Ah, distant End of the Journey,
What if thou fly my feet?
What if thou fade before me
In splendor wan and sweet?
Still the mystical city lureth—
The quest is the good knight's part;
And the pilgrim wends through the end of the ends
Toward a shrine and a Grail in his heart.
(Text.)
(2374)
Pilgrimage—See Journey to Heaven.
Pilgrimage, The Mecca—See Mecca, Influence
of.
PILOT, NEED OF
A man who spurns the guidance of others or of God is like this self-confident sea captain:
A bright boy went to sea; he loved it and
rose to quick promotion. While quite a
young man he became master of a ship. One
day a passenger spoke to him upon the
voyage, and asked if he should anchor off a
certain headland, supposing he would anchor
there, and telegraph for a pilot to take the
vessel into port.
"Anchor! no, not I. I mean to be in dock with the morning tide."
"I thought perhaps you would signal for a pilot."
"I am my own pilot," was the curt reply.
Intent upon reaching port by morning he took a narrow channel to save distance. Experienced sailors on board shook their heads dubiously, while cautious passengers besought the young captain to take a wider course. He only laughed at their fears and declared he would be in dock by daybreak. A sudden squall swooped down upon them; wild alarm spread throughout the vessel. Enough to say that the captain was ashore earlier than he promised—tossed sportively upon the weedy beach, a dead thing that the waves were weary of, and his ship and freight were scattered over the angry sea. The glory of that young man was strength; but he was his own pilot.
(2375)
See Christ Our Pilot.
PIRACY, BIRD
The Buffalo Evening News gives us the following from the city forester of that city:
A war of extermination has been declared
against the English sparrow by the Department
of Agriculture, which has just issued
a bulletin on the subject in which this busy,
fighting bird is outlawed as a pirate of the
air. It is declared that he studiously hunts
and eats insects which are beneficial to plant
life, while he more or less passes over those
which are harmful. The only good thing he
does is to eat the seed of weeds and prevent
their spread. Aside from that there is nothing
to be said in his favor.
More than that, he is murderous. He hunts the nesting-places and destroys eggs and young bluebirds, house-wrens, tree-swallows and barn-swallows. The robin, the catbird, and the mocking-bird he attacks and drives out of parks and shade-trees. He has no song, but he drives out the song-birds and brings only noise in return.
After having learned all this about the sparrow after an extensive investigation, the Department of Agriculture describes various ways to destroy him.
City Forester Filer said yesterday he has not seen a copy of the bulletin, but that he agrees with its conclusions. "There is a good deal of justice in declaring the English sparrow a pirate," said Mr. Filer. "These birds were originally imported to New York to get rid of an insect pest, the linden moth, which that city was then fighting. The sparrow didn't like these moths, and he doesn't like any caterpillar with fuzz on it, and he took to the streets for his living. They spread and multiplied very fast.
"The robin is the only other bird we have in Buffalo in numbers and the sparrows eat their eggs. In the parks we have a few other varieties, but they are not numerous, and the sparrows are not as plentiful in the parks as they are in the streets, where they prefer to get their living.
"Most of the destructive moths, particularly the gipsy, tussock and browntail, have hairy caterpillars, and the sparrows will not eat them, so they are no good for that purpose."
(2376)
Placards—See Pictures, Influence of.
PLACE, FILLING ONE'S
Sir Michael Costa was once rehearsing
with a vast array of performers and hundreds
of voices, when, in the mighty chorus,
amid the thunder of the organ, and the roll
of drums, and the blare of brass instruments,
and the clashing of cymbals, he suddenly
stopt and exclaimed, "Where is the piccolo?"
That little instrument had ceased to play,
