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1

A SUNSET SCENE.

his hand, he replied, I wrote those, therefore you

know me.'

"Ernest looked searchingly into the face of the poet, and then into that of his majestic friend's, but his countenance fell, and he turned away his head with a sigh.

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'Why are you sad?' said the poet.

"I have waited all my life,' said Ernest, 'to see the man appear who was to resemble that mighty face, and the man who could sing so divinely as he who wrote these poems I thought must be he,'

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Know, Ernest,' replied the poet, 'that my life has not accorded with my song; it has been passed among mean and sordid realities, and I lack faith at times even in what I sing.'

"When the time of sunset arrived, Ernest, accompanied by the poet, took his way down the valley, for at this hour of the day it was his usual custom to address a number of the neighbouring inhabitants of the valley in the open air. He stood up to speak, and, as he spake words full of wisdom and life, his features assumed a look in harmony with the ideas which he was uttering. The glory of the setting sun shone upon his face, and, as the poet gazed at it, and at the same time looked up and saw the benevolent sublimity of the mighty mountain face, he threw up his arms as if moved by a mighty impluse, and shouted, 'Behold, behold, Ernest is himself the likeness of the great stone face !'

LOOKING UP, AND CLIMBING UP! 85

"And the people looked, and saw what the poet had said was true.

"So you see, boys, it is not gold, nor fighting, nor eloquence, nor beautiful sentiments, that go to the making of the greatest of men, only so far as they are used as means towards an end, and not made an end in themselves, but it is looking up to something or some one above you.

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Looking up and climbing up should be the watchwords of your life. If you look up to great things, and strive to attain unto them, you will be fulfilling the intention of your creation in a noble way. High aims make a pure life; to live among high things is grand. The eagle, who makes his home on the jutting mountain crag, is able to bathe himself in the full blaze of the sun, and you never heard of an owl doing that.

"Aim high, even if you fail; for better a high aim and failure than a low aim and success. You may find it difficult to climb to great heights at first, but it becomes easier after a time. Men whose lives are passed in mountain-climbing acquire great facility in their work; the muscles of the feet and legs attain to great elasticity, combined with strength, so that they ascend height after height, spring from crag to crag with all the ease and lightness of a mountain goat.

"Those who never ascend to great heights lose some wonderful sights, for the higher you climb the

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THE RED INDIAN.

wider your view, the more you comprehend in your range of vision.

"One day an American Indian, who had passed his whole life in threading the pathways of his native woods, and who thought that the forest was the whole of creation, came to the foot of a high mountain, up whose side he began to climb. He was surprised, as he mounted higher and higher, how much more he saw at a single glance than he had ever before done in the shady recesses of the forest; and he reasoned within himself that if he climbed higher he would be able to command a still more extended view; so hands and feet went to work again, and with much toil and labour, and at the expense of many hurts and bruises, he at length reached the mountain-top, where a glorious prospect greeted his eyes—the bending tops of thousands upon thousands of trees, wide, grassy plains, silvery streams of water, broad and deep, and beyond them towns and villages thronged with inhabitants; but, on one side, beyond the forest, rolled and heaved the waters of the grand old ocean. The Indian had never seen such a sight before, and his heart throbbed with a feeling of deep awe and wonder; and, kneeling down, he adored in silence the great God of his nation who could work such mighty wonders.

"I suppose it is scarcely any use to speak to you, boys, about the peace and calmness there is in great things and great heights? At your age you like bustle

'The Indian had never seen such a sight before; and, kneeling down, he adored in silence the great God of his nation.'-LAME FELIX, page 86.