The mirror., 1923-04-05

Yet all the while, in secret, without
sound,
The tiny worms gnawed its timbers
under ground
Until it trembled! 1t swayed! 1t
broke!
1t fell in deafening thunder, in one
stroke
That proud lofty tower; with an angel
upon it's crown;
Fell tumbling! A thousand years went
DOWN."
May God forbid that such a catastrophe
shall happen to u.s. Yeti can conceive
of no thinking person disputing the omni-
present evidence of our Nations disin-
tegration, but multitudes of these same
thoughtful individuals seem 10th to accept
the only real and sure way out of the
dilema. They remind one of old King
Pharoah, when the city and his royal
palace was overrun, with the plague of
frogs. Moses went to him and offered
relief, arguing something like this, "These
frogs are everywhere. They were in your
bed last night, and they were there this
morning; they were in your breakfast
food their cold Shiny bodies hoped about
your throne; your children had them;
your wife is sick of them! When do you
want to get rid of them?" To all of
which, the King merely shrugged his
shoulders, and replied, tomorrow"
"It may be-" went on the speaker, "that
Pharoah was something of an evolutionist,
and hated the idea of driving his ances
tors out of his bed and home"
This brought another roar of applause,
from his very interested audience, but
which gradually died away as the speaker
continued: 81 know not whether the King
recognized his ancestors, but let me say
that l believe l am able to recognize at
least one of the Shiny frogs that beset us.
Not only as individuals, but as nation;
and that frog is selfshness Selfshness is
the one cause of our every trouble. We
have become a nation of lovers of self,
rather than of God; lovers of self, rather
than brothers to those about u.s. Gam
my brothers keeper?" was the very first
cry of selfshness. 1t is the cause of every
dishonest act, ranging from the sly wink
of the cheat at cards, to the rihing of the
National treasury. And what is the
remedy? To my mind, there is only one,
and that is strict practice and applica-
ton of The Golden Rule. How are we
going to apply it? Listen!-
About year ago, the clerk in charge
of one of my branch hotels was caught
flching my guests by overcharging them
for their rooms and pocketing the balance,
which really amounted to tidy sum.
Did 1 fire him, and turn him over to the
law? No! And why not? Because if had
done So I would have lost forever the
chance of retaining him. So l said to
him, "John you have injured me and my
guests, and lowered yourself in all mems
eyes, thereby injuring yourself. Don't
ever do it again, for if you do, I shall
have to act differently! Then, appealing
to his sense of honor, I asked him how
he would feel if he was a guest in my
hotel, and what he would think of clerk
who would swindle him in such a man
ner? Now, I said, I am going to repay
these men, charge it to your salary, and
give you another chance" That man be-
came one of the most faithful and trusted
members on my staff, and now holds a
very responsible position. The applica-
ton of The Golden Rule transformed that
man from liability into an asset to the
community.
And now, allow me to draw aside the
veil of the centuries for moment Upon
hill, overlooking the great city of Rome,
sat Nero. Clad in white and purple
silken robes, a golden girdle about his
waist, and a wreath of laurel upon his
brow Thus he sat, playing his violin.
Before him lay the imperial city, the peo-