8 Conservative.
called Parnassus , in a distant part of the
jungle , the chief seat of the Solomon
mice , and there ask advice of Apollo ,
the acting representative of Kosmos , the
imperial omnipotent and ancestor of the
Solomon mice and of all living things ;
energy of the world , power invisible.
Coming to "the Stra , " or porch of the
temple , Apollo , that wisest of all the
Solomon mice , the eldest sou of the
omnipotent Kosmos , met the embassy
and knowing their wishes knowing
himself he knoweth all things said :
"Most worshipful seniors , representa
tives of the only self-maintaining and
honorable inhabitants of the jungles of
the world , be ye not alarmed ; ye are in
no sejious danger ; much good will come
from this alarm in that it hath removed
the veil from your minds and made you ,
and your respective tribes , aware of the
fact that you cannot live without one
another ; for , he who consumoth his
own body soon dieth for want of fuel.
That which now threatens your peace
and disturbs you in your daily vocations
is an old danger , well known to your
ancestors of by-gone ages. Though
often attacked , your presence hero , the
strength and prosperity of your respec
tive organizations , is all-convincing
evidence that you alone are best fitted
to survive all the inhabitants of the
jungle of the omnipresent energy. The
Solomon mice are fully acquainted with
this danger. We have been quietly
observing the movements of the wolves ,
the jackals , and the hyenas and even
the dynamitic polecats have not es
caped our attention. This danger has
been known in history and tradition as
the invasion of the silver maggots.
"As I never leave the temple , I will
place at your service that most wise and
distinguished statesman in the realm of
the Solomon mice , Solon , once of an
cient Athens , who , since its downfall ,
hath joined the chief members of our
tribe in this our ancient grotto at Del
phi , who will accompany you home to
your own people and there instruct
you as to the nature of this threatening
danger and the best means of circum
venting it. "
Having accompanied the ambassa
dors to their part of the jungle and re
freshed himself , Solon , rhe statesman of
the Solomon mice , thus addressed the
convention :
The Aclvlco of Solon.
"Most illustrious assemblage : The
principle of self-preservation is the ina
lienable necessity to all that lives. The
inevitable result of that necessity is
struggle , battle , warfare. The survival
of the fittest is the result of this strug
gle. In you I behold the natural evi
dence of such survival. Self-defence is
an inevitable result of the struggle. In
order to meet a danger we must first
know its nature. You know there is
danger and yet know it not , The Solo
mon mice have known of it and seen it
coming for a long time. The history of
: ho world is theirs for , more than all
others , they have made it. It is to the
wisdom of the Solomon mice that the
institutions of the world owe their ori
gin and maintenance. Our grotto at
Delphi , in the mountain called Parnas
sus is the mausoleum in which we have
preserved the wisdom of the ages. The
Solomon mice have not only made the
wisdom they have recorded and pre
served it. The Sol < jmf feftmice are the
incarnated representatives of the omnip
otence of the omnipresent energy the
Kosmos , the matrix of all that was , is ,
and is to be. It is well , therefore that
you have come to us in your troubles.
"Let not your hearts be troubled.
The Kosmos has upheld you.through the
inalienable energy born with you.
Yet all are not so born. There bo many
weak ones among you. Many more
have departed from you and joined the
ranlcs of the night-roamers and disturb
ers of the peace of the jungle , the
wolves , the jackals , and the hyenas.
Ye have well named these weak-kneed
ones the 'pops. ' The sloths alone re
main with you. Many will die in the
coming conflict from their own unfit-
ness. It is the inevitable necessity.
The discontents and malefactors have
been with you since the beginning of
the world. At times they seem to mul
tiply and swarm like the bees. Like
the bees they have to be taken care of
to be at all useful. Discontent is their
chief characteristic. The Delphian
motto is unknown to them. They
know not themselves. They much re
semble those ancient Athenians of
whom that honorable member of the
Solomon mice , Paul of Tarsus , said
'they are always seeking after new and
unknown gods , and giving steady alleg
iance to none. ' They can never be de
pended upon in any emergency. There
fore it is well for you that these male
factors have'popped out. ' For a time
they may run after these silver maggots
and make a god of them. Fear not
this threatened invasion of the silver
maggots. They have no independent
and lasting strength on account of the
corrupt and corrupting nature of their
bodies. Those who now think they
shall find strength in attaching them
selves to the silver maggots will soon
find that they are like a drowning man
grasping at a straw. These silver mag
gets much resemble the swarms of lo
custs of which yo have read about in
history. They come in swarms. They
devastate the jungle of all that seems
fresh and vivifying. They disappear
again and all soon blooms in pristine
freshness.
Origin of th < ! Silver MuggotH.
"The silver maggots developed in the
valley of the mountains termed Rocky
on the western confines of the jungle o1
civilization. It may be for this reason.
; hat those who look to the silver maggots
gets for salvation generally have such a
'rocky' time of it. These pests have a
: ough , hard shell , having a peculiarly
attractive glance ; hence their name
silver maggots. Their bodies are so
weak and full of corruption that , of
themselves , they have but little value.
They would either die out or develop very
slowly were it not that to the fastnesses
of these mountains there has retreated ,
from the jungle * } of civilization , a small
number of powerful , hardy , more or less
unprincipled , at least extremely selfish ,
creatures , a remnant of the robber-
knights of the days of chivalry , known
as the Ingot Barons. They are not only
a stiff-necked , but a wily and smooth
tongued generation.
" from illustrious
"Being renegades your
trious organizations and well acquainted
with the 'pops' and their many weak
nesses and insatiable greed , as well as
gross ignorance , and the deceitful and
rebellious nature of the wolves , hyenas
and jackals , the Ingot Barons deter
mined to organize an army of silver
maggots and invade those parts of the
jungle of civilization inhabited by the
hard-working and honorable Behemoth ,
the brainy lions and industrious tigers.
"In connection with this purpose the
Ingot Barons have sent a special envoy ,
an agitator of much persuasiveness , to
the convention of the wolves , the hyenas
and the jackals and the dissenters from
your own bodies , to lay before them the
charms and usefulness , especially their
ability to save men from severe labor ,
of the silver maggots. This envoy is an
individual of peculiar character. He is
very much opposed to any other labor
than the use of his voice , which is of a
dangerously fascinating nature to those
not having the ability to distinguish the
vacuity behind it. The Ingot Barons
discovered this peculiar , and to them ,
useful creature in an island called
'green' in the dark recesses of the jun
gle. He belongs to the species called
naked Amphibia , and the family called
Bufo , and genera Viridis , in other
words the green frogs , noted for their
musical voices. He has a smooth and
pleasing appearance and is noted for the
characteristic termed 'unctuous. ' The
name of this peculiar green frog is
" . "
"IJrlan-go-Bray.
"As you may have noticed , your
camp has been entirely free from those
offensive nuisances , the polecats , since
the news of the convention of the hy
enas , the wolves and jackals become
spread abroad in the jungle. It has
come to the knowledge of the Solomon
mice that these anarchists of civiliza
tion , the polecats , have all gone off to
meet this unctuous orator , the Mng of
frogs called green , and are now escort
ing him with great display of red flags ,
and much noise of squibs and bombs
to the convention of the united pop-outs
from your honorable body , and those