Chapter 66

The aim of reasonable people should be to keep themselves in health rather than to be always straying, as it were, upon the confines of disease and seeking assistance from drugs in order to return to conditions from which they should never have suffered themselves to depart. The various alkaline salts and solutions, for example, the advertisements of which meet us at every turn, and which are offered to the public as specifics, safely to be taken, without anything so superfluous as the advice of medical men, for all the various evils which are described by theadvertisers as gout or heartburn, or as the consequences of “uric acid,” do unquestionably, in a certain proportion of cases, afford temporary relief from some discomfort or inconvenience. They do this notwithstanding persistence in the habit or in the indulgence, whatever it may be, the overeating, the want of exercise, the excessive consumption of alcohol or of tobacco, which is really underlying the whole trouble which the drugs are supposed to cure and which at the very best they only temporarily relieve, while they permit the continuance of conditions leading ultimately to degeneration of tissue and to premature death. (Text.)—The Lancet.

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PANIC THROUGH FEAR

The New YorkEvening Postthus describes the condition of panic on our ships at the beginning of the Spanish War:

Almost any officer who served in the fleet before Santiago could relate not one, but a great many incidents that occurred where the men of our ships would have slaughtered each other if the good little angel that sits up aloft (and our exceedingly bad marksmanship at that time) had not protected us from the mistakes (incomprehensible to landsmen) which caused our ships to fire at each other, at colliers, dispatch-boats, torpedo-boats, and at nothing at all—and all this in the clear atmosphere of the tropical seas.Such was the effect of the long, nervous tension that thousands of shots were fired at pure fantoms of the imagination. The broadsides of powerful battleships repeatedly burst into a furious cannonade that was arrested only with the complete annihilation of the supposed enemy. For one of our ships to approach the fleet at night was to run a grave risk. The sea was alive with Spanish torpedo-boats. Signals, lights, etc., were misunderstood or disregarded. The enemy might have obtained possession of them and displayed them for our confusion. There were many narrow escapes. Several of our vessels were struck by shells, but the luck that followed us throughout the war prevented a disaster. I could mention the names of officers who have never been able to comb their hair down flat since the particular night on which they came within an ace of sinking a friend—with whom they have never since ceased to exchange congratulatory drinks. (Text.)—New YorkEvening Post.

Such was the effect of the long, nervous tension that thousands of shots were fired at pure fantoms of the imagination. The broadsides of powerful battleships repeatedly burst into a furious cannonade that was arrested only with the complete annihilation of the supposed enemy. For one of our ships to approach the fleet at night was to run a grave risk. The sea was alive with Spanish torpedo-boats. Signals, lights, etc., were misunderstood or disregarded. The enemy might have obtained possession of them and displayed them for our confusion. There were many narrow escapes. Several of our vessels were struck by shells, but the luck that followed us throughout the war prevented a disaster. I could mention the names of officers who have never been able to comb their hair down flat since the particular night on which they came within an ace of sinking a friend—with whom they have never since ceased to exchange congratulatory drinks. (Text.)—New YorkEvening Post.

(2296)

Panoply—SeeArmor.

Paper, Invention of—SeeAntiquity.

Papers, The Opinions of—SeeReports to Order.

Paralysis—SeeSalvability.

PARADOX

Nature is full of paradoxes. The water which drowns us as a fluent stream can be walked upon as ice. The bullet which, when fired from a musket, carries death, will be harmless if ground to dust before being fired. The crystallized part of the oil of roses, so graceful in its fragrance—a solid at ordinary temperatures, tho readily volatile—is a compound substance, containing exactly the same elements and exactly the same proportions as the gas with which we light the streets. The tea which we daily drink with benefit and pleasure produces palpitation, nervous tremblings, and even paralysis if taken in excess; yet the peculiar organic agent called “thein,” to which tea owes its quality, may be taken by itself (as thein, not as tea) without any appreciable effect—Vyrnwy Morgan, “The Cambro-American Pulpit.”

(2297)

Joseph Hart, the hymnist, wrote “The Paradox,” as follows:

How strange is the course that a Christian must steer!How perplexed is the path he must tread!The hope of his happiness rises from fear,And his life he receives from the dead.His fairest pretensions must wholly be waived,And his best resolutions be crossed;Nor can he expect to be perfectly saved.Till he finds himself utterly lost.When all this is done, and his heart is assuredOf the total remission of sins;When his pardon is signed, and his peace is procured,From that moment his conflict begins.

How strange is the course that a Christian must steer!How perplexed is the path he must tread!The hope of his happiness rises from fear,And his life he receives from the dead.

How strange is the course that a Christian must steer!

How perplexed is the path he must tread!

The hope of his happiness rises from fear,

And his life he receives from the dead.

His fairest pretensions must wholly be waived,And his best resolutions be crossed;Nor can he expect to be perfectly saved.Till he finds himself utterly lost.

His fairest pretensions must wholly be waived,

And his best resolutions be crossed;

Nor can he expect to be perfectly saved.

Till he finds himself utterly lost.

When all this is done, and his heart is assuredOf the total remission of sins;When his pardon is signed, and his peace is procured,From that moment his conflict begins.

When all this is done, and his heart is assured

Of the total remission of sins;

When his pardon is signed, and his peace is procured,

From that moment his conflict begins.

(2298)

PARASITES

Society has too many members who are willing to live on the labor of others, like the shoveler duck described in this extract:

One of the ducks has learned a convenient trick for getting his dinner. Some of the diving brotherhood who feed under water stir up a great deal that floats, and the shoveler, preferring to take his provision from the surface, follows his diving neighbor to the feeding-place, and while the feeders below stir up the inhabitants, he swims around on the surface and catches whatever floats.—Olive Thorne Miller, “The Bird Our Brother.”

(2299)

PARASITISM

Some of the intruding insects that come from oak galls are not harmless. They are the ones called parasites. They live in the houses not for the sake of the protection or the food furnished by the house, but in order to eat the actual dwellers in the house. Often and often not a single real gall-insect comes out in the spring from many of the little houses, but only a little swarm, or sometimes just two or three, or even one, of these insect-devouring parasites that has eaten up the rightful owners of the house.—Vernon L. Kellogg, “Insect Stories.”

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PARDON

In the Isle of Man is an old, gray, ruined tower in which was formerly hanged one of the best governors the island ever possest. He had been accused of treachery to the king during the time of the civil wars, and received sentence of death. Intercession was made for him, and a pardon was sent; but the pardon fell into the hands of his bitter enemy, who kept it locked up, and the governor was executed.

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Pardon, Conditional—SeeMercy, Limitation of.

PARDON FOR A CHILD’S SAKE

The following incident is related by Mrs. Pickett, widow of General George E. Pickett, of the Confederate Army, of her first meeting with President Lincoln after the war:

I was in Richmond when my Soldier fought the awful battle of Five Forks, Richmond surrendered, and the surging sea of fire swept the city. The day after the fire, there was a sharp rap at the door. The servants had all run away. The city was full of Yankees, and my environment had not taught me to love them. With my baby on my arm, I opened the door, and looked up at a tall, gaunt, sad-faced man in ill-fitting clothes. He asked: “Is this George Pickett’s home?”With all the courage and dignity I could muster, I replied: “Yes, and I am his wife, and this is his baby.”“I am Abraham Lincoln.”“The President!” I gasped. I had never seen him, but I knew the intense love and reverence with which my Soldier always spoke of him. The stranger shook his head and replied:“No; Abraham Lincoln, George’s old friend.”The baby pushed away from me and reached out his hands to Mr. Lincoln, who took him in his arms. As he did so an expression of rapt, almost divine tenderness and love lighted up the sad face. It was a look that I have never seen on any other face. The baby opened his mouth wide and insisted upon giving his father’s friend a dewy infantile kiss. As Mr. Lincoln gave the little one back to me, he said:“Tell your father, the rascal, that I forgive him for the sake of your bright eyes.”

With all the courage and dignity I could muster, I replied: “Yes, and I am his wife, and this is his baby.”

“I am Abraham Lincoln.”

“The President!” I gasped. I had never seen him, but I knew the intense love and reverence with which my Soldier always spoke of him. The stranger shook his head and replied:

“No; Abraham Lincoln, George’s old friend.”

The baby pushed away from me and reached out his hands to Mr. Lincoln, who took him in his arms. As he did so an expression of rapt, almost divine tenderness and love lighted up the sad face. It was a look that I have never seen on any other face. The baby opened his mouth wide and insisted upon giving his father’s friend a dewy infantile kiss. As Mr. Lincoln gave the little one back to me, he said:

“Tell your father, the rascal, that I forgive him for the sake of your bright eyes.”

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Pardon through Intercession—SeeSacrificial Mediation.

Parentage—SeeLife, Source of.

PARENTAL CAUTION

On the plain of Troy are dotted many Turkish villages. Thousands of storks make their nests on the roofs of the cottages. When Dr. Schliemann was digging in the ruins of the hill of Hissarlik, and discovering the remains of cities, he had two comfortable nests made for storks on the roof of his hut. But none would take up their abode. The hill was too cold and stormy for the little storks and the parents instinctively knew it.

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Parental Mal-influence—SeePoliteness.

Parental Religion—SeeReligion, Family.

PARENTAL SACRIFICE

D. L. Moody told this story of missionary self-sacrifice:

A good many years ago I was stopping in a house in the West, and saw there a bright boy of thirteen who didn’t bear the name of the family he was living with, and yet was treated like one of the family. Inanswer to my inquiries, the lady said, “He is the son of a missionary. His parents couldn’t educate their children in India, so they came back here. But they had learned the language of India, and they did not feel that it was right for them to stay in this country. Finally, the husband said, ‘You stay here, wife, and educate the children and I will go back.’ The mother said, ‘No; God has used me there with you—we will go back together.’ ‘But,’ the father said, ‘you can’t give up those children. You never have been separated from them since they were born. How can you leave them in this country and go back?’ She replied, bravely, ‘I can do it if Christ wants me to.’ They made it a matter of prayer and put notices in the papers that they were going to leave their children, and asked Christian people to take them and educate them. I saw the notice and wrote that I would take one child and bring it up for Christ’s sake. The mother came and stayed a week in our home and observed everything. She watched the order and discipline of the family, and after she was convinced that it was a safe place to leave her boy, she set the day for departing. My room adjoined hers, and when the time came to start, I heard her pray, ‘Lord Jesus, help me now. I need Thee. Help me to give up this dear boy without a tear, that I may leave him with a smile. Oh, God, give me strength.’ She was helped to leave with a bright smile on her face. She went to five homes in the same way and went back to India, leaving her five children. Some time afterward,” Mr. Moody continued, “I was in Hartford and found a young man busy in the good work of picking up the rough boys of the streets and bringing them to my meetings and trying to lead them to Christ. It pleased me very much and I asked who he was. He was studying in the theological seminary, and I found he was one of those five sons of that brave woman, and all of the five were expecting to return to India to carry on their father’s work.”

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PARENTHOOD AMONG SAVAGES

An Australian mother will coddle her baby with ape-like fondness, and hardly ever let it stray out of sight for the first four years; but as soon as the toddling little imp seems able to take care of itself, its debt of gratitude to its progenitors has to be paid by the worst kind of slavery. At the first sign of insubordination a half-grown boy is apt to be kicked out, if not killed, by his own father. (Text.)—Felix Oswald,Good Health.

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Parentless—SeeSympathy, Practical.

Parents—SeeExample of Parents.

PARENTS AS TEACHERS OF RELIGION

The teaching and preaching by fathers and mothers in the seclusion of the home circle are doing much more to determine the fate of souls than the eloquent sermons and elaborate lessons in pulpit and Sunday-school. Parents are touching life at its beginnings, making impressions that can never be obliterated. The family is the natural and divinely appointed school of religion because it has the first opportunity. The smallest thing at the beginning of life affects all the future. A child but a year old slipt and fell on a wet floor, and tho that was seventy years ago, the man is lame yet. And the moral nature is as easily crippled as the body. The moral lameness we see in the old or middle-aged is often caused by some mistaught or neglected lesson in infancy.—The Cumberland Presbyterian.

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Parents, Example of—SeeFamily Religion.

PARSIMONY IN GIVING

On one occasion a new silver dollar found itself in the same plate with a penny with the head of an Indian upon it. And the goddess of Liberty looked down upon the Indian, and said: “You miserable, copper-faced, feather-trimmed heathen, what are you doing in this plate, in the same company with me?” And the copper coin, with the Indian’s face, responded: “I am found in a great many more missionary gatherings than you are!”

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PARTIALITY

Chief Justice Marshall, of the United States, was all his life an ardent votary of quoits. He was an active member of the Barbecue or Quoit Club for forty years, their main amusement being quoits and backgammon. Great respect was paid to the veteran lawyer in these contests. Once an old Scotch gentleman was called in to decide between him and a keen rival as to the winner, and after a most careful measurement that oracle gave his decision thus:“Maister Mairshall has it a leetle,” tho every bystander saw it was quite the other way. (Text.)—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

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Pass, Let it—SeeEvil, Ignoring.

Passengers to Heaven—SeeObligations to the Church.

PASSING OF LIFE

And this is life—to-day we here abide,Perchance to-morrow we must step aside,We master not our own; no vain regretCan change the path for us which God has set.Then let our footsteps be toward the light,With loving words and deeds make each day bright.Let charity progress to wider plan,Lend gracious ear to creed of every man.—S. D. Gardner.

And this is life—to-day we here abide,Perchance to-morrow we must step aside,We master not our own; no vain regretCan change the path for us which God has set.

And this is life—to-day we here abide,

Perchance to-morrow we must step aside,

We master not our own; no vain regret

Can change the path for us which God has set.

Then let our footsteps be toward the light,With loving words and deeds make each day bright.Let charity progress to wider plan,Lend gracious ear to creed of every man.—S. D. Gardner.

Then let our footsteps be toward the light,

With loving words and deeds make each day bright.

Let charity progress to wider plan,

Lend gracious ear to creed of every man.

—S. D. Gardner.

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PASSION, GROWTH OF

An old man was once walking with a little boy. They came across four shrubs. The old man said to his youthful companion:“Pull up the least one.”He obeyed with ease.“Now the next.”He obeyed, but it did not come so easily.“And the third.”It took all his strength to move its roots, but he succeeded.“Now the fourth.”In vain the lad put forth all his strength. He only made the leaves tremble. He could not move the roots. They had gone strongly into the earth, and no effort could dislodge them.Then the wise old man said to the ardent youth:“This, my son, is just what happens with our passions. When they are young and weak one may by a little watchfulness over self and the help of a little self-denial easily tear them up, but if we let them cast their roots deep into our souls there is no human power can uproot them. For this reason, my child, watch well over the first movements of your soul and study by acts of virtue to keep your passions well in check.” (Text.)

An old man was once walking with a little boy. They came across four shrubs. The old man said to his youthful companion:

“Pull up the least one.”

He obeyed with ease.

“Now the next.”

He obeyed, but it did not come so easily.

“And the third.”

It took all his strength to move its roots, but he succeeded.

“Now the fourth.”

In vain the lad put forth all his strength. He only made the leaves tremble. He could not move the roots. They had gone strongly into the earth, and no effort could dislodge them.

Then the wise old man said to the ardent youth:

“This, my son, is just what happens with our passions. When they are young and weak one may by a little watchfulness over self and the help of a little self-denial easily tear them up, but if we let them cast their roots deep into our souls there is no human power can uproot them. For this reason, my child, watch well over the first movements of your soul and study by acts of virtue to keep your passions well in check.” (Text.)

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Passport, Value of a—SeeToken, Value of a.

Past and Present Compared—SeeReligion Diffused.

PASTOR, THE IDEAL

Give me the pastor whose graces shall possessOf an ambassador the just address;A father’s tenderness, a shepherd’s care,A leader’s courage, which the cross can bear;A ruler’s awe, a watchman’s wakeful eye,A fisher’s patience, and a laborer’s toil;A guide’s dexterity to disembroil;A prophet’s inspiration from above;A teacher’s knowledge, and a Savior’s love.—Bishop Hare.

Give me the pastor whose graces shall possess

Of an ambassador the just address;

A father’s tenderness, a shepherd’s care,

A leader’s courage, which the cross can bear;

A ruler’s awe, a watchman’s wakeful eye,

A fisher’s patience, and a laborer’s toil;

A guide’s dexterity to disembroil;

A prophet’s inspiration from above;

A teacher’s knowledge, and a Savior’s love.

—Bishop Hare.

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Path, Narrow—SeePromises.

PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

A Viennese lady, who had suffered for a long time from cataleptic or lethargic attacks, was finally buried in one of her trances. The sexton, who fortunately happened to be a thief in this instance, had reopened the grave and was busy removing her clothes during the ensuing night, when a resurrection of the dead took place. Stricken with terror, he was running away, when the woman called him back, requesting to be taken to her doctor.A little girl, mentioned by Tissot, shocked at her sister having helped herself to a coveted morsel, remained stiff and motionless for an hour, a spoon in her hand, and her arm outstretched toward the dish.A soldier, quarreling with a companion, in a fit of passion seized a bottle to throw at him; cataleptic rigidity fixt him in this attitude, motionless, unconscious, his eyes full of anger and defiance.In another case a magistrate on the bench, insulted in the middle of his summing up, remained as if petrified in an attitude of indignation and threat at his insulter.Again, we read of priests being cataleptized at the altar in the attitude of elevating the sacrament.—A. de Watteville,Fortnightly Review.

A little girl, mentioned by Tissot, shocked at her sister having helped herself to a coveted morsel, remained stiff and motionless for an hour, a spoon in her hand, and her arm outstretched toward the dish.

A soldier, quarreling with a companion, in a fit of passion seized a bottle to throw at him; cataleptic rigidity fixt him in this attitude, motionless, unconscious, his eyes full of anger and defiance.

In another case a magistrate on the bench, insulted in the middle of his summing up, remained as if petrified in an attitude of indignation and threat at his insulter.

Again, we read of priests being cataleptized at the altar in the attitude of elevating the sacrament.—A. de Watteville,Fortnightly Review.

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PATHS, KEEPING ONE’S OWN

Some twenty years ago a United States naval officer conceived the idea that if vessels eastbound took one ocean path and vessels westbound another, collisions would be avoided. Steamship lines eagerly fell in withthe suggestion, and the result is that ingoing and outgoing liners may follow well-defined lanes of traffic. Separate paths are laid out for vessels of high power. Slow vessels, freighters and the like, have their special steaming zones. Since that time no collision on the high seas between two liners has occurred.

If every man would be equally careful to keep in his own territory moral collisions and many of life’s catastrophes would be avoided.

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PATIENCE

Edward Collins Downing bids us to wait through earth’s night for the coming day of God’s accomplishments:

To those who sit and watch at nightAnd look to God alone for strength,There will arise, I know, at length,A foregleam of eternal light.The morning does not hesitate;The glory of its hour is fixt,Tho sorrow has been strangely mixtIn all our lives, there is no fateThat can retard the coming day.Be patient. In His perfect timeGod’s purpose will unfold, sublime,And light and joy shall have their way.(Text.)

To those who sit and watch at nightAnd look to God alone for strength,There will arise, I know, at length,A foregleam of eternal light.

To those who sit and watch at night

And look to God alone for strength,

There will arise, I know, at length,

A foregleam of eternal light.

The morning does not hesitate;The glory of its hour is fixt,Tho sorrow has been strangely mixtIn all our lives, there is no fate

The morning does not hesitate;

The glory of its hour is fixt,

Tho sorrow has been strangely mixt

In all our lives, there is no fate

That can retard the coming day.Be patient. In His perfect timeGod’s purpose will unfold, sublime,And light and joy shall have their way.(Text.)

That can retard the coming day.

Be patient. In His perfect time

God’s purpose will unfold, sublime,

And light and joy shall have their way.(Text.)

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Lady Henry Somerset has told how her attention was first called to the work of relieving the sufferings of poor city children.

“I was moved in that direction by the rare patience and imagination of one little boy. His example convinced me that patience was one of the qualities I needed most, and in seeking it I grew into that work. I was in a hospital on visiting day while the doctors were changing a plaster-cast which held the crippled boy’s limb. The operation was exceedingly painful, I was told. To my surprize the little sufferer neither stirred nor winced, but made a curious buzzing sound with his mouth. After the doctors left him, I said:“‘How could you possibly stand it?’“‘That’s nothin’,’ he answered; ‘why, I just made believe that a bee was stingin’ me. Bees don’t hurt very much, you know. And I kept buzzin’ because I was afraid I’d forget about its being a bee if I didn’t.’”

“‘How could you possibly stand it?’

“‘That’s nothin’,’ he answered; ‘why, I just made believe that a bee was stingin’ me. Bees don’t hurt very much, you know. And I kept buzzin’ because I was afraid I’d forget about its being a bee if I didn’t.’”

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When the quality most needed in a prime minister, who should be fully master of the situation, was the subject of conversation in the presence of Mr. Pitt, one of the speakers said it was eloquence, another said it was knowledge, a third said it was toil. “No,” said Pitt, “it is patience.” And patience is undoubtedly a prime quality of mastery in any situation.—James T. Fields.

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SeeWait and See;Waiting.

Patriot, Acting the Part of a—SeePretense.

PATRIOTISM

The spirit of Lincoln, who struck hard blows at the Southern cause but always spoke charitably of the Southern people, is embodied in this poem:

The foe that strikes thee,For thy country’s sakeStrike him with all thy might;But while thou strikest,Forget not still to love him. (Text.)—His Majesty the EmperorMutsu Hitoof Japan.Translated byArthur Lloyd.

The foe that strikes thee,

For thy country’s sake

Strike him with all thy might;

But while thou strikest,

Forget not still to love him. (Text.)

—His Majesty the EmperorMutsu Hitoof Japan.

Translated byArthur Lloyd.

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A Japanese mother had given her three sons to the war. The first was reported slain. She smiled and said, “It is well. I am happy.” The second lay dead upon the field. She smiled again and said, “I am still happy.” The third gave up his life and they said to her, “At last you weep!” “Yes,” she said, “but it is because I have no more sons to give to my beloved country!”—Marshall P. Wilder, “Smiling ’Round the World.”

(2318)

SeeFidelity;Home Where the Heart is;Symbol, Power of a.

PATRIOTISM, DISINTERESTED

A rather refreshing sight for this year of our Lord would be a repetition of the office seeking the man as in “Saul’s” case, where it was said, “They sought him (to make him king) but he could not be found.”It is said of Abraham Lincoln that, fully expecting, owing to the meager success of the Union armies up to that time, that he would fail of reelection as President, heresolutely set about putting the governmental departments in order for his successor. He took special pains that as little inconvenience as possible (and detriment to the country’s interests) should be experienced in the transfer of power. How differently he might have acted but for his distinguishing patriotism! Washington once said: “It is of little consequence that my closing days be embittered if only the liberties of my country be conserved.” (Text.)

It is said of Abraham Lincoln that, fully expecting, owing to the meager success of the Union armies up to that time, that he would fail of reelection as President, heresolutely set about putting the governmental departments in order for his successor. He took special pains that as little inconvenience as possible (and detriment to the country’s interests) should be experienced in the transfer of power. How differently he might have acted but for his distinguishing patriotism! Washington once said: “It is of little consequence that my closing days be embittered if only the liberties of my country be conserved.” (Text.)

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Patriotism, Early—SeeLoyalty.

Patriotism, Emblem of—SeeMemorials of Patriotism.

PATRIOTISM, LACK OF

A significant punishment was administered recently to a man in Hoboken, N. J., for an act of disrespect to the Stars and Stripes. He was returning from an entertainment in the early morning hours, when he noticed a large flag flying from a pole in a citizen’s yard. In a spirit of mischief he opened his pocket-knife and cut the halyards and the flag came fluttering to the ground. A policeman saw it fall and promptly arrested the man. When asked by the recorder before whom he was arraigned why he had done the mischief, he had nothing to say but that he objected to see the flag flying at that time in the morning. The recorder answered that it was right to have that flag flying at any time, and he would pass a sentence that would teach the offender a lesson of respect. He ordered him to climb the forty-foot pole and replace the flag, and instructed two policemen to see that it was done. The news of the sentence attracted a crowd and the man was jeered as he clumsily climbed the pole and put the flag back. It is a curious fact that the man who cut the flag down was an American, but it was flying in the yard of a Frenchman, and the arrest was made by an Irish policeman, and the recorder who pronounced sentence is said to be of English descent.

Every one has a contempt for a man who lowers the symbol of his nation’s honor. But it is too often forgotten that dishonorable conduct and unprincipled trickery do more to dishonor the nation to which a man belongs than any insult to his flag.

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Patriotism Scorned—SeeMemorials of Patriotism.

Patrons Cared for—SeeDeportment.

PATTERN, PERFECT

We must not look for truth from men and women whose souls are out of sympathy with truth. The trouble with us all as human beings is that none of our natural virtues are wholly sound and perfect. There is at least a little untruth in all our truth, a little jealousy even in our best praise, a little pride even in our piety, a little superciliousness in our forbearance. Jesus alone could properly claim to be a type for all human character.

In a bullet foundry the first anxiety does not concern the bullets themselves. Of course it is absolutely necessary that each one should be perfectly spherical in shape. The essential antecedent condition is a perfect mold. If the bullet-mold is deformed, every bullet will share its deformity. Therefore the first need is to make the mold right, and then every bullet will share its rectitude.

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PATTERN, THE DIVINE

“Tapestry Weavers,” the poem by Dr. A. G. Chester, on page535, has been translated into Japanese and published in the leading magazine of the country, which circulates over 50,000 copies, and the lines have also been printed in its English form upon large cards, which are distributed throughout the schools of Japan.

A returned missionary from China, who was recently introduced to Doctor Chester, remarked: “I am delighted to make the acquaintance of the author of ‘The Tapestry Weavers,’ a poem I have loved and admired and used by way of illustration for many years.”

In connection with a fair lately held at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York City, for the benefit of the Home for Crippled Children, a number of copies of the poem, printed upon tinted paper and bearing the author’s autograph, sold readily and realized a handsome sum.

ILet us take to our hearts a lesson—no lesson can braver be—From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other side of the sea.Above their heads the pattern hangs, they study it with care,The while their fingers deftly move, their eyes are fastened there.They tell this curious thing besides of the patient, plodding weaver;He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for the right side ever.It is only when the weaving stops, and the web is loosed and turned,That he sees his real handiwork, that his marvelous skill is learned.Ah, the sight of its delicate beauty, how it pays him for all his cost!No rarer, daintier work than his was ever done by the frost.Then the master bringeth him golden hire, and giveth him praise as well,And how happy the heart of the weaver is, no tongue but his own can tell.IIThe years of man are the looms of God, let down from the place of the sun,Wherein we are weaving ever, till the mystic web is done.Weaving blindly, but weaving surely, each for himself his fate—We may not see how the right side looks, we can only weave and wait.But, looking above for the pattern, no weaver hath need to fear,Only let him look clear into heaven—the Perfect Pattern is there.If he keeps the face of the Savior forever and always in sightHis toil shall be sweeter than honey, his weaving is sure to be right.And when the work is ended, and the web is turned and shown,He shall hear the voice of the Master; it shall say unto him, “Well done!”And the white-winged angel of heaven, to bear him thence shall come down;And God shall give him gold for his hire—not coin but a glowing crown. (Text.)

Let us take to our hearts a lesson—no lesson can braver be—From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other side of the sea.

Let us take to our hearts a lesson—no lesson can braver be—

From the ways of the tapestry weavers on the other side of the sea.

Above their heads the pattern hangs, they study it with care,The while their fingers deftly move, their eyes are fastened there.

Above their heads the pattern hangs, they study it with care,

The while their fingers deftly move, their eyes are fastened there.

They tell this curious thing besides of the patient, plodding weaver;He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for the right side ever.

They tell this curious thing besides of the patient, plodding weaver;

He works on the wrong side evermore, but works for the right side ever.

It is only when the weaving stops, and the web is loosed and turned,That he sees his real handiwork, that his marvelous skill is learned.

It is only when the weaving stops, and the web is loosed and turned,

That he sees his real handiwork, that his marvelous skill is learned.

Ah, the sight of its delicate beauty, how it pays him for all his cost!No rarer, daintier work than his was ever done by the frost.

Ah, the sight of its delicate beauty, how it pays him for all his cost!

No rarer, daintier work than his was ever done by the frost.

Then the master bringeth him golden hire, and giveth him praise as well,And how happy the heart of the weaver is, no tongue but his own can tell.

Then the master bringeth him golden hire, and giveth him praise as well,

And how happy the heart of the weaver is, no tongue but his own can tell.

The years of man are the looms of God, let down from the place of the sun,Wherein we are weaving ever, till the mystic web is done.

The years of man are the looms of God, let down from the place of the sun,

Wherein we are weaving ever, till the mystic web is done.

Weaving blindly, but weaving surely, each for himself his fate—We may not see how the right side looks, we can only weave and wait.

Weaving blindly, but weaving surely, each for himself his fate—

We may not see how the right side looks, we can only weave and wait.

But, looking above for the pattern, no weaver hath need to fear,Only let him look clear into heaven—the Perfect Pattern is there.

But, looking above for the pattern, no weaver hath need to fear,

Only let him look clear into heaven—the Perfect Pattern is there.

If he keeps the face of the Savior forever and always in sightHis toil shall be sweeter than honey, his weaving is sure to be right.

If he keeps the face of the Savior forever and always in sight

His toil shall be sweeter than honey, his weaving is sure to be right.

And when the work is ended, and the web is turned and shown,He shall hear the voice of the Master; it shall say unto him, “Well done!”

And when the work is ended, and the web is turned and shown,

He shall hear the voice of the Master; it shall say unto him, “Well done!”

And the white-winged angel of heaven, to bear him thence shall come down;And God shall give him gold for his hire—not coin but a glowing crown. (Text.)

And the white-winged angel of heaven, to bear him thence shall come down;

And God shall give him gold for his hire—not coin but a glowing crown. (Text.)

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PAYMENT OF DEBTS

In a suit lately tried in a Maryland court, the plaintiff testified that his financial position had always been a good one. The opposing counsel took him in hand for cross-examination and undertook to break down his testimony upon this point.“Have you ever been bankrupt?” asked the counsel. “I have not.” “Now, be careful,” admonished the lawyer, with raised finger. “Did you ever stop payment?” “Yes.” “Ah, I thought we should get at the truth,” observed counsel, with an unpleasant smile. “When did this suspension of payment occur?” “When I had paid all I owed,” was the naive reply of the plaintiff.—Success Magazine.

“Have you ever been bankrupt?” asked the counsel. “I have not.” “Now, be careful,” admonished the lawyer, with raised finger. “Did you ever stop payment?” “Yes.” “Ah, I thought we should get at the truth,” observed counsel, with an unpleasant smile. “When did this suspension of payment occur?” “When I had paid all I owed,” was the naive reply of the plaintiff.—Success Magazine.

(2323)

PEACE

The following outlook toward universal peace was written by George Frederick Knowles:

When navies are forgottenAnd fleets are useless things,When the dove shall warm her bosomBeneath the eagle’s wings;When memory of battlesAt last is strange and old,When nations have one bannerAnd creeds have found one fold;When the Hand that sprinkles midnightWith its powdered drifts of sunsHas hushed this tiny tumultOf sects and swords and guns;Then hate’s last note of discordIn all God’s worlds shall cease,In the conquest which is service,In the victory which is peace.

When navies are forgottenAnd fleets are useless things,When the dove shall warm her bosomBeneath the eagle’s wings;

When navies are forgotten

And fleets are useless things,

When the dove shall warm her bosom

Beneath the eagle’s wings;

When memory of battlesAt last is strange and old,When nations have one bannerAnd creeds have found one fold;

When memory of battles

At last is strange and old,

When nations have one banner

And creeds have found one fold;

When the Hand that sprinkles midnightWith its powdered drifts of sunsHas hushed this tiny tumultOf sects and swords and guns;

When the Hand that sprinkles midnight

With its powdered drifts of suns

Has hushed this tiny tumult

Of sects and swords and guns;

Then hate’s last note of discordIn all God’s worlds shall cease,In the conquest which is service,In the victory which is peace.

Then hate’s last note of discord

In all God’s worlds shall cease,

In the conquest which is service,

In the victory which is peace.

(2324)

“The inauguration of a monument of Christ, the Redeemer, on the Cordillera of the Andes,” says Carolina Huidobro, inThe Christian Herald(New York), “has a grand significance, at once political and social. The colossal statue upon a pinnacle 14,000 feet above the sea, surrounded by peaks of perpetual snow, dominating as it does the two countries which stretch out on either sideof the mountain range, is a tangible witness of international brotherhood.... Chile and Argentina have not only created a symbol; they have inculcated into the minds of men for all ages an idea of greater significance than any other in our contemporary age, by erecting that colossal monument to the Christ, with the inscription on its granite pedestal: ‘Sooner shall these mountains crumble to dust than Argentines and Chileans break the peace which, at the feet of Christ, the Redeemer, they have sworn to maintain.’ On the opposite side of the base are the words of the angels’ song over Bethlehem: ‘Peace on earth, good-will to all men.’ The statue cost about $100,000, and was paid for by popular subscription, the working classes contributing liberally.” (Text.)

(2325)

SeeChristmas;Militarism.

PEACE PACT

When William Penn made his treaty with the Indians under the spreading branches of an elm-tree on the banks of the Delaware, it was not for lands, but for peace and friendship. “We meet,” said Penn, “in the broad pathway of good faith and good will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. I will not call you children, for parents sometimes chide their children too severely; nor brothers only, for brothers differ. The friendship between me and you I will not compare to a chain, for that the rains might rust, or the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man’s body were to be divided into two parts; we are all one flesh and blood.” The Indians replied: “We will live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon shall endure.”

Such a peace pact does God make with men; and such a pact ought man and man, and nation and nation to make with each other.

(2326)

Peace Predicted—SeeAge, The New.

PEACEFUL INSTINCT OF SIMIANS

The acquisitive energy of a monkey-swarm must be witnessed to be credited. In the banana-gardens of thetierra calientea Mexican capuchin monkey will exhaust his business opportunities with the dispatch of a Cincinnati bank cashier; but, in his attempt to reach the Canadian side of the hedge with a good armful of plunder, so often falls a victim to the pursuing dogs that monkey-trappers frequently rent an orchard for the special purpose of capturing the retreating marauders. In spite of their mischievous petulance, nearly all the Old World species of our four-handed kinsmen are emotionally sympathetic and ever ready to rescue their wounded friends at the risk of their own lives. At the cry of a captured baby baboon the whole tribe of passionate four-fisters will rush in regardless of consequences, and a similar tendency of cooperation may have given our hairy forefathers a superior chance of survival and secured their victory in their struggle for existence against their feline rivals. Their list of original sins may have included gluttony, covetousness and violence of temper, but hardly a penchant for wanton bloodshed. With the exception of the fox-headed lemurs and the ultra-stupid marmosets, nearly all our simian relatives evince symptoms of a character-trait which might be defined as an instinctive aversion to cruelty. Menagerie monkeys indulge their love of gymnastics by frequent scuffles; but the sight of a bona fide fight awakens a chorus of shrieks expressing a general protest rather than an emotion of fear or even partizan interest, for in an open arena the stouter members of the obstreperous community are sure to rush in and part the combatants.—Felix Oswald,Popular Science Monthly.

(2327)

PEACEMAKER, THE

Just in the shade of the arena’s gate,They trooped and paused; and to the ranks of eyesThat questioned ere they drove them on to fate,Steel-swift, steel-steady, did their answers rise—“I fight to break the tyranny I hate!”“I come to tear the veil from ancient lies!”“I seize the odds! Let others share the prize!”“I fail, that some may conquer, soon or late!”But one who bore, within that radiant line,A look as cool as joy, as firm as pain,And touched his sword, as some rapt village swainTouches the cup that holds his wedding wine,Spoke not, until they urged: “What aim is thine?”“I fight, that none may ever fight again!”—G. M. Hort, LondonNation.

Just in the shade of the arena’s gate,

They trooped and paused; and to the ranks of eyes

That questioned ere they drove them on to fate,

Steel-swift, steel-steady, did their answers rise—

“I fight to break the tyranny I hate!”

“I come to tear the veil from ancient lies!”

“I seize the odds! Let others share the prize!”

“I fail, that some may conquer, soon or late!”

But one who bore, within that radiant line,

A look as cool as joy, as firm as pain,

And touched his sword, as some rapt village swain

Touches the cup that holds his wedding wine,

Spoke not, until they urged: “What aim is thine?”

“I fight, that none may ever fight again!”

—G. M. Hort, LondonNation.

(2328)

Pearl, The Unexpected—SeeDiscovery, Fortunate.

Pearls—SeeAppreciation.

Peccability of Men—SeeVincibleness.

Pedagog Rebuked—SeeUnnatural Education.

PEDIGREE

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