to the fire and water, and they will give thee an engine stronger than
tamed lions. Give thy scrutiny to the thunderbolt leaping from the
east to the west, and the lightnings shall give themselves back to thee
as noiseless and gentle and obedient as the sunlight. Give thy mind to
books and libraries, and the literature and lore of the ages will give
thee the wisdom of sage and seer. Let some hero give his love and
self-sacrificing service to the poor in prisons, and society will give
him in return, monuments and grateful memory. Give thy obedience to
conscience, and God, whom conscience serves, will give Himself to thee.

Being a natural principle, this law is also spiritual. Standing by his
mother's knee each child hears the story of the echo. The boy visiting
in the mountains, when he called aloud found that he was mocked by a
hidden stranger boy. The insult made him very angry. So he shouted
back insults and epithets. But each of these bad words was returned to
him from the rocks above. With bitter tears the child returned to his
mother, who sent him back to give the hidden stranger kind words and
affectionate greetings. Lo! the stranger now echoed back his
kindliness. Thus society echoes back each temperament and each career.
Evermore man receives what he first gives to nature and society and God.

History is rich in interpretation of this principle. In every age man
has received from society what he has given to society. This continent
lay waiting for ages for the seed of civilization. At length the sower
went forth to sow. Landing in midwinter upon a bleak coast, the
fathers gave themselves to cutting roads, draining swamps, subduing
grasses, rearing villages, until all the land was sown with the good
seed of liberty and Christian civilization. Afterward, when tyranny
threatened liberty, these worthies in defending their institutions gave
life itself. Dying, they bequeathed their treasures to after