THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
2
hot in temper.
I did not revile."
This repudiation of sins closes
with claims to merit : "I have given
bread to the hungry man and water
to the thirsty man, and apparel to
the naked man, and a boat to the
shipwrecked 4. !ariner."
The advocate of master-morality
may. retort that the moral ideas just
cited were not held by the strong of
the day, but were restricted to the
priestly and literary classes. This
would he an error. "The Wisdom
of Ptahhotep," dating back to 1500
l;. C., or earlier, purports to be the
ripe worldly wisdom of a seasoned
old statesman and courtier. "It is
probably a collection of precepts
which had i grown up among the of-
ficials of the Egyptian state and put
into the mouth of Ptahhotep." The
spirit of kindness, fair-dealing, and
moderation predominates in this
composition. Of a similar character
is the "Installation of the Vizier,"
a traditional address orally deliv-
ered to the vizier by the king in
person. "This remarkable address
shows that the spirit of the 'Wis-
dom of Ptahhotep' was not exclu-
sively a matter of homely proverbial
philosophy, current precepts of con-
duct, or a picturesque story with a
moral. This spirit of social justice
pervaded even the very structure of
the state and had reached the throne
itself." Slave morality, in brief,
was well known • to the race that
built the pyramids and, while yet
the Greeks, the Romans and the
Hebrews were • indistinguishable
from the rest of the barbarous
world, disputed with Assyria the
mastery of the East.
The Assyrians were probably a
fiercer race than the Egyptians.
They, too, had their incantation
tablets, from which one may now
learn what sins it was prudent for
an Assyrian to disavow when he
presented himself for final judg-
ment. Among them we read:
"Has he oppressed weakness?
"Has he not set the captive free,
loosed the bonds of the fettered?
"Denied the prisoner the light of
day ?
"Said of a captive 'seize him' ; of
one who is bound, 'Bind him'?"
1 did not wax
A curse was incurred, we learn :
"Through stopping a neighbor's
ditch, instead of being compliant to
an opponent, remaining inimical to
him."
The morality of pity which, as
we have seen, appeared among the
most warlike nations at the dawn
of history, is not unknown to con-
temporary savages. The American
Indian, says Morgan, "Would sur-
render his dinner to feed the hun-
gry-, vacate his bed to refresh the
weary, and give up his apparel to
clothe the naked." We must re-
member that the reports of the
cruelty of the Indians were circu-
lated by their enemies. It is a ques-
tion whether they were more cruel
in war than the ancient Hebrews or
the modern Europeans. "All the
Our Young Folks
The Prize Winning
Ily Ruth Gene Atlas.
(Age 12 years)
"Doesn't
she look horrible?
Why, if I couldn't have come look-
ing better than that, 1 wouldn't have
come at all."
"Sallie Black is a very nice girl
and I don't think you should talk
about her," answered Susan
Brown.
"Well, anyhow, she shouldn't
have come looking like that," put
in Ruth Trowe, who, not being
popular, kept on the good side of
Jane Ludlow.
The object of conversation, Sallie
Black, was a very poor little girl.
She was in these girls' classes at
school, but was seldom invited to
their parties and other amuse-
ments,
The three girls were alone in the
dressing room of Hortense Flow-
er's home, where a party was being
given.
After a while Jane and Ruth left
the room. Susan meditated.
"Jane is trying for the scholar-
ship, or rather the school prize.
Sallie is likely to get it. Jane is
jealous."
Just then her thoughts were in-
terrupted by some girls coming into
the room.
"Oh, Sue," cried Josie Hector,
"all the boys and girls are looking
for you. Robert Morris is going
Polynesian races," says Alfred Rus-
sell Wallace, "are kind and attentive
to the sick and aged, and unlimited
hospitality is everywhere practiced
by them."
The morality of pity was plainly
not the ingenious discovery of a
servile nation : for nations that had
not known subjection recognized
how much the gods valued it. The
Jews have no right to the fearful
honor Nietzsche thrusts upon them.
They did not invent the morality of
pity. But more than any other peo-
ple, perhaps, they have welcomed
it. The prophets from Amos down
tended and nursed this ideal and
put all the fervor of their eloquence
and all their literary art into its
promulgation. This uttering, this
forth-telling of the prophets, is the
really unique and startling element
in the matter. The fundamental
• ideas are, indeed, found on the
tombs of Egyptian kings, in the
papyri of Ptahhotep, and the "Book
of the Dead," but somehow not un-
til Amos and his followers wing
them with words do they have that
penetrating power we .know. This
really is the miracle of Hebrew
prophecy—this unparalleled power
of the word. "The word," said the
Gnostic, "was God." And so we
feel it to be in the speech of Amos
and his school.
to sing and they want you to play
an accompaniment."
Susan left the room. I ler con-
science pricked her as she saw Sallie
sitting alone. For just one moment
she thought of going on. Then she
stopped and said, ''Conic, Sallie,
Bob Morris is going to sing and you
must hear him."
"Thank you, but I believe' I'd
rather not," came the answer tim-
idly.
"Oh, yes, you must ! By the
way," catching up Sallie's arm and
starting away, "I hear you are try-
ing for the prize and are likely to
get it. Is it so?"
"Well, so far I believe I'm on the
list, but you know I might lose out."
"Oh, I'm sure you won't.",
By this time they had reached the
parlor. Everyone greeted Susan,
who was a favorite, and the rest of
the evening was enjoyable for all.
Susan was about right in her
thoughts. The next day Miss Wat-
kins announced that the only ones
left to compete for the prize were
Sallie, Jane, Robert Morris, Wil-
liam Anderson and Dorothy Parkes.
The same day William and Dorothy
lost out completely.
"Only three left.' Well, Sallie
shan't have the prize at any rate."
But now a trouble confronted
Jane.
Of course, at the end of each
term every pupil must write a
theme. Jane had always stood low
in her themes. She knew it would
lessen her chance for the prize win-
ning and probably make , it an im-
possibility.
The
"An idea ! She would bribe Sallie
to change themes. It never oc-
curred to her that Sallie would not
stoop to such a thing.
That evening Jane went to see
Sallie and asked her to take a walk.
Sallie was rather surprised at this
little attention on Jane's part. After
they had walked for several blocks
Jane unfolded her plans. Sallie
looked at her for a moment and
then ran down the street as fast as
she could towards home.
Jane was E , ,•rtified. \\That should
she do? She was sure to lose the
prize ! Wasn't there some way ?
A fter thinking a while she said,
"Whatever• I do Sallie will suspect
me. I may as well cheat, oh, it's
not really cheating," she argued,
"but" "Why Ruth Trowe ! I
never thought of her ! Well, Miss
Sallie, you needn't count on the
prize, Ruth can beat most anyone
writing themes. It's the only thing
she can do, but she can do that.''
Of course Ruth consented, say-
ing, "I would do anything for you,
Jane."
On Thursday, Miss Watkins an-
nounced that on the following
Monday she would give the subject
of the theme.
Friday, Robert Morris stood very
low in history, and, "Oh, joy, Sallie,
the only opponent now."
Monday morning came. The
girls and boys started to school very
much excited. After they had been
in school a short time, Miss Wat-
kins spoke:
"I have said that I would an-
nounce the subject for the theme
this morning." Jane was all ex-
citement now. "First, I want to
say a few words with regard to the
writing of it. I don't like the old
plan. The theme will be written
(Continued on page 5)
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