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evolution and ethics and other essays-第35部分
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one; and I prefer to fortify it by the help of evidence which; though
some of it may be anonymous; cannot be sneered away。 And I shall '268'
be believed; when I say that nothing but a sense of the great social
danger of the spread of Boothism could induce me to revive a scandal;
even though it is barely entitled to the benefit of the Statute of
Limitations。
On the 7th of July; 1883; you; Sir; did the public a great service by
writing a leading article on the notorious 〃Eagle〃 case; from which I
take the following extract:
〃Mr。 Justice Kay refused the application; but he was induced to refuse
it by means which; as Mr。 Justice Stephen justly remarked; were highly
discreditable to Mr。 Booth。 Mr。 Booth filed an affidavit which appears
totally to have misled Mr。 Justice Kay; as it would have misled any one
who regarded it as a frank and honest statement by a professed teacher
of religion。〃
When I addressed my first letter to you I had never so much as heard of
the 〃Eagle〃 scandal。 But I am thankful that my perception of the
inevitable tendency of all religious autocracies towards evil was
clear enough to bring about a provisional condemnation of Mr。 Booth's
schemes in my mind。 Supposing that I had decided the other way; with
what sort of feeling should I have faced my friend; when I had to
confess that the money had passed into the absolute control of a
person about the character of whose administration this '269'
concurrence of damnatory evidence was already extant?
I have nothing to say about Mr。 Booth personally; for I know nothing。
On that subject; as on several others; I profess myself an agnostic。
But; if he is; as he may be; a saint actuated by the purest of
motives; he is not the first saint who; as you have said; has shown
himself 〃in the ardour of prosecuting a well…meant object〃 to be
capable of overlooking 〃the plain maxims of every…day morality。〃 If I
were a Salvationist soldier; I should cry with Othello; 〃Cassio; I
love thee; but never more be officer of mine。〃
I am; Sir; your obedient servant;
T。 H。 Huxley。
V
The 〃Times;〃 December 24th; 1890
Sir;If I have any strong points; finance is certainly not one of
them。 But the financial; or rather fiscal; operations of the General
of the Salvation Army; as they are set forth and exemplified in 〃The
New Papacy;〃 possess that grand simplicity which is the mark of
genius; '270' and even I can comprehend themor; to be more modest; I
can portray them in such a manner that every lineament; however harsh;
and every shade; however dark; can be verified by published evidence。
Suppose there is a thriving; expanding colonial town; and that;
scattered among its artisans and labourers; there is a sprinkling of
Methodists; or other such ultra…evangelical good people; doing their
best; in a quiet way; to 〃save souls。〃 Clearly; this is an outpost
which it is desirable to capture。 〃We;〃 therefore; take measures to
get up a Salvation 〃boom〃 of the ordinary pattern。 Enthusiasm is
roused。 A score or two of soldiers are enlisted into the ranks of the
Salvation Army。 〃We〃 select the man who promises to serve our purposes
best; make a 〃captain〃 of him; and put him in command of the 〃corps。〃
He is very pleased and grateful; and indeed he ought to be。 All he has
done is that he has given up his trade; that he has promised to work
at least nine hours a day in our service (none of your eight…hour
nonsense for us) as collector; bookseller; general agent; and anything
else we may order him to be。 〃We;〃 on the other hand; guarantee him
nothing whatever; to do so might weaken his faith and substitute
worldly for spiritual ties between us。 Knowing that; if he exerts
himself in a right spirit; his labours will surely be blessed; we
content ourselves with telling him that if; after all '271' expenses
are paid and our demands are satisfied each week; 25s。 remains; he may
take it。 And; if nothing remains; he may take that; and stay his
stomach with what the faithful may give him。 With a certain grim
playfulness; we add that the value of these contributions will be
reckoned as so much salary。 So long as our 〃captain〃 is successful;
therefore; a beneficent spring of cash trickles unseen into our
treasury; when it begins to dry up we say; 〃God bless you; dear boy;〃
turn him adrift (with or without 2s。 4d。 in his pocket); and put some
other willing horse in the shafts。
The 〃General;〃 I believe; proposes; among other things; to do away
with 〃sweating。〃 May he not as well set a good example by beginning at
home? My little sketch; however; looks so like a monstrous caricature
that; after all; I must produce the original from the pages of my
Canadian authority。 He says that a 〃captain〃 〃has to pay 10 per cent。
of all collections and donations to the divisional fund for the
support of his divisional officer; who has also the privilege of
arranging for such special meetings as he shall think fit; the
proceeds of which he takes away for the general needs of the division。
Headquarters; too; has the right to hold such special meetings at the
corps and send around such special attractions as its wisdom sees fit;
and to take away the proceeds for the purposes it decides upon。
'272' He has to pay the rent of his building; either to headquarters or
a private individual; he has to send the whole collection of the
afternoon meeting of the first Sunday in the month to the 'Extension
Fund' at headquarters; he has to pay for the heating; lighting; and
cleaning of his hall; together with such necessary repairs as may be
needed; he has to provide the food; lodging; and clothing of his
cadet; if he has one; headquarters taxes him with so many copies of
the army papers each week; for which he has to pay; sold or unsold;
and when he has done this; he may take 6 (or 5; being a woman); or
such proportion of it as may be left; with which to clothe and feed
himself and to pay the rent and provide for the heating and lighting
of his quarters。 If he has a lieutenant he has to pay him 6 per week;
or such proportion of it as he himself gets; and share the house
expenses with him。 Now; it will be easily understood that at least 60
per cent。 of the stations in Canada the officer gets no money at all;
and he has to beg specially amongst his people for his house…rent and
food。 There are few places in the Dominion in which the soldiers do
not find their officers in all the food they need; but it must be
remembered that the value of the food so received has to be accounted
for at headquarters and entered upon the books of the corps as cash
received; the amount being deducted from any moneys that the officer
is able to take from the '273' week's collections。 So that; no matter
how much may be specially given; the officer cannot receive more than
the value of 6 per week。 The officer cannot collect any arrears of
salary; as each week has to pay its own expenses; and if there is any
surplus cash after all demands are met it must be sent to the 'war
chest' at headquarters。〃〃The New Papacy〃 (pp。 35; 36)。
Evidently; Sir; 〃headquarters〃 has taken to heart the injunction about
casting your bread upon the waters。 It casts the crumb of a day or
two's work of an emissary; and gets back any quantity of loaves of
cash; so long as 〃captains〃 present themselves to be used up and
replaced by new victims。 What can be said of these devoted poor
fellows except; O sancta simplicitas!
But it would be a great mistake to suppose that the money…gathering
efficacy of Mr。 Booth's fiscal agencies is exhausted by the foregoing
enumeration of their regular operations。 Consider the following
edifying history of the 〃Rescue Home〃 in Toronto:
〃It is a fine building in the heart of the city; the lot cost 7;000;
and a building was put up at a cost of 7;000 more; and there is a
mortgage on it amounting to half the cost of the whole。 The land
to…day would probably fetch double its original price; and every year
enhances its value。。。。In the first five months of its '274' existence
this institution received from the public an income of 1;812 70c。;
out of this 600 was paid to headquarters for rent; 590 52c。 was
spent upon the building in various ways; and the balance of 622 18c。
paid the salaries of the staff and supported the inmates〃 (pp。 24;
25)。
Said I not truly that Mr。 Booth's fisc bears the stamp of genius? Who
else could have got the public to buy him a 〃corner lot;〃 put a
building upon it; pay all its working expenses: and then; not content
with paying him a heavy rent for the use of the handsome present they
had made him; they say not a word against his mortgaging it to half
its value? And; so far as any one knows; there is nothing to stop
headquarters from selling the whole estate tomorrow; and using the
money as the 〃General〃 may direct。
Once more listen to the author of 〃The New Papacy;〃 who affirms that
〃out of the funds given by the Dominion for the evangelization of the
people by means of the Salvation Army; one sixth had been spent in the
extension of the Kingdom of God; and the other five sixths had been
invested in valuable property; all handed over to Mr。 Booth and his
heirs and assigns; as we have already stated〃 (p。 26)。
And this brings me to the last point upon which I wish to touch。 The
answer to all inquiries as to what has become of the enormous '275'
personal and real estate which has been given over to Mr。 Booth is
that it is held 〃in trust。〃 The supporters of Mr。 Booth may feel
justified in taking that statement 〃on trust。〃 I do not。 Anyhow; the
more completely satisfactory this 〃trust〃 is; the less can any man who
asks the public to put blind faith in his integrity and his wisdom
object to acquaint them exactly with its provisions。 Is the trust
drawn up in favour of the Salvation Army? But what is the legal status
of the Salvation Army? Have the soldiers any claim? Certainly not。
Have the officers any legal interest in the 〃trust〃? Surely not。 The
〃General〃 has taken good care to insist on their renouncing all claims
as a condition of their appointment。 Thus; to all appearance; the
army; as a legal
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