hings to be despised. The shoemaker who put over his
door, "John Smith's shop, founded 1760," was more than matched
by his young rival across the street who hung out this sign:
"Bill Jones. Established 1886. No old stock kept in this shop."

In two anecdotes, told also in "The New South," Mr. Grady illustrated
another way of enforcing the application: in both instances he split
the idea he wished to drive home, bringing in part before and part after
the recital of the story. The fact that the speaker misquoted the words
of Genesis in which the Ark is described did not seem to detract from
the burlesque humor of the story.

I bespeak the utmost stretch of your courtesy tonight. I am not
troubled about those from whom I come. You remember the man
whose wife sent him to a neighbor with a pitcher of milk, who,
tripping on the top step, fell, with such casual interruptions
as the landings afforded, into the basement, and, while picking
himself up, had the pleasure of hearing his wife call out:

"John, did you break the pitcher?

"No, I didn't," said John, "but I be dinged if I don't."

So, while those who call to me from behind may inspire me with
energy, if not with courage, I ask an indulgent hearing from
you. I beg that you will bring your full faith in American
fairness and frankness to judgment upon what I shall say. There
was an old preacher once who told some boys of the Bible lesson
he was going to read in the morning. The boys, finding the
place, glued together the connecting pages. The next morning he
read on the bottom of one page: "When Noah was one hundred and
twenty years old he took unto himself a wife, who was"--then
turning the page--"one hundred and forty cubits long, forty
cubits wide, built of gopher wood, and covered with pitch inside
and out." He was naturally puzzled at this. He read it again,
verified it, and then said, "My friends, this is the first time
I ever met this in the Bible, but I accept it as an evidence of
the assertion that we are fearfully and wonderfully made." If I
could get you to hold such faith to-night, I could proceed
cheerfully to the task I otherwise approach with a sense of
consecration.

Now and then a speaker will plunge without introduction into an
anecdote, leaving the application to follow. The following illustrates
this method:

A large, slew-fo