ll that precedes it. To-day is a book
which contains everything that has transpired in the world up to the
present moment. The millions of the past whose ashes have mingled with
the dust for centuries still live in their destinies through the laws
of heredity.

Nothing has ever been lost. All the infinitesimals of the past are
amassed into the present.

The first acorn had wrapped up in it all the oak forests on the globe.

"Least of all seeds, greatest of all harvests," seems to be one of the
great laws of nature. All life comes from microscopic beginnings. In
nature there is nothing small. The microscope reveals as great a world
below as the telescope above. All of nature's laws govern the smallest
atoms, and a single drop of water is a miniature ocean.

The strength of a chain lies in its weakest link, however large and
strong all the others may be. We are all inclined to be proud of our
strong points, while we are sensitive and neglectful of our weaknesses.
Yet it is our greatest weakness which measures our real strength. A
soldier who escapes the bullets of a thousand battles may die from the
scratch of a pin, and many a ship has survived the shocks of icebergs
and the storms of ocean only to founder in a smooth sea from holes made
by tiny insects. Drop by drop is instilled into the mind the poison
which blasts many a precious life.

How often do we hear people say, "Oh, it's only ten minutes, or twenty
minutes, till dinner time; there's no use doing anything," or use other
expressions of a like effect? Why, it is just in these little spare
bits of time, these odd moments, which most people throw away, that men
who have risen have gained their education, written their books, and
made themselves immortal.

_Small things become great when a great soul sees them_. The noble or
heroic act of one man has sometimes elevated a nation. Many an
honorable career has resulted from a kind word spoken in season or the
warm grasp of a friendly hand.

It is the little rift within the lute,
That by and by will make the music mute,
And, ever widening, slowly silence all.
TENNYSON.

"It was only a glad 'good-morning,'
As she passed along the way,
But it spread the morning's glory
Over the livelong day."

"Only a thought in passing--a smile, or encouraging word,
Has lifted many a burden no other gift could have stirred.
Only!--But then the onlys
Make up the mig