summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/old/flnst10h.htm
blob: 77cbbfb8515cd1b605fcc4d0effaf0290faf687e (plain) 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2051
2052
2053
2054
2055
2056
2057
2058
2059
2060
2061
2062
2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068
2069
2070
2071
2072
2073
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
2080
2081
2082
2083
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
2092
2093
2094
2095
2096
2097
2098
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104
2105
2106
2107
2108
2109
2110
2111
2112
2113
2114
2115
2116
2117
2118
2119
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138
2139
2140
2141
2142
2143
2144
2145
2146
2147
2148
2149
2150
2151
2152
2153
2154
2155
2156
2157
2158
2159
2160
2161
2162
2163
2164
2165
2166
2167
2168
2169
2170
2171
2172
2173
2174
2175
2176
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
2182
2183
2184
2185
2186
2187
2188
2189
2190
2191
2192
2193
2194
2195
2196
2197
2198
2199
2200
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206
2207
2208
2209
2210
2211
2212
2213
2214
2215
2216
2217
2218
2219
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226
2227
2228
2229
2230
2231
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236
2237
2238
2239
2240
2241
2242
2243
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2249
2250
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256
2257
2258
2259
2260
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
2267
2268
2269
2270
2271
2272
2273
2274
2275
2276
2277
2278
2279
2280
2281
2282
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291
2292
2293
2294
2295
2296
2297
2298
2299
2300
2301
2302
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308
2309
2310
2311
2312
2313
2314
2315
2316
2317
2318
2319
2320
2321
2322
2323
2324
2325
2326
2327
2328
2329
2330
2331
2332
2333
2334
2335
2336
2337
2338
2339
2340
2341
2342
2343
2344
2345
2346
2347
2348
2349
2350
2351
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2367
2368
2369
2370
2371
2372
2373
2374
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379
2380
2381
2382
2383
2384
2385
2386
2387
2388
2389
2390
2391
2392
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398
2399
2400
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406
2407
2408
2409
2410
2411
2412
2413
2414
2415
2416
2417
2418
2419
2420
2421
2422
2423
2424
2425
2426
2427
2428
2429
2430
2431
2432
2433
2434
2435
2436
2437
2438
2439
2440
2441
2442
2443
2444
2445
2446
2447
2448
2449
2450
2451
2452
2453
2454
2455
2456
2457
2458
2459
2460
2461
2462
2463
2464
2465
2466
2467
2468
2469
2470
2471
2472
2473
2474
2475
2476
2477
2478
2479
2480
2481
2482
2483
2484
2485
2486
2487
2488
2489
2490
2491
2492
2493
2494
2495
2496
2497
2498
2499
2500
2501
2502
2503
2504
2505
2506
2507
2508
2509
2510
2511
2512
2513
2514
2515
2516
2517
2518
2519
2520
2521
2522
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528
2529
2530
2531
2532
2533
2534
2535
2536
2537
2538
2539
2540
2541
2542
2543
2544
2545
2546
2547
2548
2549
2550
2551
2552
2553
2554
2555
2556
2557
2558
2559
2560
2561
2562
2563
2564
2565
2566
2567
2568
2569
2570
2571
2572
2573
2574
2575
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580
2581
2582
2583
2584
2585
2586
2587
2588
2589
2590
2591
2592
2593
2594
2595
2596
2597
2598
2599
2600
2601
2602
2603
2604
2605
2606
2607
2608
2609
2610
2611
2612
2613
2614
2615
2616
2617
2618
2619
2620
2621
2622
2623
2624
2625
2626
2627
2628
2629
2630
2631
2632
2633
2634
2635
2636
2637
2638
2639
2640
2641
2642
2643
2644
2645
2646
2647
2648
2649
2650
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2656
2657
2658
2659
2660
2661
2662
2663
2664
2665
2666
2667
2668
2669
2670
2671
2672
2673
2674
2675
2676
2677
2678
2679
2680
2681
2682
2683
2684
2685
2686
2687
2688
2689
2690
2691
2692
2693
2694
2695
2696
2697
2698
2699
2700
2701
2702
2703
2704
2705
2706
2707
2708
2709
2710
2711
2712
2713
2714
2715
2716
2717
2718
2719
2720
2721
2722
2723
2724
2725
2726
2727
2728
2729
2730
2731
2732
2733
2734
2735
2736
2737
2738
2739
2740
2741
2742
2743
2744
2745
2746
2747
2748
2749
2750
2751
2752
2753
2754
2755
2756
2757
2758
2759
2760
2761
2762
2763
2764
2765
2766
2767
2768
2769
2770
2771
2772
2773
2774
2775
2776
2777
2778
2779
2780
2781
2782
2783
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788
2789
2790
2791
2792
2793
2794
2795
2796
2797
2798
2799
2800
2801
2802
2803
2804
2805
2806
2807
2808
2809
2810
2811
2812
2813
2814
2815
2816
2817
2818
2819
2820
2821
2822
2823
2824
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829
2830
2831
2832
2833
2834
2835
2836
2837
2838
2839
2840
2841
2842
2843
2844
2845
2846
2847
2848
2849
2850
2851
2852
2853
2854
2855
2856
2857
2858
2859
2860
2861
2862
2863
2864
2865
2866
2867
2868
2869
2870
2871
2872
2873
2874
2875
2876
2877
2878
2879
2880
2881
2882
2883
2884
2885
2886
2887
2888
2889
2890
2891
2892
2893
2894
2895
2896
2897
2898
2899
2900
2901
2902
2903
2904
2905
2906
2907
2908
2909
2910
2911
2912
2913
2914
2915
2916
2917
2918
2919
2920
2921
2922
2923
2924
2925
2926
2927
2928
2929
2930
2931
2932
2933
2934
2935
2936
2937
2938
2939
2940
2941
2942
2943
2944
2945
2946
2947
2948
2949
2950
2951
2952
2953
2954
2955
2956
2957
2958
2959
2960
2961
2962
2963
2964
2965
2966
2967
2968
2969
2970
2971
2972
2973
2974
2975
2976
2977
2978
2979
2980
2981
2982
2983
2984
2985
2986
2987
2988
2989
2990
2991
2992
2993
2994
2995
2996
2997
2998
2999
3000
3001
3002
3003
3004
3005
3006
3007
3008
3009
3010
3011
3012
3013
3014
3015
3016
3017
3018
3019
3020
3021
3022
3023
3024
3025
3026
3027
3028
3029
3030
3031
3032
3033
3034
3035
3036
3037
3038
3039
3040
3041
3042
3043
3044
3045
3046
3047
3048
3049
3050
3051
3052
3053
3054
3055
3056
3057
3058
3059
3060
3061
3062
3063
3064
3065
3066
3067
3068
3069
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075
3076
3077
3078
3079
3080
3081
3082
3083
3084
3085
3086
3087
3088
3089
3090
3091
3092
3093
3094
3095
3096
3097
3098
3099
3100
3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109
3110
3111
3112
3113
3114
3115
3116
3117
3118
3119
3120
3121
3122
3123
3124
3125
3126
3127
3128
3129
3130
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3136
3137
3138
3139
3140
3141
3142
3143
3144
3145
3146
3147
3148
3149
3150
3151
3152
3153
3154
3155
3156
3157
3158
3159
3160
3161
3162
3163
3164
3165
3166
3167
3168
3169
3170
3171
3172
3173
3174
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179
3180
3181
3182
3183
3184
3185
3186
3187
3188
3189
3190
3191
3192
3193
3194
3195
3196
3197
3198
3199
3200
3201
3202
3203
3204
3205
3206
3207
3208
3209
3210
3211
3212
3213
3214
3215
3216
3217
3218
3219
3220
3221
3222
3223
3224
3225
3226
3227
3228
3229
3230
3231
3232
3233
3234
3235
3236
3237
3238
3239
3240
3241
3242
3243
3244
3245
3246
3247
3248
3249
3250
3251
3252
3253
3254
3255
3256
3257
3258
3259
3260
3261
3262
3263
3264
3265
3266
3267
3268
3269
3270
3271
3272
3273
3274
3275
3276
3277
3278
3279
3280
3281
3282
3283
3284
3285
3286
3287
3288
3289
3290
3291
3292
3293
3294
3295
3296
3297
3298
3299
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305
3306
3307
3308
3309
3310
3311
3312
3313
3314
3315
3316
3317
3318
3319
3320
3321
3322
3323
3324
3325
3326
3327
3328
3329
3330
3331
3332
3333
3334
3335
3336
3337
3338
3339
3340
3341
3342
3343
3344
3345
3346
3347
3348
3349
3350
3351
3352
3353
3354
3355
3356
3357
3358
3359
3360
3361
3362
3363
3364
3365
3366
3367
3368
3369
3370
3371
3372
3373
3374
3375
3376
3377
3378
3379
3380
3381
3382
3383
3384
3385
3386
3387
3388
3389
3390
3391
3392
3393
3394
3395
3396
3397
3398
3399
3400
3401
3402
3403
3404
3405
3406
3407
3408
3409
3410
3411
3412
3413
3414
3415
3416
3417
3418
3419
3420
3421
3422
3423
3424
3425
3426
3427
3428
3429
3430
3431
3432
3433
3434
3435
3436
3437
3438
3439
3440
3441
3442
3443
3444
3445
3446
3447
3448
3449
3450
3451
3452
3453
3454
3455
3456
3457
3458
3459
3460
3461
3462
3463
3464
3465
3466
3467
3468
3469
3470
3471
3472
3473
3474
3475
3476
3477
3478
3479
3480
3481
3482
3483
3484
3485
3486
3487
3488
3489
3490
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495
3496
3497
3498
3499
3500
3501
3502
3503
3504
3505
3506
3507
3508
3509
3510
3511
3512
3513
3514
3515
3516
3517
3518
3519
3520
3521
3522
3523
3524
3525
3526
3527
3528
3529
3530
3531
3532
3533
3534
3535
3536
3537
3538
3539
3540
3541
3542
3543
3544
3545
3546
3547
3548
3549
3550
3551
3552
3553
3554
3555
3556
3557
3558
3559
3560
3561
3562
3563
3564
3565
3566
3567
3568
3569
3570
3571
3572
3573
3574
3575
3576
3577
3578
3579
3580
3581
3582
3583
3584
3585
3586
3587
3588
3589
3590
3591
3592
3593
3594
3595
3596
3597
3598
3599
3600
3601
3602
3603
3604
3605
3606
3607
3608
3609
3610
3611
3612
3613
3614
3615
3616
3617
3618
3619
3620
3621
3622
3623
3624
3625
3626
3627
3628
3629
3630
3631
3632
3633
3634
3635
3636
3637
3638
3639
3640
3641
3642
3643
3644
3645
3646
3647
3648
3649
3650
3651
3652
3653
3654
3655
3656
3657
3658
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664
3665
3666
3667
3668
3669
3670
3671
3672
3673
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3680
3681
3682
3683
3684
3685
3686
3687
3688
3689
3690
3691
3692
3693
3694
3695
3696
3697
3698
3699
3700
3701
3702
3703
3704
3705
3706
3707
3708
3709
3710
3711
3712
3713
3714
3715
3716
3717
3718
3719
3720
3721
3722
3723
3724
3725
3726
3727
3728
3729
3730
3731
3732
3733
3734
3735
3736
3737
3738
3739
3740
3741
3742
3743
3744
3745
3746
3747
3748
3749
3750
3751
3752
3753
3754
3755
3756
3757
3758
3759
3760
3761
3762
3763
3764
3765
3766
3767
3768
3769
3770
3771
3772
3773
3774
3775
3776
3777
3778
3779
3780
3781
3782
3783
3784
3785
3786
3787
3788
3789
3790
3791
3792
3793
3794
3795
3796
3797
3798
3799
3800
3801
3802
3803
3804
3805
3806
3807
3808
3809
3810
3811
3812
3813
3814
3815
3816
3817
3818
3819
3820
3821
3822
3823
3824
3825
3826
3827
3828
3829
3830
3831
3832
3833
3834
3835
3836
3837
3838
3839
3840
3841
3842
3843
3844
3845
3846
3847
3848
3849
3850
3851
3852
3853
3854
3855
3856
3857
3858
3859
3860
3861
3862
3863
3864
3865
3866
3867
3868
3869
3870
3871
3872
3873
3874
3875
3876
3877
3878
3879
3880
3881
3882
3883
3884
3885
3886
3887
3888
3889
3890
3891
3892
3893
3894
3895
3896
3897
3898
3899
3900
3901
3902
3903
3904
3905
3906
3907
3908
3909
3910
3911
3912
3913
3914
3915
3916
3917
3918
3919
3920
3921
3922
3923
3924
3925
3926
3927
3928
3929
3930
3931
3932
3933
3934
3935
3936
3937
3938
3939
3940
3941
3942
3943
3944
3945
3946
3947
3948
3949
3950
3951
3952
3953
3954
3955
3956
3957
3958
3959
3960
3961
3962
3963
3964
3965
3966
3967
3968
3969
3970
3971
3972
3973
3974
3975
3976
3977
3978
3979
3980
3981
3982
3983
3984
3985
3986
3987
3988
3989
3990
3991
3992
3993
3994
3995
3996
3997
3998
3999
4000
4001
4002
4003
4004
4005
4006
4007
4008
4009
4010
4011
4012
4013
4014
4015
4016
4017
4018
4019
4020
4021
4022
4023
4024
4025
4026
4027
4028
4029
4030
4031
4032
4033
4034
4035
4036
4037
4038
4039
4040
4041
4042
4043
4044
4045
4046
4047
4048
4049
4050
4051
4052
4053
4054
4055
4056
4057
4058
4059
4060
4061
4062
4063
4064
4065
4066
4067
4068
4069
4070
4071
4072
4073
4074
4075
4076
4077
4078
4079
4080
4081
4082
4083
4084
4085
4086
4087
4088
4089
4090
4091
4092
4093
4094
4095
4096
4097
4098
4099
4100
4101
4102
4103
4104
4105
4106
4107
4108
4109
4110
4111
4112
4113
4114
4115
4116
4117
4118
4119
4120
4121
4122
4123
4124
4125
4126
4127
4128
4129
4130
4131
4132
4133
4134
4135
4136
4137
4138
4139
4140
4141
4142
4143
4144
4145
4146
4147
4148
4149
4150
4151
4152
4153
4154
4155
4156
4157
4158
4159
4160
4161
4162
4163
4164
4165
4166
4167
4168
4169
4170
4171
4172
4173
4174
4175
4176
4177
4178
4179
4180
4181
4182
4183
4184
4185
4186
4187
4188
4189
4190
4191
4192
4193
4194
4195
4196
4197
4198
4199
4200
4201
4202
4203
4204
4205
4206
4207
4208
4209
4210
4211
4212
4213
4214
4215
4216
4217
4218
4219
4220
4221
4222
4223
4224
4225
4226
4227
4228
4229
4230
4231
4232
4233
4234
4235
4236
4237
4238
4239
4240
4241
4242
4243
4244
4245
4246
4247
4248
4249
4250
4251
4252
4253
4254
4255
4256
4257
4258
4259
4260
4261
4262
4263
4264
4265
4266
4267
4268
4269
4270
4271
4272
4273
4274
4275
4276
4277
4278
4279
4280
4281
4282
4283
4284
4285
4286
4287
4288
4289
4290
4291
4292
4293
4294
4295
4296
4297
4298
4299
4300
4301
4302
4303
4304
4305
4306
4307
4308
4309
4310
4311
4312
4313
4314
4315
4316
4317
4318
4319
4320
4321
4322
4323
4324
4325
4326
4327
4328
4329
4330
4331
4332
4333
4334
4335
4336
4337
4338
4339
4340
4341
4342
4343
4344
4345
4346
4347
4348
4349
4350
4351
4352
4353
4354
4355
4356
4357
4358
4359
4360
4361
4362
4363
4364
4365
4366
4367
4368
4369
4370
4371
4372
4373
4374
4375
4376
4377
4378
4379
4380
4381
4382
4383
4384
4385
4386
4387
4388
4389
4390
4391
4392
4393
4394
4395
4396
4397
4398
4399
4400
4401
4402
4403
4404
4405
4406
4407
4408
4409
4410
4411
4412
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418
4419
4420
4421
4422
4423
4424
4425
4426
4427
4428
4429
4430
4431
4432
4433
4434
4435
4436
4437
4438
4439
4440
4441
4442
4443
4444
4445
4446
4447
4448
4449
4450
4451
4452
4453
4454
4455
4456
4457
4458
4459
4460
4461
4462
4463
4464
4465
4466
4467
4468
4469
4470
4471
4472
4473
4474
4475
4476
4477
4478
4479
4480
4481
4482
4483
4484
4485
4486
4487
4488
4489
4490
4491
4492
4493
4494
4495
4496
4497
4498
4499
4500
4501
4502
4503
4504
4505
4506
4507
4508
4509
4510
4511
4512
4513
4514
4515
4516
4517
4518
4519
4520
4521
4522
4523
4524
4525
4526
4527
4528
4529
4530
4531
4532
4533
4534
4535
4536
4537
4538
4539
4540
4541
4542
4543
4544
4545
4546
4547
4548
4549
4550
4551
4552
4553
4554
4555
4556
4557
4558
4559
4560
4561
4562
4563
4564
4565
4566
4567
4568
4569
4570
4571
4572
4573
4574
4575
4576
4577
4578
4579
4580
4581
4582
4583
4584
4585
4586
4587
4588
4589
4590
4591
4592
4593
4594
4595
4596
4597
4598
4599
4600
4601
4602
4603
4604
4605
4606
4607
4608
4609
4610
4611
4612
4613
4614
4615
4616
4617
4618
4619
4620
4621
4622
4623
4624
4625
4626
4627
4628
4629
4630
4631
4632
4633
4634
4635
4636
4637
4638
4639
4640
4641
4642
4643
4644
4645
4646
4647
4648
4649
4650
4651
4652
4653
4654
4655
4656
4657
4658
4659
4660
4661
4662
4663
4664
4665
4666
4667
4668
4669
4670
4671
4672
4673
4674
4675
4676
4677
4678
4679
4680
4681
4682
4683
4684
4685
4686
4687
4688
4689
4690
4691
4692
4693
4694
4695
4696
4697
4698
4699
4700
4701
4702
4703
4704
4705
4706
4707
4708
4709
4710
4711
4712
4713
4714
4715
4716
4717
4718
4719
4720
4721
4722
4723
4724
4725
4726
4727
4728
4729
4730
4731
4732
4733
4734
4735
4736
4737
4738
4739
4740
4741
4742
4743
4744
4745
4746
4747
4748
4749
4750
4751
4752
4753
4754
4755
4756
4757
4758
4759
4760
4761
4762
4763
4764
4765
4766
4767
4768
4769
4770
4771
4772
4773
4774
4775
4776
4777
4778
4779
4780
4781
4782
4783
4784
4785
4786
4787
4788
4789
4790
4791
4792
4793
4794
4795
4796
4797
4798
4799
4800
4801
4802
4803
4804
4805
4806
4807
4808
4809
4810
4811
4812
4813
4814
4815
4816
4817
4818
4819
4820
4821
4822
4823
4824
4825
4826
4827
4828
4829
4830
4831
4832
4833
4834
4835
4836
4837
4838
4839
4840
4841
4842
4843
4844
4845
4846
4847
4848
4849
4850
4851
4852
4853
4854
4855
4856
4857
4858
4859
4860
4861
4862
4863
4864
4865
4866
4867
4868
4869
4870
4871
4872
4873
4874
4875
4876
4877
4878
4879
4880
4881
4882
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887
4888
4889
4890
4891
4892
4893
4894
4895
4896
4897
4898
4899
4900
4901
4902
4903
4904
4905
4906
4907
4908
4909
4910
4911
4912
4913
4914
4915
4916
4917
4918
4919
4920
4921
4922
4923
4924
4925
4926
4927
4928
4929
4930
4931
4932
4933
4934
4935
4936
4937
4938
4939
4940
4941
4942
4943
4944
4945
4946
4947
4948
4949
4950
4951
4952
4953
4954
4955
4956
4957
4958
4959
4960
4961
4962
4963
4964
4965
4966
4967
4968
4969
4970
4971
4972
4973
4974
4975
4976
4977
4978
4979
4980
4981
4982
4983
4984
4985
4986
4987
4988
4989
4990
4991
4992
4993
4994
4995
4996
4997
4998
4999
5000
5001
5002
5003
5004
5005
5006
5007
5008
5009
5010
5011
5012
5013
5014
5015
5016
5017
5018
5019
5020
5021
5022
5023
5024
5025
5026
5027
5028
5029
5030
5031
5032
5033
5034
5035
5036
5037
5038
5039
5040
5041
5042
5043
5044
5045
5046
5047
5048
5049
5050
5051
5052
5053
5054
5055
5056
5057
5058
5059
5060
5061
5062
5063
5064
5065
5066
5067
5068
5069
5070
5071
5072
5073
5074
5075
5076
5077
5078
5079
5080
5081
5082
5083
5084
5085
5086
5087
5088
5089
5090
5091
5092
5093
5094
5095
5096
5097
5098
5099
5100
5101
5102
5103
5104
5105
5106
5107
5108
5109
5110
5111
5112
5113
5114
5115
5116
5117
5118
5119
5120
5121
5122
5123
5124
5125
5126
5127
5128
5129
5130
5131
5132
5133
5134
5135
5136
5137
5138
5139
5140
5141
5142
5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
5148
5149
5150
5151
5152
5153
5154
5155
5156
5157
5158
5159
5160
5161
5162
5163
5164
5165
5166
5167
5168
5169
5170
5171
5172
5173
5174
5175
5176
5177
5178
5179
5180
5181
5182
5183
5184
5185
5186
5187
5188
5189
5190
5191
5192
5193
5194
5195
5196
5197
5198
5199
5200
5201
5202
5203
5204
5205
5206
5207
5208
5209
5210
5211
5212
5213
5214
5215
5216
5217
5218
5219
5220
5221
5222
5223
5224
5225
5226
5227
5228
5229
5230
5231
5232
5233
5234
5235
5236
5237
5238
5239
5240
5241
5242
5243
5244
5245
5246
5247
5248
5249
5250
5251
5252
5253
5254
5255
5256
5257
5258
5259
5260
5261
5262
5263
5264
5265
5266
5267
5268
5269
5270
5271
5272
5273
5274
5275
5276
5277
5278
5279
5280
5281
5282
5283
5284
5285
5286
5287
5288
5289
5290
5291
5292
5293
5294
5295
5296
5297
5298
5299
5300
5301
5302
5303
5304
5305
5306
5307
5308
5309
5310
5311
5312
5313
5314
5315
5316
5317
5318
5319
5320
5321
5322
5323
5324
5325
5326
5327
5328
5329
5330
5331
5332

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Fallen Star, by E. L. Bulwer, and A Dissertation on the Origin of Evil, by Lord Brougham</TITLE>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
.smallcaps {font-variant: small-caps}
P {text-indent: 2% }
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgcolor="#99FF99">
<H1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Fallen Star, by E. L. Bulwer, and A Dissertation on the Origin of Evil, by Lord Brougham</H1>

<pre>
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.

This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.

Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.  Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
how the file may be used.  You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.


**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**

**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**

*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****


Title: The Fallen Star

Author: E. L. Bulwer

Title: A Dissertation on the Origin of Evil

Author: Lord Brougham

Release Date: August, 2005  [EBook #8654]
[This file was first posted on July 30, 2003]

Edition: 10

Language: English

Character set encoding: utf-8

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE FALLEN STAR ***




E-text prepared by David Deley



</PRE>

<CENTER><H3>THE</H3></CENTER>
<CENTER><H1>FALLEN STAR</H1></CENTER>
<CENTER><H3>or, THE HISTORY OF A FALSE RELIGION</H3></CENTER>
<CENTER><H2>by E.L. Bulwer</H2></CENTER>
<br>

<CENTER><H3>AND</H3></CENTER>
<br>
<CENTER><H1>A DISSERTATION ON THE ORIGIN OF EVIL</H1></CENTER>
<CENTER><H2>by Lord Brougham</H2></CENTER>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<CENTER>PUBLISHER&#8217;S PREFACE</CENTER>
<P>
RELIGION, says Noah Webster in his <i>American
Dictionary of the English Language</i>, is derived
from &#8220;Religo, to bind anew;&#8221; and, in this <i>History
of a False Religion</i>, our author has shown how
easily its votaries were insnared, deceived, and
mentally bound in a labyrinth of falsehood and
error, by a designing knave, who established a new
religion and a new order of priesthood by imposing
on their ignorance and credulity.

<P>

  The history of the origin of one supernatural
religion will, with slight alterations, serve to
describe them all. Their claim to credence rests on
the exhibition of so-called miracles&#8212;that is, on
a violation of the laws of nature,&#8212;for, if
religions were founded on the demonstrated truths of
science, there would be no mystery, no
supernaturalism, no miracles, no skepticism, no
false religion. We would have only verified truths
and demonstrated facts for the basis of our belief.
But this simple foundation does not satisfy the
unreasoning multitude. They demand signs, portents,
mysteries, wonders and miracles for their faith and
the supply of prophets, knaves and impostors has
always been found ample to satisfy this abnormal
demand of credulity.

<P>

  Designing men, even at the present day, find
little difficulty in establishing new systems of
faith and belief. Joseph Smith, who invented the
Mormon religion, had more followers and influence in
this country at his death, than the Carpenter&#8217;s Son
obtained centuries ago from the unlettered
inhabitants of Palestine; and yet Smith achieved his
success among educated people in this so-called
enlightened age, while Jesus taught in an age of
semi-barbarism and faith, when both Jews and Pagans
asserted and believed that beasts, birds, reptiles
and even fishes understood human language, were
often gifted with human speech, and sometimes seemed
to possess even more than ordinary human
intelligence.

<P>

  They taught that the serpent, using the language
of sophistry, beguiled Eve in Eden, who in turn
corrupted Adam, her first and only husband. At the
baptism of Jesus by John in the river Jordan, the
voice of a dove resounded in the heavens, saying,
quite audibly and distinctly, &#8220;Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am well pleased.&#8221; Balaam disputed
with his patient beast of burden, on their celebrated
journey in the land of Moab, and the ass proved
wiser in the argument that ensued than the inspired
prophet who bestrode him, The great fish Oannes
left his native element and taught philosophy to the
Chaldeans on dry land. One reputable woman, of
Jewish lineage,&#8212;the mother of an interesting
family&#8212;was changed to a pillar of salt in Sodom
while another female of great notoriety known to
fame as the celebrated &#8220;Witch of Endor,&#8221; raised
Samuel from his grave in Ramah. Saint Peter found a
shilling in the mouth of a fish which he caught in
the Sea of Galilee, and this lucky incident enabled
the impecunious apostle to pay the &#8220;tribute money&#8221;
in Capernaum. Another famous Israelite,&#8212;so it is
said,&#8212;broke the record of balloon ascensions in
Judea, and ascended into heaven in a chariot of
fire.

<P>

  In an age of ignorance wonders abound, prodigies
occur, and miracles become common, The untaught
masses are easily deceived, and their unreasoning
credulity enables them to proudly boast of their
unquestioning faith. When their feelings are excited
and their passions aroused by professional
evangelists, they even profess to believe that which
they cannot comprehend; and, in the satirical
language of Bulwer, they endeavor to &#8220;<i>assist
their ignorance by the conjectures of their
superstition</i>.&#8221;

<P>

  Among the multitudes of diverse and opposing
religions which afflict mankind, it is self-evident
that but one religion may justly claim the
inspiration of truth, and it is equally evident to
all reasoning minds that that religion is the
religion of kindness and humanity,&#8212;the religion
of noble thoughts and generous deeds,&#8212;which
removes the enmities of race and creed, and &#8220;makes
the whole world kin!&#8221; And which, in its observance
is blessed with sympathy, friendship, happiness and
love.

<P>

  This religion needs no creed, no profession of
faith, no incense, no prayer, no penance, no
sacrifice. Its whole duty consists in comforting the
afflicted, assisting the unfortunate, protecting the
helpless, and in honestly fulfilling our duties to
our fellow mortals. In the language of Confucius,
the ancient Chinese Sage, it is simply &#8220;to behave to
others as I would require others to behave to me.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Do unto others as you would they should do
unto you,&#8221; says Jesus; and in the Epistle of James,
we are told that &#8220;Pure Religion and undefiled
before God and the Father is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep himself unspotted from the world.&#8221;

<P>

  The same benign and generous conduct is commended
in even grander and nobler language in the lectures
to the French Masonic Lodges: &#8220;Love one another,
teach one another, help one another. That is all our
doctrine, all our science, all our law.&#8221;

<P>

It is believed that the learned dissertation of
Lord Brougham on the <i>Origin of Evil</i>, which is
annexed to this work, will need no commendation
to ensure its careful perusal.
<BR><BR>
                         PETER ECKLER.
<BR><BR><BR><BR>
<HR width=70 align=center>

<CENTER><H1>THE FALLEN STAR</H1></CENTER>
<CENTER><H2>or, HISTORY OF A FALSE RELIGION.</H2></CENTER>
<CENTER><H2>by E.L. Bulwer</H2></CENTER>
<br>
<CENTER><H2>AN ALLEGORY OF THE STARS.</H2></CENTER>
<HR width=70 align=center>
And the Stars sat, each on his ruby throne, and
watched with sleepless eyes upon the world.
It was the night ushering in the new year, a
night on which every star receives from the archangel
that then visits the universal galaxy, its
peculiar charge.

<P>The destinies of men and empires are then portioned
forth for the coming year, and, unconsciously
to ourselves, our fates become minioned to the
stars.

<P>A hushed and solemn night is that in which
the dark gates of time open to receive the ghost of
the dead year, and the young and radiant stranger
rushes forth from the clouded chasms of eternity.
On that night, it is said that there are given to
the spirits that we see not, a privilege and a power;
the dead are troubled in their forgotten graves, and
men feast and laugh, while demon and angel are
contending for their doom.

<P>It was night in heaven; all was unutterably
silent, the music of the spheres had paused, and
not a sound came from the angels of the stars; and
they who sat upon those shining thrones were
three thousand and ten, each resembling each.

<P>Eternal youth clothed their radiant limbs with
celestial beauty, and on their faces was written the
dread of calm, that fearful stillness which feels not,
sympathizes not with the dooms over which it
broods.

<P>War, tempest, pestilence, the rise of empires,
and their fall, they ordain, they, compass, unexultant
and uncompassionate. The fell and thrilling
crimes that stalk abroad when the world sleeps&#8212;the
parricide with his stealthy step, and horrent
brow, and lifted knife; the unwifed mother that
glides out and looks behind, and behind, and
shudders, and casts her babe upon the river, and
hears the wail, and pities not&#8212;the splash, and
does not tremble!

<P>These the starred kings behold&#8212;to these they
lead the unconscious step; but the guilt blanches
not their lustre, neither doth remorse wither their
unwrinkled youth.

<P>Each star wore a kingly diadem; round the loins
of each was a graven belt, graven with many and
mighty signs; and the foot of each was on a burning
ball, and the right arm dropped over the knee
as they bent down from their thrones; they moved
<!-- Page 5 -->
not a limb or feature, save the finger of the right
hand, which ever and anon moved slowly, pointing,
and regulated the fates of men as the hand of the
dial speaks the career of time.

<P>One only of the three thousand and ten wore not
the same aspect as his crowned brethren; a star,
smaller than the rest, and less luminous. The countenance
of this star was not impressed with the
awful calmness of the others; but there were sullenness
and discontent upon his mighty brow.

<P>And this star said to himself&#8212;&#8220;Behold, I am
created less glorious than my fellows, and the archangel
apportions not to me the same lordly destinies.
Not for me are the dooms of kings and
bards, the rulers of empires, or, yet nobler, the
swayers and harmonists of souls. Sluggish are the
spirits and base the lot of the men I am ordained
to lead through a dull life to a fameless grave. And
wherefore?&#8212;Is it mine own fault, or is it the fault
which is not mine, that I was woven of beams less
glorious than my brethren? Lo! when the archangel
comes, I will bow not my crowned head to
his decrees. I will speak, as the ancestral Lucifer
before me: <i>he</i> rebelled because of his glory, <i>I</i> because
of my obscurity; <i>he</i> from the ambition of
pride, and <i>I</i> from its discontent.&#8221;

<P>And while the star was thus communing with
himself, the upward heavens were parted as by a
long river of light, and adown that stream swiftly,
<!-- Page 6 -->
and without sound, sped the archangel visitor of
the stars; his vast limbs floated in the liquid lustre,
and his outspread wings, each plume the glory of
a sun, bore him noiselessly along; but thick clouds
veiled his lustre from the eyes of mortals, and
while above all was bathed in the serenity of his
splendor, tempest and storm broke below over the
children of the earth:

<P>&#8220;He bowed the heavens and came down, and
darkness was under his feet.&#8221;

<P>And the stillness on the faces of the stars became
yet more still, and the awfulness was humbled into
awe. Right above their thrones paused the course
of the archangel; and his wings stretched from
east to west, overshadowing with the shadow of
light the immensity of space. Then forth in the
shining stillness, rolled the dread music of his
voice: and, fulfilling the heraldry of god, to each
star he appointed the duty and the charge, and
each star bowed his head yet lower as he heard the
fiat, while his throne rocked and trembled at the
majesty of the word. But at last, when each of
the brighter stars had, in succession, received the
mandate, and the viceroyalty over the nations of
the earth, the purple and diadems of kings&#8212;the
archangel addressed the lesser star as he sat apart
from his fellows

<P>&#8220;Behold,&#8221; said the archangel, &#8220;the rude tribes
of the north, the fishermen of the river that flows
<!-- Page 7 -->
beneath, and the hunters of the forests, that darken
the mountain-tops with verdure! these be thy
charge, and their destinies thy care. Nor deem
thou, O star of the sullen beams, that thy duties
are less glorious than the duties of thy brethren;
for the peasant is not less to thy master and mine
than the monarch; nor doth the doom of empires
rest more upon the sovereign than on the herd.
The passions and the heart are the dominion of the
stars&#8212;a mighty realm; nor less mighty beneath
the hide that garbs the shepherd, than the jewelled
robes of eastern kings.&#8221;

<P>Then the star lifted his pale front from his
breast, and answered the archangel:

<P>&#8220;Lo!&#8221; he said, &#8220;ages have past, and each year
thou hast appointed me to the same ignoble charge.
Release me, I pray thee, from the duties that I
scorn; or, if thou wilt that the lowlier race of men
be my charge, give unto me the charge not of
many, but of one, and suffer me to breathe into
him the desire that spurns the valleys of life, and
ascends its steeps. If the humble are given to me,
let there be amongst them one whom I may lead
on the mission that shall abase the proud; for, behold,
O Appointer of the Stars, as I have sat for
uncounted years upon my solitary throne, brooding
over the things beneath, my spirit hath gathered
wisdom from the changes that shift below. Looking
upon the tribes of earth, I have seen how the
<!-- Page 8 -->
multitude are swayed, and tracked the steps that
lead weakness into power; and fain would I be
the ruler of one who, if abased, shall aspire to
rule.&#8221;

<P>As a sudden cloud over the face of noon was the
change on the brow of the archangel.

<P>&#8220;Proud and melancholy star,&#8221; said the herald,
&#8220;thy wish would war with the courses of the invisible
destiny, that, throned far above, sways and
harmonizes all; the source from which the lesser
rivers of fate are eternally gushing through the
heart of the universe of things. Thinkest thou
that thy wisdom, of itself, can lead the peasant to
become a king?&#8221;

<P>And the crowned star gazed undauntedly on the
face of the archangel, and answered:

<P>&#8220;Yea!&#8212;grant me but one trial!&#8221;

<P>Ere the archangel could reply, the farthest
centre of the heaven was rent as by a thunderbolt;
and the divine herald covered his face with his
hands, and a voice low and sweet, and mild with
the consciousness of unquestionable power, spoke
forth to the repining star:

<P>&#8220;The time has arrived when thou mayest have
thy wish. Below thee, upon yon solitary plain,
sits a mortal, gloomy as thyself, who, born under
thy influence, may be moulded to thy will.&#8221;

<P>The voice ceased, as the voice of a dream. Silence
was over the seas of space, and the archangel,
<!-- Page 9 -->
once more borne aloft, slowly soared away into the
farther heaven, to promulgate the divine bidding
to the stars of far-distant worlds.

<P>But the soul of the discontented star exulted
within itself; and it said, &#8220;I will call forth a king
from the valley of the herdsmen, that shall trample
on the kings subject to my fellows, and render the
charge of the contemned star more glorious than
the minions of its favored brethren; thus shall I
revenge neglect&#8212;thus shall I prove my claim
hereafter to the heritage of the great of earth!&#8221;
<BR><BR><BR>
<P>At that time, though the world had rolled on for
ages, and the pilgrimage of man had passed
through various states of existence, which our dim
traditionary knowledge has not preserved, yet the
condition of our race in the northern hemisphere
was then what <i>we</i>, in our imperfect lore, have conceived
to be among the earliest.

<BR>
<BR>
<HR width=70 align=center>
<CENTER><H1>FORMING A NEW RELIGION.</H1></CENTER>
<HR width=70 align=center>
<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 1 -->
<!-- (These part divisions in comments are not part of the original book) -->
<P>
By a rude and vast pile of stones, the masonry
of arts forgotten, a lonely man sat at midnight,
gazing upon the heavens. A storm had just passed
from the earth&#8212;the clouds had rolled away, and
the high stars looked down upon the rapid waters of
the Rhine; and no sound save the roar of the waves
and the dripping of the rain from the mighty trees,
was heard around the ruined pile: the white sheep
lay scattered on the plain, and slumber with them.
He sat watching over the herd, lest the foes of a
neighboring tribe seized them unawares, and thus he
coummuned with himself:

<P>

  &#8220;The king sits upon his throne, and is honored
by a warrior race, and the warrior exults in the
trophies he has won; the step of the huntsman is
bold upon the mountain-top, and his name is sung
at night round the pine-fires, by the lips of the
bard; and the bard himself hath honor in the hail.
But I, who belong not to the race of kings, and
whose limbs can bound not to the rapture of war,
nor scale the eyries of the eagle and the haunts of
the swift stag; whose hand cannot string the harp,
and whose voice is harsh in the song; <i>I</i> have
neither honor nor command, and men bow not the
head as I pass along; yet do I feel within me the
consciousness of a great power that should rule my
species&#8212;not obey. My eye pierces the secret
hearts of men&#8212;I see their thoughts ere their lips
proclaim them; and I scorn, while I see, the
weakness and the vices which I never shared. I laugh
at the madness of the warrior&#8212;I mock within my
soul at the tyranny of kings. Surely there is
something in man&#8217;s nature more fitted to command&#8212;more
worthy of renoun, than the sinews of the arm,
or the swiftness of the feet, or the accident of
birth!&#8221;

<P>

  As Morven, the son of Osslah, thus mused within
himself, still looking at the heavens, the solitary
man beheld a star suddenly shooting from its place,
and speeding through the silent air, till it as
suddenly paused right over the midnight river, and
facing the inmate of the pile of stones.

<P>

  As he gazed upon the star strange thoughts
grew slowly over him. He drank, as it were, from
its solemn aspect, the spirit of a great design. A
dark cloud rapidly passing over the earth, snatched
the star from his sight; but left to his awakened
mind the thoughts and the dim scheme that had
come to him as he gazed.

<P>

   When the sun arose one of his brethren relieved
 him of his charge over the herd, and he went away,
 but not to his father&#8217;s home. Musingly he plunged
 into the dark and leafless recesses of the winter
 forest; and shaped out of his wild thoughts, more
 palpably and clearly, the outline of his daring hope.

<P>

   While thus absorbed, he heard a great noise in
the forest, and, fearful lest the hostile tribe of the
Alrich might pass that way, he ascended one of
the loftiest pine-trees, to whose perpetual verdure
the winter had not denied the shelter he sought,
and, concealed by its branches, he looked anxiously
forth in the direction whence the noise had proceed.

<P>

   And IT came&#8212;it came with a tramp and a crash,
and a crushing tread upon the crunched boughs
and matted leaves that strewed the soil&#8212;it came&#8212;it
came, the monster that the world now holds
no more&#8212;the mighty mammoth of the North!

<P>

  Slowly it moved in its huge strength along, and
its burning eyes glittered through the gloomy
shade: its jaws, falling apart, showed the grinders
with which it snapped asunder the young oaks of
the forest; and the vast tusks, which, curved
downward to the midst of its massive limbs, glistened
white and ghastly, curdling the blood of one
destined hereafter to be the dreaded ruler of the
men of that distant age.

<P>

   The livid eyes of the monster fastened on the
form of the herdsman, even amidst the thick darkness
of the pine. It paused&#8212;it glared upon him&#8212;its
jaws opened, and a low deep sound, as of gathering
thunder, seemed to the son of Osslah as the knell of
a dreadful grave. But after glaring on him for some
moments, it again, and calmly, pursued its terrible
way, crashing the boughs as it marched along, till
the last sound of its heavy tread died away upon
his ear.

<P>

  Ere yet, however, before Morven had summoned
the courage to descend the tree, he saw the shining
of arms through the bare branches of the wood,
and presently a small hand of the hostile Alrich
came into sight. He was perfectly hidden from
them; and, listening as they passed him, he heard
one say to another:

<P>

&#8220;The night covers all things; why attack them by day?&#8221;

<P>

  And he who seemed the chief of the band, answered
&#8220;Right. To-night, when they sleep in their
city, we will upon them. Lo! they will be drenched
in wine, and fall like sheep into our hands.&#8221;

<P>

    &#8220;But where, O chief,&#8221; said a third of the band,
shall our men hide during the day? for there are
many hunters among the youth of the Oestrich
tribe, and they might see us in the forest unawares,
and arm their race against our coming.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;I have prepared for that,&#8221; answered the chief.
&#8220;Is not the dark cavern of Oderlin at hand? Will
it not shelter us from the eyes of the victims?&#8221;

<P>

  Then the men laughed, and shouting, they
went their way adown the forest.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 2 -->
<P>
  When they were gone Morven cautiously descended,
and, striking into a broad path, hastened to a vale
that lay between the forest and the river in which
was the city where the chief of his country dwelt.

<P>

  As he passed by the warlike men, giants in that
day, who thronged the streets (if streets they
might be called), their half garments parting from
their huge limbs, the quiver at their backs, and
the hunting spears in their hands, they laughed
and shouted out, and, pointing to him, cried:

<P>

  &#8220;Morven, the woman! Morven, the cripple!
what dost thou among men?&#8221;

<P>

  For the son of Osslah was small in stature and
of slender strength, and his step had halted from
his birth; but he passed through the warriors
unheedingly.

<P>

  At the outskirts of the city he came upon a tail
pile, in which some old men dwelt by themselves,
and counseled the king when times of danger, or
when the failure of the season, the famine, or the
drought, perplexed the ruler, and clouded the
savage fronts of his warrior tribe.

<P>

  They gave the counsels of experience, and when
experience failed, they drew, in their believing
ignorance, assurances and omens from the winds
of heaven, the changes of the moon, and the flights
of the wandering birds. Filled (by the voices of
the elements, and the variety of mysteries which
ever shift along the face of things, unsolved by the
wonder which pauses not, the fear which believes,
and that eternal reasoning of all experience, which
assigns causes to effects) with the notion of superior
powers, <i>they assisted their ignorance by the
conjectures of their superstition</i>. But as yet
they knew no craft and practiced no <i>voluntary</i>
delusion; they trembled too much at the mysteries,
which had created their faith, to seek to belie
them. They counselled as they believed, and the bold
dream had never dared to cross men thus worn and
grey with age, of governing their warriors and their
kings by the wisdom of deceit.

<P>

  The son of Osslah entered the vast pile with a
fearless step, and approached the place at the
upper end of the hall, where the old men sat in
conclave.

<P>

  &#8220;How, base-torn and craven limbed!&#8221; cried the
eldest, who had been a noted warrior in his day;
&#8220;darest thou enter unsummoned amidst the secret
councils of the wise men? Knowest thou not,
scatterling! that the penalty is death?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Slay me, if thou wilt,&#8221; answered Morven &#8220;but
hear!

<P>

  &#8220;As I sat last night in the ruined palace of our
ancient kings, tending, as my father bade me, the
sheep that grazed around, lest the fierce tribe of
Alrich should descend unseen from the mountains
upon the herd, a storm came darkly on; and when
the storm, had ceased and I looked above on the
sky, I saw a star descend from its height towards
me, and a voice from the star said, &#8216;Son of Osslah,
leave thy herd and seek the council of the wise
men, and say unto them, that they take thee as
one of their number, or that sudden will be the
destruction of them, and theirs.&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;But I had courage to answer the voice, and I
said, &#8216;Mock not the poor son of the herdsman.
Behold they will kill me if I utter so rash a word,
for I am poor and valueless in the eyes of the tribe
of Oestrich, and the great in deeds and the grey of
hair alone sit in the council of the wise men.&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;Then the voice said, &#8216;Do my bidding, and I
will give thee a token that thou comest from the
powers that sway the seasons and sail upon the
eagles of the winds. Say unto the wise men that
this very night if they refuse to receive thee of
their band, evil shall fall upon them, and the
morrow shall dawn in blood.&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;Then the voice ceased, and a cloud passed over
the star; and I communed with myself, and came,
O dread fathers, mournfully unto you. For I
feared that ye would smite me because of my bold
tongue, and that ye would, sentence me to the
death, in that I asked what may scarce be given
even to the sons of kings.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the grim elders looked one at the other
and marvelled much, nor knew they what answer
they should make to the herdsman&#8217;s son.

<P>

  At length one of the wise men said, &#8220;Surely
there must be truth in the son of Osslah, for he
would not dare to falsify the great lights of heaven.
If he had given unto men the words of the star,
verily we might doubt the truth. But who would
brave the vengeance of the gods of night?&#8221;

<P>

  Then the elders shook their heads approvingly;
but one answered and said:

<P>

    &#8220;Shall we take the herdsman&#8217;s son as our equal?
No!&#8221;

<P>

  The name of the man who thus answered was
Darvan, and his words were pleasing to the elders.

<P>

  But Morven spoke out:

<P>

  &#8220;Of a truth, O councilors of kings! I look not
to be an equal with yourselves. Enough if I tend
the gates of your palace, and serve you as the son
of Osslah may serve;&#8221; and he bowed his head
humbly as he spoke.

<P>

  Then said the chief of the elders, for he was
wiser than the others, &#8220;But how wilt thou deliver
us from the evil that is to come? Doubtless the
star hath informed thee of the service thou canst
render to us if we take thee into our palace, as well
as the ill that will fall on us if we refuse.&#8221;

<P>

  Morven answered meekly: &#8220;Surely, if thou acceptest
thy servant, the star will teach him that which may
requite thee; but as yet he knows only what he has
uttered.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the sages bade him withdraw, and they
communed with themselves and they differed
much; but though fierce men and bold at the war
cry of a human foe, they shuddered at the prophecy
of a star. So they resolved to take the son of
Osslah, and suffer him to keep the gate of the
council-hall.

<P>

  He heard their decree and towed his head, and
went to the gate, and sat down by it in silence.

<P>

  And the sun went down in the west, and the
first stats of the twilight began to glimmer, when
Morven started front his seat, and a trembling
appeared to seize his limbs. His lips foamed; an
agony and a fear possessed him; he writhed as a
man whom the spear of a foeman has pierced with
a mortal wound, and suddenly fell upon his face
on the stony earth.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 3 -->
<P>
  The elders approached him; wondering, they
lifted him up. He slowly recovered as from a
swoon; his eyes rolled wildly.

<P>

  &#8220;Heard ye not the voice of the star?&#8221; he said.

<P>

  And the chief of the elders answered, &#8220;Nay, we
heard no sound.&#8221;

<P>

  Then Morven sighed heavily.

<P>

  &#8220;To me only the word was given. Summon
instantly, O councilors of the king! summon the
armed men, and all the youth of the tribe, and let
them take the sword and the spear, and follow thy
servant.  For lo! the star hath announced to him
that the foe shall fall into our hands as the wild
beast of the forests.&#8221;

<P>

  The son of Osslah spoke with the voice of command,
and the elders were amazed.

<P>

  &#8220;Why, pause ye?&#8221;  he cried. &#8220;Do the gods of
the night lie? On my head rest the peril if I
deceive ye.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the elders communed together; and they
went forth and summoned the men of arms, and
all the young of the tribe; and each man took the
sword and the spear, and Morven also. And the
son of Osslah walked first, still looking up at
the star; and he motioned them to be silent, and
move with a stealthy step.

<P>

  So they went through the thickest of the forest,
till they came to the mouth of a great cave,
overgrown with aged and matted trees, and it was
called the cave of Oderlin; and he bade the leaders
place the armed men on either side the cave, to the
right and to the left, among the hushes.

<P>

  So they watched silently till the night deepened,
when they heard a noise in the cave and the sound
of feet, and forth came an armed man; and the
spear of Morven pierced him, and be fell dead at
the month of the cave. Another and another, and
both fell! Then loud and long was heard the warcry
of Alrich, and forth poured, as a stream over a
narrow bed, the river of armed men.

<P>

  And the Sons of Oestrich fell upon them, and
the foe were sorely perplexed and terrified by the
suddenness of the battle and the darkness of the
night; and there was a great slaughter.

<P>

  And when the morning came, the children of
Oestrich counted the slain, and found the leader of
Alrich and the chief men of the tribe amongst
them, and great was the joy thereof.

<P>

  So they went back in triumph to the city, and
they carded the brave son of Osslah on their
shoulders, and shouted forth, &#8220;Glory to the servant
of the star.&#8221;

<P>

  And Morven dwelt in the council of the wise men.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 4 -->
  Now the king of the tribe had one daughter,
and she was stately amongst the women of the
tribe, and fair to look upon. And Morven gazed
upon her with the eyes of love, but he did not dare
to speak.

<P>

  Now the son of Osslah laughed secretly at the
foolishness of men; he loved them not, for they
had mocked him; he honored them not, for he had
blinded the wisest of their elders.

<P>

  He shunned their feasts and merriment and
lived apart and solitary.

<P>

  The austerity of his life increased the mysterious
homage which his commune with the stars had
won him, and the boldest of the warriors bowed
his head to the favorite of the gods.

<P>

  One day he was wandering by the side of the
river, and he saw a large bird of prey rise from the
earth, and give chase to a hawk that had not yet
gained the full strength of its wings. From his
youth the solitary Morven had loved to watch, in
the great forests and by the banks of the mighty
stream, the habits of the things which nature had
submitted to man; and looking now on the birds,
he said to himself, &#8220;Thus is it ever; by cunning
or by strength each thing wishes to master its
kind.&#8221;

<P>

  While thus, moralizing, the larger bird had
stricken down the hawk, and it fell terrified and
panting at his feet.

<P>

  Morven took the hawk in his hands, and the
vulture shrieked above him, wheeling nearer and
nearer to its protected prey; but Morven scared
away the vulture, and placing the hawk in his
bosom, he carried it home, and tended it carefully,
and fed it from his hand until it had regained its
strength; and the hawk knew him, and followed
him as a dog.

<P>

  And Morven said, smiling to himself, &#8220;Behold,
<i>the credulous fools around me put faith in the flight
and motions of birds</i>. I will teach this poor hawk
to minister to my ends.&#8221;

<P>

   So he tamed the bird, and tutored it according
to its nature; but he concealed it carefully from
others, and cherished it in secret.

<P>

   The king of the country was old and like to die,
and the eyes of the tribe were turned to his two
sons, nor knew they which was the worthier to
reign.

<P>

   And Morven passing through the forest one
evening, saw the younger of the two, who was a great
hunter, sitting mournfully under an oak, and looking
with musing eyes upon the ground.

<P>

   &#8220;Wherefore musest thou, O swift footed Siror?&#8221;
said the son of Osslah; &#8220;and wherefore art thou
sad?&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Thou canst not assist me,&#8221; answered the
prince, sternly; &#8220;take thy way.&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Nay,&#8221; answered Morven, &#8220;thou knowest not
what thou sayest; am I not the favorite of the
stars?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Away, I am no graybeard whom the approach
of death makes doting: talk not to inc of the stars;
I know only the things that my eye sees and my
ear drinks in.&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Hush,&#8221; said Morven, solemnly, and covering
his face; &#8220;hush! lest the heavens avenge thy
rashness. But, behold, the stars have given unto
me to pierce the secret hearts of others; and I can
tell thee the thoughts of thine.&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Speak out, base-born!&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Thou art the younger of two, and thy name is
less known in war than the name of thy brother;
yet wouldst thou desire to be set over his head,
and to sit at the high seat of thy father?&#8221;

<P>

  The young man turned pale.

<P>

   &#8220;Thou hast truth in thy lips,&#8221; said he, with a
faltering voice.

<P>

  &#8220;Not from me, but from the stars, descends the
truth.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Can the stars grant my wish?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;They can; let us meet to-morrow.&#8221; Thus saying,
Morven passed into the forest.

<P>

  The next day, at noon, they met again.

<P>

  &#8220;I have consulted the gods of night, and they
have given me the power that I prayed for, but on
one condition.&#8221;

<P>

&#8220;Name it.&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;That thou sacrifice thy sister on their altars
thou must build up a heap of stones, and take thy
sister into the wood, and lay her on the pile, and
plunge thy sword into her heart; so only shalt
then reign.&#8221;

<P>

  The prince shuddered, and started to his feet,
and shook his spear at the pale front of Morven.

<P>

  &#8220;Tremble,&#8221; said the son of Osslah, with a loud
voice. &#8220;Hark to the gods, who threaten thee with
death, that thou hast dared to lift thine arm against
their servant!&#8221;

<P>

  As he spoke, the thunder rolled above; for one
of the frequent storms of the early summer was
about to break.

<P>

  The spear dropped from the prince&#8217;s hand; he
sat down and cast his eyes on the ground.

<P>

   &#8220;Wilt thou do the bidding of the stars, and
reign?&#8221; said Morven.

<P>

  &#8220;I will!&#8221; cried Siror, with a desperate voice.

<P>

  &#8220;This evening, then, when the sun sets, thou
wilt lead her hither, alone; I may not attend thee.
Now, let us pile the stones.&#8221;

<P>

  Silently the huntsman bent his vast strength to
the fragments of rock that Morven pointed to him,
and they built the altar, and went their way.

<P><BR>

  And beautiful is the dying of the great sum
when the last song of the birds fades into the lap
of silence; when the islands of the cloud are
bathed in light, and the first star springs up over
the grave of day.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 5 -->
<P>
  &#8220;Whither leadest thou my steps, my brother?&#8221;
said Gina; &#8220;and why doth thy lip quiver? and
why dost thou tarn away thy face?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Is not the forest beautiful; doth it not tempt
us forth, my sister?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;And wherefore are those heaps of stone piled
together?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Let others answer; <i>I</i> piled them not.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Thou tremblest brother: we will return.&#8221;

<P>

    &#8220;Not so; by those stones is a bird that my shaft
pierced to-day; a bird of beautiful plumage that I
slew for thee.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;We are by the pile: where hast thou laid the bird?&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Here!&#8221; cried Siror; and he seized the maiden
in his arms, and, casting her on the rude altar, he
drew forth his sword to smite her to the heart.

<P>

   Right over the stones rose a giant oak, the
growth of immemorial ages; and from the oak, or
from the heavens; broke forth a loud and solemn
voice:

<P>


&#8220;Strike not, son of kings! the stars forbear
their own: the maiden thou shalt not slay; yet
shalt thou reign over the race of Oestrich; and
thou shall give Orna as a bride to the favorite of
the stars. Arise, and go thy way!&#8221;

<P>

  The voice ceased: the terror of Orna had
overpowered for a time the springs of life; and
Siror bore her home through the wood in his strong
arms.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 6 -->
<P>
  &#8220;Alas!&#8221; said Morven, when, at the next day, he
again met the aspiring prince; &#8220;alas! the stars
have ordained me a lot which my heart desires
not; for I, lonely of life, and crippled of shape, am
insensible to the fires of love; and ever, as thou
and thy tribe know, I have shunned the eyes of
women, for the maidens laughed at my halting step
and my sullen features; and so in my youth I
learned betimes to banish all thoughts of love.
But since they told me (as they declared to <i>thee</i>),
that only through that marriage, thou, O beloved
prince! canst obtain thy fatter&#8217;s plumed crown, I
yield me to their will.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;But,&#8221; said the prince, &#8220;not until I am king
can I give thee my sister in marriage; for thou
knowest that my sire would smite me to the dust,
if I asked him to give the flower of our race to the
son of the herdsman Osslah.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Thou speakest the words of truth. Go home
and fear not: but, when thou art king, the sacrifice
must be made, and Orna mine. Alas! how can I
dare to lift my eyes to her! But so ordain the
dread kings of the night!&#8212;Who shall gainsay
their word?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;The day that sees me king, sees Orna thine,&#8221;
answered the prince.

<P>

  Morven walked forth, as was his wont, alone;
and he said to himself, &#8220;the king is old, yet may
he live long between me and mine hope!&#8221; and he
began to cast in his mind how he might shorten
the time.

<P>

  Thus absorbed, he wandered on so unheedingly,
that night advanced, and he had lost his path
among the thick woods, and knew not how to regain
his home; so he lay down quietly beneath a tree, and
rested till day dawned.

<P>

  Then hunger came upon him and he searched
among the bushes for such simple roots as those
with which, for he was ever careless of food, he
was used to appease the cravings of nature.

<P>

  He found, among other more familiar herbs and
roots, a red berry of a sweetish taste, which he had
never observed before. He ate of it sparingly, and
had not proceeded far in the wood before he found
his eyes swim, and a deadly sickness come over
him. For several hours he lay convulsed on the
ground expecting death; but the gaunt spareness
of his frame, and his unvarying abstinence,
prevailed over the poison, and he recovered slowly,
and after great anguish: but he went with feeble
steps back to the spot where the berries grew, and,
plucking several, hid them in his bosom, and by
nightfall regained the city.

<P>

  The next day he went forth among his father&#8217;s
herds, and seizing a lamb, forced some of the
berries into its stomach, and the lamb, escaping,
ran away, and fell down dead. Then Morven took
some more of the berries and boiled them down,
and mixed the juice with wine, and he gave the
wine in secret to one of his father&#8217;s servants, and
the servant died.

<P>

  Then Morven sought the king, and coming into
his presence alone, he said unto him, &#8220;How fares
my lord?&#8221;

<P>

  The king sat on a couch, made of the skins of
wolves, and his eye was glassy and dim; but vast
were his aged limbs and huge was his stature, and
he had been taller by a head than the children of
men, and none living could bend the bow he had
bent in youth. Grey, gaunt and worn, as some
mighty bones that are dug at times from the bosom
of the earth&#8212;a relic of the strength of old.

<P>

  And the king said, faintly, and with a ghastly
laugh:

<P>

  &#8220;The men of my years fare ill. What avails
my strength? Better had I been born a cripple
like thee, so should I have had nothing to lament
in growing old.&#8221;

<P>

  The red flash passed over Morven&#8217;s brow; but
he bent humbly&#8212;

<P>

  &#8220;O king, what if I could give thee back thy
youth? What if I could restore to thee the vigor
which distinguished thee above the sons of men,
when the warriors of Alrich fell like grass before
thy sword?&#8221;

<P>

  Then the king uplifted his dull eyes, and he
said:

<P>

  &#8220;What meanest thou, son of Osslah? Surely I
hear much of thy great wisdom, and how thou
speakest nightly with the stars. Can the gods of
the night give unto thee the secret to make the
old young?&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Tempt them not by doubt,&#8221; said Morven, reverently.
&#8220;All things are possible to the rulers of
the dark hour; and, lo! the star that loves thy
servant spake to him at the dead of night, and
said, &#8216;Arise, and go unto the king; and tell him
that the stars honor the tribe of Oestrich, and
remember how the king bent his bow against the Sons
of Alrich; wherefore, look thou under the stone that
lies to the right of thy dwelling&#8212;even beside the
pine-tree, and thou shalt see a vessel of clay, and
in the vessel thou wilt find a sweet liquid, that
shall make the king thy master forget his age
forever.&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;Therefore, my lord, when the morning rose I
went forth, and looked under the stone, and behold
the vessel of clay; and I have brought it hither to
my lord, the king.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Quick&#8212;slave&#8212;quick! that I may drink and
regain my youth!&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Nay, listen, O king! farther said the star to
me:

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;It is only at night, when the stars have power,
that this their gift will avail; wherefore, the king
must wait till the hush of the midnight, when the
moon is high, and then may he mingle the liquid
with his wine.

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;And he must reveal to none that he hath received
the gift from the hand of the servant of the stars.
For THEY do their work in secret, and when men
sleep; therefore they love not the babble of mouths,
and he who reveals their benefits shall surely
die.&#8217;&#8221;

<P>

    &#8220;Fear not,&#8221; said the king, grasping the vessel;
&#8220;none shall know: and, behold, I will rise on the
morrow; and my two sons&#8212;wrangling for my
crown&#8212;verily, I shall be younger than they!&#8221;

<P>

  Then the king laughed loud; and he scarcely
thanked the servant of the stars, neither did he
promise him reward: for the kings in those days
had little thought&#8212;save for themselves.

<P>

  And Morven said to him, &#8220;Shall I not attend
my lord? for without me, perchance, the drug
might fail of its effect.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Aye,&#8221; said the king, &#8220;rest here.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Nay,&#8221; replied Morven; &#8220;thy servants will marvel
and talk much, if they see the son of Osslah
sojourning in thy palace. So would the displeasure
of the gods of night perchance be incurred.
Suffer that the lesser door of the palace be unbarred,
so that at the night hour, when the moon
is midway in the heavens, I may steal unseen into
thy chamber, and mix the liquid with thy wine.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;So be it,&#8221; said the king. &#8220;Thou art wise
though thy limbs are crooked and curt; and the
stars might have chosen a taller man.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the king laughed again; and Morven
laughed too, but there was danger in the mirth of
the son of Osslah.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 7 -->
<P>
  The night had began to wane, and the inhabitants
of Oestrich were buried in deep sleep, when,
hark! a sharp voice was heard crying out in the
streets, &#8220;Woe, woe! Awake ye sons of Oestrich&#8212;woe!&#8221;

<P>

  Then forth, wild&#8212;haggard&#8212;alarmed&#8212;spear in
hand, rushed the giant sons of the rugged tribe,
and they saw a man on a height in the middle of
the city, shrieking, &#8220;Woe!&#8221; and it was Morven,
the son of Osslah!

<P>

  And he said unto them, as they gathered round
him, &#8220;Men and warriors, tremble as ye hear.

<P>

    &#8220;The star of the west hath spoken to me and
thus saith the star:

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Evil shall fall upon the kingly house of
Oestrich&#8212;yea, ere the morning dawns; wherefore,
go thou mourning into the streets, and wake the
inhabitants to woe!&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;So I rose and did the bidding of the star.&#8221;

<P>

  And while Morven was yet speaking, a servant
of the king&#8217;s house ran up to the crowd, crying
loudly:

<P>

  &#8220;The king is dead!&#8221;

<P>

  So they went into the palace and found the king
stark upon his couch, and his huge limbs all
cramped and crippled by the pangs of death, and
his hands clenched as if in menace of a foe&#8212;the
foe of all living flesh!

<P>

  Then fear came on the gazers, and they looked
on Morven with a deeper awe than the boldest
warrior would have called forth: and they bore
him back to the council-hall of the wise men,
wailing and clashing their arms in woe, and
shouting, ever and anon:

<P>

  &#8220;<i>Honor to Morven, the prophet!</i>&#8221;

<P>

  And that was the first time the word PROPHET
was ever used in those countries.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 8 -->
<P>
  At noon, on the third day from the king&#8217;s death,
Siror sought Morven, and he said:

<P>

  &#8220;Lo, my father is no more, and the people meet
this evening at sunset to elect his successor, and
the warriors and the young men will surely choose
my brother, for he is more known in war. Fail
me not, therefore.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Peace, boy!&#8221; said Morven, sternly; &#8220;nor dare
to question the truth of the gods of night.&#8221;

<P>

  For Morven now began to presume on his power
among the people, and to speak as rulers speak,
even to the sons of kings.

<P>

  And the voice silenced the fiery Siror, nor dared
he to reply.

<P>

  &#8220;Behold,&#8221; said Morven, taking up a chaplet of
colored plumes, &#8220;wear this on thy head, and put
on a brave face&#8212;for the people like a hopeful spirit&#8212;and
go down with thy brother to the place where
the new king is to be chosen, and leave the rest to
the stars.

<P>

  &#8220;But, above all things, forget not that chaplet;
it has been blessed by the gods of night.&#8221;

<P>

  The prince took the chaplet and returned home.

<P>

  It was evening and the warriors and chiefs of
the tribe were assembled in the place where the
new king was to be elected.

<P>

  And the voices of the many favored Prince
Voltoch, the brother of Siror, for he had slain twelve
foeman with his spear; and verily, in those days,
that was a great virtue in a king.

<P>

  Suddenly there was a shout in the streets, and
the people cried out:

<P>

&#8220;Way for Morven, the prophet, the prophet!&#8221;

<P>

  For the people held the son of Osslah in even
greater respect than did the chiefs.

<P>

  Now, since he had become of note, Morven had
assumed a majesty of air which the son of the
herdsman knew not in his earlier days; and albeit
his stature was short, and his limbs halted, yet his
countenance was grave and high.

<P>

  He only of the tribe wore a garment that swept
the ground, and his head was bare, and his long
black hair descended to his girdle, and rarely was
change or human passion seen in his calm aspect.

<P>

  He feasted not, nor drank wine, nor was his
presence frequent in the streets.

<P>

  He laughed not, neither did he smile, save when
alone in the forest&#8212;and then he laughed at the
follies of his tribe.

<P>

  So he walked slowly through the crowd, neither
turning to the left nor to the right, as the crowd
gave way; and he supported his steps with a staff
of the knotted pine.

<P>

   And when he came to the place where the chiefs
were met, and the two princes stood in the centre,
he bade the people around him proclaim silence.

<P>

  Then mounting on a huge fragment of rock, he
thus spake to the multitude:

<P>

   &#8220;Princes, wantors and bards! ye, O council of
the wise men! and ye, O hunters of the forests,
and snarers of the fishes of the streams! harken to
Morven, the son of Osslah.

<P>

  &#8220;Ye know that I am lowly of race, and weak of
limb; but did I not give into your hands the tribe
of Alrich, and did ye not slay them in the dead of
night with a great slaughter?

<P>

   &#8220;Surely, ye must know that this of himself did
not the herdsman&#8217;s son; surely he was but the
agent of the bright gods that love the children of
Oestrich.

<P>

  &#8220;Three nights since, when slumber was on the
earth, was not my voice heard in the streets?

<P>

   &#8220;Did I not proclaim woe to the kingly house of
Oestrich? and verily the dark arm had fallen on
the bosom of the mighty, that is no more.

<P>

   &#8220;Could I have dreamed this thing merely in a
dream, or was I not as the voice of the bright gods
that watch over the tribes of Oestrich?

<P>

  &#8220;Wherefore, O men and chiefs! scorn not the
son of Osslah, but listen to his words; for are they
not the wisdom of the stars?

<P>

   &#8220;Behold, last night, I sat alone in the valley,
and the trees were hushed around, and not a breath
stirred; and I looked upon the star that councels
the son of Osslah; and I said:

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;Dread conqueror of the cloud! thou that
bathest thy beauty in the streams and piercest the
pine-boughs with thy presence; behold thy servant
grieved because the mighty one hath passed away,
and many foes surround the houses of my brethren;
and it is well that they should have a king
valiant and prosperous in war, the cherished of
the stars.

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Wherefore, O star! as thou gavest into our
hands the warriors of Alrich, and didst warn us of
the fall of the oak of our tribe, wherefore, I pray
thee, give unto the people a token that they may
choose that king whom the gods of the night
prefer!&#8217;

<P>

    &#8220;Then a low voice sweeter than the music of
the bard, stole along the silence.

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Thy love for thy race is grateful to the stars
of night: go then, son of Osslah, and seek the
meeting of the chiefs and the people to choose a
king, and tell them not to scorn thee because thou
art slow to the chase and little known in war; for
the stars give thee wisdom as a recompense for all.

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Say unto the people that as the wise men of
the council shape their lessons by the flight of
birds, so by the flight of birds stall a token be
given unto them, and they shall choose their kings.

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;For,&#8217; said, the star of right, &#8216;the birds are
children of the winds, they pass to and fro along
the ocean of the air, and visit the clouds that are
the warships of the gods.

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;And their music is but broken melodies which
they gleam from the harps above.

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;Are they not the messengers of the storm?

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Ere the stream chafes against the bank, and
the rain descends, know ye not, by the wail of
birds and their low circles over the earth, that the
tempest is at hand?

<P>

    &#8220;&#8216;Wherefore, wisely do ye deem that the children
of the air are the fit interpreters between the
sons of men and the lords of the world above.

<P>

  &#8220;&#8216;Say then to the people and the chiefs, that
they shall take, from among the doves that nest in
the roof of the palace, a white dove, and they shall
let it loose in the air, and verily the gods of the
night shall deem the dove as a prayer coming from
the people, and they shall send a messenger to
grant the prayer and give to the tribes of Oestrich
a king worthy of themselves.&#8217;

<P>

  &#8220;With that the star spoke no more.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the friends of Voltoch murmured among
themselves, and they said, &#8220;Shall this man dictate
to us who shall be king?&#8221;

<P>

  But the people and the warriors shouted:

<P>

  &#8220;Listen to the star; do we not give or deny
battle according as the bird flies&#8212;shall we not by
the same token choose him by whom the battle
should be led?&#8221;

<P>

   And the thing seemed natural to them, for it
was after the custom of the tribe.

<P>

   Then they took one of the doves that built in
the roof of the palace, and they bought it to the
spot where Morven stood, and he, looking up to
the stars and muttering to himself, released the
bird.

<P>

   There was a copse of trees a little distance from
the spot, and as the dove ascended, a hawk suddenly
rose from the copse and pursued the dove;
and the dove was terrified, and soared circling high
above the crowd, when, lo, the hawk, poising itself
one moment on its wings, swooped with a sudden
swoop, and, abandoning its prey, alighted on the
plumed head of Siror.

<P>

   &#8220;Behold,&#8221; cried Morven in a loud voice, &#8220;behold your
king!&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Hail, all hail the king!&#8221; shouted the people.
&#8220;All hail the chosen of the stars!&#8221;

<P>

  Then Morven lifted his right hand, and the
hawk left the prince, and alighted on Morven&#8217;s
shoulder.

<P>

   &#8220;Bird of the gods!&#8221; said he, reverently, &#8220;hast
thou not a secret message for my ear?&#8221; Then
the hawk put its beak to Morven&#8217;s ear, and Morven
bowed his head submissively; and the hawk rested
with Morven from that moment and would not be
scared away.

<P>

  And Morven said:

<P>

  &#8220;The stars have sent me this bird, that, in the
day-time, when I see them not, we may never be
without a counsellor in distress.&#8221;

<P>

  So Siror was made king, and Maven the son of
Osslah was constrained by the king&#8217;s will to take
Orna for his wife; and the people and the chiefs
honored Morven, the prophet, above all the elders
of the tribe.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 9 -->
<P>
  One day Morven said unto himself, musing,
&#8220;Am I not already equal with the king? nay, is
not the king my servant? did I not place him over
the heads of his brothers? am I not, therefore,
more fit to reign than he is? shall I not push him
from his seat?

<P>

  &#8220;It is a troublesome and stormy office to reign
over the wild men of Oestrich, to feast in the
crowded hail, and to lead die warriors to the fray.

<P>

  &#8220;Surely, if I feasted not, neither went out to
war, they might say, &#8216;This is no king, but the cripple
Morven;&#8217; and some of the race of Siror might
slay me secretly.

<P>

  &#8220;But can I not be greater far than kings, and
continue to choose and govern them, living as now
at mine own ease?

<P>

  &#8220;<i>Verily, the stars shall give me a new palace, and
many subjects</i>.&#8221;

<P>

  Among the wise men was Darvan; and Morven
feared him, for his eye often sought the movements
of the son of Osslah.

<P>

  And Morven said &#8220;It were better to TRUST this
man than to BLIND, for surely I want a helpmate
and a friend.&#8221;

<P>

  So he said to the wise man as he sat alone watching
the setting sun:

<P>

  &#8220;It seemeth to me, O Darvan! I that we ought to
build a great pile in honor of the stars and the
pile should be more glorious than all the palaces of
the chiefs and the palaces of the king; for are not
the stars our masters?

<P>

  &#8220;And thou and I should be the chief dwellers in
this new palace, and we would serve the gods of
night, and fatten their altars with the choicest of
the herd, and the freshest of the fruits of the earth.&#8221;

<P>

  And Darvan said:

<P>

  &#8220;thou speakest as becomes the servant of the
stars. But will the people help to build the pile,
for they are a war-like race and they love not toil?&#8221;

<P>

  And Morven answered:

<P>

  &#8220;<i>Doubtless the stars will ordain the work to be
done. Fear not</i>.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;In truth thou art a wondrous man, thy words
ever come to pass, answered Darvan; &#8220;and I
wish thou wouldest teach me, friend, the language
of the stars.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;Assuredly if thou servest me thou shalt know,&#8221;
answered the proud Morven; and Darvan was
secretly wroth that the son of the herdsman should
command the service of an elder and a chief.
<P>
  And when Morven returned to his wife he found
her weeping much.

<P>

  Now she loved the son of Osslah with an exceeding
love, for he was not savage and fierce as the men
she had known, and she was proud of his fame among
the tribe; and he took her in his arms and kissed
her, and asked her why she wept.

<P>

  Then she told him that her brother, the king, had
visited her and had spoken bitter words of Morven.

<P>

  &#8220;He taketh from me the affection of my people,&#8221;
said Siror, &#8220;and blindeth them with lies. And
since he hath made me king, what if he take my
kingdom from me? Verily, a new tale of the stars
might undo the old.&#8221;

<P>

  And the king had ordered her to keep watch on
Morven&#8217;s secrecy, and to see whether truth was in
him when he boasted of his commune with the
Powers of Night.

<P>

  But Orna loved Morven better than Siror, therefore
she told her husband all.

<P>

  And Morven resented the king&#8217;s ingratitude,
and was troubled much, for a king is a powerful
foe; but tie comforted Orna, and bade her dissemble
and complain also of him to her brother, so that he
might confide to her unsuspectingly whatsoever he
might design against Morven.

<P>

  There was a cave by Morven&#8217;s house in which
he kept the sacred hawk, and wherein he secretly
trained and nurtured other birds against future
need, and the door of the cave was always barred.

<P>

  And one day he was thus engaged when he beheld a
chink in the wall, that he had never noted before,
and the sun came playfully in; and while he looked
he perceived the sunbeam was darkened, and presently
he saw a human face peering in through the chink.

<P>

  And Morven trembled, for he knew he had been
watched.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 10 -->
<P>

  Morven ran hastily from the cave, but the spy had
disappeared among the trees, and Morven went
straight to the chamber of Darvan and sat himself
down.
<P>
  Darvan did not return home till late, and he
started and turned pale when he saw Morven.

<P>

  But Morven greeted him as a brother, and bade
him to a feast, which, for the first time, he
purposed giving at the full of the moon, in honor
of the stars.

<P>

  And going out of Darvan&#8217;s chamber, he returned
to his wife, and bade her hair, and go at
the dawn of day to the king, her brother, and
complain bitterly of Morven&#8217;s treatment, and pluck
the black schemes from the breast of the king. &#8220;For
surely,&#8221; said he, &#8220;Darvan hath lied to thy brother,
and some evil awaits me that I would fain know.&#8221;

<P>

  So the next morning Orna sought the king,
and she said:

<P>

  &#8220;The herdsman&#8217;s son hath reviled me, and
spoken harsh words to me; stall I not be
avenged?&#8221;

<P>

  Then the king stamped his feet and shook his
mighty sword.

<P>

  &#8220;Surely thou shalt be avenged, for I have
learned from one of the elders that which convinceth
me that the man hath lied to the people,
and the base-born shall surely die.

<P>

  &#8220;Yea, the first time that he goeth alone into the
forest my brother and I will fall upon him and
smite him to the death.&#8221;

<P>

  And with this comfort Siror dismissed Orna.

<P>

  And Orna flung herself at the feet of her husband.

<P>

  &#8220;Fly now, O my beloved!&#8212;fly into the forests
afar from my brethren, or surely the sword of
Siror will end thy days.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the son of Osslab folded his arms, and
seemed buried in black thoughts; nor did he heed
the voice of Orna, until again and again she had
implored him to fly.

<P>

  &#8220;Fly!&#8221; he said at length. &#8220;Nay, I was doubting
what punishment the stars should pour down upon our
foe. Let warriors fly. Morven, the prophet, conquers
by arms mightier than the sword.&#8221;

<P>
  Nevertheless Morven was perplexed in his
mind, and knew not how to save himself from the
vengeance of the king.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 10 -->
<P>
  Now, while Morven was musing hopelessly, he heard
a roar of waters; and behold the river, for it was
now the end of autumn, had burst its bounds, and
was rushing along the valley to the houses of the
city.

<P>

  And now the men of the tribe, and the women,
and the children, came running, and with shrieks
to Morven&#8217;s house, crying:

<P>

  &#8220;Behold the river has burst upon us!&#8212;Save us,
O ruler of the stars!&#8221;

<P>

  Then the sudden thought broke upon Morven
and he resolved to risk his fate upon one desperate
scheme.

<P>

  And he came out from the house calm and sad,
and he said:

<P>

  &#8220;Ye know not what ye ask; I cannot save ye
from this peril: ye have brought it on yourselves.&#8221;

<P>

  And they cried: &#8220;How? O son of Osslah&#8212;we
are ignorant of our crime.&#8221;

<P>

  And he answered:

<P>

  &#8220;Go down to the king&#8217;s palace and wait before
it, and surely I will follow ye, and ye shall learn
wherefore ye have incurred this punishment from
the gods.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the crowd rolled murmuring back, as a
receding sea; and when it was gone from the
place, Morven went alone to the house of Darvan,
which was next his own: and Darvan was greatly
terrified, for he was of a great age, and had no
children, neither friends, and he feared that he
could not of himself escape the waters.

<P>

  And Morven said to him, soothingly:

<P>

  &#8220;Lo, the people love me, and I will see that
thou art saved for verily thou hast been friendly
to me, and done me much service with the king.&#8221;

<P>

  And as he thus spake, Morven opened the door
of the house and looked forth, and saw that they
were quite alone; then he seized the old man by
the throat, and ceased not his grip till he was
quite dead.

<P>

  And leaving the body of the elder on the floor,
Morven, stole from the house and shut the gate.

<P>

  And as he was going to his cave he mused a
little while, when, hearing the mighty roar of the
waves advancing, and afar off the shrieks of
women, he lifted up his head, and said proudly:

<P>

  &#8220;No! in this hour terror alone shall be my
slave; I will use no art save the power of my soul.&#8221;

<P>

  So, leaning on his pine staff, he strode down to
the palace.

<P>

  And it was now evening, and many of the men
held torches, that they might see each other&#8217;s faces
in the universal fear.

<P>

  Red flashed the quivering flames on the dark
robes and pale front of Morven; and he seemed
mightier than the rest, because his face alone was
calm amidst the tumult.

<P>

  And louder and hoarser came the roar of the
waters; and swift rusted the shades of night over
the hastening tide.

<P>

  And Morven said in a stern voice:

<P>

  &#8220;Where is the king; and wherefore is he absent
from his people in the hour of dread?&#8221;

<P>

  Then the gate of the palace opened; and, behold
Siror was sitting in the hall by the vast pine-fire
and his brother by his side, and his chiefs around
him: for they would not deign to come amongst the
crowd at the bidding of the herdsman&#8217;s son.

<P>

  Then Morven, standing upon a rock above the
heads of the people (the same rack whereon he
had proclaimed the king), thus spake:

<P>

  &#8220;Ye desired to know, O sons of Oestrich!
wherefore the river hath burst its bounds, and the
peril hath come upon you.

<P>

  &#8220;Learn then, that the stars resent as the foulest
of human crimes an insult to their servants and
delegates below.

<P>

  &#8220;Ye are all aware of the manner of life of
Morven, whom ye have surnamed the Prophet!

<P>

  &#8220;He harms not man or beast; he lives alone;
and, far from the wild joys of the warrior tribe, he
worships in awe and fear the Powers of Night!

<P>

  &#8220;So is he able to advise ye of the coming
danger&#8212;so is he able to save ye from the foe.
Thus are your huntsmen swift and your warriors
bold; and thus do your cattle bring forth their
young, and the earth its fruits.

<P>

  &#8220;What think ye, and what do ye ask to hear?

<P>

  &#8220;Listen, men of Oestrich!&#8212;they have laid
snares for my life; and there are amongst you
those who have whetted the sword against the
bosom that is only filled with love for you.

<P>

  &#8220;Therefore have the stern lords of heaven
loosened the chains of the river&#8212;therefore doth
this evil menace ye.

<P>

  &#8220;Neither will it pass away until they who dig
the pit for the servant of the stars are buried in
the same.&#8221;

<P>

  Then, by the red torches, the faces of the men
looked fierce and threatening; and ten thousand
voices shouted forth:

<P>

  &#8220;Name them who conspired against thy life, O
holy prophet! and surely they shall be torn limb
from limb.&#8221;

<P>

  And Morven turned aside, and they saw that he
wept bitterly; and he said:

<P>

  &#8220;Ye have asked me, and I have answered: but
now scarce will ye believe the foe that I have
provoked against me; and by the heavens themselves I
swear, that if my death would satisfy their fury,
nor bring down upon yourselves, and your children&#8217;s
children, the anger of the throned stars, gladly
would I give my bosom to the knife. Yes,&#8221; he cried,
lifting up his voice, and pointing his shadowy arm
towards the hall where the king sat by the
pine-fire&#8212;&#8221;yes, thou whom by my voice the stars
chose above thy brother&#8212;yes, Siror, the guilty one!
take thy sword, and come hither&#8212;strike, if thou
hast the heart to strike, the Prophet of the Gods!&#8221;

<P>

  The king started to his feet, and the crowd were
hushed in a shuddering silence.

<P>

  Morven resumed:

<P>

   &#8220;Know then, O men of Oestrich, that Siror and
Voltoch, his brother, and Darvan, the elder of the
wise men, have purposed to slay your prophet,
even at such hour as when alone he seeks the
shade of the forest to devise new benefits for you.
Let the king deny it, if he can!&#8221;

<P>

  Then Voltoch, of the giant limbs, strode forth
from the hall, and his spear quivered in his hand.

<P>

  &#8220;Rightly hast thou spoken, base son of my
father&#8217;s herdsman! and for thy sins shalt thou
surely die; for thou liest when thou speakest of
thy power with the stars, and thou laughest at the
folly of them who hear thee: wherefore put him to
death.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the chiefs in the hall clashed their arms,
and rushed forth to slay the son of Osslah.

<P>

  But he, stretching his unarmed hands on high,
exclaimed:

<P>

  &#8220;Hear him, O dread ones of the night&#8212;hark
how he blasphemeth.&#8221;

<P>

  Then the crowd took up the word, and cried:

<P>

  &#8220;He blasphemeth&#8212;he blasphemeth against the
prophet!&#8221;

<P>

  But the king and the chiefs who hated Morven,
because of his power with the people, rushed into
the crowd; and the crowd were irresolute, nor
knew they how to act, for never yet had they
rebelled against their chiefs, and they feared alike
the prophet and the king.

<P>

  And Siror cried:

<P>

  &#8220;Summon Darvan to us, for he bath watched
the steps of Morven, and he shall lift the veil from
my people&#8217;s eyes.&#8221;

<P>

  Then three of the swift of foot started forth to
the house of Darvan.

<P>

  And Morven cried out with a loud voice:

<P>

  &#8220;Hark! thus saith the star who, now riding
through yonder cloud breaks forth upon my eyes&#8212;&#8216;For
the lie that the elder hath uttered against
my servant, the curse of the stars shall fall upon
him.&#8217; Seek, and as ye find him, so may ye find
ever the foes of Morven and the gods.&#8221;

<P>

  A chill and an icy fear fell over the crowd, and
even the cheek of Siror grew pale; and Morven,
erect and dark above the waving torches, stood
motionless with folded arms.

<P>

  And hark&#8212;far and fast came on the war-steeds
of the wave&#8212;the people heard them marching to
the land, and tossing their white manes in the
roaring wind.

<P>

   &#8220;Lo, as ye listen,&#8221; said Morven, calmly, &#8220;the
river sweeps on. Haste, for the gods will have a
victim, be it your prophet or your king.&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;Slave!&#8221; shouted Siror, and his spear left his
hand, and far above the heads of the crowd sped
hissing beside the dark form of Morven, and rent
the trunk of the oak behind.

<P>

   Then the people, wroth at the danger of their
beloved seer, uttered a wild yell, and gathered
round him with brandished swords, facing their
chieftains and their king.

<P>

  But at that instant, ere the war had broken forth
among the tribe, the three warriors returned, and
they bore Darvan on their shoulders, and laid him
at the feet of the king, and they said tremblingly:

<P>

  &#8220;Thus found we the elder in the centre of his
own hall.&#8221;

<P>

  And the people saw that Darvan was a corpse,
and that the prediction of Morven was thus verified.

<P>

  &#8220;So perish the enemies of Morven and the
Stars!&#8221; cried the son of Osslah. And the people
echoed the cry.

<P>

  Then the fury of Siror was at its height, and
waving his sword above his head, he plunged into
the crowd:

<P>

  &#8220;Thy blood, base-born, or mine.&#8221;

<P>

  &#8220;So be it!&#8221; answered Morven, quailing not.
&#8220;People, smite the blasphemer. Hark how the
river pours down upon your children and your
hearths. On, on, or ye perish!&#8221;

<P>

  And Siror fell, pierced by five hundred spears.

<P>

  &#8220;Smite! smite!&#8221; cried Morven, as the chiefs of
the royal house gathered round the king.

<P>

  And the clash of swords, and the gleam of
spears, and the cries of the dying, and the yell of
the trampling people, mingled with the roar of the
elements, and the voices of the rushing wave.

<P>

  Three hundred of the chiefs perished that night
by the swords of their own tribe. And the last
cry of the victors was, &#8220;<i>Morven the prophet</i>&#8212;MORVEN THE
KING!&#8221;

<P>

  And the son of Osslah, seeing the waves now
spreading over the valley, led Orna his wife, and
the men of Oestrich, their women and their children,
to a high mount, where they waited the dawning sun.

<P>

  But Orna sat apart and wept bitterly, for her
brothers were no more, and her race had perished
from the earth.

<P>

  And Morven sought to comfort her in vain.

<P>

  When the morning rose, they saw that the river
had overspread the greater part of the city, and
now stayed its course among the hollows of the
vale.

<P>

  Then Morven said to the people: &#8220;The star kings
are avenged, and their wrath appeased. Tarry only
here until the water have melted into the crevices
of the soil.&#8221;

<P>

  And on the fourth day they returned to the
city, and no man dared to name another, save
Morven, as the king.

<!-- THE FALLEN STAR: Part 10 -->
<P>
  But Morven retired into his cave and mused
deeply; and then assembling the people, he gave
them new laws; and he made them build a mighty
temple in honor of the stars, and made them heap
within it all that the tribe held most precious.

<P>

  And he took unto him fifty children from the
most famous of the tribe; and he took also ten
from among the men who had served him best,
and he ordained that they should serve the stars
in the great temple: and Morven was their chief.

<P>

  And he put away the crown they pressed upon
him, and he chose from among the elders a new
king.

<P>

  And he ordained that henceforth the servants
only of the stars in the great temple should elect
the king and the rulers, and hold council, and
proclaim war: but he suffered the king to feast,
and to hunt, and to make merry in the banquet halls.

<P>

  And Morven built altars in the temple, and was
the first who, in the North, <i>sacrificed the beast and
the bird, and afterwards human flesh</i>, upon the
altars.

<P>

  And he drew auguries from the entrails of the
victim, and made schools for the science of the
prophet; and Morven&#8217;s piety was the wonder of
the tribe, in that he refused to be a king.

<P>

  And Morven, the high-priest, was <i>ten thousand
times mightier than the king</i>.

<P>

  He taught the people to till the ground, and to
sow the herb; and by his wisdom, and the valor
that his prophecies instilled into men, he conquered
all the neighboring tribes.

<P>

  And the sons of Oestrich spread themselves over
a mighty empire, and with them spread the name
and the laws of Morven.

<P>

  And in every province which he conquered, he
ordered them to build a temple to the stars.

<P>

  But a heavy sorrow fell upon the years of
Morven.

<P>

  The sister of Siror bowed down her head and
survived not long the slaughter of her race.

<P>

  And she left Morven childless.

<P>

  And he mourned bitterly and as one distraught,
for her only in the world had his heart the power
to love.

<P>

  And he sat down and covered his face, saying:

<P>

  &#8220;Lo: I have conquered and travailed; and
never before in the world did man conquer what I
have conquered.

<P>

  &#8220;Verily, the empire of the iron thews and the
giant limbs is no more; I have found a new power,
that henceforth shall sway the lands;&#8212;<i>the empire
of plotting brain and a commanding mind</i>.

<P>

  &#8220;But, behold, my fate is barren, and I feel already
that it will grow neither fruit nor tree as a
shelter to mine old age.

<P>

  &#8220;Desolate and lonely shall I pass away unto
my grave.

<P>

   &#8220;O Orna! my beautiful! my loved! none were
like unto thee, and to thy love do I owe my glory
and my life.

<P>

   &#8220;Would for thy sake, O sweet bird! that nestled
in the dark cavern of my heart&#8212;would for thy
sake that thy brethren had been spared, for verily
with my life would I have purchased thine.

<P>

   &#8220;Alas! only when I lost thee did I find that thy
love was dearer to me than the fear of others.&#8221;

<P>

  And Morven mourned night and day, and none
might comfort him.

<P>

  But from that time forth he gave himself solely
to the cares of his calling; and his nature and
his affections, and whatever there was left soft in
him, grew hard like stone; and he was a man
without love, <i>and he forbade love and marriage to
the priest</i>.

<P>

  Now, in his latter years, there arose OTHER
prophets; for the world had grown wiser even by
Morven&#8217;s wisdom, and some did say unto themselves:

<P>

  &#8220;Behold Morven, the herdsman&#8217;s son, is a king
of kings: this did the stars for their servant;
shall we not, therefore, be also servants to the
star?&#8221;

<P>

   And they wore black garments like Morven, and
went about prophesying of what the stars foretold
them.

<P>

  And Morven was exceeding wroth; for he, more
than other men, knew that the prophets lied;
wherefore he went forth against them with the
ministers of the temple, and he took them and
burned them by a slow fire: for thus said Morven
to the people:

<P>

   &#8220;<i>A true prophet hath honor, but I only am a true prophet!</i>&#8221;

<P>

   &#8220;To all false prophets there shall be surely death.&#8221;

<P>

  And the people applauded the piety of the son
of Osslah.

<P>

  And Morven educated the wisest of the children
in the mysteries of the temple, so that they grew
up to succeed him worthily.

<P>

  And he died full of years and honor; and they
carved his effigy on a mighty stone before the
temple, and the effigy endured for a thousand ages,
and whoso looked on it trembled; for the face was
calm with the calmness of unspeakable awe!

<P>

  And Morven was the first mortal of the North
that made <i>Religion the stepping stone to Power</i>.

<P>

  Of a surety Morven was a great man!

<!-- Conclusion -->
<BR><BR><BR>
<CENTER><H3>CONCLUSION</H3></CENTER>
<P>It was the last night of the old year, and the
stars sat, each upon his ruby throne, and
watched with sleepless eyes upon the world. The
night was dark and troubled, the dread winds
were abroad, and fast and frequent hurried the
clouds beneath the thrones of the kings of night.
But ever and anon fiery meteors flashed along
the depths of heaven, and were again swallowed
up in the graves of darkness.

<P>And far below his brethren, and with a lurid
haze around his orb, sat the discontented star that
had watched over the hunters of the North.
And on the lowest abyss of space there was
spread a thick and mighty gloom, from which, as
from a caldron, rose columns of wreathing smoke;
and still, when the great winds rested for an instant
on their paths, voices of woe and laughter,
mingled with shrieks, were heard booming from
the abyss to the upper air.

<P>And now, in the middest night, a vast figure
rose slowly from the abyss, and its wings threw
blackness over the world. High upward to the
throne of the discontented star sailed the fearful
shape, and the star trembled on his throne when
the form stood before him face to face. And the
shape said: &#8220;Hail, brother!&#8212;all hail!&#8221;

<P>&#8220;I know thee not,&#8221; answered the star: &#8220;thou art
not the archangel that visitests the kings of night.&#8221;

<P>And the shape laughed loud. &#8220;I am the fallen
star of the morning.&#8212;I am Lucifer, thy brother.
Hast thou not, O sullen king, served me and
mine? and hast thou not wrested the earth from
thy Lord who sittest above and given it to me by
<i>darkening the souls of men with the religion of fear?</i>
Wherefore come, brother, come;&#8212;thou hast a
throne prepared beside my own in the fiery gloom.
Come.&#8212;The heavens are no more for thee.&#8221; Then
the star rose from his throne, and descended to
the side of Lucifer. For ever hath the spirit of
discontent had sympathy with the soul of pride.

<P>And slowly they sank down to the gulf of gloom.
It was the first night of the new year, and the
stars sat each on his ruby throne, and watched
with sleepless eyes upon the world. But sorrow
dimmed the bright faces of the kings of night, for
they mourned in silence and in fear for a fallen
brother.

<P>And the gates of the heaven of heavens flew
open with a golden sound, and the swift archangel
fled down on his silent wings; and the archangel
gave to each of the stars, as before, the message of
his Lord; and to each star was his appointed
charge.

<P>And when the heraldry seemed done, there came
a laugh from the abyss of gloom, and half way from
the gulf rose the lurid shape of Lucifer, the fiend.

<P>&#8220;Thou countest thy flock ill, O radiant shepherd.
Behold! one star is missing from the three
thousand and ten.&#8221;

<P>&#8220;Back to thy gulf, false Lucifer!&#8212;the throne
of thy brother hath been filled.&#8221;

<P>And lo! as the archangel spake, the stars beheld
a young and all lustrous stranger on the
throne of the erring star; and his face was so soft
to look upon, that the dimmest of human eyes
might have gazed upon its splendor unabashed;
but the dark fiend alone was dazzled by its lustre,
and, with a yell that shook the flaming pillars of
the universe, he plunged backwards into the gloom.

<P>Then, far and sweet from the arch unseen, came
forth the voice of God:

<P>&#8220;Behold! <i>on the throne of the discontented star
sits the star of hope; and he that breathed into mankind
the Religion of Fear hath a successor in him
who shall teach earth the Religion of Love.</i>&#8221;

<P>And evermore the Star of Fear dwells with Lucifer,
and the Star of Love keeps vigil in heaven.

<BR><BR>
<HR>
<BR><BR>
<CENTER><H1>ON THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.</H1></CENTER>
<CENTER><H2>BY LORD BROUGHAM.</H2></CENTER>
<BR><BR>
<CENTER><H1>DISSERTATION ON THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.</H1></CENTER>
<HR width=70 align=center>

<P>The question which has more than, any other
harassed metaphysical reasoners, but especially
theologians, and upon which it is probable
that no very satisfactory conclusion will ever be
reached by the human faculties, is the Origin and
Sufferance of Evil.

<P>Its existence being always assumed, philosophers
have formed various theories for explaining
it, but they have always drawn very different inferences from it.

<P>The ancient Epicureans argued against the existence
of the Deity, because they held that the
existence of Evil either proved him to be limited
in power or of a malignant nature; either of which
imperfections is inconsistent with the first notions
of a divine being.

<P>In this kind of reasoning they have been followed
both by the atheists and sceptics of later
times.

<P>Bayle regarded the subject of evil as one of the
great arsenals from whence his weapons were to
be chiefly drawn. None of the articles in his
<!-- Page 62 -->
famous Dictionary are more labored than those in
which he treats of this subject. <i>Monichian</i>, and
still more <i>Paulician</i>, almost assume the appearance
of formal treatises upon the question; and both
<i>Marchionite</i> and <i>Zoroaster</i> treat of the same subject.
All these articles are of considerable value;
they contain the greater part of the learning upon
the question; and they are distinguished by the
acuteness of reasoning which was the other characteristic
of their celebrated author.

<P>Those ancient philosophers who did not agree
with Epicurus in arguing from the existence of
evil against the existence of a providence that
superintended and influenced the destinies of the
world, were put to no little difficulty in accounting
for the fact which they did not deny, and yet
maintaining the power of a divine ruler. The
doctrine of a double principle, or of two divine beings
of opposite natures, one beneficent, the other
mischievous, was the solution which one class of
reasoners deemed satisfactory, and to which they
held themselves driven by the phenomena of the
universe.

<P>Others unable to deny, the existence of things
which men denominate evil, both physical and
moral, explain them in a different way. They
maintained that physical evil only obtains the
name from our imperfect and vicious or feeble dispositions;
that to a wise man there is no such
<!-- Page 63 -->
thing; that we may rise superior to all such
groveling notions as make us dread or repine at
any events which can befall the body; that pain,
sickness, loss of fortune or of reputation, exile,
death itself, are only accounted ills by a weak and
pampered mind; that if we find the world tiresome,
or woeful, or displeasing, we may at any
moment quit it; and that therefore we have no
right whatever to call any suffering connected
with existence on earth an evil, because almost all
sufferings can be borne by a patient and firm
mind; since if the situation we are placed in becomes
either intolerable, or upon the whole more
painful than agreeable, it is our own fault that we
remain in it.

<P>But these philosophers took a further view of
the question which especially applied to moral
evil. They considered that nothing could be more
groundless than to suppose that if there were no
evil there could be any good in the world; and
they illustrated this position by asking how we
could know anything of temperance, fortitude or
justice, unless there were such things as excess,
cowardice and injustice.

<P>These were the doctrines of the Stoics, from
whose sublime and impracticable philosophy they
seemed naturally enough to flow. Aulus Gellius
relates that the last-mentioned argument was expounded
by Chrysippus, in his work upon providence.
<!-- Page 64 -->
The answer given by Plutarch seems quite
sufficient: &#8220;As well might you say that Achilles
could not have a fine head of hair unless Thersites
had been bald; or that one man's limbs could not
be all sound if another had not the gout.&#8221;

<P>In truth, the Stoical doctrine proceeds upon the
assumption that all virtue is only the negative of
vice; and is as absurd, if indeed it be not the very
same absurdity, as the doctrine which should deny
the existence of affirmative or positive truths, resolving
them all into the opposite of negative
propositions. Indeed, if we even were to admit
this as an abstract position, the actual existence of
evil would still be unnecessary to the idea, and
still more to the existence, of good. For the conception
of evil, the bare idea of its possibility,
would be quite sufficient, and there would be no
occasion for a single example of it.

<P>The other doctrine, that of two opposite principles,
was embraced by most of the other sects, as
it should seem, at some period or other of their
inquiries. Plato himself, in his later works, was
clearly a supporter of the system; for he held that
there were at least two principles, a good and an
evil; to which he added a third, the moderator or
mediator between them.

<P>Whether this doctrine was, like many others,
imported into Greece from the East, or was the
natural growth of the schools, we cannot ascertain.
<!-- Page 65 -->
Certain it is that the Greeks themselves believed
it to have been taught by Zoroaster in Asia, at
least five centuries before the Trojan war; so that
it had an existence there long before the name of
philosophy was known in the western world.

<P>Zoroaster's doctrine agreed in every respect with
Plato's; for besides Oomazes, the good, and Arimanius,
the evil principle, he taught that there
was a third, or mediatory one, called Mithras.
That it never became any part of the popular belief
in Greece or Italy is quite clear. All the
polytheism of those countries recognized each of
the gods as authors alike of good and evil. Nor
did even the chief of the divinities, under whose
power the rest were placed, offer any exception to
the general rule; for Jupiter not only gave good
from one urn and ill from another, but he was
also, according to the barbarous mythology of
classical antiquity, himself a model at once of
human perfections and of human vices.

<P>After the light of the Christian religion had
made some way toward supplanting the ancient
polytheism, the doctrine of two principles was
broached; first by Marcion, who lived in the time
of Adrian and Antonius Pius, early in the second
century; and next by Manes, a hundred years
later. He was a Persian slave, who was brought
into Greece, where he taught this doctrine, since
known by his name, having learned it, as is said,
<!-- Page 66 -->
from Scythianus, an Arabian. The Manichean
doctrines, afterwards called also Paulician, from a
great teacher of them in the seventh century, were
like almost all the heresies in the primitive church,
soon mixed up with gross impurities of sacred
rites as well as extravagant absurdities of creed.

<P>The Manicheans were, probably as much on
this account as from the spirit of religious intolerance,
early the objects of severe persecution;
and the Code of Justinian itself denounces capital
punishment against any of the sect, if found within
the Roman dominions.

<P>It must be confessed that the theory of two
principles, when kept free from the absurdities
and impurities which were introduced into the
Manichean doctrine, is not unnaturally adopted by
men who have no aid from the light of revelation,<A NAME="S1" HREF="#R1"><FONT
SIZE=-1><SUP>1</SUP></FONT></A>
and who are confounded by the appearance of a
world where evil and good are mixed together, or
seem to struggle with one another, sometimes the
one prevailing, and sometimes the other; and accordingly,
in all countries, in the most barbarous
nations, as well as among the most refined, we
find plain traces of reflecting men having been
driven to this solution of the difficulty.

<P>It seems upon a superficial view to be very
easily deducible from the phenomena; and as the
<! -- Page 67 -->
idea of infinite power, with which it is manifestly
inconsistent, does by no means so naturally present
itself to the mind, as long as only a very great
degree of power, a power which in comparison of
all human force may be termed infinite, is the attribute
with which the Deity is believed to be endued.
Manichean hypothesis is by no means so
easily refuted. That the power of the Deity was
supposed to have limits even in the systems of the
most enlightened heathens is unquestionable.
They, generally speaking, believed in the eternity
of matter, and conceived some of its qualities to be
so essentially necessary to its existence that no
divine agency could alter them. They ascribed
to the Deity a plastic power, a power not of creating
or annihilating, but only of moulding, disposing
and moving matter. So over mind they
generally give him the like power, considering it
as a kind of emanation from his own greater mind
or essence, and destined to be re-united with him
hereafter. Nay, over all the gods, and of superior
potency to any, they conceived fate to preside; an
overruling and paramount necessity, of which
they formed some dark conceptions, and to which
the chief of all the gods was supposed to submit.
It is, indeed, extremely difficult to state precisely
what the philosophic theory of theology was in
Greece and Rome, because the wide difference
between the esoteric and exoteric doctrines, between
<!-- Page 68 -->
the belief of the learned few and the popular
superstition, makes it very difficult to avoid
confounding the two, and lending to the former
some of the grosser errors with which the latter
abounded. Nevertheless, we may rely upon what
has been just stated, as conveying, generally
speaking, the opinion of philosophers, although
some sects certainly had a still more scanty
measure of belief.

<P>But we shall presently find that in the speculation
of the much more enlightened moderns, Christians
of course, errors of a like kind are to be
traced. They constantly argue the great question
of evil upon a latent assumption, that the power of
the Deity is restricted by some powers or qualities
inherent in matter; notions analogous to that of
faith are occasionally perceptible; not stated or
expanded indeed into propositions, but influencing
the course of the reasoning; while the belief of
infinite attributes is never kept steadily in view,
except when it is called in as requisite to refute
the Manichean doctrines. Some observers of the
controversy have indeed not scrupled to affirm
that those of whom we speak are really Manicheans
without knowing it; and build their systems
upon assumptions secretly borrowed from the
disciples of Zoroaster, without ever stating those
assumptions openly in the form of postulates or
definition.
<!-- Page 69 -->
<P>The refutation of the Manichean hypothesis is
extremely easy if we be permitted to assume that
both the principles which it supposes are either of
infinite power or of equal power. If they are of
infinite power, the supposition of their co-existence
involves a contradiction in terms; for the one
being in opposition to the other, the power of each
must be something taken from that of the other;
consequently neither can be of infinite power. If,
again, we only suppose both to be of equal power,
and always acting against each other, there could
be nothing whatever done, neither good or evil;
the universe would be at a standstill; or rather no
act of creation could ever have been performed,
and no existence could be conceived beyond that
of the two antagonistic principles.

<P>Archbishop Tillotson's argument, properly
speaking, amounts to this last proposition, and is
applicable to equal and opposite principles, although
he applies it to two beings, both infinitely
powerful and counteracting one another. When
he says they would tie up each other's bands, he
might apply this argument to such antagonistic
principles if only equal, although not infinitely
powerful. The hypothesis of their being both infinitely
powerful needs no such refutation; it is a
contradiction in terms. But it must be recollected
that the advocates of the Manichean doctrine endeavor
to guard themselves against the attack by
<!-- Page 70 -->
contending, that the conflict between the two
principles ends in a kind of compromise, so that
neither has it all his own way; there is a mixture
of evil admitted by the good principle, because
else the whole would beat a standstill; while there
is much good admitted by the evil principle, else
nothing, either good or evil, would be done. Another
answer is therefore required to this theory
than what Tillotson and his followers have given.

<P><i>First</i>, we must observe that this reasoning of
the Manicheans proceeds upon the analogy of what
we see in mortal contentions; where neither party
having the power to defeat the other, each is content
to yield a little to his adversary, and so, by
mutual concession, both are successful to some
extent, and both to some extent disappointed.
But in a speculation concerning the nature of the
Deity, there seems no place for such notions.

<P><i>Secondly</i>, the equality of power is not an arbitrary
assumption; it seems to follow from the existence
of the two opposing principles. For if they
are independent of one another as to existence,
which they must needs be, else one would immediately
destroy the other, so must they also, in
each particular instance, be independent of each
other, and also equal each to the other, else one
would have the mastery, and the influence of the
other could not be perceived. To say that in some
things the good principle prevails and in others
<!-- Page 71 -->
the evil, is really saying nothing more than that
good exists here and evil there. It does not
further the argument one step, nor give anything
like an explanation. For it must always be borne
in mind that the whole question respecting the
Origin of Evil proceeds upon the assumption of a
wise, benevolent and powerful Being having created
the world. The difficulty, and the only difficulty,
is, how to reconcile existing evil with such
a Being's attributes; and if the Manichean only
explains this by saying the good Being did what
is good, and another and evil Being did what is
bad in the universe, he really tells us nothing
more than the fact; he does not apply his explanation
to the difficulty; and he supposes the existence
of a second Deity gratuitously and to no kind
of purpose.

<P>But, <i>thirdly</i>, in whatever light we view the
hypothesis, it seems exposed to a similar objection,
namely, of explaining nothing in its application,
while it is wholly gratuitous in itself. It
assumes, of course, that creation was the act of
the good Being; and it also assumes that Being's
goodness to have been perfect, though his power
is limited. Then as he must have known the existence
of the evil principle and foreseen the certainty
of misery being occasioned by his existence,
why did he voluntarily create sentient beings, to
put them, in some respects at least, under the evil
<!-- Page 72 -->
one's power, and thus be exposed to suffering?
The good Being, according to this theory, is the
remote cause of the evil which is endured, because
but for his act of creation the evil Being could
have had, no subjects whereon to work mischief;
so that the hypothesis wholly fails in removing,
by more than one step, the difficulty which it was
invented to solve.

<P><i>Fourthly</i>, there is no advantage gained to the
argument by supposing two Beings, rather than
one Being of a mixed nature. The facts lead to
this supposition just as naturally as to the hypothesis
of two principles. The existence of the evil
Being is as much a detraction from the power of
the good one, as if we only at once suppose the
latter to be of limited power, and that he prefers
making and supporting creatures who suffer much
less than they enjoy, to making no creatures at
all. The supposition that he made them as happy
as he could, and that not being able to make them
less miserable, he yet perceived that upon the
whole their existence would occasion more happiness
than if they never had any being at all, will
just account for the phenomena as well as the
Manichean theory, and will as little as that theory
assume any malevolence in the power which created
and preserved the universe. If, however, it
be objected that this hypothesis leaves unexplained
the fetters upon the good Being's power,
<!-- Page 73 -->
the answer is obvious; it leaves those fetters not
at all less explained than the Manichean theory
does; for that theory gives no explanation of the
existence of a counteracting principle, and it assumes
both an antagonistic power, to limit the
Deity's power, and a malevolent principle to set
the antagonistic power in motion; whereas our
supposition assumes no malevolence at all, but
only a restraint upon the divine power.

<P><i>Fifthly</i>, this leads us to another and most formidable
objection. To conceive the eternal existence
of one Being infinite in power, &#8220;self-created
and creating all others,&#8221; is by no means impossible.
Indeed, as everything must have had a cause,
nothing we see being by possibility self-created,
we naturally mount from particulars to generals,
until finally we rise to the idea of a first cause,
uncreated, and self-existing, and eternal. If the
phenomena compels us to affix limits to his goodness,
we find it impossible to conceive limits to the
power of a creative, eternal, self-existing principle.
But even supposing we could form the conception
of such a Being having his power limited as well
as his goodness, still we can conceive no second
Being independent of him. This would necessarily
lead to the supposition of some third Being,
above and antecedent to both, and the creator of
both&#8212;the real first cause&#8212;and then the whole
question would be to solve over again,&#8212;Why
<!-- Page 74 -->
these two antagonistic Beings were suffered to exist
by the great Being of all?

<P>The Manichean doctrine, then, is exposed to
every objection to which a theory can be obnoxious.
It is gratuitous; it is inapplicable to the
facts; it supposes more causes than are necessary;
it fails to explain the phenomena, leaving the
difficulties exactly where it found them. Nevertheless,
such is the theory, how easily soever refuted
when openly avowed and explicitly stated,
which in various disguises appears to pervade the
explanations, given of the facts by most of the
other systems; nay, to form, secretly and unacknowledged,
their principal ground-work. For it
really makes very little difference in the matter
whether we are to account for evil by holding that
the Deity has created as much happiness as was
consistent with &#8220;the nature of things,&#8221; and has
taken every means of avoiding all evil except
&#8220;where it necessarily existed&#8221; or at once give
those limiting influences a separate and independent
existence, and call them by a name of their
own, which is the Manichean hypothesis.

<P>The most remarkable argument on this subject,
and the most distinguished both for its clear and
well ordered statement, and for the systematic
shape which it assumes, is that of Archbishop
King. It is the great text-book of those who study
this subject; and like the famous legal work of
<!-- Page 75 -->
Littleton, it has found an expounder yet abler and
more learned than the author himself. Bishop
Law's commentary is full of information, of reasoning
and of explication; nor can we easily find
anything valuable upon the subject which is not
contained in the volumes of that work. It will,
however, only require a slight examination of the
doctrines maintained by these learned and pious
men, to satisfy us that they all along either assume
the thing to be proved, or proceed upon suppositions
quite inconsistent with the infinite power
of the Deity&#8212;the only position which raises a
question, and which makes the difficulty that requires
to be solved.

<P>According to all the systems as well as this one,
evil is of two kinds&#8212;physical and moral. To the
former class belong all the sufferings to which
sentient beings are exposed from the qualities and
affections of matter independent of their own acts;
the latter class consists of the sufferings of whatever
kind which arise from their own conduct.
This division of the subject, however, is liable to
one serious objection; it comprehends under the
second head a class of evils which ought more
properly to be ranged under the first. Nor is this
a mere question of classification: it affects the
whole scope of the argument. The second of the
above-mentioned classes comprehends both the
physical evils which human agency causes, but
<!-- Page 76 -->
which it would have no power to cause unless the
qualities of matter were such as to produce pain,
privation and death; and also the moral evil of
guilt which may possibly exist independent of
material agency, but which, whether independent
or not upon that physical action, is quite separable
from it, residing wholly in the mind. Thus a
person who destroys the life of another produces
physical evil by means of the constitution of matter,
and moral evil is the source of his wicked
action. The true arrangement then is this: Physical
evil is that which depends on the constitution
of matter, or only is so far connected with the
constitution of mind as that the nature and existence
of a sentient being must be assumed in order
to its mischief being felt. And this physical evil
is of two kinds; that which originates in human
action, and that which is independent of human
action, befalling us from the unalterable course of
nature. Of the former class are the pains, privations
and destruction inflicted by men one upon
another; of the latter class are diseases, old age
and death. Moral evil consists in the crimes,
whether of commission or omission, which men are
guilty of&#8212;including under the latter head those
sufferings which we endure from ill-regulated
minds through want of fortitude or self-control.
It is clear that as far as the question of the origin
of evil is concerned, the first of these two classes,
<!-- Page 77 -->
physical evil, depends upon the properties of matter,
and the last upon those of mind. The second
as well as the first subdivision of the physical
class depends upon matter; because, however ill-disposed
the agent's mind may be, he could inflict
the mischief only in consequence of the constitution
of matter. Therefore, the Being, who created
matter enabled him to perpetrate the evil, even
admitting that this Being did not, by creating the
mind also give rise to the evil disposition; and
admitting that, as far as regards this disposition it
has the same origin with the evil of the second
class, or moral evil, the acts of a rational agent.

<P>It is quite true that many reasoners refuse to
allow any distinction between the evil produced
by natural causes and the evils caused by rational
agents, whether as regards their own guilt, or the
mischief it caused to others. Those reasoners
deny that the creation of man's will and the endowing
it with liberty explains anything; they
hold that the creation of a mind whose will is to
do evil, amounts to the same thing, and belongs
to the same class, with the creation of matter
whose nature is to give pain and misery. But this
position, which involves the doctrine of necessity,
must, at the very least, admit of one modification.
Where no human agency whatever is interposed,
and the calamity comes without any one being to
blame for it, the mischief seems a step, and a
<!-- Page 78 -->
large step, nearer the creative or the superintending
cause, because it is, as far as men go, altogether
inevitable. The main tendency of the argument,
therefore, is confined to physical evil; and this
has always been found the most difficult to account
for, that is to reconcile with the government
of a perfectly good and powerful Being. It would
indeed be very easily explained, and the reconcilement
would be readily made, if we were at
liberty to suppose matter independent in its existence,
and in certain qualities, of the divine control;
but this would be to suppose the Deity's
power limited and imperfect, which is just one
horn of the Epicurean dilemma, &#8220;<i>Aut vult et non
potest;</i>&#8221; and in assuming this, we do not so much
beg the question as wholly give it up and admit
we cannot solve the difficulty. Yet obvious as this
is, we shall presently see that the reasoners who
have undertaken the solution, and especially King
and Law, under such phrases as &#8220;the nature of
things,&#8221; and &#8220;the laws of the material universe,&#8221;
have been constantly, through the whole argument,
guilty of this <i>petitio principii</i> (begging the
question), or rather this abandonment of the whole
question, and never more so than at the very moment
when they complacently plumed themselves
upon having overcome the difficulty.

<P>Having premised these observations for the purpose
of clearing the ground and avoiding confusion
<!-- Page 79 -->
in the argument, we may now consider that Archbishop
King's theory is in both its parts; for there
are in truth two distinct explanations, the one resembling
an argument <i>a priori</i>, the other an argument
<i>a posteriori</i>. It is, however, not a little
remarkable that Bishop Law, in the admirable abstract
or analysis which he gives of the Archbishop's
treatise at the end of his preface, begins
with the second branch, omitting all mention of
the first, as if he considered it to be merely introductory
matter; and yet his fourteenth note (t.
cap. <SPAN CLASS=smallcaps>i.</SPAN> s. 3.) shows that he was aware of its being
an argument wholly independent of the rest of the
reasonings; for he there says that the author had
given one demonstration <i>a priori</i>, and that no
difficulties raised by an examination of the phenomena,
no objection <i>a posteriori</i>, ought to overrule
it, unless these difficulties are equally certain
and clear with the demonstration, and admit of no
solution consistent with that demonstration.

<P>The necessity of a first cause being shown, and
it being evident that therefore this cause is uncreated
and self-existent, and independent of any
other, the conclusion is next drawn that its power
must be infinite. This is shown by the consideration
that there is no other antecedent cause, and
no other principle which was not created by the
first cause, and consequently which was not of inferior
power; therefore, there is nothing which
<!-- Page 80 -->
can limit the power of the first cause; and there
being no limiter or restrainer, there can be no
limitation or restriction.

<P>Again, the infinity of the Deity's power is attempted
to be proved in another way.

<P>The number of possible things is infinite; but
every possibility implies a power to do the possible
thing; and as one possible thing implies a power
to do it, an infinite number of possible things implies
an infinite power. Or as Descartes and his
followers put it, we can have no idea of anything
that has not either an actual or a possible existence;
but we have an idea of a Being of infinite
perfection; therefore, he must actually exist; for
otherwise there would be one perfection wanting,
and so he would not be infinite, which he either is
actually or possibly. It is needless to remark that
this whole argument, whatever may be said of the
former one, is a pure fallacy, and a <i>petitio principii</i>
throughout. The Cartesian form of it is the most
glaringly fallacious, and indeed exposes itself; for
by that reasoning we might prove the existence of
a fiery dragon or any other phantom of the brain.
But even King's more concealed sophism is equally
absurd. What ground is there for saying that
the number of possible things is infinite? He
adds, &#8220;at least in power,&#8221; which means either
nothing or only that we have the power of conceiving
an infinite number of possibilities. But
<!-- Page 81 -->
because we can conceive or fancy an infinity of
possibilities, does it follow that there actually exists
this infinity? The whole argument is unworthy
of a moment's consideration. The other is
more plausible, that restriction implies a restraining
power. But even this is not satisfactory when
closely examined. For although the first cause
must be self-existent and of eternal duration, we
only are driven by the necessity of supposing a
cause whereon all the argument rests, to suppose
one capable of causing all that actually exists;
and, therefore, to extend this inference and suppose
that the cause is of infinite power seems gratuitous.
Nor is it necessary to suppose another
power limiting its efficacy, if we do not find it
necessary to suppose its own constitution and essence
such as we term infinitely powerful. However,
after noticing this manifest defect in the
fundamental part of the argument, that which infers
infinite power, let us for the present assume
the position to be proved either by these or by any
other reasons, and see if the structure raised upon
it is such as can stand the test of examination.

<P>Thus, then, an infinitely powerful Being exists,
and he was the creator of the universe; but to incline
him towards the creation there could be no
possible motive of happiness to himself, and he
must, says King, have either sought his own
happiness or that of the universe which he made.
<!-- Page 82 -->
Therefore his own ideas must have been the communication
of happiness to the creature. He
could only desire to exercise his attributes without,
or eternally to himself, which before creating
other beings he could not do. But this could only
gratify his nature, which wants nothing, being
perfect in itself, by communicating his goodness
and providing for the happiness of other sentient
beings created by him for this purpose. Therefore,
says King, &#8220;it manifestly follows that the
world is as well as it could be made by infinite
power and goodness; for since the exercise of the
divine power and the communication of his goodness
are the ends, for which the world is formed,
there is no doubt but God has attained these ends.&#8221;
And again, &#8220;If then anything inconvenient or incommodious
be now, or was from the beginning in
it, that certainly could not be hindered or removed
even by infinite power, wisdom and goodness.&#8221;

<P>Now certainly no one can deny, that if God be
infinitely powerful and also infinitely good, it must
follow that whatever looks like evil, either is not
really evil, or that it is such as infinite power could
not avoid. This is implied in the very terms of
the hypothesis. It may also be admitted that if
the Deity's only object in his dispensation be the
happiness of his creatures, the same conclusion
follows even without assuming his nature to be
infinitely good; for we admit what, for the purpose
<!-- Page 83 -->
of the argument, is the same thing, namely, that
there entered no evil into his design in creating
or maintaining the universe. But all this really
assumes the very thing to be proved. King gets
over the difficulty and reaches his conclusion by
saying, &#8220;The Deity could have only one of two
objects&#8212;his own happiness or that of his creatures.&#8221;&#8212;The
skeptic makes answer, &#8220;He might
have another object, namely, the misery of his
creatures;&#8221; and then the whole question is,
whether or not he had this other object; or, which
is the same thing, whether or not his nature is
perfectly good. It must never be forgotten that
unless evil exists there is nothing to dispute
about&#8212;the question falls. The whole difficulty
arises from the admission that evil exists, or what
we call evil, exists. From this we inquire whether
or not the author of it can be perfectly benevolent?
or if he be, with what view he has created it?
This assumes him to be infinitely powerful, or at
least powerful enough to have prevented the evil;
but indeed we are now arguing with the Archbishop
on the supposition that he has proved the
Deity to be of infinite power. The skeptic rests
upon his dilemma, and either alternative, limited
power or limited goodness, satisfies him.

<p>It is quite plain, therefore, that King has assumed
the thing to be proved in his first argument,
or argument <i>a priori</i>. For he proceeds upon
<!-- Page 84 -->
the postulates that the Deity is infinitely good,
and that he only had human happiness in view
when he made the world.  Either supposition
would have served his purpose; and making either
would have been taking for granted the whole
matter in dispute. But he has assumed both; and
it must be added, he has made his assumption of
both as if he was only laying down a single position.
This part of the work is certainly more
slovenly than the rest. It is the third section of
the first chapter.

<P>It is certainly not from any reluctance to admit
the existence of evil that the learned author and
his able commentator have been led into this inconclusive
course of reasoning. We shall nowhere
find more striking expositions of the state
of things in this respect, nor more gloomy descriptions
of our condition, than in their celebrated
work. &#8220;Whence so many, inaccuracies,&#8221; says the
Archbishop, &#8220;in the work of a most good and
powerful God? Whence that perpetual war between
the very elements, between animals, between
men? Whence errors, miseries and vices, the
constant companions of human life from its infancy?
Whence good to evil men, evil to the
good? If we behold anything irregular in the
work of men, if any machine serves not the end it
was made for, if we find something in it repugnant
to itself or others, we attribute that to the
<!-- Page 85 -->
ignorance, impatience or malice of the workman.
But since these qualities have no place in God,
how come they to have place in anything? Or
why does God suffer his works to be deformed by
them?&#8221;&#8212;Chap. ii. s. 3. Bishop Law, in his admirable
preface, still more cogently puts the case:
&#8220;When I inquire how I got into the world, and
came to be what I am, I am told that an absolutely
perfect being produced me out of nothing, and
placed me here on purpose to communicate some
part of his happiness to me, and to make me in
some manner like himself. This end is not obtained&#8212;the
direct contrary appears&#8212;I find myself
surrounded with nothing but perplexity, want
and misery&#8212;by whose fault I know not&#8212;how to
better myself I cannot tell. What notions of good
and goodness can this afford me? What ideas of
religion? What hopes of a future state? For if
God's aim in producing me be entirely unknown,
if it be either his glory (as some will have it),
which my present state is far from advancing, nor
mine own good, which the same is equally inconsistent
with, how know I what I have to do here,
or indeed in what manner I must endeavor to
please him? Or why should I endeavor it at all?
For if I must be miserable in this world, what
security have I that I shall not be so in another
too (if there be one), since if it were the will of
my Almighty Creator, I might (for aught I see)
<!-- Page 86 -->
have been happy in both.&#8221;&#8212;Pref. viii. The question
thus is stated. The difficulty is raised in its
full and formidable magnitude by both these
learned and able men; that they have signally
failed to lay it by the argument <i>a priori</i> is plain.
Indeed, it seems wholly impossible ever to answer
by an argument <i>a priori</i> any objection whatever
which arises altogether out of the facts made
known to us by experience alone, and which are
therefore in the nature of contingent truths, resting
upon contingent evidence, while all demonstrations
<i>a priori</i> must necessarily proceed upon
mathematical truths. Let us now see if their
labors have been more successful in applying to
the solution of the difficulty the reasoning <i>a
posteriori.</i>

<P>Archbishop King divides evil into three kinds&#8212;imperfection,
natural evil and moral evil&#8212;including
under the last head all the physical evils
that arise from human actions, as well as the evils
which consists in the guilt of those actions.

<P>The existence of imperfection is stated to be
necessary, because everything which is created
and not self-existent must be imperfect; consequently
every work of the Deity, in other words,
everything but the Deity himself, must have imperfection
in its nature. Nor is the existence of
some beings which are imperfect any interference
with the attributes of others. Nor the existence
<!-- Page 87 -->
of beings with many imperfections any interference
with others having pre-eminence. The goodness
of the Deity therefore is not impugned by
the existence of various orders of created beings
more or less approaching to perfection. His creating
none at all would have left the universe less
admirable and containing less happiness than it
now does. Therefore, the act of mere benevolence
which called those various orders into existence is
not impeached in respect of goodness any more
than of power by the variety of the attributes
possessed by the different beings created.

<P>He now proceeds to grapple with the real difficulty
of the question. And it is truly astonishing
to find this acute metaphysician begin with an assumption
which entirely begs that question. As
imperfection, says he, arises from created beings
having been made out of nothing, so natural evils
arise &#8220;from all natural things having a relation to
matter, and on this account being necessarily
subject to natural evil.&#8221; As long as matter is
subject to motion, it must be the subject of generation
and corruption. &#8220;These and all other natural
evils,&#8221; says the author, &#8220;are so necessarily connected
with the material origin of things that they
cannot be separated from it, and thus the structure
of the world either ought not to have been formed
at all, or these evils must have been tolerated
without any imputation on the divine power and
<!-- Page 88 -->
goodness.&#8221; Again, he says, &#8220;corruption could
not be avoided without violence done to the laws
of motion and the nature of matter.&#8221; Again, &#8220;All
manner of inconveniences could not be avoided
because of the imperfection of matter and the nature
of motion. That state of things were therefore
preferable which was attained with the fewest and
the least inconveniences.&#8221; Then follows a kind
of menace, &#8220;And who but a very rash, indiscreet
person will affirm that God has not made choice
of this?&#8221;&#8212;when every one must perceive that
the bare propounding of the question concerning
evil calls upon us to exercise this temerity and
commit this indiscretion.&#8212;Chap. iv. s. <SPAN CLASS=smallcaps>i</SPAN>, div.
7.
He then goes into more detail as to particular
cases of natural evil; but all are handled in the
same way. Thus death is explained by saying
that the bodies of animals are a kind of vessels
which contain fluids in motion, and being broken,
the fluids are spilt and the motions cease; &#8220;because
by the native imperfection of matter it is
capable of dissolution, and the spilling and stagnation
must necessarily follow, and with it animal
life must cease.&#8221;&#8212;Chap. iv. s. 3. Disease is dealt
with in like manner. &#8220;It could not be avoided
unless animals had been made of a quite different
frame and constitution.&#8221;&#8212;Chap. iv. s. 7. The
whole reasoning is summed up in the concluding
section of this part, where the author somewhat
<!-- Page 89 -->
triumphantly says, &#8220;The difficult question then,
whence comes evil? is not unanswerable. For it
arises from the very nature and constitution of
created beings, and could not be avoided without
a contradiction.&#8221;&#8212;Chap. iv. s. 9. To this the
commentary of Bishop Law adds (Note 4<SPAN CLASS=smallcaps>i</SPAN>), &#8220;that
natural evil has been shown to be, in every case,
unavoidable, without introducing into the system
a greater evil.&#8221;

<P>It is certain that many persons, led away by the
authority of a great name, have been accustomed
to regard this work as a text-book, and have appealed
to Archbishop King and his learned commentator
as having solved the question. So many
men have referred to the <i>Principia</i> as showing the
motions of the heavenly bodies, who never read, or
indeed could read, a page of that immortal work.
But no man ever did open it who could read it and
find himself disappointed in any one particular;
the whole demonstration is perfect; not a link is
wanting; nothing is assumed. How different the
case here! We open the work of the prelate and
find it from the first to last a chain of gratuitous
assumptions, and, of the main point, nothing
whatever is either proved or explained. Evil
arises, he says, from the nature of matter. Who
doubts it? But is not the whole question why
matter was created with such properties as of
necessity to produce evil? It was impossible, says
<!-- Page 90 -->
he, to avoid it consistently with the laws of motion
and matter. Unquestionably; but the whole dispute
is upon those laws. If indeed the laws of
nature, the existing constitution of the material
world, were assumed as necessary, and as binding
upon the Deity, how is it possible that any question
ever could have been raised? The Deity
having the power to make those laws, to endow
matter with that constitution, and having also the
power to make different laws and to give matter
another constitution, the whole question is, how
his choosing to create the present existing order of
things&#8212;the laws and the constitution which we
find to prevail&#8212;can be reconciled with perfect
goodness. The whole argument of the Archbishop
assumes that matter and its laws are independent
of the Deity; and the only conclusion to which
the inquiry leads us is that the Creator has made
a world with as little of evil in it as the nature of
things,&#8212;that is, as the laws of nature and matter&#8212;allowed
him; which is nonsense, if those laws
were made by him, and leaves the question where
it was, or rather solves it by giving up the omnipotence
of the Creator, if these laws were binding
upon him.

<P>It must be added, however, that Dr. King and
Dr. Law are not singular in pursuing this most
inconclusive course of reasoning.

<P>Thus Dr. J. Clarke, in his treatise on natural
<!-- Page 91 -->
evil, quoted by Bishop Law (Note 32), shows how
mischiefs arise from the laws of matter; and says
this could not be avoided &#8220;without altering those
primary laws, i. e., making it something else than
what it is, or changing it into another form; the
result of which would only be to render it liable
to evils of another kind against which the same
objections would equally lie.&#8221; So Dr. J. Burnett,
in his discourses on evil, at the Boyle Lecture
(vol. ii. P. 201), conceives that he explains death
by saying that the materials of which the body is
composed &#8220;cannot last beyond seventy years, or
thereabouts, and it was originally intended that
we should die at that age.&#8221; Pain, too, he imagines
is accounted for by observing that we are endowed
with feelings, and that if we could not feel pain, so
neither could we pleasure (p. 202). Again, he
says that there are certain qualities which &#8220;in the
nature of things matter is incapable of&#8221; (p. 207).
And as if he really felt the pressure of this difficulty,
be at length comes to this conclusion, that
life is a free gift, which we had no right to exact,
and which the Deity lay under no necessity to
grant, and therefore we must take it with the conditions
annexed (p. 210); which is undeniably
true, but is excluding the discussion and not answering
the question proposed. Nor must it be
forgotten that some reasoners deal strangely with
the facts. Thus Derham, in his <i>Physico-Theology</i>,
<!-- Page 92 -->
explaining the use of poison in snakes, first desires
us to bear in mind that many venomous ones
are of use medicinally in stubborn diseases, which
is not true, and if it were, would prove nothing,
unless the venom, not the flesh, were proved to be
medicinal; and then says, they are &#8220;scourges
upon ungrateful and sinful men;&#8221; adding the
truly astounding absurdity, &#8220;that the nations
which know not God are the most annoyed with
noxious reptiles and other pernicious creatures.&#8221;
(Book ix. c. <SPAN CLASS=smallcaps>i</SPAN>); which if it were true would raise
a double difficulty, by showing that one people was
scourged because another had neglected to preach
the gospel among them. Dr. J. Burnett, too, accounts
for animals being suffered to be killed as
food for man, by affirming that they thereby gain
all the care which man is thus led to bestow upon
them, and so are, on the whole, the better for
being eaten. (Boyle Lecture, II. 207). But the
most singular error has perhaps been fallen into
by Dr. Sherlock, and the most, unhappy&#8212;which
yet Bishop Law has cited as a sufficient answer to
the objection respecting death: &#8220;It is a great instrument
of government, and makes men afraid of
committing such villanies as the laws of their
country have made capital.&#8221; (Note 34). So that
the greatest error in the criminal legislation of all
countries forms part of the divine providence, and
man has at length discovered, by the light of reason,
<!-- Page 93 -->
the folly and the wickedness of using an instrument
expressly created by divine Omniscience
to be abused!

<P>The remaining portion of King's work, filling
the second volume of Bishop Law's edition, is devoted
to the explanation of Moral Evil; and here
the gratuitous assumption of the &#8220;nature of
things,&#8221; and the &#8220;laws of nature,&#8221; more or less
pervade the whole as in the former parts of the
Inquiry.

<P>The fundamental position of the whole is, that
man having been endowed with free will, his
happiness consists in making due elections, or in
the right exercise of that free will. Five causes
are then given of undue elections, in which of
course his misery consists as far as that depends
on himself; these causes are error, negligence,
over-indulgence of free choice, obstinacy or bad
habit, and the importunity of natural appetites;
which last, it must in passing be remarked, belongs
to the head of physical evil, and cannot be
assumed in this discussion without begging the
question. The great difficulty is then stated and
grappled with, namely, how to reconcile these
undue elections with divine goodness. The objector
states that free will might exist without the
power of making undue elections, he being suffered
to range, as it were, only among lawful objects of
choice. But the answer to this seems sound, that
<!-- Page 94 -->
such a will would only be free in name; it would
be free to choose among certain things, but would
not be free-will. The objector again urges, that
either the choice is free and may fall upon evil
objects, against the goodness of God, or it is so
restrained as only to fall on good objects. Against
freedom of the will King's solution is, that more
evil would result from preventing these undue
elections than from suffering them, and so the
Deity has only done the best he could in the circumstances;
a solution obviously liable to the
same objection as that respecting Natural Evil.
There are three ways, says the Archbishop, in
which undue elections might have been prevented;
not creating a free agent&#8212;constant interference
with his free-will&#8212;removing him to another state
where he would not be tempted to go astray in his
choice. A fourth mode may, however, be
suggested&#8212;creating a free-agent without any inclination
to evil, or any temptation from external
objects. When our author disposes of the second
method, by stating that it assumes a constant
miracle, as great in the moral as altering the
course of the planets hourly would be in the material
universe, nothing can be more sound or
more satisfactory. But when he argues that our
whole happiness consists in a consciousness of
freedom of election, and that we should never
know happiness were we restrained in any particular,
<!-- Page 95 -->
it seems wholly inconceivable how he should
have omitted to consider the prodigious comfort of
a state in which we should be guaranteed against
any error or impropriety of choice; a state in
which we should both be unable to go astray and
always feel conscious of that security. He, however,
begs the question most manifestly in dealing
with the two other methods stated, by which undue
elections might have been precluded. &#8220;You
would have freedom,&#8221; says he, &#8220;without any inclination
to sin; but it may justly be doubted if
this is possible <i>in the present state of things</i>,&#8221; (chap.
v. s. 5, sub. 2); and again, in answering the
question why God did not remove us into another state
where no temptation could seduce us, he says: &#8220;It
is plain that <i>in the present state of things</i> it is impossible
for men to live without natural evils or
the danger of sinning.&#8221; (<i>Ib</i>.) Now the whole
question arises upon the constitution of the present
state of things. If that is allowed to be inevitable,
or is taken as a datum in the discussion, there
ceases to be any question at all.

<P>The doctrine of a chain of being is enlarged
upon, and with much felicity of illustration. But
it only wraps up the difficulty in other words,
without solving it. For then the question becomes
this&#8212;Why did the Deity create such a chain as
could not be filled up without misery? It is, indeed,
merely restating the fact of evil existing;
<!-- Page 96 -->
for whether we say there is suffering among sentient
beings&#8212;or the universe consists of beings
more or less happy, more or less miserable&#8212;or
there exists a chain of beings varying in perfection
and in felicity&#8212;it is manifestly all one proposition.
The remark of Bayle upon this view of
the subject is really not at all unsound, and is
eminently ingenious: &#8220;Would you defend a king
who should confine all his subjects of a certain
age in dungeons, upon the ground that if he did
not, many of the cells he had built must remain
empty?&#8221; The answer of Bishop Law to this remark
is by no means satisfactory. He says it
assumes that more misery than happiness exists.
Now, in this view of the question, the balance is
quite immaterial. The existence of any evil at all
raises the question as much as the preponderance
of evil over good, because the question conceives a
perfectly good Being, and asks how such a Being
can have permitted any evil at all. Upon this
part of the subject both King and Law have fallen
into an error which recent discoveries place in a
singularly clear light. They say that the argument
they are dealing with would lead to leaving
the earth to the brutes without human inhabitants.
But the recent discoveries in Fossil Osteology
have proved that the earth, for ages before the last
5,000 or 6,000 years, was left to the lower animals;
nay, that in a still earlier period of its existence
<!-- Page 97 -->
no animal life at all was maintained upon its surface.
So that, in fact, the foundation is removed
of the <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> attempted by the
learned prelates.

<P>A singular argument is used towards the latter
end of the inquiry. When the Deity, it is said,
resolved to create other beings, He must of necessity
tolerate imperfect natures in his handiwork,
just as he must the equality of a circle's radii
when he drew a circle. Who does not perceive
the difference? The meaning of the word circle
is that the radii are all equal; this equality is a
necessary truth. But it is not shown that men
could not exist without the imperfections they
labor under. Yet this is the argument suggested
by these authors while complaining (chap. v. s.
5, sub. 7, div. 7), that Lactantius had not sufficiently
answered the Epicurean dilemma; it is
the substitute propounded to supply that father's
deficiency.&#8212;&#8220;When, therefore,&#8221; says the Archbishop,
&#8220;matter, motion and free-will are constituted,
the Deity must necessarily permit corruption
of things and the abuse of liberty, or something
worse, for these cannot be separated without a
contradiction, and God is no more important, because
he cannot separate equality of radii from a
circle.&#8221;&#8212;Chap. v. s. 5, subs. 7. If he could not
have created evil, he would not have been omnipotent;
if he would not, he must let his power lie
<!-- Page 98 -->
idle; and rejecting evil have rejected all the good.
&#8220;Thus,&#8221; exclaims the author with triumph and
self-complacency, &#8220;then vanishes this Herculean
argument which induced the Epicureans to discard
the good Deity, and the Manicheans to substitute
an evil one.&#8221; (<i>Ib.</i> subs. 7, <i>sub. fine.</i>) Nor is
the explanation rendered more satisfactory, or indeed
more intelligible, by the concluding passage
of all, in which we are told that &#8220;from a conflict
of two properties, namely, omnipotence and goodness,
evils necessarily arise. These attributes
amicably conspire together, and yet restrain and
limit each other.&#8221; It might have been expected
from hence that no evil at all should be found to
exist. &#8220;There is a kind of struggle and opposition
between them, whereof the evils in nature
bear the shadow and resemblance. Here, then,
and no where else, mar we find the primary and
most certain rise and origin of evils.&#8221;

<P>Such is this celebrated work; and it may safely
be affirmed that a more complete failure to overcome
a great and admitted difficulty&#8212;a more unsatisfactory
solution of an important question&#8212;is
not to be found in the whole history of metaphysical science.

<P>Among the authors who have treated of this
subject, a high place is justly given to Archdeacon
Bulguy, whose work on <i>Divine Benevolence</i> is always
referred to by Dr. Paley with great commendation.
<!-- Page 99 -->
But certain it is that this learned and
pious writer either had never formed to himself a
very precise notion of the real question under discussion,
namely, the compatibility of the appearances
which we see and which we consider as evil,
with a Being infinitely powerful as well as good;
or he had in his mind some opinions respecting
the divine nature, opinions of a limitary kind,
which he does not state distinctly, although he
constantly suffers them to influence his seasonings.
Hence, whenever he comes close to the
real difficulty he appears to beg the question. A
very few instances of what really pervades the
whole work will suffice to show how unsatisfactory
its general scope is, although it contains, like the
treatise of Dr. King and Dr. Law's Commentary,
many valuable observations on the details of the
subject.

<P>And first we may perceive that what he terms a
&#8220;<i>previous remark,</i>&#8221; and desires the reader &#8220;to
carry along through the whole proof of divine
benevolence,&#8221; really contains a statement that <i>the
difficulty is to be evaded and not met.</i> &#8220;An intention
of producing good,&#8221; says he, &#8220;will be sufficiently
apparent in any particular instance if the
thing considered can neither be changed nor taken
away without loss or harm, <i>all other things continuing
the same.</i> Should you suppose <i>various</i>
things in the system changed <i>at once</i>, you can
<!-- Page 100 -->
neither judge of the possibility nor the consequences
of the changes, having no degree of experience
to direct you.&#8221; Now assuredly this
postulate makes the whole question as easy a one
as ever metaphysician or naturalist had to solve.
For it is no longer&#8212;Why did a powerful and benevolent
Being create a world in which there is
evil&#8212;but only&#8212;The world being given, how far
are its different arrangements consistent with one
another? According to this, the earthquake at
Lisbon, Voltaire's favorite instance, destroyed
thousands of persons, because it is in the nature
of things that subterraneous vapors should explode,
and that when houses fall on human beings
they should be killed. Then if Dr. Balguy goes
to his other argument, on which be often dwells,
that if this nature were altered, we cannot possibly
tell whether worse might not ensue; this, too, is
assuming a limited power in the Deity, contrary
to the hypothesis. It may most justly be said,
that if there be any one supposition necessarily
excluded from the whole argument, it is the fundamental
supposition of the &#8220;previous remark,&#8221;
namely, &#8220;all other things continuing the same.&#8221;

<P>But see how this assumption pervades and paralyzes
the whole argument, rendering it utterly
inconclusive. The author is to answer an objection
derived from the constitution of our appetites
for food, and his reply is, that &#8220;we cannot tell
<!-- Page 101 -->
how far it was <i>possible</i> for the stomachs and palates
of animals to be differently formed, unless by
some remedy worse than the disease.&#8221; Again,
upon the question of pain: &#8220;How do we know
that it was <i>possible</i> for the uneasy sensation to be
confined to particular cases?&#8221; So we meet the
same fallacy under another form, as evil being the
result of &#8220;general principles.&#8221; But no one has
ever pushed this so far as Dr. Balguy, for he says,
&#8220;that in a government so conducted, many events
are likely to happen contrary to the intention of
its author.&#8221; He now calls in the aid of chance, or
accident.&#8212;&#8220;It is probable,&#8221; he says, &#8220;that God
should be good, for evil is more likely to be <i>accidental</i>
than appears from experience in the conduct
of men.&#8221; Indeed, his fundamental position
of the Deity's benevolence is rested upon this
foundation, that &#8220;pleasures only were intended,
and that the pains are accidental consequences,
although the means of producing pleasures.&#8221; The
same recourse to accident is repeatedly had.
Thus, &#8220;the events to which we are exposed in
this imperfect state appear to be the <i>accidental</i>, not
natural, effects of our frame and condition.&#8221; Now
can any one thing be more manifest than that the
very first notion of a wise and powerful Being excludes
all such assumptions as things happening
contrary to His intention; and that when we use
the word chance or accident, which only means
<!-- Page 102 -->
our human ignorance of causes, we at once give
up the whole question, as if we said, &#8220;It is a subject
about which we know nothing.&#8221; So again as
to power. &#8220;A good design is more <i>difficult</i> to be
executed, and therefore more likely to be executed
<i>imperfectly</i>, than an evil one, that is, with a mixture
of effects foreign to the design and opposite
to it.&#8221; This at once assumes the Deity to be
powerless. But a general statement is afterwards
made more distinctly to the same effect. &#8220;Most
sure it is that he can do all things possible. But
are we in any degree competent judges of the
bounds of possibility?&#8221; So again under another
form nature is introduced as something different
from its author, and offering limits to his power.
&#8220;It is plainly not the method of nature to obtain
her ends instantaneously.&#8221; Passing over such
propositions as that &#8220;<i>useless</i> evil is a thing never
seen,&#8221; (when the whole question is why the same
ends were not attained without evil), and a variety
of other subordinate assumptions contrary to the
hypothesis, we may rest with this general statement,
which almost every page of Dr. Balguy's
book bears out, that the question which be has set
himself to solve is anything rather than the real
one touching the Origin of Evil; and that this
attempt at a solution is as ineffectual as any of
those which we have been considering.

<P>Is, then, the question wholly incapable of solution,
<!-- Page 103 -->
which all these learned and ingenious men
have so entirely failed in solving? Must the
difficulty remain forever unsurmounted, and only
be approached to discover that it is insuperable?
<i>Must the subject, of all others the most interesting
for us to know well, be to us always as a sealed
book, of which we can never know anything?</i> From
the nature of the thing&#8212;from the question relating
to the operation of a power which, to our
limited faculties, must ever be incomprehensible&#8212;there
seems too much reason for believing that
nothing precise or satisfactory ever will be attained
by human reason regarding this great
argument; and that the bounds which limit our
views will only be passed when we have quitted
the encumbrances of our mortal state, and are permitted
to survey those regions beyond the sphere
of our present circumscribed existence. The
other branch of Natural Theology, that which investigates
the evidences of Intelligence and Design,
and leads us to a clear apprehension of the
Deity's power and wisdom, is as satisfactorily
cultivated as any other department of science,
rests upon the same species of proof, and affords
results as precise as they are sublime. This
branch will never be distinctly known, and will
always so disappoint the inquirer as to render the
lights of Revelation peculiarly acceptable, although
even those lights leave much of it still
<!-- Page 104 -->
involved in darkness&#8212;still mysterious and obscure.<A NAME="S2"
HREF="#R2"><FONT SIZE=-1><SUP>2</SUP></FONT></A>

<P>Yet let us endeavor to suggest some possible
explication, while we admit that nothing certain,
nothing entirely satisfactory can be reached. The
failure of the great writers whose works we have
been contemplating may well teach us humility,
make us distrust ourselves, and moderate within
us any sanguine hopes of success. But they
should not make us wholly despair of at least
showing in what direction the solution of the difficulty
is to be sought, and whereabouts it will
probably be found situated, when our feeble reason
shall be strengthened and expanded. For one
cause of their discomfiture certainly has been their
aiming too high, attempting a complete solution
of a problem which only admitted of approximation,
and discussion of limits.

<P>It is admitted on all hands that the demonstration
is complete which shows the existence of intelligence
and design in the universe. The
structure of the eye and ear in exact confirmity to
the laws of optics and acoustics, shows as clearly
as any experiment can show anything, that the
source, cause or origin is common both to the
<!-- Page 105 -->
properties of light and the formation of the lenses
and retina in the eye&#8212;both to the properties of
sound and the tympanum, malleus, incus and
stapes of the ear. No doubt whatever can exist
upon the subject, any more than, if we saw a particular
order issued to a body of men to perform
certain uncommon evolutions, and afterwards saw
the same body performing those same evolutions,
we could doubt their having received the order.
A designing and intelligent and skillful author of
these admirably adapted works is equally a clear
inference from the same facts. We can no more
doubt it than we can question, when we see a mill
grinding corn into flour, that the machinery was
made by some one who designed by means of it to
prepare the materials of bread. The same conclusions
are drawn in a vast variety of other instances,
both with respect to the parts of human and other
bodies, and with respect to most of the other arrangements
of nature. Similar conclusions are
also drawn from our consciousness, and the knowledge
which it gives us of the structure of the
mind.<A NAME="S3" HREF="#R3"><FONT SIZE=-1><SUP>3</SUP></FONT></A>
Thus we find that attention quickens
<!-- Page 106 -->
memory and enables us to recollect; and that
habit renders all exertions and all acquisitions
easy, beside having the effect of alleviating pain.

<P>But when we carry our survey into other parts,
whether of the natural or moral system, we cannot
discover any design at all. We frequently perceive
structures the use of which we know nothing
about; parts of the animal frame that apparently
have no functions to perform&#8212;nay, that are the
source of pain without yielding any perceptible
advantage; arrangements and movements of bodies
which are of one particular kind, and yet we are
quite at a loss to discern any reason why they
might not have been of many other descriptions;
operations of nature that seem to serve no purpose
whatever; and other operations and other arrangements,
chosen equally without any beneficial view,
and yet which often give rise to much apparent
confusion and mischief. Now, the question is,
<i>first</i>, whether in any one of these cases of arrangement
and structures with no visible object at all,
we can for a moment suppose that there really is
no object answered, or only conceive that we have
been unable to discover it? <i>Secondly</i>, whether in
the cases where mischief sometimes is perceived,
and no other purpose appears to be effected, we do
not almost as uniformly lay the blame on our own
ignorance, and conclude, not that the arrangement
was made without any design, and that mischief
<!-- Page 107 -->
arises without any contriver, but that if we knew
the whole case we should find a design and contrivance,
and also that the apparent mischief would
sink into the general good? It is not necessary
to admit, for our present purpose, this latter proposition,
though it brings us closer to the matter in
hand; it is sufficient for the present to admit, what
no one doubts, that when a part of the body, for
instance, is discovered, to which, like the spleen,
we cannot assign any function in the animal system,
we never think of concluding that it is made
for no use, but only that we have as yet not been
able to discover its use.

<P>Now, let us ask, why do we, without any hesitation
whatever, or any exception whatever, always
and immediately arrive at this conclusion
respecting intelligence and design? Nothing
could be more unphilosophical, nay, more groundless,
than such a process of reasoning, if we had
only been able to trace design in one or two instances;
for instance, if we found only the eye to
show proofs of contrivance, it would be wholly
gratuitous, when we saw the ear, to assume that it
was adapted to the nature of sound, and still more
so, if, on examination, we perceived it bore no
perceptible relation to the laws of acoustics. The
proof of contrivance in one particular is nothing
like a proof, nay, does not even furnish the least
presumption of contrivance in other particulars;
<!-- Page 108 -->
because, <i>a priori</i>, it is just as easy to suppose one
part of nature to be designed for a purpose, and
another part, nay, all other parts, to be formed at
random and without any contrivance, as to suppose
that the formation of the whole is governed
by design. Why, then, do we, invariably and
undoubtedly, adopt the course of reasoning which
has been mentioned, and never for a moment suspect
anything to be formed without some reason&#8212;some
rational purpose? The only ground of this
belief is, that we have been able distinctly to trace
design in so vast a majority of cases as leaves us
no power of doubting that, if our faculties had
been sufficiently powerful, or our, investigation
sufficiently diligent, we should also have been able
to trace it in those comparatively few instances respecting
which we still are in the dark.

<P>It may be worth while to give a few instances of
the ignorance in which we once were of design in
some important arrangements of nature, and of the
knowledge which we now possess to show the purpose
of their formation. Before Sir Isaac Newton's
optical discoveries, we could not tell why the
structure of the eye was so complex, and why
several lenses and humors were required to form a
picture of objects upon the retina. Indeed, until
Dolland's subsequent discovery of the achromatic
effect of combining various glasses, and Mr. Blair's
still more recent experiments on the powers of
<!-- Page 109 -->
different refracting media, we were not able distinctly
to perceive the operation and use of the
complicacy in the structure of the eye. We now
well understand its nature, and are able to comprehend
how that which had at one time, nay, for
ages, seemed to be an unnecessary complexity;
forms the most perfect of all optical instruments,
and according to the most certain laws of refraction
and of dispersion.

<P>So, too, we had observed for some centuries the
forms of the orbits in which the heavenly bodies
move, and we had found these to be ellipses with
a very small eccentricity. But why this was the
form of those orbits no one could even conjecture.
If any person, the most deeply skilled in mathematical
science, and the most internally convinced
of the universal prevalence of design and contrivance
in the structure of the universe, had been
asked what reason there was for the planets moving
in ellipses so, nearly approaching to circles, he
could not have given any good reason, at least beyond
a guess. The force of gravitation, even
admitting that to be, as it were, a condition of the
creation of matter, would have made those bodies
revolve in ellipses of any degree of eccentricity
just as well, provided the angle and the force of
projection had been varied. Then, why was this
form rather, than any other chosen? No one
knew; yet no one doubted that there was ample
<!-- Page 110 -->
reason for it. Accordingly the sublime discoveries
of Lagrange and La Place have shown us that this
small eccentricity is one material element in the
formula by which it is shown that all the irregularities
of the system are periodical, and that the
deviation never can exceed a certain amount on
either hand.

<P>But, again, while we are ignorant of this, perhaps
the most sublime truth in all science, we
were always arguing as if the system had an imperfection,
as if the disturbing forces of the different
planets and the sun, acting on one another,
constantly changed the orbits of each planet, and
must, in a course of ages, work the destruction of
the whole planetary arrangement which we had
contemplated with so great admiration and with
awe. It was deemed enough if we could show
that this derangement must be extremely slow,
and that, therefore, the system might last for many
more ages without requiring any interposition of
omnipotent skill to preserve it by rectifying its
motions. Thus one of the most celebrated writers
above cited argues that, &#8220;from the nature of gravitation
and the concentricity of the orbits, the irregularities
produced are so slowly operated in
contracting, dilating and inclining those orbits,
that the system may go on for many thousand
years before any extraordinary interference becomes
necessary in order to correct it.&#8221; And Dr.
<!-- Page 111 -->
Burnett adds, that &#8220;those small irregularities cast
no discredit on the good contrivance of the whole.&#8221;
Nothing, however, could cast greater discredit if it
were as he supposed, and as all men previous to
the late discoveries supposed; it was only, they
rather think, a &#8220;small irregularity,&#8221; which was
every hour tending to the destruction of the whole
system, and which must have deranged or confounded
its whole structure long before it destroyed
it. Yet now we see that the wisdom, to
which a thousand years are as one day, not satisfied
with constructing a fabric which might last
for &#8220;many thousand years without His interference,&#8221;
has so formed it that it may thus endure
forever.

<P>Now if such be the grounds of our belief in the
universal prevalence of Design, and such the different
lights which at different periods of our
progress in science we possess upon this branch
of the divine government; if we undoubtingly believe
that contrivance is universal only because
we can trace and comprehend it in a great majority
of instances, and if the number of exceptions to
the rule is occasionally diminished as our knowledge
of the particulars is from time to time extended&#8212;may
we not apply the same principle to
the apprehension of Benevolent purpose, and infer
from the number of instances in which we plainly
perceive a good intention, that if we were better
<!-- Page 112 -->
acquainted with those cases in which a contrary
intention is now apparent, we should there, too,
find the generally pervading character of Benevolence
to prevail? Not only is this the manner in
which we reason respecting the Design of the Creator
from examining his works; it is the manner
in which we treat the conduct of our fellow-creatures.
A man of the most extensive benevolence
and strictest integrity in his general deportment
has done something equivocal; nay, something
apparently harsh and cruel; we are slow to condemn
him; we give him credit for acting with a
good motive and for a righteous purpose; we rest
satisfied that &#8220;if we only knew everything he
would come out blameless.&#8221; This arises from a
just and a sound view of human character, and its
general consistency with itself. The same reasoning
may surely be applied with all humility and
reverence, to the works and the intentions of the
great Being who has implanted in our minds the
principles which lead to that just and sound view
of the deeds and motives of men.

<P>But let the argument be rested upon our course
of reasoning respecting divine contrivance. The
existence of Evil is in no case more apparent than
the existence of Disorder seems to be in many
things. To go no further than the last example
which has been given&#8212;the mathematician could
perceive the derangement in the planetary orbits,
<!-- Page 113 -->
could demonstrate that it must ensue from the
mutual action of the heavenly bodies on each
other, could calculate its progress with the utmost
exactness, could tell with all nicety how much it
would alter the forms of the orbits in a given time,
could foresee the time when the whole system
must be irretrievably destroyed by its operation as
a mathematical certainty. Nothing, that we call
evil can be much more certainly perceived than
this derangement, of itself an evil, certainly a
great imperfection, if the system was observed by
the mind of man as we regard human works. Yet
we now find, from well considering some things
which had escaped attention, that the system is
absolutely free from derangement; that all the
disturbances counterbalance each other; and that
the orbits never can either be flattened or bulged
out beyond a definite or very inconsiderable quantity.
Can any one doubt that there is also a reason
for even the small and limited, this regular and
temporary derangement? Why it exists at all, or
in any the least degree, we as yet know not. But
who will presume to doubt that it has a reason
which would at once satisfy our minds were it
known to us? Nay, who will affirm that the discovery
of it may not yet be in reserve for some
later and happier age? Then are we not entitled
to apply the same reasoning to what at present
appears Evil in a system of which, after all we
<!-- Page 114 -->
know of it, so much still remains concealed from
our view?

<P>The mere act of creation in a Being of wisdom
so admirable and power so vast, seems to make it
extremely probable that perfect goodness accompanies
the exertion of his perfect skill. There is
something so repugnant to all our feelings, but
also to all the conceptions of our reason, in the
supposition of such a Being desiring the misery,
for its own sake, of the Beings whom he voluntarily
called into existence and endowed with a
sentient nature, that the mind naturally and irresistibly
recoils from such a thought. But this is
not all. If the nature of that great Being were
evil, his power being unbounded, there would be
some proportion between the amounts of ills and
the monuments of that power. Yet we are struck
dumb with the immensity of His works to which
no imperfection can be ascribed, and in which no
evil can be traced, while the amount of mischief
that we see might sink into a most insignificant
space; and is such as a being of inconsiderable
power and very limited skill could easily have accomplished.
This is not the same consideration
with the balance of good against evil; and inquirers
do not seem to have sufficiently attended
to it. The argument, however, deserves much attention,
for it is purely and strictly inductive.
The divine nature is shown to be clothed with prodigious
<!-- Page 115 -->
power and incomparable wisdom and skill,&#8212;power
and skill so vast and so exceeding our
comprehension that we ordinarily term them infinite,
and are only inclined to conceive the possibility
of limiting, by the course of the argument
upon evil, one alternative of which is assumed to
raise an exception. But admitting on account of
the question under discussion, that we have only
a right to say that power and skill are prodigiously
great, though possibly not boundless, they are
plainly shown in the phenomena of the universe
to be the attributes of a Being, who, if evil-disposed,
could have made the monuments of Ill upon
a scale resembling those of Power and Skill; so
that if those things which seem to us evil be really
the result of a mischievous design in such a Being,
we cannot comprehend why they are upon so entirely
different a scale. This is a strong presumption
from the facts that we are wrong in imputing
those appearances to such a disposition. If so,
what seems evil must needs be capable of some
other explanation consistent with divine goodness&#8212;that
is to say, would not prove to be evil at all
if we knew the whole of those facts.

<P>But it is necessary to proceed a step further,
especially with a view to the fundamental position
now contended for, the extending to the question
of Benevolence the same principles which we apply
to that of Intelligence. The evil which exists,
<!-- Page 116 -->
or that which we suppose to be evil, not only is of
a kind and a magnitude requiring inconceivably
less power and less skill than the admitted good
of the creation&#8212;it also bears a very small proportion
in amount; quite as small a proportion as the
cases of unknown or undiscoverable design bear to
those of acknowledged and proved contrivance.
Generally speaking, the preservation and the
happiness of sensitive creatures appears to be the
great object of creative exertion and conservative
providence. The expanding of our faculties, both
bodily and mentally, is accompanied with pleasure;
the exercise of those powers is almost always attended
with gratification; all labor so acts as to
make rest peculiarly delicious; much of labor is
enjoyment; the gratification of those appetites by
which both the individual is preserved and the
race is continued, is highly pleasurable to all animals;
and it must be observed that instead of
being attracted by grateful sensations to do anything
requisite for our good or even our existence,
we might have been just as certainly urged by
the feeling of pain, or the dread of it, which is a
kind of suffering in itself. Nature, then, resembles
the law-giver who, to make his subjects obey,
should prefer holding out rewards for compliance
with his commands rather than denounce punishments
for disobedience. But nature is yet more
kind; she is gratuitously kind; she not only prefers
<!-- Page 117 -->
inducement to threat or compulsion, but she
adds more gratification than was necessary to make
us obey her calls. How well might all creation
have existed and been continued, though the air
had not been balmy in spring, or the shade and
the spring refreshing in summer; had the earth
not been enamelled with flowers; and the air
scented with perfumes! How needless for the
propagation of plants was it that the seed should
be enveloped in fruits the most savory to our
palate, and if those fruits serve some other purpose,
how foreign to that purpose was the formation
of our nerves so framed as to be soothed or
excited by their flavor! We here perceive design,
because we trace adaptation. But we at the same
time perceive benevolent design, because we perceive
gratuitous and supererogatory enjoyment bestowed.
Thus, too, see the care with which animals
of all kinds are tended from their birth. The
mother's instinct is not more certainly the means
of securing and providing for her young, than her
gratification in the act of maternal care is great
and is also needless for making her perform that
duty. The grove is not made vocal during pairing
and incubation, in order to secure the laying or
the hatching of eggs; for if it were as still as the
grave, or were filled with the most discordant
croaking, the process would be as well performed.
So, too, mark the care with which injuries are
<!-- Page 118 -->
remedied by what has been correctly called the <i>vis
medicatrix</i>. Is a muscle injured?&#8212;Suppuration
takes place, the process of granulation succeeds,
and new flesh is formed to supply the gap, or if
that is less wide, a more simple healing process
knits together the severed parts. Is a bone injured?&#8212;A
process commences by which an extraordinary
secretion of bony matter takes place,
and the void is supplied. Nay, the irreparable injury
of a joint gives rise to the formation of a new
hinge, by which the same functions may be not
inconveniently, though less perfectly, performed.
Thus, too, recovery of vigor after sickness is provided
for by increased appetite; but there is here
superadded, generally, a feeling of comfort and
lightness, an enjoyment of existence so delightful,
that it is a common remark how nearly this compensates
the sufferings of the illness. In the
economy of the mind it is the same thing. All
our exertions are stimulated by curiosity, and the
gratification is extreme of satisfying it. But it
might have been otherwise ordered, and some
painful feeling might have been made the only
stimulant to the acquisition of knowledge. So,
the charm of novelty is proverbial; but it might
have been the unceasing cause of the most painful
alarms. Habit renders every thing easy; but the
repetition might have only increased the annoyance.
The loss of one organ makes the others
<!-- Page 119 -->
more acute. But the partial injury might have
caused, as it were, a general paralysis. 'Tis thus
that Paley is well justified in exclaiming, &#8220;It is a
happy world after all!&#8221; The pains and the sufferings,
bodily and mental, to which we are exposed,
if they do not sink into nothing, at least retreat
within comparatively narrow bounds; the ills are
hardly seen when we survey the great and splendid
picture of worldly enjoyment or ease.

<P>But the existence of considerable misery is undeniable:
and the question is, of course, confined
to that. Its exaggeration, in the ordinary estimate
both of the vulgar and of skeptical reasoners, is
equally certain. Paley, Bishop Sumner, as well
as Derham, King, Ray and others of the older
writers, have made many judicious and generally
correct observations upon its amount, and they, as
well as some of the able and learned authors of
the <i>Bridgwater Treatises</i>, have done much in establishing
deductions necessary to be made, in
order that we may arrive at the true amount.
That many things, apparently unmixed evils,
when examined more narrowly, prove to be partially
beneficial, is the fair result of their well-meant
labors; and this, although anything rather
than a proof that there is no evil at all, yet is valuable
as still further proving the analogy between
this branch of the argument and that upon design;
and in giving hopes that all may possibly
<!-- Page 120 -->
be found hereafter to be good, as everything will
assuredly be found to be contrived with an intelligent
and useful purpose. It may be right to add
a remark or two upon some evils, and those of the
greatest magnitude in the common estimate of
human happiness, with a view of further illustrating
this part of the subject.

<P>Mere imperfection must altogether be deducted
from the account. It never can be contended that
any evil nature can be ascribed to the first cause,
merely for not having endowed sentient creatures
with greater power or wisdom, for not having increased
and multiplied the sources of enjoyment,
or for not having made those pleasures which we
have more exquisitely grateful. No one can be so
foolish as to argue that the Deity is either limited
in power, or deficient in goodness, because he has
chosen to create some beings of a less perfect order
than others. The mere negation in the creating
of some, indeed of many, nay, of any conceivable
number of desirable attributes, is therefore no
proper evidence of evil design or of limited power
in the Creator&#8212;it is no proof of the existence of
evil properly so called. But does not this also
erase death from the catalogue of ills? It might
well please the Deity to create a mortal being
which, consisting of soul and body, was only to
live upon this earth for a limited number of years.
If, when that time has expired, this being is removed
<!-- Page 121 -->
to another and a superior state of existence,
no evil whatever accrues to it from the change;
and all views of the government of this world lead
to the important and consolitary conclusion, that
such is the design of the Creator; that he cannot
have bestowed on us minds capable of such expansion
and culture only to be extinguished when
they have reached their highest pitch of improvement;
or if this be considered as begging the
question by assuming benevolent design, we cannot
easily conceive that while the mind's force is
so little affected by the body's decay, the destruction
or dissolution of the latter should be the extinction
of the former. But that death operates as
an evil of the very highest kind in two ways is
obvious; the dread of it often embitters life, and
the death of friends brings to the mind by far its
most painful infliction; certainly the greatest suffering
it can undergo without any criminal consciousness
of its own.

<P>For this evil, then&#8212;this grievous and admitted
evil&#8212;how shall we account? But first let us
consider whether it be not unavoidable; not merely
under the present dispensation, and in the existing
state of things; for that is wholly irrelevant
to the question which is raised upon the fitness of
this very state of things; but whether it be not a
necessary evil. That man might have been
created immortal is not denied; but if it were the
<!-- Page 122 -->
will of the Deity to form a limited being and to
place him upon the earth for only a certain period
of time, his death was the necessary consequence
of this determination. Then as to the pain which
one person's removal inflicts upon surviving parties,
this seems the equally necessary consequence
of their having affections. For if any being feels
love towards another, this implies his desire that
the intercourse with that other should continue;
or what is the same thing, the repugnance and
aversion to its ceasing; that is, he must suffer affliction
for that removal of the beloved object. To
create sentient beings devoid of all feelings of affection
was no doubt possible to Omnipotence;
but to endow those beings with such feelings as
would give the constant gratification derived from
the benevolent affections, and yet to make them
wholly indifferent to the loss of the objects of those
affections, was not possible even for Omnipotence;
because it was a contradiction in terms, equivalent
to making a thing both exist and not exist at one
and the same time. Would there have been any
considerable happiness in a life stripped of these
kindly affections? We cannot affirm that there
would not, because we are ignorant what other enjoyments
might have been substituted for the indulgence
of them. But neither can we affirm that
any such substitution could have been found; and
it lies upon those who deny the necessary connection
<!-- Page 123 -->
between the human mind, or any sentient
being's mind, and grief for the loss of friends, to
show that there are other enjoyments which could
furnish an equivalent to the gratification derived
from the benevolent feelings. The question then
reduces itself to this: Wherefore did a being, who
could have made sentient beings immortal, choose
to make them mortal? or, Wherefore has he
placed man upon the earth for a time only? or,
Wherefore has he set bounds to the powers and
capacities which he has been pleased to bestow
upon his creatures? And this is a question which
we certainly never shall be able to solve; but a
question extremely different from the one more
usually put&#8212;How happens it that a good being
has made a world full of misery and death?

<P>In the necessary ignorance wherein we are of
the whole designs of the Deity, we cannot wonder
if some things, nay, if many things, are to our
faculties inscrutable. But we assuredly have no
right to say that those difficulties which try and
vex us are incapable of a solution, any more than
we have to say, that those cases in which as yet
we can see no trace of design, are not equally the
result of intelligence, and equally conducive to a
fixed and useful purpose with those in which we
have been able to perceive the whole, or nearly
the whole scheme. Great as have been our
achievements in physical astronomy, we are as yet
<!-- Page 124 -->
wholly unable to understand why a power pervades
the system acting inversely as the squares of the
distance from the point to which it attracts, rather
than a power acting according to any other law;
and why it has been the pleasure of the almighty
Architect of that universe, that the orbits of the
planets should be nearly circular instead of approaching
to, or being exactly the same with many
other trajectories of a nearly similar form, though
of other properties; nay, instead of being curves
of a wholly different class and shape. Yet we
never doubt that there was a reason for this choice;
nay, we fancy it possible that even on earth we
may hereafter understand it more clearly than we
now do: and never question that in another state
of being we may be permitted to enjoy the contemplation
of it. Why should we doubt that, at
least in that higher state, we may also be enabled
to perceive such an arrangement as shall make
evil wholly disappear from our present system, by
showing that it was necessary and inevitable, even
in the works of the Deity; or, which is the same
thing, that its existence conduces to such a degree
of perfection and happiness upon, the whole, as
could not, even by Omnipotence, be attained without
it; or, which is the same thing, that the whole
creation as it exists, taking both worlds together, is
perfect, and incapable of being in any particular
changed without being made worse and less perfect?
<!-- Page 125 -->
Taking both worlds together&#8212;For certainly
were our views limited to the present sublunary
state, we may well affirm that no solution whatever
could even be imagined of the difficulty&#8212;if
we are never again to live; if those we here loved
are forever lost to us; if our faculties can receive
no further expansion; if our mental powers are
only trained and improved to be extinguished at
their acme&#8212;then indeed are we reduced to the
melancholy and gloomy dilemma of the Epicureans;
and evil is confessed to checker, nay,
almost to cloud over our whole lot, without the
possibility of comprehending why, or of reconciling
its existence with the supposition of a providence
at once powerful and good. But this inference is
also an additional argument for a future state,
when we couple it with these other conclusions
respecting the economy of the world to which we
are led by wholly different routes, when we investigate
the phenomena around us and within us.

<P>Suppose, for example, it should be found that
there are certain purposes which can in no way
whatever&#8212;no conceivable way&#8212;be answered except
by placing man in a state of trial or probation;
suppose the essential nature of mind shall
be found to be such that it could not in any way
whatever exist so as to be capable of the greatest
purity and improvement&#8212;in other words, the
highest perfection&#8212;without having undergone a
<!-- Page 126 -->
probation; or suppose it should be found impossible
to communicate certain enjoyments to rational
and sentient beings without having previously
subjected them to certain trials and certain sufferings&#8212;as,
for instance, the pleasures derived from
a consciousness of perfect security, the certainty
that we can suffer and perish no more&#8212;this
surely is a possible supposition. Now, to continue
the last example&#8212;Whatever pleasure there is in
the contrast between ease and previous vexation
or pain, whatever enjoyment we derive from the
feeling of absolute security after the vexation and
uncertainty of a precarious state, implies a previous
suffering&#8212;a previous state of precarious
enjoyment; and not only implies it but necessarily
implies it, so that the power of Omnipotence itself
could not convey to us the enjoyment without
having given us the previous suffering. Then is
it not possible that the object of an all powerful
and perfectly benevolent being should be to create
like beings, to whom as entire happiness, as complete
and perfect enjoyment, should be given as
any created beings&#8212;that is, any being, except the
Creator himself&#8212;can by possibility enjoy? This
is certainly not only a very possible supposition,
but it appears to be quite consistent with, if it be
not a necessary consequence of, his being perfectly
good as well as powerful and wise. Now we have
shown, therefore, that such being supposed the
<!-- Page 127 -->
design of Providence, even Omnipotence itself
could not accomplish this design, as far as one
great and important class of enjoyments is concerned,
without the previous existence of some
pain, some misery. Whatever gratification arises
from relief&#8212;from contrast&#8212;from security succeeding
anxiety&#8212;from restoration of lost affections&#8212;from
renewing severed connections&#8212;and
many others of a like kind, could not by any possibility
be enjoyed unless the correlative suffering
had first been undergone. Nor will the argument
be at all impeached by observing, that one Being
may be made to feel the pleasure of ease and security
by seeing others subjected to suffering and
distress; for that assumes the infliction of misery
on those others; it is &#8220;<i>alterius</i> spectare laborem&#8221;
that we are supposing to be sweet; and this is still
partial evil.

<P>As the whole argument respecting evil must,
from the nature of the question, resolve itself into
either a proof of some absolute or mathematical
necessity not to be removed by infinite power, or
the showing that some such proof may be possible
although we have not yet discovered it, an illustration
may naturally be expected to be attainable
from mathematical considerations. Thus, we have
already adverted to the law of periodical irregularities
in the solar system. Any one before it
was discovered seemed entitled to expatiate upon
<!-- Page 128 -->
the operation of the disturbing forces arising from
mutual attraction, and to charge the system arranged
upon the principle of universal gravitation
with want of skill, nay, with leading to inevitable
mischief&#8212;mischief or evil of so prodigious an extent
as to exceed incalculably all the instances of
evil and of suffering which we see around us in
this single planet. Nevertheless, what then appeared
so clearly to be a defect and an evil, is now
well known to be the very absolute perfection of
the whole heavenly architecture.

<P>Again, we may derive a similar illustration from
a much more limited instance, but one immediately
connected with strict mathematical reasoning,
and founded altogether in the nature of necessary
truth. The problem has been solved by mathematicians,
Sir Isaac Newton having first investigated
it, of finding the form of a symmetrical
solid, or solid of revolution, which in moving
through a fluid shall experience the least possible
resistance. The figure bears a striking resemblance
to that of a fish. Now suppose a fish were
formed exactly in this shape, and that some animal
endowed with reason were placed upon a portion
of its surface, and able to trace its form for only a
limited extent, say at the narrow part, where the
broad portion or end of the moving body were opposed,
or seemed as if it were opposed, to the surrounding
fluid when the fish moved&#8212;the reasoner
<!-- Page 129 -->
would at once conclude that the contrivance of the
fish's form was very inconvenient, and that nothing
could be much worse adapted for expeditious
or easy movement through the waters.

<P>Yet it is certain that upon being afterwards permitted
to view THE WHOLE body of the fish, what
had seemed a defect and an evil, not only would
appear plainly to be none at all, but it would appear
manifest that this seeming evil or defect was
a part of the most perfect and excellent structure
which it was possible even for Omnipotence and
Omniscience to have adopted, and that no other
conceivable arrangement could by possibility have
produced so much advantage, or tended so much
to fulfill the design in view. Previous to being
enlightened by such an enlarged view of the whole
facts, it would thus be a rash and unphilosophical
thing in the reasoner whose existence we are supposing
to pronounce an unfavorable opinion. Still
more unwise would it be if numerous other observations
had evinced traces of skill and goodness in
the fish's structure. The true and the safe conclusion
would be to suspend an opinion which
could only be unsatisfactorily formed upon imperfect
data; and to rest in the humble hope and belief
that one day all would appear for the best.
<BR><BR>
<CENTER>THE END.</CENTER>
<BR><BR>
<HR>
<A NAME="R1" HREF="#S1">[1]</A>
The &#8220;light of revelation,&#8221; as well as the &#8220;light of the
Christian
religion,&#8221; has not dispelled the darkness of ignorance. The torch of
reason is a surer guide.&#8212;<i>Pub.</i>
<BR><BR>
<A NAME="R2" HREF="#S2">[2]</A>
The human race has from time immemorial been afflicted with
so-called revelations, all claiming inspiration, all conflicting, and all
being equally &#8220;mysterious and obscure.&#8221; The wars arising among
these sectarians have retarded civilization, and deluged the earth in
blood. The revelations of science, founded upon reason and demonstration,
have proved the only safe and beneficent guide.&#8212;<i>Pub.</i>
<BR><BR>
<A NAME="R3" HREF="#S3">[3]</A>
While it is true that the argument of Design, here given, places
the subject one step in advance, it is still unsatisfactory, because it
fails to explain to us who designed the designer, and the mystery
of creation still remains unsolved.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;What think you of an uncaused cause of everything?&#8221;
is the
pertinent question which Bishop Watson, in his <i>Apology for the
Bible</i>, asked, and vainly asked, of the celebrated deist, Thomas
Paine.&#8212;<i>Pub.</i>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<PRE>
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE FALLEN STAR ***

This file should be named flnst10h.htm or flnst10h.zip
Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, flnst11h.htm
VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, flnst10ah.htm


Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
even years after the official publication date.

Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
and editing by those who wish to do so.

Most people start at our Web sites at:
<a href="http://gutenberg.net">http://gutenberg.net</a> or
<a href="http://promo.net.pg">http://promo.net/pg</a>

These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).


Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
can get to them as follows, and just download by date.  This is
also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.

<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext05</a> or
<a href="ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04">ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext05</a>

Or /etext05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90

Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
as it appears in our Newsletters.


Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)

We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.   Our
projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If the value
per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
files per month:  1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.

The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.

Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):

eBooks Year Month

    1  1971 July
   10  1991 January
  100  1994 January
 1000  1997 August
 1500  1998 October
 2000  1999 December
 2500  2000 December
 3000  2001 November
 4000  2001 October/November
 6000  2002 December*
 9000  2003 November*
10000  2004 January*


The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.

We need your donations more than ever!

As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
that have responded.

As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.

In answer to various questions we have received on this:

We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
request donations in all 50 states.  If your state is not listed and
you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
just ask.

While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
donate.

International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
ways.

Donations by check or money order may be sent to:

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
PMB 113
1739 University Ave.
Oxford, MS 38655-4109

Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
method other than by check or money order.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154.  Donations are
tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law.  As fund-raising
requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.

We need your donations more than ever!

You can get up to date donation information online at:

<a href="http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html">http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html</a>


***

If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
you can always email directly to:

<a href="mailto:hart@pobox.com">Michael S. Hart [hart@pobox.com]</a>

Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.

We would prefer to send you information by email.


**The Legal Small Print**


(Three Pages)

***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.

*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.

ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
distribute it in the United States without permission and
without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.

Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
any commercial products without permission.

To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
time to the person you received it from. If you received it
on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
receive it electronically.

THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
may have other legal rights.

INDEMNITY
You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this eBook,
[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
or [3] any Defect.

DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
or:

[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
     eBook or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
     if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
     including any form resulting from conversion by word
     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
     *EITHER*:

     [*]  The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
          does *not* contain characters other than those
          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
          author, and additional characters may be used to
          indicate hypertext links; OR

     [*]  The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
          form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
          OR

     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
          eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
          or other equivalent proprietary form).

[2]  Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
     "Small Print!" statement.

[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
     let us know your plans and to work out the details.

WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
in machine readable form.

The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
Money should be paid to the:
"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
hart@pobox.com

[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only
when distributed free of all fees.  Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by
Michael S. Hart.  Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be
used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be
they hardware or software or any other related product without
express permission.]

*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
</pre>

</body>
</html>
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-02-25 06:59:25 +0000