I 20
THE STAR IN THE WEST
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verecundiam
suam
perfricta
fronte
excutiant ,
ut
a
lupis , tremula
clune extentoque collo saltantibus , vix
discerni possint .”
When
the rich approach the poor ,
“ altera
manu
fert
panem ,
penem
ostentat
altera .”
Such is another
Pantagruelism
of Beverland , crude
yet to the point.
“
The girl who of her
own accord
presents herself to student , soldier or artist , is
con
sidered ,
by
Jove !
to
give
a
headlong
consent
to
debauchery . "' ? So we see that whilst the upper classes
are prostituting
themselves for social position , rank ,
and riches , the lower are doing so for a few wretched
coins ; and the difference ? One
eats
bread , and the
other bread and butter .
The
“ unco gude " thrive and
heap execrations on
the
“ unco bad.”
In
“ Oracles ,”
Crowley
states this with
the
straightforwardness
of
a Burns :
What fierce temptations might not lovers bring
In London's wicked city ?
Perhaps you might yourself have
one wee fling ,
If you were pretty .
3
What might not hard starvation drive you to ,
With Death so near and sure ?
Perhaps it might drive even virtuous you,
If you were poor.
And in “ Orpheus " he well describes the social trinity
:
Nay ! virtue is the devil's name for vice ,
And
all
your righteousness
is
filthy rags
Wherein
ye
strut
,
and hide the one base thought
.
To mask the truth
,
to
worship
,
to
forget
;
These three are one
.“
The moral character
of
a
nation
is
its
true capital
,
and
the
two
great
laws
of
existence
are
The
2
Ibid
.
414
.
1
Beverland
,
238
.
3
Oracles
,
vol
.
ii,
p
.
5.
4
Orpheus
,
vol
.
iii,
p
.
208
.