hance; but so far as we can see, failure in this
world--that is, failure to reach our minor aim--does sometimes seem to
be due to a trifling accident. Yet success is not so. If Byron, for
instance, awoke one morning and found himself famous, it was because he
had previously done the work which was suddenly recognized by the world.
Indeed, none of us need look for success who does not choose a definite
aim in life. And, more than that, no discouragement must turn us aside
from it. We may fail in the end then, but we shall have followed the
only possible path to success.

How shall we choose our aim? We know what our grand aim must be, and
that if we do our part there we shall not fail, for we shall have God to
help us; and we know that our minor aim must never be opposed to this.
But what shall our minor aim be, or shall we be content to drift without
any at all?

We must try to understand ourselves so far at least as to know what our
own powers and tastes are, and choose accordingly. A young girl hardly
knows her own bent. Then the uncertainty in regard to her marriage and
the great change that necessarily makes in her pursuits renders the
problem harder for her than for her brothers.

Most girls wish to be the centre of a happy home, but many of them are
very careless about the means of making themselves fit to be such a
centre. They think when love comes it will do everything, and it is true
that it will do wonders. But suppose a girl remembers that if she is
well she can make her family happier then if she is always
ailing,--suppose she remembers how much good housekeeping does to make a
home attractive; that if she is musical her singing will calm the
troubled waters, while if she is not her practicing will be a burden;
that there are some studies which bear directly on life and some others
which will be of infinite use to a mother in training her children,--is
she not more likely to have a happy home than if her aim had been less
definite?

But what of the girls who choose this aim and who never have a home?
Their lot is hard, but they may add happiness to some home not their
own. If they are not obliged to support themselves, they can probably
create some kind of a home for themselves, though not that of their
ideal. If they must earn their living, the problem is harder.
Circumstances may force them into a widely different path from that they
would have chosen. Then they must remember the grand aim of their