The Border Land

THE BORDER LAND, BY JAMES X. ALLEN, M. D. It is told of the famous Dean Swift, that on a certain occa- sion he was in need of a coachman. He betook himself to an intelligence office in order to secure one. There were several men sitting on a bench, on one side of the room which he had entered- He noticed that three of the men wore the dress peculiar to the pro- fession of coachman. Anproaching the first man, he asked him, "How near can you drive to a precipice without upsetting?" The answer was prompt and decisive: "i can drive within half a foot every time, and never upset." The doctor, not feeling satisf ed with the somewhat startling answer, passed on to the second man: "How near can you drive to a precipice without upsetting the carriage?" This second man wmted the job, and was determined to outbid his neighbor, and, therefore, his answer: "I can go within two inches, sir, and come out safe every time, sir.'' This answer being less satisfactory than the firs, the great man passed on to the third man, to whom he propounded the same question. The answer was not only emphatic, but equally uncom- mon in men seeking work: "I don't know." "You don't know? Why, how is that? These other men seem to know just exactly what they can do." "That's all right; but I always keep as far from danger as I can. So you see, never having tried it, I don't know." The doctor found a man like himself, a thinker, and for that reason an eccentric. It is needless to say that Jack obtained the situ- ation. I am induced to write this story by witnessing so many of our young people, and not a few older ones, who, like these two coachmen, are, if anything, far too venturesome, they take too

864 IMPRO VEMENT ERA . great risks; they seem to try how near the enemy's kingdom they can get without losing their citizenship in the Master's kingdom. They seem to have a desire to make their abode on a neutral strip. These careless ones, living too near the enemy's lines, are seen more than are the real Latter-day Saints, and are taken as samples of "Mormon'' lives, which is not fair to their more consci- entious neighbors. The late Henry Ward Beecher once told a story of a stranger who, while walking through a village, saw some apples on the roadside. He stopped and gathered up two or three. He bit each of them, but did not find them exactly to his liking. One was wormy, another not ripe, and a third one had bruise spots on it. Looking about him he noticed a large branch of an apple tree hanging over the wall that enclosed a large orchard. The boys with rocks had dislodged the fallen apples from a tree which had beed planted too near the road. Had the stranger judged the orchard by the fruit outside the enclosure, he would have sadly misjudged the planter and the owner of a magnificent fruit plantation. The Latter-day Saint who lives outside the decorum of a real Christian, is no more a fair specimen of Church members than were the apples outside the enlosure a fair specimen of the fruit in the orchard. How is it with you, with me, with any of us? We are called to be Saints. How near, with safety, can we drive to the prec- ipice of apostasy without imperiling our standing in the Church, and our hope of eternal blessedness? A feeling of smartness, an over-confidence in ourselves, will not suffice for our safety. ' 'Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall"(I Cor. 10: 12). "Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men should be offended because of thee, yet will I not be offended" (Matt. 26: 33). Yet how near the awful brink of apostasy did this same Peter tread! He was only saved by the forbearance and loving, merciful heart of an ever- patient God. We can all call to mind instances of smart men, who, like Peter, have been too self-confident, and have fallen, but who, unlike the first apostle, have lacked Peter's humility, faith, and trust in a kind Redeemer. Ogden, Utah.