good service. Saint Peter was a restless man--an impatient man. He
was always the most impulsive, and the most ready to act, as the
servant of the high priest had occasion to remember; but he both
lied and denied his Lord. It was John reposing upon the breast of
Jesus, who most drew forth the Lord's affection. Martha, worrying
about the house, cumbered with much serving, chose a part inferior
to that of Mary who reposed at the feet of Jesus. It is only in
repose that the powers of the mind are marshalled for great
enterprises and for progress. It is in repose, when passion is
sleeping and reason is clear-eyed, that the military chieftain
marks out his campaign and arranges his forces. He is a poor
commander who throws his troops into the field, and fights without
order, or struggles for no definite end; and there are multitudes
of men who throw themselves into life with an immense splutter,
and fight the fight of life with a great deal of noise, but who
never make any progress, because they have never drawn upon repose
for a plan.

Repose is the cradle of power. It is the fashion to say that great
men are men of great passions, as if their passions were the cause
rather than the concomitant of their greatness. Great elephants
have great legs, but the legs do not make the elephants great.
Great legs, however, are required to move great elephants, and
wherever we find great elephants, we find great legs. Small men
sometimes have great passions, and these passions may so far
overcome them that they shall be the weakest of the weak. The
possession of great passions is often a disadvantage to weak men
and strong men alike, because they furnish so many assailable
points for outside forces. A fortress may be very strongly built,
but if its doors are open, and scaling ladders are run permanently