When a soldier ran crying to Pelopidas, “We are fallen among the
enemies, and are lost!” “How are we fallen among them any more
than they among us?” replied the undaunted spirit. And when the
soldiers of Marius complained of thirst, being encamped where
there was no water, he pointed to a river running close to the
enemy’s trenches, and bade them take the drink which valor could
give them in that direction.--JAMES T. FIELDS.
(597)
* * * * *
“Evils faced are half-conquered.” Such seems to be the purport of this
poem by John Finley:
I’d have the driving rain upon my face--
Not pelting its blunt arrows on my back,
Goading with blame along its ruthless track,
But flinging me defiance in the race.
And I would go at such an eager gait
That whatsoe’er may fall from heaven of wo
Shall not pursue me as some coward foe,
But challenge me--that I may face my fate.
(Text.)--_Harper’s Magazine._
(598)
* * * * *
I have walked on the Mount of Gladness, I have wept in the Vale of
Tears,
And my feet have stumbled ofttimes as I trod through the path of
the years;
Yet my heart has ever lifted its song of thankful praise
To the God of all eternity, who has kept me in my ways,
Tho alone I tread the wine-press, or kneel in Gethsemane,
I know He has never forsaken, and that He leadeth me.
Tho I “walk through the Valley of Shadow,” my soul shall not be
dismayed,
For my God is the God of the fathers, the God of the unafraid!
--_Northwestern Christian Advocate._
(599)
* * * * *
It is easy to be courageous when backed by the crowd. It is different
when one stands alone against the crowd.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century Professor Simson, of
Glasgow, was on trial in the General Assembly for dangerous
heresy. He was convicted, and suspended from preaching and
teaching. There were some who thought the sentence inadequate.
Boston, of Ettrick, was one of them. He was a shy man. But no
one else offering to rise, he rose, overcoming his timidity,
to enter his dissent against the inadequate condemnation of
Simson--to enter his dissent in his own name and in the names of
all who would adhere to him, adding, amid solemn silence on the
part of the assembly, “And for myself if nobody shall adhere.”
(600)
See ACHIEVEMENT; FITNESS.
=Courage, Calm=--See FAITHFULNESS.