The Sunday Oregonian., April 19, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 9, Image 55

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND. APKIIj 10, 1908.
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STS UWIVR5AX VSK
TIIK use of nfrKS for various pur
poses on Kaster day is older than
Christianity itself. Tho custom
c an be traced back to the theolosy and
philosophy of the Kgyptians, Persians,
Cauls, Greeks and Romans. By all
tluj.se nations the egsr, as containing; in
.Itself the grerms of life, was regarded
as a symbol of tho universe, the work
of tho supreme divinity. Quite natur
ally, therefore, the egg came to be re
garded by the church as symbolical of
the resurrection of life hereafter, and
Its use as Kaster Kmplem followed,
l-rom time immemorial it has been the
custom to color and decorate g:gs and
present them to friends on Kaster Sun
day. Almost every county in England,
Scotland, Ireland and AVales has its
own peculiar custom or superstition
relative to the season. And in. most
of them the egg-, typical of birth, has
its place as a special token and sym
bol of Kaster. Undoubtedly the color
ing of eggs and so-called "egg rolling"
originated in a most curious game of
ecclesiastical ball played with eggs in
the churches of England in the Middle
Asjes by the monks.
These eggs were colored red, in allu
sion of the blood shed for sinners. From
the records it would appear that the
rules of the game varied in different
churches, but in the main the! pastime
consisted of tossing the eggs from hand
to hand, back and forth, and crosswise,
in a bewildering and complex figure. As
n missed egg meant a smashed egg,
this game proved detrimental to church
1 urnlsliings, and in time the eggs were
J (-placed by egg-shaped balls, the prizes
f'.r skillful playing still being brightly
dyed eggs.
Another pastime, which still survives,
was to roll eggs down a hill, the one
which reached the bottom intact win
ning the rest. A survival of this cus
tom is found in Washington, where the
children gather in the White House
grounds on Kaster Monday, and roll
ckss down the grassy slopes in the rear
of the building.
The customs in various countries con
nected with Kaster eggs have varied
but little during a lapse of years. In
Jlamluyl's voyages (158!) he speaks of
the common people in Kussia carrying
c;4gs colored red on that day, and gen
tlemen anil gentlewomen having their's
gilded. When two friends meet during
the Kaster holidays they take one an
other by the hand, one of them saith:
"The T.ord has risen"; the other an
V00D00ISM IS NOT YET DEAD
Negroes of the West Indies Believe Implicitly In the Power or the Olicali Man.
m OODOOIS.U dead? Don't you
believe it. Let the negro alone
and he will go back to it swift
ly atid surely. Thousands of Southern
blacks have never got away from it."
This was the emphatic declaration of a
man who, though he was born In the
Southern part of the United Stales, has
spent the later years of his life in the
British West Indies.
"W'e have managed to stifle It in this
country," he went on, "and the English
have done a good deal in the islands
they govern. But it flourishes openly in
llayli and Is no secret In the French or
Dutch colonies. As for our own coun
try, I would take my oath that nine
ilarkies out of ten, even of those who
sail themselves Christians, would oozo
voodooism it you stuck a pin into them.
"In the West Indies the name is obeah,
not voodoo; but the ideas and practice
are much the same, even worse. Tlu
blacks go to the obeah men to get ven
geance when they have a grudge, and
they're not in the least particular where
the vengeance stops. The obeah men are
expert poisoners, and there Isn't a doubt
that they accommodate their patrons
who can pay.
"In some of the West Indian colonies
tho whites themselves have to take
obeah into account in their dealings with
tho negroes. I mean that a negro who
has a grudge against a white person
won't hesitate to try to work obeah on
iiim or her, either.
"Generally it goes no further than put
ring evil charms In the way of the per
son to be injured; but one hears hints o
suspicious deaths and unaccountable ill
nesses. When you laugh at such an
Idea the old timers shake their heads."
Another American, who has spent sev
eral years in the Dutch West .Indies,
confirms the above. He says that the
negroes there enjoy the aid and comfort
of a bakru, whose services are secured
to them through the good offices of the
obeah man. A bakru is the spirit of a
dead person.
He is annexed to one's menage by go
,ng to the graveyard at midnight in the
last quarter of the moon, approaching
the dead man's grave by taking two
steps forward and one step back, two
steps forward and one step back, and
then calling politely but firmly upon the
spirit to enter your service. This matter
of politeness Is a most important feat
ure of one's Intercourse with a bakru.
If one doesn't observe the rules of cour
tesy and bid the bakru good morning and
good night, say "Thank you" and
"Please" and otherwise propitiate his
ehostly highness, he Is likely to play one
auch tricks as will -make him regret the
day or night rather that he ever en
gaged a bakru. But If you are mild and
respectful to your bakru be will prove an
excellent servant.
In the morning you can despatch him to
tho market witli the injunction to pick
out a good load of wood and save it until
you come after it. Then you can loiter
over your other affairs without giving the
wood another thought. The bakru will
hie him to the market, pick out the best
wood and keep it for you. The owner of
the wood may try in vain to sell It. He
can't: and that's because the bakru is
6ittlpg on it.
An obeah man or obeah woman is re
sorted to as a rule for help in working
a spite or In getting a wish, especially the
wish to bask in the love of some particu
lar person. Some of these charms are
rather extraordinary. For instance, if a
lovesick girl will take some of her hair,
burn it, rub It to a powder and put it Into
the food of the man whose love she pines
for she' will have her wish.
The most efficacious of . these love
charms Is said to be the mixing of nine
drops of one's blood wlih the food to be
eaten by the adored. This method works
marvels, making the hfteherto Indifferent
person a slave to the charmer.
The newly awakened love amounts al
most to madness and Is a sure thing until
it is disposed of by another charm. If
the charm worker will administer a kick
or a blow, the foot or the hand with
which It is given having been dipped In
water in which cedar leaves have been
boiled, the madness will disappear.
One way of getting ahead of a rival Is to
Feeure his shoes and wear them over
night. This promises that you shall fig
swered: "It is so of a truth"; and then
they kiss and exchange their eggs.
Hyde, in "Oriental Sports," says that
among the peculiar customs of Kaster
observed by the Christians of Mesopo
tamia the children buy as many eggs
as they can and stain them in various
colors. One of their sports is in strik
ing their eggs one against another,
and the egg that first breaks is won by
the owner of the egg that strikes it.
Immediately another egg was pitted
against the winning one, and so it went
on until the last remaining egg is de
clared victor.
In Scotland and the north of England
generally, it is still customary to boil
eggs hard and give them to children for
toys on Kaster Sunday. The same cus
tom is observed In Italy. Spain and in
Provence. In Vienna, instead of the col
ored eggs which is merely a toy -for chil
dren, the Kaster eggs is composed of sil
ver, mother-of-pearl or othCr expensive
material and filled with guineas or trin
kets. The egg was undoubtedly regarded as
a symbol by the old mystics' sometimes
of our mundane system and sometimes
of the earth only. In the first case the
yolk was supposed to represent our world,
the white Its circumambient firmament
or atmosphere, and the shell the solid
"crystalline sphere." in which the stars
were set. In the Mosaic narrative of cre
ation the spirit of Cod is represented as
"moving" or "brooding" over the waters
of the great deep, as a bird over her
eggs, to bring, forth and develop the lat
ent life.
In. the Hebrew characters derived from
hieroglyphics the egg typified the prom
ised Messiah.
Southey tells us that Dona Oliva illus
trates the mundane system by a compar
ison to a large ostrich's egg. with three
whites and 11 shells, our earth being the
yolk. The water, which, according to
this theory surrounded the globe, she lik
ened to the first or innermost albumen;
the second and more extensive was the
air: the third and largest consisted of
fire. The Jl shells were so many leaves,
one inclosing the other, circle within
circle. like a nest of bones. The first
of these was heaven, wherein the. moon
had her appointed place: the second, the
planet Mercury; the third. Venus: the
fourth, was the circle of the sun; Mars.
Jupiter and Saturn occupied the fifth,
sixth and seventh: the eighth was the
starry sky. the ninth the crystalline, the
tenth the primum mobile which imparts
motion to all, and the 11th was the im
mobile, surrounding all. and beyond this
there was no created thing.
The presence of an egg at ancient mys
uratively step into Ins shoes, as you have
already literally done.
If you want an enemy to die. get the
obeah man to work a charm which causes
tho feathers in your victim's pillow to
form into some sort of nondescript crea
ture; nobody is quite clear what it i,
bird or animal. The important point is
that it forms very, very slowly and only
at night; but as the process continues
your enemy wastes away and when the
creaturo In the pillow is complete your
victim dies.
Another way of gettine; revenge Is to
tear a live bird apart and put the wings
In your enemy's pillow. If you want to
be particularly cruel put some grains of
corn In the pillow of your victim's child.
What will that do? Simply keep the
child from growing any more. Common
ways of trying to work obeah are to
sprinkle graveyard dirt on a doorstep, to
put dead leaves in front of a door, to
hang a crooked stick over it, and so on.
Of course If you are black yourself and
somebody is "setting obeah on you" the
first tiling you do is to hustle up to where
your own special obeah man or obeah
woman lives and get busy at counter con
juring. It is .always a wise-precaution to
keep a "frizzly" hen on the premises. If
she can be induced to eat any. of the
charms left for your destruction you are
safe.
Salt, too. Is an excellent article to
have on hand. If you sprinkle salt on
charms left by your enemies and then
burn them the charms, not (as you
might like) your enemies you are
again saved. In tho South today if
you go into a negro cabin where a
dead body lies you will often see a
little dish of salt on the breast of the
corpse.
If yCHi think a person has conjured
you, throw salt after him. Indeed,
salt is good for many more things than
sprinkling on birds' tails.
An Engilshmun, writing to - Cham
bers's Journal a few years ago, admit
ted that In spite of laws and punish
ments obeah was commonly prac
ticed today even in the British West
Indies. When caught the obeah man
ii flogged and imprisoned; but the
cult continues in secret.
It is mighty hard, moreover, to catch
the obeah man, even though It Is per
fectly well known who he Is. As a
rule, he lives in some out-of-the-way
place, and the negroes are In such
terror of him that they won't betray
him to the authorities and won't tes
tify against him even when lie Is
caugh I.
People who have lived long in the
West Indies can easily pick out an
obeah man from a crowd of negroes.
He may be dirty and ragged and dis
gusting, but lie tins an air or author
ity which is unmistakable. If threat
ened by the obeah man, a negro will
turn as gray as ushes from sheer ter
ror. Iu spite of tho fact that there is a
law against working obeah, some of
the white planters themselves resort
to It, or a show of it. In oraer to
protect their crops from the whole
sale stealing of the negroes, they con
spicuously display at the edge of their
fields articles which are recognized
charms, such as a skull, or a bottle of
dead cockroaches, or a little coffin
full of pieces of bone, feathers and
hair. The negro believes that these
charms will fix him if he trespasses.
There is a simpler way of warning
off marauders: at least. It is not
against the law, as' trio placing of
obeah charms is. The planter whose
crops have been disturbed has only to
remark noncahalantly 'In the hearing
of the negroes, "Oh, I don't care! I've
got the footprint."
Before long the terrified culprit will
come with a full confession. The
belief is the coll is taken up and
burned . that particular aarky will
never steal again, and for the excel
lent reason "that he will be dead and
burled so soon that lie won't get an
other chance.
The negroes are very shy about ad
mitting to white folks that they be
lieve in obeah. As for answering
questions about special beliefs, they
become most uncommunicative at the
first display of curiosity.
If they don't pretend absolute ig
norance of the whole subject "Doan'
know nuttin' 'bout dat. Dat's sump'n'
I never did hear of!" they say
bluntly: "'Tain't good fur white folks
to know 'bout such things!" Most of
them when questioned by white folks
declare that they don't take any stock
In obeah, but If you ask tliem to cut
AS
vSVMBOLICAL
teries was, without doubt, esteemed as
belonging to the new birth.
The Cyprus was associated with an egg.
as was the Babylonian Astaste, and fes
tivals were at Easter or Spring. . The
Spring was also the festival of eggs with
the Tarmanians. and Mr. Oldfield has
given interesting particulars about this
festival on the Murchisan River of West
ern Austria, where it was called "Cairo."
down a silk cotton tree they'll back
oiT in a blue funk. Silk cotton trees
are the chosen residence of "dupples"
and "jumbles," and they arc, therefore,
the objects of a negro's respectful con
sideration. The obeah man is a very shrewd per
son. For instance, when he is ap
proached on the subject of buried treas
ure lie is always prepared to divulge the
exact locality where it is to be found.
He is not afraid of being discredited,
for he adds to I) is directions the informa
tion that the place is guarded by a
"duppy," which he describes with a
horrible minuteness of detail.
Or perhaps it is a httge snake which
has charge of the treasure. In either
case it will be perfectly hopeless to at
tempt negotiations unless the treasure
seeker will agree to give his soul to the
duppy or the snake.
While voodooism is by no means as
common here, or at least not as frank
ly admitted, the negroes of the South
still believe in conjuring, their animals
are still tricked, and they have a thou
sand superstitions about Iranian beings,
birds, animals, the moon, the wind
every detail of daily life, in fact. For
instance, any peculiarity of personal ap
pearance is supposed to be the sign of
some hidden power.
To be conjured or cunjured. as it is
pronounced is bad enough.. But to be
conjured by a blue gummed negro is al
most fatal, and to be conjured by a blue-
Making Brick Under Water
Problem Solved by Hardening With Blowpipe Flame.
-kNE or two of the most interest-
I ing incidents in connection with
' the building of the two Hudson
tunnels just opened for traffic have es
caped newspaper notice up to this time,
for the reason, I suppose, that the men
who put through great engineering works
are not given to boasting." said an offi
cial of the Hudson & Manhattan Rail
road, which operates the tunnels.
"One of these was the occasion which
resulted in making brick for the first
time on the bed of a river, and the other
was the occurrence under the Lacka
wanna coal docks in Hoboken.
"The north tube, as is well known. Is
an extension of the old tunnel started
years ago, which came to a halt 100 feet
awfS' from a reef of rock standing from
1 to 16 feet above tho intended grade of
the tunnel. When our tunnelers took up
the work they found that before the
shield arrived at this point they would
have to build a temporary workshop in
the river ahead of it so as to build on
tho shield a steel apron under which the
men could work while blasting and drill
ing the rock out of the way of the shield.
The bed of tho river above the rock was
soft sand and above that was about t5
feet of water.
"Blasting the rock with so slight a
cover and with such a heavy water pres
sure above, it was feared, might result
In tho heading being blown out. For
that reason bargeloads of clay were kept
constantly near that point to be dumped
in. The expected blowout occurred after
a few weeks, and the 900 feet already
tunnelled between the lock and the head
ing was flooded. .The men all got out
safely, and by getting the bargeloads of
clay into action quickly the hole was
filled. The water was pumped out and
within 11 hours the men were able to
return to tho heading on a raft. No great
damage was done and work was resumed
after only "1 "hours had been lost.
"Two other similar blowouts occurred
while the tunnel was being pushed across
the 700 feet of reef, all of which led up
to the Interesting circumstance of sub
marine brickmaklng. At the extreme
eastern end of the roof the rock rose
about 16 feet above the bottom of the
cutting edge of the' shield. The tunnel
at this point is so near the bottom of
tho river that the clay was almost fluid
and continually slipped into the pockets
of the shield, so that the men could not
get underneath the apron to drill the
rock. Scow after scow was dumped, but
the clay still leaked.
"As a last resort 'blowpipe flames fed
by two tanks of kerosene, were directed
agaifist the exposed clay until it was
thoroughly hardened, so as to hold its po
sition while the men drilled the rock.
OF
HEREAFTER
So it seems to have been a favorite sym
bol, very ancient and adopted by many
nations.
The Syrians used to speak of their an
cestors, the gods. as the progeny of
eggs. In the temple of Dioscuri, in La
conia, there was suspended a large hiero
glyphical egg. This egg was sometimes
attributed to Icda and sometimes Nemisis
gummed negro with one blue eye and one
black one is absolutely deadly.
The rain crow is the center of a whole
cloud of superstitions. For instance, if
you happen to he seeing spirits and
have no taste for it, take a rain crow's
egg, break it in water and wash' your
face In it. That will -cure you of any
ordinary attack of seeing things.
A well-known way of making one
self proof against "conjure" is to put
red pepper in one's shoes and a silver
coin between one's toes. Nobody but
a darky could stand the red pepper,
but they don't seem to mind it. and have
even danced in pepper-lined shoes, turning
a peaceful party into a bedlam of sonor
ous kerchoos. v
It may be a useful hint that if a negro
finds a coat or any article lying across
it, lie will be loath to appropriate it, This,
however, docs not apply to the Northern
negro, who is much freer from super
stition than his Southern brother Is.
If anything is made into a flat, tight
bundle and fastened by pins crossing
each other diagonally like this, X
It will be pretty safe from a supersti
tious dark-. The X is often used by
them. It Is the binder, making a charm
or a precaution doubly effectual.
While the terms obeah and voodoo
ism are used more or less Interchange
ably, the two cults arc not altogether
the same. Obeah is rather worse than
voodooism. It is a more desperate re
sort. 'Its vengeances are more deadly,
its practices more revolting. ,
In the negro republic, it is asserted,
human sacrifices are not uncommon in
the celebration of the obeah' rites.
Haytl is the hotbed of the worst form
of obeah worship a fact which was
given by the man first quoted in this
article as proof of his statement that
the negro, left to himself, will return
to his old beliefs and practices.
The blowpipe process took eight hours,
during which time streams of water were
played on the shield structure continu
ally to prevent it being damaged by the
high pressure. The tunnelling operations
were successful here because of the pro
tection from the submarine brlcK.
"Tho south tube furnished the other
incident I have mentioned. At the be
ginning of the work there the shield on
the Hoboken side was being driven
through silt, with the shield doors closed
to save the cost of excavating. While
the heading was under the Lackawanna
coal docks the superintendent, thinking
that the shield was moving too slowly,
opened one of the center doors so that
the mud could come in and Jet the shield
go ahead faster. The silt shot in under
such pressure that some of the men were
buried before they could escape, but the
rest of the shift got away through 'the
emergency lock.
"The heading was lost, and the tunnel
between the shield and the lock being
Jammed solid with mud there was no
space for air pressure in which the" men
could get to work digging out the mud.
The coal deck was crowded with shipping,
and because the Lackawanna, at that
time, was not particularly favorable to
the tunnel it would have been Impos
sible to get permission to dredge out
the bed of the river In front of the shield
so that a diver could go down and tim
ber up the exterior opening to the door
way. "The problem was solved as follows:
Two heavy mainsails were used to make
a double canvas cover about 60 by 40
feet. ' Weights of pigiron were secured
around the edges. The canvas was
spread on a flat barge. Then the barge
was withdrawn anil the mainsail was
allowed to drop to the bed of the river,
30 feet of It covering the shield and the
other 30 extending toward the middle of
the river. One of the pipe valves in the
lock was opened and the mud under the
pressure of the river shot into the tunnel
westward for 40 feet. It poured in for
eight days and' nights.
"A cavity had formed in the. bed of the
river outside the cutting edge of the
shield until tho canvas dropped and was
eventually drawn into the doorway
through which tho .mud was pouring. A
small cavity was excavated in the mud
filled tune abead of the lock, and the air
pressure being put on It immediately re
lieved much of the strain on the canvas
cover. Miners were then able to get
into the tunnel and dig out the mud. In
about nine days the heading was re
cover" and the door on the inside
closed."
Freckles may he hereditary. rases of
freckles all over the body are mentioned.
Food is net supposed to cause them. Sun
and wind make some faces freckle.
lummmm
THE RESURRECTION AMD
The Orphic cosmogony-, as presented by
Athenagoras, stated that water and mud
were the first principles of creation;
from their union proceeded a being hav
ing the body of a serpent, with tho
heads of a bull and lion, and a man's
head In the middle. This being was
named Hercules; or Chronas, and laid
an egg. out of which came forth ' the
good Phanes. .Of thte two halves of the
shell were formed heaven and earth.
LAW: ROMAN AND
Consciousness of Mankind Must Be Changed Before We Can
BY J. I,. JONKS.
THERE are two great divisions of law,
the everlasting laws of God, which
are written in the constitution of
tho universe and of men, and the tem
porary man-made laws and institutions,
ecclesiastical and political, which are ap
plicable at special times, in the ascending
or descending development of tribes and
nations.
When the Christian religion became cor
rupted and joined to the pagan state un
der Constantlne, it adopted or assented to
the Roman civil law. This was the law
of the roaming savage or nomad, the law
of the wolf (for Rome was the she-wolf's
litter), the law by which any wandering
brute, quadruped or human, took pos
session of whatever he could find by right
of conquest, the animals killing their vic
tims, the human beings either killing or
making slaves of them.
This is the law by virtue of which the
Roman Emperors gained world suprem
acy and when the Roman state fell, the
victim of its own corruption, the bar
barian hordes that overran the empire,
forght and exterminated one another for
1XW years, aecording to tills same law,
till at last the most powerful murderers
and thieves succeeded in establishing em
pires, kingdoms and republics, which still
exist and are still governed by tills same
kind of law.
None of these governments was estab
lished and none exists by any divine right,
but only by virtue of this Roman raw, the
law of the. survival of the successful war
rior and lila acknowledged right to take
possession of whatever belongs to his
vanquished foes.
But Christ came Into 'the world to in
troduce another kind of law. The word
of God is that ,the race is not to the
swift nor the battle to the strong in a
worldly sense. Which means that there
is a superior swiftness and a supreme
strength yet to be made manifest. These
superior forces are now being concen
trated; the decks are being cleared for
action and the greatest war of the world
Is at hand.
The eaijle of tiie United States is the
same bird as the eagle of Rome. It has
not changed its character nor habits. It
stirt makes its living by murder and rob
bery, as attested by Benjamin Franklin,
when he opposed its adoption as tho na
tional emblem. It is the symbol of the
Roman law of parasitism and plunder.
Probably not one in a thousand of the
people know the meaning of the word
Columbia. Columbia is Latin for dove.
Columbia, tho goddess of liberty, is the
guardian angel of this country, whilo
tho eagle is its evil genius. The dove is
the symbol of the holy spirit. The eagle
is an unclean bird, though in another
sense it is a symbol of the supreme pow
er and wisdom of God. In tho science
of symbolism all symbols have good and
evil meanings.
In England there is also a system of
heraldry. In fact, this is a universal
language. The bull (Johnnie Bull) is the
symbol of the Saxon element, the farm
ers and laborers who work like oxen
and are slow, sluggish and stupid. The
lion is the symbol of the Norman ele
ment, the robber class that reaps the
fruits of the labors of the others as the
lion devours domestic animals.
But a- full-grown bull will make short
work of a lion if he can catch him, so
when the bull element gets fully aroused
and infuriated the predatory gang will
have to take to the woods. The preda
tory and parasitic elements will have
to be. eliminated' from human society,
as tbey are now 'being exterminated in
the animal world.
Human society naturally divides Into
four great classes, first, producers or
workers; second, tra'ders and thieves;
third, teachers or instructors; fourth,
soldiers. The work of all these classes
Is beneficial or pernicious, according to
the way in which it is applied and di
rected. In barbarous ages the function of the
soldier was the most important, for there
was no use for people to produce wealth
if they could not defend it. But tho
soldiers did not limit themselves to de
fending their own property. They
seized that of others. Murder and rob
Aristophanes, in his play of the
"Birds." shows how at first black
winged night laid a wind egg. whence
lovely Eros, with golden pinions, soared
aloft and gave birth to all things.
The Hindus tell us that the world was
laid in embryo in the mind of Brahm
until the creation. When he spoke light
appeared; from himself came the inert
mutter to till 'up space; water was con
densed from around, seeds appeared and
bery became the most honorable of oc
cupations. '
In Rome it was said that the god of
tho Christians was an ass. They were
ridiculed, persecuted and treated with
the utmost contempt, because they would
not kill or steal: There was littie use
then even to defend themselves, because
they were not strong enough. They
would 'have been exterminated if they
had offered resistance. This was the
time in which they were counselled to
resist not evil, and to endure persecu
tion with such patience as they could
command.
Tho function of distribution is called
commerce or traile. The tendency of
business men is always to overvalue their
own services; to charge too much profit.
This is the reason that traders and
thieves are classed together. To cheat
by taking advantage of a trade or bargain
Is to break the commandment, "Thou
shalt not steal." The fact that it is done
legally does hot alter the moral turpitude
of the transaction. No nation is yet civ
ilized enough to take the function of dis
tribution out of private hands and op
crate It under the control of the com
munes and states. The attempt to regu
late railroad rates is a movement in this
direction.
The third social function, instruction,
includes the work of lawyers, doctors and
ecclesiastics. Among the Israelites, one
tribe, less than a twelfth of the popula
tion, was set apart to perform all these
offices. The word levt means conjunc
tion or connection, and the business of
the Levite was to connect the material
existence with the mental' and spiritual:
to be a sort of business agent between
God and man.
There is only one law that is really
valid. That is the religious or moral law.
Man-made laws are fictitious and mainly
futile. If they conflict with the moral
law they are pernicious. But no one in
this degenerate age goes to a lawyer to
find out what is right or wrong. Mod
ern law has nothing to do with right or
wrong and only serves to obliterate the
distinction between them.
The word doctor means teacher. The
word physician means interpreter of the
laws of nature. The law of nature Is the
same as the law of God, only in different
departments. One Is the religion of the
body: the other the religion of the soul.
If the people were instructed in these
laws there would not be any sickness to
amount to anything, and tho sales of
drugs and medicines would be greatly re
duced. As in the days of Israel, so now, one
man should be lawyer and doctor and
priest. He should be. a Levite and a teach
er of the truth, for there is only one
truth In tho absolute, and one law and
one life.
This is the law and tho truth (hat
Christ came to teach. It is the simplo
life. The yoke is easy and the burden
light. This is the law that makes men
free. The world is in grievous bondage
under a multiplicity of laws, civil and
uncivil, political, ecclesiastical and so
cial. There are mummeries and cere
monies, rituals and observances, per sae
cula seculorum, world without end; amen.
The old-time Pharisees and hypocrites
were so very religious that they used to
spend all their time In observing laws
and performing rituals that were per
fectly useless till they became so blind
that they could not recognize the truth
when it appeared and appealed to them,
personally.. A similar condition exists
now at the end of this dispensation.
The -word Isaac means laughter. Isaac
was the son of promise, the Free man.
Ishmaet was the son of the bond woman.
The way of Christ is different from tho
way of the world. He does not legislate
to make men free. That would only con
firm them In bondage.
He teaches them so to change their
desires as to bring them In harmony with
reason, and by-and-by the old habits are
changed. The constitution of the man
is changed. He does right then because
he likes to do it. It is no longer a bur
den; It is a pleasure. He does not mourn
because he has to grind out an unpleas
ant ta.k. He laughs because he feels a
new life. He does not perish of thirst
In a desert. He has found a secret
spring. Everything .in the material world
is only the symbol of a great reality, and
he has come into the consciousness of
that reality.
The present laws and institutions of
the world have been developed out of the
anlma mundl or animal consciousness
of humanity which is the dominion of
the devil. They are all at variance with
one another In a state of antagonism and
THE LIFE
vegetated. Again Brahm spoke, and on the
surrounding water floated a golden cgK. In
which there were three emblems, wis
dom, power and destruction, or birth.
Increase .and death. In the forms of the
gods Brahma, f'ishner and Siva, the
first earth, the second water and the
third fire. The sliell of the egg Is said
to have burst into 14 fragments. Seven,
flying upward, formed as many superior
worlds; the remaining, passing down
ward, were converted into an euual num
ber of Inferior ones.
. The Hawaiians believe that thoir island
was produced by the bursting of an eg?
which had been laid on the water by a
bird of great size, and beyond which
there was no other land. Chinese writ
ters tell us that In the beginning, when
all was darkness and confusion, there
came from a vast mundane egg. which
divided itsf into two parts, a human
being, who is and always has been
known as Poon Koo-Wang. Of the up
per portion of the shell he formed the
lieavens; of the lower he made the
earth.
It was a belief in Japan that the world
was produced from a cock's egg. From
this world a giant, .who had conquered
Heaven, made a woman, and she, by a
crocodile, became the mother of the hu
man race. The family of the Cangues
wore tails in memory and honor of their
extraction.
The Chyin (one of the tribes of Btir
mah) account of the genesis of the human
race is follows: After the earth, gun,
moon and stars had appeared, though of
what cause they owed their origin is not
clear, the earth of its own production and
generative power gave birth to. a woman,
who was named Hiee-mMi. Stio produced
a hundred eggs, from which were born
the different races of men.
The Egyptians also worshiped Cncph,
the architect of the world, with an egg
issuing from his mouth. In the hymns
ascribed to Orpheus, Phanes, the first
born gods is said to le produced from an
egg. On these principles the story of the
"Serpentine Egg." to which the Druids
ascribed such virtues, may be explained.
Pliny says, that as one of the badges of
his office, every Druid lias an egg en
chased in gold, about the size of a mod
erate apple, hung about his neck.
The egg was the type of hope and the
resurrection among the early Christians.-'
and the cu.stom of giving colored patch or"
paste eggs on Easter morning Is found in"
the East, in the Tyrol, in Russia, in
Oreece. and in many parts of England,
where it may be traced back to the time
of Edward 1. Pope Paul IF. In 1464. issued'
a form of benediction of eggs for Eng
land. Scotland and Ireland. '
CHRISTIAN
liansc l iiiiii of (ovei'iiuient.
strife. This is the condition of which
the word Ishmaei was a symbol.' ,u.
.The consciousness of mankind miit
be dunked before we ean change the
constitutions and forms of government.
I am trying to teach the methods by
whi'-lithe change of consciousness of
the individual can be . accom pi ished.
When this is done then wc will have
an approved model on which to pattern
the constitution of a state.
The old body of death has to be.
cast off. This means the whole body,
of mental habits, beliefs and customs.
Nearly everything the people believe Iq
is fjlse. Then labor is nearly all wast
ed in vanity, sensuality and strife. It
is almost as hard to change the cnn--sciousness
of a man as it is to change
the constitution of the United States.
Tho term United States is u symbol
of the state of a man. He is a union
of tt I"t of petty states, sordid desires
and selfish ambitions, modified iu some
cases by vague and indefinite ideals of
goiMlness, beauty and truth. When a
man has changed his own stato of
consciousness so as to realize the good,
the beautiful and the true, then he
may be able to write the constitution
of a state. But tills kind of constitu
tion Is to be enforced by example, and
not by legislation.
Francis Richter
Continued From Page 6.
1
Is not an explosive tongue. So many
of these people shoot their words out
like a cannon, and over trlfiVs fall into
what seems like wild excitement to a
more slf-eontrolled race.
A case in point occurred the other day.
A postoff ice employe, whose special busi
ness it Is to deliver money c-n postoiTui'
orders, called and I took "the oppor
tunity to imjuire about a lost order.
My stock of German proving Inadequate
the cook came forth to assist. Then fol
lowed such sweeping gesticulations and
vociferous protestations on the part of
the postman, who had three gold medal
lions of the Kmpcror and a Maltese cross
suspended across his uniformed breast,
that if the scene hud been laid in America '
it would have ben time to telephone to ,
the police. lint all the noise meant noth
ing. It was merely foam on the beer, for '
the gentleman was in reality offering a
most courteous ex pi a nation.
I have a eonfession to make, which is
in the nature of an apology to Puccini. .
I told about our seeing him at the Volk
soper. upon the occasion of the production
of his opera, Manon. Now it transpires
that the man who came out and bowed
so blandly when we were quite- sure he
inwardly meditated murder of the actor"
for their bad work, was not Puccini a
all, but one of the leaders of the or
chestra. How disappointing to And it out!
It was such a satisfaction to think we
had seen Puccini, for he was advertised
to be present and all the house shouted
Pucclni' when this parsonage appeared.'
And I said he had a bald spot and was
growing stout. I take back every word
of it, until such time as we lind out
whether our latest informant is reliable.
At present I am in such a state of coii-4
fusion that I don't know whether w .
have seen Puccini or not. Rut there's?
no doubt about the opera. That sticks
fast. -
Vienna. April 2.
The Ould High Hat.
Catholle Standard and Time
O! y needn't be so sly,
A M ye lads, when I go by.
Wid your win kin o the eye
An your smirkin an' all t hat
Shure. I'm wise enuuffh to see . ' .
That the cause of all your glee
In the ancilrnt rut o mo
An me ould high hat.
Arrah! lads muHt have their play.
So I've not a word to say; . A
Tls meesel' that wance was gay,
Ab the gayest wan n you. t.
Phure. there wasn't manny men
That would Joke about me then.
When me blood was young an hen - "
This ould hat was new.
It was wld me an me bride
When the hlessld knot was tied :
An it followed, when she died.
Where- they soon will lay me, too.
It bar served me all these yars, -Shared
me laughter an' me tears.
As tfs sharin now the Jeers " t
O" the likes o' you.
Now we're worn an' ould an sick.
But there's joy to think, avic,
That ye niver held a brick. "
An' there's some that can't say that. - '
So they needn't be so s!y
When they smile an cor-k their eye,
AM thlm lads, when we go by.
You an' me, ould hat.