Page:Cyclopedia of illustrations for public speakers, containing facts, incidents, stories, experiences, anecdotes, selections, etc., for illustrative purposes, with cross-references; (IA cyclopediaofillu00scotrich).pdf/745



age, think you, would have had the moral perception, the strength of character, and the quickness to act that was exhibited by this little son of a poor immigrant family? (Text.)—, "Search-*lights."

(3190)

There were two ways in which the ancients kept from yielding to the music and final destruction of the Sirens. Ulysses fortified himself with bonds that held him fast to the mast while his boat carried him, listening, by the seductive strains. The Argonauts carried Orpheus with them in their boat, and were so engrossed in listening to his music that they never even heard the tempting sounds from the shore. (Text.)

(3191)

Temptation, a Boy's—See.

Temptation and Desire—See.

TEMPTATION, PLAUSIBILITY OF

During the Boxer troubles in China, the greatest stress was brought upon the native Christians to have them recant their faith. Dr. Li, a Christian physician of Peking, was not only in imminent peril of his life, but, to add to his anxiety, kind but mistaken friends were urging him to pursue a questionable course of action in order that his life might be saved. One of his friends of the nobility came to him and said:

Things are getting worse and worse. Allow me to put a few idols in your room, and if the Boxers come they will think you are not Christians. Now, I knew that this was Satan's plan. I was in a difficulty. Could I refuse my protector's request, and so endanger him? But God gave me wisdom and words so that I was able to keep clean, and yet not to offend my friend, who was so genuinely anxious for my safety.

On another occasion, as he was trying to escape from the city, he says:

Just as I was about to start, some one urged me to carry some strings of paper money in my hand, "for," said he, "then people will imagine you are going to burn it at a grave." This seemed a very simple and safe expedient; but I would not agree to it, because I felt it would, after all, be nothing short of a denial of Christ. (Text.)

(3192)

TEMPTATION RESISTED

Ever since that bait was offered to the Redeemer and rejected, the tempter has been constantly setting the perilous alternative before the souls of men. The glittering bait is specially dangled before the greatest and noblest souls, and these prove their greatness and nobility by exchanging it for a cross.

Both John Knox and Richard Baxter were offered by carnal state powers a bishopric in the Erastian Church. How unspeakably poorer would have been the religious history of both Scotland and England had these men found their popular success in ecclesiastical preferment! To-day Spinoza is honored for declining the fortune that was offered to him, and it is refreshing to read how Diderot instantly said "No" to the bribe of a hundred thousand francs a year from Catharine the Great to become a member of her court. It is the glory of the memory of Faraday that he declared "He could not afford to be rich." Cobden stood for the poor, and therefore he stood out against Palmerston's offer of a baronetcy and a seat in his Cabinet. Gold weighed heavy then, as now, but it did not outweigh the souls of these heroes. (Text.)

(3193)

TEMPTATION TWO-SIDED

A lad of seventeen was telling an older friend, recently, of an experience he had had that day. As the apprentice of a carpenter, he had been sent to a saloon to take the measures for a new counter. It was very cold weather, and he arrived with his teeth fairly chattering in his head, for his coat was thin. The saloon-keeper immediately mixt a hot drink and pushed it over the counter to him. "It'll cost you nothing," he said; "drink it down, and you'll soon stop shivering, my boy."

"He meant it kindly, too, and didn't think any harm," said the apprentice, as he told the story. "That's what made it harder to push it back, and I didn't want it."

"It must have been a big temptation," said the friend. "That saloon-keeper might have started you on the road to ruin."

"Well," replied the lad frankly, "I'd rather have had it than some other kinds. You see, it takes two to make a temptation. There's no saloon-keeper and no cold weather can make me drink when I don't want to. The temptation I'm afraid of is the one that I'm ready for before it comes, by hankering after