n surrounded
by the power and goodness of God, who has led him through all his
devious paths, and the feeling comes that the same protecting influence
will surround him till doubt is swept aside.

So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.

He is confident, too, that the same power will lead him through the dark
night of doubt till the angels of love and faith, in whom he once
trusted but whom he has doubted for a time, will come about him and
smile their welcome to the light:

And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost the while.

_Poor Richard's Almanac_

It is doubtful if _Journeys Through Bookland_ contains any other
selection so full of meat as this extract (Volume VI, page 407) from the
writings of Benjamin Franklin; in fact, it is so full of wisdom on so
many homely subjects and contains so much practical advice that no one
can master it in a single reading.

It is condensed to the utmost limit and every sentence should be weighed
and considered. The wise maxims and old saws need to be expanded in
thought, illustrated by example and applied to the reader's personal
experience.

As a whole it is not particularly attractive to young people, but every
child can be attracted to parts of it. A little of it to-day, more of
it next week, a third part some time in the future, and in time the
whole will be assimilated.

If the truths in this one selection are thoroughly embedded in the mind
of a boy, if the traits of character here taught are made a part of him,
he will be a sound man of business, a sensible head of a family and a
valuable citizen in a community.

_Poor Richard's Almanac_ contains the religion of work, of economy, of
prosperity. It is a manly doctrine, a clear-cut, respectable philosophy,
a reasonable rule of business activity. Never more than today were the
precepts needed. The whole tendency of our modern activities is against
its precepts. Disaster and ruin may be seen on every hand and traced
directly to the neglect or violation of those sound principles which the
wise old Franklin put in such homely words.

These maxims of life and policy are not those which it is the special
province of the school to teach. They are the elementary law which a boy
or girl must learn in his home and see exemplified therein if they are