Morning journal and courier., 1891-05-22
THE ADDRESS.

THE ADDRESS.
 Delivered In milford Before the New
 Haven Y. F. s. c. E. Union by Rev.
 T, Lee Mitchell of Grand Avenue
 Church, Fair Haven.
 Subject of address, -.what Thyna is 1t That wommen 6and Mano Most Desiren.''
 I am going to tell you tonight what thing it is that each one of you most de- sires. I am mind reader. I got the secret from witch. The story is, those of you know who looked up the subject that in the days of King Arthur's round | table of the knights for g certain grave offense was sentenced to death by the I king. Queen Quinevere begged his life of ! the king so earnestly that Arthur gave him to her to kill or save as she pleased. The queen thanked the king and offered to the knight year and g day to find out what thing it was that women most de- sired. If at the end of that time he could tell her he should receive his life, if he could not he must die.
 The knight rode forth upon his quest and sought every house and coast where he thought he might learn what thing rive at no conclusion because no two told him the same thing. Think of it yourself. | Suppose anybody but 8 mind-reader should | ask the ladies of this audience what thing they most desired he would get every kind of answer from the salvation of their souls | to new bonnets. And so they answered this knight Some said women loved ! aI- finn
 some rich attire, some said they liked to
 be widows, some fattery, some freedom,
 some secrecy; but no two agreed.
 At length, our knight riding home in
 despair on the last day met an old witch
 who told him to go boldly to court and
 declare to the queen that that which she
 as we'll as every other woman liked best
 was power over mankind-soverelgnt
 And not woman in court denied the
 truth of what he said, and the queen gave
 him his life.
 The witch was right about woman, and
 the same ia true of men; that which each
 one of you desire tonight is power, con- trol over men or circumstances. Is there , any one who will stand forth and , say have not answered truly? But power in what diverse directions, control over : what devious ends ambition holy as a maiden's evening prayer, blasphemous as Lucifer's rebellion.
 : You all have thirst for power; thank
 God for that, for he put it in you. My F hope is in that fact that you do thirst for power. By no means try to suppress it; il : is true instinct But power of what sort - Power of the gorgon's head, to turn every y thing living to stone. Some men and wo' @ men possess it. They look at you and it
 curdles all the milk of human kindness in
 you. I preached as candidate in a church
 al hoa o1iv,fv with 1foa1 F for twelve years, and when I stood up tc a preach half 8 dozen pairs of eyeglasses came up with cold, cynical, hateful
 "What has this young popinjay got te o saya" I felt the petrifying process begin n ming in my blood and fixed all my atten a ton on sunny-haired little rascal of { four -year-old, and he and had a service The rest of the congregation weren't in it # Power of what sort? Power of Midas o to turn everything we touch to gold. An that is the power we all thirst for. w u fancy we don't; we say we only want { competence. Look out for it; it spreads o like the measles I never ask { r. modern baby if he don't wan e 8 stick of candy without expecting him to turn on me, "What's in it." w 8 do our best only for pay, like the negro y vice began Brethren, I hab three dollar @ sermon, 6 five dollar sermon and ter J. dollar sermon. You will please take III n de collection and den I will know whic1 s one to gib you. !. Power of what sorts Power to sail into o parlor or down the street with a dress
 that smites everybody with envy. I saw ,, lady sail down long room with a cou pie of hundred in it with just that look or s her face, I am queen of this room, an ], throwing all you maids and matrons il k the shade. Well, some of the tackling O. ,: all that toilet had given away and ver1
 flying in the wind. What sort of powe '- is that, that a harmless suspender buckl e can take it all away and make it ridicu
 lous. Power, but power of what sort P How much of the power aspired after il n this assembly belongs to the genius real 3, ity.
 That thirst for power is God, planted l. 1 the vis-viva of the race, so far we ar
 right, but is there nothing real and tru 8 | to satisfy it? Is that instinct of ours ik Y the tendrils of a poor little ivy out in o field, throwing their tiny hands about fo . something to cling to and finding nothin, o but grass stems and weeds. Yet tha "a ivy is capable of crowning tn '0 highest tower with beauty if only some careles
 field.
 Think of the living. power in this room now
 
 mightier assemblies than this has been dss d force that is wasted in Yale gymnasium ever, q. day pulling chest weights, twisting over bars ,t strength into machine, the horse power dissi
 pated in that gynastum would turn the wheels o a factory, run all the tired womens sewing ma | ought to be way of collecting it and using e for something good. It all goes into frictio '. You do not know how earnestly long that tn n life force of this band of young men me and youn why should @ you S be S just s humdrum pee e pie? Why should you ever be satisfied with tn 'r for power that surges through you; tn d world was never so full of romance neve
 ppnc WhG the e was never so full of creature comforts either d such beautiful cities, such lovely homes suc ,1 ture comfort drives the romance of service iron 'l our wills Give man lance and q horse to-da beans to run on and sell the horse for a bicycle IT Give woman the mantle of Antigone and sh r would paint storks and frogs on it and put it Ii ,r In spite of all anybody can do, the majority o ire, & put but lead lea very @ @ commenpiace ives Common place it will be whether you lead it on one thou d sand year or on ten, whether you are the lead 'i town. You will be in good society, have the ay n craze circle of friends, rent pew in church, d tea agd drift along to the end guilt ,, of nothing worse than gossip. never would d s it; I never would be it.
 y But you say these commonplace people mus "a l be. Somebody has got to run 8 corner grocer ! and wash dishes and give afternoon teas knew a fellow who always console Is himself for standing at the bottom 0 Q his class by saying somebody had got t stand there till he really felt prouder and nor $ useful to the class than all the men ahead 0
 | him.
 There is no need of a common place. ther
 shall not be any such thing one day, the worl d has but just learned that the black man was no ' made to be the slave of the white man, it has no yet learned that half the world was not made t d | work for the other half. All were made to wor n | to supplement one another to subdue the earth Ia and sweep on in career whose glory is beyon - the dreams .of tho highest. Let not tha "a ancient humburg philosophy that somebody mus g be a drudge, somebody must be commonplace s sooth you for a moment Nobody need be con - monplace, nobody was meant to be common re place. The attainment of supreme excellence r. possible to every one, for are not the paths c v ! power as varied as the God endowed character <, of men? There are as many romantic career io open in the world to-day as there are men an er God and nature is being violated whe 3 say to everyone of you fling the con mon place behind you, scorn it, be somethin