members to dance." She had been brought up to regard this as inconsistent for a professor of religion. She could not help feeling that it was running a risk to try to get to heaven and carry the world with her. But here was comfort. She had found a religious guide on which she could, as she fancied, shift off the responsibility. Instead of deciding for herself, in the light of Christ's teachings, she chose to take a second-hand opinion of a mere man as a rule.
One is reminded of an incident related by Dr. Whately, of an old bridge which had long been thought unsafe even for foot passengers. People usually went a considerable distance around rather than venture upon it. But one evening a woman in great haste came up to the bridge before she reflected on its unsafe condition. It was late, and she had yet to dress for a party. She could not go all the way around, tho still afraid to venture. At last a happy thought seemed to strike her. She called for a sedan chair, and was carried over. Now the young lady who desired to follow the world and go to heaven too, was afraid to trust her own judgment on the subject of dancing. She feared the tottering arch might give way, and she be lost forever. To make all safe, she added to the weight of her own chance of error the additional chances of her human authority being wrong also.
(2787)
Risking Life—See Coolness in Danger.
Rivalry—See Stimulus from Rivalry.
RIVERS OF GOD
The Rev. Thomas G. Selby says:
Copious and unfailing rivers run just beneath
the burning desolations of the Sahara.
Twenty or thirty feet under the sand-drifts
there is an impervious sheet of rock which
prevents the escape of the collected rain-waters.
It is easy to see the oasis, but not
so easy to track the windings of the hidden
river. The skilled engineer can get at the
river, bring it up through his wells, and
change the desert into an earthly paradise.
Society at large is not the dreary, all-devouring, illimitable ethical waste we often imagine. The rivers of God flow under natures we call reprobate, and create penitential moods which are the earnest of a coming righteousness. It is easy to map out the strips of moral fruitfulness which appear here and there in the world, but not so easy to find the deep secret contrition of those who are often classed as abandoned outcasts. The Savior of the world has an insight into character which enables him to see promise where men less sympathetic and discerning see the black marks of reprobation; and the angels share the visions of the Lord on whom they wait. It is by His art, as the Prophet of coming good, that the desert is made to bloom.—"The Divine Craftsman."
(2788)
Robbery, Moral—See Repentance, Late.
ROBBING JUSTIFIED
A wife has a right to rob her husband, in
some cases, according to a decision of Judge
Gemmell in the Municipal Court (Chicago).
Gustave H. DeKolkey had had his wife arrested
for taking money from him by force.
"My wife robbed me right in my own home," said DeKolkey. "She got a boarder and her brother to help hold me. Then she went through my pockets and got $11."
Mrs. DeKolkey was led up in front of the court's desk.
"Did you rob him?" asked the judge.
"Yes, I did," she said. "There was no other way to get money out of him. He hasn't given me a cent for over a year. So I decided to rob him. I called my brother and we held him and I got what was in his pockets."
"This is a plain case of robbery," said the judge, "but it was perfectly justifiable under the circumstances. The defendant is discharged. A wife has the right to hold up her husband when he squanders his wages and does not give her enough for her support."
(2789)
Rock of Ages—See Security.
Room Enough—See Upward, Look.
ROOT CONNECTION
To-day I have been transplanting magnolia-trees.
There is one that stands among
the earliest I planted, twenty years ago, and
now it is a vast ball of white. I suppose five
hundred thousand magnificent cups are exhaling
thanksgiving to God after the long
winter has passed. Now, no man need tell
me that the root that nestles in the ground
is as handsome or smells as sweet as these
vases in the air; but I should like to know
what would become of all these white cups
in the air if the connection between those
dirt-covered roots and the blossoms should
be cut to-night. The root is the prime pro-
