FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER:

FOURTH SERIES.

VOL. VII.]	BETHANY, VA. JANUARY, 1857.	[NO. I.

      IT long since passed into a proverb, that the man of whom all men speak well, is good for nothing. The proverb implies a worse case, perhaps, than it expresses, for the man of whom all men speak well, might, probably, be shown to be, not good for nothing, merely, but positively worse than nothing. But I am not disposed to push the principle involved in the old adage, beyond the limits prescribed by its language, partly out of my respect for man, and partly out of my good will to men, though I am not sure but that He who spake as never man spake, has gone per implication some steps beyond those limits, when he utters that startling sentence, "woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you." By over-straining the sense of the proverb, I might, perchance, over-reach the object I have in view. It is not my object to attach more or less to a zero than it is legitimately entitled to.

      Let me beg the reader to pause for a moment---just one moment--and contemplate that digit, 0. Just look, will you, at the round, smooth, hollow thing,---smooth without, and hollow within. It is called in mathematics an insignificant figure, but still, a figure---a zero, a naught, but not a nonentity. Is it not an apt and every way admirable symbol of moral good-for-nothingness? There is not one point, not one angle about it. You may bolt against it side-wise, front-wise, any-wise, and it presents no points to prick you, no angularities to ward you off. You slip smoothly by it, without the least jostle, wound, or [41] offence. The filthy rag sweeps by it, and against it, leaving a stain, perhaps, but not itself. It has no points to catch and snatch off from the sack of rice one dirty shred of its wrappage.

      Now contemplate that odd digit, 7. There is but one point at which you can approach that gentleman without a wound, and that is the right one. He is, mathematically, denominated an integer or whole number---something appreciable, something valuable. He was a figure of great significance with our fathers and the prophets. Notice, I pray you, his points and juttings---a fine symbol of the morally good-for-something. Do but look sharply at this figure as he stands there, significantly before you, with his rough, sharp crankles. He is, to be sure, an odd figure, but then how upright, how erect he is withal! How a weak thing like 0, could hang on his arm for support! See, too, how smooth and inoffensive he is on the right side! But touch him, if you dare, on the left, the wrong side! You will be hurt. Compare with him this sleek, hollow fellow 0. You can touch or kick him at all points, with equal impunity. The man who passes through the world by dodging its rough duties, by opposing no bold angles to its inconsistencies, by offending none of its pride, by unmasking none of its abominable deceit, by presenting no standpoints of character to wound and ward off bad and unworthy men, by offering no arm, extending no hand or finger of which a weak brother can lay hold, and upon which he can hang in his weakness. Such a man is good for nothing, and behold the symbol of him, 0!

      But the man, on the other hand, who maintains but one attitude among his fellows, and that an upright one, not rolling from side to side, like a ball or a hoop, not shirking the severe and serious duties and responsibilities of life, but meeting them boldly and sharply; warding off, and wounding if necessary, the pride, arrogance, and lying vanities of the world, exposing its sly, sneaking knaveries; confronting its malice and frowning hostilities, contending with manliness against its wrongs, wily manoeuvrings, vices and outrages; pushing, unworthy, bad men out of his way, and reaching out his long, strong arm that the feeble may grasp it for support, and standing firm, immovable, and erect like a column, that the faint and tottering may loan against him; such a man is truly and essentially a MAN, and behold the symbol of him, 7.

A. P. HOOKE.      

[The Millennial Harbinger (January 1857): 41-42.]

      Alban P. Hooke's "Figures of Figures" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1857. The electronic version of the essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1857), pp. 41-42.

      For information on this little-known Disciple, see Hans Rollmann's "Alban P. Hooke, an Unusual Contributor to the Millennial Harbinger" in Discipliana 58 (Summer 1998): 60-64.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the essay. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 42:     an reaching [ and reaching
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
724.694.8602
stefanik@westol.com

Created 20 July 1998.