The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-02
By WILLIAM 7. ELLIS.

There is hero-stuff in persons all
about us; only the occasion IS needeo
to reveal it. The quiet lie OF our
w~ell-regulated social order does not
afford the display Of the active nero
virtues that appear commonly IN
more oublou and adventurous CON
aitions. There is a mark OF herotsIn,
though, which may Usually pc louliu
at all times; the hero is a heiper. IL
little ways he serves, even as ne
yro1,ld serve in great a did oppor-
t,,ni1v offer. In the present lesson
mon the shipwreck OF the apostle
Paul if is perhaps more profltapie 70
bear in mind his small helpluiness
rather than his great heroism. Ihe
latter we may not initiate; the 1orihet
are within eevrybodys po"er.
The panic-stricken apoalo
the grain vessel which Il reSlstlesS
had gripped-there were
e76 souis in all-had been too scared
and TOO busy TO eat. In the
and danger they had scarcely taSIeu
food for q fortnight Paul, whose
nractical sense was equal to this piety,
entreated them all to satisfy their
hunger. A square meal is often q
means OF grace. Elijah under the
iuniper tree thought he needed spirit
nal uplift: God, who knew better, sent
rim food. Setting the example OF
na11nS-dll Sl oLl1&h
for the bread-Paul persuaded the
nan 10 nartake of food, which heart
ened them greatly.
When the Ship Breaks Up.
Yesterday l saw three men III d
croWded railway station VINO seemed
10 stand out from all that hufrylhg
tbrone. They were roughly dressed,
xritb nc heed to city styles, but it was
not their rough boots nor thelr caps
fhat attracted attention. There was
San i~ndefnable something In their
faces and bearing that spelled q great
experience. And 50 it was. They had
been picked up h day before down
the bay, clinging to the bottom OF a
capsized schooner. All night they had
chung there, while the wave dashed
over them, and the biting winds had
gradually weakened the grip of their
fingers. Ships had passed without
noticing them. When finally they
were sighted and rescued they had
reached the very limit OF their pow
erS.
Little cared these men that their
clothes were different from the null
titudes. Little thought they of the
value of the boat that had been lost.
In darkness and stress, face to face
with death, they had learned the les
son of relative values. They had
stood by one another-even as l saw
them, the youngest was supporting
The oldest-and they had saved their
lives 1t is q great privilege to have
learned what Is really worth while IN
this life. Browning depicts Lazarus
as coming back from the grave with
a new sense of the pToportionate
worth of things.
The shipwreck of Paul's boat, when
all had to take to the water, showed
the various characters OF the men.
Paul was proved a hero In things
great. and a c0IJrfn0IS hn1nf,I oan-
tleTnan in things small. Captain
julius preserved the fine traditions
Of q Roman officer. Some Of the
sailors revealed a yellow streak by
attempting to make off with the
boats. Paul's decisiveness stopped
that low trick. When the breakup
Of the ship was inevitable, the i'm
bruted Roman soldiers suggested the
killing Of the prisoners; but Captain
Julius would not nave it so. Thus
all got ashore when the ship struck
some swimming, some on planks, and
some on the W~reckage Of the ship.
ON A STORED ISLAND.
One Of the most romantic spots on
earth, historically, is the little island
OF Malta. which for more thar a CEN
fury Britain has held. The defense
against the Moslens by the Knights of
st. John in the sixteenth century is
one Of the golden pages Of the age Of
chlQalry. Ancient, spectacular, ka1ei-
doscopfc has been the islands history,
but when the great Mediterranean
steamers stop there nowadays the first
thought and question Of nine-tenths or
the passengers concerns none of the
Crusaders or soldiers Or rules, but the
little Christian Jew who once landed
at Malta as a shipwrecked prisoner.
Such is hold of New Testament
history upon the popular mind, as
c~ontTaSted with all secular history.
Malta gave Paul and his fellow-yoy-
ayers a kindly welcome. That the
story calls the people "barbarians"
means nothing except hat they were
not Greeks or Romans: such was the
usage of the day. just as we snobbish-
~ group the majority Of the human
race into the classiflc cation "heathen.