Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-03-09
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1871.
Cultivate the strength that IS
Within You.

One of the most forcible illustrations Of
the power of an individual to become the
master of his passions, under the influence
Of the will and the proper cultivation OF
the strength that lies within, was the
simple narration Of Mr. Southwick at the
Opera House on Wednesday evening. Il
indicates what man can do and obtain
the mastery. This point is worthy Of
elaboration as illustrative Of what, BY 9
proper cultivation of the moral strength
implanted in the human character, men
are capable of doing for themselves.
The result of the human passions are
individual He who loses self-control
.nust endure the suffering, the weakness
and the losses which are the issue of his
conduct. 1t is law Of our being that
pain is its own interpreter. The soul
stands alone, and upon it shall the iudg.
rnent descend, and it must bear the bur.
den of natures wrath. This thought
should lead us to the cultivation of the
strength Of will and self-control that God
has given, and teach the responsibility Of
our own acts. There is no division Of
profit and loss. If one has sown to the
wind, upon him will fall the pressure OF
the whirlwind. If ones appetites are
strong the battle is to himself alone, and
must be fought out. Others may have
dome as i'll, and lost self-control, but theil
evil or we'll doing is no defense for an
other. Each individual is unit and his
7irtues or evils are absolute. The viola.
tions of nature will give their testimony
against us, and each one is pilot that
holds the helm within him, and he should
beware whittier he Is drifting.
The great end of all teaching at the pres
ent hour on all questions should be in the
direction to make each one individually
strong. In the realization of that end
lies the hope of the young men Of the fu'
sure. The generations that are to follow
are to be generations of great temptation
Each one will stand in the midst of a
morally hazardous exposure. The masses
Of men will be crowded together-where
wealth begets injurious luxury and pow
erty leads to passion and crime. We are
a nation Of travellers and travel is popu
lar necessity-nothing is permanent OF
settled, and virtue in the future must be
strictly individual if it ia to survive the
contest that is going on. The influence
Of our homes will never again be felt as it
has been felt. For in this active age home
ia impossible,
Between the young men of the past and
the present there is vast gulf, of change
we wish it could be said of progress
The tide runs ahead with whirling swift.
ness and the moral atmosphere is full OF
drifting spray and froth. Men and
women that stand firm under such q
pressure as awaits the next generation
will stand because they are strong in
themselves. They will stand as the mar
bic pillar stands, because it is weighty and
ponderous and set upon we'll secured ped
estal, The individual that looks template
On steadily in the eye and frowns it down
until it sinks away abashed-to that man
the struggle and triumph is divinely
strong. This will be the result of that
heroic self control, which is accumulated
by the cultivation of the strength that is
within. The spectac OF we'll developed
strength of spirit is more majestic than
all physical power. 1t is beautiful ex-
hibition which an individual presents
when he lowers himself to thel weight of
some passion or advocacy and lifts it I'M
der proper cultivation OF his own in
ward strength of resolution and stands
forth god-like in his victory over passion
and weaknesssof will. There are men
ana women who do not reveal to any the
burden they are staggering under. There
are those unto whom temptation has been
presented in all its gilded livery, but by a
of the strength within them
have come up in confidence and challeng.
ed all enticements to the test and without
running behind anothers back or any
other protection, have stripped for fair
Sight and locked in with passion and ap-
petite dashed them to the ground and
trampling out their lives. Such indIvidu-
als never have to fight many battles They
have their hour, their struggle with evil
and their night of despair, but on the
whole their lives are triumphant because
they cultivate the strength within them,
for each one bears his own burden. Let
one and all consider the temptations OF
the hour and cultivate the strength with.
in them, for there is no other safety .un-
less by the importation of higher spirit
to the soul, which comes from divine
source.