The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-11-29


dering old world of ours will ever find
out anything like fair proportion of
its real heroes. What passes for great
ness is not seldom an odd mixture of
opportunity and push. Brains may or
may not be included in the compound
which men can "success." They GER
tainly are not essential, nor is heart.
Indeed, what is understood as &c getting
on in the world'' is quite as much re-
tarded rs advanced by genuine intel
lectual ability, sterling worth and true
nobility of character. Doubtless it is
better so. Most men who succeed in
clutching the "bubble reputation as
its glittering fragments burst into moth
ingness in their grasp, find too late that
the prize was not worth living for, and
that the career which makes it chief
object of pursuit is, after all, terrible
mistake. And yet there are heroes,
quiet, home-staying, unnoticed heroes
all about us. The world is full of them
Often, perhaps, no one suspects them
of doing anything that savors of hero
ism. Their neighbors never suspect
them of being heroes; least of all do
they suspect it themselves. And vet
when the Master shall reckon with His
own, how many of those who have
strutted their little day of fancied gran
| deur here will then hide their heads
forever, while these modest souls will
/, be crowned with eternal honors!
He is "only poor preacher, good
man enough, but he never made any
noise in the WORLD is the comment of
the thoughtless crowd. And yet this
"poor preachers" career may have in
it more of the elements of true heroism,
more brave battling self, more devotion
to duty, more stern, answering, cour-
ageous living crowded into its unnoticed
annals than that of many a General
who leads armies to victories, or states
man who sends his name resounding
down the ages. But the heroes are not
all preachers. There are men who are
bravely battling with poverty, who,
amid disappointments or trials that few
know or appreciate, are nobly carrying
| forward their own and others burdens.
You may trace the history of their
struggles in the strengthening of their
spiritual fibers, in the wiser philosophy
and in the finer music which, amid all
its surrounding diseords, breathes from
every action and gives tone to the
sweet helpfulness of their lives. Such
Christians are growing in grace"
Temptations are mere stepping-stones.
Failures are climbed over, self put
under foot. Humble, patient continu-
ance in well-doing, devotion to duty, to
right, to truth, to Christ, these are the
strong motives of their lives, and in
the largest, broadcast sense, such
men are heroes. Yet the heroes
are not all men. Indeed, we are in
clined to believe that when the final
estimate is made up of the real heroes
of this world, the women will be in the
majority. In the quietest of quiet
ways, there are to-day, in almost any
community, noble Christian women
whose names are never heard of out
side of their, own narrow circle, who
are bravely fighting the battle of life.
Here is one who is q mother, quiet,
stay-at-home body, plain, humble
minded, doing and suffering in her
gentle, patient way, what the world
will never hear of, but what makes her,
in the noblest sense, hero. Those
tame home hours, those lonely drudge
ries, those scrimping economies of all
things save herself, those years of
patient burden-bearing under the
crown of thorns which, in humble imi-
tation of the Master, she bravely wears
for others sake-these are her victories.
They pillow deep burrows in her face,
but they are lines of beauty to those
who can interpret them Alright. One
of these brave wOmen-heroes is cursed
with the saddest of all burdens, a
drunken husband. Does God forget
the weary crucifixion of such lifeP
Are there no crowns of especial bright
ness for those who triumph in such
conflict! Another finds herself the sole
stay of dependent family. Weak,
childish voices appeal to her for help.
What is the bravery of all the Nelson's
and Bayards of history to that of thou
sands of timid mothers that to-day are
struggling around us in the unequal
battle of lifep Heaven help and
strengthen all these quiet, stay-at-home
heroesi Their names may never be
heard of here, but hereafter they will
"shine as stars of the armament
They are s.the salt of the earth,n the
"shining ones" that will not be forgot
ten when God shall make up his
jewels.
While, thus, the noblest amongst us
are not necessarily the great, in the
usual acceptation Of that word, there is
one mark Of a truly great heart that all
Christians may aim at. Thankfulness
is talisman that will turn even the al
10y of burdened life into pure gold
Joyfulness is not only privilege with
the Christian, but it is also duty
Cheerfulness is force in all character;
it is especially source of strength to
those who are struggling against the
evil that is in their own hearts and in
the world. Joy gives life, gloom de-
presses and destroys it. The former is
a condition of healthy development and
energy and active growth; the latter
shuts us up within ourselves, and dwarfs
all hopeful endeavor, and leaves all the
spiritual graces to stagnation and de-
cay. The one throws open the win
dows of the soul, and lets in the sum-
mer and the sunshine; the other shuts
them, draws tight the curtain, and
leaves the heart to- the, sitting, un-
healthy atmosphere Of its owns gloomy
life. 49,. ,sssf.E 4ass sTr
Singing hearts are q double blessing.
They tighten the burdens upon other
hearts, and take the pain and the pres
sure from their own. The rough places
in the pathway of life grow smooth.
the crooked ways are made straight.
under the magic touch Of religious
cheerfulneSs. The man whose heart