dren the use of the bow and the art of war, they suspended their breakfast every morning from the bough of a tree, and made them shoot for it, well knowing that their hunger would sharpen their aim as well as their appetites. So a benevolent Providence, in order to impose upon us a similar necessity and motive for mental activity, has hung, not only our food, but the gratification of every sense, as it were, upon a tall tree, and taught our ideas to shoot for it,—or, without the figure, to think for it.

Elihu Burritt, Conn., 1811

50. Books.

Books, light-houses erected in the great sea of Time, books, the precious depositories of the thoughts and creations of genius,-books, by whose sorcery time past becomes time present, and the whole pageantry of the world's history moves in solemn procession before our eyes, these were to visit the firesides of the humble, and lavish the treasures of the intellect upon the poor. Could we have Plato, and Shakespeare, and Milton in our dwellings, in the full vigor of their imaginations, in the full freshness of their hearts, few scholars would be affluent enough to afford them physical support; but the living images of their minds are within the eyes of all. From their pages their mighty souls look out upon us in all their grandeur and beauty, undimmed by the faults and follies of earthly existence, consecrated by time.

E. P. Whipple, Mass., 1819-.

51. The Gentle Charities of Life.

A man's usefulness depends far more on the kindness of his daily temper than on great and glorious deeds that shall attract the admiration of the world, and that shall send his name down to future times. It is the little rivulet that glides through the meadow, and that runs along day and night by the farm-house, that is useful, rather than the swollen flood, or the noisy cataract. Niagara excites our wonder, and fills the mind with amazement and awe. We feel that God is there; and it is well to go far to see, once at least, how solemn it is to realize that we are in the presence of the Great God, and to see what wonders His hand can do. But one Niagara is enough for a continent, or a world; while that same world needs thousands and tens of thousands of silvery fountains, and gently flowing rivulets, that shall water every farm, and every meadow, and every garden, and that shall flow on every day and every night with their gentle and quiet beauty. So with life. We admire the great deeds of Howard's benevolence, and wish that all men were like him. We revere the names of the illustrious martyrs. We honor the man who will throw himself in the "imminent deadly breach,” and save his country,-and such men and such deeds we must have when the occasion calls for them. But all men are not to be useful in this way, any more than wators are to rush by us in swelling and angry floods. We are to be useful in more limited spheres. We are

We are, by a

to cultivate the gentle charities of life. consistent walk, to benefit those around us, though we be in an humble vale, and though, like the gentle rivulet, we may attract little attention, and may soon cease to be remembered on earth. Kindness will always do good. It makes others happy, and that is doing good. It prompts us to seek to benefit others, and that is doing good. It makes others gentle and enignant, and that is doing good.

Albert Barnes, New York, 1798–1870.

52. Our Creator.

We are commanded to remember "our Creator in the days of our youth." The days of our youth are the days of our blessings. In those days we enter into life with a shower of God's blessings upon our heads; we come adorned with all the choicest gifts of the Almighty: with strength of body, with activity of limb, with health and vigor of constitution, with everything to fit us both for labor and enjoyment. If not endowed with sufficiency, endowed with what is better, the power of obtaining it for ourselves by an honest and manly industry; with senses keen and observing; with spirits high, lively, and untamable, that shake off care and sorrow whenever they attempt to fasten upon our mind, and that enable us to make pleasure for ourselves where we do not find it, and to draw enjoyment and gratification from things in which they see nothing but pain, vexation, and dis appointment.

Chas. Wolfe, Ireland, 1791-1823.

53. True Value.

It is not labor that makes things valuable, but their being valuable that makes them worth laboring for. And God, having judged, in His wisdom, that it is not good for man to be idle, has so appointed things, by His providence, that few of the things that are most desirable can be obtained without labor. It is ordained that man should eat bread in the sweat of his face; and almost all the necessary comforts and luxuries of life are obtained only by labor.

R. Whately, England, 1787-1863.

54. Behind Time.

The best laid plans, the most important affairs, the fortunes of individuals, the weal of nations, honor, life itself, are daily sacrificed because somebody is "behind time." There are men who always fail in whatever they undertake, simply because they are "behind time." There are others who put off refor mation year by year, till death seizes them, and they perish unrepentant, because for ever "behind time." Five minutes in a crisis is worth years. It is but a little period, yet it has often saved a fortune or redeemed a people. If there is one virtue that should be cultivated more than another by him who would succeed in life, it is punctuality; if there is one error that should be avoided, it is being "behind time."

Freeman Hunt, Mass., 1804-1858.

55. Education.

Education is not confined to books alone. The world, with its thousand interests and occupations, is a great school. But the recorded experience and wisdom of others may be of the greatest aid and benefit to us. We can look about us to-day and see many who have brought the light of that intelligence which has been the guiding-star of others to bear upon their own paths, and, by its aid, have achieved an enviable position among men. Honor lies in doing well whatever we find to do; and the world estimates a man's abilities in accordance with his success in whatever business or profession he may engage.

J. T. Trowbridge, New York, 1827-.

56. The Land of Song.

Beautiful, no doubt, are all the forms of Nature, when transfigured by the miraculous power of poetry; hamlets and harvest-fields, and nut-brown waters, flowing even under the forest, vast and shadowy, with all the sights and sounds of rural life. But, after all, what are these but the decorations and painted scenery in the great theater of human life? What are they but the coarse materials of the poet's song? Glorious, indeed, is the world of God around us, but more glorious the world of God within us. There lies the land of song; there lies the poet's native land.

H. W. Longfellow, Maine, 1807—.