Chapter M: E. Hume-Griffith, in her “Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish (1)

Arabia,” tells of a little Persian boy badly disfigured from a “hare-lip,” who was brought by his father to the medical mission at Julfa to be operated upon for the trouble.

The Persians believe that this congenital malformation is the
mark left by the Evil One, so this afflicted boy was known in
his village by the unenviable title “little devil,” and had been
a good deal tormented by his playfellows. The operation was a
complete success. After ten days’ careful treatment the dressing
was finally removed, and the boy was handed a mirror that he
might look for the first time upon his “new” face. Tears of joy
rolled down his face as he kissed the hand that had wrought
the change, and he murmured brokenly: “I am no longer a little
devil, I am no longer a little devil!” And he went back to his
comrades to be a hero and an idol.

(2682)

* * * * *

The difference between men who are taking in and giving out life and knowledge and men who are living in their own selfish circle is like the difference in lakes stated below:

Fresh-water lakes are always only expansions of rivers, due to
the particular topographical configuration of a valley. They are
all characterized by the fact that the water that they receive
runs out, either continuously or intermittently, and that the
chemical constitution of their water remains constantly the same
as that of the streams and rivers of the same region.

Salt lakes, on the other hand, are always closed basins,
without outlet, and their water is removed only by surface
evaporation. These facts being well understood, we see at once
why the former lakes contain fresh water and the others salt
water.(Text.)--PAUL COMBES, _Cosmos_.

(2683)

See INNER LIFE.

RENEWAL NECESSARY

If I have a certain sum of money, I can calculate what
necessities it will meet, and how far it will go; but it will go
only so far; beyond that is exhaustion. But if I have a bed of
strawberries in my garden, after it has borne the crop of the
season, and there is no more to be got from it, I can weed and
cultivate and fertilize it, and next year it will bear again.
And tho the whole bed shows exhaustion, I can set its runners
in new rows and nurture them into new life, tho the old plants
are only fit to be dug under; and I can renew the life of my bed
and after a season it will be as young and fresh and fertile as
ever. I have completely renewed its life. So I can renew the
life of a note, or lease, or partnership. So bodily strength,
tho exhausted every day, is renewed every night; and even if
impaired by disease, it may be recovered. There is nothing
necessarily hopeless in the exhaustion of anything that has
life in it; but all living things need renewal.--FRANKLIN
NOBLE, “Sermons in Illustration.”

(2684)

RENEWAL, SPIRITUAL

A lady calling upon a friend one day, exprest surprize that she
had both windows open while the thermometer was at zero, saying
that she never opened her windows in winter, adding that even
then she was unable to keep warm.

“I open my windows,” was the explanation, “to warm the rooms
by filling them with fresh air. It is impossible to heat dead
air. To inhale the same air over and over again is to breathe in
poison.”

As “it is impossible to heat dead air,” so it is impossible to incite zeal in a dead church. The breath of the Spirit is first needed to change the spiritual climate. (Text.)

(2685)

=Renewing the Faith=--See EXTREMITY NOT FINAL.

RENOVATION

The verses below by Sam Walter Foss, from a poem on “The Soul Spring Cleaning,” have in them a suggestion that every man may now and then utilize:

Yes, clean yer house, an’ clean yer shed,
An’ clean yer barn in ev’ry part;
But brush the cobwebs from yer head,
An’ sweep the snow-banks from yer heart.
Yes, w’en spring cleanin’ comes aroun’
Bring forth the duster an’ the broom,
But rake yer fogy notions down,
An’ sweep yer dusty soul of gloom.

Plant flowers in the soul’s front yard,
Set out new shade an’ blossom trees,
An’ let the soul once froze an’ hard
Sprout crocuses of new idees.
Yes, clean yer house, an’ clean yer shed,
An’ clean yer barn in ev’ry part;
But brush the cobwebs from yer head,
An’ sweep the snow-banks from yer heart!(Text.)

(2686)

* * * * *

Each great European cathedral has its regular corps of
repairers--architects, engineers, masons, carpenters, every
man a master of his craft. The work of renovation goes on at
all seasons; crumbling stones must be replaced, fresh cement
supplied, broken parts mended; there is always something needing
to be done. The inexperienced traveler is at first much annoyed
by the sight of the stagings and scaffoldings from which
cathedral walls seem never wholly free. “When,” he exclaims,
“shall I at last find a façade which is not in the process of
repair?” But with larger knowledge and more careful thought his
feelings change.

The flimsy, unsightly framework clinging to the ancient gray
stone no longer seems a blemish, but a true adornment, since
it eloquently tells of the reverent, affectionate care which
faithfully preserves for the future these “poems in stone”
handed down from the mighty past.--“Monday Club, Sermons on the
International Sunday-school Lessons for 1904.”

(2687)

RENUNCIATION

Dr. R. F. Horton, in the _Christian Endeavor World_, tells this incident concerning a wedding where he officiated:

A very little man had brought to the altar a very big bride,
who, moreover, was attired in purple, and certainly bore a
formidable aspect.

Whether the situation affected the bridegroom, or in a dreamy
reminiscence his mind wandered back to childhood and the
catechism when, on the mention of the world and the flesh and
the devil, he promised to have nothing to do with them, I
can not say. But sure enough, when I put to him the crucial
question, “Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife?” the
answer came, low but clear, “I renounce them all!” It was with
some compunction that I said to him, “You must say, ‘I will.’”

(2688)

RENUNCIATION, COMPLETE

There is an ancient legend of a devout man who had, among many
other virtues, the gift of healing, unto whom divers made resort
for cure; among the rest one Chromatius, being sick, sent for
him. Being come, he told of his sickness, and desired that he
might have the benefit of cure as others had before him. “I can
not do it,” said the devout person, “till thou hast beaten all
the idols and images in thy house to pieces.” “That shall be
done,” said Chromatius. “Here, take my keys, and where you find
any images let them be defaced,” which was done accordingly. To
prayer went the holy man, but no cure was wrought. “Oh!” saith
Chromatius, “I am as sick as ever. I am very sick and weak!” “It
can not be otherwise,” replied the holy man; “nor can I help it,
for certainly there is one idol more in your house undiscovered,
and that must be defaced, too.” “True,” said Chromatius. “There
is so, indeed; there is one all of beaten gold. It cost two
hundred pounds. I would fain have saved it, but here, take my
keys again. You shall find it locked up fast in my chest. Take
it and break it in pieces.” Which done, the holy man prayed and
Chromatius was healed. (Text.)

(2689)

REPAIR OF CHARACTER

After every trip a locomotive goes into the round-house, where
it is overhauled, cleaned, and every bolt and nut is tightened.
About every four years it goes into the shop, is taken to pieces
and made over anew. The criteria in every case are: Can she haul
the load? and can she make schedule time?

It would be a good thing for men thus to overhaul their habits and tendencies, in order to maintain the integrity and efficiency of character. (Text.)

(2690)

=Reparation=--See DUTY, SENSE OF.

REPARTEE

We rejoice more than all in the constant progress of those
liberal ideas to which such an impulse was given by the victory
of Yorktown. You remember that Fox is said to have heard of it
“with a wild delight”; and even he may not have anticipated its
full future outcome. You remember the hissing hate with which
he was often assailed, as when the tradesmen of Westminster
whose vote he had solicited flung back at him the answer: “I
have nothing for you, sir, but a halter,” to which Fox, by the
way, with instant wit and imperturbable good nature, smilingly
responded: “I could not think, my dear sir, of depriving you of
such an interesting family relic.”--RICHARD S. STORRS.

(2691)

REPAYMENT

The baronet in the following story followed nature’s favorite method of repaying in kind:

James McNeil Whistler, the famous artist, was extravagantly
fond of a French poodle that he owned, says the New York
_Tribune_, and once, when the little dog had some trouble
with his throat, he sent for Sir Morell Mackenzie, the great
throat specialist. Mackenzie was not a bit pleased by being
called in to treat a dog, but he prescribed, nevertheless, and
had a partial revenge by charging a big fee. The next day he
“got even” most effectually by sending for Mr. Whistler in great
haste, and the artist, thinking that he had been summoned on
some matter connected with his beloved poodle, dropt his work
and rushed to Mackenzie’s house. On his arrival, Sir Morell said
very gravely: “How do you do, Mr. Whistler? I wished to see you
about painting my front door.” (Text.)

(2692)

REPEATED EFFORT

Persuasion is constantly tried, often with no success whatever. The reason of failure is frequently found in the neglect of perseverance.

In a very small Bible class of young men the fall of Jericho
was the subject of discussion on a certain Sunday. One of the
members suggested that more members might be brought in if some
of the faith of the besiegers of old were used. Another member
at once suggested that a list of those advisable should be made,
and that each should be “encompassed” by calls on seven days,
each day by a different man. The suggestion was adopted. Next
day a young business man received a visit and an invitation to
attend the class next Sunday. He was indifferent and did not
promise. On Tuesday the second called and was treated coldly.
But on Wednesday when a third man called the effect showed. “Two
men have called already; I am considering,” said he. On Thursday
when the fourth visitor called, down came the walls. He promised
to attend and attended regularly. Others were won. Among them
was a musician, who organized a fine orchestra. (Text.)

(2693)

REPENTANCE

When I’ve a quarrel in my mind
With one who’s far away
To scorching letters I’m inclined,
In which I say my say.

And then I take those scorching screeds
So full of ink and ire,
In which I threaten awful deeds,
And mail them--in the fire.

--_Success Magazine._

(2694)

REPENTANCE, LATE

The following striking illustration of the effect of delay in serving God is by James Drummond, in “Parables and Pictures”:

There was once a horse that ran away in the morning and did not
return till evening. When the master upbraided him, the horse
replied, “But here am I, returned safe and sound. You have your
horse.” “True,” answered the master, “but my field is unplowed.”
If a man turns to God in old age, God has the man, but He has
been defrauded of the man’s work.

(2695)

REPENTANCE, NATURE OF

No more vivid illustration of what evangelical repentance is
can be framed than that which is found in the Greek original,
“_straphate_,” rendered “convert,” which means to face
about, or turn around, in allusion to the movement of a ship
when it is put about on an opposite course; or to the action of
a flower when it turns its face toward the sun. The change of
mind becomes a change of life.

(2696)

REPENTANCE, PRACTICAL

When Thomas Olivers, the Welsh cobbler who became noted as a
Methodist, itinerant and a hymnist, turned from a reckless life,
carousing and incurring many debts, to a profession of a change
of heart, he deliberately set about settling his financial
obligations, nor ceased until the last penny was paid.

He brought forth fruit meet for repentance. (Text.)

(2697)

REPENTANCE THE GIFT OF GOD

John Wesley, that preacher of repentance, sings:

“Lord, I despair myself to heal,
I see my sin but can not feel;
I can not till thy Spirit blow,
And make the obedient waters flow.
Speak, gracious Lord, my sickness cure,
Make my infected nature pure;
Peace, righteousness and joy impart,
And pour thyself into my heart.”

(2698)

REPETITION, FORCE OF

Continuous repeated acts of kindness breaking down the pride of an enemy, repeated annoyances that shape the temper; these or similar experiences may be illustrated by this extract:

A stalwart young man at Leavenworth, Kan., recently accepted a
wager that he could stand a quart of water dropt into his open
hand, drop by drop, from a height of three feet. Before 500
drops had fallen into his hand he almost cried with pain and
said he had enough. After a little water had fallen each drop
seemed to crush his hand, and a blister in the center of it was
the result.--Boston _Journal_.

(2699)

* * * * *

A minister in his walk saw a stone-mason who was trying to break
a large stone with what seemed a very small hammer. “You never
can do it,” the minister prophesied. “Sure, sir, that’s all you
know about breaking stones,” replied Pat, as he hammered away
industriously. After hundreds of these peckings there came a
slight crack. A few more, and the great stone fell apart.

“Now,” asked the Irishman, “would your honor tell me which one
of these blows it was that broke the stone?” “Why, the last one,
to be sure,” said the minister. “There you’re wrong, sir,” was
the reply. “It was the first blow, and the last blow, and all
the middle ones, sir.”

(2700)

REPLENISHMENT

The moral life of man would soon be exhausted if God by His Spirit did not continually renew it.

Water plunging over the rocks at Niagara is intercepted and
made to turn the giant turbines of electric power plants before
it is allowed to hurry on its way to the sea. If the waters of
the Great Lakes were not replenished Niagara would soon run dry
and our mill-wheels stop. But year by year, and day by day,
the sun’s rays evaporate the waters of the ocean and lift them
back again to the mountain tops, whence they flow downward into
the lakes and rivers.--CHARLES LANE POOR, “The Solar
System.”

(2701)

REPORTS TO ORDER

It was my pleasure, some years ago, to report a religious
meeting for three papers in New York. A discussion of vital
importance to the Presbyterian Church was promised. The lines
were closely drawn and the feeling was intense. The day before
the meeting I went to the editorial offices for instruction.
Mr. A. said: “We want a fair report, but you know we publish a
conservative paper, and our space is limited. Give us all that
is said by the conservative leaders. Of course, the others must
be treated fairly, but we shall not have space enough for any
of the addresses on that side; give us a fair report, however.”
Mr. B. said: “We want a fair report, but you know we publish
a liberal paper, and our space is limited. Give us all that
is said by the liberal leaders. Of course, the others must be
treated fairly, but we shall not have space for any of the
addresses on that side; give us a fair report, however.” Mr. C.
said: “We want an absolutely impartial report. Give the leading
speeches on both sides as fully as possible, and mention every
speaker who takes part in the discussion. We want a true picture
of the debate in your report. On the editorial pages we shall
express our opinion of the arguments advanced, but your report
should be absolutely colorless.”--JOHN BANCROFT DEVINS,
“Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.

(2702)

=Repose=--See SOUNDS.

REPRESENTATIVE DIGNITY

There was great wisdom sententiously exprest in the exclamation
of a little constable I heard of once who went to arrest a burly
offender against the statutes, and was threatened with a shaking
if he did not “clear out.” If it had been a matter of fists
and muscle, the majesty of the law would have been miserably
bruised. But the intrepid officer responded: “Do it if you
please; only remember, if you shake me you shake the whole State
of Massachusetts.”--THOMAS STARR KING.

(2703)

=Repression=--See POWER IN SELF-REPRESSION.

REPRISAL

The story of an intelligent dog given below may suggest that the deceits we practise on others will, sooner or later, be repaid against ourselves:

An old lady rented a furnished villa for the summer, and with
the villa a large dog also went. In the sitting-room of the
villa there was a very comfortable armchair. The old lady liked
this chair better than any other in the house. She always made
for it the first thing. But, alas! she nearly always found
the chair occupied by the large dog. Being afraid of the dog,
she never dared bid it harshly to get out of the chair, as
she feared it might bite her; but instead she would go to the
window and call “Cats!” Then the dog would rush to the window
and bark, and the old lady would slip into the vacant chair
quietly. One day the dog entered the room and found the old lady
in possession of the chair. He strolled over to the window, and,
looking out, appeared very much excited, and set up a tremendous
barking. The old lady rose and hastened to the window to see
what was the matter, and the dog quietly climbed into the chair.

(2704)

REPUTATION

After the Civil War many offers of places of honor and fame came
to Gen. Robert E. Lee. He refused them all, says Thomas Nelson
Page, in his biography of the soldier. The only position which
he finally did accept was the presidency of Washington College,
with a small salary.

On one of these occasions Lee was approached with the tender of
the presidency of an insurance company at a salary of $50,000 a
year. He declined it, saying that it was work with which he was
not familiar.

“But, general,” said the representative of the insurance
company, “you will not be expected to do any work. What we wish
is the use of your name.”

“Don’t you think,” said General Lee, “that if my name is worth
$50,000 a year, I ought to be very careful about taking care of
it?” (Text.)--_The Youth’s Companion._

(2705)

REPUTATION AND CHARACTER

Into a certain London establishment some burglars one night made
their way, expecting a big haul of valuables. They commenced
operations on an immense and very strong iron safe, feeling sure
that tho it would be very difficult to force it open, their
strenuous efforts would be rewarded at last. For several hours
they used their drills and other implements. When the safe was
opened they perceived another safe inside the first one, just
as strong and fully as difficult to open. They at once realized
that their night’s toil had been all in vain, for it would be
impossible to open the inner safe before the world would be
resuming work.

So long as the inner life is strong and unbroken, attacks on a man’s reputation can not rob him of his real treasure of a good character.

(2706)

REPUTATION, VALUE OF

The following is related of “Stonewall” Jackson:

He was never an ornamental soldier, being roughly clad and so
plain as to be frequently taken for far less than he was. He and
his staff were once compelled to ride through

a field of uncut oats. The owner rushed out in great indignation, demanding the name of the leader that he might report him.

“My name is Jackson,” replied the general. “What Jackson?” asked the irate farmer. “General Jackson.” “You don’t mean to tell me that you are the famous Stonewall Jackson?” the farmer stammered. “That’s what they call me.” The farmer took off his hat with great reverence and said: “General Jackson, ride over my whole field. Do what you like with it, sir.”--_The Sunday Magazine._

(2707)

=Requital=--See GRACE; REPAYMENT.

RESCUE

Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, the pioneer missionary to Turkey, was one day
crossing the Galata Bridge in Constantinople when his attention
was attracted to a crowd. He prest into it to see its object of
interest and found a cursing American sailor dying of cholera.
The missionary asked him a few questions and was answered by
oaths. He had the man removed to a house, and after a few
months’ nursing by the Christians of the mission he was able
to ship for America. On the morning he left, he called on Dr.
Hamlin and said, “I have been a very wicked man, and have done
all the evil I could in the world, and now I am going to do all
the good I can.”

Three years later, the mission received this letter from him:

“Dear Mr. Hamlin: Thank God, I will survive the dead! I
am here workin’ and blowin’ the gospel trumpet on the Eri
Kanal.

Yours Brown.”

Twenty-five years later Dr. Hamlin met a gentleman in Paris who
had just returned from Honolulu. Said he, “I met a man named
Brown who has done a great deal of good among the sailors in
the Pacific. He can go everywhere and anywhere with the Bible.
He told me that once he was dying, a blasphemous dog, in the
streets of Constantinople, and you picked him up and saved him
soul and body.”

(2708)

* * * * *

The worth of man is independent of conditions of life or color of skin. An exemplification of that fact is recorded in the history of a rescue in Hongkong harbor:

While the cyclone was at its highest and it was still a question
whether the largest steamers in the port would survive the
storm, the officers of the _Schuylkill_ noticed a vague
pencil of light through the sheets of rain, lighting up a
confusion of loose and drifting shipping. For the first two or
three flashes they thought they were menaced with the new peril
of lightning, but no detonation followed the flash. A lull
in the rain showed that the search-light of the second-class
British cruiser _Azelia_ was following one of her boats
while it made a desperate struggle to reach the crew of a
foundering Chinese junk. The pencil of light, now bright, now
dim, followed the boat as it was pulled by a crew of stout
British tars and managed with almost incredible cleverness by
its officer. They saw it alongside the junk, saw the Chinese
tumble into it half dead with fright and fatigue, and disappear
beyond the rays of the search-light. Next morning they learned
that the Chinese were landed safely farther down the harbor, but
that the boat was crusht like an eggshell against the sea-wall,
tho the sailors were saved to a man.

(2709)

* * * * *

Many straying souls who have lost the way may be but fallen angels, whom love and kindness might restore.

George MacDonald tells of a young woman who had been led astray.
A minister found her one night on his doorstep, and brought her
into his house. His little daughter, who was up-stairs with her
mother, asked, “Mama, who is it papa has in the library?” Her
mother replied, “It is an angel, dear, who has lost her way, and
papa is telling her the way back.”

(2710)

* * * * *

This incident has been related of the eminent divine, Edward Irving:

When a boy in Scotland with his little sister he went down on
the sands of Solway Firth to meet his uncle, who was coming to
visit their home. When the tide comes in there, it flows in with
a rush. It sweeps on like a flood. All the people there know
this danger of the onrushing sea and guard against it, but these
little children forgot the time and tide. They were playing in a
little pool of water. Suddenly a horseman dashed down from the
mountain side. Without a word he came up on a run, secured the
two children to the saddle and started for the hills. Faster and
faster followed the rising tide, but at last the horseman and
his precious load were saved.

The Christian must waste no time if he would save imperilled men. (Text.)

(2711)

* * * * *

A policeman shouted to a boy in the Lancaster Canal at Preston,
England, “Hullo! Why are you bathing there?” “Please, sir, I’m
not; I’m drowning,” was the boy’s answer, and he promptly sank.
The policeman dived and rescued him.

Many persons who are supposed to be having a good time in the world are really losing their lives.

(2712)

See KONGO MISSIONARY; LISTENING FOR SIGNALS.

RESENTMENT, FREE FROM

A writer in the _Saturday Evening Post_ speaks thus concerning Lincoln and Lee:

On several occasions I heard him speak most feelingly of the
defamation heaped upon him by the South, but never did he
exhibit the semblance of resentment. More than once I have heard
him say: “If these people only knew us better it would be well
for both of us.” He always spoke of them as “these people,” as
did General Robert E. Lee, who in personal intercourse usually
referred to the Union army when in front of him as “these
people.” His last order to Longstreet before Pickett’s charge at
Gettysburg was: “These people are there and they must be driven
away.” Both of these great characters of our Civil War are now
remembered, and will be remembered for all time, as having never
uttered a sentence of resentment relating to their opponents in
the war.

(2713)

RESERVATION

An old Indian in northwestern Canada, who for many years had
hated Christians, was at last brought to the Savior and wished
to be baptized. The examining missionary, the Rev. E. D. Thomas,
was convinced that the old man was keeping back something from
him, and was clinging to some form of his old belief. It proved
to be a charm which he had purchased years before from a very
great medicine-man. After a long talk he was persuaded to give
it up. It was a small, round tin box wrapt in pieces of dirty
calico and sealed with grease and clay. Inside were half a dozen
little pieces of stone, each wrapt in brown paper and embedded
in down. (Text.)

(2714)

RESERVE POWER

No life can be vigorous if it is not kept fresh, responsive,
by great physical and mental reserves. As hibernating animals,
like the bear, in cold climates sustain life through the
winter wholly upon the reserve fat and nutriment stored up in
the tissues, so patients who have splendid physical reserves
and resisting power are carried through severe sicknesses and
sustained through severe illnesses by this reserve surplus,
stored-up vital power, while those who lack it, those who have
dissipated it in abnormal living and excesses, often lose their
lives, even in much less severe illnesses.

Great business men accomplish marvels with their reserves.
Many of them work but a few hours a day, but they have such
tremendous physical reserves and so much stored-up mental
energy that they are able to accomplish wonders in a short
time, because of their ability to work with great intensity and
powerful concentration.

People who keep their physical and mental surplus drawn down
very low by working a great many hours and almost never taking
vacations, who do not fill their reserve reservoir by frequent
vacations and by a lot of recreation and play, do not work with
anything like the freshness and mental vigor of those who work
less hours and constantly accumulate great reserve power.

There comes into every life worth while a time when success will
turn upon the reserve power. It is then a question of how long
your stored-up energy will enable you to hold out. There will
often arise emergencies when your success will depend upon how
much fight there is in you.--Denver _Republican_.

(2715)

=Reserved Merit=--See BOOKS AND WORTH.

RESIGNATION

This note of resignation is written by F. C. Browning:

I can not feel
That all is well when darkening clouds conceal
The shining sun;
But then, I know
God lives and loves; and say, since it is so,
Thy will be done.

I do not see
Why God should e’en permit some things to be,
When He is love.
But I can see
Tho often dimly through the mystery,
His hand above!

I do not know
Where falls the seed that I have tried to sow
With greatest care,
But I shall know
The meaning of each waiting hour below,
Sometime, somewhere!

I do not look
Upon the present, nor in nature’s book,
To read my fate;
But I do look
For promised blessings in God’s holy Book,
And I can wait. (Text.)

(2716)

* * * * *

Paul Laurence Dunbar, the negro poet, occupied a unique position in the literary world. W. D. Howells called him the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the negro life esthetically and express it lyrically. While he was dying of consumption, he contributed to _Lippincott’s_ this verse-sermon of resignation:

Because I had loved so deeply,
Because I had loved so long,
God in his great compassion
Gave me the gift of song.
Because I had loved so vainly
And sung with such faltering breath,
The Master in infinite mercy
Offers the boon of death. (Text.)

(2717)

RESISTANCE

Sit upon the shore close to the water’s edge, and let the sand
teach you how to resist. It runs out underneath the water, and
just lies there; and when the wave hurls its tons upon it, the
sand gives way, but makes the water move it. When the water
rushes furiously landward, the sand goes with it, but not quite
so fast; and when the wave retreats, the sand runs back, but
not quite so far. It always stands close to its enemy, and a
little in front of him, never lets him strike from a distance,
and never allows him to make any permanent mark. It never runs
away, and never melts, and it always separates itself from its
antagonist and lies ready for another attack. Always prepared
for a blow, it never gives one.--JAMES M. STIFLER, “The
Fighting Saint.”

(2718)

* * * * *

The modern treatment of moral germs should be similar to that used in modern surgery:

The new era, which is to succeed the present or “pathologic”
era in surgery, is the “physiologic,” and in it we are to take
less care about the entrance of possible germs into our surgical
wounds and more about keeping the patient in such condition that
he can resist them if they do get in.--_Literary Digest._

(2719)

* * * * *

It is said that Napoleon once ordered a coat of mail. When the
artizan completed and delivered it, the emperor ordered him to
put it on himself. Then Napoleon, taking a pistol, fired shot
after shot at the man in armor. It stood this severe test, and
was accepted.

(2720)

RESISTANCE AS A LEVERAGE

I know not how the stork, “leaning upon the sirocco,” makes a
leverage of the opposing element for her swift flight. I leave
the naturalist to explain that. But I do know that the sirocco
is a challenge to her unerring instinct and strength of wing.
God manipulates the wind. The stork manipulates her wings. And
the working of the combination results advantageously to the
stork. She does not lean upon the sirocco wind as you would lean
upon a couch. That would result in a fall and the bird would be
dashed in pieces. The leaning is accompanied by action. While
the buoyancy of the air bears her up, the balancing of the wings
bears her on. That air-cushion is no “downy bed of ease.” It is
a thing to be encountered and overcome. She makes the adversary
contribute to her progress. The thing from which men shrink is
the thing the bird dares.--C. J. GREENWOOD.

(2721)

=Resistance by Softness=--See SUBSTANCES, PENETRATING.

RESOLUTENESS

The famous antarctic explorer, Sir Ernest Shackelton, has
astonished his friends by his persistency of purpose. He was
long ill during the progress of the “discovery” expedition. His
lungs bled for months, but his indomitable purpose prevailed.
He struggled heroically against a malady that threatened his
life hour by hour. Before he set out he had looked at the map
and said at a banquet, “Thanks, here’s to our success. I must
not touch wine again until I return. I think we shall do it; at
least we will try.” And he reached within ninety-seven miles of
the South Pole, and returned to England sound and well.

(2722)

RESOLUTION

Robert Louis Stevenson, in “Virginibus Puerisque,” writes an account of a sea-fight in which he relates this:

Duncan, lying off the _Texel_ with his own flagship, the
_Venerable_, and only one other vessel, heard that the
whole Dutch fleet was putting to sea. He told Captain Hotham to
anchor alongside of him in the narrowest part of the channel and
fight his vessel till she sank. “I have taken the depth of the
water,” added he, “and when the _Venerable_ goes down, my
flag will still fly.” (Text.)

(2723)

See CONVICTIONS, STRONG.

RESOLUTIONS, GOOD

When Admiral Farragut’s son was ten years old the father said
in his hearing that when he was old enough to make a contract
and keep it, he had a bargain to offer him. The son rose up
and asked the father what the contract was. The admiral said,
“The proposal I intend to make is this: If you will not smoke
or chew tobacco, drink intoxicating or strong wines, till you
are twenty-one years of age, I will then give you one thousand
dollars.” “I am old enough to make that bargain now,” said young
Farragut. “I will accept the offer.” The bargain was closed, and
when young Farragut was twenty-one the cash was handed over to
him. A smoking boy can save a thousand dollars in a few years in
the same way, besides saving physical energy and moral power.

(2724)

RESOURCEFULNESS

“Where there is a will there is a way.”

“According to a Pittsburg telephone manager,” says
_Telephony_, “the telephone was put to a novel and unusual
use in Washington County recently, enabling two boys, sons
of farmers, to hold their positions in their classes in the
public schools from which they will graduate in another year.
Incidentally, the patience and long-suffering of the country
school-teacher was put to an admirable test. Smallpox broke out
in the neighborhood in question, and the two scholars were among
the early victims. The home was quarantined, and there was every
indication that the instruction which they had been receiving
would be cut off for an indefinite period. But the teacher was
resourceful and willing. He called up the stricken home one
evening and proposed that the boys study their lessons as usual,
and he would hear them over the telephone. The idea was eagerly
received. Each evening they took down the receiver, and the
teacher, located several farms away, heard them recite. Neither
suffered to an appreciable degree through their absence from
school, and their chances for graduation are just as bright as
before the disease entered their home.” (Text.)

(2725)

See MEDICAL MISSIONS.

=Resources, American=--See WASTE.

RESOURCES, EXHAUSTED

No life is self-sustained. For the individual and the nation, isolation means death. If the resources by which life is sustained were not furnished by others we should soon be at the end of our career.

Charles Francis Adams, the historian and publicist, of Boston,
Mass., in his address at Lexington, Va., on January 19, 1907,
at the centennial celebration of General Lee’s birth, told the
throng of Southerners, there in the shadow of Lee’s old home,
that the Confederacy was beaten in the markets of the world,
that the economic laws held it in an iron grip, that if 100,000
men could have been sent to reenforce Lee, in the last days of
the war, his condition would have been worse than before, as
even their meager food-supply would only the sooner have been
exhausted. With the South depleted of food by the four years’ of
conflict, with the markets of the world closed to her, and no
source of subsistence open to her armies, valor and devotion
could count for only little.

This consideration enters largely into England’s determination
to keep her navy stronger than those of any other two powers. So
much of her food-supply comes from abroad that she must maintain
control of the ocean routes of trade.

(2726)

RESOURCES, GOD’S

Disposed somewhat to gloomy thoughts, especially at such times
as her husband was maligned or persecuted by his enemies,
Luther’s wife was on one occasion given a lesson by the great
reformer in this wise: “Indeed, you torment yourself as if God
were not Almighty and could not produce new Doctor Martins by
the score if the old doctor should happen to drown himself in
the Saal.”

(2727)

=Resources, Inner=--See WATER OF LIFE.

RESOURCES, MAKING THE BEST OF

In the Tate Gallery in London there is a picture entitled
“Hope.” Seated on a globe representing the earth is a woman
blindfolded. The water which encloses the globe reaches to
her feet. In her hands is a lyre with all the strings broken
excepting one. She does not mend the broken chords, she does not
wring her hands in helpless remorse over opportunities that are
gone forever, but continues playing on the single string that is
left unbroken.

It is the part of a brave man to do his best with what material is still at his disposal, instead of wasting time in vainly regretting what might have been. (Text.)

(2728)

RESOURCES, SMALL

A general who rose from the ranks in our army told me, not
boastingly, that all he inherited from his father, in Vermont,
was a pair of second-hand trousers, a sealskin cap, and a
tendency to rheumatism. The Spartans gave their cooks only
vinegar and salt and commanded them to look for the rest of
their sauce in the meats they were to serve.--JAMES T.
FIELDS.

(2729)

RESPECT FOR TEACHER

In Morley’s “Gladstone” there is a passage from the pen of the
great premier, telling how, years after his Eton career, he sat
down to a dinner in honor of the severe old head-master who had
flogged every boy in the school, most of them many times. They
had all hated him, they said. But when he rose to speak at that
dinner, such a storm of applause never greeted a triumphant
parliamentarian; and tears of affection actually overflowed all
eyes.--BURRIS A. JENKINS, “Proceedings of the Religious
Education Association,” 1904.

(2730)

=Respect for the Dead=--See SYMPATHY BY PLEASURE-GOERS.

RESPECT, NO, OF PERSONS

When King George the V was in the navy, he associated on terms of perfect equality with his messmates, among whom he was known. As an illustration of the indifference of his messmates to his royal birth, and of the spirit of equality with which he was treated by them while at sea, an incident may be related.

One night he declined to turn out, as he should have done, to go
on watch. His fellow middy, whom he was designated to relieve,
and who wanted to turn in, endeavored to arouse the prince. The
latter, on receiving two or three shakings, opened his eyes,
swore picturesquely, but refused to turn out. He hit the man who
had called him one blow on the eye and went to sleep again.

The young fellow made no response, but returned to his post,
resumed his watch, and thus did duty for the prince. Now, if
there is one offense that is heinous, according to midshipman
ethics, it is the shirking of a watch.

On the following day, the lad who had done double duty,
reported the case to his comrades. It was immediately decided
to hold a drumhead court-martial in the gun-room. Prince George
was brought before it, found guilty by unanimous count, and
sentenced to be spanked by the middy who had done his work.

The royal culprit was seized by four of the seniors and held
face downward, while the middy with the disfigured eye, his
sleeves rolled up to his elbows, carried out the sentence of the
gun-room court. When the prince was released he was furious with
rage and mortification, and threatened all sorts of things. But
a few hours after he thought better of it, came to his messmate
who had spanked him, and apologized for the blow he had given
him, as well as for making him do double duty.

(2731)

RESPONDING TO THE CALL

I went a few weeks ago out to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to
attend the dedication of the gymnasium there built in memory
of Hugh McAllister Beaver; and as I came away, his father gave
me the history of his regiment in the Civil War, the 148th
Pennsylvania Volunteers. One of the first chapters of all is
entitled “The Sister’s Story.” It is the story of how some of
the lads of the regiment came to be enrolled. It was in the
year of 1862. President Lincoln had issued a call for 300,000
men and then a call for 300,000 more, and the War Department
had drawn up provisions for a draft in case the men were not
voluntarily offered; and this one county in Pennsylvania did not
wish to stand under the ignominy of a draft, but desired that
the men who were to go from that county should offer themselves
freely in response to that call. This sister tells of how the
appeal came to the little village in which she and her brother
lived, in Center County, Pennsylvania. There was a small country
academy there, and the summer vacation was just over, and the
boys and girls had come back from the farms for the first day of
the academy year again. She said that she came walking up the
village street with a friend of hers, another little child, and
as they came up the pathway through the yard of the school, arm
in arm, with a little bunch of flowers held in both their hands
and their heads bowed down very close together, as little girls
would talk with one another confidentially, they were suddenly
imprest with the silence of the school-yard. Instead of the
noise of play and the chatter of an opening day at school, all
the boys and the little girls were sitting quietly on the school
stoop, and when they came they asked the older boys what the
trouble was. Was there any specially dark tidings from the war?
And they said: “No, it was not that;” but Professor Patterson
had decided to enlist and he wanted to know how many of the
boys of the school would go with him, and a meeting was to be
held in the village church that evening, in which they were all
to be given an opportunity to say what they would do. She said
that at once she left her little companion and sought out her
brother, and she said to him, “Harry, are you going to enlist?”
and he said, “Yes, he thought he would.” “Well, but,” the mother
argued after they reached home, “you are only sixteen years old;
you can not enlist without father’s allowing you to go, and you
know how we have all built on you, on your brightness, and are
making sacrifices at home in order that you might go to college.
You must not go away now to the war.” He insisted that when the
opportunity came he was afraid he would have to respond. And the
sister tells how that night, in the little village church, when
Mr. McAllister, of Bellefonte, made his appeal for volunteers
and had finished, the principal of the academy rose with a long
paper in his hand; and her girlish heart almost stopt beating
when she realized what it was that he was going to do, and then
when he had made his careful, simple statement as to the purpose
that led him and the motives that constrained him, he said he
was going to call the school roll, and every boy who wanted to
could respond “Ready” to his name; and in a silence like the
silence of death he began at the top of the line: “Andrews,”
“Ready”; “Baker,” “Ready”; and when he came down to K the
little girl said her breath just absolutely stopt, and when the
name Keller was called, she heard a clear, boyish voice answer
without a tremor, “Ready” to his name.--R. E. SPEER,
“Student Volunteer Movement,” 1906.

(2732)

=Response=--See CHARACTER.

=Response of God=--See FATHERHOOD.

RESPONSIBILITY

God has crammed both thy palms with living seed;
Let not a miser’s clutch keep both hands tight,
But scatter on the desert’s barren need,
That fragrant blossoms may reward God’s sight.

God has dipt deep thy cup into his spring,
Which drippeth over, it is so well filled;
Lend it to some parched life, and let it bring
Laughter and song to voices drought has stilled.

God gave to thee His only well-loved Christ,
Whose steps have smoothed the road that leads thee home;
Tell those whose road is rough, whose way is missed,
That He has called all weary men to come.

So shall thy giving set for thee God’s smile,
And thine own soul drink deep draughts of His love;
Earth’s shadows shall grow bright as heaven, the while
A web of glory round thy life is wove.

--_The British Congregationalist._

(2733)

* * * * *

Dignity sometimes goes down before a solemn responsibility. Susannah Wesley started some prayer-meetings in her house. When her husband, the rector, heard of it, it seemed to him to infringe on the dignity of the Anglican order and he wrote to her in disapproval of the meetings. Her reply is quoted in part by Rev. W. H. Fitchett:

If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do
not tell me that you desire me to do this; for that will not
satisfy my conscience. But send me your positive command, in
such full and express terms as may absolve me from guilt and
punishment for neglecting this opportunity for doing good when
you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of
our Lord Jesus Christ.

That terrible sentence was too much for the little rector,
and the meetings were continued until he returned from
London.--“Wesley and His Century.”

(2734)

* * * * *

Men are often exalted in their best moral attitudes by being entrusted with great responsibilities. Thus Lamar Fontaine writes:

I received from Major Livingston Mimms, the chief quartermaster
of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, and also
of Johnston’s army, a _carte blanche_ on the Confederate
treasurer, in these words:

“The Confederate States treasurer will honor any draft presented
to him signed by Lamar Fontaine.”

As I realized the immensity of the trust that this paper
conveyed to me, and imposed upon my integrity, I trembled and
could hardly sit on my steed, but there arose in my heart
a something, a feeling beyond my powers to describe. I was
transported to a higher, better plane than I had ever before
trod, and a determination that all the gold of earth could not
have purchased.--“My Life and My Lectures.”

(2735)

* * * * *

We may often accomplish more by putting responsibility on others rather than exercising it ourselves:

Daniel O’Connell had to defend a prisoner for a capital crime,
and the defense was said by the attorney to be hopeless.
Sergeant Lefroy happened to be acting for the judge, who
had been suddenly indisposed, and being then young and his
character known to O’Connell, the latter purposely put several
inadmissible questions to the witness, which, of course,
were objected to by the opposite counsel. The sergeant at
last rather peremptorily stopt further questions of the same
kind. O’Connell then, with great warmth, said, “As you refuse
me permission to defend my client, I leave his fate in your
hands--his blood be on your head if he be condemned.” He left
the court at once with majestic stride, in a huff, and paced
up and down outside the court for half an hour. At the end of
that time his attorney rushed out of court, exclaiming, “He’s
acquitted! he’s acquitted!” This stratagem was successful, and
O’Connell with complacency told his friends that he had intended
to throw the responsibility of the conviction on the judge.
(Text.)--CROAKE JAMES, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

(2736)

* * * * *

One of the particulars in which we are drawn away from our
traditions is in respect to the make-up and government of
society, and it is in that respect we should retrace our steps
and preserve our traditions; because we are suffering ourselves
to drift away from the old standards, and we say, with a shrug
of the shoulders, that we are not responsible for it; that we
have not changed the age, tho the age has changed us. We feel
very much as the Scotchman did who entered the fish-market. His
dog, being inquisitive, investigated a basket of lobsters, and
while he was nosing about incautiously one of the lobsters got
hold of his tail, whereupon he went down the street with the
lobster as a pendant. Says the man, “Whustle to your dog, mon.”
“Nay, nay, mon,” quoth the Scotchman, “you whustle for your
lobster.”--WOODROW WILSON.

(2737)

See DESIRES, INORDINATE.

RESPONSIBILITY AFFECTS JUDGMENT

Judge Collamore, who for many years was a distinguished United States Senator from Vermont, used to illustrate his troubles by this story:

He was sitting on the porch of his law office during a recess of
Congress, when a farmer drove by and said, “Judge, my conscience
troubles me so I can not sleep, about keeping four millions of
fellow human beings with the same souls and the same Creator as
ourselves in slavery. With all this wealth, I am sure that we,
as a nation and as a people individually, will be curst unless
slavery is abolished. Now, it is hardly fair to destroy the
property of the South, who are not directly responsible, and so
I think we ought to all bear our share and buy them out.”

Senator Collamore replied: “Well, in part I think you are right.
Now, let’s see practically how it works out. The estimated
price is four thousand millions of dollars. It would have to be
raised by a direct tax proportioned among the States. Vermont’s
share would be so many millions. This county, so many hundreds
of thousands, this town so many tens of thousands.” Sitting
in the same place the next afternoon, and greeting friends as
they passed to and from the market, the old Puritan farmer
reappeared. Reining up his horses, he shouted: “Judge, I have
been thinking over that question. Crops are poor, taxes are
high; I don’t think we need bother just at present about them
infernal niggers.”

(2738)

RESPONSIBILITY EVADED

When the Massachusetts Sixth was there in Baltimore and being
mobbed, and stood for a long time perfectly patient till their
officers commanded them to fire, a long Yankee--who had stood
watching this crowd and saw that the poor ruffians round
about were merely the tools of the respectable scoundrels
standing away across the square on boxes and barrels--stept
out from the ranks and drew his bead and sent a bullet through
one scoundrel’s heart, and knocked him like a pigeon off a
branch. In Baltimore I heard the other side of that story,
when a clergyman of that city told me, “We lost a good deal
out of our church that day.” “Ah?” said I, “how was that?”
“Well, one of the class-leaders of our church was down there
looking-on. He stood on a box on the other side of the square;
he was not among the crowd at all, but a stray bullet came
across the end of the square and shot him!” He was one of those
broadclothed scoundrels, with a gold-headed cane, surrounding
those poor fellows, and ought to have been shot.--HENRY WARD
BEECHER.

(2739)

=Responsibility for Others=--See MUTUALISM.

RESPONSIBILITY OF GREATNESS