Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1921-03-31

mans. and Greeks from all quarters
Of the eastern Mediterranean, could
not forget that they had once been the
masters Of Egypt. Constant conflict
in the streets between the partisans Of
each side laid a fitting scene for
Charles Kingsley's religious phliOsoph.
ic historical melodrama.
Cyril, bishop and later saint, Is nom.
inally the leader OF the battling
churchmen Of the tale; the great Aug
ustine and the phIIosophlc Syneslus,
bishops both are minor personages Of
| the drama, with many other passing
figures OF the church, but the leading
character from that side Is the humble
Phllammon, the young boy of the mon
astery in the desert, who makes his
Way in the simplicity Of his zeal to
brave the world, the flesh, and the dew
II, where so many other monks Of fic-
ton have found that interesting triad,
keeping headquarters at Alexandria.
The city was ruled by Orestes, so far
as any project could rule the unruly
cosmopolis, worldly and elusive per
son, who, not satisfied with the trou-
bIes already at hand, would conspire
to erect an empire of Africa out of
the difficulties of Rome and Constan-
.tinople, and to crown as his empress,
Hypatla, ideallst. mathematician, neo-
Platonist, leader and teacher Of what
remained of Greek philosophy as a liv-
ing force. Under Hypatia's sway fell
the young Philammon by reason Of
her beauty, her power of speech, and
the inherited appeal Of philosophy to
one whose ancestry was Athenian. An
appeal of another sort came to him
from Pelagia, dancer and beauty, dar-
ling of the city in general and Of In
dividuals in particular. To the charm
of Hypatia yielded not only the world
~ project and the simple monk, but
the most interesting figure Of the
story, Raphael-Aben-Ezra, descended
from tie blood of Solomon, rich, lazy,
and selfish to all appearance, but the
parsonage In whose, soul and mind
was surging most violently the strug-
gle and conflict which is the keynote
Of the book. Should the traditions o.
Jewry, the lure of Greek philosophy
the charm Of pleasant If tumulruoC-
world, or the power of Christianity
conquer in him? In his apparently
easy going way through existence, he
was measuring what every phase Of
that seething cauldron had to offer as
solution for the problems which a
human soul has to ponder for its own
salvation. 1t took him long to decide,
and 1t vas only by the ministrations |
of Augustine and Synesius and the liv-
ing example of Victoria that he final
ly found In Christianity the truly DEM
ocratic creed by which the world could
best live.
Struggle and strife of soul or body
-Philammon's yearning to see more |
Of the world than the monastery in |
the desert; his enthraIlment by the |
charm of Hypatia's beauty and her |
learning; Cyril's struggles by militant |
means toward spiritual end; Ores
tes' to win an empire; Pelagla's to |
win love: Raphael to find the truth: |
the conflict between old thought and |
new; and as the climax, the conflict |
and the end in Hypatla's case:
Eyes, on into the church itself! into !
the cool, dim shadow. with its fretted
pillars, and towering domes, and can
dies, and incense and blazing altar.
and great pictures, looking from the
walls athwart the gorgeous gloom.
And right in front, above the altar. I
the colossal Christ watching unmoved
from off the wall, his right hand raised
to give blessing-or curse?
ION, up the nave, fresh shreds of
her dress strewing the holy pavement,
up the chancel steps themselves-up
to the altar-right underneath the
great, still Christ; and there even
those hell hounds paused.
"She shook herself free from her
tormentors, ana springing back, rose
for one moment to her full height,
naked, snow white against the dusky
mass around, shame and indignation
in those wide, clear eyes, but not
stain of fear With one hand she
clasped her golden locks around her;
the other long, white arm was
stretched upward toward the great
still Christ, appealing-and who dare
say, in vain?-from man to God. Her
lips were opened to speak; but the
words that should have come from
them reached Gods ears alone; for In
an instant they struck her down, the
dark mass closed over her agaln--and
then, wall on wall, ear-piercing, rang
along the vnulted roofs, and thrilled
like the trumpet Of avenging angels
through Philammon's ears"
1919, by the Post Publishing
Co. (The Boston POST. Copyright in the
United Kingdom, the Dominions, its Col
onies and dependencies, under the copy
right act, by the Post Publishing Co..
Boston, Mass, .. 8. A. All rights re-
served. J.
A Devout Man.
a devout man does his duty better