None but the troubled mind knows its own consolations; and I
believe the saddest life has its own presence--however it may be
unrecognized as such--of the upholding Deity. Doth God care for the
hairs that perish from our heads? To a mind like Ericson's the
remembered scent, the recurring vision of a flower loved in
childhood, is enough to sustain anxiety with beauty, for the lovely
is itself healing and hope-giving, because it is the form and
presence of the true. To have such a presence is to be; and while a
mind exists in any high consciousness, the intellectual trouble that
springs from the desire to know its own life, to be assured of its
rounded law and security, ceases, for the desire itself falls into
abeyance.
But although Ericson was so weak, he was always able and ready to
help Robert in any difficulty not unfrequently springing from his
imperfect preparation in Greek; for while Mr. Innes was an excellent
Latin scholar, his knowledge of Greek was too limited either to
compel learning or inspire enthusiasm, And with the keen instinct he
possessed in everything immediate between man and man, Robert would
sometimes search for a difficulty in order to request its solution;
for then Ericson would rouse himself to explain as few men could
have explained: where a clear view was to be had of anything,
Ericson either had it or knew that he had it not. Hence Robert's
progress was good; for one word from a wise helper will clear off a
whole atmosphere of obstructions.
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