T. NELSON AND SONS PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.

INI

O man is so insignificant," said Lord Clarendon, "as to be sure his example can do no hurt." All who have lived have left

a mark upon the highway of life-so small, it may be, as scarcely to be observed, and yet so clear and well-defined as to quicken to exertion, or by its action to mar and turn aside, a useful and industrious career. At the final audit, when all actions and motives shall be made manifest, it will be seen that no life has been lived without having influenced for good or evil some other life.

"Let me not deem that I was made in vain,
Or that my being was an accident.
Each drop uncounted in a storm of rain
Hath its own mission, and is duly sent
To its own leaf or blade, not idly spent
'Mid myriad dimples on the shipless main.
The very shadow of an insect's wing,
For which the violet cared not while it stayed,
Yet felt the lighter for its vanishing,

Proved that the sun was shining by its shade."

To commend the habit of ardent and sincere

earnestness in the light of this important truth, has

been the object of the author in the following pages -to point to the many directions in which this principle may be practised, the solid satisfaction which ever accompanies it, and the rewards, material and spiritual, which crown its end. It is not intended, however, to be a guide so much as a companion; not to indicate any exact line or direction in the selection of useful paths and public service, but rather to accompany the thought in its purposes and resolves, in its perplexities and failures; and, without pointing to any special path, to lead and stimulate to the prosecution of serious objects and the attainment of wise ends. In the many instances. which are given of admirably ordered lives, sometimes surrounded by adverse circumstances, there is an impetus and stimulus given to the most irresolute : that which has once been done may be done again, and if others have reaped the satisfaction, the highest of earthly joys, that life has not been wasted—the most sorrowful thought which can enter the human heart-but employed in succouring the sorrowful, in aiding the distressed, in going about doing good, and in lighting the dwelling with cheerful willingness; so may that life be lived again, so may the pleasures of a useful existence be experienced, and the "Well done" of the heavenly Father felt within the inmost heart.