The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 14, 1902, Page 16

16 ' THE SUNDAY CALL. (A CISTTAS PUE OF TIHE. = THRTETH (ENT ‘ - BY RABBl -JACGB VOORSANGER.. - TETIPLEY EINMANU-ED A AR, December 24, 2902 OME three hundred years befors the time of this story, on the northern shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza, where begins the great platezu of what in olden times was called Unyamuezi, there was founded & noble city, of an architecture quite different from either the English or American classical that distinguished the first five centuries of the third Christlan millennium. The city was the capital of & new country and nation, utterly unknown in the semi-barbarous eras of the twenti- -first centuries. From the for hundreds of years, the Nile, and the set- country, once upon a time dis- y Epeke and Grant and Living- stone had mingled their blood with that of c descendants of the Abys- eers, who, after spreading Somaliland, had swept the east of the Zan- , had reached nd lake. For Boer principalities of tested with the hardy aineers for the right of domain, un- decadence of the old mother coun- 2 n of independence e impetus to the ties 1n every part Soers and ihe ns founded same nume hat extenued centuries the A central Africa cor mou The higher iree tnousand e ocean, were quarter, from ree minu Jour- ace conveyances € e industrial iverted 1nto a works origin, tue { progress the city of Zan- { that name, n the lake, r leaving his h increasing y a stranger of and of a sta- d have been t e greatest possible A traveling cloak, shoulder, Elmorg's cujture close-fit- centuries eth century tors as the won- theory and ssibly make mbued with the great . be_permitted and frame, the revital- of a law powerful anger was a is period de- extremities, ith a loose: andals, a creature of a splendid fact he was one of n of his time, known be to the other as of civilization. by a’fine looking ¥ of 18, with the ish and the bronze his strong, hand- e to ask if Dr. Elmore of the African id your distant and times wel- sent to receive art resldence. bers for to-morrow e day is one of our Mr. Bittart is to two men made tory building n_depot for Entering a not unlike an swiftly traveled At this horizontal tun- ft, and having ntrivance they a few moments on the. farther S arms and for some hless with emotion. »émher he grasped thank God for this hap- d we bless him for the day and the at_we are permitted to see you,” ttart in token of lovin welcome these two Spcn 1 fashion, kissed each I AND IT WAS EVENING.” Dr. Elmore and Jan Sittart, an Ameri- £an and an African, were both remarka. ble men. The physician from Coloradg, renownéd as a physiologist as well - gienic harmony, at the mge of 4 tained a position such &s the scie former ages could not have real zed. A thousand years befors when science wa: empiric state, 1&' exponents found difficulty jn iconforming iscovered by them to the mor. al standards of society. The opening con- turiegof the third Christian millennium wereScharac ed by 2 singular discrep- ency between knowledge and human gcone duct. The generations of men then go. tive upon the globe were still unenlighten- ed gs_to the value of knowledge in mold- ing charact The great moral.philogo- phers of subsequent centuxies made this the theme of their reflections and medi- tations, and with the stupendous chahges brought about by industrial revolutions g fuller consciousness of the dignity of man @s 2 moral and social factor began to gain ground. Dr. Elmore was one of the eat international professors of a science hat applied every truth then extant or discovered by experimentation to the for- mation offthe social manhood, and in ‘every school a determination of the great- est capabllity for public "usefulness and the promotion of social peace had become the standard- of success. It was an era when men, through knowledge, were qual- ified to dispense justice, and when wrong doing was largely an evidence of diseased bodies and insufficiently trained minds. In such an age men like Lr. kimore are ministers of religion as well as Ingather- ers and expounders of physical facts. The great American physician numbered his disciples by the thousands; he had trav- eled in every country excepting Africa and he now came for a brief holiday to the Central African commonwealth which represented one of the mightiest as well as the most clvilized nation on earth, Twenty years before the opening of our story Jan Bittart, a scholar from Nyan- za, had visited the venerable shores of America, -then ripe with the power and cuiture of a thousand years, developed into the international arbiter of justice and right; and in Colorado the African student had fallen a victim to the phy cal and mentat charms of Dr. Elmore's sister Victoria, who forsaok home and country-to foliow her husoand to_ the heart of the equatorial continent. So it happened that the American taay had- be- come domesticated in a foreign clime, where her husband wielded a power the extent of which was nothing short of marvelous. It was the power of the teacher, the force of one who _directs but does not bend wills; who deveiops but does not subdue energles; who holds the balance of justice in the peaceful trials of ppinion; who measures with un- erring judgment the industrial ana soe.al relations Letween groups of members of the same commonwealth. In olden times Jan Sittart might have been called an economist; in the thirteenth century his vocation stood for nothing theoretical, but for an appiied knowledge of right,-for'a generally accepted and unquestioned de- cision in all disputes ‘or differences™ of opinion that required the mediation of an authorized ofticial, and for a public expo- sition of the great principies of justice and humanity, upon which subjects he had prepared textbooks that had been trans- lated into the tongues of KEuropean and American nations. ‘this eminent man was officially the director of the National Li- brary of Nyanza; but he was also the most courted moral philosopher of his time, a sage, whose wisddm largely influ- enced such statesmanship as was needed in a time when ‘the world’s great con- flicts had been brought out, and peace universal seembd to become one of the practical instrtutions of future ages. The family were assembled in the root garden of the residence, a delightful place, where the cool mountain breeze compe: sated them for the torrid noonday heat. Dr. Eimore had alréady become very friendly witn. his young nephews and their sister, the daughter of tne Sittarts, also mamed Victoria, after the dear mother, who had endowed her child with her own beauty and womanly graces. In fact, Dr. Elmore’s growing intimacy with his niece: seemed to discourage the younger Elmore, Tanyah, who, from his seat beneath a slender palm cast longing glances at the interesfing pair. “Uncle,” said the young lady at a convenient point in the conversation, “I would like to re- turn to America with you. My curiosity is so much aroused that I must ask mother to give me a vacation.” ““If she and your father consent I will take you,” sald the doctor.. “But’—with & gleam of humor in his eyes—* is no one¢ else’s consent to be gained to your under- taking so long a journey?” The maliden cast a shy glance at the ro- bust youth not far away and the hue of the roses in her lovely face deepened per- ceptibly. “I understand,” eaid the doctor, enig- maticaliy. “Parental authority has its even with young " Africar 3 Vell, Tanyah,” turning pleas- antly to His relative, “perchance Ameri- can civilization may enjoy the comfort ot your suggestions at no distant date.” _ “Is Agmerica clvilized?’ asked.the boid youngster. He mildily resented the older man’s discovery of his budding affection for the sweetheart of his childhood. The doctor smiled vely. “That is a serious question lightly propounded, Tan- yah, 0 can th true justice answer yes? Who is so free from vanity;as to Ggnaidly answer no?- I am an Amderican end I love my country. My nation is the greatest on earth. We have an Inheri- tunce of civilization extending over cen- turies. I belleve we teach and love jus- tice. We have freed ourselves from the political trammels of.earlier ages. We teach freedom as being no mere political expression, representing’ the ‘elements of scif-government, but the blessing of an individual who knows how"to value his own moral dignity. Our schools ishing, our laboring classes are at peace with their employers, we deal with other nations virtuously. ' We have given our colonies autonomy, and the great conti- nent discovered in the fifteentk century is now the mother of great nations. But, Tanyah, whether this peaceful state will endure always, whether civilization shall indicate that human passion is dead for- ever, and whether war—" “Uncle, what means that word ‘war?t interrogated Victoria. 5 Dr. Elmore thoughtfully paused a mo- ment before replying. “‘Blessed is the generation ‘that has for- gotten that awful word,” ssajd .he.at last, religiously. “I am grieved to confess thet it is still found in the vocabularies nations, including my own. Tt an obsolete word, but its sense and aneflnln: have not wholly, disap- ared.” 3 low was it applied?” asked Tanyah. “The histories of anclent times to that effect,” ‘Man in his savage state sought to attain his desires by violence. posed the weak and took their lives, killed ‘When the weak banded together and thus became an aggregate strength they, too, became crupl. of human blood. violation of the law of God which ancient humanity has been gullty. It is pitiful that we still remember the word. Man's education should mold him into a creature utterly incapable of un- derstanding any word that utters man’s disharmony with the beneficent Father Buch words as war, violence, “I would like to be at fault in making the statement,” . returned her husband. “It would blot out chapters of history, the reading of which even now makes my heart bleed and brings the blush of shamé to my ! cheek. of anclent times was a mere. theoretical of religion. save the world, so his disciples taught, but the world was not saved. to abolish war and bloodshed and hatred —all that kept man from union with God; but for twenty-fivé centuries since his coming man remained a savage. man proclaimed himself a civilized be- ing was the awful hypocrisy Christian ages.” ‘“You are vel Dr. Elmore, i ““The judgment of history cannot be too severe upon these terrible ages,”” rejoined *‘The religion of religious systems,’ pre- ty of converting man into the noblest creature of earth. But religion, an instrument of the highest moral education, was perverted to the basest uses by the utter selfishness of Princes used it as a cloak to hide their political iniquities. Priests| used the name of Jesus to invoke the basest pas- sions. Why, think of it,” cried he, “think of it, Elmore, the name of Jesus used to I thank God we live in other How can our children, brought up in love and peace, have the faintest ides of times when religious classes clubbed mission to their pe- ierarchies played the role of executioners, consigning to a death fire all who dissented from their the- when the most cruel rd from public pul- each other, when dy Jan_ Sittart and his wife had silently Jolned the two young people and their American mentor. “‘Did not war cease when came on earth?’ asked Tan: Dr. Elmore cast a si his brother-in-law. to-morrow to be the birthda; Tophet,” said he. ittart to answer your Jesus Christ yah. icant glance at e tradition holds of the Naza- ‘e might ask uestion. It profession than “All scholars, and most of all Dr. El- more, can to-day proclaim the facts of history without shame,”” answered the di- rector with grave but kind reproof. “The question must be answered in the nega- tive. That gentle teacher, who learned his ideals from the ancient Jews, was far ahead of his time. replied Dr. he Jesus cuilt The strong op- each other into sub: ‘War means the cullar ideas, when hi It is the most gical systems, denunciations were hea: pits, when sects hated social prejudice was rampant, when class distinctions were set up mors rigid than those of the ancient Pharaohs who lorded over the serfs in the Nile countrv more than six thousand years following or believing in Jesus? proclaim an age Christian when stone structures are used to instruct a few in a religion that does not enter into the life and blood of all the people? severe, brother,” For two thousand years after his death man worshiped him “*and proclaimed his ideals, but did not be- lieve in him.” *Is this assertion not too s bdnd?” asked Mrs. not millions m; Mr. Sittart. ? Was this te of society from trye civilization, and whe.her the people of my country wholly realize this fact, even I, who knaow them as few are privileged, cannot de- him and tried 7 y-represent 2 & et very far remove: eeping, hus- . ‘!'Va’ere there of people who believed in to follow In his footsteps?” TN RN SR I I e e - b M LR L Mo blessed are we, we Africans, whose fathers have unlearned all the incongruities of the social and morzl state of what was called Christianity! morrow, Elmore,_ you may worship with us. We celebrate Peac day. We reverence the name of Jesu: because we are taught that he is th Ideal of Peace. But we try to live the Ideal. That is the blot on the early Christian ages--they did not live the Ideal.” “You speak the truth” said. Elmore, “but is it not really the evolution of Christian life that has made us what we are? Is not every phase of human hi tory the precursor of better after times “I grant your contention,” rejoined Mr. Sittart. “But our ancestors did not se, understand it. Possibly they wers sincers in their assumption of perfection. But at this date we can plainly perceive what T must insist on calling the awful hypoc. risy of these former age: “But we must retire,” concluded the director. “To-morrow you will meet oup (Continued on Pags Fourteen.)