of Atheism and Demagogy. For old Jerry once
visits Khalid in his cellar, and after partaking of a dish of
_mojadderah_, takes him to a political meeting to hear the popular
orators of the day.

And in this is ineffable joy for Khalid. Like every young mind he is
spellbound by one of those masters of spread-eagle oratory, and for
some time he does not miss a single political meeting in his district.
We even see him among the crowd before the corner groggery, cheering
one of the political spouters of the day.

And once he accompanies Jerry to the Temple of Atheism to behold its
high Priest and hear him chant halleluiah to the Nebular Hypothesis.
This is wonderful. How easy it is to dereligionise the human race and
banish God from the Universe! But after the High Priest had done this,
after he had proven to the satisfaction of every atheist that God is a
myth, old Jerry turns around and gives Khalid this warning: "Don't
believe all he says, for I know that atheist well. He is as eloquent
as he is insincere."

And so are all atheists. For at bottom, atheism is either a fad or a
trade or a fatuity. And whether the one or the other, it is a sham
more pernicious than the worst. To the young mind, it is a shibboleth
of cheap culture; to the shrewd and calculating mind, to such orators
as Khalid heard, it is a trade most remunerative; and to the
scientists, or rather monists, it is the aliment with which they
nourish the perversity of their preconceptions. Second-hand Jerry did
not say these things to our young philosopher; for had he done so,
Khalid, now become edacious, would not have experienced those
dyspeptic pangs which almost crushed the soul-fetus in him. For we are
told that he is as sedulous in attending these atheistic lectures as
he is in flocking with his fellow citizens to hear and cheer the idols
of the stump. Once he took Shakib to the Temple of Atheism, but the
Poet seems to prefer his _Al-Mutanabby_. In relating of Khalid's
waywardness he says:

"Ever since we quarrelled about Sibawai, Khalid and I have seldom been
together. And he had become so opinionated that I was glad it was so.
Even on Sunday I would leave him alone with Im-Hanna, and returning
in the evening, I would find him either reading or burning a pamphlet.
Once I consented to accompany him to one of the lectures he was so
fond of attending. And I was really surprised that one had to pay
money for such masquerades of eloquence as were exhibit