The Yale expositor., 1898-12-23


ing counsel into a rage. There is one
man you must manage, or one woman
You must control, in order to please
God and make life a success, and that
is yourself. There are drawbridges to
every castle by which you may keep
out Of your nature foreign foes, but no
man has defense against himself un-
less 1t be q divine defense. Out of the
millions of the human race there is
only one person who can do you per-
manent and everlasting harm, and that
is the being that walks under your own
hat and in your own shoes. The hard
est realm that you will ever have to
govern is the realm between your scalp
and heel. The most dangerous cargo
a ship can carry is dynamite, and the
most perilous thing in ones nature Is
an explosive temper. II your nature Is
hopelessly irascible and tempestuous,
then dramatlze placidity. II the snip
is on fire and you cannot extnguish
the flames, at any rate keep down the
matches. When at some injustice IN
flicted upon you, or some insult oner-
ed, or some wrong done, the best thing
for you to say is to say nothing, and
the best thing for you to write is TO
write nothing. If the meanness done
you is unbearable, or you must express
yourself or die, then l commend plan
that l have once or twice successfully
adopted. Take a sheet of paper. Date
1t at your home or Office. Then put
the wrong-doer's name at the head OF
the letter-page, without any prehX OF
Colonel" or sufflX OF ID. D." and be-
gin with no term OF courtesy, but a
bold and abrupt Sir" Then follow 1t
with a statement of the wrong he has
done you, and of the indignation you
have felt. Put into it the strongest
terms Of eXecration you can employ
without being profane. Sign yoIr
name to the red-hot epistle. Fold IT,
Envelope it. Direct 1t plainly to the
man who has done you wrong. Carry
the letter a week, or two weeks, If need
be, and then destroy it. In Gods
name, destroy It!
Let me know how you meet that first
great offense and l will tell you
whether your life is to be triumph or
a failure. You see. equipcise at such
time means so many things: 1t means
self-control. 1t means capacity to
foresee results. 1t means a confidence
in your own integrity. 1t means a faith
in the Lord God that he will see you
through.
Again: If you would be master OF
the situation, put the best interpreta-
ton on the character and behavior OF
others. Do not be looking for hypo-
critics in churches, or thievirg among
domestic servants, or swindlers among
business men, or malfeasance in office.
There is much in life 10 make men sus-
picious of others. and when that char
acteristic of suspicion becomes domi-
nant. man has secured his own unhap-
piness. and he has become an offense
in all circles. religious, commercial and
political. The man who moves for
committee of Investigation Is generally
a moral derelict. The man who goes
with his nostrils inflated, trying TO dis
cover something malodorous, is not
man, but sleuth-hound! The world
Is full of nice people, generous people,
people who arc doing their best-good
husbands, good wives, good fathers,
good mothers good governors, good
state and national legislators, good rul-
ers. Does some man growl out, That
has not been my experience, and
think Just the opposite?" Well, my
brother, / am sorry for your affective
circumstances, and that you had an IN
fortunate ancestry, ard that you have
kept such bad company and had such
discouraging environment. / notice
that after a man has been making
violent TRADE against his fellow-men,
he is on his way down, and If he live
long enough he will be asking you for
q quarter Of dollar to get drink or
nights lodging. Behave yourself well,
oh. young man, and you will find life
a pleasant thing to live, and the world
full of friends. and Gods benediction
everywhere about you.
Again: If you would he master Of
the situation, expect nothing from
good luck, or haphazard, or gaming ad-
ventures. In this time, when it is esti-
mated that gambling exchanges money
to the amount Of about eighty million
dollars a day. this remark may be use
full. There come times in many
mans life when he hopes to get some
thing for which he does not give an
equivalent, and there are fifty kinds OF
gambling. Stand: aloof from all of
them. Understand that the gambling
spirit is a disease, and the more sue
cessful you are, the more certain you
are to go right on to your own ruin.
Again: II you would be master OF
the situation, never adjourn until to-
morrow what you can do today. The
difference between happy and inspir-
ing work and wearying and exhausting
and dispiriting work is the difference
between work behind you and work be-
fore you. But always wait until you
feel like it, wait until circumstances
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