s staunch as the oak and as
graceful as the rainbow. It evermore stands upon a pedestal, and a host of
devotees do it homage. It is as majestic and beautiful as the iceberg but
as warm-hearted as love. It has reserve, and yet it attracts rather than
repels. A thousand influences are poured into the alembic of the spirit,
and serenity issues forth in modest splendor.

This quality of the spirit both betokens and embodies power, and power
governs the universe. Its power is not that of the storm that harries and
devastates, but rather that of the sunshine that fructifies, purifies,
chastens, and ripens. It does not rush or crash into a situation but
steals in as quietly as the dawn, without noise or bombast, and, by its
gentle influence, softens asperities and wins a smile from the face of
sorrow, or discouragement, or anger. Its presence transforms discord into
harmony, irradiates gloom, and evokes rare flowers from the murky soil of
discontent. Whatever storms may rage elsewhere and whatever darkness may
enshroud, it ever keeps its place as the center of a circle of calm and
light. It is Venus of Milo come to life, silently distilling the beauty
and splendor of living. In its presence harshness becomes gentleness,
hysteria becomes equanimity, and sound becomes silence. From its presence
vaunting and vainglory and arrogance hasten away to be with their own
kind. By its power, as of a miracle, it changes the dross into fine gold,
the grotesque into the seemly, the vulgar into the pure, the water into
wine. Into the midst of commotion and confusion it quietly moves, saying,
"Peace, be still!" and there is quiet and repose. Like the sun-crowned
summit of the mountain, it stands erect and sublime nor heeds the cloudy
tumult at its feet. In the school, the teacher who exemplifies and
typifies this quality of serenity is never less than dignified but,
withal, is never either cold or rigid. Children nestle about her in their
affections and expand in her presence as flowers open in the sunshine

Martha Finley (1828 - 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26th, 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the psodonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

Anonymous may refer to: Anonymus, the Latin spelling, may refer to: