The Spirit of Christmas | Page 2

peoples that loved liberty, and take away their
treasure by force of arms. I have seen poverty mocked by arrogant
wealth, and purity deflowered by brute violence, and gentleness and
fair-dealing bruised in the winepress of iniquity and pride.
"There is no cure for this evil, but by the giving of greater force to the
good hand. The righteous cause must be strengthened with might to

resist the wicked, to defend the helpless, to punish all cruelty and
unfairness, to uphold the right everywhere, and to enforce justice with
unconquerable arms. Oh, that the host of Heaven might be called,
arrayed, and sent to mingle in the wars of men, to make the good
victorious, to destroy all evil, and to make the will of the King prevail!
"We would shake down the thrones of tyrants, and loose the bands of
the oppressed. We would hold the cruel and violent with the bit of fear,
and drive the greedy and fierce-minded men with the whip of terror.
We would stand guard, with weapons drawn, about the innocent, the
gentle, the kind, and keep the peace of God with the sword of the
angels!"
As he spoke, his hands were lifted to the hilt of his long blade, and he
raised it above him, straight and shining, throwing sparkles of light
around it, like the spray from the sharp prow of a moving ship. Bright
flames of heavenly ardour leaped in the eyes of the listening angels; a
martial air passed over their faces as if they longed for the call to war.
But no silver trumpet blared from the battlements of the City of God;
no crimson flag was unfurled on those high, secret walls; no thrilling
drum-beat echoed over the smooth meadow. Only the sound of the
brook of Brighthopes was heard tinkling and murmuring among the
roots of the grasses and flowers; and far off a cadence of song drifted
down from the inner courts of the Palace of the King.
Then another angel began to speak, and made answer to Michael. He,
too, was tall and wore the look of power. But it was power of the mind
rather than of the hand. His face was clear and glistening, and his eyes
were lit with a steady flame which neither leaped nor fell. Of flame also
were his garments, which clung about him as the fire enwraps a torch
burning where there is no wind; and his great wings, spiring to a point
far above his head, were like a living lamp before the altar of the Most
High. By this sign I knew that it was the archangel Uriel, the spirit of
the Sun, clearest in vision, deepest in wisdom of all the spirits that
surround the throne.
"I hold not the same thought," said he, "as the great archangel Michael;
nor, though I desire the same end which he desires, would I seek it by
the same way. For I know how often power has been given to the good,
and how often it has been turned aside and used for evil. I know that
the host of Heaven, and the very stars in their courses, have fought on

the side of a favoured nation; yet pride has followed triumph and
oppression has been the first-born child of victory. I know that the
deliverers of the people have become tyrants over those whom they
have set free, and the fighters for liberty have been changed into the
soldiers of fortune. Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save.
"Does not the Prince Michael remember how the angel of the Lord led
the armies of Israel, and gave them the battle against every foe, except
the enemy within the camp? And how they robbed and crushed the
peoples against whom they had fought for freedom? And how the
wickedness of the tribes of Canaan survived their conquest and
overcame their conquerors, so that the children of Israel learned to
worship the idols of their enemies, Moloch, and Baal, and Ashtoreth?
"Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. Was not Persia the
destroyer of Babylon, and did not the tyranny of Persia cry aloud for
destruction? Did not Rome break the yoke of the East, and does not the
yoke of Rome lie heavy on the shoulders of the world? Listen!"
There was silence for a moment on the slopes of Peacefield, and then
over the encircling hills a cool wind brought the sound of chains
clanking in prisons and galleys, the sighing of millions of slaves, the
weeping of wretched women and children, the blows of hammers
nailing men to their crosses. Then the sound passed by with the wind,
and Uriel spoke again:
"Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. The Earth is full of
ignorant strife, and