_5. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Each Other:_ There is still another phase of this suffering on account of sin, and one that draws very near to the point I am trying to reach. There is among men, and especially among men of highly sensitive natures, a willingness to suffer _for_ others. Take the case, for instance, of David and Absolom. Absolom was the most worthless of all David's many worthless sons; he had planned rebellion against the grand old king; he would have clutched the crown from the hoary head of David and put it upon his own. In every way he had warred against the honor and the interests o. his noble father. Yet when news was brought to the king that the worthless young man had been caught in the battle and slain, the old king was stricken with sorrow, and gave vent to the parent-cry that rings through all the ages--"Oh Absolom, my son! my son! would to God I had died for thee!" In this experience of David's we see the willingness of one to suffer _for_ another. Nor is this willingness confined to parents alone who would so often and so willingly take upon themselves the consequences of their children's sins, though those consequences involved death. The same willingness exists on the part of the children, but perhaps is less frequently manifested, to suffer for their parents. The same is true also as to brothers and sisters, and among friends, where no tie of consanguinity exists; and even among strangers, on the occasion of great, imminent danger, this impulse in man, this willingness to risk his own life for others is frequently manifested. Such experiences make up the history of heroism, which is the chief glory of our human race.