PROF. FRANK SMALLEY, A.M., PH.D.,

Professor of Latin and Literature, Syracuse University.

Educated at Northwestern University, and Syracuse University. Graduated 1874, A.B. ; 1876, A.M.; 1891, Ph.D.

REV. W. C. WHITFORD, D.D.,

President Milton College, Milton, Wis.

Graduate of Alfred University. Devoted many years to building up Milton College. Superintendent of Public Instruction in Wisconsin for four years.

A. M. HAGGARD, A.M.,

Corresponding Secretary of the Iowa Christian Convention, Ex-President of Oskaloosa College, Iowa.

PROF. A. S. WRIGHT, A.M.,

Of the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio.

Graduate of Union College. Studied three years in Leipsic and Paris. Called to the chair of Modern Languages, Union College, 1888.

MRS. MARY A. LIVERMORE.

Organized the Sanitary Commission in 1862. Prominent in hospital work through the Civil War A leader in temperance work. An able writer. Popular lecturer, favorably known throughout the land and beloved by all.

REV. HUGH BOYD, A.M., D.D.,

Professor of Latin in Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Ia.

Graduate of Ohio University, Athens. In 1883 elected president of Ohio University, but declined.

MRS. SUSAN S. FESSENDEN,

President Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Massachusetts.

Graduated from seminary in 1855. Began teaching; became principal of her alma mater. An ardent worker on reform lines. A woman of high literary ability, and personal force in her home and in public life.

GEO. F. MOSHER, LL.D.,

President Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich.

Graduate of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., 1869. For some time editor Morning Star. Served two terms in New Hampshire Legislature. 1881, appointed by Garfield consul to Nice. In 1886 elected president of Hillsdale College.

R. M. ARMSTRONG,

State Secretary Y. M. C. A. for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Learned printers' trade. For many years employed with the Traveler, Boston. Six years #perintendent Monument Square M. E. Sunday-school, Boston. In 1883 entered Y. M. C. A. work as secretary at New Bedford, Mass. Next at Springfield. Called to the State work in 1886.

HON. EDWIN F. LYFORD, A.B.,

Member Massachusetts State Senate, 1894.

Graduate of Colby University, Maine, 1877. Admitted to Massachusetts bar in 1882. Member of Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1892 and 1893, and sent to the Senate in 1894.

REV. JOHN COTTON BROOKS, B.D.,

Rector Christ Church (Episcopal), Springfield, Mass. (Brother of the universally beloved late Phillips Brooks.) Graduated from Harvard in 1872, Philadelphia Divinity School in 1876. A devoted pastor.

REV. GEO. A. HALL, D.D.,

Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association for New York State. Widely and favorably known for his untiring energy and great influence among young men. JOSEPH COOK, LL.D.,

Noted Scholar, Preacher, and Lecturer, Boston, Mass.

Well known throughout the land for his vigorous thought and original style of expression. PRES. GEO. T. WINSTON, LL D.,

President of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

A graduate of Cornell University, 1874. A leader among the educators of the great South. REV. JAMES R. TRUAX, B.D., M.A.,

Professor of English Literature and Language, Union College.

Graduate of Union College in 1876, and from Drew Theological Seminary. Is a brilliant scholar and a forcible writer.

REV. P. S. HENSON, D.D.,

Pastor First Baptist Church, Chicago.

Graduated in 1844, with the first class sent out from Richmond College; in 1855 founded Fluranna Female Institute, Va. For twenty years Editor of the Baptist Teacher. liant leader in the denomination.

A bril

REV. JAMES W. COLE, B.D., Northampton, Mass. Graduated from Boston University. For many years was a leading thinker and preacher in New England. Ill health has prevented regular service for some time. His mental force and rare literary power is exemplified in the chapters he contributes to this work.

PROF. BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER, PH.D.,

Of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Graduate of Colby Academy, N. H., Brown University in 1875. Studied at Leipsic and Heidelberg, Germany. Professor in Harvard in 1885 and 1886. Called to Cornell in 1886.

REV. CHARLES A. YOUNG, D.D,

Of the College of New Jersey, Princeton.

Graduate of Dartmouth in 1853. In 1866 called to fill his father's vacant chair at Dartmouth, remaining eleven years. On account of scientific discoveries, has been honored with a medal from the French Academy of Science. Has become one of the leading astronomers of the world.

REV. HENRY A. BUTTZ, D.D., LL.D.,

President Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J.

Graduated from the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. Is a man of strong mental force.

REV. A. B. HERVEY, PH.D.,

President St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York.

A strong representative of the Universalist denomination. Widely known and possessed of great power and mental force.

REV. B. O. AYLESWORTH, D.D., LL.D.,

President Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. Graduated from Eureka College. Dr. Aylesworth is an able preacher and one of the bright scholars and educational leaders in the Christian denomination.

PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION.

HEN a stranger calls at our home we instinctively inquire of ourselves, who is he? And then later, what is he? Books are men and women transferred by their thoughts to paper, and, if we are wise, before we admit one to the sanctities of our homes, we will ask who wrote it, and what is it? Wise and good thoughts produce intelligent and good men, for "as a man thinketh, so is he." Evil thoughts bring forth also, but always after their kind. It is impossible to get high thinking from low living; they never go together. He who is the slave of evil can never be free either to do or reach the highest good. The evil will not let him. Books that stimulate to high thinking produce, like good companionship, a noble life. For goodness is just as contagious as evil. What multitudes are to-day following the divine Man of Nazareth! When Paul quotes Menander's saying that "converse with evil men. corrupts good manners," he refers to a fact in nature as certain as gravity. And it is as true of books as it is of men. Who can tell the power of a good or bad one? A noble life enriches both him who lives it, and those who come after him, who are made the better because of his example. For models are always more effective and valuable than mere rules. They teach both quicker and better. So Christ came and "left us an example that we should follow in His steps." What is true of the living man is also true of him when embodied in a book. Neither dies when he who lived the life, or wrote the book, passeth from earth. Not one of us can ever live or die unto himself. Several of the authors of this volume are per

sons of national reputation, whose thoughts on other subjects are before the people. The others, while of lesser fame, are not unknown in their several localities. All of them have had wide observation and much experience in life, and they here offer many wise counsels as aids to the young in the forming of that finest and most important mechanism in the universecharacter. They believe that there is just as much of true chivalry and heroism and devotion to the right in the world to-day, as in any past time. And no man has call to disparage the young men and women of our land, who are as ready to sacrifice, to do, to dare, and if need be to die for truth and righteousness as ever the fathers were. They believe such are just as anxious to cultivate a noble manhood and womanhood as others have been. Neither goodness nor the love for it has yet perished from the earth. Many a young man and woman would do better than they are now doing, if they only knew how. This book is designed to help such. While its writers cannot travel the road of life for you, and so give that perfect knowledge that can only be had by actual experience, yet next to that actual experience the most important thing in undertaking an unknown journey is a good guide book. Practical experience and good examples are the indispensable and only efficient aids in forming a noble character. The first each must get for himself. But it has been the aim of these writers to help you in respect to the last. We inherit money, we inherit examples, we inherit the facts of nature, but we do not inherit character, unless it be the bias toward one for good or evil. You have talents, ability, power, peculiar to yourself. Shall they bring forth a harvest of noble deeds, and so bring that highest of successes-a noble character? Character is greater than intellect, greater than gold, greater than the world. The end of a journey is determined in advance by the direction in which we travel. True, one may go in a roundabout direction, and afterward come to the desired end. But