The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best mobile ebook reader .txt) 📖
- Author: Percy Marks
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Half-Drowned In Mist. As A Matter Of Fact, However, The Religion Of The
Catholic Church, Putting Out Of The Question Its Theology, Is A Thing
Far Simpler Than The Outside World Supposes; Nor Is There A Doctrine In
It Without A Direct Moral Meaning For Us, And Not Tending To Have A
Direct Effect On The Character.
But The Outside World Misjudges Of All This For Various Reasons. In The
First Place, It Can Reach It As A Rule Through Explanations Only; And
The Explanation Or The Account Of Anything Is Always Far More Intricate
Than The Apprehension Of The Thing Itself. Take, For Instance, The
Practice Of The Invocation Of Saints. This Seems To Many To Complicate
The Whole Relation Of The Soul To God, To Be Introducing A Number Of New
And Unnecessary Go-Betweens, And To Make Us, As It Were, Communicate
With God Through A Dragoman. But The Case Really Is Very Different. Of
Course It May Be Contended That Intercessory Prayer, Or That Prayer Of
Any Kind, Is An Absurdity; But For Those Who Do Not Think This, There
Can Be Nothing To Object To In The Invocation Of Saints. It Is Admitted
By Such Men That We Are Not Wrong In asking The Living To Pray For Us.
Surely, Therefore, It Is Not Wrong To Make A Like Request Of The Dead.
In The Same Way, To Those Who Believe In Purgatory, To Pray For The Dead
Is As Natural And As Rational As To Pray For The Living. Next, As To
This Doctrine Of Purgatory Itself--Which Has So Long Been A
Stumbling-Block To The Whole Protestant World--Time Goes On, And The
View Men Take Of It Is Changing. It Is Becoming Fast Recognized On All
Sides That It Is The Only Doctrine That Can Bring A Belief In Future
Rewards And Punishments Into Anything Like Accordance With Our Notions
Of What Is Just Or Reasonable. So Far From Its Being A Superfluous
Chapter 4 Pg 25Superstition, It Is Seen To Be Just What Is Demanded At Once By Reason
And Morality; And A Belief In It To Be Not An Intellectual Assent Only,
But A Partial Harmonising Of The Whole Moral Ideal. And The Whole
Catholic _Religion_, If We Only Distinguish And Apprehend It Rightly,
Will Present Itself To Us In The Same Light.
But There Are Other Reasons Besides Those Just Described, By Which
Outsiders Are Hindered From Arriving At Such A Right View Of The
Matter. Not Only Does The Intricacy Of Catholicism _Described_, Blind
Them To The Simplicity Of Catholicism _Experienced_, But They Confuse
With The Points Of Faith, Not Only The Scientific Accounts The
Theologians Give ostly To Williams, But Some Of 'Em Go To Yale Or Princeton.
"Well, I Had Four Years Of That, And I Was Homesick The Whole Four
Years. Oh, I Don'T Mean That They Kept After Me All The Time--That Was
Just The First Few Months--But They Never Really Accepted Me. I Never
Felt At Home. Even When I Was With A Bunch Of Them, I Felt Lonesome....
And They Never Made A Gentleman Out Of Me, Though My Old Lady Thinks
They Did."
"You'Re Crazy," Hugh Interrupted Indignantly. "You'Re As Much A
Gentleman As Anybody In college."
Carl Smiled And Shook His Head. "No, You Don'T Understand. You'Re A
Gentleman, But I'M Not. Oh, I Know All The Tricks, The Parlor Stunts.
Four Years At Kane Taught Me Those, But They'Re Just Tricks To Me. I
Don'T Know Just How To Explain It--But I Know That You'Re A Gentleman
And I'M Not."
"You'Re Just Plain Bug-House. You Make Me Feel Like A Fish. Why, I'M
Just From A Country High School. I'M Not In Your Class." Hugh Sat Up
And Leaned Eagerly Toward Carl, Gesticulating Excitedly.
"As If That Made Any Difference," Carl Replied, His Voice Sharp With
Scorn. "You See, I'M A Bad Egg. I Drink And Gamble And Pet. I Haven'T
Gone The Limit Yet On--On Account Of My Old Lady--But I Will."
Hugh Was Relieved. He Had Wondered More Than Once During The Past Week
"Just How Far Carl Had Gone." Several Times Carl Had Suggested By Sly
Innuendos That There Wasn'T Anything That He Hadn'T Done, And Hugh Had
Felt A Slight Disapproval--And Considerable Envy. His Own Standards Were
Very High, Very Strict, But He Was Ashamed To Reveal Them.
"I'Ve Never Gone The Limit Either," He Confessed Shyly.
Carl Threw Back His Head And Laughed. "You Poor Fish; Don'T You Suppose
I Know That?" He Exclaimed.
"How Did You Know?" Hugh Demanded Indignantly. "I Might'Ve. Why, I Was
Out With A Girl Just Before I Left Home And--"
"You Kissed Her," Carl Concluded For Him. "I Don'T Know How I Knew, But
I Did. You'Re Just Kinda Pure; That'S All. I'M Not Pure At All; I'M Just
A Little Afraid--And I Keep Thinkin' Of My Old Lady. I'Ve Started To
Several Times, But I'Ve Always Thought Of Her And Quit."
He Sat Silent For A Minute Or Two And Then Continued More Gently. "My
Chapter 4 Pg 26Old Lady Never Came To Kane. She Never Will Come Here, Either. She Wants
To Give Me A Real Chance. See? She Knows She Isn'T A Lady--But--But, Oh,
God, Hugh, She'S White, White As Hell. I Guess I Think More Of Her Than
All The Rest Of The World Put Together. That'S Why I Write To Her Every
Night. She Writes To Me Every Day, Too. The Letters Have Mistakes In
Them, But--But They Keep Me Straight. That Is, They Have So Far. I Know,
Though, That Some Night I'Ll Be Out With A Bag And Get Too Much Liquor
In Me--And Then Good-By, Virginity."
"You'Re Crazy, Carl. You Know You Won'T." Carl Rose From The Chair And
Stretched Hugely. "You'Re A Good Egg, Hugh," He Said In The Midst Of A
Yawn, "But You'Re A Damn Fool."
Hugh Started. That Was Just What He Had Said To Morse.
He Never Caught Carl In a Confidential Mood Again. The Next Morning He
Was His Old Flippant Self, Swearing Because He Had To Study His Latin,
Which Wasn'T "Of Any Damned Use To Anybody."
In The Following Weeks Hugh Religiously Clung To Morse, Helped Him With
His Work, Went To The Movies With Him, Inveigled Him Into Going On
Several Long Walks. Morse Was More Cheerful And Almost Pathetically
Grateful. One Day, However, Hugh Found An Unstamped Letter On The
Floor. He Opened It Wonderingly.
Dear Hugh [He Read]. You'Ve Been Awfully Good To Me But
I Can'T Stand It. I'M Going Home To-Day. Give My Regards
To Peters. Thanks For All You'Ve Done For Me.
Bert Morse.
Chapter 5 Pg 27
For A Moment After Reading Morse'S Letter Hugh Was Genuinely Sorry, But
Almost Immediately He Felt Irritated And Hurt.
He Handed The Letter To Carl, Who Entered Just As He Finished Reading
It, And Exploded: "The Simp! And After I Wasted So Much Time On Him."een Gods And Demons_.--This Canto Is
Entirely Taken Up With The Struggle Between The Two Armies. A Few
Stanzas Are Given Here.
Chapter 5 Pg 28
As Pairs Of Champions Stood Forth
To Test Each Other'S Fighting Worth,
The Bards Who Knew The Family Fame
Proclaimed Aloud Each Mighty Name.
As Ruthless Weapons Cut Their Way
Through Quilted Armour In The Fray,
White Tufts Of Cotton Flew On High
Like Hoary Hairs Upon The Sky.
Blood-Dripping Swords Reflected Bright
The Sunbeams In That Awful Fight;
Fire-Darting Like The Lightning-Flash,
They Showed How Mighty Heroes Clash.
The Archers' Arrows Flew So Fast,
As Through A Hostile Breast They Passed,
That They Were Buried In The Ground,
No Stain Of Blood Upon Them Found.
The Swords That Sheaths No Longer Clasped,
That Hands Of Heroes Firmly Grasped,
Flashed Out In Glory Through The Fight,
As If They Laughed In Mad Delight.
And Many A Warrior'S Eager Lance
Shone Radiant In The Eerie Dance,
A Curling, Lapping Tongue Of Death
To Lick Away The Soldier'S Breath.
Some, Panting With A Bloody Thirst,
Fought Toward The Victim Chosen First,
But Had A Reeking Path To Hew
Before They Had Him Full In View.
Great Elephants, Their Drivers Gone
And Pierced With Arrows, Struggled On,
But Sank At Every Step In Mud
Made Liquid By The Streams Of Blood.
The Warriors Falling In The Fray,
Whose Heads The Sword Had Lopped Away,
Were Able Still To Fetch A Blow
That Slew The Loud-Exulting Foe.
The Footmen Thrown To Paradise
By Elephants Of Monstrous Size,
Were Seized Upon By Nymphs Above,
Exchanging Battle-Scenes For Love.
The Lancer, Charging At His Foe,
Would Pierce Him Through And Bring Him Low,
And Would Not Heed The Hostile Dart
That Found A Lodgment In His Heart.
The War-Horse, Though Unguided, Stopped
The Moment That His Rider Dropped,
Chapter 5 Pg 29
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