Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/587



even to his exquisite sensibility, was perfect. It bore an unearthly sweetness that was to him, too truly, a warning of his future and fast-coming doom.

All our life work is, in a way, a preparation for death.

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PREPARATION SUCCEEDS

A life sketch of Richard Mansfield, the great actor, contains the following account of his first success on the stage:

A noted actor had been offered the part but shrank from it, and finally absolutely refused to take it. Mansfield saw its possibilities and was in a fever of eagerness to get it. In the distress and pressure of the situation the manager reluctantly gave it to him. Then the young man began to prepare for the part. He studied everything which would throw light on the character. He interviewed people, visited the haunts of such men as the character represented, and he rehearsed and rehearsed until his eyes gleamed and his whole being was on fire. When he came on the stage for his first act the people were indifferent, not even paying attention to the play, but talking and laughing. Soon a hush fell upon them. They were spellbound. When the curtain fell there was a roar of applause which shook the building, and at the close of the play the audience went out dazed. Richard Mansfield was never to go hungry again. At a bound he had leapt from the dust to the top of the ladder. It makes one's heart leap just to read about it.

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Preparation, Thorough—See.

PRESENCE OF GOD

One day a poor leper came to Dr. Pauline Root's dispensary, in Madura, India, with a small, dirty cloth about his waist. He begged a new garment. It was given and was the cause of great delight. Two weeks later he appeared again, making the same request. Dr. Root asked him, "Where is the cloth I gave you?" "I have it," the old man replied, "but I am old, and will not live long, and some morning it is probable that the people in passing by my little mud hut to the river will look in and see me lying there dead. When I go into God's presence I want to be nice. All day long I go about for my food and I am very dirty and very tired, but when I go home I wash myself and I have kept that beautiful long piece of cloth to wrap myself in when I lie down. I commit myself to God thinking that perhaps the next morning I shall have gone into His presence. (Text.)

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Beneath the shadow of the Great Protection, The soul sits, hushed and calm. Bathed in the peace of that divine affection, No fever-heats of life or dull dejection Can work the spirit harm. Diviner heavens above Look down on it in love. And, as the varying winds move where they will, In whispers soft, through trackless fields of air, So comes the Spirit's breath, serene and still, Its tender messages of love to bear, From men of every race and speech and zone, Making the whole world one, Till every sword shall to a sickle bend, And the long, weary strifes of earth shall end.

—

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This metrical prayer is from the New York Christian Advocate:

Stay with me, Lord; the evening sun declineth, And I am weary of this rugged way. To find repose my fainting spirit pineth— O Lord, be Thou my comfort and my stay! Tremble my steps with age, my hair is gray, And earth-born hopes allure me now no more. But Thou, my Savior, cast me not away. O lead me gently till, my journey o'er, I reach my Father's house, safe sheltered evermore.

Stay with me, Lord; even now to the dark valley My step descendeth, and the chilling gloom Is gathering o'er my pathway deep and dreary— Dread shadows of the ay mysterious tomb. Now may Thy lamp this fearful vale illume; Its light alone these terrors can dispel. Where Thou, my Lord, art guide, no ill can come. Thou mighty Conqueror of death and hell, To Thee I trust my soul and know that all is well.

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