Then Hate's last note of discord
In all God's worlds shall cease,
In the conquest which is service,
In the victory which is peace! (Text.)
(50)
AGENTS, INSIGNIFICANT
Nature shows how the weakness of
God is immeasurably stronger than men;
so does history with equal clearness. The
oft-quoted saying, "Providence is always on
the side of the big battalions," is one with an
imposing sound, but it is disproved by history
over and over again. Some of the decisive
battles of the world were won by the
small battalions. More than once has the
sling and the stone prevailed against the
Philistine army. Battles are won by the big
brain; and wherever that may be, slight
weapons and resources are sufficient for
splendid victories. Now the all-wise God
sits on the throne of the world, and we are
often filled with astonishment at the insignificant
agents with which heaven smites its
foes, and causes victory to settle on the
banners of right and justice. The world's
Ruler defeated Pharaoh with frogs and
flies; He humbled Israel with the grasshopper;
He smeared the splendor of Herod
with worms; on the plains of Russia, He
broke the power of Napoleon with a snowflake.
God has no need to dispatch an archangel;
when once He is angry, a microbe
will do. (Text.)—W. L. Watkinson, "The
Transfigured Sackcloth."
(51)
AGGREGATION
A drop of rain is a very little thing, but here is a calculation of a rainfall:
The rain fell in buckets, the thunder
racketed terribly, and the lightning drew
zigzag lines of bright gold upon the violet
sky.
"So you, too, don't know what an inch of rain is exactly," said the weather clerk, as he looked at his rain-measuring instrument. "Very few people do, it seems. I'll explain it to you.
"An acre is 6,272,640 square inches. An inch of water on an acre is therefore 6,272,640 cubic inches. That amount, at 227 cubic inches to the gallon, equals 22,000 gallons, or 220,000 pounds, or 100 tons.
"An inch of rain is, in other words, rain falling at the rate of 100 tons to the acre."
(52)
AGGRESSION
Many fail through over-caution. A course duly weighed, venture all.
In a more recent number of Robert L.
Taylor's magazine, a leading article speaks
of Admiral Farragut, at Mobile. The
Brooklyn hesitated to go forward. "What's
the matter?" asked the Admiral. "Torpedoes,"
replied the captain. "Dn the
torpedoes,—full speed against the enemy!"
He meant no profanity, but it was a time
for action of the most pronounced sort.
The best protection against the enemy's
fire is a well-directed fire from our own
guns.
General Grant in the civil war of 1861-65 said, "The best defense of Washington is an army before Richmond." These epigrammatic maxims are the best accepted fighting rules known to warfare to this day.
(53)
Colonel Henderson, of the British Army, says in the Science of War:
The Federal strategy in the last year of the
war, with Grant in command and Sherman
his lieutenant, stands out in marked relief to
the disjointed, partial, and complicated operations
of the previous years. . . . Grant
seems to have been the first to recognize
that, as von Moltke puts it, the true objective
of a campaign is the defeat of the enemy's
main army. . . . General Sheridan's summing
up of the handling of the Army of the
Potomac, before Grant took command, is to
the point: "The army was all right; the
trouble was that the commanders never went
out to lick anybody, but always thought first
of keeping from getting licked." Grant, like
Moltke, was always ready to try conclusions.
(54)
Agitation—See Quiet, Study to Be.
AHEAD OF CIRCUMSTANCE
In life there are those who keep just ahead of the breaking wave, and others who halt and it engulfs them. Marshall P. Wilder describes in the extract below the skill of the Hawaiian natives with their canoes:
We donned bathing-suits and took a
surf ride. This is the national sport and,
being at all times sufficiently thrilling,
must be taken in a high surf, a tremendous
experience. The boats are long, deep and
