Chapter M: E. Hume-Griffith, in her “Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish (4)

Where the untrained eye will see nothing but mire and dirt
(says Sir John Lubbock), science will often reveal exquisite
possibilities. The mud we tread under our feet in the street
is a grimy mixture of clay and sand, soot and water. Separate
the sand, however, as Ruskin observes--let the atoms arrange
themselves in peace according to their nature--and you have
the opal. Separate the clay and it becomes a white earth, for
the finest porcelain; or if it still further purifies itself
you have a sapphire. Take the soot, and if properly treated it
will give you a diamond. While, lastly, the water purified and
distilled, will become a dew-drop or crystallize into a lovely
star. Or, again, you may see in a shallow pool either the mud
lying at the bottom or the image of the sky above.--_Public
Opinion._

(2839)

=Scripture=--See CONSCIENCE.

=Scripture and Experience=--See INTERPRETATION BY EXPERIENCE.

SCRIPTURE FOR ALL OCCASIONS

If you have the blues read the Twenty-seventh Psalm.

If your pocketbook is empty read the Thirty-seventh Psalm.

If people seem unkind, 1 John 4.

If you are discouraged about your work, 126th Psalm.

If you are all out of sorts, twelfth chapter Hebrews.

If you are losing confidence in men, thirteenth chapter, 1
Corinthians.

If you can not have your own way about everything, James 3.

If you are anxious, Matthew 6.--Honolulu _Times_.

(2840)

=Scruples, Hindering=--See ACTION, INSTANT.

SCRUPLES, MINUTE

Roger North gives an instance of the lawyer’s absurd attachment
to mere forms. In his days the Court of Common Pleas used to
sit in Westminster Hall, close to the great door, in order
that suitors and their train might readily pass in and out.
When the wind was in the north, this situation was found very
cold, and it was proposed to move the court farther back, to a
warmer place. “But the Lord Chief Justice Bridgman,” says North,
“would not agree to it, as it was against Magna Charta, which
says that the Common Pleas shall be held _in certo loco_
(in a certain place), with which the distance of an inch from
that place is inconsistent, and all the pleas would be _coram
non judice_ (before one who is not the proper judge).”
(Text.)--CROAKE JAMES, “Curiosities of Law and Lawyers.”

(2841)

=Sea Helping the Land=--See EVIDENCE, PROVIDENTIAL.

=Sea, The=--See SOLACE OF THE SEA.

=Sea, The, As a Land Grabber=--See MUTATION.

=Sea, Wealth of the=--See OPPORTUNITY LOST.

=Seaman, A Struggling=--See COOLNESS IN DANGER.

SEASICKNESS

The ship upon clearing the harbor ran into a half-pitching,
half-rolling sea that became particularly noticeable about the
time the twenty-five passengers at the captain’s table sat down
to dinner.

“I hope that all twenty-five of you will have a pleasant trip,”
the captain told them as the soup appeared, “and that this
little assembly of twenty-four will reach port much benefited by
the voyage. I look upon these twenty-two smiling faces much as a
father does upon his family, for I am responsible for the safety
of this group of seventeen. I hope that all fourteen of you
will join me later in drinking to a merry trip. I believe that
we eight fellow passengers are most congenial, and I applaud
the judgment which chose from the passenger-list these three
persons for my table. You and I, my dear sir, er--here, steward!
Bring on the fish and clear away these dishes.”--_National
Monthly._

(2842)

=Searching Christ, The=--See CHRIST, THE SEARCHING.

=Seaweed, The Value of=--See UTILIZING SEAWEED.

SEARCHING FOR VALUES

As we behold men going up and down the corn-fields of history,
they are plucking the ears of corn as they journey. What are you
reaching after with those long mental fingers, O Shakespeare?
“I’ve seen how the corn of human nature grows upon the stalk of
life, and I’m plucking at the heart of this mystery.” What are
those great hands grasping after, O Beethoven? “I’m dreaming of
unblended harmonies my deaf ears have never heard, and these
hands are trying to pluck them from out the invisible realms of
harmony.” Why run those hands up into the sleeve of darkness, O
Milton? They seem to be straining after something. “Worlds of
light lie behind these dead eyes of mine. I’ve seen an angel
and heard him sing, and these hands are fumbling about in the
darkness hunting for words to tell about his song.” What are
those majestic hands reaching after, O Angelo? “I need a few
bars of light, a few bursts of morning, a few scraps of sunset,
to show men how God paints pictures. I’m plucking the golden
ears of color from nature’s garden to hang up in a picture
gallery.”--F. F. SHANNON.

(2843)

SEARCH-LIGHTS

Moral and spiritual search-lights are needed to warn and illuminate the soul, just as the search-lights noted here are used to help the mariner as he approaches land.

“It has been announced,” says _The Electrical Review_,
“that one of the features of the Lewis & Clark exposition
will be a large search-light surmounting Mount Hood. This
will be used to good effect for illuminating the snow-capped
mountain-peaks within one hundred miles of the light. It is
also said that the beam thrown from this search-light will
be visible to vessels one hundred miles off the coast. This
statement suggests that the search-light might be used as a
valuable aid in lighthouse service, for warning vessels when
they are approaching land. The ordinary range of visibility
of a lighthouse is about twenty or twenty-five miles. For a
lightship it is somewhat less, as the light is lower. Now, a
powerful search-light can throw a beam upward which will be
seen thirty or forty miles, under favorable conditions. It is
probable that a powerful ray thrown vertically upward from a
lighthouse would be visible long before the direct rays of the
lighthouse could be seen. A somewhat similar scheme has been
tried on railroads, where a beam from the electric headlight of
a locomotive was thrown upward as a warning to the engineers of
other locomotives.”

(2844)

=Seasons Estimated=--See COMPENSATION.

SEASONS, VALUE OF

All our States have laws which prohibit the hunting of game at
certain times specified and by given methods. The greater part
of the year is close time for shooting most kinds of animals and
birds. The wild beasts which are to be followed for sport need
opportunity to increase and grow, and if left to the whim of
individuals would be exterminated. As there are prohibitions to
prevent the extinction of the young animals, so there needs to
be a close time on character, when we do not allow ourselves to
indulge in things which excite our nerves and draw our strength
from our bodies and minds. We check our reading, and are careful
of sleep and food and exercise.--“Monday Club, Sermons on the
International Sunday-school Lessons for 1904.”

(2845)

=Second Thought=--See REPENTANCE.

=Secrecy in Sin=--See HYPOCRISY.

=Secret Service Disclosures=--See CRIMINALS, TRACING.

SECRET THINGS

An ancient philosopher, it is said, was accustomed to go about
carrying a parcel covered with a napkin. To all inquiries as
to the contents of the parcel his answer was: “Wherefore the
napkin?” meaning that there are some things God has not been
pleased to reveal to men. (Text.)

(2846)

=Secret Unpurchasable=--See KINDNESS, THE POWER OF.

SECRETS

Sir Joshua Reynolds, like Wilson, had his secrets of color and his mysteries of painting. He was fond of endeavoring to discover the secrets of the old painters.

It was his wont to dissect some of their works in order to
find out their art of coloring and finishing. He pursued his
experiments secretly and kept his discoveries to himself. In
this search for the hidden secrets of his art he destroyed many
old paintings of the Venetian school to the serious loss of the
world of art. (Text.)

(2847)

=Secrets Will Out=--See UTTERANCE.

=Securities=--See PRECAUTIONS.

SECURITY

The soul is secure that stands on the Rock of Ages.

A man was sent out on a rocky promontory in Scotland where
his signals might help a ship working its way in through the
difficult channel in a great storm. Great waves beat upon
that promontory and their spray wet the flagman to the skin,
but he stood his dangerous ground and signaled the ship in.
After she was in some one asked him if he did not tremble as
he stood out there. He answered: “My legs trembled, but the
rock didn’t tremble. I never knew before how solid that rock
was.”--FRANKLIN NOBLE, “Sermons in Illustration.”

(2848)

SEEING ALL AROUND

We would find it a great advantage in life if our mental apprehension was capable of including the entire horizon as the insect mentioned below is able to see in all directions.

A boy is often easily surprized by a playmate who approaches him
stealthily from behind, but did you ever try the same game with
a butterfly? I have, many a time. After getting cautiously so
near to a butterfly at rest as to be able to distinguish between
its head and its hinder extremity, I have quietly circled round
it so as to approach it from behind, being at the time under the
impression that it wouldn’t see me under those circumstances.
But not the slightest advantage did I derive from this
stratagem, for the position and construction of its eyes enabled
it to see almost all ways at once.--W. FURNEAUX,
“Butterflies and Moths.”

(2849)

* * * * *

Many insects have a great number of eyes, because the orb of the
eye is fixt; there is, therefore, placed over the eye a multiple
lens which conducts light to the eye from every direction; so
that the insect can see with a fixt eye as readily as it could
have done with a movable one. As many as 1,400 eyes, or inlets
of light, have been counted in the head of a drone bee. The
spider has eight eyes, mounted on different parts of the head;
two in front, two in the top of the head, and two on each side.

One mark of the well-balanced man is the ability to see in all directions.

(2850)

SEEING, THE ART OF

I once spent a summer day at the mountain home of a well-known
literary woman and editor. She lamented the absence of birds
about her house. I named a half-dozen or more I had heard in
her trees within an hour--the indigo-bird, the purple finch,
the yellow-bird, the veery thrush, the red-eyed vireo, the song
sparrow.

“Do you mean to say you have seen or heard all these birds while
sitting here on my porch?” she inquired.

“I really have,” I said.

“I do not see them or hear them,” she said, “and yet I want to
very much.”

“No,” said I; “you only want to want to see and hear them.”

You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in
the bush. (Text.)--JOHN BURROUGHS, “Leaf and Tendril.”

(2851)

SEEKING AND FINDING

Tho the inventors have busied their brains for almost a
century in an effort to find a substitute for wood pulp in the
production of paper, their efforts hitherto met with failure.
Recently an industrial concern has issued its prospectus,
printed upon paper manufactured from cornstalks in its
experimental plant. The paper is of good quality and proves the
availability of cornstalks for this purpose.

An earnest search for that which will benefit humanity will
sooner or later be rewarded with success. (Text.)

(2852)

SEEKING SERVICE

I have a wealthy friend in Paris who is spending his money not
very wisely, but not very wickedly. Some of his acquaintances
suggested to him that it would help him socially and give him
more prestige, if he could go to America and induce President
Roosevelt to appoint him as a member of our American embassy in
Paris. So he came to Washington and went to see the President,
who very kindly granted him an audience. He spoke the little
speech that he had prepared to give, beginning by saying, “I
think that I could serve my country, perhaps, if I should have
this appointment in Paris.” President Roosevelt spoke right up,
as he is apt to do and said: “My young friend, a man desiring
to serve his country does not begin by saying where he is going
to serve.”--CHARLES R. ERDMAN, “Student Volunteer
Movement,” 1906.

(2853)

SELECTION

The world is much what we make it.

The “man with the muckrake” hated his work, and with good
reason. “How sweet is the smell of those pine boards!” said
a lady to her friend as they were walking near the river in
Chicago. “Pine boards,” he exclaimed; “just smell that foul
river!” “No, thank you,” she answered, “I prefer to smell pine
boards.”--FRANKLIN NOBLE, “Sermons in Illustration.”

(2854)

SELECTION BY PURPOSE

Some years ago a cotton-planter in Georgia observed that the
leaves on one of his plants was unlike the usual leaf; it was
divided as if into fingers. So far nature had gone. The planter
added his intelligence. He concluded that such a divided leaf
would let in more sunshine on the cotton; also such a leaf would
not be comfortable for caterpillars. So he searched out one or
two of these peculiar plants, transplanted them to a field by
themselves. As they propagated, he plucked up those with the old
leaf, cultivated those with the new, and now these new cotton
plants, finer than the old, free from caterpillars, are spread
through many regions. That is human selection, based on natural
selection, securing the fruits of evolution. It is just as
applicable to man as to vegetation. A better man may be bred as
well as a better kind of cotton.--MONCURE D. CONWAY,
The Monist.

(2855)

=Selection Justified=--See TRIUMPH BY SELECTION.

=Self-abnegation=--See MODESTY.

SELF-BLAME

A story of Henry Ward Beecher is told in _Christian Work_.

Mr. Beecher had been addressing an association of Congregational
ministers somewhere in New York State, and when he had finished
his address he said he would be glad to answer any questions if
any of the younger brethren had anything that perplexed them.
Immediately, a young clergyman arose and said, “Mr. Beecher,
we have in our little church at ---- a very estimable man, but
the moment I begin preaching he falls asleep and snores, so he
disturbs the whole congregation and absolutely spoils the effect
of the sermon. But he is the only rich man we have, and he is
the main support of the church, and we dare not say anything
to him for fear we might offend him. Now, what would you do in
such a case as that?” Mr. Beecher admitted it was a puzzling
situation, and then he said: “We get around it in Plymouth
Church in this way: I give my sexton orders to keep close watch
of the congregation, and the moment he sees any man asleep to go
right up and slap me on the back.”

(2856)

SELF-CENTERED

The Rev. C. A. S. Dwight, in an article on “Timing the Sun,” writes as follows:

There is a story of a punctilious Yankee who was fond of
boasting that his watch had never been slow or fast for forty
years. One morning he rose to see the sun rise. He kept looking
at his wonderful watch and consulting at the same time a
farmers’ almanac. There was a pause in the dawn. The Yankee grew
impatient. Tapping his watch, he exclaimed: “If that sun ain’t
over the hill in a minute and a half he’ll be late!”

Some men have “views” which they have carefully carried with
them for years, as that Yankee did his watch. If events do not
square with their views, so much the worse for the events. All
such measurings of the eternal by the local tests of human
opinion or of conventional standards is vain. The sun knows what
he is about. It is the part of wisdom to correct one’s timepiece
by the sun and not to try to run unassisted the astronomical
machinery of the whole universe.

(2857)

SELF-CONFIDENCE

When the little Corsican, Napoleon Bonaparte, a feeble youth
at the beginning of his wonderful career, was presented to the
convention of France as the man who could rescue the country
from its peril, the president fixt his eye upon him dubiously
and said: “Are you willing to undertake our defense?” “Yes,”
was the calm and confident reply. “But are you aware of the
magnitude of the undertaking?” asked the president again.
“Fully,” said Napoleon, fixing his piercing eye upon the
questioner, adding, “and I am in the habit of accomplishing that
which I undertake.”

A similar self-confidence has often proved the one great secret of a successful career.

(2858)

* * * * *

As Napoleon was contemplating one of his great campaigns, his
uncle, Cardinal Fesch, was dissuading him. Napoleon opened the
window, pointed and said:

“Do you see that star?”

Cardinal Fesch said: “No; I see no star.”

Napoleon turned his back upon him and said: “But I see it.”

To see your star whether other men see it or not, whether other
men believe in it or not; to believe in yourself--that may be to
discover that hidden self that is nobler than you have ever been.

(2859)

* * * * *

At one time, skilled artist tho he was, Constable was curiously
ready to make alterations in his pictures to please persons of
very little judgment in the case. At last, however, he rebelled.
He was finishing his famous picture “The Dell,” when he was
beset by an adviser: “Don’t you see,” retorted Constable, “that
I might go on and make this picture so good that it would be
good for nothing.” Being asked on another occasion if a certain
picture on the easel was painted for any particular person, he
replied: “Yes, sir; it is painted for a very particular person,
the person for whom I have all my life painted.” (Text.)

(2860)

SELF-CONFIDENCE MISPLACED

In a current magazine we find the following:

Some years ago an attorney was called in by a large company and
handed a lease.

“Give us your opinion,” said the president. “We have a great
deal of this sort of legal business, and it is only fair to say
that your opinion may mean much to us and to yourself.”

The lawyer went through the document with some care, but
quickly, and on the spot.

“This is one of the best-drawn leases I have ever examined,” he
said heartily. “You are wise to handle such matters inside your
own organization. I commend your business judgment.”

“Can you suggest any improvements?”

“None whatever,” declared the lawyer.

“Can you discern any flaws?”

“No--emphatically! Mr. Johns,” continued the attorney, turning
to the president’s assistant, “I want to congratulate you, as a
lawyer, upon your thorough grasp of this most difficult branch.
In my opinion this instrument is unassailable. It will hold in
the highest court in this State.”

“That is what we want--your honest opinion,” said the president.
“You have given it, and we are much obliged to you, and shall
be pleased to have a bill for your service. My dear sir, the
highest court in the State declared this lease null and void
last week, and we have lost a ten-thousand-dollar suit upon it!”

Both the business man who drew the lease and the lawyer who approved it were mistaken. They believed in themselves, but a higher tribunal showed their fallibility.

(2861)

SELF-CONFLICT

A friend once asked an aged man what caused him to complain so
often at eventide of pain and weariness. “Alas,” replied he, “I
have every day so much to do. I have two falcons to tame, two
hares to keep from running away, two hawks to manage, a serpent
to confine, a lion to chain and a sick man to tend and wait
upon.”

“Well, well,” commented his friend, “you are busy, indeed! But I
didn’t know that you had anything to do with a menagerie. How,
then, do you make that out?”

“Why,” continued the old man, “listen. Two falcons are my
eyes, which I must guard diligently; the two hares are my
feet, which I must keep from walking in the ways of sin; the
two hawks are my hands, which I must train to work, that I may
provide for myself and those dependent on me as well as for a
needy friend occasionally; the serpent is my tongue, which I
must keep ever bridled lest it speak unseemly; the lion is my
heart, with which I have a continual fight lest evil things come
out of it, and the sick man is my whole body, which is always
needing my watchfulness and care. All this daily wears out my
strength.”--Du Quoin _Tribune_.

(2862)

=Self-conquest=--See VICTORY IN DEFEAT.

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS

Some young Christians are timid and self-conscious, and can not
help it; what is to be done then? We once knew a child who was
so painfully bashful that anything that called attention to
herself was a positive torture to her. So simple an act as to
step across the aisle and hand a hymn-book made her heart beat
wildly. Then one day she saw a report of an organization which
was called “A Bridge from the Island of Supply to the Island of
Want.” Her mother, who saw that her little girl’s usefulness in
life would be greatly curtailed if she yielded to her foolish
fear, talked to her seriously and said: “Don’t think of yourself
as yourself, but think of yourself as God’s bridge. Whenever
He gives you an opportunity to do anything that would help any
one, or a thought that would make any one happy for you to tell
it, just say, ‘Now, I’m not anybody in myself; I’m just God’s
bridge, and I must let Him pass over me to this service.’ If you
see the need and have the supply, no matter what it is, then
you are God’s bridge, and you must be a strong bridge so that
His path may not be broken.” She soon learned to forget all
about herself in her own personality, and forgetting herself,
forgot her fear. (Text.)--MAY F. MCKEAN, _Zion’s
Advocate_.

(2863)

SELF-CONTROL

The name of Charles E. Hughes, Governor of New York, is deservedly held in esteem for the many admirable qualities of character possest. That the child is father to the man is shown in this incident which exhibits an unusual power of self-control in one so young.

For five years, until his tenth year, he studied at home. His
mother taught him the primary studies, as well as French,
German, and mathematics; his father, Greek and Latin. That
mastery of self which Mr. Hughes afterward manifested he also
taught himself as a child. He always recited his lessons
standing, and, like most children, had at first considerable
difficulty in keeping still. He evidently thought the thing
all out for himself; and one day, with no suggestion from his
mother, who was then hearing his lessons, he announced that he
had found a method of controlling his rebellious members. He
selected a seam in the carpet, placed his toes firmly against
it, shut his heels tightly together, and assumed a determined,
soldierlike pose. From that day Mr. Hughes has had entire
command of himself. (Text.)

(2864)

=Self-deception=--See FACTS, IGNORING.

SELF-DEPENDENCE

By thine own soul’s law learn to live;
And if men thwart thee, take no heed;
And if men hate thee, have no care--
Sing thou thy song, and do thy deed;
Hope thou thy hope, and pray thy prayer,
And claim no crown they will not give.

--JOHN G. WHITTIER.

(2865)

SELF-DEPRECIATION

When Deacon Hotchkiss bought Brother Bemis’ yearling heifer he
demanded a guarantee of the animal’s condition, and he asked
Brother Bemis to swear to that guarantee before the justice
of peace. Brother Bemis was hurt by this unusual precaution
on the part of a lifelong friend and neighbor. “Why, Brother
Hotchkiss,” he remonstrated, “you ain’t no need to be so pesky
s’picious with me. I ain’t never cheated you, hev I? You wa’nt
like this never before.” “I wa’nt--I wa’nt,” assented Brother
Hotchkiss cordially, “but I hearn you t’other night when you wuz
on the anxious seat at revival meetin’ and I sez to myself, sez
I, ‘if Brother Bemis is half the sinner he makes himself out
to be, it behooves me to be everlastin’ keerful with him next
caow trade.’” Which goes to show that a man is more likely to be
taken at his own estimate of himself when he puts that estimate
low than when he puts it high; and that it is not overwise in
a man to make estimate of himself in time of excitement and a
place of publicity. (Text.)--_Puck._

(2866)

SELF-DISPLAY

Many men embrace the most trivial opportunities to attract attention to themselves, with far less reason than the great actor in this incident recorded in _Scribner’s Magazine_:

Nothing else he ever did equaled Mansfield’s recital of his
experience the night he condescended to the plebeian rôle of a
waiter and wore an apron. His whole “business” was to draw a
cork, but he took pains to drive that cork home before coming
on the stage. When his cue came to draw the cork he tugged
and tugged in vain. His face grew scarlet and perspiration
dropt from his forehead. Then he handed the bottle to another
waiter, who struggled with all his strength without budging the
cork. Mansfield turned a deaf ear to the voices in the wings
shouting for him to leave the stage. He took the bottle back
again and with renewed effort finally dislodged the cork. The
insignificant pop it gave after those Titanic efforts again
brought down the house.

(2867)

SELF-EFFACEMENT

Was Rafael, think you, when he painted his pictures of the
Virgin and Child in all their inconceivable truth and beauty of
expression, thinking most of his subject or of himself? Do you
suppose that Titian, when he painted a landscape, was pluming
himself on being thought the finest colorist in the world, or
making himself so by looking at nature? Do you imagine that
Shakespeare, when he wrote “Lear” or “Othello,” was thinking of
anything but “Lear” and “Othello”? Or that Mr. Kean, when he
plays these characters, is thinking of the audience? No; he who
would be great in the eyes of others, must first learn to be
nothing in his own. (Text.)--WILLIAM HAZLITT.

(2868)

SELF-ESTEEM

We may be properly independent of the patronage of royalty, but this independence need not take the form of rudeness as with the musician in these incidents:

Liszt refused to play at court of Queen Isabella in Spain
because the court etiquette forbade the introduction of
musicians to royalty. In his opinion even crowned heads owed a
certain deference and homage to the sovereignities of art, and
he determined it should be paid.

He met Czar Nicholas I, who had very little notion of the
respect due to any one but himself, with an angry look and a
defiant word; he tossed Frederick William IV’s diamonds into
the side scenes, and broke a lance with Louis Philippe, which
cost him a decoration. He never forgave that thrifty King for
abolishing certain musical pensions and otherwise snubbing art.
He refused on every occasion to play at the Tuilleries. One
day the king and his suite paid a “private view” visit to a
pianoforte exhibition of Erard’s. Liszt happened to be in the
room, and was trying a piano just as his Majesty entered. The
King advanced genially toward him and began a conversation, but
Liszt merely bowed with a polished but icy reserve.

“Do you still remember,” said the King, “that you played at my
house when you were but a boy and I Duke of Orleans? Much has
changed since then.”

“Yes, sire,” replied Liszt dryly, “but not for the better.”

The King showed his royal appreciation of the repartee by
striking the great musician’s name off the list of those who
were about to receive the Cross of the Legion of Honor.--H.
R. HAWEIS, “My Musical Memories.”

(2869)

SELF-ESTIMATE

John the Baptist said of Christ, “He must increase but I must decrease.” Scott’s attitude toward Byron was similar.

It is characteristic of Scott that he knew perfectly well when
Byron began to write his day was over. He quietly said Byron had
“bet him,” and he never sang again. Without a touch of jealousy,
with simple manliness, Scott admitted that a greater poet than
himself had come, and instead of waging a losing battle for his
lost supremacy, he praised his rival, and then left the arena
with all the honors of war. There are few men who could have
done this. That Scott did it, and did it easily, is at once a
proof of the sturdy manliness of his nature, and of the robust
common sense and generosity which marked his character.--W.
J. DAWSON, “The Makers of English Poetry.”

(2870)

* * * * *

That we should try to see ourselves as others see us is a rule well illustrated by R. H. Haweis in what he says on learning to play the violin:

I had found means to make the flimsiest strings yield up sounds
which I need not here characterize, and to such purpose that it
became a question of some interest how long such sounds could be
endured by the human ear. I do not mean my own. All violinists,
including infants on the eighteen-penny ones, admit that to
their own ear the sounds produced are nothing but delightful; it
is only those who do not make them who complain.

(2871)

=Self-examination=--See SELF-INSPECTION.

SELF-FLATTERY

We are all of us susceptible to the good opinions of others, and sometimes we are apt to fall into the bad habit of lauding ourselves. An illustration of this is seen in the following:

Once when Moltke heard himself compared to Cæsar, Turenne,
Marlborough, Wellington, and others, he remarked: “No; I have
no right to rank with such great captains, for I have never
commanded a retreat”--which at the same time conveyed a subtle
compliment to himself. Bismarck was equally subtle when he was
asked whom he thought to have been the ablest plenipotentiary
at the Congress of Berlin. “I don’t know about the ablest,” he
replied with a grim smile, “but the next ablest was certainly
Lord Beaconsfield.” (Text.)

(2872)

SELF-FORGETTING

The first principle of Christianity is to forget one’s self.
When Wilberforce was straining every energy to get his bill for
the emancipation of slaves passed, a lady once said to him, “Mr.
Wilberforce, I’m afraid you are so busy about those slaves that
you are neglecting your own soul.” “True, madam,” he said; “I
had quite forgotten that I have one.” That remark contains one
of the deepest truths of Christianity. (Text.)

(2873)

SELF-HELP

At one time in a battle between the English and French, the
Prince of Wales became the center of the enemies’ attacks. As
the Germans, men of Savoy, and other fierce foreigners broke
through the royal division, a messenger was despatched in haste
to the King, entreating his aid. The British ruler had taken his
stand on a hill to watch the battle at a safe distance.

The King replied, “Return to him and to them that sent you
hither and tell them from me that they do not send to me again
or look for my coming so long as my son shall live. Suffer him
this day ‘to win his spurs.’”

At the time of evening vespers, the prince had wrought a
victory. The King, followed by his entire battalion, left the
hill and advanced to meet the Prince of Wales. He embraced him
and kissed him, saying, “Sweet son, God give you grace. You have
acquitted yourself well.”

Does not God often appear to withhold aid only that we may have
the joy of winning victories by our own powers? (Text.)

(2874)

* * * * *

That self-help is the best help is illustrated by the statements of a writer in _Health_, who says of the muscles:

It is dangerous to assist any muscle of the body. The more a
muscle is assisted, the weaker it gets and the less it responds
to the motor nerves. If any part of the body is deformed or
has become weakened as the result of certain muscles failing
to perform their duty, the muscles should be strengthened, not
helped. If the abdomen protrudes as the result of the abdominal
muscles having become weak, do not support the abdomen with
a bandage, thus making the abdominal muscles still weaker.
Strengthen the abdominal muscles, thus making a natural bandage.
The same is true in reference to other braces and bandages.
Never help a muscle, for you only weaken it. Exercise the
muscle; it will then help itself.

(2875)

SELF-HIDDEN

One way to win success in work and war is to subordinate self to the service, as the following lines suggest:

He held the lamp of truth that day
So low that none could miss the way;
And yet so high to bring in sight
That picture fair--the world’s great Light;
That, gazing up--the lamp between--
The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He held the pitcher, stooping low
To lips of little ones below;
Then raised it to the weary saint,
And bade him drink, when sick and faint!
They drank--the pitcher thus between--
The hand that held it scarce was seen.

He blew the trumpet soft and clear,
That trembling sinners need not fear;
And then with louder note and bold,
To raze the walls of Satan’s hold!
The trumpet coming thus between,
The hand that held it scarce was seen.

But when the Captain says, “Well done,
Thou good and faithful servant--come!
Lay down the pitcher and the lamp
Lay down the trumpet--leave the camp,”
The weary hands will then be seen,
Clasped in those pierced ones--naught between.(Text.)

(2876)

=Self-improvement=--See MUTUALISM.

=Self-injury=--See SUICIDE PREVENTED.

SELF-INSPECTION

John Wesley drew up at Oxford for himself and his companions a
scheme of self-examination which Southey declares, with some
truth, might well be appended to the spiritual exercises of
Ignatius Loyola. Here are samples: “Have I been simple and
recollected everything I did?” And under this head is a swarm
of microscopic tests of “sincerity” which the soul was to apply
to itself. “Have I prayed with fervor?” Then follows a list
of the times in each day at which prayer must be offered, and
a series of tests for ascertaining the exact degree of fervor
in each prayer--tests which irresistibly suggest a spiritual
thermometer, with a graduated scale to register the rise of
the mercury. Wesley adopted the practise his mother urged of
asking, “Have I, in private prayer, frequently stopt short and
observed what fervor in devotion?” That is, the anxious soul
was to keep one eye directed to the object of prayer, and the
other vigilantly fixt upon itself, so as to observe its own
behavior.--W. H. FITCHETT, “Wesley and His Century.”

(2877)

* * * * *

A traveler, reaching a mining camp unexpectedly, found the
miners very rough in manners and appearance owing to their
long absence from conventional life. On leaving the camp for
a farther journey, the traveler handed one of the leaders a
looking-glass. A glance at it amazed the man, and soon all the
other miners were crowding round him for a sight of themselves.
Then the traveler departed, promising to return in a month.
On his return he found an extraordinary change had taken
place. The men, having realized by the mirror what uncouth,
unshaven fellows they had become, had reformed as regards their
appearance and were now as smart and clean as ordinary civilized
beings. It was a sight of themselves which had worked the change.

(2878)

SELF-LIMITATIONS

“Lakeview; why, I should have thought they would call it
Seaview!” exclaimed the island tourist, standing on the brow of
the hill.

“But they don’t see the sea from the house. The top of the
hills shuts it out. You only see the lake.”

“I think I would have climbed a little higher and built where I
could have seen the sea.”

How many people are content to take up their abode on the
lakeview side of the hill, instead of climbing to the summit and
getting the vision of the great sea! (Text.)

(2879)

SELF-MASTERY

It is related that an eminent scientist, with his wife and
brother, were sailing one moonlight evening on Lake Geneva.
It became necessary to climb the mast to adjust a rope, when
the boat capsized, and in a moment all three were struggling
in the water. The lady, who was an extremely cultivated woman,
coolly called to her companions, “I will not take hold of you,
but come to me and let me put my hands upon your shoulders.”
Which they did, and she was buoyed up for half an hour until all
were saved. It was her mastery of herself that made it possible
for them to rescue her.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character
Lessons.”

(2880)

=Self-mastery Gradual=--See ENDEAVOR, CONSTANT.

SELF-MEASUREMENT

The story of the young man in fiction has traveled all this
strange distance. It begins with the primitive bard, straining
his voice and almost breaking his lyre in order to utter
the greatness of youth and the greatness of masculinity;
it ends with the novelist looking at both of them with a
magnifying-glass; it begins with a delight in things above, and
ends with a delight in things below us. I for one have little
doubt about their relative value. For if a man can say, “I like
to find something greater than myself,” he may be a fool or a
madman, but he has the essential. But if a man says, “I like to
find something smaller than myself,” there is only one adequate
answer, “You couldn’t.” (Text.)--G. K. CHESTERTON,
_The Critic_.

(2881)

=Self-possession=--See COMMON SENSE; NERVE.

=Self-realization=--See MYSELF.

SELF-RELIANCE

Beecher said that once, at school, when he was demonstrating
a problem in geometry, the master said, “No,” in a tone of
absolute conviction, and he sat down in great confusion and
dismay. The next boy was stopt with the same emphatic “No”; but
the boy went right on, and completed the demonstration. Beecher
said to the master, “I recited just as he did, and you said
‘No.’” The master replied, “Why didn’t you say ‘Yes,’ and stick
to it? It is not enough to know your lesson, you must know that
you know it.” You have learned nothing until you are sure. If
all the world says “No,” your business is to say “Yes,” and
persist in it.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character Lessons.”

(2882)

* * * * *

Imitate the Flathead Indians, and fling the child into the
stream and make him swim. If Flathead Indians do this,
straight-browed white men should know enough to imitate them.
Bring your children up to believe that God cares for them, but
that they must be self-reliant, and care for themselves. The
fishes’ fin fits the water, the birds’ wing the air, the eye
fits the sunbeam, the ear matches music, the intellect fits the
truth and man’s equipment for self-support fits the harvests,
the fields and the forests.--N. D. HILLIS.

(2883)

See EDUCATION; INITIATIVE.

SELF-REPRESSION

When Havelock was prosecuting his great march for the relief
of Lucknow, Sir James Outram was sent out to supersede him.
Poor Havelock, tho filled with bitter disappointment, was
ready to obey; but when Outram discovered what marvelous feats
the unyielding courage and determination of Havelock and his
brave men had accomplished, he refused to take the glory which
belonged to another, and insisted upon his brother officer
finishing the work and earning his glory, while he himself
served under him. So by requiring self-repression, courtesy may
become a positive virtue.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character
Lessons.”

(2884)

See POWER IN SELF-REPRESSION.

SELF-RESTRAINT

In the face of a fire peril which would have stricken an
ordinary crowd with panic, 600 convicts recently, at the Western
Penitentiary, sat quietly through their Sunday afternoon
service, with hardly more than a ripple of fear. There was good
cause for alarm in a fire in the hosiery factory, not fifty feet
away from the chapel, and its smoke enveloped the windows so
thickly that electric lights were turned on while Chaplain C.
Miller continued the exercises.

Warden Francies himself was in the chapel when the fire broke
out. He selected half a dozen “trusties” to help the prison
and city fire departments fight the blaze, and then returned
to quiet his charges. Fully half of the 600 had looked like
stampede, but at a word from Chaplain Miller they recovered
composure, reseated themselves, and listened attentively to the
sermon. As the flames grew more threatening a second ripple of
excitement started, but the choir stayed it by singing many
hymns, in which the convicts joined.

The fire was fought for more than an hour, many of the
“trusties” doing the most valiant work. Several were overcome by
smoke.

After the fire Warden Francies paid many compliments to his
charges for the self-restraint they had shown.

“No body of United States troops,” he said, “could
have acquitted themselves better under such trying
circumstances.”--New Orleans _Picayune_.

(2885)

* * * * *

About three weeks after the capture of Fort Donelson slanders and misrepresentations sent to Washington resulted in removing General Grant from his command. Colonel Nicholas Smith, in “Grant the Man of Mystery,” tells how Grant behaved under this unjust treatment. Grant said:

When I was ordered to remain behind it was the cause of
much astonishment among the troops of my command, and also
disappointment. I never allowed a word of contradiction to go
out from my headquarters. You need not fear but what I shall
come out triumphantly. I am pulling no wires, as political
generals do, to advance myself. I have no future ambition. My
object is to carry on my part of this war successfully, and I am
perfectly willing that others may make all the glory they can
out of it.

(2886)

* * * * *

When you read this to your uncle he may say, “If General Grant
had been provoked as I often am, I think he would have sworn.”
Just tell uncle this story and ask him if General Grant did not
have some reason now and then to have a provoke:

“After he had served the nation as its President, General
Grant was in New York when the Masonic Temple was burned. The
fireline was drawn half way down the block, but the great,
surging crowds hampered the work. A policeman stationed below
failed to recognize the ex-President as he approached the line,
and quickly grabbing him by the collar, he swung him around in
the other direction, yelling at him as he gave him a whack with
his club: ‘Here, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you see the
fireline? Chase yourself out of here, and be quick about it.’”

The general did not swear, but just got out of the crowd and
began to attend to his own business. Swearing would have been a
great waste of time.--J. M. FARRAR.

(2887)

See PROVOCATION, SILENCE UNDER.

SELF-REVELATION

Some time ago one of the magistrates at Clerkenwell hit on a
new idea in dealing with a prisoner, who came before him on a
charge of being drunk and incapable. The man’s face was terribly
bruised, either from tumbling about while drunk, or fighting.
The case having been proved, the magistrate inquired of the
chief jailer for a looking-glass. One having been produced, the
jailer was ordered to take the prisoner and show him his face in
the glass, and then to liberate him; the magistrate remarking
that if that exhibition was not a warning to him, he did not
know what would be. The prisoner was accordingly shown the
reflection of his disfigured face, and discharged.

There was sound philosophy in the novel method of the magistrate, it was good and true as far as it went; but it may well be doubted if the generous device effected any very considerable reformation in the prisoner.--W. L. WATKINSON, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”

(2888)

SELF-SACRIFICE

Dr. Finsen, who discovered the “light cure” for the disease
of lupus, was greatly tempted to keep his secret to himself
and thus become a very rich man. He lay awake all one night,
perturbed as to whether he would make public his discovery.
When morning came, Dr. Finsen had “chosen the better part,” and
had decided to enrich the world with his cure. Only $1,500 a
year was paid him by the Government of Denmark, and gradually
the awful disease from which he himself was a sufferer made it
impossible for him to work more than an hour a day and to eat
hardly anything. Literally, Dr. Finsen laid down his life for
the army of fellow sufferers. Queen Alexandra, proud of her
fellow countryman, introduced the cure which bears his name to
the greatest hospital in the world, and Finsen’s discovery has
alleviated the torture of countless invalids. (Text.)

(2889)

* * * * *

Equally famous with the man in the moon and the woman in the
moon is the hare in the moon, says Garrett P. Serviss in his
“Astronomy with the Naked Eye.” The original is a Buddhist
legend. The god Sakkria, disguised as a Brahman, pretended to be
starving and went to the animals for help. The monkey got him
a bunch of mangoes; the coot picked up a fisherman’s neglected
string for him; the fox stole him a pot of milk. At last the god
approached the hare. “I have nothing but grass,” said the hare,
“and you can’t eat that.” “But your flesh is good,” suggested
the pretended Brahman. The hare assented. “Then,” said the
Brahman, “I’ll kindle a fire at the foot of this rock, and you
jump off into it. That’ll save me the trouble of killing you.”
The hare assented again, but as he leaped from the rock the god
caught him in his arms and then drew his figure in the moon as a
perpetual reminder of the excellence of self-sacrifice. (Text.)

(2890)

See GOODNESS IN THE BAD; POVERTY, CHRISTIAN.

SELF-SACRIFICE IN NATURE

The last word of science harmonizes with the first word of the
gospel; the doctrine of sacrifice has been scorned in many
quarters as being unscientific. Such a disparagement is no
longer countenanced by scientists, for they now point to the
principle of utter abnegation of self as one of the most potent
of natural laws. We are told that one portion of a flower is
sacrificed for the sake of the flower as a whole. The rose
multiplies its petals, but the blossom that is thus beautified
never comes to seed. The flower dies in its new beauty, but a
more glorious stock has thus been produced. So it is also with
insect life. The bee toils night and day for weeks without sleep
or rest, wearing itself out. Its life has nothing to do with its
own pleasure, but is entirely surrendered for the good of the
community. So science has furnished unexpected sanctions to the
doctrine of sacrifice.

(2891)

SELF-SUPPRESSION

When we ask what it is that has made Boswell’s book a great
classic, we are bound to concede to Boswell himself the credit
of having inaugurated a new style of biography, conceived with
the true originality, and carried out with conspicuous success.
Toady, sycophant, braggart, eavesdropper--all these and more
Boswell may have been, but he had one great gift, the faculty
of recognizing greatness, and of suppressing himself in the
presence of greatness.--W. J. DAWSON, “The Makers of
English Prose.”

(2892)

SELF-SURRENDER

The caddis-fly leaves his tube behind and soars into upper
air; the creature abandons its barnacle existence on the rock
and swims at large in the sea. For it is just when we die to
custom that, for the first time, we rise into the true life of
humanity; it is just when we abandon all prejudice of our own
superiority over others, and become convinced of our entire
indefensibleness, that the world opens out with comrade faces in
all directions.--_Fortnightly Review._

(2893)

=Selfish, The, Rejected=--See SOCIAL RELIGION.

SELFISHNESS

The boy in this anecdote had apparently not been taught that it is better to give than to receive:

“Well, Bobby, how do you like church?” asked his father, as they
walked homeward from the sanctuary, to which Bobby had just paid
his first visit.

“It’s fine!” ejaculated the young man. “How much did you get,
father?”

“How much did I get? Why, what do you mean? How much what?”
asked the astonished parent at this evident irreverence.

“Why, don’t you remember when the funny old man passed the
money around? I only got ten cents.” (Text.)--_Lippincott’s
Magazine._

(2894)

Said Romola to Tito’s child, after calamity had overtaken him:

There was a man to whom I was very near, so that I could see a
great deal of his life, who made almost every one fond of him,
for he was young and clever and beautiful and his manners to all
were gentle and kind. I believe, when I first met him, he never
thought of anything cruel or base. But because he tried to slip
away from everything that was unpleasant, and cared for nothing
else so much as his own safety, he came at last to commit some
of the basest deeds--such as make men infamous. He denied his
father and left him to misery; he betrayed every trust that was
reposed in him, that he might keep himself safe and get rich and
prosperous.

That is the history of a man given over to his own selfishness.

(2895)

* * * * *

The Moslem mollah is notoriously reluctant to give anything
away. A mollah had fallen into a large pool of water and was
struggling for his life to reach the bank. “Give me your hand,
oh my lord, and I will pull you out,” said a passer-by who had
responded to the lusty cries for help. “No, indeed,” replied
the mollah; “I have never yet given anything to any one, and I
certainly will not begin now.” Not liking to leave the drowning
man, his would-be rescuer, responding to a bright idea that
occurred to him, said, “Will you take my hand, then, oh my
lord?” “Gladly,” answered the mollah, and allowed himself to be
drawn out of the pool, saving his life without losing his innate
selfishness.

(2896)

SELFISHNESS AND UNSELFISHNESS

There was a stream gliding blithely and care free down a
mountain-side in its course to the ocean. On the way it passed
a stagnant pool, which asked whither it was going. The stream
answered that it went to contribute its cup of water to the vast
ocean. “Wait!” said the pool. “Why give up all your substance to
the ocean, which has no need of it? Follow my example, and hold
on tight to what you have. Soon the hot season will be around
and the glaring sun will shrivel you up.” But the stream’s
unselfishness forbade such a course, and it flowed merrily
onward, while the pool gathered itself more closely together
and settled down in its position of selfish ease and comfort.
Presently the hot season came, and the sun scorched everything
beneath its blazing heat. But the little stream flowed securely
beneath an archway of overhanging trees, the leaves and branches
of which made it immune from dangers and obstructions. And the
sun peeped through the leaves and smiled upon it, saying that it
could not harm such an unoffending thing. And the birds came to
sip of its refreshing waters, while the sweet flowers bloomed
along its side. The farmer in the field looked kindly upon it,
the cows came to drink of it, and the stream pursued its way
happily, blessing everything and being blest. But not so with
the pool. The sun glared down on it, drying it up and making it
repugnant and stagnant. And the breezes, kissing it by mistake,
carried the unhealthy stench over the land, introducing malaria
wherever it went. Everything shunned and avoided it, and because
of its selfishness it was transformed into a murky, vile puddle,
reeking with hurtful germs. But the stream emptied its water
into the ocean, from which it was borne aloft into the clouds
and carried back to the mountain summit whence it came, there to
begin again its joyous course.--S. G. WEISCOTTON.

(2897)

SELFISHNESS BROUGHT OUT

The common council of Trenton, N. J., has passed an ordinance
providing that all street-car passengers that can not get a seat
need not pay their fares. The reason is, of course, that the
company does not provide nearly enough accommodation for the
public. Probably there is not a city in the United States where
this condition does not exist. The profits of the street-car
companies are largely augmented by patient strap-hangers.
But, as to Trenton, the effect of this ordinance has been
extraordinary.

Passengers that were consumed with ill-nature when they had
to stand on a crowded car now let empty cars swish past them
and patiently wait on the street corner until a full one comes
along, on which they may ride free.