"It is enough to break one's heart," said Mr. Balmy when he hadoutstripped the procession, and my father was again beside him."'As well as,' indeed! We know what that means. Wherever there isa factory there is a hot-bed of unbelief. 'As well as'! Why it isa defiance."
"What, I wonder," said my father innocently, "must the Sunchild'sfeelings be, as he looks down on this procession. For there can belittle doubt that he is doing so."
"There can be no doubt at all," replied Mr. Balmy, "that he istaking note of it, and of all else that is happening this day inErewhon. Heaven grant that he be not so angered as to chastise theinnocent as well as the guilty."
"I doubt," said my father, "his being so angry even with thisprocession, as you think he is."
Here, fearing an outburst of indignation, he found an excuse forrapidly changing the conversation. Moreover he was angry withhimself for playing upon this poor good creature. He had not doneso of malice prepense; he had begun to deceive him, because hebelieved himself to be in danger if he spoke the truth; and thoughhe knew the part to be an unworthy one, he could not escape fromcontinuing to play it, if he was to discover things that he was notlikely to discover otherwise.
Often, however, he had checked himself. It had been on the tip ofhis tongue to be illuminated with the words,
Sukoh and Sukop were two pretty men,They lay in bed till the clock struck ten,
and to follow it up with,
Now with the drops of this most Yknarc timeMy love looks fresh,
in order to see how Mr. Balmy would interpret the assertion heremade about the Professors, and what statement he would connect withhis own Erewhonian name; but he had restrained himself.
The more he saw, and the more he heard, the more shocked he was atthe mischief he had done. See how he had unsettled the little mindthis poor, dear, good gentleman had ever had, till he was now amere slave to preconception. And how many more had he not in likemanner brought to the verge of idiocy? How many again had he notmade more corrupt than they were before, even though he had notdeceived them--as for example, Hanky and Panky. And the young? howcould such a lie as that a chariot and four horses came down out ofthe clouds enter seriously into the life of any one, withoutdistorting his mental vision, if not ruining it?
And yet, the more he reflected, the more he also saw that he coulddo no good by saying who he was. Matters had gone so far thatthough he spoke with the tongues of men and angels he would not belistened to; and even if he were, it might easily prove that he hadadded harm to that which he had done already. No. As soon as hehad heard Hanky's sermon, he would begin to work his way back, andif the Professors had not yet removed their purchase, he wouldrecover it; but he would pin a bag containing about five poundsworth of nuggets on to the tree in which they had hidden it, and,if possible, he would find some way of sending the rest to George.
He let Mr. Balmy continue talking, glad that this gentlemanrequired little more than monosyllabic answers, and still moreglad, in spite of some agitation, to see that they were now nearingSunch'ston, towards which a great concourse of people was hurryingfrom Clearwater, and more distant towns on the main road. Manywhole families were coming,--the fathers and mothers carrying thesmaller children, and also their own shoes and stockings, whichthey would put on when nearing the town. Most of the pilgrimsbrought provisions with them. All wore European costumes, but onlya few of them wore it reversed, and these were almost invariably ofhigher social status than the great body of the people, who weremainly peasants.
When they reached the town, my father was relieved at finding thatMr. Balmy had friends on whom he wished to call before going to thetemple. He asked my father to come with him, but my father saidthat he too had friends, and would leave him for the present, whilehoping to meet him again later in the day. The two, therefore,shook hands with great effusion, and went their several ways. Myfather's way took him first into a confectioner's shop, where hebought a couple of Sunchild buns, which he put into his pocket, andrefreshed himself with a bottle of Sunchild cordial and water. Allshops except those dealing in refreshments were closed, and thetown was gaily decorated with flags and flowers, often festoonedinto words or emblems proper for the occasion.
My father, it being now a quarter to eleven, made his way towardsthe temple, and his heart was clouded with care as he walked along.Not only was his heart clouded, but his brain also was oppressed,and he reeled so much on leaving the confectioner's shop, that hehad to catch hold of some railings till the faintness and giddinessleft him. He knew the feeling to be the same as what he had felton the Friday evening, but he had no idea of the cause, and as soonas the giddiness left him he thought there was nothing the matterwith him.
Turning down a side street that led into the main square of thetown, he found himself opposite the south end of the temple, withits two lofty towers that flanked the richly decorated mainentrance. I will not attempt to describe the architecture, for myfather could give me little information on this point. He only sawthe south front for two or three minutes, and was not impressed byit, save in so far as it was richly ornamented--evidently at greatexpense--and very large. Even if he had had a longer look, I doubtwhether I should have got more out of him, for he knew nothing ofarchitecture, and I fear his test whether a building was good orbad, was whether it looked old and weather-beaten or no. No matterwhat a building was, if it was three or four hundred years old heliked it, whereas, if it was new, he would look to nothing butwhether it kept the rain out. Indeed I have heard him say that themediaeval sculpture on some of our great cathedrals often onlypleases us because time and weather have set their seals upon it,and that if we could see it as it was when it left the mason'shands, we should find it no better than much that is now turned outin the Euston Road.
The ground plan here given will help the reader to understand thefew following pages more easily.
-------------------- N / a W E / b ------------ S / G H | | C | N | ----------- --------------------------- ----------- ------ | ------------------- I || ------------------- || ------------------- || o' o' || || E ||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| F || ||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| || || e A o' B C o' D | f| --- --- --- --- || --- --- --- --- || --- --- --- --- || --- o' --- --- o' --- || --- --- --- --- || --- --- --- --- || --- --- --- --- || --- o' --- --- o' --- || || || || o' o' || || || g | h| o' o' | ----------- -------------------------------- ------------- | |--------------------------------| || |-------------M------------------| || K |--------------------------------| L || |--------------------------------| || |--------------------------------| || | | | ----------- -------------
a. Table with cashier's seat on either side, and alms-box infront. The picture is exhibited on a scaffolding behind it.
b. The reliquary.
c. The President's chair.
d. Pulpit and lectern.
e. }
f. } Side doors.
g. }
h. }
i. Yram's seat.
k. Seats of George and the Sunchild.
o' Pillars.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, blocks of seats.
I. Steps leading from the apse to the nave.
K and L. Towers.
M. Steps and main entrance.
N. Robing-room.
The building was led up to by a flight of steps (M), and onentering it my father found it to consist of a spacious nave, withtwo aisles and an apse which was raised some three feet above thenave and aisles. There were no transepts. In the apse there wasthe table (a), with the two bowls of Musical Bank money mentionedon an earlier page, as also the alms-box in front of it.
At some little distance in front of the table stood the President'schair (c), or I might almost call it throne. It was so placed thathis back would be turned towards the table, which fact again shewsthat the table was not regarded as having any greater sanctity thanthe rest of the temple.
Behind the table, the picture already spoken of was raised aloft.There was no balloon; some clouds that hung about the lower part ofthe chariot served to conceal the fact that the painter wasuncertain whether it ought to have wheels or no. The horses werewithout driver, and my father thought that some one ought to havehad them in hand, for they were in far too excited a state to beleft safely to themselves. They had hardly any harness, but whatlittle there was was enriched with gold bosses. My mother was inErewhonian costume, my father in European, but he wore his clothesreversed. Both he and my mother seemed to be bowing graciously toan unseen crowd beneath them, and in the distance, near the bottomof the picture, was a fairly accurate representation of theSunch'ston new temple. High up, on the right hand, was a disc,raised and gilt, to represent the sun; on it, in low relief, therewas an indication of a gorgeous palace, in which, no doubt, the sunwas supposed to live; though how they made it all out my fathercould not conceive.
On the right of the table there was a reliquary (b) of glass, muchadorned with gold, or more probably gilding, for gold was so scarcein Erewhon that gilding would be as expensive as a thin plate ofgold would be in Europe: but there is no knowing. The reliquarywas attached to a portable stand some five feet high, and inside itwas the relic already referred to. The crowd was so great that myfather could not get near enough to see what it contained, but Imay say here, that when, two days later, circumstances compelledhim to have a close look at it, he saw that it consisted of about adozen fine coprolites, deposited by some antediluvian creature orcreatures, which, whatever else they may have been, were certainlynot horses.
In the apse there were a few cross benches (G and H) on eitherside, with an open space between them, which was partly occupied bythe President's seat already mentioned. Those on the right, as onelooked towards the apse, were for the Managers and Cashiers of theBank, while those on the left were for their wives and daughters.
In the centre of the nave, only a few feet in front of the stepsleading to the apse, was a handsome pulpit and lectern (d). Thepulpit was raised some feet above the ground, and was so roomy thatthe preacher could walk about in it. On either side of it therewere cross benches with backs (E and F); those on the right werereserved for the Mayor, civic functionaries, and distinguishedvisitors, while those on the left were for their wives anddaughters.
Benches with backs (A, B, C, D) were placed about half-way downboth nave and aisles--those in the nave being divided so as toallow a free passage between them. The rest of the temple was openspace, about which people might walk at their will. There wereside doors (e, j, and f, h) at the upper and lower end of eachaisle. Over the main entrance was a gallery in which singers wereplaced.
As my father was worming his way among the crowd, which was nowvery dense, he was startled at finding himself tapped lightly onthe shoulder, and turning round in alarm was confronted by thebeaming face of George.
"How do you do, Professor Panky?" said the youth--who had decidedthus to address him. "What are you doing here among the commonpeople? Why have you not taken your place in one of the seatsreserved for our distinguished visitors? I am afraid they must beall full by this time, but I will see what I can do for you. Comewith me."
"Thank you," said my father. His heart beat so fast that this wasall he could say, and he followed meek as a lamb.
With some difficulty the two made their way to the right-handcorner seats of block C, for every seat in the reserved block wastaken. The places which George wanted for my father and forhimself were already occupied by two young men of about eighteenand nineteen, both of them well-grown, and of prepossessingappearance. My father saw by the truncheons they carried that theywere special constables, but he took no notice of this, for therewere many others scattered about the crowd. George whispered a fewwords to one of them, and to my father's surprise they both gave uptheir seats, which appear on the plan as (k).
It afterwards transpired that these two young men were George'sbrothers, who by his desire had taken the seats some hours ago, forit was here that George had determined to place himself and myfather if he could find him. He chose these places because theywould be near enough to let his mother (who was at i, in the middleof the front row of block E, to the left of the pulpit) see myfather without being so near as to embarrass him; he could also seeand be seen by Hanky, and hear every word of his sermon; butperhaps his chief reason had been the fact that they were not farfrom the side-door at the upper end of the right-hand aisle, whilethere was no barrier to interrupt rapid egress should this provenecessary.
It was now high time that they should sit down, which theyaccordingly did. George sat at the end of the bench, and thus hadmy father on his left. My father was rather uncomfortable atseeing the young men whom they had turned out, standing against acolumn close by, but George said that this was how it was to be,and there was nothing to be done but to submit. The young menseemed quite happy, which puzzled my father, who of course had noidea that their action was preconcerted.
Panky was in the first row of block F, so that my father could notsee his face except sometimes when he turned round. He was sittingon the Mayor's right hand, while Dr. Downie was on his left; helooked at my father once or twice in a puzzled way, as though heought to have known him, but my father did not think he recognisedhim. Hanky was still with President Gurgoyle and others in therobing-room, N; Yram had already taken her seat: my father knewher in a moment, though he pretended not to do so when Georgepointed her out to him. Their eyes met for a second; Yram turnedhers quickly away, and my father could not see a trace ofrecognition in her face. At no time during the whole ceremony didhe catch her looking at him again.
"Why, you stupid man," she said to him later on in the day with aquick, kindly smile, "I was looking at you all the time. As soonas the President or Hanky began to talk about you I knew you wouldstare at him, and then I could look. As soon as they left offtalking about you I knew you would be looking at me, unless youwent to sleep--and as I did not know which you might be doing, Iwaited till they began to talk about you again."
My father had hardly taken note of his surroundings when the choirbegan singing, accompanied by a few feeble flutes and lutes, orwhatever the name of the instrument should be, but with no violins,for he knew nothing of the violin, and had not been able to teachthe Erewhonians anything about it. The voices were all in unison,and the tune they sang was one which my father had taught Yram tosing; but he could not catch the words.
As soon as the singing began, a procession, headed by the venerableDr. Gurgoyle, President of the Musical Banks of the province, beganto issue from the robing-room, and move towards the middle of theapse. The President was sumptuously dressed, but he wore no mitre,nor anything to suggest an English or European Bishop. The Vice-President, Head Manager, Vice-Manager, and some Cashiers of theBank, now ranged themselves on either side of him, and formed animpressive group as they stood, gorgeously arrayed, at the top ofthe steps leading from the apse to the nave. Here they waited tillthe singers left off singing.
When the litany, or hymn, or whatever it should be called, wasover, the Head Manager left the President's side and came down tothe lectern in the nave, where he announced himself as about toread some passages from the Sunchild's Sayings. Perhaps because itwas the first day of the year according to their new calendar, thereading began with the first chapter, the whole of which was read.My father told me that he quite well remembered having said thelast verse, which he still held as true; hardly a word of the restwas ever spoken by him, though he recognised his own influence inalmost all of it. The reader paused, with good effect, for aboutfive seconds between each paragraph, and read slowly and veryclearly. The chapter was as follows:-
These are the words of the Sunchild about God and man. He said -
1. God is the baseless basis of all thoughts, things, and deeds.
2. So that those who say that there is a God, lie, unless theyalso mean that there is no God; and those who say that there is noGod, lie, unless they also mean that there is a God.
3. It is very true to say that man is made after the likeness ofGod; and yet it is very untrue to say this.
4. God lives and moves in every atom throughout the universe.Therefore it is wrong to think of Him as 'Him' and 'He,' save as bythe clutching of a drowning man at a straw.
5. God is God to us only so long as we cannot see Him. When weare near to seeing Him He vanishes, and we behold Nature in Hisstead.
6. We approach Him most nearly when we think of Him as ourexpression for Man's highest conception, of goodness, wisdom, andpower. But we cannot rise to Him above the level of our ownhighest selves.
7. We remove ourselves most far from Him when we invest Him withhuman form and attributes.
8. My father the sun, the earth, the moon, and all planets thatroll round my father, are to God but as a single cell in our bodiesto ourselves.
9. He is as much above my father, as my father is above men andwomen.
10. The universe is instinct with the mind of God. The mind ofGod is in all that has mind throughout all worlds. There is no Godbut the Universe, and man, in this world is His prophet.
11. God's conscious life, nascent, so far as this world isconcerned, in the infusoria, adolescent in the higher mammals,approaches maturity on this earth in man. All these living beingsare members one of another, and of God.
12. Therefore, as man cannot live without God in the world, soneither can God live in this world without mankind.
13. If we speak ill of God in our ignorance it may be forgiven us;but if we speak ill of His Holy Spirit indwelling in good men andwomen it may not be forgiven us."
The Head Manager now resumed his place by President Gurgoyle'sside, and the President in the name of his Majesty the Kingdeclared the temple to be hereby dedicated to the contemplation ofthe Sunchild and the better exposition of his teaching. This wasall that was said. The reliquary was then brought forward andplaced at the top of the steps leading from the apse to the nave;but the original intention of carrying it round the temple wasabandoned for fear of accidents through the pressure round it ofthe enormous multitudes who were assembled. More singing followedof a simple but impressive kind; during this I am afraid I must ownthat my father, tired with his walk, dropped off into a refreshingslumber, from which he did not wake till George nudged him and toldhim not to snore, just as the Vice-Manager was going towards thelectern to read another chapter of the Sunchild's Sayings--whichwas as follows:-
The Sunchild also spoke to us a parable about the unwisdom of thechildren yet unborn, who though they know so much, yet do not knowas much as they think they do.
He said:-
"The unborn have knowledge of one another so long as they areunborn, and this without impediment from walls or materialobstacles. The unborn children in any city form a populationapart, who talk with one another and tell each other about theirdevelopmental progress.
"They have no knowledge, and cannot even conceive the existence ofanything that is not such as they are themselves. Those who havebeen born are to them what the dead are to us. They can see nolife in them, and know no more about them than they do of any stagein their own past development other than the one through which theyare passing at the moment. They do not even know that theirmothers are alive--much less that their mothers were once as theynow are. To an embryo, its mother is simply the environment, andis looked upon much as our inorganic surroundings are by ourselves.
"The great terror of their lives is the fear of birth,--that theyshall have to leave the only thing that they can think of as life,and enter upon a dark unknown which is to them tantamount toannihilation.
"Some, indeed, among them have maintained that birth is not thedeath which they commonly deem it, but that there is a life beyondthe womb of which they as yet know nothing, and which is a millionfold more truly life than anything they have yet been able even toimagine. But the greater number shake their yet unfashioned headsand say they have no evidence for this that will stand a moment'sexamination.
"'Nay,' answer the others, 'so much work, so elaborate, so wondrousas that whereon we are now so busily engaged must have a purpose,though the purpose is beyond our grasp.'
"'Never,' reply the first speakers; 'our pleasure in the work issufficient justification for it. Who has ever partaken of thislife you speak of, and re-entered into the womb to tell us of it?Granted that some few have pretended to have done this, but howcompletely have their stories broken down when subjected to thetests of sober criticism. No. When we are born we are born, andthere is an end of us.'
"But in the hour of birth, when they can no longer re-enter thewomb and tell the others, Behold! they find that it is not so."
Here the reader again closed his book and resumed his place in theapse.