, "_Breathe_. Use
your lungs! Half of you use only two-thirds of your lung capacity!" And
then by way of emphasis she contrasted her own chest expansion and
yours, adding, "If you want health, take deep breaths."

The Plea which I make to the girl herself is that she use, to the full
capacity, her power to inhale those things that shall give inspiration
for pure, helpful living. Every girl has that power. Some use only
two-thirds of it, some one third, some have forgotten its existence. If
a girl wants to really live she must "breathe deep," with her soul's
windows open wide to the atmosphere that will give her strength. If she
is obliged to live with those who do not think of these things, whose
own spirits are starved, she can seek friends who will help, she can go
to the places where her mind and soul are stirred as well as her senses,
she can find in good books great uplift and courage. She will, if she
truly wants inspiration and help to live nobly, attend regularly some
church where the service makes her long to be her best. She will, if
possible, join some class where she can study the life and teachings of
Jesus Christ, who _now_ even as when He was here, lifts those who listen
to Him out of failure and discouragement into hope, in whose presence
every girl may breathe in the atmosphere filled with life giving power.

If a girl responds to this _Plea_ to open her soul to the great Giver of
life, I can _Promise_ that she will find true happiness and joy.

XVII

A PERSON NOT A FACT

Every thoughtful person craves facts. They are cold, hard, sometimes
disconcerting but they carry weight. "It is a fact, it has been proven,"
hushes many a query and silences many an argument. And yet it is not in
the array of facts which can be given at any moment that young people
find their incentives and inspirations. They may have all the facts at
their tongue's end but lack the fire which shall transfuse those facts
into power to act in accordance with their teachings. Julius Caesar is a
fact. A girl may have no doubt of his existence, she may not question
the great events of his life, but he does not stir her to action. The
fact of George Washington does not awaken the patriotism of a girl and
in schools where merely the facts regarding his life are given his
influence is practically negative. But whenever the facts have been
breathed upon by a sympathetic spirit and the fact George Washington
transformed into the p