to mention this subject until William mentions it first?" John replied, "Yes, but I will lick him good if he ever does." The teacher turned to William and asked the same question, to which he replied, "I will not start it, but if John does I will lick him." The teacher then said, "I think you are both honorable and trustworthy boys, and I am going to depend upon you to keep your word of honor, and not renew this fight until the other begins it. Now John, you take William by the hand, and tell him that you will never mention this subject unless he first speaks of it; but if he does, you will lick him." The boys joined hands, and John told it over to William, and then William told it over to John. The solemnity with which the proceeding was conducted all the way through made a deep impression on the entire school, who felt it to be a very sacred thing between the two boys, and that it should never be even hinted at. This was a lesson in courage, self-respect, obedience, fidelity and self-control to the whole school, and it resulted in a lifelong friendship between the two boys.—James T. White, "Character Lessons."
(1435)
HONOR, EXAMPLE OF
Horace B. Claflin, before he was twenty-one,
had bought out his father's grocery
business. Intoxicating liquors were at that
time considered an indespensable part of the
grocery equipment; but the young merchant,
as soon as he came into possession, emptied
the wine-casks into the street. Later on he
engaged in the dry-goods business, a large
portion of which was in the slave-holding
States; and when anti-slavery principles involved
a business loss to Northern merchants,
Claflin announced himself an uncompromising
opponent of slavery. Such a stand
and the Civil War coming on cut off his resources
and revenues, and he was forced to
suspend. He asked from his creditors an
extension of time on a basis of seventy per
cent of his indebtedness; but soon after resuming
business Claflin paid off his extended
paper long before maturity, and also the
thirty per cent which had been unconditionally
released, not only paying the entire
amount of his indebtedness but also paying
interest on the debt.—James T. White,
"Character Lessons."
(1436)
Honor in Failure—See Obligations, Meeting.
HONOR, THE ROAD TO
In one of his great debates on American
taxation, Edmund Burke once paused to say,
with regard to the consequence of the course
he was pursuing: "I know the map of England
as well as the noble lord or any other
person, and I know the road I take is not
the road to preferment." But he took it,
nevertheless.
The end of the right road is never
obscurity or ingratitude or obloquy. It
is the smile and welcome of God. Even
here on the earth, the man who does
right comes to his own. Of the men of
his age in England, Burke is now
among the most honored and will be
among the longest remembered.
(1437)
Honoring Mother—See Love, Filial.
Honors for Negro Girl—See Negro Excelling.
HONOR'S ROLL-CALL
In a Decoration-day address Thomas Wentworth Higginson said:
The great French soldier, de Latour
d'Auvergne, was the hero of many battles,
but remained by his own choice in the ranks.
Napoleon gave him a sword and the official
title "The First Grenadier of France." When
he was killed, the Emperor ordered that his
heart should be intrusted to the keeping of
his regiment—that his name should be called
at every roll-call, and that his next comrade
should make answer, "Dead upon the field
of honor." In our memories are the names
of many heroes; we treasure all their hearts
in this consecrated ground, and when the
name of each is called, we answer in flowers,
"Dead upon the field of honor."
(1438)
HOPE
Have hope! Tho clouds environ round,
And gladness hides her face in scorn,
Put thou the shadow from thy brow;
No night but hath its morn.
—Schiller.
(1439)
The world has no time and no use for the man who has no time and no use for hope. A gentleman on being asked to contribute to the erection of a monument replied: "Not a dollar; I am ready to contribute toward building monuments to those who make us
