for rest and congenial scenes.

This woman has within her the powers and gifts of an artist; but her
pencils and her colors are resolutely laid away, and she sits hour after
hour darning her children's stockings and turning and arranging a scanty
wardrobe which no ingenuity can make more than decent. She was a
beautiful musician; but a musical instrument is now a thing of the past;
she only lulls her baby to sleep with snatches of the songs which used
to form the attraction of brilliant salons. She feels that a world of
tastes and talents are lying dormant in her while she is doing the daily
work of a nurse, cook, and seamstress; but she remembers WHO took upon
Him the form of a servant before her, and she has full faith that her
beautiful gifts, like bulbs sleeping under ground, shall come up and
blossom again in that fair future which He has promised. Therefore it is
that she has no sighs for the present or the past,--no quarrel with her
life, or her lot in it; she is in harmony with herself and with all
around her; her husband looks upon her as a fair daily miracle, and her
children rise up and call her blessed.

But, having laid the broad foundation of faith in a better life, as the
basis on which to ground our present happiness, we who are of the ideal
nature must proceed to build thereon wisely.

In the first place, we must cultivate the duty of _self-patience_ and
self-toleration. Of all the religionists and moralists who ever taught,
Fenelon is the only one who has distinctly formulated the duty which a
self-educator owes to himself. HAVE PATIENCE WITH YOURSELF is a
direction often occurring in his writings, and a most important one it
is,--because patience with ourselves is essential, if we would have
patience with others. Let us look through the world. Who are the people
easiest to be pleased, most sunny, most urbane, most tolerant? Are they
not persons from constitution and temperament on good terms with
themselves,--people who do not ask much of themselves or try themselves
severely, and who therefore are in a good humor for looking upon others?
But how is a person who is conscious of a hundred daily faults and
errors to have patience with himself? The question may be answered by
asking, What would you say to a child who fretted, scolded, dashed down
his slate, and threw his book on the floor, because he made mistakes in
his arithmetic? You would say, of course, "You are but a learner; it is
not to be expe