The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-09-12

were told 1T every day for lifetime,
it would still be unlearned, whereas,
once you have found it out for your
self, you will know it by heart
THE young prince went away
much puzzled, and said to himself:
How shall / ever find out this cur
ious lesson? Finally, he decided to
obtain from his father the position of
commander-in-c chief of all the army;
for he thought, IF l am able to COM
mand great army, then, surely, |
can govern kingdom But the old
generals, who had been in many wars
said: The country will go to ruin in
the hands of this proud, foolish
prince
cat first all went we'll, for it was a
time of peace; but one day came
news of an advancing enemy, and all
the country's forces were called out
to meet and repel the invasion. After
number of battles, in which the
princes troops were defeated, their
position became quite desperate.
You see it was like this" Here Miss
Perry's fingers began to mark out on
the desk before her plan of the sit
uation; and Michael's eyes, from
which all the hard lines had van
ished, followed her movements in
tently.
"Here were the enemy's forces, and
here in the midst of them was the
princes army. Their only hope lay
in passing at midnight, by certain
path right through the enemy's lines,
and in turn surrounding them. Then
one of the old generals, who had
been in many wars, and who knew all
that part of the country perfectly,
came to the prince and begged him
to give up the command, that in SO
difficult an undertaking the army
might be guided by one who knew
the situation perfectly, for the least
mistake would be fatal; but the
prince answered him angrily, and
drove him from his presence. This
was the very opportunity he had been
longing for, and certainly he would
not give it up to another. Once let
him achieve SO brilliant an exploit,
then the glory of his name would be
on every tongue, and his father would
at last believe hirn able to govern a
kingdom wisely. Down in the depths
of his heart he knew the old general
was right; but oh, he could not, he
could not give up his own way.
For hours he walked the floor OF
his tent, fighting battle with him.
self; and, at length, just before mid
night, he went to the general, and
said: Lead the army as you will, and
| will follow with the rest; for you
know better than L. So the brilliant
move was made, the enemy was de-
feated, and the next day all the
country rang with the old generals
praises. But now l WONDER" said
Miss Perry, thoughtfully gazing into
space, "who really won that victory"
IL think the prince did," said
Michael.
"And SO thought his father" con-
tinued Miss Perry; "for, when the
army returned, the prince sought the
old kings presence, and said: Faith
er, l have failed. had hoped by a
wise command of the army to show
myself worthy to take your place;
but there were others who knew bet
ter than l, and gave up my will to
theirs Then the king cried joyfully:
My son, that is the very lesson l sent
you forth to learn; for no man is fit
to command until he has first
learned to obey, and, in overcoming
self, you have won a greater victory
than in conquering a hostile army"
Miss Perry paused, and, the tale
being ended, applied herself once
more to the task of correcting papers.
AS she lifted the last one, penitent
little figure stood before her.
"Miss Perry
Miss Perry, I'm sorry l was bad
boy today; and please will you for
give me-" Prinnnrn Education