Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-07
A SERMONETTE
To SCHOOL GIRLS
By MARGARET e. SANGSTER
Copyright, 1903. By Joseph b. Bowies.

By MARGARET E. sANGsTER.
Copyright, 1908. By Joseph B. Bowies.)
One evening last autumn l had the pleas
ure OF being a guest in a great school for
girls. The school building, which is ample
and beautiful, stands on Hill top and all
around 1t are acres of garden and meadow,
with a lake where the girls row IN sum
mer and skate In winter: trees under which
they walk and every beautiful condition
that can make the surroundings ideal.
Within. the accommodations match the fair
outside, and I have rarely seen anything
more beautiful than the assernbage of those
girls In chapel at their vesper service. To
me the hour l liked best was one at the
close of the day. when 1 sat in the middle
of q crowd of girls, few seated on chairs
and sofas, but most on the floor. a throng
of bright faces, eager and responsive. that
L shall never forget.
Looking at those winsome school girls, l
seemed to see beyond them q much larger
throng, girls whom l meet every week. al
though L do not actually touch their hands
nor hear their voices. To this great COM
pany of girls who shall presently be the
young women of the future l have a little
sermon to preach today. The old-fashioned
way was to divide sermons under three
heads. am taking this way, and my first
head is Pluck.
Unless girl has pluck she Will find her
self many time at odds with life. 1t re-
quires pluck of no mean order to sit in
dentists chair and endure the agony
known treating a tooth. 1t requires
pluck to go with little sister or brother
to this same friendly adjunct of the family.
and sit by while the little victim has teeth
Strengthened or tooth removed. Pluck
is far more necessary when the difficulty Is
not merely physical, but is moral and calls
for the kind of courage that makes one
bear reproof patiently, or speak the truth
when to do SO may make one unpopular.
Without real, genuine pluck few of us can
get through the days work with credit.
Sometimes, pluck is needed when one has
to wear much-mended gloves or q shabby
gown, or when one faces the fact that she
cannot have the luxuries that are as COM
mon as air and water In the experience of
her neighbor. Nuck Is not given to us all
at birth. Some of us are naturally great
towards. We shrink from pain and trouble
of every variety, and want a cushioned seat
for every journey. Fortunately, pluck may
be acquired. If we have not very much to
begin with we may easily get more by the
simple method of cultivating what we have
l would have my girls brave and fearless
feeling perfectly sure OF their ground, If
they are in the right, and dreading nothing
except being in the wrong.
You all remember the little rhyme that
you were taught almost as soon as the al
phabet IF at first you don't succeed, try,
try again" The lesson in this bit of
homely verse is one for you and ME. Be-
ginnings are easy enough; we start out
with fair wind and a flowing sail, and
our boat goes dancing over the waves, but
the true test comes when we have to row
against wind and tide, or to manage our
course when the storms beat and the winds
rave. To drop the metaphor, most of us
enjoy taking the initiative with a new study
or new enterprise Our commencement
is with enthusiasm, but presently we reach
Irregular verbs, or abstrusee problems and
our ardor dampens. Very likely some of
you could show, II you chose beautiful
pieces of embroidery and kuitting on
which you have made fair start The
place that tires and tries ones mettIe
IS in the middle of the road. OF the middle
or the task. Those who begin well, keep
on well and finish well gain the laureIs
and wear them with honor
Perseverance tells on your monthly or
quarterly reports as examinations never
DO. The real test of ability In any line
is just here: Is the student easily daunted
or does she hold fast with an iron grip until
she has accomplished what she undertakes?
AS our fayorfte Longfellow sings:
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate:
stu achieving, still pursuing,
Learn TO labor and TO wait
The twin sister of Perseverance is Pa
thence. You remember. do you not, the
old fairy stories in which the little princess
was set to unravel a terribly tangled skein
and how she made no Roadway until fairy
named Patience came and helped her
straighten out the threads and lay them
side by side? Let your fairy be named
Perseverance, and if her sister comes to
help her give a welcome to them both
or the three P's punctuality is proba bly
the most important, because, you see. If
you are not punctual, You are thief. 1t
is a dreadful thing to be thief Hosts Of
people who would not steal diamonds or
gold or break into houses or pick pockets
have no hesitation whatever In robbing
others of something precious, namely
time When you fail to keep an engage
ment at the right moment, when you come
dawdling in five or ten minutes late
whether 1t be a recitation, committee
meeting or any other appointment, you
have wasted what did not belong to you
the time of other and busy folk. We prove
that we can be punctuai whenever we
catch train that is scheduled to leave the
station at a certain hour. Knowing well
that trains do not await the convenience
of passengers, or ocean steamers tarry at
the wharf a moment after the hour fixed
starting on q journey or a voyage; but we
are much less apt to be punctual, for In
stance. about entering church in season. or
reaching friends home at the moment
we We're asked.
To be Late at dinner, as every one knows
is objectionable sin. and when you are
old enough to be dinner guests you will
discover that you must be punctual then.
Try to be punctual now. 1t Is quite as
easy TO be a little In advance OF ones daily
engagements as to be a little behind.
Never allow yourself to be spoken of as
the tardy Miss Emily. the late Miss
Alice. Pride yourself on being known as
one who is as punctual as the sun. May
1 say a word about the start in the morn
ing? If one dlslikes getting up and dress
ing and being ready for breakfast In good
season. and IL she yields to her dislike, 1t
Is more than probable that she will lose
time all day long. One never catches up
with that half hour that was wasted In a
nan after the rising hell had