us at the first mention of the word. But we shall mislead ourselves if
we confine our thoughts to cases so climactic, triumphant, and
spectacular. Deeds like these dazzle and do not invite to full
analysis of their nature. Let us turn to affairs more usual.

I have happened to know intimately members of three professions--
ministers, nurses, teachers-and I find self-sacrifice a matter of
daily practice with them all. To it the minister is dedicated. He must
not look for gain. He has a salary, of course; but it is much in the
nature of a fee, a means of insuring him a certain kind of living. And
while it is common enough to find a minister studying how he may make
money in his parish, it is commoner far to find one bent on seeing how
he can make righteousness prevail there, though it overwhelm him. The
other professions do not so manifestly aim at self-sacrifice. They are
distinctly money-making. They exact a given sum for a given service.
Still, in them too how constantly do we see that that which is given
far outruns that which is paid for. I have watched pretty closely the
work of a dozen or more trained nurses, and I believe it Would be hard
to find any class in the community showing a higher average of
estimable character. How quiet they are under the most irritating
circumstances! How fully they pour themselves into the lives of their
patients! How prompt is the deft hand! How considerate the swift
intelligence! Their hearts are aglow over what can be given, not over
what can be got. A similar temper is widely observable among teachers,
especially among those of the lower grades. Paid though they are for a
certain task, how indisposed they are to limit themselves to that task
or to confine their care of their children to the schoolroom! The
hard-worked creatures acquire an intimate interest in the little lives
and, heedless of themselves, are continually ready to spend and be
spent for those who cannot know what they receive. Among such teachers