CHAPTER XXXI.
The first thing that saluted the Buccaneer's ears after all therejoicings at his safe return were over, was a low, dull, rumbling soundas if distant thunder.
"What is that?" he asked of Dogvane.
"I know not, sir; but the atmosphere is heavy, and there may be a stormabrewing; but I hear nothing." This was an official statement on thepart of Dogvane that was wide of the truth.
The art of lying has already been touched upon; but there are many kindsof lies which have not been enumerated. There is the oblique lie, thelie direct. The lie by implication and insinuation; and passing by thevarious kinds of social lie there is the official and the diplomaticlie. The latter is very much superior to the "lie vulgaris" or commonlie, and it moves in the very best society. It is a most polishedcourtier. The official and diplomatic lie require very great skill andstudy so as not to betray their owner. They require also a naturalaptitude, a schooled countenance, so that neither the eye, the voice,nor the mouth discloses their secret. Your diplomatist especially, to besuccessful, should be indeed a most refined and accomplished liar.
Dogvane knew very well what the rumbling sound was. It was the DrumEcclesiastic. He thought for a moment and then muttered to himself, "Whothe devil has set that old instrument going?" Then after a pause hesaid: "The handiwork, I'll be bound, of that young rascal Random Jack.Drat his little skin! He's always in mischief."
But louder and louder grew the sound, and in a short time there could beno disguising the fact that the Church was sounding the alarm. Dogvanethought it best to take at once the bull by the horns. "It's a boldparty stroke, sir," he said, "a very bold party stroke and well worthyof the other watch. Knowing your love for the old craft, God bless her!they have tried to frighten you. Their goings on are really shameful."But now a most imposing procession formed up on board the Church Hulkand headed by the High Priest, proceeded on board the Ship of State anddiscovered to the Buccaneer and his trusty captain the vile and sinfulplot of the cook's caboose.
No doubt in olden times the cook, the butcher and the carpenter, withhis mate, would have been cursed with bell and book, when the devilwould have put in an appearance and have carried the conspirators awaywith him bodily to his infernal regions; but cursings have gone out offashion. In fact they seem to have lost their power, like drugs thathave been too long kept. The High Priest told the Buccaneer that hischerished Church was in danger. That in fact there was a conspiracyafloat, to board and rob her, and then to cast her adrift, when Heavenalone knew what would become of her. Of one thing he felt certain; themany flocks would wander about without shepherds, or would be tended bythose of inferior learning and understanding. The High Priest then beganto lecture the Buccaneer, thinking no doubt that he was the same pliantand penitent gentleman as of old, when he was ever ready to fall uponhis knees and cry, "I have sinned." But now when the High Priest toldhim that the danger to his Church was brought about by his selfishness,worldliness, and general religious indifference, and that to counteractall this accumulation of evil he ought to humble himself and scourgehimself inwardly by prayers and fastings, the bold Buccaneer opened outin an altogether unexpected manner, and said: "Should not all this bedone by my State Church? At least," he added, "set me the example, andwhere you lead there will I follow; but it is no use your pointing upthe steep hill which leads to heaven and bidding me walk, while you andall your followers drive there in a well cushioned carriage and pair. Ifmy Church is in danger, the danger comes from within, and you have noone to blame but yourselves. Let the crew of your ship, my lord, ceasesquabbling amongst themselves about trifles. Let them set their faceagainst the pomps and vanities of the world, and let them look wellwithin to see if by chance any worldliness has got possession of theirown hearts."
This cruel language shocked the Buccaneer's High Priest, and he wasabout to reply; but the Buccaneer stopped him, saying; "Stay, stay aminute, in the past you have lectured me a good deal and told me, nodoubt, many a home truth, and I thank you. I now return you thecompliment, for it may be of service to you, as you say your Church isin danger. All things on board that old Hulk there are not as theyshould be; for while some of her crew lead the life of Dives, too manyhave to walk in the footsteps of Lazarus. The labour and the hire arenot equally divided. I am going now to look a little more into myaffairs, and I shall soon call upon you to render a just account of yourstewardship. Many of you do not act as if you believed in what youpreach: the salt having lost in many cases its flavour.
"How have the mighty fallen?" exclaimed the High Priest. The Buccaneer,misunderstanding the words of the head of his Church, replied, "Andpray, whose fault is that? Perhaps there are hypocrites and evenPharisees amongst you; those who seek the highest places in thesynagogues and at the social table, and who are worshippers of forms andceremonies." What wickedness was here! But this bold, bad man continuedin the same strain, or stay, it may have been the wicked devil who wasmaking this eminently respectable and pious old Buccaneer, hismouthpiece. "Has pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency any place inyour hearts?" he asked. "Has my priesthood fallen and been led captiveby mammon and selfishness, and while they fix one eye constantly uponheaven, do they not with the other look too lovingly upon the earth?Fast then and pray yourselves, for thy faith may be weak, and as theIsraelites of old fell away and worshipped more gods than one, so toomay my priests have set up some graven image or images, and here may liethe danger. Search well yourselves and put your ship in order. It is nouse preaching to the world abstinence if you do not practise ityourselves. Our religion was placed in poor soil, tended and cared forby mendicant labourers, and it flourished. The workers now are of adifferent caste, the spirit of the first teachers has passed away, andthe flower fades."
This was not a bad specimen of pulpit oratory, coming as it did from anold gentleman who had commenced life as a pirate; but it is well knownthat the greater the sinner the greater the saint. The language of thebold Buccaneer was fully discussed and fully condemned, and the greatChurch drum still kept beating. The sound went out all over the land;was heard upon many a hearth, and put fear into many a breast, for theold Church Hulk was dearly loved, with all her faults, more especiallyby the Buccaneer's women, in whose eyes a priest was little less than agod clothed in a decent suit of black.
But what was going on on board the Church Hulk all this time? Theburning question of Church in danger was pushed aside, and high aboveeverything else the voice of controversy could be heard arguing upon amatter of the deepest import to all the world. It was the question ofeternal punishment, which, alas! can never be satisfactorily settled; asto whether the soul that dies in sin is surely for ever damned. Theadventurous spirits who had started this rank and soul-destroying heresyof hope even beyond the grave were few in number. These seemed to have abeautiful faith, if an erroneous one, in God's unbounded mercy, which,overtaking the poor lost soul before it entered the gates of hell, mightin some cases bring it back to the bright realms of eternal bliss. Forso rank a heresy there was perhaps neither authority nor justification,and it did more honour to the hearts of the schismatics than it didcredit to their understanding or learning; so it was thought. Themajority of the disputants stuck, however, to the penal clause, whichsays that the soul that dies in sin shall surely perish. These fortifiedthemselves behind ramparts built up of dogma and bound together with thestrong and lasting cement of human passions. Over the battlements theyhung out their banner, on which was emblazoned the words, "NoSurrender." The little band were driven back and had to seekconsolation in the thought that no matter what is said and done, God isthe God of Mercy.
Poor, poor soul, how heavily you are weighted. Given passions, anddesires, and all kinds of forbidden fruit placed well within your reach,with a longing to taste. Pluck, and you are straightway handed over tothe devil, to be flagellated, tortured, and burned everlastingly. So itis said. Ye priests, in the past, what a heaven and what a hell have yemade for human beings! See the father torn away from his fair-ha
iredchild and hurled headlong to the bottomless pit, where there is nothingbut weeping and gnashing of teeth, and a fire that is never quenched.See the mother taken away from her erring son, and winged up to heavenwith a bleeding, broken heart. See the sister with her loving armstwined round some lost brother's neck, and crying out in her anguish,"Lord! Lord! let me share his lot; let his misery be mine. Let memoisten his parched lips with my tears. Where he lies let me lie also."But the bitter parting has to come, and while one sobbing is taken toHeaven, the other is sent to Hell. In the dark clouds that superstitionhas hung over trembling humanity we see a little rift, as vivid inbrightness as when the Heavens are cleft with lightning, and through therent we see pale-faced Pity weeping for the loss of her children.
The Life of a Celebrated Buccaneer Page 31
