ess in life." One of the most pathetic sights in London streets,
long afterward, was Henry Fawcett, M. P., led everywhere by a faithful
daughter, who acted as amanuensis as well as guide to her plucky
father. Think of a young man, scarcely on the threshold of active
life, suddenly losing the sight of both eyes and yet by mere pluck and
almost incomprehensible tenacity of purpose, lifting himself into
eminence in any direction, to say nothing of becoming one of the
foremost men in a country noted for its great men!

The courageous daughter who was eyes to her father was herself a
marvelous example of pluck and determination. For the first time in
the history of Oxford College, which reaches back centuries, she
succeeded in winning the post which had only been gained before by
great men, such as Gladstone,--the post of senior wrangler. This
achievement had had no parallel in history up to that date, and
attracted the attention of the whole civilized world. Not only had no
woman ever held this position before, but with few exceptions it had
only been held by men who in after life became highly distinguished.

"Circumstances," says Milton, "have rarely favored famous men. They
have fought their way to triumph through all sorts of opposing
obstacles."

The true way to conquer circumstances is to be a greater circumstance
yourself.

Yet, while desiring to impress in the most forcible manner possible the
fact that will-power is necessary to success, and that, other things
being equal, the greater the will-power, the grander and more complete
the success, we can not indorse the theory that there is nothing in
circumstances or environments, or that any man, simply because he has
an indomitable will, may become a Bonaparte, a Pitt, a Webster, a
Beecher, a Lincoln. We must temper determination with discretion, and
support it with knowledge and common sense, or it will only lead us to
run our heads against posts. We must not expect to overcome a stubborn
fact merely by a stubborn will. We only have the right to assume that
we can do anything within the limit of our utmost faculty, strength,
and endurance. Obstacles permanently insurmountable bar our progress
in some directions, but in any direction we may reasonably hope and
attempt to go we shall find that, as a rule, they are either not
insurmountable or else not permanent. The strong-willed, intelligent,
persistent man will find or make a way where, in the nature