A MODERN STOIC—HIS MODEST OBSCURITY—WHAT RELIGION HAS DONE FOR NIELS—PHILOSOPHIC WAY IN WHICH HE VIEWS DEATH.

Of the many who have witnessed Niels pursuing his toilsome way between his home and the Temple—a distance of about a mile—leaning upon his crutch and moving along at a slow but steady gait, perhaps not one has had a definite idea of what a heroic effort it has required for him to walk at all, and how his constant pain has been increased thereby.

Perhaps none of his fellow workers in the temple, who are in the daily habit of gazing upon his sphinx-like countenance as he silently passes among them, ever even dream that he is the best modern example of the stoic that this region has ever known, the physical agony that he suffers being never betrayed by word or facial expression.

Though casually known to many, he has scarcely been intimate with any. Even the facts pertaining to his life that are herein divulged, had to be fairly pried out of him by degrees, and they will doubtless be a revelation to many of his acquaintances when they read this recital. If his real condition had been generally known in the past, his every want would have been anticipated and supplied by his kind-hearted neighbors or the relief society. The chivalrous boy scouts might have adopted him as their protege, and done what they could to make his home cheerful, or otherwise lighten his burdens, and dyspeptics and other victims of luxurious living might have been making pilgrimages to his house to learn the secret of his long and useful life under such unfavorable conditions.

Possibly it is as well that he has been allowed to make his own way in the world. If he had been petted and pampered, and not had the incentive of want to spur him to exertion, he probably would never have accomplished anything worth mentioning, or that would have distinguished him from the great number of unfortunates that only excite our pity.

Niels acknowledges his indebtedness to the Gospel for all the comfort he has experienced in life. Indeed, without its sustaining power, it is doubtful whether he could have lived as long as he has, or retained his reason, if he had so lived. Without it, he could have had no desire to live; and, failing to find relief in death, his bodily suffering would probably have made of him a raving maniac or a driveling imbecile. As already mentioned, he was converted to the Gospel some time before he was baptized. He has never since entertained a doubt as to its truth. One might as well try to convince him that the sun does not shine, as that the Gospel is not true. Since his baptism he has been unwavering in his devotion to his religion. He has doubtless got more out of his religion than most adherents do. It has been the controlling inspiration of his life. He has been zealous, without being fanatical; devout, without outward expression. He has been a regular attendant at meetings (until he became in recent years too deaf to hear the preaching,) but never ambitious to take part therein. He feels amply repaid in the joy and satisfaction that have come to him for all the labors he has performed, and all the sufferings he has endured. He has no fear of death, but does not court it. He is content to live as long as the Lord is willing to have him do so ^[1]. He seeks no notoriety. He is the very personification of modesty. He is willing to be regarded as a grain of dust, an insignificant atom, and plod on in obscurity during the remainder of his mortal existence, as he has done in the past, without attracting any attention.

The author of this sketch has known Niels casually for years, but never discovered his real character until quite recently. For aught he knows, he may be the original discoverer. He regards as a very great compliment from Niels, the statement that he understood his character and motives as no one else had done before. He sought the acquaintance and confidence of Niels—was not sought by him. He it was, and not Niels, who conceived the idea of reducing to writing some of the incidents of his eventful life, and who surprised him later with a proposition to publish the same. The author is responsible for all deductions expressed herein, the facts alone having been somewhat reluctantly mentioned by Niels, but he has perused the story and endorsed it as correct, with some evident misgiving as to the possible resultant notoriety.

Plate as described below

His Tombstone

If benefits to the many constitute the true standard by which success should be gauged, the life of Niels has certainly been a successful one; and the record herein set forth of the adverse conditions which have surrounded him, and his wonderful accomplishments in view thereof, should be an inspiration to every person who feels that his life's burden is heavy, and who is privileged to read this simple recital.

If the unselfish work to which Niels has devoted such a large part of his life had no other beneficial effect than to sweeten the lives and render lovable the characters of those who engage therein; to develop in them genuine love for their fellows and true charity—a willingness to benefit others without hope of reward therefor—and to make them cheerful, and hopeful and buoyant when otherwise they might be despondent and gloomy, surely that work is not in vain. Indeed it would even then compare favorably with almost any other that claims the attention of mankind.

If the "Mormon" theory be correct, the Gospel ordinances absolutely essential to the salvation and exaltation of mankind may be received by the living vicariously for the benefit of the dead. The dead, too, through an intelligent acceptance in the spirit world of the conditions of salvation, including the vicarious work voluntarily undertaken in their behalf on earth, may enjoy all the Gospel privileges.

Assuming that this theory is correct, what more important labor could a person engage in than that performed in the Temples? Is there any work on earth more free from the taint of selfishness? Is there anything a person could engage in that savors more of true Christian charity? Is not the satisfaction experienced by such earnest, sincere, conscientious people as Niels a strong evidence of the truth and efficacy of the work? Is not the assurance that Niels and thousands of others have received through the testimony of the Spirit, as to the work being acceptable to the dead in whose behalf it is done, and agreeable to the will of the Almighty, worthy of consideration?

The work done in the temple in behalf of the dead differs in this respect from other forms of charity—there is no danger of it making the one who performs it vainglorious. He is not open to the suspicion that the Pharisees of old were, in their giving of alms—a desire for applause, or "to be seen of men." Niels has not become puffed up because of what he has accomplished. He does not pose as anybody's benefactor. He assumes no heroic airs. There is no halo surrounding him such as "limners give to be the beloved disciple." He is just a modest, humble, obscure cripple, known to his neighbors, who are sufficiently acquainted with him to call him by name as Niels Larsen ^[2]; who is content to live and die without attaining to any distinction, who is advertised for the first time in this recital, and this without any desire or request on his part. He was the most insignificant and unpromising (not to say despised) of all his kindred, the tag end, as it were, of the aristocratic and once powerful families from which he had descended. He is the only one of a numerous kindred (so far as known) who has accepted of the Gospel. Possibly others of them, as well as the brother and sister-in-law already mentioned, have rejected the Gospel because of their shame of him.

Is it not possible that this stone which these builders of the family's reputation rejected may yet become the chief corner? That this despised of all his race may yet become the head of it? In view of the vast work that he has accomplished in behalf of his progenitors, may we not anticipate the grateful homage that he will receive from them in the next world, when he, as a resurrected being, will stand in their midst—not as a cripple, deformed, and dwarfed, and weak, and racked with pain, as he has been during most of his mortal career, but resplendent in all the glory of a perfected manhood, his physical body conforming in stature and appearance to his spiritual body, a very king among his fellows! Imagine, too, the joyful acclaim with which he will then be greeted by the numerous host who are not of his immediate kindred, for whose salvation he has unselfishly labored in mortality. Then will the pain and suffering and fatigue and humiliation which he endured in this life seem as nothing compared with the treasures in heaven which he will receive, and the limits and besetments of mortality be forgotten and swallowed up in its fruition—the joys and glories of an endless immortality.

Footnotes:1. Niels has a very confident feeling that he will live to be 82 years of age, but whether the call comes to quit this mortal life sooner or later he intends to be prepared for it, and the completeness of his arrangements for his burial and for perpetuating a knowledge of his burial place indicates the complacency with which he regards death. Some time since he purchased a quarter of a lot in the cemetery, and had a very substantial granite monument made to his order and erected thereon. An inscription upon it gives his name, date and place of his birth, his parentage, and Salt Lake City as the place of his death, with blank space below upon which to chisel in the date of his passing away. He also keeps his burial clothes, made by himself, all nicely laundried, in readiness to place upon his body when death shall overtake him. This too is another illustration of his independence, and disposition to do things himself rather than trust to others.

Since the erection of his tombstone, a lady who was somewhat acquainted with him happened to be in the cemetery and saw it. She read the inscription with surprise and sorrow. She failed to notice that the date of his death was lacking, and very naturally concluded that he had died and been buried, and was surprised that it could have happened without the news of it having reached her. She mourned to think she would never see him again, and that she had not even attended his funeral and manifested the respect she had for one whose suffering and inoffensiveness had so strongly appealed to her. In a pensive mood she returned home and told her friends how shocked and sorrow stricken she was at learning for the first time on seeing his monument of the death of her friend.

A few days later she was tripping across Main Street without any thought of death in her mind, when she suddenly beheld his familiar figure slowly moving down the side walk. She was so startled at sight of what she thought must be an apparition that she stood transfixed until she was aroused by the hoot of an approaching automobile, and narrowly escaped being knocked down and run over.2. A custom prevails very generally among the peasantry throughout Scandinavia of changing the surname from generation to generation, while among the aristocracy the rule is to maintain the same surname in a family as one generation succeeds another. An exception to this latter rule sometimes occurs when a branch of an aristocratic family does not inherit wealth, or through some misfortune becomes financially reduced, and has to take rank per force with the peasantry. Then, notwithstanding the aristocratic lineage, the peasant method of changing the surname of the progeny from father to son is followed.

As already mentioned in this narrative, Niels was of aristocratic lineage on both his father's and mother's side. They were, however, of minor branches that did not inherit much wealth. The father, though given in infancy the family surname of Eskildz, was known more generally throughout his lifetime by his given name of Lars Nielsen, and called Eskildz more as a nickname than otherwise, or as a means of distinguishing him from others having the name of Lars Nielsen. When Niels was born he was named Niels Larsen, in accordance with the peasant custom, and it was not until he commenced his work in the house of the Lord that he assumed his rightful ancestral name, and is even now scarcely known outside of the Temple by the name of Eskildz.

Niels' father and mother were second cousins. His mother's maiden name was Marie Olesen Myre. As may be inferred from the relationship existing between them before marriage, theirs was not the first marriage between the Eskildz and Myre families. Some branches of these two families were very wealthy and influential when Niels was a boy, which fact, however, was of no advantage to their poorer relatives, among whom were Niels and his parents.