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University of Western Ontario

LIBRARY

LONDON

CANADA

Class

THE

City of Progress

AND

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

Make it plain upon tables, that he may run that rcadeth it.

..,.It will surely come, it will not tarry The just shall live

by his faith. — Hab. ii. 2-4.

Eontron :

ALFRED HOLNESS, 21, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1879.

65466

d
b

tJ
b
ri

PREFACE.

Several years ago, while searching after the
beautiful in Nature, I stood upon a rugged coast
watching for the day. The heavy night clouds
rolled slowly icross the sky, like moving moun-
tains ; while again and again the morning star
shone through rent.-, in the gloom, sprinkling its
glitter upon the sleeping sea.

Presently, the soft grey dawn was visible in
the heavens, behind the great clouds. Then
arose a struggle between light and darkness,
day and night. The darkness sought to liold
back the light, the coming day to drive awa\'
the night from the earth. Suddenly, a glory of
brightness w'as flung upwards across the sky ;
ruddy and golden rays transformed the upper-

rKEFACE.

most clouds into shapes of beauty ; and in
another moment the sun had risen. The dark-
ness, which yet hung over the sea's horizon
and in the hollows aloni^ the coast, was over-
whelmed and vanished away.

Welcoming the sun, the birds broke out in
singing, the rock-crows wliirled in great circles,
laughing into the shining sky, the sleeping flocks
awoke one by one as the sun's rays gently
touched them with their warmth, and countless
insects sprang forth to suck the sweetness from
the opening flowers.

As I gazed upon the scene of life and glory,
a stranger approached the spot. He laid his
hand upon my shoulder. " Young man," said
he, " love for the beautiful has led me, with your-
self, hither, to mark and to meditate upon this
scene. We have watched the day star in his
patience, and the sun in his victor}'. Tell me,
does the beginning of this summer's day an-
nounce to your soul that time in which this fair
earth shall yet rejoice ? Docs the patient day
star whisper to you of hope during the present

I'REFACK.

shortening gloom, and ihc victorious sun pro-
claim to you glory and peace ? Sa)', has the
Day Star risen in your heart, and do you know-
that soon the Sun shall rise with healing in his
wings ? "

After some further talk, the stranirer told mo
that he had been the eye-witness of some extra-
ordinary things which had taken place in his
native city, and that he had kept a record of
them. He then, I know not why, placed a note-
book in my hands; the contents of \^'hich arc
presented to the reader in the first part of this
volume. It may, perhaps, be mentioned that,
having received the stranger's book, I sat down
to read its pages. Before these were all perused,
the freshness and fragrance of early morn had
given place to the oppressive, weary heat of
a sultry summer day. The beautiful face of
nature assumed to my gaze an entirely changed
aspect.

CONTENTS,

TART I.

ciiAr.

I. A Page or History
II. PiiiLosoniic Ideas ....

III. More Piiilosoi'Hic Ideas

IV. A View of the Citv of Progress
V. General Idea of the Situation of th

City .

• • •

VI. The Everlasting City .
VII. Revelations of the Telescope
VIII. The King's son

• • - .

IX. The Beginning of the Temple of Progress
X. The Developmext of the Temple of Pro

fii^Kss

XI. The Temple of Progress as it is
XII. A Personal Experience
XIII. Professional Buildings

XIV. The Court- Yard of

THE Temple of Vr

gress

XV. A Very Old Road

I'AGE
I

9
i6

32
36
42

53
61
70

• • •

Vlll

CONTENTS.

CHAP.

XVI. An Old Hospital
XVII. An Old Inn
XVIII. Guides .

XIX. EXAMPLFS

XX. Tj[ii Mountains .
XXI. The View from the Faith Mountains
XXII. An Old Eriend with a New Name

XXIII. Agitators

XXIV. The Valley of Vision

PART II.

XXV. Little Believed : Less Expected
XXVI. A (Ireat Exodus ....

XXVII. A Sorrowful Day in Progress
XXVIII. The Co>!pletion of the Temple of Pro

gress

XXIX. The sudden Destruction of the Temple

OF Progress

XXX. A New Temple

XXXI. A Great Revivai

XXXII. A Grani> Union

XXXIII. A New Title for the Prince .

XXXIV. The Overthrow of the Prince of Pro

ORES J .......

XXXV. Progress Purified ....
XXXVI. The Reign of the King's son, and a
New Name for the City

PAGR

99
108

129
137
143
152
158
168

176
179
1S6

190

1 98
207

213
219

229

237
245

249

THE

CITY OF PROGRESS

AND

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

CHArXER I.

A PAGE OF HISTORY.

Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty : Thou hast been in Eden, the
garden of God. — Ezek. xxviii. 12, 13.

I WAS born in a city called Progress, which has
been great from its earliest days, and whose
citizens have a name known in heaven above
and in hell beneath. The inhabitants love their
City more than their lives ; indeed, they will
cheerfully die for its honours and glories. Their
highest ambition is to have their names handed
down to posterity, to have their statues admired
and their deeds exalted, when they themselves

i II

2 THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

have no longer either eyes to see or ears to
hear.

The marvels of the City of Progress unfold
daily, the labours of past generations are con-
tinually brought to light, and the inventions of
the living are ever on the increase. While the
past and the present of the City's greatness are
themes of wonder and praise, it is the future
which stimulates the energy and zeal of the
citizens, who anticipate a glory which it is be-
lieved will dim both the present and the past.

The origin of the City of Progress is remark-
able. Once upon a time certain poets of the
City sang of their townsmen as the offspring of
the Ruler ot the Heavens, who orders the courses
of the stars which are placed there ; while in the
most ancient Book to be found in the City there
are records even stranger than those of the
poets.

This Book states, that many years ago the
King of Eternity for his own pleasure designed
a certain plantation, which was called the Garden
of Delights: it was brilliant with delicate and

THE GARDEN OF DELIGHTS.

gorgeous flowers, and rich with leafy and fruitful
trees — all of which grew freely, without the toil of
the hand or the sweat of the brow. The morning
smiled upon this lovely place, and the evening
watered it with dew. This spot, so well suited
to be the abode of contentment, the King placed
under the care of a man whom he loved and
upon whom he had set his heart. This man was
gifted with rare intelligence and administrative
ability, and the King entrusted him with every
treasure which his Garden contained, making
him lord of all. Having thus placed all under
this man's control, and desiring that he should
carry out, by wisdom and in gladness, the pur-
pose for which this Garden was designed, the
King bade him enjoy its sweets and dress and
keep it for his sake.

The Garden-gate was upheld by two white
pillars, called respectively God-Fear and God-
Trust ; and it had a key, named Obedience; and
this, with the earnest charge and the solemn
warning of the King, was entrusted to the man's
custody.

13 2

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

il i

For a while all went well : the flowers un-
folded to the rising sun, and gave forth their
fragrance to the noon-day breeze ; the birds
sang amongst the branches ; and creatures, all of
theni gentle, basking in the sunshine or frolicking
beneath the shady trees, gave life and grace to
the scene.

However, it happened that a stranger ap-
proached the Garden-gate. This personage had
at one time served under the King of Eternity,
and had held a chieftain's post of high trust in
his great palace ; but the pride of glory elated
him, he corrupted his wisdom, and therefore
was cast out from his high estate and driven
from his honors. No longer a servant of thci
King but an enemy, the aim of this personage
was to injure his former lord. The King's
palace was situated where he could not gain
admittance to corrupt, and it entered his mind
to seek an entrance into the Garden of Delights,
in order that he might perchance vex the King
by inducing its custodian to depart from his
lord's purpose. This fallen chieftain knew very

FAIR PROMISES.

well that, so long as the man held the key of
the Gate, entrance was for him impossible ; he
therefore waited till he saw the wife of the man
near the Gate, and addressed himself to her with
flattering speech and fair promises. He told her,
that by following his counsel she should rise to
the level of the gods ; and she, strange to flattery,
not used to deception, nor accustomed to the
pleasures of false hope, gave him her attention.

" The King your master," said he, '* limits you
to part only of the pleasures which surround you.
Do what I say. and be wise. Besides," he hinted,
" your master knows that what you dread shall
not take place."

In her ignorance, she was beguiled ; then
straigbcway arose in her a threefold craving —
desires after feeding the flesh, desires after pleas-
ing the eyes, and pride of life. She went imme-
diately to her husband, persuading him to do as
the stranger suggested, and he, fully aware oi what
he was doing, deliberately unlocked the Gate.

This done, the direst consequences ensued: a
quaking fear seized them; the pillars of the Gate-

6 THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

way fell down flat, breaking into countless frag-
ments ; and the key, so earnestly confided to
their keeping, was irrecoverably lost beneath the
ruins. The disaster revealed to them their folly,
and opened their eyes to their ingratitude ; they
fled they knew not where, and tried to hide them-
selves in the leafiest spot they could find. But
the stranger helped them not.

After this, the King came to his Garden of De-
lights ; he beheld the ruin which was wrought,
and at once recognised the hand of its author.
He sought for the man and the woman. Their
confidence in him had departed; fear of him —
born upon the moment of their disobedience —
had mastered them: but he called them from
their hiding-place, and asked them what they had
done. Instead of at once owning to the disobe-
dience, they each ignobly laid the blame of their
misdeeds upon the other, and both upon the
stranger. Their excuses availed them not, they
were forthwith driven out of their happy home,
and through the very breach which, by folly and
wilfulness, they had rent.

^i>

THORNS AND THISTLES.

It was not according- to the ways of the King
to repair the ruin tlius effected; hence, for ever
the Garden of Dehghts was a thing of the past,
and entrance into it jealously prevented. But the
King loved the man still, and accordingly he let
fall a word of hope, by which these two, and their
children after them, should be able to stay them-
selves, even in the midst of their untoward cir-
cumstances, and the power of which within them
should strengthen them to look for a future even
more excellent than the lost past.

Being expelled from their home, the Garden of
Delights, the two began to wander, and they pre-
sently found a spot where thorns and thistles
grew ; and there the man began his work, and
the woman shed her tears, and both began to
hope in the King's word and to look for the
future.

Here it was that their first-born son, who was
born where the thorns and thistles c^rew, slew his
younger brother in a fit of jealousy, and there-
upon forsook his parents: nor them only, but also
the word of hope, in which his brother trusted.

THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

As time went on, this man-slayer, who was
skilful and energetic, began to build a city, and
by degrees he made it great He introduced into
it mechanical science and inventions, and enliv-
ened it with music and art. So his city began to
be a noted place ; there was none like it upon
the earth, of which, indeed, it became the centre.

As the city increased, the citizens bethought
them to elect a prince over them ; and amongst
the candidates was the stranger whose guile had
led to the opening of the Gat( of the Garden of
Delights. He promised the citizens great things
for themselves in the present, and a magnificent
future for their city. In truth, a vast scheme filled
his vision, a future redounding to his own glory
.and his former lord's dishonor.

The citizens willingly listened to him, and by
racclamation made him their Prince; and upon the
selfsame day they gave to their city the name of
Progress.

ciiArTER ir.

PHILOSOPHIC IDEAS.

The ivjrld by wisdom kneiv not God. — i Cor. i. 21.

This page of history — this parable, as the Wise
Men of Progress describe it — neither accords witli
the minds nor tastes of its present citizens, nor
with the Hterature of the City, far less with the
moral sense of its historians and philosophers: it
will therefore be well to turn from the past to
the present.

From among many of their historic and philo-
sophic ideas, a selection of two or three is now
made from those which excite interest and debate
amongst the citizens.

There are Schools of Thought within the City,

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

built up by many learned men ; and over these
there arc professors. The present head of one of
these Schools is Professor Choice-Selection: this
gentleman thus accounts for the origin of his
City.

Ages ago, far back in eternity, the site whereon
the City of Progress now stands, as well as the
localities now occupied by the sun, moon, and
stars, were filled with the countless hosts of the
race of Tinies. These invisible creatures were
ruled by the giant Median ical-P\)rce, \\liose arms
stretch fiom north to south, and whose immeasur-
able strength holds all niattcr in his grip. This
giant — as conflicting winds stir the air and tear
the rushing clouds to shreds — with his hands
flung and tossed the race of Tinies everywhere,
until at length, after millenniums of whirlings,
they themselves acquired the spirit of unrest, and
so of themselves dashed through space, bumping
and thumping against each other.

That was the Bumping-age, the period of in-
cessant collisions, during VN-hich the weakest were
either absorbed by their compatriots or were

A MYSTERIOUS GODDESS.

thrust into nothingness, while the strongest grew
bigger.

Then followed the Fusion-age. As it is in the
City of Progress in the present day, the strong
overwhelm the weak, the crafty convey the riches
of the foolish into their own coffers, the wise in
business obtain the possessions of the incapable
and absorb them, — even, according to the Pro-
verbs, '* the weak go to the wall," *'the fittest sur-
vive;" — so in those ancestral days the fusion of
the Tinies arose out of absorption, emanating
from collisions, and great shapes sprang up out
of the falling foul of each other of these small
people.

Then did the Queen of all. Necessity, step
upon the scene. She is that mysterious goddess
who possesses neither mind nor body, who out
of nothing produces something. This Queen
fashioned confusion into order, and changed un-
couth shapes into forms of beauty ; she filled
the depths of space with suns and stars, and bade
them roll on in their vast courses; and she bound
them in their circuits into one harmonious whole

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Ih i

by bands of mystic sweetness, arising from the
clustering brilliancy of far-off stars.

This Queen built the mountains into their
magnificence, crowned them with glistening snow,
and clad them with verdant forests. She, know-
ing nothing of herself and having no intentions,
painted the feathers upon the wings of butterflies
and sprinkled tinted dust upon the petals of
flowers. She it was who framed the law of Beauty,
which strange law — whether in far-off stars or in
the deep places of might) oceans, whether in
falling snow-flakes or in sparkling minerals from
the bowels of the earth, whether in enduring
mountains or in transient rainbows, whether in
wings of birds that live a century or in feathers
of insects that last but a day, whether in clouds
sweeping over plains or embracing hills, whether
in the colors of flowers or the varied green tints
of their accompanying leaves — both everywhere
and upon everything stamps its mystic and in-
imitable mark.

This Queen, too, formed men into life, and
gave them powers of perception and reflection.

NO-BACKBONEITES.

She it was who, by their law of being, made
some minds poetical, others prosy, and some
men righteous, and others knavish. She it was
who laid the foundations of Progress, and gave
the City its elements of greatness.

Professor Self-Causation, the chief of another
of the Schools, thus teaches : There is a country
at the bottom of the sea called Mollusc-land,
where the No-Backboneites live. In bygone
years one of these people. Chance by name, began
to feel his need of advancement. The desire to
possess at least an infinitesimal approach to the
idea of a germ of a backbone, penetrated his in-
most being. By slow degrees this unquenchable
longing so affected his constitution, that, by the
aid of a powerful microscope, there possibly
might have been seen the commencement of an
organism effected in that part of his body where
his spine should be. He bequeathed his desires,
together with these first elements of backbone,
to his son, who in turn transmitted them to his
offspring. So it happened that, after millions of

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

generations, the family name became changed
from No-Backboneites to Backboneites. This
accomphshcd, the family — as is still customary
with the citizens of Progress under similar cir-
cumstances — since they had risen sociall}', re-
garded it as proper to look down upon their
original position in life as one altogether beneath
their notice.

One day one of these Chances bethought him
to leave the bottom of the sea, and to come up
higher still — so he came to shore.

His successors, actuated by similar desires,
after many changes at length adopted the pre-
sent form of citizens of Progress. And to this
day the moral activity of the citizens follows the
principles of their ancestors, for the citizens es-
cape from their low estate by acquiring a know-
ledge of it, and grow up into the condition of
goodness by leaving that state in which they were
born. Having accomplished this, they scorn their
past and pride themselves in their present ac-
quirements.

The future of his fellow-citizens, the Professor

LATENT rOWKRS.

asserts, w ill be worthy of their past and present.
In due course tliey will, by the force of their
desires, develop their latent powers ; their legs
will become as numerous as those of a centipede,
their eyes as manifold as those of a fly, their ears
as acute as those of a mouse, their scent as keen
as that of a blue-bottle, and their taste as true as
that of a honey-bee. Besides which, there will
be an acquirement of entirely new powers — such
as wings and fins; of eel-like, electric force; of
glow-worm like, self-illuminating powers; not to
take note of the new and unnamed senses which
the citizens wish to develop : and then neither
air nor water, heaven nor hell, will impede their
magnificent m:irch.

'SI i

:!<'

CHAPIER III.

MORE PHILOSOPHIC IDEAS.

/■^//y is set in great dignity. — Eccl. x. 6.

In the School of Thought, of which Professor
Comparative is the head, another theory is ad-
vanced.

Close by the City of Progress is the City of
Apes. Neither city, says this Professor, possesses
archives, but each is of pre-historic origin and
of impenetrable antiquity. " Let facts speak for
themselves," observes this learned gentleman, as
he places side by side types of the two peoples.
*^ Physically^ the Apeites, or at least several of
them, have the advantage ; for most of their
patriarchs enjoy spinal elongations — a highly

APEITES.

beneficial arrangement for the furtherance of
gymnastic science, so much esteemed in Pro-
gress — and these but very few of the citizens
possess. Again, the skin of the Apeites being
rough, while that of the citizens is smooth, the
former have the superior place in an age of
economy and simplicity of attire, for they are at
no cost for clothes. Morally^ also, the balance
favours the Apeites ; their constitution requiring
neither standing armies, police regulations, pri-
sons, temperance societies, nor even women's
rights. Intellcctnally, however, the Apeites arc
inferior to their neighbour's — the importance of
affinity not having led any of their moralists to
desire to claim kindred with the citizens of Pro-
gress, nor the inconvenience of shivering having
originated in any of their sages the art of light-
ing a fire. Yet, even intellectually," observes the
Professor (whc se great-great-grcat-grandson pro-
poses, when he is born, to marry one of their
family, provided the young lady will accept him),
•' when the Apeites require a history, certainly
they will manufacture one; and when they really

THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

need fires, no doubt they will light them ; and
when they require light, they will discover what

*A. ' ft

It IS.

One more theory, that advanced by Professor
Human-Responsibility, and then adieu to the
Professors.

This gentleman is a liberal-minded man, and
agrees with all he can. He goes with other
Schools of Thought as far as his principles will
allow him ; for example, he accepts the hypo-
thesis that the citizens of Progress being of a
wormy ancestry arc naturally " of the earth,
earthy," and being of a low origin arc con-
sequently " essentially bestial." This Professor
gives a reason for things moral, and finds it in
the middle of the human heart.

Says Professor Human-Responsibility : " In
every citizen of Progress is a heart, in the centre
of which is a hollow space wherein is located what
is vulgarly called the will, scientifically termed
molecules, but by the students of human nature
named whispers within prompting the instincts
of the heart or moral-cues. There is, in truth,

PROFESSOR HUMAN-RESPONSIBILITY.

no such formation in the citizen as a will, but
his emotional machinery is set in motion and
his desires are stimulated by moral-cues. For
in the heart-hollow these creatures hold their
court, there they rush and whirl, expand and
contract, irritate and agitate, incessantly. Now,
moral-cues are exceedingly small, and in order
to see into their inner being both a large eye
and a powerful microscope are requisite. How-
ever, one thing about them is evident from their
action, namely, they possess a will of their own,
which will actuates the mental machinery of
each citizen.

" The common sense explanation of all this,"
says Professor Human - Responsibility, '* is as
follows.

" It is very well known to scientific men that
in bygone ages every body was a moral-cue, and
that now moral-cues compose every body. Ex-
ample : bricks and men are both formed of earth,
which itself is simply compressed moral-cues,
— hence both bricks and men possess a similar
nature. That is to say, both have a tendency to

i <

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

seek the level of the earth — bricks by falling
thereupon when left to themselves, men by dc-
gradinff themselves as low as possible. Starting
from this ascertained fact, and by the aid of the
microscope, in the cavities of bricks and in the
heart-hollows of the citizens of Progress can be
seen moral-cues at work, to whose energy is
attributable this common downward gravita-
tion. Thus it is evident that every body is a
machine, the motive power of which is the
moral-cue."

It must be admitted th, ' no theory conceived
by any mind in relation to matter can be more
simple than this.

One day Professor Human - Responsibility
called upon a friend. He had not been long
within the house before it happened that the
moral-cues within him — whirling about in his
heart-hollow as do animalculai in dirty water —
so affected his emotional machinery that they
wound him up to wishing for his friend's goods.
His eyes began to covet and his fingers to itch ;
and so, presently, his mouth was opened, and

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNISM.

thus did his wormy qualities scientifically e::.press
themselves.

" Neighbour, the moral-cues within me would
like me to possess myself of thy goods and
chattels."

" Surely ! " cried his friend ; " but the moral-
cues inside me lead me to incline to retain pos-
session of my house."

" Doubtless, neighbour," replied the worthy
Professor; "and your remark grieves me to the
heart, but the moral-cues within mc will not
allow me to leave this house ; ihey (not I) de-
clare that henceforth it is mine. And now let
us consider this matter abstractedly. Is not all
mind and matter reducible to moral-cues, conse-
quently are not all things one, and therefore all
possessions the common property of all ? Why
should any citizen call anything exclusively his
own ? AVhether mind, body, or house, he is only
a part of every body, and every body is a part
of him."

"True," his friend replied; "yet did not the
moral-cues inside me lead me individually to

■: '

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THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

count out the gold with which this house and its
contents were purchased, for my own proper per-
sonal use ? ''

"Neighbour," the Professor said seriously, "thou
knowest that the gold of which thou speakest is
merely solidified moral-cues, like thyself. Gold
is but thyself in another combination. Every-
thing material is moralicular. Man is but a
box of moral-cues."

" I don't see it," was his neighbour's retort.
" Quit my house instantly."

Whereupon Professor Human-Responsibility
calmly replied, "Thy house is moralicular. Thou
and I are moral-cues. I stay."

Then in that house was there a return to the
Bumping-age, the period of incessant collisions,
and the Queen of All, Necessity, of bygone aeons,
stepped in upon the scene. Eventually the fittest
survived, and what remained of Professor Human-
Responsibility's box of moral-cues was cast into

Kif::: .-It;

CHAPTER IV.

A VIEW OF THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

til

\ i:

i r

Jl7to can tell a man zvhat sJiall pe after him ?— Eccl. vi. 12.

The City of Progress of to-day is adorned on
every hand by noble buildings, and its four great
Broadways, Reformation, Agitation, Advance-
ment, and Development, are among the wonders
of the world. The chief rulers are elected for
their activity, or their wealth of words ; and
amongst these Mr. Do-good-to-yourself, the
brothers To-and-fro, Mr. All-haste, and Mr.
Wind-bag, are the most prominent.

Building is carried on vigorously, and great
works are in course of erection everywhere.
There is also a vast amount of pulling-down

\ \

THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

going on, and a very great number of old houses
arc coming to the ground all over the City. This
is especially the case near the Improvement
Broadway ; and hence there is not a little dust
flying about the City of Progress. Indeed, the
effect of pulling these old things down renders
all garments of a kindred hue ; consequently, the
man who wishes to show the color of his cloth
needs always to carry a brush in his hand.

On the most notable site in the City a huge
building is being rapidly set up. It is dedicated
to Popularity ; and to make room for it, two
small and decayed temples which had been
erected to Honor and Virtue have been rased
to the ground. This great building is chiefly for
the multitude, whose numbers prohibit them from
taking pleasure in the ancient temples. It is said,
that when the temple to Popularity is finished,
there will be in it as many pillars as citizens in
Progress, and also countless chambers suitable
to devotees, each fitted up with a kneeling stool
and a mirror. In the centre there is to be set up
a brazen image, after the likeness of a man, with

THE TRADING QUARTERS.

the world for its base, holding in one hand Time
and in the other Eternity.

The trading quarters of the City are models of
convenience ; they arc furnished with every hu-
man requirement, and everything under the sun
can be bought there. Anyone may obtain a name
for philanthropy by doing good to himself ; ap-
plause by self-conceit; favour by flattery; honours
by scheming ; love by money ; in a word, every-
thing that Progress can afford. Each trader is
jealous of his competitor, and denounces all other
trades than his own as dishonest or immoral ;
fathers teach their sons their tricks of trade ;
and, according to the old proverb, " every man is
a thief in his own occupation." The houses in
which the most profitable trade is carried on be-
long to the Father of Lies, an easy-going, popular
man, who is the ground-landlord of a vast extent
of property in the City.

The public parks are exceedingly fine ; they
are laid out in an elegant and picturesque
manner, and are handsomely planted with the
luxuriant Tree of Knowledge. This tree is so

4
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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

much prized, that it is cultivated in both dwarf
and giant varieties, and may be seen upon the
window-sills of the poor and in the gardens
of the rich. It is valuable both for use and
ornament, and its leaves, fruit, and juices are
all sought after. It is desired to make one wise,
and is highly commended for opening the eyes.
Recently a discovery has been made of a heal-
ing property in this tree for every disorder of
the inner man, for the Lust-of-thc-Flesh, the
Lust-of-the-Eyes, and the Pride-of-Lifc, which
at times break out in violent epidemics, and
which always hang about the City in endemic
form, and are called by the doctors Immorali-
ties, Robberies, Tumults, Wars, Murders, and
the like ; but whether to apply the medicine to
the patient externally or internally, or whether
to obtain the healing virtue of the tree from
juice or fruit, leaf or root, remains at present
a matter of dispute.

While there is much discussion upon the
solidified past, and not a little controversy
upon the altering present, yet there is no con-

THE GLORIOUS FUTURK.

tcntion about the unformed future ; for all
exclaim, " The City's future will be glorious !
Soon every child will be a judge, and evciy
servant a master. Distinctions will be swept
away, both of body and mind, and obstructions
of dialect and sex." '' And," add some, " soon
there shall be no longer necessity for toil, for
sorrow, for decay or death."

■ r

I V\

CI I AFTER V.

GENERAL IDEA OF THE SITUATION

OF THE CITY.

That 7vhich hath been is >io7v ;

And that n<hkh is to be hath already been ;

yhid God requireth that which is fast. — Ecc). iii. 15.

The City of Progress is built upon a plain of
so vast an extent that there can scarcely be
discerned any bound to it.

A broad ri\er feeds this plain, a river unlike
all others, for though its source is clearly trace-
able no one has yet been able to say where
it empties itself. It is chiefly to this river that
the City owes its magnificence, and from its
ceaseless current the fountains and the water-
courses which beautify and vivify the parks
and open places, are supplied. So highly are

THE WAV-OF-ALL-ILLSII.

the waters prized by the citizens, that not a
habitation is without them ; and such is the
mystery of their sweetness, that those who
taste them thirst for more ; yet however deeply
citizens may drink, their thirst is never quenched.
The bubbling and the sparkling of the water
have earned for it the names of Pleasure and
Vanity.

The plain surrounding the City appears at
first sight to be unlimited in extent, and this has
gained for the region lying beyond the range
of ordinary vision the name of the Unknown
Laud. Into this district, straight out of the
City and far across the plain, runs a famous road
named the Way-of-all-Flesh. This roads leads
towards a gate called Judgment, whither all the
Vv'orks, good or bad, done by the citizens are
sent. Some of these works are forwarded openly,
and reach the gate before the citizens to whom
they belong, and the others follow after their
owners. Little is known of the road. The Wise

Men cf the City have never

ired its length.

measui
But though little is known about it, yet the lone-

1: , ,

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

liness, cheerlessness, and darkness of the way arc
readily acknowledged. There is a law by which
every citizen of Progress, let his position be what
it may, is bound once to take this journey; and
it is enacted that he must travel, without either
food or raiment, down the Way-of-all-Flcsh to
the gate Judgment.

The existence of this road, and the necessity
imposed upon all the citizens to travel over it,
has given rise to a considerable amount of busi-
ness. A large body of craftsmen spend their
lives in dressing and beautifying the -.vorks of
such persons as employ them, in order that when
these citizens reach the gate Judgment they
may find their works in a favorable condition.
These craftsmen also insure the lives of travel-
lers, from the far side of the gate and onwards,
whithersoever they may go.

There are other craftsmen who advertise spec-
tacles to suit all sights, adapted for all travellers,
and guaranteed to remove all optical delusions
from their wearer's eyes. Every kind and color
of glasses may be had, and at all prices. Citi-

SPECTACLES TO SUIT ALL SIGHTS.

zens who sec the fiery indignation which shall
devour the adversaries dazzling before their eyes,
may obtain Darkening-glasses ; those who are
troubled by reading truths as they are written,
may procure the patent Diminishers, which
dwindle great words like " everlasting " to any
required size. Such as are disquieted by seeing
the black spots of their evil ways before them,
may purchase the patent Magnifiers, which will
enlarge " forbearance " to any extent. The long-
sighted may buy the No-further-than-this-Life
spectacles, and the short-sighted the All-right-in-
the-End glasses.

i 'i

i .1

lor
iti-

CHAPTER VI.

THE EVERLASTING CITY.

A City which liath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. —
Heb. xi. lo.

At the utmost limit of the plain there may' be
traced by the vigorous eye a thin blue line, in
appearance like a far-off cloud. This is formed
b}' the peaks of the great and lofty range of the
Faith Mountains, from the heights of which a
clear and uninterrupted view may be had of the
p'ain, the river, the City of Progress, and the
road issuing from it, and also of other countries,
kingdoms, and dominions.

There is no beaten path to these mountains,
and those who travel there go forth not knowing
whither they go. The journey lies through a

NEITHER POVERTY NOR SICKNESS.

district of ill-repute, and is beset with a variety
of dangers and difficulties. It is also wearisome
and painful, and hardihood is needed for the
undertaking; hence, if a citizen of Progress be
asked, "Have you visited the Faith Mountains?"
he will reply with the proverb, " There is a lion
in the way." Nevertheless, there are some who
face the difficulties and overcome them.

A few bring back reports of what they have
seen and heard. They say that, standing upon
the topmost peaks of the mountains, with the
back turned upon the City of Progress, there
may be seen, as if upon a crystal sea, the Ever-
lasting City.

The beauty of this City transcends a thousand
times even that once possessed by the Garden of
Delights. This City hath foundations. In it
there is not so much as one poor man, nor one
who is sorrowful or sick. Its very streets are
paved with gold, its stones are gems. Pure
waters flow down its thoroughfares, the sides of
which are planted with Trees of Life, blossom-
ing and bearing fruit without ceasing. There

111

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

the sound of gladness is incessant, and the
splendour unclouded.

Upon this fair City some have gazed rap-
turously, until the sinking sun casting his rich
glow over its girdling sea, has traced a molten
pathway of light and glory reaching from its
very gates to the foot of the mountains. In-
deed, some few tell of beholding the gates of
pearl opened, and of watching the silver skiffs,
freighted with travellers, entering in ; and then
of hearing the far-off music of harpers, harping
with their harps, and the distant joy-song of
many voices — now tender as soft winds whisper-
ing through ripened corn-fields — anon mighty as
long waves breaking upon a shelving shore.

Upon these mountains, rills and water-brooks,
choice herbs, and pleasant fruits abound; the
air is beyond measure invigorating, strengthening
the travellers to climb the peaks and to perform
great deeds.

Travellers returning from these mountains
describe in the streets of Progress what they
have witnessed, and sing snatches of the songs

JOY AT THE END.

they have learned there : whereupon the simple
and the weary lift up their hands at the tidings.
Then the travellers reply, that the way to these
heights is as free as the air, and the hardships of
the journey are not to be compared with the
reward awaiting those who reach the end.

>rm

LUIS

hey

CHAPTER VII.

REVEw^ ■ ONS OF THE TELESCOPE.

Fooiis/tfUi' jJt'' !od. — I Cor. iii. 19.

The good report of the travellers is an undis-
guised source of weakness to the City of Pro-
gress, and a constant irritation to its Prince.
Indeed, in former years — fearing to lose the
allegiance of his people — not infrequently the
Prince had the travellers burned, sawn asunder,
thrown to wild beasts, or otherwise tortured.
These cruelties, he declared, were feasts in honor
of genuine faith; and he himself presided over
them, and inquired of the travellers how they
fared, and how many hours it took a man to
journey to the Everlasting City. Of late }'cars,

SPECULATIVE TROSrECTS.

though he hates the travellers as much as ever,
he has changed his arbitrary plans for wily prac-
tices. He now stigmatizes as fools or knaves
all who adopt the language of the travellers, and
turns their songs into ridicule.

Before very long the Prince promises a con-
clusion to all desires after travelling, and he lias
specially retained the services of some of the
most talented men in the City of Progress to
accomplish this result. The seven Wise Men
who can give an answc , and the calculators
who can measure by how much the heavens are
higher than the earth, and how far the east is
from the west, are now earnestly engaged upon
the scheme. They work with a will, for the
words of the travellers are as thorns in their
eyes, and a hindrance to the grand idea of the
perfection of Progress.

The centre, where the Wise Men assemble
who are engaged upon this work, is the famous
Observatory in the Development Broadway,
wherein is fitted up the great Telescope, called
Reason. In this building the speculations of

;j"

Tilt; CriV OK I'ROGRIiSS.

the learned men are made, chiefly during the
hours of the night. They ah-eady are able to
prove, by scientific analogy, the absurdity of the
statements of the travellers; and to convince all
who care to be convinced, by the evidence of
the Telescope, that the Everlasting City has no
existence save in tlie fevered vision of travellers.

In due time, according to the negative princi-
ples of these Wise Men, peering through the Tele-
scope will supersede tra\'elling to the mountains.
Already, and in anticipation of their projected
millennial cT;3och, the Council of Education is
correcting the old books of geography, and is
about to issue a fresh edition, in which neither
the locality nor the name of the Everlasting
City will appear.

The Observator\' is attractive, not only to the
more educated of the citizens, but also to the
ignorant, — for the Prince has had the most bril-
liant gems from the city storehouses lavished
upon its adornment. The foundation of the
Observatory is set in solid and magnificent
marble from the Pride quarries, and its steps

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

arc formed of polished slabs of the variegated
stone Wise-in-yoiir-own-Conceits,

The place is open free upon all days of the
week, on the production of a ticket with '* Man's-
Will " stamped upon it.

A consideration of another kind is also
taxing the brains of the Wise Men. They
are considering, What fnially becomes of a
citizen after he has gone down The-Way-of-
all-Flcsh?

Very costly experhnents have been under-
taken in order to arrive at a conclusion, and
very learned theories have been advanced upon
the subject. Citizens in a state of dissolution
have been studied by means of the spectrum,
and have been watched on their journey through
the Telescope ; but no sufficient answer, as yet,
has been given to the question.

Not long ago, it was agreed at one of their
scientific assemblies that something must be
done in the matter, and a practical test was

mori

resolved upon. Nothing bein

prac

tical

than_chemistry, it was agreed that a commis-

) I 1

H
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■—

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

sion should conduct the chemical analysis of a
citizen, and that the commissioners should pub-
lish the result.

The commissioners settled that the most prac-
tical method would be to place a citizen of
Progress in a retort, and to reduce him, bod}-,
mind, and spirit, to I is elements. This being
done, it was said, by means of careful observa-
tions, discovery would be made of what these
elements were, and, according to what such ele-
ments were, would they have affinity ; then, to
what these elements had affinity, to that would
they connect themselves; and by noting to what
they connected themselves, would be clearly
shown what would be the end of a citizen of
Progress.

The commissioners decided that a citizen
with a large mind was requisite to experiment
upon, lest an ordinary mind should perchance
evaporate or otherwise disappear in the analysis.

A large-minded citizen was not easily pro-
curable, but at length a noted philosopher, in
the interests of science, kindly offered himself

THE END OF THE nilLOSOniER.

for the retort. He was accordingly scaled up
tight, and reduced to his elements ; whereupon
the commissioners discovered, by unfailing proofs,
that all that remained of him was a little gas.

This astonishing fact has oozed out, but the
scientific deductions of the commission have not
}'et been published. As the philosopher was a
man whose mind and body were both very
large, and whose spirit was far from small,
there is quite a stir in some circles to know —
at least if not what has become of his spirit,
where his mind may be ; for the result seems
incredible, chemistry notwithstanding, that all
that is left of such a philosopher should be
gas!

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I;
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CHAPTER VIII.

THE KING'S SON.

Then cn'td ihcy all — Not this imxti. — Jolin xviii. 40.

The Evcrlastini^ City is ruled by the Kini^ of
Eternit}', whose heart of love embraces the people
of Progress. The King, some little time ago,
sent his son to the City to announce to the
citizens his ref^ard for them. It was bv ni^ht
that the royal messenger entered Progress ; and
the people were asleep. A glorious company
from the ICverlasting City robed in shining light
came to the outskirts of Progress, and with glad
voices proclaimed his arrival, and then, according
to their orders, hastened home again.

The King's son, attired as a plain and poor

THE rUTURE KINO.

man, went in and out amongst the citizens; he
won his daily bread by work, and fulfilled his
father's commands. Never before, never since,
did Procrress see or hear a man like him. Words
of kindness and of wisdom fell from his lips, new
to the City, and, until he uttered them, unknown.
His sayings are the wealthiest treasury of life
and love that Progress contains, whilst the record
of his deeds teaches men to lonq; for his kincfclom.

The Kimr's son told the citizens the truth
concerning themselves and their Prince, and
warned them of his father's anger. More than
this, he gave them to understand that the time
would come when he should reign over their
City; and he bade them cast out the evil from
their midst, and repent. And, further, he told
them that an end would come to the way of Pro-
gress, and to its principles and its practices; and
he bade them prepare for the coming kingdom.

The common people heard him gladly — and
with good reason, for none loved the poor as did
he. Nor did hunger and sickness abide in his
presence; his hands were full of bounty, and he

i' ^

THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

gave freely. By his good deeds the people learned
that when he should reign over their City, neither
pang, nor want, nor sorrow should be kno^\ n
in their streets. But the lords of the City envied
him, and, urg'ng on the populace, they cast the
King's son out from among them, thrusting him
down the \Va^•-of-all- Flesh ; and as thcv did this,
they cried, "We will not have this man to reign
over us;" and with such violence did they shout,
that the sound reached right up to the throne of
the King of the Everlasting City.

Then, after the lapse of three days the King's
son returned to his o\\'n in Progress, and a
few days later on, the King called him up to
the ICverlasting City, and said to him, " Sit thou
on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy
footstool." And there, still bearing the likeness
of the citize'is of Progress, but withal too fair
for eye of citizen to behold, and robed in ex-
ceeding glory, he waits till the time appointed
for the display of his power and the setting-up
of his kingdom.

Though the King's son was thrust out of the

THE UNSEEN.

City, yet his coming to it wrought the greatest
change in it that any city ever knew. lk\sidcs
which, even unto this day many dwellers in rr(>-
gress lament the treatment he received, and long
for and wait for his coming again.

After the King's son had returned home, he
sent a formal mc-^cage to those in Progress v/ho
were true to himself, bidding them wait for his
kingdom, till he should come again ; and, in the
interval, committed to them a sacred trust, whicli
was to be nearer and dearer to them than their
very lives. Special tools were given to them for
the arduous work involved by this trust, and
weapons from the arsenal of the Everlasting City
for their protection. More than these: a mighty
person, always unseen by the citizens of Progress,
was sent by the King's son and by his father, to
abide with and to strengthen his faithful followers,
so that they, come what might, in Progress should
know what transpired in the presence of the
King, and continue loyal to the King's son.

At the commencement of the work which the

•:!si;

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Till': CnV OF rROGRESS.

trust entailed upon the followers of the King's
son, the few who entered upon it ^\•crc looked
upon with contempt ; they were despised as the
off-scouring of the City, and considered as fit only
for feeding wild beasts and bonfires. But the
more they were trodden down, the greater grew
their numbers and their zeal.

Kt9^*>w>^^*ff.n'^*^!iamm

? *1

CHAPTER IX.

THE BEGINNING OF THE TEMPLE

OF PROGRESS.

One Body, whetht'r Jcivs or Gi'niilts.~\ C<ir. xii. 13.

Most cities possess some building of peculiar
£ind surpassing interest. The special wonder of
the City of Progress is its Temple, not only on
account of its stupendous size and astonishing
magnificence — nor merely because of the strange
fact that part of it is in decay, and part still in
process of completion — but because great mystery
is bound up in it.

The history of the Temple is, briefly, as fol-
lows : —

The King's son had committed a sacred trust

•I !

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Tin: CITV OF PROGRESS.

to his followers. To one of the most zealous of
their number, whom upon a notable occasion he
called Stone, he committed two celebrated ke}'s.
Now, in Stone's dwellinf^-place was an old and
massive door, called Jew-door, which from the
day it had been set upon its hini^es had not
bjcn opened outwards.

After the Kind's son had taken his seat upon
his father's throne, Stone applied one of the
keys to this old door, Slowl}', and with con-
siderable creakini;", it )-ielded ; and as it did so a
shaking took place in what had been Stone's
dwelling-place, and shortly after the glories of
that old place disapi)cared.

i hiving opened trj's door, Stone, as he was
bidden, went in search of another, called Gcn-
tile-door, which from the day it had been set
up had never been opened. With no little dis-
comfort to himself, he found this door and fitted
the second kc}' into its lock, his hand trembling
as he did so. To his astonishment, this door
flew open with a mighty swing, and again a
great shaking occurred.

A SITE FOR THE TEMPLE.

the

iTom tnc places which had been shut in
those two doors many persons streamed forth,
and though the members of the one company
when in their former phices were unfriendly
towards those of the other, yet all united in one
throng, ha\ ing one common desire within their
hearts sim})ly to please and to serve the King's
son, at any cost ; and this thing was new in
the Citv.

The wish of the King's son was, that there
should be a Temple to his name in the City of
Progress, and that all who worked in building
it should be united by bands of love and peace;
and that his Temple, by its simplicity, its beauty,
and its unit\', should durincj his absence tell its
own tale : and this in the presence of the other
and great temples erected in Progress — temples
built b\' the citizens in honor of their Prince or
their own passions, and which were filled with

1 macros

and

re lies.

These men began to work heartily, and in a
short space of time cleared the site upon wliich
the Temple was to be erected. In the midst of

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I; ^H:

THE CITY 01" TROGRESS.

their work they were fallen upon by the soldiers
of the Prince of Progress, and many were slain,,
but the others held their ground.

As they fought and worked, sword in one
hand, trowel in the other, there rose up amongst
them a man wliose unconquerable energy re-
mains to this day an astonishment to all. He
was formerly a leader amongst the noblest of
the noble families of Progress. Put the King's
son won him for himself, and ga\'e him the
name of Worker, entrusting to liim the plan
upon which his Temple should be built.

The foundation was to be upon the solid
rock ; the walls were to be four-square, accord-
ing to the four quarters of the Cit\' ; the
materials gold, silver, and precious stones,
united by an invisible but enduring cement,
the composition and the handling of which
still remain a secret with the faithful builders.
The roof was to be iiie blue lieavens ; and it
was enjoined that there should be no side-
light wliatever. The doorway — and this was
strictly laid down — was to be so narrow that

THE PLAN OF THE TEMPLE

only

one man could enter it at a time, an

d he

was not to brin^c^ in cither the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the e\'es, or the pride of life — valued
by the citizens of Progress; and the door was
named Strait.

This noble servant was sorely hated by the
Prince of Pro^^ress, who at length caught him
and slew him. But before his death the man
nailed this caution to the wall of the Temple,
where it may yet be seen : —

"According to the grace of God which is given unto mc,

As a wise Master Puilder,

I have laid the Foundation

And anotlier biiildeth thereon,

Put let every man take heed how he Iniildelh thereupon,

For no other Foundation can any man lay than that is laid.

{l/cir stood the name of the rock forming its foundation^
which is mno scarcely ici^il>Ie.'\

Now if any man build upon this Foundation
Gold, Silver, Precious Stones-
Wood, Hay, Stub])lc—
Every man's Work shall be made manifest ;
For The Day shall declare it.
Because It shall be revealed by fire,
And the F'ire shall try ever}' man's Work of what sort it is."

W'\

■MMMH

THE CITY OF rROGRKSS.

Note —

"If any man's Work abide, which he hath built upon
the Foundaticjn, he shall receive a l\cwar{l.
If any man's Work shall be burnt, he shall suffer Loss. .
If any man defile the Temple, him shall Cod ilcfile.

Witness my hand,

WORKKR."

From Worker's blood a voice still speaks ;
the spirit of his enerc^y still labours on, and
finds fresh vigour in the memory of his death.

The Prince of Progress was outwitted by his
own acts. In vain did he endeavour to destroy
the rising Temple ; his fire only made the gold,
silver, and precious stones of its walls shine the
brighter, and appear the more beautiful; and to
his flames it was also greatl)' due that so little
wood, hay, and stubble were introduced into the
building. As vegetation grows beneath sun and
shower, so grew the Tem[)le by fire and blood.

CllAI'lKR X.

THE DKVKLOPMKNT OF THE
TEMPLIC OV PROGRESS.

7Vie Iciisi <if all seeds . . . .is t'w i^rciicsi aiiion^ hols, u.ui hccotnctfi
n tree. — Matt. \\\\. 32.

Ez'Oi wJwre Satan's scat /.v. - R^v. ii. 13.

Frkttf.I) and vexed, till the depths of his soul
were mo\ed, the Prince retired to his great council
hall, where he assembled his counsellors. All
agreed that this new 'remi)le would be the weak-
ness, if not the ruin, of their lord's kingdom;
yet what power to raise against it thc\' knew not.
No external antagonism affected its integrity ;
such means rather led to its perfection. Then it
was that the Arch-Minister of the Prince gave
this cver-to-bc-remcmbcred ad\ice —

■I

THE CITY OV I'ROGRESS.

*'LEr THE PRINCIPLES, I'RACTICES, AM)
ENERGIES OF OUR ClTV P.E P.ROUClIir INTO

THE Temple, and spi:ei)Ilv iiie Temj'le

ITSELF SHALL liECOAH': THE CIIHIF OLORV OF

THE Cnv OF Prooress. a 1 ittle leaven

LEAVENS IHi: WHOLE LU.NH'."

Shouts of a])[)lausc f(jllo\\ccl this counsel, the
carryin<^ out of which was thus effected:

Some of the most wily of the counsellors dis-
guised themselves as angels of light, and appeared
before the Temple door. The door-keepers were
not on the watch — they were not heeding the
strict injunction of the King's son, nor hearkening
to the counsels of the Unseen ; and they let the
counsellors in. It was not very long before these
men succeeded in sowing seeds of strife amongst
the workers. Thus, some were heard to complain
of the narrowness of the doorway ; others cried
that the style of architecture was too stiff and
constrained for their times; and more found fault
with the character of the materials as too costly,
and too difficult to procure, to insure the rapid
advance of tlie building.

falsi: I'LAX.

Then it was that iM'rst-lovc, the most faithful
of the \\'orkmcn, reminded his fellows of the
words of the Kind's son ; but his words and
tears were in vain. The waters of strife were let
loose, and in the midst of the contention one of
the disguised angels of light stole away the plan
of the buildincr.

Then the workmen began to build according
to their own ideas, and eacli one of them to look
upon his OWI1 things and not upon those of others,
nor those of the King's son ; and the Temple
developed in the way they listed. At length such
radical changes took place in the st\le and in the
mode of erecting the Tem]_jle, and in the manner
of the workmen, that an)- citizen of Progress who
thought fit could obtain cmplo)'mcnt and gain
pay upon the building.

With glee the Arch-Minister said to the Prince,
" Sec how the lca\'en works ! And note, the plan
is hidden. The time has come; issue a pro-
clamation, calling upon all good citizens to
honor the Temple as you do, then introduce a
new plan."

i 11

'i '*■

•iiiK triv or 1'U0(;ri;ss.

So the I'rincc did this. Witli j^rcat cci-cmony
and pomp, he set up his throne within tlie Temple,
and appointed an offieer of liis own as Master of
the Works !

The faithful men amon<^st the builders mourned
bittcrl}'; the\' saw too clearl}' that the once
costly buildinj^, erected to the name of the Kin<^'s
son, was becoming' a huf^e repository for the
principles and practices of the Cit)' of Progress;
whilst the very name of the King's son was only
preserved in it as a kind of sanction for the pro-
ceedings now taking place within the Temple.
Many a brave workman protested against the
authority of the officer whom the Prince of
Progress had appointed over the builders, and for
so doing was cruelly abused and slain — till at
length a law was made by which it became an
offence punishable by death for any workman
even to speak of the lost plan of the buildi

During those dark days the voice of the ^ n-
seen was but little heard, and the great men of
the City boasted in the Temple.

The new Master of the Works having deter-

liAD MATERIALS.

mined to make the Temple worthy of the City,
caused, in the first place, that the images of woe .
and of stone which adorned the ancient temples
should be brought into it, and be there set up in
prominent places. He further introduced into its
niches and walls much of the material belonging
to the ancient shrines and holy places, but in a
covert manner. He caused the name of the
King's son to be no longer the only name
attached to the Temple ; and from that day the
building has ever been spoken of by the many,
in a loud voice, as the Temple of Progress, and
by the very few, in a whisper, as the Temple
of the King's son.

This Master of the Works, in order to render
the Temple as popular as possible, restored to the
citizens the greater part of the customs common
to the ancient temples of their City, against
which the workmen of the Temple of the King's
son had strongly spoken. He reinstated the old
revel-days, changing their name to holy-days,
and caused them to be celebrated in memory
of the very workmen of the Temple who had

THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

been slain by his orders, instead of, as had been
done previously, in memory of the ancient heroes
of the City !

Having effected these changes, the Master of
the Works gave out contracts for roofing in,
decorating, and improving the structure of the
Temple. The designs for this work are the
masterpieces of the two greatest architects the
City of Progress ever produced — Christianized-
Jew and Sanctified-Pagan ; and the works were
ably carried out by the wealthiest contractors
of the City, who trade under the name of the
Royal-Church-and-World-Company.

In those days the builders used brick for stone,
and slime for mortar, and wood, hay, and stubble
in abundance. Success attended the improve-
ments they made, in consequence of which great
rejoicings were held in the City of Progress, which
never before had possessed a Temple so extensive
and so glorious.

Years rolled by, and the magnificence of the
Temple increased, but the faithful amongst the
workmen were not satisfied, for their souls pined

DEFILING THE TEMPLE.

after the honor of the narnc of the King's son,
^\ hich was nearl}- forgotten amongst the miiUitudc
of names introduced b}' the Master of the Works.
At length, being stimulated by the Unseen, they
took courage, and began to speak against the
system by which the Temple had become so
great : whereupon, like the early builders, they
were slain b}' the officers of Progress. But their
courage pleaded their cause; and again, by fire
and blood, grew the numbers of lo) al hearts to
the King's son. And so it was, from the time
that the Prince of Procuress set his foot within
thn Temple, the faithful there always let and
hindered him.

At lenij^th a few vigorous men in a section
of the building banded together, and protested

aiiam

St tl

le way in w

hich the work of the

Temple was carried on ; and so strong was their
determination, that once more the Prince of
Progress feared lest his kingdom should be
u'eakened, and his throne in the Temple should
be disturbed.

So the Prince ae^ain called his counsellors to-

THE CITY OF rUOGRESS.

gcthcr, when once more the Arch-Minister stood
up and said,
"Bring the rRiNcnT.Es and practices of

THE CITY INTO THIS FRESH ENERGY, AND AS
BEFORE, SO AGAIN, SHALL ALL BE \VELL."

Such, in brief, is the histor}* and the mystery
of the Temple.

CIIAITI'R XI.

THE TEMPLE OE PROGRESS AS IT IS.

iifi

-I

/// (? Grecit House there are not only I'essels of Cold and of Silx'er,

But ii/s ' of II 'ood and of Earth ;

And s.'iiie /.' Honor, and some to Dishonor. — 2 Tim. ii. 20.

From the hour in wliicli the original plan was
stolen, the first idea of the unity of the Temple
has been utterl}- lost sight of. Since the protest
of the followers of the King's son against the
revised plan of the Prince's Master of the Works,
so man}' Courts have been added, that the
unity of that design also has been greatly in-
terfered with. Now, a strange union, yet want
of unity, strikes the eye. Of the numerous
Courts, some seem to be built back to back, with
no other object than that of interfering with
each other's light; while others appear to owe

4-i

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THE CITY Or PROCRESS.

their origin and growth to the spirit of rivahy
between their respective workmen. Some have
been erected with the sole object of rivalh'ng
the architecture of the adjoining Courts, whilst
others are evidently the work of honest men.

Again, the decay which has set in in some of
these Courts, the restoring of others, and the
diverse ideas of what restoration is — some re-
garding it as a return to original simplicity,
others considering it as an expression of st)'le
and ornamentation — render the Temple an in-
teresting study for the visitor or antiquarian.

The erection of new Courts, too, is actively
progressing, and with the strange result that
side by side may be seen a Court almost tenant-
less and falling to pieces, and another half-built
and being " run up," as the worknien say. The
variety of the styles according to which the
various Courts are formed, occasion a mingling
or a clashing of many architectural ideas in one
and the same edifice, and give to the whole
the charm of variety to the eyes of some, the
appearance of confusion to the eyes of others.

couRT.s i.Aru.i; and smai.i..

Each Court Is connected with the other, either
by side-doors, back-ways, or by underground-
passages : yet despite this connection there
exists a large amount of jealousy and a stand-
off spirit amongst the workmen.

The most important of these Courts are known
as the Grecian, the Roman, and the Anglican;
the Lutheran is also a fine part of the Temple.
There arc other notable old Courts, too — for
example, the Coptic and the yVbyssinian; but
some of them are dreadfully out of repair, and
in a sorry state of dilapidation. Indeed, it is
difficult to distinc^uish some of these ancient
Courts, once great and glorious, from the back-
streets of the Cit^^

Besides these, there are vast numbers of small
Courts, some built merely of lath and plaster,
others of thin boards, and weather-pi'oof only
so long as their new paint may last. As a rule,
the smaller the Court the more self-assertive
and self-satisfied are Its builders.

The Grecian Court i^^ a majestic erect! n, but
it is difficult to distinguish its prevailing style

'- f.

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a.
it!:

THE CITY OF PKOGKESS.

of architecture from that of the palaces of the
mighty men of the Cit)' of Progress; yet its
workmen maintain that it alone upholds the
honor of tlie name of the King's Son.

The Roman Court is the most awe-inspiring
part of the whole building. Once it was one
with the Grecian, but the workmen wrangled
together, and a walling-off took place. Notwith-
standing this, the Prince of Progress thinks very
highly of this Court. It is said to occupy nearly
ten acres of ground, and its size is still increasing.
The whole of the workpeople of this Court are
bound together in trade-union ; they take the
lead amongst all the other workmen of the
Temple in the arts and mysteries of building.
With astonishing ingenuit}', their skilled hands
turn out fresh dogmas, doctrines, and precepts,
and also a peculiar .style of ornament largely
used upon the top-stones of their Court, called
Infallible-Contradiction. The genius of these
men excites no little jealousy amongst the other
workmen, and no little interest amongst the
citizens of Progress. None like these builders

A DOUIU.F.-FROXTED COURT.

can produce the famed dim Religious-lii^ht, while
their celebrated dve, IMartvrs'-blood, remains un-
matclied.

The Lutheran Court is a handsome part of tlie
Temple: its wide doorway, and the broad base
of its Pillars-of-Scepticism, arc worth anyone's
seeing;. The skilful chiselling upon these pillars
of the network of Old-and-Ncw-Incredulities,
none wlio \-isit Procuress should forijet to stud v.

The Anglican Court is a grand structure. In
it I feel the keenest interest, for m\' early days
were spent in the quiet shade of its cloisters.

The st\-le of this Court

•hat

somew

has the peculiarity of being double-fronted —
facing towards both the Roman and Lutheran
Courts. l'\)r the most part, its chief workmen
are unyielding in their loyalty to their fathers'
rules and in the use of their fathers' tools ; but
there is an acti\c few to whose e\es the in-
venti\eness of the workm.en in the Roman Court
is highl\- attractive — while there are others who
try their hand at introducing the network upon
the pillars of the Lutheran Court into their

1 1

Is 'I

cf'

<i ti

L.1

■ 'I

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

ornamentation, and who arc constantly crying
out for a widcninc^ of the doorway to their
Court.

It is said that the rigidity of the old workmen
will be the ruin of this Court, and that there arc
anxious times in store for it. Alreadv amoncrst
the Anglican workmen there are agitators from
the great Roman trade-union, crying, "Unite with
us;" and there is a shaking of the head amongst
the old-fashioned workpeople, who avow that if
the tradcs'-union principle once enters the Angli-
can Court, that then murder and various brutal
trades' outrages will follow, and that no honest
v.'orkman will have his libert}\ The}* also predict,
that in that case workmen will no lonc^er have
the privilege of asserting their powers according
to their individual skill and energy, but that all
will be levelled down to meet the stupidity or
the idleness of the mass. Yet, while such mourn-
ful forecasts are made, such is the present want
of cohesion amongst the workmen, that none of
them can suggest any kind of bond \\herewith to
tic them together, and merely suggest for the

■

WANT OF OUKlIXAI.nv.

(-7

time politeness of manners and deference to each
other's diversities.

As the architects of the small Courts have
borrowed their ideas from those of tlie orii^inal
firm employed by the Master of the Works, and
as the materials used in these Courts are chiefly
supplied by the same compan\' which contracts
with the large Courts, it is evident, that though
their skilled workmen ma\' be honest yet they
cannot be original.

These things every visitor to the City of Pro-
gress can see, but the wonders of the Temple lie
beneath the surface. The Unseen is there, re-
maining there still — since such is the desire of the
King's son ; but he is pained by the pretension
and self-will of the builders, the greater num.bcr
of whom utterly ignore his presence. Perhaps
these two facts arc the crreatest wonders within

the Temple, yet it is precisely of these of which
the least account is taken.

The King's son has not failed to send secret
messages to the faithful amongst the workmen
from the first, and these messages have had an

^tl:

ii''

i i

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

f
f

13 i:!i

effect upon Ihcm g^rcatcr llian that which the
introcUiction of the principles and practices of
Progress has had upon the Temple. Thereby
all honest and faithful workmen, irrespective of
the Courts wherein they work, have had one
object in view — even the good pleasure of the
King's son; and this object has ever made the
character of such workmen, irrespective of these
Courts, more noble than the systems of their
Courts.

Recently the following message, enforced upon
the attention of the workmen bv the voice of
the Unseen, has stirred the faithful amongst them
mightily — "Behold, I come quickh- ; and my
reward is with me, to give every man according
as his work shall be." This message has wrought
upon these men in a twofold way. First, they
have looked to themselves, that they might be
truly ready for his coming ; secondly, they have
looked to the Temple, and mournfully compared
its present with its primitive condition.

It has even been said, that some amongst
them have found the old plan of Worker, the

I i

LOYAL WORKMEN.

Master I'uildcr; but it is added that the plan
only makes those who behold it weep, l^'or in
the explanation accompanying the plan there is
no provision made to enable an}- man to restore
the Temple to its original character. Ikit in
one of these explanations an order has been
discovered, the tenor of which is such as to
demand that all faithful workmen cleanse their
hands from the principles and practices intro-
duced into the Temple by the Prince's Arch-
Minister; hence, there is a great stir amongst
all loval workmen. The faithful are at this
moment working for the King's son, and wait-
ing for his coming; and wherever they may find
either gold, or silver, or precious stones, their-
effort is to build these materials upon that found-
ation which the Master Builder laid ; and as
they do so they remember the note which he
appended to his caution : —

"If any man's Work a^jide which he hath built upon the
Foundation, Lj shall receive a Reward.
If any man's Work shall be burnt, he shall sufler Loss.
If any man defile the Temple, him shall God defile."

\ 5

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:il

CHAPTER XII.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

ly/tat man knowcth tlu things of a man, save the spirit of man ^ihich
is in hint ? — i Cor. ii. ii.

Pr seems as if it were but yesterday, though it is
several years ago, that my neighbour, Mr. Ready-
to-Perish of Graceless Street, and I were loung-
ing near the Observatory. It was a calm summer
evening, and many citizens were assembled, lis-
tening to the music, and watching one another.
Presently there was a sudden commotion, and
my neighbour and I went to see what had ga-
thered the crowd : we heard a man's voice, say-
ing, " He that shall come will come, and will not
tarry. Now in the name of him who is coming I
proclaim free pardon to every one who desires it."

IDLE TALES.

These words caused much amur.ement to the
more considerable number of the people, who
knowing that the man referred to the Kinj^'s
son, laughed and said, " In these days of ad-
vanced education, and extended knowledge of
other countries, we citizens are not to be frightened
with tales and alarms such as these." Others
turned away in disgust, saying they would not
hear pardon-mongers; but a few in the crowd
seemed really alarmed, as if the very mention of
the coming of the King's son was a thing either
hateful or terrible to them.

My neighbour began to quiver. I thought he
was seized with a sudden chill, for he trembled
all over.

" You are ill, Mr. Ready-to-Perish," said I ;
" let us go indoors."

But he had almost parted with his speech, his
eyes were wide open, and his knees shook like
those of a man dizzy upon the brink of a pre-
cipice. At length he whispered, " I have been
dreading this for over a year."

" Dreading what ? " I inquired.

4 >

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

li' 1

" Oh ! this is what Doctor Conscience told me
would certainly be my end. What shall I do ? "

He was too ill to explain what it was that he
dreaded, or indeed to say more — so with one or
two friends I led him towards his house. As we
did so, he recovered his physical powers; then he
looked us in the face, with a strange but resolute
gaze, and said, "I cannot stay with you. Go I
must — it is destruction here;" and insisting on
being left alone, v/alked away from us.

" You had better keep near him ; his head
seems affected ; or perhaps it is some speculation,
or a love affair," my friends said to me; so I
quickened my steps after my neighbour.

lie walked on, and as I followed he hastened
till he broke into a run, and soon went at such a
speed that I completely lost sight of him.

The disappearance of Mr. Ready-to-Pcrish
from amongst us was a nine days' wonder
amongst his old friends and neighbours. The
usual charitable inferences from his behaviour
were drawn, — he had gone mad — he had played
a trick upon his creditors — he had escaped to

MENTAL DISTURBANXES.

fhboui

another country. But knowing my n
personally as a sober-thinking, honest, and
unimaginative man, the event had a strange
influence upon me. I could not fathom its
meaning, and it made me unaccountably de-
pressed.

One evening a friend called upon me to ask
what was wrong with me, and why I had turned
so melancholy. He spoke very kindly. He was/,
considerably rny senior, and begged me to shake
myself out of myself; *' for," he added, "you know-
that melancholia and mental disturbances arc
increasing in our City, and I do not want to sec
you go off your head."

So I related to him the behaviour of mv old
neighbour, and the incidents of the evening wherw
I was last with him. lie shrewdly asked if 1
thought that the notion of the comini^ of the
King's son had in any way affected our neigh-
bour's mind. " Not," added my friend, earnestly,
" that I believe such things for one moment; but
some minds are affected by these notions. The
strongest minds, like armour-clad sliips, have

SI
I;,

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

their weak points. And when a strong mind is
reached through its weakness, it is in a worse case
than with one which, like a wooden vessel, is
weak all over ; an idea that goes in at one side of
a weak mind, and out at the other, will literally
explode in and shatter a strong one."

Then, perhaps not so much to compliment as
to console me, he suggested that if I could sec
some of the people of the Temple, learned in the
things relating to that edifice, and therefore
authorities in matters concerning the King's son
and his coming again, I should probably have
my brain s^vcpt clear of its cobwebs, which,
because of the effect produced upon me by Mr.
Ready-to- Perish's strange behaviour, threatened
to cover it.

" Or, at all events," said he, " by thus occupying
your mind, )'ou will have something to ccunteract
the creeping influences of melancholia."

1 1'

CHAPTER XIII.

PROFESSIONAL BUILDINGS.

-ill

t»

IV/iat is my reward iJtcn ? — i Cor. ix. 18.

Mv friend's advice, or the latter part of it, I
thought contained sound sense, so early the next
morning I began my inquiry after the learned
people of the Temple.

It is said that no man is usually more ignorant
of a country than he who is born there. The
saying holds good of the citizens of ^Progress.
Personally, I can bear witness to having] passed
and re-passed many of the great buildings of my
own city without entering or even thinking of
entering them ; whereas, had I been in a foreign
land, I should have obtained the services of a
guide, and should have observed the buildings

**;

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

from different points of view and searched them
through and through. What is true respecting
the ignorance of citizens regarding buildings, is
seen even more distinctly in their manners and
customs, which arc scarcely, if ever, noted by
those who practice them; while to a foreigner
the things of every-day life, down to the style of
a dress or to the prattle of a child, arc equally
strange and interesting.

In the City of Progress there are streets and
quarters which, cither by habit or by tacit under-
standing, become devoted to different trades or
classes. One of these is an old square, in which
are situated the Professional Buildings, of these
for years I remained in ignorance and unconcern,
simply because the square and the buildings
\\'erc known to everybody in the City. The
Professional l^uildings are in that part of the
City where the officers over the workmen of the
Temple most frequently reside. Led by the
instinct of my desires, with no settled plan, I
found myself looking about mx early in the
morning in this square, and with the eyes rather

A MOST DIFFICULT CHOICE.

of a foreigner tban of a citizen; and tlnis my
soul took note for the first time of things which
my c\'cs had seen a hundred times.

There is no distinguishing style of architecture
in Professional Building's, the dwellincrs beincf
formed according to the wants of their tenants,
and ranging from the ill-furnished and insigni-
ficant prophet's chamber to the luxurious and
stately ecclesiastical palace. Some of the houses
are old and in a state of decay; others not too
modern to be considered without a history, arc
fitted up with all the most recent improvements
of the Citw

Jkit that mornincr I was thinkincr rather of
the inmates than of their residences, for there
was somethincf within me which lonircd after I
knew not what. Still, those houses in the hush of
the early morning had a strange effect upon mc
— not ...nlikc that of a row of doctors' residences
upon a man whose ignorance of the merits of
the respective physicians hinders his knocking at
any one door, yet whose sense of sickness detains
him in their neighbourhood.

■i I.

THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

While thus doubtful I chanced to read upon
the door of the oldest building in the square, in
letters almost worn away by time, a strange
inscription — one, indeed, so peculiar that to this
hour I remember it well. These were the
words: —

" God's ministers for Ilim should work;
His ministry should toll;
And all mIio are Ills servants true,

May in this College dwell.
Then ye wlio have His grace Avith us
A Improve yourselves His servants, thus: —

Tn much patience,

In altiictions,

In necessities,

In distresses,

In stripes.

In imprisonments,

In tumult Sj,

In labours,

In watchings,

In fastings."

I pondered over these words for a considerable
time, till they so fascinated me that I was held by
the eager desire of seeing him. or them, who dwelt
within doors. As knocking went for nothing, I

A DESERTED HABITATION.

made bold to lift the latch, whereupon the door,
not being fastened within, readily opened to my
push. As it slowly swung back, creaking upon
its rusted hinges, the morning light shone across
a writing upon the wall, which ran thus: —

** Master ! Thy servants' hearts incline
To patience much ! Afllictions nine
Furnish our house —which once was Thine !
We would not greater be tlian Thou,
Master, when suffering crowned Thy brow."

There were some further lines, but so very
much worn that I could not decipher thern.
However, I traced some of the words, namely,
''promise," "throne," "rest": but do what I v/ould
I could not frame the sentence.

Then the inscription continued in larger letters,
very easily legible —

" Ye servants read, and ye shall tell
How in this house a man may dwell —
By pureness,
I5y knowledge,
By long-suffering,
By kindness,
By the Holy Ghost,
By love unfeigned,

« X

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80 THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

By the love of truth,
By the power of God,
By the armour of righteousness on the riglit hand
and on the left.
By honour and dishonour,
By evil report and good report.

Servants of Him who lives in Heaven,
If ye have read these Bys eleven,
Approve yourselves amongst these seven —

As deceivers, and yet true,

As unknown, and yet well known.

As dying, and behold we live.

As chastened, and not killed,

As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,

As poor, yet making many rich,

As having nothing, and yet possessing all tilings."

Not seeing anyone within the place, I called
loudly; but the house was as still as death, so
I returned into the square.

Immediately opposite this small lodging-place
stand the palatial residences of the three greatest
persons in Professional Buildings — the dignitaries
Purple, Scarlet, and Lawn. My calling loudly
at the early morning hour apparently disturbed
these personages, for from each mansion servants
carne running to stop my voice.

THE SPIRITS OF THE PAST.

One, a scarlct-livcricd footman roughly asked
me my business. He was inclined to think I had
been indulging in the festiv^itics of Progress, and
had lost my way; but no sooner did he hear what
it was that I wanted, than, lowering his voice,
with a wink he whispered, " The sooner you
are away from my master's neighbourhood the
better, for he little likes the spirits of the past.
He is very superstitious, and did he know your
intention he might think that one of the ghosts
of that old house would be raised to visit
him." To this, on behalf of their respective
masters, the purple and the lawn liveried foot-
men agreed.

" The present and the past are remarkably
unlike," muttered I, as I strolled further down
the square; and while so doing, read on various
brass plates affixed to the doors the titles
of those within — " The Reverend," " Status in
Society," occurring most frequently.

While scanning the inscriptions upon the
doors, a passer-by thus addressed me:

" You arc in the professional quarters of the

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

great City of Progress. These buildings arc
inhabited by persons of reputation and degree.
The antiquated house in which you interested
yourself is too old for present use, and too
narrow for the advanced customs of the times;
it was built when the Temple was in its infancy,
and was regarded by the citizens as the abode of
fools appointed to death, who were a spectacle
unto the world and to angels and to men.
These modern constructions arc in cliief part
the abodes of those who are rich, who are full,
who reign as kings before the coming of the
King's son and his kingdom — people wise in
their generation and respected by the citizens."

Then, noting my expression of astonishment
and perplexity, he added, " Nevertheless, all
these profess to serve the King's son, and to
look to him for reward ; and such being the
case, he holds them to his word — * If any man
serve me, let him follow me:' ' the servant is not
greater than his lord:' Tf ye know these things,
happy arc ye if ye do them.' Each of these
personages will have to render an account to

Till-; SERVANTS OF lUE TIMllS.

him, — those who say in tlicir hearts, ' Our lord
clcla}-cth his coming;' those who smite their
fellow-servants, and eat and drink with the
drunken, and those who act as lords over the
heritage; as well as those who arc examples to
their fellow-servants and faithful to their master;
— for though these buildings do dishonor to the
King's son, yet there are men in perhaps all of
them who honor him.

** When he comes," and my informant spoke
in tones of deep distress, " there will be cutting
asunder, \\eeping and wailing, and a portion
with the hypocrites. Oh! that the ancient
house, furnished as you have read, might once
more find tenants ! Yet be not discouraijed.
You wish to obtain advice from the learned
men of the Temple, and to obtain instruction
from the instructed there. Go, then, as a blind
man whose eyes have just been opened. IJefore
you is the great Court-}'ard ; its doors arc never
shut. May peace attend your steps !"

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WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

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CHAPTER XIV.

THE COURT-YARD OF THE TEMPLE

OF PROGRESS.

To linxw n'iuiy dlscipL's a/.'cr i/tciii. — Acts x.\, 30.

The sun shone cheerfully, and the fresh breeze
hastened the morninc^^ clouds across the clear blue
sky, as I stood wistfully gazinc^ at the Court-yard
gate. Within the enclosure there were as }'et but
few signs of life. Some men — officials, appar-
ently — hung about the entrances to the various
Courts, looking like sentinel-bees at their hive
doors; but upon the great Court-}'ard were no
other shadows than those of the passing clouds
and myself.

As I scanned the familiar entrances, strange
feelings came over me, and I anxiously con-

bSnOMtafiUMfnMMVMaMMH'M

TRUTH, NOT TEMPLF-S.

sidcrcd by which door I should enter the Temple,
or by what principle I should guide my choice.
It was neither curiosity nor routine that had
led me there that morning — but desire. How
majestic did the Temple appear; a noble pile,
truly, towering up in its glory to the very
heavens, and stretching in a long array of Courts
as if it would cover the whole earth.

" Somewhere in this mighty place," sighed I,
" am I to find an answer to the longings of my
soul ! Temples may be great, but the heart of
man is greater — Truth, not the Temple, satis-
fies."

As I halted and hesitated, a venerable man of
commanding appearance accosted me; became
from the Temple, but out of which entrance I do
not know. lie heard my story, and then said, in
a silver toned voice, " Vou have done well, my
son, in coming hither; I perceive that your soul
drinks in the glories of this vast edifice : follow
me.

" Sir," said I, " I wish to know whether It be
true that the King's son is coming to this City

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THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

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with his armies, and how his friendship may be
obtained."

" Cast the burden of your mind upon me, my
son," answered he; "simply follow me, and you
shall learn all that you wish to know."

As I followed him across the Court-}'ard, I
anxiously looked at the many Courts and their
respective gateways, and enquired which of their
number might be the chief, and which was the
acknowledged entrance to the whole.

Father-like, yet chidingly, he replied, " My
son, follow me: there is but one Temple, and
but one entrance, and also but one voice uttered
by the Temple — a voice which has not failed
these "

Before he could complete his sentence, as the
words were leaving his lips there rushed out
from the Temple a man in violent wrath. He
roughly pushed the venerable man aside, and
shouted in his face, "Tradition, away." And
turning to me he cried, in the same rough voice,
" The fellow is a forger of lies, — heed him not."

Whereupon Tradition, with more than the

SAVAGE CONTROVERSIES.

strength of youth, seized the interrupter, and
shaking him fiercely, hissed at him through his
clenched teeth, '* Protestor, objector, faggot of
negatives, fit only for the fire of hell, would
you lead this youth down to your own per-
dition ? "

The two struggled violently, and the noise of
their strife speedily brought a number of persons
into the quiet Court-yard, and changed it into a
scene of wild activity. From the various Courts
issued several officials — perhaps gate-keepers ;
and these, to my intense surprise, instead of
seeking to cool or to separate the combatants,
began, some warily, some wildly, a free fight
amongst themselves. Riots in the streets of
Progress I had often seen, but there fighting
is carried on under the most considerate and
humane of laws. Indeed, so refined are the laws
regulating murder in the City of Progress, that
the only wonder is that what is spoken of as
slaughter is lawful. Put such a merciless and
unfiiir struggling, such biting and devouring of
one another as took place in the Court-yard of

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Ill

the Temple, was new to me. It was more like
the persistent and exterminating fury of con-
flicting hives of bees than anything else I have
witnessed.

What gave this pecuh'ar strife at first an
amusing, though afterwards a painful, interest
to nic, was the discovery that I was regarded in
the light of a prize to be captured. Yes, I ! —
who from my childhood, as a listless visitor to
the Temple, had been unnoticed by any one of
its officials, and who might surely have been
laid hands on years before, had I been thought
worthy of the pains ! Thus, while they stung
each other with bitter words, and belaboured
each other's spirits with violent language, their
eyes were upon me ; and if, perchance, I in-
clined, or even looked, towards one gate-keeper,
then another would pull my ear towards him-
self; and, while torn between these two, a third
would force me back by my hair in his direction,
or a fourth would trip up my feet to make mc
lean his way. So that, in self-defence — though
not knowing for what I contended, unless it

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T.AVING ON or IIAXDS.

were for breathing-room — I too was fain to
battle in tlie general strife.

During a momentary lull, I shouted again:
" Sirs ! is it true that the King's son is coming
to this City?" and, "Is there pardon for the
rebellious?"

But this made matters worse, for amid a
medley of replies and a common declaration of
creeds, which supplied me with no answer, a
fiercer laying-on of hands upon me than ever
followed, and a more furious conflict amongst
the gi.tc-keepers, in the midst of which, by a
desperate SL>aggle, I escaped, panting, from the
fight.

The effect of my question was thus my sal-
vation, for while it gave rise to disputing
amongst the gate-keepers hotter than before,
the hands that held me were loosed to grij)
their adversaries ; and I doubt whether, when
the battle was over, I was missed by even one

f the

As I was about to leave the Court-yard i
disgust and despair, a stately man bade me

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

stop. His face was calm but sad, and dignity
wreathed his brow.

"A burning fire is in my bones ; I am weary
of forbearing, and cannot stay," he exclaimed.
" Oh ! that men did contend earnestly for the
faith once delivered to the saints, and not for
creeds! The King's son will surely come again
to this City of Progress, for such is his word.
And there is free pardon for all who seek it, for
he has said it." He placed in my hands a copy
of the ancient Book which is kept within the
Temple, bidding me read that and learn.

As he led me quietly but quickly further from
the still struggling throng, he explained to me
that the Temple contained in it, not only the
principles and practices of Progress, but that the
Temple was also the only pillar and ground of
the truth in the City ; and hence the Book was
found there.

" Yes, the hand of the King's son," he said,
" will soon be felt in the Temple and afterwards
in the streets of Progress. Now, see to it that
you are ready, so that when he comes you may

READING AND RUNNING.

not be found amongst his foes, whom he will
make his footstool.

" Now take }'our journey to the Faith Moun-
tains. Your way will be beset with difficulties;
but one hour of the air, and of the sights and
sounds of those heights, is worth ten thousand
life-times spent within these City walls."

Then I read in golden letters upon the cover
of the Book, " i\Iake it plain upon tables, that
he may run that readeth it ; " and, hardly con-
scious whether I was indeed myself, or whether
the earth was still the earth, I began my journey
towards the faint blue distant line of mountains.

Seeing this, he who had c^iven me the l^ook
cried after me, " If the truth shall make you free,
then shall you be free indeed."

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.1:1

CHAPTER XV.

A VERY OLD ROiVD.

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The U'ork cf their own J:aiuh.~\^'^.\\ 8.

Before I had been on my journey many hours,
I learned that there was an energy without as
well as within the City of Progress; for I found,
to my surprise, that instead of being alone upon
a dreary road, my difficulty rather lay in select-
ing my companions.

Men, women, and children — like birds flitting
across the autumn sky — were hasting, some in
companies, some singly, along the plain which
surrounds the old City. In one thing they were
all agreed : their birthplace did not satisfy them,
nor did its glories fulfil their desires. Yet I could

wmmm

AS OLD AS ADAM.

have wished m}'seh'" solltai*)', for amongst the
travellers there were the most diverse judLjment.s
upon the principle of travellini^, and tlie way to
be trod. A track extolled by one would be de-
nounced by others, and the various c^uide-books
possessed by many were as diverse as the minds
of their compilers — not a few of wliom, by the
evidence of their own experiences, it was clear
to the simplest of travellers had never been so
much as a day's journey outside the City walls.

Wandering on, I came to an old sign-post,
which pointed to the Everlasting City. Upon
its arm was written this quaint doggerel: —

Ji-
ll

" I am the Sign-post : Travail is the Way !
And old as ancient Adam, people say ;
Haste along, Pilgrim,
Do not delay."

This, then, thought I, is that of which I have
read; a Way for wayfaring men, who, should
they be fools, with so plain a direction need not
err therein.

The exercise of walking rendered good scr-

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

vice to my nerves, and I stepped blithely for-
ward.

Presently I came to a man with hammer and
chisel in his hand, who was eyeing the ground
for specimens. lie introduced himself to mc as
Mr. Geologist, and told mc that he could read
the language of the earth — adding, that because
of an argument he had lately had with a friend,
respecting the Way of Travail, he was sr -ending
a few hours in studying the materials of which it
was composed.

*' You are a traveller from the scientific City of
Progress, I perceive; let me, then, inspire you
with desires to learn the character of the ground
upon which you tread before you take another
step. There arc ' sermons In stones,' as one of
your poets has said."

As I seemed unwilling to delay my journey,
Mr. Geologist laid hold of my sleeve and began,
with the earnestness of a scientific explorer, to ex-
plain to me the characteristics of the road as evi-
denced by the materials used in its construction.

" It is the most remarkable road in the world.

NEW, NOT NOVKL.

Never has man formed such another. It Is the
wonder of all who study it. History declares
that it was commenced some six thousand }'ears
ago, and lias had the skill of generations of
engineers expended upon it. Untold wealth, also,
has been directed towards its completion, and
still it is not finished." Then, diving into the
satchel which was slung acioss his shoulders, he
drev.- out a fossil, saying, "This stone I found
imbedded in the mortar of one of the most
ancient of the bridges which diis road possesses;
and the bridge is nearly as ancient as the oldest
part of the road. The interesting fact is, that
this very type of fossil is to be found scattered
all along the road; and it may be discovered in
its most modern as well as in its most ancient
parts. Now, what is the type of this fossil? Wc
recognize it as one peculiar to the Rocks-of-the-
Flesh formation, which we geologists are all
agreed were upheaved when the Waters-of-Sin
burst out. The deduction is simple, — it is this:
the engineers, past and present, engaged upon
this road have obtained their materials from the

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

same quarries; an interesting fact, not to be
gainsaid,"

" Now, look you at this specimen," and Mr.
Geologist produced a different kind of stone.
** See how it sparkles ! You might take it for
a gem ! But it is not fit even for road-mending.
See!" and, tapping it with his hammer, it fell
into atoms in his Jiand ; " it is merely com-
pressed sand, and b}' its characteristics we know
that it has been brought hither from the Sand-
pits of Modern-Religiousness."

" The road," Mr. Geologist ardently continued,
" is most interesting. We may form a fair judg-
ment of engineers by the materials which they
use. ' ]?y their works yc shall know them.'
Personally, I am assured that a road made of
such materials is fit only for sunny climes. It
may suit well enough for a cloudless climate,
where buildings made of mud and slime may
stand for centuries; but where rains descend
and floods rise it will never avail. What may
be ahead of you, I know not."

Having bidden Mr. Geologist good afternoon,

*'m

NOT CALCULATED OX.

I continued my way. How much further I
might have gone upon it I can hardly tell,
had I not fallen in with a workman who was
returning from his day's labor. I inquired of
him how many miles further on it was to the
Everlasting City.

"Bless ye, sir," he answered, "nobody knows
that. I have been working on this road the
best part of my lifetime — keeping bits of it in
order, and that like. It was many a year ago
when the foreman says to me, 'Come, Hopeless'
(that's my name, sir), ' work you for Mr. Super-
erogation, governor of the Congregation of the
Dead ; he's the master.' So I came on, and have
been working on this road ever since. Well,
Mr. Supererogation was to get a fortune out of
it, and all of us working men were to be well
paid. But it's the river, sir, — that beats them. '

"What do you mean," inquired I, " by the river?"

"They can't get a bridge across Ic; there's
nothing on the other side to hold to."

" What river ? I do not understand you,
Hopeless," said I.

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

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" Why, the river, to be sure, that runs down
into the Sea of Death. Sure, sir, you know all
about that, — you don't need to be taught by
a working man Hkc me. It's tlie river they
call Disobedience, and sometimes it has less and
sometimes more water in it, according to the
weather. I ha\e seen it wash away in a night
all the works my master had put up in a \-ear.
I believe he's more like to be ruined than that
he's like to make a fortune out of this job; nor
do I believe that they will ever finish the bridge
and the road. But that's no business of mine,
sirr I work for my living." And with this he
bade me good day.

■

CHAPTER XVI.

AN OLD IIOSriTAL.

Cjoci, if a viiin use it lawfully. — i Tiiii. i S.

tff^

Circumstances have a powerful effect upon the
mind, and influence the judgment as strongly,
and often as permanently, as the unseen sea-
wind does the trees growing upon the shore.

Once more I fell in with the people who were
hasting across the plain. Some of the travellers
bent their steps in one direction, because a path-
way was trampled out before them ; some fol-
lowed another course, because their guide-books
had been paid for out of their own pockets, and
they did not like to waste their money ; and
some stepped blithely forward, because the com-
pany in which they were pleased them. One

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

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thing was evident — each traveller's destiny de-
pended upon his own steps.

After some hours of walking, I overtook a
company of persons zealously plodding along a
well-trodden track. Whether hap, or like-nature,
drew me amongst them, I know not; but I was
soon in their midst, listening to the chief spokes-
man.

" You must be aware," said he, " that the
climbing of mountains is a task which taxes a
man's encrurance. We are not of the mountains,
but of the plains, by birth, and therefore heights
and crags are not natural to us. Hence, we re-
quire preliminary training; and so we go to the
Law-l^^stablishment }-onder, where not only is
exercise to be undergone qualifying for moun-
taineering, but where also any who arc not strong
enough for the task, can obtain strengthening
treatm.ent."

Falling back a little amongst the company, I
observed that several of the number seemed out
of health: one had an Evil-eye, another a Foul-
mouth, a third had Fect-swift-to-shed-blood ; not

VARIOUS COM PLAT NTS.

lOI

a few were dis^i^urcd witli a skin-disease called
Vain-glory, or were afflicted with the ner\ous
twitch called Self-conceit; while Ileadiness and
Highmindedness so sorely interfered with the
walking powers of others that they could not
keep to a straight line.

Now the human frame is readily affected by
the sufferings of others, and I soon found that I
was looking within myself to find the symptoms
of sickness which I perceived in my companions;
and presently I began to feel peculiar sensations.
Thus we went forward till we reached the Law-
Establishment.

It is a building half for pleasure and lialf for
pain — a mixture between hotel and hospital.
Within the same walls are heard the laughter of
the strong and the groans 'of the weak. The idea
of the place is to combine the requirements of
appetite with medical attention, and to occupy
the patient or the guest with himself, and yet
not to make him melancholic — while all these
attractions arc especially set out for such as
possess but slender means.

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

p-j

III ■

Some seemed to enjoy the Establishment im-
mensely, while others were the very picture of
miocry; and all talked incessantly over their own
and their friends' complaints — which I cannot but
thir^k tended to retain them in the Establisl>
mcnt, rather than to restore their health.

Perhaps I should have been at home there for
a time, had it not been that I happencfl to see
a young man whom I used to know in Progress,
who was serving as a medical assistant under the
physician of the EstablishniCnt. Heal-others, the
young man in question, was, like most students,
very warm and enthusiastic about his profession ;
and I, being an old friend, niust needs go with
him into every corner of the building.

lie first took me into the room where those
who needed the services of the physician were
waiting. Heal-others was soon chatting with
some of these, and I heard him inquire of a
young man who complained of a little weak-
ness, where he came from and what he wanted
of the doctor.

" Oh ! I have not been here long," said the

TREVAILING WEAKNESS.

103

stranger. " I am Mr. Ailing, of Not-worsc-than-
your-Ncighbours Street ; and I merely require a
little strength.^'

I knew that street well, for it forms part of the
long street in which my old neighbour Mr.
Rcady-to-Perish dwelt, only he lived in the
lower end of it, where it goes by a different
naine — Graceless Street. So I was very much
interested to hear Mr. Ailing's description of
himself Ileal-others told him that now-a-days
vv-ant of strength, or being a little weak, was
what ever}'body seemed to suffer from, and this
comforted ]Mr. Ailing exceedingly; however,
when he went into the physician's private room,
I learned that he v/as anything but comfortable.

"You say vou live in Not- worse than your-
Neighbours Street, I think?"

" Yes, doctor," replied the young man.

"The death-rate is very high there; it is the
most unhealthy part of Progress, sir. I advise
you to change your residence as quickly as
possible. Now, if you please, I will examine
you."

f I

104

THE CITV OF PROGRESS.

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As he did this, the physician shook his head,
and said to himself, "Tongue has used deceit;
mouth full of bitterness; eyes without fear of
God."

He then prescribed for young Mr. Ailing, who
was so confused and upset that when he came
out, if I mistake not, he went straight back
home, and as he reached his door found that he
had lost the doctor's prescription. Be that as it
ma) , he took neither the doctor's advice nor his
medicine.

Amongst those who were waiting to see the
physician — whose name, Dr. Insist, should have
been mentioned before — was a woman of a very
nervous temperament, and who talked a great
deal. She complained much of her heart, and
of dreadful things which she believed came from
it. She had the notion that her complaint was
Stony-heart, because almost all of her family
had died of that disease. Then she would begin,
in a hysterical way, to weep and say, that with
such a bad heart as hers it was impossible ever
to endure the exertion of climbing the mountain.

A SERIOUS CASE.

lO:

I learned that Dr. Insist prescribed for lier
with a view to touch her comphiint in siicli a
way, that she should herself turn her heart
into a heart of flesh ; but whether she took his
medicines I know not.

As I did not feel a sufficient interest in the
theory of the Law-Establishment to please ITcal-
others, for my tastes are not medical, he must
needs next take me to witness the practice of
the place. Upon this business, I went with him
by constraint, and merely out of old friendship.

He led me into a large room, containinc^
several beds, all of w^hich were occupied. Upon
one of these lay a man who was being con-
sumed by a disease called inability. On his bed-
card Dr. Insist had written, " To do his duty
towards God."

" Will he ever get well ? " I whispered to my
friend.

"Oh, no," said Ileal-others, "but we have
to take all sorts into our l^stablishment, you
know."

Another was continually moaning," O wretched

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

man that I am!" Of him my friend could not
say whether he would live or die.

Hcal-others seemed to take an acutely pro-
fessional interest in the various patients, for
to my remark, *' What agonies they suffer," he
replied, "Very interesting cases."

There was one poor creature whose case par-
ticularly struck me; he was afflicted with some
internal disorder, and yet, until the doctor's
treatment, was insensible to pain. Dr. Insist
had asked him if he felt the sensation of lusting,
and when he replied, " No," the doctor applied
an instrument called Desire to him ; whereupon
the poor man was seized with a fit of covetous-
ness, and was, when I saw him, still convulsed.

" He " many of these reach the top of the
Faith Mountains, Heal-others ? " I inquired.

" Really, I do not know," he replied, " for I
am so engaged in attending to the sick and in
studying my profession that I have not gone
into statistics." .

While we were speaking, he led me down a
back staircase, and there, as providence would

LEAVING THE PHYSICIAN.

lo;

have it, I saw the way out of the Law-Kstab-
h'shmcnt.

It was growing dark, and what I had licarJ
aroused within me certain misq:ivincTs.

Some long time after this, being in a different
locaHty, I made the acquaintance of Mr. Grace,
who gave me certain information respecting the
patients in the I.aw-EstabHshment.

Mr. Grace said that none of tliem had im-
proved in health; indeed, that under Dr. Insist
they rather grew worse, or a[)peared to be worse ;
and this result was due not sim})ly to the system
of the Law-Establishment, but chiefly to the
fact of the bad constitutions of the patients,
whose inherent weakness rendered the medicine
of no effect.

" Nevertheless," said Mr. Grace, who was the
kindest of men, " v/hosoever will, may climb the
Faith Mountains, but not so long as he remains
in the Law-Establishment."

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CIIAITKK XVI r.

AN OLD INN.

Arc yc so foolish''. Ifaz'ing I'cgtin in the S/>iyit, arc yc nto Jiiade
/cr/cct l>y the J?cshl—Ga.\. iii. 3.

With the growing darkness my difficulties in-
creased. The ground beneath my feet became
less and less secure. I stumbled over stones,
plunged into pools, and at last was fairly held
fast by the sinking soil. Whilst bogged, and
up to my shoulders in reeds and rushes, and
scarcely daring to move, a light flashed and
flitted before me.

Any light is hailed in the gloom. Ship-
wrecked mariners have before now thanked
providence even for the wrecker's torch, and
broken hearts have blessed even deceivers for

A WKETCIlKi) NUilir.

109

their smiles. Whether it was a will-o'-the-wisp
or a f,ruardian angel leading me, I knew not; but
after much stumblinif ihrouLrh mire and \\ater
I gained the door of what pro\ed to be an
Lin.

It was midnight, and tlic house was still ; but
at length an overworked and half-asleep servant
girl opened the door, and after telling me that
there was no fire, and only Isaiah's bed to be had,
left me.

I tried to warm myself with some sparks of
my own kindling, and then betook my shivering
self to the bed, which was shorter than a man
could stretch himself on, and the covering nar-
rower than he could wrap himself in. It was the
worst bed and the most wretched nici^ht I ever
experienced; almost sufficient to deter anyone
from leaving the comfortable City of Progress.

In the morning the company assembled in
the only public room of which the Out-of-the-
way-Inn boasted. However, Mr. Feelings, the
proprietor, did his best to keep us from leaving
him. He was hardly a genial person. He had a

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long face by nature, although he had what he
called his bn\dit seasons. Of such a table as he
spread it was never before, nor has it been since,
my lot to partake. Self-experiences served for
bread and lamentations-about-self for water,
neither of which are palatable.

Mr. Feelings strongly commended some dishes
of his own preparation, especially a little one
spiced with complacency; and a large one which
he described as resources-within, he said was
sweet and toothsome. To my taste they were
sour and ill-cooked, but I was too hungry not
to make a meal off them.

The company was as singular as the dishes.
Diverse as each guest was from the other, all
seemed to have an affinity of taste and to like
the fare. Certainly they were all agreed that
Vvhat Mr. Feelings provided for the inner man
could not be otherwise than whulosomc.

Upon my recounting the night's discomforts I
received some kindly looks, but when I inquired
if any of those present had seen the Everlasting
City, all dropped their eyelids, and, with sighs, in

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BAD WEATHER.

Ill

almost inaudible tones, replied that they hoped
to do so.

Frequenters of the Inn complained of habitual
mist and cloud, but cheered themselves by sayin^^
they were only waiting for a promising day for
their journey. The proprietor told us that at
times splendid views were to be had from his
windows, and that on fine days and with strong
eyes the shepherds and travellers on the moun-
tains might be easily discerned.

A gentleman, whose name 1 learned was Mr.
Self-strength, sat at the head of the table, by
right of his lengthened stay in the Inn. He was
a very old man indeed.

Mrs. Try, a lame little woman, very chatty, sat
on his right. She, too, was advanced in years.
"She was always hoping," she said, ''but as yet
had never had more than a hope of seeing the
Everlasting City." She told me that as recently
as the previous morning she thought of starting
for the journey, but was delayed through not
being able to clear up her accounts with the
proprietor in time for the weather; adding,

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THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

" that keeping accounts had always been a
difficulty with her from her childhood."

Hearing her, a Mr. Dudgeon, who was on
Mr. Self-strength's left, answered, "Ah, Madam,
I can sympathise with you, for I fear I shall
have to return to my mansion in the Vale of
Dust without so much as seeing even what you
hope to do. I can hardly expect a sight of
even a small portion of it. Yet I have heard
some travellers tell that they have beheld the
sun shining upon patches of the mountains,
which they have seen high above their heads,
through cloud-rents, as birds hovering with out-
spread wings; but as for me, it has been cloud,
cloud, continually. 15c^:ides which, my sight does
not improve with advancing years."

Here another of the travellers, Mr. Unstable,
related how he had in his young days climbed
the mountains half-way, when, coming to a dan-
gerous place, he had slipped, and had nearly
broken his neck.

I will not record the conversation of the
younger portion of the company — of the Ups-

ROBIiED.

and-downs, Ncver-surcs, and Change-colors, who
were also staying at this Inn ; but will simply
add, that I was either robbed of m}' purse or
lost my money at the place, and that it was only
after some angry words and no little violence
to ]\Ir. Feelings, that I managed to leave the
shelter of his house.

After an interval, and at about the time of
my making the friendship of Mr. Grace, my
unceremonious mode of departure pressed so
heavily upon me that I wrote l\Ir. hVelings a
few lines explanatory of my inability to pay
his bill:—

i- :

" Sir, — I left the Out-of-the-way-Inn in your
debt ! Neither can I nor shall I discharcrc it.
None of your food satisfied me, your bed did
not afford me rest.

"Kindly inform Mr. Self-strength that if he
would learn what strength is, he must turn from
himself; Mistress Try, that she shall find by
giving up effort; Mr. ]J)udge(jn, that it is not
a long face but faith which opens the door of

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

gladness; Mr Unstable, that his name shall be
changed when he believes. And as to the rest
of the company, I pray, Mr. Feelings, that Trust,
the gracious servant of the King, may lead each
one far from your shelter, for, despite your sanc-
timonious appearance and humble voice, you
are the greatest impostor that ever robbed
travellers to the Faith Mountains."

Thfy I.uut 02ir steps. — Lamentations iv. i3.

To be penniless was at first intensely trying, but
it sharpened my eyes to look out for help. The
experiences, too, through which I had passed led
me now to consult the Book which had been
presented me at the Temple. I had often
searched through it, but now I began to let it
search through me, and was astonished to dis-
cover how it discovered me to myself It showed
me not only which were wrong roads, but also
why I was wont to tread them. That Book
can only be read in its own light. And the
wonderful thing about it is, that its letters arc as

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CHAPTER XVI I r.

GUIDES.

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• r..>.

visible in the dark as in the day, — it is a h'ght'
to the feet and a lamp to the path.

Coming to a place of rocks, where the way
was weary, the mountains began to rise before
me. This is characteristic of them; the nearer
you approach the bigger they grow. They
began to assume distinct and strange shapes to
my eye, filling me with awe — such as only
those who for the first time have seen mountains
can understand.

The nearer I came to them the more noble
did they appear. My soul thrilled at the sight.
I had seen pictures of mountains in the City of
Progress, but no one can even understand a
picture of a mountain who has not seen the
reality. The more life-like the picture, the more
it is necessary to know that which the painter
conveys to the eye.

Dark shadows moved across them ; the light
of the sun illumined them. They were giants,
but friends, as I gazed on them. From that
hour, even the buildings and works of Progress
were as nothing to me.

S ,r

DULY LICENSED.

117

But the way was roufrVi — tlic sun, too, was hot;
so I sat down to rest. It was a stony place,
with patches of sand and bush. The mountains
grew continually more beautiful ; every fresh
look revealed fresh wonders. There was a great
mass or shoulder in front of me, which I pon-
dered how I might best reach, and wondered
whether from it the summit could be seen. Then
I took out my Book again, and read the in-
structions it contained.

While thus delighting myself, three men,
whom I had scarcely noticed, drew near. They
were dressed alike, each wearing a loose gar-
ment girded about him with a knotted rope,
and havinix a crook-headed staff in his hand.

" Peace to you, traveller," said they ; " we saw
you a long way off, and being the licensed guides
of these parts, have come to lead you whither
you would go."

Now my purse had been lost at the Out-of-the-
way-Inn — and I knew that in Progress licences
have to be paid for — so I naturally replied, that
I was but a poor man on his way to the PLvcr-

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lasting City, and must decline their services,
which no doubt would be useful to the rich.

" We serve for duty, not for gain, traveller,"
said they — adding that in them had been vested
through their fathers before them, in one un-
broken succession, the responsibility of caring
for all, rich or poor, who would reach the
Everlasting City. The ropes about their loins,
they explained, were for attaching travellers
to themselves at slippery places, and their
staves for climbing purposes. " So on v.ith us,
traveller, to a resting-place, before the sun goes
down."

They were well accustomed to their work;
they read my thoughts even before I could speak
again, for one said, " By the orders of the King,
no man may set foot upon these mountans
without us. Upon the mountains are dangers
unseen at such a distance from them as that at
which you now are. Those seemingly velvety
sides are a mass of rents and gaps, crags and
precipices, sinking ground and miry places,
where the foolhardy perish. Mists, too, roll

MISERABLE COMFORTERS.

119

suddenly down from the higher crags, or rise
from the hollows, and in a moment envelop in
their gloomy folds such as climb there, and,
should the travellers be without us, the clouds
become their shrouds."

As they thus spoke, a dark shadow and then
a mist, thick and apparently imipenetrable, rolled
dov/n the mountain side — the chill attending
which blotted from my sight the former sunny
beauty.

" Yes, traveller," said another, " it is fatal to
climb alone."

" Friend," said the third, " we are well-known
meii, — you may trust us. We are the three
brothers Not, and are distinguished by our
christian names as Handle Not, Touch Not, and
Taste Not. Clouds not more dense than the
one you now observe, have wrought death to
many,"

" Well, you make me to doubt," I answered ;
for the clouds, like sentient beings, began to rise
from the hollows and slowly to creep down the
heights before me.

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

" Rightly spoken," Taste Not said. " Wise
fears, serviceable doubts. Surrender your judg-
ment to ours, and place }'ourself under our
guidance, and then you will soon be in a posi-
tion of safety."

Just then a ray of light burst through the
gathering darkness, causing me to exclaim :
" Pray, guides, what are the glories of yonder
heights ? Tell me not only of dangers, nor
dishearten me with obstacles — brace me up
with rewards ; for the Everlasting City I must
reach."

" Traveller," Touch Not said, " )our wisdom
is first the way, next the end."

" But my Book declares to me that first the
end, next the way, is wisdom."

They whispered together a little, when
Handle Not broke forth, " Traveller, pray what
book may that be of which }'ou speak?"

"That," replied I, "which was given mc at
the Temple, and which has inscribed upon its
cover these golden words, ' III-: MAY RUX THAT
READETH.'"

IMPUDKNT ASSUMPTION.

121

"You must not trust to a book or a chart;
you will surely read its instructions amiss. It
is sheer madness to attempt crossinj^ a mountain
range with a chart for a guide ! You recjuirc
the voices of living men, whom you can under-
stand ; not the letter of that which has no voice,
and which is, perforce, to you unintelligible.
You need men to help you whose profession it
is to guide ; and such arc we."

Here I turned away, for a space between them
and mc seemed desirable ; but they followed,
and, changing from argument to requirement,
insisted that the Book or Chart should be sur-
rendered to them ; and Handle Not, who was the
stoutest of the three, stood in front of me, and
peremptorily demanded that I should forthwith
give it up to him. '' The lives of travellers are
committed to us. Our life for yours. The evil
influence caused by the retention of that piece
of property will be your ruin."

As I still refused to part with what I con-
sidered my own possession, an altercation ensued,
during which Taste Not, who was of a wiry

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

11'

build, came behind me, and, before I was aware,
with his crook-headed staff caught my foot, as
a shepherd does a stray sheep. This threw mc
face forwards, and as I stumbled, in an instant
ihc other two had me in their arms, and whipping
their rope girdles from their loins, sought to tic
my hands and feet.

I now believed they were highwaymen, and
fought for my life. But their tripping-up tricks
mastered me. So they tied my hands and my
feet, all the while imploring me not to misunder-
stand their motives. But when I shouted for
help, they proceeded to gag me — declaring that
it was all for my good. Then they searched
me, still assuring mc of their benevolent inten-
tions.

However, the only piece of my property they
cared for was the Chart ; and indeed I had little
else. This Touch Not withdrew from my posses-
sion and flung aside.

*' Now, traveller," said they, smiling, "you are
in a fair way to be regarded as safe; that is,
provided you remain as you are. Trust alone to

CKRTAI N DESTRUCTION'.

123

US, and you shail doubtless sec the Everlasting
City;" and then they removed the gag in order
to hear my reply, but almost immediately re-
placed it, declaring I was bent on suicide.

" IJsten to love and authority, poor deluded
youth, bent on self-destruction," said Touch
Not. " We, the family of guides, have, after the
labour of generations, constructed a pathway,
step by step and bridge by bridge, up to the
very gates of the Cit}'. Upon this pathway h.vc
multitudes of travellers journeyed. The wise
and the great have trodden it, the footprints of
the noble arc upon it."

The three proceeded, at considerable length
and with great fervor, to recount the glories of
the works of their fathers, till so excited did
they grow, that they left me to engage in a
kind of triumphal dance in honor of their pre-
decessors. Their passes and leapings led them
a little distance from the spot where I lay bound.
I could not see all that they did, but once, by
twisting my head, perceived them executin
various steps over and around the Book.

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

They spat upon it, kicked it, struck it with
their crooked staves of authority, and finally
heaped a pile of stones upon it. Then, tired
with their vehemence, they sat upon the heap,
and so soon as they had regained sufficient
breath, joined in a song of triumi:)h.

Perhaps it \\ as this song which drew a passer-
by towards the spot. He saw me lying bound
and gagged, then glanced at the three singers,
and in less time than it takes to relate, guessed
the whole scene. Before I'lCv wc.c aware, he
was between me and them, uemanding, in the
name of his master, their business. Me was a
powerful, active man, and though they were
three to one, the nov/ silent singers neither liked
his question nor his look.

" Pray, sir, and who may }'ou be ? " I heard
them say. " We alone are responsible for the
security of travellers ; we follow the occupation
of our fathers/' thereupon drawing out their
staves as evidences of their autliority.

Upon which the stranger cried, " I am Break-
bands," and lifting up a cudgel whereupon was

A STAND-UP FIGHT.

125

engraven one word — Truth — added, "and this
carries its own authority with it."

As he was speaking, Taste Not, the guide
who had tripped me up, crept behind him, to do
the same to Break-bands. But he seemed to
have eyes in the back of his head, for, Hfting up
his foot, he crushed it down upon the head of
the staff, spHntering i^ in two.

With angry cries the otlier brothers imme-
diately rushed upon him, and then began the
manfullest fight I had ever witnessed. I only
wish that I had had a fairer view of it, but my
thongs would not allow this.

It was cudgel against staves, truth against
authority, one against three. As for Ikcak-
bands, he seemed to grow more vigorous by tlie
blows he received, and to care not one wliit for
his wounds. Yet at times I thought he would
have been beaten down and killed outright. It
might have been so, had not Taste Not lost heart
at the loss of the head of his staff.

After a long conflict, Break-bands forced up
their staves, and rushing upon them gripped

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Handle Not with his right hand and Touch Not
with his left, and by sheer strength of loins
forced them both down upon the ground. Taste
Not had fled.

Drawing them to the spot where I lay, Break-'
bands, having ungagged my mouth and loosed
me, bade me declare, in the presence of the two
witnesses, how I came to be found lying helpless
on my way to the Everlasting City.

" You may know who are and who are not
guides sent by the King," said Break-bands, " by
their feet and by the shoes they wear. For
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
those who publish glad tidings of peace, and
their feet are shod w^Ith the preparation of the
gospel of peace."

Having said which, he bade the brothers take
off their shoes, and though they cringed yet
they obeyed ; so I savv' their crooked feet.

" The way of peace have they not known,"
said Break-bands.

Having soundly chastised them, Break-bands
let them go, and turning to me, smilingly, said.

NONE THE WORSE.

127

" You arc }-oung; the roughness with which you
have been handled will do you good. A man
who cannot endure hardness is not worth the
name of a man. All along the way you will
be met by wolves in sheep's clothing, and
deceitful workers transformed like their master
into angels of light, whose end shall be according
to their works. Therefore, buy the truth and sell
it not, and make what you have acquired part of
\'Ourself Hold fast that which you have."

As he spake thus, I told him that the guides
had made away with my Book. He was very
indignant, and exclaimed, "Why did you not say
that before, for then those mock guides should
have received their due ? "

" My own deliverance so occupied me that I
did not think of it at the time," I answered.

" Ever the way, ever the v/ay, " said he,
frowning; "self first. ]iut where did they hide it?"

\Vc searched, and Jkeak-bands recovered the
Book from its burying-place. He returned it to
me, bidding me note that despite the spitting
upo.i and kicking it had received, yet it was

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THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

none the worse for its treatment. Not a leaf
was sj)oiIcd, not a letter of the writing was
marred. '' No," said my deliverer, '* not one jot
or tittle harmed, and so long as you live this
shall be a sign to you; for not all malice, not
all ingenuity, can remove from the Book a dot
from one i or a cross from one t^

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CIIArTER XIX.

E X A M P L E S .

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I^or these things our fjfs arc dim. — Liimcntations v. 17.

I NOW began my ascent of the mountains.
Many arc the lovely flowers upon the slopes, and
sweet are the scents wafted on the wind as the
climb is made. Sheep feed in the green hol-
lows; here and there a sparkling stream leaps
down the hoary rocks. Each upward step
opens entirely new scenes. Rising higher and
higher, all things around take different shapes.
Let all who would really know enjoyment toil
up the rugged mountain side. Never from that
day have even the flowers on the plains a[)peared
as those upon the mountains : and the higher

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

you ascend, the fairer arc their tints. The cloud-
shadows, too, upon the heights arc in no sense
\\hat tliey seem to be upon the level land.
Another thing, which none can fail to notice,
is the immensity which surrounds the traveller,
w V 'w standing upon heights, and fills his very
Soui. it is no wonder that mountaineers are
a, credited n-ith fire and enthusiasm, which men
of flat coLaiti.js are said not to possess.

Presently I came to a flower-decked dell,
where, welling from a rift in the rock, a
crystal stream poured forth its soothing music.
Much fruit was clustered here — some upon the
branches of lofty trees, some upon the sprays
of plants trailing upon the ground. I gathered
to my appetite, and ate all that I wished ; but
it was not lawful to carry away a store for
the morrow, and anyone doing so would find
the fruit rotten in his lips.

As I went on, the very vastness of that
which became increasingly great with each
upward step, in some measure perplexed me;
and I perceived, with pleasure, a shepherd seated

SORE FEET.

131

upon a rock at some little distance. Now,
shepherds are spoken of in the directions in
the Book ; and having there read of them, it
was as to a friend that I approached him.

The old man was sitting- upon a stone, and
holding one of his feet — as children nurse a
sore finger. In answer to my inquiries, he
said that he was not in a fit state to help me,
because of his own suffering; then, pointing
to another shcf-herd, he sighed, *' My brother,
yonder — who should know better, for he is aware
how acutely sensitive I am — did but just now
tread violently upon my toes, and the agony
is insupportable. It renders me unfit both for
feeding the sheep and for helping you."

There were other shepherds a little higher
up, so, wishing the good man well, I joined
them. One of their number lamented that the
painful self-consciousness of his brother with the
sore foot should so spoil his usefulness. They
said wise things, and showed me the way ^^■hich
I should go.

A pleasant and profitable conversation was,

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I regret to say, broken off by one of the
shepherds exclaiming that he was sure he smelt
the savor of Filthy-lucre. This, it should be
explained, is a kind of truffle, and is found
underground. In the plains about the City of
Progress, unclean creatures — such as dogs and
swine — are trained to scent it out ; and there
the dainty is highly prized. It was very
surprising to hear a shepherd amongst such
clean creatures as sheep thus exclaim. But he
spoke not in vain ; for, himself leading the
way, he was presently digging into the ground
for the treasure — and there surely it was. A
general scramble ensued, each shepherd taking,
for the benefit of his children, as much as he
could of the savory spoil.

Presently I came to a flat and somewhat
boggy spot, where I lighted upon a group of
children flying kites. Now the children of the
City of Progress are noted for their imaginative
powers. Ragged little urchins may often be
seen crowned with weeds, yet happily fancying
themselves kings and queens; and hungry

Ur IN THE AIR.

^33

beggar boys and girls will often gather up
small heaps of mud, and, dotting these with
stones, declare to one another that they arc
enjoying a banquet ! They reason not, that
perishing weeds are not immortal crowns, nor
mud pies the endless feast at the King's table.
Half their pleasure consists in supposing them-
selves to be what they are not. These little
kite-flyers, however, proved themselves to pos-
sess powers of imagination as remarkable as
the children of Progress.

" My boy," said I to one of them, " how is
it that you arc engaged upon this pastime
here ? " But he merely turned his eyes towards
his plaything, which drew my attention to the
fact that each child had his eyes set upon
his kite, or fixed where he believed his kite
to be — for some of the kites were clean out
of sight, and, save for the tugging at their
strings, those who flew them could not tell
where they were.

Perceiving some words upon one of the
kites which happened to be near the ground,

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THE CITY or rROGRESS.

I looked steadfastly at it — for these demure but
slovenly children considerably interested me —
and I made out these words to be, " I am in
heaven."

Then I learned that all the kites had been
bought at one shop, kept by a Mr. Trans-
cendental, and that as the Faith Mountains
are high, and climbing them is difficult, these
children were playing at being where their
kites were. They seemed to be quite satisfied,
and apparently imagined that they had reached
the heights of the mountains.

So strangely does the imagination render
children unpractical — keeping those of the City
of Progress from realizing the fact that they
grovel in the mud, and those of the Faith Moun-
tains from perceiving that they are up in the air.

Near the spot where I savv' the shepherds
scuffling, ]\Ir. Lukewarm met me. He was
coming down hill. I knew him well, having,
when in the City of Progress, been to school
with his sons, under old Mr. Assent-to-thc-
Truth, of Creed College.

DOWN HILL.

1 "^ ^
^03

"What!" he cried; *'arc you going up this toil-
some place? Once, my young friend, I was as
eager for climbing mountains as }-ou may be
now; but my }'oung blood has cooled. Youth
is hot and excitable, age is calm and quiet ;
spring-time is full of blossom, but the flowers
die like the hopes of youth — not one in a thou-
sand reaches perfection. Not all eggs are hatched ;
and even of the chicks which pipe within the
shell, many never break out. Such is my ex-
perience; and so I am for spending the rest of
my days in ease and quiet."

" But, I\Ir. Lukewarm, what upon these moun-
tains has so disappointed you?" I inquired; for
the sweetness of the air and the glory of the
scenery were as new life to me.

" Ah ! young friend, I do not wish to disturb
your inclinations; but it is the ceaseless up-hill
work which has exhausted me. It is this in-
cessant up, up, up, — I am worn out by it."

So the old man went down the mountain side,
and I afterwards learned that, growing colder as
he descended and needing exercise, he began at

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

a steep place to run, and having once started
could not stop himself — but by his own imj s
was driven down the slope swifter and swifter.
Presently, losinj:^ his balance when ncaring a spot
where he knew there was a precipice, the poor
man threw himself down, and clutched at the
grass and the ground to save himself: but, alas !
it was of no avail! — down, down he rolled, and
was dashed to pieces upon the crags beneath!

:cr.

pot
Dor
the
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md

CHAPTER XX.

THE MOUNTAINS.

£_yc hath not seen, /lor ear hea> , ncitJter have cnteicd ttito the heart
cf man, the things which God hath J>reparedfor thetn that love Hint. But
God hath revealed thetn unto us hy His Spirit.— i Cor. ii. 9, 10.

Mr. Lukewarm's sad end led me to study my
Chart afresh, and again to address myself to the
work before me. Such as have climbed moun-
tains have often mistaken jutting rocks and rising
knolls for the true summit, and have frequently
fancied that they were just at the top, when in
reality they were still far down the sides. Thus,
too, is it upon the Faith Mountains ; but the
higher the traveller rises the higher he longs to
go. Step by step he surmounts the steep places,
and overcoming difficulty after difficulty, acquires
fresh energy for stouter exertions.

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THE CITV OF PROGRKSS.

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It is not easy to describe the peculiar emo-
tions which possess all who force their way up-
wards ; but it is be}'ond the power of words
faithfully to express the thrilling delight which
masters the soul of him who, for the first time
in his life, gains the mountain crown and be-
holds below his feet the scene that bursts upon
his vision. But I must relate how the topmost
ridge of the Faith Mountains may be gained.

All along this ridge runs a steep, unbroken
wall ; — these are the Rocks-of-gold, or, as some
name them, the Rocks-of-righteousness. This
wall is high, and has neither crack nor crevice
by which human hand or foot can hold. Re-
splendent like a mirror, these rocks shine terrible
in the light. T long wandered at the bottom of
this ridge, vainly searching for means to cross
it. Many a weary hour did I spend at its foot.
After a long time, at a certain place, I heard an
echoing voice, and, listening intently, it seem»ed
to resound from the rocks on every side.

Presently I perceived a tree, and as I had
seen none grow so high up on the mountain,

' )l

LIFE FROM DEATH.

139

this tree attracted my earnest attention. It was
rooted in the Rocks-of-gold. Again the echoing
voice was heard. There was no living person
visible, yet unmistakably from the precincts of
that tree came the voice.

It was a withered tree, which had apparently
been long dead. Drawing nearer to it, the voice
spake more and more clearly, till these words
were distinctly audible :

" He that eateth me, even he shall live by
me."

The voice was that of a man, and the words
were sweetly spoken.

Drawing nearer still, I stood beneath the
branches of the tree: they stretched towards
the four quarters cf the eartli — their shoots
pointing up to heaven. Upon these lifeless
branches was much fruit clustered, and as I
looked upon the tree the same voice said again :

" He that eateth me, even he shall live by me."

So I stretched out my hand to this Tree-of-
death, and plucked therefrom the TVuit-of-life,
and ate. Then my eyes were opened in a mar-

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THE CITY OF TROGRESS.

vcllous manner, and I experienced what I had
only heard of before.

Once more the voice amid the branches
whispered : *' I lead in the way of righteousness ;
in the way of righteousness is life, and in the
pathway thereof is no death."

The fruit of this tree is most bitter to the
taste, but being eaten, it fills the soul with sweet-
ness and with strength, and with joy unspeakable
and full of glory.

My eyes being thus opened, I saw the way to
the Everlasting City through the Rocks-of-gold.
This is the way whereof it is recorded : " There
is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which
the vulture's eye hath not seen ; the lion's whelp
hath not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by
ft. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock."
The way for the traveller is straight through the
rocks, and the pathway leads through a cave
where once One was buried. Upon the other
side of this way are all things new. lie who
enters upon it leaves the old behind. He is him-
self what he sees before him — a new creation.

FULL OF GLORV.

141

In a moment more I was upon the ledges of
the mountains \\hich face towards the Ever-
lasting Cit\-, and I beheld its glory. Now, not
having looked at aught, save at my footing, for
a long time, such was the overpowering glory of
the scene that, like one fainting, I sank upon the
ground. At first I was not sufficiently steady to
look intently, and could only lift m\' head for a
moment to gaze, and even then scarce dared
believe the witness of m)' eyes.

Yet it was so. The Everlastincf Citv and its
girdling sea glowed and glittered before me.
Upon the waters were the pleasant vessels —
those silver skiffs wherein travellers are carried
to their home.

The light of the City was as that of the sun
shining through transparent jewels; it combined
a splendor more glorious than that of the noon-
day, with a tenderness more refined than that of
the softest beauty of the rainbow. But I saw
nothing with absolute clearness, my c)'es not
being accustomed to such brilliancy.

Looking behind me — for I turned to look that

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

way — the City of Progress was also distinctly
evident. It stood far away upon the plain.
y\cross this ran the Wav-of-all-Flesh, in a straiijht
line to the Gate Judgment. The broad river
Vanit}', emptying its bubbling, sparkling waters
in the Sea of Death, could also be plainly dis-
cerned.

The eye quickly becomes tutored ; it takes
in new things far more readily than the ear.
Looking steadfastly towards the Everlasting City,
that which at first appeared so far off became
gradually nearer — till the City seemed \erily to
glow beneath my feet. The golden streets were
clearly visible. Radiant companies walked there.
Each person composing them shone as a star
beautiful in itself; and all blended in one blaze
of glory — forming an union of brightness like
the thickly-studded way of light which arches
the midnight skv.

Then my eyes failed, for longing, — I forgot the
darkness by reason of the light, the sorrow for
the joy, the evil for the good.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE VIEW FROM THE FAITH
MOUx\TAINS

^1 I c Her country.— H^h. x'l. 16.

SHnXE that first sight of the Everlasting- Cit}-, it
has been my lot to behold the scene frequentl}-.
Unlike all other scenes, it never palls upon the
eye; while each fresh view of it renders the soul
of him who gazes upon it more desirous to see
it afresh. There is but one solitary thing in the
City of Progress, the joy of the possession of
which in any degree expresses the pleasure of
beholding the Everlasting City— and that is the
evergreen called Love. This little plant is
prized alike by young and old, by poor and rich,
for its lustrous leaf never fades.

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

One clear day, when feasting my soul upon
the scene, the golden way of light, which leads
across the sea from the foot of the mountains to
the City gates, partook in my vision of a dis-
tinct form ; so that instead of seeming, as it
had done previously, a blaze and a glory too
wonderful for words to describe or for eye
steadfastly to behold, it fashioned itself into a
rip2)ling pathway to the very gates of pearl.

On that day, not only did I see the land,
which is very far from the City of Progress, but
my eyes beheld the King's son in his beauty.
He sat upon the throne, arrayed as on that
day when, despised and rejected in the City of
Progress and cast out from it down the Way-of-
al'-Flcsh, the King his father had said to him,
" Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool."

Lilies lightL led by the morning, jewels re-
splendent in the sun, may be described; but none
can adequately testify to the light itself. Con-
cerning the King's son my lips are sealed.

Around him were those who are robed in

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145

shining light — those who had announced his
arrival when he entered the City of Progress;
and nearer to him still the waiting company of
those who had reached the Everlasting City by
the Way-of-all-Flcsh.

On other occasions I have seen, bright with
glory, the landing-place whence travellers depart
to cross the sea and to enter the City. The
silver skiffs touch at this landing-place, to carry
the travellers home. No sooner does a traveller
step into a vessel, than the sails are spread by
one of those who are robed in shining light,
upon which it floats across the sea straight to
the pearly gates.

I have many times seen travellers take this
voyage home.

Once I saw one leave the landing-place. He
bade his children farewell, and told them that
he was weary and longed for rest. " This," said
he, " all the wealth of the City of Progress can
never buy ; neither is it there ever offered to the
heavy laden. But whither I go, there is rest."
Upon the shining shore there waited for him

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THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

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one who had gone before, and who had told him
that she should see him again.

I saw a beautiful boy borne in his father's
arms to the Rocks-of-gold. The child tasted of
the fruit of the Lifeless-tree, and lived never to
die. As he trod his }-outhful way, a silvery glow
marked his goings; and, though it is some time
agone, the prints of his feet still give forth a
gentle light, and many weep who look upon
them. The child came to the landing-place,
and upon and from his face the glory shone.
Then he stepped into the silver skiff, v.hich the
King's son had sent for him, and with a smile
he looked towards the City, and then waved his
hand and bade his friends adieu.

It is at such seasons that the melodies which
fill the Everlasting City are clearly heard; they
come wafted across tlie sea, like the many-voiced
chorus of a spring dawn when the woodland
wakes to greet the coming day, or like the
laughter of thronging children heard from afar,
which lives in the memory as one continuous
delight. The gladness wherewith this music fills

EXrECTATIOXS REALIZED.

147

the soul is as tliat which possesses him who,
waiting upon a wintery height for the coming
spring, smells, upborne upon the breeze, the
odours of budding valleys beneath him.

So pure is this melody, that it counts no tones
of sadness among its notes ; it fears no winter
after spring, nor age following youth ; it is the
melody of realized expectation, yet of expecta-
tion more than realized.

It was upon a day that, having accompanied
a dear friend to the landing-place, and seen him
take his seat within a silver skiff, I heard him
sing a song of loves. Then, as his vessel spread
her sail and glided gently homewards, his song
came wafted to me across the shining water; it
grew fainter to my ear as the vessel flew from
sight, till reaching the gates of pearl my friend
was lost to sight and his song to my ear.

One of these songs, beginning with a sigh and
ending with a triumph, was once thus recorded
in a book : —

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148

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

A SONG,
One countenance transcendent

Tlian noon-day sun more bright,
lilest City, all resplendent,

Fills all thy ways with light !
Did men but know Thy treasures.

Thy joys, no tongue can tell,
Amidst thy ceaseless pleasures

Their souls would pant to dwell.

Behold ! in virgin whiteness

Upon her marriage morn,
In gems of costly brightness

The bride her lord adorn !
So City, jewel-gleaming.

Bear thine own lover's name
As from thee glory streaming

Spreads far and wide his fame.

Lo ! girt about thy treasures

Thy mighty jasper wall ;
The bulwark of thy pleasures

His glor)^, keeping all.
Security unbounded !

Thy sons have nought to fear.
With majesty surrounded

No foe dare venture near.

How firm thy twelve foundations,
Wi*h twelve great names engraved,

From whoir. all tongues and nations
Learned His, who dying saved.

If.

A SONG.

Each garnished is with treasures

Of varied jewels rare,
^Vhile all their equal measures

A perfect work declare.

Pearl gates ! all pure and holy,

Through which no ill can glide,
Nor pain, nor melancholy,

Though ever open wide.
Within, all fair and smiling.

No stain thy gold defiles ;
No Tempter there, beguiling,

Corrupteth with his wiles.

Pure holiness, those golden

Translucent streets declare ;
While garments white embolden

The blameless walking there :
Each washed his robe to whiteness

In springs of crimson dye.
And treads the paths of brightness

In perfect liberty.

Fresh limpid streams, e'er flowing,

Rejoice the golden street,
Where trees of life are growing

With fruits and blossoms sweet.
'Tis from the Throne Eternal

These gladd'ning waters well ;
And these fair trees, e'er vernal,

I'ree favour ever tell.

149

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150

THE CITY OF rROGRESS.

Dlcst City ! where can enter

No curse ; where hght divine,
As from a radiant centre,

In ceaseless smiles doth shine.
J''rom tliee, for ever flowing

In crystal, spreading tide,
Grace pours its gifts, bestowing

On nations far and wide.

Each citizen inslnxted

IJoth good and evil knows.
Yet loves the good, inducted

Where evil never grows.
Once Innocence was dearest,

Now Love with Light is wed,
And Holiness, the clearest,

Crowns every priestly head,

A graven jewel sightly

Each forehead, see, adorn !
And ever glisten brightly

As dew-drops on that morn
When flowers, fields, and fountains

Reflect the sun's glad rays,
As, rising o'er the mountains,

He sheds around his blaze.

Here grief is ever banished,
Hert t^ars are wiped away,

Dark memories have vanished
In endless, cloudless day.

A SONG.

ISI

Here hearts faint not : and never
Do liirelings sigh for rest ;

Love's service works for ever —
Eternal service blest.

Pearl gales ! lo, now I enter,

And ever cease from strife !
My thoughts now ever centre

On Thee, my Lord of Life.
Ah I Death ! 'Tis thou art dying !

Thou, Grave, hast lost thy prey !
My sorrow, sin, and sighing.

Have fled with night away !

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CIIArXER XXII.

h^ff ' .

m . .

AN OLD FRIEND WITH A NP:W NAME.

(?A^ things are /asscti away; all thin::;s arc bcconc «<r;.'. — 2 Cor. v. 17.

Various facts respecting the Everlasting City
and the Faith Mountains lia\ c been recorded,
and it is now time to chronicle a few things
which happened to me since that day, when, from
the Rocks-of-gold I first saw that city of light
beam before me.

Ah ! how I longed on that day to enter in !
How I longed, there and then, to step into one
of the silver skiffs and be away over the waters
and up the glistening pathway to the very gates
of pearl. But it was not so to be. Instead,
one came to me, bringing a casket, wherein
was a scroll upon which my name was inscribed

THE FREEDOM OF THE CITY.

153

! :

in crimson letters. This scroll was the record
of my freedom of the Everlasting City; and he
showed me that I was an accepted citizen,
whose name was written in the book there.

When I stretched out my hand to take this
casket, he said : " Not so, lest you should
lose it. It is too valuable to remain in your
own custody. It shall be kept hidden in the
treasuries of the King. In his treasuries there
are thousands upon thousands of these caskets,
each having within it a scroll inscribed with the
name of a man, woman, or child."

He also told me that every one whose name
was enrolled in the book of life belonging to the
King's son, was not any longer of the City of
Progress, even as the King's son was not of it.

After this, my way led mo by the shoulder of
the mountains, whence neither sea nor City
could be seen. Once more I was alone on my
journey, yet never more to feel lonely, for my
Book was my companion.

» .

While upon my journey I heard one day a

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154

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

cheery salutation. It was a familiar voice, but
in a changed key, and I recognized it as that of
my old neighbour, Mr. Ready-to-Perish. Mis
manners were as much altered as his voice, for
the moment he saw me he ran and greeted me
with such affection, that I might have been his
own brother brought back from the dead, instead
of merely an old neighbour.

" I made sure you would come this way," he
cried ; " yet it seems too good to be true."

When he had heard my adventures, he smiled,
and said I had made a very long journey of it.

" Then how long were you coming to the
mountain top, Ready-to-Perish?" said I.

*' Do not call mc by that old name, friend. Old
things are passed away — all things are become
new. My name is changed, if not my nature.
I am Never-Perish now. But I will answer your
question: it was but from night to dawn with

me.

" What ! Did you not visit the Temple before
you commenced your journey ? "
" No ; 1 was in too great haste."

THE TLAIN PATH.

155

" Did you not traverse the Old Road ? "

" Why should I ? Had I not read, ' Not of
works'?"

"Surely you paid the Old Hospital a visit, — for
you were ill enough that night to drive }'ou to
the doctors."

" I was delivered from that place by this
writing, * Not under law.' And to tell you the
truth," he added, smiling, " I have little faith in
doctors. Some kill their patients by experi-
menting upon them ; and few have any perfect
principles to ^^'ork upon — for the new science of
to-day decries the old science of yesterda}-, and,
acquiring fresh knowledge, the doctors devise
new theories. Yet, be the doctors old-f^ishioned
or new, all their patients must die, and so do
men die where there are no doctors at all. No; I
ran by the Old Hospital for the very life of me."

"Then, the Old Inn. Did you stay there?"

" Not I, indeed. My heart was too sick for
such sickly company."

" Well, Ready-to-Perish, you always were
peculiar "

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

if $

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" Don't call mc by that old name," he said,
again. " I am Ncvcr-Pcrish now."

" Indeed ! Are you so certain ?"

" To be sure. I was certain of death, and now
I am certain of life. And as all are dead or
alive, there is nothing peculiar in the certainty.
The peculiarity is the uncertainty."

"But did you not see the guides? or did not
they find you ? I was handled rather roughly
by them, and cannot forget it."

Then he burst into a laugh. " I will first ask
you a question : At what time of day did they
find you?"

" In the afternoon."

" But I was that way early in the morning,
and on their ground before they wero astir.
They arc never up very early."

"You have escaped from a thousand diffi-
culties."

" Why say * escaped ' ? It would be better to
say — You did not ma^e a thousand difficulties.
Any child, without weariness, may make but
one walk of it from the City of Progress to the

'>■ at

AVOIDING DIFFICULTIES.

157

Faith Mountains; but with wise men it is too
frequently a hfc-long journey with a thousand
stages. Perhaps to my stupidity I owe my
freedom from difficulty."

Here the subject dropped. Mr. Ready-to-
Perish being a man who was always accredited
with distinct views of his own, it did not seem
wise to argue with him.

CHAPTER XX I IT.

AGITATORS.

J>i nil lal\'!ir there is fo-o/ii :

But the talk of the lij>s ieiideth only to /ctnoy. — Prov. xiv. 23.

1^ '.

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One day my friend introduced me to a little
house on the other side of the mountain, telling
me that he had become a member of a secret
society which assembled there. It was not a
very easy place to find, and to obtain an en-
trance was a very difficult matter; but, having
my friend's introduction, I was favored with
admission.

In the family part of this house I made the
acquaintance of an elderly lady, who was, with
the rest of the company, an agitator. Women's
rights was her great theme. And she had

with

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V/OMEN S RIGHTS.

159

enough to say on the matter. Now, in the City
of Progress tlie old women who discuss women's
riglits are not kindly company. The young
women of that city do not go into the subject;
they prefer to be pleasing. However, the elderly
lady in the little house was not like a female
agitator of Progress — a woman without woman-
liness, an attempt at a man without manliness.
Notwithstanding which, she had a strong mind
of her own.

Mrs. Dorcas, for that was her name, must per-
force read me a little lecture. "Ah!" said she,
" young man, you don't understand me. Listen,
then, to some of our rules.

" ' I will, therefore, that the younger women
marry, guide the house.' Now that's one, and
number one, too.

" Here is another of our rules. ' To learn in
silence with all subjection.' Again, ' I suffer not
a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a
man, but to be in silence.' Yes, indeed," ran on
Mrs. Dorcas, " Eve acted without her lord, and
was deceived; and since that day it is one of

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THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

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woman's rights to lean upon her beloved. What
I say is, Let the woman who would usurp autho-
rity over the man, become blacksmith, or turn
to some muscular trade.

" Another of our rights is to cut out and mend
garments, to prepare food, and to nurse the sick.
No man should here interfere with the woman
on any account. Not for all the world would I
see woman disabled from her duties, or debarred
from her rights."

In the midst of her eloquence there came a
knock at the door, and in a moment Mrs. Dorcas
rose with a smile, and left me, saying, " It is my
right to be his helpmeet."

So I went into the debating room, where was
written in plain letters upon the wall —

"No ONE IS ALLOWED TO FIND FAULT
WITH OTHERS WHOSE CONSCIENCE FINDS
FAULT WITH HIMSELF" —

and learned that each agitator enrolled by this
secret society was under a bond to make the
world better by one, before blating about cle-

RICHES.

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DS

this
Ithe

vating humanity generally, and that even then
his bond held him to produce niore c^ood from
himself than he looked for from others. These
rules had the effect — at least upon the nii^ht that
I \\as present — of keepincj everyone perfectly
ciuiet.

After the meeting was over, there was a good
deal of friendly chat amongst the members, all
of whom seemed to esteem others better than
themselves; and o\-erhearing the conversation (^f
two old men, a shepherd and a [)l(.)Ughman, who
were seated b\' the fire, I thinly I jjained an
insight into some of the secrets of this societ}-.
The men were discussing the rich, and this
seemed to be a fc-.vorite subject with them.

Shepherd: Our bee master was saying to me
this morning, that his hives are very light this
season.

Ploughman: But did the bee master say that
he had fewer stings because he had less honey
in his hives than usual ?

Shepherd: Come, brother, maybe you need a
little sweetness yourself; but as all honey-bees

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162

riir: city ok progress.

carry .stin^^s, and }'ou arc no drone, I will ask
you a (iLicstion : how is it that men grow
rich ?

Ploughman: Well, that is a question which
always touches a poor nian. Now^ c\-er\'thing in
our k'in;i:doni is like a man's face in a lookincr-
glass — the left is right and the right is left. Our
books of learning must be read backwards; and
then the strange thing is, that when we have
come to the beginning there is no end. Poverty
comes by keeping, and riches by gi\'Ing up;
whosoever will save his life shall lose it, — and
contrariwise it is also true. So it was with
Antipas, from whom ihcy took all things, and at
last his life; but the more he lost the more he
gained. Now, shepherd, tell me, what will the
shepherds of the plain around the City of Pro-
gress say to this doctrine?

Shepherd: I will try you on a text not so
common, for riches arc what all expect to gain.
Tell me of glory.

PlougJiman : Not many are ambitious for more
than flattery. But I will answer you by the

GLORY.

163

ask

nd at

•c he

11 the

Pro-

lot so

gam.

more
y the

grass of the field. Twice a year — once when
bruised and torn by busli-harrow, and once when
cut down b}' scythe, laid low, and tossed about —
does the grass receive honor. Then do all who
pass by praise its sweetness. And even those
who are afar off, stop upon their stone streets
to rejoice in its nosega}-. So glory is the fruit
of suffering: the crown is the end of shame.

SJicplu'yd: Riches and glory are coming to
all. For when a man has, he wants mure ; and
glory to him is always a goal not gained, but
power is a present position. Now what say you
to it ?

Ploughman: Every man loves power. We see
it in the child, who strives for his own way
so soon as he has sense. We see it in the
servant, who seeks to rule his master as soon
as he has his master's confidence. Power to a
man is both glory and wealth, and, as you said,
a fine property to boot. Power is the outcome
of weakness. When I am weak, then am I
strong. Power is the exact opposite of self-
strength. But this is a riddle.

G 2

::l

■ I f

164

TIIIC CITY OF PROGRESS.

SJicpJicrd: Well, brother, as you arc so chatty
to-nii;ht, what say you as to wisdom ? I'or all
the young shepherds whom I know do little but
talk about wisdom.

PlougJiDian: Mean you that they do little
but talk much? Trul}-, that is not wise — as any-
one may see in a looking-glass. For he has but
one mouth, and two ears; which means, that a
man should at least listen twice as much as he
speaks.

SJicphcrd: Since it is by my fault that you
speak so much this evening, I will not put the
looking-glass before you, brother. Ikit these
young shepherds are all crying aloud for wis-
dom, and so much so that, at times at least,
they forget to feed their sheep.

Ploughman : In which is small wisdom, for
sheep cannot tend themselves. But as to the
question : well ! there is little else to be said
about wisdom, than that a man is born w^ith-
out it; and that a man's wisdom is to learn.

Some, who work in the fields, say that w^c can
know nothing to be true until wc have ourseh^es

VARVINC; STANDARDS.

l6!

for

the

said

•ith-

pro\'cd for ourselves \\-hetlicr the thini]^ be true.
Ikit how sliall a cliild know who is his filher,
save by faitli ? Tliesc lont^-licads bci^an h'fc bc-
lievinc^; yet now they ^row old, know nothing
without doubt. I will tell \'ou a stor}'.

There were two townsmen, one taller than
the other, who would measure a mrnintain.
So, having no measuring; rod, eaeh took liis
own height as the standard. When they had
done measuring, each was satisfied, reckon-
ing that it took so many men like liimself to
make up the height of the mountain. Jhit as
these two men would never acrree which of them
was the taller, and as they had no standard
measure, neither were the)-, nor was anyone else
the wiser for their measurings.

So it is with the fnie thino^s which these loner-
heads speak. When they have settled amongst
themselves wliicli of them is to be believed, it
v.'ill be time enoucrh for them to tell us to receive
their witness. Ikit as it is, every fool is by them
made bold to take his own wits for a measurine
rod wherewith to measure truth, and to hold

^ I

;;jf!

1 66

THE CITY OF rRO('RESS.

that only to be truth which his wits can measure.
And as even amongst fools not two arc of the
same size, hence truth itself is not alike true
to any two of them. The mountain is great or
small, according as their measure be short or tall.
Further, according to this manner of measuring,
as the youth grows taller the mountain becomes
smaller, — which, between ourselves, is a doctrine
much to the liking of these new-notion folks.

There is more knowledge than wisdom in the
market.

But come, shepherd, you have had it all your
own way — so one question before good night:
Since sheep are prone to wander, what is the
best plan for keeping them at home ?

SJicpJierd: Good food, to be sure.

PlougJuuaii: And how do you make them lie
down and be quiet ?

ShcpJicrd: By filling them in the green pas-
tures — G:ood food acain.

Ploudiifiati: The food, then, seems the chief

thin

in your eyes

SJu'pJicrd: That anyone may tell by lookin

fi;

li !

STRAY SHEEP.

167

at a stray sheep. A fat sheep ne\'er v.-andcrs'far
— uhicli doctrine let llie shepherds study. Yet
there is mairv' a poor sheep which for lack of
pasture would fain fill its belly with tlic husks
which the swine do eat!

the

l:i

•■^n^rr?

CHAPTER XX TV.

THE VALLEY OF VISION.

Clin }'c not dii^cni. the signs of the times t — Matt. xvi. 3.

'' %

While I was in those parts, one day I was
in\'itcd to visit the Valley of Vision. This valley
lies in a lonely place, which is to be found at a
high elevation on the Faith Mountains. Rocks
surround the valley on every side, and in its
centre is a walled place wherein are to be seen
Thin<j-s-to-conie. Into the wall certain men — the
roll of whose names begins with one Enoch and
ends with one John — have dug holes at different
times; and those who will, may look through
these holes and see what is within. The holes
are made low down, hence it is necessary to stoop
upon the knees in order to sec through them.

TESTING THE EYESIGHT.

169

at a
cks
its
ccn
the
and
rent
uc!:h
oles
.oop

The guide having led me into the valle\', and
pointed out the holes in the wall, bade me look
through one \\hich ICnoch had made, and then
asked what I s^w.

But I saw nothing.

"Look again," cried the guide; "can you not
see the King's son, with his tens of thousands,
coming to execute judgment and to convince his
enemies both for their ways and their words?
Come, turn back: it is ahva)'s easier for visitors
to this valley to look behind than before them.
But unless a man's sight enables him to perceive
what is past, he is never able to discern what
shall be. AppK', then, this test to }'our own
powers of sight, and tell me what you now see."

"Water. It bursts from beneath and falls
from above."

" Well, there is good hope that since \'ou arc
able to look so far back, you may have eyes
to see the Things-to-comc. What is next before
your c)'cs?"

" Fire. It rains from above."

*' What has been shall be," the guide said.

(it ' I

|- fc

Tin: CITY OF I'ROGia'.SS.

Then, taking mc to another liolo in a different
part of the wall, he said, " Vou sliall now look at
present things. What do \'ou see?"

" The City of Progress as it is," I answ ered.
" There is little left to pull down. The four
great Broadways are nearly completed. The
Trees of Knowledge in the public parks have
grown to a vast size. The saplings have ac-
quired spreading branches; and several of the
old and stately trees, which once were tlie
admiration of the citizens, lie rotting upon
the sward.

" Yonder is the Popularity Temple. The de-
votees are there in thousands, and seemingly
well satisfied with their devotions.

" Now I see the trading quarter of the City.
The micrchants vent tlicir grumblings at the
badness of the times, and vend their wares as
usual. A large trade is being done in brag and
self-laudation, and in whitewash, varnish, gild-
inir, and kindred businesses. However, in the

'&»

honesty and uprightness m.arkcts there appears
to be a crreat star^nation of trade, the demand

LOST TRADE.

171

if\'

the

for these classes of goods having apparently gone
abroad.

" Ah: what is this? It is the Observatory. It
stretches over an immense area, and bids fair to
rival the Temple in character. Two vast wings
have been added to it, and fitted up as museums.
In one the collected l-'acts-of-science are being
stored, in the other a collection of Spcculations-
of-scientific-men."

" The Museum of Speculations," said the guide,
" when in perfect order, will form as handsome a
show as that in tlie Gallery of Superstitions be-
longing to the Temple.

" Now," continued the cmide, '' look towards
the Temple. There is an agitation proceeding
within it."

" I can see," said I, " a great number of per-
sons, workmen and others C'f the different Courts,
apparently packing up their goods as if they
u^re about to make a renioval. Pray what dees
this signify?"

The guide said, " These people arc about to
leave the Temple and to follow the King's son,

1/2

THE CITY OF PROCiRESS.

ffi

^' )J^!

who is coming for them. Now, look at the
Temple ac,^'iin."

*' The Lutheran Court," I replied, " seems to
be suffering as if from an earthquake. The An-
glican Court, too, appears to be rent by some
convulsion. It either requires extensive repairs,
or external support — for it is shored up in many
places. There are signs of activity within this
Court; — the workmen are walling off part of
the Court and opening the remainder into the
Roman. The Grecian Court seems as if it had
had a shaking, either by wind or earthquake.
The Roman Court is in a masjnificent state."

The guide then explained to me, that there
existed great competition amongst many of the
workmen, especially those of the small Courts
and that part of the iVnglican Court which was
being walled off from the Roman Court, — the
w^orkmen seeming to fear lest these Courts should
lose their attractiveness to the citizens. Some
of the workmen, he said, were devoting their
energies to preparing performances and enter-
tainments in their Courts — like those native to

SEVEl.E COMPETITION.

^7}>

rts
as
ic

cir

cr-

the streets of the City ; others were levelling
down old beliefs to make a common ground
where the Wise Men from the Observatory might
exhibit their wisdom ; others, again, were open-
ing doors to face the Obscrvator}-, whereby the
better to bring in from thence, as they miglit be
wanted, infidelities and speculations into their
Courts.

"They thus speak," said he: 'It is 'not fair
play, in these days of competition, that the Ro-
man Court and the Grecian Ccnirt should have
all the performances to themselves, or that the
Lutheran Court should possess more of the in-
terest of the Observatory than we of the Angli-
can and the smaller Courts. There must be
union in all these matters. Neither is it just,
considering the hardships of the times, that
the Roman Court should ha\e the sole privi-
lege of discarding the ancient Book. We, too^
declare it to be an antiquated myth, for we must
possess equal rights with that Court, so as even-
tually to enable us to effect union amongst
ourselves.'

p ■)

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

"This is enough for one day in the \'\'illey of
Vision," said the guide; and he would show me
no more. "Wait," cried he: "'Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof I will show you some
of the Thinc^s-to-comc on another occasion."

Here the note book — which, as before related,
so strangely fell into my hands — abruptly came
to an end. It was evident thai only half the
story had been told. However, if the reader will
exercise a little further patience, he shall hear
the end. For it happened that after the lapse
of some time, being one day in a solitary place,
I chanced upon the stranger once more. lie at
once recognized me, and beckoning mic to him,
inquired whether I had read his notes. When
I told him that I had done so, he asked if I had
repeated them to anyone. " No," said I, " not
to a creature upon earth." These two replies
seemed to please him, for he said —

"Return to me the record of the beginning,
and you shall have that of the end. I have just

TIIi: BEGINNING OF THE END.

i;5

come from the City of rrogrcss— the whole of
which is completely changed — and the end is
more wonderful than the betTinrinir."

This second portion of the histofy is so pass-
ing strange, that I must lay a few extracts from
it before the reader.

I i

•1

11 •;

PART II.

(I I AFTER XXV

LITTLK BICLIKVKD: LESS EXrKCTED.

U'lttch, ihi-rc fore, for yc know iicithcr iJw i!ay nrir the Jioiir. — Mntt. xxv. 13.

1^ ii

One ni^ht as the City of Progress lay asleep and
quiet, lighted by its myriad lamps, an unseen
herald passed down the four Broadways, crying
— "Behold, he cometh, — behold, he cometh;"
but no man in the Broadways heeded. And on
the herald went.

He passed by the Observatory, which was
lighted within, the Wise I\Ien being engaged
upon their calculations and experiments. The
herald called, but none there so much as heard
his voice. And on the herald went.

He reached the piecincts of the Temple, the

THE IIKRALDS CRV.

^77

. M

lamps of wliich were dimly burning. He entered
the great Court-yard, and, with a voice like a
trumpet, made the building echo as he pro-
claimed, " Behold, he cometh ! go }'e out to
meet him."

Then there was no small stir within ; many
roused from their sleep, and lamps were trimmed.
And on the herald went.

He stood before the Professional lUiildings,
and cried, right earnestl}-, *' Behold, he cometh !
go ye out to meet him." Lights flitted from
chamber to chamber at the sound of his voice.
There was an awakenincr within tlie lodq;inc["s
of that old square. Several of the tenants con-
gregated in one localit}-, and fmall)' agreed to
hold a congress, at a day to be afterwards fixed
upon, in order to consider the meaning of the
herald's words. And on the herald went.

He passed down an obscure place. He stopped
and cried again, " Behold, he cometh ! go }'e out
to meet him."

Immediately the casements of a window were
opened by little hands, and a child peeped out,

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178

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

saying,"! am ready— I am ready;" and straight-
way the door of that house was opened, and the
child ran out to meet him of whose coming the
herald told. As that child hastened down the
stairs, he knocked at the door of the chamber
v/here his parents slept, and cried, " Awake,
awake!" and he stood beside the beds of his
brother and his sister, and called to them,
"Awake!"

On his way the herald went. Some heard
not, some heeded not, and some awoke to fall
asleep again and dream, while some went out to
meet the coming one.

CHAPTER XXVI.

A GREAT EXODUS.

Behold, I come quickly; and my Tcivard is zvith me,

To give every man accordiiij; as /i/s ivork shall /'^.— Rev. xxii. 12.

Shortly after the stir caused by the herald's
words, the Everlasting City shone as a cloud-
less morning; and the throne of the King of
Eternity radiated grace and glory; — his Son sat
on his right hand and, surrounding him, stood
his legions.

'i.'hen the King's son rose from the throne,
and took his way to the outskirts of the City of
Progress; but he approached not so near to it as
did those robed in shining light, when, one mid-
night, years gone by, almost forgotten in the
streets, they had announced his coming; and

<
1 ii

ill

i8o

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

when he, as a plain man, himself had entered the
City. How changed were the circumstances, as
the self-same bright hosts now watched his way
to its outskirts !

Presently there was the sound of a great
shout. The chief of the legions uttered his
voice, the summoning trump of the King of
Eternity was blown, and with a rallying cry the
King's son called his own around him — his own
and no other knew his voice — and in an in-
stant two vast companies gladly obeyed his
bidding.

The one was composed of the loyal-hearted,
who had gone to him down the Way-of-all-
Flesh. When they took that journey, they went
out of Progress as do all others, with neither
food nor raiment ; but now that they came back,
they were robed in garments of glory. The
other, also attracted by his irresistible call,
sprang up out of the City of Progress, and
its members were clothed upon in similar gar-
ments, given them by the King's son. The two
companies united their countless numbers and

THE GATHERING TOGETHER.

I8l

formed one dazzling host, encompassing the
King's son.

Never before did human eyes see such a
sight. The company was more in number than
the stars, and brighter than suns. With un-
bounded joy they followed the King's son, who
led the way into the Everlasting City. And its
gates were shut.

In the self-same hour, the Unseen, who, until
this occurrence had remained in the Temple,
took his departure therefrom, never to return
thither.

Now all this was a thing of a moment: it
took place in the twinkling of an eye. The
people came from the Courts of the Temple,
and from the Professional Buildings, and sprang
up with gladness ; and those who had been di-
vided were united. Yet nothing seemed sweeter
than the clapping of hands of that little child,
for his brother and sister were with him.

The gates of the Everlasting City were closed.
Neither sorrow, death, nor enemies, can enter
there. It was indeed a gladsome day, and the

1 82

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Everlasting City rejoiced as it had never re-
joiced before. It was, too, a day of surprises,
but of no disappointments amongst the hosts of
persons who entered the City, for each rejoiced
alike in the joy of others.

The servants assembled about their lord and
master, who rewarded each according to his
works.

The laborers, who had toiled in the field,
ploughing and reaping, brought their sheaves
with them, and the master bestowed upon each
of them crowns of rejoicing; the shepherds, who
had served their master's flock, not for lucre,
but for love, received each one at his hands an
immortal crown ; the patient guides, and with
them the chaste and lovely ones whom they pre-
sented to their master perfect in knowledge,
appeared before the King and received their
crowns.

The last were first and the first were last, — for
honors are bestowed in the Everlasting City in
order exactly the reverse of that which obtains
in Progress.

;

WHAT IS MV KEWAKD, THEN?

183

r\ll

were at home ; the children gathered
around their father, the guests assembled at the
feast; not one was missing.

So the King's son returned to the Everlasting
City, and all his people with him. Not one was
left behind in Progress, neither was one solitary
individual faithful to him forgotten who had
gone down The-\Vay-of-all-Flcsh. It was not in
him to pass by the smallest act of loyalty done
towards himself, far less the least of lii.i loyal
people.

It had been determined in the counsels of the
Everlasting City, that upon the self-same day in
which the call to the loval-hearted to leave Pro-
gress should come, the messages of forbearance
to the citizens should cease, and that, instead,
the vengeance of the King and the wrath of his
son should fall upon the City; hence it was all-
important to the King that the loyal-hearted
should not be mixed with the rebellious. Again,
the King's son had pledged his word to remove
the loyal-hearted to the Everlasting City before
he laid siege to Progress; and he, being faithful

•ii

1 84

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

and true, valued his word more than all his
wealth.

The citizens of Progress could not justly com-
plain either of haste or harshness on his part,
for his messengers had come to them at least
two thousand times, bidding them seek his mercy
and choose their master. Often and often had
he warned the citizens. Therefore those who
were left in Progress were exclusively such as
had neglected the messages which they had re-
ceived, or such as had despised the mercy of the
King and had chosen the service of the Prince. .

Now when the loyal-hearted who had reached
the Everlasting City began to inquire of each
other, they found that their numbers were far
greater than they could have expected. The
King's son rejoiced in the gladsome host, even
more than they in him. Great as was their joy,
his was greater. He assembled them in a circle
around himself, and appointed them thrones — for
he had promised that such as suffered for him in
the City of Progress should reign with him in
the Everlasting City.

THOUGHTS IN THE EVERLASTING CITY. 1 85

And the tens of thousands of the mighty ones,
robed in shining light, made way with great joy,
and taking a place less near to the throne of the
King, stood in a circle outside that formed by
those who sat upon the thrones.

This done, the King commissioned his Son to
begin the work of subduing the City of Progress,
and the overthrow of its Prince; and immediately
the Everlasting City rang with the songs of such
as sat upon the thrones, and the responsive
shouts of the tens of thousands surrounding
them — all glorying in the prospect of the rule
of the King's son over Progress, and the peace
and prosperity which should ensue therefrom to
that City, and, above all, in the honor which
should be given to the King.

« 1

CHAPTER XXVII.

A SORROWFUL DAY IN PROGRESS.

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still '. and

He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. — Rev, xxii. ii.

Ah ! this is a terrible day in the Temple — a day
of trembling and of gloom. Men are beginning
to realize that what had been so much spoken of
during late years is an accomplished fact ; that
those who looked for the King's son have been
called away out of the City, and have gone from
it and its future.

It breaks upon the neighbours and friends of
those who are gone, with a horrible astonish-
ment ! Wives have become widows, without the
death of their husbands — husbands widowers,
without the death of their wives — children

OPEN UNTO US.

187

orphans, without the death of their parents — and
parents seek for their children, but find them
not. The heartrending anguish is too bitter, too
awful to describe.

Some will not believe the news ; there are stirs
within the Professional Buildings, and rewards
are being offered for the missing. Many lodg-
ings are left vacant in that old square. There
are stirs within the Courts of the Temple, heavi-
ness and dismay, for numbers of the workmen
engaged there arc not, the King's son having
taken them away.

Now a band from the Courts of the Temple
assembles, and sets out to follow those whom
the King's son has called away. It is all in
vain ; the only available path to the Everlasting
City — that which leads to the Faith Mountains
— is closed by a flaming sword wiiich turns every
way. In their blind haste, these men choose
another route ; but the gates of the Everlasting
City are closed against them, and they can only
stand without, saying, " Lord, Lord, open unto

i88

THE C7TV OF TROGRESS.

US ! " It is too late ; the answer is, " I know you
not ! "

They arc all turned back, and thus receive the
reward of the folly of their former indifference
and present presumption. These are the orders
of the King: the gates of his City are closed
against all who, being of the Temple, were not
for his son. Alas! it is the i.iost bitter day that
ever befel the City. Various of the Courts of
the Temple are filled with confusion, lamenta-
tions, and woe. The band of followers of the
missing returns to the City, utterly distracted,
fearing everything and beginning to believe
nothing.

It is wonderful how rapidly events move: the
hour seems to have but thirty minutes in it
instead of sixty, and the minutes seem but
moments. It seems incredible that within these
f^w days there should be such a marked change
in the Temple. Already the band which fol-
lowed those who were taken to the Everlasting
City are saying, " Since the gates are closed

HAPPINESS DOCTRINE.

189

against us, and we arc denied happiness there,
let us eat, drink, and be merry. Henceforth our
City of Progress shall be our all-in-all." And
they shake off their sadness and curse the City,
and the King who closed its gates against them ;
and the workmen generally arc congratulating
themselves at the riddance from the Temple of
those who let and hindered them,

CHAPTER XX VII I.

THE COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE

OF PROGRESS.

I iit a queen, and am no widow, and sh.xll see no sonovj, — Rev. xviii. 7.

The change wrought in the City by the de-
parture of the Unseen and the loyal workmen of
the Temple, is even more marvellous than that
which was caused by the visit of the King's son.
His visit produced an inflow of kindness such
as was never before known within the walls of
Progress ; — their departure seems to have carried
kindness out of it. The thoughts of the citizens
are rapidly reverting to their old channels ; it is
as when a river long diverted from its natural
course regains its old direction, and flows with
renewed force where it did at the first.

A GREAT TRADE UNION.

191

In the Temple a complete revolution of feeling
has taken place, and an impetus truly terrible is
given to every kind of principle and practice
against which in former days loyal workmen
protested. The policy of the Prince's Master of
the Works in introducing into the Temple ma-
terials belonging to ancient shrines and temples
used to astonish men, yet the change which was
effected in it by those doings is as nothing com-
pared with that which is now seen in every Court.

The trade-unionists of the Roman Court will
very soon succeed, at the rate at which they are
now going on, in bringing all the Temple work-
men Into one grand trade association. The two
great rules of their union are: no workman
either to think for himself or to liccd his con-
science ; all workmen to be levelled down to the
ignorance and unscrupulous behaviour of the
most immoral of their chiefs. The chronicles
of the Roman Court, written by its own scribes
during the early days of the activity of the
Prince's Master of the Works, explain in degree
what the effect of these rules will be when all the

i:»

192

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

workmen of the Temple submit to them ; for the
language used by those chroniclers immortalizing
the deeds of the workmen exceeds the limits of
decent utterance. And the scribe of the Ever-
lasting City writes thus: "The mother of harlots
and abominations in Progress!" In these days
the mother and her daughters — the Roman Court
and the Courts its offspring — arc to be seen liv-
ing in concord under one roof; and the builders
are boasting that this latter glory of the Temple —
this unitedness of all its Courts, exceeds all its
past glory!

Added to these developments, the determina-
tion of the men who have been turned back from
the gates of the Everlasting City, and who have
chosen for their future the destiny of Progress,
is fast making itself heard and felt throughout
the Temple.

The ink which has written these things is
hardly dry before it transpires that the Prince
of Progress has not let present opportunities
pass. For a long while he has had his heart set

"THE WHOLE WAS LEAVENED." 193

upon effecting unity among the different Courts
of the Temple, and then of consolidating the
Temple with the City. Conceiving that the an-
ticipated time had arrived, a few days ago he
convoked an important deliberative meeting in
his old Council Hall. At that assembly, after
due note had been taken of the great Exodus
and the departure of the Unseen, the voice of
the wise old counsellor had been once more
heard. These are his words, as reported : —

"The whole lump is now leavened,
therefore since nothing remains to let
or hinder, the temple should direct
the principles and practices of the
City."

In consequence of this counsel, a very great
impetus is given to all those shows, performances,
entertainments, and amusements generally, which
just before the great Exodus so largely drew
upon the energies of the workmen. The roofing
in of the whole Temple, its decoration and arti-
ficial lighting are to be immediately completed.
Fresh Doctrines, Dogmas, and Precepts are being

■■

194

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

manufactured ; and new top-stones of Infallible-
contradictions are being fashioned; and, more,
the vvorkshops are turning out Point-blank-lies
innumerable. Added to these energies, and cap-
ping them all, is the order that the name of
the King's son shall be forthwith erased from
all tablets in every Court of the Temple.

The workmen are in very high spirits — as they
have at length found the basis of union amongst
themselves, in the total rejection of the autho-
rity of the ancient Book; and have discovered
the principle of their bond of peace, in falling
away from the name of the King's son. This
union — this fulfilled dream — is a theme of con-
stant praise amongst these ardent-hearted men.
They speak with rapture of the Temple, which
they almost idolize; they address it fondly, as
their mother, their queen, their lady robed in
perfection, abundant in treasures, who shall know
no sorrow.

The luxury of the Professional Buildings in-
creases daily; and so popular has the Temple
become with the lords of the City, the merchants

ible-

Qore,

:-lies

cap-

e of

from

they
ongst
utho-
vered
ailing
This
con-
men.
»vhich
as
id in
Iknow

;s in-

jmple

lants

GREAT SUCCESS.

195

and the rich, that the wealth of Progress pours
into its coffers.

The magnificence of the Temple is indeed
splendid in the extreme; never since its founda-
tion has it presented such a bla^e of grandeur
in the City of Progress.

Its internal and external union is as v/onderful
as it is mysterious. The Prince has now suc-
ceeded in gaining absolute possession of every
Court, and of bowing all the workmen to his will.
There remains not in it so much as one solitary
principle or practice in which the King's son
has pleasure.

A remarkable event has taken place. It has
become a vain thing amongst the builders to
attempt to read the Book, which has been sealed
against them by an unseen hand ; hence, if one
of the City perchance says to a lodger in the
Professional Buildings, " Read this," the man re-
plies, " I cannot ; it is sealed." And despite the
advanced education amongst the ordinary work-
men, if any inquirer of the City happen to ask

H 2

IS
if if

'■'I

111

196

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

them to read the Book, the reply is, " I cannot, for
I am not learned ;" and, more, even the memory of
what they did read before the great Exodus and
the departure of the Unseen, has become to them
as a mist — uncertain and dim to their darkened
souls. ^

The face of the King's son is now thoroughly
set against this Temple, which once bore his
name graven uj on it, but which now has written
upon it, " Mystery and Apostasy." No mes-
senger from him ever reaches it, nor does any
word of warning or exhortation ever sound in
the ears of its builders ; the Temple has cast
him off, and he has forsaken it.

But while this is so in the Temple, yet in the
outlying parts of the City, and in the eastern
districts, his messengers have gone out and have
spoken with the great power of their master's
authority, bidding the citizens there be aware
that as a thief in the night — as an intruder who
robs sleeping men of their possessions — so he is
coming to Progress; and that he will first purge

SIGHS FOR DELIVERANCE.

197

it and then reign over it. And in answer to
these his messages, there is an awakening ; and
many sigh over the times, and plead for the over-
throw of the Prince of Progress and the purging
of their City ; and the voice of these men may be
often heard in the streets, saying, " How long,
O Lord, how long ! "

m
:ast

the
ern
ave

CHAPTER XXIX. "

THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION OF THE
TEMPLE OF PROGRESS.

She shall he utterly burned ivith fire.

For strong is the Lord God, wJio judge th /i^r,--Rev. xviii. 8.

The four great Broadways, Reformation, Ad-
vancement, Development, and Improvement,
have reached a state of completion during these
last few months ; and, consequently, much feast-
ing and boasting have fallen to the lot of the
various workmen engaged on these great places.
Strange to say, this boasting has resulted in a
serious agitation, which now threatens to shake
the western districts of the City, if not to do
worse.

For some long time past, the workmen em-

THE HAPPINESS MISSION.

199

lem-

ployed on the Reformatioi Proadway have as-
serted rights little relished by their betters; and
this has been very noticeable since the day when
the people of the Temple found the gates of the
Everlasting City shut, and came back to Pro-
gress declaring their intention to find happiness
solely there. Since that time the Reformation
Broadway men have been holding what they
call missions, and have been preaching the true
secret of happiness to all citizens. This — ac-
cording to them — lies in no man having more
than another, but in all having everything in
common with the commonest. And now they
are demanding, in the interests of this happiness,
the right of changing the name of the Broadway
upon which they have been working to what
they please. To this the constructors object, on
the ground that the right of naming a design
belongs to those who devise, not to those who
carry out the idea. Hence this doctrine of hap-
piness causes strife. But strife or no strife, the
workmen are not to be denied. Principles, cry
they, are dearer to them than bread ; they

tet

^< i :; V

200

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

have decided to call their broad way Revolution
Broadway; and in this determination they arc
backed up by the whole of their brother work-
men of the other Broadways. All strike work
and mass together, and the gatherings are most
turbulent.

Thus have these Happiness Missioners kindled
a great fire of strife. Work is at a standstill,
trade is hindered, prosperity has vanished, and
bread is hard to be got. A perfect solidarity
exists among the workmen of the Broadways.
Struggling and rioting increase. Every street
in Progress trembles.

A few days have elapsed. The successful
prospects of this new mission trouble the Temple
builders exceedingly ; nor are they easy in their
consciences — for though their Temple presents
an appearance of grandeur and of unity, yet
in these anxious days the builders cannot but
think of those called away by the King's son
from these times of trouble to the Everlasting
City.

The rioting is increasing in the City, — the

THE GATHERING STORM.

201

fears of the Temple builders are too well
grounded; for the hungry mobs, stirred by the
Happiness Missioncrs, turn their eyes towards
the old structure.

their

sents

yet

but

son

What has been happening during the last few
weeks, is but as the rush across the blue heavens
of the ragged brown precursors of the coming
storm, the moanings in the sky before the
tempest, the groanings of the land before the
earthquake. In the nature of things, floating
molecules must, by the force of their own laws,
assume definite form ; and, according to the first
principles of evolution, mobs cannot continue in
a course of dissatisfaction without obtaining a
specific idea. Such procedure would be unworthy
of the education of the citizens! The Missioners
have begun to utter their discontent against
things definite, and the objects they have fixed
upon are the Temple and the Professional Build-
ings.

At one of the great Happiness meetings, three
of their Missioners, Bottom-upwards, Nothing-

]

202

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

thine, and All-things-minc, cried, " What have
either Temple or Professional Buildings ever
done for us? For whose benefit are all the
riches belonging to those places? The digni-
taries, Scarlet, Purple, and Lawn, live in houses
furnished with all kinds of articles in ivory and
precious woods, and have horses and chariots,
just as they like, while we fools build Broadways
in which we never dwell ! Look, citizens ! the
Temple is glorious in ornaments of gold, pre-
cious stones and pearls, and full of fair and
splendid things — marble, and myrrh, and frank-
incense. But who gets the treasure ? The rich
traders and the lords of the City, to be sure !
While for us, these things are seen, but through
gratings and glass doors."

In vain did the lords of Progress strive to stay
the gathering storm; the heart of the masses
of the citizens was turned against the Temple,
even as the waves of the flowing sea are at the
change of the tide turned against the forsaken,
stranded ship. And as the waves of the sea
unite their strength, so did these multitudes of

GIVEN OVER TO DESTRUCTION. 203

|stay
tsses
iple,

the
[ken,

sea
IS of

citizens become one flood. Presently every street
around the Temple was filled with violence, and
the City resounded with fierce cries, " Burn the
Temple, burn the Temple! Down with the Pro-
fessional Buildings ! "

Then began the work of demolition and de-
struction — a work in which, by the previous
training of their former leaders, these mobs
were well educated. For though not one of
these rioters had the wit to design a building,
yet they all had, by long apprenticeship, ac-
quired the art of pulling down to perfection.

Being old, the Temple was not in a state
to stand much mob work. The greater num-
ber of the builders were also craven-hearted,
though there were a few who were ready to
die, if not for their Temple's glory, at least
for its wealth. But the vast amount of inflam-
mable materials — of wood, hay, and stubble
stored in it — entirely prevented the building from
being saved from the fire applied to it.

When the Happiness mobs saw the flames arise,
the very sight of the fire made them the fiercer;

204

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

they rushed with the maddest fury to their work,
and in an incredibly short time the vast Temple
was ablaze from end to end. In the heat of the
flames, some of the selfsame wrly counsellors
who had originally disguised themselves as angels
of light, and thus attired had stolen away the
original plan of the building, bravely rescued a
great number of the older relics and images
from destruction, and placed them by themselves
in safety.

The glare and flare and burning pieces of the
Temple lighted up the City from west to east
with so terrible an illumination that every man's
face told his fears. The Professional Buildings
shared a similar fate the same day. The palatial
abodes of the dignitaries Scarlet, Purple, and
Lawn, and all the luxurious apartments of the
Reverends and the Status-in-Society people, were
utterly consumed. And thus it happened that the
men who had been full and had reigned before
the kingdom of the King's son, were hunted
out of their homes and driven by the jealous
mobs to famine and to death.

THE END OF TEMPLE APOSTASY. 205

A few days have elapsed. Deep distress is
the result of the terrible Happiness agitation.
The lords of the City lament; the architects,
glass-stainers, and traders dependent upon the
Temple for their living are reduced to poverty;
the shareholders in the Royal-Church-and-World
Company wring their hands; and the rulers can-
not refrain from weeping, as they behold the
smoking ruins of what was once the glory of
Progress.

,11

ings
atial
and
the
were
tthe
:fore
nted
ilous

Now when the tidings of the destruction of
the apostate Temple reached the Everlasting
City, words of solemn exultation like these were
heard there, " Rejoice over her, O Everlasting
City; and ye, the followers of the King's son ; and
ye who laid her foundation stones be glad — for
the King of Eternity hath by the hands of her sons
requited your blood upon her." And there arose
a mighty song of triumph in the Everlasting
City, and the multitudes therein repeated the
rejoicings because the Temple of Progress was
no more; — its shams were burned with fire; its

!•; '

:o6

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Pillars-of-Scepticisin, chiselled with the network
of Old-and-new-Incredulitics, and its top stones
of Infallible-contradiction, were laid low; its
system, of the Professional Buildings had come
to an end; its trade-unions were broken up;
and the name of the King's son was now no
longer used in Progress to shelter the relics
and images which he hated as abomination.

Thus by blood and fire the history and the
mystery of the Temple of Progress came to an
end. The Temple grew in its youth in spite of
blood and fire, till the Royal-Church-and-World
Company corrupted it to employ blood and fire
wherewith to build. Hence it perished in its
old age by these agents. Its own principles
were its destruction. What was sown was
reaped. The King of Eternity was not mocked.

•; '(

CHAPTER XXX.

A NEW TEMPLE.

All yc iiihxbitants of the world, and dwellers on tJie earth, :ee ye.
— Isa. xviii. 3.

1 I

The terrible occurrences which have just taken
place have had a remarkable effect upon the
eastern districts of the City. It is a strange truth,
that in great cities the habits of life and modes
of thought, the recreations of the citizens, and
even the language spoken by them, differ, varying
according to the quarters in which they live.
What happens at one end, is little known at the
other; and this must account for the fact that
what has been proceeding for some time in the
east of Progress, has been almost unheeded by
the mass of the ci^^izens. The facts are these: the

ill

[III

iii

208

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

members of the wealthy Guild of Ancient-Ex-
clusivc-C raftsmen have been leaving their abodes
in various districts, and gradually settling them-
selves and acquiring property in the east end.

This guild was, indeed, originally formed in
the east end of the City, and possessed much
property there; but the citizens who owned
land near that of the Guild, gaining sufficient
strength and acting on the familiar moral prin-
ciples that the weak go to the wall and the fittest
survive, ousted the Ancient-Exclusive-Craftsmen
from their possessions and appropriated their
property. After which experience of civilization,
these men have lived where they best could, actu-
ated by the double motive of getting gain and
retaining their exclusivism. "The people shall
dwell alone," is the motto of their Guild, and
antiquity is their pride. Modern things they, as
a Guild, despise, and especially have they ever
been at variance with the Temple, now de-
stroyed.

Their rooted dislike to it is distinctly traceable
to the fact that when the King's son came to

REASONS FOR HATING THE OLD TEMPLE. 209

le
lo

Progress, they would not recognize his origin
or heed his words, but shouted the loudest,
"We will not have this man to reign over us,"
as the citizens thrust him down the Way-of-all-
Flesh; hence the Temple reared to his honor
was to them most contemptible.

And since the Prince's Master of the Works
introduced his changes into the Temple, the
builders were as little friendly towards this Guild
as the Guild towards the Temple: in fact, de-
spite the express command of the King's son,
the greater number of them had done all that
lay in their power to make the members of this
Guild abhor the very name of the Temple ; and
absolute success attended their efforts. The
existence of this Guild, notwithstanding its ill-
usage and the jealousy exhibited towards it, is
one of the wonders in Progress.

Its members, then, have been turning their
eyes towards the houses and lands of their
fathers ; and as the Guild is wealthy and its mem-
bers enthusiastic, money and fervor promise to
re-invigorate the ill-managed, poverty-stricken

\ i

2IO

THE CITY >F PROGRESS.

••*«,

Lt>'4

eastern quarters of Progress. The Ancient-
Exclusive-Craftsmcn thus speak : " In the west
the light dies; in the east h'ght arises." And,
they add, " The greatest glories of our City, its
noblest memories, its most ancient monuments,
its earliest life, belong to the east ; and now the
sun, which with the day has travelled westwards,
sets, but only to rise again."

Animated by such ideas, these men gradually
assembled themselves together in the actually
poor but proverbially fruitful eastern districts of
Progress, where their money and their business
abilities soon caused a great change. Sufficient
numbers being at length gathered together, they
determined to erect a Temple for themselves,
which should be the great centre of attraction
for the whole of the n.^-mbers of their Guild. In
the prosecution of this scheme, the foundation of
a Temple, which had belonged to their fathers,
was discovered by the Surveyors ; and with this
spot the Guild was highly satisfied, and presently
began the building. True to, their motto and their
pride, these Ancient -Exclusive -Craftsmen em-

HELPERS OF THE NEW TEMPLE.

211

.ncient-
le west
And,
City, its
uments,
iGW the
jtvvards,

radually
actually
jtricts of
business
ufficient
.er, they
mselves,
traction
lild. In
ation of
fathers,
ith this
|resently
nd their
en em-

ployed Architects of their own; they despised
the architecture of the Temple in the west,
and scorned the materials used in its construc-
tion, and so chose the designs of the great Archi-
tects of their own body — Delusive-Prophets.

When these men began first to return to the
east end of Progress, and to speak as they did,
the greater number of the citizens ridiculed them ;
and when they commenced building, their style
of architecture was greatly sneered at. Neverthe-
less, some few of the lords were friendly towards
the Guild ; and the Shipowners, so well known
over the length and breadth of Progress, helped
them considerably. Thus it happened that a
new Temple began to show itself in the east
while that in the west was still standing.

Now, when the riots in the west took place,
and the Temple there was burned, the pride and
zeal of these Ancient-Exclusive-Craftsmen in-
creased greatly, and they declared that the time
for their restoration had arrived. They boasted
that they should regain their old possessions, and
that then their Temple should rule the principles

i- )

212

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

and practices of the City, and the coming glory
of the east end would outshine the past glories
of the west.

In immediate connection with the departure
of the Unseen from the Temple in the west, the
sealing of the Ancient Book there, and, indeed,
the destruction of that building — and also with
the rebuilding of the Temple in the east — there
has been a marvellous development of the Spirit-
peeping and Dead - men's - voices' businesses.
The conductors of these occupations flourish
exceedingly, and the Lying- wonders, Mutter-
ings, Charmings, and Divinings which they sell,
are in considerable request, large numbers of
citizens daily thronging the places where these
businesses are carried on.

CHAPTER XXXI.

A GREAT REVIVAL.

/ saTv a Beast rise up out of the sea ;— Rev. xiii i.

ThetenJwms . . . are ten kings. — ch. xvil. I3.

A»d he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God. -ch. xiii.

A VERY great gap marks the site where the
mighty Temple once stood. The City groans
and staggers under the terrible wounds inflicted
upon it by the Happiness mobs, and the people
dwelling round the smoking ruins are unquiet,
as is the sea when beneath it a volcano has
broken out ; then do its waves roar in their
trouble, and in their fury foam out their shame.
It is the period of democracy and communism.
Levellers and destroyers are supreme. The Hap-
piness mission has resulted in the direst misery.

'■

•ill

214

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

The heaving and swaying of the stormy sea,
restless, broken, confused, is the only similitude
which in any way represents the present state of
society.

The only old buildings of importance left
standing are the Popularity Temple and the
Observatory. The former is frequented more
than ever, and the Happiness Missioners per-
form their devotions hourly before the mirrors
there. The Observatory is revered daily more
and more, and already begins to take the place
of educating the minds of the citizens which
was held by the Temple now destroyed.

The Wise Men of the Observatory have,
during the last few weeks, issued a kind of
pastoral charge to the citizens upon the signs
of the times ; it is to this effect : " Despite the
roughness of the mode of operation, Progress
may congratulate itself upon the destruction of
the Professional Buildings and of the Temple,
for the end of these institutions can be distinctly
traced to the natural course of development;

THE IDEAL OF THE WISE MEN.

215

and, indeed, the whole of the transactions may
be regarded as ilkistrating the principles of
mechanical force and the law of necessity. Such
being the case," the charge runs on, " all citizens
may expect soon to see the natural sequence of
these laws, and also to experience the beneficial
effects of the principles of evolution — even
order arising out of disorder. And more, the
citizens may soon expect to see the predicted
healing qualities of the Tree of Knowledge in
operation, relieving Progress from such epi-
demics as Immoralities, Robberies, Tumults,
Wars, and Murders, and, after that, the citizens
may anticipate entering upon their long-looked-
for and glorious future."

This charge of the Wise Men seems to have
very much pleased the Prince, who has, in con-
sequence of it, taken them into his confidence,
and sought their assistance in carrying out his
grand idea of bringing the whole City into
union. According to the published reports of
what transpired at the conference, his ever prac-
tical mind has thus expressed itself :

2l6

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

" Molecular energy is only a means to an end
— mob rule, like mechanical force, needs a guid-
ing hand : the theory of evolution is sound philo-
sophy, but a power is needed at the back of the
doctrine; accordingly, a new form of govern-
ment is required to meet the present state of
Progress."

These common-sense sentiments very soon
expressed themselves in corresponding action.
The Prince introduced a form of government
such as had never before been tried in the City.
He divided the western districts into ten parts,
and over these he set ten administrators, making
one of them Ruler-in-Chief. To each of them he
gave a rod of iron, and they presently beat the
Happiness mobs into shape and fashion. And
when this was effected, the mobs praised the
order and blessed the shape into which they
had been beaten. Then did the streets about
the ruins of the Temple greatly rejoice, and
the pride of the west end of Progress again as-
sert itself. The citizens regarded their glorious
future as very near at hand indeed, and the

THE SEQUENCE OF SCIENCE.

217

Prince, who hated democracy save as a means
to an end, was jubilant in the extreme.

The Observatory, it must be borne in mind, is
now the chief building in Progress, and, under
the guidance of the Prince and his adminis-
trators, its Wise Men have just issued another
pastoral or charge. "It is," they say, " a well-
known fact in Progress that the teachings of the
Schools-of-Thought arc those of truth and sober-
ness, and, according to these schools, the citizens
have descended from the No-Backboncites, and
are cousins to the Apeites: hence, as a matter
of honorable feeling, as well as a visible expres-
sion of the sequence of science, the citizens are
called to adore the images of their ancestors.
It is," the charge continues, " consistent with the
wisdom of the citizens that images, made like to
themselves, to birds, and to four-footed beasts
and creeping things, should be the symbols of
their worship."

This charge resulted in the re-erection of the
temples which had been pulled down when the

2l8

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Temple to the honor of the King's son was
built, and in a very brief period the City of
Progress reverted to its ancient religious forms
and ceremonies. The relics and images — which
the \;ily counsellors had secured from the flames
when the Temple was burned — were re-esta-
blished in their old places, and great honor was
paid them. The citizens generally — though
there were some exceptions — declared that the
Temple the Happiness men had burned had
been for years chc ;reat obstruction to their
moral elevation, and more particularly to the
development of the sacred and noble sentiment
within their hearts called religion; and they
blasphemed the memory of the King's son, and
cursed the King of Eternity himself. ^

^^^ ■^t«.f^l>7-

>- J.

" ,' '1 '

CHAPTER XXXII.

A GRAND UNION.

Crcai jvonders, — Rev. xiii. 13.

The ten administrators unquestionably have
produced a remarkable fusion of the different
parties in the western districts, and evolved out
of the disorder there, compactness and strength
such as never before were witnessed. It is the
eastern question, as it is called, which now
threatens to disturb the City, and, as the re-
ligious element is at the bottom of this, it is a
most delicate matter to handle. The Ancient-
Exclusive-Craftsmen distinctly refuse to bring
into their Temple relics and images such as
adorn the western temples, and it seems as if

220

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

another storm were brewing, and as if the City
would be divided against itself. Religion has so
often divided families and districts, and set street
against street, that there seems to be good ground
for accrediting the report of the Prince's anxiety.

The news is being circulated that the Prince
IS holding frequent councils with the Ruler-in-
Chief, the administrators, and his advisers, as to
what course to pursue. His practical mind — so
it is said — has laid it down as a principle that
the religious question is one which can only be
satisfactorily settled by the force of individual
conviction; "but," he adds, "it must nevertheless
be settled." This concession to individuality is
approved by the citizens as very liberal, while
his resolute determination is equally respected
as being worthy of his firm character.

The announcement has just been made that
the Prince and his advisers have devised a
grand plan for the union of all citizens, heart
and mind, body and soul, whether of the west

THE MAN FOR THE TIMES.

221

or east ends. The scheme, generally, is this:
There is to be a Chancellor appointed, who is
to be head over the east end, and he will have
powers somewhat similar to those of the Ruler-
in-Chief. These two heads are to control and
direct the whole City, and, as the Guild of
Ancient- Exclusive -Craftsmen is such an im-
portant factor in the east end, the Chancellor
will be chosen from one of the families of which
it is composed. The principles which shall effect
the union are to be shortly published.

The Chancellor has made his appearance!
Without doubt he is the most attractive leader
and the fairest-spoken man that ever set foot in
Progress — excepting, of course, the Prince him-
self. His penetration is only equalled by his
presumption, his sayings by his deeds. His
kinsmen are beyond measure enraptured with
the man, and are already confident that his rule
will answer all their desires, and give them
all they wish. He has set several schemes in
motion for the beautifying of the east end;

i I

222

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

riches are flowing into the district — in a word,
he is thoroughly prosperous.

It is apparent to close observers that the Chan-
cellor does many things similar to those which
the King's son did when he visited Progress, and
that he is also possessed of vast resources — so
that with all power he shews signs and performs
wonders, thus commanding the homage of the
citizens. He is intensely popular among the
Ancient-Exclusivc-Craftsmen, who are flocking
to him from all parts of the City, and who are
completing their Temple under his direction.
They say, " What we looked for has come : the
sun has risen, and shines in the east."

They carry on religious worship in their
Temple, the Chancellor being the leading spirit,
and by his intervention are also supported by
the Ruler-in-Chief. This is a step towards the
union of the east and west ends of the City.
The Ruler-in-Chief supports the Chancellor in
the east in return for the services which the
latter has rendered to the western districts.

The signal success attending the administra-

WHAT THE MAN OF THE TIMES CAN DO. 223

tion of these two heads, and the good-fellowship
springing up between the east and west, have
led the Prince to proceed with confidence in his
grand scheme of assimilating the religious senti-
ment of both the east and west ends of Progress.
The more active part of the work entailed by
the execution of this scheme, will fall to the lot
of the Chancellor, whose extraordinary presence
and eloquence carry all hearts with him. But
how the Wise Men of the Observatory and the
keepers of the relics and images are to go hand
in hand with the Ancicnt-Exclusive-Craftsmen,
is a mystery. They arc, to all appearance, so
utterly opposed to each other in principle, and
do so heartily despise each other, that the pro-
ject seems an impossibility. But the powers
and resources of the Chancellor are wonderful.
If this matter is to be accomplished, one thing
is certain: the Chancellor will be the man to
do it.

It is astounding ! The Chancellor has been
holding secret consultations with the Wise Men

224

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

on religious union. The efforts of the Obser-
vatory for a long time past have been directed
towards the production of life, but with small
success ; for though the Wise Men have agreed
among themselves as to what life is, they have
not unravelled the secret of its formation. Upon
this subject the Chancellor is able to give
them material assistance, possessing, as he does,
Mich vast resources and powers. He suggested
to them to form an image expressive of the
wisdom of the age producing life — such wisdom
being a complete answer to the prerogative of
the King of Eternity. The image, he further
suggested, should be that of a man, and because
of the success attending the new government of
the City should be dedicated to the Ruler-in-
Chief, he being the acknowledged head in the
west.

In accordance with his instructions, a really
wonderful ima^e, far exceeding all others pre-
viously fashioned in Progress, was made; and
this done, still following the advice of the Chan-
cellor, a day of glory was proclaimed, on which

s
t
a

FRUITS OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. 225

re-
id

in-
:h

all the citizens were to assemble together in a
given locality to do homage to the image.

In answer to the proclamation, they arrived in
thousands. It was a grand gala day; and after
the preliminaries and speeches, and much music,
came the unveiling of the image. When this
was brought about, during the deep silence of
the moment, the Chancellor, by virtue of the
mysterious power in his hands, actually gave
breath to the image, and caused it to speak!
Thus openly, before all, the citizens beheld the
realization of the expectations of the Wise Men ;
and immediately, with a great shout, as of one
man, they prostrated themselves before the image
and worshipped it. " Ye shall be as gods ! " cried
many voices. " Man he is God ! man he is
God!" echoed others. And they gloried and
boasted exceedingly.

The citizens were bidden to consider that the
speaking image was a definite object before
them, uniting religious thought, and binding
all together with the bands of conviction that
wisdom and power were vested in themselves;

226

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

'il'r'

I: il: '

■1

ii Hi!

yet they were not called upon to surrender their
own peculiar ideas of worship, as expressed in
the various temples — since all that was required
for union was a common centre.

This done, the Chancellor presented him-
self again in the east end amongst his kins-
men, who at the first were inclined to look
coldly on him, for they prided themselves on
their abstention from image worship. So when
he returned amongst them, they cried to him,
" Shew us, your kinsmen, a sign — as well as the
citizens in the west end." Accordingly he as-
sembled them together, and reminding them of
their traditions and of their forefathers, he re-
called to them the days of a former crisis in their
history, and of the deeds at that time of their
great prophet. And when his words had raised
their enthusiasm to a very high pitch, he paused,
and called for a column of fire to fall from
the heavens in the sight of them, and bade
them behold the witness of his authority. And
while their eyes were turned upwards, lo! the
sign they sought appeared, — the fire fell on the

THE AGE OF MIRACLES.

227

earth. Then they, too, did homage, and shouted
for joy.

A short period has elapsed. The Chan-
cellor has decreed, that in order effectually to
maintain the union of religion throughout the
City, he will change the times of the religious
worship in the Temple of the Ancient-Exclu-
sive-Craftsmen ; and forthwith he has brought an
image into the Temple, and set it up there as the
object of adoration, — declaring, while doing so,
that it is the will of his master the Prince that
no sectarian feeling, nor exclusivism of any kind,
shall henceforth be tolerated in Progress. He
adds, "The living image of living man, the
symbol of self, is the noblest object of worship,
according to the promise, * Ye shall be as gods.' "

Then, throughout the greater part of the City
of Progress were heard these triumphant words:
"We live in the age of miracles — our millennium
has come." And the citizens boasted in the ad-
vent of that time promised them by their Prince
and so long predicted by their prophets.

I 2

228

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

But all do not thus boast. Far from it. Many
in no way respond to these jubilant words, nor
do they accredit the great signs and wonders of
the times. Also, numbers of the kinsmen of the
Chancellor have fled to the Faith Mountains;
and very many simple people sigh for the
coming of the King's son.

This greatly enrages the Prince ; he has or-
dered that every rebellious citizen shall be forth-
with thrust out of the City down the Way-of-all-
Flesh; and all who cannot hide themselves are
being cruelly ill-treated. Every dissentient voice
is to be stifled all over the City. Union is to be
absolute — cost what it may. A gospel of blood
and iron is being preached ; and the hapless citi-
zens are learning the terrible lesson of the un-
speakable contrast between the promised right-
eous reign of the King's son, which they would
not have, and the abounding iniquity of this
their chosen present rule. In the east, not a
few are feeling the sin and shame of their
fathers' cry, "We will not have this man to
reign over us."

CHAPTER XXXIII.

A NEW TITLE FOR THE PRINCE.

Above all thai is called God, or that is worshipped. — 2 Thess. il. 4.

The City of Progress is now united as it never
was before, and, according tp the proverb. Union
is strength. The blood-and-iron gospel represses
dissatisfaction, and those who in spite of thi?
gospel will not accept the image worship, arc
speedily thrust down the Way-of-all-Flesh, and
the City is rid of their presence.

There is but one fear before the eyes of the
citizens, and that is lest the King's son should
suddenly come with his armies. To meet this
contingency, the Ruler-in-Chief is drilling and
arming every man — so that the present millen-

230

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

nium IS not without its gloo^^v bodings. But
the signs and wonders whitL .-i these strange
days are so frequently wrought, strengthen all
hearts, and especially in the neighbourhood of
the old burned Temple, to believe that, should
the issue come, victory will rest with them and
their Prince.

Now that the City is absolutely at his feet,
a plan of exceeding glory h. illed the proud
heart of the Prince. He has long ago quenched
the democratic ardor of the mobs; and woe
to any one who dares to fail in worshipping
the image. The Prince a^one makes laws, and
his officers rigidly enforce their execution. All
citizens — save those who rather choose death —
have submitted themselves, body, soul, and
spirit, to him. And no one so much as buys or
sells, save by his permission.

Being thus supreme, the Prince, according to
the custom of great potentates, is about to ar-
rogate to himself a name and a title equal to
his power. The Prince of Progress is a title

THE TRIPLE CROWN.

231

far beneath his pride. The memory, too, of his
former greatness, when he was a chieftain in the
palace of the King of Eternity, leads him to
nobler aspirations — he is to be thrice crowned
King!

to
^le

The proclamation has been issued, the Prince
has been crowned, and he now wears the triple
diadem! The procession first wended its way
to the Popularity Temple, and the scene there
was of the most imposing description. The
building was filled from end to end, and a
grand religious ceremony took place, the chief
features of which were the adoration of the citi-
zens before the mirrors, their laudation of them-
selves, and the exaltation of their own wills.
Then the Prince advanced to the throne which
had been erected at the feet of the great brazen
image of the man having in one hand Timf. and
in the other Eternity. Standing while the herald
proclaimed his greatness, and that also of Pro-
gfress, he received the diadem shining with, to
him, the costly stone, Will-of-humanity, from the

232

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

hands of the citizens, and, placing it upon his
head, was hailed " The Wilful King."

The procession next started for the palace of
the Ruler-in-Chief, and after much feasting and
boasting, and all kinds of music, the administra-
tion, councillors, lords, and every kind of ruler,
stood about the Prince and laid at his feet the
imperial crown studded with the honors and
glories of the City. They avowed that he, and
he alone, was the governor and possessor of
the wealth, the land, and the bodies of the
citizens. The Prince then placed this second
diadem upon his head amid a scene of great
pomp and glitter, while the people shouted,
" The Supreme King."

Leaving the western districts, the procession
moved grandly towards the east. The Temple
of the Ancient-Exclusive-Craftsmcn was reached.
It stood there in its beauty, built upon the site
of the nobler erections of their forefathers, yet
maintaining many of the memories of the things
which had made those temples glorious. To it the
Prince led the way, entered it, and seated himself

RESULTS OF THE CORONATION.

233

his

therein; and then, amid the triumph of the masses
but the trembling opposition of a few, assumed
for himself the proprietorship of all souls in
Progress: and he claimed from all the tribute of
unquestioning worship. Having thus exalted
himself, sitting in the Temple and shewing him-
self as God, he placed the third diadem upon his
head, while multitudes fell down and did him
homage, hailing him, "The Divine King!"

ssion
nple
;hed.
site
yet

When these great events took place, many-
remembered the words of the ancient Book,
and the caution therein contained, — " Whoso
readeth, let him understand." And those who
had understanding, were able to count the thrice-
told number which is the number of a man.
And these, far from being carried away by the
magnificence of the coronation, wept in secret,
prayed and watched for the speedy coming of
the King's son. The Prince poured out his fury
upon these men ; he cruelly tortured many, and
commanded that all of them should be cast
out of his City.

234

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

i ;l

Since this triple crowning, everything goes
wrong; there are pestilences and troubles in all
the streets, and threatening storms of misery.

The Prince — for such I shall continue to call
him — has become mad with pride and drunk
with success; and thus the truth has come out,
and his real character of liar and murderer is
unveiled. Having gained all that he possibly
can, his behaviour proves that he cares not one
whit for the citizens, and only values Progress
so far as it ministers to himself The Ruler-in-
Chief and the Chancellor, following the ways of
their master, make the City groan with their
exactions. The eastern districts especially, which
promised so brightly, have become the theatre
for scenes of blood and horror ; the Temple there
is degraded by- the abominations and desolations
within it ; and tumults and slaughter are of daily
occurrence. And though in the western districts
men harden their hearts, yet surely never as now
have they suffered, or been so anguish-stricken.

The Observatory and its Museums are little

GREAT TRIBULATION.

235

visited, for in these times of famine and misery
who cares for theories — even of the Wise Men ?
And the Trees of Knowledge which are not cut
down are untended, and are in consequence fast
losing their distinctive character and degene-
rating to ordinary timber. The distress is such,
and the citizens are complaining so bitterly, that
they propose to re-name their formerly noble
Broadways, and to call them Tyranny, Misery,
Desolation, and Despair; while some say that
the City of Progress itself should be called the
City of Great Tribulation. What makes matters
so terrible, is the fact that there is no hope
and no prospect of redress. The rulers hate
those they rule, and the citizens reproduce the
cruelties practised by their rulers; they hate
each other, they hate the Prince — but yet, with
deeper hatred still, the King of Eternity and
those whom he has with him in the Everlasting
City.

Is this, then, the realization of the future so
long promised by the Prince ? Is this the
millennium so often foretold by his prophets ?

236

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

Horror and darkness, gloom and wan-hope!
Alas ! and are these the waking realities follow-
ing the dreams of gladness and expected peace-
ful songs with which Progress was to be filled?
The only welcome sound that can be heard,
is the sigh of such as cry, " O Lord, how long ! "
The only prospect of peace is his coming.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE OVERTHROW OF THE PRINCE

OF PROGRESS.

/ luill destroy thee, O covering cJicrub. — Ezek. xxviii. i6.

What wonderful events and remarkable changes
have taken place of late ! First, there was the
departure of the Unseen and the loyal work-
men from the Temple; then its destruction by
the Happiness mobs; afterwards the introduc-
tion of the present form of government and
the revival of the ancient image worship in the
stead of the Temple service ; and following these
events, and during the last forty months or so,
the most wonderful things of all — the age of
miracles — the amalgamation of west and east —
the setting up within the Temple in the east of

238

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

the western image-worship; and last, but most
marvellous, the threefold crowning of the Prince,
and all its horrible consequences.

Well may the citizens moan, What will happen
next? Men's hearts are failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are
coming on the City. But a few begin to lift up
their heads, believing the signs of the times
indicate that the King's son will shortly esta-
blish his kingdom; they say, "His coming is
near, even at the doors."

And not only in Progress, but also in the
Everlasting City, have great things happened.
First, the mighty gathering together of all the
loyal and the true, whether those who left Pro-
gress by the Way-of-all-Flesh or those who
hastened out of the City at the call of the
King's son, and the seating of them all upon
thrones around the King. Next, the entrance
there of the many whom the Prince drove out of
Progress subsequent to the call of the King's
son, simply because they sighed for his coming.

It was no light thing within the Everlasting

NEARING THE END.

239

City when these outcasts cried before the throne
of the King, " How long, O Lord, dost thou not
avenge our blood?" The City was stirred by
the cry, and they were bidden to wait for a little
season, till the time should arrive for their peti-
tion to be granted. The numbers of these per-
secuted people increased daily, and their cry
grew louder — till at length a vast company
stood before the throne. Indeed, at one time
the songs of the Everlasting City were hushed
during a deep silence there, as all hearkened to
their pleadings and to the tidings of the tears
and afflictions of their companions suffering in
Progress.

And since the image was brought into the
Temple in the east, there have been greater stirs ;
and the tidings have gone round that the King's
son declares there shall be no further delay. And
this announcement has been greeted with great
voices and great joy — all remembering how he
was despised and rejected by the citizens, and
all rejoicing in the prospect of their beloved lord
wearing the diadem of Progress. "The Kingdom

240

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

of Progress is become that of our lord, and he
shall reign," is their gladsome theme.

There is a movement in the cast and around
the Temple there, such as has never been be-
fore. Messengers from the Everlasting City have
reached those districts, and, notwithstanding the
fierce Chancellor and his savage determination
to destroy every man, woman, and child who
speaks of the King's son, many are counting
the very days for his coming. The Temple is
made desolate, its former religious services have
ceased, and the image-worship of the west, called
by the Ancient-Exclusivc-Craftsmen, abomina-
tion of desolation, prevails. The Chancellor,
instead of proving a deliverer to these men, as
they blindly believed, is now manifestly before
their eyes their deadliest foe.

The Prince, with the Ruler-in-Chief and the
Chancellor, are exerting themselves to their
utmost; they surely know that the great crisis
is at hand. They have sent forth their miracle

-'o

THE GLORIOUS COMING OF THE KING S SON. 24 1

workers to the administrators and lords of the
City, and to all the citizens, to gather them
together in armies prepared for the battle.

The great day has passed ; the struggle is
over, the power of the Prince is broken — the
King's son has come. It took place thus: A
mighty shout, as the sound of many thunders,
resounded throughout the length and breadth
of the Everlasting City as its armies assembled
to march upon Progress. The great gate was
thrown open, and the King's son rode out in his
power. On his head were many crowns, and
his vesture was blood-dyed. The armies in the
Everlasting City followed him, robed in spotless
white ; the tens of thousands of his faithful people,
and legions of his mighty ones, being in his
train. In flaming fire they came, and with power
and great glory.

His armies first reached the east of the City.
He came suddenly to the Temple there, and
its builders saw him, and, with broken hearts,
remembered their fathers' cry, "We will not

242

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

have this man to reign over us." Then there
was great fear in the hearts of the people of
the east, and pleading for mercy by those who
felt their sin and shame; and they mourned and
were in bitterness. The King's son set his feet
upon a little but well-known mount over against
the Temple, and, as the lightning flashes out of
the east and shines even to the west, so was the
news of his coming spread over the whole of
Progress

Hatred had hardened many hearts, and the
signs ^ and wonders wrought by the Prince
had given boastful expectations to vast num-
bers of the citizens ; hence, at the call, the
armies of the City assembled for battle — the
administrators, the captains and mighty men,
the free and bond, small and great, — all led
on by the Prince, his Ruler-in-Chief, and Chan-
cellor. On that day, the fowls of the air — which
scent death afar off — crowded together, and hung
in clouds above the battle-ground; the conflict
was short and terrible; the armies of Progress
were utterly destroyed ; the pride of its soldiers

THE SUDDEN FALL OF THE PRINCE. 243

was broken. The administrators and leaders
fell in the conflict, but the two arch-enemies of
the King's son, the Ruler - in - Chief and the
Chancellor, were taken prisoners. The Prince
also was seized ; he was bound with a great
chain and thrust into a pit, where he is to be
kept till the time appointed for his judgment,
and that of all the enemies of the King's son who
had gone down the Way-of-all-Flesh. The two
others were not reserved for this tribunal ; but,
because of their abominable ways and the horrors
they had wrought, were cast alive into a lake of
fire burning with brimstone, and so received their
condemnation.

Thus suddenly has the Prince fallen, and in
a moment has his power been broken; and,
after what seems to us a very long time of
sorrow, the enemies of the King's son are made
his footstool. So ends the kingdom of the
deceiver and the great promises he made to
the citizens. These are the simple facts. The
magnificent future which the deceiver offered,

244

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

never was to have an existence. But we thank
the King of Eternity and his Son that the long
and dreary, and, at its close, unutterably terrible,
history of the deceiver's sway, has come to a
close ; and that he, who in return for his love and
kindness was cast out of Progress, has returned
in power to establish his authority according to
his faithful word, and according to his father's
will.

CHAPTER XXXV.

PROGRESS PURIFIED.

They shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend.
And them xvhich do iniquity.— ^9XX. xiii. 41.

After the power of the enemy was broken,
and all his various forces were consumed, the
King's son purged the City of Progress from
its iniquity and uncleanness. Ever since the
election of the Prince, impurity had been ac-
cumulating in heaps in various parts of the
City; and there was not a street exempt from
the presence of the epidemics Robberies, Mur-
ders, and the like, nor from such complaints as
Oppression, False-oaths, Hypocrisy, and Bribery
< — the two last being of a very fatal type and
sadly prevalent. These diseases the doctors in

246

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

vain had tried to remove from Progress by
means of the virtues of the Tree of Knowledge,
but they had not cured themselves, much less
their patients. The City then was purged from
the heaps of impurity which excited these sick-
nesses.

In the trading quarters, and especially in the
workshops rented from the old landlord, the
Father of Lies, goods of a disgraceful kind
were largely manufactured, and were purchas-
able solely in coin bearing the Prince's image
and superscription. B}' the command of the
King's son, all such goods were removed from
the City, and the manufactories levelled with
the ground.

There was also a great search made in every
street for the images and relics with which Pro-
gress teemed, and which the King of Eternity
abhorred. These were carried outside the walls,
and the City cleansed from them.

The Spirit-peepers, and the Mutterings, Divin-
ings, and Charmlngs in which they dealt, were
also destroyed, as utterly hateful to the King.

THE SESSIONAL JUDGMENT.

247

A throne of glory, moreover, was set up for
the King's son, before which all the citizens were
gathered — as it was necessary that the loyalty
or rebellion of each one should be individually
proved. During the last days of the Prince's
rule, some had shewn kindness to such as stood
boldly for the King's son; they had either
given them meat and drink, or clothed them,
or in some other way had treated them with
tenderness. These services were owned publicly,
and those who had wrought them vrere bidden
by the King's son himself to take their place at
his right hand. Others had been indifferent or
unkind to these people, and they were placed
on his left hand. The King's son separated the
citizens even before they knew w hy he had done
so; he then told them the reason, and great was
their astonishment at hearing their sentences
given.

Those on his right had assigned to them
honcr and joys in his kingdom; those on his
left received the same reward as the Prince for
whom they had lived.

248

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

The Popularity Temple, with its brazen image
and usurping hands, its kneeling stools and
mirrors, was burned to ashes. East and west
were freed from every abomination and deceit.
Evil was no more called good, or good evil ; nor
was light put for darkness, or darkness for light,
bitter for sweet, or sweet for bitter. Things stood
on the basis of truth, and righteousness was es-
tablished.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE REIGN OF THE KING'S SON, AND
A NEW NAME FOR THE CITY.

Their soul shall be as a ivatcred garden;

And they shall not sorrow any more at all.—Jer. xxxi. 12.

The works of judgment and purification being
thus accomplished, the King's son, having re-
ceived the diadem from his father's hands, estab-
lished his royal throne in the City, and chose
the east for the situation of his palace.

For a long time past the stronger citizens had
laid violent hands upon the possessions of their
weaker brethren, and had appropriated them,
under the name of civilization ; hence the rights
of property were in an uncertain state at the
coming of the King's son. This state of things

250

THE CITV OF PROGRESS.

had grown worse of latter years ; and especially
amongst the citizens of the western districts
robbery of land and property on a large scale
was avowedly popular. Many of these men used
iron tools, and would enter the houses of quiet,
decent-living persons, and so civilize them that
the poor creatures were reduced to poverty or
driven to destruction. These abominable prac-
tices were not only stopped, but the King's son
also restored all things to their lawful owners.

He made the east the centre of the City, and
set the bounds of the different streets and dis-
tricts according to the numbers of the Guild
of the Ancient-Exclusive-Craftsmen. Then the
King's son sent his heralds up and down the
whole of Progress, bidding the north give up,
and the south not keep back, any members of
this Guild; and he gathered them from its four
quarters, and planted them in their ancient
heritage. And they returned to obey the voice
of the King of Eternity, to love him with all
their heart and soul, and to do his command-
ments. The eastern part of the City was soon

REIGNING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.

251

rendered beautiful in the extreme, and became
the joy of the whole of it. There men dwelt
safely and in confidence, built houses and planted
vineyards ; and the citizens said that it was like
a resurrection, as these men assembled in their
ancient homes.

Judges and Counsellors were established
throughout the whole City — honorable men, who
love righteousness and hate iniquity, with souls
above bribery and unmoved by false witness.
The sceptre of the King's son was a sceptre of
equity, and under him the princes ruled in judg-
ment and were examples to those they governed.

^he King's son also built a perfect Temple in
the east, which was the centre of the worship
of the City. Its foundation was immoveable
strength, and its adorning wisdom and power
looking upon victory; and these were placed
through all the house round about. This Tem-
ple was very great indeed ; and holiness was
ther^. When it was completed, the glory of
the Everlasting City filled its lovely courts and
illumined its many chambers ; and the whole of

252

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

the City shone with its brightness. From under
the threshold of this Temple a stream of pure
and healing water issued, carrying joy into all
the streets; and the citizens, drinking of this
sparkling river, thirsted no more for the waters
of Vanity, which their fathers had so greatly
valued. On either bank of this river Trees of
Grace were planted, the leaves of which were
evergreen and the fruits of which were ever
fresh. And men ate the fruits and used the
leaves for medicine.

The terrible epidemics. Immoralities, Rob-
beries, Tumults, Wars, Murders, and the like,
which the doctors of former days had sought in
vain to eradicate, were no longer in existence;
and the disorders of the inner man, Lust-of-
the-Flesh, Lust-of-the-Eyes, and Pride-of-Life,
which it was said the Tree of Knowledge would
cure, disappeared under the touch of the King's
son; and wisdom and knowledge were the sta-
bility of the times.

The old Observatory was pulled down, and the
ancient Telescope, called Reason, was supplanted

SATISFIED CITIZENS.

253

the
ted

by a far finer one, bearing the same name. The
four great Broadways were re-named Satisfac-
tion, Contentment, Gladness, and Perfection;
and the will of the Father of the King was
done throughout the streets. Ignorance was
banished, and the healthy- minded knowledge
of past days was increased a hundredfold; so
that the former wisdom of the Wise Men was
regarded merely as the graspings of the babe,
whose feeble fingers cannot hold firmly, and
whose immature mind knows not the substance
of that at which its hand clutches.

There were no longer in the City rich men
to hoard for corrupting moth and rust, nor
thieves to break in and steal. Poverty existed
no longer, oppression ceased — all had enough,
and to spare; and none coveted his neighbour's
goods, for all were satisfied. Neither did any
man either vex or envy his neighbour. None
strove with his fellow, and the weapons of war
were cast aside.

The pride of the western district/^ of the City
gave way to gratitude, the coarseness of the

254

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

north to tenderness, the looseness of the south
to honesty; while the exclusivism of the east
was turned into streams of liberality, which
flowed over the whole of the City.

The hearts of the citizens were content; they
loved each other, and they loved their lot.
Sorrow and sickness fled from every home, and
terror from each soul. The voice of weeping
and the voice of crying was heard no more,
but the songs of children rose continually.
The name of the King's son was praised in
the dance, and sung to the harp and timbrel.
The strong used their energy for goodness,
and the aged knew not infirmity. The streets
of the City were full of boys and girls playing,
and old men and old women dwelt there in
peace.

By the order of the King, the Way-of-all-
Flesh was closed; nor was it opened save at
his express command, and then only upon such
as would perversely reject the good and choose
the evil.

Even the dumb animals felt the blessings of

PEACE AND PLENTY.

255

ig.

lU-
at

ich
)se

the reign of the King's son. Those which
had been fierce, became gentle — they neither
hurt nor destroyed, nor were little children
afraid of them. Those which had been fearful,
became trustful, and trembled not at men, and
their groans and miseries ceased.

And more than this. The very character of the
soil whereupon the City was built underwent a
change. Instead of the thorn, came up the fir-
tree ; instead of the brier, the myrtle. In the
fields around the City, the ploughman overtook
the reaper; and in the vineyards, the treader of
grapes him who planted the young vines.

The solitary places became joyful, and the
desolate places blossomed as the rose ; the fruits
of the earth yielded their abundance, and the
fields gave their increase unblighted. The re-
membrance of what the Garden of Delights
had been, came to mind, yet the end was con-
fessedly far more beautiful and glorious than the
beginning.

Thus the great and noble plan of the King's
son was perfected, — his father's will was done

?56

THE CITY OF PROGRESS.

in the City over which he reigned, even as it
was in the Everlasting City; and the citizens
of both cities held converse with each other,
and rejoiced exceedingly in each other's joy.
It was the time of reconciliation and of peace.
The glory of the Everlasting City shone over
all, and, from the palaces of the King's son to
the humblest abode, all homes rejoiced in its
light. The songs of one City were learned and
sung in the other, and perfect harmony pervaded
both. The sun had risen with healing in his
wings, and the long, long day was cloudless.
Former things were forgotten ; sorrow and sigh-
ing fled away. The citizens loved their King,
and spoke of him as the Mighty Counsellor and
the Prince of Peace. The goal of their desires
was reached, and the expectations of all were
more than realized. Hence, by common con-
sent, they no longer called their City by its old
name, for that, said they, implied imperfection,
but they named it

The City of Rest.

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