Sweet Cicely or Josiah Allen as a Politician Part 27

"Why-ee!" says I. "How you talk!" says I. "Have you ever read the Bible?"

He said "He had, his grandmother owned one. And he had seen it in early youth."

And then he went on, sort o' apologizin', "He had always meant to read it through. But he had entered political life at an early age, and he believed he had never read any more of it, only portions of Gulliver's Travels. He believed," he said, "he had read as far as Lilliputions."

Says I, "That hain't in the Bible,-you mean Gallatians."

"Wall," he said, "that might be it. It was some man, he knew, and he had always heard and believed that man was the only worker G.o.d had chosen."

"Why," says I, "the one great theme of the New Testament,-the redemption of the world through the birth of the Christ,-no man had any thing to do with that whatever. Our divine Lord was born of G.o.d and woman.

"Heavenly plan of redemption for fallen humanity. G.o.d Himself called women into that work,-the divine work of helpin' a world.

"G.o.d called her. Mary had no dream of publicity, no desire for a world's work of sufferin' and renunciation. The soft airs of Gallilee wrapped her about in its sweet content, as she dreamed her quiet dreams in maiden peace, dreamed, perhaps, of domestic love and quiet and happiness.

"From that sweetest silence, the restful peace of happy, innocent girlhood, G.o.d called her to her divine work of helpin' to redeem a world from sin.

"And did not this woman's love, and willin' obedience, and sufferin', and the shame of the world, set her apart, babtize her for this work of liftin' up the fallen, helpin' the weak?

"Is it not a part of woman's life that she gave at the birth and the crucifixion?-her faith, her hope, her sufferin', her glow of divine pity and joyful martyrdom. These, mingled with the divine, the pure heavenly, have they not for 1800 years been blessin' the world? The G.o.d in Christ would awe us too much: we would s.h.i.+eld our faces from the too blindin' glare of the pure G.o.d-like. But the tender Christ, who wept over a sinful city, and the grave of His friend, who stopped dyin' upon the cross, to comfort his mother's heart, provide for her future-it is this element in our Lord's nature that makes us dare to approach Him, dare to kneel at His feet.

"And since woman wus so blessed as to be counted worthy to be co-worker with G.o.d in the beginnin' of a world's redemption; since He called her from the quiet obscurity of womanly rest and peace, into the blessed martyrdom of renunciation and toil and sufferin', all to help a world that cared nothing for her, that cried out shame upon her,-will He not help her to carry on the work that she helped commence? Will He not approve of her continuin' in it? Will He not protect her in it?

"Yes: she cannot be harmed, since His care is over her; and the cause she loves, the cause of helpin' men and wimmen, is G.o.d's cause too, and G.o.d will take care of His own. Herods full of greed, and frightened selfishness, may try to break her heart, by efforts to kill the child she loves; but she will hold it so close to her bosom, that he can't destroy it. And the light of the divine will go before her, showin' the way she must go, over the desert, maybe; but she shall bear it into safety."

"You spoke of Herod," says he dreamily. "The name sounds familiar to me: was not Mr. Herod once in the United-States Congress?"

"No," says I. "He died some years ago. But he has relatives there now, I think, judging from recent laws. You ask who Herod was; and, as it all seems to be a new story to you, I will tell you. That when the Saviour of the world was born in Bethlehem, and a woman was tryin' to save His life, a man by the name of Herod was tryin' his best, out of selfishness, and love of gain, to murder him."

"Ah! that was not right in Herod."

"No," says I. "It hain't been called so. And what wuzn't right in him, hain't right in his relations, who are tryin' to do the same thing to-day. But," says I reasonably, "because Herod was so mean, it hain't no sign that all men was mean. Joseph, now, was likely as he could be."

"Joseph," says he pensively. "Do you allude to our senator from Connecticut,-Joseph R. Hawley?"

"No, no," says I. "He is likely, as likely can be, and is always on the right side of questions-middlin' handsome too. But I am talkin' Bible-I am talkin' about Joseph, jest plain Joseph, and nothin' else."

"Ah! I see I am not fully familiar with that work. Being so engrossed in politics, and political literature, I don't get any time to devote to less important publications."

Says I candidly, "I knew you hadn't read it, I knew it the minute you mentioned the Book of Lilliputions. But, as I was a sayin', Joseph was a likely man. He did the very best he could with what he had to do with. He had the strength to lead the way, to overcome obsticles, to keep dangers from Mary, to protect her tenderer form with the mantilly of his generous devotion.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BEARING THE BABY PEACE.]

"But she carried the child on her bosom. Pondering high things in her heart that Joseph had never dreamed of. That is what is wanted now, and in the future. The man and the woman walking side by side. He, a little ahead mebby, to keep off dangers by his greater strength and courage. She, a carryin' the infant Christ of love, bearin' the baby Peace in her bosom, carrying it into safety from them that seek to murder it.

"And, as I said before, if G.o.d called woman into this work, He will enable her to carry it through. He will protect her from her own weaknesses, and from the misapprehensions and hard judgments and injustices of a gain- saying world.

"Yes, the star of hope is rising in the sky, brighter and brighter; and the wise men are even now coming from afar over the desert, seeking diligently where this redeemer is to be found." He sot demute. He did not frame a reply: he had no frame, and I knew it. Silence rained for some time; and finally I spoke out solemnly through the rain,-

"Will you do Dorlesky's errents? Will you give her her rights? And will you break the Whisky Ring?"

He said he would love to do Dorlesky's errents. He said I had convinced him that it would be just and right to do 'em, but the Const.i.tution of the United States stood up firm against 'em. As the laws of the United State wuz, he could not make any move towards doin' either of the errents.

Says I, "Can't the laws be changed?"

"Be changed? Change the laws of the United States? Tamper with the glorious Const.i.tution that our 4 fathers left us-an immortal, sacred legacy?"

He jumped right up on his feet, in his surprise, and kinder shook, as if he was skairt most to death, and tremblin' with borrow. He did it to skair me, I knew; and I wuz most skaird, I confess, he acted so horrowfied. But I knew I meant well towards the Const.i.tution, and our old 4 fathers; and my principles stiddied me, and held me middlin' firm and serene. And when he asked me agin in tones full of awe and horrow,-

"Can it be that I heard my ear aright? or did you speak of changing the unalterable laws of the United States-tampering with the Const.i.tution?"

Says I, "Yes, that is what I said."

Oh, how his body kinder shook, and how sort o' wild he looked out of his eyes at me!

Says I, "Hain't they never been changed?"

He dropped that skairful look in a minute, and put on a firm, judicial one. He gin up; he could not skair me to death: and says he,-

"Oh, yes! they have been changed in cases of necessity."

Says I, "For instance, durin' the late war, it was changed to make Northern men cheap blood-hounds and hunters."

"Yes," he said. "It seemed to be a case of necessity and econimy."

"I know it," says I. "Men was cheaper than any other breed of blood-hounds the planters had employed to hunt men and wimmen with, and more faithful."

"Yes," he said. "It was doubtless a case of clear econimy."

And says I, "The laws have been changed to benifit whisky-dealers."

"Wall, yes," he said. "It had been changed to enable whisky-dealers to utelize the surplufus liquor they import." Says he, gettin' kinder animated, for he was on a congenial theme,-

"n.o.body, the best calculators in drunkards, can't exactly calculate on how much whisky will be drunk in a year; and so, ruther than have the whisky- dealers suffer loss, the laws had to be changed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CASE OF NECESSITY.]

"And then," says he, growin' still more candid in his excitement, "we are makin' a powerful effort to change the laws now, so as to take the tax off of whisky, so it can be sold cheaper, and be obtained in greater quant.i.ties by the ma.s.ses. Any such great laws for the benifit of the nation, of course, would justify a change in the Const.i.tution and the laws; but for any frivolous cause, any trivial cause, madam, we male custodians of the sacred Const.i.tution would stand as walls of iron before it, guarding it from any shadow of change. Faithful we will be, faithful unto death."

Says I, "As it has been changed, it can be again. And you jest said I had convinced you that Dorlesky's errents wus errents of truth and justice, and you would love to do 'em."

"Well, yes, yes-I would love to-as it were-But really, my dear madam, much as I would like to oblige you, I have not the time to devote to it. We senators and Congressmen are so driven, and hard-worked, that really we have no time to devote to the cause of Right and Justice. I don't think you realize the constant pressure of hard work, that is ageing us, and wearing us out, before our day.

"As I said, we have to watch the liquor-interest constantly, to see that the liquor-dealers suffer no loss-we have to do that. And then, we have to look sharp if we cut down the money for the Indian schools."

Says I, in a sarcastick tone, "I s'pose you worked hard for that."

"Yes," says he, in a sort of a proud tone. "We did, but we men don't begrudge labor if we can advance measures of economy. You see, it was taking sights of money just to Christianize and civilize Injuns-savages. Why, the idea was worse than useless, it wus perfectly ruinous to the Indian agents. For if, through those schools, the Indians had got to be self-supporting and intelligent and Christians, why, the agents couldn't buy their wives and daughters for a yard of calico, or get them drunk, and buy a horse for a gla.s.s bead, and a farm for a pocket lookin'-gla.s.s. Well, thank fortune, we carried that important measure through; we voted strong; we cut down the money anyway. And there is one revenue that is still accruing to the Government-or, as it were, the servants of Government, the agents. You see," says he, "don't you, just how important the subjects are, that are wearing down the Congressional and senatorial mind?"

"Yes," says I sadly, "I see a good deal more than I want to."