Here Dominie Kraalboom beckoned to the sexton and the precentor, who were standing together whispering with considerable vehemence, casting furious looks at the speaker. The sexton coughed and mounted the pulpit. The dominie exchanged a few words with him, and, with a resigned air, half-closed eyes, and a face as severe as possible, went to resume his seat. The sexton strode resolutely through the church, and left the building, all eyes following him in suspense. Imperturbably, Markus proceeded: "My poor friends, did ever an artist create a grand masterpiece, and desire that no one should admire it? "Would the Father, then, have made the mountains, seas, and flowers, gold and jewels, and have desired that we should despise and reject them all? "No; the highest good belongs not to this world, and neither does the beauty of the universe belong to this world. Yet even here--upon this earth--we may learn to know and to admire; for why else were we placed in this world? "Let us admire not the mere wood and strings, but the music of them; not paint and canvas, but the eternal beauty to which they do homage. "So we shall love the world, and admire it only as that by means of which the Father speaks to us; and whoever despises the world despises the voice of the Father. "Will not he who receives a letter from his distant love kiss the dry paper, and wet the black ink with his tears? "Shall we, then, hate the world, through which alone, in our alienation, the Father reveals to us his beauty?" Markus' voice was so deep-toned, and so sweet to hear, that many listeners were moved, even although they only half understood. Tears were streaming freely from Johannes' shining, wide-open eyes. Aunt Seréna, too, looked agitated, and Neeltje, even, had waked up. The dominie scowled blackly, with closed eyes, like one about to lose his forbearance. The precentor looked nervously toward the door. Again Markus began: "My friends, how shall the poor, who compulsorily toil, and the rich, who compel them, comprehend the sacred message of the Father? "Must they always remain both deaf and blind to what is best and most beautiful? Must they see and hear nothing of this? "Sooner can the sunlight penetrate dungeon-doors of threefold thickness, than can the light of the Father's loving kindness and the radiance of His beauty enter the soul of the stupefied drudge. "Upon the sands of the sea grow neither grapes nor roses. In the heart of the overworked, needy sufferer grows neither beauty nor wisdom. "And the rich--who purloin the good things which the Father has given to others--who are served, without rendering service--who eat, without working, and found their houses upon the misery of others--how can these comprehend the justice of the Father? "Exceeding sweetness shall turn to gall in the rich man's stomach; illicit pleasure shall waste him away like sorrow; wisdom, unrighteously acquired, shall turn in him to despair and madness.