The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-10-11
The Ten Virgins.

Late, late, so late! and dark and night
and chill,
Late, late, so late! but we can enter still
TOO late, too late! We can not enter
nowI'
No light had we:-for that we do repent
And learning this, the Bridegroom vii
relent.
Too late! too late! We can not entel
nowr'
No light! so late! and dark and chill the
night
o let US in, that we may find the light
Too late, too late! ye can not enter
nowr'
Have We not heard the Bridegroom i.
so sweet!
o let US in, though late, to kiss His feet
NO! no! too late! We can not enter
nowr'
Alfred Tennyson: Idylls of the King
This parable fairly teens with
Oriental incident and coloring. 1t
has been called beautiful, simple,
rich in structure, and fullest in
many sided meaning. 1t is one OF
several touching the consumma-
ton of the kingdom of God.
There were ten virgins. The
number suggests Wilderness or en-
tirety, ten being the all-compre-
hending number. The virgins
were alike in that they all had
lamps. They all wanted to meet
the Bridegroom. They all slept.
The things in which they agreed
were mere accidents. The thing
in which they differed was the es-
sential. Five (the number is not
significant, certainly not of the pro-
portion of those who are elect had
oil with which to make the festive
illumination. The other five were
vain and thoughtless, looking only
at the appearances, personally un-
ready, and vainly expecting to
have their lamps filled on a sud
den from the common store.
There is a true touch of Orieu.
talism in the suddenness OF the
Bridegroom's arrival. The time
could not be scheduled as upon a
modern railway time. card.
The dialogue between the wise
and foolish is pathetic. Give
u.s. is the futile plead of Folly.
Not son' is the strong repellent
negative of Wisdom. There is
really no severity, much less irony,
in the reply and accompanying ad-
vice.
The fate OF the foolish, on the
face OF it, seems remediless. The
time when they could have gotten
the oil was past. They were late
in troubling themselves. The
time when the illumination was
needed was over. The bridal party
was already in the brilliancy of
the banquet hall, and the door was
shut. How could the Bridegroom
recognize those who had not been
of the company to bid Him well
come and lead Him to His bride?
So much for the pictorial side of
the parable. In its spiritual APP
plication the minutia count for lit
tie, and one needs to be on guard
against excessive allegorising In
a general way it may be said that
the ten represent the whole visible
Church, part of which to this day
has the form only Greed and sacra-
ment)-the lightless lamp of a
mere ecclesiastical confession. The
other part has the lamp of Church
ly form, filled with the "eterna.
substance of the Spirit of Christ.
There is continuous, deadly an
tithesis: Wheat and tears; true
and false; dead and living; wise
and foolish. But the external
similarity is so great that we are
cautioned against judging and d.
viding.
In the ultimate analysis it is re-
duced to personal matter. Each
virgin brought her own lamp.
None can stand for another. Ho-
illness of another can not avail fol
us. The Lords arrival is the test.
ing-time, discovering to all alike
whether in the lamp of profession
there * niiFof raaIitv o,- NOT T,