,,the ,,arena4  ,no4 ,,xx4  ,,july1     
#ahia4     ,illustration3 7signed7 ,very
 truly ,yours1 ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes4
     ,,oliver ,,wendell ,,holmes4  ,,by 
,,george ,,stewart1 ,d4 ,c4 ,l41 ,,ll4  
,d4   ,to the year #ahji1 the world is  
very much indebted for a band of notable
 recruits to the ranks of literature and
 science1 statesmanship and military    
renown4 ,one need mention only a few    
names to establish that fact1 and grand 
names they are1 for the list includes   
,darwin1 ,gladstone1 ,erastus ,wilson1  
,john ,hill ,burton1 ,manteuffel1 ,count
 ,beust1 ,lord ,houghton1 ,alfred       
,tennyson1 and ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes4
 ,each of these has played an important 
part in the world's history1 and        
impressed the age with a genius that    
marks an epoch in the great department  
of human activity and progress4 ,the    
year was pretty well advanced1 and the  
month of ,august had reached its #bith  
day1 when the wife of ,dr4 ,abiel       
,holmes presented the author of ,the    

,american ,annals with a son who was    
destined to take his place in the front 
line of poets1 thinkers1 and essayists4 
,the babe was born at ,cambridge1       
,massachusetts1 in the centre of a      
,puritan civilization1 which could      
scarcely have been in touch and harmony 
with the emphasized ,unitarianism       
emanating from ,harvard4 ,but ,abiel    
,holmes was a genial1 generous-hearted  
man1 and despite the severity of his    
religious belief1 contrived to live on  
terms of a most agreeable character with
 his neighbors4 ,a ,yale man himself1   
and the firm friend of his old          
professor1 the president of that        
institution1 who had given him his      
daughter ,mary to wed 7she died five    
years after her marriage71 we may       
readily believe that for a time1        
,harvard ,university1 then strongly     
under the sway of the ,unitarians1 had  
little fascination for him4 ,but his    
kindly nature conquered the repugnance  
he may have felt1 and he soon got on    

well with all classes of the little     
community which surrounded him4 ,by his 
first wife he had no children4 ,but     
five1 three daughters and two sons1     
blessed his union with ,sarah ,wendell1 
the accomplished daughter of the ,hon4  
,john ,wendell1 of ,boston4 ,we may pass
 briefly over the early years of ,oliver
 ,wendell ,holmes4 ,he was educated at  
the ,phillips ,academy at ,exeter1 and  
subsequently entered ,harvard           
,university1 where he was graduated1    
with high honors1 in #ahbi1 and belonged
 to that class of young fellows who1 in 
after life1 greatly distinguished       
themselves4 ,some of his noblest poems  
were written in memory of that class1   
such as ,bill and ,joe1 ,a ,song of     
,twenty-nine1 ,the ,old ,man ,dreams1   
,our ,sweet ,singer1 and ,our ,banker1  
all of them breathing love and respect  
for the boys with whom the poet studied 
and matriculated4 ,young ,holmes was    
destined for the law1 but ,chitty and   
,blackstone apparently had little charm 

for him1 for after a year's trial1 he   
abandoned the field and took up         
medicine4 ,his mind could not have been 
much impressed with statutes1 for all   
the time that he was supposed to be     
conning over abstruse points in         
jurisprudence1 he was sending to the    
printers some of the cleverest and most 
waggish contributions which have fallen 
from his pen4 ,the ,collegian1--the     
university journal of those             
days1--published most of these1 and     
though no name was attached to the      
screeds1 it was fairly well known that  
,holmes was the author4 ,the companion  
writers in the ,collegian were ,simmons1
 who wrote over the signature of        
,lockfast2 ,john ,o4 ,sargent1 poet and 
essayist1 whose nom de plume was        
,charles ,sherry2 ,robert ,habersham1   
the ,mr4 ,airy of the group2 and that   
clever young trifler1 ,theodore ,snow1  
who delighted the readers of the        
periodical with the works of ,geoffrey  
,la ,touche4 ,of these1 of course1      

,holmes was the life and soul1 and      
though sixty years have passed away     
since he enriched the columns of the    
,collegian with the fruits of his muse1 
more than half of the pieces survive1   
and are deemed good enough to hold a    
place beside his maturer productions4   
,evening of a ,sailor1 ,the ,meeting of 
the ,dryads1 and ,the ,spectre          
,pig1--the latter in the vein of ,tom   
,hood at his best1--will be remembered  
as among those in the collection which  
may be read to-day with the zest1       
appreciation1 and delight which they    
inspired more than half a century ago4  
,holmes' connection with the ,collegian 
had a most inspiriting effect on his    
fellow contributors1 who found their    
wits sharpened by contact with a mind   
that was forever buoyant and overflowing
 with humor and good nature4 ,in        
friendly rivalry1 those kindred         
intellects vied with one another1 and no
 more brilliant college paper was ever  
published than the ,collegian1 and this 

is more remarkable still1 when we come  
to consider the fact1 that at that time1
 literature in ,america was practically 
in its infancy4 ,nine years before1     
,sydney ,smith had asked his famous     
question1 ,who reads an ,american book8 
who goes to an ,american play8 ,and to  
that query there was really no answer4  
,six numbers of the ,collegian were     
issued1 and they must have proved a     
revelation to the men and women of that 
day1 whose reading1 hitherto1 had almost
 been confined to the imported article  
from beyond the seas1 for ,washington   
,irving wrote with the pen of an        
,english gentleman1 ,bryant and ,dana   
had not yet made their mark in          
distinctively ,american authorship1 and 
,cooper's ,prairie was just becoming to 
be understood by the critics and people4
  ,shaking the dust of the law office   
from his shoes1 ,oliver ,wendell        
,holmes1 abandoning literature for a    
time1 plunged boldly into the study of a
 profession for which he had always     

evinced a strong predilection4 ,the art 
and practice of medical science had ever
 a fascination for him1 and he made     
rapid progress at the university4 ,once 
or twice he yielded to impulse1 and     
wrote a few bright things1 anonymously1 
for the ,harbinger1--the paper which    
,epes ,sargent and ,park ,benjamin      
published for the benefit of a          
charitable institution1 and dedicated as
 a ,may gift to the ladies who had aided
 the ,new ,england ,institution for the 
,education of the ,blind4 ,in #ahcc1    
,holmes sailed for ,paris1 where he     
studied medicine and surgery1 and walked
 the hospitals4 ,three years were spent 
abroad1 and then the young student      
returned to ,cambridge to take his      
medical degree at ,harvard1 and to      
deliver his metrical ,essay on ,poetry1 
before the ,phi-,beta-,kappa ,society4  
,in this year too1 #ahcf1 he published  
his first acknowledged book of poems1--a
 duodecimo volume of less than two      
hundred pages4 ,in this collection his  

,essay on ,poetry appeared4 ,it         
describes the art in four stages1 viz41 
the ,pastoral or ,bucolic1 the ,martial1
 the ,epic1 and the ,dramatic4 ,in      
illustration of his views1 he furnished 
exemplars from his own prolific muse1   
and his striking poem of ,old ,ironsides
 was printed for the first time1 and    
sprang at a bound into national esteem4 
,and in this first book1 there was      
included that little poem1 ,the ,last   
,leaf1 better work than which ,holmes   
has never done4 ,it is in a vein which  
he has developed much since then4       
,grace1 humor1 pathos1 and happiness of 
phrase and idea1 are all to be found in 
its delicious stanzas3--      ,i saw him
 once before1     ,as he passed by the  
door1             ,and again     ,the   
pavement stones resound1     ,as he     
totters o'er the ground                 
,with his cane4      ,they say that in  
his prime1     ,ere the pruning-knife of
 ,time             ,cut him down1       
,not a better man was found     ,by the 

,crier on his round             ,through
 the town4      ,but now he walks the   
streets1     ,and he looks at all he    
meets1             ,sad and wan2        
,and he shakes his feeble head1         
,that it seems as if he said1           
,they are gone6      ,the mossy marbles 
rest     ,on the lips that he has prest 
,in their bloom1     ,and the names he  
loved to hear     ,have been carved for 
many a year             ,on the tomb4   
,my grandmamma has said--     ,poor old 
lady1 she is dead             ,long     
ago--     ,that he had a ,roman nose1   
,and his cheek was like a rose          
,in the snow4      ,but now his nose is 
thin1     ,and it rests upon his chin   
,like a staff2     ,and a crook is in   
his back1     ,and a melancholy crack   
,in his laugh4      ,i know it is a sin 
,for me to sit and grin             ,at 
him here2     ,but the old              
three-cornered hat1     ,and the        
breeches1 and all that1             ,are
 so queer6      ,and if ,i should live  

to be     ,the last leaf upon the tree  
,in the spring1     ,let them smile as  
,i do now1     ,at the old forsaken     
bough             ,where ,i cling4  ,in 
#ahch1 ,doctor ,holmes accepted his     
first professorial position1 and became 
professor of anatomy and physiology at  
,dartmouth4 ,two years later1 he        
married1 and took up the practice of    
medicine in ,boston4 ,in #ahdg1 he      
returned to his old love1 accepting the 
,parkman professorship of anatomy and   
physiology1 in the ,medical ,school at  
,harvard4 ,while engaged in teaching1 he
 prepared for publication several       
important books and reports relating to 
his profession1 and his papers in the   
various medical journals attracted great
 attention by their freshness1          
clearness1 and originality4 ,but it is  
not as a medical man that ,doctor       
,holmes may be discussed in this paper4 
,we have to deal altogether with his    
literary career1--a career1 which for   
its brilliancy has not been surpassed on

 this side of the ,atlantic4  ,as a poet
 he differs much from his               
contemporaries1 but the standard he has 
reached is as high as that which has    
been attained by ,lowell and            
,longfellow4 ,in lofty verse he is      
strong and unconventional1 writing      
always with a firm grasp on his subject1
 and emphasizing his perfect knowledge  
of melody and metre4 ,as a writer of    
occasional verse he has not had an equal
 in our time1 and his pen for threescore
 years has been put to frequent use in  
celebration of all sorts of events1     
whether military1 literary1 or          
scientific4 ,bayard ,taylor said1 ,he   
lifted the 'occasional' into the        
'classic'1 and the phrase happily       
expresses the truth4 ,the vivacious     
character of his nature readily lends   
itself to work of this sort1 and though 
the printed page gives the reader the   
sparkling epigram and the graceful      
lines1 clear-cut always and full of     
soul1 the pleasure is not quite the same

 as seeing and hearing him recite his   
own poems1 in the company of congenial  
friends4 ,his songs are full of sunshine
 and heart1 and his literary manner wins
 by its simplicity and tenderness4      
,years ago1 ,miss ,mitford said that she
 knew no one so thoroughly original4    
,for him she could find no living       
prototype4 ,and so she went back to the 
time of ,john ,dryden to find a man to  
whom she might compare him4 ,and ,lowell
 in his ,fable for ,critics1 describes  
,holmes as      ,a ,leyden-jar          
full-charged1 from which flit     ,the  
electrical tingles1 of hit after hit4   
,his lyrical pieces are among the best  
of his compositions1 and his ballads1   
too few in number1 betray that love     
which he has always felt for the        
melodious minstrelsy of the ancient     
bards4 ,whittier thought that the       
,chambered ,nautilus was booked for     
immortality4 ,in the same list may be   
put the ,one-,hoss ,shay1 ,contentment1 
,destination1 ,how the ,old ,horse ,won 

the ,bet1 ,the ,broomstick ,train1 and  
that lovely family portrait1 ,dorothy   
,q----1 a poem with a history4 ,dorothy 
,quincy's picture1 cold and hard1       
painted by an unknown artist1 hangs on  
the wall of the poet's home in ,beacon  
,street4 ,a hole in the canvas marks the
 spot where one of ,king ,george's      
soldiers thrust his bayonet4 ,the lady  
was ,dr4 ,holmes' grandmother's mother1 
and she is represented as being about   
thirteen years of age1 with             
,girlish bust1 but womanly air2         
,smooth1 square forehead1 with uprolled 
hair2     ,lips that lover has never    
kissed2     ,taper fingers and slender  
wrist2     ,hanging sleeves of stiff    
brocade2     ,so they painted the little
 maid4  ,and the poet goes on3--        
,what if a hundred years ago     ,those 
close-shut lips had answered no1        
,when forth the tremulous question came 
,that cost the maiden her ,norman name1 
,and under the folds that look so still1
     ,the bodice swelled with the       

bosom's thrill6     ,should ,i be ,i1 or
 would it be     ,one tenth another1 to 
nine tenths me8      ,soft is the breath
 of a maiden's yes1     ,not the light  
gossamer stirs with less2     ,but never
 a cable that holds so fast     ,through
 all the battles of wave and blast1     
,and never an echo of speech or song    
,that lives in the babbling air so long6
     ,there were tones in the voice that
 whispered then1     ,you may hear      
to-day in a hundred men4      ,o lady   
and lover1 how faint and far     ,your  
images hover1 and here we are1          
,solid and stirring in flesh and bone1  
,edward's and ,dorothy's--all their own1
     ,a goodly record for time to show  
,of a syllable spoken so long ago6      
,shall ,i bless you1 ,dorothy1 or       
forgive     ,for the tender whisper that
 bade me live8      ,it shall be a      
blessing1 my little maid6     ,i will   
heal the stab of the red-coat's blade1  
,and freshen the gold of the tarnished  
frame1     ,and gild with a rhyme your  

household name2     ,so you shall smile 
on us brave and bright1     ,as first   
you greeted the morning's light1        
,and live untroubled by woes and fears  
,through a second youth of a hundred    
years4  ,dr4 ,holmes' coloring is       
invariably artistic4 ,nothing in his    
verse offends the eye or grates         
unpleasantly on the ear4 ,he is a true  
musician1 and his story1 joke1 or       
passing fancy is always joined to a     
measure which never halts4 ,the         
,voiceless1 perhaps1 as well as ,under  
the ,violets1 ought to be mentioned     
among the more tender verses which we   
have from his pen1 in his higher mood4  
,his novels are object lessons1 each one
 having been written with a well-defined
 purpose in view4 ,but unlike most      
novels with a purpose1 the three which  
he has written are nowise dull4 ,the    
first of the set is ,the ,professor's   
,story2 or1 ,elsie ,venner1 the second  
is ,the ,guardian ,angel1 written when  
the author was in his prime1 and the    

third is ,a ,mortal ,antipathy1 written 
only a few years ago4 ,in no sense are  
these works commonplace4 ,their art is  
very superb1 and while they amuse1 they 
afford the reader much opportunity for  
reflection4 ,elsie ,venner is a romance 
of destiny1 and a strange physiological 
condition furnishes the key-note and    
marrow of the tale4 ,it is ,holmes'     
snake story1 the taint of the serpent   
appearing in the daughter1 whose mother 
was bitten by a rattle-snake before her 
babe was born4 ,the traits inherited by 
this unfortunate offspring from the     
reptile1 find rapid development4 ,she   
becomes a creature of impulse1 and her  
life spent in a ,new ,england village1  
at a ladies' academy1 with its social   
and religious surroundings1 is described
 and worked out with rare analytical    
skill1 and by a hand accustomed to deal 
with curious scientific phenomena4 ,the 
character drawing is admirable1 the     
episodes are striking and original1 and 
the scenery1 carefully elaborated1 is   

managed with fine judgment4 ,despite the
 idea1 which to some may at first blush 
appear revolting and startling1 there is
 nothing sensational in the book4 ,the  
reader observes only the growth and     
movement of the poison in the girl's    
system1 its effect on her way of life1  
and its remarkable power over her mind4 
,horror or disgust at her condition is  
not for one moment evoked4 ,the style is
 pure and ennobling1 and while our      
sympathies may be touched1 we are at the
 same time fascinated and entertained1  
from the first page to the last4 ,of    
quite different texture is ,the         
,guardian ,angel1 a perhaps more        
readable story1 so far as form is       
concerned1 much lighter in character1   
and less of a study4 ,there is more     
plot1 but the range is not so lofty4 ,it
 is less philosophical in tone than     
,elsie ,venner1 and the events move     
quicker4 ,the scene of ,the ,guardian   
,angel is also laid in an ordinary ,new 
,england village1 and the object of the 

,doctor-,novelist was to write a tale in
 which the peculiarities and laws of    
hysteria should find expression and     
development4 ,in carrying out his plan1 
,dr4 ,holmes has achieved a genuine     
success4 ,he has taught a lesson1 and at
 the same time has told a deeply        
interesting story1 lightened up here and
 there with characteristic humor and    
wit4 ,the characters of ,myrtle ,hazard 
and ,byles ,gridley are drawn with nice 
discrimination1 while the sketch of the 
village poet1 ,mr4 ,gifted ,hopkins1 is 
so life-like and realistic1 that he has 
only to be named to be instantly        
recognized4 ,he is a type of the poet   
who haunts the newspaper office1 and    
belongs to every town and hamlet4 ,his  
lady-love is ,miss ,susan ,posey1 a     
delicious creation in ,dr4 ,holmes' best
 manner4 ,these two prove excellent     
foils for the stronger personages of the
 story1 and afford much amusement4 ,a   
,mortal ,antipathy is less of a romance 
than the others4 ,the reader will be    

interested in the description of a boat 
race which is exquisitely done4  ,in    
biographical writing1 we have two books 
from ,dr4 ,holmes1 one a short life of  
,emerson1 and the other a memoir of     
,motley4 ,though capable of writing a   
great biography like ,trevelyan's       
,macaulay or ,lockhart's ,scott1 the    
doctor has not yet done so4 ,of the two 
which he has written1 the ,motley is the
 better one4 ,in neither1 however1 has  
the author arrived at his own standard  
of what a biography should be4          
,mechanism in thought and morals1--a    
,phi-,beta-,kappa address1 delivered at 
,harvard in #ahgj1--;is one of ,dr4     
,holmes' most luminous contributions to 
popular science4 ,it is ample in the way
 of suggestion and the presentation of  
facts1 and though scientific in         
treatment1 the captivating style of the 
essayist relieves the paper of all      
heaviness4 ,a brief extract from this   
fine1 thoughtful work may be given      
here3--       ,we wish to remember      

something in the course of              
conversation4 ,no effort of the will can
 reach it2 but we      say1 'wait a     
minute1 and it will come to me1' and go 
on      talking4 ,presently1 perhaps    
some minutes later1 the idea we      are
 in search of comes all at once into the
 mind1 delivered      like a prepaid    
bundle1 laid at the door of             
consciousness      like a foundling in a
 basket4 ,how it came there we know not4
      ,the mind must have been at work  
groping and feeling for it      in the  
dark2 it cannot have come of itself4    
,yet all the      while1 our            
consciousness was busy with other       
thoughts4  ,the literary reputation of  
,dr4 ,holmes will rest on the three     
great books which have made his name    
famous on two continents4 ,thackeray had
 passed his fortieth year before he     
produced his magnificent novel4 ,holmes1
 too1 was more than forty when he began 
that unique and original book1 ,the     
,autocrat of the ,breakfast ,table1 one 

of the most thoughtful1 graceful1 and   
able investigations into philosophy and 
culture ever written4 ,we have the      
author in every mood1 playful and       
pathetic1 witty and wise4 ,who can ever 
forget the young fellow called ,john1   
our ,benjamin ,franklin1 the ,divinity  
student1 the school-mistress1 the       
landlady's daughter1 and the poor       
relation8 ,what characterization is     
there here6 ,the delightful talk of the 
autocrat1 his humor1 always infectious1 
his logic1 his strong common sense1     
illumine every page4 ,when he began to  
write1 ,dr4 ,holmes had no settled plan 
in his head4 ,in ,november1 #ahca1 he   
sent an article to the ,new ,england    
,magazine1 published by ,buckingham in  
,boston1 followed by another paper in   
,february1 #ahcb4 ,the idea next        
occurred to the author in #aheg1--;a    
quarter of a century afterwards1 when   
the editors of the ,atlantic ,monthly1  
then starting on its career1 begged him 
to write something for its pages4 ,he   

thought of ,the ,autocrat1 and resolved1
 as he says1 to shake the same bough    
again1 and see if the ripe fruit were   
better or worse than the early          
windfalls4 ,at a bound ,the ,autocrat   
leaped into popular favor4 ,the reading 
public could hardly wait for the        
numbers4 ,all sorts of topics are       
touched upon from nature to mankind4    
,there is the talk about the trees1     
which one may read a dozen times and    
feel the better for it4 ,and then comes 
that charming account of the walk with  
the school-mistress1 when the lovers    
looked at the elms1 and the roses came  
and went on the maiden's cheeks4 ,and   
here is a paragraph or two which makes  
men think3       ,our brains are        
seventy-year clocks4 ,the angel of life 
winds      them up once for all1 then   
closes the case1 and gives the      key 
into the hand of the ,angel of the      
,resurrection4 ,tic-tac6      tic-tac6  
go the wheels of thought2 our will      
cannot stop      them2 they cannot stop 

themselves2 sleep cannot still them2    
madness only makes them go faster2 death
 alone can break      into the case1 and
 seizing the ever-swinging pendulum1    
which      we call the heart1 silence at
 last the clicking of the      terrible 
escapement we have carried so long      
beneath our      wrinkled foreheads4    
,if we could only get at them1 as we lie
 on our pillows and      count the dead 
beats of thought after thought1 and     
image      after image1 jarring through 
the overtired organ6 ,will      nobody  
block those wheels1 uncouple that       
pinion1 cut the      string that holds  
those weights1 blow up the infernal     
machine with gun-powder8 ,what a passion
 comes over us      sometimes for       
silence and rest6--that this dreadful   
mechanism1 unwinding the endless        
tapestry of time1      embroidered with 
spectral figures of life and death1     
could      have but one brief holiday6  
,who can wonder that men swing          
themselves off from beams in hempen     

lassos8--that they jump      off from   
parapets into the swift and gurgling    
waters      beneath8--that they take    
counsel of the grim friend who has      
but to utter his one peremptory         
monosyllable and the      restless      
machine is shivered as a vase that is   
dashed upon a      marble floor8 ,under 
that building which we pass every day   
there are strong dungeons1 where neither
 hook1 nor bar1 nor      bed-cord1 nor  
drinking vessel from which a sharp      
fragment      may be shattered1 shall by
 any chance be seen4 ,there is          
nothing for it1 when the brain is on    
fire with the whirling      of its      
wheels1 but to spring against the stone 
wall and      silence them with one     
crash4 ,ah1 they remembered that1--the  
kind city fathers1--and the walls are   
nicely padded1 so that      one can take
 such exercise as he likes without      
damaging      himself on the very plain 
and serviceable upholstery4 ,if         
anybody would only contrive some kind of

 a lever that one      could thrust in  
among the works of this horrid automaton
 and      check them1 or alter their    
rate of going1 what would the      world
 give for the discovery8  ,the ,autocrat
 was followed by ,the ,professor at the 
,breakfast ,table1--a book in every way 
equal to the first one1 though1 to be   
sure1 there are critics who pretend to  
see diminished power in the author's    
pen4 ,it is1 however1 full of the same  
gentle humor and keen analyses of the   
follies and foibles of human kind4 ,it  
is a trifle graver1 though some of the  
characters belonging to ,the ,autocrat  
come to the front again4 ,it is in this 
book that we find that lovely story of  
,iris1--a masterpiece in itself and one 
of the sweetest things that has come to 
us for a hundred years1 rivalling to a  
degree the delicious manner and style of
 ,goldsmith and ,lamb4 ,in #ahgc the    
last of the series appeared1 and ,the   
,poet came upon the scene to gladden the
 breakfasters4 ,every chapter sparkles  

with originality4 ,i have1 says ,dr4    
,holmes1 unburdened myself in this book1
 and in some other pages1 of what ,i was
 born to say4 ,many things that ,i have 
said in my riper days have been aching  
in my soul since ,i was a mere child4 ,i
 say aching1 because they conflicted    
with many of my inherited beliefs1 or   
rather traditions4 ,i did not know then 
that two strains of blood were striving 
in me for the mastery--two6 twenty1     
perhaps1 twenty thousand1 for aught ,i  
know--but represented to me by          
two--paternal and maternal4 ,but ,i do  
know this3 ,i have struck a good many   
chords1 first and last1 in the          
consciousness of other people4 ,i       
confess to a tender feeling for my      
little brood of thoughts4 ,when they    
have been welcomed and praised1 it has  
pleased me1 and if at any time they have
 been rudely handled and despitefully   
treated1 it has cost me a little worry4 
,i don't despise reputation1 and ,i     
should like to be remembered as having  

said something worth lasting well enough
 to last4  ,there is much philosophy in 
,the ,poet1 and if it is less humorous  
than ,the ,autocrat1 it is more profound
 than either of its fellows in the great
 trio4 ,in it the doctor has said enough
 to make the reputations of half a dozen
 authors4  ,one ,hundred ,days in       
,europe1 if written by anyone else save 
,dr4 ,holmes1 would1 perhaps1 go begging
 for a publisher4 ,but he journeyed to  
the old land with his heart upon his    
sleeve4 ,he met nearly every man and    
woman worth knowing1 and the ,court1    
,science1 and ,literature received him  
with open arms4 ,he had not seen        
,england for half a century4 ,fifty     
years before1 he was an obscure young   
man1 studying medicine1 and known by    
scarcely half a dozen persons4 ,he      
returned in #ahhf1 a man of world-wide  
fame1 and every hand was stretched out  
to do him honor1 and to pay him homage4 
,lord ,houghton1--the famous breakfast  
giver of his time1 certainly1 the most  

successful since the princely           
,rogers1--had met him in ,boston years  
before1 and had begged him again and    
again to cross the ocean4 ,letters      
failing to move the poet1 ,houghton     
tried verse upon him1 and sent these    
graceful lines3--      ,when genius from
 the furthest ,west1        ,sierra's   
,wilds and ,poker ,flat1      ,can seek 
our shores with filial zest1        ,why
 not the genial ,autocrat8      ,why is 
this burden on us laid1        ,that    
friendly ,london never greets      ,the 
peer of ,locker1 ,moore1 and ,praed     
,from ,boston's almost neighbor streets8
      ,his earlier and maturer powers   
,his own dear land might well engage2   
,we only ask a few kind hours        ,of
 his serene and vigorous age4      ,oh1 
for a glimpse of glorious ,poe6         
,his raven grimly answers 'never6'      
,will ,holmes's milder muse say 'no1'   
,and keep our hands apart forever8  ,but
 he was not destined to see his friend4 
,when ,holmes arrived in ,england1 ,lord

 ,houghton was in his grave1 and so was 
,dean ,stanley1 whose sweetness of      
disposition had so charmed the autocrat1
 when the two men had met in ,boston a  
few years before4 ,ruskin he failed to  
meet also1 for the distinguished        
word-painter was ill4 ,at a dinner1     
however1 at ,arch-,deacon ,farrar's1 he 
spent some time with ,sir ,john ,millais
 and ,prof4 ,john ,tyndall4 ,of course1 
he saw ,gladstone1 ,tennyson1 ,robert   
,browning1 ,chief ,justice ,coleridge1  
,du ,maurier1 the illustrator of ,punch1
 ,prof4 ,james ,bryce who wrote ,the    
,american ,commonwealth1 ,lord          
,wolseley1 ,britain's ,only ,general1   
,his ,grace of ,argyll1 ,lord ,lorne and
 the ,princess ,louise1--one of the best
 amateur painters and sculptors in      
,england1--and many others4 ,of all     
these noted ones1 he has something      
bright and entertaining to say4 ,the    
universities laid their highest honors  
at his feet4 ,edinburgh gave him the    
degree of ,,ll4,d41 ,cambridge that of  

,doctor of ,letters1 and ,oxford        
conferred upon him her ,d4 ,c4 ,l41 his 
companion on the last occasion being    
,john ,bright4 ,it was at ,oxford that  
he met ,vice-,chancellor ,benjamin      
,jowett1 the ,master of ,balliol        
,college1 ,prof4 ,max ,mller1 ,lord and 
,lady ,herschell1 and ,prof4 ,james     
,russell ,lowell1 his old and unvarying 
friend4 ,the account of his visit to    
,europe is told with most engaging      
directness and simplicity1 and though   
the book has no permanent value1 it     
affords much entertainment for the time4
  ,the reader will experience a feeling 
of sadness1 when he takes up ,dr4       
,holmes' last book1 ,over the ,tea-cups1
 for there are indications in the work  
which warn the public that the genial   
pen will write hereafter less frequently
 than usual4 ,it is a witty and         
delightful book1 recalling the          
,autocrat1 the ,professor1 and the      
,poet1 and yet presenting features not  
to be found in either4 ,the author      

dwells on his advancing years1 but this 
he does not do in a querulous fashion4  
,he speaks of his contemporaries1 and   
compares the ages of old trees1 and over
 the tea-cups a thousand quaint1        
curious1 and splendid things are said4  
,the work takes a wide range1 but there 
is more sunshine than anything else1 and
 that indefinable charm1 peculiar to the
 author1 enriches every page4 ,one might
 wish that he would never grow old4 ,as 
,lowell said1 a few years ago1 in a     
birthday verse to the doctor3--         
,you keep your youth as yon ,scotch     
firs1        ,whose gaunt line my       
horizon hems1      ,though twilight all 
the lowland blurs1        ,hold sunset  
in their ruddy stems4         99        
99       99       99       99           
,master alike in speech and song        
,of fame's great anti-septic--style1    
,you with the classic few belong        
,who tempered wisdom with a smile4      
,outlive us all6 ,who else like you     
,could sift the seed corn from our      

chaff1      ,and make us1 with the pen  
we knew1        ,deathless at least in  
epitaph8     ,,plutocracy ,,and         
,,snobbery ,,in ,,new ,,york1  ,,by     
,,edgar ,,fawcett4   ,let us imagine    
that a foreigner has entered a ,new     
,york ball-room for the first time1 and 
let us make that foreigner not merely an
 ,englishman1 but an ,englishman of     
title4 ,he would soon be charmed by the 
women who beamed on every side of him4  
,their refinement of manner would be    
obvious1 though in some cases they might
 shock him by a shrillness and nasal    
harshness when speaking1 while in other 
cases both their tone and accent might  
repel him through extreme affectation of
 elegance4 ,but for the most part he    
would pronounce these women bright1     
cultivated1 and often remarkably        
handsome4 ,they would not require to be 
amused or even entertained after the    
manner of his own countrywomen2 they    
would appear before him amply capable of
 yielding rather than exacting          

diversion1 and often through the mediums
 of nimble wit1 engaging humor1 or an   
audacity at once daring and picturesque4
 ,but after a little more time our      
titled stranger would begin to perceive 
that behind all this feminine sparkle   
and freshness1 lurked a positive        
transport of humility4 ,he would        
discover that he had swiftly become with
 these fashionable ladies an object of  
idolatry1 and that all the single ones  
were thrilled with the idea of marrying 
him1 while all the married ones felt    
pierced by the sad realization that     
destiny had disqualified them for so    
golden a bit of luck4 ,he would find    
himself assailed by questions about his 
precise ,english rank and standing4 ,had
 he any other title besides the one by  
which he was currently known8 ,how long 
ago was it since his family had been    
elevated to the peerage8 ,did he        
personally know the ,queen or the       
,prince of ,wales8 ,was his mother ,lady
 anybody before she married his father8 

,did he own several places in the       
country1 and if so1 what was the name of
 each8  ,the men would naturally be less
 inquisitive2 but then the men all would
 have their ,burke or ,de,brett to      
consult at their clubs1 and could look  
him up there as if he had been an       
unfamiliar word in the dictionary4 ,and 
these male followers of fashion would1  
for the most part1 distress and perplex 
him4 ,he would be confronted with a     
mournful fact in our social life3 the   
men who go out are nearly all silly     
striplings who1 on reaching a sensible  
age1 discreetly remain at home4  ,he    
would soon begin to perceive that ,new  
,york society is a blending of the      
ludicrous and pathetic4 ,the really     
charming women have two terrible faults1
 one which their fathers1 husbands1 and 
brothers have taught them1 and one which
 they have apparently contracted without
 extraneous aid4 ,the first is their    
worship of wealth1 their devout         
genuflection before it as the sole      

choicest gift which fate can bestow1 and
 the second is their merciless and      
metallic snobbery4 ,they have made a god
 of caste1 and in a country where1 of   
all other cults1 that of caste is the   
most preposterous4 ,the men 7the real   
grown-up men1 who may hate the big      
balls1 but are nevertheless a great deal
 in the movement as regards other gay   
pastimes7 watch them with quiet         
approbation4 ,many a ,new ,york husband 
is quite willing that his wife shall cut
 her own grandmother if that relative be
 not desirable4 ,the men have not time  
to preen their social plumes quite so   
strenuously2 they are too busy in       
money-getting1 and of a sort which      
nearly always concerns the hazard of the
 ,wall ,street die4 ,and yet quite a    
number of the men are arrant snobs1     
refusing to associate with1 often even  
to notice1 others whose dollars count   
fewer than their own4 ,this form of     
plutocratic self-adulation is relatively
 modern4 ,it is called by some people a 

very inferior state of things to that   
which existed in the good old           
,knickerbocker days4 ,but the truth is1 
odious though the millionnaire's        
ascendancy may be at present1 that of   
the ,knickerbocker was once hardly less 
so4 ,vulgar1 brassy1 and intolerable the
 ,i'm-better-than-you strut and swagger 
of plutocracy surely is2 but in the     
smug1 pert provincialism of those former
 ,new ,york autocrats who defined as    
family their descent of two or three    
generations from raw ,dutch immigrants1 
there was very little comfort indeed4   
,the present writer has seen something  
of this element2 in the decade from     
#ahfe to #ahge it was still extremely   
active4 ,society was then governed by   
the ,knickerbocker1 as it is now        
governed by the plutocrat1 and in either
 instance the rule has been wholly      
deplorable4 ,indeed1 for one cogent     
reason1 if no other1 poor ,new ,york    
stands to-day as the least fortunate of 
all great cities4 ,her society1 from the

 time she ceased to admit herself a     
village up to the date at which these   
lines are written1 has never been even  
faintly worthy of the name4 ,a few years
 ago the old residents1 with their      
ridiculous claims to pedigree1 had      
everything their own way4 ,a ,new ,york 
drawing-room was1 in those days1        
parochial as a ,boston or ,philadelphia 
tea-party4 ,there were modish           
metropolitan details1 it is true1 but   
the petty reign of the immigrant        
,hollanders' descendants would have put 
to shame the laborious freaks and       
foibles of a tiny ,german principality4 
,now1 having changed all that1 and      
having forced the ,knickerbockers from  
their old places of vantage1 the        
plutocrats reign supreme4 ,to a mind    
capable of being saddened by human      
materialism1 pretension1 braggadocio1 it
 is all very much the same sort of      
affair4 ,our republic should be ashamed 
of an aristocracy founded on either     
money or birth1 and that thousands of   

its citizens are not only unashamed of  
such systems1 but really glory in them1 
is merely another proof of how this     
country has broken almost every         
democratic promise which she once made  
to the ,old ,world4  ,it is easy to     
sneer away statements like these4 ,it is
 easy to laugh them off as mere         
pessimism1 and to talk of persons with  
green spectacles and disordered livers4 
,we have learned to know the glad ring  
of the optimist's patriotic voice4 ,if  
we all believed this voice1 we should   
all believe that ,america is the ideal  
polity of the world4 ,and one never so  
keenly realizes that this is not true as
 when he watches the creeds and         
character of society in ,new ,york4 ,of 
,londoners we are apt to assert that    
they grovel obsequiously before their   
prince1 with his attendant throng of    
dukes1 earls1 and minor gentlemen4 ,this
 may be fact1 but it is very far from   
being the whole fact4 ,in ,london there 
is a large class of ladies and gentlemen

 who form a localized and centralized   
body1 and whose assemblages are haunts  
of intelligence1 refinement1 and good   
taste4 ,in a certain sense these are    
mixed1 but all noteworthy gatherings    
must be that1 and the smart and swagger 
sets of every great ,european city are  
nowadays but a small1 even a            
contemptible factor in its festivities4 
,not long ago the present writer        
inquired of a well-known ,englishman    
whether people of literary and artistic 
note were not always bidden to large and
 important ,london receptions4 ,in      
nearly all cases1 yes1 he replied4 ,it  
has been the aim of my sister to invite1
 on such occasions1 authors1 artists1   
and actors of talent and distinction4   
,they come1 and are welcomed when they  
come4 ,he did not mention the name of   
his sister1 knowing1 doubtless1 that ,i 
knew it4 ,she was an ,english duchess1  
magnificently housed in ,london1 a      
beauty1 and a star of fashion4  ,but our
 ,new ,york brummagem duchesses of      

yesterday are less liberal in their     
condescensions4 ,an attractive ,new     
,york woman once said to me3 ,i told a  
man the other day that ,i was tired of  
meeting him incessantly at dinner1 and  
that we met each other so often in this 
way as to make conversation a bore4     
,could any remark have more pungently   
expressed the unhappy narrowness of ,new
 ,york reunions8 ,how many times has the
 dainty ,mr4 ,amsterdam or ,mrs4        
,manhattan ever met men and women of    
literary or artistic gifts at a         
fashionable dinner in ,fifth or ,madison
 ,avenue8 ,how many times has he or she 
met any such person at a patriarchs'    
ball or an assembly8 ,has he or she ever
 met an actor of note anywhere1 except  
in two or three exceptional instances8  
,true1 men and women of intellectual    
fame shrink from contact with our noble 
,four ,hundred4 ,but that they should so
 shrink is in itself a scorching        
comment4 ,they encounter patronage at   
such places1 and getting patronage from 

one's inferiors can never be a pleasant 
mode of passing one's time4 ,that       
delicate homage which is the due of     
mental merit they scarcely ever receive4
 ,now and then you hear of a            
portrait-painter1 who has made himself  
the rage of the town1 being asked to    
dine and to sup4 ,but he is seldom      
really held to be des ntres1 as the     
haughty elect ones would phrase it1 and 
his popularity1 based upon insolent     
patronage1 often quickly crumbles4 ,the 
solid devotion is all saved for the     
solid millionnaires4 ,frederick the     
,great1 if ,i recall rightly1 said that 
an army was like a snake1 and moved on  
its stomach4 ,of ,new ,york society this
 might also be asserted1 though with a  
meaning much more luxurious4 ,to be a   
great leader is to be a great feeder4   
,you must dispense terrapin1 and        
canvas-back ducks1 and rare brands of   
champagne1 in lordly dining-halls1 or   
your place is certain to be secondary4  
,you may1 if a man1 have the manners of 

a ,chesterfield and the wit of a        
,balzac2 you may1 if a woman1 be        
beautiful as ,mary ,stuart and brilliant
 as ,de,stal1 and yet1 powerless to     
entertain1 you can fill no lofty        
pedestal4 ,position in ,new ,york means 
a corpulent purse whose strings work as 
flexibly as the dorsal muscles of a     
professional toady4 ,and this kind of   
toady has an exquisite flair for your   
greatness and dignity the moment he     
becomes quite sure of your pecuniary    
willingness to back both4 ,new ,york is 
at present the paradise of parvenus1 and
 these occasionally commit grotesque    
mistakes in the distribution of         
civilities4 ,because you chose to stay  
in for a season or two1 they will take  
for granted1 if suddenly brought in     
contact with you1 that you have never   
been out and could not go if you tried4 
,of course1 to feel hurt by such cheap  
hauteur proves that you are in a manner 
worthy of it2 but even though you are   
not in the least hurt1 you cannot       

refrain from a thrill of annoyance that 
a country which has boasted in so       
loud-mouthed a way to ,europe of having 
begun its national life by a wholesome  
scorn of all class distinction1 should  
contain citizens cursed by a spirit of  
such tawdry pride4 ,at least the        
aristocracies of other lands1 vicious   
and reprehensible as they have always   
been1 are yet an evil with a certain    
malign consistency for their support4   
,like those monarchies of which they    
have formed a piteous adjunct1 they have
 always been the outgrowths of a        
perfectly natural ignorance4 ,though    
distinct clogs to civilization1 their   
existence remains pathetically          
legitimate4 ,nuisances1 they are still  
nuisances with a hereditary hold on     
history4 ,their chief modern claim for  
continuance is the fact that they were  
once authorized by that very divine     
right which is now the scorn and jest of
 philosophy1 and that the communities   
which they still infest are yet         

unprepared for the shock of their       
extirpation4 ,it is clear that they will
 one day be sloughed off like a mass of 
dead animal tissue1 even if they are not
 amputated like a living limb that has  
grown hopelessly diseased4 ,they are as 
surely doomed by the slow threat of     
evolution as is the failure to establish
 trial by jury in ,russia4 ,they are    
tolerated by progress for the simple    
reason that progress is not yet ready to
 destroy them4 ,hence are all imitations
 of their permitted and perpetuated     
folly in wofully bad taste4 ,they are   
more2 they are an insult1 when practised
 in such a land as ours1 to republican  
energies1 motives1 and ideals4 ,heaven  
knows1 we are a country with sorry      
enough substantiality behind her vaunts4
 ,we call ourselves freemen1 and our    
mines and factories are swarming with   
haggard slaves4 ,we declare that to be  
,president of the ,united ,states is the
 most honorable office a man can hold1  
and our elected candidates 7except when 

they have the splendid self-abnegating  
courage of a ,cleveland67 wade to       
,washington through a perfect bog of    
venal promises4 ,we prate of our        
democratic institutions1 and forget that
 free trade is one of the first proofs  
of a free people1 and that protected    
industries are the feudalism of         
manufacture4 ,we sneer at the corruption
 of a ,jeffreys or a ,marlborough in the
 past1 and concede that bribery riots in
 our capital1 and that the infernal     
political grist-mill in ,new ,york has  
to-day almost as much nefarious grinding
 to get through with annually as it had 
when ,tweed and ,sweeny stood the boss  
millers that fed its voracious maw4 ,and
 after all1 the abominations of ,new    
,york's politics are only a few degrees 
more repellent than the cruelties and   
pusillanimities of her self-styled      
patrician horde4 ,the highest duty of   
rich people is to be charitable2 in ,new
 ,york the rich people make for         
themselves two highest duties1 to be    

fashionable and to be richer--if they   
can4 ,charity of a certain sort does    
exist among them1 and it would be unfair
 to say that it is all of the pompous   
public sort4 ,much of it1 indeed1 is    
private1 and when incomes1 as in a few  
individual cases1 reach enormous        
figures1 the unpretentious donations are
 of no slight weight4 ,but charity is a 
virtue that counts for nothing unless   
meekness1 philanthropy1 altruism1 is    
each its acolyte4 ,how can we expect    
that beings who busy themselves with    
affairs of such poignant importance as  
whether they shall give ,jones a full   
nod or ,brown a quarter of a nod when   
they next meet him2 as whether the      
,moneypennys are really quite lancs     
enough for them to encounter the great  
,gilt-edges or no1 at a prospective     
dinner-party2 as whether the latest     
,parisian tidings about bonnets are     
really authentic or the contrary2 as    
whether ,his ,royal ,highness has or has
 not actually appeared at one of his    

imperial mamma's drawing-rooms in a     
,newmarket cutaway1--how1 it is asked1  
can we expect that beings of this bent  
may properly heed those ghastly and     
incessant wants which are forever making
 of humanity the forlorn tragi-comedy it
 is8 ,the yawp of socialism is excusably
 despised by plutocracy4 ,socialism is  
not merely a cry of pain2 if it were    
only that its plaints might have proved 
more effectual4 ,it is a cry of avarice1
 of jealousy1 and very often of extreme 
laziness as well4 ,every socialistic    
theory that we have yet heard of is     
self-damning4 ,each real thinker1       
whether he be ,croesus or pauper1       
comprehends that to empower the         
executive with greater responsibility   
than it already possesses would mean to 
tempt national ruin1 and that until     
mankind has become a race of angels the 
hideous problem of human suffering can  
never be solved by vesting private      
property-rights in the hands of public  
functionaries4 ,but the note of anguish 

in that voice of desperation and revolt 
need not1 for all this1 be confused with
 its madder strains4 ,the claim of      
poverty upon riches is to-day a         
tremendously ethical one4 ,help--and    
help wise1 earnest1 persistent--is the  
inflexible moral tax levied by life     
itself on all who have an overplus of   
wealth wherewith to relieve deserving   
misery4 ,the occasional careless signing
 of a cheque1 or even a visit now and   
then among the filthy slums of ,bayard  
and ,hester ,streets1 cannot cancel     
these mighty obligations4 ,and there are
 better ways of schooling the soul to   
recognize the magnitude and insistence  
of such obligations than by organizing  
ultra-select dancing-classes at         
,sherry's2 giving pink luncheons to a   
bevy of simpering female snobs2         
uncorking eight-dollar bottles of ,clos 
de ,vougeot for a fastidious dinner     
company of men-about-town2 squandering  
three thousand dollars on a ,delmonico  
ball1 or purchasing at vast prices the  

gowns and jewels of a deposed foreign   
empress4 ,yes1 there are better ways4   
,and for people who are solely          
pleasure-seekers to call themselves     
,christian is1 from their own points of 
view1 blasphemy unspeakable2 since      
whatever we agnostics may say and       
believe about the alleged divinity of   
,christ1 they hold that the ,galilean   
was the son of ,god1 and that in such   
miraculous character he spoke when      
saying3 ,leave all and follow me4  ,the 
,american snob is a type at once the    
most anomalous and the most vulgar4 ,why
 he is anomalous need not be explained1 
but the essence of his vulgarity lies in
 his entire absence of a sanctioning    
background4 ,it is not1 when all is     
said1 so strange a matter that anyone   
reared in an atmosphere of historic     
ceremonial and precedent should betray  
an inherent leaning toward shams and    
vanities4 ,but if there is anything that
 we ,americans1 as a race1 are forever  
volubly extolling1 it is our immunity   

from all such drawbacks4 ,and yet ,i    
will venture to state that in every     
large city of our land snobbery and     
plutocracy reign as twin evils1 while in
 every small town1 from ,salem to some  
,pacific-slope settlement1 the          
beginnings of the same social curse are 
manifest4 ,of course ,new ,york towers  
in bad eminence over the entire country4
 ,abroad they are finding out the absurd
 shallowness of our professions4 ,nearly
 seven years ago an able literary man   
said to me in ,london3 ,i am wearied1   
here1 by the necessity of continual     
aristocratic patronage4 ,especially true
 is this1 he added1 regarding all new   
dramatic productions4 ,lord ,this and   
,lady ,that are more thought of as      
potentially occupying stalls or boxes at
 a first performance than is the        
presence of the most sapient judges4    
,and then again1 after a slight pause1  
he proceeded3 ,but ,i hear it is very   
much the same thing with you4 ,i have   
often longed to go to ,america1 just for

 the sake of that social emancipation   
which it has seemed to promise4 ,but    
they tell me that in your big cities a  
good deal of the same humbug prevails4  
,i assured him that he was fatally      
right2 but ,i did not proceed to say1 as
 ,i might have done1 that our           
aristocracy rarely patronizes first     
nights at theatres1 holding most ladies1
 and gentlemen connected with the stage 
in a position somewhere between their   
scullions and their head footmen4       
,london laughs and sneers at ,new ,york 
when she thinks of her at all1 which is1
 on the whole1 not very often4 ,if      
,london esteemed ,new ,york of greater  
importance than she does esteem her1 the
 derisive laughter might be keener and  
hence more salutary4 ,imagine ,america  
separated by only a narrow channel from 
,europe1 and imagine her to contain in  
her chief metropolis1 as she does at    
present1 the amazing contradictions and 
refutations of the democratic idea which
 are to be noted now4 ,what food for    

,english1 ,french1 and ,german sarcasm  
would our pigmy ,four ,hundred then     
become6 ,in those remote realms they    
have already shrank aghast at the       
licentious tyrannies of our newspapers4 
,england has freedom of the press1 but  
she also has a law of libel which is not
 a cipher4 ,our law of libel is so      
horribly effete that the purest woman on
 our continent may to-morrow be vilely  
slandered1 and yet obtain no adequate   
form of redress4 ,this is what our      
extolled liberty has brought us--a      
despotism in its way as frightful as    
anything that ,russia or the ,orient can
 parallel4 ,is it remarkable that such  
relatively minor abuses as those of     
plutocracy and snobbery should torment  
us here in ,new ,york when bullets of   
journalistic scandal are whizzing about 
our ears every day of our lives1 and    
those who get wounds have no healing    
remedy within their possible reach8     
,some one of our clever novelists might 
take a hint for the plot of a future    

tale from this melancholy state of      
things4 ,he might write a kind of new   
,monte ,cristo1 and make his hero1      
riddled and stung by assaults of our    
unbridled press1 find but a single means
 of vengeance4 ,that means would be the 
starting of a great newspaper on his own
 account1 and the triumphant cannonading
 of his foes through its columns4 ,more 
influential ,new ,york editors would    
doubtless already have forced their way 
within the holy bounds of patrician     
circles1 were it not that1 in the first 
place editors are somewhat hard-worked  
persons1 and that in the second place   
they are usually men of brains4         
,marriage1 among the ,new ,york snobs   
and plutocrats1 ordinarily treats human 
affection as though it were a trifling  
optic malady to be cured by a few drops 
of corrective lotion4 ,daughters are    
trained by their mothers to leave no    
efforts untried1 short of those         
absolutely immoral1 in winning wealthy  
husbands4 ,usually the daughters are    

tractable enough4 ,rebellion is rare    
with them2 why should it not be8 ,almost
 from infancy 7unless when their parents
 have made fortunes with prodigious     
quickness7 they are taught that         
matrimony is a mere hard bargain1 to be 
driven shrewdly and in a spirit of the  
coolest mercantile craft4 ,sometimes    
they do really rebel1 however1 mastered 
by pure nature1 in one of those tiresome
 moods where she shows the insolence of 
defying bloodless convention4 ,yet      
nearly always capitulation follows4 ,and
 then what follows later on8 ,perhaps   
heart-broken resignation1 perhaps masked
 adultery1 perhaps the degradation of   
public divorce4 ,but usually it is no   
worse than a silent disgusted slavery1  
for the ,american woman is notoriously  
cold in all sense of passion1 and when  
reared to respect society she is a snob 
to the core4 ,some commentators aver    
that it is the climate which makes her  
so pulseless and prudent4 ,this is      
possible4 ,but one deeply familiar with 

the glacial theories of the fashionable 
,new ,york mother might find an         
explanation no less frigid than         
comprehensive for all her traits of     
acquiescence and decorum4 ,how many of  
these fashionable mothers ask more than 
a single question of the bridegrooms    
they desire for their daughters8 ,that  
one question is simply3 ,what amount of 
money do you control8 ,but constantly   
this kind of interrogation is needless4 
,a male match and catch finds that his  
income is known to the last dollar long 
before he has been graduated from the   
senior class at ,columbia or ,harvard4  
,society1 like a genial feminine        
,briarus1 opens to him its myriad rosy  
and dimpled arms4 ,he has only to let a 
certain selected pair of these clutch   
him tight1 if he is rich enough to make 
his personality a luring prize4 ,often  
his morals are unsavory1 but these prove
 no impediment4 ,the great point with   
plutocracy and snobbery is to perpetuate
 themselves--to go on producing scions  

who will uphold for them future         
generations of selfishness and          
arrogance4 ,one sees the same sort of   
procreative tendency in certain of our  
hardiest and coarsest weeds4 ,sometimes 
a gardener comes along1 with hoe1 spade1
 and a strong uprooting animus4 ,in     
human life that kind of gardener goes by
 the ugly name of ,revolution4 ,but we  
are dealing with neither parables nor   
allegories4 ,those are for the modish   
clergymen of the select and exclusive   
churches1 and are administered in the   
form of dainty little religious pills   
which these gentlemen have great art in 
knowing how to palatably sugar4         
,,should ,,the ,,nation ,,own ,,the     
,,railways8  ,,by ,c4 ,,wood ,,davis4   
,,part ,i4--,,objections ,,to ,,national
 ,,ownership ,,considered4   ,when the  
paper published in the ,february        
,,arena1 entitled ,the ,farmer1 the     
,investor1 and the ,railway1 was        
written1 the writer was not ready to    
accept national ownership as a solution 

of the railway problem2 but the         
occurrences attending the flurries of   
last autumn in the money markets1 when  
half a dozen men1 in order to obtain    
control of certain railways1 entered    
into a conspiracy that came near        
wrecking the entire industrial and      
commercial interests of the country1    
having shed a lurid light upon the      
enormous and baleful power which the    
corporate control of the railways places
 in the hands of what ,theodore         
,roosevelt aptly termed the dangerous   
wealthy classes1 has had the effect of  
converting to the advocacy of national  
ownership not only the writer but vast  
numbers of conservative people of the   
central1 western1 and southern ,states  
to whom the question now assumes this   
form3 ,which is to be preferred3 a      
master in the shape of a political party
 that it is possible to dislodge by the 
use of the ballot1 or one in the shape  
of ten or twenty ,goulds1 ,vanderbilts1 
,huntingtons1 ,rockefellers1 ,sages1    

,dillons1 and ,brices who never die and 
whom it will be impossible to dislodge  
by the use of the ballot8 ,the          
particular ,gould or ,vanderbilt may    
die1 as did that ,vanderbilt to whom was
 ascribed the aphorism ,the public be   
damned1 but the spirit and power of the 
,goulds and ,vanderbilts never dies4    
,,objections ,,to ,,national            
,,ownership4  ,the objections to        
national ownership are many2 that most  
frequently advanced and having the most 
force being the possibility that1 by    
reason of its control of a vastly       
increased number of civil servants1 the 
party in possession of the federal      
administration at the time such         
ownership was assumed would be able to  
perpetuate its power indefinitely4 ,as  
there are more than #gjj1jjj people     
employed by the railways1 this objection
 would seem to be well taken2 and it    
indicates serious and far-reaching      
results unless some way can be devised  
to neutralize the political power of    

such a vast addition to the official    
army4  ,in the military service we have 
a body of men that exerts little or no  
political power1 as the moment a citizen
 enters the army he divests himself of  
political functions2 and it is not      
hazardous to say that #gjj1jjj capable  
and efficient men can be found who1 for 
the sake of employment1 to be continued 
so long as they are capable and         
well-behaved1 will forego the right to  
take part in political affairs4 ,if a   
sufficient number of such men can be    
found1 this objection would1 by proper  
legislation1 be divested of all its     
force4 ,at all events no trouble from   
such a source has been experienced since
 ,australian railways were placed under 
control of non-partisan commissions1    
such a commission1 having had charge of 
the ,victorian railways since ,february1
 #ahhd1 or a little more than one term1 
they being appointed for seven years    
instead of for life1 as stated by ,mr4  
,w4 ,m4 ,acworth in his argument against

 government control4  ,the second       
objection is that there would be        
constant political pressure to make     
places for the strikers of the party in 
power1 thus adding a vast number of     
useless men to the force1 and rendering 
it progressively more difficult to      
effect a change in the political        
complexion of the administration4  ,that
 this objection has much less force than
 is claimed is clear from the conduct of
 the postal department which is1        
unquestionably1 a political adjunct of  
the administration2 yet but few useless 
men are employed1 while its conduct of  
the mail service is a model of          
efficiency after which the corporate    
managed railways might well pattern4    
,moreover1 if the railways are put under
 non-partisan control1 this objection   
will lose nearly if not quite all its   
force4  ,a third objection is that the  
service would be less efficient and cost
 more than with continued corporate     
ownership4  ,this appears to be bare    

assertion1 as from the very nature of   
the case there can be no data outside   
that furnished by the government-owned  
railways of the ,british colonies1 and  
such data negatives these assertions2   
and the advocates of national ownership 
are justified in asserting that such    
ownership would materially lessen the   
cost1 as any expert can readily point   
out many ways in which the enormous     
costs of corporate management would be  
lessened4 ,with those familiar with     
present methods1 and not interested in  
their perpetuation1 this objection has  
no force whatever4  ,the fourth         
objection is that with constant         
political pressure unnecessary lines    
would be built for political ends4      
,this is also bare assertion1 although  
it is not impossible that such results  
would follow2 yet such has not been the 
case in the ,british colonies where the 
governments have had control of         
construction4 ,on the other hand1 it is 
notorious that under corporate          

ownership1 and solely to reap the       
profits to be made out of construction1 
the ,united ,states have been burthened 
with useless parallel roads1 and such   
corporations as the ,santa ,fe have     
paralleled their own lines for such     
profits4 ,it is quite safe to say that  
when the nation owns the railways there 
will be no nickel-plating1 nor will such
 an unnecessary expenditure be made as  
was involved in the construction of the 
,west ,shore2 nor will the feat of      
,gould and the ,santa ,fe be repeated of
 each building two hundred and forty    
miles1 side by side1 for construction   
profits1 much of which is located in the
 arid portion of ,kansas where there is 
never likely to be traffic for even one 
railway4 ,much of the republic is       
covered with closely parallel lines     
which would never have been built under 
national ownership1 and this process    
will continue as long as the            
manipulators can make vast sums out of  
construction4  ,a fifth objection is    

that with the amount of red-tape that   
will be in use1 it will be impossible to
 secure the building of needed lines4   
,while such objection is inconsistent   
with the fourth it may have some force2 
but as the greater part of the country  
is already provided with all the        
railways that will be needed for a      
generation1 it is not a very serious    
objection even if it is as difficult as 
asserted to procure the building of new 
lines4 ,it is not probable1 however1    
that the government would refuse to     
build any line that would clearly       
subserve public convenience1 the conduct
 of the postal service negativing such a
 supposition2 and for party purposes the
 administration would certainly favor   
the construction of such lines as were  
clearly needed1 and it is high time that
 only such should be built2 and what    
instrumentality so fit to determine this
 as a non-partisan commission acting as 
the agent of the whole people8  ,the    
sixth objection is that lines built by  

the government would cost much more than
 if built by corporations4  ,possibly   
this would be true1 but they would be   
much better built and cost far less for 
maintenance and betterments1 and would  
represent no more than actual cost2 and 
such lines as the ,kansas ,midland1     
costing but #aj1bjj per mile1 would not1
 as now1 be capitalized at #ec1jbd per  
mile2 nor would the ,president of the   
,union ,pacific 7as does ,sidney        
,dillon1 in the ,north ,american ,review
 for ,april17 say that ,a citizen1      
simply as a citizen1 commits an         
impertinence when he questions the right
 of a corporation to capitalize its     
properties at any sum whatever1 as then 
there would be no ,sidney ,dillons who  
would be presidents of corporations1    
pretending to own railways built wholly 
from government moneys and lands1 and   
who have never invested a dollar in the 
construction of a property which they   
have now capitalized at the modest sum  
of #ajf1jjj per mile4 ,after such an    

achievement1 in making much out of      
nothing1 it is no wonder that ,mr4      
,dillon is a multi-millionnaire and     
thinks it an impertinence when a citizen
 asks how he has discharged his trust in
 relation to a railway built wholly with
 public funds1 no part of which ,mr4    
,dillon and his associates seem in haste
 to pay back2 their indebtedness to the 
government1 with many years of unpaid   
interest1 amounting to more than        
#ej1jjj1jjj1 which is more than the cash
 cost of the railway upon which these   
men have been so sharp as to induce the 
government1 after furnishing all the    
money expended in its construction1 to  
accept a second mortgage1 and now ask   
the same accommodating government to    
reduce the rate of interest--which they 
make no pretence of paying--to a nominal
 figure1 and to wait another hundred    
years for both principal and interest4  
,to make sure that the government's     
second mortgage shall be no more        
valuable than second mortgages usually  

are1 and to make it more comfortable for
 the manipulators1 ,messrs4 ,gould and  
,dillon now propose to put a blanket    
first mortgage of #bej1jjj1jjj on this  
property1 built wholly from funds       
derived from the sale of government     
lands and bonds1 and to pay the interest
 on which bonds the people are yearly   
taxed1 although ,mr4 ,dillon and his    
associates contracted to pay such       
interest4 ,in his conception of the     
relations of railway corporations to the
 public1 ,mr4 ,dillon is clearly not in 
accord with the higher tribunals which  
hold1 in substance1 that railways are   
public rather than private property1 and
 that the shareholders are entitled to  
but a reasonable compensation for the   
capital actually expended in            
construction and a limited control of   
the property2 and in this connection it 
may be well to quote briefly from       
decisions of the ,united ,states        
,supreme ,court1 which1 in the case of  
,wabash ,railway vs4 ,illinois1 uses    

this language3 ,the highways in a ,state
 are the highways of the ,state4 ,the   
highways are not of private but of      
public institution and regulation4 ,in  
modern times1 it is true1 government is 
in the habit1 in some countries1 of     
letting out the construction of         
important highways1 requiring a large   
expenditure of capital1 to agents1      
generally corporate bodies created for  
the purpose1 and giving them the right  
of taxing those who travel or transport 
goods thereon as a means of obtaining   
compensation for their outlay2 but a    
superintending power over the highways1 
and the charges imposed upon the public 
for their use1 always remains in the    
government4 ,again1 in ,olcott vs4 the  
,supervisors1 it is held that3 ,whether 
the use of a railway is a public or     
private one depends in no measure upon  
the question who constructed it or who  
owns it4 ,it has never been considered  
of any importance that the road was     
built by the agency of a private        

corporation4 ,no matter who is the      
agent1 the function performed is that of
 the ,state4  ,mr4 ,justice ,bradley    
says3 ,when a railroad is chartered it  
is for the purpose of performing a duty 
which belongs to the ,state itself4444  
,it is the duty and prerogative of the  
,state to provide means of              
intercommunication between one part of  
its territory and another4  ,if1 as     
appears1 such is the duty of the ,state 
7nation7 why should not the ,state      
resume the discharge of this duty when  
the corporate agents to which it has    
delegated it are found to be using the  
delegated power for the purpose of      
oppressing and plundering a public which
 it is the duty of the government to    
protect8  ,the abilities of the man who 
cannot become a multi-millionnaire with 
the free use1 for twenty-five years1 of 
#cc1jjj1jjj of government funds1 must be
 of a very low order1 and it is no      
wonder1 that after having for so many   
years had the use of such a sum without 

payment of interest1 ,mr4 ,dillon and   
his associates are very wealthy1 and1   
like others who are retaining what does 
not belong to them1 think it an         
impertinence when the owner inquires    
what use they are making of property to 
which they have no right4 ,had the      
nation built the ,union ,pacific there  
would have been no ,credit-,mobilier and
 its unsavory scandal1 and it is safe to
 say that the road would not now be made
 to represent an expenditure of #ajf1jjj
 per mile1 and that ,mr4 ,dillon and    
some others would not have so much money
 as to warrant them in putting on such  
insufferable airs4 ,when it is          
remembered what use ,oakes ,ames and the
 ,union ,pacific crew made of issues of 
stock1 it is not at all surprising that 
the president of the ,union ,pacific    
should think it an impertinence for a   
citizen to question the amount of       
capitalization or the use to which a    
part of such issues have been put1 some 
of which are within the knowledge of the

 writer1 so far as relates to issues of 
that part of the ,union ,pacific lying  
in ,kansas and built by ,samuel         
,hallett1 who told the writer that he   
gave a member of the then federal       
cabinet several thousand shares of the  
capital stock of the ,union ,pacific    
,railway1 ,eastern ,division1--now the  
,kansas ,division of the ,union         
,pacific--to secure the acceptance of   
sections of the road which were not     
built in accordance with the            
requirements of the act of ,congress1   
which provided that a given amount of   
government bonds per mile should be     
delivered to the railway company when   
certain officials should accept the     
road2 and it was a quarrel with the     
chief engineer of the road in relation  
to a letter written by such engineer to 
,president ,lincoln1 informing him of   
the defective construction of this road1
 that caused ,samuel ,hallett to be shot
 down in the streets of ,wyandotte1     
,kansas1 by engineer ,talcott4 ,it is   

within the knowledge of the writer that 
the member of the cabinet to whom ,mr4  
,hallett said he gave several thousand  
shares of stock1 held an amount of      
,union ,pacific shares years afterwards1
 and that many years after he left the  
cabinet he continued to draw a large    
salary from the ,union ,pacific         
,company4 ,mr4 ,hallett also told the   
writer what were the arguments applied  
to congressmen to induce them to change 
the government lien from a first to a   
second mortgage of the ,pacific ,railway
 lines1 and what was his contribution in
 dollars to the fund used to enable     
congressmen to see the force of the     
arguments4 ,when issues of railway      
shares are used for corrupt purposes it 
is certainly an impertinence for a      
citizen to make inquiries or offer any  
remarks in relation thereto4  ,the      
seventh objection to ,state owned       
railways is that they are incapable of  
as progressive improvement as are       
corporate owned ones1 and will not keep 

pace with the progress of the nation in 
other respects2 and in his ,forum       
article ,mr4 ,acworth lays great stress 
upon this phase of the question1 and    
argues that as a result the service     
would be far less satisfactory4  ,there 
may be force in this objection1 but the 
evidence points to an opposite          
conclusion4 ,when the nation owns the   
railways1 trains will run into union    
depots1 the equipment will become       
uniform and of the best character1 and  
so sufficient that the traffic of no    
part of the country would have to wait  
while the worthless locomotives of some 
bankrupt corporation were being patched 
up1 nor would there be the present      
difficulties in obtaining freight cars1 
growing out of the poverty of           
corporations which have been plundered  
by the manipulators1 and improvements   
would not be hindered by the diverse    
ideas of the managers of various lines  
in relation to the adoption of devices  
intended to render life more secure or  

to add to the public convenience4 ,that 
such is one of the evils of corporate   
management is demonstrated daily1 and is
 shown by the following from the        
,railway ,review of ,march #g1 #ahia3   
,it is stated that a bill will be       
introduced in the ,illinois             
,legislature1 at the suggestion of the  
railroad and warehouse commissioners1   
governing the placing of interlocking   
plants at railway grade crossings4 ,it  
sometimes happens that one of the       
companies concerned is anxious to put in
 such a plant and the other objects4 ,at
 present there is no law to govern the  
matter1 and the enterprising company is 
forced to abide the time of the other4  
,instead of national ownership being a  
hindrance to improvement and enterprise1
 the results in ,australia prove the    
contrary1 as in ,victoria the government
 railways are already provided with     
interlocking plants at all grade        
crossings1 and one line does not have to
 wait the motion of another1 but all are

 governed by an active and enlightened  
policy which adopts all beneficial      
improvements1 appliances or modes of    
administration that will add either to  
the public safety1 comfort1 or          
convenience4 ,it is safe to say that had
 the nation been operating the railways1
 there would have been no ,fourth       
,avenue tunnel horror2 and ,chauncey    
,depew and associates would not now be  
under indictment1 as the government     
would not have continued the use of the 
death-dealing stove on nearly half the  
railways in the country in order to save
 money for the shareholders4  ,existing 
evidence all negatives ,mr4 ,acworth's  
postulate that ,state railway systems   
are incapable of vigorous life4  ,an    
objection to national ownership1 which  
the writer has not seen advanced1 is    
that ,states1 counties1 cities1         
townships1 and school-districts would   
lose some #bg1jjj1jjj of revenue derived
 from taxes upon railways4  ,while this 
would be a serious loss to some         

communities1 there would be compensating
 advantages for the public1 as the cost 
of transportation would be lessened in  
like measure4  ,many believe stringent  
laws1 enforced by commissions having    
judicial powers1 will serve the desired 
end1 and the writer was long hopeful of 
the efficacy of regulation by ,state and
 national commissions2 but close        
observation of their endeavors and of   
the constant efforts--too often         
successful--of the corporations to place
 their tools on such commissions1 and to
 evade all laws and regulations1 have   
convinced him that such control is and  
must continue to be ineffective1 and    
that the only hope of just and impartial
 treatment for railway users is to      
exercise the right of eminent domain1   
condemn the railways1 and pay their     
owners what it would cost to duplicate  
them2 and in this connection it may be  
well to state what valuations some of   
the corporations place upon their       
properties4  ,some years since the      

,santa ,fe filed in the counties on its 
line a statement showing that at the    
then price of labor and materials--rails
 were double the present price--that    
their road could be duplicated for      
#i1fhe per mile1 and the materials being
 much worn the actual cash value of the 
road did not exceed #g1gbe per mile4    
,in #ahhe the superintendent of the ,st4
 ,louis  ,iron ,mountain ,railway1      
before the ,arkansas ,state board of    
assessors1 swore that he could duplicate
 such railway for #aa1jjj per mile1 and 
yet ,mr4 ,gould has managed to float its
 securities1 notwithstanding a          
capitalization of five times that       
amount4                   7,concluded   
next month47     ,,the ,,unknown4#a     
,,part ,,ii4  ,,by ,,camille            
,,flammarion4        #a ,translated by  
,g4 ,h4 ,a4 ,meyer and ,j4 ,henry       
,wiggin1           from the manuscript  
of ,camille ,flammarion4  ,the human    
soul would seem to be a spiritual       
substance1 endowed with psychical force1

 capable of acting outside bodily       
limits4 ,this force1 like all others1   
may be transmissible into the form of   
electricity or heat1 or may be capable  
of bringing into activity certain latent
 energies while it yet remains          
intimately united with our mental being4
  ,we propound questions to the table1  
already impressed with our nervous      
impetus1 on subjects interesting to     
ourselves2 and then we ourselves        
unconsciously inspire the responses4    
,the table speaks to us in our own      
language1 giving back our own ideas1    
within the limits of our own knowledge1 
conversing with us about our opinions   
and views1 as we might discuss them with
 ourselves4 ,this is absolutely the     
reflection--direct or remote1 precise or
 vague--of our own feelings and         
thoughts4 ,all my efforts to establish  
the identity of a stranger spirit1      
unknown to the persons present1 have    
failed4  ,on the other hand1 attentive  
examination of different communications 

leads us toward a conclusion as to their
 origin4 ,when amidst the ,marquis de   
,mirville's revelations1 one is in the  
full swing of ,roman ,catholic          
diabolism--demons1 spirits1 purgatory1  
miracles1 prayers1--nothing is lacking4 
,with the ,count de ,gasparin1 we are in
 the bosom of ,rational ,protestantism1 
which is absolutely the opposite of the 
other4 ,here are no present miracles1 no
 devils1 but simply a physical agency1 a
 fluid obedient to volition4 ,in the    
experiences of ,eugene ,nus's circle1 we
 find the language of ,fourier          
discoursing about the phalanstery1 about
 racial solidarity1 and socialistic     
religion4 ,therein are found earthly    
music chanted in space1--songs of       
,saturn and ,jupiter dictated under the 
influence of ,alyre ,bureau1 who was the
 musician for the spiritualist society  
of ,allan-,kardec4 ,here we have        
disembodied spirits of all ranks1 and   
this is the apostolate of their         
reincarnation4  ,in the ,united ,states1

 on the contrary1 the moving tables     
declare that the hypothesis of          
reincarnation is absurd and misleading2 
and it may be assumed that none of the  
persons present1 especially the ladies1 
would for one moment admit the          
possibility of being some day           
reincarnated beneath the skin of a      
negro4 ,a brilliant imagination1 like   
that of ,sardou1 will picture to us     
,jupiter's castles2 a musician may      
receive the revelation of a musical     
composition1 more or less charming2 an  
astronomer may be favored with          
astronomical communications4 ,is this   
physical auto-suggestion8 ,not          
absolutely1 since the force goes outside
 of ourselves1 in order to act4 ,it is  
rather mental suggestion2 yet an idea   
cannot be suggested to a piece of wood4 
,this is1 therefore1 the direct action  
of the mind4 ,i cannot find a better    
name for it than psychical force1 a     
term1 as already stated1 which ,i have  
used since #ahfe1 and which has since   

become the fashion4  ,the action of     
mind1 outside the body1 has other       
testimony1 however4 ,magnetism1         
hypnotism1 suggestion1 telepathy prove  
this every day4 ,it cannot be disputed  
that here also we encounter many        
illusions4  ,some ten years ago a       
learned physician at ,nice1 ,doctor     
,barety1 the author of ,la ,force       
,neurique ,rayonnante et ,circulante    
7,the ,radiation and ,circulation of    
,nervous ,force7 devoted himself to     
ingenious experiments in the distant    
transmission of thought as observable in
 a magnetized person4 ,in these         
experiments1 in which ,i assisted1 it   
seemed to me that the subject's sense of
 hearing amply sufficed to explain the  
results4  ,take one case4 ,the subject  
began to count aloud1 while the         
magnetizer was in an adjoining room1 the
 door standing open between them4 ,at a 
certain moment the doctor1 with all his 
energy1 projected his nervous fluid from
 his hands1 and the magnetized subject  

forthwith ceased counting2 yet the      
doctor's linen cuffs made enough noise  
to indicate what he commanded1 though no
 word was spoken4 ,during the           
experiments at ,salptrire and at ,ivry1 
to which ,doctor ,luys was kind enough  
to invite me1 ,i thought ,i observed    
that a previous knowledge of the        
sequence of the experiments furnished a 
wide margin for the exercise of the     
personal faculties of the young women   
upon whom the experiments were made4    
,these suspicions1 however1 did not     
prevent certain facts in regard to      
mental suggestion from being absolutely 
incontestable4  ,here is one among      
others3--  ,doctor ,ochorowiez was      
attending a lady troubled with          
long-standing hysterio-epilepsy1        
aggravated by a maniacal inclination to 
suicide4 ,madame ,m4 was twenty-seven   
years of age1 and had a vigorous        
constitution4 ,she appeared to be in    
excellent health4 ,her active and gay   
temperament was united with extreme     

moral sensibility4 ,her character was   
specially truthful4 ,her profound       
goodness was tinctured with a tendency  
toward self-sacrifice4 ,her intelligence
 was remarkable4 ,her talents were many1
 and her perceptive faculties were good4
 ,at times she would display a lack of  
willpower1 and an element of painful    
indecision2 while at other times she    
showed exceptional firmness4 ,the       
slightest moral fatigue1 any unexpected 
impression1 though of trifling          
importance1 whether agreeable or        
otherwise1 reacted1 although slowly and 
imperceptibly1 upon her vaso-motor      
nerves1 and brought on convulsive       
attacks and a nervous swoon4 ,writes    
,dr4 ,ochorowiez in his work on ,mental 
,suggestion3       ,one day1 or rather  
one night1 her attack being over        
7including a phase of delirium71 the    
patient fell quietly      asleep4       
,awaking suddenly1 and seeing us 7one of
 her female      friends and myself7    
still near her1 she begged us to go     

away1 and not to tire ourselves         
needlessly on her account4      ,she was
 so persistent that1 fearing a nervous  
crisis1 we      departed4 ,i went slowly
 downstairs1 for she resided on the     
fourth story1 and ,i paused several     
times to listen      attentively1       
troubled by an evil presentiment2 for   
she had      wounded herself several    
times a few days before4 ,i had         
already reached the courtyard1 when ,i  
paused again1 asking      myself whether
 or not ,i ought to go away4       ,all 
at once her window opened with a slam1  
and ,i saw the      sick woman leaning  
out with a rapid motion4 ,i rushed to   
the      spot where she might fall2 and 
mechanically1 without      attaching any
 great importance to the impulse1 ,i    
concentrated all my will in one great   
desire to oppose her      precipitation4
       ,the patient was influenced1     
however1 though already leaning      far
 out1 and retreated slowly and          
spasmodically from the      window4 ,the

 same movements were repeated five times
 in      succession1 until the patient1 
seemingly fatigued1 at last             
remained motionless1 her back leaning   
against the casement      of the window1
 which was still open4       ,she could 
not see me1 as ,i was in the shadow far 
below1 and      it was night4 ,at that  
moment1 her friend1 ,mademoiselle ,x41  
ran in1 and caught madame in her arms4  
,i heard them      struggling together1 
and hastened up the stairs to           
mademoiselle's assistance4 ,i found the 
invalid in a frenzy      of excitement4 
,she did not recognize us1 but mistook  
us for      robbers4 ,i could only draw 
her away from the window by using       
violence enough to throw her upon her   
knees4 ,several times      she tried to 
bite me2 but after much trouble1 ,i     
succeeded in      replacing the poor    
lady in her bed4 ,while maintaining my  
grasp with one hand1 ,i induced a       
contraction of her arms1      and       
finally put her to sleep4       ,when   

again in a somnambulistic state1 her    
first words were3      ,thanks6--pardon6
       ,then she told me that she       
positively intended to throw            
herself out of the window1 but that each
 time she felt as if      she were      
stayed from below4       ,how so8       
,i do not know4       ,did you have any 
suspicion of my presence8       ,no6 it 
was precisely because ,i believed you   
away1 that ,i      proposed to carry out
 my design4 ,however1 it seemed to me at
      times that you were near me1 or   
behind me1 and that you did      not    
want me to fall4  ,here is another      
experiment still more striking4 ,pierre 
,janet1 ,professor of ,philosophy in the
 ,havre ,lyce1 and ,monsieur ,gibert1 a 
physician1 selected as a subject for    
their observation a certain woman1 a    
native of ,brittany4 ,she was fifty     
years old1 robust1 and moderately       
sensitive to hypnotic influences4 ,on   
,october #aj1 #ahhe1 they agreed upon   
the following command3       ,to-morrow1

 at noon1 lock the doors of your house4 
,w4  ,this suggestion ,dr4 ,janet       
inscribed upon a sheet of paper1 which  
he carried about in his pocket1 not     
communicating its purport to anybody4   
,dr4 ,gibert made the suggestion by     
placing his forehead against the        
woman's1 while she was in a lethargic   
slumber2 and for a few moments he       
concentrated his mind upon the mental   
command he was giving4  ,writes ,janet  
concerning this incident3       ,on the 
morrow we went to the house1 at fifteen 
minutes      before twelve1 and found   
the entrance barricaded and the         
doors locked4 ,inquiry proved that      
madame herself had closed      them4    
,when ,i asked her1 next day1 why she   
had done such a      strange thing1 she 
replied3 ,i felt very tired1 and did not
      want you to come in and put me to 
sleep4       ,she was greatly agitated  
at the time4 ,she continually           
wandered about the garden1 and ,i saw   
her pluck a rose1 and      go towards   

the letter-box1 which was near the gate4
 ,these      actions were of no         
importance2 but it is curious to note   
that these last actions were precisely  
those the day before      we had thought
 of ordering her to perform1 though we  
afterwards decided upon a different     
suggestion1 namely1 that      of locking
 the doors4 ,undoubtedly his first      
suggestion      occupied ,gibert's mind 
while he was giving the second1 and     
had a corresponding influence over the  
woman4  ,here is still another          
experiment1 related by ,doctor ,dusart3 
,every day1 before leaving a certain    
young patient1 ,i      commanded her to 
sleep until a specified hour the next   
day4      ,once ,i came away1 forgetting
 this precaution1 and ,i was      seven 
hundred yards away before ,i thought of 
it4 ,being      unable to retrace my    
steps1 ,i said to myself that my wish   
might perhaps be felt1 notwithstanding  
the distance1 since a      silent       
suggestion was sometimes obeyed at an   

interval of one      or two yards4 ,i   
therefore formulated my command that she
      should sleep until eight o'clock  
the next morning1 and then      kept on 
my way4 ,the next day ,i called again1  
at half-past      seven1 and found my   
patient still asleep4       ,how happens
 it that you are still asleep8          
,why1 ,monsieur1 ,i am obeying your     
orders4       ,you are mistaken4 ,i went
 away without giving any such           
command6       ,that is so6 but five    
minutes later ,i distinctly heard you   
tell me to sleep until eight o'clock4   
,as it was not yet eight1 and as eight  
was the hour ,i usually      indicated1 
the possibility suggested itself that   
her      awakening was the result of an 
illusion1 arising from habit1      and  
perhaps1 after all1 this was a case of  
simple      coincidence4 ,in order to   
make a clean breast of it1 and          
leave no room for doubt1 ,i ordered the 
invalid to sleep      until she should  
receive a command to awake4             

,during the day1 having a few spare     
moments1 ,i resolved to      complete   
the experiment4 ,on leaving my house1   
seven      kilometers away1 ,i mentally 
gave the order for her to wake      up4 
,i noticed that it was two o'clock4 ,on 
reaching the house      ,i found her    
awake4 ,her parents1 following my       
advice1 had      noted the precise time 
of her awakening4 ,it was the very      
hour at which ,i gave the command4      
,this experiment was repeated several   
times1 at different      hours1 and     
always with kindred results4  ,this is  
really very interesting2 but here is    
something which appears more            
extraordinary4       ,on the first of   
,january ,i discontinued my visits1 and 
my      relations to the family ceased4 
,i had not even heard them      spoken  
of2 yet on ,january #ab1 as ,i was      
making some visits in      an opposite  
direction1 ten kilometers away from my  
former      patient1 ,i found myself    
wondering if it was still possible      

to make her hear my mental commands1    
despite the distance      separating us1
 despite the cessation of my relations  
to the      family1 and despite the     
intervention of a third party1 the      
father himself1 who was magnetizing his 
daughter4 ,i      therefore bade the    
patient not fall asleep4 ,half an hour  
later1 reflecting that if1 by some      
extraordinary chance1 my      command   
was obeyed1 this might prejudice the    
mind of the      unfortunate girl       
against me1 ,i withdrew my prohibition1 
and      dismissed it from my thoughts4 
,on the following morning1 at      six  
o'clock1 ,i was greatly surprised by the
 arrival of a      messenger1 bringing  
me a letter from the father of the young
      lady1 in which he informed me that
 on the day before1      ,january #ab1  
at ten o'clock in the forenoon1 he was  
unable to      put his daughter to      
sleep1 except by a prolonged and        
disagreeable struggle4 ,when she at last
 fell asleep she      declared that if  

she had resisted1 it was because of my  
command1 and that she finally fell      
asleep only because ,i      permitted   
it4       ,these declarations had been  
made before witnesses1 whom the         
father had asked to countersign his     
report4 ,i have preserved      this     
letter1 and have added a few            
circumstantial details      thereto4    
,it is1 therefore1 probable that1 with  
an exact knowledge or      phenomenal   
conditions1 we may eventually be able to
 mentally      transmit entire thoughts 
to distant points1 as is done now       
by telephone4  ,independently of        
magnetism1 it is difficult not to       
believe that two persons1 mutually dear 
to each other1 although separated by    
certain circumstances1 may remain united
 by their thoughts1 with a tenacity     
which nothing can disturb1 especially if
 the circumstances are grave4 ,the      
thoughts of the one react upon the mind 
of the other1 as if the beatings of one 
heart could transmit themselves to      

another heart4 ,there is a certain      
psychical tie between the two2 and at   
the time when one especially            
concentrates his voluntary force upon   
the other1 it is not unusual for the    
latter to feel the reaction1 and be     
plunged into a revery even more intense4
 ,the transmission of thought--or1 to   
speak more exactly1 suggestion1--is1    
under these conditions1 a matter for    
observation1 which might frequently be  
applied4  ,i shall not here consider the
 phenomena of telepathy or ghosts4      
,readers of ,,the ,,arena have been     
favored with ,mr4 ,wallace's excellent  
articles on this point1 and it would be 
superfluous to reconsider it4 ,no doubt 
our readers are also acquainted with the
 examples reported in my work called    
,urania1 and have long been aware that  
,i believe in the possibility of        
communications between invisible beings 
and ourselves4 ,in the point of view at 
which ,i have placed myself in this     
technical and essentially scientific    

outline1 ,i have taken care to carefully
 distinguish the things seen by myself  
from those which ,i have not seen4  ,i  
do not belong to the same class with    
those who say3 ,we have not seen it1 and
 therefore it cannot be4 ,there are     
honest people everywhere4 ,there are1   
perhaps1 few exact observers1 capable of
 reporting facts1 without changing      
anything in their recitals2 but there   
are witnesses we cannot well gainsay4   
,here1 for example1 is a letter among   
many recently addressed to me1 relative 
to certain extraordinary facts4         
,your work1 ,urania1 has prompted me to 
bring to your      knowledge an event   
which ,i heard related by the very      
person      to whom it happened1-a      
,danish physician1 named ,vogler1       
residing at ,gudum1 near ,alborg1 in    
,jutland4       ,vogler is a man of     
robust health1 both in mind and body4   
,he      has an upright and positive    
disposition1 without the least          
tendency 7but quite the contrary7 to    

nervous excitability4       ,he related 
to me the following story1 which ,i have
 often      heard confirmed by others as
 the unadorned and exact truth4         
,when a young man1 studying medicine1 he
 travelled in ,germany      with ,count 
,schimmuelmann1 a noted name among the  
nobility of      ,holstein1 who was     
about his own age4 ,they hired a small  
house in a ,german university town where
 they proposed to      stay for         
sometime4 ,the ,count lived in the      
apartments on the      ground floor1    
while ,vogler occupied the next story2  
and the      street door1 as well as the
 stairway1 were used by      themselves 
alone4 ,one night1 when ,mr4 ,vogler was
 reading in      bed1 he suddenly heard 
the door at the foot of the stairs      
open and shut2 but he did not pay any   
attention to it1      believing the     
,count had just come in4 ,a few moments 
later he      heard slow and tired      
footsteps ascend the stairs1 and stop   
at his chamber door4 ,he saw the door   

open1 but nobody      appeared4 ,the    
footsteps did not cease1 however1 for he
 heard      them on the floor1 advancing
 from the door to the bed4 ,he          
could see absolutely nothing1 although  
the light was      continuously burning2
 and he could not understand the        
affair1 not recognizing the footsteps4  
,when the steps had      drawn very near
 the bed1 he heard a great sigh1 which  
he at      once recognized as that of   
his grandmother1 whom he had left       
in good health at their home in         
,denmark4 ,at the same instant      he  
also recognized the step1 which was1    
indeed1 the halting      and aged step  
of his grandmother4 ,looking at his     
watch1      which he had placed under   
his pillow1 ,vogler noted the exact     
hour1 and made a memorandum of it1 for  
he at once surmised      that his       
grandmother might be dying at the very  
instant4 ,at      a later day he        
received a letter from the paternal     
home1      announcing the sudden death  

of his grandmother1 who                 
particularly cherished him above the    
other grandchildren4      ,this         
established the fact that her death     
occurred at the      very hour          
indicated4 ,in this manner did the      
venerable woman      take leave of her  
grandson1 who did not even know of her  
illness4                                
,,edward ,,hambro1                      
,counselor-at-law1 and ,secretary of    
,public ,works                          
in the ,city of ,christiana4  ,here1 as 
may be seen1 is a fact1 observed as     
precisely as a scientific experiment2   
and it might be added to those ,i have  
published in ,urania4  ,i will adduce   
one more fact1 which was observed very  
long ago1 in #aghd1 by my               
great-grandfather1 on my mother's side4 
,it occurred in ,illand1 a little       
village in the county of ,bar1 which    
to-day belongs to the ,department of    
,haute-,marne1 not far from the native  
place of both my maternal grandfather   

and myself4 ,in childhood ,i spent all  
my vacations there among the            
vine-planted hills1 face to face with   
gracious landscapes1 amid forests alive 
with bird songs4 ,the house yet stands  
in which the incident happened4 ,it is  
at the entrance of the village1 on the  
right1 and is called the ,chateau4 ,one 
evening my great-grandmother1 on        
returning from her work in the fields1  
perceived1 by the huge chimney-corner   
7which can still be seen71 her brother1 
who had been dead several months4 ,he   
was seated1 and seemed to be warming    
himself4 ,my ,god6 she exclaimed in     
affright1 it's our dead ,rolet6 and then
 she ran away4 ,her husband1 entering in
 his turn1 also saw his brother-in-law  
sitting by the fireplace4 ,at that      
critical moment one of the farm hands   
uttered an oath1 and the apparition     
vanished4  ,i give this narrative as it 
was related to me4 ,no misgivings as to 
the reality of the vision existed in the
 minds of the personages in my          

grandmother's household4  ,allow me to  
mention another illustration4 ,in       
,february1 #ahhi1 ,i received from ,h4  
,van der ,kerkhare the following        
communication1 relating to an article ,i
 had published about this class of      
phenomena4       ,while in ,texas1 on   
,august #be1 #ahgd1 towards sunset1 ,i  
was      smoking my after-dinner pipe in
 a room on the ground floor      of the 
house ,i occupied4 ,i was facing the    
wall1 with a door      on my right      
opening towards the northwest4 ,here is 
a diagram      of the scene4            
,illustration       ,suddenly ,i saw my 
old grandfather in the doorway4 ,i was  
in      that semi-conscious state of    
well-being and quietude natural      to 
a man with a good appetite who has dined
 satisfactorily4      ,i was not at all 
astonished to see my grandfather there4 
,in      fact1 ,i was vegetating just   
then1 thinking of nothing in            
particular4 ,nevertheless1 ,i said to   
myself3--,it is droll      that the rays

 of the setting sun should pour gold and
 purple      through the least folds of 
my grandfather's garments and      face4
 ,in fact1 the setting sun was red1 and 
threw its last      horizontal rays     
diagonally athwart the doorway4         
,grandfather      had a beneficent      
countenance4 ,he smiled and seemed      
happy4      ,all at once he disappeared 
along with the vanishing sun1 and       
,i roused myself as from a dream1 but   
with the conviction      that ,i had    
seen an apparition4 ,six weeks          
afterwards ,i was      apprised by      
letter that my grandfather had died on  
the night      of ,august #be and #bf   
between one and two o'clock4 ,well1     
there      is a difference of five and  
one-half hours between the              
longitude of ,belgium1 where my         
grandfather died1 and the      longitude
 of ,texas where ,i was1 and where the  
sun set at      about seven o'clock4    
,it would be easy to cite a large number
 of similar cases4 ,let me end this     

section with the following conclusion of
 ,ch4 ,richet1 the learned editor of the
 ,revue ,scientifique3--       ,unless  
we discredit the value of all human     
testimony1 these      stories are       
veritable and accurate4 ,whenever       
kindred      incidents are reproduced by
 experiment1 telepathy will no          
longer be disputed1 but admitted as a   
natural phenomenon1 as      well proven 
as the rotation of the earth1 or as the 
contagion of tuberculosis4 ,to-day's    
audacious theories will1      in a few  
years1 seem almost like infantile       
truisms4  ,we have now come to the      
closing section of this already long    
essay1--namely1 to the explanation of   
such phenomena as table-tipping1 spirit 
rapping and dictation1 and distant      
transmission of thought4 ,let us confess
 that it is much easier to unfold and   
discuss such facts1 than to determine   
their modus operandi4 ,i will add that1 
even if in the present state of our     
knowledge1 it is impossible to explain  

these facts1 there is no shadow of a    
reason for rejecting them4  ,the theory 
with which we conclude has been         
anticipated by the preceding sections4  
,what is the universe8 ,what is nature8 
,what are beings8 ,what are things8     
,from astronomy to physiology1          
everything constrains us to allow the   
existence of at least two               
elements--force and matter4  ,the order 
and laws of the universe1 together with 
human thought and consciousness1 lead us
 to admit 7besides force and matter7 a  
third element--intelligence2 for        
speaking only of the constituency of our
 planet1 no chemical combination        
whatever has ever been known to produce 
an idea4  ,force directs4 ,matter obeys4
  ,force is invisible and so is matter4 
,all matter whatsoever is composed of   
atoms1 too infinitesimal for our        
perception1 and even invisible beneath  
the most powerful microscope but whose  
existence is demonstrated by chemistry1 
as well as by physics4 ,the molecules of

 iron1 gold1 hydrogen1 oxygen1 carbon1  
appear to be groups of atoms4 ,even if  
we deny the existence of atoms1 and     
admit only the existence of molecules1  
they also are invisible4  ,matter1      
therefore1 in its very essence1 is      
invisible4 ,our eyes behold only motion 
and transitory forms4 ,our hands touch  
only appearances4 ,hardness and         
softness1 heat and cold1 weight and     
lightness1 are relative1 not absolute   
conditions4  ,what we call matter is    
only an effect produced upon our senses 
by the motion of atoms1--that is to say1
 by our unceasing receptivity to        
sensations4  ,the universe is a dynamic 
conglomerate4 ,atoms are in perpetual   
motion1 caused by forces4 ,all is       
movement4 ,heat1 light1 electricity1    
terrestrial magnetism1 do not exist as  
independent agents4 ,they are but modes 
of motion4 ,that which actually exists  
is force4 ,it is force that sustains the
 universe4 ,it is force that projects   
the earth into space4 ,it is force that 

constitutes living creatures4  ,the     
human soul is a principle of force4     
,thought is a dynamic act4 ,psychical   
force acts upon the matter composing our
 bodies1 and actuates all our members to
 fulfil their tasks4 ,like all forces1  
psychical force can transform itself1   
can become electricity1 heat1 light1    
motion2 for these are all modes of      
motion4 ,psychical force is itself in   
motion4  ,it can act outside the limits 
of the human organism1 and can          
temporarily animate a table4 ,i place my
 hands on a round table1 with a firm    
desire to see it obey my will4 ,i       
communicate to it a certain heat1 a     
certain electricity1 a certain          
polarization1 or a certain other        
something we have not yet discovered4   
,the stand becomes1 so to speak1 an     
extension of my body1 and submits to the
 influence of my will4 ,i look at a     
person4 ,i take his hand4 ,i thus act   
upon him4  ,more than this4 ,if the     
brain of another person vibrates in     

unison with mine1 or has at one in      
harmony with the keynote of my own      
brain1 ,i can act upon him1 even from a 
distance4  ,if ,i emit a sound a few    
yards from a piano1 those piano-strings 
which are in harmony with my utterance  
will vibrate1 and themselves send forth 
a kindred sound1 easily distinguishable4
  ,a telegraph wire transmits a         
despatch3 ,a neighboring wire is        
influenced by induction2 and it has been
 possible1 by the aid of this second and
 separate wire1 to read messages sent   
over the first4  ,there is still more to
 be said4 ,the principle of the         
transformation of force to-day opens to 
us new views which might well be called 
marvellous4 ,we every day make use of   
the telephone1 without thinking that it 
is1 in itself1 more astonishing than all
 the occult facts considered in this    
paper4  ,you speak4 ,your voice is      
transmitted ten or twenty thousand      
kilometers1 from ,paris to ,marseilles1 
and even farther away4 ,you think it is 

your own voice which is heard and       
recognized at the other end of the wire2
 but it is not2 your voice has not made 
the journey4 ,sound of itself1 in its   
ordinary state1 is not transmitted with 
anything like the rapidity attending    
this flight over the copper wire4 ,if it
 were otherwise1 we should have to wait 
seven hours and twenty-four seconds for 
a response1 whereas there is no         
appreciable delay in the telephonic     
passage of sound4 ,the usual vocal      
velocity becomes electric velocity1 and 
the interval between the terminal       
stations of the wire is traversed       
instantaneously4 ,on reaching its       
destination1 the current again          
transforms itself into sound through its
 encounter with a medial1 an environment
 like that at its starting-point4  ,is  
the conductive wire indispensable8 ,by  
no means6 ,is there a connecting wire   
between the sun and the earth8 ,yet the 
spots on the sun occasion rebounds in   
the variations of terrestrial magnetism4

 ,in the photophone the conductive wire 
has already been dispensed with1 and a  
ray of light is used in its place4 ,you 
speak behind a mirror1 and thus cause it
 to vibrate4 ,these vibrations modify   
the reflection of light from the        
vibrating mirror1 which thus bears along
 your voice1 with which it becomes      
charged4 ,selenium1 the chemical element
 used in the operation1 transmits the   
sound to the telephone1 and your spoken 
word is reproduced4  ,the principal of  
the transformation of forces is         
undoubtedly one of the most prolific in 
modern physics4 ,heat can be transformed
 into mechanical motion2 mechanical     
motion may be transformed into heat4    
,electricity is transformable into      
magnetism2 and1 reciprocally1 magnetism 
may change into electricity1 into light4
 ,the motion of the mill-wheel serves to
 illuminate your house4 ,from ,paris you
 can light a lamp in ,brussels4 ,when   
you act from afar upon another mind1 it 
is not your thought which travels1 as a 

mental condition2 but your thought      
traverses the intervening ether through 
a series of vibrations as yet unknown to
 us1 and only becomes thought again when
 brought into contact with another      
brain1 because the last transference    
brings the impulse into a medium akin to
 that from which it started4 ,it is     
therefore necessary that this second    
brain should be in sympathy with yours2 
that is to say1 using one of ,doctor    
,ochorowiez's expressions1 that the     
dynamic tone of the receiver should be  
in accord with your own4 ,it is1        
moreover1 noticeable that there are     
periods when veritable thought-currents 
affect thousands of brains at the same  
moment4 ,at the bottom of all this there
 is but one principle1 and that is      
identical with the relation existing    
between the magnet and the iron1 between
 the sun and the earth1--namely1 the    
transmission and transformation of      
motion4 ,herbert ,spencer has said3--   
,the discovery that matter1 so simple in

 appearance1 is      wonderfully        
complicated in its vital structure1--and
 that      other discovery1 that its    
molecules1 oscillating with a           
rapidity almost infinite1 convey their  
impressions to the      surrounding     
ether1 which1 in turn1 transmits them   
over      inconceivable distances1 in an
 inconceivably short space of           
time1--these discoveries lead us to the 
even more marvellous      discovery1    
that any kind of molecules are affected 
in a      special manner by molecules of
 the same kind1 though      situated in 
the most distant regions of space4  ,it 
requires but one step more for the      
admission that psychical communications 
may be established between an inhabitant
 of ,mars and an inhabitant of the      
earth4  ,we are often asked what all    
these studies amount to4 ,that is still 
unknown4 ,if they should end in a       
scientific proof of the existence and   
immortality of the soul1 these          
investigations would forthwith surpass  

in value all other human sciences put   
together1 without a single exception4   
,it must be acknowledged that this      
reason is a sufficient authorization for
 us not to despise this class of        
researches4 ,but this argument is       
needless4 ,these investigations relate  
to the unknown1 and that reason is      
all-sufficient4  ,did ,galvani in       
examining the convulsions of his frogs1 
have any idea of the immense1 the       
prodigious1 the universal part which    
electric science was to perform in less 
than a century8 ,denis ,papin and       
,robert ,fulton1 ,benjamin ,franklin and
 ,james ,watts1 ,jouffroy and           
,daguerre1--all the inventors1 all the  
searchers after truth1--were they wrong 
in losing themselves in their pursuit of
 the unknown8 ,it is such men who cause 
the advance of humanity4 ,it is to them 
mankind owes its progress4  ,if it were 
proved1 we say1 that there exists       
outside of us1 and even within us1 an   
immaterial and spiritual force1 which   

eludes the known processes of nature1   
and the acknowledged laws of life1--and 
which reveals itself by other processes 
and other laws1 which do not supplant   
the first1 but take an equal place      
beside them1 this new knowledge might   
enlighten somewhat the shadows which now
 conceal the great secret of the origin 
and destiny of such poor beings as      
ourselves4  ,first of all1 let us seek  
the truth4 ,to be sure1 ,taine has      
written very wittily3 ,i never thought  
that a truth could be of any practical  
use6 but we may not be of the same mind1
 and may think1 on the contrary1 that   
the search for truth is the prime object
 of men's intellectual existence4       
,,the ,,swiss ,,and ,,american          
,,constitutions1  ,,by ,w4 ,d4          
,mc,c,r,a,c,k,a,n4   ,the study of      
federalism1 as a system of government1  
has in recent times become a favorite   
subject for constitutional writers4 ,at 
present the ,united ,states and the     
,dominion of ,canada on this continent1 

the newly constituted ,australian       
,commonwealth at the ,antipodes1 and in 
,europe the ,german ,empire1 the        
,austro-,hungarian ,empire1 and the     
,swiss ,confederation are all examples  
of the application of the federal       
principle in its various phases4 ,what  
makes all researches into this branch of
 political learning particularly        
difficult1 and perhaps for that reason  
also exceptionally fascinating1 is the  
fact that federated states seem forever 
oscillating between the two extremes of 
complete centralization and             
decentralization4 ,the two forces1      
centripetal and centrifugal1 seem to be 
always pulling against each other1 and  
producing a new resultant which varies  
according to their proportionate        
intensity4 ,one is almost tempted to say
 that there must be an ideal state      
somewhere between these two extremes1   
some point of perfect balance1 from     
which no nation can ever depart very far
 without either falling apart into      

anarchy or being consolidated into      
despotism4 ,whatever1 therefore1 can    
throw light upon these obscure forces is
 certainly entitled to our deepest      
interest4  ,but not all the different   
states mentioned above as               
representatives of federalism1 possess  
an equal value for us in our search     
after improvements in the art of        
self-government4 ,the study of the      
constitutions of the ,german and        
,austro-,hungarian empires can only be  
of secondary importance to us           
,americans1 because these states are    
founded upon monarchical principles1    
quite foreign to our body politic4 ,to a
 limited extent1 the same objection may 
be made to the ,canadian and ,australian
 constitutions1 since the connection of 
those countries with the monarchical    
mother country has not been             
constitutionally severed4 ,but there is 
another federated state in existence1   
until lately almost ignored by writers  
on political subjects1 whose example can

 in reality be of the utmost use to us1 
for its general organization more nearly
 resembles our own in miniature than any
 other4 ,this country is ,switzerland4  
,in her quiet fashion the unobtrusive   
little ,confederation is working out    
some of the great modern problems1 and  
her citizens1 with their natural        
aptitude for self-government1 are       
presenting object lessons which we      
especially in ,america cannot afford to 
overlook4 ,it is true that political    
analogies are sometimes a little        
perilous1 for identical situations can  
never be reproduced in different        
countries1 but if there be any virtue at
 all in the study of comparative        
politics1 a comparison between the      
,federal constitutions of ,switzerland  
and the ,united ,states ought to throw  
into relief some features which can be  
of service to us4  ,to be perfectly     
frank1 the ,swiss constitution1 when    
placed side by side with our own1 at    
first shows certain decided             

short-comings4 ,the ,constitution of the
 ,united ,states is an eminently        
logical1 well-balanced document1 in     
which a masterly distinction is made    
between the executive1 legislative1 and 
judicial functions of government1 and   
between matters which belong by nature  
to organic law1 and those which may     
safely be left to the statute law4 ,in  
the ,swiss constitution1 however1 the   
line which separates these departments  
is not as clearly drawn1 so that1 in    
fact1 a certain amount of confusion in  
their treatment becomes apparent4 ,in   
the primitive leagues which were        
concluded between the early             
,confederates no attempt was made to    
draw up regular constitutions1 and the  
one now in force dates only from #ahdh1 
with amendments made in #ahgd1 #ahgi1   
and #ahhe1 an instrument still somewhat 
imperfect1 perhaps1 but none the less   
suggestive to the student4  ,there are  
two institutions in the ,swiss state    
which bear a very strong likeness to    

corresponding ones in our own4 ,both    
countries have a legislative system     
consisting of two houses1 one           
representing the people numerically1 and
 the other the ,cantons or ,states of   
which the ,union is composed1 and both  
possess a ,supreme ,court1 which in     
,switzerland goes by the name of the    
,federal ,tribunal4 ,it is generally    
conceded that the ,swiss consciously    
imitated these ,american institutions1  
but in doing so they certainly took care
 to adapt them to their own particular  
needs1 so that the two sets of          
institutions are by no means identical4 
,the ,swiss ,national ,council and      
,council of ,states1 forming together   
the ,federal ,assembly1 are equal1      
co-ordinate bodies1 performing the same 
functions1 whereas our ,house of        
,representatives and ,senate have       
particular duties assigned to each1 and 
the former occupies in a measure a      
subordinate position to the latter4 ,the
 ,swiss ,houses meet twice a year in    

regular sessions1 on the first ,monday  
in ,june and the first ,monday in       
,december1 and for extra sessions if    
there is special unfinished business to 
transact4 ,the ,national ,council is    
composed at present of #adg members1 one
 representative to every #bj1jjj        
inhabitants4 ,every citizen of          
twenty-one is a voter2 and every voter  
not a clergyman is eligible to this     
,national ,council--the exclusion of the
 clergy is due to dread of religious    
quarrels1 with which the pages of ,swiss
 history have been only too frequently  
stained4 ,a general election takes place
 every three years4 ,the salary of the  
representatives is four dollars a day1  
which is forfeited by non-attendance1   
and about five cents a mile for         
travelling expenses4 ,on the other hand1
 the ,council of ,states is composed of 
forty-four members1 two for each of the 
twenty-two ,cantons4 ,the length of     
their terms of office is left entirely  
to the discretion of the ,cantons which 

elect them1 and in the same manner their
 salaries are paid out of the ,cantonal 
treasuries4 ,there are certain special  
occasions when the two houses meet      
together and act in concert3 first1 for 
the election of the ,federal ,council1  
which corresponds in a general way to   
our ,president and his ,cabinet2        
secondly1 for the election of the       
,federal ,tribunal2 thirdly1 for that of
 the ,chancellor of the ,confederation1 
an official whose duties seem to be     
those of a secretary to the ,federal    
,council and ,federal ,assembly1 and    
fourthly1 for that of the               
,commander-in-,chief in case of war4    
,the attributes of the ,swiss ,federal  
,tribunal1 though closely resembling    
those of our ,supreme ,court1 are not   
identical with them1 for the ,swiss     
conception of the sovereignty of the    
people is quite different from our own4 
,their ,federal ,assembly is the        
repository of the national sovereignty1 
and1 therefore1 no other body can       

override its decisions4 ,the ,supreme   
,court of the ,united ,states tests the 
constitutionality of laws passed by     
,congress which may be submitted to it  
for examination1 thus placing itself as 
arbiter over the representatives of the 
people2 but the ,federal ,tribunal must 
accept as final all laws which have     
passed through the usual channels1 so   
that its duty consists merely in        
applying them to particular cases       
without questioning their               
constitutionality4  ,if there is a      
certain resemblance between the ,federal
 ,assembly and our ,congress1 and       
between the ,federal ,tribunal and our  
,supreme ,court1 there is on the other  
hand a striking difference between the  
,federal ,council and our presidential  
office4  ,the ,swiss ,constitution does 
not intrust the executive power to one  
man1 as our own does1 but to a ,federal 
,council of seven members1 acting as a  
sort of ,board of ,administration4      
,these seven men are elected for a fixed

 term of three years1 out of the ranks  
of the whole body of voters throughout  
the country1 by the two ,houses1 united 
in joint session4 ,every year they also 
designate1 from the seven members of the
 ,federal ,council1 the two persons who 
shall act as ,president and             
,vice-,president of the ,swiss          
,confederation4 ,the ,swiss ,president  
is1 therefore1 only the chairman of an  
executive board1 and presents a complete
 contrast to the ,president of the      
,united ,states1 who is virtually a     
monarch1 elected for a short reign4 ,sir
 ,henry ,maine says in his book on      
,popular ,government1 that somewhat     
exasperating but always instructive     
arraignment of democracy3 ,on the face  
of the ,constitution of the ,united     
,states1 the resemblance of the         
,president of the ,united ,states to the
 ,european king1 and especially to the  
,king of ,great ,britain1 is too obvious
 to mistake4 ,the ,president has1 in    
various degrees1 a number of powers     

which those who know something of       
kingship in its general history         
recognize at once as peculiarly         
associated with it and with no other    
institution4 ,in truth he is vested with
 all the attributes of sovereignty      
during his term of office4 ,he holds in 
his hand the whole executive power of   
the government2 he is                   
,commander-in-,chief of the army and    
navy2 possesses a suspensory veto upon  
legislation and the privilege of        
pardoning offences against ,federal law1
 and finally is intrusted with an       
appointing power unparalleled in any    
free country4 ,with all this authority  
he is still a partisan by reason of the 
manner of his election1 so that he      
cannot possibly administer his office   
impartially1 and must1 from the         
necessity of the case1 forward the      
interests of one political party at the 
expense of the rest4 ,it is certainly   
worthy of consideration whether the     
,swiss ,federal ,council does not       

contain valuable suggestions for        
reformers who desire to hasten the      
triumph of absolute democracy in the    
,united ,states4  ,the institution of   
the ,referendum has no counterpart in   
our own country1 unless we except the   
somewhat unwieldy provisions in various 
,states for the revisions of their      
constitutions by popular vote4 ,it is   
undoubtedly the most successful         
experiment in applying the principles of
 direct government which has been made  
in modern times4 ,having already written
 more fully upon this subject in the    
,march number of ,,the ,,arena1 the     
writer will here confine himself to     
reminding the readers of this review    
that the referendum is an institution by
 means of which laws framed by the      
representatives are submitted to the    
people for rejection or approval4 ,it is
 significant of the interest which the  
referendum is already exciting in this  
country that a committee of gentlemen   
recently presented themselves at the    

,state ,house to urge the adoption of   
this principle in local matters4  ,there
 are1 besides1 a host of minor          
differences between the ,swiss and      
,american ,constitutions1 of more or    
less interest to students of politics   
and economics4  ,the central government 
in ,switzerland maintains a university1 
the ,polytechnic at ,zrich1 and by      
virtue of the constitution also exerts  
an influence over education throughout  
the ,confederation4 ,article #bg        
prescribes that the ,cantons shall      
provide compulsory primary instruction  
to be placed in charge of the civil     
authorities and to be gratuitous in all 
public schools4 ,in practice these      
provisions have been found difficult to 
enforce where the spirit of the         
population was opposed to them1 as in   
,uri1 the most illiterate of the        
,cantons1 where the writer found        
educational matters entirely in the     
hands of the priesthood4 ,fortunately1  
however1 the ,swiss people at large have

 a very keen appreciation of the value  
of education1 so that illiteracy1 as we 
have it in this country1 among the      
negroes and the poor whites of the      
,south1 as well as amongst certain      
classes of our immigrants1 is really    
unknown in ,switzerland4 ,someone has   
jestingly said that there the primary   
business of the state is to keep school1
 and really1 in travelling through the  
country which gave birth to ,pestalozzi1
 one is continually impressed with the  
size and comparative splendor of the    
schoolhouses2 in every village and      
hamlet they have the appearance of being
 the very best which the community by   
scrimping and saving can possibly put   
up4 ,on the subject of import duties1   
the ,constitution lays down in ,article 
#bi as general rules to guide the       
conduct of legislators1 that materials  
which are necessary to the industries   
and agriculture of the country shall be 
taxed as low as possible2 the same rule 
shall be observed in regard to the      

necessaries of life4 ,articles of luxury
 shall be subjected to the highest      
taxes4 ,from this set of principles it  
will be seen that ,switzerland levies   
her duties for revenue only1 as the     
phrase is1 although it must be confessed
 that there is a perceptible tendency   
now manifested to raise the duties in   
consequence of the high protectionist   
wave which is sweeping over the         
continent of ,europe at the present     
moment4 ,when the statistics of         
,switzerland's general trade1 including 
all goods in transit1 which1 of course1 
make a considerable portion of the      
whole1 are compared with those of other 
,european states1 it is found that she  
possesses a greater amount of general   
trade per head of population than any   
other country1 more even than ,england4 
,the telegraph and telephone systems are
 managed by the central government1 as  
well as the post office1 with excellent 
results4 ,not only are these departments
 conducted in an exemplary manner upon  

cheap terms1 but a respectable revenue  
is also derived from them which makes a 
good showing in the annual budget4      
,everything which is connected with the 
army1 from the selection of the recruits
 to the election of the                 
,commander-in-,chief1 also possesses    
exceptional interest1 because           
,switzerland is the only country in the 
world which has so far succeeded in     
maintaining an efficient militia without
 the vestige of a standing army4 ,an    
attempt was made in #ahhe to deal with  
the evils of intemperance1 by           
establishing a state monopoly of the    
manufacture and sale of spirituous      
liquors1 the ,revenue thus derived being
 apportioned amongst the ,cantons       
according to population1 with the       
proviso that ten per cent4 of it be used
 by them to combat the causes and       
effects of alcoholism in their midst4   
,it is too early to speak of the final  
results of this legislation1 but for the
 moment there seems to be a decided     

falling off in the consumption of the   
cruder and more injurious qualities4    
,amongst other matters which the        
,federal authorities have brought under 
their supervision1 are the forests1     
river improvements1 ordinary roads1 and 
railroads1 and bridges1 etc41 not       
managing them all directly1 but         
reserving the right to regulate them at 
will4 ,even hunting and fishing come    
within the jurisdiction of the central  
government1 this constitutional power   
having been used to preserve the chamois
 in certain mountain ranges where they  
were threatening to disappear           
completely1 but where1 thanks to timely 
interference1 they are now actually on  
the increase4  ,apart from these        
constitutional provisions1 the general  
drift of legislative action seems to    
have set in very strongly towards a mild
 form of state socialism1 somewhat after
 the form of the ,prussian system1 but  
with this difference1 that in the case  
of ,switzerland it is the people who    

unite to delegate certain powers to the 
state1 while in the latter country this 
policy is imposed upon the people from  
above by the ruling authorities4 ,the   
altogether exceptional clauses in the   
,swiss ,constitution referring to the   
exclusion of the ,jesuits1 a survival of
 the war of #ahdh1 to the so-called     
,heimatlosen1 or those who have no      
commune of origin1 and to the police    
appointed to control the movements of   
foreign agitators seeking the asylum of 
the country1 all these have a purely    
local interest1 and need not be         
especially examined4  ,what1 then1 is   
the peculiar mark and symbol of the     
,swiss ,constitution1 taken as a whole8 
,when all has been said and done1 the   
most characteristic provisions are those
 which introduce forms of direct        
government or of pure democracy1 as the 
technical expression is4 ,the supremacy 
of the legislative branch1 as           
representing the people1 the peculiar   
make-up of the ,federal ,council1 the   

limited powers of the ,federal          
,tribunal1 and above all the institution
 of the referendum1 are all evidences of
 this tendency toward direct government4
 ,in the ,cantonal governments the same 
quality is still more apparent1 for it  
is from them that the ,swiss ,federal   
,constitution has borrowed the          
principles which underlie these         
characteristic provisions4 ,in point of 
fact1 representative democracy has never
 felt quite at home in ,switzerland2    
there has always been an effort to      
revert to simpler1 more straightforward 
methods2 to reduce the distance which   
separates the people from the exercise  
of their sovereignty2 and to constitute 
them into a court of final appeal4  ,in 
view of the marvellous stability which  
the pure democracy of ,switzerland has  
displayed1 there is something comical in
 the horror of all forms of direct      
government expressed by most            
constitutional writers4 ,de             
,tocqueville1 whom we honor for his     

appreciation of our own ,constitution1  
declares that they all tend to render   
the government of the people irregular  
in its action1 precipitate in its       
resolutions1 and tyrannical in its acts4
 ,mr4 ,george ,grote also condemns the  
referendum1 and of course one cannot    
expect pure democracy to be praised by  
,sir ,henry ,maine1 who believes that   
the progress of mankind has hitherto    
been effected by the rise and fall of   
aristocracies4 ,on the other hand it is 
refreshing to hear ,mr4 ,freeman and    
,mr4 ,dicey actually discussing the     
practicability of introducing the       
referendum into the ,english political  
system4  ,after all1 is not this very   
quality of directness a great           
recommendation1 when we consider the    
rubbish which at present clogs the      
wheels of our political machinery1 the  
complications which confuse the voter   
and hide the real issues from his       
comprehension8 ,the very epithets pure  
and direct satisfy at once our best     

aspirations and our common sense4 ,if   
monarchy is the government of one1      
oligarchy that of a few1 and democracy  
that of many1 surely there will some day
 arise the rule of all4 ,the ,united    
,states seems to be standing at the     
parting of two ways1 one of which leads 
back in a vicious circle to plutocracy  
and despotism1 while the other advances 
towards a genuine pure democracy4 ,no   
nation can stand still4 ,which way shall
 it be8     ,,the ,,tyranny ,,of ,,all  
,,the ,,people4  ,,by ,,rev4 ,,francis  
,,bellamy4   ,dr4 ,whewell observed that
 the acceptance of every new idea passed
 through three stages3 #a4 ,it is       
absurd2 #b4 ,it is contrary to the      
,bible2 #c4 ,we always believed it4     
,change the second stage to1 ,it is     
unscientific1 and the diagram may apply 
to socialism4 ,we have certainly emerged
 from the period when it was considered 
a valid argument to call socialism      
somebody's dream4 ,it is now treated    
with a scientific earnestness which     

betrays its progress in general thought4
 ,this serious grappling with the       
subject is noted in the recent ,plea for
 ,liberty1 by some of ,mr4 ,herbert     
,spencer's disciples1 for which ,mr4    
,spencer himself has written an         
elaborate introduction4  ,the same      
earnestness is felt in the masterly     
editorial1 ,is ,socialism ,desirable8 in
 ,,the ,,arena for ,may4 ,this is a     
solid contribution to the permanent     
literature of the subject4 ,it is not a 
surprise that it has commanded such wide
 attention4 ,its deep thoughtfulness1   
its strategic selection of only vital   
points for its attack1 and1 not the     
least1 its kindliness and chivalry1 mark
 it as a notable production4 ,i truly   
appreciate the honor of being chosen by 
this knightly antagonist to face the    
attack on his own sands4  ,it is not    
without some question1 however1 that ,i 
accept the generous challenge4 ,for ,i  
am not sure that ,i myself believe in   
the military type of socialism which the

 editor seems continually to have in    
mind4 ,the book1 which more than all    
others combined has brought socialism   
before ,american thought1 has also      
furnished to its opponents a splendidly 
clear target in its military            
organization4 ,it cannot be repeated too
 often1 however1 that the army type is  
not conceded by socialists to be an     
essential1 even1 of nationalistic       
socialism4 ,democratic socialism differs
 considerably from military socialism1  
and may be fully as national in its     
reach4 ,in so far as ,mr4 ,flower's     
arguments apply to democratic socialism1
 the following paragraphs may be taken  
as a rejoinder4  ,to bring the chief    
counts of the editor's indictment again 
clearly before the readers1 it will be  
well to summarize them3--  7#a7         
,national socialism means               
governmentalism1 which is tyranny over  
the individual4  7#b7 ,national         
socialism means paternalism1 which1     
exercised by all the people1 is the most

 hopeless kind of tyranny4  7#c7        
,national socialism means the arrest of 
progress1 because the majority will     
surely tyrannize over the small vanguard
 of human progress4  7#d7 ,national     
socialism will be needless when the     
people are educated to the fraternalism 
which alone could temper the inevitable 
despotism of the majority4  ,there is a 
period in every agitation of a new idea 
when the most prosperous weapon against 
it is a thumping epithet4 ,the name must
 be apt enough to stick4 ,furthermore1  
no matter how misleading1 it must be    
suggestive of sinister things4          
,governmentalism is such a word4 ,in its
 etymology it is harmless enough4       
,governmental is the adjective of       
government1 and means exercising the    
powers of government4 ,governmentalism1 
therefore1 means the exercise of the    
powers of government considered as a    
principle4 ,but the word when made the  
bogy of socialism is supposed to mean   
the principle of the exercise of the    

powers of government raised to the nth  
degree1 and separated from the people4  
,it suggests a shadowy somewhat of      
officialdom2 a ,corliss engine of       
functionaryism2 all of which is thought 
of as apart from the people1 yet        
pressing upon the people4 ,in other     
words1 the name governmentalism1 while  
intended as a word of opprobrium for    
socialism1 really indicates the amazing 
misconception which the critics have of 
the nation itself1 and of the relation  
of the nation's life to its             
self-direction4  ,the nation is not an  
aggregate of the ,smiths1 and ,joneses1 
and ,robinsons4 ,it is a favorite       
formula with the opponents of the new   
school that the nation is but a         
multitude of individuals4 ,so is a      
sand-heap4 ,but in the nation the       
individual atoms are linked by mutual   
obligations4 ,they are members one of   
another4 ,no individual can claim       
isolation and independency4 ,let him    
make the most of his individuality2 yet1

 as ,aristotle said1 ,man is a political
 animal2 his nature apart from the      
nation is incomplete2 sundered from that
 to which he belongs he seems a freak4  
,the nation1 then1 is not an artificial 
binding of units2 it is a natural       
relationship4 ,the ideal nation is not  
entered as a result of reflection and   
choice4 ,a man is born into the nation  
as into the family4 ,to belong to the   
,english nation when born an ,englishman
 is not usually considered so greatly to
 his credit1 except in the case of ,mr4 
,gilbert's naval hero4 ,the very term   
naturalize1 with which we denote the    
initiation of a foreigner1 is a         
confession that the nation is not a     
social contract but a natural relation4 
,it is this natural relation which makes
 the nation worth dying for2 it is      
fatherland4  ,still further1 the nation 
is an organic being4 ,the scattered     
atoms of a sand-heap are as perfect as  
before they were dislodged2 not so an   
amputated arm4 ,when the nation is      

disunited1 the detached segment becomes 
a different kind of body4 ,the man      
without a country begins to be another  
sort of man4 ,the nation is not a mass  
of independent individuals1 but of      
related individuals1 who1 moreover1 are 
so closely related that they make       
together an indivisible organism2 this  
organism develops according to orderly  
laws2 this organism has perpetuity1     
never disjoining itself either from its 
past or future2 and this organism has   
also self-consciousness and moral       
personality4 ,this is the nation in     
which we live1 and move1 and have our   
being4  ,when we look this high         
conception of the nation squarely in the
 eye1 much of the talk about            
governmentalism seems at once           
irrelevant4 ,for government in ,america 
must ever mean the nation directing     
itself4 ,here are no hereditary         
governing machines2 no bureaucracies    
created by a power apart from the       
people4 ,in ,europe1 government is      

fastened on the people4 ,but in         
,america1 if government is not of the   
people1 by the people1 and for the      
people1 it is their own fault4 ,the     
worst abuses of power in a government   
actually emanating from the people1 do  
not put it beyond their reach4 ,it is   
still the nation governing itself4 ,it  
will one day become conscious of its    
strength1 and will direct its efforts   
more wisely4 ,but so long as it is the  
living1 organic nation governing itself1
 no mere multiplication of functions1 no
 straightforward increase of powers1 are
 a discrowning of the people4           
,socialists believe in the fearless     
extension of government because they    
have a clear and high idea of the nation
 as an organic relationship1 apart from 
which the individual cannot realize     
himself4 ,as the nation becomes more    
self-conscious1 it perceives more       
clearly its own responsibility for the  
development of each individual4 ,the    
self-governing nation extends its       

governmental powers solely to give a    
better chance for development to the    
largest number of individuals4 ,all     
individualism1 says ,mr4 ,flower1 would 
be surrendered to that mysterious thing 
called government4 ,but there is nothing
 mysterious in the expression the nation
 makes of its own will2 and it is hard  
to discover what individualism is       
surrendered1 except bumptiousness1 when 
the rounded development of the greatest 
number of individuals is the nation's   
motive for extending its governmental   
functions4  ,there is also another kind 
of reason for being undismayed at the   
threat of governmentalism4 ,nationalism 
is but the very distant consummation of 
local socialism4  ,i suppose it is not  
strange that the hostile critics occupy 
themselves almost entirely with this    
keystone of the arch1 since that has    
given the name to the whole tendency4   
,they delight to picture the superb riot
 of corruption if nationalists could    
have their way at once4 ,they will never

 listen1 they will never remember1 while
 nationalists declare they would not    
have their way at once if they could4 ,a
 catastrophe by which nationalistic     
socialism might be precipitated would be
 a deplorable disaster to human         
progress4  ,socialism properly begins   
with the municipality2 or more properly 
still1 with the town-meeting4 ,the ,hon4
 ,joseph ,chamberlain is a practical    
,state socialist2 and he outlines in the
 ,north ,american ,review for ,may how  
,english cities are laying the          
foundation of more general socialism4   
,the popular representative government  
of the municipality1 he says1 unlike the
 imperial legislature1 is very near to  
the poor1 and can deal with details1 and
 with special conditions4 ,it is subject
 to the criticism and direct control    
both of those who find the money1 and of
 those who are chiefly interested in its
 expenditure4 ,in ,england1 at any rate1
 he continues1 it has been free from the
 suspicion of personal corruption1 and  

has always been able to secure the      
services of the ablest and most         
disinterested members of the community4 
,the practical socialism of ,birmingham1
 and other cities of ,great ,britain1   
enthusiastically supported by multitudes
 of citizens who do not call themselves 
socialists1 is an example of the first  
numbers on the socialistic programme4   
,the intellectual leaders of socialism  
are in no hurry4 ,they have all the time
 there is4 ,it may take years to        
persuade ,american cities that they are 
business corporations themselves1 whose 
aim is the well-being of all the        
members4 ,the extension of municipal    
control over all natural monopolies may 
be decades off4 ,no matter2 there is no 
use in being hot-headed because hearts  
are hot at the miseries of the poor4    
,municipalization ought to precede      
nationalization4 ,the members of the    
community must learn to trust each other
 before the ,east and the ,west will    
trust one another4 ,it must be proved in

 ,american cities1 as it has been       
already in ,english cities1 that the    
extension of municipal powers is itself 
a force to drive out corruption and     
purify politics1 before the nation as a 
whole will deem it safe to make great   
enlargements of the civil service4  ,as 
that day approaches1 it will be found   
that nationalism is a much simpler thing
 than it now seems4 ,nationalism does   
not begin in a paper constitution and   
work downwards4 ,during the upheavals of
 the ,french ,revolution ,abb ,siges is 
always coming forward with a new        
constitution4 ,but in ,america          
institutions are rather an evolution4   
,the last numbers on the social         
programme may safely be left blank4     
,nationalism is neither a city let down1
 of a sudden1 four-square from heaven1  
nor are its working plans yet to be     
found in any architect's office on      
earth4 ,we certainly want no nationalism
 which is not an orderly development4   
,we may agree with ,mr4 ,spencer that   

the course of political evolution is    
full of surprises4 ,it is quite possible
 that the nationalism which seems so    
full of menace as a military despotism  
may turn out to be but a simple         
federation of industrial and commercial 
interests which find they require a     
single head4  ,in other words1 it seems 
to me1 nationalism is only a prophecy4  
,it is too distant to be certainly      
detailed4 ,present day accounts of it   
will one day be1 as ,horace ,greeley    
said of something else1 mighty          
interesting reading4 ,we may be inspired
 by it as the end towards which present 
movements are tending4 ,but each age    
solves its own problems2 and the passage
 into that promised land is the issue   
for another generation4 ,a nearer view  
alone can determine where the passage   
is1 and whether the land is truly       
desirable4 ,we may justly put some faith
 in the common sense1 as well as in the 
political ingenuity of those who come   
after us4 ,if military socialism1       

whatever it is1 should ever be the      
issue1 this ,american people can be     
trusted to vote against it if it is     
undesirable4 ,meantime1 what our people 
must vote upon in the present year of   
grace1 is whether great private         
corporations shall control legislatures 
and city councils1 and charge their own 
unquestioned prices for such public     
necessities of life as light and        
transit4 ,there is an issue between     
tyranny and liberty which is to the     
point4 ,the future is in the hands of   
evolution4  ,another opprobrious epithet
 is paternalism4 ,this is the most      
familiar of the titles of reproach4 ,it 
suggests an idea of government made     
pestiferous by old abuse4 ,the most     
atrocious despotisms both of king and   
church have planted themselves in loco  
parentis4 ,the welfare of the people has
 been the hoary excuse for the cruelest 
outrages of history4 ,mr4 ,flower goes a
 step further and avers that1 with the  
good of the people for a pretext1       

tyranny has always been in exact        
proportion to power and authority4      
,without stopping to query as to this   
last rather sweeping statement1 it will 
be enough to check ourselves while the  
editor leaps to his induction2 namely1  
that because the monarchical and        
ecclesiastical governments have         
tyrannized in proportion to their power1
 nothing less is to be expected if our  
,republic becomes affected with a       
greater sense of governmental           
responsibility for the welfare of her   
citizens4 ,if our nation1 it is claimed1
 allows this specious excuse to commit  
it to the doctrine of ,state            
interference1 we are drifted into the   
despotic paternalisms of the old world4 
,but a paternalism must have a parent1 a
 royal sire1 or a priestly grandmother4 
,in the antique paternalisms there is   
invariably this parental personality at 
the top2 down beneath it are the puppet 
children4 ,my soldiers are my children1 
says ,napoleon2 and he orders a charge  

for their benefit2 an hour afterwards   
the dying address him as ,sire as he    
walks over the field4 ,the ,german      
people are my children1 says ,emperor   
,william2 and he issues the edict for   
the compulsory life-insurance of        
workingmen2 an undoubted blessing4 ,both
 are instances of paternalism2 and the  
principle in one case is as obnoxious as
 in the other4 ,the principle of        
paternalism is an irresponsible         
authority above the people1 mastering   
the people1 with their welfare as a     
pretext4  ,but this essential of        
paternalism must be lacking in the      
republic4 ,whatever powers democracy may
 assume1 it recognizes no authority     
outside itself4 ,democratic government1 
however socialistic it may become1 is   
nothing but democracy expressing its own
 will4 ,if the individual is led to     
surrender certain of his freedoms for   
the good of all1 he surrenders to a     
paternalism of all the people4 ,that    
were better called1 once for all1 a     

fraternalism4  ,it is not enough1       
however1 to show that the title is in   
our case a grave misnomer4 ,the editor  
adduces several recent instances which  
he considers exhibitions of the         
increasing tyranny of all the people4   
,he believes the tyranny of all the     
people1 if they are as selfish as they  
are now1 would be more hopeless than the
 despotism of an individual2 for the    
single tyrant is after all amenable to  
revolution1 while the whole nation as a 
tyrant is accountable to nothing4 ,to   
his view1 indeed1 the occurrences ,i am 
about to repeat prove the new tyrant is 
already created4 ,they exhibit a tyranny
 which shows that persecutions are only 
limited by the power vested in the      
,state4  ,let us examine the data for   
this astonishing conclusion4 ,my limits 
will not allow more than a bare         
reference to the incidents which are    
fully described in the ,may editorial4  
,case ,i4 is the incarceration in       
,tennessee of a ,seventh-day ,adventist 

for working on ,sunday4 ,of this it may 
be remarked that had it happened two    
centuries ago it would have been        
symptomatic2 to-day it is a curiosity4  
,case ,,ii4 is the arrest of a          
,christian ,scientist in ,iowa for      
practising contrary to the rules of the 
,state4 ,i presume this cannot be fairly
 disposed of by suggesting that there   
has been some aggravated occasion for   
such stringency4 ,but it is certainly   
true that the ,state has the right to   
prevent malpractice--a right none of us 
would wish renounced4 ,and as soon as   
there are sufficient data to convince an
 intelligent public opinion that the    
theory1 with its perilous repudiation of
 all medical skill1 is not fatal to     
human life1 it will receive an ungrudged
 status4  ,case ,,iii4 is the arrest of 
a minister1 of pure life and            
unquestioned standing1 for sending      
obscene literature through the mail4    
,the sole charge was the publication of 
an earnest and chastely worded article  

on marital purity2 but the real cause   
was supposed to be his severe criticism 
of the ,society for the ,prevention of  
,vice nearly a year afterward4 ,if these
 facts are verifiable this is a         
monstrous outrage4 ,but unhappily it is 
not the first instance where revenge has
 been taken on the innocent by due      
process of law4 ,without doubt the      
people ought to be more aroused by it   
than they are4 ,yet such a sporadic     
instance of miscarried justice is       
scarcely a reason why the ,state should 
cease its efforts to check by law the   
present alarming increase of lascivious 
printing4  ,case ,,iv4 is an election   
bill in ,california which prohibits     
independent nominations except upon     
petition of five per cent4 of the       
voters1 and thus disfranchises four per 
cent4 of the voting population4 ,if this
 mad device proves anything1 it proves  
that the leaders of the old parties are 
in such consternation at the uneasiness 
of the people that they have lost their 

heads4 ,it proves no more than the      
denial of the right of petition in      
,congress during anti-slavery days2 and 
it proves as much as that attempt to    
ignore the voice of reform4 ,earthquakes
 are not far off when such things       
happen4  ,case ,v4 is the suit for      
damages which one ,powell brings against
 ,pennsylvania4 ,under a statute        
authorizing the manufacture of          
oleomargarine1 he had undertaken the    
business1 to find himself ruined by a   
later legislature making its manufacture
 a misdemeanor4 ,this is very           
noteworthy1 for it proves too much4 ,it 
shows a vested money interest           
controlling legislature and voting a    
rival business into outlawry4 ,this is a
 kind of instance socialists like to get
 hold of4  ,yet these instances are used
 to illustrate a growing spirit of      
intolerance in our country2 they are    
said to exhibit a ,state tyranny which  
is already blossoming under             
paternalistic legislation2 they         

emphasize1 it is claimed1 the           
fact1--,that all the majority wishes is 
the sanction of law to make its crimes  
against the minority assume a show of   
respectability4 ,all that retards       
persecution is the limit of the sanction
 of law2 and ,i submit that1 in the     
light of history1 and in the face of the
 wrongs of the present1 all increase in 
governmental power menaces the liberty1 
the happiness1 and the growth of the    
individual4  ,this is a pretty large    
indictment to hang on such debatable    
evidence4 ,its audaciousness fairly     
takes one's breath away4 ,our heaviest  
battery is turned against ourselves4    
,every cherished dream of the good time 
coming goes up at a blast4 ,instead of  
freedom at last to do that for which we 
are made1 and to fit into the niche     
where we belong1 we are shown a         
,state's-prison4 ,instead of an age of  
joy and of elastic step1 we are pointed 
to an iron rule of repression and       
cheerlessness4 ,instead of leisure to   

ripen1 of a full summing of our powers1 
of the exhilaration of new truth1 we    
have disclosed to us a stunted          
individuality treading a dull and       
monotonous round of existence4 ,and all 
this1 because if the people are trusted 
with more power they will tyrannize life
 down to this paralyzing reaction4  ,the
 logic of this bold pessimism           
is3--,human nature is tyrannical2 the   
majority have always tyrannized in      
proportion to their power2 increase     
their power and they will increase their
 tyranny4 ,this is the syllogism which  
has dignified the foregoing collection  
of occurrences into grave symptoms of an
 increase of popular despotism4  ,it    
might be fair to meet dogmatic pessimism
 with dogmatic optimism4 ,or1 it would  
be legitimate to follow the logic to its
 end in a general abandoning of all the 
powers of government which1 it seems1   
has only hurt when it tried to help     
humanity2 to go back honestly to        
,jefferson1 and beyond him1 to      ,the

 very best government of all1     ,that 
which governs not at all4  ,this is the 
pandemonium of anarchy4 ,mr4 ,flower    
believes that there is not enough of the
 golden rule in society to-day to make  
socialism tolerable4 ,but we have only  
to imagine our present society1 with its
 current quantity of golden rule1 thrown
 into the chaos where government has    
ceased to govern1 where the political   
majority has lost all its power1 but    
where the majority of brute strength    
awakes to find itself with no laws to   
molest or make it afraid4  ,but this    
doctrine of the inevitable despotism of 
the political majority lies so at the   
bottom of the whole impeachment1 that it
 ought to be carefully examined in      
itself4  ,in the first place1 both      
premises are without support4 ,human    
nature1 even in irresponsible           
multitudes1 is not essentially          
tyrannical4 ,let us admit frankly all   
the degraded sweeps of intolerance in   
the past2 yet has not human nature      

during recent generations been growing  
in the tolerant spirit8 ,look straight  
at the intelligent society around us2   
look within ourselves most of all1 and  
let us ask if we see any such           
intolerance of spirit as would bloom    
into tyranny if we only had the chance4 
,a man may prove to me by inductive     
data1 reaching uninterruptedly over ten 
thousand years1 that my own nature is   
intolerant2 he may even corroborate his 
proof by pointing to my occasional acts 
of thoughtless disregard for another's  
opinion1 yet all this array does not    
overwhelm me1 for ,i know ,i am not     
intolerant4 ,our society to-day1 as a   
whole1 knows it is not intolerant2--even
 though it be proved as conclusively as 
ever ,puritan divine proved ,god's      
hatred for man1 and man's incapacity for
 a single good act4 ,the logic works    
well2 only there are some omitted       
factors4 ,human nature has made some    
progress4 ,hospitality to new ideas1 and
 patience with divergent ones1 are two  

of the surest fruits of later           
civilization4  ,again1 the majority have
 not always tyrannized in proportion to 
their power4 ,they did not1 in the      
,dutch ,republic1 when ,william of      
,orange followed the hideous            
persecutions of ,phillip ,,ii4 with the 
establishment of religious liberty4 ,the
 ,church of ,england was in the majority
 when it abandoned its acts of tyranny4 
,congregationalism was still in the     
ascendancy when it ceased to banish     
,baptists and to whip ,quakers4 ,the    
,rhode ,island ,baptists had plenty of  
majority when they pioneered the empire 
of religious freedom in ,america4 ,and  
the ,maryland ,roman ,catholics had     
things their own way1 when in an age of 
persecution they resolved to be         
hospitable to other beliefs4 ,indeed1 in
 our ,american life especially1 the     
generosity and long-suffering of        
majorities are among the most notable   
features4 ,on the other hand it may with
 truth be said that the worst tyrannies 

have been on the part of minorities4 ,in
 the old world the oppressive minorities
 have usually been hereditary or        
ecclesiastical interests4 ,in our       
country the ruling minorities have been 
determined1 and self-assertive classes  
who would not brook the wisdom or the   
sense of justice of the majority4 ,it   
was the regnant minority which rushed   
the ,south into secession4 ,it was that 
same minority which had for half a      
century before over-ridden the whole    
nation4 ,it was the ,tammany minority   
which ruled the ,democracy4 ,it is the  
minority of syndicates1 corporations1   
and vested interests which crowned      
itself in our ,billion ,congress1 and is
 spreading itself in our legislatures4  
,are the very occurrences1 of which so  
much has been made exhibitions1 of the  
tyranny of all the people2 or1 are they 
not rather1 with one exception1         
instances where a graceless minority has
 resolved either slyly or boldly to     
ignore the people8 ,in short1 the charge

 in the phrase tyranny of the majority  
has but the least justification in the  
course of government4 ,there has been in
 history no power which has tyrannized  
less than the political majority4 ,in   
modern times1 at least1 the most violent
 acts of despotic outrage have been the 
attempts to ride down the will of the   
political majority4 ,in the light of    
history1 and in the face of the wrongs  
of the present1 to use the editor's     
words1 it might be well to consider some
 means for the protection of majorities4
  ,for after all1 in spite of the       
,english sneers at government by count  
of noses1 from ,carlyle and ,sir ,henry 
,maine to the latest utterances1 there  
is nothing so safe for humanity's       
interests as the political majority4 ,it
 is perfectly true that the vanguard of 
human progress must ever be in the      
minority4 ,but the hope of this minority
 lies in one day becoming the majority4 
,as ,disraeli said1 that is the         
minority's business4 ,the minorities of 

hereditary privilege1 of priesthood1 of 
monied classes1 can perpetuate          
themselves and their power4 ,but the    
majority of voters is always changing   
and always losing its power4 ,the       
minority of radicals is always becoming 
the majority of conservatives1--the     
steadfast power to which progress has   
tied itself4  ,is socialism necessary to
 the progress of the race8 ,will not a  
perfected fraternalism make the strong  
hand of socialism needless8 ,both       
questions are to be answered1 yes4 ,the 
perfect state is undoubtedly pictured in
 ,rousseau's ideal1 where every man     
remains perfectly free1 so that when he 
obeys the ,state he obeys only himself4 
,this is the deep and eternal truth of  
the law of brotherhood1 which is also   
the law of liberty4 ,love is the        
fulfilling of all law2 no laws will be  
needed when love is the protection of   
the weak4 ,belief in that coming        
government of ,love is the real         
religion4  ,but the practical politics  

of the present deal with a society where
 a strong arm is needed to protect the  
weak from the tyranny of the giants4 ,to
 talk about the principles of           
brotherhood fully prevailing in our     
present conditions1 is to treat the laws
 of ,christ with flippancy4 ,nine-tenths
 of the maxims of our modern business   
system contradict the law of love4 ,in  
our present environment it is impossible
 for business people or working people  
to obey the ,sermon on the ,mount and   
not starve4 ,perhaps a few sacrifices of
 this kind are needed to teach us how   
abhorrent the present selfish system is 
to the ,christianity of ,christ4 ,i     
suppose ,i ought to be thankful to get  
the work at all1 for they told other    
women they had no work left for them1   
said a woman to me who was making men's 
pantaloons for two dollars a dozen4 ,she
 was part of the system2 she was        
competing with other less fortunate     
women as truly as her employer with     
other firms2 she drank her tea at the   

expense of her less lucky sister1 who   
had no work and no tea4 ,what chance    
does this system afford for perfect     
fraternalism1 or even for decent        
fraternalism1 among those who have to   
compete8  ,socialism aims to produce an 
environment where not only the ,golden  
,rule but the ,law of ,love will have a 
living chance4 ,as such an agent it has 
its proper political place in the       
development of mankind4                 
,,revolutionary ,,measures ,,and        
,,neglected ,,crimes4  ,,part ,,ii4     
,,by ,,prof4 ,,joseph ,,rodes           
,,buchanan4   ,if we agree that all men 
are born free and equal1 with certain   
inalienable rights1--life1 liberty1 and 
the pursuit of happiness1--let us       
legislate to enforce our belief4 ,all   
men are not born equal1 if one is born  
with power to live without toil2 power  
to control the movements of a hundred   
thousand of his unequal fellow-citizens2
 power to bribe legislatures2 power to  
hire a pretorian guard of laborers1     

writers1 editors1 clergymen1 and even   
soldiers or police to do his bidding and
 to sing his praise1 and to threaten    
those who wish to establish a real      
republic4 ,it was thought we had        
abolished hereditary inequality2 but in 
a land where our democratic lords can   
each hire fifty thousand men and equip  
an army if need be1--where a democratic 
,american lord can buy a dozen of the   
puny lords of ,europe1--the social      
equality dreamed of in '#gf does not    
exist4 ,we have abolished the useless   
title but not the lord4  ,we should not 
object to that inequality which is      
natural--to the superior ability and    
superior virtue which place one man far 
above his fellows2 but we should object 
to an immense inequality1 which is not  
natural1 and which sometimes places the 
superior man at the mercy and in the    
service of one who has no ability       
whatever1--who is simply born to rule by
 means of hereditary wealth4 ,this is   
just as great a social inequality as    

that which ,jefferson saw in ,europe1   
and which he thought was to be excluded 
from ,america4  ,it is a condition that 
is demoralizing in a hundred ways1 and  
is fraught with peril to the republic1  
peril to society1 and peril to all the  
interests of humanity2 and therefore as 
,i would assert1--and who would deny the
 supreme right and power of the people  
to protect the republic from any        
impending calamity by any just means1   
but not by any unjust means--,i would   
claim that it is our right and duty to  
say that this grand hereditary          
inequality shall not be perpetual1 and  
that the past shall not rule the        
present--the graveyard shall not contain
 our legislature1--but that each        
generation shall be a law unto itself1  
and shall establish the conditions of   
justice and safety without regard to the
 follies of the dead and the ancient    
laws of inheritance when they conflict  
with justice4  ,justice and safety to   
the republic demand that men shall not  

be born as rulers1 nor born as serfs4   
,the serf is the person who is born in  
poverty1 with no right to a standing    
place1 and whom society has left to the 
education of the street or of the coal  
mine1 growing up without knowledge1     
without industrial skill--knowing       
nothing but to sell unskilled labor in a
 market crowded by a million others like
 himself or herself1 and thus forced    
into that wretched life seen in all the 
great cities of ,america and ,europe1   
the description of which is enough to   
make us cry out in despair1 ,how long1  
,o ,lord1 how long8 ,wherein does this  
white slavery differ from ,african      
slavery1 except that the master cares   
nothing for the slave1 is not bound by  
self-interest to take care of him1 and  
cannot flog him though he can punish him
 in other ways1 and on shipboard he can 
flog him also1 and the horrors of       
nautical brutality have not even        
produced a society for its abolition8   
,such is the serf1 which our democracy  

allows its citizens to become1--men to  
whom the right of suffrage sometimes    
seems a worthless rag which they would  
gladly sell1--men on whose weak         
shoulders the republic cannot stand4    
,to abolish that class1 every boy and   
girl should be guaranteed a solid       
intellectual and industrial education1  
making a permanent guarantee against    
pauperism and serfdom1 a permanent      
guarantee that women shall not be       
enslaved by lust1 but shall be enabled  
to rear an offspring of manly citizens4 
,these are the most important things    
that a true nationalism should          
accomplish at present1 and mainly by the
 gospel of industrial education1 which  
the writer has long been urging with all
 his power4  ,public sentiment has      
advanced so far on this question1 that  
there will be very little opposition to 
abolishing the serf by industrial       
education2 out with all our industrial  
education1 our disorganized competition 
makes employment terribly uncertain1 and

 impoverishes the industrious by        
enforced idleness1 because there is no  
science1 no social system to regulate   
the demand and supply of labor in       
different pursuits4  ,hence1 until we   
can do better1 there must be at all     
times a vast number of idle men walking 
about in search of work1 losing all     
their savings in times of enforced      
idleness1 their days of gloom and       
despair4  ,they are our brothers1 and we
 cannot say with ,cain1 ,am ,i my       
brother's keeper8 ,we are our brothers' 
keepers1 for they are partners in this  
republic1 and brothers in the family of 
,god1 and they help to make the social  
atmosphere in which we live1 and they   
help the republic to sink or swim4 ,we  
simply cannot afford to deny our        
brotherhood1 and if we do we are the    
devil's own fools4  ,action on this     
matter is demanded now as it never was  
before1 for we are advancing blindly to 
a crisis which our political economists 
and statesmen have not foreseen1 and do 

not yet recognize4 ,the genius that     
increases by invention the productive   
power of labor ought to increase the    
rewards of labor1 but it does not4      
,labor is demanded only to supply what  
is consumed2 and if at present a million
 laborers are employed to produce the   
food1 clothing1 fuel1 furniture1 and    
houses required1 but in a few years     
invention enables half a million to     
produce the same1 what is to become of  
the half million no longer needed8 ,will
 wages advance so that the million may  
still be employed1 working for half a   
day instead of a day4 ,that would be    
just1 but instead1 it produces a glut in
 the labor market1 which by competition 
puts down wages1 and starts a fierce    
contest between laborers and employers1 
and among laborers themselves4 ,the fall
 in prices produced by competition in a 
crowded market makes the employer       
unwilling to advance wages1 and an angry
 contest is inevitable4 ,the multitude  
dislodged by invention is increased by  

the inevitable multitude arising from   
irregular demand and supply in          
fluctuating markets1 and thus families  
by the hundred thousand are driven to   
the verge of immediate starvation1 and  
this becomes our chronic condition1     
which must be rectified1--a chronic     
condition which bears most heavily on   
woman1 and through her debases future   
generations4  ,we are bound to see that 
every honest citizen1 male or female1   
has a fair chance in the battle of life1
 has a fair preparation at the start1   
and a fair field4 ,to insure this1--to  
insure that the productive power of the 
nation is not wasted1--is a larger      
question than our statesmen have ever   
yet considered4 ,it requires that the   
government shall have a ,,department    
,,of ,,productive ,,labor1 in which     
honest men and women1 when jostled out  
of their industrial positions1 may      
enlist4#b ,this department should be    
managed by the ablest and most          
benevolent business men of the ,peter   

,cooper class1 who understand all       
productive industries1 and who1 seeing  
what is permanently and largely needed  
for human consumption and not abundantly
 supplied1 or what new industries can be
 started which will benefit the nation1 
what new productions can be             
acclimatized1 shall take charge of all  
the laborers who wish to enlist in      
governmental employ for eight hours a   
day1 with such pay and rations as will  
be satisfactory and fair2 and if rightly
 managed1 not only will their labor pay 
all costs of the department1 but it may 
be made to teach the country great      
industrial lessons in agriculture and   
manufactures1 by improvements which     
scientific combined labor on a large    
scale may introduce2 and if we are      
anxious to make our country independent 
in all things1 and superior in          
manufactures1 this is the very method in
 which it can be done1 by the           
instruction in the national             
establishments1 which may be the means  

of starting all manufactures that we    
need1 far better than the protective    
tariff which forces an unnatural growth 
at an enormous cost to the people4      
#b ,thousands of the women toiling in   
the cities on           starving wages1 
might be given in the ,southern ,states 
pleasant employment in fruit culture1   
and other light           agricultural  
labors4  ,there will then be no tramps1 
no paupers1 no women compelled to sell  
their persons2 and as poverty1 gloom1   
and hardship are the chief sources of   
intemperance1 we may anticipate1 as     
another consequence1 an immense         
diminution of the liquor traffic1 when  
the ,department of ,productive ,labor   
shall have gotten into full operation4  
,moral gloom and the bad passions impel 
men to intemperance1 and when they      
acquire the happy and gentle temperament
 of woman they will also acquire her    
temperance4  ,mr4 ,bellamy's idea of the
 nation as the employer may not be      
practicable1 but the ,department of     

,productive ,labor is an obvious method 
of initiating the principle of national 
co-operation1 which an urgent necessity 
has compelled the ,british government to
 initiate in ,ireland4 ,but we cannot   
safely wait1 like ,england1 until famine
 is threatening4  ,the pauperization of 
labor depends on the monopoly of land   
combined with the monopoly of machinery4
 ,it cannot occur in a new country1 but 
must develop when all the land is       
monopolized and worth a hundred dollars 
an acre4 ,the independence of the       
laborer owing to cheap vacant land is   
more than restored by a ,department of  
,productive ,labor which establishes a  
minimum of wages below which they cannot
 be forced1 and gives a standing ground 
on which exaction can be resisted       
permanently by the laborer4  ,the       
,department of ,productive ,labor may be
 made a charming feature of the         
government1 on which philanthropists may
 expend their skill2 and its beautiful  
plantations1 especially in the highlands

 of the ,carolinas and ,georgia1 and in 
,california1 may be looked to as a haven
 of repose by all who are disappointed  
in life1 who may find in these rural    
homes something more attractive than the
 co-operative societies to which some   
are rushing now4 ,the voice of the red  
flag anarchist will be quieted1 and the 
agitators who endeavor to stir up       
dissension will find most of their      
grievances redressed when the laborer   
has an assured home4  ,there is no      
obstructive limit to the achievements of
 the army of labor4 ,aside from         
agriculture and manufactures1 there are 
roads to be built1 buildings to be      
erected1 improvements of many kinds1 and
 there are about a thousand million     
acres of arid land1 needing irrigation1 
the necessary works for which could     
employ more than would probably apply1  
for the wages should not be such as to  
attract men from profitable employments4
 ,the army of labor may not at first be 
wisely managed1 but anything is better  

than the vast national losses by        
enforced idleness4 ,it is not           
extravagant to anticipate an ultimate   
governmental administration of          
railroads1 mines1 manufactures1 and     
government farms that may employ many   
hundred thousands4 ,there is no apparent
 hindrance to the extension of the      
,department of ,productive ,labor until 
it shall embrace all who desire the     
comfort and security it gives1 while    
those who prefer the strife of          
competition can remain outside of the   
experiment1 and thus the governmental   
and the individual systems be fairly    
tried in competition with each other4   
,thus far no formidable difficulty      
appears in abolishing pauperism1 but we 
find a more difficult task when we      
propose the abolition of ,plutocracy1 by
 what may be called a ,,revolutionary   
,,measure4  ,having thus gotten rid of  
the increasing army of paupers and      
tramps1 providing1 as it seems1 a sound 
basis for a republic1 we have the other 

problem of getting rid of the growing   
aristocracy--the plutocratic princes1   
the syndicates and trusts1 who          
constitute the other great danger1--of  
whom we may say we must either master   
them or they will master us by managing 
our senators1 governors1 and presidents4
 ,they have already swallowed some such 
legislatures as we have been able to    
elect1 with such facility as to show    
that it will not be long before they can
 swallow the entire government1 and when
 it has been swallowed it may not be as 
fortunate as ,jonah in getting out      
again1 for there is some very important 
legislation necessary to this republic  
which the plutocracy may be expected to 
resist with all its power1 and when the 
conflict comes it will be a grand one4  
,they will probably combat with all     
their might the doctrine which must     
sometime be presented1 that the nation  
must rule itself on democratic          
principles1 and that the dead shall not 
rule the living by entail1 mortmain1 or 

will4 ,when a child is born it must     
become a member of the republic on      
conditions compatible with the safety of
 that republic4 ,it cannot be allowed to
 come in as the born master of a hundred
 thousand fellow-citizens equally       
competent to serve the republic4 ,our   
young citizens approach us from a       
generation that has passed away4  ,it   
sleeps in the graveyard1 or it leads a  
better life in the better world4 ,it has
 left vast masses of wealth1 surrounded 
by wretched areas of desolate poverty4  
,was it wise or just to do so1--to      
ignore brotherhood of man1 and to       
perpetuate all possible inequality8 ,no1
 a thousand times no4 ,there is not one1
 perhaps1 of the millionnaire dwellers  
in the better world who does not regret 
and mourn his earthly selfishness1 and  
who would not order a more just and     
generous distribution of his estate if  
his voice could be heard4  ,but we need 
not ask them4 ,we know what is just and 
we will correct the mistakes of the     

departed4 ,we know that this hoarding in
 families is unjust to the republic and 
unjust to the ,brotherhood of           
,humanity1--an injury to all1 a benefit 
to none4 ,therefore it must not be      
permitted4  ,already the law is         
beginning to recognize this principle1  
which is destined to revolutionize all  
the world2 but we are not the leaders in
 this democracy1 because our plutocracy 
is too strong4 ,switzerland in its      
mountain homes carries the banner of    
democracy1 and has gone farther than any
 other country in asserting the rights  
of the commonwealth over inherited      
wealth4 ,new ,york has ordained a little
 infinitesimal inheritance tax which1   
according to the ,herald1 in #ahhf      
produced #fj1jjj1 in #ahhg #ejj1jjj1 in 
#ahhh over a million4 ,that will be     
enough to build schoolhouses for the    
#bj1jjj children kept out of school in  
the city of ,new ,york for want of room4
 ,the proposition is under discussion in
 ,massachusetts1 and if we do our duty  

,massachusetts may set the example of   
the greatest social revolution ever     
accomplished by law4 ,if ,boston        
received the benefit of such a tax on   
its own population1 it might be adjusted
 to raise from one million to more than 
ten millions a year2 at any rate a      
succession tax might produce more than  
all other taxes produce at present1 and 
it would bring about such radical       
changes that it would be expedient to   
make the change gradual1 and gradual it 
must be1 for it will meet determined    
opposition1 and we must enforce our     
principle by every argument of justice  
and expediency1 for it is both just and 
expedient4 ,what right have the         
millionnaires to say how the world shall
 be managed after they have left it8    
,what right to say that when they have  
established a dangerous inequality1     
posterity shall be compelled to make it 
perpetual4 ,the robber barons           
established inequality by the sword1 and
 by the same power made it perpetual4   

,the posterity of kings and barons1     
however worthless1 corrupt1 criminal1 or
 imbecile1 continue to occupy the saddle
 upon the public donkey4 ,but inherited 
royalty is going1 and inherited         
aristocracy must also go4 ,we who       
survive are the responsible parties1 and
 7as the ,romans charged their rulers in
 times of danger7 we must see that the  
republic does not suffer1 and that      
aristocracy shall not be its permanent  
master4  ,what right has the            
millionnaire to direct from the grave1  
that the wealth which he has left shall 
be used in the manner most dangerous and
 most injurious to society4 ,he has no  
such right4 ,he has no right in the     
matter1 but what we in our justice or in
 our good-nature may give him4 ,if these
 views are just1 they must in time rule 
the world1 but they are not yet asserted
 by those to whom the world looks for   
counsel4#c        #c ,a year after this 
was written1 the following              
advanced sentiment was uttered by ,rabbi

 ,schindler3           ,have the dead   
the right of imposing laws upon the     
living1 of making contracts of which    
future generations           ought to   
bear the burden8  ,the sacred right of  
the living citizen in that which his    
industry has created1 has no application
 here4 ,it is a totally different case4 
,it is the question what right has he to
 rule the world after he has enjoyed his
 full share and more1 and gone away4 ,we
 do not ask whether he got his wealth by
 fraud1 or robbery1 or industry4 ,he has
 left it2 he is done with it2 he is dead
 in fact and ought to be dead in law6   
,the law has no jurisdiction over him   
now1 and he has no possible interest in 
what is done1 nor any power to rectify  
his mistakes4 ,to perpetuate his        
fictitious personality1 and make the    
opinions which he has left in writing an
 authority like the acts of a living    
man1 is a tremendous stretch of the     
imagination1 much like the old          
superstitions which made a law by the   

preface thus saith the ,lord4  ,i know  
the claim will be made that the wealth  
which the millionnaires could not carry 
away was truly theirs1 and therefore    
that while they lived they had a right  
to dispose of it4 ,but ,i deny it4 ,in  
the highest sense of justice1 it was not
 theirs1 and even if it was1 it was     
justly forfeited by their treason to    
humanity2 for ,i hold that neither      
genius nor the business capacity that   
produces wealth ever releases a man from
 his obligations to society4 ,in time of
 war to defend the city or ,state1 we   
take every man's property1 so far as    
needed1 and require him1 in addition1 to
 offer his life in battle to protect the
 community2 and surely in the grand     
battle which every republic has to meet 
against its foes1--on the one hand      
oligarchy and despotism1 and on the     
other social disorder and convulsions   
between capital and impoverished        
labor1--in this battle1 ,i say1 every   
man may be required to defend the       

republic with his money1 his honor1 and 
his life1 if need be1 and he should     
think himself very lightly released if  
society demands only to become his      
legatee1 after he has provided for his  
family4 ,he thus relinquishes what is   
nothing to him but everything to        
society4  ,wealth is the product of the 
nation--of all its work of brain and    
muscle4 ,no one man by himself ever     
accumulated wealth4 ,but in the         
entangled social co-operation1 struggle1
 and battle1 wealth is scattered        
strangely and gathered in heaps like the
 money at a gaming table4 ,one man      
seizes a gold mine1 another seizes for a
 trifle a piece of parchment giving the 
title to land where a million are going 
to settle1 and both become millionnaire 
princes at the expense of the           
commonwealth4 ,there would be very few  
rich men if the real production of each 
was all that he could hold4 ,to seize by
 a legal fiction a mine that yields a   
million annually is simply a robbery of 

the commonwealth4 ,the robbery of the   
commonwealth and the toiler is our      
chronic condition4 ,the urban           
population1 strong in capital and       
skilful in combination and chicanery1   
has drained the agricultural regions1   
until agriculture1#d toil1 and poverty1 
are closely associated1 while urban     
wealth displays its ostentatious ease1  
and farmers are driven by the million   
into a desperate political struggle for 
self-protection4        #d ,it is       
necessary to illustrate this by a few   
decisive           facts which have not 
been made familiar to the               
majority of readers1 as farmers'        
interests have           received very  
little consideration in the ,east4 ,the 
financial policy of the general         
government ever           controlled by 
capital against labor1 has been the most
           gigantic imposition by       
financial jugglery that history         
has recorded1 and has been effected     
chiefly by           manipulation and   

contraction of the currency to make     
debts more oppressive1 and during the   
war by           depreciating the       
people's money4 ,after the war when     
#ejj1jjj1jjj were needed to compensate  
the destruction           of confederate
 money1 a criminal contraction of       
#ejj1jjj1jjj dealt a crushing blow to   
the ,south1 and to           the whole  
country4 ,let us look at it from the    
standpoint of the largest body of       
laborers1 the           farmers4 ,a very
 intelligent ,illinois farmer1 ,bert    
,stewart1 presents the case as follows1 
and if his data           are all       
correct1 he has demonstrated a wholesale
           robbery3 ,the national debt  
at the end of the war was               
about #b1hjj1jjj1jjj4 ,what would it    
then have cost the           farmers to 
pay this debt8 ,he estimates that it    
could           have been paid by       
#iif1jjj1jjj bushels of wheat2 or       
#a1chj1jjj1jjj bushels of corn2 or      
#aj1jjj1jjj bales of           cotton4  

,but financial legislation has increased
 the           value of money           
7magnifying the debt71 and decreased the
           value of the products of     
labor1 so that practically1             
the debt has been increasing faster than
 it has been           paid2 and1 after 
paying nearly #b1jjj1jjj1jjj of the     
principal1 and over #b1jjj1jjj1jjj of   
interest1 it will           cost more to
 pay the remaining third of the debt    
than           to have paid the whole at
 first4 ,it would require               
to-day1 instead of #a1chj1jjj1jjj1 over 
#d1jjj1jjj1jjj           bushels of corn
 to pay the remaining third4 ,this being
           the case1 it would seem that 
the payment of about four               
thousand millions during the last       
twenty-six years1           leaving the 
debt substantially unpaid1 was virtually
 a           robbery of the commonwealth
 by corrupt or ignorant                 
legislation4 ,mr4 ,stewart mentions     
also1 that in one           year the    

binding twine trust1 by raising prices1 
drew           #ba1jjj1jjj from the     
farmers of the ,west to the             
sharpers of the ,east4 ,the reports of  
the ,state ,board           of          
,agriculture of ,illinois show 7what is 
a fair           statement for the whole
 country7 that during the last          
thirty years the corn crops of ,illinois
 have for more           than half the  
time brought less than the cost of their
           production2 and taking the   
entire thirty years           together1 
the losses so nearly balanced the       
profits           that the average net  
profit of the thirty years has not      
exceeded seventeen cents an acre for    
each year1 in the           cultivation 
of over six millions of acres of corn4  
,in           the official report of    
,iowa also1 it is stated the            
general range of farm products have sold
 below cost of           production1    
since #ahhe4 ,the official ,farm        
,statistics           of ,michigan1 just

 issued1 tell the same sad story4 ,it   
shows that the wheat crop of #ahhi cost 
more than it           sold for1 the    
loss being #a1dga1eae4 ,the entire loss 
on           wheat1 corn1 and oats      
amounted to #i1bbf1eaj4 ,thus is        
agricultural labor crushed that         
millionnaires may grow4           ,hence
 it is that farmers are sinking under   
their           burdens of mortgage     
indebtedness1 paying seven per          
cent4 or more1 losing their farms1 and  
often compelled           to mortgage   
crops1 tools1 and stock4 ,in the single 
year1 #ahhg1 #ce1ccd farm mortgages were
 recorded in           ,illinois1       
amounting to #cg1jdj1ggj1 and nine      
million           mortgaged homes is the
 war-cry of the ,farmers'               
,alliance4            ,thus the         
independent farmer is disappearing1 and 
although there was scarcely a tenant    
farmer in ,illinois           in #ahdj1 
there are more than #aaj1jjj tenant     
farmers           now2 and we have a    

vast increase of large farms4 ,but      
while the farmer sinks into poverty1    
those who handle           his products 
grow rich4 ,the ,chicago ,stock ,yard   
that was           started with a       
million of capital has grown so         
prosperously that its stock now amounts 
to #bc1jjj1jjj4           ,the monetary 
interests control all things1 and ,mr4  
,stewart forcibly says3 ,the time has   
come1 gentlemen1           when the     
government must run the railroads1 or   
the           railroads will run the    
government4 ,in ,pennsylvania           
to-day two roads own the ,state1 its    
legislature1 its           governor1 its
 courts1 its people1 own them body and  
soul1 and stole the money from the      
people to buy them           with4 ,you 
elect men to positions and pay them     
salaries1           and then the        
railroads buy them and make you pay for 
bribing your own officers1 in the       
freight rates they           charge you4
 ,the net income of the railroads of the

           ,united ,states is three     
times that of the entire revenue        
of the government4  ,the great mass of  
accumulated wealth was all unearned4 ,it
 was the donation of absurd law to      
monopolists1--to men who procured the   
titles to lands4 ,their value came from 
the entire community1 created by the    
people1 and when that amount is rescued 
from landlordism1 the millions vanish   
and society reclaims its own4 ,thus do  
,i assert the ownership of the community
 in millionnaire hoards4 ,and when the  
tenant for life has gone1 to whom the   
law has been by far too generous1 and   
left his hoards1 out of which he has    
already squandered more than he was     
entitled to--the commonwealth from which
 this wealth was gathered may rightly   
step in and reclaim it4  ,it is but a   
waif on the ocean of commerce--the      
jetsam and flotsam1 of which the law    
must direct the disposal4 ,the heirs1 as
 they have been called1 may come in to  
the wreck that lies on the shores of    

time1 after the soul has gone to        
eternity--but law must decide whether   
these wreckers are entitled to the      
cargo1--to goods which they did not     
produce1 and whether it is safe and     
patriotic to allow them to carry off    
what is substantially in the majority of
 cases morally and justly the property  
of the commonwealth4 ,there may be some 
exceptions to these general statements  
as to property1 but when we recollect   
how land monopoly and other monopolies  
have robbed the commonwealth1 ,i hold   
that the commonwealth is bound to       
reclaim the stolen wealth wherever it   
can find it1 and certainly wherever the 
commonwealth can find it abandoned by   
the claimant1 the action of trover      
should come in when the tenant for life 
has ceased to exist4  ,perhaps the      
devotees of precedent may be bold enough
 to call this robbery1 but it is simply 
reclamation of that which has too long  
been lost or stolen4 ,for the chief     
foundations of large fortunes1 the chief

 source of the great flood of           
accumulated wealth1 has been the        
taxation of the people by the monopoly  
of land and monopoly of mines--the      
monopoly by private individuals of what 
justly belonged to the commonwealth1 but
 was captured by the sword or by        
law--aided by cunning financial         
operations which stand on no higher     
plane than gambling or fraud4  ,the     
,british peerage draw an annual rental  
from their lands of #ff1jjj1jjj1 and the
 ,american princes draw far more1 but ,i
 have not had time to find the          
statistics4#e ,it will not be long      
before foreign landlords shall draw     
#ej1jjj1jjj annually from the ,united   
,states1 if they do not already1 for    
they hold more than #bj1jjj1jjj acres1  
and on these they may practise the      
eviction of tenants in the ,irish       
fashion4 ,the wrongs of ,irish tenants  
elicit universal sympathy1 but they are 
far surpassed now in ,america without   
outcry or comment4 ,about twenty-four   

thousand evictions occurred last year in
 the city of ,new ,york1 and this       
indicated more than a hundred thousand  
human beings turned homeless into the   
streets1 generally in a penniless       
condition6 ,the distressing evictions of
 the great cities1 and the selling out  
of thousands of western farmers under   
foreclosing mortgages1 are preparing a  
terrible mass of discontented population
 to whom a social convulsion would not  
be alarming4 ,those who live under the  
pressure of a terrible social system    
will not be sorry if it is overthrown by
 violence4        #e ,parker ,pillsbury 
mentions a ,governor of ,maine1 who     
owns in ,maine1 ,michigan1 ,wisconsin1  
,minnesota1 ,dakota1           and      
,canada1 #fia1jjj acres4  ,a large      
portion of the city of ,new ,york is    
held at values 7#ej a foot7 which would 
make its annual ground rental over      
#ajj1jjj a year for a single acre4 ,when
 we think of the vast sums which have   
been accumulating for centuries in the  

form of rent--say1 for example1 the land
 rents of ,england1 which1 outside of   
mines1 amount to #ccj1jjj1jjj a         
year1--it will be apparent that the     
grand flood-tide of wealth1 which has   
passed into the possession of private   
individuals who have been fortunate     
enough to acquire land titles long ago1 
and their successors1 exceeds by more   
than a hundred times all the wealth that
 has not been squandered and remains in 
sight to-day4  ,but it is               
gone--squandered--and we never can      
reclaim it2 and there is another        
mountain mass of wealth not quite       
expended yet1 which came from corrupt   
financial monopoly1 which has sometimes 
generated financial lords more rapidly  
than land monopoly4 ,upon questions of  
finance and political economy1 our      
people have been as blind as they have  
upon the land question1 and our entire  
financial legislation has been but a    
trap to catch the commonwealth and rob  
it1 and the commonwealth has been       

caught1 and robbed of far more than two 
thousand millions4#f        #f ,as a    
single specimen of this1 ,i would       
mention that           those eminent    
politicians1 ,john ,c4 ,new1 and ,wm4   
,h4           ,english1 of ,indiana1    
under the laws engineered by            
cunning and accepted by ignorance1      
invested #bjj1jjj in           a        
national bank scheme when greenbacks had
 been knocked           down to forty   
cents1 and in thirteen years from #ahfd 
to           #ahgg they made a clear    
profit of #b1acc1jjj--more than         
ten for one of their investment4 ,but   
this is very           moderate in      
comparison with land speculation4 ,the  
,elyton ,land ,company at ,birmingham1  
,alabama1 with a cash           capital 
of #ajj1jjj1 has declared in five years1
 ending           in #ahhh1 dividends   
amounting to #e1egj1jjj1 and is         
believed to own property still that will
 amount to           #e1jjj1jjj1 a      
return of more than a hundred dollars   

for           every one invested--a     
clear profit absorbed of over ten       
millions--the gift of law to monopoly4  
,will this ever           return to the 
commonwealth8 ,the robbery of the       
commonwealth goes on in every direction4
 ,shall we           continue the       
present system under which1 while the   
nation is losing its inheritance daily1 
one man in           ,chicago tied up   
the wheat crop of the ,united ,states1  
and one man also tied up or cornered    
pork1 and both           levied millions
 on the people8  ,the follies and crimes
 of the past cannot be readjusted--but  
its legacy of robbery to the present    
must submit to the arbitration of       
justice1 and the demands of             
philanthropy4 ,the millions exacted from
 the tenants of ,england and ,ireland by
 the descendants of the robber barons   
and brigand soldiers1 who took the soil 
by the sword1 still cry aloud for       
justice4  ,if we grant that an          
individual may by his own exertions     

justly acquire a hundred thousand       
dollars1 which is an ample competence1  
and that as an encouragement and reward 
for his industry1 society may justly    
allow him to dispose of it by will1     
which ,i think is a liberal concession1 
,i see no sufficient reason for         
extending his authority beyond that     
amount4 ,all above that amount1 ,i hold1
 should belong to the commonwealth in   
justice1 for two reasons--first1 because
 it was taken from the commonwealth1 and
 second1 because the commonwealth       
suffers from two dangerous classes1     
which ought not to exist1#g--the tramps 
becoming demoralized and desperate1 and 
the idlers1 becoming demoralized and    
worthless1 who think themselves a       
privileged class1 born with a right to  
live in everlasting idleness upon the   
toil of those who are not thus well     
born4 ,this division into the           
aristocracy1 the proletariat1 and the   
middle class struggling to become the   
aristocracy1 does not make a republic4  

,it is an ancient falsehood and         
injustice established by absurd laws of 
inheritance 7as absurd as the ,hindoo   
castes71 which have cursed the world1   
and will continue to curse it until     
,america shall establish democratic     
justice4 ,yet as experience shows that  
men's opinions in all things are swayed 
by their interests1 there must be but   
few of the patrician class who can      
perceive these truths1 and we must rely 
for their appreciation upon the vast    
majority who are not born to wealth4    
#g ,to save the nation we must reform   
and stop the           production of    
#fj1jjj boy tramps and the half million 
of           paupers and criminals which
 our horrible system has                
produced1 which at the present rate of  
increase will1           in fifty years1
 be a million and a quarter1 and in a   
hundred years will probably exceed      
,,four ,,millions4 ,i see           no  
measures but those ,i propose that will 
save us from           this terrible    

condition4 ,they will not be adopted in 
time to prevent civil war1 but they must
 be adopted           afterwards4  ,what
 policy the commonwealth may            
observe1--whether it shall allow the    
millionnaire to dispose of ten1 twenty1 
or fifty per cent4 as an encouragement  
and reward for his accumulations1--is a 
debatable question4 ,to give him        
post-mortem control of fifty per cent4  
would be1 it seems to me1 an act of     
prodigal generosity to millionnaire     
heirs4 ,that a dead man of a hundred    
millions should be allowed to keep fifty
 millions hoarded in private possession 
appears to me an extravagant claim1 for 
even ten per cent4 of that amount would 
be enough to spoil his children and     
unfit them for good citizenship4 ,i     
believe it would be better for society  
if all inheritance of wealth were       
forbidden1 and every boy and girl       
required to begin life with a few       
hundred dollars1 and gain the position  
they deserved by their own abilities    

alone4  ,this reclamation of            
millionnaire estates by the commonwealth
 would not be so necessary but for the  
fact that the world has been ruled by   
false principles1 and in all past ages  
millionnaires have1 with few exceptions1
 regarded their vast possessions as     
something on which the public had no    
claim in justice1 as being the true     
sources of wealth--something on which   
the brotherhood of humanity had no      
claim--something which was not a sacred 
trust for the benefit of                
mankind--something which they should    
clutch with an iron grasp1 as long as   
possible1 to keep it intact and         
unbroken1 and still speaking from the   
grave1 hold it protected from all the   
claims of humanity1 to magnify their own
 names in their descendants1 and keep   
their offspring the lords dominant of   
society1--thus making it really a curse 
instead of a blessing2 and as neither   
the moralists nor the clergy have ever  
taught them anything else1 such is still

 their tendency1 with a few such        
exceptions as ,peter ,cooper and ,george
 ,peabody4 ,but when society substitutes
 rational ethics and simple justice for 
old traditions and debasing customs1 the
 destruction of wealth will be          
recognized as a crime1 no matter how it 
was obtained2 and such profligates as   
the ,prince of ,wales1 who spends half a
 million yearly1 and then calls upon his
 avaricious mother for one or two       
millions to silence the clamor of       
creditors whom he has defrauded1 will be
 no longer feasted1 admired1 and        
imitated1 for justice will be embodied  
in law and the race of profligates will 
have been exterminated4  ,if any owner  
of these hoards1 when he is compelled to
 give them up1 politely throws out five 
per cent4 or even two per cent4 for     
something that he considers worthy1 it  
is received with great laudation as     
something not to have been expected4 ,a 
,cleveland millionnaire was lauded for a
 petty donation1 less than he had       

expended on his old wife's laces4 ,as   
philanthropists millionnaires are       
generally great failures4 ,they did not 
study the public welfare through life1  
and they do not know how to promote it2 
their benefactions generally go to      
institutions that perpetuate the old    
order of medival conservatism1 and delay
 the progress of humanity4 ,they are    
incompetent as trustees4 ,one man with  
the wealth of an ,astor or a            
,rockefeller1 and the overflowing love  
guided by the wisdom of intuition 7so   
conspicuous in ,jesus that men have     
worshipped him as a ,god1 and elevated  
their own natures by the worship71 could
 accomplish more than all that ,american
 wealth has ever done upon this         
continent4  ,therefore by that right of 
eminent domain which is good over lands 
occupied by the living1 and far better  
over estates abandoned by the dead1 it  
becomes the duty of society to maintain 
the republic1 to assert the supreme law 
of justice1 and thereby teach the       

doctrine so long forgotten by followers 
of ,christianity1 that all our powers   
and resources beyond our own necessities
 belong to our brothers4 ,such are the  
principles of every real ,christian4    
,such was the sentiment of ,john        
,wesley2 and his expression1 if ,i      
recollect rightly1 was that he would    
consider himself a thief if he died with
 more than ten pounds in his possession4
  ,these doctrines are not entirely     
strange--the world is beginning to look 
in this direction already4 ,the heirship
 of the state is an idea already        
broached in ,france1 sustained by       
,clemenceau1 ,pelletan1 and many other  
distinguished citizens1 and discussed in
 the ,chamber of ,deputies4 ,the        
proposition was to limit the law of     
inheritance1 and substitute the heirship
 of the state for all collateral heirs4 
,that eminent and practical             
philanthropist1 ,m4 ,godin1 whose name  
has been immortalized by the ,industrial
 ,palace at ,guise1 warmly espoused this

 idea in all its breadth1 and said3--   
,when an individual dies1 society has   
then the right to take      to itself   
what he leaves1 for it has been the     
chief aid of      the deceased4 ,without
 its aid1 without its institutions1 he  
could never have been able to amass the 
riches of which he      is at his death 
the holder4 ,society inherits wealth1   
then1      to use for the same work of  
social progress already                 
accomplished2 that is to say to allow   
others1 the surviving      in general   
7not the privileged strangers to the    
creation of      the existing riches71  
to continue their labor and             
co-operation in the common social work4 
,the heredity of the      ,state is then
 just1 both in principle and in fact4   
,the two measures which are necessary   
now are the ,department of ,productive  
,labor and the law of inheritance by the
 commonwealth1 which limits the         
transmission of estates above a hundred 
thousand dollars1 giving the            

commonwealth a share1 rising from one to
 ninety-nine per cent4 according to the 
magnitude of the estate--or some other  
form of taxation 7if there be a better7 
producing equivalent results4  ,i do not
 propose these measures as ,,the        
,,remedy par excellence for our unhappy 
social condition4 ,not at all4 ,they are
 merely the gigantic blows from the     
right arm of the commonwealth1 by which 
the curses established in the dark and  
bloody past1 crushing man and woman to  
the earth1 shall be hurled into         
oblivion4 ,the true1 absolute1 and      
complete ,,remedy is that industrial1   
intellectual1 hygienic1 and ethical     
training of all1 which ,i have published
 as the ,new ,education which will make 
new men4 ,these are bold and            
revolutionary measures1#h but the       
surgery of the knife is sometimes what  
humanity demands4 ,the mad riot of      
rivalry and selfishness must be         
restrained before it brings the republic
 to ruin4 ,the power of land monopoly   

must be broken by a land tax1 and the   
post-mortem despotism which perpetuates 
accumulated evils must be thrown off by 
just and practicable legislation4       
#h ,succession and income taxes are now 
beginning to be           considered4   
,two very feeble propositions have been 
brought forward4 ,the ,massachusetts    
,legislative           ,committee1 on   
probate1 reported a bill well adapted to
           be worthless--to discourage  
benevolence and keep           property 
in the family by imposing a tax of five 
per           cent4 on property left by 
will1 except when going to              
relatives or connections4 ,congressman  
,hall1 of           ,minnesota1         
introduced a bill in the last ,congress 
for           an income tax1 a fourth of
 one per cent4 on incomes               
between two and three thousand rising   
gradually to one           per cent4 on 
incomes over #aj1jjj4 ,this very small  
business is not what was demanded by    
,the ,farmers'           ,alliance and  

,industrial ,union in the ,ocala        
convention1           which demanded the
 abolition of national banks and the    
passage of a graduated income tax law4  
,these demands           were reiterated
 by the last legislature of ,missouri1  
in           a resolution calling upon  
,congress to act upon them1             
and pledging the legislature to enforce 
the farmers'           demand as far as 
in their power4 ,north ,carolina1 too1  
has adopted the ,alliance principles4   
,the income tax           will probably 
be a growing one--one per cent4 will not
           be its maximum4 ,the ,british
 income tax under ,mr4                  
,gladstone in #ahhe was three and a     
third per cent4 ,but           this is  
mere child's play1 being about          
equivalent to a           property tax  
of one seventh of one per cent4 ,when   
seriously considered1 the question will 
be between           five1 ten1 twenty1 
and thirty per cent4  ,we must act upon 
the undisguised truth that individual   

humanity is not yet properly educated1  
and not yet qualified to exercise its   
trusteeship of wealth1 for the hard     
struggles against the oppressive power  
of poverty1 sickness1 robbery1 fraud1   
and sudden calamity have made the       
self-protective faculties predominant1  
and the sharp rivalry and competition of
 business has so increased their        
predominance that the thought of public 
welfare is never paramount1 and is but  
an occasional glimmer1 and the death-bed
 surrender of wealth1 if it considers   
the welfare of society at all1 considers
 it so blindly that a large proportion  
of the benevolent endowments are of     
little real value4  ,it is1 therefore1  
necessary that the outcry of suffering  
and the warning of danger should rouse  
the public conscience to nobler         
principles1 and that society in its     
maximum wisdom1 which embraces a few    
earnest philanthropists1 many capable   
financiers and economists1 very many    
tender-hearted women who will not       

consent to suffering1 and who are       
destined to participate in government1  
as well as a great many who are         
personally conscious of wrongs that need
 rectifying1 should assume the          
administration of the ,,superfluous     
,,wealth abnormally accumulated4  ,the  
change proposed is so great that its    
realization may be far off1 and the     
evolution of law may be rivalled by the 
evolution of evasive ingenuity1 so that 
the commonwealth may be compelled to    
prohibit evasive ante-mortem donations1 
and to reinforce the succession tax by  
more stringent measures1 from which     
there can be no escape1 and which will  
control plutocracy as effectively as any
 succession tax1 and thus render the    
latter of less importance2 but it is    
none the less important that the        
principle should be asserted1 that the  
dead shall not rule the living4  ,there 
are two obvious measures1 and one of    
them is sure to be adopted soon1 without
 waiting for the abolition of unlimited 

inheritance4 ,the income tax is made    
almost necessary by the last ,congress1 
which emptied the treasury1 and the     
income tax1 if made accumulative1       
increasing its rates with the increase  
of income1 will be as effective a       
control over plutocracy as the people   
wish to make it4 ,the increasing rate of
 taxation upon superfluous wealth1 is a 
sacred principle for which every        
reformer should contend4  ,but even this
 is not fortified against evasion1 and  
we need the most efficient tax of       
all--the progressively accumulating tax 
on wealth1 which will gather a large    
rental from all the superfluous         
millions1 compelling the holders to use 
them profitably4 ,a three per cent4 tax 
on all over ten millions would not only 
enrich the commonwealth1 but stimulate  
industry in millionnaires4 ,how long    
will the millionnaires be able to defeat
 such legislation8  ,these are the      
coming taxes4 ,they are not untried     
theories1 for ,switzerland1 the foremost

 nation in democracy1 enjoys both the   
income tax and the progressively        
accumulating tax1 which falls most      
heavily on the largest properties4  ,it 
is to be hoped that political corruption
 and intrigue will not delay many years 
this assertion of the sovereignty of the
 commonwealth by taxation1 which will   
give the republic a solid foundation1   
and that the power of the commonwealth  
thus enlarged will1 through the         
,department of ,productive ,labor1 and  
by educational progress1 give us a true 
and a happy republic4 ,these suggestions
 are not farther in advance of public   
opinion to-day1 than was the            
nationalization of the land1 when ,i    
urged it in #ahdg4 ,they will find fit  
champions in a few years4  ,to what     
extent the ,department of ,productive   
,labor should be fostered by every      
,state1 and to what extent it may be    
authorized by the federal constitution1 
we need not yet consider1 for it is     
apparent that the due administration of 

the national domain and development of  
the arid region by irrigation1 will     
furnish ample employment1 if we adopt as
 a sacred principle1 the demand of      
justice1 that not another acre of the   
national domain shall ever be sold4 ,let
 us give settlers the easiest possible  
terms1 but never surrender to monopoly  
the land of the commonwealth4           
,,onian ,,punishment4  ,,by ,,rev4 ,w4  
,e4 ,,manley1 ,d4 ,d4   ,some months ago
 an article with the above heading      
appeared in ,,the ,,arena4 ,it was      
written by ,rev4 ,c4 ,h4 ,kidder1 and   
was intended as a reply to one written  
by myself1 on the eternal punishment4   
,it appears that a friend of ,mr4       
,kidder1 a physician of great ability1  
on reading my article was caused great  
disquietude4 ,he felt that if all the   
statements contained in the article were
 accurate1 his religious instructors had
 been either knaves or fools--knaves1 if
 they taught what they did not believe1 
and fools1 if they believed what they   

taught1 p4 #aja4 ,i have only to say    
that the statements of my article are1  
in all important respects1 accurate1    
explain the rest as he may2 nor has ,mr4
 ,kidder shown that they are not        
accurate1 except in one particular1 not 
affecting the main question4 ,this will 
be noticed in the proper place4  ,it is 
often true that men of great ability are
 men of hasty judgment1 especially when 
they are much disquieted2 and the doctor
 is certainly mistaken in supposing that
 his instructors were either knaves or  
fools4 ,the men who teach eternal       
punishment are in the main honest1 and  
of fair intelligence4 ,the doctrine came
 into the church in a dark age2 and for 
centuries it was dangerous to believe or
 teach anything else4 ,when the human   
mind was set free1 and it was no longer 
dangerous to teach what one believed1   
the doctrine had become so firmly       
established by a false system of        
interpretation1 that it was a long time 
before much impression could be made    

toward its removal4 ,but the ,gospel    
leaven has been working in all these    
ages since the reformation to the       
present century2 so that now there is   
little faith of that kind in the        
,orthodox church and none out of it4  ,i
 have not intended to admit that all the
 teachers of eternal punishment in the  
church have been honest4 ,some have been
 dishonest1 in order1 as they claimed1  
to do the more good4 ,there was a class 
of ministers in the ancient church who  
had two sets of opinions1 one set for   
the congregation1 and another for the   
private circle4 ,dr4 ,edward ,beecher   
mentions several venerable men1 who     
preached eternal misery1 but who had not
 a particle of faith in the doctrine1 as
 he believes4 ,they are ,chrysostom1    
,gregory ,nazianzus1 ,athanasius1 and   
,basil the ,great4 ,see ,historical     
,retribution1 p4 #bgc4 ,these were great
 men2 but a greater than these had      
taught that it is right to lie for the  
good of mankind1 namely1 ,plato4 ,who   

will say there have been no others since
 that day8 ,for the honor of humanity1  
,i trust not many4  ,i would say here   
that all ,mr4 ,kidder has advanced1 may 
be admitted1 without the least detriment
 to the main purpose of my article4 ,the
 greater part of his paper is devoted to
 incidental topics that are not         
essential to the main subject1 and what 
he says on the main point utterly fails 
to invalidate my argument1 as the reader
 will clearly perceive before ,i get    
through4  ,so far as our version favors 
eternal punishment1 the fact is due     
chiefly to a wrong translation2 and it  
is difficult to suppress the conviction 
that the translators1 in much of their  
work of this kind1 were perfectly       
conscious of the wrong they were doing4 
,the word hell in every place where it  
is found 7with one or two exceptions1   
where the heathen hell is referred to7  
is the rendering of a word that has no  
such meaning4 ,the word everlasting     
combines a wrong rendering and a wrong  

exegesis4 ,these are the main points4   
,they are the ,jachin and ,boaz of the  
orthodox temple4 ,but the translators   
have sought to favor their doctrines in 
other ways2 sometimes by supplying words
 not found in the text1 and sometimes by
 rejecting words that are there4  ,my   
article was devoted chiefly to these    
last1 particularly a wrong use of the   
,greek article1 and the rejection of an 
important word1 when it conflicted with 
their views1 though they often employ it
 at other times4  ,i say with the       
fullest confidence that the doctrine of 
eternal punishment is not in the ,hebrew
 and ,greek ,scriptures4 ,it came into  
the church chiefly with converts who had
 believed it before their conversion1   
and continued to believe it by a        
misconstruction of the ,scriptures4     
,,the ,,son ,,of ,,god4  ,by not paying 
particular attention to what ,i said1 my
 critic has misrepresented me in an     
important particular2 and has repeated  
the idea a number of times1 namely1 that

 ,i deny the sonship of ,jesus ,christ4 
,i simply refer to some passages to show
 the importance of the ,greek article1  
and some of these have the expression1  
the ,son of ,god1 when they ought to    
have been rendered a ,son of ,god1 or a 
,son of a ,god not only because the     
article is omitted in the ,greek1 but it
 is the language of ,satan1 and of the  
heathen1 and therefore more             
characteristic than the words the ,son  
of ,god4 ,the sonship of our ,lord has  
evidence enough1 without that of ,satan 
and the heathen1 especially as the      
evangelists have represented them as    
giving no such testimony4  ,the         
reference in my article to insanity and 
suicide was incidental2 and whether     
strictly correct or not1 the thousand   
that have been ruined in this way is a  
picture sufficiently frightful1 and     
shows that the ,christian religion has  
been greatly misapprehended2 for in its 
purity1 it never has1 and never can1    
produce a single case of either insanity

 or suicide4   ,,theological ,,seminary4
  ,of the six theological seminaries1   
which ,i referred to1 on the authority  
of ,dr4 ,edward ,beecher1 as existing in
 the early days of the church1 ,i find  
on further reading that two were not    
theological seminaries1 but schools of  
thought1 as the doctor afterwards calls 
them4 ,one of these was in ,asia ,minor2
 and there1 the annihilation of the     
wicked was believed and taught4 ,the    
other was in ,north ,africa2 and here1  
endless punishment was the prevailing   
belief on the subject of future destiny4
 ,the four others were real seminaries1 
in which the doctrine of the final      
holiness and happiness of all           
intelligent beings1 after future        
disciplinary punishment1 was inculcated 
by men as much distinguished for piety  
and virtue and missionary zeal1 as any  
in the whole church4  ,the four schools 
were located at ,alexandria1 in ,egypt1 
,cesarea in ,palestine1 ,antioch in     
,syria1 and ,edessa or ,nisibis4 ,this  

last school was held at the one or the  
other of these places1 in ,eastern      
,syria4 ,when persecution drove it out  
of one of these cities1 it held its     
sessions in the other4 ,all these four  
schools were numerously attended1 often 
having hundreds of scholars at one time4
 ,mr4 ,kidder thinks there must have    
been more than this number2 but as it is
 a mere conjecture with him1 his opinion
 can have but little weight against the 
statement of a man who has thoroughly   
investigated the subject4 ,it will not  
do to judge them after our little       
schools1 at the present day1 when the   
church is divided into scores of little 
communities1 each having its            
insignificant seminary or seminaries4   
,the church was then one body1 though   
each school varied slightly from the    
rest4   ,,professor ,,shedd4  ,dr4      
,beecher points out and refutes the     
statements of ,professor ,shedd1 and    
some others1 on the prevalence of       
certain doctrines in the early church4  

,professor ,shedd1 in his history of    
,christian doctrine1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4     
#dad1 says1 ,the punishment inflicted   
upon the lost was regarded by the       
fathers of the ancient church1 with very
 few exceptions1 as endless4 ,the only  
exception to the belief in the eternity 
of future punishment1 in the ancient    
church1 appears in the ,alexandrian     
school4 ,the views of ,origen concerning
 future retribution were almost wholly  
confined to their schools4  ,dr4        
,beecher makes the following reply4     
,this statement somewhat transcends the 
limits set by ,lecky1 to the doctrine of
 the restoration4 ,it is not confined to
 two individuals1 but it is confined to 
one school1--the school of ,alexandria4 
,what then shall be said of ,diodore1 of
 ,tarsus1 not of the school of          
,alexandria1 the eminent teacher of     
,chrysostom1 and a decided advocate of  
universal restoration8 ,what shall be   
said of his disciple1 ,theodore of      
,mopsuestia1 that earnest defender of   

the same doctrine1 of whom ,dorner says 
that he was the climax and crown of the 
school of ,antioch8 ,what shall be said 
of the great ,eastern school of ,edessa 
and ,nisibis1 in which the scriptural   
exposition of ,theodore of ,mopsuestia1 
was a supreme authority and text-book8  
,was ,theodore of the school of         
,alexandria8 ,not at all4 ,he was of the
 school of ,antioch4444 ,and yet he not 
only taught the doctrine of universal   
restoration on his own basis1 but even  
introduced it into the liturgy of the   
,nestorian ,church1 in ,eastern ,asia4  
,what1 too1 shall we say of the two     
great theological schools1 in which he  
had a place of such honor and           
influence8444 ,dr4 ,shedd would have    
called to mind a statement in           
,guericke's ,church ,history1 as        
translated by himself1 ,it is noticeable
 that the exegetico-grammatical school  
of ,antioch1 as well as the allegorizing
 ,alexandrian1 adopted and maintained   
the doctrine of restoration1 p4 #cdi1   

note #a4 ,then it should be added that  
,origen was not the only one of the     
,alexandrian school1 who taught this    
doctrine4 ,clemens1 who preceded        
,origen1 taught it2 and ,didymus who    
succeeded him4 ,the whole period of the 
presidency of these men over the school 
must have been a century or more4 ,and  
yet the great body of ,christians1 as   
,professor ,shedd would have us believe1
 were believers in eternal punishment2  
but they neither turned these men out1  
nor established any other school to     
counteract their influence4 ,they must  
have been a trifle different from       
believers in the doctrine now4 ,and what
 is very remarkable1 we hear of no books
 or essays written against the doctrine 
of the ,alexandrian school1 as if it    
were a pernicious heresy4  ,church      
historians in modern times impose on    
their readers by quoting passages from  
ancient ,christian writers1 that employ 
the word everlasting in connection with 
punishment1 leaving the impression that 

these words were understood then as they
 are now1 when in fact believers in     
limited punishment1 as well as those who
 thought punishment endless1 employed   
the term everlasting 7aionios7 to denote
 its duration4 ,origen and ,clemens     
speak of everlasting punishment1 though 
they believed it would end in           
reformation and salvation4 ,justin      
,martyr and ,irenus warn men of         
everlasting punishment1 though they     
believed in the annihilation of the     
wicked4   ,,moral ,,resurrection4  ,in  
some instances the resurrection is used 
in the same way as the new birth1 to    
denote conversion4 ,such is ,john v4    
#ba-bi4 ,the change thus indicated is   
commonly called a moral resurrection4   
,my critic would have the last two      
verses refer to the general resurrection
 at the end of the world2 while he seems
 to admit that all the rest relates to a
 moral resurrection1 two things as      
unlike as they possibly could be4 ,such 
is not our ,lord's mode of teaching4 ,i 

understand the whole passage as confined
 to one subject1 the moral resurrection4
 ,he divides the subject into two parts1
 to be sure1 but it is the same subject 
in both parts--first1 the moral         
resurrection then in progress2 and      
second1 the moral resurrection coming on
 a more extensive scale1 even embracing 
all men4 ,jesus changes one word only1  
using graves1--more properly            
tombs1--instead of death4 ,but coming   
out of death into life1 and coming out  
of the tombs into life1 are essentially 
the same thing4 ,both are figurative    
expressions4 ,i insist that where ,jesus
 says1 ,the hour is coming and now is1  
he conveys the impression that the then 
present process was in its nature the   
same as the coming one1 only that the   
latter would be more extended1 even     
universal4   ,,the ,,word ,a ,,god4     
,that ,trinitarians should translate    
this expression1 ,the ,word was ,god1 in
 ,john i4 #a1 might be expected2 but by 
the rules of translating the ,greek     

language into ,english1 the expression  
should be1 ,the ,word was a god4 ,the   
rule of ,middleton that the article must
 not be used in the predicate of a      
sentence may hold good1 when it         
conflicts with no superior rule2 but if 
taken absolutely1 it has many           
exceptions4 ,i suppose the renowned     
,origen understood the ,greek language4 
,he interprets the passage before us as 
,i do4 ,origen uses ,greek3 theos 7god71
 not in our modern sense1 as a proper   
name1 but as a common name4 ,this use of
 the term1 which was common to him with 
his contemporaries1 and continued to be 
common after his time1 is illustrated by
 his remarks on the passage1 'and the   
,logos was ,god'2 in which he contended1
 that the ,logos was god1 in an inferior
 sense2--not as we would say ,god1 but a
 god1 not the divine being1 but a divine
 being4 7,opp4 iv4 p4 #dh1 reqq474 ,see 
,norton's ,statement of ,reasons1 p4    
#abj1 note4  ,the quotation from the    
,athanasian creed had better been       

omitted2 for many will read it1 who had 
not before known that it contained any  
such absurdity2 and will have less      
respect for the ,trinity than they would
 wish to have4 ,the quotation is1 ,the  
,father is ,god1 the ,son is ,god1 and  
the ,holy ,spirit is ,god2 and yet they 
787 are not three ,gods1 but one ,god4  
,i am accused of following an uncritical
 principle1 in not reasoning in the same
 way4 ,if it is uncritical1 ,i plead    
guilty1 and beg that my sentence may be 
as mild as possible4 ,but before the    
sentence is pronounced may it not be    
well to apply the reasoning to some     
other subject1--to ,peter1 ,james1 and  
,john1 for instance8 ,each of these is a
 man2 but they are not three men but one
 man6   ,,mello4  ,i complained that the
 translators and revisors left out this 
word1 apparently for the reason that it 
conflicts with their theology4 ,it makes
 certain things to be near at hand1     
which they regarded as far in the       
future4 ,my critic says1 ,the ,greek    

mello frequently has the meaning        
assigned to it by ,dr4 ,manley1 but it  
is not shut up to that meaning1 p4 #ajf4
 ,it probably has that meaning twenty   
times1 where it has any other meaning   
once4 ,in the passages from which it is 
excluded1 if it has any other meaning1  
why did they not retain it1 and render  
it according to its true import1 and not
 throw it out8 ,mr4 ,kidder does not    
meet the case1 when he shows that the   
word does sometimes have another        
meaning4 ,his business is to show that  
it has no meaning1 in the passages from 
which it is excluded4 ,it will then be  
in order to show why the writers put    
such a word in these passages4 ,when the
 translators recognize the word1 they   
seldom fail to give it a meaning        
corresponding to the sense ,i assign to 
it4  ,it is conceded that the wrath to  
come 7,matt4 iii4 #g2 ,luke iii4 #g471  
should probably be the wrath about to   
come1 meaning the destruction soon to   
fall on the ,jewish ,state4 ,this word  

mello 7about7 takes the passage out of  
the hands of those who would apply it to
 a far-off eternal punishment4 ,the word
 in other passages would have been alike
 opposed to the common construction2    
and1 therefore1 it was left out4 ,this  
is the plain common-sense view of the   
case2 and ,i shall hold the translators 
and revisers guilty of a base fraud1    
till some good reason can be given for  
their conduct4 ,this probably cannot be 
done4  ,,ai,o,n1 ,,ai,o,,nios4 ,that the
 expression1 end of the world1 where the
 original for world is aion1 ever has   
the meaning of end of this material     
universe cannot be proved4 ,where ,jesus
 promises to be with his disciples to   
the end of the world 7aion7 is the most 
favorable instance4 ,but in the sense   
here intended1 namely1 enabling them to 
perform miracles1 he was with them1 only
 to the end of the ,jewish age4 ,by that
 time the ,gospel was so well           
established1 as no longer to need       
miraculous interposition4 ,in what sense

 ,jesus was with the disciples1 is      
explained by the closing words of       
,mark's ,gospel4 ,and they went forth1  
preaching everywhere1 the ,lord working 
with them1 and confirming the word1 by  
the signs that followed4 ,amen4  ,my    
critic says of aion1 p4 #ajg3 ,it may at
 times refer to the ,jewish             
dispensation1 with its limit fixed at   
the judgment executed upon the holy     
city1 and the destruction of the temple4
 ,then it may mean this1 in ,matt4 xiii4
 #ch1 #ci1 #di1 and xxiv4 #c4 ,it does  
not always mean age2 for this meaning is
 inadequate for the worlds1 aionos1 of  
,heb4 i4 #b1 xi4 #c4 ,it does not seem  
so2 for ,god created the ages and       
dispensations of time1 as much as he did
 the material worlds4 ,constituted may  
be better than created4 ,god is the     
author of both creations4 ,aion is a    
term that always implies time1 or       
duration1 and not material substance4   
,de ,quincey says that everything has   
its aion4 ,the aion of an individual man

 is about seventy years4 ,the aion of   
the human race would probably be some   
millions of years4 ,it would follow from
 this reasoning that the aion of ,god   
would be eternal1 past1 and to come4 ,de
 ,quincey does not1 ,i believe1 carry   
his reasoning to this result2 and ,i had
 never seen the argument stated before1 
as it is in the passages produced by    
,mr4 ,k41 from ,aristotle and ,plato4   
,but the same reasoning that makes the  
aion of ,god eternal1 makes every other 
limited4 ,it would be illogical1 and    
appear so at once1 if one should argue1 
,god is eternal2 and1 therefore1        
punishment is eternal4  ,the rule       
generally accepted for understanding    
aionios1 is to modify the meaning       
according to the nature of the noun     
which it qualifies4 ,if it denote       
duration1 the amount of duration will   
depend on the noun qualified4 ,this rule
 forbids that eternal punishment should 
be of as long duration as eternal life4 
,punishment is a means to an end1 and in

 itself is undesirable4 ,life or        
happiness is an end2 the longer         
continued the better2 for it is         
desirable in itself4 ,it is that which  
we seek by means of punishment4 ,the    
less we have of punishment1 the better4 
,the more we have of life1 the better4  
,my critic ought to have pondered the   
words of ,dr4 ,taylor ,lewis1 before he 
entered on this discussion4 ,his words  
are1 ,the preacher1 in contending with  
the ,universalist and the               
,restorationist1 would commit an error1 
and it may be1 suffer a failure in his  
argument1 should he lay the whole stress
 of it on the etymological or historical
 significance of the words1 aion1       
aionios1 and attempt to prove that of   
themselves they necessarily carry the   
meaning of endless duration4 ,lange's   
,eccl4 p4 #dh4 ,beecher's ,retribution1 
p4 #aed4 ,prof4 ,lewis says that aionios
 means pertaining to the age or world to
 come4 ,the only fault this definition  
has1 is the addition of the words to    

come4 ,jesus says1 ,these shall go away 
into the punishment of the age1 and the 
righteous into the life of the age4 ,the
 age referred to1 is the ,christian age 
or dispensation1 that has already come4 
,it is the same as has all along been   
called1 the age to come1 or about to    
come4 ,it was to follow the ,jewish age1
 which was soon to end4 ,both together  
are referred to as this age and that    
which is about to come4 ,but when the   
parable of the sheep and goats begins1  
the age is already come4  ,the form here
 given by ,taylor ,lewis is the same as 
,jesus himself used1 if he spoke the    
,aramaic1 as my critic says he did1 and 
,i agree with him4 ,he did not say1     
,these shall go away into aionion       
punishment1 etc41 which is the          
unwarranted ,greek form4 ,but his words 
are1 ,these shall go away into the      
punishment of the age 7or pertaining to 
the age71 and the righteous into the    
life of the age 7or pertaining to the   
age74 ,it is the same form in the       

,peshito-,syriac version1 made in the   
days of the ,apostles4 ,it is the same  
in the ,hebrew ,new ,testament1         
translated by the ,bible society1 to    
circulate among the modern ,jews4  ,i   
have in my possession over a hundred    
passages1 from classic ,greek authors1  
in which aion is used in a limited      
sense1 generally denoting human life1 or
 the age of man4 ,it is used1 in a few  
instances1 to denote an endless age1 by 
attaching to it another word for        
endless4 ,the adjective aionios is used 
very little by these authors1 and not at
 all1 ,i think1 by the more ancient     
ones4 ,no lexicon gives it the          
definition of eternal1 till long after  
the time of ,christ2 and the remark is  
added1 when thus defined1 that it is so 
understood by the theologians4  ,but the
 principal help for understanding the   
,greek of the ,new ,testament1 is the   
,greek version of the ,old ,testament1  
the ,septuagint4 ,the words we are      
discussing are found in that version not

 far from four hundred times1 three     
fourths of them probably in a limited   
sense4 ,the ,hebrew form1 the statutes  
of the age1 are rendered into ,greek1   
everlasting or aionion statutes2 the    
covenant of the age1 the aionion        
covenant1 etc4 ,these terms have sixteen
 different renderings4 ,they are1       
everlasting1 forever1 forevermore1      
perpetual1 ever1 never 7when joined with
 a negative particle71 old1 ancient1    
long1 always1 world1 lasting1 eternal1  
continuance1 at any time1 ,elam4 ,the   
last word stands for the ,hebrew olam1  
the word answering to aion in the       
,greek4 ,with these definitions in view 
7a number of them being limited terms71 
it would be folly to claim that this    
word has an unlimited meaning when      
applied to punishment4 ,the punishment  
which ,god inflicts is limited4 ,heb4   
#ab4  ,great stress is placed on the    
circumstance1 that in ,matt4 xxv4 #df1  
the punishment and the life are spoken  
of near together1 even in the same      

verse4 ,tertullian1 and later           
,augustine1 urged this fact as proof    
that both must be of the same duration4 
,the late ,albert ,barns thought the    
argument sound4 ,of course1 no large man
 ever rode a large horse1 without being 
of the same size4 ,perhaps an           
illustration from ,scripture will be    
more satisfactory4 ,and the eternal     
mountains were scattered2 the           
everlasting hills did bow2 his ways are 
everlasting4 ,hab4 iii4 #f4 ,for the    
last sentence1 see the margin1 ,revised 
,edition4 ,are there to be no ways of   
,god1 after the mountains and hills are 
gone8 ,besides1 this whole parable has  
its fulfilment1 not in eternity1 but in 
the ,christian dispensation4 ,it began  
to be fulfilled at the coming of        
,christ1 when some were living1 who had 
heard him1 during his ministry1 nearly  
forty years before4 ,matt4 xvi4 #bg1    
#bh4 ,no fixed rewards and punishments  
are possible under the circumstances1   
for men are changing4 ,the rendering    

pertaining to the age1 has no objection 
of this kind4 ,if it be claimed that a  
man1 once a ,christian1 always a        
,christian1 no one can doubt1 that a    
man1 not a ,christian1 may become one1  
and so change his condition--a proof    
that his condition is not eternal4  ,i  
will close this article by a few words  
on the apocalypse4 ,the dramatic        
representation of ,eichhorn is correct1 
save the added clause1 the eternal      
felicity of the future life described4  
,the holy city is not heaven2 it came   
down from ,god out of heaven4 ,it does  
not denote a final and fixed condition4 
,it is four-square1 and has three gates 
on each side2 and all of them open      
continually1 to admit those who wish to 
enter2 and the invitation is sounded    
without ceasing1 to the outsiders from  
within1 to come and partake of the      
waters of life freely4 ,neither in the  
,new ,jerusalem1 nor the lake of fire1  
is there any allusion to the eternal    
world of fixed and changeless           

conditions4  ,in those days1 when books 
were not printed1 but transcribed by the
 hand1 it was customary for the author  
to make a strong appeal to the copyist  
or transcriber1 not to make any         
alteration in the book1 with certain    
penalties1 fictitious or otherwise4     
,hence the ,revelation closes with this 
admonition1--not to add to1 nor take    
from1 the book 7xxii4 #ah1 #ai471 the   
penalty being sufficiently severe1 to   
which ,i would commend the late revisers
 of the ,new ,testament4     ,,the      
,,negro ,,question ,,from ,,the         
,,negro',s ,,point ,,of ,,view4  ,,by   
,,prof4 ,w4 ,s4 ,,scarborough4   ,in the
 discussion of the so-called ,negro     
,problem1 there is1 as a rule1 a great  
deal of the sentimental and still more  
of the sensational4 ,by a series of non 
sequitur arguments the average disputant
 succeeds admirably in proving what is  
foreign to the subject4 ,this is true of
 writers of both sections of our        
country--,north as well as ,south--but  

especially true of those of the ,south4 
,the recent symposium of ,southern      
writers in the ,independent on the      
,negro ,question1 as interesting as it  
was for novelty and variety of view1 is 
no exception to the rule4 ,if the negro 
could be induced to believe for a moment
 that he was thus actually destitute of 
all the elements that go to make up a   
rational creature1 his life would be    
miserable beyond endurance4 ,but he has 
not reached that point nor does he care 
to reach it4 ,others may exclaim3--     
,o wad some power the giftie gi'e us    
,to see oursel's as ithers see us2  but 
not the negro1 if the vision must always
 be so distorted4 ,the black man is     
naturally of a sanguine temperament1 as 
has so often been said2 and the facts in
 the case bear him out in entertaining a
 hopeful view of his own future and his 
ability to carve it out4 ,i am sure that
 they do not warrant even our ,southern 
friends in taking such a pessimistic    
view of the situation1 so far as the    

negro himself is concerned4 ,but facts  
are of little account nowadays4 ,there  
is a tendency to ignore them and appeal 
to the prejudices and passions of men1  
and that1 too1 when it is well known    
that such methods of procedure prolong  
rather than settle the question at      
issue4 ,this is the work of the         
alarmist--to keep things stirred up and 
always in an unsettled state4  ,i think 
it may be justly inferred that the      
average white man does not understand   
the black man1 and that he is still an  
unknown quantity to many of the white   
people of the country1 even to those who
 profess to know him best4 ,admitting   
this1 then1 it is but natural that much 
of their deliberation and many of their 
conclusions should be wide of the mark4 
,the negro does not censure the white   
man for his conclusions as they are the 
logical consequence of his premises1 but
 he does object to his premises4 ,our   
white friends make their mistake in     
seeming by all their movements to insist

 that there is but one standpoint from  
which to view this question1 the white  
man's2 but there is another and the     
negro is viewing it from that side1 not 
selfishly but in a friendly and         
brotherly spirit4  ,senator ,george was 
right when he said that the solution of 
this question should be left to time1   
but wrong when he further added1 and to 
the sound judgment of the ,southern     
people4 ,the recent disfranchisement of 
the negroes of his native ,state shows  
very plainly to the thoughtful citizen  
that the ,south is not yet capable of   
justly handling this question1          
notwithstanding that they are the people
 who have the trouble before them every 
day4 ,this is ,mississippi's fatal      
mistake and one that places the ,state  
in the rear of her ,southern sisters1   
and for the present1 at least1 lessens  
the value of any suggestion from that   
quarter4  ,it is well understood that   
the sentiment of the ,american people is
 that enough has been done for the      

negro2 that the country is under no     
obligations to look further after his   
interest1 and that he must act for      
himself4 ,survival of the fittest is now
 the watchword4 ,there is no objection  
to this provided the blacks are allowed 
to do for themselves1--to survive as the
 fittest1 if it be possible1--but this  
they are not allowed to do4 ,they are   
certainly anxious to work out their own 
destiny4 ,they are tired of sentiment   
and are therefore impatient4 ,they      
desire to show to the world that they   
are not only misunderstood but          
misjudged4 ,they are willing to unite   
with either ,north or ,south in the     
adjustment of present difficulties4     
,unlike the ,indians they are           
sincere--neither treacherous nor        
deceitful4 ,they are simple1 frank1 and 
open-hearted1 and are as desirous of    
good government as are the most honored 
citizens of the land4 ,let alone1 they  
will give neither the ,state nor the    
nation any trouble4 ,they feel          

themselves a part and parcel of the     
nation and as such have an interest in  
its prosperity as deep as those who are 
allowed to exercise1 untrammelled1 the  
rights of citizenship4  ,to keep the    
blacks submissive there is need of      
neither army nor navy4 ,though at the   
foot of the ladder they are contented to
 remain there1 until by virtue of their 
own efforts they may rise to higher     
planes4 ,the negro has never sought1    
does not now1 nor will he seek to step  
beyond his limit4 ,social equality1     
,negro domination1 and ,negro supremacy1
 are meaningless terms to him so far as 
his own aspirations are concerned4 ,the 
social side of this question will       
regulate itself4 ,it has always done so1
 in all ages and all climes1 despite    
coercion1 despite law4 ,this is the     
least of the negro's cares4 ,his demand 
for civil rights is no demand for social
 equality4 ,this is a mistaken view of  
the subject4 ,it is this dread of social
 equality1 this fear of social contact  

with the negro that precludes many      
well-meaning people from securing       
accurate information in regard to the   
aims1 and purposes1 and capabilities of 
those whom they desire to help4 ,but    
there is light ahead1 dark as at times  
it now may seem1 and erroneous as are   
the views in regard to the negro's      
relation to the ,american body-politic4 
,congressman ,herbert1 in his effort to 
show the negro's incapacity for         
self-government by calling attention to 
the defalcations1 embezzlements1 and    
petty larcenies1 etc41 of reconstruction
 times1 forgets that if this is to be   
taken as the gauge of capacity for      
self-government1 the same rule will     
apply to bank and railroad wreckers of  
the present day1--to every defaulter and
 embezzler of ,state and private funds1 
and to every absconding clerk4 ,now we  
must remember that this class of        
citizens is enormously large1 and that  
they are all white1 as a rule4 ,every   
daily paper that one picks up devotes   

considerable space to this class of     
citizens who1 according to ,mr4         
,herbert1 has shown its incapacity for  
self-government1 as well as the         
incapacity of others who alone have     
acquired such a capacity as is claimed  
by ,congressman ,barnes4 ,queer logic is
 it not8 ,the latter should say so1 for 
it is he who claims that the            
,anglo-,saxon is the only member of the 
human family who has yet shown evidence 
of a capacity for self-government4      
,again1 it is said that the negro cannot
 attain high and rigid scholarship1 and 
even those who have succeeded in        
becoming educated if left to themselves 
would relapse into barbarism4 ,now1 ,i  
cannot believe that any such statement  
as this can be made with sincerity4 ,in 
the light of the facts it is            
preposterous4 ,flipper1 while at ,west  
,point1 demonstrated beyond controversy 
the fallacy of such a position as the   
first2 and there is hardly a college    
commencement in which some negro in some

 way does not continue to show its      
falsity by distinguishing himself by his
 extraordinary attainments4 ,even while 
,i write1 a letter lies before me from a
 young colored student1 a graduate of   
,brown ,university1 who is now taking a 
post-graduate course at the ,american   
,school for ,classical ,studies1 at     
,athens1 ,greece4 ,from all reports1 he 
is making an excellent record1 and will 
present a thesis in ,march on ,the      
,demes of ,athens4 ,as to relapsing into
 barbarism1 were the negro removed from 
white influence1 the mere mention of the
 negro scholar1 ,dr4 ,edward ,blyden1   
born on the island of ,st4 ,thomas1     
educated and reared in ,africa away from
 the slightest social contact with      
people of ,anglo-,saxon extraction1 is  
sufficient proof that such a conclusion 
is not a correct one4  ,what a leading  
journal has said in regard to the       
,indians may be repeated here as        
applicable to the negro3 ,the most      
crying need in ,indian negro affairs is 

its disentanglement from politics and   
political manipulations4  ,here is an   
opportunity for the ,church1 but the    
,church has shown itself wholly         
inadequate to meet the case1 and because
 of its tendency to shirk its duty1 may 
be said to be to blame for many of the  
troubles growing out of the presence of 
the negro on this continent4 ,i have    
noted that there is more prejudice in   
the ,church1 as a rule1 than there is in
 the ,state4 ,if1 as is asserted by     
some1 neither ,church nor ,state can    
settle this question1 then there is     
nothing to be done but to leave it to   
time and the combined patience and      
forbearance of the ,american            
people1--black as well as white4     ,a 
,,prairie ,,heroine4  ,,by ,,hamlin     
,,garland4   ,lucretia ,burns had never 
been handsome1 even in her days of early
 girlhood1 and now she was middle aged1 
distorted with work and child-bearing1  
and looking faded and worn as one of the
 boulders that lay beside the pasture   

fence near where she sat milking a large
 white cow4  ,she had no shawl or hat   
and no shoes1 for it was still muddy in 
the little yard1 where the cattle stood 
patiently fighting the flies and        
mosquitoes swarming into their skins    
already wet with blood4 ,the evening was
 oppressive with its heat1 and a ring of
 just-seen thunder-heads gave           
premonitions of an approaching storm4   
,an observer seeing ,lucretia ,burns as 
she rose from the cow's side1 and taking
 her pails of foaming milk staggered    
toward the gate1 would have been made   
weak with sympathetic pain4 ,the two    
pails hung from her lean arms1 her bare 
feet slipped on the filthy ground1 her  
greasy and faded calico dress showed her
 tired1 swollen ankles1 and the         
mosquitoes swarmed mercilessly on her   
neck and bedded themselves in her       
colorless hair4  ,the children were     
quarrelling at the well and the sound of
 blows could be heard4 ,calves were     
querulously calling for their milk1 and 

little turkeys lost in the tangle of    
grass were piping plaintively4  ,the sun
 just setting struck through a long1 low
 rift like a boy peeping beneath the    
eaves of a huge roof4 ,its light brought
 out ,lucretia's face as she leaned her 
sallow forehead on the top bar of the   
gate and looked towards the west4  ,it  
was a pitifully worn1 almost tragic     
face1--long1 thin1 sallow1 hollow-eyed4 
,the mouth had long since lost the power
 to shape itself into a kiss1 and had a 
droop at the corners which seemed to    
announce a breaking down at any moment  
into a despairing wail4 ,the collarless 
neck and sharp shoulders showed         
painfully4  ,she felt vaguely that the  
night was beautiful1 the setting sun1   
the noise of frogs1 the nocturnal       
insects beginning to pipe--all in some  
way called her girlhood back to her1    
though there was little in her girlhood 
to give her pleasure4 ,her large gray   
eyes 7her only interesting feature7 grew
 round1 deep1 and wistful as she saw the

 illimitable craggy clouds grow crimson1
 roll slowly up1 and fire at the top4 ,a
 childish scream recalled her4  ,oh my  
soul6 she half groaned1 half swore1 as  
she lifted her milk and hurried to the  
well4 ,arriving there1 she cuffed the   
children right and left with all her    
remaining strength1 saying in           
justification3--  ,my soul6 can't       
you--you young 'uns give me a minute's  
peace8 ,land knows1 ,i'm almost gone    
up--washin' an' milkin' six cows1 and   
tendin' you and cookin' f'r him1 ought'o
 be enough f'r one day6 ,sadie1 you let 
him drink now'r ,i'll slap your head    
off1 you hateful thing6 ,why can't you  
behave1 when you know ,i'm jest about   
dead4 ,she was weeping now1 with nervous
 weakness4 ,where's y'r pa8 she asked   
after a moment1 wiping her eyes with her
 apron4  ,one of the group1 the one     
cuffed last1 sniffled out1 in rage and  
grief3--  ,he's in the                  
cornfield1--where'd ye s'pose he was8   
,good land6 why don't the man work all  

night8 ,sile1 you put that dipper in    
that milk agin1 an' ,i'll whack you till
 your head'll swim6 ,sadie1 le' go ,pet1
 an' go 'n get them turkeys out of the  
grass 'fore it gits dark6 ,bob1 you go  
tell y'r dad if he wants the rest o'    
them cows milked1 he's got 'o do it     
himself4 ,i jest can't1 and what's more 
,i won't1 she ended rebelliously4       
,having strained the milk and fed the   
children1 she took some skimmed milk    
from the cans and started to feed the   
calves bawling strenuously behind the   
barn4 ,the eager and unruly brutes      
pushed and struggled to get into the    
pails all at once1 and in consequence   
spilt nearly all of the milk on the     
ground4 ,this was the last trial1--the  
woman fell down on the damp grass and   
moaned and sobbed like a crazed thing4  
,the children stood around like little  
partridges1 looking at her in silence1  
till at last the little one began to    
wail4 ,then the mother rose wearily to  
her feet1 and walked slowly back towards

 the house4  ,she heard ,burns threshing
 his team at the well1 with the sound of
 oaths4 ,he was tired1 hungry1 and      
ill-tempered1 but she was too desperate 
to care4 ,his poor1 overworked team did 
not move quick enough for him1 and his  
extra long turn in the corn had made him
 dangerous4 ,his eyes gleamed from his  
dust-laid face4  ,supper ready8 he      
growled4  ,yes1 two hours ago4  ,well1  
,i can't help it6 ,that devilish corn is
 getting too tall to plow again1 and    
,i've got 'o go through it to-morrow or 
not at all4 ,cows milked8  ,part of 'em4
  ,how many8  ,three4  ,hell6 ,which    
three8  ,spot1 and ,brin1 and ,cherry4  
,of course6 kept the three worst ones4  
,i'll be damned if ,i milk 'm to-night4 
,i don't see why you play out jest the  
nights ,i need ye most-- here he kicked 
a child out of the way4 ,git out 'o     
that6 ,haint ye got no sense8 ,i'll     
learn ye--  ,stop that1 ,sim ,burns6    
cried the woman1 snatching up the child4
 ,you're a reg'lar ol' hyeny1--that's   

what you are-- she added defiantly1     
roused at last from her lethargy4       
,you're a--beauty1 that's what you are1 
he said1 pitilessly4 ,keep your brats   
out f'um under my feet2 and he strode   
off to the barn after his team1 leaving 
her with a fierce hate in her heart4    
,she heard him yelling at his team in   
their stalls4  ,the children had had    
their supper so she took them to bed4   
,she was unusually tender to them for   
she wanted to make up in some way for   
her harshness4 ,the ferocity of her     
husband had shown up her own petulant   
temper hideously1 and she sat and sobbed
 in the darkness a long time beside the 
cradle where the little ,pet slept4     
,she heard ,burns come growling in and  
tramp about1--the supper was on the     
table1 he could wait on himself4 ,there 
was an awful feeling at her heart as she
 sat there and the house grew quiet4    
,she thought of suicide in a vague way2 
of somehow taking her children in her   
arms and sinking into a lake somewhere1 

where she would never more be troubled1 
where she could sleep forever1 without  
toil or hunger4  ,then she thought of   
the little turkeys wandering in the     
grass1 of the children sleeping at last1
 of the quiet1 wonderful stars4 ,then   
she thought of the cows left unmilked1  
and listened to them stirring uneasily  
in the yard4 ,she rose1 at last1 and    
stole forth4 ,she could not rid herself 
of the thought that they would suffer4  
,she knew what the dull ache in the full
 breasts of a mother was1 and she could 
not let them stand at the bars all night
 moaning for relief4  ,the mosquitoes   
had gone1 but the frogs and katy-dids   
still sang1 while over in the west      
,venus shone4 ,she was a long time      
milking the cows2 her hands were so     
tired she had often to stop and rest    
them1 while the tears fell unheeded into
 the pail4 ,she saw and felt little of  
the external as she sat there4 ,she     
thought of how sweet it seemed the first
 time ,sim came to see her1 of the many 

rides to town with him when he was an   
accepted lover1 of the few things he had
 given her1 a coral breastpin and a     
ring4  ,she felt no shame at her present
 miserable appearance1 she was past     
that2 she hardly felt as if the tall1   
strong girl1 attractive with health and 
hope1 could be the same soul as the     
woman who now sat in utter despair      
listening to the heavy breathing of the 
happy cows1 grateful for the relief from
 their burden of milk4  ,she contrasted 
her lot with that of two or three women 
that she knew1 not a very high standard1
 who kept hired help1 and who had fine  
houses of four or five rooms4 ,even the 
neighbors were better off than she1 for 
they didn't have such quarrels4 ,but she
 wasn't to blame--,sim didn't--then her 
mind changed to a vague resentment      
against things2 everything seemed       
against her4  ,she rose at last and     
carried her second load of milk to the  
well1 strained it1 washed out the pails1
 and after bathing her tired feet in a  

tub that stood there1 she put on a pair 
of horrible shoes without stockings1 and
 crept stealthily into the house4 ,sim  
did not hear her as she slipped up the  
stairs to the little low1 unfinished    
chamber beside her oldest children1--she
 could not bear to sleep near him that  
night1--she wanted a chance to sob      
herself to quiet4  ,as for ,sim1 he was 
a little disturbed but would as soon    
have cut off his head as acknowledge    
himself in the wrong1 but he yelled as  
he went to bed1 and found her still     
away3--  ,say1 ol' woman1 aint ye comin'
 to bed8 and upon receiving no answer he
 rolled his aching body into the        
creaking bed4 ,do as ye damn please     
about it4 ,if ye wan' to sulk y' can4   
,and in such wise the family grew quiet 
in sleep1 while the moist1 warm air     
pulsed with the ceaseless chime of the  
crickets4   ,,ii4  ,when ,sim ,burns    
woke the next morning he felt a sharper 
twinge of remorse4 ,it was not a broad  
or well-defined feeling1 just a sense   

that he'd been unduly irritable1 not    
that on the whole he was not in the     
right4 ,little ,pet lay with the warm   
,june sunshine filling his baby eyes1   
curiously content in striking at flies  
that buzzed around his little mouth4    
,the man thrust his dirty naked feet    
into his huge boots1 and1 without       
washing his face or combing his hair1   
went out to the barn to do his chores4  
,he was a type of the prairie farmer and
 his whole surrounding was typical4 ,he 
had a quarter-section of fine level     
land1 mortgaged1 of course1 but his     
house was a little box-like structure1  
costing1 perhaps1 five hundred dollars4 
,it had three rooms and the ever-present
 summer kitchen attached to the back4   
,it was unpainted and had no touch of   
beauty1 a mere box4  ,his stable was    
built of slabs and banked and covered   
with straw4 ,it looked like a den1 was  
low and long1 and had but one door in   
the end4 ,the cow-yard held ten or      
fifteen cattle of various kinds1 while a

 few calves were bawling from a pen near
 by4 ,behind the barn on the west and   
north was a fringe of willows forming a 
wind-break4 ,a few broken and           
discouraged fruit trees standing here   
and there among the weeds formed the    
garden4 ,in short1 he was spoken of by  
his neighbors as a hard-working cuss1   
and tollably well fixed4  ,no grace had 
come or ever could come into his life4  
,back of him were generations of men    
like himself1 whose main' business had  
been to work hard1 live miserably1 and  
beget children to take their places     
after they died4 ,he was a product4     
,his courtship had been delayed so long 
on account of poverty that it brought   
little of humanizing emotion into his   
life4 ,he never mentioned it now1 or if 
he did1 it was only to sneer obscenely  
at it4 ,he had long since ceased to kiss
 his wife or even speak kindly to her4  
,there was no longer any sanctity to    
life or love4 ,he chewed tobacco and    
toiled on from year to year without any 

very clearly defined idea of the future4
  ,he was tall1 dark1 and strong1 in a  
flat-chested1 slouching sort of way1 and
 had grown neglectful of even decency in
 his dress4 ,he wore the ,american      
farmer's customary outfit of rough brown
 pants1 hickory shirt1 and greasy white 
hat4 ,it differed from his neighbors1   
mainly in being a little dirtier and    
more ragged4 ,his grimy hands were broad
 and strong as the clutch of a bear1 and
 he was a turrible feller to turn off   
work1 as ,council said4 ,i druther have 
,sim ,burns work for me one day than    
some men three4 ,he's a linger4 ,he     
worked with unusual speed this morning1 
and ended by milking all the cows       
himself as a sort of savage penance for 
his misdeeds the previous evening1      
muttering in self-defence3--  ,seems 's 
if ever' cussid thing piles on to me at 
once4 ,that corn1 the road-tax1 and     
hayin' comin' on1 and now she gits her  
back up--  ,when he went back to the    
well he sloshed himself thoroughly in   

the horse-trough and went to the house4 
,he found breakfast ready but his wife  
was not in sight4 ,the older children   
were clamoring around the uninviting    
breakfast table1 spread with cheap      
plates and with boiled potatoes and     
fried salt pork as the principal dish4  
,where's y'r ma8 he asked1 with a       
threatening note in his voice1 as he sat
 down by the table4  ,she's in the      
bedroom4  ,he rose and pushed open the  
door4 ,the mother sat with the babe in  
her lap1 looking out of the window down 
across the superb field of timothy1     
moving like a lake4 ,she did not look   
round4 ,she only grew rigid4 ,her thin  
neck throbbed with the pulsing of blood 
to her head4  ,what's got into you1 now8
 he said brutally2 don't be a fool4     
,come out and eat breakfast with me1 an'
 take care o' y'r young ones4  ,she     
neither moved nor made a sound4 ,with an
 oath he turned on his heel and went out
 to the table4 ,eating his breakfast in 
his usual wolfish fashion1 he went out  

into the hot sun with his team and      
ridding plow1 not a little disturbed by 
this new phase of his wife's            
cantankerousness4 ,he plowed steadily   
and sullenly all the forenoon1 in the   
terrific heat and dust4 ,the air was    
full of tempestuous threats1 still and  
sultry1 one of those days when work is a
 punishment4 ,when he came in at noon he
 found things the same1--dinner on the  
table1 but his wife out in the garden   
with the youngest child4  ,i c'n stand  
it as long as she can1 he said to       
himself1 in the hearing of the children4
 ,when he finished the field of corn it 
was after sundown1 and he came up to the
 house1 hot1 dusty1 his shirt wringing  
wet with sweat1 and his neck aching with
 the work of looking down all day at the
 cornrows4 ,his mood was still stern4   
,the multitudinous lift1 and stir1 and  
sheen of the wide green field had been  
lost upon him4  ,i wonder if she's      
milked them cows1 he muttered to        
himself4 ,he gave a sigh of relief to   

find she had4 ,but she had done so not  
for his sake1 but for the sake of the   
poor1 patient1 dumb brutes4  ,when he   
went to the bedroom after supper1 he    
found that the cradle and his wife's few
 little boxes and parcels--poor pathetic
 properties--had been removed to the    
garret which they called a chamber1 and 
he knew he was to sleep alone again4    
,she'll git over it1 ,i guess4 ,he was  
very tired but he didn't feel quite     
comfortable enough to sleep4 ,the air   
was oppressive4 ,his shirt wet in       
places1 and stiff with dust in other    
places1 oppressed him more than usual1  
so he rose and removed it1 getting a    
clean one out of a drawer4 ,this was an 
unusual thing for him1 for he usually   
slept in the same shirt which he wore in
 his day's work1 but it was ,saturday   
night1 and he felt justified in the     
extravagance4  ,in the meanwhile poor   
,lucretia was brooding over her life in 
a most dangerous fashion4 ,all she had  
done and suffered for ,simeon ,burns    

came back to her till she wondered how  
she had endured it all4 ,all day long in
 the midst of the glorious summer       
landscape she brooded4  ,i hate him1 she
 thought with a fierce blazing up       
through the murk of her musing1 ,i hate 
t' live4 ,but they aint no hope4 ,i'm   
tied down4 ,i can't leave the children1 
and ,i aint got no money4 ,i couldn't   
make a living out in the world4 ,i aint 
never seen anything an' don't know      
anything4  ,she was too simple and too  
unknowing to speculate on the loss of   
her beauty1 which would have brought her
 competency once1--if sold in the right 
market4 ,as she lay in her little attic 
bed1 she was still sullenly thinking1   
wearily thinking of her life4 ,she      
thought of a poor old horse which ,sim  
had bought once1 years before1 and put  
to the plough when it was too old and   
weak to work4 ,she could see her again  
as in a vision1 that poor old mare1 with
 sad head drooping1 toiling1 toiling1   
till at last she could no longer move1  

and lying down under the harness in the 
furrow1 groaned under the whip--and     
died4  ,then she wondered if her own    
numbness and despair meant death1 and   
she held her breath to think harder upon
 it4 ,she concluded at last1 grimly1    
that she didn't care--only for the      
children4  ,the air was frightfully     
close in the little attic1 and she heard
 the low mutter of the rising storm in  
the west4 ,she forgot her troubles a    
little1 listening to the far-off        
gigantic footsteps of the tempest4      
,boom1 boom1 boom1 it broke nearer and  
nearer as if a vast cordon of cannon was
 being drawn around the horizon4 ,yet   
she was conscious only of pleasure4 ,she
 had no fear4 ,at last came the sweep of
 cool1 fragrant storm-wind1 a short and 
sudden dash of rain1 and then in the    
cool1 sweet hush which followed1 the    
worn and weary woman fell into a deep   
sleep4  ,when she woke the younger      
children were playing about on the floor
 in their night-clothes1 and little ,pet

 was sitting in a square of sunshine    
intent on one of his shoes4 ,he was too 
young to know how poor and squalid his  
surroundings were1 the patch of sunshine
 flung on the floor glorified it all4   
,he 7little animal7 was happy4  ,the    
poor of the western prairies lie almost 
as unhealthily close together as do the 
poor of the city tenements4 ,in the     
small hut of the peasant there is as    
little chance to escape close and       
tainting contact as in the coops and    
dens of the ,north ,end of proud        
,boston4 ,in the midst of oceans of     
land1 floods of sunshine and gulfs of   
verdure1 the farmer lives in two or     
three small rooms4 ,poverty's eternal   
cordon is ever round the poor4  ,ma1 why
 didn't you sleep with pap last night8  
asked ,bob1 the seven-year old1 when he 
saw she was awake at last4 ,she flushed 
a dull red4  ,sh6 ,because--,i--it was  
too warm--and there was a storm comin'4 
,you never mind askin' such questions4  
,is he gone out8  ,yup4 ,i heerd him    

callin' the pigs4 ,it's ,sunday1 aint   
it1 ma8  ,why1 yes1 so it is6 ,wal6 ,now
 ,sadie1 you jump up an' dress quick's  
y' can1 an' ,bob an' ,sile1 you run down
 an' bring s'm water1 she commanded1 in 
nervous haste beginning to dress4 ,in   
the middle of the room there was scarce 
space to stand beneath the rafters4     
,when ,sim came in for his breakfast he 
found it on the table but his wife was  
absent4  ,where's y'r ma8 he asked with 
a little less of the growl in his voice4
  ,she's upstairs with ,pet4  ,the man  
ate his breakfast in dead silence1 till 
at last ,bob ventured to say1  ,what    
makes ma ac' so8  ,shut up6 was the     
brutal reply4 ,the children began to    
take sides with the mother--all but the 
oldest girl who was ten years old4 ,to  
her the father turned now for certain   
things to be done1 treating her in his  
rough fashion as a housekeeper1 and the 
girl felt flattered and docile          
accordingly4  ,they were pitiably clad2 
like most farm-children1 indeed1 they   

could hardly be said to be clad at all4 
,sadie had on but two garments1 a sort  
of undershirt of cotton and a faded     
calico dress1 out of which her bare1    
yellow little legs protruded1 lamentably
 dirty and covered with scratches4  ,the
 boys also had two garments1 a hickory  
shirt and a pair of pants like their    
father's1 made out of brown denims by   
the mother's never-resting hands1--hands
 that in sleep still sewed1 and skimmed1
 and baked1 and churned4 ,the boys had  
gone to bed without washing their feet1 
which now looked like toads1 calloused1 
brown1 and chapped4  ,part of this the  
mother saw with her dull eyes as she    
came down1 after seeing the departure of
 ,sim up the road with the cows4 ,it was
 a beautiful ,sunday morning1 and the   
woman might have sung like a bird if men
 were only as kind to her as ,nature4   
,but she looked dully on the seas of    
ripe grasses1 tangled and flashing with 
dew1 out of which the bobolinks and     
larks sprang4 ,the glorious winds       

brought her no melody1 no perfume1 no   
respite from toil and care4  ,she       
thought of the children she saw in the  
town4 ,children of the merchant and     
banker1 clean as little dolls1 the boys 
in knickerbocker suits1 the girls in    
dainty white dresses1 and a bitterness  
sprang into her heart4 ,she soon put the
 dishes away1 but felt too tired and    
listless to do more4  ,taw-bay-wies6    
,pet want ta-aw-bay-wies6 cried the     
little one1 tugging at her dress4       
,listlessly1 mechanically she took him  
in her arms1 and went out into the      
garden which was fragrant and sweet with
 dew and sun4 ,after picking some       
berries for him1 she sat down on the    
grass under the row of cotton-woods1 and
 sank into a kind of lethargy4 ,a       
kingbird chattered and shrieked         
overhead1 the grasshoppers buzzed in the
 grasses1 strange insects with          
ventriloquistic voices sang all about   
her1--she could not tell where4  ,ma1   
can't ,i put on my clean dress8 insisted

 ,sadie4  ,i don't care1 said the       
brooding woman darkly4 ,leave me alone4 
,oh1 if she could only lie here forever1
 escaping all pain and weariness6 ,the  
wind sang in her ears1 the great clouds1
 beautiful as heavenly ships1 floated   
far above in the vast dazzling deeps of 
blue sky1 the birds rustled and chirped 
around her1 leaping-insects buzzed and  
clattered in the grass and in the vines 
and bushes4 ,the goodness and glory of  
,god was in the very air1 the bitterness
 and oppression of man in every line of 
her face4  ,but her quiet was broken by 
,sadie who came leaping like a fawn down
 through the grass4  ,o ma1 ,aunt ,maria
 and ,uncle ,william are coming4        
,they've jest turned in4  ,i don't care 
if they be6 she answered in the same    
dully-irritated way4 ,what're they      
comin' here to-day for1 ,i wan' to know4
 ,she stayed there immovably1 till ,mrs4
 ,council came down to see her1 piloted 
by two or three of the children4 ,mrs4  
,council1 a jolly1 large-framed woman1  

smiled brightly1 and greeted her in a   
loud1 jovial voice4 ,she made the       
mistake of taking the whole matter      
lightly2 her tone amounted to ridicule4 
,sim says you've been having a tantrum1 
,creeshy4 ,don't know what for1 he says4
  ,he don't1 said the wife with a sullen
 flash in the eyes4 ,he don't know why6 
,well1 then1 you just tell him what ,i  
say4 ,i've lived in hell long enough4   
,i'm done4 ,i've slaved here day in and 
day out f'r twelve years without        
pay--not even a decent word4 ,i've      
worked like no nigger ever worked 'r    
could work and live4 ,i've given him all
 ,i had1 'r ever expect to have4 ,i'm   
wore out4 ,my strength is gone1 my      
patience is gone4 ,i'm done with        
it--that's a part of what's the matter4 
,my sakes1 ,lucreeshy6 ,you mustn't talk
 that way4  ,but ,i will1 said the      
woman1 as she supported herself on one  
palm and raised the other4 ,i've got to 
talk that way4 ,she was ripe for an     
explosion like this4 ,she seized upon it

 with eagerness4 ,they aint no use o'   
livin' this way1 anyway4 ,i'd take      
poison if it want f'r the young ones4   
,lucreeshy ,burns6  ,oh1 ,i mean it4    
,land sakes alive1 ,i b'leeve you're    
goin' crazy6  ,i shouldn't wonder if ,i 
was4 ,i've had enough t' drive an       
,indian crazy4 ,now you jest go off an' 
leave me 'lone4 ,i aint in mind to      
visit--they aint no way out of it1 an'  
,i'm tired o' tryin' to find a way4 ,go 
off an' let me be4  ,her tone was so    
bitterly hopeless that the great jolly  
face of ,mrs4 ,council stiffened into a 
look of horror such as she had not worn 
for years4 ,the children1 in two        
separate groups1 could be heard rioting4
 ,bees were humming around the clover in
 the grass1 and the kingbird chattered  
ceaselessly from the ,lombardy          
poplar-tip4 ,both women felt all this   
peace and beauty of the morning1 dimly1 
and it disturbed ,mrs4 ,council because 
the other was so impassive under it all4
 ,at last1 after a long and thoughtful  

pause1 ,mrs4 ,council asked a question  
whose answer she knew would decide it   
all1--asked it very kindly and softly1--
  ,creeshy1 are you comin' in8  ,no1 was
 the short and sullenly decisive answer4
 ,mrs4 ,council knew that was the end1  
and so rose with a sigh and went away4  
,wal1 good by1 she said simply4         
,looking back she saw ,lucretia lying at
 length with closed eyes and hollow     
cheeks4 ,she seemed to be sleeping1     
half-buried in the grass4 ,she did not  
look up nor reply to her sister-in-law4 
,her life also was one of toil and      
trouble1 but not so hard and hapless as 
,lucretia's4 ,by contrast with most of  
her neighbors she seemed comfortable4   
,sim ,burns1 what you ben doin' to that 
woman8 she burst out as she waddled up  
to where the two men were sitting under 
a cotton-wood tree1 talking and         
whittling after the manner of farmers4  
,nawthin' 's fur 's ,i know1 answered   
,burns1 not quite honestly1 and looking 
uneasy4  ,you needn't try t' git out of 

it like that1 ,sim ,burns1 replied his  
sister4 ,that woman never got into that 
fit f'r nawthin'4  ,wal1 if you know    
more about it than ,i do1 whadgy ask me 
fur1 he replied angrily4  ,tut1 tut6 put
 in ,council1 always a peacemaker1 hold 
y'r horses6 ,don't git on y'r ear1      
childern6 ,keep cool1 and don't spile   
y'r shirts4 ,most likely yer all t'     
blame4 ,keep cool an' swear less4  ,wal1
 ,i'll bet ,sim's more to blame than she
 is4 ,why they aint a harder-workin'    
woman in the hull ,state of ,ioway than 
she is--  ,except ,marm ,council4       
,except nobody4 ,look at her1 jest skin 
and bones4  ,council chuckled in his    
vast way4 ,that's so1 mother1 measured  
in that way she leads over you4 ,you git
 fat on it4  ,she smiled a little1 her  
indignation oozing away2 she never could
 stay mad1 her children were accustomed 
to tell her4 ,burns refused to talk any 
more about the matter1 and the visitors 
gave it up1 and got out their team and  
started for home1 ,mrs4 ,council firing 

this parting shot3--  ,the best thing   
you can do to-day is t' let her alone4  
,mebbe the childern 'll bring her round 
again4 ,if she does come round1 you see 
't you treat her a little more 's y' did
 when you was a-courtin' her4  ,this    
way1 roared ,council1 putting his arm   
around his wife's waist4 ,she boxed his 
ears while he guffawed and clucked at   
his team4  ,burns took a measure of salt
 and went out into the pasture to salt  
the cows4 ,on the sunlit slope of the   
field1 where the cattle came running and
 bawling to meet him1 he threw down the 
salt in handfuls1 and then lay down to  
watch them as they eagerly licked it up1
 even gnawing a bare spot in the sod in 
their eagerness to get it all4  ,burns  
was not a drinking man2 was             
hard-working1 frugal1 in fact1 he had no
 extravagances except his tobacco4 ,his 
clothes he wore until they all but      
dropped from him2 and he worked in rain 
and mud1 as well as dust and sun4 ,it   
was this suffering and toiling all to no

 purpose that made him sour and         
irritable4 ,he didn't see why he should 
have so little after so much hard work4 
,he was puzzled to account for it all4  
,his mind 7the average mind7 was weary  
with trying to solve an insoluble       
problem4 ,his neighbors1 who had got    
along a little better than himself1 were
 free with advice and suggestion as to  
the cause of his persistent poverty4    
,old man ,bacon1 the hardest-working man
 in the county1 laid it to ,burns' lack 
of management4 ,jim ,butler1 who owned a
 dozen farms 7which he had taken on     
mortgages71 and who had got rich by     
buying land at government price and     
holding for a rise1 laid all such cases 
as ,burns to lack of enterprise1        
foresight4  ,but the larger number      
feeling themselves in the same boat with
 ,burns1 said3--  ,i'd know4 ,seems as  
if things got worse an' worse4 ,corn an'
 wheat gittin' cheaper 'n' cheaper4     
,machinery eatin' up profits--got to    
have machinery to harvest the cheap     

grain1 an' then the machinery eats up   
profits4 ,taxes goin' up4 ,devil to pay 
all round2 ,i'd know what 'n thunder is 
the matter4  ,the democrats said        
protection was killing the farmers1 the 
republicans said no4 ,the grangers      
growled about the middle-men1 the       
green-backers said there wasn't         
circulating medium enough1 and in the   
midst of it all1 hard-working           
discouraged farmers1 like ,simeon       
,burns1 worked on1 unable to find out   
what really was the matter4  ,and there 
on this beautiful ,sabbath morning1 ,sim
 sat and thought and thought1 till he   
rose with an oath1 and gave it up4      
,,iii4  ,it was hot and brilliant again 
the next morning as ,douglass ,radbourn 
drove up the road with ,lily ,graham1   
the teacher of the school in the little 
white schoolhouse4 ,it was blazing hot1 
even though not yet nine o'clock1 and   
the young farmers plowing beside the    
fence looked longingly and somewhat     
bitterly at ,radbourn seated in a fine  

top-buggy beside a beautiful creature in
 lace and cambric4  ,very beautiful the 
town-bred schoolma'am looked to those   
grimy1 sweaty fellows1 superb fellows   
physically1 too1 with bare red arms and 
leather-colored faces4 ,she was as if   
builded of the pink and white clouds    
soaring far up there in the morning sky4
 ,so cool1 and sweet1 and dainty4  ,as  
she came in sight1 their dusty and      
sweaty shirts grew biting as the        
poisoned shirt of the ,norse myth1 their
 bare feet in the brown dirt grew       
distressingly flat and hoof-like1 and   
their huge1 dirty1 brown1 chapped1 and  
swollen hands grew so repulsive that the
 mere remote possibility of some time in
 the far future standing a chance of    
having an introduction to her1 caused   
them to wipe them on their trousers' leg
 stealthily4  ,lycurgus ,banks1 ,ly     
,banks1 swore when he saw ,radbourn4    
,that cuss thinks he's ol' hell this    
morning4 ,he don't earn his living4 ,but
 he's jest the kind of cuss to get holt 

of all the purty girls4  ,others gazed  
with simple1 sad wistfulness upon the   
slender figure1 pale1 sweet face1 and   
dark eyes of the young girl1 feeling    
that to have talk with such a fairy-like
 creature was a happiness too great to  
ever be their lot4 ,and when she had    
passed they went back to work with a    
sigh and feeling of loss4  ,as for      
,lily1 she felt a pang of pity for these
 people4 ,she looked at this peculiar   
form of poverty and hardship much as the
 fragile1 tender girl of the city looks 
upon the men laying a gas-main in the   
streets4 ,she felt 7sympathetically7 the
 heat and grime1 and though but the     
faintest idea of what it meant to wear  
such clothing came to her1 she          
shuddered4 ,her eyes had been opened to 
these things by ,radbourn1 who was a    
well-known radical1--a law student in   
,rock ,river4  ,poor fellows6 sighed    
,lily1 almost unconsciously4 ,i hate to 
see them working there in the dirt and  
hot sun4 ,it seems a hopeless sort of   

life1 doesn't it8  ,oh1 but this is the 
most beautiful part of the year1 said   
,radbourn4 ,think of them in the mud1 in
 the sleet2 think of them husking corn  
in the snow1 a bitter wind blowing2     
think of them a month later in the      
harvest2 think of them imprisoned here  
in winter6  ,yes1 it's dreadful6 ,but ,i
 never felt it so keenly before4 ,you   
have opened my eyes to it4  ,writers and
 orators have lied so long about 'the   
idyllic' in farm life1 and said so much 
about the 'independent ,american farmer'
 that he himself has remained blind to  
the fact that he's one of the           
hardest-working and poorest-paid men in 
,america4 ,see the houses they live     
in1--hovels4  ,yes1 yes1 ,i know1 said  
,lily2 a look of deeper pain swept over 
her face4 ,and the fate of the poor     
women1 oh1 the fate of the women6  ,yes1
 it's a matter of statistics1 went on   
,radbourn1 pitilessly1 that the wives of
 the ,american farmers fill our insane  
asylums4 ,see what a life they lead1    

most of them2 no music1 no books4       
,seventeen hours a day in a couple of   
small rooms--dens4 ,now there's ,sim    
,burns6 what a travesty of a home6 ,yet 
there are a dozen just as bad in sight4 
,he works like a fiend1--so does his    
wife1--and what is their reward8 ,simply
 a hole to hibernate in and to sleep and
 eat in in summer4 ,a dreary present and
 a well-nigh hopeless future4 ,no1 they 
have a future1 if they knew it1 and we  
must tell them4  ,i know ,mrs4 ,burns2  
she sends several children to my school4
 ,poor1 pathetic little things1         
half-clad and wistful-eyed4 ,they make  
my heart ache2 they are so hungry for   
love1 and so quick to learn4  ,as they  
passed the ,burns farm1 they looked for 
the wife but she was not to be seen4    
,the children had evidently gone up to  
the little white schoolhouse at the head
 of the lane4 ,radbourn let the reins   
fall slack as he talked on4 ,he did not 
look at the girl1 his eyebrows were     
drawn into a look of gloomy pain4  ,it  

aint so much the grime that ,i abhor1   
nor the labor that crooks their backs   
and makes their hands bludgeons4 ,it's  
the horrible waste of life involved in  
it all4 ,i don't believe ,god intended a
 man to be bent to plow-handles like    
that1 but that aint the worst of it4    
,the worst of it is1 these people live  
lives approaching automata4 ,they become
 machines to serve others more lucky or 
more unscrupulous than themselves4 ,what
 is the world of art1 of music1 of      
literature1 to these poor devils--to    
,sim ,burns and his wife there1 for     
example8 ,or even to the best of these  
farmers8  ,the girl looked away over the
 shimmering lake of yellow-green corn1 a
 choking came into her throat4 ,her     
gloved hand trembled4  ,what is such a  
life worth8 ,it's all very comfortable  
for us to say1 'they don't feel it4'    
,how do we know what they feel8 ,what do
 we know of their capacity for enjoyment
 of art and music8 ,they never have     
leisure or opportunity4 ,the master is  

very glad to be taught by preacher1 and 
lawyer1 and novelist1 that his slaves   
are contented and never feel any        
longings for a higher life4 ,these      
people live lives but little higher than
 their cattle1--are forced to live so4  
,their hopes and aspirations are crushed
 out1 their souls are twisted and       
deformed just as toil twists and deforms
 their bodies4 ,they are on the same    
level as the city laborer4 ,it makes me 
wild to think of it4 ,the very religion 
they hear is a soporific4 ,they are     
taught to be content here that they may 
be happy hereafter4 ,suppose there isn't
 any hereafter8  ,oh1 don't say that1   
please6 ,lily cried4  ,but ,i don't know
 that there is1 looking up at her       
pitilessly1 and ,i do know that these   
people are being robbed of something    
more than money1 of all that makes life 
worth living4 ,the promise of milk and  
honey in ,canaan is all very well1 but  
,i prefer to have mine here1 then ,i'm  
sure of it4  ,what can we do8 murmured  

the girl4  ,do8 ,rouse these people for 
one thing2 preach discontent1 a noble   
discontent4  ,it will only make them    
unhappy4  ,no1 it won't1 not if you show
 them the way out4 ,if it does1 it's    
better to be unhappy striving for higher
 things1 like a man1 than to be content 
in a wallow like swine4  ,but what is   
the way out8  ,this was sufficient to   
set ,radbourn upon his hobby-horse4 ,he 
outlined his plan of action1 the        
abolition of all indirect taxes4 ,the   
,state control of all privileges1 the   
private ownership of which interfered   
with the equal rights of all4 ,he would 
utterly destroy speculative holdings of 
the earth4 ,he would have land          
everywhere brought to its best use1 by  
appropriating all ground rents to the   
use of the ,state1 etc41 etc41 to which 
the girl listened with eager interest   
but with only partial comprehension4    
,as they neared the little schoolhouse1 
a swarm of midgets in pink dresses1 pink
 sun-bonnets1 and brown legs1 came      

rushing to meet their teacher1 with that
 peculiar devotion the children in the  
country develop for a refined teacher4  
,radbourn helped ,lily out into the     
midst of the eager little scholars1 who 
swarmed upon her like bees on a lump of 
sugar1 till even ,radbourn's gravity    
gave way1 and he smiled into her lifted 
eyes--an unusual smile1 that strangely  
enough stopped the smile on her own     
lips1 filling her face with a wistful   
shadow1 and her breath came hard for a  
moment and she trembled4  ,she loved    
that cold1 stern face1 oh1 so much6 and 
to have him smile was a pleasure that   
made her heart leap till she suffered a 
smothering pain4 ,she turned to him to  
say3--  ,i am very thankful1 ,mr4       
,radbourn1 for another pleasant ride1   
adding in a lower tone1 ,it was a very  
great pleasure2 you always give me so   
much4 ,i feel stronger and more hopeful4
  ,i'm glad you feel so4 ,i was afraid  
,i was prosy with my land-doctrine4  ,oh
 no6 ,indeed no6 ,you have given me a   

new hope2 ,i am exalted with the        
thought2 ,i shall try to think it all   
out and apply it4  ,and so they parted1 
the children looking on and slyly       
whispering among themselves4 ,radbourn  
looked back after awhile but the bare   
little hive had absorbed its little     
group1 and was standing bleak as a      
tombstone and hot as a furnace on the   
naked plain in the blazing sun4         
,america's pitiful boast6 said the young
 radical looking back at it4 ,only a    
miserable hint of what it might be4     
,all that forenoon as ,lily faced her   
little group of barefoot children1 she  
was thinking of ,radbourn1 of his almost
 fierce sympathy for these poor supine  
farmers1 hopeless1 and in some cases    
content in their narrow lives4 ,the     
children almost worshipped the beautiful
 girl who came to them as a revelation  
of exquisite neatness and taste1--whose 
very voice and intonation awed them4    
,they noted 7unconsciously1 of course17 
every detail4 ,snowy linen1 touches of  

soft color1 graceful lines of bust and  
side--the slender fingers that could    
almost speak1 so beautifully flexile    
were they4 ,lily herself sometimes1 when
 she shook the calloused1 knotted1      
stiffened hands of the women1 shuddered 
with sympathetic pain1 to think that the
 crowning wonder and beauty of ,god's   
world should be so maimed and distorted 
from its true purpose4  ,even in the    
children before her she could see the   
inherited results of fruitless          
labor--and more pitiful yet in the bent 
shoulders of the older ones she could   
see the beginnings of deformity that    
would soon be permanent4 ,and as these  
things came to her1 she clasped the poor
 wondering things to her side with a    
convulsive wish to make life a little   
brighter for them4  ,how is your mother1
 ,sadie8 she asked of ,sadie ,burns1 as 
she was eating her luncheon on the      
drab-colored table near the open window4
  ,purty well1 said ,sadie in a         
hesitating way4  ,lily was looking out1 

and listening to the gophers whistling  
as they raced to and fro4 ,she could see
 ,bob ,burns lying at length on the     
grass in the pasture over the fence1 his
 heels waving in the air1 his hands     
holding a string which formed a snare4  
,bob was death on gophers4 ,it was like 
fishing to young ,izaak ,walton4  ,it   
was very still and hot and the cheep and
 trill of the gophers1 and the chatter  
of the kingbirds alone broke the        
silence4 ,a cloud of butterflies were   
fluttering about a pool near1 a couple  
of big flies buzzed and mumbled on the  
pane4  ,what ails your mother8 ,lily    
asked1 recovering herself and looking at
 ,sadie who was distinctly ill at ease4 
,oh1 ,i dunno1 ,sadie replied1 putting  
one bare foot across the other4  ,lily  
insisted4  ,she 'n' pa's had an awful   
row--  ,sadie6 said the teacher         
warningly1 what language6  ,i mean they 
quarrelled1 an' she don't speak to him  
any more4  ,why1 how dreadful6  ,an' pa 
he's awful cross1--and she won't eat    

when he does1 an' ,i haf to wait on     
table4  ,i believe ,i'll go down and see
 her this noon1 said ,lily to herself1  
as she divined a little of the state of 
affairs in the ,burns family4  ,sim was 
mending the pasture fence as ,lily came 
down the road toward him4 ,he had       
delayed going to dinner to finish his   
task and was just about ready to go when
 ,lily spoke to him4  ,good-morning1    
,mr4 ,burns4 ,i am just going down to   
see ,mrs4 ,burns4 ,it must be time to go
 to dinner--aren't you ready to go8 ,i  
want to talk with you4  ,ordinarily he  
would have been delighted with the idea 
of walking down the road with the       
schoolma'am1 but there was something in 
her look which seemed to tell him that  
she knew all about his trouble1 and     
beside he was not in good humor4  ,yes1 
in a minnit1--soon's ,i fix up this     
hole4 ,them shoats1 ,i b'leeve1 would go
 through a keyhole1 if they could once  
git their snoots in4  ,he expanded on   
this idea as he nailed away1 anxious to 

gain time4 ,he foresaw trouble for      
himself4 ,he couldn't be rude to this   
sweet and fragile girl4 ,if a man had   
dared to attack him on his domestic     
shortcomings1 he could have fought4 ,the
 girl stood waiting for him1 her large1 
steady eyes full of thought1 gazing down
 at him from the shadow of her          
broad-brimmed hat4  ,the world is so    
full of misery anyway1 that we ought to 
do the best we can to make it less1 she 
said at last in a musing tone1 as if her
 thoughts had unconsciously taken on    
speech4 ,she had always appealed to him 
strongly1 and never more so than in this
 softly uttered abstraction1--that it   
was an abstraction added to its power   
with him4  ,he could find no words for  
reply1 but picked up his hammer and     
nail-box1 and slouched along the road by
 her side1 listening without a word to  
her talk4  ,christ was patient1 and bore
 with his enemies1 surely we ought to   
bear with our--friends4 ,she went on    
adapting her steps to his4 ,he took off 

his torn straw hat and wiped his face on
 his sleeve1 being much embarrassed and 
ashamed4 ,not knowing how to meet such  
argument1 he kept silent4  ,how is ,mrs4
 ,burns8 said ,lily at length1          
determined to make him speak4 ,the      
delicate meaning in the emphasis laid on
 is did not escape him4  ,oh1 she's all 
right1--,i mean she's done her work jest
 the same as ever4 ,i don't see her     
much--  ,i didn't know--,i was afraid   
she was sick4 ,sadie said she was acting
 strangely4  ,no1 she's well            
enough--but1--  ,but what is the        
trouble8 ,won't you let me help you1    
won't you8  ,can't anybody help us4     
,we've got 'o fight it out1 ,i s'pose1  
he replied1 a gloomy note of resentment 
creeping into his voice4 ,she's ben in a
 devil of a temper f'r a week4  ,haven't
 you been in the same kind of a temper  
too8 demanded ,lily1 firmly1 but kindly4
 ,i think most troubles of this kind    
come from bad temper on both sides4     
,don't you8 ,have you done your share at

 being kind and patient8  ,they had     
reached the gate now1 and she laid her  
hand on his arm to stop him4 ,he looked 
down at the slender gloved hand on his  
arm feeling as if a giant had grasped   
him1 then he raised his eyes to her     
face1 flushing a purplish red as he     
remembered his grossness4 ,it seemed    
monstrous in the presence of this       
girl-advocate4 ,her face was like       
silver1 her eyes seemed pools of tears4 
,i don't s'pose ,i have1 he said at last
 pushing by her4 ,he couldn't have stood
 her glance another moment4 ,his whole  
air conveyed the impression of          
destructive admission4 ,lily did not    
comprehend the extent of her advantage  
or she would have pursued it further4   
,as it was she felt a little hurt as she
 entered the house4 ,the table was set1 
but ,mrs4 ,burns was nowhere to be seen4
 ,calling her softly1 the young girl    
passed through the shabby little living 
room to the oven-like bedroom which     
opened off it1 but no one was about4    

,she stood for a moment shuddering at   
the wretchedness of the room4  ,going   
back to the kitchen she found ,sim about
 beginning on his dinner2 little ,pet   
was with him1 the rest of the children  
were at the schoolhouse4  ,where is she8
  ,i d' know4 ,out in the garden ,i     
expect4 ,she don't eat with me now4 ,i  
never see her4 ,she don't come near me4 
,i aint seen her since ,saturday4  ,lily
 was shocked inexpressibly and began to 
see clearer the magnitude of the task   
she had set herself to do4 ,but it must 
be done2 she felt that a tragedy was not
 far off4 ,it must be averted4  ,mr4    
,burns1 what have you done8 ,what have  
you done8 she asked in terror and       
horror4  ,don't lay it all to me6 ,she  
hain't done nawthin' but complain f'r   
ten years4 ,i couldn't do nothin' to    
suit her4 ,she was always naggin' me4   
,i don't think ,lucretia ,burns would   
nag anybody4 ,i don't say you're all to 
blame1 but ,i'm afraid you haven't      
acknowledged you were any to blame4 ,i'm

 afraid you've not been patient with    
her4 ,i'm going out to bring her in4 ,if
 she comes will you say you were part to
 blame8 ,you needn't beg her pardon1    
just say you'll try to be better4 ,will 
you do it8 ,think how much she has done 
for you6 ,will you8  ,he remained       
silent1 and looked discouragingly rude4 
,his sweaty1 dirty shirt was open at the
 neck1 his arms were bare1 his scraggly 
teeth were yellow with tobacco1 and his 
uncombed hair lay tumbled about on his  
high1 narrow head4 ,his clumsy1 unsteady
 hands played with the dishes on the    
table4 ,his pride was struggling with   
his sense of justice2 he knew he ought  
to consent1 and yet it was so hard to   
acknowledge himself to blame4 ,the girl 
went on in a voice piercingly sweet1    
trembling with pity and pleading4  ,what
 word can ,i carry to her from you8 ,i'm
 going to go and see her4 ,if ,i could  
take a word from you1 ,i know she would 
come back to the table4 ,shall ,i tell  
her you feel to blame8  ,the answer was 

a long time coming2 at last the man     
nodded an assent1 the sweat pouring from
 his purple face4 ,she had set him      
thinking1 her victory was sure4  ,lily  
almost ran out into the garden and to   
the strawberry patch1 where she found   
,lucretia in her familiar1 colorless1   
shapeless dress1 picking berries in the 
hot sun1 the mosquitoes biting her neck 
and hands4  ,poor1 pathetic1 dumb       
sufferer1 the girl thought as she ran up
 to her4  ,she dropped her dish as she  
heard ,lily coming1 and gazed up into   
the tender1 pitying face4 ,not a word   
was spoken1 but something she saw there 
made her eyes fill with tears1 and her  
throat swell4 ,it was pure sympathy4    
,she put her arms around the girl's neck
 and sobbed for the first time since    
,friday night4 ,then they sat down on   
the grass under the hedge and she told  
her story1 interspersed with ,lily's    
horrified comments4  ,when it was all   
told the girl still sat listening4 ,she 
heard ,radbourn's calm1 slow voice      

again4 ,it helped her not to hate       
,burns2 it helped her to pity and       
understand him4  ,you must remember that
 such toil brutalizes a man2 it makes   
him callous1 selfish1 unfeeling         
necessarily4 ,a fine nature must either 
adapt itself to its hard surroundings or
 die4 ,men who toil terribly in filthy  
garments day after day and year after   
year cannot easily keep gentle2 the     
frost and grime1 the heat and cold will 
sooner or later enter into their souls4 
,the case is not all in favor of the    
suffering wives1 and against the brutal 
husbands4 ,if the farmer's wife is      
dulled and crazed by her routine1 the   
farmer himself is degraded and          
brutalized4 ,they are both products of a
 social system1 victims of a land       
system1 which produces tenement houses  
in the city1 and pushes the farmer into 
a semi-solitude--victims of land laws   
that are relics of feudalism1 made in   
the interest of the man who holds a     
special privilege in the earth4 ,free   

,america has set up on its soil the     
systems of land-owning which produces   
the lord and the tenant2 that glorifies 
speculation in the earth1 and gives the 
priceless riches of the hills and       
forests into a few hands4 ,but this will
 not continue--it can't continue4 ,the  
awakening understanding of ,america     
cries out against it4  ,as well as she  
could ,lily explained all this to the   
woman who lay with her face buried in   
the girl's lap4 ,lily's arms were about 
her thin shoulders in an agony of pity4 
,it's hard1 ,lucretia1 ,i know1 more    
than you can bear1 but you mustn't      
forget what ,sim endures1 too4 ,he goes 
out in the storms and in the heat and   
dust4 ,his boots are hard1 and see how  
his hands are all bruised and broken by 
his work6 ,he was tired and hungry when 
he said that--he didn't really mean it4 
,the wife remained silent4  ,mr4        
,radbourn says work as things go now    
does degrade a man in spite of himself4 
,he says men get coarse and violent in  

spite of themselves just as women do    
when everything goes wrong in the       
house1--when the flies are thick1 and   
the fire won't burn1 and the irons stick
 to the clothes4 ,you see1 you both     
suffer4 ,don't lay up this fit of temper
 against ,sim--will you8  ,the wife     
lifted her head and looked away4 ,her   
face was full of hopeless weariness4    
,it aint this once4 ,it aint that 't    
all4 ,it's having no let up4 ,just goin'
 the same thing right over 'n' over--no 
hope of anything better4  ,if you had a 
hope of another world--  ,don't talk    
that--that's rich man's doctrine4 ,i    
don't want that kind o' comfert4 ,i want
 a decent chance here4 ,i want 'o rest  
an' be happy now--then ,i'm sure of it4 
,lily's big eyes were streaming with    
tears4 ,what should she say to the      
desperate woman8  ,what's the use8 ,we  
might jest as well die--all of us4  ,the
 woman's livid face appalled the        
beautiful girl4 ,she was gaunt1         
heavy-eyed1 nerveless4 ,her faded dress 

settled down over her limbs showing the 
swollen knees and thin calves1 her hands
 with distorted joints protruded        
painfully from her sleeves4 ,and all    
about was the ever-recurring wealth and 
cheer of nature that knows no fear or   
favor4 ,the bees and flies buzzing in   
the sun1 the jay and kingbird in the    
poplars1 the smell of strawberries1 the 
motion of lush grass1 the shimmer of    
corn blades tossed gayly as banners in a
 conquering army4  ,like a flash of     
keener light a sentence shot across the 
girl's mind4 ,nature knows no           
title-deed4 ,the bounty of her mighty   
hands falls as the sunlight falls1      
copious1 impartial2 her seas carry all  
ships1 her air is for all lips1 her     
lands for all feet4  ,poverty and       
suffering such as yours will not last4  
,there was something in the girl's voice
 that roused the woman4 ,she turned her 
dull eyes upon her face4  ,lily took her
 hand in both hers as if by a caress she
 could impart her own faith4  ,look up1 

dear4 ,when ,nature is so good and      
generous1 man must come to be better1   
surely4 ,come1 go in the house again4   
,sim is there1 he expects you1 he told  
me to tell you he was sorry4 ,lucretia's
 face twitched a little at that1 but her
 head was bent4 ,come1 you can't live   
this way4 ,there isn't any other place  
to go to4  ,no1 that was the bitterest  
truth4 ,where on this wide earth with   
its forth-shooting fruits and grains1   
its fragrant lands and shining seas1    
could this dwarfed1 bent1 broken1       
middle-aged woman go8 ,nobody wanted    
her1 nobody cared for her4 ,but the wind
 kissed her drawn lips as readily as    
those of the girl1 and the blooms of    
clover nodded to her as if to a queen4  
,lily had said all she could4 ,her heart
 ached with unspeakable pity and a sort 
of terror4  ,don't give up1 ,lucretia4  
,this may be the worst hour of your     
life4 ,live and bear with it all for    
,christ's sake--for your children's     
sake4 ,sim told me to tell you he was to

 blame4 ,if you will only see that you  
are both to blame and yet neither to    
blame1 then you can rise above it4 ,try1
 dear6  ,the wife pulled herself        
together1 rose silently1 and started    
toward the house4 ,her face was rigid   
but no longer sullen4 ,lily followed her
 slowly1 wonderingly4  ,as she neared   
the kitchen door1 she saw ,sim still    
sitting at the table2 his face was      
unusually grave and soft4 ,she saw him  
start and shove back his chair1--saw    
,lucretia go to the stove and lift the  
tea-pot1 and heard her say1 as she took 
her seat beside the baby1--  ,want some 
more tea8  ,she had become a wife and   
mother again1 but in what spirit the    
puzzled girl could not say4             
,,editorial ,,notes4   ,,an             
,,epoch-,,marking ,,drama4  ,a movement 
destined1 ,i think1 to be in a degree   
epoch-marking in the dramatic annals of 
the ,american stage1 was inaugurated by 
,mr4 ,james ,a4 ,herne1 on the fourth of
 ,may1 in ,boston1 in the production of 

his remarkable realistic drama1         
,margaret ,fleming1 at ,chickering      
,hall4 ,the play is a bold innovation1  
so much so that no theatre in the city  
would produce it1 although the various  
managers who examined it declared it to 
be as strong as and no less powerful    
than any ,american drama yet written4   
,the character of the audience was as   
striking as the play was brave and      
original4 ,it was1 indeed1 a strange    
sight to see such well-known and        
thoughtful men and women as ,mr4        
,william ,dean ,howells1 ,rev4 ,minot   
,j4 ,savage1 ,rabbi ,solomon ,schindler1
 ,rev4 ,edward ,a4 ,horton1 ,mrs4       
,louise ,chandler ,moulton1 ,hamlin     
,garland1 and a score or more of persons
 almost as well known in literary1      
religious1 and thoughtful circles1      
assembled on the first night of a       
dramatic production4 ,nor was the       
character of the audience less          
remarkable during the fortnight it was  
played4 ,men and women who are rarely   

seen at theatres attended two1 three1   
and even four performances4 ,the superb 
acting of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,herne         
contributed much to the success of the  
play2 curiosity also doubtless attracted
 many1 yet beyond and above this was the
 deep appreciation of a thoughtful and  
intelligent constituency1 who saw in    
this drama the marvellous possibilities 
of the stage for improvement as well as 
entertainment4 ,they also saw real life 
depicted4 ,the absence of empty lines   
and stilted phrases so common in        
conventional drama was refreshing and   
interesting to those who believe that   
the drama has a mission other than      
merely to amuse4 ,margaret ,fleming is  
nothing if not artistic from the        
standpoint of the realist4 ,its fidelity
 to life as we find it--to existing     
conditions and types of society1--is    
wonderful4 ,its dramatic strength is    
none the less marked4 ,but aside from   
and above all this1 for me it has a far 
greater merit--utility4 ,i have no      

sympathy with the flippant1 effeminate1 
and senile cry1 ,art for art's sake2    
that is the echo of a decaying          
civilization1 the voice of ,greece and  
,rome in their decline4 ,it is the      
shibboleth of a people drunken with     
pleasure2 of a popular conscience       
ansthetized2 the cry of sensualism and  
selfishness popular with shallow minds  
and bloodless hearts2 the incarnation of
 that fatal effeminacy that springs from
 a union of wealth and superficial      
intellectuality2 the voice of a human   
automaton without a soul4 ,victor ,hugo 
has made no utterances more grandly true
 than when he pleads for the beautiful  
being made the servant of progress as   
voiced in the following sentiment3      
,be of some service4 ,do not be         
fastidious when so much      depends    
upon being efficient and good4 ,art for 
art's sake      may be very fine1 but   
art for progress is finer still4        
,ah6 you must think8 ,then think of     
making man better4      ,courage6 ,let  

us consecrate ourselves4 ,let us devote 
ourselves to the good1 to the true1 to  
the just2 it is well      for us to do  
so4 ,some pure lovers of art1 moved by a
      solicitude which is not without   
its dignity1 discard the      formula1  
',art for ,progress1' the ,beautiful    
,useful1 fearing      lest the useful   
should deform the beautiful4 ,they      
tremble to      see the drudge's hand   
attached to the muse's arm4 ,according  
to them1 the ideal may become perverted 
by too much contact      with reality4  
,they are solicitous for the sublime1 if
 it      descends as far as to humanity4
 ,they are in error4 ,the      useful1  
far from circumscribing the sublime1    
enlarges it4      ,but critics protest3 
,to undertake the cure of social evils2 
to amend the codes2 to impeach law in   
the court of right to      utter those  
hideous words1 'penitentiary1'          
'convict-keeper1'      'galley-slave1'  
'girl of the town'2 to inspect the      
police      registers2 to contract the  

business of dispensaries2 to      study 
the questions of wages and want of work2
 to taste the      black bread of the   
poor2 to seek labor for the             
working-woman2 to confront fashionable  
idleness with ragged      sloth2 to     
throw down the partition of ignorance2  
to open      schools2 to teach little   
children how to read2 to attack         
shame1 infamy1 error1 vice1 crime1 want 
of conscience2 to      preach the       
multiplication of spelling-books2 to    
improve the      food of intellects and 
of hearts2 to give meat and drink2 to   
demand solutions for problems and shoes 
for naked      feet1--these things they 
declare are not the business of the     
azure4 ,art is the azure4 ,yes1 art is  
the azure2 but the      azure from      
above1 whence falls the ray which swells
 the      wheat1 yellows the maize1     
rounds the apple1 gilds the      orange1
 sweetens the grape4 ,again ,i say1 a   
further service      is an added beauty4
 ,at all events1 where is the           

diminution8      ,to ripen the          
beet-root1 to water the potato1 to      
increase the      yield of lucern1 of   
clover1 or of hay2 to be a              
fellow-workman with the ploughman1 the  
vinedresser1 and the                    
gardener1--this does not deprive the    
heavens of one star4      ,immensity    
does not despise utility1--and what does
 it lose      by it8 ,does the vast     
vital fluid that we call magnetic or    
electric flash through the cloud-masses 
with less splendor      because it      
consents to perform the office of pilot 
to a      bark1 and to keep constant to 
the north the little needle             
intrusted to it1 the gigantic guide8    
,yet the critics insist      that to    
compose social poetry1 human poetry1    
popular poetry2      to grumble against 
the evil and laud the good1 to be the   
spokesman of public wrath1 to insult    
despots1 to make knaves      despair1 to
 emancipate man before he is of age1 to 
push      souls forward and darkness    

backward1 to know that there are        
thieves and tyrants1 to clean penal     
cells1 to flush the      sewer of public
 uncleanness1--is not the function of   
art6      ,why not8 ,homer was the      
geographer and historian of his time1   
,moses the legislator of his1 ,juvenal  
the judge of his1 ,dante      the       
theologian of his1 ,shakespeare the     
moralist of his1      ,voltaire the     
philosopher of his4 ,no region1 in      
speculation      or in fact1 is shut to 
the mind4 ,here a horizon1 there        
wings2 freedom for all to soar4 ,to sing
 the ideal1 to love      humanity1 to   
believe in progress1 to pray toward the 
infinite4 ,to be the servant of ,god in 
the task of progress1      and the      
apostle of ,god to the people1--such is 
the law which      regulates growth4    
,all power is duty4 ,should this power  
enter      into repose in our age8      
,should duty shut its eyes8 ,and is     
the moment come for art to disarm8 ,less
 than ever4 ,thanks to      #aghi1 the  

human caravan has reached a high        
plateau2 and1 the      horizon being    
vaster1 art has more to do4 ,this is    
all4 ,to      every widening of the     
horizon1 an enlargement of conscience   
corresponds4 ,we have not reached the   
goal4 ,concord condensed      into      
felicity1 civilization summed up in     
harmony1--that is      yet far off4 ,the
 theatre is a crucible of civilization4 
,it      is a place of human communion4 
,all its phases need to be      studied4
 ,it is in the theatre that the public  
soul is      formed4  ,the theatre may  
be made the most potent engine for      
progress and reform4 ,we are living in  
the midst of the most splendid age which
 has dawned since humanity first fronted
 the morning1 dimly conscious of its    
innate power and the possibilities that 
lay imbedded in its being2 an era of    
life1 growth1 warfare4 ,on the one hand 
are ancient thought and prejudice1 on   
the other the inspiration of greater    
liberty and a nobler manhood4 ,on the   

one hand selfishness1 sensuality1 vulgar
 ostentation1 avarice1 luxury1 and moral
 effeminacy crying1 ,art for art's sake1
 demanding amusements that will aid in  
dissipating any moral strength or deep  
thought that still lingers in the mind1 
and literature that shall enable one to 
kill time without the slightest         
suspicion of intellectual exertion2     
physical1 mental1 and moral ennui1 with 
an assumed lofty contempt for utility4  
,on the other hand we have the gathering
 forces of the dawn1 demanding art for  
progress1 declaring that beauty must be 
the handmaid of duty2 that art must wait
 on justice1 liberty1 fraternity1       
nobility1 morality1 and intellectual    
honesty1--in a word the forces in league
 with light must compel the beautiful to
 make radiant the pathway of the future4
 ,in the union of art and utility lies  
the supreme excellence of ,margaret     
,fleming1 it deals with one of the most 
pressing problems of our present        
civilization2 it is the most powerful   

plea for an equal standard of morals for
 men and women that ,i have ever heard4 
,this thought1 it is true1 like the     
entire drama1 is anything but           
conventional2 it breathes the spirit of 
the coming day4 ,the subtile bondage and
 servility of woman1 a vestige of the   
barbarous past1 still taints our        
civilization4 ,far more is demanded by  
society of her than of man1 and when    
heretofore she has raised her voice     
against this inequity she has been      
silenced by unworthy imputations4 ,it is
 the shame of our age that woman is not 
accorded a higher meed of justice4 ,she 
has a right to demand that the man who  
marries her be every whit as pure and   
moral as herself1 and until she makes   
this demand1 and holds herself from the 
contamination of moral lepers1 no       
substantial progress for higher morals  
and purer life will be made4 ,unless    
woman checks the increasing degradation 
of manhood1 man will sooner or later    
drag her to his deplorable level4       

,margaret ,fleming shows this truth and 
points to the woman of to-day her stern 
and inexorable duty4  ,unless woman     
assumes an aggressive stand and         
ostracizes the libertine1 refusing his  
society1 his attention1 and most of all 
the proffer of his leprous love1 the    
moral outlook for society will soon be  
as gloomy as was ,rome's future when    
,epictetus was banished from her streets
 because he mercilessly assailed the    
moral degradation of his day4   ,,the   
,,present ,,revolution ,,in             
,,theological ,,thought4  ,the rapid    
spread of heresy throughout the churches
 is creating genuine dismay in many     
quarters4 ,when such ripe scholars and  
representative thinkers as ,rev4 ,heber 
,newton1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,a4 ,briggs1 and ,rev4
 ,dr4 ,bridgman1 representing three of  
the most powerful ,protestant           
communions1 freely preach doctrines at  
variance with conventional orthodox     
views1 and express a grander hope and   
broader faith than that cherished by    

conservative theologians1 it is by no   
means strange that the current of       
old-time thought should be stirred4 ,if1
 however1 these scholarly minds stood   
alone in their convictions1 there would 
be no warrant for such widespread       
apprehension as is manifest4 ,the       
serious character of the present        
theological revolution1 however1 lies in
 the fact that the pulpit and the people
 are honey-combed with the peculiar     
heresy which rejects the verbal         
inspiration of the ,bible and the dogma 
of eternal damnation4#i ,the general    
uneasiness occasioned by the present    
epidemic of heresy1 and the bitter      
strictures which it has called forth1   
are perfectly natural1 while it is      
equally true that the present liberal   
attitude of so many of the foremost     
thinkers in the various orthodox        
churches is the legitimate outcome of   
numerous agencies which have been       
silently working for generations4       
#i ,the ,united ,presbyterian in a      

recent issue says1           ,it appears
 that ,dr4 ,briggs does not stand alone 
in the           theological seminaries 
of the ,presbyterian ,church as a       
teacher of dangerous views of           
inspiration4 ,four of the               
professors of ,lane ,seminary have      
declared themselves as           equally
 radical4 ,the ,interior says1 ,the     
paper of           ,prof4 ,smith1 of    
,lane1 published in a pamphlet with that
           of ,prof4 ,evans1 goes much  
beyond anything that has                
appeared on the subject from            
,presbyterian authorship in             
this country4            ,at the meeting
 of the ,alumni of the ,union           
,theological           ,seminary1 on the
 eighteenth of ,may1 the newly elected  
professor of systematic theology1 the   
brilliant ,rev4           ,henry ,j4    
,van ,dyke1 ,d4 ,d4 7since deceased7    
made the           following bold remark
 while defending ,dr4 ,briggs3 ,if      
we cannot have orthodoxy and liberty1   

let orthodoxy go           and let us   
have liberty4 ,liberty has always       
produced           progress4            
,in his sermon on ,may the #bdth1 ,rev4 
,thomas ,dixon1 one           of the    
,baptist clergymen of ,new ,york ,city1 
said3 ,the           heresy trial is a  
record of barbarism1 a relic of         
savagery4 ,it belongs to the crudeness1 
and ignorance1           and            
superstition of barbaric times4 ,it     
smells of           roasting flesh4     
,on the same ,sunday the ,rev4 ,dr4     
,charles ,h4 ,parkhurst1           of   
the ,madison ,square ,presbyterian      
,church1 of ,new ,york1           quoted
 the ringing words given above by ,dr4  
,van ,dyke1           with his cordial  
indorsement4 ,he continued to thus      
severely arraign the ,orthodox brethren 
in the           ,presbyterian ,church3 
,this question of inerrancy is not new4 
,calvin1 ,luther1           and many    
others did not believe in the ,bible's  
inerrancy4 ,if this is not according to 

the confession           of faith--,i   
don't know whether it is or not--we had 
better square the confession with the   
truth rather than           the truth   
with the confession4 ,let those who     
would           prove that there are no 
mistakes in the ,bible produce a        
cud-chewing coney1 and then we will     
consider the           question of      
inerrancy4            ,if the ,church is
 to go on in the way that some are      
trying to persuade us it ought to go1   
the sooner it           gives up the    
ghost the better1 to save the medical   
expense4  ,at various era-marking       
periods in the annals of history1 the   
multitudes have been thus disturbed4    
,they have felt that the old-time       
beliefs of their fathers1 the tradition 
of ages1 the oracles1 which from early  
infancy they have learned to revere and 
hold most sacred1 were being demolished4
 ,this naturally aroused bitter         
antagonism in their souls4 ,they        
believed they were carrying out ,god's  

wishes when like ,saul of ,tarsus1 they 
aided in slaying heretics4 ,thus when   
the great ,nazarene taught a higher1    
sweeter1 and nobler code of ethics than 
the ancient ,jewish law-givers and      
teachers1 he was persecuted and slain   
because the ,jews believed he sought to 
overthrow their revered and sacred      
truths4 ,in a like manner ,paul and the 
early advocates of ,christianity1 when  
they proclaimed their religion in       
,gentile lands frequently aroused the   
bitterest antagonism4 ,at a later date  
,galileo's demonstrations and ,sir      
,isaac ,newton's discovery occasioned   
precisely the game dismay1 and called   
forth bitter and pronounced opposition1 
because it was felt that in one case the
 authority of the ,bible was impeached1 
and in the other that ,god was to be    
taken out of the universe4 ,when ,luther
 and the ,reformation broke the dead    
calm of centuries of growing corruption 
and externalization in the religious    
life of ,europe1 ,christendom felt a    

thrill of dismay4 ,new disturbing       
elements had entered the fields4 ,the   
general uneasiness on the part of tens  
of thousands of people who believed they
 were sincere worshippers of ,god1 was  
succeeded by an intense desire to crush 
out this dangerous heresy with fire and 
torture1 if necessary4 ,the terrible    
days1 months1 and years that followed   
the dawn of the ,reformation1 bear      
melancholy testimony to the innate      
ferocity of man's nature1 and the       
relentless character of religious       
warfare4 ,nevertheless1 in spite of     
persecution1 the new truth spread4 ,a   
broader horizon opened to man's view4   
,that conflict marked the birth of one  
of the grandest epochs in humanity's    
onward march4 ,thus has it ever been4   
,to-day stones the prophet1 to-morrow   
tearfully rears a monument and treasures
 his lofty utterances4  ,yet with every 
transition period comes the old-time    
struggle1 the apprehension and anguish  
of spirit1 the night of doubt4 ,it is1  

therefore1 not surprising that the      
oppression of fear weighs on the minds  
of all those who believe that ,god has  
spoken ,his last word2 that in the      
twilight of the past alone lies the hope
 of humanity4  ,on the other hand1 the  
theological revolt now manifest is a    
legitimate result of multitudinous      
agencies1 which have for generations    
been silently and subtly influencing the
 mind of man1 among which may be        
mentioned the spread of popular         
education1 and the growth of the        
newspaper4 ,as long as people knew not  
how to read or were unable to procure   
any medium of information which brought 
them in rapport with the vast growing   
world of thought and action1 they       
naturally turned to their priest or     
clergyman for intellectual as well as   
religious food1 and from him as a rule  
received instruction with the docility  
and confidence exhibited by little      
children seeking for truth4 ,with the   
appearance of schoolhouses in every     

hamlet1 and the establishment of cheap  
and popular newspapers1 however1 came a 
change as marked as it was wonderful4   
,people began to reason and think for   
themselves4 ,they demanded credentials  
for the various dogmas and ideas        
discussed in every department of        
thought4 ,it is true1 that religion was 
approached much more reluctantly and    
reverently than other subjects1 but the 
growth of knowledge1 the opportunity to 
hear all sides of problems discussed1   
and the broader conception of life which
 a world knowledge gave1 exerted a      
positive and ever-increasing influence  
on their minds in this department of    
thought4 ,the great inventions of the   
past hundred years1 which have bound    
together as one family almost the whole 
world1 have also brought to light the   
great religions of other races and ages4
 ,gradually it dawned on the public mind
 that almost every people had a clearly 
defined system of theology2 containing  
much that was beautiful1 elevating1 and 

inspiring1 more or less hidden among    
superstitious traditions natural to     
childhood and credulous ages4 ,this led 
many to ask whether ,jesus might not    
have had a larger thought in his mind   
than mankind had dreamed when he said1  
,other sheep have ,i which are not of   
this fold2 and whether there might not  
be a wider significance than had been   
given to the idea1 that ,god had in     
sundry times and in divers ways spoken  
to ,his children on earth4 ,another     
lever of progressive thought was the    
marvellous strides taken in physical    
science1 which followed the             
,reformation4 ,discoveries in astronomy1
 in geology and biology have completely 
overthrown many time-honored and revered
 traditions and fables regarded for ages
 as divine truth4 ,the critical spirit  
of the age1 the inquiring condition of  
human thought1 which instead of being   
discouraging is distinctly a mark of    
human growth1 stands in bold antithesis 
to the dark ages1 when speculation and  

progress were outlawed in many fields of
 research1 and spirituality suffered an 
eclipse behind the pomp1 form1 and show 
of theology1 when to a great degree     
mental stagnation prevailed4 ,yet this  
critical spirit has been one of the most
 potent factors in liberalizing thought4
 ,another cause for the radical change  
of views among ,bible scholars is found 
in the rich results of archological     
research during the past generation4    
,this with a critical1 or scientific    
study of the ,bible1 the early church1  
and profane history1 contemporaneous    
with the rise of ,christianity1 has led 
thousands of the most profound and      
sincere religious thinkers into broader 
fields1 giving to them a loftier view of
 life1 eternity and ,god than was       
possible under the old conceptions4     
,what diligent research on the part of  
scholarship has effected among critical 
students1 the recent revision of the    
,bible has accomplished among the       
people4 ,the old-time reverence for the 

letter of the law1 or what is commonly  
known as verbal inspiration1 is         
disappearing as mist before the         
sunshine1 owing1 in this latter case1 to
 the people becoming acquainted for the 
first time with the fact that there are 
passages in the ,bible confessed by the 
most orthodox scholars to be spurious4  
,they found in the revised scriptures   
passages in some instances containing   
many consecutive verses enclosed in     
brackets1 as1 for example1 the story of 
the woman taken in sin in the ,gospel of
 ,john from vii4 #ec to viii4 #aa       
inclusive4 ,consulting the foot-note    
they found that these passages were     
spurious or added by a later hand4 ,i   
well remember the explanation made by a 
scholarly and devout professor in       
theology1 while at the ,kentucky        
,university1 regarding the passage      
referred to above4 ,the incident        
doubtless occurred much as it appears1  
asserted the professor1 but while       
omitted from the earlier copies1 was    

handed down by tradition1 and at a later
 day incorporated into the text4 ,such  
explanations in the very nature of      
things1 however1 were by no means       
calculated to satisfy the doubts which  
had been raised in the minds of those   
who had from infancy been taught to     
believe in the verbal inspiration of the
 ,bible4 ,naturally the question arose  
in the minds of the thinking masses1 if 
one passage is proved to be spurious1   
and the world possesses no original     
manuscripts1 what guarantee that        
anything approaching the original       
teachings of ,jesus is preserved4 ,if   
the stream of inspiration is proved to  
be muddy in some places1 is it not      
possible that what at first was pure as 
the melting snow on the mountain tops1  
after passing through the hands of      
various human authors and copyists1 may 
have become as turbid with the cast of  
human thought as the mountain stream    
which1 pure at the source1 is heavy with
 mud at the base8 ,it is impossible to  

estimate how much influence this        
discovery on the part of the people has 
exerted in behalf of a broader and more 
liberal interpretation of the ,bible4   
,another factor which is usually        
overlooked1 but which has had a marked  
effect on the thought which to-day is in
 open rebellion against the old         
standards1 is found in the influence    
exerted by a galaxy of great and godly  
lives1 which came on the stage of       
existence early in the present century1 
and whose thoughts have unconsciously   
broadened the minds1 refined the        
sentiment1 and ennobled the lives of    
every one who has read their works4 ,in 
this country ,longfellow1 ,bryant1      
,whittier1 ,lowell1 ,hawthorne1         
,emerson1 ,channing1 ,parker1 ,clarke1  
and other illuminated souls1 gave all   
who came under the magic of their words 
a broader view of life1 a truer         
conception of the universe1 and a       
loftier inspiration than aught that had 
touched them before4 ,it is doubtful if 

the great thinkers dreamed that on the  
current of their thoughts tens of       
thousands of earnest lives were to be   
carried into a larger hope1 a more      
intelligent1 humane appreciation of the 
mysteries of creation1 and a grander    
idea of ,god4 ,thus we see in the       
present religious revolution nothing    
strange in the bitter opposition of     
conservative thought1 nothing remarkable
 in the persistent and earnest attitude 
of those who stand for the higher       
criticism4 ,it is the old feud2 the past
 struggling with the future2 departing  
night battling with the dawn4 ,of the   
issue none who have faith in the        
ultimate triumph of truth1 wisdom1 and  
progress can doubt4   ,,the ,,conflict  
,,between ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern      
,,thought ,,in ,,the ,,presbyterian     
,,church4  ,the vote of the ,new ,york  
,presbytery on the twelfth of ,may1 to  
present the case of ,prof4 ,charles ,a4 
,briggs#aj before the synod will        
probably prove one of the most momentous

 moves made in recent years in the      
theological world4 ,it is a positive    
challenge thrown before ,presbyterians  
who hold views popularly termed ,higher 
,criticism4 ,it is a declaration of war 
to the knife on the part of those who   
oppose the revision of the ,westminster 
,confession1 and who cherish ancient    
thought4 ,nor is the opposition led by  
,dr4 ,briggs disposed to yield what is  
believed to be the only truth consistent
 with an intelligent conception of a    
just1 loving1 and wise ,god4 ,the       
immediate cause of this determined      
conflict is found in ,professor ,briggs'
 recent address on the authority of the 
,holy ,scriptures1 delivered at his     
inaugural as ,professor of ,biblical    
,theology in the ,union ,theological    
,seminary of ,new ,york4 ,in this       
notable address he maintained that there
 were three great fountains of divine   
authority1 the ,bible1 the ,church1 and 
,reason1 any one of which was capable of
 leading persons to ,god4 ,he instanced 

the following cases3 ,cardinal ,newman  
was led to ,god through the ,church of  
,rome2 ,spurgeon1 through the ,bible1   
and the philosopher ,martineau through  
,reason4 ,he further asserted that no   
one could get at the ,bible unless he   
forced his way through human obstacles1 
which he tabulated as follows3 7#a7     
,superstitious reverence for the book   
itself4 7#b7 ,the belief in the verbal  
inspiration of the ,bible4 7#c7 ,the    
authenticity of the ,scriptures4        
,traditions from the dead church assign 
authors to all the books of the ,bible1 
but higher criticism pronounces these   
traditions fallacies and follies4 7#d7  
,the doctrine of the inerrancy of the   
,bible4 ,historical criticism again     
pronounces that there are errors in the 
,bible1 but they are in circumstantials1
 not in essentials4 7#e7 ,the miracles  
are in violation of the laws of nature1 
and keep men away from the ,bible4 7#f7 
,the failure of minute prophecy4 ,dr4   
,briggs further expressed belief in the 

ultimate salvation of mankind1 declaring
 that redemption was not limited to this
 world1 but continued through the vast  
period of time preceding the            
resurrection4       #aj ,dr4 ,philip    
,schaff1 than whom there is no abler or 
more renowned biblical scholar in the   
,new ,world1 has in           a recent  
paper in the ,new ,york ,herald defended
 ,dr4           ,briggs4 ,that journal  
aptly says3 ,in his paper1 he           
defines in the most trenchant language1 
the apparent           inconsistency of 
the ,new ,york ,presbytery in           
practically           avowing1 eighteen 
months ago1 the same principle for      
which ,dr4 ,briggs1 it declares1 must   
now stand trial4 ,he           declares 
that the ,american ,presbyterian ,church
 has           herself materially       
changed the ,westminster ,confession    
of a hundred years ago1 and that this   
spirit of           revision pervades   
the whole ,christian world4 ,finally1   
he asserts that1 as the theory of verbal

 inspiration of           the           
,scriptures is not in the ,westminster  
,confession of           ,faith1 it     
cannot be demanded from any             
,presbyterian           minister or     
professor1 and warns churchmen that any 
attempt by the ,general ,assembly to    
enforce an extra           ,scriptural  
and extra ,confessional theory upon the 
,church will create a split worse than  
that of #ahcg4 ,the           ,herald   
observes that3--            ,dr4        
,schaff's international fame as a church
 historian           and theologian will
 compel the greatest respect from       
not alone the ministers of the          
,presbyterian church1 but           also
 from the clergy of all ,christian      
churches4            ,as early as #ahde1
 he was tried for heresy in this        
country1 and acquitted4 ,in #ahed1 he   
represented the           ,american     
,german churches at the ,ecclesiastical 
,diet at           ,frankfort1 and      
received the degree of ,d4 ,d4 from the 

,university at ,berlin4 ,in #ahgj1 he   
accepted the chair of           sacred  
literature in the ,union ,theological   
,seminary of           this city4 ,he is
 a member of the ,leipsic ,historical1  
the ,netherland1 and other historical   
and literary           societies in this
 country and in ,europe1 and is one of  
the founders and honorary secretary of  
the ,american           ,branch of the  
,evangelical ,alliance4 ,in #ahga1 he   
was one           of the ,alliance      
delegates to the ,emperor of ,russia to 
plead for the religious liberty of his  
subjects in the           ,baltic       
,provinces4            ,he was president
 of the ,american ,bible ,revision      
,committee1 which was appointed in #ahga
 at the request           of the        
,english committee1 and in #ahge was    
sent to           ,england to arrange   
for the co-operation and publication    
of the ,anglo-,american edition4 ,the   
same year he           attended         
officially the conferences of the ,old  

,catholics1 ,greeks and ,protestants at 
,bonn1 to promote           ,christian  
unity4            ,dr4 ,schaff was first
 president of the ,american ,society    
of ,church ,history1 and is the author  
of a great number           of          
historical and exegetical works1 both in
 ,english and           ,german1 the    
latter having been translated into      
,english4  ,on page #ee of his revised  
address1 he observes3       ,the        
,biblical redemption is a redemption of 
our race and of      universal nature4  
,as the ancient ,jews limited redemption
 to      ,israel and overlooked the     
nations1 so the ,church limited         
redemption to those who were baptized1  
and excluded the      heathen and       
unbaptized4 ,the ,presbyterians have too
 often      limited redemption by their 
doctrine of election2 the ,bible        
knows no such limitation4 ,the ,bible   
teaches election1 but an      election  
of love4 ,loving only the elect1 is     
earthly1 human      teaching4 ,electing 

men to salvation by the touch of ,divine
      love--that is heavenly doctrine4  
,the salvation of the world      can    
only mean the world as a whole1 compared
 with which the      unredeemed will be 
so few and insignificant and evidently  
beyond the reach of redemption by their 
own act of rejecting      it and        
hardening themselves against it1 and by 
descending      into such depths of     
demoniacal depravity that they will     
vanish from sight4  ,in the appendix to 
his address1 published about the middle 
of ,may1 in speaking of inerrancy1 ,dr4 
,briggs further observes3--       ,it is
 agreed that there are a large number of
 errors in the      best ,,mss4 of the  
,bible2 it is the theory of modern      
dogmaticians1 that they were not in the 
original ,,mss4 ,we can      never have 
them1 and it is idle to speculate as to 
their      contents4 ,when the ,lower or
 ,textual ,criticism has done its       
best1 and secured the best possible     
text1 dogmaticians      discredit the   

best text when they speculate as to what
 was      in the original text4 ,if the 
reactionary dogmaticians may            
speculate to remove errors from the     
text1 the rationalistic      critics may
 also speculate with regard to the      
original text      in a way that would  
make havoc with scholastic theology4    
,even ,mohammed was willing to accept   
the original text of the      ,law and  
the ,gospel1 which he claimed had been  
falsified by      ,jews and ,christians4
       ,i said1 ,it is not a pleasant   
task to point out errors in      the    
,sacred ,scriptures4 ,in ,biblical      
,study1 and ,whither8      ,i limited   
myself to two errors of citation4 ,i    
have not taken      a brief to prove the
 errancy of ,scripture4 ,conservative   
men      should hesitate before they    
force the critics in      self-defence  
to make a catalogue of errors in the    
,bible4      ,the errors are in the only
 texts we have1 and every one is        
forced to recognize them4       ,it is  

well known that the great reformers1    
,calvin and      ,luther1 recognized    
errors in the ,scriptures1 that ,baxter 
and      ,rutherford of the second      
,reformation were not disturbed by      
them1 and that the choicest spirits of  
modern times--such as      ,van         
,oosterzee1 ,tholuck1 ,neander1 ,stier1 
,lange1 and      ,dorner--have not      
hesitated to point out numerous errors  
in      ,holy ,scripture4 ,this view is 
maintained by ,sanday1 ,driver1         
,cheyne1 ,davidson1 ,bruce1 ,gore1      
,marcus ,dods1 ,blaikie1 and            
numerous others in ,great ,britain2 by  
,fisher1 ,thayer1 ,smythe1      ,evans1 
,h4 ,b4 ,smith1 ,w4 ,r4 ,harper1 and    
hosts of others in      this country4   
,one can easily see how dangerously     
heretical such bold declarations would  
sound to patriarchs of conservatism like
 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,shedd1 the well-known      
author of ,dogmatic ,theology1 which    
embraces thirteen hundred pages1 but in 
the index of which one looks in vain for

 forgiveness of sin or pardon of sin4 ,a
 work which devotes eighty-six pages to 
hell and only four to heaven4 ,dr4      
,briggs1 however1 claims that           
theologians like ,dr4 ,shedd1 whose     
teachings have been chiefly on the      
damnation of men not competent to judge 
him1 and gauged by our present          
civilization he is doubtless correct1   
but by the standard of the theologians  
who framed the ,westminster ,confession1
 ,i have less confidence in his         
accuracy4 ,it must be remembered1       
however1 that ,professor ,briggs has    
exhaustively studied the lives and      
teachings of the framers of the         
,confession1 and he may have been able  
at times to catch them at their best1   
when in moments of spiritual exaltation 
they have uttered grand prophetic and   
divinely loving utterances which were   
foreign to their usual habits of thought
 or the religious conviction of the age 
in which they lived4 ,and in that event 
he may be able to maintain his position 

when his case is called before the      
synod1 even against the popular         
impression as to the real meaning of the
 ,confession4 ,failing in this1 the only
 alternative will be recantation or     
withdrawal from the ,presbyterian       
,communion4 ,from the stand already     
taken it is impossible to imagine the   
professor stultifying himself and       
teaching what he does not believe2 while
 his withdrawal will unquestionably mean
 the greatest schism that               
,presbyterianism has yet suffered4 ,i   
think it highly probable that the       
majority of his brother ministers to-day
 will condemn#aa the bold1 brave man    
whom his communion in the near future   
will revere as a man who1 prophet-like1 
saw beyond the sect to which he         
belonged2 whose noble1 loving1 and holy 
nature drew him into intimate           
relationship with the ,divine life1     
which is the essence of ,love4       #aa
 ,since writing the above the ,assembly 
at ,detroit has           voted against 

the confirmation of ,dr4 ,briggs by #ddj
           against #ei2 thus1 from a    
numerical point of view1 ,dr4           
,briggs is in the minority4 ,this is by 
no means           surprising1 and ,i   
regard it greatly to the credit of      
the ,assembly that1 while they hold to  
the severe           doctrines popularly
 known as ,calvinism1 they repudiate    
all the great liberal scholars who      
refuse to believe           and teach   
conceptions of ,god which were          
unquestioningly           accepted in a 
former age1 but which the enlightenment 
of the present century shrinks from with
 unutterable           horror4 ,unless  
,dr4 ,briggs proves a dishonest man and 
recants he must leave ,union            
,theological ,seminary1 if              
that institution remains in the         
,presbyterian           fellowship4     
,transcriber's ,note3 ,a macron         
diacritical mark1 a straight line above 
a letter1 is found on several words in  
the original text4 ,these letters are   

indicated here by the coding x for a    
macron above any letter x4 ,for example1
 the word aionios with a macron above   
the first letter o will appear as       
aionios in the text4