whose body you have partaken, by even seeming to worship other spirits. And even if you could afford it, others would stumble." "But shall my liberty be circumscribed by the narrow-mindedness of another?" "Certainly," says the apostle. "That is what we live for—to help others, not to eat and drink."
(973)
It counts for much when men in high station have the moral courage to condemn unworthy things.
President Taft walked out of a local theater
in the first year he was President because
he disapproved of the character of the play
that was being produced. Friends of the
President said that he was disgusted with the
performance. The first act was too much
for Mr. Taft and his sister-in-law. They
saw nothing amusing, interesting or instructive
in the depiction of typical scenes in
a house of bad character. In order to avoid
attracting attention and exciting comment by
going out while the players were on the
stage, they waited until the curtain fell on
the first act and then left the theater.
(974)
See Courage; Living the Gospel; Precept
and Practise.
EXAMPLE, ATTENTION TO
It is related of William E. Gladstone that
at one time, when he was a mere boy, he was
invited to dine at the home of a distinguished
nobleman in England, who was also an
official of high rank.
His father, fearing that the child might in some way make himself appear ridiculous in the eyes of the prominent gentry who were to assemble at the same dining-table, gave him the parting injunction, "Watch your host and do just as he does."
Many men would get on in life more smoothly and attain success more rapidly and surely if they were attentive to the examples of their superiors. (Text.)
(975)
EXAMPLE, FORCE OF
Oberlin tried to persuade the peasants of
his parish to abandon some of their old
methods of agriculture; but the wiseacres
smiled and shook their heads. What should
a mere pastor know of such matters? Oberlin
therefore resolved to appeal to their eyes
instead of their ears. There were two public
paths through his gardens, so he and his
servant carefully brought the soil into a
high state of cultivation; and when the
neighbors walked along and marked how the
pastor's crops were twice as large as their
own, and saw the many strange vegetables
growing, they condescended to make inquiries
as to how he did it. "No, it was not
done by angels in the night! God intended
men to live by the sweat of the brow, to use
the reason which He had given them, and so
improve themselves and others."—Edward
Gilliat, "Heroes of Modern Crusades."
(976)
Example, Living—See Religious Education.
Example Nullifying Precept—See Inconsistency.
EXAMPLE OF PARENTS
Carlyle, like Burns, came of peasant stock—strong,
simple, Godfearing folk, whose influence
in Carlyle's later life is beyond calculation.
Of his mother he says, "She was
too mild and peaceful for the planet she
lived in"; and of his father, a stone-mason,
he writes, "Could I write my books as he
built his houses, walk my way so manfully
through this shadow world, and leave it
with so little blame, it were more than all my
hopes."—William J. Long, "English Literature."
(977)
EXAMPLE, POWER OF
A footman stole a casket containing ten
thousand francs' worth of jewels and concealed
it in a hole in the ground in the
Bois de Boulogne, Paris. When finally
forced to confess, he declared that he had
been so much imprest by the cunning of
Sherlock Holmes and the skill of Moriarty
as a criminal that he wished to imitate them.
(978)
Some laborers were working in a lime-*kiln in the Pyrenees. One of them, descending into the kiln to look after something which had gone wrong, fell down suffocated. A second man, hurrying to his assistance, also fell. A third, fourth and fifth man followed, meeting the same fate. Only one remained. When he was about to jump, a woman who stood watching the tragedy, clutched him by the clothes and held him back. Later, to a magistrate who was holding an inquest, when asked why he attempted to make the self-sacrifice, the lone survivor replied: "My comrades were dying; I felt driven to go."
(979)
Excellence—See Character.
