What Is Man? and Other Essays eBook

All through his book Henry exhibits his familiarity with the intentions of God, and with the reasons for his intentions.  Sometimes—­very often, in fact—­the act follows the intention after such a wide interval of time that one wonders how Henry could fit one act out of a hundred to one intention out of a hundred and get the thing right every time when there was such abundant choice among acts and intentions.  Sometimes a man offends the Deity with a crime, and is punished for it thirty years later; meantime he was committed a million other crimes:  no matter, Henry can pick out the one that brought the worms.  Worms were generally used in those days for the slaying of particularly wicked people.  This has gone out, now, but in old times it was a favorite.  It always indicated a case of “wrath.”  For instance: 

. . . the just God avenging Robert Fitzhilderbrand’s perfidy, a worm grew in his vitals, which gradually gnawing its way through his intestines fattened on the abandoned man till, tortured with excruciating sufferings and venting himself in bitter moans, he was by a fitting punishment brought to his end. —­(P. 400.)

It was probably an alligator, but we cannot tell; we only know it was a particular breed, and only used to convey wrath.  Some authorities think it was an ichthyosaurus, but there is much doubt.

However, one thing we do know; and that is that that worm had been due years and years.  Robert F. had violated a monastery once; he had committed unprintable crimes since, and they had been permitted—­under disapproval—­but the ravishment of the monastery had not been forgotten nor forgiven, and the worm came at last.

Why were these reforms put off in this strange way?  What was to be gained by it?  Did Henry of Huntington really know his facts, or was he only guessing?  Sometimes I am half persuaded that he is only a guesser, and not a good one.  The divine wisdom must surely be of the better quality than he makes it out to be.

Five hundred years before Henry’s time some forecasts of the Lord’s purposes were furnished by a pope, who perceived, by certain perfectly trustworthy signs furnished by the Deity for the information of His familiars, that the end of the world was

. . . about to come.  But as this end of the world draws near many things are at hand which have not before happened, as changes in the air, terrible signs in the heavens, tempests out of the common order of the seasons, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places; all which will not happen in our days, but after our days all will come to pass.

Still, the end was so near that these signs were “sent before that we may be careful for our souls and be found prepared to meet the impending judgment.”

That was thirteen hundred years ago.  This is really no improvement on the work of the Roman augurs.

CONCERNING TOBACCO