t like Samson, every time
you come to the place where you have overcome a temptation,--it may be
to say unkind things, or to be quick-tempered, or to be hateful,--you
will find that you will be stronger to overcome it next time. And the
remembrance of how you were able to overcome your feelings will be
sweet, just as that honey was to Samson. God says that if we trust Him,
"the young lion shall ye trample under foot."

CLOSED GATES

If any of you boys and girls, while riding through a great city on an
express train, ever chance to put your head out of the car-window and
look forward along the tracks, you will see several blocks ahead of the
train people in carriages, on foot, and in street-cars crossing the
railway-tracks in great numbers, and it seems as if the train would have
to stop, or else it would run over somebody. But the train never
slackens speed. The engineer keeps on blowing the whistle, and the train
thunders along at the usual rate.

Then you will notice when you get near those crossings that all the
gates are down and the railway-tracks are perfectly clear.

That is the way with many of the difficulties we face in life. We set
out to do the thing our conscience tells us to do, and it seems as if
the road were full of obstructions. But you just go straight ahead,
determined to do your duty, and lo, the hindrances disappear. When an
earnest man goes right ahead, the crowd usually opens up to let him
through.

As you get older and face the world you will find it looks like a great,
fierce giant. But really its fierce look is caused by a false-face that
it wears to frighten faint-hearted people. You go boldly up and take
hold of his beard, as David faced the giant, and you will be surprised
to find that not only the beard but the whole mask comes off in your
hands, and there is a kindly countenance behind. For the world would
rather see you succeed than fail.

I heard of a young man the other day who went into an office in Chicago
to sell a bill of goods. The man behind the desk was very brusque and
fierce-looking, and snapped out, "Well, what do you want here?"

The young man promptly replied, "I want first to be treated as a
gentleman, and then I may talk business to you."

The other man dropped his fierce manner at once, and the young man sold
him a large bill of goods. The man behind the desk told him when he was
leaving that he greeted strangers fiercely to try their mettle, and if
the