Arizona republican., 1899-03-05

dent, successful lawyer and politician
 On the frontier Of Illinois.
 Many men acquit themselves gplen-
 didly on public occasions, rlae tO great heights of elOQuence and power when in view of other men. who are over
 bearing and difficult to live with in pri-
 Yate It is not difficult to be great on
 great occasions; the Glcod is up, cour-
 age runs high, there is inspiration and hope. How much more difficult it is to
 be great amid the grinding cares and tolls of ones common life from day to dayi How hard to be great when there is no banner, no music, no ap- plauding multitude-but when, silent ] and lonely, one sees the simple duties
 needing to be done without word of
 praise or a ray of hope How many l brilliant women there are in the face
 of other men and women, social stars
 and suns. fitted to dazzle and charm
 ard interest by their graces of man
 ner or culture of mind, who are absO-
 lutely Unnterestlng and nearly useless
 amid the petty cares and simple duties | of life It is so much harder to be great in common life than tC be great
 on the special occasion.
 No; fer the real tests of life you shall
 not go to the battle fields, nor the sen ate chamber, nor the ball room, nor the
 stock exchange, nor the legal forum. l You shall go to the home and study
 the spirit of the girl iL the kitchen who
 does the drudgery of the family life, or
 see the patient wife and mother, with
 infinite care and painstaking doing the
 simple things from day to day which need to be done to hold the home in tact; or to the husband returning after his day of toll in shop or field or office, and watch the intercourse with wife and child and servant, or follow him back again on the morrow and see how he acquits himself at his work. Is ne brave, is he patient, is he earnest, is he temperate in this common little life
 which he is living from day to day?
 The test is there.
 But notice another thing yet more impcrtant: It is here in the common
 place lives that men are living that their best work is done. Day after day
 Jesus tramped the hills of Judea, the streets of Jerusalem and the valleys of Gennesaret, but he stood only once on the Mount of TrlnSfguratiOn. The real work Of his life was performed in the
 valleys and the streets and on the plains. It is ever thus. The real work Of life, lament as we will, complain as
 we may, must be done. not upon the mountain, but in the valleys. We may occasionally fer inspiration and hope stand with the angels upon the noun tain top, but only now and then-per~ haps scarcely more than once in all our lives. For the rest we must toll CD.
 In the great battles of a great Caesar or Napoleon, in the oratorical triumphs of a Chrysostom or St. Paul, in the vision of Luther at Worms, of Savana rcIa in the streets of Florence, or the Master on the cross, we may indeed find courage in the vision of what men may do. All this may be well if we do not contract the spirit of discomfort, of sensa tionalism, and fancy that the noblest work of life is done in some exceptional way. The truth is that nearly all of Gods work in this world is done by humble workers, in humble spheres. in lowly places. with a cOur- age quite as sublime as that of Luther or Paul. He who longs for the excep- | tional opportunities and the eXcep- | tional place of work must be blind to Gods method of work in nature. How dc the flowers grow? Not by some | great and unusual blaze of glory on | some Memorial day, but one by one | under the genial influences of Gods | everyday light and air. God does not do things by fits and starts and leaps |
  la, orderly, patient ways. Thus the | best work of man is done also.
 Suspend a heavy bar of iron, weigh ing perhaps 100 pounds. and strike it with a tiny little cork It hangs heavy, as before; but strike it again and again, regularly and per and by and by the great bar begins to quiver then to swing with steady undulations. Yet the stroke is orly that of a little cork. Thus the world Is moved. Thus are great events achieved. Thus are the mighty forces of commerce set in motion. Thus, in short, is the work of life accomplished by common little lives, each in it's own sphere performing it's duty with skill and courage and patience. Thus God works, and thus shall man perform the noblest work of life.
 Notice yet one thing more-that character grows from the plane of these common little lives of ours. Our work lies in a circle, there are things to be done over and ever again. Much 1f our work is without any special ex- 5ernal incentive, certainly without the praise of men; and it is the endless repetition of the duties never done, or finished today Only to be taken up I lgain tomorrow, that makes our lives seem to us to be small and mean, and nc wonder there are many ready to re bel with the angry exclamation, My fife is only drudgery!"
 Now if this be true, and certainly here is a large measure of truth in it, how shall one get the courage to keep oiling onto hold himself to the com mon tasks of life which sink to the evel of drudgery-upless it be in the that his very life itself grows from this level. There could be 70 great deep, strong lives in this world without the common toll. which makes for strength and nobility
 Shall we not come to this conclusion hen, that God knew what he was 1 lbout when he made our common lit le lives? Did he not mean that we I hould grow vigorous by doing the lit Ie things of life, the daily tasks for 1 Eccl c,,.c:,l.-c.. Iftc 1