1) early in that universal struggle The "universal struggle" refers to the fact that "trying to get a living" is something every one of us has to face in his life. Therefore trying to get a living IS a universal struggle. To say that they gave up "exceedingly early" means that the all died young. Maybe even committed suicide but we are left without knowing for sure. 2) I am indebted for a belief = I have no choice but to believe? This sentence is very difficult to read, indeed. The verb is "to be indebted to" so the "indebted" refers to the beginning of the text: "To five little stone lozenges[...]I am indebted" So the meaning is that he owes his "religiously entertained thought" to the image that he gets from looking at the five stone lozenges. (the tombstones on the graves). 3) they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence. This means that the five brothers lived an easy life without much trouble or effort. Image a person lying in the sun with his hands in his pockets, relaxing.

Great Expectations! Right? 1) early in that universal struggle = early in life 2) I am indebted for a belief = is the reason why I believe (in this context) 3) they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence. Yes, I would agree with Peachey (not the other answer). The idea is that Pip's only memory of his brothers is when they were lying in their coffins at their funerals. Enjoy the novel! It's one of my favorites and I think one of the best books in English ever.

1) "that universal struggle" is life. By "exceedingly early", I'm not sure if his brothers died when babies, or were even stillborn. Maybe both. 2) "indebted" = grateful 3) Good question. Perhaps this means they all died as very young children, and that Pip only saw them at their funerals... in a small suit and lying in a coffin. How he saw them in the tiny coffin was how he imagined they had been born. I'm keen for other ideas on this as well. ;)