t think of her loss, but of what she still possessed with which to
work.

We may prosper in the several schemes in which it is lawful for
Christians to take part, but, if we fail to win the strife for eternal
life, we shall have lived in vain. To make life a success, the glory
of God must be the ruling motive to actuate us in all the walks of
life. If we do really glorify him in our lives, success will surely
crown our efforts--everlasting life will be our reward.

Another instance of perseverance, against apparently insurmountable
difficulties, is given in an anecdote, not generally known out of
Russia, connected with a church spire of St. Petersburg, which place
is remarkable for its spires. The loftiest is the church of St. Peter
and St. Paul.

The spire, which is properly represented in an engraving as fading
away almost into a point in the sky, is in reality terminated by a
globe of considerable dimensions, on which an angel stands supporting
a large cross. This angel fell into disrepair; and some suspicions
were entertained that he designed visiting, uninvoked, the surface of
the earth. The affair caused some uneasiness, and the government at
length became greatly perplexed. To raise a scaffolding to such a
height would cost more money than all the angels of this description
were worth; and in meditating fruitlessly on these circumstances,
without being able to resolve how to act, a considerable time was
suffered to elapse.

Among the crowd of gazers below, who daily turned their eyes and their
thoughts toward the angel, was a mujik called Telouchkine. This man
was a roofer of houses (a slater, as he would be called in countries
where slates are used), and his speculations by degrees assumed a more
practical character than the idle wonders and conjectures of the rest
of the crowd. The spire was entirely covered with sheets of gilded
copper, and presented to the eye a surface as smooth as if it had been
one mass of burnished gold. But Telouchkine knew that the sheets of
copper were not even uniformly closed upon each other; and, above all,
that there were large nails used to fasten them, which projected from
the side of the spire.

Having meditated upon these circumstances till his mind was made up,
the mujik went to the government and offered to repair the angel
without scaffolding, and without assistance, on condition of being
reasonably paid for the time expended in the labor. The offer was
accepted; for