Theosophyand Ethics. ]65
men that selfishness can but breed sorrowand
evil,can have no other offspring than misery.
if theywill not learn bylove theymust learn
bypain. H theywill not learn bylonginglor
God,theymustlearnbyexperienceof theevil;
and if that real treeof lifewhich is in every
human heart does not sufficiently attract them
to the eating of its fruit, the tree of Life
Eternalwhose fruits are but of loveandduty,
thentheymusteatof thetreeof knowledgeof
evilaswellasof good,so thatif,toquoteone
of the sweetest of our English poets-"if
Goodnessleadhimnot,thenWearinessmaytoss
him to my breast." For that isthe voice of
theSpirit cryingintheworld,cryingtoallthathas gone out from it to come back. If its
voice does not attract, then suffering must beused foralime to drive. Back the wanderer
must come; the exile cannot remain abroad;
his seat isemptyin the home,itwaits for his
return,and if he will not come by love,then
bystarving on the husks that are fit food for
swine he must learn the lesson. And the
unrest of the transitory, the dissatisfaction of
the temporal- that shall turn his steps once