The Sabbath and the Parable
The next morning we descended the ladder, and breakfasted on warm
milk: we served the animals also with their meal and then we all sat
down on the tender grass; the boys full of impatient curiosity; their
mother absorbed in silent reflection; while I was penetrated with the
most lively desire to impress upon the young minds of my children a
subject I considered of the highest importance for their well-being,
both in this world and in that which is to come.
All now standing up, I repeated aloud the church service,
which I knew by heart, and we sang some verses from the
hundred-and-nineteenth Psalm, which the boys had before learned;
after which we sat down, and I began as follows:--
“My dear children, there was once a Great King, whose kingdom was
called The Country of Light and Reality, because the purest and
softest light of the sun reigned there continually, which caused the
inhabitants to be in a perpetual state of activity. On the farthest
borders of this kingdom, northward, there was another country which
also belonged to the Great King, and the immense extent of which was
unknown to all but himself. From time immemorial, a plan the most
exact of this country had been preserved in the royal archives. The
second kingdom was called The Kingdom of Obscurity, or of Night,
because everything in it was gloomy and inactive.
“In the most fertile and agreeable part of his empire of Reality,
this great King had a residence called the Heavenly City, in which
he lived and kept his court, which was the most brilliant that the
imagination can form an idea of. Millions of guards, and servants
high in dignity, remained for ever round him, and a still larger
number held themselves in readiness to receive his commands. All were
happy to be admitted into his presence: their faces shone with the
mildest joy: there was but one heart and one soul among them: the
sentiment of paternal concord so united these beings, that no envy
or jealousy ever rose among them. Among the rest of the inhabitants
of the Heavenly City, there were some less close in their attendance
upon the Great King, but they were all virtuous, all happy, all had
been enriched by the beneficence of the monarch, and, what is of
still higher price, had received constant marks of his paternal care;
for his subjects were all equal in his eyes, and he loved them, and
treated them as if they had been his children.
“The Great King had, besides the two kingdoms I have been describing,
an uninhabited island of considerable extent: it was his wish to
people and cultivate this island, for all within it was a kind of
chaos: he destined it to be for some years the abode of such future
citizens as he intended to receive finally into his residence,
to which only such of his subjects were admitted as had rendered
themselves worthy by their conduct. This island was called Earthly
Abode: he who should have passed some time in it, and by his virtue,
his application to labour, and the cultivation of the land, should
have rendered himself worthy of reward, was afterwards to be received
into the Heavenly City, and made one of its happy inhabitants.
“To effect this end, the Great King caused a fleet to be equipped,
which was to transport the new colonists to this island. These he
chose from the kingdom of Night, and for his first gift bestowed
upon them the enjoyment of light, and the view of the lovely face
of Nature, of which they had been deprived in their gloomy and
unknown abode. It will easily be imagined that they arrived joyful
and happy, at least they became so when they had been for a short
time accustomed to the multitude of new objects which struck their
feeble sight. The island was rich and fertile when cultivated. The
beneficent King provided each individual who was disembarked upon it
with all the things he could want in the time he had fixed for their
stay in it, and all the means for obtaining the certainty of being
admitted as citizens of his magnificent abode, when they should leave
the Earthly Island. All that was required to entitle them to this
benefit was that they should occupy themselves unceasingly in useful
labour, and strictly obey the commands of the Great King, which he
made known to them. He sent to them his only son, who addressed them
from his father in the following terms:--
“‘My dear children, I have called you from the kingdom of Night
and Insensibility, to render you happy by the gifts of life, of
sentiment, and of activity. But your happiness for the most part will
depend upon yourselves. You will be happy if you wish to be so. If
such is your sincere desire, you must never forget that I am your
good King, your tender father; and you must faithfully fulfil my will
in the cultivation of the country I have confided to your care. Each
of you shall receive, on his arriving at the island, the portion of
land which is intended for him; and my further commands respecting
your conduct will be soon communicated to you. I shall send you wise
and learned men, who will explain to you my commands; and that you
may of yourselves seek after the light necessary for your welfare,
and remember my laws at every instant of your lives, it is my will
that each father of a family shall keep an exact copy of them in his
house, and read them daily to all the persons who belong to him.
Further, each first day of the week I require to be devoted to my
service. In each colony, all the people shall assemble together as
brothers in one place, where shall be read and explained to them the
laws contained in my archives. The rest of this day shall be employed
in making serious reflections on the duties and destination of the
colonists, and on the best means to fulfil the same.
“‘He who, in his Earthly Abode, shall most strictly have observed my
will, who shall have best fulfilled the duties of a brother towards
his fellow-inhabitants, who shall have preserved his land in the
best order, and shall show the largest produce from it, shall be
recompensed for his deeds, and shall become an inhabitant of my
magnificent residence in the Heavenly City. But the neglectful and
the idle man, and the wicked man, who shall have spent their time
in interrupting the useful labours of others, shall be condemned to
pass their lives in slavery, or, according to the degree of their
wickedness, shall be condemned to live in subterraneous mines, in the
bowels of the earth.’
“All the colonists were well satisfied with the discourse of the
Great King, and made him the most sacred promises. After a short
time allowed for repose from the fatigue of the voyage, a portion
of land, and the proper instruments for labour, were distributed to
each of the strangers. They received also seeds, and useful plants,
and young trees, for producing them refreshing fruits. Each was then
left at liberty to act as he pleased, and increase the value of
what was confided to his care. But what happened? After some time,
each followed the suggestions of his fancy: one planted his land
with arbours, flowery banks, and sweet-smelling shrubs; all pleasing
to the sight, but which brought forth nothing. Another planted
wild apple-trees, instead of the good fruit, as the Great King had
commanded; contenting himself with giving high-sounding names to the
worthless fruit he had caused to be brought forth. A third had indeed
sown good grain; but not knowing how to distinguish the tares that
grew up along with it, he pulled up the good plants before they were
mature, and left only the tares in his ground. But the greater part
let their land lie fallow, and bestowed no labour upon it, having
spoiled their implements, or lost their seed, either from negligence
or idleness, or liking better to amuse themselves than to labour.
“From habit they continued to celebrate the first day of the week,
but by far the smallest part of it was consecrated to the honour of
the Great King. Great numbers of them dispensed with going to the
general assembly, either from idleness, or to employ themselves in
occupations which had been expressly forbidden. By far the greater
part of the people considered this day of repose as intended for
pleasure, and thought of nothing but adorning and amusing themselves
as soon as daylight appeared. The Great King, however, observed
unalterably the laws he had laid down. From time to time, some
frigates appeared on their coasts, each bearing the name of some
disastrous malady; and these were followed by a large ship of the
line, named the Grave, on board of which, the admiral, whose name
was Death, caused his flag of two colours, green and black, to be
constantly floating in the air. He showed the colonists, according to
the situation in which he found them, either the smiling colour of
Hope, or the gloomy colour of Despair.
“This fleet always arrived without being announced, and seldom gave
any pleasure to the inhabitants. The admiral sent the captains of his
frigates to seize the persons he was ordered to bring back with him.
Many who had not the smallest inclination were suddenly embarked,
while others who had prepared everything for the harvest, and whose
land was in the best condition, were also seized. But these last took
their departure cheerfully, and without alarm; well knowing that
nothing but happiness awaited them. It was those who were conscious
they had neglected to cultivate their land, who felt the most regret.
It was even necessary to employ force to bring them under subjection.
When the fleet was ready for departure, the admiral sailed for the
port of the Royal Residence; and the Great King, who was present on
their arrival, executed with strict justice both the rewards and
punishments which had been promised to them. All the excuses alleged
by those who had been idle, were of no avail. They were sent to the
mines and to the galleys, while those who had obeyed the Great King,
and well cultivated their land, were admitted into the Heavenly
City, clothed in robes of brilliant colours, one exceeding the other
according to the degree of merit.--Here, my dear children, ends my
parable. May you have thoroughly understood its meaning, and may
you reap the advantage it is capable of affording you! Make it the
subject of your reflections the whole of this day.”
I then put different questions to my little congregation, and
explained what they had not perfectly comprehended; and, after a
short review of the principal parts of my discourse, I concluded by a
moral application.
“Human creatures,” said I, “are the colonists of God; we are
required to perform the business of probation for a certain period,
and, sooner or later, are destined to be taken hence. Our final
destination is Heaven, and a perfect happiness with the spirits of
just men made perfect, and in the presence of the bountiful Father
of us all. The piece of land entrusted to each is the soul; and
according as he cultivates and ennobles it, or neglects or depraves
it, will be his future reward or punishment. For ourselves, one and
all, we will adopt the model of the good and zealous labourers; and
should our exertions be a little painful, we shall think of the
reward which awaits us, when we shall have adorned our souls with all
that is good, just and praiseworthy. Thus, when death, which cannot
fail to come at last, shall summon us, we may follow him with joy to
the throne of the Good and Great King, to hear him pronounce these
sweet and consoling words: ‘O good and faithful servant! thou hast
been tried and found faithful in many things; enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord,’”--With these words, and a short prayer of benediction,
I concluded the solemnity of our Sunday.
The next morning the boys assembled round me with a petition that I
would show them how to use arrows. We accordingly sat down on the
grass; I took out my knife, and, with the remains of a bamboo cane,
began to make a bow. I was well satisfied to observe them one and
all take a fancy to shooting with an arrow, having been desirous
to accustom them to this exercise, which constituted the principal
defence of the warriors of old, and might possibly become our only
means of protection and subsistence: our provision of powder must at
last be exhausted; we might even, from moment to moment, be deprived
of it by accident; it therefore was of the utmost importance to us to
acquire some other means of killing animals, or attacking our enemies.
While I was silently reflecting on the subject, employed in finishing
a bow, Ernest, who had been observing me for some time, slipped
suddenly away; and Fritz coming up at the same moment, with the
wetted skin of the tiger-cat in his hand, I paid no attention to the
circumstance. I began my instructions to my eldest boy respecting
the trade of a tanner. I told him the method of getting rid of the
fat of the skin, by rubbing it over with sand, and placing it in
running water till it had no longer any appearance of flesh, or any
smell; next to rub it with soft butter, to make it supple, and then
to stretch the skin in different directions; and also to make use
of some eggs in the operation, if his mother could spare them. “You
will not at first produce such excellent workmanship as I have seen
of this kind from England; but with a little patience, regretting
neither your time nor your labour, you will have completed some
decent-looking cases, which will give you the more pleasure, from
being the work of your own hands.”
At this moment we heard the firing of a gun, which proceeded from our
tent in the tree, and two birds at the same time fell dead at our
feet. We were at once surprised and alarmed, and all eyes were turned
upward to the place. There we saw Ernest standing outside the tent, a
gun in his hand, and heard him triumphantly exclaiming, “Catch them!
Catch them there! I have hit them; and you see I did not run away for
nothing.” He descended the ladder joyfully, and ran with Francis to
take up the two birds; while Fritz and Jack mounted to our castle,
hoping to meet with the same luck.
One of the dead birds proved to be a sort of thrush, and the other
was a very small kind of pigeon, very fat, and of a delicious taste.
We now observed for the first time that the wild figs began to ripen,
and that they attracted these birds. I foresaw, in consequence, that
we were about to have our table furnished with a dish which even a
nobleman might envy us. I gave the boys leave to kill as many of them
as they liked. I knew that, half-roasted, and put into barrels with
melted butter thrown over them, they would keep a long time, and
might prove an excellent resource. My wife set about stripping off
the feathers of the birds, to dress them for our dinner. I seated
myself by her side, and proceeded in my work of arrow-making.
Thus finished another day. Supper ended, and prayers said, we
ascended the ladder in procession; and each got into his hammock to
taste the sweets of a tranquil sleep.