"
Such, no doubt, will be the summary verdict passed upon Mr. Cardew.
The truth is, however, that he did not cant, and was not a
hypocrite. One or two observations here may perhaps be pertinent.
The accusation of hypocrisy, if we mean lofty assertion, and
occasional and even conspicuous moral failure, may be brought
against some of the greatest figures in history. But because David
sinned with Bathsheba, and even murdered her husband, we need not
discredit the sincerity of the Psalms. The man was inconsistent, it
is true, inconsistent exactly because there was so much in him that
was great, for which let us be thankful. Let us take notice too, of
what lies side by sidle quietly in our own souls. God help us if
all that is good in us is to be invalidated by the presence of the
most contradictory evil.
Secondly it is a fact that vitality means passion. It does not mean
avarice or any of the poor, miserable vices. If David had been a
wealthy and most pious Jerusalem shopkeeper, who subscribed largely
to missionary societies to the Philistines, but who paid the poor
girls in his employ only two shekels a week, refusing them ass-hire
when they had to take their work three parts of the way to
Bethlehem, and turning them loose at a minute's warning, he
certainly would not have been selected to be part author of the
Bible, even supposing his courtship and married life to have been
most exemplary and orthodox. We will, however, postpone any further
remarks upon Mr.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107