uccess in life is Moral Character_, in its
various elements of honesty, truthfulness, steadiness, temperance.
"Honesty is the best policy" is one of those worldly maxims that
express the experience of mankind. A small leak will sink a great
ship. One bad string in a harp will turn its music into discord. Any
flaw in moral character will sooner or later bring disaster. The most
hopeless wrecks that toss on the broken waters of society are men who
have failed from want of moral character. There are thousands of such
from whom much was expected but from whom nothing came. It is told of
a distinguished professor at Cambridge that he kept photographs of his
students. He divided them into two lots. One he called his basket of
adled eggs: they were the portraits of men who had failed, who had come
to nothing though they promised much. What brought most of them to
grief was want of character, of moral backbone. Some of them--a good
many of them--went to drink, others to love of pleasure, others to the
bad in other ways. Good principle counts for more than can be
expressed; it is essential. Many things may hinder a man from getting
on--slowness, idleness, want of ability, trifling, want of interest in
his vocation. Many of these faults may be borne with long by others,
and may be battled with earnestly by ourselves; but a flaw in character
is deadly. To be unsteady, dishonest, or untruthful is fatal. Before
God and man an unfaithful servant is worthless. We may have other
qualifications that go to command success, such as those we have
noticed,--industry and a distinct aim,--but want of principle will
render them useless. Slow and sure often go together. The slow train
is often the safest to travel by, but woe be to it and to us if we do
not keep upon the rails.

_The last essential to success in life is Religious
Hopefulness_.--(_a_) Our industry, our purpose, our principles may be
all they ought to be, yet the "race is not always to the swift nor the
battle to the strong." But when we find the race going from us and the
battle going against us, if we have trust in God and the hopefulness
that comes from religion, we will find heart to try again: we will not
be utterly cast down. Christian faith keeps men in good heart amid
many discouragements. (_b_) Even if a man or woman become rich or
clever and have life pleasant around them, they cannot feel at the
close of life that they have succeeded if the future