O. E. FULLER, A. M.,

AUTHOR OF "THE YEAR OF CHR_ST," AND "IDEALS OF LIFE."

Illustrated.

"Find out what you are fitted for; work hard at that one thing, and keep a brave, honest heart."

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PREFACE.

TRUGGLE, failure, triumph: while triumph is the thing sought, struggle has its joy, and failure is not without its uses.

"It is not the goal," says Jean Paul, "but the course which makes us happy." The law of life is what a great orator affirmed of oratory-" Action, action, action!" As soon As soon as one point is gained, another, and another presents itself.

"It is a mistake," says Samuel Smiles, "to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failure." He cites, among others, the example of Cowper, who, through his diffidence and shyness, broke down when pleading his first cause, and lived to revive the poetic art in England; and that of Goldsmith, who failed in passing as a surgeon, and yet wrote the "Deserted Village" and the "Vicar of Wakefield." Even when one turns to no new course, how many failures, as a rule, mark the way to triumph, and brand into life, as with a hot iron, the lessons of defeat!

The brave man or the brave woman is one who looks

life in the eye, and says: "God helping me, I am going to

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realize the best possibilities of my nature, by calling into action the beneficent laws which govern and determine the development of each individual member of the race." And the failures of such a person are the jewels of triumph; that triumph which is certain in the sight of heaven, if not in the eyes of men.

"Brave Men and Women," the title of this volume, is used in a double sense, as referring not only to those whose words and deeds are here recorded, or cited as examples, but also to all who read the book, and are striving after the riches of character.

Some of the sketches and short papers are anonymous, and have been adapted for use in these pages. Where the authorship is known, and the productions have been given verbatim, the source, if not the pen of the editor, has been indicated. Thanks are due to the press, and to those who have permitted the use of copyrighted matter.

In conclusion, the editor lays little claim to originality— save in the metrical pieces, and in the use he has made of material. His aim has simply been to form a sort of mosaic or variegated picture of the Brave Life-the life which recognizes the Divine Goodnesss in all things, striving through good report and evil report, and in manifold ways, which one is often unqualified to judge, to attain to the life of Him who is "the light of the world."

THE AUTHOR.