The Cause of Life and Motion 45 



the dead matter must be brought to life, even to 

 sustain the Almighty; but the new life must be 

 refined, otherwise it can no more find a place in 

 Heaven, than can a corrupt pool find a place in 

 the sky. 



Let not the meaning of the term refinement 

 be misunderstood. It refers not to the gilded 

 man of fashion, nor to the gilded man of wealth, 

 nor yet to the gilded thief who steals from his fel- 

 low man his natural inheritance from Heaven; for 

 such as these are the inventors of slavery and the 

 inventors of dank slimy prisons in which they 

 cage their fellows. Cannot these men, with 

 ever* their coarse brutal minds, see that with 

 every injury they inflict on their fellow man, they 

 bring a curse upon themselves? Cannot these 

 gilded men, see that their short-lived glory is 

 wholly supported by the gaunt ruination of their 

 fellows? 



We hear a great deal about the grand achiev- 

 ments of science and the glories of civilization, 

 but what are these achievements and glories 

 other than a damnation to the best part of man- 

 kind ? If we look at our greatness in our 

 splendid cities, we will find it a miserable sham. 

 We need but to go forth into the slimy by-ways 

 and into the gloomy tenements by the way-side 

 to find the noisome dregs of civilization. There 

 may we find the haunts of crime and disease, 



