UNDER the heading “My Lady Nicotine” the Washington Post of February 4 gives, in its editorial columns, the following article, which will be of interest to those who are studying the liquor and tobacco problems:—
Who is smoking all the cigarettes? During the whole of last year these slender specimens of surcease combatted a legion of anti-cigarette crusades in several States, and fought legislative enactments against their sale and consumption; yet there were 930,061,509 more cigarettes sold than during the preceding year. It is a striking record for the little so-called “dude killers” to make.
The total tobacco figures for the year 1907 go far toward proving that man will have his smoke, whatever be the state of his purse or the disturbances of his mind. It seems we smoked up about 8,500,000,000 cigars, something more than a billion little cigars, or cigarros, and about 300,000,000 pounds of pipe tobacco during the twelvemonth. And this in a year accused of being “hard times.” It was quite a lot of money to be puffed away into smoke. Will some statistic-loving brother—or sister—of the anti-tobacconites please tell us how many town lots we could have bought with it?
My Lady Nicotine has become the mistress of civilized man. . . . The excessive use of cigarettes proves that men will not do without tobacco in some form. In spite of legislation and moral crusades against it, it is quite probable that the world will never use less tobacco. Two decades ago there were many men who never smoked. Now it is rare to find one. The “tobacco heart” and the “tobacco eyes,” the cramped chest, and the irritated throat may all be real blood money—wrung from them as part of the price they pay—but men will still woo the fairy spirit of the smoke rings. The doctors may tell that her lips are stained with poison, and others warn that she is sinful, but we will not give her up. Hers is the spell of one we love, and will perish with rather than deny.
Such is the attitude of the confirmed smoker, and the figures show that his name is legion. It is quite probable that he is in the wrong. It is absolutely true7that he spends too much money on his weakness. But is it possible to wean him away from his affection by legislative prohibition? The growing consumption of tobacco, during the years of legal prosecution, does not show it. But possibly the great increase in cigarette consumption is due to the new smoking fad among women!
Perhaps. We will hope not.
And this is but another testimony to the growing power of appetite and passion over will and reason. The statement that “my Lady Nicotine has become the mistress of civilized man” is a remarkable statement, but not more remarkable than true, if by “civilized man” is meant the majority of urban dwellers. It testifies to a decay of high moral stamina and deep religious convictions among the masses that contradicts with unanswerable arguments the declaration that the world is growing better.
One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund
By I. H. EVANS
For Special Work at Home and Abroad
Received on the $150,000 Fundup to Feb. 11, 1908
Atlantic Union ConferenceCentral New England ........$ 2,772.18
Chesapeake ................. 592.01
Eastern Pennsylvania ...... 2,524.80
Greater New York .......... 1,488.51
New Jersey ............... 1,246.95
Maine ...................... 836.51
New York ................. 2,326.50
Southern New England ..... 1,210.50
Vermont .................. 1,331.74
Virginia ................... 862.14
West Pennsylvania .......... 1,905.67
Western New York ........ 2,064.09
West Virginia ............ 558.11
Total ...................... 19,719.71
Canadian Union Conference
Maritime ................... 317.43
Quebec ..................... 155.84
Ontario .................... 803.58
Newfoundland ............... 16.80
Total ...................... 1,293.65
Central Union Conference
Colorado ................... 3,629.92
Kansas ..................... 3,492.85
Missouri ................... 1,683.48
Nebraska ................ 5,817.68
Wyoming .................. 808.00
Total ...................... 15,431.93
District of ColumbiaWashington churches ...... 1,384.54
Lake Union Conference
East Michigan .............. 2,934.01
Indiana .................. 5,215.02
North Michigan ............. 1,705.22
Northern Illinois ........ 2,849.36
Ohio ..................... 5,760.43
Southern Illinois .......... 1,312.99
West Michigan ............ 8,730.70
Wisconsin .................. 4,383.55
Total ...................... 32,891.28
North Pacific Union Conference
British Columbia ........... 216.00
Montana .................... 611.39
Upper Columbia .......... 3,036.43
Western Washington ....... 2,679.18
Idaho ...................... 1,016.90
Western Oregon ............. 2,899.49
Hawaii ..................... 16.05
Alaska ..................... 20.00
Total ...................... 10,495.44
Western Canadian Union ConferenceAlberta .................. 1,203.80
Manitoba ................... 336.55
Saskatchewan Mission Field . 59.60
Total ...................... 1,599.95
Northern Union Conference
Iowa ....................... 7,241.36
Minnesota ................ 5,685.28
South Dakota .............. 2,664.47
North Dakota .............. 2,129.93
Conference not specified .... 73.82
Total ...................... 17,794.86
Pacific Union Conference
Southern California ........ 2,848.63
Arizona ................... 466.79
California-Nevada ........ 10,249.03
Utah ...................... 434.58
Total ...................... 13,999.03
Southern Union Conference
Conference not specified .... 49.65
South Carolina ............ 248.59
Alabama ..................... 577.14
Tennessee River ........... 1,402.51
Florida ..................... 801.89
North Carolina ............ 957.25
Cumberland ................ 1,347.32
Louisiana ................. 572.54
Mississippi ................. 384.88
Georgia ................... 441.47
Total ...................... 6,783.24
Southwestern Union Conference
Not specified ............... 22.82
Arkansas .................... 894.63
Oklahoma .................... 3,924.79
Texas ....................... 2,284.24
Total ...................... 7,126.48
Unknown
Unknown .................... 161.70
ForeignAlgeria .................. 13.33
Australia ................... 163.84
Bermuda ..................... 36.00
China ....................... 165.60
South Africa ................ 439.02
Jamaica ..................... 13.41
Yukon Territory ............. 20.00
England ..................... 274.84
West Africa .............. 50.00
Mexico ...................... 65.97
Costa Rica .................. 8.25
India ....................... 187.50
South America ............... 76.43
Switzerland ................. 9.69
Panama ...................... 27.11
Nicaragua ................... 4.00
Central American Mission .... 26.00
Trinidad .................... 28.69
Norway ...................... 25.00
Japan ....................... 12.50
Hayti ....................... 5.00
Egypt .................... 51.55
Palestine ................... 2.00
Tobago, W. I. ............... 1.22
Cuba ........................ 8.00
Hungary ..................... 3.00
Tahiti ...................... 14.88
France ...................... 6.80
Philippine Islands .......... 1.00
Samoa ....................... 8.00
Barbados .................... 5.00
Portugal .................... 1.00
Straits Settlements ......... 10.08
Pitcairn Island ............. 20.00
New Zealand ................. 1.52
Fiji ........................ 4.87
Total ...................... 1,789.10
Grand Total ................ $130,470.91
I. H. EVANS, Treasurer.
A Judge on Pulpit Politics
The following article from the Kansas City Star, coming from the immediate vicinity of Judge Wallace's field of activity in the Sunday-enforcement campaign, will be read with interest by all. Judge Phillips' rebuke of pulpit politics is timely, and touches the heart of the matter. We quote:—
The first opportunity that Judge John F. Phillips has to tell the preachers they preach too much about politics, Sunday closing, and affairs that concern the civil administration of the state and nation he is going to do it. He said so yesterday, and he said some other things too. Judge Phillips is a Presbyterian, and so is Judge Wallace, but they do not hold the same views about Sunday closing.
“This trying to force men to observe Sunday instead of preaching to them the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ that will make them good is radically wrong,” Judge Phillips said. “The complaint is that too few people attend church. No wonder! People go to church to hear the beauties of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to worship God, not to hear the preachers talk about what they see in the papers, about the things that are at fault in the business world, about politics, and about various other things that a man struggles with during all the week, and longs to get away from on Sunday.
“The preacher is not expected to take up every reform issue that comes along in the administration of civil affairs. The very minute that preachers begin dabbling in politics and the administration of civil affairs and passing resolutions about things separate and distinct from the affairs of the church, they forsake their calling as preachers of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and arouse prejudice and hatred in the hearts of men over questions which should be separate from the church.”
The judge’s remarks should appeal with striking force to every true exponent of the gospel of our Lord, and to every man who values the bread of life above the husks of trivial and temporal things.
The Road to Honor
By ELLA M. ROBINSON
ELLA M. ROBINSON
The banquet hall was silent, and the revelers gone.
The prince his chamber sought, and, in the solitude,
Gazed out into the chilly blackness of the night,
And fondly wished the glimmer of the coming morn—
Wished he might see but one fond token of the morn.
The elements were raging wild and fierce without;
The Storm Wind and the Torrent sang their mournful dirge;
Yet deeper far the midnight in that prince's soul,
And fiercer there the storm of anxious fear and doubt—
Aye, darker, deeper, wilder, than all storms without.
“O Life! how empty thou of all that men call joy!
Thou heldest yesterday the apple temptingly;
To-day its sweetness turns to ashes on our lips;
To-morrow memory’s core remains but to annoy;—
Pray, hast thou aught of gold but turns to base alloy?”
“O, why was man created but for one short day
Of disappointments sore? Or can there be beyond
A bright, eternal future, full of peace and joy?”
Then through the rifted cloud, stole one lone, feeble ray:
It was the morning star, the harbinger of day.
It pierced the gloom around, as tenderly it shone,
A star of hope to light one dark and lonely soul.
“O Maker and Upholder of yon glorious orbs,
Thy plan is broad enough for all; thy power I own;
O, grant me, holy Lord, a place near to thy throne.”
He slept, and in his dream a shining one stood by,
Who spoke, a holy radiance beaming from his brow:
“O prince, thy prayer is heard. The great God loveth him
Who is of humble heart. The Lofty One and High
Doth seek the contrite soul, and to the meek draws nigh.
“O, humble now thyself, and I will write thy name
Upon this glorious page! Yet through eternity
Thou shalt be lowliest of all the ransomed ones; But there is room for thee if thou dost not seek fame.
O, speak the word alone, and I will write thy name!”
With scorn the prince replied, “Thy humble blessings keep;
I choose the robe and crown, though but for life’s few years;
For heaven would be hell stripped of my majesty.
Not service, but a crown of glory do I seek.”
The angel turned, and wept such tears as angels weep.
But still the prince dreamed on, and there before his view,
He saw the Saviour bear his cross toward Calvary,
And while rude soldiers pierced those precious hands and feet,
The sufferer prayed, “Forgive, they know not what they do.”
He heard the cry, “‘Tis done.” A voice said, “For you—
“For you he bore the cross and died a death of shame.”
The prince awoke. ’Twas morn, and in that gilded room,
He bent the humble knee, and breathed a contrite prayer:
“I care naught for this world, its glory, honor, fame,
If only thou wilt hear me for his precious name.
“Thy power, how great! but O, how wonderful thy love!
O, grant me, Lord, a share of thy abounding store,
That I may know the joy of humble service here,
And worthy be to fill a lowly place above!
O, may I see, and know, and serve the One I love!”
Again we see the prince; his hair is silvery white.
How bent! How slow his steps! A simple robe he wears.
His wealth has gone to bless the peasants round his door;
Another bears his crown; his brow wears heaven’s pure light;
And by a humble cot he kneels to pray at night.
He sleeps, and in his dream again he seems to see
The messenger divine, who whispers, bending low,
“Thy Heavenly Father knows thy humble work of love;
And, hark! he hath prepared an honored place for thee
Among the ransomed ones; for thou shalt ever be,
“Through all eternity, near to the Blessed One
Whom all high heaven adore; and he shall teach thee more
Of his eternal power, and boundless love divine;
For thou shalt view each star, and go from sun to sun
With Jesus as thy guide,”—thus spake the shining one.
Sanitarium, Cal.
A Revival and a Reformation
By Ellen G. White
The Return of the Exiles— No. 14
A Revival and a Reformation
MRS. E. G. WHITE
The coming of Ezra and his company to Jerusalem brought courage and hope into the hearts of many who had long labored under trying difficulties. Since the first company of exiles had returned with Zerubbabel and Joshua, over seventy years before, much had been accomplished in the work of restoration. The temple had been finished; the walls of the city had been partially repaired. Yet much remained undone. At times, the people had become disheartened, and had well-nigh ceased all effort to restore the city. Even during the years of comparative peace following the troublous times of Queen Esther, but little was done to uphold the wall.
The indifference of many of the Israelites who had returned, is directly traceable to their violation of the plain precepts of the law given at Sinai. Some who had returned, remained faithful; but many of their children and children's children, lost sight of the law of heaven. The Mosaic code, given for the good of the people, was sadly disregarded. Sin was in the camp. Even some of the men who had been entrusted with sacred responsibilities, lived in open sin. Their course of action largely neutralized the efforts of others to advance the cause of God; for so long as flagrant violations of God's law were allowed to go on unrebuked, the blessing of heaven could not rest richly upon the people.
In the providence of God, those who returned with Ezra had sought the Lord earnestly, before undertaking their journey. They had humbled themselves before God, confessing their sins, and imploring forgiveness. With agony of soul they had pleaded for divine guidance and blessing. The experiences through which they had just passed, led them to realize that in God alone was their strength, and that sin, by separating them from the source of their power, would leave them weak and defenseless. Many of them had become strong in faith; and as these mingled with the discouraged and the indifferent, their influence for good was a powerful factor in the work of reform instituted soon afterward by Ezra.
On the fourth day after the arrival at Jerusalem, the treasures of silver and gold, with the vessels for the service of the sanctuary, were delivered by the treasurers into the hands of the temple officers. Every article was examined “by number and by weight.” The delivery of the treasures was made in the presence of witnesses, with the utmost exactitude. Nothing had been lost. The care exercised in this transaction is an object-lesson of the care with which the Lord would be pleased to have the affairs of his cause conducted at all times and in every place.
The children of the captivity who had returned with Ezra, “offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel,” for a9sin-offering, and as a token of gratitude and thanksgiving for the protection of holy angels during their journey. “And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river; and they furthered the people, and the house of God.”
Ezra's arrival at Jerusalem was opportune. His brethren were in great need of the influence of his presence. Soon after his return, some of the chief men of Israel approached him with a serious complaint. Some of “the people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites,” had so far lost sight of the holy character of the commands of Jehovah given them through Moses, that they had intermarried with the surrounding heathen peoples. “They have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons,” Ezra was informed, “so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people” of heathen lands; “yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.”
In his study of the causes that led to the Babylonish captivity, Ezra had learned that the terrible apostasy of Israel was largely traceable to their mingling with the surrounding nations. Had they obeyed God's command to keep separate from the heathen, they would have been spared many sad and humiliating experiences. And so, when the servant of God was informed that notwithstanding the plain lessons of the past, men of prominence in Israel had dared transgress the laws given them as a safeguard against apostasy, his heart was made inexpressibly sad. “When I heard this thing,” he says, “I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonished.”
“Then were assembled unto me every one that trembleth at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.” The servant of God suffered intense agony of soul over the commission of sins so grievous by those who had had great light and privileges.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Ezra arose, and, once more rending his garment and his mantle, he fell upon his knees, and unburdened his soul in earnest supplication to God. Spreading out his hands unto the Lord, he exclaimed, “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.”
Ezra remembered the goodness of God in again giving his people a foothold in their native land, and he was overwhelmed with righteous indignation and with grief at the thought of their ingratitude.
“Since the days of our fathers,” the humble suppliant continued, “have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets. . . . And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we can not stand before thee because of this.”
Ezra's language in this petition is that of true humiliation of soul, the contrition that prevails with God in prayer. Only the prayer of the humble enters into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. “Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” “To this man will I look,” saith the Lord, “even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
The sorrow of Ezra and of his associates over the evils that had insidiously crept into the very heart of the Lord's work, wrought repentance. Many of those who had sinned, were deeply affected. “The people wept very sore.” They had begun to realize, in a limited degree, the heinousness of sin, and the horror with which God regards it. The sacredness of the law spoken at Sinai was brought clearly before their minds, and many trembled at the thought of their transgressions.
One of the company, Shechaniah by name, acknowledged that all the words spoken by Ezra were true. “We have trespassed against our God,” he confessed, “and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.” Shechaniah proposed that all who had transgressed, should make a covenant with God to forsake their lives of sin, and to be adjudged “according to the law.” “Arise,” he bade Ezra, “for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.”
“Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word.”
This was the beginning of a wonderful reformation. With infinite patience and tact, and with careful consideration for the rights and welfare of every individual concerned, Ezra and his associates labored to lead the repentant of Israel into a right way of living. Above all things else, Ezra was a teacher of the law; and as he gave personal attention to the examination of every case, he sought to impress upon the mind of the sinner the holiness of the law of heaven, and the blessings to be gained through obedience to this law.
(To be concluded)
M. E. KERN
By M. E. KERN
The Bible in Education—No. 3
M. E. KERN
ENOUGH has been said perhaps to show the Bible to contain the foundation principles of all knowledge. Thus the truths of the Bible are the pedestal upon which all knowledge rests, and as creatures of God's handiwork we are absolutely helpless intellectually and spiritually without his revelation. Any system of education which does not contain this Book as its foundation can not educate man to fulfil the purpose of his creation, but is built on the inventions of man, and will go down when everything that is artificial and untrue shall perish.
To the mind that has gotten a firm grasp of truth there is a unity of all knowledge, and the artificial divisions for the sake of study and teaching do not appear as something entirely distinct and separate from the other lines of thought. All truth is God's truth; and if the teacher is permeated with the Bible, and it is a very part of his life, and he recognizes the fact that it contains the foundation of all knowledge, it will affect his consideration of every subject; and without any forced or mechanical process, he will teach what he has seen and heard, he will lead his students to the fountain from which he quenches his thirst. I care not whether he is teaching the life of Jesus or the principles of mathematics, this will be true. If the Bible is brought in in any other way, it is the form without the Spirit, and the students will intuitively feel that there is something insincere about it. The truly Christian teacher who understands these principles will spiritualize so-called common things, while the theoretically Christian teacher will allow the spiritual to become common. The monks were wont to withdraw themselves from the world, and adopt every device to keep themselves spiritual, even to having sacred music played during meals; but the evil was within, and such methods would not alter it.
I thoroughly believe in the use of the Bible in every branch of education, and that the first impressions of the child should be from the very words of the Holy Book. Gladstone, in his dying hours, repeated the Lord's prayer10in French. Why?—Because those words, taught in childhood by his French nurse, were most lasting. Let the mind be filled with the words of God, and as fast as character develops, let those divine principles take hold on the life till everything is done for God, and every study, whether it be an end in itself or a means to an end, will be looked upon as a part of God's plan.
Let us study the Bible as an educational book in some branches of learning.
Literature
Literature is of value as a discussion of life problems, in the best way, appealing to that essential faculty, the imagination, as well as the reason. Where are life problems solved as in the Bible? It is a library of literature, comprising many forms and discussing the great problem of life, present and future. A large part of the Old Testament is poetry, and the most competent critics are agreed that “no poetry in the world excels, or even equals, it in the grandeur and elevation of its spirit, and the boldness, beauty, and sublimity of its imagery.” Carlyle says: “I call that Book, apart from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever written with pen—a noble book; all men's book. It is our first, oldest statement of the never-ending problem,—man's destiny, and God's way with him here on earth. And all in such fine flowing outlines; grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity, in its epic melody, and repose of reconciliation. There is the seeing eye, the mildly understanding heart. So true every way; true eyesight and vision for all things, material things no less than spiritual.”
Macaulay alludes to the Bible as “that stupendous work, the English Bible,—a Book, which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.”
Richard G. Moulton says: “Even in literary form the world has produced nothing greater than Isaiah; and the very difficulty of determining its literary form is so much evidence how cramped and imperfect literary criticism has been made by the confinement of its outlook to the single type of literature which has come to monopolize the name ‘classical.’ But when we proceed to the matter and thought of Isaiah,—the literary matter, quite apart from the theology founded on it,—how can we explain the neglect of such a masterpiece in our plans of liberal education? It is the boast of England and America that their higher education is religious in the spirit. Why is it, then, that our youth are taught to associate exquisiteness of expression, force of presentation, brilliance of imaginative picturing, only with literatures in which the prevailing matter and thought are on a low moral plane? Such a paradox is part of the paganism which came in with the Renaissance, and which our higher education is still too conservative to shake off.”—“Modern Reader's Bible.”
College View, Neb.
The Genius of the Mountain
A Vision and a Sermon
[Under this title there appeared Nov. 3, 1906, in Town Talk, a weekly paper published in San Francisco, a rather remarkable article written by Theodore Bonnet, dealing with the experiences of San Francisco, in which, under the form of an allegory, the real meaning of the earthquake was clearly pointed out. The first part of the article gives the setting of the allegory, in which a “Young Man” is represented as leaving the city, depressed by his meditations concerning the disaster, and especially because the fair fame of San Francisco was being dimmed by the reports of crime and graft which were being disseminated throughout the country. Going to a mountain, he sat down and wept on account of these troubles. Then the “Benign Genius,” “much versed in the ways mysterious of an Inexplicable Providence,” came forward to interpret the lessons of the disaster.—Ed.]
“THEN the Benign Genius sat down by the side of the Young Man and communed with him. And he said unto him: ‘My son, thou shouldest not doubt the evidences thou hast received and art now receiving of the retribution that hath been visited on the city of thy birth. The inhabitants of that fair city were given to evil ways. For lo, these many days, a confederacy of evil has marshaled its forces in the highways.’”
“And the Young Man arose. He was much displeased, and he spake to the Benign Genius, saying: ‘Wouldest thou have me believe that the Lord hath done evil even unto his own servants; that he raised up evil against his own houses, his temples of worship, made for his greater glory?’”
“And the Benign Genius made reply and spake on this manner unto him: ‘Even the ministers of God fall from grace and are in need of chastening. In all that stricken city not one servant of the Lord possessed the courage of his convictions. By none were the people reminded that his writing is upon the wall, whether of the Indian or the porticoes of Greece. In no temple was it told that the Jews of old oft found themselves involved in retributive suffering for what even they, the anointed of the Lord, could not conceive to be serious delinquencies. Not once was it said from the altar that in all times there hath been scoffers at the great exemplifications of the connection of depravity with misery and ruin. I tell thee, my son, that there was no impertinent moralizing in the words of the Philistines. The Holy Book is filled with accounts of spectacles of admonition, of tales of extraordinary convulsions that made men reflect on the hereafter.’”
“And the Young Man wept; for the words of the Benign Genius seared his wounded heart.”
“And the Benign Genius said unto him: ‘When public villainy, too strong for justice, showeth his bold front, the harbinger of ruin is unmistakable; no need then to wait for heaven to dispatch messengers of light or comets to be interpreted by seers, or to wake the dead to warn men of their fall.’”
“And the young man groaned. And he pleaded in palliation of the ways of the stricken inhabitants, that they were uncertain of the character of their rulers.”
“And the Benign Genius frowned and made answer unto him, saying: ‘Thrice they selected from themselves depraved rulers. They shut their eyes to iniquity. My son, dost thou forget that the Mayor of that fair city sacrificed on the altar of his greed the fair name of a young woman that he might give pretext for the consummation of an infamous commerce?’”
“And the Young Man raised his hands in protestation.”
“‘Then,’ said the Benign Genius, ‘behold, the populace laughed at the young woman’s shame, and at the polls once more was the indecent ruler acclaimed. Listen! Why shouldest thou wonder at the ruin of churches? Were the temples not made desecrate even by the ministers of God, who entertained within the sacred walls at money-grabbing festivals that shameless ruler, and there commended him unto the esteem of their flocks?’”
“And once more the Young Man groaned, and pleaded that the ministers had been deceived by hypocrisy incarnate.”
“‘Say not so,’ said the Benign Genius, ‘they trafficked open-eyed with him by whom they were consumed, with the man that devised against them. They heard him proclaim from the housetops his allegiance to the King of Graftopotamia. They saw that king with the connivance of their ruler traffic with iniquity in the purlieus of the town, with keepers of brothels and with keepers of rumshops. I say unto thee that no man was deceived. The ruler of that once fair city paraded as his mentor, one whose stinking reputation sent its effluvia heavenward, stifling the angels above. My son, God is ever just. Oftentimes to the lambs whom he loves he gives by seeming to refuse, but more often his ways are less difficult of comprehension. He that blew the spirit of life into the nostrils of men deals with them as he sees fit; sometimes he is patient, but not always. Sometimes he rebukes with direful cosmic forces, sometimes by making men suffer what seemeth to be the natural consequences of their sins, as in the stricken city to-day where he doth seem to have strewn the path of justice with thorns and briers. I say unto thee that as he plagued Egypt, as he tormented all the congregations of Israel with his wrath, as he committed Jerusalem to the legions of Rome, so did he surrender the inhabitants of the city of your birth and of your love into the hands of Abraham King of Graftopotamia.’”
“‘But,’ pleaded the Young Man, ‘are the afflictions of the city of my birth, never to cease?’”
“And the Benign Genius made reply: ‘Not until the inhabitants thereof cease from their stubborn ways and harken unto the voice of God; not until they have paid the full penalty of their misdeeds. The wicked that are snared in the works of their own hands must come to know God by the judgment which he executeth. What signs of repentance have been given? As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so pants their souls still after wickedness. Even unto this day are men chosen to dispense justice that waver between deviltry and duty. The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted. In the city of thy love at this hour are men that have been licensed to plead for justice. They are of one tribe called Lawyers. They affect concern for the altar of Justice, and tolerate within their midst one by whom their profession hath been exposed to the scorn of the righteous.’”11
“And once more the Young Man wept, and the Benign Genius said unto him: ‘The mercy of the Lord endureth forever. Wilt thou therefore, now being wiser in thy thoughts, promise me that thou wilt go forth and strive to incline men’s hearts away from evil and unto the testimonies which have been vouchsafed them by the Author of their being?’”
“And the Young Man gave his promise, whereupon a shaft of dawn fell athwart the mountain top whence the Benign Genius had vanished.”