Difficulty is a severe instructor, set over us by the supreme ordinance of a parental guardian and legislator, who knows us better than we know ourselves, as he loves us better too. He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This amicable conflict with difficulty obliges us to an intimate acquaintance with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial.

By woe the soul to daring action swells;
By woe in plaintless patience it excels;

-BURKE.

From patience prudent clear experience springs,
And traces knowledge through the course of things.
Thence Hope is form'd, thence fortitude, success,
Renown-whate'er men covet and caress.

-SAVAGE.

It is not the best things-that is the things which we call best-that make men. It is not pleasant things, it is not the calm experiences of life. It is the life's rugged experiences, its tempests, its trials.

Misfortunes are the discipline of humanity.

The school of difficulty is the best school of moral discipline for nations as for individuals.

-SMILES.

Happy those who, by the various discipline to which He has seen fit to subject them, have learnt habitually to direct their thoughts to Him as their constant Friend and Benefactor,-to live as always in the presence of Him in whom we live and move and have our being,to be grateful, obedient and resigned.

-REV. DR. CARPENTER.

To each his sufferings; all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan;

The tender for another's pain,

Th' unfeeling for his own.

Yet ah! why should they know their fate,
Since sorrow never comes too late,

And happiness too swiftly flies ?
Thought would destroy their paradise
No more ;-where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise.

Great souls endure in silence.

-GRAY.

But tears in mortal miseries are vain.

-HOMER.

The longest day must have an end.

-MAXIM.

Let us be patient! These severe afflictions

Not from the ground arise,

But oftentimes celestial benedictions

Assume this dark disguise.

We see but dimly through the mists and vapours;

Amid these earthly damps,

What seem to us but sad funereal tapers,

May be heaven's distant lamps.

-LONGFELLOW.

Affliction is a pill which if wrapped up in patience may be easily swallowed; but when discontent puts us upon chewing, it proves bitter and disgusting.

Rest not sour because of the turns of fortune; for patience

Although it is bitter bringeth forth sweet fruit.

-SADI'S GULISTAN.*

O well for him whose will is strong!
He suffers, but he will not suffer long.

-TENNYSON.

There is nothing like courage in misfortune. Next to faith in God and His over-ruling Providence, a man's faith in himself is his salvation. It is the secret of all power and success.

There are three modes of bearing the ills of life; by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by religion, which is the most effectual.

-COLTON.

The wise with hope support the pains of life.

--EURIPIDES.

* Translated by Platts.

In your worst 'estate, hope; in the best, fear; in all, be circumspect.

-MORAL MAXIM.

The wise and active conquer difficulties,

By daring to attempt them; sloth and folly
Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and danger,
And make the impossibility they fear.

1

-RowE.

The noblest fortitude is still to bear
Accumulated ills and never faint.

-HURDIS.

Oh Nârâyana! do away with my misery. Keep my mind always at your feet, and you in my mind. Have affection for me, and let it bear fruit. Tukâ says, be submissive (have humility) and worry will disappear. -TUKARAM.*

There is no maxim of consolation more common, yet at the same time there is none which deserves to be more frequently in our thoughts, than that we ought to remember, "We are men ; that is, creatures who are born to be exposed to calamities of every kind, and therefore," that it becomes us to submit to the conditions by which we hold our existence, without being too much dejected by accidents which no prudence can prevent." In a word, that we should learn by "reflecting on the misfortunes which have attended others that there is nothing singular in those which befall ourselves." -CICERO.

A Marathi Poet.

Yet I argue not

Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward.

-MILTON.

Endure and conquer; Jove will soon dispose
To future good our past and present woes.

-DRYDEN.

We need not feel, when trials come,

Our fate is worse than others' ;

For God is good, and ills must come

To us as to our brothers.

"That others are as unfortunate as myself." This may be described as one of the cardinal consolations of humanity.

There is a form of consolation, which consists in a firm reliance on the general good arrangements of a wise and benevolent Providence, which makes evil only an exception from present and apparent good, and often turns evil to account for what may be called a deferred benefit. Knowing this to be the character of the arrangement of mundane affairs, and that life and all its blessings are held under an obligation to submit to that arrangement, I humbly endeavour to meet the troubles that befall me with composure and resignation. Evils I admit them to be; I see no good in seeking to extenuate them, or in looking complacently to the equal or greater woes of others. But while the great arrangement obviously does not exclude evil, it as evidently comprises