A rough teacher in a school called upon a poor, half-starved lad, who
had offended against the laws of the school, and said: "Take off your
coat directly, sir." The boy refused to take it off, whereupon the
teacher said again: "Take off your coat, sir," as he swung the whip
through the air. The boy refused. It was not because he was afraid of
the lash--he was used to that at home--but it was from shame; he had
no undergarment, and as at the third command he pulled slowly off his
coat there went a sob through the school. They saw then why he did not
want to remove his coat, and they saw the shoulder-blades had almost
cut through the skin, and a stout, healthy boy rose up and went to the
teacher of the school and said: "Oh, sir, please don't hurt this poor
fellow; whip me; see, he's nothing but a poor chap; don't you hurt
him, he's poor; whip me." "Well," said the teacher, "it's going to be
a severe whipping; I am willing to take you as a substitute." "Well,"
said the boy, "I don't care; you whip me, if you will let this poor
fellow go." The stout, healthy boy took the scourging without an
outcry.[4] "Bravo," says every man--"Bravo!" How many of us are
willing to take the scourging, and the suffering, and the toil, and
the anxiety for other people! Beautiful thing to admire, but how
little we have of that spirit! God give us that self-denying spirit,
so that whether we are in humble spheres or in conspicuous spheres we
may perform our whole duty--for this struggle will soon be over.