After the Civil War many offers of places of honor and fame came to Gen. Robert E. Lee. He refused them all, says Thomas Nelson Page, in his biography of the soldier. The only position which he finally did accept was the presidency of Washington College, with a small salary.On one of these occasions Lee was approached with the tender of the presidency of an insurance company at a salary of $50,000 a year. He declined it, saying that it was work with which he was not familiar.“But, general,” said the representative of the insurance company, “you will not be expected to do any work. What we wish is the use of your name.”“Don’t you think,” said General Lee, “that if my name is worth $50,000 a year, I ought to be very careful about taking care of it?” (Text.)—The Youth’s Companion.
After the Civil War many offers of places of honor and fame came to Gen. Robert E. Lee. He refused them all, says Thomas Nelson Page, in his biography of the soldier. The only position which he finally did accept was the presidency of Washington College, with a small salary.
On one of these occasions Lee was approached with the tender of the presidency of an insurance company at a salary of $50,000 a year. He declined it, saying that it was work with which he was not familiar.
“But, general,” said the representative of the insurance company, “you will not be expected to do any work. What we wish is the use of your name.”
“Don’t you think,” said General Lee, “that if my name is worth $50,000 a year, I ought to be very careful about taking care of it?” (Text.)—The Youth’s Companion.
(2705)
REPUTATION AND CHARACTER
Into a certain London establishment some burglars one night made their way, expecting a big haul of valuables. They commenced operations on an immense and very strong iron safe, feeling sure that tho it would be very difficult to force it open, their strenuous efforts would be rewarded at last. For several hours they used their drills and other implements. When the safe was opened they perceived another safe inside the first one, just as strong and fully as difficult to open. They at once realized that their night’s toil had been all in vain, for it would be impossible to open the inner safe before the world would be resuming work.
Into a certain London establishment some burglars one night made their way, expecting a big haul of valuables. They commenced operations on an immense and very strong iron safe, feeling sure that tho it would be very difficult to force it open, their strenuous efforts would be rewarded at last. For several hours they used their drills and other implements. When the safe was opened they perceived another safe inside the first one, just as strong and fully as difficult to open. They at once realized that their night’s toil had been all in vain, for it would be impossible to open the inner safe before the world would be resuming work.
So long as the inner life is strong and unbroken, attacks on a man’s reputation can not rob him of his real treasure of a good character.
(2706)
REPUTATION, VALUE OF
The following is related of “Stonewall” Jackson:
He was never an ornamental soldier, being roughly clad and so plain as to be frequently taken for far less than he was. He and his staff were once compelled to ride through
He was never an ornamental soldier, being roughly clad and so plain as to be frequently taken for far less than he was. He and his staff were once compelled to ride through
a field of uncut oats. The owner rushed out in great indignation, demanding the name of the leader that he might report him.
“My name is Jackson,” replied the general. “What Jackson?” asked the irate farmer. “General Jackson.” “You don’t mean to tell me that you are the famous Stonewall Jackson?” the farmer stammered. “That’s what they call me.” The farmer took off his hat with great reverence and said: “General Jackson, ride over my whole field. Do what you like with it, sir.”—The Sunday Magazine.
(2707)
Requital—SeeGrace;Repayment.
RESCUE
Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, the pioneer missionary to Turkey, was one day crossing the Galata Bridge in Constantinople when his attention was attracted to a crowd. He prest into it to see its object of interest and found a cursing American sailor dying of cholera. The missionary asked him a few questions and was answered by oaths. He had the man removed to a house, and after a few months’ nursing by the Christians of the mission he was able to ship for America. On the morning he left, he called on Dr. Hamlin and said, “I have been a very wicked man, and have done all the evil I could in the world, and now I am going to do all the good I can.”Three years later, the mission received this letter from him:“Dear Mr. Hamlin: Thank God, I will survive the dead! I am here workin’ and blowin’ the gospel trumpet on the Eri Kanal.Yours Brown.”Twenty-five years later Dr. Hamlin met a gentleman in Paris who had just returned from Honolulu. Said he, “I met a man named Brown who has done a great deal of good among the sailors in the Pacific. He can go everywhere and anywhere with the Bible. He told me that once he was dying, a blasphemous dog, in the streets of Constantinople, and you picked him up and saved him soul and body.”
Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, the pioneer missionary to Turkey, was one day crossing the Galata Bridge in Constantinople when his attention was attracted to a crowd. He prest into it to see its object of interest and found a cursing American sailor dying of cholera. The missionary asked him a few questions and was answered by oaths. He had the man removed to a house, and after a few months’ nursing by the Christians of the mission he was able to ship for America. On the morning he left, he called on Dr. Hamlin and said, “I have been a very wicked man, and have done all the evil I could in the world, and now I am going to do all the good I can.”
Three years later, the mission received this letter from him:
“Dear Mr. Hamlin: Thank God, I will survive the dead! I am here workin’ and blowin’ the gospel trumpet on the Eri Kanal.
Yours Brown.”
Twenty-five years later Dr. Hamlin met a gentleman in Paris who had just returned from Honolulu. Said he, “I met a man named Brown who has done a great deal of good among the sailors in the Pacific. He can go everywhere and anywhere with the Bible. He told me that once he was dying, a blasphemous dog, in the streets of Constantinople, and you picked him up and saved him soul and body.”
(2708)
The worth of man is independent of conditions of life or color of skin. An exemplification of that fact is recorded in the history of a rescue in Hongkong harbor:
While the cyclone was at its highest and it was still a question whether the largest steamers in the port would survive the storm, the officers of theSchuylkillnoticed a vague pencil of light through the sheets of rain, lighting up a confusion of loose and drifting shipping. For the first two or three flashes they thought they were menaced with the new peril of lightning, but no detonation followed the flash. A lull in the rain showed that the search-light of the second-class British cruiserAzeliawas following one of her boats while it made a desperate struggle to reach the crew of a foundering Chinese junk. The pencil of light, now bright, now dim, followed the boat as it was pulled by a crew of stout British tars and managed with almost incredible cleverness by its officer. They saw it alongside the junk, saw the Chinese tumble into it half dead with fright and fatigue, and disappear beyond the rays of the search-light. Next morning they learned that the Chinese were landed safely farther down the harbor, but that the boat was crusht like an eggshell against the sea-wall, tho the sailors were saved to a man.
While the cyclone was at its highest and it was still a question whether the largest steamers in the port would survive the storm, the officers of theSchuylkillnoticed a vague pencil of light through the sheets of rain, lighting up a confusion of loose and drifting shipping. For the first two or three flashes they thought they were menaced with the new peril of lightning, but no detonation followed the flash. A lull in the rain showed that the search-light of the second-class British cruiserAzeliawas following one of her boats while it made a desperate struggle to reach the crew of a foundering Chinese junk. The pencil of light, now bright, now dim, followed the boat as it was pulled by a crew of stout British tars and managed with almost incredible cleverness by its officer. They saw it alongside the junk, saw the Chinese tumble into it half dead with fright and fatigue, and disappear beyond the rays of the search-light. Next morning they learned that the Chinese were landed safely farther down the harbor, but that the boat was crusht like an eggshell against the sea-wall, tho the sailors were saved to a man.
(2709)
Many straying souls who have lost the way may be but fallen angels, whom love and kindness might restore.
George MacDonald tells of a young woman who had been led astray. A minister found her one night on his doorstep, and brought her into his house. His little daughter, who was up-stairs with her mother, asked, “Mama, who is it papa has in the library?” Her mother replied, “It is an angel, dear, who has lost her way, and papa is telling her the way back.”
George MacDonald tells of a young woman who had been led astray. A minister found her one night on his doorstep, and brought her into his house. His little daughter, who was up-stairs with her mother, asked, “Mama, who is it papa has in the library?” Her mother replied, “It is an angel, dear, who has lost her way, and papa is telling her the way back.”
(2710)
This incident has been related of the eminent divine, Edward Irving:
When a boy in Scotland with his little sister he went down on the sands of Solway Firth to meet his uncle, who was coming to visit their home. When the tide comes in there, it flows in with a rush. It sweeps on like a flood. All the people there know this danger of the onrushing sea and guard against it, but these little children forgot the time and tide. They were playing in a little pool of water. Suddenly a horseman dashed down from the mountain side. Without a word he came up on a run, secured the two children to the saddle and started for the hills. Faster and faster followed the risingtide, but at last the horseman and his precious load were saved.
When a boy in Scotland with his little sister he went down on the sands of Solway Firth to meet his uncle, who was coming to visit their home. When the tide comes in there, it flows in with a rush. It sweeps on like a flood. All the people there know this danger of the onrushing sea and guard against it, but these little children forgot the time and tide. They were playing in a little pool of water. Suddenly a horseman dashed down from the mountain side. Without a word he came up on a run, secured the two children to the saddle and started for the hills. Faster and faster followed the risingtide, but at last the horseman and his precious load were saved.
The Christian must waste no time if he would save imperilled men. (Text.)
(2711)
A policeman shouted to a boy in the Lancaster Canal at Preston, England, “Hullo! Why are you bathing there?” “Please, sir, I’m not; I’m drowning,” was the boy’s answer, and he promptly sank. The policeman dived and rescued him.
A policeman shouted to a boy in the Lancaster Canal at Preston, England, “Hullo! Why are you bathing there?” “Please, sir, I’m not; I’m drowning,” was the boy’s answer, and he promptly sank. The policeman dived and rescued him.
Many persons who are supposed to be having a good time in the world are really losing their lives.
(2712)
SeeKongo Missionary;Listening for Signals.
RESENTMENT, FREE FROM
A writer in theSaturday Evening Postspeaks thus concerning Lincoln and Lee:
On several occasions I heard him speak most feelingly of the defamation heaped upon him by the South, but never did he exhibit the semblance of resentment. More than once I have heard him say: “If these people only knew us better it would be well for both of us.” He always spoke of them as “these people,” as did General Robert E. Lee, who in personal intercourse usually referred to the Union army when in front of him as “these people.” His last order to Longstreet before Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg was: “These people are there and they must be driven away.” Both of these great characters of our Civil War are now remembered, and will be remembered for all time, as having never uttered a sentence of resentment relating to their opponents in the war.
On several occasions I heard him speak most feelingly of the defamation heaped upon him by the South, but never did he exhibit the semblance of resentment. More than once I have heard him say: “If these people only knew us better it would be well for both of us.” He always spoke of them as “these people,” as did General Robert E. Lee, who in personal intercourse usually referred to the Union army when in front of him as “these people.” His last order to Longstreet before Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg was: “These people are there and they must be driven away.” Both of these great characters of our Civil War are now remembered, and will be remembered for all time, as having never uttered a sentence of resentment relating to their opponents in the war.
(2713)
RESERVATION
An old Indian in northwestern Canada, who for many years had hated Christians, was at last brought to the Savior and wished to be baptized. The examining missionary, the Rev. E. D. Thomas, was convinced that the old man was keeping back something from him, and was clinging to some form of his old belief. It proved to be a charm which he had purchased years before from a very great medicine-man. After a long talk he was persuaded to give it up. It was a small, round tin box wrapt in pieces of dirty calico and sealed with grease and clay. Inside were half a dozen little pieces of stone, each wrapt in brown paper and embedded in down. (Text.)
An old Indian in northwestern Canada, who for many years had hated Christians, was at last brought to the Savior and wished to be baptized. The examining missionary, the Rev. E. D. Thomas, was convinced that the old man was keeping back something from him, and was clinging to some form of his old belief. It proved to be a charm which he had purchased years before from a very great medicine-man. After a long talk he was persuaded to give it up. It was a small, round tin box wrapt in pieces of dirty calico and sealed with grease and clay. Inside were half a dozen little pieces of stone, each wrapt in brown paper and embedded in down. (Text.)
(2714)
RESERVE POWER
No life can be vigorous if it is not kept fresh, responsive, by great physical and mental reserves. As hibernating animals, like the bear, in cold climates sustain life through the winter wholly upon the reserve fat and nutriment stored up in the tissues, so patients who have splendid physical reserves and resisting power are carried through severe sicknesses and sustained through severe illnesses by this reserve surplus, stored-up vital power, while those who lack it, those who have dissipated it in abnormal living and excesses, often lose their lives, even in much less severe illnesses.Great business men accomplish marvels with their reserves. Many of them work but a few hours a day, but they have such tremendous physical reserves and so much stored-up mental energy that they are able to accomplish wonders in a short time, because of their ability to work with great intensity and powerful concentration.People who keep their physical and mental surplus drawn down very low by working a great many hours and almost never taking vacations, who do not fill their reserve reservoir by frequent vacations and by a lot of recreation and play, do not work with anything like the freshness and mental vigor of those who work less hours and constantly accumulate great reserve power.There comes into every life worth while a time when success will turn upon the reserve power. It is then a question of how long your stored-up energy will enable you to hold out. There will often arise emergencies when your success will depend upon how much fight there is in you.—DenverRepublican.
No life can be vigorous if it is not kept fresh, responsive, by great physical and mental reserves. As hibernating animals, like the bear, in cold climates sustain life through the winter wholly upon the reserve fat and nutriment stored up in the tissues, so patients who have splendid physical reserves and resisting power are carried through severe sicknesses and sustained through severe illnesses by this reserve surplus, stored-up vital power, while those who lack it, those who have dissipated it in abnormal living and excesses, often lose their lives, even in much less severe illnesses.
Great business men accomplish marvels with their reserves. Many of them work but a few hours a day, but they have such tremendous physical reserves and so much stored-up mental energy that they are able to accomplish wonders in a short time, because of their ability to work with great intensity and powerful concentration.
People who keep their physical and mental surplus drawn down very low by working a great many hours and almost never taking vacations, who do not fill their reserve reservoir by frequent vacations and by a lot of recreation and play, do not work with anything like the freshness and mental vigor of those who work less hours and constantly accumulate great reserve power.
There comes into every life worth while a time when success will turn upon the reserve power. It is then a question of how long your stored-up energy will enable you to hold out. There will often arise emergencies when your success will depend upon how much fight there is in you.—DenverRepublican.
(2715)
Reserved Merit—SeeBooks and Worth.
RESIGNATION
This note of resignation is written by F. C. Browning:
I can not feelThat all is well when darkening clouds concealThe shining sun;But then, I knowGod lives and loves; and say, since it is so,Thy will be done.I do not seeWhy God should e’en permit some things to be,When He is love.But I can seeTho often dimly through the mystery,His hand above!I do not knowWhere falls the seed that I have tried to sowWith greatest care,But I shall knowThe meaning of each waiting hour below,Sometime, somewhere!I do not lookUpon the present, nor in nature’s book,To read my fate;But I do lookFor promised blessings in God’s holy Book,And I can wait. (Text.)
I can not feelThat all is well when darkening clouds concealThe shining sun;But then, I knowGod lives and loves; and say, since it is so,Thy will be done.I do not seeWhy God should e’en permit some things to be,When He is love.But I can seeTho often dimly through the mystery,His hand above!I do not knowWhere falls the seed that I have tried to sowWith greatest care,But I shall knowThe meaning of each waiting hour below,Sometime, somewhere!I do not lookUpon the present, nor in nature’s book,To read my fate;But I do lookFor promised blessings in God’s holy Book,And I can wait. (Text.)
I can not feelThat all is well when darkening clouds concealThe shining sun;But then, I knowGod lives and loves; and say, since it is so,Thy will be done.
I can not feel
That all is well when darkening clouds conceal
The shining sun;
But then, I know
God lives and loves; and say, since it is so,
Thy will be done.
I do not seeWhy God should e’en permit some things to be,When He is love.But I can seeTho often dimly through the mystery,His hand above!
I do not see
Why God should e’en permit some things to be,
When He is love.
But I can see
Tho often dimly through the mystery,
His hand above!
I do not knowWhere falls the seed that I have tried to sowWith greatest care,But I shall knowThe meaning of each waiting hour below,Sometime, somewhere!
I do not know
Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
With greatest care,
But I shall know
The meaning of each waiting hour below,
Sometime, somewhere!
I do not lookUpon the present, nor in nature’s book,To read my fate;But I do lookFor promised blessings in God’s holy Book,And I can wait. (Text.)
I do not look
Upon the present, nor in nature’s book,
To read my fate;
But I do look
For promised blessings in God’s holy Book,
And I can wait. (Text.)
(2716)
Paul Laurence Dunbar, the negro poet, occupied a unique position in the literary world. W. D. Howells called him the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the negro life esthetically and express it lyrically. While he was dying of consumption, he contributed toLippincott’sthis verse-sermon of resignation:
Because I had loved so deeply,Because I had loved so long,God in his great compassionGave me the gift of song.Because I had loved so vainlyAnd sung with such faltering breath,The Master in infinite mercyOffers the boon of death. (Text.)
Because I had loved so deeply,Because I had loved so long,God in his great compassionGave me the gift of song.Because I had loved so vainlyAnd sung with such faltering breath,The Master in infinite mercyOffers the boon of death. (Text.)
Because I had loved so deeply,Because I had loved so long,God in his great compassionGave me the gift of song.Because I had loved so vainlyAnd sung with such faltering breath,The Master in infinite mercyOffers the boon of death. (Text.)
Because I had loved so deeply,
Because I had loved so long,
God in his great compassion
Gave me the gift of song.
Because I had loved so vainly
And sung with such faltering breath,
The Master in infinite mercy
Offers the boon of death. (Text.)
(2717)
RESISTANCE
Sit upon the shore close to the water’s edge, and let the sand teach you how to resist. It runs out underneath the water, and just lies there; and when the wave hurls its tons upon it, the sand gives way, but makes the water move it. When the water rushes furiously landward, the sand goes with it, but not quite so fast; and when the wave retreats, the sand runs back, but not quite so far. It always stands close to its enemy, and a little in front of him, never lets him strike from a distance, and never allows him to make any permanent mark. It never runs away, and never melts, and it always separates itself from its antagonist and lies ready for another attack. Always prepared for a blow, it never gives one.—James M. Stifler, “The Fighting Saint.”
Sit upon the shore close to the water’s edge, and let the sand teach you how to resist. It runs out underneath the water, and just lies there; and when the wave hurls its tons upon it, the sand gives way, but makes the water move it. When the water rushes furiously landward, the sand goes with it, but not quite so fast; and when the wave retreats, the sand runs back, but not quite so far. It always stands close to its enemy, and a little in front of him, never lets him strike from a distance, and never allows him to make any permanent mark. It never runs away, and never melts, and it always separates itself from its antagonist and lies ready for another attack. Always prepared for a blow, it never gives one.—James M. Stifler, “The Fighting Saint.”
(2718)
The modern treatment of moral germs should be similar to that used in modern surgery:
The new era, which is to succeed the present or “pathologic” era in surgery, is the “physiologic,” and in it we are to take less care about the entrance of possible germs into our surgical wounds and more about keeping the patient in such condition that he can resist them if they do get in.—Literary Digest.
The new era, which is to succeed the present or “pathologic” era in surgery, is the “physiologic,” and in it we are to take less care about the entrance of possible germs into our surgical wounds and more about keeping the patient in such condition that he can resist them if they do get in.—Literary Digest.
(2719)
It is said that Napoleon once ordered a coat of mail. When the artizan completed and delivered it, the emperor ordered him to put it on himself. Then Napoleon, taking a pistol, fired shot after shot at the man in armor. It stood this severe test, and was accepted.
It is said that Napoleon once ordered a coat of mail. When the artizan completed and delivered it, the emperor ordered him to put it on himself. Then Napoleon, taking a pistol, fired shot after shot at the man in armor. It stood this severe test, and was accepted.
(2720)
RESISTANCE AS A LEVERAGE
I know not how the stork, “leaning upon the sirocco,” makes a leverage of the opposing element for her swift flight. I leave the naturalist to explain that. But I do know that the sirocco is a challenge to her unerring instinct and strength of wing. God manipulates the wind. The stork manipulates her wings. And the working of the combination results advantageously to the stork. She does not lean upon the sirocco wind as you would lean upon a couch. That would result in a fall and the bird would be dashed in pieces. The leaning is accompanied by action. While the buoyancy of the air bears her up, the balancing of the wings bears her on. That air-cushion is no “downy bed of ease.” It is a thing to be encountered and overcome. She makes the adversary contribute to her progress. The thing from which men shrink is the thing the bird dares.—C. J. Greenwood.
I know not how the stork, “leaning upon the sirocco,” makes a leverage of the opposing element for her swift flight. I leave the naturalist to explain that. But I do know that the sirocco is a challenge to her unerring instinct and strength of wing. God manipulates the wind. The stork manipulates her wings. And the working of the combination results advantageously to the stork. She does not lean upon the sirocco wind as you would lean upon a couch. That would result in a fall and the bird would be dashed in pieces. The leaning is accompanied by action. While the buoyancy of the air bears her up, the balancing of the wings bears her on. That air-cushion is no “downy bed of ease.” It is a thing to be encountered and overcome. She makes the adversary contribute to her progress. The thing from which men shrink is the thing the bird dares.—C. J. Greenwood.
(2721)
Resistance by Softness—SeeSubstances, Penetrating.
RESOLUTENESS
The famous antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackelton, has astonished his friends by his persistency of purpose. He was long illduring the progress of the “discovery” expedition. His lungs bled for months, but his indomitable purpose prevailed. He struggled heroically against a malady that threatened his life hour by hour. Before he set out he had looked at the map and said at a banquet, “Thanks, here’s to our success. I must not touch wine again until I return. I think we shall do it; at least we will try.” And he reached within ninety-seven miles of the South Pole, and returned to England sound and well.
The famous antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackelton, has astonished his friends by his persistency of purpose. He was long illduring the progress of the “discovery” expedition. His lungs bled for months, but his indomitable purpose prevailed. He struggled heroically against a malady that threatened his life hour by hour. Before he set out he had looked at the map and said at a banquet, “Thanks, here’s to our success. I must not touch wine again until I return. I think we shall do it; at least we will try.” And he reached within ninety-seven miles of the South Pole, and returned to England sound and well.
(2722)
RESOLUTION
Robert Louis Stevenson, in “Virginibus Puerisque,” writes an account of a sea-fight in which he relates this:
Duncan, lying off theTexelwith his own flagship, theVenerable, and only one other vessel, heard that the whole Dutch fleet was putting to sea. He told Captain Hotham to anchor alongside of him in the narrowest part of the channel and fight his vessel till she sank. “I have taken the depth of the water,” added he, “and when theVenerablegoes down, my flag will still fly.” (Text.)
Duncan, lying off theTexelwith his own flagship, theVenerable, and only one other vessel, heard that the whole Dutch fleet was putting to sea. He told Captain Hotham to anchor alongside of him in the narrowest part of the channel and fight his vessel till she sank. “I have taken the depth of the water,” added he, “and when theVenerablegoes down, my flag will still fly.” (Text.)
(2723)
SeeConvictions, Strong.
RESOLUTIONS, GOOD
When Admiral Farragut’s son was ten years old the father said in his hearing that when he was old enough to make a contract and keep it, he had a bargain to offer him. The son rose up and asked the father what the contract was. The admiral said, “The proposal I intend to make is this: If you will not smoke or chew tobacco, drink intoxicating or strong wines, till you are twenty-one years of age, I will then give you one thousand dollars.” “I am old enough to make that bargain now,” said young Farragut. “I will accept the offer.” The bargain was closed, and when young Farragut was twenty-one the cash was handed over to him. A smoking boy can save a thousand dollars in a few years in the same way, besides saving physical energy and moral power.
When Admiral Farragut’s son was ten years old the father said in his hearing that when he was old enough to make a contract and keep it, he had a bargain to offer him. The son rose up and asked the father what the contract was. The admiral said, “The proposal I intend to make is this: If you will not smoke or chew tobacco, drink intoxicating or strong wines, till you are twenty-one years of age, I will then give you one thousand dollars.” “I am old enough to make that bargain now,” said young Farragut. “I will accept the offer.” The bargain was closed, and when young Farragut was twenty-one the cash was handed over to him. A smoking boy can save a thousand dollars in a few years in the same way, besides saving physical energy and moral power.
(2724)
RESOURCEFULNESS
“Where there is a will there is a way.”
“According to a Pittsburg telephone manager,” saysTelephony, “the telephone was put to a novel and unusual use in Washington County recently, enabling two boys, sons of farmers, to hold their positions in their classes in the public schools from which they will graduate in another year. Incidentally, the patience and long-suffering of the country school-teacher was put to an admirable test. Smallpox broke out in the neighborhood in question, and the two scholars were among the early victims. The home was quarantined, and there was every indication that the instruction which they had been receiving would be cut off for an indefinite period. But the teacher was resourceful and willing. He called up the stricken home one evening and proposed that the boys study their lessons as usual, and he would hear them over the telephone. The idea was eagerly received. Each evening they took down the receiver, and the teacher, located several farms away, heard them recite. Neither suffered to an appreciable degree through their absence from school, and their chances for graduation are just as bright as before the disease entered their home.” (Text.)
“According to a Pittsburg telephone manager,” saysTelephony, “the telephone was put to a novel and unusual use in Washington County recently, enabling two boys, sons of farmers, to hold their positions in their classes in the public schools from which they will graduate in another year. Incidentally, the patience and long-suffering of the country school-teacher was put to an admirable test. Smallpox broke out in the neighborhood in question, and the two scholars were among the early victims. The home was quarantined, and there was every indication that the instruction which they had been receiving would be cut off for an indefinite period. But the teacher was resourceful and willing. He called up the stricken home one evening and proposed that the boys study their lessons as usual, and he would hear them over the telephone. The idea was eagerly received. Each evening they took down the receiver, and the teacher, located several farms away, heard them recite. Neither suffered to an appreciable degree through their absence from school, and their chances for graduation are just as bright as before the disease entered their home.” (Text.)
(2725)
SeeMedical Missions.
Resources, American—SeeWaste.
RESOURCES, EXHAUSTED
No life is self-sustained. For the individual and the nation, isolation means death. If the resources by which life is sustained were not furnished by others we should soon be at the end of our career.
Charles Francis Adams, the historian and publicist, of Boston, Mass., in his address at Lexington, Va., on January 19, 1907, at the centennial celebration of General Lee’s birth, told the throng of Southerners, there in the shadow of Lee’s old home, that the Confederacy was beaten in the markets of the world, that the economic laws held it in an iron grip, that if 100,000 men could have been sent to reenforce Lee, in the last days of the war, his condition would have been worse than before, as even their meager food-supply would only the sooner have been exhausted. With the South depleted of food by the four years’ of conflict, with the markets of the world closed to her, and no source of subsistence open to her armies,valor and devotion could count for only little.This consideration enters largely into England’s determination to keep her navy stronger than those of any other two powers. So much of her food-supply comes from abroad that she must maintain control of the ocean routes of trade.
Charles Francis Adams, the historian and publicist, of Boston, Mass., in his address at Lexington, Va., on January 19, 1907, at the centennial celebration of General Lee’s birth, told the throng of Southerners, there in the shadow of Lee’s old home, that the Confederacy was beaten in the markets of the world, that the economic laws held it in an iron grip, that if 100,000 men could have been sent to reenforce Lee, in the last days of the war, his condition would have been worse than before, as even their meager food-supply would only the sooner have been exhausted. With the South depleted of food by the four years’ of conflict, with the markets of the world closed to her, and no source of subsistence open to her armies,valor and devotion could count for only little.
This consideration enters largely into England’s determination to keep her navy stronger than those of any other two powers. So much of her food-supply comes from abroad that she must maintain control of the ocean routes of trade.
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RESOURCES, GOD’S
Disposed somewhat to gloomy thoughts, especially at such times as her husband was maligned or persecuted by his enemies, Luther’s wife was on one occasion given a lesson by the great reformer in this wise: “Indeed, you torment yourself as if God were not Almighty and could not produce new Doctor Martins by the score if the old doctor should happen to drown himself in the Saal.”
Disposed somewhat to gloomy thoughts, especially at such times as her husband was maligned or persecuted by his enemies, Luther’s wife was on one occasion given a lesson by the great reformer in this wise: “Indeed, you torment yourself as if God were not Almighty and could not produce new Doctor Martins by the score if the old doctor should happen to drown himself in the Saal.”
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Resources, Inner—SeeWater of Life.
RESOURCES, MAKING THE BEST OF
In the Tate Gallery in London there is a picture entitled “Hope.” Seated on a globe representing the earth is a woman blindfolded. The water which encloses the globe reaches to her feet. In her hands is a lyre with all the strings broken excepting one. She does not mend the broken chords, she does not wring her hands in helpless remorse over opportunities that are gone forever, but continues playing on the single string that is left unbroken.
In the Tate Gallery in London there is a picture entitled “Hope.” Seated on a globe representing the earth is a woman blindfolded. The water which encloses the globe reaches to her feet. In her hands is a lyre with all the strings broken excepting one. She does not mend the broken chords, she does not wring her hands in helpless remorse over opportunities that are gone forever, but continues playing on the single string that is left unbroken.
It is the part of a brave man to do his best with what material is still at his disposal, instead of wasting time in vainly regretting what might have been. (Text.)
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RESOURCES, SMALL
A general who rose from the ranks in our army told me, not boastingly, that all he inherited from his father, in Vermont, was a pair of second-hand trousers, a sealskin cap, and a tendency to rheumatism. The Spartans gave their cooks only vinegar and salt and commanded them to look for the rest of their sauce in the meats they were to serve.—James T. Fields.
A general who rose from the ranks in our army told me, not boastingly, that all he inherited from his father, in Vermont, was a pair of second-hand trousers, a sealskin cap, and a tendency to rheumatism. The Spartans gave their cooks only vinegar and salt and commanded them to look for the rest of their sauce in the meats they were to serve.—James T. Fields.
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RESPECT FOR TEACHER
In Morley’s “Gladstone” there is a passage from the pen of the great premier, telling how, years after his Eton career, he sat down to a dinner in honor of the severe old head-master who had flogged every boy in the school, most of them many times. They had all hated him, they said. But when he rose to speak at that dinner, such a storm of applause never greeted a triumphant parliamentarian; and tears of affection actually overflowed all eyes.—Burris A. Jenkins, “Proceedings of the Religious Education Association,” 1904.
In Morley’s “Gladstone” there is a passage from the pen of the great premier, telling how, years after his Eton career, he sat down to a dinner in honor of the severe old head-master who had flogged every boy in the school, most of them many times. They had all hated him, they said. But when he rose to speak at that dinner, such a storm of applause never greeted a triumphant parliamentarian; and tears of affection actually overflowed all eyes.—Burris A. Jenkins, “Proceedings of the Religious Education Association,” 1904.
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Respect for the Dead—SeeSympathy by Pleasure-goers.
RESPECT, NO, OF PERSONS
When King George the V was in the navy, he associated on terms of perfect equality with his messmates, among whom he was known. As an illustration of the indifference of his messmates to his royal birth, and of the spirit of equality with which he was treated by them while at sea, an incident may be related.
One night he declined to turn out, as he should have done, to go on watch. His fellow middy, whom he was designated to relieve, and who wanted to turn in, endeavored to arouse the prince. The latter, on receiving two or three shakings, opened his eyes, swore picturesquely, but refused to turn out. He hit the man who had called him one blow on the eye and went to sleep again.The young fellow made no response, but returned to his post, resumed his watch, and thus did duty for the prince. Now, if there is one offense that is heinous, according to midshipman ethics, it is the shirking of a watch.On the following day, the lad who had done double duty, reported the case to his comrades. It was immediately decided to hold a drumhead court-martial in the gun-room. Prince George was brought before it, found guilty by unanimous count, and sentenced to be spanked by the middy who had done his work.The royal culprit was seized by four of the seniors and held face downward, while the middy with the disfigured eye, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, carried out the sentence of the gun-room court. When the prince was released he was furious with rage and mortification, and threatened all sorts of things. But a few hours after he thoughtbetter of it, came to his messmate who had spanked him, and apologized for the blow he had given him, as well as for making him do double duty.
One night he declined to turn out, as he should have done, to go on watch. His fellow middy, whom he was designated to relieve, and who wanted to turn in, endeavored to arouse the prince. The latter, on receiving two or three shakings, opened his eyes, swore picturesquely, but refused to turn out. He hit the man who had called him one blow on the eye and went to sleep again.
The young fellow made no response, but returned to his post, resumed his watch, and thus did duty for the prince. Now, if there is one offense that is heinous, according to midshipman ethics, it is the shirking of a watch.
On the following day, the lad who had done double duty, reported the case to his comrades. It was immediately decided to hold a drumhead court-martial in the gun-room. Prince George was brought before it, found guilty by unanimous count, and sentenced to be spanked by the middy who had done his work.
The royal culprit was seized by four of the seniors and held face downward, while the middy with the disfigured eye, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, carried out the sentence of the gun-room court. When the prince was released he was furious with rage and mortification, and threatened all sorts of things. But a few hours after he thoughtbetter of it, came to his messmate who had spanked him, and apologized for the blow he had given him, as well as for making him do double duty.
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RESPONDING TO THE CALL
I went a few weeks ago out to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to attend the dedication of the gymnasium there built in memory of Hugh McAllister Beaver; and as I came away, his father gave me the history of his regiment in the Civil War, the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers. One of the first chapters of all is entitled “The Sister’s Story.” It is the story of how some of the lads of the regiment came to be enrolled. It was in the year of 1862. President Lincoln had issued a call for 300,000 men and then a call for 300,000 more, and the War Department had drawn up provisions for a draft in case the men were not voluntarily offered; and this one county in Pennsylvania did not wish to stand under the ignominy of a draft, but desired that the men who were to go from that county should offer themselves freely in response to that call. This sister tells of how the appeal came to the little village in which she and her brother lived, in Center County, Pennsylvania. There was a small country academy there, and the summer vacation was just over, and the boys and girls had come back from the farms for the first day of the academy year again. She said that she came walking up the village street with a friend of hers, another little child, and as they came up the pathway through the yard of the school, arm in arm, with a little bunch of flowers held in both their hands and their heads bowed down very close together, as little girls would talk with one another confidentially, they were suddenly imprest with the silence of the school-yard. Instead of the noise of play and the chatter of an opening day at school, all the boys and the little girls were sitting quietly on the school stoop, and when they came they asked the older boys what the trouble was. Was there any specially dark tidings from the war? And they said: “No, it was not that;” but Professor Patterson had decided to enlist and he wanted to know how many of the boys of the school would go with him, and a meeting was to be held in the village church that evening, in which they were all to be given an opportunity to say what they would do. She said that at once she left her little companion and sought out her brother, and she said to him, “Harry, are you going to enlist?” and he said, “Yes, he thought he would.” “Well, but,” the mother argued after they reached home, “you are only sixteen years old; you can not enlist without father’s allowing you to go, and you know how we have all built on you, on your brightness, and are making sacrifices at home in order that you might go to college. You must not go away now to the war.” He insisted that when the opportunity came he was afraid he would have to respond. And the sister tells how that night, in the little village church, when Mr. McAllister, of Bellefonte, made his appeal for volunteers and had finished, the principal of the academy rose with a long paper in his hand; and her girlish heart almost stopt beating when she realized what it was that he was going to do, and then when he had made his careful, simple statement as to the purpose that led him and the motives that constrained him, he said he was going to call the school roll, and every boy who wanted to could respond “Ready” to his name; and in a silence like the silence of death he began at the top of the line: “Andrews,” “Ready”; “Baker,” “Ready”; and when he came down to K the little girl said her breath just absolutely stopt, and when the name Keller was called, she heard a clear, boyish voice answer without a tremor, “Ready” to his name.—R. E. Speer, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.
I went a few weeks ago out to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to attend the dedication of the gymnasium there built in memory of Hugh McAllister Beaver; and as I came away, his father gave me the history of his regiment in the Civil War, the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers. One of the first chapters of all is entitled “The Sister’s Story.” It is the story of how some of the lads of the regiment came to be enrolled. It was in the year of 1862. President Lincoln had issued a call for 300,000 men and then a call for 300,000 more, and the War Department had drawn up provisions for a draft in case the men were not voluntarily offered; and this one county in Pennsylvania did not wish to stand under the ignominy of a draft, but desired that the men who were to go from that county should offer themselves freely in response to that call. This sister tells of how the appeal came to the little village in which she and her brother lived, in Center County, Pennsylvania. There was a small country academy there, and the summer vacation was just over, and the boys and girls had come back from the farms for the first day of the academy year again. She said that she came walking up the village street with a friend of hers, another little child, and as they came up the pathway through the yard of the school, arm in arm, with a little bunch of flowers held in both their hands and their heads bowed down very close together, as little girls would talk with one another confidentially, they were suddenly imprest with the silence of the school-yard. Instead of the noise of play and the chatter of an opening day at school, all the boys and the little girls were sitting quietly on the school stoop, and when they came they asked the older boys what the trouble was. Was there any specially dark tidings from the war? And they said: “No, it was not that;” but Professor Patterson had decided to enlist and he wanted to know how many of the boys of the school would go with him, and a meeting was to be held in the village church that evening, in which they were all to be given an opportunity to say what they would do. She said that at once she left her little companion and sought out her brother, and she said to him, “Harry, are you going to enlist?” and he said, “Yes, he thought he would.” “Well, but,” the mother argued after they reached home, “you are only sixteen years old; you can not enlist without father’s allowing you to go, and you know how we have all built on you, on your brightness, and are making sacrifices at home in order that you might go to college. You must not go away now to the war.” He insisted that when the opportunity came he was afraid he would have to respond. And the sister tells how that night, in the little village church, when Mr. McAllister, of Bellefonte, made his appeal for volunteers and had finished, the principal of the academy rose with a long paper in his hand; and her girlish heart almost stopt beating when she realized what it was that he was going to do, and then when he had made his careful, simple statement as to the purpose that led him and the motives that constrained him, he said he was going to call the school roll, and every boy who wanted to could respond “Ready” to his name; and in a silence like the silence of death he began at the top of the line: “Andrews,” “Ready”; “Baker,” “Ready”; and when he came down to K the little girl said her breath just absolutely stopt, and when the name Keller was called, she heard a clear, boyish voice answer without a tremor, “Ready” to his name.—R. E. Speer, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.
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Response—SeeCharacter.
Response of God—SeeFatherhood.
RESPONSIBILITY
God has crammed both thy palms with living seed;Let not a miser’s clutch keep both hands tight,But scatter on the desert’s barren need,That fragrant blossoms may reward God’s sight.God has dipt deep thy cup into his spring,Which drippeth over, it is so well filled;Lend it to some parched life, and let it bringLaughter and song to voices drought has stilled.God gave to thee His only well-loved Christ,Whose steps have smoothed the road that leads thee home;Tell those whose road is rough, whose way is missed,That He has called all weary men to come.So shall thy giving set for thee God’s smile,And thine own soul drink deep draughts of His love;Earth’s shadows shall grow bright as heaven, the whileA web of glory round thy life is wove.—The British Congregationalist.
God has crammed both thy palms with living seed;Let not a miser’s clutch keep both hands tight,But scatter on the desert’s barren need,That fragrant blossoms may reward God’s sight.God has dipt deep thy cup into his spring,Which drippeth over, it is so well filled;Lend it to some parched life, and let it bringLaughter and song to voices drought has stilled.God gave to thee His only well-loved Christ,Whose steps have smoothed the road that leads thee home;Tell those whose road is rough, whose way is missed,That He has called all weary men to come.So shall thy giving set for thee God’s smile,And thine own soul drink deep draughts of His love;Earth’s shadows shall grow bright as heaven, the whileA web of glory round thy life is wove.—The British Congregationalist.
God has crammed both thy palms with living seed;Let not a miser’s clutch keep both hands tight,But scatter on the desert’s barren need,That fragrant blossoms may reward God’s sight.
God has crammed both thy palms with living seed;
Let not a miser’s clutch keep both hands tight,
But scatter on the desert’s barren need,
That fragrant blossoms may reward God’s sight.
God has dipt deep thy cup into his spring,Which drippeth over, it is so well filled;Lend it to some parched life, and let it bringLaughter and song to voices drought has stilled.
God has dipt deep thy cup into his spring,
Which drippeth over, it is so well filled;
Lend it to some parched life, and let it bring
Laughter and song to voices drought has stilled.
God gave to thee His only well-loved Christ,Whose steps have smoothed the road that leads thee home;Tell those whose road is rough, whose way is missed,That He has called all weary men to come.
God gave to thee His only well-loved Christ,
Whose steps have smoothed the road that leads thee home;
Tell those whose road is rough, whose way is missed,
That He has called all weary men to come.
So shall thy giving set for thee God’s smile,And thine own soul drink deep draughts of His love;Earth’s shadows shall grow bright as heaven, the whileA web of glory round thy life is wove.—The British Congregationalist.
So shall thy giving set for thee God’s smile,
And thine own soul drink deep draughts of His love;
Earth’s shadows shall grow bright as heaven, the while
A web of glory round thy life is wove.
—The British Congregationalist.
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Dignity sometimes goes down before a solemn responsibility. Susannah Wesley started some prayer-meetings in her house. When her husband, the rector, heard of it, it seemed to him to infringe on the dignity of the Anglican order and he wrote to her in disapproval of the meetings. Her reply is quoted in part by Rev. W. H. Fitchett:
If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do this; for that will not satisfy my conscience. But send me your positive command, in such full and express terms as may absolve me from guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity for doing good when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.That terrible sentence was too much for the little rector, and the meetings were continued until he returned from London.—“Wesley and His Century.”
If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do this; for that will not satisfy my conscience. But send me your positive command, in such full and express terms as may absolve me from guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity for doing good when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That terrible sentence was too much for the little rector, and the meetings were continued until he returned from London.—“Wesley and His Century.”
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Men are often exalted in their best moral attitudes by being entrusted with great responsibilities. Thus Lamar Fontaine writes:
I received from Major Livingston Mimms, the chief quartermaster of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, and also of Johnston’s army, acarte blancheon the Confederate treasurer, in these words:“The Confederate States treasurer will honor any draft presented to him signed by Lamar Fontaine.”As I realized the immensity of the trust that this paper conveyed to me, and imposed upon my integrity, I trembled and could hardly sit on my steed, but there arose in my heart a something, a feeling beyond my powers to describe. I was transported to a higher, better plane than I had ever before trod, and a determination that all the gold of earth could not have purchased.—“My Life and My Lectures.”
I received from Major Livingston Mimms, the chief quartermaster of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, and also of Johnston’s army, acarte blancheon the Confederate treasurer, in these words:
“The Confederate States treasurer will honor any draft presented to him signed by Lamar Fontaine.”
As I realized the immensity of the trust that this paper conveyed to me, and imposed upon my integrity, I trembled and could hardly sit on my steed, but there arose in my heart a something, a feeling beyond my powers to describe. I was transported to a higher, better plane than I had ever before trod, and a determination that all the gold of earth could not have purchased.—“My Life and My Lectures.”
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We may often accomplish more by putting responsibility on others rather than exercising it ourselves:
Daniel O’Connell had to defend a prisoner for a capital crime, and the defense was said by the attorney to be hopeless. Sergeant Lefroy happened to be acting for the judge, who had been suddenly indisposed, and being then young and his character known to O’Connell, the latter purposely put several inadmissible questions to the witness, which, of course, were objected to by the opposite counsel. The sergeant at last rather peremptorily stopt further questions of the same kind. O’Connell then, with great warmth, said, “As you refuse me permission to defend my client, I leave his fate in your hands—his blood be on your head if he be condemned.” He left the court at once with majestic stride, in a huff, and paced up and down outside the court for half an hour. At the end of that time his attorney rushed out of court, exclaiming, “He’s acquitted! he’s acquitted!” This stratagem was successful, and O’Connell with complacency told his friends that he had intended to throw the responsibility of the conviction on the judge. (Text.)—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”
Daniel O’Connell had to defend a prisoner for a capital crime, and the defense was said by the attorney to be hopeless. Sergeant Lefroy happened to be acting for the judge, who had been suddenly indisposed, and being then young and his character known to O’Connell, the latter purposely put several inadmissible questions to the witness, which, of course, were objected to by the opposite counsel. The sergeant at last rather peremptorily stopt further questions of the same kind. O’Connell then, with great warmth, said, “As you refuse me permission to defend my client, I leave his fate in your hands—his blood be on your head if he be condemned.” He left the court at once with majestic stride, in a huff, and paced up and down outside the court for half an hour. At the end of that time his attorney rushed out of court, exclaiming, “He’s acquitted! he’s acquitted!” This stratagem was successful, and O’Connell with complacency told his friends that he had intended to throw the responsibility of the conviction on the judge. (Text.)—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”
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One of the particulars in which we are drawn away from our traditions is in respect to the make-up and government of society, and it is in that respect we should retrace our steps and preserve our traditions; because we are suffering ourselves to drift away from the old standards, and we say, with a shrug of the shoulders, that we are not responsible for it; that we have not changed the age, tho the age has changed us. We feel very much as the Scotchman did who entered the fish-market. His dog, being inquisitive, investigated a basket of lobsters, and while he was nosing about incautiously one of the lobsters got hold of his tail, whereupon he went down the street with the lobster as a pendant. Says the man, “Whustle to your dog, mon.” “Nay, nay, mon,” quoth the Scotchman, “you whustle for your lobster.”—Woodrow Wilson.
One of the particulars in which we are drawn away from our traditions is in respect to the make-up and government of society, and it is in that respect we should retrace our steps and preserve our traditions; because we are suffering ourselves to drift away from the old standards, and we say, with a shrug of the shoulders, that we are not responsible for it; that we have not changed the age, tho the age has changed us. We feel very much as the Scotchman did who entered the fish-market. His dog, being inquisitive, investigated a basket of lobsters, and while he was nosing about incautiously one of the lobsters got hold of his tail, whereupon he went down the street with the lobster as a pendant. Says the man, “Whustle to your dog, mon.” “Nay, nay, mon,” quoth the Scotchman, “you whustle for your lobster.”—Woodrow Wilson.
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SeeDesires, Inordinate.
RESPONSIBILITY AFFECTS JUDGMENT
Judge Collamore, who for many years was a distinguished United States Senator from Vermont, used to illustrate his troubles by this story:
He was sitting on the porch of his law office during a recess of Congress, when a farmer drove by and said, “Judge, my conscience troubles me so I can not sleep, about keeping four millions of fellow human beings with the same souls and the same Creator as ourselves in slavery. With all this wealth, I am sure that we, as a nation and as a people individually, will be curst unless slavery is abolished. Now, it is hardly fair to destroy the property of the South, who are not directly responsible, and so I think we ought to all bear our share and buy them out.”Senator Collamore replied: “Well, in part I think you are right. Now, let’s see practically how it works out. The estimated price is four thousand millions of dollars. It would have to be raised by a direct tax proportioned among the States. Vermont’s share would be so many millions. This county, so many hundreds of thousands, this town so many tens of thousands.” Sitting in the same place the next afternoon, and greeting friends as they passed to and from the market, the old Puritan farmer reappeared. Reining up his horses, he shouted: “Judge, I have been thinking over that question. Crops are poor, taxes are high; I don’t think we need bother just at present about them infernal niggers.”
He was sitting on the porch of his law office during a recess of Congress, when a farmer drove by and said, “Judge, my conscience troubles me so I can not sleep, about keeping four millions of fellow human beings with the same souls and the same Creator as ourselves in slavery. With all this wealth, I am sure that we, as a nation and as a people individually, will be curst unless slavery is abolished. Now, it is hardly fair to destroy the property of the South, who are not directly responsible, and so I think we ought to all bear our share and buy them out.”
Senator Collamore replied: “Well, in part I think you are right. Now, let’s see practically how it works out. The estimated price is four thousand millions of dollars. It would have to be raised by a direct tax proportioned among the States. Vermont’s share would be so many millions. This county, so many hundreds of thousands, this town so many tens of thousands.” Sitting in the same place the next afternoon, and greeting friends as they passed to and from the market, the old Puritan farmer reappeared. Reining up his horses, he shouted: “Judge, I have been thinking over that question. Crops are poor, taxes are high; I don’t think we need bother just at present about them infernal niggers.”
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RESPONSIBILITY EVADED
When the Massachusetts Sixth was there in Baltimore and being mobbed, and stood for a long time perfectly patient till their officers commanded them to fire, a long Yankee—who had stood watching this crowd and saw that the poor ruffians round about were merely the tools of the respectable scoundrels standing away across the square on boxes and barrels—stept out from the ranks and drew his bead and sent a bullet through one scoundrel’s heart, and knocked him like a pigeon off a branch. In Baltimore I heard the other side of that story, when a clergyman of that city told me, “We lost a good deal out of our church that day.” “Ah?” said I, “how was that?” “Well, one of the class-leaders of our church was down there looking-on. He stood on a box on the other side of the square; he was not among the crowd at all, but a stray bullet came across the end of the square and shot him!” He was one of those broadclothed scoundrels, with a gold-headed cane, surrounding those poor fellows, and ought to have been shot.—Henry Ward Beecher.
When the Massachusetts Sixth was there in Baltimore and being mobbed, and stood for a long time perfectly patient till their officers commanded them to fire, a long Yankee—who had stood watching this crowd and saw that the poor ruffians round about were merely the tools of the respectable scoundrels standing away across the square on boxes and barrels—stept out from the ranks and drew his bead and sent a bullet through one scoundrel’s heart, and knocked him like a pigeon off a branch. In Baltimore I heard the other side of that story, when a clergyman of that city told me, “We lost a good deal out of our church that day.” “Ah?” said I, “how was that?” “Well, one of the class-leaders of our church was down there looking-on. He stood on a box on the other side of the square; he was not among the crowd at all, but a stray bullet came across the end of the square and shot him!” He was one of those broadclothed scoundrels, with a gold-headed cane, surrounding those poor fellows, and ought to have been shot.—Henry Ward Beecher.
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Responsibility for Others—SeeMutualism.
RESPONSIBILITY OF GREATNESS
Does some Napoleon “wade through slaughter to a throne, and shut the gates of mercy on mankind,” and break the hearts of a million peasant women, and handicap the careers of ten millions of orphan children? Recently when I used Napoleon in an address as an illustration of unbridled and selfish ambition, and spoke of him as a man raised up to correct the abuses of the French Revolution, who ought to have imitated Washington and Jefferson, and as a man of patriotism all compact concluded his career without a mixture of meanness and sin, a score of people wrote protesting against judging Napoleon by the ordinary standards of morality. Does Goethe forget the law of marriage? For thirty years cast the reins loose on the neck of passion? Use a score of women as material and dynamic for literary work? It is said Goethe was too great to be held down to the ordinary petty rules that control the limited career of peasant souls. Does Byron forget the law of sobriety, and fling himself into wild excesses and lift the cup of flame to his lips? It is said that Byron is a child of genius, quite beyond the pale of convention. Does some Crœsus with the money-making gift get his hands on the reins of power use his secret knowledge to secure exemption from taxes and enjoy special privileges, freeing himself from economic duties that his competitors must bear, not only for themselves alone but for him? The excuse is that the moral laws that hold for those that buy and sell a few pounds of groceries are to be laid on the table and abrogated in the presence of the merchant princes owning uncounted millions.The biographies of great men are filled with excuses for great generals who have been selfish, of poets who have been wild and lawless, apologies for statesmen who have been drunken, merchants who have been false. And the whole world has suffered through this misconception. As men go toward greatness they go toward responsibilityand obligation. It is true that the great man with his gifts must not be judged by ordinary rules—he must be held to extraordinary rules and standards doubly severe. Selfishness can be pardoned in a peasant soldier, not in a great general.—N. D. Hillis.
Does some Napoleon “wade through slaughter to a throne, and shut the gates of mercy on mankind,” and break the hearts of a million peasant women, and handicap the careers of ten millions of orphan children? Recently when I used Napoleon in an address as an illustration of unbridled and selfish ambition, and spoke of him as a man raised up to correct the abuses of the French Revolution, who ought to have imitated Washington and Jefferson, and as a man of patriotism all compact concluded his career without a mixture of meanness and sin, a score of people wrote protesting against judging Napoleon by the ordinary standards of morality. Does Goethe forget the law of marriage? For thirty years cast the reins loose on the neck of passion? Use a score of women as material and dynamic for literary work? It is said Goethe was too great to be held down to the ordinary petty rules that control the limited career of peasant souls. Does Byron forget the law of sobriety, and fling himself into wild excesses and lift the cup of flame to his lips? It is said that Byron is a child of genius, quite beyond the pale of convention. Does some Crœsus with the money-making gift get his hands on the reins of power use his secret knowledge to secure exemption from taxes and enjoy special privileges, freeing himself from economic duties that his competitors must bear, not only for themselves alone but for him? The excuse is that the moral laws that hold for those that buy and sell a few pounds of groceries are to be laid on the table and abrogated in the presence of the merchant princes owning uncounted millions.
The biographies of great men are filled with excuses for great generals who have been selfish, of poets who have been wild and lawless, apologies for statesmen who have been drunken, merchants who have been false. And the whole world has suffered through this misconception. As men go toward greatness they go toward responsibilityand obligation. It is true that the great man with his gifts must not be judged by ordinary rules—he must be held to extraordinary rules and standards doubly severe. Selfishness can be pardoned in a peasant soldier, not in a great general.—N. D. Hillis.
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Responsibility of Privilege—SeePrivilege Involves Responsibility.
Responsibility, Personal—SeePlace, Filling One’s.
Responsibility, Sense of—SeePersonal Preaching.
RESPONSIBILITY, UNDESIRABLE
The following Lincoln anecdote is quoted in theLiterary Digest:
One evening, just before the close of the Civil War, he had some visitors at the White House, among them some Senators and members of Congress. One of the guests asked the President what he would do with Jefferson Davis if he were captured. Crossing his legs and looking at his friends with that peculiar twinkle in his eyes, he said: “Gentlemen, that reminds me of an incident of my home in Illinois. One morning, when I was on my way to the office, I saw a small boy standing on a street corner crying as if his heart would break. I asked him what was the cause of his sorrow. He said, ‘Mister, don’t you see that coon?’ pointing to a poor little beast that he had tied to a string. ‘Well, that animal has given me a heap of trouble all the way along, and now he has nearly gnawed the string in two. I wish to goodness he would gnaw it in two and get away, so I could go home and tell my folks he had escaped from me.’”
One evening, just before the close of the Civil War, he had some visitors at the White House, among them some Senators and members of Congress. One of the guests asked the President what he would do with Jefferson Davis if he were captured. Crossing his legs and looking at his friends with that peculiar twinkle in his eyes, he said: “Gentlemen, that reminds me of an incident of my home in Illinois. One morning, when I was on my way to the office, I saw a small boy standing on a street corner crying as if his heart would break. I asked him what was the cause of his sorrow. He said, ‘Mister, don’t you see that coon?’ pointing to a poor little beast that he had tied to a string. ‘Well, that animal has given me a heap of trouble all the way along, and now he has nearly gnawed the string in two. I wish to goodness he would gnaw it in two and get away, so I could go home and tell my folks he had escaped from me.’”
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RESPONSIVENESS