Connecticut western news., 1890-10-22
THE SELF SUFFICIENT LEVITE.


 Soon afterward Levite came upon the scene The Levites looked after the music of the temple, and waited upon the priests, and provided the sup plies of the temple. This Levite pass ing along this road where we are today took look at the mass of bruises and laceration in the middle of the road. ''Myl myp' says the Levite, "this man is awfully hurt, and he ought to be helped. But my business is to sing in the choir at the temple. If I am not there no one will carry my part. Be- sides that there may not be enough hankincense for the censers, and the wine or oil may have given out, and what fearful balk in the service that would make Then one of the priests might get his breastplate on crooked. But it seems too bad to leave this man in this condition. Perhaps had bet ter try to staunch this bleeding and give him little stimulant. But mol The ceremony at Jerusalem is of more importance than taking care of the wounds of a man who will probably soon be dead anyhow This highway robbery ought to be stopped, for it hin ders us Levites on OUT way up to the temple. There, have lost five min- utes alreadyl Go along, you beastl" he shouts as he strikes his heels into the sides of the animal carrying him, and the dust rising from the road soon hides the hard hearted official
 But third person is coming along this road. You cannot expect him to do anything by way of alleviation, be- cause he and the wounded man belong to different nations, which have abom- mated each other for centuries. The wounded man is an Israelite, and the stranger now coming on this scene of suffering is Samaritan. They belong to nations which hated each other with an objurgation and malediction dia- bolc. They had opposition temples one on Mount Gerizim and the other on Mount Moriah-and I guess this Samaritan, when he comes up, will give the fallen Israelite another clip and say: "Good for you I will just finish the work these bandits began, and give you one more kick that will put you out of your misery. And here is a rag of your coat that they did not steal, and will take that. Whatl Do you dare to appeal to me for mercyf Hush upl Why, your ancestors wor shiped at Jerusalem when they ough: to have worshiped at Gerizim. Now take thatl and that and thatl" will say the Samaritan as he pounds the fallen Israelite.
 sAMARIA's NAME IMMoRTAL1zED.
 No; the Samaritan rides up to the scene of suffering, gets off the beast and steps down and looks into the face of the wounded man, and says: 'This poor fellow does not belong to my na- ton, and our ancestors worshiped in different places, but he is a man, and that makes us brothers. God pity him, as I dol" And he gets down on his knees and begins to examine his wounds, and straightens out his limbs to see if any of his bones are broken, and says: 'My dear fellow, cheer up. You need have no more care about yourself, for am going to take care of you. Let me feel of your pulsel Let me listen to your breathingl have in these bottles two liquids that will help you. The one is oil, and that will soothe the pain of these wounds, and the other is wine, and your pulse is fee ble, and you feel faint, and that will stimulate you. Now must get you to the nearest tavern" "Oh, nol" says the man. "I can't walk Let me stay here and die." ''Nonsensel" says the Samaritan 'You are not going to die. I am going to put you on this beast, and will hold you on till I get you to 8 place where you can have soft mat tress and an easy pillow"
 Now the Samaritan has got the wounded man on his feet, and with much tugging and lifting puts him on the beast, for it is astonishing how strong the spirit of kindness will make one, as you have seen a mother after three weeks of sleepless watching of her boy, down with scarlet fever, lift that half grown boy, heavier than her self, from couch to lounge. And so this sympathetic Samaritan has, un- aided, put the wounded man in the saddle, and at slow pace the extempo- rized ambulance is moving toward the tavern. "You feel better now, I think, J says the Samaritan to the Hebrew ''Yes," he says, 'I do feel better. J 'Halloo, you landlordl help me carry this man in and make him comfort able" That night the Samaritan sat up with the Jew, giving him water whenever he felt thirsty, and turning his pillow whenever it got hot, and in the morning, before the Samaritan started on his journey, he said: "Land- lord, now am obliged to go. Take good care of this man, and will be along here soon and pay you for all you do for him. Meanwhile here is some thing to meet present expenses" The 1.-two pence" he gave the landlord sounds small, but it was as much as ten dollars here and now, considering what it would there and then buy of food and lodging.
 As on that December noon we sat under the shadow of the tavern where this scene of mercy had occurred, and just having passed along the road where the tragedy had happened could, as plainly as now see the near est man on this platform, see that Bi- ble story re-enacted, and I said aloud to our group under the tent: "One drop of practical Christianity is worth more than a temple full of ecclesiasticism, and that good Samaritan had more re- hgion in five minutes than that minis
 ter and that Levite had in lifetime
 and the most accursed thing on earth