It should never be forgotten, however, in the strivings of ambition, that, while every one should endeavor to raise himself to his highest power and to attain to as exalted and honorable a position as his abilities entitle him to, his first object should be to make a noble life.
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Miss Margaret Connolly in the preparation of this volume.
O.S.M.
CONTENTS
[TO-DAY]
["THE MILL BOY OF THE SLASHES"]
[THE GREEK SLAVE WHO WON THE OLIVE CROWN]
TURNING POINTS IN THE LIFE OF A HERO:
I. [THE FIRST TURNING POINT]
II. [A BORN LEADER]
III. ["FARRAGUT IS THE MAN"]
[HE AIMED HIGH AND HIT THE MARK]
[THE EVOLUTION OF A VIOLINIST]
[THE LESSON OF THE TEAKETTLE]
[HOW THE ART OF PRINTING WAS DISCOVERED]
[SEA FEVER AND WHAT IT LED TO]
[GLADSTONE FOUND TIME TO BE KIND]
[A TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE]
[THE MIGHT OF PATIENCE]
[THE INSPIRATION OF GAMBETTA]
[ANDREW JACKSON: THE BOY WHO "NEVER WOULD GIVE UP"]
[SIR HUMPHRY DAVY'S GREATEST DISCOVERY, MICHAEL FARADAY]
[THE TRIUMPH OF CANOVA]
[FRANKLIN'S LESSON ON TIME VALUE]
[FROM STORE BOY TO MILLIONAIRE]
["I WILL PAINT OR DIE!"]
[THE CALL THAT SPEAKS IN THE BLOOD]
[WASHINGTON'S YOUTHFUL HEROISM]
[A COW HIS CAPITAL]
[THE BOY WHO SAID "I MUST"]
[THE HIDDEN TREASURE]
[LOVE TAMED THE LION]
["THERE IS ROOM ENOUGH AT THE TOP"]
[THE UPLIFT OF A SLAVE BOY'S IDEAL]
["TO THE FIRST ROBIN"]
[THE "WIZARD" AS AN EDITOR]
[HOW GOOD FORTUNE CAME TO PIERRE]
["IF I REST, I RUST"]
[A BOY WHO KNEW NOT FEAR]
[HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE]
[THE NESTOR OF AMERICAN JOURNALISTS]
[THE MAN WITH AN IDEA]
["BERNARD OF THE TUILERIES"]
[HOW THE "LEARNED BLACKSMITH" FOUND TIME]
[THE LEGEND OF WILLIAM TELL]
["WESTWARD HO!"]
THREE GREAT AMERICAN SONGS AND THEIR AUTHORS
I. [THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER]
II. [AMERICA]
III. [THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC]
[TRAINING FOR GREATNESS]
[THE MARBLE WAITETH]
STORIES FROM LIFE
TO-DAY
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Longfellow.
To-day! To-day! It is ours, with all its magic possibilities of being and doing. Yesterday, with its mistakes, misdeeds, lost opportunities, and failures, is gone forever. With the morrow we are not immediately concerned. It is but a promise yet to be fulfilled. Hidden behind the veil of the future, it may dimly beckon us, but it is yet a shadowy, unsubstantial vision, one that we, perhaps, never may realize. But to-day, the Here, the Now, that dawned upon us with the first hour of the morn, is a reality, a precious possession upon the right use of which may depend all our future of happiness and success, or of misery and failure; for