propose that you shall go into that lion's den unsupported. Wewill have twenty of the Brotherhood, under Rudolph's management,scattered through the household, as servants; and three hundred morewill be armed to the teeth and near at hand in the neighborhood; andif it becomes necessary they will storm the house and burn it overthe villians' heads, rather than that you or Estella shall come toharm."
I pressed his hand warmly, and thanked him for his care of me, and ofone so dear to me.
He laughed. "That is all right," he said; "good and unselfish men areso scarce in this world that one cannot do too much for them. We mustbe careful lest, like the dodo and the great auk, the breed becomesextinct."
"But," said I, "may not the Oligarchy find you out, even here?"
"No," he replied, "my identity is lost. Here I live, in my realappearance, under a false name. But I have a house elsewhere, inwhich I dwell disguised, but under my real name, and with an unrealcharacter. Here I am a serious, plotting conspirator; there I am adissipated, reckless, foolish spendthrift, of whom no man need beafraid. It chanced that after certain events had occurred, of which Imay tell you some day, I did not return home for several years; andthen I came for revenge, with ample preparations for my own safety. Iresumed my old place in society with a new appearance and a newcharacter. That personage is constantly watched by spies; but hespends his time in drunkenness and deeds of folly; and his enemieslaugh and say, 'He will never trouble us; he will be dead soon.' Andso, with the real name and the unreal appearance and character in oneplace, and a false name, but the real appearance and character, inanother, I lead a dual life and thwart the cunning of my enemies, andprepare for the day of my vengeance."
His eyes glowed with a baleful light as he spoke, and I could seethat some great injustice, "like eager droppings into milk," hadsoured an otherwise loving and affectionate nature. I put my hand onhis and said:
"My dear Max, your enemies are my enemies and your cause my cause,from henceforth forever."
His face beamed with delight, as he replied:
"I may some day, my dear Gabriel, hold you to that pledge."
"Agreed," I responded; "at all times I am ready."
He gave his agent a roll of money, and with mutual courtesies theyseparated.
CHAPTER XI.
HOW THE WORLD CAME TO BE RUINED
We were uneasy, restless, longing for the night to come. To whileaway the time we conversed upon subjects that were near our hearts.
I said to Maximilian while he paced the room:
"How did this dreadful state of affairs, in which the world now findsitself, arise? Were there no warnings uttered by any intelligent men?Did the world drift blindly and unconsciously into this condition?"
"No," said Maximilian, going to his library; "no; even a hundredyears ago the air was full of prophecies. Here," he said, laying hishand upon a book, is _The Century Magazine_, of February, 1889; andon page 622 we read:
For my own part, I must confess my fears that, unless some important change is made in the constitution of our voting population, _the breaking strain upon our political system will come within half a century_. Is it not evident that our present tendencies are in the wrong direction? The rapidly increasing use of money in elections, for the undisguised purchase of votes, and the growing disposition to tamper with the ballot and the tally-sheet, are some of the symptoms. . . . Do you think that you will convince the average election officer that it is a great crime to cheat in the return of votes, when he knows that a good share of those votes have been purchased with money? No; the machinery of the election will not be kept free from fraud while the atmosphere about the polls reeks with bribery. _The system will all go down together_. In a constituency which can be bribed all the forms of law tend swiftly to decay.
"And here," he said, picking up another volume, "is a reprint of thechoicest gems of _The North American Review_. In the number forMarch, 1889, Gen. L. S. Bryce, a member of Congress, said:
We live in a commercial age--not in a military age; and the shadow that is stealing over the American landscape partakes of a commercial character. In short, _the shadow is of an unbridled plutocracy_, caused, created and cemented in no slight degree by legislative, aldermanic and congressional action; _a plutocracy that is far more wealthy than any aristocracy that has ever crossed the horizon of the world's history, and one that has been produced in a shorter consecutive period_; the names of whose members are emblazoned, not on the pages of their nation's glory, but of its peculations; who represent no struggle for their country's liberties, but for its boodle; no contests for Magna Charta,{sic} but railroad charters; and whose octopus-grip is extending over every branch of industry; a plutocracy which controls the price of the bread that we eat, the price of the sugar that sweetens our cup, the price of the oil that lights us on our way, the price of the very coffins in which we are finally buried; a plutocracy which encourages no kindly relation between landlord and tenant, which has so little sense of its political duties as even to abstain from voting, and which, in short, by its effrontery, is already causing the unthinking masses to seek relief in communism, in single-taxism, and in every other ism, which, if ever enforced, would infallibly make their second state worse than the first.
"And here are hundreds of warnings of the same kind. Even thePresident of the United States, in that same year, 1889, uttered thissignificant language:
Those who use unlawful methods, if moved by no higher motive than the selfishness that prompted them, may well stop and inquire, What is to be the end of this?
"Bishop Potter, of New York, in the national ceremonies, held April30, 1889, which marked the centennial anniversary of the firstinauguration of George Washington, spoke of the plutocracy, which hadalready reached alarming proportions, and expressed his doubtswhether the Republic would ever celebrate another centennial.Afterwards, in explaining his remarks, he said:
When I speak of this as the era of the plutocrats, nobody can misunderstand me. Everybody has recognized the rise of the money power. Its growth not merely stifles the independence of the people, but the blind believers in this omnipotent power of money assert that its liberal use condones every offense. The pulpit does not speak out as it should. These plutocrats are the enemies of religion, as they are of the state. And, not to mince matters, I will say that, while I had the politicians in mind prominently, there "are others." I tell you I have heard the corrupt use of money in elections and the sale of the sacred right of the ballot openly defended by ministers of the gospel. I may find it necessary to put such men of the sacred office in the public pillory.
"And Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, Illinois, about the same time, said:
Mark my words, the saloon in America has become a public nuisance. The liquor trade, by meddling with politics and corrupting politics, has become a menace and a danger. Those who think and those who love America and those who love liberty are going to bring this moral question into politics more and more; also this question of bribery, this question of lobbying, this question of getting measures through state and national legislatures by corrupt means. They are going to be taken hold of. Our press, which has done so much to enlighten our people, which represents so much that is good in our civilization, must also be reformed. It must cease to pander to such an extent to the low and sensual
appetites of man. My God, man is animal enough! You don't want to pander to his pruriency! You don't want to pander to the beast that is in him. . . . Our rich men--and they are numerous, and their wealth is great--their number and their wealth will increase--but our rich men _must do their duty or perish_. I tell you, in America, we will not tolerate vast wealth in the hands of men
who do nothing for the people.
"And here is a still more remarkable article, by Dr. William Barry,in _The Forum_ for April, 1889. He speaks of--
The concrete system of capitalism; which in its present shape is not much more than a century old, and goes back to Arkwright's introduction of the spinning-jenny in 1776--that notable year--as to its hegira or divine epoch of creation.
"And again he says:
This it is that justifies Von Hartmann's description of the nineteenth century as "the most irreligious that has ever been seen;" this and not the assault upon dogma or the decline of the churches. There is a depth below atheism, below anti-religion, and into that the age has fallen. It is the callous indifference to everything which does not make for wealth. . . . What is
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