Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/715



through against his own colleagues in government. No man at the head of affairs can have his way in all things; but he closed his public career by resigning office rather than associate himself with an increase of armaments which he judged unnecessary, and therefore injurious to the cause with which his name is indelibly associated.

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STATIC PROGRESS

Life is not always by motion; sometimes it is improved by waiting. The boat in the lock stands still in order to be lifted higher.

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Stationary Lives—See.

Stationary, The Effect of Things—See .

Statistics, Divorce—See.

Statistics of Churches—See.

Statistics of Sunday-schools—See.

Statues, The Value of—See.

Stature and Situation—See.

Stature not Greatness—See.

STEADINESS OF PROVIDENCE

In a poem, "The World Runs On," Edmund Vance Cook, in The Independent, thus expresses the calm steadiness of God's providences:

So many good people find fault with God, Tho admitting He's doing the best He can, But still they consider it somewhat odd That He doesn't consult them concerning His plan. But the sun sinks down and the sun climbs back, And the world runs round and round its track.

Or they say God doesn't precisely steer This world in the way they think it best, And if He would listen to them, He'd veer A hair to the sou' sou'west by west. But the world sails on and it never turns back And the Mariner makes never a tack.

So many good people are quite inclined To favor God with their best advices, And consider they're something more than kind In helping Him out of critical crises. But the world runs on, as it ran before, And eternally shall run evermore.

So many good people, like you and me, Are deeply concerned for the sins of others, And conceive it their duty that God should be Apprised of the lack in erring brothers. And the myriad sun-stars seed the skies And look at us out of their calm, clear eyes. (Text.)

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STEADY WORKING

Among the country boys who pick berries there are two kinds: one keeps steadily picking through thick and thin, moving only when there are no berries in sight; and the other one runs about looking for the places where berries are thick. But the boy of the first kind is the first one to fill his pail.

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STEDFASTNESS

It was the standing of Jackson's brigade so firmly as to attract the attention of a Confederate officer at Bull Run that led the soubriquet to be applied to him of "Stonewall" Jackson. (Text.)

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Be firm! One constant element in luck Is genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck; See yon tall shaft; it felt the earthquake's thrill, Clung to its base, and greets the sunrise still.

—

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STEPS UPWARD

When one is climbing a mountain whose lofty peak he has long admired from a distance there is an arduous ascent and one with many steps to be made; but how good and wholesome is the way. The path which winds through grassy meadows, the bridge which crosses the rushing stream pouring down from the heights, the slow and toilful ascent, repaid by the purer air and the rarer flowers and the wider vision, over obstacles, and then, at last, the height itself, different