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struggle merely to keep body and soul together had dead-
ened the pain of living. In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou
earn thy daily bread: it was not a curse upon mankind, but
the balm which reconciled it to existence.
But Philip was impatient with himself; he called to mind
his idea of the pattern of life: the unhappiness he had suf-
fered was no more than part of a decoration which was
elaborate and beautiful; he told himself strenuously that he
must accept with gaiety everything, dreariness and excite-
ment, pleasure and pain, because it added to the richness
of the design. He sought for beauty consciously, and he re-
membered how even as a boy he had taken pleasure in the
Gothic cathedral as one saw it from the precincts; he went
there and looked at the massive pile, gray under the cloudy
sky, with the central tower that rose like the praise of men
to their God; but the boys were batting at the nets, and they
were lissom and strong and active; he could not help hear-
ing their shouts and laughter. The cry of youth was insistent,
and he saw the beautiful thing before him only with his
eyes.

0 Of Human Bondage