Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-02-02

Paper Read by Mrs. Louise Backus Before
4 the Womans Club Of Ellsworth. Dec.
1899. Published by Request of the Club
4 Life is the sum total of little things
y nothing is accomplished all at once. bu,
i Everything is done by degrees, here little
and there little.
Heaven is not reached at n single bound,
4 But we build the ladder by which we rise.
i From the lowly earth, 10 the vauted skies,
Il And mount 10 it, summit round by round"
4 As the tiny particles of dust 70 to form
: the earth on which We tread, the little
drops of water the boundless deep, SO
{ times easier TO cope with the great emer.
gencies of life which are occasionally
occurring, than to meet with patience and
fsithfulness the little every day duties
which are constantly presenting them.
selves.
j Smiles in his book on Self Culture
5says: 1T Is a fine remark of a Russian
writer, that habits are a necklace of pearls
unite the knot and the whole unthreads "
Wherever formed habit acts involuntarily
and without Effort. and 1t is only when you
oppose it, that you find how powerful it
has become; what Is done once and again,
soon gives facility and proDeness. The
habit at first may seem to have no more
strength than a spiders web, but once
formed it binds as with chain of iron.
| The small events of life taken singly
may seem exceedingly unlmportant, like
snow that falls silently, fake by fake,
yet accumulated. these snow fakes form
the avalanche. As daylight can be seen
through very little hole, SO little things
will Illustrate persons character. In
deed character consists in little things we'll
and faithfully discharged, daily life being
! the quarry from which we build it up, and
trough hew the habits which form ii.
Therefore cultivate the habit of faith
i fulness.
Some one has said Life is a school in
which every work, every duty. every OPP
1 spoftunity. however insignificant it may
seem to Us at the moment, is a lesson, the
just so much loss or gain in character
/ The man who is faithful In each DAYS
work, stores up for himself each day that
reserved force of habit and character
which any hour or moment may bring.
Small opportunities faithfully used are
rounds by which we mount to greater ones,
. and the true way to broaden life is not by
idly gazing around the horizon in search
fof some larger field. but by doing with all
Zones heart and soul the things that lie
snext one"
4 Prominent among the virtues is punctu-
sality. which is so slightly regarded. Con-
4 ssider the consequences If children were as
Frequently late to school as grown people
are in meeting their engagements. How
ssponsible for when we fail to punctualy
1 inject an appointment. Who would at
stempt to make 1t up? Another of the So
scalled little things. is the habit OF thought
1 slessy making promises which We are too
] sindlfferent or careless to fulfil. How many
speople make promises which they do not
! keep, while Others are depending upon
Ether word! OF how many of our &C
squaintances can We truly say that we have
Implicit confidence in their word?
Certainly there are times when one can
I mot be prompt to the minute, but there
ssurely is a great laxity in regard to these
sdelays. History gives evidence of the fact
Ethat many of the occurrences which as
Sviewed from our time have proven turning
garded in their own time at their true
value. Those who had the management
{of them did not realize the magnitude of
] the question with which they dealt. If
sthey had been less faithful in their de-
scisions about the Ito them) insignificant
ypoints, the results might have been very
different. For all we know, we may be
dealing with questions which in the future
! Twill assume correspondingly large proper
ftions. Columbus in his discovery of the
New World, furnishes an Illustration Of
! this truth. He didn't realize the import
| fance of the expedition, but he was faithful
! to his convictions, and we only regret that
. he could not have foreseen the tremendous
results Of his efforts.
In my own experience this theme can be
iaptly illustrated by the little ones who
,appear daily before me. Laboring over
1 their first steps in knowledge, IL they don't
succeed in mastering the difficulties Of the
smonosyllables, the Third Reader will re-
main blank to them; but If they use
their best efforts the work is duly ac-
scompished and they proceed from the lit
tile things to the greater as a result of
their faithfulness day by day. So with
lall of US; results must come from the
faithful performance Of the little things
which lead up to them.
How many men. whose business success
lis marked, can trace 1t to the fact Of their
faithfully discharging the frst RESPONSE
Utilities which devOlved upon them when
they were in others employ! The boy who
lis faithful to his employers interests is
4sure Of promotion. Many men have be-
5gun their business career as cash boys in
\ some large establishment and their rise
has been proportionate to their dischare g
1of those duties.
I In this school from which we are being
4unconsciously graduated from grade to
agrade as the years are rapidly passing
away. our successes or failures depend
4largely upon the manner in which we NEE,
small beginnings of life. Day by day
we are rearing structures which form ouI
Hives, the foundation of which may be laid
with rough-hewn stones. but, If We com
bine faithfulness and perseverance in oul
work, each layer will be an improvement
and when we reach the apex it may be
8crowned with gems of the greatest bril-
liancy.
Our lives are just what we make them
and II we have not q superabundance Of
Zhealth, wealth and wisdom, we can 80 ust
4 the God-given which we have, that they
may bring US at the end the swell done.
= This idea is well carried out by J. r. Mil
sler in a recent article. where he says
ANYBODY can be good on Sunday; any