,,love ,,life  ,,work    ,,being ,a     
,,book ,,of ,,opinions ,,reasonably     
,,good-,,natured ,,concerning ,,how ,,to
  ,,attain ,,the ,,highest ,,happiness  
,,for ,,one',s ,,self ,,with ,,the      
,,least ,,possible  ,,harm ,,to ,,others
    #aijf    ,by ,,elbert ,,hubbard     
,,contents    ,,chapters    #a4 ,a      
,prayer    #b4 ,life and ,expression    
#c4 ,time and ,chance    #d4 ,psychology
 of a ,religious ,revival    #e4        
,one-,man ,power    #f4 ,mental         
,attitude    #g4 ,the ,outsider    #h4  
,get ,out or ,get in ,line    #i4 ,the  
,week-,day1 ,keep it ,holy    #aj4      
,exclusive ,friendships    #aa4 ,the    
,folly of ,living in the ,future    #ab4
 ,the ,spirit of ,man    #ac4 ,art and  
,religion    #ad4 ,initiative    #ae4   
,the ,disagreeable ,girl    #af4 ,the   
,neutral    #ag4 ,reflections on        
,progress    #ah4 ,sympathy1 ,knowledge 
and ,poise    #ai4 ,love and ,faith     
#bj4 ,giving ,something for ,nothing    
#ba4 ,work and ,waste    #bb4 ,the ,law 

of ,obedience    #bc4 ,society's        
,saviors    #bd4 ,preparing for ,old    
,age    #be4 ,an ,alliance ,with ,nature
    #bf4 ,the ,ex4 ,question    #bg4    
,the ,sergeant    #bh4 ,the ,spirit of  
the ,age    #bi4 ,the ,grammarian       
#cj4 ,the ,best ,religion        ,a     
,prayer    ,the supreme prayer of my    
heart is not to be learned1 rich1       
famous1  powerful1 or good1 but simply  
to be radiant4 ,i desire to radiate     
health1 cheerfulness1 calm courage and  
good will4 ,i wish to live without      
hate1 whim1 jealousy1 envy1 fear4 ,i    
wish to be simple1 honest1 frank1       
natural1 clean in mind and clean in     
body1 unaffected--ready to say ,i do    
not know1 if it be so1 and to meet all  
men on an absolute equality--to  face   
any obstacle and meet every difficulty  
unabashed and unafraid4    ,i wish      
others to live their lives1 too--up to  
their highest1 fullest and  best4 ,to   
that end ,i pray that ,i may never      
meddle1 interfere1 dictate1  give advice

 that is not wanted1 or assist when my  
services are not  needed4 ,if ,i can    
help people1 ,i'll do it by giving them 
a chance to help  themselves2 and if ,i 
can uplift or inspire1 let it be by     
example1  inference1 and suggestion1    
rather than by injunction and dictation4
 ,that  is to say1 ,i desire to be      
radiant--to radiate life4        ,life  
and ,expression    ,by exercise of its  
faculties the spirit grows1 just as a   
muscle grows  strong thru continued use4
 ,expression is necessary4 ,life is     
expression1  and repression is          
stagnation--death4    ,yet1 there can be
 right and wrong expression4 ,if a man  
permits his life  to run riot and only  
the animal side of his nature is allowed
 to express  itself1 he is repressing   
his highest and best1 and the qualities 
not  used atrophy and die4    ,men are  
punished by their sins1 not for them4   
,sensuality1 gluttony1 and  the life of 
license repress the life of the spirit1 
and the soul never  blossoms2 and this  

is what it is to lose one's soul4 ,all  
adown the  centuries thinking men have  
noted these truths1 and again and again 
we  find individuals forsaking in horror
 the life of the senses and devoting    
themselves to the life of the spirit4   
,this question of expression  through   
the spirit1 or through the              
senses--through soul or body--has  been 
the pivotal point of all philosophy and 
the inspiration of  all religion4       
,every religion is made up of two       
elements that never mix any more than   
oil and water mix4 ,a religion is a     
mechanical mixture1 not a chemical      
combination1 of morality and dogma4     
,dogma is the science of the unseen3    
the doctrine of the unknown and         
unknowable4 ,and in order to give this  
science plausibility1 its promulgators  
have always fastened upon it  morality4 
,morality can and does exist entirely   
separate and apart from  dogma1 but     
dogma is ever a parasite on morality1   
and the business of the  priest is to   

confuse the two4    ,but morality and   
religion never saponify4 ,morality is   
simply the  question of expressing your 
life forces--how to use them8 ,you have 
so  much energy2 and what will you do   
with it8 ,and from out the multitude    
there have always been men to step      
forward and give you advice for a       
consideration4 ,without their supposed  
influence with the unseen we might  not 
accept their interpretation of what is  
right and wrong4 ,but with the          
assurance that their advice is backed up
 by ,deity1 followed with an  offer of  
reward if we believe it1 and a threat of
 dire punishment if we  do not1 the     
,self-appointed ,superior ,class has    
driven men wheresoever it  willed4 ,the 
evolution of formal religions is not a  
complex process1 and  the fact that they
 embody these two unmixable things1     
dogma and  morality1 is a very plain and
 simple truth1 easily seen1 undisputed  
by  all reasonable men4 ,and be it said 
that the morality of most religions  is 

good4 ,love1 truth1 charity1 justice and
 gentleness are taught in them  all4    
,but1 like a rule in ,greek grammar1    
there are many exceptions4 ,and  so in  
the morality of religions there are     
exceptional instances that  constantly  
arise where love1 truth1 charity1       
gentleness and justice are  waived on   
suggestion of the ,superior ,class1 that
 good may follow4 ,were  it not for     
these exceptions there would be no wars 
between  ,christian nations4    ,the    
question of how to express your life    
will probably never down1 for  the      
reason that men vary in temperament and 
inclination4 ,some men have  no capacity
 for certain sins of the flesh2 others  
there be1 who1 having  lost their       
inclination for sensuality through too  
much indulgence1 turn  ascetics4 ,yet   
all sermons have but one theme3 how     
shall life be  expressed8 ,between      
asceticism and indulgence men and races 
swing4    ,asceticism in our day finds  
an interesting manifestation in the     

,trappists1 who live on a mountain top1 
nearly inaccessible1 and deprive        
themselves of almost every vestige of   
bodily comfort1 going without food  for 
days1 wearing uncomfortable garments1   
suffering severe cold2 and  should one  
of this community look upon the face of 
a woman he would  think he was in       
instant danger of damnation4 ,so here we
 find the extreme  instance of men      
repressing the faculties of the body in 
order that the  spirit may find ample   
time and opportunity for exercise4      
,somewhere between this extreme         
repression of the monk and the license  
of  the sensualist lies the truth4 ,but 
just where is the great question2 and   
the desire of one person1 who thinks he 
has discovered the norm1 to  compel all 
other men to stop there1 has led to war 
and strife untold4  ,all law centers    
around this point--what shall men be    
allowed to do8 ,and  so we find statutes
 to punish strolling play actors1       
players on  fiddles1 disturbers of the  

public conscience1 persons who dance    
wantonly1 blasphemers1 and in ,england  
there were1 in the year #ahjj1          
thirty-seven offenses that were legally 
punishable by death4 ,what  expression  
is right and what is not1 is simply a   
matter of opinion4 ,one  religious      
denomination that now exists does not   
allow singing2  instrumental music has  
been to some a rock of offense1 exciting
 the  spirit through the sense of       
hearing1 to improper thoughts--through  
the  lascivious pleasing of the lute2   
others think dancing wicked1 while a    
few allow pipe-organ music1 but draw the
 line at the violin2 while still  others
 use a whole orchestra in their         
religious service4 ,some there be  who  
regard pictures as implements of        
idolatry2 while the ,hook-and-,eye      
,baptists look upon buttons as immoral4 
,strange evolutions are often witnessed 
within the life of one  individual4 ,for
 instance1 ,leo ,tolstoy1 a great and   
good man1 at one time  a sensualist1 has

 now turned ascetic2 a common evolution 
in the lives of  the saints4 ,but       
excellent as this man is1 there is yet a
 grave  imperfection in his cosmos which
 to a degree vitiates the truth he      
desires to teach3 he leaves the element 
of beauty out of his formula4  ,not     
caring for harmony as set forth in      
color1 form and sweet sounds1 he  is    
quite willing to deny all others these  
things which minister to  their         
well-being4 ,there is in most souls a   
hunger for beauty1 just as  there is    
physical hunger4 ,beauty speaks to their
 spirits through the  senses2 but       
,tolstoy would have your house barren to
 the verge of  hardship4 ,my veneration 
for ,count ,tolstoy is profound1 yet ,i 
mention him  here to show the grave     
danger that lies in allowing any man1   
even one of  the wisest of men1 to      
dictate to us what is best4 ,we         
ourselves are the  better judges4 ,most 
of the frightful cruelties inflicted on 
men during  the past have arisen simply 

out of a difference of opinion that     
arose  through a difference in          
temperament4 ,the question is as alive  
to-day as  it was two thousand years    
ago--what expression is best8 ,that is1 
what  shall we do to be saved8 ,and     
concrete absurdity consists in saying   
that  we must all do the same thing4    
,whether the race will ever grow to a   
point where men will be willing to leave
 the matter of life-expression  to the  
individual is a question2 but the       
millennium will never arrive  until men 
cease trying to compel all other men to 
live after  one pattern4    ,most people
 are anxious to do what is best for     
themselves and least  harmful for       
others4 ,the average man now has        
intelligence enough3 ,utopia  is not far
 off1 if the self-appointed folk who    
rule us1 and teach us for  a            
consideration1 would only be willing to 
do unto others as they would  be done   
by1 that is to say1 mind their own      
business and cease coveting  things that

 belong to other people4 ,war among     
nations and strife among  individuals is
 a result of the covetous spirit to     
possess4    ,a little more patience1 a  
little more charity for all1 a little   
more  love2 with less bowing down to the
 past1 and the silent ignoring of       
pretended authority2 a brave looking    
forward to the future1 with more        
self-confidence and more faith in our   
fellow men1 and the race will be  ripe  
for a great burst of life and light4    
,illustration        ,time and ,chance  
,as the subject is somewhat complex1 ,i 
will have to explain it to you4  ,the   
first point is that there is not so very
 much difference in the  intelligence of
 people after all4 ,the great man is not
 so great as folks  think1 and the dull 
man is not quite so stupid as he seems4 
,the  difference in our estimates of men
 lies in the fact that one individual   
is able to get his goods into the       
show-window1 and the other is not  aware
 that he has any show-window or any     

goods4    ,the soul knows all things1   
and knowledge is only a remembering1    
says  ,emerson4    ,this seems a very   
broad statement2 and yet the fact       
remains that the  vast majority of men  
know a thousand times as much as they   
are aware of4  ,far down in the silent  
depths of subconsciousness lie myriads  
of truths1  each awaiting a time when   
its owner shall call it forth4 ,to      
utilize  these stored-up thoughts1 you  
must express them to others2 and to be  
able to express them well your soul has 
to soar into this subconscious  realm   
where you have cached these net results 
of experience4 ,in other  words1 you    
must come out--get out of self--away    
from  self-consciousness1 into the      
region of partial oblivion--away from   
the  boundaries of time and the         
limitations of space4 ,the great painter
  forgets all in the presence of his    
canvas2 the writer is oblivious to  his 
surroundings2 the singer floats away on 
the wings of melody 7and  carries the   

audience with her72 the orator pours out
 his soul for an  hour1 and it seems to 
him as if barely five minutes had       
passed1 so rapt  is he in his exalted   
theme4 ,when you reach the heights of   
sublimity and  are expressing your      
highest and best1 you are in a partial  
trance  condition4 ,and all men who     
enter this condition surprise themselves
 by  the quantity of knowledge and the  
extent of insight they possess4 ,and    
some going a little deeper than others  
into this trance condition1 and  having 
no knowledge of the miraculous storing  
up of truth in the  subconscious cells1 
jump to the conclusion that their       
intelligence is  guided by a spirit not 
theirs4 ,when one reaches this          
conclusion he  begins to wither at the  
top1 for he relies on the dead1 and     
ceases to  feed the well-springs of his 
subconscious self4    ,the mind is a    
dual affair--objective and subjective4  
,the objective mind  sees all1 hears    
all1 reasons things out4 ,the subjective

 mind stores up  and only gives out when
 the objective mind sleeps4 ,and as few 
men ever  cultivate the absorbed1       
reflective or semi-trance state1 where  
the  objective mind rests1 they never   
really call on their subconscious       
treasury for its stores4 ,they are      
always self-conscious4    ,a man in     
commerce1 where men prey on their kind1 
must be alive and alert  to what is     
going on1 or while he dreams1 his       
competitor will seize upon  his         
birthright4 ,and so you see why poets   
are poor and artists often beg4    ,and 
the summing up of this sermonette is    
that all men are equally rich1  only    
some thru fate are able to muster their 
mental legions on the  plains of their  
being and count them1 while others are  
never able to  do so4    ,but what think
 you is necessary before a person can   
come into full  possession of his       
subconscious treasures8 ,well1 ,i'll    
tell you3 ,it is not  ease1 nor         
prosperity1 nor requited love1 nor      

worldly security--not  these4    ,you   
sing well1 said the master1 impatiently1
 to his best pupil1 but  you will never 
sing divinely until you have given your 
all for love1  and then been neglected  
and rejected1 and scorned and beaten1   
and left  for dead4 ,then1 if you do not
 exactly die1 you will come back1 and   
when  the world hears your voice it will
 mistake you for an angel and fall at   
your feet4    ,and the moral is1 that as
 long as you are satisfied and          
comfortable1 you  use only the objective
 mind and live in the world of sense4   
,but let love  be torn from your grasp  
and flee as a shadow--living only as a  
memory in  a haunting sense of loss2 let
 death come and the sky shut down over  
less  worth in the world2 or stupid     
misunderstanding and crushing defeat    
grind  you into the dust1 then you may  
arise1 forgetting time and space and    
self1 and take refuge in mansions not   
made with hands2 and find a  certain    
sad1 sweet satisfaction in the          

contemplation of treasures stored  up   
where moth and rust do not corrupt1 and 
where thieves do not break  through and 
steal4    ,and thus looking out into the
 ,eternal1 you entirely forget the      
present  and go forth into the ,land of 
,subconsciousness--the ,land of ,spirit1
  where yet dwell the gods of ancient   
and innocent days8 ,is it worth  the    
cost8        ,psychology of a ,religious
 ,revival    ,traveling to and fro over 
the land and up and down in it are men  
who  manage street-fairs4    ,let it be 
known that a street-fair or ,mardi ,gras
 is never a spontaneous  expression of  
the carnival spirit on the part of the  
townspeople4 ,these  festivals are a    
business--carefully planned1 well       
advertised and carried  out with much   
astuteness4    ,the men who manage      
street-fairs send advance agents1 to    
make  arrangements with the local       
merchants of the place--these secure the
  legal permits that are necessary4     
,a week is set apart for the carnival1  

much advertising is done1 the           
newspapers1 reflecting the will of the  
many1 devote pages to the  wonderful    
things that will happen4 ,the shows     
arrive--the touters1 the  spielers1 the 
clowns1 the tumblers1 the girls in      
tights1 the singers6  ,the bands        
play--the carnival is on6 ,the object of
 the fair is to boom  the business of   
the town4 ,the object of the            
professional managers of the  fair is to
 make money for themselves1 and this    
they do thru the  guaranty of the       
merchants1 or a percentage on           
concessions1 or both4    ,i am told that
 no town whose business is on an        
absolutely safe and  secure footing ever
 resorts to a street-fair4 ,the         
street-fair comes in  when a rival town 
seems to be getting more than its share 
of the trade4  ,when the business of    
,skaneateles is drifting to ,waterloo1  
then  ,skaneateles succumbs to a        
street-fair4    ,sanitation1 sewerage1  
good water supply1 and schoolhouses and 

paved  streets are not the result of    
throwing confetti1 tooting tin horns and
  waiving the curfew law4    ,whether   
commerce is effectually helped by the   
street-fair1 or a town  assisted to get 
on a firm financial basis through the   
ministry of the  tom-tom1 is a problem4 
,i leave the question with students of  
political  economy and pass on to a     
local condition which is not a theory4  
,the  religious revivals that have      
recently been conducted in various parts
 of  the country were most carefully    
planned business schemes4 ,one ,f4      
,wilbur  ,chapman and his corps of      
well-trained associates may be taken as 
a type  of the individuals who work up  
local religious excitement for a        
consideration4    ,religious revivals   
are managed very much as are            
street-fairs4 ,if  religion is getting  
at a low ebb in your town1 you can hire 
,chapman1 the  revivalist1 just as you  
can secure the services of ,farley1 the 
strike-breaker4 ,chapman and his helpers

 go from town to town and from  city to 
city and work up this excitation as a   
business4 ,they are paid  for their     
services a thousand dollars a week1 or  
down to what they can  get from         
collections4 ,sometimes they work on a  
guaranty1 and at other  times on a      
percentage or contingent fee1 or both4  
,towns especially in need of ,mr4       
,chapman's assistance will please send  
for circulars1 terms and testimonials4  
,no souls saved--no pay4    ,the basic  
element of the revival is hypnotism4    
,the scheme of bringing  about the      
hypnosis1 or the obfuscation of the     
intellect1 has taken  generations to    
carefully perfect4 ,the plan is first to
 depress the  spirit to a point where   
the subject is incapable of independent 
thought4  ,mournful music1 a monotonous 
voice of woe1 tearful appeals to ,god1  
dreary groans1 the whole mingled with   
pious ejaculations1 all tend to  produce
 a terrifying effect upon the auditor4  
,the thought of ,god's  displeasure is  

constantly dwelt upon--the idea of      
guilt1 death and  eternal torment4 ,if  
the victims can be made to indulge in   
hysterical  laughter occasionally1 the  
control is better brought about4 ,no    
chance is  allowed for repose1 poise or 
sane consideration4 ,when the time seems
  ripe a general promise of joy is made 
and the music takes an adagio  turn4    
,the speaker's voice now tells of       
triumph--offers of forgiveness  are     
tendered1 and then the promise of       
eternal life4    ,the final intent is to
 get the victim on his feet and make him
 come  forward and acknowledge the      
fetich4 ,this once done the convert     
finds  himself among pleasant           
companions4 ,his social station is      
improved--people shake hands with him   
and solicitously ask after his  welfare4
 ,his approbativeness is appealed       
to--his position is now one of          
importance4 ,and moreover1 he is given  
to understand in many subtile ways  that
 as he will be damned in another world  

if he does not acquiesce in  the fetich1
 so also will he be damned financially  
and socially here if  he does not join  
the church4 ,the intent in every        
,christian community is  to boycott and 
make a social outcast of the independent
 thinker4 ,the  fetich furnishes excuse 
for the hypnotic processes4 ,without    
assuming a  personal ,god who can be    
appeased1 eternal damnation and the     
proposition  that you can win eternal   
life by believing a myth1 there is no   
sane  reason for the absurd hypnotic    
formulas4    ,we are heirs to the past1 
its good and ill1 and we all have a     
touch of  superstition1 like a          
syphilitic taint4 ,to eradicate this    
tyranny of fear  and get the cringe and 
crawl out of our natures1 seems the one 
desirable  thing to lofty minds4 ,but   
the revivalist1 knowing human nature1 as
 all  confidence men do1 banks on our   
superstitious fears and makes his appeal
  to our acquisitiveness1 offering us   
absolution and life eternal for a       

consideration--to cover expenses4 ,as   
long as men are paid honors and  money1 
can wear good clothes1 and be immune    
from work for preaching  superstition1  
they will preach it4 ,the hope of the   
world lies in  withholding supplies from
 the pious mendicants who seek to hold  
our  minds in thrall4    ,this idea of a
 divine bankrupt court where you can get
 forgiveness by  paying ten cents on the
 dollar1 with the guaranty of becoming a
 winged  pauper of the skies1 is not    
alluring excepting to a man who has been
  well scared4 ,advance agents pave the 
way for revivalists by arranging        
details with the local orthodox clergy4 
,universalists1 ,unitarians1  ,christian
 ,scientists and ,befaymillites are all 
studiously avoided4 ,the  object is to  
fill depleted pews of orthodox          
,protestant churches--these  pay the    
freight1 and to the victor belong the   
spoils4 ,the plot and plan  is to       
stampede into the pen of orthodoxy the  
intellectual  unwary--children and      

neurotic grown-ups4 ,the cap-and-bells  
element is  largely represented in      
,chapman's select company of            
,german-,american  talent3 the confetti 
of foolishness is thrown at us--we      
dodge1 laugh1  listen and no one has    
time to think1 weigh1 sift or analyze4  
,there are  the boom of rhetoric1 the   
crack of confession1 the interspersed   
rebel-yell of triumph1 the groans of    
despair1 the cries of victory4 ,then    
come songs by paid singers1 the pealing 
of the organ--rise and sing1  kneel and 
pray1 entreaty1 condemnation1 misery1   
tears1 threats1 promise1  joy1          
happiness1 heaven1 eternal bliss1 decide
 now--not a moment is to be  lost1      
whoop-la you'll be a long time in hell6 
,all this whirl is a carefully prepared 
plan1 worked out by expert              
flim-flammers to addle the reason1      
scramble intellect and make of men      
drooling derelicts4    ,what for8       
,i'll tell you--that ,doctor ,chapman   
and his professional rooters may roll   

in cheap honors1 be immune from all     
useful labor and wax fat on the pay  of 
those who work4 ,second1 that the       
orthodox churches may not advance  into 
workshops and schoolhouses1 but may     
remain forever the home of a            
superstition4 ,one would think that the 
promise of making a person exempt  from 
the results of his own misdeeds1 would  
turn the man of brains from  these      
religious shell-men in disgust4 ,but    
under their hypnotic spell1  the minds  
of many seem to suffer an obsession1 and
 they are caught in  the swirl of       
foolish feeling1 like a grocer's clerk  
in the hands of a  mesmerist4    ,at    
,northfield1 ,massachusetts1 is a       
college at which men are taught and     
trained1 just as men are drilled at a   
,tonsorial ,college1 in every phase  of 
this pleasing episcopopography4         
,there is a good fellow by the          
suggestive name of ,sunday who works the
  religious graft4 ,sunday is the       
whirling dervish up to date4 ,he and    

,chapman and their cappers purposely    
avoid any trace of the ecclesiastic  in 
their attire4 ,they dress like          
drummers--trousers carefully creased1   
two watch-chains and a warm vest4 ,their
 manner is free and easy1 their         
attitude familiar4 ,the way they address
 the ,almighty reveals that their       
reverence for ,him springs out of the   
supposition that ,he is very much  like 
themselves4    ,the indelicacy of the   
revivalists who recently called meetings
 to pray  for ,fay ,mills1 was shown in 
their ardent supplications to ,god that 
,he  should make ,mills to be like them4
 ,fay ,mills tells of the best way to   
use this life here and now4 ,he does not
 prophesy what will become of you  if   
you do not accept his belief1 neither   
does he promise everlasting  life as a  
reward for thinking as he does4 ,he     
realizes that he has not  the agency of 
everlasting life4 ,fay ,mills is more   
interested in having a  soul that is    
worth saving than in saving a soul that 

isn't4 ,chapman  talks about lost souls 
as he might about collar buttons lost   
under a  bureau1 just as if ,god ever   
misplaced anything1 or that all souls   
were  not ,god's souls1 and therefore   
forever in ,his keeping4    ,doctor     
,chapman wants all men to act alike and 
believe alike1 not  realizing that      
progress is the result of individuality1
 and so long as a  man thinks1 whether  
he is right or wrong1 he is making head4
 ,neither  does he realize that wrong   
thinking is better than no thinking at  
all1  and that the only damnation       
consists in ceasing to think1 and       
accepting  the conclusions of another4  
,final truths and final conclusions are 
wholly unthinkable to sensible people in
 their sane moments1 but these          
revivalists wish to sum up truth for all
 time and put their leaden  seal upon   
it4    ,in ,los ,angeles is a preacher  
by the name of ,mc,intyre1 a type of the
  blatant ,bellarmine who exiled        
,galileo--a man who never doubts his own

  infallibility1 who talks like an      
oracle and continually tells of         
perdition for all who disagree with him4
    ,needless to say that ,mc,intyre    
lacks humor4 ,personally1 ,i prefer the 
,mc,gregors1 but in ,los ,angeles the   
,mc,intyres are popular4 ,it was        
,mc,intyre  who called a meeting to pray
 for ,fay ,mills1 and in proposing the  
meeting  ,mc,intyre made the unblushing 
announcement that he had never met      
,mills  nor heard him speak1 nor had he 
read one of his books4    ,chapman and  
,mc,intyre represent the modern types of
  ,phariseeism--spielers and spouters   
for churchianity1 and such are the  men 
who make superstition of so long life4  
,superstition is the one                
,infamy--,voltaire was right4 ,to       
pretend to believe a thing at which your
  reason revolts--to stultify your      
intellect--this1 if it exists at all1   
is the unpardonable sin4 ,these muftis  
preach the blood of ,jesus1 the  dogma  
that man without a belief in miracles is

 eternally lost1 that  everlasting life 
depends upon acknowledging this1 that or
 the other4  ,self-reliance1            
self-control and self-respect are the   
three things that  make a man a man4    
,but man has so recently taken on this  
ability to think1 that he has not  yet  
gotten used to handling it4 ,the tool is
 cumbrous in his hands4 ,he is  afraid  
of it--this one characteristic that     
differentiates him from the  lower      
animals--so he abdicates and turns his  
divine birthright over to a  syndicate4 
,this combination called a church agrees
 to take care of his  doubts and fears  
and do his thinking for him1 and to help
 matters along  he is assured that he is
 not fit to think for himself1 and to do
 so  would be a sin4 ,man1 in his       
present crude state1 holds somewhat the 
same attitude toward reason that an     
,apache ,indian holds toward a          
camera--the ,indian thinks that to have 
his picture taken means that he  will   
shrivel up and blow away in a month4    

,and ,stanley relates that a  watch with
 its constant ticking sent the bravest  
of ,congo chiefs into a  cold sweat of  
agonizing fear2 on discovering which1   
the explorer had but  to draw his       
,waterbury and threaten to turn the     
whole bunch into  crocodiles1 and at    
once they got busy and did his bidding4 
,stanley  exhibited the true            
,northfield-revival quality in banking  
on the  superstition of his wavering and
 frightened followers4    ,the revival  
meetin' is an orgie of the soul1 a      
spiritual debauch--a  dropping from sane
 and sensible control into eroticism4   
,no person of  normal intelligence can  
afford to throw the reins of reason on  
the neck  of emotion and ride a ,tam    
,o',shanter race to ,bedlam4 ,this      
hysteria of the  uncurbed feelings is   
the only blasphemy1 and if there were a 
personal  ,god1 ,he surely would be     
grieved to see that we have so absurd an
 idea of  ,him1 as to imagine ,he would 
be pleased with our deporting the divine

  gift of reason into the hell-box4     
,revivalism works up the voltage1 then  
makes no use of the current--the  wire  
is grounded4 ,let any one of these      
revivalists write out his sermons  and  
print them in a book1 and no sane man   
could read them without danger  of      
paresis4 ,the book would lack synthesis1
 defy analysis1 puzzle the  brain and   
paralyze the will4 ,there would not be  
enough attic salt in it  to save it4 ,it
 would be the supernaculum of the       
commonplace1 and prove  the author to be
 the lobscouse of literature1 the       
loblolly of letters4  ,the churches want
 to enroll members1 and so desperate is 
the situation  that they are willing to 
get them at the price of self-respect4  
,hence  come ,sunday1 ,monday1 ,tuesday 
and ,chapman1 and play ,svengali to our 
,trilby4 ,these gentlemen use the       
methods and the tricks of the           
auctioneer--the blandishments of the    
bookmaker--the sleek1 smooth ways  of   
the professional spieler4    ,with this 

troupe of ,christian clowns is one      
,chaeffer1 who is a  specialist with    
children4 ,he has meetings for boys and 
girls only1 where  he plays tricks1     
grimaces1 tells stories and gets his    
little hearers  laughing1 and thus      
having found an entrance into their     
hearts1 he  suddenly reverses the lever1
 and has them crying4 ,he talks to these
  little innocents about sin1 the wrath 
of ,god1 the death of ,christ1 and      
offers them a choice between everlasting
 life and eternal death4 ,to the  person
 who knows and loves children--who has  
studied the gentle ways of              
,froebel--this excitement is vicious1   
concrete cruelty4 ,weakened vitality    
follows close upon overwrought nerves1  
and every excess has its  penalty--the  
pendulum swings as far this way as it   
does that4    ,these reverend gentlemen 
bray it into the ears of innocent little
  children that they were born in       
iniquity1 and in sin did their mothers  
conceive them2 that the souls of all    

children over nine years 7why  nine87   
are lost1 and the only way they can hope
 for heaven is through a  belief in a   
barbaric blood bamboozle1 that men of   
intelligence have long  since discarded4
 ,and all this in the name of the gentle
 ,christ1 who took  little children in  
his arms and said1 ,of such is the      
,kingdom  of ,heaven4    ,this pagan    
proposition of being born in sin is     
pollution to the mind of  a child1 and  
causes misery1 unrest and heartache     
incomputable4 ,a few  years ago we were 
congratulating ourselves that the devil 
at last was  dead1 and that the tears of
 pity had put out the fires of hell1 but
 the  serpent of superstition was only  
slightly scotched1 not killed4    ,the  
intent of the religious revival is dual3
 first1 the claim is that  conversion   
makes men lead better lives2 second1 it 
saves their souls  from endless death or
 everlasting hell4    ,to make men lead 
beautiful lives is excellent1 but the   
,reverend ,doctor  ,chapman1 nor any of 

his colleagues1 nor the denominations   
that they  represent1 will for an       
instant admit that the fact of a man    
living a  beautiful life will save his  
soul alive ,in fact1 ,doctor ,chapman1  
,doctor  ,torrey and ,doctor ,sunday1   
backed by the ,reverend ,doctor         
,mc,intyre1  repeatedly warn their      
hearers of the danger of a morality that
 is not  accompanied by a belief in the 
blood of ,jesus4    ,so the beautiful   
life they talk of is the bait that      
covers the hook for  gudgeons4 ,you have
 to accept the superstition1 or your    
beautiful life to  them is a byword and 
a hissing4    ,hence1 to them1          
superstition1 and not conduct1 is the   
vital thing4    ,if such a belief is not
 fanaticism then have ,i read ,webster's
  ,unabridged ,dictionary in vain4      
,belief in superstition makes no man    
kinder1 gentler1 more useful to himself 
or society4 ,he can have all the        
virtues without the fetich1 and he may  
have the fetich and all the vices       

beside4 ,morality is really not         
controlled at all by religion--if       
statistics of reform schools and prisons
 are to be believed4    ,fay ,mills1    
according to ,reverend ,doctor          
,mc,intyre has all the virtues--he  is  
forgiving1 kind1 gentle1 modest1        
helpful4 ,but ,fay has abandoned the    
fetich--hence ,mc,intyre and ,chapman   
call upon the public to pray for ,fay   
,mills4 ,mills had the virtues when he  
believed in the fetich--and now  that he
 has disavowed the fetich1 he still has 
the virtues1 and in a  degree he never  
before had4 ,even those who oppose him  
admit this1 but  still they declare that
 he is forever lost4    ,reverend       
,doctor ,chaeffer says there are two    
kinds of habits--good and  bad4         
,there are also two kinds of religion1  
good and bad4 ,the religion of          
kindness1 good cheer1 helpfulness and   
useful effort is good4 ,and on this     
point there is no dispute--it is        
admitted everywhere by every grade of   

intellect4 ,but any form of religion    
that incorporates a belief in  miracles 
and other barbaric superstitions1 as a  
necessity to salvation1  is not only    
bad1 but very bad4 ,and all men1 if left
 alone long enough to  think1 know that 
salvation depends upon redemption from a
 belief in  miracles4 ,but the intent of
 ,doctor ,chapman and his theological   
rough  riders is to stampede the herd   
and set it a milling4 ,to rope the      
mavericks and place upon them the       
,mc,intyre brand is then quite easy4    
,as for the reaction and the cleaning up
 after the carnival1 our  revivalists   
are not concerned4 ,the confetti1       
collapsed balloons and  peanut shucks   
are the net assets of the revival--and  
these are left for  the local managers4 
,revivals are for the revivalists1 and  
some fine morning these revival  towns  
will arise1 rub their sleepy eyes1 and  
,chapman will be but a bad  taste in the
 mouth1 and ,sunday1 ,chaeffer1 ,torrey1
 ,biederwolf and  ,company1 a troubled  

dream4 ,to preach hagiology to civilized
 people is a  lapse that ,nemesis will  
not overlook4 ,america stands for the   
,twentieth  ,century1 and if in a moment
 of weakness she slips back to the      
exuberant  folly of the frenzied piety  
of the ,sixteenth1 she must pay the     
penalty4  ,two things man will have to  
do--get free from the bondage of other  
men2  and second1 liberate himself from 
the phantoms of his own mind4 ,on       
neither of these points does the        
revivalist help or aid in any way4      
,effervescence is not character and     
every debauch must be paid for in       
vitality and self-respect4    ,all      
formal organized religions through which
 the promoters and managers  thrive are 
bad1 but some are worse than others4    
,the more superstition a  religion has1 
the worse it is4 ,usually religions are 
made up of morality  and superstition4  
,pure superstition alone would be       
revolting--in our day  it would attract 
nobody--so the idea is introduced that  

morality and  religion are inseparable4 
,i am against the men who pretend to    
believe  that ethics without a fetich is
 vain and useless4    ,the preachers who
 preach the beauty of truth1 honesty and
 a useful1  helpful life1 ,i am with1   
head1 heart and hand4    ,the preachers 
who declare that there can be no such   
thing as a beautiful  life unless it    
will accept superstition1 ,i am against1
 tooth1 claw1  club1 tongue and pen4    
,down with the ,infamy6 ,i prophesy a   
day when  business and education will be
 synonymous--when commerce and college  
will join hands--when the preparation   
for life will be to go to work4    ,as  
long as trade was trickery1 business    
barter1 commerce finesse1  government   
exploitation1 slaughter honorable1 and  
murder a fine art2  when religion was   
ignorant superstition1 piety the worship
 of a fetich  and education a clutch for
 honors1 there was small hope for the   
race4  ,under these conditions          
everything tended towards division1     

dissipation1  disintegration1           
separation--darkness1 death4    ,but    
with the supremacy gained by science1   
the introduction of the  one-price      
system in business1 and the gradually   
growing conviction that  honesty is     
man's most valuable asset1 we behold    
light at the end of  the tunnel4    ,it 
only remains now for the laity to drive 
conviction home upon the  clergy1 and   
prove to them that pretence has its     
penalty1 and to bring to  the mourners' 
bench that trinity of offenders1        
somewhat ironically  designated as the  
,three ,learned ,professions1 and       
mankind will be well  out upon the broad
 highway1 the towering domes of the     
,ideal ,city  in sight4        ,one-,man
 ,power    ,every successful concern is 
the result of a ,one-,man ,power4       
,coperation1  technically1 is an        
iridescent dream--things coperate       
because the man  makes them4 ,he cements
 them by his will4    ,but find this    
,man1 and get his confidence1 and his   

weary eyes will look  into yours and the
 cry of his heart shall echo in your    
ears4 ,o1 for  some one to help me bear 
this burden6    ,then he will tell you  
of his endless search for ,ability1 and 
of his  continual disappointments and   
thwartings in trying to get some one to 
help himself by helping him4    ,ability
 is the one crying need of the hour4    
,the banks are bulging with  money1 and 
everywhere are men looking for work4    
,the harvest is ripe4 ,but  the ,ability
 to captain the unemployed and utilize  
the capital1 is  lacking--sadly lacking4
 ,in every city there are many five- and
  ten-thousand-dollar-a-year positions  
to be filled1 but the only  applicants  
are men who want jobs at fifteen dollars
 a week4 ,your man of  ,ability has a   
place already4 ,yes1 ,ability is a rare 
article4    ,but there is something that
 is much scarcer1 something finer far1  
something rarer than this quality of    
,ability4    ,it is the ability to      
recognize ,ability4    ,the sternest    

comment that ever can be made against   
employers as a class1  lies in the fact 
that men of ,ability usually succeed in 
showing their  worth in spite of their  
employer1 and not with his assistance   
and  encouragement4    ,if you know the 
lives of men of ,ability1 you know that 
they discovered  their power1 almost    
without exception1 thru chance or       
accident4 ,had the  accident not        
occurred that made the opportunity1 the 
man would have  remained unknown and    
practically lost to the world4 ,the     
experience of  ,tom ,potter1 telegraph  
operator at an obscure little way       
station1 is  truth painted large4 ,that 
fearful night1 when most of the wires   
were  down and a passenger train went   
through the bridge1 gave ,tom ,potter   
the  opportunity of discovering himself4
 ,he took charge of the dead1 cared  for
 the wounded1 settled fifty             
claims--drawing drafts on the           
company--burned the last vestige of the 
wreck1 sunk the waste iron in  the river

 and repaired the bridge before the     
arrival of the  ,superintendent on the  
spot4    ,who gave you the authority to 
do all this8 demanded the               
,superintendent4    ,nobody1 replied    
,tom1 ,i assumed the authority4    ,the 
next month ,tom ,potter's salary was    
five thousand dollars a year1 and  in   
three years he was making ten times     
this1 simply because he could get  other
 men to do things4    ,why wait for an  
accident to discover ,tom ,potter8 ,let 
us set traps for  ,tom ,potter1 and lie 
in wait for him4 ,perhaps ,tom ,potter  
is just around  the corner1 across the  
street1 in the next room1 or at our     
elbow4  ,myriads of embryonic ,tom      
,potters await discovery and development
 if we  but look for them4    ,i know a 
man who roamed the woods and fields for 
thirty years and never  found an ,indian
 arrow4 ,one day he began to think      
arrow1 and stepping  out of his doorway 
he picked one up4 ,since then he has    
collected a  bushel of them4    ,suppose

 we cease wailing about incompetence1   
sleepy indifference and  slipshod help  
that watches the clock4 ,these things   
exist--let us  dispose of the subject by
 admitting it1 and then emphasize the   
fact that  freckled farmer boys come out
 of the ,west and ,east and often go to 
the  front and do things in a masterly  
way4 ,there is one name that stands out 
in history like a beacon light after all
 these twenty-five hundred years  have  
passed1 just because the man had the    
sublime genius of discovering  ,ability4
 ,that man is ,pericles4 ,pericles made 
,athens4    ,and to-day the very dust of
 the streets of ,athens is being sifted 
and  searched for relics and remnants of
 the things made by people who were     
captained by men of ,ability who were   
discovered by ,pericles4    ,there is   
very little competition in this line of 
discovering ,ability4 ,we  sit down and 
wail because ,ability does not come our 
way4 ,let us think  ,ability1 and       
possibly we can jostle ,pericles there  

on his pedestal1  where he has stood for
 over a score of centuries--the man with
 a supreme  genius for recognizing      
,ability4 ,hail to thee1 ,pericles1 and 
hail to  thee1 ,great ,unknown1 who     
shall be the first to successfully      
imitate this  captain of men4           
,mental ,attitude    ,success is in the 
blood4 ,there are men whom fate can     
never keep  down--they march forward in 
a jaunty manner1 and take by divine     
right  the best of everything that the  
earth affords4 ,but their success is not
  attained by means of the ,samuel      
,smiles-,connecticut policy4 ,they do   
not  lie in wait1 nor scheme1 nor fawn1 
nor seek to adapt their sails to  catch 
the breeze of popular favor4 ,still1    
they are ever alert and alive  to any   
good that may come their way1 and when  
it comes they simply  appropriate it1   
and tarrying not1 move steadily on4     
,good health6 ,whenever you go out of   
doors1 draw the chin in1 carry the      
crown of the head high1 and fill the    

lungs to the utmost2 drink in the       
sunshine2 greet your friends with a     
smile1 and put soul into every          
hand-clasp4    ,do not fear being       
misunderstood2 and never waste a moment 
thinking about  your enemies4 ,try to   
fix firmly in your own mind what you    
would like to  do1 and then without     
violence of direction you will move     
straight to  the goal4    ,fear is the  
rock on which we split1 and hate the    
shoal on which many a  barque is        
stranded4 ,when we become fearful1 the  
judgment is as  unreliable as the       
compass of a ship whose hold is full of 
iron ore2 when  we hate1 we have        
unshipped the rudder2 and if ever we    
stop to meditate  on what the gossips   
say1 we have allowed a hawser to foul   
the screw4    ,keep your mind on the    
great and splendid thing you would like 
to do2 and  then1 as the days go gliding
 by1 you will find yourself             
unconsciously  seizing the opportunities
 that are required for the fulfillment  

of your  desire1 just as the coral      
insect takes from the running tide the  
elements that it needs4 ,picture in your
 mind the able1 earnest1 useful  person 
you desire to be1 and the thought that  
you hold is hourly  transforming you    
into that particular individual you so  
admire4    ,thought is supreme1 and to  
think is often better than to do4       
,preserve a right mental attitude--the  
attitude of courage1 frankness and  good
 cheer4    ,darwin and ,spencer have    
told us that this is the method of      
,creation4  ,each animal has evolved the
 parts it needed and desired4 ,the horse
 is  fleet because he wishes to be2 the 
bird flies because it desires to2 the   
duck has a web foot because it wants to 
swim4 ,all things come through  desire  
and every sincere prayer is answered4   
,we become like that on  which our      
hearts are fixed4    ,many people know  
this1 but they do not know it thoroughly
 enough so that  it shapes their lives4 
,we want friends1 so we scheme and chase

 'cross  lots after strong people1 and  
lie in wait for good folks--or alleged  
good folks--hoping to be able to attach 
ourselves to them4 ,the only way  to    
secure friends is to be one4 ,and before
 you are fit for friendship  you must be
 able to do without it4 ,that is to say1
 you must have  sufficient self-reliance
 to take care of yourself1 and then out 
of the  surplus of your energy you can  
do for others4    ,the individual who   
craves friendship1 and yet desires a    
self-centered  spirit more1 will never  
lack for friends4    ,if you would have 
friends1 cultivate solitude instead of  
society4 ,drink  in the ozone2 bathe in 
the sunshine2 and out in the silent     
night1 under  the stars1 say to yourself
 again and yet again1 ,i am a part of   
all my  eyes behold6 ,and the feeling   
then will come to you that you are no   
mere interloper between earth and       
heaven2 but you are a necessary part  of
 the whole4 ,no harm can come to you    
that does not come to all1 and if  you  

shall go down it can only be amid a     
wreck of worlds4    ,like old ,job1 that
 which we fear will surely come upon us4
 ,by a wrong  mental attitude we have   
set in motion a train of events that    
ends in  disaster4 ,people who die in   
middle life from disease1 almost without
  exception1 are those who have been    
preparing for death4 ,the acute tragic  
condition is simply the result of a     
chronic state of mind--a culmination  of
 a series of events4    ,character is   
the result of two things1 mental        
attitude1 and the way we  spend our     
time4 ,it is what we think and what we  
do that make us what  we are4    ,by    
laying hold on the forces of the        
universe1 you are strong with them4     
,and when you realize this1 all else is 
easy1 for in your arteries will  course 
red corpuscles1 and in your heart the   
determined resolution is  born to do and
 to be4 ,carry your chin in and the     
crown of your head  high4 ,we are gods  
in the chrysalis4        ,the ,outsider 

,when ,i was a farmer lad ,i noticed    
that whenever we bought a new cow1 and  
turned her into the pasture with the    
herd1 there was a general  inclination  
on the part of the rest to make the new 
cow think she had  landed in the        
orthodox perdition4 ,they would hook her
 away from the  salt1 chase her from the
 water1 and the long-horned ones1 for   
several  weeks1 would lose no           
opportunity to give her vigorous digs1  
pokes  and prods4    ,with horses it was
 the same4 ,and ,i remember one         
particular little black  mare that we   
boys used to transfer from one pasture  
to another1 just to  see her back into a
 herd of horses and hear her hoofs play 
a resounding  solo on their ribs as they
 gathered round to do her mischief4     
,men are animals just as much as are    
cows1 horses and pigs2 and they         
manifest similar proclivities4 ,the     
introduction of a new man into an       
institution always causes a small panic 
of resentment1 especially if he  be a   

person of some power4 ,even in schools  
and colleges the new teacher  has to    
fight his way to overcome the opposition
 he is certain to meet4    ,in a lumber 
camp1 the newcomer would do well to take
 the initiative1  like that little black
 mare1 and meet the first black look    
with a  short-arm jab4    ,but in a     
bank1 department store or railroad      
office this cannot be4 ,so  the next    
best thing is to endure1 and win out by 
an attention to  business to which the  
place is unaccustomed4 ,in any event1   
the bigger  the man1 unless he has the  
absolute power to overawe everything1   
the  more uncomfortable will be his     
position until gradually time smooths   
the  way and new issues come up for     
criticism1 opposition and resentment1   
and  he is forgotten4    ,the idea of   
,civil ,service ,reform--promotion for  
the good men in your  employ rather than
 hiring new ones for the big places--is 
a rule which  looks well on paper but is
 a fatal policy if carried out to the   

letter4    ,the business that is not    
progressive is sowing the seeds of its  
own  dissolution4 ,life is a movement   
forward1 and all things in nature that  
are not evolving into something better  
are preparing to return into  their     
constituent elements4 ,one general rule 
for progress in big  business concerns  
is the introduction of new blood4 ,you  
must keep step  with the business world4
 ,if you lag behind1 the outlaws that   
hang on the  flanks of commerce will cut
 you out and take you captive1 just as  
the  wolves lie in wait for the sick cow
 of the plains4    ,to keep your columns
 marching you must introduce new        
methods1 new  inspiration and seize upon
 the best that others have invented or  
discovered4    ,the great railroads of  
,america have evolved together4 ,no one 
of them has  an appliance or a method   
that is much beyond the rest4 ,if it    
were not  for this interchange of men   
and ideas some railroads would still be 
using the link and pin1 and snake-heads 

would be as common as in the  year      
#ahfi4    ,the railroad manager who     
knows his business is ever on the       
lookout for  excellence among his men1  
and he promotes those who give an       
undivided  service4 ,but besides this he
 hires a strong man occasionally from   
the  outside and promotes him over      
everybody4 ,then out come the hammers6  
,but this makes but little difference to
 your competent manager--if a  place is 
to be filled and he has no one on his   
payroll big enough to  fill it1 he hires
 an outsider4    ,that is right and well
 for every one concerned4 ,the new life 
of many a  firm dates from the day they 
hired a new man4    ,communities that   
intermarry raise a fine crop of scrubs1 
and the result  is the same in business 
ventures4 ,two of ,america's largest    
publishing  houses failed for a tidy sum
 of five millions or so each1 a few     
years  ago1 just thru a dogged policy1  
that extended over a period of fifty    
years1 of promoting cousins1 uncles and 

aunts whose only claim of  efficiency   
was that they had been on the pension   
roll for a long time4  ,this way lies   
dry-rot4    ,if you are a business man1 
and have a position of responsibility to
 be  filled1 look carefully among your  
old helpers for a man to promote4 ,but  
if you haven't a man big enough to fill 
the place1 do not put in a  little one  
for the sake of peace4 ,go outside and  
find a man and hire  him--never mind the
 salary if he can man the               
position--wages are always  relative to 
earning power4 ,this will be the only   
way you can really man  your ship4      
,as for ,civil ,service ,rules--rules   
are made to be broken4 ,and as for the  
long-horned ones who will attempt to    
make life miserable for your new        
employe1 be patient with them4 ,it is   
the privilege of everybody to do a      
reasonable amount of kicking1 especially
 if the person has been a long  time    
with one concern and has received many  
benefits4    ,but if at the last1 worst 

comes to worst1 do not forget that you  
yourself are at the head of the concern4
 ,if it fails you get the blame4  ,and  
should the anvil chorus become so       
persistent that there is danger of      
discord taking the place of harmony1    
stand by your new man1 even tho it  is  
necessary to give the blue envelope to  
every antediluvian4 ,precedence  in     
business is a matter of power1 and years
 in one position may mean  that the man 
has been there so long that he needs a  
change4 ,let the  zephyrs of natural law
 play freely thru your whiskers4    ,so 
here is the argument3 promote your      
deserving men1 but do not be  afraid to 
hire a keen outsider2 he helps          
everybody1 even the kickers1  for if you
 disintegrate and go down in defeat1 the
 kickers will have to  skirmish around  
for new jobs anyway4 ,isn't that so8    
,get ,out or ,get in ,line    ,abraham  
,lincoln's letter to ,hooker6 ,if all   
the letters1 messages and  speeches of  
,lincoln were destroyed1 except that one

 letter to ,hooker1 we  still would have
 an excellent index to the heart of the 
,rail-,splitter4    ,in this letter we  
see that ,lincoln ruled his own spirit2 
and we also  behold the fact that he    
could rule others4 ,the letter shows    
wise  diplomacy1 frankness1 kindliness1 
wit1 tact and infinite patience4        
,hooker had harshly and unjustly        
criticised ,lincoln1 his commander in   
chief4 ,but ,lincoln waives all this in 
deference to the virtues he  believes   
,hooker possesses1 and promotes him to  
succeed ,burnside4 ,in  other words1 the
 man who had been wronged promotes the  
man who had  wronged him1 over the head 
of a man whom the promotee had wronged  
and  for whom the promoter had a warm   
personal friendship4    ,but all        
personal considerations were sunk in    
view of the end desired4  ,yet it was   
necessary that the man promoted should  
know the truth1 and  ,lincoln told it to
 him in a way that did not humiliate nor
 fire to  foolish anger2 but which      

surely prevented the attack of cerebral 
elephantiasis to which ,hooker was      
liable4    ,perhaps we had better give  
the letter entire1 and so here it is3   
,executive ,mansion1  ,washington1      
,january #bf1 #ahfc4    ,major-,general 
,hooker3    ,general3--,i have placed   
you at the head of the ,army of the     
,potomac4 ,of  course1 ,i have done this
 upon what appear to me to be sufficient
  reasons1 and yet ,i think it best for 
you to know that there are some  things 
in regard to which ,i am not quite      
satisfied with you4    ,i believe you to
 be a brave and skilful soldier1 which1 
of course1 ,i  like4 ,i also believe you
 do not mix politics with your position1
 in  which you are right4    ,you have  
confidence in yourself1 which is a      
valuable if not an  indispensable       
quality4    ,you are ambitious1 which1  
within reasonable bounds1 does good     
rather  than harm2 but ,i think that    
during ,general ,burnside's command of  
the  army you have taken counsel of your

 ambition and thwarted him as much as   
you could1 in which you did a great     
wrong to the country1 and to a most     
meritorious and honorable brother       
officer4    ,i have heard1 in such a way
 as to believe it1 of your recently     
saying  that both the army and the      
government needed a dictator4 ,of       
course1 it  was not for this1 but in    
spite of it1 that ,i have given you the 
command4  ,only those generals who gain 
successes can set up dictators4 ,what ,i
 now  ask of you is military success1   
and ,i will risk the dictatorship4 ,the 
government will support you to the      
utmost of its ability1 which is  neither
 more nor less than it has done and will
 do for all commanders4 ,i  much fear   
that the spirit you have aided to infuse
 into the army1 of  criticising their   
commander and withholding confidence    
from him1 will  now turn upon you4 ,i   
shall assist you as far as ,i can to put
 it down4  ,neither you nor ,napoleon1  
if he were alive again1 could get any   

good out  of an army while such a spirit
 prevails in it4 ,and now beware of     
rashness1 but with sleepless vigilance  
go forward and give us victories4       
,yours very truly1 ,a4 ,,lincoln4       
,one point in this letter is especially 
worth our consideration1 for it         
suggests a condition that springs up    
like deadly nightshade from a  poisonous
 soil4 ,i refer to the habit of carping1
 sneering1 grumbling and  criticising   
those who are above us4 ,the man who is 
anybody and who does  anything is       
certainly going to be criticised1       
vilified and  misunderstood4 ,this is a 
part of the penalty for greatness1 and  
every  great man understands it2 and    
understands1 too1 that it is no proof of
  greatness4 ,the final proof of        
greatness lies in being able to endure  
contumely without resentment4 ,lincoln  
did not resent criticism2 he knew  that 
every life was its own excuse for being1
 but look how he calls  ,hooker's       
attention to the fact that the          

dissension ,hooker has sown is  going to
 return and plague him6 ,neither you1   
nor ,napoleon1 if he were  alive1 could 
get any good out of an army while such a
 spirit prevails in  it4 ,hooker's fault
 falls on ,hooker--others suffer1 but   
,hooker suffers  most of all4    ,not   
long ago ,i met a ,yale student home on 
a vacation4 ,i am sure he did  not      
represent the true ,yale spirit1 for he 
was full of criticism and  bitterness   
toward the institution4 ,president      
,hadley came in for his  share1 and ,i  
was given items1 facts1 data1 with times
 and places1 for a  peach of a roast4   
,very soon ,i saw the trouble was not   
with ,yale1 the trouble was with the    
young man4 ,he had mentally dwelt on    
some trivial slights until he had       
gotten so out of harmony with the place 
that he had lost the power to  derive   
any benefit from it4 ,yale college is   
not a perfect institution--a  fact1 ,i  
suppose1 that ,president ,hadley and    
most ,yale men are quite  willing to    

admit2 but ,yale does supply young men  
certain advantages1 and  it depends upon
 the students whether they will avail   
themselves of  these advantages or not4 
,if you are a student in college1 seize 
upon  the good that is there4 ,you      
receive good by giving it4 ,you gain by 
giving--so give sympathy and cheerful   
loyalty to the institution4 ,be  proud  
of it4 ,stand by your teachers--they are
 doing the best they can4  ,if the place
 is faulty1 make it a better place by an
 example of  cheerfully doing your work 
every day the best you can4 ,mind your  
own business4    ,if the concern where  
you are employed is all wrong1 and the  
,old ,man is a  curmudgeon1 it may be   
well for you to go to the ,old ,man and 
confidentially1 quietly and kindly tell 
him that his policy is absurd  and      
preposterous4 ,then show him how to     
reform his ways1 and you might  offer to
 take charge of the concern and cleanse 
it of its secret faults4  ,do this1 or  
if for any reason you should prefer not1

 then take your  choice of these3 ,get  
,out1 or ,get in ,line4 ,you have got to
 do one or the  other--now make your    
choice4 ,if you work for a man1 in      
heaven's name  work for him4    ,if he  
pays you wages that supply you your     
bread and butter1 work for  him--speak  
well of him1 think well of him1 stand by
 him and stand by  the institution that 
he represents4    ,i think if ,i worked 
for a man1 ,i would work for him4 ,i    
would not work  for him a part of the   
time1 and the rest of the time work     
against him4 ,i  would give an undivided
 service or none4 ,if put to the pinch1 
an ounce  of loyalty is worth a pound of
 cleverness4    ,if you must vilify1    
condemn and eternally disparage1 why1   
resign your  position1 and then when you
 are outside1 damn to your heart's      
content4  ,but ,i pray you1 as long as  
you are a part of an institution1 do not
  condemn it4 ,not that you will injure 
the institution--not that--but when  you
 disparage a concern of which you are a 

part1 you disparage yourself4    ,more  
than that1 you are loosening the        
tendrils that hold you to the           
institution1 and the first high wind    
that happens along1 you will be         
uprooted and blown away in the          
blizzard's track--and probably you will 
never know why4 ,the letter only says1  
,times are dull and we regret  there is 
not enough work1 et cetera4             
,everywhere you will find these         
out-of-a-job fellows4 ,talk with them   
and  you will find that they are full of
 railing1 bitterness1 scorn and         
condemnation4 ,that was the             
trouble--thru a spirit of fault-finding 
they  got themselves swung around so    
they blocked the channel1 and had to be 
dynamited4 ,they were out of harmony    
with the place1 and no longer being  a  
help they had to be removed4 ,every     
employer is constantly looking for      
people who can help him2 naturally he is
 on the lookout among his  employees for
 those who do not help1 and everything  

and everybody that  is a hindrance has  
to go4 ,this is the law of trade--do not
 find fault  with it2 it is founded on  
nature4 ,the reward is only for the man 
who  helps1 and in order to help you    
must have sympathy4    ,you cannot help 
the ,old ,man so long as you are        
explaining in an  undertone and whisper1
 by gesture and suggestion1 by thought  
and mental  attitude that he is a       
curmudgeon and that his system is dead  
wrong4 ,you  are not necessarily        
menacing him by stirring up this        
cauldron of  discontent and warming envy
 into strife1 but you are doing this3   
you are  getting yourself on a          
well-greased chute that will give you a 
quick ride  down and out4 ,when you say 
to other employees that the ,old ,man is
 a  curmudgeon1 you reveal the fact that
 you are one2 and when you tell them    
that the policy of the institution is   
rotten1 you certainly show  that yours  
is4    ,this bad habit of fault-finding1
 criticising and complaining is a tool  

that grows keener by constant use1 and  
there is grave danger that he who  at   
first is only a moderate kicker may     
develop into a chronic knocker1  and the
 knife he has sharpened will sever his  
head4    ,hooker got his promotion even 
in spite of his many failings2 but the  
chances are that your employer does not 
have the love that ,lincoln  had--the   
love that suffereth long and is kind4   
,but even ,lincoln could  not protect   
,hooker forever4 ,hooker failed to do   
the work1 and ,lincoln  had to try some 
one else4 ,so there came a time when    
,hooker was  superseded by a ,silent    
,man1 who criticised no one1 railed at  
nobody--not  even the enemy4    ,and    
this ,silent ,man1 who could rule his   
own spirit1 took the cities4 ,he  minded
 his own business1 and did the work that
 no man can ever do unless  he          
constantly gives absolute loyalty1      
perfect confidence1 unswerving  fidelity
 and untiring devotion4 ,let us mind our
 own business1 and allow  others to mind

 theirs1 thus working for self by       
working for the good  of all4           
,the ,week-,day1 ,keep it ,holy    ,did 
it ever strike you that it is a most    
absurd and semi-barbaric thing  to set  
one day apart as holy8    ,if you are a 
writer and a beautiful thought comes to 
you1 you never  hesitate because it is  
,sunday1 but you write it down4    ,if  
you are a painter1 and the picture      
appears before you1 vivid and  clear1   
you make haste to materialize it ere the
 vision fades4    ,if you are a         
musician1 you sing a song1 or play it on
 the piano1 that it  may be etched upon 
your memory--and for the joy of it4     
,but if you are a cabinet-maker1 you may
 make a design1 but you will have  to   
halt before you make the table1 if the  
day happens to be the ,lord's  ,day2 and
 if you are a blacksmith1 you will not  
dare to lift a hammer1  for fear of     
conscience or the police4 ,all of which 
is an admission that  we regard manual  
labor as a sort of necessary evil1 and  

must be done  only at certain times and 
places4    ,the orthodox reason for     
abstinence from all manual labor on     
,sunday is  that ,god made the heavens  
and the earth in six days and on the    
seventh  ,he rested1 therefore1 man1    
created in the image of his ,maker1     
should  hold this day sacred4 ,how it   
can be possible for a supreme1          
omnipotent  and all-powerful being      
without body1 parts or passions to      
become  wearied thru physical exertion  
is a question that is as yet unanswered4
    ,the idea of serving ,god on ,sunday
 and then forgetting ,him all the week  
is a fallacy that is fostered by the    
,reverend ,doctor ,sayles and his       
coadjutor1 ,deacon ,buffum1 who passes  
the ,panama for the benefit of those    
who would buy absolution4 ,or1 if you   
prefer1 salvation being free1 what  we  
place in the ,panama is an honorarium   
for ,deity or his agent1 just as  our   
noted authors never speak at banquets   
for pay1 but accept the  honorarium that

 in some occult and mysterious manner is
 left on the  mantel4 ,sunday1 with its 
immunity from work1 was devised for     
slaves who  got out of all the work they
 could during the week4    ,then1 to    
tickle the approbativeness of the slave1
 it was declared a  virtue not to work  
on ,sunday1 a most pleasing bit of ,tom 
,sawyer  diplomacy4 ,by following his   
inclinations and doing nothing1 a       
mysterious1 skyey benefit accrues1 which
 the lazy man hopes to have and  to hold
 for eternity4    ,then the slaves who  
do no work on ,sunday1 point out those  
who do as  beneath them in virtue1 and  
deserving of contempt4 ,upon this theory
 all  laws which punish the person who  
works or plays on ,sunday have been     
passed4 ,does ,god cease work one day in
 seven1 or is the work that ,he  does on
 ,sunday especially different from that 
which ,he performs on  ,tuesday8 ,the   
,saturday half-holiday is not           
sacred--the ,sunday holiday  is1 and we 
have laws to punish those who violate   

it4 ,no man can  violate the ,sabbath2  
he can1 however1 violate his own nature1
 and this  he is more apt to do through 
enforced idleness than either work or   
play4  ,only running water is pure1 and 
stagnant nature of any sort is          
dangerous--a breeding-place for disease4
    ,change of occupation is necessary  
to mental and physical health4 ,as it   
is1 most people get too much of one kind
 of work4 ,all the week they are        
chained to a task1 a repugnant task     
because the dose is too big4 ,they  have
 to do this particular job or starve4   
,this is slavery1 quite as  much as when
 man was bought and sold as a chattel4  
,will there not come a time when all men
 and women will work because it  is a   
blessed gift--a privilege8 ,then1 if all
 worked1 wasteful consuming  as a       
business would cease4 ,as it is1 there  
are many people who do not  work at all1
 and these pride themselves upon it and 
uphold the ,sunday  laws4 ,if the idlers
 would work1 nobody would be overworked4

 ,if this time  ever comes shall we not 
cease to regard it as wicked to work at 
certain times1 just as much as we would 
count it absurd to pass a law  making it
 illegal for us to be happy on          
,wednesday8 ,isn't good work an  effort 
to produce a useful1 necessary or       
beautiful thing8 ,if so1 good  work is a
 prayer1 prompted by a loving heart--a  
prayer to benefit and  bless4 ,if prayer
 is not a desire1 backed up by a right  
human effort to  bring about its        
efficacy1 then what is it8    ,work is a
 service performed for ourselves and    
others4 ,if ,i love you ,i  will surely 
work for you--in this way ,i reveal my  
love4 ,and to manifest  my love in this 
manner is a joy and gratification to me4
 ,thus work is  for the worker alone and
 labor is its own reward4 ,these things 
being  true1 if it is wrong to work on  
,sunday1 it is wrong to love on ,sunday2
  every smile is a sin1 every caress a  
curse1 and all tenderness a crime4      
,must there not come a time1 if we grow 

in mentality and spirit1 when we  shall 
cease to differentiate and quit calling 
some work secular and some  sacred8     
,isn't it as necessary for me to hoe    
corn and feed my loved ones  7and also  
the priest7 as for the priest to preach 
and pray8 ,would any  priest ever preach
 and pray if somebody didn't hoe8 ,if   
life is from ,god1  then all useful     
effort is divine2 and to work is the    
highest form of  religion4 ,if ,god made
 us1 surely ,he is pleased to see that  
,his work is a  success4 ,if we are     
miserable1 willing to liberate life with
 a bare  bodkin1 we certainly do not    
compliment our ,maker in thus           
proclaiming ,his  work a failure4 ,but  
if our lives are full of gladness and we
 are  grateful for the feeling that we  
are one with ,deity--helping ,god to do 
,his work1 then1 and only then do we    
truly serve ,him4    ,isn't it strange  
that men should have made laws declaring
 that it is  wicked for us to work8     
,exclusive ,friendships    ,an excellent

 and gentle man of my acquaintance has  
said1 ,when fifty-one  per cent of the  
voters believe in coperation as opposed 
to competition1  the ,ideal             
,commonwealth will cease to be a theory 
and become a fact4    ,that men should  
work together for the good of all is    
very beautiful1 and  ,i believe the day 
will come when these things will be1 but
 the simple  process of fifty-one per   
cent of the voters casting ballots for  
socialism will not bring it about4      
,the matter of voting is simply the     
expression of a sentiment1 and after    
the ballots have been counted there     
still remains the work to be done4 ,a   
man might vote right and act like a fool
 the rest of the year4    ,the socialist
 who is full of bitterness1 fight1      
faction and jealousy is  creating an    
opposition that will hold him and all   
others like him in  check4 ,and this    
opposition is well1 for even a very     
imperfect society is  forced to protect 
itself against dissolution and a        

condition which is  worse4 ,to take over
 the monopolies and operate them for the
 good of  society is not enough1 and not
 desirable either1 so long as the idea  
of  rivalry is rife4    ,as long as self
 is uppermost in the minds of men1 they 
will fear and  hate other men1 and under
 socialism there would be precisely the 
same  scramble for place and power that 
we see in politics now4    ,society can 
never be reconstructed until its        
individual members are  reconstructed4  
,man must be born again4 ,when fifty-one
 per cent of the  voters rule their own 
spirit and have put fifty-one per cent  
of their  present envy1 jealousy1       
bitterness1 hate1 fear and foolish pride
 out of  their hearts1 then ,christian  
socialism will be at hand1 and not      
until then4    ,the subject is entirely 
too big to dispose of in a paragraph1 so
 ,i am  just going to content myself    
here with the mention of one thing1 that
 so  far as ,i know has never been      
mentioned in print--the danger to       

society  of exclusive friendships       
between man and man1 and woman and      
woman4 ,no  two persons of the same sex 
can complement each other1 neither can  
they  long uplift or benefit each other4
 ,usually they deform the mental and    
spiritual estate4 ,we should have many  
acquaintances or none4 ,when two  men   
begin to tell each other everything1    
they are hiking for senility4  ,there   
must be a bit of well-defined reserve4  
,we are told that in  matter--solid     
steel for instance--the molecules never 
touch4 ,they never  surrender their     
individuality4 ,we are all molecules of 
,divinity1 and our  personality should  
not be abandoned4 ,be yourself1 let no  
man be  necessary to you--your friend   
will think more of you if you keep him  
at  a little distance4 ,friendship1 like
 credit1 is highest where it is  not    
used4    ,i can understand how a strong 
man can have a great and abiding        
affection  for a thousand other men1 and
 call them all by name1 but how he can  

regard any one of these men much higher 
than another and preserve his  mental   
balance1 ,i do not know4    ,let a man  
come close enough and he'll clutch you  
like a drowning person1  and down you   
both go4 ,in a close and exclusive      
friendship men partake of  others'      
weaknesses4    ,in shops and factories  
it happens constantly that men will have
 their  chums4 ,these men relate to each
 other their troubles--they keep nothing
  back--they sympathize with each other1
 they mutually condole4    ,they combine
 and stand by each other4 ,their        
friendship is exclusive and  others see 
that it is4 ,jealousy creeps in1        
suspicion awakens1 hate  crouches around
 the corner1 and these men combine in   
mutual dislike for  certain things and  
persons4 ,they foment each other1 and   
their sympathy  dilutes sanity--by      
recognizing their troubles men make them
 real4 ,things  get out of focus1 and   
the sense of values is lost4 ,by        
thinking some one  is an enemy you      

evolve him into one4    ,soon others are
 involved and we have a clique4 ,a      
clique is a friendship  gone to seed4   
,a clique develops into a faction1 and a
 faction into a feud1 and soon we  have 
a mob1 which is a blind1 stupid1 insane1
 crazy1 ramping and roaring  mass that  
has lost the rudder4 ,in a mob there are
 no individuals--all  are of one mind1  
and independent thought is gone4    ,a  
feud is founded on nothing--it is a     
mistake--a fool idea fanned into  flame 
by a fool friend6 ,and it may become a  
mob4    ,every man who has had anything 
to do with communal life has noticed    
that the clique is the disintegrating   
bacillus--and the clique has its  rise  
always in the exclusive friendship of   
two persons of the same sex1  who tell  
each other all unkind things that are   
said of each other--so  be on your      
guard4 ,beware of the exclusive         
friendship6 ,respect all men  and try to
 find the good in all4 ,to associate    
only with the sociable1  the witty1 the 

wise1 the brilliant1 is a blunder--go   
among the plain1  the stupid1 the       
uneducated1 and exercise your own wit   
and wisdom4 ,you  grow by giving--have  
no favorites--you hold your friend as   
much by  keeping away from him as you do
 by following after him4    ,revere     
him--yes1 but be natural and let space  
intervene4 ,be a ,divine  molecule4     
,be yourself and give your friend a     
chance to be himself4 ,thus do you      
benefit him1 and in benefiting him you  
benefit yourself4    ,the finest        
friendships are between those who can do
 without each other4    ,of course there
 have been cases of exclusive friendship
 that are pointed  out to us as grand   
examples of affection1 but they are so  
rare and  exceptional that they serve to
 emphasize the fact that it is          
exceedingly unwise for men of ordinary  
power and intellect to exclude  their   
fellow men4 ,a few men1 perhaps1 who are
 big enough to have a place  in history1
 could play the part of ,david to       

another's ,jonathan and yet  retain the 
good will of all1 but the most of us    
would engender  bitterness and strife4  
,and this beautiful dream of socialism1 
where each shall work for the  good of  
all1 will never come about until        
fifty-one per cent of the  adults shall 
abandon all exclusive friendships4      
,until that day arrives  you will have  
cliques1 denominations--which are       
cliques grown  big--factions1 feuds and 
occasional mobs4    ,do not lean on any 
one1 and let no one lean on you4 ,the   
ideal society  will be made up of ideal 
individuals4 ,be a man and be a friend  
to  everybody4    ,when the ,master     
admonished his disciples to love their  
enemies1 he had  in mind the truth that 
an exclusive love is a mistake--love    
dies when it  is monopolized--it grows  
by giving4 ,love1 lim41 is an error4    
,your enemy  is one who misunderstands  
you--why should you not rise above the  
fog and  see his error and respect him  
for the good qualities you find in him8 

,the ,folly of ,living in the ,future   
,the question is often asked1 ,what     
becomes of all the ,valedictorians and  
all the ,class-,day ,poets8    ,i can   
give information as to two parties for  
whom this inquiry is  made--the         
,valedictorian of my class is now a most
 industrious and worthy  floor-walker in
 ,siegel1 ,cooper  ,company's store1 and
 ,i was the  ,class-,day ,poet4 ,both of
 us had our eyes fixed on the ,goal4 ,we
 stood on  the ,threshold and looked out
 upon the ,world preparatory to going   
forth1  seizing it by the tail and      
snapping its head off for our own       
delectation4    ,we had our eyes fixed  
on the ,goal--it might better have been 
the gaol4    ,it was a very absurd thing
 for us to fix our eyes on the ,goal4   
,it  strained our vision and took our   
attention from our work4 ,we lost our   
grip on the present4    ,to think of the
 ,goal is to travel the distance over   
and over in your  mind and dwell on how 
awfully far off it is4 ,we have so      

little  mind--doing business on such a  
limited capital of intellect--that to   
wear it threadbare looking for a far-off
 thing is to get hopelessly  stranded in
 ,siegel1 ,cooper  ,company4    ,of     
course1 ,siegel1 ,cooper  ,company is   
all right1 too1 but the point is        
this--it wasn't the ,goal6    ,a goodly 
dash of indifference is a requisite in  
the formula for doing a  great work4    
,no one knows what the ,goal is--we are 
all sailing under sealed orders4    ,do 
your work to-day1 doing it the best you 
can1 and live one day at a  time4 ,the  
man that does this is conserving his    
,god-given energy1 and not  spinning it 
out into tenuous spider threads so      
fragile and filmy that  unkind ,fate    
will probably brush it away4    ,to do  
your work well to-day1 is the certain   
preparation for something  better       
to-morrow4 ,the past has gone from us   
forever2 the future we  cannot reach2   
the present alone is ours4 ,each day's  
work is a  preparation for the next     

day's duties4    ,live in the           
present--the ,day is here1 the time is  
,now4    ,there is only one thing that  
is worth praying for--that we may be in 
the  line of ,evolution4        ,the    
,spirit of ,man    ,maybe ,i am all     
wrong about it1 yet ,i cannot help      
believing that the  spirit of man will  
live again in a better world than ours4 
,fenelon says3  ,justice demands another
 life to make good the inequalities of  
this4  ,astronomers prophesy the        
existence of stars long before they can 
see  them4 ,they know where they ought  
to be1 and training their telescopes in 
that direction they wait1 knowing they  
shall find them4    ,materially1 no one 
can imagine anything more beautiful than
 this earth1  for the simple reason that
 we cannot imagine anything we have not 
seen2  we may make new combinations1 but
 the whole is made up of parts of       
things with which we are familiar4 ,this
 great green earth out of which  we have
 sprung1 of which we are a part1 that   

supports our bodies which  must return  
to it to repay the loan1 is very1 very  
beautiful4    ,but the spirit of man is 
not fully at home here2 as we grow in   
soul and  intellect1 we hear1 and hear  
again1 a voice which says3 ,arise and   
get  thee hence1 for this is not thy    
rest4 ,and the greater and nobler and   
more sublime the spirit1 the more       
constant is the discontent4 ,discontent 
may come from various causes1 so it will
 not do to assume that the  discontented
 ones are always the pure in heart1 but 
it is a fact that  the wise and         
excellent have all known the meaning of 
world-weariness4  ,the more you study   
and appreciate this life1 the more sure 
you are that  this is not all4 ,you     
pillow your head upon ,mother ,earth1   
listen to her  heart-throb1 and even as 
your spirit is filled with the love of  
her1  your gladness is half pain and    
there comes to you a joy that hurts4 ,to
  look upon the most exalted forms of   
beauty1 such as sunset at sea1 the      

coming of a storm on the prairie1 or the
 sublime majesty of the  mountains1     
begets a sense of sadness1 an increasing
 loneliness4 ,it is  not enough to say  
that man encroaches on man so that we   
are really  deprived of our freedom1    
that civilization is caused by a        
bacillus1 and  that from a natural      
condition we have gotten into a         
hurly-burly where  rivalry is rife--all 
this may be true1 but beyond and outside
 of all  this there is no physical      
environment in way of plenty which earth
 can  supply1 that will give the tired  
soul peace4 ,they are the happiest who  
have the least2 and the fable of the    
stricken king and the shirtless  beggar 
contains the germ of truth4 ,the wise   
hold all earthly ties very              
lightly--they are stripping for         
eternity4    ,world-weariness is only a 
desire for a better spiritual condition4
 ,there  is more to be written on this  
subject of world-pain--to exhaust the   
theme would require a book4 ,and certain

 it is that ,i have no wish to say  the 
final word on any topic4 ,the gentle    
reader has certain rights1 and  among   
these is the privilege of summing up the
 case4    ,but the fact holds that      
world-pain is a form of desire4 ,all    
desires are  just1 proper and right2 and
 their gratification is the means by    
which  nature supplies us that which we 
need4    ,desire not only causes us to  
seek that which we need1 but is a form  
of  attraction by which the good is     
brought to us1 just as the amoebae      
create a swirl in the waters that brings
 their food within reach4    ,every     
desire in nature has a fixed and        
definite purpose in the ,divine         
,economy1 and every desire has its      
proper gratification4 ,if we desire the 
close friendship of a certain person1 it
 is because that person has  certain    
soul-qualities that we do not possess1  
and which complement  our own4          
,through desire do we come into         
possession of our own2 by submitting to 

its beckonings we add cubits to our     
stature2 and we also give out to  others
 our own attributes1 without becoming   
poorer1 for soul is not  limited4 ,all  
nature is a symbol of spirit1 and so ,i 
am forced to believe  that somewhere    
there must be a proper gratification for
 this mysterious  nostalgia of the soul4
    ,the ,valhalla of the ,norseman1 the
 ,nirvana of the ,hindu1 the ,heaven of 
the ,christian are natural hopes of     
beings whose cares and  disappointments 
here are softened by belief that        
somewhere1 ,thor1 ,brahma  or ,god gives
 compensation4    ,the ,eternal ,unities
 require a condition where men and women
 shall be  permitted to love and not to 
sorrow2 where the tyranny of things     
hated  shall not prevail1 nor that for  
which the heart yearns turn to ashes at 
our touch4        ,art and ,religion    
,while this seems true in the main1 ,i  
am not sure it will hold in every  case4
 ,please think it out for yourself1 and 
if ,i happen to be wrong1  why1 put me  

straight4    ,the proposition is this3  
the artist needs no religion beyond his 
work4  ,that is to say1 art is religion 
to the man who thinks beautiful thoughts
  and expresses them for others the best
 he can4 ,religion is an emotional      
excitement whereby the devotee rises    
into a state of spiritual  sublimity1   
and for the moment is bathed in an      
atmosphere of rest1 and  peace1 and     
love4 ,all normal men and women crave   
such periods2 and  ,bernard ,shaw says  
that we reach them through strong tea1  
tobacco1  whiskey1 opium1 love1 art or  
religion4    ,i think ,bernard ,shaw a  
cynic1 but there is a glimmer of truth  
in his  idea that makes it worth        
repeating4 ,but beyond the natural      
religion1  which is a passion for       
oneness with the ,whole1 all formalized 
religions  engraft the element of fear1 
and teach the necessity of placating a  
,supreme ,being4 ,our idea of a ,supreme
 ,being is suggested to us by the       
political government under which we     

live4 ,the situation was summed up by   
,carlyle1 when he said that ,deity to   
the average ,british mind was simply  an
 infinite ,george ,,iv4 ,the thought of 
,god as a terrible ,supreme ,tyrant     
first found form in an unlimited        
monarchy2 but as governments have       
become more lenient so have the gods1   
until you get them down 7or up7 to  a   
republic1 where ,god is only a          
president1 and we all approach ,him in  
familiar prayer1 on an absolute         
equality4    ,then soon1 for the first  
time1 we find man saying1 ,i am ,god1   
and you  are ,god1 and we are all simply
 particles of ,him1 and this is where   
the  president is done away with1 and   
the referendum comes in4 ,but the       
absence of a supreme governing head     
implies simplicity1 honesty1  justice1  
and sincerity4 ,wherever plottings1     
schemings and doubtful  methods of life 
are employed1 a ruler is necessary2 and 
there1 too1  religion1 with its idea of 
placating ,god has a firm hold4 ,men    

whose  lives are doubtful feel the need 
of a strong government and a hot        
religion4 ,formal religion and sin go   
hand in hand4 ,formal religion and      
slavery go hand in hand4 ,formal        
religion and tyranny go hand in hand4   
,formal religion and ignorance go hand  
in hand4    ,and sin1 slavery1 tyranny  
and ignorance are one--they are never   
separated4    ,formal religion is a     
scheme whereby man hopes to make peace  
with his  ,maker2 and a formal religion 
also tends to satisfy the sense of      
sublimity where the man has failed to   
find satisfaction in his work4          
,voltaire says1 ,when woman no longer   
finds herself acceptable to man1  she   
turns to ,god1 ,when man is no longer   
acceptable to himself he goes  to       
church4 ,in order to keep this article  
from extending itself into a  tome1 ,i  
purposely omitted saying a single thing 
about the ,protestant  ,church as a     
useful ,social ,club and have just      
assumed for argument's sake  that the   

church is really a religious            
institution4    ,a formal religion is   
only a cut 'cross lots--an attempt to   
bring about  the emotions and the       
sensations that come to a man by the    
practice of  love1 virtue1 excellence   
and truth4 ,when you do a splendid piece
 of work  and express your best1 there  
comes to you1 as reward1 an exaltation  
of  soul1 a sublimity of feeling that   
puts you for the time being in touch    
with the ,infinite4 ,a formal religion  
brings this feeling without your  doing 
anything useful1 therefore it is        
unnatural4    ,formalized religion is   
the strongest where sin1 slavery1       
tyranny and  ignorance abound4 ,where   
men are free1 enlightened and at work1  
they find  all the gratification in     
their work that their souls demand--they
 cease  to hunt outside themselves for  
something to give them rest4 ,they are  
at  peace with themselves1 at peace with
 man and with ,god4    ,but any man     
chained to a hopeless task1 whose daily 

work does not  express himself1 who is  
dogged by a boss1 whenever he gets a    
moment of  respite turns to drink or    
religion4    ,men with an eye on        
,saturday night1 who plot to supplant   
some one else1  who can locate an       
employer any hour of the day1 who use   
their wit to  evade labor1 who think    
only of their summer vacation when they 
will no  longer be compelled to work1   
are apt to be sticklers for             
,sabbath-keeping  and church-going4     
,gentlemen in business who give eleven  
for a dozen1 and count thirty-four      
inches a yard1 who are quick to         
foreclose a mortgage1 and who say       
business is business1 generally are     
vestrymen1 deacons and church  trustees4
 ,look about you6 ,predaceous real      
estate dealers who set nets  for all the
 unwary1 lawyers who lie in wait for    
their prey1 merchant  princes who grind 
their clerks under the wheel1 and oil   
magnates whose  history was never       
written1 nor could be written1 often    

make peace with  ,god1 and find a       
gratification for their sense of        
sublimity by building  churches1        
founding colleges1 giving libraries1 and
 holding firmly to a  formalized        
religion4 ,look about you6    ,to       
recapitulate3 if your life-work is      
doubtful1 questionable or  distasteful1 
you will hold the balance true by going 
outside your  vocation for the          
gratification that is your due1 but     
which your daily  work denies1 and you  
find it in religion1 ,i do not say this 
is always  so1 but it is very often4    
,great sinners are apt to be very       
religious2  and conversely1 the best men
 who have ever lived have been at war   
with  established religions4 ,and       
further1 the best men are never found   
in churches4    ,men deeply immersed in 
their work1 whose lives are consecrated 
to doing  things1 who are simple1 honest
 and sincere1 desire no formal religion1
  need no priest nor pastor1 and seek no
 gratification outside their daily      

lives4 ,all they ask is to be let       
alone--they wish only the privilege  to 
work4    ,when ,samuel ,johnson1 on his 
death bed1 made ,joshua ,reynolds       
promise he  would do no more work on    
,sunday1 he of course had no conception 
of the  truth that ,reynolds reached    
through work the same condition of mind 
that  he1 ,johnson1 had reached by going
 to church4 ,johnson despised work and  
,reynolds loved it2 ,johnson considered 
one day in the week holy2 to  ,reynolds 
all days were sacred--sacred to work2   
that is1 to the  expression of his best4
 ,why should you cease to express your  
holiest and  highest on ,sunday8 ,ah1 ,i
 know why you don't work on ,sunday6 ,it
 is  because you think that work is     
degrading1 and because your sale and    
barter is founded on fraud1 and your    
goods are shoddy4 ,your week-day        
dealings lie like a pall upon your      
conscience1 and you need a day in  which
 to throw off the weariness of that     
slavery under which you live4  ,you are 

not free yourself1 and you insist that  
others shall not be free4    ,you have  
ceased to make work gladsome1 and you   
toil and make others  toil with you1 and
 you all well nigh faint from weariness 
and disgust4  ,you are slave and        
slave-owner1 for to own slaves is to be 
one4    ,but the artist is free and he  
works in joy1 and to him all things are 
good and all days are holy4 ,the great  
inventors1 thinkers1 poets1  musicians  
and artists have all been men of deep   
religious natures2 but  their religion  
has never been a formalized1 restricted1
 ossified  religion4 ,they did not      
worship at set times and places4 ,their 
religion  has been a natural and        
spontaneous blossoming of the intellect 
and  emotions--they have worked in love1
 not only one day in the week1 but  all 
days1 and to them the groves have always
 and ever been ,god's  first temples4   
,let us work to make men free6 ,am ,i   
bad because ,i want to give you         
freedom1 and have you work in gladness  

instead of fear8    ,do not hesitate to 
work on ,sunday1 just as you would think
 good thoughts  if the spirit prompts   
you4 ,for work is1 at the last1 only the
 expression  of your thought1 and there 
can be no better religion than good     
work4        ,initiative    ,the world  
bestows its big prizes1 both in money   
and honors1 for but one  thing4 ,and    
that is ,initiative4 ,what is           
,initiative8 ,i'll tell you3 ,it is     
doing the right thing without being     
told4 ,but next to doing the right      
thing without being told is to do it    
when you are told once4 ,that is to     
say1 carry the ,message to ,garcia6     
,there are those who never do a thing   
until they are told twice3 such get no  
honors and small pay4 ,next1 there  are 
those who do the right thing only when  
necessity kicks them from  behind1 and  
these get indifference instead of       
honors1 and a pittance for  pay4 ,this  
kind spends most of its time polishing a
 bench with a  hard-luck story4 ,then1  

still lower down in the scale than this1
 we find  the fellow who will not do the
 right thing even when some one goes    
along  to show him how1 and stays to see
 that he does it2 he is always out of a 
job1 and receives the contempt he       
deserves1 unless he has a rich ,pa1 in  
which case ,destiny awaits near by with 
a stuffed club4 ,to which class do  you 
belong8        ,the ,disagreeable ,girl 
,england's most famous dramatist1       
,george ,bernard ,shaw1 has placed in   
the  pillory of letters what he is      
pleased to call ,the ,disagreeable      
,girl4    ,and he has done it by a      
dry-plate1 quick-shutter process in a   
manner  that surely lays him liable for 
criminal libel in the assize of  high   
society4    ,i say society's assize     
advisedly1 because it is only in society
 that the  ,disagreeable ,girl can play 
a prominent part1 assuming the center of
 the  stage4 ,society1 in the society   
sense1 is built upon vacuity2 its favors
  being for those who reveal a fine     

capacity to waste and consume4 ,those   
who would write their names high on     
society's honor roll1 need not be       
either useful or intelligent--they need 
only seem4    ,and this gives to the    
,disagreeable ,girl her opportunity4 ,in
 the paper  box factory she would have  
to make good2 ,cluett1 ,coon  ,co4 ask  
for  results2 the stage demands at least
 a modicum of intellect1 in addition  to
 shape1 but society asks for nothing but
 pretense1 and the palm is  awarded to  
palaver4 ,but do not1 if you please1    
imagine that the  ,disagreeable ,girl   
does not wield an influence4 ,that is   
the very  point--her influence is so    
far-reaching in its effect that ,george 
,bernard ,shaw1 giving cross-sections of
 life in the form of dramas1  cannot    
write a play and leave her out4    ,she 
is always with us1 ubiquitous1          
omniscient and omnipresent--is the      
,disagreeable ,girl4 ,she is a          
disappointment to her father1 a source  
of  humiliation to her mother1 a pest to

 her brothers and sisters1 and when  she
 finally marries1 she slowly saps the   
inspiration of her husband and  very    
often converts a proud and ambitious man
 into a weak and  cowardly cur4    ,only
 in society does the ,disagreeable ,girl
 shine--everywhere else she is  an      
abject failure4 ,the much-vaunted       
,gibson ,girl is a kind of de luxe      
edition of ,shaw's ,disagreeable ,girl4 
,the ,gibson ,girl lolls1 loafs1  pouts1
 weeps1 talks back1 lies in wait1       
dreams1 eats1 drinks1 sleeps and  yawns4
 ,she rides in a coach in a red jacket1 
plays golf in a secondary  sexual       
sweater1 dawdles on a hotel veranda1 and
 can tum-tum on a piano1  but you never 
hear of her doing a useful thing or     
saying a wise one4  ,she plays bridge   
whist1 for keeps when she wins1 and owes
 when she  loses1 and her picture in    
flattering half-tone often adorns a page
 of  the ,sunday ,yellow4    ,she       
reveals a beautiful capacity for        
avoiding all useful effort4    ,gibson  

gilds the ,disagreeable ,girl4    ,shaw 
paints her as she is4    ,in the ,doll's
 ,house ,henrik ,ibsen has given us     
,nora ,hebler1 a  ,disagreeable ,girl of
 mature age1 who1 beyond a doubt1 first 
set ,george  ,bernard ,shaw a-thinking4 
,then looking about1 ,shaw saw her at   
every turn  in every stage of her       
moth-and-butterfly existence4    ,and   
the ,disagreeable ,girl being           
everywhere1 ,shaw1 dealer in human      
character1 cannot write a play and leave
 her out1 any more than the  artist     
,turner could paint a picture and leave 
man out1 or ,paul ,veronese  produce a  
canvas and omit the dog4    ,the        
,disagreeable ,girl is a female of the  
genus homo persuasion1 built  around a  
digestive apparatus that possesses      
marked marshmallow  proclivities4 ,she  
is pretty1 pug-nosed1 pink1 pert and    
poetical2 and at  first glance1 to the  
unwary1 she shows signs of gentleness   
and  intelligence4 ,her age is anywhere 
from eighteen to twenty-eight4 ,at      

twenty-eight she begins to evolve into  
something else1 and her capacity  for   
harm is largely curtailed1 because by   
this time spirit has written  itself in 
her form and features1 and the grossness
 and animality which  before were veiled
 are becoming apparent4    ,habit writes
 itself on the face1 and body is an     
automatic recording  machine4    ,to    
have a beautiful old age1 you must live 
a beautiful youth1 for we  ourselves are
 posterity1 and every man is his own    
ancestor4 ,i am to-day  what ,i am      
because ,i was yesterday what ,i was4   
,the ,disagreeable ,girl is  always     
pretty1 at least we have been told she  
is pretty1 and she fully  accepts the   
dictum4    ,she has also been told she  
is clever1 and she thinks she is4       
,the actual fact is she is only sassy4  
,the fine flaring up of youth has tended
 to set sex rampant1 but she is  not    
immoral save in her mind4    ,she has   
caution to the verge of cowardice1 and  
so she is sans reproche4  ,in public she

 pretends to be dainty2 but alone1 or   
with those for whose  good opinion she  
does not care1 she is gross1 coarse and 
sensual in  every feature of her life4  
,she eats too much1 does not exercise   
enough  and considers it amusing to let 
other people wait on her and do for her 
the things she should do for herself4   
,her room is a jumble of disorder4  ,the
 one gleam of hope for her lies in the  
fact that out of shame1 she  allows no  
visitor to enter her apartments if she  
can help it4 ,concrete  selfishness is  
her chief mark4 ,she will avoid         
responsibility1 side-step  every duty   
that calls for honest effort2 is        
untruthful1 secretive1  indolent and    
dishonest4    ,what are you eating8 asks
 ,nora ,hebler's husband as she enters  
the  room1 not expecting to see him4    
,nothing1 is the answer1 and she hides  
the box of bonbons behind her1  and soon
 backs out of the room4    ,i think ,mr4
 ,hebler had no business to ask her what
 she was eating--no  man should ask any 

woman such a question1 and really it was
 no  difference anyway4 ,but ,nora is   
always on the defensive and fabricates  
when it is necessary1 and when it isn't1
 just through habit4 ,she will  hide a  
letter written by her grandmother as    
quickly and deftly as if it  were a     
missive from a guilty lover4 ,the habit 
of her life is one of  suspicion1 for   
being inwardly guilty herself1 she      
suspects everybody  although it is quite
 likely that crime with her has never   
broken through  thought into deed4 ,nora
 will rifle her husband's pockets1 read 
his  note-book1 examine his letters1 and
 when he goes on a trip she spends  the 
day checking up his desk1 for her soul  
delights in duplicate keys4    ,at times
 she lets drop hints of knowledge       
concerning little nothings  that are    
none of hers1 just to mystify folks4    
,she does strange1 annoying things      
simply to see what others will do4      
,in degree1 ,nora's husband fixed the   
vice of finesse in her nature1 for  when

 even a good woman is accused she       
parries by the use of trickery  and wins
 her point by the artistry of the       
bagnio4 ,women and men are  never really
 far apart anyway1 and women are largely
 what men have  made them4    ,we are   
all just getting rid of our shackles2   
listen closely1 anywhere1  even among   
honest and intellectual people1 if such 
there be1 and you can  detect the rattle
 of chains4    ,the ,disagreeable       
,girl's mind and soul have not kept pace
 with her body4  ,yesterday she was a   
slave1 sold in a ,circassian mart1 and  
freedom to her  is so new and strange   
that she is unfamiliar with her         
environment1 and  she does not know what
 to do with it4    ,the tragedy she     
works1 according to ,george ,bernard    
,shaw1 is through the  fact that very   
often good men1 blinded by the glamour  
of sex1 imagine  they love the          
,disagreeable ,girl1 when what they love
 is their own  ideal--an image born in  
their own minds4    ,nature is both a   

trickster and a humorist1 and ever sets 
the will of the  species beyond the     
discernment of the individual4 ,the     
picador has to  blindfold his horse in  
order to get him into the bull-ring1 and
  likewise1 ,dan ,cupid does the myopic 
to a purpose4    ,for aught we know1 the
 lovely ,beatrice of ,dante was only a  
,disagreeable  ,girl1 clothed in a      
poet's fancy1 and idealized by a        
dreamer4 ,fortunate  was ,dante that he 
worshipped her afar1 that he never knew 
her well  enough to be undeceived1 and  
so walked through life in love with     
love1  sensitive1 saintly1 sweetly sad  
and most divinely happy in his          
melancholy4        ,the ,neutral        
,there is known to me a prominent       
business house that by the very force   
of its directness and worth has incurred
 the enmity of many rivals4 ,in  fact1  
there is a very general conspiracy on   
hand to put the institution  down and   
out4 ,in talking with a young man       
employed by this house1 he  yawned and  

said1 ,oh1 in this quarrel ,i am        
neutral4    ,but you get your bread and 
butter from this firm1 and in a matter  
where  the very life of the institution 
is concerned1 ,i do not see how you can 
be a neutral4    ,and he changed the    
subject4    ,i think that if ,i enlisted
 in the ,japanese army ,i would not be a
  neutral4    ,business is a fight--a   
continual struggle--just as life is4    
,man has  reached his present degree of 
development through struggle4 ,struggle 
there must be and always will be4 ,the  
struggle began as purely physical2  as  
man evolved it shifted ground to the    
mental1 psychic1 and the  spiritual1    
with a few dashes of cave-man           
proclivities still left4 ,but  depend   
upon it1 the struggle will always       
be--life is activity4 ,and when  it gets
 to be a struggle in well-doing1 it will
 still be a struggle4  ,when inertia    
gets the better of you it is time to    
telephone to the  undertaker4    ,the   
only real neutral in this game of life  

is a dead one4    ,eternal vigilance is 
not only the price of liberty1 but of   
every other  good thing4    ,a business 
that is not safeguarded on every side by
 active1 alert1  attentive1 vigilant men
 is gone4 ,as oxygen is the             
disintegrating  principle of life1      
working night and day to dissolve1      
separate1 pull  apart and dissipate1 so 
there is something in business that     
continually  tends to scatter1 destroy  
and shift possession from this man to   
that4 ,a  million mice nibble eternally 
at every business venture4    ,the mice 
are not neutrals1 and if enough employes
 in a business house  are neutrals1 the 
whole concern will eventually come      
tumbling about  their ears4    ,i like  
that order of ,field-,marshal ,oyama3   
,give every honorable neutral  that you 
find in our lines the honorable         
jiu-jitsu hikerino4        ,reflections 
on ,progress    ,renan has said that    
truth is always rejected when it comes  
to a man for  the first time1 its       

evolution being as follows3    ,first1  
we say the thing is rank heresy1 and    
contrary to the ,bible4    ,second1 we  
say the matter really amounts to        
nothing1 anyway4    ,third1 we declare  
that we always believed it4    ,two     
hundred years ago partnerships in       
business were very rare4 ,a man in      
business simply made things and sold    
them--and all the manufacturing was     
done by himself and his immediate       
family4 ,soon we find instances of      
brothers continuing the work the father 
had begun1 as in the case of the        
,elzevirs and the ,plantins1 the great  
bookmakers of ,holland4 ,to meet this   
competition1 four printers1 in #afdj1   
formed a partnership and pooled  their  
efforts4 ,a local writer by the name of 
,van ,krugen denounced these  four men1 
and made savage attacks on partnerships 
in general as wicked  and illegal1 and  
opposed to the best interests of the    
people4 ,this view  seems to have been  
quite general1 for there was a law in   

,amsterdam  forbidding all partnerships 
in business that were not licensed by   
the  state4 ,the legislature of the     
,state of ,missouri has recently made   
war on  the department store in the same
 way1 using the ancient ,van ,krugen    
argument as a reason1 for there is no   
copyright on stupidity4    ,in ,london  
in the seventeenth century men who were 
found guilty of  pooling their efforts  
and dividing profits1 were convicted by 
law and  punished for contumacy1        
contravention and connivance1 and were  
given a  taste of the stocks in the     
public square4    ,when corporations    
were formed for the first time1 only a  
few years ago1  there was a fine burst  
of disapproval4 ,the corporation was    
declared a  scheme of oppression1 a     
hungry octopus1 a grinder of the        
individual4 ,and  to prove the case     
various instances of hardship were      
cited2 and no doubt  there was much     
suffering1 for many people are never    
able to adjust  themselves to new       

conditions without experiencing pain and
 regret4    ,but we now believe that    
corporations came because they were     
required4  ,certain things the times    
demanded1 and no one man1 or two or     
three men  could perform these tasks    
alone--hence the corporation4 ,the rise 
of  ,england as a manufacturing nation  
began with the plan of the  stock       
company4    ,the aggregation known as   
the joint-stock company1 everybody is   
willing  now to admit1 was absolutely   
necessary in order to secure the        
machinery1  that is to say1 the tools1  
the raw stock1 the buildings1 and to    
provide  for the permanence of the      
venture4    ,the railroad system of     
,america has built up this country--on  
this thing  of joint-stock companies and
 transportation1 our prosperity has     
hinged4  ,commerce1 consists in carrying
 things from where they are plentiful to
  where they are needed1 says ,emerson4 
,there are ten combinations of capital  
in this country that control over  six  

thousand miles of railroad each4 ,these 
companies have taken in a  large number 
of small lines2 and many connecting     
lines of tracks have  been built4       
,competition over vast sections of      
country has been  practically           
obliterated1 and this has been done so  
quietly that few  people are aware of   
the change4 ,only one general result of 
this  consolidation of management has   
been felt1 and that it is better        
service at less expense4 ,no captain of 
any great industrial enterprise  dares  
now to say1 ,the public be damned1 even 
if he ever said it--which  ,i much      
doubt4 ,the pathway to success lies in  
serving the public1 not in  affronting  
it4 ,in no other way is success         
possible1 and this truth is so  plain   
and patent that even very simple folk   
are able to recognize it4  ,you can only
 help yourself by helping others4       
,thirty years ago1 when ,p4 ,t4 ,barnum 
said1 ,the public delights in being     
humbugged1 he knew that it was not true1

 for he never attempted to put  the     
axiom in practice4 ,he amused the public
 by telling it a lie1 but ,p4  ,t4      
,barnum never tried anything so risky as
 deception4 ,even when he lied  we were 
not deceived2 truth can be stated by    
indirection4 ,when my love  tells me she
 is made of truth1 ,i do believe her1   
though ,i know she  lies4 ,barnum always
 gave more than he advertised2 and going
 over and  over the same territory he   
continued to amuse and instruct the     
public  for nearly forty years4    ,this
 tendency to coperate is seen in such   
splendid features as the  ,saint ,louis 
,union ,station1 for instance1 where    
just twenty great  railroad companies   
lay aside envy1 prejudice1 rivalry and  
whim1 and use  one terminal4 ,if        
competition were really the life of     
trade1 each  railroad that enters ,saint
 ,louis would have a station of its own1
 and  the public would be put to the    
worry1 trouble1 expense and endless     
delay  of finding where it wanted to go 

and how to get there4 ,as it is now1 the
  entire aim and end of the scheme is to
 reduce friction1 worry and  expense1   
and give the public the greatest        
accommodation--the best  possible       
service--to make travel easy and life   
secure4 ,servants in  uniform meet you  
as you alight1 and answer your every    
question--speeding  you courteously and 
kindly on your way4 ,there are women to 
take care of  women1 and nurses to take 
care of children1 and wheel chairs for  
such as  may be infirm or lame4 ,the    
intent is to serve--not to pull you this
 way  and that1 and sell you a ticket   
over a certain road4 ,you are free to   
choose your route and you are free to   
utilize as your own this great          
institution that cost a million dollars1
 and that requires the presence  of two 
hundred people to maintain4 ,all is for 
you4 ,it is for the public  and was only
 made possible by a oneness of aim and  
desire--that is to  say coperation4     
,before coperation comes in any line1   

there is always  competition pushed to a
 point that threatens destruction and   
promises  chaos2 then to divert ruin1   
men devise a better way1 a plan that    
conserves and economizes1 and behold1 it
 is found in coperation4                
,civilization is an evolution4          
,civilization is not a thing separate   
and apart1 any more than art is4    ,art
 is the beautiful way of doing things4  
,civilization is the  expeditious way of
 doing things4 ,and as haste is often   
waste--the more  hurry the less         
speed--civilization is the best way of  
doing things4    ,as mankind multiplies 
in number1 the problem of supplying     
people what  they need is the important 
question of ,earth4 ,and mankind has    
ever held  out offers of reward in fame 
and money--both being forms of power--to
  those who would supply it better      
things4    ,teachers are those who      
educate the people to appreciate the    
things they  need4    ,the man who      
studies mankind1 and finds out what men 

really want1 and  then supplies them    
this1 whether it be an ,idea or a       
,thing1 is the man  who is crowned with 
the laurel wreath of honor and clothed  
with riches4    ,what people need and   
what they want may be very different4   
,to undertake to supply people a thing  
you think they need but which they  do  
not want1 is to have your head elevated 
on a pike1 and your bones  buried in    
,potter's ,field4    ,but wait1 and the 
world will yet want the thing that it   
needs1 and your  bones will then become 
sacred relics4    ,this change in desire
 on the part of mankind is the result of
 the growth  of intellect4    ,it is    
,progress1 and ,progress is ,evolution1 
and ,evolution is ,progress4    ,there  
are men who are continually trying to   
push ,progress along3 we call  these    
individuals ,reformers4    ,then there  
are others who always oppose the        
,reformer--the mildest name  we have for
 them is ,conservative4    ,the         
,reformer is either a ,savior or a      

,rebel1 all depending on whether he     
succeeds or fails1 and your point of    
view4 ,he is what he is1 regardless  of 
what other men think of him4 ,the man   
who is indicted and executed as  a      
rebel1 often afterward has the word     
,savior carved on his tomb2 and         
sometimes men who are hailed as saviors 
in their day are afterward found  to be 
sham saviors--to wit1 charlatans4       
,conservation is a plan of  ,nature4 ,to
 keep the good is to conserve4 ,a       
,conservative is a man who  puts on the 
brakes when he thinks ,progress is going
 to land ,civilization  in the ditch and
 wreck the whole concern4    ,brakemen  
are necessary1 but in the language of   
,koheleth1 there is a time  to apply the
 brake and there is a time to abstain   
from applying the  brake4 ,to clog the  
wheels continually is to stand still1   
and to stand  still is to retreat4      
,progress has need of the brakeman1 but 
the brakeman  should not occupy all of  
his time putting on the brakes4    ,the 

,conservative is just as necessary as   
the ,radical4 ,the ,conservative  keeps 
the ,reformer from going too fast1 and  
plucking the fruit before it  is ripe4  
,governments are only good where there  
is strong ,opposition1  just as the     
planets are held in place by the        
opposition of forces4 ,and  so          
civilization goes forward by stops and  
starts--pushed by the  ,reformers and   
held back by the ,conservatives4 ,one is
 necessary to the  other1 and they often
 shift places4 ,but forward and forward 
,civilization  forever                  
goes--ascertaining the best way of doing
 things4    ,in commerce we have had the
 ,individual ,worker1 the ,partnership1 
the  ,corporation1 and now we have the  
,trust4    ,the ,trust is simply        
,corporations forming a partnership4    
,the thing is all  an ,evolution--a     
moving forward4 ,it is all for man and  
it is all done by  man4 ,it is all done 
with the consent1 aye1 and approval of  
man4    ,the ,trusts were made by the   

,people1 and the ,people can and will   
unmake  them1 should they ever prove an 
engine of oppression4 ,they exist only  
during good behavior1 and like men1 they
 are living under a sentence of  death1 
with an indefinite reprieve4    ,the    
,trusts are good things because they are
 economizers of energy4 ,they  cut off  
waste1 increase the production1 and make
 a panic practically  impossible4       
,the ,trusts are here in spite of the   
men who think they originated them1  and
 in spite of the ,reformers who turned  
,conservatives and  opposed them4       
,the next move of ,evolution will be the
 age of ,socialism4 ,socialism means    
the operation of all industries by the  
people1 and for the people4  ,socialism 
is coperation instead of competition4   
,competition has been so  general that  
economists mistook it for a law of      
nature1 when it was only  an incident4  
,competition is no more a law of nature 
than is hate4 ,hate was once so         
thoroughly believed in that we gave it  

personality and called it  the ,devil4  
,we have banished the ,devil by         
educating people to know that he who    
works  has no time to hate and no need  
to fear1 and by this same means1        
education1 will the people be prepared  
for the age of ,socialism4    ,the      
,trusts are now getting things ready for
 ,socialism4    ,socialism is a ,trust  
of ,trusts4    ,humanity is growing in  
intellect1 in patience1 in kindness--in 
love4 ,and  when the time is ripe1 the  
people will step in and take peaceful   
possession of their own1 and the        
,coperative ,commonwealth will give to  
each one his due4        ,sympathy1     
,knowledge and ,poise    ,sympathy1     
,knowledge and ,poise seem to be the    
three ingredients that are  most needed 
in forming the ,gentle ,man4 ,i place   
these elements according  to their      
value4 ,no man is great who does not    
have ,sympathy plus1 and the  greatness 
of men can be safely gauged by their    
sympathies4 ,sympathy and  imagination  

are twin sisters4 ,your heart must go   
out to all men1 the  high1 the low1 the 
rich1 the poor1 the learned1 the        
unlearned1 the good1  the bad1 the wise 
and the foolish--it is necessary to be  
one with them  all1 else you can never  
comprehend them4 ,sympathy6--it is the  
touchstone  to every secret1 the key to 
all knowledge1 the open sesame of all   
hearts4 ,put yourself in the other man's
 place and then you will know why  he   
thinks certain things and does certain  
deeds4 ,put yourself in his  place and  
your blame will dissolve itself into    
pity1 and your tears will  wipe out the 
record of his misdeeds4 ,the saviors of 
the world have  simply been men with    
wondrous sympathy4    ,but ,knowledge   
must go with ,sympathy1 else the        
emotions will become  maudlin and pity  
may be wasted on a poodle instead of a  
child2 on a  field-mouse instead of a   
human soul4 ,knowledge in use is wisdom1
 and  wisdom implies a sense of         
values--you know a big thing from a     

little  one1 a valuable fact from a     
trivial one4 ,tragedy and comedy are    
simply  questions of value3 a little    
misfit in life makes us laugh1 a great  
one  is tragedy and cause for expression
 of grief4    ,poise is the strength of 
body and strength of mind to control    
your  ,sympathy and your ,knowledge4    
,unless you control your emotions they  
run  over and you stand in the mire4    
,sympathy must not run riot1 or it is   
valueless and tokens weakness instead of
 strength4 ,in every hospital for       
nervous disorders are to be found many  
instances of this loss of  control4 ,the
 individual has ,sympathy but not       
,poise1 and therefore his  life is      
worthless to himself and to the world4  
,he symbols inefficiency and not        
helpfulness4 ,poise reveals itself more 
in voice than it does in words2 more in 
thought than in action2 more in         
atmosphere than in conscious life4 ,it  
is a spiritual quality1 and is  felt    
more than it is seen4 ,it is not a      

matter of bodily size1 nor of  bodily   
attitude1 nor attire1 nor of personal   
comeliness3 it is a state  of inward    
being1 and of knowing your cause is     
just4 ,and so you see it is  a great and
 profound subject after all1 great in   
its ramifications1  limitless in extent1
 implying the entire science of right   
living4 ,i once  met a man who was      
deformed in body and little more than a 
dwarf1 but who  had such ,spiritual     
,gravity--such ,poise--that to enter a  
room where he  was1 was to feel his     
presence and acknowledge his            
superiority4 ,to allow  ,sympathy to    
waste itself on unworthy objects is to  
deplete one's life  forces4 ,to conserve
 is the part of wisdom1 and reserve is a
 necessary  element in all good         
literature1 as well as in everything    
else4    ,poise being the control of our
 ,sympathy and ,knowledge1 it implies a 
possession of these attributes1 for     
without having ,sympathy and  ,knowledge
 you have nothing to control but your   

physical body4 ,to  practise ,poise as a
 mere gymnastic exercise1 or study in   
etiquette1 is  to be self-conscious1    
stiff1 preposterous and ridiculous4     
,those who cut  such fantastic tricks   
before high heaven as make angels weep1 
are men  void of ,sympathy and          
,knowledge trying to cultivate ,poise4  
,their science  is a mere matter of what
 to do with arms and legs4 ,poise is a  
question  of spirit controlling flesh1  
heart controlling attitude4    ,get     
,knowledge by coming close to ,nature4  
,that man is the greatest who  best     
serves his kind4 ,sympathy and          
,knowledge are for use--you acquire     
that you may give out2 you accumulate   
that you may bestow4 ,and as ,god  has  
given unto you the sublime blessings of 
,sympathy and ,knowledge1  there will   
come to you the wish to reveal your     
gratitude by giving them  out again2 for
 the wise man is aware that we retain   
spiritual qualities  only as we give    
them away4 ,let your light shine4 ,to   

him that hath shall  be given4 ,the     
exercise of wisdom brings wisdom2 and at
 the last the  infinitesimal quantity of
 man's knowledge1 compared with the     
,infinite1  and the smallness of man's  
,sympathy when compared with the source 
from  which ours is absorbed1 will      
evolve an abnegation and a humility that
  will lend a perfect ,poise4 ,the      
,gentleman is a man with perfect        
,sympathy1  ,knowledge1 and ,poise4     
,love and ,faith    ,no woman is worthy 
to be a wife who on the day of her      
marriage is not  lost absolutely and    
entirely in an atmosphere of love and   
perfect trust2  the supreme sacredness  
of the relation is the only thing which1
 at the  time1 should possess her soul4 
,is she a bawd that she should bargain8 
,women should not obey men anymore than 
men should obey women4 ,there  are six  
requisites in every happy marriage2 the 
first is ,faith1 and the  remaining five
 are ,confidence4 ,nothing so           
compliments a man as for a  woman to    

believe in him--nothing so pleases a    
woman as for a man to  place confidence 
in her4    ,obey8 ,god help me6 ,yes1 if
 ,i loved a woman1 my whole heart's     
desire  would be to obey her slightest  
wish4 ,and how could ,i love her unless 
,i  had perfect confidence that she     
would only aspire to what was beautiful1
  true and right8 ,and to enable her to 
realize this ideal1 her wish would  be  
to me a sacred command2 and her attitude
 of mind toward me ,i know  would be the
 same4 ,and the only rivalry between us 
would be as to who  could love the most2
 and the desire to obey would be the one
 controlling  impulse of our lives4     
,we gain freedom by giving it1 and he   
who bestows faith gets it back with     
interest4 ,to bargain and stipulate in  
love is to lose4    ,the woman who stops
 the marriage ceremony and requests the 
minister to  omit the word obey1 is     
sowing the first seed of doubt and      
distrust  that later may come to        
fruition in the divorce court4    ,the  

haggling and bickerings of settlements  
and dowries that usually  precede the   
marriage of blood and dollars are the   
unheeded warnings  that misery1         
heartache1 suffering1 and disgrace await
 the principals4    ,perfect faith      
implies perfect love2 and perfect love  
casteth out fear4  ,it is always the    
fear of imposition1 and a lurking intent
 to rule1 that  causes the woman to     
haggle over a word--it is absence of    
love1 a  limitation1 an incapacity4 ,the
 price of a perfect love is an absolute 
and complete surrender4    ,keep back   
part of the price and yours will be the 
fate of ,ananias and  ,sapphira4 ,your  
doom is swift and sure4 ,to win all we  
must give all4        ,giving ,something
 for ,nothing    ,to give a man         
something for nothing tends to make the 
individual  dissatisfied with himself4  
,your enemies are the ones you have     
helped4    ,and when an individual is   
dissatisfied with himself he is         
dissatisfied  with the whole world--and 

with you4    ,a man's quarrel with the  
world is only a quarrel with himself4   
,but so  strong is this inclination to  
lay blame elsewhere and take credit to  
ourselves1 that when we are unhappy we  
say it is the fault of this woman  or   
that man4 ,especially do women attribute
 their misery to ,that ,man4    ,and    
often the trouble is he has given her   
too much for nothing4    ,this truth is 
a reversible1 back-action one1 well     
lubricated by use1  working both        
ways--as the case may be4    ,nobody but
 a beggar has really definite ideas     
concerning his rights4  ,people who give
 much--who love much--do not haggle4    
,that form of affection which drives    
sharp bargains and makes demands1  gets 
a check on the bank in which there is no
 balance4    ,there is nothing so costly
 as something you get for nothing4      
,my friend ,tom ,lowry1 ,magnate in     
,ordinary1 of ,minneapolis and the east 
side of ,wall ,street1 has recently had 
a little experience that proves  my     

point4    ,a sturdy beggar-man1 a       
specimen of decayed gentility1 once     
called on  ,tammas with a hard-luck     
story and a ,family ,bible1 and asked   
for a small  loan on the ,good ,book4   
,to be compelled to soak the ,family    
,bible would surely melt the heart of   
gneiss6    ,tom was melted4    ,tom made
 the loan but refused the collateral1   
stating he had no use for  it4    ,which
 was ,god's truth for once4    ,in a few
 weeks the man came back1 and tried to  
tell ,tom his hard-luck  story          
concerning the ,cold ,ingratitude of a  
,cruel ,world4    ,tom said1 ,spare me  
the slow music and the recital--,i have 
troubles of  my own4 ,i need mirth and  
good cheer--take this dollar1 and peace 
be  with you4    ,peace be multiplied   
unto thee1 said the beggar1 and         
departed4 ,the  next month the man      
returned1 and began to tell ,tom a tale 
of ,cruelty1  ,injustice and            
,ingratitude4    ,tom was riled--he had 
his magnate business to attend to1 and  

he made a  remark in italics4 ,the      
beggar said1 ,mr4 ,lowry1 if you had    
your business  a little better          
systematized1 ,i would not have to      
trouble you  personally--why don't you  
just speak to your cashier8 ,and the    
great  man1 who once took a party of    
friends out for a tally-ho ride1 and    
through mental habit collected five     
cents from each guest1 was so  pleased  
at the thought of relief that he pressed
 the buzzer4 ,the cashier  came1 and    
,tom said1 ,put this man ,grabheimer on 
your pay-roll1 give him  two dollars now
 and the same the first of every month4 
,then turning to the beggar-man1 ,tom   
said1 ,now get out of here--hurry1      
vamose1 hike--and be damned to you6     
,the same to you and many of them1 said 
,his ,effluvia politely1 and  withdrew4 
,all this happened two years ago4 ,the  
beggar got his money regularly for  a   
year1 and then in auditing accounts ,tom
 found the name on the  pay-roll1 and as
 ,tom could not remember how the name   

got there1 he at  first thought the     
pay-roll was being stuffed4 ,anyway he  
ordered the  beggar's name stricken off 
the roster1 and the elevator man was    
instructed to enforce the edict against 
beggars4    ,not being allowed to see   
his man1 the beggar wrote him           
letters--denunciatory1 scandalous1      
abusive1 threatening4 ,finally the      
beggar laid the matter before an obese  
limb o' the ,law1 ,jaggers1 of the  firm
 of ,jaggers  ,jaggers1 who took the    
case on a contingent fee4    ,the case  
came to trial1 and ,jaggers proved his  
case se  offendendo--argal3 it was shown
 by the defendant's books that ,his     
,bacteria had been on the pay-roll and  
his name had been stricken off  without 
suggestion1 request1 cause1 reason or   
fault of his own4    ,his ,crabship     
proved the contract1 and ,tom got it in 
the mazzard4  ,judgment for plaintiff1  
with costs4 ,the beggar got the money   
and  ,minneapolis ,tom got the          
experience4 ,tom said the man would lose

 the  money1 but he himself has gotten  
the part that will be his for           
ninety-nine years4 ,surely the spirit of
 justice does not sleep and there  is a 
beneficent and wise ,providence that    
watches over magnates4        ,work and 
,waste    ,these truths ,i hold to be   
self-evident3 ,that man was made to be  
happy2  that happiness is only          
attainable through useful effort2 that  
the very  best way to help ourselves is 
to help others1 and often the best way  
to  help others is to mind our own      
business2 that useful effort means the  
proper exercise of all our faculties2   
that we grow only through  exercise2    
that education should continue through  
life1 and the joys of  mental endeavor  
should be1 especially1 the solace of the
 old2 that where  men alternate work1   
play and study in right proportion1 the 
organs of  the mind are the last to     
fail1 and death for such has no terrors4
    ,that the possession of wealth can  
never make a man exempt from useful     

manual labor2 that if all would work a  
little1 no one would then be            
overworked2 that if no one wasted1 all  
would have enough2 that if none  were   
overfed1 none would be underfed2 that   
the rich and educated need  education   
quite as much as the poor and           
illiterate2 that the presence of  a     
serving class is an indictment and a    
disgrace to our civilization2  that the 
disadvantage of having a serving class  
falls most upon those  who are served1  
and not upon those who serve--just as   
the real curse of  slavery fell upon the
 slave-owners4    ,that people who are  
waited on by a serving class cannot have
 a right  consideration for the rights  
of others1 and they waste both time and 
substance1 both of which are lost       
forever1 and can only seemingly be  made
 good by additional human effort4       
,that the person who lives on the labor 
of others1 not giving himself in  return
 to the best of his ability1 is really a
 consumer of human life  and therefore  

must be considered no better than a     
cannibal4    ,that each one living      
naturally will do the thing he can do   
best1 but  that in useful service there 
is no high nor low4    ,that to set     
apart one day in seven as holy is really
 absurd and serves  only to loosen our  
grasp on the tangible present4    ,that 
all duties1 offices and things which are
 useful and necessary to  humanity are  
sacred1 and that nothing else is or can 
be sacred4        ,the ,law of          
,obedience    ,the very first item in   
the creed of common sense is ,obedience4
    ,perform your work with a whole     
heart4    ,revolt may be sometimes      
necessary1 but the man who tries to mix 
revolt  and obedience is doomed to      
disappoint himself and everybody with   
whom he  has dealings4 ,to flavor work  
with protest is to fail absolutely4     
,when you revolt1 why revolt--climb1    
hike1 get out1 defy--tell everybody  and
 everything to go to hades6 ,that       
disposes of the case4 ,you thus         

separate yourself entirely from those   
you have served--no one  misunderstands 
you--you have declared yourself4    ,the
 man who quits in disgust when ordered  
to perform a task which he  considers   
menial or unjust may be a pretty good   
fellow1 but in the wrong  environment1  
but the malcontent who takes your order 
with a smile and  then secretly         
disobeys1 is a dangerous proposition4   
,to pretend to obey1  and yet carry in  
your heart the spirit of revolt is to do
 half-hearted1  slipshod work4 ,if      
revolt and obedience are equal in power1
 your engine  will then stop on the     
center and you benefit no one1 not even 
yourself4    ,the spirit of obedience is
 the controlling impulse that dominates 
the  receptive mind and the hospitable  
heart4 ,there are boats that mind the   
helm and there are boats that do not4   
,those that do not1 get holes  knocked  
in them sooner or later4    ,to keep off
 the rocks1 obey the rudder4            
,obedience is not to slavishly obey this

 man or that1 but it is that  cheerful  
mental state which responds to the      
necessity of the case1 and  does the    
thing without any back talk--unuttered  
or expressed4    ,obedience to the      
institution--loyalty6 ,the man who has  
not learned to  obey has trouble ahead  
of him every step of the way4 ,the world
 has it in  for him continually1 because
 he has it in for the world4    ,the man
 who does not know how to receive orders
 is not fit to issue them  to others4   
,but the individual who knows how to    
execute the orders given  him is        
preparing the way to issue orders1 and  
better still--to have  them obeyed4     
,society's ,saviors    ,all adown the   
ages society has made the mistake of    
nailing its ,saviors  to the cross      
between thieves4    ,that is to say1    
society has recognized in the ,savior a 
very dangerous  quality--something about
 him akin to a thief1 and his career has
 been  suddenly cut short4    ,we have  
telephones and trolly cars1 yet we have 

not traveled far into  the realm of     
spirit1 and our ,x-ray has given us no  
insight into the  heart of things4      
,society is so dull and dense1 so       
lacking in spiritual vision1 so dumb    
and so beast-like that it does not know 
the difference between a thief  and the 
only ,begotten ,son4 ,in a frantic      
effort to forget its hollowness  it     
takes to ping-pong1 parchesi and        
progressive euchre1 and seeks to  lose  
itself and find solace and consolation  
in tiddle-dy-winks4    ,we are told in  
glaring head-lines and accurate         
photographic  reproductions of a        
conference held by leaders in society to
 settle a  matter of grave import4 ,was 
it to build technical schools and       
provide a  means for practical and      
useful education8 ,was it a plan of     
building  modern tenement houses along  
scientific and sanitary lines8 ,was it  
called to provide funds for scientific  
research of various kinds that  would   
add to human knowledge and prove a      

benefit to mankind8 ,no1 it was  none of
 these4 ,this body met to determine     
whether the crook in a certain          
bulldog's tail was natural or had been  
produced artificially4    ,should the   
,savior come to-day and preach the same 
gospel that ,he taught  before1 society 
would see that ,his experience was      
repeated4 ,now and then  it blinks      
stupidly and cries1 ,away with ,him6 or 
it stops its game long  enough to pass  
gall and vinegar on a spear to ,one it  
has thrust  beyond the pale4    ,for the
 woman who has loved much society has   
but one verdict3 crucify  her6 ,the best
 and the worst are hanged on one tree4  
,in the abandon of a great love there   
exists a godlike quality which  places a
 woman very close to the holy of holies1
 yet such a one1 not  having complied   
with the edicts of society1 is thrust   
unceremoniously  forth1 and society1    
,pilate-like1 washes its hands in       
innocency4        ,preparing for ,old   
,age    ,socrates was once asked by a   

pupil1 this question3 ,what kind of     
people  shall we be when we reach       
,elysium8    ,and the answer was this3  
,we shall be the same kind of people    
that we  were here4    ,if there is a   
life after this1 we are preparing for it
 now1 just as ,i am  to-day preparing   
for my life to-morrow4    ,what kind of 
a man shall ,i be to-morrow8 ,oh1 about 
the same kind of a  man that ,i am now4 
,the kind of a man that ,i shall be next
 month depends  upon the kind of a man  
that ,i have been this month4    ,if ,i 
am miserable to-day1 it is not within   
the round of probabilities  that ,i     
shall be supremely happy to-morrow4     
,heaven is a habit4 ,and if we  are     
going to ,heaven we would better be     
getting used to it4    ,life is a       
preparation for the future2 and the best
 preparation for the  future is to live 
as if there were none4    ,we are       
preparing all the time for old age4 ,the
 two things that make old  age beautiful
 are resignation and a just             

consideration for the rights  of others4
    ,in the play of ,ivan the ,terrible1
 the interest centers around one man1   
the ,czar ,ivan4 ,if anybody but        
,richard ,mansfield played the part1    
there  would be nothing in it4 ,we      
simply get a glimpse into the life of a 
tyrant who has run the full gamut of    
goosedom1 grumpiness1 selfishness  and  
grouch4 ,incidentally this man had the  
power to put other men to  death1 and   
this he does and has done as his whim   
and temper might  dictate4 ,he has been 
vindictive1 cruel1 quarrelsome1         
tyrannical and  terrible4 ,now that he  
feels the approach of death1 he would   
make his  peace with ,god4 ,but he has  
delayed that matter too long4 ,he didn't
  realize in youth and middle life that 
he was then preparing for old age4      
,man is the result of cause and effect1 
and the causes are to a degree in  our  
hands4 ,life is a fluid1 and well has it
 been called the stream of  life--we are
 going1 flowing somewhere4 ,strip ,ivan 

of his robes and  crown1 and he might be
 an old farmer and live in ,ebenezer4   
,every town  and village has its ,ivan4 
,to be an ,ivan1 just turn your temper  
loose  and practise cruelty on any      
person or thing within your reach1 and  
the  result will be a sure preparation  
for a querulous1 quarrelsome1 pickety1  
snipity1 fussy and foolish old age1     
accented with many outbursts of  wrath  
that are terrible in their futility and 
ineffectiveness4    ,babyhood has no    
monopoly on the tantrum4 ,the characters
 of ,king ,lear  and ,ivan the ,terrible
 have much in common4 ,one might almost 
believe  that the writer of ,ivan had   
felt the incompleteness of ,lear1 and   
had  seen the absurdity of making a     
melodramatic bid for sympathy in behalf 
of this old man thrust out by his       
daughters4    ,lear1 the troublesome1   
,lear to whose limber tongue there was  
constantly  leaping words unprintable   
and names of tar1 deserves no soft pity 
at our  hands4 ,all his life he had been

 training his three daughters for       
exactly  the treatment he was to        
receive4 ,all his life ,lear had been   
lubricating  the chute that was to give 
him a quick ride out into that black    
midnight storm4    ,oh1 how sharper than
 a serpent's tooth it is to have a      
thankless  child1 he cries4    ,there is
 something quite as bad as a thankless  
child1 and that is a  thankless         
parent--an irate1 irascible parent who  
possesses an  underground vocabulary and
 a disposition to use it4    ,the false 
note in ,lear lies in giving to him a   
daughter like  ,cordelia4 ,tolstoy and  
,mansfield ring true1 and ,ivan the     
,terrible is  what he is without        
apology1 excuse or explanation4 ,take it
 or leave  it--if you do not like plays 
of this kind1 go to see ,vaudeville4    
,mansfield's ,ivan is terrible4 ,the    
,czar is not old in years--not over     
seventy--but you can see that ,death is 
sniffing close upon his track4  ,ivan   
has lost the power of repose4 ,he cannot

 listen1 weigh and  decide--he has no   
thought or consideration for any man or 
thing--this is  his habit of life4 ,his 
bony hands are never still--the fingers 
open and  shut1 and pick at things      
eternally4 ,he fumbles the cross on his 
breast1  adjusts his jewels1 scratches  
his cosmos1 plays the devil's tattoo1   
gets  up nervously and looks behind the 
throne1 holds his breath to listen4     
,when people address him1 he damns them 
savagely if they kneel1 and if  they    
stand upright he accuses them of lack of
 respect4 ,he asks that he  be relieved 
from the cares of state1 and then       
trembles for fear his  people will take 
him at his word4 ,when asked to remain  
ruler of ,russia  he proceeds to curse  
his councilors and accuses them of      
loading him with  burdens that they     
themselves would not endeavor to bear4  
,he is a victim of amor senilis1 and    
right here if ,mansfield took one  step 
more his realism would be appalling1 but
 he stops in time and  suggests what he 

dares not express4 ,this tottering1     
doddering1  slobbering1 sniffling old   
man is in love--he is about to wed a    
young1  beautiful girl4 ,he selects     
jewels for her--he makes remarks about  
what  would become her beauty1 jeers and
 laughs in cracked falsetto4 ,in the    
animality of youth there is something   
pleasing--it is natural--but the  vices 
of an old man1 when they have become    
only mental1 are most  revolting4       
,the people about ,ivan are in mortal   
terror of him1 for he is still the      
absolute monarch--he has the power to   
promote or disgrace1 to take their      
lives or let them go free4 ,they laugh  
when he laughs1 cry when he does1  and  
watch his fleeting moods with thumping  
hearts4    ,he is intensely religious   
and affects the robe and cowl of a      
priest4  ,around his neck hangs the     
crucifix4 ,his fear is that he will die 
with no  opportunity of confession and  
absolution4 ,he prays to ,high ,heaven  
every  moment1 kisses the cross1 and his

 toothless old mouth interjects prayers 
to ,god and curses on man in the same   
breath4    ,if any one is talking to him
 he looks the other way1 slips down     
until  his shoulders occupy the throne1 
scratches his leg1 and keeps up a       
running comment of insult--,aye1 ,oh1   
,of course1 ,certainly1 ,ugh1  ,listen  
to him now6 ,there is a comedy side to  
all this which relieves  the tragedy and
 keeps the play from becoming           
disgusting4    ,glimpses of ,ivan's past
 are given in his jerky confessions--he 
is the  most miserable and unhappy of   
men1 and you behold that he is reaping  
as  he has sown4    ,all his life he has
 been preparing for this4 ,each day has 
been a  preparation for the next4 ,ivan 
dies in a fit of wrath1 hurling curses  
on his family and court--dies in a fit  
of wrath into which he has been         
purposely taunted by a man who knows    
that the outburst is certain to  kill   
the weakened monarch4    ,where does    
,ivan the ,terrible go when ,death      

closes his eyes8    ,i know not4 ,but   
this ,i believe3 ,no confessional can   
absolve him--no  priest benefit him--no 
,god forgive him4 ,he has damned        
himself1 and he  began the work in      
youth4 ,he was getting ready all his    
life for this old  age1 and this old age
 was getting ready for the fifth act4   
,the playwright does not say so1        
,mansfield does not say so1 but this is 
the lesson3 ,hate is a poison--wrath is 
a toxin--sensuality leads to            
death--clutching selfishness is a       
lighting of the fires of hell4 ,it is   
all a preparation--cause and effect4    
,if you are ever absolved1 you must     
absolve yourself1 for no one else  can4 
,and the sooner you begin1 the better4  
,we often hear of the beauties of old   
age1 but the only old age that is       
beautiful is the one the man has long   
been preparing for by living a          
beautiful life4 ,every one of us are    
right now preparing for old age4        
,there may be a substitute somewhere in 

the world for ,good ,nature1 but ,i  do 
not know where it can be found4    ,the 
secret of salvation is this3 ,keep      
,sweet4        ,an ,alliance with       
,nature    ,my father is a doctor who   
has practised medicine for sixty-five   
years1  and is still practising4    ,i  
am a doctor myself4    ,i am fifty years
 old2 my father is eighty-five4 ,we live
 in the same  house1 and daily we ride  
horseback together or tramp thru the    
fields and  woods4 ,to-day we did our   
little jaunt of five miles and back     
'cross country4    ,i have never been   
ill a day--never consulted a physician  
in a  professional way1 and in fact1    
never missed a meal through inability to
  eat4 ,as for the author of the author 
of ,a ,message to ,garcia1 he holds1    
esoterically1 to the idea that the hot  
pedaluvia and small doses of hop  tea   
will cure most ailments that are        
curable1 and so far all of his own  ails
 have been curable--a point he can      
prove4    ,the value of the pedaluvia   

lies in the fact that it tends to       
equalize  circulation1 not to mention   
the little matter of sanitation2 and the
  efficacy of the hops lies largely in  
the fact that they are bitter and       
disagreeable to take4    ,both of these 
prescriptions give the patient the      
soothing thought that  something is     
being done for him1 and at the very     
worst can never do him  serious harm4   
,my father and ,i are not fully agreed  
on all of life's themes1 so  existence  
for us never resolves itself into a     
dull1 neutral gray4 ,he is  a ,baptist  
and ,i am a ,vegetarian4 ,occasionally  
he refers to me as  callow1 and we have 
daily resorts to logic to prove         
prejudices1 and  history is searched to 
bolster the preconceived1 but on the    
following  important points we stand    
together1 solid as one man3    ,first4  
,ninety-nine people out of a hundred who
 go to a physician have no  organic     
disease1 but are merely suffering from  
some symptom of their own  indiscretion4

    ,second4 ,individuals who have      
diseases1 nine times out of ten1 are    
suffering only from the accumulated evil
 effects of medication4    ,third4      
,hence we get the proposition3 ,most    
diseases are the result of  medication  
which has been prescribed to relieve and
 take away a  beneficent and warning    
symptom on the part of wise ,nature4    
,most of the work of doctors in the past
 has been to prescribe for  symptoms2   
the difference between actual disease   
and a symptom being  something that the 
average man does not even yet know4     
,and the curious part is that on these  
points all physicians1 among            
themselves1 are fully agreed4 ,what ,i  
say here being merely truism1  triteness
 and commonplace4    ,last week1 in     
talking with an eminent surgeon in      
,buffalo1 he said1 ,i  have performed   
over a thousand operations of           
laparotomy1 and my records  show that in
 every instance1 excepting in cases of  
accident1 the  individual was given to  

what you call the ',beecham ,habit4'    
,the people you see waiting in the      
lobbies of doctors' offices are1 in a   
vast majority of cases1 suffering thru  
poisoning caused by an excess of  food4 
,coupled with this goes the bad results 
of imperfect breathing1  irregular      
sleep1 lack of exercise1 and improper   
use of stimulants1 or  holding the      
thought of fear1 jealousy and hate4 ,all
 of these things1 or  any one of them1  
will1 in very many persons1 cause fever1
 chills1 cold  feet1 congestion and     
faulty elimination4    ,to administer   
drugs to a man suffering from           
malnutrition caused by a  desire to get 
even1 and a lack of fresh air1 is simply
 to compound  his troubles1 shuffle his 
maladies1 and get him ripe for the      
ether-cone  and scalpel4    ,nature is  
forever trying to keep people well1 and 
most so-called  disease1 which word     
means merely lack of ease1 is           
self-limiting1 and  tends to cure       
itself4 ,if you have appetite1 do not   

eat too much4 ,if you  have no appetite1
 do not eat at all4 ,be moderate in the 
use of all  things1 save fresh air and  
sunshine4    ,the one theme of          
,ecclesiastes is moderation4 ,buddha    
wrote it down that  the greatest word in
 any language is ,equanimity4 ,william  
,morris said  that the finest blessing  
of life was systematic1 useful work4    
,saint ,paul  declared that the greatest
 thing in the world was love4           
,moderation1  ,equanimity1 ,work and    
,love--you need no other physician4     
,in so stating ,i lay down a proposition
 agreed to by all physicians2  which was
 expressed by ,hippocrates1 the father  
of medicine1 and then  repeated in      
better phrase by ,epictetus1 the slave1 
to his pupil1 the  great ,roman         
,emperor1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 and which  
has been known to every  thinking man   
and woman since3 ,moderation1           
,equanimity1 ,work and ,love6           
,the ,ex4 ,question    ,words sometimes 
become tainted and fall into bad repute1

 and are  discarded4 ,until the day of  
,elizabeth ,fry1 on the official records
 in  ,england appeared the word         
mad-house4 ,then it was wiped out and   
the  word asylum substituted4 ,within   
twenty years' time in several states  in
 ,america we have discarded the word    
asylum and have substituted the  word   
hospital4    ,in ,jeffersonville1       
,indiana1 there is located a            
,reformatory which some  years ago was  
known as a penitentiary4 ,the word      
prison had a  depressing effect1 and    
penitentiary throws a theological       
shadow1 and  so the words will have to  
go4 ,as our ideas of the criminal       
change1 we  change our vocabulary4    ,a
 few years ago we talked about asylums  
for the deaf and dumb--the word  dumb   
has now been stricken from every        
official document in every state  in the
 ,union1 because we have discovered1    
with the assistance of ,gardner  ,g4    
,hubbard1 that deaf people are not dumb1
 and not being defectives1  they        

certainly do not need an asylum4 ,they  
need schools1 however1 and so           
everywhere we have established schools  
for the deaf4    ,deaf people are just  
as capable1 are just as competent1 just 
as well  able to earn an honest living  
as is the average man who can hear4     
,the indeterminate sentence is one of   
the wisest expedients ever  brought to  
bear in penology4 ,and it is to this    
generation alone that the  honor of     
first using it must be given4 ,the      
offender is sentenced for1  say from one
 to eight years4 ,this means that if the
 prisoner behaves  himself1 obeying the 
rules1 showing a desire to be useful1 he
 will be  paroled and given his freedom 
at the end of one year4    ,if he       
misbehaves and does not prove his       
fitness for freedom he will be  kept two
 or three years1 and he may possibly    
have to serve the whole  eight years4   
,how long are you in for8 ,i asked a    
convict at  ,jeffersonville1 who was    
caring for the flowers in front of the  

walls4  ,me8 ,oh1 ,i'm in for two years1
 with the privilege of fourteen1 was the
  man's answer1 given with a grin4      
,the old plan of short time1 allowing   
two or three months off from  every year
 for good behavior was a move in the    
right direction1 but the  indeterminate 
sentence will soon be the rule          
everywhere for first  offenders4    ,the
 indeterminate sentence throws upon the 
man himself the  responsibility for the 
length of his confinement and tends to  
relieve  prison life of its horror1 by  
holding out hope4 ,the man has the short
  time constantly in mind1 and usually  
is very careful not to do anything  to  
imperil it4 ,insurrection and an attempt
 to escape may mean that every  day of  
the whole long sentence will have to be 
served4    ,so even the dullest of minds
 and the most calloused realize that it 
pays  to do what is right--the lesson   
being pressed home upon them in a way it
  has never been before4    ,the        
old-time prejudice of business men      

against the man who had done  time was  
chiefly on account of his incompetence1 
and not his record4  ,the prison methods
 that turned out a hateful1 depressed   
and frightened  man who had been        
suppressed by the silent system and     
deformed by the  lock-step1 calloused by
 brutal treatment and the constant      
thought held  over him that he was a    
criminal1 was a bad thing for the       
prisoner1 for  the keeper and for       
society4 ,even an upright man would be  
undone by such  treatment1 and in a year
 be transformed into a sly1 secretive   
and  morally sick man4 ,the men just out
 of prison were unable to do            
anything--they needed constant          
supervision and attention1 and so of    
course we did not care to hire them4    
,the ,ex4 now is a totally different man
 from the ,ex4 just out of his  striped 
suit in the seventies1 thanks to that   
much defamed man1  ,brockway1 and a few 
others4    ,we may have to restrain men 
for the good of themselves and the good 

of  society1 but we do not punish4 ,the 
restraint is punishment enough2 we      
believe men are punished by their sins1 
not for them4    ,when men are sent to  
reform schools now1 the endeavor and the
 hope is to  give back to society a     
better man than we took4    ,judge      
,lindsey sends boys to the reform school
 without officer or guard4  ,the boys go
 of their own accord1 carrying their own
 commitment papers4  ,they pound on the 
gate demanding admittance in the name of
 the law4 ,the  boy believes that ,judge
 ,lindsey is his friend1 and that the   
reason he  is sent to the reform school 
is that he may reap a betterment which  
his  full freedom cannot possibly offer4
 ,when he takes his commitment papers   
he is no longer at war with society and 
the keepers of the law4 ,he  believes   
that what is being done for him is done 
for the best1 and so he  goes to prison1
 which is really not a prison at the    
last1 for it is a  school where the lad 
is taught to economize both time and    

money and to  make himself useful4      
,other people work for us1 and we must  
work for them4 ,this is the supreme     
lesson that the boy learns4 ,you can    
only help yourself by  helping others4  
,now here is a proposition3 ,if a boy or
 a man takes his commitment  papers1    
goes to prison alone and unattended1 is 
it necessary that he  should be there   
locked up1 enclosed in a corral and be  
looked after by  guards armed with      
death-dealing implements8               
,superintendent ,whittaker1 of the      
institution at ,jeffersonville1         
,indiana1  says1 ,no4 ,he believes that 
within ten years' time we will do away  
with  the high wall1 and will keep our  
loaded guns out of sight2 to a great    
degree also we will take the bars from  
the windows of the prisons1 just  as we 
have taken them away from the windows of
 the hospitals for  the insane4    ,at  
the reform school it may be necessary to
 have a guard-house for some  years to  
come1 but the high wall must go1 just as

 we have sent the  lock-step and the    
silent system and the striped suit of   
disgrace into  the ragbag of time--lost 
in the memory of things that were4      
,four men out of five in the reformatory
 at ,jeffersonville need no  coercion1  
they would not run away if the walls    
were razed and the doors  left unlocked4
 ,one young man ,i saw there refused the
 offered parole--he  wanted to stay     
until he learned his trade4 ,he was not 
the only one with  a like mental        
attitude4    ,the quality of men in the 
average prison is about the same as that
 of  the men who are in the ,united     
,states ,army4 ,the man who enlists is a
  prisoner2 for him to run away is a    
very serious offense1 and yet he is  not
 locked up at night1 nor is he          
surrounded by a high wall4    ,the      
,george ,junior ,republic is simply a   
farm1 unfenced and unpatroled1          
excepting by the boys who are in the    
,republic1 and yet it is a penal        
institution4 ,the prison of the future  

will not be unlike a young ladies'      
boarding school1 where even yet the     
practice prevails of taking the  inmates
 out all together1 with a guard1 and    
allowing no one to leave  without a     
written permit4    ,as society changes1 
so changes the so-called criminal4 ,in  
any event1 ,i  know this--that ,max     
,nordau did not make out his case4      
,there is no criminal class4    ,or for 
that matter we are all criminals4 ,i    
have in me the capacity for  every      
crime1 said ,emerson4    ,the man or    
woman who goes wrong is a victim of     
unkind environment4  ,booker ,washington
 says that when the negro has something 
that we want1  or can perform a task    
that we want done1 we waive the color   
line1 and  the race problem then ceases 
to be a problem4 ,so it is with the ,ex4
  ,question4 ,when the ex-convict is    
able to show that he is useful to the   
world1 the world will cease to shun him4
 ,when ,superintendent ,whittaker       
graduates a man it is pretty good       

evidence that the man is able and       
willing to render a service to society4 
,the only places where the ex-convicts  
get the icy mitt are pink teas  and     
prayer meetings4 ,an ex-convict should  
work all day and then spend  his        
evenings at the library1 feeding his    
mind--then he is safe4    ,if ,i were an
 ex-convict ,i would fight shy of all   
,refuges1 ,sheltering  ,arms1 ,saint    
,andrew's ,societies and the            
philanthropic ,college  ,settlements4 ,i
 would never go to those good           
professional people1 or  professional   
good people1 who patronize the poor and 
spit upon the  alleged wrongdoer1 and   
who draw sharp lines of demarcation in  
distinguishing between the good and the 
bad4 ,if you can work and are  willing  
to work1 business men will not draw the 
line on you4 ,get a job1  and then hold 
it down hard by making yourself         
necessary4 ,employers of  labor and the 
ex-convicts themselves are fast settling
 this ,ex4  ,question1 with the help of 

the advanced type of the ,reform ,school
 where  the inmates are being taught to 
be useful and are not punished nor      
patronized1 but are simply given a      
chance4 ,my heart goes out in sympathy  
to the man who gives a poor devil a     
chance4 ,i myself am a poor devil6      
,the ,sergeant    ,a colonel in the     
,united ,states ,army told me the other 
day something like  this3 ,the most     
valuable officer1 the one who has the   
greatest  responsibility1 is the        
sergeant4 ,the true sergeant is born1   
not made--he  is the priceless gift of  
the gods4 ,he is so highly prized that  
when  found he is never promoted1 nor is
 he allowed to resign4 ,if he is        
dissatisfied with his pay1 ,captain1    
,lieutenant and ,colonel chip in--they  
cannot afford to lose him4 ,he is a rara
 avis--the apple of their eye4    ,his  
first requirement is that he must be    
able to lick any man in the  company4 ,a
 drunken private may damn a captain     
upside down and wrong-side  out1 and the

 captain is not allowed to reply4 ,he   
can neither strike with  his fist1 nor  
engage in a cussing match1 but your able
 sergeant is an  adept in both of these 
polite accomplishments4 ,even if a      
private strike  an officer1 the officer 
is not allowed to strike back4 ,perhaps 
the man  who abuses him could easily    
beat him in a rough-and-tumble fight1   
and  then it is quite a sufficient      
reason to keep one's clothes clean4 ,we 
say the revolver equalizes all men1 but 
it doesn't4 ,it is disagreeable  to     
shoot a man4 ,it scatters brains and    
blood all over the sidewalk1  attracts a
 crowd1 requires a deal of explanation  
afterward1 and may cost  an officer his 
stripes4 ,no good officer ever hears    
anything said about  him by a private4  
,the sergeant hears everything1 and his 
reply to backslack is a  straight-arm   
jab in the jaw4 ,the sergeant is        
responsible only to his  captain1 and no
 good captain will ever know anything   
about what a  sergeant does1 and he will

 not believe it when told4 ,if a fight  
occurs  between two privates1 the       
sergeant jumps in1 bumps their heads    
together  and licks them both4 ,if a man
 feigns sick1 or is drunk1 the sergeant 
chucks him under the pump4 ,the         
regulations do not call for any such    
treatment1 but the sergeant does not    
know anything about the  regulations--he
 gets the thing done4 ,the sergeant may 
be twenty years  old or sixty--age does 
not count4 ,the sergeant is a father to 
his  men--he regards them all as        
children--bad boys--and his business is 
to  make them brave1 honorable and      
dutiful soldiers4    ,the sergeant is   
always the first man up in the morning1 
the last man to  go to bed at night4 ,he
 knows where his men are every minute of
 the day  or night4 ,if they are        
actually sick1 he is both nurse and     
physician1 and  dictates gently to the  
surgeon what should be done4 ,he is also
 the  undertaker1 and the digging of    
ditches and laying out of latrines all  

fall to his lot4 ,unlike the higher     
officers1 he does not have to dress     
smart1 and he is very apt to discard his
 uniform and go clothed like a  civilian
 teamster1 excepting on special         
occasions when necessity demands  braid 
and buttons4    ,he knows everything1   
and nothing4 ,no wild escapade of a     
higher officer  passes by him1 yet he   
never tells4    ,now one might suppose  
that he is an absolute tyrant1 but a    
good sergeant  is a beneficent tyrant at
 the right time4 ,to break the spirit of
 his men  will not do--it would unfit   
them for service--so what he seeks to do
 is  merely to bend their minds so as to
 match his own4 ,gradually they grow  to
 both love and fear him4 ,in time of    
actual fight he transforms cowards  into
 heroes4 ,he holds his men up to the    
scratch4 ,in battle there are  often    
certain officers marked for death--they 
are to be shot by their  own men4 ,it is
 a time of getting even--and in the     
hurly-burly and  excitement there are no

 witnesses4 ,the sergeant is ever on the
 lookout  for such mutinies1 and his    
revolver often sends to the dust the    
head  revolutionary before the dastardly
 plot can be carried out4 ,in war-time  
all executions are not judicial4    ,in 
actual truth1 the sergeant is the only  
real1 sure-enough fighting man  in the  
army4 ,he is as rare as birds' teeth1   
and every officer anxiously  scans his  
recruits in search of good sergeant     
timber4    ,in business life1 the man   
with the sergeant instincts is even more
  valuable than in the army4 ,the       
business sergeant is the man not in     
evidence--who asks for no compliments or
 bouquets--who knows where  things      
are--who has no outside ambitions1 and  
no desire save to do his  work4 ,if he  
is too smart he will lay plots and plans
 for his own  promotion1 and thereby he 
is pretty sure to defeat himself4    ,as
 an individual the average soldier is a 
sneak1 a shirk1 a failure1 a  coward4   
,he is only valuable as he is licked    

into shape4 ,it is pretty  much the same
 in business4 ,it seems hard to say it1 
but the average  employe in factory1    
shop or store1 puts the face of the     
clock to shame  looking at it2 he is    
thinking of his pay envelope and his    
intent is to  keep the boss located and 
to do as little work as possible4 ,in   
many  cases the tyranny of the employer 
is to blame for the condition1 but  more
 often it is the native outcrop of      
suspicion that prompts the seller  to   
give no more than he can help4    ,and  
here the sergeant comes in1 and with    
watchful eye and tireless  nerves1 holds
 the recreants to their tasks4 ,if he is
 too severe1 he will  fix in the shirks 
more firmly the shirk microbe2 but if he
 is of better  fibre1 he may supply a   
little more will to those who lack it1  
and  gradually create an atmosphere of  
right intent1 so that the only  disgrace
 will consist in their wearing the face 
off the regulator and  keeping one ear  
cocked to catch the coming footsteps of 

the boss4    ,there is not the slightest
 danger that there will ever be an      
overplus of  sergeants4 ,let the        
sergeant keep out of strikes1 plots1    
feuds1 hold his  temper and show what's 
what1 and he can name his own salary and
 keep his  place for ninety-nine years  
without having a contract4        ,the  
,spirit of the ,age    ,four hundred and
 twenty-five years before the birth of  
the ,nazarene1  ,socrates said1 ,the    
gods are on high ,olympus1 but you and  
,i are here4  ,and for this--and a few  
other similar observations--be was      
compelled to  drink a substitute for    
coffee--he was an infidel6 ,within the  
last thirty  years the churches of      
,christendom have1 in the main1 adopted 
the  ,socratic proposition that you and 
,i are here4 ,that is1 we have made     
progress by getting away from narrow    
theology and recognizing humanity4  ,we 
do not know anything about either       
,olympus or ,elysium1 but we do know    
something about ,athens4    ,athens is  

here4    ,athens needs us--the ,greeks  
are at the door4 ,let the gods run      
,elysium1  and we'll devote ourselves to
 ,athens4    ,this is the prevailing    
spirit in the churches of ,america      
to-day4 ,our  religion is humanitarian1 
not theological4    ,a like evolution   
has come about in medicine4 ,the materia
 medica of  twenty-five years ago is now
 obsolete4 ,no good doctor now treats   
symptoms--he neither gives you something
 to relieve your headache nor to  settle
 your stomach4 ,these are but timely    
ting-a-lings--,nature's  warnings--look 
out6 ,and the doctor tells you so1 and  
charges you a fee  sufficient to impress
 you with the fact that he is no fool1  
but that  you are4    ,the lawyer who   
now gets the largest fees is never seen 
in a court-room4  ,litigation is now    
largely given over to damage            
suits--carried on by  clients who want  
something for nothing1 and little       
lawyers1 shark-like  and hungry1 who    
work on contingent fees4 ,three-fourths 

of the time of  all superior and supreme
 courts is taken up by ,his ,effluvia1  
who brings  suit thru ,his ,bacteria1   
with ,his ,crabship as chief witness1   
for damages  not due1 either in justice 
or fact4    ,how to get rid of this     
burden1 brought upon us by men who have 
nothing  to lose1 is a question too big 
for the average legislator4 ,it can only
  be solved by heroic measures1 carried 
out by lawyers who are out of  politics 
and have a complete indifference for    
cheap popularity4 ,here is  opportunity 
for men of courage and ability4 ,but the
 point is this1 wise  business men keep 
out of court4 ,they arbitrate their     
differences  --compromise--they cannot  
afford to quit their work for the  sake 
of getting even4 ,as for making money1  
they know a better way4    ,in theology 
we are waiving distinctions and devoting
 ourselves to the  divine spirit only as
 it manifests itself in humanity--we are
 talking  less and less about another   
world and taking more notice of the one 

we  inhabit4 ,of course we occasionally 
have heresy trials1 and pictures of  the
 offender and the ,fat ,bishop adorn the
 first page1 but heresy trials  not     
accompanied by the scaffold or the      
faggots are innocuous and  exceedingly  
tame4    ,in medicine we have more faith
 in ourselves and less in prescriptions4
    ,in pedagogy we are teaching more   
and more by the natural                 
method--learning by doing--and less and 
less by means of injunction  and        
precept4    ,in penology we seek to     
educate and reform1 not to suppress1    
repress and  punish4    ,that is to say1
 the gods are on high ,olympus--let them
 stay there4  ,athens is here4          
,the ,grammarian    ,the best way to    
learn to write is to write4    ,herbert 
,spencer never studied grammar until he 
had learned to write4 ,he  took his     
grammar at sixty1 which is a good age   
for one to begin this  most interesting 
study1 as by the time you have reached  
that age you  have largely lost your    

capacity to sin4    ,men who can swim   
exceedingly well are not those who have 
taken courses  in the theory of swimming
 at natatoriums1 from professors of the 
amphibian art--they were just boys who  
jumped into the ol' swimmin'  hole1 and 
came home with shirts on wrong-side out 
and a tell-tale  dampness in their hair4
    ,correspondence schools for the     
taming of bronchos are as naught2 and   
treatises on the gentle art of wooing   
are of no avail--follow  nature's lead4 
,grammar is the appendenda vermiformis  
of the science of pedagogics3 it  is as 
useless as the letter q in the alphabet1
 or the proverbial two  tails to a cat1 
which no cat ever had1 and the finest   
cat in the world1  the ,manx cat1 has no
 tail at all4    ,the literary style of 
most university men is commonplace1 when
 not  positively bad1 wrote ,herbert    
,spencer in his old age4    ,educated   
,englishmen all write alike1 said       
,taine4 ,that is to say1  educated men  
who have been drilled to write by       

certain fixed and  unchangeable rules of
 rhetoric and grammar will produce      
similar  compositions4 ,they have no    
literary style1 for style is            
individuality  and character--the style 
is the man1 and grammar tends to        
obliterate  individuality4 ,no study is 
so irksome to everybody1 except the     
sciolists  who teach it1 as grammar4 ,it
 remains forever a bad taste in the     
mouth of  the man of ideas1 and has     
weaned bright minds innumerable from a  
desire  to express themselves through   
the written word4    ,grammar is the    
etiquette of words1 and the man who does
 not know how to  properly salute his   
grandmother on the street until he has  
consulted a  book1 is always so troubled
 about the tenses that his fancies break
 thru  language and escape4    ,the     
grammarian is one whose whole thought is
 to string words according  to a set    
formula4 ,the substance itself that he  
wishes to convey is of  secondary       
importance4 ,orators who keep their     

thoughts upon the proper  way to        
gesticulate in curves1 impress nobody4  
,if it were a sin against decency1 or an
 attempt to poison the minds of  the    
people1 for a person to be              
ungrammatical1 it might be wise enough  
to hire men to protect the well of      
,english from defilement4 ,but a        
stationary language is a dead           
one--moving water only is pure--and the 
well that is not fed by springs is sure 
to be a breeding-place  for disease4    
,let men express themselves in their own
 way1 and if they express  themselves   
poorly1 look you1 their punishment will 
be that no one will  read their literary
 effusions4 ,oblivion with her          
smother-blanket lies in  wait for the   
writer who has nothing to say and says  
it faultlessly4    ,in the making of    
hare soup1 ,i am informed by most       
excellent culinary  authority1 the first
 requisite is to catch your hare4 ,the  
literary  scullion who has anything to  
offer a hungry world1 will doubtless    

find a  way to fricassee it4        ,the
 ,best ,religion    ,a religion of just 
being kind would be a pretty good       
religion1 don't you  think so8    ,but a
 religion of kindness and useful effort 
is nearly a perfect  religion4    ,we   
used to think it was a man's belief     
concerning a dogma that would fix  his  
place in eternity4 ,this was because we 
believed that ,god was a  grumpy1       
grouchy old gentleman1 stupid1 touchy   
and dictatorial4 ,a really  good man    
would not damn you even if you didn't   
like him1 but a bad  man would4    ,as  
our ideas of ,god changed1 we ourselves 
changed for the better4 ,or1 as  we     
thought better of ourselves we thought  
better of ,god4 ,it will be  character  
that locates our place in another world1
 if there is one1 just  as it is our    
character that fixes our place here4    
,we are weaving character every day1 and
 the way to weave the best  character is
 to be kind and to be useful4    ,,think
 ,,right1 ,,act ,,right2 ,,it ,,is      

,,what ,,we ,,think ,,and ,,do ,,that   
,,make ,,us ,,what ,,we  ,,are4    ,so  
here ends ,,love1 ,,life ,,and ,,work1  
being  a book of ,essays selected from  
the writings  of ,,elbert ,,hubbard1 and
 done into print by  ,the ,roycrofters  
at their ,shop at ,east ,aurora1  which 
is in ,erie ,county1 ,new ,york1        
,u4,s4,a4  ,completed in the month of   
,july1 ,,mcmvi    ,illustration3 ,the   
,roycroft ,shop