the cup;
And of all maxims, the best, as the oldest,
Is the stern watchword of 'Never give up!'"

Be firm; one constant element of luck
Is genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck.
Stick to your aim; the mongrel's hold will slip,
But only crowbars loose the bulldog's grip;
Small though he looks, the jaw that never yields
Drags down the bellowing monarch of the fields!
HOLMES.

"Soldiers, you are Frenchmen," said Napoleon, coolly walking among his
disaffected generals when they threatened his life in the Egyptian
campaign; "you are too many to assassinate, and too few to intimidate
me." "How brave he is!" exclaimed the ringleader, as he withdrew,
completely cowed.

"General Taylor never surrenders," said old "Rough and Ready" at Buena
Vista, when Santa Anna with 20,000 men offered him a chance to save his
4,000 soldiers by capitulation. The battle was long and desperate, but
at length the Mexicans were glad to avoid further defeat by flight.
When Lincoln was asked how Grant impressed him as a general, he
replied, "The greatest thing about him is cool persistency of purpose.
He has the grip of a bulldog; when he once gets his teeth in, nothing
can shake him off." It was "On to Richmond," and "I propose to fight
it out on this line if it takes all summer," that settled the fate of
the Rebellion.

"My sword is too short," said a Spartan youth to his father. "Add a
step to it, then," was the only reply.

It is said that the snapping-turtle will not release his grip, even
after his head is cut off. He is resolved, if he dies, to die hard.
It is just such grit that enables men to succeed, for what is called
luck is generally the prerogative of valiant souls. It is the final
effort that brings victory. It is the last pull of the oar, with
clenched teeth and knit muscles, that shows what Oxford boatmen call
"the beefiness of the fellow."

After Grant's defeat at the first battle of Shiloh, nearly every
newspaper of both parties in the North, almost every member of
Congress, and public sentiment everywhere demanded his removal.
Friends of the President pleaded with him to give the command to some
one else, for his own sake as well as for the good of the country.
Lincoln listened for hours one night, speaking only at rare intervals
to tell a pithy story, until the clock struck one. Then, after a long
silence, he said: "I can't spare this man. He fights." It was
Lincoln's marvelous insight a