170 WILLIAM R. MERRIAM 



the robe of the senator, their aggregation in one man of 

 wealth so enormous as to make Croesus seem a pauper. 



"The poor fisherman, told of in the Arabian Nights, 

 threw his net into the sea, and drew up a casket covered with 

 rust and slime and closed down with the seal of Solomon. He 

 took it in his hands, and, holding it to his ear, he heard the 

 voice of a spirit imprisoned within, telling in tones of enchant- 

 ing sweetness how he, the poor, miserable fisherman, if he 

 would release the prisoner, might sway the scepter of power, 

 might revel in all sensuous delights, might command all the 

 riches hidden by earth or sea. The foolish fisherman broke 

 the seal by which the wisest of men had confined the enemy 

 of mankind, and lo! there rose from the casket a cloud un- 

 formed, which towered to heaven, and which, at last, con- 

 densed into an awful malignant demon, who stood dilated to 

 the skies. The fisherman lured the devil into his prison, 

 closed the seal upon him, and threw him back into the depths. 

 A similar task is laid upon the present generation." 



