aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

108 AKOUND THE WORLD.
the good of others first, and to believe every man honest till
proven to the contrary. If the practice of such principles
produce failure, let ''f allure " be carved on my tombstone.
TRUCKLING TRIMMERS.
He who removes a thorn, and plants a rose, who brushes
away a falling tear, plucks a scale from a theologian's eye,
or transforms a bit of chaos into ko'smos^ is a benefactor of
his race. Turn over the picture. Do not the angels weep
o'er the platitudes of truckling, two-faced, many-sided hypocrites,
standing in market-places, in pulpits, and upon public
rostrums, with no higher aims than gold, or a stamping, sensational
applause ? Oh for men of principle ! Policy-men
fatten to-day, to faint in the to-morrow of eternity. It was a
childish weakness in Peter to deny " knowing the man."
Erasmus was too much of a trimmer. Luther was a reformer
that made Rome tremble. The waters of a dashing
cascade are sweet and fresh. A good, screaming fanatic,
with sling and stone, will always floor the greatest giants,
though armed with the newest devices of controversy. I
sympathize deeply with fanatics. They generally have something
to say, and are brave enough to say it. They keep
the mental world in motion. John the Baptist was a fanatic.
Fanaticism is not coarse, brawling, blatant, overbearing
egotism, but earnest enthusiasm, steady, stirring
self-denial, coupled with a conviction of some living truth
as a potent spiritual force. These fanatics, these resurrected
souls, preach of heaven on earth, sing of Utopia to-day, and
often die early, as did Keats.
" Thy leaf has perished in the green."
CANNIBALISM AND COMMUNISM.
Passing an art-gallery in Dunedin, a friend pointed me to
a photograph of an old, tattooed Maori, who had assisted in
baking and eating seventeen human bodies since his remem-