The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-02-21

capable Of an act Of self sacrifice and
devotion such as we arc accustomed to
expect of saints only.
Passionate or impulsive acts Of self
sacrifice are not uncommon: an act
that may be done while the blood Ia
warm and the emotions reused. But
this degenerate's act was a cold tact Of
ten long years duration; an impulse
which endured day In and day u for
somewhere near four thousand days.
He went into the dock and stood his
trial, and heard the verdict, knowing
that he was innocent, and able at any
moment to prove it by pointing TO she
real malefactor; he went TO Sung Sing
and donned the stripes, conscious that
q word would have cleared him; he
setEled himself to q life long burial
from the world, which he had enjoyed,
no doubt, as other men enjoy i, simply
and solely because he could lot bear 10
have his guilty brother pay the pen
atty of his guilt. And not only did he
resolve to do this, but for ten years he
did it, and would have done it to the
end of his d va had not his brother,
owing, it is said, to the pangs of con
science, fallen into q consumption
which Carried him off before his his
time. This ia not q romantic invention,
but q plain matter of fact. How shall
we reconcile it with our theory Of
thingsG
Christ said, Greater love hath no
man than this: that he will give his
life for his friend" And He declared
concerning a certain SHINING woman,
that she should be forgiven because
she loved much" Love, from HIS
point of view, was the fulfilling OF the
la W He had nothing to say about de
generates. "a new commandment
give unto you: that We love n an
other" What would He have said
about this man3 What shall we say
Of hunt
OF course, we say that he suffered q
great wrong; that he behaved noOly
that he ought to be recompensed by
some one for his long, mute self sacrl,
6ce; and that it ought to be impossible
for such miscarriages of justice to oc
cur. And after having said this, we
snail discharge our minds Of further
thought about the matter, and go about
our own aft AIRS. But Is there nj
further lesson to be drawn from the
1ncIdenE9
What is such q man as Michael
0 DJnnell Chat ia his nRmel worth n
our community Would you have
done the thing he did7 Think it over
we'll, and answer. II you would, are
you any more n his q IaI7 II you
would not, are not you has inferior
And yet, do you in your heart believe
yourself no more than his eqIal,- still
less, his inferior7 Were you 70 meet
him, would you look up to him, or
would you look down to hlm2 Would
you reverence, or pRtrOnlz9 him? COuId
you seriously bring yourself TO belt We
that this street blackguard, thus Az
bird, this i'll favored fellow n q oIrsy
slop suit, without grammar or p lish,
was &c be named III the same breath
with you, or had your firm hold upon
the appreciation Of your Common Crea
ton s .nlimentaliGy n clap trap aside,
could you varIGaoly ADMIT that?
And yet, standing with him before
the clear, profound gez OF the Man OF
G alice, how would the ldgmenE go4
How much, In Fl 3 scale, would your
gentle birth weigh, your education,
your polish, your bank accOunE, your
good clothes, your fashionable c0nnec
tions, your ~absLeDt!on from gross
crimes, your Courtesy and ability, your
freedom from the the terrible tempta
tons OF the poor and Ignorant Ysu,
or poor Nike o D )npell, wbIco would
hear that glorl Us invitation, "Eut9r
thou into the j0y of Thy L,rd"2
The assump tiOn here is, that you rep
resent the most finished product of our
modem cIvIliz alton, and mat Nike
o Jnnell Ls an ouEcast. Lst US admit
distinctly that he is not a saint VT
he, without being aware of it, 81 it
we're, did a sublime thing, which you
or Qet US confess iG to each other)
would be o apt than otherwise GO
shirk doing, on one specious plea or