“But what can I do, however willing I am?” he would say. “An officer of hussars cannot be a Methodist preacher, or even a moral philosopher, without doing more harm than good. If I thought I had talents for it, and eloquence and learning, I’d sell out to-morrow, and go to South Africa as a missionary, or anywhere else--Gold Coast, Sierra Leone--anything rather than be a useless drone cumbering the earth in a life without an aim.” “Not the least occasion for that,” replied D’Orville. “Fortune--accident--call it rather Providence--has placed you in a certain station, and it is fit for you to fulfil the duties of that station without repining or restlessness, because, forsooth, it does not happen to square exactly with some vague notions of your own. You may do a deal of good, though you _are_ an officer of hussars. Why should a soldier be necessarily an irreligious or an immoral man? It is not his profession that should bear the blame, however convenient it may be to make the red coat a scapegoat. We must have troops. We cannot be secure from war. Do you suppose a man leading a squadron gallantly against an enemy, doing the best he can for all--cool, confident, and daring--is not fulfilling his duty every whit as well as he who is on his knees in the rear praying for his success the while? Our calling bids us look death in the face oftener than other men, and that very fact should give us trust in Him on whom alone we can depend at the last gasp. We are always nearer His presence than those who are not so exposed: and, for my part, I think it a proud and honourable privilege. Then, in barracks, may you not improve the _morale_ of all about you in a thousand ways? You may look to the bodily well-being of your troop. Why?--first, because it’s your duty; and secondly, because it’s a pleasure to you, and a credit to have them smart and clean and well-disciplined! Why should you totally neglect their minds? They, too, have a future as well as a present. The one is not less a reality than the other. Ay, it’s startling enough, because people slur it over, and don’t talk of it, or allow themselves to think of it; but it’s none the less true for all that. You may shut your own eyes as close as you please, but you won’t prevent the sun from shining just the same. I grant you that the task is a difficult one. So much the more credit in fulfilling it, by an effort that does require some sacrifice and some self-denial. I have lived forty years in this world for _myself_--the careless, thoughtless life that a tolerably sagacious dog might have led--and I have never been really happy. Come what may, I hope to do so no more. I have found out the true secret that turns everything to gold, and I don’t grudge a share of my good fortune to my friends.”