第22章 FATHER DAMIEN(5)

I am not fond of bigots myself,because they are not fond of me.But what is meant by bigotry,that we should regard it as a blemish in a priest?Damien believed his own religion with the simplicity of a peasant or a child;as I would Icould suppose that you do.For this,I wonder at him some way off;and had that been his only character,should have avoided him in life.But the point of interest in Damien,which has caused him to be so much talked about and made him at last the subject of your pen and mine,was that,in him,his bigotry,his intense and narrow faith,wrought potently for good,and strengthened him to be one of the world's heroes and exemplars.

Damien WAS NOT SENT TO MOLOKAI,BUT WENT THERE WITHOUTORDERS.

Is this a misreading?or do you really mean the words for blame?I have heard Christ,in the pulpits of our Church,held up for imitation on the ground that His sacrifice was voluntary.Does Dr.Hyde think otherwise?

Damien DID NOT STAY AT THE SETTLEMENT,ETC.

It is true he was allowed many indulgences.Am I to understand that you blame the father for profiting by these,or the officers for granting them?In either case,it is a mighty Spartan standard to issue from the house on Beretania Street;and I am convinced you will find yourself with few supporters.

Damien HAD NO HAND IN THE REFORMS,ETC.

I think even you will admit that I have already been frank in my deion of the man I am defending;but before I take you up upon this head,I will be franker still,and tell you that perhaps nowhere in the world can a man taste a more pleasurable sense of contrast than when he passes from Damien's 'Chinatown'at Kalawao to the beautiful Bishop-Home at Kalaupapa.At this point,in my desire to make all fair for you,I will break my rule and adduce Catholic testimony.

Here is a passage from my diary about my visit to the Chinatown,from which you will see how it is (even now)regarded by its own officials:'We went round all the dormitories,refectories,etc.-dark and dingy enough,with a superficial cleanliness,which he'[Mr.Dutton,the lay-brother]'did not seek to defend."It is almost decent,"said he;"the sisters will make that all right when we get them here."'And yet I gathered it was already better since Damien was dead,and far better than when he was there alone and had his own (not always excellent)way.I have now come far enough to meet you on a common ground of fact;and I tell you that,to a mind not prejudiced by jealousy,all the reforms of the lazaretto,and even those which he most vigorously opposed,are properly the work of Damien.They are the evidence of his success;they are what his heroism provoked from the reluctant and the careless.Many were before him in the field;Mr.Meyer,for instance,of whose faithful work we hear too little:there have been many since;and some had more worldly wisdom,though none had more devotion,than our saint.Before his day,even you will confess,they had effected little.It was his part,by one striking act of martyrdom,to direct all men's eyes on that distressful country.At a blow,and with the price of his life,he made the place illustrious and public.And that,if you will consider largely,was the one reform needful;pregnant of all that should succeed.It brought money;it brought (best individual addition of them all)the sisters;it brought supervision,for public opinion and public interest landed with the man at Kalawao.If ever any man brought reforms,and died to bring them,it was he.There is not a clean cup or towel in the Bishop-Home,but dirty Damien washed it.

Damien WAS NOT A PURE MAN IN HIS RELATIONS WITH WOMEN,ETC.

How do you know that?Is this the nature of the conversation in that house on Beretania Street which the cabman envied,driving past?-racy details of the misconduct of the poor peasant priest,toiling under the cliffs of Molokai?