It was quite indifferent
which replied, each would have said the same. Half a century's
_reflecting_ had told upon them; they were changed into the same
image. It is the Law of Influence that _we become like those whom we
habitually reflect_: these had become like because they habitually
reflected. Through all the range of literature, of history, and
biography this law presides. Men are all mosaics of other men. There
was a savor of David about Jonathan, and a savor of Jonathan about
David. Metempsychosis is a fact. George Eliot's message to the world
was that men and women make men and women. The Family, the cradle of
mankind, has no meaning apart from this. Society itself is nothing but
a rallying point for these omnipotent forces to do their work. On the
doctrine of Influence, in short, the whole vast pyramid of humanity is
built.
But it was reserved for Paul to make the supreme application of the
Law of Influence. It was a tremendous inference to make, but he never
hesitated. He himself was a changed man; he knew exactly what had done
it;
IT WAS CHRIST.
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