And
then I met Char--that is, a bad man who offered to show me how to be a
burglar."
The other had been listening in amazement. "Boy," he said, "are you
joking with me?"
"Joking!" echoed Samuel, his eyes opening wide. And then the doctor
caught his breath and proceeded to question him. He went back to the
beginning, and made Samuel lay bare the story of his whole life. But
when he got to the interview with Professor Stewart, the other could
contain himself no longer. "Samuel!" he exclaimed, "this is the most
terrible thing I have ever heard in my life."
"How do you mean, sir?"
"You have been saved--providentially saved, as I firmly believe. But
you were hanging on the very verge of a life of evil; and all because
men in our colleges are permitted to teach these blasphemous and
godless doctrines. This is what they call science! This is our modern
enlightenment!"
The doctor had risen and begun to pace the floor in his agitation. "I
have always insisted that the consequence of such teaching would be
the end of all morality. And here we have the thing before our very
eyes! A young man of decent life is actually led to the commission of
a crime, as a consequence of the teachings of Herbert Spencer!"
Samuel was listening in consternation. "Then it isn't true what
Herbert Spencer says!" he exclaimed.
"True!" cried the other. "Why, Samuel, don't you KNOW that it isn't
true? Weren't you brought up to read the Bible? And do you read
anything in the Bible about the struggle for existence? Were you
taught there that your sole duty was to fight with other men for your
own selfish ends? Was it not rather made clear to you that you were
not to concern yourself with your own welfare at all, but to struggle
for the good of others, and to suffer rather than do evil? Why Samuel,
what would your father have said, if he could have seen you last
night--his own dear son, that he had brought up in the way of the
Gospel?"
"Oh, sir!" cried Samuel, struck to the heart.
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