has suckled unkindly and seldom
does she completely fail a favoured nursling.
    Was George Pontifex one of Fortune's favoured nurslings or not? On the whole
I should say that he was not, for he did not consider himself so; he was too
religious to consider Fortune a deity at all; he took whatever she gave and
never thanked her, being firmly convinced that whatever he got to his own
advantage was of his own getting. And so it was, after Fortune had made him able
to get it.
    »Nos te, nos facimus, Fortuna, deam,« exclaimed the poet. »It is we who make
thee, Fortune, a goddess«; and so it is, after Fortune has made us able to make
her. The poet says nothing as to the making of the nos. Perhaps some men are
independent of antecedents and surroundings and have an initial force within
themselves which is in no way due to causation; but this is supposed to be a
difficult question and it may be as well to avoid it. Let it suffice that George
Pontifex did not consider himself fortunate, and he who does not consider
himself fortunate is unfortunate.
    True, he was rich, universally respected and of an excellent natural
constitution. If he had eaten and drunk less he would never have known a day's
indisposition. Perhaps his main strength lay in the fact that though his
capacity was a little above the average, it was not too much so. It is on this
rock that so many clever people split. The successful man will see just so much
more than his neighbours as they will be able to see too when it is shown them,
but not enough to puzzle them. It is far safer to know too little than too much.
People will condemn the one, though they will resent being called upon to exert
themselves to follow the other. The best example of Mr. Pontifex's good sense in
matters connected with his business which I can think of at this moment is the
revolution which he effected in the style of advertising works published by the
firm. When he first became a partner one of the firm's advertisements ran thus -
 
        »Books proper to be given away at this Season. -
            The Pious Country Parishioner, being directions how a Christian may
        manage every day in the course of his whole life with safety and
        success; how to spend the Sabbath Day; what books of the Holy Scriptures
        ought to be read first; the whole method of education; collects for the
        most important virtues that adorn the soul: a discourse on the Lord's
        Supper