home.  And this is so true that we should be wise, perhaps, not to dwell with too much satisfaction on our own peace of mind and tranquillity, on the sincerity of our own acquiescence in the great laws of life, or rely too complacently on the duration of our own happiness, until such time as the instinct of those who suffer impels them to knock at our door, and their eyes can behold, shining bright on the threshold, the steady, unwavering flame of the lamp that burns on for ever.  Yes; only they, it may be, have the right to deem themselves safe to whose arms there come to weep those whose eyes are heavy with tears.  And indeed there are not a few in this world whose inner smile we can only behold when our eyes have been cleansed by the tears that lay bare the mysterious sources of vision; and then only do we begin to detect the presence of happiness that springs not from the favour or gleam of an hour, but from widest acceptance of life.  Here, as in much beside, desire and necessity quicken our senses.  The hungry bee will discover the honey, be it hid never so deep in the cavern; and the soul that mourns will spy out the joy that lies hidden in its retreat, or in most impenetrable silence.

100.  Destiny begins when consciousness wakes, and bestirs itself within man; not the passive, impoverished consciousness of most souls, but the active consciousness that will accept the event, whatever it may be, as an imprisoned queen will accept a gift that is offered to her in her cell.  If nothing should happen, your consciousness yet may create important event from the manner in which it regards the mere dearth of event; but perhaps to each man there occurs vastly more than is needed to satisfy the thirstiest, most indefatigable consciousness.  I have at this moment before me the history of a mighty and passionate soul, whom every adventure that makes for the sorrow or gladness of man would seem to have passed by with averted head.  It is of Emily Bronte I speak, than whom the first fifty years of this century produced no woman of greater or more incontestable genius.  She has left but one book behind her, a novel, called “Wuthering Heights,” a curious title, which seems to suggest a storm on a mountain peak.  She was the daughter of an English clergyman, the Rev. Patrick Bronte, who was the most insignificant, selfish, lethargic, pretentious creature the mind can conceive.  There were only two things in life that seemed of importance to him—­the purity of his Greek profile, and solicitude for his digestion.  As for Emily’s unfortunate mother, her whole life would seem to have been spent in admiring this Greek profile and in studying this digestion.  But there is scarcely need to dwell upon her existence, for she died only two years after Emily’s birth.  It is of interest to note, however—­if only to prove once again that, in ordinary life, the woman is usually superior to the man she has had to accept—­that long after the death of the patient wife a bundle