Patty Wesley kept her intellect bright, wore a serene face amid all troubles, and by the sheer charm of her mental qualities became one of Dr. Johnson's most intimate and valued companions. "Evil," she once said, "was not kept from me, but evil has been kept from harming me."—"Wesley and His Century."
(960)
EVIL GERMINAL
One evil contains within itself the possibilities
of all evil. Medical writers have
now much to tell touching the convertibility
of disease. They have come to the conclusion
that the constitutional defect appearing
in a family in one generation is not
necessarily transmitted in that exact form to
succeeding generations. What appears at
one time as insanity will reveal itself at
another as epilepsy or paralysis; convulsions
will reassert themselves as hysteria or insanity;
insanity is converted into a tendency
to suicide; the suicidal tendency will become
a mania for drinking; what is neuralgia in
the father may be melancholia in the son;
what is deformity in one generation may be
apoplexy in the next. In an afflicted family
the constitutional defect has curious ramifications,
and undergoes strange metamorphoses.
It is much the same with evil. Men
will indulge in one vice, while they express
the utmost abhorrence of other
vices of which they could never think
themselves susceptible. But this is a
mistake. All evils are one in root and
essence; and surrendering ourselves to
one form of iniquity, we surrender ourselves
to all; changing circumstances
and temptations will involve the lawbreaker
in other sins, and in aggravated
guilt.—W. L. Watkinson, "The Transfigured
Sackcloth."
(961)
When the father of William the Conqueror was departing for the Holy Land, he called together the peers of Normandy and required them to swear allegiance to his young son, who was a mere infant; when the barons smiled at the feeble babe, the king promptly replied, "He is little, but he will grow." He did grow, and the baby-*hand ere long ruled the nations as with a rod of iron.
The same may be said of evil in its
slenderest beginning, in its most inocuous
form: "It is little, but it will
grow." In its beginning it is a fancy,
a flash of thought, a look, a word, a
touch, a gesture, a tone, an accent, an
embryo that no microscope could detect;
but at last it is a Cain, a Judas, a
Nero. The acorn-cup yields the upas-*tree;
out of a spark flashes hell.—W. L.
Watkinson, "The Transfigured Sackcloth."
(962)
EVIL, IGNORING
How many things men permit to trouble them that they could just as easily pass by and forget!
Has it been a weary day?
Let it pass;
Lots of others on the way—
They will pass.
Soon the skies will start to lighten,
All around begin to brighten—
And misfortune cease to frighten—
Let it pass.
Does the world the wrong way rub you?
Let it pass.
Does your best friend seem to snub you?
Let it pass.
Chances are you were mistaken,
None are ever quite forsaken.
All for naught your faith was shaken—
Let it pass.
(963)
Evil Multiplies—See Weeds, Warfare Against.
EVIL, PROTECTION FROM
Should not character be saturated with preservative principles that will repel evil influences as the piling mentioned below resists the teredo:
What will ultimately be the largest plant
in the world for treating timber with preservatives,
is now operated at Somerville,
Tex., by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé
Railroad, says The Railway World. While
every form of timber treatment is used, the
creosote system has proved the most successful.
Creosote is shipped to Galveston in
shiploads and transported thence to Somerville,
where it is used to preserve timber of
every variety. This is very expensive, as
may be seen when it is known that piling in
its natural state costs about forty cents a
