The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-07-21

chanceS-he was SO SnSIOSScu III Gil
tertaining his fears that he had no
time TO do his masters appointed
work-Wrapped his pound IN a nap
kin and then laid his non productive
| ness on his lord. He had been SO Dusy
| thinking about himself that he had
forgotten the n essential thing;
namely. that he himself was worth
thinking about only as ne ola MS
work in the world.
By q strange inversion OF logic,
! they who think o about them
| selves are commonly the ones a
| worth thinking about. 1t is the no.
| accounts who are ever taking account
Of themselves. OF course, this ineffi-
| cient servant was voluble with his ex-
cuSes: ability to coin excuses seems
to be the on craft in which the inef-
! fective excel. This failure
was by no means his own fault. he
! declared. OF course not: the times
were out of joint; the social system
was wrong: employers were high
handed n unjust.
There you have them as they have
existed from time immemorial. n
as they will be to the end; the two
/ great classes Of men: the workers
and the winners. One class does
things, and offers for the worlds in
spection a finished task: the others
whine because the thing simply can
not be done. In one Of these two
categOries each Of us surely has a
place.
Telling the Harsh Truth.
There is not a "down-and-out" beg
ging on the highways who cannot tell
a plausible hard-luck story. He is
sure that fate is against him; that the
industrial system is all wrong; that he
never lac a chance: that he is a vic
tim Of cruel capital; that the world
owes him a living and does not want
to pay it's debts, and SO on, ad naus-
cum.
Without ignoring the injustices
which abound in the world, let us
deal frankly with his craven spirit,
which is worse than any of the other
evils Of life. We need often to tel
ourselves the old story Of the coward
! fled from the battle in despair. A
prince picked up the broken blade
: and with it won a glorious victory in
that same battle.
3 Some think that the master in this
: story dealt too sharply with the dere
e lict servant. Our mood nowadays il
! one of s~entimentality, which woul(
9 rather send flowers to convicted mur
derers "a to send them to the gal
e lows. Joseph Parker has a wis
r word on this theme:
When Jesus spoke a severe word
$ the severity came out OF the truth o
it's application. Is it not a harsl
: thing to call a man a liar? Not if h
be false. Is it not very unusual t.
: describe any man as a hypocrite
e Not il it be untrue. Wherein, then
8 is this wickedness of calling me
e names? In the misapplication of tn
epithets. 1t is wicked to call a ma
true il we know him to be untrue
n There is an immoral courtesy: Their
q iS a riOhtaNnS ronVnonh We do no
a use harsh words when we tell me
g what they really are"
a Wanted: More Great Men.
n Observers not a few are bewailin
e the lack OF great men in u time
Al One clear answer to this is that nc
Y. enough are in the school OF great
< ness, which is called fidelity. Great
m ness is not an accolade, laid on by tn
stroke Of fortune. Greatness is
growth, and more persons have Pc
a tentalities for it than every they rea.
e ize. Most Of us could do great thing
~ if we were in the habit of growing
e. our present tasks; we prefer I
he do little things in a little way. "
IN covet safety rather than strength. Tt
ly average man is looking for a SUI
10 salary rather than for a worthy tasl
10 Besides. we too often want to 6
In fishing o to go to the movies" {
u to the baseball game; when the spir
n or greatness would Did us Stuck to tf
re task. The reward OF work we'll dor
it is more work to do; and whoever ge
tit in the classification Of greatness fin
himself the servant Of his work..
rs Underlying this picture is the gre;
re truth that the king vas dependent {
all his stewards: even as Christ lets IL
a welfare of his kingdom rest on Il
lot faithfulness of his friends. All goo
MS causes, even the growth Of the gosp
itself. depend on the fidelity of tho
ell who stand as stewards. And tina pu
the parable sQuarely up to all of
ty. in the everyday Of life.
of -
in NEWS FROM FAR COUNTRIES.
rst -
1t TerSe Comments on the UnifOr
lat Prayer Meeting Topic of the You,
Ponies SOcicfieS- ChriSt;an n