The tall pines in the background blackened themselves against the
horizon; nearer they showed more and more decidedly their bluish green,
and the yellow of the newly fallen needles painted their aisles deep into
the airy shadows.
A little wind stirred their tops, and for a moment, just before the
Altrurian began to speak, drew from them an organ-tone that melted
delicately away as his powerful voice rose.
XI
"I could not give you a clear account of the present state of things in my
country," the Altrurian began, "without first telling you something of our
conditions before the time of our Evolution. It seems to be the law of all
life that nothing can come to fruition without dying and seeming to make
an end. It must be sown in corruption before it can be raised in
incorruption. The truth itself must perish to our senses before it can
live to our souls; the Son of Man must suffer upon the cross before we can
know the Son, of God.
"It was so with His message to the world, which we received in the old
time as an ideal realized by the earliest Christians, who loved one
another and who had all things common.
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