Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/680



all one night, perturbed as to whether he would make public his discovery. When morning came, Dr. Finsen had "chosen the better part," and had decided to enrich the world with his cure. Only $1,500 a year was paid him by the Government of Denmark, and gradually the awful disease from which he himself was a sufferer made it impossible for him to work more than an hour a day and to eat hardly anything. Literally, Dr. Finsen laid down his life for the army of fellow sufferers. Queen Alexandra, proud of her fellow countryman, introduced the cure which bears his name to the greatest hospital in the world, and Finsen's discovery has alleviated the torture of countless invalids. (Text.)

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Equally famous with the man in the moon and the woman in the moon is the hare in the moon, says Garrett P. Serviss in his "Astronomy with the Naked Eye." The original is a Buddhist legend. The god Sakkria, disguised as a Brahman, pretended to be starving and went to the animals for help. The monkey got him a bunch of mangoes; the coot picked up a fisherman's neglected string for him; the fox stole him a pot of milk. At last the god approached the hare. "I have nothing but grass," said the hare, "and you can't eat that." "But your flesh is good," suggested the pretended Brahman. The hare assented. "Then," said the Brahman, "I'll kindle a fire at the foot of this rock, and you jump off into it. That'll save me the trouble of killing you." The hare assented again, but as he leaped from the rock the god caught him in his arms and then drew his figure in the moon as a perpetual reminder of the excellence of self-sacrifice. (Text.)

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See ;.

SELF-SACRIFICE IN NATURE

The last word of science harmonizes with the first word of the gospel; the doctrine of sacrifice has been scorned in many quarters as being unscientific. Such a disparagement is no longer countenanced by scientists, for they now point to the principle of utter abnegation of self as one of the most potent of natural laws. We are told that one portion of a flower is sacrificed for the sake of the flower as a whole. The rose multiplies its petals, but the blossom that is thus beautified never comes to seed. The flower dies in its new beauty, but a more glorious stock has thus been produced. So it is also with insect life. The bee toils night and day for weeks without sleep or rest, wearing itself out. Its life has nothing to do with its own pleasure, but is entirely surrendered for the good of the community. So science has furnished unexpected sanctions to the doctrine of sacrifice.

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SELF-SUPPRESSION

When we ask what it is that has made Boswell's book a great classic, we are bound to concede to Boswell himself the credit of having inaugurated a new style of biography, conceived with the true originality, and carried out with conspicuous success. Toady, sycophant, braggart, eavesdropper—all these and more Boswell may have been, but he had one great gift, the faculty of recognizing greatness, and of suppressing himself in the presence of greatness.—, "The Makers of English Prose."

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SELF-SURRENDER

The caddis-fly leaves his tube behind and soars into upper air; the creature abandons its barnacle existence on the rock and swims at large in the sea. For it is just when we die to custom that, for the first time, we rise into the true life of humanity; it is just when we abandon all prejudice of our own superiority over others, and become convinced of our entire indefensibleness, that the world opens out with comrade faces in all directions.—Fortnightly Review.

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Selfish, The, Rejected—See. SELFISHNESS The boy in this anecdote had apparently not been taught that it is better to give than to receive:   "Well, Bobby, how do you like church?" asked his father, as they walked homeward from the sanctuary, to which Bobby had just paid his first visit. "It's fine!" ejaculated the young man. "How much did you get, father?" "How much did I get? Why, what do you mean? How much what?" asked the astonished parent at this evident irreverence. "Why, don't you remember when the funny old man passed the money around? I only got ten cents." (Text.)—Lippincott's Magazine.

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