The object of Masonic civilization is society without God. The results which it has succeeded in achieving, and which it deems of such importance, are the separation of the state from the church, liberty of worship, the withdrawal of public charities from religious objects, the exclusion of the clergy from the work of education, the suppression of religious orders, the supremacy of the civil law, and the settingaside of the law of the Gospel. Only by these means, according to the Masons, can the happiness of the people, the prosperity of the state, and the increase of morality and learning be attained. These are their fundamental maxims. Now, the difficulty was that Moreno had practically shown, and was continuing to show more completely every day, that the peace, prosperity, and greatness of a nation will be in proportion to its devotion to God and its obedience to the church; that subjection to God and his church, far from diminishing, ensures and increases, the true liberty of man; that the influence of the clergy promotes not only the cause of morality, but also that of letters and science; that man’s temporal interests are never better cared for than when they are subordinated to those which are eternal; and that love of country is never so powerful as when it is consecrated by love of the church.
A man of the most distinguished talents, which had been most fully cultivated at the University of Paris, Moreno had in his own country occupied the most conspicuous positions. He had been a professor of the natural sciences, rector of the university, representative, senator, commander-in-chief of the army, dictator, and president of the republic. In this last office, in which he would probably have been retained by the nation through life, he showed what genius sanctified by religion can accomplish. His first care was to establish peace throughout the country, without which there can be no civil progress; and he succeeded in doing so, not by compromises, as is now the fashion—not by making a monstrous and abnormal amalgamation of parties and principles—but by the consistent and firm assertion of the principles of morality and justice, and by the open and unhesitating profession of Catholicity. His success was so marked that Ecuador very soon arrived at such a perfect state of tranquillity and concord as to seem a prodigy among the agitated and turbulent republics in its neighborhood.
With the exception of some local and ineffectual attempts at revolution during his first presidency, which were quelled by placing some of the southern provinces in a state of siege for fifty days, Ecuador was undisturbed by sedition during the whole of his long government. This was partly due to the splendor of his private and public virtues, which dissipated the clouds of envy and hatred, and gained for him the esteem even of his political opponents. He was chaste, magnanimous, just, impartial, and so well known for clearheadedness that the people often stopped him on the streets to decide their disputes on the spot, and accepted his opinion as final. His disinterestedness seems fabulous when we think of the immoderate cupidity prevailing among modern politicians. In his first six years he would not even draw his salary, being content to live on the income of his own moderate fortune. In his second term he accepted it, but spent it almost entirely in works of public utility. And in such works he employed the whole of his time. When any one endeavored to persuade him not to shorten his life by such continual labor, he used to say: “If God wants me to rest, he will send me illness or death.”
Owing to this unwearying assiduity and his ardent love for the good of his people, he was able toundertake and finish an amount of business that would appear incredible, were not the evidence too strong to admit of doubt. In No. 1,875 of theUniversthere is a catalogue of the principal enterprises which he carried through in a brief period. They are as follows:
A revision of the constitution.
The paying of the customs to the national treasury, instead of to the provincial ones, as formerly.
National representation for the country as well as the cities.
The establishment of a fiscal court, and the organization of the courts of justice.
The foundation of a great polytechnic school, which was partially entrusted to the Jesuits.
The construction and equipment of an astronomical observatory, which was built and directed by the Jesuits. On account of the equatorial position of Quito, Garcia Moreno, who was well versed in the mathematical sciences, wished to make this observatory equal to any in the world. He bought most of the instruments with his own private funds.
Roads connecting different parts of the country. Garcia Moreno laid out and nearly completed five great national roads. The principal one, that from Guayaquil to Quito, is eighty leagues in length. It is paved, and has one hundred and twenty bridges. It is a solid and stupendous work, constructed in the face of almost insuperable difficulties.
The establishment of four new dioceses.
A concordat with the Holy See.
The reformation of the regular clergy; the restoration among them of a common and monastic life.
The reconstruction of the army. The army had been a mere horde, without organization, discipline, or uniform; the men hardly had shoes. Moreno organized them on the French system, clothed, shod, and disciplined them; now they are the model as well as the defence of the people.
The building of a light-house at Guayaquil. Previously there had been none on the whole coast.
Reforms in the collection of the customs. Frauds put an end to, and the revenues trebled.
Colleges in all the cities; schools in even the smallest villages—all conducted by the Christian Brothers.
Schools for girls; Sisters of Charity, Ladies of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, of Providence, and Little Sisters of the Poor.
Public hospitals. During his first presidency Moreno turned out the director of the hospital at Quito, who had refused to receive a poor man and was very negligent of his duties, and made himself director in his stead. He visited the hospital every day, improved its arrangements, and put it in good working order. He performed in it many acts of heroic charity.
The maintenance and increase of lay congregations and orders. He was an active member of the Congregation of the Poor.
The establishment of four museums.
The Catholic Protectory, a vast and magnificent school of arts and trades, on the plan of S. Michele at Rome, and conducted by the Christian Brothers.
Postal conventions with various foreign states.
The embellishment and restoration of the cities. Guayaquil, and especially Quito, seemed as if they had been rebuilt.
And he accomplished all this, not only without increasing the taxes, but even diminishing some of them. This is the reason why he was so much beloved by the people; why they called him father of his country and saviour of the republic. But it was also this which was his unpardonable sin, which had to promptly receive a chastisement which should serve as a warning for his successors, that they might not dare to imitate his manner of government. For such a course as his was sure to ruin the credit of Masonry in the popular mind.
Moreno loved his country, and worked so hard for its good, because he was truly and thoroughly religious. Every one who really loves God loves his neighbor also; and he who loves God intensely loves his neighbor in the same way, because he sees in him the image of God and the price of his blood.
When he was a student in Paris he was admired for his piety. In his own country, amid the continual cares and heavy responsibilities of his office, he always found time to hear Mass every morning and say the rosary every night. In his familiar conversation he spoke frequently of God, of religion, of virtue, and with such fervor that all who heard felt their hearts touched and moved by his words. Before beginning the business of the day, he always made a visit to the church to implore light from the Source of all wisdom; and he had just left it, as we have said, when he met the ambuscade which was prepared for him. This religious spirit produced in him a great zeal for the glory of God, and that devotion to the Vicar of Christ which in him so much resembled the affection of a child for his father. Let it suffice to say that when he had to arrange the concordat with the Holy See, he sent his ambassador to Rome with a blank sheet signed by himself, telling him to ask his Holiness to write on it whatever seemed to him right and conducive to the good of the church and the true welfare of the nation. Such was the confidence which he reposed in the Pope, with whom politicians are accustomed to treat as if he were an ambitious and designing foreign prince, instead of being the father of all the faithful. When the revolution entered Rome in triumph through the breach of Porta Pia, Garcia Moreno was the only ruler in the world who dared to enter a solemn protest against that sacrilegious invasion; and he obtained from his Congress a considerable sum as a monthly subsidy and tribute of affection to his Holiness.
But his piety toward God and his filial love to the church can best be seen from the message to Congress which he finished a few hours before his death, and which was found on his dead body, steeped in his blood. Although it is somewhat long for the limits of an article, we think that we ought to present it to our readers as an imperishable monument of true piety and enlightened policy, and as a lesson for the false politicians of the present day and of days to come.
The message is as follows:
“Senators and Deputies: I count among the greatest of the great blessings which God has, in the inexhaustible abundance of his mercy, granted to our republic, that of seeing you here assembled under his protection, in the shadow of his peace, which he has granted andstill grants to us, while we are nothing and can do nothing, and only give in return for his paternal goodness inexcusable and shameful ingratitude.“It is only a few years since Ecuador had to repeat daily these sad words which the liberator Bolivar addressed in his last message to the Congress of 1830: ‘I blush to have to acknowledge that independence is the only good which we have acquired, and that we have lost all the rest in acquiring it.’“But since the time when, placing all our hope in God, we escaped from the torrent of impiety and apostasy which overwhelms the world in this age of blindness; since 1869, when we reformed ourselves into a truly Catholic nation, everything has been on a course of steady and daily improvement, and the prosperity of our dear country has been continually increasing.“Ecuador was not long ago a body from which the life-blood was ebbing, and which was even, like a corpse, already a prey to a horrible swarm of vermin which the liberty of putrefaction engendered in the darkness of the tomb. But to-day, at the command of that sovereign voice which called Lazarus from the sepulchre, it has returned to life, though it still has not entirely cast off the winding-sheet and bandages—that is to say, the remains and effects of the misery and corruption in which it had been buried.“To justify what I have said, it will suffice for me to give a short sketch of the progress which has been made in these last two years, referring you to the various departments of the government for documentary and detailed information. And that you may see exactly how far we have advanced in this period of regeneration, I shall compare our present condition with that from which we started; not for our own glory and self-gratulation, but to glorify Him to whom we owe everything, and whom we adore as our Redeemer and our Father, our Protector and our God.”
“Senators and Deputies: I count among the greatest of the great blessings which God has, in the inexhaustible abundance of his mercy, granted to our republic, that of seeing you here assembled under his protection, in the shadow of his peace, which he has granted andstill grants to us, while we are nothing and can do nothing, and only give in return for his paternal goodness inexcusable and shameful ingratitude.
“It is only a few years since Ecuador had to repeat daily these sad words which the liberator Bolivar addressed in his last message to the Congress of 1830: ‘I blush to have to acknowledge that independence is the only good which we have acquired, and that we have lost all the rest in acquiring it.’
“But since the time when, placing all our hope in God, we escaped from the torrent of impiety and apostasy which overwhelms the world in this age of blindness; since 1869, when we reformed ourselves into a truly Catholic nation, everything has been on a course of steady and daily improvement, and the prosperity of our dear country has been continually increasing.
“Ecuador was not long ago a body from which the life-blood was ebbing, and which was even, like a corpse, already a prey to a horrible swarm of vermin which the liberty of putrefaction engendered in the darkness of the tomb. But to-day, at the command of that sovereign voice which called Lazarus from the sepulchre, it has returned to life, though it still has not entirely cast off the winding-sheet and bandages—that is to say, the remains and effects of the misery and corruption in which it had been buried.
“To justify what I have said, it will suffice for me to give a short sketch of the progress which has been made in these last two years, referring you to the various departments of the government for documentary and detailed information. And that you may see exactly how far we have advanced in this period of regeneration, I shall compare our present condition with that from which we started; not for our own glory and self-gratulation, but to glorify Him to whom we owe everything, and whom we adore as our Redeemer and our Father, our Protector and our God.”
Here follows an enumeration of all the improvements which had been made. He continues:
“We owe to the perfect liberty which the church has among us, and to the apostolic zeal of its excellent prelates, the reformation of the clergy, the amendment of morals, and the reduction of crimes; which is so great that in our population of a million there are not enough criminals to fill the penitentiary.“To the church also we owe those religious corporations which produce such an abundance of excellent results by the instruction of childhood and youth, and by the succor which they give so liberally to the sick and to the destitute. We are also debtors to these religious for the renewal of the spirit of piety in this year of jubilee and of sanctification, and for the conversion to Christianity and civilization of nine thousand savages in the eastern province, in which, on account of its vast extent, there are good reasons for establishing a second vicariate. If you authorize me to ask the Holy See for this foundation, we will then consult as to what measures to take to promote the commerce of this province, and to put an end to the selfish speculations and the violent exactions to which its poor inhabitants have been a prey by reason of the cruelty of inhuman merchants. The laborers, however, for this field are not now to be had; and that those which we shall have may be properly trained, it is rightthat you should give a yearly subsidy to our venerable and zealous archbishop, to assist him in building the great seminary which he has not hesitated to begin, trusting in the protection of Heaven and in our co-operation.“Do not forget, legislators, that our little successes would be ephemeral and without fruit if we had not founded the social order of our republic upon the rock, always resisted and always victorious, of the Catholic Church. Its divine teaching, which neither men nor nations can neglect and be saved, is the rule of our institutions, the law of our laws. Docile and faithful children of our venerable, august, and infallible Pontiff, whom all the great ones of the earth are abandoning, and who is being oppressed by vile, cowardly, and impious men, we have continued to send him monthly the little contribution which you voted in 1873. Though our weakness obliges us to remain passive spectators of his slow martyrdom, let us hope that this poor gift may at least be a proof of our sympathy and affection, and a pledge of our obedience and fidelity.“In a few days the term for which I was elected in 1869 will expire. The republic has enjoyed six years of peace, interrupted only by a revolt of a few days in 1872 at Riobamba, of the natives against the whites; and in these six years it has advanced rapidly on the path of true progress under the visible protection of divine Providence. The results achieved would certainly have been greater if I had possessed the abilities for government which unfortunately I lack, or if all that was needed to accomplish good was ardently to desire it.“If I have committed faults, I ask pardon for them a thousand times, and beg it with tears from all my countrymen, feeling confident that they have been unintentional. If, on the contrary, you think that in any respect I have succeeded, give the honor of the success, in the first place, to God and to his Immaculate Mother, to whom are committed the inexhaustible treasures of his mercy; and, in the second place, to yourselves, to the people, to the army, and to all those who, in the different branches of the government, have assisted me with intelligence and fidelity in the fulfilment of my difficult duties.“Gabriel Garcia Moreno.“Quito, August, 1875.”
“We owe to the perfect liberty which the church has among us, and to the apostolic zeal of its excellent prelates, the reformation of the clergy, the amendment of morals, and the reduction of crimes; which is so great that in our population of a million there are not enough criminals to fill the penitentiary.
“To the church also we owe those religious corporations which produce such an abundance of excellent results by the instruction of childhood and youth, and by the succor which they give so liberally to the sick and to the destitute. We are also debtors to these religious for the renewal of the spirit of piety in this year of jubilee and of sanctification, and for the conversion to Christianity and civilization of nine thousand savages in the eastern province, in which, on account of its vast extent, there are good reasons for establishing a second vicariate. If you authorize me to ask the Holy See for this foundation, we will then consult as to what measures to take to promote the commerce of this province, and to put an end to the selfish speculations and the violent exactions to which its poor inhabitants have been a prey by reason of the cruelty of inhuman merchants. The laborers, however, for this field are not now to be had; and that those which we shall have may be properly trained, it is rightthat you should give a yearly subsidy to our venerable and zealous archbishop, to assist him in building the great seminary which he has not hesitated to begin, trusting in the protection of Heaven and in our co-operation.
“Do not forget, legislators, that our little successes would be ephemeral and without fruit if we had not founded the social order of our republic upon the rock, always resisted and always victorious, of the Catholic Church. Its divine teaching, which neither men nor nations can neglect and be saved, is the rule of our institutions, the law of our laws. Docile and faithful children of our venerable, august, and infallible Pontiff, whom all the great ones of the earth are abandoning, and who is being oppressed by vile, cowardly, and impious men, we have continued to send him monthly the little contribution which you voted in 1873. Though our weakness obliges us to remain passive spectators of his slow martyrdom, let us hope that this poor gift may at least be a proof of our sympathy and affection, and a pledge of our obedience and fidelity.
“In a few days the term for which I was elected in 1869 will expire. The republic has enjoyed six years of peace, interrupted only by a revolt of a few days in 1872 at Riobamba, of the natives against the whites; and in these six years it has advanced rapidly on the path of true progress under the visible protection of divine Providence. The results achieved would certainly have been greater if I had possessed the abilities for government which unfortunately I lack, or if all that was needed to accomplish good was ardently to desire it.
“If I have committed faults, I ask pardon for them a thousand times, and beg it with tears from all my countrymen, feeling confident that they have been unintentional. If, on the contrary, you think that in any respect I have succeeded, give the honor of the success, in the first place, to God and to his Immaculate Mother, to whom are committed the inexhaustible treasures of his mercy; and, in the second place, to yourselves, to the people, to the army, and to all those who, in the different branches of the government, have assisted me with intelligence and fidelity in the fulfilment of my difficult duties.
“Gabriel Garcia Moreno.
“Quito, August, 1875.”
That is the way that a really Catholic ruler can speak, even in this XIXth century. It seems, while we read his words, as if we were listening to Ferdinand of Castile or some other one of the saintly kings of the most prosperous days of Christianity. With great justice, then, did the government of Ecuador, when it published this message—which was found, as we have said, on Moreno’s dead body—append to it the following note:
“The message which we have just given is the solemn voice of one who is dead; or, better, it is his last will and testament actually sealed with his own blood; for our noble president had just written it with his own hand when he was assailed by his murderers. Its last words are those of a dying father who, blessing his children, turns for the last time toward them his eyes, darkened by the shadow of death, and asks pardon of them, as if he had been doing anything during all their lives but loading them with benefits. Deeply moved and distressed by grief, we seek in vain for words adequate to express our loveand veneration for him. Posterity no doubt will honor the undying memory of the great ruler, the wise politician, the noble patriot, and the saintly defender of the faith who has been so basely assassinated. His country, worthily represented by their present legislators, will shed tears over this tomb which contains such great virtues and such great hopes, and will gratefully record on imperishable tablets the glorious name of this her son, who, regardless of his own blood and life, lived and died only for her.”
This splendid eulogy is an echo of the eternal benediction and a reflection of the brilliant crown which we cannot doubt that God has given to this his latest martyr.
The reader will see that this message of Garcia Moreno contains a true and genuine scheme of Christian government which he applied in the republic of Ecuador, in direct opposition to the ideas and aspirations of modern liberalism. Every point of it is in most marked contrast to the liberalist programme. At some risk of repetition, we will here make a short comparison between the two, on account of the importance of the conclusions which all prudent men can draw from it.
Moreno begins with God, and puts him at the head of the government of his people; liberalism would have the state atheistic, and is ashamed even to mention the name of God in its public documents. Moreno desires an intimate union between the state and the Catholic Church, declaring that the social order must be founded on the church, and that her divine teaching must be the rule of human institutions and the law of civil laws; liberalism, on the other hand, not only separates the state from the church, but even raises it above her, and makes the civil laws the standard in harmony with which the ecclesiastical laws must be framed. It even would subject the most essential institutions of the church to the caprice of man. Moreno desires full liberty for the bishops, and ascribes to this liberty the reform of the clergy and the good morals of the people; liberalism wants to fetter episcopal action, excites the inferior clergy to rebellion against their prelates, and endeavors to withdraw the people from the influence of either. Moreno not only supports but multiplies religious communities; liberalism suppresses them. Moreno respects ecclesiastical property, and promotes by the resources of the state the foundation of new seminaries, saying that without them it will not be possible worthily to fill the ranks of the sacred ministry; liberalism confiscates the goods of the church, closes the seminaries, and sends the young Levites to the barracks, to be educated in the dissipation and license of military life. Moreno confides to the clergy and to the religious orders the training and instruction of youth; liberalism secularizes education, and insists on the entire exclusion of the religious element. Moreno removes from his Catholic nation the wiles and scandals of false religion; liberalism promulgates freedom of worship, and opens the door to every heresy in faith and to every corruption in morals. Moreno, finally, sees in himself the weakness inherent in man, and gives God credit for all the good which he accomplishes; while liberalism, full of satanic pride, believes itself capable of everything, and places allits confidence in the natural powers of man. The antagonism between the two systems is, in short, universal and absolute.
Now, what is the verdict of experience? It is that the application of Moreno’s system has resulted in peace, prosperity, the moral and material welfare of the people—in a word, social happiness. On the contrary, the application of the liberalist system has produced discord, general misery, enormous taxation, immorality among the people, and public scandals, and has driven society to the verge of destruction and dissolution. The liberty which it has given has been well defined by Moreno; it is the liberty of a corpse, the liberty to rot.
And at this juncture the infamous wickedness and the despicable logic of the liberalist party can no longer be concealed. It has laid it down as certain that the principles of the middle ages, as it calls them—which are the true Catholic principles, the principles affirmed by our Holy Father Pius IX. in his Syllabus—are not applicable to modern times, and can no longer give happiness to nations. But here is a ruler, Garcia Moreno by name, who gives the lie to this grovelling falsehood, and shows, by the irresistible evidence of facts, that the happiness of his people has actually come simply from the application of these principles. What is the answer of the liberalist sect to this manifest confutation of their theory? First, it endeavors to cry down its formidable adversary by invective and calumny; and then, finding that this does not suffice to remove him from public life, it murders him. This is the only means it has to prove its thesis; and, having made use of it, it begins to shriek louder than before that Catholic principles cannot be adapted to the progress of this age. No, we agree that they cannot, if you are going to kill every one who adapts them. What use is it to argue with a sect so malicious and perverse? O patience of God and of men, how basely are you abused!
There was quite an excitement in Frogtown. The Rev. Eliphalet Notext, “The Great Revivalist, who had made more converts than any other man in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the United States and Territories, and the British Provinces of North America,” was to “open a three weeks’ campaign” in the town.
Now, Frogtown prided itself on being the wickedest little town in the West. Its inhabitants claimed for it the enviable distinction of being “the fastest little village of its size in the United States”—a weakness common to most small towns. This pride in vice is a widespread weakness. The lean and slippered pantaloon will wag his fallen chaps and give evident signs of pleasant titillation when some shank-shrunken contemporary tells “what a rascal the dog was in his youth.”
Well, the Frogtowners flatteredthemselves that Brother Notext would find their burgh a very hard nut to crack. Brother Notext was not a theologian. He was not a scholar. He was not a preacher. In truth, he was almost illiterate. But he understood the “business” of getting up revivals. He knew how to create a sensation. He could, at least, achieve a success of curiosity, as the French say.
He began with the newspapers, of course. He contrived to have them say something about him and his “work” in every issue. He was not particular whether what they said of him was favorable or unfavorable. Indeed, he rather preferred that some of them should abuse him roundly. Abuse sometimes helped him more than praise. It made some people his friends through a spirit of contradiction. It appealed to the pugnacious instincts of some “professors of religion.” It enabled him to hint that the inimical editors were papal myrmidons, Jesuit emissaries, etc., etc.
The Rev. Eliphalet was really an excellent organizer. He had been originally the business manager of a circus. His advertisements, his posters, his hand-bills, in his old occupation, were prepared with all the gorgeous imagery of the East. He did not forget his old tactics in his new profession. Immediately on his arrival in Frogtown he grappled the newspapers. He begged, bullied, or badgered the editors until they noticed him. He set the Christian Juveniles and the kindred societies to work, with whom, of course, there was no difficulty. In a couple of days he succeeded in drawing around him the clergymen of every denomination, except the Episcopalian and Unitarian. Some of these, however, went much against their will. The Episcopalian minister—a gentle, amiable man—was very loath at first; but the pressure brought to bear upon him was too strong. He finally succumbed and joined in what was called a Union Christian Meeting of all the Protestant congregations. This important point achieved, Mr. Notext had three of the “best workers” in each congregation selected. These he sent among the people to raise the sinews of war, without which no campaign, whether sacred or profane, can be conducted to a successful issue. Mr. Notext’s terms were reasonable—only three hundred dollars a week and found. A man must live; and when a man works hard—as Mr. Notext undoubtedly did—he must live well, or he cannot stand the strain on his physical and mental strength. Then, there were blank weeks when he had no revival in hand, and probably a hotel bill to pay. Taking these things into consideration, any reasonable person will allow that three hundred dollars a week and found was not an exorbitant price.
Mr. Notext had a large tent which the profane said had been formerly used in his old business. It was pitched in a vacant lot within the city limits, and could accommodate about fifteen hundred persons. Mr. Notext prevailed on the clergymen who united with him to close their churches on the first Sunday of his revival. On the previous Friday he gathered around him a number of male and female enthusiasts. Accompanied by these people, organized in squads and led by the regular revival practitioners who did what is profanely termed the “side-show” business in all Mr. Notext’s tours, he sang hymns in front of every drinking-saloon in the town. Theinstrumental accompaniment to the singing was furnished by a melodeon, which was carried about in a one-horse cart.
On Sunday the union meetings began, and, notwithstanding a heavy rain, the tent was full. A large platform had been erected inside, and near the door was a table on which were exposed for sale a great variety of contributions to religious literature, all by one author, who had evidently tried every string of the religious lyre. There were collections of hymns by the Rev. Mr. Notext; tracts by the Rev. Mr. Notext; sermons by the Rev. Mr. Notext; tales for the young by the Rev. Mr. Notext; appeals to the old by the Rev. Mr. Notext; reasons for the middle-aged by the Rev. Mr. Notext, etc., etc. There were photographs, in every style, of the Rev. Mr. Notext, as well as likenesses of remarkable converts who had been remarkable rascals until they “got religion” through the efforts of the Rev. Mr. Notext.
On the platform were seated the shepherds of most of the flocks in Frogtown. Some among them, it is true, did not seem quite at home in that situation, but they had to be there. In the centre of the platform was an organ, which furnished the instrumental music. On each side of the organ seats were arranged for a volunteer choir. Fully half those present were children.
The Rev. Eliphalet Notext was introduced to the audience by the minister of the Methodist church. The revivalist was a stout, fair-haired, fresh-colored, rather pleasant-looking man, inclined to corpulency, evidently not an ascetic, and gifted with no inconsiderable share of physical energy and magnetism.
“I wish all persons who can sing to come on the platform and occupy the seats to the right and left of the organ,” he began.
No movement was made in response to this call. It was repeated with a better result. A dozen young ladies summoned up enough courage to mount the platform.
“This will never do!” cried Mr. Notext. “I want every person present who can sing right here on this stand. We can’t get along without music and plenty of it.”
“Brethren,” he continued, turning toward the clergymen on the platform, “you know the singers in your congregations; go among them and send them up here. Everybody must put his shoulder to the wheel in the great work of bringing souls to Jesus.”
The brethren meekly did as they were bid. They soon succeeded in filling the seats reserved for the singers. These numbered about one hundred.
“That’s more like it,” said Mr. Notext approvingly. “Now, my friends, we will begin by singing a hymn. I want everybody to join in.” (A nod to the organist, who began to play.)
The singing was rather timid at first, but, led by Mr. Notext, the singers rapidly gained confidence, and soon rolled forth in full chorus. Having fairly launched them, their leader, after the first verse, left them to take care of themselves. The singing was really good. The rich volume of harmony drowned the commonplace melody and the vulgar words. Thus Brother Notext was successful in the production of his first effect. It was evident that he depended much on the singing. There is nothing like a grand mass of choral music to excite the sensibilities. After two or three hymns, the revivalist hadhis audience in a highly emotional condition. “I want all the children together in front!” shouted Mr. Notext. “Adults [the accent on the first syllable] will retire to the back seats. Don’t stop the music! Keep up the singing! Go on! go on!” Then he ran to the organ, whispered something to the organist, and led off with
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die,”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die,”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die,”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,
Or you won’t go to heaven when you die,”
leaving the singers to sing it out for themselves after the first two or three lines.
It took some time to get all the children to the front. If the music flagged, Mr. Notext shouted to the singers to “keep it up.” From time to time he would rush to the organ, pick up a hymn-book in a frantic manner, and lead off with a new hymn, waving his hands in cadence, but, with a due regard for his lungs, not singing a note more than was absolutely necessary to start the other singers afresh.
The fathers and mothers of the little ones, softened by the music, looked with moistened eyes on their children as the latter took their seats. The American people are very fond of children when they are old enough to walk and talk and be interesting. Mr. Notext was alive to this fact. Even the worst criminal or the most cynical man of the world cannot help being touched while music charms his ears and his eyes look on the beautiful spectacle of childish innocence. Mr. Notext evidently knew the more amiable weaknesses of human nature. He appealed to the senses and the affections, and won over the fathers and mothers through the children.
“Now, my little friends,” said Mr. Notext, “I wish you all to keep perfectly silent while I am talking to you. This first meeting is especially for you.”
There was considerable buzzing among the little ones.
“I must have silence, if I am to do anything with these children,” said Mr. Notext rather testily, and in a tone which showed that he would not scruple to apply the birch to his little friends if they did not keep quiet. “The slightest noise distracts their attention. There are some boys to the right there who are still talking! I wish some one would stop them.”
A softly-stepping gentleman with long hair and green goggles went to the designated group, remonstrated with, and finally succeeded in silencing, them. Then Mr. Notext began his sermon to the children. He told the story of the Passion in a manner which, though it inexpressibly shocked Christians of the old-fashioned kind who happened to be present, was exceedingly dramatic—“realistic” in the highest degree, to borrow a word from the modern play-bill. Suddenly he broke off and said rather excitedly:
“There is a boy on the fourth bench who persists in talking. I must have absolute silence, or I cannot hold the attention of these children. The slightest noise distracts them and takes their minds away from the picture I am endeavoring to present to them. It is that red-haired boy! Will somebody please to take him away?” Several pious gentlemen bore down on the poor little red-haired urchin, and all chance of “getting religion” was taken away from him for the nonce by his summary removal. When silence was restored, Mr. Notext resumed the story. When describing how the divine Victim was buffeted and spat upon, he administered to himself sounding slaps on the face, now with the left hand, now with the right. He placed an imaginary crown of thorns on his head, pressed the sharp points into his forehead, and, passing the open fingers of both hands over his closed eyes and down his face, traced the streams of blood trickling from the cruel wounds. Tears already rolled down the cheeks of the little ones. When he reached the nailing to the cross, he produced a large spike, exhibited it to the children, and went through the semblance of driving it into his flesh. An outburst of sobs interrupted him. Some of the children screamed in very terror. The desired effect was produced. Many fathers and mothers, touched by the emotion and terror of their children, wept in sympathy with them.
“Now the music!” shouted Mr. Notext, stamping with impatience, as if he wanted a tardy patient to swallow a Sedlitz-powder in the proper moment of effervescence. “Now the music!” And he led off with
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die!”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die!”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,Or you won’t go to heaven when you die!”
“Oh! you must be a lover of the Lord,
Or you won’t go to heaven when you die!”
He shouted to the “workers” to go among the people and ask them to “come to Jesus.” A crowd of “workers,” some professional, some enthusiastic volunteers, broke loose upon the audience. They seized people by the hands. They embraced them. They inquired: “How do you feel now? Do you not feel that Jesus is calling you?” They begged them to come to Jesus at once. They asked them if they were “Ker-istians.”
One of the workers met two gentlemen who entered together and were evidently present through curiosity. Of the first, who seemed to be a cool, keen, self-poised business man, the worker asked the stereotyped question:
“Are you a Ker-istian?”
“Of course, of course,” said the self-possessed business man.
The worker passed on, perfectly satisfied with the off-hand declaration. He repeated the question to the gentleman’s companion, who, possessed of less assurance, hesitated and humbly replied:
“I trust so.”
The worker immediately grappled the sensitive gentleman, much to his mortification, and it was some time before he succeeded in effecting his escape, regretting, doubtless, that he had not made as prompt and satisfactory a profession of faith as that of his companion.
The “inquiry meeting,” as the exercises toward the close were named, was continued until late in the afternoon. When the children were dismissed, they were instructed to beg their parents to come to Jesus—to entreat them, with tears if necessary, until they consented. A Presbyterian gentleman of the old school, describing his sensations after the meeting was over, said:
“I cannot deny that I was affected. I felt tears coming to my eyes—why, I could not tell. The effect, however, was entirely physical. My reason had nothing to do with it. It condemned the whole thing as merely calculated to get up an unhealthy excitement, which, even if not injurious, would be fleeting in its effect. I noticed some nervous women almost worked up into spasms. As to the children, they were goaded into a state of nervousness and terror which was pitiable to see. I can only compare my own condition to that of a man who had drunk freely. While the effect lasted I was capable of makinga fool of myself, being all the while aware that I was doing so. Sunlight and air have dispelled the intoxication, and now nothing remains but nausea.
“I am disgusted with such claptrap, and ashamed of myself for having been affected by it, however temporarily and slightly.”
The progress made on the first Sunday of the revival was duly chronicled in the newspapers of the day following. It was announced that hundreds of children had been awakened to a sense of their sinful condition. A little girl—four years old—had recognized that she was thoroughly steeped in sin. She had had no idea of the condition of her soul until she was roused to it by Mr. Notext’s preaching. She was now perfectly happy. She had experienced religion. She knew she was forgiven. She had gone to Jesus, and Jesus had come to her. She had sought Mr. Notext’s lodgings, leading her father with one hand and her mother with the other.
Charley Biggs—the well-known drunken alderman—was among the converted. He had “got religion,” and was resolved henceforth to touch the time-honored toddy nevermore.
A belated “local” of one of the newspapers, while returning to his lodgings on the previous evening, had his coat-tail pulled, much to his surprise, by a little girl about six years old.
“Please, sir,” she asked, “do you know Jesus?”
The “local” was struck dumb.
“O sir!” she continued, “won’t you please come to Jesus?”
This was enough. The hard heart-of the “local” was touched. He sobbed, he wept, he cried aloud. He fell upon his knees. The little girl fell on hers. They sang:
“Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus just now,” etc.
“Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus just now,” etc.
“Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus,Come to Jesus just now,” etc.
“Come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus just now,” etc.
When the “local” rose, after the conclusion of the singing, he took the little girl’s hand and went whither she led him. He, too, had “got religion”—somewhat as one gets acoup de soleilor a stroke of paralysis.
The opposition dailies mildly called attention to the purely emotional character of the effects produced. They expressed their fears that the moral and physical result of factitious excitement on minds of tender years might be the reverse of healthy. The next day the melodeon was carted about again and the singing continued on the sidewalks and in front of the drinking-saloons. Mr. Notext’s machinery was in full blast. The meeting on the second evening was devoted principally to grown people. The tent was full. The choir was strengthened by additional voices, and the music was good of its kind.
After half a dozen hymns had been sung, Mr. Notext began his sermon—by courtesy so-called. He first spoke of the number of persons he had converted at home and abroad. For he had been “abroad,” as he took care to let his audience know. He had been the guest and the favored companion of the Duchess of Skippington, of the Earl of Whitefriars, of Lord This and Lady That, and the Countess of Thingumy. In Scotland and in Ireland immense crowds followed him and “got religion.” He converted three thousand people in a single town in Ireland. Since the meeting on the previous day, many children, andmany adults as well, had visited him at his lodgings. Some who came to the tent “to make fun” went away full of religion. He would now let a dear little friend of his tell his own story in his own way.
A red-haired youngster, about thirteen, was introduced to the audience as the nephew of a prominent and well-known official in a neighboring town. (It was afterwards stated, by the way, that the official in question had not a nephew in the world. No doubt the youngster imposed on Mr. Notext.) If ever there were a thoroughly “bad boy,” this youngster was one, or—as may be very possible—his face belied him atrociously. Mr. Notext placed his arm dramatically—affectionately, rather—around the young rogue’s neck, and led him to the front of the platform. The boy looked at the audience with a leer, half-impudent, half-jocular, and then gave his experiences glibly in a very harsh treble:
“When first I heard that Rev. Mr. Notext was going to get up a revival, I joked about it with other boys, and said he couldn’t convert me; and the night of the first meeting I said to the other boys—who were bad boys, too—for us to go along and make fun. And so we did. And I came to laugh at Mr. Notext and to make fun. And somehow—I don’t know how it was—I got religion, and I was converted; and now I am very happy, and I love Mr. Notext, and I am going with him to Smithersville when he gets through here. And I am very happy since I was converted and became a good boy.” (Sensation among the audience, and music by the choir in response to Mr. Notext’s call.)
Another juvenile convert was brought forward. He repeated substantially the same story as his predecessor, though more diffidently. (More music by the choir.)
Mr. Notext now told the affecting story of “little Jimmy.” Little Jimmy was a native of Hindostan. He lived in some town ending inan. There was in that town a missionary school. Jimmy’s master was a very bad man—cruel, tyrannical. He forbade Jimmy to go to the mission-school. But Jimmy went, nevertheless, whenever he could. The master was a true believer in the national religion of Hindostan. He believed that Jimmy would go to perdition if he left his ancestral faith to embrace the national religion—or rather the governmental religion—of Great Britain. Jimmy would return from his visits to the mission-school in a very happy mood, singing as he went:
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do,” etc.
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do,” etc.
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do,” etc.
“Yes, I love Jesus,
Yes, I love Jesus,
I know, I know I do,” etc.
Mr. Notext gave an operatic rendering of the scene of Jimmy going home singing the above words. One day the master heard Jimmy, and was roused to a state of fury. He forbade the boy to sing the song. But Jimmy would sing it (Mr. Notext did not say whether Jimmy sang the hymn in English or Hindostanee). Then the brutal master took an enormous cowhide—or the Hindostanee punitive equivalent thereto—and belabored poor Jimmy. But Jimmy continued to sing, though the tears rolled down his cheeks from pain. And the master flogged; and Jimmy sang. And still the master flogged and flogged. And still Jimmy sang and sang and sang. It was like the famous fight in Arkansas, wherein the combatants “fit and fit and fit.” But there must be an end of everything—even of an Arkansas fight. Thestruggle lasted for hours. Exhausted nature finally gave way, and poor little Jimmy died under the lash, singing with his last breath:
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do.”
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do.”
“Yes, I love Jesus,Yes, I love Jesus,I know, I know I do.”
“Yes, I love Jesus,
Yes, I love Jesus,
I know, I know I do.”
“Now, my friends,” said Mr. Notext, “I want you all to stand up for Jesus and sing poor little Jimmy’s song.” And Mr. Notext led off. The choir followed his example; but the audience remained seated.
“I want to know,” said Mr. Notext rather testily, “how many Christians there are in this assembly. I want every one of them to stand up!”
Several persons now stood up, and gradually the action began to spread, like yawning in a lecture-room. There were still many, however, who had not hearkened to Mr. Notext’s summons to stand up. He called attention to them, and bade some of the brethren go to them and talk them into an erect position. Some of the recalcitrants, evidently to avoid importunity, stood up. The rest also stood up, and hurriedly left the tent, followed by an angry scowl from Mr. Notext. After a little hesitation, he said: “We will now once more sing little Jimmy’s hymn.” And when the hymn was sung, the meeting dispersed.
Next morning the friendly newspapers chronicled the wonderful success of Mr. Notext’s efforts. The number of converts was miraculously large. Two thousand persons had stood up for Jesus. The meetings were continued during the week. Themodus operandiwas about the same. Mr. Notext repeated himself so often that interest began to languish and hiscoups de théâtreto grow flat and stale. When he was at a loss for words to continue one of his disjointed discourses, he took refuge in music and hymns.
“Brethren, let us sing: