TJ The rule and measure of duty is not utility, nor experience, nor the happiness of the greatest number, nor State convenience, nor fitness, order, and the pulchrum. Conscience is not a long- sighted selfishness, nor a desire to be consistent with oneself ; but it is a messenger from Him who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by His repre- sentatives. Conscience is the aboriginal vicar of Christ, a prophet in its informations, a monarch in its peremptoriness, a priest in its blessings and anathemas ; and even though the eternal priest- hood throughout the Church could cease to be, in it the sacerdotal principle would remain, and would- have a sway.1
2. Man cannot be satisfied with bread, with anything material — he cannot live upon it ; there are portions of his nature which it will not nourish, cravings which it will not satisfy. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." If man is to live, he must satisfy the deeper cravings first. This is shown both in consciousness and in experience.
(1) The appeal to consciousness. — Man discovers within himself certain powers — powers of work, powers of study, powers of sacrifice, powers of suffering for others; what is to become of these powers if he lives by bread alone, if he makes material comfort his one and only object? Undoubtedly they will dwindle and decay. We know that we have a reason and a conscience which ought to be our guide ; and we are all conscious, at least at times, of feelings, wishes, aspirations which material things can never satisfy. We all feel that we are capable of and meant
1 Cardinal Newman.
60 A QUESTION OF LIFE
for a higher and nobler life than that of an animal : even for a life guided by reason and conscience, a life of faith, love, righteous- ness, holiness, a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice for our own good and for the good of our brethren ; and we all somehow or other have a belief that no life can be at its best or worthiest which is not after this pattern.
(2) The appeal to experience. — Again by a survey of human history we find that other men, in other days, have lived not for the flesh, but for the Spirit. The testimony of devout men at many times and in many regions of the earth to the capacity of the human spirit for communion with the Divine Spirit, which is the very breath of the Godhead, is as sure and strong as any testimony to any essential fact of human nature. Their history confirms man in his study of himself. He reads his duty in their stories. " It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone."
TJ A second man I honour, and still more highly [than the toilworn Craftsman] : Him who is seen toiling for the spirituality indispensable ; not daily bread, but the bread of Life. Is not he too in his duty ; endeavouring towards inward Harmony ; reveal- ing this, by act or by word, through all his outward endeavours, be they high or low ? Highest of all, when his outward and his inward endeavour are one : when we can name him Artist : not earthly Craftsman only, but inspired Thinker, who with heaven- made Implement conquers Heaven for us ! If the poor and humble toil that we have Food, must not the high and glorious toil for him in return, that he have Light, have Guidance, Freedom, Immortality ? — these two, in all their degrees, I honour ; all else is chaff and dust, which let the wind blow whither it listeth. Unspeakably touching is it, however, when I find both dignities united ; and he that must toil outwardly for the lowest of man's wants is also toiling inwardly for the highest. Sublimer in this world know I nothing than a Peasant Saint, could such now anywhere be met with. Such a one will take thee back to Nazareth itself; thou wilt see the splendour of Heaven spring forth from the humblest depths of Earth, like a light shining in great darkness.1
3. To live this higher life is to be obedient to the word of God. Jesus, the author of Christian faith, lived from beginning to end, without deviation or exception, by the words proceeding
1 Ctrlyle, Sartor fosartus, Bk. iii. chap. iv.
ST. MATTHEW iv. 4 61
from the mouth of God. In His passion-baptism He bore the penalty of the disobedience of the race, and in His resurrection He took again His life, that He might communicate it to sinful men, that in its energy they also might obey the law of God. He conquered at the last, as He conquered at the first, by obeying every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God ; overcame by His human faith and obedience, and not by His Divine power ; made Himself known in His highest glory to men, not by ex- empting Himself from the lot of humanity, but through a fellowship with their miseries.
(1) Obedience is the secret of manhood. — The supreme duty of every man is that he should discover and obey these words. If he live from day to day, from week to week, from month to month, and from year to year without reference to that law, hoping that, after being regardless of, if not rebellious against, it, he will at last slip into some happy state, then surely he must indeed be blind and foolish. Self-control and a willing humilia- tion of self to the Will that rules the universe is man's first and hardest lesson. This teaches him at the outset how helpless and hopeless he is in himself. Such knowledge drives a man out of himself hungry and thirsty for every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. When once he has learned to lay hold of the Power which alone can help him, then begins the process which ends in the mastery of self and in the consummation of a life which alone is worth living.