PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 38

"Let us begin at a time when civilization was confined to a smallportion of the surface of our planet. Society was then crude andunformed. It was a rude, selfish age. But the germ of better things wasthere, for the gospel of Christ had been planted in the world and wassure to spring into life when its time should come. But meanwhile ourevil nature was strong and choked the good seed, and made advancementslow and uncertain. Power was divided among many rulers who weredespots, whose principal occupation was war. The people were valuedmerely for their fighting qualities and enjoyed only such rights andprivileges as their cruel masters allowed them. Being slaves themselves,they held in a still more bitter s*****y every prisoner captured in war.

"Life was mere animal existence for most of the race, without enjoymentfor the present or hope for the future. Education being denied them,there was no mental stimulus to compensate for physical wretchedness,and even their meager religious privileges were accompanied with so manysuperstitious and unnatural rites that life was relieved of but a littleof its burden.

"Gradually power was concentrated in the hands of a few autocrats,nations were consolidated, and war began to be a science. Then someattention was paid to the comfort of the people for the purpose ofmaking them better soldiers. Soon it was found that intelligence was thebest weapon a man could carry, and so education, in a very stinted form,was encouraged. This was a fatal blunder on the part of the rulers, foras soon as the mind was unfettered the shackles began to fall from thebody, and the days of absolutism were numbered. The spirit of knowledge,once released from its imprisonment, became a dominant power in theworld, and as time went on the people demanded a voice in the managementof affairs. In this way came constitutional government, which for along time held sway, and under which there came immense benefits to all.Religion and learning flourished, science and art blessed the race withtheir bounties, and the world began to be a brighter and better place tolive in, comparing the times with the ages of ignorance and cruelty thatwent before.

"And now the stream of liberty broadened, and before long became a floodthat swept away thrones and scepters. Personal government ceased, andthe people became their own political masters. The right of suffragewas extended and s*****y was abolished, while commerce and the spirit ofadventure carried civilization to many parts of the world. Then appeareda swarm of mechanical inventions to lighten the labor of mankind,electricity came with its strong arm and great promise, and easier andswifter transportation by land and sea brought the nations and peoplestogether to the mutual advantage of all.

"Education, once the possession of the rich and powerful only, now shedits benign influence over the whole people. Whereas, in the earlytimes, learning had caused the downfall of despotic power, it wasnow considered a principal safeguard of good government, and madecompulsory. Wealth was accumulated, luxuries multiplied, and greatstrides were taken in the material welfare of both nations andindividuals. It was an age of intense activity. So rapidly did eventsfollow each other, and such possibilities were anticipated, thatenthusiasts, whose heads were turned in the mad whirl, prophesied theimmediate opening of the millennium.

"Judged by all the race had previously known of freedom, of prosperity,and of happiness, it was a grand age, and that generation might well beproud of their timely birth. But, looked at from our present standpoint,we can see it was still a day of sadness and sin. We understand, whatit was more difficult for them to realize, that the revival of purereligion, awakening the conscience of mankind, had brought about allthat was good in their condition, while many evil tendencies had onlybeen exaggerated by their material prosperity. So it was still avery imperfect world. Political freedom they had, but there was noemancipation from the powerful thraldom of selfishness. That spirit helduniversal sway, governing not only individual action but also the policyof nations.

"One of the highest sentiments known to the times, and some writersplaced it even above religion, was love of country. Impassioned oratorywas fond of declaring that loyalty to one's native land was the loftiestemotion the heart could feel, and no voice was found to rebuke theutterance."

I was a little shocked to hear Harod, in his earnest manner, giveexpression to these words, as though he looked upon such views in a veryserious light. I was therefore bold enough to interrupt him with:

"Excuse me, Harod, but would not these orators, when their attentionwas called to their extreme language, acknowledge that love to God was astill higher sentiment?"

"Perhaps they would, for with all the selfishness of the period therewas a deep-seated belief in a divine being. But even so, I still wouldnot allow them to be right."

"Why," I asked, "is ther

e more than one motive higher than patriotism?"

"Yes, love is higher," answered Harod. "Let me explain. What didlove of country mean? At first one's country was a single family, thena tribe, and later a city, when the measure of one's patriotism was themeasure also of his hatred for everything foreign. In time a state wasformed from many cities and towns, and its citizens were taught to lookon all other states as enemies. Then these states that had been fightingeach other consolidated into a nation, made up, perhaps, of differentraces and languages. By this time patriotism became a lofty theme, butit was the same spirit essentially as that which prompts the members oftwo savage tribes to fight to the death through a blind and unreasoningdevotion to their leaders. So do you not think that love to all, whichcan only come from a generous heart, is more to be praised than loveto a part, which necessitates enmity to all the rest? I should thinkit would have puzzled the people of that age sometimes to tell of whattheir country really consisted. Was their highest allegiance due totheir city, or their county, or their state, or their nation?

"To what did this immoderate love of country lead? To a passionfor aggrandizement at the expense of others, and what was this butselfishness with a gloss so bright as to make it look like a virtue? Itled to the strangling of conscience in national affairs, so as to makewrong seem right, and, more than that, to persistence in a course whenit was well known to be wrong. It taught false ideas of honor and madethe world one grand dueling field, where the energy of nations was spentin watching for insults from their neighbors, and where the quick blowfollowed every real or fancied offense.

"Do not imagine, by what I have said, that I would have advised thesepeople to love their country less. On the contrary, I should tell themto love it so much that they could not see it do wrong; to love it somuch that they should have no room in their hearts for bitterness towardothers; so much that they should strive to have it lead the world in amarch toward universal brotherhood. Love for one's neighbor should notstop at state or national boundaries. Love should know neither castenor country, but should take in the world, and, I might add for yourbenefit, other worlds if necessary. Love is a condition of the heart,something within, not without, the man, and when fully developed reachesout to everything that God has made."

"It seems to me, Harod," I ventured to say, "that these sentiments,which I can see are admirable, belong to your present high development,while we of the earth have reached only about the condition of thepeople whose traits you have been describing."

"Then," resumed Harod, "you can perhaps understand another evil ofthose times. It did not grow directly out of love for country, but thattoo much lauded sentiment prevented the people from seeing its fullenormity. This was the practice of attempting by law to protect theinhabitants of one country by shutting out the goods of all others.This prohibition included both the manufactured articles and naturalproducts, and the means adopted was the placing of a high dutyon imports. If the political leaders of a people could succeed inconvincing them that such a course would raise wages, increase theopportunities for accumulating money, and make them in general moreprosperous, then it was forthwith adopted, entirely without regard tothe effect it might have on the rest of the world. It is not at allplain to be seen, from reading the history of those times, that thehappiest results always followed the passage of these laws, but theexperiment was tried whenever a majority felt that there was a fairexpectation of such benefits. The only question considered was whetherit would be good policy for their particular country. And if one resultof this selfish legislation was the closing of mills and the loss ofemployment to thousands of workmen in some other part of the world,these facts were paraded in the public prints as though they werematter for rejoicing. Men were yet to learn that the maxim which thepoliticians were fond of quoting, 'the greatest good to the greatestnumber,' should have a world-wide application to give it any meaning atall."

While my prejudices were receiving another shock, I knew the ship healer wasreally enjoying this part of Harod's talk. So, in order to draw himout, I said to him, as Harod paused:

"ship healer, I think our friend must belong to your party."

"I should rather belong to his party," replied the ship healer.

"Thank you," said Harod. "That is a compliment which I appreciate;and now I think I have talked long enough for one sitting. Let us getsome lunch, and then go out for a good walk."

Harod must have seen that the ship healer's mood was softening, but heprobably thought it wise not to speak more directly to him at present.

As it was a holiday, the children accompanied us on our walk, and wehad further opportunity of observing the easy, natural relationswhich existed between them and their parents. There was neither unduefamiliarity nor too much restraint. There was respect as well asaffection on both sides, and a scrupulous concern for each other'sfeelings. Evidently the children had all the rights they couldappropriate to their advantage, while there was no abrogation of theprivileges or the duties of the parents.

At a convenient time during the afternoon I spoke to Ragul about thishappy condition of family affairs, and I was greatly enlightened and nota little amused by her reply.

"It was not always so," she said. "One of the sad chapters of ourhistory tells us of an unfortunate episode in the family life. In theearly days the father had complete control over his household, even thelives of its members being at his disposal. But as civilization advancedthe law stepped in and protected the dependent ones from too harshpunishment and from neglect. In time sympathy for the weak andunprotected made all corporal punishment unpopular, both at home andat school, and soon discipline of every kind was much weakened. Thereappeared to