S

A very self-respecting and self-asserting bon vivant showed his desire to cut down the fees of waiters to a minimum and at the same time to ridicule the whole system. As the waiter held out his itching palm for the gratuity the epicure dropt a cent into it. “Oh, sir, you’ve made a mistake!” blurted out the waiter. “No,” replied the donor, with an air of dignified benevolence; “I never give less.”—Taverner, BostonPost.

(2782)

Ridicule Rebuked—SeeKindness.

Right and Wrong—SeeEthical Principle.

RIGHT LIVING

What is right living? Just to do your bestWhen worst seems easiest. To bear the illsOf daily life with patient cheerfulness,Nor waste dear time recounting them. To talkOf hopeful things when doubt is in the air.To count your blessings often, giving thanks,And to accept your sorrows silently,Nor question why you suffer. To acceptThe whole of life as one perfected plan,And welcome each event as part of it.To work, and love your work; to trust, to prayFor larger usefulness and clearer sight,This is right living, pleasing in God’s eyes.—Anonymous.

What is right living? Just to do your best

When worst seems easiest. To bear the ills

Of daily life with patient cheerfulness,

Nor waste dear time recounting them. To talk

Of hopeful things when doubt is in the air.

To count your blessings often, giving thanks,

And to accept your sorrows silently,

Nor question why you suffer. To accept

The whole of life as one perfected plan,

And welcome each event as part of it.

To work, and love your work; to trust, to pray

For larger usefulness and clearer sight,

This is right living, pleasing in God’s eyes.

—Anonymous.

(2783)

RIGHT, TRIUMPH OF

Too apt are we to forget the need of patience and to lose sight of the promise of a sure reward to those who are not weary in well-doing.

For two generations in the Turkish Empire, during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, the world at large took little notice of the obscure party known as the Young Turks, seeing that its representatives for a long period consisted mainly of exiles whose lot seemed to be hopeless. But one day it was reported to the amazement of the whole world that six hundred young officers of the Turkish army had gone up to the mountains at Monastir, and had startled the Sultan by sending a telegram to Constantinople demanding the convocation of the Parliament which he had supprest long before. Rigid orders were immediately sent from the capital to shoot them to the very last man. Now these officers formed the flower and hope of the country. They were brave, cultured, and patriotic, and the rest of the army well-knew their quality. The regiment from Anatolia sent to shoot them not only refused to raise arms against their brethren, but immediately joined them, and regiment after regiment followed suit. Then came the revolution and the reward of those who had waited so long. (Text.)

(2784)

RIGHT VERSUS EXPEDIENCY

During the unparalleled excitement caused by Wilkes’ outlawry in 1768, Lord Mansfield, on pronouncing the judgment of the King’s Bench reversing the outlawry, discoursed on the terrors held out against judges, and the attempts at intimidating them. He said: “I honor the king and respect the people, but many things acquired by the favor of either are in my account objects not worth ambition. I wish popularity; but it is that popularity which follows not that which is run after; it is that popularity which sooner or later never fails to do justice to the pursuit of noble ends by noble means. I will not do that which my conscience tells me is wrong upon this occasion to gain the huzzas of thousands, or the daily praise of all the papers which come from the press. I will not avoid doing what I think is right tho it should draw on me the whole artillery of libels—all that falsehood and malice can invent, or the credulity of a deluded populace can swallow.” (Text.)—Croake James, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

(2785)

Righteousness—SeeConvictions, Strong.

Rights Preferred to Privilege—SeePoliteness.

RISK

It is better to go down on the great seas which human hearts were made to sail than to rot at the wharves in ignoble anchorage.—Hamilton W. Mabie.

(2786)

RISK SHIFTED

A young lady, in giving her reasons for preferring a particular church, remarked that she “liked it best because it allowed itsmembers to dance.” She had been brought up to regard this as inconsistent for a professor of religion. She could not help feeling that it was running a risk to try to get to heaven and carry the world with her. But here was comfort. She had found a religious guide on which she could, as she fancied, shift off the responsibility. Instead of deciding for herself, in the light of Christ’s teachings, she chose to take a second-hand opinion of a mere man as a rule.One is reminded of an incident related by Dr. Whately, of an old bridge which had long been thought unsafe even for foot passengers. People usually went a considerable distance around rather than venture upon it. But one evening a woman in great haste came up to the bridge before she reflected on its unsafe condition. It was late, and she had yet to dress for a party. She could not go all the way around, tho still afraid to venture. At last a happy thought seemed to strike her. She called for a sedan chair, and was carried over. Now the young lady who desired to follow the world and go to heaven too, was afraid to trust her own judgment on the subject of dancing. She feared the tottering arch might give way, and she be lost forever. To make all safe, she added to the weight of her own chance of error the additional chances of her human authority being wrong also.

One is reminded of an incident related by Dr. Whately, of an old bridge which had long been thought unsafe even for foot passengers. People usually went a considerable distance around rather than venture upon it. But one evening a woman in great haste came up to the bridge before she reflected on its unsafe condition. It was late, and she had yet to dress for a party. She could not go all the way around, tho still afraid to venture. At last a happy thought seemed to strike her. She called for a sedan chair, and was carried over. Now the young lady who desired to follow the world and go to heaven too, was afraid to trust her own judgment on the subject of dancing. She feared the tottering arch might give way, and she be lost forever. To make all safe, she added to the weight of her own chance of error the additional chances of her human authority being wrong also.

(2787)

Risking Life—SeeCoolness in Danger.

Rivalry—SeeStimulus from Rivalry.

RIVERS OF GOD

The Rev. Thomas G. Selby says:

Copious and unfailing rivers run just beneath the burning desolations of the Sahara. Twenty or thirty feet under the sand-drifts there is an impervious sheet of rock which prevents the escape of the collected rain-waters. It is easy to see the oasis, but not so easy to track the windings of the hidden river. The skilled engineer can get at the river, bring it up through his wells, and change the desert into an earthly paradise.Society at large is not the dreary, all-devouring, illimitable ethical waste we often imagine. The rivers of God flow under natures we call reprobate, and create penitential moods which are the earnest of a coming righteousness. It is easy to map out the strips of moral fruitfulness which appear here and there in the world, but not so easy to find the deep secret contrition of those who are often classed as abandoned outcasts. The Savior of the world has an insight into character which enables him to see promise where men less sympathetic and discerning see the black marks of reprobation; and the angels share the visions of the Lord on whom they wait. It is by His art, as the Prophet of coming good, that the desert is made to bloom.—“The Divine Craftsman.”

Society at large is not the dreary, all-devouring, illimitable ethical waste we often imagine. The rivers of God flow under natures we call reprobate, and create penitential moods which are the earnest of a coming righteousness. It is easy to map out the strips of moral fruitfulness which appear here and there in the world, but not so easy to find the deep secret contrition of those who are often classed as abandoned outcasts. The Savior of the world has an insight into character which enables him to see promise where men less sympathetic and discerning see the black marks of reprobation; and the angels share the visions of the Lord on whom they wait. It is by His art, as the Prophet of coming good, that the desert is made to bloom.—“The Divine Craftsman.”

(2788)

Robbery, Moral—SeeRepentance, Late.

ROBBING JUSTIFIED

A wife has a right to rob her husband, in some cases, according to a decision of Judge Gemmell in the Municipal Court (Chicago). Gustave H. DeKolkey had had his wife arrested for taking money from him by force.“My wife robbed me right in my own home,” said DeKolkey. “She got a boarder and her brother to help hold me. Then she went through my pockets and got $11.”Mrs. DeKolkey was led up in front of the court’s desk.“Did you rob him?” asked the judge.“Yes, I did,” she said. “There was no other way to get money out of him. He hasn’t given me a cent for over a year. So I decided to rob him. I called my brother and we held him and I got what was in his pockets.”“This is a plain case of robbery,” said the judge, “but it was perfectly justifiable under the circumstances. The defendant is discharged. A wife has the right to hold up her husband when he squanders his wages and does not give her enough for her support.”

“My wife robbed me right in my own home,” said DeKolkey. “She got a boarder and her brother to help hold me. Then she went through my pockets and got $11.”

Mrs. DeKolkey was led up in front of the court’s desk.

“Did you rob him?” asked the judge.

“Yes, I did,” she said. “There was no other way to get money out of him. He hasn’t given me a cent for over a year. So I decided to rob him. I called my brother and we held him and I got what was in his pockets.”

“This is a plain case of robbery,” said the judge, “but it was perfectly justifiable under the circumstances. The defendant is discharged. A wife has the right to hold up her husband when he squanders his wages and does not give her enough for her support.”

(2789)

Rock of Ages—SeeSecurity.

Room Enough—SeeUpward, Look.

ROOT CONNECTION

To-day I have been transplanting magnolia-trees. There is one that stands among the earliest I planted, twenty years ago, and now it is a vast ball of white. I suppose five hundred thousand magnificent cups are exhaling thanksgiving to God after the long winter has passed. Now, no man need tell me that the root that nestles in the ground is as handsome or smells as sweet as these vases in the air; but I should like to know what would become of all these white cups in the air if the connection between those dirt-covered roots and the blossoms should be cut to-night. The root is the prime provider,and there can be no life and no blossom where there is no root connection.—Henry Ward Beecher.

(2790)

ROTE VERSUS REASON

Soon after I had left school—and when I was a freshman at college—I made the acquaintance of a young man of about my own age who possest a most marvelous memory, while he also showed most marvelous mental density. He had occasion to pass examination in Euclid, as we all of us did at the university at those times, and one would have said that he would have been singularly successful in these examinations, for, tho he had only read through our college Euclid once, he could recite or write out the whole of it; or, if preferred, he could begin at any point where one might start him and reproduce any quantityverbatim et literatim—atque punctuatim—so far as that was concerned. But not only was he utterly unable to understand a word of it all, he had not even brains enough to keep his real ignorance of Euclid to himself. He was always forgetting the good old rulene quid nimis, and as he did not know where to stop in his marvelous recitations, the examiners naturally came to the conclusion, perfectly justified by the facts, that he knew his Euclid by heart, but knew nothing about geometry.—Richard A. Proctor, New YorkMail and Express.

(2791)

ROUTINE

Commenting on the well-known dislike of the late Russell Sage for vacations,Forest and Streamsays: “An office dig who digs voluntarily is as uneasy and as unhappy on a holiday as were those Pennsylvania mine mules which, on the occasion of the coal strike, were for the first time in many years lifted to the surface and turned out into the green fields in the sunlight. The poor creatures were in actual pain until they got back again into the darkness and the close atmosphere in the mine. The trouble with them was, that their whole nature as surface-dwellers had been supplanted by the attributes common to moles and the blind fishes of Mammoth Cave, and they could not stand in the open air and the light. So with a human being under the obsession of inordinate money-getting. The loss of time is only one component of the restlessness which attacks him after he gets away from the rut. His nature has become so molded and restricted to the ruling passion that he has lost capacity for finding employment in other things, least of all in vacation surroundings and vacation ways.”

(2792)

ROYALTY

Where was the real royalty as between the two individuals mentioned in this historic incident?

It was arranged by his friends that Doctor Morrison should be presented to George IV that he might bestow a copy of the Chinese Bible upon His Majesty. Who would not have liked to witness the interview! On the throne sat “the handsomest prince in Christendom, the finest gentleman of Europe” (so his courtiers told him), but whom Thackeray dubs “a monstrous image of pride, vanity and weakness,” who had lived sixty-two years and done nothing but invent a shoe-buckle; who had spent hundreds of thousands, nay, millions, on mere sensual gratification. Fifty thousand dollars a year, we are told, it took to clothe that royal back. Before His Gracious Majesty stood the son of a farmhand, Robert Morrison, twenty years his junior, who had lived simply and given largely; who had found out a useful thing to do, and had worked at it so faithfully that he had raised himself to be the equal of the greatest man in the realm.Robert bent the knee and presented the Chinese Bible to his sovereign, which gift His Imperial Highness was pleased to accept. But it is to be feared that His Imperial Highness’ morals were no more benefited by the Chinese than by the English version.

Robert bent the knee and presented the Chinese Bible to his sovereign, which gift His Imperial Highness was pleased to accept. But it is to be feared that His Imperial Highness’ morals were no more benefited by the Chinese than by the English version.

(2793)

Royalty, Spirit of—SeeChristian Spirit, The.

Royalty Unrecognized—SeeBargain-making.

Royalty’s Kindness—SeeAppreciation.

Rubbish—SeeValue in Rubbish.

Rudeness, Reaction of—SeeRetaliation.

Ruin, Spiritual—SeeNeglected Lives.

RUINS UTILIZED

A news item from Gainesville, Fla., says:

English and Eastern capitalists have bought a site here and it is said will invest $2,000,000 in mills for the manufacture ofpaper from the fiber obtained from pine stumps, thousands of which may be had in the immediate neighborhood.

The old pine stumps are useless. They are only the remains of past possibility and power. Their hope for future usefulness seems gone. Yet there is a new and better future for them, a greater possibility than ever known before. So in the realm of human lives a character that seems to be ruined is often reclaimed to useful living.

(2794)

SABBATH-BREAKING REBUKED

I remember on one occasion, when an immense quantity of freight was to be brought from New York to Boston, they undertook to run on the Sabbath day. They came up with a large load of cotton, and on coming near to M—— a bale got afire, and there were not hands enough to roll it off. They then drove to M—— and rang the bells, and the people came down to the number of three hundred. “Help us,” said the railway people, “to put out the fire.” “No; you have no business to run that train on the Sabbath.” They then sent up to one of the directors and said: “If you speak a word, these men will bring us water; there is property being destroyed.” “I voted in the board of directors,” he replied, “against this running on the Sabbath, and if you burn the whole freight, I will not raise a finger.” And the two carloads of cotton were destroyed. The company had to pay for them—but they ran no more trains on the Sabbath. (Text.)—John B. Gough.

(2795)

Sabbath Desecration—SeePunctiliousness.

SABBATH DESECRATION GRADUAL

The desecration of the temple in Jerusalem did not spring up full-statured in a day. The court of the Gentiles was a spacious place, having an area of fourteen acres. Round its four sides there ran a colonnade with four rows of marble pillars and a roof of costly cedar. Many things were needed in the sacrifices of the temple, and what place more convenient for the buying of them than this great, spacious court? One day, I imagine, a man stept inside with a cage of pigeons. A bird so small and sweet-voiced as a dove could not hurt the sacred place! By and by a man with a sheep to sell led it in. A sheep is the most innocent of all animals. No harm could come to God or man from the presence of a sheep. Still later the man with a steer to sell brought him in. “I have as much right here as you have,” he said to the man with the sheep and the man with the pigeons, and soon there were a dozen steers. That is the way it all happened. The abuse grew up so gradually that nobody observed it, and before men knew it the sacredness of the place was gone. Just so does the desecration of the day of rest take place in great cities. One man steps into the temple of rest, saying: “Let me sing you a little song.” His voice is sweet and the song is pretty, and what is so beautiful and innocent as a song? And a man outside hearing this song inside the temple says: “I think I’ll come in and sing, too.” His voice is harsh and his song is a different kind of a song, but in he comes, and who is wise enough to draw the line and say this song is proper, that song will never do? And while these two men are singing, another man who can not sing at all, and who can only use his feet, decides that he, too, has a right to exercise his gifts inside the temple, and in he comes, and after him a dozen others, and after them a hundred others, some bringing doves, some sheep, some steers, until the whole day is trampled into sordidness and one of the most precious of all the privileges of man has been wrested from him.—Charles E. Jefferson.

(2796)

SABBATH, OBSERVING THE

In northern Canada Mr. Evans, the apostle to the Indians there, induced a large number to become Christians, and said to them, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” At this time all the furs were carried by brigades of Indians, and the exchange cargo taken away by them. The Indians had been in the habit of traveling seven days aweek, but when the mission was established, the observance of the Sabbath began. At once there was opposition from the Hudson Bay Company. They argued “Our summer is short, and to lose one day in seven is a terrible loss to us. We will run you missionaries out of the country if you interfere with our business.” There was downright persecution for years, but there is none now, for it was found that the Indians who traveled only six days and rested quietly on the Sabbath made a journey of a thousand or fifteen hundred miles without a single exception in less time, and came back in better health than those who did not observe the Sabbath rest. (Text.)

(2797)

The last sermon that was preached by Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was one which theNorth China Mailcharacterized as “a mile long.” He was under appointment to preach that same day at a station one mile distant from his home. He was too feeble to walk that distance without rest, and he was unwilling to be carried in a sedan-chair because he feared the evil influence of what would have been—to him—perfectly innocent. So he made the journey on foot, helped by his son, who carried a stool. Every few rods the stool was placed and Mr. Taylor sat on it and rested. The attention of the Chinese, Christians and Confucianists alike, was attracted. Every little while some one would ask: “Why does not the old man ride?” “Because he will not make any one else work on the Sabbath day.” “Why not?” “Because God said, ‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,’” was the reply (Text.)

(2798)

SeePrinciple;Sunday Recorded.

The true philosophy of religion invariably teaches that we act wisely when we conform to the requirements of Sabbatic rest from toil. Such conformity is simply the recognition of a beneficent natural law.

In 1909 Mr. Selfridge, of Chicago, established a great American store in London. It immediately became a great popular success. Speaking to an interviewer, Mr. Selfridge said: “I am a business man, and not a preacher, but still I feel strongly that fair dealing is not only right, but wise—to put it on the lowest ground. If you treat people fairly, you will be fairly treated by them in return, and somehow or another the religious method of carrying on business has not failed in the case of Marshall Field. I will give you one curious instance of this. Our house never advertises in the Sunday papers, with the extraordinary result that we prospered in direct consequence. Many warned us that we were holding to a suicidal policy, for in America Sunday papers are the chief means of publicity. Our method turned out most effective, because it forced itself upon the notice of every woman in the United States that Marshall Field & Co. did not advertise on Sunday, and that fact was a great advertisement in itself. But who—out of a religious tract—would ever have dreamed of such a topsyturvy result?” (Text.)

(2799)

SABBATH, PROFITABLE

Egerton Young gives this testimony about Sabbath-keeping by the Indians of British Columbia:

When our mission was established, all the missionaries went in for the observance of the Sabbath day. At once there was opposition from the Hudson Bay Company. They argued, “Our summer is short, the people have to work in a hurry, and to lose one day in seven will be a terrible loss to us, and you missionaries must get out of the country if you are going to interfere with our business.” There was downright persecution for years, but there is none now, for it was found that the brigades of Indians who traveled only six days, and quietly rested on the Sabbath, made the journey of perhaps fifteen hundred miles, without a single exception, in less time, and came back in better health, than those who traveled without observing the Sabbath.—Pierson, “The Miracles of Missions.”

(2800)

SABBATH, REGARD FOR

Rev. Egerton R. Young, a missionary among the Canadian Indians, tells the following:

The governor of our colony sent out one of his commissioners to meet the Indians and give them their supplies in accordance with the treaty. The commissioner sent word to one of our Christian Indians to bring his people as far as a certain place and he would be there to distribute their allowances. The Indians were on hand at the time appointed. They came empty handed, expecting to receive an abundanceimmediately, but the big white commissioner did not arrive. One day passed, then another, and the Indians were hungry. The food was there in tantalizing abundance, but the commissioner did not come to distribute it. The young Indians came to their chief and said, “Pakan, our wives and children are crying for food; will you not open the boxes and give us enough to satisfy them?” “No, my children,” said the chief, “I have never broken a word of treaty and I do not want to do it now.” Another day passed and the commissioner did not come. The young Indians’ eyes began to flash forth something that boded trouble, but the old chief answered, “Have patience a little longer, my people,” and he called on an Indian who had a splendid horse to accompany him to find and hurry up the dilatory commissioner. About noon they met the commissioner with a large retinue and a company of his friends coming leisurely along, stopping for sport where the country abounded in game.They were just halting for such an afternoon’s sport when Pakan rode up. “You have broken your promise to my people,” he said solemnly. “You were to have met with them three days ago. Don’t stop here, my people are hungry. Come with me and give them food.”The commissioner replied with an easy smile, “Oh, Pakan, I’m glad to see you. Come and dine with us. Meet my friends; have an afternoon of hunting and then to-morrow I will go with you.”“No,” said Pakan, “to-morrow is the Sabbath. I and my people have been taught to keep the Sabbath, and hungry as we are, unless you come to-day, I and my people will wait until Monday for the supplies.”The commissioner quailed before him, and sent a sub-officer back with him to open the supplies. The next day the commissioner rode into camp. He expected the Indians to meet him with firing of guns and waving of flags, but no one came to receive him, and no guns were fired. The only wigwam where a flag was flying was the place where the people were meeting to worship God. The commissioner called a council, but not an Indian responded. The commissioner wanted Pakan to dine with him with other guests that day. It is a great honor to dine with a royal commissioner; but Pakan said, “I dine with my family quietly on the Sabbath day, for God has said, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’”

They were just halting for such an afternoon’s sport when Pakan rode up. “You have broken your promise to my people,” he said solemnly. “You were to have met with them three days ago. Don’t stop here, my people are hungry. Come with me and give them food.”

The commissioner replied with an easy smile, “Oh, Pakan, I’m glad to see you. Come and dine with us. Meet my friends; have an afternoon of hunting and then to-morrow I will go with you.”

“No,” said Pakan, “to-morrow is the Sabbath. I and my people have been taught to keep the Sabbath, and hungry as we are, unless you come to-day, I and my people will wait until Monday for the supplies.”

The commissioner quailed before him, and sent a sub-officer back with him to open the supplies. The next day the commissioner rode into camp. He expected the Indians to meet him with firing of guns and waving of flags, but no one came to receive him, and no guns were fired. The only wigwam where a flag was flying was the place where the people were meeting to worship God. The commissioner called a council, but not an Indian responded. The commissioner wanted Pakan to dine with him with other guests that day. It is a great honor to dine with a royal commissioner; but Pakan said, “I dine with my family quietly on the Sabbath day, for God has said, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’”

(2801)

SABBATH, THE, FOR MAN

Among those who opposed and criticized Father Mathew were the Sabbatarians, who opposed the holding of temperance meetings on Sunday. Father Mathew replied: “They must well know that if we did not assemble on the Lord’s day, we could not hold our meetings at all, for the great majority of those who compose our society are from that useful and virtuous body, the operatives, who on every other day labor from the rising to the setting sun. The temperance cause is the work of the Most High God, and it is admirable in our eyes.”

(2802)

Sackcloth—SeeBible Customs To-day.

SACRED THINGS

A Scotch preacher tells this story. He said that he was going through the highlands of Scotland when a storm came on. He stept out of his carriage, and went up to a little Scotch hut. He was invited to enter by the woman whose home it was. In one corner of the room there stood an old rocking-chair, and he was just going to sit in this, when the Scotch woman made one spring, and stopt him. She said: “No, no. Do not sit there.” And the preacher said: “Why?” “Well,” she said, “look.” And round about it was wrapt a scarlet cord. She said: “It was a year ago this week, sir, when our good lady, her Majesty Queen Victoria was driving along this road and a storm came on. She came in, and we gave her this chair. And when the Queen went away, we said, ‘We will put a scarlet cord around it, and nobody else shall ever sit in it. It is the Queen’s chair.’”

(2803)

SACRIFICE

John B. Kissinger submitted to the bite of a yellow fever mosquito in the interest of science while in the army in Cuba and was for years almost helpless.Kissinger was bitten by mosquitoes carrying yellow fever germs and was then treated by the best medical experts in the army. It was supposed he had recovered his health and that as a result of the experiment yellow fever could be guarded against, but he later suffered a breakdown and became a physical wreck, unable to use his feet and legs.

John B. Kissinger submitted to the bite of a yellow fever mosquito in the interest of science while in the army in Cuba and was for years almost helpless.

Kissinger was bitten by mosquitoes carrying yellow fever germs and was then treated by the best medical experts in the army. It was supposed he had recovered his health and that as a result of the experiment yellow fever could be guarded against, but he later suffered a breakdown and became a physical wreck, unable to use his feet and legs.

Is not the willingness to suffer for man the very spirit of Christ? (Text.)

(2804)

Rev. E. J. Marsh, missionary at Hay River, Alaska, told his Indian boarding-school children about the needs of the leper children in China. They were moved to help, and asked Mr. Marsh how they could do so. Their clothing and food were all supplied them by the mission, and they had nothing to give. After a little they proposed that they should give up their pudding on Sunday. Their fare consisted of fish three times a day, sometimes potatoes, but on Sunday as a special treat they had rice pudding without sugar. They were so insistent, that they were allowed to go without it every second Sunday and at the end of the year a gift of two pounds was sent to the leper children in China.

(2805)

One of the New York dailies printed in one of its issues as a sort of sensational advertisement, coupons, which served, when filled out, as life insurance policies for the remainder of the day on which they were issued. One of the newsboys read it over and over, then called some of his companions and wanted to know if they supposed that “was on the level”; if the newspaper “would make good.” He decided at last that the proposition was one to be trusted and he cut out the coupon, tucked it away in the pocket of his ragged coat. A half-hour later he threw himself beneath the wheels of one of the surface electric cars and was instantly crusht to almost a shapeless mass. In his pocket was the coupon, together with a letter, stating that his mother was sick and in need of such assistance as he had not been able to obtain for her, and so had sacrificed his life for the insurance money that was to be paid to her.

As we read the story one does not think of the grimy hands and the unwashed face and the ragged coat. He does not hear the roar of the elevated trains above or the tumult and voices of the street below, but his eyes catch the glory of a second calvary and the soul is hushed before the divine and the eternal that beat in that little heart behind that stained and tattered coat. (Text.)

(2806)

SeeOfferings, Extravagant;Science, Devotion to.

SACRIFICE, FILIAL

The Japanese have a legend of an Emperor who commanded a bell-founder to cast a bell that would be more beautiful than any ever made and to be heard a hundred miles away. It must be made of gold, silver and brass. But the metals would not mingle, and the founder failed. The Emperor was angry, and bade him try again. His beautiful daughter was troubled for her father in his perplexity. So she consulted an oracle. “How can I save him?” she asked. “Metals will mingle if the blood of a virgin be mixt with them,” said the oracle suggestively. At the proper moment the devoted daughter threw herself into her father’s melting-pot. The bell was perfect, and was hung in the palace tower.

This kind of sacrifice is not to be commended as a literal process, but it remains true that no great music of the soul is born that does not have in it some sacrificial element. Heaven’s melodies would never sound if lives were not cast into the furnace. (Text.)

(2807)

SACRIFICE FOR CHRIST

Rev. Robert P. Wilder, of India, tells of a Brahman who decided to become a Christian.

The day he published the fact that he was a Christian an official seal was placed on his house, signifying that he had lost his position under the native government. A friend with whom he had placed his money, sent word that he knew nothing of the money, and his wife said that she could no longer live with him, and she left his home, taking with her their child. For four years he suffered the loss of position, money, wife, son and friends; altho at any moment he could have regained all by denying Christ and going back to Brahmanism. Mr. Wilder then received this glad letter from him: “You will be delighted to hear that we are still fast friends—Jesus and myself. He says to me, ‘I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.’ I say to Him, ‘Then never leave me even for a minute. Let me abide in Thee and Thou in me.’ You will be glad to hear, too, that I have been permitted to spend a fortnight with my wife and child, and I believe that they will soon now come to Jesus and to me. God has beenkeeping them away from me for my good in this—that I should feel undivided love for my Savior.”

(2808)

Sacrifice for Missions—SeeOpposition to Missionary Work.

SACRIFICE FOR RELIGION

Mrs. W. F. Armstrong tells this incident of the native Karens, of Burmah:

An old Karen pastor came one day with a large contribution for the foreign mission work. I said to him, “How can your people give so much? I know they are very poor, the overflow of the river has swept away your crops, your cattle are dying of disease, it is the famine time with you.” “Oh,” he said, with such a contented smile, “it only means rice without curry.” They could live on rice and salt, but they could not live without giving the bread of life to their brethren.—Pierson, “The Miracles of Missions.”

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Sacrifice for the Gospel—SeeSlave for the Gospel’s Sake.

SACRIFICE, LAW OF

The great law of sacrifice, so dimly understood by Western people, is the commonest talk of Korea. For thousands of years sheep and oxen have died for the sins of the people. Birds and beasts have been offered in a vain effort to lift this burden from the human soul. I read in a history of Korea that in the year when our Savior was born in Bethlehem, the King of Kokuryu went out into the open plain to offer sacrifice to God. Two “swine beasts” were to be offered, but in the preparation of the sacrifice they took to their heels and ran away. The King sent two officers in pursuit, Messrs. Takni and Sappi. They chased the pigs to Long Jade Lake, caught them and ham-strung them, so that they could not run again; then they dragged them before the King. “How dare you,” said he, “offer to God a mutilated sacrifice?” He had these two gentlemen buried alive for their sin, but behold he himself shortly after fell seriously ill. A spirit medium called and told him his sickness was due to the sin of having killed Takni and Sappi. He confest, and prayed, and was cured of his complaint.—James S. Gale, “Korea in Transition.”

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SACRIFICE OF OUR BEST

Sir Charles Halle, the famous musician, dearly loved his flute. His son, a boy of eight years, lay ill, and his father tenderly watched beside the sufferer’s bed. One night the father fell asleep and the fire burned low. He awoke in alarm to find his son cold. The father threw his precious flute on to the coal to increase the heat.

Love gave its best and silenced the music of the flute for the sake of love for his son. So did divine love, for a sinsick world, give its best, and silence its music in the sorrow of the Man of Sorrows. (Text.)

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SACRIFICE, PAGAN

On the 4th of March, 1899, a Hindu laborer lodged a complaint at the police office at Hingoli. He said that as he was passing a cotton-ginning mill some of his countrymen came out and asked him to enter the compound. When he did so they seized him and bore him off to the furnace-room and attempted to put him into the fire. He showed the magistrate some terrible burns he had suffered, and his story, upon investigation, was found to be true. TheIndian Antiquary, telling of the incident, remarked that the unanimous opinion among all the natives was that it was the workmen’s idea to offer the poor man as a sacrifice to the steam-engine, which had not been running satisfactorily.

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SACRIFICE TOO COSTLY

Mrs. Pickett, the widow of General George E. Pickett, of the Confederate Army, narrating the story of the charge at Gettysburg so gallantly led by her husband, says:

They were not strong enough to hold the position they had so dearly won; and broken-hearted, even at the very moment of his immortal triumph, my Soldier led his remaining men down the slope again. He dismounted and walked beside the stretcher upon which General Kemper, one of his officers, was being carried, fanning him and speaking cheerfully to comfort him in his suffering. When he reached Seminary Ridge again and reported to General Lee, his face was wet with tears as he pointed to the crimson valley and said:“My noble division lies there!”“General Pickett,” said the commander,“you and your men have covered yourselves with glory.”My Soldier replied:“Not all the glory in the world, General Lee, could atone for the widows and orphans this day has made.”

“My noble division lies there!”

“General Pickett,” said the commander,“you and your men have covered yourselves with glory.”

My Soldier replied:

“Not all the glory in the world, General Lee, could atone for the widows and orphans this day has made.”

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SACRIFICE, VICARIOUS

Among the Tsimshean Indians of Alaska is the following curious superstition: Some boys had “shamed” a salmon; that is, offended its dignity. They caught it, cut a slit close to its fin and put gravel and stones in the wound so that it could not use its fin, and then let it go. The poor salmon wriggled and suffered trying to swim, but in vain. This made the god of the mountain angry, and he spewed out fire which ran down the mountain-side into the river, making it sputter all around. But a god of another mountain, near by, thought it was too bad, so he rolled down a big rock, and stopt the fire stream. The people, coming together, consulted as to the best way to propitiate the irate mountain-god, and the salmon as well who was “shamed,” and came to the conclusion that the naughty children had to be killed. The mothers, hearing of this, would not allow the sacrifice. The people compromised the matter by agreeing, instead, to kill the dogs of the village, which were thereupon all sacrificed and burned as a peace-offering to the “shamed” salmon.

Man has “shamed” his Maker but He has become our propitiation by a nobler sacrifice. (Text.)

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SACRIFICIAL MEDIATION

H. M. Stanley, in Africa, had much trouble with his men on account of their inherent propensity to steal, the results of which brought upon the expedition much actual disaster. At last Stanley doomed to death the next man caught stealing. His grief and distress were unbounded when the next thief, detected in a case of peculiar flagrancy, was found to be Uledi, the bravest, truest, noblest of his dusky followers. Uledi had saved a hundred lives, his own among the number. He had performed acts of the most brilliant daring, always successful, always faithful, always kind. Must Uledi die? He called all his men around him in a council. He explained to them the gravity of Uledi’s crime. He reminded them of his stern decree, but said he was not hard enough to enforce it against Uledi. His arm was not strong enough to lift the gun that would kill Uledi, and he would not bid one of them to do what he could not do himself. But some punishment, and a hard one, must be meted out. What should it be? The council must decide. They took a vote. Uledi must be flogged. When the decision was reached, Stanley standing, Uledi crouching at his feet and the solemn circle drawn closely around them, one man whose life Uledi had saved under circumstances of frightful peril, stood forth and said, “Give me half the blows, master.” Then another said in the faintest accents, while tears fell from his eyes, “Will the master give his slave leave to speak?” “Yes,” said Stanley. The Arab came forward and knelt by Uledi’s side. His words came slowly, and now and then a sob broke them. “The master is wise,” he said; “he knows all that has been, for he writes them in a book. I am black, and know not. Nor can I remember what is past. What we saw yesterday is to-day forgotten. But the master forgets nothing. He puts it all in that book. Each day something is written. Let your slave fetch the book, master, and turn its leaves. Maybe you will find some words there about Uledi. Maybe there is something that tells how he saved Zaidi from the white waters of the cataract; how he saved many men—how many, I forget; Bin Ali, Mabruki, Kooi Kusi—others, too; how he is worthier than any three of us; how he always listens when the master speaks, and flies forth at his word. Look, master, at the book. Then, if the blows must be struck, Shumari will take half and I the other half. The master will do what is right. Saywa has spoken.” And Saywa’s speech deserves to live forever. Stanley threw away his whip. “Uledi is free,” he said. “Shumari and Saywa are pardoned.”—Christian At Work.

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SAFEGUARD FOR DRUNKARDS

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