THE STILL S:\LVLL VOICE 



grinding up the rocks everywhere — pulverizing the 

 granite, the Hmestone, the sandstone, the basalt, 

 between the upper and nether millstones of air and 

 water to make the soil, but we hear no sound and 

 mark no change; only in geologic time are the results 

 recorded. In still waters we get the rich deposits 

 that add to the fat of the land, and in peaceful, un- 

 troubled times is humanity enriched, and the foun- 

 dations are laid upon which the permanent institu- 

 tions of a nation are built. 



We all know what can be said in favor of turmoil, 

 agitation, w^ar; we all know, as Goethe said, that a 

 man comes to know himself, not in thought, but in 

 action; and the same is true of a nation. Equally do 

 w^e know the value of repose, and the slow, silent 

 activities both in the soul of man and in the proc- 

 esses of nature. The most potent and beneficent 

 forces are stillest. The strength of a sentence is not 

 in its adjectives, but in its verbs and nouns, and the 

 strength of men and of nations is in their calm, sane, 

 meditative moments. In a time of noise and hurry 

 and materialism like ours, the gospel of the still 

 small voice is always seasonable. 



