spared for one of the Arts. Personally, I believe that a life from which the love and practice of Art are wholly absent can never be other than an incomplete life. It may be music, singing, drawing in some one of its numerous branches, carving, modelling, or any of what are called the minor Arts; if the necessary conditions are obtainable, which in India is exceedingly rare, it may be acting; so long as it is a humble following of Art for the sake of Art and not merely a ministration to vanity the result must be good. Art takes one above the pettiness of the world as nothing else can.
But however these extra hours are spent, remember still that the profession comes before all. Bear in mind the warning of Ulysses :
Keeps hononr bright: to have done is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery. Take the instant way,
For honour travels in a strait so narrow
Where one but goes abreast ; keep them the path,
For emulation hath a thousand sons
That one by one pursue : if you give way,
Or hedge aside from the direct forthright,
Like to an entered tide they all rush by
And leave you hindmost;
then what they do in present,
Though less than yours in past must o'ertop yours."
Heed well the warning. Whether you slacken speed from idleness or inability, or whether you merely diverge from the straight course in search of other attractions, the effect is the same. Others pass you. Therefore first do your work in life thoroughly, and then devote the leisure hours to other occupations or amusements but carrying them out thoroughly also. Do not attempt too much. If you do the professional career will be neglected and, no matter how superior your abilities, disappointment and failure will be your ultimate portion. Starting in the race of life with brilliant prospects you easily keep level with and even outstrip competitors, but the beautiful flowers by the wayside are alluring and you pause to gather them. What matters it? You can easily overtake the others. With an effort you do so. But again the temptation to stray, and this time further afield, and now to recover the lost ground is a harder task. And so each wandering from the path makes wider the gap between yourself and your sometime inferiors, and your efforts to reach them become more and more hopeless. Then in a flash your eyes are opened and the truth is seen—in attempting too much you have lost everything. Then comes dull despair.
