{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44748/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44748","id":"gutenberg_44748","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44748","summary":null,"tags":["Allegories","Bible -- Quotations","Category: Novels","Christian life -- Fiction","Conduct of life -- Fiction"],"text":"Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected\nwithout note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have\nbeen retained as printed.\n\nWords printed in italics are noted with underscores: _italics_.\n\nThe Table of Contents was not present in the original text and has\nbeen produced for the reader's convenience.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCH HYPNOTIZER\n\n\nBY\n\nZENA A. MAHER\n\n\nPUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR\n\n\nSAN FRANCISCO\nTHE BANCROFT COMPANY\n1892\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1892\nBY\nZENA A. MAHER\n\nIssued from the Press of\nTHE BANCROFT COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n_To My Husband, the Truest and Noblest of Men_\n\n\n\n\nTHE WITCH HYPNOTIZER\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nCHAPTER\n\nI.\nII.\nIII.\nIV.\nV.\nVI.\nVII.\nVIII.\nIX.\nX.\nXI.\nXII.\nXIII.\nXIV.\nXV.\nXVI.\nXVII.\nXVIII.\nXIX.\nXX.\nXXI.\nXXII.\nXXIII.\nXXIV.\nXXV.\nXXVI.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\n    Let there be light. Genesis i, 3.\n\n    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good\n    works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. Matthew v, 16.\n\nIn the world of imagination many Witches have lived and died since the\none of whose existence and wonders I am about to relate, came into\nprominence.\n\nShe lived quite alone in a little cottage on the outskirts of a large\ncity in America, of course, and why should not the free soil produce\nall sorts when it is the dumping ground for all creation?\n\nAlone, with the exception of her dog and several cages of canaries\nwhich, by the way, were a new departure in the line of pets, for the\nold-time Witches were supposed to favor cats and parrots, she commanded\nthe respect of all, but there was something so very peculiar about her\nthat some of her more superstitious neighbors looked upon this woman as\na kind of good Witch.\n\nThere was nothing remarkable about her personal appearance and the\npeculiarity was not visibly noticeable. It was nothing tangible, but an\nindescribable something which gave her influence over other minds, to\nbend them to her will.\n\nEvery one felt this more or less in her presence; a giving up of pet\nhobbies, even, to her ideas, which fortunately were very liberal.\n\nThere was that also about her sympathetic nature which invited\nconfidence, and many who were not given to complaining found\nthemselves, they hardly knew why, telling her their secret sorrows.\n\nFor years this Witch or woman was herself unconscious of this power,\nbut when she fully realized it, her work to her conscientious heart was\nlaid out, and that must be in doing all the good possible through this\ngenius that was hers.\n\nShe had always endeavored to do her best, ever ready to lend a helping\nhand to any one in trouble.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nWhile attending to her birds one morning, the Witch was interrupted by\na knock at the door and a summons from one of her neighbors, who had\nsent a child to ask if this good soul would come over.\n\nYes, she would be there directly.\n\nDonning her sombre colored bonnet and shawl the Witch started for her\nneighbor's. The unhappy little woman craved sympathy, and had sent for\nher who knew so well how to render it.\n\nShe told the oft-repeated story of a drunkard's wife. Her husband had\nleft home the previous evening and had not returned, and after these\nprolonged sprees she feared his coming, who was the kindest of men when\nhimself, but very savage when under the influence of liquor. Then, too,\nshe was afraid that he would lose his position, which his employer had\nthreatened if he did not attend to work better.\n\nThe Witch told her to be of good cheer; that all would be well with her\nyet.\n\nShe looked at the shabby furniture and still shabbier clothing of the\nchildren. This family had once been in comfortable circumstances, but\nwere brought to this state of poverty through intemperance, the\nprevailing evil.\n\n    For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. Proverbs,\n    xxiii, 21.\n\nAnd yet how much good these beverages might do if used in moderation,\nbut too many are with this, like all their other appetites over which\nthey have no control. The mind should be made to strive harder after\nthe knowledge of God in order to subdue these carnal desires.\n\n    For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;\n    but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.\n\n    For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is\n    life and peace.\n\n    Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not\n    subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.\n\n    So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.\n\n    As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.\n    Romans viii, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14.\n\n    Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may\n    follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine inflame\n    them!\n\n    Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to\n    mingle strong drink. Isaiah v, 11, 22.\n\n    He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but\n    he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life\n    everlasting. Galatians vi. 8.\n\n    All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth\n    with offense.\n\n    It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything\n    whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.\n    Romans xiv, 20, 21.\n\n    Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. II\n    Corinthians v, 6.\n\n    Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess; but be filled with the\n    Spirit. Ephesians v, 18.\n\n    Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.\n    Galatians v, 16.\n\n    Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,\n    righteously and godly in this present world. Titus ii, 12.\n\nAbout midday this fallen image of God came home partially sobered and\nferocious as a wild animal. The Witch mentally compared man with beast\nand gave her dog the preference.\n\nHe had commenced his wicked profanity, when a hand was laid on his arm\nand reproachful eyes looked into his.\n\n    Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whoever is deceived\n    thereby is not wise. Proverbs xx, 1.\n\n    God created man in his own image. Genesis i, 27.\n\n    Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of\n    God dwelleth in you?\n\n    If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the\n    temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. I Corinthians iii, 16,\n    17.\n\nAfter this he sat quietly for a long time apparently lost in thought;\nthen this truly penitent one arose, stood beside his wife and vowed\nthat in future he would be a better man, and their home should be happy\nas in the old days before this false friend took possession.\n\nTears of happiness were streaming from the little woman's eyes, and our\nWitch withdrew, thanking God in her heart for this power he had given\nher.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nOn reaching home she found a neighbor waiting outside, who entered with\nher, in the meantime pouring into the ever sympathetic ears her\ntrouble.\n\nShe was bewailing over the downfall of her boy who heretofore had been\nexceptionally dutiful, invariably spending his evening at home, but of\nlate all was changed. He had contracted the card disease with all its\nadherent vices, which was rapidly developing into a mania. His salary,\nwhich was the home support, was being sacrificed on the gambling altar.\n\nHere was more work. The only son and mainstay of a widowed mother fast\ngoing to ruin. Yes, something must be done.\n\nEarly the following evening the Witch made it her business to pay a\nvisit to the widow about tea time. The son was hurriedly finishing his\nmeal preparatory to starting out for the night, when somehow he changed\nhis mind and stayed at home instead, and our friend, the Witch, knew\nthat in future he would have sufficient strength of will to pass by his\nold haunt and on home to his waiting loving mother with his earnings in\nhis pocket, which meant more home comforts, more books and evening\nreading, and happiness to both.\n\n    Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from\n    evil. Proverbs, iv. 27.\n\nThe Witch went home well satisfied with her day's work, and that night\nthought and planned for the good of humanity. Why not venture further\ninto a wider range for action?\n\nShe might peddle her songbirds from door to door, and in this capacity\ngain access into houses where she could more readily acquaint herself\nwith those in need of her assistance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nThe next morning our Witch opened her Bible and read as she was wont to\ndo before any new undertaking. Her eyes rested on these lines:\n\n    If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your\n    children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy\n    Spirit to them that ask him? Luke xi, 13.\n\nShe knelt and prayed long and earnestly for an abundance of this Holy\nSpirit to guide and help her. She took her birds and started out.\n\n    I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my\n    statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. Ezekiel\n    xxxvi, 27.\n\nHer first stopping place was at a dwelling that stood back some little\ndistance from the street and was surrounded by flowers.\n\nWhat drew her attention most was the appearance of a little child whose\ninnocent face reminded her that purity still existed. She entered the\ngrounds and rang the bell.\n\nA young woman opened the door and kindly invited her in. The Witch made\nsome remark about the pretty boy outside, when she saw an expression of\npain flit over the lady's face. Something wrong here, she thought.\n\nYes, the child was hers; she had loved not wisely but too well, Her\nbetrayer, a prosperous business man who was as yet unmarried, was\nallowed to move in the very best of society, but the finger of scorn\nwas pointed at her from all sides.\n\nShe was the only daughter of parents who thought very fondly of their\nlovable grandchild, still felt keenly the disgrace that had been\nbrought upon the hitherto spotless family name.\n\nDoes the seventh commandment demand more obedience from one sex than\nthe other? It reads as if it was spoken to both alike. Our Witch\nlearned the man's name and business address, and departed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nShe was so in sympathy with this family that she felt in a hurry to get\nto work, and so signalled a passing car to stop, and entered. It was\nwell filled, but two seats remaining unoccupied she seated herself in\none of them.\n\nPresently a little colored girl came in and took the other. A high-bred\ndame sitting next elevated her aristocratic nose and pulled her skirts\naside as if fearing contamination.\n\n    Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for the Lord hath spoken.\n    Jeremiah xiii, 15.\n\n    There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! Proverbs xxx,\n    13.\n\n    Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of\n    Hosts. Jeremiah 1, 31.\n\n    Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.\n    Proverbs xvi, 5.\n\n    I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low\n    the haughtiness of the terrible. Isaiah xiii, 11.\n\n    The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men\n    shall be bowed down. Isaiah ii, 11.\n\nWhy draw this color line so tightly? What of this outer covering? Have\nnot these people immortal souls which may be white as the whitest; and\nin many cases, brilliant talents?\n\nThe Witch remembered a circumstance where a king of oratory, holding a\nhigh official position, was debarred from sitting at table with a\nship's crew on account of this same color, which was only a heavier\nshading; and is not all creation a matter of shadow and coloring?\n\n    And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all\n    the face of the earth. Acts xvii, 26.\n\nA shabbily dressed woman came in. The stamp of labor was on her\ngloveless hands, and she looked weary, indeed. But no attention was\npaid her whatever.\n\nThen came two flashily attired females. No less than five gentlemen\narose to offer seats. Were they more in need of rest than this poor\nlaboring woman?\n\nAh, well! perhaps they were more heavily burdened with their follies\nthan she with her cares.\n\nFor once the Witch was too busy with many thoughts to concentrate her\nmind on any individual in particular, and passed on and out of the car\nto finish her day's work.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nShe went in to a business establishment and made her way to the office.\nThe proprietor, a busy man of the world, was at his desk. He looked in\nsurprise at the cage of birds; a rather unusual place, certainly, to\nattempt the sale of a bird, the business house of a man without family.\n\n\"I have no use for pets myself, and have no one to give them to.\"\n\nNo one? Then memory stirred; he thought of the one whom he had so\ncruelly wronged, and of his innocent child in disgrace. Why were these\nnew and better impulses taking possession of his mind? He did not know,\nbut the Witch did.\n\nShe saw the result of her work a few days later when his marriage\nnotice was published in the paper. Another family put to rights.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nNext, a respectable looking place that might belong to the occupants,\nfor there was not that unkempt appearance about it that is peculiar to\nrented property.\n\nOur Witch opened the gate and went in. A scowling woman came to the\ndoor who looked daggers at the unwelcome peddler, and said she would\nnot have one of those noisy birds in the house.\n\nAbout this time her tired-looking husband came home from work, and\njudging from the tirade of abuse heaped upon him, it was evident that\nshe certainly would not tolerate any noise about the premises that she\ncould not make herself.\n\nIt was only a matter of time when this quiet, hard-working man would\ntire of his home life. Husbands with such life partners are not so much\nto blame if they do prefer the company of other women, the gambling\ndens and saloons, or any place rather than their homes.\n\n    It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a\n    brawling woman in a wide house. Proverbs xxi, 9.\n\nHow many wives, instead of trying to make home attractive, drive\nhappiness away with their cruel tongues?\n\n    Who have said with our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own\n    who is lord over us? Psalms xii, 4.\n\n    Hold thy tongue. Amos vi, 10.\n\n    The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.\n\n    It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James iii, 6, 8.\n\n    A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.\n\n    A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness therein is a\n    breach in the spirit. Proverbs xv, 1, 4.\n\n    Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil\n    speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:\n\n    And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one\n    another, as even God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians\n    iv, 31, 32.\n\nThe Witch is yet at her work. She proceeded on her way, thankful that\nshe has made one less shrew in the world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nOn her way along she observed a boy sitting on the walk near some\nshrubbery. He seemed very intent on whatever he was doing. She\napproached nearer and saw a poor butterfly denuded of its wings lying\nquivering in his hand, and he was looking at it with the most intense\nsatisfaction.\n\n\"My lad, do you know that--\n\n    The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the\n    good. Proverbs xv, 3.\n\n    Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and\n    whether it be right. Proverbs xx, 11.\n\n\"Understand that it is sinful to torment any living thing.\"\n\nThe boy slunk away, realizing for the first time that it was wrong to\ntorture anything so small as a butterfly.\n\nThe disposition to torture seems to be inherent with many boys and if\nallowed to grow on them will in time predominate over all good\nimpulses, and prompt them to commit the most terrible crimes.\n\n    For the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of\n    violence. Ezekiel vii, 23.\n\nIf they were taught to cultivate will power to subdue these evil\nimpulses what a blessing would be derived! How prone to wickedness is\nall human nature, and how much we need to pray for help to overcome it!\n\n    Watch and pray. Matthew xxvi, 41.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\nThe Witch noticed a girl in the regulation uniform of white cap and\napron marshalling several children. How oft seen in the want column: \"A\nnurse girl who will wear the cap.\" Why was this headgear exacted as a\nbadge of servitude? Why ape the Old World customs?\n\n    Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down;\n    for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your\n    glory. Jeremiah xiii, 18.\n\n    Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem and take off the crown;\n    this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him\n    that is high.\n\n    I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more\n    until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. Ezekiel\n    xxi, 26, 27.\n\n    And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Isaiah ii, 11.\n\nWas not this government founded on the principle of equality? Did not\nthe Pilgrim Fathers estimate one good as another if their righteousness\nwas equal? And the distinction was made only between good and evil\ndoers.\n\n    A nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of\n    their God. Isaiah lviii, 2.\n\n    And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight in\n    proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a\n    covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:\n\n    But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his\n    servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at\n    their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be\n    unto you for servants and for handmaids. Jeremiah xxxiv, 16, 17.\n\nThen, again, should it not be more essential for these mothers to look\nmore after the morals of the persons who were to be companions for\ntheir children and to be less watchful of Mrs. Grundy's edicts?\n\n    For the customs of the people are vain.\n\n    They are altogether brutish and foolish; the stock is a doctrine of\n    vanities.\n\n    They are vanity, and the work of errors; in the time of their\n    visitation they shall perish. Jeremiah x, 3, 8, 15.\n\nThe Witch recalled an instance where a distinguished political leader\nmarried a sewing woman, and his bride was ostracized from society when\nit leaked out that she had labored for a livelihood. Had all these\naristocrats as clean a record?\n\nAm afraid one's hands would be somewhat soiled by too close\ninvestigation.\n\n    Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth\n    your hearts. Luke xvi, 15.\n\n    For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither\n    hid, that shall not be known. Luke xii, 2.\n\n    For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret\n    thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes xii,\n    14.\n\n    The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity;\n    every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not.\n    Zephaniah iii, 5.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nOne day when passing the jail our Witch was moved with an impulse to go\ninside. The warden allowed her to pass in. Her heart ached for these\npoor wretches whose faces from behind the bars looked so hopeless and\nunhappy, and whose blasphemous language chilled her. She longed for the\ntime when:\n\n    Every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. II\n    Timothy ii, 19.\n\nWho knew but these criminals were as innocent in the light of God's\nAll-Searching Eye as those who less tried have committed less evil?\n\n    For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans iii,\n    23.\n\n    If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth\n    is not in us. John i, 8.\n\nSome have better childhood memories of good influences brought to bear\non their susceptible innocence, and would not humanity, begot and\nreared in iniquity, have a natural inclination to evil, and\nconsequently be pardonable for greater crimes than those of a healthier\nnourishment? And would not those stronger ones with great mental gifts\nhave more to answer for accordingly than those of weaker natures? Well,\nit is beyond any human comprehension to execute perfect justice.\n\n    Then hear thou from Heaven, thy dwelling place, and forgive, and\n    render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou\n    knowest; for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men.\n    II Chronicles vi, 30.\n\n    I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every\n    man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his\n    doings. Jeremiah xvii, 10.\n\n    The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Psalms\n    xix, 9.\n\n    But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why doth thou set at nought\n    thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of\n    Christ. Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge\n    this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to\n    fall in his brother's way. Romans xiv, 10, 13.\n\n    Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art, that judgest; for\n    wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. Romans ii,\n    1.\n\n    Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall\n    not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Luke vi, 37.\n\n    Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who\n    both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will\n    make manifest the counsels of the hearts. I Corinthians iv, 5.\n\nBut crime will come to an end in that happy time when we will know each\nother's innermost thoughts.\n\nWhat a grand and awful time will be the day of judgment, when the\nSpirit quickens the dust of centuries! Grand for those who have\nsincerely tried to serve the King!\n\n    Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh\n    righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of\n    oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that\n    stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from\n    seeing evil: he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be\n    the munitions of rocks; bread shall be sure. Isaiah xxxiii, 14, 15,\n    16.\n\n    Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with\n    the whole heart. Psalms cxix, 2.\n\n    They that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord\n    hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written\n    before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his\n    name.\n\n    And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I\n    make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own\n    son that serveth him. Malachi iii, 16, 17.\n\nAwful for the hypocrites when God's magnetic eyes burn into their\nsouls. In this way the world of sin will be dissolved, but space, in\nwhich we move and have our being, will never be destroyed.\n\n    One generation passeth away and another generation cometh; but the\n    earth abideth forever. Ecclesiastes i, 4.\n\n    For this hath the Lord said: The whole land shall be desolate, yet\n    will I not make a full end. Jeremiah iv, 27.\n\n    Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath;\n    for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall\n    wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in\n    like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my\n    righteousness shall not be abolished. Isaiah li, 6.\n\n    Who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he\n    appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire. Malachi iii, 2.\n\n    Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare\n    it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try\n    every man's work of what sort it is. I Corinthians iii, 13.\n\n    For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews xii, 29.\n\n    The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved; I bear up\n    the pillars of it. Psalms lxxv, 3.\n\n    All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.\n    Zephaniah iii, 8.\n\n    Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,\n    and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue\n    shall consume away in their mouth. Zechariah xiv, 12.\n\n    As wax melteth before the fire; so let the wicked perish at the\n    presence of God. Psalms lxviii, 2.\n\n    Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left.\n    Isaiah xxiv, 6.\n\n    All the hosts of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall\n    be rolled together as a scroll. Isaiah xxxiv, 4.\n\n    Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour\n    widow's houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore ye\n    shall receive the greater damnation. Matthew xxiii, 14.\n\n    For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire\n    shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. Job xv, 34.\n\n    I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will\n    I plead with you face to face.\n\n    And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein\n    ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own\n    sight for all your evils that ye have committed. Ezekiel xx, 35, 43.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nThe Witch was not a regular attendant at any house of worship of any\nset creed, but preferred ones of lesser grandeur, feeling that she met\nwith more sincerity within. But one Sabbath morning her steps led to\none of the largest and most fashionable churches in the city. The\nushers were busy seating the well-dressed throng. She slipped along and\ntook a seat by the side of a sumptuously dressed lady who shifted and\nspread her drapery a little more as a hint to the intruder that her\npresence was undesirable.\n\nMany haughty glances of derision were shot at the poorly clad stranger\nwho had presumed to come in their midst. She looked about her on the\nthrong.\n\n    All is vanity. Ecclesiastes i, 2.\n\nRichly attired matrons, conscious only of their extreme style; fair\nyoung girls, not a whit less extravagantly garbed than their elders,\nwith cramped waists and all the accoutrements belonging to devotees of\nfashion.\n\nA pity that such fair flowers like the rose could not remain longer in\nbud, for both fall into decay all too quickly after maturity. But Dame\nFashion seems in a hurry and holds to artificial development.\n\n    Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. John ii, 16.\n\nWhat more was this great display of finery than one way of advertising\ngoods?\n\n    Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me;\n    the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot\n    away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.\n\n    Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from\n    before mine eyes; cease to do evil.\n\n    Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the\n    fatherless, plead for the widow.\n\n    Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your\n    sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be\n    red like crimson, they shall be as wool.\n\n    If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.\n\n    But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured. Isaiah i, 13, 16,\n    17, 18, 19, 20.\n\n    Their land also is full of idols; they worship the works of their\n    own hands that which their own fingers have made. Isaiah ii, 8.\n\n    The daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth\n    necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a\n    tinkling with their feet.\n\n    In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling\n    ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires\n    like the moon.\n\n    The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers.\n\n    The bonnets, the headbands, and the earrings.\n\n    The rings.\n\n    The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantels, and the wimples,\n    and the crisping pins.\n\n    The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.\n    Isaiah iii, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.\n\n    That women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness\n    and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or\n    costly array;\n\n    But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. I\n    Timothy ii, 9, 10.\n\nThe eloquent and eminent divine preached a flowery discourse with no\nreproof pointing to the vanity and frivolity of the hour.\n\n    They are shepherds that cannot understand; they all look to their\n    own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Isaiah lvi, 11.\n\n    Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard; they have trodden my\n    portion under foot. Jeremiah xii, 10.\n\n    The pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord.\n    Jeremiah x, 21.\n\n    Woe unto you, ye blind guides. Matthew xxiii, 16.\n\n    Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching\n    things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. Titus i, 11.\n\n    Ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at\n    the law. Malachi ii, 8.\n\n    Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,\n    rebuke, extort with all long suffering and doctrine.\n\n    For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;\n    but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers\n    having itching ears;\n\n    And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be\n    turned into fables.\n\n    But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an\n    evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. II Timothy iv, 2, 3,\n    4, 5.\n\nThe great organ reverberated through the building. The choir sang of\nGod's love to all creatures alike. Two women sat side by side, and the\none of loftier mien bowed her head, and for the first time in her life\nfelt the love of God in her heart; and the Witch went out from church\nhappy, knowing that through her influence one soul was redeemed this\nSabbath morning.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\nMarching along the road came the Salvation Army. A crowd of juveniles\nbent on hilarity followed in line, mimicking and ridiculing them. The\ncrowd on the sidewalk jeered, and a high dignitary in church affairs\njoined his voice with the rest, remarking that this rabble never ought\nto be allowed to parade the streets Sunday. Who knows how many degraded\nlives have been elevated by this much ridiculed religious body who do\ngood work in the slums where religion is most needful, and in so doing\nfollow more closely in the footsteps of the Christ than those who spend\ntheir energy in striving among themselves for precedence in the public\nschools and everywhere?\n\nWhy all this contention? Should not real Christian worshippers work in\nharmony?\n\n    Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Malachi\n    ii, 10.\n\n    And there was also a strife among them which of them should be\n    accounted the greatest.\n\n    But ye shall not be so; but he that is greatest among you, let him\n    be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.\n    Luke xxii, 24, 26.\n\n    Do all things without murmurings and disputings. Philippians ii,\n    14.\n\n    Shun profane and vain babblings. II Timothy ii, 16.\n\n    Be at peace among yourselves. I Thessalonians v, 13.\n\n    Seek peace and pursue it. Psalms xxxiv, 14.\n\n    Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Philippians ii,\n    3.\n\n    Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and\n    of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.\n\n    From which some having swerved have turned aside into vain\n    jangling. I Timothy i, 5, 6.\n\n    Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own\n    selves.\n\n    Be of one mind, live in peace. II Corinthians xiii, 5, 11.\n\n    Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and\n    strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. Titus\n    iii, 9.\n\n    For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil\n    work. James iii, 16.\n\n    Now I beseech you brethren by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,\n    that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division\n    among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same\n    mind and in the same judgment. I Corinthians i, 10.\n\n    I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands,\n    without wrath and doubting. I Timothy ii, 8.\n\n    Behold, ye fast for strife and debate.\n\n    Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of\n    wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go\n    free, and that ye brake every yoke?\n\n    Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the\n    poor that are cast out to thy house?\n\n    When thou seest the naked that thou cover him; and that thou hide\n    not thyself from thine own flesh?\n\n    Then shall thy light break forth as the morning; and thy\n    righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be\n    thy reward.\n\n    Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry,\n    and he shall say: Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of\n    thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking\n    vanity;\n\n    And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the\n    afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy\n    darkness be as noonday;\n\n    And the Lord shall guide thee continually. Isaiah lviii, 4, 6, 7,\n    8, 9, 10, 11.\n\n    Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep\n    his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes\n    xii, 13.\n\n    He hath showed thee, O Man, what is good; and what doth the Lord\n    require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk\n    humbly with thy God? Micah vi, 8.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\nThe Witch resumed work Monday morning. There was more stir in the\nstreets than usual. On every corner were groups of excited men. Nothing\nbut whisky and election would cause so much commotion.\n\nThe carriages of the different candidates were out scouring the town\nfor voters.\n\nSome of these aspirants for office had almost impoverished themselves\nby daily treating the crowd of loafers who are always ready to trade\ntheir votes for whisky.\n\nThey go about electioneering for themselves. Bosh! if a man has the\nelements of greatness he will find his place without all this\nself-praise.\n\n    For men to search their own glory is not glory. Proverbs xxv, 27.\n\n    For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he\n    deceiveth himself. Galatians vi, 3.\n\nElection day and no mistaking it; the saloons are supposed to be\nclosed, but there is a back door to some of them.\n\n    It is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:\n    Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any\n    of the afflicted. Proverbs xxxi, 4, 5.\n\nIs it any wonder that the women of our land clamor for a voice in the\naffairs of state and nation?\n\nBut a woman's place is not at the polls. She can do more good at home\nin training the minds of her sons, the future voters, and in making her\nhusband's home-coming pleasant, that he may prefer it to haunts of\nvice. And it is to be hoped that man through debauchery will not become\naltogether inefficient and make it necessary for woman to take the lead.\n\n    But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the\n    man, but to be in silence. I Timothy ii, 12.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\nIn the evening at that most entrancing hour between daylight and dark,\nwhen all creation seems in a dreamy mood, the Witch found herself at\nthe entrance of a gilded palace of sin. A number of the inmates were\nflitting about the flower-laden, well-kept grounds. She approached one\nof exquisite beauty of person whose face was not yet passion-scarred.\n\nShe was dressed in some soft, flowing, white material which gave her\nmore of a seraphic appearance than one of sensualism. The Witch asked\nwhat brought her to this stage of immorality. The woman's reply was\nthat she had been reared in wealth, but her father through some unlucky\nspeculation lost everything. She had never learned to work, but had\nbeen taught that any labor was most degrading, and she had not\nqualified herself to teach any branch of learning, never having made\nallowance for the swift wings of vanishing wealth.\n\nWhen thrown on her own resources she was at a loss to know what to do,\nwhen a wealthy gentleman friend came to her assistance at the sacrifice\nof her honor.\n\nHe soon tired of her, however; her father had died broken-hearted, and\nher mother was staying with a distant relative who had kindly offered\nher a home.\n\nThe Witch persuaded her to leave this life of disgrace, to learn honest\nwork and brighten her mother's remaining years.\n\n    Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not\n    to be ashamed. II Timothy ii, 15.\n\nShe said that it would be hard for her to face the world with this\nstigma of shame on her character; that all those bearing any claim to\nrespectability would scorn her.\n\nThe Witch told her that God was judge and not the people, and their\nlives were not altogether blameless.\n\n    God is the judge. Psalms lxxv, 7.\n\n    He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at\n    her. John viii, 7.\n\nThe woman was undecided, but the better mind prevailed and she\naccompanied the Witch home, and the next day found respectable\nemployment.\n\nAnd still the good work goes on.\n\nReader, I am only narrating a small portion of this woman's work which\nshe found as the days went by to be illimitable. _Vice versa._ If\none possessing this mysterious power was inclined to evil rather than\ngood, what a great amount of wickedness might be accomplished through\nit. God only knows how much of the good and evil that has been done in\nthe world may be attributed to this hidden force.\n\nWas the famed enchantress of the Nile gifted with this secret to a very\ngreat extent, and many other characters of history celebrated in their\nday for the influence they exercised?\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nThe Witch heard of a murder trial that was going on in court and\narousing intense interest, owing to the high social standing of all the\nparties concerned. She acted on impulse to a certain extent and,\nleaving her birds at home, started at once for the court-house.\n\nOn her way there she turned her attention to a case of street pugilism.\nA crowd of boys, ranging in age from seven to twenty, had congregated.\nTwo small urchins were fighting; their faces were scratched and\nbleeding, and the crowd was urging them on to do each other more\ninjury.\n\nThese young ruffians made a study of wickedness which is more than\nmischief, and this element is on an increase the world over.\n\n    Yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil. Ecclesiastes\n    ix, 3.\n\nNo wonder when they have for examples men in high places who take such\ninterest in prize fighting.\n\nIt would be more in keeping with their positions if their minds could\naspire to something more elevating. They are ready enough to censure\nthe Spaniards for their bull fights, but are themselves not far in\nadvance when they will encourage this barbarous sport which seems to be\ngaining popularity.\n\n    The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.\n    Psalms xii, 8.\n\n    For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are\n    led of them are destroyed. Isaiah ix, 16.\n\n    These are the men that devise mischief and give wicked counsel in\n    this city. Ezekiel xi, 2.\n\nIf they would exercise the spiritual nature more and the animal less\nthey could take no pleasure in such brutish doing.\n\n    For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against\n    the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other. Galatians\n    v, 17.\n\nEven the Press takes a hand in it, and devotes whole columns of the\npapers to explaining in minutest detail the movements of the\ncombatants.\n\nOur Witch was wrapped in thought, but did not forget her work, and in a\nfew moments after she appeared among them the shamefaced crowd\ndispersed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nWhen the chief witness against the accused was called to give his\ntestimony there was one among the throng of spectators whose eyes never\nleft his face.\n\nHe started in a resolute manner, then wavered a little, and finally\nbroke down in the midst of it and confessed his own guilt. He was the\nmurderer.\n\n    Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Exodus xx,\n    16.\n\n    Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another. James\n    v, 16.\n\n    He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth\n    and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs xxviii, 13.\n\n    If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our\n    sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. John i, 9.\n\nThere was a hush like the hush of death in the courtroom while he was\nspeaking. When the crowd passed out, a plainly garbed figure went out\nalso unobserved. The Witch had done her work for the day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nShe looked on the cars gliding over the electric road. What of this\noccult power? And what of her own? Eventually would electricity impel\nthe entire universe?\n\nHad this always existed and was yet to be brought out by masterful\nminds? Was this the connecting link between God and man? Then it was\nwisely said in ages past:\n\n    How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? Proverbs i, 22.\n\n    The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works\n    of old.\n\n    When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he set a compass\n    upon the face of the depth. Proverbs vii, 22, 27.\n\n    He ruleth by his power forever. Psalms lxvi, 7.\n\n    In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Isaiah xxvi, 4.\n\n    Take hold of my strength. Isaiah xxvii, 5.\n\n    Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you\n    from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundation of\n    the earth? Isaiah xl, 21, 22.\n\n    For my people is foolish; they have not known me; they are sottish\n    children, and they have none understanding; they are wise to do\n    evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Jeremiah iv, 22.\n\n    Understand, ye brutish among the people, and ye fools, when will ye\n    be wise? Psalms xciv, 8.\n\n    O ye simple, understand wisdom; and ye fools, be ye of an\n    understanding heart. Proverbs viii, 5.\n\n    Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for\n    understanding;\n\n    If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid\n    treasures;\n\n    Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the\n    knowledge of God. Proverbs ii, 3, 4, 5.\n\n    He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world\n    by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his\n    discretion.\n\n    When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the\n    heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the\n    earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind\n    out of his treasures. Jeremiah x, 12, 13.\n\n    The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his\n    handiwork.\n\n    Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth\n    knowledge.\n\n    There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.\n\n    Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to\n    the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,\n\n    Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth\n    as a strong man to run a race.\n\n    His going forth is from the ends of the heaven, and his circuit\n    unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat\n    thereof. Psalms xix, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.\n\n    The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory\n    thundereth, the Lord is upon many waters.\n\n    The voice of the Lord is powerful. Psalms xxix, 3, 4.\n\n    The thunder of his power who can understand? Job xxvi, 14.\n\n    With thee is the fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light.\n    Psalms xxxvi, 9.\n\n    The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the\n    Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk ii, 14.\n\n    Who is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall\n    understand. Psalms cvii, 43.\n\nAt the resurrection, when the Lamb of God will rule the world as the\ncenter of gravitation like the sun, who among us can study mischief in\nsecret when mind meets mind in one common thoroughfare of thought which\ncannot be divided by land or sea?\n\n    As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the\n    west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew xxiv,\n    27.\n\n    And the city hath no creed of the sun, neither of the moon, to\n    shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is\n    the light thereof. Revelation xxi, 23.\n\n    The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness\n    shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto\n    thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.\n\n    Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw\n    itself; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light. Isaiah lx,\n    19, 20.\n\n    There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and\n    unjust. Acts xxiv, 15.\n\n    As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the\n    Son quickeneth whom he will. John v, 21.\n\n    Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O\n    my people, and brought you up out of your graves.\n\n    And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live. Ezekiel xxxvii,\n    13, 14.\n\n    The dead men shall live together; with my dead body shall they\n    arise.\n\n    Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of\n    herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah xxvi, 19.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\nOne morning when near a handsome residence the Witch stopped at the\nsound of a musical instrument. The music ceased and a lady of forty or\nthereabout answered her ring.\n\nShe was surrounded with every luxury, but our Witch soon learned that\nhere, too, was trouble. Yes, another mismated couple.\n\nThe lady said that her husband and herself had never lived very happily\ntogether after the first few months of married life; and recently\nanother woman had come between them, and her husband, desirous of a\nseparation, was about to commence proceedings for a divorce from her.\nAs for herself it mattered little, but for the sake of her children she\nhad rather it would not be.\n\nPresently the husband came. He was a fine-looking man of pleasing\naddress and unless appearance was deceiving he would do very well if\nstarted on the right track.\n\nHere was more work for the ever busy brain.\n\n    Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but\n    they have sought out many inventions. Ecclesiastes vii, 29.\n\n    Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed; how then\n    art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto\n    me? Jeremiah ii, 21.\n\nHe sat down facing the Witch, and after a little time was conscious of\na new train of thoughts. His better spirit moved. Would it not be as\nwell to live the remainder of his life with the mother of his children\nwhom he dearly loved?\n\n    What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder.\n    Matthew xix, 6.\n\nContract marriage is most suitable for the present age. That leaves the\ncontracting parties on a grade with the cattle and admits of their\nchanging companions whenever and as often as they like without breaking\nGod's holy vows.\n\n    And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with\n    tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he\n    regardeth not the offering any more, or receive it with good will\n    at your hand.\n\n    Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy\n    youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously; yet is she thy\n    companion and the wife of thy covenant.\n\n    And did not he make one? yet had he the residue of the spirit.\n\n    Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously\n    against the wife of his youth.\n\n    For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away.\n    Malachi ii, 13, 14, 15, 16.\n\n    If a man put away his wife and she go from him, and become another\n    man's, shall not that land be greatly polluted? Jeremiah iii, 1.\n\nWhen a marriage is solemnized by the word of God, then no law on earth\nis justifiable for breaking it; and when a couple truly love each other\nwhat but death can separate them? For misfortune of any kind only binds\nthe tie of sympathy more closely.\n\nIf this tie was not so easily broken more persons would consider whom\nthey were marrying and what they were marrying for, and if less\ndeception was practiced beforehand, there would be fewer marriages\nwhich prove such dismal failures.\n\n    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;\n    who can know it? Jeremiah xvii, 9.\n\nWe will be done with all this in the resurrection.\n\n    In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,\n    but are as the angels of God in heaven. Matthew xxii, 30.\n\nWhen the Witch left this pair she was happy in the thought that they\nwould live together on better terms, and be like a re-united family.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n\nLater in the day our Witch was in another part of the city; while\nwalking through an alley, she saw a Chinaman carrying a large basket\nfull of clean clothes that he was returning to the owners. The Witch\nalso noticed several half-grown boys and heard one of them remark:\n\n\"Say we take a shot at that heathen.\"\n\nSo with one accord they commenced pelting him with everything\navailable. Their victim tried to defend himself to the best of his\nability, but the half dozen boys pounced on him, and in the fracas the\nclothes were upset into the street.\n\nIt was hard to tell how far they would carry their vicious work, which\nthey considered a capital joke, when some one appeared among them who\nwas also at work. Very soon they all left off, not knowing why. The\nWitch stood near while he gathered up the clothes, which necessarily\nmust be washed over again.\n\nThen she tried to solve in her mind this Chinese problem:\n\nThese Mongolians are in a measure obnoxious, but as a rule are\npeaceable and industrious, which is more than can be said of many other\npeople.\n\nThey have few opportunities for making a living in their own\nover-populous country, but perhaps when they have become more\nthoroughly Christianized, the race will be less prolific, which would\nbe beneficial to their own nation and others.\n\n    Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. Psalms xcvi, 10.\n\nFor the more a man leans to divinity the less he cleaves to his animal\nnature; and what is true of the Chinese applies to other densely\npopulated countries.\n\n    For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;\n    but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.\n    Romans viii, 5.\n\n    Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should\n    obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans vi, 12.\n\n    For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust\n    of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of\n    the world.\n\n    And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth\n    the will of God abideth forever. John ii, 16, 17.\n\nHer mind reverted to an incident which she witnessed in a cemetery. It\nwas the Sabbath and she was walking about in there as she often did on\nthis day, for what more forcible sermon can be delivered than a\nthinking mind can feel while moving about among the dead?\n\nAfter a time she was conscious of a disturbance of some kind going on\nat one corner of the enclosure. A promiscuous crowd had gathered and\nere long there came a Chinese funeral train and stopped at the open\ngrave.\n\nThen the crowd mocked them, and by this time it was evident that they\nhad gathered there to have sport at the expense of the mourners.\n\nThe children were cutting up all manner of antics, and the parents\nstood by highly amused at the proceedings. It was almost impossible to\nconduct the burial rites on account of the confusion made by the mob.\n\nTo be sure it was a peculiar ceremony, but some respect ought to have\nbeen due the feelings of these sorrowing ones at such a time. These\nchildren were wholly undisciplined in the matter of right and wrong;\ntheir behavior was like so many young savages.\n\nWhat were their parents teaching them? To selfishly enjoy the\ndiscomfort of others, and this was all, never trying to encourage the\nfiner and better feelings in their natures.\n\nOur Witch did not wait till the ceremony was over. Thoroughly disgusted\nwith human nature, she left the cemetery.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\nShe thought still less of it that night when awakened from sleep by a\ngang of boisterous picnickers who, full of liquor, were returning home\nfrom a day of revelry. Women's and men's voices mingled together in\nsinging vile songs.\n\nHow wholly depraved are some natures, and how necessary that these lewd\nminds should be purified by a closer communion with more spiritual\nintellects!\n\nWhen there are seven days in a week and our King only exacts from us\nthe Sabbath it does seem as if He is entitled to that, but where people\nare confined to employment every day in the week but one, it is hardly\nprobable that the kind Father would object to their having an outing on\ntheir one day of liberty out of a week of unremitting toil, if they\nwould conduct themselves properly.\n\n    Not in rioting and drunkenness; not in chambering and wantonness.\n    But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the\n    flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. Romans xiii, 13, 14.\n\n    My Sabbaths they greatly polluted.\n\n    I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and hallow my\n    Sabbaths. Ezekiel xx, 13.\n\n    Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment, and do justice.\n\n    Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth\n    hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth\n    his hand from doing any evil. Isaiah lvi, 1, 2.\n\n    If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy\n    pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy\n    of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own\n    ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:\n\n    Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee\n    to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the\n    heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken\n    it. Isaiah lviii, 13, 14.\n\nBut ere long a few cannot monopolize all the comforts, nor the masses\nbe obliged to struggle hard every hour for the bare necessities of\nlife, for who can defraud his neighbor when all minds will be a unit?\nand if honesty was practiced to the letter, the good things of life\nwould not be so unequally divided.\n\n    The profit of the earth is for all. Ecclesiastes v, 9.\n\n    Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Is not my way equal?\n    Are not your ways unequal? Ezekiel xviii, 25.\n\n    For every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to\n    covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest, every one\n    dealeth falsely. Jeremiah viii, 10.\n\n    Their tongue is an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit; one speaketh\n    peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in heart he layeth\n    wait. Jeremiah ix, 8.\n\n    As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit;\n    therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. Jeremiah v, 27.\n\n    Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they\n    increase in riches. Psalms lxxiii, 12.\n\n    Thus saith the Lord, execute ye judgment and righteousness, and\n    deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no\n    wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the\n    widow. Jeremiah xxii, 3.\n\n    Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; putting away lying, speak\n    every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of\n    another. Ephesians iv, 23, 25.\n\n    That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in\n    thee, that they also may be one in us. John xvii, 21.\n\n    Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell\n    together in unity! Psalms cxxxiii, 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n\nEver on the alert to do good the Witch stopped at a rickety tenement,\nwith nothing to recommend it but a climbing rose-bush, set out by some\nflower-loving tenant a number of years before, and which twined its\nlong branches in full bloom over one end of the dilapidated structure;\nit was an illustration of extremes meeting, this perfectly beautiful\nrose-bush and the unsightly old porch. The landlady did not care to buy\na bird, and none of the occupants of her rooms were at home during the\nday, except one, who poor boy, was always in, and a visitor would be\nsure to cheer him up a bit, though it would be useless to try and sell\na bird there. She led the way up a flight of stairs to the room where a\nlittle cripple was amusing himself with a few marbles that he was\nrolling about on the table by which he was sitting.\n\nHe was delighted with the birds, but knew that his sister could not\nafford to buy him one. He said she was employed up town in a store,\nnaming the business block of a well-known and very wealthy merchant,\nand he could not go out and play like other boys, and the days seemed\nvery long sometimes.\n\nYes, thought our Witch, a day must be a long time to this poor weakling\nwith little to amuse him.\n\nShe gave him his choice of the birds, and after promising to bring it\nback in the evening with a new cage which she would buy for him, the\nWitch took her leave.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n\nA little way down the street in advance of her was a heavy wagon drawn\nby one patient horse that looked as though it might have seen better\ndays, but now one could numerate every rib in its worn frame.\n\nThe driver was beating the poor animal unmercifully. It doubtless had a\nhistory, and if allowed speech would tell of a gradual decline, of\ncareful nourishment and little to do in its prime, but when strength\nand beauty began to wane, of a harder life, and now in old age when\nattention was most needful, must fall in line with the great majority\nof overworked, under-fed beasts of burden, and some day when no longer\nable to hold up the harness, would be taken out and shot.\n\nOur Witch could hear in her mind's ear the rebuke of old:\n\n    What have I done unto thee, that thou has smitten me these three\n    times? Numbers xxii, 28.\n\nShe watched the man intently for a few seconds, and then his arm\ndropped to his side. Why this sudden sympathy so foreign to his\nhardened nature?\n\nThe All-seeing Eye must often look down in tenderest pity on this\nill-treated animal creation, which is more deserving of His regard than\nthese inhuman beings, who by their cruelty place themselves far below a\nlevel with the lower animals.\n\n    The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His\n    works. Psalms cxlv, 9.\n\n    Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful. Luke vi,\n    36.\n\n    The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel\n    troubleth his own flesh. Proverbs xi, 17.\n\nSurely the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is one of\nthe noblest organizations of modern times, and for good work stands\nsecond to no religious denomination that has ever existed, or ever will\nexist.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n\nHer next stopping place was not in a rookery part of the city, but was\nwhere wealth abounds. It was just before the noon hour when she entered\nthe palatial home of a many times millionaire and was ushered into the\nlibrary where he was busy with some papers. \"Would you care to buy a\nbird, sir?\"\n\n\"I have no time to talk with you this morning, madam.\" He looked at her\nuneasily, and mentally resolved to administer a reproof to the servant\nfor allowing these tramping peddlers to enter the house.\n\nThe magnetic power was again brought into requisition.\n\nThe Witch might have used this influence for her own financial\nadvantage, but was too conscientious for that, and furthermore money\nwas not her aim in life.\n\nGradually there came stealing into this rich man's brain new thoughts;\nwas he doing right with his boundless wealth? He could not understand\nwhy he was just waking up to the fact that he had not.\n\nHow many needy ones had he passed by?\n\n    Withhold not good to them to whom it is due, when it is in the\n    power of thine hand to do it. Proverbs iii, 27.\n\nTo endow some charitable institution at his death, as a monument to his\nown memory, would hardly atone for neglected duty. Would God hold him\nresponsible for this neglect and bar him from the Kingdom?\n\n    Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Daniel v,\n    27.\n\n    Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his\n    chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages,\n    and giveth him not for his work. Thine eyes and thine heart are not\n    but for thy covetousness. Jeremiah xxii, 13, 17.\n\n    Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your\n    gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a\n    witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye\n    have heaped treasures together for the last days. Behold the hire\n    of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you\n    kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which reaped are\n    entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. James v, 2, 3, 4.\n\n    Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry\n    himself, but shall not be heard. Proverbs xxi, 13.\n\n    Let not the rich man glory in his riches. Jeremiah ix, 23.\n\n    Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them\n    in the day of the Lord's wrath. Zephaniah i, 18.\n\n    Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not\n    high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,\n    who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that\n    they be rich in good works, ready to distribute. I Timothy vi, 17,\n    18.\n\n    He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that\n    honoreth Him hath mercy on the poor. Proverbs xiv, 31.\n\n    As a partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that\n    getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of\n    his days, and at his end shall be a fool. Jeremiah xvii, 11.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n\nFaithful to her promise, the Witch purchased a cage, and early in the\nevening returned to the cripple's abode and was joyfully greeted.\n\n\"O, but you are a good lady to think of me, only a cripple boy!\"\n\nShe felt that it was indeed more blessed to give than to receive (Acts\nXX, 35) when one could do God a service at the same time.\n\n    As ye have done it unto the least of these ye have done it unto Me.\n    Matthew xxv, 40.\n\n    He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord. Proverbs xix,\n    17.\n\nIn a short time the sister came. His face brightened up with pleasure\nwhen he told her of the present he had received; now he would have a\ncompanion all through the long days.\n\nShe was also in a happy mood. The head of the firm where she worked had\nraised the salary of all his employes, and she was very thankful for\nher good luck because of her brother who needed more books and toys,\nfor the poor child had to amuse himself the best he could during the\nday. The Witch returned home. She saw the progress of her work many\ntimes after in this millionaire's acts of benevolence which were so\nliberal as to excite press comment.\n\n    Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him\n    in time of trouble. Psalms xli, 1.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n\nOur Witch read of the doings in the old world and was sorry that\ndistance and sea prevented this influence from being brought to bear\nupon some of the crowned heads, who, born to almost absolute power,\nshowed no mercy to a religious sect, who according to Holy Writ are the\nchosen people of God. But one alone cannot revolutionize the earth,\nunless that one be omnipotent.\n\nSome day this persecution must come to an end.\n\n    For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel,\n    and set them in their own land, and the stranger shall be joined\n    with them. Isaiah xiv, 1.\n\n    Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Amos iv, 12.\n\n    The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.\n    Zephaniah i, 14.\n\n    Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the\n    Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. Joel, ii, 1.\n\n    But of that day and hour no man, no not the angels of heaven, but\n    my Father only. Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your\n    Lord doth come. Matthew xxiv, 36, 42.\n\n    Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto\n    thee, so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.\n    Jeremiah xxxviii, 20.\n\n    Return ye now every one from his evil way and make your ways and\n    your doings good. Jeremiah xviii, 11.\n\n    And to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead,\n    even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1\n    Thessalonians i, 10.\n\n    Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other\n    name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts\n    iv, 12.\n\n    There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ\n    Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans\n    viii, 1.\n\n    Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you;\n\n    Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double\n    minded. James iv, 8.\n\n    Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice,\n    and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,\n    and he with me. Revelation iii, 20.\n\n    I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. Hosea xiv,\n    4.\n\n    Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be\n    blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the\n    presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before\n    was preached unto you. Acts iii, 19, 20.\n\n    If ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly\n    execute judgment between a man and his neighbor;\n\n    If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and\n    shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other\n    gods to your hurt;\n\n    Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land I gave to\n    your fathers, for ever and ever. Obey my voice and I will be your\n    God, and ye shall be my people. Jeremiah vii, 5, 6, 7, 23.\n\n    Therefore, turn thou to thy God; keep mercy and judgment, and wait\n    on thy God continually. Hosea xii, 6.\n\n    Depart from evil and do good, and dwell for evermore. Psalms\n    xxxvii, 27.\n\n    The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come singing unto Zion;\n    and everlasting joy shall be upon their head; they shall obtain\n    gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah\n    li, 11.\n\n    And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that\n    remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even every one that is\n    written among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord shall have\n    washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have\n    purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit\n    of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. Isaiah iv, 3, 4.\n\n    Behold, I come quickly. And the Spirit and the bride say, come; and\n    let him that heareth say, come; and let him that is athirst come;\n    and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.\n    Revelation xxii, 7, 17.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n\nThe Witch did not go about her work the next day, nor the next, for\nsomehow she contracted a severe cold which completely prostrated her,\nand then pneumonia clutched her throat.\n\nOne morning, when the first golden rays of the sun glanced over the\nsleeping city, they rested in benediction on her death bed. A neighbor,\nwhom in time past she had befriended, was at her side.\n\nShe knew that the end was near.\n\nWill this influence stop here? or will it go on and on through all the\nages to come?\n\n    Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,\n    saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their\n    works do follow them. Revelation xiv, 13.","title":"The Witch Hypnotizer","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12146}