The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1905-06-02

| that Admiral Dewey owes his promin
ence to the fact that he happened to be
| in charge of our warships in the far
East when war was declared against
Spain and that he was thus enabled to
sail into Manila Bay and there write
his name among the great naval com.
manders of the world. And they argue
had he been in some other place the
world might never have heard of him.
Field Marshal Oyama, until recently
unknown, has been heralded in every
civilized nation of the earth within the
| past few months as q general of re-
markable strength and originality.
Many Of our greatest inventions have
been discovered as if by accident and
the inventor crowned with honor.
Edison's monograph is an Illustration
of this. 1t is said that while talking
into the mouth piece Of telephone a
fine needle point in some way connect
ed with the delicate vibrating dia-
phragm pricked his finger. He at once
conceived the idea of receiving the i'm
preston of the needle on a surface
from which it could be reproduced.
The monograph was the result.
L know of no better explanation of
such circumstances than that given by
Christ in the parable of the Virgins
He tells us of ten virgins who had been
waiting for the coming of the bride
groom. At last he came and the cry
"Go We out to meet him" rang through
the house. They rose up quickly and
trimmed their lamps but some were
without oil and they were obliged to go
away to buy. While they were gone
the bridegroom came and Christ said
"they that were ready went in with
him to the marriage. The going in
was their reward but their highest
honor lay in the fact of their careful
preparation for that event
Admiral Dewey may have been
favored by his location in the Orient
but we honor him most because in
times of peace when il seemed that
war was thing Of the past in our his
tory he gave such careful attention to
the. details of his training that when
the cell came Unexpectedly he was
ready.
A thousand men may have felt the
prick of the needle i'm their work with
the telephone but only Edison recog-
nized in lit possibilities for develop
ment. His had been a life of study
and experiment and when the oppor-
tunity presented itself TO him he was
ready.
Preparation then is the key to sue
cessful life. Great opportunities come
to all but many let them pass unrecog-
niLed. The man who sits waiting for
a chance in life had better busy him
self In preparation for that chance or
he may find that the chance which
comes to him will be taken by another.
When in 1890 the u. S. Senate was
dragging rather YEARLY through de-
bate concerning the sale of public
lands, Mr.. Hayne had made his second
speech and Daniel Webster was called
upon to reply. Here was the oppor-
tunity for him to make his name but
there was no time for preparation.
Was he ready? You have read how
calm and self possessed he seemed as
he rose to speak. You know that he
hurled thunderbolts of eloquence and
logic at his antagonist. That speech
gave him the immortal title of Defend |
er of the Constitution. That speech |
has become a permanent part of our
literature. When his friends |
expressed their surprise and admiration |