Wilberforce was one of the principal actors. With all the earnestness and vigor which distinguished him he was pressing his beneficent views on the abolition of slavery.
Carried away by the depths of his convictions and enthusiastic inspiration, he reached over the balcony, and snatching the baby from the arms of its astonished nurse, held it up over his head in the face of the people, exclaiming:
"See this and hear my prophecy! Before this child dies there will not be a white man in the world owning a slave."
My friend, adds Mr. Pell, survived the Civil War in the United States, and virtually Wilberforce's prophecy was fulfilled.—The Youth's Companion.
(2558)
Propitiation, Evil—See Sacrifice, Pagan. PROPORTION "I thought it was a pretty fair sort of telescope for one that wasn't very big," said Uncle Silas. "I rigged it up in the attic by the high north window and had it fixt so it would swing around easy. I took a deal of satisfaction in looking through it, the sky seemed so wide and full of wonders; so when Hester was here I thought I'd give her the pleasure, too. "She stayed a long time up-stairs and seemed to be enjoying it. When she came down I asked her if she'd discovered anything new. "'Yes,' she says; 'why, it made everybody's house seem so near that I seemed to be right beside 'em, and I found out what John Pritchard's folks are doin' in their out-*kitchens. I've wondered what they had a light there for night after night, and I just turned the glass on their windows. They are cuttin' apples to dry—folks as rich as them cuttin' apples!' "And actually that was all the woman had seen! With the whole heavens before her to study, she had spent her time prying into the affairs of her neighbors! And there are lots more like her—with and without telescopes."—Christian Endeavor World.
(2559)
The necessity of having right proportion between the place and the occasion is illustrated by the following:
The only musical sounds which really master
vast spaces like the Albert Hall are those
of a mighty organ or an immense chorus.
The Handel Festival choruses are fairly proportioned to the Crystal Palace, but on one occasion, when a terrific thunder-storm burst over Sydenham in the middle of "Israel in Egypt," every one beneath that crystal dome felt that, acoustically, the peal of thunder was very superior to the whole power of the chorus, because the relation between the space to be filled and the volume of sound required to fill it was in better proportion.—H. R. Haweis, "My Musical Memories."
(2560)
Proportion Distorted by Fatigue—See Fatigue.
Proportion, Sense of—See Fatigue.
PROPRIETY
During the battle of Waterloo a British
artillery officer rode up to the Duke of
Wellington and said, "Your Grace, I have a
distinct view of Napoleon, attended by his
staff; my guns are well pointed in that direction;
shall I open fire?" The duke replied,
"Certainly not; I will not allow it; it is not
the business of commanders to fire upon each
other."—Edward Cotton, "A Voice from
Waterloo."
(2561)
The home is where the missionary spends most of the time during the first year. A native of the country to which you go comes in to call, and the first thing noticed may be pictures upon your walls. They may or may not violate the sense of propriety of your caller, but in general one may say that statues, or any pictures approaching the nude, are decidedly out of taste. I recall coming in one Sunday and finding Mrs. Beach hard at work. She was painting, and as we had been brought up as Presbyterians, I was surprized to see her working on Sunday. "Well," she said, "I must go out to my Sunday-school, and the last time I went they struck. I have been teaching the story of Joseph, and these cartoons of the Religious Tract Society of London represent him with bare calves, and the women simply will not endure them. I have nothing but water-color paints, and I have painted Chinese trousers five times on these legs, and they are bare yet." We used to have picture-cards sent out by Sunday-school children to help us on in our work. We had to censor those picture-cards, there is no question about that. You can not use
