I believe from the little
that I have seen of life, that it is a law which acts
with startling swiftness, that a majority of drunkards
never perpetuate their species at all, and that when the
curse is hereditary, the second generation generally sees
the end of it.
Don't misunderstand me, and quote me as saying that
it is a good thing for a nation that it should have many
drunkards. Nothing of the kind. What I say is, that if
a nation has many morally weak people, then it is
good that there should be a means for checking those
weaker strains. Nature has her devices, and drink is
among them. When there are no more drunkards and
reprobates, it means that the race is so advanced that it
no longer needs such rough treatment. Then the all-wise
Engineer will speed us along in some other fashion.
I've been thinking a good deal lately about this
question of the uses of evil, and of how powerful a tool
it is in the hands of the Creator. Last night the whole
thing crystallised out quite suddenly into a small set of
verses. Please jump them if they bore you.
WITH EITHER HAND.
1.
God's own best will bide the test,
And God's own worst will fall;
But, best or worst or last or first,
He ordereth it all.
2.
For ALL is good, if understood,
(Ah, could we understand!)
And right and ill are tools of skill
Held in His either hand.
3.
The harlot and the anchorite,
The martyr and the rake,
Deftly He fashions each aright,
Its vital part to take.
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