by ,the ,kentuckiana ,digital ,library7 
,,child ,,and ,,country     ,,by ,,will 
,,levington ,,comfort  ,,lot  ,,company 
,,red ,,fleece ,,midstream ,,down       
,,among ,,men ,,fatherland     ,,george 
,h4 ,,doran ,,company ,,new ,,york      
,child and ,country   ,a ,book of the   
,younger ,generation    ,,by   ,,will   
,,levington ,,comfort   ,,author ,,of   
,,midstream1 ,,lot  ,,company1  ,,down  
,,among ,,men1 ,,routledge  ,,rides     
,,alone1 ,,etc41 ,,etc4      ,,new      
,,york  ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company  
,copyright1 #aiaf1  ,,by ,,george ,h4   
,,doran ,,company      ,,to ,,those     
,,who ,,come ,,after ,,the ,,wreckers   
,,to ,,the ,,builders   ,,of ,,the      
,,rising ,,generation     ,,foreword    
444 ,to-day the first glimpse of this   
manuscript as a whole4 ,it was all      
detached pieces before1 done over a     
period of many months1 with many        
intervening tasks1 the main idea        
slightly drifting from time to time4444 
,the purpose on setting out1 was to     

relate the adventure of home-making in  
the country1 with its incidents of      
masonry1 child and rose culture1 and    
shore-conservation4 ,it was not to tell 
others how to build a house or plant a  
garden1 or how to conduct one's life on 
a shore-acre or two4 ,not at this late  
day4 ,i was impelled rather to relate   
how we found plenty with a little2 how  
we entered upon a new dimension of      
health and length of days2 and from the 
safe distance of the desk1 ,i wanted to 
laugh over a city man's adventures with 
drains and east winds1 country people   
and the meshes of possession4  ,in a    
way1 our second coming to the country   
was like the landing of the ,swiss      
,family ,robinson upon that little world
 of theirs in the midst of the sea4     
,town life had become a subtle          
persecution4 ,we hadn't been wrecked    
exactly1 but there had been times in    
which we were torn and weary1           
understanding only vaguely that it was  
the manner of our days in the midst of  

the crowd that was dulling the edge of  
health and taking the bloom from life4  
,i had long been troubled about the     
little children in school--the winter   
sicknesses1 the amount of vitality      
required to resist contagions1 mental   
and physical--the whole tendency of the 
school toward making an efficient and a 
uniform product1 rather than to develop 
the intrinsic and inimitable gift of    
each child4  ,we entered half-humorously
 upon the education of children at home1
 but out of this activity emerged the   
main theme of the days and the work at  
hand4 ,the building of a house proved a 
natural setting for that2 gardens and   
woods and shore rambles are a part2 the 
new poetry and all the fine things of   
the time belong most intensely to that4 
,others of the coming generation        
gathered about the work here2 and many  
more rare young beings who belong1 but  
have not yet come1 send us letters from 
the fronts of their struggle4  ,it has  
all been very deep and dramatic to me1 a

 study of certain builders of to-morrow 
taking their place higher and higher day
 by day in the thought and action of our
 life4 ,they have given me more than ,i 
could possibly give them4 ,they have    
monopolised the manuscript4 ,chapter    
after chapter are before me--revelations
 they have brought--and over all1 if ,i 
can express it1 is a dream of the       
education of the future4 ,so the        
children and the twenty-year-olds are on
 every page almost1 even in the title4  
,meanwhile the world-madness descended1 
and all ,europe became a spectacle4     
,there is no inclination to discuss     
that1 although there have been days of  
quiet here by the fire in which it      
seemed that we could see the crumbling  
of the rock of ages and the glimmering  
of the ,new ,age above the red chaos of 
the ,east4 ,and standing a little apart1
 we perceived convincing signs of the   
long-promised ignition on the part of   
,america--signs as yet without          
splendour1 to be sure4 ,these things    

have to do with the very breath we draw2
 they relate themselves to our children 
and to every conception of home--not the
 war itself1 but the forming of the new 
social order1 the message thrilling for 
utterance in the breasts of the rising  
generation4 ,for they are the builders  
who are to follow the wreckers of war4  
,making a place to live on the lake     
shore1 the development of bluff and     
land1 the building of study and stable  
and finally the stone house 7a pool of  
water in the centre1 a roof open to the 
sunlight1 the outer walls broken with   
chimneys for the inner fires71 these are
 but exterior cultivations1 the         
establishment of a visible order that is
 but a symbol of the intenser activity  
of the natures within4  ,quiet1 a clean 
heart1 a fragrant fire1 a press for     
garments1 a bin of food1 a friendly     
neighbour1 a stretch of distance from   
the casements--these are sane desirable 
matters to gather together2 but the     
fundamental of it all is1 that they     

correspond to a picture of the builder's
 ideal4 ,there is a bleakness about     
buying one's house built2 in fact1 a man
 cannot really possess anything unless  
he has an organised receptivity--a      
conception of its utilities that has    
come from long need4 ,a man might buy   
the most perfect violin1 but it is      
nothing more than a curio to him unless 
he can bring out its wisdom4 ,it is the 
same in mating with a woman or fathering
 a child4  ,there is a good reason why  
one man keeps pigs and another bees1 why
 one man plants petunias and another    
roses1 why the many can get along with  
maples when elms and beeches are to be  
had1 why one man will exchange a roomful
 of man-fired porcelain for one bowl of 
sunlit alabaster4 ,no chance anywhere4  
,we call unto ourselves that which      
corresponds to our own key and tempo2   
and so long as we live1 there is a      
continual re-adjustment without1 the    
more unerringly to meet the order       
within4  ,the stone house is finished1  

roses have bloomed1 but the story of the
 cultivation of the human spirits is    
really just beginning--a work so joyous 
and productive that ,i would take any   
pains to set forth with clearness the   
effort to develop each intrinsic gift1  
to establish a deep breathing of each   
mind--a fulness of expression on the one
 hand1 and a selfless receptivity on the
 other4 ,we can only breathe deeply when
 we are at peace4 ,this is true mentally
 as well as physically1 and soulfully1  
so far as one can see4 ,the human fabric
 is at peace only when its faculties are
 held in rhythm by the task designed for
 them4 ,expression of to-day makes the  
mind ready for the inspiration of       
to-morrow4  ,it may be well finally to  
make it clear that there is no personal 
ambition here to become identified with 
education in the accepted sense4 ,those 
who come bring nothing in their hands1  
and answer no call save that which they 
are sensitive enough to hear without    
words4 ,hearing that1 they belong1      

indeed4 ,authorship is the work of      
,stonestudy1 and shall always be2 but   
first and last is the conviction that   
literature and art are but incident to  
life2 that we are here to become masters
 of life--artists1 if possible1 but in  
any case1 men4  444 ,to-day the glimpse 
of it all--that this is to be a book of 
the younger generation4444 ,i remember  
in the zeal of a novice1 how earnestly  
,i planned to relate the joys of        
rose-culture1 when some yellow teas came
 into their lovely being in answer to   
the long preparation4 ,it seemed to me  
that a man could do little better for   
his quiet joy than to raise roses2 that 
nothing was so perfectly designed to    
keep romance perennial in his soul4     
,then the truth appeared--greater things
 that were going on here--the           
cultivation of young and living minds1  
minds still fluid1 eager to give their  
faith and take the story of life2 minds 
that are changed in an instant and      
lifted for all time1 if the story is    

well told4444 ,so in the glimpse of this
 book as a whole1 as it comes to-day 7an
 ,east wind rising and the gulls blown  
inland7 ,i find that a man may build a  
more substantial thing than a stone     
house1 may realise an intenser          
cultivation than even tea-roses require2
 and of this ,i want to tell simply and 
with something of order from the        
beginning4  ,,will ,,levington          
,,comfort4  ,,stonestudy1 ,march1 #aiaf4
     ,,contents                         
,,page   ,,bees ,,and ,,blooms          
#ag   ,,bluff ,,and ,,shore             
#bh   ,,stonestudy                      
#ch   ,,imagination                     
#dc   ,,wild ,,geese                    
#ee   ,,workmanship                     
#fe   ,,the ,,little ,,girl             
#gh   ,,the ,,abbot                     
#ij   ,,the ,,valley-,,road ,,girl      
#ajb   ,,compassion                     
#aac   ,,the ,,little ,,girl',s ,,work  
#abc   ,,tearing-,,down ,,sentiment     
#acd   ,,natural ,,cruelty              

#aea   ,,children ,,change              
#afc   ,a ,,man',s ,,own                
#aga   ,,the ,,plan ,,is ,,one          
#ahf   ,,the ,,irish ,,chapter          
#aif   ,,the ,,bleakest ,,hour          
#bjb   ,,the ,,new ,,social ,,order     
#bag   ,,common ,,clay ,,brick          
#bbb   ,,the ,,highest ,,of ,,the ,,arts
       #bcj   ,,miracles                
#bdh   ,,more ,,about ,,order           
#bei   ,,the ,,fresh ,,eye              
#bgj   ,,the ,,choice ,,of ,,the ,,many 
#bgi   ,,the ,,rose ,,chapter           
#bhd   ,,letters                        
#bid   ,,the ,,abbot ,,departs          
#cja   ,,the ,,dakotan                  
#cac   ,,the ,,dakotan 7,continued7     
#cai   ,,the ,,hill ,,rocks             
#ccj   ,,assembly ,,of ,,parts          
#cci     ,,child ,,and ,,country        
,,child ,,and ,,country     #a  ,,bees  
,,and ,,blooms   ,in another place1#a ,i
 have touched upon our first adventure  
in the country4 ,it was before the      
children came4 ,we went to live in a    

good district1 but there was no peace   
there4 ,i felt forgotten4 ,i had not the
 stuff to stand that4 ,my life was      
shallow and artificial enough then to   
require the vibration of the town2 and  
at the end of a few weeks it was        
feverishly missed4 ,the soil gave me    
nothing4 ,i look back upon that fact now
 with something like amazement1 but ,i  
was young4 ,lights and shining surfaces 
were dear2 all waste and stimulation a  
part of necessity1 and that which the   
many rushed after seemed the things     
which a man should have4 ,though the air
 was dripping with fragrance and the    
early summer ineffable with             
fruit-blossoms1 the sense of self       
poisoned the paradise4 ,i disdained even
 to make a place of order of that little
 plot4 ,there was no inner order in my  
heart--on the contrary1 chaos in and    
out4 ,i had not been manhandled enough  
to return with love and gratefulness to 
the old ,mother4 ,some of us must go the
 full route of the ,prodigal1 even to   

the swine and the husks1 before we can  
accept the healing of ,nature4  ,so deep
 was the imprint of this experience that
 ,i said for years3 ,the country is     
good1 but it is not for me4444 ,i loved 
to read about the country1 enjoyed      
hearing men talk about their little     
places1 but always felt a temperamental 
exile from their dahlias and gladioli   
and wistaria4 ,i knew what would happen 
to me if ,i went again to the country to
 live1 for ,i judged by the former      
adventure4 ,work would stop2 all mental 
activity would sink into a bovine       
rumination4  ,yet during all these      
years1 the illusions were falling away4 
,it is true that there is never an end  
to illusions1 but they become more and  
more subtle to meet our equipment4 ,i   
had long since lost my love for the     
roads of the many--the crowded roads    
that run so straight to pain4 ,a        
sentence had stood up again and again   
before me1 that the voice of the devil  
is the voice of the crowd4  ,though ,i  

did not yet turn back to the land1 ,i   
had come to see prolonged city-life as  
one of the ranking menaces of the human 
spirit1 though at our present stage of  
evolution it appears a necessary school 
for a time4 ,two paragraphs from an     
earlier paper on the subject suggest one
 of the larger issues3  ,the higher the 
moral and intellectual status of a      
people1 the more essential become space1
 leisure and soul-expression for        
bringing children into the world4 ,when 
evolving persons have reached           
individuality1 and the elements of      
greatness are formative within them1    
they pay the price for reversion to     
worldliness in the extinction of name4  
,the race that produced ,emerson and    
,thoreau and ,whitman1 that founded our 
culture and gave us a name in ,english1 
is following the red ,indian westward   
off the face of the earth4  ,trade makes
 the city2 congestion makes for         
commonness and the death of the         
individual4 ,only the younger and       

physical races1 or the remnant of that  
race of instinctive tradesmen which has 
failed as a spiritual experiment1 can   
exist in the midst of the tendencies and
 conditions of metropolitan ,america4   
,one of the most enthralling mysteries  
of life is that children will not come  
to highly evolved men and women who have
 turned back upon their spiritual       
obligations and clouded the vision which
 was their birthright4  ,it is very     
clear to me that the ,anglo-,saxons at  
least1 after a generation or two of     
town-life1 must give up trade and emerge
 from the ,city for the recreating part 
of their year1 or else suffer in deeper 
ways than death4 ,the ,city will do for 
those younger-souled peoples that have  
not had their taste of its cruel order  
and complicating pressures2 for the     
,mediterranean peoples already touched  
with decadence2 for the strong yet      
simple peasant vitalities of ,northern  
,europe1 but the flower of the ,american
 entity has already remained too long in

 the ruck of life4  ,there came a       
,spring at last in which there was but  
one elm-tree4 ,the rest was             
flat-buildings and asphalt and          
motor-puddled air4 ,i was working long  
in those ,april days1 while the great   
elm-tree broke into life at the window4 
,there is a green all its own to the    
young elm-leaves1 and that green was all
 our ,spring4 ,voices of the street came
 up through it1 and whispers of the     
wind4 ,i remember one smoky moon1 and   
there was a certain dawn in which ,i    
loved1 more strangely than ever1 the    
cut-leaved profile against the grey-red 
,east4 ,the spirit of it seemed to come 
to me1 and all that the elm-tree        
meant--hill-cabins and country dusks1   
bees and blooms and stars1 and the plain
 holy life of kindliness and aspiration4
 ,in this dawn ,i found myself dreaming1
 thirsting1 wasting for all that the    
elm-tree knew--as if ,i were exiled from
 the very flesh that could bring the    
good low earth to my senses again4      

,could it be that something was changed 
within--that we were ready at last8 ,one
 of those ,spring days1 in the midst of 
a forenoon's work1 ,i stopped short with
 the will to go to the country to look  
for a place to rent4 ,i left the garret1
 found ,penelope1 who was ready in      
fifteen minutes4 ,we crossed the river  
first of all into ,canada1 because the  
,american side within fifty miles in    
every direction had been sorted over    
again and again1 by those who had       
followed just such an impulse4 ,in the  
smaller city opposite1 we learned that  
there were two suburban cars--one that  
would take us to the ,lake ,st4 ,claire 
shore1 and another that crossed the     
country to ,lake ,erie1 travelling along
 her northern indentations for nearly   
ten miles4  ,we'll take the car that    
leaves here first1 said ,i4  ,it was the
 ,erie car4 ,in the smoking compartment 
,i fell into conversation with a        
countryman who told me all that could   
possibly be synthesised by one mind     

regarding the locality we were passing  
through4 ,he suggested that we try our  
fortune in the little town where the car
 first meets the ,lake4 ,this we did and
 looked up and down that ,main ,street4 
,it was quiet and quaint1 but something 
pressed home to us that was not all     
joy--the tightness of old scar-tissue in
 the chest4444 ,the countryman came     
running to us from the still standing   
car1 though this was not his            
destination1 and pointing to a little   
grey man in the street1 said3  ,he can  
tell you more than ,i can4  ,i regarded 
the new person with awe if he could do  
that4444 ,in a way it was true4 ,he was 
a leisurely-minded man1 who knew what he
 was going to say before he spoke1 had  
it correctly in mind4 ,the product came 
forth edited4 ,he called men by         
'phone--names strange to me then that   
have become household names since--while
 we sat by smiling and silent in his    
little newspaper shop4444 ,and those who
 came wanted to know if we drank1 when  

they talked of renting their cottages2  
and if we were actors4  ,not that we    
looked like actors1 but it transpired   
that actor-folk had rented one of the   
cottages another year1 and had sat up   
late and had not always clothed         
themselves continually full-length4     
,once1 other actor people had motored   
down1 and it was said that those on the 
back seats of the car had been rigid    
among beer-cases4  ,we were given the   
values and disadvantages of the ,east   
shore and also of the ,west shore1 the  
town between4444 ,somehow we always turn
 to the ,east in our best moments and it
 was so this day4444 ,we were directed  
to the house of a man who owned two     
little cottages just a mile from town4  
,he was not well that day1 but his boy  
went with us to show the cottages4 ,that
 boy you shall be glad to know4  ,we    
walked together down the long lane1 and 
,i did not seem able to reach our       
guide's heart1 so we were silent1 but   
,penelope came between us4 ,he would    

have been strange1 indeed1 had she      
failed4444 ,i look back now from where  
,i sit--to that long lane4 ,i love it   
very much for it led to the very edge of
 a willowed bluff--to the end of the    
land4 ,erie brimmed before us4 ,it led  
to a new life1 too4  ,i had always      
disliked ,erie--as one who lived in the 
,lake ,country and chose his own4 ,i    
approved mildly of ,st4 ,claire2        
,michigan awed me from a little boy's   
summer2 ,huron was familiar from another
 summer1 but ,erie heretofore had meant 
only something to be crossed--something 
shallow and petulant4 ,here she lay in  
the sunlight1 with bars of orange light 
darkening to ocean blue1 and one far    
sparkling line in the ,west4 ,then ,i   
knew that ,i had wronged her4 ,she      
seemed not to mind1 but leisurely to    
wait4 ,we faced the ,south from the     
bluffs1 and ,i thought of the stars from
 this vantage4444 ,if a man built his   
house here1 he could explain where he   
lived by the nearest map in a ,japanese 

house1 or in a ,russian peasant's house1
 for ,erie to them is as clear a name as
 ,baikal or the ,inland ,sea is to us4  
,i had heard ,japanese children repeat  
the names of the ,great ,lakes4 ,when   
you come to a shore like this you are at
 the end of the landscape4 ,you must    
pause4 ,somehow ,i think--we are pausing
 still4 ,one must pause to project a    
dream4  444 ,for weeks there1 in a      
little rented place1 we were so happy   
that we hardly ventured to speak of it4 
,we had expected so little1 and had     
brought such weariness4 ,day after day  
unfolded in the very fulness of life1   
and the small flower-beds there on the  
stranger's land held the cosmic answer4 
,all that summer ,jupiter marked time   
across the southern heavens2 and ,i     
shall never forget the sense of conquest
 in hiving the first swarm of bees4     
,they had to be carried on a branch down
 a deep gulley1 and several hundred feet
 beyond4 ,two-thirds of the huge cluster
 were in the air about me1 before the   

super was lifted4 ,yet there was not a  
sting from the tens of thousands4 ,we   
had the true thirst that year4 ,little  
things were enough2 we were innocent1   
even of possession1 and brought back to 
the good land all the sensitizing that  
the ,city had given4 ,there were days in
 which we were so happy--that another   
summer of such life would have seemed   
too much to ask4  ,i had lived three    
weeks1 when ,i remembered that formerly 
,i read newspapers1 and opened the      
nearest4 ,the mystery and foreignness of
 it was as complete as the red fire of  
,antares that gleamed so balefully every
 night across the ,lake--a hell of      
trials and jealousy and suicide1        
obscenity and passion4 ,it all came up  
from the sheet to my nostrils like the  
smell of blood4         99       99     
99       99       99  444 ,there are men
 and women in town who are dying for the
 country2 literally this is so1 and such
 numbers of them that any one who lives 
apart from the crowds and calls forth   

guests from time to time1 can find these
 sufferers among his little circle of   
friends4 ,they come here for week-ends  
and freshen up like newly watered       
plants--turning back with set faces     
early ,monday morning4 ,i think of a    
flat of celery plants that have grown to
 the end of the nourishment of their    
crowded space1 and begin to yellow and  
wither1 sick of each other4444 ,one does
 not say what one thinks4 ,it is not a  
simple thing for those whose life and   
work is altogether identified with the  
crowded places1 to uproot for roomy     
planting in the country4 ,but the fact  
remains1 many are dying to be free4     
,the ,city1 intolerable as it is in     
itself--in its very nature against the  
growth of the body and soul of man after
 a certain time--is nevertheless the    
chief of those urging forces which shall
 bring us to simplicity and naturalness 
at the last4 ,manhood is built quite as 
much by learning to avoid evil as by    
cultivating the aspiration for the good4

  ,just as certainly as there are       
thousands suffering for the freedom of  
spaces1 far advanced in a losing fight  
of vitality against the cruel tension of
 city life1 there are whole races of men
 who have yet to meet and pass through  
this terrifying complication of the     
crowds1 which brings a refining gained  
in no other way4 ,all growth is a       
passage through hollows and over hills1 
though the journey regarded as a whole  
is an ascent4  ,a great leader of men   
who has never met the crowds face to    
face is inconceivable4 ,he must have    
fought for life in the depths and       
pandemoniums1 to achieve that excellence
 of equipment which makes men turn to   
him for his word and his strength4 ,we  
are so made that none of us can remain  
sensitive to prolonged beauty2 neither  
can we endure continuously the stifling 
hollows between the hills4 ,be very sure
 the year-round countryman does not see 
what you see coming tired and           
half-broken from the town2 and those who

 are caught and maimed by the ,city     
cannot conceive their plight1 as do you1
 returning to them again from the       
country replenished and refreshed4  ,the
 great names of trade have been         
country-bred boys1 but it is equally    
true that the most successful farmers of
 to-day are men who have returned to    
,nature from the town1 some of them     
having been driven to the last ditch    
physically and commanded to return or   
die4 ,it is in the turnings of life that
 we bring a fresh eye to circumstances  
and events4  ,probably in a nation of   
bad workmen1 no work is so stupidly done
 as the farming4 ,great areas of land   
have merely been scratched4 ,there are  
men within an hour's ride from here who 
plant corn in the same fields every     
year1 and check it throughout in        
severing the lateral roots by deep      
cultivation4 ,they and their fathers    
have planted corn1 and yet they have not
 the remotest idea of what takes place  
in their fields during the long summer  

from the seedling to the full ear2 and  
very rarely in the heart of the         
countryman is there room for rapture4   
,though they have the breadth of the    
horizon line and all the skies to       
breathe in1 few men look up more seldom4
  ,,footnotes3  #a ,midstream1 #aiad1   
,george ,h4 ,doran ,co41 ,new ,york4    
#b  ,,bluff ,,and ,,shore   ,there is no
 playground like a sandy shore--and this
 was sheltered from the north by a high 
clay bluff that tempered all voices from
 below and made a sounding board for the
 winds4 ,the beach1 however1 was not as 
broad then as now4 ,to the east for a   
mile is a shallow sickle of shore with  
breakers on the point4 ,in itself this  
indentation is but a squab of the main  
,pigeon ,bay1 which stretches around for
 twenty miles and is formed of ,pelee   
,point1 the most southern extension of  
,canada4 ,the nearer and lesser point is
 like a bit of the ,mediterranean4 ,it  
takes the greys of the rain-days with a 
beauty and power of its own1 and the    

mornings flash upon it4 ,i call it the  
,other ,shore1 a structure of idealism  
forming upon it from much contemplation 
at the desk4 ,the young people turn to  
it often from the classes4  ,the height 
of land from which the ,other ,shore is 
best visible had merely been seen so far
 from the swimming place in front of the
 rented cottages4 ,it was while in the  
water that ,i determined to explore4    
,the first thing that impressed me when 
,i reached the eminence was the silence4
 ,it was something to be dreamed of1    
when the ,lake was also still4 ,there   
was no road2 a hay field came down to   
the very edge of the bluff1 and the     
shore fifty feet below was narrow and   
rocky4 ,very few people passed there4   
,that most comfortable little town was  
lying against the rear horizon to the   
,west4 ,i used to come in the evenings  
and smoke as the sun went down4         
,sometimes the beauty of it was all ,i  
could bear--the voices of children in   
the distance and the ,pelee light       

flashing every seven seconds far out in 
the ,lake4  ,i first saw it in dry      
summer weather and did not know that a  
bumper crop of frogs had been harvested 
that ,spring from the deep1             
grass-covered hollows formed by the     
removal of clay for a brick-business    
long ago4 ,there was good forage on the 
mounds1 which ,i did not appreciate at  
the time4 ,the fact is these mounds were
 formed of pure dark loam1 as fine a    
soil as anywhere in the ,lake ,country4 
,those of the dim eyes say that once    
upon a time an orchard and brick-house  
stood on a bluff in front of the        
brick-yard1 on a natural point1 but that
 the ,lake had nibbled and nibbled1     
finally digesting the property1         
fruit-trees1 brick-house and all4  ,i   
could well believe it when the first    
storm came4 ,an ,east wind for three    
days brought steady deluges of high     
water that wore down the shore-line     
almost visibly4 ,a week later came a    
,west wind that enfiladed1 so that what 

remained of the little point was caught 
in the cross-play of the weathers4 ,if  
some one did not intervene1 the         
brick-yard site would follow the        
orchard--that was clear4  444 ,three or 
four times the owner came to see me4 ,we
 had rejoiced in the rented property1   
rejoiced in owning nothing1 yet having  
it all4444 ,thoreau in his daily        
westward migrations studied it all with 
the same critical delight1 and found his
 abode where others did not care to     
follow4 ,we look twice at the spot we   
choose to build our house4 ,that second 
look is not so free and innocent4444    
,yet a man may build his house4 ,thoreau
 had no little brood coming up1 and ,i  
have doubted many times1 even in moments
 of austere admiration1 if he wouldn't  
have lived longer1 had there been a     
woman about to nourish him4 ,she would  
have insisted upon a better roof1 at    
least4444 ,i told the neighbour-man ,i  
would buy the brick-yard1 if he didn't  
stop pestering me about it4 ,he smiled  

and came once too often4  ,the day      
before1 standing upon that height of    
land 7not too near the edge1 for it     
looked higher in those days7 ,i had     
gazed across the ,lake1 at one with it  
all1 a friendly voyager of the skies1   
comrade of the yarrow and the daisy4 ,i 
remember the long grass of the hollows1 
the peculiar soft bloom of it1 and what 
a place it was to lie and dream1 until  
one became a part of the solution of    
sunshine and tinted immensity4  ,so ,i  
lost the universe for a bit of bluff on 
the ,lake shore4  ,when the ,east wind  
came1 ,i saw with proprietary alarm the 
point wearing away4 ,that which coloured
 the ,lake was fine rose-clay and it was
 mine1 bought by the foot-front4444 ,a  
man may build his house4  ,every one who
 came along told me how to save the     
point4 ,for weeks they came4 ,heavy     
drift-wood was placed in times of peace1
 so that the sand would be trapped in   
storm4 ,no one failed me in advice1 but 
the ,east wind made match-wood of all   

arrangements4444 ,the high water would  
wash and weaken the base1 and in the    
heaviness of the rains the bulk of earth
 above would fall--only to be carried   
out again by the waves4 ,the base had to
 be saved if a natural slope was ever to
 be secured4 ,farther down the shore ,i 
noted one day that a row of boulders    
placed at right angles with the shore   
had formed a small point1 and that a    
clump of willows behind had retained it4
 ,this was a bit of advice that had not 
come so authoritatively1 but ,i followed
 the cue1 and began rolling up rocks now
 like an ancient ,peruvian4 ,it was a   
little jetty1 that looked like a lot of 
labour to a city man1 and it remained as
 it was for several days4  ,one morning 
,i came forth in lashing weather--and   
rubbed my eyes4 ,the jetty was not in   
sight4 ,it was covered with a foot of   
sand1 and the clay was dry at the base4 
,a day's work with a team after that in 
low water1 snaking the big boulders into
 line with a chain--a sixty-foot jetty  

by sun-down1 built on top of the baby   
spine ,i had poked together4 ,no man    
ever spent a few dollars more           
profitably4 ,even these stones were     
covered in time1 and there was over a   
yard-deep of sand buttressing the base  
of the clay and thinning out on the     
slope of shore to the end of the stones4
 ,later1 when building1 ,i took four    
hundred yards of sand from the east side
 of the stone jetty1 and it was all     
brought back by the next storm4444  ,i  
read somewhere with deep and ardent     
sanction that a man isn't worth his     
spiritual salt if he lets a locality    
hold him1 or possessions possess him2   
and yet1 the spell was broken a little  
when we came to buy4 ,whenever you play 
with the meshes of possession1 a devil  
is near at hand to weave you in4 ,it is 
true that we took only enough           
,lake-frontage for quiet1 and enough    
depth for a permanent fruit-garden--all 
for the price of a fifty-foot lot in the
 ,city2 but these things call upon one  

for a certain property-mindedness and   
desiring1 in the usage of which the     
human mind is common and far from       
admirable4 ,there were days in the      
thrall of stone-work and grading and    
drainage1 in which ,i forgot the        
sun-path and the cloud-shadows2 nights  
in which ,i saw fireplaces and          
sleeping-porches 7still innocent of     
matter to make the dreams come true71   
instead of the immortal signatures of   
the heavens4  ,but we had learned our   
,city lessons rather well1 and these    
disturbers did not continue to defile4  
,a man may build his house1 if he can   
also forget it4 ,a few good             
things--perennials1 by all means an     
elm-tree1 stone-work and an oaken door2 
the things that need not replenishing in
 materials1 that grow old with you1 or  
reach their prime after you have        
passed--these are enough4 ,for a home   
that does not promote your naturalness1 
is a place of vexation to you and to    
your children4  ,yet it is through this 

breaking of the husks of                
illusion--through the very              
artificialities that we come to love the
 sane and holy things4 ,the man of great
 lands1 who draws his livelihood from   
the soil1 can never know the healing nor
 the tender loveliness that came up to  
us that first summer4 ,one must know the
 maiming of the cities to bring to the  
land a surface that nature floods with  
ecstasies4 ,carlyle thundered against   
artificial things all his wonderful     
life1 exalted the splendours of         
simplicity which permit a man to forget 
himself--just missing the fact that a   
man must be artificial before he can be 
natural2 that we learn by suffering and 
come up through the hell and            
complication of cities only to show us  
wherein our treasure lies4  ,the narrow 
non-sensitive consciousness of the      
peasant1 with its squirrel-dream of     
filled barns1 its cruelty and continual 
garnering--that is very far from the    
way4 ,tolstoi went against the eternal  

law to try that4 ,he wanted simplicity  
so tragically that he permitted his     
desire to prevail1 and turned back to   
the peasants for it4 ,it is against the 
law to turn back4 ,the peasants are     
simple because they have not met the    
intervening complications between their 
inland lake consciousness and the       
oceanic clarity ahead4 ,be very sure    
that none will escape the complication1 
for we rise to different dimensions of  
simplicity through such trials4 ,war1   
,trade1 the ,city1 and all organised    
hells are our training-fields4 ,the     
tragedy is to remain1 to remain fixed in
 them--not to rush forth at length from 
our miserable self-consciousness and    
self-serving in the midst of them4      
,cosmic simplicity is ahead2 the        
naturalness of the deeper health of     
man--that is ahead4  ,that summer is    
identified with the ,shore4 ,i worked at
 the desk through the long forenoons1   
and in a bathing-suit for the rest of   
the day4 ,i expect to get to the ,shore 

again when the last of the builders     
leave the bluff1 when the bit of an     
orchard can run itself1 and the big and 
little trees are at home4 ,they are in  
sick-beds now from transplanting4 ,from 
one to another ,i move almost every day4
 ,it is not that they are on my         
land--that insensate motive is pretty   
well done away with4 ,but they have been
 uprooted and moved1 and they are       
fighting to live4 ,i sometimes think    
that they need some one to watch4 ,if   
one goes away for a week--there is a    
change1 sometimes for the worse4 ,the   
sun strikes them on a different side2   
their laterals and tap-roots have been  
severed2 they meet different conditions 
of soil than they were trained for4     
,much water helps1 but they must        
breathe1 and sometimes mulch keeps them 
too cold4 ,then they have their enemies 
like every other living thing--and low  
in health from moving1 they cannot      
withstand these foes without help4 ,the 
temporality of all things--even of the  

great imperturbable trees--is a thought 
of endless visitation in ,nature4 ,she  
seems to say morning and evening1 ,do   
not forget that everything here must    
pass4  ,there is to be little woodland1 
a miniature forest1 a hundred feet long 
and thirty feet wide only4 ,beech and   
ash and elm are started there--dogwoods 
and hawthorns and lilacs4 ,mulch from   
the woods is being brought1 and violets4
 ,twice ,i have tried to make young     
hickories live1 but failed4 ,i think the
 place where the roots are cut in       
transplanting should be sealed with wax4
 ,a man here said that you can          
transplant hickories if you get all the 
roots1 but that they bleed to death even
 in winter1 if their laterals are       
severed4444 ,i want the birds to come to
 this little wood4 ,of course1 it will  
be many years before it follows the     
plan1 but there is a smile in the idea4 
,the hawthorns came whole2 the ash and  
beech are doing well4 ,some wild grape  
is started1 but that must be watched for

 it is a beautiful murderer4444  ,i want
 to get back to the ,shore4 ,something  
was met there the first summer that ,i  
yearn for again--close to the sand1     
close to the voices of the water4 ,the  
children often tell me what ,i feel4 ,to
 them the stones have their gnomes1 the 
water its sprites1 and the sand a spirit
 of healing4 ,there1 too1 the sunlight  
is so intense and vitalising as it plays
 upon the water and penetrates the      
margin4  ,the clay bluff is finding its 
grade1 since it is spared the wash from 
beneath4 ,that which breaks from erosion
 above straightens it out below1 and in 
time it will find a permanent slope     
7something near thirty degrees1 they    
say7 that cannot be approached for      
beauty by any artificial process4 ,i    
would not miss one of the natural       
shelves or fissures4 ,the ,japanese are 
interesting in their treatment of       
slopes4 ,something of the old temples   
and stonepaved paths--a trickle of water
 over the stones1 deep shadows and      

trailing vines--something of all this   
will come to the clay bluff1 if time is 
given to play on4 ,but that is last1 as 
the ,shore was first4444 ,i brought a   
willow trunk there this ,spring and let 
the waves submerge it in sand4 ,there   
are fifty small shoots springing up2 and
 they will fight their way with each    
other1 the leaders surviving4 ,i planted
 one cedar on the ,shore4 ,it is good to
 plant a cedar4 ,you are working for    
posterity4  ,the first ,fall came1 and  
nothing had been done above1 though ,i  
had begun to have visions of a ,spanish 
house there1 having seen one that ,i    
could not forget somewhere in ,luzon4 ,a
 north-country house should have a      
summer heart1 which is a fountain1 and a
 winter heart which is a fireplace4 ,i  
wanted both4 ,the thought of it became  
clearer and clearer--a blend of patio   
and broad hearth--running water and red 
firelight--built of stone and decorated 
with ivy4 ,a stone house with a roof of 
wired glass over a patio paved with     

brick2 the area sunken slightly from the
 entrance2 a balcony stretching around  
to connect the sleeping rooms1 and      
rimmed with a broad shelf of oak1 to    
hold the palms1 urns1 ferns and winter  
plants4  ,all this in a grove of elms   
and beeches1 as ,i saw it--and as yet1  
there wasn't a tree on the place4 ,first
 of all there needed to be a work-shop  
to finance the main-dream4 ,that was    
built in the ,fall1 after the reverse   
was put on the devouring conditions of  
the ,shore4     #c  ,,stonestudy        
,somewhere in the past ages1 ,i've had  
something to do with stone-work4 ,this  
came to me first with a poignant thrill 
when ,i found myself in the presence of 
the ,chinese ,wall4 ,illusion or not1 it
 seemed as if there were ancient scars  
across my back--as if ,i had helped in  
that building1 and under the lash1 too4 
444 ,i heard the mason here tell his    
tender that he had done a lot of        
stone-work1 but had never been watched  
so closely as this4 ,he penetrated to   

the truth of the matter presently4 ,i   
wasn't watching because ,i was afraid of
 short time or flaws of construction--,i
 was watching because it satisfied      
something within1 that had to do with   
stone-work4 ,i do not get accustomed to 
the marvel of cement4 ,the overnight    
bond of that heavy powder1 and its      
terrible thirst1 is a continual miracle 
to me4 ,there is a satisfaction about   
stone-work4 ,it is at its weakest at the
 moment of setting4 ,if you can find a  
bearing for one stone upon another      
without falling1 you may know that every
 hour that passes for years1 your wall  
is hardening4 ,these things move slowly1
 too4 ,all that has to do with          
stone-work is a slow process4 ,in the   
very lifting1 the masons learn that     
muscles must not tug or jerk1 but lift  
slowly4 ,the mortar that hardens slowly 
hardens best4  ,the study building      
happened between two long tasks of my   
own1 so that there was time to be much  
outdoors4 ,i doubt if there ever was a  

lovelier ,fall than that--a full year   
before the thought of ,europe became    
action4 ,i watched the work--as the     
,japanese apprentices watch their       
craftsmen1 so that the mind gets the    
picture of every process4 ,the hand     
learns easily after this4  ,it is a     
grand old tool1 the trowel1 perhaps the 
most perfect of all symbols which       
suggest the labour of man upon the      
earth1 his making of order out of chaos4
 ,the hammers interested me as          
well--six1 eight1 and eighteen pounds4  
,the young man who used them was not    
much to look at1 his body sagging a bit 
from labour1 set in his opinions like   
the matter he dealt with1 but terrible  
in his holding to what he knew1 and     
steadily increasing that store4 ,i have 
come to respect him1 for he has done a  
great deal of stone-work here since     
those ,fall days1 when ,i seemed to be  
learning masonry all over again4        
,handle these hard-heads all day1 and   
you're pretty well lifted out by night1 

he would remark1 and add deprecatingly1 
as the feller says4  ,there's a magic   
about the breaking4 ,it isn't all       
strength4 ,i think it is something the  
same that you do in billiards to get    
that smooth1 long roll without smashing 
the balls4 ,the mason says it is in the 
wrist4 ,i asked him if it was the flash 
of the heat through the stone that broke
 it4  ,no1 it's just the way you hit it1
 he answered4  ,two old masons worked   
with him for a time on the later work4  
,they have built in these parts         
thousands of tons of brick and          
stone--fifty years of masonry2 and their
 order is wonderful4 ,i watched them    
taking their stone-hammers to the stable
 in the evening1 and placing them just  
so4 ,they have learned their mastery    
over the heavy things2 they have hewed  
to the ,line1 and built to the ,square4 
,their eyes are dim but the essence of  
their being 7,i cannot think it         
otherwise7 is of more orderly           
integration4 ,there is a nobility from  

stone-work which the masons put on with 
the years--the tenders have it not2     
neither have any of the indiscriminate  
labour men4 ,one must have a craft to   
achieve this4 ,the building is not so   
much4 ,the houses and barns and stores  
which the elder masons pass everywhere  
as the labour of their hands in this    
country--they are but symbols of the    
building of character within4 ,they see 
into the stones1 see through their      
weathered coatings4 ,to another all     
would look the same--the blacks and reds
 and whites1 even the amalgans--all     
grey-brown and weathered outside--but   
the masons know what is within1 the     
colour and grain and beauty4  ,try that 
one1 ,i might say1 looking for a certain
 fireplace corner4  ,no1 that's a black 
feller4  ,and this8  ,good colour1 but  
he ain't got no grain--all gnurly--as   
the feller says4  ,sometime this mason  
will be able to see like that into the  
hearts of men4444  ,a stone study       
sixteen by twenty-three feet1 built     

about a chimney--faced stone in and out1
 windows barred for the vines1 six-inch 
beams to hold a low gable roof1 and a   
damper in the chimney2 the door of oak1 
wooden pegs to cover the screw-insets1 a
 few rugs1 a few books1 the magic of    
firelight in the stone cave--a          
,mediterranean vision of curving shore  
to the ,east1 and the single door       
overhanging the ,lake--to the suspense  
of distance and ,southern               
constellations4  ,i laugh at this--it   
sounds so pompous and costly--but it is 
the shop of a poor man4 ,the whole      
,lake-frontage1 as ,i have told you1    
cost no more than a city lot2 and with  
sand on the beach1 and stone on the     
shore and nearby fields1 it all came to 
be as cheaply as a wooden cabin--indeed1
 it had to4 ,that winter after we had   
left for the ,city1 the elms were put   
out--a few six-inch trunks1 brought with
 their own earth frozen to them--a      
specimen of oak1 walnut1 hickory 7so    
hard to move7--but an elm over-tone was 

the plan1 and a clump of priestly pines 
near the stable4 ,these are still in the
 revulsions of transition2 their beauty 
is yet to be4 ,time brings that1 as it  
will smoke the beams1 clothe the        
stone-work in vines1 establish the roses
 and wistaria on the ,southern exposure1
 slope and mellow and put the bloom over
 all4  ,we remained until ,november and 
returned the following ,april to stay4  
,in the meantime the three children--a  
girl of ten and two younger boys--had   
almost their final bit of public        
schooling1 though ,i was not so sure of 
that then2 in fact1 ,i planned to have  
them continue their training from ,april
 on in the small town school until the  
summer vacation4 ,this was tried for a  
few weeks1 the result of the experience 
hastening us toward the task of teaching
 our own4     #d  ,,imagination         
,matters of child-education became      
really interesting to me for the first  
time that winter4 ,there were certain   
unfoldings of the little daughter in our

 house1 and ,i was associating a good   
deal with a group of teachers in town1  
some of whom while still professionally 
caught in the rigid forms of modern     
education1 were decades ahead in        
realisation4 ,i recall especially a talk
 with one of my old teachers1 a woman   
who had taught thirty years1 given      
herself freely to three generations--her
 own and mine and to another since then4
 ,she had administered to me a thing    
called rhetoric in another age1 and she 
looked just the same1 having kept her   
mind wide open to new and challenging   
matters of literature and life and      
religious thought4  ,i had the pleasant 
sense in this talk of bringing my doubts
 and ideas to her tentatively1 much as  
,i used to bring an essay in school     
days4 ,she still retained a vivid       
impression of my faults1 but the very   
finest human relationships are          
established upon the knowledge of one's 
weaknesses--as the ,master established  
,his church upon the weakest link of the

 discipleship4 ,speaking of the         
children1 ,i observed3  ,i find them    
ready1 when they ask4 ,in the old occult
 schools there is a saying that the     
teacher will always come half-way1 but  
that the student must also come         
half-way----  ,it is soil and seed in   
everything1 the woman said4 ,in all     
life1 it is so4 ,there must be a giving1
 but also a receiving4 ,i talk to five  
classes a day--twenty-five to fifty     
students each--but so much falls upon   
stony ground1 among tares1 so much is   
snapped up by the birds----  ,when a    
child asks a question1 he is prepared to
 receive1 ,i repeated4 ,if the answer is
 true and well-designed1 it will stay4  
,the question itself proves that the    
soil is somehow ready----  ,yes1 she    
said1 but one cannot sit at a desk and  
wait for questions4 ,the teacher in     
dealing with numbers must not only plant
 the seed1 but prepare the soil1 too4   
,i should say that the way to do that   
would be to quicken the imagination--to 

challenge the imagination1 ,i suggested4
 ,i know it has to be done in writing a 
story4 ,one has to pick up the reader   
and carry him away at first4 ,and most  
readers are limp or logy in the midst of
 abundance4  ,the teacher bowed gravely4
 ,apparently she had come to listen4    
444 ,now1 with this little girl here1   
there is but one subject that surely    
interests her4 ,that has to do with the 
old ,mother of us all----  ,nature8     
,yes4 ,i've tried to find out something 
of what ,nature means to her--what      
pictures mean ,nature to that fresh     
young mind4 ,it seems to her1 ,nature is
 a kind of presiding mother to all      
things1 possibly something like a       
,god-mother--to kittens and trees and   
butterflies and roses and children4 ,she
 is mistress of the winds and the       
harvests4444 ,i have talked with her    
about it4 ,sometimes again1 ,nature is  
like a wonderful cabinet--shelf after   
shelf full of amazing things1 finished  
or to be finished4 ,i told her about the

 ,sun as the ,father1 and ,nature the   
,mother4 ,that helped her4 ,she held to 
that4 ,always now when we fall into talk
 naturally--it is about the old ,mother 
and the brilliant ,father who pours his 
strength upon all concerned--,mother    
,nature's mate4  ,the teacher nodded    
indulgently4 ,that's preparing the soil4
 ,that's quickening the imagination4    
,but one must have imagination to do    
that----  ,we fell silent4 ,i was       
thinking of the old school days--of the 
handful of days in the midst of         
thousands that had left a gleam2 of the 
tens of thousands of young women now    
teaching in ,america without the gleam2 
beginning to teach at the most          
distracted period of their lives1 when  
all ,nature is drawing them toward      
mating and reproduction4444  ,yes1 a    
teacher should have imagination1 ,i     
added4 ,there's no way out of that1     
really4 ,a teacher who hasn't--kills it 
in the child2 at least1 all the pressure
 of unlit teaching is a deadening weight

 upon the child's imagination4 ,what is 
it that makes all our misery--but the   
lack of imagination8 ,if men could see  
the pictures around everything1 the     
wonderful connecting lines about life1  
they couldn't be caught so terribly in  
the visible and the detached objects2   
they couldn't strangle and repress their
 real impulses and rush for things to   
hold in their hands for a little time4  
,if they had imagination they would see 
that the things they hold in their hands
 are disintegrating now as everything in
 ,nature is2 that the hand itself       
weakens and loses its power4 ,why1 here 
we are upstanding--half-gods asleep     
within us4 ,imagination alone--the      
seeing of the spirit of things--that can
 awaken us4  ,i felt the need of        
apologising at this point for getting on
 that old debatable ground--but the     
secret was out4 ,it was the essence of  
my forming ideas on educating the       
children1 as it is the essence of       
everything else--all writing1 all       

craftsmanship1 labour and life itself4  
444 ,half-gods asleep in a vesture1 ,i  
added4 ,all nature and life prompting us
 to see that it is but vesture we make  
so much of4 ,children see it--and the   
world takes them in their dearest years1
 and scale by scale covers their vision4
 ,i talked with a man yesterday--a man  
,i like--a good man1 who loves his wife 
by the pound1 believes all things       
prospering when fat--children and       
churches1 purses and politicians4 ,a    
big1 imperial-looking man himself1      
world-trained1 a man who has learned to 
cover his weaknesses and show a good    
loser on occasion2 yet1 through twenty  
years' acquaintance1 he has never       
revealed to me a ray other than from the
 visible and the obvious4 ,he hunted me 
up because one of his children seemed to
 want to write4 ,we talked in a         
club-room and ,i happened to note the   
big steel chandelier above his head4 ,if
 that should fall1 this creature before 
me would mainly be carrion4  ,you see   

what ,i mean4 ,he has spent every energy
 of his life here1 in building the      
vesture4 ,that which would escape from  
the inert poundage has not been         
awakened4 ,one of the queerest facts of 
all life is that these half-gods of ours
 must be awakened here in the flesh4 ,no
 sooner are they aroused than we have   
imagination2 we begin to see the        
connecting lines of all things1 the     
flashes of the spirit of things at once4
 ,no workman1 no craftsman or artisan   
can be significant without it4444       
,however1 as ,i thought of the          
chandelier and the sumptuous flesh      
beneath1 ,i talked of writing--something
 of what writing means to me4 ,when ,i  
stopped1 he said3  ',i didn't know you  
were so religious4444 ,but about this   
writing matter----' and opened the      
subject again4444  ,he's all right4     
,nature will doubtless take care of him4
 ,perhaps his view of life3 ',i see what
 ,i see and take what ,i can1' is as    
much as is asked from the many in the   

great plan of things--but ,i like       
madness better4 ,to me1 his is fatal    
enchantment2 to me1 wars and all        
tragedies are better4 ,i would rather   
live intensely in error than stolidly in
 things as they are4 ,if this is a devil
 and not a half-god that sleeps         
within--at least1 ,i want him awake4 ,i 
must feel his force4 ,if he is a devil1 
perhaps ,i can beat him4  ,that's       
something of a definition of            
imagination1 the teacher said1          
----seeing the spirit of things4  ,i    
hadn't thought of it as a               
definition--but it expresses what the   
real part of life means to me4 ,men and 
women move about life and affairs1      
knowing nine out of ten times what is   
going to happen next in their wheel of  
things2 what their neighbour is going to
 say next1 from the routine of the day's
 events4 ,after a little of that1 ,i    
have to run away--to a book1 to a task1 
to an awakened imagination4 ,only those 
who are in a measure like us can        

liberate us4 ,that's the key to our     
friendships1 our affections and loves4  
,we seek those who set us free--they    
have a cup to hold the vital things we  
have to give--a surface to receive4 ,if 
they are in a measure our true kin--our 
dynamics is doubled4 ,that's the secret 
of affinities1 by the way----  ,the     
teacher smiled at me4 ,tell me more     
about the little girl1 she said4  444   
,she learned so quickly from the        
processes of ,nature4 ,i found her      
sitting in the midst of the young corn  
last summer1 where the ground was filled
 with vents from the escaping moisture4 
,i told her about the root systems and  
why cultivation means so much to corn in
 dry weather4 ,she read one of ,henry   
,ward ,beecher's ,star ,papers and      
verified many of its fine parts4 ,she   
finds the remarkable activities in      
standing water4 ,the ,shore is ever     
bringing her new studies4 ,every day is 
,nature's4 ,the rain is sweet2 even the 
,east winds bring their rigour and      

enticements4 ,she looks every morning1  
as ,i do1 at the ,other ,shore4 ,we know
 the state of the air by that4 ,and the 
air is such drink to her4 ,you have no  
idea how full the days are4  ,you mean  
to make a writer of her8 the teacher    
asked4  ,no--that was settled the first 
day4 ,i asked the little girl what she  
wanted to be4  ',i want to be a mother1'
 she answered4  ',of course1' said ,i1  
thoughtfully4444 ,it had been the same  
with her music4 ,she liked it and did   
well1 but it never burned into her      
deeps--never aroused her productivity4  
,and ,i have found it so with her little
 attempts at written expression4 ,she is
 to be a mother--the highest of the     
arts4444 ,once we saw the terrible drama
 of the hornet and the grasshopper4 ,i  
had read it in ,fabre1 and was enabled  
to watch it work out with some          
intelligence4 ,nature is a perfect      
network of processes1 the many still to 
be discovered1 not by human eyes but by 
intuitional vision4 ,finally ,i asked   

her to write what she thought of one of 
our walks together1 not trying to       
remember what ,i had said--only         
expressing something of the activity    
which my words suggested4  ,the teacher 
nodded again4 ,her face had become      
saddened4  ,i would not encourage her to
 become a writer1 ,i repeated4          
,expression of some sort is imperative4 
,it is the right hand4 ,we receive with 
the left1 so to speak1 but we must give 
something of our own for what we        
receive4 ,it is the giving that         
completes the circle2 the giving        
formulates1 makes matter of vision1     
makes the dream come true4 ,you know the
 tragedies of dreaming without          
expression4 ,even insanity comes of     
that4 ,i have never told her matters of 
technique in writing1 and was amazed to 
find that she has something that none of
 us grown-ups have1 who are formed of   
our failures and drive our expression   
through an arsenal of laws and fears4   
,do you mean that you instruct her in   

nothing of technique8  ,i haven't--at   
least1 not yet4 ,i have hardly thought  
of it as instruction even4  ,and        
spelling8  ,her spelling is too novel4  
,it would not do to spoil that4 ,in     
fact1 she is learning to spell and      
punctuate quite rapidly enough from     
reading4 ,these matters are automatic4  
,the world has taught men to spell      
rather completely4 ,god knows we've had 
enough of it1 to the abandonment of the 
real4 ,i could misspell a word in every 
paragraph of a three-hundred-page       
manuscript without detriment to the     
reception of the same1 all that being   
corrected without charge4 ,there are men
 who can spell1 whose ,god-given        
faculties have been taught to spell1 who
 have met the world with freshness and  
power1 and have learned to spell4 ,i    
have no objection to correct spelling4  
,i would rather have it than not1 except
 from children4 ,but these are things   
which a man does with the back of his   
neck1 and he who does the constructive  

tasks of the world uses different and   
higher organs4  ,i have taught much     
spelling1 the teacher said quietly4     
,you will forgive me for being so       
enthusiastic4 ,these things are fresh to
 me1 ,i said4  ,the little girl is ten1 
you say8  ,yes4  ,she has a fine chance1
 the teacher remarked presently4 ,it    
saddens me to think of my myriads4 ,but 
we do our best----  ,that is one sure   
thing1 ,i said quickly4  ,still you are 
taking her away from us4  ,i felt a     
throb of meaning from that4 ,i had to be
 sure she meant just as much as that    
throb meant to me4 ,constructive        
realisations come this way4  ,what do   
you mean--taking her away8  ,you will   
make a solitary of her4 ,she will not be
 of the world4 ,you deal with one       
lovingly4 ,it will become more and more 
a part of your work4 ,your work is of a 
kind to show you the way4 ,she is       
following rapidly4 ,i believe you have  
established the point that one can learn
 best from within1 but one who does1    

must be so much alone4 ,the ways will be
 lost between her and her generation--as
 represented by my five classes each    
day4  ,i had done a good deal of        
talking1 but the teacher had guided me  
straight to the crossing--and with very 
few words4 ,i realised now that more and
 more1 ,i was undertaking to show the   
little girl short cuts to possessions   
that ,i had found valuable1 but for     
which ,i had been forced to go around1  
and often with difficulty4 ,above all1  
,i was trying to keep open that         
dream-passage1 to keep unclouded that   
lens between spirit and flesh through   
which fairies are seen and the lustrous 
connecting lines around all things4 ,by 
every impulse ,i was arousing           
imagination--it is all said in that4 ,in
 doing this1 was ,i also making a       
solitary of her--lifting her apart from 
the many8  ,there was no squirming out4 
,i was doing exactly this2 and if ,i    
went on1 the job would be done more and 
more completely4  ,she is not strange or

 different now1 ,i said1 but see what   
will happen4 ,she will find it harder   
and harder to stay4 ,she will begin     
searching for those who liberate her4   
,they are hard to find--not to be found 
among the many4 ,books and nature and   
her dreams--but the many will not follow
 her to these sources4444 ,and yet every
 man and woman ,i know who are great to 
me1 have entered this solitude in       
childhood4 ,they were ,solitaries--that 
seems the mark of the questers4444 ,why1
 you would not have one stay with the   
many--just to avoid the loneliness and  
the heart-pulling that leads us into    
ourselves4 ,everything done in the world
 that is loved and remembered--every    
life lived with beauty and              
productiveness to the many--has come    
from the ,solitaries4 ,quest1 that is   
the greatest word in ,english4 ,one must
 have imagination to set out on the     
quest4444 ,in reality we only search for
 our real selves--that which we yearn   
toward is the arousing of the half-gods 

within4 ,when they are fully awake1 we  
return to tell the many4 ,perhaps we do 
meet a more poignant suffering--but that
 is an honour----  ,the teacher was     
smiling at me again4 ,do you not see1   
she asked1 that all that you do and say 
and teach is for those who have the     
essential imagination8  ,but children   
have it1 ,i said4     #e  ,,wild ,,geese
   ,i could not stay away entirely that 
winter4 ,after a week or ten days of    
hard work1 night-classes and furnace    
air--imagination would work to the      
extent that a day by the open fire was  
required4 ,it seemed to me some days    
that ,i wanted a century of silence4444 
,there was one bright cold mid-,march   
day1 the northern shore still frozen a  
mile out4 ,i had come forth from the    
city to smell wood-smoke1 a spring      
symptom4 ,it was now sunset4 ,in the    
noble stillness1 which for many moments 
had been broken only by the sagging of  
the dead ice1 there came now a great    
cackling of geese1 so that ,i looked up 

the lane a quarter of a mile to the     
nearest farmyard1 wondering who had     
turned loose the collie pups4 ,it hadn't
 occurred to me to look up2 and that1   
when you come to think of it1 is one of 
the tragedies of being city-bred4       
,presently ,i had to4 ,voices of wild   
geese carry with astonishing force and  
accuracy4 ,a hundred yards ahead was the
 long-necked gander1 with the lines of a
 destroyer1 his wings sweeping more     
slowly because of their strength and    
gear1 yet he was making the pace4 ,then 
came his second in command1 also alone1 
and as far back again1 the point of the 
,v4 ,in this case1 the formation was    
uneven1 the left oblique being twice as 
extended as the right4444 ,they were all
 cackling1 as ,i imagined1 because of   
the open water ahead1 for geese either  
honk or are silent in passage4 ,they    
began to break just above1 the formation
 shattering piece by piece as they swept
 on with wild ardour toward the         
ice-openings4 ,coming up from the thrall

 of the thing1 ,i found my hat in hand4 
,it would shake any one4 ,indeed1       
there's a fine thrill in the flight of  
ducks--darting dwarfs compared to these 
standard-breds1 whose pinions sweep but 
once to the triple-beat of the twinkling
 red-heads and canvas-backs4 ,you can   
tell the difference by the twinkle1 when
 the distance over water confuses the   
eye as to size4 ,mighty twelve-pounders 
with a five-foot spread of wing1 many of
 these1 and with more than a suggestion 
of the swan's mystic grandeur in        
passing4  ,somewhere back of memory1    
most of us have strange relations with  
the wild things4 ,something deeper than 
the beauty of them thrills4 ,moments of 
music stir these inward animations2 or  
steaming for the first time into certain
 oriental harbours4 ,suddenly we are    
estranged from the self1 as we know it1 
and are greater beings4 ,i feel as new  
as a tourist before ,niagara or         
,montmorency1 but as old as ,paul and   
,silas in the presence of the ,chinese  

,wall4 ,the lips of many men1 strange   
save to common sayings1 are loosed to   
murmurings of deepest yearning before   
the spectacle of a full-rigged ship2 and
 it matters not if1 within memory1 they 
have ever felt the tug of filling cloth 
in the timber underfoot1 or crossed even
 an inland waterway without steam4 ,it  
was this that the flight of geese gave  
me--a throb from the ancient and        
perennial romance of the soul4  ,many a 
man goes gunning on the same principle1 
and thinks that the urge is game4 ,it   
isn't so1 unless he is a mere animated  
stomach2 the many think they have come  
into their own as they go to sea1 the   
vibration of the triple-screws singing  
along the keel4444 ,they pass an iceberg
 or a derelict1 some contour of tropical
 shore1 a fishing fleet1 or an old      
fore-and-after1 and the steamer is a    
stifling modern metropolis after        
that--galley and stoke-hole its slums4  
,then and there1 they vow some time     
really to go to sea4  ,sing the song of 

steam--the romance of steel8 ,there     
isn't any1 yet4 ,generations hence1 when
 the last turbine comes puffing into    
port1 taking its place like a dingy     
collier in the midst of ether-driven    
hydroplanes--some youth on the          
waterfront1 perhaps1 will turn his back 
on the crowd1 and from his own tossing  
emotions at sight of the old            
steamer--emotions which defy mere brain 
and scorn the upstart memory--will catch
 the coherent story of it all1 and his  
expression will be the song of steam4   
,for the pangs and passions of the ,soul
 can only become articulate at the touch
 of some ancient reminder1 which erects 
a magnificent distance of perspective1  
and permits to flood in the stillness of
 that larger time1 whose crises are     
epochal and whose yesterdays are lives4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,waiting for the suburban car that night
 in the little ,lake town1 ,i mentioned 
the flying wedge4  ,why1 those are ,jack
 ,miner's geese1 remarked a voice of the

 waiting-room4  ,i ignored a reply4 ,a  
local witticism past doubt--the cut-up  
of the place4 ,jack ,miner1 as ,i saw   
it1 might own ,pelee ,island1 ,lake     
,erie or the ,district of ,columbia1 but
 no man's pronoun of possession has any 
business relation to a flock of wild    
geese1 the same being about the wildest 
things we have left4 ,i recalled the    
crippled goose which the farmer's boy   
chased around a hay-stack for the better
 part of a ,june afternoon1 and only saw
 once2 the goose being detained that    
particular once with the dog of the     
establishment4 ,this dog ranged the     
countryside for many years thereafter1  
but couldn't be coaxed past a load of   
hay1 and was even sceptical of          
corn-shocks4 ,i knew1 moreover1 that the
 geese are shot at from the ,gulf       
rice-marshes to the icy ,labradors2 that
 they fly slightly higher since the     
common use of smokeless instead of black
 powder4  ,yet the stranger hadn't been 
humorous4 ,any of his fellow townsmen   

would have made the same remark4 ,in    
fact1 ,i had the good fortune a few     
weeks afterward to see several hundred  
wild geese playing and feeding on ,jack 
,miner's farm--within a hundred feet of 
his door-step1 many of them4  ,years    
ago1 a winter came on to stay before the
 corn was all in--a patch of corn on a  
remote backfield of ,jack ,miner's farm4
 ,a small flock of geese flying ,north  
in ,march1 knew as much about the loss  
as ,jack did4 ,a farm-hand was first to 
note their call1 and got such a case of 
wanderlust when he observed the geese   
that he kept on going without return to 
the house4 ,he wrote1 however1 this     
significant news3  ,jack3 ,wild guse on 
your pleace4 ,leve corn on wood-lot4 ,he
 come back mabe4 ,steve4  ,jack ,miner  
did just that2 and the next year he left
 the corn a little nearer the house and 
so on4 ,meanwhile he made a law that you
 couldn't come onto his place with a    
shotgun4 ,he couldn't stop the          
townspeople from taking a shot at the   

small flocks as they passed over1 from  
the farm feeding ground to the ,lake1   
but the geese didn't seem to expect that
 of ,jack4 ,he says they would miss it1 
if the shooting stopped1 and get stale2 
and then it does a similar lot for the  
town in the critical month of ,april4   
,finally ,jack built a large concrete   
pond on his house acres1 leaving much   
corn on the clean marges4 ,he has a     
strong heart to wait with4 ,the geese   
had him when he first carried forth the 
corn1 but it was a year or two afterward
 before a daring young gander and pair  
made a hasty drop4 ,for once there was  
no chorus of ,i-told-you-so's1 from the 
wiser heads cocked stiff as cattails    
from the low growth of the surrounding  
fields4 ,that was the second beginning4 
,the system has been cumulative ever    
since1 and in something like this order3
 fifteen1 forty1 one hundred and fifty1 
four hundred1 six hundred--in five      
years4 ,the geese never land all at once
 in the artificial pond--some watching  

as far back as from the remote wood-lot1
 others in the south fields across the  
road4 ,jack ,miner feeds five bushels of
 corn a day and would like to feed      
fifteen4  ,a rich man can afford a few  
geese1 he remarked1 but it takes a poor 
man to feed six hundred4  ,he asked the 
,canadian ,government for one hundred   
dollars the year to help feed the geese1
 but the formidable process entailed to 
get it evidently dismayed ,ottawa at the
 outset1 for it didn't go through4 ,an  
automobile magnate came over from the   
,states recently4 ,the substance of his 
call didn't leak out4 ,in any event1    
,jack ,miner is still managing his      
brick-kiln4 ,bird-fanciers come nowadays
 in season from all over the ,states and
 ,provinces1 and ,jack feeds them too4  
,meantime1 we ,lake folk who come early 
enough to the ,shore to see the         
inspiring flocks flying overland to the 
water in the beginnings of dusk1 and    
hear them out on the ,lake where they   
moor at night1 a bedtime music that     

makes for strange dreaming--we know well
 what kind of a gift to the community   
,jack ,miner is2 and we are almost as   
sorry as he1 when the keen1 hardy ,norse
 blood of the birds calls them forth    
from the ,may balm4  ,of course1 ,jack  
is an individual4 ,he has time to plant 
roses as well as corn4 ,at luncheon     
to-day1 there was an armful of red roses
 on the table from ,jack ,miner's4 ,he  
had sent them three miles in hay time1  
and didn't know that ,i had spent the   
morning in writing about his geese4 ,he 
has time to tempt thousands of smaller  
birds to his acreage4 ,it's one seething
 bird-song there4 ,besides1 he makes a  
fine brick4 ,you'd expect him to be a   
workman4444 ,but the wild geese are a   
part of his soul4  ,i've watched them   
for a good many years now1 he told me4  
,i've seen them tackle a man1 a bull1 a 
team1 and stand against the swoop of an 
eagle4 ,two ganders may be hard as      
swordsmen at each other1 when they're   
drawing off their flocks1 but they'll   

stand back to back against any outsider4
 ,yes1 ,i've watched them a long time1  
and ,i've never yet seen them do        
anything a man would be ashamed of4     
,why1 ,i'd like to see the wild goose on
 the back of the ,canadian flag6  ,i    
wondered if ,canada were worthy1 but    
didn't say so4  ,it is rather too fine  
an event to go often to ,jack ,miner's4 
,the deeper impressions are those which 
count1 and such are spontaneous4 ,they  
do not come at call4 ,one feels as if   
breaking into one of the natural        
mysteries--at first glimpse of the huge 
geese so near at hand--a spectacle of   
beauty and speed not to be forgotten4   
,they are built long and clean4 ,unlike 
the larger fliers as a whole1 they need 
little or no run to rise2 it is enough  
to say that they rise from the water4   
,you can calculate from that the        
marvellous strength of pinion4 ,and they
 are continental wing-rangers that know 
the little roads of men1 as they know   
the great lakes and waterways and       

mountain chains--,jack ,miner's         
door-yard and ,hudson's ,bay4  ,i'd give
 a lot to see one right close1 ,jack1   
said ,i4  ,you don't have to4 ,come on4 
,he took me to a little enclosure where 
a one-winged gander was held4  ,he came 
home to me with a wing broken one       
,sunday1 said ,jack4 ,it was heavy      
going1 but he managed to get here4 ,i   
thought at first we'd have some goose1  
but we didn't4 ,the fact is1 ,i was sort
 of proud that he came home in his      
trouble4 ,i took the wing off1 as you   
see4 ,he's doing fine1 but he tried to  
drink himself to death1 as they all do4 
,that appears to be the way they fix a  
broken wing4 ,it may be the fever or the
 pain2 anyway1 they'll drink until they 
die4 ,i kept this fellow dry1 until he  
healed4  ,the splendid gamester         
stretched out his black head and hissed 
at me--something liquid and venomous in 
the sound--the long black beak as fine  
and polished as a case for a girl's     
penknife4 ,he was game to the core and  

wild as ever4444 ,jack hadn't let him   
die--perhaps he felt out of the law     
because of that4  ,i'll go and do my    
chores1 ,jack ,miner said4 ,you can stay
 and think it out4  ,i knew from that   
how well he understood the same big     
thing out of the past which the wild    
bird meant to me4 ,he had the excellent 
delicacy which comes from experience1 to
 leave me there alone4  ,an hysterical  
gabble broke the contemplation4         
,waddling up from behind was a tame     
goose4 ,the shocking thing was too fat  
and slow to keep itself clean--its head 
snubbed1 its voice crazily pitched1 its 
wings gone back to a rudiment1 its huge 
food-apparatus sagging to the ground1   
straining to lay itself against the     
earth1 like a billiard-ball in a        
stocking full of feathers4  ,and before 
me was the ,magnificent1 one that had   
made his continental flights1 fasting   
for them1 as saints fast in             
aspiration--lean and long1 powerful and 
fine in brain and beak and wing--an     

admirable adversary1 an antagonist      
worthy of eagles1 ready for death rather
 than for captivity4444 ,all that       
,gibbon ever wrote stood between this   
game bird and its obscene relative      
dragging its liver about a barnyard--the
 rise and fall of the ,roman1 and every 
other human and natural1 empire--the    
rise by toil and penury and aspiration1 
and the fall to earth again in the      
mocking ruins of plenty4444  ,good ,jack
 ,miner expressed the same1 but in his  
own way1 when he came back from the     
chores4     #f  ,,workmanship   ,as     
related1 ,i had seen the ,lake-front    
property first in ,august4 ,the hollows 
were idealised into sunken gardens1     
while the mason was building the stone  
study4 ,we returned in ,april--and the  
bluff was like a string of lakes4 ,the  
garden in the rear had been ploughed    
wrong4 ,rows of asparagus were lanes of 
still water1 the roots cut off from     
their supply of air4 ,moreover1 the     
frogs commented in concert upon our     

comings and goings4444 ,i set about the 
salvage alone1 and as ,i worked thoughts
 came4 ,do you know the suction of      
clay--the weight of adhering clay to a  
shovel8 ,you can lift a stone and drop  
it1 but the substance goes out of a city
 man's nerve when he lifts a shovel of  
clay and finds it united in a stubborn  
bond with the implement4 ,i went back to
 the typewriter1 and tried to keep up   
with the gang of ditchers who came and  
tiled the entire piece4 ,it was like    
healing the sick to see the water go    
off1 but a bad day for the frogs in the 
ponds where the bricks had been made4   
,you'll be surprised at the change in   
the land which this tiling will make in 
one season1 the boss told me4 ,it will  
turn over next corn-planting time like a
 heap of ashes4  ,that's the general    
remark4 ,good land turns over like a    
heap of ashes4  ,i would hardly dare to 
tell how ,i enjoyed working in that     
silent cave of red firelight4 ,matters  
of craftsmanship were continually in my 

thoughts--especially the need in every  
human heart of producing something4     
,before the zest is utterly drained by  
popular din from that word efficiency1  
be reminded that the good old word      
originally had to do with workmanship   
and not with dollar-piling4444 ,the     
world is crowded with bad workmen4 ,much
 of its misery and cruelty is the result
 of bad workmanship1 which in its turn  
results from the lack of imagination4 ,a
 man builds his character in his work2  
through character alone is the stamina  
furnished to withstand with dignity the 
heavy pressures of life4  444 ,i        
arranged with a neighbour to do some    
work for me4 ,in fact he asked for the  
work1 and promised to come the next     
,tuesday4 ,he did not appear4 ,toward   
the end of the week following ,i passed 
him in the lane that leads down to the  
,lake--a tall1 tired man1 sitting beside
 a huge stone1 his back against a       
,lombard poplar1 a shotgun across his   
knees4  ,i thought ,i'd wait here1 and  

see if ,i couldn't hit one of them      
geese1 he explained1 as ,i came up4  ,it
 seemed ,i had never seen such a tired  
face4 ,his eyes were burning like the   
eyes of a sentry1 long unrelieved1 at   
the outpost of a city4444 ,the geese    
ride at mooring out in the ,lake at     
night4 ,i have fallen asleep listening  
to their talk far out in the dark4 ,but 
,i have never seen them fly overland    
before sunset1 which was two hours away 
at the time ,i passed up the lane4 ,i do
 not know how long ,monte had been      
sitting there4  ,now except for the     
triviality of the promise1 ,i had no    
objection to his not working for me1 and
 no objection to his feeding his family1
 thus first-handed1 though very little  
breast of the game wild goose comes to  
the board of such as he4444 ,i was on   
the way to the forge of a workman4 ,i   
wanted a knocker for an oaken door2 and 
,i wanted it just so4 ,moreover1 ,i knew
 the man who would make it for me4  ,at 
the head of the lane1 still on the way1 

,i met a farmer1 who had not missed the 
figure propped between the stone and the
 poplar tree4 ,he said that the last    
time ,monte had borrowed his gun1 he had
 brought it back fouled4 ,that was all  
he said4  ,i passed ,monte's house1     
which is the shocking depression of a   
prosperous community4 ,there were many  
children--a stilled and staring lot4    
,they sat in dust upon the ground4 ,they
 were not waiting for goose4 ,their     
father had never inspired them with     
expectancy of any sort2 their mother    
would have spoiled a goose1 had it been 
brought by a neighbour4 ,she came to the
 door as ,i passed1 spilled kitchen     
refuse over the edge of the door-stone1 
and vanished4 ,the children seemed      
waiting for death4 ,the virtue of       
fatherhood is not to be measured        
numerically4444 ,april was nearly over1 
but the unsightly heaps that the snows  
had covered were not yet cleared away4  
,humped1 they were1 among the children4 
,this is a world-old picture--one that  

need not be finished4  ,monte was not a 
good shot1 not a good workman1 not a    
good father--a burden and bad odour     
everywhere1 a tainter of the town and   
the blood of the human race4 ,that1     
which was gathered about him was as     
pitifully bred as reared4 ,monte's one  
value lay in his horrible exemplarship4 
,he was a complete slum microcosm1      
without which no civilisation has yet   
arrived4 ,monte has given me more to    
think about than any of the happier     
people4 ,in his own mute way1 he reminds
 each man of the depths1 furnishes the  
low mark of the human sweep1 and keeps  
us from forgetting the world as it is1  
the myriads of bad workmen of which the 
leaning cities are made4  ,sitting there
 by the rock1 letting the hours go      
by--and in his own weak heart1 my       
neighbour knew that he wouldn't hit one 
of them geese4 ,all his life he had     
failed4 ,nature had long since ceased   
trying to tempt him into real           
production4 ,even his series of natural 

accidents was doubtless exhausted4 ,that
 is the pace that kills--that sitting4  
,i went on to the forge of the workman4 
,we talked together4 ,i sat by while he 
made the thing ,i wanted1 which was not 
an ornament simply4 ,he will always be  
identified there in the oak1 an         
excellent influence2 just as ,i think of
 him when ,i save the wood in the open  
fireplace1 because of the perfect damper
 he made for the stone chimney4 ,monte  
was still there when ,i went back4 ,the 
problem of him returned to mind after   
the freshening of the forge4  ,he       
belongs to us as a people1 and we have  
not done well by him4 ,we did not help  
him to find his work4 ,we did not       
consider his slowness1 nor the weariness
 of his flesh1 the sickness he came     
with1 nor the impoverishment of his     
line4 ,we are not finding their work for
 his children4 ,we have sent them home  
from school because they were not clean4
 ,we complain that they waste what we   
give them2 that they are harder on the  

shoes we furnish1 than are our own      
children4 ,we do not inquire with wisdom
 into their life1 to learn on which side
 of the human meridian they             
stand--whether their disease is         
decadence and senility of spiritual     
life1 or whether their spines are but   
freshly lifted from the animal levels4  
,as a purely physical aggregate--if our 
civilisation be that--our business is   
quickly to exterminate ,monte and his   
whole breed4 ,he embarrasses us1 as     
sleeker individuals of the herd and     
hive4 ,he is tolerated to the diseases  
with which he infects us1 because we    
have weakened our resistance with       
cleanliness4 ,but by the authority of   
our better understanding1 by our sacred 
writings and the intuitions of our      
souls1 we are men and no longer an      
animal aggregate4 ,as men1 our business 
is to lift ,monte from his lowly        
condition1 and hold him there2 to make  
him and his children well first1 and    
then to make workmen of them4 ,there are

 workmen in the world for this very task
 of lifting ,monte and his brood4 ,we do
 not use them1 because the national     
instinct of ,fatherhood is not yet      
profoundly developed4 ,we are not yet   
brothers4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,in the recent winter      
months in the city it came to me that ,i
 had certain things to tell a group of  
young men4 ,the class was arranged4 ,in 
the beginning ,i warned them not to     
expect literary matters2 that ,i meant  
to offer no plan to reach the           
short-story markets 7a game always      
rather deep for me72 that the things    
which ,i wanted to tell were those which
 had helped me toward being a man1 not  
an artist4 ,fifteen young men were      
gathered--all strangers to me4 ,when we 
were really acquainted1 weeks afterward1
 ,i discovered that seven of the fifteen
 had been writing for months or         
years--that there was certain stuff in  
the seven that would write or die4      
,they had not come for what ,i meant to 

give4 ,as a whole they were indifferent 
at first to my idea of the inner life4  
,they had come for the gleanings ,i     
would drop1 because ,i could not help   
it1 having spent twenty years learning  
how to learn to write4 ,the name that   
had called them from the different parts
 of the city was identified for good or 
bad in their minds with the work they   
meant to do4 ,and what ,i did for them  
was done as a workman--that was my      
authority--a workman1 a little older1 a 
little farther along in the craft that  
called4  ,and to every workman there are
 eager apprentices1 who hunger to know1 
not his way1 but the way4 ,every workman
 who does the best he can1 has a store  
of value for the younger ones1 who are  
drawn1 they know not why1 to the        
production he represents4 ,moreover1 the
 workman would learn more than he could 
give1 but he is not called4 ,he seldom  
offers himself1 because the laugh of the
 world has already maimed him deeply4444
 ,i had told them austerely what ,i     

would do for them1 and what ,i would not
 do2 but ,i did more and more what they 
really asked1 for therein and not       
elsewhere ,i had a certain authority4   
,more and more accurately ,i learned to 
furnish what they came for4 ,all my work
 in the study alone was to do just that 
for a larger class1 and in this effort  
,i stumbled upon the very heart of the  
fatherhood ideal and the educational    
ideal--for they are one and the same4   
,a man is at his best in those periods  
in which self-interest is lost to him4  
,the work in which a man can lose the   
sense of self for the most hours each   
day--that is his especial task4 ,when   
the workman gives forth the best that is
 in him1 not feeling his body1 above all
 its passions and petty devices for     
ruling him1 concentrated upon the task1 
a pure instrument of his task and open  
to all inspiration regarding it--that   
man is safe and superb4 ,there is       
something holy in the crafts and arts4  
,it is not an accident that a painting  

lives three hundred years4 ,we are not  
permitted to forget the great potters1  
the great metallists1 the rug and       
tapestry makers4 ,they put themselves in
 their tasks1 and we are very long in   
coming to the end of their fineness4    
,they produced4 ,they made their dreams 
come true in matter2 and that is exactly
 what our immortal selves are given     
flesh to perform4 ,each workman finds in
 his own way the secret of the force he 
represents4 ,he is an illuminated soul  
in this discovery4 ,it comes only to a  
man when he is giving forth1 when he is 
in love1 having lost the love of self4  
,giving forth purely the best of self1  
as the great workmen do1 a man is on the
 highway to the divine vocation which is
 the love and service of humanity4  444 
,they begin to call him twenty minutes  
before dinner is ready4 ,he is caught in
 the dream of the thing and has little  
time to bargain for it4 ,he feels for   
his glasses1 when you call him forth2 he
 sweats2 he listens to the forge that   

calls him4 ,the unfinished thing is not 
only on his bench1 but in his mind--in  
its weakness1 half-born and uncouth4444 
,talk to my daughter4 ,she knows about  
these things1 he says4 ,i must go4444   
,yes1 it is a fine day4  ,it is raining 
like as not4444 ,and because the world  
has laughed at him so long1 he has      
forgotten how to tell his story by the  
time he has perfected his task4 ,the    
world laughs at its betters with the    
same facility that it laughs at the     
half-men4 ,our national and municipal   
fathers should teach us first that the  
man who has found his work is one of the
 kings of the earth4 ,children should be
 taught to know a workman anywhere4 ,all
 excellence in human affairs should be  
judged by the workmanship and not by the
 profits4  ,we are neighbourhoods in    
name only4 ,how often has our scorn for 
some strange little man changed to      
excited appreciation1 when the world    
came at last to his shop with its       
sanctions of money and noisy affairs4   

,he is nervous and ill at ease4 ,his    
world has ceased to laugh4 ,he wonders  
at that2 asks himself if this praise and
 show is not a new kind of laughter1 for
 he cannot forget the grinding and the  
rending of the early years--when there  
were days in which he doubted even his  
work4 ,perhaps his has been a divided   
house all these years2 it may be that he
 has lost even ,her for his work4  ,the 
world has left him richer1 but he is not
 changed1 and back to the shop again4 ,a
 man's work lives with him to the       
end--and beyond--that is the eternal    
reason of its importance4444 ,all       
quandaries cease2 all doubts sink into  
the silence2 the task assumes once more2
 his real life is awake2 the heart of   
reality throbs for him1 adjusting the   
workman to an identity which cannot grow
 old4  ,he may not know this miracle of 
fine workmanship4 ,this that has come to
 him from the years of truth1 may not be
 a possible expression from his lips1   
but he knows in his heart one of the    

highest truths of here below3 ,that     
nothing which the world can give is     
payment for fine workmanship2 that the  
world is never so vulgar as when it     
thinks it can pay in money for a life's 
task4 ,the workman can only be paid in  
kind4  ,it is not the product that men  
use that holds the immortal result4     
,they may come to his shop fifty years  
after he has left it2 they may cross    
seas and continents to reach this shop1 
saying3 ,this is where he did it4 ,his  
bench was just there--his house over    
yonder4 ,here is where he stood1 and    
there he hung his coat4 ,but these are  
only refinements of irony4444 ,they may 
say1 ,this is his grandson4 ,but that   
will only handicap or ruin the child1 if
 he find not his work4 ,a thousand      
lesser workmen may improve his product1 
lighten it1 accelerate its potency1     
adapt it to freight rates--but that is  
no concern of the dream4  ,the payment  
of it all1 the glory of it all1 is that 
the real workman finds himself4 ,his    

soul has awakened4 ,in the trance of his
 task1 he has lost the love of self     
which the world knows1 and found the    
blessedness of the source of his being4 
,he does not need to state it           
philosophically1 for he lived it4 ,he   
found the secret of blessedness1 if not 
of happiness4 ,at his bench1 he         
integrated the life that lasts4 ,he     
could have told you in the early years1 
if the world had not laughed4 ,he would 
have learned himself more swiftly1 had  
he been encouraged to tell1 as he       
toiled--if the world had not shamed away
 the few who were drawn to his bench4   
,but alone1 he got it all at last--the  
passion and power of the spiritual      
workman which sustains him now1 though  
his body has lain under the hill for    
fifty years4 ,his shop is the place of a
 greater transaction than his task4 ,the
 breadth and essence of it that lingers 
makes it a sacred place to the few who  
would take off their shoes to           
enter--were it not for the              

misunderstanding of the world4  ,out of 
the artificial he became natural2 out of
 the workman1 he emerged a man1 a living
 soul4  ,i would support every plan or  
dream of education1 and none other1 that
 seeks to find for the youth his life   
work4 ,i would call upon every workman  
personally to help2 and urge for every  
community1 the goodness of its products 
and not the richness of its markets4 ,i 
would put the world's premium upon fine 
workmanship of the hand or brain or     
spirit2 and a stiff pressure upon the   
multiplication of these products by     
mechanical means1 for we have too many  
common things1 and so few fine things4  
,i would inculcate in the educational   
ideal1 first of all1 that in every man  
there is a dream1 just as there is a    
soul1 and that to express the dream of  
the soul in matter is the perfect       
individual performance4 ,i would impress
 upon the youth that in all arts and    
crafts1 the dream fades and the spirit  
of the product dies away1 when many are 

made in the original likeness4 ,nature  
does not make duplicates2 her creative  
hallmark is upon every leaf and bee2    
upon every cliff and cloud and star4  ,i
 would not endow the young workman while
 he is learning his trade or art2 but ,i
 would have the ,state intensely        
watchful of him1 and impassioned with   
parental conviction that her greatness  
is inseparable with his possibilities of
 achievement4 ,i would not make his ways
 short1 but despise and crush all       
evidences of facility4 ,i would keep him
 plain and lean and fit1 and make him   
earn his peace4 ,all fine work comes    
from the cultivation of the self1 not   
from cultivated environment4444 ,i      
dreamed for twenty years of a silent    
room and an open wood fire4 ,i shall    
never cease to wonder at the marvel of  
it1 now that it has come4 ,it is so     
to-night alone in the stillness4 ,the   
years of struggle to produce in the     
midst of din and distraction1 while they
 wore as much as the work itself1 were  

helpful to bring the concentration which
 every decent task demands2 and in the  
thrill of which a man grows in reality1 
and not otherwise4     #g  ,,the        
,,little ,,girl   ,it was determined    
that the children should try the        
country-town school that ,spring from   
,april to ,june4 ,this school was said  
to be of exceptional quality1 and ,i    
talked with the master1 a good man4 ,in 
fact1 there was none but the general    
causes for criticism in this            
establishment--the same things ,i found 
amiss in city schools4 ,the children    
accepted the situation with a philosophy
 of obedience which should have taught  
the race many things it does not yet    
know4 ,the journey was considerable for 
them twice daily in warming weather2 and
 from little things ,i heard from time  
to time1 words dropped with no idea of  
rebellion1 ,i was reminded of the dark  
drama of my own ,education1 written     
explicitly enough elsewhere and which ,i
 am glad to forget4  ,the schools of    

to-day are better1 no doubt about that1 
but the improvement is much in the way  
of facility and convenience2 the systems
 are not structurally changed--facility 
and convenience1 speed of transit1      
mental short-cuts1 the science of making
 things not more plain1 but more        
obvious1 the science of covering        
ground4444  ,i read a book recently     
written by a woman who mothered an      
intellectual child of cormorant         
appetite4 ,that child learned everything
 in sight from fairies to grease-traps4 
,what was difficult to manage in that   
mass of whipcord mental fibre1 was put  
into verse and sung4 ,the book told how 
the child was nourished on all things   
that only specialists among men cared to
 litter their minds with4 ,then there   
was a supplement of additional          
assimilations1 and how to get them in4  
,with all this1 the child had been      
taught to dance2 and there was a greed  
of learning about it 7the book being    
designed to show the way to others7 that

 struck me as avarice of the most       
violent and perverse form2 the avarice  
of men for money and baronial holdings  
being innocent compared1 as sins of the 
flesh are innocent compared to the sins 
of mind4 ,this book and the tragic child
 form to my idea one of the final       
eruptions of the ancient and the        
obscene4  ,the word education as applied
 in this woman's book1 and through the  
long past of the race1 represents a     
diagram of action with three items3     
,one1 the teacher2 #b1 the book2 #c1 the
 child4 ,teacher extracting fact from   
book and inserting same in child's brain
 equals education4  ,i suffered ten     
years of this1 entering aged six1 and   
leaving the passage aged sixteen1 a     
cruel young monster filled with         
rebellion and immorality1 not educated  
at all1 but full of the sense of vague  
failures1 having in common with those of
 my years1 all the levels of puerile    
understanding1 stung with patronage and 
competitive strife1 designed to smother 

that which was real in the heart4  ,very
 securely the prison-house had closed   
upon me1 but please be very sure that ,i
 am not blaming teachers4 ,many of them 
met life as it appeared1 and made the   
best of conditions4 ,there were true    
teachers among them1 women especially   
who would have ascended to genius in    
their calling1 had they been born free  
and in a brighter age4 ,they were called
 upon1 as now1 to dissipate their values
 in large classes of children1 having   
time to see none clearly1 and the powers
 above dealt them out the loaf that was 
to be cut4 ,the good teacher in my day  
was the one who cut the loaf evenly--to 
every one his equal part4 ,the first    
crime was favoritism4444  ,i sat here   
recently with a little class of six     
young people ranging in age from eleven 
to twenty4 ,side by side were a girl of 
seventeen and a boy of fourteen1 who    
required from me handling of a nature   
diametrically opposite4 ,the approaches 
to their hearts were on opposite sides  

of the mountain4 ,yet they had been     
coming for three months before ,i       
acutely sensed this4 ,the girl had done 
very well in school4 ,she was known to  
be bright2 and yet1 ,i found her all    
caught in rigidities of the brain1      
tightly corseted in mental forms of the 
accepted order4 ,her production was     
painfully designed to meet the          
requirements of her time and place2 the 
true production of her nature was not   
only incapable of finding expression1   
but it was not even in a state of       
healthful quiescence4 ,it was pent1 it  
was dying of confinement1 it was        
breathing with only a tithe of its      
tissue4  ,the wonderful thing about     
youth is that it answers4  ,the boy next
 had not done well in school4 ,the word 
dreamer was designated to the very      
thought of him4 ,yet this boy had awed  
me--the mute might of him4 ,one day ,i  
talked for fifteen minutes and abruptly 
told him to bring in the next day1      
written1 what had struck him1 if        

anything1 in what ,i had said4 ,he      
brought me in two thousand words of     
almost phenomenal reproduction--and yet 
he had listened sleepily4 ,of course1 ,i
 did not care to develop his reportorial
 instinct after this display4 ,my work  
was to develop his brain to express the 
splendid inner voltage of the boy1 just 
as certainly as ,i had found it         
necessary to repress the brain and      
endeavour to free the spirit of the     
girl4 ,i will come to this individual   
study again4 ,it is my point here merely
 to show how helpless even great vision 
must be to the needs of the individual1 
in classes of youths and children       
ranging as they do in crowded schools4  
,i had been one who thought my own work 
most important--to the exclusion even of
 the rights of others4 ,for instance    
when the ,old ,man 7as he is            
affectionately designated7 went to the  
,study1 he was not to be disturbed4 ,all
 matters of domestic order or otherwise 
must be carried on without him in these 

possessed and initialed hours4 ,after   
dinner the ,old ,man had to read and    
rest2 later in the afternoon1 there was 
the ,ride and the ,garden1 and in the   
evening1 letters and possibly more      
production4 ,at meal-time he was        
available1 but frequently in the tension
 of food and things to do4444 ,as ,i see
 it now1 there was a tension            
everywhere--tension wherever the ,old   
,man appeared1 straining and torturing  
his own tasks1 had he only known it4    
,the little girl dared to tread where   
the older ones had been so well-taught  
to hold back4 ,one of the first vacation
 mornings she joined him on the path to 
the ,study and lured him down to the    
beach4 ,it was the time of day for the  
first smoke1 the smoke of all4 ,now the 
,old ,man was accustomed to enter the   
,study1 sweep the hearth with his own   
hands1 regard the bow of shore-line from
 the ,east window--the ,other           
,shore--for a moment2 scrutinise the    
copy of the day or night before1 for the

 continuity of the present day1 light   
the pipe and await the impulse of       
production4 ,many years of work had     
ordained this order2 many hard lessons  
resulting from breaking the point of the
 day's work before sitting down to it2  
many days that had been spoiled by a    
bite too much breakfast1 or by a        
distraction at the critical moment4     
,however1 the ,old ,man was down on the 
beach with a little girl of ten who     
wanted to talk4 ,she wanted to know     
about the shells and waves1 what ridged 
the sand1 and what the deep part of the 
,lake was paved with4 ,the answers were 
judicious4 ,presently he was talking    
about things nearer the front of mind1  
about the moon and tides1 the tides of  
the sea1 in this ,lake1 in teacups1 in  
the veins of plants and human blood--the
 backward and forward movement of       
everything1 the ebb and flow            
everywhere--in short1 the ,old ,man was 
discussing the very biggest morsel of   
all life--vibration4 ,he arose and      

started up the bank4  ,don't go yet1 the
 little girl called4  ,wait1 said he4   
,i'm coming back4 ,i want to get my     
pipe4  ,there was a mist in the morning1
 and the big stone where she sat was    
still cool from the night before4 ,the  
,south ,wind which has a sweetness of   
its own was just ruffling the ,lake2    
there had been rain1 and it was ,summer4
 ,the smell of the land was there--the  
perfume of the ,old ,mother herself     
which is the perfume of the             
tea-rose--the blend of all that springs 
into being4  ,sometimes you catch her as
 she is1 the ,old ,man said4 ,now to-day
 she smells like a tea-rose4 ,i don't   
mean the smell of any particular plant1 
but the breath of all--as if old ,mother
 ,nature were to pass1 and you winded   
the beauty of her garments4 ,at night1  
sometimes she smells like               
mignonette--not like mignonette when you
 hold it close to your face1 but when   
the wind brings it4  ,he found this very
 interesting to himself1 because he had 

not thought about it just so4 ,he found 
also that a man is dependent for the    
quality of his product upon the nature  
of his listener1 just as much as the    
seed is dependent upon the soil4 ,it is 
true a man can go on producing for years
 in the quiet without talking to any    
one1 but he doubles on his faults1 and  
loses more and more the wide freedom of 
his passages4 ,here was a wrinkled      
forehead to warn one that the expression
 wasn't coming clearly1 or when the     
tension returned4 ,the ,other ,shore was
 faintly glorified in her morning veil4 
,we'll go back to the ,study and write  
some of these things we've seen and     
talked about1 the ,old ,man said at     
length4 ,you see they're not yours until
 you express them4 ,and the things you  
express1 as ,i expressed them1 are not  
yours either4 ,what you want to express 
is the things you get from all this4    
,the value of that is that no one else  
can do it4  ,she went willingly1 sat in 
a corner of the ,study4  ,the ,old ,man 

forgot her in a moment4  ,that was the  
real beginning4  ,presently she came    
every morning4444 ,i 7to return to first
 person again7 had been led to believe  
that any outside influence in a man's   
,study is a distraction2 not alone the  
necessary noise and movement of the     
other1 but the counter system of        
thinking4 ,i perceived little           
difference1 however4 ,i had no fewer    
good mornings than formerly2 and yet1   
any heavy or critical attitudes of mind 
would have been a steady and intolerable
 burden4 ,in fact1 ,i believe that there
 was a lift in her happiness and        
naturalness4 ,it came to me so often    
that she belonged there4  ,she remained 
herself absolutely4 ,she had never been 
patronised4 ,recently with six young    
people in the ,study1 ,i suddenly       
thought of the relation of teacher to   
student in a finer light4 ,i was        
impelled to say to them3  ,i do not     
regard you from any height4 ,you are not
 to think of yourselves as below4 ,it   

might happen that in a few years--this  
relation might be changed entirely even 
by the youngest of you4 ,the difference 
between us now is merely a matter of a  
decade or two4 ,you have more recently  
come in2 things are strange to you4     
,intrinsically you may be far greater   
than ,i1 but we do not deal with        
comparisons4 ,we are friends2 we are all
 one4 ,i sit in the midst of            
you--telling you from day to day of the 
things ,i have learned about this place1
 having come here with an earlier       
caravan4 ,my first years here were of   
rapid learning1 as yours will be4       
,presently the doors will shut upon my  
new impressions1 but you will go on4    
,when you reach your best1 you may smile
 at your childish fancies of how much ,i
 knew4 ,you will always be kind in your 
thoughts of these early days1 for that  
is the deep law of good men and women2  
indeed one must reverence one's teacher1
 for the teacher is the symbol of       
,nature1 of ,mother1 of ,giving4 ,but   

there must be equality first4 ,my brain 
is somehow filled now2 the time will    
come when yours is more filled than mine
 with the immediate matters of our life4
 ,for children become old1 and the old  
become children1 if their days are      
happy4 ,after all1 the immediate matters
 of our present life are of             
astonishingly small account1 in relation
 to the long life--the importance only  
of one bead on the endless string4 ,so  
,i would have you know that the         
differences between us that have to do  
with this single life-adventure are of  
very slight moment--that we really are  
the sum of innumerable adventures1 the  
lessons of which form us1 and only a    
little of which we have yet learned to  
tell4  ,i had something of this attitude
 when the little girl came alone1 and ,i
 believe it to be important4 ,a sense of
 it in the teacher's mind 7and the more 
one thinks of it1 the less it appears an
 affectation7 will help to bring about  
that equality between the young and the 

old which the recent generations did not
 possess1 and from the absence of which 
much deformity and sorrow has come to   
be4  ,the little girl could quickly     
understand from the rapt moments of her 
own production1 how disordering a thing 
it is to bring foreign matter to one's  
mental solution in an abrupt fashion4   
,she saw that the organisation of ideas 
for expression is a delicate process2   
that it never occurs twice the same1 and
 that the genuine coherence is apt to be
 at its best in the first trial1 for one
 of the essences of the rapture of      
production is the novelty of the new    
relation4 ,there were times in the      
forenoons when ,i met halting stages and
 was ready possibly to banter a moment4 
,i very quickly encountered a repulse1  
if she were in the thrall4 ,she would   
wave her hand palm outward before her   
face--a mistake of meaning impossible4  
,now she had only learned to write two  
years before1 this detail purposely     
postponed4 ,i did not undertake to      

correct spelling1 permitting her to     
spell phonetically1 and to use a word   
she was in doubt of4 ,what ,i wanted her
 to do was to say the things in her     
soul--if the expression can be forgiven4
  ,i believe 7and those who do not      
believe something of the kind will not  
find the forthcoming ideas of education 
of any interest7 that there is a        
sleeping giant within every one of us2 a
 power as great in relation to our      
immediate brain faculties1 as the       
endless string is great in relation to  
one bead4 ,i believe that every great   
moment of expression in poetry and      
invention and in every craft and bit of 
memorable human conduct1 is significant 
of the momentary arousing of this       
sleeping giant within4 ,i believe that  
modern life and modern education of the 
faculties of brain and memory are       
unerringly designed to deepen the sleep 
of this giant4 ,i believe1 under the    
influence of modern life on a           
self-basis1 and modern education on a   

competitive basis1 that the prison-house
 closes upon the growing child--that    
more and more as the years draw on1 the 
arousing of the sleeping giant becomes  
impossible2 that the lives of men are   
common on account of this1 because the  
one perfect thing we are given to utter 
remains unexpressed4  ,i believe by true
 life and true education that the       
prison-house can be prevented from      
closing upon the growing child2 that the
 giant is eager to awake2 that1         
awakened1 he makes the thoughts1 the    
actions1 the smiles and the words of    
even a child significant4  ,i believe   
that an ordinary child thus awakened    
within1 not only can but must become an 
extraordinary man or woman4 ,this has   
already been proved for me in the room  
in which ,i write4 ,i believe that this 
very awakening genius is the thing that 
has made immortal--shoemakers1          
blacksmiths and the humblest men who    
have brought truth and beauty to our    
lives from the past4 ,moreover the way1 

although it reverses almost every       
process of life and education that now  
occupies our life and race1 is not hard1
 but a way of beauty and joyousness1 and
 the way is no secret4     #h  ,,the    
,,abbot   ,he was a still boy--the boy  
who had first shown us the two cottages 
on the shore the afternoon his father   
was ill4 ,you would have thought him    
without temperament4 ,i often recalled  
how little he knew about the affairs of 
prospective tenants that afternoon2 and 
how ,penelope rescued me from his       
silences4444 ,we saw him often1 coming  
down to bathe with another lad during   
the afternoons throughout that first    
summer1 but drew no nearer to           
acquaintance4 ,sometimes as ,i rode to  
town for mail in the evening ,i would   
see him watching me from his walk or    
porch2 and the sense that his regard was
 somehow different1 ,i believe1 did     
impress me vaguely4 ,it all happened in 
a leisurely sort of ordained fashion4 ,i
 remember his hello1 cheerful but       

contained1 as ,i would ride by4 ,he was 
always still as a gull1 and seemed      
natural with the dusk upon him4444 ,one 
day his father said to me3  ,i have to  
buy everything you write for him4       
,well1 well1 said ,i4  ,i had not looked
 for market in the little town1 and ,the
 ,abbot was only fourteen4 7,one of the 
older boys christened him ,the ,abbot   
afterward1 because he seemed so freshly 
come from monastic training47 444       
,finally ,i heard he was interested in  
the stars and owned a telescope4 ,i     
called him over to the ,study one day1  
and we talked star-stuff4 ,he had done  
all that ,i had and more4 ,it appears   
that in his ,sunday ,school paper when  
he was seven or eight1 there had been an
 astronomical clipping of some sort that
 awakened him4 ,he had it read to him   
several times1 but his own reading      
picked up at that time with an          
extraordinary leap1 as any study does   
under driving interest4 ,presently he   
was out after the star books on his own 

hook4 ,he suggested bringing his        
telescope to the ,study1 and that night 
,i got my first look at the ineffable   
isolation of ,saturn4 ,it was like some 
magnetic hand upon my breast4 ,i could  
not speak4 ,every time ,i shut my eyes  
afterward ,i saw that bright gold jewel 
afar in the dark4 ,we talked4444        
,presently ,i heard that he hated       
school1 but this did not come from him4 
,the fact is1 ,i heard little or nothing
 from him4  ,this generation behind     
us--at least1 the few ,i have met and   
loved--is not made up of explainers4    
,they let you find out4 ,they seem able 
to wait4 ,it is most convincing1 to have
 events clean up a fact which you       
misunderstood2 to have your doubts moved
 aside1 not by words1 nor any glibness1 
but leisurely afterward by the landmarks
 of solid matter4 ,he did not come to   
the ,study unless called for4 ,the      
little girl brought in word from him    
from time to time1 and the little girl's
 mother1 and the boy's father--a very   

worthy man4 ,i heard again that he was  
not doing well in school4 ,i knew he was
 significant1 very much so1 having met  
the real boy on star-matters4 ,i knew   
that the trouble was they were making   
him look down at school1 when he wanted 
to look up4 ,his parents came over to   
dinner one day1 and ,i said3  ,you'd    
better let the boy come to me every day4
  ,it was an impulse4 ,i don't know to  
this hour why ,i said it1 because at    
that time ,i wasn't altogether sure that
 ,i was conducting the little girl's    
education on the best possible basis4   
,moreover1 it seemed to me even then    
that my own time was rather well filled4
 ,neither his father nor mother         
enthused1 and ,i heard no more from the 
subject for many days4 ,meeting ,the    
,abbot finally1 ,i asked him what of    
school4  ,it's bad4 ,i'm not doing      
anything4 ,i hate it4  ,did your father 
think ,i didn't mean what ,i said--about
 you coming to me for a time8  ,i don't 
think he quite thought you meant it4    

,and then he doesn't know what it would 
cost4  ,i told him it wouldn't cost     
anything4 ,there was a chance to talk   
with his father again1 but nothing came 
of that1 and ,the ,abbot was still      
suffering weeks afterward4 ,finally his 
father and uncle came over to the       
,study4 ,it seemed impossible for them  
to open the subject4 ,i had to do it    
after an hour's conversation about      
immediate and interesting matters of    
weather and country4  ,i would like to  
try him1 ,i said4 ,he can come an hour  
after dinner each day4 ,he is different4
 ,they can't bring him out1 when they   
have to deal with so many4  ,he's a     
dreamer1 they said1 as if confessing a  
curse4  ,it appears that there had been 
a dreamer in this family1 a well-read   
man whose acres and interests had got   
away from him1 long ago4  ,that's why ,i
 want him1 said ,i4  ,but the thing is1 
we don't want him--a----  ,i know1 you  
don't want an ineffectual4 ,you want    
some dreams to come true--even if they  

are little ones----  ,yes4  ,i had my   
own opinion of a boy who could chart his
 own constellations1 without meeting for
 years any one who cared enough about   
the stars to follow his processes1 but  
one can't say too much about a boy to   
his relatives4 ,then ,i had to remember 
that the little ,lake town had only     
touched me on terms of trade4 ,they did 
not know what sort of devil lived in my 
heart1 and those who were searching my  
books to find out were in the main only 
the more doubtful4 ,especially1 ,i      
bewildered these men by not asking for  
anything in the way of money4  ,however1
 the thing came to be4  ,my first idea  
was to take him alone--the little girl  
coming in the morning with me1 and the  
boy after dinner1 during an hour that ,i
 had been accustomed to read and doze4  
,the first days were hard for us both4  
,i sat down in a big chair before the   
fire and talked with him1 but there was 
no sign4 ,he stared at the stones and   
stared out of the window1 his eyes      

sometimes filmy1 his body sometimes     
tense4 ,i seemed to require at first    
some sort of recognition that ,i was    
talking--but none came1 neither nod of  
acquiescence1 look of mystification nor 
denial4444 ,they said as he passed the  
house farther along the ,shore after    
leaving the ,study1 that his head was   
bowed and that he walked like a man     
heavy with years4  ,i tried afresh each 
day--feared that ,i was not reaching    
him4 ,i told him the things that had    
helped me through the darker early      
years1 and some of the things ,i had    
learned afterward that would have helped
 me had ,i known enough4 ,i tried       
different leads1 returning often to the 
stars1 but couldn't get a visible       
result4 ,he was writing little things   
for me at this time and1 though ,i      
detected something in the work more than
 he showed me1 sitting opposite in the  
,study1 his writing was turgid and      
unlit--like one playing on an instrument
 he did not understand2 indeed1 it was  

like a man talking in his sleep4 ,at the
 end of one of the talks within the     
first week1 at wit's end as to what ,i  
was accomplishing1 ,i said3  ,write me  
what you remember of what ,i said       
to-day4  ,i touched upon this earlier4  
,the result shocked me--it came back    
like a phonograph1 but the thoughts were
 securely bound by his own              
understanding4 ,i once listened to a    
series of speeches of welcome from      
members of the ,japanese ,imperial court
 to a group of foreigners in ,tokyo4    
,the interpreter would listen for       
several minutes and then in the pause of
 the speaker put the fragment into      
,english for us1 without a colour of his
 own1 without disturbing even a gesture 
or an intonation of the source of       
eloquence and ideation4 ,something of   
the same returned to me from the boy's  
work4 ,i tried him again on the plan a  
few days later--just to be sure4 ,the   
result was the same4  ,i have not done  
that since1 because ,i do not wish to   

encourage physical memory1 an           
impermanent and characterless faculty1  
developed to excess in every current    
theory of education4 ,you cannot lift or
 assist another1 if your hands are full 
of objects of your own4 ,one puts aside 
his belongings1 when called upon to do  
something with his hands for another4   
,free-handed1 he may succeed4 ,it is the
 same with the mind4 ,one's faculties   
are not open to revelations from the    
true origin of all values1 if one's     
brain is clutching1 with all its force1 
objects that the volition calls upon to 
be remembered4 ,the memory is temporal2 
if this were not so1 we would know the  
deeps of that great bourne from which we
 come4 ,no man is significant in any    
kind of expression when he is using     
merely his temporal faculties4 ,time    
ruptures the products of these faculties
 as it does the very body and instrument
 that produces them4  ,however1 ,i      
realised that ,i had an almost          
supernatural attention from the lad who 

did not deign to grant me even a nod of 
acquiescence4 ,i began to tell him a few
 things about the technical end of      
writing for others to read4 ,i          
encountered resistance here4 ,until ,i  
pressed upon them a little1 the same    
mistakes were repeated4 ,this should    
have shown me before it did that the    
boy's nature was averse to actual       
fact-striving--that he could grasp a    
concept off the ground far easier than  
to watch his steps on the ground--that  
he could follow the flight of a bird1 so
 to speak1 with far more pleasure than  
he could pick up pins from the earth1   
even if permitted to keep the pins4 ,i  
was so delighted to awaken the giant1   
however1 that ,i was inclined to let    
pass1 for the present1 the matters of   
fact and technicality4  ,finding that he
 listened so well--that it was merely   
one of the inexplicable surfaces of the 
new generation that dismayed me--,i1 of 
course1 learned to give to him more and 
more freely4 ,i allowed myself to       

overlap somewhat each day1 gave little  
or no thought as to what ,i should say  
to him until the hour came4 ,i was      
sleepy from old habit at first1 but that
 passed4 ,presently it occurred to me   
that things were happening in the ,study
 with the boy1 that the little girl     
could ill afford to miss2 and also that 
he would feel more at ease if ,i could  
divide my attention upon him with       
another1 so ,i rearranged her plans     
somewhat1 and there were two4  ,as ,i   
recall1 ,the ,abbot had been coming     
about three weeks1 when ,i related      
certain occult teachings in regard to   
the stars2 matters very far from        
scientific astronomy which conducts its 
investigations almost entirely from a   
physical standpoint4 ,you may be sure ,i
 did not speak authoritatively1 merely  
as one adding certain phases ,i had     
found interesting of an illimitable     
subject4 ,the next day he slipped in    
alone and a bit early1 his hello hushed4
 ,i looked up and he said1 almost       

trembling3  ,i had a wonderful night4   
,the saying was so emotional for him    
that ,i was excited as in the midst of  
great happenings4  ,tell me1 ,i said1   
drawing nearer4  ,it's all here1 he     
replied1 clearing his voice4  ,his own  
work follows1 with scarcely a touch of  
editing4 ,the ,abbot called his paper-- 
,a ,,voice ,,through ,a ,,lens          
,some people say that by thinking hard  
of a thing in the      day-time1 you may
 dream about it4 ,perhaps this that ,i  
had      last night was a dream1 but it 
was more than a stomach dream4      ,i  
like to think it was a true vision4     
,before bedtime ,i was      reading out 
of two books2 a little pamphlet on      
astronomy      containing the nebular   
theory1 and another that told about     
the planetary chain4       ,the         
planetary chain was a continuation of   
the nebular theory1      but in the     
spiritual form4 ,it was that which threw
 me into      the vision4 ,i was away   
from the world2 not in the physical     

form but in another--the first time ,i  
have ever lost my      physical body4   
,when ,i awoke from the vision1 ,i had  
my clothes      still on4       ,as ,i  
drifted off into that mighty sleep1 the 
last thing ,i      heard on earth was my
 mother playing and singing1 ,the       
,shepherd's ,flute4 ,it dulled my       
worldly senses and ,i slowly            
drifted away into the pleasant spiritual
 valley4 ,who could      drift off in a 
more beautiful way than that8444        
,i was gradually walking up the side of 
a large mountain to an      observatory 
of splendour4 ,the turret was crowned   
with gold4      ,as ,i opened the door  
and stepped inside1 ,i saw a large      
telescope and a few chairs4 ,the        
observer's chair was      upholstered   
with velvet4 ,it was not a complicated  
observatory      like the worldly       
ones4444 ,i removed the cap of the great
      telescope1 covering the           
object-glass1 and then uncovered the    
eye-piece4 ,as ,i looked around the     

heavens to find the great      spiral of
 planets 7the planetary chain told      
about7 ,i heard a      voice from the   
lens of the telescope saying3 ,this is  
the      way4 ,follow me4       ,i      
looked through the lens and there ,i saw
 a long spiral of      planets leading  
heavenwards4 ,the spiral gradually      
arose1 not      making any indication of
 steps1 but the close connection of     
the rise was like the winding around of 
the threads of a      screw4 ,towards   
the top1 the spiral began to get larger 
until      it was beyond sight4         
,presently ,i heard the voice again3    
,this      no doubt is a complicated    
affair to you4       ,yes4       ,focus 
your telescope and then look and see if 
it is any      clearer4       ,i did so1
 and upon looking through the glass1 ,i 
saw a large      globe4 ,it was cold and
 blank-looking4 ,it seemed to be all    
rocks and upon close examination ,i     
found that it was mostly      mineral   
rocks4 ,that globe drifted away and left

 a small trail      of light until      
another came in sight4 ,on this globe1  
there      was a green over-tone1       
luxuriant vegetation4 ,everywhere there 
were trees and vegetable growths of all 
kinds4 ,this one      gradually drifted 
away like the preceding4 ,the third was 
covered with animals of every           
description--a mass1 a chaos of         
animals4 ,the fourth was similarly      
crowded with hairy men in      battle1  
the next two showed the development of  
these      men--gradual refinement and  
civilisation4 ,the seventh ,i did       
not see4       ,i was staring into the  
dark abyss of the heavens1 when ,i      
heard the voice again3       ,i suppose 
you are still amazed4       ,yes4       
,well1 then1 listen to me and ,i'll try 
to explain it all4 ,the      great      
spiral of planets represents the way man
 progresses in      the life eternal4   
,man's life on this earth is the life of
 a      second1 compared with the long  
evolution4 ,in these six globes      you

 saw when the telescope was focussed1 is
 represented the      evolution of man4 
,the rocks were first4 ,as they broke up
 and      melted into earth1 vegetable  
life formed1 crawling things            
emerged from vegetable life and animals 
from them4 ,man grew      and lifted out
 from the form of lower animals4 ,the   
lower      globes represented the       
development of man4 ,in the long cycle  
of evolution1 man continues in this way4
 ,after he finishes      life on the    
seven globes1 he starts over again on   
another      seven1 only the next group 
he lives on1 his life keeps             
progressing4 ,it is not the same life   
over again4 ,now you may      look at   
the ,seventh1 the planet of             
,spirituality4       ,when ,i looked    
through the telescope again1 ,i saw a   
beautiful      globe4 ,it was one great 
garden4 ,in it there was a monastery    
of ,nature4 ,overhead the trees had     
grown together and formed a      roof4  
,far off to the north stretched a low   

range of hills1      also to the east   
and west1 but at the south was a small  
brook      which ran along close to the 
altar of the monastery4 ,it      seemed 
to be happy in its course to the lake as
 it leaped      over rocky shelves and  
formed small cascades while the         
sunbeams shone through the matted       
branches of the trees whose      limbs  
stretched far out over the brook1 and   
made it appear      like a river of     
silver4 ,i was admiring the scenery when
 ,i      heard the voice again3         
,you must go now1 tell the people what  
you saw1 and some      other night you  
will see the globe of spirituality more 
closely4       ,i awoke and found myself
 sitting in the big arm-chair of my     
room4 ,can it be true1 am ,i mistaken8  
,i pinched myself to      see if ,i were
 awake2 walked over to the window and   
looked      out4 ,there the world was   
just the same4 ,i was so taken with     
the wonderful vision that at the hour of
 midnight ,i sit here      and scratch  

these lines off4 ,i have done as the    
great mystic      voice commanded me1   
although it is roughly done1 ,i hope to 
be      able to tell you about the rest 
of the vision and more about      the   
seventh globe some time again4     #i   
,,the ,,valley-,,road ,,girl   ,the     
,abbot had been with me about three     
months when he said3  ,we were out to   
dinner yesterday to a house on the      
,valley ,road1 and the girl there is    
interested in your work4 ,she asked many
 things about it4 ,she's the noblest    
girl ,i know4  ,that last is a literal  
quotation4 ,i remember it because it    
appealed to me at the time and set me to
 thinking4  ,how old is she8            
,seventeen4  ,what is she interested in8
  ,writing1 ,i think4 ,she was the best 
around here in the essays4  ,you might  
ask her to come4  ,i heard no more for a
 time4 ,the ,abbot does not rush at     
things4 ,at the end of a week he        
remarked3  ,she is coming4  ,it was two 
or three days after that before ,i saw  

them walking down the lane together4444 
,she took a seat by the door--she takes 
it still1 the same seat4 ,it was an     
ordeal for her2 also for ,the ,abbot who
 felt in a sense responsible2 also for  
me4444 ,i could not begin all over      
again1 in justice to him4 ,we would have
 to continue his work and the little    
girl's and gradually draw the new one   
into an accelerating current4 ,we called
 her ,the ,valley-,road ,girl4 ,she     
suffered4 ,it was very strange to her4  
,she had been at school eleven years4 ,i
 did not talk stars2 in fact1 ,i fell   
back upon the theme of all themes to    
me--a man's work1 the meaning of it2    
what he gets and what the world gets out
 of it2 intimating that this was not a  
place to learn how to reach the book and
 story markets4 ,i said something the   
first day1 which a few years ago ,i     
should have considered the ultimate     
heresy--that the pursuit of literature  
for itself1 or for the so-called art of 
it1 is a vain and tainted undertaking   

that cannot long hold a real man2 that  
the real man has but one business3 ,to  
awaken his potentialities1 which are    
different from the potentialities of any
 other man2 to express them in terms of 
matter the best he can1 the straightest1
 simplest way he can4 ,i said that there
 is joy and blessedness in doing this   
and in no other activity under the sun2 
that it is the key to all good2 the door
 to a man's religion2 that work and     
religion are the same at the top2 that  
the nearer one reaches the top1 the more
 tremendous and gripping becomes the    
conception that they are one2 finally   
that a man doing his own work for       
others1 losing the sense of self in his 
work1 is touching the very vitalities of
 religion and integrating the life that 
lasts4  ,i have said this before in this
 book--in other books4 ,i may say it    
again4 ,it is the truth to me--truth    
that the world is in need of4 ,i am     
sorry for the man who has not his work4 
,a man's work1 such as ,i mean1 is      

production4 ,handling the production of 
others in some cases is production4     
,there are natural orderers and         
organisers1 natural synthesisers1       
shippers1 assemblers1 and traffic       
masters4 ,a truth is true in all its    
parts2 there are workmen for all the    
tasks4  ,the ,valley-,road ,girl's work1
 in the first days1 reminded me of my   
own early essay classes4 ,old friends   
were here again--,introduction1         
,discussion1 ,conclusion4 ,her things   
were rigid1 mental4 ,i could see where  
they would make very good in a          
school-room1 such as ,i had known4 ,her 
work was spelled and periodic1 phrased  
and paragraphed4 ,the eyes of the       
teachers1 that had been upon her these  
many years1 had turned back for their   
ideas to authors who1 if writing to-day1
 would be forced to change the entire   
order and impulse of their craft4  ,she 
was suffused with shyness4 ,even the    
little girl so far had not penetrated   
it4 ,i was afraid to open the throttle  

anywhere1 lest she break and drop away4 
,at the end of a week1 ,the ,abbot      
remained a moment after she was gone1   
and looked at me with understanding and 
sorrow4  ,i'm afraid ,i made a mistake  
in asking her to come1 he said4  ,just  
then ,i was impelled to try harder1     
because he saw the difficulty4 ,we had  
missed for days the joy from the        
session1 that we had come to expect and 
delight in4 ,yet1 because he expressed  
it1 ,i saw the shortness and impatience 
of the point of view which had been     
mine1 until he returned it to me4  ,we  
won't give up1 ,i said4 ,it didn't      
happen for nothing4  ,when he went away 
,i felt better2 also ,i saw that there  
was a personal impatience in my case    
that was not worthy of one who undertook
 to awaken the young4 ,i introduced ,the
 ,valley-,road ,girl to ,addison's ,sir 
,roger4 ,there is an emptiness to me    
about ,addison which ,i am not sure but 
partakes of a bit of prejudice1 since ,i
 am primarily imbued with the principle 

that a writer must be a man before he is
 fit to be read4 ,if ,i could read      
,addison now for the first time1 ,i     
should know4 ,the ,valley-,road ,girl's 
discussion of ,addison was scholarly in 
the youthful sense4  ,the day that she  
brought in this paper we got somehow    
talking about ,fichte4 ,the old ,german 
is greatly loved and revered in this    
,study4 ,he set us free a bit as we     
discussed him1 and ,i gave to the       
newcomer a portion of one of his essays 
having to do with the ,excellence of the
 ,universe4 ,the next day ,i read her   
paper--and there was a beam in it4  ,i  
shut my eyes in gratitude that ,i had   
not allowed my stupidity to get away4 ,i
 thanked ,the ,abbot inwardly1 too1 for 
saying the words that set me clearer4   
,the contrast between ,addison and      
,fichte in life1 in their work1 in the  
talk they inspired here1 and in ,the    
,valley-,road ,girl's two papers--held  
the substance of the whole              
matter--stumbled upon as usual4 ,we had 

a grand time that afternoon4 ,i told    
them about ,fichte losing his positions1
 writing to his countrymen--a wanderer1 
an awakened soul4 ,and this brought us  
the hosts of great ones--the ,burned    
,ones and their exaltations--,george    
,fox and the ,maid of ,domremy--the     
everlasting spirit behind and above     
mortal affairs--the poor impotency of   
wood-fire to quench such immortality4   
,her eyes gleamed--and all our hearts   
burned4  ,we do not want to do possible 
things1 ,i said4 ,the big gun that is to
 deposit a missile twelve miles away    
does not aim at the mark1 but at the    
skies4 ,all things that are done--let   
them alone4 ,the undone things challenge
 us4 ,the spiritual plan of all the     
great actions and devotions which have  
not yet found substance--is already     
prepared for the workmen of to-day to   
bring into matter--all great poems and  
inventions for the good of the world4   
,they must gleam into being through our 
minds4 ,the mind of some workman is     

being prepared for each4 ,our minds are 
darkened as yet2 the sleeping giant     
awaits the day4 ,he is not loathe to    
awake4 ,inertia is always of matter2    
never of spirit4 ,he merely awaits the  
light4 ,when the shutters of the mind   
are opened and the grey appears1 he will
 arise and1 looking forth1 will discover
 his work4  ,nothing common awaits the  
youngest or the oldest4 ,you are called 
to the great1 the impossible tasks4 ,but
 the mind must be entered by the        
,light--the heavy curtains of the self  
drawn apart4444  ,that was the day ,i   
found the new1 sweet influence in the   
room4 ,it was not an accident that the  
boy had gone to dinner at her house4 ,i 
saw that my task with ,the ,valley-,road
 ,girl was exactly opposite to the work 
with ,the ,abbot--that he was dynamic   
within and required only the developed  
instrument for his utterances1 and that 
she had been mentalised with obscuring  
educational matters and required a      
re-awakening of a naturally splendid and

 significant power2 that ,i must seek to
 diffuse her real self through her      
expression4 ,the time came that when she
 was absent1 we all deeply missed her   
presence from the ,study4  ,months      
afterward1 on a day that ,i did not give
 her a special task1 she brought me the 
following which told the story in her   
own words of something she had met3     
,,what ,,the ,,schools ,,do ,,for       
,,children       ,try to remember some  
of your early ideas and impressions4    
,can      you recall the childish       
thoughts that came when a new thing     
made its first impress on your mind8 ,if
 so1 try to feel with      me the things
 ,i am struggling to explain4       ,i  
like to look back at those times when   
everything to me was      new2 when     
every happening brought to me thoughts  
of my very      own4 ,just now ,i recall
 the time ,i first noticed a tiny chick 
raise its head after drinking from a    
basin of water4 ,to me      that slow   
raising of the head after drinking      

seemed to      indicate the chick's     
silent thanks to ,god4 ,it meant that   
for      each swallow it offered thanks4
 ,this was before ,i went to            
school4       ,there ,i learned the     
plain truth that the chick must raise   
its      head to swallow4 ,school had   
grasped the door-knob of my soul4       
,the many children taught me the world's
 lesson that each man      must look out
 for himself4 ,if the simpler children  
did not      keep up1 that was their    
look-out4 ,there was no time to stop    
and help the less fortunate4 ,push      
ahead6 ,this is what ,i came      to    
learn4       ,at school ,i met for the  
first time with distrust4 ,at home ,i   
had always been trusted2 my word never  
doubted4 ,once ,i was      accused of   
copying2 that was the first wound4 ,how 
,i would      have those all-powerful   
teachers make the child know he is      
trusted4       ,at school there were    
many other lessons for me to learn4 ,one
      of the chief was competition4 ,i  

learned it early4 ,to have      some of 
the class-stars shine brighter than ,i  
was      intolerable4 ,to shine as      
bright1 was sufficient compensation     
for any amount of labour4 ,the teachers 
encouraged      competition4 ,it lent   
life to labour2 made the children more  
studious4 ,our motto was not to do our  
best1 but to do as well      as the     
best4 ,competition often grew so keen   
among my school      friends that       
rivalry1 jealousy and dislike entered   
our      hearts4 ,i am afraid we        
sometimes rejoiced at one another's     
misfortunes4 ,yet these competitors were
 my school friends4      ,out of school 
we were all fond of one another1 but in 
school      we grew further apart4 ,my  
sister would compete with no one4 ,i    
have often since wondered if that is why
 she1 of all my      school companions1 
has ever been my closest friend4 ,the   
child      filled with the competitive  
spirit from his entrance to his         
egress from school1 enters the world a  

competitive man4 ,it is      hard for   
such a one to love his neighbour4       
,the one thing ,i consider of great     
benefit from school life is      the    
taste of the world it gave me4 ,for     
school is the      miniature world4 ,a  
man is said to benefit from a past evil4
       ,the school did not teach me to  
express myself2 it taught me      how to
 echo the books ,i read4 ,i did not look
 through my own      eyes1 but used the 
teacher's4 ,i tried to keep from my work
      all trace of myself1 reflecting   
only my instruction1 knowing      well  
that the teacher would praise his       
perfect reflection4      ,sometimes ,i  
feel that the door of my soul has so far
 shut      that ,i can but get a glimpse
 of the real ,me within4       ,unless  
the school can trust children1 show them
 that they      should also be          
interested in their less fortunate      
school-mates1 try to do always their    
best at the particular      work to     
which they are best adapted1 it must go 

on failing4 ,a      child had much      
better remain at home1 a simple but     
whole-souled creature1 learning what he 
can from ,nature and      wise books4   
99       99       99       99       99  
444 ,i had talked to them long on making
 the most of their misfortunes4 ,this   
also which came from ,the ,valley-,road 
,girl1 ,i thought very tender and wise3 
,,may ,,evening       ,a spirit of      
restlessness ruled me4 ,each night ,i   
retired with      the hope that the     
morning would find it gone4 ,it         
disturbed my      sleep4 ,it was not the
 constant discontent ,i had hitherto    
felt      with the world4 ,this was a   
new disquietude4       ,one ,may evening
 ,i followed our little river down to   
the place      it flows into the ,lake4 
,slowly the light of day faded4 ,from   
my seat upon the green bank of a stream1
 a wonderful picture      stretched     
before me4 ,the small stream and the    
surrounding      country were walled in 
by dense green trees4 ,to the west the  

cool1 dark depths parted only wide      
enough for the creek to      disappear  
through a narrow portal4 ,through small 
openings in      the southern wall1 ,i  
caught glimpses of the summer cottages  
on the sandy shore4 ,to the north       
stretched the pasture-lands      with   
shade-trees happy to hide their         
nakedness with thick      foliage4      
,here1 too1 a large elm displayed all   
its grace4 ,to      the east was a      
bridge and a long lane4 ,from behind a  
misty      outline of trees1 the sun's  
crimson reflections suffused the        
western sky4 ,two men paddled a boat out
 into the light and      disappeared    
under the bridge4 ,nothing disturbed the
 peace of      the stream save the dip  
of the paddles1 and the fish rising     
to the surface for food4 ,a circle on   
the surface meant that      an insect   
had lain at its centre2 a fish had risen
 and      devoured it4 ,circles of this 
kind were continually being cut      by 
the circumferences of other circles4444 

,a dark speck moved      down the       
stream4 ,a turtle was voyaging4         
,now1 far in the shadows1 ,i saw a man  
sitting on the bank      fishing4 ,his  
patience and persistence were           
remarkable1 for he      had been there  
all the time4 ,but the fish were at     
play4 ,the      occasional splash of the
 carp1 mingling with the perpetual      
song of the birds and the distant roar  
of the waves breaking      on the shore 
to the south1 formed one grand          
over-tone4       ,a feeling of awe came 
over me4 ,i felt my insignificance4 ,i  
saw the hand of ,god4 ,my relation to my
 surroundings was very      clear4 ,my  
soul bowed to the ,god-ness in all      
things natural4      ,the ,god-ness in  
me was calling to be released4 ,it was  
useless      to struggle against it1 and
 deafen my ears to the cry4 ,it         
must be given voice4 ,i felt my soul    
condemning me as an      echoer and     
imitator of men1 as one whose every     
thought      becomes coloured with      

others' views4 ,like a sponge ,i was    
readily receptive4 ,let a little mental 
pressure be applied      and ,i gave    
back the identical thoughts hardly      
shaded by      inward feelings4 ,this   
was my soul's complaint4       ,no tree 
was exactly like one of its neighbours4 
,each      fulfilled its purpose in its 
particular way4 ,yet all      proclaimed
 the ,one ,source4 ,performing its      
function1 it was      fit to censure me 
and ,i took the cup4       444 ,the sun 
had set4 ,darkness was wrapping the     
basin of the      little stream2 heavy  
dew was falling4 ,mother ,nature was    
weeping tears of sympathy for one so    
short-sighted and drawn      to failure4
     #aj  ,,compassion   ,i was struck  
early in the progress of the class of   
three with the difference between the   
little girl1 now turned eleven1 and the 
other two of fourteen and seventeen1 in 
the one particular of daring to be      
herself4 ,she has never been patronised2
 and in the last year or more has been  

actively encouraged to express the      
lovely and the elusive4 ,also1 as       
stated1 she has no particular talent for
 writing4 ,she is the one who wants to  
be a mother4 ,not in the least          
precocious1 her charm is quite equal for
 little girls or her elders4 ,her       
favourite companions until recently were
 those of her own age4  ,on the         
contrary1 the other two were called to  
the work here because they want to      
write1 and although this very tendency  
should keep open the passages between   
the zone of dreams and the more         
temperate zones of matter1 the fashions 
and mannerisms of the hour1 artfulness  
of speech and reading1 the countless    
little reserves and covers for neglected
 thinking1 the endless misunderstandings
 of life and the realities of           
existence--had already begun to clog the
 ways which1 to every old artist1 are   
the very passages of power4  444 ,except
 that ye become as little children----  
that is the beginning of significant    

workmanship1 as it is the essential of  
faith in religion4 ,the great workmen   
have all put away the illusions of the  
world1 or most of them1 and all have    
told the same story--look to ,rodin1    
,puvis de ,chavannes1 ,balzac1 ,tolstoi1
 only to mention a little group of the  
nearer names4 ,in their mid-years they  
served men1 as they fancied men wanted  
to be served2 and then they met the lie 
of this exterior purpose1 confronted the
 lie with the realities of their own    
nature1 and fought the fight for the    
cosmic simplicity which is so often the 
unconscious flowering of the child-mind4
 ,all of them wrenched open1 as they    
could1 the doors of the prison-house1   
and became more and more like little    
children at the end4  ,the quality ,i   
mean is difficult to express in straight
 terms4 ,one must have the settings to  
see and delight in them4 ,but it is also
 the quality of the modern verse4 ,the  
new generation has it as no other       
generation1 because the old shames and  

conventions are losing their weight in  
our hearts4444 ,i was promising an      
untold something for a future lesson to 
the little girl yesterday1 just as she  
was getting to work4 ,the anticipation  
disturbed the present moment1 and she   
said3  ,don't have secrets4 ,when there 
are secrets1 ,i always want to peek---- 
,yesterday1 a little later1 we both     
looked up from work at the notes of a   
song-sparrow in the nearest elm4 ,the   
song was more elaborate for the perfect 
morning4 ,it was so joyous that it      
choked me--in the sunlight and          
elm-leaves4 ,it stood out from all the  
songs of the morning because it was so  
near--every note so finished and        
perfect1 and we were each in the        
pleasantness of our tasks4 ,the little  
girl leaned over to the window4 ,i was  
already watching4 ,we heard the answer  
from the distance4 ,the song was        
repeated1 and again4 ,in the hushes1 we 
sipped the ecstasy from the ,old        
,mother--that the sparrow knew and      

expressed4 ,like a flicker1 he was      
gone--a leaning forward on the branch   
and then a blur1444 presently this      
sentence in the room3  444 sang four    
songs and flew away4  ,it was a         
word-portrait4 ,it told me so much that 
,i wanted2 the number of course was not 
mental1 but an obvious part of the inner
 impression4 ,however1 no after         
explanations will help--if the art of   
the thing is not apparent4 ,i told it   
later in the day to another class1 and a
 woman said--,why1 those six words make 
a ,japanese poem4  ,and yesterday again1
 as we walked over to dinner1 she said3 
,i see a ,chinese city4 ,it is dim and  
low and smoky4 ,it is night and the     
lights are at half-mast4  ,she had been 
making a picture of her own of ,china4  
,it throws the child in on herself to   
imagine thus4 ,she has never been to    
,china1 and her reading on the subject  
was not recent4 ,i always say to them3  
,it is all within4 ,if you can listen   
deeply enough and see far enough1 you   

can get it all4 ,when a man wishes to   
write about a country1 he is hindered as
 much as helped if he knows much about  
it4 ,he feels called upon to express    
that which he has seen--which is so     
small compared to the big colour and    
atmosphere4  ,i had been to ,china but  
would have required a page to make such 
a picture4  ,a little while before she  
had been to ,holland in fancy4 ,she had 
told a story of a child there and the   
little house in which she lived looked  
as if it had been made of old           
paving-blocks ripped up from the street4
  ,often she falls back upon the actual 
physical environment to get started1 as 
this recent introduction3 ,to-day ,i am 
sitting on the end of a breakwater1     
listening to the peaceful noise the     
,lake makes as it slaps up against the  
heavy old rocks4 ,the sun is pouring    
down hot rays upon my arms1 bare feet   
and legs1 turning them from winter's    
faded white----  ,or3  ,once ,i had my  
back up against an old ,beech tree on a 

carpet of spring beauties and violet    
plants4 ,spiders1 crickets and all sorts
 of little woodland bugs went crawling  
on me and around1 but instead of        
shuddering at their little legs1 ,i felt
 a part----  ,i said to her about the   
,china picture3 ,put it down1 and be    
careful to write it just as you see it1 
not trying to say what you have         
heard1--at least1 until after your first
 picture is made4444 ,i had a conviction
 that something prompted that half-mast 
matter1 and that if we could get just at
 that process in the child's mind1 we   
should have something very valuable for 
all concerned4 ,but we can only         
approximate the inner pictures4 ,the    
quality of impressionism in artistry    
endeavours to do that--to hurl the      
fleeting things into some kind of       
lasting expression4 ,the greatest       
expressionist can only approximate1 even
 after he has emerged from the          
prison-house and perfected his          
instrument through a life of struggle4  

,his highest moments of production are  
those of his deepest inner listening--in
 which the trained mind-instrument is   
quiescent and receptive1 its will       
entirely given over to the greater      
source within4  ,the forenoons with the 
little girl before the others came1     
showed me1 among many things1 that      
education should be mainly a happy      
process4 ,if ,i find her getting too    
dreamy with the things she loves 7that  
her expression is becoming wumbled1 as  
,algernon ,blackwood says71 ,i          
administer a bit of stiff reading for   
the pure purpose of straightening out   
the brain4 ,the best and dryest of the  
human solids is ,john ,stuart ,mill4    
,weights1 measures and intellectual     
balances are all honest in his          
work--honest to madness4 ,he is the     
perfect antidote for dreams4 ,burke's   
ancient essay ,on the ,sublime is hard  
reading1 but has its rewards4 ,you will 
laugh at a child of ten or eleven       
reading these things4 ,i once kept the  

little girl for three days on the       
latter1 and when ,i opened the doors of 
her refrigerating plant1 and gave her   
,thoreau's ,walking--there was something
 memorable in the liberation4 ,she took 
to ,thoreau1 as one held in after a week
 of storm emerges into full summer4 ,the
 release from any struggle leaves the   
mind with a new receptivity4 ,it was not
 that ,i wanted her to get ,mill or     
,burke1 but that the mental exercise    
which comes from grappling with these   
slaves of logic1 or masters1 as you     
like1 is a development of tissue1 upon  
which the dreams1 playing forth again   
from within1 find a fresh strength for  
expression4  ,dreaming without action is
 a deadly dissipation4 ,the mind of a   
child becomes fogged and ineffective    
when the dreams are not brought forth4  
,again1 the dreams may be the brooding  
of a divine one1 and yet if the mind    
does not furnish the power for          
transmuting them into matter1 they are  
without value1 and remain hid treasures4

 ,it is the same as faith without works4
 ,while ,i hold the conviction that the 
brain itself is best developed by the   
egress of the individual1 rather than by
 any processes from without1 yet ,i     
would not keep the exterior senses      
closed4  ,in fact1 just here is an      
important point of this whole study4 ,in
 the case of ,the ,abbot it was the     
intellect which required development1   
even to begin upon the expression of    
that within which was mainly            
inarticulate1 but mightily impressive1  
at least1 to me4 ,the ,valley-,road     
,girl's mind was trained4 ,she had      
obeyed scrupulously4 ,in her case1 the  
first business was to re-awaken her     
within1 and her own words have related  
something of the process4  ,the point is
 this3 ,if ,i have seemed at any time to
 make light of intellectual development1
 subserving it to intuitional           
expression1 it is only because          
nineteen-twentieths of the effort of    
current educational systems is toward   

mental training to the neglect of those 
individual potencies which are the first
 value of each life1 and the expression 
of which is the first purpose of life   
itself4 ,my zeal for expression from    
within-outward amounts to an enthusiasm1
 and is stated rushingly as an heroic   
measure is brought1 only because it is  
so pitifully overlooked in the present  
scheme of things4  ,latin1 mathematics1 
the great fact-world1 above all that    
endlessly various plane of fruition     
which ,nature and her infinite processes
 amount to1 are all splendid            
tissue-builders2 and of this tissue is  
formed the calibre of the individual by 
which his service is made effective to  
the world4 ,as ,i have already written1 
one cannot shoot a forty-five           
consciousness through a twenty-two      
brain4 ,the stirring concept cannot get 
through to the world except through the 
brain4  ,in the last sentence ,i see a  
difficulty for the many who still       
believe that the brain contains the full

 consciousness4 ,holding that1 most of  
the views stated here fall away into    
nothing4 ,perhaps one is naive1 not to  
have explained before1 that from the    
view these things are written the brain 
is but a temporary instrument of        
expression--most superb and admirable at
 its best1 but death is at work upon it2
 at its best1 a listener1 an            
interpreter1 without creativeness2 an   
instrument1 like the machine which my   
fingers touch1 but played upon not only 
from without but within4  ,if you look  
at the men who have become great in     
solitude1 in prison1 having been forced 
to turn their eyes within--you will find
 a hint to the possibilities4 ,yet they 
are rare compared to the many upon whom 
solitude has been thrust as the most    
terrible punitive process4 ,by the time 
most men reach mid-life they are        
entirely dependent upon exterior        
promptings for their mental             
activity--the passage entirely closed   
between their intrinsic content and the 

brain that interprets4 ,solitary        
confinement makes madmen of such--if the
 door cannot be wrenched ajar4  ,the    
human brain is like a sieve1 every brain
 differently meshed4 ,if the current    
flows continually in one direction      
either from within-outward1 or from the 
world-inward1 the meshes become clogged1
 and can be cleansed only1 as a sieve is
 flushed1 by reversing the current4 ,the
 ideal is to be powerful mentally and   
spiritually1 of course4 ,i would have   
you powerful in two worlds1 a modern    
,persian mystic said to one of his      
disciples4444 ,still ,i would not hold  
the two methods of development of equal 
importance4 ,the world is crowded with  
strongly developed intellects that are  
without enduring significance1 because  
they are not ignited by that inner      
individual force which would make them  
inimitable4  ,a man must achieve that   
individuality which is not a            
threescore-ten proposition1 and must    
begin to express it in his work before  

he can take his place in the big cosmic 
orchestra4 ,in fact1 he must achieve his
 own individuality before he has a      
decent instrument to play upon1 or any  
sense of interpretation of the splendid 
scores of life4 ,in fact again1 a man   
must achieve his own individuality      
before he can realise that the sense of 
his separateness which he has laboured  
under so long is a sham and a delusion4 
,until a man has entered with passion   
upon the great conception of the ,unity 
of all ,existing ,things 7which is      
literally brooding upon this planet in  
these harrowing but high days of        
history71 he is still out of the law1   
and the greater his intellect1 the more 
destructive his energy4 ,time has made  
the greatest of the sheer intellects of 
the past appear apish and inane2 and has
 brought closer and closer to us with   
each racial crisis 7sometimes the       
clearer according to their centuries of 
remoteness7 those spiritual             
intelligences who were first to bring us

 the conception of the ,oneness of ,all 
,life1 and the immortal fire1           
,compassion1 which is to be the art of  
the future4  ,finally1 a man must       
achieve his own individuality before he 
has anything fit to give the world4 ,he 
achieves this by the awakening of the   
giant within1 whom many have reason to  
believe is immortal4 ,inevitably this   
awakening is an illumination of the life
 itself2 and in the very dawn of this   
greater day1 in the first touch of that 
white fire of ,compassion1 the ,unity of
 ,all ,things is descried4     #aa      
,,the ,,little ,,girl',s ,,work   ,we   
will do a book of travels1 ,i said to   
the little girl4 ,you have done         
,holland2 you are on ,china4 ,after you 
have made your picture of ,china1 ,i'll 
tell you what ,i saw there in part1 and 
give you a book to read4  ,so often her 
own progress has given me a cue like    
this for the future work4 ,i put ,the   
,abbot on this travel-work for a few    
days1 starting him with ,peru4 ,he found

 a monastery there4 ,in ,india he found 
monasteries1 even in the northern woods 
of ,ontario4 ,he would shut his eyes2   
the setting would form1 and after his   
period of imaginative wandering1 the    
monastery would be the reward4 ,i will  
not attempt to suggest the psychology of
 this1 but to many there may be a link  
in it4 ,in any event1 the imagination is
 developed1 and its products expressed4 
,the little girl was asked to write an  
essay on a morning she had spent along  
the ,shore4 ,she sat in the ,study with 
a pencil and paper on her lap--and long 
afterward1 perhaps ten minutes1         
exclaimed3  ,why1 ,i began at the       
beginning and told the whole story to   
myself1 and now ,i've got to begin all  
over and write it1 and it won't be half 
so good4  ,yes1 that's the hard part1 to
 put it down1 ,i said4 ,write and write 
until you begin to dream as you         
write--until you forget hand and paper  
and place1 and instead of dreaming      
simply make the hand and brain interpret

 the dream as it comes4 ,that is the    
perfect way4  ,in these small things    
which ,i am printing of the little      
girl's1 you will get a glimpse of her   
reading and her rambles4 ,perhaps you   
will get an idea1 more clearly than ,i  
can tell it1 of the nature of the       
philosophy back of the work here1 but   
there can be no good in hiding that4    
,all who come express themselves somehow
 each day4 ,i have merely plucked these 
papers from the nearest of scores of her
 offerings4 ,there seems to be a ray in 
everything she does1 at least one in a  
paper4 ,what is more cheerfully         
disclosed than anything else1 from my   
viewpoint1 is the quickening            
imagination4 ,apparently she did not    
title this one3       ,nature is most at
 home where man has not yet started to  
build      his civilisation4 ,of course1
 she is everywhere--in ,germany1      in
 ,canada and ,california1 but the       
,father is more to be seen      with her
 in the wild places4       ,in the      

beginning everything belonged to        
,nature4 ,she is the      ,mother4      
,flowers1 then1 could grow where and    
when they wanted      to1 without being 
placed in all kinds of star and round   
and      square shapes4 ,some of their  
leaves could be longer than      others 
if ,nature liked1 without being cut4    
,the great trees1      such as beeches1 
elms1 oaks and cedars1 could coil and   
curve      their branches without the   
thought of being cut down for a         
sidewalk1 or trimmed until they were    
frivolous nothings4      ,small stones  
and shells could lie down on a bed of   
moss at      the feet of these trees and
 ask questions that disgraced      ,mr4 
,beech4 7,but of course they were       
young47 ,the flower      fairies could  
sit in the sunlight and laugh at the    
simple      little stones4       ,oh6   
dear1 ,i just read this through and it's
 silly4 ,it sounds      like some kind  
of a myth1 written in the ,fifteenth    
,century      instead of the ,twentieth1

 but ,i am not going to tear it up4     
,the thing ,i really wanted to write    
about this morning was      the goodness
 of being alive here in winter4  ,after 
a long1 lovely sleep at night1 in a room
 with wide-open windows and plenty of   
covers1 you wake up fresh and happy4    
,from the ,east comes up over the frozen
 ,lake1 the sun sending streaks of      
orange1 red1 yellow1 all through the    
sky4  ,here and there are little clouds 
of soft greys and pinks1 which look like
 the fluffy heads of young lettuce4     
,venus in the south1 big and wonderful1 
fades out of sight when the last shades 
of night pass out of the sky4  ,dress1  
every minute the sky growing more       
brilliant1 until you cannot look at it4 
,a breakfast of toast and jam--just     
enough to make you feel like work4  ,a  
short walk to the ,study with the sweet 
smell of wood-smoke sharpening the air4 
,then in the ,study1 reading essays by  
great men1 especially of our favourite  
four ,americans1 ,thoreau1 ,emerson1    

,whitman1 and ,lincoln4 ,a wonderful    
,nature essay from ,thoreau6         99 
99       99       99       99  ,so many 
things of ,nature are spoiled to make   
more money for men2 so many lambs and   
horses and birds are killed to make     
coats and hats4 ,horses are killed and  
sold as beef1 and the animals are       
slaughtered in such hideous and vulgar  
ways--maddened with fear in butchers'   
pens before the end4 ,wise people know  
that fears are poison4 ,day by day and  
year by year these poisons are being    
worked into our bodies until we get used
 to them and then we find it hard to    
stop eating meat4 ,a person in this     
condition is never able to associate    
with the mysteries of earth1 such as    
fairies and nymphs of flowers1 water and
 fire1 nor with the real truths of      
higher ,nature1 which men should know4  
,in among the rocks and mountains ,i can
 imagine cross1 ugly little gnomes going
 about their work--,i mean their own    
work and affairs4 ,to me it seems that  

gnomes are not willing to associate with
 people2 they haven't got the time to   
bother with us4 ,they go grumbling      
about1 muttering3 ,somebody sat on my   
rock2 somebody sat on my rock4  ,i would
 like to see them and find out what they
 are so busy about2 see the patterns of 
their leathery little clothes2 their    
high hats1 leathery capes and aprons4   
,some time ,i will see them4 ,i am not  
familiar with all this1 but ,i imagine  
very thick leather belts and buckles4   
,their feet are small1 but too big for  
them1 and make a little clatter as they 
go over the rocks4 ,their hands ,i      
cannot see2 they must be under the cape 
or somewhere that ,i do not know of4    
,the ,spring1 ,i think1 is the best time
 for the little green woodsmen4 ,the    
trees are beginning to get pale-green   
buds1 and the ground is all damp from   
being frozen so long4 ,the woodsmen sing
 a great deal then and laugh and talk4  
,they come to the edge of the river when
 a boat comes in1 but if one moves      

quickly they all run away4  ,i think    
there must have been many happy little  
fairies and cross old gnomes in the     
northern woods where ,i stayed a week   
last summer4 ,there were so many great  
rocks1 so many trees and all4 ,many     
mysteries must have floated around me   
wanting me to play with them1 but ,i    
wasn't ready4 ,fairies were only a dream
 to me then4 ,but some time ,i must have
 been a friend of the fairies1 for it   
seems to me that ,i have seen them1 and 
spent a good deal of time with them1    
because the memories are still with me4 
,i will spend most of my spare time with
 them next summer and learn much more   
about them4         99       99       99
       99       99  444 ,she could get  
no further on the ,chinese picture1     
except that the low street lamps were   
shaped like question-marks4 ,i told her 
there was something in that street if   
she could find it1 suggesting that she  
might think hard about it the last thing
 at night before she went to sleep1 but 

,i have heard nothing further4 ,on      
occasions ,i have been stopped short4   
,for instance1 yesterday the little girl
 began to tell me something with great  
care1 and ,i was away until she was in  
the middle of the story1 and the        
intimate gripping thing about it aroused
 me4 ,i told her to write the thing down
 just as she had told it1 with this     
result3       444 ,every little while1  
when ,i am not thinking of any one      
thing1 there is a voice inside4 ,it     
seems to be telling me      something1  
but ,i never know what it says4 ,i never
 wanted or      tried to know until a   
month ago1 but it stops before ,i can   
get the sense of it4 ,it is three       
things1 ,i am sure1 because      after  
the voice stops these three things run  
through my mind1      just as quick as  
the voice came and went away3 ,a thought
      which is full of mystery2 another 
one that is terrible2 and      the third
 which is strange but very funny4 ,the  
third seems to      be connected with   

,mother in some way2 something she said 
many1 many years ago4444 ,i asked       
,mother to talk that way1 and      she  
talked like old country women1 but it   
was not the voice ,i      asked for4  ,i
 have read this many times1 unable to   
interpret4 ,one of the loveliest things 
about the child-mind is its expectancy  
for answers1 for fulfilments at once4   
,i do not know what it means1 ,i said4  
,if some answer came1 ,i could not be   
sure that it was the perfect one1 but ,i
 am thinking about it every day1 and    
perhaps something will come4  ,these are
 serious things4444 ,here is one of her 
more recent products on ,roses3         
,if one wants to have perfect beauty and
 the odour of the ,old      ,mother     
herself in his yard1 he will plant      
roses4 ,i cannot      express in words  
what roses bring to me when ,i look down
 at      them or sniff their            
magnificently shaded petals4 ,they seem 
to      pull me right out of the body   
and out into another world      where   

everything is beautiful1 and where      
people do not choose      the red       
ramblers for their garden favourites1   
but the real      tea roses4       ,i   
took three roses into a house--a red    
one1 a white one1 very      much finer  
than the first1 and the third a         
dream-rose that      takes me into the  
other world--the kind of yellow rose    
that      sits in a jet bowl leaning on 
the cross in the ,chapel room      every
 day4       ,a girl that was in that    
house looked at the roses4       ,oh1   
she shouted1 after a moment1 what a     
grand red one that      is6       ,which
 one do you like best8 ,i asked4        
,the red one1 of course1 the girl       
answered4       ,why1 the other two are 
much---- ,i began4       ,no1 they      
ain't1 said the girl4 ,don't you know   
every one      likes them red ones best8
       ,i walked away4 ,i believe that  
city people who never see      ,nature1 
know her better from their reading than 
country      people who are closer to   

her brown body 7than those who walk     
on pavements7 but never look any higher4
 ,and ,i think country      people like 
red roses because they are like them4   
,the red      roses do not know they are
 not so beautiful as the yellow         
teas2 they bloom just as long and often1
 and often grow      bigger4 ,they are  
not ashamed4       ,a mystery to me3 ,a 
tiny piece of exquisite foliage is put  
into the ground4 ,after a while its     
leaves all fall off and it      is bare 
and brown1 like a little stick in the   
snow4 ,yet down      under the snow at  
the roots of the brown stick1 fairy rose
      spirits are being worked up into  
the small stalks4 ,they have      been  
waiting for a rose to be put into the   
ground that is      fine enough for     
them1 and it has come--and others4      
,months      afterward1 a dozen or more 
of pinkish yellow-golden roses      come
 out1 loosening as many fairy spirits   
again4 ,isn't it all      wonderful8  ,i
 enjoyed the first reading of this which

 the little girl called ,a ,grey ,day3  
,small1 cold1 happy waves constantly    
rolling up on the tan      shore4 ,the  
air is crisp and cool1 but there is very
 little      wind4 ,everything is       
looking fresh and green4 ,the train on  
the      crossing makes enough noise for
 six1 with a screeching of      wheels  
and puffing of steam4 ,the tug and      
dredge on the      harbour are doing    
their share1 too4 ,all is a happy       
workday      scene4 ,i started in this  
morning to finish an essay ,i had       
begun the day before4 ,after a little   
while1 ,i opened the      window1 and   
the happy working sounds came into the  
room4 ,i      could not finish that     
essay2 ,i had to write something about  
the grey happy day4       ,on a grey day
 ,i delight in studying the sky1 for it 
is always      so brimming full of      
pictures4 ,pictures of every kind4 ,it  
was      on a grey day like this in the 
early ,spring that ,cliff made      us  
see the great snow giants on the other  

side of the water1      cleaning away   
all the snow and ice with great shovels 
and      pick-axes4 ,it was on a grey   
day that a ,beech tree made me see      
that all the rocks1 bugs1 flowers1      
trees1 and people are only      one4    
,these grey days that people find so    
much fault with1 if      they are not so
 important as the days when the sun     
cooks you1      they are far more       
wonderful6 ,one's imagination can wander
      through the whole universe on grey
 days4 ,the pictures in the      sky    
give one hints of other worlds1 for     
there are so many      different faces1 
different and strange lands and people4 
,far-off houses1 kingdoms1 castles1     
birds1 beasts and      everything else4 
,such wonderful things4 ,sometimes ,i   
see huge      dragons1 and then the     
cloud passes and the dragons go away4   
,the sky is always changing4 ,the       
pictures never last1 but new      ones  
come4   ,a ,,talk  ,what wonderful      
things come of little talks4 ,i mean the

 right kind4 ,whole lives changed1      
perhaps by a half-hour's talk1 or the   
same amount of time spent in reading4   
,man comes to a point in life1 the      
half-way house1 ,i have heard it called1
 when he either takes the right path    
which leads to the work that was made   
for him or he goes the wrong4           
,oftentimes a short talk from one who   
knows will set a man on the right track4
 ,one man goes the wrong way through    
many a danger and pain and suffering1   
and finally wakes up to the right1 goes 
back1 tells the others1 and saves many  
from going the wrong way and passing    
through the same pain and suffering4    
,at breakfast this morning we were      
talking about the universe from the     
angels around the throne to the little  
brown gnomes that work so hard1 flower  
fairies1 and wood and water nymphs and  
nixies4 ,such a strange1 wild1          
delightful feeling comes over me when ,i
 hear about the little brown and green  
gnomes or think of them4 ,one who does  

not know the fairies well would think   
they were all brothers1 but it doesn't  
seem so to me4 ,when ,i think of the    
green gnomes1 a picture always comes of 
a whole lot of beautiful springy-looking
 bushes4 ,i can always see the green    
gnomes through the bushes4 ,they pay no 
attention to me1 but just go right on   
laughing and talking by themselves4 ,but
 when ,i think of brown gnomes a very   
different picture comes4 ,it is ,fall   
then1 and leaves are on the ground and  
brown men are working so hard and so    
fast their hands and feet are just a    
blur4 ,they give you a smile if you     
truly love them4 ,but that is all1 for  
they are working hard4  ,if one were    
well and could master his body in every 
way1 he would be able to see plainly the
 white lines which connect everything   
together1 and the crowns that are on the
 heads of the ones who deserve them4    
,and one could see the history of a     
stone1 a tree1 or any old thing4  ,what 
wonderful stories there would be in an  

old ,beech tree that has stood in the   
same place for more than a hundred      
years1 and has seen all the wonders that
 came that way4 ,their upper branches   
are always looking up1 and so at night  
they would see all the ,sleep-bodies    
that pass that woods4 ,the beech trees  
would make the old witches feel so good 
and happy by fanning them with their    
leaves and shading them that the witches
 would undo all the evil spells they had
 cast on people1 and so many other      
wonderful stories would there be in a   
,beech tree's history4     #ab          
,,tearing-,,down ,,sentiment   ,it was  
mid-fall4 ,now1 with the tiling1        
planting1 stone study and stable1 the   
installation of water and trees and     
payments on the land1 ,i concluded that 
,i might begin on that winter and summer
 dream of a house--in about ,nineteen   
,hundred and ,twenty-three4444 ,but ,i  
had been seeing it too clearly4 ,so     
clear a thought literally draws the     
particles of matter together4 ,a        

stranger happened along and said3  ,when
 ,i get tired and discouraged again1    
,i'm coming out here and take another   
look at your little stone study4  ,i    
asked him in4 ,he was eager to know who 
designed the shop4 ,i told him that the 
different city attics ,i had worked in  
were responsible4 ,he found this        
interesting4 ,finally ,i told him about 
the dream that ,i hoped some time to    
come true out yonder among the baby     
elms--the old father fireplace and all  
its young relations1 the broad porches  
and the nine stone piers1 the bedrooms  
strung on a balcony under a roof of     
glass1 the brick-paved patio below and  
the fountain in the centre4444 ,as he   
was a very good listener1 ,i took       
another breath and finished the         
picture--to the sleeping porch that     
would overhang the bluff1               
casement-windows1 red tiles that would  
dip down over the stone-work1 even to   
the bins for potatoes and apples in the 
basement4  ,that's very good1 he said4  

,i'm an architect of ,chicago4 ,i       
believe ,i can frame it up for you4     
,when a thing happens like that1 ,i     
invariably draw the suspicion that it   
was intended to be so4 ,anyway1 ,i had  
to have plans4444 ,when they came from  
,chicago1 ,i shoved the date of building
 ahead to ,nineteen-,thirty1 and turned 
with a sigh to the typewriter4444       
,several days afterward there was a tap 
at the study door in the drowsiest part 
of the afternoon4 ,a contractor and his 
friend1 the lumberman1 were interested  
to know if ,i contemplated building4    
,very positively ,i said not--so        
positively that the subject was changed4
 ,the next day ,i met the contractor1   
who said he was sorry to hear of my     
decision1 since the lumberman had come  
with the idea of financing the stone    
house1 but was a bit delicate about it1 
the way ,i spoke4  ,this was information
 of the most obtruding sort4444 ,one of 
my well-trusted friends once said to me1
 looking up from a work-bench in his own

 cellar3  ,when ,i started to build ,i  
went in debt just as far as they would  
let me4  ,he had one of the prettiest   
places ,i ever saw--of a poor man's     
kind1 and spent all the best hours of   
his life making it lovelier4  ,and it's 
all paid for8 ,i asked4  ,he smiled4    
,no--not by a good deal less than half4 
,but suppose something should happen    
that you couldn't finish paying for it8 
,well1 then ,i've had a mighty good time
 doing it for the other fellow4  ,that  
was not to be forgotten4  ,so ,i went   
down the shore with the lumberman1 and  
we sat on the sand under a pine tree4444
 ,on the way home ,i arranged for       
excavation and the foundation           
masonry4444 ,i'm not going to tell you  
how to build a house1 because ,i don't  
know4 ,i doubt if ever a house was built
 with a completer sense of detachment on
 the part of the nominal owner--at      
times4444 ,when they consulted me1 ,i   
referred to the dream which the         
architect had pinned to matter in the   

form of many blue-prints--for a time4   
,as the next ,spring and the actual     
building advanced1 chaos came down upon 
me like the slow effects of a maddening 
drug4 ,for two years ,i had ridden      
through the little town once or twice a 
day for mail2 and had learned the       
pleasure of nodding to the              
villagers--bankers1 doctors1 merchants1 
artisans1 labourers and children4 ,i had
 seldom entered stores or houses and as 
gently as possible refrained from       
touching the social system of the place4
 ,our lives were very full on the       
,shore4  ,there was a real pleasure to  
me in the village4 ,many great ones have
 fallen before the illusion of it4444   
,there is a real pleasure to me in the  
village still1 but different4  ,long    
ago1 ,i went up into the north country  
and lived a while near a small ,indian  
party on the shore of a pine-shadowed   
river4 ,i watched their life a little4  
,they knew fires and enjoyed tobacco4   
,they feasted upon the hard1 gamey bass1

 and sent members of their party to the 
fields for grains4 ,their children lived
 in the sun--a strange kind of          
enchantment over it all4 ,i stood high  
on a rock above the river one evening   
across from the ,indian camp1 with a    
,canadian official who was a kind of    
white father to the remnant of the      
,indian tribes in that part of the      
province4 ,we talked together1 and as we
 talked the sun went down4 ,an old      
,indian arose on the bank opposite4 ,in 
the stillness we heard him tap out the  
ashes of his pipe upon a stone4 ,then he
 came down like a dusky patriarch to the
 edge of the stream1 stepped into his   
canoe and lifted the paddle4  ,there was
 no sound from that1 and the stream was 
in the hush of evening and summer4 ,he  
had seen us and was coming across to pay
 his respects to my companion4 ,when he 
was half-way across1 a dog detached     
himself from the outer circle of the    
fire and began to swim after the canoe4 
,we saw the current swing him forward1  

and the little beast's adjustment to it4
 ,the canoe had come straight4 ,it was  
now in the still water beneath1 and the 
dog in the centre of the stream--the    
point of a rippling wedge4  ,the ,indian
 drew up his craft1 and started to climb
 to us4 ,the dog made the bank1 shook   
himself and followed upward1 but not    
with a scamper like a white man's dog1  
rather a silent keeping of distance4    
,just below us the ,indian halted1      
turned1 picked up with both hands a rock
 the size of a winter turnip and heaved 
it straight down at the beast's head4   
,no word4  ,the dog lurched sideways on 
the trail1 so that the missile merely   
grazed him4 ,we heard a subdued protest 
of one syllable1 as he turned and went  
back4 ,it was all uninteresting night to
 me now--beauty1 picturesqueness1       
enchantment gone1 with that repressed   
yelp4 ,i didn't even rise from my seat  
on the rock4 ,i had looked too close4   
,that night the ,canadian said3  ,the   
,indian race is passing out4 ,they do   

not resist4 ,i go from camp to camp in  
the ,spring1 and ask about the missing  
friends--young and old1 even the young  
married people4 ,they point--back and   
upward--as if one pointed over his      
shoulder toward a hill just             
descended4444 ,it's tuberculosis mainly4
 ,you see them here living a life       
designed to bring anything but a corpse 
back to health4 ,when the winter comes  
they go to the houses1 batten the       
windows1 heap up the fires1 and sit     
beside them1 sleep and have their food  
beside them1 twenty in a room4 ,before  
,spring1 the touched ones cough1 and are
 carried out4 ,they seem to know that   
the race is passing4 ,they do not       
resist--they do not care to live        
differently4  ,had it not been for that 
hurled rock which broke open the old    
,indian's nature for me1 ,i should have 
preserved a fine picture perhaps1 but it
 would not have been grounded upon      
wisdom1 and therefore would have        
amounted to a mere sentiment4 ,it was   

the same with the country town1 when the
 house-building forced me to look       
closely at the separate groups of       
workmen that detached themselves from   
the whole1 and came to build the house4 
,i think ,i can bring the meaning even  
clearer through another incident3  444  
,one of the young men here loved the    
sunlight on his shoulders so well--had  
such a natural love for the feel of     
light and air upon his bare flesh--that 
he almost attained that high charm of   
forgetting how well he looked4444 ,the  
country people occasionally come down to
 the water on the ,sabbath 7from their  
homes back on the automobile routes and 
the interurban lines71 and for what they
 do not get of the natural beauty of    
shore and bluff1 ,i have a fine respect4
 ,however1 they didn't miss the         
,temporary ,mr4 ,pan4  ,they complained 
that he was exposing himself1 even that 
he was shameless4  ,now ,i am no        
worshipper of nudity4 ,i'd like to be1  
but it disappoints in most cases4 ,there

 is always a strain about an object that
 is conscious of itself--and that nudity
 which is unconscious of itself is      
either shameless1 an inevitable point of
 its imperfection anatomically for the  
trained eye2 or else it is touched with 
divinity and does not frequent these    
shores4  ,the human body has suffered   
the fate of all flesh and plant-fibre   
that is denied light4 ,a certain vision 
must direct all growth--and vision      
requires light4 ,the covered things are 
white-lidded and abortive1 scrawny from 
struggle or bulbous from the feeding    
dream into which they are prone to sink4
  ,it will require centuries for the    
human race to outgrow the shames which  
have come to adhere to our              
character-structure from recent         
generations4 ,we have brutalised our    
bodies with these thoughts4 ,we         
associate women with veils and secrecy1 
but the trouble is not with them1 and   
has not come from women1 but from the   
male-ordering of women's affairs to     

satisfy his own ideas of possession and 
conservation4 ,the whole cycle of human 
reproduction is a man-arrangement       
according to present standards1 and     
every process is destructively bungled4 
,however1 that's a life-work1 that      
subject4  ,in colour1 texture and       
contour1 the thoughts of our ancestors  
have debased our bodies1 organically and
 as they are seen4 ,nudity is not       
beautiful1 and does not play sweetly    
upon our minds because of this heritage4
 ,the human body is associated with     
darkness1 and the place of this         
association in our minds is of          
corresponding darkness4  ,the young man 
and ,i talked it over4 ,we decided that 
it would be a thankless task for him to 
spend the summers in ardent endeavour to
 educate the countryside by browning his
 back in public4 ,that did not appeal to
 us as a fitting life-task2 moreover1   
his project would frequently be         
interrupted by the town marshal4 ,as a  
matter of truth1 one may draw most of   

the values of the actinic rays of the   
sun through thin white clothing2 and if 
one has not crushed his feet into a     
revolting mass in pursuit of the        
tradesmen1 he may go barefooted a little
 while each day on his own grass-plot   
without shocking the natives or losing  
his credit at the bank4 ,the real reason
 for opening this subject is to express 
7and be very sure to express without    
hatred7 certain facts in the case of the
 countryside which complained4  ,they   
are villagers and farm-people who live  
with ,mother ,nature without knowing    
her4 ,they look into the body of        
,nature1 but never see her face to face4
 ,the play of light and the drive of    
intelligence in her eyes is above the   
level of their gaze1 or too bright4     
,potentially they have all the living   
lights--the flame immortal1 but it is   
turned low4 ,it does not glorify them1  
as men or parents or workmen4 ,it does  
not inspire them to ,questing--man's    
real and most significant business4     

,they do not know that which is good or 
evil in food1 in music1 colour1 fabric1 
books1 in houses1 lands or faith4 ,they 
live in a low1 lazy rhythm and attract  
unto themselves inevitably objects of   
corresponding vibration4 ,one observes  
this in their children1 in their schools
 and most pathetically in their         
churches4 ,they abide dimly in the midst
 of their imperfections1 but with tragic
 peace4 ,when their children revolt1    
they meet on every hand the hideous     
weight of matter1 the pressure of low   
established forces1 and only the more   
splendid of these young people have the 
integrity of spirit to rise above the   
resistance4  ,as for the clothing that  
is worn1 they would do better if left   
suddenly naked as a people1 and without 
preconceptions1 were commanded to find  
some covering for themselves4 ,as herds1
 they have fallen into a descending arc 
of usage1 under the inevitable down-pull
 of trade4 ,where the vibrations of     
matter are low1 its responsive movement 

is gregarian rather than individual4    
,the year around1 these people wear     
clothing1--woollen pants and skirts1    
which if touched with an iron1 touched  
with sunlight1 rain or any medium that  
arouses the slumbering quantities1 the  
adjacent nostril is offended4  ,they are
 heavy eaters of meat the year round4   
,they slay their pets with as little    
concern as they gather strawberries4    
,their ideas of virtue and legitimacy   
have to do with an ecclesiastical form1 
as ancient as ,nineveh and as effaced in
 meaning4 ,they accept their children1  
as one pays a price for pleasure2 and   
those children which come from their    
stolen pleasures are either murdered or 
marked with shame4 ,their idea of love  
is made indefinite by desire1 and their 
love of children has to do with the     
sense of possession4  ,they are not     
significant men in their own fields2    
rarely a good mason1 a good carpenter1 a
 good farmer4 ,the many have not even   
found the secret of order and unfolding 

from the simplest task4 ,the primary    
meaning of the day's work in its        
relation to life and blessedness is not 
to be conceived by them4 ,they are      
taught from childhood that first of all 
work is for bread2 that bread perishes2 
therefore one must pile up as he may the
 where-with to purchase the passing     
bread2 that bread is bread and the rest 
a gamble4444 ,they answer to the slow   
loop waves which enfold the many in     
amusement and opinion1 in suspicion and 
cruelty and half-truth4 ,to all above1  
they are as if they were not2 mediocre  
men1 static in spiritual affairs1 a     
little pilot-burner of vision flickering
 from childhood1 but never igniting     
their true being1 nor opening to them   
the one true way which each man must go 
alone1 before he begins to be erect in  
other than bone and sinew4  ,they cover 
their bodies--but they do not cover     
their faces nor their minds nor their   
souls4 ,and this is the marvel1 they are
 not ashamed6 ,they reveal the emptiness

 of their faces and the darkness of     
their minds without complaining to each 
other or to the police4 ,from any       
standpoint of reality1 the points of    
view of the many need only to be        
expressed to reveal their               
abandonment4444 ,but this applies to    
crowds anywhere1 to the world-crowd1    
whose gods to-day are trade and         
patriotism and motion-photography4  ,the
 point is1 we cannot look back into the 
centres of the many for our ideals4     
,there is no variation to the law that  
all beauty and progress is ahead4       
,moreover1 a man riding through a       
village encounters but the mask of its  
people4 ,we have much practice through  
life in bowing to each other4 ,there is 
a psychology about greetings among human
 kind that is deep as the pit4 ,when the
 thing known as ,ignorance is           
established in a community1 one is      
foolish to rush to the conclusion that  
the trouble is merely an unlettered     
thing4  ,no one has idealised the       

uneducated mind with more ardour than   
the one who is expressing these studies 
of life4 ,but ,i have found that the    
mind that has no quest1 that does not   
begin its search among the world's      
treasures from a child1 is a mind that  
is just as apt to be aggressive in its  
small conceptions as the most capacious 
and sumptuously furnished1 and more     
rigorous in its treatment of dependents4
 ,i have found that the untrained mind  
is untrained in the qualities of        
appreciation1 is not cleanly1 nor       
workmanlike1 nor spiritual1 nor         
generous1 nor tolerant2 that the very   
fundamentals of its integrity will hurt 
you2 that it talks much and is not      
ashamed4  ,all literature has overdone  
the dog-like fidelity of simple minds4  
,the essence of loyalty of man to man is
 made of love-capacity and              
understanding--and these are qualities  
that come from evolution of the soul    
just as every other fine thing comes4   
,we perceive the old farmer on his      

door-step in the evening--love and      
life-lines of labour upon him2 we enjoy 
his haleness and laughter4444 ,but that 
is the mask4 ,his mind and its every    
attribute of consciousness is designed  
to smother an awakened soul4 ,you have  
to bring ,god to him in his own         
terminology1 or he will fight you1 and  
believe in his heart that he is serving 
his ,god4 ,his generation is moving     
slowly now1 yet if his sons and         
daughters quicken their pace1 he is     
filled with torments of fear or curses  
them for straying4  ,i would not seem   
ill-tempered4 ,i have long since healed 
from the chaos and revelations of       
building4 ,it brought me a not too swift
 review of life as ,i had met it afield 
and in the cities for many years4 ,the  
fact that one little contract for       
certain interior installations was      
strung over five months1 and surprised  
me with the possibilities of            
inefficiency and untruth1 is long since 
forgotten4 ,the water runs4 ,ten days   

after peace was established here1 all my
 wounds were healing by first intention2
 and when ,i saw the carpenters at work 
on a new contract the day after they    
left me1 the pity that surged through my
 breast was strangely poignant1 and it  
was for them4 ,the conduct of their days
 was a drive through the heaviest and   
most stubborn of materials1 an arriving 
at something like order against the     
grittiest odds1 and they must do it     
again and again4 ,there is none to whom 
,i cannot bow in the evening--but the   
idealisation of the village lives is    
changed and there is knowledge4  ,i had 
been getting too comfortable4 ,one      
cannot do his service in the world and  
forget its fundamentals4 ,we have to    
love before we can serve1 but it is     
fatuous to love blindly4 ,the things    
that we want are ahead4 ,the paths      
behind do not contain them2 the         
simplicity of peasants and lowly        
communities is not merely unlettered4   
,one does not need to deal with one     

small town2 it is everywhere4 ,the ways 
of the crowds are small ways4 ,we wrong 
ourselves and bring imperfection to our 
tasks when we forget that4 ,we love the 
,indian crossing the stream in the great
 and gracious night--but ,god pity the  
,indian's dog4 ,we must look close at   
life1 and not lie to ourselves1 because 
our ways are cushioning a little4  ,all 
idealism that turns back must suffer the
 fate of mere sentiments4 ,we must know 
the stuff the crowds are made of1 if we 
have a hand in bringing in the order and
 beauty4 ,you have heard men exclaim3   
,how noble are the simple-minded--how   
sweet the people of the                 
,countryside--how inevitable and        
unerring is the voice of the people6 ,as
 a matter of truth1 unless directed by  
some strong man's vision1 the voice of  
the people has never yet given utterance
 to constructive truth2 and the same may
 be said of those who cater to the      
public taste in politics or the         
so-called arts4 ,the man who undertakes 

to give the people what the people want 
is not an artist or a true leader of any
 dimension4 ,he is a tradesman and finds
 his place in his generation4  ,the     
rising workman in any art or craft      
learns by suffering that all good is    
ahead and not elsewhere2 that he must   
dare to be himself even if forced to go 
hungry for that honour2 that he must not
 lose his love for men1 though he must  
lose his illusions4 ,sooner or later1   
when he is ready1 one brilliant little  
fact rises in his consciousness--one    
that comes to stay1 and around which all
 future thinking must build itself4 ,it 
is this3  ,when one lifts the mask from 
any crowd1 commonness is disclosed in   
every change and movement of            
personality4 ,at the same time1 the     
crowds of common people are the soil of 
the future1 a splendid mass potentially1
 the womb of every heroism and          
masterpiece to be4  ,all great things   
must come from the people1 because great
 leaders of the people turn their       

passionate impregnation of idealism upon
 them4 ,first the dreamer dreams--and   
then the people make it action4444      
,what we see that hurts us so as workmen
 is but the unfinished picture1 the back
 of the tapestry4  ,to be worth his     
spiritual salt1 the artist1 any artist1 
must turn every force of his conceiving 
into that great restless ,abstraction1  
the many2 he must plunge whole-heartedly
 in the doing1 but cut himself loose    
from the thing done2 at least1 he must  
realise that what he is willing to give 
could not be bought4444 ,when he is     
quite ready1 there shall arise for him1 
out of the ,abstraction1 something      
finished2 something as absolutely his   
own as the other half of his circle4    
,the one relentless and continual       
realisation which drives home to a man  
who has any vision of the betterment of 
the whole1 is the low-grade intelligence
 of the average human being4 ,every man 
who has ever worked for a day out of    
himself has met this fierce and flogging

 truth4 ,the personal answer to this1   
which the workman finally makes1 may be 
of three kinds3 ,he may desert his      
vision entirely and return to operate   
among the infinite small doors of the   
many--which is cowardice and the        
grimmest failure4 ,he may abandon the   
many and devote himself to the few who  
understand2 and this opens the way to   
the subtler and more powerful devils    
which beset and betray human            
understanding1 for we are not heroically
 moulded by those who love us but by the
 grinding of those who revile4 ,if a key
 does not fit1 it must be ground2 and to
 be ground1 its wards made true and     
sharp1 it must be held somehow in a     
vise4 ,the grinding from above will not 
bite otherwise4 ,so it is with the      
workman4 ,he must fix himself first in  
the knowledge of the world4444  ,the    
workman of the true way abandons neither
 his vision nor the world4 ,somehow to  
impregnate the world with his particular
 vision--all good comes from that4 ,in a

 word1 the workman either plays to world
 entirely1 which is failure2 to his     
elect entirely1 which is apt to be a    
greater failure2 or1 intrenched in the  
world and thrilling with aspiration1 he 
may exert a levitating influence upon   
the whole1 just as surely as wings beat 
upward4 ,there are days of blindness1   
and the years are long1 but in this     
latest struggle a man forgets himself1  
which is the primary victory4  ,the real
 workman then--vibrating between        
compassion and contempt--his body vised 
in the world1 his spirit struggling     
upward1 performs his task4 ,when        
suddenly freed1 he finds that he has    
done well4 ,if one is to have wings1 and
 by that ,i don't mean feathers but the 
intrinsic levitating force of the       
spiritual life1 be very sure they must  
be grown here1 and gain their power of  
pinion in the struggle to lift matter4  
#ac  ,,natural ,,cruelty   ,in dealing  
with the young1 especially with little  
boys1 one of the first things to        

establish is gentleness to animals4     
,between the little boy and the grown   
man all the states of evolution are     
vaguely reviewed1 as they are1 in fact1 
in that more rapid and mysterious       
passage between conception and birth4   
,young nations pass through the same    
phases1 and some of them are abominable4
 ,the sense of power is a dangerous     
thing4 ,the child feels it in his hands1
 and the nation feels it in its first   
victory4444 ,in the ,chapel during a    
period of several days we talked about  
the wonder of animals 7the little boys  
of the house present7 and the results   
were so interesting that ,i put together
 some of the things discussed in the    
following form1 calling the paper       
,adventures in ,cruelty3       ,as a    
whole1 the styles in cruelty are        
changing4 ,certain      matters of      
charity as we used to regard them are   
vulgar now4      ,i remember when a     
great sign1 ,,the ,,home ,,of ,,the     
,,friendless1 used to stare obscenely at

 thousands of city      school children1
 as we passed daily through a certain   
street4      ,though it is gone now1    
something of the curse of it is still   
upon the premises4 ,i always think of   
what a certain observer      said3      
,you would not think the ,christ had    
ever come to a world1      where men    
could give such a name to a house of    
love-babies4       ,i remember1 too1    
when there formerly appeared from time  
to      time on the streets1 during the 
long summers1 different      green-blue 
wagons4 ,the drivers were different1    
too--,i recall      one was a hunchback4
 ,these outfits formed one of the       
fascinating horrors of our              
bringing-up--the fork1 the noose1       
the stray dog tossed into a maddened    
pulp of stray dogs1 the      door       
slammed1 and no word at all from the    
driver--nothing we      could build on1 
or learn his character by4 ,he was a    
part of      the law1 and we were taught
 then that the law was                  

everlastingly right1 that we must grind 
our characters      against it4444 ,but 
the green-blue wagons are gone1 and the 
,law has come to conform a bit with the 
character of youth4       ,the time is  
not long since when we met our          
adventures in      cruelty alone--no    
concert of enlightened citizens on these
      subjects--and only the very few   
had found the flaw in the      gospel   
that ,god had made the animals1 and all 
the little      animals1 for delectation
 and service of man4 ,possibly there    
is a bit of galvanic life still in the  
teaching1 but it      cannot be said to 
belong to the ,new ,age4       ,economic
 efficiency has altered many styles for 
the better4      ,formerly western      
drovers used to drive their herds into  
the      brush for the winters4 ,the few
 that the winter and the wolves         
didn't get were supposed to be hardy    
enough to demand a      price4 ,it was  
found1 however1 that wintering-out cost 
the      beasts more in vitality than   

they would spend in seven years      of 
labour2 that the result was decrepit    
colts and stringy      dwarfs for the   
beef market4 ,also there was agitation  
on the      subject1 and the custom     
passed4 ,city men who owned horses in   
large numbers found their efficiency    
brought to a higher      notch at the   
sacrifice of a little more air and food1
 warmth      and rest4 ,there is a      
far-drive to this appeal1 and there are 
those who believe that it will see us   
through to the      millennium4       ,a
 woman told this story3 ,when ,i was a  
child in the country      there was an  
old cow that we all knew and loved4 ,she
 was red      and white like            
,stevenson's cow that ate the meadow    
flowers4      ,her name was ,mary--,mr4 
,devlin's ,mary4 ,the ,devlin children  
played with us1 and they were like other
 children in every      way1 only a     
little fatter and ruddier perhaps4 ,the 
calves      disappeared annually 7one of
 the mysteries7 and the ,devlin         

children were brought up on ,mary's     
milk4 ,it wasn't milk1 they      said1  
but pure cream4 ,we came to know ,mary1 
because she was      always on the      
roadside--no remote back-pastures for   
her4 ,she      loved the children and   
had to know what passed4 ,we used to    
deck her with dandelions1 and often just
 as we were getting      the last       
circlet fastened1 old ,mary would tire  
of the game      and walk sedately out  
of the ring--just as she would when a   
baby calf had enough or some novice had 
been milking too      long4 ,i have been
 able to understand how much the ,hindus
      think of their cattle just by     
thinking of ,mary4 ,for years we        
passed her--to and from school4 ,it was 
said that she could      negotiate any  
gate or lock4       ,well1 on one       
,spring morning1 as we walked by the    
,devlin      house1 we saw a crated     
wagon with a new calf inside1 and they  
were tying ,mary behind4 ,she was led   
forth4 ,i remember the      whites of   

her eyes and her twisted head4 ,only    
that1 in a kind      of sickening and   
pervading blackness4 ,the calf cried to 
her1      and ,mary answered1 and thus  
they passed4444 ',but she is old4       
,she dried up for a time last summer1'  
one of the ,devlin      children said4  
,devlin wasn't a bad man1 a respected   
churchman4444 ,i spoke      to certain  
grown-ups1 but did not get the sense of 
tragedy      that was mine4 ,no one     
criticised ,devlin4 ,it was the custom1 
they said4444 ,even the butcher had     
heard of old ,mary4444 ,you      see how
 ungrippable1 how abstract the tragedy  
was for a      child--but you never can 
know what it showed me of the world4    
,none of us who wept that day ate meat  
for many days4 ,i have      not since4  
,i cannot4  ,her story reminded me      
sharply of a recent personal experience4
 ,i had been thinking of buying a cow4  
,it appears that there are milch-cows   
and beef-cows4 ,country dealers prefer a
 blend1 as you shall see4 ,i said ,i    

wanted butter and milk1 intimating the  
richer the better2 also ,i wanted a     
front-yard cow1 if possible4444 ,there  
was a gentle little ,jersey lady that   
had eyes the children would see fairies 
in----  ,yes1 she's a nice heifer1 the  
man said1 but now ,i'm a friend of      
yours----  ,i appreciate that4 ,isn't   
she well8  ,yes1 sound as a trivet4  ,a 
good yielder8  ,all of that4  ,what's   
the matter8  ,well1 a cow is like a     
peach-tree1 she doesn't last forever4   
,after the milktime1 there isn't much   
left for beef----  ,but ,i don't want to
 eat her4  ,but as an investment--you   
see1 that's where the ,jerseys fall     
down--they don't weigh much at the      
butcher's4  ,the styles change more     
slowly in the country4444 ,i found this 
good economy so prevalent as to be      
rather high for humour4 ,in fact1 that's
 exactly why you can't get grand stakes 
in the country4444 ,i related the       
episode to a man interested in the      
prevention of cruelty4 ,he said3  ,don't

 blame it all on the country4 ,i saw one
 of those butcher's abominations in a   
city street yesterday--cart with crate1 
new calf inside1 old moaning mammy      
dragged after to the slaughter--a very  
interesting tumbril1 but she hadn't     
conspired against the government4 ,for a
 year she had given the best of her body
 to nourish that little bewildered bit  
of veal--and now we were to eat what was
 left of her4444 ,also ,i passed through
 a certain railway yard of a big city   
last holidays4 ,you recall the zero     
weather8 ,tier on tier of crated live   
chickens were piled there awaiting      
shipment--crushed into eight-inch       
crates1 so that they could not lift     
their heads4 ,poe pictured an atrocious 
horror like that--a man being held in a 
torture-cell in such a position that he 
could not stand erect4 ,it almost broke 
a man's nerve1 to say nothing of his    
neck1 just to read about it4444 ,i had  
seen this thing before--yet never as    
this time4 ,queer how these things      

happen6 ,a man must see a thing like    
that just right1 in full meaning1 and   
then tell it again and again--until     
enough others see1 to make it dangerous 
to ship that way4 ,i got the idea then1 
',suppose a man would make it his       
life-work to change those crates--to    
make those crates such a stench and     
abomination1 that poultry butchers would
 not dare use them4 ,what a worthy life 
work that would be6444' ,and then ,i    
thought1 ',why leave it for the other   
fellow8444' ,the personal relation is   
everything1 he concluded4  ,there was   
something round and equable about this  
man's talk1 and about his creeds4 ,he   
was out for the chickens1 as he         
expressed it4 ,this task came to him and
 he refused to dodge4 ,perhaps he will  
be the last to see the big thing that he
 is doing1 for he is in the ruck of it4 
,and then very often a man sets out to  
find a passage to ,india and gets a ,new
 ,world4 ,in any case1 to put four      
inches on the chicken-crates of ,america

 is very much a man's job1 when one     
considers the relation of tariff to bulk
 in freight and express4  ,yet there is 
efficiency even to that added           
expenditure--a very thrilling one1 if   
the public would just stop once and     
think4 ,if you have ever felt the heat  
of anger rising in your breast1 given   
way to it1 and suffered the lassitude   
and self-hatred of reaction1 it will be 
easy for you to believe the demonstrable
 truth that anger is a poison4 ,fear is 
another2 and the breaking down of tissue
 as a result of continued torture is    
caused by still another poison4 ,the    
point is that we consume these poisons4 
,the government is very active in       
preventing certain diseased meats from  
reaching our tables1 but these of fear1 
rage1 blood-madness and                 
last-days-of-agony are subtler diseases 
which have so far had little            
elucidation4  ,though this is not a plea
 for vegetarianism1 one should not be   
allowed to forget too long the tens of  

thousands of men and boys who are       
engaged in slaughtering--nor the        
slaughtered4444 ,long ago there was a   
story of an opera cloak for which fifty 
birds of paradise gave their life and   
bloom4 ,it went around the world1 that  
story1 and there is much beauty in the  
wild to-day because of it4 ,the trade in
 plumes has suffered4 ,styles           
change--but there is much ,persian lamb 
still worn4 ,perhaps in good time the   
,messiah of the lambs will come forth1  
as the half-frozen chickens found theirs
 in the city yards4  ,the economical end
 will not cover all the sins2 that is1  
the repression of cruelty on an         
efficiency basis4 ,repressed cruelty    
will not altogether clear the air1 nor  
laws4 ,a true human heart cannot find   
its peace1 merely because cruelty is    
concealed4 ,there was a time when we    
only hoped to spare the helpless        
creatures a tithe of their suffering1   
but that will not suffice now4 ,a       
clean-up is demanded and the forces are 

at work to bring it about4  ,formerly it
 was granted that man's rise was mainly 
on the necks of his beasts1 but that    
conception is losing ground4 ,formerly1 
it was enough for us to call attention  
on the street to the whip of a brutal   
driver1 but it has been found that more 
is required4 ,you may threaten him with 
the police1 even with lynching2 you may 
frighten him away from his manhandling  
for the moment--but in some alley1 he is
 alone with his horse afterward4 ,his   
rage has only been flamed by resistance 
met4 ,it is he who puts the poor        
creature to bed4  ,the fear of          
punishment has always been ineffectual  
in preventing crime1 for the reason that
 the very passion responsible for the   
crime masters the fear4444 ,it is       
difficult to discuss these ravages on a 
purely physical basis1 for the          
ramifications of cruelty are            
cumulatively intense1 the higher they   
are carried4 ,ignorance is not alone the
 lack of knowing things2 it is the      

coarseness of fibre which resists all   
the fairer and finer bits of human      
reality4 ,just so long as men fail to   
master the animals of which they are    
composed1 the poor beasts about them    
will be harrowingly treated4  ,so there 
are many arms to the campaign4 ,specific
 facts must be supplied for the         
ignorant1 an increasingly effective     
effort toward the general education of  
the public2 but the central energy must 
be spent in lifting the human heart into
 warmth and sensitiveness4  ,on a recent
 ,january night1 an animal welfare      
society had a call to one of the city   
freight-yards where a carload of horses 
was said to be freezing to death4 ,it   
was not a false alarm4 ,the agents knew 
that these were not valuable horses4    
,good stock is not shipped in this      
precarious fashion4 ,it was a load of   
the feeble and the aged and maimed--with
 a few days' work left in them1 if      
continuously whipped1 gathered from the 
fields and small towns by buyers who    

could realise a dollar or two above the 
price of the hide--to meet the demand of
 the alley-minded of the big city4 ,the 
hard part is that it costs just as much 
pain for such beasts to freeze to death1
 in the early stages1 at least4 ,the    
investment would have been entirely     
spoiled had it been necessary to furnish
 blankets for the shipment4  ,the public
 reading a story of this adventure1     
remarks1 ,why1 ,i thought all that was  
stopped long ago----  ,just as          
underwriters will gamble on anything1   
even to insure a ship that is to run a  
blockade1 if the premium is right--so   
will a certain element of trade take a  
chance on shipping such horses1 until   
the majority of people are awake and    
responsive to the impulses of humanity4 
,it isn't being sanctified to be above  
cruelty2 it is only the beginning of    
manhood proper4  ,the newspapers and all
 publicity methods are of great service1
 but the mightiest effort is to lift the
 majority of the people out of the      

lethargy which renders them immune to   
pangs of the daily spectacle4 ,the      
remarkable part is that the people are  
ready1 but they expect the stimulus to  
come from without instead of from       
within4  ,custom is a formidable        
enemy--that herd instinct of a people   
which causes it to accept as right the  
methods of the many4 ,farmers to-day    
everywhere are following the manner of  
,devlin2 yet the story brings out the   
lineaments of most shocking and         
unforgettable cruelty4 ,how can one     
expect effective revulsion on the part  
of a band of medical students when the  
bearded elders bend peering over their  
vivisections8 ,what are children to do  
when their parents shout mad-dog and run
 for clubs and pitch-forks at the       
passing of a thirst-frenzied brute2 or  
the teamster when the blacksmith does   
not know the anatomy of a horse's foot8 
,ignorance is the mother of cruelty1 and
 custom is the father4  ,the great      
truths that will fall in due time upon  

all the sciences--upon astronomy1       
pathology1 even upon criminology--are   
the results of flashes of intuition4    
,again and again this is so4 ,the       
material mind is proof against          
intuition1 and of necessity cruel4 ,it  
keeps on with its burnings1 its         
lancings1 its brandings1 its collections
 of skulls and cadavers1 until its      
particular enlightener appears4 ,the    
dreadful thing to consider is that each 
department of cruelty brings its        
activity up into a frightful state of   
custom and action1 before the exposures 
begin4  ,which brings us to the very    
pith of the endeavour3 ,the child is    
ready to change--that is the whole      
story4 ,the child is fluid1 volatile1   
receptive to reason4 ,in all our        
world-life there is nothing so          
ostentatiously or calamitously amiss as 
the ignorance and customs of our        
relation to children4 ,the child will   
change in a day4 ,the child is ready for
 the beauty and the mystery of mercy4   

,the prison-house must not be closed to 
sensitiveness and intuition4 ,if that   
can be prevented the problem of animal  
welfare is solved1 and in the end we    
will find that much more has been done  
for our children than for the animals4  
,so often again we set out to discover  
the passage to ,india and reach the     
shores of a ,new ,world4     #ad        
,,children ,,change   ,the first of the 
young men to come to ,stonestudy        
followed an attraction which has never  
been quite definite to me4 ,he was      
strongly educated1 having studied art   
and life at ,columbia and other places4 
,his chief interest at first appeared to
 be in the oriental philosophy which he 
alleged to have found in my work4 ,after
 that he intimated that he aspired to   
write4 ,the second young man came from  
,dakota1 also a college-bred4 ,a teacher
 there wrote to me about him4 ,i looked 
at some of his work1 and ,i found in it 
potentialities of illimitable promise4  
,i was not so excited as ,i would have  

been had ,i not met this discovery in   
other cases from the generation behind  
us4 ,their fleets are upon every sea4   
,the need of a living was somehow       
arranged1 ,i worked with the two a while
 in the evening on short manuscript     
matters4 ,in fact1 the dollar-end has   
not pinched so far2 and they help a     
while in the garden in the afternoons1  
designating the period1 ,track1 as they 
named the little class after mid-day1   
,chapel4 ,at first1 ,i was in doubt as  
to whether they really belonged to the  
class4 ,it was primarily designed for   
the younger minds--and ,i was unwilling 
to change that4  ,you would think it    
rather difficult--,i know ,i did--to    
bring the work in one class for ages    
ranging from eleven to twice that4 ,i   
said to the young men3  ,of course it is
 their hour4 ,i don't want to bore you1 
but come if you like4 ,be free to       
discontinue1 if what you get isn't worth
 the time4 ,as for me--the young ones   
come first1 and ,i am not yet ready for 

two classes4  ,they smiled4 ,about a    
week later1 they came in a half-hour    
late4 ,it happened we had been having an
 exceptionally good hour4  ,i would     
rather have you not come1 if you cannot 
come on time1 ,i said4  ,they sat down  
without any explanation4 ,it was long   
afterward that ,i heard they had been   
busy about a trunk2 that their delay had
 been unavoidable in getting it through 
customs1 a barbarous and war-making     
inconvenience which cannot flourish much
 longer4 ,and one day we went out into  
the garden together for the hoes1 and   
the ,dakota young man said3  ,chapel is 
the best hour of the day----  ,he said  
more1 and it surprised me from one who  
talked so rarely4 ,this younger         
generation1 as ,i have said1 has an     
impediment of speech4 ,it is not glib   
nor explanatory4444 ,one of the happiest
 things that has ever befallen me is the
 spirit of the ,chapel4 ,it happened    
that ,the ,abbot brought in a bit of    
work that repeated a rather tiresome    

kind of mis-technicality--an error1 ,i  
had pointed out to him before4 ,i took  
him to task--lit into him with some     
force upon his particular needs of      
staying down a little each day--or the  
world would never hear his voice4444 ,in
 the silence ,i found that the pain was 
no more his than the others in the      
room--that they were all sustaining him1
 their hearts like a hammock for him1   
their minds in a tensity for me to      
stop4444 ,i did4 ,the fact is1 ,i choked
 at the discovery4444 ,they were very   
far from any competitive ideal4 ,they   
were one--and there's something immortal
 about that4 ,it gave me the glimpse of 
what the world will some time be4 ,there
 is nothing that so thrills as the many 
made one4444 ,power bulks even from this
 little group2 the sense of self flees  
away2 the glow suffuses all things--and 
we rise together--a gold light in the   
room that will come to all the world4   
,it is worth dwelling upon--this spirit 
of the ,chapel4444 ,the war has since   

come to the world1 and many who are     
already toiling for the reconstruction  
write to the ,study from time to        
time--from different parts of the world4
 ,i read the class a letter recently    
from a young woman in ,england4 ,it was 
like the cry of a soul1 and as ,i looked
 up from the paper1 a glow was upon     
their faces4 ,a group of workers in the 
,western coast send us their letters and
 actions from time to time1 and another 
group from ,washington4 ,all these are  
placed before the ,chapel kindred for   
inspiration and aliment4  ,as this is   
the time for you to be here1 ,i said one
 day1 the time shall come for you to go 
forth4 ,all that you are bringing to    
yourselves from these days must be tried
 out in the larger fields of the world4 
,you will meet the world in your periods
 of maturity and genius--at the time of 
the world's greatest need4 ,that is a   
clue to the splendid quality of the     
elect of the generation to which you    
belong4 ,you are watching the end of the

 bleakest and most terrible age--the    
breaking down at last of an iron age4   
,it has shattered into the terrible     
disorder of continental battlefields4   
,but you belong to the builders1 whose  
names will be called afterward4  444 ,i 
have come to the ,chapel torn and       
troubled2 and the spirit of it has      
calmed and restored me4 ,they are so    
ready2 they listen and give4444 ,we     
watch the world tearing down--from this 
quietude4 ,we have no country but ,god's
 country4 ,though we live in the midst  
of partisanship and madness1 we turn our
 eyes ahead and build our thoughts upon 
the ,new ,age--just children4  444 ,for 
almost a year ,i had been preparing a   
large rose-bed--draining1               
under-developing the clay1 softening the
 humus4 ,the bed must be developed      
first4 ,the world is interested only in 
the bloom1 in the fruit1 but the        
florists talk together upon their work  
before the plants are set4 ,the roses   
answered--almost wonderfully4 ,they     

brought me the old romance of ,france   
and memories of the ,ireland that has   
vanished4 ,this point was touched upon  
in the ,foreword--how in the joy of the 
roses that answered months after the    
labour was forgotten1 it suddenly       
occurred what a marvel is the culture of
 the human soul4  ,the preparation of   
the mind is paramount4 ,not a touch of  
care or a drop of richness is lost2 not 
an ideal fails4 ,these young minds bring
 me the thoughts ,i have                
forgotten--fruited thoughts from their  
own boughs4 ,they are but awakened4     
,they are not different from other      
children4 ,again and again it has come  
to me from the wonderful unfoldings     
under my eyes1 that for centuries the   
world has been maiming its              
children--that only those who were      
wonderfully strong could escape1 and    
become articulate as men4  ,again1 the  
splendid fact is that children change4  
,you touch their minds and they are not 
the same the next day4  444 ,i do not   

see how preachers talk ,sunday after    
,sunday to congregations1 which1 though 
edified1 return to their same little    
questionable ways4 ,there are people in 
the cults who come to teachers and      
leaders to be ignited4 ,they swim away  
with the new message2 they love it and  
are lifted1 but it subsides within them4
 ,in their depression and darkness they 
seek the outer ignition again4 ,we must 
be self-starters4444 ,i once had a class
 of men and women in the city4 ,we met  
weekly and some of the evenings were    
full of delight and aspiration4 ,for two
 winter seasons we carried on the work4 
,after a long summer we met together and
 even in the joy of reunion1 ,i found   
many caught in their different          
conventions--world ways1 the obvious and
 the temporal1 as if we had never       
breathed the open together4 ,it was one 
of the great lessons to me--to deal with
 the younger generation4 ,i sometimes   
think the younger the better4 ,i have   
recalled again and again the            

significance of the ,catholic priests'  
saying--,give us your child until he is 
seven only----  ,in one year ,i have    
been so accustomed to see young people  
change--to watch the expression of their
 splendid inimitable selves1 that it    
comes like a grim horror how the myriads
 of children are literally sealed in the
 world4  ,we believe that ,god is in    
everything2 that we would be fools1 or  
at best innocuous angels if there were  
not evil in the world for us to be      
ground upon and master4 ,we are held and
 refined between the two                
attractions--one of the earth and the   
other a spiritual uplift4 ,we believe   
that the sense of ,unity is the first   
deep breath of the soul1 the precursor  
of illumination2 that the great         
,brotherhood conception must come from  
this sense4 ,next to this realisation1  
we believe that man's idea of time is an
 illusion1 that immortality is here and 
now2 that nothing can happen to us that 
is not the right good thing2 that the   

farther and faster we go1 the more      
beautiful and subtle is the system of   
tests which are played upon us2 that our
 first business in life is to reconcile 
these tests to our days and hours1 to   
understand and regard them from the     
standpoint of an unbroken life1 not as a
 three-score-and-ten adventure here4    
,you would think these things hard to   
understand--they are not4 ,the littlest 
ones have it--the two small boys of     
seven and nine1 who have not regularly  
entered the ,chapel4         99       99
       99       99       99  ,the little
 girl brought us some of these thoughts 
in her own way1 and without title3      
,the soul is very old4 ,it has much to  
say1 if one learns to      listen4 ,if  
one makes his body fine1 he can listen  
better4 ,and      if one's body is fine 
from the beginning1 it is because he    
has learned to listen before4 ,all that 
we have learned in      past ages is    
coiled within4 ,the good a man does is  
all kept      in the soul1 and all his  

lessons4 ,the little fairy people       
that played around him and told him     
queer things when he was      first a   
rock1 then flowers and trees1 are still 
printed in      his soul4 ,the difficult
 thing is to bring them out into the    
world1 to tell them4 ,by listening1 in  
time1 the soul's      wonderful old     
voice will tell us all things1 so that  
we can      write and tell about them4  
,every thought we try so hard to        
get1 is there4 ,it is like losing track 
of a thimble4 ,if you      know it is   
somewhere and you need it badly enough1 
you will      find it4       ,the brain 
cannot get for us a mighty thought4 ,the
 brain can      only translate soul-talk
 into words4 ,it was not the brain      
which told ,fichte1 a long1 long time   
ago1 that ,germany was      going wrong 
and that he should fix it by telling    
them the      right way to go2 but it   
was the brain that told the people      
not to listen to him1 but to go on just 
as they had been4       ,it is always   

the brain that makes one add columns    
correctly1      and learn the number    
tables and how to spell words4 ,but     
these      will come themselves1 without
 a life spent studying them4      ,after
 a life of this kind1 the soul is not a 
bit farther      ahead than it was when 
coming into the world in the body of a  
baby4       ,the brain will also show   
one the way to make money1 perhaps      
lots of it1 the most terrible thing that
 can happen to you1      unless1 as     
,whitman says1 you shall scatter with   
lavish hand      all that you earn or   
achieve4     #ae  ,a ,,man',s ,,own     
,the first and general objection to the 
plan made much of here1 that of         
educating young minds in small classes  
with a design toward promoting the      
individual expression1 is that the      
millions of our rising race could not be
 handled so2 in fact1 that it is a      
physical and economic impossibility4    
,the second objection is that ,i have in
 a sense called my own to me2 that the  

great mass of children could not be     
ignited except by an orderly and        
imperceptible process1 either from      
within or without4 ,in fact1 it has been
 said repeatedly that ,i deal with      
extraordinary soil4 ,i wish to place the
 situation here even more intimately1 in
 order to cover these and other         
objections1 for ,i believe they are to  
be covered in this book4  444 ,in the   
last days of the building here1 when the
 fireplace of the study was the only    
thing we had in the way of a            
kitchen-range1 when the places of books 
became repositories for dishes1 and the 
desk a dining-table--the little         
afternoon ,chapel was of course out of  
the question for some weeks4444 ,i used 
to see ,the ,abbot 7longer-legged each  
week7 making wide circles against the   
horizon1 his head turned this way1 like 
a bird's in flight4 ,and ,the           
,valley-,road ,girl1 whom ,i met rarely1
 shook her head at me once1 though ,i   
had to look close to catch it4 ,the     

little girl declared1 with a heartbroken
 look1 that the ,chapel would never be  
the same again after cabbage had been   
cooked there4  ,but it was a wonderful  
young cabbage from the garden1 ,i said4 
,and then the ,chapel cannot be hurt by 
being so differently valuable just now4 
,it is seeing us through these hard     
days4  ,but ,i missed something through 
these days2 the fact of the matter is1  
my thoughts were not so buoyant as usual
 through the last half of the days1 nor 
nearly so decent4 ,something ,i missed  
deeply1 and moved about as one does     
trying to recall a fine dream4 ,the     
little group had given me a joy each day
 that ,i hadn't realised adequately4    
,that was the secret4 ,i had been       
refreshed daily as a workman2 learned   
each day things that ,i didn't know2 and
 because of these hours1 ,i had         
expressed better in the writing part of 
the life1 the things ,i did know4       
,certainly they taught me the needs of  
saying exactly what ,i meant4 ,all of   

which to suggest again that teaching is 
a mutual service4 ,just here ,i want to 
reprint the first and last thought1 so  
far as ,i see it1 as regards the first  
objection3 ,these paragraphs are taken  
from a former essay on ,work1 published 
in the book called ,midstream4  ,work   
and life to me mean the same thing4     
,through work in my case1 a transfer of 
consciousness was finally made from     
animalism to a certain manhood4 ,this is
 the most important transaction in the  
world4 ,our hereditary foes are the     
priests and formalists who continue to  
separate a man's work from his religion4
 ,a working idea of ,god comes to the   
man who has found his work--and the     
splendid discovery invariably follows1  
that his work is the best expression of 
,god4 ,all education that does not first
 aim to find the student's life-work is 
vain1 often demoralising2 because1 if   
the student's individual force is little
 developed1 he sinks deeper into the    
herd1 under the levelling of the        

class-room4  ,there are no men or women 
alive1 of too deep visioning1 nor of too
 lustrous a humanity1 for the task of   
showing boys and girls their work4 ,no  
other art answers so beautifully4 ,this 
is the intensive cultivation of the     
human spirit4 ,this is world-parenthood1
 the divine profession4  ,i would have  
my country call upon every man who shows
 vision and fineness in any work1 to    
serve for an hour or two each day1 among
 the schools of his neighbourhood1      
telling the children the mysteries of   
his daily task--and watching for his own
 among them4  ,all restlessness1 all    
misery1 all crime1 is the result of the 
betrayal of one's inner life4 ,one's    
work is not being done4 ,you would not  
see the hordes rushing to pluck fruits  
from a wheel1 nor this national madness 
for buying cheap and selling dear--if as
 a race we were lifted into our own     
work4  ,the value of each man is that he
 has no duplicate4 ,the development of  
his particular effectiveness on the     

constructive side is the one important  
thing for him to begin4 ,a man is at his
 best when he is at his work2 his soul  
breathes then1 if it breathes at all4   
,of course1 the lower the evolution of a
 man1 the harder it is to find a task   
for him to distinguish2 but here is the 
opportunity for all of us to be more    
eager and tender4  ,when ,i wrote to    
,washington asking how to plant         
asparagus1 and found the answer2 when ,i
 asked about field-stones and had the   
output of the ,smithsonian ,institute   
turned over to me1 my throat choked2    
something sang all around2 the years ,i 
had hated put on strange brightenings4  
,i had written ,home for guidance4 ,our 
national ,father had answered4 ,full1   
eager and honest1 the answer came--the  
work of specialists which had moved on  
silently for years4 ,i saw the          
brotherhood of the race in that--for    
that can only come to be in a           
,fatherland4  ,give a man his work and  
you may watch at your leisure1 the      

clean-up of his morals and manners4     
,those who are best loved by the angels1
 receive not thrones1 but a task4 ,i    
would rather have the curse of ,cain1   
than the temperament to choose a work   
because it is easy4  ,real work becomes 
easy only when the man has perfected his
 instrument1 the body and brain4        
,because this instrument is temporal1 it
 has a height and limitation to reach4  
,there is a year in which the sutures   
close4 ,that man is a master1 who has   
fulfilled his possibilities--whether    
tile-trencher1 stone-mason1 writer1 or a
 carpenter hammering his periods with   
nails4 ,real manhood makes lowly gifts  
significant2 the work of such a man     
softens and finishes him1 renders him   
plastic to finer forces4  ,no good work 
is easy4 ,the apprenticeship1 the       
refinement of body and brain1 is a      
novitiate for the higher life1 for the  
purer receptivity--and this is a time of
 strain and fatigue1 with breaks here   
and there in the cohering line4  444    

,the best period of a man's life2 days  
of safety and content2 long hours in the
 pure trance of work2 ambition has      
ceased to burn1 doubt is ended1 the     
finished forces turn outward in service4
 ,according to the measure of the giving
 is the replenishment in vitality4 ,the 
pure trance of work1 the different      
reservoirs of power opening so softly2  
the instrument in pure listening--long  
forenoons passing1 without a single     
instant of self-consciousness1 desire1  
enviousness1 without even awareness of  
the body4444  ,every law that makes for 
man's finer workmanship makes for his   
higher life4 ,the mastery of self       
prepares man to make his answer to the  
world for his being4 ,the man who has   
mastered himself is one with all4       
,castor and ,pollux tell him immortal   
love stories2 all is marvellous and     
lovely from the plant to the planet1    
because man is a lover1 when he has     
mastered himself4 ,all the folded       
treasures and open highways of the mind1

 its multitude of experiences and       
unreckonable possessions--are given over
 to the creative and universal          
force--the same force that is lustrous  
in the lily1 incandescent in the suns1  
memorable in human heroism1 immortal in 
man's love for his fellow man4  ,this   
giving force alone holds the workman    
true through his task4 ,he1 first of    
all1 feels the uplift2 he1 first of all1
 is cleansed by the power of the superb 
life-force passing through him4444 ,this
 is rhythm2 this is the cohering line2  
this is being the ,one4 ,but there are  
no two instruments alike1 since we have 
come up by different roads from the     
rock2 and though we achieve the very    
sanctity of self-command1 our inimitable
 hallmark is wrought in the fabric of   
our task4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,guiding one's own for an  
hour or two each day is not a thing to  
do for money4 ,the more valuable a man's
 time 7if his payment in the world's    
standards happens to be commensurate    

with his skill7 the more valuable he    
will be to his little group4 ,he will   
find himself a better workman for       
expressing himself to his own1 giving   
the fruits of his life to others4 ,he   
will touch immortal truths before he has
 gone very far1 and ,light comes to the 
life that contacts such fine things4 ,he
 will see the big moments of his life in
 a way that he did not formerly         
understand4 ,faltering will more and    
more leave his expression1 and the      
cohering line of his life will become   
more clearly established4  ,a man's own 
are those who are awaiting the same call
 that he has already answered4 ,browning
 stood amazed before a man who had met  
,shelley and was not different          
afterward--a man who could idly announce
 that he had met the poet ,shelley and  
not accept it as the big event of a     
period4 ,browning described his dismay  
at the other in the story of finding the
 eagle feather4 ,he did not know the    
name of the moor2 perhaps men had made  

much of it2 perhaps significant matters 
of history had been enacted on that     
moor1 but they were nothing to the      
mystic4 ,one square of earth there1 the 
size of a human hand1 was sacred to him1
 because it was just on that spot that  
he found an eagle's feather4  ,i stood  
waist-high to ,conan ,doyle years       
ago--was speechless and outraged that   
groups of people who had listened to him
 speak1 could gather about afterward1   
talk and laugh familiarly1 beg his      
autograph4444 ,had he spoken a word or a
 sentence to me1 it would not have been 
writ in water4444 ,there is no hate nor 
any love like that which the men who are
 called to the same task have for each  
other4 ,the masters of the crafts know  
each other2 the mystics of the arts know
 each other4  ,the preparation for the  
tasks of the world is potential in the  
breasts of the children behind us4 ,for 
each there is a magic key2 and that man 
holds it who has covered the journey1 or
 part of it1 which the soul of a child  

perceives it must set out upon soon4    
,the presence of a good workman will    
awaken the potential proclivity of the  
child's nature1 as no other presence can
 do4 ,every autobiography tells the same
 story--of a certain wonder-moment of   
youth1 when the ideal appeared1 and all 
energies were turned thereafter to      
something concrete which that ideal     
signified4 ,mostly the great man did not
 know what he had done for the boy4444  
,i would have the great man know4 ,i    
would have him seek to perform this     
miracle every day4  ,there's always a   
hush in the room when some one comes to 
me saying1 ,there is a young man who    
dreams of writing4 ,he is very strange4 
,he does not speak about it4 ,he is     
afraid to show what he has done4 ,i     
wanted to bring him to you--but he would
 not come4 ,i think he did not dare4    
,formerly ,i would say1 ,bring him over 
some time1 but that seldom brought the  
thing about4 ,a man should say1 ,lead me
 to him now6444 ,those who want to write

 for money and for the movies come4     
,they put stamps upon letters they      
write4 ,god knows they are not ashamed  
to come and ask for help1 and explain   
their symptoms of yearning and show     
their structure of desire4444 ,the one  
who dares not come2 who dares not mail  
the letter he has written to you1 who is
 speechless if you seek him out1 full of
 terror and torture before you--take him
 to your breast for he is your own4     
,children you have fathered may not be  
so truly yours as he4444 ,do you want a 
slave1 a worshipper--seek out your own4 
,you want nothing of the sort1 but you  
alone can free the slave1 you alone can 
liberate his worship to the task4 ,he   
can learn from you in a week what it    
would take years of misery in the world 
to teach him4 ,you have done in a way   
the thing he wants to do--that's the    
whole magic4 ,you have fitted somehow to
 action the dream that already tortures 
his heart4 ,there is nothing so pure as 
work in the world4 ,there is something  

sacred about a man's work that is not   
elsewhere in matter4 ,teaching is a     
mutual service4444 ,it is not that you  
want his reverence1 but because he has  
reverence1 he is potentially great4     
,the ignition of one youth1 the finding 
of his work for one youth1 is a worthy  
life task4 ,the same possibility of     
service holds true for all kinds of     
workmen2 these things are not alone for 
the artists and the craftsmen and the   
professions4 ,there is one boy to linger
 about the forge of an artisan1 after   
the others have gone4 ,i would have the 
artisan forget the thing he is doing1 to
 look into the eyes of that boy--and the
 chemist1 the electrician1 the florist4 
,it is true that the expression called  
for here is mainly through written      
words1 but that is only our             
particularity4 ,it need not be so4444   
,the work here would not do for all4444 
,a young woman came and sat with us for 
several days4 ,she was so still that ,i 
did not know what was happening in her  

mind4 ,my experience with the others had
 prevailed to make me go slowly1 and not
 to judge4 ,we all liked her1 all       
learned to be glad that she had come4 ,i
 asked no expression from her for       
several days4 ,when ,i finally suggested
 something of the kind1 ,i felt the     
sudden terror in the room4 ,her         
expression came in a very brief form1   
and it showed me the bewilderment with  
which she had encountered the new points
 of view in the ,chapel4 ,i learned     
afresh that one must not hurry2 that my 
first work was to put to rest her fears 
of being called upon4 ,i impressed upon 
the class the next day that we have all 
the time there is2 that we want nothing2
 that our work is to establish in due   
time the natural expressions of our     
faculties4 ,to the young woman in       
particular1 ,i said that when she felt  
like it she could write again4          
,presently there was a day's absence and
 another4 ,i sent the little girl to see
 if she were ill4 ,the little girl was  

gone the full afternoon4 ,all ,i ever   
got from that afternoon was this        
sentence3  444 ,she is going to be a    
nurse4  ,i have wondered many times if  
she would have become a nurse had ,i    
allowed her to sit unexpressed for a    
month instead of a week2 permitting her 
surely to find her ease and             
understanding of us4444 ,still we must  
have nurses4         99       99        
99       99       99  444 ,and then the 
,columbia young man--a big fellow and a 
soul4 ,i had talked to him for many     
nights in an ,upper ,room class in the  
city4 ,he took a cottage here through   
part of the first summer1 before the    
,chapel began2 then1 through the months 
of ,chapel and story work in the        
evening1 ,i had good opportunity to     
become acquainted with the processes of 
his mind and heart4 ,of the last1 ,i    
have nothing but admiration2 invincible 
integrity1 a natural kindness1 a large  
equipment after the manner of the       
world's bestowal--but ,inertia4  ,now   

,inertia is the first enemy of the soul4
 ,it is caused by pounds4 ,i do not mean
 that because a body is big1 or even    
because a body is fat1 that it is of    
necessity an impossible medium for the  
expression of the valuable inner life4  
,there have been great fat men whose    
spiritual energy came forth to intensify
 the vibrations of the race1 to say     
nothing of their own poundage4 ,it is   
less a matter of weight after all than  
texture2 still their fat was a handicap4
  ,these facts are indubitable3         
,sensuousness makes weight in bulls and 
men2 all the habits that tend to put on 
flesh tend to stifle the expression of  
the inner life4 ,all the habits which   
tend to express the human spirit bring  
about a refinement of the body4 ,more   
spiritual energy is required to express 
itself through one hundred and ninety   
pounds than through one hundred and     
forty pounds4 ,accordingly as we        
progress in the expression of the       
spiritual life1 the refinement of our   

bodies takes place4 ,as a whole1 the    
great servers of men carry little excess
 tissue2 as a whole in every fabrication
 of man and nature--the finer the work1 
the finer the instrument4  ,the body is 
continually levitated through spiritual 
expression and continually the more     
responsive to gravitation by sensuous   
expression4  ,the exquisite blending of 
maiden pink and sunlight gold that is   
brought forth in the ,clovelly tea-rose 
could not be produced upon the petals of
 a dahlia or a morning-glory4 ,that     
ineffable hue is not a matter of pigment
 alone2 it can only be painted upon a   
surface fine enough4 ,the texture of the
 tea-rose petals had to be evolved to   
receive it4444 ,you must have gold or   
platinum points for the finest work2 the
 brighter the light the finer the carbon
 demanded4 ,it is so with our bodies4   
,we live either for appetites or        
aspirations4 ,the flood of outgoing     
human spirit1 in its passionate gifts to
 men1 incorporates its living light     

within the cells of our voice-cords and 
brain and hands4 ,with every thought and
 emotion we give ourselves to the earth 
or give ourselves to the sky4  ,the soul
 is not inert2 its instrument1 the body1
 is so1 by its very nature1 formed of   
matter4 ,the earth has required the     
quickening of countless ages to produce 
the form that we see--the gracious      
beauties of the older trees1 the contour
 of cliffs4 ,the very stem and leaf of a
 ,clovelly rose is beautiful4  ,the     
finest rose of this season1 when cut at 
the end of its budding mystery1 left    
nothing but a little grey plant that you
 could cover in your hand4 ,you would   
not think that such a plant could grow a
 bachelor's button2 and yet it gave up  
an individual that long will be         
remembered in human minds4 ,i saw that  
rose in the arch of a child's hand--and 
all about were hushed by the picture4   
,for three days it continued to expand1 
and for three days more it held its own 
great beauty and then showered itself   

with a laugh upon a desk of blackened   
oak4 ,we will not forget that inner     
ardency--the virgin unfolding to the    
sun--born of some great passion that    
seemed poised between earth and         
heaven--and expectant of its own great  
passion's maturity4  ,i went back to the
 little plant1 called the children to it
 and all who would come4 ,it was grey   
and neutral like the ground4 ,i think a 
low song of content came from it4 ,the  
,dakotan said so1 and he hears these    
things4 ,i thought of the ecstasy of the
 great givings--the ecstasy of the      
little old grey woman who had mothered a
 prophet and heard his voice afar in the
 world4  ,i showed them the lush and    
vulgar stems of the ,american beauties1 
whose marketable excellence is measured 
by size1 as the cabbage is1 and whose   
corresponding red is the red of an      
apoplectic throat4 ,i showed them the   
shoulders and mane of a farm-horse and  
then the shoulders and mane of a        
thoroughbred4 ,upon the first the flies 

fed without touching a nerve2 but the   
satin-skinned thoroughbred had to be    
kept in a darkened stall4 ,the first had
 great foliages of coarse mane and tail2
 the other1 a splendid beast that would 
kill himself for you1 did not run to    
hair4  ,we stand to-day the product of  
our past ideals4 ,we are making our     
future in form and texture and dynamics 
by the force of our present hour        
idealism4 ,finer and finer1 more and    
more immaterial and lustrous we become1 
according to the use and growth of our  
real and inner life4 ,it is the         
quickening spirit which beautifies the  
form1 and draws unto itself the         
excellences of nature4 ,the spiritual   
person is lighter for his size1         
longer-lived1 of more redundant health1 
of a more natural elasticity1 capable of
 infinitely greater physical1 mental1   
and moral tasks1 than the tightly       
compacted earth-bound man4444 ,that is  
not a mere painter's flourish which adds
 a halo to the head of a saint4 ,it is  

there if we see clearly4 ,if the        
sanctity is radiant1 the glow is intense
 enough to refract the light1 to cast a 
shadow1 to be photographed1 even caught 
with the physical eye4     #af  ,,the   
,,plan ,,is ,,one   ,i was relating the 
experience of the ,columbian4 ,in his   
case there had been much time1 so there 
could be no mistake4 ,he had devoted    
himself to making and keeping a rather  
magnificent set of muscles which        
manifested even through white man's     
clothing4 ,he did this with long days of
 sailing and swimming1 cultivating his  
body with the assiduity of a            
convalescent4444 ,i told him in various 
ways he was not getting himself out of  
his work2 explained that true           
preparation is a tearing off of husks   
one after another2 that he was a fine   
creation in husk1 but that he must get  
down to the quick before he could taste 
or feel or see with that sensitiveness  
which would make any observation of his 
valuable4 ,with all this body-building1 

he was in reality only covering himself 
the thicker4 ,if a man does this sort of
 thing for a woman's eye1 he can only   
attract a creature of blood and iron    
whose ideal is a policeman--a very      
popular ideal4444  ,for two or three    
days he would work terrifically1 then1  
his weight besetting1 he would placate  
himself with long tissue-feeding sports4
 ,i told him that he had everything to  
build upon2 that true strength really   
begins where physical strength ends2    
that all that he had in equipment must  
be set in order and integrated with his 
own intrinsic powers1 it being valueless
 otherwise4 ,i pointed out that he was  
but a collector of things he could not  
understand1 because he did not use them2
 that the great doers of the world had  
toiled for years upon years1 as he did  
not toil for one week's days            
successively4444 ,it would not do1      
except for short intervals1 and it came 
to me that my best service was to get   
out from under4 ,i told him so1 and the 

manliness of his acceptance choked me4  
,i told him to go away1 but to come     
again later if he mastered ,inertia in  
part4444 ,it was not all his fault4     
,from somewhere1 an income reached him  
regularly1 a most complete and          
commanding curse for any boy4  444 ,i do
 not believe in long vacations4         
,children turned loose to play for ten  
weeks without their tasks1 are most     
miserable creatures at the end of the   
first fortnight4 ,they become more at   
ease as the vacation period advances1   
but that is because the husk is         
thickening1 a most dangerous accretion4 
,the restlessness is less apparent      
because the body becomes heavy with     
play4 ,it all must be worn down again1  
before the fitness of faculty can       
manifest4  ,if one's body is ill from   
overexertion1 it must rest2 if one's    
mind is ill from nervousness1           
stimulation1 or from excessive brain    
activity1 it must rest2 but if one's    
soul is ill1 and this is the difference1

 nothing but activity will help it1 and 
this activity can only be expressed     
through the body and mind4 ,surplus rest
 of body or mind is a process of        
over-feeding1 which is a coarsening and 
thickening of tissue1 which in its turn 
causes ,inertia1 and this word ,i       
continually capitalise1 for it is the   
first devil of the soul4  ,before every 
spiritual illumination1 this ,inertia1  
in a measure1 must be overcome4 ,if you 
could watch the secret life of the great
 workers of the world1 especially those 
who have survived the sensuous periods  
of their lives1 you would find them in  
an almost incessant activity2 that their
 sleep is brief and light1 though a pure
 relaxation2 that they do not eat       
heartily more than once a day2 that they
 reach at times a great calm1 another   
dimension of calm entirely from that    
which has to do with animal peace and   
repletion4 ,it is the peace of intensive
 production--and the spectacle of it is 
best seen when you lift the super from a

 hive of bees1 the spirit of which      
animates every moving creature to one   
constructive end4 ,that which emanates  
from this intensity of action is calm1  
is harmony1 and harmony is rest4 ,a man 
does not have to sink into a stupor in  
order to rest4 ,the hours required for  
rest have more to do with the amount of 
food one takes1 and the amount of tissue
 one tears down from bad habits1 than   
from the amount of work done4           
,absolutely this is true if a man's work
 is his own peculiar task1 for the work 
a man loves replenishes4  ,desire tears 
down tissue4 ,there is no pain more     
subtle and terrifying than to want      
something with fury4 ,to the one who is 
caught in the rhythm of his task1 who   
can lose himself in it1 even the        
processes which so continually tear down
 the body are suspended4 ,in fact1 if we
 could hold this rhythm1 we could not   
die4  ,this is what ,i would tell you3  
,rhythm of work is joy4 ,this is the    
full exercise--soul and brain and body  

in one4 ,time does not enter2 the self  
does not enter2 all forces of           
beautifying play upon the life4 ,there  
is a song from it--that some time all   
shall hear1 the song that mystics have  
heard from the bees1 and from open      
nature at sunrise1 and from all selfless
 productivity4  ,one cannot play until  
one has worked--that is the whole truth4
 ,ask that restless child to put a room 
in order1 to cleanse a hard-wood floor1 
to polish the bath fixtures4 ,give him  
the ideal of cool1 flyless cleanliness  
in a room4 ,hold the picture of what you
 want in mind and detail it to him1     
saying that you will come again and     
inspect his work4 ,watch1 if you care1  
the mystery of it4 ,there will be       
silence until the thing begins to unfold
 for him--until the polish comes to wood
 or metal1 until the thing begins to    
answer and the picture of completion    
bursts upon him4 ,then you will hear a  
whistle or a hum1 and nothing will break
 his theme until the end4  ,the ideal is

 everything4 ,you may impress upon him  
that the light falls differently upon   
clean things1 that the odour is sweet   
from clean things2 that the hand        
delights to touch them1 that the heart  
is rested when one enters a clean room1 
because its order is soothing4444 ,it   
isn't the room1 after all1 that gets all
 the order and cleansing4 ,the whistle  
or the hum comes from harmony within4   
,a man who drank intolerably on occasion
 told me that the way he climbed out was
 to get to cleaning something2 that his 
thoughts freshened up when he had some  
new surface to put on an object4 ,he    
meant that the order came to his chaos1 
and the influx of life began to cleanse 
away the litter of burned tissue and the
 debris of debauch4 ,one cannot keep on 
thinking evil thoughts while he makes a 
floor or a gun or a field clean4 ,the   
thing is well known in naval and        
military service where bodies of men are
 kept in order by continual polishing of
 brasses and decks and accoutrements4 ,a

 queer1 good answer comes to some from  
softening and cleansing leather4 ,there 
is a little boy here whose occasional   
restlessness is magically done away     
with1 if he is turned loose with sponge 
and harness-dressing upon a saddle and  
bridle4 ,he sometimes rebels at first   
7before the task answers and the picture
 comes7 but presently he will appear    
wide-eyed and at peace1 bent upon       
showing his work4  ,play is a drug and a
 bore1 until one has worked4 ,i do not  
believe in athletics for athletics'     
sake4 ,many young men have been ruined  
by being inordinately praised for       
physical prowess in early years4 ,praise
 for bodily excellence appeals to deep  
vanities and is a subtle deranger of the
 larger faculties of man4 ,the athlete  
emerges into the world expectant of     
praise4 ,it is not forthcoming1 and his 
real powers have been untrained to earn 
the greater reward4 ,moreover the       
one-pointed training for some great     
momentary physical stress1 in field     

events1 is a body-breaker in itself1 a  
fact which has been shown all too often 
and dramatically4 ,baseball and         
billiards are great games1 but as       
life-quests--except for the few         
consummately adapted players whose      
little orbit of powers finds completion 
in diamond or green-baized              
rectangle--the excessive devotion to    
such play is desolating1 indeed1 and    
that which is given in return is fickle 
and puerile adulation4  ,a man's work is
 the highest play4 ,there is nothing    
that can compare with it1 as any of the 
world's workmen will tell you4 ,it is   
the thing he loves best to              
do--constructive play--giving play to   
his powers1 bringing him to that        
raptness which is full inner breathing  
and timeless4444 ,we use the woods and  
shore1 water and sand and sun and garden
 for recreation4 ,in the few hours of   
afternoon after ,chapel until supper1 no
 one here actually produces anything but
 vegetables and tan1 yet the life-theme 

goes on4 ,we are lying in the sun1 and  
some one speaks2 or some one brings down
 a bit of copy4 ,we listen to the ,lake2
 the sound and feel of water is         
different every day4 ,we find the       
stingless bees on the bluff-path on the 
way to the bathing shore4 ,it is all    
water and shore1 but there is one place 
where the silence is deeper1 the        
sun-stretch and sand-bar more perfect4  
,we are very particular4 ,one has found 
that sand takes magnetism from the human
 body1 as fast as sunlight can give it1 
and he suggests that we rest upon the   
grass above--that fallow lands are      
fruitful and full of giving4 ,we test it
 out like a wine1 and decide there is   
something in it4  ,there is something in
 everything4  ,the ,dakotan said 7in his
 clipped way and so low-voiced that you 
have to bend to hear him7 that the birds
 hear something in the morning that we  
don't get4 ,he says there is a big      
harmony over the earth at sunrise1 and  
that the birds catch the music of it1   

and that songs are their efforts to     
imitate it4 ,an afternoon was not badly 
spent in discussing this4 ,we recall the
 fact that it isn't the human ear-drum  
exactly which will get this--if it ever 
comes to us--and that ,beethoven was    
stone-deaf when he heard his last       
symphonies1 the great pastoral and dance
 and choral pieces1 and that he wrote   
them from his inner listening4 ,parts of
 them seem to us strains from that great
 harmony that the birds are trying to   
bring out4  ,we thought there must be   
such a harmony in a gilding wheat-field4
 ,wheat is good2 even its husk is good2 
beauty and order and service have come  
to it4 ,there is dissonance from chaos2 
the song clears as the order begins4    
,order should have a ,capital too4 ,all 
rising life is a putting of surfaces and
 deeps in ,order4 ,the word ,cosmos     
means ,order4444 ,wheat has come far1   
and one does well to be alone for a time
 in a golden afternoon in a wheat-field 
just before cutting4 ,one loves the ,old

 ,mother better for that adventure4 ,she
 must give high for wheat4 ,she must be 
virgin and strong and come naked and    
unashamed to the sun to bring forth     
wheat4 ,she must bring down the spirit  
of the sun and blend it with her        
own--for wheat partakes of the alkahest4
 ,wheat is a master1 an aristocrat4     
,the ,dakotan said that once when he was
 on the ,open ,road through the         
northwest1 he slept for two days in a   
car of wheat1 and that it was a bath of 
power4444 ,we thought we would make our 
beds in wheat1 thereafter--but that     
would be sacrilege4  ,then we talked of 
that mysterious harmony from the        
beehives1 and we saw at once that it has
 to do with ,order1 that ,inertia was   
mastered there--that the spirit of wheat
 has mastered ,inertia--so that there is
 a nobility1 even about the golden husk4
 ,it occurred to us1 of course1 then1   
that all the aristocrats of             
,nature--rose and wheat and olives and  
bees and alabaster and grapes--must all 

have their part of the harmony1 for     
,order has come to their chaos4 ,their  
spirit has come forth1 as in the face of
 a far-come child--the brute earth-bound
 lines of self gone--the theme of life1 
,service4  ,i am at the end of ,capitals
 now4  ,one afternoon we talked about   
corn--from the fields where the         
passionate mystic ,ruth gleaned1 to our 
own tasseled garden plot4 ,and another  
day we found the ants enlarging the     
doors of their tunnels1 to let out for  
the nuptial flight certain winged       
mistresses4 ,there is something in      
everything4  ,each of us sees it        
differently4 ,each of us can take what  
he sees1 after all the rest have told   
their stories1 and make a poem of that4 
,the first wonder of man cannot be      
conceived until this is realised4       
,there is an inner correspondence in the
 awakened human soul for every movement 
and mystery of ,nature4 ,when the last  
resistance of ,inertia is mastered1 we  
shall see that there is no separateness 

anywhere1 no detachment2 that the       
infinite analogies all tell the same    
story--that the plan is one4     #ag    
,,the ,,irish ,,chapter   ,there was a  
row of us preparing for sleep out under 
the stars--the ,dakotan at one side1    
then two small boys1 the little girl and
 the old man4444 ,it was one of those   
nights in which we older ones decided to
 tell stories instead of writing them4  
,we had talked long1 like true ,arabs   
around a fire on the beach4 ,a ,south   
,wind came in and the ,lake received and
 loved it4 ,i asked the ,dakotan what   
the ,lake was saying4  ,it isn't--it's  
listening4  ,it made me think at once of
 the first movement of ,beethoven's     
sonata1 called ,appassionata4 ,there is 
one here who plays that1 and because it 
tells him a story1 he plays it sometimes
 rather well and makes the others       
see4444 ,the slow movement is deeply    
rich2 the inspiration seems to go out of
 the sonata after that1 but of the first
 movement we never tire1 and the drama  

is always keen4 ,it tells the story 7to 
us7 of a woman--of love and life and    
death4 ,she wants the earth in her      
love--but her lover is strange and hears
 persistently a call that is not of     
earth4 ,the woman tries to hold him4    
,all earth beauty is about her--her love
 a perfume1 a torrent4 ,the voice of    
destiny speaks to her that it must not  
be4 ,she rebels4 ,the story rushes on1  
many voices coming to her re-stating the
 inexorable truth that he must go4  ,the
 same story is told in ,coventry        
,patmore's ,departure--to us the most   
magic of all the great little poems4    
,but in ,departure it is the woman who  
is called4  444 ,again and again in the 
,appassionata1 the word comes to the    
woman1 saying that she will be greater  
if she speeds him on his way4 ,she will 
not hear4 ,we sense her splendid tenure 
of beauty--all the wonder that ,mother  
,earth has given her4444 ,one after     
another the lesser voices have told her 
that it must be1 but she does not       

obey--and then the ,master comes down4  
,it is one of the most glowing passages 
in all the literature of tone4 ,the     
chelas have spoken and have not availed4
 ,now the ,guru speaks4 ,out of vastness
 and leisure1 out of spaciousness of    
soul and wisdom1 out of the deeps and   
heights of compassion1 the ,guru        
speaks--and suddenly the woman's soul   
turns to him listening4 ,that miracle of
 listening is expressed in the treble--a
 low light rippling receptivity4 ,it is 
like a cup held forth--or palms held    
upward4 ,the ,guru speaks4 ,his will is 
done4  ,and that is what ,i thought of1 
when the ,dakotan said that the ,lake   
was listening4 ,it was listening to the 
,south ,wind4444 ,that night we talked  
of ,ireland4 ,it may have been the      
fairies that the little girl always     
brings2 or it may have been that a      
regiment of ,irish troops had just been 
slaughtered in a cause that had far less
 significance to ,ireland than our child
 talk by the fire2 or it may have been  

the ,south ,wind that brought us closer 
to the fairy ,isle1 for it is the ,irish
 peasants who say to a loved guest at   
parting3  ,may you meet the ,south      
,wind4  444 ,there isn't really an      
,ireland any more--just a few old men   
and a few old1 haunting mothers4        
,ireland is here in ,america1 and the   
last and stiffest of her young blood is 
afield for ,england4 ,her sons have     
always taken the field--that is their   
way--and the mothers have brought in    
more sons born of sorrow--magic-eyed    
sons from the wombs of sorrow4 ,elder   
brothers afield--fathers gone down      
overseas--only the fairies left by the  
hearth for the younger sons to play     
with4444 ,so they have sung strange     
songs and seen strange lights and moved 
in rhythms unknown to many men4 ,it is  
these younger sons who are ,ireland now4
 ,not a place1 but a passion2 not a     
country1 but a romance4444 ,they are in 
the love stories of the world1 and they 
are always looking for their old        

companions1 the fairies4 ,they find the 
fairies in the foreign woodlands2 they  
bring the fairies to the new countries4 
,they are in the songs that hush the    
heart2 they are in the mysticism that is
 moving the sodden world4 ,because they 
played with fairies1 they were taught to
 look past and beyond the flesh of      
faces--past metals and meals and miles4 
,of the reds and greys and moving golds 
which they see1 the soul of the world   
loves to listen1 for the greatest songs 
and stories of all are from the         
,unseen----  ,it was the old man        
dreaming aloud4  ,ireland isn't a place 
any more4 ,it is a passion infused      
through the world1 he added4  ,but the  
fairies are still there1 the little girl
 said4  ,some are left with the old     
mothers--yes1 some are left4 ,but many  
have taken the field1 and not for the   
wars4  ,a four-day moon was dropping    
fast in the low west4 ,jupiter was      
climbing the east in imperial purple--as
 if to take command4444 ,the littlest   

boy stirred in the arms of the ,dakotan 
and began to speak1 staring at the fire4
 ,we all turned and bent to listen--and 
it was that very thing that spoiled     
it--for the sentence faltered and flew  
away4  ,we all wanted to know what had  
been born in that long silence1 for the 
firelight was bright in two eyes that   
were very wide and wise--but the brain  
was only seven4444 ,i left the circle   
and went up the cliff to find a book in 
the study--a well-used book1 an         
,american book4 ,returning1 ,i read this
 from it1 holding the page close to the 
fire3       ,,old ,,ireland   ,far      
hence1 amid an isle of wondrous beauty1 
,crouching over a grave1 an ancient1    
sorrowful mother1  ,once a queen--now   
lean and tatter'd1 seated on the ground1
  ,her old white hair drooping          
dishevel'd round her shoulders2  ,long  
silent--she too long silent--mourning   
her shrouded hope and heir2  ,of all the
 earth her heart most full of sorrow1   
because most full of love4   ,yet a     

word1 ancient mother2  ,you need crouch 
there no longer on the cold ground1 with
 forehead between    your knees2  ,o you
 need not sit there1 veil'd in your old 
white hair1 so dishevel'd2  ,for know   
you1 the one you mourn is not in that   
grave2  ,it was an illusion--the heir1  
the son you love1 was not really dead2  
,the ,lord is not dead--he is risen1    
young and strong1 in another country2   
,even while you wept there by your      
fallen harp1 by the grave1  ,what you   
wept for1 was translated1 pass'd from   
the grave1  ,the winds favoured and the 
sea sail'd it1  ,and now with rosy and  
new blood1  ,moves to-day in a new      
country4  ,one by one they dropped off  
asleep1 the little ones first1 as the   
moon went down--their thoughts so full  
of stars1 asking so dauntlessly all     
questions of world and sky4 ,what ,i    
could1 ,i answered1 but ,i felt as young
 as any4 ,it seemed their dreams were   
fresher than mine1 and their closeness  
to ,god4444 ,the little girl touched me1

 as we drifted away----  ,may you meet  
the ,south ,wind6 she whispered4     #ah
  ,,the ,,bleakest ,,hour   ,it is a    
thankless job to raise a voice in the   
din of things as they are1 a voice      
saying things are wrong4 ,one may do    
this for years without penetrating the  
din1 so long as he does not become      
specific4 ,or one may become a          
specialist in a certain wrong1 gain     
recognition as a gentle fanatic on a    
certain subject1 do much good with his  
passion1 find certain friends and       
sterling enemies--and either lose or    
win1 ultimately1 according to change in 
the styles of his time4  ,or1 with      
one-pointed desire to change the spirit 
of things1 one may reach the gloomy     
eminence from which it is perceived that
 all things are wrong1 because the      
present underlying motive of the whole  
is wrong4 ,he sees one body of men      
scrubbing one spot on the carpet1       
another sewing earnestly at a certain   
frayed selvage1 another trying to bring 

out the dead colour from a patch that   
wear and weather have irrevocably       
changed4 ,he blesses them all1 but his  
soul cries out for a new carpet--at     
least1 a wholesome and vigorous tubbing 
of the entire carpet1 and a turning over
 of the whole afterward4  ,unless our   
life here is a sort of spontaneous      
ebullition out of the bosom of nature1  
without significance to us before and   
after1 we are moving about our business 
of house and country and world in a most
 stupid1 cruel and short-sighted        
fashion4 ,i realise1 and this is the    
wine of life1 that the hearts of men are
 tender and lovable1 naturally open and 
subject by nature to beauty and faith2  
that the hearts of men1 indeed1 yearn   
for that purity of condition in which   
truth may be the only utterance1 and the
 atmosphere of untruth as revolting as  
bad air to the nostrils4  ,but with this
 realisation appears the facts that the 
activities in the world of men have     
little to do with this purity and       

heart-giving--but with an evil covering1
 the integument of which is the lie born
 of self-desire1 and the true skin of   
which is the predatory instinct which   
has not remotely to do with an erect    
spine4  ,higher days are coming for the 
expression of the human spirit4 ,there  
is no doubt about that4 ,but still the  
men who do the most to hurry them along1
 find a fight on each ledge of the      
cliff4 ,philosophically1 it may be said 
that wars have brought great benefits to
 the race2 that materialism has taught  
us our place here below as no other     
passion could2 that trade has wrought   
its incomparable good to the races of   
men2 that ,fear has been the veritable  
mother of our evolution1 its dark shadow
 forever inciting us1 breaking our      
,inertia1 bringing swiftness and        
strength first to the body1 then to     
brain4 ,even desire for self1 on the    
long road behind1 has been the good     
angel of our passage1 for we had to     
become splendid beasts before the       

dimension of man could be builded4444   
,all good2 mistakes nowhere in the plan4
  ,but the trouble is1 the passage of   
the many from grade to grade is         
intolerably slow4 ,we had thought the   
many had finished with war4 ,the few    
already are many grades ahead of that2  
the few have seen the virtues die out of
 patriotism and trade2 they have watched
 the desire for self turn reptile1 and  
hearkened to this truth which is        
beginning to reverberate around the     
world3 ,what is good for beasts is not  
of necessity good for men4444 ,one      
recent caller here1 male1 middle-aged1  
smilingly discussed all things from the 
philosophical point of view4 ,i was     
saying3  ,from the nursery to           
world-clutched retirement from public   
affairs1 a man nowadays is taught more  
and more to keep his heart-principle    
locked----  ,he smiled3 ,we have all the
 time there is4 ,it will all come out   
right4 ,you fellows excite yourselves   
and try to change things overnight4     

,others of us think them over quietly by
 our fires4 ,that is the whole          
difference4 ,scratch off the veneer1 and
 we are all the same kind of            
,god-yearning animal underneath4  ,few  
sayings ever have hit me harder4  ,i    
studied the years' offerings from this  
man--to his house1 to his acquaintances1
 to the world in general4 ,an irony     
filled the room1 and so intense was it  
that it seemed to have a colour1 a kind 
of green and yellow vapour4 ,it emanated
 from the centre of his face4 ,i think  
the point that animated me especially   
was that he was in the habit of talking 
to young men4 ,he had no children of his
 own4 ,i changed the subject and opened 
the door--not to hasten his departure   
but because the air was close4  ,by     
every law which makes us hold fast to   
the memory of saviours and great men1   
the finest fabric of any race is its    
pioneers4 ,we are living and putting    
into action now the dreams of brave     
spirits who have gone before4           

,philosophically1 even they may have    
found that the plan is good1 but that   
did not prevent them from giving their  
lives to lift the soddenness and        
accelerate the ,inertia of the crowds4  
,they took their joy in the great       
goodness of the plan--only after they   
had done their best to bring the race   
more swiftly into its higher destiny4 ,a
 man does not sit back and allow his    
children to spend years in learning that
 which he can explain in a moment from  
his own experience4444 ,i did not answer
 the philosopher1 but many things that  
occurred from that little talk were     
brought out in ,chapel during the days  
which followed--matters that had to do  
with ,america and literary workmanship  
in particular4 ,certain of the matters  
we discussed have been written down for 
expression here3         99       99    
99       99       99  ,if some one      
announced that there lived in the       
,quattuor ,islands a man who knew the   
exact way to bring into the world1 not  

only the spirit1 but the action of      
brotherhood and fatherland1 there would 
be some call for maps and steamship     
passages4 ,if the ,quattuor ,islands    
were not already on the maps1 they would
 presently appear1 but not before the   
first pilgrims had set out4 ,and if some
 one should add that all expression of  
the arts so far in the world is addled  
and unsightly compared to that which is 
about to be1 if a certain formula is    
followed1 and that this man in the      
,quattuor group has the formula--many   
more would start on the quest1 or send  
their most trusted secretaries4  ,and   
yet the truth and the way is all here1  
and has been uttered again and again by 
every voice that has lifted itself above
 the common din4  ,the wise men carried 
gifts4 ,you would expect to give        
something for the secret4 ,you might    
expect to be called upon to sell all you
 have and give to the poor4 ,you would  
not be surprised even if the magnetic   
,islander said3  ,it is not your        

frankincense and myrrh that ,i want1    
though ,i thank you4 ,that which ,i have
 is for you4 ,i am more anxious for you 
to know and live it1 than you can be to 
have and hold it4 ,but the mystery is   
that it will not come to abide with you1
 while you are passionate for           
possession4 ,the passion to give to     
others must be established within you   
before you can adequately receive----   
,you are beginning to see how ancient is
 the gospel4 ,it is old1 older than     
that4 ,it belongs to the foundations4   
,personally and nationally1 the law     
works the same way4 ,that which is true1
 is true in all its parts4 ,there is an 
adjustment by which that which is good  
for the whole is good for the part2 but 
each1 whole and part1 nation and man1   
must have for the first thought1 not    
self-good1 but the general good4 ,one   
nation1 so established in this          
conviction that its actions are         
automatically founded upon the welfare  
of the world1 could bring about the true

 world-fatherland in a generation2 and  
one human heart so established begins to
 touch from the first moment the        
profound significances of life4         
,personally and nationally1 this plain  
but tremendous concept is beginning to  
manifest itself here in ,america4 ,i do 
not write as a patriot4 ,it is not my   
country that is of interest1 but        
humankind4 ,america's political         
interests1 her trade1 all her           
localisations as a separate and bounded 
people1 are inimical to the new         
enthusiasm4 ,the new social order cannot
 concern itself as a country apart4     
,american predatory instincts1 her      
self-worship1 her attempt at neutrality 
while supplying explosives for the      
,european slaughter arenas1 her         
deepening confinement in matter during  
the past fifty years1 have prepared her 
for the outright demoralisation of war1 
just as surely as ,europe is meeting    
to-day the red harvest from such        
instincts and activities4 ,for action   

invariably follows the thought4  ,yet   
the hearts of men in ,america are       
changing4 ,i do not write as a          
religionist1 but as one very much of the
 world4 ,for the hearts of men do       
change1 and it is only through such     
changes that the material stagnation of 
a people can be relieved without deluges
 of blood4  ,the high hope is upon us4  
,in being apart from war1 ,america has  
been enabled to see4 ,one must always   
remove himself from the ruck to see its 
movement4 ,within these western shores1 
the voices of true inspiration have     
recently been heard4 ,from a literary   
standpoint alone1 this is the most      
significant fact since ,emerson1        
,whitman and ,thoreau and ,lanier took  
pen in hand1 forgetting themselves a    
little while each day4 ,there is a      
peculiar strength upon ,american        
production of all kinds as a result of  
the very act of getting out from under  
,european influence4  ,england and      
,france and ,germany have fallen into   

mere national voices4 ,the voice of the 
partisan is but a weak treble1 against  
the basic rumble of war4 ,war in this   
century is a confession1 as suicide is a
 confession1 as every act of blood and  
rage is a confession1 of the triumph of 
the animal in the human mind4444 ,if you
 received letters from friends in       
,england or ,germany or ,france during  
the war--friends whom formerly you      
admired for their culture and           
acumen--you were struck by the dulness  
and misery of the communications1 the   
uncentred points of view1 the incapacity
 of human vision in the midst of the    
heaviness and blackness of life there2  
if1 indeed1 you read the newspapers and 
periodicals of those countries1 you     
required no further proof of the        
fact--that a nation at war is an obscene
 nation1 its consciousness all driven   
down into the physical1 its voice       
tonally imperfect from hate and fear1   
its eyes open to red illusion and not to
 truth4  ,even in ,america the voice of 

the nationalist is a part of the old and
 the unclean4 ,the new social order does
 not recognise the rights and desires of
 any isolated people4 ,humankind is     
basically one in meaning1 in aim and in 
destiny4 ,the differences of nations in 
relation to the sun's rays and in       
character of country1 environment1 race1
 colour and structure of mind--these are
 primal values1 the very values that    
will sum up into the essential grandeur 
of the whole4 ,personally and nationally
 there are no duplicates in the social  
scheme4 ,the instruments of this        
magnificent orchestra are of infinite   
diversity1 but the harmony is one4  ,the
 spiritual source of all human          
achievement is already a harmonic whole4
 ,that globe is complete4 ,it is our    
business as men to make a pattern of it 
in matter--to make the dream come true  
in flesh1 each man and each nation      
bringing his labour4  ,if a certain     
plant1 bird1 insect1 beast1 man or      
nation1 rises by intrinsic force and    

predation to dangerous increase1 a      
devouring parasite1 or formidable rival1
 is invariably fostered within its      
shadow4 ,in good time there is war to   
the death4  ,in a doctor's office in    
,canada1 ,i saw the picture of a        
bull-dog standing large against the     
background of the accepted flag1 and    
beneath was this line3  ,what we have1  
we'll hold4  ,i found that the picture  
had a national popularity4 ,yet a child 
stopping to think would have seen       
breakers ahead for a nation so lost in  
material things1 as thus to challenge   
the ,fates4444 ,there is a fairy-tale of
 a man building a great boat for the    
air4 ,it looked to win1 and in the      
effrontery of achievement1 he set forth 
to conquer ,god4 ,just then a hornet    
stung him4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,it is a conviction held   
here that the darkest period of         
,american materialism came to its end   
with the beginning of the war4 ,the     
generation of literary producers in     

manifestation at that time was          
responsible for the bleakest products   
which ,america will ever have the shame 
of showing to future generations4  ,it  
was not so devoid of genius as would    
appear2 the first cause was the         
difficulty in getting the best work     
through4 ,this again was not because the
 public was not ready for the good1 but 
because the public taste was brutalised 
by men who stood between the public and 
the producers4 ,these middlemen         
insisted1 by the right of more direct   
contact1 that the public should have    
what they fancied the public desire to  
be4  ,i sat in ,union ,square recently  
with a beggar who studied me1 because it
 appeared to be my whim to help him with
 a coin4 ,back of his temples was a     
great story--sumptuous drama and        
throbbing with the first importance of  
life4 ,he did not tell me that story1   
and ,i could not draw it from him4      
,rather he told me the story that he    
fancied ,i would want4 ,there was a     

whine in it4 ,he chose to act1 and he   
was not a good actor4 ,his offering     
hurt1 not because he was filthy and a   
failure1 but because he lied to himself 
and to me1 because he did not dare to be
 himself1 though the facts were upon    
him1 eye and brow and mouth4 ,so ,i did 
not get his story1 but ,i got a         
thrilling picture of the recent         
generation in ,american letters--,i1    
being the public2 the truth of his story
 representing the producer1 and the     
miserable thing he fancied ,i was ready 
for1 being the middleman's part4  ,all  
workmen of the last generation--all who 
would listen--were taught to bring forth
 their products with an intervening lie 
between the truth and their             
expression--the age of advertising heavy
 in all production4  ,i recall from     
those days what was to me a significant 
talk with an ,american novelist who     
wanted sales1 who was willing to        
sacrifice all but the core of his       
character to get sales1 and who found   

himself at that time in a challenging   
situation4 ,as he expressed it3  ,along 
about page two hundred in the copy of   
the novel ,i am on1 the woman's soul    
wakes up4  ,a woman's novel8 ,i asked4  
,meant to be1 said he4 ,study of a woman
 all through4 ,begins as a little       
girl--different1 you know--sensitive1   
does a whole lot of thinking that her   
family doesn't follow4 ,tries to tell   
'em at first1 but finds herself in bad4 
,then keeps quiet for years--putting on 
power and beauty in the good old way of 
bumps and misunderstanding4 ,she's pure 
white fire presently--body and brain and
 something else asleep4 ,she wants to be
 a mother1 but the ghastly sordidness of
 the love stories of her sisters to this
 enactment1 frightens her from men and  
marriage as the world conducts it----   
,i follow you1 said ,i4  ,well1 ,i'm not
 going to do the novel here for you1 he 
added4 ,you wouldn't think there was a  
ray of light in it from this kind of    
telling4 ,a man who spends five months  

of his best hours of life in telling a  
story1 can't do it over in ten minutes  
and drive a machine at the same time----
  ,we're getting out of the crowd4 ,what
 did the girl do8 ,i asked4  ,well1 she 
wanted a little baby--was ready to die  
for it1 but had her own ideas of what   
the ,father should be4 ,a million       
women--mostly having been married and   
failed1 have thought the same thing here
 in ,america--pricked the unclean sham  
of the whole business4 ,moreover1       
they're the best women we've got4 ,there
 are----  ,he purposely shook the hat   
from his head--back into the seat--at   
this point4  ,there are some young women
 coming up into maturity here in        
,america--,god bless 'em--who are almost
 brave enough to set out on the quest   
for the ,father of the baby that haunts 
them to be born4444 ,that's what she    
did4 ,he was a young man doing his own  
kind of work--doctoring among the poor1 
let us say1 mainly for nothing--killing 
himself among men and women and babies2 

living on next to nothing1 but having a 
half-divine kind of madness to lift the 
world4444 ,she saw him4 ,you can picture
 that4 ,they were two to make one--and a
 third4 ,she knew4 ,there was a gold    
light about his head which she saw--and 
some of the poverty-folk saw--but which 
he didn't know the meaning of1 and the  
world missed altogether4  ,she went to  
him4 ,it's cruel to put it in this      
way4444 ,i'm not saying anything about  
the writing or about what happened1 but 
the scene as it came to me was the      
finest thing ,i ever tried to put down4 
,we always fall down in the handling1   
you know4444 ,i did it the best ,i      
could4444 ,no1 ,i'm not going to tell   
you what happened4 ,only this3 a little 
afterward--along about page two hundred 
of the copy--the woman's soul woke up4  
,why not1 in ,god's name8 ,i asked4  ,he
 glanced quickly at me as a man does    
from ahead when his car is pressing the 
limit4  ,ever have a book fail8 he      
asked4  ,seven1 said ,i4  ,he cleared   

his throat and the kindest smile came   
into his eyes3  ,they tell me at my     
publishers' that ,i slowed up my last   
book badly--by taking a woman's soul out
 for an airing--just a little invalid   
kind of a soul1 too4 ,souls don't wake  
up in ,american novels any more4 ,you   
can't do much more in print nowadays    
than you can do on canvas--,i mean movie
 canvas4 ,you can paint soul but you    
can't photograph it--that's the point4  
,the movies have put imagination to     
death4 ,we have to compete4 ,you can't  
see a soul without imagination--or some 
sort of madness--and the good people who
 want imagination in their novels don't 
buy 'em4 ,they rent or borrow4 ,it's the
 crowds that go to the movies that have 
bright-coloured strings of ,american    
novels as the product runs--on their    
shelves--little shiny varnished         
shelves--red carpets--painted birds on  
the lamp-shades and callers in the      
evenings4  ,there was a good silence4   
,do you know1 he added presently1 ,i've 

about come to the conclusion that a     
novel must play altogether on sensuous  
tissue to catch the crowd4 ,look at the 
big movie pictures--the actors make love
 like painted animals4444 ,i'm not      
humorous or ironical4 ,it's a big       
problem to me----  ,why1 you can't touch
 the hem of the garment of a real love  
story until you are off the sensuous1 ,i
 offered4 ,the quest only begins there4 
,i'm not averse to that4 ,it belongs in 
part4 ,we are sensuous beings--in part4 
,but ,i am averse to letting it contain 
all4 ,why1 the real glow comes to a     
romance when a woman's soul wakes up4   
,there's a hotter fire than that which  
burns blood-red----  ,i know1 he said   
quickly4 ,i know4 ,that blood-red stuff 
is the cheapest thing in the world4444  
,i'm sure of this story until her soul  
wakes up4 ,she stirs in her sleep1 and  
,i see a giantess ahead--the kind of a  
woman who could whistle to me or to     
you--and we'd follow her out--dazed by  
the draw of her4 ,they are in the world4

 ,i reckon souls do wake up--but ,i can 
feel the public dropping off every page 
after two hundred--like chilled         
bees--dropping off page by page--and the
 old familiar battle ahead for me4 ,i   
can feel that tight look of poverty     
about the eyes again----         99     
99       99       99       99  ,are you 
going to put her soul back to sleep8 ,i 
asked1 as we turned again into the      
crowd4  ,i wasn't the least lordly in   
this question4 ,i knew his struggle1 and
 something of the market1 too4 ,i was   
thinking of tradesmen--how easy it is to
 be a tradesman2 in fact1 how difficult 
it is to be otherwise--when the very    
passion of the racial soul moves in the 
midst of trade4  ,she's beautiful--even 
asleep1 he said4 ,i'm afraid ,i'll have 
to give her something4 ,i'm building a  
house4 ,she's in the comprehension of   
the little varnished shelves--asleep4   
,doesn't a tight look come about the    
eyes--from much use of that sort of     
anaesthetic8 ,i asked4  ,let's get a    

drink1 he answered4     #ai  ,,the ,,new
 ,,social ,,order   ,but the stroke of  
death has fallen upon such pandering1   
and the war put it there4 ,the big names
 of the last generation are now magazine
 and movie men2 all save the few whose  
sutures have not entirely closed1 and   
they are making their last frenzied turn
 to meet the new social order1 as they  
met the floating vogues and whims so    
long4 ,but this is a difficult turn for 
panderers and caterers1 because it does 
not have to do with the surface matter1 
nothing to do with dance and dress and  
appetite1 but with the depths of the    
human spirit1 quickened to animation    
afresh by the agony of the world4  ,only
 the rarest few of the greatest names of
 ,england and ,europe have escaped the  
fatal partisanship4 ,they have become   
little national voices1 and in the      
coming years this will be remembered    
against them bitterly4 ,the truly       
liberated soul does not fall into lying 
attempts at national exoneration4 ,the  

truly liberated soul is no longer a     
nationalist4 ,a few of the young men    
have escaped this curse1 but the older  
had their training1 as has been told1 in
 the blackest age of man4 ,men have been
 diminished in more spacious times than 
these by becoming laureates2 they cannot
 but be degraded by becoming            
nationalists in these abandoned hours4  
,genius1 in the last generation1 met a  
destructive force in the material world1
 almost as deadly and vindictive as that
 encountered by ,copernicus4 ,the voices
 of very few heralds were even heard1   
but there is a battle-line of genius in 
the new generation1 timed for the great 
service years following the chaos of    
war4 ,they will bring in the liberation 
of religion from mammon2 they will bring
 in the religion of work1 the equality  
of women1 not on a mere suffrage matter 
alone1 but in spirit and truth2 they    
will bring in their children unaccursed4
         99       99       99       99  
99  444 ,there's always a squeaking when

 a wagon climbs out of a rut1 which is  
another way of saying that a time of    
transition is a time of pain4  ,this is 
a notable and constructive generation   
now beginning its work in ,america1 and 
joining hands with the few remaining    
,undefiled of ,europe4 ,they are not    
advertisers1 nor self-servers4 ,they do 
not believe in intellect alone4 ,their  
genius is intuitionally driven1 not     
intellectually4 ,just as steam has      
reached its final limitations as a      
force1 and is being superseded by       
electricity 7the limitations of which   
have not yet been sensed so far even by 
the most audacious71 so the intellect1  
as a producing medium1 has had its      
period--a period of style-worship1      
vanities of speech and action1 of       
self-service1 of parading1 of           
surface-show and short-sightedness1     
without parallel in the world4  ,for the
 intellect is a product of sunlight1 its
 energy supplied by human blood1 a      
temporal heat4 ,intuition is driven from

 the fountain-head of spiritual energy4 
,its great conception is the unity of   
all nature4 ,the intellect is as old as 
your body is2 the giant that is         
awakening from sleep in the breasts of  
the rising generation is immortal4  ,in 
all times1 second-class artists have    
dealt in the form and matter of the age1
 talked of its effects and paraded its  
styles4 ,only the very greatest above   
them have realised that the true story  
of the thing1 as any given man sees it1 
is the one important thing in the world 
for him to produce2 that the nearness of
 the expression to the thought is the   
measure of his success2 in a word1 that 
his thought must be put into words 7or  
tones or paint or stone7 without an     
intervening lie from the medium4  ,the  
race of men and women in their twenties1
 now at work in ,america1 are doing     
these things4 ,especially in the new    
poetry is the fine consummation         
apparent4 ,these are the leaders of the 
new social order4 ,before the war1 such 

as had developed a voice had to shout   
through shut doors4 ,the war has beaten 
down the doors4 ,a comparable race of   
young workmen 7more men than women      
there2 more women than men here7 has    
appeared in ,russia and raised its      
voice4 ,it is not altogether a dream    
that a unifying span will stretch across
 the pillars raised by these two groups 
of builders4  ,in ,america this rising  
generation shall return to us the       
prestige which ,whitman1 ,emerson1      
,thoreau and ,lanier so superbly        
attracted4 ,indeed1 ,whitman is the     
master of the new poetry2 his free verse
 lives in every line of the modern      
production1 a point that would not be   
significant if it were alone of manner2 
but his broad human spirit1 the infusing
 brotherhood which was his passion1 and 
the same universal toleration1 are the  
inspiring energies of the new           
workmanship4  ,what is the vision of    
this new social order8  ,these workmen  
recognise that no saint's blood1 nor the

 power of any ,god1 is going to         
interfere before a heavenly throne to   
save sinners who have wasted their lives
 in predatory accomplishment1 instead of
 saving themselves2  ,that the          
re-distribution of the world's wealth   
will not bring about the new order and  
beauty of life2 that the rich man is to 
be pitied as much as the poor 7,god     
knows that intrinsically he is to be    
pitied more1 because his shell is       
thicker7 that the time is at hand when  
the vulgarity of being rich in material 
wealth will be a sense of the common    
mind2 ,that women are not golden        
fleeces1 nor clinging vines1 but human  
adults with separate principles from    
men1 which make them equally valuable in
 the social scheme2 that women should be
 their own law in all matters of mating 
and reproduction1 because the male has  
not the mental organism to cope         
authoritatively with these affairs2     
,that heretofore as educators1 as       
fathers1 mothers and bringers-forth of  

children1 humankind1 in the large1 has  
shown itself less than the animals1     
inasmuch as it does not fulfil its      
possibilities as animals do2  ,that the 
time is past for cults and creeds1 for  
separate interests and national         
boundaries1 for patriotism and all the  
other isms2 that we are all one in the  
basic meaning of existence2 that there  
is an adjustment founded upon the       
principles of liberty and brotherhood1  
in which that which is good for the one 
is good for all2 that this adjustment   
can only be attained by a reversal of   
the old form1 personally and            
nationally--of thinking not of the self 
first in all things1 but of the general 
good2  ,finally1 the new social order of
 workmen1 having come up through the    
blear and sickness of lies1 has arrived 
at the high vantage which reveals that  
there is nothing so potent as a straight
 statement of fact1 nothing so          
strategically the masterstroke4     #bj 
,,common ,,clay ,,brick   ,certain      

,chapel days we require music instead of
 talk2 other times only a walk will do1 
to the woods or shore according to the  
mood4 ,one afternoon we walked up the   
shore where the beach is narrow and the 
bluffs high4 ,a gleam of red in the sand
 became the theme of the day4 ,it was   
just a half-brick partly submerged in   
sand1 and momentarily in the wash of the
 waves4444 ,it had a fine gleam--a vivid
 wet red against the gravel greys4 ,its 
edges were rounded by the grind of sand 
and water1 and one thought of an ancient
 tile that might be seen in a ,chinese  
rose garden4  444 ,just a common clay   
brick1 not very old1 not very hard1 but 
a thing of beauty in the greys of the   
beach4 ,it suggested a girl's dress ,i  
had once seen on a winter's day--a rough
 cloth of mixed grey wool with a narrow 
edging of red velvet around the sleeves 
and collar4444 ,yet1 alone1 and now that
 it was dry--this was just a brick-red4 
,it needed the grey grain4444 ,i        
reflected that there must be a deep     

human reason for its appeal to our sense
 of beauty4  ,there was something in the
 hollowing and rounded edges1 such as no
 machine or hand-grinding could         
duplicate1 but that had to do with the  
age of the impression it gave4 ,there is
 beauty in age1 a fine mystery in       
itself4 ,often the objects which our    
immediate forebears found decorative    
strike our finer eyes as hideous1 and   
with truth2 but the more ancient things 
which simpler races found useful and    
lovely1 often appeal to us as consummate
 in charm and grace1 though we may never
 have seen them before in this life4    
,the essence of their beauty now is a   
certain thrilling familiarity--the same 
mystery that awakens us in an occasional
 passing face1 which we are positive has
 not met these eyes before4  ,we are all
 more or less sensitive to mystic       
relationships with old vases and        
coppers1 with gourds and bamboo1 urns   
and sandal-wood1 with the scents and    
flavours of far countries and sudden    

stretches of coast1 so that we repeat in
 wonder--,and this is the first time----
 ,something deep within knows better1   
perhaps4 ,it is enough1 however1 to     
grant the profound meanings underlying  
our satisfaction in ancient objects1 and
 that our sense of their beauty is not  
accidental4  ,for instance1 there was   
something behind our pleasure in the    
gleam of red from the pervading greys of
 the beach4444 ,i pointed to the ,other 
,shore--a pearly cloud overhanging the  
white of breakers at its point--and the 
little bay asleep in the hollow4 ,the   
view was a fulfilment4 ,that little     
headland breaks the force of the eastern
 gales for all this nearer stretch of   
shore1 but its beauty is completed by   
the peace of the cove4 ,the same idea is
 in the stone-work of the ,chapel1 and  
the completing vine4  ,beauty is a globe
 of meaning4 ,it is a union of two      
objects which complete each other and   
suggest a third--the union of two to    
make one4 ,our minds are satisfied with 

the sustaining1 the masculine in the    
stone-work and the gaunt headland1      
because they are completed by the       
trailing vine and the sleeping cove4    
,the suggestion in each is peace1 the   
very quest of life4  ,there is always   
this trinity1 to form a globe of beauty4
 ,from the union of matter and spirit1  
all life is quickened2 and this initial 
formula of completing a circle1 a       
trinity1 pervades all life4  ,we are    
thrilled by the symbols of the great    
original affinity of matter and spirit1 
and the very life which we thrill with  
is its completing third4  ,artists know 
this deeper than brain4 ,we regarded the
 elm tree with its haggard              
weather-blackened limbs1 and springing  
from it1 the delicate green foliage4 ,it
 was like the background of a great     
painting4 ,i brought forth later some   
small reproductions of a number of      
famous paintings4 ,among them1 we found 
the stone and the vine often in the     
background1 or the branch and the leaf1 

pictured usually with a suggestion of   
running water at the base1 for action   
and progress and the ever-onward human  
spirit4 ,we didn't find full-leafed     
trees there 7for that would hide the    
lineaments of beauty1 as the character  
of a face is concealed in fatness7--but 
branch and leaf1 the need each of the   
other1 and the promise of the fruit4 ,it
 was the globe again--the union of the  
strong and the fragile for a finer      
dimension of power--bow and cord1 ship  
and sail1 man and woman1 stalk and leaf1
 stone and vine--yes1 and that which    
surprised me at the beginning--that     
gleam of red in the wash of water upon  
the greys4 ,it was the suggestion of    
warmth and life brought to the cold1    
inanimate hues of sand and gravel1 that 
gave us the sense of beauty in a wet1   
worn brick4  ,firelight in a room is    
just the same thing--a grey stone       
fireplace with red embers is the very   
heart of a winter house4444 ,if there   
had not been a vital significance back  

of our discovery of the day1 our sense  
of a brick's beauty would have been     
untimely and disordered4444  ,such were 
the points brought out as we walked4    
,the episode is indicative of the days  
here4 ,the best hours are always        
spontaneous4 ,i am always occupied with 
my own affairs until the moment of      
,chapel1 but ,nature is invariably safe 
and replete4 ,there are a thousand      
analogies for every event of the human  
spirit1 even for the resurrection of the
 human soul4 ,the plan is one4  ,the day
 would have been poorly spent1 no matter
 what ,i might say1 without an          
expression from the others on the beauty
 conception4 ,it is the union again of  
receiving and expressing that makes     
growth and character4 ,they would not   
try to remember what ,i said4 ,memory is
 not the faculty ,i cared to cultivate4 
,the endeavour here is from the spirit  
outward4 ,i do not wish to fill their   
brains1 but to inspire their souls to   
fill their own brains4 ,all work is a   

training for the expression of the real 
self4 ,we are infinitely greater than   
our brains4 ,if ,i can arrive at the    
truth of any subject1 ,i need have no   
worry about sleepy heads or ,inertia4 ,a
 disclosure of truth1 and the process of
 it made clear1 is the perfect awakener1
 for truth is the aliment of the soul4  
,it is not what ,i say1 but what a truth
 suggests to them1 that determines the  
value of their expression of it4        
,expression is the triumph4 ,every time 
the brain gives expression to the real  
self1 there is a memorable vitality1 not
 only in the expression1 but strength   
and authority added to the brain itself4
 ,this is training for writers1 but     
words are the natural implements for us 
all4444 ,so the ardent aim of the       
classes here is to awaken the deeper    
vitalities of those who listen4 ,when   
one awakens a soul interest1 you may    
rely upon it the brain is open to its   
full zest and capacity4 ,pattering of   
uncohered facts upon the temporal       

surface of the brain in the effort to   
lodge them in the tentacles of memory1  
does not construct the character of man 
or woman4  ,the superb flower of any    
educational work is the occasional      
disclosure of the real bent of a        
student4 ,that is always like the       
discovery of el dorado4 ,the most       
important fact to be considered in any  
educational ideal is that the soul of   
every one has its own especial treasures
 and bestowals2 and when one succeeds in
 touching with fresh fire an ancient    
facility or proclivity in the breast of 
a boy or girl--the rest is but following
 the gleam4444 ,the world finds us      
significant1 even heroic1 only in so far
 as we give expression to a power       
intrinsic4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,another day we found more 
water-worn bricks4 ,an old brick house  
long ago had rubbed itself into the     
falling bank1 and now its parts are     
spread along certain portions of the    
shore and buried in the sand4 ,the boys 

brought in a half-bushel of this red    
treasure1 and we set about constructing 
a narrow cement walk of quality4 ,our   
idea was to carry out and make perpetual
 the affinity of the red gleams as      
insets in a grey pebble walk4  ,we      
worked raptly1 even through the hard1   
dull labour of levelling1 setting the   
frames and laying the concrete          
foundation4 ,the finishing was the      
absorbing part4 ,the idea was not for a 
fine-grained sand walk1 but a mixture of
 all sizes from a penny large down to   
the finest sand4 ,the cement makes the  
most lasting bond in a mixture of this  
kind2 moreover1 the pebbly finish was   
effective and darker for the insets4    
,the walk was less than two feet wide   
and roughly squared by pieces of shingle
 laid in the concrete1 tip to tip4 ,the 
final dressing1 two inches of pebble    
mortar1 looked unpromising on account of
 its coating of white4 ,it would have   
hardened a dingy cement colour1 instead 
of the deep1 sparkling grey desired1 had

 we not thought of turning a fine spray 
from the hose upon the newly trowelled  
surface to wash away the top cement4 ,to
 make sure1 the surface was then lightly
 sponged until the pebble-tops were     
absolutely without the clinging white4  
,the water also erased the least mark of
 the trowel4  ,the red insets were now  
tamped in with the trowel-handle1 the   
unique round edges appearing without a  
touch of stain4 ,the rapidly hardening  
mortar was not packed about the brick   
pieces1 but the natural edge of the grey
 preserved1 as if they had been hurled  
in4 ,they were placed without immediate 
regularity1 but with relation to the    
walk in its length4444 ,we regarded it  
afterward in the rain--all frames and   
shingles removed1 the loam and humus of 
the rose-soil softening the border--the 
red rounded edges of the brick-insets   
gleaming out of the grey--a walk that   
seemed to have been there a thousand    
years1 the red pieces seemingly worn by 
the bare feet of centuries4444 ,it      

satisfied1 and the thought1 too1 that   
those who helped to do the work could   
not be quite the same after that        
afternoon4     #ba  ,,the ,,highest ,,of
 ,,the ,,arts   ,one day at ,chapel1    
neither the ,abbot nor the ,dakotan     
appeared4 ,the ,columbian had left us4  
,i looked up to see two young girls and 
another there4 ,one of the papers       
brought in that day was upon the joining
 of two rivers4 ,where they came        
together was a whirlpool1 a tremendous  
vortex that hushed all surrounding      
,nature4 ,in the lowlands that lay about
 the place of that mighty meeting1 a    
deep verdure came1 for the winds carried
 the spray from the vortex4 ,nature     
loved the sounds of that pouring        
together4 ,from the whirlpool1 where two
 met1 one great river emerged1          
white-maned with rapids for a way--then 
broad and pure and still1 so that only  
birds and poets could hear the harmony  
deep as life4 ,from time to time it gave
 forth its tributaries1 yet seemingly   

was undiminished4 ,always on1 always    
one1 carrying all1 making all pure1     
through the silent places1 past the     
great mountains--to the sea4  ,it was   
not until ,i had read of this mating of 
waters that ,i realised the slightly    
different conditions in the ,chapel1 the
 young men not being there4  444 ,the   
strangest humility stole over me4 ,it   
had become the life-theme--to bring a   
breath from the open splendour of the   
future to the matings of men and women4 
,i have never been able to understand   
how anything can be expected of men1 if 
women are not great4 ,i have never been 
able to understand how men and women can
 take each other as a matter of course4 
,most of all1 ,i have been unable to    
understand how women can accept the     
man-idea of things4  ,the great killing 
in ,europe was brought about because    
women have accepted the man-idea of     
life4 ,women are in this sense          
immediately responsible for the war1    
because they have not been true to the  

limitless potentialities of their being4
 ,still from the very hour when man     
realised his greater bodily strength1   
continual pressures have fallen upon    
woman to break her dream4 ,the ,hebrew  
,scriptures show best the processes that
 have been brought to bear upon         
women--from the establishment of the    
patriarchal idea to the final going down
 into ,egypt4  ,it is in the nature of  
women to please men1 but they have not  
been allowed through the centuries to   
please men in their own way4 ,man wanted
 to be pleased according to his         
idea--and women1 in accepting that1 have
 prostituted themselves4 ,men have      
united with submissive women to bring   
forth children farther and farther from 
the dream4 ,man's idea is possession2   
that which is possessed is not free4    
,man's thought is to make woman conform 
to his ideas2 and that which conforms1  
at once betrays the first law of the    
growth to greatness--that of being true 
to one's self4  ,the veil1 the          

mouth-veil1 the crippled foot1 the      
harem1 the barred lattice1 the corset1  
the eunuch1 the denial of education to  
women1 the very text of the             
marriage-rites in all countries1 are    
man's ideas of keeping woman for        
himself1 from herself4 ,the ,orient is  
rotted with this conception4  ,would you
 like to know where man's ideas--man's  
plan of ,conception--is most utterly    
outraged8 ,in the coming of ,messiahs4  
,the ,josephs are mainly dangling4 ,they
 are in the mere passage of events1     
having to do neither with heights nor   
depths4  ,one of the deepest human      
instincts of the male is that woman is a
 wanton4 ,it breaks out still in the    
best of men1 wherever the sex-principle 
overpowers the mind4 ,this is           
well-covered ground4 ,i would suggest   
only that the present horrible chaos of 
human affairs1 while directly the fault 
of the absence of rational idealism in  
the world1 has been brought about in    
reality by the man-pressure which for   

centuries has fallen upon the nature of 
woman4 ,i hold it as one of the miracles
 that great women still move among us2  
and that to-day in every movement and   
voice of women at large in the world1   
one perceives that the transition is    
on4444  ,the great love story can only  
be founded upon liberty4 ,bring the plan
 of serfdom to a woman's nature1 and one
 of two things takes place within       
her--submission utterly or outwardly4   
,the sons of the submissive are neither 
conquerors of self nor takers of cities4
 ,the outwardly submissive woman may    
inwardly contain and foster a great     
dream--indeed1 the fruits of these      
dreams have come to be--but more often  
the heart is filled with secret hatreds4
 ,sons of hatred may be sons of         
strength1 but the fire they burn with is
 red and not white4  ,once ,i expressed 
the conviction that if the right man    
talked to a roomful of young1 unmarried 
women upon the great ideals of          
motherhood--and his words were wise and 

pure enough--that not one of the women  
in the room would bring forth the       
children afterward that would have come 
to them had they not been there to      
listen4 ,i believe that many young women
 of the arriving generation are         
tremendously eager to listen1 and to    
answer the dream4444  ,i looked in      
humility and great tenderness upon those
 pure feminine elements in the ,chapel1 
awaiting as usual what ,i should ask or 
say4 ,when ,i thought that some time    
they would be mothers1 it came with a   
rush of emotion--that ,i had neither    
words nor art1 nor strength nor purity  
to make them see the almost divine      
possibilities of their future4 ,for     
years ,i had written in the hope of     
lifting the ideals of such as these2    
dreamed of writing at last with such    
clarity and truth that they could not be
 the same after reading2 but it is      
different writing to the great outer    
,abstraction1 than talking face to face 
in one's ,study4 ,some of the things    

said that day are written here without  
quotations3  444 ,it is all soil and    
seed again4 ,the world to-day has not   
entered the outer courts even of the    
physical beauty of romance4 ,the lower  
the orders of human understanding1 the  
easier it is for the young men and women
 to accept their mates4 ,it is often a  
matter of propinquity--the handiest4    
,the women of the lower classes do not  
bring an alabaster bowl to one certain  
spring of pure water4 ,there seems to be
 a red enchantment upon the many--the   
nearest will do4 ,the great loves of the
 world have not thus come to be4 ,great 
women1 carrying the whitest fires1 have 
waited for the ,one2 they have listened 
for a certain voice4 ,their hearts knew4
 ,there was no chance4 ,when they were  
ready1 the ,one arrived4  ,the lovelier 
we become in conduct and the higher we  
turn in aspiration--the more beautifully
 are we prepared for the great services 
of ,romance4 ,as a race we have only    
touched our lips to the cup of its      

beauty and fruitfulness4444 ,would you1 
who understand so well what culture has 
done for corn and roses1 forget the     
mysteries of your own great being--rush 
blindly as the world does into the arms 
that first beckon1 following the laws   
that have made you the most superb of   
animals1 forgetting the laws that have  
made you living souls8  ,i would have   
you study the lineage of ,mary1 the     
wonderful care with which it was        
written1 even to include that blent     
flame of earth and heaven which was     
,ruth2 ,i would have you read again the 
stories of ,gautama and ,jesus1 and of  
the mothers of the prophets4 ,the       
stories of the coming of ,messiahs are  
always the greatest stories in the      
world4444 ,and then we see the great    
stony fields of humanity--the potential 
mass in which the great ones of the     
future are to rise4 ,their matings are  
makeshifts2 their brief honeymoons are  
matters from which the finer world turns
 its eyes4  444 ,for many days you have 

come in here quietly at this time1      
taking your seats together1 and         
listening so cheerfully to what has     
passed4 ,you know as well as ,i that    
there have been moments in which the    
stones of the ,chapel walls faded from  
our eyes1 and that which we saw in each 
other was not that which we see as we   
pass in colder moments in the street4   
,we have had moments here when it seemed
 that any thought was easily to be      
comprehended--that it had but to be     
spoken to be embraced4444 ,there have   
been moments1 too1 sudden spontaneities 
when we were pure givers1 when there was
 love in our hearts for all beings1 and 
we were strong to answer any call4  ,it 
is not that which we pass coldly on the 
street that has gladdened me so often   
and so strangely in your coming--but    
those mysteries within1 those arousings 
deeper than brain1 that do away so      
peremptorily with all systems of teacher
 and student2 which show us one in      
meaning and one in aim4444 ,it is tragic

 that the romances of the world so      
seldom touch these high mysteries4 ,we  
feel the ,old ,mother drawing us        
together--all her great blind forces for
 renewing her lands and seas and realms 
of air4 ,but we forget that the animals 
follow this2 the myriads of unawakened  
men and women follow this2 the products 
of this are used for every waste and    
violence4 ,nature brings them in1 and   
then destructive principles play upon   
them4 ,they are dealt with in great     
numbers1 because individuals have not   
emerged4 ,they have slain them twenty   
thousand the day in ,europe of late--the
 bodies of men whose mothers in the main
 have followed the blind forces of      
,nature1 and no more4 ,nature will      
replenish these losses4  ,perceive1 too3
 ,the many have not even sensed the     
beauties of ,nature4 ,this physical     
being of ours which the ,old ,mother has
 raised from the earth that a ,god might
 be built within it--even the beauty of 
this is not yet fulfilled--much less the

 powers of the mind which we have       
touched--much less that radiance of     
spirit which has made our highest       
moments together so memorable4  444 ,you
 would be mothers--that is the highest  
of the arts4 ,the making of books is    
childish and temporal compared to that4 
,mothering of men--that is the highest  
art4444 ,yet we do not make books       
blindly4 ,for years we labour and watch 
the world2 for years we gather together 
our thoughts and observations of men and
 ,nature2 studiously we travel and      
willingly at last we learn to suffer4   
,suffering brings it all home to us2    
suffering connects together all our     
treasures1 so that we see their         
inter-relations and our meaning to them 
all4 ,at last 7and this1 if we have been
 called in the beginning7 we dare to    
write our book4 ,it fails4 ,again and   
again we fail--that is the splendid     
unifying force1 working upon us4 ,so    
far1 we have only brought into the world
 our half-gods4 ,failures melt us into  

the solution of the world4444 ,we have  
learned to welcome suffering now2 we    
have detached ourselves from the shams  
that the world can give4 ,we have       
learned that the world cannot pay in    
kind for any noble action--that the     
spirit of human hearts alone can answer 
any great striving4444 ,we go apart to  
the wildernesses to listen4 ,in the     
summit of our strength1 the voice begins
 to speak--the ,guru's voice4  ,we are  
but instruments for the making of books4
 ,we are but listening surfaces for the 
voice to play upon4 ,at last and at     
best1 we have merely made ourselves fine
 enough to be used4 ,then our book is   
done4 ,we have no part in it afterward4 
,if we have done well1 the world will   
serve it in ,god's good time4444 ,and   
that is the low and the temporal art4   
,mere bodies of books come into the     
world in thousands4 ,they move their    
little season and pass4 ,even the       
half-gods only rise and stir and pass   
away4 ,but when the half-gods go1 the   

,gods arrive4  444 ,you would not do    
less than this to bring forth men--you  
who have the call4444 ,you must learn   
the world--be well grounded in the      
world4 ,you need not forget the ,old    
,mother4 ,your feet are of clay--but you
 must have the immortal gleam in your   
eyes4 ,do not forget the ,old           
,mother--yet it is only when the ,father
 appears that you can see her as she    
really is4 ,it is the light of ,his     
spirit that has shown you the passion of
 the rose1 the goodness of the wheat1   
the holiness of the forests4 ,by ,his   
quickening you are hushed in the beauty 
of the ,mother4444 ,the myriads of      
makers of books have not yet sensed this
 beauty4  ,there is a different love of 
,nature4 ,we cry aloud in our surface   
ecstasies--that the ,old ,mother was    
never so beautiful1 her contours and    
colourings4 ,we travel far for a certain
 vista1 or journey alone as if making a 
pilgrimage to a certain nave of woodland
 where a loved hand has touched us4444  

,but this lifted love of nature is      
different from the ,pipes of ,pan1 from 
all sensuous beauty4 ,the love of       
,nature that ,i mean is different even  
from wooings and winnings and all that  
beauteous bewilderment of               
sex-opposites--different from all save  
the immortal romances4  ,i wonder if ,i 
can suggest what is in the heart2 it    
cannot be more than a suggestion1 for   
these things have not to do with words4 
,you who have felt it may know2 and in  
those high moments you were very far    
from the weight and symbols of ,nature1 
but very close to her quickening        
spirit4444 ,i walked for hours alone1   
through different small communities of  
beech and oak and elm2 and on a slope   
before my eyes there was a sudden low   
clearing of vapour1 as if a curtain were
 lifted1 and ,i saw a thicket of dogwood
 in the mystery of resurrection1 the    
stone of the sepulchre rolled away4  ,i 
do not know to this day if they were    
really there4 ,i have never found the   

trees again4444 ,i was sitting here one 
fall night1 a ,south ,wind straight from
 the great water1 and the mignonette    
came in and lingeringly passed4 ,the    
garden was behind to the ,north4 ,i went
 to it and it gave me nothing1 moved    
around it1 and there was no respiration 
of the heaven-breath4 ,yet the oneness  
and the spirit of life had touched me   
from the miracle1 like the ineffable    
presence of the dogwood in bloom on that
 fairy slope4  ,the love of ,nature1 the
 different love1 is a matter of our own 
receptivity4 ,if we are brave enough1 or
 sweet enough within1 we will not       
require the touch of the senses1 nor    
,nature's masterstrokes to awaken us4   
,we will not need to leave our rooms1   
for it is all here--in the deep gleam of
 polished strength of the hickory       
axe-handle1 in the low light of the     
blade1 in stone wall and oaken sill1 in 
leather and brass and pottery1 in the   
respiration of the burning wood1 and    
veritably massed upon the sweeping      

distance from the window4 ,it is because
 we are coarse and fibrous and confined 
in the sick weight of flesh that we do  
not stand in a kind of creative awe     
before the lowliest mystery of our      
physical sight4  ,do you know that there
 is a different fragrance1 a different  
manner of burning to each tree1 whose   
parts you bring to the open camp fire or
 your own hearth2 that some woods shriek
 at this second death after the cutting1
 that others pass with gracious calm1   
and still others give up their dearest  
reality1 at the moment of breaking under
 the fire1 like the released spirit of a
 saint that was articulate heretofore   
only in beautiful deeds8  ,the willow   
burns with quiet meagre warmth1 like a  
lamb led to slaughter1 but with         
innocence feigned1 keeping her vain     
secrets to the last4 ,the oak resists1  
as he resists the axe1 having spent all 
his energy in building a stout and      
perfect body1 proud of his twisted arms 
and gnarled hands4 ,the pine rebels1 and

 noisily to the swift end1 saying3 ,i do
 not believe in cremation4 ,i believe in
 breaking down alone and apart1 as ,i   
lived4 ,i am clean without the fire4    
,you should let me alone1 and now ,i    
shall not let you think nor talk of real
 things until ,i am gone4444 ,each with 
its fragrance--the elm1 the silentest   
and sweetest of all4 ,the elm has       
forgotten her body in spreading her     
grace to the stars2 the elm for         
aspiration1 loving the starlight so well
 that she will not hide it from the     
ground2 most beautiful of all1 save the 
beech in winter1 a swift and saintly    
passing of a noble life4 ,the maple     
warms you in spite of herself1 giving up
 her secrets which are not all clean--a 
lover of fatness1 her shade too dense1 a
 hater of winter1 because she is bare1  
and the secret of all ugliness in her   
nudity4 7,the true tree-lover is never a
 stranger to the winter woods47  ,and   
the mothering beech1 with her soft      
incense1 her heart filling the room with

 warmth and light1 her will to warm the 
world2 the mothering beech1 a healer and
 a shelterer1 a lover like that         
,magdalen whose sin was loving much4    
,she gives her body to ,gods and        
men--and most sweetly to the fire1 her  
passing naked and unashamed4  ,the      
different love of ,nature that the child
 knows instinctively2 that young men and
 maidens forget in the heat of          
themselves--but that comes again to us  
if we grow decently older2 in rock and  
thicket1 in the voices of running water1
 in every recess of woodland and arch of
 shore--not the ,pipes of ,pan1 but the 
mysteries of ,god1 not sensuousness1 but
 the awakening of a spirit that has     
slumbered--the illumination1 sudden and 
splendid1 that all is ,one--that ,nature
 is the plane of manifestation for the  
infinite and perfect story of ,god2 that
 ,nature is the table which ,god has    
filled to overflowing--this is a        
suggestion1 a beginning of the lifted   
love of ,nature4444  ,if they beckon to 

you1 the trees on the horizon 7and ,god 
be with you if there are none72 if they 
seem to be calling to you1 do not fail  
them1 do not wait too long4 ,for surely 
that time will come when they will cease
 to call to your heart4 ,they will not  
have changed1 but you will have gone too
 far back among the spectres and        
illusions of detached things to know    
that they are calling4 ,and be very sure
 you will never find the love of ,god in
 the eyes of passing men--if you have   
forgotten our ,mother4  444 ,yet ,nature
 alone is but the lowliest of the three 
caskets4 ,i would not have you miss a   
breath of her beauty--but upon and      
within it1 ,i would build the great     
dream of the coming of one from the     
,father's ,house4 ,the ,coming to       
you4444 ,would you hesitate to make     
ready for that ,guest8444 ,the thousands
 come in and out and pass to the        
unprepared houses4 ,they are            
mute--suffering is unspoken in their    
eyes4 ,even their faces and hands are   

unfinished4 ,they leave no gift nor     
message4 ,nature who brought them does  
not spare them from the infinite causes 
of death4  444 ,would you hesitate to go
 into the wilderness to meet such a     
,guest8444 ,but you will not hear the   
call to the wilderness unless your heart
 is listening--unless your limbs are    
mighty for the ,quest--the little things
 of life silenced1 the passions of the  
self put away4  ,there is beauty in the 
wilderness--the beauty of the ,old      
,mother is there in the stillness4444   
,would you not go up into the hills for 
your great passion8 ,would you not lift 
your arms for the highest2 would you not
 integrate the fire of martyrdoms in    
your breast1 that you may not be        
destroyed by the lustre of that which   
descends to you8 ,would you be a        
potter's vessel to contain the murky    
floods of the lowlands--when you may    
become an alabaster bowl held to the    
source of all purity and power8  ,do you
 know that a woman with a dream in her  

eyes may hold forth her arms and command
 heaven as no man1 as no mere artist1   
can do8 ,do you know that her arms shall
 be filled with glory1 according to her 
dream8  ,did ,i say that you must go    
into the wilderness alone8444 ,there is 
one to add his call to yours4 ,there is 
the other half of your circle4 ,he      
seldom comes first4 ,pan comes first to 
test you4 ,by the very spirit that gives
 you the different love of ,nature1 you 
shall know your ,lord when he comes4 ,he
 is searching1 too4 ,perhaps you shall  
know him by the ,quest in his eyes4 ,he1
 too1 is looking for the white          
presences4444 ,you must know the        
world--so that you may not be           
bewildered4 ,you must not be caught in  
the brown study of ,pan4  ,this earthy  
one is very subtle4 ,he will try to take
 you first4 ,he will try to rub the     
dreaming and the ,quest from your eyes4 
,he will stand between you and the white
 presences yonder in the hills4         
,sometimes he is very near to those who 

try to be simple4 ,there are many who   
call him a ,god still4 ,you must never  
forget that bad curve of him below the  
shoulders4 ,forever1 the artists lying  
to themselves have tried to cover that  
bad curve of ,pan as it sweeps down into
 the haunches of a goat4 ,pan is the    
first devil you meet when you reach that
 rectitude of heart which dares to be   
mother of souls4  ,whole races of       
artists have lied about ,pan1 because   
they listened to the haunting music of  
his pipes4 ,it calls sweetly1 but does  
not satisfy4 ,how many ,pan has called  
and left them sitting among the rocks   
with mindless eyes and hands that fiddle
 with emptiness6444 ,pan is so sad and  
level-eyed4 ,he does not explain4 ,he   
does not promise--too wise for that4 ,he
 lures and enchants4 ,he makes you pity 
him with a pity that is red as the lusts
 of the flesh4  ,you may come to know   
that red in the breast4 ,it is the red  
that drives away the dream of peace4444 
,yet the pity of him deludes you4 ,you  

look again and again1 and the curve of  
his back does not break the dream as    
before4 ,you think that because you pity
 him1 you cannot fall2 and all the pull 
of the ground tells you that your very  
thought of falling is a breath from the 
old shames--your dead1 but as yet       
unburied heritage1 from generations that
 learned the lie to self4  ,you touch   
the hair of the goat1 and say it is     
,nature4 ,but ,pan is not ,nature--a    
hybrid1 half of man's making1 rather4   
,your eyes fall to the cloven hoof1 but 
return to the level1 steady gaze1       
smiling with such soft sadness that your
 heart quickens for him1 and you listen1
 as he says3 ,all ,gods have animal     
bodies and cloven hoofs1 but ,i alone   
have dared to reveal mine4444 ,how brave
 you are6 your heart answers1 and the   
throb of him bewilders you with         
passion4444 ,you who are so high must   
fall far1 when you let go4  444 ,and    
many of your generation shall want to   
fall4 ,pan has come to you because you  

dare4444 ,you have murdered the old     
shames1 you have torn down the ancient  
and mouldering churches4 ,you do not    
require the blood1 the thorn1 the       
spikes1 but ,i wonder if even you of a  
glorious generation1 do not still       
require the ,cross8444 ,it is because   
you see so surely and are level-eyed1   
that ,pan is back in the world for you2 
and it is very strange but true that you
 must first meet ,pan and pass him by1  
before you can enter into the woodlands 
with that valid lord of ,nature1 whose  
back is a challenge to aspiration1 and  
whose feet are of the purity of the     
saints4  444 ,he is there1 or it may be1
 if you are not through with the world1 
he is waiting in the wilderness4 ,you   
must learn the hardest of all           
lessons--to wait4 ,you must pass by all 
others who are not true to the dream4   
,you must integrate your ideal of       
him--as you dream of the ,shining ,one  
who will become the third of the        
,trinity4 ,he must be true to the laws  

of beauty that the ,old ,mother has     
shown you4 ,if he is less than the      
dream1 pass on--for though you travel   
together for years1 at the end you will 
look into the eyes of a stranger4444    
,they are for those who have no         
dreams--the dalliances that dull our    
senses1 the ,arrivals for whom another  
is waiting4  444 ,perhaps in that       
solitary place1 you turn to find him    
beside you4 ,there is a hush upon the   
world as you meet his eyes4444 ,the     
wilderness is bursting into verdure and 
singing4444 ,he will not lure you to the
 low earth2 he will love you best when  
your arms turn upward in aspiration4 444
 ,a whirlpool1 a vortex--this is but the
 beginning of ecstasy4  ,this is your   
hour4 ,the flame that glows upon your   
mighty mating is from the future4 ,the  
woman is a love-instrument now1 played  
upon by creative light4 ,this is the    
highest mystery of ,nature--all hitherto
 is background for this hour4 ,the      
flight of the bee-queens1 the lifting of

 wings through all the woodland         
festivals1 the turning of comets back to
 the sun--such are but symbols4 ,in the 
distance loom the mountains--and beyond 
them is the ocean of time and space4    
#bb  ,,miracles   ,from within and      
without for many months1 promptings have
 come to me on the subject of ,order1   
which mystics denote as the most        
excellent thing in the ,universe4444 ,i 
remember once emerging from a zone of   
war in ,asia to enter a city untouched  
by it4 ,the order in that city was to me
 like the subsiding of a fever4 ,the    
most terrible picture of disorder that  
the world can show is a battlefield of  
human beings4  ,order has to do with    
peace of mind2 disorder everywhere is a 
waste of force4 ,in a purely mental     
sense1 the cultivation of ,order begins 
to appear essential to the worker1 as he
 approaches the height of his powers and
 realises that there is so much to do1  
and that life here is both brief and    
precarious4 ,order1 however1 is larger  

than a mere mental matter4 ,its         
abiding-place is in the lasting fabric  
of man and nature4 ,evolution in its    
largest sense is the bringing of ,order 
out of ,chaos4 ,the word ,cosmos means  
order1 as stated once before4  ,one     
descends into the terrors of disorder1  
financial and otherwise1 in building his
 house4 ,when ,i look back to the       
conditions that existed on this bit of  
,lake-front three years ago--the        
frog-hollows1 tiling1 the wasting       
bluffs1 excavation1 thirty-five cords of
 boulders unloaded perversely--the mere 
enumeration chafes like grit upon       
surfaces still sore4444 ,i have sadly   
neglected the study of house-building in
 this book4 ,it would not do now4 ,the  
fact is1 ,i don't know how to build a   
house1 but one learns much that one     
didn't know about men and money4 ,i sat 
here in the main1 working with my back  
to the building4 ,at times the approach 
of a contractor upon the ,study-walk    
gave me a panic like a hangman's step2  

often again as he discussed the weather1
 all phases and possibilities1 reviewing
 the past season1 before telling what he
 came for1 ,i boiled over like a small  
pot1 but noiselessly for the most part4 
,with penetrative eye1 distant but      
careful observations1 ,i would refer him
 to the dream which the architect had   
drawn4444 ,when the different           
contractors came a last time with bills1
 ,i would take the accounts and look    
studiously into a little book1 holding  
it severely to the light4 ,after much   
conning1 ,i would announce that my      
accounts tallied with theirs in the     
main4 ,and when they had departed1      
finished and paid with another man's    
money1--standing alone1 tormented with  
the thought of how little money really  
can pay for1 ,i wanted to rush after    
them and thank them for going away4  ,in
 the evening1 when the last workman was 
gone1 ,i used to venture into the piling
 structure4 ,the chaos of it would often
 bring a fever around the eyes1 like    

that which a man wakes with1 after a    
short and violent night4 ,then on those 
evenings when something seemed          
accomplished that gave a line to the    
blessed silence of the finished thing1  
and ,i found myself turning in pleasure 
to it--the thought would come that it   
wasn't really mine2 that after all the  
detail remained of paying for it4 ,i    
used to go from the building and grounds
 then--cutting myself clear from it1 as 
a man would snip with scissors the      
threads of some net that entangled him4 
,i don't breathe freely even now in the 
meshes of possession4  ,i used to wonder
 at the confidence and delight which the
 other members of the household took in 
the completing house4 ,they regarded it 
as the future home4444 ,one by one the  
different sets of workmen came and went4
 ,i am in awe of men who plaster houses 
for a living--and for pennies the hour4 
,always they arrive at the very summit  
of disorganisation--one house after     
another through life--to accept money   

and call their work paid for4444 ,there 
is something to play with in            
masonry--every stone is different--but  
to learn order by lathing and           
plastering6 ,dante missed it from his   
inventions4 ,i do not count the         
plasterers paid--nor the house paid     
for4444  ,one evening ,i went through   
the structure when all but the final    
finishing was over4 ,i saw it all and   
was in a daze4 ,the town regarded it as 
having to do with me2 the establishment 
was connected with my name2 yet ,i stood
 in a daze1 regarding the pool and the  
balcony and the fireplaces--finding them
 good4444 ,the lumberman had outlined a 
plan by which the years would           
automatically restore me to my own1 but 
,i am unable still to see how these     
things are done4 ,i would go to any     
length to help him in ways familiar to  
me1 but ,i could never stake him to a   
stone house4 ,and that was not all4 ,i  
didn't look for the bit of ,lake shore  
bluff4 ,i merely chose it to smoke on1  

because it was still--and presently they
 called it mine4 ,i didn't look for the 
architect1 yet what he did1 his voice   
and letters full of unvarying pleasure1 
,i could never hope to do for him4444   
,yet here was the stone house--a week or
 two more from this night of the dazed  
inspection1 we were supposed to move in4
  ,the old ,spanish house in ,luzon was 
quite as real to me4 ,it was in that    
verdant and shadowy interior that ,i    
first saw the tropical heart of a human 
habitation4 ,but there was no wired     
glass2 its roof was the sky4 ,i remember
 the stars1 the palms and the running   
water4 ,a woman stood there by the      
fountain one night--mantilla1 dark eyes 
and falling water4 ,it was there in the 
palm-foliage that ,i plighted my troth  
to the patio4444  ,and here was its     
northern replica--sunken area paved with
 gold-brown brick1 the gurgle of water  
among the stones4 ,some one said that   
you could see right through from the    
road to the ,lake1 through the rear and 

front doors4 ,i wanted it so--a house to
 see through like an honest face4 ,some 
one said that the whole house could be  
lit by firelight4 ,i wanted it so4      
,when we move in---- one of the children
 began4  ,i shivered4444 ,but of one    
thing ,i was certain4 ,if the lumberman 
didn't move in1 we would4444  ,a certain
 ,order came out of it all4 ,a man      
should build something beside his house1
 while he is at it4 ,that something     
should enable him to build another 7if  
he ever had to do it again7 without     
raising his voice2 without losing his   
faith in men2 without binding himself to
 the place or the structure by any cords
 that would hurt more than a day or two 
if they were cut4444 ,the house is a    
home4 ,it wasn't the lumberman who moved
 in4 ,the rooms are warm with firelight 
at this moment 444 and yet with my back 
still turned upon it and the grinding   
and rending of chaos ended1 ,i arise to 
remark with calmness and cheer that ,i  
would rent for indefinite generations   

rather than build again4  ,there is the 
order of the small man--a baneful thing 
in its way1 sometimes a terrible and    
tragic thing4 ,the narrow-templed ,order
 which has destroyed our forests to make
 places for rows of sugar-beets4 ,then  
there is the order of ,commerce which in
 multiplying and handling duplicates of 
manufacture1 has found ,order an        
economical necessity4 ,let that be      
confined to its own word1 ,efficiency4  
,the true individual rebels against the 
narrow-templed ,order1 rushes to the    
other extreme2 and we observe a         
laughable phenomenon--the eccentricities
 of genius4 ,in truth these             
eccentricities merely betoken the chaos 
of the larger calibre4 ,order in the    
case of the genius is a superb result1  
because of the broader surfaces brought 
under cultivation4 ,the growth of the   
human spirit is from simplicity to      
complication1 and up to simplicity      
again1 each circle in a nobler dimension
 of progress4 ,there is the simplicity  

of the peasant and the simplicity of the
 seer4 ,between these two lie all the   
confusion and alarm of life1 a passage  
of disorder1 well designated            
,self-consciousness4#b  ,cleanliness of 
the body is said to be one of the first 
rules for the following of a certain    
religious plan of life4 ,this is not the
 case exactly2 rather one of the first  
things that occur to a man on the road  
to sanctity is that he must keep his    
body clean2 second1 that he must keep   
his mind clean2 third1 that he must     
begin to put his spiritual house in     
order4 ,this is a basic principle of    
occultism4 ,we must prove faithful in   
the small things1 first4  ,i rode over  
to a little cottage occupied by two     
young men who came here in the interests
 of writing careers4 ,they had talent1  
soul1 brain1 balance1 the unmistakable  
ignitions of the ,new ,age4 ,in a word1 
they were large-calibred men1 whose     
business in life was to put in order a  
fine instrument for expression4 ,their  

cottage was not orderly4 ,they did not  
seem to mind2 in fact1 they appeared to 
disdain such trifles4 ,they were at the 
age when men may eat or drink anything  
and at all times without apparently     
disturbing the centres of energy4 ,they 
were1 in fact1 doing large quantities of
 work every day--for boys4 ,yet daily in
 their work1 ,i was finding the same    
litter and looseness of which their     
cottage was but an unmistakable         
suggestion4 ,in fact1 the place was a   
picture of their minds4444 ,we are each 
given a certain area of possibility4    
,not one in a million human beings even 
roughly makes the most of it4 ,the      
organisation of force and the will to   
use it must be accomplished in childhood
 and youth4 ,this driving force is      
spiritual4  ,in this sense1 all         
education is religion4 ,work is that1 as
 well4 ,it is man's interpretation1 not 
the fault of the religion1 that has set 
apart six days to toil in the earth and 
one day to worship ,god4 ,a man worships

 ,god best in his work4 ,his work       
suffers if he misses worship one day in 
seven1 to say nothing of six4 ,i do not 
mean piety4 ,a feeling of devoutness    
does not cover at all the sense ,i mean4
 ,a man's spirituality1 as ,i would     
reckon it1 has to do with the power he  
can bring into the world of matter from 
the great universe of spiritual force   
which is ,god1 or the emanation of ,god1
 as all the great religions reverently  
agree4  ,i do not mean to bring cults or
 creeds or hymns or affirmations into   
the schools4 ,this driving force which  
all the great workmen know and bow      
before1 is above and beyond man-uttered 
interpretations1 above all separateness1
 even above anything like a complete    
expression in matter as yet4 ,one day   
the workman realises that he has        
fashioned something greater than        
himself--that he has said or sung or    
written or painted something that he did
 not know he knew1 and that his few     
years of training in the world did not  

bring to him4 ,he turns within to do it 
again4444 ,i would have the children    
begin at once to turn within4 ,in awe   
and humility1 ,i beg you to believe that
 as a vast human family1 we have but wet
 our ankles in an infinite ocean of     
potentiality designed for our use2 that 
by giving ourselves to it we become at  
once significant and inimitable2 that   
its expression through us cannot be     
exactly reproduced by any other         
instrument2 and that if we fail to      
become instruments of it1 the final     
harmony must lack our part1 which no    
other can play4  ,that which we see by  
means of an optic nerve is but the      
stone1 but the pit1 of any object1 a    
detached thing1 which can be held in    
mind after the eye turns away1 only by a
 sensible retaining of memory1 as an    
object is held in the hand4 ,there is a 
higher vision--and the word imagination 
expresses it almost as well as any      
other--by which the thing can be seen1  
not as a detached object1 but in its    

relation to the whole4  ,there is a book
 on the table4 ,you give it a day or a  
year4 ,you find your utmost limitations 
expanded if it is great enough and you  
can give yourself freely enough4 ,this  
book is no more a mere object upon a    
board4 ,its white lines are as long as  
the spires of magnetism which stretch up
 from the polar centre of the earth to  
the isolated northern stars4  ,you have 
read the book4 ,its separateness and    
detachment for you has ended4 ,that     
which you held in your hand was but the 
pit1 the stone4444 ,you can read the    
whole story of the tree in the pit2 the 
whole story of creation in any stone4   
,the same magnetism that rises in spires
 from the poles of the earth and is seen
 by the optic nerve under certain       
conditions of atmosphere1 rises from    
your brow1 pours forth from the         
finger-ends of man4 ,the actual skull of
 a human mind is but the centre of a    
flame of force1 as seen by the truer    
vision1 and the colour and the beauty of

 it is determined by its instrumentation
 of the driving energy which gives life 
to all men and things4  ,every object   
and every man tells the same story with 
its different texture1 with its own     
tongue4 ,one plan is written in every   
atom1 woven in and through and around us
 in a veritable robe of glory4444 ,the  
farther a man goes in vision1 the more  
he sees that the plan is for joy2 that  
the plan is one2 that separateness and  
self-sense is illusion and pain2 that   
one story is written in every stone and 
leaf and star and heart--the one great  
love story of the universe4  ,miracles8 
,they are everywhere2 every day to one  
who enters upon the higher vision4 ,i   
heard a young man speak for an hour     
recently--rising to superb rhythm1 his  
voice modulated1 his mind constructive  
and inspired4 ,three years ago he was   
inarticulate4 ,no process of            
intellectual training could have brought
 him even the beginnings of mastery in  
this period--or in thirty years4 ,he had

 listened until he was full1 and then   
had spoken4  ,miracles every day here4  
,i am sometimes in awe of these young   
beings who show me such wisdom1 in years
 when the human child is supposed to be 
callow and fatuous1 his voice even a    
distraction4444 ,it is only that they   
have come to see the illusion of        
detached things2 to relate and cohere   
all together by the use of the power    
that seeks to flood through them4 ,i am 
in awe before them many times4 ,the     
child that can see fairies in wood and  
water and stone shall see so very soon  
the ,ineffable ,seven and the downcast  
immortals in the eyes of friends and    
strangers4  ,,footnotes3  #b ,from      
,midstream4     #bc  ,,more ,,about     
,,order   ,the order of the             
narrow-templed men is not to be         
criticised in itself4 ,in fact it must  
be accomplished before the fresh        
complications and the resulting larger  
dimensions of faculty may be entered    
upon4 ,the error lies in the hardening  

of the perceptions of children1 through 
the existing methods of purely mental   
training2 and in the manner of adult    
life1 wherein the one imperious aim is  
dollar-making4  ,the men employed in the
 building here worked ten hours the day4
 ,no man lives who can do a thing well  
for ten hours a day as a habit4 ,the    
last two or three hours of such a       
working-day is but a prolongation of    
strain and hunger4 ,here is a little    
town full of old young men4 ,there is no
 help for him who soldiers1 since that  
is the hardest work4 ,if you look at the
 faces of a half-hundred men engaged    
upon any labour1 you will observe that  
the tiredest faces belong to those of   
the structurally inert--the ones who    
have to surmount themselves as well as  
their tasks1 and who cannot forget      
themselves in their activity4  ,in many 
of the modern mills1 they called it a   
fine thing when the labour hours were   
shortened from ten to eight4 ,as ,i see 
it1 the man who is allowed to do the    

same thing every second or two for eight
 hours presents a picture of the purest 
tragedy4  ,two of the primary causes of 
human misery are competitive education  
of children and the endless             
multiplication of articles of trade by  
mechanical means4 ,of the first only a  
thought or two need be added4 ,i have   
suggested the spirit of the ,chapel1 in 
its upholding of the one whom ,i        
undertook lightly to reprimand for      
repeating a technical error4 ,all the   
others sustained him and waited almost  
breathlessly for me to cease1 so that ,i
 suddenly found myself out of order with
 one entity1 as it were4  ,the big plan 
of unity and brotherhood has been       
enunciated again and again--from the tub
 of ,diogenes1 from ,socrates and his   
golden-haired disciple2 from that superb
 slave1 ,epictetus1 whose spirit has    
since been a tonic for all races of men2
 from the deep-hearted emperor          
,aurelius--and even before these1 whom  
we have the temerity to call ,pagans4   

,then the ,master ,jesus came down1 and 
left the story told more clearly and    
perfectly than any4  ,a loaf of bread   
may be leavened by yeast over night1 but
 it requires thousands of years to      
leaven a planet with a new spiritual    
power4 ,we look at the world just now   
and are inclined to say that it is at   
its worst4 ,in truth1 this is the hour  
before daybreak4 ,in every land men are 
watching the ,east4 ,already some have  
cried out at the false dawns2 and in    
their misery afterward have turned back 
hopelessly to the strife--immersed      
themselves again in the long night of   
war4  ,but the causes of war are still  
operative in our midst1 and they are    
more terrible than trenches in          
,flanders1 because their effects must   
still be reckoned with after the madmen 
of ,europe have found their rest4 ,the  
idea of ,brotherhood has been brooding  
over the planet for thousands of years4 
,it tells us that all life is one2 that 
we do the best unto ourselves by turning

 outward our best to others1 and that   
which is good for the many is good for  
the one2 that harmony and beauty and    
peace is in the plan if we turn outward 
from self to service4  ,yet behold the  
millions of children taught at this hour
 on a competitive plan that reverses    
every idealism and shocks every impulse 
toward unity4 ,i would count a desperate
 evil 7one to be eradicated if possible 
by heroic measure7 the first competitive
 thought that insinuated itself in the  
minds of those who come to the ,chapel4 
,yet you and ,i have suffered this for  
years and years in our bringing up2 and 
the millions behind us--every day1 every
 hour1 in every class1 they are         
stimulated by this baneful energy out of
 the descent of man4 ,thus we are still 
making wars4 ,the child goes forth      
established in the immorality of taking 
what he can and giving only what he     
must--against every call1 every         
fragrance1 every flash of light from the
 new social order and the dream that    

shall bring us nearer home as a race4   
,again as adults we are slaves to the   
ruin of mechanically multiplied things4 
,on every hand1 we are stimulated to    
believe that our worth is in material   
possessions2 school and press and       
platform inciting us to the lie that we 
prosper by adding things unto           
ourselves4444 ,a certain automobile     
factory decides to build one hundred    
thousand machines within a year4 ,it is 
almost like a cataclysm when one begins 
to consider the maiming of the human    
spirit which follows in the wake of such
 a commercial determination4 ,mortgages1
 the impulse to stretch the means1 the  
binding slavery to matter to pay1 the   
rivalry of neighbours1 actual lapses of 
integrity1 the lie1 the theft1 the      
desire1 the spoliation of children1 the 
lowered vibration of the house1 the     
worry1 the fear--to say nothing of the  
ten thousand factory workers1 each of   
whom has built nothing4  ,there are men 
in that great mound of mills who have   

merely used a foot1 or a wrist1 or an   
eye4 ,some of these good mechanics hold 
a file1 others screw bolts1 for eight   
hours2 the many serve steel to the      
machines and pluck it forth--eight hours
 each day4 ,fifty men of the ten        
thousand have a concept of the finished 
task2 the rest have but a blind piece to
 do again and again1 until their ,order 
is madness1 and all the faculties of the
 human will are rendered automatic for  
money1 as if any form of wages could pay
 for these hells of routine4  ,each     
man's sense of origins1 his faculties   
won from ,nature1 his individuality and 
dispensations of human spirit1 all are  
deadened4 ,and for this men are said to 
be paid in dollars2 the mill is said to 
be a marvel for efficiency4  ,the       
mercantile directorate that gathers     
every four days1 to clip a wage here and
 stretch a margin there1 is innocent2   
the man who knocks down another for his 
purse is but an erring1 short-sighted   
child2 the hordes who weaken themselves 

in waste and indulgence are             
clean-hearted1 since they play fast and 
loose with what is in a sense their own 
property--but the efficiency system     
which uses men this way1 is a slayer of 
more than mind and body4 ,it commits the
 psychological crime4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,a man   
who has nothing but money to give is    
bound to be vulgar2 and he is never so  
vulgar as when he thinks he can pay in  
money for a fine task well done4 ,the   
man who does an excellent bit of        
production from his own centres of      
being1 puts his enduring self in it--a  
self said to be fashioned not of clay4  
,i repeat his work can only be paid for 
in kind4 ,you cannot buy any bit of fine
 spirit with money1 no gift of love or  
friendship1 no turning toward you of any
 creative force4 ,that which goes to you
 for a price1 is of the dimension of the
 price--matter yields unto you matter4  
,you can only purchase a fine           
instrument1 or a fine horse1 or the love

 of woman or child1 by presenting a     
surface that answers4 ,you possess them 
in so far as you liberate their secrets 
of expression4  ,i moved with a rich man
 about an estate which he had           
bought--and he didn't know the dogwood  
from the beech4 ,i doubt if he saw      
anything but bark and green1 shade and  
sun--a kind of twilight curtain dropped 
before his eyes4 ,there was a low hill  
with a mass of stones grouped on top4   
,i shall have those taken away1 he said 
idly4  ,why8  ,why1 they're just        
stones----  ,i didn't answer4444 ,he    
wouldn't have believed me1 nor possibly 
his landscape gardener4 ,he couldn't see
 through the twilight curtain the bleach
 or the tan of the rock pile1 its       
natural balance--that it was a challenge
 to a painter4 ,the place would be all  
hedged and efficient presently4 ,he     
spoiled everything2 yet he would have   
known how to deal with you had you      
brought to him a commercial             
transaction--the rest of his surfaces   

were covered in a thick1 leathery coat1 
very valuable in a septic-tank where air
 and light must be excluded4444 ,this   
man had another country estate in the   
,east and still another in the ,south4  
,i would point out merely that he did   
not truly own them4  ,rather it would   
seem that one must spend years to be    
worthy of communion with one hillside of
 dogwood4 ,according to what you can    
receive of any beauty1 is the measure of
 your worthiness4  ,i remember my first 
adventure with a player-piano4 ,i was   
conscious of two distinct emotions--the 
first a wearing tension lest some one   
should come to interrupt1 and the second
 that ,i did not deserve this1 that ,i  
had not earned it4444 ,the instrument   
had that excellence of the finely       
evolved things4 ,it seemed to me that   
the workmen had done something that     
money should not be able to buy4 ,one   
does not buy such voices and genius for 
the assembly of tones4 ,it seemed to me 
that ,i should have spent years of study

 to be worthy of this4 ,there is a      
difference1 as deep as life1 in the     
listening and in the doing4 ,something  
of the plan of it all1 is in that       
difference4 ,i found that the spirit ,i 
brought was more designed to be worthy  
of this happiness1 than any money could 
be4 ,i found that a man does not do real
 work for money4 ,that which he takes   
for his labour is but the incident of   
bread and hire1 but the real thing he   
puts into a fine task1 must be given4   
,one after another1 for many decades1   
workmen had given their best to perfect 
this thing that charmed me4 ,every part 
from ,bach's scale to the pneumatic     
boxes in the making of a piano and      
player had been drawn from the spirit of
 things by men who made themselves ready
 to receive4 ,they had toiled until they
 were fine2 then they received4  ,it was
 something the same as one feels when he
 has learned to read2 when the first    
messages come home to him from black and
 white1 and he realises that all the    

world's great literature is open to his 
hand4 ,again the great things are gifts4
 ,you cannot pay in matter for a        
spiritual thing2 you can only pay in    
kind4 ,i saw that the brutalisation of  
the player-piano resulted from people   
who thought they had earned the whole   
right1 because they paid a price2 that  
they did not bring the awe and reverence
 to their interpretations1 and therefore
 they got nothing but jingle and tinkle 
and din4  ,i didn't know the buttons and
 levers1 but ,i had an idea how a       
certain slow movement should sound1 if  
decently played4 ,in two hours the      
instrument gradually fitted itself to   
this conception4 ,it was ready in every 
detail2 only ,i was to blame for the    
failures4 ,the excitement and exultation
 is difficult to tell1 as ,i entered    
deeper and deeper into the genius of the
 machine4 ,it answered1 not in tempo and
 volume alone1 but in the pedal         
relaxations and throbs of force4 ,i     
thought of the young musicians who had  

laboured half their lives to bring to   
concert pitch the ,waldstein or the     
,emperor1 and that ,i had now merely to 
punctuate and read forth with love and  
understanding4444  ,a word further on   
the subject of disposing of one hundred 
thousand motor cars in a year4 ,you will
 say there was a market for them4 ,that 
is not true4 ,there is not a natural    
market for one-fourth of the            
manufactured objects in the world4 ,a   
market was created for these motor-cars 
by methods more original and gripping   
than ever went into the making of the   
motor or the assembly of its parts4 ,the
 herd-instinct of men was played upon4  
,in this particular case ,i do not know 
what it cost to sell one hundred        
thousand cars2 in any event it was      
likely less in proportion to the cost of
 the product than is usually spent in   
disposing of manufactured duplicates1   
because the methods were unique4444     
,foot and mouth and heart1 ,america is  
diseased with this disposal end4 ,more  

and more energy is taken from production
 and turned into packing and selling4   
,manufactured duplicates destroy        
workmen1 incite envy and covetousness1  
break down ideals of beauty1 promote    
junk-heaps1 enforce high prices through 
the cost of disposal1 and destroy the   
appreciation and acceptance of the few  
fine things4 ,these very statements are 
unprintable in newspapers and           
periodicals1 because they touch the     
source of revenue for such productions1 
which is advertising4  ,you will say    
that people want these things1 or they  
would not buy4 ,a people that gets what 
it wants is a stagnant people4 ,we are  
stuffed and sated with inferior objects4
 ,the whole art of life is identified   
with our appreciations1 not with our    
possessions4 ,we look about our houses  
and find that which we bought last month
 unapproved by the current style4 ,if we
 obey the herd-instinct 7and there is an
 intensity of stimulation on every hand 
for us to obey7 we must gather in the   

new1 the cheap1 the tawdry1 obeying the 
tradesmen's promptings1 not our true    
appreciations--in clothing1             
house-building and furnishing--following
 the heavy foot-prints of the           
advertising demon1 a restless matter-mad
 race4  ,we have lost the gods within2  
we have forgotten the real producers1   
the real workmen2 our houses are dens of
 the conglomerate1 and ,god knows that  
implicates the status of our minds4     
,william ,morris is happily spared from 
witnessing the atrocities which trade   
has committed in his name1 and the      
excellent beginning of taste and        
authority over matter inculcated by the 
spiritual integrity of ,ruskin is yet   
far from becoming an incentive of the   
many4  ,there are men who would die to  
make others see the wonderful           
character-building of productive labour4
 ,until the work is found for the man1  
or man rises to find his own2 until the 
great impetus in our national life is   
toward the end of developing the        

intrinsic values of each child1 and     
fitting the task to it2 so long as trade
 masters the many1 and the minds of the 
majority are attracted toward the simple
 theorem of making cheap and forcing    
sales1 or buying cheap and selling dear2
 so long as the child is competitively  
educated in great classes1 and the pride
 of life is in possession of material   
things1 instead of the eternal          
things--just so long will we have war   
and governmental stupidity1 and all     
shames and misery for our portion4      
#bd  ,,the ,,fresh ,,eye   ,living in   
rows1 conducting our movements and our  
apparel as nearly as possible in        
accordance with the hitch of the moment1
 singing the songs our neighbours       
sing--this is ,order1 but gregarian     
order4 ,it is thus that we lose or      
postpone the achievement of the fresh   
eye1 the sensitiveness to feel ourselves
 and the truth4 ,we accept that which we
 are told as true and beautiful2 we     
accept that which is accepted4 ,in      

reality1 each man's sense of beauty is a
 different treasure4 ,he must have the  
spirit of pioneers to come into his own4
  ,a few years ago ,i passed for a      
square or two along the main avenue of a
 large city--a sunny afternoon in early 
winter1 as ,i remember1 and the hour of 
promenade4 ,young women and girls were  
wearing reds of the most hideous        
shades--the reds of blood and lust and  
decadence4  ,those are the ,balkan reds1
 ,i was told4  ,a bit of poison has     
lingered from that shaft4 ,i saw        
something about ,america that ,i have   
been unable to forget4 ,the women and   
girls didn't know what they were doing4 
,they had accepted ,trade's offering of 
the season blindly4 ,trade had exploited
 the reds1 because the word ,balkans was
 in the air that ,fall1 on account of an
 extra vicious efflorescence of the     
fighting disease4 ,american mothers had 
allowed their children to ape           
barbarities of colour which are adjusted
 exactly to those sinking and           

horror-bound peoples--bloody as the     
,balkans--because ,trade had brought    
them in4  ,these reds meant that the    
,american multitude was unaware that    
certain colours are bad as hell4 ,trade 
will always lead a people astray4 ,the  
eye that wants something from you1      
cannot lead you into beauty1 does not   
know beauty4444 ,moreover1 we are led   
downward in taste by such short steps   
that often we forget where we have      
landed4444 ,i was sitting in a          
street-car just recently1 near the rear 
door where the conductor stood4 ,i had  
admired his quiet handling of many small
 affairs1 and the courtesy with which he
 managed his part4 ,when ,i saw the mild
 virtue and decency of his face and head
 and ears1 ,i wondered afresh that he   
should be there4  ,he did the same thing
 each day1 like a child compelled to    
remain at a certain small table to turn 
over again and again a limited and      
unvarying set of objects4 ,there were   
but a few people in the car4 ,i turned  

forward to the shoulders of the         
motorman2 and from his figure my mind   
wandered to the myriads of men like him1
 somehow opening and shutting valves    
upon the juice and upon the passing     
force of steam--through tunnels and     
trestles at this moment--driving trains 
and cars and ships around the world4    
,it was all a learning of ,order1 an    
integration of ,order2 and yet this     
motorman was held in rigid bands of     
steel1 making the same unswerving       
passage up and down the same streets1   
possibly a score of times each day--his 
lessons of ,order having long since lost
 their meaning2 his faculties narrowing 
as fingers tighten1 lest ,order break   
into chaos again4 ,and ,i wondered what 
a true teacher might have done for this 
motorman as a child1 to make the best   
and most of his forces4 ,the average    
child can be made into an extraordinary 
man4 ,in some day1 not too far1 it will 
be the first business of the ,fatherland
 to open the roads of production to     

those who are ready4  ,now ,i was back  
with the conductor2 found myself        
attentively regarding his trousers4     
,they were of heavy wool and blue1      
doubtless as clean as the usual         
every-day woollen wear of men4444 ,here 
is a peculiar thing3 ,if we wear white  
clothing for a day or two1 an           
unmistakable soil attaches1 so that     
change is enforced4 ,and yet1 since     
there is no cry of ,scandal across the  
more civilised zones of earth1 the many 
wear the same woollen outer clothing    
winter and summer for months at a       
stretch4 ,one must accept this          
conclusion3 ,it is not that we object to
 dirt1 but that we do not want the dirt 
obvious4 ,the garment that holds dirt   
may be worn until its threads break     
down1 but the garment that shows dirt   
must be washed4  444 ,they were heavy   
wool and blue4 ,it was not the fabric   
alone1 but the cut that held my eye4    
,they were shaped somehow like a wide ,w
 that a child might bend with stiff     

wire1 a letter made to stand alone4 ,i  
suppose some firm makes them in great   
quantities for motormen and conductors4 
,had we not been led by easy grades to  
the acceptance1 these things would have 
cried out for our eyes4 ,nowhere in the 
,orient or the ,islands1 is the male    
form made so monstrous4 ,had some one   
drawn them for us1 in a place where we  
are accustomed to look for caricature2  
had we seen them in comic opera1 or upon
 the legs of a ,pacific ,islander2 or   
had we come from another planet1 there  
would have been no mistake as to the    
debauchery of taste they represented4   
,over all1 was a sadness that this good 
man should be shamed so4  ,and when one 
thinks of what women have done in       
obedience to the tradesman's instincts  
in late years2 narrowing their waists   
one season1 widening their hips or      
accentuating the bust another1 loosening
 the abdomen as from a tightened stem   
the next--these are the real obscenities
 which we perform in the shelter of the 

herd4 ,exposure is frank and            
clean-hearted compared to these         
manifestations of human beings2 so that 
one with the beginnings of fresher      
vision cries out1 ,if ,i do not know1 if
 ,i have not taste and cannot see truly1
 at least let me do as others do not4444
 ,and again the heaviness of it all lies
 in the bringing up of children not to  
revolt4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,i talked of these matters 
to the ,chapel group4 ,once ,i had seen 
a tall man1 who was going away1 look    
down into the eyes of a little boy he   
loved1 saying3 ,never do anything in    
secret that you wouldn't do before your 
best friend4 ,the fact is1 the only way 
you can ever be alone is to be beneath  
yourself4 ,i remembered that as         
something very wise and warm4  ,it came 
to me1 as ,i talked1 that what we love  
best in children is their freshness of  
eye4 ,we repeat their sayings with      
pleasure because they see things without
 the world-training2 they see objects in

 many cases as they are4 ,it was but a  
step then to the fact that the artist or
 worker who brings up anything worthy1  
has done just this--reproduced the thing
 more nearly as it is1 because of a     
natural freshness of vision1 or because 
he has won back to himself through years
 of labour1 the absolute need of relying
 upon what his own senses and his own   
spirit bring him4 ,it was this reliance 
that ,i was endeavouring to inculcate in
 every day's work in the ,chapel4       
,again and again the children have made 
me see the dissolving of character which
 comes from all forms of acting1 even   
the primary defect of the novel as a    
vehicle1 and the inevitable breaking    
down in good time of every artificial   
form of expression4 ,it is true now1    
that an important message can be carried
 to the many more effectively in a play 
or a novel than through the straight    
white expression of its truth4 ,this is 
so because the many have been pandered  
to so long by artificial settings and   

colourings1 that the pure spirit of     
truth--white because it contains all    
colour--is not dominant and flaring     
enough for the wearied and plethoric    
eye4  ,we say that character-drawing in 
fiction1 for instance1 is an art4 ,a    
writer holds a certain picture of a man 
or woman in his brain1 as the story     
containing this character develops4 ,in 
drawing a low character1 the mind must  
be altered and deformed for its         
expression4 ,in a book of fiction of a  
dozen different characters1 the         
productive energy passes through a dozen
 different matrices before finding      
expression4 ,these forms lie in the     
mind1 during the progress of the novel2 
and since our own characters are formed 
of the straight expression of the       
thought as it appears in the brain1 one 
does not need to impress the conclusion 
that we are being false to ourselves in 
the part of fictionists1 no matter how  
consummate we become as artists4  ,it is
 an old story how the daughter of       

,dickens sat forgotten in his study1    
while he was at work upon some atrocious
 character of the under ,london world1  
possibly ,quilp2 how the great          
caricaturist left his desk for a mirror1
 and standing there went through the    
most extraordinary grimaces and         
contortions1 fixing the character firmly
 in his mind for a more perfect         
expression in words4  ,in this same     
regard1 one of the most interesting and 
sorrowful of all observations is the    
character disintegration of those who   
take up the work of acting as a career4 
,yet fiction writing is but a subtler   
form of acting in words4 ,the value of  
our books is in part the concision of   
character portrayal--the facility with  
which we are able to lose ourselves and 
be some one else4 ,often in earlier     
years1 ,i have known delight when some  
one said1 ,you must be that person when 
you are writing about him4 ,i would     
answer3 ,he comes clearer and clearer   
through a book and presently begins to  

do himself4 ,after that one goes over   
the early part of the book during which 
the character is being learned1 and     
corrects him in the light of the more   
nearly finished conception4  ,it was a  
betrayal of glibness1 of lightly-founded
 character1 a shiftiness which must     
pass4  ,the utterance of truth is not   
aided by passing through a brain that is
 cut like a hockey rink from the passage
 of many characters4 ,the expression of 
truth preserves its great vitality by   
passing in as near a straight line as   
possible from the source through the    
instrument4 ,the instrument is always   
inferior4 ,it is always somehow out of  
true1 because it is human and temporal4 
,it is not enhanced by human artifice1  
by actings1 nor by identification with  
fictions4 ,the law of all life tells us1
 and we do not need to be told if we    
stop to realise1 that the spirit of man 
is integrated by truth in expression1   
that the more nearly the truth we speak1
 the more nearly we bring the human and 

temporal to a par with the immortal     
within us4 ,bringing the mind to        
interpret the immortal is the true life1
 the true education1 the fruits of which
 are the love of men and serenity and   
growth4 ,i once heard it said that      
,carlyle1 ,whitman1 ,thoreau1 ,emerson  
and such men could not be artists in the
 fiction sense--that their efforts were 
pathetic1 when they tried to enflesh    
their literary efforts in story form4   
,this is true4 ,yet we do not count our 
greatest novelists and actors above them
 in the fine perspective of the years1  
for they were interpreters of the human 
spirit4 ,they interpreted more and more1
 as the years mounted upon them1 the    
human spirit as it played through their 
own minds1 which steadily conformed more
 nearly to truth4 ,the point of the     
whole matter is1 that in learning to    
interpret the human spirit more and more
 directly1 by actions in the world or   
written words apart1 the mind draws     
increasingly deep from a source that is 

inexhaustible1 and its expression       
finally becomes so rich and direct and  
potent that acting and fictioning of any
 form is impossible4  ,again1 it is the 
straight expression of things as they   
find them1 that charms us in the words  
of children and masters4 ,the true      
education is to encourage such          
expression1 to keep the passage between 
the mind and its centre of origins wide 
open for the forth-sending of the       
inimitable and the actual4  ,the young  
minds here are trained to realise that  
the biddings of their inner life are    
more interesting and reliable than any  
processes merely mental can possibly be4
 ,unless their teacher fails1 they will 
become more and more the expressionists 
of themselves4 ,no matter what form     
their work takes in the world1 the ideal
 is held that the dimension of the human
 spirit will be upon their work1 and    
this alone makes the task of any man or 
woman singular and precious and of the  
elect4  ,i hear again1 ,but you will    

make them solitaries4444 ,the solitary  
way is first--all the great companions  
have taken that way at first4           
,solitude--that is the atmosphere for   
the conception of every heroism4 ,the   
aspirations of the solitary turn to     
,god4 ,having heard the voice of        
,god--then comes the turning back to    
men4444 ,to be powerful in two          
worlds--that is the ideal4 ,there is a  
time for nestlings--and a time for great
 migratory flights4     #be  ,,the      
,,choice ,,of ,,the ,,many   ,a teacher 
said upon hearing the title of this     
book1 that she supposed it had to do    
with the child in relation to the state 
or nation--a patriotic meaning4 ,i was  
wrong in getting a sting from this1 for 
one should not be ambiguous4 ,the sting 
came because of a peculiar distaste for 
national integrations and boundaries of 
any kind between men4 ,the new          
civilisation which the world is         
preparing for1 and which the war seems  
divinely ordained to hasten to us1 will 

have little to do with tightly bound and
 self-contained peoples4 ,in fact1 such 
nations furnish in themselves an        
explosive force for disruption4 ,little 
more than material vision is now        
required to perceive most of the nations
 of lower ,europe gathered like crones  
about a fire hugging the heat to their  
knees1 their spines touched with death4 
,the work in the ,chapel is very far    
from partisanship1 nationalism and the  
like4 ,it has been a true joy to watch  
the young minds grasp the larger        
conception4 ,it is as if they were      
prepared for it--as if they had been    
waiting4 ,encouraged to look to their   
own origins for opinion and             
understanding2 taught that what they    
find there is the right opinion and     
conception for them1 they find it mainly
 out of accord with things as they are4 
,they express the thing as they see it1 
and in this way build forms of thought  
for the actions of the future to pass   
through4  ,this is sheer realism4 ,we   

have always called those who walked     
before us1 the mystics1 because the     
paths they tread are dim to our eyes and
 their distance far ahead4 ,that which  
is the mystic pathway of one generation 
is the open highway of the next4 ,no man
 ever felt the awakening of his spirit  
and bowed to its manifestation1 who was 
not a mystic to the many or few about   
him1 and always the children of his     
fellows come to understand him better   
than their fathers4  ,i say to them     
here3 ,i do not expect common things    
from you4 ,i expect significant things4 
,i would have you become creatively     
significant as mothers and as writers   
and as men4 ,the new civilisation awaits
 you--new thought1 the new life1 superb 
opportunities for ushering in an heroic 
age4  ,you are to attempt the           
impossible4 ,nothing of the temporal    
must hold you long or master you4       
,immortality is not something to be won2
 it is here and now in the priceless    
present hour1 this moving point that    

ever divides the past from the future4  
,practice daily to get out of the       
three-score-and-ten delusion1 into the  
eternal scope of things1 wherein the    
little troubles and the evils which so  
easily and continually beset1 are put   
away4 ,there is no order in the         
temporal1 no serenity1 no universality4 
,you who are young can turn quickly4    
,that which you suffer you have earned4 
,if you take your suffering apart and   
search it1 you will find the hidden     
beauty of it and the lesson4 ,if you    
learn the lesson1 you will not have to  
suffer this way again4 ,every day there 
is a lesson1 every hour4 ,the more you  
pass1 the faster they come4 ,one may    
live a life of growth in a year4 ,that  
which is stagnant is dying2 that which  
is static is dead4  ,there is no art in 
the temporal4 ,you are not true workmen 
as slaves of the time4                  
,three-score-and-ten--that is but an    
evening camp in a vast continental      
journey4 ,relate your seeming           

misfortunes not to the hour1 but to the 
greater distances1 and the pangs of them
 are instantly gone4 ,art--those who    
talk art in the temporal--have not begun
 to work4 ,if they only would look back 
at those masters whose work they follow1
 whose lives they treasure1 they would  
find that they revere men who lived     
beyond mere manifestations in a name1   
and lifted themselves out of the        
illusion of one life being all4  ,there 
is no philosophy in the temporal4 ,that 
which we call reason and science changes
 like the coats and ties of men4        
,material science talks loud1 its eyes  
empty1 clutching at one restless comet  
and missing the universe4 ,that thing   
known as psychology taught to-day in    
colleges will become even for your      
generation a curio1 sacred only for the 
preservation of humour4 ,no purpose that
 confines itself to matter can become a 
constructive effect1 for matter breaks  
down1 is continually changed into new   
forms4  ,electric bulbs wear out and are

 changed1 but the current does not      
change4 ,the current lights them one    
after another of different sizes1 as you
 put them on4 ,the bulb is an instrument
 like the brain4 ,you turn on the power1
 and there is light4 ,you would not rely
 upon the passing machine1 when you know
 the secret of its force4 ,matter is    
driven1 flesh is driven1 all that       
answers to the pull of the ground is    
driven and changed and broken down and  
reunited in ever refining forms4 ,that  
in your heart--that sleeping one--is    
dynamic with all that you have been4    
,your brain knows only the one4 ,do not 
forget your native force1 as an immortal
 being4 ,you may be workers in magic4   
,do not become bewildered by what the   
world calls good4 ,the world does not   
know4 ,follow the world and in that hour
 when you have obeyed its dictates and  
learned its wants--its taste will change
 and leave you nothing4 ,that which the 
many have chosen is of the many4 ,the   
voice of the many is not the voice of   

,god--it is the voice of the temporal   
and its destiny is swift mutation4      
,nothing greater than the many can come 
from the ballot of the many2 that is so 
well learned that its few and startling 
exceptions but help us to see the       
bleakness of the blind choice of the    
crowd1 which conducts us sometimes to   
war and invariably to commonness4 ,the  
few great men who have touched the seats
 of the mighty in this or any           
country--have walked with ,god alone    
against the crowd--until they were given
 the power to master their way into     
authority4  ,the choice of the many in a
 political leader is not different from 
its choice of a book or a flower or a   
fabric4 ,a low vibration is demanded4   
#bf  ,,the ,,rose ,,chapter   ,i        
remember the ,february day in ,chapel   
when the winter first became irksome4   
,it had settled down in mid-,november   
and been steady and old-fashioned4 ,the 
little girl opened the matter4 ,winter  
had become a tiresome lid upon her      

beloved ,nature--a white lid that had   
been on quite long enough4 ,she had not 
let us forget the open weather much1 for
 her talk and her essays had to do with 
growing days invariably4444 ,the ,abbot 
began to talk of ,spring4 ,spring had   
also appeared in his paper1 though      
outside there was two feet of steely    
frost in the ground4444 ,memories of    
other ,springs began to consume us that 
day4 ,we talked of buds and bugs and    
woodland places--of the gardens we would
 make presently4  ,when roses began to  
come out for me the first time1 said the
 old man1 ,i sort of lost interest in   
the many flowers4 ,i saw a rose-garden  
and little beside--vines1 of course4 ,i 
know men who fall like this into the    
iris1 the dahlia1 the gladiolus and the 
peony4 ,there are folks who will have   
salvia and petunias1 and ,i know a man  
who has set out poppies in his front    
yard with unvarying resolution--oh1 for 
many years4 ,he knows just how to set   
them out1 and abandonment is over for   

that place with the first hard frost in 
the ,fall4 ,there is one good thing     
about poppies4 ,they do not lie to you4 
,they are frankly bad--the single ones1 
dry and thin with their savage burning1 
their breath from some deep-concealed   
place of decay4 ,the double poppies are 
more dreadful--born of evil thoughts1   
blackness blent with their reds4        
,petunias try to appear innocent1 but   
the eye that regards them as the        
conclusion in decorative effect1 has    
very far to come4 ,every man has the    
flower that fits him1 and very often it 
is the badge of his place in human      
society4  ,the morning-glory is sweeter 
natured and somewhat finer in colour    
than the petunia1 but very greedy still4
 ,it does not appreciate good care4     
,plant it in rose soil and it will pour 
itself out in lush madness that forgets 
to bloom--like a servant that one spoils
 by treating as a human4 ,each flower   
tells its story as does a human face4   
,one needs only to see deeply enough4   

,the expression of inner fineness makes 
for beauty4  ,which remarks were        
accepted without comment4  ,again1 the  
old man added1 some of the accepted     
things are not so far along in beauty4  
,tulips are supposed to be such         
rejoicers4 ,i can't see it ,they are    
little circles1 a bit unpleasant and    
conceited4 ,if one were to explain on   
paper what a flower is like1 to a man   
who had never seen anything but trees1  
he would draw a tulip4 ,they are        
unevolved4 ,there is raw green in the   
tulip yellows2 the reds are like a fresh
 wound1 and the whites are either leaden
 or clayey4444 ,violets are almost      
spiritual in their enticements4 ,they   
have colour1 texture1 form1 habit1 and  
an exhalation that is like a            
love-potion--earthy things that ask so  
little1 do so well apart and low among  
the shadows4 ,they have come far like   
the bees and the martins4 ,lilacs are   
old in soul1 too1 and their fragrance is
 loved untellably by many mystics1      

though the green of their foliage is    
questionable4 ,nothing that is old      
within is complacent4 ,complacency goes 
with little orbits in men and all       
creatures4  ,cats are complacent1 said  
the ,abbot4  ,nasturtiums are really    
wonderful the more one lives with them1 
the voice of the ,chapel went on4 ,they 
are not so old1 but very pure4 ,their   
odour1 in delicacy and earth-purity1 is 
something that one cannot express his   
gratitude for--like the mignonette4     
,their colouring and form warms us unto 
dearer feelings4 ,they seem fairer and  
brighter each year--not among the great 
things yet1 but so tenderly and purely  
on the way4 ,then ,i may betray a       
weakness of my own--and ,i am glad      
to--but ,i love the honeysuckle vine4   
,its green is good1 its service eager1  
the white of its young blossoms very    
pure and magically made4 ,the yellow of 
its maturer flowers is faintly touched  
with a durable and winning brown like   
the ,hillingdon rose1 and its fragrance 

to me though very sweet has never cloyed
 through long association4 ,yet clover  
scent and many of the lilies and        
hyacinths and plants that flower in     
winter from tubers1 can only be endured 
in my case from a distance4  ,soon he   
will get to his roses1 said the little  
girl4  ,yes1 ,i am just to that now4 ,it
 has been an object of curiosity to me  
that people raise so many just roses4   
,here is a world by itself4 ,there is a 
rose for every station in society4      
,there are roses for beast and saint2   
roses for passion and renunciation2     
roses for temple and sanctuary1 and     
roses to wear for one going down into   
,egypt4 ,there are roses that grow as   
readily as morning-glories1 and roses   
that are delicate as children of the    
,holy ,spirit1 requiring the love of the
 human heart to thrive upon1 before     
sunlight and water4 ,there is a rose for
 ,laura1 a rose for ,beatrice1 a rose   
for ,francesca4444 ,do you know that one
 of the saddest things in the world1 is 

that we have to hark back so far for the
 great romances8 ,here am ,i recalling  
the names of three women of long ago    
whose kisses made immortals of their    
mates1 as thousands of other writers    
have done who seek to gather a          
background out of the past against which
 to measure their romances4  ,you will  
say that the romances of to-day are not 
told2 that a man and woman of to-day    
keep the romance apart of their life    
from the world--of all things most      
sacred4 ,you may discuss this point with
 eloquence and at length1 but you are   
not on solid ground4 ,a great romance   
cannot be veiled from the world1 because
 of all properties that the world waits 
for1 this is the most crying need4      
,great lovers must be first of all great
 men and women2 and lofty love          
invariably finds expression1 since      
greatness1 both acknowledged and        
intrinsic1 comes to be through          
expression4 ,a great romance will       
out--through a child or a book or some  

mighty heroism4 ,its existence changes  
all things in its environment4 ,one     
looks about the place of it and finds   
the reporters there4 ,the highest deeds 
and utterances and works have come to   
man through the love of woman2 their    
origins can be traced to a woman's      
house1 to a woman's arms4 ,a woman is   
the mother of a man's children1 but the 
father of his actions in the world4 ,he 
is but the instrument of bearing2 it is 
her energy that quickens his            
conceiving4444  ,roses--how strangely   
they have had their part in the loves of
 men and women4 ,do you think that our  
,clovelly roses have come to be of      
themselves8 ,do you think that the      
actual hurt of their beauty--the        
restless1 nameless quest that comes     
spurring to our hearts from their silent
 leaning over the rim of a vase--is     
nothing more than a product of soil and 
sun8 ,has their great giving to human   
romances been dead as moonlight8 ,have  
roses taken nothing in return8444 ,i    

would not insist before the world that  
the form and fragrance and texture of   
the rose has come to be from the        
magnetisms of lovers1 but we of the     
,chapel may think as we will4 ,that     
liberty is our first law4 ,we may       
believe1 if we like1 that the swans of  
,bruges have taken something in return  
for their mystic influence upon the     
,belgian lovers at evening--something   
that makes a flock of flying swans one  
of the most thrilling spectacles in     
,nature4  444 ,i was speaking of how    
curious it is that so many people who   
have reached roses--have ended their    
quest on the borders1 at least that they
 linger so long4 ,they raise red roses2 
they bring forth spicy ,june roses4 ,in 
truth1 the quest never ends4 ,we do not 
stop at the ,clovelly1 which has so     
strangely gladdened our past summer4 ,we
 pass from the red to the white to the  
pink roses--and then enter the garden of
 yellow roses1 the search ever more     
passionate--until we begin to discover  

that which our hearts are searching     
for--not upon any plant but in ideal4   
,the instant that we conceive the       
picture1 earth and sun have set about   
producing the flower--as action         
invariably follows to fill the matrix of
 the thought4 ,at least we think so--as 
the universe is evolving to fulfil at   
last the full thought of ,god4444  ,the 
quest never ends4 ,from one plant to    
another the orchid-lover goes1 until he 
hears at last of the queen of all       
orchids1 named of the ,holy ,spirit1    
which has the image of a white dove set 
in a corolla as chaste as the morning   
star4 ,an old ,spanish priest of saintly
 piety tells him1 and he sets out for   
the farthest continent to search4 ,it   
was his listening1 his search for the   
lesser beauty that brought him to the   
news of the higher4 ,it is always so4   
,we find our greater task in the        
performance of the lesser ones4444 ,but 
roses--so many by-paths1 because roses  
are the last and highest words in       

flowers1 and the story they tell is so  
significant with meanings vital to      
ourselves and all ,nature4  ,first ,i   
want to divulge a theory of colour1     
beginning with the greens which are at  
the bottom4 ,there are good greens--the 
green of young elms and birches and     
beeches4 ,green may be evil too1 as the 
lower shades of yellow may be--and      
certain blends of green and yellow are  
baleful4 ,the greens are first to       
appear4 ,they are ,nature's nearest     
emerging--the water-colours--the green  
of the water-courses and the lowlands4  
,nature brings forth first the green and
 then the sun does his part4 ,between   
the rose-gold and the green of a lichen1
 there seems to be something like ninety
 degrees of evolution--the full quarter 
of the circle that is similarly         
expressed between the prone spine of the
 serpent and the erect spine of man4    
,reds are complementary to the greens   
and appear next1 refining more or less  
in accord with the refinement of the    

texture upon which they are laid2 a     
third refinement taking place1 too1 that
 of form4 ,these improvements of value  
are not exactly concurrent4 ,there are  
roses1 for instance1 to represent all   
stages--roses that are specialising in  
their present growth1 one might say1 in 
form or colour or texture2 but in the   
longer line of growth1 the refinement is
 general4 ,we look from our window at   
the ,other ,shore and a similar analogy 
is there4 ,from this distance it seems  
but one grand sweep to the point of the 
breakers1 but when we walk along the    
beach1 we are often lost to the main    
curve in little indentations1 which     
correspond to the minor specialisations 
of evolving things4 ,it is the same in  
man's case4 ,we first build a body1 then
 a mind1 then a soul--and growth in the 
dimension of soul unifies and beautifies
 the entire fabric4 ,all ,nature reveals
 to those who see--that the plan is     
one4444  ,the first roses were doubtless
 of a watery red4 ,their colour evolved 

according to association of the         
particular plants1 some into the deeper 
reds1 others paling to the white4 ,it   
was the latter that fell into the path  
of truer progress4 ,reaching white1 with
 a greatly refined texture1 the sun     
began to paint a new beauty upon        
them--not the pink that is a diluted    
red1 but the colouring of sunlight upon 
the lustre of a pearl4 ,the first reds  
were built upon the greens2 this new    
pink was laid upon a white base4  ,the  
story is the same through all evolving  
things4 ,growth is a spiral4 ,we return 
to the same point but upon a higher     
level4 ,our ascent is steadily          
upward--always over hills and valleys1  
so to speak1 but our valleys always     
higher above the level of the sea4 ,so  
that the white is a transition--an      
erasure of the old to prepare for the   
finer colouring4  ,and now comes the    
blend of the maiden pink and the        
sunlight gold4 ,the greens and the reds 
are gone entirely4 ,mother ,earth brings

 up the rose with its virgin purity of  
tint1 and the sun plays its gold upon   
it4 ,there are pink and yellow roses to 
show all the processes of this          
particular scope of progress2 some still
 too much pink1 other roses have fallen 
by the way into lemon and ochre and     
sienna2 there are roses that have       
reverted to the reds again2 roses that  
have been caught in a sort of fleshly   
lust and have piled on petals upon      
petals as the ,holland maidens pile on  
petticoats1 losing themselves to form   
and texture and colour1 for the gross   
illusion of size4 ,we see whole races of
 men lost in the same illusion4444      
,there are roses that have accomplished 
all but perfection1 save for a few spots
 of red on the outer petals--like the   
persistent adhering taint of ancient    
sins4444 ,but you have seen the         
,clovellys--they are the best we have   
found4 ,they have made us deeper and    
wiser for their beauty4 ,like some      
saintly lives--they seem to have come   

all but the last of the ninety degrees  
between the green of the level          
water-courses and the flashing gold of  
the meridian sun4444 ,the ,mother has   
borne them1 and in due time 7as men must
 do1 or revert to the ground again7 they
 have turned to the light of the        
,father4444 ,the fragrance of these     
golden teas is the sublimate of all     
,nature4 ,man1 in the same way1 is      
inclusive of all beneath4 ,he contains  
earth1 air1 water1 fire and all their   
products4 ,in the tea-rose is embodied  
all the forces of plant-nature1 since   
they are the highest manifestation4444  
,the ,june roses have lost the way in   
their own spice2 so many flowers are    
sunk in the stupors from their own heavy
 sweetness4 ,the mignonette has         
sacrificed all for perfume1 and the ,old
 ,mother has given her something not    
elsewhere to be found2 the nasturtium   
has progressed so purely as to have     
touched the cork of the inner vial1 but 
the golden teas have brought the        

fragrance itself to our nostrils4 ,those
 who are ready can sense the whole      
story4 ,it is the fragrance of the ,old 
,mother's being4 ,you can sense it      
without the rose1 on the wings of a     
,south ,wind that crosses water or      
meadows after a rain4     #bg  ,,letters
   ,outside1 as ,i have said1 it was    
cracking cold4 ,we talked thirstily by  
the big fire1 discussed the perfect     
yellows in ,nature--symbols of purest   
aspiration--and the honest browns that  
come to the sunlight-gold from service  
and wear--the yellow-brown of clustered 
honey bees1 of the ,sannysin robe1 of   
the purple martin's breast4 ,we were    
thirsting for ,spring before the fire4  
,the heart of man swells and buds like a
 tree4 ,he waits for ,spring like all   
living things4 ,the first months of     
winter are full of zest and joy1 but the
 last becomes intolerable4 ,the little  
girl had not let us forget at all1 and  
so we were yearning a full month too    
soon4  ,i know a bit of woods1 said the 

,abbot4 ,it is only two miles away4 ,a  
creek runs through it1 and there are    
hills all 'round--lots of hickory and   
elm and beech4 ,there's one beech woods 
off by itself4 ,maples and chestnuts are
 there1 too1 and many little cedars4    
,there is a log house in the centre1 and
 right near it a ,spring----  ,he was   
talking like an old saint would talk of 
the ,promised ,land4  ,you are breaking 
our hearts1 ,i said4  ,the hills are    
dry1 so you can go early1 he went on4   
,the cattle have been there in season1  
as long as ,i can remember1 so there are
 little open meadows like lawns4 ,the   
creek is never dry1 and the ,spring near
 the log house never runs dry4 ,i could 
go there now----  ,so could ,i1 said the
 little girl4  ,they almost trapped me4 
,i stirred in the chair1 and remembered 
there was but an hour or two of daylight
 left in the afternoon4444 ,besides     
there was a desk covered with           
letters4444 ,people ask problems of     
their own1 having fancied perhaps that  

they met a parallel somewhere in the    
writings from this ,study4 ,i used to   
answer these perfunctorily1 never       
descending to a form but accepting it as
 a part of the labour of the work4 ,i   
shudder now at the obtuseness of that4  
,i have met people who said1 ,i have    
written you several letters1 but never  
mailed them4  ,why8 ,i would ask4       
,answers to this question summed into   
the reason that they found themselves   
saying such personal things that they   
were afraid ,i would smile or be        
bored4444 ,letters are regarded as a    
shining profit now1 a fine part of the  
real fruits4 ,the teaching-relation with
 young minds has shown me the wonderful 
values of direct contact4 ,the class of 
letters that supplies sources of human  
value are from men and women who are too
 fine ever to lose the sense of         
proportion4 ,the letters that are       
hardest to answer1 and which remain the 
longest unanswered1 are from people who 
have merely intellectual views2 those   

who are holding things in their minds   
with such force that their real message 
is obstructed4 ,i dislike aggressive    
mentality2 it may be my weakness1 but   
much-educated persons disorder this     
atmosphere4 ,they want things2 they want
 to discuss4 ,a man is not free to give 
nor to receive when his hand or brain is
 occupied with holding4 ,i have had the 
choicest relations with honest          
criticism1 the criticism that is        
constructive because the spirit of it is
 not criticism4 ,letters1 however1      
critical or otherwise1 that are heady1  
do not bring the beauty that we seem to 
need1 nor do they draw the answers they 
were designed for4 ,the pure human      
impulse is unmistakable4  ,there are    
letters from people who want things4    
,some people want things so terribly1   
that the crush of it is upon their      
pages4 ,i do not mean autographs4 ,those
 who have a penchant for such matters   
have learned to make reply very easy2   
nor do ,i mean those who have habits4   

,there seems to be a class of men and   
women who want to do literature for     
money1 and who ask such questions as1   
,what is the best way to approach a     
publisher8 ,what should a writer expect 
to make from his first novel8 ,do you   
sell outright or on royalty1 and how    
much should one ask on a first book1 if 
the arrangement is made this or that    
way8  ,i think of such as the           
eighty-thousand-the-year folk4 ,the     
detail of producing the novel is second 
to the marketing4 ,the world is so full 
of meaning to the effect that fine work 
is not produced this way2 and yet1 again
 and again1 this class of writers have  
gotten what they want4 ,much money has  
been made out of books by those who     
wrote for that4 ,people1 in fact1 who   
have failed at many things1 have settled
 down in mid-life and written books that
 brought much money4  ,but such are only
 incidents4 ,they are not of consequence
 compared to the driving impulse which  
one man or woman in a hundred follows1  

to write to one who has said something  
that quickens the heart4444 ,there was a
 letter on the desk that day from a     
young woman in one of the big finishing 
schools4 ,the message of it was that she
 was unbearably restless1 that her      
room-mate was restless4 ,they were      
either out of all truth and reason1 or  
else the school was1 and their life at  
home as well4 ,they had been brought up 
to take their place in that shattered   
world called ,society--winter for       
accomplishments1 summers for mountain   
and shore4 ,they were very miserable and
 they seemed to sense the existence of a
 different world4444 ,was there such a  
world8 ,was there work for women to do8 
,was it all an un-mattered ideal that   
such a world existed8 ,this letter      
achieved an absolute free-hearted       
sincerity in the final page or two--that
 most winning quality of the younger    
generation4  444 ,then1 many people are 
whole-heartedly in love around the      
world4 ,letters often bring in this     

reality1 many calling for a wisdom that 
is not of our dispensation4444 ,it was  
from personal letters first of all that 
,i learned of the powerful corrective   
force1 which is being established       
against ,american materialism along the 
,western coast4 ,there is to-day an     
increasingly finer surface for the      
spiritual things of art and life1 the   
farther westward one travels across the 
,states4 ,it is a conviction here that  
the vital magic of ,america's ideal1    
promulgated in the small eastern        
colonies1 will be saved1 if at all1 by  
the final stand of its defenders with   
their backs to the ,pacific4  ,all our  
,east has suffered from the decadent    
touch of ,europe4 ,matter is becoming   
dense and unescapable in the ,east4     
,chicago1 a centre of tremendous        
vitalities of truth1 is making a        
splendid fight against the entrenchments
 of the temporal mania2 but in the      
larger sense1 all that is living spirit 
is being driven westward before gross   

,matter--westward as light tends1 as the
 progress of civilisation and extinction
 tends4  ,the gleam is in the ,west1 but
 it faces the ,east4 ,it is rising4 ,in 
,california1 if anywhere in the world1  
the next ,alexandria is to be builded4  
,many strong men are holding to this    
hope1 with steady and splendid          
idealisation4  ,but there is black      
activity there1 too4 ,always where the  
white becomes lustrous the black        
deepens4 ,on the desk before me on that 
same winter day1 was a communication    
from ,san ,francisco--the last to me of 
several documents from a newly-formed   
society for applying psychology4 ,the   
documents were very carefully done1     
beautifully typed and composed4 ,they   
reckoned with the new dimension which is
 in the world1 which is above flesh and 
above brain2 which is1 in fact1 the     
unifying force of the brain faculties1  
called here ,intuition4 ,the founders of
 this society reckoned1 too1 with the   
fact that psychology as it has been     

taught from a material basis in schools 
and colleges is a blight4 ,one can't1 as
 a purely physical being1 relate himself
 to mental processes2 nor can one       
approach the super-mental area by the   
force of mentality alone4  ,but ,i found
 the turning in these documents with    
alarm2 that the purpose divulged was to 
master matter for material ends4 ,this  
is black business--known to be black    
before the old ,alexandria1 known to be 
black before the ,christ came4 ,they had
 asked for comment1 even for criticism4 
,i recalled that psychology is the      
science of the soul1 and wrote this     
letter3  ,i have received some of your  
early papers and plans1 and thank you4  
,i want to offer an opinion in good     
spirit4 ,i find the powerful impulse    
running through your effort1 as         
expressed in the papers ,i have read--to
 play to commerce and the trade mind4   
,this is developing fast enough without 
bringing inner powers to work in the    
midst of these low forces4 ,they will   

work4 ,they will master1 but it seems to
 me that spiritual ruin will result4    
,for these forces which you show in     
operation are the real vitalities of    
man1 which used other than in the higher
 schemes of life--call in the bigger    
devils for man to cope with4 ,when one  
begins to use the dimension of the inner
 life1 before the lower phases of the   
self are mastered1 he becomes a peril to
 himself and to others4 ,i feel that ,i 
do not need to be explicit to           
psychologists4 ,i want to be on record  
as strongly urging you to be sure that  
the animal is caged before you loose the
 angel4 ,also that ,i have a conviction 
that there are ten times too many       
tradesmen in the world now2 and that    
office-efficiency is not the kind that  
,america is in need of4 ,i repeat that  
,i know you are in the way of real work1
 and that's why ,i venture to show my   
point of view2 and please believe me    
energetic only toward the final good of 
the receptive surface you have set out  

to impress4     #bh  ,,the ,,abbot      
,,departs   ,one day in ,march1 the     
,abbot said3  ,you know that woods ,i   
was telling you about8  ,yes4  ,well1 my
 father bought it the other day4  444   
,something rolled over me1 or within4   
,this was a pervading ache that had to  
do with the previous summer4 ,i had     
ridden several times to the ,perfect    
,lane4 ,it cut a man's farm in two from 
north to south and was natural2 that is1
 the strip of trees had been left when  
the land was cleared1 and they had      
reached a venerable age4 ,oak1 hickory  
and beech--clean1 vast1 in-their-prime  
forest-men--with thorn and dogwood      
growing between4 ,it had been like a    
prayer to ride through that ,lane4 ,the 
cattle had made a path on the clay and  
the grass had grown in soft and         
blue-green in the shade4 ,in sapling    
days1 the great trees had woven their   
trunks on either side of a rail-fence   
that had stood for a half-century4 ,it  
was an approach to the farm-house that  

an artist would have named an estate    
after--or a province4  ,then came the   
day that ,i rode toward a smudge in the 
sky1 and found men and boys at work     
burning and cutting4 ,the superb aisle  
was down4 ,i turned the horse and rode  
back4 ,i learned that in the fields on  
either side of the lane a strip of land1
 fifty or sixty feet wide1 had been too 
much shaded so that the corn and oats   
had not prospered4 ,perhaps it was there
 that the cruelty of the narrow-templed 
,order made its deepest impression4 ,god
 bless the fodder--but what a price to  
pay4 ,they had burned the thorn and     
dogwood1 felled the giants2 they would  
plough under that sacred cattle-path4   
,then ,i thought of the denuded lands of
 ,north ,america2 the billions of cubic 
feet of natural gas wasted2 lakes of    
oil1 provinces of pine and hard-wood    
vanished2 the vast preserves of game    
destroyed to the wolf and the pig and   
the ostrich still left in man's breast4 
,the story of the struggle for life on  

,mars came to me--how the only water    
that remains in that globe of quickened 
evolution is at the polar caps1 and that
 the canals draw down from the meltings 
of the warm season the entire supply for
 the midland zones4 ,they have stopped  
wastage on ,mars4  ,it was these things 
that came to me at the mere mention of  
the transfer of the woodland property4  
,if it were going to be cut1 ,i was glad
 ,i hadn't seen it1 and certainly ,i    
didn't want to enter now4  ,what's your 
father going to do with it8 ,i asked4   
,use it for a pasture4  ,isn't going to 
cut it--any of it8  ,no4  ,always there 
had been something absolute about the   
,abbot's ,no and ,yes4 ,i took hope4    
,is it thin enough to pasture8  ,the    
main piece is4 ,better come and see4  ,a
 pair of rubber boots in the corner of  
the ,chapel caught my eye and the wan   
light of ,march outside4  ,there's      
everything there--a virgin beech wood--a
 few acres of second-growth stuff that  
has all the vines and trailers--then the

 stream and the big hollow where the    
cattle move up and down4  ,did you have 
anything to do with keeping it          
unspoiled8 ,i asked4  ,my father didn't 
intend to cut anything right away4 ,he  
might have thinned the pasture section a
 little4 ,i asked him not to4 ,when he  
saw the way ,i felt about it1 he said he
 would never cut it4  ,there was a      
healing in that never4444 ,the ,abbot   
was not the kind to ask his father for  
unreasonable things4 ,i had seen the two
 together1 and had studied their        
relation with some pleasure4 ,in the    
main1 the father had merely to          
understand1 to be at one with the       
boy4444 ,it happened that we were alone 
in the ,chapel at that time4 ,i reached 
for the rubber-boots4  ,i'll ride as far
 as town and put the horse up1 said ,i4 
,meet me at the far-end in a half-hour  
and we'll start the hike from there4    
,he was off at once4 ,chillness was     
still in the air1 the land grey1 clouds 
yellowish-grey and watery4  ,we slipped 

out behind the stores and outhouses to a
 field that had a stream running        
across--a stream and a hill and a band  
of oaks that still held fast to a few   
leaves on the lower limbs1 where the    
winds could not get at them so freely4  
,you can't expect to get anything out of
 an oak-tree without working for it4 ,i 
have seen an oak-log softened to punk1  
the bark gone1 having lain in a woodland
 shadow1 doubtless for thirty or forty  
years1 but still holding fast to its    
unmistakable grain and formation1 though
 you could rub it to powder between the 
fingers4 ,for quite a little way1 we    
followed the stream which was swollen   
with melting snows1 and then straight   
toward the wooded horizon line1 the     
afternoon hastening so that we marched  
with it1 hot under our sweaters1        
presently getting the stride of fence   
and ditch4 ,the sun appeared at times   
milk-like and ghostly in the            
south-west4444 ,that was the first time 
,i saw the ,amphitheatre4  ,we had      

reached the edge of the woodland and the
 height of land and looked over the     
wooded slope into a silent pasture-land1
 a stream winding through the centre4   
,the grass had been cropped to the last 
of the ,fall days1 and in the recent    
thaws the stream had overrun the entire 
bottom1 so that the lowland pasture was 
not only tonsured1 but combed and       
washed4 ,i looked up4 ,a beech-tree was 
shivering on the slope beside me1       
holding fast to her leaves of paper     
white on wide and pendent branches2 a   
smooth and beautiful trunk of bedford   
grey1 with eyes like kine carved upon   
it4 ,then ,i saw that this was but one  
of a sisterhood--the mother-tree fallen4
 ,across were oaks and hickories1 and   
through the naked branches1 a log cabin4
  ,an enumeration will not even suggest 
the picture4 ,sheep and cattle had made 
it a grove of the earth-gods4 ,we       
remembered the ,spring by the cabin1 and
 crossed to it4 ,skimming the leaves    
from the basin1 we watched it fill with 

that easy purity of undisturbed         
,nature4444 ,now there was a fine       
blowing rain in our faces1 and the smell
 of the woods itself in the moist air   
was a ,presence4 ,the cabin had been    
built for many decades--built of white  
oak1 hewn1 morticed and tenoned4 ,the   
roof and floor was gone1 but the walls  
needed only chinking4 ,they were founded
 upon boulders4444 ,i saw in days to    
come a pair of windows opening to the   
north1 and a big open fireplace on the  
east wall1 a new floor and a new        
roof4444 ,it would be a temple4 ,i saw  
young men and children coming there in  
the long years ahead4444 ,across the    
open field beyond was a forest4  ,the   
big beeches are there1 the ,abbot said4 
,it can't be so perfect as this1 ,i     
declared4  ,it is different4 ,this is a 
grove--thinned for pasture land4 ,over  
there it is a forest of beech4 ,to the  
west is a second growth of              
woods--everything small but thick4 ,you 
can see and take things right in your   

hand----  ,we did not go to the forest  
nor to the jungle that day1 but moved   
about the rim of that delved            
pasture-land1 watching the creek from   
different angles1 studying the trees    
without their insignia4 ,we knew the    
main timbers only--beech1 oak1 elm1     
maple and hickory and ash1 blue beech   
and ironwood and hawthorn4 ,there were  
others that ,i did not know1 and the    
,abbot seemed disturbed that he could   
not always help4  ,it won't be so       
another ,spring1 he said4  ,altogether  
it hushed us4 ,i was holding the picture
 of the temple of the future years--for 
those to come1 especially for the young 
ones1 who were torn and wanted to find  
themselves for a time4  ,you say he is  
not going to cut anything from the      
pasture-grove8 ,i repeated4  ,no4       
,there was ease in that again4 ,we      
walked back with the falling            
dusk--across a winter wheat field that  
lay in water like rice4 ,the town came  
closer1 and we smelled it4 ,the cold    

mist in the air livened every odour4 ,it
 is a clean little town as towns go1 but
 we knew very well what the animals get 
from us4444 ,i was thinking also what a 
,chinese once said to me in ,newchwang4 
,he had travelled in the ,states1 and   
reported that it was a long time before 
he could get accustomed to the aroma of 
the white man's civilisation4 ,newchwang
 was long on the vine at that very      
moment1 but he did not get that4 ,i did 
not tell him4 ,that which we are1 we do 
not sense4 ,our surfaces are only open  
to that which we are not4 ,we must      
depart from our place and ourselves1 in 
order to catch even a fleeting glimpse1 
or scent1 of our being4 ,the ,abbot and 
,i lifted our noses high4 ,the          
post-office was thick with staleness    
that held its own1 though chilled4 ,i   
was glad to have the horse feel as ,i   
did1 and clear out for the edge of the  
,lake where we belonged4  444 ,we went  
many days that ,spring4 ,the town       
thought us quite bereft4 ,we were       

present for the hawthorn day2 saw the   
ineffable dogwoods at their highest     
best2 the brief bloom of the hickories  
when they put on their orchids and      
seemed displeased to be caught in such  
glory by human eyes4 ,i love the colour 
and texture of hickory wood1 but it     
insists on choosing its own place to    
live4444 ,we saw the elms breaking      
another day1 and the beech leaves come  
forth from their wonderful twists of    
brown1 formed the ,fall before4         
,everything about the beech-tree is of  
the highest and most careful selection2 
no other tree seems so to have forgotten
 itself2 a noble nature that has lost   
the need of insisting its demands and   
making its values known1 having long    
since called unto itself the perfect    
things4444 ,there was one early ,may day
 of high northwind1 that we entered the 
beech-wood1 and saw those forest lengths
 of trunk swaying in a kind of planetary
 rhythm4 ,full-length the beeches gave1 
and returned so slowly1 a sweeping      

vibration of their own1 too slow and    
vast for us to sense4 ,i thought of a   
group of the great women of the future  
gathered together to ordain the way of  
life4 ,there is no holier place than a  
beech-wood4444  ,the ,abbot's father    
repaired the cabin for us--put in the   
fireplace and the windows to the north4 
,many nights the ,chapel kindred have   
spent there1 in part or as a party2 and 
it is the centre of the wonderful days  
of our ,spring ,questing1 when humankind
 brings a thirst almost intolerable for 
the resuming of the ,mother's magic4444 
,we want it a place some day for many of
 the great little books of all time--the
 place for the ,stranger to lodge and   
for ,youth to come into its own4 ,the   
,abbot's father who has made it all     
possible seems to like the dream1 too4  
444 ,but the ,abbot has gone back to    
school4 ,i think it is only             
temporary4444 ,he remained after the    
others some weeks ago1 and said to me   
quite coldly3  ,they have decided to    

make me go back to school----  ,sit     
down1 ,i answered4  ,as ,i look back1 ,i
 think that was said because ,i1 too1   
felt the need of sitting down4 ,he had  
been with me nearly a year4 ,i had found
 him at first1 immersed in brooding     
silence4 ,in a way1 that silence was    
chaotic2 full day was far from rising   
upon it4 ,he is without ambition in the 
worldly sense4 ,ambition is a red devil 
of a horse1 but he gets you somewhere4  
,one overcomes ,inertia in riding far   
and long on that mount4 ,he takes you to
 the piled places where the self may    
satisfy for the moment all its ravishing
 greeds4 ,this is not a great thing to  
do4 ,one sickens of this2 all agony and 
disease comes of this4 ,the red horse   
takes you as far as you will let him1 on
 a road that must be retraced1 but he   
gets you somewhere6 ,inertia does not4  
,the point is1 one must not slay the red
 horse of ambition until one has another
 mount to ride4  ,the ,abbot caught the 
new mount quickly4 ,he seemed to have   

had his hand on the tether when he came4
 ,the name of the red horse is ,self4   
,the white breed that we delight to ride
 here might be called generically       
,others4 ,the ,abbot was astride a fine 
individual at once--and away4444 ,he is 
but fifteen now4 ,with utmost           
impartiality ,i should say that         
wonderful things have happened to him4  
,they said at his home that he has      
become orderly2 that he rises early and 
regularly1 a little matter perhaps1 but 
one that was far from habitual before4  
,they told me that he works with a fiery
 zeal that is new in their house2 that  
he is good-tempered and helpful4 ,i knew
 what he was doing here from day to day1
 and that he was giving me a great deal 
of that joy which cannot be bought1 and 
to which the red horse never runs4  ,but
 the town kept hammering at his parents'
 ears1 especially his former teachers1  
his pastor and ,sabbath-school teacher1 
the hardware man4 ,i asked his father to
 bring the critics for a talk in the    

,study1 but they did not come4 ,a friend
 of the family came1 a pastor from      
,brooklyn4 ,the appointment was made in 
such a way that ,i did not know whether 
he was for or against the ,abbot's wish 
to remain in the work here4 ,i told the 
story of the ,abbot's coming1 of his    
work and my ideas for him2 that ,i would
 be glad to keep him by me until he was 
a man1 because ,i thought he was a very 
great man within and believed the       
training here would enable him to get   
himself out4  ,my main effort with the  
,abbot1 as ,i explained1 was to help him
 develop an instrument commensurate in  
part with his big inner energies4 ,i    
told them how ,i had specialised in his 
case to cultivate a positive and        
steadily-working brain-grip2 how ,i had 
sought to install a system of order     
through geometry1 which ,i wasn't       
equipped to teach1 but that one of the  
college men was leading him daily deeper
 into this glassy and ordered plane4    
,the fact is1 the ,abbot had my heart   

because he loved his dreams1 but ,i used
 to tell him every day that a man is not
 finished who has merely answered a call
 to the mountain2 that ,jesus himself   
told his disciples that they must not   
remain to build a temple on the mountain
 of ,transfiguration4 ,going up to      
,sinai is but half the mystery2 the     
gifted one must bring stone tablets     
down4 ,if in impatience and anger at    
men1 he shatter the tablets1 he has done
 ill toward himself and toward men1 and 
must try once more4  ,it appears that ,i
 did most of the talking and with some  
energy1 believing that the ,abbot had my
 best coming1 since the hostility       
against his work here had long been in  
the wind from the town4444 ,it was the  
next day that the boy told me that the  
decision had gone against us4 ,i cannot 
quite explain how dulled it made me     
feel4 ,the depression was of a kind that
 did not quickly lift4 ,i was willing to
 let any one who liked hold the         
impression that the obligation was all  

my way1 but there was really nothing to 
fight4 ,i went to see the ,abbot's      
father shortly afterward4 ,we touched   
just the edges of the matter4 ,as ,i    
left he assured me3  ,the minister said 
that he didn't think the boy would come 
to any harm in your ,study4  ,there was 
no answer to that4444 ,and yet1 as ,i   
have said1 we have come up in different 
ways from the townspeople4 ,the         
manuscripts that go forth from this     
,study are not designed to simplify     
matters for them1 and the books we read 
in the main are not from the local      
library4 ,one should really rise to a   
smile over a matter like this4 ,the fact
 is1 ,i said to the ,abbot3  ,go and    
show them your quality4 ,there's no     
danger of your falling into competitive 
study4 ,show them that you can move in  
and around and through the things they  
ask of you4 ,we're always open when you 
want to come4 ,you're the first and     
always one of us4 ,you've got the       
philosophy--live it4 ,this is just a    

mission4 ,take it this way1 ,abbot4     
,take it as an honour--a hard task for  
which you are chosen1 because you are   
ready4 ,make your days interpret the    
best of you4 ,go to it with all your    
might4 ,feel us behind you--rooting     
strong--and hurry back4     #bi  ,,the  
,,dakotan   ,it was a rainy ,fall night4
 ,the ,dakotan came in barefooted with  
two large bundles of copy4 ,it was a bit
 cold to take the ground straight1 but  
he had walked along the bluff for some  
distance in absolute darkness1 over     
grassy hollows filled with water as well
 as bare patches of clay4 ,one's shelf  
of shoes is pretty well used up on a day
 like this1 and one learns that much    
labour can be spared by keeping his     
shoes for indoor use4 ,incidentally1 it 
is worth having a garden1 walled if     
necessary1 for the joy of hoeing flowers
 and vegetables barefooted4444 ,i had   
just about finished the work of the     
evening4 ,it would not have mattered    
anyway4 ,the ,dakotan sat down on the   

floor before the fire and was still as a
 spirit4 ,he has no sense of time nor   
hurry2 he would have waited an hour or  
two1 or passed along quite as genially  
as he came1 without my looking up4  ,but
 one does not often let a friend go like
 this4 ,these things are too fine1 of   
too pure a pleasantness4 ,one does not  
learn the beauty of them until one has  
come far through terror and turmoil4 ,it
 is almost a desecration to try to put  
such things into words2 in fact1 one    
cannot touch with words the heart of the
 mystery4 ,one merely moves around it   
with an occasional suggestive sentence  
and those who know1 smile warmly over   
the writer's words4  ,the ,study was red
 with firelight4 ,burning wood played   
with its tireless gleam upon the stones1
 upon the backs of books1 and into the  
few pictures1 bringing the features     
forth with restless familiarity4 ,i left
 the desk and came to the big chair by  
the fire4 ,i was glad he was there4 ,i  
think ,i had been watching him intently 

for several seconds before he looked    
up4444 ,i had not been thinking of      
,thoreau2 at least1 not for days1 but it
 suddenly came to me that this was      
extraordinarily like ,thoreau1 who had  
come in so silently through the darkness
 to share the fire4 ,i found that he had
 just been writing of the relations of  
men1 the rarer moments of them2 and     
queerly enough1 ,i found that night more
 of the master of ,walden in his work4  
,the ,dakotan is twenty4 ,all summer he 
has been doing some original thinking on
 the subject of ,sound4 ,when ,i was his
 age1 ,tyndall was the big voice on this
 subject2 yet we have come to think in  
all humbleness that ,tyndall only       
touched his toes in the stream4 ,the    
,dakotan has spent the last few years   
afield4 ,he is a tramp1 a solitaire1 a  
student at the sources of life4 ,things 
have been made easier for him here4 ,he 
took to this life with the same         
equableness of mind that he accepted the
 companions of hardship and drudgery on 

the open road4 ,throughout the last     
summer he has moved about field and wood
 and shore1 between hours of expression 
at his machine1 in a kind of unbroken   
meditation4 ,i have found myself turning
 to him in hard moments4 ,some of our   
afternoons together1 little was said1   
but much accomplished4 ,a few paragraphs
 follow from the paper brought in on    
this particular night3       ,vibration 
is the law that holds the ,universe     
together4 ,its      energy is the great 
primal ,breath4 ,vibration is life and  
light1 heat and motion4 ,without it1    
there would be blackness      and       
universal death4 ,from the almost static
 state of rock and      soil1 we have   
risen steadily in vibration up through  
the      first four senses1 to ,sound1  
the fifth4 ,the scope of                
,sound-vibration yet to be experienced  
by us is beyond our      wildest        
imagination4       ,sounds are the      
different rates of vibration in all     
things4      ,as yet we know ,sound as  

we know most other things1 merely on    
the dense physical plane4 ,the next     
great discoveries in      higher        
phenomena will be made in the realm of  
,sound4 ,the most      marvellous powers
 are to be disenchanted from vibrations 
as      yet inaudible4 ,the present     
enthusiasm over telepathy is      merely
 the start of far greater phenomena to  
come4       ,it is my belief that over  
ninety per cent of the sounds we        
know and hear are injurious1 lowering1  
disquieting and      scattering to all  
higher thought1 to intuition and all    
that      is fine and of the spirit4    
,there is not one human voice in a      
thousand that is of a quieting influence
 and friendly to      higher            
aspirations4 ,the voice is a filler1 in 
lieu of      shortages of intellect and 
intuition4 ,more and more1 among        
fine people explanations are out of     
order4 ,a man is silent in              
proportion to what he knows of real     
fineness and aspiration4      ,outside  

of that speech which is absolutely a    
man's duty to      give out1 one can    
tell almost to the ampere1 the voltage  
of      his inner being1 or its         
vacantness and slavery1 by the depth    
of his listening silences1 or the       
aimlessness of his filling      chatter4
 ,it is only those few who have come to 
know1      through some annealing       
sorrow1 sickness1 or suffering1 and     
draw away from the crowds and noises    
into the ,silence1 that      become     
gifted with all-knowing counsels4       
,there is a sound born from every       
thought1 action1 or      aspiration of  
man1 whether of a high or a low order1 a
 sound      not to be heard but felt1 by
 any one fine and sensitive      enough 
to receive the impression4 ,from the    
collective1      intuitive thoughts of  
attuned groups of men1 thinking or      
working as one toward a high end1 there 
arises a sound which      is to be felt 
as a fine singing tingle by all in the  
vicinity4 ,the work here proves this4   

,at times there is an      exquisite    
singing in the air1 not audible but     
plainly to be      felt1 and a kind of  
emanation of light in the ,chapel4 ,we  
all      lean forward4 ,the voice and   
thought of one has become the      voice
 and thought of all2 what is to be said 
is sensed and      known before it is   
uttered2 all minds are one4       444   
,there are moments in the soft1         
changing1 growing1      conceiving hours
 of dawn and sunset when ,mother ,nature
 heaves      a long deep sigh of perfect
 peace1 content and harmony4 ,it is     
something of this that the wild birds   
voice1 as they greet      the sun at    
dawn1 and again as they give sweet and  
melancholy      notes at his sinking in 
the quiet of evening4 ,birds are        
impressed from without4 ,they are       
reasonless1 ecstatic1      spontaneous1 
giving voice as accurately and joyously 
as they      can to the vibrations of   
peace and harmony--to the ,sounds1      
which they feel from ,nature4 ,animals  

and birds are conscious      of forces  
and creatures1 we cannot see4444 ,unless
 we decide      that birds generate     
their songs within2 that they reason and
      study their singing1 we must grant
 that they hear and imitate      from   
,nature1 as human composers do4 ,the    
process in any case      has not to do  
with intellect and reason1 but with     
sensitiveness and spirit4 ,one does not 
need to acquire      intellect and      
reasoning1 to have inspiration1         
sensitiveness1      and spirit4 ,it is  
the childlike and spontaneous1 the      
sinless      and pure-of-heart that     
attain to psychic inspiration4          
,have you ever seen at close range the  
rapt1 listening1      inspired look of  
the head of a wild bird in flight8 ,has 
anything fine and pure ever come to you 
from a deep look into      the luminous 
eyes of a bird fresh from the free open8
       444 ,study the very voices of    
spiritual men4 ,they are                
low-pitched1 seeming to issue from deep 

within the man2 one      strains to     
catch what is said1 especially if he be 
used to      the far-carrying1 sharp1   
metallic1 blatant speech of the         
,west4 ,certain ancients were better    
versed in the potency of      sounds    
than we are to-day4 ,study in occult    
writings the      magic pronunciation of
 ,aum1 ,amitabha1 ,allah1 of certain    
chants and spirit-invoking incantations 
of old1 and one draws      a conception 
of the powers of friendly sounds and the
      injurious effects of discordant   
sounds1 such as we are      surrounded  
by4444       ,many of us in the ,west1  
who are so used to din and broken       
rhythm1 would call the ,vina1 that      
,oriental harp-string of      the soul1 
a relic of barbaric times4 ,but ,vina's 
magic cry      at evening brings the    
very elementals about the player4 ,the  
voices of ,nature1 the lapping of water1
 bird-song1 roll of      thunder1 the   
wind in the pines--these are sounds that
 bring      one some slight whit of the 

grandeur and majestic harmony of        
the ,universe4 ,these are the voice of  
kung1 'the great tone'      in ,oriental
 music1 corresponding somewhat to ,f1   
the middle      note of the piano1      
supposed to be peace-invoking4 ,in      
northern      ,china the ,buddhist      
priests sit out in evening1 listening   
raptly to kung1 the 'all-harmonious     
sound of the ,hoang-ho      rushing by4'
 ,one longs to be the intimate of such  
meditations4     #cj  ,,the ,,dakotan   
7,continued7   ,i first heard of the    
,dakotan#c at a time when ,i was not    
quite so interested in the younger      
generation4 ,a woman friend out in his  
country wrote me1 and sent on some of   
his work4 ,i was not thrilled           
especially1 though the work was good4   
,she tried again1 and ,i took the later 
manuscript to bed with me1 one night    
when ,i was lifted out1 as the mason    
said4 ,it did not work as designed4     
,instead of dropping off on the first   
page1 ,i tossed for hours1 and a letter 

asking him to come to ,stonestudy was   
off in the first mail in the morning4   
,he is drawing entirely from his own    
centre of origins4 ,that was established
 at once1 and has been held4 ,the only  
guiding required1 since he is a natural 
writer1 has been on the one point of    
preserving a childlike directness and   
clarity of expression4 ,it is not that  
he wants the popular market2 the quality
 of his bent precludes that for the     
present4 ,moreover1 he can live here on 
what thousands of men in ,america spend 
for cigars1 but our ideal of writing has
 to do with the straight line between   
the thought and the utterance4  ,a man's
 style has little or nothing to do with 
the words1 or the sentence1 paragraph or
 even his native eccentricities of      
technique2 a man's style has to do with 
the manner of his thinking4 ,as for     
words and the implements of writing1 the
 more nearly they are made to parallel  
the run of thought1 the better the work4
  ,one does not learn the ,dakotan's    

kind in a day or a year4 ,there is a    
continual changing and refining         
production about our truest friends--the
 same thing in a woman that a man can   
love in the highest--that quickens us   
always to higher vision and deeper      
humanity4 ,the point is that we must    
change and increase to be worthy of our 
truest relations4 ,one must always be   
restless and capacious4 ,when our eyes  
rest on the horizon1 and do not yearn to
 tear it apart2 when the throb of the   
,quest sinks low in our breast--it is   
time to depart4 ,you who in mid-life    
think you have arrived somewhere--in    
profession1 in trade1 in                
world-standing--know that death has     
already touched you1 that the look of   
your face is dissolute4  ,i have said to
 the ,dakotan and to the others here3   
,it was good for you to come--but the   
time may arrive1 when it will be just as
 good for you to go4444 ,when you see me
 covering old fields2 when you come here
 for continual reviews of my little     

story2 when your mind winces with the   
thought of what ,i am to do and say     
next1 because you know it well          
already--arise and come no more1 but in 
passing1 say to me1 ',to-day we did not 
get out of the circle of yesterday4444' 
,i shall know what is meant1 and it     
shall be good for you to tell me1 since 
one forgets4 ,it may be that there is   
still enough strength for another       
voyage--that ,i may be constrained to   
leave ,telemachus and go forth to the   
edge of the land where lights twinkle   
among the rocks and the deep moans round
 with many voices4  ,recently the       
,dakotan told me of a dream1 and ,i     
asked him to write it4 ,i think he will 
draw nearer to you1 if you read the     
story that he brought me3       ,this is
 the latest and most complete of many   
under-water      dreams that have come  
to me4 ,in their thrall as a child ,i   
learned the deeps of fear4 ,i do not    
know why dreams of mine      are so     
often associated with water1 unless at  

some time1 way      back in the         
beginnings1 the horror of a             
water-existence has      been so stamped
 upon me that it has been retained in   
consciousness4 ,as a child1 water and   
strong winds drove me to      tears4 ,i 
can remember no other things that       
brought marked      fear but these4 ,one
 incident of wind1 on a boat going to   
,block ,island ,light-house1 off        
,newport1 remains as vivid to      this 
day as when it was enacted1 and ,i was  
not yet five at      the time4 ,every   
one wondered at these peculiar fears1   
but the      explanation is plainer if  
one can look either back or beyond4     
,knowledge is but a glimmering of past  
experience4 ,we are the      condensed  
sum of all our past activities4 ,normal 
mind and      memory are only of the    
immediate present1 only as old as our   
bodies1 but once in a long time we fall 
by chance into      certain peculiar    
conditions of body1 mind1 or            
soul--conditions that are invoking to   

great reaches of      consciousness back
 into the past4 ,normally our shell is  
too      thick2 we are too dense and too
 conscious of our present      physical 
being and vitality1 for the ancient one 
within us to      interpret to the      
brain4 ,even in sleep1 the brain is     
usually      embroiled or littered with 
daily life matters4 ,the brain has      
not yet become a good listener1 and the 
voice of the inner      man is ever a   
hushed whisper4       ,the exceptionally
 low temperature of my body was the     
immediate cause of this dream4 ,here is 
a conviction that ,i      brought up    
from it3 ,i believe that any one by     
putting himself      into a state of    
very low temperature and vibration1     
almost      akin to hibernation1 may be 
enabled to go back in      consciousness
 toward the ,beginnings4 ,evidently red 
blood is      wholly of man1 but in some
 way the white corpuscles of the        
blood seem to be related to the         
cold-blooded animals and      hence to  

the past4 ,under conditions1 such as    
sleeping on the      ground or in a     
cold1 damp place1 these white corpuscles
 may      be aided to gain ascendency   
over the heart1 brain1 and red          
corpuscles4 ,this accomplished1 the past
 may be brought back4       ,it was a   
cold1 rainy ,fall night that the dream  
came4 ,a      bleak east wind blowing   
along the lake-shore1 probed every      
recess of the ',pontchartrain1' the tiny
 open-work cottage ,i      used4 ,the   
place was flushed like a sieve with wind
 and rain4      ,it leaked copiously and
 audibly1 and there was no burrowing    
away from the storm4 ,i sought the      
blankets early in a state      of very  
low circulation4 ,the last thing ,i was 
conscious of1      as ,i drifted off1   
was the cold1 the low sound of the wind1
      and the rain beating upon the     
roof4444       ,there was a cohering    
line through this dream1 every detail   
stamped upon my consciousness so deeply 
that the memory of it      upon awaking 

was almost as vivid as when ,i was      
immersed4444      ,it began very slowly 
with a growing perception of a low      
monotonous lap and wash of water and a  
slight heaving1      lifting sensation1 
as of my being swayed gently to and fro4
      ,it was very cold1 not the biting 
cold we know1 but a dank1      lifeless1
 penetrating cold of water and          
darkness4444 ,the      manner of my own 
form was not clear to me2 ,i was of too 
low a      consciousness to be aware of 
many exterior particulars4 ,i           
merely knew ,i belonged to darkness and 
deep water4 ,in fact1      during the   
dream ,i had hardly a sense of being1   
except      through the outer stimuli of
 cold and danger4 ,these were           
horribly plain4 ,that ,i was a creature 
of the depths and dark1      a bleached 
single-cell1 was doubtless a mental     
conclusion      from the waking         
contemplation afterward4 ,in the dream1 
,i      seemed of vast size1 and ,i     
believe all little creatures do1        

since they fill their scope as tightly  
as we4 ,the spark of      consciousness1
 or life within1 seemed so faint that   
part of      the time my body seemed a  
dead1 immovable bulk4 ,no sense of      
self or body in comparison to outer     
things1 was existent1      except when a
 larger form instilled me with fear4    
,my dream seemed a direct reversion back
 into the ,beginnings1      in form1    
consciousness1 state of being1          
perception and                          
instinct--everything--so that ,i        
actually lived1 in infinitely           
dwindled consciousness1 the terrible    
water-life4       ,all was blackness4 ,i
 possessed some slight volition of life 
that contracted in the cold4 ,i was not 
in any keen suffering2      ,i seemed   
too low and numbed to sense to the full 
the      unpleasantness of my           
condition4444 ,presently there came a   
dawning light which gradually grew      
stronger4 ,i did not seem      to have  
eyes1 but was conscious of the ray      

seemingly through      the walls of my  
body4 ,slowly it increased1 to a sickly 
wan      filter of grey4 ,it was light  
shining through water1 a light          
which would have been no light to a     
human being4 ,to me it was      intense 
and fearsome1 seemed to reach centres of
 me that were      sensitive beyond     
expression4 ,though ,i was a mere blob1 
boneless and quivering1 the ray was     
foreign and ,i knew what      it was to 
cringe4       ,and now ,i find the      
difficulty of interpreting the dream    
exactly from the point of the ,cell4    
,these things that ,i write      ,i     
could not know then1 except in smallest 
measure4 ,as our      greater forces are
 diminished by passing through the      
brain1      these little affairs are    
increased by adjustment to man's        
waking faculties4 ,from now1 ,i shall   
give the picture as it      appears to  
me from this distance3       ,as the    
light increased1 ,i contracted and sank 
slowly into      the depths4 ,the bottom

 was not far4 ,i descended in a flowing1
      undulating fashion and settled    
softly on the water-bed1      beside a  
large1 up-jutting fang of rock4 ,it was 
black in the      depths4 ,the cold     
penetrated all4 ,torpid and prone1 ,i   
lay      there numbed into absolute     
quiescence4 ,it seemed that a           
torpid inertia1 doomed to be            
everlasting1 had settled upon      me4  
,i knew no want1 no desire1 had not the 
slightest will to      move1 to rest1 to
 sleep1 to eat1 even to exist1 just the 
dimmest sense of watchfulness and fear4 
,it was perfect      hibernation4 ,i had
 descended into too low a degree of     
temperature and vibration to feel the   
need even of      nourishment4 ,i was   
becoming dead to the cold2 everything   
was      a pulseless void4 ,i should    
never have generated an impulse to      
move again had not extraneous influences
 affected me after      seeming ages had
 passed4       ,the bottom on which ,i  
now lay was of soft1 oozy silt2 about   

me were rocks1 slippery and covered with
 a coating of      grey-green slime4    
,spots in the slime moved4 ,i could hear
 it1      or rather feel it--a sort of  
bubbling quake1 mere beginnings      of 
the life impulse4 ,the tops and sides of
 the rocks were      festooned with     
waving green fringes of growths1 which  
trailed      out into the water4 ,long1 
snakelike fronds and stems of           
whitish green1 half-vegetable1          
half-animal1 grew on the      bottom4   
,they were stationary at their bases1   
but were lithe      and a-crawl with    
life in their stems1 extending and      
contracting into the water at intervals1
 in a spiral1 snakey      manner4 ,their
 heads were like white-bleached flowers1
 with      hairy lips1 which contracted 
and opened constantly1 engulfing        
the myriads of floating1 microscopic    
forms4       ,upon the heads of some of 
the creepers were ghostly               
phosphorescent lights1 which winked on  
and off at intervals      as the stems  

waved gently to and fro4 ,i did not have
 an      instinctive fear of these4     
,they seemed friendly4 ,they lit up     
the black depths4 ,they and ,i seemed of
 a similar bent2 they      feared the   
forms that ,i feared and contracted     
tight to the      bottom when these     
enemies approached4 ,there were certain 
permanent spots about me that gave off  
other lights at      intervals4 ,the    
whole bottom was a dim1 vast region of  
many-coloured lights1 or more properly1 
dim lambent glows1 of      blue1 green  
and yellow1 which winked and nodded on  
and off in      the blackness4 ,they    
seemed to be the decoys of the feeders  
that possessed them4 ,each glow lit up a
 circle in the depths      and seemed to
 attract food to the watcher who waved  
it4 ,they      were all cold lights1    
mere phosphorescent gleams without the  
searching1 penetrating qualities of the 
light ,i had first      felt1 and they  
did not bother me4       444 ,the ray   
was filtering down again4 ,it was this  

that kept      me alive4 ,it increased  
until all above was a wan grey4 ,one by 
one the many-coloured lights of the     
bottom winked off1 the      long feelers
 and contractile stems were drawn in1   
and the      whole bottom became once   
more a motionless1 dead-grey            
world4444 ,little sacks without eyes in 
that grey light1 the      gorging not   
begun1 kept alive by the whip of fear4  
,the low      life would have gone on to
 death or dissemination had it not      
been for exterior forces which reached  
me in the shape of      ,fear4 ,i shall 
never forget it--the ,fear of the ,black
 ,bottoms4       ,there was a long1     
hideous suspense1 as the ,ray held me1  
and      the thing that ,i feared was   
not the ,ray1 but belonged with      it4
 ,in the midst of a kind of freezing    
paralysis1 the      struggle to flee    
arose within me4 ,yet ,i was without    
means of      locomotion4 ,through sheer
 intensity of panic ,i expanded4 ,then  
there was a thrusting forward of the    

inner vital centre      against the     
forward wall of the sack4 ,it was the   
most vital      part of me that was     
thrust forward1 the heart of a rudiment1
      so to speak4 ,that which remained1
 followed in a kind of flow4      ,the  
movement was an undulation forward1     
brought about by the      terror to     
escape4       ,fear is always connected 
with ,behind4 ,with the approach of     
,danger ,i had started forward4 ,there  
had been no forward nor      backward   
before1 nor any sides or top to me4 ,now
 a back1 a      dorsal aspect1 came into
 being1 and the vital centre was        
thrust forward within the cell1 so as to
 be farthest away      from the danger4 
,it is in this way that the potential   
centre      of an organism came to be in
 the front1 in the head1 looking        
forward and always pointed away from the
 danger--protected to      the last4    
,as ,i flowed forward1 the sticky fluid 
substance of my body      sucked into   
the oozy bottom4 ,i spatted myself as   

flat as      possible1 seeming to press 
the tenderest parts closest to the      
bottom4 ,and it is in this way that the 
vital parts of      organisms came to be
 underneath1 on the ventral aspect1     
protected from above by the sides and   
back4 ,as the ,fear      increased1 ,i  
gained in strength and speed of         
locomotion1 the      same parts of my   
form protruding rhythmically1 faster and
      easier1 until ,i did not need to  
concentrate so intensely upon      the  
moving-act4 ,doubtless ,i covered ages  
of evolution in the      dream4 ,it is  
in this way through the stimulus of     
,fear that      the rudiments of organs 
of locomotion were begun4 ,and they     
came in the ,beginnings on the ventral  
side1 because that side      was pressed
 close to the earth4 ,every sense1      
volition1      reasoning                
power--everything--was generated and    
fostered by      ,fear in the           
,beginnings4 ,so ,fear is really the    
,mother of our      first overcoming of 

,inertia4       ,i do not recall being  
devoured by that creature of the ,ray2  
and yet it seems as if half the life in 
the ,bottoms was      clutched in the   
torture of that danger4 ,the other half 
was      gorging4444 ,gorge1 gorge1 with
 unappeased appetite1 body      bulging 
to the bursting point1 the ,devourers   
all about me1      the larger engulfing 
the smaller1 not with mouths1 but       
literally enclosing their prey with the 
walls of their      bodies1 so that the 
smaller flowed into the larger4 ,and    
often      the engulfed would be of     
greater length than the engulfer4444    
,there was a sound made by the gorging1 
a distinct sound born      of gluttony1 
not audible1 but to be felt by my       
sensitive      surfaces1 a sort of      
emanation1 not from the gorgers1 but    
born      from the engrossing intensity 
of the gorging act4 ,i shall      always
 remember it1 a distinct 'ummmmmmm1'    
constant1 and      rising and falling at
 times to a trifle faster or lower      

pitch4       ,always1 as the ,ray would 
cross above me1 there would be a        
stoppage of the emanations from the     
gorgers1 a sinking to the      bottom1  
and a rising again4 ,also there were    
,shadows1      sinister1 flowing grey   
forms1 that preyed about the rocky      
bottom4 ,these were more felt by me than
 heard or seen1 and      instilled more 
deadly fear than the larger ,shadows    
that      passed above4 ,the drama of   
the feeding seemed doomed to go on      
and on forever4 ,repletion would never  
have come to the      ,gorgers4 ,only   
,fear broke the spell4       ,i recall a
 last glimpse of that ghost-life of the 
depths4      ,about the rocks1 the long 
snakelike stems and feelers were        
extended1 and the luring decoys waved   
and glowed again at the      ends of the
 stalks4 ,with the cessation of the     
feeding1 began      the vaster1         
unquenchable feeding of the engulfing   
plants4 ,it      was steady1 monotonous1
 inexhaustible--the winking and waving  

of the blue-green glows1 the clustering 
of the senseless      prey1 a sudden    
extinguishing of the light1             
devouring--then      the nodding gleam  
again4 ,no mercy1 no feeling1 no reason 
existed in this ghost-region of bleached
 and bloodless      things4 ,the law was
 the law of ,fear and ,gluttony4 ,there 
was a      thrall to the whole drama    
which ,i am powerless to express4       
444 ,the embryo in the womb eats and    
assimilates1 all      unconscious4 ,with
 life there is movement4 ,the first     
movement      takes the form of         
sucking-in that which prolongs life4    
,then      there is the driving forward 
by ,fear from without4 ,low life      is
 a vibration between ,fear and          
,gluttony4 ,in every movement      is   
the gain of power to make another       
movement4 ,that is the      ,law of     
life4       ,i opened my eyes4 ,the wan 
grey light of morning was shining       
,in my face4 ,i felt weak and unrested4 
,there were puddles of      water on the

 foot of the bed4 ,the blankets lay     
heavily about      my limbs1 and        
circulation was hardly sufficient to    
hold      consciousness4 ,the effects of
 the dream oppressed me the rest      of
 that day and for long afterward4       
,,footnotes3  #c ,h4 ,a4 ,sturtzel4     
#ca  ,,the ,,hill ,,rocks   ,our        
tendency is to return to the pioneers   
for inspiration4444 ,i was thinking this
 morning how in all our studies we had  
passed quickly over the                 
intellectualists1 the simplifiers1 the  
synthesisers and explainers--back to the
 sources of philosophy and sanctity4 ,it
 is there that we find the flame4 ,we   
linger and return to such men as        
,boehme1 ,fichte1 ,romini-,serbati1     
,froebel1 ,swedenborg4 ,we delight in   
the few great and isolated names of     
,greece and ,rome that are above style4 
,we turn continually to the perpetual   
fountains of ,india1 but seldom to      
,egypt4  ,we love the prophets of the   
,old ,testament1 but despise chosen     

peoples at every appearance2 we delight 
in the lineage of the ,messiah2 we are  
stimulated by the ,hebrew literature1 by
 its symbolism1 its songs and precepts1 
the ,oriental colour of it1 the         
hierarchy of its saints1 the strange    
splendour of its women1 but as a book of
 devotion its chief significance is that
 of a huge vessel prepared for the      
coming of a ,master4  ,the ,new         
,testament is our first book4           
,manhandled and perverted as it has been
 by early writers1 who still wanted     
,moses and laboured under the           
misconception that ,jesus was expounding
 the doctrines of ,moses afresh1 instead
 of refuting many of them--yet the ,new 
,testament stands highest above all     
hands pointing heavenward4  ,in the case
 of the teacher here1 it was not the    
so-called orthodoxy that accomplished   
this allegiance to the ,new ,testament4 
,modern churches drove him forth into   
the ,farther ,east4 ,it was the return  
from ,patanjali and the ,vedas and much 

of that excellent and ancient wisdom of 
the ,earlier ,arrival1 that gave him a  
fresh surface for understanding the     
pilgrimage and the passion of ,jesus4   
,our own ,tolstoi has done much to      
restore the ,son of ,mary to a sceptical
 generation4 ,to us ,tolstoi's great    
work is not through the vehicle of the  
novel4 ,though comparisons are          
everywhere questionable1 it seems to us 
that the ,russian's task on the later   
,scriptures is as significant as        
,luther's4 ,certainly he has prepared   
them to stand the more searching and    
penetrative gaze of the coming          
generation4 ,many of the new voices rise
 to declare that it is doubtful if there
 really was an historic ,jesus4 ,still  
the man matters less than his influence4
 ,his story is emphatically in the      
world2 the spirit of it lives above all 
dogma and vulgarity1 even above         
nationalism4 ,it is the breath of       
,brotherhood and ,compassion4 ,it is    
nearer to us and less complex than the  

story of the ,buddha4  ,every such      
coming heightens the voltage of         
spiritual power in the world4 ,the      
greatest stories of the world are the   
stories of such comings4 ,of first      
importance in the education of children 
is the institution of an ideal of the   
imminence of great helpers1 the         
,compassionates4 ,children become       
starry-eyed as they listen4 ,i think if 
we could all shake ourselves clear of   
the temporal and the unseemly1 we should
 find deep in our hearts1 a strange     
expectancy4 ,a woman said1 as we talked 
of these things3  ,i seem to have been  
expectant for centuries4  ,when such    
ideals are held in mind1 an adjustment  
of conduct follows at once4 ,to be ready
 7,i am not talking religiously7 for a  
revered ,guest1 one immediately begins  
to put one's house in order4 ,indeed1   
there's a reproach in finding the need  
of rushed preparation1 in the hastening 
to clear corners and hide unseemly      
objects2 and yet1 this is well if the   

reorganisation is more than a passing   
thought4 ,to make the ordering of one's 
house a life-habit is a very valid      
beginning in morality4  ,we talk        
continually of the greatest of men2     
sometimes our voices falter1 and        
sentences are not finished4 ,we have    
found many things alike about the ,great
 ,ones4 ,first they had mothers who     
dreamed1 and then they had poverty to   
acquaint them with sorrow4 ,they came up
 hard1 and they were always different   
from other children4 ,they suffered more
 than the others about them1 because    
they were more sensitive4  ,they met    
invariably the stiffest foe of a fine   
child--misunderstanding2 often by that  
time1 even the ,mother had lost her     
vision4 ,because they could not find    
understanding in men and women and      
children1 they drew apart4 ,such youths 
are always forced into the silence4444  
,i often think of the education of      
,hiawatha by old ,nokomis1 the endless  
and perfect analogies of the forest and 

stream and field1 by which a child with 
vision can gain the story of life4      
,repeatedly we have discussed the maiden
 who sustained ,france--her girlhood in 
the forests of ,domremy4 ,it was a      
forest eighteen miles deep to the       
centre1 and so full of fairies that the 
priests had to come to the edge and give
 mass every little while to keep them in
 any kind of subjection4 ,that          
incomparable maiden did not want the    
fairies in subjection4 ,she was         
listening4 ,from the centres of the     
forest came to her the messages of      
power4444 ,once when the ,chapel group  
had left1 ,i sat thinking about this    
maiden2 and queerly enough1 my mind     
turned presently to something in ,st4   
,luke1 about the road to ,emmaus--the   
,stranger who had walked with the       
disciples1 and finally made himself     
known4 ,and they asked one to the other 
after ,he had vanished3 ,did not our    
hearts burn within us while ,he talked  
with us by the way1 and while ,he opened

 to us the ,scriptures8  444 ,returning 
from their silences1 these              
torture-quickened youths found work to  
do--work that people could not          
understand4 ,the people invariably      
thought there must be a trick about the 
giving--that the eager one wanted hidden
 results for self4444 ,invariably1 they 
were prodigious workers1 men of         
incredible energy4 ,thus they ground    
themselves fine2 and invariably1 too1   
they were men of exalted personal       
conduct1 though often they had passed   
before the fact was truly appreciated4  
,first of all1 they were honest--that   
was the hill-rock4 ,such men come to    
make crooked paths straight1 but first  
they straighten out themselves4 ,they   
stopped lying to other men1 and what was
 greater still1 they stopped lying to   
themselves4 ,sooner or later men all    
came to understand that they had        
something good to give--those closest to
 them1 not always seeing it first4444   
,you couldn't buy them--that was first  

established2 then they turned the       
energies of their lives outward instead 
of in4 ,the something immortal about    
them was the loss of the love of self4  
,losing that1 they found their          
particular something to do4 ,they found 
their work--the one thing that tested   
their own inimitable powers--and that1  
of course1 proved the one thing that the
 world needed from them4 ,as self-men   
they were not memorable4 ,self-men try  
to gather in the results to themselves4 
,the world-man wants to give something  
to his people--the best he has from his 
hand or brain or spirit4 ,that's the    
transaction--the most important in any  
life--to turn out instead of in4444     
,here ,i am repeating the old formula   
for the making of men1 as if in the     
thrill of the absolutely new--the       
eternal verity of loving one's          
neighbour4  ,each man of us has his own 
particular knack of expression4 ,nothing
 can happen so important to a man as to 
find his particular thing to do4 ,the   

best thing one man can do for another is
 to help him find his work4 ,the man who
 has found his work gets from it1 and   
through it1 a working idea of ,god and  
the world4 ,the same hard preparation   
that makes him finally valuable in his  
particular work1 integrates the         
character that finally realises its own 
religion4 ,the greatest wrong that has  
been done us by past generations is the 
detachment of work and religion--setting
 off the ,sabbath as the day for        
expressing the angel in us1 and marking 
six days for the progress of the animal4
  ,all good work is happiness--ask any  
man who has found his work4 ,he is at   
peace when the task is on1 at his best4 
,he is free from envy and desire4 ,even 
his physical organs are healthfully     
active4 ,the only way to be well is to  
give forth4 ,when we give forth work    
that tests our full powers1 we are      
replenished by the power that drives the
 suns4 ,giving forth1 we automatically  
ward off the destructive thoughts4 ,our 

only safe inbreathing physically1       
mentally1 and spiritually is from the   
upper source of things----not in the    
tainted atmospheres of the crowds4 ,a   
man's own work does not kill4 ,it is    
stimulus1 worry1 ambition1 the tension  
and complication of wanting results for 
self1 that kill4  ,each man stands as a 
fuse between his race and the creative  
energy that drives the whole scheme of  
life4 ,if he doubles this fuse in to    
self1 he becomes a non-connective4 ,he  
cannot receive from the clean source1   
nor can he give4 ,what he gets is by a  
pure animal process of struggle and     
snatch4 ,he is a sick and immoral       
creature4 ,turning the fuse outward1 he 
gives his service to men1 and dynamos of
 cosmic force throw their energy through
 him to his people4 ,he lives4          
,according to the carrying capacity of  
his fuse is he loved and remembered and 
idealised for the work he does4  ,a jar 
of water that has no lower outlet can   
only be filled so full before it spills1

 but open a lower vent and it can be    
filled according to the size of the     
outpouring4 ,now there is a running     
stream in the vessel4 ,all life that    
does not run is stagnant4  ,there is a  
task for every man4 ,we are born with   
different equipments1 but if we have a  
gift1 be very sure it is not fortuitous4
 ,we have earned it4 ,it should make us 
the finer workman4 ,but all work is     
good4 ,the handle of an axe is a poem4  
,we would never destroy the natural     
resources of the earth1 if we1 as men1  
found our work4 ,rather we would        
perceive the way of old ,mother ,earth  
who turns to her ,god for light and     
power1 and from that pure impregnation1 
brings forth her living things4 ,we     
would shudder at all destruction and    
greed1 and perceive as good workmen the 
excellent values of woods and coals and 
gases1 and the finer forces of the soil4
 ,we would perceive that they are to be 
cared for2 that their relation to man is
 service2 that they have no relation to 

great individual fortunes4 ,these are   
the free gifts from our ,mother4 ,as    
good workmen we would realise that greed
 and competition pulls upon1 and        
tortures into activity1 all that is     
insane within us4  ,the thing that      
brings men together in real talk1 that  
makes the hush in ,chapel or where talk 
is anywhere2 the thing that clutches the
 throat1 and sometimes brings the smart 
to the eyes--is the quality of men who  
have found their work1 and who have lost
 the love of self4 ,they are the        
conservers4 ,they see first what is good
 for us to do and be4 ,we follow their  
thoughts in action afterward1 as water  
follows the curve of a basin4 ,they go  
after the deep-down men2 they dream of  
the shorter passages to ,india2 they    
sense the new power in the world2 their 
faces are turned to the ,east for the   
rising of new stars4 ,often they die to 
make us see1 but others spring to finish
 their work4 ,our hearts burn within us 
when we speak of their work4     #cb    

,,assembly ,,of ,,parts   ,others have  
come2 there are fresh wonders to me1 but
 this book must close4444 ,the          
development of each young mind is like  
doing a book--each a different book4    
,fascination attends the work4 ,i assure
 you a teacher gets more than he can    
give4444 ,every mill should be a school4
 ,every professional man should call for
 his own4 ,a man's work in the world    
should be judged by his constructive    
contacts with the young minds about him4
 ,a man should learn the inspiration    
which comes in service for the great    
,abstraction1 the many1 from which there
 is no answer2 but he can only become   
powerful and unerring by trying out the 
results of his offerings face to face   
with his own group4 ,it should be as    
natural for a matured man to gather his 
mental and spiritual familiars about him
 as it is for him to become the head of 
a domestic establishment4  ,there is    
chance for the tradesmen to turn a      
little from ledger and margin1 to the   

faces of the young about them--those who
 have come for the wages of bread4 ,many
 philanthropists would carve their names
 on stone1 as great givers to the       
public4 ,the public will not take these 
things personally2 the public laughs and
 lightly criticises4 ,men who have      
nothing but money to give away cannot   
hope to receive other than calculating  
looks and laughter that rings with      
derision4  ,the time will come when     
matters of trade in the large shall be  
conducted nationally and municipally4   
,the business of man is to produce      
something4 ,the man who produces        
nothing1 but who sits in the midst of   
other men's goods1 offering them for    
sale at a price greater than he paid1   
such a man moves in the midst of a      
badly-lit district of many pitfalls4 ,it
 is the same with a man at a desk1      
before whom pass many papers            
representing transactions of merchandise
 and whose business it is to take a     
proprietary bite out of each4 ,he       

develops a perverted look at life1 and a
 bad bill of moral health4 ,there is no 
exception to this1 though he conduct a  
weekly bible lesson for the young1 even 
move his chair to a church every seventh
 day4  ,the drama of the trade mind is  
yet to be written4 ,it is a sordid      
story2 the figure at the last is in no  
way heroic4 ,it would not be a popular  
story if done well4  ,the time is not   
far off1 except to those whose eyes are 
dim1 when countries will be ,fatherlands
 in the true sense--in the sense of     
realising that the real estate is not   
bounded land1 vaulted gold1 not even    
electrified matter1 but the youth of the
 land4 ,such is the treasure of the     
,fatherland4 ,the development of youth  
is the first work of man2 the highest   
ideal may be answered first hand4 ,also 
through the development of the young1   
the father best puts on his own wisdom  
and rectitude4  ,the ideal of education 
has already been reversed at the bottom4
 ,there is pandemonium yet2 there is    

colossal stupidity yet1 but ,order is   
coming in4 ,it would be well for all men
 meditatively to regard a kindergarten  
in action4 ,here are children free in   
the midst of objects designed to supply 
a great variety of attractions4 ,there  
is that hum in the room4 ,it is not     
dissonance4 ,the child is encouraged to 
be himself and express himself2 never to
 impinge upon his neighbour's rights1   
but to lose himself in the objects that 
draw him most deeply4  ,i have mentioned
 the man who caught the spiritual dream 
of all this1 who worked it out in life  
and books4 ,one of his books was        
published nearly a hundred years ago4   
,it wasn't a book on kindergarten1 but  
on the education of man4 ,i have not    
read this of ,froebel's work4 ,i wanted 
to do these studies my own way1 but ,i  
know from what ,i have seen of          
kindergartens1 and what teachers of     
kindergartens have told me1 that the    
work is true--that ,the ,education of   
,man is a true book4 ,nor would it have 

lived a hundred years otherwise4  ,the  
child is now sent to kindergarten and   
for a year is truly taught4 ,the process
 is not a filling of brain1 but an      
encouragement of the deeper powers1     
their organisation and direction4 ,at   
the end of the year1 the child is sent  
into the first grade1 where the barbaric
 process of competitive education and   
brain-cramming is carried on as         
sincerely as it was in ,froebel's       
time4444 ,a kindergarten teacher told me
 in that low intense way1 which speaks  
of many tears exhausted3  ,i dare not   
look into the first-grade rooms4 ,we    
have done so differently by them through
 the first year4 ,when the little ones  
leave us1 they are wide open and        
helpless4 ,they are taken from a warm   
bath to a cold blast4 ,their little     
faces change in a few days4 ,do you know
 the ones that stand the change best8   
,the commoner children1 the clever and  
hard-headed children4 ,the little       
dreamers--the sensitive ones--are hurt  

and altered for the worse4 ,their manner
 changes to me1 when ,i see them        
outside4 ,you do not know how we have   
suffered4  ,some of the greatest        
teachers in ,america to-day are the     
kindergarten teachers2 not that they are
 especially chosen for quality1 but     
because they have touched reality in    
teaching4 ,they have seen1 even in the  
very little ones1 that response which is
 deeper than brain4 ,if the great ideal 
that is carried out through their first 
year were continued through seven years1
 the generation thus directed would meet
 life with serenity and without greed4  
,they would make over the world into a  
finer place to be4         99       99  
99       99       99  ,i wonder if ,i   
may dare to say it once more8444 ,it    
came this way in ,chapel just a few days
 ago4 ,there was a pencil in my hand1   
and something of man's ideal performance
 here below appeared more than ever     
clearly4 ,i am putting down the picture1
 much as it came then1 for the          

straightest way to write anything is as 
you would tell it3  444 ,this pencil is 
a man1 any man4 ,above is spirit2 below 
matter4 ,the world of spirit is         
finished4 ,the plan is already thought  
out there1 to the utmost detail4 ,this  
above is the ,breath1 the ,conception1  
the ,emanation1 the ,dream1 the         
,universal ,energy--philosophers have   
called it by many names1 but they mean  
the ,god-,idea wrought of necessity in  
,spirit1 since ,god is spirit4  ,the    
world of matter below is not finished4  
,certain parts are completed1 but not   
all1 and the assembly of parts is just  
begun4 ,the material world is lost in   
the making of parts1 forgetting that the
 plan is one--that the parts of matter  
must be assembled into a whole--that a  
replica must be made in matter of the   
one great spiritual ,conception4 ,so    
long as men are identified with parts1  
there is dissonance from the shops of   
earth1 a pulling apart instead of       
together4  ,the many are almost ready to

 grasp the great unifying conception4   
,this is the next step for the human    
family as a whole2 this the present     
planetary brooding4 ,much we have       
suffered from identifying ourselves with
 parts4 ,rivalries1 boundaries1         
jealousies1 wars--all have to do with   
the making of parts4 ,beauty1 harmony1  
peace and brotherhood have to do with   
the assembly of parts into one4 ,that   
which is good for the many is good for  
the one2 and that which is good for the 
one is good for the many--the instant we
 leave the part and conceive the whole4 
,all the high-range voices for hundreds 
of years have proclaimed that the plan  
is one4 ,the world to-day is roused with
 the ,unifiers--voices of men in every  
city and plain crying out that we are   
all one in aim and meaning1 that the    
instruments are tuned1 the orchestra    
ready1 the music in place--but the      
players1 alas1 lost as yet in frenzy for
 their own little parts4 ,the baton of  
the leader is lifted1 but they do not   

hear4 ,in their self-promulgation they  
have not yet turned as one to the       
conductor's eyes4 ,the dissonance is at 
its highest1 yet the hour has struck for
 the lift of harmony4  ,look again at   
the pencil that stands for man4 ,above  
is the spiritual plan all finished4     
,every invention1 every song and poem   
and heroism to be1 is there4 ,one by one
 for ages1 the aspiring intelligence of 
man has touched and taken down the parts
 of this spiritual plan1 forced the     
parts into matter1 making his dream come
 true4 ,thus have come into the world   
our treasures4 ,we preserve them--every 
gift from a spiritual source4 ,often we 
preserve them 7until they are fully     
understood7 against our will4 ,the mere 
matter-models break down and are lost1  
for matter changes endlessly until it is
 immortalised1 as our bodies must be    
through the refinement of spiritual     
union4  ,our pioneers1 by suffering and 
labour1 even by fasting and prayer1 have
 made themselves fine enough to contact 

some little part of that finished plan4 
,they have lowered it into matter for us
 to see--step by step--the song into    
notes1 the poem into words1 the angel   
into paint or stone2 and the saints have
 touched dreams of great service1       
bringing down the pictures of the dream 
somehow in matter--and their own bodies 
often to martyrdom4444  ,below the      
pencil is the world of matter1 at this  
hour of its highest disorganisation4    
,the very terror and chaos of the world 
is an inspiration to every unifying     
voice4 ,here below are already many     
parts2 above1 the plan as a whole and   
the missing parts4 ,man stands          
between--the first creature to realise  
that there is an above1 as well as a    
below4 ,all creatures beneath man are   
driven2 they look down4 ,man alone has  
looked up2 man has raised himself erect 
and may take what he will from the      
spiritual source to electrify his       
progress4 ,man becomes significant the  
moment he realises that the plan is not 

for self1 but for the race2 not for the 
part1 but for the whole4  ,i have       
written it in many different ways1 and  
told it in many more4 ,there are endless
 analogies4 ,thousands before me have   
written and sung and told the same4 ,it 
is the great ,story4 ,we see it working 
out even in these wrecking days4 ,the   
plan is already in the souls of men4444 
,and what has this to do with education8
  ,everything4 ,the brain sees but the  
part4 ,the development of brain will    
never bring to child or man the         
conception of the spiritual plan4 ,there
 is a man to come for every missing     
part4 ,each man1 as he develops1 is more
 and more a specialist4 ,these missing  
parts shall be taken down from spirit   
and put into matter by men whose        
intrinsic gifts are developed to contact
 them4 ,thus have come the great poems  
and inventions so far1 the splendid     
sacrifices of men1 and all renunciation 
for the healing of the nations4  ,i     
would first find the work for the child4

 ,the finer the child the easier this   
part of the task4 ,then ,i would develop
 the child to turn to a spiritual source
 for his inspiration--his expectation to
 a spiritual source for every good and  
perfect thing4 ,the dream is there2 the 
other half of the circle is to produce  
the dream in matter4         99       99
       99       99       99  ,education 
is thus religion--but not the man-idea  
of religion4 ,it has nothing to do with 
creeds or cults1 with affirmations or   
observances4 ,it has to do with         
establishing connection with the sources
 of power1 and bringing the energy down 
into the performance of constructive    
work in matter4 ,religion isn't a       
feeling of piety or devoutness2 it is   
action4 ,spirituality is intellect      
inspired4  ,the mountain is broad at the
 base only4 ,there are many paths       
upward4 ,these paths are far apart only 
at the base4 ,on the shoulder of the    
mountain we hear the voices of those who
 have taken the other paths4 ,still     

higher1 we meet4 ,the ,apex is a point2 
the plan is one4  ,i would teach the    
young mind to find his own voice1 his   
own part1 his own message4 ,it is there 
above him4 ,true training is the        
refinement1 the preparing of a surface  
fine enough to receive his part4 ,that  
is the inspiration4 ,the out-breath--the
 right hand of the process--is action1  
making a model in matter of the thing   
received4  ,all training that does not  
encourage the child to look into the    
,unseen for his power1 not only holds1  
but draws him to the commonness of the  
herds4  444 ,many men to-day can believe
 in angels who cannot believe in        
fairies2 but the child who sees the     
changes of light in the lowliest        
shadows1 whose fancy is filled with     
little figures of the conservers and    
colourers of nature1 shall in good time 
see the angels--and one of that host    
shall come forward 7which is more       
important and to the point7 bringing a  
task for the child to do4  ,i say to the

 children here3 ',i do not see the      
things you do1 and in that ,i am your   
inferior4 ,they shut the doors upon me  
when ,i was little1 not meaning to1 but 
the world always does that4 ,that       
fineness of seeing went out from my     
eyes1 but it is so good a thing that ,i 
do not want you to lose it4 ,and always 
,i am ready to listen1 when you tell me 
what you have seen4'     ,,the ,,end    
,,by ,,will ,,levington ,,comfort       
,,midstream  444 ,a hint from the       
first-year's recognition of a book that 
was made to remain in ,american         
literature3  ,boston ,transcript3 ,if it
 be extravagance1 let it be so1 to say  
that ,comfort's account of his childhood
 has seldom been rivaled in literature4 
,it amounts to revelation4 ,really the  
only parallels that will suggest        
themselves in our letters are the great 
ones that occur in ,huckleberry         
,finn4444 ,this man ,comfort's gamut is 
long and he has raced its full length4  
,one wonders whether the interest1 the  

skill1 the general worth of it1 the     
things it has to report of all life1 as 
well as the one life1 do not entitle    
,midstream to the very long life that is
 enjoyed only by the very best of books4
   ,san ,francisco ,argonaut3 ,read the 
book4 ,it is autobiography in its       
perfection4 ,it shows more of the       
realities of the human being1 more of   
god and devil in conflict1 than any book
 of its kind4   ,springfield            
,republican3 ,it is difficult to think  
of any other young ,american who has so 
courageously reversed the process of    
writing for the market and so flatly    
insisted upon being taken1 if at all1 on
 his own terms of life and art4 ,and now
 comes his frank and amazing revelation1
 ,midstream1 in which he captures and   
carries the reader on to a story of     
regeneration4 ,he has come far2 the     
question is1 how much farther will he   
go8   ,mary ,fanton ,roberts in ,the    
,craftsman3 ,beside the stature of this 
book1 the ordinary novel and biography  

are curiously dwarfed4 ,you read it with
 a poignant interest and close it with  
wonder1 reverence and gratitude4 ,there 
is something strangely touching about   
words so candid1 and a draught of       
philosophy that has been pressed from   
such wild and bitter-sweet fruit4 ,the  
message it contains is one to sink deep1
 penetrating and enriching whatever     
receptive soul it touches4 ,this man's  
words are incandescent4 ,many of us feel
 that he is breathing into a language1  
grown trite from hackneyed usage1 the   
inspiration of a quickened life4   ,ida 
,gilbert ,myers in ,washington ,star3   
,courage backs this revelation4 ,the    
gift of self-searching animates it4     
,honesty sustains it4 ,and ,mr4         
,comfort's rare power to seize and      
deliver his vision inspires it4 ,it is a
 tremendous thing--the greatest thing   
that this writer has yet done4   ,george
 ,soule in ,the ,little ,review3 ,here  
is a man's life laid absolutely bare4 ,a
 direct1 big thing1 so simple that      

almost no one has done it before--this  
,mr4 ,comfort has dared4 ,people who are
 made uncomfortable by intimate grasp of
 anything1 to whom reserve is more      
important than truth--these will not    
read ,midstream through1 but others will
 emerge from the book with a sense of   
the absolute nobility of ,mr4 ,comfort's
 frankness4   ,edwin ,markham in        
,hearst's ,magazine3 ,will ,levington   
,comfort1 a novelist of distinction1 has
 given us a book alive with human       
interest1 with passionate sincerity1 and
 with all the power of his despotism    
over words4 ,he has been a wandering    
foot--familiar with many strands2 he has
 known shame and sorrow and striving2 he
 has won to serene heights4 ,he tells it
 all without vaunt1 relating his        
experience to the large meanings of life
 for all men1 to the mystic currents    
behind life1 out of which we come1 to   
whose great deep we return4    #abmo41  
,net1 #a4be                             
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---------      ,transcriber's ,note3    
,typographical errors corrected in the  
text3                                   
,page  #ei  ,ile changed to ,he         
,page  #ha  quiesence changed to        
quiescence             ,page #acb  blurr
 changed to blur                        
,page #afa  unforgetable changed to     
unforgettable       ,page #bdc  became  
changed to become                       
,page #bfa  spirtual changed to         
spiritual               ,page #bfb      
posessions changed to possessions       
,page #bhe  apear changed to appear     
,page #bhg  blossome changed to blossoms
                ,page #bhh  enviroment  
changed to environment                  
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