GREAT MAN'S EPITAPH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 193, 15 August 1936, Page 2

GREAT MAN'S EPITAPH.

«HE GAVE THE MOST CANDY."

(By DR. DON D. TULLIS.)

One day I stood alone in the parlour of a modest home before a casket containing the earthly remains of a great man. He was great, but not famous, for he was not known outside the communities in which his life had been spent.

Suddenly I heard a knock at the door, and in response to my invitation three little lads entered. Their clothes were soiled and ragged. Their heads and faces were covered with the dust of unpaved streets. Their hair was matted and their feet were bare.

They had come to pay their respects to the memory of this man whom they had known as one of the village storekeepers. After looking fervently upon his face, one of them turned to me and said: "He sure was a great guy. He gave us the most candy for a penny of any man in town."

That was a eulogy worthy of a king. The minister said some be-autiful things in the memorial service next day, but nothing that equalled this. In one sentence a ragged boy had delivered, the biography of a great soul.

The most candy for a penny! That was a mirror of his life. He always gave the most of everything and asked the least in return. He died poor in properties but rich in the rewards of right living. The village knew his secret. He touched with frequent fingers the hem of the garment of Him Who came to serve mankind.

•He was not in any sense a leader among men. He was never elected to any office, public or private. He was never chairman of a committee. He never' headed lip a campaign for social betterment. He never made a public address. He did not belong to any club or fraternal organisation. His name was on the roll of the village church, but he was never other than a faithful, silent member.

Yet he was a truly great man. He always gave the most candy for a penny, the most kindness for a need, the most syriipathy for a sorrow, and the most sacrifice for the happiness of others of any man. in town.

Not they who proudly fill the upper 6eats at every feast, but they who ihumbly bear the towel and basin are called to be the saviours of the world.— (N.A.N.A.)