The natural effect of a lack of tact is seen in the man described
below, who used the means to offend the very person who was to decide
his fate.
Under no circumstances can a missionary, worthy of the
name, be ever induced to say anything that would wound the
susceptibilities or grieve the heart of one of his heathen or
Mohammedan auditors. That is not necessary. They tell the story
of a judge in Aleppo. He had but one eye. A person was condemned
to prison, as he thought, unjustly. He rose before the judge
and said: “Oh, one-eyed judge, I am imprisoned here on a false
accusation; and I tell you, oh, one-eyed judge, that this man
who has testified against me has received a bribe; and oh,
one-eyed judge, if I do not get justice, I will report this case
to the pasha; and if the pasha do not do justice, oh, one-eyed
judge, I will report it to the sultan himself.” The judge rose
from his seat in a rage and said: “Take the man back to prison.
I won’t hear him plead before me and call me forever a one-eyed
judge.”--PIERSON, “The Miracles of Missions.”
(3167)
* * * * *
It is a good story which Chauncey M. Depew tells of a dinner
that the late King Edward as Prince of Wales once gave in
honor of James G. Blaine, on one of his visits to England
before he had even been a candidate for the Presidency. The
one disagreeable man at the dinner was a duke of the royal
house, who had a reputation for lack of tact. During a lull in
conversation he blurted out: “The greatest outrage in history
was the revolt of your people against King George III. There
was no justification for it then, and there is no excuse for
it now.” The prince, according to Dr. Depew, was plainly
embarrassed. The one man who had the tactfulness to carry off
the situation was Mr. Blaine who, in a carefully-modulated voice
replied: “Perhaps if George III had possest as much diplomacy as
his great-grandson, America might still be English.” The Prince
of Wales, after the subject was passed, gript Blaine’s hands
with a twinkle of admiration.--Boston _Transcript_.
(3168)
=Taint=--See IMPURE THOUGHTS.
=Talent Neglected=--See NEGLECT OF DUTY.
=Talent, Using the Best=--See ADVANTAGE, WORKING TO THE BEST.