hough we miss the prize.

From an aimless, idle, and useless brain, emergencies often call out
powers and virtues before unknown and suspected. How often we see a
young man develop astounding ability and energy after the death of a
parent, or the loss of a fortune, or after some other calamity has
knocked the props and crutches from under him. The prison has roused
the slumbering fire in many a noble mind. "Robinson Crusoe" was
written in prison. The "Pilgrim's Progress" appeared in Bedford Jail.
The "Life and Times" of Baxter, Eliot's "Monarchia of Man," and Penn's
"No Cross, No Crown," were written by prisoners. Sir Walter Raleigh
wrote "The History of the World" during his imprisonment of thirteen
years. Luther translated the Bible while confined in the Castle of
Wartburg. For twenty years Dante worked in exile, and even under
sentence of death. His works were burned in public after his death;
but genius will not burn.

Take two acorns from the same tree, as nearly alike as possible; plant
one on a hill by itself, and the other in the dense forest, and watch
them grow. The oak standing alone is exposed to every storm. Its
roots reach out in every direction, clutching the rocks and piercing
deep into the earth. Every rootlet lends itself to steady the growing
giant, as if in anticipation of fierce conflict with the elements.
Sometimes its upward growth seems checked for years, but all the while
it has been expending its energy in pushing a root across a large rock
to gain a firmer anchorage. Then it shoots proudly aloft again,
prepared to defy the hurricane. The gales which sport so rudely with
its wide branches find more than their match, and only serve still
further to toughen every minutest fibre from pith to bark.

The acorn planted in the deep forest shoots up a weak, slender sapling.
Shielded by its neighbors, it feels no need of spreading its roots far
and wide for support.

Take two boys, as nearly alike as possible. Place one in the country
away from the hothouse culture and refinements of the city, with only
the district school, the Sunday-school, and a few books. Remove wealth
and props of every kind; and, if he has the right kind of material in
him, he will thrive. Every obstacle overcome lends him strength for
the next conflict. If he falls, he rises with more determination than
before. Like a rubber ball, the harder the obstacle he meets the
higher he rebounds. Obstacles and opposi