22 The Spiritual Life.
carried out on the other side,andinthe long
run,whenthe sun is setting,victorybelongsto
the army,althoughthose men liespread dead
and dying on the slope. Have theyfailed?
Itlookshkefailuretohetheredyinganddead;
surely the men have failed. Ah! when the
storyof that battle iswritten,when a grateful
nationraisesamonumenttothememoryof the
conquerors of that battle,high on that monu-
ment will be graven in imperishable gold the
namesof the menwho died andmadevictory
possiblefortheircomrades byacceptingdefeat
forthemselves. (Loudapplause.)
You read my parable. Thereis no failure
where the commander-in-chief is the Divine
architect of the universe, no failure, but in-
evitablesuccess; and shallitnot beapride to
anyonewhoiscalledtosacrificeinorderthatthe
planmaybecarriedout? Andthereisnofailure,
for victoryiseveron the Divine side. What
matters it ifyouand Ilooklikefailures; what
mattersit if our petty plans crumbleto pieces
inourhands; whatmattersitifourschemesof
amomentarefoundtobeuselessandarethrown
aside? The life we have thrown into them,
thedevotionwithwhichwe plannedthem,the
strength with which we strove to carry them
out, thesacrifice withwhichweofferedthemto
