National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-12-01
There is an element of personal power which,
for the lack Of q better name, we call


MAGNETISM.
magnet attracts to itself and has the power
TO throw its sublime influence and law over other
natter with which it is brought into contact. so
We say that man who has secret lndeserlOa-
BILE power to attract others, and bring others into
sympathy with him, possesses the quality Oh mag
netlsm. We must sympathiZe with those upon
whom we would act, or they must sympathize
with US There are some men who, when
they rise to speak, compel instant and com
pIete attention to every word they utter
There are generals whose presence and
carriage will win the confidence Of an army
away from better men. Pulpit, PLATFORM forum,
society are constantly illustrating the presence
and the absence of this element OF power.
Henry Clay was a magnetic man. How men loved
him! How they chung to him! How women
wept over his defeats His AYE" and mo" in
the Senate upon the simplest questions were
speeches. His reputation lives on and will live
hrCugh many generations, Notwithstanding the
TACT that ali he uttered is practically unread,
and will probably remain so. Patrick Henry is
in the school books; Daniel Webster is in the
school books, but Henry Clay is buried in the
Con greSSiORal Globe. r This power Is
natural endowment bestowed upon some and
who'll denied to others. 1t certainly is mira
Gle worker in the realm Of influence. 1t makes
that seem to be wit which is not wit; that bril-:
liant which is not brilliant. 1t clothes its pos.
SCISSOR with a charm which unlOoks all our hearts
and engages our sympathies even when 1t taiIs
to capture our judgments. Dr. Holland here en-
Iarged on the old adage, that knowledge Is
power, and then cameto
THE ELEMENT or EXPRESSION.
use the word expression TO cover every mani
fesration and form Of pOWer-lile IN all It's &C
lions, relations, public speech private converse
tiop. literature-all these are expression, or the
,F q walk in harden in the
spring and find all the plants coming forth from
the same earth, with roots seeking nutriment
from common elements. They are warmed by
the same sun, famed by the same airs, and
watered by the same clouds, at the same time
Yet as each plant rises to inhOrescence and fruit
age it expresses its life IN forms different from
that Of its neighbOTs. One is rose, another is a
pansy; one is a pea, another 4 potato; one IS
beautiful to the eye, another is fragrant to the
smell, and another still is agreeable to the pal
ate. All express the life that is in them accord
ing to the law Of their nature. We simply ask
of the potato that it shall be useful. We do not
expect the rose to be anything but beautiful.
There are lives whose only natural and full eX-
preston can be found in the line of homely use
fulness and there are lives that must be eE-
pressed in poetry, in history, investigation, in
vcntion literature, painting, sculpture, architect
ure If man be not master Of some
form OF expression either high or humble, the
power that is in him must remain latent. The
truth is Of enormous significance to this country
and this generation, though in the utterance it
may seem like a truism.
EARXEsTNEss AM ENTHUSIASM
are elements Of power whose Importance can
hardly be exaggerated. l name them together
because in their nature and results they are so
closely allied. Indeed enthusiasm is only ear
nestness at a white heat. They are the only
qualities that can take the place of personal mag
netism in compelling sympathy. Earnestness
comes Of strong conviction and strong feeling.
Enthusiasm rising out of it is the fusion and sub
llmation of all the elements Of power within a
man, and is strong just in the proportion that it
| is rational. The moment that it becomes mere
/ passion it is weakness. The world re-
| fuses to be moved by men who are not in earnest
Some of the most influential changes in
the current OF human history have been wrought
! by personal and popular enthusiasts.
human nature is very much like iron: If you
would bend It, or shape it, you must heat it.
EarncstnesS is fire: enthusiasm is a furnace seven
times hot. whose flames only need TO envelOp
other minds to make them plastic or ductile.
Truth is often unpalatable, offensive, but, borne
TO our lips on the menstrum Of a strong enthusi-
asm, we accept the draught which otherwise We
! should have refused.
And now what shall say Of
CHARACTER As AN ELEMENT
OF personal power What of that snowy ground
and carefully cultivated impersOnation of wis
( dom, goodness, purity and truth which gives the
force Of authority to opinion, the strength Of law
. 10 counsel. and makes every word golden coin.
4 ~ Ue sacTedly treasured? l know Of no higher
expression of power than characterize higher
/ form Of art than chsracter-a great character, a
/ fine chaTG cter good Characterize silent, un-
conscious force Of these is mOlding the morals and
/ manners Of the world, is so grand, and sweet and
wonderful that cannot undertake to describe it.
! The dear old men and women, in whom wisdom is
complete, and passion dead, and love supreme :;
the young men, pure and true, and hopeful, I'M
/ tainted by the touch Of sin and unapprOaGhable
I by temptation: young women, who stand like
| morning lilies in the garden, with dews unkissed
| Of any sun, and petals untouched by the fingers
Of any wind-the character Of these is an elemsnt
I Of power in the world the most benign that can
! be imagined. II life is music, character is the
score, TO be seen and read and learned Of all men.
The character that shines upon US from the
I pIEes of Holy Writ is like the sun in heaven.
/ The living characters that shine upon us in our
daily life are like the stars Of the night, which
/ repeat their burning images on the bosom OF the
great sea Of humanity that lies beneath and looks
up to them. Character is picture which every
| man can paint, statue which every man can
| carve, a temple that every man can rear, poem
! that all can write, sCTman that all can preach,
I a form Of expression into which every Life can
Iour and efnbody itself
! DIR. Holland closed his lecture with beautiful
and sublime alIusion to Faith as element OF
| power, to faith which makes gods OF men. which
builds on the basis OF all things, and is the chan
mel of the tide of the divine might. DIR. Hollands
large audience was apprcciative in applause and
sorry when he concluded.