CHAPTER II. SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES.
The next meeting of the Scripture Club of Valley Rest was impatiently looked forward to by all the club members. Although there were at that time plenty of political theories to quarrel over, two or three fine projects for new lines of lake navigation, and at least a dozen for making of the neighboring city the greatest Western rival to New York, conversation on these subjects was only fitful on the boats which carried the business men of Valley Rest between their homes and the city. Before the second Sunday of the existence of the class, each member had in mind at least one religious topic upon which he wanted full, exhaustive, and decisive discussion; he also in his innermost heart, and sometimes on his lips, had the settled conviction that he was just the man to speak the decisive word, and thus readjust human thought to the newly-discovered requirements of eternal truth.
Nor was excitement on religious topics confined to the members of the club. Not a day of the week passed without bringing to Deacon Bates a new candidate for admission. First came Mr. Hopper, who took enthusiastic delight in whatever was new, whether in religion, politics, medical theories, or popular smoking tobaccos. As Mr. Hopper was a rich man, good Deacon Bates hastily assured him that the class would be delighted to have him as a member, and Mr. Hopper graciously responded by offering to read at the very first meeting a seventeen-page paper, from a very heavy but comparatively new quarterly, on "The True Location of the Holy Sepulchre." Then came Mr. Jodderel, who had once defrayed the entire cost of producing a bulky pamphlet, the motive of which was the probable final settlement of all departed spirits, in renewed bodies, on some one of the terrestrial globes which he believed had been in preparation from the foundation of the world. Mr. Jodderel more than hinted that he would like to see considerable attention given to this topic in the new class, and though good Leader Bates trembled at the thought, having heard the same subject discussed in season and out of season ever since Mr. Jodderel had made the coming peerless city of the West his place of business, he was true to the sentiment which had led to the formation of the class, and therefore gave Mr. Jodderel a hearty fraternal welcome. Then, like Nicodemus, there came by night, and from fear of the orthodox, Brother Prymm, to whom the slightest letter of the law was of more importance than the whole of the spirit thereof. He had made the matter of joining the class a subject of special prayer, he said, and had made up his mind that if it were really the intention of the members to encourage free speech and honestly search for the actual truth regarding the will of God, it was his duty to join the class, and serve his blessed Master to the extent of his poor abilities. Mr. Maddle came next, and Leader Bates' heart gladdened to receive him, for Mr. Maddle was one of the most successful organizers in the State; he had planned and executed at least two remarkably successful campaigns in the local political field, and had reorganized, out of nothing, more than one shapeless business enterprise so admirably that the backers thereof could not learn what they had expended, nor could the creditors discern what they themselves had received. With such a man behind him, Leader Bates rose superior to his own fears of the possible disintegration which the diversity of views of his fellow-members had seemed to make possible. And then, as if providentially sent to give the class the impress and protection of the highest order of mentality, came Dr. Fahrenglohz, Ph.D., Göttingen, who had additional repute as being a good physician and a man who always paid his bills. All these were present at the opening hour of the next meeting, and with them came several people of the class which yields capital listeners, and proves the wondrous capacity of the human mind for absorbing information without ever being moved to lend any of it again to others.
The meeting was opened with prayer. Deacon Bates remarked prefatorily that such would be the proper thing in a class composed of adults, and then he looked around hesitatingly for the proper man to make the first formal committal of the class into the hands of the Lord; but Squire Woodhouse saved him the trouble by springing to his feet and volunteering to Heaven an address so concise that there remained nothing unsaid. Then Bibles were distributed, and opened at the fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, and every one looked unspeakably profound, though Mr. Hopper had the presence of mind to place his hand beneath his coat-tails and take hold of the review containing the paper on "The True Location of the Holy Sepulchre," so as to be ready in case occasion offered.
"Let us begin with the beatitudes," said the leader. "'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' By the way, I would suggest that each member speaks in the order of his sitting. Mr. Lottson," continued Deacon Bates, addressing the insurance president, "whom do you suppose Jesus referred to as 'the poor in spirit'?"
"Before answering that question," said Mr. Lottson, "I think attention should be called to a passage in the opening of the chapter. It is said that 'When he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,' etc. Now, before we try to understand this beautiful succession of blessings, we should realize whom they were spoken to—to the disciples, who had left all and followed him, and therefore to a set of men to whom he could say things which it would be nonsensical for him to say to the common people and business men around him. The disciples were out of business, and lived on their friends—it was right enough for them to do so under the circumstances, but for this very reason Jesus told them the things which nobody else could understand. This sermon was preached to self-forgetting preachers, not to men who had to make their living and take the world as they found it; and I suppose the first beatitude meant to them just what it said. They were poor in spirit—any man has to be, if he be willing to go around without a cent in his pocket—but to pay them for it he gave them the kingdom of heaven, that is, the church of which Christ is prophet, priest, and king. It's the greatest charge in the world; all business enterprises are nothing in comparison with it; but Jesus showed his divine nature by giving them this, for while they managed it splendidly, it's the only great affair in the world that a lot of poor-spirited men could manage without running it into the ground."
"That depends upon what 'poor in spirit' means," remarked Squire Woodhouse. "President Lottson seems to think it's the same thing as mean-spirited, but if it is, I can tell him that there's more money for that kind of chaps in other businesses. Now I'm a farmer—my principal crop is hay, and when my barn burned down last winter with eleven tons loose and forty odd tons pressed, and I went to the insur——"
"The members will please speak as called upon," said the leader, whose watchful ear imagined it detected a personality in the immediate future of the Squire's address. Squire Woodhouse subsided after a soft whisper to his right-hand neighbor, which caused that gentleman to notice that President Lottson's face was flushing a little, and his lips touching each other more firmly than usual.
"It seems to me," said Mr. Radley, who was next called upon, "that the passage means just what it says. The kingdom of heaven means the place we all hope to get to some day, and the poor in spirit are the people who aren't touchy and don't put on airs Christ was a man of this kind himself, and he knew by experience what he was talking about."
"Then how did he come to call a lot of good church members vipers?" demanded Squire Woodhouse, before the leader could bring him to order.
"Because they were vipers," answered Mr. Radley. "Being poor in spirit—humble—doesn't need to keep anybody from telling the truth. It's your high-spirited chaps that do most of the lying in the world—they do in business circles anyway."
"Next," said Deacon Bates, and Captain Maile lifted up his voice.
"Judging by the notions most people have of the kingdom of heaven," said he, "I don't think anybody but poor-spirited people can ever want to go there."
Next in order came Mr. Jodderel, and, as he afterward told his wife, he breathed a small thank-offering to Heaven for preparing so perfect an occasion for the presentation of his own theological pet.
"I don't wonder," he said, "that my military friend turns up his nose at the home-made heaven of most people, but I want him to understand that it was no such place that the Lord was talking about. What did he mean when he said, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'? What sensible man imagines that the kingdom he spoke of meant any such place as Christians talk about, or even the place where the Lord himself is? It can't be the latter, for that wasn't prepared from the foundation of the world; it existed long before, and didn't need any preparation. If he prepared the kingdom from the foundation of the world, and made the sun, moon, and stars when he founded the world—a fact which I fully and implicitly believe because it is recorded in the inspired Word—the kingdom must be in some other sphere. And if, as astronomers say, and I have no reason to doubt, these spheres are worlds, a great deal like ours, we will have material bodies when we go to them."
"And poor spirits?" queried the insurance president.
"Yes!" exclaimed Mr. Jodderel fearlessly. "We can't go there without first dying here, and I never yet saw a man on his death-bed who thought a high spirit, or what men call a high spirit, had ever done him any good."
President Lottson tried to swallow a sigh which was a little too quick for him; he had once or twice imagined himself on his own death-bed, and had gained thereon some practical intimations which he had made haste to forget when he got back to business. Mr. Prymm, who sat next to Mr. Jodderel, cleared his throat and said:
"I think we owe Mr. Lottson our thanks for calling our attention to an important fact which has escaped general notice. The sermon was undoubtedly preached to the disciples, and should be considered accordingly; a great many mistakes of interpretation are doubtless due to the habit of Christians in taking to themselves every saying of the Lord and his prophets. I confess that the view advanced is so new a one to me that I am unable at present to express any opinion upon it, but I derive already this benefit from it—I learn anew how necessary it is to pay close attention to the letter of the Word."
"Then," said young Mr. Waggett, who sat next Mr. Prymm, and who was principally remarkable for undeviating devotion to Number One, "then the passage has nothing to do with the great affair of the salvation of our own souls."
"Supposing it hasn't," said Squire Woodhouse, in spite of the warning glance of the leader, "Sunday isn't a business day, and if we want to talk about some of our best friends then there's no harm in doing so, nor any time wasted either."
"Brother Scott," said Deacon Bates. The young lawyer, who had been exerting over himself a degree of control that was simply terrible, considering his temptations to interruption, said:
"May it please the class: There are some evident misunderstandings abroad. Mr. Lottson's position is untenable, as the context of the same sermon proves; no examination, according to the rules of evidence, can fail to prove that the sermon was addressed to the whole people. The passage cannot mean literally what it says, as Mr. Radley thinks, because literally it is illogical, and had such been its intention it could never have been accepted by that consistent apologist for the integrity of the Scriptures, the Apostle Paul, whose mind was so marvelously under control of the legal instinct. Captain Maile's assumption as to the general idea of heaven is utterly without support from fact; for poverty of spirit is not the prevailing characteristic of those whose opinions of heaven are verbally made manifest. As for Mr. Jodderel's proposition, it involves the literal accuracy of the Book of Genesis, which many orthodox Christians are unprepared to admit. Mr. Prymm's notion that the sayings of Jesus may be wrongly taken by individuals, as applying to themselves, is not in accordance with logical deductions from other portions of Holy Writ. And how can Mr. Waggett sustain his position that there is any eternal truth that is not necessary to salvation?"
A soft chorus of long-drawn breaths followed the delivery of this speech, and then Squire Woodhouse said:
"Well, now that you've knocked all the rest down, what are you going to do yourself?"
"That," replied Lawyer Scott, evidently pleased by the compliment but puzzled by the question, "cannot be answered as easily as it is asked, and I must beg the gentleman's indulgence until I have time to prepare my case."
Mr. Buffle, founder of the class, was next in order, and admitted that he could not see that Jesus, being a clear-headed man, could ever have meant anything but what he said. He, Mr. Buffle, always said what he meant, no matter whether he was talking to preachers, shippers, or the deck-hands on his own boats; he had found that if a man said exactly what he meant, the stupidest of people could understand him, while smarter people needed no more. He would consider himself a fool if he talked over the head of any one who was listening to him, and of course Jesus couldn't have been foolish. He was very glad, though, to listen to the many different views that had been advanced on the subject; they proved just what he had always believed, that men would learn more about a thing by hearing all sides of it than he could from the smartest talker alive who knew only one side. He liked the liberality of the members of the class; it was what he called liberality, to listen to various views courteously, even if you couldn't accept them all or make them agree.
The question had now reached Dr. Fahrenglohz, and the members, both liberal and narrow, prepared for something terrible. They knew, in general, that he believed nothing that they themselves did; how then could his own ideas be anything but dreadful?
The doctor looked mildly from behind his very convex glasses, and said:
"Jesus was a mystic. From the spiritual plane on which he lived it was impossible for him to descend. He could say only that which he believed. Pure-minded and wholly regardless of ordinary earthly interests, he could not be a utilitarian, in the vulgar acceptation of the word. What thought he, what thinks any philosopher, of how his theories may affect the world? It is his duty to discover the truth, help or hinder whomsoever it may, and to speak it as he understands it, not in such fragments as other people may comprehend it. What did Buddha and Brahma? They spoke, they gave forth that which originated with them."
"And what did it all amount to?" asked Squire Woodhouse. "Business don't amount to a row of pins among their followers, according to the Missionary Herald, and virtue is worse off yet."
The doctor smiled condescendingly. "'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear' as your prophet says. Is virtue and good business always to be found with those who sit under the words of Jesus?"
"N-no," said the Squire, "and that's just what we're driving at. If the words are understood—and followed—men can't help being good and successful."
"And so there is all the more need of careful, prayerful study of the words," remarked Mr. Prymm.
There was general disappointment, among those who had yet to speak, at the lack of any startling heresy in the doctor's utterances. Builder Stott in particular had felt that he might have an opportunity of defending the faith which he so unhesitatingly accepted, at no matter what intellectual difficulties, by abusing some heterodox utterance of the doctor; but the doctors statements had seemed to him to resemble either a sphere—and a hollow one—from which all projectiles would glance harmlessly, or mere thin air, in which there was nothing to aim at. So he could do nothing but assert his own orthodoxy.
"I believe everything that Jesus said was meant just as it was spoken," said he; "whether what we call common sense has got anything to do with it or not, is none of our business. Of course we can't live up to it all—we're born in sin and shapen in iniquity; our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked—but what we can't do, he did for us, by dying on the cross. We can never act according to his teachings—we'd go to the poor-house or into our coffins as soon as we attempted it. If we could do it, there wouldn't have been any need of an atonement."
"Then the atonement is an excuse for rascality, is it?" asked Captain Maile. The Captain's own house had been erected by Builder Stott, and many had been his complaints of features which had proved not in accordance with the spirit of the contract.
Leader Bates felt extremely uncomfortable; he never had liked personalities, and hated them all the worse when they interfered with that heavenly feeling which was to him the principal object of all religious meetings. He made haste to call upon Mr. Alleman, and that gentleman replied:
"Mr. Leader, there can be no doubt that this passage was spoken to living men, about living interests, and that it not only can be lived up to by the exercise of such qualities as men already have, but that it must be treated and respected as truth if men do not wish the disgrace and penalties of hypocrisy. Of what consequence is it to true righteousness if men will or will not reconcile scriptural injunctions with business desires? Bring business up to truth, not truth down to business, is the earthly application of Christ's teachings."
"That," said Builder Stott, "may be all right in running a first-class academy, but you can't run the building business on any such basis."
The hour for dismission was reached at that instant, with Mr. Hopper still nervously shaking the coat-tail pocket which contained the review with the article on the "True Location of the Holy Sepulchre." Two or three of the members departed, but the greater number stood about and discussed the discussion.
"Well, everybody had a chance to speak his mind," said Mr. President Lottson.
"That's so," said Mr. Buffle, founder of the class, rubbing his hands enthusiastically. "Nobody was afraid of his neighbor's opinions."
"There seemed a general disposition to view the subject from all points," remarked Mr. Prymm.
"Not much regard paid to evidence," said young Lawyer Scott, "but still an evident willingness to open the case fairly."
"There was not a proper interest displayed in the future location of the soul," complained Mr. Jodderel; "still the members acted like good listeners."
"There was a little too much talking back," said Mr. Radley; "men should be more careful about treading on each other's corns. But there was a real, liberal spirit shown throughout, and that's what religious societies need."
"Men shouldn't have corns, if they don't want them trodden on," said Captain Maile. "I won't complain, though—I never saw so little narrowness in so large a religious gathering."
"I take great delight in recalling the conference we have had," said Dr. Fahrenglohz. "I supposed, when I heard of this association, that it would not bear the test of differences of opinions, but I am grateful for the respect shown to me, and pleased at the courtesy displayed toward others."
Squire Woodhouse waited until Mr. Alleman disappeared, and then burst into a small group exclaiming:
"Now, I like Alleman first rate—all of my children go to his academy—but I do wonder whether he could run a farm with those notions of his? I'm glad the class listened respectfully, though—it showed that nobody was afraid that a little liberality would hurt any one."