J

One of the Copes had but just written his check for $50 for some local charity, when a messenger announced the wreck of an East Indiaman belonging to the firm, and that the ship and cargo were a total loss. Another check for $500 was substituted at once, and given to the agent of the hospital with the remark: “What I have God gave me, and before it all goes, I had better put some of it where it can never be lost.” (Text.)—Noah Hunt Schenck.

(1673)

Invisible, Answers from the—SeeUnseen, Response from the.

INVISIBLE, POTENCY OF THE

Material forces called battleships bulk larger, but the invisible spiritual forces go farther, last longer and make cannon seem contemptible and paltry. In cold countries men sometimes build palaces of ice for some public function. In the hour when beautiful women and brilliant military bands assemble for a winter festival, the water, manifest in blocks of ice, seems very imposing. But would you know the real power of water, wait until it becomes invisible. Then lift your eyes to the western sunset, where colors of gold and rose are revealed by this invisible vapor; watch the rain-drop redden in the purple flow of grape and the crimson drops of pomegranate, or see it tossed by a harvester in sheaves of grain. Then, in what water does through its invisible workings, do we know its place in nature and its contributions to man’s happiness. (Text.)—N. D. Hillis.

(1674)

INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE

On the brightest and sunniest day, millions of tons of black charcoal in an invisible condition are floating in the air. Millions of plants are at the same time restoring it to visible form by the chemical processes going on in the tiny laboratory of every leaf that expands in the sunshine. In the course of time the leaf or the wood it elaborates by its delicate alchemy, may be burned; and this cycle of change may go on indefinitely, the matter becoming visible and invisible again and again. (Text.)—Popular Science News.

(1675)

In chemical operations, whether natural or artificial, matter is often “lost to sight”; but the veriest tyro has learned, as one of the fundamental axioms of science, that it can never be actually lost or destroyed. In its manifold mutations it often disappears from our vision; but it reappears, or can be made to reappear, as palpable to our senses as before. If a piece of silver be put into nitric acid, a clear and colorless liquid, it is rapidly dissolved, and we “see it no more.” The solution may be mixed with water, and apparently no effect is produced. Thus, in a pail of water we may dissolve fifty dollars’ worth of silver, not a particle of which can be seen. Not even the chemist, unless he should apply certain tests to detect its presence, would, by merely looking at the liquid, guess what hidden wealth it contained. Other metals, as we know, can be treated in similar ways with the same result. When charcoal and many other substances are burned, they disappear as completely, no visible ashes even being left from the combustion. In fact, every material, which is visible can, by certain treatment, be rendered invisible. Matter which in one state or condition is perfectly opaque, and will not permit a ray of light to pass through it, will in another form become perfectly transparent. The cause of this wonderful change in matter is utterly inexplicable.—Popular Science News.

(1676)

The progress of science is fast bringing the hitherto invisible universe into man’s view.

Unofficial announcement has been made at Boston that Prof. H. C. Ernst, of the Harvard medical school, has discovered a new method of photographing bacteria, which makes it possible to watch the life of disease germs, to watch the effect of medicine upon them and to see new facts as to the form which has heretofore been clouded in mystery. The Ernst method consists in the use of ultra-violet rays of the spectrum which are invisible to the eye. Under the present method no picture of germs is made until they are colored by chemicals.

(1677)

Invitation—SeeHelp for the Helpless.

Inward Rectification—SeeTransformation by Renewing.

IRONY OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD

The fact is that the Carlyles habitually addrest one another with irony. It is no uncommon thing between intimates: it is rather a sign of the security of the affection which unites them. But if, by some unhappy accident, a third person who has no senseof humor hears this gay clash of keen words, and puts them down in dull print, and goes on to point out in his dull fashion that they do not sound affectionate, and are phrases by no means in common use among excellent married persons of average intellects, it is easy to see that the worst sort of mischief may readily be wrought.—W. J. Dawson, “The Makers of English Prose.”

(1678)

IRRATIONAL LAWS

The law of imprisonment for debt, which existed so long in England, the land of freedom, whereby a creditor enforced payment of debt by imprisoning his debtor for unlimited periods, is perhaps the most irrational that ever existed. The purposeless cruelty of imprisonment for debt was demonstrated in 1792, when a woman died in Devon jail, after forty-five years’ imprisonment, for a debt of £19. And when the Thatched House Society set to work to ransom honest debtors by paying their debts, they, in twenty years, released 12,590 at a cost of 45 shillings per head. (Text.)—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

(1679)

Irresolution—SeeHuman Nature, Insecurity of.

IRRESPONSIBILITY

The spectacle of a $100,000,000 “trust” unable to get hay for its horses on credit was seen recently in Sault Ste. Marie, where the Consolidated Lake Superior Company went into liquidation. The liquidation resulted from the failure of the directors of this big concern to raise $5,000,000 to pay a loan from the Speyer syndicate.Here is a corporation which was paying seven per cent dividends, and which began two or three years ago with a capital of $102,000,000, so destitute of liquid assets or working capital that it can not pay a loan of $5,000,000, for which its very existence was pawned. Nothing appears to be left.Lake Superior Consolidated, like all the other trusts, was organized under the Connecticut corporation act, which, like that of West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and other States, was expressly drawn to relieve all concerned of responsibility. No one was responsible for anything in the prospectus. No one could be held, in the promotion or direction, for any statements, promises, or representations. The sidewalk vender is more responsible for the razors and remedies that he sells in the flare of his gasoline lamp than the promoters or directors of an American trust to which millions of dollars flow.—New YorkAmerican.

Here is a corporation which was paying seven per cent dividends, and which began two or three years ago with a capital of $102,000,000, so destitute of liquid assets or working capital that it can not pay a loan of $5,000,000, for which its very existence was pawned. Nothing appears to be left.

Lake Superior Consolidated, like all the other trusts, was organized under the Connecticut corporation act, which, like that of West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and other States, was expressly drawn to relieve all concerned of responsibility. No one was responsible for anything in the prospectus. No one could be held, in the promotion or direction, for any statements, promises, or representations. The sidewalk vender is more responsible for the razors and remedies that he sells in the flare of his gasoline lamp than the promoters or directors of an American trust to which millions of dollars flow.—New YorkAmerican.

(1680)

IRRETRIEVABLE, THE

The people of Florence sent their great poet, Dante, into exile. He went into Ravenna, there died, and there was buried. After his death, Florence recognized how great this exiled son of hers had been, and begged his body from Ravenna, and could not get it. Ravenna would not part with it. Florence might have had it had she asked Dante to come back.

(1681)

Irreverent Laughter—SeeLaughter, Perils of.

IRRIGATION

Long have I waited their coming, the men of the far-lying mist-hillsGathered about their fires and under the kindly rains.Not to the blazing sweep of Thy desert, O Lord, have they turned them;Evermore back to the mist-hills, back to the rain-kissed plains.Long through the ages I waited the children of men, but they came not;Only God’s silent centuries holding their watch sublime.Gaunt and wrinkled and gray was the withering face of Thy desert:All in Thine own good time; O Lord, in Thine own good time.Lo! Thou hast spoken the word, and Thy children come bringing the watersLoosed from their mountain keep in the thrall of each sentinel hill.Lord, Thou hast made me young and fair at Thine own waters’ healing,Pleasing and fair to mankind in the flood of Thy bountiful will.Wherefore in joy now Thy children come, flying exultant and eager;Now is thine ancient earth remade by Thy powerful word.Lord, unto Thee be the glory! Thine is the bloom of the desert.Hasten, O men of the mist-hills! Welcome, ye sons of the Lord! (Text.)—McCready Sykes,The Atlantic Monthly.

Long have I waited their coming, the men of the far-lying mist-hills

Gathered about their fires and under the kindly rains.

Not to the blazing sweep of Thy desert, O Lord, have they turned them;

Evermore back to the mist-hills, back to the rain-kissed plains.

Long through the ages I waited the children of men, but they came not;Only God’s silent centuries holding their watch sublime.Gaunt and wrinkled and gray was the withering face of Thy desert:All in Thine own good time; O Lord, in Thine own good time.

Long through the ages I waited the children of men, but they came not;

Only God’s silent centuries holding their watch sublime.

Gaunt and wrinkled and gray was the withering face of Thy desert:

All in Thine own good time; O Lord, in Thine own good time.

Lo! Thou hast spoken the word, and Thy children come bringing the watersLoosed from their mountain keep in the thrall of each sentinel hill.Lord, Thou hast made me young and fair at Thine own waters’ healing,Pleasing and fair to mankind in the flood of Thy bountiful will.

Lo! Thou hast spoken the word, and Thy children come bringing the waters

Loosed from their mountain keep in the thrall of each sentinel hill.

Lord, Thou hast made me young and fair at Thine own waters’ healing,

Pleasing and fair to mankind in the flood of Thy bountiful will.

Wherefore in joy now Thy children come, flying exultant and eager;Now is thine ancient earth remade by Thy powerful word.Lord, unto Thee be the glory! Thine is the bloom of the desert.Hasten, O men of the mist-hills! Welcome, ye sons of the Lord! (Text.)—McCready Sykes,The Atlantic Monthly.

Wherefore in joy now Thy children come, flying exultant and eager;

Now is thine ancient earth remade by Thy powerful word.

Lord, unto Thee be the glory! Thine is the bloom of the desert.

Hasten, O men of the mist-hills! Welcome, ye sons of the Lord! (Text.)

—McCready Sykes,The Atlantic Monthly.

(1682)

Isolation, Fatal—SeeResources, Exhausted.

Issue, A Consequential—SeeConsequences.

JARS, DAILY

It is not often the great strokes of misfortune that break men down, but the daily wear and tear of small troubles. An editor writes thus:

A huge cart-wheel lies in the gutter near our office. The cart itself has been pulled with difficulty out of the way of the trolley cars. An axle has broken. And that axle! It is fully four inches in diameter and was originally forged of soundest steel. But as you look at the fragments of it wedged in the overturned hub you discover a peculiar condition. “The steel has been crystallized,” the mechanic would explain. No sudden strain broke it, no tremendous wrench twisted the spindle from the beam. The ruin was wrought by the constant small jars of daily traffic. Rumbling over stones, bumping over crossings, scraping against curbs threw the atoms of steel in the axle out of cohesive harmony. Then came the one jar, no heavier than the others, that sent the load of coal into the street.

(1683)

Jester, The—SeeHumor Overdone.

JESTING COMMENDED

It is wise to laugh, and Joe Miller is right when he says that the gravest beast is an ass, and the gravest man is a fool. This opinion of the famous jester is in accord with Plato, who is reported to have remarked to his friends, when their social enjoyment was occasionally intruded upon by the approach of some sedate wiseacre, “Silence, my friends, let us be wise now, for a fool is coming.” Other notable characters, if not themselves witty, have sought relief from the strain of serious employment by a laugh and innocent merriment. Philip of Macedon, Sylla, the Roman dictator, Queen Elizabeth, and our own Abraham Lincoln, keenly enjoyed a good joke, while Julius Cæsar, Tacitus, Erasmus, and Lord Bacon compiled jest-books. So there is high authority for jesting, and a jest is merely petrified laughter—a laugh congealed into words, so as to be passed from mouth to mouth and handed down to further generations.—Edmund Kirke,North American Review.

(1684)

JESTS, OLD

To Hierocles, who lived in the sixth century, is attributed a book called “Asteia,” which contains twenty-one jests, the most of which are now alive, and passing themselves off as “real, original Jacobs.” Among them is the man who would not venture into the water until he had learned to swim; the man whose horse died just as he had taught it to live without eating; the other who stood before the mirror with his eyes shut, to see how he looked when asleep; the other who apologized for a negligence by saying, “I never received the letter you wrote me”; the other who kept a crow expressly to satisfy himself if the creature did live to the age of two hundred years; and the old philosopher who carried a brick about as a specimen of the house he desired to sell. But, older than Hierocles—old as Horace—is the stupid fellow who, wanting to cross a stream, sat down upon the bank to wait for all the water to run by. The French king who said, “After me, the deluge,” was thought to be original, but the phrase is found in the Greek of two thousand years ago; as is also the proverb, “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip,” which was the appropriate inscription upon the drinking cup of a rich Greek. Every one knows the lady who insists that her age is but thirty, and whose friend asserts that he believes her, because he has heard her say so “any time these ten years.” Bacon, in his “Apothegms,” asserts that the same anecdote is told of Cicero.—Edmund Kirke,North American Review.

(1685)

Jesus All Right—SeeChrist Approved.

Jesus as a Character-builder—SeeCharacter-building.

JESUS AS COMPANION

A missionary riding on horseback through one of the cotton States of the South came upon an old tumble-down cabin in the doorway of which stood a poor crippled negress. Her back was bent nearly double with years of hard work and her face was deeply wrinkled and her hair was white, but her two eyes were as bright as two stars. Theman called out cheerily, “Good-morning, Auntie—living here all alone?” “Jes me n’ Jesus, Massa,” she replied with a bright smile. The missionary dismounted and went in for a little visit with her—and he said as he was riding away, and looked back for a last glimpse of the happy old saint, “It seemed as if he could see the form of one like unto the Son of God” standing by her side in the doorway of the poor little cabin.

(1686)

Jesus as Guide—SeeGuide, The Perfect.

Jesus, Canceler of Sin—SeeChrist Destroyer of Sin.

Jesus Crowned with Thorns—SeeChrist’s Face.

JESUS, GREATNESS OF

Recently a flower was exhibited that was grown in a cellar by acetylene gas. But let no man be anxious. The summer’s sun is not seriously threatened by acetylene! The scientist knows that there is a large amount of condensed sunshine stored away in the acetylene that was released. There are a few soldiers of supreme genius that divide honors. There are a few poets of the first order of greatness. There are a few statesmen of equal rank. But Jesus is alone, one star, shining down upon the little hills.—N. D. Hillis.

(1687)

Dinocrates, a Macedonian architect, once proposed to carve Mount Athos into a statue of Alexander—the left hand to hold a city of 10,000 population, and the right hand to be a basin to receive the perpetual flow of the mountain and give it to the sea below. Jesus, a mightier architect, is carving all humanity into a kingdom that, like a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, shall fill the whole earth.

(1688)

JESUS, SECOND COMING OF

In Venice stands a very beautiful monument, a pyramid of marble, in which lie the mortal remains of a little child. By the door stands a sculptured angel resting one hand on the door-latch, and holding in the other hand a trumpet, and himself peering intently into the distant heaven; while carved upon the door is the inscription: “Till He Comes.”

Such a monument is the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Such an expectancy is appropriate to the soul. Such a lesson of patient waiting is not amiss. Such a readiness to respond to the last call were becoming even to the busy. (Text.)

(1689)

JESUS, SUPREMACY OF

On Chinese Gordon’s monument in St. Paul’s Cathedral, proud England has inscribed this epitaph, “Who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, and his heart to God.” Well may old England gather young England about the monument of her dead hero who gave Jesus Christ supremacy over both life and relations. Henry George and Cardinal Manning were talking together. “I love men because Jesus loved them,” said the Cardinal. “And I love Jesus because he loved men,” was Mr. George’s quick reply. It does not matter which way you go to it, only that you do actually go to the real love of men. This kind of Christianity is not outgrown; this kind has not yet been tried.—Wm. F. McDowell, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.

(1690)

“Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness”—SeeChrist’s Face.

Jesus Would Have Done, Just as—SeeGenerosity, Christian.

Jewel, The Sympathetic—SeeSympathy.

Journalism—SeeClassics, Study of.

Journey of Life—SeeSoul Queries.

JOURNEY TO HEAVEN

Our highest aspiration must wait. We are here to get through the world. Life is a road where we camp for a night on a journey to the golden gate and the setting sun; a traveler who sets up his tent at dark does not plant corn or put out a grapevine, if when the morning comes he expects to pull his tent down and march on. Men are born upon the shore of one ocean; by traveling lightly and never losing a moment, and marching bravely on, through forest, over desert, mountain and river, the traveler can reach the other ocean in time to catch the little boat that slips out into the dark, and sails out of sight with God alone. But the traveler must not expect to plant harvests and grow vineyards while out upon his march. Yonder lie the happy hills of God. There no winter falls, there the summer sheds its warmth always upon the violetbeds. There youth is perfect and beauty is eternal. There every ambition will be perfected, every dream realized; every hope turned to fruition, and the soul is a tree waving its fruit and casting down its purple vintage at the feet of the God of the summer. (Text.)—N. D. Hillis.

(1691)

JOY

John Kendrick Bangs, in theAtlantic Monthly, writes an ideal note:

To-day, whatever may annoyThe word for me is joy, just simple joy;The joy of life;The joy of children and of wife;The joy of bright blue skies;The joy of rain; the glad surprizeOf twinkling stars that shine at night;The joy of wingéd things upon their flight;The joy of noon-day, and the triedTrue joyousness of eventide;The joy of labor, and of mirth;The joy of air, and sea, and earth—The countless joys that ever flow from HimWhose vast beneficence doth dimThe lustrous light of day,And lavish gifts divine upon our way.Whate’er there be of sorrowI’ll put off till to-morrow,And when to-morrow comes, why then’Twill be to-day and joy again! (Text.)

To-day, whatever may annoy

The word for me is joy, just simple joy;

The joy of life;

The joy of children and of wife;

The joy of bright blue skies;

The joy of rain; the glad surprize

Of twinkling stars that shine at night;

The joy of wingéd things upon their flight;

The joy of noon-day, and the tried

True joyousness of eventide;

The joy of labor, and of mirth;

The joy of air, and sea, and earth—

The countless joys that ever flow from Him

Whose vast beneficence doth dim

The lustrous light of day,

And lavish gifts divine upon our way.

Whate’er there be of sorrow

I’ll put off till to-morrow,

And when to-morrow comes, why then

’Twill be to-day and joy again! (Text.)

(1692)

So take joy home,And make a place in thy great heart for her,And give her time to grow, and cherish her;Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee,When thou art working in the furrows; aye,Or weeding in the sacred hours of dawn.It is a comely fashion to be glad—Joy is the grace we say to God. (Text.)—Jean Ingelow.

So take joy home,

And make a place in thy great heart for her,

And give her time to grow, and cherish her;

Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee,

When thou art working in the furrows; aye,

Or weeding in the sacred hours of dawn.

It is a comely fashion to be glad—

Joy is the grace we say to God. (Text.)

—Jean Ingelow.

(1693)

JOY AFTER GRIEF

I had a sorrow, and I wept salt tearsOne winter night, and heavy beat the rain;At dawn came frost, and on my window-paneEach drop like fairy lacework now appears.So shall my grief perchance become a pleasure;Yes, tears maybe are jewels hearts would keep,For in another life we’ll wake from sleep,And light shall sparkle from our new-found treasure.—Beatrix L. Tollemache.

I had a sorrow, and I wept salt tearsOne winter night, and heavy beat the rain;At dawn came frost, and on my window-paneEach drop like fairy lacework now appears.

I had a sorrow, and I wept salt tears

One winter night, and heavy beat the rain;

At dawn came frost, and on my window-pane

Each drop like fairy lacework now appears.

So shall my grief perchance become a pleasure;Yes, tears maybe are jewels hearts would keep,For in another life we’ll wake from sleep,And light shall sparkle from our new-found treasure.—Beatrix L. Tollemache.

So shall my grief perchance become a pleasure;

Yes, tears maybe are jewels hearts would keep,

For in another life we’ll wake from sleep,

And light shall sparkle from our new-found treasure.

—Beatrix L. Tollemache.

(1694)

JOY AND SORROW

“Joy and sorrow are contemporaneous experiences in the same Christian consciousness,” says Dr. Cruddylan Jones. In the Straits of Gibraltar is a double current, the stream flowing back again from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. This phenomenon is analogous to the double current in the life of every believer. (Text.)

(1695)

Judge, a Considerate—SeeProbation.

Judged by the Sun—SeeTests.

Judging—SeeCynic Rebuked.

JUDGING, CARE IN

A traveler in North Carolina saw an old colored man sitting in a chair in his garden, hoeing. The traveler laughed. He thought it was a case of monumental laziness. But he happened to look back as he laughed, and he saw a pair of crutches lying on the ground by the old man’s chair. At once what made him seem ridiculous before made him seem heroic now.

When disposed to criticize, remember human infirmities. (Text.)

(1696)

JUDGING FROM FACTS

We must not judge any act without knowing the facts of the case. “See that man! He has sat on the bank all the morning throwing pebble after pebble into the water. How lazy he must be!” “Is this a fair judgment?” I inquire. And at the end of a warm discussion, I tell my pupils how Turner, the artist, did that to watch the surface of the water in motion and learn how to paint its sheen and color. “A child is walking quietly along the sidewalk. Suddenly a rough looking man seizes her and pushes her into the gutter. Is he cruel?” Of course every one answers yes, at first. But no—a mass of ice is about to fall from the roof above the child’s head. Her assaulter turns out to be her protector.In teaching, of course, every good teacher passes from examples to principles. Through such examples as these we elicit the fact that we can judge no act on sight, for every act is open to a good or a bad interpretation. The eager energy members of my class show in pointing out possible good motives for acts that at first sight look selfish makes me feel sure that they will not in later life condemn unheard. “The special part of this ethics course which stands out in my mind as important,” writes one of mypupils, “is that on right and wrong judgments. It makes me realize how little right we have to judge people from appearances. There are so many sides of people’s characters that we don’t half consider or appreciate.”—Ella Lyman Cabot, “Proceedings of the National Education Association,” 1909.

In teaching, of course, every good teacher passes from examples to principles. Through such examples as these we elicit the fact that we can judge no act on sight, for every act is open to a good or a bad interpretation. The eager energy members of my class show in pointing out possible good motives for acts that at first sight look selfish makes me feel sure that they will not in later life condemn unheard. “The special part of this ethics course which stands out in my mind as important,” writes one of mypupils, “is that on right and wrong judgments. It makes me realize how little right we have to judge people from appearances. There are so many sides of people’s characters that we don’t half consider or appreciate.”—Ella Lyman Cabot, “Proceedings of the National Education Association,” 1909.

(1697)

JUDGMENT DAY

A traveler in Tennessee came across an aged negro seated in front of his cabin door basking in the sunshine.“He could have walked right on the stage for an Uncle Tom part without a line of make-up” says the traveler. “He must have been eighty years of age.”“Good-morning, uncle,” said the traveler.“Mornin’, sah! Mornin’,” said the aged one. Then he added, “Be you the gentleman over yonder from New York?”Being told that such was the case, the old darky said, “Do you mind telling me something that has been botherin’ my old haid? I have got a grandson—he runs on the Pullman cyars—and he done tells me that up thar in New York you-all burn up youah folks when they die. He is a powerful liar, and I don’t believe him.”“Yes,” replied the other, “that is the truth in some cases. We call it cremation.”“Well, you suttenly surprize me,” said the negro, and then he paused as if in deep reflection. Finally he said, “You-all know I am a Baptist. I believe in the resurrection and the life everlastin’ and the comin’ of the Angel Gabriel and the blowin’ of that great horn, and Lawdy me, how am they evah goin’ to find them folks on that great mawnin’?”It was too great a task for an off-hand answer, and the suggestion was made that the aged one consult his minister. Again the negro fell into a brown study, and then he raised his head and his eyes twinkled merrily, and he said in a soft voice:“Meanin’ no offense, sah, but from what Ah have heard about New York, I kinder calculate they is a lot of them New York people that doan’ wanter be found on that mornin’.”—Cosmopolitan.

A traveler in Tennessee came across an aged negro seated in front of his cabin door basking in the sunshine.

“He could have walked right on the stage for an Uncle Tom part without a line of make-up” says the traveler. “He must have been eighty years of age.”

“Good-morning, uncle,” said the traveler.

“Mornin’, sah! Mornin’,” said the aged one. Then he added, “Be you the gentleman over yonder from New York?”

Being told that such was the case, the old darky said, “Do you mind telling me something that has been botherin’ my old haid? I have got a grandson—he runs on the Pullman cyars—and he done tells me that up thar in New York you-all burn up youah folks when they die. He is a powerful liar, and I don’t believe him.”

“Yes,” replied the other, “that is the truth in some cases. We call it cremation.”

“Well, you suttenly surprize me,” said the negro, and then he paused as if in deep reflection. Finally he said, “You-all know I am a Baptist. I believe in the resurrection and the life everlastin’ and the comin’ of the Angel Gabriel and the blowin’ of that great horn, and Lawdy me, how am they evah goin’ to find them folks on that great mawnin’?”

It was too great a task for an off-hand answer, and the suggestion was made that the aged one consult his minister. Again the negro fell into a brown study, and then he raised his head and his eyes twinkled merrily, and he said in a soft voice:

“Meanin’ no offense, sah, but from what Ah have heard about New York, I kinder calculate they is a lot of them New York people that doan’ wanter be found on that mornin’.”—Cosmopolitan.

(1698)

JUDGMENT DELAYED

A certain farmer, who was an infidel, sent to the editor of a weekly newspaper the following letter:“Sir—I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of Indian corn, which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating which it received on Sunday. I gathered the crop on Sunday, and on Sunday hauled it to my barn; and I find that I have more corn per acre than has been gathered by any of my neighbors during this October.”What a triumphant sneer lay behind these words of the skeptic! But one thinks the light faded from his eyes as he read the sentence which the editor appended to his letter: “N. B.—God does not always settle His accounts in October!”

A certain farmer, who was an infidel, sent to the editor of a weekly newspaper the following letter:

“Sir—I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of Indian corn, which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating which it received on Sunday. I gathered the crop on Sunday, and on Sunday hauled it to my barn; and I find that I have more corn per acre than has been gathered by any of my neighbors during this October.”

What a triumphant sneer lay behind these words of the skeptic! But one thinks the light faded from his eyes as he read the sentence which the editor appended to his letter: “N. B.—God does not always settle His accounts in October!”

(1699)

Judgment Dependent on Position—SeePoint of View.

JUDGMENT, FAULTY

When President Roosevelt was in Idaho, shortly after the publication of his book, “The Winning of the West,” he entered a book-store one day and saw a copy of his book lying on the counter. “Who is this author, Roosevelt?” he asked the proprietor. “Oh, he is a ranch-driver up in the cattle country,” was the answer. “Indeed,” said Mr. Roosevelt, “and what do you think of his book?” “Waal,” said the dealer, thoughtfully, “I’ve always had the idea that I’d like to meet that author and tell him that if he’d stuck to running ranches, and not tried to write books, he’d cut a heap bigger figure at his trade, and been a bigger man.”

The ranchman’s judgment was doubtless defective, but it is often well to see ourselves as others see us.

(1700)

JUDGMENT, GRADUAL

Gibbon wrote and we speak of the “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” and Maspero has written a magnificent volume on “The Passing of the Ancient Empires.” Gradual degeneracy is the cause and precursor of final collapse.

After a violent gale one night a great tree was found lying across the pathway in the park where through long years it had been developing a noble growth. Nothing but a splintered stump remained standing. Examination showed there had been another development besides that of its stately beauty. For it was rotten to the core, because of the secret workings of a multitude of little insects which for generations had lived and multiplied. Judgment was not passed on that tree by the sudden gale, but went forth from the very moment that the first insect nested within its bark.

(1701)

JUDGMENT, LACK OF

“I will never forget my first experience in the hospital work,” said Chief Surgeon Millar, of the Central Emergency Hospital, San Francisco. “There was a green nurse in the detention ward and we had a very violent case in there—a man in the worst stage of delirium tremens. I was awakened in the middle of the night by the head nurse, who requested me to come at once to the patient. When I got there I found him raving and very violent, with the new nurse scared out of her wits. I said:“‘Why did you let him go so far? I left you some medicine to give him as soon as he got delirious.’“‘Yes, doctor,’ she replied; ‘but you told me to give that to him if he saw any more snakes, and this time he was seeing blue dogs with pink tails.’”—San FranciscoCall.

“‘Why did you let him go so far? I left you some medicine to give him as soon as he got delirious.’

“‘Yes, doctor,’ she replied; ‘but you told me to give that to him if he saw any more snakes, and this time he was seeing blue dogs with pink tails.’”—San FranciscoCall.

(1702)

JUDGMENTS, INDISCRIMINATE

It is to be feared that many verdicts against our fellow men are as indiscriminate as that of the juryman in the following extract:

A lawyer once asked a man who had at various times sat on several juries, “Who influenced you most—the lawyers, the witnesses, or the judge?” He expected to get some useful and interesting information from so experienced a juryman.This was the man’s reply: “I tell yer, sir, ’ow I makes up my mind. I’m a plain man, and a reasonin’ man, and I ain’t influenced by anything the lawyers say, nor by what the witnesses say—no, nor by what the judge says. I just looks at the man in the dock, and I says, ‘If he ain’t done nothing, why’s he there?’ And I brings ’em all in guilty.”

This was the man’s reply: “I tell yer, sir, ’ow I makes up my mind. I’m a plain man, and a reasonin’ man, and I ain’t influenced by anything the lawyers say, nor by what the witnesses say—no, nor by what the judge says. I just looks at the man in the dock, and I says, ‘If he ain’t done nothing, why’s he there?’ And I brings ’em all in guilty.”

(1703)

JUNK

The Rev. William Barnes Lower writes this telling illustration:

The dredging-machines at work deepening the channel of the Delaware River are bringing to the surface all kinds of junk and implements lost or thrown overboard from ships. All kinds of tools, brass and copper are being found and sold as junk.Every life carries with it, some more, some less, a lot of worthless junk—old superstitions from which it is hard to break away, old prejudices that have hindered the progress of the soul and should have been thrown overboard long ago. Superstition is the greatest burden in the world. The imaginary, scarecrow superstitions of many homes is the worthless junk, that is a dead weight to its spiritual and intellectual progress. Superstition is the disturber of many homes. Very often superstition parades itself under the guise of religion. Superstition is the one swing of the pendulum, skepticism believes nothing. Prejudice always arises through inexperience of the world and ignorance of mankind. In any life it is as worthless as old junk.

Every life carries with it, some more, some less, a lot of worthless junk—old superstitions from which it is hard to break away, old prejudices that have hindered the progress of the soul and should have been thrown overboard long ago. Superstition is the greatest burden in the world. The imaginary, scarecrow superstitions of many homes is the worthless junk, that is a dead weight to its spiritual and intellectual progress. Superstition is the disturber of many homes. Very often superstition parades itself under the guise of religion. Superstition is the one swing of the pendulum, skepticism believes nothing. Prejudice always arises through inexperience of the world and ignorance of mankind. In any life it is as worthless as old junk.

(1704)

Just Punishment—SeeBoys Adjusting Their Troubles.

JUSTICE

Over on the further side, in the shallow eddy, the pool was troubled a second, then there rose from it a wee sunfish, not more than three inches long, rose from it tail first and began balancing across the pool surface toward me, on his head. His tail quivered in the air, and I could see his freckles growing in the yellow transparency of his skin; yet, tho I watched with wide eyes, he was two-thirds the way across the pool toward me before I noticed beneath him the tip of the nose and the wicked little dark eye of a water-snake. At sight of him the demoiselles should have shrieked and flown away, but they made no move. I, however, indignant, arose, and seizing broken fragments of rock was about to lacerate him, and lose his prey, when I quite suddenly thought better of it. Had not I a few days before come down stream to the deep pool above and carried off a string of perch, sunfish, pouts, and an eel? Had not the water-snake also a right to his dinner?—Winthrop Packard, “Wild Pastures.”

(1705)

Some of the early settlers of this country bargained with the Indians that for each fish-hook given, they were to give as much land as a bullock’s hide would cover. But the settlers cut the hide into thin strips, and made it cover a large area. William Penn, when he first came to Pennsylvania, bargained with the Indians that he would give a certain number of articles for as much land as a man could walk around in a certain time. The man covered so much more ground than the Indians believed he would, that they became dissatisfied and threatening. But Penn said to them, “You agreed to this way of measuring.” His companions wishedto force the carrying out of this agreement, but Penn replied that that would be wrong toward these simple children of the prairie; he asked them what they thought would be right, and they simply demanded a few more rolls of cloth, to which Penn agreed. Not only was war averted, but the Indians were pleased with the fair and just spirit shown by the strangers, and became their friends.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”

(1706)

The story is told of a boy whose mother gave him some food to feed the chickens and little ducks. While feeding them he noticed that the ducks were scooping in nearly all the food. He saw that their large bills gave them a decided advantage and this he did not like. It did not exactly square with his notion of justice, so he got hold of a knife with a good edge to it, and just as fast as he could catch the ducklings he cut down their bills to match the size of that of the chicks.

(1707)

JUSTICE BY MAJORITY

Mr. Justice Perrot was a servile political judge, whose power of discrimination was well measured by the celebrated way in which he summed up to the jury in a case of a disputed watercourse, at Exeter Assizes. He concluded thus: “Gentlemen, there are fifteen witnesses who swear that the watercourse used to flow in a ditch on the north side of the hedge. On the other hand, gentlemen, there are nine witnesses who swear that the watercourse used to flow on the south side of the hedge. Now, gentlemen, if you subtract nine from fifteen, there remain six witnesses wholly uncontradicted, and I recommend you to give your verdict accordingly, for the party who called those six witnesses.”—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

(1708)

JUSTICE DELAYED

A case that has been on Chicago court dockets for almost twenty years was brought to light, and an effort made to hasten the progress of the wheels of justice in its disposal. The case is a damage suit of the survivors of victims of theTiogasteamer explosion July 11, 1890. Since it was started the original lawyers on both sides have died. TheTiogawas moored in the Chicago River, between Washington and Randolph streets, when the explosion occurred, resulting in an estimate of thirty deaths.The suit was filed in the Circuit Court, but was transferred to the United States District Court. Technical pleas and hearing of evidence before a master in chancery have consumed the years of litigation.

The suit was filed in the Circuit Court, but was transferred to the United States District Court. Technical pleas and hearing of evidence before a master in chancery have consumed the years of litigation.

(1709)

As I passed down through India I saw two little rice-fields side by side. One was green and growing; the other was dead and dry. I looked for the cause. The great lake was full of water. There was no lack there. Into the one the living water was flowing, for the channel was open. The other was choked. Brother, is your life green and growing, fruitful and joyful, or barren and dry because the channel is choked?—G. S. Eddy, “Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions,” 1910.

(1710)

JUSTICE, ETERNAL

Nations change their names, their boundaries, their creeds and their languages. The altars of yesterday are but the curios of to-day. The temples that have been raised to the worships that have now disappeared from the face of the earth but move our wonder that beliefs so simple and so transparent should have nerved the minds of men to raise such marvels of architecture. But tho creeds and dynasties and languages are ephemeral, the principles of justice are eternal; and this Government, founded and built upon them, will, I believe, last to the end of time.—William Bourke Cockran.

(1711)

JUVENILE COURT EXPERIENCE

Judge Ben Lindsey, who has been made famous by his remarkable work in the Juvenile Court of Denver, tells the following inThe Survey:

A heart-broken mother whose child was becoming dependent can tell her own story: “My husband, judge, is a good man; he was steady at his employment as structural ironworker until recently. Now he is neglecting his home and his work. As soon as he quits work he goes down to the gambling-house and there he is being ruined. He used to go to mass with me on Sunday, and he was so good and loving to us all. Now he is indifferent, gloomy and melancholy. I am without clothes and the children have no shoes. He has gambled away two hundred dollars of the money that belongs to his union, for he was highly respected and elected its treasurer. I gave him fifty dollars to pay the chattel mortgage on our furniture,and I did not know that he had gambled it away until the chattel-mortgage man came and threatened to take the stove and furniture out of the house. I went to police headquarters and they were rude and insulting to me. But one of the officers came up to me and whispered confidentially to me that if I would go to the Juvenile Court they might help me out of my troubles.”Of course the “big business” men who commercialize political parties had little concern about their part in the ruin of that home and in the dependency and delinquency of that child. I sent for their political partner, the gambler who conducted the hell that was burning up that home. He admitted it all. I told him I would make a noise if he did not pay back that money to the poor mother. He paid it back. It would have been useless to talk about arrest and prosecution, for the public officials of that period would do neither.

Of course the “big business” men who commercialize political parties had little concern about their part in the ruin of that home and in the dependency and delinquency of that child. I sent for their political partner, the gambler who conducted the hell that was burning up that home. He admitted it all. I told him I would make a noise if he did not pay back that money to the poor mother. He paid it back. It would have been useless to talk about arrest and prosecution, for the public officials of that period would do neither.

(1712)

KEENNESS

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