“Do you realize that the cotton crop is 1,000,000 bales a year bigger than it was in the old slave days, and that as far back as 1884 the negroes owned 1,000,000 acres of land in Georgia? I saw a big negro shuffle into an Atlanta bank and say: ‘Boss, ah wondah of ah has dat fahm of mine paid foh yet?’ The banker looked up the darky’s account and found that he had not only paid for his land by his remittances, but that he had $700 to his credit.”
“Do you realize that the cotton crop is 1,000,000 bales a year bigger than it was in the old slave days, and that as far back as 1884 the negroes owned 1,000,000 acres of land in Georgia? I saw a big negro shuffle into an Atlanta bank and say: ‘Boss, ah wondah of ah has dat fahm of mine paid foh yet?’ The banker looked up the darky’s account and found that he had not only paid for his land by his remittances, but that he had $700 to his credit.”
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Since the time the shackles were struck off the slaves, the negroes of the United States have had to their credit two Senators and seventeen Congressmen, besides scores of representatives in the diplomatic service and in official life, municipal, State and national. Negroes have won championships as pedestrians, bicycle-riders, and prize-fighters. As evidence of the intellectual endeavor and capacity of the race there are to-day (1908) 1,200,000 black children in the public schools, 30,000 in the higher institutions of learning, and 200 in northern and European colleges and universities. Over 2,000 have been graduated from colleges, and the professions show 30,000 school-teachers and professors, 2,000 lawyers, 1,500 doctors, dentists and pharmacists, and over 23,000 ministers of the gospel. In addition to all this, the negroes have taken out 500 patents, have published 400 books, composed numerous songs, and now own and edit 12 magazines and 300 newspapers. In a material way the negroes have also made noticeable progress. Besides many industrial establishments, they own and manage 26 banks, own 2½ per cent. of the total valuation of the farm property, produce six per cent. of the total farm products of the United States, and own $900,000,000 worth of real and personal property.—William A. Sinclair, “The Aftermath of Slavery.”
Since the time the shackles were struck off the slaves, the negroes of the United States have had to their credit two Senators and seventeen Congressmen, besides scores of representatives in the diplomatic service and in official life, municipal, State and national. Negroes have won championships as pedestrians, bicycle-riders, and prize-fighters. As evidence of the intellectual endeavor and capacity of the race there are to-day (1908) 1,200,000 black children in the public schools, 30,000 in the higher institutions of learning, and 200 in northern and European colleges and universities. Over 2,000 have been graduated from colleges, and the professions show 30,000 school-teachers and professors, 2,000 lawyers, 1,500 doctors, dentists and pharmacists, and over 23,000 ministers of the gospel. In addition to all this, the negroes have taken out 500 patents, have published 400 books, composed numerous songs, and now own and edit 12 magazines and 300 newspapers. In a material way the negroes have also made noticeable progress. Besides many industrial establishments, they own and manage 26 banks, own 2½ per cent. of the total valuation of the farm property, produce six per cent. of the total farm products of the United States, and own $900,000,000 worth of real and personal property.—William A. Sinclair, “The Aftermath of Slavery.”
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Booker T. Washington, writing on “Negro Homes” inThe Century, says:
The first negro home that I remember was a log cabin about fourteen by sixteen feet square. It had a small, narrow door, which hung on rusty, worn-out hinges. The windows were mere openings in the wall, protected by a rickety shutter, which sometimes was closed in winter, but which usually hung dejectedlyon uncertain hinges against the walls of the house. Such a thing as a glass window was unknown to this house. There was no floor, or, rather, there was a floor, but it was nothing more than the naked earth. There was only one room, which served as kitchen, parlor and bedroom for a family of five, which consisted of my mother, my elder brother, my sister, myself and the cat. In this cabin we all ate and slept, my mother being the cook on the place. My own bed was a heap of rags on the floor in the corner of the room next to the fireplace. It was not until after the emancipation that I enjoyed for the first time in my life the luxury of sleeping in a bed. It was at times, I suppose, somewhat crowded in those narrow quarters, tho I do not now remember having suffered on that account, especially as the cabin was always pretty thoroughly ventilated, particularly in winter, through the wide openings between the logs in the walls.Probably there is no single object that so accurately represents and typifies the mental and moral condition of the larger proportion of the members of my race fifty years ago as this same little slave cabin. For the same reason it may be said that the best evidence of the progress which the race has made since emancipation is the character and quality of the homes which they are building for themselves to-day.
The first negro home that I remember was a log cabin about fourteen by sixteen feet square. It had a small, narrow door, which hung on rusty, worn-out hinges. The windows were mere openings in the wall, protected by a rickety shutter, which sometimes was closed in winter, but which usually hung dejectedlyon uncertain hinges against the walls of the house. Such a thing as a glass window was unknown to this house. There was no floor, or, rather, there was a floor, but it was nothing more than the naked earth. There was only one room, which served as kitchen, parlor and bedroom for a family of five, which consisted of my mother, my elder brother, my sister, myself and the cat. In this cabin we all ate and slept, my mother being the cook on the place. My own bed was a heap of rags on the floor in the corner of the room next to the fireplace. It was not until after the emancipation that I enjoyed for the first time in my life the luxury of sleeping in a bed. It was at times, I suppose, somewhat crowded in those narrow quarters, tho I do not now remember having suffered on that account, especially as the cabin was always pretty thoroughly ventilated, particularly in winter, through the wide openings between the logs in the walls.
Probably there is no single object that so accurately represents and typifies the mental and moral condition of the larger proportion of the members of my race fifty years ago as this same little slave cabin. For the same reason it may be said that the best evidence of the progress which the race has made since emancipation is the character and quality of the homes which they are building for themselves to-day.
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NERVE
Altho almost completely paralyzed, Fred J. Daniels, an engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, managed to save passenger train No. 2, which he was running, from colliding with the rear end of a freight train. The train was near Maxwell, Pa., when, leaning out of his cab window, Daniels saw the rear lights of a freight.At the same time a bolt dropping from the locomotive struck the driving-rod and was hurled at him. It hit his forehead and drove him backward. His neck struck with great force against the brake lever, and he fell to the floor helpless. Despite the blow, however, he reached for the lever as he fell and in some manner threw it into a notch which set the safety-brakes, and the train stopt a few yards from the rear end of the freight.When the fireman reached Daniels he was helpless, unable to move, and is now but little better.—BaltimoreAmerican.
Altho almost completely paralyzed, Fred J. Daniels, an engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, managed to save passenger train No. 2, which he was running, from colliding with the rear end of a freight train. The train was near Maxwell, Pa., when, leaning out of his cab window, Daniels saw the rear lights of a freight.
At the same time a bolt dropping from the locomotive struck the driving-rod and was hurled at him. It hit his forehead and drove him backward. His neck struck with great force against the brake lever, and he fell to the floor helpless. Despite the blow, however, he reached for the lever as he fell and in some manner threw it into a notch which set the safety-brakes, and the train stopt a few yards from the rear end of the freight.
When the fireman reached Daniels he was helpless, unable to move, and is now but little better.—BaltimoreAmerican.
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Nerve Essential in Christian Work—SeeMissionary Adaptation.
NERVOUSNESS
Of the physical limitations under which Herbert Spencer worked many interesting glimpses are given. When writing his last book, “Facts and Comments,” published a short time before his death and the result of two years’ work, he was able to produce only ten lines a day. Even when a young man he was afflicted with a nervousness from which he sought relief in playing quoits and rackets. Each of these games he would play in some court attached to a house or pavilion, and after playing about twenty minutes would retire to cover and resume his writing until the nervousness returned, when he would play again. (Text.)
Of the physical limitations under which Herbert Spencer worked many interesting glimpses are given. When writing his last book, “Facts and Comments,” published a short time before his death and the result of two years’ work, he was able to produce only ten lines a day. Even when a young man he was afflicted with a nervousness from which he sought relief in playing quoits and rackets. Each of these games he would play in some court attached to a house or pavilion, and after playing about twenty minutes would retire to cover and resume his writing until the nervousness returned, when he would play again. (Text.)
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NEW AND OLD
A professor of mathematics from America was visiting a college in North China. To a native professor there he said, “There is a new method in mathematics being taught in America. It is called the ‘short cut,’ and is a method of casting out the nines.” Imagine his surprize when the Chinese scholar replied, “The Chinese have been practising that method farther back than recorded history goes.” And he called a pupil up to prove it. Sure enough, it was the “short cut,” the casting out of the nines.
A professor of mathematics from America was visiting a college in North China. To a native professor there he said, “There is a new method in mathematics being taught in America. It is called the ‘short cut,’ and is a method of casting out the nines.” Imagine his surprize when the Chinese scholar replied, “The Chinese have been practising that method farther back than recorded history goes.” And he called a pupil up to prove it. Sure enough, it was the “short cut,” the casting out of the nines.
New things are not so new, and old things are coming to light. (Text.)
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SeeSafety Valves.
NEW, APPETENCY FOR THE
Botanists tell us that when the tree ceases to make new wood it begins to die. Indeed, the only real live part of our northern trees is the part just under the bark. It may be even rotten and hollow on the inside, so long as the sap courses vigorously on the exterior the tree lives, grows and is young. So the mind begins to die when it loses its appetite for things new, when the heavenly hunger for variety ceases. (Text.)—Vyrnwy Morgan, “The Cambro-American Pulpit.”
Botanists tell us that when the tree ceases to make new wood it begins to die. Indeed, the only real live part of our northern trees is the part just under the bark. It may be even rotten and hollow on the inside, so long as the sap courses vigorously on the exterior the tree lives, grows and is young. So the mind begins to die when it loses its appetite for things new, when the heavenly hunger for variety ceases. (Text.)—Vyrnwy Morgan, “The Cambro-American Pulpit.”
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NEW BIRTH
Perhaps you have seen the earth dry and dusty, with her fields brown and her streams low. That night a storm-cloud walked across the face of the sky, and in torrents broke over all the land. The next morning when you went forth there were the same fields and streams, but it was not the sameearth, for a new earth greeted you; and so it is when the life, light and energy of the Holy Spirit is let into a man’s life; he is still the same creature, formed in the likeness of his Maker, but he is not the same. He is a new man; he has been born again. (Text.)—Ulysses G. Warren.
Perhaps you have seen the earth dry and dusty, with her fields brown and her streams low. That night a storm-cloud walked across the face of the sky, and in torrents broke over all the land. The next morning when you went forth there were the same fields and streams, but it was not the sameearth, for a new earth greeted you; and so it is when the life, light and energy of the Holy Spirit is let into a man’s life; he is still the same creature, formed in the likeness of his Maker, but he is not the same. He is a new man; he has been born again. (Text.)—Ulysses G. Warren.
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NEW FAITHS
When the simple conch is built its tenant adds a larger disk from the material provided in the sea; but after a time “the outgrown shell” is altogether left by “life’s unresting sea” and we find that empty shell cast on the shore. When the old temple has become obsolete humanity finds a spiritual home in new faith. (Text.)
When the simple conch is built its tenant adds a larger disk from the material provided in the sea; but after a time “the outgrown shell” is altogether left by “life’s unresting sea” and we find that empty shell cast on the shore. When the old temple has become obsolete humanity finds a spiritual home in new faith. (Text.)
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NEW, THE
To market old remedies that have gone out of fashion, or fallen into discredit, clever manufacturers give them another name and a new wrapper. Purchasers who go by the label, and they are in the majority, think that they have found a godsend, and take up the concoction eagerly.One is occasionally tempted to have recourse to such a trick, in the interest of certain old practises, excellent in themselves, but disqualified by abuse.—Charles Wagner, “The Gospel of Life.”
To market old remedies that have gone out of fashion, or fallen into discredit, clever manufacturers give them another name and a new wrapper. Purchasers who go by the label, and they are in the majority, think that they have found a godsend, and take up the concoction eagerly.
One is occasionally tempted to have recourse to such a trick, in the interest of certain old practises, excellent in themselves, but disqualified by abuse.—Charles Wagner, “The Gospel of Life.”
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New Year—SeeCourage of Hope;Forward;Improvement;Strength.
New York’s Growth—SeeCity, Growth of a Great.
Newness Discloses Ignorance—SeeDrought, Responsibility For.
NEWNESS OF EACH SOUL
Perhaps they laughed at Dante in his youth,Told him that truthHad unappealably been saidIn the great masterpieces of the dead.Perhaps he listened, and but bowed his headIn acquiescent honor, while his heartHeld natal tidings: that a new life is the partOf every man that’s born—A new life never lived before,And a new expectant art,It is the variations of the mornThat are forever, more and more,The single dawning of the single truth:So answers Dante to the heart of youth.—Witter Bynner,The Century.
Perhaps they laughed at Dante in his youth,Told him that truthHad unappealably been saidIn the great masterpieces of the dead.Perhaps he listened, and but bowed his headIn acquiescent honor, while his heartHeld natal tidings: that a new life is the partOf every man that’s born—A new life never lived before,And a new expectant art,It is the variations of the mornThat are forever, more and more,The single dawning of the single truth:So answers Dante to the heart of youth.—Witter Bynner,The Century.
Perhaps they laughed at Dante in his youth,Told him that truthHad unappealably been saidIn the great masterpieces of the dead.Perhaps he listened, and but bowed his headIn acquiescent honor, while his heartHeld natal tidings: that a new life is the partOf every man that’s born—A new life never lived before,And a new expectant art,It is the variations of the mornThat are forever, more and more,The single dawning of the single truth:So answers Dante to the heart of youth.—Witter Bynner,The Century.
Perhaps they laughed at Dante in his youth,
Told him that truth
Had unappealably been said
In the great masterpieces of the dead.
Perhaps he listened, and but bowed his head
In acquiescent honor, while his heart
Held natal tidings: that a new life is the part
Of every man that’s born—
A new life never lived before,
And a new expectant art,
It is the variations of the morn
That are forever, more and more,
The single dawning of the single truth:
So answers Dante to the heart of youth.
—Witter Bynner,The Century.
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Newspaper Reporting—SeeClassics, Study of;Reports to Order.
NEWSPAPERS AND MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE
You can teach the missionary boards and secretaries a little sense as to the news value of missionary items. I know these missionary boards and officials; they are altogether respectable and useful members of society, but they do regard a reporter of the secular press as a nuisance. Of course many of them do not; there are a few here. But they usually say, “No, we have no news to-day.” I have been in the office when a representative of a newspaper came in. “Anything new?” “No.” And I knew that there was the best sort of a newspaper story right there; but it went into the drawer and stayed there three weeks until the whole matter was sent down to the monthly paper of the Church and buried. Anything that is of human interest is news. A man said to me, “I am going to quitThe Globebecause it is giving out all this slush of the Torrey-Alexander meetings.” We gave from two to five columns a day to those meetings, and that man objected. I said to him, “Put up any sort of a meeting in that hall, and if you will fill that hall, afternoon and evening, I will give you from three to five columns.” Those things that have human interest the people want and need.—J. A. MacDonald, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.
You can teach the missionary boards and secretaries a little sense as to the news value of missionary items. I know these missionary boards and officials; they are altogether respectable and useful members of society, but they do regard a reporter of the secular press as a nuisance. Of course many of them do not; there are a few here. But they usually say, “No, we have no news to-day.” I have been in the office when a representative of a newspaper came in. “Anything new?” “No.” And I knew that there was the best sort of a newspaper story right there; but it went into the drawer and stayed there three weeks until the whole matter was sent down to the monthly paper of the Church and buried. Anything that is of human interest is news. A man said to me, “I am going to quitThe Globebecause it is giving out all this slush of the Torrey-Alexander meetings.” We gave from two to five columns a day to those meetings, and that man objected. I said to him, “Put up any sort of a meeting in that hall, and if you will fill that hall, afternoon and evening, I will give you from three to five columns.” Those things that have human interest the people want and need.—J. A. MacDonald, “Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.
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Next Thing All Important—SeeDefeat.
Night Activities—SeeLight.
NIGHT FOR REST
Between the days, the weary days,He drops the darkness and the dew;Over tired eyes his hands he lays,And strength and hope and life renews.Thank God for rest between the days!Else who could bear the battle stress,Or who withstand the tempest’s shocks,Who tread the dreary wildernessAmong the pitfalls and the rocks;Came not the night with folded flocks?The white light scorches and the plainStretches before us, parched with the heat;But, by and by, the fierce beams wane;And lo! the nightfall, cool and sweet,With dews to bathe our aching feet!For he remembereth our frame!Even for this I render praise.O, tender Master, slow to blameThe falterer on life’s stormy ways,Abide with us—between the days!—The British Weekly.
Between the days, the weary days,He drops the darkness and the dew;Over tired eyes his hands he lays,And strength and hope and life renews.Thank God for rest between the days!Else who could bear the battle stress,Or who withstand the tempest’s shocks,Who tread the dreary wildernessAmong the pitfalls and the rocks;Came not the night with folded flocks?The white light scorches and the plainStretches before us, parched with the heat;But, by and by, the fierce beams wane;And lo! the nightfall, cool and sweet,With dews to bathe our aching feet!For he remembereth our frame!Even for this I render praise.O, tender Master, slow to blameThe falterer on life’s stormy ways,Abide with us—between the days!—The British Weekly.
Between the days, the weary days,He drops the darkness and the dew;Over tired eyes his hands he lays,And strength and hope and life renews.Thank God for rest between the days!
Between the days, the weary days,
He drops the darkness and the dew;
Over tired eyes his hands he lays,
And strength and hope and life renews.
Thank God for rest between the days!
Else who could bear the battle stress,Or who withstand the tempest’s shocks,Who tread the dreary wildernessAmong the pitfalls and the rocks;Came not the night with folded flocks?
Else who could bear the battle stress,
Or who withstand the tempest’s shocks,
Who tread the dreary wilderness
Among the pitfalls and the rocks;
Came not the night with folded flocks?
The white light scorches and the plainStretches before us, parched with the heat;But, by and by, the fierce beams wane;And lo! the nightfall, cool and sweet,With dews to bathe our aching feet!
The white light scorches and the plain
Stretches before us, parched with the heat;
But, by and by, the fierce beams wane;
And lo! the nightfall, cool and sweet,
With dews to bathe our aching feet!
For he remembereth our frame!Even for this I render praise.O, tender Master, slow to blameThe falterer on life’s stormy ways,Abide with us—between the days!—The British Weekly.
For he remembereth our frame!
Even for this I render praise.
O, tender Master, slow to blame
The falterer on life’s stormy ways,
Abide with us—between the days!
—The British Weekly.
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NIGHT, GOD’S PRESENCE IN THE
James Church Alvord writes these prayerful verses:
Not for to-morrow, Lord, I lift my eyesUp through the darkness which between us lies;Not ’gainst to-morrow’s terror, toil or woe;Not for to-morrow’s joy or glad surprize—Just for to-night.When the day breaks and far the shadows fleeStrength for the conflict still shall come from Thee,I all Thy grace shall prove, Thy comfort know.O, let me feel this deep security—Just for to-night.Peace—’tis the gift Thou givest, peace and rest.Come, bid me droop my head upon Thy breast!Speak to me, Master, murmur soft and low,Flood all my soul with Thy communion blest—Just for to-night.Nay, I’ll not shun to-morrow’s wild alarms:Storms when Thou sendest, I’ll not ask for calms.Yet, I grow weary on the way I go:Put underneath the everlasting arms—Just for to-night. (Text.)
Not for to-morrow, Lord, I lift my eyesUp through the darkness which between us lies;Not ’gainst to-morrow’s terror, toil or woe;Not for to-morrow’s joy or glad surprize—Just for to-night.When the day breaks and far the shadows fleeStrength for the conflict still shall come from Thee,I all Thy grace shall prove, Thy comfort know.O, let me feel this deep security—Just for to-night.Peace—’tis the gift Thou givest, peace and rest.Come, bid me droop my head upon Thy breast!Speak to me, Master, murmur soft and low,Flood all my soul with Thy communion blest—Just for to-night.Nay, I’ll not shun to-morrow’s wild alarms:Storms when Thou sendest, I’ll not ask for calms.Yet, I grow weary on the way I go:Put underneath the everlasting arms—Just for to-night. (Text.)
Not for to-morrow, Lord, I lift my eyesUp through the darkness which between us lies;Not ’gainst to-morrow’s terror, toil or woe;Not for to-morrow’s joy or glad surprize—Just for to-night.
Not for to-morrow, Lord, I lift my eyes
Up through the darkness which between us lies;
Not ’gainst to-morrow’s terror, toil or woe;
Not for to-morrow’s joy or glad surprize—
Just for to-night.
When the day breaks and far the shadows fleeStrength for the conflict still shall come from Thee,I all Thy grace shall prove, Thy comfort know.O, let me feel this deep security—Just for to-night.
When the day breaks and far the shadows flee
Strength for the conflict still shall come from Thee,
I all Thy grace shall prove, Thy comfort know.
O, let me feel this deep security—
Just for to-night.
Peace—’tis the gift Thou givest, peace and rest.Come, bid me droop my head upon Thy breast!Speak to me, Master, murmur soft and low,Flood all my soul with Thy communion blest—Just for to-night.
Peace—’tis the gift Thou givest, peace and rest.
Come, bid me droop my head upon Thy breast!
Speak to me, Master, murmur soft and low,
Flood all my soul with Thy communion blest—
Just for to-night.
Nay, I’ll not shun to-morrow’s wild alarms:Storms when Thou sendest, I’ll not ask for calms.Yet, I grow weary on the way I go:Put underneath the everlasting arms—Just for to-night. (Text.)
Nay, I’ll not shun to-morrow’s wild alarms:
Storms when Thou sendest, I’ll not ask for calms.
Yet, I grow weary on the way I go:
Put underneath the everlasting arms—
Just for to-night. (Text.)
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Nightfall—SeeGod, Sleepless Care of.
NO MAN’S LAND
There is a peculiar propriety in the name “No Man’s Land,” which has been applied to the group of rocky snow-clad islands four hundred miles to the north of the North Cape of Norway, once spoken of as East Greenland, and appearing on all modern maps as Spitzbergen. Wintering on these islands is practically impossible to civilized man. There are myriad petrels and gulls and wild geese in summer.For two centuries the whalers and sealers—Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Norwegians—frequented these islands in summer months. The right whale disappeared. The seals became fewer. Visits to the islands became less frequent. Now coal has been discovered in such beds as to justify civilization in taking cognizance of “No Man’s Land.”The United States accepted the invitation of Norway to take part in an international conference, at Christiana, to consider the government of Spitzbergen. Russia, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany and Denmark were invited. There is not much doubt that a form of government will be devised and a full agreement reached.
There is a peculiar propriety in the name “No Man’s Land,” which has been applied to the group of rocky snow-clad islands four hundred miles to the north of the North Cape of Norway, once spoken of as East Greenland, and appearing on all modern maps as Spitzbergen. Wintering on these islands is practically impossible to civilized man. There are myriad petrels and gulls and wild geese in summer.
For two centuries the whalers and sealers—Swedes, Danes, Dutch, Norwegians—frequented these islands in summer months. The right whale disappeared. The seals became fewer. Visits to the islands became less frequent. Now coal has been discovered in such beds as to justify civilization in taking cognizance of “No Man’s Land.”
The United States accepted the invitation of Norway to take part in an international conference, at Christiana, to consider the government of Spitzbergen. Russia, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany and Denmark were invited. There is not much doubt that a form of government will be devised and a full agreement reached.
This is a significant movement toward extending law in some form to every bit of territory on the earth’s surface. A century hence it will perhaps be impossible to find a square foot of earth that can be called “No Man’s Land.”—BrooklynEagle.
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Nobility, Obscure—SeeSpiritual Nobility.
Noise, Vain—SeePretense.
Nomenclature, Absurd—SeeAbsurdity in Nomenclature.
Non-Christian Religions—SeeInadequacy of Non-Christian Religions.
NORMAL, THE, ARE THE HIGHEST
In the valley the sequoia is twenty feet in diameter, and this is natural. Now, climb the sides of the mountain, and the diameter drops to ten feet, to five feet, to two feet six inches, and finally you get an army of average six-inch sequoias. But don’t say now that because the average on this rocky soil and these storm-swept peaks is six inches, that the great tree in the valley is abnormal. On the mountain side, with the thin soil, roots that cling to rocks, snows that bite, winds breaking the boughs, thunderbolts that burn and blacken, the average tree is small.But this stunted tree is abnormal and unnatural. Your Plato is the natural man in the intellect. Shakespeare is the normal man in imagination. Wendell Phillips is the ordinary speaker. The men you call supreme and extraordinary represent man as God made them.—N. D. Hillis.
In the valley the sequoia is twenty feet in diameter, and this is natural. Now, climb the sides of the mountain, and the diameter drops to ten feet, to five feet, to two feet six inches, and finally you get an army of average six-inch sequoias. But don’t say now that because the average on this rocky soil and these storm-swept peaks is six inches, that the great tree in the valley is abnormal. On the mountain side, with the thin soil, roots that cling to rocks, snows that bite, winds breaking the boughs, thunderbolts that burn and blacken, the average tree is small.
But this stunted tree is abnormal and unnatural. Your Plato is the natural man in the intellect. Shakespeare is the normal man in imagination. Wendell Phillips is the ordinary speaker. The men you call supreme and extraordinary represent man as God made them.—N. D. Hillis.
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North Pole Conquest—SeeConquest, Commonplace.
Nose, the Human, Deteriorating—SeeDeterioration by Disuse.
NOTE, A FALSE
Some friends were one evening sitting together in a happy circle listening to a phonograph as it reproduced the voices of a quartet of famous singers. Some of the listeners had ears sensitive to musical sounds and they shuddered at one point when a false note occurred. As often as the record returned the discordant jarring of that false note came in with repellent effect. In the midst of the beautiful strain this spoiled the harmony at each recurrence. It is so with character. A false moral concept unless corrected goes on forever producing falsehood in the life. (Text.)
Some friends were one evening sitting together in a happy circle listening to a phonograph as it reproduced the voices of a quartet of famous singers. Some of the listeners had ears sensitive to musical sounds and they shuddered at one point when a false note occurred. As often as the record returned the discordant jarring of that false note came in with repellent effect. In the midst of the beautiful strain this spoiled the harmony at each recurrence. It is so with character. A false moral concept unless corrected goes on forever producing falsehood in the life. (Text.)
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SeeSelf-confidence.
Nothing Lost in the Universe—SeeConservation.
NOTORIETY
Only persons of cheap character would be likely to resort to such a device as the following:
With more than 10,000 persons intently watching proceedings, George Lenfers and Miss Ora D. Williams were married on the top of the gas company’s new giant smoke-stack, 222 feet from the ground, at high noon the other day. The streets and alleys for five blocks in every direction were jammed and high roofs were dotted with spectators as far as the eye could reach.Thomas Englehard, the builder of the huge pile of concrete and steel, clasped a belt about the bride’s waist and tied a rope to a ring in it. The other end of the rope he tied about his own waist and proceeded with the girl up the ladder. The groom followed with Rev. C. J. Armentraut, pastor of the Emanuel Presbyterian Church. (Text.)
With more than 10,000 persons intently watching proceedings, George Lenfers and Miss Ora D. Williams were married on the top of the gas company’s new giant smoke-stack, 222 feet from the ground, at high noon the other day. The streets and alleys for five blocks in every direction were jammed and high roofs were dotted with spectators as far as the eye could reach.
Thomas Englehard, the builder of the huge pile of concrete and steel, clasped a belt about the bride’s waist and tied a rope to a ring in it. The other end of the rope he tied about his own waist and proceeded with the girl up the ladder. The groom followed with Rev. C. J. Armentraut, pastor of the Emanuel Presbyterian Church. (Text.)
(2204)
NOURISHMENT FROM BENEATH
The soul that has its roots struck deep in the soil of God’s providence will live and flourish in the most hostile moral climates of this world.
Did you ever see a watercress-pond in the midst of winter? It is a very attractive sight. With the thermometer far below the freezing-point, and with deep snow covering the ground and the branches of the trees, the patch of watercress stands out in striking contrast—a spot of vivid green like a carpet on the surface of the pond. That the plants are able to grow and flourish under such apparently impossible conditions of weather is due entirely to the warm springs which feed the pond. The water welling forth from the warm heart of the earth saves them from freezing. (Text.)—Louis Albert Banks.
Did you ever see a watercress-pond in the midst of winter? It is a very attractive sight. With the thermometer far below the freezing-point, and with deep snow covering the ground and the branches of the trees, the patch of watercress stands out in striking contrast—a spot of vivid green like a carpet on the surface of the pond. That the plants are able to grow and flourish under such apparently impossible conditions of weather is due entirely to the warm springs which feed the pond. The water welling forth from the warm heart of the earth saves them from freezing. (Text.)—Louis Albert Banks.
(2205)
NOVELS GOOD AND BAD
To so affect a reader that his course of life becomes altered, must prove that the moving influence of fiction is strong indeed. With a weapon of such power placed in our hands, it rests with us to say how it shall be employed. If it has been used, carelessly so that low, selfish thoughts have been developed, it is our duty and joyous privilege to so write that lofty, noble sentiments shall rise and grow, tearing out all evil from the heart, as a growing tree splits a rock that once held it as a tiny seed in its moss-lined crevice. If the novel has inspired doubts as to the value, the grandeur, and joy of living, fostering that slow, insidious canker of pessimism which like the poisoned arrows of the Indian permeates the system with its virus, the novel must now be made to bring calm peace by presenting noble lives of heroism, self-forgetfulness and service by a high ideal consistently followed.—Book Chat.
To so affect a reader that his course of life becomes altered, must prove that the moving influence of fiction is strong indeed. With a weapon of such power placed in our hands, it rests with us to say how it shall be employed. If it has been used, carelessly so that low, selfish thoughts have been developed, it is our duty and joyous privilege to so write that lofty, noble sentiments shall rise and grow, tearing out all evil from the heart, as a growing tree splits a rock that once held it as a tiny seed in its moss-lined crevice. If the novel has inspired doubts as to the value, the grandeur, and joy of living, fostering that slow, insidious canker of pessimism which like the poisoned arrows of the Indian permeates the system with its virus, the novel must now be made to bring calm peace by presenting noble lives of heroism, self-forgetfulness and service by a high ideal consistently followed.—Book Chat.
(2206)
SeeTime, Precious.
NOVELTY, THE PASSION FOR
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,A race that can’t stay still;So they break the hearts of kith and kin,And they roam the world at will.They range the field and they rove the flood,And they climb the mountain’s crest;Theirs is the curse of the gipsy blood,And they don’t know how to rest.If they just went straight they might go far;They are strong and brave and true;But they’re always tired of the things that are,And they want the strange and new.—Robert W. Service, “The Spell of the Yukon.”
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,A race that can’t stay still;So they break the hearts of kith and kin,And they roam the world at will.They range the field and they rove the flood,And they climb the mountain’s crest;Theirs is the curse of the gipsy blood,And they don’t know how to rest.If they just went straight they might go far;They are strong and brave and true;But they’re always tired of the things that are,And they want the strange and new.—Robert W. Service, “The Spell of the Yukon.”
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,A race that can’t stay still;So they break the hearts of kith and kin,And they roam the world at will.
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,
A race that can’t stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,And they climb the mountain’s crest;Theirs is the curse of the gipsy blood,And they don’t know how to rest.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain’s crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gipsy blood,
And they don’t know how to rest.
If they just went straight they might go far;They are strong and brave and true;But they’re always tired of the things that are,And they want the strange and new.—Robert W. Service, “The Spell of the Yukon.”
If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they’re always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
—Robert W. Service, “The Spell of the Yukon.”
(2207)
NOW, DO IT
When you’ve got a job to do, do it now! If it’s one you wish was through, do it now! If you’re sure the job’s your own, just tackle it alone; don’t hem and haw and groan—do it now! Don’t put off a bit of work, do it now! It doesn’t pay to shirk, do it now! If you want to fill a place, and be useful in the race, just get up and take a brace, doit now! Don’t linger by the way, do it now! You’ll lose if you delay, do it now! If the other fellows wait, or postpone until it’s late, you hit up a faster gait—do it now!—Intelligencer.
When you’ve got a job to do, do it now! If it’s one you wish was through, do it now! If you’re sure the job’s your own, just tackle it alone; don’t hem and haw and groan—do it now! Don’t put off a bit of work, do it now! It doesn’t pay to shirk, do it now! If you want to fill a place, and be useful in the race, just get up and take a brace, doit now! Don’t linger by the way, do it now! You’ll lose if you delay, do it now! If the other fellows wait, or postpone until it’s late, you hit up a faster gait—do it now!—Intelligencer.
(2208)
Numbers, Courage of—SeeCowardice.
Numbers Without Meaning—SeeBigness.
Nurse, Florence Nightingale as a—SeeLife, A Devoted.
NUTRIMENT OF THE SOUL
Last summer I went to an agricultural college. I had been under the delusion that black clods turned to strawberries, and that red clay ripened apples and wheat shocks. One day the professor handed me a large microscope to study two blades of corn, growing in a little pot of earth. Now there was something lacking in the soil. The little stock was yellow, sickly, and come to the moment of death. It throbbed a little, but the pulse beat low. What was the matter? All it needed was nitrogen. Nitrogen? Why there were billions of tons of nitrogen in the air, forty miles thick. When a man has pneumonia he dies, not because there are not billions of tons of oxygen above him, but because he can not absorb the oxygen. The soil could not help the dying corn plant. The rain could not help it—poor little plant that pants and pants, because it can not get that invisible nourishment in nitrogen. So we took a little liquor that held a few nodules from a nitrogenous alfalfa root, and poured it about the dying blade of corn. In a single hour the pulse began to beat true and firm; another morning came and the sickly yellow had changed to green. In a week the corn was growing like a weed. Out in the field were two acres of corn, sown broadcast. One acre was in the starved soil and yielded nine hundred pounds of fodder; the other acre yielded over ten thousand pounds, through that rich invisible food.Not otherwise is it with the soul.—N. D. Hillis.
Last summer I went to an agricultural college. I had been under the delusion that black clods turned to strawberries, and that red clay ripened apples and wheat shocks. One day the professor handed me a large microscope to study two blades of corn, growing in a little pot of earth. Now there was something lacking in the soil. The little stock was yellow, sickly, and come to the moment of death. It throbbed a little, but the pulse beat low. What was the matter? All it needed was nitrogen. Nitrogen? Why there were billions of tons of nitrogen in the air, forty miles thick. When a man has pneumonia he dies, not because there are not billions of tons of oxygen above him, but because he can not absorb the oxygen. The soil could not help the dying corn plant. The rain could not help it—poor little plant that pants and pants, because it can not get that invisible nourishment in nitrogen. So we took a little liquor that held a few nodules from a nitrogenous alfalfa root, and poured it about the dying blade of corn. In a single hour the pulse began to beat true and firm; another morning came and the sickly yellow had changed to green. In a week the corn was growing like a weed. Out in the field were two acres of corn, sown broadcast. One acre was in the starved soil and yielded nine hundred pounds of fodder; the other acre yielded over ten thousand pounds, through that rich invisible food.
Not otherwise is it with the soul.—N. D. Hillis.
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NUTRITION, PROPER
“With the exception of carbon, the food of plants comes from the soil and it is dissolved in the soil water. If the soil does not contain food enough, the plant can not grow well, even tho they have everything else they need. The ideal soil must have sufficient plant food in a form that can dissolve in water to supply the needs of crops grown on it.”There must be religious nutriment in the soil of education and training in order to proper moral growth. (Text.)
“With the exception of carbon, the food of plants comes from the soil and it is dissolved in the soil water. If the soil does not contain food enough, the plant can not grow well, even tho they have everything else they need. The ideal soil must have sufficient plant food in a form that can dissolve in water to supply the needs of crops grown on it.”
There must be religious nutriment in the soil of education and training in order to proper moral growth. (Text.)
(2210)
OASES
Among the African deserts are some fertile spots. They are occasioned by springs which arise in little dells and moisten the ground for some distance around them. They are islands of verdure and beauty and refreshing in an ocean of desolation. Some of them are very extensive and contain a considerable population. One of these is called the Great Oasis, consisting of a chain of fertile tracts of about a hundred miles in length. Another is the Oasis of Siwah, which has a population of eight thousand souls.
Among the African deserts are some fertile spots. They are occasioned by springs which arise in little dells and moisten the ground for some distance around them. They are islands of verdure and beauty and refreshing in an ocean of desolation. Some of them are very extensive and contain a considerable population. One of these is called the Great Oasis, consisting of a chain of fertile tracts of about a hundred miles in length. Another is the Oasis of Siwah, which has a population of eight thousand souls.
Is not life dotted with just such oases that gladden the desert expanse that surrounds so many pilgrims of earth? (Text.)
(2211)
OATHS
The primary idea of taking an oath is that we call upon the Deity to bear witness to the sincerity or truth of what we assert, and so, as it were, register our oath in heaven. When Abraham, for example, raised his hands to heaven while swearing an oath to the King of Sodom, he pointed to the supposed residence of the Creator. Afterward, when men set up inferior deities of their own, they appealed to the material images of symbols that represented them, whenever an oath was administered. The most usual form of swearing among the ancients was, however, by touching the altar of the gods. Other rites, such as libations, the burning of incense and sacrifices accompanied the touching of the altar. Demosthenesswore by the souls of those who fell at Marathon. Anciently, too, mariners swore by their ships, fishermen by their nets, soldiers by their spears, and kings by their scepters. The ancient Persians swore by the sun, which was the common object of their adoration, while the Scythians pledged themselves by the air they breathed and by their simitars. Descending to more modern times, the Saxons pledged themselves to support their homes and privileges by their arms; and the punishment for perjury or non-fulfilment of an oath was the loss of the hand that had held the weapon at the compact. The Spartans were wont to assemble around a brazier of fire, and, pointing their short swords to the sky, call upon the gods to bear witness to the compact. Swearing by the sword, in fact, retained its significance down to comparatively modern times, tho in a slightly modified form. Thus, while the pagans extended the point of the weapon toward the supposed residence of the gods, the warriors of Christianity after kissing it, directed the hilt—the true emblem of their faith—to heaven. A later form of oath was the pressing of the thumb upon the blade. Gradually, however, the practise became obsolete; and the kissing of the hilt, accompanying the words, “By this good sword!” was handed down almost to the time when the wearing of a sword by gentlemen was abolished, as one of the strictest codes of civil honor.—LondonStandard.
The primary idea of taking an oath is that we call upon the Deity to bear witness to the sincerity or truth of what we assert, and so, as it were, register our oath in heaven. When Abraham, for example, raised his hands to heaven while swearing an oath to the King of Sodom, he pointed to the supposed residence of the Creator. Afterward, when men set up inferior deities of their own, they appealed to the material images of symbols that represented them, whenever an oath was administered. The most usual form of swearing among the ancients was, however, by touching the altar of the gods. Other rites, such as libations, the burning of incense and sacrifices accompanied the touching of the altar. Demosthenesswore by the souls of those who fell at Marathon. Anciently, too, mariners swore by their ships, fishermen by their nets, soldiers by their spears, and kings by their scepters. The ancient Persians swore by the sun, which was the common object of their adoration, while the Scythians pledged themselves by the air they breathed and by their simitars. Descending to more modern times, the Saxons pledged themselves to support their homes and privileges by their arms; and the punishment for perjury or non-fulfilment of an oath was the loss of the hand that had held the weapon at the compact. The Spartans were wont to assemble around a brazier of fire, and, pointing their short swords to the sky, call upon the gods to bear witness to the compact. Swearing by the sword, in fact, retained its significance down to comparatively modern times, tho in a slightly modified form. Thus, while the pagans extended the point of the weapon toward the supposed residence of the gods, the warriors of Christianity after kissing it, directed the hilt—the true emblem of their faith—to heaven. A later form of oath was the pressing of the thumb upon the blade. Gradually, however, the practise became obsolete; and the kissing of the hilt, accompanying the words, “By this good sword!” was handed down almost to the time when the wearing of a sword by gentlemen was abolished, as one of the strictest codes of civil honor.—LondonStandard.
(2212)
OBEDIENCE
When the Duke of Wellington received a very intrepid battalion returning from a bloody campaign it was observed that he said nothing of their courage, praising only their discipline and subordination to command. Civilians were surprized. The field marshal’s reason was ready—Englishmen are expected to be brave, but obedience is a higher honor. War itself, as a science of slaughter, is not a lofty kind of work, as the most courageous warriors in later days always admit. Yet the military profession is an elevated one in civilized countries, because it is a discipline of character in the principle of authority.—Bishop Huntington,The Forum.
When the Duke of Wellington received a very intrepid battalion returning from a bloody campaign it was observed that he said nothing of their courage, praising only their discipline and subordination to command. Civilians were surprized. The field marshal’s reason was ready—Englishmen are expected to be brave, but obedience is a higher honor. War itself, as a science of slaughter, is not a lofty kind of work, as the most courageous warriors in later days always admit. Yet the military profession is an elevated one in civilized countries, because it is a discipline of character in the principle of authority.—Bishop Huntington,The Forum.
(2213)
Hon. Richmond P. Hobson, in relating some of his experiences after he and his men were captured by the Spanish, tells the following story:
The next day, when it seemed uncertain whether or not a remnant of the Inquisition was to be revived, when the enemy did not know whether it was his fault or ours that a ship had been sunk, and rather inclined to the belief that he had sunk an American battleship and that we were the only survivors out of several hundred, the men were taken before the Spanish authorities and serious and impertinent questions put to them. Remember, they did not know what it might cost them to refuse to answer, Spanish soldiers of the guard standing before them, making significant gestures with their hands edgewise across their throats. Our seamen laughed in their faces. Then a Spanish major questioned Charette, because he spoke French, and asked him this question: “What was your object in coming here?”And so long as I live I shall never forget the way Charette threw back his shoulders, proudly lifted his head and looked him in the eye as he said:“In the United States Navy, sir, it is not the custom for the seamen to know, or to desire to know, the object of an action of his superior officer.”
The next day, when it seemed uncertain whether or not a remnant of the Inquisition was to be revived, when the enemy did not know whether it was his fault or ours that a ship had been sunk, and rather inclined to the belief that he had sunk an American battleship and that we were the only survivors out of several hundred, the men were taken before the Spanish authorities and serious and impertinent questions put to them. Remember, they did not know what it might cost them to refuse to answer, Spanish soldiers of the guard standing before them, making significant gestures with their hands edgewise across their throats. Our seamen laughed in their faces. Then a Spanish major questioned Charette, because he spoke French, and asked him this question: “What was your object in coming here?”
And so long as I live I shall never forget the way Charette threw back his shoulders, proudly lifted his head and looked him in the eye as he said:
“In the United States Navy, sir, it is not the custom for the seamen to know, or to desire to know, the object of an action of his superior officer.”
Obedience to the right, is an all too rare virtue, yet upon it depend the foundations of society and the spread of God’s kingdom. We are privileged to know and also to obey.
(2214)
The Princess of Wales, according toThe Youth’s Companion, has trained her children so carefully in habits of obedience and veracity that they are nearly models of what children should be in those particulars. Upon one occasion, however, they were sorely tempted. This was when their loving and beloved grandmother, Queen Alexandra, brought them a big box of bonbons. But when the sweets were offered to them, one child after another reluctantly but firmly declined to take any.“We like them, but mother has forbidden us to eat them,” explained the eldest prince.“You can have the sugar-plums if I say you may,” said the indulgent Queen. “I will tell mama all about it when she returns.”Prince Eddie wavered momentarily, then reiterated his refusal.“We’d like them,” he sighed, “but that’s what mother said.”The Queen was slightly annoyed by this opposition.“But if I say you may—” she said.Prince Eddie stood his ground, a hero between two fires—the wishes of his adored mother and those of his equally adored grandmother. His sisters and his brothers followed his lead. When the Queen went away she put the bonbons on the nursery table and there they stayed for months untouched, a handsome monument to the thoroughness of the princess’s training and the respectful love and devotion of her children. (Text.)
The Princess of Wales, according toThe Youth’s Companion, has trained her children so carefully in habits of obedience and veracity that they are nearly models of what children should be in those particulars. Upon one occasion, however, they were sorely tempted. This was when their loving and beloved grandmother, Queen Alexandra, brought them a big box of bonbons. But when the sweets were offered to them, one child after another reluctantly but firmly declined to take any.
“We like them, but mother has forbidden us to eat them,” explained the eldest prince.
“You can have the sugar-plums if I say you may,” said the indulgent Queen. “I will tell mama all about it when she returns.”
Prince Eddie wavered momentarily, then reiterated his refusal.
“We’d like them,” he sighed, “but that’s what mother said.”
The Queen was slightly annoyed by this opposition.
“But if I say you may—” she said.
Prince Eddie stood his ground, a hero between two fires—the wishes of his adored mother and those of his equally adored grandmother. His sisters and his brothers followed his lead. When the Queen went away she put the bonbons on the nursery table and there they stayed for months untouched, a handsome monument to the thoroughness of the princess’s training and the respectful love and devotion of her children. (Text.)
(2215)
OBEDIENCE, A TYPE OF
Admiral Dewey served through the Civil War, and had the fortune to get always into the thickest of the fight. When in command of theDolphin, he exhibited his ideas of obedience. One of his “Jacks” refused to obey an order of his lieutenant and was reported to Dewey. “What!” said Dewey, “you refuse? Do you know this is mutiny?” The man still remained stubborn. Thereupon Dewey told the captain to call the guard. He stood the obdurate seaman on the far side of the deck, and ordered the marines to load. Then he took out his watch and said, “Now my man, you have just five seconds to obey that order,” and began to count the seconds. At the fourth count the man moved off with alacrity to obey the order. The admiral was a man to be trusted implicitly to carry out orders, which fact had become a byword at the Navy Department, and he won fame from the custom he had formed of doing the thing expected of him.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
Admiral Dewey served through the Civil War, and had the fortune to get always into the thickest of the fight. When in command of theDolphin, he exhibited his ideas of obedience. One of his “Jacks” refused to obey an order of his lieutenant and was reported to Dewey. “What!” said Dewey, “you refuse? Do you know this is mutiny?” The man still remained stubborn. Thereupon Dewey told the captain to call the guard. He stood the obdurate seaman on the far side of the deck, and ordered the marines to load. Then he took out his watch and said, “Now my man, you have just five seconds to obey that order,” and began to count the seconds. At the fourth count the man moved off with alacrity to obey the order. The admiral was a man to be trusted implicitly to carry out orders, which fact had become a byword at the Navy Department, and he won fame from the custom he had formed of doing the thing expected of him.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
(2216)
OBEDIENCE AND GREATNESS
The moon calls to the Atlantic and the mighty seas lift themselves in great tidal waves as they follow their mistress round the globe. It calls with equal insistence to the wayside pool and this passing reminder of yesterday’s shower yields not an inch. The dust speck dances in the sunlight impudently or ignorantly defiant of the law which holds the earth with a grip of steel as it goes bounding along through a wilderness of stars held steady by the same hand. Be it big enough and noble enough, it knows how to obey.—John H. Willey.
The moon calls to the Atlantic and the mighty seas lift themselves in great tidal waves as they follow their mistress round the globe. It calls with equal insistence to the wayside pool and this passing reminder of yesterday’s shower yields not an inch. The dust speck dances in the sunlight impudently or ignorantly defiant of the law which holds the earth with a grip of steel as it goes bounding along through a wilderness of stars held steady by the same hand. Be it big enough and noble enough, it knows how to obey.—John H. Willey.
(2217)
OBEDIENCE IN SPIRIT
It is told of an Eastern king how, planning to visit a remote part of his kingdom, he sent ahead a trusted minister to build for his royal master a suitable palace to live in. When the royal courier reached the end of his journey he found a plague raging and the people dying by thousands. So instead of building the contemplated palace, he took the money and spent it in medicine and bread for the poor sufferers, dug graves and buried the dead, and bought clothing to protect the living. When the king came on and found what was done, instead of punishing his minister he commended him, saying, “Oh, faithful servant, you have builded for me a palace in the hearts of my people—built it out of the tombstones which you have erected over the graves of the dead; jeweled it with the tears you have wiped away, made it echo with songs out of the sobs which you have stilled.”
It is told of an Eastern king how, planning to visit a remote part of his kingdom, he sent ahead a trusted minister to build for his royal master a suitable palace to live in. When the royal courier reached the end of his journey he found a plague raging and the people dying by thousands. So instead of building the contemplated palace, he took the money and spent it in medicine and bread for the poor sufferers, dug graves and buried the dead, and bought clothing to protect the living. When the king came on and found what was done, instead of punishing his minister he commended him, saying, “Oh, faithful servant, you have builded for me a palace in the hearts of my people—built it out of the tombstones which you have erected over the graves of the dead; jeweled it with the tears you have wiped away, made it echo with songs out of the sobs which you have stilled.”
These servants followed the spirit of the king’s command, not the letter. Will not God be well pleased with a similar obedience from His children? (Text.)
(2218)
Object-preaching—SeeSermon, Saving a.
OBJECT-TEACHING
Many men could be brought to abandon their evil habits if they could have them as plainly pictured as the man did in the following incident:
A rich profligate kept two monkeys for his amusement. Once he peeped into his dining hall where he and his friends had been enjoying themselves in wine, and found his pets mimicking the recent party. They mounted the table, helped themselves to the wine, and gestured and jabbered as they had seen their master and his guests doing. Soon they got merry and jumped all about the room. Then they got to fighting on the floor and tearing each other’s hair. The master stood in amazement. “What,” he said, “is this a picture of me? Do even the brutes rebuke me?” Ever afterward he was a sober man.
A rich profligate kept two monkeys for his amusement. Once he peeped into his dining hall where he and his friends had been enjoying themselves in wine, and found his pets mimicking the recent party. They mounted the table, helped themselves to the wine, and gestured and jabbered as they had seen their master and his guests doing. Soon they got merry and jumped all about the room. Then they got to fighting on the floor and tearing each other’s hair. The master stood in amazement. “What,” he said, “is this a picture of me? Do even the brutes rebuke me?” Ever afterward he was a sober man.
(2219)
Object-teaching, Successful—SeeWarmth, Lost.
Objection Overcome—SeeTact.
OBLIGATION
George William Curtis exhibited an unusual honesty. Not only had he a fine sense of obligation where there was no legal or moral responsibility, but he considered himself bound by obligations made by others, in which he had no part. Upon his father’sdeath, Curtis assumed his liabilities, amounting to $20,000, which took many years of personal deprivation for him to pay; and later, upon the failure of a firm in which he was merely a special partner for only a small amount, and having no part in the management, he refused the immunity allowed under the law, and gave up almost his entire fortune to pay the firm’s indebtedness.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
George William Curtis exhibited an unusual honesty. Not only had he a fine sense of obligation where there was no legal or moral responsibility, but he considered himself bound by obligations made by others, in which he had no part. Upon his father’sdeath, Curtis assumed his liabilities, amounting to $20,000, which took many years of personal deprivation for him to pay; and later, upon the failure of a firm in which he was merely a special partner for only a small amount, and having no part in the management, he refused the immunity allowed under the law, and gave up almost his entire fortune to pay the firm’s indebtedness.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
(2220)
OBLIGATION TO THE CHURCH
There are some people who seem to think they have a through ticket on a vestibule train for heaven. Having paid their pew-rent, taken a seat in the church for a pleasing Sunday service, feeling no obligation to do anything to move the church onward spiritually, they consider themselves at liberty to find fault with the minister and the choir, just as the critical complaining passenger, who, having paid for his ticket and secured his berth, looks upon the train officers and all, as bound to be simply subservient to his individual fancy and pleasure. Is it not time that those who are divinely commended to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling got rid of the passenger notion of getting to heaven? (Text.)—The Living Church.
There are some people who seem to think they have a through ticket on a vestibule train for heaven. Having paid their pew-rent, taken a seat in the church for a pleasing Sunday service, feeling no obligation to do anything to move the church onward spiritually, they consider themselves at liberty to find fault with the minister and the choir, just as the critical complaining passenger, who, having paid for his ticket and secured his berth, looks upon the train officers and all, as bound to be simply subservient to his individual fancy and pleasure. Is it not time that those who are divinely commended to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling got rid of the passenger notion of getting to heaven? (Text.)—The Living Church.
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OBLIGATIONS, MEETING
No chapter in Mark Twain’s life gave more basis for the great love of his countrymen than that of his unsuccessful business affairs, his simple, uncomplaining facing of them, and his honest fulfilling of his debts to the last farthing. Coming upon him when sixty years of age, and with disheartening completeness, the failure of his publishing firm might well have bowed down a stronger man; and there can be no doubt but that his cheerful humor saved him, in bearing up under the disappointment, as it enabled him to pay his obligations in a financial way.The firm of C. L. Webster & Co. was organized in 1884, and Mark Twain became president and chief stockholder. As head of the concern his essentially literary and unbusinesslike leanings led him to oversee only the broadest lines of the publishing policy, leaving the administrative details to other hands. Owing to the character of some of the works which the company put out, its ventures were more than ordinarily large; the memoirs of Gen. Grant netted between $250,000 and $300,000 in royalties alone to the general’s widow.On April 14, 1894, after several reverses, the firm made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors. Mark Twain had already put in more than $65,000 of his own money in an attempt to save the company; he had also lost heavily in trying to develop a type-setting machine. Liquidation showed liabilities of $96,000. Sixty years old, with a wife and three daughters to provide for, Mark Twain voluntarily gave up all his personal assets as a partial satisfaction of his debts and accepted the burden of those remaining. He said, splendidly:“The law recognizes no mortgage on a man’s brain, and a merchant who has given up his all may take advantage of the law of insolvency, and start free again for himself; but I am not a business man, and honor is a harder master than the law. It can not compromise for less than one hundred cents on the dollar.”—New YorkEvening Post.
No chapter in Mark Twain’s life gave more basis for the great love of his countrymen than that of his unsuccessful business affairs, his simple, uncomplaining facing of them, and his honest fulfilling of his debts to the last farthing. Coming upon him when sixty years of age, and with disheartening completeness, the failure of his publishing firm might well have bowed down a stronger man; and there can be no doubt but that his cheerful humor saved him, in bearing up under the disappointment, as it enabled him to pay his obligations in a financial way.
The firm of C. L. Webster & Co. was organized in 1884, and Mark Twain became president and chief stockholder. As head of the concern his essentially literary and unbusinesslike leanings led him to oversee only the broadest lines of the publishing policy, leaving the administrative details to other hands. Owing to the character of some of the works which the company put out, its ventures were more than ordinarily large; the memoirs of Gen. Grant netted between $250,000 and $300,000 in royalties alone to the general’s widow.
On April 14, 1894, after several reverses, the firm made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors. Mark Twain had already put in more than $65,000 of his own money in an attempt to save the company; he had also lost heavily in trying to develop a type-setting machine. Liquidation showed liabilities of $96,000. Sixty years old, with a wife and three daughters to provide for, Mark Twain voluntarily gave up all his personal assets as a partial satisfaction of his debts and accepted the burden of those remaining. He said, splendidly:
“The law recognizes no mortgage on a man’s brain, and a merchant who has given up his all may take advantage of the law of insolvency, and start free again for himself; but I am not a business man, and honor is a harder master than the law. It can not compromise for less than one hundred cents on the dollar.”—New YorkEvening Post.
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OBSCURANTISM
Literal fogs may be very detrimental, but it would be more valuable to clear away the fogs of ignorance and prejudice from human minds.