tellectual wrestlings, moral tension is tested, and, if it
yields not, grows stronger. The past admonishes us: [15]
with finger grim and cold it points to every mortal mistake;
or smiling saith, "Thou hast been faithful over a few
things."

Art thou a child, and hast added one furrow to the
brow of care? Art thou a husband, and hast pierced [20]
the heart venturing its all of happiness to thy keeping?
Art thou a wife, and hast bowed the o'erburdened head
of thy husband? Hast thou a friend, and forgettest to be
grateful? Remember, that for all this thou alone canst
and must atone. Carelessly or remorselessly thou mayest [25]
have sent along the ocean of events a wave that will some
time flood thy memory, surge dolefully at the door of con-
science, and pour forth the unavailing tear.

Change and the grave may part us; the wisdom that
might have blessed the past may come too late. One [30]

[Page 340.]

backward step, one relinquishment of right in an evil [1]
hour, one faithless tarrying, has torn the laurel from many
a brow and repose from many a heart. Good is never
the reward of evil, and _vice versa_.

There is no excellence without labor; and the time to [5]
work, is _now_. Only by persistent, unremitting, straight-
forward toil; by turning neither to the right nor to the
left, seeking no other pursuit or pleasure than that which
cometh from God, can you win and wear the crown of the
faithful. [10]

That law-school is not at fault which sends forth a
barrister who never brings out a brief. Why? Because
he followed agriculture instead of litigation, forsook
Blackstone for gray stone, dug into soils instead of delv-
ing into suits, raised potatoes instead of pleas, and drew [15]
up logs instead of leases. He has not been faithful over
a few things.

Is a musician made by his teacher? He makes him-
self a musician by practising what he was taught. The
conscientious are successful. They follow faithfully; [20]
through evil or through good report, they work on to the
achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the prom-
ise. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure:
toil is triumph; and--thou hast been faithful over a few
things. [25]

The lives of great men and women are miracles of pa-
tience and perseverance. Every luminary in the constel-
lation of human greatness, like the stars, comes out in
the darkness to shine with the reflected light of God.

Material philosophy, human ethics, sc