full of examples of men and
women who have redeemed themselves from disgrace, poverty, and
misfortune, by the firm resolution of an iron will.

Success is not measured by what a man accomplishes, but by the
opposition he has encountered, and the courage with which he has
maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds. Not the distance we
have run, but the obstacles we have overcome, the disadvantages under
which we have made the race, will decide the prizes.

"It is defeat," says Henry Ward Beecher, "that turns bone to flint, and
gristle to muscle, and makes men invincible, and formed those heroic
natures that are now in ascendency in the world. Do not, then, be afraid
of defeat. You are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good
cause."

Governor Seymour of New York, a man of great force and character, said,
in reviewing his life: "If I were to wipe out twenty acts, what should
they be? Should it be my business mistakes, my foolish acts (for I
suppose all do foolish acts occasionally), my grievances? No; for, after
all, these are the very things by which I have profited. So I finally
concluded I should expunge, instead of my mistakes, my triumphs. I could
not afford to dismiss the tonic of mortification, the refinement of
sorrow; I needed them every one."

"Every condition, be it what it may," says Channing, "has hardships,
hazards, pains. We try to escape them; we pine for a sheltered lot, for
a smooth path, for cheering friends, and unbroken success. But
Providence ordains storms, disasters, hostilities, sufferings; and the
great question whether we shall live to any purpose or not, whether we
shall grow strong in mind and heart, or be weak and pitiable, depends on
nothing so much as on our use of the adverse circumstances. Outward
evils are designed to school our passions, and to rouse our faculties
and virtues into intenser action. Sometimes they seem to create new
powers. Difficulty is the element, and resistance the true work of man.
Self-culture never goes on so fast as when embarrassed circumstances,
the opposition of men or the elements, unexpected changes of the times,
or other forms of suffering, instead of disheartening, throw us on our
inward resources, turn us for strength to God, clear up to us the great
purpose of life, and inspire calm resolution. No greatness or goodness
is worth much, unless tried in these fires."

[Illustration: BENJAMIN DISRAELI
(Earl of Beaconsfield),
Engli