PRIZE ESSAY.
Self-Help.
There are six important heads which this subject may be placed under, viz., Industry, Patience, Perseverance, Cheerfulness, Courage, and Prudence.
Industry.—This is a very important thing in life, and you will never be any good to the world without you possess it. There have been men who, by their patient industry, have done their country a great deal of good by inventing engines and machines to mitigate the labours of men; and some of these men have been mobbed and nearly killed by their townsmen, who thought their work would be taken away instead of enlarged, and very often their inventions have been broken to pieces.
Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes ix. 10, says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might"; and in Proverbs vi. 6—"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise."
Patience.—Patience is a very needful thing to self-help, for without it you will not be able to do anything that requires time and trouble. You have need of patience when you are waiting for a thing which you are in great haste to obtain.
David says, in Psalm xxxvii. 7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."
Perseverance.—There are some people who, if they start a certain thing, have not the necessary perseverance to finish it; while others, who persevere, succeed. Great men you read of in history would never have been so distinguished had it not been for their perseverance. Bernard Palissy, who discovered the white enamel for pottery, had a great many trials to bear, and was years before he perfected it; but he persevered, and at last succeeded.[8]
Oh, that we may be taught to trust in Christ, and pray, with the poet—
"Lord, hast Thou made me know Thy ways?
Conduct me in Thy fear;
And grant me such supplies of grace
That I may persevere."