,libraries47 ,,modern ,,society4 ,,by ,,julia ,,ward ,,howe4 ,,boston3 ,,roberts ,,brothers4 #ahha4 ,,copyright1 #ahhj1 ,,by ,,roberts ,,brothers4 ,,printed ,,by ,,alfred ,,mudge ,,and ,,son4 ,,contents ,,modern ,,society #e ,,changes ,,in ,,american ,,society #di ,,modern ,,society4 ,what means this summons1 oh friends6 to the groves of ,academe8 ,i heard1 in the distance1 the measured tread of ,philosophy4 ,i mused3 ,how grave and deliberate is she6 ,how she matches thought with thought6 ,how patiently she questions inference and conclusion6 ,no irrelevance1 no empty ballooning1 is allowed in that ,concord school4 ,nothing frivolous need apply there for admission4 ,and lo6 in the midst of this severe entertainment an interlude is called for in the great theatre4 ,the stage manager says1 ,ring up ,puck4 ,wanted1 an ,ariel4 ,and no ,shakespeare being at hand1 ,i1 of the sex much reproved for never having produced one1 am invited to fly hither as well as my age and infirmities will allow1 and to represent to you that airy presence whose folly1 seen from the clouds1 is wisdom2 that presence which1 changing with the changes of the year and of the day1 may yet sing1 equally with the steadfast stars and systematic planets1-- ,the hand that made me is divine4 ,modern society1 concerning which you have bid me discourse to you1 is this tricksy spirit1 many-featured and many-gestured1 coming in a questionable shape1 and bringing with it airs from heaven and blasts from hell4 ,i have spoken to it1 and it has shown me my father's ghost4 ,how shall ,i speak of it1 and tell you what it has taught me8 ,you must think my alembic a nice one indeed1 since you bid me to the analysis of those subtle and finely mingled forces4 ,you have sent for me1 perhaps1 to receive a lesson instead of giving one4 ,you may intend that1 having tried and failed in this task1 ,i shall learn1 for the future1 the difficult lesson of holding my peace4 ,for so benevolent1 so disinterested an intention1 ,i may have more occasion to thank you beforehand1 than you shall find to thank me1 having heard me4 ,but1 since a text is supposed to make it sure that the sermon shall have in it one good sentence1 let me take for my text a saying of the philosopher ,kant1 who1 in one of his treatises1 rests much upon the distinction to be made between logical and real or substantial opposition4 ,according to him1 a logical opposition is brought in view when one attribute of a certain thing is at once affirmed and denied4 ,the statement of a body which should be at once stationary and in motion would imply such a contradiction1 of which the result will be nihil negativum irrepraesentabile4 ,a real or substantial opposition is found where two contradictory predicates are recognized as coexistent in the same subject4 ,a body impelled in one direction by a given force1 and in another by its opposite1 is easily cogitable4 ,one force neutralizes the other1 but the result is something1 viz41 rest4 ,let us keep in mind this distinction between opposites which exclude each other1 and opposites which can coexist1 while we glance at the contradictions of all society1 ancient as well as modern4 ,how self-contradictory1 in the first place1 is the nature of man6 ,how sociable he is6 also how unsociable6 ,we have among animals the gregarious and the solitary4 ,but man is of all animals at once the most gregarious and the most solitary4 ,this is the first and most universal contradiction1 that of which you find at least the indication in every individual4 ,but let us look for a moment at the contrasts which make one individual so unlike to another4 ,we sometimes find it hard to believe the saying that ,god hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth4 ,this in view of the contrast between savage and civilized nations1 or between nations whose habits and beliefs differ one from the other4 ,in the same race1 in the same family also1 we shall find the unlikeness which seems to set the bond of nature at defiance4 ,see this sly priest1 bland and benevolent in proportion to the narrow limits of the minds which he controls4 ,he hears the shrift of the brigand and assassin1 of the girl mastered by passion1 of the unfaithful wife and avenging husband4 ,he gives an admonition1 perhaps a grave one4 ,he inflicts a penance1 light or severe4 ,he does not trust his penitents with the secret which can heal the plague-sores of humanity1--the secret of its moral power4 ,but see the meek flock who come to him4 ,see the whole range of consciences which cannot rest without his dismissing fiat4 ,the rugged peasant drops on his knees beside the confessional4 ,his horny palm relinquishes1 without hesitation1 the coin upon which it has scarcely closed4 ,or here alights from her carriage some woman of the world1 bright in silks and jewels4 ,with a hush and a rustle1 reaching the lowly bench1 she1 too1 drops down1 rehearses her wrong-doing1 promises such reparation as is enjoined1 and asks for the word of peace4 ,now this confessor1 and one or more of his penitents1 may be the children of the same father and mother1 and yet they shall be as unlike in attitude and in character as two human beings can be4 ,in the closest alliance of blood you may thus find the opposite poles of one humanity4 ,humanity is1 then1 a thing of oppositions1 and of oppositions which are polar and substantial4 ,its contradictions do not exclude1 but1 on the contrary1 complement each other1 and the action and reaction of these contradictions result in the mighty agreements of the ,state and of the ,church1 the intense sympathies and antipathies which bind or sunder individuals1 the affections and disaffections of the family4 ,the opposite extremes of human nature embrace1 between them1 a wonderful breadth and scope4 ,the correlation and coaction of this multitude of opposing forces on the wide arena of the world naturally give rise to a series of manifestations1 voluntary and involuntary1 changeful in form and color as a phantasmagoria1 fitful as a fever-dream1 but steadfast and substantial in the infinite science1 out of which all things come4 ,the unity in this web of contradictions is its great wonder4 ,how if this unity prove to be the law of which the oppositions are but one clause8 ,how if the perfect unity were only attainable through the freedom of the natural diversity8 ,and what is the substance and sum of this fundamental agreement8 ,the desire of good1 the progressive conception of which marks1 more than anything else1 the progress of the race4 ,we cannot tell out of what dynamics comes the initial of this fruitful and productive opposition4 ,it is1 perhaps1 the very unity of the object which develops the diversity of action4 ,in the progress of human society the diversity becomes constantly multiplied4 ,is the sense of the unity lost in consequence8 ,no1 it grows constantly with the growth of this opposing fact4 ,as education is enlarged1 as freedom becomes more general and entire1 the agreement of mankind becomes greater in the objects to be attained for the promotion of their best interests4 ,we can suppose a family cast upon a barren shore1 or forced to sit down in the midst of an uninhabited region4 ,all of its members will wish to secure the necessary conditions of life1 such as food1 fuel1 shelter1 safety from destructive agencies4 ,if left to themselves1 one will naturally bestir himself to find fish1 game1 or fruits2 another will bring in firewood2 a third will plan a tent or hut2 a fourth will stand sentry against any possible alarm4 ,so a camp is a world in miniature2 and if food and drink be plenty1 and there be time to think of recreation1 some one will carve a pipe from reed or willow1 and1 in answer to the piping1 will come the dance4 ,or1 if our pilgrims are too mystic and solemn for this1 hymns will be sung1 and the voice of prayer will lift the soul out of the poverty of its surroundings into that realm of imagination whose wealth far exceeds that of ,ormus or of ,ind4 ,i seem to hear at this point the non placet of those who ask for one thing and receive another4 ,i was not sent for to philosophize1 but to represent2 and1 with regard to the former process1 how not to do it should have been my study4 ,modern society is my theme4 ,where shall ,i find society for you8 ,henry ,thoreau found it here1 in the passionless face of ,nature4 ,here1 the shy ,hawthorne could dwell unmolested1 not even overshadowed by the revered sage who makes reserve and distance such important elements of good manners4 ,mr4 ,alcott has transplanted here those olives whose sacred chrism rests upon his honored brow4 ,the society which my words shall introduce here must be neither vulgar nor dull4 ,now1 if ,i had a flying-machine6 ,well1 ,i have one1 and its name is ,memory4 ,sit with me1 upon its movable platform1 and ,i will give you some peeps at the thing itself1 leaving you to discuss after me its raison d'etre1 its right to be4 ,in experimental analysis1 specimens are always exhibited4 ,let us look at modern society in ,cairo1 ,shepherd's hotel1 and the omnibus that bears one thither4 ,the table d'hote unites a catalogue as various as that of ,don ,giovanni4 ,here sit ,sir ,samuel and ,lady ,baker1 famous as ,african explorers4 ,you may all know something of the entertaining volumes which chronicle their discoveries and adventures4 ,lady ,baker wears1 at times1 a necklace made of tiger's claws4 ,her husband shot the tiger in the great wilds of ,africa1 she loading the gun with which he did it4 ,she is ,roumanian by birth1 ,english by adoption1 fair and comely4 ,sir ,samuel is a burly ,briton4 ,they have with them a young ,african servant1 dark and under-sized1 with wild1 crimped hair4 ,sir ,samuel tells me that this is altogether the best human creature he ever knew4 ,lady ,baker does not resent the extreme statement4 ,i sit at table between a ,russian count and an ,english baronet4 ,the ,russian and his two daughters are amiable and simple people4 ,the baronet is a stanch ,tory1 as you will think natural when you hear his story4 ,he was once a poor boy1 hard at work in a coal mine4 ,he used to walk six or seven miles daily1 after working hours1 in order to acquaint himself with those three ,fates who are familiarly called the three ,r's4 ,becoming an expert in the coal business1 he went through the upward grades of his profession1 became a large owner of mines1 and has now a heavy contract for supplying the ,egyptian government with coal4 ,he is a member of ,parliament1 and1 when ,i saw him1 was ready to start homeward on the first news of a division in the ,house4 ,it was lately stated in a ,london paper that ,lord ,beaconsfield would probably raise him to the peerage before his own retirement from office4 ,so1 it may have been done by this time4 ,my ,russian neighbors are much troubled about the fate of a poor ,italian family whose chief has lost his occupation1 and which is thus reduced to the extreme of want4 ,why not get up a subscription at this hotel8 say ,i4 ,they are very willing that ,i should4 ,i draw up a paper1 we sign our names and contributions4 ,sir ,george snubs us dreadfully1 but gives us a sovereign4 ,sir ,samuel snubs1 and gives nothing4 ,the necessary sum of money is raised1 and the family is sent to its own country4 ,here1 you see1 are ,russia1 ,england1 and ,america1 combining1 on ,egyptian soil1 to save ,italy4 ,this strange mixture is characteristic of the medley of the time4 ,we will not move yet1 for the panorama of the table will save us that trouble4 ,here is one of the recognized beauties of ,london society4 ,a very pretty woman1 with dewy eyes1 pearly teeth1 dark1 glossy hair1 and a soft1 fresh complexion4 ,a ,french wardrobe sets off those natural advantages1 with its happy disguises and apposite revelations4 ,but it is not good for beauty that it should become a profession4 ,this lady's fine eyes and teeth are made to do duty with such evident persistence of intention1 that one absolutely dreads to see the glitter of the one and the flash of the other in the gymnastic of an advertised flirtation4 ,i cannot yet release you4 ,here are two gentlemen who wear the tarbouche with their ,european costume4 ,they were rebels in our war of secession1 and at its close took service with the ,khedive4 ,ignoring ancient sectional differences1 they are very cordial with us1 their countrywomen4 ,they would be glad to see their country again1 but cannot get their salaries paid1 the ,french and ,english commissioners having taken the direction of ,egyptian finances1 and making no allowance for the past services of these ,american officers1 who were dismissed at their instance4 ,we are still at ,shepherd's table d'hote1 and before us sit an ,english nobleman and his wife1 who have obtained permission to give a fete at the ,pyramids4 ,a gay party of ,english residents and visitors are gathering to accompany them1 and presently the carriages and cavalcade start1 with a band of music1 and a small army of servants4 ,they illuminate the ,great ,pyramid with colored fires1 race their horses and donkeys through the desert1 sup and sleep in the ,khedive's kiosk1 not without much boisterous mirth and disturbance4 ,or1 behold me on ,bairam day1 paying a ,new-,year's visit to the harem of the ,khedive4 ,a row of grinning eunuchs1 black as night1 guard the entrance4 ,after various turns of ceremonial1 we greet the three princesses1 all wives of the ,khedive1 who has many others not of this rank4 ,in order not to give offence1 we are obliged to smoke the chibouque1 a pipe about five feet in length4 ,we smile and courtesy at the proper moment1 but find conversation difficult4 ,they are curious to hear where we came from1 and whither we are going4 ,i ask whether they1 also1 enjoy travelling1 and am reminded that their institutions do not allow it4 ,these poor princesses little knew that in two months from that time an involuntary journey awaited them1 on the occasion of the ,khedive's abdication1 and departure from the country4 ,we please ourselves1 in these days1 with the praise of ,islamism1 and think1 quite rightly1 that ,mahomet and his ,koran had their raison d'etre1 and have done their part for mankind4 ,but here is ,islamism in modern society4 ,the howling dervishes sit on the ground groaning ,allah1 ,allah4 ,by and by they rise1 and bend their heads backward and forward until the most eminent among them fall in fits1 and are taken up in an unhappy condition4 ,within a short distance from our hotel1 we hear of a company of men met for a religious exercise4 ,one of them chews a glass goblet and swallows it4 ,another endeavors to swallow a small snake4 ,a third gashes himself wildly with a sword4 ,these are religious enthusiasts4 ,if their faith be genuine1 these dangerous experiments1 they say1 can do them no harm4 ,these things remind us of the temptation of ,christ3 ,if thou be the ,son of ,god1 cast thyself down from hence4 ,but let us leave the city and hotel1 and betake ourselves to the historic river1 dumb with all its mouths1 and poor with all its wealth4 ,modern society is well represented on board our steamer4 ,here are two ,californian gentlemen1 two sons of a ,sandwich ,island missionary1 two or three ,italians4 ,here is a sister-in-law of ,john ,bright4 ,she has visited ,alaska1 and considers this ,nile trip a small parenthesis in her voyage round the world4 ,here are an ,english couple1 belonging to fashionable life4 ,here is a clergyman of the same nation1 who glories in the fact that ,dr4 ,johnson hated1 or said he hated1 a ,whig4 ,here is an ,american who cannot visit the ruins because his whole day is divided into so many glasses of milk1 to be taken at such and such times4 ,we land one day at ,assiout1 and visit its bazaars4 ,the trade in ostrich feathers is brisk1 the natives steadily raising their prices as the demand increases1 until we find that the feathers might be more cheaply bought in ,london or ,paris4 ,amid the general confusion of tongues ,i am accosted by a handsome youth1 cleanly and civil1 who speaks fair ,english1 and asks if he can serve me4 ,who are you8 ,a pupil of the ,american ,mission ,school in this place4 ,he brings two of his fellow-pupils to speak with me4 ,one of these is a girl1 whose innocent1 uncovered face seems to rebuke the hidden faces of the ,arab women1 veiled and disfigured to evince their modesty1 but making more evident the immodesty of the men4 ,we return to our steamer1 followed by a crowd of boys and girls1 shrieking and naked1 who plunge into the water to get the backshish1 which some of our party throw them4 ,on the bank stand two beautiful youths1 nearly black1 with eyes like sloes1 and with crisped hair standing erect like a flame above their foreheads4 ,they are clad in kilts of white cotton cloth4 ,struck with their beauty1 we inquire of what tribe they are4 ,of the ,bischouri1 says our dragoman1 a tribe of the desert1 who feed only upon uncooked grain4 ,to the last their bright smile pursues us with its pathos4 ,would that they1 too1 were pupils of the ,american ,mission ,school4 ,would not our vegetarian chief send for them8#a #a ,mr4 ,alcott1 ,dean of the ,concord ,school of ,philosophy1 has always been known as a vegetarian4 ,we gallop across the sands to a point opposite ,philae1 and reach the sacred spot by boat4 ,we picnic among its tombs1 climb its pylon1 and remark upon the beauty of the view4 ,at the first cataract1 which is very near this place1 an ,arab woman shows me her baby with the pride of ,eve or ,queen ,victoria4 ,it has a nose-ring of brass wire1 and similar adornments in the top of each ear4 ,on my way back to the boat1 my pocket is picked by a cunning youth4 ,the ,arabs of the desert will compare in this respect with the ,arabs of ,european streets4 ,a little ,arab girl offers to sell me her rag doll1 whose veil is bedizened with spangles4 ,a little water-carrier1 proud of her ,english1 says1 ,lady1 give me backshish4 ,this shall end my peep at modern society in ,egypt4 ,but one more personal remembrance you must accord me4 ,the scene is a dirty1 muddy street in a ,cyprus seaport4 ,the time is not far from noon4 ,i am exploring1 with some curiosity1 the new jewel which ,lord ,beaconsfield has added to the crown of ,great ,britain4 ,what a mean1 poor bazaar is this2 what dull streets1 what a barren place to live in1 especially since methymenic ,albion has drunk up all the best of the wine6 ,i pass a shop1 and a bright presence beams out upon me4 ,it is ,lady ,baker1 with her fair1 luminous face1 full of energy and resource4 ,sir ,samuel1 she tells me1 is in the back shop buying hardware for a hard journey4 ,for they intend to travel through the island in a huge covered wagon1 drawn by oxen1 which will be to them at once vehicle and hotel4 ,where they went1 and how they fared1 ,i know not1 nor would it here import us1 if ,i did4 ,i only mention the appearance of these friends in this place1 because this appearance was so characteristic of modern society1 and because so many of its elements appeared there in their persons4 ,the education and high society of ,england1 the court1 the literary circles1 the almighty publisher1 for an intended volume was surely looming in the foreground of their picture4 ,and here ,i have clearly got hold of one feature of modern society2 this is1 that everything is everywhere4 ,the ,zulus are in ,london1 the ,londoners in ,zululand4 ,empress ,eugenie1 the exploded star of ,french fashion in its highest supremacy1 visits ,cape ,town4 ,the stars and stripes protect ,american professors on the shores of the ,bosphorus1 within view of ,mount ,lebanon4 ,it would not surprise us to learn that a party of our countrymen had read the ,declaration of ,independence beside the ,pools of ,solomon1 or within the desolate heart of ,moab4 ,in ,jaffa of the ,crusaders1 ,joppa of ,peter and ,paul1 ,i find an ,american ,mission ,school1 kept by a worthy lady from ,rhode ,island4 ,prominent among its points of discipline is the clean-washed face which is so enthroned in the prejudices of ,western civilization4 ,one of her scholars1 a youth of unusual intelligence1 finding himself clean1 observes himself to be in strong contrast with his mother's hovel1 in which filth is just kept clear of fever point4 ,why this dirt8 quoth he2 that which has made me clean1 will cleanse this also4 ,so without more ado1 the process of scrubbing is applied to the floor1 without regard to the danger of so great a novelty4 ,this simple fact has its own significance1 for if the innovation of soap and water can find its way to a ,jaffa hut1 where can the ancient1 respectable1 conservative dirt-devil feel himself secure8 ,the maxim also becomes vain nowadays1 that there should be a place for everything1 and that everything should be in its place4 ,cleopatra's ,needles point their moral in ,london and in ,new ,york4 ,the ,prince of ,wales hunts tigers in the ,punjaub4 ,hyde ,park is in the desert or on the ,nile4 ,america is all over the world4 ,against this universal game of ,puss in the ,corner1 reaction must come1 some day1 in some shape1 or anywhere will mean nowhere1 for those who1 starting in the geographical pursuit of pleasure1 fail to find it and never return home4 ,the oppositions of humanity have undergone many changes4 ,paul characterized them in his day as ,greek and ,barbarian1 bond and free1 male and female4 ,christianity effaced old oppositions and created new ones4 ,the old oppositions were national1 personal1 selfish4 ,the new opposition was moral4 ,it struck at evils1 not at men1 and tended to unite the latter in a patient and reasonable overcoming of the former4 ,i know that the white heat at which its first blow was dealt left much for philosophy to elaborate1 for science to adjust and apply4 ,a ,jesus1 arrived at the plenitude of his intellectual vigor1 could only have three years in which to formulate his weighty doctrine1 and could not have had these without much care and hindrance4 ,his work lay in the normal direction of human nature4 ,in spite of lapses and relapses1 mankind slowly creep towards the great unification which will make the savage animals and the selfish passions the only enemies of the human race4 ,modern society rests upon this unification as its basis of action4 ,a positive philosophy which ,auguste ,comte did not elaborate absorbs its highest thought1 and dictates its largest measures4 ,and so prophetic souls bid farewell to the old negations4 ,in their view1 the lion is already reconciled to the lamb4 ,the taming of the elements prefigures the general reconciliation4 ,the deadly lightning runs on errands and carries messages4 ,the ,titan steam is the servant of commerce and industry1 meek as ,hercules when armed with the distaff of ,omphale4 ,emulation1 the desire to excel1 exquisite1 dangerous stimulant to exertion1 is not in our day educated to the intensification of self1 but to the enlargement of public spirit and of general interest4 ,the constant discoveries of new treasures in our material world1 of gold1 silver1 iron1 and copper1 of states to be built up and of harvests to be sown and reaped1 are accompanied by corresponding discoveries concerning the variety of human gifts and their application to useful ends4 ,what men and women can be good for may be more voluminously stated to-day than in any preceding age of the world's history4 ,comparison should be a strong point in modern society4 ,when travelling was laborious and difficult1 the masses of one country knew little concerning those of another4 ,when learning was rare1 and instruction costly and insufficient1 the few knew the secrets of thought and science1 the many not even knowing that such things were to be known4 ,when wealth was uncommon1 luxury was monopolized by a small class1 the greater part of mankind earning only for themselves the right to live poorly4 ,when distinctions were absolute1 low life knew nothing of high life but what the novelist could invent1 or the servant reveal4 ,how changed is all this to-day6 ,competence1 travel1 tuition1 and intelligent company are within the reach of all who will give themselves the trouble to attain them4 ,the first consequence of this is that we become able to make the largest and most general comparison of human conditions which has ever been possible to humanity1 nor does this ability regard the present alone4 ,the unveiling of the treasures of the past1 the interpretation of its experience and doctrine which we owe to the scholar and archaeologist1 enable us to compare remote antiquity with the things of the last minute4 ,the work of antiquarian science culminates in the discovery of the prehistoric man4 ,theology had long before invented the post-historic angel4 ,now1 indeed1 we ought to be able to choose the best out of the best1 since the whole is laid in order before us4 ,but the chronic trouble hangs upon us still4 ,had we but such wisdom to choose as we have chance to see6 ,the gifts of our future are still shown us in sealed caskets4 ,which of these conceals the condition of our true happiness8 ,the leaden one1 surely1 of which we distrust the dull exterior1 trusting in the inner brightness which it covers4 ,what is the problem of modern society8 ,how to use its vast resources4 ,here is where the office of true ethic comes in4 ,no gift can make rich those who are poor in wisdom4 ,the wealth which should build up society will pull it down if its possession lead to fatal luxury and indulgence4 ,the freedom of intercourse which makes one nation known to another1 and puts the culture of the most advanced at the service of the most barbarous1 is like a flood which carries everywhere the seeds of good and of evil4 ,the ripening of these depends much upon the accident of the human soil they may happen to find4 ,but careful husbandry will have even more to do with the result4 ,to ,america it was said at the outset1 ,prepare to receive the ,world1 and to make it free4 ,oh1 ,world1 so full of corruption and of slavery1 wilt thou not rather bind us with thy gangrenous fetters8 ,wilt not the wail of thy old injustice and suffering prolong itself until the new strophe of hope shall be lost and forgotten8 ,where is ,god's image in this human brute who lands on our shores1 full only of the insolence of beggary8 ,far1 far be from us ever the methods and procedures which have made or left him what he is4 ,honor and glory to those patient1 good men and women who will redeem his children from the degradation which seems almost proper to him4 ,theirs be a crown above that of the poet or orator6 ,modern society1 then1 is chiefly occupied with a vast assimilation of novelties4 ,this task is by no means imposed upon us alone4 ,while the ,new ,world has to digest races and traditions1 the ,old ,world has to digest ideas4 ,thanks to the good ,puritan stomach which we inherit1 the process goes on here1 with little interruption4 ,but across the seas1 in ,rome1 in ,germany1 in ,russia1 what nausea1 what quarrelling with the fatal morsel upon which ,providence compels the lips to close6 ,non possumus6 say the priests of the old order4 ,possum1 replies the eternal power4 ,the ,french republic and the ,english monarchy succeed best in this altering of old habits to suit new emergencies4 ,but where extremes are greatest1 the contest is naturally fiercest4 ,a ,pope fears the cup of poisoned chocolate1 and dares not drink the wine of the eucharist without a taster2 the throne of the ,russian autocrat is over the deadly mine of the ,nihilist4 ,german vanity and diplomacy bring back the shadow of the mediaeval muddle4 ,the living heart's blood of humanity comes to us out of these struggles1 an immeasurable gift1 for good or for evil4 ,can we be quick enough with our schools1 just enough in our government1 sincere and devout enough in our churches8 ,what will ,europe do with the ideas8 ,what will ,america do with the people8 ,these are the questions of the present time4 ,one of the serious social questions of the day is the omnipotence of money4 ,people often use this expression in a quasi sarcastic sense1 not seriously intending what they say4 ,but the power of money nowadays is such that it becomes us seriously to ask whether there is anything that it cannot do4 ,what ancient strongholds of taste1 sentiment1 and prejudice has it not stormed and carried8 ,a servant1 who sought a place during the first years of the shoddy inflation1 asked a lady who was willing to engage her1 ,are you shoddy1 ma'am1 or old family8 ,i want to live with shoddy1 because it pays the highest wages4 ,the watchwords of society as often come from its humbler as from its higher level1 and this woman unconsciously uttered the word which was to rule society from that time to this4 ,money1 during the last twenty years1 has swept over most of the old landmarks1 and obliterated them4 ,religion itself stands aghast at this baptism of gold1 which can convert the alien and the heathen1 ay1 the brigand and the robber1 into saints of social prestige4 ,for money bribes the court and pulpit1 and buys the press2 the highest rank1 the highest genius1 pay homage to it4 ,if the duke has not money1 he will seek in wedlock the most undesirable of women1 if she be also the richest4 ,royalty bows to the splendid cloak of vulgarity1 and invites it to dine and drive4 ,happy day1 you will say1 for labor1 which money symbolizes4 ,monarchs may well show it respect4 ,but money does not always symbolize honest and intelligent industry4 ,a great fortune often represents transactions akin to theft2 sometimes the thing itself1 which the world is ,spartan enough to approve of1 if the criminal can only escape positive detection4 ,those1 too1 who have earned their money honestly1 leave it to children who turn their back upon the class of which their parents came1 and desire to know nothing of the bread-winning arts which they were constrained to practise4 ,we have had1 within the last ten years1 a severe lesson concerning the instability of wealth in some of its most trusted forms4 ,yet are we not compelled by sympathy and antipathy1 at the bottom of our hearts1 to pay it an homage which our lips would not avow8 ,do we not desire wealth for our children as the condition which shall set our minds at rest concerning them8 ,when we see mediocrity and vulgarity riding in the swift carriage1 and wearing the jewels and the robes1 bright in everybody's eyes and praised in everybody's mouth1 do we not harbor somewhere a regret that we have not1 in some way possible to us1 set our best abilities to work to secure a similar distinction for ourselves8 ,it should not frighten one to see the court and its underlings venal4 ,court and courtiers are a show1 and money is the condition by which a show lives4 ,but ,i look into the domain of letters1 and ask whether that is still uncorrupted4 ,i do not think that it is4 ,the refined tastes of literary people lead them to value entertainment at the hands of the rich4 ,the luxurious rooms1 the abundant table1 the easy persiflage in which worldly tact knows enough to flatter recognized talent4 ,do not these illicebrae seduce1 to-day1 even the stern heart of philosophy8 ,how unkind was society to ,margaret ,fuller6 ,it was reluctant to show her the courtesy due to a gentlewoman4 ,its mean gossip treated her as if she had been beyond the pale of elegance and good taste1 verging away even from good behavior4 ,what was her offence against society8 ,a humanity too large and absorbing1 a mind too brave and independent for its commonplace4 ,add to these the fact that she had neither fashion nor fortune4 ,the things she asked for are granted to-day by every thinking mind1 and she is remembered as illustrious4 ,but if she could come back to-morrow as she was1 poor in purse and plain in person1 and assume her old leadership1 would ,boston treat her any better than it did in days of yore8 ,would she not find1 even among ,brook farmers1 a looking toward ,beacon ,street which might surprise her8 ,the literary man1 who went so bravely from abstract philosophy to its concrete expression1 whose learned hands took up the spade and hoe1 and whose early peas were praised by those who contemned his principles1 would he1 at a later day1--grown urbane and fashionable1--would he have bowed without a pang to his former self1 if he had met him1 dusty and on foot1 in ,central ,park1 he himself being well mounted8 ,i said just now that money could buy the press4 ,this is shameful1 because the press1 more than any other power1 can afford to be frank and sincere4 ,freedom is the very breath of life in its nostrils1 yet is it to-day largely salaried by the enemies of freedom4 ,while speaking of the press1 ,i will mention the regret with which ,i lately read1 in the ,boston ,daily ,advertiser1 an editorial treating of the expulsion of the ,jesuits from ,france4 ,the writer1 who denounced this measure with some severity1 described the religious body with which it deals as a band of mild and inoffensive men1 chiefly occupied with the tuition of youth4 ,he might as well have characterized a tiger as a harmless creature1 incapable of the use of firearms4 ,to me the worship of wealth means1 in the present1 the crowning of low merit with undeserved honor1--the setting of successful villany above unsuccessful virtue4 ,it means absolute neglect and isolation for the few who follow a high heart's love through want and pain1 through evil and good report4 ,it means the bringing of all human resources1 material and intellectual1 to one dead level of brilliant exhibition--a second ,field of the ,cloth of ,gold--to show that the barbaric love of splendor still lives in man1 with the thirst for blood1 and other quasi animal passions4 ,it means1 in the future1 some such sad downfall as ,spain had when the gold and silver of ,america had gorged her soldiers and nobles2 something like what ,france experienced after ,louis ,,xiv4 and ,,xv4 ,i am no prophet1 and1 least of all1 a prophet of evil2 but where1 oh where1 shall we find the antidote to this metallic poison8 ,perhaps in the homoeopathic principle of cure4 ,when the money miracle shall be complete1 when the gold ,midas shall have turned everything to gold1 then the human heart will cry for flesh and blood1 for brain and muscles4 ,then shall manhood be at a premium1 and money at a discount4 ,the ,french have found1 among many others1 one fortunate expression4 ,they speak of a life of representation1 by which they mean the life of a person conspicuous in the great world4 ,this society of representation has some recognition in every stage of civilization1 since even nations which we consider barbarous have their festivals and processions4 ,the ministerial balls in ,paris1 and perhaps many other entertainments in that city1 are of this character4 ,the guests are admitted in virtue of a card1 which is really a ticket1 though money cannot command it4 ,many of the persons entertained are not personally acquainted with either host or hostess1 and do not necessarily make their acquaintance by going to their house4 ,everything is arranged with a view to large effects3 music1 decorations1 supper1 etc4 ,a party of friends may go there for their own amusement1 or a single individual for his own4 ,but there are no general introductions given1 there is no social fusion4 ,now this ,i call society of representation4 ,it bears about the same relation to genuine society that scene-painting bears to a carefully finished picture4 ,people of culture and education enjoy a peep at this spectacular drama of the social stage1 but their idea of society would be something very different from this4 ,where this show-society monopolizes the resources of a community1 it implies either a dearth of intellectual resources1 or a great misapprehension of what is really delightful and profitable in social intercourse4 ,where the stage form of society predominates too largely1 its intimate form languishes and declines4 ,the communings of a chosen few around a table simply spread1 with no view to the recognition of the great ,babylon1 but rather with a pleasure in its avoidance2 refined sympathy and support given and received in a round of daily duties1 by those whose hands are busy and whose minds are full2 the inner sweetness of a beautiful song or poem1 the kindling of mind from mind1 till all become surprised at what each can do1--this sort of society maintains itself by keeping the noisy rush of the crowd at arm's length4 ,horace says1-- ,odo profanum vulgus et arceo1 and ,i1 a democrat of the democrats1 will say so too4 ,i reverence the masses of mankind1 rich or poor4 ,my heart beats high when ,i think of the good which human society has already evolved1 and of the greater good which is in store for those who are to come after us4 ,but ,i hate the profane vulgarity which courts public notice and mention as the chief end of existence1 and which1 in so doing1 puts out of sight those various ends and interests which each generation is bound to pursue for itself1 and to promote for its successors4 ,the time of poor ,marie ,antoinette was the culmination of such a period of show4 ,its glare and glitter1 and its lavish waste1 had put out of sight the true and intimate relations of man to man4 ,and so1 as the gilded portion of the age made its musters of beautiful empty heads1 of vanities throned upon vanities1 the ungilded part made its deadly muster of discontent1 displeasure1 and despair4 ,the empty heads fell1 and much that was precious and noble fell with them4 ,the great stage produced its bloody drama1 and the curtain of horror closed upon it4 ,critics of society usually direct their invective against the extravagance and shallowness of this exhibitory department1 and would almost make these an excuse for the opposite extreme of misanthropic spleen and avoidance4 ,they should remember that while society1 from an inward necessity1 provides for these musterings and displays1 it is unable to provide for that intimate and personal intercourse which individuals must found and cultivate for themselves4 ,so much is left for each one of us to do1 to find our peers1 and open with them an honest exchange of our best for their best4 ,the family most easily begins this1 with its intense and ever-enlarging interests4 ,out of true family life comes a neighborhood2 out of a neighborhood the body politic1 and the body sympathetic4 ,if1 in the matter of social intercourse1 show is allowed to usurp the place of substance1 the indolence of mankind must bear its part of the blame4 ,it is far easier to order a suit for the great occasion1 than to brighten one's mental jewels for the small one4 ,many a soldier is brave on parade1 who would not shine on a field of battle4 ,many a woman will pass for elegant in a ball-room1 or even at a court drawing-room1 whose want of true breeding would become evident in a chosen company4 ,the reason why education is usually so poor among women of fashion is1 that it is not needed for the life which they elect to lead4 ,with a good figure1 good clothes1 and a handsome equipage1 with a little reading of the daily papers1 and of the fashionable reviews1 and above all1 with the happy tact which often enables women to make a large display of very small acquirements1 the woman of fashion may never feel the need of true education4 ,we pity her none the less1 since she will never know its peace and delight4 ,in our own country1 at this moment1 and in ,europe as well1 ambitions seem to be unduly directed to this department of social action1 the training and discipline for which differ widely from that proper to intimate and domestic life4 ,hence comes an observable regard1 not to appearances only1 but to appearance4 ,as actors often paint their faces too highly for near effects1 in order to look well at the farthest point of view1 so the dress and manners of the day fit themselves for the stage of the great world1 and their wearers seem to meditate not only what will not appear amiss1 but what will attract attention by some singularity of becoming effect4 ,hence the supremacy for the time of those whose calling it is to minister to appearance4 ,the tailor has long been a man of destiny1 but the modern plainness of male attire has somewhat sobered his pretensions4 ,but look at the sublime arrogance of the ladies' dressmaker1 and the almost equally sublime meekness of the victim1 who not only submits1 but desires to be as wax in her hands4 ,this supreme functionary has1 of course1 carte blanche for her ordinances4 ,the subject says to her1 ,do what you will with me4 ,make me modest or immodest4 ,tie up my feet or straighten my arms till use of them becomes impossible4 ,deprive my figure of all drapery1 or upholster it like a window-frame4 ,nay1 set me in the centre of a movable tent1 but array me so that people shall look at me1 and shall say ,i look well4 ,i cannot but hate1 to-day1 the slavish fashion which seems to have been invented in order to intensify that self-consciousness which is the worst enemy of beauty4 ,it is administered by means of a system of lacets and whalebones1 which everywhere impinge upon nature4 ,a young lady who is in her dress like a sword in its scabbard 7the ,french name for the fashion is fourreau71 is made to think of this point1 and of that1 until her whole gait and movement become an interrogation of her silks and elastics4 ,can ,i sit8 ,can ,i walk8 ,can ,i put this foot forward1 or lift this hand to my head8 ,ask the satin strait-jacket in which your artist has imprisoned you1 receiving high compensation for the service4 ,much as ,i resent this constraint and restraint of the body1 my saddest thought is1 that where it is endured the mind has first been enslaved4 ,foreign travel is so established a feature in ,american life1 that it may well become us to take account of what it costs and comes to4 ,our own importation of men and women is various and enormous4 ,they who come to us poor and ignorant in one generation1 are seen comfortable and well educated in the next4 ,the disfranchised and landless man comes to us1 and receives political rights1 and the title of a farm in fee simple4 ,no inordinate tribute robs him of the product of his industry1 be it large or small4 ,he pays to the ,state what it pays him well to afford1 for protection and education4 ,but how is it with the tribute which ,europe levies upon us in the shape of our sons and daughters8 ,many polite tastes have1 no doubt1 been fostered in our young men by studies pursued in a ,german university1 or art learned in a ,french studio4 ,some of the best scholars of the elder generation have profited1 in their youth1 by such advantages4 ,but if we go beyond the limits of literary or professional life1 we may not consider the results so fortunate4 ,our society-men sometimes become so depolarized in their tastes and feelings1 as to be at ease nowhere but in ,europe1 and not much at ease there4 ,those who return bring back a love of betting and of horse-racing1 and ape the display of ,european grandees as far as their fortunes will allow4 ,and our young women8 ,some of them study soberly abroad1 and return to give their countenance and support to all that is improving and refining in their own country4 ,some float hither and thither1 between ,england and ,italy1 like a feather on the wave1 disappearing at last4 ,the ,daisy ,millerish chit is seen1 offending in pure ignorance of what common-sense should easily teach mothers and daughters4 ,family groups of ,americans are often met with in ,europe1 in which one figure is wanting4 ,this is the father1 absent1 in ,america1 working at his business or speculation4 ,these ladies are often companionable people1 who enjoy good hotels1 galleries1 music on the public square1 and1 above all1 the sensation of being far from home4 ,one feels about them a dreary atmosphere of homelessness4 ,as the writer of the ,potiphar papers1 while watching a gay young mother's performance in the ,german1 was constrained to think of a complaining babe in her nursery1 so1 in hearing those ladies boast of their enjoyments1 one cannot help remembering with commiseration the wifeless husband and daughterless father at home1 who works like a steam-fan to keep these butterflies in motion4 ,more sad still are my reflections1 when ,i hear that numbers of ,american girls1 with large or even moderate fortunes1 go abroad and allow it to be known that they seek a husband with a title4 ,these are to be had1 of various grades1 if the pecuniary consideration be only sufficient4 ,and so many of our laborious men of business work hard in order to earn for themselves the luxury of a titled son-in-law1 who has not the ability to earn his own support1 and would scorn to do it if he had4 ,american women with money are at a premium in fashionable ,europe4 ,even without this supreme merit1 they are favorites4 ,a ,london journal calls attention to the fact that some of the leading ladies in the fashionable ,london of to-day are ,americans4 ,the versatility of mind and ease of manner which a free and social life develops1 appear in strong contrast with the results of the more formal education1 which are often seen in the opposite extremes of timidity and assurance4 ,as our young men are often entrapped1 while abroad1 into marriages which prove to be very unwise and unsuitable1 ,i wish very much that we might bring and keep our young people in a better understanding with each other1 so that even the most ambitious among them should be content to marry with their peers1 and abide in the home of their fathers4 ,i have been surprised1 at some periods of my late visit to ,europe1 to perceive the growing interest of thinking people in all that is most characteristic of ,american progress4 ,again and again1 in private and in public1 ,i have found myself invited to discourse concerning the happy country in which popular education has been so long established1 that its results are no longer putative1 but ascertained and verified4 ,the country in which the fairest woman1 provided she be a modest one1 can walk abroad by day or night1 unmolested and unsuspected1 the country in which women have acquired the courage to think for themselves1 and to stand by each other4 ,these invitations1 though not given in derision1 yet seemed akin to the ,hebrew refrain1 ,sing us one of the songs of ,zion6 ,and when ,i related the facts familiar to all of us1 to those who listened with half-incredulous wonder1 it was1 indeed1 like singing the ,lord's song of freedom in a strange land4 ,the reasons why ,europe should come to ,america are obvious and pressing4 ,the reasons why ,america should visit ,europe are equally binding and cogent4 ,the material and the moral life of to-day are kept at their height by this flux and reflux of human personality1 which carries with it every variety of opinion and experience4 ,could we only send our best abroad1 and for the best reasons6 ,could ,europe only send her best1 also1 for their best help and study6 ,but the human average profits first of all by its material enlargement1 and will be received just as it is4 ,so1 our fools go abroad1 to show that folly is a thing of all times and climes2 and1 along with the tidal wave of ignorance and bigotry1 the dark1 designing ,jesuit seeks our shore1 and spins his fatal web among our rose-trees4 ,sun of divine truth1 storms of divine justice1 sweep away the evil and ripen the good6 ,when ,i see an ,american of either sex caught in the vortex of ,european attraction1 depolarized from natural relations1 and charmed into alliance with feudal barbarism and ignorance1 my heart rings the bell of alarm which is hung at the gates of ,paradise4 ,from all these ,western splendors can this shallow soul turn away8 ,from these golden fields whose overflow gives ,europe food1 while her human overflow gives them labor8 ,from this large construction of human right1 which lifts the cruel yoke from the neck of labor1 and gives him who earns the livelihood of many his own life to enjoy and perfect8 ,from this holy record of pious endeavor1 from these splendid achievements of souls inspired by freedom1 thou canst go1 joyous and triumphant1 to pay homage to the lies which are no longer believed by those who profess them2 lies whose fallacy ,america exposes every day and hour to the detection of the world4 ,thou wilt accept a title1 empty as an egg-shell1 for a thing truly noble6 ,thou wilt call a courtier's grimace polite1 a courtesan's fashion elegant6 ,thou wilt curry favor in a vulgar court1 courtesying low to a prince of harlequins and harlots6 ,thou1 child of the ,puritans1 wilt kneel and kiss the hand which1 still and sole1 disputes with ,christ the mastery of the world6 ,then art thou simply an anachronism6 ,some are born into the world centuries before their time1 some centuries after it4 ,other attractions1 innocent in themselves1 and conceivable to all1 detain some of our valued fellow-citizens in perpetual exile4 ,the quiet and beauty of ,english country-life1 the literary and artistic resources of a foreign capital1 the romances of ancient chateaux and cathedrals1 some delicious touch of climate1 some throbbing beauty of a southern sky4 ,how delightful we have found these1 it is as much a pain as a pleasure to remember6 ,but let us also call to mind the lesson of a well-known fairy tale4 ,while ,beauty prolongs her absence1 the faithful ,beast languishes and comes nigh unto death4 ,while we enjoy these choice delights1 the society to which we belong is sowing its wheat and its tares4 ,we are far from the field in which the life of our own generation is planted and tended4 ,every honest heart1 every thinking mind1 has its value in the community to which it belongs4 ,our value1 such as it is1 remains wanting to our community1 and1 when its crises of trial shall come1 we shall not have been trained by watchful experience to understand either their cause or their remedy4 ,how delightful was ,italy to ,milton6 ,his ,allegro and ,pensieroso show that he could fully appreciate both its mirth and its majesty4 ,he returns not the less to live out a life of illustrious service in his own country1 where his brave heart and philosophic mind were of more avail to his time than even his sacred song to ours4 ,no one has any reason to be surprised at any new manifestation of human folly4 ,yet ,i am sometimes surprised1 to-day1 by the disrespect which is often shown to the word ,protestant4 ,this name dates1 at farthest1 from the time of ,luther1 but the fact for which it stands is as old as human history4 ,moses made a protest when he led his people out of the luxury and slavery of ,egypt to find the free hills of ,judaea1 and to build on one of them a temple to the ,god of freedom4 ,christ made ,his protest against the hypocrisy and injustice of the old social and ecclesiastical order4 ,england and ,france have made their protests against monarchical supremacy4 ,both went back from their daring determination1 but the lesson was not forgotten4 ,the ,puritans made their protest when they faced the frowning sea and the savage wilderness1 in order that they might train their children1 and live themselves in the freedom which conscience asks4 ,mr4 ,garrison and his associates made their protest against ,american slavery4 ,mrs4 ,butler1 of ,england1 makes her protest to-day against the personal degradation of women4 ,lucy ,stone makes hers against their political enslavement4 ,does society inherit8 ,is man the heir of man8 ,whence come those creatures of the present day who smile1 and shrug their shoulders1 and feebly say1 ,we don't protest4 ,our fathers did something of the kind1 upon what ground we cannot possibly imagine4 ,but we are quite of another sort4 ,we don't protest4 ,to those courageous souls which1 alone and unaided1 have been able to face the world's passion and inertia1--to those leaders of forlorn hopes who have seen glory in the depths of death and have sought it there1--to those voices proclaiming in the wilderness the triumphant progress of truth1--to those brave spirits whose strength the fires of hell have annealed1 not consumed1--my soul shall ever render its glad and duteous homage4 ,and if1 in my later age1 ,i might seek the crowning honor of my life1 ,i should seek it with that small1 faithful band who have no choice but to utter their deepest conviction1 and abide its issues4 ,fruitful shall be their pains and privations4 ,they who have sown in tears the seeds of unpopular virtue1 shall reap its happy harvest in the good and gratitude of mankind4 ,,changes ,,in ,,american ,,society4 ,i have been invited to speak to you to-day concerning changes in ,american society4 ,in preparing to consider this subject1 ,i cannot but remember that the very question of social change is to some people an open one4 ,the supposition of any real onward movement in society is as unwelcome and as untrue to these persons as was ,galileo's theory concerning the revolution of the earth around the sun4 ,they will assert1 as indeed they may1 that the same crimes are committed in all ages1 with the same good deeds to counterbalance them and that the capital tendencies of human nature are always substantially the same4 ,this also must be allowed4 ,the error of these friends consists in overlooking the most characteristic and human of these tendencies1 which is that of progressive desire4 ,this trait1 deeper and stronger than the mere love of change1 pushes the whole heterogeneous mass of humanity onward in a way from which there is no return4 ,the laws of human motive and action1 meanwhile1 remain as steadfast and immovable as the laws by whose application ,galileo made his discovery4 ,to discern at once the steadfast truth and its metamorphic developments will be the task of the greatest wisdom4 ,when ,theodore ,parker invited the religious world to consider the transient and the permanent elements of ,christianity1 he made a popular application of a truth long known to philosophy4 ,this truth is that life in all of its aspects exhibits these two opposite qualities or conditions4 ,much is transient in the individual1 more is permanent in the race4 ,the study of anthropology1 so greatly enriched to-day by discovery and investigation1 would give us much to say under both of these heads1 but most1 ,i think1 under the last4 ,i remember that in reading ,livy's history of the second ,punic war1 in our own war time1 ,i was struck by certain resemblances between the time in which he wrote and that in which ,i read him4 ,when ,i learned from his pages that the merchants and ship-owners of ancient ,rome managed to impose the most worthless of their vessels upon the government for the transport of troops and provisions1 ,i exclaimed1 ,what ,yankees these ,romans were6 ,in reading some well-known satires of ,horace ,i have been struck with the resemblance of the ancient to the modern bore4 ,boileau's famous take-off of the dinner given by a parvenu is scarcely more than a ,french adaptation of the feast of ,nasidienus1 as described by the ,roman bard who was ,boileau's model4 ,in ,virgil's account of the good housewife1 who rises early in order to measure out the work of the household1 and in ,solomon's description of the thrifty woman of his time1 one sees the value set upon feminine industry and economy in times far removed from our own1 yet resembling it in this appreciation4 ,on the other hand1 the dissimilarity of ancient and modern society is equally seen in the same mirror of literature4 ,the mention of matters which1 by common consent1 are banished from decent speech to-day1 the position of ,woman1 from the vestal virgin buried alive for breach of trust to the devium scortum1 whom ,horace frankly invites to his feast1 the gross superstition which saw in religion little save portents and propitiation1--these mark on the dial of history an hour as distant from our own in sympathy as in time4 ,you will wish to hear from me some account of changes which have come within the sphere of my own observation1 both as ,i have been able to see for myself1 and to compare what ,i have seen with what ,i have received from the generation immediately preceding my own4 ,let me remind you that1 with all the advantages of personal observation1 it may be more difficult for us to give a true account of the age to which we belong than of more distant times1 upon which thought and reflection have already done their critical and explanatory work4 ,familiarity so dulls the edge of perception1 as to make us least acquainted with things and persons making part of our daily life4 ,mindful of these difficulties1 ,i will do my best to characterize the threescore years which have carried me into and out of the heart of the nineteenth century4 ,i have seen in this time a great growth in the direction of liberal thought1 of popular government1 of just laws and useful institutions4 ,i have seen human powers so multiplied by mechanical appliances as to destroy the old measures of time and distance1 and almost to justify the veto once laid by the great ,napoleon upon the use of the word impossible3 ,ne me dites jamais ce bete de mot1 said he2 and it has now become more bete than ever4 ,what feature of society has not changed in the phantasmagoria of these wonderful lustres8 ,each decade has made a fool of the one which went before it4 ,whether in the region of extended observation and experiment1 or in that of subtle and profound investigation1 human effort has seemed in this time to put itself at compound interest1 working at once with matters infinitely little and with matters infinitely great1 and surely introducing mankind to a higher plane of comfort and co-operation than has been reached in anterior ages4 ,while the mechanism of life has thus been brought much nearer to perfection by the labor of our age1 the principles of life remain such as they have always been4 ,pile luxury as high as you will1 health is better1 and the body of a well-fed and not over-worked ploughman is1 nine times out of ten1 a better possession than the body of a man of fortune1 especially if he be at the same time a man of pleasure4 ,marshal and gild the pomp of circumstance1 and do it homage with bated breath1 character remains the true majesty1 honor and intelligence its prime ministers4 ,money can help people to education1 by paying for the support of those who can give it4 ,but money cannot excuse its possessor from the smallest of the mental operations through which1 if at all1 a man comes to know what1 as a man1 he should know4 ,the great desiderata of humanity still remain these3 to preserve the integrity of nature1 the purity of sentiment1 and the coherence of thought4 ,the great extension of educational opportunities which we see to-day should make the attainment of these objects easier than in ages of less instruction4 ,but while the pursuit of them is ever normal to the human race1 the inherent difficulties of their attainment remain undiminished4 ,without self-discipline and self-sacrifice1 no man to-day attains true education1 or the dignity of true manhood4 ,for here comes in the terrible fact of man's freedom as a moral agent4 ,could our age possess and administer the powers of the universe to its heart's content1 in that heart would yet rest the issues of its life and of its death4 ,the period of which ,i have to speak has certainly witnessed great improvements in the theory of hygiene4 ,the old heroic treatment of diseases has nearly disappeared4 ,the nauseous draughts1 the blood-letting and blisters1 have given place to moderate medication1 the choice of climate and the regulation of diet4 ,women have been admitted as copartners with men in the guardianship of the public health4 ,athletic sports help the student to fresh blood and efficient muscle1 without which the brain sickens and perishes4 ,but even in this department how much is left to desire and to do6 ,our greatest and richest city is still festering with the corruption that breeds disease4 ,no board of health seems to have power to sweep its side streets and dark alleys4 ,fashion keeps her avenues clean1 and neglects the rest of the vast domain1 for which she has her reward in many a ghastly epidemic4 ,the late ,edward ,clarke1 of ,boston1--heaven rest his soul6--could alarm the whole continent with his threats of the physical evils which the more perfect education of one sex would entail on both4 ,but he has left no public protest against the monstrosities of toilet which deform and mutilate the bodies of women to-day1 nor against the selfish frivolity of life in both sexes1 which is equally inimical to true motherhood and to true fatherhood4 ,i have seen in fashions of dress and furniture the curious cycle which my elders foretold1 and which it takes1 ,i should think1 half a century to fulfil4 ,my earliest childish remembrance is of the slim dresses which display as much as is possible of the outlines of the figure4 ,i remember the elegantes of ,gotham walking the one fashionable street of fifty-five years ago1 attired in pelisses of pink or blue satin4 ,a white satin cloak trimmed with dark fur seemed1 even to my childish observation1 a chill costume for a pedestrian in the heart of winter4 ,my mother's last ,paris bonnet1 bought probably in #ahbe1 appeared to her children1 twenty years later1 such a caricature1 that pious hands destroyed it1 in order that we might have no ludicrous association with the sweet young creature whose death had left us babes in the nursery4 ,after many fluctuations and oscillations1 ,i have seen modern head-gear near of kin to the subject of this holocaust4 ,i have seen the old forms and colors return to popular favor4 ,i have even heard that the very white satin cloak1 which seemed outre to the critic of six years1 has been worn and greatly admired in the recent gay world of ,paris4 ,the return in these cases1 it must be said1 is not to the identical point of departure4 ,progress1 according to some thinkers1 follows a spiral1 and is neither shut in a circle nor extended in a straight line4 ,the hoops of our great-grandmothers are not the hoops which we remember to have seen or worn4 ,their eelskin dresses are not the model of ours4 ,still1 the recurrence of the same vein of fancy marks a periodical approximation to the region or belt of influence in which certain forgotten possibilities suggest themselves to the seeker of novelty1 and in which the capricious1 antithetical fancy delights to crown with honor all that it found most devoid of beauty a few lustres ago4 ,does this encyclical tendency in the familiar aesthetics of life imply a corresponding tendency in the moral and intellectual movement of mankind8 ,i fear that it does4 ,i fear that seriousness and frivolity1 greed and disinterest1 extravagance and economy1 in so far as these are social and sympathetic phenomena1 do succeed each other in the movement of the ages4 ,but here the device of the spiral can save us4 ,we must make the round1 but we may make it with an upward inclination4 ,let there be light6 is sometimes said in accents so emphatic1 that the universe remembers and cannot forget it4 ,we carry our problem slowly forward4 ,with all the ups and downs of every age1 humanity constantly rises4 ,individuals may preserve all its early delusions1 commit all its primitive crimes2 but to the body of civilized mankind1 the return to barbarism is impossible4 ,the aesthetic elaboration of ethical ideas1 always a feature of civilization1 becomes in our day a task of such prominence as to engage the zeal and labor of those even who have little natural facility for any of its processes4 ,the ignoring of this department of culture by our ,puritan ancestors1 had much to do with the bareness of surrounding and poverty of amusement which almost affright us in the record of their society4 ,with all their insufficiency1 these periods of severe simplicity are of great importance in the history of a people4 ,the temporary withdrawal from the sensible and pleasurable to the severe verities of ethical study accumulates a reserve force which is sure to be very precious in the emergencies to which all nations are exposed4 ,the reaction against the extreme of this is as likely to be excessive as was the action itself4 ,if we tend to any extreme1 nowadays1 it is to that of making art take the place of thought1 as may somewhat appear in the general rage for illustration and decoration4 ,the ministrations of art to ethics are indeed unspeakably grand and helpful4 ,the cathedrals of the ,old ,world1 and its rich and varied galleries1 preserve for us the fresh and naive spirit of mediaeval piety4 ,religious art1 indeed1 becomes almost secularized by its repetitions2 yet each of its great works has the isolation of its own atmosphere1 and speaks its own language1 which we reverently learn while we look upon it4 ,of all arts1 music is the one most intimately interwoven with the ethical consciousness of our own time4 ,the oratorios of ,handel and of ,mendelssohn so blend the sacred text and the divine music1 that we think of the two together1 and almost as of things so wedded by ,god1 that man must not seek to put them asunder4 ,when ,i have sat to sing in the chorus of the ,messiah1 and have heard the tenor take up the sweet burden of ,comfort ye my people6 ,i have felt the whole chain of divine consolation which those historic words express1 and which link the prophet of pre-,christian times to the saints and sinners of to-day4 ,in far-off ,palestine ,i have been shown the plain on which it is supposed that the shepherds were tending their flocks when the birth of the ,messiah was announced to them4 ,but as ,i turned my eyes to view it1 my memory was full of that pastoral symphony of ,handel's1 in which the divine glory seems just muffled enough to be intelligible to our abrupt and hasty sense4 ,nay1 ,i lately heard a beloved voice which read the chapter of ,elijah's wonderful experiences in the wilderness4 ,while ,i listened1 bar after bar of ,mendelssohn's music struck itself off in the resonant chamber of memory1 and ,i thanked the ,hebrew of our own time for giving the intensity of life to that mystical drama of insight and heroism4 ,the transcendentalists of our own country made great account of the relation of art to ethics1 and perhaps avenged the ,puritan partiality by giving art the leading1 and ethics the subordinate place in their statements and endeavors4 ,but the masters of the transcendental philosophy in ,europe did not so4 ,spinoza1 ,kant1 and ,fichte were idealists of the severest type4 ,standing for the moment between the two1 ,i will only say that the danger of forgetting the high labors and rewards of thought in the pleasure of beautiful sights and sounds is one to which the highest civilization stands most exposed4 ,to think aright1 to resolve and pray aright1 we must retire from those delights to the contemplation of that whose sublimity they can but faintly image1 as we pass with joy from the likeness of our friend into his presence4 ,love of ornament is by no means synonymous with love of the beautiful4 ,the taste which overloads dress and architecture with superfluous irrelevancies1 is often quite in opposition to that true sense of beauty which is indispensable to the artist and precious to the philosopher4 ,greek3 ,to kalon1 the ,greeks said4 ,was it a naive utterance on their part8 ,was it through their poverty of expression1 or their want of experience1 that the same word with them signified the good and the beautiful8 ,no4 ,it was through the depth of their insight1 and the power of their mental appreciation1 that they so stamped this golden word as that it should show the supreme of form on one of its faces1 and the supreme of spirit on the other4 ,the social domain of religion has also undergone a change4 ,in my early life ,i remember that all earnest and religious people were supposed to live out of the great world1 and to keep company only with one another and with the subjects of their charitable beneficence4 ,the disadvantages of this course are easily seen4 ,free intercourse with the average of mankind is one of the most important agencies in enlarging and correcting the action of the human mind4 ,the exigencies of ordinary intercourse develop a sense of the dependence of human beings upon each other1 and a power corresponding to the needs involved in this interdependence4 ,the religious susceptibilities of individuals1 which are at once very strong in their character and very uncertain in their action1 are liable to become either exaggerated or exhausted by a course of life which should rely wholly upon them for guidance and for interest4 ,let us1 therefore1 by all means have saints in the world1 keeping to their pure standard1 and recommending it more by their actions than by their professions4 ,but these saints must be brave as well as pure4 ,unworthy doctrine must not escape their reprobation4 ,when a just cause is contemned1 they must stand by it4 ,if the world shall cast them out in consequence1 it will not be their fault4 ,the social leagues which group themselves around the various churches of to-day1 seem to me a feature of happy augury4 ,it is the office of the church to inspire and direct the tone of social intercourse1 and these associations should greatly help it to that end4 ,i lately heard ,wendell ,phillips complain that church exercises nowadays largely consist of picnics and other merry-makings4 ,only a little before1 ,mr4 ,phillips1 in his reply to ,mr4 ,parkman's article against ,woman ,suffrage1 had spoken of the growth of social influence as a good4 ,it does1 to be sure1 look a little whimsical to read on the bulletin of a ,methodist church such announcements as this1--,private theatricals for the benefit of the ,sunday school4 ,but ,wesley introduced the use of secular tunes in his church on the ground that the devil should not have all the good music4 ,neither should he monopolize the innocent amusements with which1 if they are left to him1 he does indeed play the devil4 ,although the great ocean will always hold ,europe at arm's length from us1 yet the currents of belief and sympathy bring its various peoples near to us in various ways4 ,i remember to have taken note of this long before the ocean steamships brought the eastern hemisphere within a few days' journey from our own seaboard1 and very long before the time-annihilating cables were dreamed of4 ,the ,french have always had with us the prestige of their social tact and sumptuary elegance4 ,the ,english manners are affected by those among us who mistake the aristocracy of position for the aristocracy of character4 ,the ,italians rule us by their great artists in the past1 and by their subtle policy in the present4 ,the ,germans have1 as they deserve1 the pre-eminence in music1 in metaphysics1 and in many departments of high culture4 ,i have not long since been taken to task by a writer in a prominent ,new ,york paper for some strictures regarding the quasi-omnipotence of money in the society of to-day4 ,the writer in question enlarged somewhat upon the greatly increased expenditure of money in our own country1 as if this must be considered as a good in itself4 ,he concludes his statement by remarking that ,mrs4 ,howe has never studied the proper significance of the money question4 ,i desire to say here only that ,i have not neglected the study of this question1 which so regards the very life of society4 ,one of its problems ,i have ventured to decide for myself1 viz41 whether the luxury of the rich really supports the industry of the poor4 ,the aesthetic of luxury is a mean and superficial one4 ,the critique of luxury is compliant and cowardly2 and1 despite its glittering promise to pay any price for what it desires1 luxury orders poorly1 pays poorly1 and in the end undermines the credit of the ,state1 the very citadel of its solvency4 ,i regret and deplore its prevalence to-day1 and consider it not as the safeguard1 but as the most dangerous enemy of republican institutions4 ,in our ,america1 ay1 even in our ,puritan ,new ,england1 the day has come in which economy is a discredit and poverty a disgrace4 ,with the common school ever at work to lift the social level1 unfolding to the child of the day-laborer the page which instructs the son of the peer1 the cry is still that money is ,god1 and that there is none other4 ,one may ask1 in the business streets1 whether rich people have any faults1 or poor people any virtues4 ,a woman who sells her beauty for a rich dower is honored in church and in ,state4 ,both alike bow to the money in her hand4 ,one proverb says that ,time is money1 as if it were ,only that1 and nothing more4 ,another proverb says that ,money is power4 ,and in this form1 no doubt1 it receives the most fervent worship1 for luxury palls sooner or later1 while ambition is never satisfied4 ,but we constantly meet1 on the other hand1 with instances in which money is not power4 ,money does not give talent or intelligence4 ,you cannot buy good government1 good manners1 or good taste3 ,you cannot buy health or life4 ,do some of you remember the shipwreck1 some twenty years ago1 of a steamer homeward-bound from ,california8 ,the few survivors told how the desperate passengers brought their belts and bags of gold to the cabin1 and threw them about with a bitter contempt of their worthlessness4 ,states have such shipwrecks1 in which avenging ,fate seems to say to those who have sacrificed all for wealth1 ,thy money perish with thee4 ,the heroics of history are full of the story of great ends1 accomplished by very small means4 ,now a handful of resolute men hold the forces of a great empire in check1 and beat back the ocean surge of barbarism from the marble of their strong will4 ,now a single martyr turns the scale of the world's affection by throwing into the balance the weight of one small life4 ,now a ,state with every disadvantage of territory1 cursed with sterility1 or exposed to the murderous overflow of the salt sea1 takes its stand upon the simple determination to conquer for itself a free and worthy existence4 ,frederick of ,prussia and his small army1 ,washington1 with his handful of men1 in these and so many other instances1 we admire the attainment of mighty ends through means which seem infinitesimal in proportion to them4 ,how shall it be in our country1 to which ,nature has given the widest variety of climate1 soil1 and production8 ,shall we become a lesson to the world in the opposite direction8 ,shall we show how little a people may accomplish with every circumstance in its favor1 and with nothing wanting to its success but the careful mind and resolute spirit8 ,god forbid6 ,the belief in pacific methods of settling international differences has made a noticeable progress in my time4 ,in my school-days ,i remember a grave ,presbyterian household at whose fireside ,i one day saw an elderly man seat himself1 with little notice from the members of the family4 ,i inquired who he might be1 and was told1 with some good-natured laughter1 that this old gentleman was the ,american ,peace ,society1 i4e41 the last surviving member of that association4 ,this was a humorous exaggeration of the truth4 ,judge ,jay1 of ,new ,york1 was living at that time1 and all the enthusiasm of the peace cause lived in him1 and no doubt in many others4 ,i have remembered the incident1 nevertheless2 and when ,i have seen the stately ,peace ,congresses held in ,europe and elsewhere1 when ,i have seen rapacious ,england submitting to arbitration1 when ,i have seen the flag of military prestige go down before the white banner of ,peace1 as in the late change of the ministry in that country1 ,i have remembered that day of small things1 and have learned that the faith of individuals is the small seed from which spring the mighty growths of popular conviction and sympathy4 ,the extensive wars which have taken place within the last forty years1 as extensive and as deadly as any the world ever saw1 are sometimes quoted in derision of those who believe1 as ,i do1 in the sober1 steady growth of the pacific spirit among people of intelligence4 ,the reasons for this advance lie deeper than the vision of the careless observer may reach4 ,within the period of our own century the value of human life to the individual has been greatly increased by the wide diffusion of the advantages of civilization4 ,the value of the individual to the ,state has become greatly increased by the multiplication of industrial resources1 and by the immense emigration which at times threatens to drain the older society of its working population4 ,the spread of education has at once undermined the blind belief of the multitude in military leaders1 and toned down the blind ferocity of instinct to which those leaders are forced to appeal4 ,wars of mere spoliation are scarcely permitted to-day4 ,wars of pure offence are deeply disapproved of4 ,the military and diplomatic injustice of past times has left unsettled many questions of territory and boundary which will not rest until they shall be set right4 ,the populations which war has plundered and subjugated1 lay their cause before the world's tribunal4 ,in aid of this1 the friends of the true law and order are ever busy in forming a nucleus of moral power1 which governments will be forced to respect4 ,thus1 though the war-demon dies hard1 he is doomed1 and we shall yet see the battlements of his grim cathedrals places for lovers to woo and for babes to play in4 ,in religion ,i have seen the dark ministrations of terror give way before the radiant gospel of hope4 ,i remember when ,doctrine sat beside the bed of death1 and offered its flimsy synonym to the eyes upon which the awful1 eternal truth was about to dawn4 ,i remember when a man with a poor diploma and a human commission assumed to hold the keys of heaven and hell in his hands1 and to dispense to those who would listen to him such immortality as he thought fit4 ,i remember when it went hard with those who1 in forming their religious opinions1 persisted in daring to use the critical power of their own judgment4 ,they were lonely saints2 they wandered in highways and byways1 unrecognized1 excommunicated of men4 ,no one had power to burn their bodies1 but it was hoped that their souls would not escape the torment of eternal flame4 ,i have seen this time1 and ,i have lived to see a time in which these rejected stones1 hewn and polished by ,god's hand1 have come to be recognized as corner-stones in the practical religious building of the age4 ,what a discredit was it once to hear ,theodore ,parker6 ,how happy are they now esteemed who have heard him6 ,let not ,mr4 ,emerson's urbanity lead him to forget the days in which polite ,boston laughed him to scorn4 ,brook ,farm was once looked upon as a most amusing caricature4 ,but when the world learned something about ,nathaniel ,hawthorne1 ,george ,ripley1 ,william ,henry ,channing1 ,john ,dwight1 and ,george ,william ,curtis1 the public heart bowed itself with remorseful homage before the ruined threshold of what was1 with all its shortcomings1 a blameless temple to ideal humanity4 ,it is quite true that every change which ,i have seen in the society of my time cannot be said to be1 in itself1 for the better4 ,the price of progress1 like that of liberty1 is eternal vigilance4 ,a time of religious enfranchisement may induce a period of religious indifference4 ,cosmopolitan enlargement may weaken the force of patriotism4 ,the charity of society may degenerate into an indifference concerning private morals1 which1 if it could prevail1 would go far towards destroying public ones4 ,humanity ever needs the watchman on the tower4 ,it needs the warning against danger1 the guidance out of it4 ,i can imagine a set of prophets less absolute than the ,hebrew seers1 whose denunciation of evils1 near or present1 should always couple itself with profound and sober suggestions of help4 ,and this will be the work of faith in our day1 to believe in the good which can overcome the evil1 and to seek it with earnest and brave persistence4 ,let me return for a moment1 very briefly1 to what ,i touched upon just now1 the great changes in religious thought which this century has witnessed4 ,what manifold contrasts have we observed in this domain6 ,what a wild and wide chase in the fields of conjecture6 ,what impatience with the idols of the past1 historical and metaphysical6 ,there have been moments in the last twenty years in which one might have said to the religious ideals of past ages that the time had come in which every one who raised his hand against them thought that he was doing ,god service4 ,this iconoclasm had its time1 and1 one supposes1 its office4 ,but the religious necessities of mankind are permanent1 and will outlast any and all systems of pure criticism4 ,the question arises1 in all this havoc of illusory impressions1 ,who is to provide for the culture and direction of those instincts of reverence which are so precious to1 so ineradicable in the race8 ,we must ask this service of those who believe that religion is1 on the whole1 wiser than its critics4 ,those who have been able to hold fast this persuasion will be the religious trainers of our youth4 ,those who have relinquished it will have no more skill to teach religion than a sculptor will have to feed an army4 ,the greatest trouble with human society is1 that its natural tendency leads it1 not to learn right measure through one excess1 but1 on becoming convinced of this1 to rush into an opposite excess with equal zeal and equal error4 ,the mechanism of society requires constant correction in order to keep up the succession of order and progress through and despite this proneness to extravagance and loss of power4 ,this rectification of direction without interruption of movement is the office of critical and constructive thought4 ,precious are the men1 and rare as precious1 who carry this balance in their minds1 and1 while the ship lurches now on this side and now on that1 strain after the compass with masterful courage and patience4 ,we have all known such men1 but we have known1 too1 that their type is not a common one4 ,among all who are out of work to-day1 so far as the market is concerned1 those men of careful and critical judgment are the least called for1 and the least wished for by the majority of men4 ,headlong enthusiasm1 headlong activity1 headlong doubt and cynicism1 the prevalence of these shows the force with which the present whirl of the spindle was cast4 ,fair and softly1 my quick-flying ,century4 ,to find out whether you are going right or wrong1 whether you are faithful or faithless1 solvent or bankrupt1 you must have recourse to these same slow1 patient men and women1 who try such questions by a more accurate and difficult method than that of the popular inclination4 ,i find that the philosopher ,kant1 writing more than a hundred years ago1 remarks that in so sociable an age as his own ,culture must naturally be expected to assume an encyclopedic character4 ,it will1 he says1 necessarily desire to present a manifold number of agreeable and instructive acquisitions1 easy of apprehension1 for entertainment in friendly intercourse4 ,these words seem prophetic of the efforts after general information1 with a view to conversation as an accomplishment1 which have constituted a marked feature of ,american and ,english society within forty years4 ,in the dissolving view of the public predilection1 this object has lost much of its prominence4 ,the ornate and well-rounded periods of the conversationist are not more in request1 nowadays1 than were the high-sounding sentiments of ,joseph ,surface to ,sir ,peter ,teazle1 when experience had shown him their emptiness4 ,blunt speech and curt expression rather are in favor4 ,the heroines of novels are supposed to fall in love with men of a somewhat brutal type4 ,adonis is out of fashion4 ,hercules pleases1 and even ,vulcan is preferred4 ,one thinks that the influence of the mercantile spirit may be recognized in this change4 ,long speeches and roundabout statements are found not to pay4 ,the man who listens to them with one ear1 hearkens with the other for the ocean telegrams1 news of the stock market1 considers the maturing of a note1 the success or failure of a scheme4 ,when there is no one to listen1 loquacity itself will grow economical of breath4 ,the world is quite right in its tacit protest against over talk4 ,a great deal of empty1 irrelevant speech is liable to be imposed upon the good-nature of society in the garb of instructive conversation4 ,it is weary to listen by the hour to men or women who principally teach you their own opinion of their own erudition4 ,but woe to the world if its haste and greed should ever be such that the true teacher should want an audience1 the long lessons of philosophy find interpreters1 but no pupils4 ,the present is1 on the whole1 an encyclopedic1 cosmopolitan era4 ,i suppose that it succeeds as a reaction to one of more special and isolated endeavor4 ,the example and influence of ,goethe have had much to do with the formation of the ideas of culture which have been prevalent in our time4 ,this wonderful man went1 with such a happy tact1 from one thing to another4 ,in poetry he did so much1 in high criticism so much1 in science so much1 and in world-wisdom so much6 ,how naturally were the lovers of study1 who made him their model1 led to undertake1 as he did1 to render the most eminent service1 to attain the highest honors in a dozen different departments6 ,but the man ,goethe was more wonderful even than his writings4 ,his individuality was too powerful to suffer loss through the variety of his pursuits4 ,he could be at once a courtier and a philosopher1 a poet and a scientist1 a critic of morals and a man of the world1 and in all things remain himself4 ,i sometimes wonder why we ,americans are so apt to show1 in our conduct and remarks1 an undue preponderance of what the phrenologists term love of approbation4 ,this is an amiable and useful trait in human nature1 which may degenerate into a weak and cowardly vanity1 or even into a malignant selfishness4 ,to desire the approbation which can enlighten us as to the merits of what we have done or attempted1 is wise as well as graceful4 ,to make constant laudation a prominent object in any life is a capital mistake in its ordering4 ,to prefer the praise of men to the justification of conscience1 is at once cowardly and criminal4 ,i observe these three phases in ,american life4 ,i value the first1 compassionate the second1 and reprobate the third4 ,surely1 if there is any virtue which a republican people is bound to show1 it is that self-respect which is the only true majesty1 and which can afford to be as generous and gracious as majesty should be4 ,it is1 perhaps1 natural that many of us should1 through a want of experience1 mistake the standpoint of people conspicuous in the older ,european society as greatly superior to our own4 ,we can learn much1 indeed1 from the observation of such a standpoint2 but1 in order to do so1 we must hold fast our own plain1 honest judgment1 as we derive it from education1 inheritance1 and natural ability4 ,it must1 ,i should think1 be very tedious and very surprising to ,europeans to hear ,americans complain of being so young1 so crude1 so immature4 ,this is not according to nature4 ,imagine a nursery full of babies who should bewail the fact of their infancy4 ,any one who should hear such a complaint would cry out1 ,why1 that's the best thing about you4 ,you have the newness1 the promise1 the unwasted vigor of childhood1--gifts so great that ,christ enjoined it upon holy men to recover1 if they had lost them4 ,if our society is young1 its motto should be the saying of ,saint ,paul to ,timothy1 ,let no man despise thy youth4 ,the great men of our early history deserve to rank with the ripest products of civilization4 ,was ,washington crude8 ,was ,franklin raw8 ,were ,jay1 ,jefferson1 and ,hamilton immature8 ,the authorities of the older world bowed down to them1 and did them homage4 ,the ,republicans of ,france laid the key of the ,bastille at the feet of ,washington4 ,franklin was honored and admired in the court circle of ,louis ,,xvi4 ,there was a twofold reason for this4 ,these men represented the power and vigor of our youth2 but our youth itself represented the eternal principles of truth and justice1 for whose application the world had waited long4 ,and thinking people saw in us the dignity of that right upon which we had founded our hope and belief as a nation4 ,i will instance a single event of which ,i heard much during my last visit in ,rome4 ,a ,german1 naturalized in ,america1 and who had made a large fortune by a railroad contract in ,south ,america1 had purchased from some ,european government the title of ,count4 ,he was betrothed to the sister-in-law of a well-known ,california millionnaire1 whose wife has been for some years a resident of ,paris1 where her silver1 her diamonds1 and her costly entertainments are matters of general remark4 ,all of these parties are ,roman ,catholics4 ,the wedding took place in ,rome1 and was signalized by a festival1 at which twelve horses1 belong to the bridegroom1 were ridden in a race1 whose prizes were bestowed by the hand of the bride4 ,the invitations for this occasion were largely distributed by a monsignor of the ,romish ,church1 and the king of ,italy honored the newly married pair by his presence4 ,not long after this1 ,i read in the ,italian papers that this very count had become a candidate for a seat in the ,italian ,parliament4 ,i suppose that money will assist an election as much in ,italy as elsewhere4 ,the monsignor who interested himself so efficiently about the invitations for the wedding party1 was none other than the master of ceremonies of ,pope ,leo ,,xiii4 ,he would1 no doubt1 have taken even greater interest in the return of his friend to the ,parliament4 ,i do not know whether this gentleman has ever succeeded in usurping the place of a representative of the ,italian people2 but the chance of his being able to do so lay in the ,american gold of which he had become possessed4 ,here is one instance of the direct relations between ,rome and ,america which ,americans so placidly overlook4 ,in this day of the world hope is so strong1 and the desire for an improved condition so prevalent1 that much may be looked for in ,europe as the result of the legitimate action and influence of ,america4 ,but if ,american capital busies itself with upholding the shams of the old world1 if ,american taste and talent are led and pledged to work with the reactionary agents everywhere against the enfranchisement of the human race1 where shall the hope of the world find refuge8 ,goldsmith has a touching picture of the emigrants who1 in his time1 were compelled to leave the country which would not feed them1 for a distant bourne1 which could1 by no means1 be to them a home4 ,but let us assist at the embarkation of another group of exiles4 ,these people have been living abroad1 and are about to return home4 ,the rich1 beautiful land whose discovery has changed the fortunes of the human race1 invites them on the other side of the ,atlantic4 ,the flag which represents the noblest chapter of modern history waves over them4 ,from dynastic1 aristocratic ,europe they go to inherit the work of an ancestry heroic in thought and action4 ,they go to the land which still boasts a ,longfellow1 a ,whittier1 an ,emerson1 a ,harriet ,beecher ,stowe4 ,are they glad8 ,are they happy8 ,no4 ,they have learned the follies of the old world1 not its wisdom4 ,they are not going home1--they are going into exile4 ,let us look a little at their record in the ,europe which they regret so passionately4 ,they went abroad with money1 and the education which it commands1 with leisure and health4 ,what good deeds may they not have done6 ,what gratifying remembrance may they have left behind them6 ,shall we not find them recorded as donors to many a noble charity1 as students in many a lofty school8 ,we shalt indeed1 sometimes4 ,but in many cases we shall hear only of their fine clothes and expensive entertainments1 with possible mortifying anecdotes of their fast behavior4 ,if the mother leaves a daughter behind her1 it is likely to be as the wife of some needy ,european nobleman1 who despises all that she is bound to hold dear1 and is proud not to know that which it should be her glory to understand4 ,i said at ,concord1 and ,i say it to-day1 that the press is much affected by the money debauch of the period4 ,let us examine the way in which this result is likely to be brought about4 ,a newspaper or periodical is almost always an investment in which the idea of gain is very prominent4 ,this expectation may either regard what the proposed paper shall earn as a medium of information1 or the profit of certain enterprises which its statements may actively promote4 ,special organs are founded for special emergencies1 as is a campaign sheet1 or for the advocate of special reforms1 like the antislavery ,standard of old1 and the ,woman's ,journal of to-day4 ,these papers rarely repay either the money advanced for them1 or the literary labor bestowed upon them4 ,under the head of its earnings the newspaper depends upon two classes of persons1 viz41 its advertisers and its subscribers4 ,either or both of these may be displeased by the emphatic mention of some certain fact1 the expression of some certain opinion4 ,if we tell this unwelcome truth1 say the managers1 we shall lose such and such subscribers4 ,if we take this stand1 some of our wealthiest advertising firms will choose another medium of communicating with the public4 ,the other set of considerations just spoken of1 the enterprises which are to be favored and promoted1 may still more seriously affect the tone and action of the paper1 which will thus be drawn in a twofold way to lend itself to the publication only of what it will pay to say4 ,the annals of journalism in this country will1 no doubt1 show a fair average of courageous and conscientious men among its chiefs4 ,i am willing to believe all things and to hope all things in this direction4 ,but ,i must confess that ,i fear all things1 too1 in view of a great power1 whose position makes it almost an irresponsible one4 ,and ,i should regard with great favor the formation of an unofficial censorship of public organs1 in view not so much of what may be published1 as of what is unfairly left out of the statements and counterstatements of conflicting interests4 ,of all the changes which ,i can chronicle as of my own time1 the change in the position of women is perhaps the most marked and the least anticipated by the world at large4 ,whatever opinions heroic men and women may have held concerning this from ,plato's time to our own1 the most enlightened periods of history have hardly given room to hope that the sex in general would ever reach the enfranchisement which it enjoys to-day4 ,i date the assurance of its freedom from the hour in which the first university received women graduates upon the terms accorded to pupils of the opposite sex4 ,for education keeps the key of life1 and a liberal education insures the first conditions of freedom1 viz41 adequate knowledge and accustomed thought4 ,this first and greatest step gained1 the gate of professional knowledge and experience quickly opened1 and that of political enfranchisement stands already ajar4 ,the battle can have but one result1 and it has been fought1 with chivalrous temper and determination1 not by one sex against the other1 but by the very gospel of fairness and justice against the intrenched might of selfish passion1 inertia1 and prejudice4 ,equal conditions of life will lift the whole level of society1 which is so entirely one body that the lifting or lowering of one half lifts or lowers the other half4 ,this change1 which in the end appeared to come suddenly1 has been prepared by such gradual tentatives1 by such long and sound labor1 that we need not fear to lose sight of it in any sudden collapse4 ,there are women of my age1 and women of earlier generations1 who have borne it in their hearts all their lives through1 who have prayed and worked for it1 without rest and without discouragement4 ,horace ,mann was its apostle1 ,theodore ,parker was its prophet1 ,margaret ,fuller1 ,lucy ,stone1 and a host of wise and true-hearted women1 whom the time would fail me to name1 have been its female saints4 ,it was in nature2 they have brought it into life2 even as ,christ said1 ,my ,father worketh hitherto1 and ,i work4 ,the slender thread which crossed the dark abyss of difficulty was not the silken spinning of vanity1 nor the cobweb fibre of madness4 ,from the faith of pure hearts the steadfast links were wrought1 and the great chasm is spanned1 and is ready to become the strong and sure highway of hope1 for this nation and for the nations of the earth4 ,the customs of society prescribe the mental garb and gait proper to those who desire the favorable notice of their peers in their own time4 ,as these are partly matters of tradition and inheritance1 we can learn something of the merits and demerits of a generation by studying the habits of familiar judgment which it hands down to its successor4 ,a narrow1 ill-educated generation leaves behind it corresponding garments of rule and prescription1 to which the next generation must for a time accommodate itself1 because a custom or a fashion is not made in a day4 ,the rulers of society seem often more occupied in dwarfing the mind to suit the custom than in enlarging the custom so as to fit it to the growth of mind4 ,the most dangerous rebellions1 individual and social1 are natural revolts against the small tyranny which perpetuates the insufficiency of the past4 ,the copper shoes which so cramp the foot of a female infant in ,china as to destroy its power of growth1 are not more cruel or deleterious than are the habits of unreflecting prejudice which compress the growth of human minds until they1 too1 lose their native power of expansion1 and the idol ,prejudice is enthroned and worshipped by those on whom it has imposed its own deformity as the standard of truth and beauty4 ,the heavy tasks which nature imposes upon women leave them less at leisure than men to reform and readjust these inherited garments4 ,the necessity for prompt and early action obliges them to follow the intuitive faculties1 as all must do who have not time to work out the problems of the reasoning ones4 ,the instinct of possession is a ruling one in human nature1 and a woman inheriting a superstition or a prejudice holds fast to it because it is something1 and she has got it4 ,it seems to her a possession4 ,it may be a mischievous and unfortunate one1 but it will take a good deal of time and thought to find that out4 ,those who have the training of women's minds often train them away from such a use of time and from such a labor of thought4 ,hence the fatal persistence of large classes of women in superstitions which the thinking world has outgrown1 and the equally fatal zeal with which they impose the same insufficient modes of judgment upon their children4 ,i pray this generation of women1 which has seen such enlargements of the old narrow order regarding the sex1 ,i pray it to deserve its high post as guardian of the future4 ,let it bequeath to its posterity a noble standard of womanhood1 free1 pure1 and1 above all1 laborious4 ,the standard of manhood really derives from that of womanhood1 and not vice versa1 as many imagine4 ,however we may receive from tradition the order of their material creation1 in that of training and education1 the woman's influence comes before that of the man1 and outlasts it4 ,the figure of the infant ,christ dwells always in our mind1 accompanied by that of the gracious mother who gave ,him to the world4 ,let the fact of this great gift prefigure to us the august office of ,woman4 ,hers be it also to preserve and transmit from age to age the ,christian doctrine and the ,christlike faith4 ,and1 in order that she may fully realize the glory and blessedness of giving1 let her remember that what is worthily given to one time is given to all time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,uniform ,,with ,,arnold',s ,,poems4 ,,the ,,light ,,of ,,asia2 ,,or1 ,the ,great ,renunciation4 ,being the ,life and ,teaching of ,gautama1 ,prince of ,india and ,founder of ,buddhism 7as told in verse by an ,indian ,buddhist74 ,,by ,,edwin ,,arnold1 ,m4,a4 ,it is a work of great beauty4 ,it tells a story of intense interest1 which never flags for a moment2 its descriptions are drawn by the hand of a master with the eye of a poet and the familiarity of an expert with the objects described2 its tone is so lofty that there is nothing with which to compare it but the ,new ,testament2 it is full of variety1 now picturesque1 now pathetic1 now rising into the noblest realms of thought and aspiration2 it finds language penetrating1 fluent1 elevated1 impassioned1 musical always1 to clothe its varied thoughts and sentiments4--,,oliver ,,wendell ,,holmes1 ,international ,review1 ,october1 #ahgi4 ,in ,mr4 ,edwin ,arnold1 ,indian poetry and ,indian thought have at length found a worthy ,english exponent4 ,he brings to his work the facility of a ready pen1 a thorough knowledge of his subject1 a great sympathy for the people of this country1 and a command of public attention at home4--,calcutta ,englishman4 ',the ,light of ,asia' is a remarkable poem1 and worthy of a place amongst the great poems of our time4 ,mr4 ,arnold is far more than 'a coiner of sweet words'--he is the exponent of noble impressions4 ,he is a scholar and a philosopher2 but he is also a true singer4--,london ,daily ,telegraph4 ,,library ,,edition4 #afmo4 ,cloth4 ,price #a4jj ,,cheap ,,edition4 #afmo4 ,paper4 ,price 4#be ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,publishers1 ,,boston4 ,messrs4 ,roberts ,brothers' ,publications4 ,,on ,,the ,,right ,,use ,,of ,,books4 ,a ,,lecture4 ,by ,,william ,p4 ,,atkinson1 ,professor of ,english and ,history in the ,massachusetts ,institute of ,technology4 #afmo4 ,cloth4 ,price #ej cents4 ,full of good sense1 sound taste1 and quiet humor4444 ,it is the easiest thing in the world to waste time over books1 which are merely tools of knowledge like any other tools4444 ,it is the function of a good book not only to fructify1 but to inspire1 not only to fill the memory with evanescent treasures1 but to enrich the imagination with forms of beauty and goodness which leave a lasting impression on the character4--,n4 ,y4 ,tribune4 ,contains so many wise suggestions concerning methods in study and so excellent a summary of the nature and principles of a really liberal education that it well deserves publication for the benefit of the reading public4 ,though it makes only a slight volume1 its quality in thought and style is so admirable that all who are interested in the subject of good education will give to it a prominent and honorable position among the many books upon education which have recently been published4 ,for it takes only a brief reading to perceive that in this single lecture the results of wide experience in teaching and of long study of the true principles of education are generalized and presented in a few pages1 each one of which contains so much that it might be easily expanded into an excellent chapter4--,the ,library ,table4 ,,reading ,,as ,a ,,fine ,,art4 ,by ,,ernest ,,legouve1 of the ,academie ,francaise4 ,translated from the ,ninth ,edition by ,,abby ,,langdon ,,alger4 #afmo4 ,cloth4 #ej cents4 7,dedication47 ,,to ,,the ,,scholars ,,of ,,the ,,high ,,and ,,normal ,,school4 ,for you this sketch was written3 permit me to dedicate it to you1 in fact1 to intrust it to your care4 ,pupils to-day1 to-morrow you will be teachers2 to-morrow1 generation after generation of youth will pass through your guardian hands4 ,an idea received by you must of necessity reach thousands of minds4 ,help me1 then1 to spread abroad the work in which you have some share1 and allow me to add to the great pleasure of having numbered you among my hearers the still greater happiness of calling you my assistants4 ,e4 ,,legouve4 ,we commend this valuable little book to the attention of teachers and others interested in the instruction of the pupils of our public schools4 ,it treats of the ,first ,steps in ,reading1 ,learning-to ,read1 ,should we read as we talk1 ,the ,use and ,management of the ,voice1 ,the ,art of ,breathing1 ,pronunciation1 ,stuttering1 ,punctuation1 ,readers and ,speakers1 ,reading as a ,means of ,criticism1 ,on ,reading ,poetry1 c41 and makes a strong claim as to the value of reading aloud1 as being the most wholesome of gymnastics1 for to strengthen the voice is to strengthen the whole system and develop vocal power4 ,sold by all ,booksellers4 ,mailed1 post-paid1 by the ,publishers1 ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,boston4 ,,the ,,no ,,name 7,,second7 ,,series4 ,,signor ,,monaldini',s ,,niece4 ,extracts from some ,opinions by well-known ,authors4 ,we have read ',signor ,monaldini's ,niece' with intensest interest and delight4 ,the style is finished and elegant1 the atmosphere of the book is enchanting4 ,we seem to have lived in ,italy while we were reading it4 ,the author has delineated with a hand as steady as it is powerful and skilful some phases of human life and experience that authors rarely dare attempt1 and with marvellous success4 ,we think this volume by far the finest of the ,no ,name ,series4 ,it is a delicious story4 ,i feel as if ,i had been to ,italy and knew all the people4444 ,miss ,conroy is a strong character1 and her tragedy is a fine background for the brightness of the other and higher natures4 ,it is all so dramatic and full of color it goes on like a lovely play and leaves one out of breath when the curtain falls4 ,i have re-read it with great interest1 and think as highly of it as ever4444 ,the characterization in it is capital1 and the talk wonderfully well done from first to last4 ,the new ,no ,name is enchanting4 ,it transcends the ordinary novel just as much as a true poem by a true poet transcends the thousand and one imitations4444 ,it is the episode1 however1 of ,miss ,conroy and ,mrs4 ,brandon that is really of most importance in this book4444 ,i hope every woman who reads this will be tempted to read the book1 and that she will in her turn bring it to the reading of other women1 especially if she can find any ,mrs4 ,brandon in her circle4 ,in one volume1 #afmo1 bound in green cloth1 black and gilt lettered4 ,price #a4jj4 ,our publications are to be had of all ,booksellers4 ,when not to be found1 send directly to ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,boston4 ,the ,no ,name 7,second7 ,series4 ,,the ,,colonel',s ,,opera ,,cloak4 ,a jollier1 brighter1 breezier1 more entertaining book than ',the ,colonel's ,opera ,cloak' has not been published for many a day4 ,we defy the coldest-blooded reader to lay it down before it is finished1 or to read it through without feeling his time well spent4 ,there is plenty of satire in its pages1 but it is good-natured satire4 ,the characters are sharply drawn--some of them from nature1 we fancy--and there is spice enough in the way of incident to satisfy the most exacting palate4 ,of course1 everybody will read it1 and1 in that presumption1 we promise everybody two hours of thorough enjoyment4--,boston ,transcript4 ,the ,no ,name ,series abounds in contrasts1 and that between ',signor ,monaldini's ,niece' and the present story is among the most decided it has offered4 ,this we do not mention by way of disparagement4 ,on the contrary1 we can see a distinctive merit in a series which includes so much variety of aim and interest as this does1 without any regard for the conventional demand that a succession of stories in the same binding should all be of one school and in something the same tone4 ,we can see why an admirer of the last novel may at first be taken aback by the light tone of this1 and in so far disappointed2 but we shall expend no sympathy on that person4 ',the ,colonel's ,opera ,cloak' is a bright and thoroughly alluring little book1 with which it would be foolish to find fault on any score4 ,and1 more than that1 it is well written and brimming over with wit4 ,the notion of a story in which there is avowedly no hero or heroine excepting an old opera cloak1 is clever1 and1 so far as we know1 quite new4444 ,we can assure every one who wishes the double pleasure of laughter and literary enjoyment1 that this is one of the books to carry to the country4--,boston ,courier4 ,the author's touch is always that of the artist2 it always has the magic power of portraying individual men and women1 never giving us shadowy outlines1 however few or hurried the strokes of the pencil may be1 and saying this we say that the author of ',the ,colonel's ,opera ,cloak' has in large measure the best and most necessary qualification for doing really fine work in fiction4 ,if he is still young1 as certain things in his story indicate that he is1 his future efforts may well be looked for hopefully4--,n4,y4 ,evening ,post4 ,in one volume4 #afmo4 ,green cloth4 ,price #a4jj4 ,our publications are to be had of all ,booksellers4 ,when not to be found1 send directly to ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,publishers1 ,,boston4 ,,sarah ,,tytler',s ,,art ,,books4 ,,the ,,old ,,masters ,,and ,,their ,,pictures4 ,,modern ,,painters ,,and ,,their ,,paintings4 ,by ,,sarah ,,tytler1 author of ,papers for ,thoughtful ,girls4 #afmo4 ,cloth1 neat4 ,price of each1 #a4ej4 ,designed for the use of ,schools and ,learners in ,art1 and extensively used in ,academies1 ,seminaries1 c41 throughout the country4 ,an excellent introduction to the history of art4--,daily ,news4 ,these two books give in a simple and concise manner the prominent facts that every one who desires to be well informed should know about the great artists of the world4 ,for beginners in art and for school use they are valuable4--,courier-,journal4 ,really supplies what has long been a want4--,british ,quarterly ,review4 ,we are not aware of any work of the kind written with so much intelligence which yet is so untechnical4--,nonconformist4 ,too much praise cannot be given the conscientious manner in which the author has worked4 ,there is no obtrusion of useless details or of unwelcome criticism2 but in very pleasant style1 with clear and well-defined purpose1 the story of the growth and progress of art is told through the lives and works of artists4 ,the volumes are most agreeable reading and profitable study4--,boston ,post4 ,,musical ,,composers ,,and ,,their ,,works4 ,for the ,use of ,schools and ,students in ,america4 ,by ,,sarah ,,tytler4 #a vol4 #afmo4 #a4ej4 ,in this unostentatious but carefully written volume1 the author of ,old ,masters and ,modern ,painters has given a simple account of the great musicians of the world and of their works4 ,the book is designed more especially for the use of young people in the course of their musical education1 but the author trusts--and with very good reason--that it will commend itself also to older people1 who are interested in the subject1 but who have not time or opportunity to refer to original sources of information4 ,not the least attractive portion of the work is the sketch of ,wagner with which it closes4 ,illustration ,,no ,,name ,,series4 ,the ,first ,series1 completed1 ,,comprises ,,twelve ,,novels1 ,,viz41 ,,mercy ,,philbrick',s ,,choice4 ,,hetty',s ,,strange ,,history4 ,,is ,,that ,,all8 ,,will ,,denbigh1 ,,eman4 ,,kismet4 ,,the ,,wolf ,,at ,,the ,,door4 ,,the ,,great ,,match4 ,,marmorne4 ,a ,,modern ,,mephistopheles4 ,,mirage4 ,,afterglow4 ,,gemini4 ,,and ,,two ,,poetical ,,volumes3 ,,deirdre4 ,a ,novel in ,verse4 ,a ,,masque ,,of ,,poets4 ,original ,poems1 by ,fifty ,poets1 written specially for this book2 including ,,guy ,,vernon1 an entire ,novelette in verse4 ,fourteen volumes in all1 uniformly bound in black cloth1 red and gilt lettered4 ,price #a4jj each4 ,,no ,,name ,,second ,,series4 ,the new series will retain all the peculiar features which made the first so popular1 differing from it only in the style of binding4 ,now ready1 ,,signor ,,monaldini',s ,,niece1 ,,the ,,colonel',s ,,opera ,,cloak1 ,,his ,,majesty1 ,,myself1 ,,mrs4 ,,beauchamp ,,brown1 ,price #a4jj each4 ,,salvage4 ,our publications are to be had of all booksellers4 ,when not to be found send directly to ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,publishers1 ,,boston4 ,,the ,,no ,,name ,,series4 ,,kismet4 ,a ,nile ,novel4 ,opinions1 generous tributes to genius1 by well-known authors whose names are withheld4 ,well1 ,i have read ',kismet1' and it is certainly very remarkable4 ,the story is interesting1--any well-told love story is1 you know1--but the book itself is a great deal more so4 ,descriptively and sentimentally1--,i use the word with entire respect1--it is1 in spots1 fairly exquisite4 ,it seems to me all glowing and overflowing with what the ,french call beaute du diable4444 ,the conversations are very clever1 and the wit is often astonishingly like the wit of an accomplished man of the world4 ,one thing which seems to me to show promise--great promise1 if you will--for the future is that the author can not only reproduce the conversation of one brilliant man1 but can make two men talk together as if they were men1--not women in manly clothes4 ,it is a charming book4 ,i have read it twice1 and looked it over again1 and ,i wish ,i had it all new to sit up with to-night4 ,it is so fresh and sweet and innocent and joyous1 the dialogue is so natural and bright1 the characters so keenly edged1 and the descriptions so poetic4 ,i don't know when ,i have enjoyed any thing more1--never since ,i went sailing up the ,nile with ,harriet ,martineau4444 ,you must give the author love and greeting from one of the fraternity4 ,the hand that gives us this pleasure will give us plenty more of an improving quality every year1 ,i think4 ',kismet' is indeed a delightful story1 the best of the series undoubtedly4 ,if ',kismet' is the first work of a young lady1 as reported1 it shows a great gift of language1 and powers of description and of insight into character and life quite uncommon4444 ,of the whole series so far1 ,i think ',mercy ,philbrick's ,choice' is the best1 because it has1 beside literary merit1 some moral tone and vigor4 ,still there are capabilities in the writer of ',kismet' even higher than in that of the writer of ',mercy ,philbrick's ,choice4' ,i liked it extremely4 ,it is the best in the series so far1 except in construction1 in which ',is ,that ,all8' slight as it is1 seems to me superior4 ',kismet' is winning golden opinions everywhere4 ,i have nothing but praises for it1 and have nothing but praise to give it4 ,i have read ',kismet' once1 and mean to read it again4 ,it is thoroughly charming1 and will be a success4 ,one volume1 bound in cardinal red and black4 ,price #a4jj4 ,our publications are to be had of all booksellers4 ,when not to be found1 send directly to ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,publishers1 ,boston4 ,,publishers' ,,advertisement4 ,from the ,boston ,daily ,advertiser4 ,,the ,,no ,,name ,,series4 ,,leigh ,,hunt1 in his ',indicator1' has a pleasant chapter on the difficulty he encountered in seeking a suitable and fresh title for a collection of his miscellaneous writings4 ,messrs4 ,roberts ,brothers have just overcome a similar difficulty in the simplest manner4 ,in selecting ,,no ,,name1 they have selected the very best title possible for a series of ,original ,american ,novels and ,tales1 to be published ,anonymously4 ,these novels are to be written by eminent authors1 and in each case the authorship of the work is to remain an inviolable secret4 ,no ,name describes the ,series perfectly4 ,no name will help the novel1 or the story1 to success4 ,its success will depend solely on the writer's ability to catch and retain the reader's interest4 ,several of the most distinguished writers of ,american fiction have agreed to contribute to the ,series1 the initial volume of which is now in press4 ,its appearance will certainly be awaited with curiosity4 ,illustration ,the plan thus happily foreshadowed will be immediately inaugurated by the publication of ,,mercy ,,philbrick',s ,,choice1 from the pen of a well-known and successful writer of fiction4 ,it is intended to include in the ,series a volume of anonymous poems from famous hands1 to be written especially for it4 ,the ,no ,name ,series will be issued at convenient intervals1 in handsome library form1 #afmo1 cloth1 price #a4jj each4 ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,publishers4 ,,boston1 ,midsummer1 #ahgf4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,punctuation has been normalized4 ,on page #eb immediatly changed to immediately4 444 the generation immediately preceding my own4 ,on page #ed self-dicipline changed to self-discipline4 ,without self-discipline and self-sacrifice4444 ,on page #fa superflous changed to superfluous4 444 with superfluous irrelevancies4444 ,on page #gb religous changed to religious4 444 will be the religious trainers4444 ,on page #gb capitalization in ,who retained as printed4 ,on page #hf aginst changed to against4 444 revolts against the small tyranny4444