The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-11
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

son for May II is. j oseph forg1Yes
his brothers, Gen. 45:1-15i 1921.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
of a certain powerful New York
politician it was said, He never for
gives an enemy and never forgets
frfend.'' That sounds big and strong,
but il Is not true. The man in question
more than once illustrated the saying
that Politics make strange bed-feI-
lows" 1t is scarcely possible to do
business in this old world without
deal of f0rgiEing; as the example OF
eminent statesmen. and fnanciers
shows. life is too short for the nursing
OF grudges. 1t is only petty people or
narrow lives and vision, who maintain
neighborhood feuds. Bear, forebear
and forgive are words craven into the
character of thinking people.
IT cannot AFFORD not TO forgive that
man." explained one who had been
deeply wronged, concerning his
enemy; flor If I let his treatment of
me errbitter my life, he will have
wrought me a greater injury than at
first. For the sake of my own large
ness and symmetry of life, dare not
miserable in himself, or more dis
agreeable to other people. than the
one who goes about nursing
grievance" So, doubtless, reasoned
Joseph. He would have remained a
eullen, morose, .revengeful slave
among Potiphar's meanest chattels
had he given himself solely to brood
Ing over the cruel wrong done him by
the promptings of his own magnani-
nous nature, and constrained him to
expel from his heart bitter thoughts
of the unbrotherly treatment he had
received. Far better, for both his
peace and prosperity, to let his
thoughts dwell upon his radiant
dreams of the future.
The Turning of the Wheel.
Usually the wheel of life turns
somewhat as it did in Jeseph's case
and the wronged person has oppor-
tunity to display magnaminity to-
into Egypt to Joseph the young man
less than forty years old who had now
become a world figure. He had ar
rived at the reward OF great ideals
brayely cherished, and of great ones
officially done. The spectacle is one
to delight the imagination There
came the Egyptians HOMECOMING to
Joseph-Potiphar, the jaiIer, the
kings butler with the short memory
and all those who had known the new
ruler in his days of obscurity- Here
came the MidianiteS, who had borne
him off into slavery perhaps the
very man whose merciless whip had
raised Welts on the QuiVerins- flesh of
the Hebrew lad.
And yonder, in shepherd dress. and
unaccustomed to the ways of cities
LAeNFF AA6AA Tic very -DTOIl6TS VINO mad
SO wondroHsly iI1-treated - Joseph
Little did they dream, when hunger
drove them up from the fields of
Canaan, that they were drawing nigh
20 the day of reckoning, which some
times comes sooner, and sometimes
later to every man, but is always in
eyleable- Ring, all We bells of justice
for the hour of Joseph has comet
Did mortal ever have quite such a
chance for getting even as this? The
cruel, jealous brothers. who had feast
ed within sound of the pleadings of the
young brother whom they had thrown
into pit. now bend their knee to him
as suppliants for food. They knew
him not. but he knew them, and all
the significance of the incident Small
wonder that Joseph remem bered the
dreams which he dreamed of Them"
he would have been more than human
had he failed to relish this vindication
of himself and of his boyhood visions
So he got even." not by descending
to their level and wreaking a little
petty spite, personal vengeance. No;
he "got even by lifting up the BROTH
ers to his own. level, his forgiving
generous treatment evoking all that
was noblest in their natures. Thus he
most effectually conquered his enc
mics and made them his friends which
is high, rare art. This world would
be a better place in which to live if
ting even"
The Tooth of Remorse.
Joseph at first acted a part with
his brothers, representing that they
were spies. He probably wanted to
gain time, to find out what sort of
men his brothers had become, and
most important of all, he wanted to
see Benjamin. his own mothers son.
So he detained Simeon as a hostage
until Benjamin should be brought;
probably the reason he did not hold
Reuben was that, by conversation of
the ten among themselves, he learned
for the first time of the part the first
born had played in saving his own
life.
AS soon as Jacobs sons found this
Egyptian ruler dealing hardly with
them, their consciences began to
prick them; instantly they connected
their present treatment with their own
conduct toward the boy Joseph; doubt
less in every calamity that had over
taken them since that foul act they
had seen the hand OF retributive jus
fice. The evildoer more commonly
sees the righteousness of Gods deal
ing with him than We suppose; re
morse is a wonderful illuminant. It
reveals an accusing ghost in every
@Mmdowy tree and moonbeam- Thus
The brothers cried: ''What is this that
God hath done unto us?" when they
found their money in the sacks of
grain. Still it was conscience prick
ing them at every turn
After a considerable interval. for
Jacob was 10th to part with his
youngest son, the brothers took Ben
jamin up to Egypt, their lack of food
again forcing them to become sup
plants. Anxious hearts We're those
which the little band of brothers bore
Up to the city where Simeon awaited
them in q durance that was far from
uncomfortable. Their conscienees
made them cewardly; they had all OF
the countryman's uneasiness in a pal
500 Reward 500.