IN CONCLUSION
conquered by labor secure a greater vividness and permanency of impression? And do you so conquer it when you merely write it and read it; or when you make it a piece of you? And see Mr. Beecher elsewhere; resting all day Saturday, sleeping two hours after dinner; careful of his food, and that nothing prevented a long night's sleep; then an hour and a half after breakfast on Sunday morning of profoundest thought, when only one human being—his devoted wife—could be allowed to see him; and how he got himself in the pink of condition, keyed up to concert-pitch just at the time he wanted to be ready, when the church-bell ceased ringing for service. There was method in his work. And did you ever see good, much less great, work in which there was not great method—and great preparation? Look at the life of this the greatest pulpit orator America ever saw; and of every other really great speaker; and name one who was not unusually strong, unusually athletic, or both? Who ever reached eminence in swaying the minds and actions of others without assiduous and long-continued careful preparation; and a body meeting every demand, no matter how exacting, which its owner made upon it?
But surely you do not want all men to be athletes! We have not urged that. But we have urged, and do urge, that all men—and all women—and all children—be athletic; that they weed out the effeminate, the feeble, the nerveless, the puny, and the weak by turning them, one and all, into strong, healthy, vigorous, robust persons; and many into powerful and stalwart ones.
But do not athletes die young? Some do. Take a man with a feeble heart, or weak muscles; rush him
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