Excerpt from Mr. Bryant's Mistake When a man performs, and that with a willing mind and a generous glow in his soul, a magnanimous action which is above the level of his habit, various reflections arise in the mind of a spectator. He considers whether it is the man's best self which has done the deed; and this suggests the further inquiry whether one's best self is one's real self. The enthusiast will answer the question affirmatively, and it may be with justice. There is so much misfortune in all wrong-doing! so much unwillingness and coercion and extraneous influence of every kind! Let the man for once have fair play, a free field, and no favour - let him be himself, in short - and behold the magnanimous action. The soberer critic will find more fruit in the inquiry, What effect does the unwonted generosity have on the man's after life? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.