San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-06-02

that prayer to have anything but
an allegorical meaning; how any
one could believe even for a mo-
ment that the prophet was inside
of the body OF a live fish.
The prophet crying out of the
shelly of hell" IN A SENSE WAS
in the shelly OF hell" Not inside
Of fish but amidst corruption and
dissipation.
He had been "cast out of the
sight OF God,"i /. e.; into the slums
OF crime.
The "waters that compassed him
about, even to the "soul," must re-
fer to spiritual experiences.
The "weeds wrapped about his
head" did not grow inside OF a fish,
but were the vice and sin, with
which he found himself surround
ed and which tended to strangle
him.
"Thou hast brought up my life
from corruption" which he is said
to have prayed while inside Of the
fish, can mean nothing but "thou
hast helped me to remain pure
and interrupted amidst all the
evil influences OF a wicked COM
munity.
And finally: speaking of "They
that observe lying vanities fore
sake their own mercies," has refer
ence to others being with him in
side of the "fish," |. e., inside Of the
great city called the "fsh."
1t is thus easily understood, why
through the ages Of blind belief,
myths or legends, which were never
intended for anything else, should
have come to pass for absolute
fact, and 1t seems quite unneces-
sary to insist upon the literal be-
lief Of such biblical writings, since
the real truth about them does not
rob them of either their literary
nor religious beauty, while at the
same time it robs sarcasm OF one
Of its daily weapons.
cannot let this pass, without
referring to the many Ninevehs
in our own fair land. Many Of
them are much in need of some
Jonah to preach repentance, to
cause the inhabitants to put on
sackcloth and to strew ashes upon
their heads; from the mayor and
aldermen down to the street-com-
missioner and the police, from
bankers and gamblers to fake pro-
fessionals and fads, from her who
holds the most expensive pew in
the church and whose carriage
adornsRiver avenue,to that poor one
who is taken up by the police once
a month in order to extract an Gin
come tax" which the judges Of
the Supreme court have not vet
had time to declare unconstitution-
al. -
Not until a Jonah has arisen in
every borough and town to
cleanse the hearts of the people,
can we expect parity and repen-
lance in our national government.
If our people are consciousness, the
government cannot be otherwise,
for it comes from the people.
Now and then a Jonah does
arise, but when he sees the mass OF
filth to be cleared away, he is apt
to take voyage In an opposite d.
rection, and there Is always some
one ready to pay his fare. Politics
have corrupted many of the most
ardent reformers.
Hardly are we past an election,
when the successful "reform par
ty" in order to fill the promises
made, must resort to more or less
crooked means to comply with
them.
So much hampering has been
done with our laws that it may be
said we have no law at all, except
the one for the rich to do nothing
and to pay nothing (neither city
nor income tax and then the one
law for the poor: to "keep off the
grass"
Would that a Jonah came to
preach to the Supreme court of the
United States, that the people have
their eyes directed its way, that
bhSg now OpSuA W HuOSOiOh
whether or not that highest and
heretofore supposed incorruptible
body has begun to stoop!
Little did the people of the great
Assyrisn empire dream that in a
few centuries corruption would
lead them to destruction, or that
coming generations would forget
that they ever had been at all.
Those ambitious Legislators, whose
voices vibrated in the halls OF
Nineveh, little foresaw, that in
time of a few centuries lizards and
jacals would hold sway in under
ground chambers, the remnants of
their grand masonic structures.
And what is there left today to
tell the world that such magnifi-
cence ever has been? Nothing but
one little story-the sad, sad story,
that it went down under corrup-
ton!
Do the men at the head Of our
government know anything of his
tory, or will they not heed the