Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1912-04-18
..Bunyan and Bedford.
(By William G. Anderson

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struction city which mains man
hood and womanhood, in which vast
lcrowds wander aimlessly to and fre
as sheep without a shepherd. IN this
city are men and women SO wretched
and forlorn that death itself comes
almost as friend. at least gate
fajar, leading to nothingness and sur
cease Of sorrow. In this city are men
land women who have drunk Lethe.
waters, and are wrapped in slumber
profound and deadly. But the city and
tits inhabitants cannot, think, be
saved by our individuality running
i away from it. Despite the stress and
moral pain, the redemption of the
city must be socially accomplished.
Yet, in the fight for human freedom
and purity and joy. in the advance
toward the Zion of our dreams, our
Experiences will often recall those OF
the hero of Bunyan's book.
Some of the Comrades.
Who does not know comrade PHI
able, who comes boldly with us till
we reach the first Slough of Despondg
know one such who has wallowed
| in the mire of this bog for the past
six months, and who, heartsore and
discouraged, and sTievously be-
Idaubed withe dirt has once more
turned his back on the light Who has
not encountered comrade Worldly
Wiseman, who can direct us a short
cut across the fields, easy by COM
parison with the long and toilsome
path we are following, a path beset
by .wearisomeness, painfulness, hun
ger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions,
dragons, and darkness" Unhappily,
Worldly Wiseman's counsels lead no
where, except to the ruin of our hopes
and the doom of our cause. Who has
not met comrade Talkative, of Pra-
ting Row, who is prepared to argue
any point and who, notwithstanding
his fine tongue is but a sorry feloW?,'
Who does not know comrade Vain
Confidence, ever ready to lead others
forward till he himself stumbles and
falls into a deep pit?
On our onward journey it is good
to rest for a time in the house of the
Interpreter, who can widen our Wis
ion and deepen our faith.
Temptin 5aubIes.
AT times we Chamber. painting, up
the Fill OF Difficulty. turning little
aside to drink of its clear, refreshing
water, colled in the earth. Again,
we tighten our armor, and do battle
against the Apollyon of Capitalism,
with his flaming darts, or resist the
tempting baubles Of Vanity Fair. With
right good will we catch up on COM
rades Faithful and Hopeful, whose
sweet discourse. sage advice, and sim
cerity help to make the journey light.
Worn and heavy-laden we can rest
and sleep las did these other pill
grims-by the river bank, with
meadows of lilies on either side.
waking up refreshed to eat OF the
fruit of the trees.
/ do not think any earnest thinker
can escape durance at times in
Doubling Castle, nor entirely elude
the clutches of the leaden-eyed giant
Despair. But if he has the key with
which to open the dungeon door, ne
can reach the delectable mountains
from whose clear heights he can
catch glimpse, afar off, of his Zion,
and speak to the wise shepherds,
knowledge and Experience, who can
point him his way.
All Are Stained.
The modern Pilgrims Progress is
| from competition to cooperation,
from bondage to brotherhood, from
international bitterness to interna-
tional solidarity and peace. Rank In;
Idividualism, in religion, as elsewhere,
belongs to the past, not the future
That man is guilty of spiritual self
lishness who has no thought beyond
how to save alive his own soul. The
man who would save his life and INK
himself in love to the worlds SAD
heart must spend and be spent IN
social service. We are all oppressed
/ in the oppression of our brothers. All
are stained directly or Indirectly
by the moral cesspools Of great cit
lies, By the cunning and deceit OF com
Imercialism, by the degradation Ct NJ
man life. But there IS no indiY1dpal
way Of escape. To the twentieth cen
fury Pilgrim, Herbert Spencer has
said mo one can be happy till a.