Chapter 92

Training counts, culture adds strength. Sixty per cent of our Congressmen have been college men; 79 per cent of our Senators have been college men; 90 per cent of our supreme judges have been college men; 92 per cent of our presidents have been college men. Training counts; training makes leadership.—N. McGee Waters.

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SeePractise, Graduated.

TRAINING CHILDREN

It is hard to conceive of a more unpromising specimen of a child than one who was placed a few years ago in the Babies’ Hospital of New York. “Criminal” was plainly marked on the face of this eighteen-months-old boy. Heredity and environment had done their worst for him. He was actually vicious. He slapt, pinched, scratched the other children without provocation. At meal time, after satisfying his own hunger, he would grab the food from the others, or with one or two sweeps of his small arms shove the food from the low table to the floor, and then would either step on it or, lying flat on his stomach, gather it under him in order to deprive the others.A careful eye was kept on him to keep him from doing harm, and whenever he started out on his little journeyings of lawlessness and mischief he was not forcibly restrained, but his attention was diverted in some pleasant way from his wrong intentions. The attendants were not allowed, by word, look or action, ever to be hasty or unkind; coercion in any form or under any circumstances was to be avoided.The superintendent of the hospital says of him: “In a surprizingly short time this child began to yield to the influence which surrounded him; one by one his little vicious tricks or habits were forgotten, and an occasional smile—a sweet one it was, too—began to reward our efforts, instead of the snarls and frowns which had heretofore greeted us. Absolute cleanliness and regular habits were instituted as a part of the cure.“For nearly five years it was my good fortune to be able to keep the boy with me, and a more attractive, happy and lovable child it would be hard to find anywhere. He was absolutely obedient; in fact, it never seemed to occur to him to be otherwise.“In the course of time our little charge not only grew to be the oldest inhabitant, but the oldest in point of age, and as new little ones came and went, his attitude toward them was lovely. He looked well after the needs of the tiny ones and took great pains to initiate the older ones into orderly and careful habits. He shared with them, without a thought of selfishness, toys, books, or dainties. Surely, heredity did not endow this child with all his good qualities; they were cultivated at an early age, and so deeply rooted were these good habits that they are likely to remain with him through life.”—Jewish Exponent.

A careful eye was kept on him to keep him from doing harm, and whenever he started out on his little journeyings of lawlessness and mischief he was not forcibly restrained, but his attention was diverted in some pleasant way from his wrong intentions. The attendants were not allowed, by word, look or action, ever to be hasty or unkind; coercion in any form or under any circumstances was to be avoided.

The superintendent of the hospital says of him: “In a surprizingly short time this child began to yield to the influence which surrounded him; one by one his little vicious tricks or habits were forgotten, and an occasional smile—a sweet one it was, too—began to reward our efforts, instead of the snarls and frowns which had heretofore greeted us. Absolute cleanliness and regular habits were instituted as a part of the cure.

“For nearly five years it was my good fortune to be able to keep the boy with me, and a more attractive, happy and lovable child it would be hard to find anywhere. He was absolutely obedient; in fact, it never seemed to occur to him to be otherwise.

“In the course of time our little charge not only grew to be the oldest inhabitant, but the oldest in point of age, and as new little ones came and went, his attitude toward them was lovely. He looked well after the needs of the tiny ones and took great pains to initiate the older ones into orderly and careful habits. He shared with them, without a thought of selfishness, toys, books, or dainties. Surely, heredity did not endow this child with all his good qualities; they were cultivated at an early age, and so deeply rooted were these good habits that they are likely to remain with him through life.”—Jewish Exponent.

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SeeProdigy, A.

Traits Revealed—SeeCharacter, Test of.

Transfigured Ugliness—SeeBeauty in Common Life.

TRANSFORMATION

When Central Park, New York, was laid out the engineers encountered an immense heap of rocks. What to do with it was thequestion. To move it would cost thousands of dollars. Finally, honeysuckles and other vines were planted about it and made to climb up and shade it. And now that spot in the park is the loveliest and most fragrant anywhere about.

The best education is that which in like manner makes use of even unlovely traits in building character.

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The emergence of the soul clothed in its spiritual body is suggested by this account of the May-flies by Vernon L. Kellogg:

Young May-flies—the ones that don’t get eaten by dragons, stone-flies, water-tigers, and other May-flies—grow larger slowly, and wing-pads begin to grow on their backs. In a year, maybe, or two years for some kinds, they are ready for their great change. And this comes very suddenly. Some late afternoon or early evening thousands of young May-flies of the same kind, living in the same lake or river, swim up to the surface of the water, and, after resting there a few moments, suddenly split their skin along the back of the head and perhaps a little way farther along the back, and like a flash squirm out of this old skin, spread out their gauzy wings and fly away.—“Insect Stories.”

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Here is a hint of what Christianity is constantly trying to do with wild human nature—transforming it by training off its moral “spines” and prickles:

The spineless cactus, the latest plant marvel originated by Mr. Burbank, probably gives greater promise of usefulness to man than any other of Mr. Burbank’s creations. The spineless cactus is an improved variety of the ordinary wild cactus known as the prickly pear, of which there are numerous species and more than a thousand varieties. (Text.)—The World To-day.

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The transformation accomplished by true religion is complete. It changes the whole nature by the importation of a new agency, a conquering power, an overmastering principle. We become incandescent by the energy of the Holy Spirit.

A carbon coil is a perfectly black substance. It is an emblem of utter darkness. But into it is poured an electric current and instantly it becomes a reservoir of light. There once lay in the earth a dull, dark bit of carbon. It suddenly became the subject of the intense transforming energy of volcanic fire. Ever since that it has been a diamond in which lives dazzling light. (Text.)

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Tohong (Peach-red) was a low-class dancing-girl, bought and sold. Restoration was a word not applicable to her, for she never was right. She was born lapsed and lived lapsed. Over the walls of the world that encircled her came the story of Jesus, a man, a wise and pure man, pure as God is pure; in fact, a God as God is God, yet it was said that he loved lost and fallen women. Peach-red had never before heard of such a being. Her soul was sick, and she wondered if she could but meet Him what He would say to “the likes of her,” and if He really could cure soul-sickness. When or where or how Peach-red met Jesus I know not; that she met Him I most assuredly know. Seven years had rolled away, and out of my life passed the name of Peach-red. It was forgotten in the multitude of names that crowded on me. One Sunday, after service in a great meeting-house of some two thousand people, with this and that one coming forward to say “Peace,” there appeared before me a smiling face known and yet not known. “Don’t you remember me? Baptized me seven years ago. My old name was Peach-red.” Here was this woman in value once less than zero, crowned with the light and liberty and growth in grace of seven years.—James S. Gale, “Korea in Transition.”

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SeeBeautiful, Influence of the;Beauty, Deceived by;Environment that Transforms;Reformation.

TRANSFORMATION BY RENEWING

It is thought by many that time and discipline are alone wanted to bring out of this poor nature a perfect man. When the good things are planted in us they may be cherished and trained into glorious perfection, but they must be planted first. Least of all will any mere decoration suffice. A watch failing to keep time will not be correctedby any jeweling of the case; painting the organ-pipes will not improve the music; whitewashing the pump will not purify the water. Society in various ways seeks to gild the exterior, but what we need is beauty of life springing from truth in the inward parts. (Text.)—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

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Transformation by Surgery—SeeRenewal.

TRANSFORMATION OF SOULS

The soul is stored with ungrown seeds and chilled roots and frozen sentiments, and they need only the light and warmth of the love and truth of God to turn bareness into beauty, ignorance into culture, sin into obedience and self-sacrifice. Travelers tell us about the sand wastes in Idaho, that under the soft touch of a stream of water they are turned into a garden, waving with flowers and fruit. All this is a symbol of the transformation of the soul. These far-off lands and darkened peoples that are now deserts shall to-morrow become pools of water, and oases, filled with palm-trees and fountains.—N. D. Hillis.

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Transformation Through Operation—SeeCharacter Conditioned by the Physical.

TRANSIENCY OF THE EARTH

He who said that “Heaven and earth shall pass away” uttered no meaningless hyperbole, as the changes of a few hundred years indicate:

Coast erosion following severe storms within recent years has been so marked at many points on the English coast that after extended press discussion a parliamentary commission has been appointed to thoroughly investigate the subject, and if possible to devise means for the abatement of the injury.... There can be no doubt that coast erosion is causing serious loss of land at many points, particularly on the south and east coasts, notwithstanding that the areas gained artificially at other points almost compensate for it. It has been estimated that in the thousand years from 900 to 1900, an area of nearly 550 square miles has been worn away by the erosive action of the waves and ocean currents. (Text.)—The Scientific American.

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TRANSIENT, THE

The transient nature of all material things and of all mortal fame is exprest in this poem by Alfred Noyes:

No more, proud singers, boast no more!Your high, immortal throneWill scarce outlast a king’s!Time is a sea that knows no shoreWherein death idly flingsYour fame like some small pebble-stoneThat sinks to rise no more.Then boast no more, proud singers,Your high immortal throne!This earth, this little grain of dustDrifting among the starsWith her invisible wars,Her love, her hate, her lust;This microscopic ballWhereof you scan a part so smallOutlasts but little even your own dust.Then boast no more, proud singers,Your high immortal throne!That golden spark of light must dieWhich now you call your sun;Soon will its race be runAround its trivial sky!What hand shall then unrollDead Maro’s little golden scrollWhen earth and sun in one wide charnal lie?Boast no more, proud singers;Your high immortal throneWill scarce outlast a king’s! (Text.)—Alfred Noyes,The Bookman.

No more, proud singers, boast no more!

Your high, immortal throne

Will scarce outlast a king’s!

Time is a sea that knows no shore

Wherein death idly flings

Your fame like some small pebble-stone

That sinks to rise no more.

Then boast no more, proud singers,

Your high immortal throne!

This earth, this little grain of dustDrifting among the starsWith her invisible wars,Her love, her hate, her lust;This microscopic ballWhereof you scan a part so smallOutlasts but little even your own dust.Then boast no more, proud singers,Your high immortal throne!

This earth, this little grain of dust

Drifting among the stars

With her invisible wars,

Her love, her hate, her lust;

This microscopic ball

Whereof you scan a part so small

Outlasts but little even your own dust.

Then boast no more, proud singers,

Your high immortal throne!

That golden spark of light must dieWhich now you call your sun;Soon will its race be runAround its trivial sky!What hand shall then unrollDead Maro’s little golden scrollWhen earth and sun in one wide charnal lie?Boast no more, proud singers;Your high immortal throneWill scarce outlast a king’s! (Text.)—Alfred Noyes,The Bookman.

That golden spark of light must die

Which now you call your sun;

Soon will its race be run

Around its trivial sky!

What hand shall then unroll

Dead Maro’s little golden scroll

When earth and sun in one wide charnal lie?

Boast no more, proud singers;

Your high immortal throne

Will scarce outlast a king’s! (Text.)

—Alfred Noyes,The Bookman.

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SeePerishableness.

Transition—SeeEternal, The, at Hand.

Transitoriness—SeePermanency.

TRANSMISSION

Even among the lower orders of creation, a law of transmission obtains.

A writer in an Australian quarterly for April, 1906, tells of a magpie near Melbourne, which while a captive had been taught to whistle “Merrily danced the Quaker’s wife, merrily danced the Quaker,” and passed the song on to its young, through whom, in a more or less fragmentary way, it was transmitted to subsequent generations, so that there are “many now in the forest who stillconclude their beautiful wild notes with the ascending notes which terminate the old air.” (Text.)

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TRANSMUTATION

A black character is not changed in a day to white saintliness, any more than a black berry to a white one.

In turning out the white blackberry Mr. Burbank is said to have applied the Darwinian theory inversely. He kept on selecting berries which, in ripening, did not become pure black, and finally got a bush in which the fruit changed from the green of immaturity to pure white. This involved the examination of some 25,000 bushes several times in several succeeding years. The painstaking energy necessary in such a search is merely suggested by such figures.—The Strand Magazine.

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TRANSMUTATION BY GENIUS

Many of Burns’ songs were already in existence in the lips and minds of the people, rough and coarse, and obscene. Our benefactor takes them, and with a touch of inspired alchemy transmutes them and leaves them pure gold. He loved the old catches and the old tunes, and into these gracious molds he poured his exquisite gifts of thought and expression. But for him these ancient airs, often wedded to words which no decent man could recite, would have perished from that corruption if not from neglect. He rescued them for us by his songs, and in doing so he hallowed life and sweetened the breath of Scotland.—Lord Rosebery.

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Trap, A Natural—SeeDevices, Fatal.

Traps—SeeBarriers;Enemies.

TRAPS FOR GIRLS

Among the many methods used by these fiends in human form to trap girls into houses of sin, is courtship and false marriage. These men go into the country districts, and, under the guise of commercial men, board at the best hotels, dress handsomely, cultivate the most captivating manners, and then look for their prey. Upon the streets they see a pretty girl and immediately lay plans to become acquainted. Then the courtship begins. In the present condition of society it is a very easy thing for well-reared girls to begin a promiscuous acquaintance, with ample opportunity for courtship. There was never a time when the bars were so low. With the public dance, or even the more exclusive german, the skating-rink and the moving-picture arcades, all of which lend themselves to the making of intimate and promiscuous acquaintances under questionable surroundings, it is easy for a man to come into a community and in a few days meet even the best class of girls, to say nothing of the girls who are earning a living and who have no home influence. These girls are flattered by the handsome, well-drest stranger paying them marked attention, and are quick to accept invitations to the theater or to walk or drive with him. If the girl is religious, he is not above using the cloak of religion, expressing fondness for church- and prayer-meetings, and is frequently to be found at such places. When a girl’s confidence and affection have been won, it is a comparatively easy thing to accomplish her ruin, by proposing an elopement. Her scruples and arguments are easily overcome by the skilled deceiver, and trusting him implicitly as her accepted lover, she unwittingly goes to her doom. (Text.)—Ernest A. Bell, “War on the White Slave Trade.”

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Traveling in the Heights—SeeConfidence.

TRAVELING, PROGRESS IN

For the first time in the history of transatlantic travel, people were able to leave London on Saturday and Queenstown on Sunday, and eat dinner in New York on Thursday night (September 2, 1909). The six-day boat set the early records more than twenty-five years ago. The five-day boat came along ten years later. Friday landings in New York have been common ever since the christening days ofLucaniaandCampania, fifteen years ago. Now the four-day boat is a fact.The remarkable speed made by theLusitaniawas attributed to the effect of the new propellers, which were fitted to the four turbine shafts in July.

The remarkable speed made by theLusitaniawas attributed to the effect of the new propellers, which were fitted to the four turbine shafts in July.

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TREACHERY PUNISHED

At Kerman, Persia, is a fortress called Galah i Doukhta, or the Fort of the Maiden, named after the beautiful traitoress of Kerman. When the Moslems laid siege to the city a daughter of the king, a beautiful woman and the idol of her father, fell madly inlove with an Arab prince who was an officer among the invaders, and to win him found opportunity to deliver the castle into his hands. Curious to learn the motive of such treachery he asked the maiden why she had betrayed her father. “For love of you,” was the answer. The prince enraged at such guilt ordered his men to bind her with cords, face downward, on the back of a wild horse and turn horse and rider into the desert. So perished without pity the beautiful traitoress of Kerman—an example of remorseless retribution.

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TREASURES LAID UP

During the reign of King Munbaz there came a most grievous famine. The people had parted with their all and were in the utmost distress. The king, touched by their affliction, ordered his minister to expend the treasures which he and his ancestors had amassed in the purchase of corn and other necessaries and distribute among the needy. The king’s brothers were not of a generous disposition, being grieved to see such vast sums of money spent, reproached him with want of economy. “Thy forefathers,” said they, “took care to add to the treasures which were left them, but thou—thou not only dost not add, but dost squander what they have left thee.” “You are mistaken, my dear brethren,” replied the generous king, “I, too, preserve treasures, as did my ancestors before me. The only difference is this: they preserved earthly, but I heavenly treasures; they preserved gold and silver, but I have preserved lives.”—Baxendale.

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We allow no immigrant to land in New York as a pauper. He is admitted only when he brings with him a little store, and can be self-supporting. Do not, I beseech of you, go toward the end of your career without having laid up much treasure in heaven, and sent forward great possessions, having made yourself to be waited for, expected, beyond, as you enter into glory and honor and immortal life.—N. D. Hillis.

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SeeRewards, Spiritual.

Treatment All-important—SeeTact.

TREE A SPIRITUAL SYMBOL

Undoubtedly you know how it feels to behold a cluster of young birches bending gracefully over a sky-mirroring sheet of blue water. Other trees are somberly beautiful like the pines, or inspiringly majestic like the elms, both of which I love dearly. But the sharply pointed cone of the pine suggests the earth on which its broad base rests rather than the sky toward which its top tends a little too urgently. And the elm represents the material side of man in the utmost development attainable, while the spirit still remains in comparative subordination. The birch, on the other hand, is all spirit, it seems to me—but without sacrifice of the indispensable material foundation. Its subtly tapering lines send the eye irresistibly upward and onward to the things that lie ahead and above—things which are neither alien nor hostile to those of the present place and moment, but which, instead, represent the ideal fulfilment of the latter. The birch, therefore, approaches more closely than anything else I can think of toward being a true symbol of life at its best.—Edwin Bjorkman,Collier’s Weekly.

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TREE AND FRUIT

There is no frost hath power to blightThe tree God shields;The roots are warm beneath soft snows,And when spring comes it surely knows,And every bud to blossom grows.The tree God shieldsGrows on apace by day and night,Till sweet to taste and fair to sightIts fruit it yields.There is no storm hath power to blastThe tree God knows;No thunderbolt, nor beating rain,Nor lightning flash, nor hurricane—When they are spent it doth remain.The tree God knowsThrough every tempest standeth fast,And from its first day to its lastStill fairer grows. (Text.)

There is no frost hath power to blight

The tree God shields;

The roots are warm beneath soft snows,

And when spring comes it surely knows,

And every bud to blossom grows.

The tree God shields

Grows on apace by day and night,

Till sweet to taste and fair to sight

Its fruit it yields.

There is no storm hath power to blastThe tree God knows;No thunderbolt, nor beating rain,Nor lightning flash, nor hurricane—When they are spent it doth remain.The tree God knowsThrough every tempest standeth fast,And from its first day to its lastStill fairer grows. (Text.)

There is no storm hath power to blast

The tree God knows;

No thunderbolt, nor beating rain,

Nor lightning flash, nor hurricane—

When they are spent it doth remain.

The tree God knows

Through every tempest standeth fast,

And from its first day to its last

Still fairer grows. (Text.)

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TRIAL A MEANS OF GRACE

Troubles and afflictions are intended under the dispensation of divine grace to bring out the deeper capacities of the soul. Experiences which are calculated to deaden the careless mind will develop consecration, zeal, and devotion in the thoughtful.

Scientists subject radium to every conceivable test. In an ordinary temperature it never ceases emitting light, heat, and electricity. It was at first imagined that this perpetual threefold emanation would cease, or at any rate be diminished, if the substancewere exposed to intense cold. But it was discovered that radium when immersed in liquid air, which is extremely cold, immediately evolved more light, heat, and electricity. Then it was plunged into liquid hydrogen, of which the coldness is almost incalculable and inconceivable. The radium only glowed still more intensely with its emanations of light, heat and electricity.

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TRIAL REFINES

In the English county of Cornwall are great beds of what is called “china clay.” You may take up a lump of this substance and examine it in vain with the view of discovering anything admirable or beautiful. But one day you may be traveling in the English midlands, where you may be invited to inspect the factories in which are made the exquisite Royal Worcester porcelain or the equally precious Wedgwood ware. You will be fascinated by everything you see. The same dead, cold, repellent, ugly clay you saw in Cornwall you are now admiring with ecstasy. It has been brought to the potteries, and touched by the fire, and painted by the artist, so that it rivals even the loveliest flowers in delicacy and beauty.

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TRIBULATION THE PATH TO GLORY

But know for all time this:There’s blood upon the way the saints have trod,The singer of a day shall pass and die.The world itself shall pass, who passed them by;But they of the exceeding bitter cry,When Death itself is dead and life is bliss,Shall stand in heaven and sing their songs to God. (Text.)—Ethel Edwards,The Outlook(London).

But know for all time this:

There’s blood upon the way the saints have trod,

The singer of a day shall pass and die.

The world itself shall pass, who passed them by;

But they of the exceeding bitter cry,

When Death itself is dead and life is bliss,

Shall stand in heaven and sing their songs to God. (Text.)

—Ethel Edwards,The Outlook(London).

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TRIUMPH BY SELECTION

A moral reason for the survival of the fittest is given by Walton W. Battershall in theCritic:

The weak give way that stronger may have roomFor sovereign brain and soul to quell the brute.Thus, in the epic of this earth, harsh rhythmsAre woven, that break the triumph song with moansAnd death-cries. Still rolls the eternal song,Setting God’s theme to grander, sweeter notes,For us to strike; fighting old savageriesThat linger in the twilights of the dawn.(Text.)

The weak give way that stronger may have room

For sovereign brain and soul to quell the brute.

Thus, in the epic of this earth, harsh rhythms

Are woven, that break the triumph song with moans

And death-cries. Still rolls the eternal song,

Setting God’s theme to grander, sweeter notes,

For us to strike; fighting old savageries

That linger in the twilights of the dawn.(Text.)

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TRIUMPH IN DEATH

In the Boxer riots many Chinese Christian converts laid down their lives with cheerful courage “for the sake of the Name.” One Chinaman who was captured by the Boxers and was told he was about to be put to death, asked permission to put on his best clothes. “For,” said the martyr, “I am going to the palace of the King.” His wonderful and serene faith so imprest the cruel murderers that, after his death, they dug out his heart to try and find the secret of his courage. In North China the blood of the martyrs has proved, indeed, the seed of the Church.

“To the palace of the King” is whither all Christians are wending their way. (Text.)

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TRIUMPH IN DEFEAT

Out of seeming defeat often springs the truest triumph, and even despair has often been the prelude to genuine victory. Especially does the sacrifice of self achieve glorious conquest.

One of the noblest of the world’s heroes was Vercingetorix, who roused Gaul against Cæsar. Tho he lost his own life, he saved thousands of other lives. When he perceived that the war was lost he had the fortitude to acknowledge defeat and to recognize that he was the man whom the Roman commander most desired to capture. Assembling his officers, he informed them that he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save them all. In due time he was led in chains through Rome, as part of Cæsar’s triumphant procession and stabbed to death afterward in the darkness of his prison cell. To-day, on his rock-fortress, known now as Alise St. Reine, stands a gigantic bronze statue of him, proud, fearless, and strong, as on that last day of his freedom, with his hands on his sword-hilt, and his head turned toward the little hill across the valley where his allies were scattered and his cause was slain.

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TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY

The World’s Sunday-school Convention in Rome was a great occasion and a notable success. Poetically significant was the gathering amid the memorable ruins of the Colosseum. Here on the very sands that have been soaked with the blood of early Christian martyrs, where thousands have met the fierce Numidian lion and been torn to pieces for Christ’s sake, over a thousand delegates peacefully assembled to bear witness to the very Nazarene in whose cause those martyrs suffered. The pagan Roman persecutors sought to wipe out the remembrance of His name from the earth; and here this great company of Christian delegates meet to celebrate His name, never before so widely worshiped and adored as to-day.

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TRIVIAL CAUSES

The clock of the Potsdam Garrison Church, which Frederick the Great in his day had placed in the tower of that cathedral, and which hourly chimed familiar strains, suddenly stopt. The cause of this sudden cessation of both its works and its music was the intrusion of a brown butterfly, which alighted in its wheelworks.

Is it not often thus with the heart of man, out of which well songs of joy and praise—songs suddenly and unexpectedly reduced to silence? The cause of it often is so insignificant a thing as a transient thought, a carking care, which becomes entangled in the delicate spiritual works and brings the heavenly music to a standstill.

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TROUBLE

Blest is that person who can make the following lines part of his philosophy:

’Tis easy enough to be pleasantWhen life flows by like a song,But the one worth whileIs the one who will smileWhen everything goes dead wrong.For the test of the heart is trouble,And that always comes with years,And the smile that is worthAll the praises of earthIs the smile that smiles through tears.

’Tis easy enough to be pleasantWhen life flows by like a song,But the one worth whileIs the one who will smileWhen everything goes dead wrong.

’Tis easy enough to be pleasant

When life flows by like a song,

But the one worth while

Is the one who will smile

When everything goes dead wrong.

For the test of the heart is trouble,And that always comes with years,And the smile that is worthAll the praises of earthIs the smile that smiles through tears.

For the test of the heart is trouble,

And that always comes with years,

And the smile that is worth

All the praises of earth

Is the smile that smiles through tears.

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We must not always interpret our destiny by the aspect of the present. If we contend patiently and bravely with current adversity, out of the darkness prosperity may be brought to light.

A certain great company runs a copper-smelting plant. The sulfur fumes generated in this plant were seriously injuring vegetation in the surrounding country. The State brought suit to compel the company to prevent this injury to vegetation, and won the suit. The company was put to much trouble and expense, but in its effort to find some method of preventing that injury to its neighbors it discovered that the gases could be captured and converted into sulfuric acid. Thus, out of what was not only a waste product but an injurious product, this company has discovered a new source of great profit. And all because it “got into trouble.” The “afterward” of all the troubles that come to us in life has never yet been dreamed of by the wisest seer. (Text.)

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TROUBLE, BORROWED

Dr. S. B. Dunn gives some good advice in this bit of verse:

The heart too often hath quailed with dread,And quite its courage lost,By casting its glance too far aheadFor the bridge that never was crossed.The toughest fight, the bitterest dregs,The stormiest sea that tossed,Was the passage-at-arms—no, the passage-at-legs,Of the bridge that never was crossed.A wind that withers wherever it goes,And biting as winter frost;Is the icy blast that constantly blowsFrom the bridge that never was crossed.What folly for mortals to travel that way,As many have found to their cost—To tempt the terrors by night or by dayOf the bridge that never was crossed.The adage is old and worn a bit,But worthy of being embossed—Never cross a bridge till you come to it—The bridge that must be crossed.

The heart too often hath quailed with dread,And quite its courage lost,By casting its glance too far aheadFor the bridge that never was crossed.

The heart too often hath quailed with dread,

And quite its courage lost,

By casting its glance too far ahead

For the bridge that never was crossed.

The toughest fight, the bitterest dregs,The stormiest sea that tossed,Was the passage-at-arms—no, the passage-at-legs,Of the bridge that never was crossed.

The toughest fight, the bitterest dregs,

The stormiest sea that tossed,

Was the passage-at-arms—no, the passage-at-legs,

Of the bridge that never was crossed.

A wind that withers wherever it goes,And biting as winter frost;Is the icy blast that constantly blowsFrom the bridge that never was crossed.

A wind that withers wherever it goes,

And biting as winter frost;

Is the icy blast that constantly blows

From the bridge that never was crossed.

What folly for mortals to travel that way,As many have found to their cost—To tempt the terrors by night or by dayOf the bridge that never was crossed.

What folly for mortals to travel that way,

As many have found to their cost—

To tempt the terrors by night or by day

Of the bridge that never was crossed.

The adage is old and worn a bit,But worthy of being embossed—Never cross a bridge till you come to it—The bridge that must be crossed.

The adage is old and worn a bit,

But worthy of being embossed—

Never cross a bridge till you come to it—

The bridge that must be crossed.

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Nobody is made so uncomfortable by borrowing trouble as the borrower himself, altho, of course, everybody in the region isdisturbed and vexed by the habit. There is an ancient Welsh legend which has always seemed to us a case in point. “There were two kings formerly in Britain,” the legend says, “named Nynniaw and Peibiaw. As these two ranged the fields one starlit night, ‘See,’ said Nynniaw (who at this point seems something of a poet), ‘what a beautiful and extensive field I possess.’ ‘Where is it?’ said Peibiaw. ‘The whole firmament,’ said Nynniaw, ‘far as vision can extend.’ ‘And dost thou see,’ said Peibiaw, ‘what countless herds and flocks of cattle and sheep I have depasturing thy field?’ ‘Where are they?’ said Nynniaw. ‘Why, the whole host of stars which thou seest,’ said Peibiaw, ‘and each of golden effulgence, with the moon for their shepherdess to superintend their wanderings.’ ‘They shall not graze in my pasture,’ said Nynniaw (who now appears to have been fitly named). ‘They shall,’ said Peibiaw. ‘They shall not,’ said one. ‘They shall,’ said the other, repeatedly, bandying contradiction, until at last it arose to wild contention between them, and from contention it came to furious war, until armies and subjects of both were nearly annihilated in the desolation.”—Harper’s Bazar.

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TROUBLE BRAVELY MET

There is a manuscript letter written by Thomas More to his wife, Alyce, when the news came that the great mansion at Chelsea, with its offices and huge granaries, had been almost destroyed by fire. Instead of lamenting his loss, he writes, “I pray you, Alyce, with my children, be merry in God. Find out if any poor neighbors stored their corn in the granaries, and recompense them. Discharge no servant until he have another abiding-place. Be of good cheer. Take all the household with you to church, and thank God for what He hath taken and what He hath left.”

(3302)

SeeCourage in Life.

Trouble Conquered—SeeFaith.

Trouble, Ignoring—SeeEvil, Ignoring.

TROUBLE UPLIFTS

The aviators tell us that the first rule of flight is to turn the flying-machine against the wind, and let it lift you into the heights. When the bird is flying for pleasure it flies with the wind, but if you lift a club toward the bird, and it wishes to rise, it turns and flies against the wind, and upward soars toward the sun. Trouble is a divine wind, let loose to lift man into the heights, where eternal beauty hath her dwelling-place.—N. D. Hillis.

(3303)

Troubles—SeeTools, Moral.

TROUBLES, MEETING

I have recently read this story about an unhappy woman. She was, indeed, very miserable, and for years her complaints were loud and constant. But one day she happened to read of a naval disaster: the ship was doomed, but the officers set the band playing, the flags flying, and, drest in full uniform, with their white gloves on, waited for the ship to go down.She thought of herself, and was ashamed. Never had she met disaster except with tears and complaints. “I won’t be as I have been any more,” she said to herself. “When troubles come to me, tho I perish as those officers did, I will meet them as they did, with flags flying, the band playing, and my white gloves on.” And new troubles came; but with each one she said to herself, “The flags must fly to-day, the band play, and I must have my white gloves on.” And, if the trial were very severe, she would actually put on her best clothes, and with smiling face go out to perform some act of cheerful kindness.And after some years the result is that she seems to be happy and prosperous. People call her fortunate. Another complaining woman said to her, “Oh, it is well enough for you to talk, you who have never known a trouble in your life.”“A trouble in my life!” the cheerful woman said to herself, and stopt to think. “A trouble! Perhaps not; but now, thank God, those which I thought I had seem no longer to have belonged to me, but to some other person living centuries ago.” And she felt sorry for her fretful friend.—M. O. Simmons.

She thought of herself, and was ashamed. Never had she met disaster except with tears and complaints. “I won’t be as I have been any more,” she said to herself. “When troubles come to me, tho I perish as those officers did, I will meet them as they did, with flags flying, the band playing, and my white gloves on.” And new troubles came; but with each one she said to herself, “The flags must fly to-day, the band play, and I must have my white gloves on.” And, if the trial were very severe, she would actually put on her best clothes, and with smiling face go out to perform some act of cheerful kindness.

And after some years the result is that she seems to be happy and prosperous. People call her fortunate. Another complaining woman said to her, “Oh, it is well enough for you to talk, you who have never known a trouble in your life.”

“A trouble in my life!” the cheerful woman said to herself, and stopt to think. “A trouble! Perhaps not; but now, thank God, those which I thought I had seem no longer to have belonged to me, but to some other person living centuries ago.” And she felt sorry for her fretful friend.—M. O. Simmons.

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SeeDeath, Christian Attitude Toward.

TRUST

It is a pleasant sight sometimes to see a child and a father at a crowded London crossing; to the child’s imagination the street with its rattle of horses and vehicles is the picture of danger and death—to attempt to get to the other side alone would be certain destruction; but as the father stands at the edge of the pavement, the child looks up to him with a glance of perfect trust and putsits hand in his, and goes with him through the tangled maze of traffic without a thought of danger or fear. This is just what the converted soul does with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. It looks up into His gentle face with trust, and goes with Him whithersoever He will lead it; there can be no danger and no misgiving; sin and temptation have lost their power; the soul shall pass through the tangled maze of life safely.

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When the writer was visiting a certain school, a little fellow came up and spoke to the teacher. After he had returned to his seat the teacher said, “There is a boy I can trust.” Think of that commendation! What a character that boy had earned! He had already what would in the future be worth to him more than a fortune. It would be a passport into the best store in the city, and what is better, into the confidence and respect of the entire community.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”

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Trust Disarms—SeeConfidence.

TRUST IN DEATH

Mozart’s dying words were, “From heaven’s mercy alone can I hope for succor; and it will be granted, Emilie (his young daughter), in the time of my utmost need; yes, in the hour of death I will claim His help who is always ready to aid those who trust in Him.“Take these notes, the last I shall ever pen, and sit down to the instrument. Sing with them the hymn so beloved by your mother and let me once more hear those tones which have been my delight since childhood.”Emilie closed the second stanza,

“Take these notes, the last I shall ever pen, and sit down to the instrument. Sing with them the hymn so beloved by your mother and let me once more hear those tones which have been my delight since childhood.”

Emilie closed the second stanza,

“Spirit, how bright is the roadFor which thou art now on the wing!Thy home it will be with thy Savior and God,Their loud hallelujahs to sing,”

“Spirit, how bright is the road

For which thou art now on the wing!

Thy home it will be with thy Savior and God,

Their loud hallelujahs to sing,”

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