Page:Women worth emulating (1877) Internet Archive.djvu/18

2 and in struggling upward we are strengthened even by the effort. As the feeblest climber on a mountainside gets wider views at every step and breathes a more exhilarating air, winning some increase of vigour by the effort, so we dwellers on the more level plain of humanity gain in mental perception and moral force, when we contemplate the recorded progress of those who have gained the lofty heights of scientific investigation, benefited the age, and done honour to womanhood.

One reflection may well reconcile us to the surpassing triumphs of some of whom we read with a humbling sense of our own deficiencies, it is, that however literary and scientific triumphs may—as a general thing, must—be beyond our range and removed from our imitation, there is a path which we all can strive to tread, and where, when we are yet "a great way off," one All-seeing Eye beholds us, one Almighty Hand is stretched out to guide us. Only let us ask from the depths of our heart for help in treading the narrow path that leads to life eternal, and it will surely be given; for "He hath promised who is faithful."

This consolatory, this ennobling thought enables us to delight in all the varied manifestations of excellence with which the Almighty has benefited the world. We praise Him for the beauty He has spread around in the natural world, to lead our thoughts to Him; and still more should we praise Him for the endowments He has given in the human