectable in proportion as it discharges the functions of its own particular sphere. Excellence consists in special fitness. Until this is understood and laid to heart there can

be no rational view of social and national life and duty. When it is seen and allowed to have due weight, we shall hear no more of Communism.

There is in every mind an innate desire to press forwards and upwards. This motive principle is implanted with the obvious intent of impelling the race and the individual, alike, to self-improvement. The tendency of modern thought is to turn the impulse into a wrong direction. In place of striving for excellence in their own particular line of work and duty, people are encouraged by every incentive and allurement to step out of the rank to which they belong. The artificial conditions of society increase the evil by inducing the belief that the so

called “ upper classes are absolutely, instead of being only relatively, superior. As a matter of fact, the working man who does his duty ably and usefully is entitled to respect, while the aristocrat like the artizan who neglects his share in the business of life is an object of contempt.

The evil against which we have to contend is a false estimate of importance and respectability. Right views of worth would place everything on a good and safe footing; but, while erroneous notions

on this point prevail, the attempt to establish "Equality" is the single logical consequence of turning the legitimate ambition of human nature. into a wrong course. The honest enterprising man asks Society how he is to work his way in the world and win success? Society, by deeds and example, if not by words, says: "Strive to rise to the highest point in this artificial system of ours. To be great, you must be powerful; to be accounted prosperous, you must be rich; to win good opinions, you must, above all things, court public attention." Is it any wonder if the intelligent pupil seeks power, riches, and notoriety as the choicest, because the most marketable, commodities-in fact, the only treasures upon which Society will put a price?

But this is only one-half of the story, and by no means the worst. Where one man succeeds, there are always a score that fail. If these men fell short of success in a good cause, they would stand condemned in their own consciousness, and sink back abashed. But the cause is not good, the struggle is not a righteous test of ability. Every man who joins the fray knows this. Those who fail are not