Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

Who, with a natural instinct to discern What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn ; Abides by this resolve, and stops not there, But makes his moral being his prime care. . . , Who, if he be called upon to face Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined Great issues, good or bad for human kind, Is happy as a lover ; and attired With sudden brightness, like a man inspired ; And through the heat of conflict keeps the law In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw ; Or if an unexpected call succeed.

Come when it will, is equal to the need." It is, irideed, a primary qualification for a successful warrior that he should be able to come to instant decision when great perils or great opportunities arise ; and for all of us it is a good thing if we know how (in the world's homely language) to " keep our wits about us.' Men with this habit of decisive action instantly come to the front in sudden emergencies.

We have seen a crowd collected by an accident, and every one staring helplessly, chattering confusedly, unable to assist a sufferer or remedy a mishap, when suddenly a person of calm demeanor forces his way through the press, comprehends all the bearings of the situation at a glance, decides in a moment what can or should be done, and unhesitatingly proceeds to do it.

What a relief is afforded by the appearance of such a one ! How instantaneously everybody acknowledges and yields to DECISION. 145 the master-spirit ! It is men of this stamp who, when a ship is wrecked, inspire the crew, comfort the passengers, prevent disorder, lower the boats, and carry them ashore.

It is men of this stamp who, when the battle is lost, rally the fugitives and cover the retreat of the broken army. It is such men who, when a city is besieged, stimulate the^ spirits of their fellow-citizens, devise measures for the dis- comfiture of the enemy, and maintain the defence so long as there is hope of a prosperous issue.

It was men of this stamp who, when surprised by the sudden outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, saved India for England, by calmly meeting danger wherever it arose, never flinching, never off their guard, never at a loss for expedients, never paralysed by fear or hesi- tation.

Such men, happily, England has always bred in great numbers, or her history would have been written in less glor- ious and enduring characters. It may not be denied, perhaps, that decision is to some extent a physical quality ; that, though a moral power in itself, it is closely connected with physical peculiarities of temperament.

But so much might be said perhaps of all or of most of our vir- tues. The mind cannot release itself entirely from the influ- ences of the body. A fit of indigestion may shake the firmest will, as it shook Napoleon's before the battle of Borodino, and prevented him from marshalling and moving his forces with his customary decisiveness.

John Foster, in his well-known essay on " Decision of Character," goes so far as to say that, if we could trace the histories of all the persons remarkable for strength of will and force of purpose, we should find that the majority were gifted with great constitutional firmness.

If such were 146 BUSINESS HABITS. the case, we should ihink it useless to insist upon the value of " decision of character " in these pages. But we believe that, though often inherited or innate, it is also a product of cultiva- ,tion ; and that a man, constitutionally subject to feebleness or lassitude, may, by diligently watching himself, by carefully guarding against every sign of hesitation or uncertainty, and vdevout submission to the will of God, prevail over the weakness of the flesh.