The next morning he renewed his quest. He was away all day long, but
he had no success. He was now getting very anxious. He was
expecting his furniture, which he had directed to be sent to the inn
where they had first stayed, and he would have to pay for the
carriage. His landlord had insisted on a week's rent beforehand, so
that, putting aside the sum for the carrier, he had now two pounds
left. He thought of appealing to his friends; but he had a great
horror of asking for charity, and could not bring himself to do it.
The third, fourth, and fifth day passed, with no result. On the
seventh day he found that his goods had come; but he decided not to
move, as it meant expense. He took away a chest of clothes, and
remained where he was. By way of recoil from the older doctrine that
suffering does men good, it has been said that it does no good. Both
statements are true, and both untrue. Many it merely brutalises.
Half the crime of the world is caused by suffering, and half its
virtues are due to happiness. Nevertheless suffering, actual
personal suffering, is the mother of innumerable beneficial
experiences, and unless we are so weak that we yield and break, it
extracts from us genuine answers to many questions which, without it,
we either do not put to ourselves, or, if they are asked, are turned
aside with traditional replies.
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