selves from this
endless routine. We think of it as a sore bondage and by no means the
ideal of a noble and beautiful life.

But really, much that is best in life comes out of this very bondage.
A recent writer suggests a new beatitude: "Blessed be drudgery." He
reminds us that no Bible beatitude comes easily, but that every one of
them is the fruit of some experience of hardness or pain. He shows us
that life's drudgery, wearisome and disagreeable as it is, yields rich
treasures of good and blessing. Drudgery, he tells us, is the secret
of all culture. He names as fundamentals in a strong, fine character,
"power of attention; power of industry; promptitude in beginning work;
method, accuracy, and despatch in doing work; perseverance; courage
before difficulties; cheer under straining burdens; self-control;
self-denial; temperance"; and claims that nowhere else can these
qualities be gotten save in the unending grind and pressure of those
routine duties which we call drudgery. "It is because we have to go,
morning after morning, through rain, through shine, through headache,
heartache, to the appointed spot and do the appointed work; because,
and only because, we have to stick to that work through the eight or
ten hours, long after rest would be so sweet; because the school-boy's
lessons must be learned at nine o'clock, and learned without a slip;
because the accounts on the ledger must square to a cent; because the
goods must tally exactly with the invoice; because good temper must be
kept with children, customers, neighbors, not seven times, but seventy
times seven; because the besetting sin must be watched to-day,
to-morrow, next day; in short, . . . it is because, and only because,
of the rut, plod, grind, hum-drum in the work, that we get at last
those self-foundations laid," which are essential to all noble
character.

So there is a blessing for us in the commonest, wearisomest task-work
of our lives. "Blessed be drudgery" is truly a beatitude. We all need
the discipline of this tireless plodding to build us up into beautiful
character. Even the loveliest flowers must have their roots in common
earth; so, many of the sweetest things in human lives grow out of the
soil of drudgery. "Be thou, O man, like unto the rose. Its root is
indeed in dirt and mud, but its flowers still send forth grace and
perfume."

Take again life's struggles and conflicts. There are, in the
experience of each one, obstacles