Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer
Right onward."

The Rev. William H. Milburn, who lost his sight when a child, studied
for the ministry, and was ordained before he attained his majority. He
has written half a dozen books, among them a very careful history of the
Mississippi Valley. He has long been chaplain of the lower house of
Congress.

Blind Fanny Crosby, of New York, was a teacher of the blind for many
years. She has written nearly three thousand hymns, among which are:
"Pass Me not, O Gentle Saviour," "Rescue the Perishing," "Saviour More
than Life to Me," and "Jesus keep Me near the Cross."

"The truest help we can render one who is afflicted," said Bishop
Brooks, "is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best
energy, that he may be able to bear."

What a mighty will Darwin had! He was in continual ill health. He was in
constant suffering. His patience was marvellous. No one but his wife
knew what he endured. "For forty years," says his son, "he never knew
one day of health;" yet during those forty years he unremittingly forced
himself to do the work from which the mightiest minds and the strongest
constitutions would have shrunk. He had a wonderful power of sticking to
a subject. He used almost to apologize for his patience, saying that he
could not bear to be beaten, as if it were a sign of weakness.

Bulwer advises us to refuse to be ill, never to tell people we are ill,
never to own it ourselves. Illness is one of those things which a man
should resist on principle. Do not dwell upon your ailments nor study
your symptoms. Never allow yourself to be convinced that you are not
complete master of yourself. Stoutly affirm your own superiority over
bodily ills. We should keep a high ideal of health and harmony
constantly before the mind.

Is not the mind the natural protector of the body? We cannot believe
that the Creator has left the whole human race entirely at the mercy of
only about half a dozen specific drugs which always act with certainty.
There is a divine remedy placed within us for many of the ills we
suffer. If we only knew how to use this power of will and mind to
protect ourselves, many of us would be able to carry youth and
cheerfulness with us into the teens of our second century. The mind has
undoubted power to preserve and sustain physical youth and beauty, to
keep the body strong and healthy, to rene