{"id":"01KG8AKTV1G78ESBA0XFETB27M","cid":"bafkreif7c3xx4er3ozjw4fz3y3g726axawtonzwl5mexwtupt6aupzuy7i","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":12066,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.931Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","start_line":11998,"text":"never before was virtue so lifted up among us, that all might see;\r\nnever before did rays from heaven descend to glorify it, But are Truth,\r\nJustice, and Love, the revelations of Alma alone? Were they never heard\r\nof till he came? Oh! Alma but opens unto us our own hearts. Were his\r\nprecepts strange we would recoil—not one feeling would respond;\r\nwhereas, once hearkened to, our souls embrace them as with the\r\ninstinctive tendrils of a vine.”\r\n\r\n“But,” said Babbalanja, “since Alma, they say, was solely intent upon\r\nthe things of the Mardi to come—which to all, must seem uncertain—of\r\nwhat benefit his precepts for the daily lives led here?”\r\n\r\n“Would! would that Alma might once more descend! Brother! were the turf\r\nour everlasting pillow, still would the Master’s faith answer a blessed\r\nend;—making us more truly happy _here_. _That_ is the first and chief\r\nresult; for holy here, we must be holy elsewhere. ’Tis Mardi, to which\r\nloved Alma gives his laws; not Paradise.”\r\n\r\n“Full soon will I be testing all these things,” murmured Mohi.\r\n\r\n“Old man,” said Media, “thy years and Mohi’s lead ye both to dwell upon\r\nthe unknown future. But speak to me of other themes. Tell me of this\r\nisland and its people. From all I have heard, and now behold, I gather\r\nthat here there dwells no king; that ye are left to yourselves; and\r\nthat this mystic Love, ye speak of, is your ruler. Is it so? Then, are\r\nye full as visionary, as Mardi rumors. And though for a time, ye may\r\nhave prospered,—long, ye can not be, without some sharp lesson to\r\nconvince ye, that your faith in Mardian virtue is entirely vain.”\r\n\r\n“Truth. We have no king; for Alma’s precepts rebuke the arrogance of\r\nplace and power. He is the tribune of mankind; nor will his true faith\r\nbe universal Mardi’s, till our whole race is kingless. But think not we\r\nbelieve in man’s perfection. Yet, against all good, he is not\r\nabsolutely set. In his heart, there is a germ. _That_ we seek to\r\nfoster. To _that_ we cling; else, all were hopeless!”\r\n\r\n“Your social state?”\r\n\r\n“It is imperfect; and long must so remain. But we make not the\r\nmiserable many support the happy few. Nor by annulling reason’s laws,\r\nseek to breed equality, by breeding anarchy. In all things, equality is\r\nnot for all. Each has his own. Some have wider groves of palms than\r\nothers; fare better; dwell in more tasteful arbors; oftener renew their\r\nfragrant thatch. Such differences must be. But none starve outright,\r\nwhile others feast. By the abounding, the needy are supplied. Yet not\r\nby statute, but from dictates, born half dormant in us, and warmed into\r\nlife by Alma. Those dictates we but follow in all we do; we are not\r\ndragged to righteousness; but go running. Nor do we live in common. For\r\nvice and virtue blindly mingled, form a union where vice too often\r\nproves the alkali. The vicious we make dwell apart, until reclaimed.\r\nAnd reclaimed they soon must be, since every thing invites. The sin of\r\nothers rests not upon our heads: none we drive to crime. Our laws are\r\nnot of vengeance bred, but Love and Alma.”\r\n\r\n“Fine poetry all this,” said Babbalanja, “but not so new. Oft do they\r\nwarble thus in bland Maramma!”\r\n\r\n“It sounds famously, old man!” said Media, “but men are men. Some must\r\nstarve; some be scourged.—Your doctrines are impracticable.”\r\n\r\n“And are not these things enjoined by Alma? And would Alma inculcate\r\nthe impossible? of what merit, his precepts, unless they may be\r\npracticed? But, I beseech ye, speak no more of Maramma. Alas! did Alma\r\nrevisit Mardi, think you, it would be among those Morals he would lay\r\nhis head?”\r\n\r\n“No, no,” said Babbalanja, “as an intruder he came; and an intruder\r\nwould he be this day. On all sides, would he jar our social systems.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJWKBZA64C30KJSGAWWKE","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKTV14MHYK3CCYY34NY7R","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKTV1S95GB3YAG5FKDAV2","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:17.249Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:29.235Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}