The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-07-03

TO give another than the prescribed in
depreciation TO the sacred records.
But such hubbub as il raised, and
such names as they were called, II
would be impossible for me to recount.
Destroyers Of religion, uprOoters Of civ
ilization, disturbers of the peace, disor-
ganizers, fanatics, poisoners of social
Purity-these were not the hardest nor
the worst.
And then the right arms scornfully
asked them to prove their right by theil
ability, and they triumphantly asked;
where are the battles you have fought
and won ? What books have you writ
ten? What statnary wrought? What
pictures painted7 When were you any
thing else than the puny weaklings
you are to-day ?p And the right arms
crooked their elbows and waited for an
answer.
In vain the left arms put in the plea
that no chance had been given Them
and that the right arms themselves
could not grow bound to the side, and
crushed beneath the weight OF ages ol
custom. In vain they said that at Ger,
| tain periods of their history, exceptional
left arms had fought battles, made stat
ues, painted and written. These were
held to be only those exceptions thai
are said to prove the rule. And as foi
their having no chance so long as they
were bound, they were told no decent
modest, well-behaved left arm had evel
wanted to be anything but boundi anC
that what they could not grow to while
while bound, they had no business tC
desire. And all the other left arm:
cried out, "Yes ~ and "For shame .
And declared that so long as they wer,
well cared for under the cloak, sheltered
from sun and storm, that was all they
wanted.
But the thoughtful left arms urgeC
again that, not for their own sakes only
but for the sake of the right arms, they
wanted q chance to grow and be trained
! "The right arms" they said, "might bt
their superiors in strength and in othel
ways, but yet they could do their OWL
work better with the left arms to helI
them.Y And they urged still further
''If the right arm be not our superior
then il is wrong and tyranny TO keep u:
| down. But il il be stronger and NOR,
skillful, why need it fear our eompeti-
tion? And IL the gods have indeed de
creed our inferiority, is it likely that We
shall overcome or out-wit the Al.
mighty or Allwise? So where is the
harm OF our having an equal chance and
doing the best we can ~ But the right
arms answered, as strong people are ac-
customed to do when argument fails anC
they are still determined to carry theil
I point, "But you shan't, anyway; SC
keep still and stay under your clOaks. y
Thus the contest went on through
many years. Little by little the left
arms gained more freedom and recogni-
tion. They were sometimes loosened al
together several years before their twen-
tieth year. They were not so severely
stigmatized for being stronger or know
ing how to do something. The right
arms began TO find that they were
really help in important affairs OF life
And the disgrace which used to attach
to those who received their assistance,
began to wear away. Rumors came to
them from time to time of other lands
where the left arms were entirely free,
and where the Gods seemed to take
no notice of the enormity either
by signs in the heavens or by earth
quakes or pestilence below. Some
travellers even had the effrontery
to declare that socially and politically
they got along as well as they did.
"Better," they whispered under their
breath; but they did not dare TO say that
out loud. rr.
OF course the old and the wise shook
their heads, and IL they did not utter
maledictions, they muttered their in
credulity. The new ideas crept in
slowly, the Odium of hereto, fanatic
and disturber gradually wore away, and
the left arm began to grow and labor,
and assume its natural place and natu-
raj work, as not the like but the equal Of
the other. They developed and were
trained together, and they never came
into conflict, because they found il more
natural and pleasant to help each other.
They found that one can do what the
other could not, and that both together
could accomplish what neither could
alone. The right hand needed the left,
and the left hand needed the right
They were not rivals, but complement
tary to each other. And so they clasped
and became perpetual friends.
Thus, after ages Of misunderstanding,
wrong and conflict, nature triumphed,
and the purpose of God in His wise crea-