Read the following passage carefully before you choose your answer. The following is taken from a passage written by the famed naturalist, John Muir.

(1) The immortal Linnaeus—Carl von Linné—was born in Sweden, a cold rocky country now famous forever. (2) He was born in the bloom-time of the year, May 13th, 1707; and in pondering the significance of his birth, one might stop to give thanks and reflect on the wonderful inspiration his life would come to serve.

(3) Whether descended from sea-kings and pirates as is most likely, or from fighting Normans or goths, matters not; for he was a lover sent of God to revive and cheer and bless all mankind. (4) And this he did in spite of crushing poverty, and all the black brood of disappointments and discouragements that ever beset the onway of genius. (5) His parents were as poor and pious as the parents of great men usually are. (6) He was a naturalist from his birth, and reveled in the bloom of the fields and gardens about his native village of Rashult as naturally as a bee. (7) By his steady, slow-going neighbors, he was looked on as one possessed.

(8) His father, a minister, naturally wished his son to follow in his footsteps, and so he pinched pennies and saved money to send young Carl to school with this end in view. (9) But the studies leading to the ministry did not interest the lad, and like other divine boys he was called a dunce. (10) Accordingly, when his father visited the school and anxiously inquired how Carl was getting on, he was bluntly told that the boy was dull, had no brains, and could never be made into a minister or scholar of any kind. (11) Under these dark circumstances, the best advice the schoolmaster was able to offer the discouraged father was to take away his boy and make a tailor or a shoemaker of him.

(12) Yet this was the boy who was to do the most of all for many generations to open men's eyes to see the beauty of God's gardens and the creatures that enliven them.

In sentence 11 (reproduced below), the writer wants to use a transitional phrase to create the appropriate tone for the information contained in the sentence.

Under these dark circumstances, the best advice the schoolmaster was able to offer the discouraged father was to take away his boy and make a tailor or a shoemaker of him.

Which version of the underlined text best achieves this goal?

(as it is now)
Despite this reality
In this situation
On the brighter side
With this in mind