,by ,james ,freeman ,clarke1 ,d4,d4 ,,ten ,,great ,,religions4 ,part ,i4 ,an ,essay in ,comparative ,theology4 ,new ,popular ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #b4jj4 ,,ten ,,great ,,religions4 ,part ,,ii4 ,comparison of all ,religions4 ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #b4jj4 ,,common ,,sense ,,in ,,religion4 ,crown #hvo1 #b4jj4 ,,memorial ,,and ,,biographical ,,sketches4 ,crown #hvo1 #b4jj4 ,,every-,,day ,,religion4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4ej4 ,,events ,,and ,,epochs ,,in ,,religious ,,history4 ,with ,maps and ,illustrations4 ,crown #hvo1 #b4jj4 ,,the ,,ideas ,,of ,,the ,,apostle ,,paul4 ,translated into their ,modern ,equivalents4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4ej4 ,,self-,,culture3 ,physical1 ,intellectual1 ,moral1 and ,spiritual4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4ej4 ,,nineteenth ,,century ,,questions4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4ej4 ,,exotics4 ,poems translated from the ,french1 ,german1 and ,italian1 by ,j4 ,f4 ,c4 and ,l4 ,c4 #ahmo1 #a4jj4 ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company1 ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york4 ,,nineteenth ,,century ,,questions ,,by ,,james ,,freeman ,,clarke ,illustration ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge #ahig4 ,,copyright1 #ahig1 ,,by ,,eliot ,c4 ,,clarke ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved ,,prefatory ,,note ,shortly before his death1 ,dr4 ,clarke selected the material for this book1 and partly prepared it for publication4 ,he wished thus to preserve some of his papers which had excited interest when printed in periodicals or read as lectures4 ,with slight exceptions1 the book is issued just as prepared by the author4 ,,contents ,,page ,,literary ,,studies4 ,,lyric ,,and ,,dramatic ,,elements ,,in ,,literature ,,and ,,art #c ,,dualism ,,in ,,national ,,life #bh ,,did ,,shakespeare ,,write ,,bacon',s ,,works8 #ch ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,a ,,great ,,poem3 ,,gray',s ,,elegy #fj ,,religious ,,and ,,philosophical4 ,,affinities ,,of ,,buddhism ,,and ,,christianity #ga ,,why ,i ,,am ,,not ,a ,,free-,,religionist #ij ,,have ,,animals ,,souls8 #ajj ,,apropos ,,of ,,tyndall #abh ,,law ,,and ,,design ,,in ,,nature #adi ,,historical ,,and ,,biographical4 ,,the ,,two ,,carlyles1 ,,or ,,carlyle ,,past ,,and ,,present #afb ,,buckle ,,and ,,his ,,theory ,,of ,,averages #aif ,,voltaire #bce ,,ralph ,,waldo ,,emerson #bgj ,,harriet ,,martineau #bhd ,,the ,,rise ,,and ,,fall ,,of ,,the ,,slave ,,power ,,in ,,america #cab ,,literary ,,studies ,,lyric ,,and ,,dramatic ,,elements ,,in ,,literature ,,and ,,art ,the ,german philosophy has made a distinction between the ,subjective and the ,objective1 which has been found so convenient that it has been already naturalized and is almost acclimated in our literature4 ,the distinction is this3 in all thought there are two factors1 the thinker himself1 and that about which he thinks4 ,all thought1 say our friends the ,germans1 results from these two factors3 the subject1 or the man thinking2 and the object1 what the man thinks about4 ,all that part of thought which comes from the man himself1 the ,ego1 they call subjective2 all that part which comes from the outside world1 the non-,ego1 they call objective4 ,i am about to apply this distinction to literature and art2 but instead of the terms ,subjective and ,objective1 ,i shall use the words ,lyric and ,dramatic4 ,for example1 when a writer or an artist puts a great deal of himself into his work1 ,i call him a lyric writer or artist4 ,lyrical1 in poetry1 is the term applied to that species of poetry which directly expresses the individual emotions of the poet4 ,on the other hand1 ,i call an artist or poet dramatic when his own personality disappears1 and is lost in that which he paints or describes4 ,a lyric or subjective writer gives us more of himself than of the outside world2 a dramatic or objective writer gives us more of the outside world than of himself4 ,lyric poetry is that which is to be sung2 the lyre accompanies song4 ,now1 song is mainly personal or subjective4 ,it expresses the singer's personal emotions1 feelings1 desires2 and for these reasons ,i select this phrase lyric to express all subjective or personal utterances in art4 ,the drama1 on the other hand1 is a photograph of life2 of live men and women acting themselves out freely and individually4 ,the dramatic writer ought to disappear in his drama2 if he does not do so he is not a dramatic writer1 but a lyrist in disguise4 ,the dramatic element is the power of losing one's self--opinions1 feeling1 character--in that which is outside and foreign1 and reproducing it just as it is4 ,in perfect dramatic expression the personal equation is wholly eliminated4 ,the writer disappears in his characters2 his own hopes and fears1 emotions and convictions1 do not color his work4 ,but the lyric element works in the opposite way4 ,in song1 the singer is prominent more than what he sings4 ,he suffuses his subject with his own thoughts and feelings4 ,if he describes nature1 he merely gives us the feelings it awakens in his own mind4 ,if he attempts to write a play1 we see the same actor thinly disguised reappearing in all the parts4 ,now1 there is a curious fact connected with this subject4 ,it is that great lyric and dramatic authors or artists are apt to appear in duads or pairs4 ,whenever we meet with a highly subjective writer1 we are apt to find him associated with another as eminently objective4 ,this happens so often that one might imagine that each type of thought attracts its opposite and tends to draw it out and develop it4 ,it may be that genius1 when it acts on disciples who are persons of talent1 draws out what is like itself1 and makes imitators2 when it acts on a disciple who himself possesses genius1 it draws out what is opposite to itself and develops another original thinker4 ,genius1 like love1 is attracted by its opposite1 or counterpart4 ,love and genius seek to form wholes2 they look for what will complete and fulfill themselves4 ,when1 therefore1 a great genius has come1 fully developed on one side1 he exercises an irresistible attraction on the next great genius1 in whom the opposite side is latent1 and is an important factor in his development4 ,thus1 perhaps1 we obtain the duads1 whose curious concurrence ,i will now illustrate by a few striking instances4 ,beginning our survey with ,english literature1 who are the first two great poets whose names occur to us8 ,naturally1 ,chaucer and ,spenser4 ,now1 ,chaucer is eminently dramatic and objective in his genius2 while ,spenser is distinctly a lyrical and subjective poet4 ,chaucer tells stories2 and story-telling is objective4 ,one of the most renowned collections of stories is the ,arabian ,nights2 but who knows anything about the authors of those entertaining tales8 ,they are merely pictures of ,eastern life1 reflected in the minds of some impersonal authors1 whose names even are unknown4 ,homer is another great story-teller2 and ,homer is so objective1 so little of a personality1 that some modern critics suppose there may have been several ,homers4 ,chaucer is a story-teller also2 and in his stories everything belonging to his age appears1 except ,chaucer himself4 ,his writings are full of pictures of life1 sketches of character2 in one word1 he is a dramatic or objective writer4 ,he paints things as they are1--gives us a panorama of his period4 ,knights1 squires1 yeomen1 priests1 friars1 pass before us1 as in ,tennyson's poem ,the ,lady of ,shalott4 ,the mind of an objective story-teller1 like ,chaucer1 is the faithful mirror1 which impartially reflects all that passes before it1 but cracks from side to side whenever he lets a personal feeling enter his mind1 for then the drama suddenly disappears and a lyric of personal hope or fear1 gladness or sadness1 takes its place4 ,spenser is eminently a lyric poet4 ,his own genius suffuses his stories with a summer glow of warm1 tender1 generous sentiment4 ,in his descriptions of nature he does not catalogue details1 but suggests impressions1 which is the only way of truly describing nature4 ,there are some writers who can describe scenery1 so that the reader feels as if he had seen it himself4 ,the secret of all such description is that it does not count or measure1 but suggests4 ,it is not quantitative but qualitative analysis4 ,it does not apply a foot rule to nature1 but gives the impression made on the mind and heart by the scene4 ,i have never been at ,frascati nor in ,sicily1 but ,i can hardly persuade myself that ,i have not seen those places4 ,i have distinct impressions of both1 simply from reading two of ,george ,sand's stories4 ,i have in my mind a picture of ,frascati1 with deep ravines1 filled with foliage2 with climbing1 clustering1 straggling vines and trees and bushes2 with overhanging crags1 deep masses of shadow below1 bright sunshine on the stone pines above4 ,so ,i have another picture of ,sicilian scenery1 wide and open1 with immense depths of blue sky1 and long reaches of landscape2 ever-present ,etna1 soaring snow-clad into the still air2 an atmosphere of purity1 filling the heart with calm content4 ,it may be that ,catania and ,frascati are not like this2 but ,i feel as if ,i had seen them1 not as if ,i had heard them described4 ,it is thus that ,spenser describes nature2 by touching some chord of fancy in the soul4 ,notice this picture of a boat on the sea3-- ,so forth they rowd2 and that ,ferryman ,with his stiff oars did brush the sea so strong ,that the hoar waters from his frigate ran1 ,and the light bubbles dancd all along ,whiles the salt brine out of the billows sprang2 ,at last1 far off1 they many islands spy1 ,on every side1 floating the floods among4 ,you notice that you are in the boat yourself1 and everything is told as it appears to you there2 you see the bending of the stiff oars by your side1 and the little bubbles dancing on the water1 and the islands1 not as they are1 rock-anchored1 but as they seem to you1 floating on the water4 ,this is subjective description1--putting the reader in the place1 and letting him see it all from that point of view4 ,so ,spenser speaks of the oars sweeping the watery wilderness2 and of the gusty winds filling the sails with fear4 ,perhaps the highest description ought to include both the lyric and dramatic elements4 ,here is a specimen of sea description1 by an almost unknown ,american poet1 ,fenner1 perfect in its way4 ,the poem is called ,gulf ,weed3-- ,a weary weed washed to and fro1 ,drearily drenched in the ocean brine2 ,soaring high1 or sinking low1 ,lashed along without will of mine2 ,sport of the spoom of the surging sea1 ,flung on the foam afar and near2 ,mark my manifold mystery1 ,growth and grace in their place appear4 ,i bear round berries1 gray and red1 ,rootless and rover though ,i be2 ,my spangled leaves1 when nicely spread1 ,arboresce as a trunkless tree2 ,corals curious coat me o'er ,white and hard in apt array2 ,mid the wild waves' rude uproar ,gracefully grow ,i1 night and day4 ,hearts there are on the sounding shore1 7,something whispers soft to me17 ,restless and roaming for evermore1 ,like this weary weed of the sea2 ,bear they yet on each beating breast ,the eternal ,type of the wondrous whole1 ,growth unfolding amidst unrest1 ,grace informing the silent soul4 ,all nature becomes alive in the ,spenserian description4 ,take1 for example1 the wonderful stanza which describes the music of the ,bower of ,bliss3-- ,the joyous birds1 shrouded in cheerful shade ,their notes unto the voice attemper'd sweet2 ,th' angelical1 soft1 trembling voices made ,to the instruments divine respondence meet2 ,the silver-sounding instruments did meet ,with the bass murmur of the water's fall2 ,the water's fall1 with difference discreet1 ,now loud1 now low1 unto the winds did call2 ,the gentle warbling winds low answerd to all4 ,consider the splendid portrait of ,belphbe3-- ,in her fair eyes two living lamps did flame1 ,kindled above at the ,heavenly ,maker's light2 ,and darted fiery beams out of the same1 ,so passing piercing1 and so wondrous bright1 ,they quite bereaved the rash beholder's sight2 ,in them the blinded god his lustful fire ,to kindle oft essay'd but had no might1 ,for with dread majesty and awful ire ,she broke his wanton darts and quenchd base desire4 ,her ivory forehead1 full of bounty brave1 ,like a broad tablet did itself dispread1 ,for love his lofty triumphs to engrave1 ,and write the battles of his great godhead2 ,all good and honor might therein be read1 ,for there their dwelling was2 and when she spake1 ,sweet words1 like dropping honey she did shed2 ,and1 twixt the pearls and rubies softly brake ,a silver ,sound1 that heavenly music seemed to make4 ,if we examine this picture1 we see that it is not a photograph1 such as the sun makes1 but a lover's description of his mistress4 ,he sees her1 not as she is1 but as she is to him4 ,he paints her out of his own heart4 ,in her eyes he sees1 not only brilliancy and color1 but heavenly light2 he reads in them an untouched purity of soul4 ,looking at her forehead1 he sees1 not whiteness and roundness1 but goodness and honor4 ,shakespeare's lovers always describe their mistresses in this way1 out of their own soul and heart4 ,it is his own feeling that the lover gives1 seeing perhaps ,helen's beauty in a brow of ,egypt4 ,after ,chaucer and ,spenser the next great ,english poets whose names naturally occur to us are ,shakespeare and ,milton4 ,now1 ,shakespeare was the most objective dramatic writer who ever lived2 while ,milton was eminently and wholly a subjective and lyrical writer4 ,it is true that ,shakespeare was so great that he is one of the very few men of genius in whom appear both of these elements4 ,in his plays he is so objective that he is wholly lost in his characters1 and his personality absolutely disappears2 in his sonnets he unlocks his heart and is lyrical and subjective2 he there gives us his inmost self1 and we seem to know him as we know a friend with whom we have lived in intimate relations for years4 ,still1 he will be best remembered by his plays2 and into them he put the grandeur and universality of his genius2 so we must necessarily consider him as the greatest dramatic genius of all time4 ,but he belonged to a group of dramatic poets of whom he was the greatest3 ,ben ,jonson1 ,beaumont and ,fletcher1 ,massinger1 ,ford1 ,webster1--any one of whom would make the fortune of the stage to-day4 ,it was a great age of dramatic literature1 and it came very naturally to meet a demand4 ,the play then was what the novel is to-day4 ,as people to-day have no sooner read a new novel than they want another1 so1 in ,shakespeare's time1 they had no sooner seen a new play than they ran to see another4 ,hence the amazing fertility of the dramatic writers4 ,thomas ,heywood wrote the whole or a part of two hundred and twenty plays4 ,the manager of one of the theatres bought a hundred and six new plays for his stage in six years2 and in the next five years a hundred and sixty4 ,the price paid to an author for a play would now be equal to about two or three hundred dollars4 ,the dramatic element1 as is natural1 abounds in these writings1 though in some of them the author's genius is plainly lyrical4 ,such1 for example1 is ,massinger's1 who always reminds me of ,schiller4 ,both wrote plays1 but in both writers the faculty of losing themselves in their characters is wanting4 ,the nobleness of ,schiller appears in all his works1 and constitutes a large part of their charm4 ,so in ,massinger all tends to generosity and elevation4 ,his worst villains are ready to be converted and turn saints at the least provocation4 ,their wickedness is in a condition of unstable equilibrium2 it topples over1 and goodness becomes supreme in a single moment4 ,massinger could not create really wicked people2 their wickedness is like a child's moment of passion or willfulness1 ending presently in a flood of tears1 and a sweet reconciliation with his patient mother4 ,but how different was it with ,shakespeare6 ,consider his ,iago4 ,how deeply rooted was his villainy6 how it was a part of the very texture of his being6 ,he had conformed to it the whole philosophy of his life4 ,his cynical notions appear in the first scene4 ,iago believes in meanness1 selfishness1 everything that is base2 to him all that seems good is either a pretense or a weakness4 ,the man who does not seek the gratification of his own desires is a fool4 ,there is to ,iago nothing sweet1 pure1 fair1 or true1 in this world or the next4 ,he profanes everything he touches4 ,he sneers at the angelic innocence of ,desdemona2 he sneers at the generous1 impulsive soul of ,othello4 ,when some one speaks to him of virtue1 he says ,virtue8 a fig6 'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus4 ,our bodies are our gardens1 to which our wills are gardeners4 ,you can plant nettles or lettuce as you please4 ,that is to say1 there is no reality in goodness4 ,the virtue of ,desdemona will be gone to-morrow1 if she takes the whim4 ,the ,moor's faith in goodness is folly2 it will cause him to be led by the nose4 ,there is no converting such a man as that2 or only when1 by means of terrible disappointments and anguish1 he is brought to see the reality of human goodness and divine providence4 ,and that can hardly happen to him in this world4 ,iago is a murderer of the soul1 ,macbeth a murderer of the body4 ,the wickedness of ,macbeth is different from that of ,iago2 that of ,shylock and of ,richard ,third different again from either4 ,macbeth is a half-brute1 a man in a low state of development1 with little intellect and strong passions4 ,shylock is a highly intellectual man1 not a cynic like ,iago1 but embittered by ill-treatment1 made venomous by cruel wrong and perpetual contempt4 ,oppression has made this wise man mad4 ,richard ,third1 originally bad1 has been turned into a cruel monster by the egotism born of power4 ,he has the contempt for his race that belongs to the aristocrat1 who looks on men in humbler places as animals of a lower order made for his use or amusement4 ,now1 this wonderful power of differentiating characters belongs to the essence of the dramatic faculty4 ,each of these is developed from within1 from a personal centre1 and is true to that4 ,every manifestation of this central life is correlated to every other4 ,if one of ,shakespeare's characters says but ten words in one scene1 and then ten words more in another1 we recognize him as the same person4 ,his speech bewrayeth him4 ,so it is in human life4 ,every man is fatally consistent with himself4 ,so1 after we have seen a number of pictures by any one of the great masters1 we recognize him again1 as soon as we enter a gallery4 ,we know him by a certain style4 ,inferior artists have a manner2 great artists have a style2 manner is born of imitation2 style of originality4 ,so1 there is a special quality in every human being1 if he will only allow it to unfold4 ,the dramatic faculty recognizes this4 ,its knowledge of man is not a philosophy1 nor a mere knowledge of human nature1 but a perception of individual character4 ,it first integrates men as human beings2 then differentiates them as individuals4 ,play-writers1 novelists1 and artists who do not possess this dramatic genius cannot grow their characters from within1 from a personal centre of life2 but build them up from without1 according to a plan4 ,in description of nature1 however1 ,shakespeare is1 as he ought to be1 subjective and lyric2 he touches nature with human feelings4 ,take his description of a brook3-- ,the current that with gentle murmur glides ,thou know'st1 being stopp'd impatiently doth rage2 ,but when his fair course is not hindered1 ,he makes sweet music with the enamell'd stones1 ,giving a gentle kiss to every sedge ,he overtaketh in his pilgrimage1 ,and so by many winding nooks he strays ,with willing sport to the wild ocean4 ,the brook is gentle2 then it becomes angry2 then it is pacified and begins to sing2 then it stops to kiss the sedge2 then it is a pilgrim2 and it walks willingly on to the ocean4 ,so in his sonnet3-- ,full many a glorious morning have ,i seen ,flatter the mountain top with sovereign eye2 ,kissing with golden face the meadows green1 ,gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy2 ,anon permit the basest clouds to ride ,with ugly rack on his celestial face2 ,and from the forlorn world his visage hide1 ,stealing unseen to west with his disgrace2 ,even so my sun one early morn did shine1 ,with all triumphant splendor on my brow2 ,but out1 alack6 he was but one hour mine2 ,the region cloud hath masked him from me now2 ,yet him1 for this1 my love no whit disdaineth1 ,suns of this world may stain1 when heaven's sun staineth4 ,from ,shakespeare1 the marvel of dramatic genius1 turn to ,milton1 and we find the opposite tendency unfolded4 ,the ,paradise ,lost is indeed dramatic in form1 with different characters and dialogues1 in hell1 on earth1 and in heaven4 ,but in essence it is undramatic4 ,milton is never for a moment lost in his characters2 his grand and noble soul is always appearing4 ,every one speaks as ,milton would have spoken had ,milton been in the same place1 and looked at things from the same point of view4 ,sin and ,satan1 for example1 both talk like ,john ,milton4 ,sin is very conscientious1 and before she will unlock the gate of hell she is obliged to argue herself into a conviction that it is right to do so4 ,satan1 she says1 is her father1 and children ought to obey their parents2 so1 since he tells her to unlock the gate1 she ought to do so4 ,death reproaches ,satan1 in good set terms1 for his treason against the ,almighty2 and ,satan1 as we all know1 utters the noblest sentiments1 and talks as ,milton would have talked1 had ,milton been in ,satan's position4#a ,coming down nearer to our own time1 we find a duad of great ,english poets1 usually associated in our minds1--,byron and ,scott4 ,scott was almost the last of the dramatic poets of ,england1 using the word dramatic in its large sense4 ,his plays never amounted to much2 but his stories in verse and in prose are essentially dramatic4 ,in neither does he reveal himself4 ,in all his poetry you scarcely find a reference to his personal feelings4 ,in the ,l',envoi to the ,lady of the ,lake there is a brief allusion of this sort1 touching because so unusual1 and almost the only one ,i now recall4 ,addressing the ,harp of the ,north he says3-- ,much have ,i owed thy strains through life's long way1 ,through secret woes the world has never known1 ,when on the weary night dawned wearier day1 ,and bitterer was the grief devoured alone2 ,that ,i o'erlive such woes1 ,enchantress6 is thine own4 ,scott1 like ,chaucer1 brings before us a long succession of characters1 from many classes1 countries1 and times4 ,scotch barons and freebooters1 ,english kings1 soldiers1 gentlemen1 crusaders1 ,alpine peasants1 medival counts1 serfs1 ,jews1 ,saxons1--brave1 cruel1 generous1--all sweep past us1 in a long succession of pictures2 but of ,scott himself nothing appears except the nobleness and purity of the tone which pervades all4 ,he is therefore eminently a dramatic or objective writer4 ,but ,byron is the exact opposite4 ,the mighty exuberance of his genius1 which captivated his age1 and the echoes of which thrill down to ours1 in all its vast overflow of passion1 imagination1 wit1--ever sounded but one strain1--himself4 ,his own woes1 his own wrongs are the ever-recurring theme4 ,though he wrote many dramas1 he was more undramatic than ,milton4 ,every character in every play is merely a thinly disguised ,byron4 ,it was impossible for him to get away from himself4 ,if ,tennyson's lovely line tells the truth when he says1-- ,love took up the harp of life and smote on all its chords with might2 ,smote the chord of self1 that1 trembling1 passed in music out of sight3 then ,byron never really loved2 for in his poetry the chord of self never passes out of sight4 ,in his plays the principal characters are ,byron undiluted--as ,manfred1 ,sardanapalus1 ,cain1 ,werner1 ,arnold4 ,all the secondary characters are ,byron more or less diluted1--,byron and water1 may we say8 ,never1 since the world began1 has there been a poet so steeped in egotism1 so sick of self-love as he2 and the magnificence of his genius appears in the unfailing interest which he can give to this monotonous theme4 ,but he was the example of a spirit with which the whole age was filled to saturation4 ,almost all the nineteenth century poets of ,england are subjective1 giving us their own experience1 sentiments1 reflections1 philosophies4 ,wordsworth1 ,coleridge1 ,shelley1 ,keats1 revolve in this enchanted and enchanting circle4 ,keats and ,coleridge seem capable of something different4 ,so1 in the double star1 made up of ,wordsworth and ,coleridge1 the first is absolutely personal and lyric1 the second sometimes objective and dramatic4 ,and in that other double star of ,shelley and ,keats the same difference may be noted4 ,a still more striking instance of the combination of these antagonisms is to be found in our time1 in ,robert ,browning and his wife4 ,mrs4 ,browning is wholly lyric1 like a bird which sings its own tender song of love and hope and faith till that wild music burdens every bough2 and those mournful hymns hush the night to listening sympathy4 ,but in her husband we have a genuine renaissance of the old dramatic power of the ,english bards4 ,robert ,browning is so dramatic that he forgets himself and his readers too1 in his characters and their situations4 ,to study the varieties of men and women is his joy2 to reproduce them unalloyed1 his triumph4 ,one curious instance of this self-oblivious immersion in the creations of his mind occurs to me4 ,in one of his early poems called ,in a ,gondola--as it first appeared--two lovers are happily conversing1 until in a moment1 we know not why1 the tone becomes one of despair1 and they bid each other an eternal farewell4 ,why this change of tone there is no explanation4 ,in a later edition he condescends to inform us1 inserting a note to this effect3 ,he is surprised and stabbed4 ,this is the opposite extreme to ,milton's angels carefully explaining to each other that they possess a specific levity which enables them to drop upward4 ,if we think of our own poets whose names are usually connected1--,longfellow and ,lowell1 for instance1--we shall easily see which is dramatic and which lyric4 ,but the only man of truly dramatic faculty whom we have possessed was one in whom the quality never fully ripened1--,i mean ,edgar ,allan ,poe4 ,in foreign literature we may trace the same tendency of men of genius to arrange themselves in couplets4 ,take1 for instance1 in ,italy1 ,dante and ,petrarch2 in ,france1 ,voltaire and ,rousseau2 in ,germany1 ,goethe and ,schiller4 ,dante is dramatic1 losing himself in his stern subject1 his dramatic characters2 his awful pictures of gloomy destiny4 ,petrarch is lyrical1 personal1 singing forever his own sad and sweet fate4 ,again1 ,voltaire is essentially dramatic1--immersed in things1 absorbed in life1 a man reveling in all human accident and adventure1 and aglow with faith in an earthly paradise4 ,the sad ,rousseau goes apart1 away from men2 standing like ,byron1 among them1 but not of them2 in a cloud of thoughts that are not their thoughts4 ,and1 once more1 though ,goethe resembles ,shakespeare in this1 that some of his works are subjective1 and others objective1--though1 in the greatness of his mind he reconciles all the usual antagonisms of thought1--yet the fully developed ,goethe1 like the fully developed ,shakespeare1 disappears in his characters and theme4 ,life to him1 in all its forms1 was so intensely interesting that his own individual and subjective sentiments are left out of sight4 ,but ,schiller stands opposed to ,goethe1 as being a dramatist devoid of dramatic genius1 but full of personal power2 so grand in his nobleness of soul1 so majestic in the aspirations of his sentiment1 so full of patriotic ardor and devotion to truth and goodness1 that he moves all hearts as he walks through his dramas1--the great poet visible in every scene and every line4 ,as his tried and noble friend says of him in an equally undying strain3-- ,burned in his cheek1 with ever-deepening fire1 ,the spirit's youth1 which never passes by2 ,the courage1 which though worlds in hate conspire1 ,conquers at last their dull hostility2 ,the lofty faith1 which ever1 mounting higher1 ,now presses on1 now waiteth patiently2 ,by which the good tends ever to its goal-- ,by which day lights at last the generous soul4 ,goethe's characters and stories covered the widest range3 ,faust1 made sick with too much thought1 and seeking outward joy as a relief2 ,werther1 a self-absorbed sentimentalist2 ,tasso1 an ,italian man of genius1 a mixture of imagination1 aspiration1 sensitive self-distrust2 susceptible to opinion1 sympathetic2 ,iphigenia1 a picture of antique calm1 simplicity1 purity1 classic repose1 like that of a statue2 ,hermann and ,dorothea1 a sweet idyl of modern life1 in a simple-minded ,german village with an opinionated1 honest landlord1 a talkative apothecary1 a motherly landlady1 a sensible and good pastor1 and the two young lovers4 ,this law of duality1 or reaction of genius on genius1 will also be found to apply to artists1 philosophers1 historians1 orators4 ,these also come in pairs1 manifesting the same antagonistic qualities4 ,some artists are lyric2 putting their own souls into every face1 every figure1 making even a landscape alive with their own mood2 adding-- ,a gleam ,of lustre known to neither sea nor land ,but borrowed from the poet-painter's dream4 ,in every landscape of ,claude we find the soul of ,claude2 in every rugged rock-defile of ,salvator we read his mood4 ,these artists are lyric2 but there are also great dramatic painters1 who give you1 not themselves1 but men and women2 so real1 so differentiated1 characters so full of the variety and antagonism of nature1 that the whole life of a period springs into being at their touch4 ,take for instance two names1 which always go together1 standing side by side at the summit of ,italian art1--,michael ,angelo and ,raphael4 ,though ,raphael was a genius of boundless exuberance1 and poured on the wall and canvas a flood of forms1 creating as nature creates1 without pause or self-repetition1 yet there is a tone in all which irresistibly speaks of the artist's own soul4 ,he created a world of ,raphaels4 ,grace1 sweetness1 and tenderness went into all his work4 ,every line has the same characteristic qualities4 ,turn to the frescoes by ,michael ,angelo in the ,sistine ,chapel4 ,as we look up at those mighty forms--prophets1 sibyls1 seers1 with multitudes of subordinate figures--we gradually trace in each prophet1 king1 or bard an individual character4 ,each one is himself4 ,how fully each face and attitude is differentiated by some inward life4 ,how each--,david1 ,isaiah1 ,ezekiel1 the ,persian and the ,libyan sibyl--stands out1 distinct1 filled with a power or a tenderness all his own4 ,michael ,angelo himself is not there1 except as a fountain of creative life1 from whose genius all these majestic persons come forth as living realities4 ,hanging on my walls are the well-known engravings of ,guido's ,aurora and ,leonardo da ,vinci's ,last ,supper4 ,one of these is purely lyrical2 the other as clearly dramatic4 ,the ,aurora is so exquisitely lovely1 the forms so full of grace1 the movement of all the figures so rapid yet so firm1 that ,i can never pass it without stopping to enjoy its charms4 ,but variety is absent4 ,the hours are lovely sisters1 as ,ovid describes sisters3-- ,facies non omnibus una1 ,nec diversa tamen1 qualis decet esse sororum4 ,but when we turn to the ,last ,supper1 we see the dramatic artist at his best4 ,the subject is such as almost to compel a monotonous treatment1 but there is a wonderful variety in the attitudes and grouping4 ,each apostle shows by his attitude1 gesture1 expression1 that he is affected differently from all the others4 ,even the feet under the table speak4 ,stand before the picture2 put yourself into the attitude of each apostle1 and you will immediately understand his state of mind4#b ,the medival religious artists were subjective1 sentimental1 lyrical4 ,in a scene like the crucifixion1 all the characters1 whether apostles1 ,roman soldiers1 or ,jewish ,pharisees1 hang their heads like bulrushes4 ,but see how ,rubens1 that great dramatic painter1 represents the scene4 ,the ,magdalen1 wild with grief1 with disheveled hair1 has thrown herself at the foot of the cross1 clasping and kissing the feet of ,jesus4 ,on the other faces are terror1 dismay1 doubt1 unbelief1 mockery1 curiosity1 triumph1 despair1--according to each person's character and attitude toward the event4 ,meantime the ,roman centurion1 seated on his splendid horse1 is deliberately and carefully striking his spear into the side of the sufferer4 ,his face expresses only that he has a duty to perform and means to fulfill it perfectly4 ,as ,rubens is greatly dramatic1 his pupil and follower1 ,vandyke1 is a great lyrical artist1 whose noble aspiration and generous sentiment shows itself in all his work4 ,the school of ,venice1 with ,titian and ,tintoretto at its head1 is grandly dramatic and objective4 ,the school of ,florence1 with ,guido and ,domenichino at its head1 eminently lyrical and subjective4 ,if we had time1 we might show that the two masters of ,greek philosophy1 ,plato and ,aristotle1 are1 the one lyrical1 and intensely subjective1 platonizing the universe2 and the other as evidently objective1 immersed in the study of things2 rejoicing in their variety1 their individuality1 their persistence of type4 ,the two masters of ,greek history1 ,herodotus and ,thucydides1 stand opposed to each other in the same way4 ,herodotus is the story-teller1 the dramatic raconteur1 whose charming tales are as entertaining as the ,arabian ,nights4 ,thucydides is the personal historian who puts himself into his story1 and determines its meaning and moral according to his own theories and convictions4 ,we have another example in ,livy and ,tacitus4 ,the two great ,american orators most frequently mentioned together are ,webster and ,clay4 ,though you would smile if ,i were to call either of them a lyric or a dramatic speaker1 yet the essential distinction we have been considering may be clearly seen in them4 ,clay's inspiration was personal1 his influence1 personal influence4 ,his theme was nothing2 his treatment of it everything4 ,but ,webster rose or fell with the magnitude and importance of the occasion and argument4 ,when on the wrong side1 he failed1 for his intellect would not work well except in the service of reality and truth4 ,but ,clay was perhaps greatest when arguing against all facts and all reason4 ,then he summoned all his powers1--wit1 illustration1 analogy1 syllogisms1 appeals to feeling1 prejudice1 and passion2 and so swept along his confused and blinded audience to his conclusions4 ,i think that subjective writers are loved more than dramatic4 ,we admire the one and we love the other4 ,we admire ,shakespeare and love ,milton2 we admire ,chaucer and love ,spenser2 we admire ,dante and love ,petrarch2 we admire ,goethe and love ,schiller2 and if ,byron had not been so selfish a man1 we should have loved him too4 ,we admire ,michael ,angelo and love ,raphael2 we admire ,rubens and love ,vandyke2 we admire ,robert ,browning and love ,mrs4 ,browning4 ,in short1 we care more for the man who gives us himself than for the man who gives us the whole outside world4 ,i have been able to give you only a few hints of this curious distinction in art and literature4 ,but if we carry it in our mind1 we shall find it a key by which many doors may be unlocked4 ,it will enable us to classify authors1 and understand them better4 ,,dualism ,,in ,,national ,,life ,the science of comparative ethnology is one which has been greatly developed during the last twenty-five years4 ,the persistence of race tendencies1 as in the ,semitic tribes1 ,jews and ,arabs1 or in the ,teutonic and ,celtic branches of the great ,aryan stock1 has been generally admitted4 ,though few would now say1 with the ethnologist ,knox1 ,race is everything1 none would wholly dispense with this factor1 as ,buckle did1 in writing a history of civilization4 ,racial varieties have existed from prehistoric times4 ,their origin is lost in the remote past4 ,as far as history goes back1 we find them the same that they are now4 ,when and how the primitive stock differentiated itself into the great varieties which we call ,aryan1 ,semitic1 and ,turanian1 no one can tell4 ,but there are well-established varieties of which we can trace the rise and development2 ,i mean national varieties4 ,the character of an ,englishman or a ,frenchman is as distinctly marked as that of a ,greek or ,roman4 ,there is a general resemblance among all ,englishmen2 and the same kind of resemblance among all ,frenchmen1 ,spaniards1 ,swedes1 ,poles4 ,but this crystallization into national types of character has taken place in a comparatively short period4 ,we look back to a time when there were no ,englishmen in ,great ,britain2 but only ,danes1 ,saxons1 ,normans1 and ,celts2 no ,frenchmen in ,france2 but ,gauls1 ,franks1 and ,romans4 ,gradually a distinct quality emerges1 and we have ,frenchmen1 ,italians1 ,englishmen4 ,the type1 once arrived at1 persists1 and becomes more marked4 ,it is marked by personal looks and manners1 by a common temperament1 a common style of thinking1 feeling1 acting2 the same kind of morals and manners4 ,this type was formed by the action and reaction of the divers races brought side by side--,normans and ,saxons mutually influencing each other in ,england1 and being influenced again by climate1 conditions of life1 forms of government1 national customs4 ,so1 at last1 we have the well-developed national character1--a mysterious but very certain element1 from which no individual can wholly escape4 ,all drink of that one spirit4 ,thus far ,i have been stating what we all know4 ,but now ,i would call your attention to a curious fact1 which1 so far as ,i am aware1 has not before been noticed4 ,it is this1--that when two nations1 during their forming period1 have been in relation to each other1 there will be a peculiar character developed in each4 ,that is to say1 they will differ from each other according to certain well-defined lines1 and these differences will repeat themselves again and again in history1 in curious parallelisms1 or dualisms4 ,to take the most familiar illustration of this3 consider the national qualities of the ,french and ,english4 ,the ,english and ,french1 during several centuries1 have been acting and reacting on each other1 both in war and peace4 ,now1 what are the typical characteristics of these two nations8 ,stated in a broad way they might be described something as follows3-- ,the ,english mind is more practical than ideal2 its movement is slow but persistent2 its progress is by gradual development2 it excels in the industrial arts2 it reverences power2 it loves liberty more than equality1 not objecting to an aristocracy4 ,it tends to individualism4 ,its conquests have been due to the power of order1 and adherence to law4 ,the ,french mind is more ideal than practical2 versatile1 rather than persistent2 its movements rapid1 its progress by crises and revolution1 rather than by development2 it excels in whatever is tasteful and artistic2 it admires glory rather than power2 loves equality more than liberty2 objects to an aristocracy1 but is ready to yield individual rights at the bidding of the community2 renouncing individualism for the sake of communism2 and its successes have been due to enthusiasm rather than to organization4 ,next1 look at the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,these peoples were in intimate relations during the forming period of national life2 and we find in them much the same contrasts of character that we do in the ,english and the ,french4 ,the ,romans were deficient in imagination1 rather prosaic1 fond of rule and fixed methods1 conservative of ancient customs4 ,the ,greeks were quick and versatile2 artistic to a high degree2 producing masterpieces of architecture1 painting1 statuary1 and creating every form of literature2 inventing the drama1 the epic poem1 oratory1 odes1 history1 philosophy4 ,the ,romans borrowed from them their art and their literature1 but were themselves the creators of law1 the organizers of force4 ,the ,greeks and ,romans were the ,english and ,french of antiquity2 and you will notice that they occupy geographically the same relative positions1--the ,greeks and ,french on the east2 the ,romans and ,english on the west4 ,but now observe another curious fact4 ,the ,roman ,empire and the ,greek republics came to an end2 and in ,greece no important nationality took the place of those wonderful commonwealths4 ,but in ,italy1 by the union of the old inhabitants with the ,teutonic northern invaders1 modern ,italy was slowly formed into a new national life4 ,no longer deriving any important influence from ,greece 7which had ceased to be a living and independent force71 ,italy1 during the ,middle ,ages1 came into relations with ,spain and the ,spaniards4 ,in ,spain1 as in ,italy1 a new national life was in process of formation by the union of the ,gothic tribes1 the ,mohammedan invaders1 and the ancient inhabitants4 ,the ,spaniards occupied ,sicily in #abhb1 and ,naples fell later into their hands1 about #adbj1 and in #aebf took possession of ,milan4 ,thus ,italy and ,spain were entangled in complex relations during their forming period4 ,what was the final result8 ,modern ,italians became the very opposite of the ancient ,romans4 ,the ,spaniards on the west are now the ,romans1 and the ,italians1 the ,greeks4 ,the ,spaniards are slow1 strong1 conservative2 the ,italians1 quick-witted1 full of feeling and sentiment1 versatile4 ,the ,spaniards trust to organization1 the ,italians to enthusiasm4 ,the ,spaniards are practical1 the ,italians ideal4 ,in fine1 the ,spaniards1 on the west1 are like the ,english and the ancient ,romans2 the ,italians1 on the east1 like the ,french and the ,greeks4 ,the ,english pride1 the ,roman pride1 the ,spanish pride1 we have all heard of2 but the ,french1 the ,greeks1 and the ,italians are not so much inclined to pride and the love of power1 as to vanity and the love of fame4 ,england1 ,rome1 and ,spain1 united by law and the love of organization1 gradually became solidified into empires2 ,greece1 ,italy1 and ,france were always divided into independent states1 provinces1 or republics4 ,now1 let us go east and consider two empires that have grown up1 side by side1 with constant mutual relations3 ,japan and ,china4 ,the people of ,japan1 on the east1 are described by all travelers in language that might be applied to the ancient ,greeks or the modern ,french4 ,they are said to be quick-witted1 lively1 volatile1 ready of apprehension1 with a keen sense of honor1 which prefers death to disgrace2 eminently a social and pleasure-seeking people1 fond of feasts1 dancing1 music1 and frolics4 ,men and women are pleasing1 polite1 affable4 ,on the other hand1 the ,chinese are described as more given to reason than to sentiment1 prosaic1 slow to acquire1 but tenacious of all that is gained1 very conservative1 great lovers of law and order2 with little taste for art1 but much national pride4 ,they are the ,english of ,asia2 the ,japanese1 the ,french4 ,go back to earlier times1 when the two oldest branches of the great ,aryan stock diverged on the table-lands of central ,asia2 the ,vedic race descending into ,india1 and the ,zend people passing west1 into ,persia4 ,the same duplex development took place that we have seen in other instances4 ,the people on the ,indus became what they still are1--a people of sentiment and feeling4 ,like the ,french1 they are polite1 and cultivate civility and courtesy4 ,the same tendency to local administration which we see in ,france is found in ,india2 the commune being1 in both1 the germ-cell of national life4 ,the village communities in ,india are little republics1 almost independent of anything outside4 ,dynasties change1 new rulers and kings arrive2 ,hindoo1 ,mohammedan1 ,english2 but the village community remains the same4 ,like the ,japanese1 the ,french1 the ,italians1 the inhabitants of ,india are skillful manufacturers of ornamental articles4 ,their religion tends to sentiment more than to morality1--to feeling1 rather than to action4 ,this is the development which ,india took when these races inhabited the ,punjaub4 ,but the ancient ,persians were different4 ,their religion included a morality which placed its essence in right thinking and right action4 ,a sentimental religion1 like that of ,india and of ,italy1 tends to the adoration of saints and holy images and to multiplied ceremonies4 ,a moral religion1 like that of ,persia1 of ,judea1 and of the ,teutonic races1 tends to the adoration and service of the unseen4 ,the ,hindoos had innumerable gods1 temples1 idols4 ,the ,persians worshiped the sacred fire1 without temple1 priest1 altar1 sacrifice1 or ritual4 ,the ancient ,persians1 wholly unlike the modern ,persians1 were a people of action1 energy1 enterprise4 ,but when the old ,persian empire fell1 the character of the people changed4 ,just as in ,italy the old ,roman type disappeared1 and was replaced by the opposite in the modern ,italian1 so modern ,persia has swung round to the opposite pole of national character4 ,the ,persians and ,turks1 both professing the ,mohammedan religion1 belong to different sects of that faith4 ,the ,turks are proud1 tenacious of old customs1 grave in their demeanor1 generally just in their dealings1 keeping their word4 ,the ,persians1 as they appear in the works of ,malcolm and ,monier1 are changeable1 kindly1 polite1 given to ceremonies1 fond of poetry1 with taste for fine art and decoration1--a mobile people4 ,the ,turk is silent1 the ,persian talkative4 ,the ,turk is proud and cold1 the ,persian affable and full of sentiment4 ,in short1 the ,persian is the ,frenchman1 and the ,turk the ,englishman4 ,and here again1 as in the other cases1 the ,french type of nationality unfolds itself on the east1 and the ,english on the west4 ,these national doubles have not been exhausted4 ,we have other instances of twin nations1 born of much the same confluence of race elements1 of whom1 as of ,esau and ,jacob1 it might be predicted to the mother race1 ,two nations shall be born of thee2 two kinds of people shall go forth from thee2 and the one shall be stronger than the other4 ,thus there are the twin races which inhabit ,sweden and ,norway2 the ,swedes1 on the east1 are more intelligent1 quick-witted1 and versatile2 the ,norwegians1 on the west1 slow1 persistent1 and disposed to foreign conquest and adventure1 as shown in the sea-kings1 who discovered ,iceland1 ,greenland1 and ,vinland2 and the modern emigrants who reap the vast wheatfields of ,minnesota4 ,so1 too1 we might speak of the ,poles and ,germans4 ,the ,polish nation1 on the east1 resembling the ,french2 the ,german1 on the west1 the ,english4 ,but time will not allow me to carry out these parallels into details4 ,the question is1 are these mere coincidences1 or do they belong to the homologons of history1 where the same law of progress repeats itself under different conditions1 as the skeleton of the mammal is found in the whale4 ,such curious homologons we find in national events1 and they can hardly be explained as accidental coincidences4 ,for instance1 the ,english and ,french revolutions proceeded by six identical steps4 ,first1 an insurrection of the people4 ,secondly1 the dethronement and execution of the king4 ,thirdly1 a military usurper4 ,fourthly1 the old line restored4 ,fifthly1 after the death of the restored king1 his brother succeeds to the throne4 ,sixthly1 a second revolution drives the brother into exile1 and a constitutional king of a collateral branch takes his place4 ,but if these doubles which ,i have described come by some mysterious law of polar force1 as in the magnet1 where the two kinds of electricity are repelled to opposite poles1 and yet attract each other1 how account for the regularity of the geographical position8 ,why is the ,french1 ,greek1 ,hindoo1 ,persian1 ,italian1 ,polish1 ,swedish type always at the east1 and the ,english1 ,roman1 ,iranic1 ,ottoman1 ,spanish1 ,german1 ,norwegian type always at the west8 ,are nations1 like tides1 affected by the diurnal revolution of the globe8 ,this1 ,i confess1 ,i am unable to explain2 and ,i leave it to others to consider whether what ,i have described is pure coincidence1 or if it belongs in some way to the philosophy of history and comes under universal law4 ,,did ,,shakespeare ,,write ,,bacon',s ,,works#c ,the greatest of ,english poets is ,shakespeare4 ,the greatest prose writer in ,english literature is probably ,bacon4 ,each of these writers1 alone1 is a marvel of intellectual grandeur4 ,it is hard to understand how one man1 in a few years1 could have written all the masterpieces of ,shakespeare1--thirty-six dramas1 each a work of genius such as the world will never let die4 ,it is a marvel that from one mind could proceed the tender charm of such poems as ,romeo and ,juliet1 ,as ,you ,like ,it1 or ,the ,winter's ,tale2 the wild romance of ,the ,tempest1 or of ,a ,midsummer ,night's ,dream2 the awful tragedies of ,lear1 ,macbeth1 and ,othello2 the profound philosophy of ,hamlet2 the perfect fun of ,twelfth ,night1 and ,the ,merry ,wives of ,windsor2 and the reproductions of ,roman and ,english history4 ,it is another marvel that a man like ,bacon1 immersed nearly all his life in business1 a successful lawyer1 an ambitious statesman1 a courtier cultivating the society of the sovereign and the favorites of the sovereign1 should also be the founder of a new system of philosophy1 which has been the source of many inventions and new sciences down to the present day2 should have critically surveyed the whole domain of knowledge1 and become a master of ,english literary style4 ,each of these phenomena is a marvel2 but put them together1 and assume that one man did it all1 and you have1 not a marvel1 but a miracle4 ,yet1 this is the result which the monistic tendency of modern thought has reached4 ,several critics of our time have attempted to show that ,bacon1 besides writing all the works usually attributed to him1 was also the author of all of ,shakespeare's plays and poems4 ,this theory was first publicly maintained by ,miss ,delia ,bacon in #aheg4 ,it had been1 before1 in #ahef1 asserted by an ,englishman1 ,william ,henry ,smith1 but only in a small volume printed for private circulation4 ,this book made a distinguished convert in the person of ,lord ,palmerston1 who openly declared his conviction that ,bacon was the author of ,shakespeare's plays4 ,two papers by ,appleton ,morgan1 written in the same sense1 appeared last year in ,appletons' ,journal4 ,but far the most elaborate and masterly work in support of this attempt to dethrone ,shakespeare1 and to give his seat on the summit of ,parnassus to ,lord ,bacon1 is the book by ,judge ,holmes1 published in #ahff4 ,he has shown much ability1 and brought forward every argument which has any plausibility connected with it4 ,judge ,holmes was1 of course1 obliged to admit the extreme antecedent improbability of his position4 ,certainly it is very difficult to believe that the author of such immortal works should have been willing1 for any reason1 permanently to conceal his authorship2 or1 if he could hide that fact1 should have been willing to give the authorship to another2 or1 if willing1 should have been able so effectually to conceal the substitution as to blind the eyes of all mankind down to the days of ,miss ,delia ,bacon and ,judge ,holmes4 ,what1 then1 are the arguments used by ,judge ,holmes8 ,the proofs he adduces are mainly these3 7#ast7 ,that there are many coincidences and parallelisms of thought and expression between the works of ,bacon and ,shakespeare2 7#b;d7 that there is an amount of knowledge and learning in the plays1 which ,lord ,bacon possessed1 but which ,shakespeare could hardly have had4 ,besides these principal proofs1 there are many other reasons given which are of inferior weight1--a phrase in a letter of ,sir ,tobie ,matthew2 another sentence of ,bacon himself1 which might be possibly taken as an admission that he was the author of ,richard ,,ii42 the fact that some plays which ,shakespeare certainly did not write were first published with his name or his initials4 ,but his chief argument is that ,shakespeare had neither the learning nor the time to write the plays1 both of which ,lord ,bacon possessed2 and that there are curious coincidences between the plays and the prose works4 ,these arguments have all been answered1 and the world still believes in ,shakespeare as before4 ,but ,i have thought it might be interesting to show how easily another argument could be made of an exactly opposite kind1--how easily all these proofs might be reversed4 ,i am inclined to think that if we are to believe that one man was the author both of the plays and of the philosophy1 it is much more probable that ,shakespeare wrote the works of ,bacon than that ,bacon wrote the works of ,shakespeare4 ,for there is no evidence that ,bacon was a poet as well as a philosopher2 but there is ample evidence that ,shakespeare was a philosopher as well as a poet4 ,this1 no doubt1 assumes that ,shakespeare actually wrote the plays2 but this we have a right to assume1 in the outset of the discussion1 in order to stand on an equal ground with our opponents4 ,the ,bacon vs4 ,shakespeare argument runs thus3 ,assuming that ,lord ,bacon wrote the works commonly attributed to him1 there is reason to believe that he also wrote the plays and poems commonly attributed to ,shakespeare4 ,the counter argument would then be3 ,assuming that ,shakespeare wrote the plays1 and poems commonly attributed to him1 there is reason to believe that he also wrote the works commonly attributed to ,bacon4 ,this is clearly the fair basis of the discussion4 ,what is assumed on the one side on behalf of ,bacon we have a right to assume on the other on behalf of ,shakespeare4 ,but before proceeding on this basis1 ,i must reply to the only argument of ,judge ,holmes which has much apparent weight4 ,he contends that it was impossible for ,shakespeare1 with the opportunities he possessed1 to acquire the knowledge which we find in the plays4 ,genius1 however great1 cannot give the knowledge of medical and legal terms1 nor of the ancient languages4 ,now1 it has been shown that the plays afford evidence of a great knowledge of law and medicine2 and of works in ,latin and ,greek1 ,french and ,italian4 ,how could such information have been obtained by a boy who had no advantages of study except at a country grammar school1 which he left at the age of fourteen1 who went to ,london at twenty-three and became an actor1 and who spent most of his life as actor1 theatrical proprietor1 and man of business8 ,this objection presents difficulties to us1 and for our time1 when boys sometimes spend years in the study of ,latin grammar4 ,we cannot understand the rapidity with which all sorts of knowledge were imbibed in the period of the ,renaissance4 ,then every one studied everything4 ,then ,greek and ,latin books were read by prince and peasant1 by queens and generals4 ,then all sciences and arts were learned by men and women1 by young and old4 ,thus speaks ,robert ,burton--who was forty years old when ,shakespeare died3 ,what a world of books offers itself1 in all subjects1 arts and sciences1 to the sweet content and capacity of the reader6 ,in arithmetic1 geometry1 perspective1 opticks1 astronomy1 architecture1 sculptura1 pictura1 of which so many and elaborate treatises have lately been written2 in mechanics and their mysteries1 military matters1 navigation1 riding of horses1 fencing1 swimming1 gardening1 planting1 great tomes of husbandry1 cookery1 faulconry1 hunting1 fishing1 fowling2 with exquisite pictures of all sports and games4444 ,what vast tomes are extant in law1 physic1 and divinity1 for profit1 pleasure1 practice4444 ,some take an infinite delight to study the very languages in which these books were written3 ,hebrew1 ,greek1 ,syriac1 ,chaldee1 ,arabick1 and the like4 ,this was the fashion of that day1 to study all languages1 all subjects1 all authors4 ,a mind like that of ,shakespeare could not have failed to share this universal desire for knowledge4 ,after leaving the grammar school1 he had nine years for such studies before he went to ,london4 ,as soon as he began to write plays1 he had new motives for study2 for the subjects of the drama in vogue were often taken from classic story4 ,but ,shakespeare had access to another source of knowledge besides the study of books4 ,when he reached ,london1 five or six play-houses were in full activity1 and new plays were produced every year in vast numbers4 ,new plays were then in constant demand1 just as the new novel and new daily or weekly paper are called for now4 ,the drama was the periodical literature of the time4 ,dramatic authors wrote with wonderful rapidity1 borrowing their subjects from plays already on the stage1 and from classic or recent history4 ,marlowe1 ,greene1 ,lyly1 ,peele1 ,kyd1 ,lodge1 ,nash1 ,chettle1 ,munday1 ,wilson1 were all dramatic writers before ,shakespeare4 ,philip ,henslowe1 a manager or proprietor of the theatres1 bought two hundred and seventy plays in about ten years4 ,thomas ,heywood wrote a part or the whole of two hundred and twenty plays during his dramatic career4 ,each acted play furnished material for some other4 ,they were the property of the play-houses1 not of the writers4 ,one writer after another has accused ,shakespeare of indifference to his reputation1 because he did not publish a complete and revised edition of his works during his life4 ,how could he do this1 since they did not belong to him1 but to the theatre8 ,yet every writer was at full liberty to make use of all he could remember of other plays1 as he saw them acted2 and ,shakespeare was not slow to use this opportunity4 ,no doubt he gained knowledge in this way1 which he afterward employed much better than did the authors from whom he took it4 ,the first plays printed under ,shakespeare's name did not appear till he had been connected with the stage eleven years4 ,this gives time enough for him to have acquired all the knowledge to be found in his books4 ,that he had read ,latin and ,greek books we are told by ,ben ,jonson2 though that great scholar undervalued1 as was natural1 ,shakespeare's attainments in those languages4 ,but ,ben ,jonson himself furnishes the best reply to those who think that ,shakespeare could not have gained much knowledge of science or literature because he did not go to ,oxford or ,cambridge4 ,what opportunities had ,ben ,jonson8 ,a bricklayer by trade1 called back immediately from his studies to use the trowel2 then running away and enlisting as a common soldier2 fighting in the ,low ,countries2 coming home at nineteen1 and going on the stage2 sent to prison for fighting a duel--what opportunities for study had he8 ,he was of a strong animal nature1 combative1 in perpetual quarrels1 fond of drink1 in pecuniary troubles1 married at twenty1 with a wife and children to support4 ,yet ,jonson was celebrated for his learning4 ,he was master of ,greek and ,latin literature4 ,he took his characters from ,athenus1 ,libanius1 ,philostratus4 ,somehow he had found time for all this study4 ,greek and ,latin thought1 says ,taine1 were incorporated with his own1 and made a part of it4 ,he knew alchemy1 and was as familiar with alembics1 retorts1 crucibles1 etc41 as if he had passed his life in seeking the philosopher's stone4 ,he seems to have had a specialty in every branch of knowledge4 ,he had all the methods of ,latin art1--possessed the brilliant conciseness of ,seneca and ,lucan4 ,if ,ben ,jonson--a bricklayer1 a soldier1 a fighter1 a drinker--could yet find time to acquire this vast knowledge1 is there any reason why ,shakespeare1 with much more leisure1 might not have done the like8 ,he did not possess as much ,greek and ,latin lore as ,ben ,jonson1 who1 probably1 had ,shakespeare in his mind when he wrote the following passage in his ,poetaster3 ,his learning savors not the school-like gloss ,that most consists in echoing words and terms1 ,and soonest wins a man an empty name2 ,nor any long or far-fetched circumstance ,wrapt in the curious generalties of art-- ,but a direct and analytic sum ,of all the worth and first effects of art4 ,and for his poesy1 'tis so rammed with life1 ,that it shall gather strength of life with being1 ,and live hereafter more admired than now4 ,the only other serious proof offered in support of the proposition that ,bacon wrote the immortal ,shakespearean drama is that certain coincidences of thought and language are found in the works of the two writers4 ,when we examine them1 however1 they seem very insignificant4 ,take1 as an example1 two or three1 on which ,judge ,holmes relies1 and which he thinks very striking4 ,holmes says 7page #dh7 that ,bacon quotes ,aristotle1 who said that young men were no fit hearers of moral philosophy1 and ,shakespeare says 7,troilus and ,cressida73-- ,unlike young men whom ,aristotle thought ,unfit to hear moral philosophy4 ,but since ,bacon's remark was published in #afje1 and ,troilus and ,cressida did not appear until #afji1 ,shakespeare might have seen it there1 and introduced it into his play from his recollection of the passage in the ,advancement of ,learning4 ,another coincidence mentioned by ,holmes is that both writers use the word thrust3 ,bacon saying that a ship thrust into ,weymouth2 and ,shakespeare1 that ,milan was thrust from ,milan4 ,he also thinks it cannot be an accident that both frequently use the word wilderness1 though in very different ways4 ,both also compare ,queen ,elizabeth to a star4 ,bacon makes ,atlantis an island in mid-ocean2 and the island of ,prospero is also in mid-ocean4 ,both have a good deal to say about mirrors1 and props1 and like phrases4 ,such reasoning as this has very little weight4 ,you cannot prove two contemporaneous writings to have proceeded from one author by the same words and phrases being found in both2 for these are in the vocabulary of the time1 and are the common property of all who read and write4 ,my position is that if either of these writers wrote the works attributed to the other1 it is much more likely that ,shakespeare wrote the philosophical works of ,bacon than that ,bacon wrote the poetical works of ,shakespeare4 ,assuming then1 as we have a right to do in this argument1 that ,shakespeare wrote the plays1 what reasons are there for believing that he also wrote the philosophy8 ,first1 this assumption will explain at once that hitherto insoluble problem of the contradiction between ,bacon's character and conduct and his works4 ,how could he have been1 at the same time1 what ,pope calls him1-- ,the wisest1 brightest1 meanest of mankind8 ,he was1 in his philosophy1 the leader of his age1 the reformer of old abuses1 the friend of progress4 ,in his conduct1 he was1 as ,macaulay has shown1 far behind his age1--far behind ,sir ,edward ,coke2 clinging to exploded abuses1 withstanding the progress of improvement1 struggling to push back the human mind4 ,in his writings1 he was calm1 dignified1 noble4 ,in his life1 he was an office-seeker through long years1 seeking place by cringing subservience to men in power1 made wretched to the last degree when office was denied him1 addressing servile supplications to noblemen and to the sovereign4 ,to gain and keep office he would desert his friends1 attack his benefactors1 and make abject apologies for any manly word he might have incautiously uttered4 ,his philosophy rose far above earth and time1 and sailed supreme in the air of universal reason4 ,but his desires were set on things below4 ,wealth1 precedence1 titles1 patronage1 the mace1 the seals1 the coronet1 large houses1 fair gardens1 rich manors1 massy services of plate1 gay hangings1 were objects for which he stooped to everything and endured everything4 ,these words of ,macaulay have been thought too severe4 ,but we defy any admirer of ,bacon to read his life1 by ,spedding1 without admitting their essential truth4 ,how was it possible for a man to spend half of his life in the meanest of pursuits1 and the other half in the noblest8 ,this difficulty is removed if we suppose that ,bacon1 the courtier and lawyer1 with his other ambitions1 was desirous of the fame of a great philosopher2 and that he induced ,shakespeare1 then in the prime of his powers1 to help him write the prose essays and treatises which are his chief works4 ,he has himself admitted that he did actually ask the aid of the dramatists of his time in writing his books4 ,this remarkable fact is stated by ,bacon in a letter to ,tobie ,matthew1 written in ,june1 #afbc1 in which he says that he is devoting himself to making his writings more perfect--instancing the ,essays and the ,advancement of ,learning--by the help of some good pens1 which forsake me not4 ,one of these pens was that of ,ben ,jonson1 the other might easily have been that of ,shakespeare4 ,certainly there was no better pen in ,england at that time than his4 ,when ,shakespeare's plays were being produced1 ,lord ,bacon was fully occupied in his law practice1 his parliamentary duties1 and his office-seeking4 ,the largest part of the ,shakespeare drama was put on the stage1 as modern research renders probable1 in the ten or twelve years beginning with #aeij4 ,in #aeig ,shakespeare was rich enough to buy the new place at ,stratford-on-,avon1 and was also lending money4 ,in #afjd he was part owner of the ,globe ,theatre1 so that the majority of the plays which gained for him this fortune must have been produced before that time4 ,now1 these were just the busiest years of ,bacon's life4 ,in #aehd he was elected to ,parliament4 ,about the same time1 he wrote his famous letter to ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,in #aehe he was already seeking office from ,walsingham and ,burleigh4 ,in #aehf he sat in ,parliament for ,taunton1 and was active in debate and on committees4 ,he became a bencher in the same year1 and began to plead in the courts of ,westminster4 ,in #aehi he became queen's counsel1 and member of ,parliament for ,liverpool4 ,after this he continued active1 both in ,parliament and at the bar4 ,he sought1 by the help of ,essex1 to become ,attorney-,general4 ,from that period1 as crown lawyer1 his whole time and thought were required to trace and frustrate the conspiracies with which the kingdom was full4 ,it was evident that during these years he had no time to compose fifteen or twenty of the greatest works in any literature4 ,but how was ,shakespeare occupied when ,bacon's philosophy appeared8 ,the ,advancement of ,learning was published in #afje1 after most of the plays had been written1 as we learn from the fact of ,shakespeare's purchase of houses and lands4 ,the ,novum ,organum was published in #afbj1 after ,shakespeare's death4 ,but it had been written years before2 revised1 altered1 and copied again and again--it is said twelve times4 ,bacon had been engaged upon it during thirty years1 and it was at last published incomplete and in fragments4 ,if ,shakespeare assisted in the composition of this work1 his death in #afaf would account1 at once1 for its being left unfinished4 ,and ,shakespeare would have had ample time to furnish the ideas of the ,organum in the last years of his life1 when he had left the theatre4 ,in #afac he bought a house in ,black ,friars1 where ,ben ,jonson also lived4 ,might not this have been that they might more conveniently coperate in assisting ,bacon to write the ,novum ,organum8 ,when we ask whether it would have been easier for the author of the philosophy to have composed the drama1 or the dramatic poet to have written the philosophy1 the answer will depend on which is the greater work of the two4 ,the greater includes the less1 but the less cannot include the greater4 ,now1 the universal testimony of modern criticism in ,england1 ,germany1 and ,france declares that no larger1 deeper1 or ampler intellect has ever appeared than that which produced the ,shakespeare drama4 ,this myriad-minded poet was also philosopher1 man of the world1 acquainted with practical affairs1 one of those who saw the present and foresaw the future4 ,all the ideas of the ,baconian philosophy might easily have had their home in this vast intelligence4 ,great as are the thoughts of the ,novum ,organum1 they are far inferior to that world of thought which is in the drama4 ,we can easily conceive that ,shakespeare1 having produced in his prime the wonders and glories of the plays1 should in his after leisure have developed the leading ideas of the ,baconian philosophy4 ,but it is difficult to imagine that ,bacon1 while devoting his main strength to politics1 to law1 and to philosophy1 should as a mere pastime for his leisure1 have produced in his idle moments the greatest intellectual work ever done on earth4 ,if the greater includes the less1 the mind of ,shakespeare includes that of ,bacon1 and not vice versa4 ,this will appear more plainly if we consider the quality of intellect displayed respectively in the dramas and the philosophy4 ,the one is synthetic1 creative2 the other analytic1 critical4 ,the one puts together1 the other takes apart and examines4 ,now1 the genius which can put together can also take apart2 but it by no means follows that the power of taking apart implies that of putting together4 ,a watch-maker1 who can put a watch together1 can easily take it to pieces2 but many a child who has taken his watch to pieces has found it impossible to put it together again4 ,when we compare the ,shakespeare plays and the ,baconian philosophy1 it is curious to see how the one is throughout a display of the synthetic intellect1 and the other of the analytic4 ,the plays are pure creation1 the production of living wholes4 ,they people our thought with a race of beings who are living persons1 and not pale abstractions4 ,these airy nothings take flesh and form1 and have a name and local habitation forever on the earth4 ,hamlet1 ,desdemona1 ,othello1 ,miranda1 are as real people as ,queen ,elizabeth or ,mary of ,scotland4 ,but when we turn to the ,baconian philosophy1 this faculty is absent4 ,we have entered the laboratory of a great chemist1 and are surrounded by retorts and crucibles1 tests and re-agents1 where the work done is a careful analysis of all existing things1 to find what are their constituents and their qualities4 ,poetry creates1 philosophy takes to pieces and examines4 ,it is1 ,i think1 a historic fact1 that while those authors whose primary quality is poetic genius have often been also1 on a lower plane1 eminent as philosophers1 there is1 perhaps1 not a single instance of one whose primary distinction was philosophic analysis1 who has also been1 on a lower plane1 eminent as a poet4 ,milton1 ,petrarch1 ,goethe1 ,lucretius1 ,voltaire1 ,coleridge1 were primarily and eminently poets2 but all excelled1 too1 in a less degree1 as logicians1 metaphysicians1 men of science1 and philosophers4 ,but what instance have we of any man like ,bacon1 chiefly eminent as lawyer1 statesman1 and philosopher1 who was also distinguished1 though in a less degree1 as a poet8 ,among great lawyers1 is there one eminent also as a dramatic or lyric author8 ,cicero tried it1 but his verses are only doggerel4 ,in ,lord ,campbell's list of the lord chancellors and chief justices of ,england no such instance appears4 ,if ,bacon wrote the ,shakespeare drama1 he is the one exception to an otherwise universal rule4 ,but if ,shakespeare coperated in the production of the ,baconian philosophy1 he belongs to a class of poets who have done the same4 ,coleridge was one of the most imaginative of poets4 ,his ,christabel and ,ancient ,mariner are pure creations4 ,but in later life he originated a new system of philosophy in ,england1 the influence of which has not ceased to be felt to our day4 ,the case would be exactly similar if we suppose that ,shakespeare1 having ranged the realm of imaginative poetry in his youth1 had in his later days of leisure coperated with ,bacon and ,ben ,jonson in producing the ,advancement of ,learning and the ,novum ,organum4 ,we can easily think of them as meeting1 sometimes at the house of ,ben ,jonson1 sometimes at that of ,shakespeare in ,black ,friars1 and sometimes guests at that private house built by ,lord ,bacon for purposes of study1 near his splendid palace of ,gorhambury4 ,a most ingeniously contrived house1 says ,basil ,montagu1 where1 in the society of his philosophical friends1 he devoted himself to study and meditation4 ,aubrey tells us that he had the aid of ,hobbes in writing down his thoughts4 ,lord ,bacon appears to have possessed the happy gift of using other men's faculties in his service4 ,ben ,jonson1 who had been a thorough student of chemistry1 alchemy1 and science in all the forms then known1 aided ,bacon in his observations of nature4 ,hobbes aided him in giving clearness to his thoughts and his language4 ,and from ,shakespeare he may have derived the radical and central ideas of his philosophy4 ,he used the help of ,dr4 ,playfer to translate his philosophy into ,latin4 ,tobie ,matthew gives him the last argument of ,galileo for the ,copernican system4 ,he sends his works to others1 begging them to correct the thoughts and the style4 ,it is evident1 then1 that he would have been glad of the concurrence of ,shakespeare1 and that could easily be had1 through their common friend1 ,ben ,jonson4 ,if ,bacon wrote the plays of ,shakespeare1 it is difficult to give any satisfactory reason for his concealment of that authorship4 ,he had much pride1 not to say vanity1 in being known as an author4 ,he had his name attached to all his other works1 and sent them as presents to the universities1 and to individuals1 with letters calling their attention to these books4 ,would he have been willing permanently to conceal the fact of his being the author of the best poetry of his time8 ,the reasons assigned by ,judge ,holmes for this are not satisfactory4 ,they are3 his desire to rise in the profession of the law1 the low reputation of a play-writer1 his wish to write more freely under an incognito1 and his wish to rest his reputation on his philosophical works4 ,but if he were reluctant to be regarded as the author of ,lear and ,hamlet1 he was willing to be known as the writer of ,masques1 and a play about ,arthur1 exhibited by the students of ,gray's ,inn4 ,it is an error to say that the reputation of a play-writer was low4 ,judge ,holmes1 himself1 tells us that there was nothing remarkable in a barrister of the inns of court writing for the stage4 ,ford and ,beaumont were both lawyers as well as eminent play-writers4 ,lord ,backhurst1 ,lord ,brooke1 ,sir ,henry ,wotton1 all wrote plays4 ,and we find nothing in the ,shakespeare dramas which ,bacon need have feared to say under his own name4 ,it would have been ruin to ,sir ,philip ,francis to have avowed himself the author of ,junius4 ,but the ,shakespeare plays satirized no one1 and made no enemies4 ,if there were any reasons for concealment1 they certainly do not apply to the year #afbc1 when the first folio appeared1 which was after the death of ,shakespeare and the fall of ,bacon4 ,the acknowledgment of their authorship at that time could no longer interfere with ,bacon's rise4 ,and it would be very little to the credit of his intelligence to assume that he was not then aware of the value of such works1 or that he did not desire the reputation of being their author4 ,it would have been contrary to his very nature not to have wished for the credit of that authorship4 ,on the other hand1 there would be nothing surprising in the fact of ,shakespeare's laying no claim to credit for having assisted in the composition of the ,advancement of ,learning4 ,shakespeare was by nature as reticent and modest as ,bacon was egotistical and ostentatious4 ,what a veil is drawn over the poet's personality in his sonnets6 ,we read in them his inmost sentiments1 but they tell us absolutely nothing of the events of his life1 or the facts of his position4 ,and if1 as we assume1 he was one among several who helped ,lord ,bacon1 though he might have done the most1 there was no special reason why he should proclaim that fact4 ,gervinus has shown1 in three striking pages1 the fundamental harmony between the ideas and mental tendencies of ,shakespeare and ,bacon4 ,their philosophy of man and of life was the same4 ,if1 then1 ,bacon needed to be helped in thinking out his system1 there was no one alive who would have given him such stimulus and encouragement as ,shakespeare4 ,this also may explain his not mentioning the name of ,shakespeare in his works2 for that might have called too much attention to the source from which he received this important aid4 ,nevertheless1 ,i regard the monistic theory as in the last degree improbable4 ,we have two great authors1 and not one only4 ,but if we are compelled to accept the view which ascribes a common source to the ,shakespeare drama and the ,baconian philosophy1 ,i think there are good reasons for preferring ,shakespeare to ,bacon as the author of both4 ,when the plays appeared1 ,bacon was absorbed in pursuits and ambitions foreign to such work2 his accepted writings show no sign of such creative power2 he was the last man in the world not to take the credit of such a success1 and had no motive to conceal his authorship4 ,on the other hand1 there was a period in ,shakespeare's life when he had abundant leisure to coperate in the literary plans of ,bacon2 his ample intellect was full of the ideas which took form in those works2 and he was just the person neither to claim nor to desire any credit for lending such assistance4 ,there is1 certainly1 every reason to believe that1 among his other ambitions1 ,bacon desired that of striking out a new path of discovery1 and initiating a better method in the study of nature4 ,but we know that1 in doing this1 he sought aid in all quarters1 and especially among ,shakespeare's friends and companions4 ,it is highly probable1 therefore1 that he became acquainted with the great dramatist1 and that ,shakespeare knew of ,bacon's designs and became interested in them4 ,and if so1 who could offer better suggestions than he2 and who would more willingly accept them than the overworked statesman and lawyer1 who wished to be also a philosopher8 ,finally1 we may refer those who believe that the shape of the brow and head indicates the quality of mental power to the portraits of the two men4 ,the head of ,shakespeare1 according to all the busts and pictures which remain to us1 belongs to the type which antiquity has transmitted to us in the portraits of ,homer and ,plato4 ,in this vast dome of thought there was room for everything4 ,the head of ,bacon is also a grand one1 but less ample1 less complete--less ,teres1 totus atque rotundus4 ,these portraits therefore agree with all we know of the writings1 in showing us which1 and which only1 of the two minds was capable of containing the other4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,a ,,great ,,poem#d ,there are at least three existing manuscripts of ,grays ,elegy1 in the author's autograph4 ,the earliest1 containing the largest number of variations and the most curious1 is that now in the possession of ,sir ,william ,fraser in ,london1 and for which he paid the large sum of #bcj1 in #ahge4 ,by the kindness of ,sir ,william ,fraser1 ,i examined this manuscript at his rooms in ,london1 in #ahhb4 ,a facsimile copy of this valuable autograph1 photographed from the original in #ahfb1 is now before me4 ,a second copy in the handwriting of ,gray1 called the ,pembroke manuscript1 is in the library of ,pembroke ,hall1 ,cambridge4 ,a facsimile of this autograph appears in ,matthias's edition of ,mason's ,gray1 published in #ahad4 ,a third copy1 in the poet's handwriting1 copied by him for his friend1 ,dr4 ,wharton1 is in the ,british ,museum4 ,i examined this1 also1 in #ahhb1 and had an accurate copy made for me by one of the assistants in the museum4 ,this was written after the other two1 as is evident from the fact that it approaches most nearly to the form which the ,elegy finally assumed when printed4 ,there are only nine or ten expressions in this manuscript which differ from the poem as published by ,gray4 ,most of these are unimportant4 ,or he changed1 in three places1 into and4 ,and in our ashes he changed into ,even in our ashes1 which was a clear improvement4 ,it was not until after this third copy was written that the improvement was made which changed ,forgive1 ye ,proud1 the involuntary ,fault1 ,if ,memory to ,these no ,trophies raise1 into ,nor you1 ye proud1 impute to these the fault1 ,if ,memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise4 ,another important alteration of a single word was also made after this third manuscript was written4 ,this was the change1 in the forty-fifth stanza1 of ,reins of ,empire into ,rod of ,empire4 ,the ,elegy in a ,country ,churchyard became at once one of the most popular poems in the language1 and has remained so to this time4 ,it has been equally a favorite with common readers1 with literary men1 and with poets4 ,its place will always be in the highest rank of ,english poetry4 ,the fact1 however1 is--and it is a very curious fact--that this first-class poem was the work of a third-class poet4 ,for ,thomas ,gray certainly does not stand in the first class with ,shakespeare1 ,spenser1 and ,milton4 ,nor can he fairly be put in the second class with ,dryden1 ,pope1 ,burns1 ,wordsworth1 and ,byron4 ,he belongs to the third1 with ,cowley1 ,cowper1 ,shelley1 and ,keats4 ,there may be a doubt concerning some of whom ,i have named1 but there can be no doubt that ,gray will never stand higher than those who may be placed by critics in the third class4 ,yet it is equally certain that he has produced a first-class poem4 ,how is this paradox to be explained8 ,what is the charm of ,gray's ,elegy8 ,the thoughts are sufficiently commonplace4 ,that all men must die1 that the most humble may have had in them some power which1 under other circumstances1 might have made them famous1--these are somewhat trite statements2 but the fascination of the verses consists in the tone1 solemn but serene1 which pervades them2 in the pictures of coming night1 of breaking day1 of cheerful rural life1 of happy homes2 and lastly1 in the perfect finish of the verse and the curious felicity of the diction4 ,in short1 the poem is a work of high art4 ,it was not inspired1 but it was carefully elaborated4 ,and this appears plainly when we compare it1 as it stands in the ,fraser manuscript1 with its final form4 ,this poem was a work of eight years4 ,its heading in the ,fraser manuscript is ,stanzas ,wrote in a ,country ,churchyard4 ,it was1 however1 begun at ,stoke in #agdb1 continued at ,cambridge1 and had its last touches added at ,stoke-,pogis1 ,june #ab1 #agej4 ,in a letter to ,horace ,walpole of that date1 ,gray says1 ,having put an end to a thing whose beginning you saw long ago1 ,i immediately send it to you4 ,the corrections made by ,gray during this period were many1 and were probably all improvements4 ,many poets when they try to improve their verses only injure them4 ,but ,gray's corrections were invariably for the better4 ,we may even say that1 if it had been published as it was first written1 and as it now stands in the ,fraser manuscript1 it would have ranked only with the best poetry of ,shenstone or ,cowper4 ,let me indicate some of the most important changes4 ,in line seventeen1 the fine epithet of incense-breathing was an addition4 ,the breezy call of incense-breathing morn1 for the ,fraser manuscript reads-- ,forever sleep4 ,the breezy call of morn4 ,nineteenth line1 ,fraser manuscript has-- ,or chanticleer so shrill1 or echoing horn1 corrected to ,the cock's shrill clarion1 or the echoing horn4 ,twenty-fourth--,coming kiss was corrected to envied kiss4 ,forty-third--,awake the silent dust was corrected to provoke the silent dust4 ,forty-seventh--,the correction of ,reins of ,empire to ,rod of ,empire first appears in the margin of the ,pembroke manuscript4 ,fifty-seventh--,in the ,fraser manuscript it reads-- ,some village ,cato1 who with dauntless breast1 ,some mute1 inglorious ,tully here may rest2 ,some ,csar1 etc4 ,in the ,pembroke manuscript1 these classical personages have disappeared1 and the great improvement was made of substituting ,hampden1 ,milton1 and ,cromwell1 and thus maintaining the ,english coloring of the poem4 ,fifty-first--,this verse1 beginning1 ,but ,knowledge1 etc41 was placed1 in the ,fraser manuscript1 after the one beginning1 ,some village ,cato1 but with a note in the margin to transfer it to where it now stands4 ,the third line of the stanza was first written1 ,chill ,penury had damped4 ,this was first corrected to depressed1 and afterward to repressed4 ,fifty-fifth--,their fate forbade1 changed to ,their lot forbade4 ,sixty-sixth--,their struggling virtues was improved to ,their growing virtues4 ,seventy-first--,crown the shrine was altered to heap the shrine1 and in the next line ,incense hallowed by the muse's flame was wisely changed to ,incense kindled by the muse's flame4 ,after the seventy-second line stand1 in the ,fraser manuscript1 the following stanzas1 which ,gray1 with admirable taste1 afterward omitted4 ,but1 before he decided to leave them out altogether1 he drew a black line down the margin1 indicating that he would transfer them to another place4 ,these stanzas were originally intended to close the poem4 ,afterward the thought occurred to him of the hoary-headed swain and the ,epitaph4 ,the thoughtless ,world to ,majesty may bow1 ,exalt the ,brave and idolize ,success1 ,but more to ,innocence their safety owe ,than ,power and ,genius e'er conspire to bless4 ,and thou1 who1 mindful of the unhonored ,dead1 ,dost1 in these ,notes1 their artless ,tale relate1 ,by ,night and lonely ,contemplation led ,to linger in the gloomy ,walks of ,fate2 ,hark1 how the sacred ,calm that broods around ,bids every fierce1 tumultuous ,passion cease1 ,in still1 small ,accents whispering from the ,ground ,a grateful ,earnest of eternal ,peace4 ,no more with ,reason and thyself at ,strife1 ,give anxious ,cares and useless ,wishes room2 ,but through the cool1 sequestered ,vale of ,life ,pursue the silent ,tenor of thy ,doom4 ,after these stanzas1 according to the ,fraser manuscript1 were to follow these lines1 which ,i do not remember to have seen elsewhere3-- ,if chance that e'er some pensive ,spirit more1 ,by sympathetic ,musings here delayed1 ,with vain though kind ,enquiry shall explore ,thy once-loved ,haunt1 thy long-neglected ,shade1 ,haply1 etc4 ,but ,gray soon dispensed with this feeble stanza1 and made a new one by changing it into the one beginning3-- ,for thee1 who mindful4 ,the ninety-ninth and one hundredth lines stand in the ,fraser manuscript-- ,with hasty footsteps brush the dews away ,on the high brow of yonder hanging lawn4 ,the following stanza is noticeable for the inversions so frequent in ,gray1 and which he had1 perhaps1 unconsciously adopted from his familiarity with the classics4 ,he afterward omitted it3-- ,him have we seen the greenwood side along1 ,while o'er the heath we hied1 our labors done4 ,oft as the wood-lark piped her farewell song1 ,with wistful eyes pursue the setting sun4 ,in the manuscript the word is spelled whistful4 ,in line #aja1 hoary beech is corrected to spreading beech1 and afterward to nodding beech4 ,line #aac--;,dirges meet was changed to dirges dire2 and after #aaf came the beautiful stanza1 afterward omitted by ,gray as being de trop in this place3-- ,there1 scattered oft1 the earliest of the year1 ,by hands unseen1 are showers of violets found2 ,the redbreast loves to build and warble there1 ,and little footsteps lightly print the ground4 ,even in this verse there were two corrections4 ,robin was altered in the ,fraser manuscript into redbreast1 and frequent violets into showers of violets4 ,one of the most curious accidents to which this famous poem has been subjected was an erroneous change made in the early editions1 which has been propagated almost to our time4 ,in the stanza beginning-- ,the boast of ,heraldry1 the pomp of ,power1 ,gray wrote ,awaits alike the inevitable ,hour4 ,and so it stands in all three manuscripts1 and in the printed edition which he himself superintended4 ,his meaning was1 ,the inevitable ,hour awaits everything4 ,it stands there1 waiting the boast of ,heraldry1 etc4 ,but his editors1 misled by his inverted style1 supposed that it was the gifts of ,heraldry1 ,power1 ,beauty1 etc41 that were waiting1 and therefore corrected what they thought ,gray's bad grammar1 and printed the word await4 ,but so they destroyed the meaning4 ,these things were not waiting at all for the dread hour2 they were enjoying themselves1 careless of its approach4 ,but the hour was waiting for them4 ,gray's original reading has been restored in the last editions4 ,in tracing the development of this fine poem1 we see it gradually improving under his careful touch1 till it becomes a work of high art4 ,in some poets--,wordsworth1 for example--inspiration is at its maximum1 and art at its minimum4 ,in ,gray1 ,i think1 inspiration was at its minimum1 and art at its maximum4 ,,religious ,,and ,,philosophical ,,affinities ,,of ,,buddhism ,,and ,,christianity#e ,it has long been known that many analogies exist between ,buddhism and ,christianity4 ,the ceremonies1 ritual1 and rites of the ,buddhists strikingly resemble those of the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,the ,buddhist priests are monks4 ,they take the same three vows of poverty1 chastity1 and obedience which are binding on those of the ,roman ,church4 ,they are mendicants1 like the mendicant orders of ,st4 ,francis and ,st4 ,dominic4 ,they are tonsured2 use strings of beads1 like the rosary1 with which to count their prayers2 have incense and candles in their worship2 use fasts1 processions1 litanies1 and holy water4 ,they have something akin to the adoration of saints2 repeat prayers in an unknown tongue2 have a chanted psalmody with a double choir2 and suspend the censer from five chains4 ,in ,china1 some ,buddhists worship the image of a virgin1 called the ,queen of ,heaven1 having an infant in her arms1 and holding a cross4 ,in ,thibet the ,grand ,lamas wear a mitre1 dalmatica1 and cope1 and pronounce a benediction on the laity by extending the right hand over their heads4 ,the ,dalai-,lama resembles the ,pope1 and is regarded as the head of the ,church4 ,the worship of relics is very ancient among the ,buddhists1 and so are pilgrimages to sacred places4 ,besides these resemblances in outward ceremonies1 more important ones appear in the inner life and history of the two religions4 ,both belong to those systems which derive their character from a human founder1 and not from a national tendency2 to the class which contains the religions of ,moses1 ,zoroaster1 ,confucius1 and ,mohammed1 and not to that in which the ,brahmanical1 ,egyptian1 ,scandinavian1 ,greek1 and ,roman religions are found4 ,both ,buddhism and ,christianity are catholic1 and not ethnic2 that is1 not confined to a single race or nation1 but by their missionary spirit passing beyond these boundaries1 and making converts among many races4 ,christianity began among the ,jews as a ,semitic religion1 but1 being rejected by the ,jewish nation1 established itself among the ,aryan races of ,europe4 ,in the same way ,buddhism1 beginning among an ,aryan people--the ,hindoos--was expelled from ,hindostan1 and established itself among the ,mongol races of ,eastern ,asia4 ,besides its resemblances to the ,roman ,catholic side of ,christendom1 ,buddhism has still closer analogies with the ,protestant ,church4 ,like ,protestantism1 it is a reform1 which rejects a hierarchal system and does away with a priestly caste4 ,like ,protestantism1 it has emphasized the purely humane side of life1 and is a religion of humanity rather than of piety4 ,both the ,christian and ,buddhist churches teach a divine incarnation1 and both worship a ,god-man4 ,are these remarkable analogies only casual resemblances1 or are they real affinities8 ,by affinity we here mean genetic relationship4 ,are ,buddhism and ,christianity related as mother and child1 one being derived from the other2 or are they related by both being derived from some common ancestor8 ,is either derived from the other1 as ,christianity from ,judaism1 or ,protestantism from the ,papal ,church8 ,that there can be no such affinity as this seems evident from history4 ,history shows no trace of the contact which would be required for such influence4 ,if ,christianity had taken its customs from ,buddhism1 or ,buddhism from ,christianity1 there must have been ample historic evidence of the fact4 ,but1 instead of this1 history shows that each has grown up by its own natural development1 and has unfolded its qualities separately and alone4 ,the law of evolution also teaches that such great systems do not come from imitation1 but as growths from a primal germ4 ,nor does history give the least evidence of a common ancestry from which both took their common traits4 ,we know that ,buddhism was derived from ,brahmanism1 and that ,christianity was derived from ,judaism4 ,now1 ,judaism and ,brahmanism have few analogies2 they could not1 therefore1 have transmitted to their offspring what they did not themselves possess4 ,brahmanism came from an ,aryan stock1 in ,central ,asia2 ,judaism from a ,semitic stem1 thousands of miles to the west4 ,if ,buddhism and ,christianity came from a common source1 that source must have antedated both the ,mosaic and ,brahmanical systems4 ,even then it would be a case of atavism in which the original type disappeared in the children1 to reappear in the later descendants4 ,are1 then1 these striking resemblances1 and others which are still to be mentioned1 only accidental analogies8 ,this does not necessarily follow2 for there is a third alternative4 ,they may be what are called in science homologies2 that is1 the same law working out similar results under the same conditions1 though under different circumstances4 ,the whale lives under different circumstances from other mammalia2 but being a mammal1 he has a like osseous structure4 ,what seems to be a fin1 being dissected1 turns out to be an arm1 with hand and fingers4 ,there are like homologies in history4 ,take the instance of the ,english and ,french revolutions4 ,in each case the legitimate king was tried1 condemned1 and executed4 ,a republic followed4 ,the republic gave way before a strong-handed usurper4 ,then the original race of kings was restored2 but1 having learned nothing and forgotten nothing1 they were displaced a second time1 and a constitutional monarch placed on the throne1 who1 though not the legitimate king1 still belonged to the same race4 ,here the same laws of human nature have worked out similar results2 for no one would suggest that ,france had copied its revolutions from ,england4 ,and1 in religion1 human nature reproduces similar customs and ceremonies under like conditions4 ,when1 for instance1 you have a mechanical system of prayer1 in which the number of prayers is of chief importance1 there must be some way of counting them1 and so the rosary has been invented independently in different religions4 ,we have no room to point out how this law has worked in other instances2 but it is enough to refer to the principle4 ,besides these resemblances between ,buddhism and ,christianity1 there are also some equally remarkable differences1 which should be noticed4 ,the first of these is the striking fact that ,buddhism has been unable to recognize the existence of the ,infinite ,being4 ,it has been called atheism by the majority of the best authorities4 ,even ,arthur ,lillie1 who defends this system from the charge of agnosticism1 says3#f ,an agnostic school of ,buddhism without doubt exists4 ,it professes plain atheism1 and holds that every mortal1 when he escapes from re-births1 and the causation of ,karma by the awakenment of the ,bodhi or gnosis1 will be annihilated4 ,this ,buddhism1 by ,eugne ,burnouf1 ,saint-,hilaire1 ,max ,mller1 ,csoma de ,krs1 and1 ,i believe1 almost every writer of note1 is pronounced the original ,buddhism1--the ,buddhism of the ,south4 ,almost every writer of note1 therefore1 who has studied ,buddhism in the ,pli1 ,singhalese1 ,chinese1 and other languages1 and has had direct access to its original sources1 has pronounced it a system of atheism4 ,but this opinion is opposed to the fact that ,buddhists have everywhere worshiped unseen and superhuman powers1 erected magnificent temples1 maintained an elaborate ritual1 and adored ,buddha as the supreme ruler of the worlds4 ,how shall we explain this paradox8 ,all depends on the definition we give to the word atheism4 ,if a system is atheistic which sees only the temporal1 and not the eternal2 which knows no ,god as the author1 creator1 and ruler of ,nature2 which ascribes the origin of the universe to natural causes1 to which only the finite is knowable1 and the infinite unknowable--then ,buddhism is atheism4 ,but1 in that case1 much of the polytheism of the world must be regarded as atheism2 for polytheism has largely worshiped finite gods4 ,the whole race of ,olympian deities were finite beings4 ,above them ruled the everlasting necessity of things4 ,but who calls the ,greek worshipers atheists8 ,the ,buddha1 to most ,buddhists1 is a finite being1 one who has passed through numerous births1 has reached ,nirvana1 and will one day be superseded by another ,buddha4 ,yet1 for the time1 he is the ,supreme ,being1 ,ruler of all the ,worlds4 ,he is the object of worship1 and really divine1 if in a subordinate sense4 ,i would not1 therefore1 call this religion atheism4 ,no religion which worships superhuman powers can justly be called atheistic on account of its meagre metaphysics4 ,how many ,christians there are who do not fully realize the infinite and eternal nature of the ,deity6 ,to many ,he is no more than the ,buddha is to his worshipers1--a supreme being1 a mighty ruler1 governing all things by his will4 ,how few see ,god everywhere in nature1 as ,jesus saw ,him1 letting his sun shine on the evil and good1 and sending his rain on the just and unjust4 ,how few see ,him in all of life1 so that not a sparrow dies1 or a single hair of the head falls1 without the ,father4 ,most ,christians recognize the ,deity only as occasionally interfering by special providences1 particular judgments1 and the like4 ,but in ,christianity this ignorance of the eternal nature of ,god is the exception1 while in ,buddhism it is the rule4 ,in the reaction against ,brahmanism1 the ,brahmanic faith in the infinite was lost4 ,in the fully developed system of the ancient ,hindoo religion the infinite overpowered the finite1 the temporal world was regarded as an illusion1 and only the eternal was real4 ,the reaction from this extreme was so complete as to carry the ,buddhists to the exact opposite4 ,if to the ,brahman all the finite visible world was only maya--illusion1 to the ,buddhists all the infinite unseen world was unknowable1 and practically nothing4 ,perhaps the most original feature of ,christianity is the fact that it has combined in a living synthesis that which in other systems was divided4 ,jesus regarded love to ,god and love to man as identical1--positing a harmonious whole of time and eternity1 piety and humanity1 faith and works1--and thus laid the foundation of a larger system than either ,brahmanism or ,buddhism4 ,he did not invent piety1 nor discover humanity4 ,long before he came the ,brahmanic literature had sounded the deepest depths of spiritual life1 and the ,buddhist missionaries had preached universal benevolence to mankind4 ,but the angelic hymn which foretold the new religion as bringing at once ,glory to ,god in the highest1 and on earth peace1 good will to men indicated the essence of the faith which was at the same time a heavenly love and an earthly blessing4 ,this difference of result in the two systems came probably from the different methods of their authors4 ,with ,jesus life was the source of knowledge2 the life was the light of men4 ,with the ,buddha1 reflection1 meditation1 thought was the source of knowledge4 ,in this1 however1 he included intuition no less than reflection4 ,sakya-muni understood perfectly that a mere intellectual judgment possessed little motive power2 therefore he was not satisfied till he had obtained an intuitive perception of truth4 ,that alone gave at once rest and power4 ,but as the pure intellect1 even in its highest act1 is unable to grasp the infinite1 the ,buddha was an agnostic on this side of his creed by the very success of his method4 ,who1 by searching1 can find out ,god8 ,the infinite can only be known by the process of living experience4 ,this was the method of ,jesus1 and has been that of his religion4 ,for what is faith but that receptive state of mind which waits on the ,lord to receive the illumination which it cannot create by its own processes8 ,however this may be1 it is probable that the fatal defect in ,buddhism which has neutralized its generous philanthropy and its noble humanities has been the absence of the inspiration which comes from the belief in an eternal world4 ,man is too great to be satisfied with time alone1 or eternity alone2 he needs to live from and for both4 ,hence1 ,buddhism is an arrested religion1 while ,christianity is progressive4 ,christianity has shown the capacity of outgrowing its own defects and correcting its own mistakes4 ,for example1 it has largely outgrown its habit of persecuting infidels and heretics4 ,no one is now put to death for heresy4 ,it has also passed out of the stage in which religion is considered to consist in leaving the world and entering a monastery4 ,the anchorites of the early centuries are no longer to be found in ,christendom4 ,even in ,catholic countries the purpose of monastic life is no longer to save the soul by ascetic tortures1 but to attain some practical end4 ,the ,protestant ,reformation1 which broke the yoke of priestly power and set free the mind of ,europe1 was a movement originating in ,christianity itself1 like other developments of a similar kind4 ,no such signs of progress exist in the system of ,buddhism4 ,it has lost the missionary ardor of its early years2 it has ceased from creating a vast literature such as grew up in its younger days2 it no longer produces any wonders of architecture4 ,it even lags behind the active life of the countries where it has its greatest power4 ,it is a curious analogy between the two systems that1 while neither the ,christ nor the ,buddha practiced or taught asceticism1 their followers soon made the essence of religion to consist in some form of monastic life4 ,both ,jesus and ,sakya-muni went about doing good4 ,both sent their followers into the world to preach a gospel4 ,jesus1 after thirty years of a retired life1 came among men eating and drinking1 and associating with publicans and sinners4 ,sakya-muni1 after spending some years as an anchorite1 deliberately renounced that mode of religion as unsatisfactory1 and associated with all men1 as ,jesus afterward did4 ,within a few centuries after their death1 their followers relapsed into ascetic and monastic practices2 but with this difference1 that while in ,christendom there has always been both a regular and a secular clergy1 in the ,buddhist countries the whole priesthood live in monasteries4 ,they have no parish priests1 unless as an exception4 ,while in ,christian countries the clergy has become more and more a practical body1 in sympathy with the common life1 in ,buddhist lands they live apart and exercise little influence on the civil condition of the people4 ,nor must we pass by the important fact that the word ,christendom is synonymous with a progressive civilization1 while ,buddhism is everywhere connected with one which is arrested and stationary4 ,the boundaries of the ,christian religion are exactly coextensive with the advance of science1 art1 literature2 and with the continued accumulation of knowledge1 power1 wealth1 and the comforts of human life4 ,according to ,kuenen1#g one of the most recent students of these questions1 this difference is due to the principle of hope which exists in ,christianity1 but is absent in ,buddhism4 ,the one has always believed in a kingdom of ,god here and a blessed immortality hereafter4 ,buddhism has not this hope2 and this1 says ,kuenen1 is a blank which nothing can fill4 ,so large a thinker as ,albert ,rville has expressed his belief that even the intolerance of ,christianity indicated a passionate love of truth which has created modern science4 ,he says that if ,europe had not passed through those ages of intolerance1 it is doubtful whether the science of our day would ever have arrived4#h ,it is only within the boundaries of nations professing the ,christian faith that we must go to-day to learn the latest discoveries in science1 the best works of art1 the most flourishing literature4 ,only within the same circle of ,christian states is there a government by law1 and not by will4 ,only within these boundaries have the rights of the individual been secured1 while the power of the state has been increased4 ,government by law1 joined with personal freedom1 is only to be found where the faith exists which teaches that ,god not only supports the universal order of natural things1 but is also the friend of the individual soul2 and in just that circle of states in which the doctrine is taught that there is no individual soul for ,god to love and no ,divine presence in the order of nature1 human life has subsided into apathy1 progress has ceased1 and it has been found impossible to construct national unity4 ,saint-,hilaire affirms#i that in politics and legislation the dogma of ,buddhism has remained inferior even to that of ,brahmanism1 and has been able to do nothing to constitute states or to govern them by equitable rules4 ,these ,buddhist nations are really six3 ,siam1 ,burma1 ,nepaul1 ,thibet1 ,tartary1 and ,ceylon4 ,the activity and social progress in ,china and ,japan are no exceptions to this rule2 for in neither country has ,buddhism any appreciable influence on the character of the people4 ,to those who deny that the theology of a people influences its character1 it may be instructive to see how exactly the good and evil influences of ,buddhism correspond to the positive and negative traits of its doctrine4 ,its merits1 says ,saint-,hilaire1 are its practical character1 its abnegation of vulgar gratifications1 its benevolence1 mildness1 sentiment of human equality1 austerity of manners1 dislike of falsehood1 and respect for the family4 ,its defects are want of social power1 egotistical aims1 ignorance of the ideal good1 of the sense of human right and human freedom1 skepticism1 incurable despair1 contempt of life4 ,all its human qualities correspond to its doctrinal teaching from the beginning4 ,it has always taught benevolence1 patience1 self-denial1 charity1 and toleration4 ,its defects arise inevitably from its negative aim1--to get rid of sorrow and evil by sinking into apathy1 instead of seeking for the triumph of good and the coming of a reign of ,god here on the earth4 ,as regards the ,buddha himself1 modern students differ widely4 ,some1 of course1 deny his very existence1 and reduce him to a solar myth4 ,m4 ,emile ,senart1 as quoted by ,oldenberg1#aj following the ,lalita ,vistara as his authority1 makes of him a solar hero1 born of the morning cloud1 contending by the power of light with the demons of darkness1 rising in triumph to the zenith of heavenly glory1 then passing into the night of ,nirvana and disappearing from the scene4 ,the difficulty about this solar myth theory is that it proves too much2 it is too powerful a solvent2 it would dissolve all history4 ,how easy it would be1 in a few centuries1 to turn ,general ,washington and the ,american ,revolution into a solar myth6 ,great ,britain1 a region of clouds and rain1 represents the ,kingdom of ,darkness2 ,america1 with more sunshine1 is the ,day4 ,great ,britain1 as ,darkness1 wishes to devour the ,young ,day1 or dawn of light1 which ,america is about to diffuse over the earth4 ,but ,washington1 the solar hero1 arrives4 ,he is from ,virginia1 that is1 born of a virgin4 ,he was born in ,february1 in the sign of ,aquarius and the ,fishes1--plainly referring to the birth of the sun from the ocean4 ,as the sun surveys the earth1 so ,washington was said to be a surveyor of many regions4 ,the story of the fruitless attempts of the ,indians to shoot him at ,braddock's defeat is evidently legendary2 and1 in fact1 this battle itself must be a myth1 for how can we suppose two ,english and ,french armies to have crossed the ,atlantic1 and then gone into a wilderness west of the mountains1 to fight a battle8 ,so easy is it to turn history into a solar myth4 ,the character of ,sakya-muni must be learned from his religion and from authentic tradition4 ,in many respects his character and influence resembled that of ,jesus4 ,he opposed priestly assumptions1 taught the equality and brotherhood of man1 sent out disciples to teach his doctrine1 was a reformer who relied on the power of truth and love4 ,many of his reported sayings resemble those of ,jesus4 ,he was opposed by the ,brahmans as ,jesus by the ,pharisees4 ,he compared the ,brahmans who followed their traditions to a chain of blind men1 who move on1 not seeing where they go4#aa ,like ,jesus1 he taught that mercy was better than sacrifices4 ,like ,jesus1 he taught orally1 and left no writing4 ,jesus did not teach in ,hebrew1 but in the ,aramaic1 which was the popular dialect1 and so the ,buddha did not speak to the people in ,sanskrit1 but in their own tongue1 which was ,pli4 ,like ,jesus1 he seems to have instructed his hearers by parables or stories4 ,he was one of the greatest reformers the world has ever seen2 and his influence1 after that of the ,christ1 has probably exceeded that of any one who ever lived4 ,but1 beside such real resemblances between these two masters1 we are told of others still more striking1 which would certainly be hard to explain unless one of the systems had borrowed from the other4 ,these are said to be the prexistence of ,buddha in heaven2 his birth of a virgin2 salutation by angels2 presentation in the temple2 baptism by fire and water2 dispute with the doctors2 temptation in the wilderness2 transfiguration2 descent into hell2 ascension into heaven4#ab ,if these legends could be traced back to the time before ,christ1 then it might be argued that the ,gospels have borrowed from ,buddhism4 ,such1 however1 is not the fact4 ,these stories are taken from the ,lalita ,vistara1 which1 according to ,rhys ,davids1#ac was probably composed between six hundred and a thousand years after the time of ,buddha1 by some ,buddhist poet in ,nepaul4 ,rhys ,davids1 one of our best authorities1 says of this poem3 ,as evidence of what early ,buddhism actually was1 it is of about the same value as some medival poem would be of the real facts of the gospel history4#ac ,m4 ,ernest de ,bunsen1 in his work on the ,angel ,messiah1 has given a very exhaustive statement1 says ,mr4 ,davids1 of all the possible channels through which ,christians can be supposed to have borrowed from the ,buddhists4 ,but ,mr4 ,davids's conclusion is that he finds no evidence of any such communications of ideas from the ,east to the ,west4#ad ,the difference between the wild stories of the ,lalita ,vistara and the sober narratives of the ,gospels is quite apparent4 ,another writer1 ,professor ,seydel1#ae thinks1 after a full and careful examination1 that only five facts in the ,gospels may have been borrowed from ,buddhism4 ,these are3 7#a7 ,the fast of ,jesus before his work2 7#b7 ,the question in regard to the blind man--,who did sin1 this man1 or his parents8 7#c7 ,the prexistence of ,christ2 7#d7 ,the presentation in the ,temple2 7#e7 ,nathanael sitting under a fig-tree1 compared with ,buddha under a ,bo-tree4 ,but ,kuenen has examined these parallels1 and considers them merely accidental coincidences4 ,and1 in truth1 it is very hard to conceive of one religion borrowing its facts or legends from another1 if that other stands in no historic relation to it4 ,that ,buddhism should have taken much from ,brahmanism is natural2 for ,brahmanism was its mother4 ,that ,christianity should have borrowed many of its methods from ,judaism is equally natural2 for ,judaism was its cradle4 ,modern travelers in ,burma and ,tartary have found that the ,buddhists hold a kind of camp-meeting in the open air1 where they pray and sing4 ,suppose that some critic1 noticing this1 should assert that1 when ,wesley and his followers established similar customs1 they must have borrowed them from the ,buddhists4 ,the absurdity would be evident4 ,new religions grow1 they are not imitations4 ,it has been thought1 however1 that ,christianity was derived from the ,essenes1 because of certain resemblances1 and it is argued that the ,essenes must have obtained their monastic habits from the ,therapeut in ,egypt1 and that the ,therapeut received them from the ,buddhists1 because they could not have found them elsewhere4 ,this theory1 however1 has been dismissed from the scene by the young ,german scholar1#af who has proved that the essay on the ,therapeut ascribed to ,philo was really written by a ,christian anchorite in the third or fourth century4 ,the result1 then1 of our investigation1 is this3 ,there is no probability that the analogies between ,christianity and ,buddhism have been derived the one from the other4 ,they have come from the common and universal needs and nature of man1 which repeat themselves again and again in like positions and like circumstances4 ,that ,jesus and ,buddha should both have retired into the wilderness before undertaking their great work is probable1 for it has been the habit of other reformers to let a period of meditation precede their coming before the world4 ,that both should have been tempted to renounce their enterprise is also in accordance with human nature4 ,that1 in after times1 the simple narratives should be overlaid with additions1 and a whole mass of supernatural wonders added1--as we find in the ,apocryphal ,gospels and the ,lalita ,vistara1--is also in accordance with the working of the human mind4 ,laying aside all such unsatisfactory resemblances1 we must regard the ,buddha as having been one of the noblest of men1 and one whom ,jesus would have readily welcomed as a fellow worker and a friend4 ,he opposed a dominant priesthood1 maintained the equal religious rights of all mankind1 overthrew caste1 encouraged woman to take her place as man's equal1 forbade all bloody sacrifices1 and preached a religion of peace and good will1 seeking to triumph only in the fair conflict of reason with reason4 ,if he was defective in the loftiest instincts of the soul2 if he knew nothing of the infinite and eternal2 if he saw nothing permanent in the soul of man2 if his highest purpose was negative1--to escape from pain1 sorrow1 anxiety1 toil1--let us still be grateful for the influence which has done so much to tame the savage ,mongols1 and to introduce hospitality and humanity into the homes of ,lassa and ,siam4 ,if ,edwin ,arnold1 a poet1 idealizes him too highly1 it is the better fault1 and should be easily forgiven4 ,hero-worshipers are becoming scarce in our time2 let us make the most of those we have4 ,,why ,i ,,am ,,not ,a ,,free-,,religionist#ag ,what is meant by ,free ,religion8 ,i understand by it1 individualism in religion4 ,it is the religious belief which has made itself independent of historic and traditional influences1 so far as it is in the power of any one to attain such independence4 ,in ,christian lands it means a religion which has cut loose from the ,bible and the ,christian ,church1 and which is as ready to question the teaching of ,jesus as that of ,socrates or ,buddha4 ,it is1 what ,emerson called himself1 an endless seeker1 with no past behind it4 ,it is entire trust in the private reason as the sole authority in matters of religion4 ,free ,religion may be regarded as ,protestantism carried to its ultimate results4 ,a ,protestant ,christian accepts the leadership of ,jesus1 and keeps himself in the ,christian communion2 but he uses his own private judgment to discover what ,jesus taught1 and what ,christianity really is4 ,the ,free ,religionist goes a step farther1 and decides by his own private judgment what is true and what false1 no matter whether taught by ,jesus or not4 ,free ,religion1 as thus understood1 seems to me opposed to the law of evolution1 and incompatible with it4 ,evolution educes the present from the past by a continuous process4 ,free ,religion cuts itself loose from the past1 and makes every man the founder of his own religion4 ,according to the law of evolution1 confirmed by history1 every advance in religion is the development from something going before4 ,jewish monotheism grew out of polytheism2 ,christianity and ,mohammedanism out of ,judaism2 ,buddhism out of ,brahmanism2 ,protestant ,christianity out of the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,jesus himself said1 ,think not that ,i am come to destroy the ,law or the ,prophets3 ,i am not come to destroy1 but to fulfil4 ,the higher religions are not made2 they grow4 ,of each it may be said1 as of the poet3 ,nascitur1 non fit4 ,therefore1 if there is to arrive something higher than our existing ,christianity1 it must not be a system which forsakes the ,christian belief1 but something developed from it4 ,according to the principle of evolution1 every growing and productive religion obeys the laws of heredity and of variation4 ,it has an inherited common life1 and a tendency to modification by individual activity4 ,omit or depress either factor1 and the religion loses its power of growth4 ,without a common life1 the principle of development is arrested4 ,he who leaves the great current which comes from the past loses headway4 ,this current1 in the ,christian communion1 is the inherited spirit of ,jesus4 ,it is his life1 continued in his ,church2 his central convictions of love to ,god and to man2 of fatherhood and brotherhood2 of the power of truth to conquer error1 of good to overcome evil2 of a ,kingdom of ,heaven to come to us here4 ,it is the faith of ,jesus in things unseen2 his hope of the triumph of right over wrong2 his love going down to the lowliest child of ,god4 ,these vital convictions in the soul of ,jesus are communicated by contact from generation to generation4 ,they are propagated1 as he suggested1 like leaven hidden in the dough4 ,by a different figure1 ,plato1 in his dialogue of ,ion1 shows that inspiration is transmitted like the magnetic influence1 which causes iron rings to adhere and hang together in a chain4 ,thoughts and opinions are communicated by argument1 reasoning1 speech1 and writing2 but faith and inspiration by the influence of life on life4 ,the life of ,jesus is thus continued in his ,church1 and those who stand outside of it lose much of this transmitted and sympathetic influence4 ,common life in a religious body furnishes the motive force which carries it forward1 while individual freedom gives the power of improvement4 ,the two principles of heredity and variation must be united in order to combine union and freedom1 and to secure progress4 ,where freedom of thought ceases1 religion becomes rigid4 ,it is incapable of development4 ,such1 for instance1 is the condition of ,buddhism1 which1 at first full of intellectual activity1 has now hardened into a monkish ritual4 ,free ,religion sacrifices the motive power derived from association and religious sympathy for the sake of a larger intellectual freedom4 ,the result is individualism4 ,it founds no churches1 but spends much force in criticising the ,christian community1 its belief1 and its methods4 ,these are1 no doubt1 open to criticism1 which would do good if administered sympathetically and from within1 but produce little result when delivered in the spirit of antagonism4 ,imperfect as the ,christian ,church is1 it ought to be remembered that in it are to be found the chief strength and help of the charities1 philanthropies1 and moral reforms of our time4 ,every one who has at heart a movement for the benefit of humanity appeals instinctively for aid to the ,christian churches4 ,it is in these that such movements usually originate1 and are carried on4 ,even when1 as in the antislavery movement1 a part of the churches refuse to sympathize with a new moral or social movement1 the reproaches made against them show that in the mind of the community an interest in all humane endeavor is considered to be a part of their work4 ,the common life and convictions of these bodies enable them to accomplish what individualism does not venture to undertake4 ,individualism is incapable of organized and sustained work of this sort1 though it can1 and often does1 coperate earnestly with it4 ,the teaching of ,jesus is founded on the synthesis of ,truth and ,love4 ,jesus declares himself to have been born to bear witness to the truth1 and he also makes love1 divine and human1 the substance of his gospel4 ,the love element produces union1 the truth element1 freedom4 ,union without freedom stiffens into a rigid conservatism4 ,freedom without union breaks up into an intellectual atomism4 ,the ,christian churches have gone into both extremes1 but never permanently2 for ,christianity1 as long as it adheres to its founder and his ideas1 has the power of self-recovery4 ,its diseases are self-limited4 ,it has had many such periods1 but has recovered from them4 ,it passed through an age in which it ran to ascetic self-denial1 and made saints of self-torturing anchorites4 ,it afterward became a speculative system1 and tended to metaphysical creeds and doctrinal distinctions4 ,it became a persecuting church1 burning heretics and ,jews1 and torturing infidels as an act of faith4 ,it was tormented by dark superstitions1 believing in witchcraft and magic4 ,but it has left all these evils behind4 ,no one is now put to death for heresy or witchcraft4 ,the monastic orders in the ,church are preachers and teachers1 or given to charity4 ,no one could be burned to-day as a heretic4 ,no one to-day believes in witchcraft4 ,the old creeds which once held the ,church in irons are now slowly disintegrating4 ,but reform1 as ,i have said1 must come from within1 by the gradual elimination of those inherited beliefs which interfere with the unity of the ,church and the leadership of ,christ himself4 ,the ,platonic and ,egyptian ,trinity remaining as dogma1 repeated but not understood1--the ,manichan division of the human race into children of ,god and children of the ,devil1--the scholastic doctrine of the ,atonement1 by which the blood of ,jesus expiates human guilt1--are being gradually explained in accordance with reason and the teaching of ,jesus4 ,some beliefs1 once thought to be of vital importance1 are now seen by many to be unessential1 or are looked at in a different light4 ,instead of making ,jesus an exceptional person1 we are coming to regard him as a representative man1 the realized ideal of what man was meant to be1 and will one day become4 ,instead of considering his sinlessness as setting him apart from his race1 we look on it as showing that sin is not the natural1 but unnatural1 condition of mankind4 ,his miracles are regarded not as violations of the laws of nature1 but anticipations of laws which one day will be universally known1 and which are boundless as the universe4 ,nor will they in future be regarded as evidence of the mission of ,jesus1 since he himself was grieved when they were so looked upon1 and he made his truth and his character the true evidence that he came from ,god4 ,the old distinction between natural and supernatural will disappear when it is seen that ,jesus had a supernatural work and character1 the same in kind as ours1 though higher in degree4 ,the supreme gifts which make him the providential leader of the race do not set him apart from his brethren if we see that it is a law of humanity that gifts differ1 and that men endowed with superior powers become leaders in science1 art1 literature1 politics2 as ,jesus has become the chief great spiritual leader of mankind4 ,men are now searching the ,scriptures1 not under the bondage of an infallible letter1 but seeking for the central ideas of ,jesus and the spirit of his gospel4 ,they begin to accept the maxim of ,goethe3 ,no matter how much the gospels contradict each other1 provided the ,gospel does not contradict itself4 ,the profound convictions of ,christ1 which pervade all his teaching1 give the clue by which to explain the divergences in the narrative4 ,we interpret the letter by the light of the spirit4 ,we see how ,jesus emphasized the law of human happiness1--that it comes from within1 not from without2 that the pure in heart see ,god1 and that it is more blessed to give than to receive4 ,we comprehend the stress he lays on the laws of progress1--that he who humbleth himself shall be exalted4 ,we recognize his profound conviction that all ,god's children are dear to him1 that his sun shines on the evil and the good1 and that he will seek the one lost sheep till he find it4 ,we see his trust in the coming of the ,kingdom of ,god in this world1 the triumph of good over evil1 and the approaching time when the knowledge of ,god shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea4 ,and we find his profound faith in the immortal life which abides in us1 so that whoever shares that faith with him can never die4 ,the more firmly these central ideas of ,jesus are understood and held1 the less importance belongs to any criticism of the letter4 ,this or that saying1 attributed to ,jesus in the record1 maybe subjected to attack2 but it is the main current of his teaching which has made him the leader of civilized man for eighteen centuries4 ,that majestic stream will sweep on undisturbed1 though there may be eddies here or stagnant pools there1 which induce hasty observers to suppose that it has ceased to flow4 ,rusticus expectat dum defluit amnis1 at ille ,volvitur et volvetur1 in omne volubilis vium4 ,i sometimes read attacks on special sayings of the record1 which argue1 to the critic's mind1 that ,jesus was in error here1 or mistaken there4 ,but ,i would recommend to such writers to ponder the suggestive rule of ,coleridge3 ,until ,i can understand the ignorance of ,plato1 ,i shall consider myself ignorant of his understanding2 or the remark of ,emerson to the youth who brought him a paper in which he thought he had refuted ,plato3 ,if you attack the king1 be sure that you kill him4 ,when the ,christian world really takes ,jesus himself as its leader1 instead of building its faith on opinions about him1 we may anticipate the arrival of that union which he foresaw and foretold--,as thou1 father1 art in me1 and ,i in thee1 that they also may be one in us1 that the world may believe that thou hast sent me4 ,then ,christians1 ceasing from party strife and sectarian dissension1 will unite in one mighty effort to cure the evils of humanity and redress its wrongs4 ,before a united ,christendom1 what miseries could remain unrelieved8 ,war1 that criminal absurdity1 that monstrous anachronism1 must at last be abolished4 ,pauperism1 vice1 and crime1 though continuing in sporadic forms1 would cease to exist as a part of the permanent institutions of civilization4 ,a truly ,catholic ,church1 united under the ,master1 would lead all humanity up to a higher plane4 ,the immense forces developed by modern science1 and the magnificent discoveries in the realm of nature1 helpless now to cure the wrongs of suffering man1 would become instruments of potent use under the guidance of moral forces4 ,according to the law of evolution1 this is what we have a right to expect4 ,if we follow the lines of historic development1 not being led into extreme individualism2 if we maintain the continuity of human progress1 this vast result must finally arrive4 ,for such reasons ,i prefer to remain in the communion of the ,christian body1 doing what ,i may to assist its upward movement4 ,for such reasons ,i am not a ,free ,religionist4 ,,have ,,animals ,,souls#ah ,to answer this question1 we must first inquire what we mean by a soul4 ,if we mean a human soul1 it is certain that animals do not possess it1--at least not in a fully developed condition4 ,if we mean1 ,do they possess an immortal soul8 that is1 perhaps1 a question difficult to answer either in the affirmative or the negative4 ,but if we mean by the soul an immaterial principle of life1 which cordinates the bodily organization to a unity2 which is the ground of growth1 activity1 perception1 volition2 which is intelligent1 affectionate1 and to a certain extent free2 then we must admit that animals have souls4 ,the same arguments which induce us to believe that there is a soul in man apply to animals4 ,the world has generally believed that in man1 beside the body1 there is also soul4 ,why have people believed it8 ,the reason probably is1 that1 beside all that can be accounted for as the result of the juxtaposition of material particles1 there remains a very important element unaccounted for4 ,mechanical and physical agency may explain much1 but the most essential characteristic of vital phenomena they do not explain4 ,they do not account for the unity in variety1 permanence in change1 growth from within by continuous processes1 coming from the vital functions in an organized body4 ,every such body has a unity peculiar to itself1 which cannot be considered the result of the collocation of material molecules4 ,it is a unity which controls these molecules1 arranges and rearranges them1 maintains a steady activity1 carries the body through the phenomena of growth1 and causes the various organs to coperate for the purposes of the whole4 ,the vital power is not merely the result of material phenomena1 but it reacts on these as a cause4 ,add to this that strange phenomenon of human consciousness1 the sense of personality1--which is the clear perception of selfhood as a distinct unchanging unit1 residing in a body all of whose parts are in perpetual flux1--and we see why the opinion of a soul has arisen4 ,it has been assumed by the common sense of mankind that in every living body the cause of the mode of existence of each part is contained in the whole4 ,as soon as death intervenes each part is left free to pass through changes peculiar to itself alone4 ,life is a power which acts from the whole upon the parts1 causing them to resist chemical laws1 which begin to act as soon as life departs4 ,the unity of a living body does not result from an ingenious juxtaposition of parts1 like that of a watch1 for example4 ,for the unity of a living body implies that which is called the vital vortex1 or perpetual exchange of particles4 ,a watch or clock is the nearest approach which has been made by man to the creation of a living being4 ,a watch1 for instance1 contains the principle of its action in itself1 and is not moved from without2 in that it resembles a living creature4 ,we can easily conceive of a watch which might be made to go seventy years1 without being wound up4 ,it might need to be oiled occasionally1 but not as often as an animal needs to be fed4 ,a watch is also like a living creature in having a unity as a whole not belonging to the separate parts1 and to which all parts conspire1--namely1 that of marking the progress of time4 ,why1 then1 say that a man has a soul1 and that a watch has not8 ,the difference is this4 ,the higher principle of unity in the watch1 that is1 its power of marking time1 is wholly an effect1 and never a cause4 ,it is purely and only the result of the arrangement of wheels and springs2 in other words1 of material conditions4 ,but in man1 the principle of unity is also a cause4 ,life reacts upon body4 ,the laws of matter are modified by the power of life1 chemical action is suspended1 living muscles are able to endure without laceration the application of forces which would destroy the dead fibre4 ,so the thought1 the love1 the will of a living creature react on the physical frame4 ,a sight1 a sound1 a few spoken words1 a message seen in a letter1 cause an immense revulsion in the physical condition4 ,something is suddenly told us1 and we faint away1 or even die1 from the effect of the message4 ,here mind acts upon matter1 showing that in man mind is not merely a result1 but also a cause4 ,hence men have generally believed in the existence of a soul in man4 ,they have not been taught it by metaphysicians1 it is one of the spontaneous inductions of common sense from universal experience4 ,but this argument applies equally to prove a soul in animals4 ,the same reaction of soul on body is constantly apparent4 ,every time that you whistle to your dog1 and he comes bounding toward you1 his mind has acted on his body4 ,his will has obeyed his thought1 his muscles have obeyed his will4 ,the cause of his motion was mental1 not physical4 ,this is too evident to require any further illustration4 ,therefore1 regarding the soul as a principle of life1 connected with the body but not its result1 or1 in other words1 as an immaterial principle of activity1 there is the same reason for believing in the soul of animals that there is for believing in the soul of man4 ,but when we ask as to the nature of the animal soul1 and how far it is analogous to that of man1 we meet with certain difficulties4 ,let us see then how many of the human qualities of the soul are to be found in animals1 and so discover if there is any remainder not possessed by them1 peculiar to ourselves4 ,that the vital soul1 or principle of life1 belongs equally to plants1 animals1 and men1 is evident4 ,this is so apparent as to be granted even by ,descartes1 who regards animals as mere machines1 or automata1 destitute of a thinking soul1 but not of life or feeling4 ,they are automata1 but living and feeling automata4 ,descartes denies them a soul1 because he defines the soul as the thinking and knowing power4 ,but ,locke 7with whom ,leibnitz fully agreed on this point7 ascribes to animals thought as well as feeling1 and makes their difference from man to consist in their not possessing abstract ideas4 ,we shall presently see the truth of this most sagacious remark4 ,plants1 animals1 and men are alike in possessing the vital principle1 which produces growth1 which causes them to pass through regular phases of development1 which enables them to digest and assimilate food taken from without1 and which carries on a steady circulation within4 ,to this are added1 in the animal1 the function of voluntary locomotion1 perception through the senses of an outward world1 the power of feeling pleasure and pain1 some wonderful instincts1 and some degree of reflective thought4 ,animals also possess memory1 imagination1 playfulness1 industry1 the sense of shame1 and many other very human qualities4 ,take1 for example1 ,buffon's fine description of the dog 7,histoire du ,chien73-- ,by nature fiery1 irritable1 ferocious1 and sanguinary1 the dog in his savage state is a terror to other animals4 ,but domesticated he becomes gentle1 attached1 and desirous to please4 ,he hastens to lay at the feet of his master his courage1 his strength1 and all his abilities4 ,he listens for his master's orders1 inquires his will1 consults his opinion1 begs his permission1 understands the indications of his wishes4 ,without possessing the power of human thought1 he has all the warmth of human sentiment4 ,he has more than human fidelity1 he is constant in his attachments4 ,he is made up of zeal1 ardor1 and obedience4 ,he remembers kindness longer than wrong4 ,he endures bad treatment and forgets it--disarming it by patience and submission4 ,no one who has ever had a dog for a friend will think this description exaggerated4 ,if any should so consider it1 we will cite for their benefit what ,mr4 ,jesse1 one of the latest students of the canine race1 asserts concerning it1 in his ,researches into the ,history of the ,british ,dog 7,london1 #ahff74 ,he says that remarkable instances of the following virtues1 feelings1 and powers of mind are well authenticated3-- ,the dog risks his life to give help2 goes for assistance2 saves life from drowning1 fire1 other animals1 and men2 assists distress2 guards property2 knows boundaries2 resents injuries2 repays benefits2 communicates ideas2 combines with other dogs for several purposes2 understands language2 knows when he is about to die2 knows death in a human being2 devotes his whole life to the object of his love2 dies of grief and of joy2 dies in his master's defense2 commits suicide2 remains by the dead2 solicits1 and gives alarm2 knows the characters of men2 recognizes a portrait1 and men after long absence2 is fond of praise and sensible to ridicule2 feels shame1 and is sensible of a fault2 is playful2 is incorruptible2 finds his way back from distant countries2 is magnanimous to smaller animals2 is jealous2 has dreams2 and takes a last farewell when dying4 ,much of this1 it may be said1 is instinctive4 ,we must therefore distinguish between ,instinct and ,intelligence2 or1 rather1 between instinctive intelligence and reflective intelligence4 ,many writers on the subject of animals have not carefully distinguished these very different activities of the soul4 ,even ,m4 ,leroy1 one of the first in modern times who brought careful observation to the study of the nature of animals1 has not always kept in view this distinction---as has been noticed by a subsequent ,french writer of very considerable ability1 ,m4 ,flourens4#ai ,the following marks1 according to ,m4 ,flourens1 distinguish instinct from intelligence3-- ,,instinct ,,intelligence ,is spontaneous1 ,is deliberate1 necessary1 conditional1 invariable1 modifiable1 innate1 comes from observation and experience1 fatal1 is free1 particular4 general4 ,thus the building faculty of the beaver is an instinct1 for it acts spontaneously1 and always in the same way4 ,it is not a general faculty of building in all places and ways1 but a special power of building houses of sticks1 mud1 and other materials1 with the entrance under water and a dry place within4 ,when beavers build on a running stream1 they begin by making a dam across it1 which preserves them from losing the water in a drought2 but this also is a spontaneous and invariable act4 ,the old stories of their driving piles1 using their tails for trowels1 and having well-planned houses with many chambers1 have been found to be fictitious4 ,that the beaver builds by instinct1 though intelligence comes in to modify the instinct1 appears from his wishing to build his house or his dam when it is not needed4 ,mr4 ,broderip1 the ,english naturalist1 had a pet beaver that manifested his building instinct by dragging together warming-pans1 sweeping-brushes1 boots1 and sticks1 which he would lay crosswise4 ,he then would fill in his wall with clothes1 bits of coal1 turf1 laying it very even4 ,finally1 he made a nest for himself behind his wall with clothes1 hay1 and cotton4 ,as this creature had been brought from ,america very young1 all this procedure must have been instinctive4 ,but his intelligence showed itself in his adapting his mode of building to his new circumstances4 ,his instinct led him to build his wall1 and to lay his sticks crosswise1 and to fill in with what he could find1 according to the universal and spontaneous procedure of all beavers4 ,but his making use of a chest of drawers for one side of his wall1 and taking brushes and boots instead of cutting down trees1 were no doubt acts of intelligence4 ,a large part of the wonderful procedure of bees is purely instinctive4 ,bees1 from the beginning of the world1 and in all countries of the earth1 have lived in similar communities2 have had their queen1 to lay eggs for them3 if their queen is lost1 have developed a new one in the same way1 by altering the conditions of existence in one of their larv2 have constructed their hexagonal cells by the same mathematical law1 so as to secure the most strength with the least outlay of material4 ,all this is instinct--for it is spontaneous and not deliberate2 it is universal and constant4 ,but when the bee deflects his comb in order to avoid a stick thrust across the inside of the hive1 and begins the variation before he reaches the stick1 this can only be regarded as an act of intelligence4 ,animals1 then1 have both instincts and intelligence2 and so has man4 ,a large part of human life proceeds from tendencies as purely1 if not as vigorously1 instinctive as those of animals4 ,man has social instincts1 which create human society4 ,children play from an instinct4 ,the maternal instinct in a human mother is1 till modified by reflection1 as spontaneous1 universal1 and necessary as the same instinct in animals4 ,but in man the instincts are reduced to a minimum1 and are soon modified by observation1 experience1 and reflection4 ,in animals they are at their maximum1 and are modified in a much less degree4 ,it is sometimes said that animals do not reason1 but man does4 ,but animals are quite capable of at least two modes of reasoning1 that of comparison and that of inference4 ,they compare two modes of action1 or two substances1 and judge the one to be preferable to the other1 and accordingly select it4 ,sir ,emerson ,tennent tells us that elephants1 employed to build stone walls in ,ceylon1 will lay each stone in its place1 then stand off and look to see if it is plumb1 and1 if not1 will move it with their trunk1 till it lies perfectly straight4 ,this is a pure act of reflective judgment4 ,he narrates an adventure which befell himself in ,ceylon while riding on a narrow road through the forest4 ,he heard a rumbling sound approaching1 and directly there came to meet him an elephant1 bearing on his tusks a large log of wood1 which he had been directed to carry to the place where it was needed4 ,sir ,emerson ,tennent's horse1 unused to these monsters1 was alarmed1 and refused to go forward4 ,the sagacious elephant1 perceiving this1 evidently decided that he must himself go out of the way4 ,but to do this1 he was obliged first to take the log from his tusks with his trunk1 and lay it on the ground1 which he did1 and then backed out of the road between the trees till only his head was visible4 ,but the horse was still too timid to go by1 whereupon the judicious pachyderm pushed himself farther back1 till all of his body1 except the end of his trunk1 had disappeared4 ,then ,sir ,emerson succeeded in getting his horse by1 but stopped to witness the result4 ,the elephant came out1 took the log up again1 laid it across his tusks1 and went on his way4 ,this story1 told by an unimpeachable witness1 shows several successive acts of reasoning4 ,the log-bearer inferred from the horse's terror that it would not pass2 he again inferred that in that case he must himself get out of the way2 that1 to do this1 he must lay down his log2 that he must go farther back2 and accompanying this was his sense of duty1 making him faithful to his task2 and1 most of all1 his consideration of what was due to this human traveler1 which kept him from driving the horse and man before him as he went on4 ,there is another well-authenticated anecdote of an elephant2 he was following an ammunition wagon1 and saw the man who was seated on it fall off just before the wheel4 ,the man would have been crushed had not the animal instantly run forward1 and1 without an order1 lifted the wheel with his trunk1 and held it suspended in the air1 till the wagon had passed over the man without hurting him4 ,here were combined presence of mind1 good will1 knowledge of the danger to the man1 and a rapid calculation of how he could be saved4 ,perhaps ,i may properly introduce here an account of the manifestations of mind in the animals ,i have had the most opportunity of observing4 ,i have a horse1 who was named ,rubezahl1 after the mountain spirit of the ,harz made famous in the stories of ,musaeus4 ,we have contracted his name to ,ruby for convenience4 ,now ,i have reason to believe that ,ruby can distinguish ,sunday from other days4 ,on ,sunday ,i have been in the habit of driving to ,boston to church2 but on other days1 ,i drive to the neighboring village1 where are the post-office1 shops of mechanics1 and other stores4 ,to go to ,boston1 ,i usually turn to the right when ,i leave my driveway2 to go to the village1 ,i turn to the left4 ,now1 on ,sunday1 if ,i leave the reins loose1 so that the horse may do as he pleases1 he invariably turns to the right1 and goes to ,boston4 ,on other days1 he as invariably turns to the left1 and goes to the village4 ,he does this so constantly and regularly1 that none of the family have any doubt of the fact that he knows that it is ,sunday2 how he knows it we are unable to discover4 ,i have left my house at the same hour on ,sunday and on ,monday1 in the same carriage1 with the same number of persons in it2 and yet on ,sunday he always turns to the right1 and on ,monday to the left4 ,he is fed at the same time on ,sunday as on other days1 but the man comes back to harness him a little later on ,sunday than at other times1 and that is possibly his method of knowing that it is the day for going to ,boston4 ,but see how much of observation1 memory1 and thought is implied in all this4 ,again1 ,ruby has shown a very distinct feeling of the supernatural4 ,driving one day up a hill near my house1 we met a horse-car coming down toward us1 running without horses1 simply by the force of gravity4 ,my horse became so frightened that he ran into the gutter1 and nearly overturned me2 and ,i got him past with the greatest difficulty4 ,now he had met the cars coming down that hill1 drawn by horses1 a hundred times1 and had never been alarmed4 ,moreover1 only a day or two after1 in going up the same hill1 we saw a car moving uphill1 before us1 where the horses were entirely invisible1 being concealed by the car itself1 which was between us and the horses4 ,but this did not frighten ,ruby at all4 ,he evidently said to himself1 ,the horses are there1 though ,i do not see them4 ,but in the other case it seemed to him an effect without a cause--something plainly supernatural4 ,there was nothing in the aspect of the car itself to alarm him2 he had seen that often enough4 ,he was simply terrified by seeing it move without any adequate cause--just as we should be1 if we saw our chairs begin to walk about the room4 ,our ,newfoundland dog's name is ,donatello2 which1 again1 is shortened to ,don in common parlance4 ,he has all the affectionate and excellent qualities of his race4 ,he is the most good-natured creature ,i ever saw4 ,nothing provokes him4 ,little dogs may yelp at him1 the cat or kittens may snarl and spit at him3 he pays no attention to them4 ,a little dog climbs on his back1 and lies down there2 one of the cats will lie between his legs4 ,but at night1 when he is on guard1 no one can approach the house unchallenged4 ,but his affection for the family is very great4 ,to be allowed to come into the house and lie down near us is his chief happiness4 ,he was very fond of my son ,e----1 who played with him a good deal1 and when the young man went away1 during the war1 with a three months' regiment1 ,don was much depressed by his absence4 ,he walked down regularly to the station1 and stood there till a train of cars came in2 and when his friend did not arrive in it1 he went back1 with a melancholy air1 to the house4 ,but at last the young man returned4 ,it was in the evening1 and ,don was lying on the piazza4 ,as soon as he saw his friend1 his exultation knew no bounds4 ,he leaped upon him1 and ran round him1 barking and showing the wildest signs of delight4 ,all at once he turned and ran up into the garden1 and came back bringing an apple1 which he laid down at the feet of his young master4 ,it was the only thing he could think of to do for him--and this sign of his affection was quite pathetic4 ,the reason why ,don thought of the apple was probably this3 we had taught him to go and get an apple for the horse1 when so directed4 ,we would say1 ,go1 ,don1 get an apple for poor ,ruby2 then he would run up into the garden1 and bring an apple1 and hold it up to the horse2 and perhaps when the horse tried to take it he would pull it away4 ,after doing this a few times1 he would finally lie down on his back under the horse's nose1 and allow the latter to take the apple from his mouth4 ,he would also kiss the horse1 on being told to do so4 ,when we said1 ,don1 kiss poor ,ruby1 he leaped up and kissed the horse's nose4 ,but he afterwards hit upon a more convenient method of doing it4 ,he got his paw over the rein and pulled down the horse's head1 so that he could continue the osculatory process more at his ease1 sitting comfortably on the ground4 ,animals know when they have done wrong2 so far1 at least1 as that means disobeying our will or command4 ,the only great fault which ,don ever committed was stealing a piece of meat from our neighbor's kitchen4 ,i do not think he was punished or even scolded for it2 for we did not find it out till later1 when it would have done no good to punish him4 ,but a week or two after that1 the gentleman whose kitchen had been robbed was standing on my lawn1 talking with me1 and he referred1 laughingly1 to what ,don had done4 ,he did not even look at the dog1 much less change his tones to those of rebuke4 ,but the moment ,don heard his name mentioned1 he turned and walked away1 and hid himself under the low branches of a ,norway spruce near by4 ,he was evidently profoundly ashamed of himself4 ,was this the result of conscience1 or of the love of approbation8 ,in either case1 it was very human4 ,that the love of approbation is common to many animals we all know4 ,dogs and horses certainly can be influenced by praise and blame1 as easily as men4 ,many years ago we had occasion to draw a load of gravel1 and we put ,ruby into a tip-cart to do the work4 ,he was profoundly depressed1 and evidently felt it as a degradation4 ,he hung his head1 and showed such marks of humiliation that we have never done it since4 ,but on the other hand1 when he goes out1 under the saddle1 by the side of a young horse1 this veteran animal tries as hard to appear young as any old bachelor of sixty years who is still ambitious of social triumphs4 ,he dances along1 and goes sideways1 and has all the airs and graces of a young colt4 ,all this1 too1 is very human4 ,at one time my dog was fond of going to the railway station to see the people1 and ,i always ordered him to go home1 fearing he should be hurt by the cars4 ,he easily understood that if he went there1 it was contrary to my wishes4 ,nevertheless1 he often went2 and ,i do not know but this fondness for forbidden fruit was rather human1 too4 ,so1 whenever he was near the station1 if he saw me coming1 he would look the other way1 and pretend not to know me4 ,if he met me anywhere else1 he always bounded to meet me with great delight4 ,but at the station it was quite different4 ,he would pay no attention to my whistle or my call4 ,he even pretended to be another dog1 and would look me right in the face without apparently recognizing me4 ,he gave me the cut direct1 in the most impertinent manner2 the reason evidently being that he knew he was doing what was wrong1 and did not like to be found out4 ,possibly he may have relied a little on my near-sightedness1 in this manuvre4 ,that animals have acute observation1 memory1 imagination1 the sense of approbation1 strong affections1 and the power of reasoning is therefore very evident4 ,lord ,bacon also speaks of a dog's reverence for his master as partaking of a religious element4 ,mark1 says he1 what a generosity and courage a dog will put on1 when he finds himself maintained by a man1 who to him is instead of a ,god--which courage he could not attain1 without that confidence in a better nature than his own4 ,who that has seen the mute admiration and trust in a dog's eye1 as he looks up at his master1 but can see in it something of a religious reverence1 the germ and first principle of religion8 ,what1 then1 is the difference between the human soul and that of the animal in its highest development8 ,that there is a very marked difference between man and the highest animal is evident4 ,the human being1 weaker in proportion than all other animals1 has subjected them all to himself4 ,he has subdued the earth by his inventions4 ,physically too feeble to dig a hole in the ground like a rabbit1 or to fell a tree like a beaver2 unable to live in the water like a fish1 or to move through the air like a bird2 he yet1 by his inventive power and his machinery1 can compel the forces of nature to work for him4 ,they are the true genii1 slaves of his lamp4 ,air1 fire1 water1 electricity1 and magnetism build his cities and his stately ships1 run his errands1 carry him from land to land1 and accept him as their master4 ,whence does man obtain this power8 ,some say it is the human hand which has made man supreme4 ,it is1 no doubt1 a wonderful machine2 a box of tools in itself4 ,the size and strength of the thumb1 and the power of opposing it to the extremities of the fingers1 distinguishes1 according to most anatomists1 the human hand from that of the quadrumanous animals4 ,in those monkeys which are nearest to man1 the thumb is so short and weak1 and the fingers so long and slender1 that their tips can scarcely be brought in opposition4 ,excellent for climbing1 they are not good for taking up small objects or supporting large ones4 ,but the hand of man could accomplish little without the mind behind it4 ,it was therefore a good remark of ,galen1 that man is not the wisest of animals because he has a hand2 but ,god has given him a hand because he is the wisest of animals4 ,the size of the human brain1 relatively greater than that of almost any other animal2 man's structure1 adapting him to stand erect2 his ability to exist in all climates2 his power of subsisting on varied food3 all these facts of his physical nature are associated with his superior mental power1 but do not produce it4 ,the question recurs1 ,what enables him to stand at the head of the animal creation8 ,perhaps the chief apparent distinctions between man and other animals are these3-- #a4 ,the lowest races of men use tools2 other animals do not4 #b4 ,the lowest human beings possess a verbal language2 other animals have none4 #c4 ,man has the capacity of self-culture1 as an individual2 other animals have not4 #d4 ,human beings1 associated in society1 are capable of progress in civilization1 by means of science1 art1 literature1 and religion2 other animals are not4 #e4 ,men have a capacity for religion2 no animal1 except man1 has this4 ,the lowest races of men use tools1 but no other animal does this4 ,this is so universally admitted by science that the presence of the rudest tools of stone is considered a sufficient trace of the presence of man4 ,if stone hatchets or hammers or arrowheads are found in any stratum1 though no human bones are detected1 anthropologists regard this as a sufficient proof of the existence of human beings in the period indicated by such a geologic formation4 ,the only tools used by animals in procuring food1 in war1 or in building their homes1 are their natural organs3 their beaks1 teeth1 claws1 etc4 ,it may be added that man alone wears clothes2 other animals being sufficiently clothed by nature4 ,no animals make a fire1 though they often suffer from cold2 but there is no race of men unacquainted with the use of fire4#bj ,no animals possess a verbal language4 ,animals can remember some of the words used by men1 and associate with them their meaning4 ,but this is not the use of language4 ,it is merely the memory of two associated facts1--as when the animal recollects where he found food1 and goes to the same place to look for it again4 ,animals have different cries1 indicating different wants4 ,they use one cry to call their mate1 another to terrify their prey4 ,but this is not the use of verbal language4 ,human language implies not merely an acquaintance with the meaning of particular words1 but the power of putting them together in a sentence4 ,animals have no such language as this2 for1 if they had1 it would have been learned by men4 ,man has the power of learning any verbal language4 ,adelung and ,vater reckon over three thousand languages spoken by men1 and any man can learn any of them4 ,the negroes speak their own languages in their own countries2 they speak ,arabic in ,north ,africa2 they learn to speak ,english1 ,french1 and ,spanish in ,america1 and ,oriental languages when they go to the ,east4 ,if any animals had a verbal language1 with its vocabulary and grammar1 men would long ago have learned it1 and would have been able to converse with them4 ,again1 no animal except man is capable of self-culture1 as an individual4 ,animals are trained by external influences2 they do not teach themselves4 ,an old wolf is much more cunning than a young one1 but he has been made so by the force of circumstances4 ,you can teach your dog tricks1 but no dog has ever taught himself any4 ,yet the lowest savages teach themselves to make tools1 to ornament their paddles and clubs1 and acquire certain arts by diligent effort4 ,birds will sometimes practice the tunes which they hear played1 till they have learned them4 ,they will also sometimes imitate each other's songs4 ,that is1 they possess the power of vocal imitation4 ,but to imitate the sounds we hear is not self-culture4 ,it is not developing a new power1 but it is exercising in a new way a natural gift4 ,yet we must admit that in this habit of birds there is the rudiment1 at least1 of self-education4 ,all races of men are capable of progress in civilization4 ,many1 indeed1 remain in a savage state for thousands of years1 and we cannot positively prove that any particular race which has always been uncivilized is capable of civilization4 ,but we are led to believe it from having known of so many tribes of men who have emerged from apathy1 ignorance1 and barbarism into the light of science and art4 ,so it was with all the ,teutonic races1--the ,goths1 ,germans1 ,kelts1 ,lombards1 ,scandinavians4 ,so it was with the ,arabs1 who roamed for thousands of years over the deserts1 a race of ignorant robbers1 and then1 filled with the great inspiration of ,islam1 flamed up into a brilliant coruscation of science1 literature1 art1 military success1 and profound learning4 ,what great civilizations have grown up in ,china1 ,india1 ,persia1 ,assyria1 ,babylon1 ,phnicia1 ,egypt1 ,greece1 ,rome1 ,carthage1 ,etruria6 ,but no such progress has ever appeared among the animals4 ,as their parents were1 five thousand years ago1 so1 essentially1 are they now4 ,nor are animals religious1 in the sense of worshiping unseen powers higher than themselves4 ,my horse showed a sense of the supernatural1 but this is not worship4 ,these are some of the most marked points of difference between man and all other animals4 ,now these can all be accounted for by the hypothesis in which ,locke and ,leibnitz both agreed2 namely1 that while animals are capable of reasoning about facts1 they are incapable of abstract ideas4 ,or1 we may say with ,coleridge1 that while animals1 in common with man1 possess the faculty of understanding1 they do not possess that of reason4 ,coleridge seems to have intended by this exactly what ,locke and ,leibnitz meant by their statement4 ,when my dog ,don heard the word apple1 he thought of the particular concrete apple under the tree2 and not of apples in general1 and their relation to pears1 peaches1 etc4 ,don understood me when ,i told him to go and get an apple1 and obeyed2 but he would not have understood me if ,i had remarked to him that apples were better than pears1 more wholesome than peaches1 not so handsome as grapes4 ,i should then have gone into the region of abstract and general ideas4 ,now it is precisely the possession of this power of abstract thought which will explain the superiority of man to all other animals4 ,it explains the use of tools2 for a tool is an instrument prepared1 not for one special purpose1 but to be used generally1 in certain ways4 ,a baboon1 like a man1 might pick up a particular stone with which to crack a particular nut2 but the ape does not make and keep a stone hammer1 to be used on many similar occasions4 ,a box of tools contains a collection of saws1 planes1 draw-knives1 etc41 not made to use on one occasion merely1 but made for sawing1 cutting1 and planing purposes generally4 ,still more evident is it that the power of abstraction is necessary for verbal language4 ,we do not here use the common term articulate speech1 for we can conceive of animals articulating their vocal sounds4 ,but a word is an abstraction4 ,the notion is lifted out of the concrete particular fact1 and deposited in the abstract general term4 ,all words1 except proper names1 are abstract2 and to possess and use a verbal language is impossible1 without the possession of this mental faculty4 ,in regard to self-culture1 it is clear that for any steady progress one must keep before his mind an abstract idea of what he wishes to do4 ,this enables him to rise above impulse1 passion1 instinct1 habit1 circumstance4 ,by the steady contemplation of the proposed aim1 one can arrange circumstances1 restrain impulse1 direct one's activity1 and become really free4 ,in like manner1 races become developed in civilization by the impact of abstract ideas4 ,sometimes it is by coming in contact with other civilized nations1 which gives them an ideal superior to anything before known4 ,sometimes the motive power of their progress is the reception of truths of science1 art1 literature1 or religion4 ,it is not necessary to show that without abstract1 universal1 and necessary ideas no religion is possible2 for religion1 being the worship of unseen powers1 conceived as existing1 as active1 as spiritual1 necessarily implies these ideas in the mind of the worshiper4 ,we find1 then1 in the soul of animals all active1 affectionate1 and intelligent capacities1 as in that of man4 ,the only difference is that man is capable of abstract ideas1 which give him a larger liberty of action1 which enable him to adopt an aim and pursue it1 and which change his affections from an instinctive attachment into a principle of generous love4 ,add1 then1 to the animal soul the capacity for abstract ideas1 and it would rise at once to the level of man4 ,meantime1 in a large part of their nature1 they have the same faculties with ourselves4 ,they share our emotions1 and we theirs4 ,they are made a little lower than man1 and if we are souls1 so surely are they4 ,are they immortal8 ,to discuss this question would require more space than we can here give to it4 ,for my own part1 ,i fully believe in the continued existence of all souls1 at the same time assuming their continued advance4 ,the law of life is progress2 and one of the best features in the somewhat unspiritual theory of ,darwin is its profound faith in perpetual improvement4 ,this theory is the most startling optimism that has ever been taught1 for it makes perpetual progress to be the law of the whole universe4 ,many of the arguments for the immortality of man cannot indeed be used for our dumb relations1 the animals4 ,we cannot argue from their universal faith in a future life2 nor contend that they need an immortality on moral grounds1 to recompense their good conduct and punish their wickedness4 ,we might indeed adduce a reason implied in our ,saviour's parable1 and believe that the poor creatures who have received their evil things in this life will be comforted in another4 ,moreover1 we might find in many animals qualities fitting them for a higher state4 ,there are animals1 as we have seen1 who show a fidelity1 courage1 generosity1 often superior to what we see in man4 ,the dogs who have loved their master more than food1 and starved to death on his grave1 are surely well fitted for a higher existence4 ,jesse tells a story of a cat which was being stoned by cruel boys4 ,men went by1 and did not interfere2 but a dog1 that saw it1 did4 ,he drove away the boys1 and then took the cat to his kennel1 licked her all over with his tongue1 and his conduct interested people1 who brought her milk4 ,the canine nurse took care of her till she was well1 and the cat and dog remained fast friends ever after4 ,such an action in a man would have been called heroic2 and we think such a dog would not be out of place in heaven4 ,yet it is not so much on particular cases of animal superiority that we rely1 but on the difficulty of conceiving1 in any sense1 of the destruction of life4 ,the principle of life1 whether we call it soul or body1 matter or spirit1 escapes all observation of the senses4 ,all that we know of it by observation is that1 beside the particles of matter which compose an organized body1 there is something else1 not cognizable by the senses1 which attracts and dismisses them1 modifies and cordinates them4 ,the unity of the body is not to be found in its sensible phenomena1 but in something which escapes the senses4 ,into the vortex of that life material molecules are being continually absorbed1 and from it they are perpetually discharged4 ,if death means the dissolution of the body1 we die many times in the course of our earthly career1 for every body is said by human anatomists to be changed in all its particles once in seven years4 ,what then remains1 if all the particles go8 ,the principle of organization remains1 and this invisible1 persistent principle constitutes the identity of every organized body4 ,if ,i say that ,i have the same body when ,i am fifty which ,i had at twenty1 it is because ,i mean by body that which continues unaltered amid the fast-flying particles of matter4 ,this life principle makes and remakes the material frame2 that body does not make it4 ,when what we call death intervenes1 all that we can assert is that the life principle has done wholly and at once what it has always been doing gradually and in part4 ,what happens to the material particles1 we see3 they become detached from the organizing principle1 and relapse into simply mechanical and chemical conditions4 ,what has happened to that organizing principle we neither see nor know2 and we have absolutely no reason at all for saying that it has ceased to exist4 ,this is as true of plants and of animals as of men2 and there is no reason for supposing that when these die their principle of life is ended4 ,it probably has reached a crisis1 which consists in the putting on of new forms and ascending into a higher order of organized existence4 ,,apropos ,,of ,,tyndall#ba ,we have all read in our ,vicar of ,wakefield the famous speech made by the venerable and learned ,ephraim ,jenkinson to good ,dr4 ,primrose3 ,the cosmogony1 or creation of the world1 has puzzled philosophers in all ages4 ,sanchoniathon1 ,manetho1 ,berosus1 and ,ocellus ,lucanus have all attempted it in vain1 etc4 ,but we hardly expected to have this question of cosmogony reopened by an eminent scientist in an address to the ,british ,association4 ,what ,sanchoniathon1 ,manetho1 ,berosus1 and ,ocellus ,lucanus have all attempted in vain ,professor ,tyndall has not only discussed before a body of men learned in the physical sciences1 but has done it in such a manner as to rouse two continents to a new interest in the question4 ,one party has immediately accused him of irreligion and infidelity1 while another has declared his statements innocent if not virtuous4 ,but the question which has been least debated is1 ,what has the professor really said8 or1 ,has he said anything8 ,the celebrated sentence which has occasioned this excitement is as follows3-- ,abandoning all disguise1 the confession that ,i feel bound to make before you is1 that ,i prolong the vision backward across the boundary of the experimental evidence1 and discern in that matter which we in our ignorance1 and notwithstanding our professed reverence for its ,creator1 have hitherto covered with opprobrium1 the promise and potency of every form and quality of life4 ,does he1 then1 declare himself a materialist8 ,a materialist is one who asserts everything which exists to be matter1 or an affection of matter4 ,what1 then1 is matter1 and how is that to be defined8 ,the common definition of matter is1 that which is perceived by the senses1 or the substance underlying sensible phenomena4 ,by means of the senses we perceive such qualities or phenomena as resistance1 form1 color1 perfume1 sound4 ,whenever we observe these phenomena1 whenever we see1 hear1 taste1 touch1 or smell1 we attribute the affections thus excited to an external substance1 which we call matter4 ,but we are aware of other phenomena which are not perceived by the senses1--- such as thought1 love1 and will4 ,we are as certain of their existence as we are of sensible phenomena4 ,i am as sure of the reality of love as ,i am of the whiteness of chalk4 ,by a law of our mind1 whenever we perceive sensible phenomena1 we necessarily attribute them to a substance outside of ourselves1 which we call matter4 ,and by another law1 or the same law1 whenever we perceive the phenomena of consciousness1 we necessarily attribute them to a substance which we call soul1 mind1 or spirit4 ,all that we know of matter1 and all that we know of soul1 is their phenomena1 and as these are entirely different1 we are obliged to assume that matter and mind are different4 ,none of the qualities or attributes of matter belong to mind1 none of those of mind to matter4 ,does ,tyndall deny this distinction8 ,apparently not4 ,he not only makes ,bishop ,butler declare1 with unanswerable power1 that materialism can never show any connection between molecular processes and the phenomena of consciousness1 but he distinctly iterates this in his own person at the end of the address2 asserting that there is no fusion possible between the two classes of facts1 those of sensation and those of consciousness4 ,professor ,tyndall1 then1 in the famous sentence above quoted1 does not declare himself a materialist in the only sense in which the term has hitherto been used4 ,he does not pretend that sensation1 thought1 emotion1 and will are reducible1 in the last analysis1 to solidity1 extension1 divisibility1 etc42 he positively and absolutely denies this4 ,when ,tyndall1 therefore1 asserts that he discerns in matter the promise and potency of every form and quality of life1 he uses the word matter in a new sense4 ,he does not mean by it the underlying subject of sensible phenomena4 ,it is not the matter which we see1 hear1 touch1 taste1 and smell4 ,what is it then8 ,it is something beyond the limits of observation and experiment2 for he says that in order to discover it we must prolong the vision backward across the boundary of the experimental evidence4 ,in short1 it is something which we know nothing about4 ,it is a conjecture1 an opinion1 a theoretical matter4 ,in another place he calls this imaginary substance a cosmical life4 ,this something1 which shall be the common basis of the phenomena of sense and soul1 not only is not known1 but apparently is not knowable4 ,for he assures us that the very attempt to understand this cosmical life which makes the connection between physical and mental phenomena1 is to soar in a vacuum1 or to try to lift one's self by his own waistband4 ,of course1 then1 the contents of the famous sentence are not science4 ,it is not the great scientist1 the profound observer of nature1 the distinguished experimentalist1 who speaks to us in that sentence1 but one who is theorizing1 as we all have a right to theorize4 ,we also1 if we choose1 may imagine some cosmical life behind both matter and soul1 as the common origin of both1 and call this life spirit4 ,we shall then be thinking of exactly the same substance that ,tyndall is thinking of1 only we give it another name4 ,he has merely given another name to the great ,being behind all the phenomena of body and soul1 out of which or whom all proceed4 ,but to give another name to a fact is not to tell us anything more about it4 ,all meaning having evaporated from the word matter1 the sentence loses its whole significance1 and it appears that the alarming declaration asserts nothing at all6 ,in abandoning all disguise ,tyndall has run little risk1 for our analysis shows that he has not asserted anything except1 perhaps1 this1 that there is1 in his judgment1 some unknown common basis in which matter and mind both inhere4 ,this assertion is not alarming nor dangerous1 for it is only what has always been believed4 ,as there is no materialism1 in any known sense of that term1 in the doctrine of this address1 so likewise there is no atheism4 ,in fact1 in this same sentence ,tyndall speaks of the creator of what he likes to call matter or cosmical life4 ,he objects strongly to a creator who works mechanically1 and he seems to reprove ,darwin for admitting an original or primordial form1 created at first by the ,deity4 ,the anthropomorphism1 which it seemed the object of ,mr4 ,darwin to set aside1 is as firmly associated with the creation of a few forms as with the creation of a multitude4 ,in another passage he says3 ,is there not a temptation to close to some extent with ,lucretius1 when he affirms that nature is seen to do all things spontaneously of herself without the meddling of the gods84 ,but this last sentence shows a singular vacillation in so clear a thinker as ,tyndall4 ,how can one close to some extent with such a statement as that of ,lucretius8 ,either the gods meddle1 or they do not meddle4 ,they can hardly be considered as meddling to some extent4 ,in still another passage he contrasts the doctrine of evolution with the usual doctrine of creation1 rejecting the last in favor of the other1 because creation makes of ,god an artificer1 fashioned after the human model1 and acting by broken efforts1 as man is seen to act4 ,all these expressions are somewhat vague1 implying1 as it seems1 a certain obscurity in ,tyndall's own thought4 ,but it is not atheism4 ,his cosmical life probably is exactly what ,cudworth means by plastic life4 ,it is well known that ,cudworth1 whose great work is a confutation of all atheism1 himself admits what he calls a plastic nature in the universe as a subordinate instrument of divine ,providence4 ,just as ,tyndall objects to regarding the ,deity as an artificer1 ,cudworth objects to the mechanic theists1 who make the ,deity act directly upon matter from without1 by separate efforts1 instead of pouring a creative and arranging life into nature4 ,we can easily see that ,cudworth1 like ,tyndall1 would object to ,darwin's one or two primordial germs4 ,his plastic nature is working everywhere and always1 though under a divine guidance4 ,it is a life1 and therefore incorporeal4 ,it is an unconscious life1 which acts1 not knowingly1 but fatally4 ,man1 according to ,cudworth1 partakes of this life from the life of the universe1 just as he partakes of heat and cold from the heat and cold of the universe4 ,thus ,cudworth1 believing in some such cosmical life as ,tyndall imagines1 conceives it as being itself the organ and instrument of the ,deity4 ,tyndall1 therefore1 though less clear in his statements than ,cudworth1 is not logically involved in atheism by those statements1 unless we implicate in the same condemnation the writer whose vast work constitutes the fullest arsenal of weapons against all the forms of atheism4 ,unfortunately1 however1 ,tyndall does not come to any clearness on this point1 which in one possessing such a lucidity of intellect must be occasioned by his leaving his own domain of science and venturing into this metaphysical world1 with which he is not so familiar4 ,his acquaintance with the history of these studies seems not to be extensive4 ,for example1 he attributes to ,herbert ,spencer1 as if he were the discoverer1 what both ,hobbes and ,descartes had already stated1 that there is no necessary resemblance between our sensations and the external objects from which they are derived4 ,in regard to a belief in ,god1 he tells us that in his weaker moments he loses it1 or that it becomes clouded and dim1 but that when he is at his best he accepts it most fully4 ,this belief1 therefore1 is not with ,tyndall a matter of conviction1 founded on reason1 but a question of moods4 ,no wonder1 then1 that he relegates religion to the region of sentiment1 and declares that it has nothing to do with knowledge4 ,it must not touch any question of cosmogony1 or1 if it does1 must submit to the control of science in that field4 ,but what has science to do with cosmogony8 ,science rests on observation of facts2 but our professor tells us that he obtains his great cosmological idea of a cosmical life by prolonging his vision backward across the boundary of the experimental evidence4 ,such science as this1 which is based on no experience1 and is incapable of verification1 has hardly the right to warn religious belief away from any field4 ,tyndall seems a little astray in making creation and evolution contradictory and incompatible4 ,evolution1 he tells us1 is the manifestation of a power wholly inscrutable to the intellect of man4 ,we know that ,god is1--that is1 we know it in our better moods1--but what ,god is1 we cannot ever know4 ,at all events we must not consider him as a ,creator4 ,two courses1 says ,tyndall1 and only two1 are possible4 ,either let us open our doors freely to the conception of creative acts1 or1 abandoning them1 let us radically change our notions of matter4 ,his objections to the idea of a ,creator appear to be 7#a7 that it is derived1 not from the study of ,nature1 but from the observation of men2 and 7#b7 that it represents the ,deity as an artificer1 fashioned after a human model1 and acting by broken efforts as man is seen to act4 ,are these objections sound8 ,when we study man1 are we not then also studying ,nature8 ,is not man himself the highest manifestation of ,nature8 ,if so1 and if we see the quality of any power best in its highest and fullest operations1 we can study the nature of ,god best by looking into our own4 ,we should1 in fact1 know very little of ,nature if we did not look within as well as without4 ,tyndall justly demands unlimited freedom of investigation in the pursuit of science4 ,but whence came this very idea of freedom except from the human mind8 ,nothing in the external world is free2 all is fatal4 ,such ideas as cause1 force1 substance1 law1 unity1 ideality1 are not observed in the outward world--they are given by the activity of the mind itself4 ,subtract these from our thought1 and we should know very little of ,nature or its origin4 ,no doubt the idea of a ,creator1 and of one perfect in wisdom1 power1 and goodness1 is derived by man from his own mind4 ,but it is not necessary that such a ,creator should be an artificer1 or proceed by broken efforts4 ,he may act by evolution1 or processes of development4 ,he may create perpetually1 by a life flowing from himself into all things4 ,he may create the universe anew at every moment--not as a man lights a torch with a match and then goes away1 but as the sun creates his image in the water by a perpetual process4 ,thus ,god may be regarded as creating each animal and each plant1 while he maintains the mysterious force of development by which it grows from its egg or its seed4 ,the essential idea of creation is an infinite cause1 acting according to a perfect intelligence1 for a perfect good4 ,there is nothing1 necessarily1 of an artificer or of broken efforts in this4 ,it is the very idea of divine creation given in the ,new ,testament4 ,from whom1 and through whom1 and to whom1 are all things4 ,in him1 we live1 and move1 and have our being4 ,the theist may well accept the view given by ,goethe1 in his little poem1 ,gott1 ,gemth1 und ,welt4 ,what kind of ,god would ,he be who only pushes the universe from without8 ,who lets the ,all of ,things run round and round on his finger8 ,it becomes him far better to move the universe from within1 ,to take ,nature up into ,himself1 to let ,himself down into ,nature1 ,so that whatever lives1 and moves1 and has its being in ,him ,never loses ,his power1 never misses ,his spirit4 ,such a conception of ,god1 as a perpetual ,creator1 is essential to the intellectual rest of the human mind1 and it is painful to see the irresolution of ,professor ,tyndall in regard to it4 ,clear and confident as ,jove in the domain which is his own1 where his masterly powers of observation1 discrimination1 and judgment leave him without a peer1 he seems shorn of his strength on entering this field of metaphysics4 ,he has warned theology not to trespass on the grounds of science2 or1 if she enters them1 to submit to science as her superior4 ,theology has been in the habit of treating science in the same supercilious way2 telling her that she was an intruder if she ventured to discuss questions of psychology or religion4 ,this is equally unwise on either part4 ,theologians should be glad when men of science become seriously interested in these great questions of the ,whence and the ,whither4 ,the address of ,professor ,tyndall is excellent in its intention as well as in its candid and manly treatment of the subject4 ,its indecision and indistinctness are probably due to his having accepted too implicitly the guidance of ,spencer1 thus assuming that religious truth is unknowable1 that creation is impossible1 and that only phenomena can become objects of knowledge4 ,insoluble mystery is therefore his final answer to the questions he has himself raised4 ,goethe is wiser when he follows the ,apostle ,paul1 and regards the ,deity as the fullness which filleth all in all4 ,there is no unity to thought1 and no hope for scientific progress1 more than for moral culture1 unless we see intelligence at the centre1 intelligence on the circumference of being4 ,to place an impenetrable darkness instead of an unclouded light on the throne of the universe1 is to throw a shadow over the ,creation4 ,we say that there is no unity in thought without this conviction4 ,the only real unity we know in the world is our own4 ,all we see around us1 including our own body1 is divisible1 subject to alteration and change4 ,only the ego1 or soul1 is conscious of a perfect unity in a perpetual identity4 ,unless we can attribute to the source of all being a similar personal unity1 there can be no coherence to science1 but it must forever remain fragmentary and divided4 ,this is what we mean by asserting the personality of ,deity4 ,this idea reaches what ,lord ,bacon calls the vertical point of natural philosophy or the summary law of ,nature1 and constitutes1 as he declares1 the union of all things in a perpetual and uniform law4 ,and unless we can recognize in the ultimate fountain of being an intelligent purpose1 the meaning of the universe departs4 ,without intelligence in the cause there is none in the effect4 ,then the world has no meaning1 life no aim4 ,the universe comes out of darkness1 and is plunging into darkness again4 ,take away from the domain of knowledge the idea of a creating and presiding intelligence1 and there remains no motive for science itself4 ,professor ,tyndall is sagacious enough to see and candid enough to admit that without moral force to whip it into action the achievements of the intellect would be poor indeed1 and that science itself not unfrequently derives motive power from ultra-scientific sources4 ,faith in ,god1 as an intelligent creator and ruler of the world1 has awakened enthusiasm for scientific investigation among both the ,aryan and the ,semitic races4 ,the purest and highest form of monotheism is that of ,christianity2 and in ,christendom has science made its largest progress4 ,not by martyrs for science1 but by martyrs for religion1 has the human mind been emancipated4 ,mr4 ,tyndall says of scientific freedom1 ,we fought and won our battle even in the middle ages4 ,but the heroes of intellectual liberty have been the heroes of faith4 ,hundreds of thousands have died for a religious creed2 but how many have died for a scientific theory8 ,luther went to ,worms1 and maintained his opinions there in defiance of the anathemas of the church and the ban of the empire1 but ,galileo denied his most cherished convictions on his knees4 ,galileo was as noble a character as ,luther2 but science does not create the texture of soul which makes so many martyrs in all the religious sects of ,christendom4 ,let the doctrine of cosmical force supplant our faith in the ,almighty1 and in a few hundred years science would probably fade out of the world from pure inanition4 ,the world would probably not care enough for anything to care for science4 ,the light of eternity must fall on this our human and earthly life1 to arouse the soul to a living and permanent interest even in things seen and temporal4 ,professor ,tyndall says3 ,whether the views of ,lucretius1 ,darwin1 and ,spencer are right or wrong1 we claim the freedom to discuss them4 ,the ground which they cover is scientific ground4 ,it is not only a right1 but a duty to examine these theories1 since they are held seriously and urged earnestly by able men4 ,but we must doubt whether they ought to claim the authority of science4 ,they are proposed by scientific men1 and they refer to scientific subjects4 ,but these theories1 in their present development1 belong to metaphysics rather than to science4 ,science consists1 first1 of observation of facts2 secondly1 of laws inferred from those facts2 and thirdly1 of a verification of those laws by new observation and experiment4 ,that which cannot be verified is no part of science2 astronomy is a science1 since every eclipse and occultation verifies its laws2 geology is a science1 since every new observation of the strata and their contents accords with the established part of the system2 chemistry is a science for the same reason4 ,but ,darwin's theory of the transformation of species by natural selection is as yet unverified4 ,there is no evidence of a direct descent of earlier from later species in the geological succession of animals4 ,so says ,agassiz1 and on this point his testimony can hardly be impeached4 ,professor ,w4 ,thompson1 another good geological authority1 says3 ,in successive geological formations1 although new species are constantly appearing1 and there is abundant evidence of progressive change1 no single case has yet been observed of one species passing through a series of inappreciable modifications into another4 ,neither has any such change taken place within historic times1 for the animals and plants found in the tombs of ,egypt are identical1 in all respects1 says ,m4 ,quatrefages1 with those now existing4 ,he adds the opinion1 after a very careful and candid examination of the hypothesis of ,darwin1 that the theory and the facts do not agree4 ,not being verified1 then1 this theory is not yet science1 but an unverified mental hypothesis1 that is1 metaphysics4 ,it is important that this should be distinctly said1 for when men eminent in science propound new theories1 these theories themselves are apt to be regarded as science1 and those who oppose them are accused of being opposed to science4 ,this is the tendency which ,professor ,tyndall has so justly described in this very address3 ,when the human mind has achieved greatness and given evidence of power in any domain1 there is a tendency to credit it with similar power in any other domain4 ,because ,tyndall is great in experimental science1 many are apt to accept his cosmological conclusions4 ,because he is a great observer in natural history1 his metaphysical theories are supposed to be supported by observation1 and to rest on experience4 ,professor ,tyndall's own address terminates1 not in science1 but nescience4 ,it treats of a realm of atoms and molecules whose existence science has never demonstrated1 and attributes to them potencies which science has never verified4 ,it is a system1 not made necessary by the stringent constraint of facts1 but avowedly constructed in order to avoid the belief in an intelligent ,creator1 and a universe marked by the presence of design4 ,his theory1 he admits1 no less than that of ,darwin1 was not constructed in the pure interests of truth for its own sake4 ,there was another purpose in both1--to get rid of a theology of final causes1 of a theology which conceives of ,god as a human artificer4 ,he wished to exclude religion from the field of cosmogony1 and forbid it to intrude on the region of knowledge4 ,theologians have often been reproached for studying with a purpose1 but it seems that this is a frailty belonging not to theologians only1 but to all human beings who care a good deal for what they believe4 ,professor ,tyndall accepts religious faith as an important element of human nature1 but considers it as confined to the sentiments1 and as not based in knowledge4 ,he doubtless comes to this conclusion from following too implicitly the traditions of modern ,english psychology4 ,these assume that knowledge comes only from without1 through the senses1 and never from within1 through intuition4 ,this prepossession1 singularly ,english and insular1 is thus stated by ,john ,stuart ,mill in his article on ,coleridge4 ,sensation1 and the mind's consciousness of its own acts1 are not only the exclusive sources1 but the sole materials of our knowledge4 ,there is no knowledge a priori2 no truths cognizable by the mind's inward light1 and grounded on intuitive evidence4 ,these views have been developed in ,england by the two ,mills1 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,bain1 and others1 who have made great efforts to show how sensations may be transformed into thoughts2 how association of ideas may have developed instincts2 how hereditary impressions1 repeated for a million years1 may at last have taken on the aspect of necessary truths4 ,in short1 they have laid out great labor and ingenuity in proving that a sensation may1 very gradually1 be transformed into a thought4 ,but all this labor is probably a waste of time and of intellectual power4 ,the attempt at turning sensation into thought only results in turning thought into sensation4 ,it is an error that we only know what we perceive through the senses1 or transform by the action of the mind4 ,it is not true that we only know that of which we can form a sensible image4 ,we know the existence of the soul as certainly as that of the body4 ,we know the infinite and the eternal as well as we know the finite and temporal4 ,we know substance1 cause1 immortal beauty1 absolute truth1 as surely as the flitting phenomena which pass within the sphere of sensational experience4 ,these convictions belong1 not to the sphere of sentiment and emotion1 but to that of knowledge4 ,it is because they show us realities and not imaginations1 that they nerve the soul to such vast efforts in the sphere of morals1 literature1 and religion4 ,the arguments against the independent existence of the soul which ,tyndall puts into the mouth of his ,lucretian disciple are not difficult to answer4 ,you can form no picture of the soul1 he says4 ,no2 and neither can we form a mental picture of love or hate1 of right and wrong1 or even of bodily pain and pleasure4 ,if localized in the body1 the soul must have form4 ,must a pain1 localized in the finger1 have form8 ,when a leg is amputated1 in which part does the soul reside8 ,we answer1 that the soul resides in the body1 with reduced power4 ,its instrument is less perfect than before--like a telescope which has lost a lens4 ,if consciousness is an essential attribute of the soul1 where is the soul when consciousness ceases by the depression of the brain8 ,is there any difficulty1 we reply1 in supposing that the soul may pass sometimes into a state of torpor1 when its instrument is injured8 ,a soul may sleep1 and so be unconscious1 without being dead4 ,the diseased brain may produce immorality3 can the reason control it8 ,if not1 what is the use of the reason8 ,to this we answer that the soul may lose its power with a diseased body2 but when furnished with another and better body1 it will regain it4 ,if you regard the body only as an instrument1 you will neglect to take care of it4 ,does the astronomer neglect to take care of his telescope8 ,these answers to the ,lucretian may be far from complete2 but they are at least as good as the objections4 ,the soul1 no doubt1 depends on the body1 and cannot do its work well when the body is out of order2 but does that prove it to be the result of the body8 ,if so1 the same argument would prove the carpenter to be the result of his box of tools1 and the organist to be the result of his organ4 ,the organist draws sweet music from his instrument4 ,but as his organ grows old1 or is injured by the weather1 or the pipes crack1 and the pedals get out of order1 the music becomes more and more imperfect4 ,at last the instrument is wholly ruined1 and the music wholly ceases4 ,is1 then1 the organist dead1 or was he only the result of the organ8 ,without phosphorus1 no thought1 say the materialists4 ,true4 ,so1 without the organ1 no music4 ,just as in addition to the musical instrument we need a performer1 so in addition to the brain we need a soul4 ,there are two worlds of knowledge1--the outward world1 which is perceived through the senses1 and which belongs to physical science1 and the inward world1 perceived by the nobler reason1 and from which a celestial light streams in1 irradiating the mind through all its powers4 ,religion and science are not opposed1 though different2 their spheres are different1 though not to be divided4 ,each is supreme in its own region1 but each needs the help of the other in order to do its own work well4 ,professor ,tyndall claims freedom of discussion and inquiry for himself and his scientific brethren1 and says he will oppose to the death any limitation of this liberty4 ,he need not be anxious on this point4 ,religious faith has already fought this battle1 and won for science as well as for itself perfect liberty of thought4 ,the ,protestant churches may say1 ,with a great sum obtained we this freedom4 ,by the lives of its confessors and the blood of its martyrs has it secured for all men to-day equal rights of thought and speech4 ,what neither ,copernicus1 ,kepler1 nor ,galileo could do was accomplished by the courage of ,martin ,luther1 ,john ,calvin1 ,john ,knox1 and ,oliver ,cromwell4 ,and now the freedom they obtained by such sacrifices we inherit and enjoy3 ,we are free-born4 ,we may be thankful that in most countries to-day no repression nor dictation prevents any man from expressing his inmost thought4 ,we are glad that the most rabid unbelief and extreme denial can be spoken calmly in the open day4 ,this is one great discovery of modern times1 that errors lose half their influence when openly uttered4 ,we owe this discovery to the ,reformation4 ,the reformers made possible a toleration much larger than their own2 unwittingly1 while seeking freedom for their own thoughts1 they won the same freedom for others1 who went farther than they4 ,they builded better than they knew4 99 99 99 99 99 ,professor ,tyndall's address is tranquil yet earnest1 modest1 and manly4 ,but its best result is1 that it shows us the impotence of the method of sensation to explain the mystery of the universe4 ,it has shown us clearly the limitations of the understanding judging by sense--shown that it sees our world clearly1 but is blind to the other4 ,it can tell every blade of grass1 and name every mineral2 but it stands helpless and hopeless before the problem of being4 ,science and religion may each say with the apostle1 ,we know in part and prophesy in part4 ,together and united1 they may one day see and know the whole4 ,,law ,,and ,,design ,,in ,,nature#bb ,in the paper which opens this discussion on ,law and ,design in ,nature1 ,professor ,newcomb announces in a single sentence a proposition1 the truth or falsehood of which1 he tells us1 is the sole question presented for discussion in the present series of papers4 ,but1 as soon as we examine this proposition1 we find that it contains not one sole question1 but three4 ,the three are independent of each other1 and do not necessarily stand or fall together4 ,they are these3-- #a4 ,the whole course of ,nature1 considered as a succession of phenomena1 is conditioned solely by antecedent causes4 #b4 ,in the action of these causes1 no regard to consequences is traceable4 #c4 ,and no regard to consequences is necessary to foresee the phenomena4 ,of these three propositions ,i admit the truth of the first2 deny the truth of the second2 and1 for want of space1 and because of its relative unimportance1 leave the third unexamined4 ,the first proposition is so evidently true1 and so universally admitted1 that it was hardly worth positing for discussion4 ,it is merely affirming that every natural phenomenon implies a cause4 ,the word antecedent is ambiguous1 but1 if it intends logical and not chronological antecedence1 it is unobjectionable4 ,so understood1 we are merely asked if we can accept the law of universal causation2 which ,i suppose we shall all readily do1 since this law is the basis of theology no less than of science4 ,without it1 we could not prove the existence of the first cause4 ,professor ,newcomb has divided us into two conflicting schools1 one of theology and the other of science4 ,taking my place in the school of theology1 ,i think ,i may safely assert for my brethren that on this point there is no conflict1 but that we all admit the truth of the law of universal causation4 ,it will be noticed that ,professor ,newcomb has carefully worded his statement1 so as not to confine us to physical causes1 nor even to exclude supernatural causes from without1 working into the nexus of natural laws4 ,he does not say antecedent physical causes1 nor does he say causes which have existed from the beginning4 ,admitting thus the truth of the first proposition1 ,i must resolutely deny that of the second2 since1 by accepting it1 ,i should surrender the very cause ,i wish to defend1 namely1 that we can perceive design in ,nature4 ,final causes are those which regard consequences4 ,the principle of finality is defined by ,m4 ,janet 7in his recent exhaustive work1 ,les ,causes finales7 as the present determined by the future4 ,one example of the way in which we can trace in ,nature a regard to consequences is so excellently stated by this eminent philosopher that we will introduce it here3 ,consider what is implied in the egg of a bird4 ,in the mystery and night of incubation there comes1 by the combination of an incredible number of causes1 a living machine within the egg4 ,it is absolutely separated from the external world1 but every part is related to some future use4 ,the outward physical world which the creature is to inhabit is wholly divided by impenetrable veils from this internal laboratory2 but a prestablished harmony exists between them4 ,without1 there is light2 within1 an optical machine adapted to it4 ,without1 there is sound2 within1 an acoustic apparatus4 ,without1 are vegetables and animals2 within1 organs for their reception and assimilation4 ,without1 is air2 within1 lungs with which to breathe it4 ,without1 is oxygen2 within1 blood to be oxygenized4 ,without1 is earth2 within1 feet are being made to walk on it4 ,without1 is the atmosphere2 within1 are wings with which to fly through it4 ,now imagine a blind and idiotic workman1 alone in a cellar1 who simply by moving his limbs to and fro should be found to have forged a key capable of opening the most complex lock4 ,if we exclude design1 this is what ,nature is supposed to be doing4 ,that design exists in ,nature1 and that earthly phenomena actually depend on final causes as well as on efficient causes1 appears from the industry of man4 ,man is certainly a part of ,nature1 and those who accept evolution must regard him as the highest development resulting from natural processes4 ,now1 all over the earth1 from morning till evening1 men are acting for ends4 ,regard to consequences is traceable in all their conduct4 ,they are moved by hope and expectation4 ,they devise plans1 and act for a purpose4 ,from the savage hammering his flint arrowheads1 up to a ,shakespeare composing ,hamlet1 a ,columbus seeking a new way to ,asia1 or a ,paul converting ,europe to a ,syrian religion1 human industry is a constant proof that a large part of the course of ,nature on this earth is the result of design4 ,and1 as man develops into higher stages1 this principle of design rises also from the simple to the complex1 taking ever larger forms4 ,a ship1 for instance1 shows throughout the adaptation of means to ends1 by which complex adaptations produce a unity of result4 ,and that there is no conflict between the action of physical causes and final causes is demonstrated by the works of man1 since they all result from the harmonious action of both4 ,in studying human works we ask two questions1--,how8 and ,why8 ,we ask1 ,what is it for8 and ,how is it done8 ,the two lines of inquiry run parallel1 and without conflict4 ,so1 in studying the works of ,nature1 to seek for design does not obstruct the investigation of causes1 and may often aid it4 ,thus ,harvey is said to have been led to the discovery of the circulation of the blood by seeking for the use of the valves of the veins and heart4 ,the human mind is so constituted that1 whenever it sees an event1 it is obliged to infer a cause4 ,so1 whenever it sees adaptation1 it infers design4 ,it is not necessary to know the end proposed1 or who were the agents4 ,adaptation itself1 implying the use of means1 leads us irresistibly to infer intention4 ,we do not know who built ,stonehenge1 or some of the pyramids1 or what they were built for2 but no one doubts that they were the result of design4 ,this inference is strengthened if we see combination toward an end1 and preparation made beforehand for a result which comes afterward4 ,from preparation1 combination1 and adaptation1 we are led to believe in the presence of human design even where we did not before know of the presence of human beings4 ,a few rudely shaped stones1 found in a stratum belonging to the ,quaternary period1 in which man had before not been believed to exist1 changed that opinion4 ,those chipped flints showed adaptation2 from adaptation design was inferred2 and design implied the presence of man4 ,now1 we find in ,nature1 especially in the organization and instincts of animals1 myriads of similar instances of preparation1 combination1 and adaptation4 ,two explanations only of this occurred to antiquity1--design and chance4 ,socrates1 ,plato1 and others1 were led by such facts to infer the creation of the world by an intelligent author--ille opifex rerum4 ,democritus1 ,epicurus1 and ,lucretius1 ascribed it to the fortuitous concourse of atoms4 ,but modern science has expelled chance from the universe1 and substituted law4 ,laplace1 observing forty-three instances in the solar system of planets and their satellites revolving on their axes or moving in their orbits1 from west to east1 declared that this could not be a mere coincidence4 ,chance1 therefore1 being set aside1 the question takes another form3 ,did the cosmos that we see come by design or by law8 ,but does this really change the question8 ,granting1 for example1 the truth of the theory of the development of all forms of life1 under the operation of law1 from a primal cell1 we must then ask1 ,did these laws come by chance or by design8 ,it is not possible to evade that issue4 ,if the universe resulted from non-intelligent forces1 those forces themselves must have existed as the result of chance or of intelligence4 ,if you put out the eyes1 you leave blindness2 if you strike intelligence out of the creative mystery1 you leave blind forces1 the result of accident4 ,whatever is not from intelligence is from accident4 ,to substitute law for chance is merely removing the difficulty a little further back2 it does not solve it4 ,to eliminate interventions from the universe is not to remove design4 ,the most profound theists have denied such interruptions of the course of ,nature4 ,leibnitz is an illustrious example of this4 ,janet declares him to have been the true author of the theory of evolution1 by his ,law of ,continuity1 of ,insensible ,perceptions1 and of ,infinitely ,small ,increments4 ,yet he also fully believed in final causes4 ,descartes1 who objected to some teleological statements1 believed that the ,creator imposed laws on chaos by which the world emerged into a cosmos4 ,we know that existing animals are evolved by a continuous process from eggs1 and existing vegetables by a like process from seeds4 ,no one ever supposed that there was less of design on this account in their creation4 ,so1 if all existing things came at first by a like process from a single germ1 it would not argue less1 but far more1 of design in the universe4 ,the theory of natural selection does not enable us to dispense with final causes4 ,this theory requires the existence of forces working according to the law of heredity and the law of variation1 together with a suitable environment4 ,but whence came this arrangement1 by which a law of heredity was combined with a law of variation1 and both made to act in a suitable environment8 ,here we find again the three marks of a designing intelligence3 preparation1 combination1 adaptation4 ,that intelligence which combines and adapts means to ends is merely remanded to the initial step of the process1 instead of being allowed to act continuously along the whole line of evolution4 ,even though you can explain by the action of mechanical forces the whole development of the solar system and its contents from a nebula1 you have only accumulated all the action of a creative intelligence in the nebula itself4 ,because ,i can explain the mechanical process by which a watch keeps time1 ,i have not excluded the necessity of a watchmaker4 ,because1 walking through my neighbor's grounds1 ,i come upon a water-ram pumping up water by a purely mechanical process1 ,i do not argue that this mechanism makes the assumption of an inventor superfluous4 ,in human industry we perceive a power capable of using the blind forces of ,nature for an intelligent end2 which prepares beforehand for the intended result2 which combines various conditions suited to produce it1 and so creates order1 system1 use4 ,but we observe in ,nature exactly similar examples of order1 method1 and system1 resulting from a vast number of combinations1 correlations1 and adaptations of natural forces4 ,man himself is such a result4 ,he is an animal capable of activity1 happiness1 progress4 ,but innumerable causes are combined and harmonized in his physical frame1 each necessary to this end4 ,as the human intelligence is the only power we know capable of accomplishing such results1 analogy leads us to assume that a similar intelligence presides over the like combinations of means to ends in ,nature4 ,if any one questions the value of this argument from analogy1 let him remember how entirely we rely upon it in all the business of life4 ,we know only the motives which govern our own actions2 but we infer by analogy that others act from similar motives4 ,knowing that we ourselves combine means designed to effect ends1 when we see others adapting means to ends1 we assume that they act also with design4 ,hence we have a right to extend the argument further and higher4 ,the result of what ,i have said is this3 ,the phenomena of the universe cannot be satisfactorily explained except by the study both of efficient causes and of final causes4 ,routine scientists1 confining themselves to the one1 and routine theologians1 confining themselves to the other1 may suppose them to be in conflict4 ,but men of larger insight1 like ,leibnitz1 ,newton1 ,descartes1 and ,bacon1 easily see the harmony between them4 ,like ,hegel they say3 ,nature is no less artful than powerful2 it attains its end while it allows all things to act according to their constitution2 or they declare with ,bacon that the highest link of ,nature's chain is fastened to the foot of ,jupiter's chair4 ,but the belief in final causes does not imply belief in supernatural intervention1 nor of any disturbance in the continuity of natural processes4 ,it means that ,nature is pervaded by an intelligent presence2 that mind is above and around matter2 that mechanical laws are themselves a manifestation of some providing wisdom1 and that when we say ,nature we also say ,god4#bc ,,historical ,,and ,,biographical ,,the ,,two ,,carlyles1 ,,or ,,carlyle ,,past ,,and ,,present#bd ,in ,thomas ,carlyle's earlier days1 when he followed a better inspiration than his present1--when his writings were steeped1 not in cynicism1 but in the pure human love of his fellow beings1--in the days when he did not worship ,force1 but ,truth and ,goodness1--in those days1 it was the fashion of critics to pass the most sweeping censures on his writings as affected1 unintelligible1 extravagant4 ,but he worked his way on1 in spite of that superficial criticism1--he won for himself an audience2 he gained renown2 he became authentic4 ,now1 the same class of critics admire and praise whatever he writes4 ,for the rule with most critics is that of the bully in school and college1--to tyrannize over the new boys1 to abuse the strangers1 but to treat with respect whoever has bravely fought his way into a recognized position4 ,carlyle has fought his way into the position of a great literary chief1--so now he may be ever so careless1 ever so willful1 and he will be spoken of in high terms by all monthlies and quarterlies4 ,when he deserved admiration1 he was treated with cool contempt2 now that he deserves the sharpest criticism1 not only for his false moral position1 but for his gross literary sins1 the critics treat him with deference and respect4 ,but let us say beforehand that we can never write of ,thomas ,carlyle with bitterness4 ,we have received too much good from him in past days4 ,he is our ,lost ,leader1 but we have loved and honored him as few men were ever loved and honored4 ,it is therefore with tenderness1 and not any cold1 indifferent criticism1 that we find fault with him now4 ,we shall always be grateful to the real ,carlyle1 the old ,carlyle of ,sartor ,resartus1 of the ,french ,revolution1 of the ,life of ,schiller1 of ,heroes and ,hero-,worship1 and of that long and noble series of articles in the ,edinburgh1 ,foreign ,review1 ,westminster1 and ,frazer1 each of which illuminated some theme1 and threw the glory of genius over whatever his mind touched or his pencil drew4 99 99 99 99 99 ,carlyle's ,frederick the ,great#be seems to us a badly written book4 ,let us consider the volume containing the fifteenth1 sixteenth1 and seventeenth chapters4 ,nothing in these chapters is brought out clearly4 ,when we have finished the book1 the mind is filled with a confusion of vague images4 ,we know that ,mr4 ,carlyle is not bound to provide us with brains as well as with a history1 but neither was he so bound in other days4 ,yet no such confusion was left after reading the ,french ,revolution4 ,how brilliantly distinct was every leading event1 every influential person1 every pathetic or poetic episode1 in that charmed narrative6 ,who can forget ,carlyle's account of the ,menads1 the ,king's ,flight to ,varennes1 the ,constitutions that would not march1 the ,september ,massacres1 ,charlotte ,corday1--every chief tragic movement1 every grotesque episode1 moving forward1 distinct and clear1 to the final issue1 a whiff of grapeshot8 ,is there anything like that in this confused ,frederick8 ,compare1 for example1 the chapters on ,voltaire in the present volume with the article on ,voltaire published in #ahbi4 ,the sixteenth book is devoted to the ten years of peace which followed the second ,silesian war4 ,these were from #agdf to #agef4 ,the book contains fifteen chapters4 ,carlyle begins1 in chapter i41 by lamenting that there is very little to be known or said about these ten years4 ,nothing visible in them of main significance but a crash of authors' quarrels1 and the crowning visit of ,voltaire4 ,yet one would think that matter enough might be found in describing the immense activity of ,friedrich1 of which ,macaulay says1 ,his exertions were such as were hardly to be expected from a human body or a human mind4 ,during these years ,frederick brought a seventh part of his people into the army1 and organized and drilled it under his own personal inspection1 till it became the finest in ,europe4 ,he compiled a code of laws1 in which he1 among the first1 abolished torture4 ,he made constant journeys through his dominions1 examining the condition of manufactures1 arts1 commerce1 and agriculture4 ,he introduced the strictest economy into the expenditures of the state4 ,he indulged himself1 indeed1 in various architectural extravagances at ,berlin and ,potsdam1--but otherwise saved every florin for his army4 ,he wrote ,memoirs of the ,house of ,brandenburg1 and an epic poem on the ,art of ,war4 ,but our author disdains to give us an account of these things4 ,they are not picturesque1 they can be told in only general terms1 and ,carlyle will tell us only what an eyewitness could see or a listener hear4 ,accordingly1 instead of giving us an account of these great labors of his hero1 he inserts 7chapter ii47 a peep at ,voltaire and his divine ,emilie1 a visit to ,frederick by ,marshal ,saxe2 7chapter iii47 a long account of ,candidate ,linsenbarth's visit to the king2 ,sir ,jonas ,hanway stalks across the scene2 the lawsuit of ,voltaire about the ,jew ,hirsch2 a demon news-writer gives an idea of ,friedrich2 the quarrel of ,voltaire and ,maupertuis2 ,friedrich is visible in ,holland to the naked eye for some minutes4 ,this is very unsatisfactory4 ,reports of eyewitnesses are1 no doubt1 picturesque and valuable2 but so only on condition of being properly arranged1 and tending1 in their use1 toward some positive result4 ,then the tone of banter1 of irony1 almost of persiflage1 is discouraging4 ,if the whole story of ,friedrich is so unintelligible1 uninteresting1 or incommunicable1 why take the trouble to write it8 ,the poco-curante air with which he narrates1 as though it were of no great consequence whether he told his story or not1 contrasts wonderfully with his early earnestness4 ,carlyle writes this history like a man thoroughly blas4 ,impossible for him to take any interest in it himself1--how1 then1 does he expect to interest us8 ,has he not himself told us1 in his former writings1 that the man who proposes to teach others anything must be good enough to believe it first himself8 ,here is the problem we have to solve4 ,how came this change from the ,carlyle of the ,past to the ,carlyle of the ,present1--from ,carlyle the universal believer to ,carlyle the universal skeptic1--from him to whom the world was full of wonder and beauty1 to him who can see in it nothing but ,force on the one side and ,shams on the other8 ,what changed that tender1 loving1 brave soul into this hard cynic8 ,and how was it1 as ,faith and ,love faded out of him1 that the life passed from his thought1 the glory from his pen1 and the page1 once alive with flashing ideas1 turned into this confused heap of rubbish1 in which silver spoons1 old shoes1 gold sovereigns1 and copper pennies are pitched out promiscuously1 for the patient reader to sift and pick over as he can8 ,in reading the ,carlyle of thirty years ago1 we were like ,california miners1--come upon a rich placer1 never before opened1 where we could all become rich in a day4 ,now the reader of ,carlyle is a chiffonier1 raking in a heap of street dust for whatever precious matters may turn up4 ,to investigate this question is our purpose now1--and in doing so we will consider1 in succession1 these two ,carlyles4 ,i4 ,it was about the year #ahcj that readers of books in this vicinity became aware of a new power coming up in the literary republic4 ,opinions concerning him varied widely4 ,to some he seemed a ,jack ,cade1 leader of rebels1 foe to good taste and all sound opinions4 ,especially did his admiration for ,goethe and for ,german literature seem to many preposterous and extravagant4 ,it was said of these1 that the force of folly could no further go1--that they constituted a burlesque too extravagant to be amusing4 ,the tone of ,carlyle was said to be of unbounded assumption2 his language to be obscure and barbarous2 his ideas composed of extravagant paradoxes1 familiar truths or familiar falsehoods2 wildest extravagance and merest silliness4 ,but to others1 and especially to the younger men1 this new writer came1 opening up unknown worlds of beauty and wonder4 ,a strange influence1 unlike any other1 attracted us to his writing4 ,before we knew his name1 we knew him4 ,we could recognize an article by our new author as soon as we opened the pages of the ,foreign ,review1 ,edinburgh1 or ,westminster1 and read a few paragraphs4 ,but it was not the style1 though marked by a singular freedom and originality--not the tone of kindly humor1 the good-natured irony1 the happy illustrations brought from afar1--not the amount of literary knowledge1 the familiarity with ,german1 ,french1 ,italian1 ,spanish literature1--not any or all of these which so bewitched us4 ,we knew a young man who used to walk from a neighboring town to ,boston every week1 in order to read over again two articles by ,carlyle in two numbers of the ,foreign ,review lying on a table in the reading-room of the ,athenum4 ,this was his food1 in the strength of which he could go a week1 till hunger drove him back to get another meal at the same table4 ,we knew other young men and young women who taught themselves ,german in order to read for themselves the authors made so luminous by this writer4 ,those were counted fortunate who possessed the works of our author1 as yet unpublished in ,america1--his ,life of ,schiller1 his ,german ,romance1 his ,review articles4 ,what1 then1 was the charm1--whence the fascination8 ,to explain this we must describe a little the state of literature and opinion in this vicinity at the time when ,carlyle's writings first made their appearance4 ,unitarianism and ,orthodoxy had fought their battle1 and were resting on their arms4 ,each had intrenched itself in certain positions1 each had won to its side most of those who legitimately belonged to it4 ,controversy had done all it could1 and had come to an end4 ,among the ,unitarians1 the so-called practical preaching was in vogue2 that is1 ethical and moral essays1 pointing out the goodness of being good1 and the excellence of what was called moral virtue4 ,there was1 no doubt1 a body of original thinkers and writers1--better thinkers and writers1 it may be1 than we have now1--who were preparing the way for another advance4 ,channing had already unfolded his doctrine of man1 of which the central idea is1 that human nature is not to be moulded by religion1 but to be developed by it4 ,walker1 ,greenwood1 ,ware1 and their brave associates1 were conducting this journal with unsurpassed ability4 ,but something more was needed4 ,the general character of preaching was not of a vitalizing sort4 ,it was much like what ,carlyle says of preaching in ,england at the same period3 ,the most enthusiastic ,evangelicals do not preach a ,gospel1 but keep describing how it should and might be preached2 to awaken the sacred fire of faith is not their endeavor2 but at most1 to describe how faith shows and acts1 and scientifically to distinguish true faith from false4 ,it is not the ,love of ,god which is taught1 but the love of the ,love of ,god4 ,according to this1 ,god was outside of the world1 at a distance from his children1 and obliged to communicate with them in this indirect way1 by breaking through the walls of natural law with an occasional miracle4 ,there was no door by which he could enter into the sheepfold to his sheep4 ,miracles were represented1 even by ,dr4 ,channing1 as abnormal1 as violations of the laws of nature2 something1 therefore1 unnatural and monstrous1 and not to be believed except on the best evidence4 ,god could not be supposed to break through the walls of this house of nature1 except in order to speak to his children on some great occasions4 ,that he had done it1 in the case of ,christianity1 could be proved by the eleven volumes of ,dr4 ,lardner1 which showed the ,four ,gospels to have been written by the companions of ,christ1 and not otherwise4 ,the whole of this theory rested1 it will be observed1 on a sensuous system of mental philosophy4 ,all knowledge comes through the senses1 was its foundation4 ,revelation1 like every other form of knowledge1 must come through the senses4 ,a miracle1 which appeals to the sight1 touch1 hearing1 is the only possible proof of a divine act4 ,for1 in the last analysis1 all our theology rests on our philosophy4 ,theology1 being belief1 must proceed according to those laws of belief1 whatever they are1 which we accept and hold4 ,the man who thinks that all knowledge comes through the senses must receive his theological knowledge also that way1 and no other4 ,this was the general opinion thirty or forty years ago2 hence this theory of ,christianity1 which supposes that ,god is obliged to break his own laws in order to communicate it4 ,but the result of this belief was harmful4 ,it tended to make our religion formal1 our worship a mere ceremony2 it made real communication with ,god impossible2 it turned prayer into a self-magnetizing operation2 it left us virtually without ,god and hope in the world4 ,thanks to ,him who never leaves himself without a witness in the human heart1 this theory was often nullified in practice by the irrepressible instincts which it denied1 by the spiritual intuitions which it ridiculed4 ,even ,professor ,norton1 its chief champion1 had a heart steeped in the sweetest piety4 ,denying1 intellectually1 all intuitions of ,god1 ,duty1 and ,immortality1 his beautiful and tender hymns show the highest spiritual insight4 ,still it cannot be denied that this theory tended to dry up the fountains of religious faith in the human heart1 and to leave us in a merely mechanical and unspiritualized world4 ,now the first voice which came to break this enchantment was1 to many1 the voice of ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,it needed for this end1 it always needs1 a man who could come face to face with ,truth4 ,every great idol-breaker1 every man who has delivered the world from the yoke of ,forms1 has been one who was able to see the substance of things1 who was gifted with the insight of realities4 ,forms of worship1 forms of belief1 at first the channels of life1 through which the ,living ,spirit flowed into human hearts1 at last became petrified1 incrusted1 choked4 ,a few drops of the vital current still ooze slowly through them1 and our parched lips1 sucking these few drops1 cling all the more closely to the form as it becomes less and less a vehicle of life4 ,the poorest word1 old and trite1 is precious when there is no open vision4 ,we do well continually to resort to the half-dead form1 till the day dawn1 and the day-star arise in our hearts4 ,but at last there comes a man capable of dispensing with the form1--a man endowed with a high degree of the intuitive faculty1--a born seer1 a prophet1 seeing the great realities of the universe with open vision4 ,the work of such a man is to break up the old formulas and introduce new light and life4 ,this work was done for the ,orthodox thirty years ago by the writings of ,coleridge2 for the ,unitarians in this vicinity1 by the writings of ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,this was the secret of the enthusiasm felt for ,carlyle1 in those days1 by so many of the younger men and women4 ,he taught us to look at realities instead of names1 at substance instead of surface1--to see ,god in the world1 in nature1 in life1 in providence1 in man1--to see divine truth and beauty and wonder everywhere around4 ,he taught that the only organ necessary by which to see the divine in all things was sincerity1 or inward truth4 ,and so he enabled us to escape from the form into the spirit1 he helped us to rise to that plane of freedom from which we could see the divine in the human1 the infinite in the finite1 ,god in man1 heaven on earth1 immortality beginning here1 eternity pervading time4 ,this made for us a new heaven and a new earth1 a new religion and a new life4 ,faith was once more possible1 a faith not bought by the renunciation of mature reason or the beauty and glory of the present hour4 ,but all this was taught us by our new prophet1 not by the intellect merely1 but by the spirit in which he spoke4 ,he did not seem to be giving us a new creed1 so much as inspiring us with a new life4 ,that which came from his experience went into ours4 ,therefore it might have been difficult1 in those days1 for any of his disciples to state what it was that they had learned from him4 ,they had not learned his doctrine1--they had absorbed it4 ,hence1 very naturally1 came the imitations of ,carlyle1 which so disgusted the members of the old school4 ,hence the absurd ,carlylish writing1 the feeble imitations by honest1 but weak disciples of the great master4 ,it was a pity1 but not unnatural1 and it soon passed by4 ,as ,carlyle thus did his work1 not so much by direct teaching as by an influence hidden in all that he said1 it did not much matter on what subject he wrote1--the influence was there still4 ,but his articles on ,goethe were the most attractive1 because he asserted that in this patriarch of ,german literature he had found one who saw in all things their real essence1 one whose majestic and trained intelligence could interpret to us in all parts of nature and life the inmost quality1 the terza essenza1 as the ,italian ,platonists called it1 which made each itself4 ,goethe was announced as the prophet of ,realism4 ,he1 it should seem1 had perfectly escaped from words into things4 ,he saw the world1 not through dogmas1 traditions1 formulas1 but as it was in itself4 ,to him the world's unwithered countenance ,was fresh as on creation's day4 ,consider the immense charm of such hopes as these6 ,no wonder that the critics complained that the disciples of ,carlyle were insensible to ridicule4 ,what did they care for the laughter1 which seemed to them1 in their enthusiasm1 like the crackling of thorns under the pot4 ,ridicule1 in fact1 never touches the sincere enthusiast4 ,it is a good and useful weapon against affectation1 but it falls1 shivered to pieces1 from the magic breastplate of truth4 ,no sincere person1 at work in a cause which he knows to be important1 ever minds being laughed at4 ,but besides his admirable discussions of ,goethe1 ,carlyle's ,life of ,schiller opened the portals of ,german literature1 and made an epoch in biography and criticism4 ,it was a new thing to read a biography written with such enthusiasm1--to find a critic who could really write with reverence and tender love of the poet whom he criticised4 ,instead of taking his seat on the judicial bench1 and calling his author up before him to be judged as a culprit1 ,carlyle walks with ,schiller through the circles of his poems and plays1 as ,dante goes with ,virgil through the ,inferno and ,paradiso4 ,he accepts the great poet as his teacher and master1#bf a thing unknown before in all criticism4 ,it was supposed that a biographer would become a mere ,boswell if he looked up to his hero1 instead of looking down on him4 ,it was not understood that it was that angel of the world1 ,reverence1 which had exalted even a poor1 mean1 vain fool1 like ,boswell1 and enabled him to write one of the best books ever written4 ,it was not his reverence for ,johnson which made ,boswell a fool1--his reverence for ,johnson made him1 a fool1 capable of writing one of the best books of modern times4 ,this capacity of reverence in ,carlyle--this power of perceiving a divine1 infinite quality in human souls--tinges all his biographical writing with a deep religious tone4 ,he wrote of ,goethe1 ,schiller1 ,richter1 ,burns1 ,novalis1 even ,voltaire1 with reverence4 ,he could see their defects easily enough1 he could playfully expose their weaknesses2 but beneath all was the sacred undertone of reverence for the divine element in each1--for that which ,god had made and meant them to be1 and which they had realized more or less imperfectly in the struggle of life4 ,the difference between the reverence of a ,carlyle and that of a ,boswell is1 that one is blind and the other intelligent4 ,the one worships his hero down to his shoes and stockings1 the other distinguishes the divine idea from its weak embodiment4 ,two articles from this happy period--that on the ,signs of the ,times and that called ,characteristics--indicate some of ,carlyle's leading ideas concerning right thinking and right living4 ,in the first1 he declares the present to be an age of mechanism1--not heroic1 devout1 or philosophic4 ,all things are done by machinery4 ,men have no faith in individual endeavor or natural force4 ,metaphysics has become material4 ,government is a machine4 ,all this he thinks evil4 ,the living force is in the individual soul1--not mechanic1 but dynamic4 ,religion is a calculation of expediency1 not an impulse of worship2 no thousand-voiced psalm from the heart of man to his invisible ,father1 the ,fountain of all goodness1 beauty1 and truth1 but a contrivance by which a small quantum of earthly enjoyment may be exchanged for a much larger quantum of celestial enjoyment4 ,virtue is pleasure1 is profit4 ,in all senses we worship and follow after power1 which may be called a physical pursuit4 7,ah1 ,carlyle of the ,present6 does not that wand of thine old true self touch thee87 ,no man now loves truth1 as truth must be loved1 with an infinite love2 but only with a finite love1 and1 as it were1 par amours4 ,in the other article1 ,characteristics1 printed two years later1 in #ahca1 he unfolds the doctrine of ,unconsciousness as the sign of health in soul as well as body4 ,he finds society sick everywhere2 he finds its religion1 literature1 science1 all diseased1 yet he ends the article1 as the other was ended1 in hope of a change to something better4 ,these two articles may be considered as an introduction to his next great work1 ,sartor ,resartus1 or the ,clothes-,philosophy4 ,here1 in a vein of irony and genial humor1 he unfolds his doctrine of substance and form4 ,the object of all thought and all experience is to look through the clothes to the living beneath them4 ,according to his book1 all human institutions are the clothing of society2 language is the garment of thought1 the heavens and earth the time-vesture of the ,eternal4 ,so1 too1 are religious creeds and ceremonies the clothing of religion2 so are all symbols the vesture of some idea2 so are the crown and sceptre the vesture of government4 ,this book is the autobiography of a seeker for truth4 ,in it he is led from the shows of things to their innermost substance1 and as in all his other writings1 he teaches here also that sincerity1 truthfulness1 is the organ by which we are led to the solid rock of reality1 which underlies all shows and shams4 ,,ii4 ,we now come to treat of ,carlyle in his present aspect1--a much less agreeable task4 ,we leave ,carlyle the generous and gentle1 for ,carlyle the hard cynic4 ,we leave him1 the friend of man1 lover of his race1 for another ,carlyle1 advocate of negro slavery1 worshiper of mere force1 sneering at philanthropy1 and admiring only tyrants1 despots1 and slaveholders4 ,the change1 and the steps which led to it1 chronologically and logically1 it is our business to scrutinize1--not a grateful occupation indeed1 but possibly instructive and useful4 ,thomas ,carlyle1 after spending his previous life in ,scotland1 and from #ahbg to #ahcd in his solitude at ,craigenputtoch1 removed to ,london in the latter year1 when thirty-eight years old4 ,since then he has permanently resided in ,london1 in a house situated on one of the quiet streets running at right angles with the ,thames4 ,he came to ,london almost an unknown man2 he has there become a great name and power in literature4 ,he has had for friends such men as ,john ,stuart ,mill1 ,sterling1 ,maurice1 ,leigh ,hunt1 ,browning1 ,thackeray1 and ,emerson4 ,his ,french ,revolution was published in #ahcg2 ,sartor ,resartus 7published in ,frazer in #ahcc1 and in ,boston in a volume in #ahcf7 was put forth collectively in #ahch2 and in the same year his ,miscellanies 7also collected and issued in ,boston in #ahch7 were published in ,london1 in four volumes4 ,chartism was issued in #ahci4 ,he gave four courses of ,lectures in ,willis's rooms to a select but crowded audience1 in #ahcg1 #ahch1 #ahci1 and #ahdj4 ,only the last of these--,heroes and ,hero-,worship--was published4 ,past and ,present followed in #ahdc1 ,oliver ,cromwell in #ahde4 ,in #ahej he printed ,latter-,day ,pamphlets1 and subsequently his ,life of ,sterling 7#ahea71 and the four volumes1 now issued1 of ,frederick the ,great4 ,the first evidence of an altered tendency is perhaps to be traced in the ,french ,revolution4 ,it is a noble and glorious book2 but1 as one of his friendly critics has said1 its philosophy is contemptuous and mocking1 and it depicts the varied and gigantic characters which stalk across the scene1 not so much as responsible and living mortals1 as the mere mechanical implements of some tremendous and irresistible destiny4 ,in ,heroes and ,hero-,worship the habit has grown of revering mere will1 rather than calm intellectual and moral power4 ,the same thing is shown in ,past and ,present1 in ,cromwell1 and in ,latter-,day ,pamphlets1 which the critic quoted above says is only remarkable as a violent imitation of himself1 and not of his better self4 ,for the works of this later period1 indeed1 the best motto would be that verse from ,daniel3 ,he shall exalt himself1 and magnify himself1 and speak marvelous things2 neither shall he regard the ,god of his fathers1 but in his stead shall he honor the ,god of ,forces1 a god whom his fathers knew not4 ,probably this apostasy from his better faith had begun1 before this1 to show itself in conversation4 ,at least ,margaret ,fuller1 in a letter dated #ahdf1 finds herself in his presence admiring his brilliancy1 but disclaiming and rejecting almost everything he said4 ,for a couple of hours1 says she1 he was talking about poetry1 and the whole harangue was one eloquent proclamation of the defects in his own mind4 ,all ,carlyle's talk1 another evening1 says she1 was a defence of mere force1--success the test of right2 if people would not behave well1 put collars round their necks2 find a hero1 and let them be his slaves4 ,mazzini was there1 and1 after some vain attempts to remonstrate1 became very sad4 ,mrs4 ,carlyle said to me1 ',these are but opinions to ,carlyle2 but to ,mazzini1 who has given his all1 and helped bring his friends to the scaffold1 in pursuit of such subjects1 it is a matter of life and death4' ,as this mood of ,mr4 ,carlyle comes out so strongly in the ,latter-,day ,pamphlets1 it is perhaps best to dwell on them at greater leisure4 ,the first is ,the ,present ,time4 ,in this he describes ,democracy as inevitable1 but as utterly evil2 calls for a government2 finds most ,european governments1 that of ,england included1 to be shams and falsities1--no-government1 or drifting1 to be a yet greater evil4 ,the object1 he states1 is to find the noblest and best men to govern4 ,democracy fails to do this2 for universal balloting is not adequate to the task4 ,democracy answered in the old republics1 when the mass were slaves1 but will not answer now4 ,the ,united ,states are no proof of its success1 for 7#ast7 anarchy is avoided merely by the quantity of cheap land1 and 7#b;d7 the ,united ,states have produced no spiritual results1 but only material4 ,democracy in ,america is no-government1 and its only feat is to have produced eighteen millions of the greatest bores ever seen in the world4 ,mr4 ,carlyle's plan1 therefore1 is to find1 somehow1 the best man for a ruler1 to make him a despot1 to make the mass of the ,english and ,irish slaves1 to beat them if they will not work1 to shoot them if they still refuse4 ,the only method of finding this best man1 which he suggests1 is to call for him4 ,accordingly1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,carlyle calls1 saying1 ,best man1 come forward1 and govern4 ,the sum1 therefore1 of his recipe for the diseases of the times is ,,slavery4 ,the second pamphlet is called ,model ,prisons1 and the main object of this is to ridicule all attempts at helping men by philanthropy or humanity4 ,the talk of ,fraternity is nonsense1 and must be drummed out of the world4 ,beginning with model prisons1 he finds them much too good for the scoundrels who are shut up there4 ,he would have them whipped and hung 7seventy thousand in a year1 we suppose1 as in bluff ,king ,harry's time1 with no great benefit therefrom74 ,revenge1 he says1 is a right feeling against bad men1--only the excess of it wrong4 ,the proper thing to say to a bad man is1 ,caitiff1 ,i hate thee4 ,a collar round the neck1 and a cart-whip over the back1 is what he thinks would be more just to criminals than a model prison4 ,the whole effort of humanity should be to help the industrious and virtuous poor2 the criminals should be swept out of the way1 whipt1 enslaved1 or hung4 ,as for human brotherhood1 he does not admit brotherhood with scoundrels4 ,particularly disgusting to him is it to hear this philanthropy to bad men called ,christianity4 ,christianity1 he thinks1 does not tell us to love the bad1 but to hate them as ,god hates them4 ,according1 probably1 to his private expurgated version of the ,gospel1 that ye may be the children of your ,father in heaven1 whose sun rises only on the good1 and whose rain falls only on the just4 ,downing ,street and ,new ,downing ,street are fiery tirades against the governing classes in ,england4 ,mr4 ,carlyle says 7according to his inevitable refrain71 that ,england does not want a reformed ,parliament1 a body of talkers1 but a reformed ,downing ,street1 a body of workers4 ,he describes the utter imbecility of the ,english government1 and calls loudly for some able man to take its place4 ,two passages are worth quoting2 the first as to ,england's aspect in her foreign relations1 which is quite as true for #ahfd as for #ahed4 ,how it stands with the ,foreign ,office1 again1 one still less knows4 ,seizures of ,sapienza1 and the like sudden appearances of ,britain in the character of ,hercules-,harlequin1 waving1 with big bully-voice1 her sword of sharpness over field-mice1 and in the air making horrid circles 7horrid ,catherine-wheels and death-disks of metallic terror from said huge sword7 to see how they will like it4 ,hercules-,harlequin1 the ,attorney ,triumphant1 the ,world's ,busybody6 ,or see the following description of the sort of rulers who prevail in ,england1 no less than in ,america3-- ,if our government is to be a ,no-,government1 what is the matter who administers it8 ,fling an orange-skin into ,st4 ,james ,street1 let the man it hits be your man4 ,he1 if you bend him a little to it1 and tie the due official bladders to his ankles1 will do as well as another this sublime problem of balancing himself upon the vortexes1 with the long loaded pole in his hand1 and will1 with straddling1 painful gestures1 float hither and thither1 walking the waters in that singular manner for a little while1 till he also capsize1 and be left floating feet uppermost1--after which you choose another4 ,concerning which we may say1 that if this is the result of monarchy and aristocracy in ,england1 we can stick a little longer to our democracy in ,america4 ,mr4 ,carlyle says that the object of all these methods is to find the ablest man for a ruler4 ,he thinks our republican method very insufficient and absurd1--much preferring the ,english system1--and then tells us that this is the outcome of the latter2 that you might as well select your ruler by throwing an orange-skin into the street as by the method followed in ,england4 ,despotism1 tempered by assassination1 seems to be ,carlyle's notion of a good government4 ,the pamphlet ,stump-,orator is simply a bitter denunciation of all talking1 speech-making1 and writing1 as the curse of the time1 and ends with the proposition to cut out the tongues of one whole generation1 as an act of mercy to them and a blessing to the human race4 ,thus this collection of ,latter-,day ,pamphlets consists of the bitterest cynicism4 ,carlyle sits in it1 as in a tub1 snarling at freedom1 yelping at philanthropy1 growling at the ,english government1 snapping at all men who speak or write1 and ending with one long howl over the universal falsity and hollowness of mankind in general4 ,after which he proceeds to his final apotheosis of despotism pure and simple1 in this ,life of ,frederick the ,great4 ,of this it is not necessary to say more than that ,frederick1 being an absolute despot1 but a very able one1 having plunged ,europe into war in order to steal ,silesia1 is everywhere admired1 justified1 or excused by ,carlyle1 who reserves his rebukes and contempt for those who find fault with all this4 ,that1 with these opinions1 ,carlyle should have taken sides with the slaveholders' conspiracy against the ,union is not surprising4 ,his sympathies were with them2 first1 as slaveholders1 secondly1 as aristocrats4 ,he hates us because we are democrats1 and he loves them because they are despots and tyrants4 ,long before the outbreak of the rebellion1 he had ridiculed emancipation1 and denounced as folly and evil the noblest deed of ,england1--the emancipation of her ,west ,india slaves4 ,in scornful1 bitter satire1 he denounced ,england for keeping the fast which ,god had chosen1 in undoing the heavy burdens1 letting the oppressed go free1 and breaking every yoke4 ,he ridiculed the black man1 and described the poor patient ,african as ,quashee1 steeped to the eyes in pumpkin4 ,in the hateful service of oppression he had already done his best to uphold slavery and discourage freedom4 ,and while he fully believed in enslaving the laboring population1 black or white1 and driving it to work by the cart-whip1 he as fully abhorred republicanism everywhere1 and most of all in the ,united ,states4 ,he had exhausted the resources of language in vilifying ,american institutions4 ,it was a matter of course1 therefore1 that at the outbreak of this civil war all his sympathies should be with those who whip women and sell babies4 ,how is it that this great change should have taken place8 ,men change1--but not often in this way4 ,the ardent reformer often hardens into the stiff conservative4 ,the radical in religion is very likely to join the ,catholic ,church4 ,if a ,catholic changes his religion1 he goes over to atheism4 ,to swing from one extreme to another1 is a common experience4 ,but it is a new thing to see calmness in youth1 violence in age1--to find the young man wise and all-sided1 the old man bigoted and narrow4 ,we think the explanation to be this4 ,thomas ,carlyle from the beginning has not shown the least appreciation of the essential thing in ,christianity4 ,brought up in ,scotland1 inheriting from ,calvinism a sense of truth1 a love of justice1 and a reverence for the ,jewish ,bible1 he has never passed out of ,judaism into ,christianity4 ,to him1 ,oliver ,cromwell is the best type of true religion2 inflexible justice the best attribute of ,god or man4 ,he is a worshiper of ,jehovah1 not of the ,god and ,father of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,he sees in ,god truth and justice2 he does not see in him love4 ,he is himself a prophet after the type of ,elijah and ,john the ,baptist4 ,he is the voice crying in the wilderness2 and we may say of him1 therefore1 as was said of his prototype1 ,he was a burning and a shining light1 and ye were willing1 for a season1 to rejoice in his light1--but not always1--not now4 ,carlyle does not1 indeed1 claim to be a ,jew1 or to reject ,christ4 ,on the contrary1 he speaks of him with very sincere respect4 ,he seems1 however1 to know nothing of him but what he has read in ,goethe about the worship of sorrow4 ,the ,gospel appears to him to be1 essentially1 a worship of sorrow4 ,that ,christ came to save sinners1--of that ,carlyle has not the faintest idea4 ,to him the notion of saving sinners is only rose-water philanthropy4 ,he does not wish them saved1 he wishes them damned1--swept into hell as soon as convenient4 ,but1 as everything which is real has two sides1 that of truth and that of love1--it usually happens that he who only sees one side at last ceases even to see that4 ,all goodness1 to ,carlyle1 is truth1--in man it is sincerity1 or love of reality1 sight of the actual facts1--in ,god it is justice1 divine adherence to law1 infinite guidance of the world and of every human soul according to a strict and inevitable rule of righteousness4 ,at first this seems to be a providence1--and ,carlyle has everywhere1 in the earlier epoch1 shown full confidence in ,providence4 ,but believe only in justice and truth1--omit the doctrine of forgiveness1 redemption1 salvation1--and faith in ,providence becomes sooner or later a despairing fatalism4 ,the dark problem of evil remains insoluble without the doctrine of redemption4 ,so it was that ,carlyle1 seeing at first the chief duty of man to be the worship of reality1 the love of truth1 next made that virtue to consist in sincerity1 or being in earnest4 ,truth was being true to one's self4 ,in this lay the essence of heroism4 ,so that ,burns1 being sincere and earnest1 was a hero1--,odin was a hero1--,mohammed was a hero1--,cromwell was a hero1--,mirabeau and ,danton were heroes1--and ,frederick the ,great was a hero4 ,that which was first the love of truth1 and caused him to reverence the calm intellectual force of ,schiller and ,goethe1 soon became earnestness and sincerity1 and then became power4 ,for the proof of earnestness is power4 ,so from power1 by eliminating all love1 all tenderness1 as being only rose-water philanthropy1 he at last became a worshiper of mere will1 of force in its grossest form4 ,so he illustrates those lines of ,shakespeare in which this process is so well described4 ,in ,troilus and ,cressida ,ulysses is insisting on the importance of keeping everything in its place1 and giving to the best things and persons their due priority4 ,otherwise1 mere force will govern all things4 ,strength would be lord of imbecility1-- as ,carlyle indeed openly declares that it ought to be1-- ,and the rude son should strike his father dead1 which ,carlyle does not quite approve of in the case of ,dr4 ,francia4 ,but why not1 if he maintains that strength is the measure of justice8 ,force should be right2 or1 rather1 right and wrong 7,between whose endless jar justice resides7 ,should lose their names and so should justice1 too4 ,then everything includes itself in power1 ,power into will1 will into appetite2 ,and appetite1 an universal wolf1 ,so doubly seconded with will and power1 ,must make perforce an universal prey1 ,and1 last1 eat up himself4 ,just so1 in the progress of ,carlyle's literary career1 first1 force became right1--then1 everything included itself in power1--next1 power was lost in will1 and will in mere caprice or appetite4 ,from his admiration for ,goethe1 as the type of intellectual power1 he passed to the praise of ,cromwell as the exponent of will1 and then to that of ,frederick1 whose appetite for plunder and territory was seconded by an iron will and the highest power of intellect2 but whose ambition devoured himself1 his country1 and its prosperity1 in the mad pursuit of victory and conquest4 ,the explanation1 therefore1 of our author's lapse1 is simply this1 that he worshiped truth divorced from love1 and so ceased to worship truth1 and fell into the idolatry of mere will4 ,truth without love is not truth1 but hard1 willful opinion1 just as love without truth is not love1 but weak good-nature and soft concession4 ,carlyle has no idea of that sublime feature of ,christianity1 which shows to us ,god caring more for the one sinner who repents than the ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance4 ,to him one just person deserves more care than ninety-nine sinners4 ,yet it is strange that he did not learn from his master1 ,goethe1 this essential trait of the ,gospel4 ,for ,goethe1 in a work translated by ,carlyle himself1 distinguishes between the three religions thus4 ,the ethnic or ,gentile religions1 he says1 reverence what is above us1--the religion of the philosopher reverences what is on our own level1--but ,christianity reverences what is beneath us4 ,this is the last step1 says ,goethe1 which mankind were destined to attain1--to recognize humility and poverty1 mockery and despite1 disgrace and wretchedness1 as divine1--nay1 even on sin and crime to look not as hindrances1 but to honor and love them as furtherances of what is holy4 ,on sin and crime1 as we have seen1 ,carlyle looks with no such tenderness4 ,but if he does not care for the words of ,christ1 teaching us that we must forgive if we hope to be forgiven1 if he does not care for the words of his master1 ,goethe1 he might at least remember his own exposition of this doctrine in an early work1 where he shows that the poor left to perish by disease infect a whole community1 and declares that the safety of all is involved in the safety of the humblest4 ,in #ahdj1 when he wrote ,chartism1 ,carlyle seems to have known better than he did in #ahee1 when he wrote these ,latter-,day ,pamphlets4 ,then he said3-- ,to believe practically that the poor and luckless are here only as a nuisance to be abraded and abated1 and in some permissible manner made away1 and swept out of sight1 is not an amiable faith4 ,of ,ireland1 too1 he said3-- ,we ,english pay1 even now1 the bitter smart of long centuries of injustice to ,ireland4 ,it is the feeling of injustice that is insupportable to all men4 ,the brutalest black ,african feels it1 and cannot bear that he should be used unjustly4 ,no man can bear it1 or ought to bear it4 ,this seems like the rose-water philanthropy which he subsequently so much disliked4 ,in this book also he speaks of a seven years' ,silesian robber-war1--we trust not intending to call his beloved ,frederick a robber6 ,and again he proposes1 as one of the best things to be done in ,england1 to have all the people taught by government to read and write1--the same thing which this ,american democracy1 in which he could see not one good thing1 has so long been doing4 ,that was the plan by which ,england was to be saved1--a plan first suggested in ,england in #ahdj1--;adopted and acted on in ,america for two hundred years4 ,but just as love separated from truth becomes cruelty1 so truth by itself--truth not tempered and fulfilled by love--runs sooner or later into falsehood4 ,truth1 after a while1 becomes dogmatism1 overbearing assertion1 willful refusal to see and hear other than one's own belief2 that is to say1 it becomes falsehood4 ,such has been the case with our author4 ,on all the subjects to which he has committed himself he closes his eyes1 and refuses to see the other side4 ,like his own symbol1 the mighty ,bull1 he makes his charge with his eyes shut4 ,determined1 for example1 to rehabilitate such men as ,mirabeau1 ,cromwell1 ,frederick1 and ,frederick's father1 he does thorough work1 and defends or excuses all their enormities1 palliating whenever he cannot justify4 ,what can we call this which he says#bg concerning the execution of ,lieutenant ,katte1 by order of old ,king ,friedrich ,wilhelm8 ,tired of the tyranny of his father1 tired of being kicked and caned1 the young prince tried to escape4 ,he was caught and held as a deserter from the army1 and his father tried to run him through the body4 ,lieutenant ,katte1 who had aided him in getting away1 having been kicked and caned1 was sent to a court-martial to be tried4 ,the court-martial found him guilty not of deserting1 but of intending to desert1 and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment4 ,whereupon the king went into a rage1 declared that ,katte had committed high treason1 and ordered him to be executed4 ,whereupon ,carlyle thus writes3-- ',never was such a transaction before or since in modern history1' cries the angry reader2 'cruel1 like the grinding of human hearts under millstones2 like----' ,or1 indeed1 like the doings of the gods1 which are cruel1 but not that alone4 ,in other words1 ,carlyle cannot make up his mind frankly to condemn this atrocious murder1 and call it by its right name4 ,he must needs try to sophisticate us by talking about the doings of the gods4 ,because ,divine ,providence takes men out of the world in various ways1 it is therefore allowable to a king1 provided he be a hero grim enough and earnest enough1 to kick men1 cane them1 and run them through the body when he pleases2 and1 after having sent a man to be tried by court-martial1 if the court acquits him1 to order him to be executed by his own despotic will4 ,a truth-telling ,carlyle ought to have said1 ,i admit this is murder2 but ,i like the old fellow1 and so ,i will call it right4 ,a ,carlyle grown sophistical mumbles something about its being like the doings of the gods1 and leaves off with that small attempt at humbug4 ,be brave1 my men1 and defend my ,lord ,jeffreys next for bullying juries into hanging prisoners4 ,was not ,jeffreys grim too8 ,in fact1 are not most murderers grim8 ,we have had occasion formerly1 in this journal1 to examine the writings of another very positive and clear-headed thinker1--,mr4 ,henry ,james4 ,mr4 ,james is1 in his philosophy1 the very antithesis of ,carlyle4 ,with equal fervor of thought1 with a like vehemence of style1 with a somewhat similar contempt for his opponents1 ,mr4 ,james takes exactly the opposite view of religion and duty4 ,as ,carlyle preaches the law1 and the law alone1 maintaining justice as the sole ,divine attribute1 so ,mr4 ,james preaches the ,gospel only1 denying totally that to the ,divine ,mind any distinction exists between saint and sinner1 unless that the sinner is somewhat more of a favorite than the saint4 ,we did not1 do not1 agree with ,mr4 ,james in his anti-nomianism2 as between him and ,carlyle1 we think his doctrine far the truer and nobler4 ,he stands on a higher plane1 and sees much the farther4 ,a course of reading in ,mr4 ,james's books might1 we think1 help our ,english cynic not a little4 ,god is the perfect harmony of justice and love4 ,his justice is warmed through and through with love1 his love is sanctified and made strong by justice4 ,and so1 in ,christ1 perfect justice was fulfilled in perfect love4 ,but in him first was fully revealed1 in this world1 the ,divine fatherly tenderness to the lost1 to the sinner1 to those lowest down and farthest away4 ,in him was taught that our own redemption from evil does not lie in despising and hating men worse than ourselves1 but in saving them4 ,the hard ,pharisaic justice of ,carlyle may call this rose-water philanthropy1 but till he accepts it from his heart1 and repents of his contempt for his fallen fellowmen1 till he learns to love scoundrels1 there is no hope for him4 ,he lived once in the heaven of reverence1 faith1 and love2 he has gone from it into the hell of ,pharisaic scorn and contempt4 ,till he comes back out of that1 there is no hope for him4 ,but such a noble nature cannot be thus lost4 ,he will one day1 let us trust1 worship the divine love which he now abhors4 ,cromwell asked1 on his death-bed1 if those once in a state of grace could fall1 and1 being assured not1 said1 ,i am safe then1 for ,i am sure ,i was once in a state of grace4 ,there is a truth in this doctrine of the perseverance of saints4 ,some truths once fully seen1 even though afterward rejected by the mind and will1 stick like a barbed arrow in the conscience1 tormenting the soul till they are again accepted and obeyed4 ,such a truth ,carlyle once saw1 in the great doctrine of reverence for the fallen and the sinful4 ,he will see it again1 if not in this world1 then in some other world4 ,the first ,carlyle was an enthusiast1 the last ,carlyle is a cynic4 ,from enthusiasm to cynicism1 from the spirit of reverence to the spirit of contempt1 the way seems long1 but the condition of arriving is simple4 ,discard ,,love1 and the whole road is passed over4 ,divorce love from truth1 and truth ceases to be open and receptive1--ceases to be a positive function1 turns into acrid criticism1 bitter disdain1 cruel and hollow laughter1 empty of all inward peace4 ,such is the road which ,carlyle has passed over1 from his earnest1 hopeful youth to his bitter old age4 ,carlyle fulfilled for many1 during these years1 the noble work of a mediator4 ,by reverence and love he saw what was divine in nature1 in man1 and in life4 ,by the profound sincerity of his heart1 his worship of reality1 his hatred of falsehood1 he escaped from the commonplaces of literature to a better land of insight and knowledge4 ,so he was enabled to lead many others out of their entanglements1 into his own luminous insight4 ,it was a great and blessed work4 ,would that it had been sufficient for him6 ,,buckle ,,and ,,his ,,theory ,,of ,,averages#bh ,we welcomed kindly the first installment of ,mr4 ,buckle's work1#bi giving a cursory account of it1 and hinting1 rather than urging1 the objections which readily suggested themselves against theories concerning ,man1 ,history1 ,civilization1 and ,human ,progress4 ,but now it seems a proper time to discuss with a little more deliberation the themes opened before us by this intrepid writer1--this latest champion of that theory of the mind which in the last century was called ,materialism and ,necessity1 and which in the present has been re-baptized as ,positivism4 ,the doctrines of which ,mr4 ,buckle is the ardent advocate seem to us1 the more thoroughly we consider them1 to be essentially theoretical1 superficial1 and narrow4 ,they are destitute of any broad basis of reality4 ,in their application by ,mr4 ,buckle1 they fail to solve the historic problems upon which he tries their power4 ,with a show of science1 they are unscientific1 being a mere collection of unverified hypotheses4 ,and if ,mr4 ,buckle should succeed in introducing his principles and methods into the study of history1 it would be equivalent to putting backward for about a century this whole department of thought4 ,yet1 while we state this as our opinion1 and one which we shall presently endeavor to substantiate by ample proof1 we do not deny to ,mr4 ,buckle's volumes the interest arising from vigorous and independent thinking1 faithful study of details1 and a strong1 believing purpose4 ,they are interesting and valuable contributions to our literature4 ,but this is not on account of their purpose1 but in spite of it2 notwithstanding their doctrines1 not because of them4 ,the interest of these books1 as of all good history1 derives itself from their picturesque reproduction of life4 ,whatever of value belongs to ,mr4 ,buckle's work is the same as that of the writings of ,macaulay1 ,motley1 and ,carlyle4 ,whoever has the power of plunging like a diver into the spirit of another period1 sympathizing with its tone1 imbuing himself with its instincts1 sharing its loves and hates1 its faith and its skepticism1 will write its history so as to interest us4 ,for whoever will really show to us the breathing essence of any age1 any state of society1 or any course of human events1 cannot fail of exciting that element of the soul which causes man everywhere to rejoice in meeting with man4 ,he who will write the history of ,arabians1 ,kelts1 or ,chinese1 of the ,middle ,ages1 the ,norman ,sea-kings1 or the ,roman ,plebs1 so that we can see ourselves beneath these diverse surroundings of race1 country1 and period1 and see that these also are really ,,men1--this writer instantly awakens our interest1 whether he call himself poet1 novelist1 or historian4 ,in all cases1 the secret of success is to write so as to enable the reader to identify himself with the characters of another age4 ,great authors enable us to look at actions1 not from without1 but from within4 ,when we read the historic plays of ,shakespeare1 or the historic novels of ,scott1 we are charmed by finding that kings and queens are1 after all1 our poor human fellow-creatures1 sharing all our old1 familiar struggles1 pains1 and joys4 ,when we read that great historic masterpiece1 the ,french ,revolution of ,carlyle1 the magic touch of the artist introduces us into the heart of every character in the motley1 shifting scene4 ,we are the poor king escaping to ,varennes under the dewy night and solemn stars4 ,we are tumultuous ,mirabeau1 with his demonic but generous soul4 ,we are devoted ,charlotte ,corday2 we are the ,gironde2 we the poor prisoners of ,terror1 waiting in our prison for the slow morning to bring the inevitable doom4 ,this is the one indispensable faculty for the historian2 and this faculty ,mr4 ,buckle so far possesses as to make his page a living one4 ,it is true that his sympathy is intellectual rather than imaginative4 ,it is not of the high order of ,shakespeare1 nor even of that of ,carlyle4 ,but1 so far as it goes1 it is a true faculty1 and makes a true historian4 ,yet we cannot but notice how the effectual working of this historic organ is interfered with by the dogmatic purpose of ,mr4 ,buckle2 and1 on the other hand1 how his theoretic aim is disturbed by the interest of his narrative4 ,his history is always meant to be an argument4 ,his narrations of events are never for their own sake1 but always to prove some thesis4 ,there is1 therefore1 no consecutive narrative1 no progress of events1 no sustained interest4 ,these volumes are episodes1 put together we cannot well say how1 or why4 ,in the seventh chapter of the first volume we have a graphic description of the ,court life in ,england in the days of ,charles ,,ii41 ,james ,,ii41 ,william1 and the ,georges1 in connection with the condition of the ,church and clergy4 ,from this we are taken1 in the next chapter1 to ,france1 and to similar relations between ,henry ,,iv41 ,louis ,,xiii41 ,richelieu1 and the ,french ,catholics and ,protestants4 ,we then are brought back to ,england1 to consider the protective system there2 and once more we return to ,france1 to investigate its operation in that country4 ,afterward we have an essay on ,the ,state of ,historical ,literature in ,france from the ,end of the ,sixteenth to the ,end of the ,eighteenth ,century1 followed by another essay on the ,proximate ,causes of the ,french ,revolution4 ,many very well finished biographic portraits are given us in these chapters4 ,there are excellent sketches of ,burke1 ,voltaire1 ,richelieu1 ,bossuet1 ,montesquieu1 ,rousseau1 ,bichat1 in the first volume2 and of ,adam ,smith1 ,reid1 ,black1 ,leslie1 ,hutton1 ,cullen1 ,hunter1 in the second4 ,these numerous biographic sketches1 which are often accompanied with good literary notices of the writings of these authors1 are very ably written2 but it is curious to remember1 while reading them1 that ,mr4 ,buckle thinks that1 as history advances1 it has less and less to do with biography4 ,there is an incurable defect in the method of this work4 ,on the one hand1 the dogmatic purpose is constantly breaking into the interest of the narration2 on the other1 the interest of the narration is continually enticing the writer from his argument into endless episodes and details of biography4 ,the argument is deprived of its force by the story2 the story is interrupted continually on account of the argument4 ,mr4 ,buckle has mistaken the philosophy of history for history itself4 ,a history of civilization is not a piece of metaphysical argument1 but a consecutive account of the social progress either of an age or of a nation4 ,this irreconcilable conflict of purpose1 while it leaves to the parts of the work their value1 destroys its worth as a whole4 ,mr4 ,buckle might probably inquire whether we would eliminate wholly from history all philosophic aim1 all teleologic purpose4 ,he objects1 and very properly1 to degrading history into mere annals1 without any instructive purpose4 ,we agree with him4 ,we do not admire the style of history which feels neither passion nor sympathy1 which narrates crimes without indignation1 and which has no aim in its narration except to entertain a passing hour4 ,but it is one thing deliberately to announce a thesis and bring detached passages of history to prove it1 and another to write a history which1 by its incidents1 spirit1 and characters shall convey impulse and instruction4 ,the historian may dwell upon the events which illustrate his convictions1 and may develop the argument during the progress of his moving panorama2 but the history itself1 as it moves1 should impress the lesson4 ,the history of ,mr4 ,motley1 for example1 illustrates and impresses the evils of bigotry1 superstition1 and persecution on the life of nations1 quite as powerfully as does that of ,mr4 ,buckle2 but ,mr4 ,motley never suspends his narrative in order to prove to us logically that persecution is an evil4 ,mr4 ,buckle1 in his style of writing1 belongs to a modern class of authors whom we may call the bullying school4 ,it is true that he is far less extravagant than some of them1 and indeed is not deeply tinged with their peculiar manner4 ,the first great master of this class of writers is ,thomas ,carlyle2 but their peculiarity has been carried to its greatest extent by ,ruskin4 ,its characteristic feature is treating with supreme contempt1 as though they were hopeless imbeciles1 all who venture to question the dicta of the writer4 ,this superb arrogance makes these writers rather popular with the ,english1 who1 as a nation1 like equally well to bully and to be bullied4 ,buckle professes to have at last found the only true key to history1 and to have discovered some of its important laws1 especially those which regard the progress of civilization4 ,i4 ,his ,view of ,freedom4--,mr4 ,buckle's fundamental position is1 that the actions of men are governed by fixed laws1 and that1 when these laws are discovered1 history will become a science1 like geometry1 geology1 or astronomy4 ,the chief obstacle hitherto to its becoming a science has been the belief that the actions of men were determined1 not by fixed laws1 but by free will 7which he considers equivalent to chance71 or by supernatural interference or providence 7which he regards as equivalent to fate74 ,we shall thus be led1 he says 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #f1 ,am4 ed471 to one vast question1 which1 indeed1 lies at the root of the whole subject1 and is simply this3 ,are the actions of men1 and therefore of societies1 governed by fixed laws1 or are they the result either of chance or of supernatural interference8 ,identifying freedom with chance1 ,mr4 ,buckle denies that there is such a thing1 and maintains that every human action is determined by some antecedent1 inward or outward1 and that not one is determined by the free choice of the man himself4 ,his principal argument against free will is the law of averages1 which we will therefore proceed to consider in its bearing on this point4 ,statistics1 carefully collected during many years and within different countries1 show a regularity of return in certain vices and crimes1 which indicates the presence of law4 ,thus1 about the same number of murders are committed every year in certain countries and large cities1 and even the instruments by which they are committed are employed in the same proportion4 ,suicide also follows some regular law4 ,in a given state of society1 a certain number of persons must put an end to their own life4 ,in ,london1 about two hundred and forty persons kill themselves every year1--in years of panic and disaster a few more1 in prosperous years not quite so many4 ,other actions of men are determined in the same way1--not by personal volition1 but by some controlling circumstance4 ,it is now known that the number of marriages in ,england bears a fixed and definite relation to the price of corn4 ,aberrations of memory are marked by this general character of necessary and invariable order4 ,the same average number of persons forget every year to direct the letters dropped into the post-offices of ,london and ,paris4 ,facts of this kind force us to the conclusion1 says ,buckle1 that the offenses of men are the result1 not so much of the vices of the individual offender1 as of the state of society into which he is thrown4 ,the argument then is3 ,if man's moral actions are under law1 they are not free1 for freedom is the absence of law4 ,the argument of ,mr4 ,buckle is conclusive1 provided freedom does necessarily imply the absence of law4 ,but such1 we think1 is not the fact4 ,the actions of man do not proceed solely from the impact of external circumstances2 for then he would be no better than a ball struck with a bat4 ,nor do they proceed solely from the impulses of his animal nature2 for then he would be only a superior kind of machine1 moved by springs and wheels4 ,but in addition to external and internal impulse there is also in man the power of personal effort1 activity1 will1--to which we give the name of ,free ,choice1 or ,freedom4 ,this modifies and determines a part of his actions1--while a second part come from the influence of circumstance1 and a third from organic instincts and habitual tendencies4 ,now1 it is quite certain that no man has freedom of will enough to cause his whole nexus of activity to proceed from it4 ,for if a man could cause all his actions to proceed by a mere choice or effort1 he could turn himself at will into another man4 ,in other words1 there could be no such thing as permanent moral character4 ,no one could be described2 for while we were describing him1 he might choose to be different1 and so would become somebody else4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that some part of every man's life must lie outside of the domain of freedom4 ,in what1 then1 does the essence of freedom consist8 ,if it be not the freedom to do whatever we choose1 what is it8 ,plainly1 if we analyze our own experience1 we shall find that it is simply what its scholastic name implies1 freedom of choice1 or liber arbitrio4 ,it is not1 in the last analysis1 freedom to act1 but it is freedom to choose4 ,but freedom to choose what8 ,can we choose anything8 ,certainly not4 ,our freedom of choice is limited by our knowledge4 ,we cannot choose that which we do not know4 ,we must choose something within the range of our experience4 ,and our freedom of choice consists in the alternative of making this choice or omitting to make it1--exerting ourselves or not exerting ourselves4 ,consciousness testifies universally to this extent of freedom4 ,we know by our consciousness that we can exert ourselves or not exert ourselves at any moment1--exert ourselves to act or not exert ourselves to act1 to speak or not to speak4 ,this power of making or not making an effort is freedom in its simplest and lowest form4 ,in this lowest form1 it is apparent that human freedom is inadequate to give any permanent character to human actions4 ,they will be directed by the laws of organization and circumstance4 ,freedom in this sense may be compared to the power which a man has of rowing a boat in the midst of a fog4 ,he may exert himself to row1 he may row at any moment forward or backward1 to the right or to the left4 ,he has this freedom1--but it does not enable him to go in any special direction4 ,not being able to direct his boat to any fixed aim1 it is certain that it will be drifted by the currents or blown by the winds4 ,freedom in this form is only willfulness1 because devoid of an inward law4 ,but let the will direct itself by a fixed law1 and it at once becomes true freedom1 and begins to impress itself upon actions1 modifying the results of organization and circumstance4 ,not even in this case can it destroy those results2 it only modifies them4 ,it enters as a third factor with those other two to produce the product4 ,the total character of a man's actions will be represented by a formula1 thus3 ,john's ,organization ,john's ,circumstances ,john's ,freedom ,john's ,character4 ,apply this to the state of society where the law of averages has been discovered4 ,in such a society there are always to be found three classes of persons4 ,in the first class1 freedom is either dormant or is mere willfulness4 ,the law of mind is subject therefore in these to the law of the members4 ,the will is an enslaved will1 and its influence on action is a nullity1 not needing to be taken into the account4 ,from this class come the largest proportion of the crimes and vices1 regular in number because resulting from constant conditions of society4 ,of these persons we can predict with certainty that1 under certain strong temptations to evil1 they will inevitably yield4 ,but in another class of persons the will has learned to direct itself by a moral law toward a fixed aim4 ,the man in the boat is now steering by a compass1 and ceases to be the sport of current and gale4 ,the will reacts upon organization1 and directs circumstance4 ,the man has learned how to master his own nature1 and how to arrange external conditions4 ,we can predict with certainty that under no possible influences will this class yield to some forms of evil4 ,there is also in each community a third class1 who are struggling1 but not emancipated4 ,they are partly free1 but not wholly so4 ,from this class come the slight variations of the average1 now a little better1 now a little worse4 ,applying this view of the freedom of the will to history1 we see that the problem is far more complicated than ,mr4 ,buckle admits4 ,man's freedom1 with him1 is an element not to be taken into consideration1 because it does not exist4 ,but the truth is1 that human freedom is not only a factor1 but a variable factor1 the value of which changes with every variety of human condition4 ,in the savage condition it obeys organization and circumstances1 and has little effect on social condition4 ,but as civilization advances1 the power of freedom to react on organization and circumstance increases1 varying however again1 according to the force and inspiration of the ideas by which it is guided4 ,and of all these ideas1 precisely those which ,mr4 ,buckle underrates1 namely1 moral and religious ideas1 are those which most completely emancipate the will from circumstances1 and vitalize it with an all-conquering force4 ,to see this1 take two extreme cases1--that of an ,african ,hottentot1 and that of ,joan of ,arc4 ,free will in the ,african is powerless2 he remains the helpless child of his situation4 ,but the ,maid of ,arc1 though utterly destitute of ,mr4 ,buckle's ,intellectual ,truths 7being unable to read or write1 and having received no instruction save religious ideas71 and wanting in the ,skepticism which he thinks so essential to all historic progress1 yet develops a power of will which reacts upon circumstances so as to turn into another channel the current of ,french history4 ,all bonds of situation and circumstance are swept asunder by the power of a will set free by mighty religious convictions4 ,the element of freedom1 therefore1 is one not to be neglected by an historian1 except to his own loss4 ,the law of averages applies only to undeveloped men1 or to the undeveloped sides of human nature1 where the element of freedom has not come in play4 ,when the human race shall have made such progress that it shall contain a city inhabited by a million persons all equal to the ,apostle ,paul and the ,apostle ,john in spiritual development1 it will not be found that a certain regular number kill their wives every year1 or that from two hundred and thirteen to two hundred and forty annually commit suicide4 ,nor will this escape from the averages be owing to an increased acquaintance with physical laws so much as to a higher moral development4 ,we shall return to this point1 however1 when we examine more fully ,buckle's doctrine in regard to the small influence of religion on civilization4 ,,ii4 ,mr4 ,buckle's ,view of ,organization4--,mr4 ,buckle sets aside entirely the whole great fact of organization1 upon which the science of ethnology is based4 ,perhaps the narrowness of his mind shows more conspicuously in this than elsewhere4 ,he attributes no influence to race in civilization4 ,while so many eminent writers at the present day say1 with ,mr4 ,knox1 that ,race is everything1 ,mr4 ,buckle quietly rejoins that ,race is nothing4 ,original distinctions of race1 he says1 are altogether hypothetical4 ,we have no decisive ground for saying that the moral and intellectual faculties in man are likely to be greater in an infant born in the most civilized part of ,europe1 than in one born in the wildest region of a barbarous country4 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #abg1 ,am4 ed47 ,we often hear of hereditary talents1 hereditary vices1 and hereditary virtues2 but whoever will critically examine the evidence will find that we have no proof of their existence4 ,he doubts the existence of hereditary insanity1 or a hereditary tendency to suicide1 or even to disease4 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #abh1 note47 ,he does not believe in any progress of natural capacity in man1 but only of opportunity1 that is1 an improvement in the circumstances under which that capacity after birth comes into play4 ,here then is the gist of the whole matter4 ,the progress is one1 not of internal power1 but of external advantage4 ,he goes on to say1 in so many words1 that the only difference between a barbarian child and a civilized child is in the pressure of surrounding circumstances4 ,in support of these opinions he quotes ,locke and ,turgot4 ,it is difficult to understand how an intelligent and well-informed man1 an immense reader and active thinker1 can have lived in the midst of the nineteenth century and retain these views4 ,for students at every extreme of thought have equally recognized the force of organization1 the constancy of race1 the permanent varieties existing in the human family1 the steady ruling of the laws of descent4 ,if there is any one part of the science of anthropology in which the nineteenth century has reversed the judgment of the eighteenth1--and that equally among men of science1 poets1 materialists1 idealists1 anatomists1 philologists1--it is just here4 ,to find so intelligent a man reproducing the last century in the midst of the present is a little extraordinary4 ,perhaps there could not be found four great thinkers more different in their tendencies of thought and range of study than ,goethe1 ,spurzheim1 ,dr4 ,prichard1 and ,max ,mller2 yet these four1 each by his own method of observation1 have shown with conclusive force the law of variety and of permanence in organization4 ,goethe asserts that every individual man carries from his birth to his grave an unalterable speciality of being1--that he is1 down to the smallest fibre of his character1 one and the same man2 and that the whole mighty power of circumstance1 modifying everything1 cannot abolish anything1--that organization and circumstance hold on together with an equally permanent influence in every human life4 ,gall and ,spurzheim teach that every fibre of the brain has its original quality and force1 and that such qualities and forces are transmitted by obscure but certain laws of descent4 ,prichard1 with immense learning1 describes race after race1 giving the types of each human family in its physiology4 ,and1 finally1 the great science of comparative philology1 worked out by such thinkers and students as ,bopp1 ,latham1 ,humboldt1 ,bunsen1 ,max ,mller1 and a host of others1 has proved the permanence of human varieties by ample glossological evidence4 ,thus the modern science of ethnology has arisen1 on the basis of physiology1 philology1 and ethology1 and is perhaps the chief discovery of the age4 ,yet ,mr4 ,buckle quietly ignores the whole of it1 and continues1 with ,locke1 to regard every human mind as a piece of white paper1 to be written on by external events1--a piece of soft putty1 to be moulded by circumstances4 ,the facts on which the science of ethnology rests are so numerous and so striking1 that the only difficulty in selecting an illustration is from the quantity and richness of material4 ,but we may take two instances1--that of the ,teutons and ,kelts1 to show the permanence of differences under the same circumstances1 and that of the ,jews1 the ,arabs1 and the ,gypsies1 to show the continuity of identity under different circumstances4 ,for if it can be made evident that different races of men preserve different characters1 though living for long periods under similar circumstances1 and that the same race preserves the same character1 though living for long periods under different circumstances1 the proof is conclusive that character is not derived from circumstances only4 ,we shall not indeed go to the extreme of such ethnologists as ,knox1 ,nott1 or ,gliddon1 and say that ,race is everything1 and circumstances nothing1 but we shall see that ,mr4 ,buckle is mistaken in saying that ,circumstances are everything1 and race nothing4 ,the differences of character between the ,german and ,keltic varieties of the human race are marked1 but not extreme4 ,they both belong to the same great ,indo-,european or ,aryan family4 ,they both originated in ,asia1 and the ,german emigration seems to have followed immediately after that of the ,kelts4 ,yet when described by ,csar1 ,tacitus1 and ,strabo1 they differed from each other exactly as they differ now4 ,they have lived for some two thousand years in the same climate1 under similar political and social institutions1 and yet they have preserved their original diversity4 ,according to the description of ,csar#cj and ,tacitus#ca the ,german tribes differed essentially from the ,gauls or ,kelts in the following particulars4 ,the ,germans loved freedom1 and were all free4 ,the ,kelts did not care for freedom4 ,the meanest ,german was free4 ,but all the inferior people among the ,kelts were virtually slaves4 ,the ,germans had no priests1 and did not care for sacrifices4 ,the ,kelts had a powerful priesthood and imposing religious rites4 ,the ,germans were remarkable for their blue eyes1 light hair1 and large limbs4 ,the ,kelts were dark-complexioned4 ,the ,gauls were more quick1 but less persevering1 than the ,germans4 ,ready to attack1 they were soon discouraged4 ,tacitus1 describing the ,germans1 says3 ,they are a pure1 unmixed1 and independent race2 there is a family likeness through the nation1 the same form and features1 stern blue eyes1 ruddy hair2 a strong sense of honor2 reverence for women2 religious1 but without a ritual2 superstitiously believing in supernatural signs and portents1 but not in a priesthood2 not living in cities1 but in scattered homes2 respecting marriage2 the children brought up in the dirt1 among the cattle2 hospitable1 frank1 and generous2 fond of drinking beer1 and eating preparations of milk4 ,the ,german and ,keltic races1 thus distinguished in the days of ,csar1 are equally distinct to-day4 ,catholicism1 the religion of a priesthood1 a ritual1 and authority1 prevails among the ,kelts2 ,protestantism among the ,germans4 ,ireland1 being mainly ,keltic1 is ,catholic1 though a part of a ,protestant nation4 ,france1 being mainly ,keltic1 is also ,catholic1 in spite of all its illumination1 its science1 and its knowledge of intellectual laws4 ,but as ,france contains a large infusion of ,german 7,frankish7 blood1 it is the most ,protestant of ,catholic nations2 while ,scotland1 containing the largest infusion of ,keltic blood1 is the most priest-ridden of ,protestant nations4 ,this last fact1 which ,mr4 ,buckle asserts1 and spends half a volume in trying to account for1 is explained at once by ethnology4 ,wherever the ,germans go to-day1 they remain the same people they were in the days of ,tacitus2 they carry the same blue eyes and light hair1 the same love of freedom and hatred of slavery1 the same tendencies to individualism in thought and life1 the same tendency to superstitious belief in supernatural events1 even when without belief in any religion or church2 and even the same love for beer1 and lac concretum1 now called schmeercase in our ,western settlements4 ,the ,kelt1 also1 everywhere continues the same4 ,he loves equality more than freedom4 ,he is a democrat1 but not an abolitionist4 ,very social1 clannish1 with more wit than logic1 very sensitive to praise1 brave1 but not determined1 needing a leader1 he carries the spirit of the ,catholic ,church into ,protestantism1 and the spirit of despotism into free institutions4 ,and that physical1 no less than mental qualities1 continue under all climates and institutions is illustrated by the blue eyes and light hair which the traveller meets among the ,genoese and ,florentines1 reminding him of their ,lombard ancestors2 while their superior tendencies to freedom in church and state suggest the same origin4 ,nineteen hundred years have passed since ,julius ,csar pointed out these diversities of character then existing between the ,germans and ,kelts4 ,since then they have passed from barbarism to civilization4 ,instead of living in forests1 as hunters and herdsmen1 they have built cities1 engaged in commerce1 manufactures1 and agriculture4 ,they have been converted to ,christianity1 have conquered the ,roman empire1 engaged in crusades1 fought in a hundred different wars1 developed literatures1 arts1 and sciences1 changed and changed again their forms of government1 have been organized by ,feudalism1 by ,despotism1 by ,democracy1 have gone through the ,protestant reformation1 have emigrated to all countries and climates2 and yet1 at the end of this long period1 the ,german everywhere remains a ,german1 and the ,kelt a ,kelt4 ,the descriptions of ,tacitus and ,csar still describe them accurately4 ,and yet ,mr4 ,buckle undertakes to write a history of civilization without taking the element of race into account4 ,perhaps1 however1 the power of this element of race is illustrated still more strikingly in the case of the wandering and dispersed families1 who1 having ceased to be a nation1 continue in their dispersions to manifest the permanent type of their original and ineffaceable organization4 ,wherever the ,jew goes1 he remains a ,jew4 ,in all climates1 under all governments1 speaking all languages1 his physical and mental features continue the same4 ,this amazing fact has been held by many theologians to be a standing miracle of ,divine ,providence4 ,but ,providence works by law1 and through second causes1 and uses in this instance the laws of a specially stubborn organization and the force of a tenacious and persistent blood to accomplish its ends4 ,the same kind of blood in the kindred ,semitic family of ,arabs produces a like result1 though to a less striking degree4 ,the ,bedouins wander for thousands of miles away from their peninsula1 but always continue ,arabs in appearance and character4 ,the light1 sinewy body and brilliant dark eye1 the abstemious habit and roaming tendency1 mark the ,arab in ,hindostan or ,barbary4 ,it is a thousand years since these nomad tribes left their native home1 but they continue the same people on the ,persian ,gulf or amid the deserts of ,sahara4 ,the case of the ,gypsies1 however1 may be still more striking1 because these seem1 in their wanderings over the earth1 to have gradually divested themselves of every other common attribute except that of race4 ,unlike the ,jews and ,arabs1 they not only adopt the language1 but also the religion1 of the country where they happen to be4 ,yet they always remain unfused and unassimilated4 ,the ,gypsies first appeared in ,europe in #adag1 in ,moldavia1 and thence spread into ,transylvania and ,hungary4#cb ,they afterward passed into all the countries of ,europe1 where their number1 at the present time1 is supposed to reach #gjj1jjj or #hjj1jjj4 ,everywhere they adopt the common form of worship1 but are without any real faith4 ,partially civilized in some countries1 they always retain their own language beside that of the people among whom they live4 ,this language1 being evidently derived from the ,sanskrit1 settles the question of their origin4 ,it is common to all their branches through the world2 as are also the sweet voice of their maidens1 and their habits of horse-dealing1 fortune-telling1 and petty larceny4 ,without the bond of religion1 history1 government1 literature1 or mutual knowledge and intercourse1 they still remain one and the same people in all their dispersions4 ,what gives this unity and permanence1 if not race8 ,yet race1 to ,mr4 ,buckle1 means nothing4 ,,iii4 ,mr4 ,buckle's ,theory concerning ,skepticism4--,one of the laws of history which ,mr4 ,buckle considers himself to have established1 if not discovered1 is that a spirit of skepticism precedes necessarily the progress of knowledge1 and therefore of civilization4 ,by skepticism he means a doubt of the truth of received opinions4 ,he asserts that a spirit of doubt is the necessary antecedent to the love of inquiry4 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #bdb1 ,am4 ed47 ,doubt must intervene before investigation can begin4 ,here1 then1 we have the act of doubting as the originator1 or at all events the necessary antecedent1 of all progress4 ,if this were so1 progress would be impossible4 ,for the great groundwork of knowledge for each generation must be laid in the minds of children2 and children learn1 not by doubting1 but by believing4 ,children are actuated at the same time by an insatiable curiosity and an unquestioning faith4 ,they ask the reason of everything1 and they accept every reason which is given them4 ,if they stopped to question and to doubt1 they would learn very little4 ,but by not doubting at all1 while they are made to believe some errors1 they acquire an immense amount of information4 ,kind ,mother ,nature understands the process of learning and the principle of progress much better than ,mr4 ,buckle1 and fortunately supplies every new generation of children with an ardent desire for knowledge1 and a disposition to believe everything they hear4 ,perhaps1 however1 ,mr4 ,buckle refers to men rather than children4 ,he may not insist on children's stopping to question everything they hear before they believe4 ,but in men perhaps this spirit is essential to progress4 ,what great skeptics1 then1 have been also great discoverers8 ,which was the greatest discoverer1 ,leibnitz or ,bayle1 ,sir ,isaac ,newton or ,voltaire8 ,a faith amounting nearly to credulity is almost essential to discovery1--a faith which foresees what it cannot prove1 which follows suggestions and hints1 and so traces the faintest impressions left by the flying footsteps of truth4 ,the attitude of the intellect in all discovery is not that of doubt1 but of faith4 ,the discoverer always appears to critical and skeptical men as a visionary4 ,to skepticism1 says ,mr4 ,buckle1 we owe the spirit of inquiry1 which1 during the last two centuries1 has gradually encroached on every possible subject1 and reformed every department of practical and speculative knowledge4 ,but this is plainly what logicians call a hysteron proteron1 or what common people call putting the cart before the horse4 ,it is not skepticism which produces the spirit of inquiry1 but the spirit of inquiry which produces skepticism4 ,it was not a doubt concerning the ,mosaic cosmogony which led to the study of geology2 the study of geology led to the doubt of the cosmogony4 ,skepticism concerning the authority of the ,church did not lead to the discovery of the ,copernican system2 the discovery of the ,copernican system led to doubts concerning the authority of the ,church which denied it4 ,people do not begin by doubting1 but by seeking4 ,the love of knowledge leads them to inquire1 and inquiry shows to them new truths4 ,the new truths1 being found to be opposed to received opinions1 cause a doubt concerning those opinions to arise in the mind4 ,skepticism1 therefore1 may easily follow1 but does not precede inquiry4 ,skepticism1 being a negative principle1 is necessarily unproductive and barren4 ,to have no strong belief1 no fixed opinion1 no vital conviction for or against anything1--this is surely not a state of intellect favorable to any great creation or discovery4 ,goethe1 who was certainly no bigot1 says1 in a volume of his posthumous works1 that skepticism is only an inverted superstition1 and that this skepticism is one of the chief evils of the present age4 ,it is worse1 he adds1 than superstition1 for superstition is the inheritance of energetic1 heroic1 progressive natures2 skepticism belongs to weak1 contracted1 shrinking men1 who venture not out of themselves4 ,lord ,bacon says 7,advancement of ,learning1 ,book ,,ii47 that doubts have their advantages in learning1 of which he mentions two1 but says that both these commodities do scarcely countervail an inconvenience which will intrude itself1 if it be not debarred2 which is1 that when a doubt is once received1 men labor rather how to keep it a doubt than how to solve it4 ,it will be seen1 therefore1 that ,lord ,bacon gives to skepticism scarcely more encouragement than is given it by ,goethe4 ,mr4 ,buckle says 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #bej7 that ,skepticism1 which in physics must always be the beginning of science1 in religion must always be the beginning of toleration4 ,we have seen that in physics skepticism is rather the end of science than its beginning1 and the same is true of toleration4 ,skepticism does not necessarily produce toleration4 ,the ,roman augurs1 who laughed in each other's faces1 were quite ready to assist at the spectacle of ,christians thrown to the lions4 ,skeptics1 not having any inward conviction as a support1 rest on established opinions1 and are angry at seeing them disturbed4 ,a strong belief is sufficient for itself1 but a half-belief wishes to put down all doubts by force4 ,this is well expressed by ,thomas ,burnet 7,epistola #b1 ,de ,arch4 ,phil473 ,non potui non in illam semper propendere opinionem1 ,neminem irasci in veritate defendenda1 qui eandem plene possidet1 viditque in claro lumine4 ,evidens enim1 et indubitata ratio1 sibi sufficit et acquiescit3 aliisque a scopo oberrantibus1 non tam succenset1 quam miseretur4 ,sed cum argumentorum adversantium aculeos sentimus1 et quodammodo periclitari causam nostram1 tum demum stuamus1 et effervescimus4 ,the least firm believers have often been the most violent persecutors4 ,nero persecuted the ,christians2 ,marcus ,antoninus persecuted them2 but neither ,nero nor ,antoninus had any religious reason for this persecution4 ,antoninus1 the best head of his time1 was a sufficient skeptic to suit ,mr4 ,buckle1 as regards all points of the established religion1 but his skepticism did not prevent him from being a persecutor4 ,unbelieving ,popes1 like ,alexander ,,vi4 and ,leo ,x41 have persecuted4 ,true toleration is not born of unbelief1 as ,mr4 ,buckle supposes1 but of a deeper faith4 ,religious liberty has not been given to the world by skeptics1 but by such men as ,milton1 ,baxter1 ,jeremy ,taylor1 and ,roger ,williams4 ,so far from general skepticism being the antecedent condition of intellectual progress and discovery1 it is a sign of approaching intellectual stagnation and decay4 ,a great religious movement usually precedes and prepares the way for a great mental development4 ,thus the religious activity born of ,protestantism showed its results in ,england in the age of ,elizabeth1 and in a general outbreak of intellectual activity over all ,europe4 ,on the other hand1 the skepticism of the eighteenth century was accompanied by comparative stagnation of thought throughout ,christendom4 ,,iv4 ,mr4 ,buckle's ,view of the small ,influence of ,religion on ,civilization4--,mr4 ,buckle thinks it is erroneous to suppose that religion is one of the prime movers of human affairs4 7,vol4 ,i4 p4 #ahc47 ,religion1 according to him1 has little to do with human progress4 ,in this opinion1 he differs from nearly all other great historians and philosophical thinkers4 ,in modern times1 ,hegel1 ,niebuhr1 ,guizot1 ,arnold1 and ,macaulay1 among others1 have discussed the part taken by religious ideas in the development of man1 laying the greatest stress on this element4 ,but ,mr4 ,buckle denies that religion is one of the prime movers in human affairs4 ,the ,crusades have been thought to have exercised some influence on ,european civilization4 ,but religion was certainly the prime mover of the ,crusades4 ,mohammedanism exercised some influence on the development of ,european life4 ,but ,mohammedanism was an embodiment of religious ideas4 ,the ,protestant ,reformation shook every institution1 every nation1 every part of social life1 in ,christendom1 and ,europe rocked to its foundations under the influence of this great movement4 ,but religion was the prime mover of it all4 ,the ,english ,revolution turned on religious ideas4 ,the rise of the ,dutch ,republic was determined by them4 ,in one form they colonized ,south ,america and ,mexico2 in another form1 they planted ,new ,england4 ,such great constructive minds as those of ,alfred and ,charlemagne have been benevolently inspired by rational religion2 such dark1 destructive natures as those of ,philip ,,ii4 of ,spain1 ,catharine de ,medicis of ,france1 and ,mary ,tudor of ,england have been malevolently inspired by fanatical religion4 ,on what grounds1 then1 does ,mr4 ,buckle dispute the influence of religion8 ,on two grounds mainly4 ,first1 he tells us that moral ideas are not susceptible of progress1 and therefore cannot have exercised any perceptible influence on the progress of civilization4 ,for that which does not change1 he argues1 cannot influence that which changes4 ,that which has been known for thousands of years cannot be the cause of an event which took place for the first time only yesterday4 ,since civilization is the product of moral and intellectual agencies1 says ,mr4 ,buckle1 and since that product is constantly changing1 it cannot be regulated by the stationary agent2 because when surrounding circumstances are unchanged1 a stationary agent can produce only a stationary effect4 ,on this principle1 gravitation could not be the cause of the appearance of ,donati's comet in the neighborhood of the sun4 ,for gravitation is a stationary and uniform agent2 it cannot therefore produce an accelerated motion4 ,mr4 ,buckle will answer1 that though the law of gravitation is one and the same in all ages1 and uniform in its action1 the result of its action may be different at different times1 according to the position in the universe of the object acted upon4 ,true2 and in like manner we may say1 that1 though religious ideas are immutable1 the result of their action on the human mind may be different1 according to the position of that mind in relation to them4 ,the doctrine of one ,god1 the ,maker and ,lord of all things1 was not a new one1 or one newly discovered in the seventh century4 ,yet when applied by ,mohammed to the ,arabian mind1 it was like a spark coming in contact with gunpowder4 ,those wandering sons of the desert1 unknown before in the affairs of the world1 and a negative quantity in human history1 sprang up a terrible power1 capable of overrunning and conquering half the earth4 ,religion awakened them2 religion organized them2 religion directed them4 ,the fact that an idea is an old one is no proof1 therefore1 that it may not suddenly begin to act with awful efficiency on civilization and the destiny of man4 ,the other reason given by ,mr4 ,buckle why religious ideas have little influence in history is1 that the religion of a nation is symptomatic of its mental and moral state4 ,men take the religious ideas which suit them4 ,a religion not suited to a people cannot be accepted by it2 or1 if accepted1 has no influence on it4 ,this thought1 argued at considerable length by ,mr4 ,buckle1 is so perfectly true as to be a truism4 ,the religion of a people is no doubt an effect4 ,but may it not also be a cause8 ,it1 no doubt1 cannot be received by a people not prepared for it4 ,but does it therefore exercise no influence on a people which it finds prepared8 ,fire cannot explode an unexplosive material1 nor inflame one not inflammable4 ,but does it follow that it effects nothing when brought into contact with one which is inflammable or explosive8 ,a burning coal laid on a rock or put into the water produces no effect4 ,but does this prove that the explosion of gunpowder is in no manner due to the contact of fire8 ,the religion of mankind1 says ,mr4 ,buckle1 is the effect of their improvement1 and not the cause of it4 ,his proof is that missions and missionaries among the heathen produce only a superficial change among barbarous and unenlightened tribes4 ,knowledge1 he says1 must prepare the way for it4 ,there must1 no doubt1 be some kind of preparation for ,christianity4 ,but does it follow that ,christianity1 when its way is prepared1 is only an effect8 ,why may it not be also a cause8 ,judaism prepared the way for ,christianity4 ,but did not ,christianity produce some effect on ,judaism8 ,the ,arab mind was prepared for ,mohammedanism4 ,but did not ,mohammedanism produce some effect on the ,arab mind8 ,europe was prepared by various influences for ,protestantism4 ,but did not ,protestantism produce some effects on ,europe8 ,it might1 with equal truth1 and perhaps with greater truth1 be asserted that intellectual ideas are the result of previous training1 and that they are therefore an effect1 and by no means a cause4 ,the intellectual truths accepted by any period depend certainly on the advanced condition of human culture4 ,you cannot teach logarithms to ,hottentots1 trigonometry to ,digger ,indians1 or the differential calculus to the ,feejee ,islanders4 ,hence1 according to our author's logic1 those very intellectual ideas which he thinks the only great movers in human affairs are really no movers at all1 but only symptoms of the actual intellectual condition of a nation4 ,but it is a curious fact1 that1 while ,mr4 ,buckle considers religious ideas of so little importance in the history of civilization1 he nevertheless devotes a large part of both his volumes to proving the great evil done to civilization by erroneous forms of religious opinion4 ,nearly the whole of his second volume is in fact given to showing the harm done in ,spain and ,scotland by false systems of religious thought4 ,why spend page after page in showing the evil influence of false religion on society1 if religion1 whether true or false1 has scarcely any influence at all8 ,why search through all the records of religious fanaticism and superstition1 to bring up to the day the ghosts of dead beliefs1 if these beliefs are1 after all1 powerless either for good or evil8 99 99 99 99 99 ,the second volume1 the recent publication of which has suggested this second review of ,mr4 ,buckle's work1 contains much of interest and value1 but suffers from the imperfect method of which we complained at the beginning of this article4 ,it is chiefly devoted to a description of the evils resulting from priestcraft in the two countries of ,spain and ,scotland4 ,it contains six chapters4 ,the first is on the ,history of the ,spanish ,intellect from the fifth to the middle of the nineteenth century4 ,the other five chapters relate to ,scotland4 ,in the chapter on ,spain ,buckle attempts to show how loyalty and superstition began in this nation1 and what has been the result4 ,of course1 according to his theory1 he is obliged to trace their origin to external circumstances1 and he finds the cause of the superstition in the climate1 which produced drought and famine1 and in the earthquakes which alarmed the people4 ,and here ,mr4 ,buckle1 following the philosophy of ,lucretius1 confounds religion and fear1 and puts the occasion for the cause4 ,but1 beside earthquakes1 the ,arian heresy helped to create this superstition1 by identifying the wars for national independence with those for religion1 and so giving a great ascendency to the priests4 ,hence the ,church in ,spain early acquired great power1 and1 naturally allying itself with the government1 gave rise to the sentiment of loyalty1 which was increased by the ,moorish invasion and the long wars which followed4 ,loyalty and superstition thus became so deeply rooted in the ,spanish mind1 that they could not be eradicated by the efforts of the government4 ,nothing but knowledge can cure this blind and servile loyalty and this abject superstition1 and while ,spain continues sunk in ignorance it must always remain superstitious and submissive4 ,some difficulties1 however1 suggest themselves in the way of this very simple explanation4 ,if superstitious loyalty to ,church and king comes from earthquakes1 why are not the earthquake regions of the ,west ,indies and of ,south ,america more loyal1 instead of being in a state of chronic revolution8 ,and how came ,scotland to be so diseased with loyalty and superstition1 when she is so free from earthquakes8 ,and if knowledge is such a certain cure for superstition1 why was not ,spain cured by the flood of light which she1 alone of all ,european countries1 enjoyed in the ,middle ,ages8 ,spain was for a long time the source of science and art to all ,europe1 whose ,christian sons resorted to her universities and libraries for instruction4 ,there was taught to ,english1 ,french1 and ,german students the philosophy of ,aristotle1 the ,grco-,arabic literature1 mathematics1 and natural history4 ,the numerals1 gunpowder1 paper1 and other inventions of the ,arabs1 passed into ,europe from ,spain4 ,she possessed1 therefore1 that knowledge of physical laws which ,mr4 ,buckle declares to be the only cure for superstition4 ,yet she was not cured4 ,the nation which1 according to his theory1 ought to have been soonest delivered from superstition1 according to his statements has retained its yoke longer than any other4 ,from ,spain ,mr4 ,buckle passes to ,scotland1 where he finds a still more complicated problem4 ,superstition and loyalty ought to go together1 he thinks1--and usually do2 but in ,scotland they are divorced4 ,the ,scotch have always been superstitious1 but disloyal4 ,to the explanation of this fact ,mr4 ,buckle bends his energies of thought1 and of course is able to find a theory to account for it4 ,this theory we shall not stop to detail2 it is too complex1 and at the same time too superficial1 to dwell upon4 ,its chief point is that the ,protestant noblemen and ,protestant clergy quarreled about the wealth of the ,catholic ,church1 and so there was in ,scotland a complete rupture between the two classes elsewhere in alliance4 ,thus the clergy1 finding themselves despised by the governing class1 united themselves heartily with the people1 and advocated democratic principles4 ,such is the explanation given to the course of history in a great nation4 ,a quarrel between its noblemen and its ministers 7who are of course represented as mercenary self-seekers7 determines its permanent character6 ,mr4 ,buckle1 to whom the love of plunder appears as the cause of what other men regard as loyalty or religion1 explains by the same fact the loyalty of the ,highlanders to ,king ,charles4 ,they thought that1 if he conquered1 he would allow them to plunder the ,lowlanders once more4 ,this is ,buckle's explanation4 ,an ethnologist would have remembered the fact that the ,gaels are pure-blooded ,kelts1 and that the ,kelts pur sang are everywhere distinguished for loyalty to their chiefs4 ,mr4 ,buckle encounters another difficulty in ,scottish history in this1 that though a new and splendid literature arose in ,scotland at the beginning of the eighteenth century1 it was unable to diminish national superstition4 ,it was thoroughly skeptical1 and yet did not produce the appropriate effect of skepticism4 ,so that at this point one of ,mr4 ,buckle's four great laws of history seems to break down4 ,for a moment he appears discouraged1 and laments1 with real pathos1 the limitations of the human intellect4 ,but in the next chapter he addresses himself again to the solution of his two-fold problem1 viz43 #ast1 that the same people should be liberal in their politics and illiberal in their religion2 and1 #b;d1 that their free and skeptical literature in the eighteenth century should have been unable to lessen their religious illiberality4 ,in approaching this part of his task1 in the fifth chapter1 our author gives a very elaborate and highly colored picture of the religion of ,scotland4 ,it is too well done4 ,like some of ,macaulay's descriptions1 it is so very striking as to impress us almost inevitably as a caricature4 ,every statement in which the horrors and cruelties of ,calvinism are described is indeed reinforced by ample citations or plentiful references in the footnotes4 ,but some of these seem capable of a different inference from that drawn in the text4 ,for instance1 he charges the ,scottish clergy with teaching1 that1 though the arrangements originally made by the ,deity to punish his creatures were ample1 they were insufficient2 and hell1 not being big enough to contain the countless victims incessantly poured into it1 had in these latter days been enlarged4 ,there was now sufficient room4 ,he supports the charge by this reference to ,abernethy1--,hell has enlarged itself1--apparently not being aware that ,abernethy was merely quoting from ,isaiah4 ,he says that to write poetry was considered by the ,scotch clergy to be a grievous offence1 and worthy of special condemnation4 ,he supports his statement by this reference3 ,a mastership in a grammar school was offered in #agfg to ,john ,wilson1 the author of ',clyde' 7a poet1 by the by1 not found among the twenty ,john ,wilsons commemorated by ,watt74 ,but1 says his biographer1 the magistrates and ministers of ,greenock thought fit1 before they would admit ,mr4 ,wilson to the superintendence of the grammar school1 to stipulate that he should abandon 'the profane and unprofitable art of poem-making4' ,this fact1 however1 by no means proves that poetry was considered1 theologically1 a sin1 for perhaps it was regarded practically as only a disqualification4 ,it is to be feared that many of our school committees now--country shopkeepers1 perhaps1 or city aldermen--would1 apart from ,calvinism1 think that a poet must be necessarily a dreamer and an unpractical man4 ,a few exaggerations of this kind there may be4 ,but1 on the whole1 the account seems to be correctly given2 and it is one which will do good4 ,in the remaining portion of the second volume ,mr4 ,buckle gives a very vigorous description of the intellectual progress of the ,scotch during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries4 ,his account of ,adam ,smith as a writer is peculiarly brilliant4 ,his views of ,hume and ,reid are ably drawn4 ,thence he proceeds to discuss the discoveries of ,black and ,leslie in natural philosophy1 of ,smith and ,hutton in geology1 of ,cavendish in chemistry1 of ,cullen and ,hunter in physiology and pathology4 ,these discussions are interesting1 and show a great range of knowledge and power of study in the writer4 ,yet they are episodes1 and have little bearing on the main course of his thought4 ,we have thus given a cursory survey of these volumes4 ,we do not think ,buckle's philosophy sound1 his method good1 or his doctrines tenable4 ,yet we cannot but sympathize with one who has devoted his strength and youth with such untiring industry to such a great enterprise4 ,and we must needs be touched with the plaintive confession which breaks from his wearied mind and exhausted hope in the last volume1 when he accepts the defeat of his early endeavor1 and submits to the disappointment of his youthful hope4 ,we should be glad to quote the entire passage1#cc because it is the best in the book1 and because he expresses in it1 in the most condensed form1 his ideas and purposes as an historic writer4 ,but our limited space allows us only to commend it to the special attention of the reader4 ,,voltaire#cd ,mr4 ,parton has given us in these volumes#ce another of his interesting and instructive biographies4 ,not as interesting1 indeed1 as some others1--for example1 as his life of ,andrew ,jackson2 nor as instructive as his lives of ,franklin and of ,jefferson4 ,the nature of the case made this impossible4 ,the story of ,jackson had never been told till ,mr4 ,parton undertook it4 ,it was a history of frontier life1 of strange adventures1 of desperate courage1 of a force of character which conquered all obstacles and achieved extraordinary results2 a story ,of moving accidents by flood and field1 ,of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach1 ,of being taken by the insolent foe4 ,no such interest attaches to the ,life of ,voltaire4 ,his most serious adventure was being shut up in the ,bastille for a pasquinade1 and being set free again on his solemn protestation1 true or false1 that he never wrote it4 ,it is an old story1 told a thousand times1 with all its gloss1 if it ever had any1 quite worn off4 ,the ,life of ,franklin1 which1 on the whole1 we think the best of ,parton's biographies1 was full of interest and instruction of another kind4 ,it was the life of a builder1--of one who gave his great powers to construction1 to building up new institutions and new sciences1 to the discovery of knowledge and the creation of national life4 ,voltaire was a diffuser of knowledge already found1 but he had not the patience nor the devotion of a discoverer4 ,his gift was not to construct good institutions1 but to destroy bad ones1--a work the interest of which is necessarily ephemeral4 ,no wonder1 therefore1 that ,mr4 ,parton1 with all his practiced skill as a biographer1 has not been able to give to the story of ,voltaire the thrilling interest which he imparted to that of ,franklin and of ,jackson4 ,we gladly take the present opportunity to add our recognition of ,mr4 ,parton's services to those which have come to him from other quarters4 ,a writer of unequal merit1 and one whose judgment is often biased by his prejudices1 he nevertheless has done much to show how biography should be written4 ,of all forms of human writing there is none which ought to be at once so instructive and so interesting as this1 but in the large majority of instances it is the most vapid and empty4 ,the good biographies1 in all languages1 are so few that they can almost be counted on the fingers2 but these are among the most precious books in the literature of mankind4 ,the story of ,ruth1 the ,odyssey of ,homer1 ,plutarch's lives1 the ,memorabilia of ,xenophon1 the life of ,agricola1 the ,confessions of ,augustine1 among the ancients2 and1 in modern times1 ,boswell's ,johnson1 the autobiographies of ,alfieri1 ,benvenuto ,cellini1 ,franklin1 ,goethe1 ,voltaire's ,charles ,,xii41 and ,southey's ,life of ,wesley are specimens of what may be accomplished in this direction4 ,it has been thought that any man can write a biography1 but it requires genius to understand genius4 ,how much intelligence is necessary to collect with discrimination the significant facts of a human life2 to penetrate to the law of which they are the expression2 to give the picturesque proportions to every part1 to arrange the foreground1 the middle distance1 and the background of the panorama2 to bring out in proper light and shadow the features and deeds of the hero6 ,few biographers take this trouble4 ,they content themselves with collecting the letters written by and to their subject2 sweeping together the facts of his life1 important or otherwise2 arranging them in some kind of chronological order2 and then having this printed and bound up in one or two heavy volumes4 ,to all this many writers of biography add another fault1 which is almost a fatal one4 ,they treat their subject de haut en bas1 preferring to look down upon him rather than to look up to him4 ,they occupy themselves in criticising his faults and pointing out his deficiencies1 till they forget to mention what he has accomplished to make him worthy of having his life written at all4 ,we lately saw a life of ,pope treated in this style4 ,one unacquainted with ,pope1 after reading it1 would say1 ,if he was such a contemptible fellow1 and his writings so insignificant1 why should we have to read his biography8 ,thomas ,carlyle has the great merit of leading the way in the opposite direction1 and of thus initiating a new style of biography4 ,the old method was for the writer to regard himself as a judge on the bench1 and the subject of his biography as a prisoner at the bar4 ,carlyle1 in his ,life of ,schiller1 showed himself a loving disciple1 sitting at the feet of his master4 ,we recollect that when this work first appeared there were only a few copies known to be in this country4 ,one was in the possession of an eminent professor in ,harvard ,college1 of whom the present writer borrowed it4 ,on returning it1 he was asked what he thought of it1 and replied that he considered it written with much enthusiasm4 ,yes1 responded the professor1 ,i myself thought it rather extravagant4 ,enthusiasm in a biographer was then considered to be the same as extravagance4 ,but this hero-worship1 which is the charm in ,plutarch1 ,xenophon1 and ,boswell1 inspired a like interest in ,carlyle's portraits of ,schiller1 ,goethe1 ,richter1 ,burns1 and the actors in the ,french ,revolution4 ,so true is his own warning3 ,friend1 if you wish me to take an interest in what you say1 be so kind as to take some interest in it yourself--a golden maxim1 to be kept in mind by all historians1 writers of travels1 biographers1 preachers1 and teachers4 ,a social success may sometimes be accomplished by assuming the blas air of the ,roman emperor who said1 ,omnia fui1 nihil expedit2 but this tone is ruinous for one who wishes the ear of the public4 ,since the days of ,carlyle1 others have written in the same spirit1 allowing themselves to take more or less interest in the man whose life they were relating4 ,so ,macaulay1 in his sketches of ,clive1 ,hastings1 ,chatham1 ,pym1 and ,hampden2 so ,lewes1 in his ,life of ,goethe2 and so ,parton1 in his various biographies4 ,in some respects ,mr4 ,parton's biography reminds us of ,macaulay's ,history4 ,both have been credited with the same qualities1 both charged with the same defects4 ,both are indefatigable in collecting material from all quarters1--from other histories and biographies1 memoirs1 letters1 newspapers1 broadsides1 and personal communications gathered in many out-of-the-way localities4 ,both have the power of discarding insignificant details and retaining what is suggestive and picturesque4 ,both1 therefore1 have the same supreme merit of being interesting4 ,both have strong prejudices1 take sides earnestly1 forget that they are narrators1 and begin to plead as attorneys and advocates4 ,both have been accused1 rightly or wrongly1 of grave inaccuracies4 ,but their defects will not prevent them from holding their place as teachers of the ,english-speaking public4 ,english and ,american readers will long continue to think of ,marlborough as ,macaulay represents him2 of ,jackson and ,jefferson as ,parton describes them4 ,such ,rembrandt-like portraits fix the attention by their strange chiaro-oscuro4 ,they may not be like nature1 but they take the place of nature4 ,the most remarkable instance of this kind is the representation of ,tiberius by ,tacitus1 which has caused mankind1 until very recently1 to consider ,tiberius a monster of licentiousness and cruelty1 in spite of the almost self-evident absurdity and self-contradiction of this assumption4#cf ,limners with such a terrible power of portraiture should be very careful how they use it1 and not abuse the faculty in the interest of their prejudices4 ,if ,mr4 ,parton resembles ,macaulay in some respects1 in one point1 at least1 he is like ,carlyle3 that is1 that his last hero is the least interesting4 ,from ,schiller and ,goethe to ,frederic the ,great was a fall2 and so from ,franklin to ,voltaire4 ,carlyle tells us what a weary task he had with his ,prussian king1 and we think that ,mr4 ,parton's labors over the patriarch of the eighteenth-century literature must have been equally distressing4 ,at a distance1 ,voltaire is a striking phenomenon3 the most brilliant wit of almost any period2 the most prolific writer2 a successful dramatist1 historian1 biographer1 story-teller1 controversialist1 lyrical poet1 student of science4 ,truly1 a universal genius1 a mighty power6 we say4 ,but look more closely1 and this genius turns into talent2 this encyclopdic knowledge becomes only superficial half knowledge2 this royalty is a sham royalty2 it does not lead the world1 but follows it4 ,the work into which ,voltaire put his heart was destruction--the destruction of falsehoods1 bigotries1 cruelties1 and shams4 ,it was an important duty1 and some one had to do it4 ,but it was temporary1 and one of which the interest is soon over4 ,if ,luther and the other reformers had aimed at only destroying the ,church of ,rome1 their influence would have speedily ceased4 ,but they rebuilt1 as they destroyed2 the sword in one hand1 and the trowel in the other4 ,they destroyed in order to build2 they took away the outgrown house1 to put another in its place4 ,voltaire did not go so far as that2 he wanted no new church in the place of the old one4 ,voltaire and ,rousseau are often spoken of as though they were fellow-workers1 and are associated in many minds as sharing the same convictions4 ,nothing can be more untrue4 ,they were radically opposite in the very structure of their minds1 and their followers and admirers are equally different4 ,if all men can be divided into ,platonists and ,aristotelians1 they may be in like manner classified as those who prefer ,voltaire to ,rousseau1 and vice versa4 ,both were indeed theists1 and both opposed to the popular religion of their time4 ,both were brilliant writers1 masters of the ,french language1 listened to by the people1 and with a vast popularity4 ,both were more or less persecuted for their religious heresies4 ,so far they resemble each other4 ,but these are only external resemblances2 radically and inwardly they were polar opposites4 ,what attracted one repelled the other4 ,voltaire was a man of the world1 fond of society and social pleasures2 the child of his time1 popular1 a universal favorite4 ,rousseau shrank from society1 hated its fashions1 did not enjoy its pleasures1 and belonged to another epoch than the eighteenth century4 ,rousseau believed in human nature1 and thought that if we could return to our natural condition the miseries of life would cease4 ,voltaire despised human nature2 he forever repeated that the majority of men were knaves and fools4 ,rousseau distrusted education and culture as they are commonly understood2 but to ,voltaire's mind they were the only matters of any value1--all that made life worth living4 ,rousseau was more like ,pascal than like ,voltaire2 far below ,pascal1 no doubt1 in fixed moral principles and ascetic virtue4 ,yet he resembled him in his devotion to ideas1 his enthusiasm for some better day to come4 ,both were out of place in their own time2 both were prophets crying in the wilderness4 ,put ,voltaire between ,pascal and ,rousseau1 and it would be something like the tableau of ,goethe between ,basedow and ,lavater4 ,prophete rechts1 ,propliete links1 ,das ,weltkind in der ,mitte4 ,the difference between ,voltaire and ,rousseau was really that between a man of talent and a man of genius4 ,voltaire1 brilliant1 adroit1 full of resource1 quick as a flash1 versatile1 with immense powers of working1 with a life full of literary successes1 has not left behind him a single masterpiece4 ,he comes in everywhere second best4 ,as a tragedian he is inferior to ,racine2 as a wit and comic writer far below ,molire2 and he is quite surpassed as a historian and biographer by many modern ,french authors4 ,no germinating ideas are to be found in his writings1 no seed corn for future harvests4 ,he thought himself a philosopher1 and was so regarded by others2 but neither had his philosophy any roots to it4 ,a sufficient proof of this is the fact that he shared the superficial optimism of the ,english deists1 as expressed by ,bolingbroke and ,pope1 until the ,lisbon earthquake1 by destroying thirty thousand people1 changed his whole mental attitude4 ,till then he could say with ,pope1 ,whatever is1 is right4 ,after that1 most things which are1 appeared to him fatally and hopelessly wrong4 ,that thirty thousand persons should perish in a few minutes1 in great suffering1 he thought inconsistent with the goodness of ,god4 ,but take the whole world over1 thirty thousand people are continually perishing1 in the course of a few hours or days4 ,what difference does it make1 in a philosophical point of view1 if they die all at once in a particular place1 or at longer intervals in many places8 ,voltaire asks1 ,what crime had those infants committed who lie crushed on their mother's breasts8 ,what crime1 we reply1 have the infants committed who have been dying by millions1 in suffering1 since the world began8 ,was ,lisbon1 he asks1 more wicked than ,paris8 ,but had ,voltaire never noticed before that wicked people often live on in health and pleasure1 while the good suffer and die8 ,voltaire did not see1 what it requires very little philosophy to discover1 that a ,lisbon earthquake really presents no more difficulty to the reason than the suffering and death of a single child4 ,another fact which shows the shallow nature of ,voltaire's way of thinking is his expectation of destroying ,christianity by a combined attack upon it of all the wits and philosophers4 ,mr4 ,parton tells us that l',infme1 which ,voltaire expected to crush1 was not religion1 nor the ,christian religion1 nor the ,roman ,catholic ,church4 ,it was1 he says1 religion claiming supernatural authority1 and enforcing that claim by pains and penalties4 ,no doubt it was the spirit of intolerance and persecution which excited his indignation4 ,but the object of that indignation was not the abstraction which ,mr4 ,parton presents to us4 ,it was something far more concrete4 ,there is no doubt that ,voltaire confounded ,christianity with the churches about him1 and these with their abuses2 and thus his object was to sweep away all positive religious institutions1 and to leave in their place a philosophic deism4 ,else what meaning in his famous boast that it required twelve men to found a belief1 which it would need only one man to destroy8 ,what meaning1 otherwise1 in his astonishment that ,locke1 having in one book so profoundly traced the development of the understanding1 could so degrade his own understanding in another8--referring1 as ,mr4 ,morley believes1 to ,locke's ,reasonableness of ,christianity4 ,voltaire saw around him ,christianity represented by cruel bigots1 ecclesiastics living in indolent luxury1 narrow-minded and hard-hearted priests4 ,that was all the ,christianity he saw with his sharp perceptive faculty2 and he had no power of penetrating into the deeper life of the soul which these corruptions misrepresented4 ,we do not blame him for this2 he was made so2 but it was a fatal defect in a reformer4 ,the first work of a reformer is to discover the truth and the good latent amid the abuses he wishes to reform1 and for the sake of which men endure the evil4 ,a ,buddhist proverb says1 ,the human mind is like a leech3 it never lets go with its tail till it has taken hold somewhere else with its head4 ,distinguish the good in a system from the evil2 show how the good can be preserved1 though the evil is abandoned1 and then you may hope to effect a truly radical reform4 ,radicalism means going to the roots of anything4 ,voltaire was incapable of becoming a radical reformer of the ,christian ,church1 because he had in himself no faculty by which he could appreciate the central forces of ,christianity4 ,mr4 ,morley says that ,voltaire has said no word1 nor even shown an indirect appreciation of any word said by another1 which stirs and expands that indefinite exaltation known as the love of ,god1 or of the larger word holiness4 ,through the affronts which his reason received from certain pretensions1 both in the writers and in some of those whose actions they commemorated1 this sublime trait in the ,bible1 in both portions of it1 was unhappily lost to ,voltaire4 ,he had no ear for the finer vibrations of the spiritual voice4 ,and so also speaks ,carlyle3 ,it is a much more serious ground of offense that he intermeddled in religion without being himself1 in any measure1 religious2 that he entered the temple and continued there with a levity which1 in any temple where men worship1 can beseem no brother man2 that1 in a word1 he ardently1 and with long-continued effort1 warred against ,christianity1 without understanding beyond the mere superficies of what ,christianity was4 ,in fact1 in the organization of ,voltaire1 the organ of reverence1 the crown of the whole moral nature1 seems to have been at its minimum4 ,a sense of justice there was2 an ardent sympathy with the oppressed1 a generous hatred of the oppressor1 a ready devotion of time1 thought1 wealth1 to the relief of the down-trodden victim4 ,therefore1 with such qualities1 ,voltaire1 by the additional help of his indefatigable energy1 often succeeded in plucking the prey from the jaws of the lion4 ,he was able to defeat the combined powers of ,church and ,state in his advocacy of some individual sufferer1 in his battle against some single wrong4 ,but his long war against the ,catholic ,church in ,france left it just where it was when that war began4 ,its power to-day in ,france is greater than it was then1 because it is a purer and better institution than it was then4 ,that ,sphinx still sits by the roadside propounding its riddle4 ,voltaire was not the dipus who could solve it1 and so the life of that mystery remains untouched until now4 ,the ,henriade has often been considered the great epic poem of ,france4 ,this merely means that ,france has never produced a great epic poem4 ,the ,henriade is artificial1 prosaic1 and has no particle of the glow1 the fire1 the prolonged enthusiasm1 which alone can give an epic poem to mankind4 ,in this sentence all competent critics are agreed4 ,voltaire was busy with literature during his whole life4 ,he not only wrote continually himself1 but he was a critic of the writings of others4 ,his mind was essentially critical1--formed to analyze1 discriminate sharply1 compare1 and judge by some universal standard of taste4 ,here1 if anywhere1 he ought to be at his best2 here1 if in any department1 he should stand at the head of the world's board of literary censors4 ,but here1 again1 he is not even second-rate2 here1 more than elsewhere1 he shows how superficial are his judgments4 ,he tests every writer by the ,french standard in the eighteenth century4 ,every word which ,goethe1 ,schiller1 ,lessing1 have said of other writers is full of value and interest to-day4 ,but who would go to ,voltaire for light on any book or author8 ,we have an instinctive but certain conviction that all his views are limited by his immediate environment1 perverted by his personal prejudices4 ,thus1 he prefers ,ariosto to the ,odyssey1 and ,tasso's ,jerusalem to the ,iliad4#cg ,his inability to comprehend the greatness of ,shakespeare is well known4 ,he is filled with indignation because a ,french critic had called ,shakespeare the god of the stage4 ,the blood boils in my old veins1 says he2 and what is frightful to think of1 it was ,i myself who first showed to ,frenchmen the few pearls to be found in the dunghill4#ch ,chesterfield's ,letters to his ,son he considers the best book upon education ever written4#ci ,this is the book in which a father teaches his son the art of polite falsehood1 of which ,dr4 ,johnson says that it shows how grace can be united with wickedness1--the book whose author is called by ,de ,vere the philosopher of flattery and dissimulation4 ,he admitted that there were some good things in ,milton1 but speaks of his conceptions as odd and extravagant4#dj ,he thought ,condorcet much superior to ,pascal4 ,the verses of ,helvetius he believed better than any but those of ,racine4 ,the era was what ,villemain calls the golden age of mediocre writers2 and ,voltaire habitually praised them all4 ,but these writers mostly belonged to a mutual admiration society4 ,the anatomist ,tissot1 in one of his physiological works1 says that the genius of ,diderot came to show to mankind how every variety of talent could be brought to perfection in one man4 ,diderot1 in his turn1 went into frantic delight over the novels of ,richardson4 ,since ,i have read these works1 he says1 ,i make them my touchstone2 those who do not admire them are self-condemned4 ,o my friends1 what majestic dramas are these three1 ,clarissa1 ,sir ,charles ,grandison1 and ,pamela6 ,such was the eighteenth century2 and ,voltaire belonged to it with all the intensity of his ardent nature4 ,he may be said never to have seen or foreseen anything better4 ,living on the very verge of a great social revolution1 he does not appear to have suspected what its nature would be1 even if he suspected its approach4 ,the cruelties of the ,church exasperated him1 but the political condition of society1 the misery of the peasants1 the luxury of the nobles1 the despotism of the king1 left him unmoved4 ,he was singularly deficient in any conception of the value of political liberty or of free institutions4 ,if he had lived to see the coming of the ,revolution1 it would have utterly astounded him4 ,his sympathies were with an enlightened aristocracy1 not with the people4 ,in this1 too1 he was the man of his time1 and belonged to the middle of his century1 not the end of it4 ,he saw and lamented the evils of bad government4 ,he pointed out the miseries produced by war4 ,he abhorred and denounced the military spirit4 ,he called on the clergy1 in the name of their religion1 to join him in his righteous appeals against this great curse of mankind4 ,where1 he asks1 in the five or six thousand sermons of ,massillon1 are there two in which anything is said against the scourge of war8 ,he rebukes the philosophers and moralists1 also1 for their delinquency in this matter1 and replies forcibly to ,montesquieu's argument that self-defense sometimes makes it necessary to begin the attack on a neighboring nation4 ,but he does not go back to trace the evil to its root in the absence of self-government4 ,in a letter to the ,king of ,prussia he says1 ,when ,i asked you to become the deliverer of ,greece1 ,i did not mean to have you restore the democracy4 ,i do not love the rule of the rabble 7gouvernement de la canaille74 ,again1 writing to the same1 in ,january1 #ageg1 he says1 ,your majesty will confer a great benefit by destroying this infamous superstition ,christianity2 ,i do not say among the canaille1 who do not deserve to be enlightened1 and who ought to be kept down under all yokes1 but among honest people1 people who think4 ,give white bread to the children1 but only black bread to the dogs4 ,in #agfb1 writing to the ,marquis d',argens1 he says1 ,the ,turks say that their ,koran has sometimes the face of an angel1 sometimes the face of a beast4 ,this description suits our time4 ,there are a few philosophers1--they have the face of an angel2 all else much resembles that of a beast4 ,again1 he says to ,helvetius1 ,consider no man your neighbor but the man who thinks2 look on all other men as wolves1 foxes1 and deer4 ,we shall soon see1 he writes to ,d',alembert1 new heavens and a new earth1--,i mean for honest people2 for as to the canaille1 the stupidest heaven and earth is all they are fit for4 ,the real government of nations1 according to him1 should be administered by absolute kings1 in the interest of freethinkers4 ,it is true that after ,rousseau had published his trumpet-call in behalf of democratic rights1 ,voltaire began to waver4 ,it has been remarked that at the very time when he expressed an increasing ill-will against the person of the author of ',emile1' he was irresistibly attracted to the principal doctrines of ,rousseau4 ,he entered1 as if in spite of himself1 into paths toward which his feet were never before directed4 ,as if to revenge himself for coming under this salutary influence1 he pursued ,rousseau with blind anger4#da ,he harshly attacked the ,social ,contract1 but accepted the sovereignty of the people2 saying that civil government is the will of all1 executed by a single one1 or by several1 in virtue of the laws which all have enacted4 ,he1 however1 speedily restricted this democratic principle by confining the right of making laws to the owners of real estate4 ,he declares that those who have neither house nor land ought not to have any voice in the matter4 ,he now began 7in #agfd7 to look forward to the end of monarchies1 and to expect a revolution4 ,nevertheless1 he plainly declares1 ,the pretended equality of man is a pernicious chimera4 ,if there were not thirty laborers to one master1 the earth would not be cultivated4 ,but in practical and humane reforms ,voltaire took the lead1 and did good work4 ,he opposed examination by torture1 the punishment of death for theft1 the confiscation of the property of the condemned1 the penalties against heretics2 secret trials2 praised trial by jury1 civil marriage1 right of divorce1 and reforms in the direction of hygiene and education4 ,and1 above all1 whatever fault may be found with ,voltaire1 let us never cease to appreciate his generous efforts in behalf of the unfortunate victims of the atrocious bigotry which then prevailed in ,france4 ,it is not necessary to dwell here on the cases of ,calas1 the ,sirvens1 ,la ,barre1 and the ,count de ,lally4 ,they are fully told by ,mr4 ,parton1 and to his account we refer our readers4 ,in #agfb the ,protestant pastor ,rochette was hanged1 by order of the ,parliament of ,toulouse1 for having exercised his ministry in ,languedoc4 ,at the same time three young gentlemen1 ,protestants1 were beheaded1 for having taken arms to defend themselves from being slaughtered by the ,catholics4 ,in #agfb1 the ,protestant merchant ,calas1 an aged and worthy citizen of ,toulouse1 was tortured and broken on the wheel1 on a wholly unsupported charge of having killed his son to keep him from turning ,catholic4 ,a ,protestant girl named ,sirven was1 about the same time1 taken from her parents1 and shut up in a convent1 to compel her to change her religion4 ,she escaped1 and perished by accident during her flight4 ,the parents were accused of having killed her to keep her from becoming a ,catholic4 ,they escaped1 but the wife died of exposure and want4 ,in #agff a crucifix was injured by some wanton persons4 ,the ,bishop of ,amiens called out for vengeance4 ,two young officers1 eighteen years old1 were accused4 ,one escaped2 the other1 ,la ,barre1 was condemned to have his tongue cut out1 his right hand cut off1 and to be burned alive4 ,the sentence was commuted to death by decapitation4 ,voltaire1 seventy years old1 devoted himself with masterly ability and untiring energy to save these victims2 and when he failed in that1 to show the falsehood of the charges1 and to obtain a revision of the judgments4 ,he used all means3 personal appeals to men in power and to female favorites1 eloquence1 wit1 pathos in every form of writing4 ,he called on all his friends to aid him4 ,he poured a flood of light into these dark places of iniquity4 ,his generous labors were crowned with success4 ,he procured a reversal of these iniquitous decisions2 in some cases a restoration of the confiscated property1 and a public recognition of the innocence of those condemned4 ,without knowing it1 he was acting as a disciple of ,jesus4 ,perhaps he may have met in the other world with the great leader of humanity1 whom he never understood below1 and been surprised to hear him say1 ,inasmuch as thou hast done it to the least of my little ones1 thou hast done it unto me4 ,carlyle tells us that the chief quality of ,voltaire was adroitness4 ,he denies that he was really a great man1 and says that in one essential mark of greatness he was wholly wanting1 that is1 earnestness4 ,he adds that ,voltaire was by birth a mocker2 that this was the irresistible bias of his disposition2 that the first question with him was always not what is true but what is false1 not what is to be loved but what is to be contemned4 ,he was shallow without heroism1 full of pettiness1 full of vanity2 not a great man1 but only a great persifleur4 ,but certainly some other qualities than these were essential to produce the immense influence which he exerted in his own time1 and since4 ,beside the extreme adroitness of which ,carlyle speaks1 he had as exhaustless an energy as was ever granted to any of the sons of men4 ,he was never happy except when he was at work4 ,he worked at home1 he worked when visiting1 he worked in his carriage1 he worked at hotels4 ,amid annoyances and disturbances which would have paralyzed the thought and pen of others1 ,voltaire labored on4 ,upon his sick bed1 in extreme debility and in old age1 that untiring pen was ever in motion1 and whatever came from it interested all mankind4 ,besides the innumerable books1 tracts1 and treatises which fill the volumes of his collected works1 there are said to be in existence fourteen thousand of his letters1 half of which have never been printed4 ,but this was only a part of the outcome of his terrible vitality4 ,he was also an enterprising and energetic man of business4 ,he speculated in the funds1 lent money on interest1 fitted out ships1 bought and sold real estate1 solicited and obtained pensions4 ,in this way he changed his patrimony of about two hundred thousand francs to an annual income of the same amount1--equal to at least one hundred thousand dollars a year at the present time4 ,he was determined to be rich1 and he became so2 not because he loved money for itself1 nor because he was covetous4 ,he gave money freely2 he used it in large ways4 ,he sought wealth as a means of self-defense1--to protect himself against the persecution which his attacks on the ,church might bring upon him4 ,he also had1 like a great writer of the present century1 ,walter ,scott1 the desire of being a large landed proprietor and lord of a manor2 and1 like ,scott1 he became one1 reigning at ,ferney as ,scott ruled at ,abbotsford4 ,in defending himself against his persecutors he used other means not so legitimate4 ,one of his methods was systematic falsehood4 ,he first concealed1 and then denied1 the authorship of any works which would expose him to danger4 ,he took the tone of injured innocence4 ,for example1 he had worked with delight1 during twenty years1 on his wretched ,pucelle4 ,to write new lines in it1 or a new canto1 was his refreshment2 to read them to his friends gave him the most intense satisfaction4 ,but when the poem found its way into print1 with what an outcry he denies the authorship1 almost before he is charged with it4 ,he assumes the air of calumniated virtue4 ,the charge1 he declares1 is one of the infamous inventions of his enemies4 ,he writes to the ,journal ,encyclopdique1 ,the crowning point of their devilish manuvres is the edition of a poem called ',la ,pucelle d',orlans4' ,the editor has the face to attribute this work to the author of the ',henriade1' the ',zare1' the ',mrope1' the ',alzire1' the ',sicle de ,louis ,,xiv4' ,he dares to ascribe to this author the flattest1 meanest1 and most gross work which can come from the press4 ,my pen refuses to copy the tissue of silly and abominable obscenities of this work of darkness4 ,when the ,dictionnaire ,philosophique began to appear1 he wrote to ,d',alembert1 ,as soon as any danger arises1 ,i beg you will let me know1 that ,i may disavow the work in all the public papers with my usual candor and innocence4 ,mr4 ,parton tells us that he had a hundred and eight pseudonyms4 ,he signed his pamphlets ,a ,benedictine1 ,the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 ,a ,quaker1 ,rev4 ,josias ,roussette1 the ,abb ,lilladet1 the ,abb ,bigorre1 the ,pastor ,bourn4 ,he was also ready to tell a downright lie when it suited his convenience4 ,when ,candide was printed1 in #ageh1 he wrote1 as ,mr4 ,parton tells us1 to a friendly pastor in ,geneva1 ,i have at length read ',candide4' ,people must have lost their senses to attribute to me that pack of nonsense4 ,i have1 thank ,god1 better occupation4 ,this optimism of ,pangloss obviously destroys the foundation of our holy religion4 ,our holy religion6 ,an excuse may be found for these falsehoods4 ,a writer1 it may be said1 has a right to his incognito2 if so1 he has a right to protect it by denying the authorship of a book when charged with it4 ,this is doubtful morality1 but ,voltaire went far beyond this4 ,he volunteered his denials4 ,he asserted in every way1 with the most solemn asseverations1 that he was not the author of a book which he had written with delight4 ,but this was not the worst4 ,he not only told these author's lies1 but he was a deliberate hypocrite1 professing faith in ,christianity1 receiving its sacraments1 asking spiritual help from the ,pope1 and begging for relics from the ,vatican1 at the very time that he was hoping by strenuous efforts to destroy both ,catholicism and ,christianity4 ,when he was endeavoring to be admitted to a place in the ,french ,academy1 he wrote thus to the ,bishop of ,mirepoix3#db ,thanks to ,heaven1 my religion teaches me to know how to suffer4 ,the ,god who founded it1 as soon as he deigned to become man1 was of all men the most persecuted4 ,after such an example1 it is almost a crime to complain4444 ,i can say1 before ,god who hears me1 that ,i am a good citizen and a true ,catholic4444 ,i have written many pages sanctified by religion4 ,in this ,mr4 ,parton admits that he went too far4 ,when at ,colmar1 as a measure of self-protection1 he resolved to commune at ,easter4 ,mr4 ,parton says that ,voltaire had pensions and rents to the amount of sixty thousand livres annually1 of which the king could deprive him by a stroke of the pen4 ,so he determined to prove himself a good ,catholic by taking the sacraments4 ,as a necessary preliminary1 he confessed to a ,capuchin monk4 ,he wrote to ,d',argens just before1 ,if ,i had a hundred thousand men1 ,i know what ,i should do2 but as ,i have them not1 ,i shall commune at ,easter6 ,but1 writing to ,rousseau1 he thinks it shameful in ,galileo to retract his opinions4 ,mr4 ,parton too1 who is disposed to excuse some of these hypocrisies in ,voltaire1 is scandalized because the pastors of ,geneva denied the charges of heresy brought against them by ,voltaire2 saying that we live1 as they lived1 in an atmosphere of insincerity4 ,in the midst of all this1 ,voltaire took credit to himself for his frank avowals of the truth3 ,i am not wrong to dare to utter what worthy men think4 ,for forty years ,i have braved the base empire of the despots of the mind4 ,mr4 ,parton elsewhere seems to think it would have been impossible for ,voltaire to versify the ,psalms2 as it was asked him to give the lie publicly to his whole career4 ,but if communing at ,easter did not do this1 how could a versification of a few psalms accomplish it8 ,parton quotes ,condorcet as saying that ,voltaire could not become a hypocrite1 even to be a cardinal4 ,could any one do a more hypocritical action than to partake the sacraments of a ,church which he despised in order to escape the danger of persecution8 ,when building his house at ,ferney1 the neighboring ,catholic curs interfered with him4 ,they prohibited the laborers from working for him4 ,to meet this difficulty he determined to obtain the protection of the ,pope himself4 ,so he wrote to the ,pope1 asking for a relic to put in the church he had built1 and received in return a piece of the hair-shirt of ,st4 ,francis4 ,he went to mass frequently4 ,meantime1 in his letters to his brother freethinkers1 he added his usual postscript1 ,ecrasez l',infme2 begging their aid in crushing ,catholicism and ,christianity4 ,yet it does not seem that he considered himself a hypocrite in thus conforming outwardly to a religion which he hated4 ,he thinks that others who do so are hypocrites1 but not that he is one4 ,in #agfd he writes to ,madame du ,deffand1 ,the worst is that we are surrounded by hypocrites1 who worry us to make us think what they themselves do not think at all4 ,so singular are the self-deceptions of the human mind4 ,he writes to ,frederic ridiculing the sacrament of extreme unction1 and then solemnly partakes of the eucharist4 ,certainly he did not belong to the noble army of martyrs4 ,he expected to overturn a great religious system1 not by the power of faith1 but by ingenious pamphlets1 brilliant sarcasms1 adroit deceptions4 ,in thus thinking he was eminently superficial4 ,his theory on this subject is given in an article in the ,dictionnaire ,philosophique1 quoted by ,mr4 ,parton3 ,distinguish honest people who think1 from the populace who were not made to think4 ,if usage obliges you to perform a ridiculous ceremony for the sake of the canaille1 and on the road you meet some people of understanding1 notify them by a sign of the head1 or a look1 that you think as they do4444 ,if imbeciles still wish to eat acorns1 let them have acorns4 ,mr4 ,parton describes in full 7vol4 ii4 p4 #daj7 the ceremony of the eucharist of which ,voltaire partook in his own church at ,ferney4 ,it was ,easter ,sunday1 and ,voltaire mounted the pulpit and preached a sermon against theft4 ,hearing of this1 the bishop was scandalized1 and forbade all the curates of the diocese from confessing1 absolving1 or giving the sacrament to ,voltaire4 ,upon this ,voltaire writes and signs a formal demand on the curate of ,ferney to allow him to confess and commune in the ,catholic ,church1 in which he was born1 has lived1 and wishes to die2 offering to make all necessary declarations1 all requisite protestations1 in public or private1 submitting himself absolutely to all the rules of the ,church1 for the edification of ,catholics and ,protestants4 ,all this was a mere piece of mystification and fun4 ,he pretended to be too sick to go to the church1 and made a ,capuchin come and administer the eucharist to him in bed2 ,voltaire saying1 ,having my ,god in my mouth1 ,i declare that ,i forgive all my enemies4 ,no wonder that with all his marvelous ability and his long war upon the ,catholic ,church he was unable to make any lasting impression upon it4 ,talent is not enough to make revolutions of opinion4 ,no serious faith was ever destroyed by a jest4 ,if we return to ,rousseau1 and compare his influence with that of ,voltaire1 we shall find that it went far deeper4 ,voltaire was a man of immense talent4 ,talent originates nothing1 but formulates into masterly expression what has come to it from the age in which it lives4 ,not a new idea can be found1 we believe1 in all ,voltaire's innumerable writings4 ,but genius has a vision of ideal truth4 ,it is a prophet of the future4 ,rousseau1 with his many faults1 weaknesses1 follies1 was a man of genius4 ,he was probably the most eloquent writer of ,french prose who has ever appeared4 ,he was a man possessed by his ideas4 ,he had none of the adroitness1 wit1 ingenuity1 of ,voltaire4 ,instead of amassing an enormous fortune1 he supported himself by copying music4 ,instead of being surrounded by admirers and flatterers1 he led a solitary life1 alone with his ideas4 ,instead of denying the authorship of his works1 and so giving an excuse to the authorities to leave him quiet1 he put his name to his writings4 ,he worked for his bread with his hands1 and in his ,emile he recommended that all boys should be taught some manual craft4 ,voltaire ridiculed the gentleman carpenter of ,rousseau2 but before that generation passed away1 many a ,french nobleman had reason to lament that he had not been taught to use the saw and the plane4 ,if ,voltaire belonged to the eighteenth century1 and brought to a brilliant focus its scattered rays1 ,rousseau belonged more to the nineteenth4 ,amidst the persiflage1 the mockery1 the light and easy philosophy1 of his day1 he stood1 among them1 but not of them1 in a crowd of thoughts which were not their thoughts4 ,this is the true explanation of his weakness and strength1 and of the intense dislike felt for him by ,voltaire and the school of ,voltaire4 ,they belonged to their time1 ,rousseau to a coming time4 ,the eighteenth century1 especially in ,france1 was one in which nature was at its minimum and art at its maximum4 ,all was art4 ,but art separated from nature becomes artificial1 not to say artful4 ,decorum was the law in morals2 the biensances and convenances ruled in society4 ,the stage was bound by conventional rules4 ,poetry walked in silk attire1 and made its toilette with the elaborate dignity of the leve of the ,grand ,monarque4 ,against all this ,rousseau led the reaction--the reaction inevitable as destiny4 ,as art had been pushed to an extreme1 so now naturalism was carried to the opposite extreme4 ,rousseau was the apostle of nature in all things4 ,children were to be educated by the methods of nature1 not according to the routine of old custom4 ,governments were to go back to their origin in human nature2 society was to be reorganized on first principles4 ,this voice crying in the wilderness was like the trumpet of doom to the age1 announcing the age to come4 ,it laid the axe at the root of the tree4 ,its outcome was the ,french ,revolution1 that rushing1 mighty flood1 which carried away the throne1 the aristocracy1 the manners1 laws1 and prejudices of the past4 ,in his first great work1 the work which startled ,europe1 ,rousseau recalled man to himself4 ,he said1 ,the true philosophy is to commune with one's self1--the greatest saying1 thinks ,henri ,martin1 that had been pronounced in that century4 ,rousseau condemned luxury1 and uttered a prophetic cry of woe over the tangled perplexities of the time4 ,there is no longer a remedy1 unless through some great revolution1 almost as much to be feared as the evil it would cure1--which it is blamable to desire1 impossible to foresee4 ,man is naturally good1 says ,rousseau4 ,before the frightful words mine and thine were invented1 how could there have been1 he asks1 any vices or crimes8 ,he denounced all slavery1 all inequality1 all forms of oppression4 ,his writings were full of exaggeration1 but1 says the ,french historian1 no sooner had he opened his lips than he restored earnestness to the world4 ,the same writer1 after speaking of the faults of the ,nouvelle ,hlose1 adds that nevertheless a multitude of the letters of his ',julie' are masterpieces of eloquence1 passion1 and profundity2 and the last portions are signalized by a moral purity1 a wisdom of views1 and a religious elevation altogether new in the ,france of the eighteenth century4 ,concerning ,emile1 he says1 ,it is the profoundest study of human nature in our language2 it was an ark of safety1 launched by ,providence on the waves of skepticism and materialism4 ,if ,rousseau had been stricken out of the eighteenth century1 whither1 we seriously ask1 would the human mind have drifted8#dc ,the ,social ,contract appeared in #agfb4 ,in this work ,rousseau swept away by his powerful eloquence the arguments which placed sovereignty elsewhere than in the hands of the people4 ,this fundamental idea was the seed corn which broke from the earth in the first ,revolution1 and bears its ripe fruit in republican ,france to-day4 ,d',alembert1 who disliked ,rousseau1 said of ,emile that it placed him at the head of all writers4 ,the ,social ,contract1 illogical and unsound in many things1 yet tore down the whole framework of despotism4 ,van ,laun1 a more recent historian1 tells us that ,rousseau was a man of the people1 who knew all their wants2 that every vice he attacked was one that they saw really present in their midst2 that he opened the flood-gates of suppressed desires1 which gushed forth1 overwhelming a whole artificial world4 ,villemain writes that the words of ,rousseau1 descending like a flame of fire1 moved the souls of his contemporaries2 and that his books glow with an eloquence which can never pass away4 ,morley1 to whom ,rousseau is essentially antipathic1 says of the ,social ,contract that its first words1 ,man is born free1 but is everywhere in chains1 thrilled two continents1--that it was the gospel of the ,jacobins2 and the action of the convention in #agid can be explained only by the influence of ,rousseau4 ,he taught ,france to believe in a government of the people1 by the people1 and for the people4 ,locke had already taught this doctrine in ,england1 where it produced no such violent outbreak1 because it encountered no such glaring abuses4 ,such is the striking contrast between these two greatest writers in modern ,french literature4 ,it is singular to observe their instinctive antagonism in every point of belief and character4 ,the merits of one are precisely opposite to those of the other3 their faults are equally opposed4 ,the events of ,voltaire's life have been so often told that ,mr4 ,parton has not been able to add much to our knowledge of his biography4 ,he was born in #afid and died in #aggh1 at the age of eighty-four1 though at his birth he was so feeble that those who believe that the world's progress depends on the survival of the fittest would have thought him not fit to be brought up4 ,this was also the case with ,goethe and ,walter ,scott4 ,his father was a notary1 and the name ,arouet had that of ,voltaire added to it1 it being a name in his mother's family4 ,this affix was adopted by the lad when in the ,bastille1 at the age of twenty-four4 ,as a duck takes to water1 so ,voltaire took to his pen4 ,in his twelfth year he wrote verses addressed to the ,dauphin1 which so pleased the famous ,ninon de l',enclos1 then in her ninetieth year1 that she left the boy a legacy of two thousand francs4 ,he went to a ,jesuits' school1 and always retained a certain liking for the ,jesuits4 ,his father wished to make him a notary1 but he would pen a stanza when he should engross2 and the usual struggles between the paternal purpose and the filial instinct ended1 as usual1 in the triumph of the latter4 ,he led a wild career for a time1 in the society of dissipated abbs1 debauched noblemen1 and women to whom pleasure was the only object4 ,suspected of having written a lampoon on the death of ,louis ,,xiv41 he was sent to the ,bastille1 and came forth not only with a new name1 but with literature as his aim for the rest of his life4 ,his first play appeared on the stage in #agah1 and from that time he continued to write till his death4 ,he traveled from the chteau of one nobleman to another1 pouring out his satires and sarcasms through the press2 threatened by the angry rulers and priests who governed ,france1 but always escaping by some adroit manuvre4 ,in ,england he became a deist and a mathematician4 ,his views of ,christ and ,christianity were summed up in a quatrain which may be thus translated4 ,speaking of ,jesus1 he says1-- ,his actions are holy1 his ethics divine2 ,into hearts which are wounded he pours oil and wine4 ,and if1 through imposture1 those truths are received1 ,it still is a blessing to be thus deceived4 ,he lived many years at ,cirey with the ,marchioness of ,chtelet2 the marquis1 her husband1 accepting the curious relation without any objection4 ,then followed the still stranger episode of his residence with ,frederic the ,great1 their love quarrels and reconciliations4 ,after this friendship came to an end1 ,voltaire went to live near ,geneva in ,switzerland1 but soon bought another estate just out of ,switzerland1 in ,france1 and a third a short distance away1 in the territory of another power4 ,thus1 if threatened in one state1 he could easily pass into another4 ,here he lived and worked till the close of his life1 an untiring writer4 ,he was a man of infinite wit1 kind-hearted1 with little malignity of any sort1 wishing in the main to do good4 ,his violent attacks upon ,christianity may be explained by the fact of the corruptions of the ,church which were around him4 ,the ,church of ,france in that day1 in its higher circles1 was a persecuting ,church1 yet without faith3 greedy for wealth1 living in luxury1 careless of the poor1 and well deserving the attacks of ,voltaire4 ,that he could not look deeper and see the need of religious institutions of a better sort was his misfortune4 ,this work is a storehouse of facts for the history of ,voltaire and his time4 ,we do not think it will materially alter the judgment pronounced on him by such critics as ,carlyle1 ,morley1 and the majority of ,french writers in our day4 ,voltaire was a shining light in his age1 but that age has gone by1 and can never return4 ,,ralph ,,waldo ,,emerson#dd ,,matt4 vi4 #bc4--;,if thine eye be single1 thy whole body shall be full of light4 ,it is natural and fit that many pulpits to-day should take for their theme the character and influence of the great thinker and poet who has just left us2 for every such soul is a new revelation of ,god's truth and love4 ,each opens the gateway between our lower world of earthly care and earthly pleasure into a higher heavenly world of spirit4 ,such men lift our lives to a higher plane1 and convince us that we1 also1 belong to ,god1 to eternity1 to heaven4 ,and few1 in our day1 have been such mediators of heavenly things to mankind as ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,last ,sunday afternoon1 when the town of ,concord was mourning through all its streets for the loss of its beloved and revered citizen2 when the humblest cottage had on its door the badge of sorrow2 when great numbers came from abroad to testify their affection and respect1 that which impressed me the most was the inevitable response of the human heart to whatever is true and good4 ,cynics may tell us that men are duped by charlatans1 led by selfish demagogues1 incapable of knowing honor and truth when set before them2 that they always stone their prophets and crucify their saviors2 that they have eyes1 and do not see2 ears1 and never hear4 ,this is all true for a time2 but inevitably1 by a law as sure as that which governs the movements of the planets1 the souls of men turn at last toward what is true1 generous1 and noble4 ,the prophets and teachers of the race may be stoned by one generation1 but their monuments are raised by the next4 ,they are misunderstood and misrepresented to-day1 but to-morrow they become the accredited leaders of their time4 ,jesus1 who knew well that he would be rejected and murdered by a people blind and deaf to his truth1 also knew that this truth would sooner or later break down all opposition1 and make him master and king of the world4 ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto me4 ,last ,sunday afternoon1 as the grateful procession followed their teacher to his grave in the ,concord cemetery1 the harshness of our spring seemed to relent1 and ,nature became tender toward him who had loved her so well4 ,i thought of his words1 ,the visible heavens and earth sympathized with ,jesus4 ,the town where the embattled farmers stood2 where the musket was discharged which opened the ,war of the ,revolution--the gun of which ,lafayette said1 ,it was the alarm-gun of the world2 the town of ,hawthorne's ,old ,manse1 and of his grave1 now that ,emerson also sleeps in its quiet valley1 has received an added glory4 ,it has become one of the ,meccas of the mind4 ,let me describe the mental and spiritual condition of ,new ,england when ,emerson appeared4 ,calvinism1 with its rigorous dogmatism1 was slowly dying1 and had been succeeded by a calm and somewhat formal rationalism4 ,locke was still the master in the realm of thought2 ,addison and ,blair in literary expression4 ,in poetry1 the school of ,pope was engaged in conflict with that of ,byron and his contemporaries4 ,wordsworth had led the way to a deeper view of nature2 but ,wordsworth could scarcely be called a popular writer4 ,in theology a certain literalism prevailed1 and the doctrines of ,christianity were inferred from counting and weighing texts on either side4 ,not the higher reason1 with its intuition of eternal ideas1 but the analytic understanding1 with its logical methods1 was considered to be the ruler in the world of thought4 ,there was more of culture than of intellectual life1 more of good habits than of moral enthusiasm4 ,religion had become very much of an external institution4 ,christianity consisted in holding rational or orthodox opinions1 going regularly to church1 and listening every ,sunday to a certain number of prayers1 hymns1 and sermons4 ,these sermons1 with some striking exceptions1 were rather tame and mechanical4 ,in ,boston1 it is true1 ,buckminster had appeared1--that soul of flame which soon wore to decay its weak body4 ,the consummate orator ,edward ,everett had followed him in ,brattle ,square pulpit4 ,above all1 ,channing had looked1 with a new spiritual insight1 into the truths of religion and morality4 ,but still the mechanical treatment prevailed in a majority of the churches of ,new ,england1 and was considered1 on the whole1 to be the wisest and safest method4 ,there was an unwritten creed of morals1 literature1 and social thought to which all were expected to conform4 ,there was little originality and much repetition4 ,on all subjects there were certain formulas which it was considered proper to repeat4 ,thou art a blessed fellow1 says one of ,shakespeare's characters1 to think as other people think4 ,not a man's thought in the world keeps the roadway better than thine4 ,the thought of ,new ,england kept the roadway4 ,of course1 at all times a large part of the belief of the community is derived from memory1 custom1 and imitation2 but in those days1 if ,i remember them aright1 it was regarded as a kind of duty to think as every one else thought2 a sort of delinquency1 or weakness1 to differ from the majority4 ,if the movements of thought are now much more independent and spontaneous2 if to-day traditions have lost their despotic power2 if even those who hold an orthodox creed are able to treat it as a dead letter1 respectable for its past uses1 but by no means binding on us now1 this is largely owing to the manly position taken by ,emerson4 ,and yet1 let it be observed1 this influence was not exercised by attacking old opinions1 by argument1 by denial1 by criticism4 ,theodore ,parker did all this1 but his influence on thought has been far less than that of ,emerson4 ,parker was a hero who snuffed the battle afar off1 and flung himself1 sword in hand1 into the thick of the conflict4 ,but1 much as we love and reverence his honesty1 his immense activity1 his devotion to truth and right1 we must admit to-day1 standing by these two friendly graves1 that the power of ,emerson to soften the rigidity of time-hardened belief was far the greater4 ,it is the old fable of the storm and sun4 ,the violent attacks of the tempest only made the traveler cling more closely to his cloak2 the genial heat of the sun compelled him to throw it aside4 ,in all ,emerson's writings there is scarcely any argument4 ,he attacks no man's belief2 he simply states his own4 ,his method is always positive1 constructive4 ,he opens the windows and lets in more light4 ,he is no man's opponent2 the enemy of no one4 ,he states what he sees1 and that which he does not see he passes by4 ,he was often attacked1 but never replied4 ,his answer was to go forward1 and say something else4 ,he did not care for what he called the bugbear consistency4 ,if to-day he said what seemed like ,pantheism1 and to-morrow he saw some truth which seemed to reveal a divine personality1 a supreme will1 he uttered the last1 as he had declared the first1 always faithful to the light within4 ,he left it to the spirit of truth to reconcile such apparent contradictions4 ,he was like his own humble-bee-- ,seeing only what is fair1 ,sipping only what is sweet2 ,thou dost mock at fate and care1 ,leave the chaff and take the wheat4 ,by this method of positive statement he not only saved the time usually wasted in argument1 attack1 reply1 rejoinder1 but he gave us the substance of ,truth1 instead of its form4 ,logic and metaphysic reveal no truths2 they merely arrange in order what the higher faculties of the mind have made known4 ,hence the speedy oblivion which descends on polemics of all sorts4 ,the great theological debaters1 where are they8 ,the books of ,horsley and ,mc,gee are buried in the same grave with those of ,belsham and ,priestley1 their old opponents4 ,the bitter attacks on ,christianity by ,voltaire and ,paine are inurned in the same dark and forgotten vaults with the equally bitter defenses of ,christianity by its numerous champions4 ,argument may often be necessary1 but no truth is slain by argument2 no error can be kept alive by it4 ,emerson is an eminent example of a man who never replied to attacks1 but went on his way1 and saw at last all opposition hushed1 all hostility at an end4 ,he devoted his powers to giving to his readers his insights1 knowing that these alone feed the soul4 ,thus men came to him to be fed4 ,his sheep heard his voice4 ,those who felt themselves better for his instruction followed him4 ,he collected around him thus an ever-increasing band of disciples1 until in ,england1 in ,germany1 in all lands where men read and think1 he is looked up to as a master4 ,many of these disciples were persons of rare gifts and powers1 like ,margaret ,fuller1 ,theodore ,parker1 ,george ,ripley1 ,hawthorne4 ,many others were unknown to fame1 yet deeply sensible of the blessings they had received from their prophet and seer of the nineteenth century4 ,for this was his office4 ,he was a man who saw4 ,he had the vision and the faculty divine4 ,he sat near the fountain-head1 and tasted the waters of ,helicon in their source4 ,his first little book1 a duodecimo of less than a hundred pages1 called ,nature1 published in #ahcf1 indicates all these qualities4 ,it begins thus3-- ,our age is retrospective4 ,it builds the sepulchres of the fathers4 ,it writes biographies1 histories1 criticisms4 ,the foregoing generations beheld ,god and ,nature face to face2 we1 through their eyes4 ,why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe8 ,why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight1 and not of tradition1 and a religion by revelation to us1 and not the history of theirs8444 ,the sun shines to-day also4444 ,undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable4 ,this was his first doctrine1 that of self-reliance4 ,he taught that ,god had given to every man the power to see with his own eyes1 think with his own mind1 believe what seemed to him true1 plant himself on his instincts1 and1 as he says1 call a pop-gun a pop-gun1 though the ancient and honorable of the earth declare it to be the crack of doom4 ,this was manly and wholesome doctrine4 ,it might1 no doubt1 be abused1 and lead some persons to think they were men of original genius when they were only eccentric4 ,it may have led others to attack all institutions and traditions1 as though1 if a thing were old1 it was necessarily false4 ,but ,emerson himself was the best antidote to such extravagance4 ,to a youth who brought to him a manuscript confuting ,plato he replied1 ,when you attack the king you ought to be sure to kill him4 ,but his protest against the prevailing conventionalism was healthy1 and his call on all to be themselves was inspiring4 ,the same doctrine is taught in the introductory remarks of the editors of the ,dial4 ,they say they have obeyed with joy the strong current of thought which has led many sincere persons to reprobate that rigor of conventions which is turning them to stone1 which renounces hope and only looks backward1 which suspects improvement1 and holds nothing so much in horror as the dreams of youth4 ,this work1 the ,dial1 made a great impression1 out of all proportion to its small circulation4 ,by the elders it was cordially declared to be unintelligible mysticism1 and so1 no doubt1 much of it was4 ,those inside1 its own friends1 often made as much fun of it as those outside4 ,yet it opened the door for many new and noble thoughts1 and was a wild bugle-note1 a reveill1 calling on all generous hearts to look toward the coming day4 ,here is an extract from one of ,emerson's letters from ,europe as early as ,march1 #ahcc4 ,it is dated ,naples3-- ,and what if it be ,naples6 ,it is only the same world of cakes and ale1 of man1 and truth1 and folly4 ,i will not be imposed upon by a name4 ,it is so easy to be overawed by names that it is hard to keep one's judgment upright1 and be pleased only after your own way4 ,bai and ,pausilippo sound so big that we are ready to surrender at discretion1 and not stickle for our private opinion against what seems the human race4 ,but here's for the plain old ,adam1 the simple1 genuine self against the whole world4 ,again he says3 ,nothing so fatal to genius as genius4 ,mr4 ,taylor1 author of ',van ,artevelde1' is a man of great intellect1 but by study of ,shakespeare is forced to reproduce ,shakespeare4 ,thus the first great lesson taught by ,mr4 ,emerson was self-reliance4 ,and the second was like it1 though apparently opposed to it1 ,god-reliance4 ,not really opposed to it1 for it meant this3 ,god is near to your mind and heart1 as he was to the mind and heart of the prophets and inspired men of the past4 ,god is ready to inspire you also if you will trust in him4 ,in the little book called ,nature he says3-- ,the highest is present to the soul of man2 the dread universal essence1 which is not wisdom1 or love1 or power1 or beauty1 but all in one1 and each entirely1 is that for which all things exist1 and by which they are4 ,believe that throughout nature spirit is present2 that it is one1 that it does not act upon us from without1 but through ourselves4444 ,as a plant on the earth1 so man rests on the bosom of ,god1 nourished by unfailing fountains1 and drawing at his need inexhaustible power4 ,and so in his poem called ,the ,problem he teaches that all religions are from ,god2 that all the prophets and sibyls and lofty souls that have sung psalms1 written scripture1 and built the temples and cathedrals of men1 were inspired by a spirit above their own4 ,he puts aside the shallow explanation that any of the great religions ever came from priestcraft3-- ,out from the heart of ,nature rolled ,the burdens of the ,bible old2 ,the litanies of nations came1 ,like the volcano's tongue of flame1 ,up from the burning core below1 ,the canticles of love and woe4 ,the word unto the prophet spoken ,was writ on tables yet unbroken2 ,the word by seers or sibyls told1 ,in groves of oak or fanes of gold1 ,still floats upon the moving wind1 ,still whispers to the willing mind4 ,one accent of the ,holy ,ghost ,the heedless world hath never lost4 ,in all that ,emerson says of nature he is equally devout4 ,he sees ,god in it all4 ,it is to him full of a divine charm4 ,in the woods1 he says1 is perpetual youth4 ,within these plantations of ,god a decorum and sanctity reigns1 and we return to reason and faith4 ,the currents of the ,universal ,being circulate through me4 ,i am part and particle of ,god4 ,for saying such things as these he was accused of ,pantheism4 ,and he was a ,pantheist2 yet only as ,paul was a ,pantheist when he said1 ,in ,him we live and move and have our being2 ,from whom and through whom are all things2 ,the fullness of him who filleth all in all4 ,emerson was1 in his view of nature1 at one with ,wordsworth1 who said3-- ,the clouds were touched1 ,and in their silent faces he could read ,unutterable love4 ,sensation1 soul1 and form ,all melted into him2 they swallowed up ,his animal being2 in them did he live1 ,and by them did he live2 they were his life4 ,in such high hour ,of visitation from the living ,god1 ,thought was not2 in enjoyment it expired4 ,emerson has thus been to our day the prophet of ,god in the soul1 in nature1 in life4 ,he has stood for spirit against matter4 ,darwin1 his great peer1 the serene master in the school of science1 was like him in this1--that he also said what he saw and no more4 ,he also taught what ,god showed to him in the outward world of sense1 as ,emerson what ,god showed in the inward world of spirit4 ,amid the stormy disputes of their time1 each of these men went his own way1 his eye single and his whole body full of light4 ,the work of ,darwin was the easier1 for he floated with the current of the time1 which sets at present so strongly toward the study of things seen and temporal4 ,but the work of ,emerson was more noble1 for he stands for things unseen and eternal1--for a larger religion1 a higher faith1 a nobler worship4 ,this strong and tender soul has done its work and gone on its way4 ,but he will always fill a niche of the universal ,church as a ,new ,england prophet4 ,he had the purity of the ,new ,england air in his moral nature1 a touch of the shrewd ,yankee wit in his speech1 and the long inheritance of ancestral faith incarnate and consolidated in blood and brain4 ,but to this were added qualities which were derived from some far-off realm of human life3 an ,oriental cast of thought1 a touch of medival mysticism1 and a vocabulary brought from books unknown to our ,new ,england literature4 ,no commonplaces of language are to be found in his writings1 and though he read the older writers1 he does not imitate them4 ,he1 also1 like his humble-bee1 has gathered contributions from remotest fields1 and enriched our language with a new and picturesque speech all his own4 ,let us1 then1 be grateful for this best of ,god's gifts1--another soul sent to us filled with divine light4 ,thus we learn anew how full are nature and life of ,god3-- ,ever fresh the broad creation1 ,a divine improvisation2 ,from the heart of ,god proceeds ,a single will1 a million deeds4 ,one word concerning ,mr4 ,emerson's relation to ,christ and to ,christianity4 ,the distinction which he made between ,jesus and other teachers was1 no doubt1 one of degree and not one of kind4 ,he put no great gulf of supernatural powers1 origin1 or office between ,christ and the ethnic prophets4 ,but his reverence for ,jesus was profound and tender4 ,nor did he object to the word ,christian or to the ,christian ,church4 ,in recent years1 at least1 he not unfrequently attended the services of the ,unitarian ,church in his town1 and ,i have met him at ,unitarian conventions1 a benign and revered presence4 ,in the cemetery at ,bonn1 on the ,rhine1 is the tomb of ,niebuhr1 the historian1 a man of somewhat like type1 as ,i judge1 to our ,emerson4 ,at least1 some texts on his monument would be admirably appropriate for any stone which may be placed over the remains of the ,american prophet and poet in the sweet valley of tombs in ,concord4 ,one of these texts was from ,sirach xlvii4 #ad1 #ag3 ,how wise wast thou in thy youth1 and as a flood filled with understanding6 ,thy soul covered the whole earth1 and thou filledst it with dark parables4 ,thy name went far unto the islands1 and for thy peace thou wast beloved4 ,the countries marvelled at thee for thy songs and proverbs and parables and interpretations4 ,and equally appropriate would be this ,horatian line1 also on ,niebuhr's monument3-- ,quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis4 ,from a lifelong friend of ,emerson ,i have just received a letter containing these words1 which1 better than most descriptions1 give the character of his soul3-- ,and so the white wings have spread1 and the great soul has left us4 '',tis death is dead2 not he4' ,he had no vanity1 no selfishness2 no greed1 no hate2 none of the weights that drag on common mortals4 ,his life was an illumination2 a large1 fair light2 the ,pharos of ,new ,england1 as in other days our dear brother called him4 ,and this light shone further and wider the longer it burned4 ,,harriet ,,martineau#de ,the whole work#df is very interesting4 ,how could it be otherwise1 in giving the history of so remarkable a life8 ,the amount of literary work which ,miss ,martineau performed is amazing4 ,she began to write for the press when she was nineteen1 and continued until she could no longer hold her pen4 ,the pen was her sword1 which she wielded with a warrior's joy1 in the conflict of truth with error1 of right with wrong4 ,she wrote many books2 but her articles in reviews and newspapers were innumerable4 ,we find no attempt in either part of this biography to give a complete list of her writings4 ,perhaps it would be impossible4 ,she never seems to have thought of keeping such a record herself1 any more than a hero records the number of the blows he strikes1 in battle4 ,no sooner had she dismissed one task than another came2 and sometimes several were going on together4 ,like other voluminous writers1 she enjoyed the exercise of her productive powers2 and1 as she somewhere tells us1 her happiest hours were those in which she was seated at her desk with her pen4 ,her principal works cover a large range of thought and study4 ,one of her first books1 ,the ,traditions of ,palestine1 she continued to regard long after with more affection than any other of her writings1 except ,eastern ,life4 ,but her authorship began when she was nineteen1 in an article contributed to a ,unitarian monthly4 ,afterwards she obtained three separate prizes offered by the ,central ,unitarian ,association for three essays on different topics4 ,about the same time she wrote ,five ,years of ,youth1 a tale which she never looked at afterward4 ,but her first great step in authorship1 and that which at once made her a power in politics and in literature1 was taken when she commenced her series of tales on ,political ,economy4 ,she began1 however1 to write these stories1 not knowing that she was treating questions of ,political ,economy1 the very name of which1 she says1 was then either unknown to me1 or conveyed no meaning4 ,she was then about twenty-five years old4 ,she had the usual difficulties with various publishers which unknown authors are sure to experience1 and these tales1 which became so popular1 were rejected by one firm after another4 ,one of them was refused by the ,society for the ,diffusion of ,useful ,knowledge1 as being too dull4 ,the president of that ,society1 ,lord ,brougham1 afterward vented his rage on the sub-committee which rejected the offered story1 and so had permitted their ,society1 instituted for that very purpose1 to be driven out of the field by a little deaf woman at ,norwich4 ,at last a publisher was found who agreed to take the books on very unsatisfactory terms4 ,as soon as the first number appeared1 the success of the series was established4 ,a second edition of five thousand copies was immediately called for1--the entire periodical press came out in favor of the tales1--and from that hour ,miss ,martineau had only to choose what to write1 sure that it would at once find a publisher4 ,she was at this time thirty years old4 ,she was already deaf1 her health poor2 but she then began a career of intellectual labor seldom equaled by the strongest man through the longest life4 ,she began to write every morning after breakfast2 and1 unless when traveling1 seldom passed a morning during the rest of her life without writing1--working from eight o'clock until two4 ,her method was1 after selecting her subject1 to procure all the standard works upon it1 and study them4 ,she then proceeded to make the plan of her work1 and to draw the outline of her story4 ,if the scene was laid abroad1 she procured books of travels and topography4 ,then she drew up the contents of each chapter in detail1 and1 after this preliminary labor1 the story was written easily and with joy4 ,of these stories she wrote thirty-four in two years and a half4 ,she was then thirty-two4 ,she received #b1jjj for the whole series1--a sufficiently small compensation1--but she established her position and her fame4 ,her principal books published afterward were her two works on ,america1 the novels ,deerbrook and ,the ,hour and the ,man2 nine volumes of tales on the ,forest and ,game ,laws2 four stories in the ,playfellow2 ,life in the ,sick-,room2 ,letters on ,mesmerism2 ,eastern ,life1 ,past and ,present2 ,history of ,england during the ,thirty ,years' ,peace2 ,letters on the ,laws of ,man's ,social ,nature and ,development2 ,translation and ,condensation of ,comte's ,positive ,philosophy2 besides many smaller works1 making fifty-two titles in ,allibone4 ,in addition to this1 she wrote many articles in reviews and magazines2 and ,mrs4 ,chapman mentions that she sent to a single ,london journal1 the ,daily ,news1 sixteen hundred articles1 at the rate sometimes of six a week4 ,surely ,harriet ,martineau was one who worked faithfully while her day endured4 ,but1 if we would do her justice1 we must consider also the motive and spirit in which she worked4 ,each thing she did had for its purpose nothing merely personal1 but some good to mankind4 ,though there was nothing in her character of the sentimentalism of philanthropy1 she was filled with the spirit of philanthropy4 ,a born reformer1 she inherited from her ,huguenot and her ,unitarian ancestors the love of truth and the hatred of error1 with the courage which was ready to avow her opinions1 however unpopular4 ,thus1 her work was warfare1 and every article or book which she printed was a blow delivered against some flagrant wrong1 or what she believed such1--in defense of some struggling truth1 or something supposed to be truth4 ,she might be mistaken2 but her purposes through life were1 in the main1 noble1 generous1 and good4 ,and there can be no question of her ability1 moral and intellectual4 ,no commonplace mind could have overcome such obstacles and achieved such results4 ,apparently she had no very high opinion of her own intellectual powers4 ,she denies that she possesses genius2 but she asserts her own power4 ,she criticises ,deerbrook with some severity4 ,and1 in fact1 ,harriet ,martineau's mind is analytic rather than creative2 it is strong rather than subtle2 and1 if it possesses imagination1 it is of rather a prosaic kind4 ,her intellect is of a curiously masculine order2 no other female writer was ever less feminine4 ,with all her broad humanity she has little sympathy for individuals4 ,a large majority of those whom she mentions in her memoirs she treats with a certain contempt4 ,her early life seems to have been very sad4 ,we are again and again told how she was misunderstood and maltreated in her own home4 ,her health was bad until she was thirty2 partly owing1 as she supposed1 to ill-treatment4 ,she needed affection1 and was treated with sternness4 ,justice she did not receive1 nor kindness1 and her heart was soured and her temper spoiled1 so she tells us1 by this mismanagement4 ,as she does not specify1 or give us the details of this ill-treatment1 the story is useless as a warning2 and we hardly see the reason for thus publishing the wrongs of her childhood4 ,as children may be sometimes unjust to parents1 no less than parents to children1 the facts and the moral are both left uncertain4 ,and1 on the whole1 her chief reason for telling the story appears to be the mental necessity she was under of judging and sentencing those from whom she supposes herself to have received ill-treatment in any part of her life4 ,this is indeed the most painful feature of the work before us4 ,knowing the essentially generous and just spirit of ,harriet ,martineau1 it is strange to see how carefully she has loaded this piece of artillery with explosive and lacerating missiles1 to be discharged after her death among those with whom she had mingled in social intercourse or literary labors4 ,some against whom she launches her sarcasms are still living2 some are dead1 but have left friends behind1 to be wounded by her caustic judgments4 ,is it that her deficiency in a woman's sensibility1 or the absence of a poetic imagination1 prevented her from realizing the suffering she would inflict8 ,or is it the habit of mind from which those are apt to suffer who devote themselves to the reform of abuses8 ,as each kind of manual occupation exposes the workman to some special disease1--as those who dig canals suffer from malaria1 and file-grinders from maladies of the lungs1--so it seems that each moral occupation has its appropriate moral danger4 ,clergymen are apt to be dogmatic or sectarian2 lawyers become sharp and sophistical2 musicians and artists are irritable2 and the danger of a reformer is of becoming a censorious critic of those who cannot accept his methods1 or who will not join his party4 ,that ,harriet ,martineau did not escape this risk will presently appear4 ,while writing her politico-economical stories she moved to ,london1 and there exchanged the quiet seclusion of her ,norwich life for social triumphs of the first order1 and intercourse with every kind of celebrity4 ,all had read her books1 from ,victoria1 who was then a little girl perusing them with her governess1 to foreign kings and savants of the highest distinction4 ,so this young author--for she was only thirty--was received at once into the most brilliant circles of ,london society4 ,but it does not appear that she lost a single particle of her dignity or self-possession4 ,among the great she neither asserted herself too much nor showed too much deference4 ,vanity was not her foible2 and her head was too solidly set upon her shoulders to be turned by such successes4 ,she enjoyed the society of these people of superior refinement1 rank1 and culture1 but did not come to depend upon it2 and in all this ,harriet ,martineau sinned not in her spirit4 ,but why1 in writing about these people long afterward1 should she have thought it necessary to produce such sharp and absolute sentences on each and all8 ,into this judgment-hall of ,osiris-,martineau1 every one whom she has ever known is called up to receive his final doom4 ,the poor ,unitarian ministers1 who had taught the child as they best could1 are dismissed with contemptuous severity4 ,this religious instruction had certainly done her some good4 ,religion1 she admits1 was her best resource till she wrought her way to something better4 ,ann ,turner1 daughter of the ,unitarian minister1 gave her piety a practical turn1 and when afraid of every one she saw1 she was not at all afraid of ,god2 and1 on the whole1 she says religion was a great comfort and pleasure to her4 ,nevertheless1 she is astonished that ,unitarians should believe that they are giving their children a ,christian education4 ,she accuses these teachers of her childhood of altering the ,scripture to suit their own notions2 being apparently ignorant that most of the interpolations or mistranslations of which they complained have since been conceded as such by the best ,orthodox critics4 ,but she does not hesitate to give her opinion of all her old acquaintances in the frankest manner1 and for the most part it is unfavorable4 ,mrs4 ,opie and ,mrs4 ,john ,taylor are among the mere pedants4 ,william ,taylor1 from want of truth and conviction1 talked blasphemy4 ,she speaks with contempt of a physician who politely urged her to come and dine with him1 because he had neglected her until she became famous4 ,lord ,brougham was vain and selfish1 low in morals1 and unrestrained in temper4 ,lord ,campbell was flattering to an insulting degree2 ,archbishop ,whately1 odd and overbearing1 sometimes rude and tiresome1 and singularly overrated2 ,stanley1 ,bishop of ,norwich1 timid1 sensitive1 heedless1 without courage or dignity4 ,macaulay talked nonsense about the copyright bill1 and set at naught every principle of justice in regard to authors' earnings4 ,macaulay's opposition to that bill was based on such grounds of perfect justice that he defeated it single-handed4 ,but ,harriet ,martineau decided then and there that ,macaulay was a failure1 and that he wanted heart1 and that he never has achieved any complete success4 ,the poet ,campbell had a morbid craving for praise4 ,as to women1 ,lady ,morgan1 ,lady ,davy1 ,mrs4 ,jameson1 ,mrs4 ,austin1 may make women blush and men be insolent with their gross and palpable vanities4 ,landseer was a toady to great people4 ,morpeth had evident weaknesses4 ,sir ,charles ,bell showed his ignorance by relying on the argument for ,design4 ,the resources of ,eastlake were very borns4 ,john ,sterling rudely ignored me4 ,lady ,mary ,shepherd was a pedant4 ,coleridge1 she asserts1 will only be remembered as a warning2 though twenty years ago she1 ,miss ,martineau1 regarded him as a poet4 ,godwin was timid4 ,basil ,montagu was cowardly2 and ,lord ,monteagle agreeable enough to those who were not particular about sincerity4 ,urquhart had insane egotism and ferocious discontent4 ,the ,howitts made an unintelligible claim to my friendship1 their tempers are turbulent and unreasonable4 ,it may be some explanation of this unintelligible claim that it was heard through her trumpet4 ,fredrika ,bremer is accused of habits of flattery and a want of common sense4 ,miss ,mitford is praised1 but then accused of a habit of flattery1 and blamed for her disparagement of others4 ,and it is ,miss ,martineau who brings this charge6 ,she also tells us that ,miss ,bremer proposes to reform the world by a floating religiosity1 whatever that may be4 ,but perhaps her severest sentence is pronounced on the ,kembles1 who are accused of incurable vulgarity and unreality4 ,in this case1 as in others1 ,miss ,martineau pronounces this public censure on those whom she had learned to know in the intimacy of private friendship and personal confidence4 ,she thus violates the rules rather ostentatiously laid down in her ,introduction4 ,for she claims there that she practices self-denial in interdicting the publication of her letters1#dg and gives her reasons thus3 ,epistolary conversation is written speech2 and the onus rests with those who publish it to show why the laws of honor1 which are uncontested in regard to conversation1 may be violated when the conversation is written instead of spoken4 ,most of her sharp judgments above quoted are pronounced on those whom she learned to know in the private intercourse of society4 ,sometimes she recites the substance of what she heard 7or supposed that she heard2 for she used an ear-tube when she first went to live in ,london74 ,thus she tells about a conversation with ,wordsworth1 and reports his complaints of ,jeffrey and other reviewers1 and quotes him as saying about one of his own poems1 that it was a chain of very valooable thoughts4 ,you see1 it does not best fulfill the conditions of poetry2 but it is 7solemnly7 a chain of extremely valooable thoughts4 ,she then proceeds to pronounce her sentence on ,wordsworth as she did on ,coleridge4 ,she felt at once1 she says1 in ,wordsworth's works1 the absence of sound1 accurate1 weighty thought1 and of genuine poetic inspiration4 ,she also informs us that the very basis of philosophy is absent in him1 and that it is only necessary to open ,shelley1 ,tennyson1 or even poor ,keats 444 to feel that1 with all their truth and all their charm1 few of ,wordsworth's pieces are poems4 ,even poor ,keats6 ,this is her de haut en bas style of criticism on ,wordsworth1 one of whose poems is generally accepted as the finest written in the ,english language during the last hundred years4 ,and this is her way of respecting the code of honor in regard to private conversation6 ,in #ahcd1 at the age of thirty-two1 ,harriet ,martineau sailed for the ,united ,states1 where she remained two years4 ,she went for rest2 but the quantity of work done in those two years would have been enough to fill five or six years of any common life4 ,at this point she began a new career2 forming new ties1 engaging in new duties1 studying new problems1 and beginning a new activity in another sphere of labor4 ,the same great qualities which she had hitherto displayed showed themselves here again2 accompanied with their corresponding defects4 ,her wonderful power of study enabled her to enter into the very midst of the phenomena of ,american life2 her noble generosity induced her to throw herself heart1 hand1 and mind into the greatest struggle then waging on the face of the earth4 ,the antislavery question1 which the great majority of people of culture despised or disliked1 took possession of her soul4 ,she became one of the party of ,abolitionists1 of which ,mr4 ,garrison was the chief1 and lived to see that party triumph in the downfall of slavery4 ,she took her share of the hatred or the scorn heaped on that fiery body of zealous propagandists1 and was counted worthy of belonging to what she herself called the ,martyr ,age of the ,united ,states4 ,fortunately for herself1 before she visited ,boston1 and became acquainted with the ,abolitionists1 she went to ,washington1 and traveled somewhat extensively in the ,southern ,states4 ,at ,washington she saw many eminent ,southern senators1 who cordially invited her to visit them at their homes4 ,in ,south ,carolina she was welcomed or introduced by ,mr4 ,calhoun1 ,governor ,hayne1 and ,colonel ,preston4 ,judge ,porter took charge of her in ,louisiana4 ,in ,kentucky she was the guest of ,mrs4 ,irwin1 ,henry ,clay's daughter and neighbor4 ,without fully accepting ,mrs4 ,chapman's somewhat sweeping assertion that there was no eminent statesman1 man of science1 politician1 partisan1 philanthropist1 jurist1 professor1 merchant1 divine1 nor distinguished woman1 in the whole land1 who did not pay her homage1 there is no doubt that she received the respect and good-will of many such4 ,she was deeply impressed1 she says1 on arriving in the ,united ,states1 with a society basking in one bright sunshine of good-will4 ,she thought the ,new ,englanders1 perhaps1 the best people in the world4 ,many well-known names appear in these pages1 as soon becoming intimate acquaintances or friends2 among these were ,judge ,story1 ,john ,g4 ,palfrey1 ,stephen ,c4 ,phillips1 the ,gilmans of ,south ,carolina1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,furness of ,philadelphia1 and in ,massachusetts the ,sedgwicks1 the ,follens1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,ellis ,gray ,loring1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,charles ,g4 ,loring1 ,dr4 ,channing1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,henry ,ware1 ,dr4 ,flint of ,salem1 and ,ephraim ,peabody4 ,when ,miss ,martineau had identified herself with ,mr4 ,garrison and his friends by taking part in their meetings1 those who had merely sought her on account of her position and reputation naturally fell away4 ,but it may be doubted whether she was in such danger of being mobbed or murdered as she and her editor suppose4 ,she seems to think that ,mr4 ,henry ,ware did a very brave deed in driving to ,mr4 ,francis ,jackson's house to take her home from an antislavery meeting4 ,she speaks of the reign of terror which existed in ,boston at that time4 ,no doubt she1 and other ,abolitionists1 had their share of abuse2 but it is not probable that any persons were1 as she thought1 plotting against her life4 ,she and her friends were deterred from taking a proposed journey to ,cincinnati and ,louisville by being informed that it was intended to mob her in the first city and to hang her in the second4 ,now1 the writer of this article was at that time residing in ,louisville1 and though antislavery discussions and antislavery lectures had taken place there about that period1 and though antislavery articles not unfrequently appeared in the city journals1 no objection or opposition was made to all this by anybody in that place4 ,in fact1 it was easier at that time to speak against slavery in ,louisville than in ,boston4 ,the leading people in ,kentucky of all parties were then openly opposed to slavery1 and declared their hope and purpose of making ,kentucky a free ,state4 ,a year later1 ,dr4 ,channing published his work on slavery1 which was denounced for its abolitionism by the ,boston ,statesman1 and sharply criticised in a pamphlet by the ,massachusetts attorney-general4 ,but copious extracts from this work1 especially of the parts which exposed the sophisms of the defenders of slavery1 were published in a ,louisville magazine1 and not the least objection was made to it in that city4 ,at a later period it might have been different1 though an antislavery paper was published in ,louisville as late as #ahde1 one of the editors being a native ,kentuckian4 ,after her return from the ,united ,states she published her two works1 ,society in ,america1 and ,retrospect of ,western ,travel2 and then wrote her first novel1 ,deerbrook4 ,the books on ,america were perhaps the best then written by any foreigner except ,de ,tocqueville4 ,they were generous1 honest1 kind1 and utterly frank1--they were full of capital descriptions of ,american scenery4 ,she spoke the truth to us1 and she spoke it in love4 ,the chief fault in these works was her tone of dogmatism1 and her ex cathedr judgments2 which1 as we have before hinted1 are among the defects of her qualities4 ,in #ahch1 when thirty-six years old1 she was taken with serious illness1 which confined her to her room for six years4 ,she attributes this illness to her anxiety about her aged aunt and mother4 ,her mother1 she tells us1 was irritable on account of ,miss ,martineau's fame and position in society2 in short1 she was jealous of her daughter's success4 ,miss ,martineau was obliged to sit up late after midnight to mend her own clothes1 as she was not allowed to have a maid or to hire a working-woman1 even at her own expense4 ,how she could have been prevented is difficult to see1 especially as she was the money-making member of the family4 ,it seems hardly worth while to give us this glimpse into domestic difficulties4 ,but1 no doubt1 she is quite correct in adding1 as another reason for her illness1 the toils which were breaking her down4 ,the strongest men could hardly bear such a strain on the nervous system without giving way4 ,and here comes in the important episode of ,mr4 ,atkinson1 mesmerism1 and the ,new ,philosophy4 ,she believes that she was cured of a disease1 pronounced incurable by the regular physicians1 by mesmerism4 ,by this she means the influence exerted upon her by certain manipulations from another person4 ,and as long as we are confessedly so ignorant of nervous diseases1 there seems no reason to question the facts to which ,miss ,martineau testifies4 ,she was1 there is little doubt1 cured by these manipulations2 what the power was which wrought through them remains to be ascertained4 ,in regard to ,mr4 ,atkinson and his philosophy1 accepted by her with such satisfaction1 and which henceforth became the master-light of all her seeing1 our allotted space will allow us only to speak very briefly4 ,the results of this new mental departure could not but disturb and afflict many of her friends1 to whom faith in ,god1 ,christ1 and immortality was still dear4 ,to ,miss ,martineau herself1 however1 her disbelief in these seemed a happy emancipation4 ,she carried into the assertion of her new and unpopular ideas the same honesty and courage she had always shown1 and also the same superb dogmatism and contempt for those who differed from her4 ,apparently it was always to her an absolute impossibility to imagine herself wrong when she had once come to a conclusion4 ,in theory she might conceive it possible to be mistaken1 but practically she felt herself infallible4 ,the following examples will show how she speaks1 throughout her biography1 of those who held the opinions she had rejected4 ,miss ,martineau1 being a ,necessarian1 says1 ,all the best minds ,i know are ,necessarians2 all1 indeed1 who are qualified to discuss the subject at all4 ,the very smallest amount of science is enough to enable any rational being to see that the constitution and action of will are determined by the influences beyond the control of the possessor of the faculty4 ,she adds1 that for more than thirty years she has seen how awful are the evils which arise from that monstrous remnant of old superstition1--the supposition of a self-determining power1 etc4 ,now1 among those she had intimately known were ,dr4 ,channing and ,james ,martineau1 neither of them believing in the doctrine of ,necessity4 ,speaking of ,christianity1 after she had rejected it1 she calls it a monstrous superstition4 ,elsewhere she speaks of the ,christian superstition of the contemptible nature of the body2 says that ,christians deprave their moral sense2 talks of the selfish complacencies of religion1 and of the atmosphere of selfishness which is the very life of ,christian doctrine and of every other theological scheme2 speaks of the ,christian mythology as a superstition which fails to make happy1 fails to make good1 fails to make wise1 and has become as great an obstacle in the way of progress as the prior mythologies it took the place of4 ,for three centuries it has been undermined1 and its overthrow completely decided4 ,thus easily does she settle the question of ,christianity4 ,miss ,martineau ceased to believe in immortality2 and immediately all believers in immortality became1 to her mind1 selfish or stupid1 or both4 ,i neither wish to live longer here1 she says1 nor to find life again elsewhere4 ,it seems to me simply absurd to expect it1 and a mere act of restricted human imagination and morality to conceive of it4 ,there is a total absence of evidence for a renewed life4 ,i myself utterly disbelieve in a future life4 ,she would submit1 though reluctantly1 to live again1 if compelled to4 ,if ,i find myself conscious after the lapse of life1 it will be all right1 of course2 but1 as ,i said1 the supposition appears to me absurd4 ,under the instructions of ,mr4 ,atkinson1 ,miss ,martineau ceased to believe in a personal ,god1 or any ,god but an unknown ,first ,cause1 identical with the ,universe4 ,the argument for ,design1 on which ,mr4 ,john ,stuart ,mill1 for instance1 lays such stress1 seemed to her puerile and unphilosophical4 ,the ,god of ,christians she calls an invisible idol4 ,he who does justice to his own faculties must give up the personality of the ,first ,cause4 ,she considered the religion in her ,life in the ,sick-,room to have been insincere2 which we1 who know the perfect honesty of ,harriet ,martineau1 must take the liberty to deny4 ,though declaring herself to be no ,atheist1 because she believes in an unknown and unknowable ,first ,cause1 she regards philosophical ,atheists as the best people she had ever known1 and was delighted in finding herself unacquainted with ,god1 and so at peace4 ,it is curious to read these ,letters on the ,laws of ,man's ,nature and ,development1 of which ,harriet ,martineau and ,mr4 ,atkinson are the joint authors4 ,the simple joy with which they declare themselves the proud discoverers of this happy land of the unknowable is almost touching4 ,all that we know1 say they1 is matter or its manifestation4 ,mind is the product of the brain1 and the brain is not1 as even some phrenologists have asserted1 the instrument of the mind4 ,the brain is the source of consciousness1 will1 reason4 ,man is a creature of necessity4 ,it seems certain that mind1 or the conditions essential to mind1 is evolved from gray vesicular matter4 ,nothing in nature indicates a future life4 ,knowledge recognizes that nothing can be free1 or by chance2 no1 not even ,god1--,god is the substance of ,law4 ,whereupon ,miss ,martineau inquires whether ,mr4 ,atkinson1 in speaking of ,god1 did not merely use another name for ,law4 ,we know nothing beyond law1 do we8 asks this meek disciple1 seeking for information4 ,mr4 ,atkinson replies that we must assume some fundamental principle as a thing essential1 though unknown2 and it is this which ,i wrongly enough perhaps termed ,god4 ,but if it is wrong to call this principle ,god1 and if they know nothing else behind phenomena1 why do they complain so bitterly at being charged with ,atheism8 ,and directly ,mr4 ,atkinson asserts that ,philosophy finds no ,god in nature2 no personal being or creator1 nor sees the want of any4 ,a ,creator after the likeness of man he affirms to be an impossibility4 ,for1 though he professes to know nothing about ,god1 he somehow contrives to know that ,god is not what others believe him to be4 ,eternal sleep after death he professes to be the only hope of a wise man4 ,the idea of free-will is so absurd that it would make a ,democritus fall on his back and roar with laughter4 ,christianity is neither reasonable nor moral4 ,miss ,martineau responds that deep and sweet is her repose in the conviction that there is no theory of ,god1 of an author of ,nature1 of an origin of the ,universe1 which is not utterly repugnant to my faculties2 which is not 7to my feelings7 so irreverent as to make me blush1 so misleading as to make me mourn4 ,and thus do the apostle and the disciple go on1 triumphantly proclaiming their own limitations to the end of the volume4 ,and yet the effect of this book is by no means wholly disagreeable4 ,to be sure1 in their constant assertions of the impossibility of any belief but their own being true1 their honest narrowness may often be a little amusing4 ,they seem like two eyeless fish in the recesses of the darkness of the ,mammoth ,cave talking to each other of the absurdity of believing in any sun or upper world4 ,but they are so honest1 so sincere1 so much in love with ,truth1 and so free from any self-seeking1 that we find it easy to sympathize with their nave sense of discovery1 as they go sounding on their dim and perilous way4 ,only we cannot but think what a disappointment it must be to ,harriet ,martineau to find herself alive again in the other world4 ,in her case1 as ,mr4 ,wentworth ,higginson acutely remarks1 we are deprived of the pleasure of sympathizing with her gladness at discovering her mistake1 since another life will be to her a disagreeable as well as an unforeseen event4 ,nor is it extraordinary1 to those who trace ,harriet ,martineau's intellectual history1 that she should have fallen into these melancholy conclusions4 ,in her childhood and youth1 most of the ,unitarians of ,england1 followers of ,priestley1 adopted his philosophy of materialism and necessity4 ,priestley did not believe in a soul1 but trusted for a future life to the resurrection of the body4 ,he was also a firm believer in philosophical necessity4 ,an active and logical mind like ,miss ,martineau's1 destitute of the keenness and profundity which belonged to that of her brother ,james1 might very naturally arrive at a disbelief in anything but matter and its phenomena4 ,from ignorance of these facts1 ,mrs4 ,chapman expresses surprise that the inconsistency of ,harriet ,martineau's belief in necessity1 with other parts of her ,unitarianism1 should not have struck herself1 her judges1 or the denomination at large4 ,it would have been inconsistent with ,american ,unitarianism1 but it was not foreign from the views of ,english ,unitarians at that time4 ,the publication of these ,letters naturally caused pain to religious people1 and especially to those of them who had known and honored ,miss ,martineau for her many past services in the cause of human freedom and progress4 ,many of these were ,unitarians and ,unitarian ministers1 who had been long proud of her as a member of their denomination and one of their most valued co-workers4 ,it seemed necessary for them to declare their dissent from her new views1 and this dissent was expressed in an article in the ,prospective ,review1 written by her own brother1 ,james ,martineau4 ,mrs4 ,chapman now makes known1 what has hitherto been only a matter of conjecture1 that this review gave such serious offense to ,miss ,martineau that she from that time refused to recognize her brother or to have any further communication with him4 ,mrs4 ,chapman1 who seldom or never finds her heroine in the wrong1 justifies and approves her conduct also here1 quoting a passage from the review in support of ,miss ,martineau's conduct in treating her brother as one of the defamers of old times whom she must never again meet4 ,in this passage ,mr4 ,martineau only expresses his profound grief that his sister should sit at the feet of such a master as ,mr4 ,atkinson1 and lay down at his bidding her early faith in moral obligation1 in the living ,god1 in the immortal sanctities4 ,he calls this an inversion of the natural order of nobleness1 implying that ,mr4 ,atkinson ought to have sat at her feet instead2 and1 turning to the review itself1 we find this the only passage in which a single word is said which could be regarded as a censure on ,miss ,martineau4 ,but ,mr4 ,atkinson is indeed handled with some severity4 ,his language is criticised1 and his logic is proved fallacious4 ,much the largest part of the review is1 however1 devoted to a refutation of his philosophy and doctrines4 ,now1 as so large a part of the ,letters is pervaded with denunciations of the bigotry which will not hear the other side of a question1 and filled with admiration of those who prefer truth to the ties of kindred1 friendship1 and old association1 we should have thought that ,miss ,martineau would rejoice in having a brother who could say1 ,amica ,harriet1 sed magis amica veritas4 ,not at all4 ,it was evident that he had said nothing about herself at which she could take offense2 but in speaking against her new philosophy and her new philosopher he had committed the unpardonable sin4 ,and ,mrs4 ,chapman allows herself to regard it as a natural inference that this honest and manly review resulted from masculine terror1 fraternal jealousy of superiority1 with a sectarian and provincial impulse to pull down and crush a world-wide celebrity4 ,she considers it incomprehensible in an advocate of free thought that he should express his thoughts freely in opposition to a book which argued against all possible knowledge of ,god and against all faith in a future life4 ,it is1 however1 only just to ,miss ,martineau to say that she herself has brought no such charges against her brother1 but left the matter in silence4 ,we cannot but think that it would have been better for ,miss ,martineau's reputation if her biographer had followed her example4 ,but1 though we must object to ,mrs4 ,chapman's views on this point1 and on some others1 we must add that her part of the second volume is prepared with much ability1 and is evidently the result of diligent and loyal friendship4 ,miss ,martineau could not have selected a more faithful friend to whom to confide the history of her life4 ,on two subjects1 however1 we are obliged to dissent from her statements4 ,one is in regard to ,dr4 ,channing1 whom she1 for some unknown reason1 systematically disparages4 ,he was a good man1 ,mrs4 ,chapman admits1 but not in any sense a great one4 ,with benevolent intentions1 he could not greatly help the nineteenth century1 for he knew very little about it1 or1 indeed1 of any other4 ,he had neither insight1 courage1 nor firmness4 ,in his own ,church had sprung up a vigorous opposition to slavery1 which he innocently1 in so far as ignorantly1 used the little strength he had to stay4 ,certainly it is not necessary to defend the memory of ,dr4 ,channing against such a supercilious judgment as this4 ,but we might well ask why1 if he is not a great man1 and did not help the nineteenth century1 his works should continue to be circulated all over ,europe8 ,why should such men in ,france as ,laboulaye and ,rmusat occupy themselves in translating and diffusing them8 ,why should ,bunsen class him among the five prophets of the ,divine ,consciousness in ,human ,history1--speaking of his fearless speech1 his unfailing good sense1 and his grandeur of soul1 which makes him a prophet of the ,christianity of the ,future8 ,bunsen calls him a ,greek in his manly nature1 a ,roman in his civic qualities1 and an apostle in his ,christianity4 ,and was that man deficient in courage or firmness who never faltered in the support of any opinions1 however unpopular1 whether it was to defend ,unitarianism in its weak beginnings1 to appear in ,faneuil ,hall as the leader against the defenders of the ,alton mob1 to head the petition for the pardon of ,abner ,kneeland1 and to lay on the altar of antislavery the fame acquired by past labors8 ,is he to be accused of repressing the antislavery movement in his own church1 when there is on record the letter in which he advocated giving the use of the church building to the society represented by ,mrs4 ,chapman herself2 and when the men of influence in his society refused it8 ,nor1 in those days of their unpopularity1 did ,mrs4 ,chapman and her friends count ,dr4 ,channing's aid so insignificant4 ,in her article on ,the ,martyr ,age1 ,miss ,martineau describes the profound impression caused by ,dr4 ,channing's sudden appearance in the ,state ,house to give his countenance and aid to ,garrison and the ,abolitionists1 in what1 she says1 was a matter to them of life and death4 ,and she adds1 ,he was thenceforth considered by the world an accession to their principles1 though not to their organized body4 ,nor do we quite understand ,mrs4 ,chapman's giving to ,miss ,martineau the credit of being the cause of the petition for the pardon of ,abner ,kneeland2 as his conviction1 and the consequent petition1 did not take place until she had been nearly two years out of the country4 ,and why does ,mrs4 ,chapman select for special contempt1 as unfaithful to their duty to mankind1 the ,unitarian ministers8 ,why does she speak of the cowardly ranks of ,american ,unitarians with such peculiar emphasis8 ,it is not our business here to defend this denomination2 but we cannot but recall the ,protest against ,american ,slavery prepared and signed in #ahde by one hundred and seventy-three ,unitarian ministers1 out of a body containing not more than two hundred and fifty in all4 ,and it was this body which furnished to the cause some of its most honored members4 ,of those who have belonged to the ,unitarian body1 we now recall the names of such persons as ,samuel ,j4 ,may1 ,samuel ,may1 ,josiah ,quincy1 ,john ,quincy ,adams1 ,john ,pierpont1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,ellis ,gray ,loring1 ,john ,g4 ,palfrey1 ,john ,p4 ,hale1 ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,follen1 ,theodore ,parker1 ,john ,parkman1 ,john ,t4 ,sargent1 ,james ,russell ,lowell1 ,wm4 ,h4 ,furness1 ,charles ,sumner1 ,caleb ,stetson1 ,john ,a4 ,andrew1 ,lydia ,maria ,child1 ,dr4 ,s4 ,g4 ,howe1 ,horace ,mann1 ,t4 ,w4 ,higginson4 ,so much for the cowardly ranks of ,american ,unitarians4 ,the last years of ,miss ,martineau were happy and peaceful4 ,she had a pleasant home at ,ambleside1 on ,lake ,windermere4 ,she had many friends1 was conscious of having done a good work1 and if she had no hopes in the hereafter1 neither had she any fears concerning it4 ,she was a strong1 upright1 true-hearted woman2 one of those who have helped to vindicate the right of women to learn the alphabet4 ,,the ,,rise ,,and ,,fall ,,of ,,the ,,slave ,,power ,,in ,,america#dh ,on the first day of ,january1 #ahcb1 when the ,american ,antislavery ,society was formed in the office of ,samuel ,e4 ,sewall in ,boston1 the abolition of slavery through any such agency seemed impossible4 ,almost all the great interests of the country were combined to defend and sustain the system4 ,the capital invested in slaves amounted to at least one thousand millions of dollars4 ,this vast pecuniary interest was rapidly increasing by the growing demand for the cotton crop of the ,southern ,states--a demand which continually overlapped the supply4 ,the whole political power of the thirteen slave ,states was in the hands of the slaveholders4 ,no white man in the ,south1 unless he was a slaveholder1 was ever elected to ,congress1 or to any important political position at home4 ,the two great parties1 ,whig and ,democrat1 were pledged to the support of slavery in all its constitutional rights1 and vied with each other in giving to these the largest interpretation4 ,by a constitutional provision1 which could not be altered1 the slave ,states had in ,congress1 in #ahdj1 twenty-five more ,representatives in proportion to their number of voters than the free ,states4 ,by the cohesion of this great political and pecuniary interest the slaveholders1 though comparatively few in number1 were able to govern the nation4 ,the ,presidents1 both houses of ,congress1 the ,supreme ,court of the ,united ,states1 the two great political parties1 the press of the country1 the mercantile interest1 and that mysterious force which we call society1 were virtually in the hands of the slaveholders4 ,whenever their privileges were attacked1 all these powers rallied to their defense4 ,public opinion1 in the highest circles of society and in the lowest1 was perfectly agreed on this one question4 ,the saloons of the ,fifth ,avenue and the mob of the ,five ,points were equally loyal to the sacred cause of slavery4 ,thus all the great powers which control free states were combined for its defense2 and the attempt to assail this institution might justly be regarded as madness4 ,in fact1 all danger seemed so remote1 that even so late as #ahdj it was common for slaveholders to admit that property in man was an absurdity and an injustice4 ,the system itself was so secure1 that they could afford to concede its principle to their opponents4 ,just as men formerly fought duels as a matter of course1 while frankly admitting that it was wrong to do so1--just as at the present time we concede that war is absurd and unchristian1 but yet go to war continually1 because we know no other way of settling international disputes1--so the slaveholders used to say1 ,slavery is wrong2 we know that3 but how is it to be abolished8 ,what can we do about it8 ,such was the state of things in the ,united ,states less than half a century ago4 ,on one side was an enormous pecuniary interest1 vast political power1 the weight of the press1 an almost unanimous public opinion1 the necessities of commerce1 the authority of fashion1 the teachings of nearly every denomination in the ,christian church1 and the moral obligations attributed to the sacred covenants of the fathers of the ,republic4 ,on the other side there were only a few voices crying in the wilderness1 ,it is unjust to claim property in man4 ,the object of the work before us is to show how1 after the slave power had reached this summit of influence1 it lost it all in a single generation2 how1 less by the zeal of its opponents than by the madness of its defenders1 this enormous fabric of oppression was undermined and overthrown2 and how1 in a few years1 the insignificant handful of antislavery people brought to their side the great majority of the nation4 ,certainly a work which should do justice to such a history would be one of the most interesting books ever written4 ,for in this series of events everything was involved which touches most nearly the mind1 the conscience1 the imagination1 and the heart of man4 ,how many radical problems in statesmanship1 in political economy1 in ethics1 in philosophy1 in theology1 in history1 in science1 came up for discussion during this long controversy6 ,what pathetic stories of suffering1 what separation of families1 what tales of torture1 what cruelty grown into a custom1 what awful depths of misery1 came continually to light1 as though the judgment-day were beginning to dawn on the dark places of the earth6 ,what romances of adventure1 what stories of courage and endurance1 of ingenuity in contrivance1 of determination of soul1 were listened to by breathless audiences as related by the humble lips of the fugitives from bondage6 ,how trite and meagre became all the commonplaces of oratory before the flaming eloquence of these terrible facts6 ,how tame grew all the conventional rhetoric of pulpit and platform1 by the side of speech vitalized by the immediate presence of this majestic argument6 ,the book which should reproduce the antislavery history of those thirty years would possess an unimagined charm4 ,we cannot say that ,mr4 ,wilson's volumes do all this1 nor had we any right to expect it4 ,he proposes to himself nothing of the sort4 ,what he gives us is1 however1 of very great value4 ,it is a very carefully collected1 clearly arranged1 and accurate account of the rise and progress1 decline and catastrophe1 of slavery in the ,united ,states4 ,mr4 ,wilson does not attempt to be philosophical like ,bancroft and ,draper2 nor are his pages as picturesque as are those of ,motley and ,carlyle4 ,he tells us a plain unvarnished tale1 the interest of which is to be found in the statement of the facts exactly as they occurred4 ,considering that it is a story of events all of which he saw and a large part of which he was1 there is a singular absence of prejudice4 ,he is no man's enemy4 ,he has passed through the fire1 and there is no smell of smoke on his garments4 ,an intelligent indignation against the crimes committed in defense of the system he describes pervades his narrative4 ,his impartiality is not indifference1 but an absence of personal rancor4 ,individuals and their conduct are criticised only so far as is necessary to make clear the course of events and the condition of public feeling4 ,the defenders of slavery at the ,north and ,south are regarded not as bad men1 but as the outcome of a bad system4 ,mr4 ,wilson's book is a treasury of facts1 and will never be superseded so far as this peculiar value is concerned4 ,in this respect it somewhat resembles ,hildreth's ,history of the ,united ,states4 ,taking little space for speculation1 comment1 or picturesque coloring1 there is all the more room left for the steady flow of the narrative4 ,with a few unimportant omissions1 the two volumes now published contain a full history of slavery and antislavery from the ,ordinance of #aghg and the compromises of the ,constitution down to the election of ,lincoln and the outbreak of the civil war4 ,as a work of reference they are invaluble1 for each event in the long struggle for freedom is distinctly and accurately told1 while the calm story advances through its various stages4 ,instead of following this narrative in detail1 which our space will not allow1 we prefer to call our readers' attention to some of the more striking incidents of this great revolution4 ,our fathers1 when they founded the nation1 had little thought that slavery was ever to attain such vast extension4 ,they supposed that it would gradually die out from the ,south1 as it had disappeared from the ,north4 ,yet the whole danger to their work lay here4 ,slavery1 if anything1 was the wedge which was to split the ,union asunder4 ,when the ,constitution was formed1 in #aghg1 the slaveholders1 by dint of great effort1 succeeded in getting the little end of the wedge inserted4 ,it was very narrow1 a mere sharp line1 and it went in only a very little way2 so it seemed to be nothing at all4 ,the slaveholders at that time did not contend that slavery was right or good4 ,they admitted that it was a political evil4 ,they confessed1 many of them1 that it was a moral evil4 ,all the great ,southern revolutionary bodies had accustomed themselves to believe in the rights of man1 in the principles of humanity1 in the blessings of liberty2 and they could not defend slavery4 ,mason of ,virginia1 in the debates in the ,federal ,convention1 denounced slavery and the slave-trade4 ,the evil of slavery1 said he1 affects the whole ,union4 ,slavery discourages arts and manufactures4 ,the poor despise labor when done by slaves4 ,they prevent the immigration of whites1 who really enrich a country4 ,they produce the most pernicious effects on the manners4 ,every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant4 ,they bring the judgment of ,heaven on a country4 ,williamson of ,north ,carolina declared himself in principle and practice opposed to slavery4 ,madison thought it wrong to admit in the ,constitution the idea that there could be property in man4 ,but the extreme ,southern ,states1 ,south ,carolina and ,georgia1 insisted on the right of importing slaves1 at least for a little while2 and so they were allowed to import them for twenty years4 ,they also insisted on having their slaves represented by themselves in ,congress1 and so they were allowed to count three fifths of the slaves in determining the ratio4 ,this seemed a small thing1 but it was the entering of the wedge4 ,it was tolerating the principle of slavery2 not admitting it1 but tolerating it4 ,at the same time that this ,convention was forming1 the ,federal ,constitution ,congress was prohibiting slavery in all the territory northwest of the ,ohio4 ,this prohibition of slavery was adopted by the unanimous votes of the eight ,states present1 including ,virginia1 the ,carolinas1 and ,georgia4 ,two years later it was recognized and confirmed by the first ,congress under the ,constitution4 ,jefferson1 a commissioner to revise the statute law of ,virginia1 prepared a bill for gradual emancipation in that ,state4 ,in #agij a petition was presented to ,congress1 signed by ,benjamin ,franklin1 the last public act of his life1 declaring equal liberty to be the birthright of all1 and asking ,congress to devise means for restoring liberty to the slaves1 and so removing this inconsistency from the character of the ,american people4 ,in #ahjd the people of ,virginia petitioned ,congress to have the ,ordinance of #aghg suspended1 that they might hold slaves2 but a committee of ,congress1 of which ,john ,randolph of ,virginia was chairman1 reported that it would be highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the ,northwest ,territory4 ,but in #ahbj the first heavy blow came on the wedge to drive it into the log4 ,the ,union is a tough log1 and the wedge could be driven a good way in without splitting it2 but the first blow which drove it in was the adopting the ,missouri ,compromise1 allowing slavery to come ,north and take possession of ,missouri4 ,the thirty years of prosperity which had followed the adoption of the ,constitution had changed the feelings of men both ,north and ,south4 ,the ideas of the ,revolution had receded into the background2 the thirst for wealth and power had taken their place4 ,so the ,southern ,states1 which had cordially agreed thirty years before to prohibit the extension of slavery1 and had readily admitted it to be a political evil1 now demanded as a right the privilege of carrying slaves into ,missouri4 ,they threatened to dissolve the ,union1 talked of a fire only to be extinguished by seas of blood1 and proposed to hang a member from ,new ,hampshire who spoke of liberty4 ,some of the ,northern men were not frightened by these threats1 and valued them at their real worth4 ,but we know that the result was a compromise4 ,slavery was to take possession of ,missouri1 on condition that no other ,state as far north as ,missouri should be slave-holding4 ,slavery was to be excluded from the rest of the territory forever4 ,this bargain was applauded and justified by ,southern politicians and newspapers as a great triumph on their part2 and it was4 ,that fatal compromise was a surrender of principle for the sake of peace1 bartering conscience for quiet2 and we were soon to reap the bitter fruits4 ,face to face1 in deadly opposition1 each determined on the total destruction of his antagonist1 stood this ,goliath of the slave power and the little ,david of antislavery1 at the beginning of the ten years which extended from #ahcj to #ahdj4 ,the giant was ultimately to fall from the wounds of his minute opponent1 but not during this decade or the next4 ,for many years each of the parties was growing stronger1 and the fight was growing fiercer4 ,organization on the one side was continually becoming more powerful2 enthusiasm on the other continually built up a more determined opinion4 ,the slave power won repeated victories2 but every victory increased the number and ardor of its opponents4 ,the first attempt to destroy antislavery principles was by means of mobs4 ,mobs seldom take place in a community unless where the upper stratum of society and the lower are in sympathetic opposition to some struggling minority4 ,then the lower class takes its convictions from the higher1 and regards itself as the hand executing what the head thinks ought to be done4 ,respectability denounces the victim1 and the rabble hastens to take vengeance on him4 ,even a mob cannot act efficiently unless inspired by ideas2 and these it must receive from some higher source4 ,so it was when ,priestley was mobbed at ,birmingham2 so it was when ,wesley and his friends were mobbed in all parts of ,england4 ,so it was also in ,america when the office of the ,philanthropist was destroyed in ,cincinnati2 when halls and churches were burned in ,philadelphia2 when ,miss ,crandall was mobbed in ,connecticut2 when ,lovejoy was killed at ,alton4 ,antislavery meetings were so often invaded by rioters1 that on one occasion ,stephen ,s4 ,foster is reported to have declared that the speakers were not doing their duty1 because the people listened so quietly4 ,if we were doing our duty1 said he1 they would be throwing brick-bats at us4 ,these demonstrations only roused and intensified the ardor of the ,abolitionists1 while bringing to their side those who loved fair play1 and those in whom the element of battle was strong4 ,mobs also were an excellent advertisement for the ,antislavery ,society2 and this is what every new cause needs most for its extension4 ,every time that one of their meetings was violently broken up1 every time that any outrage or injury was offered to the ,abolitionists1 all the newspapers in the land gave them a gratuitous advertisement by conspicuous notices of the event4 ,so the public mind was directed to the question1 and curiosity was excited4 ,the antislavery conventions were more crowded from day to day1 their journals were more in demand1 and their plans and opinions became the subject of conversation everywhere4 ,and certainly there could be no more interesting place to visit than one of these meetings of the ,antislavery ,society4 ,with untiring assiduity the ,abolitionists brought to their platform everything which could excite and impress their audience4 ,their orators were of every kind1--rough men and shrill-voiced women1 polished speakers from the universities1 stammering fugitives from slavery1 philosophers and fanatics1 atheists and ,christian ministers1 wise men who had been made mad by oppression1 and babes in intellect to whom ,god had revealed some of the noblest truths4 ,they murdered the ,king's ,english1 they uttered glaring fallacies1 the blows aimed at evildoers often glanced aside and hit good men4 ,invective was1 perhaps1 the too frequent staple of their argument1 and any difference of opinion would be apt to turn their weapons against each other4 ,this church-militant often became a church-termagant4 ,yet1 after all such abatement for errors of judgment or bad taste1 their meetings were a splendid arena on which was fought one of the greatest battles for mankind4 ,the eloquence we heard there was not of the schools1 and had nothing artificial about it4 ,it followed the rule of ,demosthenes1 and was all directed to action4 ,every word was a blow4 ,there was no respect for dignities or authorities4 ,the ,constitution of the ,united ,states1 the object of such unfeigned idolatry to the average ,american1 was denounced as a covenant with hell4 ,the great men of the nation1 ,webster1 ,clay1 ,jackson1 were usually selected as the objects of the severest censure4 ,the rule was to strike at the heads which rose above the crowd1 as deserving the sternest condemnation4 ,presidents and governors1 heads of universities1 eminent divines1 great churches and denominations1 were convicted as traitors to the right1 or held up to unsparing ridicule4 ,no conventional proprieties were regarded in the terrible earnestness of this enraged speech4 ,it was like the lava pouring from the depths of the earth1 and melting the very rocks which opposed its resistless course4 ,of course this fierce attack roused as fierce a defense4 ,one extreme generated the other4 ,the cry for immediate abolition was answered by labored defenses of slavery itself4 ,formerly its advocates only excused it as a necessary evil2 now they began to defend it as a positive good4 ,then was seen the lamentable sight of ,christian ministers and respected divines hurrying to the support of the sum of all villanies4 ,the ,episcopal bishop of a ,new ,england ,state defended with ardor the system of slavery as an institution supported by the ,bible and commanded by ,god himself4 ,the president of a ,new ,england college declared slavery to be a positive institution of revealed religion1 and not inconsistent with the law of love4 ,the minister of a ,boston church1 going to the ,south for his health1 amused his leisure by writing a book on slavery1 in which it is made to appear as a rose-colored and delightful institution1 and its opposers are severely censured4 ,one of the most learned professors in a ,massachusetts theological school composed a treatise to refute the heresy of the higher law1 and to maintain the duty of returning fugitive slaves to bondage4 ,under such guidance it was natural that the churches should generally stand aloof from the ,abolitionists and condemn their course4 ,it was equally natural that the ,abolitionists should then denounce the churches as the bulwark of slavery4 ,nevertheless1 from the ,christian body came most of those who devoted their lives to the extirpation of this great evil and iniquity4 ,and ,mr4 ,garrison1 at least1 always maintained that his converts were most likely to be made among those whose consciences had been educated by the ,church and the ,bible4 ,from public meetings in the ,north1 the conflict of ideas next extended itself to the floor of ,congress1 where it continued to rage during nearly thirty years1 until the war of tongue and pen changed to that of charging squadrons1 the storm of shot and the roll of cannon4 ,the question found its way into the debates of ,congress in the form of petitions for the abolition of slavery and the slave-trade in the ,district of ,columbia4 ,if the slaveholders had allowed these petitions to be received and referred1 taking no notice of them1 it seems probable that no important results would have followed4 ,but1 blinded by rage and fear1 they opposed their reception1 thus denying a privilege belonging to all mankind1--that of asking the government to redress their grievances4 ,then came to the front a man already eminent by his descent1 his great attainments1 his long public service1 his great position1 and his commanding ability4 ,john ,quincy ,adams1 after having been ,president of the ,united ,states1 accepted a seat in the ,house of ,representatives1 and was one of the most laborious and useful of its members4 ,he was not then an ,abolitionist1 nor in favor even of abolishing slavery in the ,district of ,columbia4 ,but he believed that the people had the right to petition the government for anything they desired1 and that their respectful petitions should be respectfully received4 ,sixty-five years old in #ahcb1 when he began this conflict1 his warfare with the slave power ended only when1 struck with death while in his seat1 he saw the last of earth and was content4 ,with what energy1 what dauntless courage1 what untiring industry1 what matchless powers of argument1 what inexhaustible resources of knowledge1 he pursued his object1 the future historian of the struggle who can fully paint what ,mr4 ,wilson is only able to indicate1 will take pleasure in describing4 ,one scene will remain forever memorable as one of the most striking triumphs of human oratory2 and this we must describe a little more fully4 ,february #f1 #ahcg1 being the day for presenting petitions1 ,mr4 ,adams had already presented several petitions for the abolition of slavery in the ,district of ,columbia 7a measure to which he was himself then opposed71 when he proceeded to state#di that he had in his possession a paper upon which he wished the decision of the ,speaker4 ,the paper1 he said1 came from twenty persons declaring themselves to be slaves4 ,he wished to know whether the ,speaker would consider this paper as coming under the rule of the ,house4#ej ,the ,chair said he would take the advice of the ,house on that question4 ,and thereupon began a storm of indignation which raged around ,mr4 ,adams during four days4#ea ,considering that the ,house had ordered1 less than three weeks before1 that all papers relating in any way to slavery should be laid on the table without any action being taken on them1 this four days' discussion about such a paper1 ending in the passing of several resolutions1 was rather an amusing illustration of the irrepressible character of the antislavery movement4 ,the ,southern members seemed at first astonished at what they hastily assumed to be an attempt of ,mr4 ,adams to introduce a petition from slaves4 ,one moved that it be not received4 ,another1 indignant at such a tame way of meeting the question1 declared that any one attempting to introduce such a petition should be immediately punished2 and if that was not done at once1 all the members from the slave ,states should leave the ,house4 ,loud cries arose1 ,expel him6 expel him6 ,mr4 ,alfred declared that the petition ought to be burned4 ,mr4 ,waddy ,thompson of ,south ,carolina1 who soon received a castigation which he little anticipated1 moved that ,john ,quincy ,adams1 having committed a gross disrespect to the ,house in attempting to introduce a petition from slaves1 ought to be instantly brought to the bar of the ,house to receive the severe censure of the ,speaker4 ,similar resolutions were offered by ,mr4 ,haynes and ,mr4 ,lewis1 all assuming that ,mr4 ,adams had attempted to introduce this petition4 ,he at last took the floor1 and said that he thought the time of the ,house was being consumed needlessly1 since all these resolutions were founded on an error4 ,he had not attempted to present the petition1--he had only asked the ,speaker a question in regard to it4 ,he also advised the member from ,alabama to amend his resolution1 which stated the petition to be for the abolition of slavery in the ,district1 whereas it was the very reverse of that4 ,it was a petition for something which would be very objectionable to himself1 though it might be the very thing for which the gentleman from ,alabama was contending4 ,then ,mr4 ,adams sat down1 leaving his opponents more angry than ever1 but somewhat confused in their minds4 ,they could not very well censure him for doing what he had not done1 but they wished very much to censure him4 ,so ,mr4 ,waddy ,thompson modified his resolution1 making it state that ,mr4 ,adams1 by creating the impression1 and leaving the ,house under the impression1 that the petition was for the abolition of slavery1 had trifled with the ,house1 and should receive its censure4 ,after a multitude of other speeches from the enraged ,southern chivalry1 the debate of the first day came to an end4 ,on the next day 7,february #g71 in reply to a question1 ,mr4 ,adams stated again that he had not attempted to present the petition1 though his own feelings would have led him to do so1 but had kept it in his possession1 out of respect to the ,house4 ,he had said nothing to lead the ,house to infer that this petition was for the abolition of slavery4 ,he should consider before presenting a petition from slaves2 though1 in his opinion1 slaves had a right to petition1 and the mere fact of a petition being from slaves would not of itself prevent him from presenting it4 ,if the petition were a proper one1 he should present it4 ,a petition was a prayer1 a supplication to a superior being4 ,slaves might pray to ,god2 was this ,house so superior that it could not condescend to hear a prayer from those to whom the ,almighty listened8 ,he ended by saying that1 in asking the question of the ,speaker1 he had intended to show the greatest respect to the ,house1 and had not the least purpose of trifling with it4 ,these brief remarks of ,mr4 ,adams made it necessary for the slaveholders again to change their tactics4 ,mr4 ,dromgoole of ,virginia now brought forward his famous resolution1 which ,mr4 ,adams afterwards made so ridiculous1 accusing him of having given color to an idea that slaves had a right to petition1 and that he should be censured by the ,speaker for this act4 ,another member proposed1 rather late in the day1 that a committee be appointed to inquire whether any attempt had been made1 or not1 to offer a petition from slaves4 ,another offered a series of resolutions1 declaring that if any one hereafter should offer petitions from slaves he ought to be regarded as an enemy of the ,south1 and of the ,union2 but that as ,john ,quincy ,adams had stated that he meant no disrespect to the ,house1 that all proceedings as to his conduct should now cease4 ,and so1 after many other speeches1 the second day's debate came to an end4 ,the next day was set apart to count the votes for ,president1 and so the debate was resumed ,february #i4 ,it soon become more confused than ever4 ,motions were made to lay the resolutions on the table2 they were withdrawn2 they were renewed2 they were voted down2 and1 finally1 after much discussion1 and when at last the final question was about being taken1 ,mr4 ,adams inquired whether he was to be allowed to be heard in his own defense before being condemned4 ,so he obtained the floor1 and immediately the whole aspect of the case was changed4 ,during three days he had been the prisoner at the bar2 suddenly he became the judge on the bench4 ,never1 in the history of forensic eloquence1 has a single speech effected a greater change in the purpose of a deliberative assembly4 ,often as the ,horatian description has been quoted of the just man1 tenacious of his purpose1 who fears not the rage of citizens clamoring for what is wrong1 it has never found a fitter application than to the unshaken mind of ,john ,quincy ,adams1 standing alone1 in the midst of his antagonists1 like a solid monument which the idle storms beat against in vain4 ,he began by saying that he had been waiting during these three days for an answer to the question which he had put to the ,speaker1 and which the ,speaker had put to the ,house1 but which the ,house had not yet answered1 namely1 whether the paper he held in his hand came under the rule of the ,house or not4 ,they had discussed everything else1 but had not answered that question4 ,they had wasted the time of the ,house in considering how they could censure him for doing what he had not done4 ,all he wished to know was1 whether a petition from slaves should be received or not4 ,he himself thought that it ought to be received2 but if the ,house decided otherwise1 he should not present it4 ,only one gentleman had undertaken to discuss that question1 and his argument was1 that if slavery was abolished by ,congress in any ,state1 the ,constitution was violated2 and1 therefore1 slaves ought not to be allowed to petition for anything4 ,he1 ,mr4 ,adams1 was unable to see the connection between the premises and the conclusion4 ,hereupon poor ,mr4 ,french1 the author of this argument1 tried to explain what he meant by it1 but left his meaning as confused as before4 ,then ,mr4 ,adams added1 that if you deprived any one in the community of the right of petition1 which was only the right of offering a prayer1 you would find it difficult to know where to stop2 one gentleman had objected to the reception of one petition1 because offered by women of a bad character4 ,mr4 ,patton of ,virginia says he knows that one of the names is of a woman of a bad character4 ,how does he know it8 ,hereupon ,mr4 ,patton explained that he did not himself know the woman1 but had been told that her character was not good4 ,so1 said ,mr4 ,adams1 you first deny the right of petition to slaves1 then to free people of color1 and then you inquire into the moral character of a petitioner before you receive his petition4 ,the next step will be to inquire into the political belief of the petitioners before you receive your petition4 ,mr4 ,robertson of ,virginia had said that no petitions ought to be received for an object which ,congress had no power to grant4 ,mr4 ,adams replied1 with much acuteness1 that on most questions the right of granting the petition might be in doubt3 a majority must decide that point2 it would therefore follow1 from ,mr4 ,robertson's rule1 that no one had a right to petition unless he belonged to the predominant party4 ,mr4 ,adams then turned to ,mr4 ,dromgoole1 who had charged him with the remarkable crime of giving color to an idea1 and soon made that ,representative of the ,old ,dominion appear very ridiculous4 ,mr4 ,adams then proceeded to rebuke1 with dignity but severity1 the conduct of those who had proposed to censure him without any correct knowledge of the facts of the case4 ,his criticisms had the effect of compelling these gentlemen to excuse themselves and to offer various explanations of their mistakes4 ,these assailants suddenly found themselves in an attitude of self-defense4 ,mr4 ,adams graciously accepted their explanations1 advising them in future to be careful when they undertook to offer resolutions of censure4 ,he then informed ,mr4 ,waddy ,thompson of ,south ,carolina that he had one or two questions to put to him4 ,by this time it had become a pretty serious business to receive the attentions of ,mr4 ,adams2 and ,mr4 ,waddy ,thompson immediately rose to explain4 ,but ,mr4 ,adams asked him to wait until he had fully stated the question which ,mr4 ,thompson was to answer4 ,this ,southern statesman had threatened the ex-,president of the ,united ,states with an indictment by the grand jury of the ,district for words spoken in debate in the ,house of ,representatives1 and had added that1 if the petition was presented1 ,mr4 ,adams would be sent to the penitentiary4 ,sir1 said ,mr4 ,adams1 the only answer ,i make to such a threat from that gentleman is1 to invite him1 when he returns to his constituents1 to study a little the first principles of civil liberty4 ,he then called on the gentlemen from the slave ,states to say how many of them indorsed that sentiment4 ,i do not1 said ,mr4 ,underwood of ,kentucky4 ,i do not1 said ,mr4 ,wise of ,virginia4 ,mr4 ,thompson was compelled to attempt another explanation1 and said he meant that1 in ,south ,carolina1 any member of the legislature who should present a petition from slaves could be indicted4 ,then1 replied ,mr4 ,adams1 and this produced a great sensation1 if it is the law of ,south ,carolina that members of her ,legislature may be indicted by juries for words spoken in debate1 ,god ,almighty receive my thanks that ,i am not a citizen of ,south ,carolina4 ,mr4 ,adams ended his speech by declaring that the honor of the ,house of ,representatives was always regarded by him as a sacred sentiment1 and that he should feel a censure from that ,house as the heaviest misfortune of a long life1 checkered as it had been by many vicissitudes4 ,when ,mr4 ,adams began his defense1 not only was a large majority of the ,house opposed to his course1 but they had brought themselves by a series of violent harangues into a condition of bitter excitement against him4 ,when he ended1 the effect of this extraordinary speech was such1 that all the resolutions were rejected1 and out of the whole ,house only twenty-two members could be found to pass a vote of even indirect censure4 ,the victory was won1 and won by ,mr4 ,adams almost single-handed4 ,we count ,horatius ,cocles a hero for holding the ,roman bridge against a host of enemies2 but greater honors belong to him who successfully defends against overwhelming numbers the ancient safeguards of public liberty4 ,for this reason we have repeated here at such length the story of three days1 which the people of the ,united ,states ought always to remember4 ,it took ten years to accomplish the actual repeal of these gag-laws4 ,but the main work was done when the right of speech was obtained for the friends of freedom in ,congress2 and ,john ,quincy ,adams was the great leader in this warfare4 ,he was joined on that arena by other noble champions1--,giddings1 ,mann1 ,palfrey1 ,john ,p4 ,hale1 ,chase1 ,seward1 ,slade of ,vermont1 ,julian of ,indiana4 ,others no less devoted followed them1 among whom came from ,massachusetts ,charles ,sumner and ,henry ,wilson1 the author of the present work4 ,what he cannot properly say of himself should be said for him4 ,though an accomplished and eager politician1 ,henry ,wilson has never sacrificed any great principle for the sake of political success4 ,his services to the antislavery cause have been invaluable1 his labors in that cause unremitting4 ,personal feelings and personal interests he has been ready to sacrifice for the sake of the cause4 ,loyal to his friends1 he has not been bitter to his opponents2 and if any man who fought through that long struggle were to be its historian1 no one will deny the claims of ,mr4 ,wilson to that honor4 ,under the lead of ,john ,quincy ,adams1 the power to discuss the whole subject of slavery in the ,national ,legislature was won1 and never again lost4 ,this was the second triumph of the antislavery movement2 its first was the power won by ,garrison and his friends of discussing the subject before the people4 ,the wolfish mob in the cities and in ,congress might continue to howl1 but it had lost its claws and teeth4 ,but now came the first great triumph of the slave power1 in the annexation of ,texas4 ,this was a cruel blow to the friends of freedom4 ,it was more serious because the motive of annexation was openly announced1 and the issue distinctly presented in the ,presidential election4 ,mr4 ,upshur1 ,tyler's ,secretary of ,state1 in an official dispatch1 declared that the annexation of ,texas was necessary to secure the institution of slavery4 ,the ,democratic ,convention which nominated ,mr4 ,polk for the ,presidency deliberately made the annexation of ,texas the leading feature of its platform4 ,nor was the slave power in this movement opposed merely by the antislavery feeling of the country4 ,southern senators helped to defeat the measure when first presented in the form of a treaty by ,mr4 ,tyler's administration4 ,nearly the whole ,whig party was opposed to it4 ,the candidate of the ,whigs1 ,henry ,clay1 had publicly declared that annexation would be a great evil to the nation4 ,twenty members of ,congress1 with ,john ,quincy ,adams at their head1 had proclaimed in an address to their constituents that it would be equivalent to a dissolution of the ,union4 ,dr4 ,channing1 in #ahch1 had said that it would be better for the nation to perish than to commit such an outrageous wrong4 ,edward ,everett1 in #ahcg1 spoke of annexation as an enormous crime4 ,whig and ,democratic legislatures had repeatedly denounced it4 ,in #ahdc1 when the ,democrats had a majority in the ,massachusetts legislature1 they resolved that under no circumstances whatever could the people of ,massachusetts approve of annexation4 ,martin ,van ,buren opposed it as unjust to ,mexico4 ,senator ,benton1 though previously in favor of the measure1 in a speech in ,missouri declared that the object of those who were favoring the scheme was to dissolve the ,union1 though he afterward came again to its support4 ,and yet when the ,presidential campaign was in progress1 a ,democratic torchlight procession miles long was seen marching through the streets of ,boston1 and flaunting the lone star of ,texas along its whole line4 ,and when ,polk was elected1 and the decision of the nation virtually given for this scheme1 it seemed almost hopeless to contend longer against such a triumph of slavery4 ,if the people of the ,north could submit to this outrage1 it appeared as if they could submit to anything4 ,such1 however1 was not the case4 ,on one side the slave power was greatly strengthened by the admission of ,texas to the ,union as a slave ,state2 but1 on the other hand1 there came a large accession to the antislavery body4 ,and this continued to be the case during many years4 ,the slave power won a succession of political victories1 each of which was a moral victory to its opponents4 ,many who were not converted to antislavery by the annexation of ,texas in #ahde were brought over by the defeat of the ,wilmot ,proviso and the passage of the ,fugitive ,slave ,law in #ahej4 ,many who were not alarmed by these successes of slavery were convinced of the danger when they beheld the actual working of the ,fugitive ,slave ,act4 ,how many ,boston gentlemen1 before opposed to the ,abolitionists1 were brought suddenly to their side when they saw the ,court ,house in chains1 and were prevented by soldiers guarding ,anthony ,burns from going to their banks or insurance offices in ,state ,street6 ,all those bitter hours of defeat and disaster planted the seeds of a greater harvest for freedom4 ,others who remained insensible to the disgrace of the slave laws of #ahej were recruited to the ranks of freedom by the repeal of the ,missouri ,compromise in #ahed4 ,this last act1 ,mr4 ,wilson justly says1 did more than any other to arouse the ,north1 and convince it of the desperate encroachments of slavery4 ,men who tamely acquiesced in this great wrong were startled into moral life by the murderous assault on ,charles ,sumner by ,preston ,brooks in #ahef4 ,those who could submit to this were roused by the border ruffians from ,missouri who invaded ,kansas1 and made the proslavery ,constitution for that ,state4 ,the ,dred ,scott decision in #aheg1 which declared slavery to be no local institution1 limited to a single part of the land1 but having a right to exist in the free ,states under the ,constitution1 alarmed even those who had been insensible to the previous aggressions of slavery4 ,this series of political successes of the slave power was appalling4 ,every principle of liberty1 every restraint on despotism1 was overthrown in succession1 until the whole power of the nation had fallen into the hands of an oligarchy of between three and four hundred thousand slaveholders4 ,but every one of their political victories was a moral defeat2 every access to their strength as an organization added an immense force to the public opinion opposed to them2 and each of their successes was responded to by some advance of the antislavery movement4 ,the annexation of ,texas in #ahde was answered by the appearance of ,john ,p4 ,hale1 in #ahdg1 in the ,united ,states ,senate1--the first man who was elected to that body on distinctly antislavery grounds and independent of either of the great parties4 ,the response to the defeat of the ,wilmot ,proviso and passage of the ,fugitive ,slave ,law in #ahej was the election of ,charles ,sumner to the ,senate in ,april1 #ahea1 and the establishment of the underground railroad in all the free ,states4 ,when the ,south abrogated the ,missouri ,compromise1 the ,north replied by the initiation of the ,republican party4 ,the ,kansas outrages gave to freedom ,john ,brown of ,osawatomie4 ,and the answer to the ,dred ,scott decision was the nomination of ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,till that moment the forces of freedom and slavery had stood opposed1 like two great armies1 each receiving constant recruits and an acccession of new power4 ,on one side1 hitherto1 had been all the political triumphs1 and on the other all the moral4 ,but with this first great political success of their opponents the slave power became wholly demoralized1 gave up the conflict1 threw away the results of all its former victories1 and abandoned the field to its enemies1 plunging into the dark abyss of secession and civil war4 ,and yet1 what was the issue involved in that election8 ,it was simply whether slavery should or should not be extended into new ,territories4 ,all that the ,republican party demanded was that slavery should not be extended4 ,it did not dream of abolishing slavery in the slave ,states4 ,we remember how1 long after the war began1 we refused to do this4 ,the ,southerners had every guaranty they could desire that they should not be interfered with at home4 ,if they had gracefully acquiesced in the decision of the majority1 their institution might have flourished for another century4 ,the ,fugitive ,slave ,law would have been repealed2 or1 at all events1 trial by jury would have been given to the man claimed as a fugitive4 ,but no attempt would have been made by the ,republican party to interfere with slavery in the slave ,states1 for that party did not believe it had the right so to do4 ,but1 in truth1 the course of the ,southern leaders illustrated in a striking way the distinction between a politician and a statesman4 ,they were very acute politicians1 trained in all the tactics of their art2 but they were poor statesmen1 incapable of any large strategic plan of action4 ,as statesmen1 they should have made arrangements for the gradual abolition of slavery1 as an institution incapable of sustaining itself in civilized countries in the nineteenth century4 ,or1 if they wished to maintain it as long as possible1 they ought to have seen that this could only be accomplished by preserving the support of the interests and the public opinion of the ,north4 ,alliance with the ,northern ,states was their only security2 and1 therefore1 they ought to have kept the ,northern conscience on their side by a loyal adherence to all compacts and covenants4 ,instead of this1 they contrived to outrage1 one by one1 every feeling of honor1 every sentiment of duty1 and every vested right of the free ,states1 until1 at last1 it became plain to all that it was an irrepressible conflict1 and must be settled definitely either for slavery or for freedom4 ,when this point was reached by the ,american people1 they saw also that it could not be settled in favor of slavery1 for no concession would satisfy the slaveholders1 and no contract these might make could be depended on4 ,the ,north gave them1 in #ahej1 the ,fugitive ,slave ,law for the sake of peace4 ,did it gain peace8 ,no4 ,it relinquished1 for the sake of peace1 the ,wilmot ,proviso4 ,was the ,south satisfied8 ,no4 ,in #ahec ,mr4 ,douglas offered it the ,nebraska ,bill4 ,was it contented8 ,by no means4 ,mr4 ,pierce and ,mr4 ,buchanan did their best to give it ,kansas4 ,did they content the ,south by their efforts8 ,no4 ,mr4 ,douglas1 ,mr4 ,pierce1 and ,mr4 ,buchanan were all set aside by the ,south4 ,the ,lecompton ,bill was not enough4 ,the ,dred ,scott decision was not enough4 ,the slaveholders demanded that slavery should be established by a positive act of ,congress in all the ,territories of the ,union4 ,even ,judge ,douglas shrank aghast from the enterprise of giving them such a law as that2 and so ,judge ,douglas was immediately thrown aside4 ,thus1 by the folly of the ,southern leaders themselves1 more than by the efforts of their opponents1 the majority was obtained by the ,republicans in the election of #ahfj4 ,but during this conflict came many very dark days for freedom4 ,one of these was after the passage of the ,fugitive ,slave ,law in #ahej4 ,that law was one of a series of compromises1 intended to make a final settlement of the question and to silence all antislavery agitation4 ,although defended by great lawyers1 who thought it necessary to save the ,union1 there is little doubt that it was as unconstitutional as it was cruel4 ,the ,constitution declares that no person shall be deprived of his liberty without due process of law1 and also that in suits at common law1 when the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars1 the right of trial by jury shall be preserved4 ,anthony ,burns was in full possession of his liberty2 he was a self-supporting1 tax-paying citizen of ,massachusetts2 and in ten days1 by the action of the ,fugitive ,slave ,law1 he was turned into a slave under the decision of a ,united ,states commissioner1 without seeing a judge or a jury4 ,the passage of this law1 and its actual enforcement1 caused great excitement among the free colored people at the ,north1 as well as among the fugitives from slavery4 ,no one was safe4 ,it was evident that it was meant to be enforced1--it was not meant to be idle thunder4 ,but instead of discouraging the friends of freedom1 it roused them to greater activity4 ,more fugitives than ever came from the slave ,states1 and the underground railroad was in fuller activity than before4 ,the methods employed by fugitives to escape were very various and ingenious4 ,one man was brought away in a packing-box4 ,another clung to the lower side of the guard of a steamer1 washed by water at every roll of the vessel4 ,one well-known case was that of ,ellen ,crafts1 who came from ,georgia disguised as a young ,southern gentleman1 attended by her husband as body-servant4 ,she rode in the cars1 sitting near ,southerners who knew her1 but did not recognize her in this costume1 and at last arrived safe in ,philadelphia4 ,in one instance a slave escaped from ,kentucky1 with all his family1 walking some distance on stilts1 in order to leave no scent for the pursuing blood-hounds4 ,when these poor people reached the ,north1 and told their stories on the antislavery platform1 they excited great sympathy1 which was not confined to professed antislavery people4 ,a ,united ,states commissioner1 who might be called on to return fugitives to bondage1 frequently had them concealed in his own house1 by the action of his wife1 whose generous heart never wearied in this work1 and who was the means of saving many from bondage4 ,a ,democratic ,united ,states marshal1 in ,boston1 whose duty it was to arrest fugitive slaves1 was in the habit of telling the slave-owner who called on him for assistance that he did not know anything about niggers1 but he would find out where the man was from those who did4 ,whereupon he would go directly to ,mr4 ,garrison's office and tell him he wanted to arrest such or such a man1 a fugitive from slavery4 ,but1 said he1 curiously enough1 the next thing ,i heard would be1 that the fellow was in ,canada4 ,and when a colored man was actually sent back to slavery1 as in the case of ,burns1 the event excited so much sympathy with the fugitive1 and so much horror of the law1 that its effects were disastrous to the slave power4 ,thomas ,m4 ,simms was arrested in ,boston as a fugitive from slavery1 ,april #c1 #ahea1 and was sent to slavery by the decision of ,george ,ticknor ,curtis1 a ,united ,states commissioner4 ,the answer to this act1 by ,massachusetts1 was the election of ,charles ,sumner1 twenty-one days after1 to the ,united ,states ,senate4 ,anthony ,burns was returned to slavery by order of ,edward ,g4 ,loring1 in ,may1 #ahed2 and ,massachusetts responded by removing him from his office as ,judge of ,probate1 and refusing his confirmation as a professor in ,harvard ,university4 ,the passage of what were called the compromise measures of #ahej1 including the ,fugitive ,slave ,law1 had1 it was fondly believed1 put an end to the whole antislavery agitation4 ,the two great parties1 ,whig and ,democrat1 had agreed that such should be the case4 ,the great leaders1 ,henry ,clay and ,daniel ,webster1 ,cass and ,buchanan1 were active in calling on the people to subdue their prejudices in favor of freedom4 ,southern fire-eaters1 like ,toombs and ,alexander ,stephens1 joined these ,union-savers1 and became apostles of peace4 ,agitation was the only evil1 and agitation must now come to an end4 ,public meetings were held in the large cities1--one in ,castle ,garden in ,new ,york1 another in ,faneuil ,hall in ,boston4 ,in these meetings the lion and the lamb lay down together4 ,rufus ,choate and ,benjamin ,hallet joined in demanding that all antislavery agitation should now cease4 ,the church was called upon to assist in the work of ,union-saving1 and many leading divines lent their aid in this attempt to silence those who desired that the oppressed should go free1 and who wished to break every yoke4 ,many seemed to suppose that all antislavery agitation was definitely suppressed4 ,president ,fillmore called the compromise measures a final adjustment4 ,all the powers which control human opinion--the two great political parties1 the secular and the religious newspapers1 the large churches and popular divines1 the merchants and lawyers--had agreed that the antislavery agitation should now cease4#eb ,but just at that moment1 when the darkness was the deepest1 and all the great powers in the church and state had decreed that there should be no more said concerning ,american slavery1 the voice of a woman broke the silence1 and ,american slavery became the one subject of discussion throughout the world4 ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin was written by ,mrs4 ,stowe for the ,national ,era1 ,dr4 ,bailey's paper in ,washington4 ,it was intended to be a short story1 running through two or three numbers of the journal1 and she was to receive a hundred dollars for writing it4 ,but1 as she wrote1 the fire burned in her soul1 a great inspiration came over her1 and1 not knowing what she was about to do1 she moved the hearts of two continents to their very depths4 ,after her story had appeared in the newspaper1 she offered it as a novel to several publishers1 who refused it4 ,accepted at last1 it had a circulation unprecedented in the annals of literature4 ,in eight weeks its sale had reached one hundred thousand copies in the ,united ,states1 while in ,england a million copies were sold within the year4 ,on the ,european ,continent the sale was immense4 ,a single publisher in ,paris issued five editions in a few weeks1 and before the end of #aheb it was translated into ,italian1 ,spanish1 ,danish1 ,swedish1 ,dutch1 ,flemish1 ,german1 ,polish1 and ,magyar4 ,to these were afterward added translations into ,portuguese1 ,welsh1 ,russian1 ,arabic1 and many other languages4 ,for a time1 it stopped the publication and sale of all other works2 and within a year or two from the day when the politicians had decided that no more should be said concerning ,american slavery1 it had become the subject of conversation and discussion among millions4 ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin was published in #aheb4 ,those were very dark hours in the great struggle for freedom4 ,who that shared them can ever forget the bitterness caused by the defection of ,daniel ,webster1 and his #gth of ,march speech in #ahej2 by the passage of the ,fugitive ,slave ,law1 which made the whole area of the free ,states a hunting-ground for the slaveholders2 and by the rejection of the ,wilmot ,proviso1 which abandoned all the new territory to slavery8 ,this was followed by the election of ,franklin ,pierce as ,president in #aheb1 on a platform in which the ,democratic party pledged itself to resist all agitation of the subject of slavery in ,congress or outside of it4 ,and in ,december1 #ahec1 ,stephen ,a4 ,douglas introduced his ,nebraska ,bill1 which repealed the ,missouri ,compromise of #ahbj1 and opened all the territory heretofore secured to freedom to slaveholders and their slaves4 ,this offer on the part of ,mr4 ,douglas was a voluntary bid for the support of the slaveholders in the next ,presidential election4 ,and in spite of all protests from the ,north1 all resistance by ,democrats as well as their opponents1 all arguments and appeals1 this solemn agreement between the ,north and the ,south was violated1 and every restriction on slavery removed4 ,nebraska and ,kansas were organized as ,territories1 and the question of slavery left to local tribunals1 or what was called squatter sovereignty4 ,the passage of this measure showed the vast political advance of the slave power in the country1 and how greatly it had corrupted the political conscience of the nation4 ,it also showed1 to those who had eyes1 that slavery was the wedge which was to split the ,union asunder4 ,but there were in the ,north many persons who still thought that danger to the ,union came rather from the discussion of slavery than from slavery itself4 ,they supposed that if all opposition to slavery should cease1 then there would be no more danger4 ,the ,abolitionists were the cause of all the peril2 and the way to save the ,union was to silence the ,abolitionists4 ,that1 however1 had been tried ineffectually when they were few and weak2 and now it was too late1 as these ,union-savers ought to have seen4 ,mr4 ,douglas and his supporters defended their cause by maintaining that the ,missouri ,compromise was not a contract1 but a simple act of legislation1 and they tauntingly asked1 ,why1 since antislavery men had always thought that ,compromise a bad thing1 should they now object to its being repealed8 ,even this sophism had its effect with some1 who did not notice that ,douglas's resolutions only repealed that half of the ,compromise which was favorable to freedom1 while letting the other half remain4 ,one part of the ,act of #ahbj was that ,missouri should be admitted as a slave ,state2 the other part was that all the rest of the ,territory should be forever free4 ,only the last part was now repealed4 ,missouri was left in the ,union as a slave ,state4 ,the political advance now made by slavery will appear from the following facts3-- ,in #agig the slave power asked for only life2 it did not wish to extend itself2 it united with the ,north in prohibiting its own extension into the ,northwest ,territory4 ,in #ahbj it did wish to extend itself2 it refused to be shut out of ,missouri1 but was willing that the rest of the ,territory should be always free4 ,in #ahde it insisted on extending itself by annexing ,texas1 but it admitted that it had no right to go into any ,territory as far north as ,missouri4 ,in #ahej it refused to be shut out of any of the new territory1 and resisted the ,wilmot ,proviso2 but still confessed that it had no right to go into ,kansas or ,nebraska4 ,five years after1 by the efforts of ,stephen ,a4 ,douglas and ,franklin ,pierce1 it refused to be shut out of ,kansas1 and repealed the part of the ,missouri ,compromise which excluded it from that region4 ,but1 in order to accomplish this repeal1 it took the plausible name of popular sovereignty1 and claimed that the people should themselves decide whether they would have a slave ,state or a free ,state4 ,one additional step came4 ,the people decided or were about to decide for freedom2 and then the slave power set aside its own doctrine of popular sovereignty and invaded the ,territory with an army of ,missourians1 chose a legislature for the people of ,kansas composed of ,missourians1 who passed laws establishing slavery and punishing with fine and imprisonment any who should even speak against it4 ,the people of ,kansas refused to obey these laws4 ,they would have been slaves already if they had obeyed them4 ,then their own governor1 appointed by our ,president1 led an army of ,missourians to destroy their towns and plunder and murder their people4 ,nothing was left them but to resist4 ,they did resist manfully but prudently1 and by a remarkable combination of courage and caution the people of the little ,free-,state town of ,lawrence succeeded in saving themselves from this danger without shedding a drop of blood4 ,men1 women1 and children were animated by the same heroic spirit4 ,the women worked by the side of the men4 ,the men were placed on the outposts as sentinels and ordered by their general not to fire as long as they could possibly avoid it4 ,and these men stood on their posts1 and allowed themselves to be shot at by the invaders1 and did not return the fire4 ,one man received two bullets through his hat1 and was ready to fire if the enemy came nearer1 but neither fired nor quitted his post4 ,the men were brave and obedient to orders2 the women were resolute1 sagacious1 and prudent4 ,so they escaped their first great danger4 ,but slavery does not give up its point so easily after one defeat4 ,preparations were made along the ,missouri frontier for another invasion1 conducted in a more military manner and by troops under better discipline4 ,the ,free-,state people of ,kansas were to be exterminated4 ,from week to week they were expecting an attack1 and had to watch continually against it4 ,after having worked all day the men were obliged to do military duty and stand guard all night4 ,men who lived four and five miles out from ,lawrence got wood and water for their wives in the morning1 left them a revolver with which to defend themselves1 and went to ,lawrence to do military duty1 returning at night again4 ,if we had a writer gifted with the genius of ,macaulay to describe the resistance of ,kansas to the ,federal authorities on one side and the ,missouri invaders on the other1 it would show as heroic courage and endurance as are related in the brilliant pages which tell of the defense of ,londonderry4 ,the invaders were unscrupulous1 knowing that they had nothing to fear from the government at ,washington4 ,senator ,atchison1 formerly the presiding officer of the ,united ,states ,senate1 openly advised the people of ,missouri to go and vote in ,kansas4 ,general ,stringfellow told them to take their bowie-knives and exterminate every scoundrel who was tainted with ,free-soilism or ,abolitionism4 ,the orders were obeyed4 ,the first legislature was elected by armed invaders from ,missouri1 and ,buford with a regiment of ,southern soldiers entered the ,territory in #ahef1 and surrounded ,lawrence4 ,these troops1 under ,atchison1 ,buford1 and ,stringfellow1 burned houses and hotels1 and stole much property4 ,osawatomie was sacked and burned1 ,leavenworth invaded and plundered1 and ,free-,state men were killed4 ,a proslavery constitution formed by ,missouri slaveholders was forced through ,congress1 but rejected by the people of ,kansas1 who at last gained possession of their own ,state by indomitable courage and patience4 ,four territorial governors1 appointed by the ,president1 selected from the ,democratic party and favorable to the extension of slavery1 were all converted to the cause of freedom by the sight of the outrages committed by the ,missouri invaders4 ,amid this scene of tumult arose a warrior on the side of freedom destined to take his place with ,william ,wallace and ,william ,tell among the few names of patriots which are never forgotten4 ,john ,brown of ,osawatomie was one of those who1 in these later days1 have reproduced for us the almost forgotten type of the ,jewish hero and prophet4 ,he was a man who believed in a ,god of justice1 who believed in fighting fire with fire4 ,he was one who came in the spirit and power of ,elijah1 an austere man1 a man absorbed in his ideas1 fixed as fate in pursuing them4 ,yet his heart was full of tenderness1 he had no feeling of revenge toward any1 and he really lost his own life rather than risk the lives of others4 ,while in ,kansas he become a leader of men1 a captain1 equal to every exigency4 ,the ruffians from ,missouri found to their surprise that1 before they could conquer ,kansas1 they had some real fighting to do1 and must face ,sharpe's rifles2 and as soon as they understood this1 their zeal for their cause was very much abated4 ,in this struggle ,john ,brown was being educated for the last scene of his life1 which has lifted up his name1 and placed it in that body which ,daniel ,o',connell used to call ,the order of ,liberators4#ec ,out of these persecutions of ,free-,state men in ,kansas came the assault on ,charles ,sumner1 for words spoken in debate4 ,charles ,sumner was elected to the ,united ,states ,senate in #ahea4 ,he found in ,congress some strong champions of freedom4 ,john ,quincy ,adams was gone2 but ,seward was there1 and ,chase1 and ,john ,p4 ,hale1 in the ,senate2 and ,horace ,mann1 ,giddings1 and other true men in the ,house4 ,henry ,wilson himself1 always a loyal friend to ,sumner1 did not come till #ahee4 ,these men all differed from one another1 and each possessed special gifts for his arduous work4 ,they stood face to face with an imperious majority1 accustomed to rule4 ,they had only imperfect support at home1--people and press at the ,north had been demoralized by slavery4 ,they must watch their words1 be careful of what they said1 control their emotions1 maintain an equal temper4 ,something of the results of this discipline we think we perceive in the calm tone of ,mr4 ,wilson's volumes1 and the absence of passion in his narration4 ,these men must give no occasion to the enemy to blaspheme1 but be careful of their lips and their lives4 ,their gifts1 we have said1 were various4 ,seward was a politician1 trained in all the intricate ways of ,new ,york party struggles2 but he was also a thinker of no small power of penetration4 ,he could see principles1 but was too much disposed to sacrifice or postpone them to some supposed exigency of the hour4 ,in his orations1 when he spoke for mankind1 his views were large2 but in his politics he sometimes gave up to party his best-considered convictions4 ,thought and action1 he seemed to believe1 belonged to two spheres2 in his thought he was often broader in his range than any other senator1 but in action he was frequently tempted to temporize4 ,mr4 ,chase was a man of a different sort4 ,he had no disposition to concede any of his views4 ,a cautious man1 he moved slowly2 but when he had taken his position1 he was not disposed to leave it4 ,john ,p4 ,hale was admirable in reply4 ,his retorts were rapid and keen1 and yet were uttered so good-naturedly1 and with so much wit1 that it was difficult for his opponents to take offense4 ,but ,charles ,sumner was the noblest ,roman of them all4 ,with a more various culture1 a higher tone of moral sentiment1 he was also a learned student and a man of implacable opinions4 ,he never could comprehend ,mr4 ,seward's diplomacy1 and probably ,mr4 ,seward could never understand ,sumner's inability to compromise4 ,he was deficient in imagination and in tact2 therefore he could not enter into the minds of others1 and imperfectly understood them4 ,but the purity of his soul and life1 the childlike simplicity of his purposes1 and the sweetness of his disposition1 were very charming to those who knew him well4 ,add to this the resources of a mind stored with every kind of knowledge1 and a memory which never forgot anything1 and his very presence in ,washington gave an added value to the place4 ,he had seen men and cities1 and was intimate with ,european celebrities1 but yet was an ,israelite indeed in whom was no guile4 ,fond of the good opinions of others1 and well pleased with their approbation1 he never sacrificed a conviction to win their praise or to avoid their censure4 ,certainly1 he was one of the purest men who ever took part in ,american politics4 ,it was such a man as this1 so gifted and adorned1 so spotless and upright1 who by the wise providence of ,god was permitted to be the victim of a brutal assassin4 ,it was this noble head1 the instrument of laborious thought for the public welfare1 which was beaten and bruised by the club of a ruffian1 on ,may #bb1 #ahef4 ,loud was the triumph through the ,south1 great the joy of the slave power4 ,they had disabled1 with cruel blows1 their chief enemy4 ,little did they foresee--bad men never do foresee--that ,charles ,sumner was to return to his seat1 and become a great power in the land1 long after their system had been crushed1 and their proud ,states trampled into ruin by the tread of ,northern armies4 ,they did not foresee that he was to be the trusted counselor of ,lincoln during those years of war2 and that1 after they had been conquered1 he would become one of their best friends in their great calamity1 and repay their evil with good4 ,this murderous assault on ,mr4 ,sumner cannot be considered as having strengthened the political position of the slave power4 ,it was a great mistake in itself1 and it was a greater mistake in being indorsed by such multitudes in the slave ,states4 ,in thus taking the responsibility of the act1 they fully admitted that brutality1 violence1 and cowardly attempts at assassination are natural characteristics of slavery4 ,a thrill of horror went through the civilized world on this occasion4 ,all the free ,states felt themselves outraged4 ,that an attempt should be made to kill in his seat a ,northern man1 for words spoken in debate1 was a gross insult and wrong to the nation1 and deepened everywhere the detestation felt for the system4 ,but madness must have its perfect work4 ,one more step remained to be taken by the slave power1 and that was to claim the right1 under the ,constitution1 and protected by the general government1 to carry slaves and slavery into all the ,territories4 ,it was not enough that they were not prohibited by acts of ,congress4 ,they must not allow the people of the ,territories to decide for themselves whether slavery should exist among them or not4 ,it had a right to exist there1 in spite of the people4 ,a single man from ,south ,carolina1 going with his slaves into ,nebraska1 should have the power of making that a slave ,state1 though all the rest of its inhabitants wished it to be free4 ,and if he were troubled by his neighbors1 he had a right to call on the military power of the ,united ,states to protect him against them4 ,such was the doctrine of the ,dred ,scott case1 such the doctrine accepted by the majority of the ,united ,states ,senate under the lead of ,jefferson ,davis in the spring of #ahei4 ,such was the doctrine demanded by the ,southern members of the ,democratic ,convention in ,charleston1 ,s4 ,c41 in ,may1 #ahfj1 and1 failing to carry it1 they broke up that convention4 ,and it was because they were defeated in this purpose of carrying slavery into the ,territories that they seceded from the ,union1 and formed the ,southern ,confederacy4 ,they had gained a long succession of political triumphs1 which we have briefly traced in this article4 ,they had annexed ,texas1 and made another slave ,state of that ,territory4 ,they had established the principle that slavery was not to be excluded by law from any of the ,territories of the nation4 ,they had repealed the ,missouri ,compromise1 passed the ,fugitive ,slave ,law1 obtained the ,dred ,scott decision from the ,supreme ,court4 ,in all this they had been aided by the ,democratic party1 and were sure of the continued help of that party4 ,with these allies1 they were certain to govern the country for a long period of years4 ,the ,president1 the ,senate1 the ,supreme ,court1 were all on their side4 ,as regarded slavery in the ,states1 there was nothing to threaten its existence there4 ,the ,republicans proposed only to restrict it to the region where it actually existed1 but could not and would not meddle with it therein4 ,if the slave power had been satisfied with this1 it seems probable that it might have retained its ascendency in the country for a long period4 ,an immense region was still open to its colonies4 ,cotton was still king1 and the slaveholders possessed all the available cotton-growing regions4 ,they were wealthy1 they were powerful1 they governed the nation4 ,they threw all this power away by seceding from the ,union4 ,why did they do this8 ,the frequent answer to this question is contained in the proverb1 ,whom the gods would destroy they first make mad4 ,no doubt this act was one of madness1 and no doubt it was providential4 ,but ,providence works not by direct interference1 but by maintaining the laws of cause and effect4 ,why did they become so mad8 ,why this supreme folly of relinquishing actual enormous power1 in order to set their lives and fortunes on the hazard of a die8 ,it seems to be the doom of all vaulting ambition to overleap itself1 and to fall on the other side4 ,when ,macbeth had gained all his ends1 when he had become ,thane of ,cawdor and ,glamis1 and king1 he had no peace1 because the succession had been promised to ,banquo3-- ,upon my head they placed a fruitless crown1 ,and put a barren sceptre in my gripe1 ,thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand1 ,no son of mine succeeding4 ,if't be so1 ,for ,banquo's issue have ,i filed my mind1 ,for them the gracious ,duncan have ,i murthered1 ,put rancors in the vessel of my peace4 444 ,to make them kings1 the seed of ,banquo kings6 ,rather than so1 come fate into the list1 ,and champion me to the utterance4 ,when ,napoleon the ,first was master of nearly all ,europe1 he could not be satisfied while ,england resisted his power1 and ,russia had not submitted to it4 ,so he also said1-- ,rather than so1 come fate into the list1 ,and champion me to the utterance4 ,he also threw away all his immense power because he could not arrest his own course or limit his own demands on fate4 ,such ambitions cannot stop1 so long as there is anything unconquered or unpossessed4 ,all this avails me nothing1 so long as ,i see ,mordecai the ,jew sitting at the king's gate4 ,the madness which seizes those greedy of power is like the passion of the gamester1 who is unable to limit his desire of gain4 ,by this law of insatiable ambition ,providence equalizes destinies1 and power is prevented from being consolidated in a few hands4 ,the motive which actuates these ambitions1 and makes them think that nothing is gained so long as anything remains to be gained1 seems to be a secret fear that they are in danger of losing all unless they can obtain more4 ,this inward dread appears to have possessed the hearts of the ,southern slaveholders4 ,since slavery has been abolished1 many of them admit that they have more content in their present poverty than they formerly had in their large possessions4 ,they were then sensitive to every suggestion which touched their institution4 ,hence their persecution of ,abolitionists1 hence their cruelty to the slaves themselves1--for cruelty is often the child of fear4 ,hence the atrocity of the slave laws4 ,hence the desire to secure more and larger guaranties from the ,united ,states for their institution4 ,every rumor in the air troubled them4 ,the fact that antislavery opinion existed at the ,north1 that it was continually increasing1 that a great political party was growing up which was opposed to their system1 that such men as ,garrison and ,wendell ,phillips existed in ,boston1 that ,seward and ,sumner were in the ,senate1--all this was intolerable4 ,the only way of accounting for ,southern irritability1 for ,southern aggressions1 for its perpetual demand for more power1 is to be found in this latent terror4 ,they doubted whether the foundations of their whole system were not rotten2 they feared that it rested on falsehood and lies2 they secretly felt that it was contrary to the will of ,god2 an instinct in their souls told them that it was opposed to the spirit of the age and the laws of progress2 and this fear made them frantic4 ,when men's minds are in this state1 they are like the glass toy called a ,rupert's bubble4 ,a single scratch on the surface causes it to fly in pieces4 ,the scratch on the surface of the slave system which caused it to rush into secession and civil war was the attempt of ,john ,brown on ,harper's ,ferry4 ,it seemed a trifle1 but it indicated a great deal4 ,it was the first drop of a coming storm4 ,when one man was able to lay down his life1 in a conflict with their system1 with such courage and nobleness1 in a cause not his own1 a shudder ran through the whole ,south4 ,to what might this grow8 ,and so they said1 ,let us cut ourselves wholly off from these dreadful fanaticisms1 from these terrible dangers4 ,let us make a community of our own1 and shut out from it entirely all antislavery opinion1 and live only with those who think as we do4 ,and so came the end4 ,in reviewing ,mr4 ,wilson's work1 we have thus seen how it describes the gradual and simultaneous growth in the ,united ,states of two hostile powers1--one political1 the other moral4 ,the one continued to accumulate the outward forces which belong to the organization2 the other1 the inward forces which are associated with enthusiasm4 ,the one added continually to its external strength by the passage of new laws1 the addition of new territory1 the more absolute control of parties1 government1 courts1 the press1 and the street4 ,the other increased its power by accumulating an intenser conviction1 a clearer knowledge1 a firmer faith1 and a more devoted consecration to its cause4 ,the weapons of the one were force1 adroitness1 and worldly interest2 those of the other1 faith in ,god1 in man1 and in truth4 ,great truths draw to their side noble auxiliaries4 ,so it was with the antislavery movement4 ,the heroism1 the romance1 the eloquence1 the best literature1 the grandest forms of religion1 the most generous and purest characters1--all were brought to it by a sure affinity4 ,as ,wordsworth said to ,toussaint l',ouverture1 so it might be declared here3-- ,thou hast great allies2 ,thy friends are exaltations1 agonies1 ,and love1 and man's unconquerable mind4 ,the best poets of ,america1 ,bryant1 ,longfellow1 ,whittier1 ,lowell1 were in full sympathy with this cause1 and their best poetry was their songs for freedom4 ,shall we ever forget the caustic humor of ,hosea ,biglow and ,birdofredum ,sawin8 ,and how lofty a flight of inspiration did the same bard take1 when he chanted in verses nobler1 as it seems to us1 than anything since ,wordsworth's ,ode to ,immortality1 the ,return of the ,heroes who had wrought salvation for the dear land bright beyond compare among the nations6 ,what heroism1 what tenderness1 what stern rebuke1 what noble satire1 have attended every event in this long struggle1 from the lyre of ,whittier6 ,nothing in ,campbell excels the ring of some of his trumpet-calls1 nothing in ,cowper the pathos of his elegies over the martyrs of freedom4 ,the best men and the best women were always to be found at the meetings of the ,antislavery ,society4 ,there were to be seen such upright lawyers as ,ellis ,gray ,loring and ,samuel ,e4 ,sewall and ,john ,a4 ,andrew1 such eminent writers as ,emerson1 such great preachers as ,theodore ,parker and ,beecher1 such editors as ,bryant and ,greeley4 ,to this cause did ,william ,ellery ,channing devote his last years and best thoughts4 ,if the churches as organizations stood aloof1 being only timidly good1 as organizations are apt to be1 the purest of their body were sure to be found in this great company of latter-day saints4 ,antislavery men had their faults4 ,they were often unjust to their opponents1 though unintentionally so4 ,they were sometimes narrow and bitter2 and with them1 as with all very earnest people1 any difference of opinion as to methods seemed to involve moral obliquity4 ,but they were doing the great work of the age1--the most necessary work of all1--and much might be pardoned to their passionate love of justice and humanity4 ,in their meetings could be heard many of the ablest speakers of the time1 and one1 the best of all4 ,he held the silver bow of ,apollo1 and dreadful was its clangor when he launched its shafts against spiritual wickedness in high places4 ,those deadly arrows were sometimes misdirected1 and occasionally they struck the good men who were meaning to do their duty4 ,such errors1 we suppose1 are incident to all who are speaking and acting in such terrible earnest2 in the great day of accounts many mistakes will have to be rectified4 ,but surely among the goodly company of apostles and prophets1 and in the noble army of martyrs there assembled1 few will be found more free from the sins of selfish interest and personal ambition than those who in ,congress1 in the pulpit1 on the platform1 or with the pen1 fought the great battle of ,american freedom4 ,one great moral must be drawn from this story before we close4 ,it demonstrates1 by a great historical proof1 that no evil however mighty1 no abuse however deeply rooted1 can resist the power of truth faithfully uttered and steadily applied4 ,if this great institution of slavery1 resting on such a foundation of enormous pecuniary interest1 buttressed by such powerful supports1 fell in the life of a single generation before the unaided power of truth1 why should we ever despair8 ,henceforth1 whenever a mighty evil is to be assailed1 or a cruel despotism overthrown1 men will look to this history of the greatness and decadence of slavery2 and1 so encouraged1 will believe that ,god is on the side of justice1 and that truth will always prevail against error4 ,but to this we must add1 that it is only where free institutions exist that truth has full power in such a conflict4 ,we need free speech1 a free press1 free schools1 and free churches1 in order that truth may have a free course4 ,the great advantage of a republic like ours is1 that it gives to truth a fair chance in its conflict with error4 ,the ,southern ,states would long ago have abolished slavery if it had possessed such institutions4 ,but1 though republican in form1 the ,southern ,states were in reality an oligarchy1 in which five millions of whites and three millions of slaves were governed by the absolute and irresponsible power of less than half a million of slaveholders4 ,freedom was permitted by them except when this institution was concerned1 then it was absolutely forbidden4 ,no book written against their peculiar institution could be printed on any ,southern press or sold in any ,southern bookstore4 ,no newspaper attacking slavery was allowed to be circulated through ,southern mails4 ,no public meeting could be held to discuss the right and wrong of slavery4 ,no minister could preach against the system4 ,no man could express1 even in conversation1 his hostility to it1 without risk of personal injury4 ,an espionage as sharp1 and an inquisition as relentless as those of ,venice or ,spain1 governed society1 at least in the cotton and sugar ,states of the ,union4 ,but at the ,north opinion was free1 and therefore slavery fell4 ,fisher ,ames compressed in an epigram the evil and good of republican institutions4 ,in a monarchy1 said he1 we are in a ship1 very comfortable while things go well2 but strike a rock1 and we go to the bottom4 ,in a republic1 we are on a raft2 our feet are wet1 and it is not always agreeable1 but we are safe4 ,it is a lasting proof of the conservative power of free institutions1 that they were able to uproot such a system as slavery by creating a moral force capable of putting it down2 that they could carry us through a civil war1 still leaving the press and speech free3 that they stood the strain of a presidential election without taking from the voters a single right2 and so1 at last1 conquered a rebellion on so vast a scale that every ,european monarchy1 with its immense standing army1 would have been powerless in its presence4 ,let those ,americans who are disposed to disparage their own institutions bear this history in mind4 ,we have evils here1 and great ones2 but they come at once to the surface1 and therefore can be met and overcome by the power of intelligent opinion4 ,so it has always been in the past2 so it will be1 ,god aiding us1 in the future4 ,we are about to meet the ,centennial ,anniversary of our national life2 and on that day we can look back to our fathers1 the founders of the ,republic1 and say to them1--,you gave us the inestimable blessing of free institutions2 we have used those institutions to destroy the only great evil which you transmitted to us untouched4 ,we now can send down the ,republic to our children1 pure from this stain1 and capable of enduring ,,in ,,secula ,,seculorum4 ,the ,riverside ,press ,,cambridge1 ,,massachusetts1 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,electrotyped ,,and ,,printed ,,by ,h4 ,o4 ,,houghton ,,and ,,co4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,see the argument to prove that it would not be difficult to climb to heaven4 #b ,simon ,peter's attitude expresses astonishment and perplexity4 ,he holds out both hands1 and seems to say1 ,it cannot be6 ,in ,thaddeus we see suspicion1 doubt1 distrust4 ,i always suspected him4 ,matthew is speaking to ,peter and ,thomas1 his hand held out toward ,jesus3 ,but ,i heard him say so4 ,thomas3 ,what can it mean8 ,what will be the end8 ,james3 7,hands spread wide apart in astonished perplexity37 ,is it possible8 ,philip has laid both hands on his breast1 and leaning toward ,jesus says1 ,lord1 is it ,i8 ,at the other end1 one is leaning forward1 his hands resting on the table1 to catch the next words2 one starting back1 confused and confounded4 #c ,the ,north ,american ,review1 ,february1 #ahha4 #d ,the ,independent1 #ahhb4 #e ,the ,north ,american ,review1 ,may1 #ahhc4 #f ,buddha and ,early ,buddhism4 ,trbner ,co41 #ahha4 #g ,hibbert ,lectures1 #ahhb1 page #bia4 #h ,a4 ,rville3 ,prolgomnes de l',histore des ,religions4 #i ,le ,bouddha et sa ,religion1 page #adi1 par ,j4 ,barthlemy ,saint-,hilaire1 ,paris4 #aj ,senart3 ,essai sur la ,lgende du ,buddha4 ,paris1 #ahge4 #aa ,oldenberg3 ,buddha1 sein ,leben1 seine ,lehre1 seine ,gemeinde4 ,berlin1 #ahha4 ,this is one of the latest and best books on our subject4 #ab ,three ,lectures on ,buddhism3 ,romantic ,legend of ,buddha1 by ,samuel ,beal4 ,london1 #ahge4 ,eitel4 #ac ,hibbert ,lectures3 ,origin and ,growth of ,buddhism1 by ,t4 ,w4 ,rhys ,davids4 #ahha4 #ad ,ibid41 page #adc4 #ae ,buddhistisch-,christliche ,harmonie4 #af ,p4 ,e4 ,lucius3 ,die ,therapeuten und ihre ,stellung1 c4 ,strassburg1 #ahhj4 #ag ,the ,north ,american ,review1 ,october1 #ahhg4 #ah ,the ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,october1 #ahgd4 #ai ,the ,intelligence and ,perfectibility of ,animals1 by ,c4 ,g4 ,leroy4 ,translated into ,english in #ahgj4 ,de l',instinct et l',intelligence des ,animaux1 par ,p4 ,flourens4 ,paris1 #ahfd4 #bj ,it is a mistake to say that the ,tasmanians do not use fire4 #ba ,the ,galaxy1 ,december1 #ahgd4 #bb ,symposium in the ,north ,american ,review1 ,may1 #ahgi4 #bc ,in this brief paper it is not possible even to allude to the objections which have been brought against the doctrine of final causes4 ,for these objections1 and the answers to them1 ,i would refer the reader to the work of ,janet1 before mentioned4 #bd ,the ,christian ,examiner1 ,september1 #ahfd4 #be ,history of ,friedrich the ,second1 called ,frederick the ,great1 by ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,in four volumes4 ,harper and ,brothers1 #ahfd4 #bf ,tu se' lo mio maestro1 e 'l mio autore1 ,o degli altri poeti onore e lume4 #bg ,frederick the ,great1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bbc4 #bh ,the ,christian ,examiner1 ,november1 #ahfa4 #bi ,history of ,civilization in ,england4 ,by ,henry ,thomas ,buckle4 ,vols4 ,i4 and ,,ii4 ,new ,york3 ,d4 ,appleton and ,company4 #cj ,comm4 ,,vi4 #aa1 et seq4 #ca ,germania4 #cb ,george ,borrow1 ,the ,zincali4 ,see also an excellent article by ,a4 ,g4 ,paspati1 translated from ,modern ,greek by ,rev4 ,c4 ,hamlin1 ,d4 ,d41 in ,journal of ,american ,oriental ,society1 #ahfa4 #cc ,see ,vol4 ,,ii4 pp4 #bee-bei1 ,american edition4 #cd ,the ,atlantic ,monthly1 ,august1 #ahha4 #ce ,life of ,voltaire1 by ,james ,parton4 ,in two vols4 ,boston3 ,houghton1 ,mifflin ,co4 #ahhf4 #cf ,voltaire himself1 with his acute perception1 seems to have been one of the first to discover the absurdity of the representation of ,tiberius by ,tacitus4 #cg ,essai sur les ,murs1 ch4 cxxi4 #ch ,parton1 ii4 #edi4 #ci ,ibid41 ii4 #eea4 #dj ,ibid41 i4 #bcb4 #da ,martin's ,history of ,france4 #db ,parton1 i4 #dfa4 #dc ,martin's ,history of ,france4 #dd ,a sermon preached ,may #g1 #ahhb4 #de ,the ,north ,american ,review1 ,may1 #ahgg4 #df ,harriet ,martineau's ,autobiography4 ,edited by ,maria ,weston ,chapman4 #b vols4 #dg ,for some reason she afterward saw fit partially to abandon this self-denial1 and allowed ,mrs4 ,chapman to print any letters written to herself by ,miss ,martineau4 #dh ,history of the ,rise and ,fall of the ,slave ,power in ,america1 by ,henry ,wilson1 ,north ,american ,review1 ,january1 #ahge4 #di ,congressional ,globe for ,february #f1 #ahcg4 #ej ,rule adopted ,january #ah1 that all petitions relating to slavery be laid on the table without any action being taken on them4 #ea ,february #f1 #g1 #i1 #aa4 #eb ,the writer of this article recalls a scene which occurred in his presence in the ,united ,states ,senate early in #ahea4 ,mr4 ,clay was speaking of the antislavery agitators and of the ,free-,soil party1 and said1 with much bitterness1 ,we have put them down1--down1--down1 where they will remain2 down to a place so low1 that they can never get up again4 ,john ,p4 ,hale1 never at a loss for a reply1 immediately arose and said1 ,the ,senator from ,kentucky says that ,i and my friends have been put down1--down1--down1 where we shall have to stay4 ,it may be so4 ,indeed1 if the ,senator says so1 ,i am afraid it must be so4 ,for1 if there is any good authority on this subject1 any man who knows by his own personal and constant experience what it is to be put down1 and to be kept down1 it is the honorable ,senator from ,kentucky4 ,mr4 ,clay's aspirations had been so often baffled1 that this was a very keen thrust4 ,the writer spoke to ,mr4 ,hale shortly after1 and he said1 ,i do not think ,mr4 ,clay will forgive me that hit2 but ,i could not help it4 ,they may have got us down1 but they shall not trample upon us4 #ec ,o',connell1 in an album belonging to ,john ,howard ,payne1 writes this sentence after his name4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained4 ,ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained4 ,page #ci3 ,appeltons' ,journal was punctuated that way in the original book and on the masthead of the ,journal itself4 ,page #df3 generalties was spelled that way in the original book and in some copies of ,the ,poestaster itself4 ,page #bbj3 ,greek transliteration in curly braces was added by ,transcriber4 ,page #cji3 ,opening quotation mark before unfailing good sense was added by ,transcriber4