DIGNITY OF LABOR. 73 



beautiful story, which has no ending — its pages unfold ever new 

 mysteries ; the loftiest genius finds information and instruction 

 and inspiration there; the highest intellect comes there to learn. 

 It gives you the thoughts which lie too deep for tears, the sun- 

 shine, and the glory which is brighter than the sun. 



In this marvellous book of life there is inscribed on every 

 page, Excelsior ! Eternal progress and aspiration is the last 

 and loftiest law of nature ; taught by the tender flowers which 

 leave the dark, cold ground and seek the sweet sunshine, unfold- 

 ing their delicate beauty towards the heavens ; taught by the 

 trees which lift their green columns aloft, and from the top- 

 most limb that looks up at the sky, point always higher ; taught 

 by the never resting winds, which wander past the lonely moun- 

 tain peaks ; taught by the mountains, which lift away their gray 

 cliffs above the clouds, and stay their starry soaring only when 

 they have linked the earth and the sky together — until, as you 

 gaze on their aerial summits, heaven seems nearer, and eternity 

 more sure. 



Astronomers tell us that it is written in the wondrous ordi- 

 nances of heaven, that the stars shall change their places in 

 the long lapses of time. The constellations which are now 

 visible in our northern latitudes will disappear below the horizon, 

 and other stars will fill their places. Belted Orion, and the 

 white light of Sirius, and the sweet influences of Pleiades will 

 pass away, and the Southern Cross, now seen only from the 

 land of Palms, will arise in its mysterious beauty to shed its 

 tender, trembling radiance upon our midnight sky. Yes, even 

 in the stars, which we call fixed, there is endless change and 

 progress. Let us learn from them that highest lesson, and let us 

 seek to make our lives like the star that hasteth never — resteth 

 never — but still moves onward in its appointed way. We need 

 not to wait for another dawn, for another life — we need not 

 wait until we pass the mountain and the river — we are on the 

 mountain now ; look up, the river is flowing noiselessly over 

 our heads, and — 



" From the sky serene and far, 

 A voice falls like the falling star, 

 Excelsior." 



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