Editor’s Table: In Lighter Mood

the loss of individuality which it incurs. We learn to imitate, to conform, to merge our own identity in that of a crowd; we lose our selfrespect, grow timid and dare not trust ourselves. In this way we fail to cultivate the peculiar powers which belong to us, and which alone can enable us to do our part in the world, a part which can be done by no other. Intelligent planning does as much for the day's work as for the building of a house. It is all very well to say, "Doe the next thynge;" 'but in most cases the "next thynge" is in our control, just as the brick is when it is ready for the bricklayer's hand. No accomplishment of vendeavors is possible unless there is an orderly marshalling of forces. The only kind of hope that is worthless is that which languidly waits for some good thing to drop from the skies into the lap of the idler. There are some people who are forever expecting, like Micawber, that something will turn up, hoping for some lucky stroke of fortune which shall render their own labors unnecessary. But that is a mean and flabby state of mind, quite unworthy the name of hope. When gratified it is not really benefited, and such seeming advantages soon lose all their flavor and power. "Live so as to be missed," was the message a great man once sent to some young people. He knew that most lives are not of that sort. Many of us will not leave a very big gap in the world when we depart from it. Our lives have not been put into other lives. We have not spent our energies in touching other people in helpful ways. The best that can be said over many of our biers will be, "he never harmed anybody." And that is a poor eulogy. There are some who contend that man is wholly selfish, and that the apparent difference is due only to different stages of intelligence. If he perform acts of justice and kindness, if he recognizes the claims of others and hasten to satisfy them, it is only to gratify himself, or because Jie knows that such conduct will react in some direct or indirect way to benefit himself. Happily we have no faith in so low an estimate of humanity. There is certainly an inherent self-love in every one which is his preservation. Without it all improvement, all happiness, health, safety, and even life itself, would be forfeited. But there is also an inherent sympathy with others more or less clearly manifested. Witness the evident distress of the very young child when he thinks his mother or