THE DEVIL’S OPTICAL COLLEGE.
1. The college described.
2. Mr. World and Miss Church-Member have their eyes examined, and Miss
Church-Member is supplied with lenses which warp her spiritual vision.
3. The allegory shows how Satan supplies every conceivable kind of
lenses to suit the people of the world and the church.
4. Blackana, with deceptive words, attempts to defend Satan’s course.
This institution of Satan has been in operation since the creation of
man, having been remodeled as often as advancement in style or skill
demanded.
Each one of the fourteen massive buildings was a gem of architectural
beauty, and was devoted to a special line of study or practice. The
entire group worked harmoniously toward the same end.
In the course of their journey Mr. World and Miss Church-Member drew
nigh to this great college, but the shrewd and wicked Mr. World remained
silent, waiting for the first words of his companion. Miss
Church-Member, however, as she looked upon the stupendous edifices,
was so filled with wonder and admiration at the long stretches of
masonry, and the perfect symmetry of parts, that she offered no comment
until they were quite near the first building.
“For what purpose is this group of great structures used?” were her
words that broke the brief silence.
“All for the sake of the eyes,” he carelessly answered, as he called
her attention to the King’s Highway and the throngs of people that
were admiring and entering the college from those parts.
“It is indeed wonderful,” she commented, “that so small a thing as the
eye should demand the service of such great edifices.”
“The buildings are not too large nor too well equipped. Your surprise
would not be so great were you to witness the large number from the
two great highways that come here daily for treatment. You can see
them now moving by thousands to and from the buildings. It might be
wise for us to enter for consultation. My eyes, at least, may need
some expert attention.”
She, being anxious to see the interior of at least one of the buildings,
offered no objection to his shrewd suggestion.
The building was so easy of access that there was not one step to
climb. An electric elevator served to carry them to the sixty-fourth
floor which formed a part of the huge dome into which the upper portion
of the great structure converged. This style of architecture not only
added to the beauty of the appearance, but also proved to be perfectly
adapted to the uses of the college.
The confidence of Miss Church-Member was fully won by the appearance
of the interior and the courteous attention she received from the
managers.
The consulting physician examined the eyes of Mr. World, then
congratulated him upon the clear vision he enjoyed, and informed him
that his eyes required no immediate treatment.
Turning to one side, Mr. World whispered to his companion: “While we
are here you had better improve this opportunity and also get the
benefit of an expert opinion.”
“I have not come prepared financially,” she blushingly and faintly
replied. “I did not even dream of seeking the service of a specialist.”
“That obstacle is easily overcome, for the examination is free, and
if you should need further attention and would wish to receive it, I
would deem it only a great pleasure to bear all the expenses.”
After a brief, thoughtful silence she consented to the preliminary
examination. “Will you examine the eyes of my friend?” requested Mr.
World as he stepped toward the chief oculist.
The expert accordingly tested her sight. First he held up, at a
distance, the “Delusion of the New Jerusalem,” but she was totally
blind to it. Then he submitted the “Deceptions of the Holy Bible” of
which she could again see nothing.
“Look through these windows to the Broad Highway, far out into the
distance over rolling stretches of country. Can you see the gates of
Heaven, at the end of the way?”
Miss Church-Member looked carefully, but declared that she could not
see anything that appeared like Heaven or the gates thereof.
“Can you see that place called ‘Perfect Peace’ along the Broad Highway,”
continued the oculist as he pointed to a far-off region.
“I can see nothing that looks like it,” she honestly confessed, quite
surprised to discover the existence of these apparent defects of her
vision.
“A very sad and extreme case,” murmured the examiner as he requested
her to open her Bible.
“Can you see, in that book, that all people shall be saved, and none
perish?”
“I am surely blind to that and always have been,” she readily admitted
with a little more boldness.
“Perhaps you can see the justice of God in punishing the sinner?” he
continued with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
“Plainly visible.”
“So I expected.”
He then proceeded to a more minute examination, after which he wrote
a brief diagnosis and commended her to a specialist in the next
building.
She hesitated somewhat, but Mr. World, handing her, confidentially,
a handsome sum of yellow coin from his bag of gold, brought words of
deep thankfulness from her lips, and gave decision to her steps in the
direction he desired.
From the great dome they were taken in a closed car over the high
suspension bridge to the adjoining building which was of still greater
magnitude.
The room into which they entered, at such a dizzy height, surpassed,
in its unique arrangement, anything of the kind that they had thus far
seen. In long and high glass cases lay all the modern appliances used
by the most skillful hands. The furnishings blended harmoniously with
the general environments. All this won the utter confidence of the new
and unsuspecting visitor. “With pleasure,” politely began Mr. World,
“I present my friend, Miss Church-Member, who comes hither with
defective eyes and a duly subscribed diagnosis from the chief of the
oculists.”
The specialist whom he thus addressed made an additional examination,
plying his craft with all the ingenuity he had learned from his master.
At the conclusion he delivered himself in this wise:
“I find, Miss Church-Member, that your eyes are very much out of order.
A complex case, indeed. I have discovered ametropia in the particular
form of irregular astigmatism. The pupil, covered by the unabsorbed
remains of the pupillary membrane, is occluded by a deposition of
inflammatory substance, occasioned by inflammation of the ciliary body.
“I have also noticed a severe type of hemianopsia, which, I presume,
had its origin in congeniture. Minor defects are also apparent, but
it is unnecessary for me to give further details,”
Miss Church-Member could not refrain from weeping bitterly at this sad
announcement. “Is it possible to effect a cure?” she sobbed.
“Ah! you need not thus lament,” said the specialist in a tone of
sympathy. “Millions have been altogether cured whose eyes were more
diseased than are yours. Forget your tears and be at perfect peace.
Calmly confide in our skill.”
She consented to their method, and was first subjected to a course of
preliminary treatment. Many an hour she lay while her eyes were covered
with cloths saturated with strange liquids. And when her eyes were
uncovered she was compelled to sit in darkness, for the physician told
her that her eyes had already suffered much on account of light. At
times the pain was well nigh intolerable, but she endured it all
heroically, hoping to gain thereby the boon of a complete cure.
After this preparatory work one who was skilled in the best methods
of the age performed the operation, and Miss Church-Member was comforted
by the assurance that her eyes would be fitted with special lenses,
and soon she could again behold the natural light of day.
Mr. World was busily engaged during the treatment of Miss
Church-Member, but he came repeatedly to her side and spoke words of
cheer and urged her strict obedience to all directions.
Finally her new lenses were put to service, and Mr. World proffered
his compliments profusely until the first impulses of vanity moved
within her. _To be admired, on account of her appearance, seemed never
so attractive as now!_
What a new world opened to her view! She looked down upon the Broad
Highway with a degree of pleasure hitherto unsuspected, and also upon
the King’s Highway, but only to see that the path was indeed a rough
one and beset with trials and difficulties which, to her mind, now
seemed unnecessary to a Christian life.
In the same manner I looked into all the apartments of each building,
and was astonished at the presence of so large a number from the King’s
Highway, and a still greater throng from the way of the world.
“O Blackana!” I cried, “how long will this continue? Is there no end
to deception? With such a changed view of things, how can Miss
Church-Member crave for the King’s Highway or urge Mr. World thither?”
“Miss Church-Member will be happier where she is,” answered my uncanny
companion as he grinned horribly. “By the aid of her glasses she can
both see and enjoy the wonderful scenes along the way.” I knew that
Blackana was covering the truth, but hesitated to insinuate as much.
“Can you explain,” I questioned in a half hopeful mood, “how those
specialists can do their deceptive work so brazenly? Poor Miss
Church-Member, deluded and defrauded, now stumbles rapidly onward with
the fiendish Mr. World. Tell me, O agent of the Devil, do those
creatures find delight in such horrible deeds?”
“It is not a matter of pleasure or delight with them, but rather one
of loyalty to their king, whom you call ‘Devil.’ To serve him poorly
means a more bitter hell, but to serve him well brings honor from his
hand.”
“But such honor!” I exclaimed, and then said: “I observe that Miss
Church-Member wears colored lenses--tell me the meaning of this; and
you, Blackana, hereafter deal no more in falsehood with me!” I demanded.
Blackana shifted his position, and with marked reluctance proceeded
to answer:
“The Devil, my master, uses in his work all imaginable kinds of glasses,
invented in the Wizard City. Every conceivable shade of color is made,
each for its particular use. Through his agents Satan selects the lens
for the patient’s eye, and if it is worn as selected and directed, he
has won a decisive victory.”
“Foul and fiendish plots of Hell,” I involuntarily muttered; but
Blackana listened in silence.