There had been nothing said about the proposed meeting in the papers, and no one knew about it save those who had been present at Grant Hall. But it looked as if they had told everyone they knew, and everyone they had told had come. The wide street was packed solid for a block, and in the midst of this throng2 stood Carpenter, upon a wagon3, making a speech.
There was no chance to get near, so I bethought me of an alley4 which ran parallel to the street. There was an obscure hotel on the street, and I entered it through the rear entrance, and had no trouble in persuading the clerk to let me join some of the guests of the hotel who were watching the scene from the second story windows.
The first thing which caught my attention was the figure of Everett, seated on the floor of the wagon from which the speech was being made. I saw that his face was covered with blood; I learned later that he had three teeth knocked out, and his nose broken. Nevertheless, there he was with his stenographer's notebook, taking down the prophet's words. He told me afterwards that he had taken even what Carpenter said in the church. “I've an idea he won't last very long,” was the way he put it; “and if they should get rid of him, every word he's said will be precious. Anyhow, I'm going to get what I can.”
Also I saw Korwsky, lying on the floor of the wagon, evidently knocked out; and two other men whom I did not know, nursing battered5 and bloody6 faces. Having taken all that in at a glance, I gave my attention to what Carpenter was saying.
He was discussing churches and those who attend them. Later on, my attention was called to the curious fact that his discourse7 was merely a translation into modern American of portions of the twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew; a free adaptation of those ancient words to present day practices and conditions. But I had no idea of this while I listened; I was shocked by what seemed to me a furious tirade8, and the guests of the hotel were even more shocked—I think they would have taken to throwing things out of the windows at the orator9, had it not been for their fear of the crowd. Said Carpenter:
“The theologians and scholars and the pious10 laymen11 fill the leisure class churches, and it would be all right if you were to listen to what they preach, and do that; but don't follow their actions, for they never practice what they preach. They load the backs of the working-classes with crushing burdens, but they themselves never move a finger to carry a burden, and everything they do is for show. They wear frock-coats and silk hats on Sundays, and they sit at the speakers' tables at the banquets of the Civic12 Federation13, and they occupy the best pews in the churches, and their doings are reported in all the papers; they are called leading citizens and pillars of the church. But don't you be called leading citizens, for the only useful man is the man who produces. (Applause.) And whoever exalts14 himself shall be abased15, and whoever humbles16 himself shall be exalted17.
“Woe18 unto you, doctors of divinity and Catholics, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; you don't go in yourself and you don't let others go in. Woe unto you, doctors of divinity and Presbyterians, hypocrites! for you foreclose mortgages on widows' houses, and for a pretense19 you make long prayers. For this you will receive the greater damnation! Woe unto you, doctors of divinity and Methodists, hypocrites! for you send missionaries20 to Africa to make one convert, and when you have made him, is twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Applause.) Woe unto you, blind guides, with your subtleties21 of doctrine22, your transubstantiation and consubstantiation and all the rest of it; you fools and blind! Woe unto you, doctors of divity and Episcopalians, hypocrites! for you drop your checks into the collection-plate and you pay no heed23 to the really important things in the Bible, which are justice and mercy and faith in goodness. You blind guides, who choke over a fly and swallow a flivver! (Laughter.) Woe unto you, doctors of divinity and Anglicans, hypocrites! for you dress in immaculate clothing kept clean by the toil24 of frail25 women, but within you are full of extortion and excess. You blind high churchmen, clean first your hearts, so that the clothes you wear may represent you. Woe unto you, doctors of divinity and Baptists, hypocrites! for you are like marble tombs which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy26 and iniquity27. (Applause.) Woe unto you doctors of divinity and Unitarians, hypocrites! because you erect28 statues to dead reformers, and put wreaths upon the tombs of old-time martyrs29. You say, if we had been alive in those days, we would not have helped to kill those good men. That ought to show you how to treat us at present. (Laughter.) But you are the children of those who killed the good men; so go ahead and kill us too! You serpents, you generation of vipers30, how can you escape the damnation of hell?”
点击收听单词发音
1 ushers | |
n.引座员( usher的名词复数 );招待员;门房;助理教员v.引,领,陪同( usher的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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3 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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4 alley | |
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路 | |
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5 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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6 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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7 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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8 tirade | |
n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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9 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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10 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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11 laymen | |
门外汉,外行人( layman的名词复数 ); 普通教徒(有别于神职人员) | |
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12 civic | |
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的 | |
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13 federation | |
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会 | |
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14 exalts | |
赞扬( exalt的第三人称单数 ); 歌颂; 提升; 提拔 | |
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15 abased | |
使谦卑( abase的过去式和过去分词 ); 使感到羞耻; 使降低(地位、身份等); 降下 | |
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16 humbles | |
v.使谦恭( humble的第三人称单数 );轻松打败(尤指强大的对手);低声下气 | |
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17 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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18 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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19 pretense | |
n.矫饰,做作,借口 | |
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20 missionaries | |
n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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21 subtleties | |
细微( subtlety的名词复数 ); 精细; 巧妙; 细微的差别等 | |
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22 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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23 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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24 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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25 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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26 hypocrisy | |
n.伪善,虚伪 | |
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27 iniquity | |
n.邪恶;不公正 | |
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28 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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29 martyrs | |
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情) | |
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30 vipers | |
n.蝰蛇( viper的名词复数 );毒蛇;阴险恶毒的人;奸诈者 | |
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