pupils, "is that on right and wrong judgments. It makes me realize how little right we have to judge people from appearances. There are so many sides of people's characters that we don't half consider or appreciate."—Ella Lyman Cabot, "Proceedings of the National Education Association," 1909.
(1697)
JUDGMENT DAY
A traveler in Tennessee came across an
aged negro seated in front of his cabin door
basking in the sunshine.
"He could have walked right on the stage for an Uncle Tom part without a line of make-up" says the traveler. "He must have been eighty years of age."
"Good-morning, uncle," said the traveler.
"Mornin', sah! Mornin'," said the aged one. Then he added, "Be you the gentleman over yonder from New York?"
Being told that such was the case, the old darky said, "Do you mind telling me something that has been botherin' my old haid? I have got a grandson—he runs on the Pullman cyars—and he done tells me that up thar in New York you-all burn up youah folks when they die. He is a powerful liar, and I don't believe him."
"Yes," replied the other, "that is the truth in some cases. We call it cremation."
"Well, you suttenly surprize me," said the negro, and then he paused as if in deep reflection. Finally he said, "You-all know I am a Baptist. I believe in the resurrection and the life everlastin' and the comin' of the Angel Gabriel and the blowin' of that great horn, and Lawdy me, how am they evah goin' to find them folks on that great mawnin'?"
It was too great a task for an off-hand answer, and the suggestion was made that the aged one consult his minister. Again the negro fell into a brown study, and then he raised his head and his eyes twinkled merrily, and he said in a soft voice:
"Meanin' no offense, sah, but from what Ah have heard about New York, I kinder calculate they is a lot of them New York people that doan' wanter be found on that mornin'."—Cosmopolitan.
(1698)
JUDGMENT DELAYED
A certain farmer, who was an infidel, sent
to the editor of a weekly newspaper the following
letter:
"Sir—I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of Indian corn, which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating which it received on Sunday. I gathered the crop on Sunday, and on Sunday hauled it to my barn; and I find that I have more corn per acre than has been gathered by any of my neighbors during this October."
What a triumphant sneer lay behind these words of the skeptic! But one thinks the light faded from his eyes as he read the sentence which the editor appended to his letter: "N. B.—God does not always settle His accounts in October!"
(1699)
Judgment Dependent on Position—See Point of View.
JUDGMENT, FAULTY
When President Roosevelt was in Idaho,
shortly after the publication of his book,
"The Winning of the West," he entered a
book-store one day and saw a copy of his
book lying on the counter. "Who is this
author, Roosevelt?" he asked the proprietor.
"Oh, he is a ranch-driver up in the cattle
country," was the answer. "Indeed," said
Mr. Roosevelt, "and what do you think of
his book?" "Waal," said the dealer, thoughtfully,
"I've always had the idea that I'd like
to meet that author and tell him that if
he'd stuck to running ranches, and not tried
to write books, he'd cut a heap bigger figure
at his trade, and been a bigger man."
The ranchman's judgment was doubtless
defective, but it is often well to see
ourselves as others see us.
(1700)
JUDGMENT, GRADUAL
Gibbon wrote and we speak of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and Maspero has written a magnificent volume on "The Passing of the Ancient Empires." Gradual degeneracy is the cause and precursor of final collapse.
After a violent gale one night a great tree
was found lying across the pathway in the
park where through long years it had been
developing a noble growth. Nothing but a
splintered stump remained standing. Examination
showed there had been another development
besides that of its stately beauty.
For it was rotten to the core, because of the
secret workings of a multitude of little insects
which for generations had lived and
multiplied. Judgment was not passed on
that tree by the sudden gale, but went forth
from the very moment that the first insect
nested within its bark.
(1701)
