Mike Fletcher by George Moore (ebook pc reader .txt) 📕

Do." Herein Lay The Strength Of Mike's Nature; He Won Himself Through

All Reserve,  And Soon John Was Telling Him His State Of Soul: That He

Felt It Would Not Be Right For Him To Countenance With His Presence

Any Longer The Atheism And Immorality Of The Temple. Lady Helen's

Death Had Come For A Warning. "After The Burning Of My Poems,  After

Having Sacrificed So Much,  It Was Indeed A Pitiful Thing To Find

Myself One Of That Shocking Revel Which Had Culminated In The Death

Of That Woman."

"There He Goes Again," Thought Mike,  "Running After His Conscience

Like A Dog After His Tail--A Performing Dog,  Too; One That Likes An

Audience." And To Stimulate The Mental Antics In Which He Was So Much

Interested,  He Said,  "Do You Believe She Is In Hell?"

"I Refrain From Judging Her. She May Have Repented In The Moment Of

Death. God Is Her Judge. But I Shall Never Forget That Morning; And I

Feel That My Presence At Your Party Imposes On Me Some Measure Of

Responsibility. As For You,  Mike,  I Really Think You Ought To

Consider Her Fate As An Omen. It Was You ..."

"For Goodness' Sake,  Don't. It Was Frank Who Invented The Notion That

She Killed Herself Because I Had Been Flirting With Her. I Never

Heard Of Anything So Ridiculous. I Protest. You Know The Absurdly

Sentimental View He Takes. It Is Grossly Unfair."

Knowing Well How To Interest John,  Mike Defended Himself

Passionately,  As If He Were Really Concerned To Place His Soul In A

True Light; And Twenty Minutes Were Agreeably Spent In Sampling,

Classifying,  And Judging Of Motives. Then The Conversation Turned On

The Morality Of Women,  And Mike Judhave Inclined Their Ear To Its Voice! The Dwellers Of The

Kingdom Of Names Have Busied Themselves With The Gay Livery Of The World,

Forgetful That Every Man That Hath Eyes To Perceive And Ears To Hear

Cannot But Readily Recognize How Evanescent Are Its Colors.

A New Life Is,  In This Age,  Stirring Within All The Peoples Of The Earth;

And Yet None Hath Discovered Its Cause Or Perceived Its Motive. Consider

The Peoples Of The West. Witness How,  In Their Pursuit Of That Which Is

Vain And Trivial,  They Have Sacrificed,  And Are Still Sacrificing,

Countless Lives For The Sake Of Its Establishment And Promotion. The

Peoples Of Persia,  On The Other Hand,  Though The Repository Of A

Perspicuous And Luminous Revelation,  The Glory Of Whose Loftiness And

Renown Hath Encompassed The Whole Earth,  Are Dispirited And Sunk In Deep

Lethargy.

O Friends! Be Not Careless Of The Virtues With Which Ye Have Been Endowed,

Neither Be Neglectful Of Your High Destiny. Suffer Not Your Labors To Be

Wasted Through The Vain Imaginations Which Certain Hearts Have Devised. Ye

Are The Stars Of The Heaven Of Understanding,  The Breeze That Stirreth At

The Break Of Day,  The Soft-Flowing Waters Upon Which Must Depend The Very

Life Of All Men,  The Letters Inscribed Upon His Sacred Scroll. With The

Utmost Unity,  And In A Spirit Of Perfect Fellowship,  Exert Yourselves,

That Ye May Be Enabled To Achieve That Which Beseemeth This Day Of God.

Verily I Say,  Strife And Dissension,  And Whatsoever The Mind Of Man

Abhorreth Are Entirely Unworthy Of His Station. Center Your Energies In

The Propagation Of The Faith Of God. Whoso Is Worthy Of So High A Calling,

Let Him Arise And Promote It. Whoso Is Unable,  It Is His Duty To Appoint

Him Who Will,  In His Stead,  Proclaim This Revelation,  Whose Power Hath

Caused The Foundations Of The Mightiest Structures To Quake,  Every

Mountain To Be Crushed Into Dust,  And Every Soul To Be Dumbfounded. Should

The Greatness Of This Day Be Revealed In Its Fullness,  Every Man Would

Forsake A Myriad Lives In His Longing To Partake,  Though It Be For One

Moment,  Of Its Great Glory--How Much More This World And Its Corruptible

Treasures!

Be Ye Guided By Wisdom In All Your Doings,  And Cleave Ye Tenaciously Unto

It. Please God Ye May All Be Strengthened To Carry Out That Which Is The

Will Of God,  And May Be Graciously Assisted To Appreciate The Rank

Conferred Upon Such Of His Loved Ones As Have Arisen To Serve Him And

Magnify His Name. Upon Them Be The Glory Of God,  The Glory Of All That Is

In The Heavens And All That Is On The Earth,  And The Glory Of The Inmates

Of The Most Exalted Paradise,  The Heaven Of Heavens.

Consider The Doubts Which They Who Have Joined Partners With God Have

Instilled Into The Hearts Of The People Of This Land. "Is It Ever

Possible," They Ask,  "For Copper To Be Transmuted Into Gold?" Say,  Yes,  By

My Lord,  It Is Possible. Its Secret,  However,  Lieth Hidden In Our

Knowledge. We Will Reveal It Unto Whom We Will. Whoso Doubteth Our Power,

Let Him Ask The Lord His God,  That He May Disclose Unto Him The Secret,

And Assure Him Of Its Truth. That Copper Can Be Turned Into Gold Is In

Itself Sufficient Proof That Gold Can,  In Like Manner,  Be Transmuted Into

Copper,  If They Be Of Them That Can Apprehend This Truth. Every Mineral

Can Be Made To Acquire The Density,  Form,  And Substance Of Each And Every

Other Mineral. The Knowledge Thereof Is With Us In The Hidden Book.

Say: O Leaders Of Religion! Weigh Not The Book Of God With Such Standards

And Sciences As Are Current Amongst You,  For The Book Itself Is The

Unerring Balance Established Amongst Men. In This Most Perfect Balance

Whatsoever The Peoples And Kindreds Of The Earth Possess Must Be Weighed,

While The Measure Of Its Weight Should Be Tested According To Its Own

Standard,  Did Ye But Know It.

The Eye Of My Loving-Kindness Weepeth Sore Over You,  Inasmuch As Ye Have

Failed To Recognize S He To View This Strange Death As A Symbol,

As A Sign? And If She Had Not Been Killed? If He Had Married Her? To

Escape From These Assaults Of Conscience He Buried His Mind In His

Books And Writings,  Not In His History Of Christian Latin,  For Now

His History Of Those Writers Appeared To Him Sterile,  And He

Congratulated Himself That He Had Outgrown Love Of Such Paradoxes.

Solemn,  And With The Great Curves Of Palms,  The Sky Arched Above

Them,  And All The Coombes Filled With All The Mystery Of Evening

Shadow,  And All Around Lay The Sea--A Rim Of Sea Illimitable.

At The End Of A Long Silence Mike Spoke Of His Poem.

"You Must Have Written A Good Deal Of It By This Time."

"No,  I Have Written Very Little;" And Then Yielding To His Desire To

Astonish,  Confessed He Was Working At A Trilogy On The Life Of

Christ,  And Had Already Decided The Main Lines And Incidents Of The

Three Plays. His Idea Was The Disintegration Of The Legend,  Which Had

United Under A Godhead Certain Socialistic Aspirations Then Prevalent

In Judæa. In His First Play,  _John_,  He Introduces Two Reformers,  One

Of Whom Is Assassinated By John; The Second Perishes In A Street

Broil,  Leaving The Field Free For The Triumph Of Jesus Of Nazareth.

In The Second Play,  _Jesus_,  He Tells The Story Of Jesus And The

Magdalene. She Throws Over Her Protector,  One Of The Rabbi,  And

Refuses Her Admirer,  Judas,  For Jesus. The Rabbi Plots To Destroy

Jesus,  And Employs Judas. In The Third Play,  _Peter_,  He Pictures The

Struggle Of The New Idea In Pagan Rome,  And It Ends In Peter Flying

From Rome To Escape Crucifixion; But Outside The City He Sees Christ

Carrying His Cross,  And Christ Says He Is Going To Be Crucified A

Second Time,  Whereupon Peter Returns To Rome.

As They Descended The Rough Chalk Road Into The Weald,  John Said,  "I

Have Sacrificed Much For My Religion. I Think,  Therefore,  I Have A

Right To Say That It Is Hard That My House Should Be Selected For The

Manufacture Of Blasphemous Trilogies."

Knowing That Argument Would Profit Him Nothing,  Mike Allayed John's

Heaving Conscience With Promises Not To Write Another Line Of The

Trilogy,  And To Devote Himself Entirely To His Poem. At The End Of A

Long Silence,  John Said--

"Now The Very Name Of Schopenhauer Revolts Me. I Accept Nothing Of

His Ideas. From That Ridiculous Pessimism I Have Drifted Very Far

Indeed. Pessimism Is Impossible. To Live We Must Have An Ideal,  And

Pessimism Offers None. So Far It Is Inferior Even To Positivism."

"Pessimism Offers No Ideal! It Offers The Highest--Not To Create Life

Is The Only Good; The Creation Of Life Is The Only Evil; All Else

Which Man In His Bestial Stupidity Calls Good And Evil Is Ephemeral

And Illusionary."

"Schopenhauer's Arguments Against Suicide Are Not Valid,  That You

Admit,  Therefore It Is Impossible For The Pessimist To Justify His

Continued Existence."

"Pardon Me,  The Diffusion Of The Principle Of Sufficient Reason Can

Alone End This World,  And We Are Justified In Living In Order That By

Example And Precept We May Dissuade Others From The Creation Of Life.

The Incomparable Stupidity Of Life Teaches Us To Love Our

Parents--Divine Philosophy Teaches Us To Forgive Them."

That Evening Mike Played Numerous Games Of Backgammon With Mrs.

Norton; Talked Till Two In The Morning To John Of Literature,  And

Deplored The Burning Of The Poems,  And Besought Him To Write Them

Again,  And To Submit Them,  If Need Be,  To A Bishop. He Worked Hard To

Obliterate The Effect Of His Foolish Confidences; For He Was Very

Happy In This Large Country House,  Full Of Unexpected Impressions For

Him. On The Wide Staircases He Stopped,  Tense With Sensations Of

Space,  Order,  And Ample Life. He Was Impressed By The Timely Meals,

Conducted By Well-Trained Servants; And He Found It Pleasant To Pass

From The House Into The Richly-Planted Garden,  And To See The

Coachman Washing The Carriage,  The Groom Scraping Out The Horse's

Hooves,  The Horse Tied To The High Wall,  The Cowman Stumping About

The Rick-Yard--Indeed All The Homely Work Always In Progress.

Sometimes He Did Not Come Down To Lunch,  And Continued His Work Till

Late In The Afternoon. At Five He Had Tea In The Drawing-Room With

Mrs. Norton,  And Afterwards Went Out To Gather Flowers In The Garden

With Her,  Or He Walked Around The House With John,  Listening To His

Plans For The Architectural Reformation Of His Residence.

Mike Had Now Been A Month At Thornby Place. He Was