They stand steadfastly at their post, and do their duty because it is their duty, often in dreariness and loneliness of spirit, uncheered by any consciousness of being specially heroic or admirable. They do their duty, until by and by the weary years come to an end, and they die; and that is the whole story superficially viewed.

But these lives are literally the salt of the earth, the glory of humanity. Deep and far-reaching is their influence; and nobler living is made possible to many by every such steadfast soul, however seemingly obscure its earthly career. “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses," shall not we too strive to cultivate this heroic virtue of simple steadfastness? Once sure we are in the right, let us be as steadfast as the granite rock, against which the incoming waves with sound and fury dash themselves again and again, only to be repelled and shattered, as steadfast as Nature, whose suns rise and set, whose seasons wax and wane, no matter what commotions agitate the little world of man.

A worthy purpose once formed, then we must go steadfastly on toward our chosen goal, no matter what lions threaten the forward path; no matter what outward opposition, difficulties, discouragements; no matter even for the traitor in the heart, whispering self-doubt and despair. It is something when in those inner dialogues known to every soul the one self can say to the other, "Yes, I know the way is long, hard, and steep; I am weak, and I journey alone; as you say probably I shall fail at last, nevertheless I shall go on."

When the path seems to end against the blank wall, and we come perforce to a stop, still one can say, as Paul said, Stand! and having done all, stand. Walls finally crumble before a determined steadfastness.

Thomas à Kempis said that those who can hold with per

sistent steadfastness to a purpose "in hours of insight willed," give considerable evidence of a regenerate nature. Men who, like Victor Hugo, never disobey these inward monitions, who keep the inner light trimmed and burning, are never left without spiritual guidance. To ponder often the life of him whose face was set so steadfastly toward the Jerusalem of his betrayal, desertion, agony, death, may vivify and strengthen our own weak steadfastness, and enable us to do our work in this world better than we know or dream.

"Each for himself his cross must bear,

Each his own crown of thorns must wear,
Each his own sacrifice must be,

And find his own Gethsemane."

There is a sacred connection between honesty and faith, says Irving. Honesty is faith applied to worldly things, and faith is honesty quickened by the spirit to the use of heavenly things. A cunning man is never a firm man. A man of faith is as firm as a rock. This life is the rehearsal, remember, not the performance. Just an hour's trial of who is fit and who is not fit to play his part, the parts are distributed by the author, whose purpose will be explained in proper time. But he is the victor

"Who, with a toward or untoward lot,

Prosperous or adverse to his wish or not,
Plays, in the many games of life, that one
Where what he most doth value must be won;
Whom neither shape of danger can dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray;
Who, not content that former worth stand fast,
Looks forward persevering to the last,
From well to better, daily self-surpassed ;
Who, whether praise of him must walk the
Forever, and to noble deeds give birth,
Or who must go to dust without his fame,

Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And while the mortal mist is gathering draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause.
This is the happy warrior: this is he

Whom every man in arms should wish to be."

NOTE. On the first page of the preceding chapter will be found these words: "Man is born for happiness; but Nature's laws when violated lead men away from happiness, and misery is the result." After this chapter was in print, the attention of the compiler of "Social Ethics" was called to a small book, "A New Creed (Human and Humane), Dedicated by a Nameless Author to Suffering Humanity;" published in London by Digby, Long & Co. The axioms of this creed are

"All Men Suffer,

All Men Worship,

All Men Believe Union Is Strength."

Its author denies that man was made to suffer and to mourn, showing what, in his opinion, has caused all suffering; and he claims that the laws of sympathetic association must be understood and obeyed before human happiness can be attained, which has its root in these laws as established by the Creator of all things. The passages from "A New Creed" which follow, will show that its author holds similar views to some of those quoted in "Social Ethics" from Keely's writings; and should our readers desire to understand more clearly the nature of the element written of, "A New Creed" will enlighten them, even better than the writings of Keely, who, years since, discovered the same element.

"Fire, air, and water were the three recognised elements in creation in the olden times, but science has discovered more; yet science does not maintain that all are discovered. Every new element, or rather new discovery of an old element, has been discussed by eminent men; yet, to my thinking, one element more universal than all others has not even been recognised. It is the most widely spread and most powerful element in all creation. It is a volatile and spiritual-like substance, pervading the realms of soul and body, and is highly sensitive to every emotion and thought, a latent force in which lurks all the psychological secrets of Nature. It is not confined to any particular part of creation, not an adjunct of Nature only, but an element diffused through the whole universe, - terrestrial and celestial, corporeal and spiritual, animal, vegetable, and material. There is no known element that can approach it for universality and importance; and its existence is as capable of proof as any scientific theory. It is the great

connecting link between the Creature and the Creator."

The title of this remarkable book should have been "A New Order of Things."

CHAPTER VIII.

MENTAL HYGIENE.

INHERITED CULTURE. - EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. -THE PHYSICIAN'S PROVINCE. IGNORANCE IN TEACHERS. SELF-EDUCA

TION.

Great geniuses come by nature. What we want - what I believe is within the reach of the race — are healthy, vigorous, well-balanced minds.-J. RAY, M.D.

The thoughts and choices of a perfect mind are as exactly set by a perfect law as are the atoms of a crystal. — DR. Bushnell.

Try as hard as we can to quell nature, we cannot quench it: it will come out in the critical moments of life, and will show itself in hereditary transmission. The aim of modern scientific inquiry is to obtain an exact knowledge of the ways of heredity. MAUDSLEY.

On the one side we have mind, on the other side we have matter; so interwoven, so acting upon and perturbing each other, that we can never really know the laws of one unless we know the laws of both. BUCKLE.

My text is taken from the first chapter and the first verse of a late writer on hygiene. "Hygiene aims to make growth more perfect, life more vigorous, decay less rapid, death more remote." To this rather material statement I would add another. The highest usefulness in life is only possible with the highest standard of health. Speaking of the higher, the spiritual development of man's faculties, a famous divine has said: "Yes, it is a good thing to be born again; but he who wins this new birth will be better born again for having first been well born."-S. WEIR MITCHELL, M.D., LL.D.

WITHIN the last ten or fifteen years the feeling has been growing that women who desire education ought to have it placed within their reach; and those women who have

worked for this end are able, in looking back, to note the gradually increasing interest manifested by men of position and means in this movement, which, set in motion by a few, will continue until women have won the right and the means to the highest culture of which their nature is capable, not that they may gratify an unwomanly spirit of selfish ambition and rivalry, but that they may become more worthy of, and better fitted for, the noble work God has assigned them.

In many schools the larger number of girls, those who require something more than the mere presentation of truth, cannot be said to be educated at all. The lesson is put before all alike: the few who have ability grasp it; the many go away with mental power as undeveloped as before. Teachers should be taught to study the mental peculiarities of each pupil, in order that they may see intuitively the working of the thoughts within. Many girls who would never become advanced students must, if their mental powers are skilfully educated through the whole course of their school-life, make better wives and better mothers. Lectures on the theory of education are of little avail; it is the instruction that Mrs. Grey recommends which is needed. Teachers should be taught the dependence of mind on body, and the importance of preserving health in the young, in order that they may benefit by education. They should themselves study anatomy and physiology, that they may be able to teach the intimate relation that exists between the brain organ of thought and the muscle instrument of movement. They should be able to note the first symptoms of fatigue in their pupils; for Nature sends fatigue, as she sends pain, to warn against danger. Fatigue unerringly tells us that we are approaching the limit of endurance in the nerve-centres. Herschel says that the brain and nervous system bear a somewhat close resemblance to a galvanic battery in constant action, whose duty it is to pro