,,the ,,book ,,of ,,courage 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,sunrise ,,inspirational ,,books ,,the ,,first ,,volume ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,courage ,by ,,john ,t4 ,,faris ,volumes on other subjects in preparation for this series ,illustration ,,other ,,books ,by ,,john ,t4 ,,faris ,,seeing ,,pennsylvania ,frontispiece in color1 #aac illustrations and #b maps ,,the ,,romance ,,of ,,old ,,philadelphia ,frontispiece in color and #aja illustrations ,,old ,,roads ,,out ,,of ,,philadelphia #aag illustrations and a map ,illustration ,by ,,john ,t4 ,,faris and ,,theodoor ,,debooy ,,the ,,virgin ,,islands ,,our ,,new ,,possessions ,,and ,,the ,,british ,,islands #ig illustrations and five maps 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,courage by ,,john ,t4 ,,faris ,author of ,the ,victory ,life1 ,making ,good1 ,old ,roads ,out of ,philadelphia1 ,seeing ,pennsylvania1 ,etc4 ,illustration ,philadelphia ,london ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,company #aibj ,copyright1 #aibj1 by ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,company ,printed by ,j4 ,b4 ,lippincott ,company ,at the ,washington ,square ,press ,philadelphia1 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,foreword ,a ,,teacher has told of the greatest moment of discouragement that ever came to her4 ,at cost of great labor she had fitted up a room for the use of children1 placing pictures on the walls1 plants in the windows1 goldfish on the table1 and a canary in a cage4 ,but the night before the day when she planned to welcome the children to the room there was a cold snap1 and the janitor let the fire go out4 ,in the morning she looked on broken radiators1 frozen goldfish1 drooping plants1 and what she feared was a dead bird4 ,in her despair she was about to decide that she would never make another effort to have things pleasant for the children1 when the bit of fluff in the bird-cage1 roused from stupor by the noise made by the discouraged woman1 lifted its voice in song4 ,that song told her that she had reached once again the point that comes to everyone1 times without number1 the point that separates the life of conquest from the life of defeat1 the life of cowardice from the life of courage4 ,she was at the crossroads1 and she took the turning to the right4 ,the bird's song marked for her the end of discouragement4 ,i can sing1 as well as the bird1 she said to herself4 ,and at once she began to make plans for her charges4 ,everywhere there are people who feel that the odds are against them1 that difficulties in the way are unsurmountable1 that it is useless to make further effort to conquer4 ,the author of ,the ,book of ,courage knows by experience how they feel1 and he longs to send to them a message of cheer and death-to-the-blues1 a call to go on to the better things that wait for those who face life in the spirit of the gallant ,general ,petain1 whose watchword1 ,they shall not pass6 put courage into his men and hope into the hearts of millions all over the world4 ,courage6 is the call to these4 ,courage is likewise the word to those who are already struggling in the conquering spirit of ,sir ,walter ,scott who1 when both domestic calamity and financial misfortune came1 said to a comforter1 ,the blowing off of my hat on a stormy day has given me more weariness1 who called adversity a tonic and a bracer4 ,the world needs courage--the high courage that shows itself in a life of daily struggle and conquest1 that smiles at obstacles and laughs at difficulties4 ,how is the needed courage to be secured8 ,what are the springs of courage8 ,what are some of the results of courage8 ,these are questions ,the ,book of ,courage seeks to answer by telling of men and women who have become courageous4 ,glorious provision has been made by the ,inspirer of men for giving courage to all1 no matter what their difficulties or their hardships4 ,among ,his provisions are home and friends1 work and service1 will and conscience1 the world with all its beauty1 and ,himself as ,companion and ,friend4 ,thus we are left absolutely without excuse when we are tempted to let down the bars to worry and gloom and discouragement4 ,keep up the bars6 ,don't let the enemies of peace and progress pass6 ,and always1 ,like the star1 ,that shines afar1 ,without haste1 ,and without rest1 ,let each man wheel1 with steady sway ,round the tasks that rule the day1 ,and do his best4 ,j4 ,t4 ,f4 ,,philadelphia1 #aibj ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page #a4 ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,self-,,conquest #ac ,i4 ,,restraining ,,self #ae ,,ii4 ,,effacing ,,self #ah ,,iii4 ,,forgiving ,,injuries #bb ,,iv4 ,,forgetting ,,wrongs #be ,v4 ,,getting ,,rid ,,of ,,evil #bi ,,vi4 ,,looking ,,beyond ,,money #cb #b4 ,,the ,,courage ,,that ,,faces ,,obstacles #da ,i4 ,,learning #db ,,ii4 ,,depending ,,on ,,self #dg ,,iii4 ,,uncomplaining #ea ,,iv4 ,,persisting #ef ,v4 ,,toiling #fc ,,vi4 ,,conquering ,,infirmity #fg #c4 ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,industry #gh ,i4 ,,beginning #gi ,,ii4 ,,purpose ,,forming #hb ,,iii4 ,,using ,,time ,,wisely #hi ,,iv4 ,,working ,,harder #id ,v4 ,,abusing ,,the ,,will ,,to ,,work #ii #d4 ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,facing ,,consequences #ajd ,i4 ,,venturing #aje ,,ii4 ,,forming ,,character #ajg ,,iii4 ,,truth ,,telling #aaa ,,iv4 ,,duty ,,doing #aag ,v4 ,,finding ,,his ,,life #aai #e4 ,,courage ,,for ,,the ,,sake ,,of ,,others #abb ,i4 ,,imparting ,,courage #abc ,,ii4 ,,conquering ,,happiness #abf ,,iii4 ,,making ,,little ,,things ,,count #abi ,,iv4 ,,did ,,he ,,go ,,too ,,far8 #acb #f4 ,,golden ,,rule ,,courage #ach ,i4 ,,looking ,,out ,,for ,,others #adj ,,ii4 ,,succeeding ,,by ,,courageous ,,service #adc ,,iii4 ,,service ,,by ,,sympathy #adf ,,iv4 ,,doing ,,business ,,for ,,others #aej ,v4 ,,praying ,,and ,,helping #aeb ,,vi4 ,,giving ,,that ,,counts #aee ,,vii4 ,,expensive ,,economy #aeg #g4 ,,courage ,,through ,,companionship #afa ,i4 ,,companionship ,,with ,,friends #afb ,,ii4 ,,successful ,,comrades #afe ,,iii4 ,,companionship ,,with ,,the ,,past #aga ,,iv4 ,,companionship ,,with ,,nature #agf ,v4 ,,companionship ,,with ,,god #ahc ,,vi4 ,a ,,chapter ,,of--,,accidents8 #aij #h4 ,,god ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,courage #aif ,i4 ,,that',s ,,for ,,me6 #aig ,,ii4 ,,baning ,,on ,,god',s ,,promises #bja ,,iii4 ,,practical ,,precepts ,,from ,,proverbs #bje ,,iv4 ,,getting ,,close ,,to ,,the ,,bible #baj ,v4 ,,the ,,bible ,,and ,,one ,,man #bac ,,vi4 ,,out ,,of ,,the ,,depths #bah ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,courage ,,chapter ,,one ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,self-,,conquest ,,the highest courage is impossible without self-conquest4 ,and self-conquest is never easy4 ,a man may be a marvel of physical courage1 and be a coward in matters of self-government4 ,failure here threatens dire disaster to his entire career4 ,alexander the ,great conquered most of the world he knew1 but he permitted his lower nature to conquer his better self1 and he died a disappointed1 defeated man4 ,before the days of ,alexander there was a man named ,nehemiah from whom the world-conqueror might have learned a few secrets4 ,he was a poor exile in the service of a foreign ruler4 ,that ruler sent him down to ,jerusalem1 the capital city of his own home land1 with instructions to govern the people there4 ,now1 in those days1 it was a common thing for governors of cities to plunder the people unfortunate enough to be in their charge4 ,thus ,nehemiah would have had ample precedent to fill his own coffers by injustice1 profiteering and worse3 he had the power4 ,possibly he was tempted to do something of the sort4 ,but he had the courage to shut up tight all baser passions1 and then to sit firmly on the lid4 ,in the brief record of his service he referred to some of the self-seeking governors1 and told of their rascally deeds4 ,then he added the significant words1 ,so did not ,i4 ,that was certainly courage--the courage of self-conquest4 ,as a young man ,ulysses ,s4 ,grant was a brave soldier1 but he nearly wrecked his life because of weak yielding to his appetite4 ,his real career began only with self-conquest4 ,when he found the courage to fight himself--and not until then--he became ready for the marvelous life of high courage that never faltered when he was misunderstood by associates and maligned by enemies1 that pressed steadily onward1 in the face of biting disease1 until work was done1 until honor was satisfied4 ,i ,,restraining ,,self ,a little girl four years old came trembling to her mother and asked for pencil and paper4 ,then1 teeth set and eyes flashing1 she pounced on the paper and began to make all sorts of vicious marks4 ,asked what she was doing1 she said she was writing a letter to a sister who had offended her by an act that had been misunderstood4 ,she is not a nice girl1 the little critic said1 and ,i'm telling her so4 ,i don't like her any more1 and ,i'm saying that4 ,as she wrote her hand trembled2 she was carried away by her unpleasant emotion4 ,after a few moments1 unable to go on with her self-appointed task1 she flung herself1 sobbing1 into her mother's arms and for half an hour she could not control herself4 ,the sight was pitiful4 ,but far more pitiful is the spectacle of one old enough to know better who yields to vexation and hatred1 thereby not only making himself disagreeable1 but robbing himself of power to perform the duties of the hour4 ,for there is nothing so exhausting as uncontrolled emotion4 ,there is so much for each one of us to do1 and every ounce of strength is needed by those who would play their part in the world4 ,then what spendthrift folly it is to waste needed power on emotion that is disquieting1 disagreeable and disgraceful6 ,that lesson was never impressed more forcibly than by a ,french officer of whom a visitor from ,america asked1 ,did ,i understand that you had lost three sons8 ,yes1 sir1 and two brothers1 was the proud reply4 ,how you must hate the ,boche1 remarked a bystander4 ,no1 no1 was the instant reply1 not hate2 just pity1 sir2 pity1 but not hate4 ,hate1 you know1 is an excessive emotion1 sir2 and no one can do effective work if he spends his vitality in an excess of emotion4 ,no1 he concluded1 we cannot hate2 we cannot work if we burn up ourselves inside4 ,pity1 sir2 pity4 ',they know not what they do4' ,that's the idea4 ,and they don't4 ,the same lesson of self-restraint was taught by ,marshal ,foch in his words to the soldiers of ,france4 ,he urged them to keep their eyes and ears ready and their mouths in the safety notch2 and he told them they must obey orders first and kick afterwards if they had been wronged4 ,he said1 ,bear in mind that the enemy is your enemy and the enemy of humanity until he is killed or captured2 then he is your dear brother or fellow soldier beaten or ashamed1 whom you should no further humiliate4 ,he told them that it was necessary to keep their heads clear and cool1 to be of good cheer1 to suffer in silence1 to dread defeat1 but not wounds1 to fear dishonor1 but not death1 and to die game4 ,because so many of the soldiers under him heeded this wise admonition1 they did not waste their precious strength on useless and harmful emotions1 but they were ever ready to go to their task1 with the motto of their division1 ,it shall be done4 ,what a blessing it will be to the world that millions of young men were trained in ,france to repress hurtful emotion1 to exercise self-restraint--which may be defined as the act or process of holding back or hindering oneself from harmful thoughts or actions4 ,and what a wonderful thing it will be if the lesson is passed on to us1 so that we shall not be like the torrent that wastes its power by rushing and brawling over the stones1 all to no purpose1 but like the harnessed stream whose energy is made to turn the wheels of factory and mill4 ,for only guarded and guided strength is useful and safe4 ,,ii ,,effacing ,,self ,every man that falls must understand beforehand that he is a dead man and nothing can save him4 ,it is useless for him to cry out1 and it may1 by giving the alarm1 cause the enterprise to fail4 ,this was the message to his men of the officer to whom ,napoleon committed the capture of ,mt4 ,cenis4 ,the historian tells us that at one point in the ascent of a precipitous track1 three men fell4 ,their bodies were heard bounding from crag to crag1 but not a cry was heard1 not a moan4 ,the body of one hero was recovered later4 ,there was a smile on his lips4 ,how that record of the silence succeeded by a smile grips the heart1 for it was not the false courage that plays to the grandstand1 but the deeper1 truer courage that sinks self for the good of others1 and does this not merely because it is a part of the game1 but with the gladness that transfigures life4 ,such courage does not wait for some great occasion for exhibiting itself2 it is revealed in the midst of the humdrum routine of daily life--a routine that is especially trying to those who have been looking forward to some great1 perhaps dramatic service4 ,a young man of seventeen entered the navy1 with his parents' consent1 as an apprentice4 ,when he left home he had dreams of entering at once on a life of thrilling adventure where there would be numberless opportunities for the display of high courage4 ,at the end of a month a friend asked him how he liked life at the navy yard4 ,fine6 was the reply4 ,what are you doing8 was the next query4 ,they haven't given me anything but window washing to do yet1 he replied1 with a smile that was an index of character4 ,a newspaper writer has told of a college student nineteen years old who enlisted in the navy4 ,he was sent to one of our naval stations and told to guard a pile of coal4 ,as the summer passed he still guarded that coal pile4 ,he wrote home about it3 ,you know1 dad1 when we were little shavers1 you always rubbed it into us that anything that was worth doing at all was worth doing as well as it could be done4 ,i've been standing over that coal pile nearly three months now1 and it looks just exactly as small as it did when ,i first landed on the job4 ,he was relieved from the coal pile at last and promoted1 said the writer who told of him4 ,at the same time the government gave him a last chance to return to his college work4 ,he thought it over carefully4 ,he realized that ,america was going to need trained men as never before1 but still1 he decided1 the best service that he individually could give was the one that he had chosen4 ,he had a few days of leave before going on to his next assignment1 and he hurried back to his home4 ,he found that his summer task was a matter of town history1 and he had to face a good deal of affectionate raillery about his coal pile4 ,of course he did not mind that4 ,but his answer revealed his spirit3 ',you may laugh1 but that coal pile was all right4 ,i'll admit it got on my nerves for a bit1 but ,i figured it out that while ,i was taking care of that coal pile ,i was releasing some other fellow who knew things ,i didn't know1 and who could do things ,i couldn't do4 ,i'm ready to stand by a coal pile till the war ends1 if that's where ,i can help the most4' ,that is the spirit that will conquer because it is the spirit that never can be conquered1 was the comment made on the incident4 ,there is no self in it--only consecration to duty2 no seeking for large things--only for an opportunity to serve whenever the call comes4 ,that is the spirit that is growing in ,america to-day--and only through such spirit can we accomplish our great task in the life of the world4 ,the man who really desires to serve his fellows does not think of declaring that he will not do humble tasks1 but he demands that the work he is asked to do shall be needed4 ,a young man who was seeking his life work made known his willingness to be a shoe-black1 if he could be convinced that this was the work ,god wanted him to do4 ,an immigrant in ,new ,york ,city read in the morning1 ,lord1 my heart is not haughty nor mine eyes lofty4 ,then he went out to sweep a store1 and he swept it well4 ,it is worthy of note that the young man who was willing to be a shoe-black became one of the foremost men of his generation1 and that the immigrant became the pastor of a leading city church4 ,but a far more important fact is that the quality of the service given counted more in their minds than the character of the employment4 ,the service of the man who would be worth while in the world must partake of the spirit of the successful figure on the baseball diamond or the football gridiron3 readiness to do everything1 or anything--or to do nothing1 if he is so directed--in the interests of the team4 ,it must take a leaf from the book of ,general ,pershing and his fellow officers who1 in a time of stress for the ,allies1 were willing and eager to brigade their troops with the soldiers of ,france and ,england1 thus losing the identity of their forces in the interest of the great cause for which they stood4 ,it must learn the lesson taught by the life of ,him who emptied ,himself for the sake of the world--and did it with a smile4 ,,iii ,,forgiving ,,injuries ,a gifted writer has told the story of a workman in a ,bessemer steel furnace who was jealous of the foreman whom he thought had injured him4 ,the foreman was making a good record1 and the workman did not want to see him succeed4 ,so he plotted his undoing--he loosened the bolts of the cable that controlled an important part of the machinery1 and so caused an accident that not only interfered seriously with the day's turn1 but put a section of the plant out of commission for the time being4 ,as a result the superintendent was discharged4 ,when he left he vowed vengeance on the man whom he suspected of causing his discharge3 ,i'll get you for this some day1 he declared4 ,perhaps he would have been even more emphatic if he had known the extent of his enemy's culpability4 ,years passed4 ,the workman who had loosened the bolts became superintendent of the mill4 ,he1 too1 tried to break a production record1 and was in a fair way to succeed until some mysterious difficulty developed that interfered seriously with results4 ,and just when the new superintendent was losing sleep over his problem1 the old superintendent came to town4 ,he's come for his revenge6 was the thought of the new superintendent4 ,but the superintendent did not wait for a visit from the man he feared2 he sought him at once4 ,he must know the extent of my meanness1 he decided4 ,so he told his story4 ,to his surprise the former foreman seemed more interested in the account of the progress of the mill than in the sorry tale of past misdeeds4 ,learning of the mysterious difficulty that threatened failure in the attempt to break the production record1 the injured man showed real concern4 ,i can't imagine where the difficulty is1 but ,i'd like to take a look around for it1 he said4 ,arm in arm1 then1 the two men1 once bitter enemies1 moved toward the mill4 ,the search was successful1 the difficulty was corrected1 and the record was broken4 ,fine story1 isn't it8 ,what a pity it is only a story1 that such things don't ever happen in real life6 ,don't they8 ,how about ,henry ,nasmyth1 the ,english inventor of the steam piledriver1 whose ideas were stolen by ,french machinists8 ,his first knowledge of the piracy was when he saw a crude imitation of his piledriver in a factory in ,france4 ,instead of seeking damages and threatening vengeance1 he pointed out mistakes made in construction and helped his imitators perfect the appliance they had stolen from him4 ,yes1 such things do happen in daily life4 ,they are happening every day4 ,as we read of them or hear of them or meet people who are actors in such a drama1 we are conscious of admiration for the deed1 a quickening of the pulse1 and the thankful thought that the world is not such a bad place after all4 ,but are we to stop with quickened heartbeats and gratitude for the greatness of heart shown by others8 ,how about the bitterness we have been treasuring against some one who has injured us--or some one we think has injured us 7it is astonishing how many of the slights and indignities for which vengeance has been vowed are only imaginary1 after all67 ,how long do we intend to persist in treasuring the grudge that has perhaps already caused sorrow that cannot be measured8 ,let's be courageous enough to own ourselves in the wrong1 when we are in the wrong1 and to forgive the evil that has been kept alive by our persistent efforts to remember it4 ,let the quickened pulse-beat be ours not merely because we are hearing about forgiveness1 but because we ourselves are rejoicing in friendship restored4 ,,iv ,,forgetting ,,wrongs ,there are people whose minds are like a lumber-room1 littered with all sorts of odds and ends4 ,in such a room it is impossible to count on laying hands promptly on a desired article1 and in such a mind confusion takes the place of order4 ,the mind had better be empty4 ,an empty mind presents a fine opening for the proper kind of filling1 but a confused mind is hopeless4 ,how is it possible to make the memory a helpful servant unless nothing is allowed to find lodgment there that is not worth while8 ,an old proverb says1 ,no one can keep the birds from flying about his head1 but one can keep them from nesting in his hair4 ,that proverb points the way to saving the mind from becoming a lodging place for lumbering thoughts and ideas2 everything that is certain to hinder instead of help one to be worth-while to the world must be told that there is positively no admittance4 ,among the things one must not afford permission to pass the bars is the thought that some associate may have said or done something that seemed like a slight or an injury4 ,no man can afford to injure another1 but any man can better afford to be injured than to allow his thoughts to dwell on the injury1 to brood over it1 until he is in a degree unfitted for his work4 ,far better is it to be like a father who said to his son when the latter1 years after the commission of the deed1 was speaking of his sorrow that he had grieved his father so3 ,son1 you must be dreaming2 ,i don't recall the incident4 ,then one must know when to forget evil things heard of another4 ,sometimes it is necessary to remember such facts1 but so often the insinuations made concerning other people are not worth consideration1 because they are not true4 ,even where there is ground for them1 they are not proper subjects for thought and remembrance4 ,it is best to forget past achievements1 unless they are made stepping-stones to greater achievements1 spurs to work that could never be done without them4 ,yet how often the temptation comes to gloat in thought over these things1 and over the good things said of one because of them1 while opportunities for greater things are passed by4 ,thus a school-boy thought with delight of a word of commendation from his teacher when he ought to have been giving attention to the recitation of the pupil next to him2 the result was a reprimand that stung4 ,a soldier in the trenches has no time to gaze in admiration at the medal he has won by valor when at any moment there may sound the call to deeds of still greater valor4 ,no more should a civilian imperil future success by failure to forget the things which are behind4 ,the individual who refuses to forget a kindness he has done to someone else is another cumberer of the ground4 ,a safe rule is1 never forget a kindness received from another1 but forget at once a kindness done to another4 ,it is not difficult to sympathize with the youth who1 after being reminded for the twentieth time by his brother of a trip to ,new ,orleans for which the brother had paid out of his savings1 said1 ,yes1 and ,i wish ,i had never taken a cent of the money6 ,a thing to be forgotten always is the off-color story with which some people persist in polluting the atmosphere4 ,unfortunately there are always to be found folks like the young man of whom ,donald ,hankey said ,he talks about things that ,i won't even think4 ,when such talk is heard1 don't think of it4 ,if you do1 you are apt to think of it again and again1 until1 perhaps1 you will be telling it to some one else4 ,and no one wants to be remembered as was the business man1 proposed for the presidency of a great concern1 of whom one said1 ,no1 don't let's have him2 he has earned a reputation for telling questionable stories4 ,if a good memory is to be a good servant1 it must be trained to remember only the things that are helpful4 ,and that takes courage6 ,v ,,getting ,,rid ,,of ,,evil ,one of the trying disappointments of daily life comes with the discovery that something on which we have been depending is no longer worthy of confidence1 because a foreign substance1 some adulterant1 has been mixed with it1 without our knowledge4 ,this seemed to be the case perhaps more than ever before during the recent days of war when a severe strain was put on the products of nearly every kind4 ,in many parts of the country those who were compelled to replenish their coal supply during the worst weather of a severe winter complained because the anthracite then secured gave out little heat2 it contained such a large proportion of culm or other waste product which1 in ordinary times1 is carefully removed before shipment1 that it could not do its work properly4 ,disappointed in their anthracite1 some turned to bituminous coal1 only to find that at least fifty per cent1 of a shipment received during the days of stress was made up of rock and clay4 ,experience with the coal should have prepared one of the purchasers for his disappointment in a restaurant where he had been accustomed to be served with a splendid oyster stew4 ,but he was surprised and displeased when he found that at least one-third of the milk which should have gone into the stew had been displaced by water4 ,at home that evening the same man was told more of the activity of dealers who permit impurities to interfere with the comfort of those who like pure products2 the grocer had that day sent a package of soup beans which contained at least ten per cent4 of gravel4 ,it is easy to appreciate the disappointment and embarrassment that come from the failure of the coal dealer1 the restaurant keeper or the grocer to supply us with pure food and fuel4 ,then isn't it strange that we are apt to pay so little attention to the adulterants in character that are the cause of so much of the world's sorrow8 ,that is to say1 it seems odd that we pay so little attention to the things in our own lives that interfere2 we are not apt to find it a difficult matter to rail at others because they permit evil to mix with good in their lives4 ,our vision is so much better when we are looking at motes in others than when we are looking straight past the beams in our own make-up4 ,there is daily need for each one of us to ask ,god for grace to go on a hunt for the evil that adulterates his own life1 making it a disappointment to others and a cause of sorrow to ,god4 ,those who are bold enough to scrutinize themselves without flinching will be apt to find not merely things that are unquestionably evil1 but they will be dismayed to see that even much of the good in which they have been taking comfort is adulterated with evil--as1 for instance1 the deed of helpfulness performed for a friend with the unconscious thought1 ,some day he may be able to do something for me1 or the gift made to a needy cause1 accompanied by the assurance that the treasurer of the fund is one whom we particularly wish to impress with our liberality so that possibly a future benefit will come from him to us4 ,the adulterants of evil mixed with the good in our lives must be removed4 ,and there is just one way to get rid of them--to submit ourselves to the sifting of ,him who not only knows the good from the evil1 the wheat from the chaff1 but will also show the way to retain the wheat and throw out the chaff4 ,of course one does not have to yield himself to ,christ's sifting4 ,but of one thing we can be sure2 there will be a sifting4 ,if ,christ is not invited to do the work1 the ,devil will take up the task4 ,but his purpose in sifting is always to retain the evil1 and drive out all the good4 ,god asks for pure religion and undefiled4 ,there is no place in his calculations for adulterants4 ,be courageous1 and get rid of them6 ,,vi ,,looking ,,beyond ,,money ,money is a good thing1 when it is properly secured and properly used4 ,but there are better things than money4 ,honor is better1 and loving service1 and thoughtful consideration of others4 ,this was the lesson taught by the life of a man who was a shareholder in a mining company that was about to go out of business4 ,the shareholders would sustain very heavy losses1 so a friend who knew the secrets of the company determined to warn this man1 whom everybody liked4 ,the hint was given that it would be to his advantage to sell quickly4 ,why8 asked ,mr4 ,n4 ,well1 you know1 the value of the mines is greatly depreciated4 ,when ,i bought the shares ,i took the risk4 ,yes1 but now you should take the opportunity of selling while you can1 so as not to lose anything4 ,and supposing ,i don't sell1 what then8 ,then you will probably lose all you have4 ,and if ,i do sell1 somebody else will lose instead of me8 ,yes1 ,i suppose so4 ,do you suppose ,jesus ,christ would sell out8 ,that is hardly a fair question4 ,i suppose he would not4 ,i am a ,christian1 said ,mr4 ,n41 and ,i wish to follow my ,master1 therefore ,i shall not sell4 ,he did not1 and soon after lost everything1 and had to begin life again4 ,this shareholder would have appreciated ,professor ,a4 ,h4 ,buchanan1 who was for forty years professor of mathematics in ,cumberland ,university1 ,tennessee4 ,after his death it was told of him that at one time he was offered an appointment in government service to which a #c1jjj salary attached4 ,his income as professor in a church college was #fjj a year4 ,but he saw more chance to make his life count for ,christian things in the professor's place than in public service1 so he declined the #cjjj and stayed by the #fjj4 ,one who spoke of these facts in the professor's life said1 in comment3 ,if he had taken the #c1jjj1 everybody would have regarded him as an ordinary sort of man4 ,now everybody who has heard of ,professor ,buchanan's exceptional devotion appreciates that he was a very extraordinary man4 ,a very cheap person indeed is capable of accepting a bigger salary4 ,at about the time of the death of this professor of mathematics a daily paper mentioned a civil engineer who was transforming the appearance of a western city1 and said of him3 ,two or three times he has had chances to get three or four times his present salary4 ,each time he has said3 ',no1 my work is here2 ,i haven't finished it4 ,the money doesn't count1 so ,i shall stick here and finish my work4' ,after the death of a famous minister in ,st4 ,louis a story was told of him that he had not allowed to be known widely during his lifetime4 ,this was the romantic tale1 as related by a writer in ,the ,new ,york ,sun3 ,when a young man1 he found to his amazement among his father's papers a deed to five thousand eight hundred and eighty-three acres of land1 located in what is known as ,west ,virginia4 ,this deed was a great surprise to all who saw or heard of it4 ,putting this deed in his pocket1 young ,palmore1 the only heir to the property1 made a trip to ,west ,virginia1 to look over his vast estate1 which was far in the interior4 ,starting from the city of ,charleston1 ,west ,virginia1 he drove in a buggy into the region where his plantation was located4 ,he traced the boundaries of his property and found that hundreds of families had settled on it without any right to it1 but were living as if secure in the possession of their separate little patches of territory4 ,he found that beneath the surface of this land there was almost limitless wealth1 but the multitudes who had built themselves humble homes on the surface did not know of it1 and had been living thus in undisturbed possession for a number of years4 ,he quietly walked about at night and looked through the windows at the parents and children living on his estate4 ,great lawyers were ready to inaugurate legal proceedings that would have made him a millionaire1 and such legal proceedings would doubtless have been instituted if the heir in person had not visited the scene of his great estate4 ,as he dreamed in the nighttime about dispossessing such a multitude of people of their humble homes1 he began to feel that1 instead of such a fortune being a blessing1 an estate received at such an expense would be a burden4 ,after earnest prayer and sleepless hours in the midst of his vast acres1 he was seized with the conviction that each member of this multitude of families living on his property needed it more than did the heir1 and there and then he made up his mind that he would leave them in quiet possession of his estate4 ,the reporter who related the story said that the man had been called a fool1 and commented1 ,he was ,god's fool4 ,then he said that the incident he had related would have been unbelievable if it had not been so well attested4 ,but why unbelievable8 ,is it because of the common idea that every man has his price1 that it is unthinkable that a sane man would let a fortune that he could claim honestly slip through his fingers8 ,perhaps it is true that every man has his price4 ,however1 if this snarl of the pessimist is to have universal application1 the price must be understood to be--in many instances--not selfish gratification1 but the opportunity for courageous service4 ,there are men and women who can be won by such an opportunity who cannot be reached by any argument of mere private advantage4 ,such people silence the complaints of the croaker and command the confidence of those who are struggling to help their fellows4 ,louis ,agassiz1 the naturalist1 was such a man4 ,i have no time to make money1 was his remark when urged by a friend to turn aside from the important work of the moment to an easy1 lucrative task4 ,his reason was thus explained at another time3 ,i have made it the rule of my life to abandon any intellectual pursuit the moment it becomes commercially valuable4 ,it was his idea that there were many who would then be willing to carry on work he had begun4 ,a contrast is presented by the famous inventor who1 early in life1 made it a rule never to give himself to any activity in which there was no prospect of financial gain4 ,his first question was not1 ,does the public need this invention8 but ,is there money in it8 ,having answered to his satisfaction1 he was ready to go ahead4 ,the world could not well have spared either of these men1 for both rendered valuable service4 ,but1 judging from the stories of their careers1 there was more joy in the life of the naturalist1 who1 satisfied to earn a living1 thought most of serving his fellows1 than in the life of the inventor before whose eyes the dollar continually loomed large4 ,the counting-house measure of life is not the most satisfying nor is it the most useful4 ,that was the notion of ,jacob ,riis1 of whom a minister who was devoting his life to the interest of young working men near his church once asked if such effort was merely thrown away1 if he was pocketing himself4 ,pocketing yourself1 are you8 ,riis replied4 ,stick to your pocket4 ,it is a pretty good pocket to be in4 ,out of such a pocket1 worked in the way you are working it1 will come healing for the ills of the day that now possess us4 ,i would rather be in such a pocket1 working for the ,lord1 than in a #a1jjj1jjj church1 working for the applause of a congregation4 ,those who are familiar with inside history at ,washington say that the day after ,garfield's election as ,president1 a dispatch was sent to ,milton ,wells1 a ,wisconsin preacher1 whose vote in the convention had kept ,garfield's name on the list of candidates to the very last1 asking him if he would become governor of ,arizona ,territory4 ,mr4 ,wells answered3 ,i have a better office that ,i cannot leave4 ,i am preaching here for #fjj per year4 ,there was once a man named ,paul who might have enjoyed position and power1 if he had wished1 but he chose instead a life of courageous service of which he was able once to write1 without boasting3 ,in labors more abundantly1 in prisons more abundantly2 in stripes above measure1 in deaths oft4 ,of the ,jews five times received ,i forty stripes save one4 ,thrice was ,i beaten with rods1 once was ,i stoned1 thrice ,i suffered shipwreck1 a night and a day have ,i been in the deep2 in journeyings often1 in perils of rivers1 in perils of robbers1 in perils from my countrymen1 in perils from the ,gentiles1 in perils in the city1 in perils in the wilderness1 in perils in the sea1 in perils among false brethren2 in labor and travail1 in watchings often1 in hunger and thirst1 in fastings often1 in cold and nakedness4 ,how could ,paul bear all these things8 ,they were enough to break down a dozen strong men4 ,probably he sometimes felt that he could not bear the burden any longer1 but always there came to him the assurance of ,christ1 ,my grace is sufficient for thee4 ,then he could bear anything2 yet not he1 but ,christ1 who lived in him4 ,thus his glory was not in his own strength but in his weakness1 which made place in his life for the strength of ,christ4 ,until men and women learn how to gain strength in their weakness as ,paul did1 their lives will be unsatisfying1 their days will be full of complaint4 ,their burdens1 which seemed like mountains before learning to trust ,christ1 will be borne as easily as if they were feathers4 ,god does not promise to make us all dollar millionaires if we look at ,him for strength in our weakness1 but ,he does promise to make us all millionaires of faith and hope and courage4 ,paul was2 we can be1 too4 ,,chapter ,,two ,,the ,,courage ,,that ,,faces ,,obstacles ,,you may expect to spend the rest of your days tied to your chair4 ,theodore ,roosevelt's physician made this disconcerting announcement to his patient a few weeks before his death4 ,how would the courageous man receive an announcement like that8 ,how would you receive it8 ,let the words spoken in reply by the lion-hearted ,roosevelt never be forgotten by others who struggle with difficulties3 ,all right6 ,i can work and live that way1 too6 ,surely the triumphant words justified the characterization made by ,herman ,hagedorn of this colossal worker3 ,he was frail2 he made himself a mountain of courage4 ,at a dinner given to celebrate the worthy achievement of a public man1 a guest spoke of him to a companion at table4 ,no wonder he has been so well4 ,everything is in his favor3 he is young1 he is brilliant1 he is in good health4 ,in good health8 was the answering comment4 ,where did you get that8 ,for years he has been in wretched health2 many a night he was unable to sleep except he knelt on the floor by the bedside and stretched himself from his waist across the bed4 ,but it is not strange that you did not know1 he has said nothing of his ailments2 he is so full of courage himself that he makes everyone around him courageous4 ,i ,,learning ,when the famous ,sioux ,indian1 ,charles ,a4 ,eastman1 was a boy1 his father1 who had learned the joys of civilized life1 urged his son to secure an education4 ,i am glad that my son is brave and strong1 he said to him4 ,i have come to start you on the ,white ,man's way4 ,i want you to grow to be a good man4 ,then he urged his son1 ,ohiyesa1 as he was called1 to put on the civilized clothes he had brought with him4 ,the boy rebelled at first2 he had been accustomed to hate white men and everything that belonged to them4 ,but when he reflected that they had done him no harm1 after all1 he decided to try on the curious garments4 ,together father and son traveled toward the haunts of the white man4 ,as they traveled ,ohiyesa listened to tales of the wonderful inventions he would see4 ,he was especially eager to look on a railroad train4 ,but even after he had gone with his father1 he was reluctant to enter on his long training1 until his father suggested that he make believe he was starting on a long war-path1 from which there could be no honorable return until his course was completed4 ,entering into the spirit of the proposal1 the ,indian lad began his schooling at ,flandreau ,indian ,agency1 and persisted for twelve long years4 ,after graduating from college he devoted himself to his people1 and in many years since has accomplished wonders for them1 teaching them the patience he had himself learned1 and enabling them to understand that such patience and persistence always brings its reward4 ,the experience of ,isaac ,pitman1 the inventor of shorthand1 was different1 yet1 after all1 it was much the same4 ,as a boy he had little education4 ,but soon after he went to work he made up his mind to supply the lack4 ,the record of how he did this is one of the most remarkable instances of courageous patience on record4 ,the long office hours at his place of employment1 from six in the morning until six at night1 made study difficult1 but he showed conclusively that where there is a will there is a way1 and that he had the will4 ,he was accustomed to leave his bed at four1 that he might study two hours before the beginning of the day's work4 ,two hours in the evening also were set apart for study4 ,sometimes it happened that work at the factory was light1 and the young clerk was excused for the morning4 ,instead of taking the time for sport1 it was his habit to take a book with him into the fields or under the trees4 ,thomas ,allen ,reid1 in his biography of ,pitman says3 ,one of the books which he made his companion in morning walks into the country was ,lennie's ,grammar4 ,the conjugation of verbs1 list of irregular verbs1 adverbs1 prepositions1 and conjunctions1 and the thirty-six rules of syntax1 he committed to memory so that he could repeat them in order4 ,the study of the books gave him a transparent ,english style4 ,his father was a subscriber to the local library4 ,i went regularly to the library for fresh supplies of books1 ,isaac said1 in #ahfc1 and thus read most of the ,english classics4 ,i think ,i was quite as familiar with ,addison1 and ,sir ,roger1 and ,will ,honeycomb1 and all the ,club1 as ,i was with my own brothers and sisters 444 and when reading ,the ,spectator at that early age1 ,i wished that ,i might be able to do something in letters4 ,before he left school he formed the habit of copying choice pieces of poetry and prose into a little book which he kept in his pocket4 ,these bits he would commit to memory when he had leisure4 ,a later pocket companion contained a neatly written copy of ,valpey's ,greek ,grammar1 as far as the syntax1 which he committed to memory4 ,in his morning walks in #ahcb he committed to memory the first fourteen chapters of ,proverbs4 ,he would not undertake a fresh chapter until he had repeated the preceding one without hesitation4 ,as most of his knowledge of words was gained from books1 he had difficulty in pronunciation4 ,his method of overcoming the deficiency was ingenious1 his biographer wrote4 ,again and again he read ',paradise ,lost4' ,careful attention to the meter enabled him to correct his faulty pronunciation of many words4 ,words not found in the poem he discovered in the dictionary4 ,with unusual courage he decided to read through ,walker's ,dictionary1 fixing his mind on words new to him and on the spelling and pronunciation of familiar terms4 ,on the pages of one of his pocket-books he copied all words he had been in the habit of mispronouncing4 ,although there were more than two thousand of these words1 the plan was carried out before he was seventeen4 ,the labor of writing out so many extracts from books led him to study the imperfect system of shorthand then current1 and to develop the system that was to bear his name4 ,so many young people feel that they simply cannot abide the long process of getting an education2 they give up when they are only a part of the way to the goal4 ,but for most of them the day of bitter regret will come when they will wish that they had been more like ,eastman or ,pitman in their determination to be patient and persistent1 to allow nothing to stand in the way of their purpose to fit themselves in the best possible manner for the serious business of life4 ,,ii ,,depending ,,on ,,self ,young men just starting out in life nowadays1 who find the path to success difficult1 are more fortunate than some of those who struggled with hard times a century or more ago1 because they are determined to make a self-respecting fight on their own merits4 ,it was not always so2 once nothing was thought of the effort made by an impecunious young man to throw himself on the generosity of one who had already achieved success4 ,then it was a habit of many authors to seek as a patron a man of influence and means who would help them live till their books were ready for the publisher1 and then help to get the books before the public4 ,from letters of ,george ,crabbe1 a poet of some note in his century1 asking ,edmund ,burke to become his patron1 something of his story may be known4 ,as a boy he was apprenticed to an apothecary2 later he was proprietor of a small shop of his own4 ,business1 neglected for books and writing1 did not prosper4 ,with his sister1 his housekeeper1 he fasted with much fortitude4 ,then he went to ,london1 with a capital of nine pounds1 and starved some more4 ,months were spent in trying to enlist two patrons4 ,at last1 threatened with a prison for debt1 he decided to try a third patron2 and this was his procedure1 as he himself described it3 ,i looked as well as ,i could into every character that offered itself to my view1 and resolved to apply where ,i found the most shining abilities1 for ,i had learnt to distrust the humanity of weak people in all stations4 ,so he wrote to ,edmund ,burke1 telling him that he could no longer be content to live in the home of poor people1 who had kept him for nearly a year1 and had lent him money for his current expenses4 ,describing himself as one of those outcasts on the world1 who are without a friend1 without employment and without bread1 he told of his vain appeal to another for gold to save him from prison1 added that he had but one week to raise the necessary funds1 and made his request4 ,i appeal to you1 sir1 as a good1 and1 let me add1 a great man4 ,i have no other pretensions to your favor than that ,i am an unhappy one4 ,it is not easy to support thoughts of confinement1 and ,i am coward enough to dread such an end to my suspense 444 ,i will call upon you1 sir1 to-morrow1 and if ,i have not the happiness to obtain credit with you ,i must submit to my fate 444 ,i have only to hope a speedy end to a life so unpromisingly begun 444 ,i can reap some consolation in looking to the end of it4 ,the appeal was successful4 ,edmund ,burke became ,crabbe's patron4 ,the poet was glad to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table1 and submitted to many unpleasant slights and insinuations while he received the dole of charity4 ,that suing thus for a patron did not always have the effect of destroying an author's self-respect is shown by a letter written by ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson to ,lord ,chesterfield4 ,when1 after years of hard labor1 ,dr4 ,johnson's dictionary was known to be ready for publication1 ,lord ,chesterfield wrote for ,the ,world two flattering articles about the author1 evidently thinking that the work would be dedicated to him4 ,at once ,dr4 ,johnson wrote3 ,my ,lord3 ,when1 upon some slight encouragement1 ,i first visited your lordship1 ,i 444 could not forbear to wish 444 that ,i might obtain that regard for which ,i saw the world contending2 but ,i found my attendance so little encouraged1 that neither pride nor modesty would suffer me to continue it4444 ,seven years1 my lord1 have passed since ,i waited in your outward room1 or was repulsed from your door1 during which time ,i have been pushing on my work through difficulties1 of which it is useless to complain1 and have brought it at last to the verge of publication1 without one act of assistance1 one word of encouragement or one smile of favor4 ,such treatment ,i did not expect for ,i never had a patron before4444 ,the notice which you have been pleased to take of my labor1 had it been early1 had been kind2 but it has been delayed till ,i am indifferent1 and cannot enjoy it2 till ,i am solitary1 and cannot impart it2 till ,i am known1 and do not want it4444 ,i have long awakened from that dream of hope1 in which ,i once boasted myself with so much exultation1 my lord1 ,your lordship's most humble1 most obedient servant1 ,sam ,johnson4 ,the lapse of a century has brought a change4 ,self-respecting1 courageous young workers do not seek a patron to help them to fame4 ,to-day they ask only to fight their own battles1 win their own victories4 ,,iii ,,uncomplaining ,nor do courageous workers complain when little things go wrong4 ,i don't know what ,i shall do if the mail does not come to-morrow4 ,think of being two days without a morning paper6 ,the complaint was heard when railway traffic had been tied up by washouts on the railway4 ,the inconvenience suffered by the speaker seemed to him very great4 ,though there had been no other interruption to the many comforts and conveniences to which he had been accustomed1 the single difficulty made him lose his temper and spoiled his day4 ,when one is tempted to magnify such a small difficulty into a mountain it is worth while to look at things from the standpoint of a man whose life far from the centers of civilization makes him so independent of circumstances and surroundings that he can be cheerful even in the face of what seem like bitter privations4 ,a company of travelers in the forests of ,canada thought that the knowledge of the most recent news was necessary to happiness4 ,they learned their mistake when they reached the camp of a man from whom they expected to learn news more recent than the events reported in the paper the day they left civilization1 seven weeks before4 ,they felt sure that1 as he lived on the trail1 he would have seen some traveler who had left the railroad since their own departure4 ,when they asked him for late news from the ,states1 he said he had some very recent news1 and proceeded to tell of events eight months old6 ,do you call that recent8 he was asked1 in disgust4 ,what's the matter with that8 was the wondering reply4 ,it only happened last fall1 and there ain't been nobody through here since4 ,and he contentedly resumed the task at which he had been engaged when interrupted by the demand for recent news4 ,on the same journey the travelers--whose story is told in ,trails in ,western ,canada--showed that they were learning the lesson4 ,carelessness in handling a campfire caused a forest fire which threatened their food supply4 ,they saved this1 but lost their only axes4 ,after a long search they found these in the embers1 but the temper had been utterly ruined by the heat4 ,only a few hours before they felt that an axe was absolutely necessary not only to comfort but to life itself1 yet when the ruined tools were found the travelers turned to their tasks without giving the disaster a second thought4 ,they knew that there is always a way out of difficulty4 ,they continued their expedition without an axe1 and found that they managed very well4 ,the lesson was impressed still more by the attitude of a guide who spent a few days with them4 ,like many other people on vacation they allowed themselves to worry about finances4 ,but their thoughts were set on a new track by the guide1 who1 after telling of the success in trapping grizzly bear and beaver which had enabled him to save a little money1 said3 ,life is too short to worry about money4 ,if ,i lose all ,i have to-morrow1 ,i can get a couple of bear traps and by next spring ,i'll be on my feet again4 ,the mountains are always here1 and ,i know where there is a bunch of bear and a colony of beaver1 and ,i can get along out here1 and live like a prince while those poor millionaires are lying awake at nights1 lest someone come and steal their money4 ,two other guides were engaged to pole the travelers' raft down the ,fraser ,river4 ,nearly every day the cold rain fell in torrents1 but the men were unmoved4 ,all day long they would stand in their wet clothes1 their hands numb and blue from the cold as they handled their dripping poles2 yet not a comment indicating discomfort is recalled4 ,physical annoyances1 which in the city would bring an ambulance1 scarcely are mentioned by them4 ,one day one of the men was asked what they did when they were sick4 ,cain't say we ever are sick1 was the reply4 ,the worst thing that ever happened to us1 ,i reckon1 was when ,mort here had a bad tooth2 but1 after a day or two1 we got sick of it1 and took it out4 ,that was all he thought worth saying about it till he was pressed for an account of the operation4 ,oh1 ,i looked through our dunnage bag1 he said1 and found an old railroad spike4 ,mort held it against the tooth and ,i hit the head with a big rock1 and knocked her out the first time4 ,his companion was unwilling to agree that this was the most trying experience4 ,he told of a day when the man who had reported the tooth extraction1 cut his foot severely with an axe4 ,oh1 that didn't bother us1 the victim interrupted4 ,i just slapped on some spruce gum and never thought anything more about it4 ,asked how long he was laid up1 the surprised answer was3 ,laid up for that8 ,we weren't laid up at all4 ,couldn't travel quite as fast for a day or two1 but we didn't lose no time at that1 for we traveled longer to make up4 ,still another guide gave an object lesson in making light of difficulties when his horse fell on him1 bruising one of his knees so that it swelled to an enormous size4 ,the injured man made no complaint1 though his companions were full of sympathy4 ,he knew he could reduce the swelling by heroic remedies4 ,one day when traveling was unusually difficult1 the guide cheered his employers by telling them of the fine camp he owned just ahead--a house like a hotel1 he said4 ,and when the camp was reached he pointed proudly to a great log with a few great pieces of bark and some cedar slivers stretched over the top4 ,in this camp the night was spent1 without blankets and in the rain4 ,but as no one seemed to consider this anything out of the ordinary1 the travelers made no complaint4 ,perhaps a taste of the wilderness is what we need when we become impatient of trifles and make ourselves miserable because everything does not go to suit us4 ,,iv ,,persisting ,failure camps on the trail of the man who is ready to give up because difficulties multiply4 ,a representative of a large paper warehouse made up his mind to add to his list of customers a certain ,michigan firm4 ,repeated rebuffs did not daunt him4 ,every sixty days he sent the firm a letter of invitation to buy his goods4 ,during twenty-seven years one hundred and sixty-one letters were mailed without result4 ,then1 in reply to the one hundred and sixty-second letter1 the ,michigan firm asked for quotations4 ,these were given promptly1 and two carloads of paper were sold4 ,what if this letter writer had become discouraged before he wrote this final letter8 ,i thought you were planning to complete your education1 a friend said to a young man whom he had not seen for some time2 yet now you are clerking in a store4 ,perhaps1 though1 you are earning money for next year's expenses4 ,no1 ,i am earning money for this year's expenses1 was the discouraged reply4 ,i did want an education1 but ,i found it was too difficult to get what ,i sought1 so ,i have decided to settle down4 ,of course it is easier to give up than it is to push on in the face of difficulty1 but the youth who pushes on is fitting himself to fill a man's place in the world1 while the young man who is easily discouraged is fitting himself for nothing but disappointment4 ,the world has no place for a quitter4 ,there is a tonic for young people who purpose to make the most of themselves in glimpses of a few college students who had the courage to face difficulty4 ,one of these was an ,italian boy1 who was glad to beat carpets1 wash windows1 scrub kitchen floors1 mow lawns1 teach grammar1 arithmetic and vocal exercises at a night school for foreigners4 ,then--as if his time was not fully occupied by these occupations--he made arrangements to care for a furnace and sift the ashes1 in exchange for piano lessons4 ,that student finished his preparatory course with credit1 taking a prize for scholarship4 ,a seventeen-year-old boy wanted an education1 but he had nine brothers and sisters at home1 and he knew that he could look for no financial assistance from his parents4 ,so he picked cotton at sixty cents a hundred pounds1 sawed wood1 cut weeds and scrubbed floors--and thus paid his expenses4 ,one student could not spare the money to pay his railroad fare to the school of his choice4 ,but he had a pony4 ,so he rode the pony the entire distance of five hundred miles1 working for his expenses along the way4 ,a beginner in college was too full of grit to give up when bills came on him more heavily than he had expected4 ,during the school year he did chores1 rang the bell for the change of classes1 did janitor work1 and waited on table in restaurants4 ,in the summer he found work on farms near by4 ,no task is too difficult for the man with a purpose1 declared a worker with young men1 some of whom were ready to give up4 ,two things are necessary if you would be successful1 was another man's message to those whom he wished to inspire to do purposeful work4 ,first3 know what you want to do4 ,second3 do it4 ,those who permit obstacles to stand in the way of the performance of tasks they know they ought to perform if they would make the most of themselves1 need to take to heart the message given by a mother to her son when he was ready to give up the unequal struggle with poverty and physical infirmity4 ,thou wilt have much to bear1 many hardships to suffer1 she said4 ,but mark what ,i say1 we must not mind the trouble4 ,during the first part of the night we must prepare the bed on which to stretch ourselves during the latter part4 ,giving up after failure is always easier than trying again1 but the men and women who count are those who will not be dismayed by failure4 ,when ,j4 ,marion ,sims1 the famous surgeon1 was beginning the practice of medicine1 he proudly tacked an immense tin sign on the front of his office4 ,then he lost two patients1 and pride and courage both failed him4 ,i just took down that long tin signboard from my door1 he wrote in the story of his life4 ,there was an old well back of the house1 covered over with boards4 ,i went to the well1 took that sign with me1 dropped it in there1 and covered the old well over again4 ,i was no longer a doctor in the town4 ,but fortunately he conquered discouragement1 made a fresh beginning1 and overcame tremendous obstacles4 ,after his death a famous man said that if all his discoveries should be suppressed1 it would be found that his own peculiar branch of surgery had gone backward at least twenty-five years4 ,indomitable perseverance is necessary for the business man as for the professional man2 and it will just as surely bring reward to those who are engaged in ,christian work as to those who are seeking worldly honor4 ,so when the uphill climb seems too difficult1 there must be no faltering4 ,remember--as ,christina ,rossetti said--,we shall escape the uphill by never turning back4 ,in gathering material for a history of ,charles ,v of ,spain1 a ,spanish historian was painstaking in his researches4 ,finally he was able to tell the king's whereabouts on every day of his career1 except for two weeks in #aech4 ,then friends assured him that he had done his best4 ,in all probability nothing of importance happened during those days4 ,but the historian believed in being thorough to the end4 ,so he delayed publication4 ,for fifteen years he sought news of the missing fortnight4 ,finally1 and reluctantly1 when he was seventy-five years old1 he published the book4 ,at length an ,american woman1 studying in the archives of ,spain1 having learned of the lost days1 resolved to find them4 ,among musty documents1 in many libraries1 she toiled4 ,then1 by a woman's intuition1 she was led to look for documents of a sort the ,spanish historian had never thought of4 ,and she found where the king was on some of those days4 ,the news was sent to the historian1 just in time for him to make additions to his inaugural address to be delivered on taking his seat in the ,academy of ,history4 ,in this address he rejoiced to give full credit for the discovery to the ,american4 ,but the woman was not satisfied2 there was still a gap to be filled4 ,she made further trials1 and failed4 ,again intuition led her to documentary sources that had hardly been touched since they were filed away nearly three hundred years before4 ,she succeeded1 and now that bit of history is complete4 ,a well known writer for young people was also persistent in tracing a story to its source4 ,when he came to ,america from his native ,holland he heard for the first time the story of the ,dutch hero who stopped the hole in the dike1 a story unknown in ,holland4 ,he resolved to prove or disprove this4 ,the record of his long search was published later4 ,not only did he prove the existence of the boy1 but he proved that the boy's sister was a partner in the heroic deed4 ,thus the helpful story has been saved for future generations4 ,these incidents make interesting reading4 ,but do they not do more8 ,surely it is unnecessary to urge the lesson of persistence in a task seriously undertaken4 ,often there is temptation to slight some worth-while task1 after one has worked on it painstakingly for a time4 ,why pay so much attention to detail8 is asked4 ,surely no real harm will be done if ,i give less time to some of these things that seemed so important at the beginning6 ,fortunately there are multitudes of workers who are constitutionally unable to slight a task4 ,the proofreader on a paper of large circulation is an example4 ,it is a part of her work to prove statements made1 to verify facts and figures1 to see that these are altogether accurate4 ,once when there was an unusual pressure of work the editor suggested that she might wish to take certain things for granted1 but she showed her conscientious thoroughness by performing the task to the end1 according to the rules of the office1 and in the face of weariness that was almost exhaustion4 ,it may not be given to you to be a historian4 ,you may not be called upon to prove the story of a hero4 ,it may not be your task to read proof or to verify manuscripts4 ,but each one has a definite part in the work of the world and there is no one to whom the example of historian and proofreader is without value4 ,all need to remember the truth in the assurance1 ,there is nothing so hard but search will find it out4 ,v ,,toiling ,two young people were passing out of a building where they had just listened to a speaker of note4 ,what a wonderful talk that was6 said one who found it a heavy cross to make the simplest address in public4 ,i wish ,i had such a gift of speech4 ,it isn't a gift in his case2 it is an acquirement1 was the response4 ,if you had known that man five years ago1 you would agree with me4 ,when ,i first knew him he could not get up in a public meeting and make the simplest statement without floundering and stammering in a most pitiful manner4 ,but he had made up his mind to be a public speaker1 and he put himself through a severe course of discipline4 ,to-day you see the result4 ,the biography of ,dr4 ,herrick ,johnson tells of courageous conquest of difficulties that seemed to block the way to success3 ,hamilton ,college has always given great attention to public speaking and class orations4 ,the high standard was set by a remarkably gifted man1 ,professor ,mandeville1 who instituted a system in the study of oratory and public speaking which has been known ever since1 with some modification1 as the ',mandeville ,system4' ,in #ahec1 ,dr4 ,anson ,j4 ,upson was in the ,mandevillian chair1 and had lifted up to still greater height the standard of public speaking1 and had awakened a great1 inextinguishable enthusiasm for it4 ,not one of the boys who entered that year1 and who were at that prize-speaking contest1 could fail to be seized with the public-speaking craze4 ,it especially met ,herrick ,johnson's taste and trend and gifts1 and fired his highest aim4 ,probably there was nothing he wanted so much as the prize in his class at the next commencement4 ,but unfortunately his standards and ideals of public speaking were just then as far as possible from the ,mandevillian standard4 ,he had acquired what was called a ministerial tone1 and other faults fatal to any success1 unless eradicated4 ,the best speakers of the upper classes were the recognized and accepted 'drillers' of the new boys1 who at once put themselves under their care and criticism4 ,every spring and fall a certain valley with a grove1 north of the college1 was the resort of the aspirants for success at this time4 ,the woods would ring with their 'exercises' and strenuous declamation1 and ,i presume it is the same to-day4 ,herrick ,johnson had a magnificent voice1 well-nigh ruined by his sins against the right method of using it4 ,he soon saw that it was going to be essential for him to go down to the foundation of his wrong methods and break them all up and absolutely eradicate his 'tone4' ,it was no easy thing to do1 but the young man was intensely ambitious1 and so he worked with the greatest energy4 ,he failed of an appointment on the 'best four' of his ,freshman class4 ,but he worked away throughout his ,sophomore year and failed again4 ,the upperclassmen saw his pluck1 they recognized his grand voice1 and they worked with him during his ,junior year1 until he had mastered the ,mandevillian style1 wholly eradicated his 'tone1' corrected all defects1 and got his appointment for one of the best four speakers of the ,junior year2 and on the prize-speaking night of that commencement1 he went on the platform conscious of his power and swept everything before him as the ,junior prize speaker4 ,it set the standard for that young man4 ,voice1 manner1 address1 were all masterful and accounted easily for his great success as a public speaker through all his subsequent prominent and successful career in his profession4 ,a part of the good of speaking a piece is to try again1 determined to retrieve failure4 ,success is not always a good thing for a boy or a girl1 any more than for a man or a woman4 ,the discipline of failure is sometimes needed4 ,to fail is not always a calamity1 if the failure leads to the correction of the faults that lead to failure4 ,whether it be speaking a piece or learning a lesson or facing a trying situation in business1 no matter how many times one has failed1 he needs to take to heart the message of ,macbeth3 ,we fail6 ,but screw your courage to the sticking-point1 ,and we'll not fail4 ,always there is a reward for those who fight against difficulties1 who persist in their struggle even when failure follows failure4 ,everyday the glad story of the sequel to such persistent struggles is recorded4 ,the records of commercial life1 of school life1 of home life are full of these4 ,,vi ,,conquering ,,infirmity ,of all obstacles that can stand in the way of courageous conquest1 one of the most fatal1 in the opinion of many1 is blindness4 ,yet it is not necessary that the loss of the eyes should be the fatal handicap it is almost universally considered4 ,it is a mistake to feel that when a worker has anything seriously and permanently wrong with his eyes he cannot be expected longer to perform tasks that are normal for one who has the full use of all his five senses4 ,in fact1 when we hear that a man is going blind we are apt to dismiss with a sigh his chance for continuing productive labor of any sort2 we feel that there is little left for him but sitting resignedly in a chimney corner and listening to others read to him or patiently fingering the raised letters provided for the use of the blind4 ,in protest against this error a novelist has taken for his hero a young man who lost his sight4 ,his friends pitied him1 talked dolefully to him1 promised to look after him in the days of incapacity4 ,of course he sank lower and lower in the doleful dumps4 ,then one came into his life who never seemed to notice his blindness1 who talked to him as if he could see1 who encouraged him to do things by taking it for granted that they would be performed4 ,her treatment proved effective2 before long the blind man was learning self-reliance1 and was well on the road to achievement4 ,the story was true to life for1 times without number1 blind men and women have shown their ability to work as effectively as if they could see4 ,more than two hundred years ago a teacher in ,london named ,richard ,lucas lost his eyesight4 ,many of his friends thought that he would1 of course1 give up all idea of being a useful man2 in that day few thought of the possibility of one so afflicted doing anything worth much4 ,but the young man thought differently4 ,he listened to others as they read to him1 and completed his studies4 ,he became the author of a dozen volumes1 and was among the leaders of his day4 ,one of his greatest works was the book ,an ,enquiry after ,happiness4 ,he knew how to be happy1 in spite of his affliction1 so he could teach others to follow him4 ,a little earlier there lived on the farm of a poor ,irishman the boy ,thomas ,carolan4 ,when he was five years old1 he had smallpox1 a disease that was much more virulent in those days than it is to-day because the treatment required was not understood4 ,as a result the boy lost his sight4 ,soon he showed a taste for music1 and he was able to take a few lessons1 in spite of the poverty at home4 ,as a young man he composed hundreds of pieces of music1 and it has been said of him that he contributed much towards correcting and enriching the style of national ,irish music4 ,another youthful victim of smallpox was ,thomas ,blacklock1 the son of a bricklayer in ,scotland4 ,he can't be an artisan now1 his friends said4 ,but it did not occur to them that he could be a professional man4 ,his father read him poetry and essays4 ,when he was only twelve the boy began to write poetry in imitation of those whose verses he had heard4 ,after his father's death1 when the blind boy was but nineteen1 he was more than ever dependent on himself4 ,by the help of a friend he was enabled to go to school for a time4 ,then he became an author1 and1 later1 a famous preacher4 ,often1 as he walked about1 a favorite dog preceded him4 ,on one occasion he heard the hollow sound of the dog's tread on the board covering a deep well1 and just in time to avoid stepping on the board himself4 ,the covering was so rotten that he would surely have fallen into the water4 ,as a boy ,francis ,huber1 of ,geneva1 ,switzerland1 was a great student4 ,he insisted on reading by the feeble light of a lamp1 or by the light of the moon1 even when he was urged not to do so1 and the result was blindness4 ,a few years later he married one who rejoiced to be his companion1 his secretary and his observer4 ,he became the greatest authority of his day on bees1 although he knew nothing of the subject until after his misfortune4 ,the strange thing is that all his conclusions were based on observation4 ,among other things he studied the function of the wax1 the construction of their combs1 the bees' senses and their ability to ventilate the hive by means of their wings4 ,in recognition of his work he was given membership in a number of learned societies4 ,his name must always be connected with the history of early bee investigation4 ,not long after the close of the ,american ,revolution ,james ,holman1 a ,british naval officer1 lost his eyesight while in ,africa4 ,he was then about twenty-five years old4 ,later he became one of the best known travelers of his day4 ,the world was told of his travels in lectures and in books1 and others were also inspired to travel4 ,what is the use of traveling to one who cannot see8 he was asked at one time4 ,does every traveler see all he describes8 he replied4 ,he said that he felt sure he visited1 when on his travels1 as many interesting places as others1 and that1 by having the things described to him on the spot1 he could form as correct a judgment as his own sight would have enabled him to do4 ,in #aggi ,richmond1 ,virginia1 gave birth to ,james ,wilson1 who lost his sight when he was four years old1 because of smallpox4 ,he was then on shipboard1 and was taken to ,belfast1 ,ireland1 where he grew to manhood4 ,when a boy he delivered newspapers to subscribers who lived as far as five miles from the city4 ,when fifteen he used part of his earnings to buy books which he persuaded other boys to read to him4 ,at twenty-one he entered an institution for the blind1 for fuller instruction4 ,then he joined with a circle of mechanics in forming a reading society4 ,one friend promised to read to him every evening such books as he could procure4 ,the hours for reading were from nine to one every night in summer and from seven to eleven every night in the winter4 ,often ,i have traveled three or four miles1 in a severe winter night1 to be at my post in time1 he said once4 ,perished with cold and drenched with rain1 ,i have many a time sat down and listened for several hours together to the writings of ,plutarch1 ,rollins1 or ,clarendon4 ,after seven or eight years of this training1 he was acquainted with almost every work in the ,english language his biographer says1 perhaps a little extravagantly4 ,his education he used in literary work4 ,b4 ,b4 ,bowen was a ,massachusetts boy just a century ago4 ,when a babe he lost his sight4 ,in #ahcc ,dr4 ,howe--husband of ,julia ,ward ,howe--selected him as one of six blind boys on whom he was to make the first experiments in the instruction of the blind4 ,later he wrote a book of which eighteen thousand copies were sold4 ,another of the men who proved the loss of sight was not a bar to successful work was ,thomas ,r4 ,lounsbury1 the ,yale scholar whose studies in ,chaucer and ,shakespeare made him famous4 ,toward the close of his busy life he was engaged in a critical study of ,tennyson1 preparatory to writing an exhaustive book on the life of the great poet4 ,he did not live to complete the work1 but he left it in such shape that a friend was able to put it in the hands of the publishers4 ,in the ,introduction to the biography this friend told of the courageous manner in which ,professor ,lounsbury faced threatening blindness and continued his writing in spite of the danger4 ,we are told that his eyes1 never very good1 failed him for close and prolonged work4 ,at best he could depend upon them for no more than two or three hours a day4 ,sometimes he could not depend upon them at all4 ,that he might not subject them to undue strain1 he acquired the habit of writing in the dark4 ,night after night1 using a pencil on coarse paper1 he would sketch a series of paragraphs for consideration in the morning4 ,this was almost invariably his custom in later years4 ,needless to say1 these rough drafts are difficult reading for an outsider4 ,though the lines could be kept reasonably straight1 it was impossible for a man enveloped in darkness to dot an i or to cross a t4 ,moreover1 many words were abbreviated1 and numerous sentences were left half written out4 ,every detail1 however1 was perfectly plain to the author himself4 ,with these detached slips of paper and voluminous notes before him1 he composed on a typewriter his various chapters1 putting the paragraphs in logical sequence4 ,francis ,parkman1 the historian who made the ,indian wars real to fascinated readers1 was a physical wreck on the completion of ,the ,oregon ,trail1 when he was but twenty-five years old4 ,he could not write even his own name1 except with his eyes closed2 he was unable to fix his mind on a subject1 except for very brief intervals1 and his nervous system was so exhausted that any effort was a burden4 ,but he would not give up4 ,during the weary days of darkness he thought out the story of the conspiracy of ,pontiac and decided to write it4 ,physicians warned him that the results would be disastrous1 yet he felt that nothing could do him more harm than an idle1 purposeless life4 ,one of his chief difficulties he solved in an ingenious manner4 ,in a manuscript1 published after his death1 his plan was described3 ,he caused a wooden frame to be constructed of the size and shape of a sheet of letter paper4 ,stout wires were fixed horizontally across it1 half an inch apart1 movable back of thick pasteboard fitted behind them4 ,the paper for writing was placed between the pasteboard and wires1 guided by which and using a black-lead crayon1 he could write not illegibly with closed eyes4 ,this contrivance1 with improvements1 he used for about forty years of semi-blindness4 ,the documents on which he depended for his facts were read to him1 though sometimes for days he could not listen1 and then perhaps only for half an hour at a time4 ,as he listened to the reading he made notes with closed eyes4 ,then he turned over in his mind what he had heard and laboriously wrote a few lines4 ,for months he penned an average of only three or four lines a day4 ,later he was able to work more rapidly and he completed the book in two years and a half4 ,no publisher was found who was willing to bear the expense of issuing the volume1 and the young man paid for the plates himself4 ,friends thought that now he would have to give up4 ,his eyes were still troubling him1 he became lame1 his head felt as if great bands of iron were fastened about it1 and frequently he did not sleep more than an hour or two a night4 ,then came the death of his wife1 on whom he had depended for some years4 ,at one time his physician warned him that he had not more than six months to live4 ,but when a friend said that he had nothing more to live for1 he made the man understand that he was not ready to hoist the white flag4 ,he lived for forty-five years after it was thought that he could never use his eyes again1 and during all this time he worked steadily and patiently1 accomplishing what would have been a large task for a man who had the full use of all his powers4 ,an ,englishman was told by his physician he could never see again4 ,for a time the news weighed heavily upon him4 ,afterward he said3 ,i remained silent for a moment1 thinking seriously1 and then1 summoning up all the grit ,i possessed1 ,i said1 ',if ,god wills it1 ,he knows best4 ,what must be will be4 ,and1' ,i added1 putting my hand up to a tear that trickled down my face1 ',god helping me1 this is the last tear ,i shall ever shed for my blindness4' ,it was4 ,he secured the degrees of doctor of philosophy and master of arts4 ,he was a fellow of the ,royal ,geographical ,society and the ,chemical ,society4 ,he made many valuable scientific discoveries and inventions1 saved a millionaire's life1 and received the largest fee ever awarded any doctor--#bej1jjj4 ,to these men difficulties were a challenge to courage4 ,they accepted the challenge and proved themselves superior to circumstances4 ,thus their lives became a challenge to the millions of their countrymen who read of their triumph4 ,,chapter ,,three ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,industry ,,anybody can drift1 but only the man or woman of courage can breast the current1 can fight on upstream4 ,it is so easy to be idle or to work listlessly4 ,average folks drift heedlessly into occupations in which they have no special interest and for which they have as little fitness4 ,most people waste their evenings or use them to little profit3 it never occurs to them that each day they waste precious hours4 ,they give more thought to schemes to do less work than to attempts to increase output4 ,and so they show their weakness1 their unfitness for bearing responsibility1 their cowardice when the world is calling for courage4 ,worth-while work demands the finest kind of courage1 and with perfect fairness work gives back courage to those who put courage into it4 ,i ,,beginning ,yes1 he's a right good worker1 when you once get him started1 a country newspaper editor said to a friend who was inquiring about a boy who had been in the office three months4 ,watch him now2 you'll see what ,i mean4 ,the boy had just brought from the express office the package of patent insides1 as the papers for the weekly edition of the newspaper1 already half printed in the nearby city1 were called4 ,with a sigh he dragged these up the stairs and laid them on the folding table4 ,with another sigh he contemplated the pile and thought how much time would be required to fold the eight hundred papers4 ,after lengthy calculation he stopped to read a column of jokes from the top paper in the pile4 ,at least five minutes passed before the first paper was folded4 ,at the end of ten minutes he had succeeded in folding perhaps twenty-five papers4 ,when the noon hour arrived not one third of the task was completed4 ,while he ate his lunch he was thinking of the dread ordeal of the afternoon--six hundred more papers to be folded6 ,would he ever be done8 ,he was still pitying himself as he walked slowly back to the office4 ,just before reaching the doorway into which he must turn1 he spied an acquaintance4 ,he made his way over to the boy who had attracted him1 not because he had anything to say to him1 but that he might delay a little longer the moment of beginning work at the folding table4 ,what are you going to do8 he asked idly of the boy1 who had taken off his coat and was rolling up his sleeves4 ,the boss wants me to sort that lot of old iron1 was the reply4 ,what1 that huge pile6 ,it will take you a week1 won't it8 ,just think how much of it there is6 ,no1 there isn't time to think how much of it there is1 was the reply4 ,and what would be the good8 ,not a bit of use getting discouraged at the very start1 and that is what would happen if ,i didn't pitch in hard4 ,the job is going to be done before night--that is1 if ,i'm not interrupted by too many loafers coming in to ask fool questions4 ,the boy from the printing office was about to resent this speech of the boy at the iron pile1 but he thought better of it4 ,perhaps there is something in what he says1 he said to himself1 as he went up the stairs4 ,suppose ,i try to pitch in hard4 ,so he surprised the foreman by beginning at the pile of six hundred papers as if he was to be sent to a ball game when he finished4 ,and he surprised himself by finishing his task in a little more than an hour4 ,the lesson he learned that day stood him in good stead when later he was taking his first difficult examination in a technical school4 ,his neighbor stopped to look over the paper from beginning to end1 and was heard to mutter1 ,how do they expect us to get through ten questions like these in an hour's time8 ,the boy from the printing office had no time for such an inquiry1 but began work at once on the first question1 without troubling himself about those that came later until he was ready for them4 ,so it was when1 his technical course completed1 he was confronted by his first great railroad task1 the clearing up of a wreck that looked to his assistants like an inextricable tangle4 ,after one good look at it he pitched in for all he was worth1 thus inspiring the men who had felt the task was impossible1 and within a few hours the tracks were clear4 ,the ability to pitch in at once on a hard job is one characteristic of the man who accomplishes tasks that make others sit up and take notice4 ,john ,shaw ,billings1 the famous librarian1 had this ability4 ,to a friend who praised him for the performance of what others thought to be a most difficult task1 he said3 ,i'll let you into the secret--it is nothing really difficult if you only begin4 ,some people contemplate a task until it looks so big it seems impossible1 but ,i just begin1 and it gets done somehow4 ,there would be no coral islands if the first bug sat down and began to wonder how the job was to be done4 ,,ii ,,purpose ,,forming ,one of the interesting points the fascinated reader of biography comes to look for is the first hint of the formation of the purpose that later characterized the life of the subject4 ,there is infinite variety1 but in every case there is apt to be something that takes the purposeful reader back to the days when his own ambition was taking shape4 ,for instance1 there is ,daniel ,boone4 ,one would not be apt to select him as an example of one whose life was ruled by a purpose deliberately formed and adhered to for many years4 ,yet he had his vision of what he desired to accomplish when1 at twenty-one years of age1 he was marching from ,north ,carolina to ,pennsylvania to join ,braddock's company4 ,on the way he met ,john ,finley1 a hunter who had traveled through ,ohio and into the wild regions to the south4 ,his tale of ,kentucky fired ,boone's imagination1 and the two men planned to go there just as soon as the trip to ,fort ,duquesne was at an end4 ,it proved impossible to carry out the plan for many years1 but ,boone never lost sight of his purpose1 and ultimately he carved out the ,wilderness ,road and opened the way for the pioneers to seek homes in the ,kentucky ,wilderness4 ,alexander ,hamilton was but twelve years old when he wrote from his home in ,st4 ,croix1 in the ,west ,indies1 to a friend in ,america3 ,i contemn the grovelling condition of a clerk1 or the like1 to which my fortune condemns me1 and would willingly risk my life1 though not my character1 to exalt my station4 ,i am confident1 ,ned1 that my youth excludes me from any hope of immediate preferment1 nor do ,i desire it1 but ,i mean to prepare the way for futurity4 ,not for a day did he lose sight of his purpose4 ,the opportunity he sought came years later4 ,he sailed for ,america1 and began the career that led to usefulness and fame4 ,as a boy ,robert ,fulton was ambitious4 ,he had two dreams4 ,he wished to go to ,europe to study art1 and he wished to buy a farm for his widowed mother4 ,for these objects he saved every dollar he could4 ,on his twenty-first birthday he took his mother and sister to the home he had bought for them1 and later in the same year he sailed for ,europe4 ,when ,peter ,cooper was making his way against odds in ,new ,york ,city he felt the need of an education4 ,but he had to work by day and there was no night school4 ,night after night he studied by the light of a tallow candle4 ,and while he studied1 his life purpose was formed3 some day he would make it easy for apprentice boys to secure an education after working hours4 ,many years passed before he was able to carry this purpose into effect4 ,by this time the apprentice system had been displaced1 but he felt that young people still needed the school he had in mind4 ,in #ahei1 nearly fifty years after his own boyhood struggle1 he founded ,cooper ,union1 in which thousands have had the opportunity to open the volume of ,nature by the light of truth--so unveiling the laws and methods of ,deity that the young may see the beauties of creation1 enjoy its blessings and learn to love the ,being from whom cometh every good and perfect gift4 ,as a boy ,abraham ,lincoln made up his mind to live like ,washington4 ,he was twenty-two years old when1 in ,new ,orleans1--where he had taken a flatboat loaded with produce--he saw a slave auction and spoke the never-to-be-forgotten words3 ,if ever ,i get a chance to hit that thing1 ,i'll hit it hard4 ,thirty-five years later came his chance1 and he did hit that thing hard with the ,emancipation ,proclamation4 ,alexander ,graham ,bell's life ambition was to teach deaf children how to articulate4 ,funds were short4 ,that he might have more funds he engaged in experiments that led to the invention of the telephone4 ,when the telephone instrument was given the attention it deserved at the ,philadelphia ,centennial of #ahgf1 the inventor wrote triumphantly to his parents3 ,now ,i shall have the money to promote the teaching of speech to deaf children4 ,james ,stewart1 the ,scotch boy who became a famous missionary in ,south ,africa1 was fifteen years old when1 one day while following the plow in ,perthshire1 he began to brood over the future4 ,what was it to be8 ,the question flashed across his mind1 ,might ,i not make more of my life than by remaining here8 ,then he said1 ,god helping me1 ,i will be a missionary4 ,at another time1 while hunting with a cousin1 he said ,jim1 ,i shall never be satisfied till ,i am in ,africa with a ,bible in my pocket and a rifle on my shoulder1 to supply my wants4 ,james ,robertson was a school teacher in ,canada when he became a ,christian4 ,on the ,sunday he was to take his vows as a follower of ,christ1 he walked two miles to church with a friend who has told of his memories of the day thus3 ,as we went along the ,governor's ,road there was a bush1 ',light's ,woods1' on the south side of the road4 ,robertson suggested that we turn aside into the bush1 not saying for what purpose4 ,we penetrated it a short distance1 when1 with a rising hill on our right and on comparatively level ground1 the tall maples waving their lovely heads far above us1 and the stillness of the calm1 sunny day impressing us with a sense of the awful1 we came to a large stone4 ,robertson proposed that we engage in prayer4 ,we knelt down together4 ,he prayed that he might be true to the vows he was about to take1 true to ,god and ever faithful in his service4 ,from that day the young man's purpose was inflexible4 ,he would be a minister4 ,he did not dream of conspicuous places in the church4 ,when the temptations came to seek place and position1 he wrote to ,miss ,cowing1 who had promised to be his wife1 ,we are no longer our own4 ,the time for self is gone for us4 ,william ,duncan likewise was tempted to seek a position of prominence4 ,when he decided to become a missionary1 his employers sought to dissuade him4 ,you have one of the keenest brains in ,england1 one of them said4 ,don't you see you are making a fool of yourself8 ,fool or no fool1 my mind is made up1 and nothing can change it1 was the positive reply4 ,and he set his face like a flint1 and in time began the wonderful work that has written his name indelibly in the history of the ,indians of ,western ,canada and ,alaska4 ,washington ,gladden was a country newspaper man in ,owego1 ,new ,york1 when he united with the church1 and began to make definite plans for a larger future than he had yet dreamed of4 ,first he went to the ,academy and then to college1 with the ministry always in view4 ,george ,grenfell1 who became a missionary in ,africa1 was thirteen years old when he began to think of devoting his life to work for others4 ,the reading of ,livingstone's first book turned his thoughts to ,africa4 ,william ,waddell was fifteen years old when he became a ,christian4 ,at the time he was working for a ship-joiner at ,clydebank1 ,scotland4 ,the ambition took possession of him to become a missionary to ,africa4 ,neither lack of education nor scarcity of funds was allowed to stand in his way4 ,he kept at his work until he saw an advertisement asking for men to go to the ,orange ,free ,state to assist in building a church4 ,he volunteered1 and1 as a layman and a mechanic1 began his wonderful career in ,africa4 ,david ,lloyd-,george was an orphan in ,wales when he determined to be a lawyer4 ,so he read1 under the guidance of his shoemaker uncle1 and when he was fourteen he was ready for the preliminary examination4 ,for six years more he continued his preparation4 ,before he was twenty-one he set out on the career that has made him the leader to whom ,king and people of ,england alike turned eagerly4 ,these men found their place and did their work1 not because they sought great things for themselves1 but because they lived in the spirit of the advice given by a celebrated ,canadian to a company of young people3 ,you cannot all attain high positions3 there are not enough to go around4 ,you cannot all be preachers or premiers1 but you can all do thoroughly and well what is set you to do1 and so fit yourselves for some higher duty1 and thus by industry and fidelity and kindness you can fill your sphere in life and at last receive the ',well done' of your ,lord4 ,,iii ,,using ,,time ,,wisely ,a remark made by an acquaintance in the street car showed such familiarity with the work and trials of the busy conductor that inquiry followed4 ,yes1 ,i was a conductor once1 the man said1 but ,i had my eye on something else4 ,at night ,i took a business course1 and soon was able to take a position with a railroad company4 ,that was fine6 was the answering comment4 ,how you must have enjoyed resting on your oars as you reaped the fruits of extra toil4 ,enjoyment--yes6 ,but rest--no6 came the reply4 ,i wasn't done4 ,i still had my evenings1 and ,i kept on studying4 ,the things ,i learned in these extra hours came in handy when the ,superintendent asked me to become his secretary4 ,service in the railroad office was interrupted by enlistment in the army1 although the worker was well beyond the age of the draft4 ,how could ,i think of anything but service at the front8 he said1 with a matter-of-fact accent4 ,while in the service the habit of study in spare hours persisted2 becoming familiar with the military manual he attracted the attention of his officers1 and was marked for added responsibility4 ,at the close of the war he resumed his work for the railroad and entered a technical school which provides night courses for the ambitious4 ,forty years of age1 and still learning6 ,an employer has written of an employee who1 ten years ago1 was securing fifteen dollars per week4 ,but he was studying1 and he soon attracted the attention of the head of the business1 who called him a rough diamond4 ,he knew that the ambitious man seemed to lack some of the vital elements of success4 ,but he watched him as he took evening courses in business psychology and salesmanship4 ,this man is paid by me to-day from #ab1ejj to #ae1jjj a year1 was the gratifying conclusion of the employer's story4 ,a great executive recently told in a magazine article of a young man in the office of his employment director who attracted attention because of an exceptionally pleasing personal appearance4 ,before the director saw him the executive asked him what he was studying4 ,when ,i left school1 was the reply1 made with something of a sneer1 ,i promised myself ,i would never open a book again as long as ,i lived1 and ,i'm keeping my promise4 ,the executive was about to leave the office for a two weeks' vacation4 ,first1 however1 he wrote a few words about the applicant1 placed them in a sealed envelope1 and left this with the employment director1 to be kept for him4 ,on his return he asked about the applicant1 by name4 ,the answer came1 with prompt disgust3 ,that fellow was the limit6 ,fired him two days after he was hired4 ,dead from the neck up6 ,then the sealed letter was produced and the message enclosed was read3 ,you will hire ,a---- ,h---- on his looks4 ,within two weeks you will fire him4 ,he's dead from his neck4 ,a writer in ,association ,men has made a comparison between two men1 and the way they spent their leisure3 ,here is my friend ,chris ,hall--that is not his real name1 but ,i assure you he is a real person4 ,i like ,chris1 and so does everybody who knows him4 ,he is honest and kind and clean1 but in spite of these splendid characteristics he never makes progress4 ,five years ago he was promoted to his present position1 and he draws as salary just about what he did then4 ,and there is no prospect that he will ever draw much more4 ,yet he could make himself worth four times as much in a very short while--#bjj a week instead of #ej--;if he would only fit himself for the job ahead4 ,but he lives entirely in the present4 ,perhaps the best way to describe him is to give his diary for a week1 a record of how he spent his time when not actually working4 ,and1 please notice that everything he did was perfectly legitimate and honorable2 but also notice1 that everything was for immediate personal pleasure3 ,monday--,rainy evening2 went to bed early after playing a while with the kids4 ,tuesday--,strolled over to see ,mollie's brother1 who is just back from ,france2 he looks well but would not talk much about the fighting2 advised him not to hurry about getting a job1 as he deserved a good long spell of rest after the hard campaign4 ,wednesday--,left office early2 first big league game this year2 went around to the club and talked it all over with the boys after supper4 ,thursday--,office closed all day on account of parade of returning troops2 took ,mollie and children to see it2 awfully tired and went to bed early4 ,friday--,sold my two ,liberty ,bonds which ,i had bought on installments2 ,mollie needed summer dresses and there were several small debts ,i had to pay2 took ,mollie to the movies after supper4 ,saturday 7afternoon7--,whole family went to ,seaside ,park by steamer--children enjoyed it for a while but soon got tired and fretful2 what with the heat and the crowds and the late hour of getting home it really didn't pay4 ,sunday--,in bed till nearly noon2 read the papers2 changed the soil in ,mollie's potted plants2 afternoon1 ,tom and his wife and ,charlie ,nichols and his best girl came over and all stayed to supper2 strolled over to ,mother's and found everyone there4 ,over against that let me put a few lines from the diary of ,elihu ,burritt3 ,monday--,headache2 #dj lines ,cuvier's ',theory of the ,earth'2 #fd pages ,french2 #aa hours forging4 ,tuesday--#fj lines ,hebrew2 #cj pages ,french2 #aj pages ,cuvier2 #h lines ,syriac2 #aj lines ,danish2 #aj lines ,bohemian2 #i lines ,polish2 #ae names of stars2 #aj hours forging4 ,wednesday--#be lines ,hebrew2 #h lines ,syriac2 #aa hours forging4 ,who was ,elihu ,burritt8 ,he was a ,new ,england blacksmith who worked on an average #aj hours a day at his forge2 but who studied in his spare moments until he became known and honored all over the world as 'the learned blacksmith4' ,he became great--not by forging--but by the way he used his afterwork hours4 ,,iv ,,working ,,harder ,it was the rule of his life to study not how little he could do1 but how much4 ,these words were spoken of a great publisher and might have been made the text of the volume issued to commemorate the centenary of the business house founded by the man of whom they were spoken4 ,the young man was sixteen when his father drove him from their country home to the city1 and apprenticed him to a firm of printers4 ,as an apprentice he and another young man were frequently partners in working an old-fashioned hand press4 ,one applied the ink with hand-balls1 and the other laid on sheets and did the pulling4 ,they changed work at regular intervals1 one inking and the other pulling4 ,the biographer who gives this description of the work of the two1 adds that his hero was accustomed to remain at his press after the other men had quit work whenever he could secure a partner to assist him4 ,the young man's fellow worker was often persuaded to assist him in these extra efforts--usually much against his will4 ,while he often felt like rebelling because of his partner's ambition to do his utmost for his employers1 he could not restrain his admiration for the man's industry4 ,once the unwilling partner said3 ,often1 after a good day's work1 he would say to me1 ',let's break the back of another token 7two hundred and fifty impressions7--just break its back4' ,i would often consent reluctantly but he would beguile me1 or laugh at my complaints1 and never let me off till the token was completed1 fair and square4 ,it was a custom for us in the summer to do a clear half-day's work before the other boys and men got their breakfast4 ,we would meet by appointment in the grey of the early morning and go down to the printing-room4 ,fellow workmen made sport of the ambitious young man1 not only because of what they felt was his excessive industry1 but because of his homespun clothes and heavy cow-hide boots4 ,he seldom retorted1 but once1 when jests had gone further than usual1 he said to a tormentor3 ,when ,i am out of my time and set up for myself1 and you need employment1 as you probably will1 come to me and ,i will give you work4 ,the man little thought the prophecy would be fulfilled1 but forty years after1 when the industrious apprentice was mayor of the city and one of the world's leading publishers1 he was reminded of the promise made to the tormentor1 and the promised position was given to him4 ,the workman who believed in doing more than was expected of him had won his way to fame and fortune1 while his derider had made no progress4 ,in #ahag the industrious apprentice asked a brother--who in the meantime had served his apprenticeship in a printing office--to go into business with him4 ,later two other brothers were taken into the firm4 ,all were believers in the doctrine that had led the oldest member of the firm to success--the doctrine of doing as much instead of as little as possible4 ,their readiness to work constantly enabled the four brothers1 who started with little capital except their knowledge of their trade1 to build up within a generation one of the world's greatest publishing houses4 ,they improved every moment4 ,but they were never tempted to work on ,sunday2 business was never so pressing that they would break into the day of rest1 or make their men do so4 ,in this they were only living in accordance with purposes formed during their days of working for others4 ,it is stated of one of the brothers1 whose employer rejoiced in his readiness to do hard work and plenty of it1 that he was expected to work on ,sunday1 in order to get ready the catalogue of an auction sale which was to be held next day4 ,that ,i will not do1 he said1 respectfully but firmly3 ,i cannot work on ,sunday4 ,he did work till midnight2 then--in spite of the threat that he would be discharged--he laid down his composing stick on the case4 ,on ,monday morning his employer apologized and asked him to return to work4 ,thirty-six years after the founding of the house1 it occupied five five-story buildings on one street and six on another street4 ,then a careless plumber started a fire that--within a few hours--destroyed the entire property4 ,but the energetic men who knew how to work were not discouraged at the thought of beginning again4 ,the night after the fire they met for conference4 ,as they separated one of them remarked that the evening had seemed more like a time of social festivity than a consultation over a great calamity4 ,business associates hastened to make offers of loans4 ,within forty-eight hours the firm was tendered more than one hundred thousand dollars4 ,publishers offered their presses1 printing material and office room4 ,authors wrote that they were ready to wait indefinitely for pay1 while employees not only made a like suggestion1 but said they were willing to have their pay reduced4 ,while none of these offers were accepted1 they were greatly appreciated1 for they told of the place the brothers had won for themselves by untiring industry and sterling integrity4 ,after the fire the house became greater than ever1 so that to-day it stands as an example of what hard work coupled with high ideals may accomplish4 ,and to every young man the thought of it gives inspiration to follow in the steps of the founder who made it the rule of his life to study not how little he could do1 but how much4 ,v ,,abusing ,,the ,,will ,,to ,,work ,there are times when the real test of a worker's courage is not his readiness to work but his will to curb the temptation to be intemperate in work4 ,when the word intemperance is mentioned most people think at once of strong drink2 many people are unwilling to think of anything but strong drink4 ,as if where there is no temptation to drink there can be no temptation to intemperance6 ,paul had a different idea4 ,when he wrote to the ,corinthians1 ,every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things1 he must have had in mind scores of different ways in which intemperance endangers success4 ,if people were to make a list of some of the aspects of intemperance that are characteristic of modern life1 it is quite likely that a large proportion would omit one of the most serious of all--the intemperance of the man who lives to work1 who drives himself to work1 who is never happy unless he is working1 who makes himself and others unhappy because he labors too long1 and too persistently1 perhaps with the result that his own promising career is wrecked and the industry of others is interfered with seriously4 ,one of the most striking illustrations of intemperance in work is supplied by the life of ,samuel ,bowles1 editor of the ,springfield1 ,massachusetts1 ,republican1 one of the famous editors of the generation beginning a few years after the ,civil ,war4 ,mr4 ,bowles was but eighteen years old when he had his first warning that his system could not stand the strain of the work to which a strong will drove him4 ,his mother used to set a rocking chair for him at the table at meal-time1 because1 as she said1 ,sam has so little time to rest4 ,but the rocking chair was empty for months1 when a breakdown sent him ,south for a long period of recuperation4 ,when he returned home he plunged into work with all his might4 ,he worked late at night2 vacations and holidays were unknown2 of recreation and general society he had almost nothing1 his biographer says4 ,for years his office hours began before noon and continued until one or two in the morning4 ,finally the strain became too great1 and loss of sight was feared4 ,still he forced himself to work1 and the injury to his brain was begun that was later to cause his death4 ,he would take a bottle of cold tea to the office1 that by its use he might aid his will to work when nature said1 ,stop6 ,for a long time his only sleep--and it was sadly broken sleep--was on a lounge in the office1 from two to six or seven in the morning4 ,then he would set to work again4 ,by his unceasing mental activity he wore himself out1 the comment was made on his career4 ,for the last twenty years of his life his nerves and stomach were in chronic rebellion4 ,heavy clouds of dyspepsia1 sciatica1 sleeplessness1 exhaustion1 came often and staid long4 ,the intemperate worker knew what he was doing4 ,once he wrote to a friend1 ,you can't burn the candle at both ends1 and make anything by it in the long run2 and it is the long pull that you are to rely on1 and whereby you are to gain glory4 ,persistent headaches1 nature's sharp signal that the engine had been overdriven1 added to the warning4 ,at last1 when he was thirty-seven1 he wrote3 ,my will has carried me for years beyond my mental and physical power2 that has been the offending rock4 ,and now1 beyond that desirable in keeping my temper1 and forcing me up to proper exercise and cheerfulness through light occupation1 ,i mean to call upon it not at all1 if ,i can help it1 and to do only what comes freely and spontaneously from the overflow of power and life4 ,this will make me a light reader1 a small worker4 ,well for him if he had kept his resolution4 ,still he drove himself to work beyond what his body and brain could stand4 ,then came paralysis4 ,nothing is the matter with me but thirty-five years of hard work1 he said4 ,at the time of his death he was not fifty-one years old4 ,his friends could not but admire him for strength of will1 for achievement in the face of ill health1 for triumph1 by sheer will-power1 over every obstacle except the will that drove him to his death4 ,he accomplished much1 but how much more he might have accomplished if he had been temperate in his use of the wonderful powers of mind and body which ,god had given him6 ,in connection with this glimpse of the life of one who illustrates the disaster brought by the will to be intemperate1 it is helpful to think of the life of another ,american man of letters whose will to be temperate in his treatment of a body weak and frail prolonged life and usefulness4 ,francis ,parkman1 the historian1 was never a well man after his trip that resulted in the writing of ,the ,oregon ,trail4 ,in fact1 he was a physical wreck at twenty-five years of age4 ,he could not even write his own name1 until he first closed his eyes2 he was unable to fix his mind on a subject1 except for very brief intervals1 and his nervous system was so exhausted that any effort was a burden4 ,however1 in spite of this limitation1 which became worse1 if possible1 instead of better1 he managed to accomplish an immense amount of the finest literary work by doing what he could and stopping when this was wise4 ,his will to take care of himself was given the mastery of his will to work4 ,for forty-four years after the completion of ,the ,oregon ,trail he labored on1 preparing history after history4 ,he was seventy years old when he died1 leaving behind him achievements that would have been a tremendous task for a man in perfect health4 ,to everyone is given the marvelous equipment of body and brain1 as well as the will which makes possible their judicious investment or their prodigal waste in the struggle to make life count4 ,,chapter ,,four ,,the ,,courage ,,of ,,facing ,,consequences ,,young people sometimes play the game of ,consequences4 ,the sport increases in proportion to the strangeness of the results4 ,perhaps the reason the game has so many attractions is the fact that life is a long story of consequences4 ,there are people who do not like to play the game of life seriously because they say the consequences of self-denial and self-sacrifice are too uncertain2 they prefer the cowardice of inaction to the courage of purposeful living4 ,the folks worth while are those who1 refusing to be troubled by what may or may not be the consequences of their acts1 still have the pluck to go on with what they know is right4 ,let the results be what they may1 they propose to be straightforward and true4 ,this is the courage that counts4 ,there may be uncertainty as to the specific form the results of their stand may take1 yet that result is sure to be pleasing and helpful4 ,i ,,venturing ,when ,washington ,irving was about to return to ,america from ,madrid1 where he had been minister of the ,united ,states to the court of ,spain1 the ,philadelphia house that had been publishing his books1 discouraged by the decreasing sales1 sent word to him that the public was not able to appreciate his books1 and they would have to allow them to go out of print4 ,the books had been printed directly from the type1 so there were no plates which another publisher might use to bring out further editions at small expense4 ,the author1 who was then sixty-five years of age1 sorrowfully accepted the verdict of his publisher1 and planned to take desk-room in the ,new ,york office of his brother1 ,john ,treat ,irving1 where he hoped to make a living by the practice of law4 ,but this was not to be4 ,in ,new ,york was a young publisher who believed that ,washington ,irving's works were classics1 and that the ,american public would buy them eagerly if properly approached4 ,friends told him that he might make a mistake1 but he had the courage to go ahead4 ,so he wrote to the discouraged author what must have seemed to other publishers a daring letter2 he proposed to publish new editions of all ,irving's old books1 on condition that new books1 also1 be given to him2 and he promised that royalties for the first year should be at least one thousand dollars1 for the second year two thousand dollars1 and for the third year three thousand dollars4 ,when ,irving received the letter1 he kicked over the desk in front of him1 at the same time saying to his brother3 ,there is no necessity1 ,john1 for my bothering with the law4 ,here is a fool of a publisher going to give me a thousand dollars a year for doing nothing4 ,but the publisher was not so foolish as he seemed4 ,his promises were more than made good4 ,sales were large4 ,other authors were attracted1 until the publishing house became one of the leaders among ,american publishers4 ,nine years later ,washington ,irving had an opportunity to show his gratitude4 ,just before the panic of #aheg a young man whom the generous publisher had taken into partnership1 involved him seriously4 ,the defalcations were not discovered until the accidental death of the partner4 ,thus weakened1 the firm was unable to survive the panic2 its affairs were put in the hands of a receiver1 and all accounts were sold4 ,at the age of forty-two1 the head of the firm bravely faced the necessity of beginning life over4 ,at the receiver's sale ,washington ,irving bought the plates of all his books4 ,a number of publishers offered him fancy terms if he would permit them to bring out new editions1 but he turned a deaf ear to their entreaties and offered the plates to their former owner1 to be paid for in annual installments4 ,touched by the gratitude of his friend1 the publisher accepted the offer4 ,the author never had cause to regret his action4 ,during the years that elapsed before his death the results of the new venture were more satisfactory than ever4 ,the courageous action of both publisher and author had been amply vindicated by results4 ,,ii ,,forming ,,character ,the best time to learn the courage that proves so effective in the struggle of life is in youth4 ,more than fifty years ago two boys in ,scotland were hunting rabbits4 ,tiring of the comparatively easy hunting on the ground1 they looked longingly at a cliff of hard clay several hundred feet high1 in whose precipitous side were many rabbit burrows4 ,they managed to climb the cliff4 ,at length they were making their way along an almost perpendicular parapet1 cutting their way with their knives4 ,then one of the boys fell1 with a scream1 to the bottom of the cliff4 ,there was a moment of terror4 ,this was succeeded by a grim determination to go forward1 the only way of escape4 ,driving his knife deep in the clay1 he rested on this for a moment4 ,that moment1 it has always since seemed to him1 marked the first momentous period in his life1 the time when his personality first emerged into consciousness4 ,he says3 ,i whispered to myself one word1 ',courage6' ,then ,i went on with my work4 ,at length he reached the ground4 ,the lesson learned at such fearful cost told emphatically on the boy's character4 ,from that day he showed that there was in him the making of a man who would not be balked by unfavorable circumstances4 ,he did not understand how or why1 but he felt that new will-power had come to him with the appeal to himself to take courage in the face of death4 ,a few years later he went to ,brazil4 ,a ,spaniard told him that moral deterioration within six months was all but certain to come to every young man who began life there4 ,but he was determined not to give way to bad habits4 ,when he reached ,santos1 his companions urged him to give himself up to all kinds of vice2 they told him that it was either this or death1 or perhaps something worse than death4 ,they emphasized their words by pointing to a young man who had determined to keep straight1 and had been left to himself until he was demented4 ,but the boy who had learned courage on the precipice made up his mind that he must live as ,god wished him to live1 and he turned a deaf ear to all entreaties4 ,another book of biography tells of a boy who delighted in playing cards with his father and mother4 ,but when he united with the ,church and became ,president of the ,christian ,endeavor ,society he began to wonder if he was doing right4 ,one night his father took up the cards and called him to play whist4 ,i don't think ,i'll play whist any more1 he said quietly4 ,i've been thinking that perhaps it wasn't right for me to play4 ,are you setting yourself up to judge your father and mother1 young man8 his father asked1 sternly4 ,no1 ,i didn't say it isn't all right for you to play1 was the reply4 ,but you know ,i am ,president of the ,christian ,endeavor ,society and some of the members don't think it is right to play4 ,so ,i guess ,i'd better not4 ,his father looked at him thoughtfully for a minute1 then picked up the cards and threw them back into the drawer4 ,charlie1 he said1 ,i want you to understand that ,i think you have done a manly thing to-night1 and ,i honor you for your courage4 ,that was the end of whist in that house4 ,courage showed itself in much the same way in the life of ,j4 ,marion ,sims1 the great surgeon4 ,he used to tell how1 when he was a boy at a ,south ,carolina ,school1 he was able to take a stand that had its effect on his whole after-life4 ,many of his fellow students were sons of wealthy planters1 and their habits were not always the best4 ,on several occasions they tried to lead him into mischief4 ,they were particularly anxious to make him a companion in their drinking bouts4 ,twice he gave way to their pleas1 but after sorrowful experience of the results of his lapses1 he decided to make a brave stand4 ,so he said to his tempters3 ,see here1 boys1 you can all drink1 and ,i cannot4 ,you like wine and ,i do not4 ,i hate it2 its taste is disagreeable1 its effects are dreadful1 because it makes me drunk4 ,now1 ,i hope you all will understand my position4 ,i don't think it is right for you to ask me to drink wine when ,i don't want it1 and when it produces such a bad effect on me4 ,to say this required real courage1 but the results were good1 not only in himself1 but also1 fortunately1 in some of his companions4 ,,iii ,,truth ,,telling ,those who1 in early life1 learn to be courageous in the face of difficult tasks will be ready for the temptation that is apt to come to most young people to compromise with what they know to be right and true1 to allow an exception just this once6 in the straightforward course they have marked out for themselves4 ,and the worst of it is that such a temptation is apt to come without the slightest warning and to present itself in such a light that it is easy to find an excuse for yielding1 and to deem it quixotic and unreasonable not to yield4 ,once a young teacher who later became famous at ,harvard1 had occasion to censure a student who had given1 as he believed1 the wrong solution of a problem4 ,on thinking the matter over at home1 he found that the pupil was right and the teacher wrong4 ,it was late at night and in the depth of winter1 but he immediately started for the young man's room1 at some distance from his own home1 and asked for the man he had wronged4 ,the delinquent1 answering with some trepidation the untimely summons1 found himself the recipient of a frank apology4 ,why1 in the name of reason1 do you walk a mile in the rain for a perfectly unimportant thing8 this man was asked on another occasion4 ,simply because ,i have discovered that it was a misstatement1 and ,i could not sleep comfortably till ,i put it right1 was the reply4 ,again the story is told of him that he borrowed a friend's horse to ride to a town where he expected to take the stage4 ,he promised to leave the animal at a certain stable in the town4 ,upon reaching the place he found that the stage was several miles upon its way4 ,this was a serious disappointment4 ,a friend urged him to ride to the next town1 where he could come up with the vehicle1 promising himself to send after the borrowed horse and forward it to its owner4 ,the temptation to accept the offer was great4 ,the roads were ankle deep in mud1 and the stage rapidly rolling on its way4 ,the only obstacle was his promise to leave the horse at the appointed place4 ,he declined the friendly offer1 delivered the horse as he had promised1 and1 shouldering his baggage1 set off on foot through the mud to catch the stage4 ,at this time he was eighteen years old1 but he had learned the lesson that made him remarkably efficient and dependable through life4 ,dr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,grenfell has told of a hardy trapper in ,labrador1 the partner of a man who was easily discouraged2 the arrangement was that they should share equally the hardships and the rewards of the trapping expeditions4 ,both were very poor4 ,the stronger man was most unselfish in his treatment of his associate4 ,one winter their lives were all but lost during the severity of a storm which burst on them while they were setting their traps on an ice-girt island4 ,on reaching the mainland the timid man insisted on dissolving the partnership2 he was unwilling to repeat the risks1 even for the sake of his needy family4 ,in a few days the hardy trapper revisited the traps on the mainland4 ,to his great joy he found in one trap a magnificent silver fox1 whose skin was worth five hundred dollars--a fortune to the ,labrador trapper1 especially welcome during that hard winter4 ,how glad ,i am the partnership has been dissolved1 and that the fox is all mine1 was his first thought4 ,but first thought was not allowed to be last thought4 ,there was a struggle4 ,at length the decision was made that the needy man who had set the trap with him should share in the prize2 the argument that he had forfeited all right to a share was not allowed to weigh against the unselfish arguments for division4 ,a friend of young people has told of an incident which occurred in a great ,boston department store where she sought to match some dress goods4 ,after turning away from several discourteous clerks she showed her sample to a salesman who gave respectful attention to her4 ,glancing at the slits cut in the side of the bit of goods1 he remarked3 ,that isn't one of my samples4 ,i will ask the clerk who mailed this sample to wait on you4 ,but ,i don't want any other clerk to wait on me1 responded the women1 hastily1 fearing that the sample might have come originally from one of the discourteous clerks first encountered2 ,i want you to have this sale4 ,if you had asked for goods of that quality1 width and price1 without showing me the sample1 ,i could have found it for you at once1 replied the clerk1 with a smile1 but now1 this sale belongs to the clerk who sent out the sample4 ,then ,i won't give you this sample to hunt it up by1 said the woman1 wishing to see if she could carry her point1 and she proceeded to tuck the sample away in her purse4 ,but ,i know that ,i have seen it1 and my conscience knows it1 was the clerk's comment1 as he laughingly laid his hand on his heart and turned to look for the other salesman4 ,the purchaser went on to tell thus of the salesman's unerring loyalty to his principles3 ,in a moment he returned4 ,the other clerk was at lunch4 ,what a sigh of relief ,i gave6 ',i will make out the sale and turn it over to him when he comes in1' he said1 displaying the shining black folds of the goods ,i desired4 ,a real estate dealer in a ,texas city was once tempted to be false to his principles1 just once1 when he felt sure a sale depended on it4 ,his prospective customer was a foreigner1 who wished the salesman to drink with him after a trip to examine the property on ,saturday and then to promise to make an engagement to continue the search next morning4 ,but the business man was opposed to the use of liquor1 and he had never done business on ,sunday4 ,what was he to do on this occasion8 ,would it hurt anything if he should make an exception in favor of this customer who could not be expected to understand his scruples8 ,the temptation was acute2 but it was conquered4 ,respectfully but firmly the buyer was told why the salesman could not join him in taking a drink1 and why he could not go with him again until ,monday morning4 ,the man went away in a rage4 ,next morning the real estate man saw the foreigner in the hands of a rival4 ,that sale is gone6 he thought4 ,when three days more passed without the return of the buyer he decided that he had paid heavily for being true to his better self4 ,but on ,thursday evening the foreigner sought the conscientious real estate dealer and surprised him by saying3 ,those other fellows showed me lots of farms1 but you wouldn't drink with me1 nor show me land on ,sunday because you think it wrong4 ,so1 maybe1 ,i think you won't lie to me4 ,i buy my farm of you4 ,many times the reward of being true to one's conscience will not come so promptly--except in the satisfaction the man has in knowing that he has done the right thing4 ,but the sure result is to bring him a little nearer to the great reward that must come to a man whose integrity has stood the test of years--the appreciation of those who know him and their confidence in his honor4 ,,iv ,,duty ,,doing ,it is not always necessary that a man should be aquainted with another to be able to repose implicit confidence in him4 ,a life of fearless1 straightforward duty-doing will inevitably leave its record in the face4 ,sometimes a frank1 open countenance that cannot be misread is far better than any letter of introduction4 ,we are suspicious of strangers1 a man said to one who had sought at his hands a favor that called for trust2 then he added1 with a smile1 but some faces are above suspicion1 and proceeded1 with overwhelming generosity1 to grant far more than had been asked4 ,years ago a business man unexpectedly found himself without sufficient funds to continue his journey through ,europe4 ,as this was before the days of travelers' checks or the ocean cable1 he was at a loss what to do4 ,in his uncertainty he went to an ,italian banking house and asked them to cash a large draft on his home bank4 ,after an instant's pause the request was granted4 ,years later the merchant again saw the accommodating banker1 and asked why a stranger was given such a large sum4 ,in plain truth1 it was just your honest face1 and nothing else1 was the reply4 ,on another trip abroad the merchant had a similar experience4 ,during a thunderstorm he took refuge with his wife in a curio shop4 ,the ,english-speaking woman in charge was so cordial1 and her goods were so pleasing1 that the visitor said he would have liked to make some purchase1 but his remaining funds were not more than sufficient for his journey home4 ,the reply was3 ,take whatever you please1 sir4 ,no one could look in your face and distrust you4 ,a similar story was told by a ,russian ,jew who entered ,new ,york a penniless immigrant4 ,after a disheartening period of working in the sweatshop he saw an opportunity to start in business for himself4 ,but he had no capital4 ,at a venture he asked a business man to trust him for the stock in trade4 ,after gazing at him closely the man said1 ,you have a credit face1 so ,i will do as you ask4 ,it is worth while to have a face that insures confidence4 ,but let it be remembered that the possession of such a face is not an accident2 it belongs only to those who have the courage to think honestly1 deal fairly and live truly4 ,v ,,finding ,,his ,,life ,during the boyhood of ,charles ,abraham ,hart1 who was later the youngest soldier in the ,war with ,spain1 he was on confidential terms with his mother4 ,one day when they were visiting together1 she asked him about something that had happened the winter before1 which she was unable to understand4 ,his father had given to him and to his brothers two dollars each to spend for ,christmas presents4 ,william spent the entire sum1 but ,charles bought cheap presents1 and it was evident that he had kept back a part of the amount4 ,other members of the family misunderstood him1 but his mother thought she knew him well enough to be sure he had done nothing selfish4 ,the record of the conversation between mother and son is told in the boy's biography3 ,the presents you bought were very cheap presents1 she said to him4 ,i don't think they could have cost more than seventy-five cents4 ,they cost sixty-five cents1 he told her4 ,and your father asked what you had done with the rest of your money1 and you said you didn't want to tell him4 ,yes1 ,i remember that father thought ,i was stingy1 too4 ,do you mind telling me now what you did with the money8 ,the boy did not answer for a few moments4 ,then he said1 quietly3 ,i bought a ,bible for ,fred ,phillips4 ,he didn't have a good ,bible1 and ,i thought he needed one more than you and the boys needed expensive presents4 ,but why didn't you tell your father8 ,because ,fred was ashamed not to be able to buy the ,bible for himself1 and he wouldn't take mine until ,i had promised that ,i wouldn't tell anybody that ,i had given it to him4 ,since ,fred has moved to ,boston1 ,i feel he wouldn't care if ,i told you4 ,i want you to know1 for ,i just heard to-day that ,fred has joined the church4 ,isn't that good news8 ,yes1 indeed4 ,perhaps your giving him the ,bible helped him to do it1 too4 ,charles1 when you get to be a man1 do you suppose you will always be so careless of how others may misunderstand you8 ,i am not careless of that now1 he declared4 ,the desire to be popular is one of the things ,i have to fight against all the time4 ,what shall we choose8 ,comfort of service8 ,ease1 or honorable performance of duty8 ,the desire for popularity1 or the purpose to be of use8 ,service is the best way to find comfort2 honorable performance of duty is the sure road to the only ease worth while1 and thoughtfulness for others is the open sesame to popularity4 ,there is nothing new in this statement4 ,it is only one of the thousand and one possible applications of the lesson taught by the great ,teacher when ,he said1 ,he that loseth his life for ,my sake shall find it4 ,,chapter ,,five ,,courage ,,for ,,the ,,sake ,,of ,,others ,,from ,norway comes a moving tale of a lighthouse keeper4 ,one day he went to the distant shore for provisions4 ,a storm arose1 and he was unable to return4 ,the time for lighting the lamp came1 and ,mary1 the elder child1 said to her little brother1 ,we must light the lamp1 ,willie4 ,how can we8 was his question4 ,but the two children climbed the long narrow stairs to the tower where the lamp was kept4 ,mary pulled up a chair and tried to reach the lamp in the great reflector2 it was too high4 ,groping down the stairs she ascended again with a small oil lamp in her hand4 ,i can hold this up1 she said4 ,she climbed on the chair again1 but still the reflector was just beyond her reach4 ,get down1 said ,willie1 ,i know what we can do4 ,she jumped down and he stretched his little body across the chair4 ,stand on me1 he said4 ,and she stood on the little fellow as he lay across the chair4 ,she raised the lamp high1 and its light shone far out across the water4 ,holding it first with one hand1 then with the other1 to rest her little arms1 she called down to her brother1 ,does it hurt you1 ,willie8 ,of course it hurts1 he called back1 but keep the light burning4 ,the boy was wise beyond his years4 ,he would do the important thing1 no matter how it hurt4 ,here the thing of chief importance was looking out for the men at sea4 ,to put them first took real courage4 ,but what of it8 ,that is the attitude toward life of the worker worth while2 he does not stop to ask1 ,is this easy8 ,instead he asks1 ,is this necessary8 ,will it be helpful8 ,having answered the question he proceeds to do his best4 ,it may hurt at first1 but the time will come when it will hurt so much to leave the service undone that the inconvenience involved in doing it is lost sight of4 ,i ,,imparting ,,courage ,a young man won local fame as a bicycle long-distance rider4 ,but over-fatigue1 possibly coupled with neglect1 caused contraction of certain muscles4 ,he was unable to stand erect4 ,he walked with bent back1 like an old man4 ,what useful work can he do1 handicapped as he is8 his friends asked4 ,but he did not lose courage4 ,he continued to smile and make cheer for others4 ,finally he secured work in the office of the supervisor of a ,national ,forest4 ,and he made good4 ,most of his activities were at the desk2 when he sat there his back was normal4 ,according to the idea of many1 it would have been enough for the crippled man to look out for himself4 ,what could he do for others8 ,but he had not been trained in such a school2 the cheerfulness that enabled him to be useful made it impossible for him to see another in need and not plan to do something for him4 ,the man who needed him was at hand--a cripple1 whose feet were clumsy1 misshapen4 ,no one else thought that anything could be done for him but to speak dolefully and to assure him that he was fortunate in having parents and brothers who would look out for him4 ,but the man in the ,forestry ,service urged the cripple to apply for a summer appointment on the rocky1 windy summit of a mountain nine thousand feet high4 ,there it would be his duty to keep a vigilant eye on the forest stretching far away below his lofty eyrie1 and to report the start of a forest fire4 ,at first he laughed at the idea2 had he not been told that he could never hope to do anything useful8 ,yet as he listened to his friend his eyes began to sparkle4 ,finally he dared to agree to make application for the position4 ,during the winter months the forester spent many evenings with his friend1 coaching him in some of the lore of the forests1 giving him books to read1 and showing him what his specific duties would be1 and how to perform them4 ,in the spring the situation was secured1 and when the season of forest fires came the young man bravely climbed the steep trail over the snow to his lonely cabin4 ,an able-bodied man is able to make the climb from the end of the wagon road in much less than an hour2 the cripple required more than five hours to reach the top4 ,then he took up his residence there1 cooking his own food1 making his observations from morning until night1 receiving his mother and his brothers when from time to time they came to see how he was getting on and to help him in some of the rougher tasks about the cabin4 ,they thought they would need to speak words of cheer to a lonely1 discouraged man1 but they soon learned their error2 not only did he have cheer enough for himself1 but he was able to send his visitors away happier than when they came because of their contact with the man for whom life had been made over by the acts of a thoughtful friend1 a friend whose own courage had been increased by his efforts to encourage a friend4 ,,ii ,,conquering ,,happiness ,in a volume of short stories published some years ago there is included the vivid narrative of two humble citizens of an ,irish village1 a husband and wife1 upon whom hard times have come4 ,the husband is too feeble to make his living as of old at his trade as a road-mender4 ,their only hope is a son in ,america1 and not a word comes from him1 so they are compelled to go to the poor house4 ,friends condole with them1 and they are sad enough to suit the notions of those who feel that an awful ending is coming to their lives4 ,one of the saddest of their friends is their physician who dreads going to see the unhappy old people in their new home4 ,at last1 however1 he drives to the entrance to the poor farm4 ,there he has his first surprise4 ,instead of seeing the disreputable place he had been accustomed to1 he notices that the gate is on its hinges1 the weeds by the side of the driveway are no longer in evidence1 and an attempt has been made to give the house itself a more presentable appearance4 ,about the doors are no discontented-looking old people1 quarreling with one another4 ,and when the wife of the poor farm keeper answers his knock at the door1 the doctor hardly recognizes her2 instead of a discouraged-looking slattern she is actually neat and cheerful looking4 ,you wonder what has happened here1 don't you8 the woman remarks4 ,it's all because of those blessed old folks you are asking for4 ,they were disheartened1 just at first1 but soon they began to do helpful things for the rest of the folks4 ,that cheered us all up1 and it's made a different place of the farm4 ,the doctor's errand that day is to take word to the couple that their son from ,america wishes them to spend the remainder of their days with him4 ,he has expected them to be overjoyed by the news4 ,but1 after talking together of the invitation1 they assure him that their place is where they are4 ,we be road-mending here1 making ways smoother for the folks that have rough traveling1 is the explanation4 ,we think we ought to bide at the farm4 ,thus the old people took the way of conquering unhappiness made known so long ago by ,him who set the example of finding joy in caring for other people1 the way taken by a modern follower of ,his who wrote home from the army3 ,i cast my lot where ,i knew the road would be rough1 and why should ,i complain8 ,it seems to me at times that ,i must give way to my lower self and let the work slip off my back on others perhaps more tired than myself4 ,but ,i have a tender1 kind ,father in heaven who tells me that my way is right4 ,i have very little to uphold me in this work away from my friends4 ,my happy moments are those which ,i spend with my ,bible during my night watches1 or thinking of happy days gone by1 or building me air-castles for days to come4 ,i am happy1 too1 when ,i read the little verse written in the front of my ,testament1 and so thankful for the power to understand it3 ,so nigh is grandeur to our dust1 ,so near is ,god to man1 ,when duty whispers low1 ',thou must1' ,the youth replies1 ',i can4' ,yet there are those who insist that it is the duty of one whose lot is hard to be morose and sad2 that by covering his sadness with the gladness of service he is making a cheat of himself6 ,in verse a writer with insight has pilloried such critics3 ,he went so blithely on his way1 ,the way men call the way of life1 ,that good folks who had stopped to pray1 ,shaking their heads1 were wont to say1 ,it was not right to be so gay ,upon that weary road of strife4 ,he whistled as he went1 and still ,he bore the young where streams were deep1 ,he helped the feeble up the hill1 ,he seemed to go with heart athrill1 ,careless of deed and wild of will-- ,he whistled1 that he might not weep4 ,,iii ,,making ,,little ,,things ,,count ,there are people who spend so much time looking for the large1 spectacular opportunities for serving others1 that they pass by as unworthy of notice the opportunities for doing what seem to be little kindnesses4 ,fortunately1 however1 there are people who are so taken up with rendering what they call little services1 that they have no time to worry because the big opportunities do not come their way4 ,a magazine writer tells of one of these doers of simple kindnesses3 ,i was the shabbiest girl in the office1 she says4 ,it was no one's fault and no one's shame that we were poor4 ,i had intelligence enough to know that4 ,i knew1 too1 what a sacrifice mother had made to pay for my tuition at business school4 ,still1 the knowledge of my shabby clothes forced itself upon me1 particularly my old black skirt6 ,mother had cleaned it and pressed it and cleaned it1 but it seemed bent with age1 and all the office girls looked so fresh and pretty in their trim business suits4 ,i imagined all the first morning that they were pitying me and felt them looking at my shabbiness1 and during noon hour ,i was so miserable2 but when ,i went back next morning1 ,i noticed that one of the girls had on nearly as old clothes as ,i did1 and she was so nice to me that ,i fancied she was glad ,i had come because of our mutual poverty4 ,not until after ,i earned enough money to buy some suitable1 nice clothes did ,i realize that the 'poor girl1' as ,i thought her1 had drifted back into the prettiest1 most tasteful clothes worn by any of the girls4 ,she had only borne me company at a most trying time1 and she knew1 because her fellow-workers all admired her1 that the little object lesson would keep them from hurting my feelings4 ,the day has come now when new clothes are usual1 when ,i may even achieve an appearance that is known as 'stylish4' ,but in my office1 when a girl comes in shabby1 painfully sensitive1 as ,i was1 ,i 'bear her company' until the better times shall come4 ,from another observer comes the story of the simple deeds of kindness done by a company of young people in ,brooklyn to a young woman married to an elderly and uncongenial man4 ,she showed symptoms of taking her life into her own hands4 ,she felt that the world owed her happiness1 and she was tempted to take it anywhere it might be found1 especially in one undesirable direction4 ,she was poor and outside of many ordinary social pleasures4 ,the word was passed along the line that ,mrs4 ,d444 needed especial attention and friendliness shown her4 ,immediately one girl1 whose notice was in itself a compliment1 invited her to attend a concert with her4 ,two more volunteered to see her home from ,sunday school1 and call for her as well4 ,books were loaned her1 calls made1 and in brief1 a rope of warm sturdy hands steadying her over the hard place in the road1 until she found herself and settled down to the duty she was on the point of leaving forever4 ,the widespread hunger for such little kindnesses was shown one day when a ,new ,york man accosted in ,central ,park a poor foreigner1 who could speak little ,english4 ,noting that the man looked dejected1 he offered him his hand4 ,then he asked the man if he was in need4 ,no1 ,i don't need money1 was the reply2 ,i was just hungry for a handshake4 ,blessings on those who are not too busy to think of the poor who are hungry for the little services they can render4 ,if they could know the ultimate effect of some of their deeds1 these would not always seem insignificant4 ,the man who is always on the lookout for little chances for service is more apt to perform services that are of great importance1 than the man who spends his time dreaming of big things he will do some day4 ,,iv ,,did ,,he ,,go ,,too ,,far8 ,when an urgent call went out from ,washington for physicians to go to ,france for hospital work among the men of the ,american ,expeditionary ,force1 a specialist in a city of the ,middle ,west decided to respond4 ,of course some of his friends told him he was foolish2 they urged that he was needed for service at home4 ,let doctors go who can be spared better than you1 they said4 ,think of the great work you are doing--work that will be more than ever necessary because thousands of others are leaving practices and going to the ,front4 ,think of your past--how you worked your way through medical college at cost of severe toil2 think of your family and the increasing demands on you2 think of the future--what will become of your lucrative practice8 ,the specialist did think of these things2 he had delayed decision because the arguments had presented themselves forcibly to his own mind4 ,at last1 however1 his mind was made up4 ,he would go to ,france4 ,he would leave his patients in charge of two capable friends who would do everything possible to turn over1 on the return of the volunteer1 the lucrative office practice built up through many years4 ,he spent six months in camp with the members of the hospital unit of which he was given charge4 ,just before he went over there a friend said to him3 ,it is fortunate that your practice is to be cared for so efficiently4 ,what's that8 was the reply4 ,oh1 you mean the colleagues who took over my patients8 ,they1 too1 have enlisted1 and will soon be going abroad4 ,but what of your #ce1jjj income8 was the dismayed rejoinder4 ,surely you haven't the courage to give up all that6 ,the major snapped his fingers1 and said1 with a smile1 ,that for the practice6 ,it is my business to respond to my country's call4 ,don't talk of the sacrifice4 ,what if ,i do have to start all over again when ,i come home8 ,just now ,i don't have to think about that4 ,this incident came to mind when reading in a popular weekly a telling story1 camouflaged as to names1 location and business1 but recorded as the experience of a captain of industry4 ,the story made him a manufacturer of shoes who1 in the beginning1 was rejoicing that his plants were running full time1 turning out so many shoes for the regular trade that the profits of the year were bound to be tremendous4 ,with others1 he heard the plea of the ,government for shoes for the soldiers4 ,carefully he assured himself that he would not need to respond2 there were many manufacturers who would rush headlong for government contracts4 ,when he learned that there were not enough volunteers he felt uncomfortable4 ,then1 to his relief1 he was asked to take the chairmanship of the subcommittee on shoes of the ,state ,council of ,defense4 ,i'll do it6 he decided4 ,that will let me out honorably4 ,as chairman ,i shall be criticized if ,i bid on the contracts myself4 ,of course he learned his mistake4 ,at length he decided to turn over one of his six plants to government contracts4 ,the decision made him feel quite virtuous4 ,content was his only a little while1 however4 ,so he decided to devote another plant4 ,yet when he made his figures he thought he would add five cents a pair to his bid1 as an extra margin of safety4 ,again his calculations were upset when his son told him that he had enlisted4 ,that wasn't necessary1 the father said4 ,what made you do it8 ,why1 dad1 you know you'd expect me to feel ashamed if you didn't do just every little thing you could in a business way to help win this war--if you held back a shoe that would help the ,government or charged a cent more than you ought to4 ,you furnish the shoes and ,i'll furnish the shoots6 ,of course more had to be done after that4 ,soon half the plants were enlisted for the country4 ,surely nothing more could be asked than that he should go fifty-fifty1 half for the country and half for himself4 ,the remainder of the story can be imagined--in one form it was lived out in the experience of millions4 ,why don't you have done with that half-way patriotism8 came a voice that he could not silence4 ,the battle between ,patriotism and ,private ,profits was decided gloriously--in the only possible manner4 ,away with fifty per cent4 patriotism6 ,every one of the plants was put on ,government orders4 ,naturally there were those who asked1 ,was such a sacrifice necessary8 ,but the reply was convincing4 ,that is the question that has been asked of ,christians ever since the day when ,christ said to ,peter and ,andrew1 ,follow me4 ,our hearts are stirred by the simple record of what followed3 ,straightway they left their nets1--their livelihood1 their associates1 their families1 their position in the world1 everything--and followed ,him4 ,the question was put to ,prince ,gallitzin when he renounced title and fortune and went to the mountains of ,pennsylvania to make a home for some of his oppressed ,russian countrymen4 ,the words were hurled at the son of a wealthy ,english brewer1 because he decided that if he would obey ,christ fully he must renounce the source of his wealth as well as the money that had been made in an unrighteous business4 ,the inquiry was heard many times by ,matthias ,w4 ,baldwin1 the builder of ,old ,ironsides and founder of the ,baldwin ,locomotive ,works1 when he gave up the making of jewelry because he thought that1 as a ,christian man1 he ought to make his talents count for something more worth-while1 and later on when he insisted on borrowing from the banks in time of financial panic to pay his pledges to ,christian work4 ,still the query persists1 as it will persist long as the world stands4 ,you have heard it yourself1 if you1 like ,caleb of old1 are trying to follow ,god wholly4 ,was the sacrifice necessary8 ,beware of the question1 for it is a temptation to slack service1 though often spoken by one who would show himself a friend4 ,necessary8 ,of course4 ,isn't it involved in courageous following of ,christ8 ,,chapter ,,six ,,golden ,,rule ,,courage ,there is so much good in the worst of us1 ,and so much bad in the best of us1 ,that it hardly becomes any of us ,to talk about the rest of us4 ,,that popular rhyme hits the nail squarely on the head4 ,we are not to judge others4 ,the world would be a pleasanter dwelling place if we would lay aside our critical attitude1 and look on the best side of the men and women about us4 ,instead1 however1 it sometimes seems as if we were determined to forget all the good1 and remember only the evil4 ,our additions to the comments of others are not praise1 but blame4 ,we do not seek to correct an unfavorable comment by saying1 ,but think of the good there is in his life2 we insist on drowning merited praise by saying1 ,but think how selfish he is2 how careless of the comfort of others6 ,that is the cowardly thing to do4 ,and life calls for courage4 ,the worst thing about the maker of such comments is that the readier he is to see--or imagine--faults in another1 the more blind he is apt to become to faults in himself4 ,this inability to see his own shortcomings would be ludicrous if it were not so pitiful4 ,yet these shortcomings are apparent to all who know him4 ,jesus1 who knew human nature1 said1 ,judge not1 that ye be not judged 444 first cast out the beam out of thine own eye2 then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye4 ,the courageous task of reforming ourselves seems prodigious when we think what good opinions we have of ourselves and what poor opinions we have of others1 but the task is not impossible1 for ,god has promised to give us the help we need1 and ,he will never disappoint us4 ,an earthly father knows how to give good things to his children2 shall not the ,heavenly ,father do as much and more8 ,since we have such a ,father1 it is the least we can do to learn of ,him the true philosophy of life4 ,listen while ,he tells us what it is3 ,all things1 therefore1 whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you1 even so do ye also unto them4 ,impossible and impracticable8 ,let us see4 ,i ,,looking ,,out ,,for ,,others ,the president of a big manufacturing concern1 who is also its active operating head1 is quoted as saying that he finds a growing tendency among young men to go after business by sharp practice when they cannot get it any other way4 ,they will cut the corners of a square deal to land an order4 ,in applying for positions1 he goes on to say1 some young fellows have tried to recommend themselves by telling how they got orders for former employers by some neat trick4 ,i have had to tell them1 square and plain1 he adds1 that there wasn't any recommendation in that kind of talk with me4 ,i have made up my mind that ,i am going to write out some plain talks on righteousness and post them up around the offices and shops where everybody will have a chance to read them4 ,i have explained my plan about these bulletins to a number of other manufacturers1 and ,i think several of them are going to do the same thing4 ,besides the moral reasons for the policy1 it's the only policy to build up a sound business on4 ,take even the men who would be willing to make profit for themselves by shady deals1 and they all want to buy goods for themselves of a firm that they can depend on4 ,i think our history this past year has proved the wisdom of it2 business has been rolling in from points that we never had an idea of getting anything from4 ,the ,golden ,rule works4 ,nathan ,strauss was once asked what contributed most to his remarkable success4 ,i always looked out for the man at the other end of the bargain1 he said4 ,in #aija the ,state of ,wisconsin struck a beautiful bronze medal in honor of ,professor ,stephen ,moulton ,babcock1 the inventor of the milk test machine4 ,professor ,babcock1 so one admirer says1 knew its value to farmer and dairyman4 ,he also knew its possibilities of fortune for himself4 ,this invention has 'increased the wealth of nations by many millions of dollars and made continual new developments possible in butter and cheesemaking4' ,all this ,professor ,babcock knew it would do when he announced his discovery in a little bulletin to the farmers of ,wisconsin4 ,but at the bottom of that bulletin he added the brief and unselfish sentence1 'this test is not patented4' ,with that sentence he cheerfully let a fortune go4 ,he wanted his invention to help other people1 rather than make himself rich4 ,what a difference it would make if everyone should take the ,golden ,rule as the motto for each day1 asking ,christ's help in living in accordance with it6 ,what a difference it would make in every home if father and mother and all the sons and daughters should resolve to make theirs a ,golden-,rule household6 ,the first thing necessary in bringing about such a change in the home is for one member to make the resolution and to do his best to live up to it4 ,others will follow inevitably when they note his careful1 unselfish life and helpful acts4 ,there is a ,jewish tradition that a ,gentile came to ,hillel asking to be taught the law1 in a few words1 while he stood on one foot4 ,the answer was given1 ,whatsoever thou wouldst that men should not do to thee1 that do not thou to them4 ,this was good1 as far as it went1 but there was nothing positive about it4 ,christ's teaching supplies the lack1 showing what we are to do as well as what we are to leave undone4 ,christ always gives the touch required to make old teachings glow with life4 ,,ii ,,succeeding ,,by ,,courageous ,,service ,when ,john ,e4 ,clough was a student working his way through college1 he was employed in a menial capacity at a hotel in a western town4 ,his employer was absent for a season and the student was compelled to take charge of the hotel4 ,he was successful1 for he learned how to handle men of many sorts1 how to provide for their comfort1 how to make them feel that he was doing his best for them4 ,years later1 when he was a missionary in ,india1 it became necessary for him to plan for the temporary entertainment of the men and women who came to the mission station by hundreds1 and even by thousands1 seeking ,christian baptism4 ,for days it was necessary to provide for their comfort4 ,many men would have been dismayed by the task1 but to ,dr4 ,clough the problem presented was simple2 he had only to do on a large scale the very things which made his boyhood efforts at hotel-keeping such a pronounced success4 ,experience in a hotel is a good course of preparation for any young man1 whether he plans to be a missionary or to serve in any of the home callings that demand the ,christian's time and thought4 ,however1 it is not possible for more than a very small proportion of young people to serve a period in a hotel2 so it will be helpful to them to read some of the suggestions that have been made by a successful hotel proprietor4 ,those who heed these suggestions are apt to be successful in dealing with men and women anywhere4 ,it is worth while to note some of these rules3 ,the hotel is operated primarily for the benefit and convenience of its guests4 ,any member of our force who lacks the intelligence to interpret the feeling of good will that this hotel holds toward its guests1 cannot stay here very long4 ,snap judgments of men often are faulty4 ,the unpretentious man with the soft voice may possess the wealth of ,croesus4 ,you cannot afford to be superior or sullen with any patron of the hotel4 ,at rare intervals some perverse member of our force disagrees with a guest as to the rightness of this or that4444 ,either may be right4444 ,in all discussions between hotel employees and guests1 the employee is dead wrong from the guest's standpoint1 and from ours4444 ,each member of our force is valuable only in proportion to his ability to serve our guests4 ,every item of extra courtesy contributes towards a better pleased guest1 and every pleased guest contributes toward a better1 bigger hotel4444 ,yet a young man should not have to go to a hotel to learn these lessons4 ,they were taught in the ,book that every one of us should know better than any other book in our library4 ,listen to these messages of the ,book1 and compare them with the rules of the hotel3 ,not looking each of you to his own things1 but each of you also to the things of others4444 ,be tenderly affectioned one to another1 in honor preferring one another4444 ,judge not that ye be not judged4444 ,the rich and the poor meet together3 ,jehovah is the maker of them all4444 ,better it is to be of a lowly spirit4444 ,he that is slow in anger appeaseth strife4444 ,i am among you as he that serveth4444 ,ye are the light of the world4444 ,the best book for anyone who is trying to be a success in the world is the ,bible1 for the ,bible teaches how to serve1 and he who has the courage best to serve his fellows in the name of the great ,servant is the most successful man4 ,,iii ,,service ,,by ,,sympathy ,it has been said that1 while the word sympathy does not occur in the ,bible1 the idea is there2 it is in bud in the ,old ,testament1 but it is in full blossom in the ,new ,testament4 ,christ was always sympathetic4 ,he felt for the disturbed host at the wedding2 ,his heart went out to ,zaccheus2 ,he wept with ,mary and ,martha2 ,he listened to the plea of the blind and the lepers2 ,he was deeply stirred as ,he saw the funeral procession of him who was the only son of his mother1 a widow4 ,an eloquent preacher was talking to his people of this glorious flower of the ,christian life4 ,beholding the lily1 he said1 sympathy breathes a prayer that no untimely frost may blight the blossom2 beholding the sparrow1 sympathy fills a box with seeds for the birds whose fall 'the ,heavenly ,father knoweth'2 beholding some youth going forth to make his fortune1 sympathy prays that favorable winds may fill these sails and waft the boy to fame and fortune4 ,do the happy youth and maiden stand before the marriage altar1 the ,christian breathes a prayer that love's flowers may never fall1 and that 'those who are now young may grow old together4' ,one of the pleasing stories told of ,richard ,harding ,davis1 the writer and war correspondent1 was of an incident when real sympathy transformed him4 ,in ,may1 #ahih1 when the ,massachusetts troops were about to go from ,florida to ,cuba1 ,mr4 ,davis entered the encampment as the men were saddened by the first death in the company4 ,at once his cheerful face took on a subdued look4 ,the next day proved to be a broiling dry hot day which set the blood sizzling inside of one1 but ,davis tramped for two hours in the search of flowers4 ,then he learned that eight miles away he might secure some4 ,though no one was abroad who did not have to be1 ,mr4 ,davis started on a sixteen-mile horseback trip4 ,securing the flowers1 he brought them back and made a cross of laths on which he tied them4 ,then came the search for colors to make the flag4 ,again he tramped a weary distance1 but at last he found red1 white and blue ribbon4 ,that night he laid his tribute on the casket4 ,an ,american author who lived several generations before ,davis was noted for his sympathetic attitude to the suffering4 ,richard ,henry ,dana was compelled when a young man to take a voyage around ,cape ,horn on a sailing ship4 ,that classic of the sea1 ,two ,years ,before the ,mast1 was one of the results of that experience4 ,another result was that when the author became a lawyer in ,boston1 his knowledge of ships made him a favorite advocate in nautical cases4 ,his knowledge of the sufferings of the men before the mast1 who were so often abused1 was responsible for his taking their part in many an unprofitable case4 ,he had learned by bitter experience what the sailors under a brutal captain had to suffer1 and any mistreated seaman had in him a firm friend and a fearless pleader4 ,the truest sympathy comes from those who1 like ,dana1 know what suffering means4 ,an author in ,scotland1 who lived in ,dana's generation1 never heard of the ,american friend of seamen1 but he had the same spirit1 born of his own suffering4 ,he was not accustomed to complain1 and was always reticent in speaking of himself4 ,once1 however1 for the sake of a friend1 he allowed himself to tell of his own life3 ,with all your sorrows ,i sympathize from my heart1 he wrote4 ,i have learned to do so through my own sufferings4 ,the same feeling which made you put your hand into your pocket to search among the crumbs for the wanting coin for the beggar1 leads me to search in my heart for some consolation for you4 ,the last two years have been fraught to me with such sorrowful experiences that ,i would gladly exchange my condition for a peaceful grave4 ,a bankrupt in health1 hope and fortune1 my constitution shattered frightfully1 and the almost certain prospect of being a cripple for life before me1 ,i can offer you as fervent and unselfish a sympathy as ever one heart offered another4 ,i have lain awake1 alone1 and in darkness1 suffering severe agony for hours1 often thinking that the slightest aggravation must make my condition unbearable and finding my only consolation in murmuring to myself the words patience1 courage and submission4 ,that1 surely1 is a part of what ,robert ,louis ,stevenson meant when1 as one element in his statement of the ideal for the perfect life1 he named to be kind4 ,true kindness is impossible without sympathy4 ,so long as there is so much real sympathy in the world there can be no place for the maunderings of a pessimist4 ,every sight of a man1 a woman or a child whose life is beautified by the outgoing of sympathy is an effective message of courage1 of cheer1 of hope4 ,,iv ,,doing ,,business ,,for ,,others ,a ,boston boy1 ,samuel ,billings ,capen1 wanted to become a minister4 ,yet it did not seem possible to secure the special training which was essential4 ,instead of being discouraged1 he determined to go into business4 ,but he resolved that he would be a business man of ,god4 ,from the first he carried his ,christian principles with him into the carpet business4 ,his faithful work as office boy was a part of his testimony for ,christ1 and when--within five years--he became a member of the firm1 he was known as one of the solid ,christian men of the city4 ,always his duty to ,christ came first4 ,in the words of his biographer1 ,there was not a moment when he would not have left the firm with which he was associated had the business demanded any compromise with the best things of character4 ,once he spoke to young men of these few things essential to vital living3 ,the first is fidelity--that kind of conscientiousness which performs the smallest details well4 ,the second condition is earnestness4 ,there is no chance for the idle or indifferent4 ,the third condition is integrity--not that lower form which refuses to tell a downright falsehood1 but that higher form of conscientiousness which will not swerve a hair's breadth from the strictest truth1 no matter what the temptation2 the courage to lose a sale rather than to do that which is mean or questionable4 ,the fourth condition ,i would name is purity of heart and life4 ,i do not believe it is possible for any man to be true and pure and faithful in every respect without help from above4 ,we need the personal help of a personal ,god4 ,thirteen years after beginning his service as apprentice1 ,mr4 ,capen's health failed4 ,for many months his life was in danger4 ,god used the sickness to draw the young man nearer to ,himself4 ,compelled to remain for months in absolute idleness1 unable to talk to his friends except to a limited extent1 he made the solemn resolve with his ,god that if his health was restored he would never shirk any work nor complain of any task that might be presented to him4 ,for a generation he was not only a leader in business1 but he was as conspicuous in his service of the ,state as in his services in the ,church4 ,why did he succeed8 ,he was not a genius4 ,his health was poor4 ,he was not mentally brilliant4 ,in these respects he was just an average man4 ,but in other respects he was above the average4 ,he had the courage to give himself in service of his fellows4 ,he believed that conscious fellowship with ,god is the foundation of every strong life4 ,a life like that influenced for good everyone about him4 ,many men were drawn by him into the paths of righteousness4 ,others were held back by him from ways of evil4 ,once he presided over a public meeting which corrupt politicians had planned to capture for their own purpose4 ,but they made no attempt to carry out their plans4 ,how could we succeed with that man watching us8 they asked their friends4 ,it is good to be a minister of the gospel4 ,but for every minister the world needs hundreds of men who are possessed of ,samuel ,b4 ,capen's courageous eagerness to live for ,god in the midst of business cares4 ,v ,,praying ,,and ,,helping ,a business man entered the office of a friend just as the friend was hanging up the receiver of the telephone4 ,there were tears in the eyes of the man at the desk as he turned from the instrument to take the hand of his visitor4 ,i'm afraid you have had bad news1 the visitor said1 deciding that it was not a propitious time to talk of the matter on which he had come4 ,no bad news--the best of news1 was the reply4 ,now see if you don't agree with me4 ,this morning my wife1 who is always thinking of other people1 remarked that it was too bad my pastor's wife could not have a vacation this summer2 she shows the need of it because of a severe strain that had been on her4 ,yet we knew that she could not look forward to a vacation4 ',let's pray about it1' my wife suggested1 just before we knelt at the family altar4 ,we prayed then2 we've been praying since4 ,and the answer has come quickly4 ,my wife was on the telephone just now2 she told me that the postman had brought a letter from a ,california friend of whom we had all but lost sight4 ,fifteen years ago we lent him a sum of money which we never expected to see again4 ,yet the letter contained a check for the amount of the loan6 ',what shall we do with the money8' my wife asked4 ',i wonder if you are not thinking the same thing ,i am1' ,i said to her4 ',yes1 isn't it the answer to our prayer8' she replied4 ',i'm going to take it to our pastor's wife right now4' ,the business man was thoughtful as he passed from his friend's office4 ,just a few hours before he had been told by an acquaintance of his longing1 when on a long trip1 to have such a glimpse of the life of one of the many passengers near him that he would be able to help that passenger before the end of the journey4 ,the wish was a prayer4 ,not long after the making of the prayer he noted a man who was so restless that he could not sit still4 ,every moment or two he looked at his watch1 then studied his time table4 ,evidently he was disturbed because the train was late4 ,i hope you are not to lose a connection in ,chicago8 the observing traveler said to him4 ,yes1 ,i'll miss it--and my baby is dying five hours from ,chicago1 was the response1 given with a sob4 ,the time was short1 but there was opportunity for the interchange of a few words1 then for a conference with the conductor1 who wired asking that the connecting train--at another station and on another road--be held for ten minutes4 ,a week later came a note from the happy father4 ,his babe was rapidly recovering4 ,and ,i'll never forget the words you spoke to me in my agony1 he wrote4 ,god is more real to me since our talk as we went into ,chicago4 ,you put heart into me4 ,,vi ,,giving ,,that ,,counts ,an old fable tells of a good man to whom the ,lord said he would give whatever he most desired4 ,besought by friends to ask great things1 he refused4 ,finally he asked that he might be able to do a great deal of good without ever knowing it4 ,and so it came about that every time the good man's shadow fell behind him or at either side1 so that he could not see it1 it had the power to cure disease1 soothe pain and comfort sorrow4 ,when he walked along1 his shadow1 thrown on the ground on either side or behind him1 made arid paths green1 caused withered plants to bloom1 gave clear water to dried up brooks1 fresh color to pale little children1 and joy to unhappy mothers4 ,but he simply went about his daily life1 diffusing virtue as the star diffuses light and the flower perfume1 without ever being aware of it4 ,and the people1 respecting his humility1 followed him silently1 never speaking to him about his miracles4 ,little by little1 they even came to forget his name1 and called him only ,the ,holy ,shadow4 ,it would be a splendid thing if all would learn the lesson taught in the fable--that the man who would do good should have the courage to be unconscious of the good he is doing1 and so as unlike as possible the rich woman of whom some one has told1 who turned a deaf ear to every petition for help unless there was a subscription paper circulated and she was given the chance to head the list4 ,but no poor person came into her house who said1 ',may ,god reward you6' ,she never experienced the pleasure of making a poor woman on the back stairs happy with a cup of warm coffee1 or hungry children with a slice of bread and butter1 or an infirm man with a penny4 ,perhaps she satisfied her conscience by saying that she did not believe in indiscriminate charity4 ,frequently that excuse is given conscientiously but how often the real meaning is1 ',i do not believe in charity that does not make people talk of my generosity4' ,in the ,sermon on the ,mount ,jesus taught the folly of giving in such a manner4 ,the lesson was enforced by two pictures--a man standing on the street1 giving alms to the poor1 while attention is called to his generosity by the sounding of a trumpet which everyone must hear1 and a man whose giving is so much a matter of secrecy that he does not think of it a second time4 ,there is no rolling of it over as a sweetmeat under his tongue1 as if to say1 ,what a generous man ,i am6 ,nor is there any motive in the giving but pure desire to glorify ,god4 ,all this is properly included in the interpretation of ,let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth4 ,,vii ,,expensive ,,economy ,a magazine editor offered a prize for the best account by a reader of the adjustment of income and expenditure made necessary by the vaulting prices of recent years4 ,the prize was awarded to one whose revised budget showed the revision downward of many items1 and the elimination of two or three other items4 ,the comparison of the budgets was interesting and helpful2 most readers would be apt to approve heartily all but one of the changes and eliminations4 ,this was the exception3 the earlier budget allowed five dollars per month for church and charity1 while the revised budget made no mention of the claims of others1 no provision for the privilege of giving4 ,if you had been a judge in that contest1 would you have felt like giving the prize to a paper that suggested such an omission8 ,suppose you had the task of cutting your budget1 would you feel like revising downward the provision for giving8 ,what do you think of the statement of a famous business man who1 having insisted in time of financial reverses on making gifts as usual1 said to objecting friends1 ,economy should not begin at the house of ,god4 ,why not let economy begin there8 ,what answer would have been given to such a query by the poor tenement dweller in ,new ,york ,city who1 though compelled to earn the support of her family by scrubbing floors in a great office building1 set aside a dollar and a half per week for the care of four orphans in ,india who but for her gifts would have starved8 ,what answer would have been made by the ,polish ,jew1 long resident in ,america1 who directed in his will that regular gifts be made at ,christmas and ,easter to the ,christians as well as to the ,jews of his home town in ,europe8 ,that bequest was made in memory of days and nights of terror when1 as a boy1 he hid in the house from the fiendish persecutions of so-called ,christians who thought ,easter and ,christmas favorable times for the intimidation of the ,jews4 ,what would he have said to the idea of economy that forgets the needs of others and makes no provision for satisfying the hungry1 to help the suffering8 ,what would have been the comment of ,him who told the parable of the rich man who built great barns to hold the surplus product of his lands1 thinking that there was nothing better in life than to eat1 drink1 and be merry2 who compared the gifts of the rich man and the poor widow2 who commended the love of the woman who poured out the costly ointment upon ,his head2 who promises glorious recognition to those who give1 in ,his name1 to any who are in need8 ,a successful manufacturer1 whose eyes have been opened to the folly of attempting to save by cutting off gifts1 has written a series of essays on ,the ,business ,man and ,his ,overflow1 his purpose being to show that happiness is dependent on helpfulness4 ,who is the most successful business man8 he asks4 ,the man who has the largest bank account8 ,not necessarily4444 ,the most successful business man is he who renders the greatest service to mankind and whose life is most useful4 ,two paths are open to us3 we can give1 and we can give more1 or we can economize in giving until we give nothing4 ,which is the path of courage8 ,,chapter ,,seven ,,courage ,,through ,,companionship ,,the world is full of lonely people--people who keep to themselves1 turning away from every approach of others1 from all invitations to come out of retirement4 ,they persist in living alone1 thinking their own thoughts1 pleasing only themselves4 ,i can have no place in my life for friendship1 one of these unfortunates says4 ,i can't be expected to devote myself to my family2 it is all ,i can do to make a living1 is the complaint of another4 ,i live in the present1 says a third2 the past has no interest for me1 and the future holds nothing but worries4 ,live more out-of-doors1 you say6 is the word of a fourth4 ,why should ,i bother about ,nature when ,nature does nothing but thwart me8 ,make ,god my friend8 a fifth asks in surprise4 ,talk to me in rational terms4 ,god doesn't bother about me2 why should ,i bother about ,him8 ,is it any wonder that the lives of so many everywhere are empty8 ,it does not occur to them that by their determination to isolate themselves they cut themselves off from the surest road to courage1 both received and given--the road of companionship with the people and things most worth while4 ,i ,,companionship ,,with ,,friends ,there are those who say that friendship is a lost art2 that modern life is too busy for friendship4 ,why don't you pause long enough to call on ,b----8 a father asked his son2 you used to be such good friends4 ,oh1 ,i haven't time for that now1 was the careless reply2 if ,i am to get ahead1 ,i feel ,i must devote myself only to those things that can be a decided help to my advancement4 ,the mistake made by that son is emphasized by the advice of a keen old man1 spoken to a business associate3 ,if ,i were asked to give advice to a group of young men who wanted to get ahead in business1 ,i would simply say1 'make friends4' ,as ,i sat before the fire the other night ,i let my mind run back1 and it was with surprise that ,i learned that many of the things which in my youth ,i credited to my ability as a business man came to me because ,i had made influential friends who did things for me because they liked me4 ,the man who is right has the right kind of friends1 and the man who is wrong has the kind of friends who are attracted by his wrongness4 ,a man gets what he is4 ,possibly some will think that advice faulty in expression1 for it seems at first glance to put friendship on a coldly calculating basis1 as if it urged the maker of friends to say before consenting to try for a man's friendship1 ,is there anything ,i can get out of such a friendship for myself8 ,of course it is unthinkable that anyone should estimate friendship in that way2 friendship that calculates is unworthy the name1 and the calculator ought to be doomed to the loneliest kind of life4 ,but1 evidently1 what the adviser had in mind is the spirit that makes friends because it is worth while to have friends for friendship's sake1 that never counts on advancement through the efforts of others4 ,such a spirit is bound to be surprised some day by the realization that for his success he owed much to the friends whom he made without a thought of self4 ,one beginner in business decided that he must find his friendships in serving others4 ,there were those who told him he was making a mistake1 but he went calmly on1 devoting hours each week to service with an associate in a boys' club4 ,nothing seemed to come of this but satisfaction to himself and joy to a group whose homes were cheerless4 ,yet1 there was something more--the pleasure of friendship with his associate4 ,one day he was surprised by an invitation to call on the head of a large manufacturing concern4 ,you don't know me1 the man said1 but ,i know you1 for you have been teaching with my son down at the boys' club4 ,for a long time ,i have been on the lookout for a young man who can come into this business with a view to taking up the work with my son when ,i must retire4 ,from what ,i have heard your friend1 my son1 tell of you1 you are the man ,i have sought4 ,it is impossible to count on a thing like that as a result of friendship1 and the man who is worthy of such a friendship never thinks of reckoning on anything but giving to his friend the best that is in him as he enjoys the comfort of association with him4 ,many years ago the author of ,the ,four ,feathers wrote of such a friendship between two men3 ,it was a helpful instrument1 which would not wear out1 put into their hands for a hard1 lifelong use1 but it was not and never had been spoken of between them4 ,both men were grateful for it1 as for a rare and undeserved gift2 yet both knew that it might entail an obligation of sacrifice4 ,but the sacrifices1 were they needful1 would be made1 and they would not be mentioned4 ,it has been well said that ,love gives and receives1 and keeps no account on either side1 but that is very different from deliberately using friendship for selfish ends4 ,,ii ,,successful ,,comrades ,for days two men had been together1 tramping1 driving1 boating1 eating1 sleeping1 talking4 ,and when the time for separation came1 one said to the other3 ,will you please give a message to your wife8 ,tell her for me1 if you will1 that she has made her husband into a real comrade4 ,that man would have been at a loss to tell what are the elements that go to the making up of a good comrade4 ,in fact1 he intimated as much on the last day of the excursion4 ,you can no more tell the things that go to make up a real comrade than you can explain the things that make a landscape beautiful2 you can only see and rejoice4 ,just so1 it is possible to see instances of good comradeship and rejoice4 ,in order that there may be real comradeship between two individuals it is not at all necessary that they shall belong to the same station in life4 ,one of those to whom ,john ,muir1 the great naturalist1 proved himself a true comrade was a guide who many times went with him into the fastnesses of the high ,sierras of ,california4 ,it was great to hear him talk1 the guide has said4 ,often we sat together like two men who had always known each other4 ,it wasn't always necessary to talk2 often there would be no word said for half an hour4 ,but we understood each other in the silence4 ,nor is it essential that people shall be much together before they can be real comrades4 ,theodore ,roosevelt and ,joel ,chandler ,harris knew one another by reputation only until the red letter day when ,uncle ,remus entered the door of the ,white ,house1 in response to an urgent letter of invitation in which the ,president wrote3 ,presidents may come and presidents may go1 but ,uncle ,remus stays put4 ,georgia has done a great many things for the ,union1 but she has never done more than when she gave ,joel ,chandler ,harris to ,american literature4 ,when the two animal-lovers finally came together there was real comradeship4 ,that the reporters understood this was evident from the wire one of them sent to his paper3 ,midnight--,mr4 ,harris has not returned to his hotel4 ,the ,white ,house is ablaze with light4 ,it is said that ,mr4 ,harris is telling the story of ,br'er ,rabbit and the ,tar ,baby4 ,but the ,georgian's own colloquial account of the memorable session with his comrade at ,washington was more explicit3 ,there are things about the ,white ,house that'll astonish you ef ever you git there while ,teddy is on hand4 ,it's a home2 it'll come over you like a sweet dream the minnit you git in the door4444 ,it's a kind of feelin' that you kin have in your own house1 if you've lived right1 but it's the rarest thing in the world that you kin find it in anybody else's house4444 ,we mostly talked of little children an' all the pranks they're up to from mornin' till night1 an' how they draw old folks into all sorts of traps1 and make 'em play tricks on themselves4 ,that's the kinder talk ,i like1 an' ,i could set up long past my bedtime an' listen to it4 ,jest at the right time1 the ,president would chip in wi' some of his adventures wi' the children4444 ,i felt just like ,i had been on a visit to some old friend that ,i hadn't seen in years4 ,when ,robert ,louis ,stevenson and ,edward ,livingston ,trudeau spent days together at ,dr4 ,trudeau's ,adirondack sanitarium--the one as patient1 the other as physician--they proved that true comradeship is possible even when men's tastes are most unlike4 ,it was possible because they knew how to ignore differences and to find common ground in the worth-while things4 ,my life interests were bound up in the study of facts1 and in the laboratory ,i bowed duly to the majesty of fact1 wherever it might lead1 ,dr4 ,trudeau wrote4 ,mr4 ,stevenson's view was to ignore or avoid as much as possible unpleasant facts1 and live in a beautiful1 extraneous and ideal world of fancy4 ,i got him one day into the laboratory1 from which he escaped at the first opportunity4444 ,on the other hand1 ,i knew well ,i could not discuss intelligently with him the things he lived among and the masterly work he produced1 because ,i was incompetent to appreciate to the full the wonderful situations his brilliant mind evolved and the high literary merit of the work in which he described the flights of his great genius4 ,yet these two men were great companions1 for in spite of differences as to details1 their hopes and ambitions and ideals all pointed to the best things in life4 ,after the author's departure1 he sent to the doctor a splendidly bound set of his works1 first writing in each volume a whimsical bit of rhyme1 composed for the occasion4 ,though all of these men were real comrades1 there is a higher manifestation of comradeship than this4 ,this was shown in the relation of ,daniel ,coit ,gilman1 later ,president of ,johns ,hopkins ,university1 when he wrote to a fellow student of the deepest things in his life3 ,i don't wish merely to thank you in a general way for writing as you did an expression of sympathy1 but more especially to respond to the sentiments on ,christian acquaintance which you there bring out4 ,i agree with you most fully and only regret that ,i did not know at an earlier time upon our journey what were your feelings upon a few such topics4 ,i tell you1 ,brace1 that ,i hate cant and all that sort of thing as much as you or anyone else can do4 ,it is not with everyone that ,i would enjoy a talk upon religious subjects4 ,i hardly ever wrote a letter on them to those ,i know best4 ,but when anyone believes in an inner life of faith and joy1 and is willing to talk about it in an earnest1 everyday style and tone1 ,i do enjoy it most exceedingly4 ,theodore ,storrs ,lee cultivated the relation of a comrade with his fellow students that he might talk to them1 without cant1 on the deepest things of life4 ,his biographer says3 ,many a time did he seek out men in lonely rooms1 bewildered or weakened by the college struggles4 ,many a quiet talk did he have as he and his selected companion trod his favorite walk4 ,no one else in college had so many intimate talks with so many men4444 ,on one occasion1 when he was urging a friend to give his life to ,christian service1 he seemed to be unsuccessful--until1 on leaving the man at the close of the walk1 he made a genial1 large-minded remark that opened the way to the heart of his friend4 444 ,it was only natural that ,i should try to meet him half-way1 the friend said later1 in explanation of his own changed attitude4 ,he had been won by real comradeliness4 ,it was this devotion to the men in college that led him into the holy of holies of many a man's heart1 wrote a friend1 causing many of us to feel in a very real way the sentiment expressed by ,mrs4 ,browning3 ,the face of all the world is changed1 ,i think ,since first ,i heard the footsteps of thy soul4 ,,iii ,,companionship ,,with ,,the ,,past ,what1 courage from companionship with the past8 ,the pessimist says1 ,impossible6 ,the past was so much better than the present4 ,see how the country is going to the dogs6 and they point to the revelations of dishonesty in high places4 ,there were no such blots on our records when the country was young4 ,a public man gave an effective answer to such croakers when he said3 ,as we go on year by year reading in the newspapers of the dreadful things that are occurring2 wicked rich men1 wicked politicians and wicked men of all kinds1 we are apt to feel that we have fallen on very evil times4 ,but are we any worse than our fathers were8 ,john ,adams1 in #aggf1 was ,secretary of ,war4 ,he wrote a letter which is still in existence1 and told of the terrible corruption that prevailed in the country2 he told how everybody was trying to rob the soldiers1 rob the ,war ,department1 and he said he was really ashamed of the times in which he lived4 ,when ,jefferson was ,president of the ,united ,states it was thought that the whole country was going to be given over to ,french infidelity4 ,when ,jackson was ,president people thought the country ruined1 because of his action in regard to the ,united ,states ,bank4 ,and we know how in ,polk's time the ,mexican ,war was an era of rascality and dishonesty that appalled the whole country4 ,it is a mistake to look back a generation or two and say1 ,the good old days were better than these4 ,in the address already referred to the speaker continued3 ,only thirty years ago1 on my first visit to ,california1 ,i went with a friend to the mining district in the ,sierras4 ,one summer evening we sat upon the flume looking over the landscape4 ,my friend was a distinguished man of great ability4 ,in the distance the sun was setting1 reflecting its light on the dome of the ,capitol of the state1 at ,sacramento1 twenty miles off4 ,he turned to me and said suddenly3 ',i would like to be you for one reason1 that you are thirty years younger than ,i am1 and they are going to be thirty of the greatest years the world has ever seen4' ,he is dead now1 but his words were prophetic4 ,he and ,i used to talk about how we could send power down into the mines4 ,an engine would fill the mine with smoke and gases1 and yet we must have power to run the drills1 etc41 using compressed air4 ,how easy to-day1 just to drop a wire down and send the power of electricity6 ,at that time there was but a single railroad running across the continent1 which took a single sleeping car each day4 ,look at the difference now1 with six great trunk lines sending out more than a dozen trains1 and more than a hundred sleeping cars each day4 ,students of ,american history know something of the fears of early adherents of the ,united ,states ,government lest the republic prove a failure1 and of the threats of doubters and disaffected citizens to do their best to replace the republic by a monarchy4 ,but comparatively few realize how great were the fears1 and how brazenly the prophecies were spoken4 ,an examination of ,the ,complete ,anas of ,thomas ,jefferson1 the collection of private memoranda made by the patriot when he was successively ,secretary of ,state1 ,vice-,president1 and ,president1 discloses the fact that some of the gravest of these fears were held by those high in authority1 and that the prophecies of evil came from men who were leaders in the nation4 ,on ,april #f1 #agib1 ,president ,washington1 in conversation with ,jefferson1 expressed his fear that there would1 ere long1 be a separation of the ,union1 that the public mind seemed dissatisfied and tending to this4 ,on ,october #a1 #agib1 he spoke to the ,secretary of his desire to retire at the end of his term as ,president4 ,still1 however1 if his aid was thought necessary to save the cause to which he had devoted his life principally1 he would make the sacrifice of a longer continuance4 ,on ,april #g1 #agic1 ,tobias ,lear1 in conversation with ,jefferson1 spoke pessimistically of the affairs of the country4 ,the debt1 he was sure1 was growing on the country in spite of claims to the contrary4 ,he said that the man who vaunted the present government so much on some occasions was the very man who at other times declared that it was a poor thing1 and such a one as could not stand1 and he was sensible they only esteemed it as a stepping-stone to something else4 ,on ,december #a1 #agic1 an influential ,senator 7name given7 said to several of his fellow ,senators that things would never go right until there was a ,president for life1 and a hereditary ,senate4 ,on ,december #bg1 #agig1 ,jefferson said that ,tenche ,coxe told him that a little before ,alexander ,hamilton went out of office1 he said3 ,for my part ,i avow myself a monarchist2 ,i have no objection to a trial being made of this thing of a republic1 but1 444 etc4 ,on ,february #f1 #agih1 it was reported to ,jefferson that a man of influence in the ,government had said1 ,i have made up my mind on this subject2 ,i would rather the old ship should go down than not4 ,later he qualified his words1 making his statement hypothetical1 by adding1 if we are to be always kept pumping so4 ,on ,january #bd1 #ahjj1 it was reported to ,jefferson that1 at a banquet in ,new ,york1 ,alexander ,hamilton made no remark when the health of the ,president was proposed1 but that he asked for three cheers when the health of ,george ,,iii was suggested4 ,on ,march #bg1 #ahjj1 the ,anas record3 ,dr4 ,rush tells me that within a few days he has heard a member of ,congress lament our separation from ,great ,britain1 and express his sincere wishes that we were again dependent on her4 ,on ,december #ac1 #ahjc1 ,jefferson told of the coming to ,president ,adams of a minister from ,new ,england who planned to solicit funds in ,new ,england for a college in ,green ,county1 ,tennessee4 ,he wished to have the ,president's endorsement of the project4 ,but ,mr4 ,adams 444 said he saw no possibility of continuing the union of the ,states2 that their dissolution must take place2 that he therefore saw no propriety in recommending to ,new ,england men to promote a literary institution in the ,south2 that it was in fact giving strength to those who were to be their enemies1 and1 therefore1 he would have nothing to do with it4 ,one who reads bits like these from ,jefferson's private papers appreciates more fully some of the grave difficulties that confronted the country's early leaders2 he rejoices more than ever before that the ,united ,states emerged so triumphantly from troubled waters until1 little more than a century after those days of dire foreboding1 it was showing other nations the way to democracy2 he takes courage in days of present doubt and uncertainty1 assured that the country which has already weathered so many storms will continue to solve its grave problems1 and will be more than ever a beacon light to the world4 ,,iv ,,companionship ,,with ,,nature ,look at the ,world1 is the advice ,david ,grayson gives to those who follow him in his delightful essays on ,great ,possessions--possessions that cannot be measured with a yardstick or entered in the bank book4 ,this is his cure for all the trials and vexations that come in the course of a busy life4 ,for how can a man remain unsettled and morose and distressed when he is gazing at the broad expanse of the sky1 studying the beauty of the trees1 or listening to the mellow voices of the birds8 ,how can the wanderer in field and forest forget that ,god is love8 ,some people think that to drink in the glories of nature they must go to the mountains1 or seek some other far-away spot4 ,mistake6 ,the place to enjoy ,god's world is just where one is1 and the time is that very moment4 ,this was the lesson taught so impressively by ,alice ,freeman ,palmer1 when she described the little dweller in the tenements who resolved to see something beautiful each day1 and who1 one day1 when confined to the house1 found her something in watching a rain-soaked sparrow drinking from the gutter on the tin roof4 ,and this was the thought in the mind of ,mr4 ,grayson when he said3 ,i love a sprig of white cedar1 especially the spicy1 sweet inside bark1 or a pine needle1 or the tender1 sweet1 juicy end of a spike of timothy grass drawn slowly from its sheath1 or a twig of the birch that tastes like wintergreen4 ,hamlin ,garland1 in ,a ,son of the ,middle ,border1 has told the story of his boyhood on an ,iowa farm4 ,he knew how to enjoy the sights to which so many are blind3 ,i am reliving days when the warm sun1 falling on radiant slopes of grass1 lit the meadow phlox and tall tiger lilies to flaming torches of color4 ,i think of blackberry thickets and odorous grapevines1 and cherry-trees and the delicious nuts which grew in profusion throughout the forest to the north4 ,the forest1 which seemed endless and was of enchanted solemnity1 served as our wilderness4 ,we explored it at every opportunity4 ,we loved every day for the color it brought1 each season for the wealth of its experiences1 and we welcomed the thought of spending all our years in this beautiful home where the wood and the prairie of our song did actually meet and mingle4444 ,i studied the clouds4 ,i gnawed the beautiful red skin from the seed vessels which hung upon the wild rose bushes1 and ,i counted the prairie chickens as they began to come together in winter flocks1 running through the stubble in search of food4 ,i stopped now and again to examine the lizards unhoused by the shares1 444 and ,i measured the little granaries of wheat which the mice and gophers had deposited deep under the ground1 storehouses which the plow had violated4 ,my eyes dwelt enviously on the sailing hawk and on the passing of ducks4444 ,often of a warm day ,i heard the sovereign cry of the sand-hill crane falling from the azure throne1 so high1 so far1 his form could not be seen1 so close to the sun that my eyes could not detect his solitary1 majestic1 circling sweep4444 ,his brazen1 reverberating call will forever remain associated in my mind with mellow1 pulsating earth1 spring grass and cloudless glorious ,may-time skies4 ,henry ,fawcett lived at about the same period in a rural district in ,england4 ,he1 too1 delighted to ramble in the fields4 ,one day1 when he was out hunting with his father1 an accidental gunshot deprived him of his eyesight4 ,but the boy would not think of shutting himself away from the joys of nature which meant so much to him4 ,i very soon came to the resolution to live1 as far as possible1 just as ,i had lived before4444 ,no one can more enjoy catching a salmon in the ,tweed of the ,spey1 or throwing a fly in some quiet trout stream in ,wiltshire or ,hampshire4 ,in the story of the life of ,john ,j4 ,audubon an incident is told that shows how the greatest joy can be found in what seems like one of the most ordinary things in the life of the forest--the nesting of the birds3 ,he became interested in a bird1 not as large as the wren1 of such peculiar grey plumage that it harmonized with the bark of the trees1 and could scarcely be seen4 ,one night he came home greatly excited1 saying he had found a pair that was evidently preparing to make a nest4 ,the next morning he went into the woods1 taking with him a telescopic microscope4 ,the scientific instrument he erected under the tree that gave shelter to the literally invisible inhabitants he was searching for1 and1 making a pillow of some moss1 he lay upon his back1 and looking through the telescope1 day after day1 noted the progress of the little birds1 and1 after three weeks of such patient labor1 felt that he had been amply rewarded for the toil and the sacrifice by the results he had obtained4 ,when a boy ,david ,livingstone laid the foundation for the love of the open that helped to make his life in ,africa a never-ending delight4 ,before he was ten he had wandered all over the ,clyde banks about ,blantyre and had begun to collect and wonder at shells and flowers1 one of his biographers says4 ,not far away1 also in ,scotland1 ,henry ,drummond spent his boyhood4 ,he1 too1 knew the pleasure of wandering afield4 ,he liked to go to the rock on which stands grim ,stirling ,castle1 and look away to the windings of the crooked ,forth1 the green ,ochil ,hills1 and1 farther away1 ,ben ,lomond1 ,ben ,venue1 and ,ben ,ledi1 the guardians of the beautiful ,highland lochs4 ,he was never weary of feasting his eyes on them4 ,in later years he would go back to the scenes of his boyhood1 climb to the ,castle1 and1 looking out on the beautiful prospect1 would say ,man1 there's no place like this2 no place like ,scotland4 ,bayard ,taylor first made a name for himself by his ability to see the things that many people pass by1 and to describe them sympathetically4 ,but he1 also1 in boyhood days learned the lesson that paved the way for later achievements4 ,he was not six years old when he used to wander to a fascinating swamp near his ,pennsylvania home4 ,if the child was missed from the house1 the first thing that suggested itself was to climb upon a mound which overlooked the swamp4 ,once1 from the roof of the house1 he discovered unknown forests and fresh fields which he made up his mind to explore4 ,later1 in company with a ,quaker schoolmaster1 he took long walks1 and thus learned many things about the trees and plants4 ,when he was twelve he began to write out the thoughts that came to him in this intimate study of nature4 ,in far-away ,norway ,ole ,bull had a like experience4 ,at an early age he began to be on familiar terms with the silent things about him4 ,the quality of his later work was influenced by the grandeur of the scenery in which he lived4 ,to him trees1 rocks1 waterfalls1 mountains1 all spoke a language which demanded expression through the strings of his violin2 he turned everything into music4 ,his biographer says3 ,when1 in early childhood1 playing alone in the meadow1 he saw a delicate bluebell moving in the breeze1 he fancied he heard the bell ring1 and the grass accompanying it with most exceptionally fine voices4 ,john ,muir1 who later wrote of the great ,sequoias of ,california and the glaciers of ,alaska1 when a boy of ten found delight in scenes of which he wrote as follows3 ,oh1 that glorious ,wisconsin wilderness6 ,everything new and pure in the very prime of spring1 when nature's pulses were beating highest and mysteriously keeping tune with our own6 ,young hearts1 young leaves1 flowers1 animals1 the winds and the streams and the sparkling lake1 all wildly1 gladly rejoicing together4 ,there is something missing in the life of one who cannot enter into the feelings of a boy like ,muir or ,taylor or ,drummond4 ,and when such a boy grows up1 the gap in the life will be more conspicuous than ever4 ,think of the poverty of the stranger to whom a traveler1 feeling that he must give expression to his keen delight in the autumn foliage1 said1 ,what wonderful coloring6 ,where8 came the reply4 ,oh1 the trees6 ,well1 ,i'm not interested in trees4 ,talk to me about coal4 ,i know coal4 ,v ,,companionship ,,with ,,god ,some people insist that it is impractical moonshine to speak of making a companion of ,god1 that folks who talk about such things are dreamers1 far removed from touch with the cold reality of daily life4 ,then how about the nephew of whom ,dr4 ,alexander ,mac,coll told at ,northfield8 ,he was surely a practical man4 ,for four years he had been in the thick of the fighting in ,france4 ,yet at the close of one of his letters to his uncle he said3 ,i hope when the war is over that ,i may be able to spend a month somewhere among the hills4 ,i often think that if more people in the world had lived among such hills as we have in ,scotland there would have been no world war4 ,when ,i came yesterday afternoon1 and saw again the glory of these hills1 was ,dr4 ,mac,coll's comment1 ,i found myself sharing very deeply in that feeling of my good nephew1 and wishing that more people in the world had known what it is to commune with ,god in the silences4 ,that fine young ,scotchman would have known how to take a college student who1 while having a country walk with a friend1 was explaining the reason for his belief in ,god and his trust in ,him4 ,as he concluded his message he pointed to a large tree which they were passing1 saying as he did so1 ,god is as real to me as that tree4 ,he had a right to say such a thing1 for he not only believed1 but he was conscious that ,god was with him1 his ,companion wherever he went4 ,this being the case1 prayer became for him the simplest and most natural thing in the world4 ,god was by his side2 then why should not he talk to ,god1 by ejaculation as well as by more formal utterance8 ,yet his talks with ,god never became formal4 ,they were always intimate and confidential--like the approaches of ,principal ,john ,cairns1 the famous ,scotch minister4 ,his biographer tells of a time when he was at the manse of a country minister in whose church he was to preach next day4 ,the minister's wife withdrew to get a cup of tea for the old man1 leaving her little boy there4 ,by and by she heard a strange1 unaccustomed sound1 as it seemed to her under such conditions4 ,and as she listened and looked1 she saw that the old man was kneeling with the boy4 ,it had seemed to him the most natural thing in the world to speak to his ,great ,friend about his little friend4 ,dr4 ,arthur ,smith was like that with ,god1 and his son ,henry took after him4 ,one ,january day in #aije the father reached ,new ,york from ,china and sought his son4 ,they went to a hotel room to bridge the time of absence by a tremendous lot of back conversation1 as the son wrote to the mother4 ,but before they had any chance to talk of other matters the father said1 ,come1 boy1 let's have a prayer4 ,wasn't that just like him8 ,henry asked his mother4 ,a minister who was spending his vacation in the northern woods was called in to see a dying lumberman4 ,before leaving the visitor prayed with the sick man1 and suggested that he pray for himself4 ,the objection was made that it was useless to pray--,god understood a man's trials1 and ,he knew what was wanted before a request was made4 ,the minister asked him if he didn't know what his children needed before they asked him1 if he didn't know they were disappointed or troubled2 yet didn't he wish to have them talk over these things with him8 ,the man thought a moment4 ,then he said1 ,do you think that would be prayer--just for me to lie here and tell ,god what ,he knows already--how it hurts1 and all my disappointment1 and my anxiety for the future of my children and my wife--and everything--just to tell ,him8 ,i think it would1 said the minister4 ,i think it would be prayer of a very real kind4 ,one who had learned that prayer is not a mere formal exercise1 to be dreaded and postponed1 has said3 ,pray often--in bits1 with a persistency of habit that betrays a childlike eagerness and absorption4 ,rise up to question ,god as children do their earthly parents--at morning1 noon and night and between times4 ,ask ,him about everything4 ,be with ,him more than with all other persons4 ,acquire the home habit with ,him4 ,be a child in ,his hands4 ,do not fear lest ,he be too busy to listen1 or too grown up to care or to understand4 ,just talk to ,him1 in broken sentences1 half-formed with crude wishes2 in foolish chatter1 if need be4 ,make the ,heavenly ,father the center of your life1 the source and judge of all your satisfactions4 ,be sure to let ,him put you to bed1 waken you in the morning1 wait on you at table1 order your day's doings1 protect you from harm1 soothe your disquiet1 supply all your daily needs4 ,such a prayer is good1 not only when one is sick1 but when one is well and busy with the affairs of daily life4 ,a clergyman has told of a visit to ,london during which he called on a merchant whom he had met in ,america4 ,at the business house he was told that he could not see the merchant1 as it was steamer day1 and orders had been given not to disturb him4 ,but when the card was taken up1 the merchant appeared1 his face beaming with pleasure4 ,after a moment's greeting the visitor offered to go away1 but the merchant took him into his office1 and said3 ,i am very glad you have called4 ,i would not have had you fail4 ,i am very busy1 but ,i always have a moment for my ,lord4 ,i have a little place for private prayer4 ,you must come in with me1 and we shall have a season of prayer together4 ,busy1 but not too busy for prayer1 longing to see his friend1 but eager to spend the ten minutes of the call in prayer with that other ,friend who made the brief visit worth while6 ,in telling this incident1 one writer on the subject of prayer has said3 ,several1 perhaps many merchants in one of our large cities have fitted up for themselves dark1 narrow1 boxlike closets1 whither1 each by himself1 they are wont to retire for a few minutes at times1 during the pressure of the day's business1 for the refreshment of soul1 which they find they really need in communion with ,god4 ,one of these men is reported to have said3 ',on some days1 if ,i had not that resort1 ,i believe ,i should go mad1 so great is the pressure4' ,dr4 ,purves once told an incident of the distinguished scientist1 ,professor ,joseph ,henry1 as given him by one of ,dr4 ,henry's students4 ,i well remember the wonderful care with which he arranged all his principal experiments4 ,then often1 when the testing moment came1 that holy as well as great philosopher would raise his hand in adoring reverence and call upon me to uncover my head and worship in silence1 'because1' he said1 ',god is here4 ,i am about to ask ,god a question4' ,to ,mary ,slessor of ,calabar1 whom the ,africans learned to love devotedly1 prayer was as simple and easy as talking to a friend in the room4 ,her religion was a religion of the heart1 her biographer says4 ,her communion with her ,father was of the most natural1 most childlike character4 ,no rule or habit guided her4 ,she just spoke to ,him as a child to its father when she needed help and strength1 or when her heart was filled with joy and gratitude1 at any time1 in any place4 ,he was so real to her1 so near1 that her words were almost of the nature of conversation4 ,there was no formality1 no self-consciousness1 no stereotyped diction1 only the simplest language from a quiet and humble heart4 ,it is told of her that once1 when she was in ,scotland1 after a tiresome journey1 she sat down at the tea table alone1 and1 lifting up her eyes1 said1 ',thank you1 ,father--ye ken ,i'm tired1' in the most ordinary way as if she had been addressing her friend4 ,on another occasion in the country1 she lost her spectacles while coming from a meeting in the dark4 ,she could not do without them1 and she prayed simply and directly1 ',o ,father1 give me back my spectacles6' ,a lady asked her how she obtained such intimacy with ,god4 ',ah1 woman1' she said1 'when ,i am out there in the bush1 ,i have often no other one to speak to but my ,father1 and ,i just talk to ,him4444' ,i just talk to ,him6 ,there is the secret of getting and keeping close to the ,father1 the most worth-while ,companion we can possibly have with us on country walk1 on vacation excursion1 amid business perplexities1 in the desert or in the thronged city street1 when the days are crowded with burdens1 or when the time of rest after work has come4 ,try ,him and see if it is not so4 ,,vi ,a ,,chapter ,,of--,,accidents8 ,a man had planned a three-day trip with care4 ,on paper everything looked promising for a combination of business and pleasure that would make these days stand out in the record of the year4 ,in the morning he would go to ,washington4 ,there he would have opportunity to see in one of the ,departments a man whose help in an emergency would prove invaluable4 ,at four in the afternoon he would leave for ,cincinnati4 ,by taking the train he would miss a bit of scenery at ,cumberland1 which he had hoped to see4 ,this could not be helped1 however1 for by the train he would be set down in ,cincinnati in good season for the important one-day session of a committee1 the primary object of the trip4 ,to be sure1 he would have to miss another important committee meeting at home1 unless he should forego the ,washington stop4 ,but would it not be worth while to miss one of the meetings when he did not see how he could well arrange for both8 ,the ticket was bought and reservation was made4 ,then interruption number one came4 ,most unexpectedly there was a call from a neighbor to render such a service as can be given but once in a lifetime4 ,yet that difficult service must be rendered at the moment when1 according to program1 he would be taking the train for ,washington4 ,of course there could be no question as to his course4 ,instead of going to ,washington and seeing the man with whom conference would mean so much1 he must take train by a route more direct4 ,this would enable him to reach ,cincinnati in season for the committee meeting2 and it would enable him also to attend the committee meeting at home which he had decided to put aside for the sake of the ,washington opportunity4 ,after serving his neighbor and attending the home meeting--this turned out to be so important that to miss it would have been little short of a calamity--the direct train for ,cincinnati was taken1 though not without a sigh for the lost opportunity in ,washington4 ,yet the sigh was forgotten when on that train he became acquainted with three fellow-passengers who gave him some new and needed glimpses of life4 ,a study of time tables showed him that he could return by way of ,washington1 and could have two hours for the interview there on which he had counted so much1 before the hour came for completing the homeward journey4 ,after a successful committee meeting in ,cincinnati1 the importance of which proved to be even greater than had been anticipated1 the train for ,washington was taken at the ,cincinnati terminal4 ,at the moment this train was due to leave1 there drew in on an adjoining track cars from which weary1 anxious-looking passengers alighted4 ,what train is that8 was the question that came to his lips4 ,number two1 boss1 the porter replied4 ,left ,washington at four yesterday afternoon4 ,she's ten hours late1 'count of that big wreck down in the mountains4 ,and that was the train he had planned to take after finishing his business in ,washington6 ,if he had taken it1 what of his touch with the ,cincinnati meeting8 ,in thankful spirit1 and with the resolve renewed for the ten thousandth time that he would cease to question ,god's wisdom in thwarting his little plans1 he went to his berth4 ,first1 however1 he included in his evening prayer a petition that the train might not be late in reaching ,washington1 since the time there would be short enough1 at best4 ,three hours later he roused with the start that is apt to come with the intense silence that marks a long night wait of a train between stations4 ,the delay was so prolonged that soon the time table showed the loss of three hours4 ,there was one consolation1 however3 he would be able to pass during hours of daylight through the incomparable mountains of ,west ,virginia4 ,the unexpected blessing was forgotten when the train drew into the ,washington station so near the close of the afternoon that the traveler thought he might as well go home at once4 ,later on1 he might be able to make a special trip to the ,capital4 ,and ,i might have finished my program without all that expense and trouble1 he thought4 ,but while he was there he decided he would call on the telephone the man in the department whom he wished to see4 ,he told the man of his late train and his disappointment4 ,perhaps it is just as well1 was the word from the other end of the wire4 ,i have been afraid that the time set aside for our work this afternoon was altogether too short4 ,what do you say to coming to me the first thing in the morning8 ,then we can devote to our program all the time that proves necessary4 ,so he remained overnight4 ,the evening gave him the chance he had sought for a year to spend an evening consulting authorities at the ,congressional ,library4 ,next morning the real business of the stopover was attended to4 ,then he learned why it would have been impossible to receive the afternoon before the attention he received during the morning hours4 ,he knew1 too1 that it would have been out of the question to seek a second interview on the same business2 therefore he would have had to rest content with the results of the first conference4 ,the time came to take the train for the final stage of the journey4 ,on that train his seat-mate1 a man he had never seen before1 perhaps never would see again1 gave him a number of bits of vital information on the very business that had led him to ,washington6 ,is it worth while to ask ,god to look out for the everyday needs of ,his people8 ,,chapter ,,eight ,,god ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,courage ,,be strong and of a good courage6 ,more than three thousand years ago the inspiring words were spoken by a great military leader to men about to undertake a tremendous task4 ,some of them were dismayed4 ,the difficulties in the path appeared insurmountable4 ,their minds were filled with worries and fears and anxieties1 until the present was heavy with doubt and the future loomed before them dread1 angry1 portentous4 ,their hearts were like water1 until ,joshua1 the leader1 with great confidence gave his message3 ,be strong and of a good courage-- ,only be strong and very courageous-- ,have not ,i commanded thee8 ,be strong and of a good courage4 ,for ,jehovah thy ,god is with thee whithersoever thou goest4 ,i ,,that',s ,,for ,,me6 ,two men were going around the marvelous horseshoe curve on the ,tyrone and ,clearfield ,division of the ,pennsylvania ,railroad when one called the attention of his companion to the most picturesque part of the way4 ,i was looking at that precipice when ,i had my first understanding of the fact that the ,bible is a personal message2 that ,i had the right to appropriate its words to my own life4 ,it was the summer following the end of my final year in college4 ,a few months earlier ,i had reluctantly yielded to the urging1 first of my physician1 then of a nerve specialist1 by turning my back on college at the vital portion of the year4 ,they told me that if ,i persisted in remaining they would not answer for the consequences2 they said ,i had applied myself unwisely to my books until my brain was in revolt4 ',it is a grave question if you will ever be able to take the professional course to which you have been looking forward1' the specialist said4 ',one thing is certain1 however3 if you do not do as you are told you will not do any real brain work the rest of your days4' ,that scared me1 for my heart was wrapped up in my plans for the future4 ,i felt that life would not be worth while without some sort of active brain work4 ,so ,i gave myself to a real bit of vacation4 ,for months ,i cut myself loose from all books except the little copy of the ,testament and ,psalms which ,i carried with me more for form's sake than for any other reason1 ,i fear4 ,daily as ,i tramped here and there in the wilds ,i read a verse or two1 more because ,i thought ,i ought to do this than because ,i had any idea of receiving help4 ,toward the close of the summer ,i submitted myself to a specialist who shook his head1 at the same time declaring that it was doubtful if even yet ,i could go on with my plan4 ,he wouldn't say it was impossible for me to do brain work1 but he urged that the probabilities were against me4 ,a second specialist told me the same thing4 ,so ,i faced the future as all summer long ,i had feared to face it4 ,finally my mind was made up to turn my back on professional studies4 ,when the decision was made a suggestion came that ,i go into the mountains of ,pennsylvania to investigate opportunity for a sort of work that ,i might do4 ,the journey was begun4 ,as we left ,tyrone to climb the mountains my spirits sank lower and lower4 ,i rebelled against the idea of taking the offered opening4 ,how ,i longed to enter professional school in two weeks6 ,but ,i dared not do it4 ,to be sure1 the physicians said that they saw no reason why ,i should not1 though they feared the result4 ,why not try it8 ,i had used all available means for restoration of the brain to the old-time keenness4 ,yet it would be awful to try and fail4 ,no1 ,i did not dare4 ,so ,i was in the depths when my hand touched the pocket ,testament and ,psalms4 ,mechanically the book was opened1 probably because of the unconscious realization that the daily portion had not yet been read4 ,but listlessness was gone in an instant when my eyes fell on the words of ,psalm #cg3e3 ',commit thy way unto the ,lord2 trust also in ,him1 and ,he will bring it to pass4' ,at first the words dazed me4 ,then ,i said3 ',that's for me1 and ,i'll do it6 ,i've spent the summer as the doctors said ,i must4 ,surely ,i am warranted in committing myself unto the ,lord in just the way the ,psalm says4 ,of course ,i can't be sure that the result of going back to school will be precisely what ,i hope2 but ,i can trust1 and do my best4 ,then if the attempt results in failure1 ,i shall have the satisfaction of knowing that ,i am following ,him to whom ,i have committed my way4 ,some of my friends thought it was folly to begin my professional course4 ,can you imagine my joy when1 from the day school opened1 ,i had no recurrence of my trouble8 ,of course ,i was very careful until ,i could feel sure of my health4 ,how do you explain your ability to go on with your studies8 his companion asked4 ,i am not trying to explain it1 was the reply4 ,but without question the assurance that came to me with that text from the ,psalm1 the assurance that ,god is my ,god and that ,i have a right to count on ,him1 made me strong to face things to which ,i had been unequal only a few months before4 ,and is it strange that ,i have often wondered if there would have been any breakdown in college1 if ,i had only known a little sooner of the strength that waits for those who1 while putting forth their own utmost endeavor1 at the same time count on ,god's unfailing strength8 ,,ii ,,banking ,,on ,,god',s ,,promises ,isn't it strange that so many ,christians while believing1 theoretically1 in the reality and trustworthiness of ,god's promises1 do not have the same sort of practical belief in ,him which they show in the promise of their bank to pay them1 on demand1 the sum written down in their book of deposit8 ,and banks have been known to fail in keeping their very limited promises1 while ,god has never failed in keeping ,his unlimited assurances of blessing4 ,for so many the strange delusion that ,god's promises are not to be counted on in the same literal sense as the promises of our associates persists through life1 but there are fortunate ,christians who have their eyes opened to the truth4 ,and what a difference the knowledge makes to them6 ,f4 ,b4 ,meyer told in one of his public addresses of the transformation wrought for him when his eyes were opened to the truth4 ,as a boy of thirteen he had been a student at ,brighton ,college4 ,he was timid and sensitive1 and the older students soon learned that they could make his life a burden to him4 ,with a sigh of relief he went home at the end of the first week of school4 ,on ,sunday1 however1 the thought that he must return came to him with oppressing force4 ,how could he stand up against the older students8 ,he was idly turning the pages of his ,bible when he came to the #abast ,psalm4 ,how voraciously ,i devoured it6 he said4 ,how ,i read it again and again1 and wrapt it round me6 ,how ,i took it as my shield6 ,and the next day ,i walked into the great expanse in front of the college so serene and strong4 ,it was my first act of appropriating the promises of ,god4 ,three years later the student was agonizing because he wanted to be a minister1 yet feared to plan for the work because his voice was weak1 and he feared that he would not have the courage to speak4 ,he had been asking ,god to show him ,his will1 and to help him in his difficulty4 ,then he found ,jeremiah #a3g1 and read it for the first time4 ,with indescribable feelings ,i read it again and again1 and even now never come on it without a thrill of emotion1 he said of his experience4 ,it was the answer to all my perplexing questionings4 ,yes1 ,i was the child2 ,i was to go to those to whom ,he sent me1 and speak what ,he bade me1 and ,he would be with me and teach my lips4 ,another man1 who had learned to accept literally ,god's promise1 ,ask1 and it shall be given unto you1 wrote gratefully of his experience3 ,my life is one long1 daily1 hourly record of answered prayer4 ,for physical health1 for mental overstrain1 for guidance given marvelously1 for errors and dangers averted1 for enmity to the ,gospel subdued1 for food provided at the exact hour needed1 for everything that goes to make up life and my poor service1 ,i can testify with a full and often wonder-stricken awe that ,i believe ,god answers prayer4 ,i know ,god answers prayer4 ,cavillings1 logical or physical1 are of no avail to me4 ,it is the very atmosphere in which ,i live and breathe and have my being1 and it makes life glad and free and a million times worth living4 ,a worker among his fellows in ,india stated the ground of his belief in ,god's promise to supply the needs of his people4 ,the sentence was written while he was at home on furlough3 ,whatsoever you ask1 believe that you have received it1 and you shall have it4 ,the belief is not the denial of a fact1 but rather the assurance that the petition is in accordance with ,god's will1 and that ,he is as disposed to give as we to receive2 our reception of the gift depends on our holding on to ,his will4 ,now the practical question is1 ,what is ,god's will8 ,am ,i conforming to it8 ,through lack of faith am ,i failing to receive and appropriate for myself and ,satara what ,i and ,satara need8 ,is it ,god's will that ,i should return and that there should be better paid work8 ,more of it8 ,more school-houses8 ,new houses for workers8 ,a few days later he added to these notes the word ,yes4 ,his faith enabled him to claim ,god's promise4 ,a ,christian young man in ,japan was accustomed to stand at the entrance to the park in ,tokyo1 offering ,bibles and preaching the ,gospel4 ,years passed1 and he saw no results of his work4 ,yet he believed in ,him who had promised that ,his name should be exalted among the heathen4 ,at length a ,testament was bought by a young man to whom the words of ,john #c3af brought life and joy4 ,he went back to the old man from whose hand he had received the book1 and told him that he had become a ,christian4 ,the man was overcome with joy4 ,ten years1 he said1 ,i have been selling ,new ,testaments here at the park gates1 and you are the first who has ever come to tell me you were helped4 ,but throughout those ten years the faithful worker was sustained by his belief in the faithfulness of ,him who had promised to bless him in his work4 ,he knew that ,god would not fail him4 ,,iii ,,practical ,,precepts ,,from ,,proverbs ,there is nothing like the ,bible to put heart into a man4 ,this is not strange1 for the ,book was written for this purpose by men of ,god's choosing whose business it was to strengthen their fellows4 ,one of the most vivid parts of the ,bible is the book of ,proverbs4 ,would that our young men were saturated with its thought1 ,albert ,j4 ,beveridge said of it1 while he was a member of the ,united ,states ,senate4 ,it is rich in practical wisdom for the minute affairs of practical life4 ,it abounds in apt and pointed suggestions and pungent warnings concerning our companionship1 our personal habits1 our employments1 our management of finance1 our speech1 the government of tongue and temper1 and many other such things1 which daily perplex the earnest soul1 and daily occasion harm to the thoughtless and misguided4 ,years earlier1 another eminent ,american1 ,washington ,irving1 used what is the keynote of the book in an earnest talk with ,george ,bancroft1 later the historian of his country1 then a student in ,europe4 ,the two were taking a walking excursion1 when the older man said something the student remembered all his life4 ,it was natural1 then1 that ,bancroft's biographer should give this in his subject's own words1 in ,life and ,letters of ,george ,bancroft3 ,at my time of life1 he tells me1 ,i ought to lay aside all care1 and only be bent on laying in a stock of knowledge for future application4 ,if ,i have not pecuniary resources enough to get at what ,i would wish for1 as calculated to be useful to my mind1 ,i must still not give up the pursuit4 ,still follow it2 scramble to it2 get at it as you can1 but be sure to get at it4 ,if you need books1 buy them2 if you are in want of instruction in anything take it4 ,the time will soon come when it will be too late for all these things4 ,more than a century ago an immigrant from ,scotland landed in ,new ,york4 ,in the story of his life he later told how the book of ,proverbs became his rock4 ,the first night he slept in an old frame building with a shingle roof4 ,during the night he was aroused by a storm of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning such as he had never experienced in ,scotland4 ,homesick1 terrified1 unable to sleep1 he rose and took from his chest the ,bible his father had carefully packed with his clothes4 ,he wrote later that as the book was opened1 ,my eyes fell on the words1 ',my ,son4' ,i was thinking of my father4 ,i read on with delight4 ,having finished the last verse ,i found ,i had been reading the third chapter of the ,proverbs of ,solomon4 ,get a ,bible and read the chapter4 ,then suppose yourself in my situation--sore in body1 sick at heart1 and commencing life among a world of strangers1 and see if words more suitable could be put together to fit my case4 ,i looked upon it as a chart from heaven1 directing my course among the rocks1 shoals and storms of life4444 ,i went forth with a light heart to work my way through the world1 resolved to keep this chapter as a pilot by my side4 ,the importance for to-day of the message in ,proverbs #cj3h1 ,remove far from me vanity and lies1 is illustrated by several incidents told by ,lucy ,elliot ,keeler1 in ,if ,i ,were a ,boy3 ,the son of a distinguished ,american recently entered business in ,new ,york1 beginning1 at his father's request1 at the foot of the ladder1 and receiving the princely salary of #bj a month4 ,at a time when his father's name was in everybody's mouth the editor of a yellow journal sent for the son and invited him to join the staff4 ',you need not write any articles1' he said1 with a smile1 'nor do any reporting4 ,just sign your name to an article which ,i will furnish you each day1 and ,i will pay you #bjj a month4444' ,the young man's reply was too emphatic to be accurately reported here1 but it was to the effect that he would rather starve than pick untold dollars out of the gutter4 ,a few years ago an ,american commissioner occupying a house in the ,west ,indies hired a man to wash the windows and another to scrub the floors4 ,the bills submitted were for #ab and #g1 respectively4 ',what does this mean8' was the astonished query4 '#ab for a day's work8 ,man1 you are crazy6' ',oh1' came the soft reply1 'of course1 ,i only expect a dollar and a half for myself1 but that was the way we always made out bills for the ,spanish officers4' ',take back your bills1' was the ,american's emphatic reply1 'and make them out honestly4' ,the wisdom of the warning in ,proverbs #bg3b1 ,let another man praise thee1 and not thine own mouth1 has seldom been more strikingly illustrated than at a large convention when several thousand people listened attentively as a speaker of reputation was introduced to them4 ,he talked fluently for several minutes1 then began to ramble4 ,he made several attempts to regain his lost hold on his hearers1 then took his seat4 ,i can't imagine what was wrong to-day1 he said to his neighbor on the platform4 ,i had all ready what ,i felt sure would be a telling address1 but somehow ,i couldn't say what ,i wanted4 ,a sympathetic answer was given by the man to whom he had spoken1 but if he had said all that was in his heart this would have been his message3 ,i know you had a telling argument to present1 for ,i read your manuscript4 ,but you spent the first three minutes in talking about yourself4 ,it was there you lost the attention of the people2 they did not come to hear about you1 but to learn of your ,master4 ,and when you had put yourself in the foreground1 it was impossible for you to present ,him with power4 ,the speaker's mistake is repeated every day1 not merely by men on the platform1 but by everyday people in the home1 in the school1 and at work4 ,it is fatal to usefulness to put ourselves in the foreground2 but those who forget self and remember others are welcome wherever they go4 ,,iv ,,getting ,,close ,,to ,,the ,,bible ,one of the blessings that came to the world out of the anguish of the ,great ,war was a new appreciation of ,god's ,word on the part of many who had never paid much attention to the inspired ,book1 and the formation of the habit of ,bible reading by tens of thousands of those who were once heedless of ,god's ,word4 ,absence from home in hours of danger1 privation and suffering1 opened the way for testing ,him who reveals his power to give infinite blessing by saying tenderly1 ,as one whom his mother comforteth1 so will ,i comfort you4 ,the sense of absolute powerlessness in the face of barbarism led to dependence upon ,god who holds the worlds in ,his hands4 ,realization of the uncertainty of life and familiarity with death made easy and natural the approach to the ,lord of life and death4 ,probably there were soldiers who laughed at the words of ,field ,marshal ,lord ,roberts1 spoken when the first ,british troops were crossing the ,channel3 ,you will find in this little ,book 7the ,bible7 guidance when you are in health1 comfort when you are in sickness1 and strength when you are in adversity1 but the day came when one of the soldiers themselves1 ,arthur ,guy ,empey1 wrote3 ,how about the poor boy lying wounded1 perhaps dying1 in a shell hole1 his mother far away8 ,perhaps to him even ,god seems to have forgotten2 he feels for his first-aid packet1 binds up his wounds1 and then waits--years1 it seems to him--for the stretcher-bearers4 ,then he gets out his ,testament2 the feel of it gives him comfort and hope4 ,he reads4 ,that boy gets religion1 even though when he enlisted he was an atheist4 ,a ,young ,men's ,christian ,association secretary told of an incident when the soldiers were just leaving for the trenches4 ,he saw a young lad nervously making his way up to the counter4 ,he knew the boy wanted something1 and was afraid to ask or was timid about it4 ,he said1 ',want something1 lad8' ',yes1 sir1 ,i have got a ,bible and ,i don't know much about it4 ,i'd like you to mark some passages in it4 ,i am going out to the trenches to-night4' ',sure6' said the secretary4 ',mark some good ones1 now1' said the lad4 ,while he was marking the first lad's book half a dozen other boys came up and said1 ',mark mine1 too1 sir6' ,and for half an hour this secretary was busy marking verses in the ,bibles of those boys4 ,an interested observer asked him what he marked1 and he said1 ',matthew #aj3bc2 #aa3bh2 #f3ai1 #bj2 ,john #c3af2 ,romans #h3ce-ci4' ,fighting ,pat ,o',brian1 of the ,royal ,fighting ,corps1 whose marvelous escape from his ,german captors thrilled multitudes1 said3 ,i haven't been given to talking much about religion1 but when1 after two months of flight through an enemy country as an escaped prisoner1 going without food except such as ,i could pick up in the fields and eat raw1 and time and again coming within a hair's breadth of being caught1 ,i finally got through the lines on to the neutral soil of ,holland1 ,i was mighty glad to get down on my knees and thank ,god that ,he had got me through4 ,a lot of men who have never thought much about religion are thinking about it now4 ,i believe they will read those little khaki ,testaments1 and ,i am sure they will get help from them4 ,that those little khaki ,testaments were going into the hands of the soldiers pleased ,general ,pershing1 who said1 ,its teachings will fortify us for our great task4 ,and ,secretary of the ,navy ,daniels rejoiced that the books were going to the sailors1 for he said1 ,the ,bible is the one book from which men can find help and inspiration and encouragement for whatever conditions may arise4 ,v ,,the ,,bible ,,and ,,one ,,man ,in ,june1 #ahfb1 ,john ,e4 ,clough was graduated from an ,iowa college4 ,he had been eager to make a name for himself4 ,many promising avenues of secular work had opened to him1 and he had tried to take one or another of them4 ,but always he knew that it was not right for him to plan for anything but the ministry4 ,the impression was deepened when the president of the college took for the text of his baccalaureate sermon1 ,for none of us liveth to himself1 and no man dieth to himself4 ,so the young graduate left the college feeling that he was no longer free to go out and use his education for the career he had dreamed of4 ,but he did decide to teach for a year4 ,with ,mrs4 ,clough1 he made an engagement to teach a public school one year4 ,but he did not dare stay for a second year1 because the people were so good to the new teacher1 and there was so much evidence of this popularity1 that the ,bible words kept ringing in his ears1 ,woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you4 ,he knew he was not in the right place4 ,in later life1 when opposition came to him because he was doing faithful ,christian work1 he was strengthened by the memory of this text that had once been anything but a comfort to him4 ,at last came the beginning of the work in ,india that made the name of ,john ,e4 ,clough famous4 ,his success was due1 in large measure1 to the fact that he emphasized ,god's ,word4 ,one of his first acts was to prepare a tract in ,scripture language1 telling the things necessary for salvation1 and this proved useful throughout his services4 ,everywhere he went he quoted ,scripture to the people4 ,he felt that whatever else he might say to them1 this would be most effective4 ,one text was used more than any other1 in private conversation and in sermons1 the invitation of ,jesus1 ,come unto me1 all ye that labor and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,this1 he said1 was always new1 and the people received his explanations gladly4 ,once1 during a time of grievous famine1 when about them millions of the natives died of want and disease1 these words proved especially effective4 ,as a measure of famine relief the missionary took the contract for a section of the great ,buckingham ,canal4 ,under his leadership the natives were set to work on this4 ,native evangelists as well as white missionaries toiled day after day1 and this gave a splendid chance for preaching the gospel4 ,the name of ,jesus was spoken all day long from one end of our line to the other1 ,mr4 ,clough wrote in his autobiography4 ,the preachers carried a ,new ,testament in their pockets4 ,it comforted the people to see the holy book of the ,christians amid all their distress4 ,they said1 when they sat down for a short rest1 ',read us again out of your holy book about the weary and heavy laden4' ,that verse1 ',come unto me all ye that labor1' was often all ,i had to give the people by way of comfort4 ,the preachers were saying it all day long4 ,it carried us through the famine4 ,we all needed it1 for even the strongest among us sometimes felt our courage sinking4 ,all through ,dr4 ,clough's missionary career there was one verse in particular that carried him far4 ,when he was out on tour among the people1 often many miles distant from home1 ,mrs4 ,clough was accustomed to send after him a messenger who would take to him1 for his encouragement1 the message she felt he needed4 ,knowing his fondness for the text1 ,be still1 and know that ,i am ,god2 ,i will be exalted among the heathen1 she sent the words to him on more than one occasion4 ,in the story of his life he told of a day when the text came to him with special force3 ,i was tempted to shake the dust off my feet and go4 ,my helpers and ,i had camped in a new place1 and had been trying hard to get the people to come and listen to the gospel1 but they would not4 ,i concluded that it was a hard place1 and told my staff of workers that we were justified in leaving it alone and moving on elsewhere4 ,toward noon ,i went into my tent1 closed down the sides1 let the little tent flap swing over my head1 and rested1 preparatory to starting off for the next place4 ,just then a basket of supplies was brought to my feet by a coolie1 who had walked seventy miles with the basket on his head4 ,in the accompanying letter ,mrs4 ,clough quoted my favorite verse to me4 ,while reading this1 some of the preachers put their heads into the tent and said1 ',sir1 there is a big crowd out here2 the grove is full2 all are waiting for you4 ,please come out4' ,once the two verses that were the keynote of the missionary's life were especially prominent4 ,for a long time he had been discouraged because results seemed slow and difficulties were great4 ,but the day came when he stood before thousands and preached to them the ,word1 strong in the assurance of the presence of ,him who said1 ,be still1 and know that ,i am ,god3 ,i will be exalted among the heathen4 ,the text that day1 as so often before1 was ,come unto me1 all ye that labor and are heavy laden4 ,for an hour the people listened to his words4 ,then they began to plead for baptism1 and would not be denied4 ,at length1 after rigid examination1 baptism was administered to #c1ecf within three days4 ,and he had not baptized one soul in fifteen months before this time6 ,god's ,word gave courage to ,clough2 it enabled him to give courage to others2 and it will give courage to you4 ,,vi ,,out ,,of ,,the ,,depths ,during the year #aech an ,italian spent long weeks in a noisome underground prison cell1 where he was kept on account of religious differences4 ,for a precious hour and a half of each day1 when the light struggled in through a tiny window1 he read the ,bible1 especially the ,psalms4 ,among the ,psalms that meant most to him was the one hundred and thirtieth1 whose beginning ,out of the depths have ,i cried unto thee1 ,o ,lord1 expressed the longings of his heart for companionship and comfort4 ,exactly two hundred years later1 on ,may #bd1 #agch1 ,john ,wesley1 then in the midst of the greatest anxiety and longing for ,god1 heard the choir at ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral sing1 ,out of the depths have ,i cried unto thee1 ,o ,lord4 ,the words brought joy to him4 ,from the depths in which he found himself that afternoon he cried unto ,god1 and that evening there came to him the knowledge of ,god's presence that gave him strength to begin the wonderful work that built up the great ,methodist ,church4 ,these same words meant much to ,josiah ,royce1 the ,american teacher of philosophy1 who died in #aiaf4 ,in one of his later books1 he wrote3 ,we come to such deep places that we can only cry4 ,we are astonished that we can cry4 ,and then we become aware that our cry is heard4 ,and he who hears is ,god4 ,and so ,god is often defined for the plain man as ',he who hears man's cry from the depths4' ,one who knew ,professor ,royce well wondered if he did not enter the depths from which he cried to ,god and received such satisfying response1 after the death of his only son4 ,in the same way those who delight in the message of ,psalm #acj wonder what could have been the experience of depression that opened the way for his reception of ,god's blessing4 ,we can only speculate about these things4 ,but there is one thing of which we can be absolutely sure3 there is no depth so low that the cry of one of ,god's children will not reach from it to the heart of the ,father2 no sorrow so crushing1 no anxiety so overwhelming1 no pain so intense1 no difficulty seemingly so unsolvable1 no sin so awful1 that eager1 earnest prayer will not bring ,god to the relief of the sufferer4 ,if out of the depths we cry1 we shall cry ourselves out of the depths1 one has said who has written of the words that ,professor ,royce found so helpful4 ,then he asks3 ,what can a man do who finds himself at the foot of a beetling cliff1 the sea in front1 the wall of rock at his back1 without foothold for a mouse1 between the tide at the bottom and the grass at the top8 ,he can do but one thing1 he can shout1 and1 perhaps1 may be heard1 and a rope may come dangling down that he can spring at and catch4 ,for sinful men in the miry pit the rope is already let down1 and their grasping it is the same as the psalmist's cry4 ,god has let down ,his forgiving love in ,christ1 and we need but the faith which accepts it while it asks1 and then we are swung up into the light1 and our feet set on a rock4 ,each one has depths peculiarly his own1 and longs to be out of them4 ,then why not call to ,him who hears men's cry from the depths1 with the quiet confidence of quaint old ,herbert1 who wrote3 ,of what an easie quick accesse1 ,my blessed ,lord1 art ,thou6 how suddenly ,may our requests thine ears invade6 ,if ,i but lift mine eyes my suit is made2 ,thou canst no more not heare than ,thou canst die4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,obvious punctuation errors were corrected4 ,page #dd1 conjuctions changed to conjunctions 7prepositions1 and conjunctions7 ,page #ef1 year'sexpenses changed to year's expenses 7next year's expenses7 ,page #fb1 throughness changed to thoroughness 7thoroughness by performing7 ,page #if1 then changed to than 7further than usual7 ,page #ih1 begining changed to beginning 7thought of beginning7 ,page #ach mments changed to comments 7comments is that the7 ,page #aec1 be-because changed to because 7need of it because7 ,page #afd1 ,yes changed to ,yet 7,yet1 there was something7 ,page #bad1 woud changed to would 7would be most effective7