age, think you, would have had the moral perception, the strength of character, and the quickness to act that was exhibited by this little son of a poor immigrant family? (Text.)—George W. Coleman, "Search-*lights."
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There were two ways in which the ancients kept from yielding to the music and final destruction of the Sirens. Ulysses fortified himself with bonds that held him fast to the mast while his boat carried him, listening, by the seductive strains. The Argonauts carried Orpheus with them in their boat, and were so engrossed in listening to his music that they never even heard the tempting sounds from the shore. (Text.)
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Temptation, a Boy's—See Slowness.
Temptation and Desire—See Desires, Inordinate.
TEMPTATION, PLAUSIBILITY OF
During the Boxer troubles in China, the greatest stress was brought upon the native Christians to have them recant their faith. Dr. Li, a Christian physician of Peking, was not only in imminent peril of his life, but, to add to his anxiety, kind but mistaken friends were urging him to pursue a questionable course of action in order that his life might be saved. One of his friends of the nobility came to him and said:
Things are getting worse and worse. Allow
me to put a few idols in your room, and
if the Boxers come they will think you are
not Christians. Now, I knew that this was
Satan's plan. I was in a difficulty. Could
I refuse my protector's request, and so endanger
him? But God gave me wisdom and
words so that I was able to keep clean, and
yet not to offend my friend, who was so
genuinely anxious for my safety.
On another occasion, as he was trying
to escape from the city, he says:
Just as I was about to start, some one
urged me to carry some strings of paper
money in my hand, "for," said he, "then
people will imagine you are going to burn it
at a grave." This seemed a very simple and
safe expedient; but I would not agree to it,
because I felt it would, after all, be nothing
short of a denial of Christ. (Text.)
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TEMPTATION RESISTED
Ever since that bait was offered to the Redeemer and rejected, the tempter has been constantly setting the perilous alternative before the souls of men. The glittering bait is specially dangled before the greatest and noblest souls, and these prove their greatness and nobility by exchanging it for a cross.
Both John Knox and Richard Baxter were
offered by carnal state powers a bishopric in
the Erastian Church. How unspeakably
poorer would have been the religious history
of both Scotland and England had these men
found their popular success in ecclesiastical
preferment! To-day Spinoza is honored for
declining the fortune that was offered to him,
and it is refreshing to read how Diderot instantly
said "No" to the bribe of a hundred
thousand francs a year from Catharine the
Great to become a member of her court. It
is the glory of the memory of Faraday that
he declared "He could not afford to be rich."
Cobden stood for the poor, and therefore
he stood out against Palmerston's offer of a
baronetcy and a seat in his Cabinet. Gold
weighed heavy then, as now, but it did not
outweigh the souls of these heroes. (Text.)
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TEMPTATION TWO-SIDED
A lad of seventeen was telling an older
friend, recently, of an experience he had had
that day. As the apprentice of a carpenter,
he had been sent to a saloon to take the
measures for a new counter. It was very
cold weather, and he arrived with his teeth
fairly chattering in his head, for his coat
was thin. The saloon-keeper immediately
mixt a hot drink and pushed it over the
counter to him. "It'll cost you nothing," he
said; "drink it down, and you'll soon stop
shivering, my boy."
"He meant it kindly, too, and didn't think any harm," said the apprentice, as he told the story. "That's what made it harder to push it back, and I didn't want it."
"It must have been a big temptation," said the friend. "That saloon-keeper might have started you on the road to ruin."
"Well," replied the lad frankly, "I'd rather have had it than some other kinds. You see, it takes two to make a temptation. There's no saloon-keeper and no cold weather can make me drink when I don't want to. The temptation I'm afraid of is the one that I'm ready for before it comes, by hankering after
