THE ELECTION
I often heard Chairo and his friends discuss their plans for the coming
electoral campaign, but have not set these things down because there was
in them nothing that was necessary to my story or very different from
the political campaigns of our day. There was less corruption, for there
were no needy persons in the state; but corruption was by no means
unknown, especially since the development of private industry had
created a private and transferable money system, and the relatively
large wealth of such men as Campbell and Masters caused them to be
feared. Campbell, however, had no political aspirations; his hoarding
instinct occupied his time and devoured his ambition. Masters, on the
other hand, had a large fund at his disposal which it was feared he
might use in his unreasoning desire to vindicate Neaera. But when
Masters returned from Boston and read the testimony taken by the
magistrate he called on Chairo to express regret at the attitude he had
taken and to agree with him as to the coming campaign.
Masters was still in favor of the amnesty bill, but he saw that a
general bill that would include Neaera could not, and ought not, to be
passed. He doubted the possibility of pushing through the legislature
one that would altogether protect Chairo, and frankly told Chairo so. He
was surprised to hear Chairo admit his own concurrence with this view.
"I cannot play a conspicuous part," said Chairo, "in a campaign in which
I am so deeply involved; I propose to stand for the legislature in my
own district, but I shall address my constituents only once, and then I
shall make it clear to them that I shall not regard my election as a
vindication of the course I have adopted in setting myself against the
state, but as evidence that upon my frank avowal that I was wrong I
still have their sympathy and confidence."
Masters suggested that they should attend on the governor, who was
standing for reelection, and agree with him as to the course to be
taken, with a view to diminishing to the utmost possible the chances of
a serious collision between the government and the opposition on the
amnesty question.
I was very much surprised one day to find both Masters and the governor
dining at our table in our hall, and to learn that although the governor
had offices in the capitol he lived with his family in the same
apartment in which he had always lived, and, except when he was actually
engaged in the duties of his office, there was nothing to distinguish
his manner of living from that of the humblest of his fellow citizens.
He was a man of an extremely simple exterior, though his head was
distinguished and his language chosen. We conversed about the political
outlook, and over our coffee, which Ariston made himself in our rooms,
the governor summed up the position as follows:
"The country districts will send us a large majority hostile to Chairo,
because they are conservative and abhor violence. Chairo will have from
the city and most of the large towns a small but staunch and intelligent
following. Masters will influence a large number of votes, as will also
the Demetrian cult. I don't myself think the state can afford to allow
any man to organize an armed rebellion--not even Chairo--without putting
upon him some mark of its authority, and I think it would be unwise in
Chairo's interests to ask that he should escape without censure and even
punishment. I propose in my electoral address to advise pardon for all
who have been led by others into rebellion, severity for those who led
them into it, and for those leaders who can plead extenuating
circumstances, moderation."
We all felt that the governor's attitude was not only wise on general
political grounds, but also from the narrower point of view of Chairo's
personal interest.
The nomination of candidates at the primaries evinced a political
animosity against Chairo of which we were altogether unaware. To our
amazement the notion that Neaera was the victim of a concerted effort to
exonerate Chairo at her expense had so widely prevailed that neither
discussion nor argument was any longer of any avail. All who defended
Chairo were hounded down as the persecutors of a defenseless woman, and
were it not for the votes of the women, who were less obtuse on the
question than the men, neither Chairo nor any of his following would
have received a nomination. As it was, Chairo was nominated only by a
dangerously narrow majority, and most of his party were dropped
altogether, But the very women who were not deceived into vindicating
Neaera went far beyond the limits of wisdom in their defense of the
Demetrian cult. Although Arkles and Irene did their utmost to keep the
enthusiasm of their supporters within reasonable bounds, the belief that
the cult was attacked caused the nomination of a class of candidates
who, if elected, were likely to do Chairo scant justice by their votes.
For some weeks I lived in a turmoil of political campaigning. It was a
relief to be wakened on Christmas by a peal of Cathedral bells, and
these over, to hear in the distant corridors an approaching hymn swell
its note of praise as it passed our door and die away as it disappeared
in the distance. We were all glad to feel that the electioneering was
over, for Christmas Day is devoted entirely to the morning ritual and
afternoon family gatherings; the 26th is devoted to final athletic
competitions, the crowning of the victors, and public balls; and the
27th to the silent vote.
I am ashamed to say that although I had often delighted in the exterior
of the Cathedral from a distance, I had never entered it till Christmas
morning, for our quarters were some distance from it, and such religious
exercises as I had attended with Ariston were held either in a
neighboring chapel or at the temple of Demeter. The scene as I
approached the Cathedral reminded me of what my imagination had
sometimes constructed out of mediaeval chronicles around the spires of
Chartres. It was a cold day and all the approaches to the Cathedral were
crowded with men, women, and children, covered with outer garments that
far more resembled those we see in the thirteenth century tapestries
than the Greek dress that had first surprised me at Tyringham and in the
interiors of New York. I learned that even in summer it was usual to don
a special dress when attending a church service, not only out of respect
for the church, but out of a sense of the artistic inappropriateness of
a Greek dress in a gothic Cathedral.
The gigantic doors of the main entrance were thrown wide open, and as I
mounted the long flight of steps that led to it, I was delighted and
bewitched by a facade, wide as Bourges, richly sculptured as Rheims, and
flanked by spires more beautiful than those of Soissons. From the deep,
dim Cathedral itself came the pealing notes of the organ which, as we
entered, made the air throb; I was rejoiced to find that the secret of
old glass had been rediscovered, but so great a blaze of light came from
the five great western portals that I did not fully appreciate the
mystic colors of the _vitraux_ till the doors were closed. Thereupon,
from an entrance in the south transept there marched in a procession
which, though more familiar than that I had already witnessed in the
temple of Demeter, far exceeded in splendor and impressiveness anything
I had seen before. Less graceful, perhaps, than in the Demetrian cult
but more solemn and devout, marched in the acolytes, swinging censers;
they were followed by the choir, singing a Gregorian chant, than which
assuredly nothing more subtly conveying the Christian idea has ever been
composed. In order came after them the great officials of the city and
state, including the mayor and the governor, a full representation from
the priests and priestesses of Asclepius and from those of Demeter; the
procession was closed by the lesser ecclesiastics bearing the cross, the
canons, and, last of all, the bishop. The ritual did not differ much
from that of the Roman and Anglican churches, except that the music was
rendered with as much care and effect as at Munich or Bayreuth.
The sermon did not last more than ten minutes, and closed with an
earnest reminder that in casting our votes we were exercising the
highest act of sovereignty of which man is capable, and an entreaty so
to cast them that the church--and all that the church stood for--might
feel itself strengthened in the legislature as well as in the hearts of
the people.
Whether on emerging from the Cathedral this solemn exhortation left as
little trace in the shape of actual conduct as in our day I, of course,
cannot tell, but I think the language of the headstrong during the
succeeding days was less violent and the animus evinced less bitter for
it.
The Christmas dinner which followed the service was held in the common
hall, for it was deemed an occasion when all should join and contribute
to make the day a happy one. Families either arranged to dine at
separate tables or united to dine at one, and on this great festival
wine flowed in abundance at the expense of the state.
Our own party consisted for the most part of the Tyringham colony, to
which, however, were added many new city friends. Ariston sat between
Anna of Ann and Irene. We missed, however, Chairo and Lydia; the one
dined alone from discretion, the other remained at the cloister. We were
not a merry party, for the prospect for both of these two was dark, and
when we drank the toast of "absent friends" there was a tear in many an
eye.