CHAPTER IX.
Mr. Bodiham was sitting in his study at the Rectory. Thenineteenth-century Gothic windows, narrow and pointed, admitted thelight grudgingly; in spite of the brilliant July weather, the room wassombre. Brown varnished bookshelves lined the walls, filled with rowupon row of those thick, heavy theological works which the second-handbooksellers generally sell by weight. The mantelpiece, the over-mantel,a towering structure of spindly pillars and little shelves, were brownand varnished. The writing-desk was brown and varnished. So were thechairs, so was the door. A dark red-brown carpet with patterns coveredthe floor. Everything was brown in the room, and there was a curiousbrownish smell.
In the midst of this brown gloom Mr. Bodiham sat at his desk. He was theman in the Iron Mask. A grey metallic face with iron cheek-bones and anarrow iron brow; iron folds, hard and unchanging, ran perpendicularlydown his cheeks; his nose was the iron beak of some thin, delicate birdof rapine. He had brown eyes, set in sockets rimmed with iron; roundthem the skin was dark, as though it had been charred. Dense wiry haircovered his skull; it had been black, it was turning grey. His earswere very small and fine. His jaws, his chin, his upper lip were dark,iron-dark, where he had shaved. His voice, when he spoke and especiallywhen he raised it in preaching, was harsh, like the grating of ironhinges when a seldom-used door is opened.
It was nearly half-past twelve. He had just come back from church,hoarse and weary with preaching. He preached with fury, with passion,an iron man beating with a flail upon the souls of his congregation.But the souls of the faithful at Crome were made of india-rubber, solidrubber; the flail rebounded. They were used to Mr. Bodiham at Crome. Theflail thumped on india-rubber, and as often as not the rubber slept.
That morning he had preached, as he had often preached before, on thenature of God. He had tried to make them understand about God, whata fearful thing it was to fall into His hands. God--they thought ofsomething soft and merciful. They blinded themselves to facts; stillmore, they blinded themselves to the Bible. The passengers on the"Titanic" sang "Nearer my God to Thee" as the ship was going down. Didthey realise what they were asking to be brought nearer to? A white fireof righteousness, an angry fire...
When Savonarola preached, men sobbed and groaned aloud. Nothing brokethe polite silence with which Crome listened to Mr. Bodiham--only anoccasional cough and sometimes the sound of heavy breathing. In thefront pew sat Henry Wimbush, calm, well-bred, beautifully dressed. Therewere times when Mr. Bodiham wanted to jump down from the pulpit andshake him into life,--times when he would have liked to beat and killhis whole congregation.
He sat at his desk dejectedly. Outside the Gothic windows the earth waswarm and marvellously calm. Everything was as it had always been. Andyet, and yet...It was nearly four years now since he had preached thatsermon on Matthew xxiv. 7: "For nation shall rise up against nation, andkingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences,and earthquakes, in divers places." It was nearly four years. He had hadthe sermon printed; it was so terribly, so vitally important that allthe world should know what he had to say. A copy of the little pamphletlay on his desk--eight small grey pages, printed by a fount of type thathad grown blunt, like an old dog's teeth, by the endless champing andchamping of the press. He opened it and began to read it yet once again.
"'For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diversplaces.'
"Nineteen centuries have elapsed since Our Lord gave utterance to thosewords, and not a single one of them has been without wars, plagues,famines, and earthquakes. Mighty empires have crashed in ruin to theground, diseases have unpeopled half the globe, there have been vastnatural cataclysms in which thousands have been overwhelmed by floodand fire and whirlwind. Time and again, in the course of these nineteencenturies, such things have happened, but they have not brought Christback to earth. They were 'signs of the times' inasmuch as they weresigns of God's wrath against the chronic wickedness of mankind, but theywere not signs of the times in connection with the Second Coming.
"If earnest Christians have regarded the present war as a true sign ofthe Lord's approaching return, it is not merely because it happens tobe a great war involving the lives of millions of people, not merelybecause famine is tightening its grip on every country in Europe, notmerely because disease of every kind, from syphilis to spotted fever, isrife among the warring nations; no, it is not for these reasons that weregard this war as a true Sign of the Times, but because in its originand its progress it is marked by certain characteristics which seemto connect it almost beyond a doubt with the predictions in ChristianProphecy relating to the Second Coming of the Lord.
"Let me enumerate the features of the present war which most clearlysuggest that it is a Sign foretelling the near approach of the SecondAdvent. Our Lord said that 'this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preachedin all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the endcome.' Although it would be presumptuous for us to say what degree ofevangelisation will be regarded by God as sufficient, we may at leastconfidently hope that a century of unflagging missionary work hasbrought the fulfilment of this condition at any rate near. True, thelarger number of the world's inhabitants have remained deaf to thepreaching of the true religion; but that does not vitiate the fact thatthe Gospel HAS been preached 'for a witness' to all unbelievers from thePapist to the Zulu. The responsibility for the continued prevalence ofunbelief lies, not with the preachers, but with those preached to.
"Again, it has been generally recognised that 'the drying up of thewaters of the great river Euphrates,' mentioned in the sixteenth chapterof Revelation, refers to the decay and extinction of Turkish power, andis a sign of the near approaching end of the world as we know it. Thecapture of Jerusalem and the successes in Mesopotamia are great stridesforward in the destruction of the Ottoman Empire; though it must beadmitted that the Gallipoli episode proved that the Turk still possessesa 'notable horn' of strength. Historically speaking, this drying up ofOttoman power has been going on for the past century; the last two yearshave witnessed a great acceleration of the process, and there can be nodoubt that complete desiccation is within sight.
"Closely following on the words concerning the drying up of Euphratescomes the prophecy of Armageddon, that world war with which the SecondComing is to be so closely associated. Once begun, the world war canend only with the return of Christ, and His coming will be sudden andunexpected, like that of a thief in the night.
"Let us examine the facts. In history, exactly as in St. John's Gospel,the world war is immediately preceded by the drying up of Euphrates, orthe decay of Turkish power. This fact alone would be enough to connectthe present conflict with the Armageddon of Revelation and therefore topoint to the near approach of the Second Advent. But further evidence ofan even more solid and convincing nature can be adduced.
"Armageddon is brought about by the activities of three unclean spirits,as it were toads, which come out of the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast,and the False Prophet. If we can identify these three powers of evilmuch light will clearly be thrown on the whole question.
"The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet can all be identified inhistory. Satan, who can only work through human agency, has used thesethree powers in the long war against Christ which has filled the lastnineteen centuries with religious strife. The Dragon, it has beensufficiently established, is pagan Rome, and the spirit issuing from itsmouth is the spirit of Infidelity. The Beast, alternatively symbolisedas a Woman, is undoubtedly the Papal power, and Popery is the spiritwhich it spews forth. There is only one power which answers to thedescription of the False Prophet, the wolf in sheep's clothing, theagent of the devil working in the guise of the Lamb, and that power isthe so-called 'Society of Jesus.' The spirit that issues from the mouthof the False Prophet is the spirit of False Morality.
"We may assume, then, that the three evil spirits are Infidelity,Popery, and False Morality. Have these three i
nfluences been the realcause of the present conflict? The answer is clear.
"The spirit of Infidelity is the very spirit of German criticism. TheHigher Criticism, as it is mockingly called, denies the possibility ofmiracles, prediction, and real inspiration, and attempts to account forthe Bible as a natural development. Slowly but surely, during the lasteighty years, the spirit of Infidelity has been robbing the Germansof their Bible and their faith, so that Germany is to-day a nation ofunbelievers. Higher Criticism has thus made the war possible; for itwould be absolutely impossible for any Christian nation to wage war asGermany is waging it.
"We come next to the spirit of Popery, whose influence in causing thewar was quite as great as that of Infidelity, though not, perhaps, soimmediately obvious. Since the Franco-Prussian War the Papal power hassteadily declined in France, while in Germany it has steadily increased.To-day France is an anti-papal state, while Germany possesses a powerfulRoman Catholic minority. Two papally controlled states, Germany andAustria, are at war with six anti-papal states--England, France, Italy,Russia, Serbia, and Portugal. Belgium is, of course, a thoroughly papalstate, and there can be little doubt that the presence on the Allies'side of an element so essentially hostile has done much to hamper therighteous cause and is responsible for our comparative ill-success. Thatthe spirit of Popery is behind the war is thus seen clearly enough inthe grouping of the opposed powers, while the rebellion in the RomanCatholic parts of Ireland has merely confirmed a conclusion alreadyobvious to any unbiased mind.
"The spirit of False Morality has played as great a part in this war asthe two other evil spirits. The Scrap of Paper incident is the nearestand most obvious example of Germany's adherence to this essentiallyunchristian or Jesuitical morality. The end is German world-power, andin the attainment of this end, any means are justifiable. It is the trueprinciple of Jesuitry applied to international politics.
"The identification is now complete. As was predicted in Revelation,the three evil spirits have gone forth just as the decay of the Ottomanpower was nearing completion, and have joined together to make the worldwar. The warning, 'Behold, I come as a thief,' is therefore meant forthe present period--for you and me and all the world. This war will leadon inevitably to the war of Armageddon, and will only be brought to anend by the Lord's personal return.
"And when He returns, what will happen? Those who are in Christ, St.John tells us, will be called to the Supper of the Lamb. Those who arefound fighting against Him will be called to the Supper of the GreatGod--that grim banquet where they shall not feast, but be feasted on.'For,' as St. John says, 'I saw an angel standing in the sun; and hecried in a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst ofheaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the GreatGod; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, andthe flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that siton them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small andgreat.' All the enemies of Christ will be slain with the sword of himthat sits upon the horse, 'and all the fowls will be filled with theirflesh.' That is the Supper of the Great God.
"It may be soon or it may, as men reckon time, be long; but sooner orlater, inevitably, the Lord will come and deliver the world from itspresent troubles. And woe unto them who are called, not to the Supperof the Lamb, but to the Supper of the Great God. They will realisethen, but too late, that God is a God of Wrath as well as a God ofForgiveness. The God who sent bears to devour the mockers of Elisha,the God who smote the Egyptians for their stubborn wickedness, willassuredly smite them too, unless they make haste to repent. But perhapsit is already too late. Who knows but that to-morrow, in a moment even,Christ may be upon us unawares, like a thief? In a little while, whoknows? The angel standing in the sun may be summoning the ravens andvultures from their crannies in the rocks to feed upon the putrefyingflesh of the millions of unrighteous whom God's wrath has destroyed. Beready, then; the coming of the Lord is at hand. May it be for all ofyou an object of hope, not a moment to look forward to with terror andtrembling."
Mr. Bodiham closed the little pamphlet and leaned back in his chair. Theargument was sound, absolutely compelling; and yet--it was four yearssince he had preached that sermon; four years, and England was at peace,the sun shone, the people of Crome were as wicked and indifferentas ever--more so, indeed, if that were possible. If only he couldunderstand, if the heavens would but make a sign! But his questioningsremained unanswered. Seated there in his brown varnished chair under theRuskinian window, he could have screamed aloud. He gripped the arms ofhis chair--gripping, gripping for control. The knuckles of his handswhitened; he bit his lip. In a few seconds he was able to relax thetension; he began to rebuke himself for his rebellious impatience.
Four years, he reflected; what were four years, after all? It mustinevitably take a long time for Armageddon to ripen to yeast itself up.The episode of 1914 had been a preliminary skirmish. And as for the warhaving come to an end--why, that, of course, was illusory. It was stillgoing on, smouldering away in Silesia, in Ireland, in Anatolia; thediscontent in Egypt and India was preparing the way, perhaps, for agreat extension of the slaughter among the heathen peoples. The Chineseboycott of Japan, and the rivalries of that country and America in thePacific, might be breeding a great new war in the East. The prospect,Mr. Bodiham tried to assure himself, was hopeful; the real, the genuineArmageddon might soon begin, and then, like a thief in the night...But,in spite of all his comfortable reasoning, he remained unhappy,dissatisfied. Four years ago he had been so confident; God's intentionseemed then so plain. And now? Now, he did well to be angry. And now hesuffered too.
Sudden and silent as a phantom Mrs. Bodiham appeared, glidingnoiselessly across the room. Above her black dress her face was palewith an opaque whiteness, her eyes were pale as water in a glass, andher strawy hair was almost colourless. She held a large envelope in herhand.
"This came for you by the post," she said softly.
The envelope was unsealed. Mechanically Mr. Bodiham tore it open.It contained a pamphlet, larger than his own and more elegant inappearance. "The House of Sheeny, Clerical Outfitters, Birmingham." Heturned over the pages. The catalogue was tastefully and ecclesiasticallyprinted in antique characters with illuminated Gothic initials. Redmarginal lines, crossed at the corners after the manner of an Oxfordpicture frame, enclosed each page of type, little red crosses took theplace of full stops. Mr. Bodiham turned the pages.
"Soutane in best black merino. Ready to wear; in all sizes. Clericalfrock coats. From nine guineas. A dressy garment, tailored by our ownexperienced ecclesiastical cutters."
Half-tone illustrations represented young curates, some dapper, someRugbeian and muscular, some with ascetic faces and large ecstatic eyes,dressed in jackets, in frock-coats, in surplices, in clerical eveningdress, in black Norfolk suitings.
"A large assortment of chasubles.
"Rope girdles.
"Sheeny's Special Skirt Cassocks. Tied by a string about the waist...Whenworn under a surplice presents an appearance indistinguishable from thatof a complete cassock...Recommended for summer wear and hot climates."
With a gesture of horror and disgust Mr. Bodiham threw the catalogueinto the waste-paper basket. Mrs. Bodiham looked at him; her pale,glaucous eyes reflected his action without comment.
"The village," she said in her quiet voice, "the village grows worse andworse every day."
"What has happened now?" asked Mr. Bodiham, feeling suddenly very weary.
"I'll tell you." She pulled up a brown varnished chair and sat down. Inthe village of Crome, it seemed, Sodom and Gomorrah had come to a secondbirth.