The Story of the Innumerable Company, and Other Sketches. David Starr Jordan

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       David Starr Jordan

      The Story of the Innumerable Company, and Other Sketches

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4064066178994

Table of Contents

       ILLUSTRATIONS.

       THE STORY OF THE INNUMERABLE COMPANY.

       THE STORY OF THE PASSION.

       THE CALIFORNIA OF THE PADRE.[1]

       THE CONQUEST OF JUPITER PEN.

       THE LAST OF THE PURITANS.[1]

       A KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF POETS.[1]

       NATURE-STUDY AND MORAL CULTURE.[1]

       THE HIGHER SACRIFICE.[1]

       THE BUBBLES OF SÁKI.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

       Table of Contents

       Peter Rendl as Saint John

       Johann Zwink as Judas

       Rosa Lang as Mary

       "Ecce Homo!"

       A Record of Junípero Serra

       Mission of San Antonio de Pádua

       Mission of San Antonio de Pádua--Interior of Chapel

       Mission of San Antonio de Pádua--Side of Chapel, with the Old Pear-trees

       The Great Saint Bernard

       Hospice of the Great Saint Bernard

       Hospice of the Great Saint Bernard--in Winter

       Jupitère (Great Saint Bernard Dog)

       Monks of the Great Saint Bernard

       Saint Bernard and the Demon

       John Brown

       The John Brown Homestead, North Elba, N. Y.

       John Brown's Grave

       Ulrich Von Hutten

       Ulrich Zwingli

      _Men told me, Lord, it was a vale of tears

       Where Thou hast placed me, wickedness and woe

       My twain companions whereso I might go;

       That I through ten and threescore weary years

       Should stumble on beset by pains and fears,

       Fierce conflict round me, passions hot within,

       Enjoyment brief and fatal but in sin.

       When all was ended then should I demand

       Full compensation from thine austere hand:

       For, 'tis thy pleasure, all temptation past,

       To be not just but generous at last._

      _Lord, here am I, my threescore years and ten

       All counted to the full; I've fought thy fight,

       Crossed thy dark valleys, scaled thy rocks' harsh height,

       Borne all the burdens Thou dost lay on men

       With hand unsparing threescore years and ten.

       Before Thee now I make my claim, O Lord,--

       What shall I pray Thee as a meet reward?_

      _I ask for nothing. Let the balance fall!

       All that I am or know or may confess

       But swells the weight of mine indebtedness;

       Burdens and sorrows stand transfigured all;

       Thy hand's rude buffet turns to a caress,

       For Love, with all the rest. Thou gavest me here,

       And Love is Heaven's very atmosphere,

       Lo, I have dwelt with Thee, Lord. Let me die.

       I could no more through all eternity._

THE STORY OF THE INNUMERABLE COMPANY.

       Table of Contents

      There was once a great mountain which rose from the shore of the sea, and on its flanks it bore a mighty forest. Beyond the crest of the mountain were ridges and valleys, peaks and chasms, springs and torrents. Farther on lay a sandy desert, which stretched its monotonous breadth to the shore of a wide, swift river. What lay beyond the river no one knew, because its shores were always hid in azure mist.

      Year by year there came up from the shore of the sea an Innumerable Company. Each one must cross the mountain and the forest, faring onward toward the desert and the river. And this was one condition of the journey—that whosoever came to the river must breast its waters alone. Why this was so, no one could tell; nor did any one know aught of the land beyond. For of the multitude who had crossed the river not one had ever returned.

      As time went on there came to be paths through the forest. Those who went first left traces to serve as guides for those coming after. Some put marks on the trees; some built little cairns of stones to show the way they had taken in going around great rocks. Those who followed found these marks and added to them. And many of the travelers left little charts which showed where the cliffs and chasms were and by what means one could reach the hidden springs. So in time it came to pass that there was scarcely a tree on the mountain which bore not some traveler's mark; there was scarcely a rock that had not a cairn of stones upon it.

      In early times there was One who came up from the sea and made the journey over the mountain and across the desert by a way so fair that the memory of it became a part of the story of the forest. Men spoke to each other of his way, and many wished to find it out, that haply they might walk therein. He, too, had left a Chart, which those who followed him had carefully kept, and from which they had drawn help in many times of need.

      The way he went was not the shortest way, nor was it the easiest.