Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Stand like a rock

NEVER GIVE UP. by Martin Tupper
********
Never give up! it is wiser and better
Always to hope than once to despair:
Fling off the load of Doubt's cankering fetter,
And break the dark spell of tyrannical care;
Never give up! or the burden may sink you--
Providence kindly has mingled the cup;
And, in all trials or trouble, bethink you
The watchword of life must be--Never give up!
*********
Never give up!--there are chances and changes
Helping the hopeful a hundred to one,
And through the chaos High Wisdom arranges
Ever success--if you'll only hope on;
Never give up!--for the wisest is boldest,
Knowing that Providence mingles the cup;
And of all maxims the best, as the oldest,
Is the true watchword of--Never give up!
*********
Never give up!--though the grapeshot may rattle,
Or the full thunder-cloud over you burst,
Stand like a rock--and the storm or the battle
Little shall harm you, though doing their worst.
Never give up!--if adversity presses,
Providence wisely has mingled the cup;
And the best counsel, in all your distresses,
Is the stout watchword of--Never give up.
**********
Martin Tupper was born in 1810 the son of a doctor with a prosperous practice in the West End of London. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and it was there he began his life-long friendship with the future PM, W E Gladstone. Their correspondence and the twenty-five scrapbooks which Tupper compiled formed the basis of Derek Hudson's book MARTIN TUPPER His Rise and Fall', published in 1949, to which I am indebted.

**********
At Oxford Tupper was already an ardent Evangelical and hoped to make a career in the Church. But he suffered from a stammer which remained with him until he was about 35 when he cured it, according to his own notes, by constant prayer. Dr Tupper hoped his son would make a career in law, but after several years spent in chambers this idea was also abandoned. Already married and with the first of a large family to provide for, Tupper lived in a small house in London largely dependent on the generosity of his father.
***************
TUPPER QUOTES
Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence.
Martin Farquhar Tupper

Ridicule is a weak weapon when pointed at a strong mind; but common people are cowards and dread an empty laugh.
Martin Farquhar Tupper

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.
Martin Farquhar Tupper

No comments: