Thank God for the might of it,

The ardor, the urge, the delight of it—
Work that springs from the heart's desire,
Setting the brain and the soul on fire-
Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,

And what is so glad as the beat of it,

And what is so kind as the stern command,
Challenging brain and heart and hand?

Work!

Thank God for the pride of it,

For the beautiful, conquering tide of it,
Sweeping the life in its furious flood,
Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood,
Mastering stupor and dull despair,
Moving the dreamer to do and dare.

Oh, what is so good as the urge of it,

And what is so glad as the surge of it,

And what is so strong as the summons deep,
Rousing the torpid soul from sleep?

Work!

Thank God for the pace of it,

For the terrible, keen, swift race of it;
Fiery steeds in full control,

Nostrils a-quiver to greet the goal.
Work, the Power that drives behind,
Guiding the purposes, taming the mind,
Holding the runaway wishes back,
Reining the will to one steady track,

Speeding the energies faster, faster,
Triumphing over disaster,

Oh, what is so good as the pain of it,
And what is so great as the gain of it?
And what is so kind as the cruel goad,
Forcing us on through the rugged road?

Work!

Thank God for the swing of it,

For the clamoring, hammering ring of it,
Passion of labor daily hurled

On the mighty anvils of the world.
Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it?
And what is so huge as the aim of it?
Thundering on through dearth and doubt,
Calling the plan of the Maker out.

Work, the Titan; Work, the friend,
Shaping the earth to a glorious end,

Draining the swamps and blasting the hills,
Doing whatever the Spirit wills—

Rending a continent apart,

To answer the dream of the Master heart.

Thank God for a world where none may shirkThank God for the splendor of work!

PICTURES OF MEMORY

Among the beautiful pictures
That hang on Memory's wall,
Is one of a dim old forest,

That seemeth best of all.
Not for its gnarl'd oaks olden,

Dark with the mistletoe;

Not for the violets golden

That sprinkle the vale below.

Not for the milk-white lilies

-ANGELA MORGAN.

That lean from the fragrant ledge, Coquetting all day with the sunbeams, And stealing their golden edge;

Not for the vines on the upland

Where the bright red berries rest,

Nor the pinks, nor the pale, sweet cowslip,

It seemeth to me the best.

I once had a little brother

With eyes that were dark and deep;
In the lap of that dim old forest,
He lieth in peace asleep.

Light as the down of the thistle,
Free as the winds that blow,

CHAPTER XXIII

AUDIENCE SENSE

"Him we call an artist who shall play on an assembly of men as a master on the keys of a piano,-who seeing the people furious, shall soften and compose them, shall draw them, when he will, to laughter and to tears. Bring him to his audi

ence, and, be they who they may,-coarse or refined, pleased or displeased, sulky or savage, with their opinions in the keeping of a confessor or with their opinions in their bank safes,-he will have them pleased and humored as he chooses; and they shall carry and execute what he bids them."

-EMERSON.

A RARE faculty is audience sense, so rare that it almost requires a seventh son of a seventh son to qualify. Those who have it, use it, in reality, as a sixth sense. It is a difficult thing to define, but he who has it is never in doubt for a moment as to how his message is being received. He senses the mental attitude of his hearers-he feels their reactions in the most subtle degree. He is keenly alive to every response of his audience he feels it quivering under his hand as a violinist feels the response of the strings, and he knows, all the time, just how his talk is "going over." Now this is audience sense developed to the highest degree. It is the result of a fine natural intuition, coupled with a sensitive, high-strung temperament plus wide experience in handling audiences. It is a goal which cannot be reached quickly-but it is a goal which the beginner should keep in sight, nevertheless.

"SIZING UP" AN AUDIENCE AND GETTING CONTACT Let him keep in mind the fact that "Audience

Sense" is a term with a double meaning, and let him use it at first with the idea of applying plain common sense to his work with audiences. Let him learn to watch them closely as he speaks and note the effect of his words-not to go on blindly without paying any attention to results. Let him learn how to make his contact with his audience-how to get hold of them and "feel them out." Let him learn to recognize the cold, chilly, frosty atmosphere of a “hardboiled" audience and how to break the ice-to recognize the glassy stare of a supercritical audience and how to satisfy their "highbrow" instincts. Let him learn to recognize the dull, stony impassive attitude of an indifferent, unresponsive, apathetic audience, and how to draw them out of their shells and win a response.

Soon

In short, he must realize the fact that no two audiences are alike-recognize their symptoms-and treat them accordingly. This ability in the hands of a master of the platform becomes a fine art, but in the beginning it calls for just plain common sense. The student must watch his audience, that's all! he will know just as surely whether he has his audience with him or not as a fisherman knows whether he has a fish on the end of his line. Every new audience will teach him something if he will keep his eyes and ears open.

66

Handling an audience is handling human nature ---usually a very mixed assortment of human nature. I have often seen speakers stand before an audience and talk off into the air as if they were utterly unconscious of the fact that there were five hundred living human beings near. These speakers didn't