Chapter 29

At one time I thought of proposing the establishment of horticultural home-missions for promoting the dissemination of flowerpot shrubs in the metropolis, and of showing how much the atmosphere of London would be improved if every London family had one little sweetbrier-bush, a lavender-plant, or a hardy heliotrope to each of its members; so that a couple of millions of such ozone generators should breathe their sweetness into the dank and dead atmosphere of the denser central regions of London.A little practical experience of the difficulty of growing a clean cabbage, or maintaining alive any sort of shrub in the midst of our soot-drizzle, satisfied me that the mission would fail, even tho the sweetbriers were given away by the district visitors; for these simple hardy plants perish in a mid-London atmosphere unless their leaves are periodically sponged and syringed, to wash away the soot particles that otherwise close their stomata and suffocate the plant.

A little practical experience of the difficulty of growing a clean cabbage, or maintaining alive any sort of shrub in the midst of our soot-drizzle, satisfied me that the mission would fail, even tho the sweetbriers were given away by the district visitors; for these simple hardy plants perish in a mid-London atmosphere unless their leaves are periodically sponged and syringed, to wash away the soot particles that otherwise close their stomata and suffocate the plant.

The ingenious scheme would fail because the plants themselves would become foul and need to be cleansed. Failing this, they would die. So in life character is easily incrusted with the spirit of worldliness. (Text.)

(927)

ENVIRONMENT INADEQUATE

Shortly after Chief Justice Chase had gone for the first time to Washington, he was returning to the West. The train stopt at a little station in Virginia, and he was informed that it was the birthplace of Patrick Henry.He immediately left the car and stood upon the platform, admiring the magnificence of the scenery that opens before the traveler. He said, “What an atmosphere! What a view! What glorious mountains! No wonder that Patrick Henry grew here.” One of the natives, who was standing by his side, quietly replied, “Yes, sir; but as far as I have heard, that landscape and those mountains have always been here; but we haven’t seen any more Patrick Henrys.”

(928)

ENVIRONMENT, SPIRITUAL

A Dutch scientist has just completed five years’ study in South America. He took some insects from Holland into the rich tropic atmosphere, changed their environment, put them in a friendly environment, and gave them the best food. He expected to modify their coloring, having exchanged the damp, foggy sky of Holland for the brilliant hues of the tropics. And lo! these insects doubled their size; the dim subdued tints became gay and brilliant. At last he discovered that insects that in Holland crawled, in the South spread their wings to fly and meet God’s sun. He began with potato-bugs in Holland; he ended with brilliant creatures that lived on the nectar of flowers, and only five summers and winters stood between the marvel. Oh, marvelous transformation, through environment and food! More marvelous still the way the soul can grow. Last year you lived in the damp, foggy miasmatic levels of selfishness; sordidness, like a cloud, wrapt you about. Suppose you take down your tent, and move into the tropic realm of love and faith and hope. Open the soul’s wings to the light, the sun and dew of God’s spirit. Live in the atmosphere of purity and prayer. Expel hate and fear, like poisonous winds. Imitate Christ’s life. Love the master spirits. Read the great poets. Insist upon leisure to grow ripe. Guard your hours of solitude; practice the presence of God.—N. D. Hillis.

(929)

ENVIRONMENT THAT TRANSFORMS

The Japanese have an ingenious way of changing the color and appearance of birds and animals. For example, white sparrows are produced by selecting a pair of grayish birds and keeping them in a white cage, in a white room, where they are attended by a person drest in white. The mental effect on a series of generations of birds results in completely white birds. (Text.)

(930)

ENVY

The Duchess of Argyll is reported to have written to various European monarchs asking them whom they envied. Among the answers was one from the Czar of Russia, as follows: “I sincerely envy every man who is not loaded down with the cares of a great empire, and who has not to weep for the woes of a people.”

Not infrequently the envied are the envying, because each one is apt to think his own lot the hardest.

(931)

Good men are often hated for their goodness by bad men, who can not endure the contrast with themselves. An unidentified writer points out this kind of envy in the following verse:

A glowworm sat in the grass;As I passed through the wood I found it;Bright as a diamond it shone,With a halo of light around it.A toad came up from the fen;It was ugly in every feature;Like a thief it crept to the worm,And spat on the shining creature.“What have I done,” said the worm,“As I sat here in silence nightly?”“Nothing,” replied the toad;“But why did you shine so brightly?” (Text.)

A glowworm sat in the grass;As I passed through the wood I found it;Bright as a diamond it shone,With a halo of light around it.

A glowworm sat in the grass;

As I passed through the wood I found it;

Bright as a diamond it shone,

With a halo of light around it.

A toad came up from the fen;It was ugly in every feature;Like a thief it crept to the worm,And spat on the shining creature.

A toad came up from the fen;

It was ugly in every feature;

Like a thief it crept to the worm,

And spat on the shining creature.

“What have I done,” said the worm,“As I sat here in silence nightly?”“Nothing,” replied the toad;“But why did you shine so brightly?” (Text.)

“What have I done,” said the worm,

“As I sat here in silence nightly?”

“Nothing,” replied the toad;

“But why did you shine so brightly?” (Text.)

(932)

ENVY GRATIFIED

Persons accustomed to gaze in awe upon suit-cases and steamer-trunks covered with labels of every size and color, thinking the while enviously of the fortunate owners of such baggage, who have such an advantage over the poor stay-at-homes, may perhaps be surprized to learn that there are shops where such labels may be had.It is quite feasible, therefore, for any one to have his case or trunk covered with nicely worn labels, indicating that the owner thereof has roamed from Sydney to San Francisco; from Copenhagen to Colombo, to say nothing of all the capitals of Europe and Asia, with divers famous water-places thrown in for good measure.—Harper’s Weekly.

It is quite feasible, therefore, for any one to have his case or trunk covered with nicely worn labels, indicating that the owner thereof has roamed from Sydney to San Francisco; from Copenhagen to Colombo, to say nothing of all the capitals of Europe and Asia, with divers famous water-places thrown in for good measure.—Harper’s Weekly.

(933)

Ephemera—SeeBrevity of Life;Happiness a Good.

Epidemic from Neglect—SeeNeglect, Consequences of.

Epitaph, Curious—SeeMan a Timekeeper.

EPITAPHS

The following epitaphs, with the comment on them, are taken from the LondonDaily News:

There is an interesting epitaph on a gravestone in Poling churchyard, Sussex. It runs:HereLieth ye Bodyof Alice, ye wife, of BobtWoolbridge, who Diedthe 27th of May, 1740.Aged 44 years.

There is an interesting epitaph on a gravestone in Poling churchyard, Sussex. It runs:

HereLieth ye Bodyof Alice, ye wife, of BobtWoolbridge, who Diedthe 27th of May, 1740.Aged 44 years.

The World is a round thing,And full of crooked streets.Death is a market place,Where all men meets.If Life was a thingThat money could buy,The Rich would live,And the poor would die.

The World is a round thing,

And full of crooked streets.

Death is a market place,

Where all men meets.

If Life was a thing

That money could buy,

The Rich would live,

And the poor would die.

Here is another:

Poor Martha Snell has gone away,Her would if she could, but her couldn’t stay,She had two sore legs and a badish cough,But it were her legs as carried her off.

Poor Martha Snell has gone away,

Her would if she could, but her couldn’t stay,

She had two sore legs and a badish cough,

But it were her legs as carried her off.

Less comic, but more witty, is the epitaph found at Kingsbridge, S. Devon.Here lieth the body of Robert (commonly called “Bone”) Phillips, who died July 27th, 1793, aged 65 years, and at whose request the following lines are here inscribed:

Less comic, but more witty, is the epitaph found at Kingsbridge, S. Devon.

Here lieth the body of Robert (commonly called “Bone”) Phillips, who died July 27th, 1793, aged 65 years, and at whose request the following lines are here inscribed:

Here lie I at the Chancel door;Here lie I because I am poor;The further in the more you’ll pay,Yet here lie I as warm as they.

Here lie I at the Chancel door;

Here lie I because I am poor;

The further in the more you’ll pay,

Yet here lie I as warm as they.

Here is an epitaph on a last-maker, who is said to be buried at Llanflantwythyl:

Stop, stranger, stop, and wipe a tearFor theLastman atlastlies here,Tho ever-last-ing he has been,He has atlastpassed life’slastscene.Famed for good works, much time he passed,In doing good—He has done hislast.

Stop, stranger, stop, and wipe a tear

For theLastman atlastlies here,

Tho ever-last-ing he has been,

He has atlastpassed life’slastscene.

Famed for good works, much time he passed,

In doing good—He has done hislast.

The following, more philosophic and general in its application, is on an eighteenth-century tombstone in Saint Mary’s Parish Churchyard, Mold, North Wales.

Life’s like an Inn where Travelers stay.Some only Breakfast, and away.Others to dinner stay, and are well fed.The oldest only sup and go to Bed.Long is the Bill who lingers out the day.He that goes the soonest Has the Least to Pay.

Life’s like an Inn where Travelers stay.

Some only Breakfast, and away.

Others to dinner stay, and are well fed.

The oldest only sup and go to Bed.

Long is the Bill who lingers out the day.

He that goes the soonest Has the Least to Pay.

The correspondent also sends us an epitaph which has pithiness and force. It runs:

Here lies W. W.Who will nevermore trouble you.

Here lies W. W.

Who will nevermore trouble you.

It was an epitaph which called forth the following topical epigram from Dr. Samuel Clarke, who had just seen the inscription, “Domus Ultima,” on the vault belonging to the Dukes of Richmond in the Cathedral of Chichester. In a mood of satire he wrote:

Did he who thus inscribed the wallNot read, or not believe, St. Paul,Who says there is, where’er it stands,Another house, not made with hands.Or may we gather from these wordsThat house is not a House of Lords.

Did he who thus inscribed the wall

Not read, or not believe, St. Paul,

Who says there is, where’er it stands,

Another house, not made with hands.

Or may we gather from these words

That house is not a House of Lords.

(934)

Equality, The Spirit of—SeeRespect, No, of Persons.

EQUALIZATION

The practise of some physicians is practically the philosophy of Christian socialism: “From every man according to his ability, to every man according to his need.”

“A Philadelphia judge,” saysAmerican Medicine, “has given expression to the opinion that ‘the life of a rich man is worth more than the life of a poor man, and the physician has a right to charge the millionaire more for his services than he does the laborer.’ He went on further to say that ‘the physician is unlike the merchant, who has goods of different quality to sell at various prices. He must give his best service in every case. Human life has a pecuniary value of variable quality, greater in the millionaire than in the laborer. Thus, the practitioner of common sense has a maximum and a minimum charge, and makes out his bills to suit the pecuniary circumstances of his patients.’” The writer thinks that “there will be no dissent on the part of right-thinking people” from this view. Carried to its logical conclusion, it would appearto justify a sliding-scale of prices for all the necessities of life, carefully adjusted to the varying incomes of the users. (Text.)

(935)

The conclusion reached in this extract leaves out of account the presence in the cosmos of a living God:

The quantity of energy existing in the universe remains constant, but transforms itself little by little into heat uniformly distributed at a temperature everywhere identical. In the end, therefore, there will be neither chemical phenomena nor manifestation of life; the world will still exist, but without motion; and, so to speak, dead.—Lucien Poincaré, “The New Physics and its Evolution.”

(936)

Equilibrium in Nature—SeeComplexity in Organs.

Equipment and Results—SeeMedical Missions.

Error as a Benefactor—SeeDiscovery, Accidental.

ERROR CORRECTED

Human nature must be perfected by long processes of improvement analogous to that employed in getting a perfect chronometer.

From the practical point of view, chronometry has made in these last few years very sensible progress. The errors in the movements of chronometers are corrected in a much more systematic way than formerly, and certain inventions have enabled important improvements to be effected in the construction of these instruments. Thus, the curious properties which steel combined with nickel—so admirably studied by M. Guillaume—exhibits in the matter of dilatation are now utilized so as to almost completely annihilate the influence of variations of temperature.—Lucien Poincaré, “The New Physics and its Evolution.”

(937)

Error Exposed—SeeDogmatism, Mistaken.

ERROR IN REASONING

It frequently happens that men are perfectly correct in their premises and in observing the facts, while their conclusions may be wholly wrong.

Ptolemy clearly saw that, if the alternation from day to night is caused by a rotation of the earth, then points on the equator must move with a speed of nearly one thousand miles an hour, a velocity exceeding more than tenfold that of the wind in the severest storm. A terrible gale would thus always blow from the east; birds in flight and objects thrown into the air would be left behind and carried with frightful rapidity toward the west. As these things do not happen, the earth, Ptolemy concludes, must be at rest.—Charles Lane Poor, “The Solar System.”

(938)

Error Leading to Success—SeeExperiment.

Eruption of Evil—SeeEvil Eruptive.

Escape—SeeIngenuity;Rescue.

ESSENTIALS

Immediately after one of the fiercest battles of the Civil War a chaplain of one of the Federal regiments passed over the field of conflict in the performance of his duty. He noticed among the prostrate bodies one which moved, and quickly was at the side of a dying soldier. Recognizing that the man had not long to live, he at once proceeded to administer, but in rather a formal manner, the consolations of religion. Kneeling at the man’s side, he asked him to what church he belonged, and the surprizing answer came, “The Church which God hath purchased with His own blood.” “Oh, but that is not what I mean,” said the minister, “what is your belief?” The mortally wounded disciple replied, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” “Oh,” said the chaplain, “but you do not understand me—what is your persuasion?” The answer came from lips which were quivering in the agonies of death, “I am persuaded that neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and with these words the soldier passed into the presence of Him who is the Savior of all them that believe in Him.

(939)

Estimating One’s Self—SeeSelf-depreciation.

ETERNAL LIFE, MAKING ROOM FOR

Have you ever noticed what happens when from one cause or another the water-mains in any street have become choked or polluted by the intrusion of some foreign body? You will see some one come along with an iron instrument and turn on the stopcock at some point in the roadway. Immediately there comes an up-rush, a mighty volume of water—swirling, heaving, rolling, hurtling out of the pipes beneath. And you will observe, too, that for a time it seems to be charged with filth; whatever it is that has been blocking the flow of the life-giving element is being stirred up and flung out with immense force. But after a time the jet clears, the evil is gone, the water becomes sweet and pure, and the flow full and steady. Then the covering is replaced; the cleansing process is at an end. And so it is with you and me. God has to get rid of our selfishness somehow that the life eternal may possess us through and through. The cleansing may seem to be a stern matter, but it is best to let Him have his way to the uttermost. We must be crucified with Christ in order to live with Him, but no man would ever repine at what it costs if he could foresee what is to be gained.—R. J. Campbell,The Christian Commonwealth.

(940)

ETERNAL, THE, AT HAND

A lady recently related in one of the journals how she went through a veritable blizzard to view a flower-show. With one step she passed out of the wild night, the deep snow, the bitter wind, into a brilliant hall filled with hyacinths, tulips, jonquils, cyclamens, azaleas, roses and orchids.

It is the privilege of godly men, at any time, to pass at a step from the savage conflicts of life right into the sweet fellowship of God, finding grace to help in the time of need.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(941)

ETERNITY

Walter Samuel Swisher is the author of these lines:

Unquiet sea, that endlessly doth stretchBeyond the straining, finite sight of man:Why dost thou toss in infinite unrest,Oh, why no far, faint shore-line can we scan?Full many a bark thy serried billows crossed,Full many a sail hath spread before the wind,But none hath e’er returned; the tempest-tostAnd anxious mariner doth haven findIn fairer clime, in sunny land afar,Where no storms rudely break or winds contend.There nothing enters in their joy to mar,Who have the peace of God, which knows no end.Oh, may we, too, that stand with straining eye—Looking far out, where wind and wave contend—Set sail with hope to those fair lands that lieBeneath the peace of God, that knows no end.

Unquiet sea, that endlessly doth stretch

Beyond the straining, finite sight of man:

Why dost thou toss in infinite unrest,

Oh, why no far, faint shore-line can we scan?

Full many a bark thy serried billows crossed,

Full many a sail hath spread before the wind,

But none hath e’er returned; the tempest-tost

And anxious mariner doth haven find

In fairer clime, in sunny land afar,

Where no storms rudely break or winds contend.

There nothing enters in their joy to mar,

Who have the peace of God, which knows no end.

Oh, may we, too, that stand with straining eye—

Looking far out, where wind and wave contend—

Set sail with hope to those fair lands that lie

Beneath the peace of God, that knows no end.

(942)

ETERNITY AS A SPUR

Once, when tempted to linger in a lovely landscape, Wesley cried, “I believe there is an eternity; I must arise and go hence”; and those words express the temper of his life. He lived in the spirit of Andrew Marvel’s strong lines:

Ever at my back I hearTime’s winged chariots hurrying near.

Ever at my back I hear

Time’s winged chariots hurrying near.

“And this,” Johnson complained, “is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have his talk out as I do.”—W. H. Fitchett, “Wesley and His Century.”

(943)

Ether, Doctrine of—SeeMystery in Religion.

Ethical Judgments—SeeJudging from Facts.

ETHICAL PRINCIPLE

Horace Bushnell, the great preacher, when he was a young man, was troubled with religious doubts. He was an instructor in Yale College when a gracious revival prevailed in that institution. Fearing lest he should stand in the way of younger men who might follow his example, he became troubled in mind exceedingly. He walked the floor of his room in deep study. At last he reached this conclusion: “There is one thing of which I have no doubt: there is a difference between right and wrong. Am I willing to throw myself on the side of right as far as I can see the right?” That ethical principle dissolved his doubts. (Text.)

(944)

Etiquette—SeeAbsurd Notions.

Etiquette, Breaches of—SeeMissionaries’ Mistakes.

Etiquette in the East—SeeCalls and Conveyances in the East;Propriety.

Etiquette Superseded—SeeCourage versus Etiquette.

EVANESCENT LITERATURE

We may be sure that any piece of literature which attracts only by some trick of style, however it may blaze up for a day and startle the world with its flash, lacks the element of endurance. We do not need much experience to tell us the difference between a lamp and a Roman candle. Even in our day we have seen many reputations flare up, illuminate the sky, and then go out in utter darkness. When we take a proper historical perspective, we see that it is the universal, the simple, that lasts.—Charles Dudley Warner,Atlantic Monthly.

(945)

EVANGELISM, APOSTOLIC

As the fairy god Ceres in the old Greek mythologies went forth from Mount Olympus moving over the desert land, touching the miry bog and widening it into a river; touching the thorn-tree and causing it to be laden with olives, and the brier and it bears its luscious figs; touching the desert plain and it becomes a garden, so these disciples, filled with the light and love of Jesus Christ, go forth into the mortal darkness and spiritual destitution of the heathen world until under their influence pagan Rome casts all her idol gods into the sea and crowns Jesus King of kings and Lord of lords.—J. H. Jowett.

(946)

EVANGELISM, UNHERALDED

In my mail the other evening I received this unsigned letter:

“I won’t let this incident pass without writing to you of it. My little daughter is a member of your Sunday-school. I do not have any religious faith. All my life I have been an unbeliever. The children of our neighborhood went to Sunday-school, and my little girl wanted to go with them. I consented. She came home one Sunday with certain verses to commit to memory, and said that when she learned them perfectly and recited them to her teacher, she would get a Bible as a reward. Last Sunday she did not return at the usual time. I waited for her for a while, and then went to the Sunday-school to see if she was there. I went into a room, and at once saw my little one standing and reciting the verses which she had studied. The young lady who was hearing her had her arm around her. Oh, sir! I can not describe the feeling that went through my whole being. I thought, If some one had done that to me when I was a child, what a different life I might have had! As I stood looking upon the scene, I made up my mind that I would start next Sunday and go to church, and try and get into touch with the spirit which the Sunday-school teacher showed.”—J. F. Carson,Sunday-school Times.

(947)

EVANGELISM, UNUSUAL

Rev. W. E. Bentley, who is rector of an Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, has induced nearly twenty young actors to quit the stage and become Episcopal ministers. He maintains what is almost a theological seminary.

(948)

EVANGELIZATION

In regard to the divine method for the evangelization of the world, the following bit of imagery is not without its deeper meaning. Mr. S. D. Gordon imagines that after Jesus went back to heaven, He and Gabriel had a conversation something like this:

Gabriel is saying: “Master, you died for the whole world down there, did you not?” “Yes.” “You must have suffered much.” “Yes.” “And do they all know about it?” “Oh, no; only a few in Palestine know about it so far.” “Well, Master, what have you done about telling the world that you have died for them? What is your plan?”“Well,” the Master is supposed to answer, “I asked Peter and James and John and Andrew, and some more of them down there, just to make it the business of their lives to tell others, and others, and yet others, and still others, until the last man in the farthest circle has heard the story.”And Gabriel is supposed to answer: “Yes—but—suppose Peter fails. Suppose after a while John simply does not tell others. Suppose their descendants, their successors away off in the first edge of the twentieth century, get so busy that they do not tell others, what then?”And back comes the voice of Jesus, “Gabriel, I haven’t made any other plans—I’m counting on them.” (Text.)

“Well,” the Master is supposed to answer, “I asked Peter and James and John and Andrew, and some more of them down there, just to make it the business of their lives to tell others, and others, and yet others, and still others, until the last man in the farthest circle has heard the story.”

And Gabriel is supposed to answer: “Yes—but—suppose Peter fails. Suppose after a while John simply does not tell others. Suppose their descendants, their successors away off in the first edge of the twentieth century, get so busy that they do not tell others, what then?”

And back comes the voice of Jesus, “Gabriel, I haven’t made any other plans—I’m counting on them.” (Text.)

(949)

EVAPORATION

Said Moody: “We are leaky vessels and need constant replenishing. If we cut a leafy branch from a growing plant and put it in a warm oven, the leaves and stem will soon become smaller and lighter and more brittle, because the water in the branch has been evaporated by the heat. Often more than four-fifths of the weight of a growing plant is water. Hay is dried grass. The farmer cuts his grass and lets it lie exposed to the heat of the sun until most of the water it contained has evaporated.” (Text.)

(950)

Ever-living, The—SeeFuture Reunion.

Evidence—SeeProof.

EVIDENCE, CHRISTIAN

Mr. A. J. Cassatt, the late president of the Pennsylvania Railway, was once making a quiet tour over one of the branches of the system, and wandered into an out-of-the-way switch-yard, where something one of the yardmen was doing did not meet with his approbation. He made some suggestion to the man, who asked: “Who are you that’s trying to teach me my business.” “I am an officer of the road,” replied Mr. Cassatt. “Let’s see your switch-key, then,” said the man suspiciously. Mr. Cassatt pulled from his hip pocket his key-ring, to which was attached the switch-key, which no railroad man in service is ever without. It was sufficient proof for the switchman, who then did as he was told.

If we are going to have any real leadership in dealing with the souls of men they must see in our conversation, in the tone of our character, in the spirit of our life, that we possess the “switch-key,” the evident presence of Christ. (Text.)

(951)

Evidence, Conclusive—SeeTestimony, A Sheep’s.

EVIDENCE, LIVING

The advocates of moderate drinking of intoxicants are among the most persistent and audacious of advisers of their own various deleterious decoctions, but they constantly supply, involuntarily enough, the most appalling contradiction of their own commendations.

A gentleman riding on a car noticed on the advertising spaces, placarded in immense type, the words: “Pure Rye Whisky—Tones up the Body, Brightens the Intellect, Invigorates the Soul.” This kind of “puffing” advertisement is common enough and the gentleman might have paid very little attention to it but his eyes happened to drop to a seat underneath the advertisement on which was lounging a drunken man. The eyes of this wretched being were bleared, his face bloated, with the lines of dissipation deeply engraven in it, and his body slouched down in the collapsing style characteristic of the habitual inebriate. That drunken man was a lurid illustration of the absolute falsehood of the advertisement. He as a ruined victim constituted the true advertisement of the effects of alcoholic indulgence.

(952)

EVIDENCE, PROVIDENTIAL

In the year 1799, Lieutenant Michael Fitton, of H. M. S.Ferret, was cruising off Port Royal, when his crew caught a big shark. Inside it was found a bundle of ship’s papers belonging to an American brig, theNancy. On his return to Port Royal, Lieutenant Fitton found that theNancyhad been brought in for carrying contraband of war. Her skipper produced other papers to the authorities, which apparently cleared the ship—false papers which had been prepared in the event of the vessel being stopt. Her true papers, which proved that theNancywas deeply implicated in the contraband traffic, had been thrown overboard just before she was overhauled, and the shark had swallowed them. The case was tried in the court-house at Kingston, where, at the critical moment, Lieutenant Fitton appeared on the scene and produced his find, to the consternation of the other side. TheNancywas forthwith condemned as a lawful prize, and her skipper was fined and sent to jail.The head of the shark is in London, at the United Service Institution. It was for some time set up on show at Port Royal, Jamaica, with this label attached: “Lieutenant Fitton recommends these jaws for a collar for neutrals to swear through.”

The head of the shark is in London, at the United Service Institution. It was for some time set up on show at Port Royal, Jamaica, with this label attached: “Lieutenant Fitton recommends these jaws for a collar for neutrals to swear through.”

(953)

EVIL, BEGINNINGS OF

A while ago the omnibus on its way from Gray’s Inn Road to Islington (England) had to traverse a narrow and dangerous piece ofroadway—a sharp, slippery declivity called “The Devil’s Slide.” How terrible, indeed, is the devil’s slide! How tempting it is!—a short cut, a very short cut, to fame, wealth, power, pleasure. How graduated and smooth it is! What a specious name it often has! Strangely enough, that declivity in London was called “Mount Pleasant”; and the downward roads of life often are known by charming names. But enter on that slide, and you soon attain a startling velocity; sooner or later you arrive at an ignominious doom. Let no man think himself safe. The circles of crime dipping to very murky depths of hell are not far from any one of us. (Text.)—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(954)

EVIL BY DEGREES

Many a man grows so accustomed to his evil environment that he fails to realize how he is being spiritually ruined.

In a certain laboratory experiment a live frog was placed in water heated at the rate of .0036 of a degree Fahrenheit per second. The frog never moved or showed any sign of distress, but was found at the end of two hours and a half to be dead. The explanation was that at any point of time the temperature of the water showed such little contrast with that of a moment before that the attention of the frog was never attracted by it. It was boiled to death without noticing it.

(955)

EVIL DEFLECTED

Surmounting the tower of the City Hall, Philadelphia, is a colossal statue of William Penn. During a thunder-storm sometimes the lightning plays about its surface of bronze, like oil on water. Electricians say that it can not be damaged because a two-inch copper cable runs down into a well beneath the foundation-walls, conducting the dangerous current harmlessly away.

Still more immune from evil is the man whom God protects. (Text.)

(956)

EVIL DEVELOPMENT RAPID

Evil grows of itself, grows vigorously. With infinite care we rear the rare roses, but how spontaneously and luxuriantly spring the weeds! By costly culture we ripen the golden sheaf, but how the noxious poppies bloom! Very tenderly must we nourish things of beauty, but how the vermin breed and swarm! And so, while the germs of good in our heart come to fruition only after long years of vigilance and devotion, the tares are ever springing up in a night, dashing the beauty with their blackness, and bearing the hundredfold of bitterness and blasting.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(957)

EVIL, DISGUISED

If destructive moral evils were shown in their real hideousness, no one would be drawn toward them! Vernon L. Kellogg describes the disguise of a certain insect:

The whole front of his [a water insect’s] face was smooth and covered over by a sort of mask, so that his terrible jaws and catching nippers were invisible. However, we soon understood this. The mask was the folded-up “catcher,” so disposed that it served, when not in use, actually to hide its own iniquity as well as that of the yawning mouth behind. Only when some small insect, all unsuspecting this smooth masked face, comes close, do the long tongs unfold, shoot out, and reveal the waiting jaws and thirsty throat. A veritable dragon, indeed; sly and cruel and ever hungry for living prey. (Text.)—“Insect Stories.”

(958)

EVIL, ERUPTIVE

Solfatara, a semi-extinct volcano near Pozzuoli, has opened a new crater two hundred and fifty feet from the ancient one. It is emitting a voluminous column of sulfurous gases. The activity of Solfatara always is supposed to coincide with the inactivity of Vesuvius.To stop one bad habit is not to transform the nature. The wicked are like a troubled sea that can not rest. If there are evil fires in the heart when you choke off one evil course the evil breaks out in some other way.

To stop one bad habit is not to transform the nature. The wicked are like a troubled sea that can not rest. If there are evil fires in the heart when you choke off one evil course the evil breaks out in some other way.

(959)

EVIL, ESCAPE FROM

The saying which Rev. W. H. Fitchett attributes to John Wesley’s sister reminds one of Christ’s petition, “I pray not that thou wouldst take them out of the world, but that thou wouldst keep them from its evil.”

Patty Wesley kept her intellect bright, wore a serene face amid all troubles, and by the sheer charm of her mental qualities became one of Dr. Johnson’s most intimate and valued companions. “Evil,” she once said, “was not kept from me, but evil has been kept from harming me.”—“Wesley and His Century.”

(960)

EVIL GERMINAL

One evil contains within itself the possibilities of all evil. Medical writers have now much to tell touching the convertibility of disease. They have come to the conclusion that the constitutional defect appearing in a family in one generation is not necessarily transmitted in that exact form to succeeding generations. What appears at one time as insanity will reveal itself at another as epilepsy or paralysis; convulsions will reassert themselves as hysteria or insanity; insanity is converted into a tendency to suicide; the suicidal tendency will become a mania for drinking; what is neuralgia in the father may be melancholia in the son; what is deformity in one generation may be apoplexy in the next. In an afflicted family the constitutional defect has curious ramifications, and undergoes strange metamorphoses.

It is much the same with evil. Men will indulge in one vice, while they express the utmost abhorrence of other vices of which they could never think themselves susceptible. But this is a mistake. All evils are one in root and essence; and surrendering ourselves to one form of iniquity, we surrender ourselves to all; changing circumstances and temptations will involve the lawbreaker in other sins, and in aggravated guilt.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(961)

When the father of William the Conqueror was departing for the Holy Land, he called together the peers of Normandy and required them to swear allegiance to his young son, who was a mere infant; when the barons smiled at the feeble babe, the king promptly replied, “He is little, but he will grow.” He did grow, and the babyhand ere long ruled the nations as with a rod of iron.

The same may be said of evil in its slenderest beginning, in its most inocuous form: “It is little, but it will grow.” In its beginning it is a fancy, a flash of thought, a look, a word, a touch, a gesture, a tone, an accent, an embryo that no microscope could detect; but at last it is a Cain, a Judas, a Nero. The acorn-cup yields the upas-tree; out of a spark flashes hell.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(962)

EVIL, IGNORING

How many things men permit to trouble them that they could just as easily pass by and forget!

Has it been a weary day?Let it pass;Lots of others on the way—They will pass.Soon the skies will start to lighten,All around begin to brighten—And misfortune cease to frighten—Let it pass.Does the world the wrong way rub you?Let it pass.Does your best friend seem to snub you?Let it pass.Chances are you were mistaken,None are ever quite forsaken.All for naught your faith was shaken—Let it pass.

Has it been a weary day?Let it pass;Lots of others on the way—They will pass.Soon the skies will start to lighten,All around begin to brighten—And misfortune cease to frighten—Let it pass.

Has it been a weary day?

Let it pass;

Lots of others on the way—

They will pass.

Soon the skies will start to lighten,

All around begin to brighten—

And misfortune cease to frighten—

Let it pass.

Does the world the wrong way rub you?Let it pass.Does your best friend seem to snub you?Let it pass.Chances are you were mistaken,None are ever quite forsaken.All for naught your faith was shaken—Let it pass.

Does the world the wrong way rub you?

Let it pass.

Does your best friend seem to snub you?

Let it pass.

Chances are you were mistaken,

None are ever quite forsaken.

All for naught your faith was shaken—

Let it pass.

(963)

Evil Multiplies—SeeWeeds, Warfare Against.

EVIL, PROTECTION FROM

Should not character be saturated with preservative principles that will repel evil influences as the piling mentioned below resists the teredo:

Back to Index Next