st
begin in youth; and in this, elder brothers and sisters as well as
parents and teachers of all grades have serious responsibility.
Occasionally the moral atmosphere of a whole school becomes corrupt,
and practices spring up which can only be put down by some right-minded
lad or girl running the risk of unpopularity and social ostracism, yet
it is under such conditions that God's heroes are bred; and books like
_Tom Brown's Schooldays_ have done much to foster the development of
the heroic temper.

The truth is, that, wherever we are, in this world where evil widely
prevails, fidelity to conscience must occasionally inspire what seems
an unavailing protest against the practice of the majority. But we
must see to it on such occasions that a real principle is at stake, and
that we are not moved by mere desire for self-assertion, nor by pride
and obstinacy. If, however, we are consciously free from these, and
bravely protest against a wrong we cannot prevent, we may at least look
for the approval of Him who carried His protest against evil up to the
point of death, even the death of the Cross.

In thus taking up our stand against what we believe to be wrong, we may
be, imperceptibly to ourselves, emboldening others, who are secretly
waiting for some such lead.

II.

If Joseph required bravery on the council, he needed it still more when
he went into the presence of Pilate to beg the body of Jesus.

The Roman procurator was a man to be dreaded by any Jew, and was just
now in a suspicious and angry mood. But Joseph not only braved a
repulse from him. He knew he would have to confront the far more
bitter hostility of the priests. Theirs was a relentless hate, before
which Peter had fallen, and Pilate himself had quailed. Yet this man
Joseph, brought up though he had been in circumstances of ease, went in
boldly to Pilate and deliberately ran the risk of their savage hatred,
which would not only bring about as he believed his expulsion from
office, but in all probability cruel martyrdom. It was a bold step;
but no sooner did he take it than another rich man was by his
side--Nicodemus by name--who also himself was one of Christ's
disciples, though secretly, for fear of the Jews. The act of Joseph
had more far-reaching consequences on the conduct of others than he
expected.

Most heroic actions are richer in results than is expected by those who
dare to do them; though the immediate effects may seem disappoin