Gift of Class 71887 Le The Tapestry Weavers. ET us take to our hearts a lesson-no lesson can braver be From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other side of the sea, Above their heads the pattern hangs, they study it with care, The while their fingers deftly work, their eyes are fastened there. They tell this curious thing, besides, of the patient plodding weaver, He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for the right side ever. It is only when the weaving stops and the web is loosed and turned, That he sees his real handiwork-that his marvelous skill is learned. Ah! the sight of its delicate beauty, how it pays him for all his cost! No rarer, daintier work than his, was ever done by the frost. Then the master bringeth him golden hire, and giveth him praise as well, And how happy the heart of the weaver is, no tongue but his own can tell. The years of man are looms of God, let down from the place of the sun, Wherein we are weaving always, till the mystic web is done; Weaving blindly, but weaving surely, each for himself his fate; We may not see how the right side looks, we can only weave and wait. But, looking above for the pattern, no weaver need have fear, Only let him look clear into heaven-the Perfect Pattern is there. If he keeps the face of our Saviour, forever and always in sight, His toil shall be sweeter than honey, his weaving is sure to be right. And when his task is ended, and the web is turned and shown, He shall hear the voice of the Master, it shall say to him: "Well done!" And the white-winged angels of heaven, to bear him thence shall come down, And God for his wages shall give him—not coin, but a golden crown. 3 PREFACE HE sententious sayings of great men shine out like stars in the firmament of thought; there is a depth of meaning and yet a clearness of expression in them, that carry the idea intended to be conveyed straight to the mind and deep into the heart, exercising the thoughts and moving the feelings. The maxims of the wise and good are like so many lamps hung at intervals in the dark avenue of life; in passing each, the path is illuminated, and help, warning, counsel and comfort given on the onward journey." -Anon. 746501 CHAPTER I. Character and How It Is Formed. The real strength of a man is in his character. Popular estimate makes it consist in his circumstances. A man's strength is measured by the number of his friends, by his wealth, by his social position, and his influence. is in proportion to his reputation in the world's esteem. But in truth, a man is strong only in his manhood. How much there is in a man, you must ascertain by measuring his character. A man is not strong by what he has, but by what he is; and in measuring what a man is we are to measure his character. Now character is not a massive unit, it is a fabric, rather. It is an artificial whole made up by the interply of ten thousand threads. Every faculty is a spinner, spinning each day its threads, and almost every day threads of a different color. Myriads and myriads of webbed products proceed from the many active faculties of the human soul, and character is made up by the weaving together of all these innumerable threads of daily life. Its strength is not merely in the strength of some simple unit, but in the strength of numerous elements. A man without decision can never be said to belong to himself. Foster. He conquers, who awaits the end, and dares to suffer and be strong.-—Lewis Morris. Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one rascal less in the world.-Carlyle. I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.— O. W. Holmes. And if you fall-why, arise again! Get up, and go on; you may be sorely bruised and soiled with your fall, but is that any reason for lying still, and giving up the struggle cowardly?—Chas. Kingsley. |