The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-01-09

: The lecturer began by saying that he shou
| give, without any pretence, but in all earnes
ness, a few thoughts on the subject which b
should call Masters of the Situation.
example is better than precept, short stories
rather than long sermons, will be given to i
lustrate the theme.
Not long ago great calamity befell the Cit
of Boston. A hundred million dollars wort
OF property went up in flames. You could
most see the smoke of the confagration froI
| Your homes in this city. The firemen ther
are as gallant set of heroes as ever handle
hose, but the authorities were not masters c
the situation. The flames were
| great mastery, like that of Wellington o
Bismarck, is not and never can be an every-da
occurrence True mastery is a union of supe
rior qualities. 1t is heroism; it is culture; i
is enthusiasm; it is faith; it is intelligence;
is endurance; it is unconquorable will. Their
are men of convictions whose very faces vii
light up an era, and there are noble women il
whose eyes you may almost read the who'll
| plan of salvation.
Eleven years ago brilliant review of tn
| grand army of the Union took place neal
Washington in the presence of a vast crowd Of
eager and excited men and women. The prom
inent figure of that day was marked man.
| As the young commander rode up and dowr
| the line laundering cheers from more than 6
| hundred thousand soldiers and spectators rolled
| forth for General Mcclellan. But as he rode
| past a group of spectators / heard these fatal
words from the lips of an old soldier HE is
moi master of the situation" Soon afterwards
| when tidings of defeat and modification came
rolling back upon us, L remembered those
CHASTITY words and trembled for the issue.
There was once noble ship steaming at full
speed across the Atlantic. A quick cry from
the lookout is heard, rushing of officers
and men, and it was grinding on a ledge of
rocks off Cape Race. The ship was bllndly
beating on a dreary coast of sharp and ragged
rocks. Bits of keel, pieces of plank, foated
out into the deep water. Hundreds of pallid
faces were huddled together near the stern.
Suddenly voice up in the fog, in the direction
of the wheel-house, rang like clarion above
the roar of the waves and the clashing sounds
on ship-board. 1t was the voice of the captain.
BY his skill and courage the ship was rescued.
When the vessel arrived at Halifax the agent
OF the line. on hearing of the escaped danger,
simply sad Gust what might have been ex-
pected in such disaster Capt Harris is al
ways master of the situation"
No man ever became master of the situation
by accident OF Incidence. believe with Shirley
that the Almighty has given men and women
arms long enough to reach the stars if they
will only put, put them out. No man happens to
succeed. What do you mix your paints with?'
asked visitor of Opie the painter. with
brains, sill" was the artists reply. Incidence
never sent man to the front. 1t is one of
Gods laws that nothing in his universe shall
be stationary. The deep things of this world
are not engineered by suggards. 1t is the trav-
estes of Christianity that abound among the
indolent who take everything for granted.
Masters of the truly religious situation, like
Frederick Robertson, Henry Ward Beecher
and Maurice, are never idle. They scorn to
furl their sails and ride at anchor in the slug
gish bays of extinct thought, but are ever busy
in the great thOroughfares of life, casting out
the devils of intolerance, superstition and n.y.
pocrisy.
.. Conceit kills many man !g who is perhaps on
from Boston once Yes" SAID a bystander
from the west ''but he don't stay there long,
There are men who never pronounce their own
names without involuntarily taking off their
hats Complaining people do not oft en-
master the situation. The wrong side of tn e
tapestry of life is never the most beautiful
There are men who fail from too low an esti-
mate of human nature, and others from too
little for understanding 'sDespise nothing my
son" was the advice wise mother gave to her
boy, and that boy grew up into Sir Walter
Scott All great leaders have been inspired
with a great belief. In nine cases out of ten
failure is born of unfaith. One of the an
for commander was more formidable than
an army of lions led by stag. There are
men who will pluck the very spear out of their
wounds and turn round and Stay their adver-
saries with the same weapon. They who
achieve great victories have first learned how
to conquer, and opinions that have life in them
will always come to the front. Washington
and Burke were cited as examples of supreme
masters of the situation.
There is an apprenticeship to difficulty also,
which is better for excellence sometimes than
years of ease and comfort. 1t was the poverty
of Cervantes which gave us the riches of s'Don
Quixote,'' and if Washington Irving had been
,~o mig 1t have lost the siSketch- Book
Preparation is lead ng quality of mastery.
What makes the Adamss always in demand
when great questions of national interest come
up for settlement? 1t is because it has always
been the habit of the family to study matters
of diplomacy and the rules of statesman
ship. They have got the knack of work n their
very bones and they dig into subject of ma
tional Importance with the strength that comes
of energetic and intelligent action, and pick
AK welded of iron will. Whatever else we may
accuse them of, the lack of perseverance, has
never been alleged against one of that family.
Great effects on the stage are produced only
by preparation. Charlotte Cushman, Kean,
Jefferson and Sothern were instanced as eX-
amples of this. There have been masters of
the situation who have made single leap into
the arena of fame from low and unknown orr
gins but there has always been some prepare
tions for a career thus distinguished. Modern
luxury is an almost inSurmountable bar to
modern mastery. GA too rich diet" said an old
writer on morals, Flinders the gallantry of
the soul.' Luxury and ease have never been
conducive to liberty. Too much preparation is
sometimes as fatal in results as too little.
When l see morning procession of pallid
Snhnol-b UprinO In school undar q load Of
textbooks, almost too heavy to be held to-
gether by the strap that encirces them, 1 wish
their piles of knowledge might be reduced one
half, for cannot but feel that with fewer
books there would be more culture, that too
many studies produce too little scholarship, and
that the intellect which is forced will rarely
be expanded Attention is a prime requisite
where mastery of the situation is to be acquir-
ed. Charles Dickens, with all his genius was
obliged to bestow the utmost care and attention
upon his works. There is faith so expansive
and hope so elastic that man having them
will keep on bel ieving and hoping till all dan
ger is passed and victory sure. As an example
of this the lecturer adduced Cyrus Field, and
gave history of his indomtable perseverance
in the matter of the Atlantic cable. Enthus-
iasm begets success, as in the case of Henry
Bergh, who has stood so many years between
the oppressor and his quivering victim. 1t is
sacred mission to which this man has been call
ed
IIOulp tucSS 10 d gnu lcducI, Wulc pIOCIdStl-
nation limps behind. To-day is master of the
situation, while tomorrow is an imposter who
is almost sure to bring failures with him.
There are poets who never get beyond the first
verse; orat Jrs who forget the next sentence;
gold diggers who buy pick axe and stop there;
and painters whose studios are full ofunpainted
pictures. There are men in legislative assem-
blies who speak often, but are never masters of
any situation. The speaker then paid glowing
tribute to those women who proved themselves
masters of the situation during the war of the
rebellion. He went on to say: Let us not for
get that there are successes which are worse
than failures, and that there are victories
which are irremediable ruini The old motto,
''Principio non HomineS" is imperishable!
When the poor hunted, harassed body was
stretched on the Charlestown gallows in Vir-
ginia was Gov. Wise master of the situation
there? No! No! for the soul of the murdered
victim still goes marching on, while that of the
man who doomed him, and was standing by
and consenting unto his death, had no advancing
music in him to which this world would listen
and keep step for an insuant 1t was Henry A.
Wise who was defeated and buried on that ia
tai day, while John Brown, lying cold in his
coffin, will be the master of that situation for
ever.
The speaker then referred to two apparent
masters of the situation, Louis Napoleon and
James Fisk, Jr. Time proved them frauds and
charlataps. He closed by quoting the words
which Burns has sent ringing through all
time:
"a mans man for a. that,
For a. that, for a. that;
Rank is but the guiuea's STAMP,