If one man is clever in a certain direction and another is stupid, it is because in a previous life the clever man has devoted much effort to practise in that particular direction, while the stupid man is trying it for the first time.
The genius and the precocious child are examples not of the favouritism of some deity but of the result produced by previous lives of application.

All the varied circumstances which surrounded us are the result of our own actions in the past, precisely as are the qualities of which we find ourselves in possession.

We are what we have made ourselves, and our circumstances are such as we have deserved.
There is, however, a certain adjustment or apportionment of these effects.
Though the law is a natural law and mechanical in its operation, there are nevertheless certain great Angels who are concerned with its administration.

They cannot change by one feather-weight the amount of the result which follows upon any given thought or act, but they can within certain limits expedite or delay its action, and decide what form it shall take.
If this were not done there would be at least a possibility that in his earlier stages the man might blunder so seriously that the results of his blundering might be more than he could bear.

The plan of the Deity is to give man a limited amount of free-will; if he uses that small amount well, he earns the right to a little more next time; if he uses it badly, suffering comes upon him as the result of such evil use, and he finds himself restrained by the result of his previous actions.