And thus it was that, without a full clue to its meaning, she became spectator to the unexplained scene of horror which followed after. She watched his light resting at the level-crossing to await the passing of a train, then saw it dwindle and merge in the broad band of fire amid which the junketing fair sat and bubbled; and wondered whether he had gone there to preach repentance like Jonah to the inhabitants of Nineveh. Her next sight of him was fleeing before a crowd that seemed thirsting for his blood, awhile holding his own, but presently losing ground, then by the intervention of Providence gaining more than he had lost. As he came headlong toward her, she nerved herself for his deliverance, was prepared to stand between him and the hungry crowd, declare his sanctity, die if need be instead of him; and so she would have done had not the cow got suddenly upon its feet—hind legs first in that horrible way which cows have when they intend to toss people.
That finished her, she saw the rest of the chase from a distance, heard the crash of the broken bridge, cries, curses; and presently met a crowd of maimed larrikins, muddy, drenched and miserable, carrying each other home. But even had she then dared to go further, and inquire for more news that the angry comments of the crowd gave of his escape, the broken bridge prevented her; and the next day, stealing by furtive ways to watch unobserved, she saw Mr. Trimblerigg clothed and in his right mind, tended by female relatives, accompanied by his children, and his glory all gone from him.
And that, for the time being, was the conclusion of the matter; but not the real conclusion, for then came war; and Isabel Sparling, girding up her spiritual loins, preached that the world was to end,—that her people and her native country were to be punished for their sins, but other countries much more. Gradually, swayed by the patriotic crowds which gathered to hear her and cheer on others to do their fighting, she became harder upon the other countries, and let her own and its allies off; and before the war had been on a twelvemonth they had all become angels of light, chosen vessels, ministering spirits and flames of fire. For that is what war does; while in a physical sense it paints most things red, in a moral sense it paints them black or white; and the black is the enemy, and the white is ourselves; and the neutral, if neutral there be, is a dirty tint which badly needs washing.
As for Mr. Trimblerigg, having found that there was no public for it, he relinquished goodness of the first water, and fell back upon relative goodness and relative truth, in which, as a matter of fact, he had a more instinctive belief.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Intimations of Immortality
WHEN nations which preach Christianity go to war, their truth has necessarily to become relative; they cannot tell the truth about themselves; they cannot tell the truth about their enemies; still less can they tell the truth about Christianity. For doing that last, a Free Church minister in a certain land of hope and glory lying West,—he had merely issued the Sermon on the Mount as a circular—was tarred and feathered as a demonstration of Christian-mindedness by his belligerent fellow-countrymen. And nearly everybody said that it served him right.
So when Relative Truth became a spiritual as well as a military necessity, Mr. Trimblerigg, the inventor of the doctrine in its most modern form, came gloriously into his own. In other words he became the fashion.
The War gave him the time and the opportunity of his life. He had begun by adopting—first pacifism, then benevolent neutrality; but he saw quickly that there was not a public for either. And as he listened to the heart-beats of his countrymen roused for battle, a quick application of his doctrine of Relative Truth restored his mind to sanity. After that he never wavered; and though he often spoke with two voices, one day telling the workers, whom he was sent to preach to, that they were heroes, and another that they were slackers, and victims of drink; one day demonstrating that the National Executive’s action had always come just too late, another that it had always come miraculously up to time; one day protesting the mildness and equity of his country’s intentions toward those who were unnecessarily prolonging the war, another—when prospects began to look brighter—threatening things of a much more drastic character, in terms drawn from the prize-ring; though thus from day to day and week to week, he spoke in varied tones, fitting himself to the occasion, always a forefront figure, occasionally pushing others out of his way; nevertheless his motive and aim remained constant (nor when nations go to war is anything more necessary for their salvation)—the ardent assertion, namely, of the absolute righteousness of his country’s cause, and of the blameless antecedents leading up to it.
And though Mr. Trimblerigg’s truth was often extremely relative, it was nearly always successful; and if any man by tireless energy, resilient spirits, continuous ubiquity in pulpit and on platform, alertness, invention, suggestiveness, adaptability, rapid change of front in the ever-shifting tactics of propaganda,—now conciliatory and defensive, meek but firm; now whole-heartedly aggressive and vision-clear of coming victory—if by such qualities, richly and rapidly blended outside the direct line of fire, any man could ever be said to have won a war, in a larger and wider sense than the little drummer boy who lays down his life for his drum,—that compliment might have been paid, when all was done, to the unbloodstained Mr. Trimblerigg,—and was.
In the person of Mr. Trimblerigg the Free Evangelical Church had lifted up its head and neighed like a war-horse, saying among the trumpets, ha! ha! to the thunder of the captains and the shouting: and in the person of Mr. Trimblerigg thanks were publicly tendered to it, when all the fighting was over. And though Mr. Trimblerigg received neither title, nor outward adornment, nor emolument, he became, from that day on, a figure of international significance,—the first perhaps since great old combative Martin Luther, to attain so high and controversial a prominence in divided Christendom on his spiritual merits alone.