But infinitely better than a peerage or a place in Westminster Abbey will be the crowning of the humblest child of the King, who, before all the hosts of heaven and earth, shall hear him "Insay, asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

In Sherman's campaign it became necessary, in the opinion of the leader, to change commanders. O. O. Howard was promoted to lead a division which had been under command of another general. Howard went through the campaign at the head of the division, and on to Washington to take part in the review. The night before the veterans were to march down Pennsylvania Avenue, General Sherman sent for General Howard, and said to him, "Howard, the politicians and the friends of the man whom you succeeded are bound that he shall ride at the head of his old corps, and I want you to help me out."

"But it is my command," said Howard, "and I am entitled to ride at its head."

"Of course you are," said Sherman. "You led them through Georgia and the Carolinas, but, Howard, you are a Christian."

"What do you mean?" replied Howard. "If

you put it on that ground it changes the whole business. "What do you mean, General Sherman?"

"I mean that you can stand the disappointment. You are a Christian."

"Putting it on that ground, there is but one answer. Let him ride at the head of the corps."

"Yes, let him have the honor," added Sherman; "but, Howard, you will report to me at nine o'clock, and ride by my side at the head of the whole army." In vain Howard protested, but Sherman said, gently, but authoritatively, “ You are under my orders."

When the bugle sounded the next morning Howard was found trembling like a leaf, and it required another order from General Sherman before he was willing to take the place assigned to him. He had, as a Christian, yielded the place to another which rightly belonged to him, and, in the grand review, found himself not at the head of the corps, but at the head of the army.

When the white horse and his Rider come down the skies in everlasting triumph, self-sacrifice shall carry the crown of glory.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common--this is my symphony.-WILLIAM HENRY CHANNING.

Progress man's distinctive mark alone,
Not God's and not the beasts; God is; they are,

Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.

Life is a series of surprises.

-BROWNING.

We do not guess to-day the

mood, the pleasure, the power, of to-morrow when we are building up our being. A lower states-of acts, of routine and sense, we can tell somewhat, but the masterpieces of God, the total growths and universal movements of the soul, He hideth. They are incalculable. I can know that truth is divine and helpful, but how it shall help me I can have no guess for so to be is the soul inlet of so to know. The new position of the advancing man has all the powers of the old, yet has them all now. It carries in its bosom all the energies of the past, yet is itself an exhalation of the morning. I cast away in this new moment all my once hoarded knowledge as vacant and vain. Now, for the first time, seem I to The simplest words, we do not

know anything rightly.

know what they mean except when we love and aspire.— EMERSON.

III

LIFE'S PROGRESS

THE genius and hope of human life is in its progress. The sublime possibilities in manhood are the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They are the abiding companions of the hard and perilous journey, but prophesy victory and the land of promise. The child holds the acorn and questions its mystery; then drops it upon the ground and presses it into the earth beneath his tiny foot. A few years pass by, and upon that same soil stands the stalwart form of a man. He has been a warrior on the battlefields of his country, and now proudly wears the mark of courage and patriotism. He has an eye with the lightnings in it, and a voice which carries the thunders in its commands. He rules the thousands at will. Now he is under the shadow of a gigantic oak which has braved the storms of many a winter and furnished shelter and delight through the heat of summer. It

is ready to be sacrificed in the building of a king's palace or the making of a majestic ship. The oak is the acorn, and the soldier is the child. One and the same. Progress through the years is the secret of the marvellous transformation. The helpless babe and kingly man, the tiny acorn and giant forest; this is the startling yet familiar reality. Familiarity has banished wonder and silenced the teacher. The child wrestles with his letters, and how to place them in the word and then in the sentence is a constant puzzle. The great scholar is deciphering hieroglyphics or an Egyptian monument and making revelations which are the amazement of the student world. The struggling, failing child is the scholar of unquestioned authority. They call the ragged urchin "Bob." They almost despair in the attempt to teach him or to save him. He seems to be lost to all consecrated effort. A hopeless waif of the streets. They afterward called him Dr. Robert Morrison, the first and greatest missionary to China.

This is the hope of manhood and the dignity of life. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." There are brightest possibilities for every life here and hereafter. This is not an exception to the rule.