,search-,light ,letters ,,by ,robert ,grant ,new ,york ,charles ,scribner's ,sons ,,mdcccxcix ,copyright1 #ahii1 by ,charles ,scribner's ,sons ,contents ,to ,a ,young ,man or ,woman in ,search of the ,ideal ,letter ,i #a ,letter ,,ii #ae ,letter ,,iii #cb ,letter ,,iv #de ,to ,a ,modern ,woman with ,social ,ambitions ,letter ,i #ei ,letter ,,ii #gb ,letter ,,iii #hi ,letter ,,iv #aje ,to ,a ,young ,man wishing to be an ,american ,letter ,i #abe ,letter ,,ii #ace ,letter ,,iii #aeb ,letter ,,iv #afi ,to ,a ,political ,optimist ,letter ,i #agc ,letter ,,ii #aia ,letter ,,iii #bad ,to ,a ,young ,man or ,woman in ,search of the ,ideal4 ,i4 ,i shall assume certain things to begin with4 ,if a young man1 that the dividing-line between mine and thine is so clearly defined to your own consciousness that you are never tempted to cross it4 ,for instance1 that it is your invariable practice to keep the funds of others in a separate bank-account from the money which belongs to you1 and not to mix them4 ,that you will not lie to escape the consequences of your own or others' actions4 ,that you are not afraid to stand up and be shot at if necessary4 ,that you do not use your knife to carry food to your mouth2 say ,how8 for ,what8 or hold the young lady whom you are courting or to whom you are engaged by the crook of her elbow and shove her along the street as though she were a perambulator4 ,if a young woman1 that you are so pure in thought that you do not feel obliged to read diseased fiction in order to enlighten yourself as to what is immorality4 ,that you do not bear false witness against your neighbor by telling every unpleasant story you hear to the next person you meet4 ,that you do not repeat to an acquaintance1 on the plea of duty1 the disagreeable remarks or criticisms which others have made to you regarding her4 ,that you try to be unselfish1 sympathetic1 and amiable in spite of everything4 ,that you neither chew gum nor use pigments4 ,and that you do not treat young men as demigods1 before whom you must abase yourself in order to be exalted4 ,i take it for granted that you have reached the moral and social plane which this assumption implies4 ,manners are1 indeed1 a secondary consideration as compared with ethics4 ,a man who eats with his knife may1 nevertheless1 be a hero4 ,and yet1 it is not always easy to fix where manners and ethics begin4 ,many a finished young woman who stealthily heightens the hue of her complexion and blackens her eyebrows with paint probably regards the girl who chews gum with superior scorn4 ,yet tradition associates paint rather than gum with the scarlet woman4 ,to avoid introducing the subtleties of discussion where all is so clear1 it is simpler to exclude the use of either as a possible characteristic of fine womanhood4 ,the homely adage that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear is full of meaning for democracy4 ,manners must go hand in hand with morals1 or character will show no more lustre than the uncut and unpolished diamond1 whose latent brilliancy is marred by uncouthness1 so that it may readily be mistaken for a vulgar stone4 ,i assume1 then1 that you possess honesty1 purity1 and courage1 the intention to be unselfish and sympathetic1 and an appreciation of the stigma of vulgarity4 ,if you are seeking the ideal1 you will try to be1 in the first place1 an uncommon person4 ,a common person is one who is content to be just like every one else in his or her own walk of life4 ,the laws on our statute-books are made for the benefit of common people2 that is to say1 they are tempered to the necessities of the weak and erring4 ,if you stop short there you will keep out of jail1 but you will be a very ordinary member of society4 ,this sounds trite1 but the application of the principle involved is progressive4 ,it is easy to be ordinary in the higher walks of civilization and yet pass for a rather superior person4 ,it is only necessary to be content to do as every one else does1 and accept the bare limit of the social code under which you live as the guide of conduct4 ,note4--,i am reminded here by my wife1 ,josephine1 that1 though the statute-laws are broken by few of our friends1 there is one law which women who claim to be highly civilized and exceedingly superior are constantly breaking--the statute which forbids them to smuggle4 ,scene3 ,an ,ocean ,steamship4 ,two sea-chairs side by side4 ,dramatis ,personae3 ,a ,refined and ,gifted ,instructress of ,youth on the home passage from a summer's vacation abroad1 and your ,philosopher4 ,a perfect sea and sky1 which beget confidences4 ,refined and ,gifted ,instructress of ,youth4 ,it's rather a bother to have friends ask you to bring in things4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,i always say ,certainly2 but ,i shall be obliged to declare them4 ,that ends it4 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,my friends wouldn't like that at all4 ,it would offend them4 ,you mustn't tell1 but ,i have as commissions a dress1 two packages of gloves1 and a large ,french doll1 in my trunk4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,yet you will be obliged to sign a paper that you have nothing dutiable and that everything you have is yours4 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,if ,i were to declare the things1 the duties would all have to come out of my own pocket4 ,i shouldn't have the face to collect it from my friends4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,they expect you to fib1 of course4 ,you prefer1 then1 to cheat the ,government rather than disappoint persons who made use of you in order to accomplish that very thing8 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,you don't put it nicely at all1 ,mr4 ,philosopher4 ,besides1 the things are mine4 ,i paid for them with my own money2 and1 until ,i am paid back1 the things belong to me4 ,there1 now1 why shouldn't ,i sign the paper8 ,the ,philosopher4 ,a shallow sophistry4 ,a merchant who acted on that theory would be sent to jail4 ,will a refined and gifted instructress of youth1 whose mission in life it is to lead the young in the paths of virtue1 evade the law by a subterfuge8 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,it's an odious law4 ,my family all believe in free trade4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,very possibly4 ,but it is the law4 ,refined and ,gifted 7after a pause74 ,i don't care4 ,if ,i declare the things they would never forgive me1 and ,i can't afford to pay charges on their things myself4 ,i've only just enough money to get home1 anyway4 ,perhaps no one will ask me to sign it4 ,by the way1 how much ought ,i to give the man if he passes everything nicely8 ,the ,philosopher4 ,nothing4 ,that would be bribery4 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,why1 ,i thought all men did that4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,chiefly women who try to smuggle4 7,silence of five minutes47 ,refined and ,gifted4 ,i don't care4 ,i shall sign it4 ,and she did4 ,those whose office it is to utter the last word over the dead rarely yield to the temptation to raise the mantle of charity and show the man or woman in all his or her imperfections4 ,society prefers to err on the side of mercy and forbearance1 and to consign dust to dust with beautiful generalizations of hope and congratulation1 even though the subject of the obsequies be a widely known sinner4 ,however fitting it may be to ignore the truth in the presence of death1 there can be no greater peril for one in your predicament than to cherish the easy-going doctrine that you are willing to take your chance with the rest of the world4 ,the democratic proposition that every one is as good as his neighbor is readily amended so as to read that1 if you are as good as your neighbor1 everybody ought to be satisfied4 ,a philosopher has a right to take liberties with the dead which a clergyman must deny himself4 ,died at his late residence on the #eth inst41 ,solomon ,grundy1 in the sixty-seventh year of his age4 ,friends are kindly requested not to send flowers4 ,perhaps you saw it8 ,very likely you knew him4 ,if so1 you may have attended the funeral and heard read over his bier the beautiful words1 ,i heard a voice from ,heaven which said1 write ,blessed are the dead who die in the ,lord1 and the hymn1 which the family had requested1 ,nearer1 my ,god1 to ,thee4 ,the officiating clergyman was not to blame4 ,solomon ,grundy had worshipped at his church with regularity for twenty years1 and had been a fairly generous contributor to foreign and domestic missions1 in spite of the fact that he had the reputation down-town of being close as the bark of a tree4 ,the obituary notices in the newspapers referred to him as a leading merchant and a gentleman of the old school4 ,no wonder that the ,rev4 ,peter ,tyson1 who is a brave man and has been known to rear on occasions1 felt that he could let himself go without injury to his conscience4 ,besides1 even so discriminating a person as your ,philosopher saw fit to attend the funeral1 and remembering that the old gentleman had given him a wedding present1 would probably have ordered a wreath but for the wishes of the family4 ,and yet the facts of ,solomon ,grundy's life1 when examined in a philosophic spirit1 serve chiefly to point a moral for one who is in search of the ideal4 ,read the itinerary of his earthly pilgrimage and judge for yourself3 ,infancy 7first six years74--,no reliable data except a cherubic miniature1 and the family tradition that he once threw into the fire a necklace belonging to his grandmother4 ,people who know all about such matters will tell you that during these first six years the foundations of character are laid4 ,the miniature was always said to bear a striking resemblance to his maternal grandfather1 who was a man of--nay1 nay1 this will never do4 ,those same people to whom ,i have just referred will tell you that we inherit everything we are1 and1 if ,i proceed on that theory1 we are done with ,solomon ,grundy as soon as he was born4 ,decidedly a young man or woman in search of the ideal cannot afford to palm off on ancestors the responsibility for his or her own conduct4 ,boyhood 7six to sixteen74--,so-called highly respectable surroundings and good educational advantages4 ,here we are brought face to face again with those same persons whom ,i have already instanced4 ,they will assure you that ,solomon's father and mother and his environment were the responsible agents during this period1 and that whatever ,solomon did not inherit or have settled for him before his sixth year was settled for him by them without the knowledge of said ,solomon4 ,this is rather discouraging as a study of ,solomon as a conscious1 active ego1 but it affords you an opportunity1 if you are not in search of the ideal1 to make your parents and that comfortable phrase your environment bear the burden of all your shortcomings until you are sixteen1 and serve as an excuse for your shortcomings in the future4 ,youth 7sixteen to twenty-one74--,now we at least make progress4 ,solomon enters college4 ,gets one or two conditions1 but works them off and stands erect4 ,high spirits and corresponding consequences4 ,becomes popular and idle4 ,subscribes to the faith that the object of going to college is to study human nature1 and is fascinated by his own acumen4 ,sudden revulsion at beginning of senior year4 ,the aims and responsibilities of life unfold themselves in absorbing panorama1 and his soul is full of high resolve4 ,the world is his oyster4 ,studies hard for six months and graduates somewhat higher than had been anticipated4 7,curtain descends to inspiring music47 ,solomon stands on the threshold of life the image of virile youth1 shading his brow and looking at the promised land4 ,early ,manhood 7twenty-one to thirty74--,solomon decides to go into business4 ,reasons chiefly pecuniary4 ,no special aptitude for anything else4 ,is sent abroad to study more human nature1 acquire breadth of view and learn ,french4 ,does so in ,paris4 ,returns with some of his high resolve tarnished1 and with only a smattering of the language in question4 ,goes into the employ of a wholesale dry-goods merchant1 and begins at the lowest round of the ladder4 ,works hard and absorbedly4 ,very little leisure4 ,devotes what he has to social diversion4 ,develops a pleasing talent for private theatricals1 in the exercise of which falls in love with a pretty but impecunious young woman4 7,slow and sentimental music47 ,yearns to marry1 but is advised by elderly business friends that he cannot afford it4 ,dejected winter in bachelor apartments4 ,takes up with ,schopenhauer4 ,spirits slightly restored by first rise on ladder4 ,eschews society and private theatricals4 ,forms relations1 which recall ,paris1 with sympathetic1 nomadic young person4 ,gets another rise on the ladder1 and is spoken of among his contemporaries as doing well4 ,manhood 7thirty-one to forty74--,works steadily and makes several fortunate investments4 ,joins one or two clubs1 and gains eight pounds in weight4 ,grows side-whiskers or a goatee4 ,gets another rise1 and the following year is taken into the firm4 ,complains of dyspepsia1 and at advice of physician buys saddle-horse4 ,contributes fifty dollars to charity1 joins a book-club and attends two political caucuses4 ,thinks of taking an active interest in politics1 but is advised by elderly business friends that it would interfere with his business prospects4 ,owing to the death of a member of the firm1 becomes second in command4 ,thinks of changing bachelor rooms and wonders why he shouldn't marry instead4 ,goes into society a little and looks about4 ,gains five extra pounds and makes more fortunate investments4 ,picks out good-looking1 sensible girl eight years younger than himself1 with a tidy property in her own right4 ,is conscious of being enraptured in her presence1 and deems himself very much in love4 7,orchestra plays waltz by ,strauss47 ,offers himself and is accepted4 ,burns everything in his bachelor rooms and sells out all his speculative investments4 ,regrets to observe that he is growing bald4 ,impressive ceremony and large wedding-cake4 ,manhood--,middle ,age 7forty to fifty-five74--,conservative attitude toward domestic expenses4 ,works hard from what he calls new incentive4 ,delights in the peacefulness of the domestic hearth4 ,blissful mental condition4 7,religious music47 ,buys pew in ,rev4 ,peter ,tyson's church4 ,buys baby-wagon4 ,increasing profits in dry-goods business4 ,almost bald4 ,gives two hundred dollars to foreign missions4 ,is proud of his wife's appearance and entertains in moderation4 ,becomes head of firm4 ,buys gold-headed cane and gains five more pounds4 ,goes to ,europe for six months1 with his wife1 and conducts himself with propriety1 visiting cathedrals and historical monuments4 ,shows her ,paris4 ,foresees financial complications and turns ship accordingly4 ,increasing family expenses and depressing conditions in dry-goods trade4 ,completely bald4 ,first attack of gout4 ,absorbed in business and in real-estate investments4 ,on return of commercial prosperity1 reaps the reward of foresight and sagacity4 ,is chosen director of two railroads and a trust company4 ,is elected president of his club4 ,gives five hundred dollars to domestic missions4 ,buys new house and a barouche for his wife4 ,gives large evening entertainment4 ,second attack of gout4 ,goes to ,carlsbad for treatment4 7,toccata by ,galuppi47 ,old ,age--7fifty-five to sixty-seven74--,addresses ,christian association on ,how to ,succeed in ,life4 ,is appointed trustee of a hospital and an art museum4 ,votes conservatively on every question4 ,is referred to in newspapers as ,hon4 ,solomon ,grundy4 ,slight attack of paralysis4 ,becomes somewhat venerable in appearance4 ,deplores degeneracy of modern ideas4 ,retires from active business4 ,more venerable in appearance4 ,second attack of paralysis and death4 ,and that was the end of ,solomon ,grundy4 ,a highly respectable representative of a second-class man4 ,the term suggests an idea4 ,we have here no first1 second1 and third-class railway carriages1 as are found in ,england and other countries4 ,but it would be interesting1 from a philosophical point of view1 to invent such a train for the occasion1 and bestow our friends and acquaintances1 and1 indeed1 society at large1 according to their qualifications4 ,you1 of course1 are desirous to know who are the persons entitled to travel first-class1 in order that you may be introduced to them and avoid intimacy with the others1 so far as is consistent with ,christian charity and the mutual obligations of social beings4 ,but let me first dip my pen in the ink again4 ,to ,a ,young ,man or ,woman in ,search of the ,ideal4 ,,ii4 ,abracadabra4 ,presto6 ,behold the train4 ,the gates are opened and the people press in4 ,there will not be much trouble with the third-class passengers4 ,see how they take their proper places of their own accord4 ,some of them deserve to ride second-class quite as much as many who will be affronted at not being allowed to go first-class4 ,do you see that man8 ,he is a commercial traveller1 or drummer1 and1 naturally1 early on the ground4 ,he doesn't hesitate or examine his ticket1 but gets directly into a second-class smoking-car1 settles himself1 and puts on a silk cap4 ,he knows that it is useless to ask for a first-class seat1 and he is going to make the best of it 7which is good philosophy74 ,very likely if you were sitting next to him he would utter some such cheery remark as1 ,it will be all the same a hundred years hence1 and tell you a pat story to illustrate the situation4 ,did you happen to notice1 though1 the longing look he cast at the first-class coaches as he went by8 ,i feel sure that down in his heart he is ready to admit that there are such things as ideals1 after all1 and he is making resolutions as to what he would do if he could live his life over again4 ,did you notice that stout1 fashionably dressed man who stopped and looked at me with a grin8 ,he was trying it on1 so to speak4 ,he knew just as well as ,tom ,johnson1 the drummer1 that he had no right to travel first-class1 but he thought ,i might admit him on the score of social prestige4 ,he is one of the kindest-hearted of fellows--just the man to whom a friend would apply in a tight place1 and ,i rather think he would be apt to help an enemy1 unless it happened that something he had eaten for supper the night before had disagreed with him4 ,he has the digestion of an ostrich1 and he needs it1 for his skin is full of oil1 and whiskey1 and tortured goose-liver1 and canvas-back ducks1 and pepper-sauce1 and ripe ,camembert cheese1 and truffles1 and ,burgundy1 and many other rich and kindred delicacies4 ,he could tell four different vintages of champagne apart with his eyes shut1 and he has honor at his club on account of it4 ,his name is ,howard ,vincent4 ,an illustrious-sounding name1 isn't it8 ,he inherits gout from both sides of the family4 ,he does not know ,tom ,johnson1 the drummer4 ,they have moved in different social strata4 ,but they belong to the same order of human beings4 ,there6 you notice1 he asks ,tom for a light1 and they have begun to talk together4 ,they are laughing now1 and ,tom is winking4 ,i shouldn't wonder if they were making fun of the first-class passengers4 ,vincent has read more or less in his day1 and he rather prides himself on what he calls keeping abreast of the times in the line of thought4 ,see1 they have opened the window1 and are beckoning to me4 ,let us hear what they have to say4 ,drummer4 ,ah1 there1 philosopher6 ,you wouldn't let us in1 and ,i guess you know your business4 ,we've had a good time in life1 anyhow4 ,if the religious folk are right1 we shall be in it up to our necks4 ,if they're wrong1 they've been wasting a lot of valuable time4 ,howard ,vincent4 ,we've ridden straight1 at all events4 7,vincent is an authority on sporting matters47 ,we haven't pretended to be something we were not4 ,we've never cheated anybody1 and we've never lied to anybody1 and each1 according to his light 7this last qualification was for ,tom's benefit71 has been a gentleman4 ,we've been men of the world1 and we have found the world a reasonably satisfactory place4 ,we're in no haste to leave it4 ,the ,philosopher4 ,and may ,i add1 gentlemen1 that each of you has a kind and generous heart8 ,did you observe how pleased they looked when ,i said that8 ,it was a little weak of me to say it1 but ,i could not help it4 ,somehow1 it is very difficult to be sufficiently severe to such easy-going1 pleasant-natured fellows1 who are content to take the world as they find it1 laugh and grow fat4 ,moreover1 ,tom ,johnson has for twenty years supported his old mother and invalid sister1 and remained single as a consequence2 and ,howard ,vincent has a habit of giving away delightful sums on ,christmas ,day without advertising the fact4 ,how often1 on the occasion of death1 do we hear the aphorism that everything counts for nothing save the kindly deeds of the deceased1 until one is tempted to believe that a genial commercial traveller1 like our friend1 with a benignant soul is more admirable and inspiring than a highly sensitive gentleman and scholar4 ,indisputably this is so if the gentleman and scholar lacks the humanity for which the other is conspicuous2 but1 nevertheless1 it behooves the soul in search of the ideal to beware of the slough of mere warm-heartedness4 ,it is an attribute which1 if relied on too exclusively as a leavening force1 is readily made to subserve very ordinary purposes4 ,the two ,falstaffian men in the second-class car belong there1 even though you might find their kindly ways and their stories attractive up to a certain point4 ,they are of the class of men who1 more signally perhaps than any other1 bar the path of the world's progress toward the stars by means of the argument that what has been must be1 and that what is is good enough4 ,they are of the men who shrug their shoulders when the hope is expressed that the abuse of liquor may be lessened and finally controlled2 who sneer at the efforts of the police authorities to shut up all the houses of ill-repute1 on the ground that prostitution has always existed and must always exist4 7,that it will never become unpopular1 as the drummer would tell you in his breezy way47 ,assuredly1 you need to be on your guard against infatuation with those big1 genial and 7usually7 pot-bellied personages whose large hearts and abundant charity and splendid appetites allow them to discard as unworthy of a sensible man's regard everything but honesty1 reading1 spelling and arithmetic 7add1 in the case of ,howard ,vincent1 a dash of accomplishments and agnostic philosophy71 ,worcestershire sauce and jests of custom-made humor4 ,blessed be humor4 ,the man or woman without it is like a loaf of stale bread or a cup of brackish water4 ,but to be content with the mere workaday world and its ways is like travelling perpetually with a grip-sack4 ,when we open the grip-sack1 what do we find8 ,the barest necessaries of life1 without a trace of anything which inspires or refines4 ,i have no desire to betray the private affairs of any commercial traveller1 or to imply that the ,bible and ,shakespeare are not occasionally to be found both in the kit of the travelling man and the ,english leather trunk of the more elegant man of fashion4 ,i am simply cautioning you1 my male correspondents1 to beware of accepting as final your world as you find it4 ,nothing is more sure to make you a second-class person4 ,mere good-natured common-sense 7horse-sense1 as our drummer would call it7 is a useful virtue1 but it would keep civilization ordinary to the crack of doom4 ,ah6 now we are likely to have trouble4 ,notice1 please1 the lady coming this way4 ,how graceful and elegant she is4 ,a delicate1 refined face and bearing4 ,see how she sidles off from the third and second-class passengers with an expression of distaste for them which suggests pain4 ,she cannot bear coarse people4 ,she believes herself to be an intellectual woman with serious tastes4 ,she aims to be a spiritual person and she reads many essays--by ,emerson1 ,matthew ,arnold1 ,pater1 and others4 ,she is fond of history and politics2 not of this country1 because she claims that it is vulgar and lacks picturesqueness4 ,but she can tell you all about the governments of ,europe1 and who is prime minister of or in authority in each of them4 ,democracy does not interest her4 ,it seems to her to concern the affairs of dirty or common people2 and she cares nothing for the great social questions of the age4 ,they appear to her to clash with personal spirituality and culture4 ,she is very sensitive4 ,she has made a study of music1 especially ,wagner4 ,she is very particular as to what she has to eat1 but the grossness of men1 as she calls it1 offends her seriously4 ,she believes herself to be not very strong physically1 and she is nervous on the subject of arsenic in wall-papers and germs in drinking-water4 ,she has retained her maidenly instincts to the last4 ,what is that you ask1 madam8 ,a seat in a first-class carriage4 ,excuse me1 you cannot go in there4 ,you belong in the second-class section of the train4 ,mistake8 ,there is no mistake4 ,i understand perfectly4 ,i'm ready to take your word for it that you have read ,dante in the original1 and ,i know that you are ,chaste as the icicle ,that's curded by the frost from purest snow1 ,and hangs on ,dian's temple4 7,doubtless you recall the quotation47 ,but you must stay out4 ,your ticket reads ,personal culture and individual salvation1 and it entitles you to ride in any of those second-class cars4 ,you don't like the passengers8 ,i am very sorry1 ,i'm sure1 but my instructions are explicit4 ,i was told to keep out all ladies of your kind1 who think that the ideal is to be attained by hugging themselves to themselves 7excuse the coarseness of the metaphor1 madam7 all their days in a hot-house atmosphere1 and playing bo-peep with their own souls4 ,you intend to write a letter about it to the ,boston ,evening----8 ,oh1 very well4 ,you will have to ride second-class1 all the same4 ,enter a clergyman4 ,this seems more promising4 ,clergyman4 ,is this the first-class section8 ,i think my seat must be in here4 ,philosopher4 ,first-class here1 sir4 ,tickets1 please4 7,aside to correspondent47 ,a modest gentleman1 forsooth4 ,clergyman 7stops fumbling in his pocket for his tickets and sniffs suspiciously74 ,i smell tobacco4 ,is there a smoking-car on the first-class train8 ,philosopher4 ,there is for those who smoke4 ,clergyman4 ,an outrage1 sir4 ,an unchristian outrage4 ,i suppose next that you will tell me that intoxicating fluids are sold there4 ,philosopher4 ,yes1 sir1 to those who use them4 ,all the first-class passengers understand the use of such things in moderation4 ,they are not injured by them4 ,clergyman4 ,a flimsy argument1 sir4 ,think of the example4 ,i repeat it1 sir2 think of the example4 ,i protest against it1 sir1 as a crime against our highest civilization4 ,i--,i will have you removed from office4 ,you are not fit to hold your position4 ,i will see the governor about it immediately4 ,i--,i---- ,philosopher 7to correspondent74 ,he fancies that he is arguing on the liquor question before a board of police commissioners4 7,to clergyman47 ,the gentleman will come to order4 ,clergyman4 ,i insist on having the smoking and drinking car detached1 or ,i will not ride on the train4 ,philosopher4 ,you will not ride in the first-class portion of it1 in any event4 ,your ticket reads ,well-intentioned but overbearing visionary enthusiast4 ,come1 sir1 pass on1 or1 in spite of your cloth1 ,i shall be obliged to put you in charge of an officer for disturbing the peace4 ,i was interrupted here by my wife1 ,josephine4 ,of course ,i understand1 said she1 that he was very overbearing1 and ,i have heard you say before that clergymen are more apt to lose their temper before committees than most other people4 ,but the poor man was desperately in earnest4 ,the whole thing means so much to him4 ,he believes that the world will never be redeemed until liquor and tobacco are no longer used in it4 ,do you mean that you really think this will never come to pass8 ,never is a long time1 my dear1 said ,i4 ,but you were discussing the ideal4 ,to be sure4 ,have you ever considered the matter from the moderate-drinker and smoker's point of view8 ,brain-weary1 muscle-tired men have1 from generation to generation1 found a glass of wine or spirit and a cigar a refreshment and a comfort4 ,neither agrees with some1 and many abuse the use of both4 ,drunkenness among the poor and tippling among the rich are1 perhaps1 the greatest enemies of civilization2 and1 consequently1 there is a corps of many women and some men who cry out upon the use of alcohol as incompatible with the world's progress4 ,this sentiment at the polls expresses itself chiefly in very small minorities1 unless the voters are reasonably near to some large city or town4 ,the failure of the movement to make important headway might be ascribed to the fact that the mass of people are still unenlightened1 were there any signs that the intelligent workers of the world are disposed to side with the wearers of the white ribbon4 ,the use of champagne1 claret1 brandy1 and whiskey continues unabated over the civilized world1 if one is to judge by economic statistics and trade circulars4 ,they are quaffed on state and festal occasions1 generally with moderation1 by lords and ladies1 statesmen1 lawyers1 doctors1 bankers1 soldiers1 poets1 artists1 and often by bishops and clergymen4 ,at ninety-nine out of every hundred formal dinner-parties in ,london1 ,paris1 ,berlin1 or ,new ,york1 alcohol is offered in some form to the guests as a stimulus to conversation1 and1 were it not so1 there would be ninety-nine grumblers to every one man or woman who1 at present1 turns his or her glasses down with an ill-bred1 virtuous air4 ,and yet1 said ,josephine1 ,i have heard you say constantly that it would be no particular deprivation to you to give up wine4 ,no more it would4 ,in this country1 with its stimulating climate1 most nervous people are better for a very little if any alcohol1 and many men are apt to find that it is simpler not to drink at all4 ,but1 remember1 we are considering the question whether there is any reason why the man or woman in perfect health1 and in search of the ideal1 should be a teetotaler1 and if there is any probability that the world will banish alcohol and cigars from the dignified occasions of the future4 ,in other words1 when the world has learned not to drink and smoke too much1 will it cease to drink and smoke altogether8 ,i know that the advocates of total-abstinence argue about the serenity and sane joy of a cold-water banquet1 and it may be that we are a trifle hysterical in our declarations that conversation must lag until one has had a glass of champagne2 but is not much of the light1 masculine laughter of life associated with the fruit of the grape and the aroma of tobacco8 ,have you ever tried to picture to yourself a world as it would be if there were well-enforced1 rigid prohibition everywhere1 and the tobacco-plant were no more8 ,josephine gave a little laugh4 ,you say the masculine laughter of the world4 ,i assure you that much of the masculine laughter which you associate with the fruit of the grape is associated in the feminine mind with conjugal or maternal tears4 ,i quite understand your appeal to the imagination from the masculine point of view4 ,that is1 ,i suppose the words wine and tobacco bring in their train for man many pleasing and even inspiriting images2 that under their influence the soldier believes himself more brave and wins battles in anticipation2 that the artist gets a glimpse of his great picture1 and that the tired husband and father sees evolve from the bottom of his beer-mug a transfigured reflection of his wife and children4 ,but we women1 who1 as a sex1 have always done without wine and tobacco1 know from experience that1 however lofty and delightful your visions at such times1 there is always a reaction after alcohol1 and that we generally get the full benefit of the reaction4 ,if1 now1 inspiring visions never came to us and other total-abstainers1 there would seem to be some reason why we should be willing to bear the brunt of man's inebrieties a little longer2 but really1 my dear philosopher1 is there any reason to believe that we do not entertain visions quite as inspiring and delightful as yours8 ,we drink only tea--too much of it for our nerves1 ,i dare say--but we will gladly give that up if you will abjure alcohol and cigars4 ,there certainly is no poetry in the aroma of tobacco in the curtains1 next day1 and we pass the morning with it when you have gone down-town4 ,don't you think there is a great deal of humbug in the notion that in order to laugh lightly and remember gladly men need to be titillated either by wine or tobacco8 ,i'm glad you wouldn't allow that bumptious clergyman to ride in a first-class car1 but ,i don't see why the world should not be just as gay1 and many women twice as happy1 if there were no wine or tobacco4 ,only think how light-hearted woman would be if the incubus of man's drunkenness1 under which she has staggered for hundreds of years1 should be lifted off forever6 ,she would be so bubbling over with happiness that1 even though as a consequence man were in the dumps and without visions1 she would make him merry in spite of himself4 ,very likely1 ,josephine4 ,i am disposed to agree with you that the jest and merriment of masculine youth would not be entirely and hopelessly repressed4 ,but you do not take sufficiently into consideration--and in this you imitate the bumptious clergyman who was going to have me removed--the world's cravings and necessities as a world4 ,if1 pardon me1 men were all women in their appetites1 and life were one grand pastoral a la ,puvis de ,chavannes--if1 in short1 the world were not the bustling1 feverish1 perplexing1 exhausting1 crushing1 cruel world1 men would not crave stimulants to help them to do their work or to forget it4 ,if there were no alcohol or cigars1 would not those who now use either to excess have recourse to some other form of stimulant or fatigue and pain disguiser instead8 ,why should those who have learned the great lesson of life1 self-control1 renounce the enjoyment of being artificially strengthened or cheered because others let their appetites run away with them and make beasts of them8 ,i have1 indeed1 already suggested that it is a dangerous argument to instance an existing state of affairs as a reason against change2 but ,i beg to call your attention to the fact that the world seems to pay very little heed to the lamentations of the teetotalers1 so far as total-abstinence is concerned4 ,there has been a change of temper among all classes in the direction of moderation in the use of liquor and wine1 and legislation regulating and restricting licenses is becoming popular4 ,but if the wearers of the white ribbon were to make inquiries of the dealers in glass-ware1 they would find that no fewer newly married couples1 among the educated and well-to-do in every country1 buy wine-glasses as a necessary table article1 in order to provide wine or beer for those whom they expect to entertain4 ,there are certainly no signs that society1 in the best sense1 has any intention of adopting prohibition as a cardinal virtue1 but many signs that it is seriously determined to make warfare on inebriety1 and no longer to proffer it the cloak of social protection when the offenders happen to be what the world used to call gentlemen4 ,one's ideal should not be too remote from probable human conclusions1 and it does not seem likely1 from present indications1 that man1 unless he be persuaded that the moderate use of stimulants is seriously injurious to his health1 will ever be willing to banish them from the markets of the world because a certain portion of the community has not the necessary intelligence or self-control to use them with discretion4 ,as for tobacco1 it is a long cry from now to the millennium1 but a philosopher cannot afford1 at this stage of the itinerary1 to cut off the smoking-car from the first-class portion of the train1 for by so doing he might confound even archbishops and other exemplary personages4 ,to ,a ,young ,man or ,woman in ,search of the ,ideal4 ,,iii4 ,i was interrupted at this point in my letter by the loud ringing of the front door bell4 ,glancing at the clock1 ,i observed that it was eleven4 ,consequently1 the servants must have gone to bed4 ,under these circumstances1 a philosopher has to open the front door himself1 or submit to a prolonged tintinnabulation4 ,ting-a-ling-a1 ling-a-ling-a-ling went the bell again4 ,it must be a telegram1 said ,josephine4 ,i wonder what has happened8 ,or a dinner-invitation which the servant was told to deliver this morning1 ,i answered4 ,one would suppose that1 after turning out the gas in the hall1 one could work without callers4 ,having lighted up1 and having unbolted the inner door1 ,i beheld1 through the glass window of the outer1 a young man in a slouch hat4 ,evidently he was not a telegraph-messenger or a domestic4 ,nor did he have exactly the aspect of a midnight marauder4 ,nevertheless1 ,i opened the door merely a crack and inquired1 gruffly3 ,what do you wish8 ,said a blithe1 friendly voice3 ,i saw your light1 and ,i took the liberty of ringing4 ,can't you give me three thousand words on the death of the ,czar of ,russia8 ,before he had finished this sentence1 he had backed me1 by his persuasive manner1 from the vestibule into the hall1 and ,i remembered vaguely that ,i had seen him somewhere4 ,i'm the local correspondent of the ,new ,york ,despatch1 he said1 to refresh my memory4 ,i recollected then that he had tried to interview me six months before on my domestic interior1 and that ,i had politely declined the honor4 ,he was a lean1 alert1 bright-eyed man of thirty-five with a pleasant smile4 ,isn't it rather late to ring my door-bell8 ,i inquired1 with dignity4 7,my mental language was1 ,what do you mean1 you infernal young reprobate1 by ringing my door-bell at this hour of the night on such an impudent errand8 ,but1 in the presence of the press1 even a philosopher is disposed to be diplomatic47 ,i needed you1 badly1 was the reply4 ,i've got to wire to ,new ,york to-night three thousand words on the death of the ,czar4 ,what do ,i know about the ,czar of ,russia8 ,why don't you go to the historians or politicians8 ,there are several in the neighborhood4 ,i'm a philosopher4 ,i've tried them1 he said1 with a patient smile4 ,they were out or in bed4 ,then ,i thought of you4 ,anything you would say on the subject would be read with great interest4 ,pshaw6 ,i answered4 ,by this time he had backed me into the dining-room1 and1 under the influence of diplomacy1 ,i searched for a box of cigars4 ,i had no intention of giving him a single word on the deceased ruler of all the ,russias1 but ,i wished to let myself down easy1 so to speak1 and retain his good-will4 ,ah6 he said1 settling in a chair1 with a ,cabana1 this is the first restful moment ,i have had to-day4 ,he was pensive during a few puffs1 then he added3 ,a reporter's life is not all strawberry ice-cream4 ,do you suppose ,i enjoy rousing a man at this hour of the night8 ,it makes me shiver whenever ,i do it4 ,i should think it might1 ,i answered1 in spite of myself4 ,some men would be apt to resent it4 ,you misunderstand me4 ,i do not shiver from physical fear1 but because my sense of propriety is wounded4 ,i dare say1 he continued1 looking at me narrowly1 that you think ,i take no interest in the ideal2 that you suppose me to be a materialistic ,philistine4 ,you will appreciate that this was startling and especially interesting to me under the circumstances4 ,i1 in my turn1 examined my visitor more carefully4 ,there were evidences in his countenance of a sensitive soul1 and of refined intelligence4 ,the thought occurred to me that here was an opportunity to obtain testimony4 ,i think that every thoughtful man must take an interest in the ideal1 ,i answered1 and1 in spite of the lateness of the hour1 ,i had not set you down as an exception to the rule4 ,curiously enough1 however1 ,i was busy when the bell rang answering a letter from several correspondents in search of the ideal4 ,i will read it to you1 if you like1 as far as ,i have got4 ,perhaps ,i hoped that in submitting he would appear slightly crest-fallen4 ,but1 on the contrary1 he showed obvious enthusiasm at the suggestion1 and begged me to fetch my manuscript at once4 ,josephine met me at the top of the stairs1 and whispered that she had been dying with curiosity to know who it was4 ,a reporter1 ,i whispered1 in reply4 ,what does he wish for8 ,three thousand words on the death of the ,czar of ,russia1 ,i said1 mysteriously2 then ,i picked up my letter and glided away with my finger on my lips4 ,if he stays too long1 dear1 you may come down1 as a gentle hint4 ,i began to read1 and1 as ,i read1 my heart warmed toward my visitor on account of the absorbed attention he paid to my philosophy4 ,and now1 said ,i1 when ,i had finished1 pray tell what is your ideal8 ,you have told me that you were interested in one4 ,he shook his head sadly4 ,no matter about me4 ,it's too late4 ,i can only shiver and go on4 ,but ,i'm interested in what you're trying to do1 and1 if you like1 ,i'm willing to throw in a word now and then while you work it out4 ,i'm glad1 he added1 that you hit the back numbers a rap4 ,i told him that he was not exactly intelligible4 ,i mean the old familiar aspirants2 in particular the lady interested in culture and personal salvation4 ,there was no question about the man of the world and the drummer2 one might feel kindly toward them1 but of course they must ride second-class1 and most newspaper men would ride with them--and some of the editors would have to go third4 ,easy-going commonness is the curse of democracy1 even if ,i1 who am a democrat of the democrats1 do say it4 ,but what ,i like most--and it's the nub of the whole matter--is that you knew enough to throw out that woman2 she might equally well have been a man1 for there are plenty of the same sort4 ,if you'll excuse my saying so1 he said1 biting his cigar fiercely1 ,i shouldn't have expected it of a philosopher like you1 and ,i honor your intelligence because of it4 ,the man or woman of to-day in search of the ideal comes plumb up against sweating1 bleeding1 yearning democracy1 and whoever funks1 or shirks the situation has no first-class soul--be he or she ever so delicate1 or cultured1 or learned4 ,i could not but feel gratified at his fervor1 nor did ,i mind his bringing his hand down on the table with the last word by way of emphasis1 for he had grasped my meaning precisely4 ,evidently1 too1 he had taken the bit between his teeth and meant to have his say1 for1 as he lighted another cigar1 his nostrils dilated with suppressed earnestness and his eye gleamed significantly4 ,i'm not a man of culture1 he continued4 ,i have the effrontery1 from the necessities of my trade1 to ring at your door-bell at midnight1 and ,i know my own limitations1 but ,i know what culture is4 ,when ,i stand on the cliff and watch the waves hurl themselves against the shore--when on a peaceful summer's night ,i view the heavens in their glory1 ,i realize in my own behalf something of what those who have had more opportunities than ,i are able to feel1 and ,i know that ,i am illiterate and common as compared with many4 ,but1 ,mr4 ,philosopher1 what has been the philosophy of beauty and art and intellect and elegance through all the centuries until lately8 ,individual seclusion1 appropriation1 and arrogance4 ,the admirable soul1 the admirable genius1 the admirable refinement was that which gloried in its superiority to the rest of the world and claimed the right of aloofness4 ,the monk and the nun lived apart from the common life1 and were thought to walk nearer heaven because of it4 ,that idea of the priesthood has nearly passed away1 but aloofness and arrogance are still too typical of the mental and the social aristocrats4 ,they glory in their own superiority and delicacy1 lift their skirts if they're women1 hold their noses if they're men1 and thank heaven they are not as the masses are4 ,they are charitable1 they are sometimes generous1 and invariably didactic1 but they hold aloof from the common herd4 ,they refuse to open the gates of sympathy1 and sometimes it seems as though the gates will never be opened until they are broken down by the masses4 ,my visitor suddenly stopped1 and started to rise from his chair4 ,turning to investigate the cause of the interruption1 ,i encountered my wife1 ,josephine1 armed with a tray containing a brazier and the essentials for a midnight repast4 ,you will be able to talk better if you have something to eat1 she exclaimed1 affably4 ,the ceremony of introduction having been performed successfully without causing our guest to notice that we did not know his name1 ,i begged him to continue his address4 ,yes1 do1 said ,josephine1 while ,i cook the oysters4 ,i could not help overhearing a little of your conversation1 so ,i know the general drift4 ,note4--,that means she had been leaning over the banisters1 listening4 ,a lunch will taste very good1 said the reporter4 ,note4--,here he ran up against one of my pet prejudices1 and for a moment ,i almost forgot that ,i was doing the honors of my own house4 ,i almost said3 ,speaking of democracy and culture1 my dear sir1 ,i should like to inquire if you have any authority for your use of the word 'lunch'8 ,as employed by the appropriating and the arrogant it has long meant a meal or a bite between breakfast and dinner2 but1 as used by democracy1 it seems to apply to afternoon tea or late supper equally well4 ,we were speaking of the ideal1 he continued1 addressing my wife1 and ,i was just saying that only recently had the world of noblest thought and aims begun to recognize that an ideal life must necessarily include interest in and sympathy for common humanity1 and that the mere aristocrat of religion1 of culture1 or of manners1 has ceased to be the ,sir ,galahad of civilization4 ,indeed it must be so1 said ,josephine1 and the idea is rapidly gaining ground4 ,people used to be satisfied with making charitable donations2 now they investigate facts and conditions and give themselves4 ,but it isn't always easy for those who love beauty to avoid shrinking from people and things not beautiful4 ,there is nothing which freezes a sensitive1 artistic nature more quickly than dirt and ugliness1 and yet the ideal modern soul does not turn away1 but seeks to sympathize and to share4 ,might you not1 dear 7,josephine was now addressing me1 not the reporter71 say that the key-note of the ideal life is refined sympathy8 ,it certainly is an indispensable attribute of it1 ,i answered4 ,how much easier it is1 mused ,josephine1 as she stirred the oysters in the melting butter1 to wrap one's self in one's own aesthetic aspirations and to let the common world shift for itself4 ,it was possible1 once1 to do that and believe one's self a saint1 but that day has passed forever4 ,it's very hard1 though1 sometimes1 ,mr4 ,reporter4 ,constant contact with the common world is liable to make one terribly discouraged unless one has abiding faith in the future of democracy4 ,i know it2 ,i know it1 he replied1 eagerly4 ,we're a depressing lot--many of us4 ,don't you suppose ,i understand how the sensitive soul must suffer when it has to deal with some of us8 ,take the cheap1 ignorant1 mercenary1 city politician1 such as disgraces the aldermanic chair of our large cities--there's a discouraging monster for you4 ,there is a host of others2 the shallow1 self-sufficient1 impertinent type of shop-girl1 whose sole concern is her finery and her 'fellow'2 the small dealer of a certain sort1 who adulterates his wares1 lies to maintain his cause1 and will not hesitate to burn his stock in order to obtain the insurance money2 the sordid number who seek to break the wills of their relations who have devised the property to others2 the many1 too1 who make a mess of marriage1 and leave wife or husband on the paltriest pleas4 ,i know them well2 they are the people1 they are humanity1 and they can no longer be ignored and loftily set aside as 'the uneducated mass' by those whose finer instincts cause them to live free from these sins4 ,hard8 ,of course it's hard1 but the best hope for the improvement of society lies in the education and enlightenment of that mass2 and this can be compassed only through the efforts and sympathy of the intelligent and refined4 ,just then the clock struck midnight4 ,bless me6 he exclaimed1 every one will be in bed1 and what will become of my telegram on the ,czar of ,russia8 ,instead of getting three thousand words from you1 ,i have been giving you that number on your own topic4 ,for once1 then1 ,i have got the better of a reporter1 said ,i4 ,but before ,i give you any supper1 ,mr4 ,reporter1 said ,josephine1 you must acknowledge1 too1 that the movement is gaining ground1 and that the refined and educated are changing their point of view4 ,think of the hospitals1 think of the museums1 think of the colleges1 think of the model tenements1 the schools for manual training and cooking4 ,i do acknowledge it2 it is grand and inspiring4 ,i have been merely calling attention to the fact that in the search for the ideal their new point of view must become permanent and extend still farther4 ,to counterbalance your facts ,i could cite others4 ,think of the doings of the multi-millionaires1 their modern palaces1 their extravagant entertainments1 their steam-yachts1 their home-desecrating wives--a lot of third-class passengers1 with no more claim to be considered first-class than the alderman and the shop-girl and the other democrats of whom we were speaking a moment ago4 ,nothing of the ideal there1 and they had such a grand chance6 ,yes1 yes1 ,i do admit1 madam1 that the efforts and progress of the refined and intelligent during the last quarter of a century have been notable and stirring1 but democracy has been neglected for so many centuries that it may prove a little ungrateful at first4 ,and here am ,i1 ,mr4 ,philosopher1 keeping your train in three sections waiting all this time4 ,the oysters are cooked1 said ,josephine4 ,five minutes for lunch6 cried the reporter4 ,note4--,confound the man6 ,why should he call my supper a lunch8 ,to ,a ,young ,man or ,woman in ,search of the ,ideal4 ,,iv4 ,that beatific mental condition associated by my midnight visitor1 the reporter1 with people of alleged cultivation and aesthetic tastes1 when in the presence of the beauties or marvels of nature1 like sunset1 mountain scenery1 ocean calm and ocean storm1 is doubtless a familiar experience to you4 ,the wonder book of nature is constantly being held up by poet and painter as the source of human ideality1 and all the traditions of civilization urge you to attain that degree of artistic development under the white light of which the seals of that book become loosened1 and you are able to read in the evening star and the mountain torrent lessons of inspiration and truth4 ,next to nature in their aesthetic potency are her hand-maids1 music1 sculpture1 letters and painting--briefly1 the civilized arts1 the medium by which mortals seek to woo and hold fast to beauty4 ,we listen to the gorgeous anthems of the world's most famous composers1 and our souls thrill and vibrate with emotion2 life seems grand and everything possible4 ,we stand before the greatest marbles and canvasses1 and we seem to have truth within our grasp and nature almost subjugated4 ,how exquisitely falls on the senses the sublimity of the lines ,fair as a star1 when only one ,is shining in the sky4 ,we catch a glimpse there of what we call heaven4 ,is there any more satisfactory occupation for a thirsty soul than to scan the fairness of the twilight heavens when the evening star shines alone and the saffron or purple glories of the departing day irradiate the west8 ,noi andavam per lo vespero attenti ,oltre1 quanto potean gli occhi allungarsi1 ,contro i raggi serotini e lucenti4 ,so wrote ,dante in immortal verse1 to portray the aesthetic value of a kindred experience4 ,i selected those lines of ,wordsworth because he1 of all the poets1 suggests more ostensibly in his verse deliberate pursuit of the ideal4 ,shelley1 indeed1 reveals a bolder purpose to unmask the infinite1 but his mood is oftener that of an audacious stormer of heaven than of a reverent seeker for perfect truth4 ,we feel in ,wordsworth a conscious intent to distill from the study of nature and of man a spiritual exhalation1 which would enlighten him and enable him1 by force of his poetic gifts1 to enlighten us as to how best to live4 ,when we think of him1 we see him amid the exquisite scenery of his favorite lakes1 walking in close communion with ,god2 discerning the manifestations of the infinite in the mountain and the wild flower1 in the splendor of the storm and the faithful doings of the humblest lives4 ,ever since he wrote ,wordsworth has been the patron saint of introspective souls4 ,in his poetry they have found not merely suggestion but a creed4 ,the poet himself was at heart an enthusiast and a revolutionary1 and his worship of quiet beauty and subjective refinement was the expression of a design broader and deeper in its scope than many of his followers have been willing to adopt4 ,he revealed not merely the aesthetic significance of the contemplative life which substitutes soul analysis1 with ,god in nature as a guide1 for the grosser interests of the flesh1 but also the unholiness of class distinctions and of the indifference of man to his fellow-man as distinguished from himself4 ,the followers of ,wordsworth were1 for the most part1 prompt to accept the first without including the second and equally fundamental tenet of his philosophy4 ,what1 a quarter of a century ago1 was the ordinary practice of the cultivated and refined1 who had been stirred either directly or indirectly by the teaching of the great poet to adopt contemplation as the key-note of their daily lives8 ,their greatest number was in beautiful1 rural ,england2 but the spiritual atmosphere breathed by them soon found its way across the ,atlantic1 and served to exalt and modify the ever moral inclinations of ,new ,england4 ,picture1 if you will1 the model country house of the ,english country gentleman of comfortable means and refined tastes4 ,to begin with1 the structure itself is charming2 time has bestowed upon it picturesqueness1 and art has made it beautiful with the simple but effective arrangement of vines and flowers4 ,there is nothing of the vileness of earth at hand to mar or offend4 ,the proprietor himself1 an elder son1 has been left with a competence2 no riches1 but sufficient to enable him to pursue his literary or other refined interests without molestation from pecuniary cares4 ,the interior is tasteful and aesthetically satisfying2 the spacious1 comfortable rooms contain all that is desirable in the way of upholstery1 ornaments1 books1 and pictures4 ,the large drawing-room windows command a fair expanse of velvet lawn1 flanked by stately trees4 ,beyond lies an undulating acreage of ancestral metes and bounds1 rich in verdure and precious with associations4 ,here lives our gentleman the greater portion of the year2 lives aspiringly according to his ,wordsworthian creed4 ,he eschews or uses with admirable moderation the coarser pleasures and vanities of life4 ,unselfishness1 gentleness1 and nicety of thought and speech are the custom of his household4 ,he himself finds congenial occupation in literary or scientific research1 in the hope of adding some book or monograph to the world's store of art or knowledge4 ,his wife1 in co-operation with the church1 plays a gracious part among their tenants or among the village sick and poor1 teaching her daughters to dispense charity in the form of soup1 coals1 jellies1 and blankets4 ,parents and children alike1 jealously intending to attain holiness and culture1 continuously take an account of their individual spiritual successes and failures1 and though they hold these auditings with ,god in the church1 they renew them often under the inspiring influence of nature4 ,the ,curfew tolls the knell of parting day1 or1 as ,dante expressed a similar conception1 ',twas now the hour that turneth back desire ,in those who sail the sea1 and melts the heart ,the day they've said to their sweet friends farewell1 ,and the new pilgrim penetrates with love1 ,if he doth hear from far away a bell ,that seemeth to deplore the dying day4 ,this is the hour when the ,wordsworthian spirit1 refined1 conscientious1 aspiring1 beauty and duty loving1 sees through the splendor of the lucent1 saffron sky1 heaven open1 and the angels of ,god ascending and descending4 ,not always is the vision so adorable4 ,often enough the gazer knows the bitterness of divine discontent1 and finds the golden glory but a bar1 shutting out ,god4 ,in the favorable hour1 though1 comes the rapture1 and the transfiguration2 the exquisite1 refined feelings seem to find communion with the infinite1 and a voice from heaven to say3 ,well done1 good and faithful servant4 ,i have selected this experience of the cultivated ,english household rather than that of the purely religious life as an example1 for the reason that in it the aesthetic side is represented in the soul-hunger1 and that the existing conditions of earth are1 to a certain extent1 taken into account4 ,in the purely religious life1 the emotions of the exalted soul have1 in the past at least1 been prone to exclude the actual conditions of human life from consideration4 ,the thought has been that the earthly existence is travail1 and at best a discipline2 that the joys of life are vanity1 and the mundane problems of life unworthy of the interested attention of the heaven-seeking soul4 ,modern religious theories have modified this point of view1 but certainly in some sects still the aesthetic value of existence is almost contemptuously discarded by religion4 ,i have taken the beautiful lives of the ,wordsworthians as an example1 also because the religious element is so manifestly cherished and cultivated in them4 ,it is intended in them that art and ,god should work together1 or1 more accurately1 the precept is that the aesthetic side of humanity is one of the noblest manifestations of the infinite within us4 ,it is significant in this connection that though art has often reached its apogee in periods of moral decay1 the ruin of the nation1 thus robbed of spiritual vitality1 has soon followed1 in spite of the glory of its sculpture and canvasses4 ,but that is a mere interjection4 ,the point ,i wish to suggest is this3 ,the sane soul recognizes1 when face to face with truth1 that what we see in the glory of the sunset1 when we think we walk with ,god1 must be1 in order to be of value1 an inspiration based on the conditions of mundane life4 ,without this1 prayer and adoration become a mere nervous exhalation1 reaching out for something which has no more substance than an ignus fatuus4 ,the old saints who lived and died in prayer1 ignoring human relations1 seem to us to-day to have been wofully deluded4 ,they yearned to be translated from a world to which they had contributed nothing but the desire to be holy4 ,this desire is of the essence of the matter2 and so we consent to give their reverences the benison of our distinguished consideration4 ,but aspiring souls1 as evidenced by the aesthetic man and woman of culture1 presently perceived the error4 ,they recognized that aspiration1 to be vital1 must start with a conception of the world as it was1 and seek a realization of the world as it might be1 and that in this seeking lay service to ,god and preparation for heaven4 ,proceeding they fixed on unselfish human love and on beauty as the motive of their creed1 and endeavored to live lives animated by these principles4 ,this creed has been the real creed of aspiring humanity during the past century and a half1 and it still seems sufficient to many4 ,there have been diverse differences of application and administration in connection with it1 according as the pendulum swung more or less near to one or the other of the two cardinal points of faith1 unselfish love1 or exquisite beauty4 ,there have been some who1 in their desire to make the relations of man toward those with whom he lived and whom he loved more ideal1 have been disposed to ignore the claims of color and elegance2 and there have been others so eager in their allegiance to the cause of beauty that they have exalted sense and emotion at the expense of unselfishness and purity4 ,essentially1 however1 the ideal life of the modern centuries has sought to develop the individual soul by stimulating its faculties to cherish self-sacrificing devotion to familiar friends1 aesthetic appreciation of form1 color and sound1 and exquisite personal refinement4 ,the ,christian life1 in its highest form1 from this amalgamation of human traits1 has constructed an ideal for the soul founded on something tangible and substantial in human consciousness4 ,when the ,christian said1 ,o ,god1 make me pure and noble1 it has been no longer necessary to rhapsodize on a heaven concerning which he knew nothing1 and to disclaim all interest in this earth4 ,on the contrary1 he has appreciated that conceptions of the ideal must be based on human conditions or they cease to be intelligible1 and that the soul which seeks ,god can reach him only through faithfulness to a method of life1 the aim of which is to make the best use of earth and its possibilities4 ,beautiful as have been the lives which have resulted from this aesthetic spirituality1 the world has been beginning to realize1 during the last twenty-five years1 that this is a creed partially outworn1 or1 rather1 a creed hampered by its limitations4 ,in taking its suggestion for the ideal from the world1 noble society chose to accept economic conditions as they were1 and to fashion an ideal which necessarily shut out the larger portion of humanity from the possibility of attaining it4 ,the aesthetic satisfaction which we draw from the sunset is due to the pleasure which conscience feels in its allegiance to an ideal of its own devising1 and seeing ,god is only another term for the solemn identification of man's aspirations4 ,the ,wordsworthian soul1 as interpreted by his followers1 assumed that the political conditions of society were always to remain the same1 or1 more accurately speaking1 it accepted those conditions as permanent and continuously inevitable4 ,in other words1 it did not foresee democracy4 ,in short1 its ideal was essentially aristocratic and exclusive1 and it continues so stubbornly in the present day in many circles4 ,to be sure1 it has included and continues to include in its formula the carrying of soups1 jellies1 coals1 and blankets to the poor1 and the proffering of educational advantages to the ignorant1 but it never has predicated1 as essential to the world's true progress1 such fundamental changes in the social status of society as would involve the annihilation of class distinctions and a greater general happiness for the mass of humanity4 ,to be sure1 there have always been individual philanthropists1 who insisted upon these changes as vital1 but they have been ignored by the leaders of ideal thought as visionary enthusiasts1 or maligned as disturbers of permanent society4 ,it has been the struggle of democracy itself that has been the chief revealer of a new vision in the sunset1 until now1 at last1 the soul in search of the ideal appreciates that it does not walk with ,god unless it sees in the saffron glory its own sympathy with these new conditions4 ,the development of this recognition has been tolerably swift in certain directions4 ,new hospitals1 new colleges1 college settlements among the poor1 are concrete evidences of the modern spirit1 and equally significant1 if less heralded1 are the faithful1 zealous labors of physicians1 teachers1 clergymen1 and the host of workers in various lines of industry1 where the earnest1 self-sacrificing work done is rarely if ever paid for1 in dollars and cents1 commensurate with its value4 ,the serious energy of the best humanity1 instead of pluming itself in the seductive contemplation of aesthetic beauty1 seems rather to be celebrating the apotheosis of dirt4 ,it feels that the cleansing of the physical and moral filth from our slums1 the relief of appalling ignorance and superstition1 the combating of political dishonesty and the checking of private greed are more to be desired at this time than great marbles and a great literature4 ,or1 rather1 perhaps1 it seems probable that great marbles and a great literature will not come to us until the leaven of this new ideal expresses itself in the truths of art4 ,the sane1 aspiring soul can no longer be satisfied unless it recognizes the inevitableness and the pathos of democracy and adjusts its human perspective accordingly4 ,the world of vested rights and wealth is still reluctant to accept this new aestheticism1 and the soul in search of the ideal will find the allurements of aristocratic culture still insisted on as the secret of noble living4 ,social arrogance and the exclusive tendencies of class are slow in yielding to the hostility even of republican forms of government4 ,in this country parents who profess to be ,americans still choose to send their children to private instead of to the public schools1 in order to separate them from the mass of the people4 ,the doctrine of social caste1 thus early impressed upon the youth of both sexes1 serves to produce a class of citizens who are not really in sympathy with popular government4 ,if one questions sometimes the depth of purpose of highly evolved man1 and doubts the existence of ,god1 it is because of the lavish wantonness of living of some of the very rich in the presence of the thousands of miserable and wretched creatures who still degrade our large cities4 ,but there is this to be said in this connection3 ,this new aesthetic ideal is at least partially the fruit of the awakening of humanity to a keener appreciation of the conditions of human life2 but its progress is made certain by the coming evolution of democracy1 which slowly but surely will overwhelm the aristocratic spirit forever1 even though aestheticism1 as realized by the arrogant and exclusive1 perish in the process4 ,the ideal life to-day is that which maintains the noblest aims of the aspiring past1 cherishing unselfishness1 purity1 courage1 truth1 joy1 existence1 fineness of sentiment and aesthetic beauty2 but cherishes these in the spirit and for the purposes of a broader humanity than the melting soul has hitherto discerned in the sunset1 the ocean1 or the starry heavens4 ,there are among us men and women living in this spirit of idealism1 and they1 ,o1 my correspondents6 are the first-class passengers4 ,to ,a ,modern ,woman with ,social ,ambitions4 ,i4 ,in the first place let me assure you that ,i am in sympathy with you4 ,i am not one of those unreasonable philosophers who would have every wife merge her identity in that of her husband1 and every spinster who has decided not to marry relegated to obscure lodgings with a parrot and a dog4 ,my sentiments recognize the justice and the value of the emancipation movement by means of which woman has obtained freedom to arrange her life conformably to her own ideas as to what is salutary and entertaining for her as an individual1 whether she be married or single1 beautiful or plain4 ,in homely phrase the world has become woman's oyster1 and1 save for the little matter of the ballot1 a restriction concerning which the subject-matter of this letter does not require me to agitate you1 every woman is at liberty to open her oyster according to her own sweet will4 ,filial limitations and the other circumstances of her environment must prohibit this and make desirable that manner of living1 just as in the case of man2 but to all intents and purposes1 if she be clear-headed and ambitious1 she is free to do what she chooses in the way she chooses1 whether it be to preside over a drawing-room exquisitely1 to guide a woman's club to grace and glory1 to renounce the world for the sake of art and a studio1 or1 it may be1 to combine all these occupations in one seething round of tense existence which1 according to the constitution of the subject1 is liable to terminate abruptly in nervous prostration or1 baffling the predictions of the doctors1 to continue indefinitely unto hale and bright-eyed longevity4 ,in brief1 ,i make my best bow to the modern woman2 ,i admire her and am stimulated by her4 ,indeed1 ,i take her so seriously in her endeavor to be independent that ,i am almost ready to let her stand up in an electric-car or other overcrowded conveyance4 ,i have on occasions even made so free as to bend forward in the theatre and1 lacking an introduction1 ask her to take off the high hat which obscured my view of the stage4 ,verily1 these are piping times of progress for woman1 as every one knows1 and ,i am glad to put on record as a philosopher that ,i approve of and am edified by them4 ,so much1 my dear correspondents1 to assure you of my sympathy and my distinguished consideration4 ,there are five of you1 but three out of the five--a maid almost hoping always to remain one1 a wife almost sorry that she is one1 and a widow almost certain that she never will be anything else--have written to me as the result of what is known colloquially as the dumps4 ,that is to say1 you have become socially ambitious from stress of circumstances1 because your dolls are stuffed with sawdust4 ,but for the letters of ,numbers #d and #e ,i should be tempted to adopt the manner of a ,french philosopher and dismiss you with this piece of counsel3 ,love some one else4 ,numbers #d and #e1 respectively1 a wife thoroughly happy in the wedded state1 and a radiant1 able-bodied spinster haughtily unconcerned about love and lovers1 are not to be answered by such a simple gallicism4 ,the frame of mind of these two last-mentioned ladies was evidently not induced by disappointment2 they are not seeking social activity as an antidote to care or as a mere occupation to consume time4 ,their letters clearly indicate to me a consciousness of stored-up capabilities and an ambition to display them4 ,devoted as ,number #d obviously is to her husband1 it is no less clear that she is not content to be regarded merely as his wife4 ,similarly1 ,number #e1 though serene at the prospect of living without a mate1 still cherishes the intention of preserving her identity4 ,in other words1 each is imbued with the desire to make her individuality felt in the world4 ,it is in the interest of this justifiable and laudable ambition that ,i take my pen in hand to compose an answer4 ,the constituency to which ,numbers #d and #e belong is large and constantly increasing4 ,there are thousands of women without a grievance against ,cupid whose bosoms are aching with the desire for identity1 and it is to them1 as represented by you1 that ,i address myself4 ,your photographs1 furnished as evidence of good faith in accordance with my requirements1 lie before me as ,i write4 ,yours1 ,number #d 7the wife thoroughly happy in the wedded state71 is suggestively typical of ,american womanhood4 ,i have merely to utilize my mind's eye in order to behold you in the living flesh1 tall1 graceful1 spare1 and willowy2 earnest and piquant in expression1 with an air which suggests both the desire and the determination to accomplish great things1 including no less a range than the probing of the secrets of the infinite1 and the supplying of an ideal domestic dinner4 ,though willowy still1 you have a plumper person than before you were married1 and your face has lost the ,amazonian tense look which it sometimes wore when you were a maid4 ,your eyes are bright with happiness1 and a shrewd humor plays about the corners of your mouth2 humor indicating1 perhaps1 that you find the world less sorry and more alluring than you did in the days when1 grandly aspiring1 but a little ignorant1 cynical1 and severe1 you were waiting for an ideal lover to come and lift you from this humdrum1 vulgar sphere to the stars4 ,in other words1 you have a drawing-room1 such as it is1 and a baby such as never was1 and a husband whose faults 7all of which you know7 are more than balanced by his virtues1 so that you are able to love him devotedly with your eyes open1 and thus preserve your self-respect as an intelligent modern1 and yet satisfy that primal need of your nature1 the capacity for adoring affection4 ,i see you thus in the living flesh1 and ,i see you presently lost in engaging thought4 ,you are saying to yourself some such words as these3 ,everything is running smoothly4 ,alexander's 7husband's name7 affairs are on a satisfactory financial basis2 baby is well1 and has cut all her first teeth2 the servants seem to be satisfied with us2 and now is my chance to do something4 ,what shall it be8 ,note4--,give an afternoon tea1 ejaculated ,josephine1 to whom ,i was reading what ,i had written4 ,i have no doubt that my wife is right4 ,that is the first thing you would be likely to do4 ,it is the never-failing resource of the young bride and the aged matron alike when pricked by the spur of social activity4 ,out go the cards of invitation1 thin bread and butter is cut1 and presently1 on the appointed day1 a file or a throng1 according to weather and circumstances1 of petticoats goes into and from the house1 and when the last skirt has disappeared you breathe a sigh of relief and self-congratulation4 ,thank heaven1 that is over1 and ,i can start afresh with a clear conscience and an erect head4 ,marvellous are the ways of the modern woman4 ,it is thus that she settles with her social creditors and wins a tranquil soul4 ,what costs less subtle man canvas-back ducks and cases of wine is accomplished by the aid of a few tea-leaves and slices of thin bread and butter4 ,and then her slate is clear1 and she can afford to sink back for a decade into social greediness or inactivity1 as the case may be1 proud and self-satisfied as a peacock4 ,her slate1 not yours1 ,number #d4 ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman let me call you by way of convenience1 for a mere number suggests convict life4 ,as ,josephine has intimated1 you would probably begin with the tea1 but the last visitor would leave you only temporarily exhilarated4 ,within a week carking1 though praiseworthy1 care would return1 and you would be asking yourself1 ,what shall it be next8 ,i hear some bluff and old-fashioned man exclaim1 ,let her look after her husband and children1 and attend to her domestic duties4 ,do not be concerned by this superficial jibe1 dear madam4 ,i am here to defend you1 and ,i would be the last person in the world to aid and abet your aspirations if ,i were not confident that you are a thoroughly devoted wife and mother4 ,let me silence this stuffy censor at once by informing him that in the interest of your baby you have familiarized yourself with the laws of hygiene and the latest theories of education1 and that in no establishment among your contemporaries of equal means is a better or more punctual dinner served4 ,if ,i did not believe this to be the case1 ,i would have nothing more to do with you1 philosophically speaking4 ,i am taking for granted1 too1 that you are not nursing your social ambitions in the same nest with a faith in your own artistic genius4 ,if you believe yourself to be an undiscovered queen of tragedy or an undeveloped poet or sculptor1 or feel yourself inspired to write a novel or a play1 please consider our correspondence at an end4 ,in such a case1 the rest of this letter is not for you4 ,not because ,i doubt your genius1 but because ,i am certain that though artistic talent may continue to flourish in spite of a husband and a baby1 it must inevitably languish and grow feeble when coupled as a running mate to a career of general1 elegant1 social usefulness such as ,i know you aspire to4 ,if you possess artistic genius1 or feel that you cannot be happy without testing your own talent in this respect1 be satisfied to give one afternoon tea1 and then practically renounce social initiative1 unless you are prepared to alienate your husband1 neglect your baby1 or go to an asylum as a victim of triple-distilled nervous prostration4 ,assuming1 then1 that you are simply eager to help in working out the problems and fulfilling the destinies of your native civilization with benefit to society and credit to yourself1 ,i see you again in your drawing-room a few days after your preliminary tea1 inquiring what you are to do next4 ,i see1 too1 disporting themselves in your thought1 the images of the brilliant women of ,france of a century ago--such women as ,madame de ,stael1 ,madame ,recamier1 ,madame ,roland1 and others1 who influenced affairs of state by their intelligence and social graces4 ,it may be that they have been alike your inspiration and your despair4 ,you would fain follow in their footsteps1 but feel a washerwoman as compared with them4 ,your ambition does you credit1 ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman1 and also1 begging your pardon1 your humble-mindedness4 ,but there is no occasion for you to push either frame of mind to an extreme4 ,indeed1 whether you be a washerwoman or not as compared with these ladies1 they were not altogether admirable4 ,i am writing to you as a woman thoroughly happy in the wedded state4 ,you will recollect that of no one of those charming creatures could a similar statement be truthfully made4 ,madame ,recamier's husband was three times her age4 ,he offered1 poor man1 to consent to a divorce in order to allow his cherished wife to marry another2 but she1 out of pity for him in his adversity1 for he had lost both royal favor and his estate1 refused to take advantage of his magnanimity4 ,madame ,roland told her husband1 who was some twenty years her senior1 her love for ,buzot in order to protect herself from herself1 and did not allow her feelings an outlet until1 every possibility of meeting her lover having been removed by her death-sentence1 she could express her passion without violation of duty4 ,very pretty behavior1 but not exactly ideal marital relations1 ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman4 ,they should be taken into account in any comparison which you feel disposed to make between yourself and the ladies in question4 ,and yet ,i would not have you fail to appreciate at their full worth the exquisiteness of the heroines of the ,french salons2 the grace and nicety of their manners1 the brilliancy of their intelligence1 and the thoroughness of their accomplishments4 ,i have given you credit for recurring to them instinctively as models of form1 and ,i should grieve to think that my reference to your superior domestic happiness should lead you to think your humility amiss4 ,do you know the ,president of any woman's club who reminds you1 by her grace1 her nicety1 her brilliancy1 and her thoroughness of what you imagine ,madame de ,stael1 or ,madame ,recamier1 or ,madame ,roland to have been8 ,possibly your patriotism1 or even your sincere convictions1 would induce you to answer this inquiry in the affirmative2 and1 indeed1 ,i am ready to admit that we may have their counterparts among us2 but certainly the country is not overrun with them1 and ,i have no doubt that so discriminating a person as ,i imagine you to be will agree that the modern woman is often tempted to seek leadership on the strength of bumptiousness1 smart ignorance1 and that bustling spirit which those who possess it like to hear described as executive ability1 instead of by virtue of the talents and graces of old aristocratic society4 ,i quite realize1 on the other hand1 that the conditions under which you live are very different from those which existed when the brilliant and fascinating women whom ,i have specified1 and others resembling them1 flourished4 ,they were1 of course1 the quintessence of civilized society1 a small coterie living in the atmosphere of courts1 seeking to control events by the force of their engaging personalities4 ,i am writing to you1 not as a member of a choice and select organization1 from which most women were excluded by reason of their nothingness1 but as the representative of a large and growing constituency which is open1 in theory at least1 if not practically1 to the whole world of womanhood4 ,for us1 certainly1 courts and their atmosphere exist no longer1 and the opportunities afforded women by republican institutions to influence the course of political events are slight2 but in many respects the outlook of modern woman upon life is essentially broader and no less interesting than the horizon of the mistress of the ,french salon4 ,of necessity it is less exclusive and more humanitarian1 and by reason of the emancipation of woman as a social factor it includes consideration of the whole range of educational1 philanthropic1 and aesthetic interests in which democratic civilization is concerned4 ,it seems indeed a long cry from the picturesque experience of a clever and fascinating ,madame de ,stael1 braving the enmity of a ,napoleon1 or a ,madame ,roland reading her ,tacitus and her ,plutarch in the prison of ,st4 ,pelagie1 to the nervous1 bustling1 afternoon-tea-frequenting1 problem-hunting modern woman of workaday1 social proclivities4 ,and yet1 ,i would not have you despair merely because your surroundings lack the color which irradiates their careers4 ,to be different is not necessarily to be inferior4 ,the influence of a noble and beautiful woman may be no less real and no less worthy of emulation in these days of comparatively humdrum world-stage effects and common conditions4 ,but it will be just as well for you1 whenever you are tempted to swell with conscious pride and to fancy yourself abnormally illustrious as a consequence--for instance1 of being the ,president of a woman's club1 or the triumphant promoter of some reform movement--to stop and whisper to yourself ,madame de ,stael1 ,madame ,recamier4 ,to ,a ,modern ,woman with ,social ,ambitions4 ,,ii4 ,note4--,my wife1 ,josephine1 interposed again at this point4 ,i have been trying to make up my mind while you were writing1 said she1 what she would do next4 ,i mean this ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman of yours1 or whatever her real name is4 ,that is1 supposing she had never written to you and sent you her photograph1 and she were left to her own devices4 ,i can't blame her exactly for sending the photograph1 because you make it a condition of the correspondence2 but ,i can see from her face that she was glad of the opportunity1 and that she hopes you will admire it4 ,well1 ,i have1 said ,i4 ,yes1 and ,i agree with you in your enthusiasm4 ,she is handsome1 and interesting looking1 and ladylike4 ,i was merely considering what she would be apt to do if she had no philosopher to advise her4 ,she has a glad air as you have stated1 indicating that she has no domestic or financial grievances1 and ,i don't believe she thinks herself an artistic genius or intends to write a novel4 ,i think1 though1 that her first tea would elate her a little4 ,she would be glad it was over1 but surprised that so many people came4 ,it would set her thinking1 and presently she would give a dinner or two and a luncheon or so1 and she would go to other teas and dinners and luncheons1 and would gradually become the fashion1 so that when her friends and acquaintances wished to entertain they would think instinctively of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman4 ,i am assuming1 of course1 that her husband is an amiable being and does not thwart her1 and is willing to go to a reasonable number of entertainments4 ,she would be punctilious about her calls1 and make a point of appearing to remember people1 even if she didn't have the least conception who they were1 and would be generally blithe1 tactful1 and gracious4 ,what is the matter1 ,mr4 ,philosopher8 ,what would you have her do8 ,i had said nothing to induce this inquiry1 but ,i suppose ,i must have writhed involuntarily4 ,i dare say it's all right4 ,i don't see that she could help it2 but it sounds conventional1 ,i answered4 ,of course it is conventional2 yet1 pray1 how is she to avoid conventions8 ,i know you are thinking to yourself that the calls are a waste of time--all men1 whether they are philosophers or not1 think that4 ,i agree with you that if she were content to shut herself up and be an artistic genius1 or merely an every-day wife and mother without social ambitions1 she could lead a sane and sufficiently exemplary life without ever owning a visiting card4 ,remember1 though1 that this ,mrs4 ,sherman of yours has social ambitions1 and does not intend to hide her light under a bushel4 ,i assume that she is too sensible to make herself a mere slave to her visiting list1 but if you intend to advise her not to call on people who have asked her to dinner1 and not to practise the polite observances of civilized society all over the world1 ,i wash my hands of her at the start1 and hand her right over to you4 ,besides1 ,i'm only saying what ,i think from her face she'd be likely to do4 ,you can give her any instructions you please1 and--and we'll see if she follows them4 ,i have no doubt it's necessary1 if you say so1 ,i answered1 meekly4 ,i shall not venture to offer any radical advice on this point contrary to your judgment4 ,i was merely surmising that the modern woman would find a way to free herself from the manacles of conventional call-paying1 which ,i have heard you yourself declare eat into the flesh and poison the joy of life4 ,i have said it in my weary moments1 said ,josephine1 stoutly4 ,the modern woman uses her common-sense and does not let the manacles hamper her movements2 but she knows that she cannot reap social rewards without performing social duties4 ,the modern woman is free1 if she sees fit1 to disdain social life and all its concomitants and shut herself up in a studio or a college settlement2 it is her affair to decide what she wishes to do4 ,but if she decides to be a social promoter and leader1 she must continue to call on the people who invite her to dinner1 or she is not likely to be asked again4 ,i am ready to accept the programme which you have laid out for my correspondent1 ,i replied2 but ,i should like to know what you mean by social rewards4 ,i perceive from your tone1 my dear philosopher1 that you think ,i have in mind for your ,mrs4 ,sherman merely a career of social frivolity4 ,nothing of the kind4 ,i assure you that ,i appreciate the seriousness of her intention no less clearly than you do4 ,i desire to help the poor thing1 not to pull her down4 ,i was simply amusing myself by letting her do the things she would be likely to do if deprived of the benefit of your wisdom4 ,but you need not be afraid that ,i underestimate her4 ,her teas1 her dinners1 and her luncheons are merely a stepping-stone toward higher usefulness4 ,of course1 if she comes to grief without accomplishing anything1 it will be her fault1 not mine4 ,i am giving her her head1 and ,i trust to her not to lose her mental balance4 ,shall ,i go on8 ,certainly1 said ,i4 ,i am all attention4 ,she is pretty well-known as a social figure by this time4 ,she has more invitations than she can accept1 and her name appears frequently in the newspapers as a guest at this and at that entertainment4 ,she is invited to be a patroness of a series of subscription parties1 which flatters her1 and presently to be a patroness of college theatricals1 and of a fair in aid of proletarian infants4 ,it has been her intention to become earnestly interested in something worthy--the education of the blind1 for instance--and she is trying to make up her mind what it shall be when she begins to be deluged with applications to take an interest in all sorts of things1 educational1 literary1 and philanthropic4 ,she receives by the same mail a request to be present at a meeting to promote the moral and hygienic welfare of prisoners1 and a notice that she has been elected a ,vice-,president of the ,american ,mothers' ,kindergarten ,association4 ,the next day an author asks for the use of her name for a reading to be given 'under the auspices of leading society women4' ,one evening the servant brings up a card inscribed ,miss ,madeline ,pollard4 ',who is ,miss ,madeline ,pollard8' she asks herself perplexedly4 ,she concludes that it must be one of the educational or philanthropic people she has met of late2 then a sudden flush rises to her cheeks1 a flush of half-amused1 half-indignant excitement4 ',nonsense1 it can't be1' she murmurs2 then with a stealthy glance at her husband1 but without a word to him1 she goes down to meet the visitor4 ,she finds a free-spoken and insinuating young woman with an air of pathos4 ,i will give you their conversation1 philosopher4 7,here is the dialogue as detailed to me by ,josephine47 ,visitor4 ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman1 ,i believe8 ,mrs4 ,sherman 7with dignity74 ,that is my name4 ,visitor4 ,though we have never met1 your person is so familiar to me1 that ,i have taken the liberty of calling4 ,i have admired you at a distance for nearly two years1 and ,i feel sure that you will not refuse me the privilege of knowing you in your home and among your domestic associations4 ,may ,i sit down8 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,certainly4 ,you have come--er--,i don't understand exactly4 ,visitor4 ,with your permission to ask you a few questions--to obtain an interview4 ,mrs4 ,sherman 7with a manifestation of alarm74 ,you are a reporter8 ,an interview for a newspaper8 ,oh1 ,i couldn't consent on any account4 ,i shouldn't like anything of the kind at all4 ,you must excuse me4 ,visitor 7saccharinely74 ,i should not think of publishing anything contrary to your wishes4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,it would be quite impossible4 ,my husband would be very much annoyed4 ,besides1 it would be so ridiculous4 ,i have nothing to say4 ,visitor4 ,mr4 ,sherman is such a distinguished-looking man4 ,i admire iron-gray hair and mustaches4 ,indeed1 every one would be very much interested in anything you were to say4 ,you are a woman of ideas--a progressive woman4 ,the public is interested in progressive women1 and ,i think such women owe it to the public to let them understand and appreciate them4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,but ,i'm only a private individual4 ,it might be different if ,i were an author or other public character2 though ,i don't approve at all of people who parade themselves and their ideas in the newspapers4 ,there6 ,i have hurt your feelings4 ,visitor 7with her air of pathos74 ,no1 dear lady4 ,i'm only a little discouraged4 ,if the public wish to know and progressive people refuse to tell them1 what becomes of the reporter who is obliged to furnish copy and to obey orders8 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,it is a hard life1 ,i'm sure4 ,but--but1 if ,i'm not impertinent---- ,visitor 7interrupting74 ,you're going to ask how ,i came to take it up as a profession4 ,yes1 it is hard2 but ,i glory in it 7proudly74 ,i'm not ashamed of it4 ,it's a progressive life1 too4 ,but it is a little discouraging at times 7sadly74 ,you have such a lovely home1 ,mrs4 ,sherman2 elegance without ostentatious display2 taste everywhere without extravagance4 ,i should so like to describe it4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,oh1 but you mustn't4 ,were you ordered to--er--write about me8 ,visitor4 ,yes1 dear lady4 ,you are to be one of a series--,half-hour ,chats with our ,progressive ,women1 that's the title4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,have you--er--been to see any one else8 ,visitor4 ,yes1 and they all felt as you did at first 7she enumerates the names of three or four other modern women with social ambitions74 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,and did they all consent to talk to you8 ,visitor4 ,every one1 and they all gave me their photographs4 ,mrs4 ,sherman 7faintly74 ,photographs8 ,you don't mean that you wish a photograph8 ,that would be too dreadful4 ,visitor 7soothingly74 ,you wouldn't wish to mar the completeness of the series4 ,people like to see those who talk to them4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,but ,i have nothing to say to them4 ,visitor4 ,leave that to me4 ,you have spoken already4 ,everything about you speaks--your face1 your personal belongings1 your household usages4 ,while ,i have been sitting here ,i have observed a host of things which talk eloquently of your ideas1 your principles1 and your tastes4 ,just the things the public thirst to know about a woman like you4 ,leave it all to me4 ,i will write it out and send you the proof1 and1 if it isn't just right1 you can alter it to suit yourself 7blithely74 ,and the photograph8 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,must ,i8 ,visitor 7firmly and boldly74 ,public people think nothing of that nowadays4 ,it's a matter of course4 ,you would have had a right to feel offended if ,i hadn't included you in my article4 ,you wouldn't have been pleased1 would you now1 to see interviews with other progressive women1 and your face and personality excluded8 ,just look at it in that light4 ,it is disagreeable to me to intrude and force my way1 and invade privacy1 but ,i have a duty to the public to perform1 and from that point of view ,i count on you to help me4 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,perhaps ,i ought4 ,er--would you like it now8 ,visitor4 ,if you please4 7,mrs4 ,sherman goes upstairs and returns presently with a choice of photographs47 ,visitor4 ,they are both exquisite4 ,i choose this one for my article1 and1 if you don't object1 ,i should like so much to keep the other for myself as a memento of this delightful interview4 ,may ,i1 dear lady8 ,mrs4 ,sherman4 ,if you wish it4 ,visitor4 ,thank you4 ,and there is one thing more4 ,please write your name on both4 ,an autograph adds so much to the value of a photograph whether it be for the public eye or the album of a friend4 ,mrs4 ,sherman 7resignedly74 ,what shall ,i write8 ,visitor4 ,oh1 anything4 ,yours faithfully1 or ,very cordially yours1 are very popular just at present4 ,thank you so much4 ,and ,i do hope to meet you soon again4 ,if ,i should happen to give a little tea at my rooms for ,mr4 ,hartney ,collier1 the actor1 later in the winter1 ,i shall take the liberty of sending you a card4 ,you would like him so much4 ,and now1 goodby1 dear lady4 ,exit4 ,i have given this conversation without the various comments and interjections made either by myself or ,josephine during the course of it4 ,to have set them forth would merely have served to mar the sequence of the dialogue4 ,after announcing the departure of the visitor1 there was a little pause and my wife regarded me almost pathetically4 ,poor thing6 she murmured1 brushing away the semblance of a tear with her pocket-handkerchief4 ,i am sorry for her4 ,i can understand just how it happened4 ,for which of the two are you sorry8 ,i asked4 ,i meant for your woman4 ,but ,i'm sorry for them both4 ,it almost seems like fate4 ,the whole thing is disgusting1 but the times are to blame4 ,the public encourages the reporter and the interview1 and when a woman is told that she is progressive1 and that it is her duty to make herself felt still more1 ,i can imagine her being goaded into it if she is the sort of woman your woman is4 ,i suppose you think ,i've ruined her4 ,i didn't mean to2 ,i merely gave her her head1 and that's what she did4 ,i will hand her over to you now1 and you can do what you like with her4 ,excuse me1 ,josephine4 ,she is your creation4 ,i shouldn't think of interfering at this stage4 ,you have taken her in hand and you must work out her destiny for her4 ,you mean let her work out her own destiny4 ,that's all ,i was doing4 ,i see your point2 and1 if you won't take her back1 ,i'm willing to give her her head to the end4 ,i'm interested in her1 and ,i don't despair of her at all1 in spite of the fact that you have washed your hands of her4 ,i shall have to think a little before ,i give her her head again4 ,hereupon ,josephine assumed an attitude of reflection4 ,when she began to speak presently1 her words and manner suggested the demeanor of a trance medium1 or seer--as though she were peering into the abyss of the future4 ,the interview appears1 and her husband is less disturbed than she expects4 ,he declares that the press portrait is an abomination and libellous1 but he admits that the text is considerately done for a newspaper interview1 and that1 barring a few inaccuracies and a little exaggeration due to poetic license1 she is made to appear less of a fool than she had a right to expect4 ,this cheers and encourages her1 and helps to allay the consciousness that the publication of her face and doings was purely a gratuitous advertisement4 ,she firmly resolves that she will reform and live up to the description of her1 and she resolves to devote herself to a more definite field of action4 ,accordingly1 after deliberation1 she rejects the case of the blind1 and decides to take up the problem of how to make humble homes attractive by simple art4 ,she buys a complete edition of ,ruskin1 and writes to a half-dozen prominent men and as many women for the use of their names as a nucleus for a club to be known as ,the ,home ,beautifying ,society4 ,a meeting is held1 and she is elected ,president and a member of the ,executive ,committee1 facts of which the public is duly informed by her pathetic newspaper admirer4 ,there1 philosopher1 you see she is doing something serious already4 ,you are incorrigible1 ,josephine1 ,i asserted4 ,she means so well1 poor dear1 my wife continued with a genuinely worried air4 ,she fully intends to devote herself to that society and make it a success1 and she does so for a few weeks4 ,indeed1 she raises money enough to employ a superintendent1 and through him to give an exhibition of a poor man's house as it ought to be furnished1 and by way of speaking contrast a poor man's house as it is too apt to be furnished when he has money enough to furnish it gaudily4 ,and then she helps get out the annual report1 which mentions progress1 and shows a balance of #a4db in the treasury1 which leads her to make the announcement that in order to insure the successful continuation of a movement calculated to serve as a potent aesthetic influence among the unenlightened1 the liberal contributions made by friends must be renewed in the fall4 ,and then1 there are so many other things she has to do4 ,just listen1 philosopher1 to what the poor thing has become in less than a year since her life appeared in the newspaper1 and tell me what she is to do4 ,sec4 #a4 ,second ,vice-,president of the ,american ,cremation ,society4 ,sec4 #b4 ,member of ,text ,committee of the ,society to ,improve the ,morals of ,persons ,undergoing ,sentence4 ,sec4 #c4 ,chairman of the ,inspecting ,committee of the ,sterilized ,milk ,association4 ,sec4 #d4 ,vice-,president of the ,american ,mothers' ,kindergarten ,association4 ,sec4 #e4 ,life member of ,society to ,protect the ,indians4 ,sec4 #f4 ,honorary member of the ,press ,women's ,social and ,beneficent ,club4 ,sec4 #g4 ,member of the ,forty ,associates ,sewing ,bee 7luncheon club74 ,sec4 #h4 ,third ,vice-,president of the ,woman's ,club1 and active participator in the following courses of original work arranged by the members of the ,club3 7a7 ,literary ,course for #ahig-ih4 ,shakespeare's ,women4 ,the ,dramatists of the ,elizabethan ,period4 7b7 ,scientific ,course for #ahig-ih4 ,darwin's ,theory of ,earth-worms4 ,the present ,status of the ,conflict between ,science and ,religion4 ,recent ,polar ,expeditions4 7c7 ,political ,course for #ahig-ih4 ,the ,tariff ,bills of ,american ,history4 ,the ,theory of ,bimetallism4 ,sec4 #i4 ,member of ,the ,moliere ,club4 7,class to read ,french plays one evening a fortnight47 ,sec4 #aj4 ,president of the ,home ,beautifying ,society4 7,her pet interest47 ,sec4 #aa4 ,to say nothing of dinner-parties1 receptions1 ladies' luncheons1 the opera1 concerts1 authors' readings1 and other more or less engrossing social diversions and distractions4 ,there6 continued ,josephine4 ,and this does not include the thought and worry she spends upon ,mrs4 ,j4 ,webb ,johnston4 ,and who1 pray1 is ,mrs4 ,j4 ,webb ,johnston8 ,i asked4 ,her fascinating1 deadly1 and demoralizing rival1 answered ,josephine1 with a mournful wag of the head4 ,i am really very sorry1 my dear philosopher1 that this fresh complication has appeared1 for ,i really think your ,mrs4 ,sherman had all she could attend to already4 ,but ,i must be faithful to the truth1 even though our cherished hopes are thereby frustrated4 ,mustn't ,i1 philosopher8 ,certainly1 said ,i2 but since you instead of me seem to be writing this letter1 ,i suggest that it is time to give our correspondents time to breathe by beginning a fresh paragraph4 ,to ,a ,modern ,woman with ,social ,ambitions4 ,,iii4 ,just as you men--merchants1 lawyers1 or doctors-- pursued ,josephine1 reflectively1 deliberately or unconsciously contrast yourselves with your fellows in the same calling and become friendly rivals yet competitors for success and renown1 it seems to be inevitable that the modern woman with social ambitions should keep her eye on other modern women with social ambitions and try to make sure that they do not get ahead of her4 ,your ,mrs4 ,sherman1 at the time the newspaper woman visited her1 had reached the point where it would naturally occur to her to scan the horizon to observe how the other feminine celebrities of her environment were progressing1 and her attention was especially called to the matter by the article on ',progressive ,women4' ,there she had the opportunity to behold them in their respective glories1 and to be jealous of or indifferent to them1 according to her judgment as to what each amounted to4 ,it was an interesting list1 and she experienced in perusing it1 in conjunction with the portraits1 some qualms of mild envy on account of several of the progressionists1 but the only face and career which really discouraged her were the face and career of the woman ,i have referred to1 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,webb ,johnston1 or1 as every one calls her1 ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston4 ,when she had finished she felt herself essentially on a par with the others2 but in the case of ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston she experienced a frog in her throat1 and she looked into distance with a harassed air for more than five minutes4 ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston was not a stranger to her1 but she was comparatively a novelty4 ,that is1 she had appeared on the social stage since ,mrs4 ,sherman herself had become prominent1 and had been making mushroom-like progress2 such rapid progress in fact that it was only when she read the text of the article that she realized the extent of it4 ,then it came over her with a rush that she was in peril of being distanced on her own ground4 ,for1 to all intents and purposes1 they were rivals4 ,their visiting lists were practically the same2 they represented and appealed to the same constituency4 ,in personal appearance she could not justly claim any superiority to ,mrs4 ,webb1 who was at least three years her junior in age1 and who possessed a certain luscious1 ,juno-like beauty which was calculated1 without question1 to dazzle undiscriminating eyes1 and which would not be regarded except by the very subtle as inferior in type to her own refined effectiveness4 ,yes1 there was no doubt about ,mrs4 ,webb's physical charms1 or her great executive ability1 or her enthusiastic devotion to the entire range of interests over which she herself was aiming to hold undisputed sway4 ,her own ambition was to be the guiding spirit1 the modern1 original social force above all other modern social forces in her constituency2 yet here was another with an evidently similar ambition1 and a war-cry or shibboleth which was disconcertingly fetching4 ,i trust you have appreciated1 philosopher1 that our ,mrs4 ,sherman 7,i am really sorry for her now1 so ,i call her 'our'71 from the very first1 has been decorously conservative in her point of view1 eschewing cheap and vagabond devices and adhering to elegant and appropriately conventional usages1 such as seemed to befit a conscientious woman eager to lead public opinion4 ,if dignified conservatism has been her ruling motive1 you will readily appreciate that it would disturb her to find that a ,bohemian looseness of social vision distinguished her rival1 who had been working her way to the front by the specious cry of 'liberty1' and a seductively expressed intention of freeing the community from the manacles of old fogy conventions4 ,i am sure you will agree1 philosopher1 that it is natural she should have been worried1 or1 at least1 distracted from settling down to her ',art in ,humble ,homes' by this discovery4 ,and investigation and reflection only serve to agitate her still further2 for1 as the weeks go by1 it becomes more and more obvious that the things indicated in the article are true--that ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston is hand in glove with authors1 actors1 opera-singers1 and other celebrities1 and that the entertainments which she gives and the conversation heard there lack the dull1 cut-and-dried1 mechanical flavor observable at ordinary social gatherings4 ,you see the situation1 don't you1 dear8 7,as ,josephine's prophecy has assumed an essay-like or argumentative form1 it does not seem to me advisable to interrupt its flow for my correspondents by reciting our side observations1 unless they would be material or elucidating4 ,although her appropriation of my ,mrs4 ,sherman has proved to be a kidnapping of a very serious character1 and her conversation is bracketed as a note1 still her remarks seem to me so pertinent that ,i am prepared to adopt them as a part of my letter47 ,the most perplexing thing1 philosopher1 for a modern woman with social ambitions who wishes to emulate ,madame ,recamier or ,madame de ,stael1 is that we have no standards in this country4 ,public opinion is the only test of conduct4 ,the progressive woman is expected on the one hand to be original1 and yet on the other to guide correctly1 and public opinion reserves the right to follow blindly and to applaud egregiously and afterward to condemn the leaders whom it has flattered into folly4 ,an ambitious woman 7or a man1 for the matter of that7 needs to-day a clear head1 a high sense of responsibility1 and a sense of humor if she or he would avoid being led astray by the will-o'-the-wisp crew of surface society livers which pursues talent and originality only to be amused1 and who1 provided it is amused1 forgives everything else1 and eggs the performer on to believe that its shallow approval is the real verdict of society4 ,this crew1 brought into being by mere wealth1 lacking purpose and sneering at it if it threatens to interfere with the progress of the merry-go-round1 and backed by the army of society reporters and tittle-tattlers1 is a growing factor in our large cities and serves to debauch public sentiment by more and more audacious or frivolous ventures concerning the orthodoxy of which it claims to be the only intelligent judge4 ,we are accustomed to sneer at the formal and confining conventions of older civilizations on the ground that liberty of action is thereby checked and life made artificial1 but are we not beginning to discover that there are advantages in a definite prescription as to what gentlemen and ladies can do as compared with a happy-go-lucky system of individual competition in social experiments which1 however vulgar and demoralizing1 are invariably puffed and glorified by the social gossip editors of a host of newspapers8 ,the subsequent course of ,mrs4 ,sherman's career is an illustration of the plight in which a modern woman with social ambitions is liable to find herself as a result of the democratic habit of constituting the half-educated and often morally obtuse society reporter1 her successors and assigns1 the sole arbiter of what is socially elegant and invigorating4 ,setting aside the matter of the ethics of her egotism1 our lady in question is animated by a conscientious desire to be a refining and admirable influence4 ,it is her ambition to lead1 but to lead nobly and unimpeachably4 ,her entertainments and her posture in and toward society have been pursued on this principle1 and she has believed the effect produced by her to be irreproachable intellectual elegance1 redeemed from formalism or dullness by scintillating vivacity4 ,the suggestion1 therefore1 that she is behind the times gives her a genuine shock4 ,she has hitherto prided herself on her mental acumen and on her knowingness4 ,she has considered that she knew life to the dregs1 so to speak1 for she had passed through a course of ,french1 and translated ,russian novels1 and acquired thereby a knowledge of things evil1 which she kept stored in her inner consciousness as a source of pride and an antidote against undue primness in matters sexual and social4 ,she begins to ask herself if it can possibly be true that she is an old fogy1 and lacks breadth of view1 and that society in its demands for liberty of conduct and agreeable entertainment is prepared to discard1 as outworn and futile1 conventions and limitations which she has been disposed to consider essential to civilized and decent deportment4 ,as the result of this reasoning she resolves to cap her rival's next venture with something of her own4 ,so it happens that not long after ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston has summoned a few select spirits to sup and witness ,miss ,almira ,wing1 a visiting coryphee1 do a skirt dance1 ,mrs4 ,sherman issues notes of invitation to what is mysteriously specified as ',an ,eclipse ,smoke ,talk4' ,this proves to be a small gathering of choice souls to observe a total eclipse of the moon due at two o'clock in the morning from her own roof1 and to listen to remarks by a leading astronomer secured for the occasion4 ,this entertainment is a success1 and serves to give her new heart4 ,it was bold1 still decent4 ,she has preserved her self-respect1 yet shown herself alive to the necessity of being original4 ,she is prompt to reinforce it by an evening with a ,russian ,nihilist1 a young woman reputed to have been prominent in plots to assassinate the ,czar1 and who makes a specialty of narrating her experiences after a ,welsh rabbit1 cigarette in mouth4 ,naturally1 these enterprises spur ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston to fresh efforts of the imagination4 ,her guests are beguiled at her next evening by a paper on ',life among the ,mormons1' delivered by one of the early female disciples of that community4 ,no men are invited on this occasion4 ,a fortnight later a very small and secretly invited company are bidden to behold an exhibition of the vagaries of a hypnotic patient4 ,this enlargement of her horizon1 though stimulating1 puts ,mrs4 ,sherman on tenter-hooks4 ,it becomes necessary for her to keep accurately posted as to the comings of celebrities in order to get the first 'go' at them1 so to speak1 before they fall into the clutches of her rival4 ,as a consequence1 aspirants in every line of art or accomplishment who desire to win the patronage of the public ask for the use of her name and receive it4 ,she had been nervous and over-occupied before1 but now her days are passed in a ferment4 ,she has recourse to tonics and to sleeping draughts4 ,she feels elated at the success of her enfranchisement1 but a feverish interest as to what ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston will do next keeps her uneasy4 ,nor has she forgotten her serious intentions4 ,she tries to assure herself that her progressiveness is for the benefit of society1 and that she is leading it in noble directions4 ,she still retains her scruples4 ,she draws the line on women celebrities of unchaste life4 ,in this she refuses to be led astray by her rival's practices4 ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston's openly avowed theory had been that where art was concerned1 she chose to ask no questions4 ,accordingly1 she took to her bosom1 socially1 any one who was brilliant or attractive2 and every notoriously erotic actress1 singer1 dancer1 or other artist whose talent had caught the public fancy was invited to her house1 and became privileged on very short acquaintance to kiss her and call her by her first name4 ,mrs4 ,sherman's conscience obliges her to draw this line1 but she is conscious that it is an inconvenience to do so1 which puts her at a disadvantage4 ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston has merely to swoop down on the hotel1 or insinuate herself behind the scenes1 and offer her visiting card1 and presently her cheek1 in order to carry off the prize4 ,she cannot but feel that there are advantages in the ,bohemian democratic point of view which asks no questions1 but takes the good without heeding the ill4 ,by refusing social recognition to women whose private characters are disreputable1 she is shutting herself off from alluring friendships with sopranos1 contraltos1 tragediennes1 skirt-dancers1 music-hall singers1 and many other brilliant and fascinating creatures whose presence at her house could not fail to make her entertainments interesting to her guests4 ,all these women are sought out and cherished by ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston4 ,the old adage that there are other ways of killing a cat than choking her with cream1 comes pertinently to mind in this connection4 ,conscience is apt to be a tyrant if deliberately overridden1 but it may be hoodwinked with comparative complacency4 ,mrs4 ,sherman remains true to her principle of excluding meretricious characters from social intercourse with her guests1 but she reserves to herself the right of passing on the evidence4 ,seeing that she had read ,madame ,bovary and ,anna ,karenina1 was she not amply qualified to detect immorality at first blush8 ,that seemed to be almost an essential attribute of a modern woman with social ambitions4 ,the occasion for putting into practice this prerogative was not far to seek4 ,the arrival from ,europe of one of the most brilliant of the galaxy of foreign actresses brings her heart into her mouth4 ,she reads eagerly everything which the newspapers have to say about her1 and naturally finds nothing there suggestive of impropriety4 ,she buys and scans photographs1 and these merely serve to heighten the ideal estimate which has shaped itself in her mind4 ,she refuses to entertain sundry rumors which have reached her to the effect that the lady in question has been successively maintained by a ,french marquis1 and a ,russian banker1 and was at present reputed to be on unduly intimate terms with the famous leading man of her own troupe4 ,to the person who has confided to her these whisperings she answers1 ',i don't believe a word of it1' and then adds1 significantly1 ',wait4' ,the person is a man1 and he shrugs his shoulders4 ,but her soul is jubilant in its faith and in the hope that at last she has found a way to compete with ,mrs4 ,webb ,johnston4 ,on the day when the actress arrives in town ,mrs4 ,sherman goes to see her4 ,the meeting is by appointment at ten o'clock in the morning1 and lasts more than two hours4 ,they come down-stairs together with the mien of happy sisters4 ,mrs4 ,sherman's face wears a seraphic smile4 ,her carriage is in waiting1 and in it they are driven to her home for luncheon1 and on the same evening cards are issued for an after-theatre supper-party as a preliminary announcement of impending festivities4 ,she sends for the man who told her the rumors1 and in a triumphant tone says1 ',my friend1 your stories are untrue2 ,i have been to headquarters4 ,i have seen her and asked her1 and she has assured me1 with tears in her eyes1 that they are a wicked falsehood--a malicious1 baseless slander4' ',surely1' says the man1 'she ought to know1' and then he shrugs his shoulders again1 a caustic act which1 though done as a friend1 provokes ,mrs4 ,sherman to anger1 and puts a chasm between them4 ,on this day the cat is killed1 and yet the cream is saved4 ,true to her principles1 ,mrs4 ,sherman still bars her doors against the wanton1 yet never fails to convince herself that she is an infallible judge of virtue4 ,if there are rumors and whisperings in advance1 she invariably takes the bull1 or1 more accurately speaking1 the heifer1 by the horns and puts the inquiry4 ,the answer settles the matter4 ,it becomes a veritable 'open sesame' to her entertainments and her friendship4 ,she shows herself in public with her arm1 metaphorically and literally1 around the waist of women whom all men know to be unchaste and living in violation of social laws4 ,they kiss and talk poetry and art and philosophy1 and her face gleams with the consciousness of new importance and the realization of her ambition4 ,mrs4 ,sherman has now reached the point where she feels that she can fairly regard herself as the most busily progressive woman of her community4 ,she has a finger in every pie1 literary1 artistic1 philanthropic1 educational1 and what not4 ,she is always in a hurry1 and she does nothing thoroughly4 ,her ideas jostle against each other in their promiscuity1 and become all jumbled together in her consciousness4 ,her time is so occupied that when she is doing one thing and talking to one person1 some other thing or person is in her mind1 though her social skill often enables her to conceal the fact4 ,her life is one continuous series of kaleidoscopic sensations and emotions without system or result4 ,she is ostensibly a leader1 but her leadership suggests only ceaseless activity and indiscriminate1 superficial posings and vanities4 ,her nerves are kept in a constant state of tension by breathless comings and goings1 her digestion perpetually tried by the viands of festivities4 ,nor is her conscience satisfied4 ,a vague unrest pursues her still1 torturing her by insinuations of her own utter futility1 yet goading her on to fresh efforts4 ,she presently becomes a wreck morally1 mentally1 and physically1 though she preserves a bold front to the world1 until one day the news is flashed upon a busy public that she has died suddenly from 'heart failure' following an attack of pneumonia4 ,the physician in attendance shakes his head when asked to give assurance of her recovery4 ,he possesses an instinctive knowledge that she has kept her vitality keyed up to concert pitch by antipyrine1 phenacetine1 and the other drugs to the use of which modern progressive women are addicted4 ,and so no more of ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman4 ,of course1 continued ,josephine1 it was not strictly necessary to kill her4 ,the constitutions of some progressive women seem to be proof against anything4 ,but the chances were in favor of her death4 ,and if the poor thing had lived1 what hope was there for anything but a vapid old age1 haunted by visions of her decreasing notoriety8 ,and the strangest part of all is that when ,i began with her ,i felt hopeful that she would amount to something4 ,the laws of evolution are not to be trifled with1 however1 even by the wives of philosophers4 ,to ,a ,modern ,woman with ,social ,ambitions4 ,,iv4 ,i feel confident that my correspondent1 ,number #d1 a wife thoroughly happy in the wedded state1 will appreciate that there was nothing personal in ,josephine's portrayal of ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman's career4 ,it seems to me that it presents1 more clearly than any arguments or words of mine could do1 the perils of egotism and superficiality1 and that ,i need not further indicate to my correspondents that to do a little of everything and nothing thoroughly1 to be so eager for individuality or notoriety that one is ready to be led instead of to lead1 and to discard social canons on the plea of liberty or superior feminine acuteness1 will produce a nervous1 emotional1 gibbering type of character adapted to cause ,madame de ,stael or ,madame ,recamier to turn in her grave4 ,neither you1 ,number #d1 nor ,number #e1 the radiant1 able-bodied spinster1 haughtily unconcerned about love and lovers1 need fear any detriment to your souls or to your social progress as a consequence of doing some one or two things well1 and of refusing to sacrifice your self-respect to the urgency of cheap substitutes for refinement and elegance4 ,certainly1 thoroughness and delicacy of thought and sentiment are essential to the modern woman who would be socially effective in the best sense4 ,let me here state that ,i am entirely conscious that it is not a prerequisite to earnest living to be socially effective at all4 ,one can pursue one's occupation1 be it house-keeping1 school teaching1 scientific philanthropy1 or novel writing without taking any part in what is known as society1 and still be respectable and worthy in character4 ,yet if every woman were simply to eat her three meals a day1 sleep1 be affectionate to her family1 reasonably charitable1 and do her daily task1 the world would lose much of its vivacity1 color1 and aesthetic interest4 ,as the world is at present constituted the greater mass of human beings1 both male and female1 are shut off from participation in society in its narrower sense4 ,their means1 their manner of living1 and their tastes confine them to very simple or else to very coarse social diversions4 ,hence we are accustomed to read in the newspapers of society people1 as a term of reproach indicating that portion of the population which cultivates the social or aeesthetic side of nature in its leisure hours4 ,the demagogic force of the term is derived from the undeniable existence of a surface element of society1 which has been and is still apt to conduct itself in such a manner as to subject itself justly to the charge of frivolity and extravagance4 ,but the unthinking extend its application to the cultivated and intelligent many1 who in all countries constitute the best force of the community4 ,society in this better sense must always exist1 and1 although the woman who holds herself aloof from it may not be distinctly culpable1 there can be no question that those who succeed in participating in the social interests open to them1 without neglecting or allowing them to obscure sterner pursuits1 live finer and more serviceable lives than those who pass all their hours of relaxation by the chimney-corner1 either because they fancy that essential to comfort or because they choose to despise what they call1 with a virtuous inflection1 society4 ,this may sound elementary1 but ,i present it as a premise to which is to follow4 ,you1 my correspondents1 are ambitious to progress socially1 yet doubtless you are not altogether impervious to the seductive suggestion that social interests are hollow and unprofitable4 ,for instance1 ,i feel sure that you1 ,number #e1 the radiant1 able-bodied spinster1 haughtily unconcerned about love and lovers1 feels the pressure of the times1 and would regard the life of a ,madame de ,stael or a ,madame ,recamier1 however brilliant or picturesque1 as at variance with modern theories of social utility4 ,i hear you making some such representation as this1 which is merely an enlargement of the letter you wrote me3 ,here am ,i1 a young woman of some means1 without family responsibilities or other demands upon my time4 ,i have no prejudice against marriage2 indeed1 ,i earnestly hope to meet some day1 some man who will love me and whom ,i may love1 and whose wife ,i may become2 but as ,i am no longer so young as ,i was once1 being nearly thirty1 ,i have no intention of bothering my head about the subject further1 and so put it aside as a contingency4 ,i have no special talent2 that is1 ,i never could accomplish anything unusual with my voice1 my pen1 or a brush4 ,i have taken1 and ,i do take1 a strong interest in charitable enterprise and investigation4 ,i belong to philanthropic societies1 and it has more than once occurred to me to join a college settlement and live among the poor4 ,i have friends who do that2 but ,i do not feel a special fitness for the work4 ,nor am ,i sure that1 however valuable that experience may be as a form of loving service to the people one hopes to influence1 it can be other than episodic and limited to the individuals who are conscious of the need or of the inspiration4 ,i am painfully aware of the dissipations and vanities of fashionable people1 in many of which ,i have taken part myself1 and have no desire to be merely a frivolous devotee of social amusements4 ,and yet ,i feel sure that the social side is no less genuine in its claims upon us than any other4 ,it seems to me that ,i might interest myself socially1 but ,i am puzzled by the intricacies of the situation4 ,it is so difficult to be democratic in one's sympathies and yet maintain the old standards of elegance and refinement4 ,to be socially effective one ought to be in touch with modern social tendencies and yet be true to the finest instincts of aspiring womanhood4 ,what can one do to realize this8 ,that is1 ,i believe1 a clear presentation of your state of mind and its dilemma4 ,having read of the vicissitudes of ,mrs4 ,alexander ,sherman1 you have probably a more distinct idea of what you ought not to do2 but would have a right to argue that a mere warning loses half its force unless a substitute be supplied4 ,to begin with1 you are correct in your assumption--you see ,i credit you with a considerable intelligence--that if you hope to be effective you must not be content with mere aristocratic elegance4 ,that is a requisite which will gain you a standing within certain narrow limits1 and if cleverly cherished1 may bring you a surface reputation which the society newspapers will vie with each other to enhance4 ,the acquirement of mere fine ladyism is going on actively in our society1 and though it has not turned the heads of so many ,american women as its opposite1 superficial democratic smartness1 it seems too apt to fill the breasts of its votaries with a pleasing self-satisfaction1 which no suggestion that the gift is not original serves to disturb4 ,it is a product of and inheritance from the older civilizations1 and in its most precious but not its exaggerated form1 is absolutely essential to the most highly evolved womanhood4 ,a fringe of our people in the ,north and in the ,south1 and latterly in the ,west1 has always insisted on and cultivated it1 generally with much credit1 and has thereby evoked the taunt that they were out of sympathy with the institutions of the country4 ,that has been far less true than demagogues would have us believe1 but there has been enough truth in it1 and there is still enough truth in it to put our well-bred class--society people1 as they are called--on their guard against themselves4 ,there is certainly nothing essentially ,american in conventional fine manners and in the conventional social tone which people of breeding the world over cultivate1 and where these are the possessor's chief or only title to superiority1 and are worn as such1 there is room for the sneer that he or she is not an ,american at heart4 ,during the last twenty years our population has been passing through a period of awakening in regard to the usages of civilized countries1 with the result that the public point of view has been astonishingly readjusted4 ,the people are1 so to speak1 tumbling over each other in their haste to adopt ,old ,world social customs1 and the paragrapher who tells us that the wife of the ,chief ,magistrate wears blue novelty silk waists to the theatre1 made by one of her familiar friends1 makes a point of assuring us that the dressmaker in question is herself a leading society woman4 ,our public press is rife with society cant and society gossip1 and justifies the practice on the plea that the plain people are absorbed in the contemplation of the doings and the dresses of those whom they know only by hearsay1 even as an ,englishwoman will run the risk of apoplexy in order to catch a passing glimpse of her sovereign4 ,of this appetite for social tittle-tattle1 the wealthy class seems disposed to take every advantage1 pluming itself on its new importance to the point where it is constantly trying to devise some new extravagance or inanity4 ,but this is not the spirit of the ,united ,states1 nor are these the best ,americans4 ,our nation is strange in this respect4 ,we wear our faults upon our sleeves1 or rather we suffer a surface population to belie us in various walks of life4 ,that is the reason why the foreigners who come over here and try to amass the materials for a book in a few months fail to understand us as we really are4 ,they are led by superficially prominent indications to believe many things which are true only of a limited portion of the population1 and they fail to perceive the sturdiness of character1 the independence of view1 and the social charm which distinguishes a large and constantly increasing portion of the ,american people1 who are neither extravagant plutocrats nor vulgar republican braggarts and despisers of civilized practices4 ,during the early years of our history as an independent nation1 the imitators of foreign and civilized usages1 the well-bred people of our country were1 as ,i have indicated1 regarded as out of sympathy with the population at large1 and there was a certain justification in the charge2 for though there was no conscious slur on the part of these students of manners1 they were at fault in that they failed to manifest or to take an interest in that energy1 originality1 and freshness of mental vision which was known as ,americanism4 ,blatant and mortifying as this national tendency was in its exaggerated forms1 it was a genuine indigenous product typical of the native character4 ,chastened and subdued in ,new ,england1 and assuming outrageous expression on the prairies1 it was the real manifestation of our entity as a new departure from the peoples of ,europe4 ,hence it was natural that those who were shocked by or felt no kinship for this trick of the blood should be looked at askance4 ,among those who claimed in their own hearts social prestige it was long the fashion to shrug their shoulders over the raw eccentricities of their fellow-countrymen1 which1 as revealed both in public affairs and during ,european travel1 were often startling to precise taste and wofully suggestive of the boaster4 ,yet those very traits in their truer expression have been the vital force of the people1 and give us our savor as a nation4 ,not to possess them is to be without the characteristics of an ,american4 ,the experience and events of fifty years have served to soften the eccentricities and tone down the unconventional manifestations of the national spirit4 ,although the prairies and the halls of ,congress still afford occasional rampant types1 the great body of the people is eager1 as ,i have indicated1 to adopt cosmopolitan usages4 ,but the salt of the native character remains undiluted in the blood of the people1 and marks them as genuinely as ever1 though they have learned to avoid some of the exuberance of language and look which made foreigners smile1 and their sensitive countrymen blush when they met them in the picture galleries of ,europe4 ,most significant among the changes which experience and time have brought to pass has been the development on the educational and social side4 ,always alive to the importance of general education1 but unfortunately so proud of the maintenance of public schools that it was disposed to sneer at any learning not to be acquired at them1 the ,american people--that portion of it which foreigners are so apt to overlook when they attempt to characterize us--is seeking to foster in a variety of ways the opportunities for higher learning1 and wider intellectual intelligence4 ,within the last twenty-five years not merely an array of colleges and other educational institutions have sprung into existence1 but with them an army of disciples whose clubs and classes and associations for the investigation and study of all the forms of learning from ,english literature to ,sanscrit have given a new tone and stimulus to the social side of ,american life4 ,an independent1 but now generally respectful eagerness to learn has taken the place of an independent ignorance relying upon its own infallibility1 which was often worn as a chip upon the shoulder4 ,with it all has been manifest the same originality1 independence1 and energy of spirit which has been conspicuous from the first4 ,this still serves to handicap as well as to promote progress1 for it is apt to beget undue self-confidence and lead our new women and eager youth of both sexes to ignore the accumulated wisdom of older civilizations1 and claim a special clearness of vision1 the only basis for which is often half-digested superficial knowledge4 ,but educational and professional life all over the country is being constantly enriched by more and more competent students and practitioners who stand not merely for what is best and most earnest in ,american life1 but who typify the true ,american spirit4 ,while the omniscient class in the population has become less assertive and more humble-minded1 the class which was once politically proscribed in some sections of the country because it was cultivated and because it shrugged its shoulders in spite of its breeding1 has undergone a transformation also4 ,a large portion of it1 always patriotic at heart so far as dying was concerned1 has learned to recognize that it must live in sympathy with our republican institutions if it would not be regarded as an exotic1 and that aloofness is akin to lack of patriotism4 ,a fringe of vain and more and more extravagant and self-indulgent society exists in our large cities1 especially in ,new ,york1 which affects to claim social superiority to the rest of the population1 and is indifferent to national progress and to the best public interests2 but it is numerically small1 and1 except in the newspapers1 a very unimportant factor of influence as compared with the already large and growing body of citizens over the country which is eager to live nobly and wisely4 ,this right-minded and aspiring class represents the drawing together and amalgamation of the once seemingly hostile poles of opinion typified by the conservative1 civilized1 sedate1 social aristocrats of the nation1 and the independent1 assertive1 ignorant but truth-seeking sons and daughters of the soil4 ,each has recognized the justice of the other's criticisms1 and as the outcome of a mutually amended point of view we have an earnest1 intelligent1 and interesting alliance1 which insists on both fineness and strength of fibre as essential to progressive national character4 ,the confines of this belt of good citizenship shade away into stiff or heartless conventionalism on the one side1 and smart1 obtuse1 social perceptions on the other1 but it is constantly widening and undergoing the refining process which results from the increasing intelligence of the contracting parties4 ,by way of exemplification in matters feminine may be instanced the more and more frequent requirement by those in authority in women's colleges that applicants for the position of teacher should possess those evidences of gentle nurture which the world is accustomed to associate with the word lady4 ,conversely one may point to the fact that originality1 independence1 and suggestiveness are no longer repulsed by the conservative1 but welcomed as a leavening grace necessary to the development of a finer womanhood4 ,to the existence of this alliance ,i would call the attention of the modern woman with social ambitions--you1 in particular1 ,numbers #d and #e4 ,for it seems to me that in its perpetuation and extension lies the best hope of society4 ,it represents1 of course1 an involuntary approximation of contrary opinions1 and has no definite corporate existence1 like a woman's club1 for instance4 ,but the alliance is real1 nevertheless1 whether it be deliberate or not4 ,certainly the ,american woman who wishes to lead effectively and aspiringly can no longer be either of the insipidly fashionable or the smart1 assertive1 schoolma'am type4 ,in her composition that eager1 star-investigating spirit1 which through all the phases of her brilliant but often nerve-harrowing evolution has distinguished her1 must curb itself to the yoke of social refinement4 ,on the other hand1 the day has passed when the charms of mere convention1 of graceful elegance fortified by nothing deeper than wit1 or suppleness of mind1 would rank the possessor among the leaders of society4 ,imitation1 therefore1 of the witchery worn by the women of the ,french salons will1 however successful1 if it be limited to mere manners and mental accomplishments--the pyrotechnics of social adroitness--gain for the modern woman of ambition1 be she discerning and honest with herself1 only a sore conscience4 ,first of all1 let her be a lady--elegant1 gracious1 pure1 and tender2 but1 last of all1 let her be merely that and stop there1 looking down with amiable superciliousness on the world outside the narrow limit hedged by the conventions of those who play at living1 and fancy themselves the real world4 ,it is becoming more and more easy in this country to be a fashionable fine lady1 without audible reproach1 for the class of mere society people is a growing one4 ,yet to those who are content thus to waste their lives1 the difficulty of being recognized as anything but society persons is just as great as ever1 for though the ranks of the alliance may seem to terminate on one side in their direction1 there is a dividing chasm between them broad as is the difference between careless aristocracy and sympathizing humanity4 ,on one side of this chasm live those whose vital interest is to be exquisite and to be entertained2 on the other1 those whose souls are bent upon the finest aspirations and hopes of the race4 ,in the heart of this alliance between conventional culture and humanity the reforms1 the enterprises1 and the safeguards projected for the advancement of modern society are born1 and here they find their truest champions4 ,it is not easy1 however1 my correspondents1 to decide whether there lies greater danger for the modern woman with social ambitions in the allurements of mere fashionable society1 or in the temptations to be smart1 superficial1 and common1 which confront her at the point where the alliance shades toward the camp of democratic individuality4 ,here there is a second chasm2 yet1 like the sunken road into which the cuirassiers of ,napoleon fell at ,waterloo1 it is not evident at first glance to those who1 fired by the ardor of youth1 but socially unenlightened1 tilt at fame and world progress4 ,the evolution of democracy having in the case of woman been supplemented by the enfranchisement of her sex1 present conditions afford extraordinary opportunities for the exercise of her new-found liberty4 ,so secure is her position1 so welcome is her announced determination to readjust and regenerate the world1 that humanity is prepared to give her her head and to applaud every sign of advancement4 ,but man1 though thus encouraging and at heart keenly appreciative1 is watching her closely1 and there can be no question that if he has to choose between the old-time woman of convention--the exquisite1 picturesque doll of society--and a monster who revolts at sex1 sneers at sentiment1 and administers the affairs of life on a dull1 utilitarian basis enlivened only by knowing1 mundane humor1 he will prefer the doll1 or1 if she be out of the question1 he will fight the monster4 ,it would be ,st4 ,george and the dragon again6 ,long has the idea which the poet put into words1 ,man's love is of man's life a thing apart1 ',tis woman's whole existence1 been uttered with a sigh by our wives and mothers2 yet with pride1 too1 and a secret joy in spite of the melancholy inflection4 ,there are some women to-day who would throw off the yoke of this adage and enter the lists of life on the footing of a second-class man1 proud of their swagger1 and with the instincts of the wife and mother sternly repressed4 ,fortunately1 to the woman of the alliance this new woman of democratic individuality is as abhorrent as she is to men4 ,but it is not in her extreme type that she is as yet most dangerous1 for admiration comes only by degrees4 ,the danger lies in the failure to recognize the species in the bustling1 chirping1 metallic1 superficial class of women which in some numbers1 and with the wiry whirr of grasshoppers1 infests the cities and towns of the republic to-day--women who have no reverence and no sentiment1 no desire to learn for the sake of knowledge1 but merely for ostentation--women who have not progressed as souls1 but who have substituted coarseness for aspiration1 and material cuteness for unsophisticated purity of thought and sentiment4 ,the modern woman with social ambitions must be essentially a modern woman4 ,that is1 she must recognize the justice of and sympathize with the aspirations of society for a broader humanity1 and she must recognize and be a party to the responsibilities placed upon her own sex by the process of emancipation4 ,now1 if ever1 is the opportunity for woman to show what she is made of4 ,if she is made simply of sugar and spice and all that is nice1 as we are informed in the nursery rhyme1 we shall have to accept her as she is1 and put up with her delightful volatility and tender but unintellectual limitations4 ,if1 on the other hand1 as the world is ready to believe1 she is a star-seeking creature1 who has been kept down1 she will soon be able to give manifest signs of her ability to soar2 and it is equitable to remind her that the burden of proof is on her4 ,she cannot afford1 distinctly1 to be superficial4 ,she must be thorough both in her investigations and her intuitions or she will amount to nothing1 for it must be remembered that though man may be slow at intuition1 he is capable in investigation4 ,every woman of the present day who becomes either an elegant voluptuary or an egotistical1 metallic flibbertigibbet1 furnishes one more piece of evidence for the edification of those who maintain that the mental constitution of her sex1 save in its capacity for affection1 is shallow4 ,that is probably not the truth1 but she should make the demonstration of the calumny more complete4 ,woman's authority over matters social is far greater than it has ever been4 ,not only as regards the social manifestations of society1 but in the matter of the deeper problems of social living upon which the progress of society depends1 her influence is becoming more and more a vital factor and force4 ,if she is sincere1 society will become both more earnest and more attractive2 if she is simply seeking liberty at the expense of religion1 purity1 sentiment1 and the fine things of the spirit1 it were almost better she were again a credulous1 beautiful doll1 and remained so to the end of time4 ,clearly1 the modern woman with social ambitions must not neglect to hold fast to the old and everlasting truths of life in her struggle toward the stars4 ,sympathy with and capacity to promote new ideas are essential to her progress1 but only by allegiance to the eternal feminine1 to the behests of love and motherhood and beauty of imagination1 can the development of society on the lines of a broader and wiser humanity be effectually established4 ,to ,a ,young ,man wishing to be an ,american4 ,i4 ,i wrote this once as a definition of ,americanism3 ,it seems to me to be1 first of all1 a consciousness of unfettered individuality coupled with a determination to make the most of self4 ,in short1 a compound of independence and energy4 ,to you1 in the earnest temper of mind which your letter of inquiry suggests1 this definition may seem a generality of not much practical value2 declarative of essential truth1 yet only vaguely helpful to the individual4 ,yet ,i offer it as a starting-point of doctrine1 for to my thinking the people of the ,united ,states who have impressed themselves most notably on the world have possessed these two traits1 independence and energy1 in marked degree4 ,and to you1 whatever your condition in life1 if you consider1 it must be apparent that manly self-respect and enterprising force are essential to character and good citizenship1 and that the prominence accorded to these qualities by those who have analyzed the component parts of our nationality is a distinction which should be perpetuated and reinforced by succeeding generations4 ,nevertheless1 the counsel seems to approximate a glittering generality for the reason that the opportunities for acting upon it no longer sprout on every bush as in the forties1 fifties1 sixties1 and seventies of the present century when we were a budding nation and much of our territory was still virgin soil4 ,i write seems to approximate advisedly1 for the opportunities are just as plenty1 merely less obvious4 ,yet here again ,i must make this qualification--one which recalls doubtless the favorite aphorism employed to meet the plea that the legal profession is overcrowded--that there is always an abundance of room on the top benches4 ,indisputably the day has passed when the ambitious and enterprising ,american youth could have fruit from the tree of material fortune almost by stretching out his hand4 ,now he has to climb far1 and the process is likely to be slow and discouraging4 ,the conditions peculiar to a sparse population in a new country rich in resources have almost ceased to exist1 and1 though a young nation still1 we are face to face with the problems which concern a seething civilization where almost every calling seems full4 ,now and again some lucky seeker for fortune still finds it in a brief twelve-month1 but for the mass of ,american young men the opportunities for speedy1 dazzling prosperity have ceased to exist4 ,those who win the prizes of life among us nowadays owe their success1 in all but sporadic cases1 to unusual talents1 tireless zeal and unremitting labor1 almost as in ,england1 and ,france1 and ,germany4 ,so also1 with the passing of the period when enterprise and ambition were whetted by the promise of sudden and vast rewards1 have disappeared many of the traits1 both external and psychological1 which were characteristic of our early nationality4 ,the buffalo is nearly extinct1 and with him is vanishing much of the bluff1 graceless assertiveness of demeanor which was once deemed essential by most citizens to the display of native independence4 ,our point of view has changed1 broadened1 evolved in so many ways that it were futile to do more than indicate by a general description what is so obvious4 ,partly by the engrafting and adoption of foreign ideas and customs1 partly by the growth among us of new conditions beyond the simple ken of our forefathers1 our national life has become both complex and cosmopolitan4 ,if we1 who were once prone to believe our knowledge1 our manners1 and our customs to be all-sufficient1 have been borrowing from others1 so we in our turn have been imitated by the older nations of ,europe1 and the result is an approximation in sympathies and a blurring of distinctions4 ,political differences and race superficialities of expression seem a larger barrier than they really are1 for in its broader faiths and vision the civilized world is becoming homogeneous4 ,the ocean cable and the facilities for travel have palsied insular prejudice and lifted the embargo on the free interchange of ideas4 ,the educated ,american sees no resemblance to himself in the caricatures of twenty-five years ago1 and rejoices in the consciousness that the best men the world over are essentially alike4 ,this1 perhaps1 is only another way of reasserting that human nature is always human nature1 but this old apothegm has a clearer significance to-day than ever before4 ,yet the opportunities for the display of enterprise and independence remain none the less distinct because we are becoming a cosmopolitan community and the old spectacular flavor has been kneaded out of the national life4 ,much of our free soil has been appropriated by an army of emigrants from ,europe1 and in connection with this fact the saying is rife that every foreigner seems infused with a new dignity from the moment that he becomes an ,american4 ,this may be bathos in individual cases1 yet it is the offspring of truth4 ,still it remains equally true that we have an enormous foreign population whose ideas and standards are those which they brought with them4 ,proud as these men and women may be of their new nationality1 and eager as they may be to aid in the promotion of good citizenship1 their very existence here in large numbers has altered the conditions of the problem of ,americanism4 ,the problem involved is no longer that of the winning of a new land by a free1 spirited people under a republican form of government1 but the larger equation of the evolution of the human race4 ,americanism to-day stands in a sense more accurate than before as the experiment of government of the people1 for the people1 and by the people1 and for the most complete amalgamation of the blood of ,christendom which the human race has ever known4 ,we have lately been celebrating our centennial anniversaries4 ,already the great figures of our early history seem remote4 ,the struggle in which we are engaged is intenser and broader than theirs3 ,it concerns the progress of human society4 ,you1 whom ,i am addressing1 find yourself a unit in a vast1 heterogeneous population and a complex civilization4 ,you live in the midst of the most modern aspirations and appliances1 and cheek by jowl with the joy and sorrow1 the comfort and distress1 the virtue and vice of a great democracy4 ,your birthright of independence and energy finds itself facing essentially the same perplexities as those which confront the inhabitants of other civilizations where the tide of existence runs strong and exuberant4 ,if our nationality is to be of value to the world1 ,americanism must stand henceforth for a rectification of old theories concerning1 and an application of fresh vitality to the entire problem of human living4 ,love of country should be a part of the creed both of him who counsels and him who listens1 yet ,i deem it my duty1 considering the nature of our topic1 to suggest that there are not a few in the world1 foreigners chiefly1 who would be disposed to answer your inquiry how best to be an ,american1 by citing ,punch's advice to persons about to marry1 don't6 ,it does credit to your love of country that you have assumed a true ,american to be a consummation devoutly to be emulated4 ,humility on this subject has certainly never been a national trait1 and ,i cannot subscribe to any such doubt myself4 ,but yet again let me indicate that across the water the point is at lest mooted whether the seeker for perfect truth would not be nearer success if incarnated under almost any other civilized name4 ,let me hasten to add that ,i believe this to be due to national prejudice1 envy1 and lack of intelligent discrimination1 especially the latter1 in that the foreigner is mistaken as to the identity of the true ,american4 ,it behooves you therefore to ascertain carefully who the true ,american is1 for even my defence seems to hint at the suggestion that all ,americans are not equally admirable4 ,forty years ago an intimation that all ,americans were not the moral and intellectual1 to say nothing of the physical1 superiors of any ,englishman1 ,frenchman1 ,german or ,italian alive would have subjected a writer to beetling criticism2 but1 as ,i have already intimated1 we have learned a thing or two since then4 ,and it is not a little thing to have discovered that1 though their hearts were right and their intentions good1 our forefathers were not so abnormally virtuous and wise as to entitle them or us to an exclusive and proscriptive patent of superiority4 ,we glory in them1 but while we revere them as the fosterers and perpetuators of that fine1 energetic1 high-minded1 probing spirit which we call the touch-stone of ,americanism1 we are prepared1 with some reluctance1 yet frankly1 when cornered1 to admit that they did not possess a monopoly of righteousness or knowledge4 ,i shall assume1 then1 that you1 in common with other citizens1 have reached this rationally patriotic point of view and are willing to agree that we are not1 as a nation1 above criticism4 ,if you are still inclined to regard us1 the plain people of these ,united ,states1 as a mighty phalanx of ,sir ,galahads in search of the ,holy ,grail1 the citation of a few facts may act aperiently on your mind and wash away the cobwebs of hallucination4 ,for instance1 to begin from the political standpoint1 our acquirement of ,texas and other territory once belonging to ,mexico suggests the predatory methods of the ,middle ,ages rather than an aspiring and sensitive national public temper4 ,the government of our large cities has from time to time been so notoriously corrupt as to indicate at least an easy-going1 shiftless1 civic spirit in the average free-born municipal voter4 ,it is a matter of common knowledge that in the legislative bodies of all our ,states there is a certain number of members whose action in support of or against measures is controlled by money bribes4 ,from the point of view of morals1 statistics show that poverty and crime1 drunkenness and licentiousness in our large cities are little less rife than in the great capitals of ,europe2 and you have merely to read the newspapers to satisfy yourself that individuals from the population of the small towns and of the country districts from the eastern limit of ,maine to the southwestern coast of ,california are capable of monstrous murders1 rank thefts1 and a sensational variety of ordinary human vices4 ,it were easy to illustrate further1 but this should convince you that the patriotic enthusiast who would prove the people of the ,united ,states to be a cohort of angels of light has verily a task compared with which the labors of ,sisyphus and other victims of impossibility fade into ease4 ,even our public schools1 that favorite emblem of our omniscience1 have been declared by authority to merit interest but by no means grovelling admiration on the part of the effete peoples of ,europe4 ,we will proceed then on the understanding that1 whatever its past1 the present civilization of the ,united ,states reveals the every-day human being in his or her infinite variety1 and that the true ,american must grasp this fact in order to fulfil his destiny4 ,if our nation is to be a lamp to the civilized world1 it will be because we prove with time that poor human nature1 by virtue of the leaven called ,americanism1 has reached a higher plane of intelligent virtue and happiness than the world has hitherto attained4 ,who then is the true ,american8 ,and what are the signs which give us hope that the people of the ,united ,states are capable of accomplishing this result8 ,what1 too1 are the signs which induce our censors and critics to shake their heads and refuse to acknowledge the probability of it8 ,to ,a ,young ,man wishing to be an ,american4 ,,ii4 ,i will begin with the inverse process and indicate a list of those who are not true ,americans1 and yet who are so familiar types in our national community that the burden of proof is on the patriot to show that they are not essentially representative4 ,no4 #a4 ,the ,plutocratic ,gentleman of ,leisure who ,amuses ,himself4--,here we have a deliberate imitation of a well-known figure of the older civilizations4 ,the grandfather by superior ability1 industry1 and enterprise has accumulated a vast fortune4 ,his grandchildren1 nurtured with care1 spend their golden youth in mere extravagant amusement and often in dissipation4 ,there are many individuals in our so-called leisure class who devote their lives to intelligent and useful occupation1 but there is every reason for asserting that the point of view of the child of fortune in this country is significantly that of the idler--and a more deplorable idler than he of the aristocracies of ,europe on whom he models himself for the reason that the foreigner is less indifferent than he to intellectual interests4 ,is there any body of people in the world more contemptible1 and any body among us more useless as an inspiring product of ,americanism1 than the pleasure-seeking1 unpatriotic element of the very rich who1 under the caption of our best society1 arrogate social distinction by reason of their vulgar ostentation of wealth1 their extravagant methods of entertainment and their aimless pleasure-loving lives8 ,to vie with each other in lavish outlay1 to visit ,europe with frequency1 to possess steam-yachts1 to bribe custom-house officers1 to sneer at our institutions and1 save by an occasional check1 to ignore all the duties of citizenship1 is an off-handed epitome of their existence4 ,and in it all they are merely copy-cats--servile followers of the aristocratic creed1 but without the genuine prestige of the old-time nobilities4 ,and in the same breath let me not forget the women4 ,note4--,i was afraid you were going to1 said my wife1 ,josephine4 ,women count for so much here1 and yet their heads seem to become hopelessly turned as soon as they are multi-millionaires4 ,women indeed count for much here1 and yet it is they even more than the men who are responsible for and encourage the mere pleasure-loving life among the leisure class4 ,a ceaseless round of every variety of money-consuming1 vapid amusement occupies their days and nights from ,january to ,january1 and for what purpose8 ,to marry their daughters to foreign noblemen8 ,to breed scandal by pursuing intimacies with other men than their husbands8 ,to demonstrate that the ,american woman1 when she has all the opportunities which health1 wealth1 and leisure can bestow1 is content to become a mere quick-witted1 shallow voluptuary8 ,you will be told that these people are very inconsiderable in number1 that they really exercise a small influence1 and that one is not to judge the men and women of the ,united ,states by them4 ,it is true that they are not very numerous1 though their number seems to be increasing1 and ,i am fain to believe that they are not merely out of sympathy with1 but alien in character to1 the ,american people as a whole2 and yet ,i cannot see why an unfriendly critic should not claim that they are representative1 for they are the lineal descendants of the men from every part of the land who have been the most successful in the accumulation of wealth4 ,their grandfathers were the pioneers whose brains and sinews were stronger than their fellows in the struggle of nation-building2 their fathers were the keenest and not presumptively the most dishonest men of affairs in the country4 ,though the plain people of the nation affect to reprobate this class as un-,american and evil1 yet the newspapers1 who aim to be the exponents of the opinions of the general mass and to cater to their preferences1 are constantly setting forth the doings of the so-called multi-millionaires and their associates with a journalistic gusto and redundancy which reveals an absorbing interest and satisfaction in their concerns on the part of the every-day public4 ,undeniably there are no laws which prohibit the wealthy from squandering their riches in futile extravagance and wasting their time in empty frivolities1 nor is our leisure class peculiar in this when compared with the corresponding class in other countries1 unless it be in a more manifest bent toward civic imbecility4 ,but1 from the point of view of human progress1 is it not rather discouraging that the most financially prosperous should aspire merely to mimic and outdo the follies of courts1 the heartless levity and extravagance of which have been among the instigators of popular revolution8 ,surely1 if this is the best ,americanism1 if this is what democracy proffers as the flower of its crown of success1 it were more satisfactory to the sensitive citizen to owe allegiance to some country where the pretensions to omniscient soul superiority were more commensurate with the results produced4 ,no4 #b4 ,the ,easy-going ,hypocrite4--,here is another slip from the tree of human nature1 which flourishes on this soil with a sturdy growth4 ,a large section of the ,american people has been talking for buncombe1 not merely since years ago the member of ,congress from ,north ,carolina naively admitted that his remarks were uttered solely for the edification of the county of that name1 and so supplied a descriptive phrase for the habit1 but from the outset of our national responsibilities4 ,to talk for effect with the thinly concealed purpose of deceiving a part of the ,american people all of the time has been and continues to be a favorite practice with many of the politicians of the country4 ,yet this public trick of proclaiming sentiments and opinions with the tongue in the cheek is the conspicuous surface-symptom of a larger vice which is fitly described as hypocrisy4 ,there is a way of looking at this accusation which deprives it of part of its sting1 yet leaves us in a predicament not very complimentary to our boasted sense of humor4 ,it is that the free-born ,american citizen means so well that he is habitually dazzled by his own predilections toward righteousness into utterances which he as a frail mortal cannot hope to live up to1 and consequently that he is prone to express himself in terms which none but the unsophisticated are expected to believe4 ,in other words1 that he is an unconscious hypocrite4 ,however harmless this idiosyncrasy may have been as a preliminary trick of expression1 there is no room for doubt that the plea of unconsciousness must cease to satisfy the most indulgent moral philosopher after a very short time4 ,yet we have persevered in the practice astonishingly1 until it may be said that hyperbole is the favorite form of public utterance on almost any subject among a large class of individuals1 in the expectation that only a certain percentage will not understand that the speaker or writer is not strictly in earnest4 ,in this manner the virtuous and the patriotic are enabled to give free vent to their emotions and to set their fellow-citizens and themselves highest among the people of the earth without other expenditure than words1 resolutions1 or empty laws4 ,the process gently titillates the self-esteem of the performer so that he almost persuades himself for the time being that he believes what he is saying3 ,he appreciates that his hearers like better to have their hopes rehearsed as realities at the expense of veracity than to be reminded of imperfections at the expense of pride3 ,and he rejoices in those whom he has fooled into believing that their hopes have been realized1 and that all the virtue which he tremendously stands for is part and parcel of the national equipment4 ,under the insidious influence of this mode of enlightenment the every-day keen ,american citizen goes about with his head in the air1 knowing in his secret heart that one-half of what he hears from the lips of those who represent him in public is buncombe1 but content with the shadow for the substance1 and wearing a chip on his shoulder as a warning to those who would assert that we are not really as virtuous and as noble as our spokesmen have declared4 ,for instance1 to return to the concrete1 consider the plight of a police commissioner in most of our large cities4 ,those interested in the suppression of vice appear before the legislature and urge the maintenance of a vigorous policy4 ,acts are passed by the law-makers manifesting the intention of the community to wage vigorous war against the social evil and the sale of liquor1 and prescribing unequivocal regulations4 ,the appointing power is urged to select a strong man to enforce these laws4 ,supposing he does1 what follows8 ,murmurs and contemptuous abuse4 ,murmurs from what is known as the hard-headed1 common-sense portion of the community1 who complain that the strong man entrusted with authority does not show tact2 that what was expected of him was judicious surface enforcement of the law sufficient to beguile reformers and cranks1 and give a semblance of improvement1 not strict1 literal compliance4 ,they will tell you that the social evil can no more be suppressed than water can be prevented from running down hill1 and that the explicit language of the statutes was framed for the benefit of clergymen1 and that no one else with common-sense supposed it would be enforced to the letter by any intelligent official4 ,the very legislators who voted to pass the laws will shrug their shoulders rancorously and confide to you the same thing2 yet in another breath assert to their constituents that they have fought the fight in defence of white-robed chastity and the sacred sanctity of the home4 ,now1 is this ,americanism1 the very best ,americanism8 ,surely not4 ,it has an ,anglo-,saxon flavor about it which it is easy to recognize as foreign and imported4 ,englishmen have been asserting for centuries that they were fighting the fight in defence of white-robed chastity and the sanctity of the home1 to the amusement of the rest of the world1 for in spite of the fact that the laws demand a vigorous policy and the ,british matron and the ,sunday-school ,unions declare that the home is safe1 those familiar with facts know that ,london is one of the most disgustingly impure cities in the world1 and that the youth let loose upon its streets is in very much the same predicament as ,daniel in the den of lions1 without the same certainty of rescue4 ,and why8 ,because the hard-headed1 common-sense ,british public sanctions hypocrisy4 ,they tell you that they are doing their utmost to crush the evil4 ,this is for the marines1 the ,british matron1 and the ,sunday-school ,unions4 ,but let a strong man attempt to banish from the streets the shoals of women of loose character1 and what an unmistakable murmur would arise4 ,how long would he remain in office8 ,it may be that the social evil can no more be suppressed than water can be prevented from running down hill4 ,that is neither here nor there for the purposes of this illustration4 ,but to demand the passage of laws1 and then to abuse and undermine the influence of those who try to enforce them is a vice more subversive to national character than the fault of ,mary ,magdalene and her unpenitent successors1 both male and female4 ,take1 again1 our custom-house regulations concerning persons returning home from abroad4 ,the law demands a certain tariff1 yet it is notorious that a large number of so-called respectable people are able to procure free entry for their effects by bribes to the subordinates4 ,and why8 ,because those who passed the law devised it to cajole a certain portion of the community2 but those charged with the enforcement of it1 in deference to its unpopularity1 are expected to make matters at the port smooth for travellers with easy-going consciences4 ,hence the continued existence at the ,new ,york ,custom-house of the shameless bribe-taker in all his disgusting variety4 ,authority from time to time puts on a semblance of integrity and discipline1 but the home-comer continues to gloat over the old story of double deceit1 his own and another's4 ,is this the best ,americanism8 ,yet these are ,american citizens who offer the bribe1 who pocket it1 and who allow the abuse to exist by solemnly or good-naturedly ignoring it4 ,consider the diversity of our divorce laws4 ,it is indeed true that opinions differ as to what are and what are not suitable grounds for divorce1 so that uniformity of legislation in the different ,states is difficult of attainment2 yet there is reason to believe that progress toward this would be swifter were it not for the convenience of the present system which allows men and women who profess orthodoxy a loop-hole of escape to a less rigorous jurisdiction when the occasion arises4 ,similarly1 in the case of corporation laws1 it is noticeable that not far removed from those communities where paid-up capital stock and other assurances of good faith are required from incorporators1 some ,state is to be found where none of these restrictions exist4 ,thus an appearance of virtue is preserved1 self-consciousness of virtue flattered1 a certain number deluded1 and yet all the conveniences and privileges of a hard-headed1 easy-going civilization are kept within reaching distance4 ,no4 #c4 ,the ,worshipper of ,false ,gods4--,it is a commonplace of foreign criticism that the free-born ,american is insatiate for money1 and that everything else pales into insignificance before the diameter of the mighty dollar4 ,that is the favorite taunt of those who do not admire our institutions and behavior1 and the favorite note of warning of those who would fain think well of us4 ,no one can deny that the influence and power of money in this country during the last thirty years have been enormous4 ,one reason for this is obvious4 ,the magnificent resources of a huge territory have been developed during that period4 ,men have grown rich in a night1 and huge fortunes have been accumulated with a rapidity adapted not merely to dazzle and stir to envy other nations1 but to turn the heads of our own people4 ,we have become one of the wealthiest civilizations1 and our multi-millionaires are among the money magnates of the world4 ,yet popular sentiment in public utterance affects to despise money1 and inclines to abuse those who possess it4 ,i write affects1 for here again the point of hypocrisy recurs to mind1 and even you very likely would be prompt to remind me that1 according to our vernacular1 to make one's pile and make it quickly is a widespread touch-stone of ambition4 ,true enough it is that there has been1 and is1 room for reproach in the aggressiveness of this tendency1 and yet the seeming hypocrisy is once more unconscious in that the popular point of view intends to be sincere1 but the situation has been too dazzling for sober brains and high resolves4 ,for let it be said that keenness of vision and a capacity for escaping from the trammels of conventional and inveterate delusions are essentially ,american traits1 and as a consequence no one more clearly than the ,american citizen appreciates the importance of material resources as a factor of happy living1 and none so definitely as he refuses to be discouraged by the priestly creed that only a few can be comfortable and happy in this life and that the poor and miserable will be recompensed hereafter for their earthly travails4 ,his doctrine is that he desires1 if possible1 to be one of that comfortable and happy few1 and in the exuberance of his consciousness that human life is absorbing1 he fortifies the capacity to make the most of it by the quaint1 convincing statement that we shall be a long time dead4 ,his quick-witted1 intelligent repugnance to the old theory that the mass should be cajoled into dispensing with earthly comforts has helped to give a humorous1 material twist to his words2 and yet1 ,i venture to assert1 has left his finer instincts unperverted1 except in the case of the individual4 ,this combination of an extraordinary opportunity and a shrewd intelligence has1 however1 it must be admitted1 produced a considerable and sorry crop of individuals guided by the principle that wealth is the highest good1 and should be sought at the expense of every scruple4 ,their many successes in the accomplishment of this single purpose have served to create the impression that the whole nation is thus diseased1 and have done the greater harm of dwarfing many an aspiring nature1 spell-bound by the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces which sheer money-making has established4 ,as a result the best ,americanism is menaced both by the example of accumulation without conscience1 and the dangerous public atmosphere which this generates1 in that the common eye is caught by the brilliance of the spectacle1 and the common mind lured to meditate imitation at every sacrifice4 ,so they say of us that the ,american hero is the man of material successes1 the smart man who gets there by hook or crook1 and that we are content to ask no embarrassing questions as to ways and means1 provided the pecuniary evidences of attainment are indisputable4 ,the patriotic ,american resents this as a libel1 and maintains that this type of hero-worship is but a surface indication of the public soul1 just as the horrors of the divorce court are but a surface indication of the general conditions of married life4 ,yet the patriot must admit that there is danger to the noble aspirations which we claim to cherish as ,americans from the bright1 keen1 easy-going1 metallic1 practical1 hard-headed1 humorous citizen1 male and female1 whose aim is simply to push ahead1 at any cost1 and who in the process does not hesitate to part with his spiritual properties as being cumbersome1 unremunerative and somewhat ridiculous4 ,the materialist is no new figure in human civilization4 ,eat1 drink1 and be merry1 for to-morrow we die1 is but the ancient synonyme for we shall be a long time dead4 ,a deep1 abiding faith in the serious purposes of humanity has ever been obvious to us ,americans as a national possession1 however foreigners may deny it to us1 but the ,american nature is at the same time1 as ,i have suggested1 essentially practical1 level-headed1 and inquiring1 and is ever ready with a shrewd jest to dispute the sway of traditions founded on cant or outworn ideas4 ,it behooves you then1 if you would be a true ,american1 to beware overstepping the limit which separates aspiring1 intelligent1 winsome common-sense from the philosophy of mere materialism4 ,there lies one of the great perils of democracy2 and unless the development of democracy be toward higher spiritual experiences1 ,americanism must prove a failure4 ,keen enjoyment of living is a noble thing1 so too is the ambition to overcome material circumstances1 and to command the fruits of the earth4 ,a realization of the possibility of this1 and an emancipation from dogmas which foreordained him to despair1 has evolved the alert1 independent1 progressive ,american citizen1 and side by side with him the individual whom the less enlightened portion of the community have enshrined in their hearts under the caption of a smart man4 ,this popular hero1 with his taking guise of easy-going good nature1 assuring his admirers by way of flippant disposition of the claims of conscience and aspiration that it will be all the same a hundred years hence is the kind of ,american whom every patriot should seek to discredit and avoid imitating4 ,to ,a ,young ,man wishing to be an ,american4 ,,iii4 ,the foregoing suggestions will suffice1 ,i think1 to demonstrate to you that we are not uniformly a nation of ,sir ,galahads1 and that certain types of ,americanism1 if encouraged and perpetuated1 are likely to impair the value and force of our civilization4 ,but having dispelled the hallucination that we are uniformly irreproachable1 ,i would remind you that1 in order to be a good ,american1 it is even more necessary for you to appreciate the fine traits of your countrymen than to be keenly alive to their shortcomings4 ,there are two ways of looking at any community1 as there are two ways of looking at life4 ,the same landscape may appear to the same gaze brilliant1 inspiring1 and interesting1 or flat1 homely1 and unsuggestive1 according as the eye of the onlooker be healthy or jaundiced4 ,it is easy to fix one's attention on the vulgar and heartless ostentation of the rich1 on the cheapness and venality of some of our legislators1 on the evidences of hypocrisy and false hero-worship1 materialism1 and superficiality of a portion of our population1 and in doing so to forget and overlook the efficacy and finer manifestations of the people whose lives are the force and bulwark of the state4 ,it is easy to go through the streets of a large city and note only the noise and smoke and stir1 coarse circumstance and coarser crime1 neglecting to remember that beneath this kernel of hard1 real life the human heart is beating high and warm with the hopes and desires of the spirit4 ,it is not necessary for a human being1 it is essentially not necessary for an ,american1 to look at life from the point of view of what the eye beholds in the hours of soul-torpor4 ,true is it that ,americanism stands to-day as almost synonymous with the struggle of democracy1 and that the equal development of the life of the whole people for the common good is what most deeply concerns us2 but this does not mean that it is right or ,american to adhere to what is ordinary and low1 because it is still inevitable that the ideals and standards of the mass should not be those of the finest spirits4 ,it was an ,american who bade you hitch your wagon to a star1 and you have only to reflect in order to recall the spiritual vigor1 the righteous force of will1 the strength of aspiring mind1 the patriotic courage1 the tireless soul-struggle of the early generations of choicely educated1 simply nurtured ,americans4 ,their thought and conscience1 true and star-seeking even in its limitations1 laid the foundations of law and order1 of civic liberty and private welfare1 of national honor and domestic repute4 ,their enterprise and perseverance1 their grit and suppleness of intelligence wrested our broad ,western acreage from the savage and-- ,note4--,i was here interrupted in the fervor of this genuine peroration by my wife ,josephine's exclamation1 ,oh1 how atrociously they abused and persecuted those poor ,indians1 shunting them off from reservation to reservation1 cheating them out of their lands and furs6 ,it is not agreeable to be held up in this highwayman fashion when one is warming to a subject1 but there is a melancholy truth in ,josephine's statement which cannot be utterly contradicted4 ,still this is what ,i said to her3 ,my dear1 ,i had hoped you understood that ,i had referred sufficiently to our national delinquencies1 and that ,i was trying to depict to my correspondent the other side of the case4 ,however just and appropriate your criticism might be under other circumstances1 ,i can only regard it now as misplaced and unfortunate4 ,i spoke with appropriate dignity4 ,hoity1 toity1 toity me6 she responded4 ,i won't say another word4 --wrested our broad ,western acreage from the savage1 and in less than half a century transformed it into a thriving1 bustling1 forceful civilization4 ,their ingenuity1 their restless spirit of inquiry1 their practical skill1 their impatience of delay and love of swift decisive action have erected countless monuments in huge new cities founded in the twinkling of an eye1 in the marvellous useful inventions which have revolutionized the methods of the world1 the cotton-gin1 the steamboat1 the telegraph1 the telephone1 the palace-car--in the eager response made to the call of patriotism when danger threatened the existence of their country1 and in the strong1 original1 clear-thinking1 shrewdly acting1 quaint personalities which have sprung from time to time from the very soil1 as it were1 in full mental panoply like the warriors of the ,cadmean seed4 ,their stern sense of responsibility1 their earnest desire for self-improvement1 their ambitious zeal to acquire and to diffuse knowledge have founded1 fostered1 and supported the system of public schools and well-organized colleges which exist to-day in almost every portion of the country4 ,the possessors of these qualities were ,americans--the best ,americans4 ,their plan of life was neither cheap nor shallow1 but steadfast1 aspiring1 strong1 and patient4 ,from small beginnings1 by industry and fortitude1 they fought their way to success1 and produced the powerful and vital nation whose career the world is watching with an interest born of the knowledge that it is humanity's latest and most important experiment4 ,the development of the democratic principle is at the root of ,americanism1 but whoever1 out of deference to what may be called practical considerations1 abates one jot the fervor of his or her desire to escape from the commonplace1 or who1 in other words1 forsakes his ideals and is content with a lower aim and a lower outlook1 in order to suit the average temper1 is false to his birthright and to the best ,americanism4 ,it has been one of the grievances of those1 whose material surroundings have been more favorable and who have possessed more ostensible social refinement than the mass of the population1 that they were regarded askance and excluded from public service and influence4 ,there used to be some foundation for this charge1 but the counter plea of lack of sympathy and distrust of country was still more true1 and an explanation and1 in a large measure1 a justification of the prejudice4 ,true strength and refinement of character has always in the end commanded the respect and admiration of our people1 but they have been roughly suspicious of any class isolation or assumption of superiority4 ,it has been difficult accordingly for that type of ,americans who arrogated tacitly1 but nevertheless plainly1 the prerogatives of social importance1 to take an active part in the responsibilities of citizenship4 ,they have been mistrusted1 and sneered at1 and not always unjustly1 for they have been prone to belittle our national institutions and to make sport of the social idiosyncrasies of their unconventional countrymen for the entertainment of foreigners4 ,and yet the people have never failed to recognize and to reverence the fine emanations of the spirit as evidenced by our poets1 historians1 thinkers1 or statesmen4 ,our forceful humanitarian and ethical movements1 our most earnest reforms found their most zealous and untiring supporters among the rank and file of the people4 ,abraham ,lincoln was understood last of all by the social aristocracy of the nation4 ,emerson's inspiration found an answering chord in every country town in ,new ,england4 ,true it is that on the surface the popular judgment may often seem superficial and cheap in tone1 but the wise ,american is chary of accepting surface ebullitions as the real index of the public judgment4 ,he understands that mixed in with the unthinking and the degenerate is a rank and file majority of sober1 self-respecting men and women1 whose instincts are both earnest and original1 and who are to be depended on in every serious emergency to think and act on the side of civilizing progress4 ,it is the inability to appreciate this which breeds our civic censors1 who are led by their lack of perspective to underestimate the character of the people and to foretell the ultimate failure of our experiment4 ,the increase of wealth and a wider familiarity with luxury and comfort through the country has made a considerable and more important class of those whose material and social surroundings are exceptional4 ,the participation of the citizens of this class in the affairs of government is no longer discouraged--on the contrary1 it is welcomed by the community4 ,indeed1 many men have secured nomination and election to office solely because of their large means1 which enabled them to control men and caucuses in their own favor4 ,note4--,an appearance of spontaneity is preserved in these cases by the publication of a letter from leading citizens requesting the candidate to stand for office4 ,he thereupon yields to the overwhelming invitation of the voters of the district1 and his henchmen do the rest4 ,but though the possession of wealth and social sophistication are no longer regarded as un-,american1 the public sentiment against open or tacit assumption of social superiority1 or a lack of sympathy with democratic principles1 is as strong as ever4 ,it is incumbent1 therefore1 on you1 if you would be an ,american in the best sense1 to fix your ideal of life high1 and at the same time to fix it in sympathy with the underlying ,american principle of a broad and progressive common humanity1 free from caste or discriminating social conventions4 ,it is not necessary for you to accept the standards and adopt the behavior of the superficial and imperfectly educated1 but it is indispensable that you accept and act on the faith that your fellow-man is your brother1 and that the attainment of a freer and more equal enjoyment of the privileges of life is essential to true human progress4 ,we have1 as ,i have intimated1 passed through the pioneer stage of national development2 we have tilled our fields1 opened our mines1 built our railroads1 established our large cities--in short1 have laid the foundations of a new and masterful civilization2 it now remains for us to show whether we are capable of treating with originality the old problems which confront complex societies1 and of solving them for the welfare of the public and the consequent elevation of individual character4 ,the originality and clearness of the ,american point of view has always been a salient national characteristic4 ,hitherto its favorite scope has been commercial and utilitarian4 ,yankee notions have been suggestive of sewing-machines1 reapers1 and labor-saving contrivances1 or the mechanism of rushing trade4 ,now that we have caught up with the rest of the world in material progress and taught it many tricks1 it remains for the true ,american to demonstrate equal sagacity and clear-headedness in dealing with subtler conditions4 ,to be sure the scope of our originality has not been entirely directed to things material1 for we have ever asserted with some vehemence our devotion to the things of the spirit1 squinting longingly at them even when obliged to deplore only a passing acquaintance with them because of lack of time4 ,the splendid superficiality of the army of youth of both sexes in the department of intellectual and artistic exertion1 which has been one of the notable features of the last thirty years1 has shown clearly enough the true temper and fibre of our people4 ,to regard this superficiality as more than a transient symptom1 and thereby to lose sight of the genuine intensity of nature which has animated it1 would indicate the shallow observer4 ,our youth has been audacious1 self-confident1 and lacking in thoroughness because of its zeal to assert and distinguish itself1 and thus has justly1 in one sense1 incurred the accusation of being superficial1 but it has incurred this partially because of its disposition to maintain the privileges of individual judgments4 ,our young men and women have been blamed for their lack of reverence and their readiness to form conclusions without adequate knowledge or study in the teeth of venerable opinion and convention4 ,indisputably they have erred in this respect1 but indisputably also the fault is now recognized1 and is being cured in the curriculum of education4 ,yet1 evil as the fault is1 the traits which seem to have nourished it--unwillingness to accept tradition and a searching1 honest clearness of vision--are virtues of the first water1 and typical of the best national character4 ,there are many persons of education and refinement in our society who accept as satisfactory and indisputable the old forms and symbols which illustrate the experience1 and have become the final word of the older civilizations in ethics1 politics1 and art4 ,they would be willing that we should become a mere complement to the most highly civilized nations of ,europe1 and they welcome every evidence that we are becoming so4 ,as ,i have already suggested to you1 the nations of the world are all nearer akin in thought and impulse than formerly1 but if our civilization is to stand for anything1 it must be by our divergence from the conclusions of the past when they fail to pass the test of honest scrutiny1 not by tame imitation4 ,profoundly necessary as it is that we should accept with reverence the truths of experience1 and much as our students and citizens may learn from the wisdom and performance of older peoples1 it behooves the ,american to prize and cherish his birthright of independent judgment and freedom from servile adherence to convention4 ,almost everything that has been truly vital in our production has borne the stamp of this birthright4 ,the ,american citizen of the finest type is essentially a man or woman of simple character1 and the effect of our institutions and mode of thought1 when rightly appreciated1 is to produce simplicity4 ,the ,american is free from the glamour or prejudice which results from the conscious or unconscious influence of the lay figures of the old political1 social1 or religious world1 from the glamour of royalty and vested caste1 of an established or dominant church1 of aristocratic1 monkish1 or military privilege4 ,he is neither impelled nor allured to subject the liberty of conscience or opinion to the conventions appurtenant to these former forces of society4 ,for him the law of the state1 in the making of which he has a voice1 and the authority of his own judgment are the only arbiters of his conduct4 ,he accords neither to fineness of race nor force of intellect the right of aristocratic exclusiveness which they have too often hitherto claimed4 ,to the cloistered nun he devotes no special reverence2 he sees in the haughty and condescending fine gentleman an object for the exercise of his humor1 not of servility2 he is indifferent to the claim of all who by reason of self-congratulation or ancient custom arrogate to themselves special privileges on earth1 or special privileges in heaven4 ,this temper of mind1 when unalloyed by shallow conceit1 begets a quiet self-respect and simple honesty of judgment1 eminently serviceable in the struggle to live wisely4 ,to the best citizens of every nation the most interesting and vital of all questions is what we are here for1 what men and women are seeking to accomplish1 what is to be the future of human development4 ,for ,americans of the best type1 those who have learned to be reverent without losing their independence and without sacrifice of originality1 the problem of living is simplified through the elimination of the influence of these symbols and conventions4 ,their outlook is not confused or deluded by the specious dogmas of caste4 ,they perceive that the attainment of the welfare and happiness of the inhabitants of earth is the purpose of human struggle1 and that the free choice and will of the majority as to what is best for humanity as a whole is to be the determining force of the future4 ,to those who argue that the majority must always be wrong1 and that as a corollary the will of the cheap man will prevail1 this drift of society is depressing4 ,the good ,american in the first place1 recognizing the inevitability of this drift1 declines to be depressed2 and in the second1 without subscribing to the doctrine that the majority must be wrong1 exercises the privilege of his own independent judgment1 subject only to the statute law and his conscience4 ,there is a noble strength of position in this2 there is a danger1 too1 in that it suggests a lack of definiteness of standard4 ,yet this want of precision is preferable to the tyranny of hard and fast prescription4 ,it is clear1 for instance1 that if the men and women of civilization are determined to modify their divorce laws so as to allow the annulment of marriage when either party is weary of the compact1 no canon or anathema of the church will restrain them4 ,nor1 on the other hand1 will the mere whim or volition of an easy-going majority force them to do so4 ,the judgment of men and women untrammelled by precedent and tradition and seeking simply to ascertain what is best and wisest for all will settle the question4 ,though the majority will be the force that puts any law into effect1 the impulse must inevitably come from the higher wisdom of the few1 and that higher wisdom in ,america works in the interest of a broad humanity1 free from the delusions of outworn culture4 ,the wisdom of the few may not seem to guide1 but in the end the mass listens to true counsel4 ,honesty toward self and toward one's fellow-man1 without fear or favor1 is the leavening force of the finest ,americanism1 and1 if persevered in1 will lead the many1 sooner or later1 with a compelling power far beyond that of thrones and hierarchies4 ,the wise application of this doctrine of the search for the common good in the highest terms of earthly condition to the whole range of economic1 social1 and political questions is what demands to-day the interest and attention of earnest ,americans4 ,the problems relating to capital and labor1 to the restraint of the money power1 to the government of our cities1 to the education of all classes1 to the status of divorce1 to the treatment of paupers and criminals1 to the wise control of the sale of liquor1 to equitable taxation1 and to a variety of kindred matters are ripe for the scrutiny of independent1 sagacious thought and action4 ,to the consideration of these subjects the best national intelligence is beginning to turn with a fresh vigor and efficiency1 but none too soon4 ,though democracy and ,americanism have become largely identical1 the spread of the creed of a broader humanity in the countries of civilization where autocratic forms of government still obtain1 has been so signal and productive of results that the ,american may well ask himself or herself if our people have not been slovenly and vain-glorious along the paths where it seemed to be their prerogative to lead4 ,certainly in the matter of many of the civic and humanitarian problems which ,i have cited1 we may fitly borrow from the recent and modern methods of those to whom we are apt to refer1 in terms of condescending pity1 as the effete dynasties of ,europe4 ,they have in some instances been more prompt than we to recognize the trend of our and the world's new faith4 ,to ,a ,young ,man wishing to be an ,american4 ,,iv4 ,in this same connection ,i suggest to you that in the domain of literary art an ,englishman--a colonist1 it is true1 and so a little nearer allied to us in democratic sentiment--has more clearly and forcibly than any one else expressed the spirit of the best ,americanism--of the best world-temper of to-day4 ,i refer to ,rudyard ,kipling4 ,human society has been fascinated by the virility and uncompromising force of his writings1 but it has found an equal fascination in the deep1 simple1 sham-detesting sympathy with common humanity which permeates them4 ,he has been the first to adopt and exalt the idea of the brotherhood of man without either condescension or depressing materialistic realism4 ,he has interpreted the poetry of the trivial round and common task without suggesting impending soup1 blankets1 and coals on earth and reward in heaven on the one hand1 or without emphasizing the dirtiness of the workman's blouse on the other4 ,his imagery1 his symbols and his point of view are essentially alien to those of social convention and caste4 ,yet his heroes of the engine-room1 the telegraph-station1 the ,newfoundland ,banks1 and the dreary ends of the earth1 democratic though they are to the core1 appeal to the imagination by their stimulating human qualities no less than the bearers of titles and the aristocratic monopolists of culture and aspiration who have been the leading figures in the poetry and fiction of the past4 ,strength1 courage1 truth1 simplicity and loving-kindness are still their salient qualities--the qualities of noble manhood2 he expounds them to us by the force of his sympathy1 which clothes them with no impossible virtues1 yet shows them1 in the white light of performance1 men no less entitled to our admiration than the ,knights of ,king ,arthur or any of the other superhuman figures of traditional aesthetic culture4 ,he recognizes the artistic value of the workaday life in law courts and hospitals and libraries and mines and factories and camps and lighthouses and ocean steamers and railroad trains1 as a stimulus to and rectifier of poetic imagination1 negativing the theory that men and women are to seek inspiration solely from what is dainty1 exclusive1 elegantly romantic1 or rhapsodically star-gazing in human conditions and thought4 ,this is of the essence of the ,american idea1 which has been1 however1 slow to subdue imagination1 which is the very electric current of art1 to its use by reason chiefly of the seeming discord between it and common life1 and partly from the reluctance of the world to renounce its diet of highly colored court1 heaven and fairy-land imagery2 partly1 too1 because so many of the best poets and writers of ,america have adopted traditional symbols4 ,the great ,new ,england writers1 who have just passed away1 were1 however1 the exponents of the simple life1 of high religious and intellectual thought amid common circumstance4 ,they stood for noble ideals as the privilege of all4 ,yet their mental attitude1 though scornful of pomp and materialism1 was almost aristocratic2 at least it was exclusive in that it was not wholly human1 savoring rather of the ascetic star-gazer than the full-blooded appreciator of the boon of life4 ,their passion was pure as snow1 but it was thin4 ,yet the central tenet of their philosophy1 independent naturalness of soul1 is the necessary complement to the broad human sympathy which is of the essence of modern art4 ,the difficulty which imagination finds in expressing itself in the new terms is natural enough1 for the poet and painter and musician are seemingly deprived of color1 the color which we associate with mystic elegance and aristocratic prestige4 ,yet only seemingly4 ,externals may have lost the dignity and lustre of prerogative2 but the essentials for color remain--the human soul in all its fervor--the striving world in all its joy and suffering4 ,there is no fear that the tide of existence will be less intense or that the mind of man will degenerate in aesthetic appreciation1 but it must be on new lines which only a master imbued with the value and the pathos of the highest life in the common life as a source for heroism can fitly indicate4 ,there lies the future field for the poet1 the novelist1 and the painter--the idealization of the real world as it is in its highest terms of love and passion1 struggle1 joy1 and sorrow1 free from the condescension of superior castes and the mystification of the star-reaching introspective culture which seeks only personal exaltation1 and excludes sympathy with the every-day beings and things of earth from its so-called spiritual outlook4 ,to ,a ,political ,optimist4 ,i4 ,i approve of you1 for ,i am an optimist myself in regard to human affairs1 and can conscientiously agree with many of the patriotic statements concerning the greatness of the ,american people contained in your letter4 ,your letter interested me because it differed so signally in its point of view from the others which ,i received at the same time--the time when ,i ran for ,congress as a ,democrat in a hopelessly ,republican district and was defeated4 ,the other letters were gloomy in tone4 ,they deplored the degeneracy of our political institutions1 and argued from the circumstance that the voters of my district preferred a hack politician and blatant demagogue to an educated philosopher 7the epithets are not mine7 that we were going to the dogs as a nation4 ,the prophecy was flattering to me in my individual capacity1 but it has not served to soil the limpid1 sunny flow of my philosophy4 ,i was gratified1 but not convinced4 ,i behold the flag of my country still with moistened eyes--the eyes of pride1 and ,i continue to bow affably to my successful rival4 ,your suggestion was much nearer the truth4 ,you indicated with pardonable levity that ,i was not elected because the other man received more votes4 ,i smiled at that as an apt statement4 ,you went on to take me to task for having given the impression in my published account of the political canvass not merely that ,i ought to have been elected1 but that the failure to elect me was the sign of a lack of moral and intellectual fibre in the ,american people4 ,if ,i mistake not1 you referred to me farther on in the style of airy persiflage as a holier than thou1 a journalistic1 scriptural phrase in current use among so-called patriotic ,americans4 ,and then you began to argue3 ,you requested me to give us time1 and called attention to the fact that the ,english system of rotten boroughs in vogue fifty years ago was worse than anything we have to-day4 ,we are a young and impetuous people1 you wrote1 but there is noble blood in our veins--the blood which inspired the greatness of ,washington and ,hamilton and ,franklin and ,jefferson and ,webster and ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,water does not run up hill4 ,neither do the ,american people move backward4 ,their destiny is to progress and to grow mightier and mightier4 ,and those who seek to retard our national march by cynical insinuations and sneers1 by scholastic sophistries and philosophical wimwams1 will find themselves inevitably under the wheels of ,juggernaut1 the car of republican institutions4 ,philosophical wimwams6 ,you sought to wound me in a tender spot4 ,i forgive you for that1 and ,i like your fervor4 ,those rotten boroughs have done yeoman service4 ,they are on the tongue of every ,american citizen seeking for excuses for our national shortcomings4 ,but for my dread of a mixed metaphor ,i would add that they are moth-eaten and threadbare4 ,your letter becomes then a miscellaneous catalogue of our national prowess4 ,you instance the cotton-gin1 the telegraph1 the sewing-machine1 and the telephone1 and ask me to bear witness that they are the inventions of free-born ,americans4 ,you refer to the heroism and vigor of the nation during the ,civil ,war1 and its mighty growth in prosperity and population since2 to the colleges and academies of learning1 to the hospitals and other monuments of intelligent philanthropy1 to the huge railroad systems1 public works1 and private plants which have come into being with mushroom-like growth over the country4 ,you recall the energy1 independence1 and conscientious desire for ,christian progress among our citizens1 young and old1 and1 as a new proof of their disinterested readiness to sacrifice comfort for the sake of principle1 you cite the recent emancipation of ,cuba4 ,your letter closes with a ,fourth of ,july panegyric on the heroes on land and sea of the war with ,spain1 followed by an exclamation point which seems to say1 ,mr4 ,philosopher1 put that in your pipe and smoke it4 ,i have done so1 and admit that there is a great deal to be proud of in the ,olla ,podrida of exploits and virtues which you have set before me4 ,far be it from me to question the greatness and capacity of your and my countrymen4 ,but while my heart throbs agreeably from the thrill of sincere patriotism1 ,i venture to remind you that cotton-gins1 academies of learning1 and first-class battle-ships have little to do with the matter in question4 ,your mode of procedure reminds me of the plea ,i have heard used to obtain partners for a homely girl--that she is good to her mother4 ,i notice that you include our political sanctity by a few sonorous phrases in the dazzling compendium of national success1 but ,i also notice that you do not condescend to details4 ,that is what ,i intend to do1 philosophically yet firmly4 ,to begin with1 ,i am not willing to admit that ,i was piqued by my failure to be elected to ,congress4 ,i did not expect to succeed1 and my tone was1 it seems to me1 blandly resigned and even rather grateful than otherwise that such a serious honor had not been thrust upon me4 ,success would have postponed indefinitely the trip to ,japan on which my wife1 ,josephine1 had set her heart4 ,in short1 ,i supposed that ,i had concealed alike grief and jubilation1 and taken the result in a purely philosophic spirit4 ,it seems though that you were able to read between the lines--that is what you state--and to discern my condescending tone and lack of faith in the desire and intention of the plain people of these ,united ,states to select competent political representatives4 ,i can assure you that ,i have arrived at no such dire state of mind1 and ,i should be sorry to come to that conclusion2 but1 though a philosopher1 and hence1 politically speaking1 a worm1 ,i have a proper spirit of my own and beg to inform you that the desire and intention of our fellow-countrymen1 whether plain or otherwise1 so to do is1 judging by their behavior1 open to grave question4 ,so you see ,i stand at bay almost where you supposed1 and there is a definite issue between us4 ,judging by their behavior1 remember4 ,judging by their words1 butter would not melt in their mouths4 ,i merely wish to call your attention to a few notorious facts in defence of my attitude of suspicion4 ,note4--,josephine1 said ,i to my wife at this point1 please enumerate the prominent elective offices in the gift of the ,american people4 ,my wife rose and after a courtesy1 which was mock deferential1 proceeded to recite with the glib fluency of a school-girl the following list--,please1 sir1 ,president4 ,senators of the ,united ,states 7elected by the ,state legislatures74 ,representatives of the ,united ,states4 ,state ,senators4 ,state ,assemblymen or ,representatives4 ,aldermen4 ,members of the ,city ,council4 ,members of the ,school ,committee4 ,correct1 ,josephine4 ,i pride myself that1 thanks to my prodding1 you are beginning to acquire some rudimentary knowledge concerning the institutions of your country4 ,thanks to me and ,professor ,bryce4 ,before ,professor ,bryce wrote ',the ,american ,commonwealth1' ,american women seemed to care little to know anything about our political system4 ,they studied more or less about the systems of other countries1 but displayed a profound ignorance concerning our own form of government4 ,but after an ,englishman had published a book on the subject1 and made manifest to them that our institutions were reasonably worthy of attention1 considerable improvement has been noticeable4 ,but ,i will say that few women are as well posted as you1 ,josephine4 ,she made another mock deferential courtesy4 ,thank you1 my lord and master2 and lest you have not made it sufficiently clear that my superiority in this respect is due to your--your nagging1 ,i mention again that you are chiefly responsible for it4 ,it bores me1 but ,i submit to it4 ,continue then your docility so far as to write the names which you have just recited on separate slips of paper and put them in a proper receptacle4 ,then ,i will draw one as a preliminary step in the political drama which ,i intend to present for the edification of our correspondent4 ,josephine did as she was bid1 and in the process1 by way of showing that she was not such a martyr as she would have the world believe1 remarked1 ,if you had really been elected1 ,fred1 ,i think ,i might have made a valuable political ally4 ,what ,i find tedious about politics is that they're not practical--that is for me4 ,if you were in ,congress now1 ,i should make a point of having everything political at the tip of my tongue4 ,curiously enough1 my dear1 ,i am just going to give an object lesson in practical politics1 and you as well as our young friend may be able to learn wisdom from it4 ,now for a blind choice6 ,i added1 putting my hand into the work-bag which she held out4 ,aldermen6 ,i announced after scrutinizing the slip which ,i had drawn4 ,josephine's nose went up a trifle4 ,a very fortunate and comprehensive selection1 ,i asserted4 ,the ,alderman and the influences which operate upon and around him lie at the root of ,american practical politics4 ,and from a careful study of the root you will be able to decide how genuinely healthy and free from taint must be the tree--the tree which bears such ornamental flowers as ,presidents and ,united ,states ,senators1 gorgeous blooms of apparent dignity and perfume4 ,this being a drama1 my young patriot1 ,i wish to introduce you to the stage and the principal characters4 ,the stage is any city in the ,united ,states of three hundred thousand or more inhabitants4 ,it would be invidious for me to mention names where any one would answer to the requirements4 ,some may be worse than others1 but all are bad enough4 ,a bold and pessimistic beginning1 is it not1 my optimistic friend8 ,and now for the company4 ,this drama differs from most dramatic productions in that it makes demands upon a large number of actors4 ,to produce it properly on the theatrical stage would bankrupt any manager unless he were subsidized heavily from the revenues of the twenty leading villains4 ,the cast includes besides twenty leading villains1 twelve low comedians1 no hero1 no heroine 7except1 incidentally1 ,josephine72 eight newspaper editors2 ten thousand easy-going second-class villains2 ten thousand patriotic1 conscientious1 and enlightened citizens1 including a sprinkling of ardent reformers2 twenty-five thousand zealous1 hide-bound partisans2 fifty thousand respectable1 well-intentioned1 tolerably ignorant citizens who vote but are too busy with their own affairs to pay attention to politics1 and as a consequence generally vote the party ticket1 or vote to please a friend2 ten thousand superior1 self-centred souls who neglect to vote and despise politics anyway1 among them poets1 artists1 scientists1 some men of leisure1 and travellers2 ten thousand enemies of social order such as gamblers1 thieves1 keepers of dives1 drunkards1 and toughs2 and your philosopher4 ,a very large stock company4 ,i will leave the precise arithmetic to you4 ,i wish merely to indicate the variegated composition of the average political constituency1 and to let you perceive that the piece which is being performed is no parlor comedy4 ,it is written in dead earnest1 and it seems to me that the twenty leading villains1 though smooth and in some instances aristocratic appearing individuals1 are among the most dangerous characters in the history of this or any other stage4 ,but before ,i refer to them more particularly ,i will make you acquainted with our twelve low comedians--the ,board of ,aldermen4 ,it is probably a surprise to you and to ,josephine that the ,aldermen are not the villains4 ,everything is comparative in this world1 and1 though ,i might have made them villains without injustice to such virtues as they possess1 ,i should have been at a loss how to stigmatize the real promoters of the villainy4 ,and after all there is an element of grotesque comedy about the character of ,aldermen in a large ,american city4 ,the indecency of the situation is so unblushing1 and the public is so helpless1 that the performers remind one in their good-natured antics of the thieves in ,fra ,diavolo2 they get bolder and bolder and now barely take the trouble to wear the mask of respectability4 ,have ,i written thieves8 ,patriotic ,americans look askance at such full-blooded expressions4 ,they prefer ambiguity1 and a less harsh phraseology--slight irregularities1 business misfortunes1 commercial usages1 professional services1 campaign expenses1 lack of fine sensibilities1 unauthenticated rumors4 ,there are fifty ways of letting one's fellow-citizens down easily in the public prints and in private conversation4 ,this is a charitable age1 and the word thief has become unfamiliar except as applied to rogues who enter houses as a trade4 ,the community and the newspapers are chary of applying it to folk who steal covertly but steadily and largely as an increment of municipal office4 ,it is inconvenient to hurt the feelings of public servants1 especially when one may have voted for them from carelessness or ignorance4 ,here is a list of the twelve low comedians for your inspection3 ,peter ,lynch1 no occupation4 ,james ,griffin1 stevedore4 ,william ,h4 ,bird1 real-estate4 ,john ,s4 ,maloney1 saloon-keeper4 ,david ,h4 ,barker1 carpenter4 ,jeremiah ,dolan1 no occupation4 ,patrick ,k4 ,higgins1 junk dealer4 ,joseph ,heffernan1 liquors4 ,william ,t4 ,moore1 apothecary4 ,james ,o4 ,frost1 paints and oils4 ,michael ,o',rourke1 tailor4 ,john ,p4 ,driscoll1 lawyer4 ,you will be surprised by my first statement regarding them1 ,i dare say4 ,four of them1 ,peter ,lynch1 ,james ,griffin1 ,jeremiah ,dolan1 and ,michael ,o',rourke neither drink nor smoke4 ,jeremiah ,dolan chews1 but the three others do not use tobacco in any form4 ,they are patterns of ,sunday-school virtue in these respects4 ,this was a very surprising discovery to one of the minor characters in our drama--to two of them in fact--,mr4 ,arthur ,langdon ,waterhouse and his father1 ,james ,langdon ,waterhouse1 ,esq4 ,the young man1 who had just returned from ,europe with the idea of becoming ,united ,states ,senator and who expressed a willingness to serve as a ,reform ,alderman while waiting1 announced the discovery to his parent shortly before election with a mystified air4 ,do you know1 said he to the old gentleman1 who1 by the way1 though he has denounced every person and every measure in connection with our politics for forty years1 was secretly pleased at his son's senatorial aspirations1 do you know that some one told me to-day that four of the very worst of those fellows have never drunk a drop of liquor1 nor smoked a pipe of tobacco in their lives4 ,isn't it a curious circumstance8 ,i supposed they were intoxicated most of the time4 ,you will notice also that ,peter ,lynch and ,jeremiah ,dolan have no occupation4 ,each of them has been connected in some capacity with the ,city ,government for nearly twenty years1 and they are persons of great experience4 ,they have more than once near election time been amiably referred to in the press as valuable public servants1 and it must be admitted that they are efficient in their way4 ,certainly1 they know the red tape of ,city ,hall from ,a to ,z1 and understand how to block or forward any measure4 ,the salary of ,alderman is not large--certainly not large enough to satisfy indefinitely such capable men as they1 and yet they continue to appear year after year at the same old stand4 ,moreover1 they resist vigorously every effort to dislodge them1 whether proceeding from political opponents or envious rivals of their own party4 ,a philosopher like myself1 who is1 politically speaking1 a worm1 is expected to believe that valuable public servants retain office for the honor of the thing2 but even a philosopher becomes suspicious of a patriot who has no occupation4 ,next in importance are ,hon4 ,william ,h4 ,bird and ,hon4 ,john ,p4 ,driscoll4 ,it is a well-known axiom of popular government that citizens are called from the plough or counting-room to public office by the urgent request of their friends and neighbors4 ,as a fact1 this takes place two or three times in a century4 ,most aspirants for office go through the form of having a letter from their friends and neighbors published in the newspapers1 but only the very guileless portion of the public do not understand that the candidates in these cases suggest themselves4 ,it is sometimes done delicately1 as1 for instance1 in the case of young ,arthur ,langdon ,waterhouse of whom ,i was writing just now4 ,he let a close friend intimate to the ward committee that he would like to run for ,alderman1 and that in consideration thereof his father would be willing to subscribe two thousand dollars to the party campaign fund4 ,it seems to a philosopher that a patriotic people should either re-edit its political axioms or live up to them4 ,now ,hon4 ,william ,h4 ,bird and ,hon4 ,john ,p4 ,driscoll never go through the ceremony of being called from the plough--in their case the ward bar-room4 ,they announce six months in advance that they wish something1 and they state clearly what4 ,they are perpetual candidates for1 or incumbents of1 office1 and to be elected or defeated annually costs each of them from two to four thousand dollars according to circumstances4 ,one of them has been in the ,assembly1 the ,governor's ,council1 and in both branches of the ,city ,government2 the other a member of the ,assembly1 a ,state ,senator1 and an ,alderman1 and both of them are now glad to be ,alderman once more after a desperate ,kilkenny contest for the nomination4 ,they are called ,honorable by the reporters2 and philosophers and other students of newspapers are constantly informed that ,hon4 ,william ,h4 ,bird has done this1 and ,hon4 ,john ,p4 ,driscoll said that4 ,these four are the big men of the ,board4 ,the others are smaller fry2 ambitious and imitative1 but less experienced and smooth and audacious4 ,yet the four have their virtues1 too4 ,it is safe to state that no one of them would take anything beyond his reach4 ,moreover1 if you1 a patriot1 or ,i1 a philosopher1 were to find himself alone in a room with one of them and had five thousand dollars in bills in a pocket-book and the fact were known to him1 he would make no effort to possess himself of the money4 ,we should be absolutely safe from assault or sleight of hand4 ,whoever would maintain the opposite does not appreciate the honesty of the ,american people4 ,if1 on the other hand1 under similar circumstances1 the right man were to place an envelope containing one thousand dollars in bills on the table and saunter to the window to admire the view1 the packet would disappear before he returned to his seat and neither party would be able to remember that it ever was there4 ,i do not intend to intimate that this is the precise method of procedure2 ,i am merely explaining that our comedians have not the harsh habits of old-fashioned highwaymen4 ,then again1 there are people so fatuous as to believe that ,aldermen are accustomed to help themselves out of the city treasury4 ,that is a foolish fiction1 for no ,alderman could4 ,the ,city ,hall is too bulky to remove1 and all appropriations of the public money are made by draft and have to be accounted for4 ,if any member of the ,board were to make a descent on the funds in the safe1 he would be arrested as a lunatic and sent to an insane asylum4 ,as for the other eight low comedians1 it happens in this particular drama that ,i would be unwilling to make an affidavit as to the absolute integrity of any one of them4 ,but there are apt to be two or even three completely honest members of these august bodies1 and two or three more who are pretty honest4 ,a pretty honest ,alderman is like a pretty good egg4 ,a pretty honest ,alderman would be incapable of touching an envelope containing one thousand dollars1 or charging one hundred in return for his support to a petition for a bay-window2 but if he were in the paint and oil business or the lumber trade1 or interested in hay and oats1 it would be safe to assume that any department of the ,city ,government which did not give his firm directly or indirectly a part of its trade would receive no aldermanic favors at his hands4 ,then again1 a pretty honest ,alderman would allow a friend to sell a spavined horse to the city4 ,to ,a ,political ,optimist4 ,,ii4 ,having hinted gently at the leading characteristics of the twelve low comedians1 ,i am ready now to make you acquainted with the twenty leading villains4 ,there is something grimly humorous in the spectacle of a dozen genial1 able-bodied1 non-alcoholic ruffians levying tribute on a community too self-absorbed or too easy-going or too indifferent to rid itself of them4 ,i find1 on the other hand1 something somewhat pathetic in the spectacle of twenty otherwise reputable citizens and capitalists driven to villainy by the force of circumstances4 ,to be a villain against one's will is an unnatural and pitiable situation4 ,that one may smile1 and smile1 and be a villain6 ,here is the list3 ,thomas ,barnstable1 ,president of the ,people's ,heat and ,power ,company4 ,william ,b4 ,wilcox1 ,general ,manager of the ,north ,circuit ,traction ,company4 ,david ,j4 ,prendergast1 ,treasurer of the ,underground ,steam ,company4 ,porter ,king1 ,president of the ,south ,valley ,railroad ,company4 ,james ,plugh1 ,treasurer of the ,star ,brewing ,concern4 ,ex-,state ,treasurer ,george ,delaney ,johnson1 ,manager of the ,united ,gas ,company4 ,willis ,o4 ,golightly1 ,treasurer of the ,consolidated ,electric ,works4 ,hon4 ,samuel ,phipps1 ,president of the ,sparkling ,reservoir ,company4 ,p4 ,ashton ,hall1 ,president of the ,rapid ,despatch ,company4 ,ex-,congressman ,henry ,b4 ,pullen1 ,manager of the ,maguinnis ,engine ,works4 ,and so on4 ,i will not weary you with a complete category4 ,it would contain the names of twelve other gentlemen no less prominent in connection with quasi-public and large private business corporations4 ,with them should be associated one thousand easy-going1 second-class villains1 whose names are not requisite to my argument1 but who from one year to another are obliged by the exigencies of business or enterprise to ask for licenses from the non-alcoholic1 genial comedians1 for permission to build a stable1 to erect a bay-window1 to peddle goods in the streets1 to maintain a coal-hole1 to drain into a sewer1 to lay wires underground2 in short1 to do one or another of the many every-day things which can be done only by permission of the ,city ,government4 ,and the pity of it is that they all would rather not be villains4 ,note4--,at the suggestion of ,josephine ,i here enter a caveat for my and her protection4 ,while ,i was enumerating the list of low comedians she interrupted me to ask if ,i did not fear lest one of them might sand-bag me some dark night on account of wounded sensibilities4 ,she laughed1 but ,i saw she was a little nervous4 ,i have mentioned no real names1 said ,i4 ,that is true1 she said1 but somehow ,i feel that the real ones might be suspicious that they were meant4 ,i told her that this was their lookout1 and that1 besides1 they were much too secure in the successful performance of their comedy to go out of their way to assassinate a philosopher4 ,they would say1 ,josephine1 that a philosopher cuts no ice1 which is true1 and is moreover a serious stigma to fasten on any patriotic man or woman4 ,but now again she has brought me to book on the score of the feelings of the leading villains4 ,she appreciates that we are on terms of considerable friendliness with some ,presidents of corporations1 and that though my list contains no real names1 ,i may give offence4 ,perhaps she fears a sort of social boycott4 ,let me satisfy her scruples and do justice at the same time by admitting that not every ,president of a quasi-public corporation is a leading villain4 ,nor every ,alderman a low comedian4 ,that will let out all my friends4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,i ask the attention even of my friends to the predicament of ,thomas ,barnstable1 ,president of the ,people's ,heat and ,power ,company4 ,thomas ,barnstable1 the leading villain whose case ,i select for detailed presentation1 has none of the coarser proclivities of ,david ,j4 ,prendergast1 ,treasurer of the ,underground ,steam ,company4 ,as regards ,david ,j4 ,prendergast1 ,i could almost retract my allegation of pity and assert that he is a villain by premeditation and without compunction4 ,that is1 his method of dealing with the twelve low comedians is1 ,i am told1 conducted on a cold utilitarian basis without struggle of conscience or effort at self-justification4 ,he says to the modern highwaymen1 ,fix your price and let my bill pass4 ,my time is valuable and so is yours1 and the quicker we come to terms1 the better for us both4 ,what he says behind their backs is not fit for publication2 but he recognizes the existence of the tax just as he recognizes the existence of the tariff1 and he has no time to waste in considering the effect of either on the higher destinies of the nation4 ,thomas ,barnstable belongs to another school4 ,he is a successful business man4 ,in the ordinary meaning of the phrase1 he is also a gentleman and a scholar4 ,his word in private and in business life is as good as his bond2 he respects the rights of the fatherless and the widow1 and he is known favorably in philanthropic and religious circles4 ,having recognized the value of certain patents1 he has become a large owner of the stock of the ,people's ,heat and ,power ,company1 and is the ,president of the corporation4 ,hitherto he has had plain sailing1 municipally speaking4 ,that is1 the original franchise of the company was obtained from the city before he became ,president1 and only this year for the first time has the necessity of asking for further privileges arisen4 ,moreover1 he finds his corporation confronted by a rival1 the ,underground ,steam ,company4 ,now here is a portion of the dialogue which took place five weeks before election between this highly respectable gentleman and his right-hand man1 ,mr4 ,john ,dowling1 the efficient practical manager of the ,people's ,company4 ,peter ,lynch was here to-day1 said ,mr4 ,dowling4 ,and who may ,peter ,lynch be8 was the dignified but unconcerned answer4 ,peter ,lynch is ,peter ,lynch4 ,don't you know ,peter8 ,he's the ,alderman from the fifth district4 ,he has been ,alderman for ten years1 and so far as ,i can see1 he is likely to continue to be ,alderman for ten more4 ,ah4 ,peter was in good humor4 ,he was smiling all over4 ,mr4 ,dowling paused1 so his superior said1 ,oh6 ,then realizing that the manager was still silent1 as though expecting a question1 he said1 ,why did he come8 ,he wishes us to help him mend his fences4 ,some of them need repairing4 ,the wear and tear of political life is severe4 ,i see--,i see1 responded ,mr4 ,barnstable1 reflectively1 putting his finger-tips together4 ,what sort of a man is ,peter8 ,mr4 ,dowling hesitated a moment1 merely because he was uncertain how to deal with such innocence4 ,having concluded that frankness was the most business-like course1 he answered1 bluffly1 ,he's an infernal thief4 ,he's out for the stuff4 ,the stuff8 ,i see--,i see4 ,very bad1 very bad4 ,it's an outrage that under our free form of government such men should get a foothold in our cities4 ,i hope1 ,dowling1 you gave him the cold shoulder1 and let him understand that under no consideration whatever would we contribute one dollar to his support4 ,on the contrary1 ,i gave him a cigar and pumped him4 ,pumped him8 ,i wanted to find out what he knows4 ,dear me4 ,and--er--what does he know8 ,he knows all about our bill1 and he says he'd like to support it4 ,this was a shock1 for the bill was supposed to be a secret4 ,how did he find out about it8 ,dreamt it in his sleep1 ,i guess4 ,i don't care for his support1 ,i won't have it1 said ,mr4 ,barnstable1 bringing his hand down forcibly on his desk to show his earnestness and indignation4 ,i wish very much1 ,mr4 ,dowling1 that you had told him to leave the office and never show his impudent face here again4 ,there was a brief silence1 during which ,mr4 ,dowling fingered his watch-chain2 then he said in a quiet tone1 ,he says that the ,underground ,steam ,company is going to move heaven and earth to elect men who will vote to give them a location4 ,i trust you let him know that the ,underground ,steam ,company is a stock jobbing1 disreputable concern with no financial status4 ,it wasn't necessary for me to tell him that4 ,he knows it4 ,he said he would prefer to side with us and keep them out of the streets1 which meant of course that he knew we were able to pay the most if we chose4 ,it seems ,prendergast has been at him already4 ,disgusting6 ,they both ought to be in jail4 ,amen4 ,he says he gave ,prendergast an evasive answer1 and is to see him again next ,tuesday4 ,there's the situation1 ,mr4 ,barnstable4 ,i tell you frankly that ,lynch is an important man to keep friendly to our interests4 ,he is very smart and well posted1 and if we allow him to oppose us1 we shall have no end of trouble4 ,he is ready to take the ground that the streets ought not be dug up1 and that a respectable corporation like ours should not be interfered with4 ,only he expects to be looked after in return4 ,i deplore the condition of affairs as much as you do1 but ,i tell you frankly that he is certain to go over to the other side and oppose us tooth and nail unless we show ourselves what he calls friendly to his 'interests4' ,then we'll prevent his election4 ,i would subscribe money toward that myself4 ,the ,manager coughed1 by way perhaps of concealing a smile4 ,that would not be easy1 he said4 ,and if it could be done1 how should we be better off8 ,peter ,lynch is only one of fifteen or twenty1 many of whom are worse than he4 ,by worse ,i mean equally unscrupulous and less efficient4 ,here1 ,mr4 ,barnstable1 is a list of the candidates for ,aldermen on both sides4 ,i have been carefully over it and checked off the names of those most likely to be chosen1 and ,i find that it comprises twelve out-and-out thieves1 five sneak-thieves1 as ,i call them1 because they pilfer only in a small way and pass as pretty honest2 four easy-going1 broken-winded incapables1 and three perfectly honest men1 one of them thoroughly stupid4 ,now1 if we have to deal with thieves1 it is desirable to deal with those most likely to be of real service4 ,there are four men on this list who can1 if they choose1 help us or hurt us materially4 ,if we get them1 they will be able to swing enough votes to control the situation2 if they're against us1 our bill will be side-tracked or defeated1 and the ,underground ,steam ,company will get its franchise4 ,that means1 as you know1 serious injury to our stockholders4 ,there's the case in a nut-shell4 ,what are their names8 asked ,mr4 ,barnstable1 faintly4 ,peter ,lynch1 ,jeremiah ,dolan1 ,william ,h4 ,bird1 and ,john ,p4 ,driscoll1 popularly known in the inner circles of ,city ,hall politics as 'the big four4' ,and they are--four of the biggest thieves in the community4 ,dear me1 said ,mr4 ,barnstable4 ,and what is it you advise doing8 ,like the coon in the tree1 ,i should say1 ',don't shoot and ,i'll come down4' ,it's best to have a clear understanding from the start4 ,what ,i meant to ask was--er--what is it that this ,peter ,lynch wishes8 ,he uttered nothing but glittering generalities2 that he desired to know who his friends were1 and whether in case he were elected he could be of any service to our corporation4 ,the ,english of that is1 he expects in the first place a liberal subscription for campaign expenses--and after that retaining fees from time to time as our attorney or agent1 which will vary in size according to the value of the services rendered4 ,a faint gleam of cunning hope appeared in ,mr4 ,barnstable's eyes4 ,then anything we--er--contributed could properly be charged to attorney's fees8 he said by way of thinking aloud4 ,certainly--attorney's fees1 services as agent1 profit and loss1 extraordinary expenses1 machinery account1 bad debts--there are a dozen ways of explaining the outlay4 ,and no outlay may be necessary4 ,a tip on the stock will do just as well4 ,dear1 dear1 reiterated ,mr4 ,barnstable4 ,it's a deplorable situation2 deplorable and very awkward4 ,and the awkward part is1 that we're a dead cock in the pit if we incline to virtue's side4 ,mr4 ,barnstable sighed deeply and drummed on his desk4 ,then he began to walk up and down4 ,after a few moments he stopped short and said3 ,i shall have to lay it before my directors1 ,dowling4 ,certainly1 sir4 ,but in general terms1 ,i hope4 ,a single--er--impractical man might block the situation until it was too late4 ,then the expense of remedying the blunder might be much greater4 ,mr4 ,barnstable inclined his head gravely4 ,i shall consult some of the wisest heads on the ,board1 and if in their opinion it is advisable to conciliate these blackmailers1 a formal expression of approval will scarcely be necessary4 ,a few days later the ,president sent for the ,manager and waved him to a chair4 ,his expression was grave--almost sad1 yet resolute4 ,his manner was dignified and cold4 ,we have considered1 said he1 the matter of which we were speaking recently1 and under the peculiar circumstances in which we are placed1 and in view of the fact that the success of our bill and the defeat of the ,underground ,steam ,company is necessary for the protection of the best interests of the public and the facilitation of honest corporate business enterprise1 ,i am empowered to authorize you to take such steps1 ,mr4 ,dowling1 as seem to you desirable and requisite for the proper protection of our interests4 ,very good1 sir4 ,that is all that is necessary4 ,there was a brief silence1 during which ,mr4 ,barnstable joined his finger-tips together and looked at the fire4 ,then he rose augustly1 and putting out his hand with a repellant gesture said1 ,there is one thing ,i insist on1 which is that ,i shall know nothing of the details of this disagreeable business4 ,i leave the matter wholly in your hands1 ,dowling4 ,oh1 certainly1 sir4 ,and you may rely on my giving the cold shoulder to the rascals wherever it is possible for me to do so4 ,that is a pitiful story1 isn't it8 ,virtue assaulted almost in its very temple1 and given a black eye by sheer force of cruel1 overwhelming circumstances4 ,yet a true story1 and the prototype in its general features of a host of similar episodes occurring in the different cities of this land of the free and the home of the brave4 ,each case1 of course1 has its peculiar atmosphere4 ,not every leading villain has the sensitive and combative conscience of ,thomas ,barnstable2 nor every general manager the bold1 frank style of ,mr4 ,dowling4 ,there is every phase of soul-struggle and method from unblushing1 business-like bargain and sale to sphinx-like and purposely unenlightened and ostrich-like submission4 ,in the piteous language of a defender of ,thomas ,barnstable 7not ,josephine71 what can one do but submit8 ,if one meets a highwayman on the road1 is one to be turned back if a purse will secure a passage8 ,surely not if the journey be of moment4 ,then is a corporate body 7a corporation has no soul7 to be starved to death by delay and hostile legislation if peace and plenty are to be had for an attorney's fee8 ,if so1 only the rascals would thrive and honest corporations would bite the dust4 ,and so it happened that ,mr4 ,dowling before election cast his moral influence in favor of the big four1 and a little bird flew from headquarters with a secret message1 couched in sufficiently vague language1 to the effect that the management would be pleased if the employees of the ,people's ,heat and ,power ,company were to mark crosses on their ,australian ballots against the names of ,peter ,lynch1 ,jeremiah ,dolan1 ,hon4 ,william ,h4 ,bird1 and the ,hon4 ,john ,p4 ,driscoll4 ,let us allow the curtain to descend to slow music1 and after a brief pause rise on some of our other characters4 ,behold now the fifty thousand respectable1 well-intentioned1 tolerably ignorant citizens who vote but are too busy with their own affairs to pay attention to politics1 and as a consequence generally vote the party ticket or vote to please a friend4 ,as a sample take ,mr4 ,john ,baker1 amiable and well-meaning physician1 a practical philanthropist and an intelligent student of science by virtue of his active daily professional labors4 ,for a week before election he is apt to have a distressing1 soul-haunting consciousness that a ,city ,government is shortly to be chosen and that he must1 as a free-born and virtue-loving citizen1 vote for somebody4 ,he remembers that during the year there has been more or less agitation in the newspapers concerning this or that individual connected with the aldermanic office1 but he has forgotten names and is all at sea as to who is who or what is what4 ,two days before election he receives and puts aside a circular containing a list of the most desirable candidates1 as indicated by the ,reform ,society1 intending to peruse it1 but he is called from home on one evening by professional demands1 and on the other by tickets for the theatre1 so election morning arrives without his having looked at it4 ,he forgets that it is election day1 and is reminded of the fact while on his way to visit his patients by noticing that many of his acquaintances seem to be walking in the wrong direction4 ,he turns also at the spur of memory1 and mournfully realizes that he has left the list at home4 ,to return would spoil his professional day1 so he proceeds to the polls1 and1 in the hope of wise enlightenment1 joins the first sagacious friend he encounters4 ,it happens1 perhaps1 to be ,dowling4 ,ah1 says ,dr4 ,baker1 genially1 you're just the man to tell me whom to vote for4 ,one vote doesn't count for much1 but ,i like to do my duty as an ,american citizen4 ,it's a pretty poor list1 says ,dowling1 pathetically1 drawing a paper from his pocket4 ,i believe1 however1 in accomplishing the best possible results under existing circumstances4 ,if ,i thought the ,reform candidates could be elected1 ,i would vote for them and for them only2 but it's equally important that the very worst men should be kept out4 ,i am going to vote for the ,reform candidates and for ,lynch1 ,dolan1 ,bird1 and ,driscoll4 ,they're capable and they have had experience4 ,if they steal1 they'll steal judiciously and that is something4 ,some of those other fellows would steal the lamp-posts and hydrants if they got the chance4 ,all right1 says ,dr4 ,baker4 ,i'll take your word for it4 ,let me write those names down4 ,i suppose that some day or other we shall get a decent ,city ,government4 ,i admit that ,i don't give as much consideration to such matters as ,i ought1 but the days are only twenty-four hours long4 ,then from the same company there is ,mr4 ,david ,jones1 hay and grain dealer1 honest and a diligent1 reputable business man4 ,he harbors the amiable delusion that the free-born ,american citizen in the exercise of the suffrage has intuitive knowledge as to whom to vote for1 and that in the long run the choice of the sovereign people is wise and satisfactory4 ,he is ready to admit that political considerations should not control selection for municipal office1 but he has a latent distrust of reformers as aristocratic self-seekers or enemies of popular government4 ,for instance1 the idea that he or any other ,american citizen of ordinary education and good moral character is not fit to serve on the school committee offends his patriotism4 ,what's the matter with ,lynch1 anyway8 he asks on his way to the polls4 ,i see some of his political enemies are attacking him in the press4 ,if he were crooked1 some one would have found it out in ten years4 ,i met him once and he talked well4 ,he has no frills round his neck4 ,nor wheels in his head1 answers a fellow-patriot1 who wishes to get a street developed and has put his case in ,lynch's hands4 ,he shall have my vote1 says the hay and grain dealer4 ,as for the twenty-five thousand hide-bound partisans1 ,i will state to begin with1 my optimistic correspondent1 that if this drama were concerned with any election but a city election1 their number would be larger4 ,but these make up in unswerving fixity of purpose for any diminution of their forces due to municipal considerations4 ,they are content to have their thinking done for them in advance by a packed caucus1 and they go to the polls snorting like war-horses and eager to vindicate by their ballots the party choice of candidates1 or meekly and reverently prepared to make a criss-cross after every ,r or ,d1 according to their faith1 with the fatuous fealty of sheep4 ,bigotry and suspicions1 ignorance and easy-going willingness to be led1 keep their phalanx steady and a constant old guard for the protection of comedians and villains4 ,in another corner of the stage stand the ten thousand superior1 self-centred souls who neglect to vote and despise politics--the mixed corps of pessimists1 impractical dreamers1 careless idlers1 and hyper-cultured world-disdainers1 who hold aloof1 from one motive or another1 from contact with common life and a share in its responsibilities--some on the plea that universal suffrage is a folly or a failure1 some that earth is but a vale of travail which concerns little the wise or righteous thinker1 some from sheer butterfly or stupid idleness4 ,were they to vote they would help to offset that no less large body of suffragists--the active enemies of order1 the hoodlum1 tobacco-spitting1 woman-insulting1 rum-drinking ruffian brigade4 ,there are only left the ten thousand conscientious citizens1 real patriots--a corporal's guard1 amid the general optimistic sweep toward the polls4 ,these mark their crosses with care against the names of the honest men and perhaps some of the pretty honest1 only to read in the newspapers next morning that the big four have been returned to power and that the confidence of the plain and sovereign people in the disinterested conduct of their public servants has again been demonstrated4 ,ho1 ho1 ho1 laugh the low comedians4 ,mum's the word4 ,the faces of the big four are wreathed in self-congratulatory smiles4 ,at the homes of ,peter ,lynch and ,jeremiah ,dolan1 those experienced individuals without occupation1 there are cakes and ale4 ,it is a mistake to assume that because a citizen is an ,alderman he is not human and amiably domestic in his tastes4 ,jeremiah loves the little ,dolans and is no less fond of riding his children on his leg than ,thomas ,barnstable1 or any of the leading villains4 ,when their father looks happy in the late autumn1 the children know that their ,christmas stockings will be full4 ,jeremiah is at peace with all the world and is ready to sit with slicked hair for his photograph1 from which a steel 7or is it steal87 engraving will shortly be prepared for the new ,city ,government yearbook1 superscribed3 ,jeremiah ,dolan1 ,chairman of the ,board of ,aldermen4 ,a framed enlargement of this will hang on one side of the fire-place1 and an embroidered motto1 ,god ,bless ,our ,home1 on the other1 and all will be well with the ,dolans for another twelve months4 ,in his own home ,jeremiah is a man of few words on public matters4 ,not unnaturally his children believe him to be of the salt of the earth1 and he lets it go at that1 attending strictly to business without seeking to defend himself in the bosom of his family from the diatribes of reformers4 ,still1 it is reasonable to assume that1 under the fillip of the large majority rolled up in his favor1 he would be liable to give vent to his sense of humor so far as to refer in the presence of his wife and children to the young man who was willing to become an ,alderman while waiting to be ,senator1 as a ,t4 ,willy4 ,if you have read ,the ,hon4 ,peter ,stirling1 you will remember that the hero rose to political stature largely by means of attending to the needs of the district1 befriending the poor and the helpless and having a friendly1 encouraging word for his constituents1 high or low4 ,the ,american public welcomed the book because it was glad to see the boss vindicated by these human qualities1 and to think that there was a saving grace of unselfish service in the composition of the average successful politician4 ,it would be unjust to the big four were ,i not to acknowledge that they have been shrewd or human enough to pursue in some measure this affable policy1 and that the neighborhood and the district in which they live recognize them as hustlers to obtain office1 privileges1 and jobs for the humble citizen wishing to be employed by or to sell something to the ,city ,government4 ,to this constituency the comparatively small tax levied seems all in the day's work1 a natural incident of the principle that when a man does something1 he ought to be paid for it4 ,to them the distinction that public service is a trust which has no right to pecuniary profit beyond the salary attached1 and a reasonable amount of stationery1 seems to savor of the millennium and to suggest a lack of practical intelligence on the part of its advocates4 ,they pay the lawyer and the doctor2 why not the ,alderman8 ,to ,a ,political ,optimist4 ,,iii4 ,i am reminded by ,josephine that ,i seem to be getting into the dumps1 which does not befit one who claims to be an optimistic philosopher4 ,the drama just set before you is not1 ,i admit1 encouraging as a national exhibit1 and ,i can imagine that you are already impatient to retort that the municipal stage is no fair criterion of public life in this country4 ,i can hear you assert1 with that confident air of national righteousness peculiar to the class of blind patriots to which you belong1 that the leading politicians of the nation disdain to soil their hands by contact with city politics4 ,yet there ,i take issue with you squarely1 not as to the fact but as to the truth of the lofty postulate seething in your mind that the higher planes of political activity are free from the venal and debasing characteristics of municipal public service--from the influence of the money power operating on a low public standard of honesty4 ,most of us--even philosophers like myself--try to cling to the fine theory that the legislators of the country represent the best morals and brains of the community1 and that the men elected to public office in the councils of the land have been put forward as being peculiarly fitted to interpret and provide for our needs1 by force of their predominant individual virtues and abilities4 ,most of us appreciate in our secret souls that this theory is not lived up to1 and is available only for ,fourth of ,july or other rhetorical purposes4 ,yet we dislike to dismiss the ideal as unattainable1 even though we know that actual practice is remote from it2 and patriots still1 we go on asserting that this is our method of choice1 vaguely hoping1 like the well-intentioned but careless voter1 that some day we shall get a decent government1 municipal1 state1 national--that is decent from the standpoint of our democratic ideal4 ,and there is another theory1 part and parcel of the other1 which we try to cling to at the same time1 that our public representatives1 though the obviously ornamental and fine specimens of their several constituencies1 are after all only every-day ,americans with whom a host of citizens could change places without disparagement to either4 ,in other words1 that our theory of government is government by the average1 and that the average is remarkably high4 ,this comfortable view induces many like yourself to wrap themselves round with the ,american flag and smile at destiny1 sure that everything will result well with us sooner or later1 and impatient of criticism or doubts4 ,as a people we delight in patting ourselves on the back and dismissing our worries as mere flea-bites4 ,the hard cider of our patriotism gets readily into the brain and causes us to deny fiercely or serenely1 according to our dispositions1 that anything serious is the matter4 ,yet whatever ,fourth of ,july orators may say to the contrary1 the fact remains that the sorry taint of bargain and sale1 of holding up on the political highway and pacification by bribery in one form or another1 permeates to-day the whole of our political system from the lowest stratum of municipal public life to the councils which make ,presidents and ,united ,states ,senators4 ,to be sure1 the ,alderman in his capacity of low comedian dictating terms to corporations seeking civic privileges is the most unblushing1 and hence the most obviously flagrant case2 but it is well recognized by all who are brought in contact with legislative bodies of any sort in the country that either directly or indirectly the machinery of public life is controlled by aggregations of capital working on the hungry1 easy-going1 or readily flattered susceptibilities of a considerable percentage of the members4 ,certainly our national and state assemblies contain many high-minded1 honest1 intellectually capable men1 but they contain as many more who are either dishonest or are so ignorant and easily cajoled that they permit themselves to be the tools of leading villains4 ,those cognizant of what goes on behind the scenes on the political stage would perhaps deny that such men as our friend ,thomas ,barnstable or his agent1 ,dowling1 attempt to dictate nominations to either branch of the legislature on the tacit understanding that a member thus supported is to advocate or vote for their measures1 and by their denial they might deceive a real simon-pure philosopher4 ,but this philosopher knows better1 and so do you1 my optimistic friend4 ,it is the fashion1 ,i am aware1 among conservative people1 lawyers looking for employment1 bankers and solid men of affairs1 to put the finger on the lips when this evil is broached and whisper1 ,hush6 ,they admit confidentially the truth of it1 but they say ,hush6 ,what's the use of stirring things up8 ,it can't do any good and it makes the public discontented4 ,it excites the populists4 ,so there is perpetual mystery and the game goes on4 ,men who wish things good or bad come reluctantly or willingly to the conclusion that the only way to get them is by paying for them4 ,not all pay cash4 ,some obtain that which they desire by working on the weaknesses of legislators2 following them into banks where they borrow money1 getting people who hold them in their employ or give them business to interfere1 asking influential friends to press them4 ,every railroad corporation in the country has agents to look after its affairs before the legislature of the ,state through which it operates1 and what some of those agents have said and done in order to avert molestation would1 if published1 be among the most interesting memoirs ever written4 ,who doubts that elections to the ,united ,states ,senate and ,house of ,representatives are constantly secured by the use of money among those who have the power to bestow nominations and influence votes8 ,it is notorious1 yet to prove it would be no less difficult than to prove that ,peter ,lynch1 ,alderman for ten years without occupation1 has received bribes from his fellow-citizens4 ,how are the vast sums of money levied on rich men to secure the success of a political party in a ,presidential campaign expended8 ,for stationery1 postage stamps1 and campaign documents8 ,for torch-light processions1 rallies1 and buttons8 ,some of it1 certainly4 ,the unwritten inside history of the political progress of many of the favorite sons of the nation during the last forty years would make the scale of public honor kick the beam though it were weighted with the cherry-tree and hatchet of ,george ,washington4 ,in one of our cities where a deputation of city officials attended the funeral of a hero of the late war with ,spain1 there is a record of four hundred dollars spent for ice-cream4 ,presumably this was a transcript of petty thievery inartistically audited4 ,but there are no auditings of the real use of the thousands of dollars contributed to keep a party in power or to secure the triumph of a politically ambitious millionaire4 ,note4--,josephine1 who had been sitting lost in thought since the conclusion of the drama1 and who is fond of problem plays1 inquired at this point whether ,i consider the low comedians or the leading villains the most to blame for the existing state of things4 ,it is a pertinent question1 ,josephine1 and one not easily answered4 ,what is your view of the matter8 ,i suppose1 she answered1 as you have termed the bribers the leading villains1 they are the worst4 ,and ,i do think that the temptation must be very great among the class of men who are without fine sensibilities to let themselves become the tools of rich and powerful people1 who1 as you have indicated1 can help them immensely in return for a vote4 ,it is astonishing that those in the community who are educated1 well-to-do citizens1 should commit such sins against decency and patriotism4 ,yes1 it seems astonishing1 but their plea is pathetic1 as ,i have already stated1 and somewhat plausible4 ,suppose for a minute that ,i am ,thomas ,barnstable defending himself and see how eloquent ,i can be4 ',what would you have me do1 ,madam8 ,i am an honest man and my directors are honest men2 the bills we ask for are always just and reasonable4 ,i have never in my life approached a legislator with an improper offer1 nor have ,i used direct or indirect bribery so long as it was absolutely possible to avoid doing so4 ,but when a gang of cheap and cunning tricksters block the passage of my corporation's measures1 and will not let them become law until we have been bled1 ,i yield as a last resort4 ,we are at their mercy4 ,it is a detestable thing to do1 ,i admit1 but it is necessary if we are to remain in business4 ,there is no alternative4 ,the responsibility is on the dishonest and incapable men whom the ,american public elects to office1 and who under the specious plea of protecting the rights of the plain people levy blackmail on corporate interests4 ,corporations do not wish to bribe1 but they are forced to do so in self-defence4' ,there6 ,is not that a tear-compelling statement8 ,i can see your side1 said ,josephine4 ,pardon me1 ,i interrupted4 ,it is ,mr4 ,barnstable's side1 not mine4 ,i am not a capitalist1 only a philosopher4 ,well1 his side then2 and ,i feel sorry for him in spite of the weakness of his case4 ,only his argument does not explain the others4 ,i should not suppose that men like ,mr4 ,prendergast could truthfully declare that all the legislation they ask for is just and reasonable4 ,precisely4 ,yet they buy their desires in the open market from the free-born representatives of the people4 ,if any one states so at the time he is hushed up1 if possible2 if not1 there is an investigation1 nothing is proved1 and the integrity of the legislative body is vindicated4 ,i can shed a tear on behalf of men like ,mr4 ,barnstable1 a crocodile tear1 yet still a tear4 ,but there is the larger army of hard-headed1 dollar-hunting1 practical capitalists1 who are not forming corporations for their health1 so to speak1 to be reckoned with4 ,my eloquence is palsied by them4 ,they would tell you that they were obliged to bribe1 but they do not waste much time in resistance or remorse4 ,they seem to regard the evil as a national custom1 unfortunate and expensive1 but not altogether inconvenient4 ,confidentially over a cigar they will assure you that the ,french1 the ,spanish1 the ,turks1 and the ,chinese are infinitely worse and that this is merely a passing phase of democracy1 whatever that may mean4 ,dreadful1 said ,josephine4 ,and then there are the people with money who aid and abet their own nominations for ,congress4 ,i think ,i could mention some of them4 ,well1 you mustn't4 ,it might hurt their feelings1 for they may not know exactly what was done except in a general way4 ,after all is over they ask 'how much8' draw a check and make few inquiries4 ,that is the genteel way4 ,but in some states it is not necessary or politic to be genteel4 ,the principle is the same1 but the process is less subtle and aristocratic4 ,but haven't you a word of extenuation to offer on behalf of the low comedians8 ,think of ,jeremiah ,dolan and the little ,dolans4 ,i suppose he also would say it wasn't true1 said ,josephine4 ,oh1 yes4 ',lady1 there isn't a word of truth in the whole story4 ,some one's been stuffing you4' ,they must be dreadfully tempted1 poor wretches4 ',lady1 it's all make-believe4 ,but it's one thing to talk and another to sit still and have a fellow whisper in your ear that you have only to vote his way to get five thousand in clean bills and no questions asked4 ,when a man has a mortgage on his house to pay1 five thousand would come in handy4 ,i'm only supposing1 ,lady1 and no one can prove ,i took a cent4' ,fred1 said ,josephine1 after a solemn pause1 the dreadful thought has just occurred to me that the ,american people may not be--are not strictly honest4 ,sh6 ,i shouted eagerly and seizing a tea table-cloth ,i threw it over her head and stayed her speech4 ,my dear1 do you realize what you are saying8 ,do you realize that you are tumbling my hair8 ,i paid no heed to this unimportant interjection1 but said1 ,if any true patriot were to hear you make such an accusation you would subject yourself and me to some dreadful punishment1 such as happened to ,dreyfus1 or ',the ,man ,without a ,country4' ,not honest8 ,by the shades of ,george ,washington1 what are you thinking of8 ,why1 one of the chief reasons of our superiority to all the other nations of the world is because of our honesty--our immunity from the low moral standards of effete1 frivolous despotisms and unenlightened masses who are without the blessings of freedom4 ,not strictly honest8 ,josephine1 your lack of tact1 if nothing else1 is positively audacious4 ,do you expect me to break this cruel piece of news to the optimistic patriot to whom this letter is addressed8 ,i think you are silly1 said my wife1 freeing herself from the tea table-cloth and trying to compose her slightly disordered tresses4 ,i only thought aloud1 and ,i said merely what you would have said sooner or later in more philosophical terms4 ,i saw that you were tempted by the fear of not seeming a patriot to dillydally with the situation and avoid expressing yourself in perspicuous language4 ,t-h-i-e-f spells thief2 b-r-i-b-e-r-y spells bribery4 ,i don't know much about politics1 and ,i'm not a philosopher1 but ,i understand the meaning of every-day ,english1 and ,i should say that we were not even pretty honest4 ,there6 ,those are my opinions1 and ,i think you will save time if you send them in your letter instead of beating about the bush for extenuating circumstances4 ,if you don't1 ,i shall--for really1 ,fred1 it's too simple a proposition4 ,and as for the blame1 it's six of one and half a dozen of the other4 ,josephine1 ,josephine1 ,i murmured1 there goes my last chance of being sent to the ,philippines1 in my capacity as a philosopher1 to study whether the people of those islands are fit for representative government4 ,you have read what ,josephine says1 my optimistic friend4 ,she has stated that she would write to you her summing up of the whole matter if ,i did not1 so ,i have inserted her deduction in all its crudity4 ,she declares the trouble to be that the ,american people are dishonest4 ,of course1 ,i cannot expect you to agree with any such conclusion1 and ,i must admit that the boldness of the accusation is a shock to my own sensibilities as a patriot4 ,of course1 ,josephine is a woman and does not understand much about politics and ways and means1 and it is notorious that women jump at conclusions instead of approaching them logically and in a dignified manner4 ,but it is also said that their sudden conclusions are apt to be right4 ,dishonest8 ,dear me1 what a dreadful suggestion4 ,i really think that she went a little too far4 ,and yet ,i am forced to agree that appearances are very much against us1 and that if we hope to lead the world in righteousness and progress we must1 to recur to political phraseology1 mend our moral fences4 ,i do not indulge in meteoric flights1 like ,josephine4 ,let us argue the matter out soberly4 ,you and ,i1 as men of the world1 will agree that if the ,american people prefer or find it more serviceable to cherish bribery as a federal institution1 no one will interfere4 ,the fact that it is ethically wrong is interesting to real philosophers and to the clergy1 but bribery will continue to flourish like a bay-tree if it is the sort of thing which the ,american people like4 ,now1 to all outward appearances they find it1 if not grateful and comforting1 at least endurable and convenient4 ,certainly1 except among the class of people whom you would be apt to stigmatize as holier than thous1 there is comparatively little interest taken in the question4 ,the mass of the community seek refuge behind the agreeable fiction that the abuse doesn't exist or exists only in such degree as to be unimportant4 ,many of these people know that this is false1 but they will not admit that they think so in order not to make such doings familiar1 just as their custom is to speak of legs as lower limbs in order not to bring a blush to the cheek of the young person4 ,for thorough-going hypocrisy--often unconscious1 but still hypocrisy--no one can equal a certain kind of ,american4 ,it is so much easier in this world1 where patting on the back is the touch-stone of preferment and popularity1 to think that everything is as serene as the surface indicates1 though you are secretly sure that it is not4 ,how much more convenient to be able to say truthfully1 ,i have no knowledge of the facts1 so don't bother me1 than to be constantly wagging the head and entertaining doubts concerning the purity of one's fellow-citizens1 and so making enemies4 ,as ,i have indicated earlier in this letter1 the ideal is dear to our patriotic sensibilities that we are governed by average opinion1 and that the average is peculiarly high4 ,the fastidious citizen in this country has been and still is fond of the taunt that men of upright character and fine instincts--what he calls gentlemen--will not enter public life1 for the reason that they will not eat dirt4 ,the reply has been that the real bugaboo of the fastidious citizen is one of manners1 and that in the essentials of character1 in strong moral purpose and solid worth1 the average ,american voter is the peer of any aristocracy4 ,the issue becomes really one of fact1 and mere solemn assertion will not serve as evidence beyond a certain point4 ,if the majority prefer dishonesty1 the power is in their hands to perpetuate the system2 but believing as you and ,i do that the majority at heart is honest1 how are we to explain the continued existence of the evil8 ,how as patriots shall we reconcile the perpetuation in power of the low comedians1 ,peter ,lynch and ,jeremiah ,dolan1 except on the theory that it is the will of the majority that they should continue to serve the people8 ,this is not a question of kid gloves1 swallow-tailed coats1 and manners1 but an indictment reflecting on the moral character and solid worth of the nation4 ,how are we to explain it8 ,what are we to say8 ,can we continue to declare that we are the most honest and aspiring people in the world and expect that portion of the world which has any sense of humor not to smile8 ,are we1 who have been accustomed to boast of our spotless integrity as a people1 ready to fall back on and console ourselves with the boast1 which does duty nowadays on lenient lips1 that we are as honest as any of the nations of ,europe except1 possibly1 ,england8 ,that is an indirect form of patriotic negation under the shadow of which low comedians and leading villains could ply their trade comparatively unmolested4 ,as a philosopher1 who is not a real philosopher1 ,i find this charge of ,josephine's a difficult nut to crack1 and ,i commend it respectfully to your attention to mull over at your leisure1 trusting that it may temper the effulgence of your thoughts on ,independence ,day4 ,yet having had my say as a philosopher1 let me as an optimist1 willing to succor a fellow-optimist1 add a few considerations indicating that the situation may not be so ultimately evil as the existing state of affairs and ,josephine would have us believe4 ,i write may not be1 because ,i am not altogether confident that my intelligence is not being cajoled by the natural cheeriness and buoyancy of my disposition4 ,the sole question at issue is whether the majority of the ,american people are really content to have the money power of the country prey upon and be the prey of the lowest moral sense of the community4 ,we have before us an every-day spectacle of eager aggregations of capital putting aside scruples as visionary and impractical1 and hence un-,american1 in order to compass success1 and at the other side of the counter the so-called representatives of the people1 solemn in their verbiage but susceptible to occult and disgraceful influences4 ,the two parties to the intercourse are discreet and business-like1 and there is little risk of tangible disclosure4 ,practically aloof from them1 except for a few moments on election day1 stand the mass of ,american citizens busy with their own money-getting or problem-solving1 and only too ready to believe that their representatives are admirable4 ,they pause to vote as they pause to snatch a sandwich at a railroad station4 ,five minutes for refreshments6 ,five minutes for political obligations6 ,individually there are thousands of strictly honest and noble-hearted men in the ,united ,states4 ,who doubts it8 ,the originality and strength of the ,american character is being constantly manifested in every field of life4 ,but there we speak of individuals2 here we are concerned with majorities and the question of average morality and choice4 ,for though we have an aspiring and enlightened van of citizens to point the way1 you must remember that emigration and natural growth has given us tens of thousands of ignorant1 prejudiced1 and sometimes unscrupulous citizens1 each of whose votes counts one4 ,perhaps it is true--and here is my grain of consolation or hope--that the average voter is so easy-going1 so long-suffering1 so indisposed to find fault1 so selfishly busy with his own affairs1 so proud of our institutions and himself1 so afraid of hurting other people's feelings1 and so generally indifferent as to public matters1 provided his own are serene1 that he chooses to wink at bribery if it be not in plain view1 and likes to deceive himself into believing that there is nothing wrong4 ,the long and short of it seems to be that the average ,american citizen is a good fellow1 and in his capacity of good fellow cannot afford to be too critical and particular4 ,he leaves that to the reformer1 the literary man1 the dude1 the college professor1 the mug-wump1 the philosopher1 and other impractical and un-,american people4 ,if so1 what has become of that heritage of his forefathers1 the stern ,puritan conscience8 ,swept away in the great wave of material progress which has centred all his energies on what he calls success1 and given to the power of money a luring importance which is apt to make the scruples of the spirit seem unsubstantial and bothersome4 ,an easy-going1 trouble-detesting1 self-absorbed democracy between the buffers of rapacity and rascality4 ,a disagreeable conclusion for an optimist1 yet less gloomy than the other alternative4 ,this condition admits of cure1 for it suggests a torpid conscience rather than deliberate acquiescence4 ,it indicates that the representatives are betraying the people1 and that there is room for hope that the people eventually may rise in their might and call them to account4 ,if they do1 ,i beg as a philosopher with humorous proclivities1 to caution them against seizing the wrong pig by the ear4 ,let them fix the blame where it belongs1 and not hold the corporations and the money power wholly responsible4 ,it may be possible in time to abolish trusts and cause rich men sleepless nights in the crusading name of populism1 but that will avail little unless at the same time they go to the real root of the matter1 and quicken the average conscience and strengthen the moral purpose of the plain people of the ,united ,states4 ,there will be leading villains and low comedians so long as society permits1 and so long as the conscience of democracy is torpid4 ,the players in the drama are1 after all1 only the people themselves4 ,charles the ,first was beheaded because he betrayed the liberties of the people4 ,alas6 there is no such remedy for a corrupt democracy1 for its heads are like those of ,hydra1 and it would be itself both the victim and the executioner4 ,,the ,,end ,d4 ,b4 ,updike ,the ,merrymount ,press #ajd ,chestnut ,street ,boston