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And so, in the midst of all his polemics and bitter vindication, he allowed himself once more the pleasure of giving the reins to his love of scoffing, but, as in the Moria and Colloquia, ennobled by an almost passionate sincerity of Christian disposition and a natural sense of measure.
He finds they are four; divisions in religion, the scandal of priests, profane scoffing in holy matters, and "learned times, especially with peace and prosperity." "Troubles and adversities," his lordship says, "do more bow men's minds to religion." Which is true enough, though it only illustrates the line of the Roman poet that religion always has its root in fear.
He sits upon his stone seat beside the well, under the lace-like shade of the olive tree, in front of his empty field, all the soil of which is good clay but which no longer produces either raspberries or roses. Jean said formerly: "There are three things: roses, raspberries, lips." All the three have forsaken him. The lips of the young girls, and even those of the children, have become scoffing.
"What! dare you say that the vizier is not my father?" "No, no," cried they with great laughter, "he is your grandfather, and you shall not play with us. Nay we will take care how we come into your company." Having spoken thus, they all left him, scoffing him, and laughing among themselves, which mortified Agib so much that he wept.
The common witticism about the "Gospel and Gunpowder" headed hundreds of bitter and scoffing articles in the journals; and, as we afterwards learned, the shocking news had been telegraphed to Britain and America, losing nothing in force by the way, and, while filling friends of Missions with dismay, was dished up day after day with every imaginable enhancement of horror for the readers of the secular and infidel Press.
They disputed long, but in the end, Merlin, scoffing, said, 'Wherefore hath he not named his brave calamity?
If we depart hence, we either see dead bodies or sick persons carried about or those, whom for their misdeeds the authority of the public laws whilere condemned to exile, overrun the whole place with unseemly excesses, as if scoffing at the laws, for that they know the executors thereof to be either dead or sick; whilst the dregs of our city, fattened with our blood, style themselves pickmen and ruffle it everywhere in mockery of us, riding and running all about and flouting us with our distresses in ribald songs.
God and man will no longer endure the unbridled profligacy of the dissolute the scoffing of the profane the contempt of the divine laws the infraction of human rights. The times demand righters and avengers, and there will be no want of them."
They all followed this advice with the exception of one man, a coarse savage-looking fellow, with a huge black beard and matted locks, who called himself Bradling, though there was ground for doubting whether that was the name by which he had been at first known in the world. This man pulled out an enormous brandy-flask, and with a scoffing laugh said:
"Miss Palmer," said Ian, "I will drop my foolishness, if you will drop your fun." "I will," answered Christina. And Ian read them the poem beginning "Three years she grew in sun and shower." Scoffing at what is beautiful, is not necessarily a sign of evil; it may only indicate stupidity or undevelopment: the beauty is not perceived. But blame is often present in prolonged undevelopment.
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