THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.

219

“ Oh! lift your natures up;

Embrace high aims, work out your freedom,

Knowledge is now no more a fountain sealed;

Drink deep, until the habits of the slave,

The sins of emptiness, gossip and envy And slander, die. Better not to be at all Than not to be noble.”

Woman cannot reign until she is worthy to be a queen. It is not by crying like a fretful child for more, that we shall attain all things, but by bearing our duties and our work so bravely, so wisely, that men shall gladly call us unto the high places to aid, until we stand—

“ Two in the council, two beside the hearth,

Two in the tangled business of the world,

Two in the liberal offices of life.”

The meanest pool by the wayside can hold the stars in its bosom, and give back the gleam of the sunlight, and receive the showers from heaven even as the mighty ocean. To all of us it is not given to climb the mountain, and few may wear the laurel, but who shall say what constitutes success, who deny she has achieved her highest mission, who has been simply a good woman. Says Victor Hugo: “There is in this world no function more important than that of charming. To shed joy, to radiate happiness, to cast light upon dark days, to be the golden thread of our destiny, the spirit of grace and harmony,is not this to render a service?”

It is so pleasant to dwell upon the ideal side of life, to lay far-reaching plans and' dream great deeds, but be you the most orthodox of Christians or the broadest of ethical culturists, we shall yet agree that the truest and most searching test of char­acter lies in “ the trivial round, the common task,” along life’s wayside. The great Creative Power takes as infinite patience and care in fashioning the facets of an insect’s eye, as in marking the course of a Niagara or building a Matterhorn. And George Eliot preached to us a great gospel when she wrote:

“ The growing good of the world is partly dependent upon unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who have lived faithfully hidden lives and lie in unvisited tombs.”

It is more satisfying to efficiently perform our duty of the hour than to hope that large opportunities may yet be ours. It is better to live today nobly than to muse on a radiant tomorrow. You cannot dream yourself into a character, you must hammer and forge one out.

It was of some fair woman who held herself worthy of being symmetrically devel­oped unto a perfect whole that Longfellow said: “ When she had passed it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music;” and of her, also, MVs. Hemans wrote, it was a life-long happiness

“ To have met the joy of thy speaking face,

To have felt the spell of thy breezy grace,

To have lingered before thee, and turned and borne One vision away of the cloudless morn.”

In the twilight time we see her—that fair woman yet to be. She stands serene and beautiful, looking forward to meet the coming years, with calm eyes that tell of inward grace and the peace of God upon her forehead. She is robed in the white gar­ment of modesty. About her throat she wears a circle of rare gems, and these are the pearls of truth. Her feet are shod with the winged sandals of a willing heart. Her eyes beam love and courage into the soul of Him who is her other self. Her cool, white palms are made to lay soft touches on some sweet baby brow, and to clasp the hand of manhood when it falters, so that they two shall climb together up the white heights of God.