,,the ,,arena4 ,no4 ,,xxii4 ,,september1 #ahia4 ,illustration3 ,geo4 ,c4 ,lorimer4 7signed ,yours' ,respectfully1 ,geo4 ,c4 ,lorimer7 ,,the ,,newer ,,heresies4 ,,by ,,rev4 ,,geo4 ,c4 ,,lorimer1 ,d4 ,d4 ,it is a good thing that the ,inquisition1 ,star-chamber1 and other compulsory institutions of the dark past have departed from ,europe1 and have never been tolerated in ,america4 ,were it not so1 at the present time there would be much excellent work for the rack1 the thumbscrew1 and the faggot4 ,heresy is in the air1 especially in the northern latitudes of the ,united ,states4 ,we inhale it with the morning breezes1 it stimulates us to mental activity during the noon hour1 and at times stifles us as by the sultry atmosphere of a blistering day4 ,everywhere it is being discussed1 and by every kind of individual1 qualified or unqualified for such high contentions4 ,daily journals1 hitherto never remarkable for orthodoxy1 have suddenly grown anxious as to the future of the faith2 and other journals1 that have always antagonized orthodoxy1 are1 figuratively speaking1 rubbing their hands most gleefully and smiling through their editorial columns with a most perceptible ,i told you so2 while religious papers1 representing as they do1 the conservative element in this country1 are apparently staggered at the inroads which the so-called higher criticism has made of late4 ,aged people ominously shake their heads1 and striplings of the limp-back ,bible type are amazed at the stir which ideas are making in the community1 and which threaten to disturb the peace and quiet of their mediocre godliness2 and pious women engaged on crazy quilts1 in the interest of noble benefactions1 stop with punctured and bleeding fingers to protest against all departures from ancient doctrinal symbols4 ,suspects are numerous1 and1 as in the days of the worthy ,council of ,ten in ,venice1 no prominent person1 especially a teacher1 is beyond surveillance4 ,if he adventures just a little from the beaten path1 even though it may be to gather a thought1 which1 like a wild field daisy1 given by the bounty of the ,infinite ,one for the delight of his creatures1 he has found growing on the wind-swept plain of natural religion1 honored possibly by heathen seers and philosophers1 he is likely to be summoned before the black draped1 gloomy councillors and familiars of modern inquisitorial conservatism4 ,in my opinion there is no real need for the morbid anxiety that now prevails in certain quarters1 and surely no serious alarm should be felt for the perpetuity and stability of truth4 ,truth is truth1 and all the bad captains that ever sailed that bark1 and all the bad navigators that ever misdirected its course1 have never been able to run it on the lee shore1 or bring it to final shipwreck1 and never can2 for over and above all human devices and guidings there is a divine hand that upholds and shields that which1 next to his ,infinite ,self1 is the most precious blessing yet conferred upon the human mind4 ,let us remember that the heresies of the hour are not of the damnable sort which1 as ,peter declared1 deny the ,lord who bought us2 neither are they mixed with such immoralities as ,paul condemns in his letter to the ,galatians4 ,and if we may believe that the words of that same apostle have any pertinency in our times1 then1 when he declares that heresies or schisms must arise among us that they which are proved may be made manifest1 we may confidently expect that out of the present discussions and the jangling of sweet notes out of tune some broader thought and some nobler conception of divine teachings1 revealed to us in ,holy ,scripture1 will assuredly come to the church and to the world4 ,i think that the leaders who are solicitous for the ark of ,god ought to try to characterize the opinions which have given rise1 in these latter days1 to threatened trials for heterodoxy4 ,it is so easy to say that a man who differs from ourselves is not orthodox1 and to avoid an actual and exact statement of what we mean2 when in fact we deal unjustly with him1 and produce a wrong impression on the community at large4 ,let us notice the three distinctive and discriminating marks of so-called heresy in evangelical churches1 and ,i think you will be persuaded that it is unwise for us to be alarmists1 and imprudent to breathe out threatenings and slaughters4 ,it will be observed that the newer heresies do not challenge the truth of ,scripture inspiration1 only the form and philosophy of such inspiration4 ,the men who are suspected of entertaining erroneous opinions concerning the method of ,divine impartation of truth are the strenuous advocates of the moral grandeur1 spiritual authority1 and faith-sufficiency of the heavenly oracles4 ,they1 it is true1 deny what has been known as the verbal theory--a theory which owes more to the post-reformers' fear of an infallible pope1 than to any real1 intelligent cause--but by no recognized council or decree1 acknowledged by ,protestants1 has that mechanical conception ever been made binding on the conscience4 ,modern scholarship is simply leading us to recognize a more rational criticism than was possible to our fathers2 a mode of criticism which almost every ,sunday-school teacher1 in his humble way1 adopts1 and which is common1 and has been in the most orthodox pulpits for unnumbered years1 every man bringing the passage he is discussing to the test of knowledge that he has acquired and1 in a sense1 to the test even of his reason4 ,i do not say that scholars have uttered the final word upon this great subject1 nor is it possible for such a word to be pronounced at the present stage of investigation1 but ,i do insist that we should recognize the authority of enlightenment1 and that we should not carelessly brand as heterodox men of eminent attainments1 who are merely seeking to guide us to foundations which1 in the long run1 shall prove absolutely indestructible4 ,we have to decide whether the ,christianity of the immediate future shall be governed supremely by intelligence or ignorance4 ,if ignorance is to rule supreme1 then let us found no more universities1 nor open any new theological seminaries4 ,let us not go through the farce of instructing1 unless it be merely to insist on the assimilating by students of dogmas that must never be questioned1 and from which they will swear by the eternities they will never depart1 either in spirit or in letter4 ,but1 if we believe that education means the quickening of a man's nature so that he will investigate1 and if we really believe that ,god has more light yet to break in upon the world1 through the casements and windows of holy scriptures1 then1 in his ,divine ,name1 let us not be alarmed when1 here and there1 after infinite weariness and labor1 a little ray penetrates the darkness of the ages and promises to give us a noonday view of the origin and influence of ,god's ,word4 ,it should also be considered that the newer heresies are not primarily defections from ,christian doctrine1 only from the creeds which assume authoritatively to define such doctrine4 ,public teachers are being arraigned for their departure from certain standards1 such as the ,thirty-,nine ,articles1 the ,westminster ,confession1 and the lugubrious compilation known as the ,new ,hampshire ,confession of ,faith4 ,these documents1 with whatever excellency they may be accredited1 were prepared by fallible men--some of them1 indeed1 exceedingly fallible--who were hardly qualified in their day to define the faith of ,christ for the guidance of future ages1 and were adopted in most cases by meagre majorities4 ,why we should suppose their statements are to be regarded as infallible1 and why thinkers of our times should be strictly held to their formulas1 is something that no one yet has had courage or intelligence sufficient to explain4 ,what right has any body of men to insist on conformity to a creed prepared by beings like themselves1 even though it has been venerated for a century or two8 ,who is ,melancthon1 and who is ,luther1 and who are the ,westminster divines but men by whom we have believed8 ,but are we bound to their word1 or are we strictly held to the ,word of our common ,lord and ,divine ,teacher8 ,is ,chillingworth's cry1 the ,bible1 the whole ,bible1 and nothing but the ,bible the religion of ,protestants1 a mere illusion8 ,it certainly is1 and the sacred idea concerning the right of private judgment1 if the withered hand of men long dead is to hold the brain of the present in the grasp of death2 if we respect ourselves and our avowed belief in the adequacy of ,scripture as a rule of faith1 then we had better make one huge bonfire of all the antiquated creeds1 than denounce the so-called heretics who are1 in reality1 trying to bring us back to the position of the primitive saints who allowed no human word to obscure or darken the divine ,word given by revelation4 ,i think that every candid soul will admit1 in addition to what ,i have stated1 that the newer heresies are not revolts from the scriptural high ideal of ,christian life1 only a noble protest against narrow interpretations of that life4 ,the men who have recently been arraigned before the tribunals of various denominations are eminent for their uprightness1 their conscientious candor and tolerance4 ,no word has ever been uttered to their moral detriment2 they are1 in this blameful age1 among the most blameless of its people4 ,they insist1 however1 that all doctrine should be regarded merely as moulds in which the life should be cast1 and are valuable only in so far as they are able to shape the life in pattern of that one career which has excited the admiration of the ages and the adoring wonder of the heavens4 ,it hardly seems in accord with any just conception of our ,master's faith that men and women who are trying to serve ,god and their generation should be branded with foul names1 should be sneered at as reckless and dangerous guides1 and as even denying the ,lord whom they reverence and worship4 ,let us be careful4 ,heterodoxy of conduct is a greater evil than heterodoxy of creed1 and ,i am free to say1 though ,i may not1 with my convictions regarding the atonement of ,christ1 understand how some eminently philanthropic people can enter the golden gates1 yet ,i should hardly myself appreciate a place beyond their threshold if ,god could not plan1 in some way consistent with ,his honor1 to find a radiant seat of glory for them4 ,i write these things because ,i am not a heretic4 ,i do not1 of course1 agree with the fathers1 for1 like other ,scotchmen1 ,i cannot agree with anybody else in the world2 but ,i am perfectly satisfied with my own orthodoxy4 ,occasionally ,i have been startled to find some adventurous soul giving utterance to views1 as being novel and hazardous1 which ,i have entertained1 without any perturbation of spirit1 for nearly twenty years4 ,i was somewhat amused1 not long since1 on hearing a venerable theological professor1 with tears in his eyes1 perspiration on his brow1 and anguish in his voice1 relate how1 after a fearful struggle1 he had emancipated himself from certain of ,calvin's dictums2 but while some clergymen present seemed astounded1 ,i remarked at the close of the meeting that ,i had accomplished that feat for myself some quarter of a century agone1 and what is more1 though ,i did not say this to him1 ,i did so without any tears1 and without any anguish whatever4 ,these personal references are merely to show that in taking up the cause of the newer heretics ,i am not in any wise biassed by a misdirected mind in their favor4 ,let us have freedom4 ,let us think it out4 ,let the struggle go on1 and let us not1 with pallid faces and strident voices1 cry out in fear2 for the only tribunal that can righteously adjudicate the lightness of human thought is the tribunal1 as ,schiller has it1 of history1 which unquestionably is on earth the tribunal of the infinite ,god4 ,he rules in the world of mind as well as in the globe of matter1 and eighteen centuries ought to convince us that truth slowly emerges from warring opinions1 conflicting theories1 and especially from pathetic longings of the human soul to discover its hidden meanings and its widest and grandest applications4 ,alas6 perhaps our ignorance and intolerance may render it necessary that now1 as in the past1 the prophets of ,god must first be stoned to death before we will give heed to their message or commemorate their greatness by the homage of our mind4 ,but seriously1 ,i would advise all who have any regard for their own comfort1 happiness1 and even self-respect1 to have as little to do with this wretched stoning business as possible2 for ,i have never yet been able to discover what satisfaction there can possibly be in helping a dear brother or sister to a martyr's crown at the expense of one's own fairness and kindly charity4 ,,harvest ,,and ,,laborers ,,in ,,the ,,psychical ,,field4 ,,by ,,frederic ,w4 ,h4 ,,myers4 ,there is no living savant1 one may say with little fear of contradiction1 who surpasses ,mr4 ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace in generous readiness to esteem at its full worth the work of other men4 ,and one may add that this habit of mind1 so attractive in a man of acknowledged eminence1 is as a rule not attractive only1 but actively serviceable to science2 that it stimulates effort1 and creates an atmosphere in which good work is zealously done4 ,yet there may be cases in which this ready appreciativeness may prove a hindrance to progress rather than a help4 ,if wrongly received1 it may lead men who have done little to think that they have done much2 it may deter others from embarking on needful tasks which they may suppose to have been already amply performed4 ,in two papers in ,,the ,,arena for ,january and ,february1 #ahia1 ,mr4 ,wallace dwelt1 partly with criticism1 and partly with praise1 on the work already done by the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,to his criticisms ,i make no demur2 they are legitimate and interesting2 and indeed where ,mr4 ,wallace's opinions diverge from those which ,i have myself set forth1 ,i am disposed to think that we are but looking on the two sides of the shield1--a shield embossed on either side with devices so marvellous that no man's interpretation can as yet suffice to unriddle them4 ,but on the other hand1 ,i cannot let pass without protest the sentence 7,,arena1 ,january1 p4 #acj7 in which ,mr4 ,wallace speaks of the thanks due to the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 for having presented the evidence in such a way that the facts to be interpreted are now generally accepted as facts by all who have taken any trouble to inquire into the amount and character of the testimony for them1--the opinion of those who have not taken that trouble being altogether worthless4 ,now in the first place ,i do not think that all those who have studied our testimony are convinced by it4 ,i received a letter 7for instance7 not long ago1 from a distinguished ,american1 an old friend of mine1 who wrote in the most cordial terms to say that out of personal regard for me he had read ,phantasms of the ,living from beginning to end1 and that he did not believe a word of it4 ,our readers' scepticism is perhaps seldom quite so robust2 but nevertheless ,i should say that the attitude of at least half of them is best described by saying not that they accept our evidence ex animo1 but that they have not yet exactly managed to see their way to upsetting it4 ,nor can ,i possibly treat as unimportant the attitude of that great majority of savants who have paid no attention at all to the matter4 ,naturally1 their opinion of our evidence does not affect my own opinion thereof1 but it decidedly affects my view as to what lines our work ought to follow4 ,why is it that these men have not studied our ,proceedings8 ,it will not do to talk about indolence and prejudice4 ,all men are more or less indolent and prejudiced2 but savants as a class are certainly less indolent1 and probably less prejudiced1 than any other class that one could name4 ,we must not count upon finding our savant semper vacuum1 semper amabilem1 any more than ,horace found his young ladies always in that condition of affable receptivity4 ,the main reason why so many eminent men neglect our work may be stated in a much less offensive way4 ,the minds of all of us move in certain orbits1 from which we are sensibly deflected only by the approach of some new body of adequate mass4 ,now our psychical experiments and observations have plainly not as yet attained sufficient mass to be able to deflect the majority of those great bodies1 the luminaries of science1 from their accustomed paths through the heavens4 ,tides1 indeed1 we do create2 there is a refluent washing to and fro of magazine articles about our topic2 but we have not yet generated that wholesale perturbation of the scientific system which our facts1 if facts they be1 must in time inevitably effect4 ,some of the best workers in the ,society1 says ,mr4 ,wallace again1 still urge that the evidence is very deficient1 both in amount and in quality1 and that much more must be obtained before it can be treated as really conclusive4 ,this view1 however1 he adds1 appears to me to be an altogether erroneous one4 ,on the contrary1 ,i venture to say1 this assertion of the need of more work1 and consequently of more workers1 is of absolutely primary1 absolutely urgent importance4 ,what would have become of the evolution theory itself 7if ,i may use an argumentum ad hominem of no disrespectful kind71 what would have become of that theory itself1 though urged at first by savants of such surpassing merit1 had no one been able to repeat and confirm their observations8 ,and we who are dealing1 not with plants and animals which can be held fast and observed1 but1 for the most part at any rate1 with phantasmal sights1 subjective impressions1--surely we must feel a tenfold need of the multiplication of centres of experiment and observation1 of the formation of fresh bodies of record in every country1 and in each year that passes by4 ,no single small group can ever gain leverage enough to divert the world's prevalent modes of thought1 unless it is gradually reinforced by fellow-workers enough to make the possible mistakes or possible death of a few persons quite unimportant to the general result4 ,it has been suggested by ,mr4 ,wallace and by other critics that we have been too exclusively preoccupied with the idea of telepathy1 that we have tried to force into that category phenomena which need a different or a further explanation4 ,considering the complexity of these phenomena there may well be some truth in this criticism1 yet we should surely be unwise if we relaxed our insistence on the importance of telepathy1 or the transference of thought or feeling from mind to mind without the agency of the recognized organs of sense as the very root and basis both of experiment and of theory as concerning an unseen world4 ,no one1 of course1 can suppose that the infinitely complex laws of which we are just now obtaining a precursory glimpse and first faint intimation1 can possibly be summarized in any single expression4 ,but the prime importance of telepathy lies in the fact that here1 at last1 is an action of unseen1 uncomprehended forces which can be made the subject of actual experiment4 ,nay1 more1 the very fact that in this special direction experiment turns out to be possible1 is in itself an augury that we are on a true scientific track2 for it involves a remarkable coincidence between a theoretical conclusion and a practical discovery4 ,in the first place1 let us try to realize theoretically what is involved in the supposition that any sort of invisible intelligence can become in any way known to us4 ,i speak of the methods of communication only1 without reference to the nature of the supposed intelligence1 beyond the mere fact of its habitual invisibility4 ,it is plain1 ,i think1 that the said intelligence must either so act upon visible matter as to affect our sense-organs in the ordinary way1 or else must convey messages to our minds by some director process1 not depending on the intervention of our organs of sense4 ,now probably no one will assume that the first method will alone be employed4 ,even those who insist1 with ,mr4 ,wallace1 on the objectivity of apparitions1 do not1 ,i think1 maintain that it is only by moving material objects that unseen intelligences affect our minds4 ,few will doubt that if there be communication from unseen beings at all1 it will probably be at least partly in the second of the two modes already specified1 that is1 that it will reach our minds in some way more intimate and direct than by ordinary sense-perception4 ,but if this be so1 then there must be in our minds a certain power of reciprocity4 ,we must be able to receive the message in the same impalpable way in which the unseen intelligence communicates it4 ,but if we suppose that man possesses this power of receiving direct or telepathic messages from unembodied or invisible intelligences1 it is natural to inquire whether he is capable of receiving similar messages from embodied or visible intelligences4 ,if we cannot find that he is thus capable1 our belief in the supposed messages from the unseen will be doubly difficult2 for we shall have to postulate both the new forms of intelligence and the new mode of intercourse4 ,but if1 on the other hand1 we can show that the mode of intercourse here needed does already exist1 and appears in man's relations with his fellow-men1 then the transition to messages from the unseen will be so much the less violent4 ,we shall only be supposing that man can receive from the disembodied a kind of message which he already receives from the embodied1 and which has no obvious dependence on a corporeal embodiment4 ,one single proved transmission1 direct from mind to mind1 of the most trivial fact or percept1 will do more to make communion with the unseen scientifically conceivable1--,i do not say more to make it morally conceivable1--than all the poetry and all the rhetoric which has ever stirred the hearts of men4 ,such1 on the one side1 is my deductive argument from the very conception of communication with unseen intelligences4 ,and do we1 on the other hand1 find1 by empirical observation of the phenomena around us1 anything which indicates the existence of a supernormal perceptivity such as theory would suggest8 ,it is known to readers of the ,society for ,psychical ,research ,proceedings that we do find such indications1 scattered at first1 and appearing unsought-for amid the phenomena of mesmeric or somnambulic states2 but now to some slight extent isolated into distinctness1 and brought under experimental control4 ,to some slight extent only1 ,i repeat2 for the experiments thus far made1 although completely convincing to those who1 like myself1 have witnessed many of them1 under very varied conditions1 have nevertheless not yet passed into that desired stage at which one may be able to repeat them before any observer1 at any moment4 ,at present they are proved by the same kind of evidence as certain rare pathological phenomena 7,i do not of course mean that telepathy is itself in any way a morbid product7--phenomena such as those surprising rises and falls of the human temperature which are unpredictable1 sporadic1 and transitory1 and must rest for their evidence on the good faith and accuracy of comparatively few observers4 ,yet these telepathic experiments have a very hopeful side4 ,experience has already shown that the phenomena may be developed at any moment1 between quite normal persons1 and with no bad effects of any sort whatever4 ,only we cannot tell except by actual trial1 and trial of a patient and careful kind1 between which persons1 out of all mankind1 these telepathic messages can be made to run4 ,what we desire1 then1 what we ask of all who sympathize with our efforts1 is neither premature praise nor equally premature theorizing1 but active co-operation in our endeavor to improve and extend our experiments in thought-transference4 ,we want to get our telepathic transmissions distant1 definite1 and reproducible4 ,it is desirable to get them at long distances1--not because it is really more marvellous that thought should thus travel a million miles than that it should travel a millimetre1--but for the merely practical reason that at long distances it is easy to avoid two main sources of error1 namely1 hyperaesthesia1 which may be quite unconscious1 and fraudulent codes1 which may be hard to detect4 ,most1 nay1 probably all1 of the so-called experiments in thought-transference which have been offered by thought-readers1 etc41 from the public platform1 have really had nothing at all to do with thought-transference1 have depended either on abnormal delicacy of tactile and other sensory perception1 or on the adroit use of preconcerted signals4 ,it is only when the observer has complete control of the conditions 7which he never has in any public exhibition71 that it is worth while to conduct experiments between two persons in the same room4 ,and even in cases where the good faith--the conscious good faith--of everyone concerned is above suspicion1 it must be remembered that there are both unconscious actions and unconscious perceptions which may wholly vitiate an experiment4 ,the rule should be so to arrange the experiment that the percipient cannot profit by unconscious indications2 that he cannot 7for example7 see the expression of the agent's face1 or hear the sound of his pencil as he writes down a number to be guessed4 ,such precautions should be a matter of course2 and when they are taken1 these experiments near at hand are certainly the easiest and best for private experimenters to begin with1 although the desirability of gradually increasing the distance between the persons concerned should always be kept in view4 ,let ,a and ,p begin their trial1 then1 in quiet and calm of mind2 let ,a1 the agent1 sit behind ,p1 the percipient1 and not in contact4 ,let ,a be provided with a full pack of cards1 in which he replaces the card drawn1 after each trial1 or with a bag of known numbers--say from ten to one hundred--a range convenient for computation--in which bag he replaces and shuffles up the number drawn1 after each trial4 ,let him draw a card 7to take cards as our example7 say1 ,now6 and gaze fixedly at it4 ,let ,p keep his mind as blank as possible1 and make his guess only when some kind of image of color1 suit1 or pips1 in some way floats into his mind4 ,his first guess only must be counted1 and must be received in silence4 ,let ,a continue this process for some prearranged number of times1 say ten times1 and record accurately all the experiments made4 ,let him renew the process1 with intervals of hours or days between each batch of trials1 until he has some hundreds of results to analyze4 ,then let him send his results1 with description of the conditions under which the trials were made1 to ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson1 #e ,boylston ,place1 ,boston1 ,mass4 ,dr4 ,hodgson will tell him if it is worth his while to go on1 and will advise as to modifications in the form of experiment4 ,these hints must here suffice as to experiments made close at hand4 ,but experiment1 or observation verging into experiment1 is often possible at long distances as well4 ,it often happens that some one tells me that he 7or she7 has so peculiar a sympathy with some given friend that what one of the pair is actually feeling or thinking at a distance is reproduced by the sensation or thought of the other4 ,to such communications my invariable reply is1 ,keep a 'psychical' diary4 ,put down therein at once every incident which you intend to count1 if it turns out 7so to say7 a telepathic success1 and no incident which you do not intend to count4 ,let your friend keep a similar diary1 without showing it to you2 after a few months let me compare the two diaries with one another4 ,i am not armed with supernatural1 or even with statutory powers2 and my informants have for the most part thought that they had obliged me quite enough if they promised to do as ,i told them4 ,but just as ,i was beginning to imitate the dictum1 ,miracles do not happen1 with the dictum1 ,psychical diaries are not kept1 the lady termed ,miss ,x----1 in ,proceedings ,,xiv4 and ,,xvi41 came to furnish an exception1 to my rule4 ,i shall not attempt to summarize the ,record of ,telepathic and ,other ,experiences in ,proceedings ,,xvi42 but ,i trust that it may be the prototype of many similar records1 which can be kept the more easily now that this example has been set4 ,i will give in brief1 one ,american example 7to be found at length in ,s4 ,p4 ,r4 ,proceedings ,,xviii47 of well-recorded telepathic transmission4 ,the incident thus transferred is trivial and even ludicrous2 the fact of the transference was absolutely useless4 ,but the case is not only none the worse for this2 it is all the better4 ,when we are trying to prove that such transmission exists1 we want to keep clear1 if we can1 of emotional complications4 ,if ,p is brooding over ,a's approaching death1 and sees a figure of ,a1 then1 even if the hour coincides1 we cannot help a suspicion that the brooding may have produced the figure4 ,but few1 ,i think1 will explain the following incident as a mere outcome of morbid sentimentality4 ,we owe it to the kindness of ,dr4 ,elliott ,coues1 who knows both ladies concerned1 and happened to call on ,mrs4 ,c---- the very day on which that lady received the following letter from her friend1 ,mrs4 ,b----4 ,monday ,evening1 ,january #ad1 #ahhi4 ,,my ,,dear ,,friend1--,i know you will be surprised to receive a note from me so soon1 but not more so than ,i was to-day1 when you were shown to me clairvoyantly1 in a somewhat embarrassed position4 ,i doubt very much if there was any truth in it2 nevertheless1 will relate it1 and leave you to laugh at the idea of it4 ,i was sitting in my room sewing1 this afternoon1 about two o'clock1 when what should ,i see but your own dear self2 but1 heavens6 in what a position4 ,now1 ,i don't want to excite your curiosity too much1 or try your patience too long1 so will come to the point at once4 ,you were falling up the front steps in the yard4 ,you had on your black skirt and velvet waist1 your little straw bonnet1 and in your hand were some papers4 ,when you fell1 your hat went in one direction and the papers in another4 ,you got up very quickly1 put on your bonnet1 picked up the papers1 and lost no time getting into the house4 ,you did not appear to be hurt1 but looked somewhat mortified4 ,it was all so plain to me that ,i had ten to one notions to dress myself and come over and see if it were true1 but finally concluded that a sober1 industrious woman like yourself would not be stumbling around at that rate1 and thought ,i'd best not go on a wild goose chase4 ,now1 what do you think of such a vision as that8 ,is there any possible truth in it8 ,i feel almost ready to scream with laughter whenever ,i think of it2 you did look too funny1 spreading yourself out in the front yard4 ,great was the fall thereof4 ,this letter came to us in an envelope addressed3 ,mrs4 ,e4 ,a4 ,c----1 #bag ,del4 ,ave41 ,n4 ,e41 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 and with the postmarks1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 ,jan4 #ae1 #g ,a4 ,m41 #ahhi1 and ,washington1 ,n4 ,e4 ,c4 ,s41 ,jan4 #ae1 #h ,a4 ,m4 ,some further letters in the postmarks are illegible4 ,now the point is that every detail in this telepathic vision was correct4 ,mrs4 ,c---- had actually 7as she tells me in a letter dated ,march #g1 #ahhi7 fallen in this way1 at this place1 in the dress described1 at #b4da1 on ,january #ad4 ,the coincidence can hardly have been due to chance4 ,if we suppose that the vision preceded the accident1 we shall have an additional marvel1 which1 however1 ,i do not think that we need here face4 ,about #b1 in a letter of this kind1 may quite conceivably have meant #b4da4 ,the definiteness of the details here reproduced1 is all1 ,i think1 that we can reasonably desire4 ,but most important1 and ,i fear1 most difficult to obtain1 of all the qualities of our ideal telepathic experiment1 is that of reproducibility4 ,this is1 ,i think1 a difficulty which inheres in the very nature of the phenomenon itself4 ,we are mainly concerned here with the powers not of the waking or empirical1 but of the submerged or unconscious self4 ,the transference of the telepathic message1 though it may be helped by conscious concentration1 takes place 7as ,i hold7 mainly in strata of our being which lie below the threshold of ordinary consciousness4 ,it seems as though the influence of the percipient's conscious self1 at any rate1 were merely hurtful to the experiment1 so that to get the percipient at his best we have to catch him in a state of original innocence which he cannot long maintain4 ,it too often has happened that so soon as his own curiosity was roused1 so soon as he began to speculate on the process which was going on1 and to wonder how he caught the impression1 so soon did the impression cease to travel1 and his unconscious self could send its message upwards no more4 ,i am disposed to think that for the present it is to hypnotism that we must look for cases where the telepathic message can be sent repeatedly and at will4 ,it is in the rare cases of sommeil a distance1 or such cases as those of ,mrs4 ,pinhey1 ,dr4 ,hericourt1 and ,dr4 ,gley1 reported in ,vol4 ,,ii4 of ,phantasms of the ,living1 that there has as yet been the nearest approach to that clock-work regularity and repeatability which is the experimental ideal4 ,it is1 therefore1 on the medical profession that ,i would urge the importance of watching for cases of this sort1 which are likely to be found more frequently as the therapeutic use of hypnotism extends4 ,i have mentioned several different forms in which these telepathic messages may be observed by careful seekers4 ,i certainly do not assert that the power or agency operative in each of these cases is precisely the same4 ,on the contrary1 ,i think it probable that there are varieties and complexities quite beyond our present speculation4 ,but at least these cases fall for us under the same primary or obvious category2 they are all cases where a thought1 a feeling1 an impulse1 a picture1 has been transferred from one mind to another without the agency of the recognized organs of sense4 ,there are some1 both among friends and among opponents1 who are inclined to represent telepathic experiment as a petty thing4 ,what does it come to1 say the opponents1 even though you do get a few silly thoughts or meaningless numbers out of one head into another8 ,enough of telepathy6 say the friends2 go on to something of vaster scope6 ,these friends and these opponents are not those who have best realized the import of the telepathic claim4 ,the true1 the scientific opposition is of a quite different type4 ,it asserts1 not that the alleged discovery is a trifle which may be admitted with a sneer1 but that it involves a new departure in science greater than its advocates can probably conceive1 or have as yet come near to justify4 ,brushing aside all our further extensions of theory1 they take their stand simply and decidedly against telepathy itself2 and wisely so1 for if telepathy be once admitted1 there is1 as seems to me1 no logical halting-place until we reach a far-off point which ,i will not confuse my present argument by attempting to specify4 ,and over all this far-stretching field there is a harvest of experiment1 a harvest of observation1 which only needs laborers to cut and carry1 to thresh and winnow it4 ,the reality1 the extent1 the importance of the phenomena which lie around us1 unnoted and unexplained1 are more fully recognized as each year's work adds at once to our knowledge and to our corresponding consciousness of ignorance4 ,such recognition1 ,i say1 is beginning to spread2 but it has thus far brought with it all too little of active co-operation in the work of inquiry1 that work which in ,america ,dr4 ,hodgson1 backed by ,prof4 ,w4 ,james and ,prof4 ,w4 ,s4 ,langley1 pushes forward at once with caution and with energy4 ,those who wish our work to succeed must in some way help towards its success4 ,no enterprise1 ,i think1 could promise more fairly4 ,but we are still at the beginning of that great work and the end is far4 ,,fashion',s ,,slaves4 ,,by ,b4 ,o4 ,,flower4 ,the last session of the ,international ,council of ,women discussed no question of greater importance to civilization than that of dress reform4 ,the fact that this world's congress1 representing the most thoughtful1 conscientious1 and broad-minded women of our age1 has taken up this subject with a firm determination to accomplish a revolution which shall mean health and happiness to the oncoming generation1 is itself a prophecy pregnant with promise of a substantial and enduring reform4 ,it will not be surprising if in the near future it is found that this earnest though somewhat timid discussion marked a distinct step in the world's progress2 certainly it was the most significant and authoritative utterance from united womanhood that has yet been made touching a problem which most vitally affects civilization4 ,to the student of sociology nothing is more perplexing or discouraging than society's persistency in blindly clinging to old standards and outgrown ideals which can no longer be defended by reason2 and this is nowhere more marked than in the social world where fashion has successfully defied all true standards of art1 principles of common sense1 rules of hygiene and what is still more important1 the laws of ethics which underlie all stable or enduring civilizations4 ,at the very threshold of this discussion1 ,i ask the reader to1 as far as possible1 divest his mind of all prejudice arising from preconceived opinions1 and view in a perfectly candid and judicial manner this problem upon which the last word will not be spoken until woman is emancipated4 ,as long as free discussion is tabooed and conservatism finds it possible to dismiss the question with a flippant jest1 a ribald joke1 or a basely unjust imputation1 the old order will stand2 partly because woman feels her helplessness and largely because so few people stop to trace cause and effect or patiently reason upon results of the most serious character4 ,conservatism is strongly entrenched in the minds of the millions1 and to a certain degree mental lethargy broods over the world4 ,it is true that in woman's sphere to-day mental activity is more marked than in any other age1 and the best brains and most thoughtful women of our time are boldly denouncing the bondage of fashion and bravely pleading for such radical reforms in dress as will secure to womanhood health and comfort1 while being genuinely artistic and graceful1 breathing true refinement and conforming to aesthetic principles rather than the caprice of fashion4 ,to me there is something infinitely pathetic in the brave protests that have from time to time flashed from the outraged sensibilities of those who represent the very flower of ,american womanhood1 when discussing this subject1 for running through their almost every utterance is the plaintive note of helplessness1 mingled with the consciousness of the justice of the cause for which they plead4 ,the talented and universally respected ,mrs4 ,abba ,woolson ,gould some years ago thus gave expression to her feelings when writing of the long1 heavy1 disease-producing skirts of women3 ,do what we will with them1 they still add enormously to the weight of clothing1 prevent cleanliness of attire about the ankles1 overheat by their tops the lower portion of the body1 impede locomotion1 and invite accidents4 ,in short1 they are uncomfortable1 unhealthy1 unsafe1 and unmanageable4 ,convinced of this fact by patient and almost fruitless attempts to remove their objectionable qualities1 the earnest dress-reformer is loath to believe that skirts hanging below the knee are not transitory features in woman's attire1 as similar features have been in the dress of men1 and surely destined to disappear with the tight hour-glass waists and other monstrosities of the present costume4444 ,any changes the wisest of us can to-day propose are only a mitigation of an evil which can never be done away till women emerge from this vast swaying1 undefined1 and indefinable mass of drapery into the shape ,god gave to ,his human beings4 ,mary ,a4 ,livermore voices a sad and terrible truth when she observes3 ,the invalidism of young girls is usually attributed to every cause but the right one2 to hard study--co-education--which1 it is said1 compels overwork that the girl student may keep up with the young men of her class2 too much exercise1 or lack of rest and quiet at certain periods when nature demands it4 ,all the while the physician is silent concerning the glove-fitting1 steel-clasped corset1 the heavy1 dragging skirts1 the bands engirding the body1 the pinching1 deforming boot1 and the ruinous social dissipation of fashionable society4 ,these will account for much of the feebleness of young women and girls4 ,for they exhaust nervous force1 make freedom of movement a painful impossibility1 and frequently shipwreck the young girl before she is out of port4 ,we have a theory1 generally accepted in civilized society1 which we never formulate in speech but to which we are very loyal in practical life4 ,this theory1 put in plain language1 is as follows3 ,god knows how to make boys2 and1 when ,he sends a boy into the world1 it is safe to allow him to grow to manhood as ,god made him4 ,he may be too tall or too short1 for our notions1 too stout or too thin1 too light or too dark4 ,nevertheless1 it is right1 for ,god knows how to make boys4 ,but when ,god sends a girl into the world1 it is not safe to allow her to grow to womanhood as ,he has made her4 ,some one must take her and improve her figure1 and give her the shape in which it is proper for her to grow4 ,accordingly1 the young girl comes some day from the dressmaker with this demand3 ,mme4 ---- 7the dressmaker7 says that ,i am getting into horrid shape1 and must have a pair of corsets immediately4 ,the corsets are bought and worn1 and the physical deterioration begins4 ,miss ,frances ,e4 ,willard thus touchingly refers to the bondage of fashion3 ,but there came a day--alas6 the day of my youth--on which ,i was as literally caught out of the fields and pastures as was ever a young colt2 confronted by a long dress that had been made for me1 corsets and high-heeled shoes that had been bought1 hair-pins and ribbons for my straying locks1 and ,i was told that it simply 'wouldn't answer' to 'run wild' another day4 ,company from the city was expected2 ,i must be made presentable2 ',i had got to look like other folks4' ,that was a long time ago1 but ,i have never known a single physically reasonable day since that sweet ,may morning1 when ,i cried in vain for longer lease of liberty4 ,mrs4 ,frances ,e4 ,russell1 whose significant paper read at the ,woman's ,council elicited universal approbation1 in the following extract from her able essay in ,,the ,,arena sounds a more hopeful note than her illustrious predecessors1 for she is nearer the dawn1 and the horizon of woman's freedom is broadening3 ,the fiction that women have no legs is now fully discredited1 for in the show windows of the largest dry goods stores stand dummies of the female figure dressed only in the combination undersuit made of wool or silk tights1 covering the whole body1 except the head1 hands1 and feet4 ,by this time everyone must know that woman1 like man1 is a biped4 ,can anyone give a good reason why she must lift an unnecessary weight of clothing with every step she takes1--pushing forward folds of restricting drapery and using almost constantly1 not only her hands1 but her mental power and nervous energy to keep her skirts neat and out of the way of harm to herself and others8 ,much discussion has been wasted over the question whether a woman should carry the burden of her voluminous drapery from the shoulders or the hips4 ,why must she carry this unnecessary weight at all8 ,now let us join hands1 all lovers of liberty1 in earnest co-operation to free ,american women from the dominion of foreign fashion4 ,let us1 as intelligent women1 with the aid and encouragement of all good men1 take this important matter into our own hands and provide ourselves with convenient garments2 a costume that shall say to all beholders that we are equipped for reasonable service to humanity4 ,conservative critics have so frequently misrepresented those who have honestly pleaded for dress reform1 that it is no longer safe to be frank1 and this fact alone has constrained numbers of earnest writers from expressing their sentiments who have felt it their duty to speak in behalf of health1 beauty1 and common sense2 indeed so certain is one to be misrepresented who handles this subject in anything like a reasonable and unconventional manner1 and so surely will his views be assailed as improper1 owing to the age-long cast of conventional thought1 that were it not that this question so intimately affects fundamental1 ethical1 and hygienic laws1 and bears such a vitally important relation to true progress1 ,i frankly admit that ,i doubt whether ,i should have the courage to discuss it4 ,but ,i find it impossible to remain silent1 believing as ,i do most profoundly that the baleful artificial standards so long tolerated must be abolished1 that the fetish of the nineteenth century civilization must be overthrown1 and that it is all-important that people be thoroughly acquainted with the far-reaching and basic significance of this problem1 through courageous and persistent agitation and education1 in order that manhood and womanhood be brought up to the ethical plane which marks enduring civilization4 ,in the examination of this subject ,i desire to very briefly notice it from aesthetic1 hygienic1 and ethical points of view4 ,it is a singular fact that every effort made toward a healthful and common sense reform in woman's apparel has been assailed as inartistic or immoral2 while fashions at once disgusting1 indecent1 destructive to life and health1 and degrading to womanhood have been readily sanctioned by conventionalism4 ,this antagonistic attitude toward any movement for an improvement in woman's attire founded on the laws of health1 art1 comfort1 and common sense was characteristically expressed in a recent editorial in a leading ,boston daily1 wherein the writer solemnly observed3 ,the simple truth is1 the great majority of the women appreciate the fact that it is their mission to be beautiful1 and the dress reformers have never yet devised any garment to assist the women in fulfilling this mission4 ,illustration3 ,from #ahfj to #ahfe4 ,the era of hoop-skirts4 ,illustration3 ,from #ahfj to #ahfe4 ,the hoop-skirt era4 ,the difficult feat of tying on a bonnet4 ,the author of the above fairly represents the attitude of conventional thought1--its servility to fashion1 its antagonism to reformative moves4 ,the implied falsehood that fashion represents beauty and art1 or is the servant of aestheticism has been reiterated so often that thousands have accepted it as truth4 ,illustration3 #ahgj to #ahge4 ,the era of the enormous bustle and train of sweeping dimensions4 ,illustration3 #ahgj to #ahge4 ,the era of the enormous bustle and train of sweeping dimensions4 ,in order to expose its falsity1 ,i have reproduced in this paper plates taken from leading ,american and ,english fashion monthlies during the past three decades1 in each of which it is noticeable that extremes have been reached4 ,in #ahfj-fe1 the hoop-skirt held sway1 and the wasp waist was typical of beauty4 ,then no lady was correctly attired according to the prevailing idea who did not present a spectacle curiously suggestive of a moving circus tent4 ,during this era four or five fashionably dressed women completely filled an ordinary drawing-room2 while the sidewalk was often practically monopolized by moving monstrosities1 save when in front or behind the formidable swinging cages moved escorts1 who with no less servility than ,american womanhood bowed to the frivolous and criminal caprice of the modern ,babylon4 ,but fashion is nothing if not changeable2 fancy not art guides her mind4 ,what to-day types beauty1 is by her own voice to-morrow voted indecent and absurd4 ,thus we find in the period extending from #ahgj to #ahge an entirely new but none the less ridiculous or injurious extreme prevails4 ,the wonderful swinging cage1 the diameter of which at the base often equaled the height of the encased figure1 has disappeared1 being no longer considered desirable or aesthetic1 and in its place we have prodigious bustles and immense trains1 by which an astonishing quantity of material is thrown behind the body1 suggesting in some instances a toboggan slide1 in others the unseemly hump on the back of a camel4 ,this is the era of the enormous bustle and the train of sweeping dimensions4#a #a ,during this period the ingenuity of man came to woman's rescue1 by the invention of an interesting1 and1 judging by its popularity1 exceedingly serviceable contrivance known as a dress elevator1 which enabled ladies to instantly elevate their enormous trains when they came to a particularly muddy and filthy crossing4 ,when we examine the prevailing styles which marked this period1 we are struck with amazement at the power exerted by fashion over the intellect and judgment of society4 ,imagine the shame and humiliation of a woman of fashion1 endowed by nature or afflicted by disease with such an unsightly hump on the back as characterized the fashionable toilet of this period6 ,illustration3 #ahgj to #ahge3 ,suggesting in some instances a toboggan slide2 in others1 the unseemly hump on the back of a camel4 ,toward the end of the seventies1 we find another extreme reached1 which if possible was more absurd and injurious than those which marked the early days of this decade4 ,this was the period of the tie-back1 or narrow skirts and enormous trains4 ,as in #ahfj fashion's slaves vied with one another in their effort to cover the largest possible circular space1 now their ambitions lay in the direction of the opposite extreme3#b the skirts must be as narrow as possible even though it greatly impeded walking1 for as will be readily observed all free use of the lower limbs was out of the question during the reign of the tie-back4 #b ,it was in the midst of the period of the tie-backs that ,harper's ,bazar published two striking cartoons illustrating the poem given below4 ,one represented a poor man's wife1 ,the slave of toil1 and was pathetically powerful in its fidelity to truth2 the other1 drawn by the powerful ,nast1 represented a society lady of the day attired in the reigning tie-back1 measuring at the hips a little more than double the width a short distance below the knees4 ,this slave was chained to fashion's column4 ,,sister ,,slaves4 ,you think there is little of kinship between them8 ,perhaps not in blood1 yet there's likeness of soul2 ,and in bondage 'tis patent to all who have seen them ,that both are fast held under iron control4 ,the simpering girl1 with her airs and her graces1 ,is sister at heart to the hard-working drudge2 ,two types of to-day1 as they stand in their places2 ,whose lot is the sadder ,i leave you to judge4 ,one chained to the block is the victim of ,fashion2 ,her object in life to be perfectly dressed2 ,too silly for reason1 too shallow for passion1 ,she passes her days 'neath a tyrant's behest4 ,thus pinioned and fettered1 and warily moving1 ,lest looping should fail her1 or band come apart3 ,what room is there left her for thinking or loving8 ,what noble ambition can enter her heart8 ,and one1 the worn wife of a grizzled old farmer2 ,she kneads the great loaves for the men-folks to eat4 ,in the wheat-fields the green blades are springing like armor2 ,afar in the forests the flowers are sweet4 ,she lifts not her eyes4 ,within kitchen walls narrow ,her life is pent up4 ,the most hopeless of slaves1 ,though weary and jaded in sinew and marrow1 ,she never complains4 ,women rest in their graves4 ,twin victims1 for which have we tenderest pity-- ,for mother and wife toiling on till she dies1 ,or the frivolous butterfly child of the city1 ,all blind to the glory of earth and of skies8 ,is it fate1 or ill fortune1 hath woven about you ,strong meshes which ye are too helpless to break8 ,shall we scornfully wonder1 or angrily flout you1 ,or strive from their torpor your minds to awake8 ,yet1 ,venus of old1 with your queenly derision1 ,how you would disdain the belle's tawdry array6 ,free footsteps untrammelled1 cool hand of decision1 ,sweet laugh like bells pealing1 were yours in the day ,when you reigned over men by the might of your beauty2 ,no fetters were o'er you in body or brain2 ,the world would bow down in the gladness of duty ,could you but awake in your splendor again4 ,and1 ,pallas and ,venus1 if now you were holding ,a talk over womanhood1 what would you say1 ,the words of wise counsel while you were unfolding1 ,if some one should show you these pictures to-day8 ,i dream of your faces3 divinest compassion ,would yearn the poor toiler to pity and save2 ,and your largeness of scorn would descend on the fashion ,which binds1 unresisting1 the idler a slave4 ,illustration3 #ahgh4 ,the period of the tie-back1 narrow skirts1 and enormous trains4 ,the reaction in favor of a more sensible dress which followed was of brief duration4 ,during this time1 however1 the long trains were seldom seen1 and thoughtful women began to hope that the arbitrary rule of fashion was over4 ,it was not long1 however1 before the panier period arrived1 and what was popularly known as the pull-back was accepted as the correct style in fashion's world4 ,of this latter conceit little need be said1 for it has so recently passed from view that all remember its peculiarity1 which to the ordinary observer seemed to be a settled determination on the part of its originators to render walking as difficult and fatiguing as possible1 while fully exposing the outline of the wearer's body below the waist at every step4 ,what in '#fj or '#gj would have been accounted the height of indecency1 is in the eighties perfectly proper in the fashionable world4 ,during this time it was not enough to have the skirts very narrow1 they must at every step give the outline of the limbs or as our ,minnesota solon would put it1 nether limbs1 hence we find the pull-backs in which two shy knees appeared clad in a single trouser4 ,illustration3 ,the tie-backs of #ahgh and #ahgi4 ,illustration3 ,the pull-back of #ahhf4 ,illustration3 ,fashionable walking costume early in the seventies4 ,woman appreciating the fact that it is her mission to be beautiful4 ,see page #dje4 ,illustration3 ,fashionable walking costume in the early sixties4 ,woman appreciating the fact that it is her mission to be beautiful4 ,see page #dje4 ,such have been the inconsistencies1 incongruities1 and absurdities of fashion as illustrated in the past three decades1 in view of which one may well ask whether in fashion's eyes women are such paragons of ugliness that these ever-varying styles 7introduced1 we are seriously informed1 to conserve to her beauty17 are absolutely essential1 and by what rule of art can we explain the fact that the ponderous hoopskirt was the essential requirement of beauty in the sixties and the enormous bustles demanded in the seventies4 ,the truth is1 fashion is supremely indifferent alike to all laws of art and beauty1 health and life1 decency and propriety--a fact that must be patent to any thoughtful person who examines the prevailing styles of a generation4 ,i submit that the wildest extremes to which well-meaning but injudicious dress reformers have gone in the past have been marked by nothing more inartistic than the costume of the reigning belle in #ahfj4 ,each successive decade has been marked by an extreme which1 surveyed from the vantage ground of the present1 is as ridiculously absurd as it has been wanting in beauty ,nowhere have the laws of true art been so severely ignored as in the realm of fashion4 ,yet this view of the problem palls into insignificance when we come to examine the question from the standpoint of health and life4 ,one would think that after thousands of years of sickness and death1 with all the advantages of increased education and a broadening intellectual horizon1 we would have arrived at such an appreciation of the value of health and the solemn duty we owe to posterity1 as to compel this consideration to enter into our thoughts when we adopted styles of dress2 yet nowhere is the weakness of our present civilization more marked or its hollowness so visible1 even to the superficial thinker1 as in the realm of fashion1 where every consideration of health and even of life1 and all sense of responsibility to future generations are brushed aside as trivialities not to be seriously considered4 ,in vain have physicians and physiologists written1 lectured1 and demonstrated the fatal results of yielding to fashion4 ,the learned ,doctor ,trall in writing on this subject wisely observes3 ,the evil effects of tight-lacing1 or of lacing at all1 and of binding the clothing around the hips1 instead of suspending it from the shoulders1 can never be fully realized without a thorough education in anatomy and physiology4 ,and if the illustrations#c here presented should effect the needed reform in fashionable dress1 the resulting health and happiness to the human race would be incalculable2 for the health of the mothers of each generation determines1 in a very large measure1 the vital stamina of the next4 ,it is obvious that1 if the diameter of the chest1 at its lower and broader part1 is diminished by lacing1 or any other cause1 to the extent of one fourth or one half1 the lungs ,b1 ,b1 are pressed in towards the heart1 ,a1 the lower ribs are drawn together and press on the liver1 ,c1 and spleen1 ,e1 while the abdominal organs are pressed downward on the pelvic viscera4 ,the stomach1 ,d1 is compressed in its transverse diameter2 both the stomach1 upper intestines1 and liver are pressed downward on the kidneys1 ,m1 ,m1 and on the lower portions of the bowels the intestinal tube is denoted by the letters f1 j1 and k1 while the bowels are crowded down on the uterus1 i1 and bladder1 g4 ,thus every vital organ is either functionally obstructed or mechanically disordered1 and diseases more or less aggravated1 the condition of all4 ,in post-mortem examinations the liver has been found deeply indented by the constant and prolonged pressure of the ribs1 in consequence of tight-lacing4 ,the brain-organ1 protected by a bony inclosure1 has not yet been distorted externally by the contrivances of milliners and mantuamakers2 but1 lacing the chest1 by interrupting the circulation of the blood1 prevents its free return from the vessel of the brain1 and so permanent congestion of that organ1 with constant liability to headache1 vertigo1 or worse affections1 becomes a second nature4 ,the vital resources of every person1 and all available powers of mind and body1 are measurable by the respiration4 ,precisely as the breathing is lessened1 the length of life is shortened2 not only this1 but life is rendered correspondingly useless and miserable while it does exist4 ,it is impossible for any child1 whose mother has diminished her breathing capacity by lacing1 to have a sound and vigorous organization4 ,if girls will persist in ruining their vital organs as they grow up to womanhood1 and if women will continue this destructive habit1 the race must inevitably deteriorate4 ,it may be asserted1 therefore1 without exaggeration1 that not only the welfare of the future generations1 but the salvation of the race depends on the correction of this evil habit4 ,the pathological consequences of continued and prolonged pressure on any vital structure are innutrition1 congestion1 inflammation1 and ulceration1 resulting in weakness1 waste of substance1 and destruction of tissue4 ,the normal sensibility of the part is also destroyed4 ,no woman can ever forget the pain she endured when she first applied the corsets2 but in time the compressed organs become torpid2 the muscles lose their contractile power1 and she feels dependent on the mechanical support of the corset4 ,but the mischief is not limited to local weakness and insensibility4 ,the general strength and general sensibility correspond with the breathing capacity4 ,if she has diminished her breath of life1 she has just to that extent destroyed all normal sensibility4 ,she can neither feel nor think normally4 ,but in place of pleasurable sensations and ennobling thoughts1 are an indescribable array of aches1 pains1 weaknesses1 irritations1 and nameless distresses of body1 with dreamy vagaries1 fitful impulses1 and morbid sentimentalities of mind4 ,and yet another evil is to be mentioned to render the catalogue complete4 ,every particle of food must be aerated in the lungs before it can be assimilated4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that no one can be well nourished who has not a full1 free1 and unimpeded action of the lungs4 ,in the contracted chest1 the external measurement is reduced one half2 but as the upper portions of the lungs cannot be fully inflated until the lower portions are fully expanded1 it follows that the breathing capacity is diminished more than one half4 ,it is wonderful how anyone can endure existence1 or long survive1 in this devitalized condition2 yet1 thousands do1 and with careful nursing1 manage to bring into the world several sickly children4 ,the spinal distortion is one of the ordinary consequences of lacing4 ,no one who laces habitually can have a straight or strong back4 ,the muscles being unbalanced become flabby or contracted1 unable to support the trunk of the body erect1 and a curvature1 usually a double curvature1 of the spine is the consequence4 ,and if anything were needed to aggravate the spinal curvature1 intensify the compression of the internal viscera1 and add to the general deformity1 it is found in the modern contrivance of stilted gaiters4 ,these are made with heels so high and narrow that locomotion is awkward and painful1 the centre of gravity is shifted to parts unknown1 and the head is thrown forwards and the hips projected backwards to maintain perpendicularity4 #c ,i have reproduced the admirable cuts found in ,dr4 ,trall's physiology1 as they were essential to the understanding of the text quoted1 and also because they convey more vividly than words the injury necessarily sustained by those who persist in outraging nature and violating the laws of their being by improper dress4 ,illustration3 ,the internal viscera4 ,illustration3 ,anterior view of thorax in the ,venus of ,medicis4 ,illustration3 ,the same in a fashionable corset-wearing lady of to-day4 ,in speaking of the destructiveness to health caused by woman's dress1 ,prof4 ,oscar ,b4 ,moss1 ,m4 ,d41 declares3 ,although the corset is the chief source of constraint to the kidneys1 liver1 stomach1 pancreas1 and spleen1 forcing them upward to encroach upon the diaphragm and compressing the lungs and heart1 its evils are rivalled by those resulting from suspending the skirts from the waist and hips1 by which means the pelvic organs are forced downward and often permanently displaced4 ,now1 add to these errors a belt drawn snugly around the waist1 and we have before us a combination of the most malignant elements of dress which it would be possible to invent4 ,the waist belt enforces the evils which the corset and skirts inaugurate4 ,every proposition of anatomy and physiology bearing upon this subject appeals to reason4 ,did the abdominal organs require for their well-being less room than we find in the economy of nature1 less room would have been provided4 ,nature bestows not grudgingly1 neither does she lavish beyond the requirements of perfect health4 ,the same laws which govern the nutrition of muscles1 apply also to the vital organs4 ,pressure that impedes circulation of blood through them must suppress their functions proportionally4 ,with the lungs1 heart1 and digestive organs impaired by external devices1 which force them into abnormal relations1 health is impossible4 ,every other part of the body--nay1 life itself--depends upon the perfection of these organs4 ,the ancients fittingly called them the tripod of life4 ,consumption1 heart disease1 dyspepsia1 and the multiform phases of uterine and ovarian diseases are among the natural and frequent consequences of compressing the internal organs4 ,men could not endure such physical indignities as women inflict upon themselves4 ,should they attempt to do so1 they would not long hold the proud position of bread winners1 which is now theirs by virtue of their more robust qualities4 ,illustration3 ,street costume4 ,spring1 #ahhd4 ,illustration3 ,street costume4 ,summer1 #ahia4 7,compare waist with anterior view of thorax of corset-wearing lady of to-day47 ,see page #dab4 ,it is difficult to imagine a slavery more senseless1 cruel1 or far-reaching in its injurious consequences than that imposed by fashion on civilized womanhood during the past generation4 ,her health has been sacrificed1 and in countless instances her life has paid the penalty2 while posterity has been dwarfed1 maimed1 and enervated1 and in body1 mind1 and soul deformed at its behests4 ,in turn every part of her body has been tortured4 ,on her head at fashion's caprice the hair of the dead has been piled4 ,hats and bonnets1 wraps and gowns laden with heavy beads and jet have as seriously impaired her health as they have rendered her miserable2 the tight lacing required by the wasp waists has produced generations of invalids and bequeathed to posterity suffering that will not vanish for many decades4 ,by it1 as has been pointed out by the authorities cited1 every vital organ in the body has been seriously affected4 ,the heart and lungs1 by nature protected by a cage of bone1 have been abnormally crushed in a space so contracted as to absolutely prohibit the free action upon which health depended2 while the downward pressure was necessarily equally injurious to her delicate organism4 ,the tightly drawn corset has proved an unmitigated curse to the living and a legacy of misery and disease to posterity4 ,and this cruel deforming of the most beautiful of ,god's creations was said to be beautiful simply because fashion willed it4 ,nor was this all2 enormous bustles and skirts of prodigious dimension have borne their weight largely upon that part of her body which above all else should be absolutely free from pressure4 ,by this means the most sensitive organs have been ruthlessly subjected to down pressing weights which for exquisite torture and for the absolute certainty of the long train of agony that must result1 rival the heartless ingenuity of the ,inquisition of the ,middle ,ages4 ,beyond this generation of debilitated and invalided mothers1 rises a countless posterity robbed of its birthright of health while yet unborn4#d ,a possible genius deformed and dwarfed by the weight of a fashionable dress2 a brain which might have been brilliant rendered idiotic by the constant pressure of a corset1 and the wearisome weight of a stylish dress pressing about the hips2 a child whose natural capacity might have carried him to the seat of a ,webster or into the laboratory of an ,edison1 condemned to drag a weakly1 diseased1 or deformed body through life1 with mind ever chained to the flesh1 through the heartless imposition which fashion imposed on his mother6 ,what thought can be more appalling to a conscientious woman8 ,yet until a revolution is accomplished and a reign of reason and common sense inaugurated1 this crime against the unborn will continue4 ,but some argue the days of these extremes are past4 #d ,in discussing the solemn duty mothers owe to their offspring1 ,mrs4 ,annie ,jenness ,miller sensibly observes3-- ,are women ignorant of the mischief they do to their offspring1 or are they indifferent to consequences8 ,has the true maternal love become extinct1 in this age of advanced civilization1 that women ignore all the laws of nature while anticipating the glory of motherhood8 ,we know not2 yet we often see what causes a thrill of pity in our soul for the future of the child yet unborn3 a mother laced within stiff bones and steel1 while the very instincts of being cry out against the sin of it4 ,surely every child has a right to be well born6 ,wealth may be a grand inheritance1 but health is a better one1 as any poor suffering creature will testify1 whose misery the most expensive doctors have been called upon to alleviate without avail4 ,and how can a child be well born unless its parents observe the laws of life bearing upon the birth and rearing of children8 ,it is impossible4 ,if a mother will so clothe herself that the vitality which properly belongs to her baby becomes exhausted and destroyed1 the child is robbed1 as a natural consequence1 and perhaps the weakened1 puny1 distorted1 fretful little creature1 who is innocent of the cause of its own sufferings1 will live to become a curse to the world instead of the blessing that it would have been had rational conditions been observed before its birth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,tight corsets grudgingly loosened a quarter of an inch at a time1 heavy skirts1 and all the evil conditions we are so familiar with1 are still retained as the months pass1 bringing ever nearer what should be the very happiest hour of woman's existence--that in which she is to be intrusted with the keeping1 training1 and guidance of a new human soul4 ,perhaps her baby comes into the world dead or deformed1 perhaps deprived of certain of its faculties2 or it may be that it possesses life and all of its special senses and organs in such a diminished degree that the whole of its future becomes a pain rather than a joy1 while its miserable1 puny structure remains a lasting reproach to its parents as long as they live4 ,illustration3 ,,vagaries ,,of ,,fashion4 ,,prevailing ,,styles ,,in ,,walking ,,costumes ,,during ,,the ,,past ,,thirty ,,years4 7,four images for the years #ahfj1 #ahgb1 #ahgh1 and #ahhf47 ,i answer not past1 but they are assuming other forms4 ,since #ahij dawned1 the evils in some respects have been aggravated2 for it must not be forgotten that the daughters of the present decade have1 in order to be fashionable1 compressed beyond all healthful bounds the flesh of their arms1 retarding circulation and inviting pneumonia and other ills4 ,and in order to look stylish1 thousands of women wear dress waists so tight that no free movement of the upper body is possible2 indeed in numbers of instances ladies are compelled to put their bonnets on before attempting the painful ordeal of getting into their glove-fitting dress waists4 ,many young women to-day1 yielding to the spell of fashion1 place the corset next to their flesh1 while a still greater number have merely the thinnest possible undershirt between the flesh and the corset1 after which they tightly draw the dress waist until it meets4 ,this seems incredible1 but it is vouched for by several ladies of my acquaintance1 among whom are physicians whose large practice among their sisters gives them peculiar facilities for knowing the absolute facts4 ,health1 posterity1 and all the instincts of the higher self are ruthlessly sacrificed to the fickle folly of fashion's criminal caprice4 ,and we must not forget that even now the sweeping train is coming in vogue and correctly attired ladies must consent to carry the germs of death with quantities of filth from the streets of our metropolitan cities into their homes of wealth and refinement4 ,the corset and high-heeled shoes1 the two most deadly foes to maternity and posterity1 are also seen at the present time1 on every hand4 ,if outraged nature could show the procession of mothers sacrificed on fashion's altar during the past generation1 or unveil the suffering and deformity being borne by posterity at the present time1 through this slavery1 the world would be thrilled with an indescribable horror4 ,health1 comfort1 and human life have paid the penalty of a criminal servitude to the modern juggernaut1 before whose car millions of our women are bowing in abject servility1 knowing full well that at each turn of its wheel new pains or fresh diseases will be inflicted4 ,and what power controls and gives life to this mistress of modern civilization8 ,at whose behest is this crime against reason1 life1 and posterity perpetrated8 ,the cupidity of the shrewd and unscrupulous and the caprice of the shallow and frivolous4 ,illustration3 ,vagaries of ,fashion4 ,a belle in the eighties4 ,illustration3 ,vagaries of ,fashion4 ,a belle early in the sixties4 ,the moral aspect of this subject is even more grave than the hygienic4 ,anything which injures the physical body1 whether it be licentiousness1 intemperance1 gluttony1 or vicious modes of dress1 is necessarily evil from an ethical point of view4 ,not simply because the law of our being decrees that whatever drains or destroys the physical vitality must sooner or later sap the vital forces of the brain2 but also because anything is ethically destructive which chains the mind to the realm of animality1 when1 unfettered1 it should be unfolding in spiritual strength and glory4 ,thus it will be readily seen that any article of clothing which presses upon the vitals of the body so as to cause displacement of the delicate organism1 or so cumbersome as to cause general fatigue1 anything1 as is the case with high heels1 which throws the body out of its equilibrium1 or any article of dress which makes the mind ever conscious of the body by virtue of its uncomfortableness1 is injurious from an ethical point of view4 ,this fact which has been so generally overlooked will become more apparent1 if for the sake of illustration we suppose for a moment that a plant is endowed with reason and sensation1 and obeying the general law of its being1 and the persuasive and inspiring influence of the sun and rain1 is struggling to rise heavenward1 and give to the radiant world above its impearled wealth--its gorgeous bloom1 its marvellous fragrance and fruit2 but by virtue of the bonds of a prison-house below1--a small pot or a rocky encasement1 its lifework is thwarted1 its bloom1 perfume1 and fruit1 if they come at all1 are stunted1 limited1 and imperfect4 ,for generations woman's condition has been like that of the plant1 the wealth of her nature has been dwarfed1 the marvellous richness of her life has been marred by the imprisoned conditions of her body1 and infinitely more sad and far-reaching have been the baleful consequences upon millions of her offspring1 dwarfed1 weakly1 sickly1 enfeebled in body and soul4 ,a mother whose thoughts have voluntarily or involuntarily been held in the atmosphere of the physical nature1 necessarily imparts to her child a legacy of animality which1 like the corpse of a dead being1 clings to the soul throughout its pilgrimage4 ,terrible as have been fashion's ravages on woman's physical health1 the curse which she has exerted when the ethical aspect of the case is entertained1 far transcends it4 ,it is a curious fact that almost all the opposition from women to proposed reforms in woman's dress comes from two extremes in society4 ,those who do no independent thinking1 taking all their thoughts and opinions from the expressed views of the men with whom they associate1 and the profoundly earnest and thoughtful1 but conservative women of society4 ,the opposition of the former class is merely the echo of husbands1 brothers1 fathers1 and lovers2 but the others are moved by conviction1 and for this reason their views are worthy of consideration4 ,they fear that any radical change will exert an immoral influence4 ,their minds are swayed by ancient thought which throughout all ages has cast its baleful shadow over the brain of the world4 ,they are held under the spell of a conservatism which unquestioningly tolerates established institutions and existing orders1 but has no confidence in aught that proposes to break with these1 even though the new has reason and common sense clearly on its side4 ,thus time and again fashions have been tolerated1 although known to be morally enervating and singularly repulsive to all refined sensibilities2 while proposals from without for reforms based on the laws of health and beauty have called forth the most determined opposition from this conscientious class1 merely because the proposed innovations have not conformed to ideas entertained by virtue of prevailing fashions1 and have been therefore regarded immoral4 ,and herein lies an important point to be considered4 ,anything which is radically unlike prevailing standards or styles to which we have become accustomed will impress most persons as being immodest or indecent4 ,the unusual in dress is usually denounced as immoral because we are all prone to allow our prejudice to obscure our reason and o'ersway our judgment4 ,this point must be recognized before any real reform can be accomplished4 ,when humanity has grown sufficiently wise to reason broadly and view problems on their own merits1 aside from preconceived opinion or inherited prejudice1 real instead of false standards of morality will prevail1 and we shall cease to condemn anything as pernicious simply because it is unusual1 radically unlike that to which we have been accustomed or revolutionary in its tendency4 ,let me make this if possible more apparent by an illustration1 because it bears such an important relation to the main issue4 ,if men had for ages worn long flowing robes1 completely enveloping their bodies1 but on a certain day with one accord exchanged them for a costume similar to that now seen throughout the civilized world1 society would experience a distinct shock2 immoral1 indecent1 pernicious1 and vulgar would mildly express the sentiment of conventional thought1 until the same society had become accustomed to the change4 ,to us at the present time it is difficult to conceive how women of sense and refinement submitted to the swinging-cage paraphernalia of the sixties1 or the ,grecian bend of a later date4 ,yet in those days the severely plain skirts of the present would have seemed positively indecent4 ,it has been necessary to dwell on this thought in order to sufficiently remove existing prejudice to enable a fair consideration of the question in its broader aspects4 ,i have also introduced fair examples of prevailing fashions during the past generation and reproductions of ,greek1 ,shakespearian and other simple costumes worn at the present time by the queens of the stage1 to show by comparison how infinitely more graceful1 beautiful1 comfortable1 healthful1 and by their very elements of comfort and healthfulness1 ethically superior1 are these costumes to those which conventionalism sanctioned in the sixties1 seventies1 and eighties4 ,is there anything immodest1 indecent1 or suggestive of impropriety in ,mary ,anderson in the graceful ,grecian costume of ,parthenia1 presented on the preceding page8 ,of the tens of thousands of people who have witnessed the performances of ,madame ,modjeska1 ,miss ,anderson1 ,julia ,marlowe1 or ,margaret ,mather in the costumes given in this paper1 it is not probable that a perceptible number have seen aught improper or even injuriously suggestive1 notwithstanding they are so radically unconventional4 ,surely no mind accustomed to think broadly and view problems on all sides1 and unaccustomed to revel in the sewer of sensualism would see in the attire of these estimable ladies aught but costumes at once graceful1 refined1 and apparently infinitely more comfortable and healthful than those represented in any of the fashion plates ,i have reproduced1 and which millions of women of good sense have under the stress of conventionalism been compelled to wear4 ,let us compare ,miss ,anderson's ,grecian costume with the dress of a society belle in the seventies1 which required from twenty to thirty yards of material1 and when completed and fitted transformed the wearer into a monstrosity with an unsightly hump on the back1 and a street cleaner of immense dimensions trailing for several feet in her rear4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,from copyrighted photo by ,sarony4 ,,mary ,,anderson ,,as ,,parthenia4 ,from artistic1 hygienic1 economical1 and ethical points of view1 to say nothing of common sense and comfort1 is not the simple and beautiful costume of ,parthenia incomparably superior to that which marked the second decade of the past generation8 ,would not woman to-day clothed in close-fitting garments of silk or woollen fabric1 with an outer robe or loose dress fashioned something after the order of the ancient ,grecian or ,roman pattern1 be far more beautiful than she is as a slave to fashion's fickle fancy1 while the requirements of life1 health1 and comfort would be fully met8 ,again1 let us compare one of the plates of the sixties with its wonderful expanse of skirt to the simple1 graceful attire of ,miss ,marlowe as ,viola in the ,twelfth ,night1 and laying aside all preconceived opinions 7with the influence which we have seen the unusual plays in fashioning our ideas of propriety17 does not our reason and common sense sustain the view that the latter is far more refined1 simple1 and less vulgarly ostentatious than the inflated garment of the early sixties8 ,or if we compare the pictures of ,modjeska and ,miss ,marlowe in ,shakespearian roles1 or that of the former in the neat and graceful gathered gown1 and ,miss ,mather in the simple peasant dress1 are they not one and all far more chaste1 artistic1 sensible1 and healthful than the hoop-skirt1 bustle1 and train1 or the tie-back8 ,do not1 however1 understand that ,i advocate the introduction of any of these costumes4 ,it is for woman and woman alone to decide what she will wear1 and in this paper ,i am merely seeking to second the splendid work that has by her been inaugurated1 and by speaking as one of the younger men of this decade1 to voice what ,i believe ,american womanhood will find to be the sentiment of the rising generation1 whenever she makes a concerted effort to emancipate herself from the slavery of ,parisian fashions4 ,there are many evidences that the hour is ripe for a sensible revolt1 and that if the movement is guided by wise and judicious minds it will be a success4 ,two things seem to me to be of paramount importance4 ,illustration3 ,from copyrighted photo by ,falk1 ,n4 ,y4 ,,julia ,,marlowe4 ,illustration3 ,,helena ,,modjeska4 ,illustration3 ,,margaret ,,mather4 ,illustration3 ,,helena ,,modjeska4 7#a47 ,the commission of women acting for the ,council should decide definitely upon the nature and extent of changes desired4 ,the ideal costume should be clearly defined and ever present in their mind4 ,but it would be exceedingly unwise to attempt any radical change at once4 ,this has been more than anything the secret of the partial or total failures of the movements of this character in the past4 ,the changes should be gradually made4 ,every spring and autumn let an advance step be taken1 and in order to do this an ,american fashion commission or bureau should be established1 under the auspices of the dress reform committee of the ,women's ,council1 which at stated intervals should issue bulletins and illustrated fashion plates4 ,if the ideal is kept constantly in view1 and every season slight changes are made toward the desired garment1 the victory will1 ,i believe1 be a comparatively easy one1 for the splendid common sense of the ,american women and men will cordially second the movement4 ,concerted action1 a clearly defined ideal toward which to move1 and gradual changes--these are points which it seems to me are vitally important4 ,one reason why the most ridiculous and inartistic extremes in fashion have been generally adopted is found in this policy of gradual introduction1 a fact which must impress anyone who carefully examines the fashions of the past4 ,first there has been a slight alteration1 shortly becoming more pronounced1 and with each season it has grown more marked1 although perhaps not for four or six years has the extreme been reached4 ,at every step there have been complaints from various quarters1 but steadily and persistently has the fashion been pushed until it reached its climax1 after which we have had its gradual decline4 ,this was the history of the hoop skirt and the ,grecian bend1 and has been that of most of the extremes which have marked the past1 and we can readily believe that in no other way could womanhood have been insnared by such supreme and criminal folly as has characterized fashion's caprices in unnumbered instances4 ,illustration3 ,from copyrighted photo by ,falk1 ,n4 ,y4 ,,miss ,,marlowe ,,as ,,viola4 7#b47 ,another very essential point is the proper education of the girls of to-day1 for to them will fall1 in its richest fruition1 the blessings of this splendid reform if it be properly carried on1 and if they be everywhere instructed to set health above fashion1 and seek the beauty of ,venus de ,medici rather than the pseudo beauty of the wretched1 deformed invalid1 who at the dictates of the modern ,babylon has trampled reason and common sense1 health and comfort1 the happiness of self and the enjoyment of her posterity under foot4 ,teach the girls to be ,american2 to be independent2 to scorn to copy fashion1 manners1 or habits that come from decaying civilizations1 and which outrage all sentiment of refinement1 laws of life1 or principles of common sense4 ,the ,american girl is naturally independent and well endowed with reason and common sense4 ,once shown the wisdom and importance of this ,american movement1 and she will not be slow to cordially embrace it4 ,in many respects the hour is most propitious1 owing to a combination of causes never before present1 among which may be mentioned the growing independence of ,american womanhood2 the enlarged vision that has come to her through the wonderfully diverse occupations and professions which she has recently embraced2 the growing consciousness of her ability to succeed in almost every vocation of life4 ,the latitude enjoyed by her in matters of dress in the mountains and seashore resorts2 the growth of women's gymnasiums2 the emphasis given to hygienic instruction in schools1 and the recent quiet introduction of a perfectly comfortable apparel for morning wear1 which1 strange to say1 has originated where one would least expect1 among the most fashionable belles of the ,empire city4#e ,this significant innovation which is reported by the daily press1 as becoming quite popular among the young ladies of the wealthy districts of ,new ,york1 consists of a comfortable blouse worn over knickerbocker trousers4 ,clad in this comfortable attire1 the belles come to breakfast1 nor do they subsequently change their dress during the morning if they intend remaining indoors4 ,if a sedate or fastidious caller is announced1 a beautiful tea-gown1 which is at hand1 is slipped into1 and the young lady is appropriately clad to suit even conventional requirements4 ,the bicycle and lawn tennis costumes now becoming so popular also exercise a subtile but marked influence in favor of rational dress reform1 not only giving young ladies the wonderful comfort and health-giving freedom which for ages have been denied her sex1 but also by accustoming them to these radically unconventional costumes4#f #e ,in speaking of this practical dress reform on the part of the belles of ,new ,york1 the ,boston ,daily ,globe recently observed editorially3 ,the great question now agitating the fashionable women of ,fifth ,avenue is3 ,do you wear knickerbockers8 ,stripped of all apologetic circumlocution1 knickerbockers are simply loose1 easy trousers1 above which is worn a becoming blouse waist1 and thus attired1 the belles of ,new ,york come down to breakfast4 ,nor are the trousers subsequently removed while the ladies are about the house1 unless some conservative caller is announced1 when a stylish tea-gown can be jumped into in a second1 and the lady is in faultless female costume4 ,that women should be handicapped in their locomotion in their own homes is simply a relic of oriental slavery and prudery1 and the revolt against it is sensible and wholesome4 ,that they have come to stay is evident1 while improved costumes for shop girls1 and other women engaged in business every day in the year1 are certain to follow in the order of progress4--,boston ,globe4 ,it might be well also for the council to recommend the formation of societies in each community where social or society gatherings of those interested might be held at stated intervals1 at which all members would appear in dresses made with special regard to health1 comfort1 and beauty1 and in which all garments would conform to the general ideal recommended by the council4 #f ,as the paper is being set up my attention has been attracted to a remarkably sensible signed editorial in the ,boston ,sunday ,globe1 of ,july #bf1 by the brilliant writer and sensible thinker1 ,adelaide ,a4 ,claftin1 from which ,i extract the following3 ,bishop ,coxe's fulmination against the riding of bicycles by women has attracted considerable attention1 but to the student of social movements it is not strange that ,bishop ,coxe should object4 ,the real oddity is that scarcely anybody else1 apparently1 has objected4 ,that young girls from the best families should within a short time have betaken themselves to whirling through the public thoroughfares1 like so many boys1 is certainly a new departure from all old fashioned canons of feminine decorum1 at least as startling as many that have brought down all sorts of thunderbolts from pulpit and press4 ,had it been a prerequisite that an amendment to the ,united ,states ,constitution1 or even a statute of a ,state ,legislature should be obtained1 the girls would doubtless have had to wait many a weary year4 ,it is not long since another church dignitary1 ,dr4 ,morgan ,dix1 objected to the entrance of girls into universities1 because it was not proper for young women to be exposed to the gaze of young men1 many of whom were less bent upon learning than upon amusement4 ,however little she may realize it1 every girl who rides her steel horse is a vivid illustration of one of the greatest waves of progress of this century1 the advancement of women in freedom and opportunity4 ,a wise physician once said that the opinion that a good woman should stay closely at home had killed more women than any other one cause4 ,in the days of our grandmothers the suggestion of regular gymnastic training or athletics for girls would have been received with horror4 ,it was hardly proper for a woman to have any knowledge of the construction of her physical system4 ,it is a curious historical fact that the first women lecturers upon physiology were women's rights women1 and viewed by the majority of people as dangerous to female modesty1 while the ,ladies' ,physiological ,institute in ,boston was at first much disapproved of by the clergy4 ,so long1 too1 as old-fashioned stays 7laced up sometimes by the aid of equally old-fashioned bed-posts7 remained in vogue1 neither physiology nor athletics stood much chance with women4 ,but the often derided dress reformer has had her way1 to a great extent4 ,bathing dresses1 gymnastic and tennis suits which would have frightened an eighteenth century dame into one of her favorite fainting fits4 ,meanwhile the girls have mounted their bicycles4 ,bless you1 my children2 what endless vistas of good times are before you6 ,what glorious landscape views and ocean moonrises1 what freedom1 what fresh1 airy delight in young life and strength6 ,already one young doctor has departed with his bride on a wedding tour to ,texas1 each upon a bicycle4 ,other strange affairs will no doubt take place4 ,by and by the bishops will see no more irreverence in bidding ,godspeed to girls starting on a journey to ,california upon bicycles than to girls departing to ,europe on a steamship4 ,another encouraging sign of the times is the increasing demand on the great and fashionable house of ,liberty ,co41 of ,london1 for the ,greek and other simple costumes by fashionable ladies1 who are using them largely for home wear4 ,i have reproduced two recent styles of dresses made by ,liberty4 ,all fabrics used are rich1 soft1 and elegant1 and the effect is said to be gratifying to lovers of art1 as well as far more healthful and comfortable than the conventional dress4 ,the most important fact1 however1 is the effect or influence which is sure to follow this breaking away from the ruling fashions in wealthy circles4 ,when conventionalism in dress is fully discredited1 practical reform is certain to follow4 ,the knell of the one means the triumph of the other4 ,illustration3 ,some of ,liberty's recent dresses4 ,the ,grecian ,costume4 ,illustration3 ,some of ,liberty's recent dresses4 ,the ,juliet4 ,believing as ,i do that the cycle of woman has dawned1 and that through her humanity will reach a higher and nobler civilization than the world has yet known1 ,i feel the most profound interest in all that affects her health1 comfort1 and happiness2 for as ,i have before observed1 her exaltation means the elevation of the race4 ,a broader liberty and more liberal meed of justice for her mean a higher civilization1 and the solution of weighty and fundamental problems which will never be equitably adjusted until we have brought into political and social life more of the splendid spirit of altruism1 which is one of her most conspicuous characteristics4 ,i believe that morality1 education1 practical reform1 and enduring progress wait upon her complete emancipation from the bondage of fashion1 prejudice1 superstition1 and conservatism4 ,,un-,,american ,,tendencies4 ,,by ,,rev4 ,,carlos ,,martyn1 ,d4 ,d4 ,the monarchial conception is that a few are born booted and spurred to ride1 and that the many are born saddled and bridled to be ridden4 ,the republican theory is that ,everybody is cleverer than anybody1 to quote the epigram attributed to ,talleyrand2 and that government1 in ,lincoln's phrase1 should be of the people1 by the people1 and for the people4 ,the ,united ,states is the only nation in history which has dared to base itself upon an absolute trust in the people4 ,there have been republics 7so-called7 ad infinitum and ad nauseam4 ,greece1 cries one of the foremost of our orators1 had her republics1 but they were the republics of one freeman and ten slaves2 and the battle of ,marathon was fought by slaves unchained from the doorposts of their master's houses4 ,italy had her republics2 they were the republics of wealth and skill and family1 limited and aristocratic4 ,holland had her republic1 the republic of guilds and landholders1 trusting the helm of state to property and education4 ,the ,swiss republics were groups of cousins4 ,and all these which1 at their best1 held but a million or two within their narrow limits1 have gone down in the ocean of time4 ,the ,spanish-,american ,republics are nondescripts4 ,they owe their existence to pronunciamientos4 ,they are the puppets of successful soldiers1 and are administered by generals who follow one another like the ghosts that walked in the vision of ,richard ,third1 and do not hold office long enough to be photographed4 ,they are based on mongrel races1 steeped in ignorance1 cramped by superstition1 and physically rotten before they get ripe4 ,our fathers built a commonwealth on the foundation of manhood4 ,they recognized no other qualification1 save for a period of inconsistency1 color2 which1 happily1 is now wiped out of the fundamental law1 though not entirely out of popular prejudice4 ,the faith in the people which ,jefferson1 ,sam ,adams1 and the men of '#gf cherished as the distinctive tenet of their political creed1 has been justified by results4 ,their gigantic creation launches into the second decade of its second century1 belted with power1 aggrandized with ,el ,dorados1 the amazement of the world1 the ,arabian ,nights translated into every-day reality4 ,unfortunately1 however1 in the face of this unprecedented record of prosperity1 certain un-republican tendencies begin to exhibit themselves among us4 ,these may well give thoughtful patriots startled concern4 ,half a century ago1 before time had been annihilated by the telegraph1 and distance abolished by steam1 nations were comparatively isolated2 and the ,american most of all4 ,europe was three thousand miles away4 ,now-a-days1 the old world is next-door neighbor to the new4 ,saint ,john's apocalyptic vision is realized2 there is no more sea4 ,it is bridged by steamers1 and flashed out of existence by the electric cable4 ,what is the consequence8 ,the consequence is that while ,europe borrows many of our ideas1 ,america borrows more of hers4 ,with the increase of travel1 the growth of wealth1 the enlargement of our leisurely class1 there is an aping of ,english and ,german habits of thought and modes of life which are utterly repugnant to republican institutions4 ,while ,europe should seem to be almost ready to discard baby-house distinctions and the embroidered rags of aristocracy1 ,america1 strange to say1 appears willing to put on and wear the disreputable finery4 ,we are becoming disagreeably familiar with what ,mr4 ,gladstone characterizes in an inspired phrase1 as the classes in contrast with the masses4 ,this interchange of national customs comes inevitably from the facilitated intercourse of our day1 from the intimacy begotten by inter-marriage1 by commerce1 by travel4 ,but it is sad if we are to borrow more than we lend1 and if the balance of trade is to be perpetually against us4 ,we must find or invent a remedy if republicanism is to survive4 ,the widespread alarm felt among our humbler citizens shows how real the danger is4 ,take1 for instance1 the growing distrust of universal suffrage manifested by our cultivated classes4 ,certain journals1 the organs of wealth and monopoly2 social-science conventions1 composed of pert specialists poisoned by caste feeling2 even pulpits1 which should be the guardians and exponents of democracy1--cautiously1 tentatively1 but as positively as they dare1 discuss the propriety of restraining the ballot1 and sigh for a property or an educational qualification4 ,now1 if there be one feature of ,american republicanism which is supremely characteristic1 it is universal suffrage4 ,this interpenetrates our political system as veins run through a block of marble4 ,the patriots and sages who framed our ,constitution grouted it with this principle4 ,they believed and declared that it was safe to trust men with self-government4 ,they recognized1 of course1 the fact that in every community there would be an element of ignorance and inefficiency4 ,but by putting the ballot in every hand they deliberately took bonds of wealth and culture to enlighten this ignorance and train this inefficiency4 ,they enlisted the self-interest of the ,commonwealth on the side of popular education4 ,they said1 practically1 to the well-to-do and to those who had interests at stake3 ,see to it1 if you would save your possessions1 that you share them with the poorest and the lowest1 at least to the extent of lifting them to the level of self-control and self-respect4 ,in fact1 this is the meaning of our free schools1 of trial by jury1 and of the ballot-box4 ,tocqueville1 whose insight into republican institutions was marvellous1 distinctly traces our prosperity1 in his survey of ,american democracy1 to universal suffrage1 with all that it necessitates4 ,so on the other side of the water1 when1 in #ahfg1 ,parliament doubled the ,english franchise1 ,robert ,lowe leaped to his feet and cried1 amid the cheers of the ,house of ,commons3 ,now the first interest and duty of every ,englishman is to educate the masses4 ,previously1 if the ,court of ,st4 ,james stooped to put intelligence on one side and morality on the other side of the cradle rocked by poverty and vice1 it was pity that dictated the gracious act4 ,now it is self-preservation4 ,who does not know how much stronger self-interest is than pity as a motive8 ,who cannot see the far-sighted wisdom of our fathers in thus ingrafting this powerful motive upon the fundamental law8 ,moreover1 universal suffrage is educational in itself4 ,responsibility educates4 ,nothing else does4 ,by throwing the responsibility upon the people they are necessarily lifted1 sobered1 broadened4 ,our women do not vote4 ,what is the result8 ,not one woman in a thousand has any interest in1 and not one in two thousand has any acquaintance with1 political affairs4 ,their ignorance would be laughable were it not sad4 ,every father1 husband1 brother1 can testify to the impenetrable ignorance of his feminine belongings concerning matters of public moment4 ,it forms the topic of universal comment in male circles4 ,it is not because women are naturally incapable4 ,it is because having no responsibility they naturally have no interest4 ,why should a woman inform herself of what does not concern her8 ,occasionally1 some woman1 exceptionally placed1 or born with a genius for politics1 studies and masters state-craft4 ,but exceptions do not invalidate1 they prove rules4 ,women1 like men1 cannot be expected to take any intelligent interest in affairs that lie outside of their life4 ,our men1 on the contrary1 are politicians down to the infant in the cradle4 ,a boy baby cries1 ,mr4 ,chairman6 as soon as he can talk1 and calls the next crib to order4 ,men know that the maturing of politics1 the selection of administrations1 the distribution of offices1 the adjustment of taxes1 are their function4 ,this knowledge whets the edge of interest4 ,the significant fact is that it is not the people who are indifferent to politics4 ,this indifference is found among merchants who are too busy making money to attend to the public weal2 among scholars buried alive in their books1 with no interest in any question that is not musty2 among men of leisure1 aping old world aristocracy1 and out of touch with democracy2 among those who say that all men are equal and are afraid they will be1--never among the people4 ,the plainer men are the greater is their political interest4 ,our naturalized citizens1 shut out in their native land from all participation in government1 and hence appreciating citizenship here1 are among the most alert4 ,these are they who crowd the halls during the recurring canvasses1 and who are always early at the polls4 ,and is it possible to overrate the instruction they get at meetings where they hear great questions discussed by master minds1 when issues are torn open and riddled with light8 ,thus universal suffrage is itself a normal school1 the people's college4 ,it is often said that1 judged by its power to govern great cities1 universal suffrage is a failure4 ,this is true4 ,the failure1 however1 is due to local causes4 ,it does not come from the inherent incapacity of the masses1 but is the spawn of accidental and removable evils4 ,chief among these is the corner grog-shop4 ,this is the blazing lighthouse of hell4 ,here it is that morals and manners are debauched4 ,it is over this counter that what an old poet calls liquid damnation is dealt out4 ,if the quid-nuncs1 instead of railing at universal suffrage1 would combine to help shut that door1 republicanism would speedily lose its reproach4 ,the constituency of the grog seller is the ready made tool of the demagogue4 ,a true democracy can only exist on the basis of sobriety4 ,a drunken people cannot be trusted with the dearest rights and most vital possessions of freemen4 ,better the merciless tyranny of the ,czar1 or the military despotism of the ,kaiser1 far better the class rule of ,england1 than the staggering1 hiccoughing1 bedevilled government of the groggery6 ,aside from the great centres of population1 the common people are more trustworthy than the corporations1 the colleges1 or the newspapers4 ,the selfishness1 the preoccupation1 the anti-republicanism of these1 are proverbial4 ,we know that editors are echoes1 not leaders1 printing what will sell1 not what is true4 ,landor declared that there is a spice of the scoundrel in most literary men4 ,everybody understands that a corporation's gospel is a good fat dividend4 ,who would exchange universal suffrage for college suffrage1 or corporation suffrage1 or newspaper suffrage8 ,our danger to-day does not lie in universal suffrage4 ,it lies in the steady encroachments of wealth1 in the multiplication of monopolies1 in the too rapid growth of fungus millionnaires1 in the increasing number of well educated idlers1 in the sinister prominence of the saloon in politics1 in the tendency of the country to submit to bureaucracy1 in the transformation of the national ,senate into a club of rich men1 housed and fed at the national expense1 in the change of the ,house of ,representatives into a huddle of clerks to register the decrees of greedy capital1 in the chronic distrust of the people felt among book-educated and professional men2 in one word1 in the appalling gravitation towards government by boodle in the hands of unscrupulous minorities4 ,the only hope of deliverance lies in the people1--in their honesty1 fair play1 and decision1 ,no2 it is not universal suffrage that has brought disgrace on the country4 ,if the rancor of party spirit1 if the dry-rot of legislative corruption1 if the tyranny of incorporated wealth1 if the diabolism of intemperance are to be curbed1 it is universal suffrage which must hold the reins4 ,talk of taking the ballot out of the hand of the poor citizen6 ,as well fling the revolver out of window when the burglar is in the house4 ,one of the keenest critics of ,american life has said3 ,corruption does not so much rot the masses2 it poisons ,congress4 ,credit mobilier and money rings are not housed under thatched roofs2 they flaunt at the capital4 ,the real scum is the so-called better class4 ,if anybody is to be deprived of a vote1 it should be the railroad king1 the mill owner1 the indifferent trader1 and the ,europeanized ,yankee who spends abroad what his father earned at home1 and mistakes ,paris for ,paradise4 ,as another illustration of the un-republican trend1 observe the obsequious attitude of our government towards monarchs and monarchies4 ,we are to-day cheek by jowl with the despots of ,europe4 ,instead of being the torch bearer of freedom we occupy a position of apology for what we are and of gaping admiration for what they are4 ,when an opportunity offered the other day to recognize the new ,republic of ,brazil1 the toadies at ,washington equivocated and postponed4 ,one would suppose that the disappearance of the last monarchy from the new world would have been greeted in the great ,republic with the ringing of bells and the blaze of bonfires--would have been answered by a regular ,fourth of ,july outburst4 ,bless you1 no6 ,the ,czar was displeased4 ,the ,emperor of ,germany was in the sulks4 ,queen ,victoria put on mourning4 ,why should the ,dons at ,washington be out of fashion8 ,on the other hand1 when ,carlos ,i4 was crowned at ,lisbon last ,december1 the ,american ,squadron of ,evolution was in the harbor1 and behold6 the officers of the ,republic's war-ships paraded side by side with the other flunkies of royalty in honor of the coronation--thus showing that they belonged to the ,squadron of ,reaction4 ,for so misrepresenting their country they ought to be cashiered4 ,republicans refusing to recognize a new republic1 but hastening to recognize a new king6 ,what a spectacle6 ,spirits of ,otis and ,franklin1 of ,jefferson and ,hamilton1 what think ye of such democracy as this8 ,no one would have the ,united ,states play the role of a bully1 or enact the demagogue4 ,but surely there is a medium between that and the despicable inconsistency of unfriendliness towards those of our own political faith1 and of lackey serviceableness towards a crowned head4 ,kings do not hesitate to discourage republicanism everywhere4 ,a republic should not hesitate to encourage it anywhere4 ,self-respect in such a matter would win the respect of the world by deserving it4 ,but when ,americans sell their daughters to ,european profligates for a title1 and pay millions to boot2 when republicans in profession become tuft-hunters in practice1 and haunt the back stairs of palaces2 when the ,united ,states government1 the eldest born and guardian of democracy1 decredits its own political creed and parades in royal processions1--is it not time to cry a halt8 ,we need in this country a revival of republicanism4 ,there is a tendency to flunkeyism at the bottom of human nature4 ,most men dearly love a lord1 as ,burns affirmed4 ,hence1 a full-fledged aristocrat attracts flunkies as a magnet draws iron filings4 ,lucian tells of an exhibition in ,rome in which monkeys had been trained to play a human part2 which they did perfectly1 before the beauty and fashion of the city--until a wag1 in the midst of the performance1 flung a handful of nuts upon the stage1 and straightway the actors were monkeys again4 ,some of our republicans are monkeys in human attire4 ,they get on well enough until the nuts of class distinction are flung among them1--then they are on all fours4 ,let us make democracy the fashion4 ,send devitalized ,americans to ,coventry4 ,make an unrepublican word or deed the unpardonable political sin4 ,do this3 or else ship the statue of ,liberty ,enlightening the ,world back to ,france1 and ask her to set it in the harbor of ,marseilles4 ,another of these un-republican tendencies is the current movement for civil service reform4 ,every thoughtful citizen perceives and laments the evils attendant on the present spoils system4 ,it is the quartering of the conquerors upon the conquered4 ,it makes public office the reward of party service4 ,it loads half a dozen men 7the ,president and his ,secretaries7 with the responsible but impossible duty of filling hundreds of thousands of offices1 on the grab-bag principle4 ,with the best intentions1 the civil service reformers would make a bad matter worse4 ,on their plan1 the un-,american method of fixed tenure by competitive examination and appointment by irresponsible cabals would replace the method of political appointment for party service4 ,thus they would fasten upon the country a great army of permanent officials4 ,it is out of harmony with our whole system4 ,every other officer is elected1 and for a specified term4 ,why1 even in the ministry1 the tendency is to break up the life-pastorate4 ,the largest of our religious denominations has deliberately adopted the principle of rotation4 ,and the other bodies1 while nominally retaining the life theory1 have practically borrowed the ,methodist plan4 ,no wonder civil service reform is unpopular4 ,it goes to work at the wrong end--works away from instead of towards republicanism4 ,in ,england1 in ,germany1 where families reign1 and where governmental servants might consistently hold office for life1 such a system has a warrant--though even there it is found to be obstructive and reactionary4 ,but in a republic1 where universal suffrage is the law1 nothing more intolerable could be conceived4 ,the idea of creating a class distinct from all other classes1 independent of the administration and unaccountable to the voters1 fixed and immovable save for causes proven--why1 it is1 not a step1 it is a stride towards absolutism4 ,such a proposition1 like ,hamlet's case1 ----makes us rather bear those ills we have1 ,than fly to others that we know not of4 ,that the civil service needs reform goes without the saying4 ,but the reform should be pushed along consistently republican lines4 ,the proper1 the democratic method would be a further and broader application of universal suffrage4 ,make all the offices elective4 ,instead of appointing ,custom-,house officials and postmasters1 elect them4 ,put the responsibility where it belongs upon the respective communities they serve4 ,then1 men that are locally known and respected would be selected4 ,if the people are capable of electing their own presidents1 governors1 representatives and judges1 surely they might be trusted to elect ,custom-,house officers and postmasters6 ,otherwise1 our republicanism is a humbug4 ,this would abolish the ,washington grab-bag4 ,it would also avoid the creation of a class of life-officials than which nothing could be more dangerous and unsavory4 ,if our fathers1 with no precedents on the file1 could announce their sublime faith that all men are endowed by their ,creator with the right to life1 liberty1 and the pursuit of happiness2 if they could discard the probate-court idea1 and adopt universal suffrage2 if1 in spite of inconsistencies and imperfections1 their conception has flowered in the best1 and happiest1 and most prosperous nation on the globe1--cannot their children show a faith as serene1 a courage as brave8 ,one thing is certain1 the ,european experiment has failed1 while ours is a miracle of success--and most successful when most consistently worked out4 ,in such circumstances1 shall we exchange this for that1 and go back from the nineteenth century to the fourteenth8 ,when ,hume derided his mother's faith1 and exhorted her to get rid of her ,christian prejudices1 she answered3 ,my son1 can you show me anything better8 ,,extrinsic ,,significance ,,of ,,constitutional ,,government ,,in ,,japan4 ,,by ,,kuma ,,oishi1 ,a4 ,m4 ,all students of history are aware that the revolution of #afhh succeeded in consolidating constitutional government in ,england2 that1 though toward the middle of the last century it had not yet assumed its present admirable aspect1 the ,english idea of political liberty and religious toleration attracted the attention of ,montesquieu and ,voltaire1 who introduced it to their country2 and that1 since then1 accelerated by the establishment of the federal government in ,america1 and the triumph of the revolutionary principle in ,france1 the theory has spread over the continent with astonishing rapidity4 ,now that constitutional government is established in ,japan1 will she not exercise the same influence over the ,asiatic continent as that which ,england has exercised over the ,european8 ,to this1 three great objections may be raised4 ,i4 ,the pervading conservatism of ,asia4 ,,ii4 ,the prevailing ignorance among the ,asiatic nations4 ,,iii4 ,the doubtfulness as to their adaptability to the representative form of government4 ,we shall try to answer these objections in the above order4 ,i4 ,if it be argued that the ,asiatic people are conspicuously characterized by the conservative spirit1 that they seem well satisfied with their present social and political organizations1 such as they are1 it must be remembered at the same time1 that this was also the appearance which the ,french people presented1 before their attention was called to the political superiority of ,england4 ,in general1 says ,lecky1 there runs through the great ,french literature of the seventeenth century a profound content with the existing order in ,church and ,state1 an entire absence of the spirit of disquiet1 scepticism1 and innovation that leads to organic change4#g #g ,lecky's ,history of ,england1 ,vol4 ,v41 p4 #cja4 ,illustration3 ,kuma ,oishi 7signed ,cordially yours1 ,kuma ,oishi7 ,that the conservative spirit and the seeming contentment of some of the ,asiatic nations are not in themselves forces strong enough1 when the time comes1 to dispel the charm1 as it were1 possessed by the theory of representative government1 that in short1 conservatism is no match for progress1 as such a movement is popularly called1 can be illustrated by the history1 not of the ,european nations alone1 but of some ,asiatic nations themselves4 ,to the general conservative tendency of ,asia1 ,japan was no exception until about twenty-five years ago4 ,no rational being would have then believed that in the course of a few years1 ,japan would become one of the most progressive nations on the face of the earth4 ,the revolution of #ahfg1 from which the birth of ,new ,japan is dated1 was originally a dispute between the ,mikado and the ,shogun for the de facto sovereignty1 and not the struggle of the lower classes to rise to political eminence4 ,the tottering dynasty of the ,shoguns came to an end1 not because they were tyrannical1 not because the people felt the special need of social amelioration1 but because they saw that the ,shogunate had been the instrumentality of usurping the imperial authority1 while the nominal ,emperor was shut up in his palace1 and closely watched by the agents of the ,shogun4 ,in ,japan loyalty and patriotism meant one and the same thing2 therefore the people could not long tolerate this state of affairs4 ,they needed only an occasion to deprive the ,shogun of his political power1 and to restore it to the ,emperor4 ,at last the occasion came4 ,the demand of the ,western nations to open certain seaports of the country1 accompanied by the threats of armed force1 compelled the ,shogun to yield4 ,but this step proved fatal to him4 ,if the people were opposed to the ,shogun's usurpation1 they were still more opposed to his new policy1 simply because it was new4 ,they were blind to the innumerable advantages that could be derived from international commerce and communication4 ,as a hermit nation1 the people looked down upon the foreigners with mingled distrust and disdain4 ,knowing nothing of the ,western civilization they were determined that no savage strangers should step upon the sacred land of gods4 ,to them the admission of the foreigners signified nothing less than unprecedented disgrace and possibly more--a prey to the ambition and treachery of the foreign devils4 ,the conservative spirit of the people carried them to a pitch of excitement as high as the exactly opposite principle carried the ,french people during the revolution4 ,the ,emperor became doubly dear to them1 because he was a sovereign de jure1 and because he was opposed to the new policy4 ,thus the revolution which followed owes its triumph to the conservatism of the people4 ,even with their zealous attachment to the ,emperor1 and their deep hatred of the ,shogun1 it is an open question whether events would have taken the same course1 if the ,mikado had advocated and the ,shogun opposed the new policy1 so strong was prejudice of the people4 ,no more unfavorable condition and time could have been chosen for the introduction of the ,european civilization4 ,however1 in spite of their abhorrence of the ,western people1 the ,western ideas and customs1 in spite of all their efforts to shut them out1 the appearance of some formidable men-of-war1 floating the flags of different nations1 compelled ,japan to enter into the terms of treaty with them4 ,twenty years have passed since then1 and within that short period1 the nation has undergone a marvellous transformation under the magic touch of progress4 ,it would be telling an old story to enumerate the series of innovations that have been written socially and politically1 until the promulgation of the new constitution1 in which culminated the national pride of the people4 ,the matter to be noted here is that the ,european civilization encountered but a few obstacles1 notwithstanding its inopportune introduction1 and was soon adopted with determined zeal4 ,the like progressive phenomenon on a smaller scale is also recurring in ,korea1 but of this later4 ,,ii4 ,having thus seen from well known historical examples in ,europe and ,asia that the conservatism is not in itself a force strong enough to resist progress1 which leads to the establishment of constitutional government1 let us proceed to meet the second objection1 namely3 the prevailing ignorance among the ,asiatic nations4 ,here the nature of our inquiry involves three distinct topics4 #a4 ,was the general intelligence of the ,japanese people1 before they came into contact with the ,western civilization1 higher than that of the other ,asiatic nations8 #b4 ,is there not a peculiar characteristic among the ,japanese which impels them to progress8 #c4 ,consequent upon the exposition of these two topics1 investigation must also be made as to why the ,chinese ,empire does not show a similar progressive tendency4 #a4 ,besides being the most dangerous enemy of representative government after its establishment1 ignorance is most hostile to its establishment4 ,prima facie1 people must possess a certain degree of capacity1 mental and moral1 to understand what civilization is and what representative government is4 ,the ,batta of ,sumatra may have their own alphabet1 and the ,fans of the ,west ,coast may excel in iron work1#h but even these fall short of the pre-requisites1 not intellectually only1 but morally also4 ,we cannot conceive of them1 seated around a camp-fire1 discussing the merits of two chambers system1 or defining the rights and duties of a citizen1 while their vile lips are stained with the blood of their fellow-man1 whose flesh they have just devoured4 ,not to expatiate further on this self-evident fact1 it is certain that the ,japanese people were sufficiently intelligent to understand and appreciate the ,western ideas1 when they were thrust to their notice4 ,certain1 too1 that in some branches of aesthetic art1 they were somewhat superior to the neighboring nations4 ,but beyond this1 thirty years ago1 a careful observer could have detected in the ,japanese people no conspicuous intellectual attainment1 except1 of course1 such points of dissimilarity as exist between any two nations equally civilized4 ,japan1 ,korea1 and ,china had the same system of education and the same classics1 and each was composed of followers of ,confucius and believers in ,buddhism4 ,true1 ,japan was then under the feudal system1 and ,china and ,korea were and still are under monarchy1 but in point of absolutism1 their governments were all alike4 ,the greater differentiations were the facts that the ,japanese had their own system of religious belief besides1 called ,shintoism1 that the ,japanese and the ,koreans each had1 in addition to the ,chinese characters1 their own syllables1 and that the styles of their dress were different in no small degree4 ,but the former1 being a belief1 principally concerned with the hereafter1 has no more connection than the latter two with the subject of our inquiry1 which relates to the intellectual phases of these people only in so far as they influence their political ideas4 #h ,peschel's1 ,the ,races of ,man1 p4 #afc4 #b4 ,nor can we find any peculiar characteristic in the ,japanese people1 to which we may ascribe their progressive tendency4 ,the only predominant characteristic that we know is their imitative power4 ,this they have remarkably exhibited in their adoption of the ,chinese civilization1 which they modified and made their own1 and more remarkably in their recent adoption of the ,western civilization4 ,let us examine what relation this bears to the conservative and the progressive spirit of the people4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer attributes two motives to imitation1 either reverential or competitive4#i ,it is with the latter that we are concerned4 ,this1 coming as it does from a desire of an imitator to assert his equality with the one imitated1 implies the recognition of superiority of the latter1 and the acknowledgment of inferiority of the former4 ,conservatism1 in the sense we have been using the term1 defies any recognition and acknowledgment of this sort2 therefore it defies imitation4 ,in other words1 a man does not imitate what he dislikes or scorns1 and since conservatism is aversion to1 or contempt for1 say a new political institution1 the imitative trait has no part to play1 while that aversion or contempt continues4 ,evidently1 then1 the imitative power of the ,japanese was not the force which served to make the conservative people progressive2 only when conservatism gives way1 and admiration for what is new is awakened1 can this power assume its full activity4 #i ,his ,principle of ,sociology1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 p4 #bji4 ,were we to admit for the sake of argument that the ,japanese people were far superior in intelligence to the other people of ,asia1 or that they possessed a peculiar characteristic which impelled them to the adoption of the ,western civilization1 or even both1 our position will not be altered1 for the progressive idea of ,japan has already reached across the sea to the continent of ,asia1 giving rise to an event in ,korea4 ,in ,december1 #ahhd1 the two political factions of that country1 one of which was liberal and the other conservative1 respectively1 representing the ,japanese and the ,chinese principles1 disputed for supremacy4 ,the positive and negative currents1 as of electricity1 met at the peninsula1 and produced a spark of revolution4#aj #aj ,there was another agitation in ,korea in #ahhb1 but this was a mere uprising of the mob against the ,japanese staying in that country1 and not of grave political importance4 ,for the details of both these events1 the reader is referred to ,a ,korean ,coup ,d' ,etat1 an entertaining article by ,perceval ,lowell1 ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,november1 #ahhf4 ,this poverty-stricken country1 with an imbecile sovereign at the helm of state1 and with no organized array1 is practically under the control of the ,chinese government1 though nominally she is independent4 ,some ,european powers1 who seem to consider that the greatness of a nation is commensurate with its success in its territorial aggrandizement are casting eyes at her1 in vain let us hope1 for the sake of ,korea4 ,while the influence of ,china is so predominant1 she cannot accomplish much4 ,a coup d' etat might be needed a few times more1 before she can become an independent nation in the fullest sense of the words4 ,at any rate1 her prospect is dubious enough at present4 ,although1 unfortunately for ,korea1 the liberals were vanquished1 and its chief leaders were banished from their native country1 the significance of the phenomenon does not lose its weight on that account4 ,the tidal wave of progress1 once repulsed1 is not likely to subside forever4 ,meantime1 it is worth while to notice1 that even under the undisputed administration of the victorious conservatives1 the nation could not remain aloof from the rest of the world4 ,besides entering into treaties with some western and eastern nations1 ,korea is availing herself of the services of ,european abilities1 for the purpose of internal improvement4 #c4 ,but1 some one may ask1 if the establishment of constitutional government in ,japan is due principally to the inherent excellence of the institution itself1 and not to the superior intelligence of the ,japanese people1 nor yet to their peculiar characteristic1 how can the non-progressive tendency of ,china be accounted for8 ,the vast extent of her dominion1#aa the immense number of her population1#ab and her almost inexhaustible national resources1 all combine to make the question in regard to her future policy a momentous one4 ,with the best form of government1 and under the guidance of an able statesman1 it is within her power to promote the advancement of whole ,asia1 and mould the destiny of the world4 ,yet1 to all practical intents and purposes1 she is evidently indifferent to the possibility of such a noble mission4 ,nay1 more2 she ignores it4 ,she reminds us of an opium smoker4 ,the world is awake1 but she reposes in profound slumber1 and little does she care what others are doing4 ,the doctrine of ,laissez-,faire is the sinew of her policy toward the ,european states4 ,she lets them alone so long as they let her alone1 leaving them to wonder for what she was born4 ,when some one comes and strikes her on the face1 she stands up1 still half asleep1 slowly gathers whatever strength is in her1 returns blow for blow1 but the moment her enemy disappears torpidity again overtakes her1 she relapses into dreamy indifference4 ,of what is this opium composed that she smokes8 #aa ,about #d1agi1eei sq4 miles4--,the ,statesman's ,yearbook1 #ahia4 #ab ,about #djd1ahj1jjj4--;,ibid4 ,i must not be understood to mean absolute irresistibility of constitutional government4 ,already ,i have touched upon one exception1 viz3 inadequate capacity1 mental and moral1 of people4 ,instead of excepting ,japan from the pervading conservatism of ,asia1 ,i am inclined to make causes resisting or retarding the establishment of constitutional government in ,china exceptions to its irresistibility1 side by side with ignorance4 ,such causes are1 doubtless1 multitudinous4 ,nevertheless1 a careful observer will be able to single out two principal ones among many others3 territorial and intellectual4 ,we have seen that the average intelligence of the ,chinese people is not much inferior1 if at all1 to that of the ,japanese1 previous to the revolution4 ,even those ,chinese who come to this country for manual labor1 can read and write to some extent4 ,undoubtedly there is a large number of illiterate and brutal outcasts1 who are a standing disgrace to humanity at large1 but they can be found in every nation at present4 ,the average intelligence of the middle class in ,china is1 next to ,japan1 perhaps1 the highest among the ,asiatic nations4 ,but the greatest evil from which ,chinese intellect is suffering is its bombastic antiquarianism4 ,this differs from conservatism1 in that it is not the cautious distrust of new institutions for the improvement of the existing ones1 but an effort to move backward1 and to revive the ancient order of things1 which crumbled into dust a thousand years before1 from its inadaptability4 ,the goal toward which modern civilization is striving1 is the attainment of justice1 the security of property and of the lives of individuals4 ,the ideal society of the ,chinese is one in which the simplicity of primitive tribes makes the administration of justice unnecessary1 in which the possession of property and the protection of lives are unknown4 ,eulogies are lavished throughout their literature to the peaceful reigns of the primitive kings1 when no one locked his house at night1 or touched another's article which he happened to find on his way4 ,to them antiquity is adorable instead of venerable4 ,they consider themselves insignificant by the side of their godly ancestors4 ,no doubt the doctrine of ,confucius1 which the ,chinese people endeavor to carry out to a letter1 has played a large part in producing this effect4 ,instead of unfolding the possibilities of the future1 he recapitulated the virtues and achievements of the past4 ,i am not attempting to depreciate the inestimable service1 which his system of philosophy has rendered toward enhancing the standard of rectitude among his disciples4 ,but for him ,asia might have sunk into the depths of moral chaos4 ,this much at least must be said in justification of his doctrine1 that evidently it was not his intention to reproduce an exact duplicate of the primitive ,chinese civilization4 ,let each day bring a new order of things1 and ,a sage's principles change as time1 are among the precepts he enunciated4 ,but these aphorisms1 upon which the ,anglo-,saxons would have laid a great stress1 have been set at naught by his followers to the detriment of their own welfare4 ,this antiquarianism also existed in ,japan1 before the introduction of the ,european civilization1 but here it had lacked much of its intensity1 through its non-originality4 ,the ,japanese had no inventive pride1 and it was with little reluctance that they abandoned their old theories which they borrowed from ,china1 and adopted new civilization of the ,west4 ,the ,chinese cannot forget that whatever civilization they possess is their own1 and that1 at one time1 theirs was the ,celestial ,empire1 which gave law1 literature1 and art to the neighboring nations4 ,every one knows that all the people still believe their civilization far superior to that of ,europe4 ,and since they do not care to compete with the civilization which they regard as inferior1 they are striving to model themselves after the features of their own ancient civilization1 which1 for aught we know1 might have been purer because younger1 but which1 existing in the less developed stage of society1 must have been necessarily cruder4 ,they are not aware that a society developed to any extent is a composite organism2 that an originally simple cluster of people had grown into a complex community1 through double methods1 the multiplication of its own offsprings1 and its union with another cluster or clusters of people4#ac ,this gradual growth of a society is followed by a corresponding diversity in the division of labor1 thus making the social structure also complex4#ad ,whatever else they can do1 the ,chinese will never realize their ideal of ancient simplicity1 with their present complex social structure and system4 ,a human society can either fall backward or progress forward1 but it cannot progress backward4 ,in ,china the active movement for social and political amelioration is restrained by the erroneous idea that they will aggravate evils and increase the distance between the present and the past4 ,the unemployed energy of the nation1 like an unemployed human muscle1 is losing its vitality4 ,unable to go backward1 unwilling to go forward1 the nation is at standstill1 and its civilization is stagnant with vices of the worst sort1 the growth of which is checked by no iron hands of heroic reformers4 #ac ,spencer's ,principle of ,sociology1 ,vol4 ,,ii41 pp4 #dcf-deh4 #ad ,ibid1 pp4 #dei-dgb4 ,another cause acting against the susceptibility of ,china to the ,european civilization is the vastness of her territory4 ,the power of resistance being equal1 a force requires longer time to travel larger distance1 but when the power of resistance against the force of civilization is much stronger1 as in the case of ,china1 in comparison with ,japan1 the required length of time becomes still greater4 ,the vast and thickly populated ,empire of ,china naturally contains the various aggregates of people1 with diverse inclinations and antagonistic interests1 which makes their joint effort for any achievement extremely difficult1 especially when the central authority is weak4 ,the disadvantages are further multiplied by the difficulty of travelling and communication4 ,on account of these hindrances1 the ,western civilization has not as yet time to permeate the whole ,empire of ,china1 and give the people an impetus for progressive movement4 ,it may be well questioned whether the fathers could have succeeded in organizing the federal government1 if the colonies were as large1 and contained as great a population as the present ,united ,states4 ,as it was1 several ,states refused to enter into the confederation at first4#ae ,taking into consideration her better facility for communication1 and her proximity to the other ,european powers1 perhaps ,russia owes to the size of her territory1 the successful maintenance of her absolute monarchy as much as ,china4 ,but here the decisive battle is already impending4 ,at this moment she is trembling with apprehension lest the palace of the ,czar be at any moment levelled to its foundation by the terrible explosion of a nihilist's bomb4 ,the more the employment of force is resorted to as the means of suppression1 the greater the violence of resistance4 ,it may take the ,chinese people generations before they are seized with such political fanaticism1 but judging from precedents1 it is a rational probability that the absolute monarchy of ,china may yet become the object of furious attack by her now inert and abject populace1 apparently in happy ignorance of the nature of sovereign authority1 the free and unrestrained exercise of which they may learn to covet too soon4 #ae ,new ,york1 ,virginia1 ,north ,carolina1 and ,rhode ,island4 ,bryce's ,the ,american ,commonwealth1 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #cb4 ,ignorance1 antiquarianism1 and large territory1 then1 are some principal causes which retard the march of progress4 ,there remains only the third and last objection to be met--the adaptability of the ,asiatic people to the representative form of government4 ,,iii4 ,if two thousand years of ,asiatic despotism has given her people one lesson1 that lesson is obedience1 and obedience is1 according to ,john ,stuart ,mill1 a quality essential to the people under constitutional government4#af ,not only they must be obeyed1 but also they must obey4 ,law1 which is constitutional1 commands their obedience1 so long as it is not repealed1 whether it promotes1 or is detrimental to1 their welfare4 ,this is especially the case in ,england1 where parliament is supreme and not the constitution1 as in the ,united ,states1 though in both countries vox populi will tell in the end4 ,on the other hand it may be disputed that if long despotism taught the ,asiatic people to be subservient to public authorities1 it also made them meek and slavish1 entirely eradicating the spirit of independence1 indispensable to self-governing people4 ,granted1 but how shall this defect be remedied8 ,because they are too slavish and not sufficiently independent1 are they to crawl under absolute despotism for another two thousand years1 which would make them all the more slavish1 and all the less independent8 ,slavishness is obedience plus something more4 ,if political liberty were given the ,asiatic people1 when they had just learned to obey1 slavishness would never have become their fault4 ,the very fact of their being slavish proves that despotism should have ceased to exist long before1 and should cease now1 in order to cure them of this despicable disease4 ,as far as this question is concerned1 then1 the slavishness of the ,asiatic people1 instead of being against their adaptability to constitutional government1 is for it4 ,in the words of ,macaulay1 ,if men are to wait for liberty until they become wise and good in slavery1 they may indeed wait forever4#ag #af ,his ,representative ,government1 pp4 #he1 #hf4 #ag ,his ,essay on ,milton4 ,there may be a thousand other infirmities among these people1 but most of them doubtless are1 or were1 found among the highly civilized people of to-day4 ,every nation can point with pride to some men of admirable achievement1 of brilliant genius1 of saintly virtues1 but that same nation also contains the countless number of inebriates1 robbers1 and murderers4 ,differences in environments and in the stage of civilization have contributed much in differentiating the inhabitants of the globe1 but we must bear in mind that they are all made by the same hand of the ,creator1 and are1 in general1 striving to do good according to the dictates of their conscience4 ,what characterizes civilization is not so much the quality of goodness revealed1 as its quantity4 ,between aborigines and highly advanced people1 there exists a wide gulf1 but that gulf becomes perceptibly narrower between the so-called semi-civilized and the civilized1 much narrower than the word semi indicates with the force of scientific exactness4 ,but behind all these arguments1 there lays the most fundamental condition of the adaptability1 namely3 that the people should be desirous of establishing it4 ,no other ,asiatic nations beside ,japan have expressed their desire to this end1 either by words or by action1 and therefore they are incapacitated4 ,this objection would be fatal1 if we were advocating that the ,asiatic people ought to have constitutional government4 ,but we have not been4 ,we have been arguing that since constitutional government has irresistible attraction to those who can understand what it is1 and since it has already been established in ,japan1 the other ,asiatic nations will begin to desire it1 notwithstanding their seeming ignorance and conservatism2 and because they are adapted for it in all the respects but one1 the want of desire to establish it1 when that desire is enkindled within their breasts1 then a great democratic revolution1 which ,de ,tocqueville said was going on in ,europe1#ah and which is still going on there1 will also go on in ,asia4 ,we may observe in passing1 that ,sir ,henry ,maine's arguments against the irresistibility of popular government#ai have no connection with our position1 being directed against the ultra-democratic tendency of modern times which is beyond the scope of our present discussion4 #ah ,his ,democracy in ,america1 ,vol4 ,i41 p4 #b4 #ai ,his ,popular ,government1 pp4 #gj-gd4 ,but will this new institution of ,japan possess permanency8 ,constitutional government has shown in many cases the lack of stability4 ,in ,france and ,spain especially it has been established and overthrown again and again4#bj ,can ,tei ,koku ,gi ,kai#ba prove itself above such frailty and stand for ages a majestic monument of the people capable of self-government8 ,or must it pass away in ignominy and gloom through its own weakness1 or of the constitution1 or of the people1 or of all these combined8 ,hitherto we have been discussing the extrinsic significance of constitutional government in ,japan1 but this important question introduces us into the field of its intrinsic excellence4 ,to answer the question we must examine the constitution itself in its details1 besides tracing the steps which led to its promulgation4 ,perhaps a volume may be necessary for this most interesting and profitable study4 ,at any rate1 the space which we have already occupied renders a further discussion of the subject impossible for the present4 ,but we cannot lay aside our pen without expressing our fondest anticipation1 and most earnest desire1 that guided by statesmen of genius1 and supported by the prudent and patriotic people1 this first institution ever founded on the ,asiatic soil for the development of political liberty1 may be crowned with brilliant success1 not only for the sake of ,japan1 but for the sake of all ,asia1 whose myriad sons it is her noble duty1 as well as privilege1 to rescue from the yoke of ever-detestable bondage4 #bj ,ibid1 pp4 #ag1 #ah4 #ba ,literally1 ,the ,deliverative ,assembly of the ,empire1 being the comprehensive name for the two legislative chambers of ,japan1 corresponding to ,parliament of ,england or ,congress of the ,united ,states4 ,,university ,,extension4 ,,by ,,prof4 ,,willis ,,boughton1 ,,of ,,ohio ,,state ,,university4 ,university extension is a movement intended to bring the people at large into closer communion with the college and the university4 ,though it had a lowly birth in ,england1 it has become a great institution permanently wedded to ,oxford and ,cambridge4 ,for some years the idea has been growing that our ,american colleges ought to be doing something in this same line4 ,the world is full of students who are unable to attend the university2 some are prevented by family ties1 and some by business relations2 but mature though they be1 there are everywhere real students who are lamenting the fact that they seem forever shut out from the light of knowledge as it is shed abroad from our higher educational institutions4 ,to such are added those young people who have been by circumstances early forced into industrial pursuits1 but who are hungry after such training as will enable them to command better situations and better salaries4 ,the success of the ,chautauqua movement indicates how many there are that are bent upon improving themselves4 ,this ,chautauqua movement is only an attempt to ,americanize university extension4 ,in various ways1 however1 it fails to perform the full function of the latter institution4 ,while ,chautauqua work is carefully planned1 it is elementary2 the student is left almost entirely to his own1 often misdirected1 efforts2 and there is little or no chance of his coming into personal contact with the experienced educator and specialists4 ,though the circles have1 through lack of direction1 sometimes neglected education for entertainment1 the organization as a whole has accomplished a wonderful work in the elevation and the instruction of great numbers of people4 ,university extension1 on the other hand1 profiting by the experience of ,chautauqua1 proposes not only to plan courses of study1 but to direct1 supervise1 and test the work of its students as well4 ,in doing all this1 it employs the lecturer1 the syllabus1 the class1 the travelling library1 and the examination4 ,it has adopted methods whereby it can reach people of as varied occupations as those reached by ,chautauqua1 and it can thus furnish them with information having a positive educational value4 ,the lecturers are college-bred men or women1 and specialists in different lines of educational work4 ,if actively engaged in teaching at some reputable college or university1 their chances of success are greater1 and the character of their work is of a better grade4 ,it promises well for the future of university extension to record that some of ,america's most popular and celebrated professors have added to their already heavy duties the burdens of some line of extension teaching4 ,but all college professors are not adapted to this work4 ,the successful extension lecturer must be of a versatile nature--a good lecturer1 an earnest student1 a practical teacher4 ,it is his duty to interest a mixed1 popular audience in an educational subject1 and to inspire numbers of his hearers with a determination to enter upon a systematic and thorough course of study4 ,the teacher who can do so must have within him the spirit of the reformer1 and the earnestness that will enable him to arouse and to enthuse to action the numbers that are dying of lethargy and ennui4 ,the teacher who can do this has here a field of labor extensive enough for the highest ambition1 and may be repaid by a success grander than can be attained in the limited circle of the college or the university4 ,the work of the lecturer arranges itself into unit courses4 ,the unit course consists of a series of six related lecturers1 so arranged that they will cover a definite field of study4 ,though less comprehensive1 the unit course may be compared to a course of study in a college curriculum4 ,as extension students are the busy people of this world1 these lectures occur only at intervals of one week1 thus giving the student time for the extra reading and study that he is asked to do4 ,a unit course1 then1 will cover a period of six weeks2 and four unit courses1 extending over a period of twenty-four weeks1 constitute an extension year4 ,it is superfluous to attempt to estimate how much the earnest solitary student may accomplish in a year through the assistance and the impetus thus given his efforts4 ,much1 however1 depends upon the personal effort of the student1 and the syllabus is intended to direct his private study4 ,the syllabus is much more than a carefully prepared outline of a unit course4 ,it must form a skeleton for the student's diligent work2 it must recall and elaborate the points brought out in each lecture2 it must give a comprehensive list of reference books upon the course--a bibliography of the subject--with information as to the best editions and as to how to use the books to the best advantage2 it must suggest lines of research--comparisons and parallelisms2 it must outline for the student paper work with full instructions as to how to write upon the subject2 it must1 in short1 be a sort of teacher1 full of methods and of suggestions1 supplementing the work of the class4 ,the class immediately follows the lecture and is conducted by the lecturer himself4 ,it is here that the student comes into the most direct contact with the educator4 ,just as the lecture is for the popular audience1 many of whom seek pleasure rather than information1 so the class is preeminently the earnest student's workshop4 ,it is here that he has the privilege of turning questioner and of putting to the lecturer such queries as have puzzled him in his private work4 ,the papers that have been prepared during the week are criticised and discussed1 and experienced lecturers claim that some extension students can and do prepare papers which show as deep an insight and as broad an understanding of the subject as are manifested by the ordinary college student4 ,the class then is1 from the student point of view1 the select portion of the audience1 and still it often happens that only a small proportion of this class even can be induced to do systematic and thorough work2 they are regarded as the fruit of the lecture and measure the speaker's ability to interest a popular audience4 ,as an adjunct to class work1 the travelling library is proposed4 ,in order to do effective work1 the student must have books1 and university extension proposes to arrange with public libraries so that the necessary volumes can be furnished the isolated student at a cost little in excess of that of transportation4 ,there is such competition among express companies that there will be little trouble in getting rates of transportation which will render this feature of extension teaching practicable4 ,what ,mudie's ,circulating ,library is to ,england1 the extension travelling library may be to ,america4 ,the result will be to place in the reach of all the best copyrighted books1 and to strangle the reprints of worthless publications that are bought only because they are cheap4 ,finally there comes the examination4 ,for the assurance of timid and sensitive persons1 it may be stated that extension work is optional1 and may be carried to any desired stage of completion4 ,the many enter upon the work because it is popular and interesting2 and as soon as it assumes the character of study1 the class will often dwindle down to a small portion of the audience4 ,the requirements for an examination will weed this remainder until there is found but a handful that will submit to the test4 ,these workers are usually mature1 and often prove themselves to be thorough and proficient students4 ,the examination is intended to be a thorough test1 and if it proves the work to have been creditably done1 a certificate to that effect is awarded4 ,any community that arranges for one or more unit courses is termed a local centre4 ,in order to introduce and conduct this plan of work1 there must be some kind of a local organization4 ,often there already exists1 even in a small town1 some literary club or other society organized for purposes of education or culture4 ,such societies1 if in a thrifty condition1 may be utilized for extension purposes4 ,if they prove to be responsible for the expense of one or more unit courses1 no further organization is needed2 but in towns where no such society exists1 a local centre may be formed by the co-operation of a few citizens4 ,a public meeting may be convened or other means taken to elect a local committee consisting of a half dozen members1 with at least a chairman1 a secretary1 and a treasurer as its official board4 ,the first work of the committee is to raise a guarantee fund to cover the expense of one or more unit courses4 ,responsible persons are willing enough to subscribe to such a fund upon the assurance that it will not be used except in case of a deficiency caused by a limited sale of student or course tickets4 ,experience in ,philadelphia has proved that1 ordinarily1 enough tickets will be sold to more than cover the expense of the course4 ,the guarantee fund raised1 the local committee is ready to secure the services of a lecturer1 and is brought into business connections with the nearest branch1 as the next higher stage in the system is denominated4 ,the branch is located at a railroad centre1 and in the vicinity of some college or university4 ,for example1 the ,philadelphia branch is the business centre for the entire region within a radius of fifty miles4 ,it draws its lecturers from the faculties of the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 ,princeton1 ,bryn ,mawr1 ,haverford1 and ,swarthmore4 ,the branch acts as the middle man between the college and the local centre4 ,its functions are to supply a competent corps of lecturers1 to systematize the work within its jurisdiction1 and to organize new local centres4 ,already the ,philadelphia branch has formed twenty-five local centres1 some of which another season will give a full year's work consisting of four unit courses4 ,located in ,philadelphia in the midst of colleges1 this organization is purely national in its aims4 ,it brings with it system out of chaos4 ,while university extension was groping aimlessly about1 it came to the attention of one of the leading educators of our country4 ,as provost of the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 ,dr4 ,william ,pepper has proved himself to be a man of great executive ability4 ,comprehending to the fullest extent the future of our educational system1 with wonderful foresight1 he saw in the extension movement a future far more important than for a mere matter of missionary diversion for certain charitably inclined professors4 ,he at once suggested plans for uniting the efforts of those engaged in the work and of harmonizing them throughout the country4 ,accordingly ,mr4 ,george ,henderson was sent to ,england to study the movement in all of its bearings1 and to gain a thorough insight into the ,english system4 ,upon his return the ,american ,society was organized with ,dr4 ,pepper as president1 and ,mr4 ,henderson as ,secretary4 ,but ,dr4 ,pepper1 already burdened with the executive duties of a great university1 as well as with the labors of an extensive profession1 was soon obliged to withdraw from the active presidency1 and ,dr4 ,edmund ,j4 ,james was elected to that office4 ,such1 in brief1 is the origin of the ,national ,society4 ,this ,american ,society comes in as a helpmate to the local centre1 the branch1 the college1 and the university4 ,its functions are distinct and various4 ,coming forward with the accumulated experience of a quarter century in ,england1 it can enable extension workers in this country to profit thereby4 ,it has employed a corps of practical business men to systematize the work1 and to attend to the necessary details2 it is publishing a monthly journal called ,university ,extension1 for the purpose of gathering and disseminating information regarding the movement2 it publishes syllabi and furnishes them to the student and to the public at the lowest possible cost2 and employs organizers to help in the formation of local centres1 and to get them in working order4 ,it must be recognized at once that no single educational institution can do this general work1 and that the ,american ,society1 instead of becoming a competitor with the university in extension work1 renders it practical for even the smaller colleges to enter this field of usefulness4 ,in the performance of its functions1 then1 the ,national ,society must ordinarily deal with the greater centres of organization2 still when it is impracticable to form a branch1 it may deal directly with the local centre4 ,nor is its influence bounded by any conventional barriers4 ,it can enter the home where the solitary student sits by his evening lamp1 and direct his work4 ,in this home work1 of course1 the student rarely comes into direct contact with the educator1 but through systematized correspondence his work may be directed and finally tested4 ,it can thus be given a true educational value4 ,it must not be ignored that a startling proportion of our great business men are what are termed self-educated4 ,so will it be in the future2 but it is far from visionary to believe that university extension will open paths whereby the solitary student need no longer employ an expensive tutor nor waste his time1 groping in the labyrinth paths of knowledge1 without a thread1 at least1 to direct his wanderings to pleasanter fields of light and learning4 ,while this system of study is popular1 and has all the glitter of novelty1 many insincere persons will enroll their names4 ,some will seek only entertainment1 and will be satisfied with the popular lecture alone4 ,others1 through timidity and lack of self-confidence1 may attend the class but will not attempt the paper work or the examination4 ,but in every community are scores of earnest1 hungry students anxious to learn but knowing not how to get the knowledge that they crave1--mature students settled in homes and in business1--to such university extension offers chances for improvement and refreshing labor that were never known before4 ,then it is no longer imperative to reside in the vicinity of the university1 or to forever remain ignorant of university learning1 for wherever a score or more of students may congregate1 there can be brought from college halls a master workman to direct the work4 ,it is easy1 then1 to realize the scope of the ,american society4 ,it can stretch its influence into every corner of the country2 it can enter every town and city2 it can enter even the isolated home4 ,ordinarily colleges and universities of the country are anxious to work with the ,national ,society1 for in this way even the small college becomes a link in this great chain of organization1 and the efforts of its faculty may bear fruit1 whereas unsystematized work is little better than a failure4 ,by such co-operation the work of extension teaching may have come to have such a positive educational value that its certificates1 when awarded by the members of a college faculty1 may1 in that institution1 at least1 pass current for a definite amount of the work required for a degree4 ,at ,cambridge1 ,england1 students from centres that are in affiliation with that institution can thus save one year's residence at the university4 ,is it1 then1 visionary to expect as much here8 ,university extension1 however1 offers no royal road to learning2 it is as yet1 as it were1 laying the ties for a broad gauge track where only those that have the strength to work their passage may travel4 ,but when operated by the ,american ,society1 it is far in advance of the overland or ,panama routes of the forty-niners in extension travel4 ,this society seems to have solved the problem1 and promises to become the great ,american ,university that ,washington proposed1 ,jefferson planned1 and scores have1 since the founding of our government1 prophesied and awaited4 ,,pope ,,leo ,,on ,,labor4 ,,by ,,thomas ,b4 ,,preston4 ,in reading the encyclical letter of ,pope ,leo ,,xiii4 on the condition of labor1 one is chiefly struck by his earnest desire for the welfare of all mankind1 his clear recognition of the existence of a grave social problem1 and the singular want of logic which he exhibits in his attempt to solve it4 ,his views on this subject certainly deserve careful and thoughtful analysis on account of the influence which they are bound to exert in the world1 owing to his peculiar position as head of the largest of the ,christian churches4 ,they should be read without bias1 each argument being given its due weight irrespective of any conclusions but those of common sense and right reason4 ,unfortunately there is much division of opinion as to the value of the document4 ,those ,catholics who are superstitious give to these opinions of the ,pope the force of a revelation from ,god4 ,and on the other hand there are many so-called liberals who regard these utterances as the words of a crafty old man1 ambitious of acquiring wealth1 power1 and fame in the world for himself and for the hierarchy of his ,church4 ,putting aside all prejudice of either kind1 let us examine what ,pope ,leo says in the light of reason1 having faith enough to believe that the interests of true religion cannot suffer in the slightest degree from such an examination4 ,in his opening sentences the ,pope speaks in a tone of regret of the spirit of revolutionary change predominant in the nations1 and seems to connect it with a general moral deterioration4 ,he does not appear to have considered that the change may be evolutionary rather than revolutionary1 and that the general moral deterioration is quite as much due to the efforts of reactionary politicians and churchmen who aim to retain for the classes all the constantly increasing wealth-producing power of the world1 keeping the masses down to the same bare level of subsistence as formerly1 while their capacity for enjoyment has been vastly enlarged through the increased general average of civilization and refinement4 ,this naturally produces on the one side the piled-up accumulations of individuals garnered by the few1 an inordinate display of wealth and luxury1 and the vices of intemperance and immorality2 while on the other1 maddened and starving crowds are likely to resort to violence1 and the poorer population to indulge whenever they get a chance in the same pleasures as the rich4 ,but with all these disadvantages in the modern economic situation it may fairly be questioned whether the general moral deterioration is as great as in the good old times1 the ages of faith1 when the ,inquisition flourished along with the ,borgias1 the droit du seigneur was a recognized custom1 and bribery and violence were everywhere prevalent4 ,public institutions and the laws1 says ,pope ,leo1 have repudiated the ancient religion4 ,but is not this repudiation in large part due to the refusal of the ministers of the ancient religion to accommodate themselves to new conditions in the world's history1 so that with the growth of modern civilization the world has moved more rapidly than the ,church1 and the latter has become dissociated from the masses1 chiefly owing to the ignorance and intense conservatism of her rulers and their entirely unnecessary distrust of the discoveries of science8 ,pope ,leo admits that this is an age of greater instruction1 of different customs1 and of more numerous requirements in daily life1 but he cannot divest himself of the trammels of ecclesiasticism which seem to mould his thoughts and lead him to consider it essential in these times of covetous greed to keep the multitude within the line of duty4 ,with him it is the multitude who seem possessed of an insane desire to break out of the line of duty4 ,his theory is like that of the man who accounted for the overcrowding in large cities on the ground that the poor and unfortunate had a strange and uncontrollable propensity for swarming in tenement-houses4 ,he does not give sufficient force to the influence of conditions upon human acts1 and apparently is chiefly anxious that strife should cease1 forgetting that until justice be done the worst thing that could happen would be the cessation of strife4 ,the flattering surroundings and aristocratic training of ,pope ,leo cannot1 however1 dull the generous sympathies of his heart1 or blind his clear vision of the misery and wretchedness which press so heavily at this moment on the large majority of the very poor4 ,he says3 ,the condition of the working population is the question of the hour4 ,this will be a rude awakening to those conservative ,catholic churchmen who have in recent years been insisting that things as they are were altogether lovely1 and that the talk about the misery of the poor was only the exaggeration of a few cunning agitators who wanted to excite the people so that in a general upheaval these agitators themselves might personally profit4 ,pope ,leo's voice of sympathy is heard declaring that there is a social problem1 and that it is shameful and inhuman to treat men like chattels to make money by or to look upon them merely as so much muscle or physical power4 ,charity1 as ,pope ,leo frequently understands it1 would indeed effect a wonderful amelioration in the world4 ,but it is that charity which is always ready to sacrifice itself for others' sake and the chief characteristic of which is the love of justice4 ,it has been degraded in these later years into the sense of alms-giving1 so that the ,christian pulpits of every denomination have too often thus been preaching charity while ignoring justice4 ,is it any wonder the world rebelled8 ,the victories of the ,church were won when she possessed the sublime strength of weakness1 and when her martyrs and saints in language only matched by that of the radicals of to-day were proclaiming the essential liberty1 fraternity1 and equality of all men1 and denouncing the iniquities of imperial ,rome4 ,but when she took the fatuous step1 and placed on her own brow the crown of the ,caesars1 then she too became conservative1 then the words of her popes began to be regulated by policy1 then charity became alms-giving1 and piety degenerated into ecclesiasticism4 ,authority was strained until it snapped1 and a suffering world revolted from the outrageous assumptions of ecclesiastical power4 ,a return to ,christianity is1 indeed1 needed1 but the ,church will have quite as much of a journey to go as the world1 so far as her methods are concerned4 ,with regard to the position of the family in the state1 ,pope ,leo is the advocate of freedom as against the interference of public authority in domestic affairs4 ,he admits1 however1 that the state should interfere in cases of family disturbance to force each party to give the other what is due1 herein differing from the philosophical anarchists4 ,he discerns clearly that the interests of labor and of capital are not antagonistic1 but what he does not see is that the interests of labor and capital may both be antagonistic to the interests of monopoly1 and that until the latter is destroyed the two former will be continually forced into positions of seeming antagonism4 ,he denounces rapacious usury1 and says that it was more than once condemned by the ,church1 conveniently overlooking the fact that the usuria1 which was condemned1 was not only rapacious but was all taking of money for the use of money1 all interest on loans--a condemnation which1 if insisted upon by the ,church to-day1 would soon empty her sanctuaries4 ,he refers to the greed of unrestrained competition but does not grasp the idea that under conditions of justice unrestrained competition would be an advantage1 constantly leading men to emulate each other1 and becoming a sure guarantee of progress4 ,it is the competition of those who have nothing but their labor1 or their brains1 or their capital to sell with the owners of vast monopolies who exact from production an ever-increasing toll that needs to be restrained1 and this not by abolishing the custom of working by contract1 or by state interference and legislative tinkering1 to which the ,pope leans in spite of his protests against socialism1 but by the abolition of the monopolies or their absorption into the functions of the state4 ,the ,pope is almost a ,spencerian in his bias towards individualism1 but he forgets that individualism can never be maintained in practice except through the assumption by the state of those monopolies which1 if left in private hands1 would benefit the few at the expense of the many4 ,true individualism requires equality of opportunity4 ,the instant the idea of monopoly enters1 equality of opportunity becomes impossible1 and individualism is destroyed4 ,it is through want of seeing this fact that the ,pope1 in common with most political economists1 goes floundering round in a sea of contradictions1 now proclaiming principles almost like those of the anarchists1 and again favoring extreme socialism1 while all the time imagining himself an individualist4 ,their theories remind one of the labored attempts to explain the solar system by the old ,ptolemaic method of epicycles and deferents1 when the one simple law of centripetal and centrifugal force was enough to account for all the majestic movements of the universe4 ,what other outcome can there be of this want of a regulator in economics--like a governor in machinery--than an endeavor to patch up the machine of humanity1 adding a little here1 taking off a little there1 doing the best that occasion seems to allow1 and all the while impressed with a profound and sad conviction that the machine is in a bad way1 and certain to smash up1 whatever is done8 ,consequently we have just such weak documents as this encyclical letter1 emanating now from an eminent agnostic scientist1 now from a millionnaire philanthropist and now from the ,pope--all conflicting with each other1 the first denying that man has any more rights than a rattlesnake1 the second lauding a triumphant democracy which has not the courage to attack the monopolies through which he has acquired his millions1 the third writing a long paper full of pious platitudes and injunctions to the rich to give to the poor1 and to the poor to be contented1 and then everything will be lovely4 ,the main portion of the encyclical letter is directed against socialism1 and the ,pope's arguments are effective as against what he evidently means by socialism4 ,they are sadly weakened1 however1 by his want of a logical conception of what constitutes private property4 ,he shows in more than one place that he believes private property to be only the result of human labor1 but when he comes to apply his ideas1 he admits of its extension to land and other monopolies1 without realizing that because such monopolies are not the creation of human labor they cannot therefore be rightfully considered as private property4 ,he is like the man who would divide the human race into men1 women1 and poets1 or in enumerating the ,new ,england ,states would include ,boston after having mentioned ,massachusetts4 ,his arguments are still further weakened by his evident leaning towards compulsory ,sunday rest1 and an eight-hour day1 trades-unionism1 and regulation by church societies1 all of which savor of the very socialism which he is combatting4 ,he argues well1 however1 against the theory which proposes that the state should administer individual property as common property for the benefit of all4 ,this would be more correctly termed state socialism or1 in its extreme form1 communism4 ,but the ,pope fails to recognize that there is such a thing as public property1 created by the mere presence of large communities1 and which those communities have a perfect right to administer4 ,while endeavoring to uphold the rights of private property1 he impugns what ,father ,william ,barry called in a recent review article1 ,the ,rights of ,public ,property4 ,his ,holiness' ignorance on this point can be best shown by a quotation3-- ,if one man hires out to another his strength or his industry1 he does this for the purpose of receiving in return what is necessary for food and living2 he thereby expressly proposes to acquire a full and real right1 not only to the remuneration1 but also to the disposal of that remuneration as he pleases4 ,thus1 if he lives sparingly1 saves money1 and invests his savings1 for greater security1 in land1 the land in such a case is only his wages in another form2 and1 consequently1 a workingman's little estate thus purchased should be as completely at his own disposal as the wages he receives for his labor4 ,it would be interesting to know what the ,pope would say if the workingman invested his savings in a slave1 and whether the ,holy ,father would consider the slave only the workingman's wages in another form4 ,pope ,leo certainly never could have intended to state that the mere purchase of a thing was sufficient to convey ownership4 ,yet that is just what the last sentence quoted amounts to4 ,the justice of the ownership depends entirely upon whether the thing purchased be rightfully capable of ownership1 in the first place1 and whether it be obtained from the rightful owner1 in the second4 ,as effects follow their cause1 ,pope ,leo says a little further on1 so it is just and right that the results of labor should belong to him who has labored4 ,there he strikes the key-note of the right of property upheld alike by the best churchmen and economists in all ages4 ,that is the natural law of labor4 ,it is opposed to the theory of ,state socialism1 and to what many in this country understand by nationalism4 ,if the ,pope had adhered to that proposition1 he would have been saved from his illogical position4 ,it is undoubtedly true that a man is entitled to that of which he is the producing cause4 ,and in some branches of labor which are more intimately associated with the earth than others1 such as agricultural operations1 it is true that the results of labor1 and the improvements made upon land1 become physically inseparable from the land itself1 so that he who would own what his labor has produced must also have security of tenure1 and exclusive possession of that portion of nature's field which he cultivates4 ,it is for want of distinguishing carefully between possession and ownership that the ,pope falls into his ludicrous economic blunders4 ,this part of his encyclical is absolutely self-contradictory4 ,he is arguing for the securing to the laborer of the fruits of his labor4 ,the workman on land must have ownership of those things he has produced1 and hence must have exclusive possession of that part of the earth which he tills4 ,he must have such disposal of it as will enable him by the exertion of his labor to secure a proportionate reward4 ,but this is not ownership4 ,ownership carries with it something more than this4 ,once divide the earth among private owners1 as the ,pope puts it1 and you have this condition of things3 that those who do not happen to be among the private owners must compete for the privilege of living on the earth1 they must pay a part of the results of their labor for permission to work1 and on the other hand the fortunate owners receive something for which they themselves render no labor4 ,it is strange that the ,pope did not see the absurdities of his own propositions4 ,he says3-- ,moreover the earth1 though divided among private owners1 ceases not thereby to minister to the needs of all2 for there is no one who does not live on what the land brings forth4 ,those who do not possess the soil contribute their labor2 so that it may be truly said that all human subsistence is derived either from labor on one's own land1 or from some laborious industry which is paid for either in the produce of the land itself or in that which is exchanged for what the land brings forth4 ,pope ,leo is mistaken4 ,all human subsistence is not derived either from labor on one's own land or from some laborious industry4 ,some human subsistence1 as the ,pope says1 is derived from labor on one's own land4 ,some human subsistence is derived from laborious industry on the land of others4 ,and--what the ,pope seems to ignore--some human subsistence is derived by owning land and letting others work upon it1 taking from them part of the fruits of their labor in exchange for the mere permission to labor4 ,by no construction can such ownership be classed as a laborious industry4 ,yet such owners generally enjoy the very best of human subsistence4 ,nevertheless1 a few sentences further on1 the ,pope naively asks3 ,is it just that the fruit of a man's sweat and labor should be enjoyed by another8 ,had the ,pope pondered over that question more profoundly1 he might have come to far different conclusions from those which he seems to have reached4 ,it is unfortunate that the ,pope through a desire to uphold the just rights of property should have been led to maintain the privileges of monopoly1 and still more unfortunate that so many ,catholics will consider his blunder an article of faith and feel it binding upon their consciences to oppose all further efforts to impair private ownership of land by taxation--the only way in which individual possession can be reconciled with the common right of all mankind to the earth4 ,in one place the ,pope seems to doubt the extent to which the principle of private ownership is applicable to land1 for he says3 ,the limits of private possession have been left to be fixed by man's own industry and the laws of individual peoples4 ,but if the laws should tax the monopoly value out of land1 then the holder of land would not be able to get any profit out of it except by his own labor4 ,it would be no longer such ownership as exists to-day which allows private owners to confiscate the results of other's labor4 ,the ,pope here abandons the unqualified ownership which he elsewhere maintains4 ,it might well be asked if he is prepared to excommunicate the legislators and assessors who1 in nearly every civilized country to-day1 do tax land1 and thus to a certain extent impair ownership4 ,and if the same principle were extended so that the tax would equal the entire rental value there would be no chance for the land monopolist to exploit the earnings of labor4 ,man's means should not be drained and exhausted by excessive taxation1 as the ,pope seems to fear1 showing that he has a vague idea of the method by which it is proposed to destroy ownership4 ,but as the rental value to-day is already paid by labor1 the proposed plan could not drain or exhaust labor any more than at present1 while such a tax falling upon lands held for speculation would cause their abandonment1 and thus open new fields for labor4 ,workingmen would then be really encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land1 and that prosperity which the ,pope hopes for would result4 ,he seems to be ignorant of the fact that taxing land1 unlike a tax upon any product of labor1 makes it cheaper and easier to obtain for possession and use4 ,more than all does he forget that what labor needs is not the protecting arm of ,church or ,state1 but equal opportunity and the fullest possible freedom of access to ,nature's bounties4 ,he is untrue to himself and talks like the veriest socialist when he says3 ,among the purposes of a society should be to try to arrange for a continuous supply of work at all times and seasons4 ,bountiful nature in the great storehouse of the earth has provided a continuous supply of work for the whole human race for all future ages4 ,make monopoly1 by taxation1 loosen her grip upon the earth1 and labor would have abundant opportunity for all time to come without the necessity for paternal1 socialistic tinkering on the part of either ,state or ,church4 ,,the ,,austrian ,,postal ,,banking ,,system4 ,,by ,,sylvester ,,baxter4 ,there is a possibility that the plan for the establishment of postal savings banks1 so ably advocated by the postmaster-general1 may result in a radical change in our entire banking system4 ,the demand for postal savings-banks is so popular that it is not likely that there will be much further delay on the part of ,congress in realizing the project4 ,now it happens that among the new political issues that have arisen1 the question of the currency has assumed a most prominent place4 ,there can be no doubt of the intensity of the feeling that has developed against the national banks1 which have supplied a large proportion of the circulating medium since the war1 and the demand for a currency issued directly by the government1 without the intervention of the banks1 is growing both in volume and in force4 ,the sense of the inadequacy of the national banks to the financial necessities of the country is by no means confined to those who1 by theory or experience1 have been made hostile to them1 and regard them as detrimental to our institutions1 and as dangerous instruments for the oppression of the common people4 ,it extends to those who recognize that the national banks have been of invaluable service to the country1 and are a vast improvement over the banking system that preceded them4 ,nevertheless they feel that grave defects are showing themselves1 and that for the security of the community something better is needed4 ,there is not the confidence on the part of the business community that there should be1 and events like the recent occurrences in connection with the ,keystone ,national ,bank1 in ,philadelphia1 are not likely to enhance that confidence4 ,one of the most frequent of surmises is as to how many similar cases there may be1 and a very commonly heard query is that as to the state of affairs that a general financial panic might reveal1 with the banks loaded with collateral upon which it would be hardly possible to realize at such a time4 ,then there is the moral aspect of the case1 so well expressed in an essay#bb by one of the soundest philosophical and political thinkers whom ,america has known1 the late ,david ,atwood ,wasson4 ,said he3 ,at present the government permits itself to become indirectly1--or1 if we speak of the ,state governments1 worse1 sometimes1 than indirectly1--confederate with those who amass fortunes by making credit precarious1 and forcing the hazards of the gaming-table into all the legitimate operations of business4 ,the comptroller of the currency has publicly said that about one half1 on an average1 of the means of the national banks1 in one chief city--institutions1 observe1 created by government1 and charged1 in effect1 with one of its most distinctive functions1 that of supplying a medium of exchange--are loaned to speculators2 that is1 to men who subsist largely on artificial disturbances of credit1 upon corners in the stock market and money market1 upon alternations of inflation and stringency1 the ups and downs of a disordered constitution4 ,without going into the matter closely1 which is aside from my present purpose1 ,i leave before the reader the main facts of the case3 that the system of credit centred in the modern banking system plays a vast and increasing role in our civilization2 that while of a utility not easily overstated1 it affords peculiar opportunities of fraud and exaction2 that aside from these1 its unregulated condition is dangerous1 resulting in alternations of inflation and depression1 like the alternate extremes of fever and ague2 that vast and growing combinations exist for producing artificially this disorder2 that those institutions which credit has created under the express sanction of government1 at once to supply its necessities and hold it healthily in check1 are managed only as private property2 that much oppression1 alike of labor and capital1 and also1 ,i fear1 much demoralization--which is an interior and worse oppression--are suffered in consequence2 and that hitherto our statesmanship wants the studious leisure1 and our method of government the stability and precision of operation1 which these exigencies demand4 #bb ,the ,new ,type of ,oppression1 in ,essays3 ,religious1 ,social1 ,political4 ,lee ,shepard1 ,boston4 ,a truer statement of the case never was made1 and these words should be well pondered by patriotic citizens4 ,probably the reason why the feeling against our present banking system has not yet taken shape in legislation is because no sound constructive measures have been proposed4 ,faulty as the system is1 what is there better that can take its place8 is asked1 and to this no satisfactory reply has been given4 ,even though the notes of the national banks should be retired1 and currency issued directly from the national treasury should take their place1 we must have banking facilities of some kind4 ,absolute security of bank deposits is what is desired1 and any measure that would secure that end could hardly fail to be joyfully welcomed by the business community1 with the exception of the small minority either selfishly interested in present banking corporations1 or whose prosperity is derived from operations based upon a state of insecurity4 ,powerful as these interests are1 there is no reason why they should be permitted to stand in the way of the realization of a better condition of affairs1 should that prove attainable4 ,the leading merit of the national banking system comes from the absolute security of its circulating medium1 proceeding from the governmental guarantee4 ,meanwhile the interests of the depositors1 in supplying whose convenience the bank derives its business1 remain inadequately guarded4 ,is not some system possible whereby in place of this partial guarantee we may have a complete guarantee1 covering both circulating medium and deposit8 ,fortunately1 with the experiences of other countries furnishing examples so available as they do nowadays1 we are not left entirely to our own resources in devising solutions for problems that confront us4 ,we have but to look to ,austria for a most successful example of a truly national banking system1 that completely meets the demand4 ,when ,austria established its postal savings bank1 in #ahhb1 a regular check and clearing system was made a feature thereof4 ,this1 offering substantially the same convenience as our ordinary private or national banks in this country1 together with the additional advantages of absolute security of deposits1 and checks good in all parts of the country1 has become enormously popular with the mercantile public1 so that the regular banking department has quite overshadowed the savings department1 important as the latter is4 ,every post-office in ,austria1 therefore1 has the function of both a savings-bank and a bank of deposit4 ,a permanent deposit of one hundred florins1 or forty dollars1 is sufficient to make a person a member of the check and clearing department4 ,no limit is placed on the amount that may be deposited1 but a single check cannot be drawn for more than ten thousand florins four thousand dollars4 ,interest is paid on deposits at a rate not exceeding two per cent41 while the interest on savings may not exceed three per cent4 ,a charge of two kreutzers eight mills is made for each entry1 together with a commission of one fourth per mille4 ,another function of the postal bank is the buying and selling of government securities1 for which a commission of two per mille is charged1 with a commission of one per mille for the cashing of coupons4 ,it is interesting to learn that two years before the adoption of this system by ,austria1 a very similar plan was advocated by an able ,american student of finance1 the ,hon4 ,l4 ,v4 ,moulton1 of ,grand ,rapids1 ,michigan4 ,in his book1 ,the ,science of ,money and ,american ,finances1 published in #ahhj1 he said3 ,the government ought to provide a deposit system of absolute safety to depositors for all who choose to avail themselves of it4 ,a system of postal savings-banks somewhat similar to the ,british should be adopted4 ,the government receiving a deposit1 and allowing the depositor to check out at the same or any other office1 paying no interest and doing no loaning1 receiving the use of the funds while on deposit1 as compensation for storage and transportation of funds4 ,no actual transportation would1 of course1 be required1 except to settle balances between offices4 ,this would be the safest possible deposit and most convenient exchange system1 and is quite as proper for the government to undertake as the postal or money-order business4 ,as it is1 the government coins money and transfers money1 but will not take it on storage1 which is absurd1 and forces the people to deposit with loan and discount concerns1 liable to explode at any time and leave them penniless4 ,although interest on deposits is paid in ,austria1 there appears to be no good reason why it should be paid were the system adopted in this country4 ,there is no need of it as an inducement1 for the absolute security and the greatly increased convenience of the system would be sufficient for that4 ,the present national banks pay no interest on deposits1 the facilities afforded being adequate to secure all the deposits needed4 ,it appears desirable1 however1 to pay interest on deposits of savings4 ,in the bill prepared by ,postmaster-,general ,wanamaker1 it is provided that this shall not exceed #b4d per cent4 ,this low rate is fixed upon in order that the interest may be considerably less than the average paid by private bankers to depositors4 ,the great obstacle to the establishment of postal savings-banks in this country has been the lack of available means for the investment of the funds1 the rapidly decreasing national debt making government bonds out of the question for the purpose4 ,mr4 ,wanamaker proposes to overcome this obstacle by loaning the funds to national banks within the ,state where the deposits are made4 ,the objection to this course lies in the objection to the national banks themselves1 as heretofore stated4 ,to give them disposition over such a vast amount--it is estimated that the deposits in the postal savings-banks would soon reach #ejj1jjj1jjj--would be to increase vastly their power for harm4 ,mr4 ,wanamaker's alternative proposition1 to utilize the funds in the direction of greater and much needed expenditures for public buildings1 particularly post-office structures1 is1 on the other hand1 a sound one4 ,they might also be employed to advantage in providing the means for the much needed extension of the postal service now so widely demanded1 as in the adoption of a parcels post equal to that of ,germany1 ,england1 and other countries1 and in nationalizing the telegraph and telephone and incorporating them into the postal department4 ,the deposits in the proposed check and clearing department would place an enormous amount at the disposal of the government1 in addition to the postal savings-bank funds4 ,paying no interest on these deposits1 the government might utilize the money in its own expenditures1 and thus to a considerable extent reduce taxation4 ,or1 just as the ordinary banks loan their deposits1 the government might loan this money for mortgages on land and on staple products1 somewhat as demanded in recent agitations4 ,a person so eminent in the discussion of these questions as ,mr4 ,edward ,atkinson has recently stated1 in substance1 that1 increase the volume of the currency as we may1 still it would not be adequate to certain exigencies of regular recurrence1 like the annual moving of the crops4 ,he thus practically concedes the justice of the farmers' demand1 as formulated in their sub-treasury project1 but he would supply this want through private banking institutions organized expressly to loan money for this purpose4 ,such institutions would1 however1 naturally take advantage of the necessities of the farmers by obtaining the highest rates of interest possible1 while the underlying purpose of the other plan would be that of making the loans at the lowest rates consistent with the expense of the transactions4 ,is it not better1 it may be asked1 and more in accordance with the principles of true self-help1 for the people thus to supply their own financial needs in the cheapest way possible through the instrumentality of their governmental organization1 rather than depend upon private enterprise organized to take advantage of their necessities for its own profit8 ,at first glance there might seem to be an objection in the fact that1 while the government was lending money at two per cent4 it was paying on savings deposits interest possibly as high as #b4d per cent41 which would appear to be an unbusiness-like and unprofitable proceeding4 ,but on striking an average between the sums on which it was paying that rate and the large amounts on which it was paying no interest1 but receiving two per cent41 it would probably be found that it was getting the whole at a rate considerable less than two per cent4 ,a more valid objection to the lending of money by the government at a fixed low rate of interest1 instead of at whatever rates it might obtain according to the state of the money market1 as private banking institutions would do1 might be found in the liability that the parties to whom it was loaned might reloan it at higher rates1 and thus use the good offices of the government as a means of personal profit4 ,the measure could hardly fail1 however1 to lower very greatly the general rate of interest in the business world4 ,it would be important1 of course1 to keep this large sum in circulation1 and thus avoid the evils arising from hoarding4 ,its utilization for the regular expenditures of the government would be likely to do this1 and the consequent reduction of taxation would be a great public advantage4 ,although the idea of loaning money at fixed low rates upon certain securities1 such as land and staple products1 might prove impracticable from various considerations--such1 for instance1 as the injustice of discriminating in favor of any particular classes in the community1 as such a scheme would appear to do--there should be no difficulty in devising some practicable system for using to the advantage of the entire public the extensive funds which thus would be placed at the disposal of the government4 ,the postal banks would doubtless very largely take the place of present institutions of deposit4 ,to what extent this would be the case1 it is1 of course1 impossible to say4 ,for all ordinary purposes1 and for the needs of the average business man1 their advantages could not fail to be great4 ,their effect would probably be to withdraw from the market large sums now available for speculative purposes1 and divert them to legitimate uses4 ,the speculative tendency would1 therefore1 be likely to be discouraged by so much4 ,necessary limitations might make the postal banks unavailable for those whose financial transactions are conducted on a great scale1 and their wants would continue to be met by private institutions1 which would offer special inducements to large depositors1 just as the trust companies now offer special inducements over the present national banks by paying interest on deposits4 ,,another ,,view ,,of ,,newman4 ,,by ,,wm4 ,m4 ,,salter4 ,i suppose ,i should never have felt toward ,cardinal ,john ,henry ,newman as ,i do1 had ,i not been once in a certain state of mind4 ,it was my lot1 as a divinity student1 to feel under the necessity of examining into the grounds of my religious belief4 ,i could not accept what my teachers gave me1 simply because it was taught1 much as ,i revered some of them4 ,i had to test1 examine1 and conclude for myself4 ,i evidently felt the difficulties of belief1 as most of my fellow-students did not4 ,at ,new ,haven the main outlines of evangelical orthodoxy1 at ,cambridge the fundamental ideas of theism1 were accepted1 as a rule1 without serious question4 ,i envied my fellows their assurance2 ,i1 too1 craved assurance1 but ,i had to get it in my own way1 and ,i was plunged into investigations1 and beset by doubts that did not seem to occupy or perplex them4 ,the question was1 where could ,i find a point to start from2 not what was the whole truth1 but what was the truth ,i could be immediately sure of1--what was light that ,i could not question 7or1 at least1 reasonably question78 ,for1 once in possession of that1 other things might naturally and logically follow4 ,it seemed to me1 that if there was any sure ground for the ,christian believer1 it was to be found in ,christ himself2 that if ever a voice from another world had spoken to this1 it had been through him4 ,the fundamental problem was1 ,was his consciousness to be trusted8 ,it was after three years of examination into the origin and trustworthiness of the gospel records1 of effort to form a faithful picture of ,jesus' mind1 of weighing of probabilities as to whether he could have been mistaken1 and a decision that he could not have been1 and that he was1 under ,god1 my appointed ,lord1 and ,saviour1 and ,judge1 as he was that of all men1--it was at this time that ,i fell in with the writings of ,newman1 and that he began to exercise a charm over me1 which1 amid all my subsequent changes of thought1 ,i have never been willing to disown4 ,i felt in the first place that he had a profound sense of the difficulties of faith4 ,there was no evidence that certain questions had ever been open questions to him 7such as the being of ,god and the reality of a revelation71 but he seemed to be as keenly aware of the difficulties attending them as if they had been4 ,he believed and yet he knew the other side4 ,few are the apologists who have dared to say what he has said2 few are the unbelievers who could state their case more strongly than he has stated it for them4 ,it was this width of imagination that1 for one thing1 separated him from the ordinary theologian4 ,one of his precepts to a zealous follower was1 ,be sure you grasp fully any view which you seek to combat4 ,let me illustrate4 ,newman admitted in so many words that it was a great question whether atheism was not as philosophically consistent with the phenomena of the physical world as the doctrine of a creative and governing power4 ,he allowed ,hume's argument against miracles to be valid from a purely scientific aspect of things1 and doubted the conclusiveness of the design argument 7though not the argument from order7 for the being of ,god4 ,he knew to the full how hard it was to hold one's faith in ,god in face of all that seems amiss and awry1 purposeless1 blind1 and cruel in the world4 ,he held this faith1 he believed there were reasons for it 7chiefly in man's conscience71 it was the starting-point of his religious system1 and yet when he looked out of himself into the world of men1 the lie seemed to be given to it and the effect was as confusing1 he said1 as if it were denied that he was in existence himself4 ,if ,i looked into a mirror these are his words and did not see my face1 ,i should have the sort of feeling which actually comes upon me when ,i look into this living1 busy world and see no reflex of its ,creator4444 ,were it not for the voice speaking so clearly in my conscience and my heart1 ,i should be an ,atheist1 or a ,pantheist1 or a ,polytheist4444 ,to consider the world in its length and breadth1 its various history1 the many races of men1 their starts1 their fortunes1 their mutual alienation1 their conflicts2 and then their ways1 habits1 governments1 forms of worship1 their enterprises1 their aimless courses1 their random achievements and acquirements1 the impotent conclusion of long-standing facts1 the tokens so faint and broken of a superintending design1 the blind evolution of what turn out to be great powers or truths2 the progress of things1 as if from unreasoning elements1 not towards final causes2 the greatness and littleness of man1 his far-reaching aims1 his short duration1 the curtain hung over his futurity2 the disappointments of life1 the defeat of good1 the success of evil1 the pervading idolatries1 the corruptions1 the dreary1 hopeless irreligion1 that condition of the whole race so fearfully yet exactly described in the apostle's words1 ',having no hope and without ,god in this world'2 all this is a vision to dizzy and appall1 and inflicts upon the mind a sense of profound mystery which is absolutely beyond human solution4 ,to have one's doubts1 one's misgivings1 one's own blank confusion portrayed with such appreciation and in such vivid detail by another--how could it fail to powerfully affect me8 ,surely1 ,i said to myself1 whether this man's faith was true or not1 he did not hold it because the tremendous obstacles in the way of it had not been brought home to him4 ,similarly he appreciated the difficulties in connection with revelation itself1 as when he said that ,god has given us doctrines which are but obscurely gathered from scripture1 and a scripture which is but obscurely gathered from history1 as when he admitted the real obstacles in the way of the ,jews admitting that ,jesus was their ,messiah4 ,but ,i will not linger over this point1 and pass on to say that ,newman impressed me as one of those few men1 in any age1 who have an intellectual life of their own4 ,his was no hereditary belief2 he had faced the problems of religion for himself4 ,what looks like faith in many cases1 he himself said1 was a mere hereditary persuasion1 not a personal principle1 a habit learned in the nursery1 which is scattered and disappears like a mist before the light of reason4 ,his own admiration went out evidently to the bold unworldliness and vigorous independence of mind shown by one of his early teachers1 ,thos4 ,scott2 to the type of mind illustrated by an ,oxford associate1 who had an intellect1 he says1 as critical and logical as it was speculative and bold4 ,whately1 he records1 had taught him to see with his own eyes and to walk with his own feet2 he thought of dedicating his first book to him1 in words to the effect that he had not only taught him to think1 but to think for himself4 ,it was a first hand dealing with almost all the problems he took up1 that ,i had the sense of in reading ,newman's pages1 however far ahead he was of me in the line of 7what seemed then7 religious advance4 ,and because he had thought1 he had moved1 he had had a history4 ,he started with certain truths 7as he supposed them to be71 but instead of accepting them mechanically1 he thought them out2 he studied to see what they implied1 what other truths were consistent with them and what were not2 in other words1 he gradually worked his way out to something like a system1 and therein consisted his history4 ,the ordinary idea of ,newman 7leaving the past tense for the moment7 seems to be that he sacrificed his intellect1 that out of weariness he threw himself into the ,catholic fold4 ,such may be a true account of some conversions1 but it is a pitiable travesty of the facts in the case of ,newman4 ,newman went into the ,church because it seemed rational to him to do so2 and it is still the great question1 whether once assuming certain fundamental ideas held by ,protestant and ,catholic alike1 any other course is rational4 ,the trouble with ,newman1 as with his brother ,francis 7in some ways also a remarkable man71 was simply that1 as the ,london ,truth banteringly said1 neither was able to swallow the ,athanasian creed in a comfortable and prosaic way1 as good ,britons should2 or1 as the ,saturday ,review in all seriousness urged1 that he did not hold as his supreme principle pride in the ,church of ,england as such1 determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with others in resisting the foreigner1 whether he came from ,rome or from ,geneva1 from ,tuebingen or from ,saint ,sulpice2 in other words1 that he opened the windows of his mind1 instead of keeping them shut2 that he set out on living a life of reason instead of one of prejudice2 that he determined to seek out and follow the truth on whatever shores that quest should land him4 ,most men in this country1 ,newman once wrote1 like opinions to be brought to them1 rather than to be at the pains to go out and seek for them4 ,but ,newman himself was cast in another mould2 rationality1 consistency1 were an imperative craving with him2 and feeling that the popular religious creed lacked these things1 he went in search of them and started1 as it were1 on a journey4 ,a memorandum1 written down at the age of twenty-eight1 speaks of himself as now in my room in ,orell ,college1 slowly advancing1 etc41 and led on by ,god's hand blindly1 not knowing whither ,he is taking me4 ,his touching verses1 beginning ,lead1 kindly ,light1 betray the same feeling4 ,gloom did encircle him1 but in the midst of it there was a light1 which he strove and craved to follow4 ,though mystical1 in a certain sense1 by temperament1 he resolved1 he tells us1 to be guided1 not by his imagination1 but by his reason4 ,he had once a strange emotional experience1 but when it was over he wished that it should not unduly influence him4 ,i had to determine its logical value1 he says1 and its bearing on my duty4 ,what are we doing all through life1 both as a necessity and as a duty1 he wrote many years afterwards1 but unlearning the world's poetry and attaining to its prose8 ,this is our education as boys and as men1 in the action of life and in the closet or library2 in our affections1 in our aims1 in our hopes1 and in our memories4 ,and in like manner it is the education of our intellect4 ,this is little more than saying that the supreme rule of life is reason1 that it is our life-task to bring all the varied motions of our minds into harmony with this ideal4 ,the fact is that he became ultimately persuaded that the ,catholic creed was that rational and consistent creed of which he was in search--rational and consistent that is1 in the sense of being in harmony with1 and an outgrowth of1 those fundamental ideas of a ,god and of a revelation with which he started2 and in addressing others after he became a ,catholic1 he said1 ,be convinced in your reason that the ,catholic ,church is a teacher sent to you from ,god1 and it is enough4 ,i do not wish you to join her till you are4 ,yet while he was in search of the truth1 while he was on the journey1 he excited no little suspicion and distrust4 ,the very thing that lends him charm to those who love to see intellectual movement and development allowed apostles of prejudice and good1 but narrow-minded1 men to think of him as insidious1 leading his disciples on to conclusions to which he designed to bring them1 while his purpose was veiled4 ,but1 says ,froude1 who tells us this1 and was himself at ,oxford in those early days1 he was on the contrary the most transparent of men4 ,he told us what he believed to be true4 ,he did not know where it would carry him4 ,no one who has ever risen to any great height in the world refuses to move till he knows whither he is going4 ,such are the words of one who1 though he felt the spell of ,newman1 soon struck on a different intellectual path4 ,matthew ,arnold1 too1 experienced the spell4 ,who could resist1 he says in a lecture on ,emerson1 the charm of that spiritual apparition1 gliding in the dim afternoon light through the aisles of ,st4 ,mary's1 rising into the pulpit1 and then in the most entrancing of voices1 breaking the silence with words and thoughts which were a religious music--subtile1 sweet1 mournful4 ,to ,arnold1 he was a man never to be named by a son of ,oxford without sympathy2 and this1 though ,arnold1 too1 regarded his solution for the doubts and difficulties which beset men's minds to-day as impossible4 ,once ,charles ,kingsley brought against him a charge of intellectual dishonesty and falsity2 but1 as ,mr4 ,conway remarks1 ,kingsley's sword broke in his hands and on all sides the demolition which he received in ,newman's reply 7the ,apologia pro ,vita ,sua7 has been regarded as complete4 ,even the ,saturday ,review says1 ,his conversion was transparently honest2 no one1 save the most contemptible of party scribes1 can ever hint a doubt of that4 ,he deliberately shut his eyes1 an intellectual suicide1 his sympathies and sensibilities were always his ultimate test of right thought and action4 ,such are the comments of a recent reviewer2 but on the morning of the day in which ,newman was received into the ,catholic ,church1 he wrote to a friend1 ,may ,i have only one tenth part as much faith as ,i have intellectual conviction where the truth lies6 ,i do not suppose any one can have had such combined reasons pouring in upon him that he is doing right4 ,but how can ,newman have had reasons for his course8 we may incredulously ask4 ,and here ,i revert to my particular state of mind years ago4 ,the question for me was1 holding as ,i did that in ,jesus1 ,god had spoken to the world1 and that under ,god he was the ,lord1 and ,saviour1 and ,judge of men1 could ,i remain standing in such a position8 ,it was a starting-point1 but did it not lead somewhere8 ,holding so much1 despite the difficulties1 was it not possible that consistently therewith1 ,i must hold more1 despite further difficulties8 ,looking about me among ,unitarians1 with whom ,i was then associated1 ,i felt that even this faith had scant acceptance among them4 ,for example1 taking a country church for a year1 ,i found that not in a decade or more had there been any additions to the church membership1 or even efforts in that direction2 the church was1 practically1 simply an assemblage of pew-holders4 ,my own efforts to induce persons to confess ,jesus as their ,lord1 to take his name1 to become his avowed follower before the world 7i4 e4 to join his church71 were something novel2 yet a church1 an assembly of followers1 was essential to my idea of ,christianity1--,jesus having said1 ,whoever will confess me before men1 him will ,i confess before my ,father who is in heaven1 and a king without a kingdom 7or right to a kingdom7 being in itself absurd4 ,i could not help the foreboding that ,unitarianism was not a finality or more than a camp for a night2 nay1 the question was whether ,unitarianism was not doing more to dissipate ,christianity1 than to build it up in any historical sense of the term4 ,moreover1 ,protestant orthodoxy did not have any firm hold on some fundamental parts and evident implications of the faith ,i already held1 and was struggling to keep4 ,the idea of the ,church itself was weak in most ,protestant mind2 they spiritualized it1 as they said2 but when ,jesus spoke of confessing him before men1 he evidently laid the foundations of a visible ,church4 ,again1 ,jesus felt that he spoke with ,divine authority1 and as he was commissioned1 so he commissioned others to stand for him before the world1 and to speak in his name4 ,he left them to be his witnesses1 to continue his message and his work after he should be gone4 ,he had the power to forgive sins1 for example1 and he conveyed it to others1 solemnly saying that whatever was bound or loosed on earth1 should be bound or loosed in heaven4 ,was it exactly natural1 ,i asked myself1 that divine light and guidance and forgiveness should be thus present1 as it were1 on earth for a few years1 and then become entirely a matter of history and antiquarian research8 ,if there was reason for ,jesus' commissioning the apostles1 was there not equal reason for the apostles commissioning others who should take their places8 ,protestants said the revelation was in a book2 but ,jesus never spoke of a book4 ,if something else was authoritative in the apostolic days1 what absurdity was there in supposing that something else might be authoritative in later days8 ,and yet1 no ,protestant church or synod or council ever claimed to be such a living witness of ,god on the earth4 ,the most zealous ,protestants were careful to say that they gave only their human1 fallible interpretations of the distant revelation2 that it was even blasphemous for a man to claim to forgive sins2 that the ,bible1 and the ,bible only1 was their religion4 ,and yet1 the ,bible1 it was severally claimed1 gave the basis to the ,presbyterian creed1 to the ,methodist creed1 to1 one might say1 a hundred creeds1 even including the slender one of ,unitarians4 ,how certain words of ,newman came home to me in the midst of such reflections6 ,there is an overpowering antecedent improbability in ,almighty ,god's announcing that ,he has revealed something1 and then revealing nothing2 there is no antecedent improbability in ,his revealing it elsewhere than in an inspired volume4 ,i do not mean to say that ,i was converted by ,newman2 but ,i was open to light on that side4 ,i did not shut my mind1 as most ,protestants seemed to1 and ,i dimly felt1 ,i had a sort of foreboding that1 if what ,i already held was true1 reason might be on his side4 ,and it was reason--the demand for a set of views that should be harmonious and consistent--that made me dissatisfied2 and so ,i could give credit to the idea that ,newman in his changes1 and in his final act1 was influenced by reason4 ,to ,newman1 the main difficulty of all lay in the being of ,god4 ,if there was a ,god1 it seemed rational to him that there should be a revelation1 taking into account the actual condition of men4 ,if there was a revelation1 the ,catholic ,church presented more signs of being its bearer and custodian than any other body or institution of men4 ,i think if we are disposed to question the rationality of his course1 we shall find1 if we examine the matter carefully1 that it is because we question his postulates1 not his reasoning or results4 ,granted that there is a ,god1 as men ordinarily understand that term1 and ,i think that a revelation is antecedently probable2 granted that a revelation has been made1 as ,protestants 7save ,unitarians7 are agreed1 and ,i think it but reasonable to suppose that some such body as the ,catholic ,church claims to be should be its bearer and unerring interpreter to men4 ,we are mistaken if we think that ,newman devised any short-cut to mental peace1 or used any other instrument or method for arriving at his results than we ordinarily employ in sound reasonings of every day4 ,he claimed no intuitions1 no vision of theological truth1 and he was less arbitrary and fanciful in defending ,catholic dogma than ,i have known philosophers to be in defending the being of ,god and the immortality of the soul4 ,he tells us in his ,apologia that he believed in a ,god on a ground of probability1 that he believed in ,christianity on a probability1 and that he believed in ,catholicism on a probability1 and that these three grounds of probability1 distinct from each other in subject-matter1 were still1 all of them1 one and the same in nature of proof1 as being probabilities--probabilities of a special kind1 a cumulative1 a transcendent probability1 but still probability4 ,but did he not by some magical metamorphosis turn these probabilities into a certainty8 ,no2 he simply claimed that they were sufficient to produce certitude1 which is a different matter4 ,certitude1 he held1 was a quality or habit of mind2 certainty1 a quality of propositions2 and probabilities that did not reach to logical certainty might suffice for a mental certitude4 ,we are mentally sure almost every day of many things which could not be demonstratively proved2 we are practically as sure of them as if they could be proved2 we are ready to act on the basis of them1 and that is the test of practical certitude4 ,the word of a friend on a matter of which we are ignorant is an example2 we may be as sure of what he tells us as if we had seen it ourselves2 yet he may be mistaken2 strictly speaking1 his word is only probable evidence4 ,but did not ,newman substitute faith for reason8 ,yes1 in a sense2 but not in a sense in which it is of itself irrational to do so4 ,how much could the reason of any of us tell us of ,central ,africa8 ,we know of it by testimony1 do we not8 not by reason4 ,from our own notions alone we could not tell whether it was a desert or a forest2 whether it was inhabited or uninhabited2 whether full-grown human beings or dwarfs lived there2 but a ,livingstone1 a ,du ,chaillu1 a ,stanley1 tell us1 and we accept their word4 ,the fact is1 that trust in testimony is what we daily practise4 ,we learn of what is going on in a neighboring town1 of much in our own town1 of much in our own house 7unless we are there all the time1 and in every part of it at the same time7 not by reasoning about it1 any more than by sight1 but by faith in what others tell us4 ,why should we be unwilling to go by faith8 asks ,newman4 ,we do all things in this world by faith in the word of others4 ,by faith only we know our positions in the world1 our circumstances1 our rights and privileges1 our fortunes1 our parents1 our brothers and sisters1 our age1 our mortality2 why should religion be an exception8 ,why should we be willing to use for heavenly objects what we daily use for earthly8 ,there is really nothing mystical about faith2 it is not peculiarly a religious principle1 nor is it the ideal way of getting knowledge4 ,as ,newman says1 ,the word of another is in itself a faint evidence compared with that of sight or reason4 ,it is influential only when we cannot do without it4 ,now it may be difficult to suppose that ,god has ever spoken in the world4 ,but if we think ,he has1 it cannot be irrational to take ,his word and believe it2 it cannot be absurd to trust a ,divine message1 when we are every day trusting human messages4 ,and one thing further4 ,when we trust a friend's report1 we do not make our previous ideas of what is probable1 a test of how much we shall believe of what he says4 ,if we were already competent to say what happened1 we should not go to him for information4 ,unless it is impossible1 or against all the laws of probability1 we assent to what he says1 however much it may surprise1 or startle1 or alarm us2 if we cannot do this1 we have not real trust4 ,but trusting it is irrational to pick and choose2 to say this we will accept and that we will reject1 according as it seems antecedently likely or not4 ,surely this must be also true of divine testimony4 ,if ,god1 the perfect1 the unerring intelligence1 speaks1 we are at least to give ,him the same respect we should show to a fellow-man2 we are not to say1 this is credible and ,i accept it2 that is strange1 mysterious1 and ,i must reject it4 ,if we knew beforehand what was true1 to what end would ,god give the revelation8 ,and if we do thus sit in judgment1 we simply show 7unless we are dishonest7 that we do not believe that ,god has spoken4 ,hence1 what is called the submission of reason1 which1 in the large sense of the word1 it is only rational to give1 if ,god has indeed given a message to the world4 ,protestants so submit to the teachings of the ,bible2 ,catholics do to the teachings of the ,church4 ,if ,god really speaks in either1 it is as rational to do so as it is to trust ,stanley's reports of the lakes and jungles1 the weird forests and strange inhabitants of ,central ,africa--yes1 as much more so as ,stanley is a man1 and ,god is ,god4 ,most simply and frankly does ,newman say1 in speaking of early converts1 ,the ,church was their teacher2 they did not come to argue1 to examine1 to pick and choose1 but to accept whatever was put before them4 ,this attitude of arguing1 examining1 picking1 and choosing in relation to things of which we really know nothing1 and can know nothing1 in our mortal state 7though supposedly ,god knows and has given a certain amount of light7 ,newman calls ,rationalism2 and if ,god has spoken1 surely such ,rationalism is irrational4 ,the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion1 that one creed is as good as another1 and that all is opinion1 ,newman calls ,liberalism2 but if ,god has revealed the truth such ,liberalism is false4 ,in writing of ,newman as ,i have1 ,i have been moved by old attachment and personal veneration4 ,but if ,i have incidentally contributed to show that a ,catholic need not necessarily be either a weak man or a dishonest one1 as is sometimes taken for granted among ,liberals1 ,i shall not be sorry4 ,my opinion is that ,newman differed from the stock ,protestantism of his day1 largely because he sought out light and sought it with a mind which for eagerness1 keenness1 subtlety1 depth1 has rarely been surpassed2 that he left the ,church of ,england because it was neither fish nor fowl--and rationality and consistency were not in it2 that he went to ,rome1 because1 taking his premises for granted1 reason pointed that way4 ,and yet the guarded way in which ,i have spoken has probably been noticed by my readers4 ,i have not said that reason1 abstractly speaking1 was on his side1 but that starting from his premises his course was reasonable--his premises being those to which most ,christians hold4 ,the difference was that he took them seriously and they became living principles1 germs of ample growth in his mind1 while others held them unthinkingly2 that he had the rare power of realizing his ideas1 while others took them as mechanically as we often take the stars at night--points of light they are to us and nothing more4 ,but whether his premises were really sound is another question4 ,my mature judgment is that they were not2 had ,i been able to hold my ,christian faith as ,i once held it1 could ,i have resisted the solvents that science1 and criticism1 and philosophy were bringing to bear upon it1 ,i should have gone ,i know not where2 as it is1 ,i am a ,liberal 7though not in ,newman's sense74 ,the ordinary idea of ,god ,i cannot hold1 nor does it seem likely that ,i shall ever hold an idea of ,god with which the idea of a special revelation would be congruous2 and even were the ordinary idea of ,god a true one1 ,i think that the matter-of-fact evidence of a revelation through ,jesus is insufficient4 ,reluctant as ,i was to admit it1 struggle as ,i might against it1 the share of ,jesus in the errors and illusions of his time 7the sense of which grew upon me7 made it impossible for me at last to absolutely trust his consciousness2 however great1 however sublime a figure he was1 it appeared that he belonged after all to our fallible humanity4 ,hence in my view we were thrown back on ourselves2 we may have great and consoling beliefs about life and its purpose1 about death and what lies beyond1 about the fathomless ,power from which we come and on whose bosom we rest2 but a revelation we have not2 they are beliefs which we ourselves form and do not receive from without4 ,rationalism1 though not in the sense in which ,newman used it1 becomes the only method2 and ,liberalism1 in the sense that whatever creed one may hold none can claim to be infallible1 or of exclusive divine authority1 and that good men of different creeds should respect and tolerate one another1 becomes at once a necessity and a duty4 ,newman has taken his way2 other men1 let us trust1 with the root of piety in them as truly as it was in him1 have taken theirs2 the ways are far apart--which is truer1 time1 the future1 perhaps the ages alone can tell4 ,but we are bound not to revile him1 as he in sober truth never reviled us4 ,,inter-,,migration4 ,,by ,,rabbi ,,solomon ,,schindler4 ,the immigration problem1 which ,i have been discussing in previous numbers of ,,the ,,arena1 cannot be unravelled without considering one important thread which adds to the entanglement4 ,i shall apply to it the term ,inter-migration1 a word not found in the dictionary1 because it is freshly coined for the purpose4 ,let me try to define its meaning4 ,a person is said to migrate when he leaves his native land1 seeking a new home in some other country4 ,around the word emigrant or immigrant hovers always the idea of an exchange of habits1 customs1 and language of one country with those of another4 ,the immigrant1 when he arrives at the place which he has chosen for his new settlement1 appears by his dress1 his language1 his manners1 yea1 even by his features1 a stranger2 one who has apparently no right to press himself upon the community2 one who must not feel offended if he is mistrusted1 until he has shown that his arrival will not prove dangerous to the old settlers4 ,around the word emigrant hovers the idea of distance2 he comes from far-off countries1 from a place which cannot be easily reached1 or from which information concerning himself cannot be readily obtained4 ,we call a person an immigrant who comes to us from a distance of at least a few thousand miles1 and from a country that differs from ours in the forms of government as well as in customs and manners4 ,we would surely not call a person an immigrant who comes from a village of ,maine or ,new ,hampshire to ,boston1 nor even if he should come from the far ,south or from the extreme ,west4 ,yet1 what is the difference8 ,he is a person who has left his native home1 who is as much a stranger among us as the one who comes across the ocean4 ,his manners may be as different from ours1 his features may show at a glance1 whether he is a southerner1 a western man1 or whether he comes from down east2 even his language may be strange on account of the peculiar accent which he gives his words1 and the idioms which he uses4 ,it may frequently happen that two people1 who both think they speak the ,english language will be unable to understand each other1 on account of the difference in dialect4 ,the new-comer may prove to be as much1 or even more1 of an undesirable element among us1 as the one who comes from ,ireland or ,china2 his presence in the labor market may tend as well to reduce the rates of wages as if he had come from ,hungaria or ,bulgaria4 ,there is no denying the fact that a locomotion has taken place1 that an individual has transplanted himself from one place to the other1 either on account of the urging of his venturesome spirit1 or for the sake of finding a better market for his abilities1 or driven out by force of adverse conditions4 ,there is little difference whether a person leaves ,russia on account of his dissatisfaction with the government1 or an arbitrary legislation which deprives him of his opportunities2 or whether he leaves a village in ,nebraska because he finds he is unable longer to withstand the grinding process of the land sharks1 or the sweating system of the factory owners4 ,his intentions are to better his condition2 precisely the same as are those of him who crosses the ,atlantic4 ,the one will sell his all to pay his passage on the steamer1 the other to pay for his railroad ticket1 and both will arrive penniless4 ,yet the one is called an emigrant or immigrant1 and the other is not1 although the distance from which the latter comes may be the same or even greater than that from which the former hails4 ,in order to distinguish between these two classes of migration1 ,i call this latter one ,inter-migration1 and desire the term to stand for a change of habitation occurring within the boundaries of a land that is under the same government4 ,inter-migration1 although it has never before reached the development to which it has risen in the present1 is not a new form of the migratory habit of peoples4 ,ancient records tell us that a forced inter-migration has frequently taken place4 ,the conquerors of old1 desirous of making one nation out of the many peoples they subdued by their valiant sword1 would transplant large numbers of individuals from one province to another distant one1 giving their land and their possessions in exchange to settlers1 whom they drew from some other country4 ,their scheme1 however1 rarely succeeded1 because the difficulties of a long journey made it impossible for them to transplant a sufficiently large number of people2 the masses remained undisturbed1 the few new-comers were soon absorbed by them1 and the desired change of sentiment was not produced4 ,the moment the government was attacked by a new conqueror1 all provinces would at once rise in revolt1 and thus hasten the downfall of empires1 such as was1 for instance1 the ,persian1 before the onslaught of so small an army as that with which ,alexander the ,great crossed the ,hellespont4 ,the golden era of the ,roman ,empire1 and the prosperity and the culture which then prevailed1 were made possible solely through the facilities which were given to inter-migration4 ,good roads connected the ends and dissected the width and breadth of the great ,roman ,empire4 ,travel was well protected4 ,a well-drilled army suppressed highway robbery1 and an excellent navy put down piracy4 ,a resident of ,gaul could with ease settle in ,syria1 while the ,syrian1 if he so desired1 could find with ease a home in ,gaul4 ,the residents of ,brittania and ,greece could with comparative ease inter-migrate1 and had not the floods of barbarians which deluged the ,roman ,empire put an end to civilization1 and with it the possibilities of inter-migration1 we might stand to-day on a much higher round of culture1 and our knowledge might have been much greater than it is4 ,if the inventions of the nineteenth century have made possible emigration to such an extent to-day as never before existed1 it has still more facilitated inter-migration4 ,it has almost destroyed the equilibrium between the centripetal and centrifugal forces1 giving the advantages to the latter4 ,the facilities of locomotion have made people restless2 the times have passed by when grandchildren would live in the same house in which their grandparents lived or when they consider it a hardship and misfortune to move out of such a habitation1 or to see it change owners2 time has been1 when only the adventurer left his native place1 and when it was considered dangerous to go into the world1 which at that time could be circumscribed by a radius of a few miles2 time has been1 when people lived for generations in the same house1 in the same street1 in the same village or town1 when even the household furniture became venerable on account of its antiquity and the remembrances connected with it4 ,what boy or girl in our day plays around the chair which their great-grandfather used to occupy8 ,to sell one house and move into another2 to leave one city and seek settlement in another1 is now the rule and not the exception2 and it is mainly this inter-migration1 stirring up the masses1 to which is due our increased prosperity and our progress in all branches of knowledge4 ,inter-migration keeps us from stagnation2 it removes shyness and fear at the sight of a stranger1 accustoms us to an intercourse with different people1 removes prejudices and superstitions1 and facilitates the exchange of thoughts and ideas4 ,on the other hand1 it cannot be denied that intermigration has also its drawbacks2 that it will easily flood the labor market so as to screw down wages2 it will foster the venturesome spirit1 induce people to risk a certainty for an uncertainty1 and especially has it tended to draw people from the rural districts to the large cities4 ,all the complaints heard against immigration1 and all the pressure that is brought to bear upon the government to restrict it1 do not come from the rural districts1 but from the large cities2 and it is generally overlooked that the competition1 which presses down the compensation for labor to such a degree that the wages earned for hard work are sometimes not sufficient to support one person1 and far less a family1 is not brought about solely by the immigrant who comes from abroad1 but is1 to a very great extent1 the consequence of inter-migration1 of the influx of villagers into the cities4 ,while in country places there is a scarcity of labor1 thus in ,new ,england1 for example1 while many farms are vacant1 there are people starving in the cities1 unable to obtain work4 ,the increase of large cities and of their population is beyond the proportion in which it formerly stood to that of the country4 ,this has aroused the thoughts of many long-headed people1 and investigations are being made on every hand1 especially because some people are moved by fear that city life will corrupt morality4 ,they take it for granted that country people are virtuous1 and that vice finds its domicile only in the large centres of population1 and having established these premises1 they argue that the tendency of country people to move into cities shows a degeneracy on their part1 or that the abnormal growth of cities is a sure token of the moral depravity which has taken hold of the people4 ,this1 however1 is not true4 ,there is as much iniquity in proportion in small communities as in large ones1 and not unfrequently wickedness and viciousness are attributed to actions which1 after all1 are neither wicked nor vicious1 but merely strange to one who is not accustomed to them4 ,the tide of inter-migration1 which swells the population of the cities1 has its natural causes1 of which moral corruption is the least4 ,the philosophers of the individualistic school will take exception1 when ,i name as the first cause of the tendency to leave the village for the city1 the fact that the more society becomes organized1 the more each individual becomes a part of a system1 the easier it is to obtain comfort1 and that1 having found the proper place1 one can more easily excel in that sphere of life4 ,true1 a man living in a village may be able to secure for himself1 without excessive labor1 food that would keep him from starvation1 and raiment and fuel to protect him against the inclemency of the weather2 but man needs more than bread and meat1 a coat and a pair of shoes4 ,there are a thousand other things which bring cheer to him and make his life worth living1 that he cannot obtain in rural solitude4 ,he claims a right to these comforts1 and tries to obtain them by seeking them where they are to be found4 ,if simple support1 which rustic life insures1 was preferable to the insecurity of earning a livelihood in the city2 if plenty of coarse food and the healthier habitation which the village offers1 were sufficient to induce the over-worked1 half-starved1 and ill-tenanted city laborer to give up for them the other comforts which city life offers him1 we should soon behold an exodus from the city to country places1 instead of observing the growth of the centres of population4 ,it is the tendency to work in a system and with a system which increases as the human being rises in culture and civilization4 ,this is the magnet which draws people to large cities1 and holds them there1 despite the many drawbacks which naturally adhere to it4 ,the facility of locomotion and of transportation have made possible an interchange of commodities which has never been so before4 ,the world has become one marketplace1 upon which the commodities are thrown1 and in which he who is able to sell an article of the same quality at the lowest rate will have most customers4 ,when grain can be produced in large quantities in the ,west1 so that it can be sold at a lower rate in the ,east than the cost of its production would be there1 it is quite natural that the ,eastern farmer must go to the wall1 and it is no wonder he deserts his farm4 ,the less the raw material can be used in its natural state1 and the more our refinement demands a long process of converting it into a commodity1 the more does it require systematic1 organized1 skilled labor to perform that conversion4 ,with sufficient land a few people can raise such an abundance of raw material that the labor of thousands of people will be called for to change it into useful articles4 ,it is the system1 the developed social organization1 which draws the villager to the city1 and as an illustration ,i shall point to the sudden and unparelleled growth of the city of ,berlin4 ,twenty-five years ago ,berlin was not quite as large in population as is ,boston to-day1 and its area was much smaller4 ,berlin is situated in a sandy1 sterile country2 so to say1 in a desert4 ,there is no navigable river to connect it with the ocean1 nor are minerals or coal found in its immediate neighborhood4 ,when ,berlin was made the seat of the ,german government1 the first result was that thousands of government officials were removed from other places to this city2 then the garrison was enlarged4 ,more commodious roads were built to connect the capital with the provinces4 ,this attracted business men1 as well as thousands whose services in all branches of life were required4 ,the manufacturer soon followed1 and ,berlin became in a short time a commercial centre4 ,leipsic lost its prestige and ,nuremberg its renown4 ,the organized net-work of labor makes it possible now for a million and a half of people to live and prosper on that sterile ground4 ,let ,berlin cease to be the capital of ,germany1 through any unforeseen event1 and its population will melt away at once4 ,like iron filings hanging on a magnet1 in which one particle attracts and holds the other1 thus are people attracted to and held in places where society1 and with it labor1 is organized4 ,another and weighty reason to account for inter-migration1 and especially for the increase of population in cities1 is that agriculture1 too1 has undergone a change4 ,the inventive genius of our age1 which keeps on creating labor-saving machinery1 has not left this branch of occupation untouched4 ,as the mechanic had to go in order to be replaced by the factory owner1 thus the small farmer can no longer exist beside a syndicate which will systematically cultivate large tracts of land4 ,the tendency of the time is to apply system also to agricultural pursuits1 to take that art out of the sphere of instinct and to transplant it into the sphere of science4 ,in this paper ,i have merely sought to bring before the mind of the reader important facts which are usually overlooked in the discussion of the problem under consideration1 believing it to be necessary to adduce all the important evidence which bears upon the subject in order that he may form a just and enlightened opinion on a great living question of the first magnitude1 as a frank statement of a problem is of far greater value to the honest investigator than any amount of ingenious reasonings from a narrow or distorted point of view4 ,,he ,,came ,,and ,,went ,,again4 ,,by ,,will ,n4 ,,harben4 ,he was the humblest man in the world4 ,he wore ragged clothing and lived in the filthiest tenement-house in ,new ,york4 ,he was unlettered1 had never opened a book1 and seemed to know little of the ways of men4 ,his hair and beard were long1 and like golden silk2 his eyes held the blue of infinite space4 ,when wealthy people passed him they shook their heads and said1 ,he is demented2 but the poor1 who knew him1 lowered their voices when he was near and whispered that he belonged to a better world1 for in his eyes they saw a strange light of eternal kindness4 ,why are you so good to me8 the poor would ask1 marvelling over his tears of sympathy4 ,because ,i love you1 he would answer1 and love is the mother of all that is good4 ,if you will love men as ,i do your way of life will be strewn with roses from heaven and your vision know no end4 ,he had never been in a church nor heard one word in the ,bible1 and yet1 with a far-away light in his eyes1 he used to talk of immortality and infinite love4 ,love is everlasting life1 he would say1 love is eternal4 ,his poor old mother did not understand him1 and she was often troubled on his behalf4 ,she used to plead with him to stay with her more and not to give up his life so completely to others4 ,why1 she would argue plaintively1 even the great clergymen who preach in the grand churches1 and who are said to be the best of men1 do not risk their lives and love others as you do4 ,they seldom come here where everybody is so poor4 ,once he asked her to tell him what the clergymen taught1 and when she tried to explain the creeds of the different denominations1 he shook his head and turned pale with perplexity and pain4 ,i cannot understand1 he said sorrowfully4 ,it all makes my heart ache4 ,it seems to me that the church-members1 too1 are in the dark4 ,love is food for the soul and they are starving4 ,people everywhere are dying in crime and pain and no one offers to help them4 ,one day1 after he had been laboring for a week without sufficient food and sleep among the fever-stricken poor1 he fell ill1 and his mother thought he was about to die4 ,she ran1 her gray locks streaming in the wind1 to the parsonage of a little church near by and inquired for the minister1 but was told by his wife that he had been gone for several weeks to a watering place in the mountains4 ,the old woman ran on further1 till she came to a great church whose majestic spire seemed to touch the clouds4 ,a stately rectory was near4 ,soft music1 mingled with merry voices1 came out to her through the open doors4 ,awkwardly and tremblingly she went up the polished marble steps and rang4 ,a servant in livery told her gruffly that his master was dining with his bishop and other distinguished personages1 and that she would have to wait4 ,she replied with a groan that she feared her son was dying4 ,the man went to his master and came back saying1 ,he cannot see you now4 ,she sat down in the great hall and tried to pray4 ,before her hung a costly painting representing ,jesus with a child in his arms1 a lamb at his side4 ,she smelt the fragrance of flowers1 and heard the clinking of wine-glasses1 the tinkling of silver and rare china1 short speeches and laughter4 ,the dean1 it seems1 she heard the bishop say1 was reproving one of the young clergymen for becoming intoxicated4 ,the young scamp's reply quite took the dean off his feet4 ',if ,i mistake not1 sir1' said the young priest1 'the liquor ,i drank came from your celebrated art-gallery and bar-room4' ,this story was greeted by hearty laughter1 and then the old woman heard the bishop giving a description of a new yacht which he had just bought4 ,by and by the rector came out4 ,his cheeks were slightly flushed1 his manner betrayed impatience4 ,well1 said he to her1 what is it8 ,i am very busy4 ,i am afraid my son is dying1 she said timidly1 abashed by the splendor of his dress and abrupt manner4 ,i thought some minister ought to see him4 ,where do you attend church8 he asked1 looking down at her tattered attire4 ,i do not go to any1 she faltered4 ,i have as much as ,i can attend to in my own parish1 he frowned2 besides my bishop is here as my guest2 there is a young theological student with me who will go4 ,and he went back to the dining-room and sent a young man out to her4 ,show me the way1 said the student1 and he shrugged his shoulders1 and blushed because the footman seemed to comprehend the situation4 ,without a word she led him through the squalid streets to the house1 and up the narrow stairs to her miserable room4 ,the sick man lay alone on a hard couch4 ,what can ,i do for you8 asked the visitor4 ,a look of hope came into the pallid features of the one addressed4 ,his voice was low and eager when he replied3-- ,a poor woman downstairs has fallen and broken her spine4 ,i fear she is without attention1 ,i was trying to reach her when ,i fell ill4 ,perhaps you will go to see her2 ,i need nothing4 ,his mind is wandering1 said the student1 turning to the mother4 ,he could not comprehend anything ,i might read or say now4 ,he needs medical treatment4 ,you should apply to the public charities4 ,and he went away1 brushing the sleeve of his coat which had caught a cobweb4 ,at her son's request the mother went below4 ,presently she returned with the information that the injured woman's needs had been attended to4 ,then she got a ,bible and began to read to him for the first time in life4 ,when she had read a few passages he asked her what it was1 and she replied3-- ,they say it is the ,word of ,god1 and that it shows us how to live4 ,when she was reading of the life of ,christ he listened with a profound look of perplexity on his pale face4 ,but when she pronounced the words1 ,love thy neighbor as thyself1 he uttered an exclamation of surprise1 and sat up in his bed4 ,i have spoken those words before6 he cried1 but in a different language4 ,it was in another life which seems like a dream4 ,i lived long1 long ago1 in a far-away land4 ,i had another mother there1 ,mary was her name1 and a good father whom the people called ,joseph4 ,i lived there as ,i do here1 but the world mocked me because ,i tried to teach them to love one another--they could not understand4 ,they put me to death4 ,they made a cross1 and hung me on it1 on a hill in the direction of the setting sun from ,jerusalem4 ,a multitude gathered to see me die4 ,amazed at his radiant and transformed countenance1 which held in it the light of eternity1 she fell down before him crying3-- ,my ,lord6 ,my ,master6 ,he lifted her up1 his weakness gone4 ,rise1 said he gently4 ,call me not ',master1' for ,i am but the son of ,god1 as you are ,his daughter4 ,the ,father of us all1 in ,his love1 is not better than the humblest of ,his children4 ,she was going out to cry aloud in the streets that ,jesus1 the son of ,god1 had come to earth1 but he prevented her4 ,speak not of me to them1 he said softly2 they could not understand2 it would be even as it was before4 ,that very day he went about according to his humble wont1 among the poor and the miserable1 spreading joy and comfort everywhere4 ,wan-faced courtesans1 with death and hate in their eyes1 despairing thieves1 murderers1 and would-be suicides1 listened to his words of hope and began life anew4 ,he went to the houses of the wealthy and plead in the behalf of suffering men and women1 misguided children1 and mistreated animals1 but was called a tramp and sent away4 ,one day his mother lead him to the corpse of a dead friend4 ,make him live again1 she whispered4 ,he looked down at the dead and smiled infinitely4 ,he took a flower from a vase1 and put it into the hand that was cold4 ,this is the birthday of our friend1 he said4 ,should ,i wish to alter the work of my ,father1 in whose eyes all things are perfect8 ,our friend is this day delivered from the womb of earthly travail4 ,one bright morning she came and laid herself at his feet4 ,i have heard strange things to-day1 she said1 things ,i have not learned before because ,i am so ignorant4 ,they say that all the great and good churches in ,christendom have grown up upon the teachings of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,nazareth1 he repeated dreamily1 ,i lived in ,nazareth4 ,they worship him that was crucified on ,calvary2 ah6 they would listen to you now1 my ,master4 ,you have lived in their memories for centuries4 ,hear1 the bells are ringing4 ,it is the ,sabbath1 the ,lord's day6 ,my ,father's day has neither beginning nor end4 ,come1 go with me1 went on the woman eagerly1 we shall hear them praise your name4 ,i will go with you1 said he1 a strange look in his eyes4 ,she ran from the room and presently came back with a suit of new clothes which she had borrowed from a dealer3 ,her face was aglow with pride and joy as she spread them before him4 ,what are they for8 he asked in gentle surprise4 ,for you1 she said1 that you may go into the house of the ,lord robed as--as others are4 ,a blended look of wonder and pain passed over his face4 ,the spirit of the man is not clothed with the wool of the sheep that was slain1 he said gently4 ,i will go as ,i am1 and fear naught in my ,father's presence4 ,she led him down several streets till they reached a grand thoroughfare4 ,along this they went side by side1 jostled by the fashionable throng1 till they came to a stately church4 ,going up the broad stone steps they entered the great ,gothic doors4 ,a group of men in the vestibule laughed at his long hair and ragged attire4 ,elegantly dressed ushers were seating the people as they entered4 ,they did not speak to the woman and her son1 but smiled at one another1 and passed some jests in undertones4 ,after awhile one of them drew near1 and said to her3-- ,have you not made a mistake1 my good woman8 ,this is ,st4 ---- ,church4 ,st4 ----'s is the next below4 ,tears were in her eyes as she led her son away4 ,by and by they came to another edifice4 ,in a niche in the stone wall near the entrance was the figure of ,jesus on a cross4 ,he paused and looked at it for several minutes1 murmuring1 ,strange6 ,strange6 ,in the vestibule she was so awed by the imposing interior of the structure and the fashionable congregation1 that she drew him to one side4 ,perhaps we had better stand here1 she whispered4 ,we seem to be unlike the rest4 ,we shall not be in the way out here1 and through the door we can see and hear the service4 ,he made no answer4 ,he was looking at a grand window on which stood a representation of ,jesus1 in a stream of light from heaven1 bearing the words1 ,this is my beloved son1 in whom ,i am well pleased4 ,strange1 very strange6 she heard him whisper1 and tears were in his eyes4 ,no one offered to give them seats1 and they remained standing in the vestibule against a wall4 ,a grand organ began to peal out the music of ,gounod's ,saint ,cecilia ,mass4 ,presently it died down2 there was a short pause1 then1 like the rising of a musical storm came the subdued voices of the choristers from the closed vestry4 ,the door was gradually opened1 and the music swelled out into the church4 ,the crucifer1 a beautiful lad1 attired in a blood-red cassock and a white1 lace-trimmed cotta1 entered4 ,behind him1 chanting1 came a long train of choir-boys1 followed by two acolytes who swung by chains of brass censers from which rose clouds of fragrant smoke4 ,two priests brought up the rear2 one1 the celebrant of the ,holy ,communion1 was magnificently garbed4 ,he wore a trailing black cassock of richest silk1 and over it a short lawn cotta trimmed with priceless lace1 an enormous cloth-of-gold cope on the back of which blazed a cross wrought in jewels4 ,about his neck he had a white stole1 over an arm a snowy maniple1 upon his head a priestly beretta4 ,is it not beautiful8 asked the poor woman of her son4 ,but he did not hear her4 ,his eyes1 blinded by tears of infinite sorrow1 were resting on the white statue of the ,virgin near the snowy altar of marble1 on which burnt a constellation of tapers and candles around the red lamp of the ,holy ,presence4 ,his breast heaved2 a sob escaped him1 and his head sank upon his chest4 ,and they do this in the name of love1 he said1 as if in prayer4 ,they make an idol of my memory while my brothers and sisters are dying for the lack of love and kindness4 ,they do all this to praise me whom they have so little understood4 ,o ,god1 my ,father1 let this trial pass1 or make me as you are that ,i may1 this time1 set them right1 for ,i suffer past endurance4 ,the short sermon ended4 ,the celebration of ,mass began4 ,the wafer and the wine were consecrated4 ,the priest raised the wafer before the eyes of the congregation and said1 ,this is my body1 and all heads bowed low4 ,at the very instant you hear the bell strike1 whispered a man to a boy near the mother and son1 at that very instant the ,saviour will be there--listen6 ,father1 forgive them1 the woman heard her son say1 and she followed him out of the church4 ,they had reached the street when three strokes from a silver bell was heard4 ,a few minutes later1 as they were passing through a squalid street on the way home1 they came to a little church4 ,he read her wishes in her face1 and they went in4 ,a man approached and showed them to a back seat4 ,on a platform a preacher was striding to and fro shouting1 singing snatches of hymns1 and praying4 ,in his excitement he would fall on his knees and raise his hands heavenward2 again he would spring up and beat himself with his hands1 and violently kick the floor1 preaching1 singing1 and praying alternately4 ,save yourselves from the eternal wrath of an angry ,god6 he cried4 ,i tell you that hell is yawning for you2 the burning breath of countless devils is about you4 ,christ died to save you2 will you not trust in him8 ,now is the only time2 to-morrow it may be too late6 ,after awhile the congregation began to sing a hymn1 and the preacher went on3 ,come forward all who want the prayers of the church4 ,come now1 and embrace salvation6 ,and men1 women1 and children trembling with fear1 and weeping and groaning1 went to the altar and threw themselves on their knees4 ,the poor woman looked at her son4 ,his face was pale and set as with the agony of death4 ,she glanced over the congregation4 ,people sat there wrestling with the greatest problem of their lives1 their faces white1 their eyes dilated4 ,others were smiling as if highly amused at the preacher's actions4 ,members of ritualistic churches1 who had come out of curiosity1 were frowning contemptuously1 and congratulating themselves on the dignity of their own form of worship4 ,i must go1 said the son to his mother4 ,i must be with those that need me4 ,here they teach that the ,eternal ,father hates ,his children4 ,if only they knew ,him they would not be afraid4 ,he never entered a church again4 ,he continued his life as he had begun it1 teaching human love and gentleness to all he knew4 ,once he was trying to save a half-demented drunkard from being beaten by an inhuman policeman1 and was put into prison4 ,while he was there his mother died1 and when he was released1 his health was broken4 ,a week passed in which he could get no food to eat4 ,he was starving4 ,one moonlit night he rose and staggered out to search for bread1 suffering indescribable tortures4 ,his voice had gone4 ,he stood on the corner of a street1 and mutely held out his hands to passers-by1 but they paid no heed to him4 ,along the street he tottered till he came to a brightly lighted building4 ,a church was holding a festival4 ,beautiful women in the height of fashion1 children in the daintiest of dresses1 were promenading about4 ,he looked in at the door1 and when he saw the long tables filled with eatables1 his eyes gleamed with the desire of a famished animal4 ,he staggered across the threshold1 but was stopped by the door-keeper4 ,ticket1 said the man4 ,the outcast did not understand1 he could see nothing but the food within4 ,a policeman stepped forward and laid his hand on his arm4 ,this is no place for you1 he said roughly4 ,you have no money1 move on6 ,he looks hungry1 wait6 said a little girl1 who was pinning some flowers on the lapel of a young minister's coat1 and she ran to a table and brought a piece of bread to the starving man4 ,he hugged it in his arms1 and tottered out into the night1 chuckling to himself in joy4 ,a square where trees and flowers grew was before him4 ,he entered it1 and sank on to a bench near a fountain4 ,he looked at the bread1 and a savage content captured his features4 ,he was about to break it when a man arose from a seat across a walk1 and came and sat down beside him1 eyeing the food covetously4 ,he touched the thin hand that held it1 and the two men looked into each other's eyes4 ,i am starving1 said the breadless one4 ,i have no means4 ,i belong to a family who have descended from kings2 ,i cannot beg4 ,i thought you looked as if you did not want it4 ,i am dying4 ,the other clutched the food tightly in both his hands for an instant4 ,a look of ferocious desire wrung his face1 and he raised it to his lips4 ,then a divine smile dawned in his eyes1 and he proffered it to the other4 ,the man took it eagerly1 and slipped into the darkness1 that he might eat it unseen4 ,as he turned away the head of the giver sank slowly to his breast4 ,brightly lighted streets stretched away in several directions4 ,a procession of men and women bearing banners and beating drums and tambourines passed along1 singing hymns1 and pausing now and then to kneel on the cobblestones to pray or to urge the little clusters of idlers to join them in their march to safety4 ,above the wondrous stars and moon were shining as they had shone at the dawn of eternal thought4 ,they shone on the ,vatican at ,rome1 the imperial cradle of saints2 on the comfortable homes of ministers in the church2 on the palaces of gentle-blooded bishops2 on assemblages of men who were wrangling over creeds2 on gatherings where earnest searchers after truth were being tried for heresy2 on prisons where inmates of dark1 silent cells were praying for a gleam of light1 for but the voice of an insect to keep madness from their tortured brains2 on millions of suffering human beings--on the cold1 dead form of one who understood naught but love4 ,o ,,thou ,,who ,,sighest ,,for ,a ,,broader ,,field4 ,,julia ,,anna ,,wolcott4 ,o thou who sighest for a broader field ,wherein to sow the seeds of truth and right1 ,who fain a nobler1 wider power wouldst wield ,o'er human souls that languish for the light2 ,search well the realm that even now is thine6 ,canst not thou in some far-off corner find ,a heart1 sin-bound1 as tree with sapping vine1 ,that waiteth help its burdens to unbind8 ,some human plant1 perchance beneath thine eyes1 ,pierced through by hidden thorns of idle fears2 ,or1 drooping low for need of light from skies ,obscured by doubt-clouds1 raining poison tears8 ,some bruised soul the balm of love would heal8 ,some timid spirit faith would courage give8 ,or maimed brother who1 though brave and leal1 ,still needeth thee to rightly walk and live8 ,oh1 while one soul thou find'st that hath not known ,the fullest help thy soul hath power to give1 ,sigh not for fields still broader than thine own1 ,but1 steadfast1 in thine own more broadly live6 ,,an ,,evening ,,at ,,the ,,corner ,,grocery4 ,a ,,western ,,character ,,sketch4 ,,by ,,hamlin ,,garland4 ,colonel ,peavy had just begun the rubber with ,judge ,gordon of ,cerro-,gordo ,county4 ,they were seated in ,robie's grocery1 behind the rusty old cannon stove1 the checker-board spread out on their knees4 ,the ,colonel was grinning in great glee1 wringing his bony yellow hands in nervous excitement1 in strong contrast to the stolid calm of the fat ,judge4 ,the ,colonel had won the last game by a large margin1 and was sure he had his opponent's dodges well in hand4 ,it was early in the evening1 and the grocery was comparatively empty4 ,robie was figuring at a desk1 and old ,judge ,brown stood in legal gravity warming his legs at the red-hot stove1 and swaying gently back and forth in speechless content4 ,it was a tough night outside1 one of the toughest for years4 ,the frost had completely shut the window panes as with thick blankets of snow4 ,the streets were silent4 ,i don't know1 said the ,judge1 reflectively1 to ,robie1 breaking the silence in his rasping1 judicial bass1 ,i don't know as there has been such a night as this since the night of ,february #b;d1 '#ei1 that was the night ,james ,kirk went under--,honorable ,kirk1 you remember1--knew him well4 ,brilliant fellow1 ornament to western bar4 ,but whiskey downed him4 ,it'll beat the oldest man--,i wonder where the boys all are to-night8 ,don't seem to be anyone stirring on the street4 ,aint frightened out by the cold8 ,shouldn't wonder4 ,robie was busy at his desk1 and not in humor for conversation on reminiscent lines4 ,the two old war-dogs at the board had settled down to one of those long1 silent struggles1 which ensue when two champions meet4 ,in the silence which followed1 the ,judge was looking attentively at the back of the ,colonel1 and thinking that the old thief was getting about down to skin and bone4 ,he turned with a yawn to ,robie1 saying3-- ,this cold weather must take hold of the old ,colonel terribly1 he's so damnably thin and bald1 you know1--bald as a babe4 ,the fact is1 the old ,colonel aint long for this world1 anyway2 think so1 ,hank8 ,robie making no reply1 the ,judge relapsed into silence for a while1 watching the cat 7perilously walking along the edge of the upper shelf7 and listening to the occasional hurrying footsteps outside4 ,i don't know when ,i've seen the windows closed up so1 ,hank2 go down to thirty below to-night2 devilish strong wind blowing1 too2 tough night on the prairies1 ,hank4 ,you bet1 replied ,hank1 briefly4 ,the ,colonel was plainly getting excited4 ,his razor-like back curved sharper than ever as he peered into the intricacies of the board to spy the trap which the fat ,judge had set for him4 ,at this point the squeal of boots on the icy walk outside paused1 and a moment later ,amos ,ridings entered1 with whiskers covered with ice1 and looking like a huge bear in his buffalo coat4 ,by ,josephus6 it's cold1 he roared1 as he took off his gloves and began to warm his face and hands at the fire4 ,is it8 asked the ,judge1 comfortably1 rising on his tiptoes1 only to fall back into his usual attitude1 legal legs well spread1 shoulders thrown back4 ,you bet it is6 replied ,amos4 ,i'd'know when ,i've felt the cold more'n ,i have t'-day4 ,it's jest snifty2 doubles me up like a jack-knife1 ,judge4 ,how d' you stand it8 ,tollerble1 tollerble1 ,amos4 ,but we're agein'1 we aint what we were once4 ,cold takes hold of us4 ,that's a fact1 answered ,amos to the retrospective musings of the ,judge4 ,time was you an' me would go t' singing-school or sleigh-riding with the girls on a night like this and never notice it4 ,yes1 sir2 yes1 sir6 said the ,judge with a sigh4 ,it was a little uncertain in ,robie's mind whether the ,judge was regretting the lost ability to stand the cold1 or the lost pleasure of riding with the girls4 ,great days1 those1 gentlemen6 ,lived in ,vermont then4 ,hot-blooded--lungs like an ox4 ,i remember1 ,sallie ,dearborn and ,i used to go a-foot to singing school down the valley four miles4 ,but now1 wouldn't go riding to-night with the handsomest woman in ,america1 and the best cutter in ,rock ,river4 ,oh6 you've got both feet in the grave up t' the ankles1 anyway1 said ,robie from his desk1 but the ,judge immovably gazed at the upper shelf on the other side of the room where the boilers1 and pans1 and washboards were stored4 ,the ,judge is a little on the sentimental order to-night1 said ,amos4 ,hold on1 ,colonel6 hold on4 ,you've got 'o jump4 ,he6 he6 roared ,gordon from the checker-board4 ,that's right1 that's right6 he ended1 as the ,colonel complied reluctantly4 ,sock it to the old cuss1 commented ,amos4 ,what ,i was going to say1 he resumed1 rolling down the collar of his coat1 was1 that when my wife helped me bundle up t' night1 she said ,i was gitt'n' t' be an old granny4 ,we are agein'1 ,judge1 the's no denyin' it4 ,we're both gray as ,norway rats now4 ,an' speaking of us ageing reminds me1--have y' noticed how bald the old ,kyernel's gitt'n'8 ,i have1 ,amos1 answered the ,judge1 mournfully4 ,the old man's head is showing age1 showing age6 ,getting thin up there1 aint it8 ,the old ,colonel bent to his work without reply1 and even when ,amos said1 judicially1 after long scrutiny1 ,yes1 he'll soon be as bald as a plate1 he only lifted one yellow1 freckled1 bony hand1 and brushed his carroty growth of hair across the spot under discussion4 ,gordon shook his fat paunch in silent laughter1 nearly displacing the board4 ,i was just telling ,robie1 pursued ,brown1 still retaining his reminiscent intonation1 that this storm takes the cake over anything-- ,at this point ,steve ,roach and another fellow entered4 ,steve was ,ridings' hired hand1 a herculean fellow1 with a drawl1 and a liability for taking offence quite as remarkable4 ,say6 gents1 ,i'm no spring rooster1 but this jest gits away with anything in line of cold ,i ever see4 ,while this communication was being received in ruminative silence1 ,steve was holding his ears in his hand and gazing at the intent champions at the board4 ,there they sat2 the old ,judge panting and wheezing in his excitement1 for he was planning a great snap on the ,colonel1 whose red and freckled nose almost touched the board4 ,it was a solemn battle hour4 ,the wind howled mournfully outside1 the timbers of the stove creaked in the cold1 and the huge cannon stove roared in steady bass4 ,speaking about ears1 said ,steve1 after a silence1 dumned if ,i'd like t' be quite s' bare 'round the ears as ,kernel there4 ,i wonder if any o' you fellers has noticed how the ol' feller's lost hair this last summer4 ,he's gittin' bald1 they's no coverin' it up--gittin' bald as a plate4 ,you're right1 ,stephen1 said the ,judge1 as he gravely took his stand behind his brother advocate1 and studied1 with the eye of an adept1 the field of battle4 ,we were noticing it when you came in4 ,it's a sad thing1 but it must be admitted4 ,it's the ,kyernel's brains wearin' up through his hair1 ,i take it1 commented ,amos1 as he helped himself to a handful of peanuts out of a bag behind the counter4 ,say1 ,steve1 did y' stuff up that hole in front of ol' ,barney8 ,a shout was heard outside1 and then a rush against the door1 and immediately two young fellows burst in1 followed by a fierce gust of snow4 ,one was ,professor ,knapp1 the other ,editor ,foster1 of the ,morning ,call4 ,well1 gents1 how's this for high8 said ,foster in a peculiar tone of voice1 at which all began to smile4 ,he was a slender fellow with close-clipped1 assertive red hair4 ,in this company we now have the majesty of the law1 the power of the press1 and the underpinning of the ,american civilization all represented4 ,hello6 ,there are a couple of old roosters with their heads together4 ,gordon1 my old enemy1 how are you8 ,gordon waved him off with a smile and a wheeze4 ,don't bother me now4 ,i've got 'im4 ,i'm laying f'r the old dog4 ,whist6 ,got nothing6 snarled the ,colonel4 ,you try that on if you want to4 ,just swing that man in there if you think it's healthy for him4 ,just as like as not1 you'll slip up on that little trick4 ,ha6 ,say you so1 old ,true ,penny8 ,the ,kunnel has met a foeman worthy of his steel1 said ,foster in great glee1 as he bent above the ,colonel4 ,i know4 ,how do ,i know8 quotha4 ,by the curve on the ,kunnel's back4 ,the size of the parabola described by that backbone accurately gauges his adversary's skill4 ,but1 by the way1 gentlemen1 have you--but that's a nice point1 and ,i refer all nice points to ,professor ,knapp4 ,professor1 is it in good taste to make remarks concerning the dress or features of another8 ,certainly not1 answered ,knapp1 a handsome young fellow with a yellow mustache4 ,not when the person is an esteemed public character1 like the ,colonel here8 ,what ,i was about to remark1 if it had been proper1 was that the old fellow is getting wofully bald4 ,he'll soon be bald as an egg4 ,say6 asked the ,colonel1 ,i want to know how long you're going to keep this thing up4 ,somebody's dumned sure t' get hurt soon4 ,there1 there6 ,colonel1 said ,brown soothingly1 don't get excited1 you'll lose the rubber4 ,don't mind 'em4 ,keep cool4 ,yes1 keep cool1 ,kunnel1 it's only our solicitude for your welfare1 chipped in ,foster4 ,then addressing the crowd in a general sort of way he speculated1 ,curious how a man1 a plain ,american citizen like ,colonel ,peavy1 wins a place in the innermost affections of a whole people4 ,that's so6 murmured the rest4 ,he can't grow bald without deep sympathy from his fellow-citizens4 ,the old ,colonel glared in speechless wrath4 ,say6 gents1 pleaded ,gordon1 let up on the old man for the present4 ,he's going to need all of himself if he gets out o' the trap he's in now4 ,he waved his fat hand over the ,colonel's head1 and smiled blandly at the crowd hugging the stove4 ,my head may be bald1 grated the old man with a death's-head grin1 indescribably ferocious1 but it's got brains enough in it to 'skunk' any man in this crowd three games out o' five4 ,the ol' man rather gits the laugh on y' there1 gents1 called ,robie from the back side of the counter4 ,i haint seen the old skeesix play better'n he did last night in years4 ,not since his return from ,canada1 after the war1 ,i reckon1 said ,amos from the kerosene barrel4 ,hold on1 ,amos1 put in the ,judge warningly1 that's out-lawed4 ,talking about being bald and the war reminds me of the night ,walters and ,i-- ,by the way1 where is ,walters to-night8 ,sick1 put in the ,colonel1 straightening up exultantly4 ,i waxed him three straight games last night4 ,you won't see him again till spring4 ,skunked him once1 and beat him twice4 ,oh git out4 ,hear the old seed twitter6 ,did you ever notice1 gentlemen1 how lying and baldness go together8 queried ,foster reflectively4 ,no6 ,do they8 ,invariably4 ,i've known many colossal liars1 and they were all as bald as apples4 ,the ,colonel was getting nervous1 and was so slow that even ,gordon 7who could sit and stare at the board a full half hour without moving7 began to be impatient4 ,come6 ,colonel1 marshal your forces a little more promptly4 ,if you're going at me echelon1 sound y'r bugle2 ,i'm ready4 ,don't worry1 answered the ,colonel1 in his calmest nasal1 ,i'll accommodate you with all the fight you want4 ,did it ever occur to you1 began the ,judge again1 addressing the crowd generally1 as he moved back to the stove and lit another cigar1 did it ever occur to you that it is a little singular a man should get bald on the top of his head first8 ,curious fact4 ,so accustomed to it we no longer wonder at it4 ,now see the ,colonel there4 ,quite a growth of hair on his clap-boarding1 as it were1 but devilish thin on his roof4 ,here the ,colonel looked up and tried to say something1 but the ,judge went on imperturbably4 ,now ,i take it that it's strictly providential that a man gets bald on top of his head first1 because if he must get bald it is best to get bald where it can be covered up4 ,by jinks1 that's a fact6 said the rest in high admiration of the ,judge's ratiocination4 ,steve was specially pleased1 and drawing a neck-yoke from a barrel standing near1 pounded the floor vigorously4 ,talking about being bald1 put in ,foster1 reminds me of a scheme of mine1 which is to send no one out to fight ,indians but bald men4 ,think how powerless they'd-- ,the talk now drifted off to ,indians1 politics1 and religion1 edged round to the war when the grave ,judge was telling ,ridings and ,robie just how ,kilpatrick charged along the ,granny ,white ,turnpike1 and on a sheet of wrapping paper was showing where ,major ,john ,dilrigg fell4 ,i was on his left about thirty yards1 when ,i saw him throw up his hand-- ,foster in a low voice was telling something to the ,professor1 and two or three others1 which made them whoop with uncontrollable merriment1 when the roaring voice of big ,sam ,walters was heard outside1 and a moment later he rolled into the room1 filling it with his noise4 ,lottridge1 the watchmaker1 and ,erlberg1 the ,german baker1 came in with him4 ,hello1 hello1 hello6 ,all here1 are yeh8 ,all here waiting for you--and the turnkey1 said ,foster4 ,well1 here ,i am4 ,always on hand like a sore thumb in huskin' season4 ,what's goin' on here8 ,a game1 hey8 ,hello1 ,gordon1 it's you1 is it8 ,colonel1 ,i owe you several for last night4 ,but what the devil yo' got your cap on fur1 ,colonel8 ,aint it warm enough here for yeh8 ,the desperate ,colonel who had snatched up his cap when he heard ,walters coming1 grinned painfully1 pulling his straggly red and white beard nervously4 ,the strain was beginning to tell on his iron nerves4 ,he removed the cap1 and with a few muttered words went back to the game1 but there was a dangerous gleam in his fishy blue eyes1 and the grizzled tufts of red hair above his eyes lowered threateningly4 ,a man who is getting swamped in a game of checkers is not in a mood to bear pleasantly any remarks on his bald head4 ,oh6 don't take it off1 ,colonel1 went on his tormentor hospitably4 ,when a man gets as old as you are1 he's privileged to wear his cap4 ,i wonder if any of you fellers have noticed how the ,colonel is shedding his hair4 ,the old man leaped up1 scattering the men on the checker-board which flew up and struck ,judge ,gordon in the face1 knocking him off his stool4 ,the old ,colonel was ashy pale1 and his eyes glared out from under his huge brow like sapphires lit by flame4 ,his spare form clothed in a seedy ,prince ,albert frock towered with a singular dignity4 ,his features worked convulsively a moment1 and then he burst forth like the explosion of a safety valve3-- ,shuttup1 dumyeh6 ,and then the crowd whooped1 roared1 and rolled on the counters and barrels1 and roared and whooped again4 ,they stamped and yelled1 and ran around like fiends1 kicking the boxes and banging the coal-scuttle in a perfect pandemonium of mirth1 leaving the old man standing there helpless in his wrath1 mad enough to shoot4 ,steve was just preparing to seize the old man from behind1 when ,judge ,gordon1 struggling to his feet among the spittoons1 cried out1 in the voice of a ,colonel of ,fourth of ,july militia3-- ,h-,o-,l-,d6 ,silence was restored1 and all stood around in expectant attitudes to hear the ,judge's explanation4 ,he squared his elbows1 shoved up his sleeves1 puffed out his fat cheeks1 moistened his lips1 and began pompously3-- ,gentlemen-- ,you've hit it2 that's us1 said some of the crowd in applause4 ,gentlemen of ,rock ,river1 when in the course of human events1 rumor had blow'd to my ears the history of the checker-playing of ,rock ,river1 and when ,i had waxed ,cerro-,gordo1 and ,claiborne1 and ,mower1 then1 when ,i say to my ears was borne the clash of resounding arms in ,rock ,river1 the emporium of ,rock ,county1 then did ,i yearn for more worlds to conquer1 and behold1 ,i buckled on my armor and ,i am here4 ,behold1 he is here1 said ,foster1 in confirmation of the statement4 ,good for you1 ,judge1 git breath and go for us some more4 ,hurrah for the ,judge1 etc4 ,i came seekin' whom ,i might devour like a raging lion4 ,i sought foemen worthy of my steel4 ,i leaped into the arena and blew my challenge to the four quarters of ,rock-- ,good f'r you1 settemupagin6 ,go it1 you old balloon1 they all applauded4 ,knowing my prowess ,i sought a fair fout and no favors4 ,i met the enemy and he was mine4 ,champion after champion went down before me like--went down like--,ahem6 went down before me like grass before the mighty cyclone of the ,andes4 ,listen to the old blow-hard1 said ,steve4 ,put him out1 said the speaker1 imperturbably4 ,gentlemen1 have ,i the floor8 ,you have1 replied ,brown1 but come to the point4 ,the ,colonel is anxious to begin shooting4 ,the ,colonel1 who began to suspect himself victimized1 stood wondering what under heaven they were going to do next6 ,i'm a gitt'n' there1 said the orator with a broad and sunny condescension4 ,i found your champions an' laid 'em low4 ,i waxed ,walters1 and then ,i tackled the ,colonel4 ,i tried the echelon1 the 'general advanced1' then the 'give away' and 'flank' movements4 ,but the ,colonel was there4 ,till this last game it was a fair field and no favor4 ,and now1 gentlemen of ,rock1 ,i desire t' state to my deeply respected opponent1 that he is still champion of ,rock1 and ,i'm not sure but of ,northern ,iowa4 ,three cheers for the ,kunnel6 ,and while they were being given the ,colonel's brows relaxed1 and the champion of ,cerro-,gordo continued earnestly3-- ,and now ,i wish to state to ,colonel the solemn fact that ,i had nothing to do with the job put up on him to-night4 ,i scorn to use such means in a battle4 ,colonel1 you may be as bald as an apple1 or an egg1 yes1 or a plate1 but you can play more checkers than any man ,i ever met1 more checkers than any other man on ,god's green footstool4--,with one-single1 lone exception--myself4 ,at this moment1 somebody hit the dead-beat from ,cerro-,gordo with a decayed apple1 and as the crowd shouted and groaned ,robie turned down the lights on the tumult4 ,the old ,colonel seized the opportunity for putting a handful of salt down ,walters' neck1 and slipped out of the door like a ghost4 ,as the crowd swarmed out on the icy walk1 ,editor ,foster yelled3-- ,gents6 let me give you a pointer4 ,keep your eye peeled for the next edition of the ,rock ,river ,morning ,call4 ,and the bitter wind swept away the answering shouts of the gang4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible1 including obsolete and variant spellings and other inconsistencies4 ,the transcriber made the following changes to the text to correct obvious errors by the publisher3 #a4 p4 #dab1 tranverse changed to transverse ,also1 several occurrences of mismatched quotes remain as published4 ,end of ,transcriber's ,notes