(1698)
JUDGMENT DELAYED
A certain farmer, who was an infidel, sent to the editor of a weekly newspaper the following letter:
“Sir—I have been trying an experiment. I have a field of Indian corn, which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating which it received on Sunday. I gathered the crop on Sunday, and on Sunday hauled it to my barn; and I find that I have more corn per acre than has been gathered by any of my neighbors during this October.”
What a triumphant sneer lay behind these words of the skeptic! But one thinks the light faded from his eyes as he read the sentence which the editor appended to his letter: “N. B.—God does not always settle His accounts in October!”
(1699)
Judgment Dependent on Position—See [Point of View].
JUDGMENT, FAULTY
When President Roosevelt was in Idaho, shortly after the publication of his book, “The Winning of the West,” he entered a book-store one day and saw a copy of his book lying on the counter. “Who is this author, Roosevelt?” he asked the proprietor. “Oh, he is a ranch-driver up in the cattle country,” was the answer. “Indeed,” said Mr. Roosevelt, “and what do you think of his book?” “Waal,” said the dealer, thoughtfully, “I’ve always had the idea that I’d like to meet that author and tell him that if he’d stuck to running ranches, and not tried to write books, he’d cut a heap bigger figure at his trade, and been a bigger man.”
The ranchman’s judgment was doubtless defective, but it is often well to see ourselves as others see us.