INDUSTRY JOHN LUBBOCK SIR JOHN LUBBOCK is an English writer of popular scientific books. To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being. Pietro de' Medici is said to have once employed Michael 5 Angelo to make a statue out of snow. That was stupid waste of precious time. But if Michael Angelo's time was precious to the world, our time is just as precious to ourselves, and yet we too often waste it in making statues of snow, and, even worse, in making idols of mire. 10 "We all complain," said the great Roman philosopher and statesman, Seneca, "of the shortness of time, and yet we have more than we know what to do with. Our lives are spent either in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. 15 We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as if there would be no end to them.” One great, I might almost say the great, element of success and happiness in life is the capacity for honest, solid work. Cicero said that what was required was first audac- 20 ity, second audacity, and third audacity. Self-confidence is no doubt useful, but it would be more correct to say that what was wanted was first perseverance, second perseverance, and third perseverance. Work is not, of course, any more than play, the object of life; both are means to 5 the same end. Work is as necessary for peace of mind as for health of body. A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work. Worry upsets our whole system, work keeps it in health and order. Exercise of the muscles keeps the 10 body in health, and exercise of the brain brings peace of mind. "By work of the mind one secures the repose of the heart." "Words," said Dr. Johnson, "are the daughters of Earth, and Deeds are the sons of Heaven." Whatever 15 you do, do thoroughly. Put your heart into it. Cultivate all your faculties: you must either use them or lose them. We are told of Hezekiah that "in every work that he began, . . . he did it with all his heart, and prospered." 20 "The story of genius even, so far as it can be told at all, is the story of persistent industry in the face of obstacles, and some of the standard geniuses give us their word for it that genius is little more than industry. Genius,' President Dwight used to tell the boys at Yale, 'is the 25 power of making efforts."" (Garnett.) Corbett, speaking of his celebrated English grammar, tells us: "I learned grammar when I was a private soldier on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge of my berth, or that of the guard bed, was my seat to study in; my knapsack was my bookcase; a bit of board lying on my lap 5 was my writing table; and the task did not demand anything like a year of my life. I had no money to purchase candle or oil; in winter time it was rarely that I could get any evening light but that of the fire, and only my turn even of that. 10 "Think not lightly of the farthing that I had to give, now and then, for ink, pen, or paper. That farthing was, alas! a great sum to me: I was as tall as I am now; I had great health and great exercise. The whole of the money, not expended for us at market, was twopence a 15 week for each man. I remember, and well I may, that upon one occasion I, after all absolutely necessary expenses, had, on a Friday, made shift to have a halfpenny in reserve, which I had destined for the purchase of a red herring in the morning; but when I pulled off my clothes at night, 20 so hungry then as to be hardly able to endure life, I found that I had lost my halfpenny! I buried my head under the miserable sheet and rug, and cried like a child! "And again I say, if I under circumstances like these could encounter and overcome this task, is there, can there 25 be, in the whole world a youth to find an excuse for the nonperformance?" Abridged. Pie'tro de' Medici (med'e-chee): a proud and vain man, who was for two years ruler of the city of Florence. He was the son of Lorenzo, often called "the Magnificent," who died in 1492. The family of the Medici were famous for their interest in art and literature. - Mi'chael An'gelo: a great Italian painter and sculptor.Cicero: a Roman orator who died 43 B.C. Dr. Samuel Johnson: a learned Englishman of the eighteenth century. - Hezekiah: a king of Judah. See 2 Chronicles xxxi. 20. sixpence: twelve cents. -farthing: half a cent. made shift: managed. 10 ON THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE CRICKET JOHN KEATS JOHN KEATS (1795-1821) was one of the great English poets. He had a wonderful imagination and a quick perception of the beautiful. His 5 verse is full of melody. The poetry of earth is never dead! When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, In summer luxury; he has never done |