It may have been but a word read in a book, or a sentence overheard in conversation, which may have had for us a two-fold meaning, and, in passing, left us touched with an unknown power.
It was the smile on the lips of a beloved one whom we knew to be sorrowful, that spoke to us of the sweet joy of resignation.
It was the open look of an innocent child that revealed to us all the beauty of frankness and simplicity.
Oh! if we had but treasured all the rays of light that cross our path and sparkle but for a moment; oh! if we [pg 013] had but engraved them on our hearts! what a guide and comfort they would have been to us in the days of discouragement and sorrow; what counsels to guide our actions, what consolations to soothe the broken heart!
How many new means of doing good!
It is this simple work of gathering a little from every source—from nature, from books, above all, from mankind itself—that is the intention of one of your fellow-creatures, dear souls, you who long so to make your lives more holy and devout!
And in the same way as the gold dust, gathered and accumulated from the river's bed, was the means of bringing a little profit to the hearth, so would we endeavor to carry a little joy to your hearts, and peace to your souls.
Gather, then, these little counsels; gather them with watchfulness; let [pg 014] them for a moment penetrate deep into your heart; then scatter them abroad again, that they may go with their good words to the help of others.
They will not be importunate, will not even ask to be preserved; they do not desire fame; all that they seek is to convey a transient blessing.