The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-09-05

youth are sweet, but not half SO
sweet as comfort and pleasure IN old
age. Daniel. h was q student OF
| his own powers, was brave enough TO
take care of his abilities for the Wlsest
| employment he could make of them.
He risked being unpopular for the
! sake of becoming powerful. The court
Of Nebuchanezzar did not know 1t,
but Daniel was planning better things
for them than they were planning tor
themselves. They had no thought
above securing one of the conyen-
tional courtiers to ornament the pal
ace. Daniel saw the possibility of be-
coming a statesman and a seer. He
rejected the good for the sake Of the
best.
FIT. For a Big Fight.
The panic of the prince Of eunuchs
when Daniel told him that he wanted
to go on a vegetable diet, instead of
rather amusing. He. like nine hum
dred and ninety-nine persons out Of
every thousand in the world, was
afraid of originality. He only knew
the conventional way Of doing things.
He distrusted peculiar people. So
does society. The world today is just
as inhospitable to originality as it was
in the court of Nebuchadnezzar five
hundred years before Christ. The mag
aZineS and newspapers are afraid OF
originality; so are the churches and
the colleges. Pioneers always have
had to combat the crowd.
It is q great day for The human race
when a man appears who dares to be
different, who is not annoyed by be-
ing singular. and who has his Eyes 50
fixed upon the goal Of a great life for
himself n q ut service for man
kind, that he disdains Mrs. Grundy
and all her shopWOrn conventionali-
tics IJn NO ntc n nr1 fOht and thu
thick Of the battle.
The Tes For Temperance.
The Laboratory method" of modern
scholarship was proposed by Daniel
and his friends. The prince Of eunuchs
wanted him to live on rich wines n
foods. All these were contrary to his
upbringing as a Jew. He preferred
the abstemious diet. Millions CT per
sons in the world live on vegetables
and vegetables alone. and Daniel knew
he could do it. He proposed to put
the matter to the test.
In the present day his theory would
be called pragmatism; that is to say,
the proof Of the thing is in it's work
ing. If abStemiousness made Daniel
and his friends better looking and
more fit than gluttony, then it was
fair to accept his proposition for an
abstemious life.
Any honest man is bound to accept
this doctrine. A deal Of prejudice and
passion and partizanship encumbers
the discussion Of the temperance Ques-
ton. Daniel and the pragmatist should
be listened to. Is temperance good
or is it bad Are men better or are
they worse for indulgence in strong
drink?
Certainly the abstainers are worse if
they grow narrow and censorious and
P~harasaical and intellectually dishon-
est. Assuredly the non-abstainers are
worse if by indulgence they become
as we'll as impaired in their physical
fibre. Let Is find out the facts Quit
arguing according to p~rejudices. and
try the honester way. Is prohibition
a good thing: That question is not
to be settled by ones own taste or
distaste for liquor; or by ones affili-
atoms. but by an honest sitting of
the evidence. Has the abolition of
the canteen been good for the soldiers
or bad? That subject ought to be
within the realm Of aScertainable facts.
The time has come to abide. by the
conclusions Of honest research. Chris
tianity Is a religion Of the square deal.
It's heroes are the Daniels. and the
Greater One who said, "Ye shall know
the truth. and the truth shall make
you free 1t has always submitted
its own claims to the ripest scholar
ship Of every age. 1t would put all
things to the test.
Standing Before the King.
If the Christian workman is not at
least "a shade better as a workman
than his non-Christian companion.
then something is wrong somewhere.
Efficiency is not the only test Of char-
acter but it Is one test. It is said,
and with some reason. that the Chris
tan converts in heather lands are not
the best servants. Thoughtful mis-
sionaries. instead of flying into a fer
vid repudiationeof this, are using the
criticism for the upbuilding of Their
converts. A religious worker once
had a pious secretary who. when her
employer vas not round read the
Bible for hours in the midst of neg
lected duties. When she was dis
charged he lest her ten,per and ques-
toned his religion for turning adrift