,,lessons ,,in ,,life4  ,a ,,series ,,of
 ,,familiar ,,essays4   ,,by  ,,timothy 
,,titcomb1 ,,author ,,of ,,letters ,,to 
,,the ,,young1 ,,gold-,,foil1 ,,etc4    
,,preface4   ,the quick and cordial     
reception which greeted the author's    
,letters to the ,young1 and his more    
recent series of essays entitled ,gold  
,foil1 and the constant and substantial 
friendship which has been maintained by 
the public toward those productions1    
must stand as his apology for this third
 venture in a kindred field of effort4  
,it should be--and probably             
is--unnecessary for the author to say   
that in this book1 as in its            
predecessors1 he has aimed to be neither
 brilliant nor profound4 ,he has        
endeavored1 simply1 to treat in a       
familiar and attractive way a few of the
 more prominent questions which concern 
the life of every thoughtful man and    
woman4 ,indeed1 he can hardly pretend to
 have done more than to organize1 and   
put into form1 the average thinking of  

those who read his books--to place      
before the people the sum of their own  
choicer judgments--and he neither       
expects nor wishes for these essays     
higher praise than that which accords to
 them the quality of common sense4      
,,springfield1 ,,mass41 ,november1      
#ahfa4    ,,contents4  ,,lesson ,i4     
,,moods ,,and ,,frames ,,of ,,mind      
,,lesson ,,ii4 ,,bodily ,,imperfections 
,,and ,,impediments ,,lesson ,,iii4     
,,animal ,,content ,,lesson ,,iv4       
,,reproduction ,,in ,,kind ,,lesson ,v4 
,,truth ,,and ,,truthfulness ,,lesson   
,,vi4 ,,mistakes ,,of ,,penance ,,lesson
 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,rights ,,of ,,woman     
,,lesson ,,viii4 ,,american ,,public    
,,education ,,lesson ,,ix4              
,,perverseness ,,lesson ,x4             
,,undeveloped ,,resources ,,lesson ,,xi4
 ,,greatness ,,in ,,littleness ,,lesson 
,,xii4 ,,rural ,,life ,,lesson ,,xiii4  
,,repose ,,lesson ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,ways   
,,of ,,charity ,,lesson ,,xv4 ,,men ,,of
 ,,one ,,idea ,,lesson ,,xvi4 ,,shying  

,,people ,,lesson ,,xvii4 ,,faith ,,in  
,,humanity ,,lesson ,,xviii4 ,,sore     
,,spots ,,and ,,sensitive ,,spots       
,,lesson ,,xix4 ,,the ,,influence ,,of  
,,praise ,,lesson ,,xx4 ,,unnecessary   
,,burdens ,,lesson ,,xxi4 ,,proper      
,,people ,,and ,,perfect ,,people       
,,lesson ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,poetic ,,test  
,,lesson ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,food ,,of     
,,life ,,lesson ,,xxiv4                 
,,half-,,finished ,,work     ,,lessons  
,,in ,,life4    ,,lesson ,i4  ,,moods   
,,and ,,frames ,,of ,,mind4             
,that blessed mood    ,in which the     
burden of the mystery1    ,in which the 
heavy and the weary weight    ,of all   
this unintelligible world    ,is        
lightened4 ,,wordsworth4    ,oh1 blessed
 temper1 whose unclouded ray    ,can    
make to-morrow cheerful as to-day4      
,,pope4    ,my heart and mind and self1 
never in tune2    ,sad for the most     
part1 then in such a flow    ,of        
spirits1 ,i seem now hero1 now buffoon4 
,,leigh ,,hunt4  ,it rained yesterday2  

and1 though it is midsummer1 it is      
unpleasantly cool to-day4 ,the sky is   
clear1 with almost a steel-blue tint1   
and the meadows are very deeply green4  
,the shadows among the woods are black  
and massive1 and the whole face of      
nature looks painfully clean1 like that 
of a healthy little boy who has been    
bathed in a chilly room with very cold  
water4 ,i notice that ,i am sensitive to
 a change like this1 and that my mind   
goes very reluctantly to its task this  
morning4 ,i look out from my window1 and
 think how delightful it would be to    
take a seat in the sun1 down under the  
fence1 across the street4 ,it seems to  
me that if ,i could sit there awhile1   
and get warm1 ,i could think better and 
write better4 ,toasting in the sunlight 
is conducive rather to reverie than     
thought1 or ,i should be inclined to try
 it4 ,this reluctance to commence labor1
 and this looking out of the window and 
longing for an accession of strength1 or
 warmth1 or inspiration1 or something or

 other not easily named1 calls back to  
me an experience of childhood4  ,it was 
summer1 and ,i was attending school4    
,the seats were hard1 and the lessons   
were dry1 and the walls of the          
school-room were very cheerless4 ,an    
indulgent1 sweet-faced girl was my      
teacher2 and ,i presume that she felt   
the irksomeness of the confinement quite
 as severely as ,i did4 ,the weather was
 delightful1 and the birds were singing 
everywhere2 and the thought came to me1 
that if ,i could only stay out of doors1
 and lie down in the shadow of a tree1  
,i could get my lesson4 ,i begged the   
privilege of trying the experiment4 ,the
 kind heart that presided over the      
school-room could not resist my         
petition2 so ,i was soon lying in the   
coveted shadow4 ,i went to work very    
severely2 but the next moment found my  
eyes wandering2 and heart1 feeling1 and 
fancy were going up and down the earth  
in the most vagrant fashion4 ,it was    
hopeless dissipation to sit under the   

tree2 and discovering a huge rock on the
 hillside1 ,i made my way to that1 to   
try what virtue there might be in a     
shadow not produced by foliage4 ,seated 
under the brow of the boulder1 ,i again 
applied myself to the dim-looking text1 
but it had become utterly meaningless2  
and a musical cricket under the rock    
would have put me to sleep if ,i had    
permitted myself to remain4 ,i found    
that neither tree nor rock would lend me
 help2 but down in the meadow ,i saw the
 brook sparkling1 and spanning it1 a    
little bridge where ,i had been         
accustomed to sit1 hanging my feet over 
the water1 and angling for minnows4 ,it 
seemed as if the bridge and the water   
might do something for me1 and1 in a few
 minutes1 my feet were dangling from the
 accustomed seat4 ,there1 almost under  
my nose1 close to the bottom of the     
clear1 cool stream1 lay a huge speckled 
trout1 fanning the sand with his slow   
fins1 and minding nothing about me at   
all4 ,what could a boy do with          

,colburn's ,first ,lessons1 when a      
living trout1 as large and nearly as    
long as his arm1 lay almost within the  
reach of his fingers8 ,how long ,i sat  
there ,i do not know1 but the tinkle of 
a distant bell startled me1 and ,i      
startled the trout1 and fish and vision 
faded before the terrible consciousness 
that ,i knew less of my lesson than ,i  
did when ,i left the school-house4      
,this has always been my fortune when   
running after1 or looking for1 moods4   
,there is a popular hallucination that  
makes of authors a romantic people who  
are entirely dependent upon moods and   
moments of inspiration for the power to 
labor in their peculiar way4 ,authors   
are supposed to write when they feel    
like it1 and at no other time4 ,visions 
of ,byron with a gin-bottle at his side1
 and a beautiful woman hanging over his 
shoulder1 dashing off a dozen stanzas of
 ,childe ,harold at a sitting1 flit     
through the brains of sentimental youth4
 ,we hear of women who are seized       

suddenly by an idea1 as if it were a    
colic1 or a flea1 often at midnight1 and
 are obliged to rise and dispose of it  
in some way4 ,we are told of very       
delicate girls who carry pencils and    
cards with them1 to take the names and  
address of such angels as may visit them
 in out-of-the-way places4 ,we read of  
poets who go on long sprees1 and after  
recovery retire to their rooms and work 
night and day1 eating not and sleeping  
little1 and in some miraculous way      
producing wonderful literary creations4 
,the mind of a literary man is supposed 
to be like a shallow summer brook1 that 
turns a mill4 ,there is no water except 
when it rains1 and the weather being    
very fickle1 it is never known when     
there will be water4 ,sometimes1        
however1 there comes a freshet1 and then
 the mill runs night and day1 until the 
water subsides1 and another dry time    
comes on4  ,now1 while ,i am aware1 as  
every writer must be1 that the brain    
works very much better at some times    

than it does at others1 ,i can declare  
without reservation1 that no man who    
depends upon moods for the power to     
write can possibly accomplish much4 ,i  
know men who rely upon their moods1     
alike for the disposition and the       
ability to write1 but they are1 without 
exception1 lazy and inefficient men4    
,they never have accomplished much1 and 
they never will accomplish much4        
,regular eating1 regular sleeping1      
regular working--these are the secrets  
of all true literary success4 ,a man may
 throw off a single little poem by a    
spasm1 but he cannot write a poem of    
three thousand lines by spasms4 ,spasms 
that produce poems like this1 must last 
from five to seven hours a day1 through 
six days of every week1 and four weeks  
of every month1 until the work shall be 
finished4 ,there is no good reason why  
the mind will not do its best by regular
 exercise and usage4 ,the mower starts  
in the morning with a lame back and with
 aching joints2 but he keeps on mowing1 

and the glow rises1 and the perspiration
 starts1 and he becomes interested in   
his labor1 and1 at length1 he finds     
himself at work with full efficiency4   
,he was not in the mood for mowing when 
he began1 but mowing brought its own    
mood1 and he knew it would when he      
began4 ,the mind is sometimes lame in   
the morning4 ,it refuses to go to work4 
,our wills seem entirely insufficient to
 drive it to its tasks2 but if it be    
driven to its work and held to it       
persistently1 and held thus every day1  
it will ultimately be able to do its    
best every day4 ,a man who works his    
brains for a living1 must work them just
 as regularly as the omnibus-driver does
 his horses4  ,we sometimes go to church
 and hear a preacher who depends upon   
his moods for the power to preach his   
best4 ,he preaches well1 and we say that
 he is in the mood2 and then again he   
preaches poorly1 and we say that he is  
not in the mood4 ,a public singer who   
has the power to move us at her will1   

comes into the concert-room1 and gives  
her music without spirit and without    
making any apparent effort to please4   
,we say that ,madame or ,mademoiselle is
 not in the mood to-night4 ,a lecturer  
has his moods1 which1 apparently1 he    
slips on and off as he would a          
dressing-gown1 charming the people of   
one town by his eloquence and elegance1 
and disgusting another by his dullness  
and carelessness4 ,we are in the habit  
of saying that certain men are very     
unequal in their performances1 which is 
only a way of saying that they are      
moody1 and dependent upon and controlled
 by moods4 ,i think that1 in any work or
 walk of life1 a man can in a great     
degree become the master of his moods1  
so that1 as a preacher1 or a singer1 or 
a lecturer1 he can do his best every    
time quite as regularly as a writer can 
do his best every time4 ,mr4 ,benedict  
somewhat inelegantly remarked1 when in  
this country1 that the reason of ,jenny 
,lind's success was1 that she made a    

conscience of her art4 ,if we had asked 
,mr4 ,benedict to explain himself1 he   
probably would have said that she       
conscientiously did her best every time1
 in every place4 ,this was true of      
,jenny ,lind4 ,she never failed4 ,she   
sang just as well in the old church     
where the country people had flocked to 
greet her1 as in the halls of the       
metropolis4 ,yet ,jenny ,lind was       
decidedly a woman of moods1 and indulged
 in them when she could afford it4  ,the
 power of the will over moods of the    
mind is very noticeable in children4    
,children often rise in the morning in  
any thing but an amiable frame of mind4 
,petulant1 impatient1 quarrelsome1 they 
cannot be spoken to or touched without  
producing an explosion of ill-nature4   
,sleep seems to have been a bath of     
vinegar to them1 and one would think the
 fluid had invaded their mouth and nose1
 and eyes and ears1 and had been        
absorbed by every pore of their         
sensitive skins4 ,in a condition like   

this1 ,i have seen them bent over the   
parental knee1 and their persons        
subjected to blows from the parental    
palm2 and they have emerged from the    
infliction with the vinegar all         
expelled1 and their faces shining like  
the morning--the transition complete and
 satisfactory to all the parties4       
,three-quarters of the moods that men   
and women find themselves in1 are just  
as much under the control of the will as
 this4 ,the man who rises in the        
morning1 with his feelings all bristling
 like the quills of a hedge-hog1 simply 
needs to be knocked down4 ,like a       
solution of certain salts1 he requires a
 rap to make him crystallize4 ,a great  
many mean things are done in the family 
for which moods are put forward as the  
excuse1 when the moods themselves are   
the most inexcusable things of all4 ,a  
man or a woman in tolerable health has  
no moral right to indulge in an         
unpleasant mood1 or to depend upon moods
 for the performance of the duties of   

life4 ,if a bad mood come to such       
persons as these1 it is to be shaken off
 by a direct effort of the will1 under  
all circumstances4  ,there are moods1   
however1 for which men are not          
responsible1 and the parent of these is 
sickness--the feeble or inharmonious    
movements of the body4 ,when my little  
boy wakes in the morning1 his smile is  
as bright as the pencil of sunlight that
 lies across his coverlet2 but when     
evening comes1 he is peevish and        
fretful4 ,the little limbs are weary1   
and the mood is produced by weariness4  
,so my friend with a harassing cough is 
in a melancholy mood1 and my bilious    
friend is in a severe and savage mood1  
or in a dark and gloomy mood1 or in a   
petulant mood1 or in a fearful or       
foreboding mood4 ,in truth1 bile is the 
prolific mother of moods4 ,the stream of
 life flows through the biliary duct4   
,when that is obstructed1 life is       
obstructed4 ,when the golden tide sets  
back upon the liver1 it is like         

backwater under a mill2 it stops the    
driving-wheel4 ,bile spoils the peace of
 families1 breaks off friendships1 cuts 
off man from communion with his ,maker1 
colors whole systems of theology1       
transforms brains into putty1 and       
destroys the comfort of a jaundiced     
world4 ,the famous ,dr4 ,abernethy had  
his hobby1 as most famous men have2 and 
this hobby was blue pill and ipecac1    
which he prescribed for every thing1    
with the supposition1 ,i presume1 that  
all disease has its origin in the liver4
 ,most moods1 ,i am sure1 have their    
birth in the derangements of this       
important organ2 and while the majority 
of them can be controlled1 there are    
others for which their victims are not  
responsible4 ,there are men who cannot  
insult me1 because ,i will not take an  
insult from them any more than ,i would 
from a man intoxicated4 ,when their bile
 starts1 ,i am sure they will come to me
 and apologize4  ,we all have           
acquaintances who are men of moods4     

,whenever we meet them1 we try to       
determine which of their moods is       
dominant1 that we may know how to treat 
them4 ,if the severe mood be on1 we     
would just as soon think of whistling at
 a funeral as indulging in a jest2 but  
if the cloud be off1 we have a sprightly
 friend and a pleasant time with him4   
,goldsmith's pedagogue was a man of     
moods1 and his pupils understood them4  
,a man severe he was1 and stern to view2
    ,i knew him well1 and every truant  
knew3    ,well had the boding tremblers 
learned to trace    ,the day's disasters
 in his morning face2    ,full well they
 laughed with counterfeited glee    ,at 
all his jokes1 for many a joke had he2  
,full well the busy whisper1 circling   
round1    ,conveyed the dismal tidings  
when he frowned4  ,while ,i maintain    
that a man can generally be the master  
of his moods1 ,i am very well aware that
 but few men are2 and it is wise for us 
to know how to deal with them4 ,the     
secret of many a man's success in the   

world resides in his insight into the   
moods of men1 and his tact in dealing   
with them4 ,modern ,christian           
philanthropists tell us that if we would
 do good to the soul of a starving      
child1 we must first put food into his  
mouth1 and comfortable clothing upon his
 body4 ,this1 by way of manifesting a   
practical interest in his welfare1 and  
paving our way to his heart by a form of
 kindness which he can thoroughly       
appreciate4 ,but there is more in such  
an act than this1--we change his mood4  
,from a mood of despair or              
discouragement1 we translate him into a 
mood of cheerfulness and hopefulness2   
and then we have a soul to deal with    
that is surrounded by the conditions of 
improvement4 ,there is much more than   
divine duty and ,christian forgiveness  
in the injunction3 if thine enemy       
hunger1 feed him2  if he thirst1 give   
him drink4 ,the highest wisdom would    
dictate such a policy for changing his  
mood1 and bringing him into a condition 

in which he could entertain a sense of  
his meanness4  ,it is curious to see how
 much fulness and emptiness of stomach  
have to do with moods4 ,a business man  
who has been at work hard all day1 will 
enter his house for dinner as crabbed as
 a hungry bear--crabbed because he is as
 hungry as a hungry bear4 ,the wife     
understands the mood1 and1 while she    
says little to him1 is careful not to   
have the dinner delayed4 ,in the mean   
time1 the children watch him cautiously1
 and do not tease him with questions4   
,when the soup is gulped1 and he leans  
back and wipes his mouth1 there is an   
evident relaxation1 and his wife        
ventures to ask for the news4 ,when the 
roast beef is disposed of1 she presumes 
upon gossip1 and possibly upon a jest2  
and when1 at last1 the dessert is spread
 upon the table1 all hands are merry1   
and the face of the husband and father1 
which entered the house so pinched and  
savage and sharp1 becomes soft and full 
and beaming as the face of the round    

summer moon4 ,children are very         
sensitive to the influence of hunger2   
and often when we think that we are     
witnessing some fearful proof of the    
total depravity of human nature in a    
young child1 we are only witnessing the 
natural expression of a desire for bread
 and milk4 ,the politicians and all that
 class of men who have axes to grind1   
understand this business very           
thoroughly4 ,if a measure is to be      
carried through1 and any man wishes to  
secure votes for it1 he gives a dinner4 
,if a man wishes for a profitable       
contract1 he gives a dinner4 ,if he is  
up for a fat office1 he gives a dinner4 
,if it is desirable that a pair of      
estranged friends be brought together1  
and reconciled to each other1 they are  
invited to a dinner4 ,if hostile        
interests are to be harmonized1 and     
clashing measures compromised1 and      
divergent forces brought into           
parallelism1 all must be effected by    
means of a dinner4 ,a good dinner       

produces a good mood1--at least1 it     
produces an impressible mood4 ,the will 
relaxes wonderfully under the influence 
of iced champagne1 and canvas-backs are 
remarkable softeners of prejudice4 ,the 
daughter of ,herodias took ,herod at a  
great disadvantage1 when she came in and
 danced before him and his friends at   
his birth-day supper1 and secured the   
head of ,john the ,baptist4 ,no one1 ,i 
presume1 believes that if she had       
undertaken to dance before him when he  
was hungry1 she would have had the offer
 of a gift equal to the half of his     
kingdom4 ,it is more than likely that1  
under any other circumstances1 he would 
have been told to sit down and show     
less4 ,it is by means of food and drink1
 and various entertainments of the      
senses1 that moods are manufactured1 and
 used as media of approach to the wills 
which it is desirable to bend or direct4
  ,i have found moods to be very poor   
tests of character4 ,having cut through 
the crust of a most forbidding mood1    

produced by bodily derangement or       
constant and pressing labor of the      
brain1 ,i have often found a heart full 
of all the sweetest and richest traits  
of humanity4 ,i have found1 too1 that   
some natures know the door that leads   
through the moods of other natures4     
,there are men who never present their  
moody side to me4 ,my neighbor enters   
their presence and finds them severe in 
aspect1 hard in feeling1 and abrupt in  
speech4 ,i go in immediately after1 and 
open the door right through that mood1  
into the genial good heart that sits    
behind it1 and the door always flies    
open when ,i come4 ,i know men whose    
mood is usually exceedingly pleasant4   
,there is a glow of health upon their   
faces4 ,their words are musical to women
 and children4 ,they are cheerful and   
chipper and sunshiny1 and not easily    
moved to anger2 and yet ,i know them to 
be liars and full of selfishness4 ,under
 their sweet mood1 which sound health   
and a not over-sensitive conscience and 

the satisfactions of sense engender1    
they conceal hearts that are as false   
and foul as any that illustrate the     
reign of sin in human nature4 ,many a   
,christian has times of feeling that    
,god is in a special manner smiling upon
 him1 and communing with him1 and       
filling him with the peace and joy that 
only flow from heavenly fountains1 when 
the truth is that he is only in a good  
mood4 ,he is well1 all the machinery of 
his mind and body is playing            
harmoniously1 and1 of course1 he feels  
well1 and that is all there is about it4
 ,he is not a better ,christian than he 
was when he slipped into the mood1 and  
no better than he will be when he slips 
out of it4 ,if he really be a good      
,christian1 his moods operate like      
clouds and blue sky4 ,the sun shines all
 the time1 and the cloudy moods only    
hide it2--they do not extinguish it4    
,there are many sad cases of insanity of
 a religious character which originate  
in moods4 ,a man1 through a period of   

health1 has a bright and cheerful       
religious experience4 ,the world looks  
pleasant to him1 the heavens smile      
kindly upon him1 and the ,divine ,spirit
 witnesses with his own that he is at   
peace and in harmony with ,god4 ,joy    
thrills him as he greets the morning    
light1 and peace nestles upon his heart 
as he lies down to his nightly rest4 ,he
 feels in his soul the influx of        
spiritual life from the ,great ,source  
of all life1 as he opens it in worship  
and in prayer4 ,but at length there     
comes a change4 ,a strange sadness      
creeps into his heart4 ,the sky that was
 once so bright has become dark4 ,the   
prayer that once rose as easily as      
incense upon the still morning air1     
straight toward heaven1 will not rise at
 all1 but settles like smoke upon him1  
and fills his eyes with tears4          
,something seems to have come between   
him and his ,god4 ,strange1 accusing    
voices are heard within him4 ,however   
deep the agony that moves him1 he cannot

 rend the cloud that interposes between 
him and his ,maker4 ,this1 now1 is      
simply a mood produced by ill health2   
and ,i hope that everybody who reads    
this will remember it4 ,remember that   
,god never changes1 that a man's moods  
are constantly changing1 and that when a
 man earnestly seeks for spiritual      
peace1 and cannot find it1 and thinks   
that he has committed the unpardonable  
sin without knowing it1 he is bilious1  
and needs medical treatment4 ,alas6 what
 multitudes of sad souls have walked out
 of this hopeless mood into a life-long 
insanity1 when all they needed in the   
first place1 perhaps1 was a dose of blue
 pills1 or half a dozen strings of      
tenpins1 or a sea-voyage sufficiently   
rough for practical purposes4  ,this    
subject ,i find to be abundantly        
prolific1 and ,i see that ,i have been  
able to do hardly more than to hint at  
its more prominent aspects4 ,it seems to
 me that moods only need to be studied  
more1 and to be better understood1 to   

bring them very much under the domain of
 our wills4 ,a great deal is learned    
when we know what a mood is1 and know   
that we are subject to varying frames of
 mind1 resulting from causes which      
affect our health4 ,if ,i know that ,i  
am impatient and cross because ,i am    
hungry1 then ,i know how to get rid of  
my mood1 and how to manage it until ,i  
do get rid of it4 ,if ,i feel unable to 
labor1 not because ,i am feeble1 but    
because ,i am not in the mood1 then ,i  
have the mood in my hands1 to be dealt  
with intelligently4 ,if my reason tell  
me that it is only a mood that hides    
from me the face of my ,maker1 my reason
 will also tell me that my first        
business is to get rid of my mood1 and  
that my will must approach the work1    
directly or indirectly4 ,we are always  
and necessarily in some mood of mind--in
 some condition of passion or feeling4  
,it is the intensification and the      
dominant influence of moods that are to 
be guarded against or destroyed4 ,moods 

are dangerous only when they obscure    
reason1 and destroy self-control1 and   
disturb the mental poise1 and become the
 media of false impressions from all the
 life around us and within us4          
,,lesson ,,ii4  ,,bodily ,,imperfections
 ,,and ,,impediments4     ,i that am    
curtailed of this fair proportion1      
,cheated of feature by dissembling      
nature1    ,deformed1 unfinished1 sent  
before my time    ,into this breathing  
world1 scarce half made up4    ,,richard
 ,,iii4    ,none can be called deformed 
but the unkind4    ,,shakspeare4        
',tis true1 his nature may with faults  
abound2    ,but who will cavil when the 
heart is sound8    ,,stephen ,,montague4
  ,it is a bright ,june morning4 ,the   
fresh grass is loaded with dew1 every   
bead of which sparkles in the light of  
the brilliant sun4 ,a big1              
yellow-shouldered bee comes booming     
through the open window1 and buzzes up  
and down my room1 and threatens my      
shrinking ears1 and then dives through  

the window again2 and his form recedes  
and his hum dies away1 as if it were the
 note of a reed-stop in the swell of a  
church organ4 ,there is such confusion  
in the songs of the birds1 that ,i can  
hardly select the different notes1 so as
 to name their owners4 ,there is a great
 deal of bird-singing that is simply    
what a weaver would call filling4       
,robins and bobolinks and blue-birds and
 sundry other favorites furnish the     
warp1 and color and characterize the    
tapestry of a flowing1 vocal morning2   
while the little1 gray-backed multitude 
work in the neutral ground tones1 and   
bring the sweeter and more elaborate    
notes into beautiful relief4 ,thus1 with
 a little aid of imagination1 ,i get up 
some very exquisite fabrics--vocal silks
 and satins3--robins on a field of      
chickadees2 bobolinks and thrushes      
alternately on a hit-or-miss ground of  
blackbirds1 wrens1 and pewees4 ,into the
 midst of all this delicious confusion  
there breaks a note that belongs to     

another race of creatures2 and as ,i    
look from my window1 and see the singer1
 my eyes fill with tears4 ,it is a      
little boy1 possibly twelve years old1  
though he looks younger1 walking with a 
crutch4 ,one withered limb dangles as he
 goes4 ,he is a cripple for life2 yet   
his face is as bright and cheerful as   
the face of the morning itself2 and what
 do you think he is singing8 ,hail      
,columbia1 happy land1 at the top of his
 lungs6 ,the birds are merrily wheeling 
over his head1 and diving through the   
air1 and moving here and there as freely
 as the wind1 yet not one among them    
carries a lighter heart than that which 
he is jerking along by the side of the  
little crutch4  ,as ,i see how          
cheerfully he bears the burden of his   
hopeless halting1 there comes back to me
 the story of the lame lord who sang a  
different sort of song--the lame lord   
who died at ,missolonghi1 and whose     
friend ,trelawny--human jackal that he  
was-- stole to his bedside after the    

breath had left his body1 and examined  
his clubbed feet1 and then went away and
 wrote about them4 ,here was a man with 
regal gifts of mind--a poet of splendid 
genius--a titled aristocrat--a man      
admired and praised wherever the        
,english language was read--a man who   
knew that he held within himself the    
power to make his name immortal--a man  
with wealth sufficient for all grateful 
luxuries--yet with clubbed feet2 and    
those feet6 ,ah6 how they embittered and
 spoiled that man of magnificent        
achievements and sublime possibilities6 
,it would appear1 from the disgusting   
narrative of ,mr4 ,trelawny1 that he was
 in reality the only man who had ever   
seen ,byron's feet4 ,those feet had been
 kept so closely hidden1 or so cunningly
 disguised1 that nobody had known their 
real deformity2 and the poor lord who   
had carried them through his thirty-six 
years of life1 had done it in constantly
 tormented and mortified pride4 ,those  
misshapen organs had an important agency

 in making him a misanthropic1 morbidly 
sensitive1 unhappy1 desperate man4 ,when
 he sang1 he did not forget them2 and   
the poor fools who turned down their    
shirt-collars1 and imitated his songs1  
and thought they were inspired by his   
winged genius1 had under them only a    
pair of halting1 clubbed feet4  ,there  
is a class of unfortunate men and women 
in the world to whom the boy and the    
bard have introduced us4 ,they are not  
all lame3 but they all think they have  
cause to be dissatisfied with the bodies
 ,god has given them4 ,perhaps they are 
simply ugly1 and are aware that no one  
can look in their faces with other      
thought than that they are ugly4 ,now it
 is a pleasant thing to have a pleasant 
face1 and an agreeable form4 ,it is     
pleasant for a man to be large1         
well-shaped1 and good-looking1 and it is
 unpleasant for him to be small1 and to 
carry an ill-shaped form and an ugly    
face4 ,it is pleasant for a woman to    
feel that she has personal attractions  

for those around her1 and it is         
unpleasant for her to feel that no man  
can ever turn his eyes admiringly upon  
her4 ,a misshapen limb1 a hump in the   
back1 a withered arm1 a shortened leg1 a
 clubbed foot1 a hare-lip1 an unwieldy  
corpulence1 a hideous leanness1 a bald  
head--all these are unpleasant          
possessions1 and all these1 ,i suppose1 
give their possessors1 first and last1 a
 great deal of pain4 ,then there is the 
taint of an unpopular blood1 that a     
whole race carry with them as a badge of
 humiliation4 ,i have heard of ,africans
 who declared that they would willingly 
go through the pain of being skinned    
alive1 if1 at the close of the          
operation1 they could become white men4 
,there are men of genius1 with plenty of
 white blood in their veins--with only a
 trace of ,africa in their faces--whose 
lives are embittered by that trace2 and 
who know that the pure ,anglo ,saxon1 if
 he follows his instincts1 will say to  
him3 ,thus far1--7through a limited     

range of relations17-- but no further4  
,from the depths of my soul ,i pity a   
man or woman who bears about an         
irremediable bodily deformity1 or the   
mark of the blood of a humiliated race4 
,i pity any human being who carries     
around a body that he feels to be in any
 sense an unpleasant one to those whom  
he meets4 ,i pity the deformed man1 and 
the maimed man1 and the terribly ugly   
man1 and the black man1 and the white   
man with black blood in him1 because he 
usually feels that these things bear    
with them a certain degree of           
humiliation4 ,i pity the man who is not 
able to stand out in the broad sunlight1
 with other men1 and to feel that he has
 as goodly a frame and as fine blood and
 as pleasant a presence as the average  
of those he sees around him4 ,i do not  
wonder at all that many of these persons
 become soured and embittered and       
jealous4 ,a sensitive mind1 dwelling    
long upon misfortunes of this peculiar  
character1 will inevitably become       

morbid2 and multitudes of humbler men   
than ,lord ,byron have cursed their fate
 as bitterly as he1 and have even lifted
 their eyes to blaspheme the ,being who 
made them4  ,the two instances which ,i 
have mentioned show us that there are   
two ways of taking misfortunes of this  
character2 and one of them seems to a   
good deal better than the other4        
,between the boy who ignored the        
withered leg and the crutch1 and the    
proud poet who permitted a slight       
personal deformity to darken his whole  
life1 there is a distance like that     
between heaven and earth4  ,i believe in
 the law of compensation4 ,human lot is1
 on the whole1 well averaged4 ,a man    
does not possess great gifts of person  
and of mind without drawbacks somewhere4
 ,either great duties are imposed upon  
him1 or great burdens are put upon his  
shoulders1 or great temptations assail  
and harass him4 ,something in his life1 
at some time in his life1 takes it upon 
itself to reduce his advantages to the  

average standard4 ,nature gave ,byron   
clubbed feet1 but with those feet she   
gave him a genius whose numbers charmed 
the world-- a genius which multitudes of
 commonplace or weak men would have been
 glad to purchase at the price of almost
 any humiliating eccentricity of person4
 ,but they were obliged to content      
themselves with excellent feet1 and     
brains of the common kind and calibre4  
,providence had withered the little     
boy's leg1 but the loudest song ,i have 
heard from a boy in a twelvemonth came  
from his lips1 as he limped along alone 
in the open street4 ,the cheerful heart 
in his bosom was a great compensation   
for the withered leg2 and beyond this   
the boy had reason for singing over the 
fact that he was forever released from  
military duty1 and firemen's duty1 and  
all racing about in the service of other
 people4 ,there are individual cases of 
misfortune in which it is hard to detect
 the compensating good1 but these we    
must call the exceptions which prove the

 rule4  ,but the best of all            
compensation for natural defects and    
deformities1 is that which comes in the 
form of a peculiar love4 ,the mother of 
a poor1 misshapen1 idiotic boy1 will1   
though she have half a score of bright  
and beautiful children besides1         
entertain for him a peculiar affection4 
,he may not be able1 in his             
feeble-mindedness1 to appreciate it1 but
 her heart brims with tenderness for    
him4 ,the delicate morsel is reserved   
for him2 and1 if he be a sufferer1 the  
softest pillow and the tenderest nursing
 will be his4 ,a love will be bestowed  
upon him which gold could not buy1 and  
which no beauty of person1 and no       
brilliancy of natural gifts could       
possibly awaken4 ,it is thus with every 
case of defect or eccentricity of       
person4 ,so sure as the mother of a     
child sees in that child's person any   
reason for the world to regard it with  
contempt or aversion1 does she treat it 
with peculiar tenderness2 as if she were

 commissioned by ,god--as indeed she    
is--to make up to it in the best coinage
 that which the world will certainly    
neglect to bestow4  ,with the world at  
large1 however1 there are certain       
conditions on which this variety of     
compensation is rendered2 and a man who 
would have compensation for defects of  
person1 must accept these conditions1 or
 furnish them4 ,such a man as ,lord     
,byron would have been offended by pity4
 ,to have been commiserated on his      
misfortune1 would have made him         
exceedingly angry4 ,he would not allow  
himself to be treated as an unfortunate 
man4 ,he bound up his feet1 and made    
efforts to walk that ended in intense   
pain1 rather than appear the lame man   
that he really was4 ,of course1 there   
was no compensation in the tender pity  
and affectionate consideration of the   
world for him2 nor is there any for the 
sad unfortunates who inherit and        
exercise his spirit4 ,but for all those 
who accept their life with all its      

conditions1 in a cheerful spirit1 who   
give up their pride1 who take their     
bodies as ,god formed them1 and make the
 best of them1 there is abundant        
compensation in the affection of the    
world4 ,a cheerful spirit1 exercised in 
weakness1 infirmity1 calamity--any sort 
of misfortune--is just as sure to awaken
 a peculiarly affectionate interest in  
all observers1 as a lighted lamp is to  
illuminate the objects around it4 ,i    
know of men and women who are the       
favorites of a whole neighborhood--nay1 
a whole town--because they are cheerful1
 and courageous1 and self-respectful    
under misfortune2 and ,i know of those  
who are as much dreaded as a pestilence1
 because they will not accept their     
lot--because they grow bitter and       
jealous--and because they will persist  
in taunts and complaints4  ,the number  
of those who are1 or who consider       
themselves1 unfortunate in their        
physical conformation1 is larger than   
the most of us suppose4 ,i presume that 

at least one-half of the readers of this
 essay are any thing but well satisfied 
with the tabernacle in which they       
reside4 ,one man wishes he were a little
 larger2 one woman wishes she were a    
little smaller2 one does not like her   
complexion1 or the color of her eyes and
 hair2 one has a nose too large2 another
 has a nose too small2 one has round    
shoulders2 another has a low forehead2  
and so every one becomes a critic of his
 or her style of structure4 ,when we    
find a man or a woman who is absolutely 
faultless in form and features1 we      
usually find a fool4 ,i do not remember 
that ,i ever met a very handsome man or 
woman1 who was not as vain and shallow  
as a peacock4 ,i recently met a         
magnificent woman of middle age at a    
railroad station4 ,she was surrounded by
 all those indescribable somethings and 
nothings which mark the rich and        
well-bred traveller1 and her face was   
queenly--not sweet and pretty like a    
doll's face--but handsome and stylish1  

and strikingly impressive1 so that no   
man could look at her once without      
turning to look again2 yet ,i had not   
been in her presence a minute1 before ,i
 found1 to my utter disgust1 that the   
old creature was as vain of her charms  
as a spoiled girl1 and gloried in the   
attention which she was conscious her   
face everywhere attracted4 ,it would    
seem as if nature1 in making up mankind1
 had always been a little short of      
materials1 so that1 if special attention
 were bestowed upon the form and face1  
the brain suffered2 and if the brain    
received particular attention1 why then 
there was something lacking in the body4
  ,this large class of malcontents      
generally find some way of convincing   
themselves1 however1 that they are as   
good-looking as the average of mankind4 
,they make a good deal of some special  
points of beauty1 and imagine that these
 quite overshadow their defects4 ,still1
 there is a portion of them who can     
never do this2 and ,i think of them with

 a sadness which it is impossible for me
 to express4 ,for a homely--even an ugly
 man--,i have no pity to spare4 ,i never
 saw one so ugly yet1 that if he had    
brains and a heart1 he could not find a 
beautiful woman sensible enough to marry
 him4 ,but for the hopelessly plain and 
homely sisters--these tears6 ,there is a
 class of women who know that they      
possess in their persons no attractions 
for men1--that their faces are homely1  
that their frames are ill-formed1 that  
their carriage is clumsy1 and that1     
whatever may be their gifts of mind1 no 
man can have the slightest desire to    
possess their persons4 ,that there are  
compensations for these women1 ,i have  
no doubt1 but many of them fail to find 
them4 ,many of them feel that the       
sweetest sympathies of life must be     
repressed1 and that there is a world of 
affection from which they must remain   
shut out forever4 ,it is hard for a     
woman to feel that her person is not    
pleasing--harder than for a man to feel 

thus4 ,i would tell why1 if it were     
necessary-- for there is a bundle of    
very interesting philosophy tied up in  
the matter--but ,i will content myself  
with stating the fact1 and permitting my
 readers to reason about it as they     
will4  ,now1 if a homely woman1 soured  
and discouraged by her lot1 becomes     
misanthropic and complaining1 she will  
be as little loved as she is admired2   
but if she accepts her lot              
good-naturedly1 makes up her mind to be 
happy1 and is determined to be agreeable
 in all her relations to society1 she   
will be everywhere surrounded by loving 
and sympathetic hearts1 and find herself
 a greater favorite than she would be   
were she beautiful4 ,a woman who is     
entirely beyond the reach of the        
jealousy of her own sex1 is an          
exceedingly fortunate woman2 and if     
personal homeliness has won for her this
 immunity1 then homeliness has given her
 much to be thankful for4 ,a homely     
woman who ignores her face and form1    

cultivates her mind and manners1        
good-naturedly gives up all pretension1 
and exhibits in all her life a true and 
a pure heart1 will have friends enough  
to compensate her entirely for the loss 
of a husband4 ,friendship is unmindful  
of faces1 in the selection of its       
objects1 even if love be somewhat       
particular1 and1 sometimes1 foolishly   
fastidious4  ,life is altogether too    
precious a gift to be thrown away4 ,a   
man who would permit a field to be      
overgrown with weeds and thorns simply  
because it would not naturally produce  
roses1 would be very foolish1           
particularly if the ground should only  
need cultivation to enable it to yield  
abundantly of corn4 ,far be it from me  
to depreciate physical symmetry and     
personal comeliness4 ,they are gifts of 
,god1 and they are very good2 but there 
are better things in this world than a  
good face1 and better things than the   
admiration which a good face wins4 ,i am
 more and more convinced1 as the years  

pass away1 that the choicest thing this 
world has for a man is affection--not   
any special variety of affection1 but   
the approval1 the sympathy1 and the     
devotion of true hearts4 ,it is not     
necessary that this affection come from 
the great and the powerful4 ,if it be   
genuine1 that is all the heart asks4 ,it
 does not criticize and graduate the    
value of the fountains from which it    
springs4 ,it is at these fountains      
particularly that the unfortunates of   
the world are permitted to drink4 ,they 
have only to accept cheerfully the      
conditions of their lot1 and to give    
free and full play to all that is good  
and generous in them1 to secure in an   
unusual degree the love of those into   
whose intimate society ,providence has  
thrown them4  ,it is stated by ,dr4     
,livingstone1 the celebrated explorer of
 ,africa1 that the blow of a lion's paw 
upon his shoulder1 which was so severe  
as to break his arm1 completely         
annihilated fear2 and he suggests that  

it is possible that ,providence has     
mercifully arranged1 that all those     
beasts that prey upon life shall have   
power to destroy the sting of death in  
the animals which are their natural     
victims4 ,i do not believe that this    
power is mercifully assigned to beasts  
of prey alone1 but that the misfortunes 
that assail our limbs and forms1 in     
whatever shape and at whatever time they
 may come1 bring with them something    
which lightens the blow1 or obviates the
 pain1 if we will accept it4 ,there is a
 calm consciousness in every soul1      
however harshly the lion's paw may fall 
upon the body which it inhabits1 that it
 is itself invulnerable--that whatever  
may be the condition of the body1 the   
soul cannot be injured by physical forms
 or forces4  ,physical calamity never   
comes with the power to extinguish that 
which is essential to the highest       
manhood and womanhood1 and never fails  
to bring with it a motive for the       
adjustment of the soul to its           

conditions4 ,the little boy whose ,hail 
,columbia has been ringing in my ears   
all day1 accepted the conditions of his 
life1 and the sting of his calamity has 
departed4 ,it is pleasant to say to him1
 and to all the brotherhood and         
sisterhood of ugliness and lameness1    
that there is every reason to believe   
that there is no such thing in heaven as
 a one-legged or a club-footed soul--no 
such thing as an ugly or a misshapen    
soul--no such thing as a blind or a deaf
 soul--no such thing as a soul with     
tainted blood in its veins2 and that out
 of these imperfect bodies will spring  
spirits of consummate perfection and    
angelic beauty--a beauty chastened and  
enriched by the humiliations that were  
visited upon their earthly habitation4  
,,lesson ,,iii4  ,,animal ,,content4    
,by sports like these are all their     
cares beguiled2    ,the sports of       
children satisfy the child4 ,,goldsmith4
    ,ay1 give me back the joyous hours  
,when ,i1 myself1 was ripening too2     

,when song1 the fount flung up its      
showers    ,of beauty1 ever fresh and   
new4 ,,goethe',s ,,faust4  ,i have been 
watching a family of kittens1 engaged in
 their exquisitely graceful play4 ,near 
them lay their mother1 stretched at her 
length upon the flagging1 taking her    
morning nap1 and warming herself in the 
sun4 ,she had eaten her breakfast1      
7provided by no care of her own1 but at 
my expense17 had seen her little family 
fed1 and having nothing further to      
attend to1 had gone off into a doze4    
,what a blessed freedom from care6      
,think of a family of four children1    
with no frocks to be made for them1 no  
hair to brush1 no shoes to provide1 no  
socks to knit and mend1 no school-books 
to buy1 and no nurse6 ,think of a living
 being with the love of offspring in her
 bosom1 and a multitude of marvellous   
instincts in her nature1 yet knowing    
nothing of ,god1 thinking not of the    
future1 without a hope or an            
expectation1 or a doubt or a fear1      

passing straight on to annihilation6 ,at
 the threshold of this destiny the      
little kittens were carelessly playing2 
and they are doubtless still playing1   
while ,i write4 ,they have no lessons to
 learn1 they do not have to go to       
,sunday-school1 they entertain no       
prejudices1 except against dogs which   
occasionally dodge into the yard2 and ,i
 judge1 by the familiar way in which    
they play with their mother's ears1 and 
pounce upon her tail1 that they are not 
in any degree oppressed by a sense of   
the respect due to a parent4 ,cat and   
kittens will eat1 and frolic1 and sleep1
 through their brief life1 and then they
 will curl up in some dark corner and   
die4  ,i remember that in one of the    
late ,mr4 ,joseph ,c4 ,neal's ,charcoal 
,sketches1 he puts into the mouth of a  
very sad and seedy loafer the expression
 of a wish that he were a pig1 and a    
statement of the reasons for the wish4  
,these reasons1 as ,i recall them1      
related to the freedom of the pig from  

the peculiar trials and troubles of     
humanity4 ,pigs do not have to work for 
a living2 they undertake no enterprizes1
 and of course fail in none2 they eat   
and sleep through a period of months1   
and then come the knife and a grunt1 and
 that is the last of them4 ,now ,i      
suppose this thought of ,mr4 ,neal's    
loafer has been shared by millions of   
men4 ,not that everybody has at some    
time in his life wished he were a pig1  
but that nearly everybody who has had   
his share of the troubles and           
responsibilities of life1 has looked    
upon simple animal carelessness and     
content with a certain degree of envy4  
,it is not necessary to go among brutes 
for instances of this animal content4   
,it can be found among men4 ,who does   
not know good-natured1 ignorant1 healthy
 fellows1 who will work all day in the  
field1 whistle all the way homeward1 eat
 hugely of course food1 sleep like logs1
 and take no more interest in the great 
questions which agitate the most of us1 

than the pigs they feed1 and that1 in   
return1 feed them8 ,who has not sighed1 
as he has seen how easily the simple    
wants of certain simple natures are     
supplied8 ,i remember an old man who    
quite unexpectedly was drafted into the 
grand jury1 which sat in the county town
 less than ten miles distant from his   
home2 and this was the great event of   
his life4 ,he never tired of talking    
about it--7never tired himself1 ,i      
mean17 and a stranger could not carry on
 a conversation with him for five       
minutes1 without hearing of something   
which occurred when ,i was in           
,blanktown1 on the ,grand ,jury4 ,it is 
doubtful whether ,napoleon ever         
contemplated a victory with the         
complacent satisfaction that filled my  
old friend when he alluded to his       
connection with the grand jury1 and     
emphasized the adjective which magnified
 the jury and glorified him4  ,i confess
 that1 when ,i pass through a rural     
town1 and see the laborers among the    

corn1 and the boys driving their cattle1
 and the girls busy in the dairies1 and 
life passing away quietly1 ,i cannot    
avoid a twinge of regret that it would  
be impossible for me to be content with 
the kind of life that ,i see around me1 
especially as ,i know that there is one 
kind of pleasure--negative1 perhaps1    
rather than positive--which that kind of
 life enjoys1 and in which ,i can never 
share4 ,relief from great               
responsibilities1 and contentment with  
humble clothing1 humble fare1 humble    
society1 humble aims and ambitions1     
humble means and humble labors--ah6 how 
many weary1 overloaded men--how many    
disappointed hearts--have sighed for    
such a boon1 and sighed knowing they    
could never receive it4  ,it has been   
the habit of poets to surround simple   
pleasures and pursuits with the golden  
atmosphere of romance1--not because they
 would enjoy such pleasures and pursuits
 at all1 but rather because they are    
forever beyond their possession4 ,a poet

 is always reaching toward the          
unattainable1 and he may reach forward  
to the perfections of a life of which   
the best that he sees around him is an  
intimation1 or backward to the animal   
content of a life as yet undisturbed by 
the intimation of something better4     
,bucolics are very sweet1 but their     
writers do not believe in them4 ,a      
nut-brown maid1 with bare1 unconscious  
feet and ancles1 is very pretty in a    
picture1 but the man who painted her    
ascertained that she was green1 and not 
the most entertaining of companions4    
,the truth is1 that when we have got    
along so far that we can perceive that  
which is poetical and picturesque in the
 simplest form of rustic life1 we have  
got too far along to enjoy it4  ,i      
suppose that much of the charm which    
simple animal content has for us1 is    
connected with the memories of          
childhood4 ,we can all recall a period  
of our lives when there was joy in the  
consciousness of living--when animal    

life1 in its spontaneous overflow1      
flooded all our careless hours with its 
own peculiar pleasure4 ,the light was   
pleasant to our eyes1 vigorous appetite 
and digestion made ambrosia of the      
homeliest fare1 the simplest play       
brought delight1 and life--all          
untried--lay spread out before us in one
 long1 golden dream4 ,we now watch our  
children at their sports1 and see but   
little difference between their sources 
of happiness and those which supply the 
kittens in their play4 ,pleased with a  
rattle1 tickled with a straw1 they skip 
from pleasure to pleasure1 and find     
delight in the impulsive exercise of    
their little powers4 ,we were once like 
them4 ,life was once as fresh1 and      
flowing1 and impulsive1 and objectless1 
as it is with them2 and when we are     
weary and oppressed with labor1 and     
loaded down with responsibility1 and    
filled with thoughts of the great       
destiny before us1 we turn our eyes     
backward with a sigh for days once ours1

 but lost forever4 ,lost forever6 ,this 
is the romantic pain that fills us in   
all our contemplations of simple animal 
content4 ,it is lost to us1 because we  
are lost to it4 ,like a passenger far   
out upon the sea1 adventuring upon a    
long voyage1 we look back upon the      
fading hills of our native land1 and    
sigh to think that the breeze which     
bears us away can never bring us back4  
,the question comes to us3 ,what is     
there in our present life to repay us   
for this loss8 ,there are multitudes who
 can ask this question1 and answer      
honestly1 ,nothing4 ,it is sad1 but     
true1 that countless men and women have 
never found any thing in life which     
compensates them for the loss of the    
simple animal enjoyment and content of  
childhood4 ,sickness1 perhaps1 has      
imposed upon them years of pain4        
,poverty has condemned them to labor    
through every waking hour to win        
sustenance for themselves and their     
dependents4 ,the heart has been cheated 

of its idol4 ,friends have proved false1
 and fortune fickle4 ,life has gone     
wrong through all the avenues of their  
being4 ,yet there are others who1 while 
looking with pleasure upon the innocent 
sports of animal life1 and recalling the
 simple joys of childhood with delight1 
are content with the lot of manhood and 
womanhood1 and would look upon a return 
to their simpler age as the greatest    
calamity that could be inflicted upon   
them4 ,with brows wrinkled by care and  
toil1 and heads silvered by premature   
age1 and great burdens upon heart and   
brain1 they glory in a life within and  
before them1 by the side of which the   
life of childhood is as flavorless and  
frivolous as that of a fly4  ,i have    
been much impressed by a passage in the 
,recreations of a ,country              
,parson1--which1 by the way1 is one of  
the best and cleverest books of its kind
 in the ,english language--in which this
 question is incidentally touched upon1 
and so happily touched upon1 that ,i    

cannot refrain from transcribing the    
whole passage4 ,the writer represents   
himself to be seated upon a manger1     
writing upon the flat place between his 
horse's eyes1 while the docile animal's 
nose is between his knees2 and it is the
 horse that he addresses3--  ,for you1  
my poor fellow-creature1 ,i think with  
sorrow as ,i write here upon your head1 
there remains no such immortality as    
remains for me4 ,what a difference      
between us6 ,you to your sixteen or     
eighteen years here1 and then           
oblivion6--,i to my threescore and ten1 
and then eternity6 ,yes1 the difference 
is immense2 and it touches me to think  
of your life and mine1 of your doom and 
mine4 ,i know a house where at morning  
and evening prayer1 when the household  
assembles1 among the servants there     
always walks in a shaggy little dog1 who
 listens with the deepest attention and 
the most solemn gravity to all that is  
said1 and then1 when prayers are over1  
goes out again with his friends4 ,i     

cannot witness that silent procedure    
without being much moved by the sight4  
,ah6 my fellow-creature1 this is        
something in which you have no part6    
,made by the same hand1 breathing the   
same air1 sustained like us by food and 
drink1 you are witnessing an act of ours
 which relates to interests that do not 
concern you1 and of which you have no   
idea4 ,and so here we are1 you standing 
at the manger1 old boy1 and ,i sitting  
upon it2 the mortal and the immortal1   
close together2 your nose on my knee1 my
 paper on your head2 yet with something 
between us broader than the broad       
,atlantic4  ,here we find one man       
pitying his poor1 dumb1 unconscious     
companion1 and the little dog that trots
 in to attend the morning prayers1      
because their life is so brief1 and1    
more particularly1 because it is so     
insignificant4 ,he recognizes the feeble
 likeness between himself and them1 and 
appreciates also the tremendous         
difference4 ,he does not think that he  

would be glad to exchange his lot of    
labor and care for their carelessness   
and content1 but1 reaching forward to   
grasp the hand of an immortal destiny1  
he sorrows that he must leave his dumb  
servants and companions behind him4     
,and this is the normal view of the     
question4 ,we rise out of semi-conscious
 infancy into a life of the senses1     
which goes on to perfection in our      
childhood4 ,we come into a state in     
which the mechanism of the body enjoys  
its freest play1 in which the senses    
imbibe their sweetest satisfactions1 and
 in which life either swells into       
irrepressible overflowings1 or subsides 
into careless content4 ,looking at her  
children at this period of their life1  
many a mother has said1 ,let them play  
while they can2 let them be merry while 
they may2 for they are seeing their     
happiest days4 ,but this animal life is 
not all4 ,in its perfection it is very  
beautiful1 and it is good because ,god  
made it2 but it is only the coarse basis

 upon which rises a shaft1 whiter than  
marble--wrought with divine             
devices--crowned by the light of        
,heaven4 ,it is only those who have     
failed to secure a distinct perception  
of the highest aspect of human life1 and
 of that which makes it                 
characteristically human life1 who can  
say to a child that he is seeing his    
happiest days4  ,i remember with entire 
distinctness the moment when the        
consciousness possessed me that my      
childhood was transcended by initial    
manhood1 and ,i can never forget the    
pang that moment brought me4 ,it was on 
a bright1 moonlight night1 in midwinter1
 when my mates1 boisterous with life1   
were engaged in their usual games in the
 snow1 and ,i had gone out expecting to 
share in their enjoyment4 ,i had not    
played1 or rather tried to play1 five   
minutes1 before ,i found that there was 
nothing in the play for me-- that ,i had
 absolutely exhausted play as the grand 
pursuit of my life4 ,never since has the

 wild laugh of boyhood sounded so vacant
 and hollow1 as it did to me that night4
 ,in an instant1 the invisible line was 
crossed which separated a life of purely
 animal enjoyment from a life of moral  
motive and responsibility1 and          
intellectual action and enterprise4 ,the
 old had passed away1 and ,i had entered
 that which was new2 and ,i turned my   
steps homeward1 leaving behind me all my
 companions1 to spend a quiet evening in
 the chimney-corner1 and dream of the   
realm that was opening before me4 ,such 
a moment as this comes really1 though   
not always consciously1 to every man and
 woman4 ,to-day we are children2        
to-morrow we are not4 ,to-day we stand  
in life's vestibule2 to-morrow we are in
 the temple1 awed by the sweep of the   
arches over us1 humbled by the cross    
that fronts us1 and smitten with        
mysteries that breathe upon us from the 
choir1 or gaze at us from the flaming   
windows4  ,manhood and womanhood have   
their infancy entirely distinct from the

 infancy of childhood4 ,the child is    
born into the world a simple1 animal    
life--less helpful than a lamb1 or a    
calf1 or a kitten4 ,there is no power in
 it1 and but little of instinct4 ,there 
is no form of life1 bursting caul or    
shell1 that awakes in vital air to such 
stupid1 vacant helplessness1 as a baby4 
,it is out of this lump of clay1 with   
its bones only half hardened1 and its   
muscles little more than pulp1 and its  
brain no more intelligent than an       
uncooked dumpling1 that childhood is to 
be made4 ,and this childhood consists of
 little more than a well-developed      
animal organism4 ,nature keeps the child
 playing--makes it play in the open     
air--impels it to bring into free and   
joyous use all the powers of its little 
frame--and when that is done1 and the   
procreative faculty has crowned all1 the
 child is born again1 and comes into a  
new infancy--the infancy of manhood and 
womanhood4 ,here a new life opens4 ,that
 which gave satisfaction before1 gives  

satisfaction no longer4 ,love takes new 
and deeper channels4 ,ambition fixes its
 eye upon other and higher objects4     
,fresh motives address the soul1 and    
urge it into new enterprises4 ,great    
cares and responsibilities settle slowly
 down upon its shoulders1 and it braces 
itself up to endure them4 ,it apprehends
 ,god and its relations to ,him1 and to 
its fellows2 it confronts destiny2 it   
arms itself for the conflicts of life2  
it prepares for the struggle which it   
knows will issue in a grateful success  
or a sad disappointment2 in short1 it   
grows from man's infancy into man's full
 estate4  ,now the reason why a mother  
looks with a sigh upon her children1 and
 says that they are seeing the happiest 
days of their life1 is that she has     
never become a true woman4 ,she has     
never grown out of the infancy of her   
womanhood4 ,she has never comprehended  
what a glorious thing it is to be a     
woman--she has not comprehended what it 
is to be a woman at all4 ,what can be   

that woman's ideas of life1 who thinks  
and declares that the happiest moments  
of her experience were those which were 
filled with the frolic of animal life8  
,if ,i felt like this1 ,i should wish   
that my children had been born rabbits1 
or squirrels1 or lambs1 or kittens1     
because they1 having enjoyed the        
pleasures of the animal1 will never     
awake to the woes of another type of    
life4 ,the real reason why any man sings
 from the heart1    ,o1 would ,i were a 
boy again1  is1 that he is stuck--to use
 a homely but expressive word-- between 
boyhood and manhood1 and1 not feeling up
 to his position1 has a very strong     
disposition to back out of it4 ,the man 
who really wishes he were a boy1 is     
either painfully conscious of the loss  
of the purity of his boyhood1 or he has 
the cowardly disposition to shirk the   
responsibilities of his life4 ,the      
romantic regard which we all entertain  
for the simple animal content and joy of
 childhood1 is a very different thing to

 this4 ,it was ,mr4 ,neal's loafer that 
really wished he were a pig2 and it is a
 loafer always who would retire from    
man's duties and estate1 into the       
content either of childhood or          
kittenhood4  ,it is very natural that a 
man should be blinded and pained by     
passing from a shaded room into dazzling
 sunlight4 ,it is a serious thing to    
leap from a luxurious1 enervating warm  
bath into cold water4 ,all sudden       
transitions are shocking2 and ,god has  
contrived the transitions of our lives  
so that they shall be mainly gradual4   
,it is not to be wondered at that many  
men and women1 by having the            
responsibilities of men and women thrust
 upon them too early1 are shocked1 and  
look back upon the shady places they    
have left1 and long to rest their eyes  
there4 ,it is not strange that men      
recoil from a plunge into the world's   
cold waters1 and long to creep back into
 the bath from which they have suddenly 
risen4 ,but that man or woman1 having   

fully passed into the estate of man and 
woman1 should desire to become children 
again1 is impossible4 ,it is only the   
half-developed1 the badly-developed1 the
 imperfectly nurtured1 the              
mean-spirited1 and the demoralized1 who 
look back to the innocence1 the         
helplessness1 and the simple animal joy 
and content of childhood with genuine   
regret for their loss4 ,i want no better
 evidence that a person's life is       
regarded by himself as a failure1 than  
that furnished by his honest willingness
 to be restored to his childhood4 ,when 
a man is ready to relinquish the power  
of his mature reason1 his strength and  
skill for self-support1 the independence
 of his will and life1 his bosom        
companion and children1 his interest in 
the stirring affairs of his time1 his   
part in deciding the great questions    
which agitate his age and nation1 his   
intelligent apprehension of the         
relations which exist between himself   
and his ,maker1 and his rational hope of

 immortality--if he have one--for the   
negative animal content1 and frivolous  
enjoyments of a child1 he does not      
deserve the name of a man2--he is a     
weak1 unhealthy1 broken-down creature1  
or a base poltroon4  ,yet ,i know there 
are those who will read this sentence   
with tears1 and with complaint4 ,i know 
there are those whose existence has been
 a long struggle with sickness and      
trial--whose lives have been crowded    
with great griefs and                   
disappointments--who sit in darkness and
 impotency while the world rolls by     
them4 ,they have seen no joy and felt no
 content since childhood1 and many of   
them look with genuine pity upon        
children1 because the careless creatures
 do not know into what a heritage of sin
 and sorrow they are entering4 ,i have  
only to say to them1 that the noblest   
exhibitions of manhood and womanhood ,i 
have ever seen1 or the world has ever   
seen1 have been among their number4 ,a  
woman with the hope of heaven in her    

eyes1 incorruptible virtue in her heart1
 and honesty in every endeavor1 has     
smiled serenely1 a million times in this
 world1 while her life and all its      
earthly expectations were in ruins4     
,patient sufferers upon beds of pain    
have forgotten childhood years ago1 and1
 feeding their souls on prayer1 have    
looked forward with unutterable joy to  
the transition from womanhood to        
angelhood4 ,men1 utterly forsaken by    
friends-- contemned1 derided1           
proscribed1 persecuted--have stood by   
their convictions with joyful heroism   
and calm content4 ,nay1 great multitudes
 have marched with songs upon their     
tongues to the rack and the stake4 ,the 
noblest spectacle the world affords is  
that of a man or woman1 rising superior 
to sorrow and suffering-- transforming  
sorrow and suffering into               
nutriment--accepting those conditions of
 their life which ,providence           
prescribes1 and building themselves up  
into an estate from whose summit the    

step is short to a glorified humanity4  
,before me hangs the portrait of an old 
man--the only man ,i ever loved with a  
devotion that has never faded1 though   
long years have passed away since he    
died4 ,his calm blue eyes look down upon
 me1 and ,i look into them1 and through 
them ,i look into a golden memory--into 
a life of self-denial--into a meek1     
toiling1 honest1 heroic ,christian      
manhood--into an uncomplaining          
spirit--into a grateful heart--into a   
soul that never sighed over a lost joy1 
though all his earthly enterprises      
miscarried4 ,the tracery of care and of 
sickness is upon his haggard features1  
but ,i see in them1 and in the soul     
which they represent to me1 the majesty 
of manliness4 ,while ,i look1 the       
kittens still play at the door1 and the 
noise of shouting children is in the    
street2 but ah6 how shallow is the life 
they represent1 compared with that of   
which this dumb canvas tells me6 ,it is 
better to be a man or a woman1 than to  

be a child4 ,it is better to be an angel
 than to be either4 ,let us look        
forward--never backward4     ,,lesson   
,,iv4  ,,reproduction ,,in ,,kind4      
,whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he 
also reap4    ,,st4 ,,paul ,,to ,,the   
,,galatians4    ,ye shall know them by  
their fruits3 ,do men gather grapes of  
thorns1 or figs of thistles8  ,,st4     
,,matthew',s ,,gospel4  ,it was fitting 
that one of the most characteristic and 
beautiful laws of life should be        
announced in the opening chapter of the 
,holy ,bible4 ,it was clothed in the    
form of an ordinance1 as became it3 ,let
 the earth bring forth the living       
creature after his kind1 and every thing
 that creepeth upon the earth1 after his
 kind4 ,from that day to this1 every    
living thing--beast1 bird and insect1   
tree1 shrub and plant--has produced     
after its kind4 ,it is a law that runs  
through all animal and vegetable life4  
,each family in the great world of      
living forms was created for a special  

purpose1 and was intended to remain pure
 and distinctive until the termination  
of its mission4 ,whenever the family    
boundaries are overstepped1 the curse of
 nature is breathed upon the generative 
functions1 and the illegitimate product 
dies out1 or subsides into hopeless     
degeneration4 ,the mule is a monster1   
and has no progeny4  ,a plant1 or a     
tree1 never forgets itself4 ,cheat it of
 its root1 and the stem remains         
faithful4 ,the minutest twig1 put out to
 nurse upon the arm of a foreign mother1
 feels the thrill of the great primal   
law in its filmiest fibre1 and breathes 
in every expression of its life its     
fidelity4 ,if you will walk with me into
 the garden1 ,i will show you a         
mountain-ash in full bloom2 but on the  
top of it you will see a strange little 
cluster of pear-blossoms4 ,a twig from a
 ,seckel pear-tree was1 two or three    
years since1 engrafted there4 ,it had a 
hard time in uniting its being to that  
of the alien ash1 but it loved life1 and

 so1 at length1 it consented to join    
itself to the transplanted forest tree4 
,it was weak and alone1 but it kept its 
law4 ,spring bathed the ash with its own
 peculiar bloom1 and autumn hung it with
 its clusters of scarlet berries1 and it
 was hidden from sight by the redundant 
foliage1 but it kept its law4 ,the roots
 of the mountain-ash1 blindly reaching  
in the ground and imbibing its juices1  
knew nothing of the little orphaned twig
 above1 that waited for its food2 but   
they could not cheat it of its law4 ,up 
to a certain point of a certain bough   
the rising fluids came under the law of 
the mountain-ash1 and there they found a
 gateway1 guarded by an angel that gave 
them a new commandment4 ,thus           
far--mountain-ash3 beyond--,seckel pear2
 and if1 in ,october1 you will walk in  
the garden again with me1 ,i will show  
you among the scarlet berries1 bending  
heavily toward you1 the clustered       
succulence of the ,seckel4  ,a seedsman 
may cheat you1 but a seed never does4   

,if you plant corn1 it never comes up   
potatoes4 ,if you sow wheat1 it never   
comes up rye4 ,wrapped up in every      
capsule1 bound up in every kernel1      
packed into every minutest germ1 is this
 law1 written by ,god at the beginning1 
,produce thou after thy kind4 ,so the   
whole living world goes on producing    
after its kind4 ,year after year we     
visit the seedsman1 and read the labels 
on his drawers and packages1 and bear   
home and plant in our gardens the little
 homely germs that keep ,god's law so   
well2 and summer rewards our trust in   
them with beautiful flowers1 and autumn 
with bountiful fruition4 ,robins sang   
the same song to the ,pilgrim ,fathers  
that they sing to us4 ,the may-flower   
breathes the same fragrance now that it 
breathed in the fingers of ,rose        
,standish2 and man and woman1 producing 
after their kind1 are the same to-day   
that they were three thousand years ago4
  ,now there is a significance in all   
the laws of material life1 above and    

beyond their special office4 ,they do   
the work they were set to do2 they rule 
the life they were appointed to rule2   
but the laws1 themselves1 belong to a   
family whose branches run through all   
intellectual1 moral1 and spiritual life4
 ,laws live in groups no less uniformly 
than the existences which they inform   
and govern4 ,it is a law1 both of animal
 and vegetable structures1 that they    
shall grow by what they feed on2 but    
this law passes the bounds of matter1   
and finds its widest meaning and its    
most extended application beyond4 ,the  
mind grows by what it feeds on2 the     
heart grows by what it feeds on2 love1  
hate1 jealousy1 revenge1 fortitude1     
courage1 grow by what they feed on2     
spirituality grows by what spirituality 
feeds on4 ,wherever growth goes1 through
 all the realm of ,god1 this law goes2  
and the law that every thing that       
produces shall produce after its kind1  
is just as universal as this4 ,it begins
 in material life1 and runs up through  

all life4 ,rather1 perhaps1 ,i should   
say1 that it begins in spiritual life1  
and seeks embodiment in material life1  
so that we may apprehend it4 ,the clouds
 were in heaven before there was any    
rain1 and the rain comes down from      
heaven to tell us what the clouds are   
made of4 ,i might go further1 and say   
that every form1 of matter is but the   
embodiment of a divine thought1 and     
that1 with that thought1 there passes   
into matter the laws that reside in     
divine things of corresponding nature   
and office4  ,but ,i am becoming        
abstruse--quite too much so1 considering
 the simple1 practical truths to which  
,i am seeking to introduce my reader4 ,i
 have been thinking how1 in accordance  
with this law of which we are talking1  
our moods1 our passions1 our sympathies1
 our moral frames and conditions1       
reproduce themselves1 after their kind1 
in the minds and lives around us4 ,i    
call my child to my knee in anger2 ,i   
strike him a hasty blow that carries    

with it the peculiar sting of anger2 ,i 
speak a loud reproof that bears with it 
the spirit of anger2 and ,i look in vain
 for any relenting in his flashing eyes1
 flushed face1 and compressed lips4 ,i  
have made my child angry1 and my        
uncontrolled passion has produced after 
its kind4 ,i have sown anger1 and ,i    
have reaped anger instantaneously4      
,perhaps ,i become still more angry1 in 
consequence of the passion manifested by
 my child1 and ,i speak and strike      
again4 ,he is weak and ,i am strong2    
but1 though he bow his head1 crushed    
into silence1 ,i may be sure that there 
is a sullen heart in the little bosom1  
and anger the more bitter because it is 
impotent4 ,i put the child away from me1
 and think of what ,i have done4 ,i am  
full of relentings4 ,i long to ask his  
pardon1 for ,i know that ,i have        
offended and deeply injured one of      
,christ's little ones4 ,i call him to me
 again1 press his head to my breast1    
kiss him1 and weep4 ,no word is spoken1 

but the little bosom heaves1 the little 
heart softens1 the little eyes grow     
tenderly penitent1 the little hands come
 up and clasp my neck1 and my relentings
 and my sorrow have produced after their
 kind4 ,the child is conquered1 and so  
am ,i4  ,if ,i utter fretful words1 they
 come back to me like echoes4 ,if ,i    
bristle all over with irritability1 the 
quills will begin to rise all about me4 
,one thoroughly irritable person in a   
breakfast-room spoils coffee and toast1 
sours milk1 and destroys appetite for a 
whole family4 ,he produces after his    
kind4  ,generally1 a man has around him 
those who are like him4 ,if he be a man 
of strong nature and positive qualities1
 he will plant his moods and grow them  
in the natures next to him4 ,of course  
there must be exceptions to this rule1  
because the will is free and man is     
reasonable1 and the motive and power to 
pluck up unwelcome seed1 and unpleasant 
growths1 inheres in all men4 ,i have    
known a good-natured man to live with a 

pettish1 ill-natured1 jealous1          
fault-finding wife through all the years
 of my acquaintance with him1 he        
meantime growing no worse1 and she      
growing no better4 ,they had voluntarily
 and effectually shut themselves each   
from the influence of the other4 ,he had
 closed his spirit against that which   
was bad in her1 and she had closed her  
spirit against that which was good in   
him2 so she went on fretting through    
life1 and he very good-naturedly        
laughing at her4 ,we see this thing     
through all society4 ,we see innocent   
girls grow up into virtue1 though       
surrounded on every side by vicious     
example4 ,we see natures and characters 
everywhere which refuse to receive the  
seed that falls upon them from the      
natures and characters of others2 but   
this makes nothing against the          
universality of the law we are          
considering4 ,generally1 ,i repeat1 a   
man has around him those who are like   
him4 ,the soil of a social circle is    

usually open1 and whatever falls into it
 produces after its kind1 whether it be 
good nature or ill nature1 purity or    
impurity1 faith or skepticism1 love or  
hate4  ,it would appear1 therefore1 that
 there is no way by which we can        
surround ourselves by good society so   
readily as by being good ourselves4 ,if 
we plant good seed1 we may calculate    
with a great degree of certainty upon   
securing good fruit4 ,if ,i plant       
frankness and open-heartedness1 ,i      
expect to reap them2 and ,i have no     
right to expect to reap them unless ,i  
plant them4 ,if ,i go to a man with my  
heart in my hand1 ,i have good reason   
for expecting to meet a man with his    
heart in his hand4 ,frankness begets    
frankness1 just as naturally and just as
 certainly1 under the proper conditions1
 as like produces like in the animal and
 vegetable kingdoms4 ,there are men who 
do every thing by indirection who meet  
one as warily as if words were traps2   
and pitfalls who manage a friendly      

interview as a general would manage a   
campaign2 and if they make their        
demonstration first1 we are placed upon 
our guard4 ,we unconsciously become wary
 and distrustful4 ,they plant distrust  
and secretiveness1 and they produce in  
us after their kind4 ,no man can be     
treated frankly in this world unless he 
himself be frank4 ,if we would win      
confidence to ourselves1 we must put    
confidence in others4 ,the soul is like 
a mirror1 reflecting that which stands  
before it4  ,the young naturally take on
 the moods and accept and reflect the   
influences around them more readily than
 the old1 just as a new piece of land   
will produce a better crop than one     
which is worn or pre-occupied4 ,a virgin
 mind is like a virgin soil4 ,it        
contains all the elements of fertility1 
and is adapted to the production of any 
crop4 ,it has been exhausted in no      
department of its constitution4 ,it is  
not occupied by roots1 and shaded by    
foliage4 ,it is not turf-bound and dry2 

but it is soft and open1 and clean and  
moist1 and ready for the reception of   
any seed that may fall upon it4 ,until  
age brings individuality1 the mind seems
 to have little choice as to what it    
will receive4 ,then1 indeed1 it does    
reject much seed that falls upon it1 and
 much fails to take root because of the 
pre-occupation of the surface4 ,a       
sensual seed is planted in the soul of a
 young man1 and it springs up readily1  
and produces after its kind2 but the    
same seed tossed upon an older soil     
fails to sink and germinate1 because the
 surface is pre-occupied1 or1 more      
frequently1 because that peculiar       
element on which the germ must rely for 
quickening and sustentation has been    
exhausted4 ,some manly or ,christian    
grace falls upon a young mind1 and      
quickly strikes root and rises into     
flower and fruit2 while the same grace  
thrown upon an adult mind would fail to 
reach the soil1 through the vices that  
cumber and choke it4 ,it is thus that   

home and the school-room are literally  
seminaries--places where seed is sown-- 
and it is in these that we expect and   
intend that every seed shall produce    
after its kind4 ,let us talk about this 
a little4  ,i once heard a person say   
that one of his acquaintances1 whom he  
named1 had no moral right to have a     
child4 ,why was this harsh judgment     
uttered8 ,because he was hereditarily   
scrofulous1 and would necessarily entail
 upon his offspring the family taint4   
,if there were even a show of justice in
 this1 what must be said of a parent who
 does not possess a single moral        
quality1 that even he1 in the           
selfishness of his parental love1 would 
desire to see implanted in his child8   
,how many homes are scattered over      
,christendom in which no good seed is   
sown6 ,how many selfish1 niggardly1     
vicious parents are there1 who1         
producing after their kind1 by          
generation and by influence1 are filling
 the world with selfish1 niggardly1 and 

vicious children6 ,how many homes are   
there in which the gentle words of love 
are never heard2 in which the tender    
graces of a ,christian heart are never  
unfolded2 in which a prayer is never    
uttered6 ,how many fathers are there    
whose lips are black with profanity and 
foul with obscenity1 and whose lives are
 mean and unwholesome6 ,how many mothers
 are there whose tongues are nimble with
 scandal and bitter with scolding1 and  
whose brains are busy with vanities and 
jealousies6 ,ah6 if there be any man or 
woman in this world who has no moral    
right to have a child1 it is one who has
 not a single trait of character        
desirable to be reproduced in a child4  
,scrofula may be bad1 but sin is worse4 
,bodily taint may be terrible1 but      
spiritual taint is horrible4  ,it is a  
general truth1 under the law that every 
thing produces after its kind1 that     
children become what their parents are4 
,a simple people1 virtuous and healthy1 
will produce virtuous1 healthy1 and     

true-hearted children1 ,a luxurious     
people--lazy1 sensual1 wasteful--will   
produce children like themselves4 ,if we
 go through the vicious quarters of a   
great city1 where licentiousness and    
drunkenness and beastly vices prevail1  
we shall find that though all die before
 old age1 the communities are abundantly
 recruited by the children which they   
produce4 ,men1 principles1 habits1      
ideas1 vices1 all have children1 whose  
features betray their parentage2 so that
 no parent has a right to expect a child
 to be better than its father and       
mother4 ,on the contrary1 he has every  
reason to believe that every thing that 
a child sees wrong in the parents1 will 
be imitated4 ,there is no way by which  
bad parents can bring up a family well4 
,there must be in the parental life good
 principles1 a sweet and equable temper1
 a tender and loving disposition1 a firm
 self-control1 a pleasant deportment1   
and a conscientious devotion to duty1 or
 these will not be found in the life of 

the children4 ,bad seed1 sown in the    
quick soil of a child's mind1 is sure to
 spring up1 and to bear fruit after its 
kind4 ,no sensible man ever dreams of   
gathering figs from thistles1 or grapes 
from bramble-bushes1 and no man has the 
slightest right to suppose that he can  
bring up a family to be better than he  
is4 ,the plant will be true to the seed4
  ,we are in the habit of hearing that  
the children of a certain neighborhood1 
or school1 or town1 are extraordinarily 
bad children4 ,great wonder is sometimes
 expressed in regard to such instances1 
when1 really1 they are not wonderful at 
all4 ,when children are unusually bad1  
parents are unusually bad1 or1 if they  
are not bad-hearted1 they are           
wrong-headed4 ,i ought1 perhaps1 to say 
here that ,i have known an irascible1   
tyrannical1 unjust and cruel            
school-teacher to spoil a neighborhood  
of children1 when the parents were      
without any special fault1 save that of 
failing to thrust him out of the charge 

which he had abused4 ,but usually the   
fault is at home4 ,if the seed planted  
there be good1 it will produce good     
fruit4 ,yet my reader will say that the 
best man he ever knew1 had the worst    
children he ever saw4 ,the truth of the 
statement is admitted1 but what do you  
know of the home life of that family8   
,how much unreasonable restraint has    
been exercised upon those children8     
,from how many exhibitions of stern and 
unrelenting injustice have these        
children suffered8 ,what laxity of      
discipline and carelessness of culture  
have reigned in that family8 ,i know    
many who seem to be excellent men in    
society1 but who are any thing but      
amiable men at home4 ,in one they are   
pleasant1 affable1 kind1 and charitable2
 in the other1 cross-grained1 hard1     
unkind1 and unjust4 ,i declare with all 
positiveness1 that when a family or a   
neighborhood of children is bad1 there  
is a reason for it outside of the       
children4 ,there are bad influences     

which descend upon them1 and work out   
their natural results in them4  ,it is  
astonishing to see how long a seed will 
lie in the ground without germinating1  
and how true it will remain to its kind 
through untold years4 ,cut down a pine  
forest1 where an oak has not been seen  
for a century1 and oak shrubbery will   
spring up4 ,heave out upon the surface a
 pile of earth that has lain hidden from
 the eyes of a dozen generations1 and   
forthwith it will grow green with weeds4
 ,plough up the prairie1 and turn under 
the grass and flowers that have grown   
there since the white settler can       
remember1 and there will spring from the
 inverted sod a strange growth that has 
had no representative in the sunlight   
for long ages4 ,soul and soil are alike 
in this4 ,i once heard a man say of his 
father1 who had been dead many years--,i
 hate him3 ,i hate his memory4 ,the     
words were spoken bitterly1 with a      
flushed face and angry eyes1 yet he who 
spoke them was one of the kindest and   

most placable of men4 ,deep down in his 
heart1 under love for his mother which  
was almost worship1 and under affection 
for wife1 children1 and sisters which   
was as deep as his nature1 and under    
multiplied friendships1 there had been  
planted this seed4 ,the father had      
treated the boy harshly and unjustly2   
and the young soul was stung as the     
tender fruit is stung by an insect4     
,where anger and resentment were sown1  
anger and resentment were ready to      
spring up the moment the seed was       
uncovered4 ,i have known men to carry   
through life a revenge planted in their 
hearts by some unjust and cruel         
schoolmaster4 ,how many men are there   
are in the world who have sworn to      
revenge themselves upon one who had     
stung them with anger or injustice when 
in childhood6  ,so we come to the grand 
lesson1 that if we would have good      
children1 we must ourselves be exactly  
what we would have them become2 if we   
would govern our families1 we must first

 govern ourselves2 if we would have only
 pleasant words greet our ears in the   
home circle1 we must speak only pleasant
 words4 ,we should see to it that we    
plant nothing1 the legitimate fruits of 
which we shall not be willing and glad  
to see borne in the lives of our        
children4 ,if our children are bad1 the 
fault is1 ninety-nine cases in a        
hundred1 our own1 in some way4 ,if we   
would reform society1 or make it better 
in any respect1 our quickest way to do  
it is to reform and make ourselves      
better4 ,if ,i would reap courtesy and  
hospitality and kindness and love1 ,i   
must plant them2 and it is the sum of   
all arrogance to assume that ,i have a  
right to reap them without planting     
them4 ,a man who receives courtesy      
without exercising it1 reaps that which 
he has not sown4 ,he is a thief1 and    
ought in justice to be kicked out of    
society4 ,blessings on the man who sows 
the seeds of a happy nature and a noble 
character broadcast wherever his feet   

wander1--who has a smile alike for joy  
and sorrow1 a tender word always for a  
child1 a compassionate utterance for    
suffering1 courtesy for friends and for 
strangers1 encouragement for the        
despairing1 an open heart for all--love 
for all--good words for all6 ,such seed 
produces after its kind in all soils1   
when it finds lodgment2 and that which  
the sower fails to reap1 passes into    
hands that are grateful for the largess4
     ,,lesson ,v4  ,,truth ,,and        
,,truthfulness4     ,for truth is as    
impossible to be soiled by any outward  
touch as a sunbeam4 ,,milton4    ,odds  
life6 must one swear to the truth of a  
song8 ,,matthew ,,prior4    ,get but the
 truth once uttered1 and 'tis like    ,a
 star new-born that drops into its      
place1    ,and which1 once circling in  
its placid round1    ,not all the tumult
 of the earth can shake4 ,,lowell4  ,one
 of the rarest powers possessed by man  
is the power to state a fact4 ,it seems 
a very simple thing to tell the truth1  

but1 beyond all question1 there is      
nothing half so easy as lying4 ,to      
comprehend a fact in its exact length1  
breadth1 relations1 and significance1   
and to state it in language that shall  
represent it with exact fidelity1 are   
the work of a mind singularly gifted1   
finely balanced1 and thoroughly         
practiced in that special department of 
effort4 ,the greatness of ,daniel       
,webster was more apparent in his power 
to state a fact1 or to present a truth1 
than in any other characteristic of his 
gigantic nature4 ,it was the power of   
truth that won for him his forensic     
victories4 ,whenever he was truest to   
truth1 then was truth truest to him4 ,he
 was a man who implicitly believed in   
the power of truth to take care of      
itself when it had been fairly          
presented2 and the failures of his life 
always grew out of his attempts to make 
falsehood look like truth--a field of   
effort in which the most gifted of his  
cotemporaries won the most brilliant of 

his triumphs4  ,the men are             
comparatively few who are in the habit  
of telling the truth4 ,we all lie1 every
 day of our lives--almost in every      
sentence we utter--not consciously and  
criminally1 perhaps1 but really1 in that
 our language fails to represent truth1 
and state facts correctly4 ,our truths  
are half-truths1 or distorted truths1 or
 exaggerated truths1 or sophisticated   
truths4 ,much of this is owing to       
carelessness1 much to habit1 and1 more  
than has generally been supposed1 to    
mental incapacity4 ,i have known eminent
 men who had not the power to state a   
fact1 in its whole volume and outline1  
because1 first1 they could not          
comprehend it perfectly1 and1 second1   
because their power of expression was   
limited4 ,the lenses by which they      
apprehended their facts were not        
adjusted properly1 so they saw every    
thing with a blur4 ,definite outlines1  
cleanly cut edges1 exact apprehension of
 volume and weight1 nice measurement of 

relations1 were matters outside of their
 observation and experience4 ,they had  
broad minds1 but bungling2 and their    
language was no better than their       
apprehensions--usually it was worse1    
because language is rarely as definite  
as apprehension4 ,men rarely do their   
work to suit them1 because their tools  
are imperfect4  ,there are men in all   
communities who are believed to be      
honest1 yet whose word is never taken as
 authority upon any subject4 ,there is a
 flaw or a warp somewhere in their      
perceptions1 which prevents them from   
receiving truthful impressions4 ,every  
thing comes to them distorted1 as       
natural objects are distorted by        
reaching the eye through wrinkled       
window-glass4 ,some are able to         
apprehend a fact and state it correctly1
 if it have no direct relation to       
themselves2 but the moment their        
personality1 or their personal interest1
 is involved1 the fact assumes false    
proportions and false colors4 ,i know a 

physician whose patients are always     
alarmingly sick when he is first called 
to them4 ,as they usually get well1 ,i  
am bound to believe that he is a good   
physician2 but ,i am not bound to       
believe that they are all as sick at    
beginning as he supposes them to be4    
,the first violent symptoms operate upon
 his imagination and excite his fears1  
and his opinion as to the degree of     
danger attaching to the diseases of his 
patients is not worth half so much as   
that of any sensible old nurse4 ,in     
fact1 nobody thinks of taking it all2   
and those who know him1 and who hear his
 sad representations of the condition of
 his patients1 show equal distrust of   
his word and faith in his skill1 by     
taking it for granted that they are in a
 fair way to get well4  ,it is          
impossible for bigots1 for men of one   
idea1 for fanatics1 for those who set   
boundaries to themselves in religious1  
social1 and political creeds1 for men   
who think more of their own selfish     

interests than they do of truth1 and for
 vicious men1 to speak the truth4 ,we   
are all1 ,i suppose1 bigots to a greater
 or less extent4 ,we all have a creed   
written in our minds1 or printed in our 
books2 and to this we are more or less  
blindly attached4 ,we set down an       
article of faith1 or adopt an opinion1  
and nothing is allowed to interfere with
 it4 ,if a sturdy fact comes along1 and 
asks admission1 we turn to our creed to 
see if we can safely entertain it4 ,if  
the creed says ,no1 we say ,no1 and the 
fact is turned out of doors1 and        
misrepresented after it is gone4 ,our   
creeds are our dwellings4 ,they come    
next to us1 and nothing can come to us1 
or go out from us1 without going through
 our creeds4 ,the simple fact of the    
death of ,jesus ,christ upon the cross1 
reaching the mind through various       
creeds1 and passing out again1 goes     
through as many phases as there are     
creeds1 ranging through a scale which at
 one extreme presents a ,god dying to   

redeem the lost millions of a world1    
and1 at the other1 a benevolent1        
sweet-tempered man1 yielding his life in
 testimony of the honesty of his        
teachings4  ,no new truth presents      
itself1 which does not have to run the  
gauntlet of our creeds4 ,if it get      
through alive1 and seem disposed to be  
peaceable1 and to remain subordinate to 
them1 then we let it live1 and receive  
it into respectable society2--otherwise1
 we entreat it shamefully4 ,sometimes   
the truth is too much for us1 and       
asserts its power to stand without our  
help1 and then we compromise with it4   
,the world will turn on its axis1 and   
wheel around its orbit1 though we stop  
the mouth of the profane wretch who     
declares it2 so1 after a while1 we get  
tired of fighting the fact1 and shape   
our creeds accordingly4 ,we fight the   
sturdy truths of geology1 because they  
interfere with our creeds1 but after    
awhile the sturdy truths of geology     
become too sturdy for us1 and then we   

begin to patronize them1 and to confer  
upon them the honor of harmonizing with 
our creeds4 ,a man who has adopted the  
creed of a materialist1 is entirely     
incompetent to receive1 entertain1 and  
represent a spiritual fact4 ,my creed is
 the window at which ,i sit1 and look at
 all the world of truth outside of me4  
,all truth is tinted by the medium      
through which it passes to reach my     
mind2 and such is my imperfection and my
 weakness1 that ,i could not raise my   
window immediately1 and place my soul in
 direct1 vital contact with the great   
atmosphere of truth1 if ,i would4  ,but 
if bigotry be such a bar to the correct 
perception of truth1 what shall be said 
of self-interest and personal vices of  
appetite and passion8 ,it is possible   
for no man who owns a slave and finds   
profit in such ownership1 to receive the
 truth touching the right of man to     
himself1 and the moral wrong of slavery4
 ,we have too much evidence that even   
creeds must bend to self-interest1 and  

that any traffic will be regarded as    
morally right which is pecuniarily      
profitable4 ,once1 in the creed of the  
slaveholders1 slavery was admitted to be
 wrong1 but that was when it was looked 
upon as temporary in its character1 and1
 on the whole1 evil in its results to   
all concerned4 ,now1 when it is sought  
to be made a permanent institution1     
because it seems to be the only source  
of the wealth of a section1 it has      
become right2 and even the slave-trade  
logically falls into the category of    
laudable and legitimate commerce4 ,it is
 impossible for a people who have       
allowed pecuniary interest to deprave   
their moral sense to this extent1 to    
perceive and receive any sound political
 truth1 or to apprehend the spirit and  
temper of those who are opposed to them4
 ,the same may be said of the liquor    
traffic4 ,the act of selling liquor is  
looked upon with horror by those who    
stand outside1 and who have an eye upon 
its consequences2 but the seller deems  

it legitimate1 and looks upon any       
interference with his sales as an       
infringement of his rights4 ,our selfish
 interest in any business1 or in any    
scheme of profit1 distorts all truth    
either directly or indirectly related to
 such business or scheme1 or living in  
its region and atmosphere4 ,the         
,president of the ,united ,states1 or   
the governor of the commonwealth1 may be
 an excellent man2 but if ,i want an    
office1 and he fails to appoint me to   
it1 why ,i don't exactly regard him as  
such4 ,he becomes to me a very ordinary 
and vulgar sort of man indeed2 but if he
 give me my office1 then1 though he may 
be all that his enemies think him1 he   
seems to me to be invested with a       
singular nobility of character that     
other people do not apprehend at all4   
,the vices of humanity are sad media    
through which to receive truth--often so
 opaque that no truth can reach the mind
 at all4 ,it is impossible for a man    
whose affections are bestialized1 whose 

practices are libertine1 and whose      
imaginations are all impure1 to receive 
the truth that there are such things as 
purity and virtue1 and that there are   
men and women around him who are        
virtuous and pure4 ,there is no truth   
which personal vice will not distort4   
,the approaches to a sensual mind are   
through the senses1 and the same may be 
said of all minds in a general way2 but 
the approaches to a sensual mind are    
only through the senses1 and they1 being
 perverted1 abused1 exhausted1 or unduly
 excited1 furnish the utterly unreliable
 avenues by which truth reaches the     
soul4 ,the grand reason why truth1      
published from the pulpit and the       
platform1 revealed in periodicals and   
books1 and embodied in pictures and     
statues1 works no greater changes upon  
the minds and morals of men1 is1 that it
 never gets inside of men in the shape  
in which it is uttered4 ,it passes      
through such media of bigotry1 or       
self-interest1 or vice1 that its        

identity and power are lost4  ,it is    
not1 therefore1 remarkable that so      
little truth is told when so little is  
received--that so little is expressed   
when so little is apprehended4 ,the     
largest field will not produce an       
oat-straw that will stand alone1 if     
there be no silica in the soil1 and the 
largest mind cannot express a pure truth
 if it has lived always so encased that 
pure truth could not find its way into  
it4 ,all truth reaches our minds through
 various media1 by which it is more or  
less colored and refracted2 and it is   
very rare that a man has the power to   
embody in language and utter a truth in 
the degree of perfection in which he    
received it4 ,as ,i said at beginning1  
the power to state a fact correctly1 or 
to express a pure truth1 is among the   
rarest gifts of man4 ,it never struck me
 that ,david was remarkably hasty1 when 
he said that all men were liars4 ,all   
men are liars1 in one respect or        
another4 ,they are divisible into       

various classes1 which may legitimately 
be mentioned under two heads1 viz41     
unconscious liars and conscious liars4  
,of those who lie1 and suppose they are 
telling the truth1 ,i have already      
spoken4 ,they are a large and most      
respectable class of people1 and their  
apology must be found in the theory ,i  
have advanced2 yet among these may be   
found men and women who will require all
 the amplitude of our mantles of charity
 to cover them4 ,i have been much       
impressed with a passage in ,dr4        
,bushnell's recent volume1 entitled     
,christian ,nurture1 which incidentally 
touches upon this subject1 in the       
writer's characteristically powerful    
way2 and as ,i cannot condense it1 ,i   
will copy it3  ,there is1 in some       
persons who appear in all other respects
 to be ,christian1 a strange defect of  
truth1 or truthfulness4 ,they are not   
conscious of it4 ,they would take it as 
a cruel injustice were they only to     
suspect their acquaintances of holding  

such an estimate of them4 ,and yet1     
there is a want of truth in every sort  
of demonstration they make4 ,it is not  
their words only that lie1 but their    
voice1 air1 action2 their every putting 
forth has a lying character4 ,the       
atmosphere they live in is an atmosphere
 of pretence4 ,their virtues are        
affectations4 ,their compassions and    
sympathies are the airs they put on4    
,their friendship is their mood1 and    
nothing more2 and yet they do not know  
it4 ,they mean1 it may be1 no fraud4    
,they only cheat themselves so          
effectually as to believe that what they
 are only acting is their truth4 ,and1  
what is difficult to reconcile1 they    
have a great many ,christian sentiments2
 they maintain prayer as a habit1 and   
will sometimes speak intelligently of   
matters of ,christian experience4  ,it  
was the oracular sage1 ,deacon ,bedott1 
who1 in view of the imperfections of his
 kind1 remarked several times in his    
life3 we are all poor creeturs--a remark

 that comes as near to being pure truth 
as any we meet with outside of the      
,bible and the standard treatises on    
mathematics4 ,we are1 indeed1 poor      
creatures4 ,our highest conceptions of  
truth are contemptible1 our best        
utterances fall short of our            
conceptions1 and our lives are poorer   
than our language4  ,of all conscious   
and criminal lying1 ,i know of none that
 exceeds in malignity and magnitude that
 of a political campaign4 ,in such a    
struggle1 men get in love with lies4    
,they seek apologies for the circulation
 of lies4 ,they hug lies to their hearts
 in preference to truth4 ,it is the     
habit of hopeful philosophers to enlarge
 upon the benefit to our people of the  
annual and quadrennial contests for     
place1 which occur in our country1 as if
 principles were the things really at   
stake1 and personalities were out of the
 question1 as the lying politicians     
would have us believe4 ,what1 in        
honesty1 can be said of the leading     

speakers and the leading presses which  
sustain a party in a contest for power1 
but that they studiously misrepresent   
their opponents1 misstate their own     
motives1 give currency to false         
accusations1 suppress truth that tells  
against them1 exaggerate the importance 
of that which favors them1 seize upon   
all plausible pretexts for fraud1 skulk 
behind subterfuges1 and lie outright    
when it is deemed necessary4 ,and what  
can be expected more and better than    
this1 when the leaders are              
office-seekers1 who live and thrive on  
the grand basilar lie that the motive   
which inspires all their action is a    
regard for the popular good8 ,of course 
,i speak generally4 ,there are          
politicians and presses that are above  
personal considerations2 but even these 
become infected with the prevalent      
poison of falsehood that is everywhere  
associated with their efforts4  ,the    
social lying of the world has found     
multitudinous satirists1 and furnished  

the staple of a whole school of writers4
 ,we touch our hats in token of respect 
to men whom in our hearts we despise4   
,we inquire tenderly for the health of  
persons for whom we do not care a straw4
 ,we who cannot afford it wear expensive
 clothing1 and display grand equipage1  
and give costly entertainments1 not     
because we enjoy it1 but because we wish
 to impress upon the world the belief   
that we can afford it4 ,it is our way of
 expressing a lie which seems to us     
important to the maintenance of our     
social standing4 ,we receive with a kiss
 a visitor whom we wish were in         
,greenland1 and betray her to the next  
who comes in4 ,we pretend to ourselves  
and our neighbors that there is nothing 
which we so much esteem as the simple   
friendships of life1 and the            
straight-forward love and hearty good   
will of the honest hearts around us1 yet
 when the rich and the titled are near1 
we are gladdened and flattered1 and look
 with supercilious contempt upon the    

humble friendships which we affected to 
cherish supremely4 ,in our conscience   
and judgment1 we appreciate the genuine 
values of social life1 and we profess in
 our language to hold them in just      
estimation1 but in our life and practice
 we honor that which is fictitious and  
conventional1 apprehending in our       
conscience and judgment that we are     
acting a lie4 ,socially ,i cannot but   
believe that there is far more of       
truthfulness in humble than in high     
life4 ,the more nearly we come down to  
hearty nature1 and the further we go    
from1 the artificial and conventional1  
the nearer do we come to truth4 ,truth  
is indeed at the bottom of this well1   
and not in the artificial wall that     
rises above it1 nor the buckets that go 
up and down as caprice or selfishness   
turns the windlass4  ,business lying is1
 after all1 the most universal of any4  
,it is confined to no age and no nation4
 ,solomon understood the world's great  
game when he wrote3 ,it is naught1 it is

 naught1 saith the buyer3 but when he is
 gone his way1 then he boasteth2 and    
from ,solomon's day down to ours1 buyers
 have depreciated that which they would 
purchase1 and then boasted of their     
bargains4 ,when two selfish persons meet
 on opposite sides of a counter1 there  
rises between them a sort of antagonism4
 ,one is interested in selling an       
article of merchandise at the highest   
practicable profit1 and the other is    
interested in obtaining it at the lowest
 possible price4 ,of the small1 cunning 
lies that pass back and forth over that 
counter1 of the half-truths told1 and   
the whole truths suppressed1 of         
deceptions touching the quality of goods
 on one side and the ability to buy on  
the other1 it would be humiliating to   
tell4 ,if every lie told in the shops1  
across mahogany and show-case1 by buyers
 and sellers1 were nailed like base coin
 to the counter1 there would be no room 
for the display of goods4 ,it is        
considered no mean compliment to a      

business man to say that he is sharp at 
a bargain2 yet this sharpness is rarely 
more than the faculty of ingenious      
lying4 ,a man who sells to me an article
 worth only five dollars for twice that 
sum is a sharp man2 but he cannot make  
such a sale to me without telling me1 in
 some way1 a lie4 ,the price he puts    
upon his merchandise is a lie1          
essentially1 in itself4  ,there is a    
great deal of business lying that by    
long habit becomes unconscious4 ,if we  
take up a newspaper1 we shall find that 
quite a number of the stores around us1 
kept by our excellent friends1 have the 
largest and finest stock of goods ever  
displayed in the city4 ,we shall find   
that they have been selling for years at
 unprecedentedly low prices1 that they  
are selling at less than cost1 that they
 are pushing off goods at rates         
ruinously low1 and that they can offer  
bargains to buyers that will confound   
their competitors4 ,i suppose that none 
of these advertisers think they are     

lying1 or1 if they do1 that their lying 
is of a harmful character4 ,lying in    
this way is supposed to be part of the  
legitimate machinery of trade4          
,promising definitely to finish work    
without the expectation of keeping the  
promise1 or being able to keep it1 is   
another kind of half unconscious lying4 
,there are men engaged in various       
trades1 in all communities1 whose word  
is of no more value1 when in the form of
 a promise to finish within a certain   
period a certain piece of work1 than the
 fly-leaf of a last year's almanac4     
,there are men whom every one knows who 
will lie without blushing about their   
work1 and who will stand at their       
counter and lie all day1 and then sleep 
with a peaceful conscience at night1    
having failed to fulfil a single pledge 
during their waking hours4 ,then there  
are people who will promise to pay      
bills1 and promise a hundred times over1
 and never pay1 and never expect to pay4
 ,when a bill is presented1 they promise

 to pay1 as a matter of course2 and that
 is considered as good as the gold1     
until it is presented again2 and then   
comes another promise1 and another and  
another4 ,the creditor knows the debtor 
lies1 but many a debtor of this kind    
would feel insulted and injured by any  
spoken doubts of his truthfulness4  ,but
 the field is large1 and ,i am already  
beyond the limits which ,i set for      
myself in these essays4 ,it will be seen
 that ,i regard truthfulness as1 on the 
whole1 a rare article in this world4 ,it
 is in some respects necessarily so4    
,many men are incapable of stating a    
fact or telling a truth4 ,they have not 
the power to comprehend or express      
either4 ,the majority of men receive    
truth through such media of prejudice1  
selfishness1 bigotry1 sensuality1 and   
the like1 that they never get it pure1  
and are therefore incapable of uttering 
it correctly1 even when their power of  
expression equals their power of        
perception1 which is not commonly the   

case4 ,so there is a world of           
unconscious lying2 but ,i am sorry to   
believe that there is just as large a   
world of conscious lying4 ,in politics1 
society1 and business1 the conscious and
 intentional lie abounds4 ,lord6 how    
this world is given to lying6  ,well1   
all this can be improved4 ,men can      
cultivate the power to apprehend and    
express truth4 ,they can cast off the   
prejudice1 selfishness1 bigotry1 and    
sensuality that prevent them from       
receiving truth4 ,they can refrain from 
conscious lying2 and no one doubts that 
the world would be greatly improved by  
honest efforts directed to these ends4  
,only the naked soul1 in ,eternity's    
white light1 can be wholly truthful2 but
 we can all try for it1 and we shall    
find our highest account in trying4     
,,lesson ,,vi4  ,,mistakes ,,of         
,,penance4     ,for of the soul the body
 form doth take1    ,for soul is form   
and doth the body make4    ,,spenser4   
,can sackcloth clothe a fault or hide a 

shame8    ,or do thy hands make ,heaven 
a recompense1    ,by strewing dust upon 
thy briny face8    ,no6 though thou pine
 thyself with willing want1    ,or face 
look thin1 or carcass ne'er so gaunt2   
,such holy madness ,god rejects and     
loathes    ,that sinks no deeper than   
the skin or clothes4    ,,quarles4      
,beauty is truth1 truth beauty4 ,,keats4
  ,i have every reason to believe that  
,god loves ,shakers1 but ,i do not think
 ,he admires them4 ,i do not see how ,he
 can2 but perhaps this is not a         
competent reason to offer in the        
premises4 ,i saw a wagon-load of what ,i
 supposed to be ,shakers of both sexes1 
riding along the street1 the other day2 
and ,i wondered what ,i should think of 
them if ,i had made them4 ,i think ,i   
should have been about equally vexed and
 amused to see the lines that ,i had    
made beautiful1 disguised1 and every    
grace-giving swell of limb and bust1    
upon which ,i had exercised such        
exquisite toil1 carefully hidden4 ,they 

sat up very straight and prim1 in a very
 square wagon1 behind a square-trotting 
horse1 driven by right lines in a pair  
of hands that seemed to grow out of the 
driver's stomach1 while his elevated1   
rectangular elbows cut rigidly against  
the air on either side4 ,it was a vision
 for a painter--a house painter-- a     
painter by trade4 ,the long-haired1     
meek-looking men1 with their            
flat-crowned1 broad-brimmed hats1       
straight coats and neutral colors1 and  
the women with their sugar-scoop        
bonnets1 white kerchiefs and straight   
waists1 looked like a case of faded     
wax-figures1 in prison uniform1 that had
 come down to us from a former          
generation4  ,i heaved a sigh as the    
wagon-load of mortified and             
badly-dressed flesh passed out of sight1
 and wondered if the souls inside of    
those bodies were as angular as their   
covering4 ,i did not believe it--,i do  
not believe it4 ,i have no doubt that   
underneath those straight waistcoats    

hearts have throbbed at the sight of    
woman and child1 and longed for home and
 family life1 with yearnings that could 
not be uttered4 ,those straightlaced    
sensibilities have been thrilled by     
beauty1 and bathed in the grace and     
glory of the life around them4 ,trees   
have whispered to them1 flowers have    
looked up and rebuked them1 brooks have 
called to them with laughter1 rivers    
have smiled upon them in sunshine1 the  
great sky has bent over them with       
infinite tenderness and fulness of      
beauty1 and they have felt what they    
could not define4 ,it was something very
 wrong1 they supposed1 and so they      
buttoned their straight jackets around  
them1 turned their eyes away from       
beholding vanity1 and thought they had  
done an excellent thing4 ,i know that   
those young women1 with their abominable
 clothing outside1 and their crushed and
 abused sympathies inside1 are unhappy1 
unless they have all been mercifully    
transformed into fanatics4 ,it is       

useless to tell me that a man can ignore
 or trample to death the strongest      
passion of his nature--the strongest1   
the purest1 and the most ennobling--and 
be a happy man4 ,it is useless to say   
that a man or woman can walk through a  
world of beauty--themselves the most    
beautiful of all things--and bind       
themselves up in unbecoming drapery1 and
 smother all their impulses to express  
the beauty with which ,god inspires     
them1 and do it with content and        
satisfaction4 ,it cannot be done4  ,so1 
when this wagon-load of ,shakers drove  
out of sight1 ,i heaved a sigh1 for ,i  
knew that not to be unhappy in the life 
which was typefied in their dress and   
establishment1 would be a greater       
misfortune1 essentially1 than           
dissatisfaction and discontent would be4
 ,if they were happy in their life1 they
 must have become perverted in their    
natures1 or indurated beyond the        
susceptibility to receive the           
impressions of healthy men and women4   

,if ,god ever put any thing majestic and
 noble into a man1 and gave him a       
fitting frame for it1 ,he never intended
 that it should be hidden in a meal-bag1
 or permanently quenched under a        
smock-frock4 ,in the infinite variety   
which he has introduced into human      
character and into human forms and      
faces1 there is no warrant for dressing 
men in uniform1 but a most emphatic     
protest against it4 ,if ,god made woman 
beautiful1 ,he made her so to be looked 
at--to give pleasure to the eyes which  
rest upon her--and she has no business  
to dress herself as if she were a       
hitching-post1 or to transform that     
which should give delight to those among
 whom she moves1 into a ludicrous       
caricature of a woman's form4  ,i repeat
 that ,i have every reason to believe   
that ,god loves ,shakers1 but ,i do not 
think ,he admires them4 ,if ,god admires
 the bodies ,he has made1 ,he cannot    
admire them when they are covered by the
 ,shaker dress1 for it spoils the looks 

of them1 and differs essentially from   
the plan which ,he pursues in draping   
all other forms of life4 ,there is no   
grace about it1 and no beauty of color4 
,god admires clouds1 ,i doubt not1 when 
painted by the setting sun1 and stars   
flashing in the heavens1 and the flowers
 of myriad hues that are scattered over 
the earth1 but if these are objects of  
,his special admiration1 as they are of 
ours1 what can ,he think of a drab      
,shaker bonnet8 ,what can ,he think when
 man and woman1 the glory and crown of  
,his creation1 are entirely overtopped  
and thrown into the shade by birds and  
bees and blossoms1 and go poking around 
the world in unexampled and ingeniously 
contrived ugliness8 ,what does ,he think
 of men and women who take that passion 
of love1 which was intended to make them
 happy1 and give them sweet             
companionship1 and bear young children  
to their arms1 and trample it under     
their feet as an unholy thing1 and to   
welcome to their hearts1 in its stead1  

blackness1 and darkness1 and tempest8   
,what does ,he think of lives out of    
which are shut all meaning and all      
individuality1 and all love and         
expression of beauty1 and all vivifying1
 liberalizing1 and humanizing           
experience8  ,i owe no grudge to the    
,shakers4 ,i like their apple sauce1    
7they ask a thrifty price for it17 and  
have faith in the genuineness and the   
generation1 under favorable conditions1 
of their garden seeds2 but ,i object to 
their style of life and piety1 and to   
every thing outside of ,shakerdom which 
looks like it4 ,i object to this whole  
idea1 7and the ,shakers have not        
monopolized it17 that ,god takes delight
 in the voluntary personal mortification
 of ,his children1 and that ,he approves
 of their going about1 sad-faced and    
straight-laced1 studiously avoiding all 
temptation to enjoy themselves4  ,i have
 seen a deacon in the pride of his deep 
humility4 ,he combed his hair straight1 
and looked studiously after the main    

chance2 and while he looked1 he employed
 himself in setting a good example4 ,his
 dress was rigidly plain1 and his wife  
was not indulged in the vanities of     
millinery and mantua-making4 ,he never  
joked4 ,he did not know what a joke was1
 any further than to know that it was a 
sin4 ,he carried a ,sunday face through 
the week4 ,he did not mingle in the     
happy social parties of his             
neighborhood4 ,he was a deacon4 ,he     
starved his social nature because he was
 a deacon4 ,he refrained from all       
participation in a free and generous    
life because he was a deacon4 ,he made  
his children hate ,sunday because he was
 a deacon4 ,he so brought them up that  
they learned to consider themselves     
unfortunate in being the children of a  
deacon4 ,they were pitied by other      
children because they were the children 
of a deacon4 ,his wife was pitied by    
other women because she was the wife of 
a deacon4 ,nobody loved him4 ,if he came
 into a circle where men were laughing  

or telling stories1 they always stopped 
until he went out4 ,nobody ever grasped 
his hand cordially1 or slapped him on   
the shoulder1 or spoke of him as a good 
fellow4 ,he seemed as dry and hard and  
tough as a piece of jerked beef4 ,there 
was no softness of character--no        
juiciness--no loveliness in him4  ,now  
it is of no use for me to undertake to  
realize to myself that ,god admires such
 a character as this4 ,i do not doubt   
that ,he loves the man1 as ,he loves all
 men2 but to admire his style of manhood
 and piety is impossible for any        
intelligent being4 ,it lacks the        
roundness and fulness1 and richness and 
sweetness1 that belong to a truly       
admirable character4 ,such a man        
caricatures ,christianity1 and scares   
other men away from it4 ,such a man     
ostentatiously presents himself as one  
in whose life religion is dominant4 ,it 
is religion that is supposed to rub down
 that long face1 and inspire that stiff 
demeanor1 and to make him at all points 

an unattractive and unlovable man4 ,of  
course it is not religion that does any 
thing of the kind1 but it has the credit
 of it with the world1 and the world    
does not like it4 ,it looks around1 and 
sees a great many men who do not pretend
 to religion at all1 and yet who are    
very lovable men4 ,if religion can      
transform a pleasant man into a most    
unpleasant one1 and change a free1      
bright1 and happy home into a dismal    
place of slavery1 and blot out a man's  
aesthetic and social nature1 the world  
naturally thinks that getting religion  
would be almost as much of a misfortune 
as getting some melancholy chronic      
disease1 and ,i do not blame it4 ,it is 
not to be wondered at that the world    
should mistake1 very much1 the true     
nature of ,christianity1 when           
,christians themselves entertain such   
grievous errors about it4  ,i suppose   
,god is attracted to very much the same 
style of character that men are4 ,christ
 loved a young man at first sight1 who  

lacked the very thing essential to his  
highest manhood4 ,but ,he loved the kind
 of man ,he saw before ,him4 ,he was    
upright1 frank-hearted1 open-minded1 and
 bright2 and ,jesus beholding him1 loved
 him4 ,there are men whom one cannot    
help loving and admiring though they    
lack a great many things--things very   
needful to make them perfect men4 ,now  
,i put it to good1 conscientious1       
,christian men and women1 whether they  
do not take more pleasure in the society
 of a warm-hearted1 generous1           
chivalrous1 well-fed1 man of the world1 
than in the society of any of that class
 of ,christians of whom the deacon ,i   
have mentioned is a type4 ,i know they  
do1 and they cannot help it4 ,there is  
more of that which belongs to a         
first-class ,christian character in the 
former than in the latter1 and if ,i    
were called upon to test the two men by 
commanding them respectively to sell    
what they have and give to the poor1 ,i 
should be disappointed were the deacon  

to behave the best4 ,a character which  
religion does not fructify--does not    
soften1 enlarge1 beautify1 and          
enrich--is not benefited by             
religion--or1 rather1 has not possessed 
itself of religion4 ,god loves that     
which is beautiful and attractive in    
character1 just as much as we do1 and it
 makes no difference where he sees it4  
,he does not dislike the amiable traits 
of a sinner because he is a sinner1 nor 
does he admire those traits of a        
,christian which we feel to be          
contemptible1 simply because they belong
 to a ,christian4 ,a ,christian sucked  
dry of his humanity1 is as juiceless and
 as flavorless as a sucked orange1 and  
,i believe that ,god regards him in the 
same light that we do4 ,he will save    
such ,i doubt not1 for their faith2 and1
 in the coming world1 they will learn   
what they do not know here2 but the     
question whether they are as well worth 
saving as some of their neighbors1 may1 
,i think1 be legitimately entertained4  

,in saying this1 ,i mean to be neither  
light or irreverent4 ,i mean simply to  
indicate that some men are worth a great
 deal more to themselves and to their   
fellows than others4  ,so1 when ,i look 
abroad upon the world1 and see men      
shaving their heads1 and wearing nasty  
hair shirts1 and shutting themselves up 
in cells1 and living lives of celibacy1 
and when ,i see women retiring from the 
world which they were sent to adorn1    
populate1 and bless1 and ,shakers       
driving around in square wagons and     
studiously ugly garments1 and           
,christians who should know better      
abandoning all the bright and cheerful  
things of life1 and feeling that there  
is merit in mortification1 ,i cannot but
 feel that ,god looks down upon it all  
with sadness and pity4 ,after doing     
every thing in ,his power to make ,his  
children happy--after filling the world 
with good things for their use1 and     
giving them abundant faculties for      
enjoying them--after endowing them with 

beauty1 and a sense of that which is    
beautiful--it must be sad to ,him to see
 them wandering about in strange        
disguises1 hugging to their             
half-rebellious hearts the awful mistake
 that1 however much they may suffer1    
they are gaining favor thereby in the   
sight of their ,maker4 ,of course1 ,i   
believe in self-denial1 and in the      
nobility of self-denial1 for the good of
 others2 but ,i believe that all        
self-denial that partakes of the        
character of penance1 in whatever form  
and under whatever circumstances it may 
develop itself1 is always a thing of    
mischief1 and always a thing of error4  
,it has its basis in the miserable      
theory that there is something in the   
passions and appetites with which ,god  
has constituted man that is essentially 
bad--a theory as impious as it is       
injurious--as fatal to all just         
conceptions of the divine ,being and of 
man's relations to ,him1 as to all human
 happiness4  ,every thing which is truly

 admirable is good1 and good and        
desirable in the degree by which it is  
admirable4 ,a beautiful face and form   
are admirable1 and just as good as they 
are admirable-- just as good in their   
element of beauty4 ,they are good for   
that quality1 and in that quality1 which
 excites our admiration4 ,a beautiful   
bonnet1 a beautiful dress1 a beautiful  
brooch or necklace1 are all admirable1  
and good because they are admirable1 or 
good because every thing admirable is   
necessarily good4 ,a family over which  
the father presides with tender dignity1
 and in which the mother moves with     
love's divinest ministry--where the     
faces of innocent children are shining1 
while their voices make music sweeter   
than the morning songs of birds--is     
admirable1 and it is good in all those  
respects which make it admirable4 ,a    
well-dressed man or woman is admirable1 
and that thing is good in itself which  
makes them so4 ,a man who carries his   
heart in his hand1 who deals both justly

 and generously by men1 who bears a     
sunny face and pleasant words into      
society1 whose cultured mind enriches   
freely all with whom it is brought into 
relation1 who has abundant charity for  
the weak and erring1 and who takes life 
and what it brings him contentedly1 is  
an admirable man1 and good in all the   
points which make him admirable4 ,a     
house that presents a harmonious and    
handsome interior to the eye of the     
passenger1 and whose exterior combines  
equal convenience and elegance1 is      
admirable1 and1 by that token1 good4    
,now these very simple propositions have
 their correlatives1 which it is not    
necessary to set down in order1 any     
further than fairly to illustrate my    
point4 ,things that are not admirable   
are not good4 ,if the dress of a ,shaker
 is not admirable1 it is not good4 ,if  
that sort of life which is led in a     
cloister1 by monks or nuns1 is not      
admirable1 it is not good4 ,if a man who
 professes to be a ,christian lives a   

life out of which is shut all with which
 an unsophisticated humanity            
sympathizes--a life barren of attractive
 fruit--a life bare in all its          
surroundings--a life with no genial     
outflow and expression--a life of       
niggardly negatives rather than of      
generous positives--then that life is   
not admirable1 and if it be not         
admirable it cannot be good in those    
respects4 ,a man may carry along with   
such a life as this a spotless          
conscience and a strict devotion to     
apprehended duty1 and these may be      
admirable and good1 but the other       
characteristics cannot be either2 and   
however much ,god may approve his honest
 heart and honest endeavor1 ,he cannot  
admire the style of manhood in which    
they have their dull and difficult      
illustration4 ,the idea that ,i wish    
definitely to convey is this3 that on   
the basis of a right heart1 ,god would  
have us build up a bright1 generous1    
genial1 expressive ,christian character1

 and use gratefully and gladly all those
 things which ,he has prepared to make  
life cheerful and admirable4 ,i believe 
a saint ought to have a better tailor   
than a sinner1 and be in all manly ways 
a better fellow4 ,i believe a true      
,christian should be in every thing that
 constitutes and belongs to a man the   
most admirable man in the world4  ,i    
have an idea that ,god looks with the   
same kind of contempt on the prominent  
characteristics of certain styles of    
,christian men and women1 that men of   
the world do4 ,there is nothing         
admirable in cant and whine1 and nasal  
psalm-singing1 and men whose hearts are 
livers and whose blood is bile2 and ,i  
cannot believe that ,he blames people   
for not admiring them1 and not being    
attracted to them4 ,i do not believe    
that an admirable ,christian life is    
repulsive to the men of the world4 ,i   
believe that wherever the human mind    
recognizes a rounded1 chastened1 rich1  
and outspoken ,christian character1     

whether it belong to manhood or         
womanhood1 it admires it1 and feels     
attracted to it1 by the degree in which 
it admires it4 ,i believe1 moreover1    
that the ,christianity which discards as
 vanities those things which ,god has   
provided for the pleasure of ,his       
children1 and mortifies the love of     
beauty1 and adopts the theory that ,god 
is pleased with penance1 and degrades1  
abuses1 and traduces the body to win    
greater sanctity of soul1 and finds a   
sin in every sweet of sense1 is a       
bastard ,christianity4 ,god is not the  
,god of the dead1 but of the living4    
,,lesson ,,vii4  ,,the ,,rights ,,of    
,,woman4     ,heard melodies are sweet1 
but those unheard    ,are sweeter2      
therefore ye soft pipes play on2    ,not
 to the sensual ear1 but1 more endeared1
    ,pipe to the spirit ditties of no   
tones4    ,,john ,,keats4    ,i am as   
free as ,nature first made man4         
,,dryden4                   ,what she   
wills to do or say    ,seems wisest1    

virtuousest1 discreetest1 best4         
,,milton4  ,it was the sarcastic remark 
of a crusty old parson of ,connecticut  
that woman has the undoubted right to   
shave and sing bass1 if she chooses to  
do so4 ,i question the right of bearded 
man to shave himself1 and ,i will not   
concede that woman has a superior right1
 based on inferior necessities2 but     
believing that man has an undoubted     
right to sing bass1 ,i am inclined to   
accord the same right to woman4 ,woman  
is a female man1 and there is no reason 
that ,i know of why she should not have 
the same rights1 precisely1 that a male 
man has4 ,i claim for myself1 and for   
man1 the privilege of singing treble1   
under certain circumstances2 and why    
should ,i not accord to woman the right 
to sing bass8 ,the brave old chorals of 
,germany would hardly be sung with much 
effect were the airs denied to the      
masculine voice1 yet if it be man's     
prerogative to sing bass1 it is surely  
woman's to sing treble4 ,if it be       

usurpation for her to grope among the   
gutturals of the masculine clef1 it is  
gross presumption for him to attempt to 
leap the five-rail fence that stands    
between him and high ,c4 ,i put this    
consideration forward for the purpose of
 stopping every caviller's mouth upon   
the subject1 until ,i present arguments 
of a broader and more comprehensive     
character1 in support of woman's right  
to sing bass4  ,it is claimed by those  
who deny woman's right to sing bass that
 she is needed for the treble and alto  
parts4 ,needed by whom8 ,needed by man8 
,but who gave man the right to set up   
his needs as the law of woman's life8   
,if man needs treble and alto1 ,i hope  
he may get them4 ,he has the undoubted  
right to sing both parts to suit his own
 fancy1 or to hire others to do it for  
him4 ,man needs buttons on his shirts1  
and clean linen1 but for the life of me 
,i cannot see why that need defines a   
woman's duty in any respect4 ,let him do
 his own washing1 and sew on his own    

buttons4 ,suppose a woman should need to
 have hooks and eyes sewed upon her     
dress1 as some of them do1 sometimes1   
after taking a very long breath1 would  
that determine it to be man's duty to   
sew them on8 ,it is a poor rule that    
will not work both ways4 ,this is one of
 the illustrations of man's             
selfishness--that he sets up his needs  
as the rule by which the rights of      
one-half of the human race are to be    
determined4  ,this same selfishness of  
man will demand that ,i reconsider this 
talk1 and will accuse me of sophistry4  
,it will declare that ,i do not state   
the case fairly4 ,it will say that woman
 needs money with which to buy her      
dresses and procure her food1 and strong
 hands to labor for her and protect her1
 and that these needs do indeed define  
man's duty with respect to her4 ,but ,i 
place all this on the ground of         
gallantry and humanity4 ,of course1 we  
are all very glad to do these things1   
you know1--we who have human            

feelings--but woman has no right to     
them1 based upon her need--particularly 
if she be a woman who insists1 as ,i do1
 upon her indefeasible right to sing    
bass4 ,i know that it helps things along
 for a woman to look after a man's linen
 and buttons1 and do his fine work      
generally1 because she seems to have a  
kind of natural knack at the business4  
,i am aware that it is exceedingly      
pleasant to hear a woman sing treble1 if
 she sings it well1 but ,i am talking1  
be it remembered1 of woman's right to   
sing bass4 ,let us stick to the         
question4  ,the enemies of this highest 
among the rights of woman are fond of   
alluding to the fact that only here and 
there a woman can be found who wishes to
 avail herself of her right1 and        
practically to enter upon the work of   
singing bass4 ,the large majority of    
women prefer to sing the soprano1 while 
a few1 of moderate views1 adopt alto as 
a kind of compromise4 ,but what has this
 fact to do with the matter of right in 

the premises8 ,most people prefer       
beef-steak without onions1 but ,i never 
knew that fact to be brought forward as 
an argument against the right of a man  
to eat it with onions4 ,it is possible1 
indeed1 that if people were more        
accustomed to eating beef-steak with    
onions1 or those savory vegetables were 
less objectionable in their style of    
perfume1 there would be a majority in   
favor of the associated luxuries4 ,we   
must remember1 too1 in considering this 
aspect of the question1 that woman is1  
to a certain extent1 a creature of      
whims4 7,she is exceedingly apt to adopt
 a practice because it is fashionable47 
,if it were fashionable for woman to    
sing bass1 how long would it be before  
the lower tones would find full         
development8 ,and how long would it be  
before the men themselves would repeat  
those words of the immortal bard3--     
,her voice was ever soft1   ,gentle and 
low1--,an excellent thing in woman8     
,after all1 this sort of argument       

against woman's right to sing bass      
answers itself4 ,if the preference of   
women generally for the soprano and alto
 be a good reason for their confining   
themselves to the performance of those  
parts1 then a change of preference would
 be a valid reason for their leaving    
them4 ,if individual right goes with    
general preference1 then the pillars of 
the universe are uprooted1 or we have no
 pillars worth mentioning4 ,i suppose   
that women generally prefer in-door to  
out-of-door employments--labor that     
draws less upon muscle1 and more upon   
ingenuity and delicate-fingered         
facility2 but that settles nothing as to
 their right to engage in muscular toils
 in the open air4 ,the ,german          
peasant-woman has labored out-of-doors  
for many generations4 ,the result has   
been the gradual approach to each other 
of her hips and shoulders1 the          
extinguishment of that portion of her   
person known as the waist1 and some     
noticeable flatness over the cerebral   

organs2 but the ,german peasant-woman   
has her right1 and that is worth any    
sacrifice1 you know4 ,if she prefers    
hoeing cabbages to spinning flax1 who   
shall hinder her8 ,if all women should  
prefer hoeing cabbages to spinning flax1
 or any variety of yarn1 who shall      
hinder them8 ,so far as man is          
concerned1 woman has a right to grow her
 shoulders just as near her hips1 and   
wear a head as flat as she pleases4 ,in 
short1 the general preference of women  
with respect to any thing decides no    
question of individual right1 whatever4 
,i will not admit that the general      
preference of women for private life    
imposes any obligation upon any woman to
 abstain from public life1 or affects in
 any way her right to enter upon public 
life4 ,i am aware that one would not    
like to have one's wife or sister an    
opera-singer1 or a public dancer1 or a  
preacher1 or a doctor in general        
practice1 or a circus-rider1 or a       
popular lecturer1 or an actress2 but ,i 

am talking about the question of right4 
,most women would shrink from war--from 
its fatigues1 its dangers1 its bloody   
strife2 but ,joan of ,arc asserted her  
right to go into war2 and her name is   
engrossed upon the scroll of fame4 ,all 
women have the same right to go to war  
that she had4 ,i confess that ,i should 
like to see a regiment of women six feet
 high1 officered by women1 all dressed  
in ,balmorals illustrating the national 
colors1 marching to battle in as close  
order as the peculiarity of their       
garments would permit1 and accompanied  
by a corps of cavalry in sidesaddles4   
,such an assertion of woman's right     
would be grand beyond description4 ,i   
should not care to live on very intimate
 terms with the colonel of the regiment1
 but ,i don't know as that has any thing
 to do with this question4  ,i was      
talking1 however1 about the right of    
women to sing bass1 and must go on4 ,it 
is declared by those who oppose this    
right that woman has no natural organs  

and aptitudes for bass4 ,this is the    
strong-point of the enemy1 but it       
amounts to nothing4 ,if woman fails1    
apparently1 in organs and aptitudes for 
this part1 it only shows what long years
 of abuse will accomplish4 ,let us never
 forget in this discussion that woman is
 only a female man1 that there is no    
such thing as sex of soul1 and that     
woman's vocal organs are built exactly  
like man's--as much like man's as her   
hands and her feet and her head are like
 his--a little smaller1 perhaps1--that's
 all4 ,it is a familiar fact1 ,i        
presume1 that the little colts born of  
,south ,american dams take to ambling as
 their natural step1 simply because the 
men of ,south ,america have taught the  
fathers and mothers of these colts to   
amble through uncounted generations4    
,now in ,north ,america we train horses 
to trot1 and the consequence is that    
amblers are scarce1 and in most cases   
have to be educated to their gait4 ,this
 is the way in which nature adapts      

herself to popular want and popular     
usage4 ,the large variety of apples     
which load our orchards were developed  
from the insignificant crab1 and the    
peach was the child of the almond1 or   
the almond of the peach--,i have        
forgotten which4 ,now ,i suppose 7with  
some feeble doubts about it7 that man   
and woman started exactly together1 that
 her singing treble better than she does
 bass results from usage1 and that her  
singing treble rather than bass was     
purely a matter of accident at first4   
,all analogy teaches me that if she had 
begun on bass1 and the other part had   
been given to man1 we should be hearing 
today of ,ma'lle ,patti1 the charming   
new baritone1 and the magnificent basso1
 ,madame ,jenny ,lind ,goldschmidt1     
while admiring crowds would toss flowers
 to ,carl ,formes1 the unapproachable   
soprano1 or ,mario1 the king of         
contraltos4  ,i suppose that those who  
maintain that woman has no natural      
organs and aptitudes for singing bass1  

would say that she has no natural organs
 and aptitudes for boxing and playing at
 ball4 ,just because woman holds her    
fists the wrong side up1 as if she were 
kneading bread rather than flesh1 it is 
claimed that she was not made for the   
manly art of self-defence1 and from the 
wholly incompetent facts that she cannot
 throw a ball three feet against a      
common north-west wind1 and is not as   
fleet as a deer1 it is judged that she  
has no right to engage in base-ball4    
,but suppose all women had been         
accustomed to boxing and playing ball as
 much as the men have been2 would they  
not have arrived at corresponding       
excellence8 ,i know that as women are   
now 7and they please me exceedingly7    
they have not muscle to hit from the    
shoulder with force sufficient to make  
them formidable antagonists2 and ,i am  
aware that they lack something in the   
length of limb requisite for the rapid  
locomotion of the ball-ground2 but they 
have never had a chance4 ,see what the  

washerwomen have done for themselves4   
,they seem to be a separate race of     
beings1 for they all have large arms1   
and shoulders that would do honor to    
,tom ,sayers4 ,i have seen negro slave  
women at work in the field1 with a      
muscular development that would be the  
envy of a ,bowery boy4 ,the washerwoman 
and the field slave show what can be    
done by cultivation4 ,i know that their 
style of figure is not quite so         
attractive as ,i have seen1 and ,i know 
that wherever there is an extraordinary 
tax upon muscle there is an             
extraordinary repression of mind and    
blunting of the sensibilities1 but it   
must be remembered that we are talking  
about rights1 now4 ,i claim and         
maintain1 7,i may as well come out with 
the whole of it17 that a woman has a    
right to do any thing she chooses to do1
 with perhaps the unimportant exception 
of becoming the father of a family4     
,the truth is that women have never had 
a fair chance4 ,they can do any thing   

they are trained to do4 ,the proper     
physical culture of woman1 carried on   
through a competent number of           
generations1 would develop her beyond   
all our present conceptions4 ,she would 
be likely to arrive at a high condition 
of muscle and a low condition of mind1  
very unlike our present idea of the     
noblest type of womanhood2 but very     
possibly our ideals of womanhood are    
conventional1 or traditional4 ,she has  
hands1 and has a right to use them2 a   
tongue1 and the right to wag it in her  
own way2 powers corresponding to those  
of man in all important respects1 and   
the right to develop and employ them    
according to her taste and choice4 ,i   
deny1 to man1 the privilege of defining 
the rights and duties of woman4 ,a woman
 is mistress of her own actions and     
judge of her own powers and aptitudes2  
and if any woman thinks that she can do 
a man's work better than what society   
considers her own1 then she has an      
undeniable right to do it1 if she can   

get it to do1 and is willing to accept  
the work with the conditions that attend
 it4  ,i am a firm believer in woman's  
rights--especially her right to do as   
she pleases4 ,it is possible that1      
before the law1 she is not in possession
 of all her rights1 but all wrongs in   
this direction will be corrected as time
 progresses4 ,i speak particularly at   
this time of her right to sing bass1    
because it is a representative right1   
and covers1 as with a lid1 a whole chest
 full of others4 ,yet while ,i claim    
this right1 ,i confess that ,i should   
not care to see it exercised to any     
great extent1 for ,i think that treble  
is1 by all odds1 the finer and more     
attractive part in music4 ,is it worth  
while to exercise the right of singing  
bass1 when it costs a good deal to get  
up a voice for it1 and when treble comes
 natural and easy1 and is very much     
pleasanter to the ear8 ,bass would be a 
bad thing for a lullaby1 and could only 
silence a baby by scaring it4 ,if ,i    

should have committed to me the melodies
 of the world1 ,i would care very little
 about my right to sing those           
subordinate parts that gather around    
them in obedient harmonies4 ,at least1  
,i think ,i would1 unless some upstart  
man should deny my right to sing any    
thing but melodies4 ,if it were         
committed to me to sing like a bird1 ,i 
would not care1 ,i think1 to exercise my
 right to roar like a bull4 ,if ,i can  
witch the ears and win the hearts of men
 and women by doing that which ,i can do
 easily and naturally and well1 then ,i 
shall do best not to exercise my right  
to do that which ,i can only do         
difficultly1 and unnaturally1 and ill4  
,woman1 in my apprehension1 is the      
mistress1 not alone of the melody of    
music1 but of the melody of life4       
,whatever it may be possible to do by   
cultivation and a long course of        
development1 it is doubtful whether a   
woman would ever sing bass well4 ,i am  
aware that she has the right1 and the   

organs1 but ,i question whether her bass
 would amount to any thing--whether it  
would be worth singing4 ,when women talk
 with me about their right to vote1 and 
their right to practise law1 and their  
right to engage in any business which   
usage has assigned to man1 ,i say       
yes--you have all those rights4 ,i never
 dispute with them at all4 ,indeed1 you 
see how ,i have put myself forward as   
the defender of these same rights2 yet  
,i should be sorry to see them exercised
 by the women ,i admire and love4 ,it is
 all very well to say that the presence 
of woman at the ballot-box would purify 
it1 and restrain the manners of the men 
around it2 but ,i have seen enough of   
the world to learn that all human       
influence is reciprocal and reactionary4
 ,man and the ballot-box might gain1 but
 woman would lose1 and men and the      
ballot-box themselves would lose in the 
long run4 ,the ballot-box is the bass1  
and it should be man's business to sing 
it1 while woman should give him home    

melody with which it should harmonize4  
,in the matter of rights1 ,i suppose    
that ,i should not differ materially    
with any strong-minded woman2 but ,i    
have always observed that the most truly
 lovable1 humble1 pure-hearted1         
,god-fearing and humanity-loving women  
of my acquaintance1 never say any thing 
about these rights1 and scorn those of  
their sex who do4 ,i have never known a 
woman who was at once satisfied in her  
affections and discontented with her    
woman's lot and her woman's work4 ,there
 is a weak place1 or a wrong place1 or a
 rotten place1 in the character or      
nature of every woman who stands and    
howls upon the spot where her ,creator  
placed her1 and neglects her own true   
work and life while claiming the right  
to do the work and live the life of man4
 ,i will admit all the rights that such 
a woman claims--all that ,i myself      
possess--if she will let me alone1 and  
keep her distance from me4 ,she may sing
 bass1 but ,i do not wish to hear her4  

,she is repulsive to me4 ,she offends   
me4  ,i believe in women4 ,i believe    
they are the sweetest1 purest1 most     
unselfish1 best part of the human race4 
,i have no doubt on this subject1       
whatever4 ,they do sing the melody in   
all human life1 as well as the melody in
 music4 ,they carry the leading part1 at
 least in the sense that they are a step
 in advance of us1 all the way in the   
journey heavenward4 ,i believe that they
 cannot move very widely out of the     
sphere which they now occupy1 and remain
 as good as they now are2 and ,i deny   
that my belief rests upon any           
sentimentality1 or jealousy1 or any     
other weak or unworthy basis4 ,a man who
 has experienced a mother's devotion1 a 
wife's self-sacrificing love1 and a     
daughter's affection1 and is grateful   
for all1 may be weakly sentimental about
 some things1 but not about women4 ,he  
would help every woman he loves to the  
exercise of all the rights which hold   
dignity and happiness for her4 ,he would

 fight that she might have those rights1
 if necessary2 but he would rather have 
her lose her voice entirely1 than to    
hear her sound a bass note so long as a 
demi-semi-quaver4     ,,lesson ,,viii4  
,,american ,,public ,,education4        
,keen are the pangs    ,advancement     
often brings4 ,to be secure1    ,be     
humble4 ,to be happy1 be content4       
,,james ,,hurdis4    ,for not that which
 men covet most is best2    ,nor that   
thing worst which men do most refuse4   
,but fittest is that each contented rest
    ,with that they hold4 ,,spenser4    
,men have different spheres4 ,it is for 
some to evolve great moral truths1 as   
the ,heavens evolve stars1 to guide the 
sailor on the sea and the traveller on  
the desert2 and it is for some1 like the
 sailor and the traveller1 simply to be 
guided4--,,beecher4  ,a venerable       
gentleman who once occupied a prominent 
position in a leading ,new ,england     
college1 was remarking recently upon the
 difficulty which he experienced in     

obtaining servants who would attend to  
their duties4 ,he had just dismissed a  
girl of sixteen1 who was so much above  
her business as to be intolerable4 ,the 
girl's father1 who was an ,englishman1  
called upon him for an explanation4 ,the
 employer told his story1 every word of 
which the father received without       
question1 and then remarked1 with       
considerable vehemence3 ,it is all owing
 to those cursed public schools4 ,the   
father retired1 and the old professor   
sat down and thought about it2 and the  
result of his thinking did not differ   
materially from that of the father4 ,it 
was not1 of course1 that there was any  
thing in the studies pursued which had  
tended to unfit the girl for her duties4
 ,it was very possible indeed for the   
girl to have been a better servant in   
consequence of her intelligence4 ,there 
was nothing in ,english grammar or the  
multiplication table to produce         
insubordination and discontent4 ,there  
was nothing in the whole case that      

tended to condemn public schools1 as    
such2 but it was the spirit inculcated  
by the teachers of public schools1 which
 had spoiled this girl for her place1   
and which has spoiled1 and is still     
spoiling1 thousands of others4  ,let us 
look for a moment into the influence of 
such a motto as the following1 written  
over a school-house door--always before 
the eyes of the pupils1 and always      
alluded to by school committees and     
visitors who are invited to make a few  
remarks3    ,nothing is impossible to   
him who wills4  ,this abominable lie is 
placed before a room full of children   
and youth1 of widely varying capacities1
 and great diversity of circumstances4  
,they are called upon to look at it1 and
 believe in it4 ,suppose a girl of      
humble mental abilities and humble      
circumstances looks at this motto1 and  
says3 ,i 'will' be a lady4 ,i 'will' be 
independent4 ,i 'will' be subject to no 
man's or woman's bidding4 ,under these  
circumstances1 the girl's father1 who is

 poor1 removes her from school1 and     
tells her that she must earn her living4
 ,now ,i ask what kind of a spirit she  
can carry into her service1 except that 
of surly and impudent discontent8 ,she  
has been associating in school1 perhaps1
 with girls whom she is to serve in the 
family she enters4 ,has she not been    
made unfit for her place by the         
influences of the public school8 ,have  
not her comfort and her happiness been  
spoiled by those influences8 ,is her    
reluctant service of any value to those 
who pay her the wages of her labor8  ,it
 is safe1 at least1 to make the         
proposition that public schools are a   
curse to all the youth whom they unfit  
for their proper places in the world4   
,it is the favorite theory of teachers  
that every man can make of himself any  
thing that he really chooses to make4   
,they resort to this theory to rouse the
 ambition of their more sluggish pupils1
 and thus get more study out of them4 ,i
 have known entire schools instructed to

 aim at the highest places in society1  
and the most exalted offices of life4 ,i
 have known enthusiastic old fools who  
made it their principal business to go  
from school to school1 and talk such    
stuff to the pupils as would tend to    
unfit every one of humble circumstances 
and slender possibilities for the life  
that lay before him4 ,the fact is       
persistently ignored1 in many of these  
schools1 established emphatically for   
the education of the people1 that the   
majority of the places in this world are
 subordinate and low places4 ,every boy 
and girl is taught to be something in   
the world1 which would be very well if  
being something were being what ,god    
intended they should be2 but when being 
something involves the transformation of
 what ,god intended should be a         
respectable shoemaker into a very       
indifferent and a very slow minister of 
the ,gospel1 the harmful and even the   
ridiculous character of the instruction 
becomes apparent4  ,there are two       

classes of evil results attending the   
inculcation of these favorite doctrines 
of the school teachers--first1 the      
unfitting of men and women for humble   
places2 and1 second1 the impulsion of   
men of feeble power into high places1   
for the duties of which they have       
neither natural nor acquired fitness4   
,there are no longer any ,american girls
 who go out to service in families4     
,they went into mills from the chamber  
and the kitchen1 but now they have left 
the mills1 and their places are filled  
by ,scotch and ,irish girls4 ,why is    
this8 ,is it because that among the     
,american girls there are none of       
poverty1 and of humble powers8 ,is it   
because they are not wanted8 ,or is it  
because they have become unfitted for   
such services as these1 and feel above  
them8 ,is it not because they have      
become possessed of notions that would  
render them uncomfortable in family     
service1 and render any family they     
might serve uncomfortable8 ,an ,american

 servant1 who good-naturedly accepts her
 condition1 and knows and loves her     
place1 who is willing to acknowledge    
that she has a mistress1 and who enters 
into her department of the family life  
as a harmonious and happy member1 may   
exist1 but ,i do not know her4 ,people  
have ceased inquiring for ,american     
servants4 ,they would like them1        
generally1 because they are intelligent 
and ,protestant1 but they cannot get    
them because they are unwilling to      
accept service1 and the obligations and 
conditions it imposes4 ,where all the   
,american girls are1 ,i do not know4 ,i 
can remember the time when thrifty      
farmers1 mechanics1 and tradesmen took  
wives from the kitchens of gentlemen    
where they were employed1--good1        
intelligent1 self-respectful women they 
were1 too--who became modest mistresses 
of thrifty families afterward2--but that
 is all done with now4 ,under the       
present mode of education1 nobody is    
fitted for a low place1 and everybody is

 taught to look for a high one4  ,if we 
go into a school exhibition1 our ears   
are deafened by declamation addressed to
 ambition4 ,the boys have sought out    
from literature every stirring appeal to
 effort1 and every extravagant promise  
of reward4 ,the compositions of the     
girls are of the same general tone4 ,we 
hear of infinite yearnings1 from the    
lips of girls who do not know enough to 
make a pudding1 and of being polished   
after the similitude of a palace from   
those who do not comprehend the         
commonest duties of life4 ,every thing  
is on the high-pressure principle4 ,the 
boys1 all of them1 have the general idea
 that every thing that is necessary to  
become great men is to try for it2 and  
each one supposes it possible for him to
 become ,governor of the ,state1 or     
,president of the ,union4 ,the idea of  
being educated to fill a humble office  
in life is hardly thought of1 and every 
bumpkin who has a memory sufficient for 
the words repeats the stanza3--         

,lives of great men all remind us       
,we can make our lives sublime1    ,and 
departing1 leave behind us              
,footprints on the sands of time4       
,there is a fine ring to this familiar  
quatrain of ,mr4 ,longfellow1 but it is 
nothing more than a musical cheat4 ,it  
sounds like truth1 but it is a lie4 ,the
 lives of great men all remind us that  
they have made their own memory sublime1
 but they do not assure us at all that  
we can leave footprints like theirs     
behind us4 ,if you do not believe it1 go
 to the cemetery yonder4 ,there they    
lie--ten thousand upturned faces--ten   
thousand breathless bosoms4 ,there was a
 time when fire flashed in those vacant 
orbits1 and warm ambitions pulsed in    
those bosoms4 ,dreams of fame and power 
once haunted those hollows skulls4      
,those little piles of bones that once  
were feet ran swiftly and determinedly  
through forty1 fifty1 sixty1 seventy    
years of life2 but where are the prints 
they left8 ,he lived--he died--he was   

buried--is all that the headstone tells 
us4 ,we move among the monuments1 we see
 the sculpture1 but no voice comes to us
 to say that the sleepers are remembered
 for any thing they ever did4 ,natural  
affection pays its tribute to its       
departed object1 a generation passes by1
 the stone grows gray1 and the man has  
ceased to be1 and is to the world as if 
he had never lived4 ,why is it that no  
more have left a name behind them8      
,simply because they were not endowed by
 their ,maker with the power to do it1  
and because the offices of life are     
mainly humble1 requiring only humble    
powers for their fulfilment4 ,the       
cemeteries of one hundred years hence   
will be like those of to-day4 ,of all   
those now in the schools of this        
country1 dreaming of fame1 not one in   
twenty thousand will be heard of        
then1--not one in twenty thousand will  
have left a footprint behind him4  ,now 
,i believe that a school1 in order to be
 a good one1 should be one that will fit

 men and women1 in the best way1 for the
 humble positions that the great mass of
 them must necessarily occupy in life4  
,it is not necessary that boys and girls
 be taught any less than they are taught
 now4 ,they should receive more         
practical knowledge than they do now1   
without a doubt1 and less of that which 
is simply ornamental1 but they cannot   
know too much4 ,an intelligent gardener 
is better than a clod-hopper1 and an    
educated nurse is better than an        
ignorant one2 but if the gardener and   
the nurse have been spoiled for their   
business and their condition1 by the    
sentiments which they have imbibed with 
their knowledge1 they are made          
uncomfortable to themselves1 and to     
those whom they serve4 ,i do not care   
how much knowledge a man may have       
acquired in school1 that school has been
 a curse to him if its influence has    
been to make him unhappy in his place1  
and to fill him with futile ambitions4  
,the country has great reason to lament 

the effect of the kind of instruction   
upon which ,i have remarked4 ,the       
universal greed for office is nothing   
but an indication of the appetite for   
distinction which has been diligently   
fed from childhood4 ,it is astonishing  
to see the rush for office on the       
occasion of the change of a ,state or   
,national ,administration4 ,men will    
leave quiet and remunerative            
employments1 and subject themselves to  
mean humiliations1 simply to get their  
names into a newspaper1 and to achieve a
 little official importance and social  
distinction4 ,this desire for           
distinction seems to run through the    
whole social body1 as a kind of moral   
scrofula1 developing itself in various  
ways1 according to circumstances and    
peculiarities of constitution4 ,the     
consequence is that politics have become
 the pursuit of small men1 and we no    
longer have an opportunity to put the   
best men into office4 ,the scramble for 
place among fools is so great and so    

successful1 that men of dignity and     
modesty retire from the field in        
disgust4 ,everybody wants to be         
something1 and in order to be something1
 everybody must leave his proper place  
in the world1 and assume a position     
which ,god never intended he should     
fill4 ,look in upon a ,state legislature
 once1 and you will find sufficient     
illustration of my meaning4 ,not one man
 in five of the whole number possesses  
the first qualification for making the  
laws of a ,state1 and half of them never
 read the constitution of the country4  
,i mean no contempt for the good1 honest
 men of whom our ,state legislatures are
 principally composed1 but ,i wish      
simply to say that there is nothing in  
their quality of mind1 habits of        
thought1 intellectual power1 or style of
 pursuits that fits them for the great  
and momentous functions of legislation4 
,they are there1 a set of nobodies1     
mainly for the purpose of becoming      
somebodies1 and not for any object      

connected with the good of the ,state4  
,somehow1 all the students in all our   
schools get the idea1 that a man in     
order to be somebody must be in public  
life4 ,now think of the fact that the   
millions attending school in this       
country have in some way acquired this  
idea1 and that only one in every one    
thousand of these is either needed in   
public life1 or can win success there4  
,let this fact be realized1 and it is   
easy to see that the nine hundred and   
ninety-nine will feel that they are     
somehow cheated out of their birthright4
 ,they desired to be in public life1 and
 be somebody1 but they are not1 and so  
their life grows tame and tasteless to  
them4 ,they are disappointed4 ,the men  
solace themselves with a petty justice's
 commission1 or a town office of some   
kind1 and the women--some of them--talk 
about woman's rights1 and make          
themselves notorious and ridiculous at  
public meetings4 ,i think women have    
rights which they do not at present     

enjoy1 but ,i have very little          
confidence in the motives of their      
petticoated champions1 who court mobs1  
delight in notoriety1 and glory in their
 opportunity to burst away from private 
life1 and be recognized by the public as
 somebodies4 ,i insist on this3--that   
private and even obscure life is the    
normal condition of the great multitude 
of men and women in this world2 and     
that1 to serve this private life1 public
 life is instituted4 ,public life has no
 legitimate significance save ,i as it  
is related to the service of private    
life4 ,it requires peculiar talents and 
peculiar education1 and brings with it  
peculiar trials2 and the man best fitted
 for it would be the last man           
confidently to assert his fitness for   
it4  ,thousands seek to become          
somebodies through the avenues of       
professional life2 and so professional  
life is full of nobodies4 ,the pulpit is
 crowded with goodish nobodies--men who 
have no power--no unction--no mission4  

,they strain their brains to write      
common-places1 and wear themselves out  
repeating the rant of their sect and the
 cant of their schools4 ,the bar is     
cursed with nobodies as much as the     
pulpit4 ,the lawyers are few2 the       
pettifoggers are many4 ,the bar1 more   
than any other medium1 is that through  
which the ambitious youth of the country
 seek to attain political eminence4     
,thousands go into the study of law1 not
 so much for the sake of the profession1
 as for the sake of the advantages it is
 supposed to give them for political    
preferment4 ,an ambitious boy who has   
taken it into his head to be somebody1  
always studies law2 and as soon as he is
 admitted to the bar he is ready to     
begin his political scheming4           
,multitudes of lawyers are a disgrace to
 their profession1 and a curse to their 
country4 ,they lack the brains necessary
 to make them respectable1 and the      
morals requisite for good neighborhood4 
,they live on quarrels1 and breed them  

that they may live4 ,they have spoiled  
themselves for private life1 and they   
spoil the private life around them4 ,as 
for the medical profession1 ,i tremble  
to think how many enter it because they 
have neither piety enough for preaching1
 nor brains enough to practice law4     
,when ,i think of the great army of     
little men that is yearly commissioned  
to go forth into the world with a case  
of sharp knives in one hand1 and a      
magazine of drugs in the other1 ,i heave
 a sigh for the human race4 ,especially 
is all this lamentable when we remember 
that it involves the spoiling of        
thousands of good farmers and mechanics1
 to make poor professional men1 while   
those who would make good professional  
men are obliged to attend to the simple 
duties of life1 and submit to preaching 
that neither feeds nor stimulates them1 
and medicine that kills or fails to cure
 them4  ,there must be something        
radically wrong in our educational      
system1 when youth are generally        

unfitted for the station which they are 
to occupy1 or are forced into           
professions for which they have no      
natural fitness4 ,the truth is that the 
stuff talked to boys and girls alike1   
about aiming high1 and the assurances   
given them1 indiscriminately1 that they 
can be any thing that they choose to    
become1 are essential nuisances4 ,our   
children all go to the public schools4  
,they are all taught these things4 ,they
 all go out into the world with high    
notions1 and find it impossible to      
content themselves with their lot4 ,they
 had hoped to realize in life that which
 had been promised them in school1 but  
all their dreams have faded1 and left   
them disappointed and unhappy4 ,they    
envy those whom they have been taught to
 consider above them1 and learn to count
 their own lives a failure4 ,girls      
starve in a mean poverty1 or do worse1  
because they are too proud to work in a 
chamber1 or go into a shop4 ,american   
servants are obsolete1 all common       

employments are at a discount1 the      
professions are crowded to overflowing1 
the country throngs with demagogues1 and
 a general discontent with a humble lot 
prevails1 simply because the youth of   
,america have had the idea drilled into 
them that to be in private life1 in     
whatever condition1 is to be1 in some   
sense1 a nobody4 ,it is possible that   
the schools are not exclusively to blame
 for this state of things1 and that our 
political harangues1 and even our       
political institutions1 have something  
to do with it4  ,what we greatly need in
 this country is the inculcation of     
soberer views of life4 ,boys and girls  
are bred to discontent4 ,everybody is   
after a high place1 and nearly everybody
 fails to get one2 and1 failing1 loses  
heart1 temper1 and content4 ,the        
multitude dress beyond their means1 and 
live beyond their necessities1 to keep  
up a show of being what they are not4   
,farmers' daughters do not love to      
become farmers' wives1 and even their   

fathers and mothers stimulate their     
ambition to exchange their station for  
one which stands higher in the world's  
estimation4 ,humble employments are held
 in contempt1 and humble powers are     
everywhere making high employments      
contemptible4 ,our children need to be  
educated to fill1 in ,christian         
humility1 the subordinate offices of    
life which they must fill1 and taught to
 respect humble callings1 and to        
beautify and glorify them by lives of   
contented and glad industry4 ,when      
public schools accomplish an end so     
desirable as this1 they will fulfil     
their mission1 and they will not before4
 ,i seriously doubt whether one school  
in a hundred1 public or private1        
comprehends its duty in this particular4
 ,they fail to inculcate the idea that  
the majority of the offices of life are 
humble1 that the powers of the majority 
of the youth which they contain have    
relation to those offices1 that no man  
is respectable when he is out of his    

place1 and that half of the unhappiness 
of the world grows out of the fact1     
that1 from distorted views of life1 men 
are in places where they do not belong4 
,let us have this thing altogether      
reformed4     ,,lesson ,,ix4            
,,perverseness4     ,because she's      
constant1 he will change4     ,and      
kindest glances coldly meet1    ,and all
 the time he seems so strange1     ,his 
soul is fawning at her feet4            
,,coventry ,,patmore4    ,all that we   
seem to think of is to manage matters so
 as to do as little good and plague and 
disappoint as many people as possible4  
--,,hazlitt4  ,it seems to me1 either   
that there is a great deal of human     
nature in a pig1 or that there is a     
great deal of pig in human nature4 ,i   
find myself always sympathizing with a  
pig that wishes to go in an opposite    
direction to that in which its owner    
would drive it4 ,it would be a          
sufficient reason for me to desire to go
 eastward1 that a man was behind me1    

with an oath in his mouth and a very    
heavy boot on his foot1 endeavoring to  
drive me westward4 ,we are jealous of   
our freedom4 ,we naturally rise in      
opposition to a will that undertakes to 
command our movements4 ,this is not the 
result of education at all2 it is pure  
human nature4 ,command a child--who     
shall be only old enough to understand  
you--to refrain from some special act1  
and you excite in his heart a desire to 
do that act2 and he will have1 nine     
times in ten1 no reason for his desire  
to do it but your command that he shall 
not4 ,the youngest human soul that has a
 will at all1 takes the first occasion  
to declare its independence4  ,now1 ,i  
believe this principle in human nature  
to be1 in itself1 good4 ,it is that     
which declares a man's right to         
himself--that which asserts personal    
liberty in thought1 will1 and movement4 
,i believe it existed in ,adam and ,eve1
 and that it is more than likely that   
the tree of the knowledge of good and   

evil was despoiled because our beautiful
 great-grandmother1 7for whom ,i confess
 much sympathy and affection17 was      
forbidden to touch it4 ,it is a         
principle which should always be        
carefully distinguished from            
perverseness1 in all our dealings with  
young and old1 and in all our estimates 
of human character4 ,when a child obeys 
a man1 or when one man obeys another1 it
 should always be for good and          
sufficient reason4 ,neither child nor   
man should be expected to surrender his 
right to himself without the            
presentation to him of the proper       
motive4 ,when1 yielding to this motive1 
the soul consents to be directed or led1
 it becomes obedient4 ,compulsion may   
secure conformity1 but never obedience4 
,if ,i1 as a child or man1 am to yield  
myself to the direction of any other    
man1 that man is bound to present to me 
an adequate motive for the surrender4   
,god throws upon me personal            
responsibility--gives me to myself--and 

no man1 parent or otherwise1 can make me
 truly obedient without giving me the   
motive for obedience4 ,when a child or a
 man fails to yield to the legitimate   
motives of obedience1 he is perverse1   
and it is about perverseness in some of 
its forms of manifestation that ,i      
propose to talk in this article4  ,at   
starting1 ,i must give perverseness a   
somewhat broader meaning than that thus 
far indicated4 ,i will say that that    
person is perverse who1 from vanity1 or 
pride of opinion and will1 or malice1 or
 any mean consideration1 refuses to     
yield his conduct and himself to those  
motives and influences which his reason 
and conscience recognize to be pure and 
good and true4 ,in its least aggravated 
form1 perhaps1 we find it among lovers4 
,women will sometimes persistently      
ignore a passion which they know has    
taken full possession of them1 and      
grieve the heart that loves them by a   
coldness and indifference which they do 
not feel at all4 ,rather than           

acknowledge their affection for one     
whose loss would kill them1 or1 what    
would be the same thing1 kill the world 
for them1 they have lied1 grown sick1   
and gone nearly insane4 ,this is a      
perverseness very uncommon4 ,sometimes  
lovers have been very tender and devoted
 so long as a doubt of ultimate mutual  
possession remained to give zest to     
their passion1 but the moment this doubt
 has been removed1 one or the other has 
become incomprehensibly indifferent4  ,i
 have noticed that very few married     
pairs are matches in the matter of      
warmth and expression of passion between
 the parties4 ,the man will be all      
devotion and tenderness--brimming with  
expressions of affection and exhibitions
 of fondness1 and the woman all coolness
 and passivity1 or 7which is much more  
common7 the woman will be active in     
expression1 lavishing caresses and      
tendernesses upon a man who very        
possibly grows harder and colder with   
every delicate proof that the whole     

wealth of his wife's nature is poured at
 his feet1 as a libation upon an altar4 
,it is here that we see some of the     
strangest cases of perverseness that it 
is possible to conceive4 ,i know men who
 are not bad men--who1 ,i suppose1      
really love and respect their wives--and
 who would deny themselves even to      
heroism to give them the comforts and   
luxuries of life1 yet who find          
themselves moved to reject with         
poorly-covered scorn1 and almost to     
resent1 the varied expressions of       
affection to which those wives give     
utterance4 ,i know wives who long to    
pour their hearts into the hearts of    
their husbands1 and to get sympathetic  
and fitting response1 but who are never 
allowed to do it4 ,they live a          
constrained1 suppressed1 unsatisfied    
life4 ,they absolutely pine for the     
privilege of saying freely what they    
feel1 in all love's varied languages1   
toward men who love them1 but who grow  
harder with every approach of tenderness

 and colder with every warm1 invading   
breath4 ,a shower that purifies the     
atmosphere1 and refreshes the face of   
heaven itself1 sours cream1 just as     
love's sweetest expression sours these  
men4  ,i have known wives to walk       
through such an experience as this into 
a condition of abject slavery--to waste 
their affection without return1 until   
they have become poor1 and spiritless1  
and mean4 ,i have known them to lose    
their will--to become the mere dependent
 mistresses of their husbands--to be    
creeping cravens in dwellings where it  
should be their privilege to move as    
radiant queens4 ,i have known them      
thrown back upon themselves1 until they 
have become bitter railers against their
 husbands--uncomfortable                
companions--openly and shamelessly      
flouting their affection4 ,i do not know
 what to make of the perverseness which 
induces a man to repel the advances of a
 heart which worships him1 and to become
 hard and tyrannical in the degree by   

which that heart seeks to express its   
affection for him4 ,there are husbands  
who would take the declaration that they
 do not love their wives as an insult1  
yet who hold the woman who loves them in
 fear and restraint through their whole 
life4 ,i know wives who move about their
 houses with a trembling regard to the  
moods and notions of their              
husbands--wives who have no more liberty
 than slaves1 who never spend a cent of 
money without a feeling of guilt1 and   
who never give an order about the house 
without the same doubt of their         
authority that they would have if they  
were only housekeepers1 employed at a   
very economical salary4 ,i can think of 
no proper punishment for such husbands  
except daily ducking in a horse-pond1   
until reformation4 ,yet these asses are 
so unconscious of their detestable      
habits of feeling and life1 that1       
probably1 not one of them who reads this
 will think that ,i mean him1 but will  
wonder where ,i have lived to fall in   

with such outlandish people4  ,the most 
precious possession that ever comes to a
 man in this world is a woman's heart4  
,why some graceful and most amiable     
women whom ,i know will persist in      
loving some men whom ,i also know1 is   
more than ,i know4 ,i will not call     
their love an exhibition of             
perverseness1 though it looks like it2  
but that these men with these rich1     
sweet hearts in their hands1 grow sour  
and snappish1 and surly and tyrannical  
and exacting1 is the most unaccountable 
thing in the world4 ,if a pig will not  
allow himself to be driven1 he will     
follow a man who offers him corn1 and he
 will eat the corn1 even though he puts 
his feet in the trough2 but there are   
men--some of them of ,christian         
professions--who take every tenderness  
their wives bring them1 and every       
expression of affection1 and every      
service1 and every yearning sympathy1   
and trample them under feet without     
tasting them1 and without a look of     

gratitude in their eyes4 ,hard1 cold1   
thin-blooded1 white-livered1            
contemptible curmudgeons--they think    
their wives weak and foolish1 and       
themselves wise and dignified6 ,i beg my
 readers to assist me in despising them4
 ,i do not feel adequate to the task of 
doing them justice4  ,there is another  
exhibition of perverseness which we     
sometimes see in families4 ,there will  
be1 perhaps1 from two to half a dozen   
sisters in a family1 amiable all of     
them4 ,now1 think of the reasons which  
should bind them together in the        
tenderest sympathy4 ,they were born of  
the same mother1 they were nursed at the
 same heart1 they were cradled under the
 same roof by the same hand1 they have  
knelt at the side of the same father1   
their interests1 trials1 associates1    
standing--every thing concerning their  
family and social life--are the same4   
,the honor of one intimately concerns   
the honor of the other1 yet ,i have     
known such families of sisters fly apart

 the moment they became in any way      
independent of each other1 as if they   
were natural enemies4 ,i have seen them 
take the part of a friend against any   
member of the family band1 and become   
disgusted with one another's society4   
,where matters have not gone to this    
length1 ,i have seen sisters who would  
never caress each other1 or1 by any but 
the most formal and dignified methods1  
express their affection for each other4 
,i have seen them live together for     
months and years as inexpressive of     
affection for each other as cattle in a 
stall1--more so3 for ,i have seen a cow 
affectionately lick her neighbor's ear  
by the half-hour1 while among these     
girls ,i have failed to see a kiss1 or  
hear a tender word1 or witness any      
exhibition of sisterly affection        
whatever4  ,one of the most common forms
 of perverseness1 though one of the most
 subtle and least known1 is that shown  
by people who study to shut everybody   
out from a knowledge of their nature and

 their life4 ,they make it their grand  
end and aim to appear to be exactly what
 they are not1 to appear to believe     
exactly what they do not believe1 and to
 appear to feel what they do not feel at
 all4 ,this is not because they are     
ashamed of themselves1 or because they  
really have any thing to conceal4 ,they 
have simply taken on this form of       
perverseness4 ,they will not1 if they   
can help it1 allow any man to get inside
 of their natures and characters4 ,if   
they write you a letter1 they will      
mislead you4 ,they will say to you      
irreverent and shocking things1 to prove
 to you that they are bold1 and         
unfeeling1 and unthoughtful1 when they  
tremble at what they have written1 and  
really show by their language that they 
are afraid1 and full of feeling1 and    
very thoughtful4 ,if they have a        
sentiment of love for anybody1 they take
 it as a dog would a bone1 and go and   
dig a hole in the ground and bury it1   
only resorting to it in the dark1 for   

private crunching4 ,very likely they    
will try to make you believe that they  
live a most dainty and delicate life    
--that the animals of the field1 and the
 fowls of the air love them1 and come at
 their call--that clouds arrange        
themselves in heaven for their benefit1 
and are sufficiently paid for the effort
 by their admiration--that flowers      
excite them to frenzy--a very fine      
frenzy1 indeed--and that all sounds     
shape themselves to music in their      
souls4 ,they would have you think that  
they live a kind of charmed life--that  
the sun woos them1 and the moon pines   
for them1 and the sea sobs because they 
will not come1 and the daisies wait     
lovingly for their feet1 yet1 if you    
knew the truth1 you would see that they 
sit discontentedly among the homeliest  
surroundings of domestic life1 with     
their sleeves rolled up--confound them6 
,this variety of perverseness seems very
 inexplicable4 ,i have seen much of it1 
but do not know what to make of it4     

,there is doubtless something morbid in 
it4 ,it is often carried to such        
extremes1 and managed so artfully1 that 
multitudes are deceived by it4 ,i know  
of some very beautiful natures that pass
 in the world for rough and coarse4 ,i  
know men who have the reputation of     
being hard and harsh1 yet who are1      
inside1 and in their own consciousness1 
as gentle and sensitive as women--who   
put on a stern air and a repellent      
manner1 when they are really yearning   
for sympathy4 ,i have seen this air and 
manner broken through and battered down 
by a friendly man1 who found what he    
suspected behind it--a generous1 warm1  
noble heart4 ,this perverseness seems to
 be akin to that of the miser who knows 
he is rich1 takes his highest delight in
 being rich1 and yet dresses meanly1 and
 fares like a beggar rather than be     
thought rich4 ,women hide themselves    
more than men4 ,they are generally more 
sensitive1 and their life and           
circumscribed habits have a tendency to 

the formation of morbid moods1 and this 
among the number4  ,of the perverseness 
of partisanship in politics much is     
written1 and my pen need not dip into   
it2 but there is a perverseness         
exhibited by ,christian churches in     
their quarrels that should be exposed   
and discussed1 because some people have 
an impression that it may possibly be   
piety4 ,for dum squizzle1 read          
permanence1 said an editor1 correcting a
 typographical error that had found its 
way into his journal4 ,it seems as      
strange that perverseness should be     
mistaken for piety1 as that permanence  
should be mistaken for dum squizzle1 but
 ,i believe it often is4 ,let some      
little cause of disturbance arise1 and  
become active in a church1 and it is    
astonishing how both parties go to work 
and pray over it4 ,the pastor1 perhaps1 
has said something on the subject of    
slavery1 or he does not preach doctrine 
enough1 or he preaches the wrong sort of
 doctrine1 or he does not visit his     

people enough1 or there is a row about  
the singing1 or about a change in the   
hymn-books1 or about repairing the      
church1 or buying an organ1 or something
 or other1 and straightway sides are    
taken1 and the wills of both parties get
 roused4 ,it is sometimes laughable--it 
would always be1 only that it is too    
sad--to see how quickly both parties    
grow pious1 as they grow perverse4 ,it  
would seem1 as the strife waxes hot1    
that the glory of ,god was never so much
 in their hearts as now4 ,they pray with
 fervor1 they are constant in their     
public religious duties1 they pass      
through the most scrupulous             
self-examinations1 and then fight on to 
the bitter end2 believing1 ,i suppose1  
that they are really doing ,god service1
 when they are only gratifying their own
 perverse wills4  ,churches have been   
ruined1 or divided1 or crippled in their
 power1 by a cause of quarrel too       
insignificant to engage the minds of    
sensible worldly men for an hour4 ,i    

have heard it said that church quarrels 
are the most violent of all quarrels1   
because religious feelings are the      
strongest feelings of our nature4 ,i    
confess that ,i do not see the force of 
this statement1 for it does not appear  
to me that religious feelings have much 
to do with these quarrels4 ,i can much  
more easily see why all personal        
differences should be adjusted peaceably
 in a church1 for there it is supposed  
that the individual will is subordinated
 to the cause of religion and the       
general good4 ,the real basis of the    
bitterness of church quarrels is women4 
,there are no others1 except            
neighborhood quarrels1 in which women   
mingle1 and a neighborhood quarrel will 
at once be recognized as more like a    
church quarrel than any other4 ,women   
have strong feelings1 are attracted or  
repulsed through their sensibilities1   
conceive keen likes and dislikes1 do not
 stop to reason1 and are1 of course1 the
 readiest and the most devoted          

partisans4 ,if the mouths of the women  
could only be smothered in a church     
quarrel1 it would be settled much       
easier4 ,of all the perverse creatures  
in this world1 a woman who has          
thoroughly committed herself to any man1
 or any cause1 is the least tractable   
and reasonable4 ,i hope this statement  
will not offend my sweet friends1       
because it is so true that ,i cannot    
conscientiously retract it4  ,what the  
books call pride of opinion1 is1 nine   
cases in ten1 simple perverseness4 ,i   
know a most venerable public teacher of 
physiology1 whose early theory of the   
production of animal heat-- very        
ridiculous in itself--is still yearly   
announced from his desk1 notwithstanding
 the fact that the whole world has      
received another1 whose soundness is    
demonstrated beyond all question4 ,as   
he1 year after year1 declares his belief
 that animal heat is produced by        
corpuscular friction in the circulating 
blood1 there is a twinkle of the eyes   

among his amused auditors which says    
very plainly--the old gentleman does not
 believe this1 himself4 ,the youngest   
student before him knows better than to 
give his theory a moment's              
consideration4 ,well1 the old ,doctor is
 not alone4 ,the world is full of this  
kind of thing4 ,men adhere to old       
opinions and old policies long after    
they have learned that they are shallow 
or untenable1 not from a genuine pride  
of opinion1 7,i doubt very much whether 
there really is any thing that should be
 called pride of opinion17 but from     
genuine perverseness of disposition4    
,men will give1 in some heated moment1  
an opinion touching some one's character
 or powers1 and1 though that opinion be 
proved to be wrong a thousand times1    
they will never acknowledge that they   
have made a mistake4 ,this is simple    
perverseness1 of the meanest variety4   
,there are some kinds of perverseness   
which impress one not altogether        
unpleasantly1 but this affects a man    

with equal anger and disgust4           
,perverseness is a sign of              
weakness--nay1 an element of weakness-- 
in man or woman4 ,it is no legitimate   
part of a true character4 ,the generous1
 outspoken man1 who is not afraid to    
show himself1 and what there is in him1 
who cares more about the right way than 
his way1 who throws away an opinion as  
he would throw away an old hat1 the     
moment he finds it is worthless1 and who
 good-naturedly allows the frictions of 
society to straighten out all the kinks 
there are in him1 is the strong man     
always1 and always the one whom men     
love4 ,perverseness is really moral     
strabismus1 and ,i am shocked to think  
what a multitude of squint-eyed souls   
there will be1 when we come to look into
 one another's faces in the undress of  
immortality4     ,,lesson ,x4           
,,undeveloped ,,resources4     ,the     
world is ,god's seed-bed4 ,he has       
planted deep and multitudinously1 and   
many things there are which have not yet

 come up4--,,beecher4  ,one of the      
richest and best of the smaller class of
 ,american cities is ,new ,bedford2 and 
the secret of its wealth and beauty is  
oil4 ,it is but a few years since the   
immense fleet of vessels that made that 
thrifty port their home went out with   
certainty of success in their dangerous 
enterprises1 and came back loaded down  
with spoil4 ,all that beautiful wealth  
was won from the deep1 and for years as 
many ships came and went as there were  
dwellings to give them speed and        
welcome4 ,but the glory and the gain of 
the whale-fishery are past4 ,the noble  
prey1 too persistently and mercilessly  
pursued1 has retired northward1 and     
hidden among the icebergs4 ,now1 when a 
ship's crew win a cargo1 they win it    
from the clutches of eternal frost4 ,it 
seems certain that the fishery will     
dwindle1 year after year1 until1 at     
last1 only a few adventurers will linger
 near the pole1 to watch for the rare   
game that once furnished light for the  

civilized world4 ,all this is very      
unpleasant for ,new ,bedford2 but are we
 to have no more oil8 ,is nature        
failing8 ,will the time come when people
 must sit in darkness8  ,a few months   
ago a man in ,pennsylvania took it into 
his head to probe the ground for the    
source of a certain oil that made its   
appearance upon the surface4 ,down1 down
 into the bowels of the earth he thrust 
his steam-driven harpoon1 until he      
touched the living fountain of oil1     
which1 gushing up1 half drowned him4    
,now1 all the region round about him    
swarms with industry4 ,thousands of men 
are hurrying to and fro2 the puff of the
 engine is heard everywhere2 tens of    
thousands of barrels of oil are rolled  
out and turned into the channels of     
commerce2 eager-eyed speculators throng 
all the converging avenues of travel1   
and a waiting world of consumers take   
the oil as fast as it is produced4 ,men 
in ,virginia1 ,new ,york1 and ,ohio are 
awaking to the consciousness that1 while

 they have been paying for oil from the 
far ,pacific1 they have been living     
within three hundred feet of deposits   
greater than all the cargoes that ever  
floated in ,new ,bedford harbor4 ,for   
hundreds1 and1 probably1 for thousands  
of years1 men have walked over these    
deposits with no suspicion of their     
existence4 ,geologists have looked wise1
 as is their habit1 but have given no   
hint of them4  ,the simple truth appears
 to be that when1 in the history of the 
world1 it became necessary for these    
firmly-fastened store-houses of oil to  
be uncovered1 they were uncovered4      
,nature had held them for untold        
thousands of years for just this        
emergency4 ,when the whales ceased      
spouting1 the earth took up the         
business2 and here she blows and there  
she blows are heard in ,tideoute and    
,titusville1 while ,new ,bedford sits   
sadly by the sea1 and thinks of long    
absent crews to whom the cry has become 
strange4  ,i cannot but look upon this  

discovery of oil in the earth as one of 
the most remarkable and instructive     
revelations of the age4 ,it has shown to
 me that1 whenever human necessity      
demands any thing of the world of       
matter1 the demand will be honored4     
,whenever animal life1 or the muscle of 
man or brute1 has shown itself unequal  
to the wants of an age1 ,nature has     
always responded to the cry for help4   
,inventors are only men who act as      
pioneers1 and who go forward to see what
 the human race will want next1 and to  
make the necessary provisions4 ,an      
inventor has profound faith in the      
exhaustless resources of nature4 ,he    
knows that if he bores far enough1 and  
bores in the right direction1 he will   
find that which the world needs4 ,he is 
often no more than the discoverer of a  
secret which nature has kept for the    
satisfaction of the wants of an age4 ,a 
lake yoked to a coal-bed would generally
 be voted a slow team1 but the inventor 
of the steam engine saw how it could be 

made a very fast and a very powerful    
one2 and we who live now are able to see
 that the discovery was made at the     
right time1 and that1 for the           
emergencies of this latter day1 it has  
really quadrupled the power of civilized
 man4  ,think how nature has risen      
grandly up to meet every occasion for   
new resources4 ,the revolution wrought  
by steam in the business of the world   
created great wants1 every one of which 
was filled as soon1 as felt4 ,quicker   
modes of communicating thought were     
needed to give us all the advantages of 
the increased facility of carriage1 and 
,mr4 ,morse was permitted to uncover the
 telegraph4 ,more money was wanted for  
the increased business of the world1 and
 the gold fields of ,california and     
,australia were unveiled4 ,it has always
 been so4 ,in the march of the human    
race along the track of history1 nature 
has pulled aside the veil in which she  
hides her treasures1 to display that    
which she has kept in store for every   

epoch4 ,in all the future ,i have no    
doubt that whenever oil shall be wanted1
 oil will be had for the boring4 ,the   
world is fitted up with supplies for all
 the probable and possible wants of the 
human race4 ,we are treading every day  
upon the lids of great secrets that     
await the wants of the larger style and 
finer type of life that lie before us4  
,discovery has but just begun1 and will1
 ,i doubt not1 be as rife in future ages
 as in this4 ,there is no end of it3 yet
 the world is a thing to be weighed and 
measured4 ,it is so many miles around   
it1 and so many miles through it4 ,never
 mind2 it has more in it than humanity  
can exhaust4  ,when we talk of the      
material world1 especially in its       
relation to the constantly developing   
wants of man1 we talk simply of the     
kitchen and larder of humanity4 ,we have
 not ascended into the drawing-room1 or 
conservatory4 ,the moment we step out of
 the consideration of manifested nature1
 we come into a world which may neither 

be weighed nor measured--the world of   
thought4 ,i suppose that no author has  
ever entered a large library and stood  
in its alcoves and studied its titles   
long without asking himself the         
question3 what is there left for me to  
do8 ,it seems as if men had been        
reaching in all directions for the      
discovery of thought since time began1  
and as if there were absolutely nothing 
new to be said upon any subject4 ,yet   
every age has always demanded its       
peculiar food1 and every age has managed
 to get it4 ,certain great and          
peculiarly fruitful subjects1 blowing in
 the sea of thought1 have attracted     
whole fleets of authors for many years1 
and they are doubtless chased away no   
more to return2 but1 here and there1    
while time shall last1 strong men will  
bore down to deposits of thought        
unsuspected by any of the preceding     
generations of men1 and there will gush 
up streams to light the nations of the  
world4 ,for the world of thought is1 by 

its nature1 exhaustless4 ,the world of  
thought is the world in which ,god      
lives1 and it is infinite like himself4 
,we reach our hands out into the dark in
 any direction1 and find a thought4 ,it 
was ,god's before it was ours2 and on   
beyond that thought1 lies another1 and  
still another1 ad infinitum4 ,if our    
arms were long enough1 we should be able
 to grasp them as well as the first4    
,all that it wants is the long arm to   
give us the command of deposits that    
would astonish the world4 ,authors have 
become eminent according to their power 
to reach further than others out into   
the infinite atmosphere of thought which
 envelops them4  ,authors1 like         
inventors1 are rarely more than         
discoverers4 ,if ,god1 who is           
omniscient1 sees all truth1 and         
apprehends the relations of every truth 
to every other truth1 all an author can 
do is1 of course1 to find out what      
,god's thoughts are4 ,and every age is  
certain to find out the thought that is 

essential to it4 ,when the world had    
exhausted ,aristotle1 and the wide      
school of philosophers who embraced him 
in their systems1 ,bacon1               
self-instituted1 stepped before the     
world as its teacher4 ,he came when he  
was wanted1 and his age gave him        
audience1 and took the better path which
 he pointed out to it4 ,it was in the   
golden age of the drama--the age in     
which the drama was what it never was   
before1 and will never be again--a great
 agent of civilization--that ,shakspeare
 appeared4 ,we call his plays creations1
 but surely they were not his4 ,he no   
more than discovered them4 ,the reason  
why they stir us so much is that ,god   
created them4 ,his age wanted them1 and 
he had the insight into the world of    
thought which enabled him to enter in   
and lead them out4 ,the reason why we   
have not had any great dramatist since1 
is1 that succeeding ages have not needed
 one4 ,the great men of later ages have 
not recognized the drama as a want of   

their particular time4 ,i am aware that 
there is nothing in this to feed human  
pride1 but ,i do not recognize food for 
human pride as a want of any age4  ,we  
are in the habit of talking of the old  
authors2 and we read them as if we      
supposed them wiser than ourselves4 ,we 
try to feed on the thought which they   
discovered1 but it is in the main very  
innutritious fodder1 and the world is   
learning the fact4 ,we read and         
reverence old books less1 and read and  
regard newspapers a great deal more4    
,the thought which our own age produces 
is that which we are learning to prize  
most4 ,we buy beautiful editions of     
,scott1 but we read ,dickens and        
,thackeray and ,mrs4 ,stowe1 in weekly  
and monthly numbers4 ,milton1 in        
half-calf1 stands upon the shelves of   
our library undisturbed1 while we cut   
the leaves of ,festus2 and ,keats and   
,byron and ,shelley are all pushed aside
 that we may converse with ,longfellow  
and ,mrs4 ,browning4 ,it is not1        

perhaps1 that the later are the greater1
 but1 being informed with the spirit of 
the age in which we have our life1      
moving among the facts which concern us1
 and conscious of our want1 they        
apprehend the true relations of their   
age to the world of thought around them4
 ,they see where the sources of oil are 
exhausted1 and bore for new deposits4   
,it is a comfort to know that they can  
never bore in vain4  ,we may be sure    
that literature will always be as fresh 
as it has been4 ,it is possible that we 
may never have greater men than         
,shakspeare and ,milton1 and ,dante and 
,goethe2 but there is nothing to hinder 
our having men just as great4 ,those who
 are to come will only bore in different
 directions1 and find new deposits4     
,shakspeare and ,milton were great      
writers1 but the fields they occupied   
were their own4 ,they do not resemble   
each other in any particular4 ,dante and
 ,goethe were great writers1 but there  
are no points of resemblance between    

them4 ,when ,scott was issuing his      
wonderful series of novels1 it seemed to
 his cotemporaries1 ,i suppose1 that    
there was no field left for a successor2
 yet ,dickens1 in the next generation1  
won as many readers and as much         
admiration as he1 in a field whose      
existence ,scott never suspected4 ,very 
different is the world of thought from  
the world of matter1 in the fact that   
its deposits are found in no particular 
spot4 ,the mind can go out in quest of  
thought in no direction without reward2 
and every man receives from his age     
motive and culture which peculiarly     
prepare him for the work of supplying   
its needs4 ,there are some who seem to  
think that the golden age of literature 
is past--that nothing modern is worthy  
of notice1 and that it is one of the    
vices of the age that we discard so much
 the teachings of the literary fathers4 
,but the world of thought is            
exhaustless1 and we have only to produce
 a finer civilization than the world has

 ever seen1 to secure1 as its consummate
 flower1 a literature of corresponding  
excellence4  ,what has been said of the 
world of matter and the world of        
thought1 may be said1 and is implied1 of
 the world of men4 ,we are accustomed to
 say that great emergencies make great  
men4 ,but this is not true4 ,great men  
are always found to meet great          
emergencies3 but ,god makes them1 and   
leads them through a course of          
discipline which prepares them for their
 work4 ,it is one of the remarkable     
facts of history1 so patent that all    
have seen and acknowledged it1 that to  
meet every great epoch a man has been   
prepared4 ,i mean it in no irreverent or
 theological sense when ,i say that     
there has been a series of ,christs1    
whose appearance has denoted the        
departure of old dispensations and the  
inauguration of new4 ,men have arisen   
who have torn down temples1 and         
demolished idols1 and swept away        
systems1 and knocked off fetters1 and   

introduced their age into a freer1      
better1 and larger life2 and it will    
always be so while time shall last4 ,men
 will arise equal to the wants of their 
age wherever men are civilized4 ,the    
causes which produce emergencies are the
 agents which educate men to meet them2 
and nature is prodigal of her material  
among men1 as among the things made for 
his service4  ,when1 in the history of  
,christianity1 it became necessary to   
re-assert and emphasize the truth that  
the just shall live by faith1 ,luther   
was raised up2 and nothing is more      
apparent to the student than that the   
age which produced him demanded         
him--that he fitted into his age1       
supplied its wants1 and cut a new       
channel1 through which the richest life 
of the world has flowed for centuries4  
,he found his country tied up to        
formalism1 scholasticism1 and tradition2
 and by strokes as remarkable for       
boldness as strength he set it free4 ,he
 stands at the head of a great          

historical epoch1 which was prepared to 
receive and crown him4 ,in another      
field1 we have1 even in this day1 a     
reformer whom his age has called for1   
and who will surely do in the world of  
art what ,luther did in religion4 ,no   
one can read ,ruskin1 and mark his      
enthusiasm1 his splendid power1 his     
earnestness1 his love of truth1 his     
reverence for nature1 and above all1 his
 love of ,god1 without feeling that he  
has a great mission to fulfil in the    
world4 ,i bow myself in homage before   
this man1 and acknowledge his           
credentials4 ,he speaks with authority1 
and not as the common run of scribes1 at
 all4 ,fearlessly he tears the mask away
 from conventionalism and pretension1   
sparing neither age nor nation1 and     
scattering critics right and left       
,like chaff from the threshing-floor4   
,it seems to me that the sight of this  
single1 unsupported man1 plunging boldly
 into a fight with a whole world full of
 liars and lies1 thrusting right and    

left1 anxious only for the triumph of   
truth1 and everywhere devoutly          
recognizing ,god and his glory1 and     
,christ and his honor1 as the ultimate  
end of true art1 is one of the most     
striking and beautiful the world has    
ever seen4 ,was there not need of him8  
,had not art become superstitious and   
infidel and missionless8 ,had it not    
faded to little more than the repetition
 of old inanities1 traditional          
mannerisms1 stereotyped lies8 ,ruskin   
came to tell his age that art was doing 
nothing toward making the world         
better--that1 instead of lifting the    
heart toward ,god1 and enlarging the    
field of human sympathy1 it was only    
ministering to the vanity of men--that  
nature was dishonored that men might win
 the applause of vulgar crowds by       
falsehood and trickery4 ,nobly has he   
done and nobly is he still doing his    
work2 and the world is reading him4 ,it 
matters not that critics carp1 and      
scold1 and whine--the world is reading1 

and will regard him4 ,the eternal truth 
of ,god and nature is on his side2 and  
we are to see1 as ,i firmly believe1    
resulting from his noble labors1 a      
beautiful resurrection of art from the  
grave in which its friends have laid it4
 ,it shall come forth1 though now bound 
hand and foot1 and be restored to the   
sisterhood whose happiness it is to     
serve and sit at the feet of ,jesus     
,christ4  ,but time and space would fail
 to give illustrations of the truth that
 ,god has always a man ready for an     
emergency4 ,it is not necessary to speak
 of ,washington4 ,it would not be wise1 
perhaps1 to speak of the first          
,napoleon1 because men differ so widely 
in their estimate of his work4 ,but of  
the last ,napoleon1 it may be said that 
he furnishes one of the most notable    
instances the world has ever seen of a  
man prepared for his age4 ,i suppose    
that no one believes that there is      
another man in existence who could have 
done for ,france1 and would have done   

for ,europe1 under the circumstances1   
what ,louis ,napoleon has done4 ,never  
did the central figure of an elaborate  
piece of mosaic fit more nicely into its
 place1 than did ,louis ,napoleon into  
the complicated affairs of his age4     
,they were made for him1 and he for     
them4  ,shall the world of matter never 
fail--shall the world of thought be     
exhaustless--shall men be found for all 
the emergencies of their race1 and1 yet1
 shall divine truth be contained in a   
nut-shell8 ,must the human soul lack    
food--fresh food--because a generation  
long gone has decided that only certain 
food is fit for the human soul8 ,i      
believe that the ,bible is a revelation 
of divine truth to men1 and1 believing  
this1 ,i believe that its most precious 
deposits have hardly been touched4 ,i   
believe that in it1 there is special    
food prepared for all the wide variety  
of human souls1 and that1 as generation 
after generation passes away1 new       
deposits will be struck1 so rich in     

illuminating power that their           
discoverers will wonder they had never  
been seen before4 ,i know that just     
before me1 or somewhere before me1 there
 is a generation of men who will think  
less of being saved1 and more of being  
worth saving1 less of dogma1 and more of
 duty1 less of law1 and more of love2   
whose worship will be less formal1 and  
more truthful and spiritual1 and whose  
,god will be a more tender and          
considerate father1 and less a lawgiver 
and a judge4 ,for such a generation1    
there exists a deposit of divine truth  
almost unknown by ,christendom4 ,only   
here and there have men gathered it1    
floating upon the surface4 ,the great   
deposit waits the touch of another age4 
,,lesson ,,xi4  ,,greatness ,,in        
,,littleness4       ,this earth will all
 its dust and tears      ,is no less his
 than yonder spheres2      ,and         
rain-drops weak and grains of sand      
,are stamped by his immediate band4     
,,sterling4                  ,there is a

 power   ,unseen1 that rules the        
illimitable world2   ,that guides its   
motions1 from the brightest star   ,to  
the least dust of this sin-tainted      
world4   ,,thomson4  ,infinity lies     
below us as well as above us4 ,there is 
as much essential greatness in          
littleness as in largeness4 ,mont       
,blanc-- massive1 ice-crowned1          
imperial--is a great work of nature2 yet
 it is only an aggregation of materials 
with which we are thoroughly familiar4  
,it is only a larger mountain than that 
which lies within sight of my window4 ,a
 dozen ,monadnocks or ,ascutneys or     
,holyokes1 more or less1 make a ,mont   
,blanc1 with glaciers and avalanches and
 brooding eternity of frost4 ,such      
greatness1 though it impresses me much1 
is not beyond my comprehension4 ,it can 
be reckoned by cubic miles4 ,so with the
 sea3 it is only an expanse of water    
larger than the river that winds through
 the meadows4 ,it is great1 but it is   
only an aggregate of numerable          

quantities that my eyes can measure1 and
 my mind comprehend4 ,these are great   
objects1 and they are great particularly
 because they are large4 ,they are above
 me1 and they lead me upward toward     
creative infinity4  ,if ,i turn my eyes 
in the other direction1 however1 ,i lose
 myself in infinity quite as readily4   
,if ,i pick up a pebble at the foot of  
,mont ,blanc1 and undertake the         
examination of its structure1--the      
elements which compose it1 the relations
 of those elements to each other1 the   
mode of their combination--,i am lost as
 readily as ,i should be in following   
the footsteps of the stars4 ,if ,i      
undertake to look through a drop of     
water1 ,i may be arrested at first1     
indeed1 by the sports and struggles of  
animalcular life2 but at length ,i find 
myself gazing beyond it into            
infinitude--using it as a lens through  
which the ,godhead becomes visible to   
me4 ,i can dissect from one another the 
muscles and arteries and veins and      

nerves and vital viscera of the human   
body1 but the little insect that taps a 
vein upon my hand does it with an       
instrument and by the operation of      
machinery which are beyond my scrutiny4 
,they belong to a life and are the      
servants of instincts which ,i do not   
understand at all4  ,these thoughts come
 to me1 borne by certain memories4 ,i   
know a venerable gentleman of           
,buffalo--,dr4 ,scott--who did1 and who 
still does1 very great things in a very 
small way4 ,at the age of seventy he    
became conscious of decaying power of   
vision4 ,being professionally a         
physician and naturally a philosopher1  
he conceived the idea that the eye might
 be improved by what he denominated a   
series of ocular gymnastics4 ,he        
therefore undertook to exercise his eyes
 upon the formation of minute           
letters--working upon them until the    
organs began to be weary1 and then1 like
 a prudent man1 resting for hours4 ,by  
progressing slowly and carefully1 he    

became1 at last1 able to do wonders in  
the way of fine writing1 and also became
 able to read the newspapers without    
glasses4 7,here's a hint for some clever
 ,yankee--as good as a fortune47 ,now1  
reader1 prepare for a large story2 but  
be assured that it is true1 and that my 
hands have handled and my eyes seen the 
things of which ,i tell you4 ,at the age
 of seventy-one1 ,dr4 ,scott wrote upon 
an enamelled card with a stile1 on space
 exactly equal to that of one side of a 
three-cent piece1--,the ,lord's ,prayer1
 the ,apostles' ,creed1 the ,parable of 
the ,ten ,virgins1 the ,parable of the  
,rich ,man and ,lazarus1 the            
,beatitudes1 the fifteenth ,psalm1 the  
one hundred and twentieth ,psalm1 the   
one hundred and thirty-third ,psalm1 the
 one hundred and thirty-first ,psalm1   
and the figures #ahfj4 ,every word1     
every letter1 and every point1 of all   
these passages was written exquisitely  
on this minute space2 and that old man  
not only saw every mark he made1 but had

 the delicacy of muscular action and    
steadiness of nerve to form the letters 
so beautifully that they abide the test 
of the highest magnifying power4 ,they  
were1 of course1 written by microscopic 
aid4  ,now who believes that it does not
 require more genius and skill to       
execute this minute work than it does to
 bore a ,hoosac tunnel1 or build a      
,victoria bridge1 or put a dam across   
the ,connecticut1 or construct an ,erie 
canal8 ,i do not speak of the relative  
importance of the great works and the   
small1 but of the relative amount and   
quality of the power that is brought to 
bear upon them4 ,in a very important    
sense the greatest thing a man can do is
 the most difficult thing he can do4    
,the most difficult thing a man can do  
may not be the most useful1 or in any   
sense the most important2 but it will   
measure and show the limits of his      
power4 ,work grows difficult as it goes 
below a man1 quite as rapidly as it does
 when it rises above him4 ,it costs as  

much skill to make a dainty bit of      
jewelry as it does to carve a colossal  
statue4 ,it actually costs more power to
 make the chain of gold that holds the  
former1 than it does to forge the clumsy
 links by which the latter is dragged to
 its location4 ,thus1 whether man goes  
down or up1 he soon gets beyond the     
sphere of his power4 ,the further he can
 carry himself in either direction the  
more does he demonstrate his superiority
 over the majority of men4 ,the more    
difficult the task which he performs the
 further does he reach toward infinity4 
,in the town of ,waltham there is a     
manufactory of watches which ,i have    
examined with great interest4 ,it is    
here undertaken to organize the skill   
which has been achieved by thousands of 
patient hands1 and submit it to         
machinery2 and it is done4 ,every thing 
is so systematized1 and the operations  
are carried on with such exactness1     
that1 among a hundred watches1          
corresponding parts may be interchanged 

without embarrassment to the machinery4 
,the different parts are passed from    
hand to hand1 and from machine to       
machine1 each hand and each machine     
simply doing its duty1 and when from    
different and distant rooms these parts 
are assembled1 and cunning fingers put  
them together1 every wheel knows its    
place1 and every pivot and every screw  
its home1 though it be picked without   
discrimination from a dish containing   
ten thousand4 ,yet among these parts    
there are screws of which it takes one  
hundred and fifty thousand to make a    
pound1 and shafts and bearings which are
 so delicately turned that five thousand
 shavings will only extend a lineal inch
 along the steel4 ,this is the way      
,american watches are made1 and this is 
the way in which the highest practicable
 perfection is reached in the           
manufacture of these pocket monitors4   
,here we have small work1 organized1 and
 great elaboration of related details4  
,when ,dr4 ,scott wrote his passages on 

the card1 his work was very simple4 ,he 
did only one thing--he made letters4    
,when he had made letter after letter   
until the little space was filled1 his  
work was done4 ,it was not a part of    
some complicated and inter-dependent    
whole1 related to a thousand other parts
 in other hands4 ,i suppose it may be as
 delicate work to drill a jewel with a  
hair of steel1 armed with paste of      
diamond-dust1 as to write ,our ,father  
under a microscope2 but when the jewel  
has to be drilled with relation to the  
reception of a revolving metallic pivot1
 the process becomes very much nicer4   
,so here are a hundred processes going  
on at the same time1 in different parts 
of a building1 all related to each      
other1 each delicate almost beyond      
description1 and effected with such     
precision that a mistake is so much an  
exception that it is a surprise4 ,i have
 seen the huge steam engines at         
,scranton which furnish power for the   
blast of the furnaces there1 and their  

magnitude and power and most impressive 
majesty of movement have made me        
tremble2 yet as works of man they are no
 greater than a ,waltham watch4  ,it    
seems to me that man occupies a position
 just half way between infinite         
greatness and infinite littleness1 and  
that he can neither ascend nor descend  
to any considerable degree without      
bringing up against a wall which shows  
where man ends and ,god begins4 ,it     
seems1 too1 that that kind of human     
power which can reach down deepest into 
the infinite littleness1 is more        
remarkable than that which rises highest
 toward the infinite greatness4 ,it is a
 more difficult and a more remarkable   
thing to write the ,lord's ,prayer on a 
single line less than an inch long1 than
 it would be to paint it on the face of 
the ,palisades1 upon a line a mile long1
 in letters the length of the painter's 
ladder4 ,i have heard of a watch so     
small that it was set in a ring1 and    
worn upon the finger2 and such a watch  

seems very much more marvellous to me   
than the engines of the ,great ,eastern4
  ,we are in the habit of regarding ,god
 as the author of all the great         
movements of the universe1 but as having
 nothing to do directly with the minor  
movements4 ,mr4 ,emerson becomes equally
 flippant and irreverent when he speaks 
of a pistareen ,providence4 ,we kindly  
take the ,creator and upholder of all   
things under our patronage1 and say1 it 
is very well for him to swing a star    
into space1 and set bounds to the sea1  
and order the goings of great systems1  
and even to minister to the lives of    
great men1 but when it comes to meddling
 with the little affairs of the daily   
life of a thousand millions of men1     
women1 and children--pshaw6 ,he's above 
all that4  ,not so fast1 ,mr4 ,emerson6 
,the real reason why you and all those  
who are like you do not believe in      
,god's intimate cognizance and          
administration of human affairs is1 that
 you cannot comprehend them4 ,you have  

not faith enough in ,god to believe that
 he is able to maintain this knowledge  
of human affairs1 this interest in them1
 and the power and the disposition to   
mould them to divine issues4 ,you are   
willing to admit that ,god can do a few 
great things1 but you are not willing to
 admit that he can do a great many      
little things4 ,it is well enough1      
according to your notion1 for ,god to   
make a mastodon1 or a megatherium1 but  
quite undignified for him to undertake a
 mosquito or a horse-fly4 ,it would not 
compromise ,his reputation with you were
 you to catch ,him lighting a sun1 or   
watching with something of interest the 
rise and fall of a great nation1 but    
actually to listen to the prayer of a   
little child1 and to answer that prayer 
with distinctness of purpose and        
definite exercise of power1 would not1  
in your opinion1 be dignified and       
respectable business for a being whom   
you are proud to have the honor of      
worshipping6  ,i do not know how these  

people who do not believe in the        
intimate special providence of ,god can 
believe in ,god at all4 ,i can conceive 
how ,god could rear ,mont ,blanc1 but ,i
 cannot conceive how ,he could make a   
honey bee1 and endow that honey bee with
 an instinct--transmitted since the     
creation from bee to bee1 and swarm to  
swarm--which binds it in membership to a
 commonwealth1 and enables it to build  
its waxen cells with mathematical       
exactness1 and gather honey from all the
 flowers of the field4 ,it is when we go
 into the infinity below us that the    
infinite power and skill become the most
 evident4 ,when the microscope shows us 
life in myriad forms1 each of which     
exhibits design2 when we contemplate    
vegetable life in its wonderful details2
 when chemistry reveals to us something 
of the marvellous processes by which    
vitality is fed1 we get a more          
impressive sense of the power and skill 
of the ,creator than we do when we turn 
the telescope toward the heavens4 ,yet  

,mr4 ,emerson would have us believe that
 the ,being who saw fit to make all     
these little things1 to arrange and     
throw into relation all these masses of 
detail1 to paint the plumage of a bird1 
and the back of a fly1 as richly as he  
paints the drapery of the descending    
sun1 does not condescend to take        
practical interest in the affairs of men
 and women6 ,my ,god1 what blindness6   
,bird1 bee1 blossom--be my teacher4 ,i  
do not like ,mr4 ,emerson's lesson4     
,the logical sequence of disbelief in   
what ,mr4 ,emerson calls a pistareen    
,providence is a belief in pantheism or 
polytheism4 ,there is certainly nothing 
ridiculous in the faith that the ,being 
who contrived and arranged1 and adjusted
 the infinite littlenesses of creation1 
and ordained their laws1 and who        
continues their existence1 maintains an 
intimate interest in the only           
intelligent creatures he has placed in  
this world4 ,the little bird that sings 
to me1 the bee that bears me honey1 the 

blossom that brings me perfume1 all     
testify to me that ,he who created them 
will not neglect nor forget ,his own    
child4 ,if ,i look up into the          
firmament1 and send my imagination into 
its deep abysses1 and think that further
 than even dreams can go1 those abysses 
are strewn with stars2 if ,i think of   
comets coming and going with the rush of
 lightning1 and yet occupying whole     
centuries in their journey2 or if ,i    
only sit down by the sea1 and think of  
the waves that kiss other shores        
thousands of miles away1 ,i am oppressed
 by a sense of my own littleness4 ,i ask
 the question whether the ,god who has  
such large things in ,his care1 can     
think of me--a speck on an infinite     
aggregate of surface--a mote uneasily   
shifting in the boundless space4 ,i get 
no hope in this direction2 but ,i look  
down1 and find that the shoulders of all
 inferior creation are under me1 lifting
 me into the very presence of ,god4 ,i  
find that ,god has been at work below   

me1 in a mass of minute and munificent  
detail1 by the side of which my life is 
great and simple1 and satisfyingly      
significant4  ,so1 if ,i may not believe
 in a pistareen ,providence1 ,i must    
make a ,god of the universe itself1 or  
pass into the hands of many ,gods the   
world's creation and governance4 ,if the
 ,god that made the bee1 and the ant1   
and the daisy1 made me1 then ,he is not 
above taking care of me1 and of         
maintaining an interest in the smallest 
affairs of my life4 ,the faith that     
lives in reason is never stronger than  
when it stands on flowers4 ,there is not
 a fly that floats1 nor a fish that     
swims1 nor an animalcule that navigates 
its little drop of sea-spray1 but bears 
a burden of hope to despairing humanity4
 ,if ,god so clothe the grass which     
to-day is1 and tomorrow is cast into the
 oven1 then what1 ,mr4 ,emerson8  ,this 
subject is a very large one1 and ,i can 
present only one more phase of it4 ,a   
great multitude--the larger part1 in    

fact--of the human race are engaged in  
doing small work4 ,it may be a comfort  
for them to know that the ,almighty     
,maker of all things has done a great   
deal of the same kind of work1 and has  
not found it unworthy or unprofitable   
employment4 ,let them remember that it  
is just as hard to do a small thing well
 as a large thing1 and that the         
difficulty of a deed is the gauge of the
 power required for its doing4 ,let them
 remember that when they go down1 they  
are going just as directly toward       
infinity as when they go up1 and that   
every man who works ,godward1 works in  
honor4  ,it was a very forcible         
reflection to which a visitor at        
,niagara ,falls gave utterance1 when he 
said that1 considering the relative     
power of their authors1 he did not      
regard the cataract as so remarkable a  
piece of work as the ,suspension        
,bridge2 and it may be said with truth  
that there is no work within the power  
of man--so small that ,god has not been 

below it in a work smaller and possibly 
humbler still1--certainly humbler when  
we consider the infinite majesty and the
 ineffable dignity of ,his character4   
,my maid is too proud to go into the    
street for a pail of milk2 my ,god      
smiles upon me in flowers from the very 
gutter4 ,my neighbor thinks it beneath  
him to till the soil1 working with his  
hands1 but the ,being who made him1     
breathes upon that soil1 and works in   
it1 that it may bear food to keep human 
dignity from starving4 ,there are men   
who set themselves above driving a      
horse1 no part of which the ,king of the
 universe was above making4 ,ah6 human  
pride6 ,alas6 human dignity6 ,i do not  
know what to make of you4     ,,lesson  
,,xii4  ,,rural ,,life4    ,going into a
 village at night1 with the lights      
gleaming on each side of the street1 in 
some houses they will be in the basement
 and nowhere else4--,,beecher4    ,the  
little ,god o' the world jogs on the    
same old way1    ,and is as singular as 

on the world's first day4    ,a pity    
'tis thou shouldst have given    ,the   
fool1 to make him worse1 a gleam of     
light from heaven2    ,he calls it      
reason1 using it    ,to be more beast   
than ever beast was yet4    ,he seems to
 me1 7your grace the words will pardon17
    ,like a long-legged grasshopper1 in 
the garden1    ,forever on the wing1 and
 hops and sings    ,the same old song1  
as in the grass he springs4             
,,goethe',s ,,faust4  ,it is a common   
remark that a railroad car is an        
excellent place in which to study human 
nature2 but the particular phase of     
human nature which is usually presented 
there is not1 ,i think1 sufficiently    
attractive to engage a man who desires  
to maintain a good opinion of his race4 
,i would as soon think of studying human
 nature in a pig-pen as in a railroad   
car4 ,i do not like to study even my own
 nature there1 for ,i find that the more
 ,i ride1 the more selfish ,i become1   
and the more desirable it seems to me   

that ,i should occupy the space usually 
assigned to four men1 viz13 two seats   
for my feet1 and two for such other     
portions of my person as are not        
required for spanning the space between 
the sofas4 ,it must be a matter of      
regret to most persons1 ,i am sure1 that
 they are not large enough to cover     
twice as many seats as they do1 and thus
 drive those who travel with them into  
more close and inconvenient quarters4   
,whenever ,i witness an instance of     
genuine1 self-sacrificing politeness in 
a railroad car1 ,i become aware that    
there is at least one man on the train  
who has travelled very little4 ,no2 when
 ,i travel ,i turn my observation upon  
things outside--upon the farms and      
streams1 and mountains and forests1 and 
towns and villages through which the    
train bears me4 ,i am particularly      
interested in the faces of those who    
gather at the smaller stations to gaze  
at the passengers1 get the papers1 and  
feel the rush1 for a single moment1 of  

the world's great life4 ,i love to      
listen to the smart remarks of some     
rustic wit in shirt-sleeves1 who1 if the
 train should happen to be behind time1 
intimates to the brakeman that the old  
horse didn't have his allowance of oats 
that morning1 or commiserates the       
loneliness of the conductor of a train  
not crowded with passengers1 all of     
which is intended for the ears of a     
village girl who stands in the door of  
the ,ladies' ,room1 with the tip of a   
parasol in her teeth1 and a hat on her  
head that was jaunty last year4  ,riding
 into the country recently1 ,i saw at   
one of these little stations a pair of  
young men1 leaning against the          
station-house4 ,they had evidently been 
waiting for the approach of the train1  
but they did not stir from their        
positions4 ,they were young men whose   
life had been spent in severe and       
unremitting toil4 ,their hands were     
large1 and coarse1 and brown2 their     
faces and necks were bronzed2 their     

clothing was of the commonest material  
and pattern1 and was old and patched    
besides2 and they had a hard look       
generally4 ,there was the usual bustle  
about them1 but they did not seem to    
mind it4 ,at last1 they started1 and    
these are the words that one of them    
spoke3 ,come1 ,bob1 let's go over and   
see if we can't tuck away some of that  
grub4 ,so both turned their backs upon  
the train1 and upon me2 and as they went
 over to see if they couldn't tuck away 
some of that grub1 ,i got a view of     
their heavy shoulders1 and their        
shambling1 awkward gait4 ,a pair of old 
draft horses1 going out in the morning  
to take their places in front of their  
truck1 would not move more stiffly than 
those fellows moved4  ,now these young  
men taught me nothing1 for ,i had seen  
many such before2 but through them ,i   
took a fresh and a very impressive      
glimpse into a style of life that       
abounds among the rural population of   
,america1 and shows but feeble signs of 

improvement4 ,these men1 who1 when they 
eat1 only tuck away grub1 of course go  
to roost when they sleep4 ,they call the
 sun ,old ,yaller1 naming him in honor  
of a favorite ox4 ,when they undress    
themselves they peel off1 as if they    
were onions or potatoes2 and when they  
put themselves into their ,sunday       
clothing1 they surprise their backs with
 a clean shirt4 ,when they marry1 they  
hitch on1 as if matrimony were a sled1  
and a wife were a saw-log4 ,every thing 
in their life is brought down to the    
animal basis1 and why should it not be8 
,they labor as severely as any animal   
they own2 they are proud of their animal
 strength and endurance2 they eat1 and  
work1 and sleep1 like animals1 and they 
do nothing like men4 ,their frames are  
shaped by labor2 and they are only the  
best animals1 and the ruling animals1 on
 their farms4 ,as between the wives and 
children who live in their houses1 and  
the horses and cattle that live in their
 barns1 the latter have the easier time 

of it4  ,having brought every thing down
 to the animal basis in their homes and 
in their lives1 their intercourse with  
other men will naturally betray the     
ideas upon which they live4 ,they are   
usually very blunt men1 who never go    
round to say any thing1 but who blurt   
out what they have to say in a manner   
entirely regardless of the feelings of  
others4 ,they enter each other's houses 
with their hats on1 and help themselves 
when they sit at each other's tables1   
and affect great contempt for the       
courtesies and forms of polite life4    
,they are exceedingly afraid of being   
looked upon as stuck up2 and if they can
 get the reputation of being able to mow
 more grass1 or pitch more hay1 or chop 
and pile more wood1 or cradle more      
grain1 than any of their neighbors1     
their ambition is satisfied4 ,there is  
no dignity of life in their homes4 ,they
 cook and eat and live in the same room1
 and sometimes sleep there1 if there    
should be room enough for a bed4 ,there 

is no family life that is not associated
 with work1 and no thought of any life  
that is not connected with bodily labor2
 and if they sit down five minutes1     
either at home or at church1 they go to 
sleep4 ,their highest intellectual      
exercise is that which is called out by 
the process of swapping horses1 and the 
selling of their weekly product of eggs 
and butter at the highest market price4 
,they invariably call their wives--the  
old woman1 or she2 and if they should   
stumble into saying1 my dear1 in the    
presence of a neighbor1 they would blush
 at being self-convicted of             
unjustifiable politeness and            
unpardonable weakness4  ,these men have 
learned to read1 but they rarely read   
any thing1 except the weekly newspaper1 
taken exclusively for the probate       
notices4 ,the only books in their houses
 are the ,bible and two or three volumes
 forced upon them at unguarded moments  
by book-agents1 who made the most of    
internal wood-cuts1 and external ,dutch 

metal to place them in possession of the
 ,history of the ,world1 or the ,lives  
of the ,presidents1 or some other       
production equally extensive and        
comprehensive4 ,there is no exhibition  
of taste about their dwellings4 ,every  
thing is brought down to the hard       
standard of use4 ,if their wives should 
desire a border for flowers1 they regard
 them as very silly1 and look upon their
 attempts to fix up things as a great   
waste of labor4 ,they never go out with 
their wives to mingle in the social life
 of their neighborhood2 and if the wives
 of their neighbors come to spend an    
afternoon1 they harness their horses1   
and drive off to attend to some distant 
business that will detain them until the
 women get away4 ,it is useless to say  
to me that this is an extreme picture1  
for ,i know what ,i am writing about1   
and know that ,i am painting from the   
life4 ,i know that there are hundreds of
 thousands of ,american farmers whose   
life and whose ideas of life are cast   

upon these models4 ,some of these are as
 coarse and hard as ,i paint them1 and  
others are only a little better4 ,such a
 farmer's boy is brought up to the idea 
that work is the grand thing in life4   
,work1 indeed1 is supposed by him to be 
pretty much all of life4 ,it is supposed
 to spoil farmers to get any thing but  
work into their heads2 and scientific   
agriculturists will bear witness that   
they have been obliged to fight the     
popular prejudices against book farming 
at every step of their progress4 ,they  
will also testify that the improvements 
made in farming and in the implements of
 agriculture have not been made by      
farmers themselves1 but by              
outsiders--mechanics1 and men of        
science--who have marvelled at the      
brainless stupidity which toiled on in  
its old track of unreasoning routine1   
and looked with suspicion and           
discouragement upon innovations4 ,the   
reason why the farmer has not been      
foremost in improving the instruments   

and methods of his own business1 is1    
that his mind has been unfitted for     
improvement by the excessive labors of  
his body4 ,a man whose whole vital      
energy is directed to the support of    
muscle has1 of course1 none to direct to
 the support of thought4 ,a man whose   
strength is habitually exhausted by     
bodily labor becomes1 at length1        
incapable of mental exertion2 and ,i    
cannot help feeling that half of the    
farmers of the country establish        
insuperable obstacles to their own      
improvement by their excessive toil4    
,they are nothing more than the living  
machines of a calling which so far      
exhausts their vitality that they have  
neither the disposition nor the power to
 improve either their calling or        
themselves4  ,to a student or a literary
 man1 it is easy to explain the         
necessity of the proper division of the 
nervous energies between the mind and   
the body4 ,any student or literary man  
who has a daily mental task to do1 will 

do it before he exercises his body to   
any great extent4 ,if ,i wished to unfit
 my mind for a day of literary labor1 ,i
 would use the hoe in my garden for an  
early hour in the morning4 ,if ,i wished
 utterly to unfit a pupil for his daily 
task of study1 ,i would put him through 
an exhausting walk before breakfast4    
,the direction of all the nervous       
energies to the support of the muscular 
system1 and the necessary draft upon the
 digestive and nutritive functions to   
supply the muscular waste1 leave the    
mind temporarily a bankrupt4 ,i have    
never seen a man who was really         
remarkable for acquired muscular power1 
and1 at the same time1 remarkable for   
mental power4 ,a man may be born into   
the world with a fine muscular system   
and a fine brain1 and in early life his 
muscular system may have a fine         
development4 ,such a man may            
subsequently have a remarkable mental   
development1 but this development will  
never be accompanied by large and       

regular expenditures of muscular power4 
,if ,i wished to repress the mental     
growth and manifestation of a man1 ,i   
would undertake to educate him up to the
 point of lifting eight or ten kegs of  
nails4 ,there is danger at first of     
overdoing our muscular ,christianity--  
danger of getting more muscle than      
,christianity2 and there is a good deal 
more danger of overdoing our muscular   
intellectuality4 ,the difference between
 the kind and amount of exercise        
necessary to produce a healthy machine  
and the kind and amount necessary to    
produce a powerful one1 is very great4  
,we are never to look for great         
intellectuality in a professor of       
gymnastics1 nor to expect that the time 
will come when a man will not only walk 
a thousand miles in a thousand hours1   
but compose a poem of a thousand lines  
at the same time4  ,if the temporary    
diversion of the nervous energy from the
 brain have this effect1 what must a    
permanent diversion accomplish8 ,it will

 accomplish precisely what is indicated 
by the look and language of our two     
young friends at the station-house4 ,it 
will develop muscle for the uses of a   
special calling1 and make ugly and      
clumsy men of those who should be       
symmetrical2 and at the same time it    
will repress mental development1 and    
permanently limit mental growth--at     
least1 so long as the mind shall be     
associated with the body4 ,i suppose    
that every fecundated germ of human     
being is endowed with a certain         
possibility of development--a complement
 of vital energy which will be expended 
in various directions1 according to the 
circumstances which may surround it and 
the will of its possessor4 ,if it shall 
be mainly expended upon the growth and  
sustentation of muscle1 it will not be  
expended upon the growth and            
sustentation of mind2 and ,i have no    
hesitation in saying that it is an      
absolute impossibility for a man who    
engages in hard bodily labor every day  

to be brilliant in intellectual         
manifestation4 ,the tide of such a man's
 life does not set in that direction4   
,an hourglass has in it a definite      
quantity of sand2 and when ,i turn it   
over1 that sand falls from the upper    
apartment into the lower2 and while it  
occupies that position it will continue 
to fall until the former is exhausted   
and the latter is filled4 ,moreover1 it 
will never take its place at the other  
end of the instrument1 until it is      
turned back4 ,it is precisely thus with 
a human constitution4 ,the grand vital  
current moves only in one direction1 and
 when it is moving toward muscle it is  
not moving toward mind1 and when it is  
moving toward mind it is not moving     
toward muscle4 ,this fact is illustrated
 sufficiently by the phenomena of       
digestion4 ,after a man has eaten a     
hearty dinner1 he becomes dull1 even to 
drowsiness or perfect sleep4 ,why8      
,simply because the tide of nervous     
energy sets towards digestion1 and there

 is not enough left to carry on mental  
or voluntary muscular operations4  ,a   
resident of a city riding into the      
country1 especially if he be an         
intellectual man1 and engaged in        
intellectual pursuits1 will be thrilled 
by what he sees around him4 ,the life of
 the farmer1 planted in the midst of so 
much that is beautiful1 having to do    
with nature's marvellous miracles of    
germination and growth1 moving under the
 open heaven with its glory of sky and  
meteoric change1 and accompanied by the 
songs of birds and all characteristic   
rural sights and sounds1 will seem to   
him the sweetest and the most enviable  
that falls to human lot4 ,but the       
hard-working farmer sees nothing of     
this4 ,what cares he for birds1 unless  
they pull up his corn8 ,what cares he   
for skies1 unless he can make use of    
them for drying his hay1 or wetting down
 his potatoes8 ,the beautiful changes of
 nature do not touch him4 ,his          
sensibilities are deadened by hard work4

 ,his nervous system is all imbedded in 
muscle1 and does not lie near enough to 
the surface to be reached by the beauty 
and music around him4 ,all he knows     
about a daisy is that it does not make  
good hay2 and he draws no appreciable   
amount of the pleasure of his life from 
those surroundings which charm the      
sensibilities of others4  ,we are in the
 habit of regarding the farming         
population of the country as the most   
moral and religious of any1 yet if we   
look at them critically1 we shall find  
that their piety is of a negative1      
rather than a positive character4 ,they 
are men in the first place who have very
 few temptations1 either from without or
 from within4 ,there are no professional
 tempters around them to lure them into 
the more seductive paths of sin4 ,the   
woman whose steps take hold on hell does
 not pass their doors2 the gambler      
spreads no snares for them2 no gilded   
palace invites them to music and        
intoxicating draughts2 they are not     

maddened by ambition2 and they have no  
vanity that leads them to degrading and 
ruinous display4 ,if they are little    
assailed from without1 they are not more
 moved toward vice from within4 ,the    
fact that their vital energies are all  
expended upon labor relieves them from  
the motives of temptation4 ,men whose   
muscles are overworked have no vitality 
to expend upon vices4 ,the devil cannot 
make much out of a man who is both tired
 and sleepy4 ,if we inquire of the      
ministers who have charge of rural      
parishes1 they will usually tell us that
 an audience of mechanics is better than
 an audience of farmers1 and that the   
miscellaneous audience of a city is     
better than either4 ,it is impossible   
for men who have devoted every bodily   
energy they possess to hard labor during
 the waking hours of six days1 to go to 
church and keep brightly awake on the   
seventh4 ,country ministers will also   
admit that they have in their parishes  
less help in social and conference      

meetings than the pastors of city       
parishes1 and that no great movements of
 benevolence ever originate in1 or are  
carried on by1 rural churches4  ,as a   
matter of course1 life cannot have much 
dignity or much that is                 
characteristically human in it unless it
 be based upon active intellectuality1  
genuine sensibility1 a development of   
the finer affections1 and positive      
,christian virtue4 ,when a man is a man1
 he never tucks in grub4 ,when a man    
lies down for rest and sleep he does not
 go to roost4 ,to a man1 marriage is    
something more than hitching on1 and a  
dirty shirt is a good deal more of a    
surprise to a man's back than a clean   
one4 ,there is no doubt about the fact  
that a life whose whole energies are    
expended in hard bodily labor is such a 
life as ,god never intended man should  
live4 ,i do not wonder that men fly from
 this life and gather into the larger   
villages and cities1 to get some        
employment which will leave them leisure

 for living4 ,life was intended to be so
 adjusted that the body should be the   
servant of the soul1 and always         
subordinate to the soul4 ,it was never  
meant by the ,creator that the soul     
should always be subordinate to the     
body1 or sacrificed to the body4  ,i am 
perfectly aware that ,i am not revealing
 pleasant truths4 ,we are very much in  
the habit of glorifying rural life1 and 
praising the intelligence and virtue of 
rural populations2 and if they believe  
us1 they cannot receive what ,i write   
upon this subject with pleasure4 ,but   
the question which interests these      
people most is not whether my statements
 are pleasant but whether they are true4
 ,is the philosophy sound8 ,are the     
facts as they are represented to be8    
,does a severe and constant tax upon the
 muscular system repress mental         
development1 and tend to make life hard 
and homely and unattractive8 ,is this   
the kind of life generally which the    
,american farmer leads8 ,is not the     

,american farmer1 generally1 a man who  
has sacrificed a free and full mental   
development1 and all his finer          
sensibilities and affections1 and a     
generous and genial family and social   
life1 and the dignities and tasteful    
proprieties of a well-appointed home1 to
 the support of his muscles8 ,i am aware
 that there are instances of a better   
life than this among the farmers1 and ,i
 should not have written this article if
 those instances had not taught me that 
this everlasting devotion to labor is   
unnecessary4 ,there are farmers who     
prosper in their calling1 and do not    
become stolid4 ,there are farmers who   
are gentlemen--men of                   
intelligence--whose homes are the abodes
 of refinement1 whose watchward is      
improvement1 and whose aim it is to     
elevate their calling4 ,if there be a   
man on the earth whom ,i honestly honor 
it is a farmer who has broken away from 
his slavery to labor1 and applied his   
mind to his soil4  ,mind must be the    

emancipator of the farmer4 ,science1    
intelligence1 machinery--these must     
liberate the white bondman of the soil  
from his long slavery4 ,when ,i look    
back and see what has been done for the 
farmer within my brief memory1 ,i am    
full of hope for the future4 ,the       
plough1 under the hand of science1 is   
become a new instrument4 ,the horse now 
hoes the corn1 digs the potatoes1 mows  
the grass1 rakes the hay1 reaps the     
wheat1 and threshes and winnows it2 and 
every day adds new machinery to the     
farmer's stock1 to supersede the clumsy 
implements which once bound him to his  
hard and never-ending toil4 ,when a     
farmer begins to use machinery and to   
study the processes of other men1 and to
 apply his mind to farming so far as he 
can make it take the place of muscle1   
then he illuminates his calling with a  
new light1 and lifts himself into the   
dignity of a man4 ,if mind once gets the
 upper hand1 it will serve itself and   
see that the body is properly cared for4

 ,intelligent farming is dignified      
living4 ,for a farmer who reads and     
thinks1 and studies and applies1 nature 
will open the storehouse of her secrets1
 and point the way to a life full of    
dignity and beauty1 and grateful and    
improvable leisure4     ,,lesson ,,xiii4
  ,,repose4     ,peace1 greatness best  
becomes2 calm power doth guide    ,with 
a far more imperious stateliness        
,than all the swords of violence can do1
    ,and easier gains those ends she    
tends unto4 ,,daniel4    ,when          
headstrong passion gets the reins of    
reason1    ,the force of nature1 like   
too strong a gale1    ,for want of      
ballast oversets the vessel4 ,,higgons4 
,give me that man    ,that is not       
passion's slave1 and ,i will wear him   
,in my heart's core1 ay1 in my heart of 
hearts1    ,as ,i do thee4 ,,shakspeare4
  ,mrs4 ,flutter ,budget was at church  
last ,sunday1 ,she always is at church2 
and she never forgets her fan4 ,i have  
known her for many years1 and have never

 known her to be in church without a fan
 in her hand1 and some article upon her 
person that rustled constantly4 ,her    
black silk dress is death to devotion   
over the space of twenty feet on all    
sides of her4 ,she fixes the wires in   
the bonnets of her little girls1 then   
takes their hats off entirely1 then     
wipes their noses1 then shakes her head 
at them1 then makes them exchange seats 
with each other1 then finds the text and
 the hymns for them1 then fusses with   
the cricket1 and then fans herself      
unremittingly until she can see         
something else to do4 ,during all this  
time1 and throughout all these          
exercises1 the one article of dress upon
 her fidgety person that has rustle in  
it1 rustles4 ,it chafes against the     
walls of silence as a caged bear chafes1
 with feverish restlessness1 against the
 walls of his cell2 and as if the       
annoyance of one sense were not         
sufficient1 she seems to have adopted a 
bob-and-sinker style of trimming1 for   

hat and dress1 and hair and cloak1 and  
every thing that goes to make up her    
externals4 ,little pendants are         
everywhere--little tassels1 and little  
balls1 and little tufts--at the end of  
little cords2 and these are all the time
 bobbing up and down1 and trembling1 and
 threatening to bob up and down1 like-- 
,the one red leaf1 the last of its clan 
,that dances as often as dance it can1  
,hanging so light1 and hanging so high1 
,on the topmost bough that looks up at  
the sky4  ,any person who sits near     
,mrs4 ,flutter ,budget1 or undertakes to
 look at her during divine service1     
loses all sense of repose1 and all power
 of reflection4 ,the most solemn        
exercises in which the mind engages     
cannot be carried on with a fly upon the
 nose1 and any teasing of a single      
sense1 whether of sight1 or sound1 or   
touch1 is fatal to religious devotion4  
,i presume that if the pastor wishes to 
find the most sterile portion of his    
field1 he needs only to ascertain the   

names of those who occupy pews in the   
vicinity of this lively little lady4    
,her husband died two years ago1 of     
sleeplessness1 and a harassing system of
 nursing4  ,the ,flutter ,budgets are a 
numerous family in ,america4 ,they are  
not all as restless as ,madame1 but the 
characteristics of the blood are        
manifest among them all4 ,they never    
know repose2 and1 what is worse than    
this1 they dread if they do not despise 
it4 ,they are immense workers--not that 
they do more work1 and harder than their
 neighbors1 but they make a great fuss  
about it1 and are always at it4 ,they   
rise early in the morning1 and they sit 
up late at night2 and they do this from 
year's end to year's end1 whether they  
really have any thing to do or not4     
,they cannot sit still4 ,they have an   
unhealthy impression that it is wrong   
for them not to be doing something all  
the time4 ,nothing in the world will    
make them so uncomfortable and so       
restless as leisure4 ,mrs4 ,flutter     

,budget could no more sit down without  
knitting-work1 or a sock to darn1 in her
 hands1 than she could fly4 ,as she has 
many times remarked1 she would die if   
she could not work4 ,to her1 and to all 
of her name and character1 constant     
action seems to be a necessity4 ,the    
craving of the smoker for his pipe or   
cigar1 the incessant hankering of the   
opium-eater for his drug1 the terrible  
thirst of the drunkard for his cups--all
 these are legitimate illustrations of  
the morbid desire of the ,budgets for   
action or motion4 ,the man who has the  
habit of using narcotics is not more    
restless and unhappy without his        
accustomed stimulus1 than they are with 
nothing to do4 ,in truth1 ,i believe the
 desire for action may become just as   
morbid a passion of the soul as that    
which most degrades and demoralizes     
mankind4  ,if ,i were called upon to    
define happiness1 ,i could possibly give
 no definition that would shut out the  
word repose4 ,i do not mean by this that

 no person can be happy except in a     
state of repose1 but ,i mean1 rather1   
that no man can be happy to whom repose 
is impossible4 ,the highest definition  
of happiness would probably designate   
the consciousness of healthy powers     
harmoniously employed as among its prime
 elements2 but there can be no happiness
 that deserves its name without the     
consciousness of powers that are able to
 subside from harmonious action into    
painless repose4 ,i know a little girl  
who plays out of doors at night as long 
as she can see1 and who1 when called    
into the house1 takes up a book with    
restless greed for mental excitement1   
and then begs to be read to sleep after 
she has been required to put down her   
book and go to bed4 ,she would be called
 a happy child by those who see her     
playing among her mates1 yet it is easy 
to perceive that her happiness is       
limited to a single attitude and        
condition of body and mind4 ,a happier  
child than she is one who can enjoy     

open-air play1 and then quietly sit down
 at her mother's side and enjoy rest4   
,that is an inharmonious and unhealthy  
state of mind which chafes with leisure2
 and he is an unhappy man who cannot sit
 down for a moment without reaching for 
a newspaper1 or looking about him for   
some quid for his morbid mind to chew   
upon4 ,so ,i count no man truly happy   
who cannot contentedly sit still when   
circumstances release his powers from   
labor1 and who does not reckon among the
 rewards of labor a peaceful repose4    
,no2 ,mrs4 ,flutter ,budget is not a    
happy woman2 and1 as ,i have intimated  
before1 she seriously interferes with   
the happiness and the spiritual         
prosperity of those about her4 ,when she
 can find nothing to do1 then she       
worries4 ,those children of hers are    
worried nearly to death4 ,if1 in their  
play1 they get any dirt upon their      
faces1 they are sent immediately to make
 themselves clean4 ,if they soil their  
clothes1 they are shut up until reduced 

to a proper state of penitence4 ,they   
are kept out of all draughts of air for 
fear of a cold2 and if they should take 
cold1 why1 they must take medicine of   
the most repulsive character as a       
penalty4 ,if they cough out of the wrong
 corner of their mouths1 she suspects   
them of croupy intentions2 and if they  
venture1 at some unguarded moment1 on a 
cutaneous eruption1 they are immediately
 charged with the measles1 or accused of
 small-pox4 ,if they quietly sit down   
for a moment of repose1 she apprehends  
sickness1 and stirs them about to shake 
it off4 ,even sleep is not sacred to    
her1 for if she finds a flushed face    
among the harassed little slumberers1   
she wakes its owner to make affectionate
 inquiries4 ,her husband1 as ,i have    
already stated1 died two years ago4 ,she
 worked upon his nervous system to such 
an extent that he was glad to be rid of 
the world1 and of her4 ,i think a man   
would die1 after awhile1 with constantly
 looking at the motion of a saw-mill4   

,the jar of a locomotive makes the      
toughest iron brittle at last2 and the  
wear and tear of a restless wife are    
beyond the strongest man's endurance4   
,i have noticed that persons who have   
influence upon the minds of others1     
maintain constantly a degree of repose4 
,i do not mean that those have most     
influence who use their powers          
sparingly1 but that a certain degree of 
mental repose--or what may possibly be  
called imperturbableness--is necessary  
to influence4 ,mrs4 ,flutter ,budget    
always talks in a hurry1 and talks of a 
thousand things1 and is easily excited4 
,her neighbor1 carefully avoiding the   
causes which ruffle her1 and preserving 
the poise of her faculties1 insists on  
her point quietly1 and carries it4 ,the 
repose of equanimity is a charm which   
dissolves all opposition4 ,the mind     
which shows itself open to influences   
from every quarter1 and is swayed by    
them1 is not its own master4 ,the mind  
that never rests is invariably full of  

freaks and caprices4 ,the mind that has 
no repose shows its dependence and its  
lack of self-control4 ,there cannot go  
out of such a mind as this a positive   
influence1 any more than there can go   
forth from a candle a steady light1 when
 it stands flickering and flaring in the
 wind1 having all it can do to keep its 
flame from extinction4 ,there must be   
that repose of mind which springs from  
conscious self-control and consciousness
 of the power of self-control1 under all
 ordinary circumstances1 before a man   
can hope to have influence of a powerful
 character upon the minds about him4    
,the driver of a coach-and-six1 with all
 the ribbons in his hands1 and a        
thorough knowledge of his horses and his
 road1 sits upon his box in repose2 and 
that repose inspires me with confidence 
in him2 but if he should be constantly  
on the look-out for some trick1 and     
constantly examining his harnesses1 and 
constantly fussy and uneasy1 ,i should  
lose my confidence in him1 and wish ,i  

were in anybody's care but his4  ,we do 
not need to be taught that a restless   
mind is not a reliable mind4 ,there is  
an instinct which tells us this4 ,there 
can be no reliableness of character     
without repose4 ,if ,i should wish to   
take a ride1 and two horses should be   
led before me to choose from1 ,i would  
take the one that stands still1 waiting 
for his burden and his command1 rather  
than the one that occupies the road and 
his groom with his caracoling and       
curveting and other signs of            
restlessness4 ,i should be measurably   
sure that one would bear me through my  
journey safely and speedily1 and that   
the other would either throw me1 or wear
 himself out1 and so fail of giving me  
good service4 ,saint ,peter was a       
restless man--an impatient man4 ,he was 
always the most impulsive1 and the most 
ready to act1 as the servant of the high
 priest had occasion to remember2 but he
 both lied and denied his ,lord4 ,it was
 ,john reposing upon the breast of      

,jesus1 who most drew forth the ,lord's 
affection4 ,martha1 worrying about the  
house1 cumbered with much serving1 chose
 a part inferior to that of ,mary who   
reposed at the feet of ,jesus4 ,it is   
only in repose that the powers of the   
mind are marshalled for great           
enterprises and for progress4 ,it is in 
repose1 when passion is sleeping and    
reason is clear-eyed1 that the military 
chieftain marks out his campaign and    
arranges his forces4 ,he is a poor      
commander who throws his troops into the
 field1 and fights without order1 or    
struggles for no definite end2 and there
 are multitudes of men who throw        
themselves into life with an immense    
splutter1 and fight the fight of life   
with a great deal of noise1 but who     
never make any progress1 because they   
have never drawn upon repose for a plan4
  ,repose is the cradle of power4 ,it is
 the fashion to say that great men are  
men of great passions1 as if their      
passions were the cause rather than the 

concomitant of their greatness4 ,great  
elephants have great legs1 but the legs 
do not make the elephants great4 ,great 
legs1 however1 are required to move     
great elephants1 and wherever we find   
great elephants1 we find great legs4    
,small men sometimes have great         
passions1 and these passions may so far 
overcome them that they shall be the    
weakest of the weak4 ,the possession of 
great passions is often a disadvantage  
to weak men and strong men alike1       
because they furnish so many assailable 
points for outside forces4 ,a fortress  
may be very strongly built1 but if its  
doors are open1 and scaling ladders are 
run permanently down from its walls for 
the accommodation of invading forces1   
its strength will be of very little     
practical advantage4 ,great passions are
 oftener the weak1 than the strong      
points of great men4 ,now ,i do not     
believe it possible for a man to        
exercise a high degree of power upon the
 hearts and minds of others1 and1 at the

 same time1 be under the influence of   
any variety of passion4 ,a man cannot be
 the shivering subject of an outside    
force1 acting upon him through his      
passions1 and at the same time a centre 
of effluent power4 ,action and passion  
are opposed to each other2 and when one 
has possession of the soul the other is 
wanting4 ,they involve two distinct     
attitudes of the mind1 as truly as do   
thanksgiving and petition4  ,the world  
often finds fault with great men because
 they are cold2 but they could not be   
great men if they were not cold4 ,a     
physician is often preferred by a family
 or patient because he is so            
sympathizing1 as they call it4 ,they    
forget that a physician is necessarily  
untrustworthy in the degree that he is  
sympathetic with his patients4 ,a       
physician may be thoroughly kind1 and   
out of his kindness there may grow a    
gentle manner which seems to spring from
 sympathy2 but ,i say unhesitatingly    
that in the degree by which a physician 

is sympathetic with his patients1 is he 
unfitted for his work4 ,a dentist who   
feels1 in sympathy1 the pain that he    
inflicts upon a child1 is unfitted to   
perform his operation4 ,the surgeon who 
sensitively sympathizes with a man whose
 diseased or crushed limb it has fallen 
to his lot to remove1 has lost a portion
 of his power and skill1 and has become 
a poorer surgeon for his sympathy4      
,physicians themselves show that they   
understood this when a case for medical 
or surgical treatment occurs in their   
own families4 ,if their wives or their  
children are sick1 they cannot control  
their sympathies2 and the moment they   
are aware of this1 they lose all        
confidence in themselves4 ,they cannot  
reduce the fracture of a child's limb1  
or prescribe for a wife lying           
dangerously ill1 because their          
sympathies are so greatly excited that  
their judgment is good for nothing4 ,in 
other words1 they are in an attitude or 
condition of passion--they are moved and

 wrought upon by outside forces1 to such
 a degree that they cannot act4  ,if an 
orator rise in his place1 and show by   
the agitation of his nerves1 his broken 
sentences1 and his choked utterances1   
that emotion is uppermost in him1 he has
 no more power upon his audience than a 
baby4 ,we pity his weakness1 or we      
sympathize with him2 but he cannot move 
us4 ,he is a mastered man1 and until he 
can choke down his passion he cannot    
master us4 ,a man rises in an audience  
in a state of furious excitement1 and   
fumes1 and yells1 and gesticulates1 but 
he only moves us to pity1 or disgust1 or
 laughter4 ,his passion utterly deprives
 him of power4 ,we call ,mr4 ,gough an  
actor1 as he undoubtedly is2 and we     
pretend to be disgusted with him for    
simulating every night1 for a hundred   
nights in succession1 the emotions which
 move us4 ,we forget that if ,mr4 ,gough
 should really become the subject of the
 passions which he illustrates1 he would
 lose his power upon us1 and kill       

himself besides4 ,he takes care never to
 be mastered1 and takes care also that  
all the machinery which he uses shall   
contribute to his mastery of us4 ,i do  
not deny that passion may be made       
tributary to the power of men4 ,oil is  
tributary to the power of machinery by  
lubricating its points of friction2 and 
warmth1 by bringing its members into    
more perfect adjustment2 but if the     
machinery were made to wade in oil1 or  
were heated red hot1 oil and heat would 
be a damage to it4  ,i repeat the       
proposition1 then1 that repose is the   
cradle of power4 ,the man who cannot    
hold his passions in repose--in perfect 
repose--can never employ the measure of 
his power4 ,these cold men1 as the world
 calls them1 are the men who move and   
control their race4 ,but it is not      
necessary to cling to great men for the 
illustration of my subject4 ,to say that
 a ,christian philanthropist should not 
be a sympathetic man would be to say    
that he should not be a man at all2 but 

nothing is more certain than that if a  
man should surrender himself to his     
sympathies it would kill him4 ,in a     
world where sin and its bitter fruits   
abound as they do in this1 where little 
children cry for bread1 and whole races 
are sunk in barbarism1 and villainy     
preys upon virtue1 and the innocent     
suffer in the place of the guilty1 and  
sickness lays its hand upon multitudes1 
and pain holds its victims to a         
life-long bondage1 and death leads      
throngs daily to the grave1 and leaves  
other throngs wild with grief1 a        
sensitively sympathetic man1            
surrendering himself to all the         
influences that address him1 would lose 
all power to help the distressed1 or    
even to speak a word of comfort4 ,we are
 to apprehend the woes of others through
 our sympathies1 and to hold those      
sympathies in such repose that all the  
power of our natures will be held ready 
for1 and subject to1 intelligent        
ministry4 ,the woman who faints at the  

sight of blood is not fit for a         
hospital4 ,the man who grows pale at    
hearing a groan1 will not do for a      
surgeon4 ,if we mean to do any thing in 
this world for the good of men1 we must 
first compel our sympathies and our     
passions into repose4  ,that which is   
true of power in this matter is true of 
judgment4 ,it is a widely bruited       
aphorism that all history is a lie1 and 
this aphorism had its birth in the fact 
that historians become1 as it were1     
magnetized by the characters with which 
they deal4 ,a man who writes the life of
 ,napoleon finds himself either         
sympathizing with him1 or roused into   
antipathy by him4 ,in short1 he becomes 
the subject of a passion1 wrought upon  
him by the character which he           
contemplates and undertakes to paint2   
and from the moment this passion takes  
possession of him1 he becomes unfitted  
to write an impartial and reliable word 
about him4 ,all positive historical     
characters have all possible historical 

portraits1 simply because the writers   
are subjects of passion4 ,it is because 
no man can write of positive characters 
without being the subject of an         
influence from them1 that no man can be 
an impartial historian1 and that all    
history must necessarily be a lie4 ,if  
ever a perfect history shall be written1
 it will be written by one whose        
passions are under entire control1 and  
kept in a condition of profound         
repose--who will look at a historical   
character as he would upon an impaled   
beetle in an entomological collection4  
,a man is no competent judge of a       
character1 either in history or in life1
 with which he strongly sympathizes4 ,i 
have known many a man utterly unfitted  
to read the proofs of the villainy of   
one to whom he had surrendered his      
sympathies4 ,a woman in love is a very  
poor judge of character4 ,she can see   
nothing but excellence where others see 
nothing but shallowness and rottenness4 
,once more1 there is no dignity without 

repose4 ,a restless1 uneasy man1 can    
never be a dignified man4 ,there can be 
no dignity about a man or a woman who   
fumes1 and frets1 and fusses1 and is    
full of freaks and caprices4 ,dignity of
 manners is always associated with      
repose4 ,mrs4 ,flutter ,budget always   
enters a drawing-room as if she were a  
loaded doll1 tossed in by the usher1 and
 goes dodging and tipping about to get  
her centre of gravity1 without getting  
it4 ,her queenly neighbor comes in as   
the sun rises--calmly1 sweetly1         
steadily1 and all hearts bow to her     
dignified coming4 ,what would an        
,archbishop be worth for dignity1 who   
should be continually scratching his    
ears1 and brushing his nose1 and        
crossing and re-crossing his legs1 and  
drumming with his fingers8 ,who would   
not deem the ermine degraded by a chief 
justice who should be constantly        
twitching about upon his bench8 ,it is a
 fact that has come under the           
observation of the least observant1 that

 the moment a man surrenders himself to 
his passions he loses his dignity4 ,a   
fit of anger is as fatal to dignity as a
 dose of arsenic to life4 ,a fit of     
mirthfulness is hardly less fatal4 ,so  
it is in repose1 and particularly in the
 repose of the passions1 that we find   
the happiness1 the influence1 the power1
 and the dignity of our life4 ,let us   
cultivate repose4     ,,lesson ,,xiv4   
,,the ,,ways ,,of ,,charity4     ,the   
,holy ,supper is kept indeed1    ,in    
whatso we share with another's need2    
,not that which we give1 but what we    
share4    ,for the gift without the     
giver is bare3    ,who bestows himself1 
with his alms feeds three1--            
,himself1 his hungering neighbor1 and   
me4    ,,lowell4    ,it may not be our  
lot to wield    ,the sickle in the      
ripened field2    ,nor ours to hear on  
summer eves1    ,the reaper's song among
 the sheaves2    ,yet1 when our duty's  
task is wrought1    ,in unison with     
,god's great thought1    ,the near and  

future blend in one1    ,and whatsoe'er 
is willed is done4    ,,whittier4  ,i   
have come to entertain very serious     
doubts about my orthodoxy on the subject
 of doing good4 ,if ,i know my own      
motives1 ,i certainly have a desire to  
do good2 but this desire is yoke fellow 
with the perverse wish to do it in my   
own way4 ,i do not feel myself inclined 
to accept the prescriptions of those who
 have taken out patents for various     
ingenious processes in this line of     
effort4 ,my attention has just been     
attracted to this subject1 by the       
perusal of a long story1 which must be  
not far from the one hundred and        
ninety-ninth that ,i have read during   
the past twenty years1 all tipped with  
the same general moral4 ,a good-natured 
lady1 in easy circumstances1 and of     
benevolent impulses1 is appealed to by a
 poor man in the kitchen4 ,she feeds    
him1 gives him clothes1 sends him away  
rejoicing1 and feels good over it4 ,the 
man comes again and again1 tells pitiful

 stories1 excites her benevolence of    
course1 and secures a reasonable amount 
of additional plunder4 ,months pass     
away2 and being out upon a walk one     
pleasant afternoon1 and finding herself 
near the poor man's residence1 the fair 
benefactress calls upon him4 ,she finds 
the wife 7who was reported dead7 very   
comfortable indeed1 and the destitute   
family of four children reduced to a    
single fat and saucy baby1 and the poor 
liar himself smelling strongly of rum4  
,then come the denouement1 and a grand  
tableau3 lady very much grieved and     
astonished--wife1 who has known nothing 
of her husband's tricks1 exceedingly    
bewildered--fuddled husband1 blind with 
rum and remorse1 owns up to his meanness
 and duplicity4 ,he found 7as he        
confessed7 that he could work upon the  
lady's sympathies1 got to lying and     
couldn't stop1 and1 finally1 felt so    
badly over the whole operation1 that he 
took to drink to drown his conscience6  
,moral3 ,women should not help poor     

people without going to see them1 and   
finding out whether they lie4  ,now that
 woman did exactly as ,i should have    
done1 under the same circumstances4 ,in 
the first place1 ,i should never have   
had the heart to doubt a man who carried
 an honest face1 and was cold1 hungry1  
and ragged4 ,i should have regarded his 
condition as a claim upon my charity4   
,in the second place1 ,i should have had
 no time to call upon his family1 and   
satisfy myself with regard to their     
circumstances2 and in the third place1  
,i should have felt very delicate about 
putting direct questions to them if ,i  
had4 ,the same story tells incidentally 
of one of these men who do good in the  
proper way4 ,he visited a house which   
presented all the signs of poverty2 but 
the angel of mercy was too 'cute' to be 
taken in2 so he walked up stairs4 ,every
 thing presenting there the same aspect 
of abject poverty that prevailed below1 
the angel of mercy looked around him1   
and discovered a ladder leading to the  

garret4 ,the angel of mercy smelt a rat1
 and mounted the ladder4 ,in the garret 
he found half a cord of wood1 and any   
quantity of goodies for the table4      
,another denouement and tableau4 ,moral3
 as before4 ,if the story has taught me 
any thing1 it is that it is my duty to  
question every beggar that comes to my  
door1 visit his house1 explore it from  
cellar to garret1 and satisfy myself of 
the truth or falsehood of his           
representations4 ,otherwise1 my charity 
goes for nothing1 and ,i do my beggar an
 absolute unkindness4 ,in other words1  
while the law holds every man innocent  
until he is proved to be guilty1 charity
 holds every man guilty until he is     
proved to be innocent4  ,it has become  
the fashion in certain circles to decry 
that benevolence which sits at home in  
slippers1 and gives its money without   
seeing where it goes2 but it is         
forgotten that the money dispensed in   
slippers was earned in boots1 and that  
the man who has money to give1 has      

usually so much business on hand that he
 can make no adequate personal          
examination of the cases which are      
referred to his charity4 ,i can never   
forget ,mr4 ,dickens' ,cheeryble        
,brothers1 who were so very much obliged
 to a friend for calling upon them1 and 
telling them of the circumstances of a  
poor family4 ,it was taken as a great   
personal kindness when they were        
informed how and where they could       
relieve want and distress4 ,they had no 
genius for going about and looking up   
cases of charity1 but their hearts      
leaped at the opportunity to do good4   
,they did their work in their           
counting-room1 and had no time and no   
talent for visiting those whom they     
benefited2 but who would question either
 the genuineness or the judiciousness of
 their benevolence8 ,the applications   
for aid made at the doors of our        
dwellings come oftener to the mistresses
 of those dwellings than to the masters2
 and these mistresses1 four times in    

five1 are women with the care of        
children on their hands1 or household   
duties which demand almost constant     
attention4 ,if a beggar come to the     
door1 they are grateful for the         
opportunity to afford relief2 but they  
have no time to visit another quarter of
 the town1 to learn whether their       
charities have been well bestowed1 nor  
do they withhold their charities through
 fear of being imposed upon4  ,in my    
judgment1 the character and             
circumstances of a man determine his    
office in the work of charitable relief4
 ,i know there are some persons who have
 a peculiar natural adaptation to the   
work of visiting the subjects of        
sickness and of need4 ,their presence   
and their sympathy are grateful to those
 to whom they delight to minister4 ,they
 are masters and mistresses of all those
 thrifty economies which enable them to 
manage for the poor4 ,they have genuine 
administrative talent in this particular
 department4 ,they are cheerful and     

active1 and sympathetic and ingenious2  
and they can do more for a poor1        
discouraged family with ten dollars than
 others can do with fifty4 ,i do not    
suppose that these people are one whit  
more benevolent than those whose purses 
are always open to the poor1 and who at 
the same time would feel very awkward   
upon a visit of charity1 and would make 
the family visited feel as awkward as   
themselves4 ,the poor we have always    
with us2 and every man and woman who    
possesses means for their relief owes a 
duty to them which is to be discharged  
in the most efficient way4 ,if ,i have  
money1 and do not feel that ,i am the   
proper person to look after the details 
of its dispensation1 ,i will put it into
 the hands of one more competent to the 
business1 and ,i will rationally        
conclude that ,i have done my duty4 ,in 
the mean time1 if a man come to my door1
 and ask for the supply of his immediate
 necessities1 he shall not be turned    
empty away because ,i do not happen to  

have the means at hand for verifying his
 story4  ,i know that there are         
multitudes of tender-hearted            
women--women of abounding benevolence   
and sensitive conscience--who are       
troubled upon this subject4 ,they have a
 desire to do good1 and to do it in the 
right way2 but1 somehow1 they find if   
impossible to do it according to the    
views of the story-writers4 ,they are   
any thing but rugged in health1 perhaps1
 or they have a dependent family of     
young children around them1 or the care 
of their dwellings absorbs their time4  
,they fail to find the opportunity to   
visit the poor1 or they do not feel     
themselves adapted to the office2 and   
still they carry about with them the    
uncomfortable suspicion that they are   
meanly shrinking from duty4 ,my thought 
upon this point is that my duties never 
conflict with one another1 and that if  
,i can do good in one way better than   
another1 then that is my way to do good4
 ,i shall not permit the story-writers  

to prescribe for me1 nor shall ,i allow 
them to make me uncomfortable4  ,there  
is a class of men and women in all      
,protestant communities who think it a  
very neat thing to do good at random4   
,they sow broadcast of cheap seed1      
content to reap nothing at all1 and     
pleasantly disappointed if they find    
here and there a stalk of corn to reward
 their sowing4 ,they do not prepare     
their ground1 they do not cultivate it  
at all1 but they sow1 hoping that in    
some open place a seed may fall and     
germinate4 ,some of these people regard 
this method of doing good as a kind of  
holy stratagem--a ,christian            
trick--which takes the devil at a       
disadvantage4 ,i once knew a kind old   
gentleman who did a business that       
brought him considerably into contact   
with rough and profane persons2 and as  
he wished to do something for them1 he  
kept his pockets filled with little     
printed cards entitled ,the ,swearer's  
,prayer2 and whenever an oath came out1 

the utterer was immediately presented   
with this card with a little story on   
it1 and a statement that to swear is    
neither brave1 polite1 nor wise4 ,i very
 well remember hearing the old gentleman
 say that1 though he had given away     
hundreds of these cards1 he had never   
learned that one of them had done any   
good4 ,i do not wonder at it4 ,it was a 
sneaking way of doing good1 or of trying
 to4 ,if the old man had remonstrated   
personally with these swearing fellows1 
and told them that their habit was both 
vulgar and wicked1 does any one suppose 
that the result would have been so      
unsatisfactory8 ,he had not pluck enough
 to do this2 so he gave them a card1 and
 they either threw it in his face or    
threw it away4 ,but then1 the cards     
didn't cost much6  ,i have been much    
interested in watching a car-load of    
passengers1 while receiving each from   
the hands of a professional distributor 
a religious tract4 ,all have received   
the gift politely1 in deference to the  

motive which prompted1 or was supposed  
to prompt1 its bestowal2 yet ,i have    
never failed to perceive that politeness
 was really taxed in the matter4 ,now   
let me be candid1 and confess that ,i   
was never pleasantly impressed by being 
presented with a tract in a railroad    
car4 ,this fact cannot be attributed to 
any lack of disposition to contemplate  
religious subjects2 but there is        
something which tells me that it is     
improper and indelicate for any man to  
come into a public vehicle1 and thrust  
upon me and upon my fellow-passengers a 
set of motives and opinions on religion 
which may or may not accord with my own 
and theirs--just as it happens4 ,i think
 the natural action of the mind is to   
brace itself against influences sought  
to be sprung upon it in this manner2 and
 ,i am yet to be convinced that this    
indiscriminate and wholesale            
distribution of religious tracts in     
railroad stations and public conveyances
 is not doing1 and has not done1 more   

harm than good4 ,i know that multitudes 
of men--not vicious--are disgusted with 
it1 and offended by it1 and that there  
is something--call it what you may--in  
the emotions excited by the presentation
 of a tract under such ill-chosen       
circumstances1 which counteracts any    
good influence it was intended to       
produce4 ,a gentleman will receive a    
tract politely1 and read it or not      
according to his whim2 but it will be   
very apt to disgust him with the style  
of ,christianity which it represents4   
,i am aware that the secretary and the  
agents of the tract societies make very 
encouraging reports of the results of   
their operations4 ,i am always          
interested in these details1 and do not 
discredit at all the statements which   
they make4 ,nay1 ,i am convinced that in
 certain departments of their effort    
they are successful in doing much good4 
,i believe that their noble army of     
colporteurs1 going from lonely          
neighborhood to neighborhood1 and       

carrying with them an unselfish1 devoted
 life1 and the living voice of prayer1  
exhortation1 and counsel1 win many souls
 to ,christian virtue4 ,i am willing to 
acknowledge1 further1 that here and     
there a tract1 chance-sown1 may fall    
into ground ready to receive it2 but ,i 
have a right to question whether the    
same outlay of effort and money1 applied
 directly in other fields1 would not    
bring very much larger returns4 ,my     
point is that in all efforts to do good1
 in this way1 appropriateness of time   
and place is always to be consulted4 ,i 
once took my seat in a dentist's chair  
to have an operation performed upon my  
teeth4 ,if ,i remember correctly1 an    
ugly fang was to be removed1--at any    
rate1 pain was involved in the matter2  
but no sooner was the dentist's arm     
around my head1 and his instrument in my
 mouth1 than the well-meaning and       
zealous operator began to question me   
upon the subject of personal religion4  
,now it seemed quite as bad to undertake

 to propagate ,christianity at the point
 of a surgical instrument1 as it would  
be to win proselytes by the sword2 and  
the utter incongruity of the two        
operations disgusted me4 ,at any rate1  
,i changed my dentist4 ,i felt like the 
man who found upon his landlady's table 
an article of butter that was           
inconveniently encumbered with hair1 and
 who informed her that he had no        
objection to hair1 but would prefer to  
have it served upon a separate dish4  ,a
 good many years ago1 ,i read a         
,sunday-school book entitled1 if ,i     
remember correctly1 ,walks of           
,usefulness4 ,it represented a man going
 out into the street1 and pitching into 
every person he met with1 upon the      
subject of religion1 or starting a      
conversation and immediately giving it a
 spiritual twist4 ,i thought then that  
he was a remarkably ingenious man--a    
wonderful story-teller1 to say the least
 of him4 ,i am inclined to think now    
that he romanced a little4 ,every       

operation was so neatly done1 and turned
 out so well1 that ,i really suspect it 
was pure fiction4 ,i have this to say1  
at any rate1 that if he did and said    
what he professed to have done and said1
 under the circumstances which he       
described1 he owed it to the politeness 
of those whom he addressed that he was  
not dismissed with a decided rebuff1 and
 told to go about his business4 ,a word 
fitly spoken1 how good it is6 ,ah yes6  
how very good it is6 ,christian zeal is 
no excuse for bad taste1 nor is         
,christian effort exempt from the laws  
of fitness and propriety which attach to
 human effort of other aims in other    
fields4 ,if ,i wish to reach a man's    
mind upon any important subject1 and    
circumstances do not favor me1 ,i wait  
for circumstances to change1 or ,i pave 
my way to his mind by a series of       
carefully-adjusted efforts4 ,abrupt     
transitions of thought and feeling1 and 
violent interruptions of the currents of
 mental life and action1 are never      

favorable to reflection4 ,if ,i wish to 
cheer a man who is bowed to the earth in
 grief for the loss of a companion1 ,i  
will not break in upon his mourning with
 a lively tune upon a fiddle4 ,if ,i    
wish to attract him to a religious life1
 ,i will not interrupt the flow of his  
innocently social hours by some terrible
 threat or warning4 ,in truth1 ,i know  
of nothing that calls for more care1 or 
nicer discrimination1 or choicer        
address1 than a personal attempt to move
 an irreligious mind in a religious     
direction4 ,the word of gold should     
always have a setting of silver4  ,there
 seems to be a prevalent disposition in 
the religious world to do good by       
indirection and stratagem4 ,if a man can
 reach one mind by scattering ten       
thousand tracts1 the result is more     
grateful than it would be if that mind  
were reached by direct personal effort  
without any tracts2 and it makes a      
larger and more interesting show in the 
reports4 ,this disposition is manifest  

in the matter of charitable fairs4 ,the 
women of a religious society will make  
up a batch of little-or-nothings1 freeze
 a few cans of ice cream1 hire a hall1  
and advertise a sale4 ,we all go1 and   
buy things that we do not want1 with a  
good-natured and gallant disregard of   
prices1 and the footings of receipts are
 published in the newspapers4 ,the      
charitable women feel pleasantly about  
it1 and think that they have done a     
great deal of good at a small cost1     
without remembering that all the money  
they have made has cost somebody the    
amount of the declared figures4 ,it     
seems to be a great deal pleasanter to  
get possession of the money in this way1
 than it would be to obtain it by a     
general subscription4 ,they forget that 
all they have done is to obtain a       
subscription by a graceful and          
attractive stratagem1 and that the      
motives which they have pocketed with   
the money would not stand the test of a 
scrupulous analysis4 ,the main point    

seems to be to get the money1 and do the
 good with the least possible sense of  
sacrifice2 as a man goes to a charitable
 ball1 and pays two dollars for the     
privilege of dancing all night1 in order
 to give a shilling of profits to the   
widow and fatherless without feeling the
 burden of the charity4  ,of all the    
means of doing good1 ,i know of none so 
repulsive as that which is purely       
professional4 ,i think we do not have so
 much of this in these days as our      
fathers had4 ,our pastors are more      
thoroughly our companions and friends   
than they used to be4 ,they do not      
assume to be our dictators and censors  
as they did in the earlier days of      
,puritanism4 ,the idea of the regular   
parochial visit is essentially changed4 
,but ,i know clergymen1 even now1 who   
visit the house of mourning             
professionally1 and give their          
professional consolation in a           
professional way1 and depart feeling    
that they have faithfully performed     

their professional duty4 ,i know        
clergymen who go round from house to    
house with their professional inquiries1
 and do up any quantity of professional 
work in a day4 ,the family come in1     
7those who do not run away17 and take   
seats around the room1 and answer       
questions1 and listen to a prayer1 and  
then they bid their pastor a good       
afternoon with a sense of relief1 and go
 about their business again1 while he   
pushes on to his next parishioner1 and  
repeats the professional task4 ,it is   
all a dry and unfruitful formality on   
the part of the families visited1 and a 
professionally-discharged duty on the   
part of the pastor1 and a               
pitifully-ridiculous caricature of the  
visit of a religious teacher to his     
disciples every way4 ,what shall be said
 of an interview of which the pastor's  
part consisted of these words3 ,very    
late spring--,hem6 7looking out of the  
window7--who is building that           
barn8--potatoes seem to be getting along

 very well2 7turning to a member of the 
family7--,jane1 how do you enjoy your   
mind8 ,a spiritual frame that could     
stand such a transition as that1 without
 taking a fatal cold1 must be based upon
 a very sound constitution1 and         
toughened by frequent repetition of the 
process4  ,i suppose there will always  
be obtuse men in the pastoral office--  
men who know no way of getting into a   
sensitive soul except by knocking in the
 door and walking in with their boots   
on2 but all such men are out of their   
place4 ,the souls of an average people--
 tied to the tasks of life1 burdened by 
care1 oppressed by routine1 and         
depressed in many instances by bodily   
weakness--need sympathy more than       
counsel1 and encouragement and          
inspiration more than a solemn1         
professional catechetical probing of    
their religious state4 ,but ,i think1 as
 ,i have already said1 that the world is
 improving in this matter4 ,our pastors 
are more social1 more facile1 more      

appreciative of the fact that1 in all   
their personal intercourse with their   
people1 they must win love and give     
sympathy if they would do good in the   
line of their profession4  ,so much in  
the vein of criticism2 and if ,i am     
asked what guide a man shall have in the
 matter of doing good in the world1 ,i  
shall answer3 a loving1 honest1 and     
brave heart1 and a mind that judges for 
itself4 ,the heart that loves its       
fellow-men will move its possessor to do
 good2 and the mind that thinks and     
judges for itself will decide in what   
direction its efforts ought to be made4 
,if a man be moved to do good1 he will  
do it1 and his heart will lead him in   
the right direction4 ,under a mistaken  
sense of duty1 inculcated by incompetent
 counsellors1 men find themselves in    
fields of benevolent action to which    
they are very poorly adapted2 and the   
world is full of these blunders2 but an 
honestly-loving heart and an ordinarily 
clear brain1 that nobody has been       

allowed to meddle with and muddle1 will 
tell a man where he belongs and what he 
ought to do4 ,if a man have a gift for  
ministering to the sick1 let him do it4 
,if he have a gift for dealing          
personally with the poor1 let him do    
that4 ,if he have a gift for making     
money1 and none for properly applying   
his charities1 let him hand his money to
 those who are competent to dispense it4
 ,i do not believe that many loving     
hearts1 coupled with unsophisticated    
judgments1 are engaged in indiscriminate
 and random efforts to act for religious
 ends upon the minds they meet with4 ,i 
believe that with all such hearts and   
judgments there is connected a sense of 
that which is fit and proper in time1   
place1 and circumstance1 so that        
wherever they strike they leave their   
mark4 ,i believe that such hearts and   
judgments will scorn to do that by      
indirection which they can do better    
directly1 and that if it be fit and     
proper for them to offer reproof to a   

man1 they will do it by the brave word  
of mouth1 and not sneak up to him and   
put a card or a tract into his hand4 ,i 
believe that men with such hearts and   
judgments would prefer making a         
subscription directly to a charitable   
object1 to making one indirectly by     
paying double price for articles they do
 not want4 ,and last1 ,i think that     
pastors1 with such hearts and judgments1
 are not at all in danger of becoming   
coldly professional in their noble      
duties4 ,a life in any sphere that is   
the expression and outflow of an honest1
 earnest1 loving heart1 taking counsel  
only of ,god and itself1 will be certain
 to be a life of beneficence in the best
 possible direction4     ,,lesson ,,xv4 
,,men ,,of ,,one ,,idea4     ,cultivate 
the physical exclusively1 and you have  
an athlete or a savage2 the moral only1 
and you have an enthusiast or a maniac2 
the intellectual only1 and you have a   
diseased oddity--it may be a monster4   
,it is only by wisely training all three

 together that the complete man can be  
formed4--,,samuel ,,smiles4  ,when the  
heats of summer have dried up the       
streams1 and cataracts only trickle and 
drip1 and the dams of brooks and rivers 
cease to pour the arching crystal from  
their lips1 ,i have always loved to     
explore the forsaken water-courses4 ,an 
imprisoned fish1 a shell with rainbow   
lining1 a curiously-worn rock1 a        
strangely-tinted and                    
grotesquely-fashioned stone--these are  
always objects of interest4 ,then to sit
 down upon a ledge that has been planed 
off by ice1 and smoothed by the tenuous 
passage of an ocean's palpitating       
volume1 and watch the shrunken stream   
slipping around its feet1 and hear the  
gurgle of the faintly-going water1 and  
growl so drowsy with the song that it   
breaks at last into surprising          
articulations1 and talks and laughs1 and
 shouts and sings--ah6 this1 indeed1 is 
enchantment6 ,there are few men1 ,i     
suppose1 so fortunate as to have enjoyed

 a country breeding1 who do not recall  
scenes like this1--who do not remember a
 half-holiday1 at least1 spent in the   
bed of a summer stream1 and at the feet 
of scanty cataracts1 making fierce      
attacks on water snakes1 watching       
lizards lying among the stones of an old
 raceway1 creeping up1 hat in hand1 to a
 gauze-winged devil's needle that       
shivered on a sunny point of rock1 and  
looked as if it might be the ghost of a 
humming-bird1 starting to mark the      
sudden flight and hear the chattering   
cry of the king-fisher as he darted     
through the shadows and disappeared1 and
 noting the slim-legged wagtail1 racing 
backward and forward upon the border of 
the stream4  ,among the objects of      
interest very often1 if not always1 to  
be found at the feet of dams and        
cataracts1 are what people call         
pot-holes4 ,they are round holes worn in
 the solid rock by a single stone1 kept 
in motion by the water4 ,some of them   
are very large and others are small4    

,when the stream becomes dry1 there they
 are1 smooth as if turned out by        
machinery1 and the hard1 round pebbles  
at the bottom by which the curious work 
was done4 ,every year1 as the dry season
 comes along1 we find that the holes    
have grown larger and the pebbles       
smaller1 and that no freshet has been   
found powerful enough to dislodge the   
pebbles and release the rock from their 
attrition4 ,now if a man will turn from 
the contemplation of one of these       
pot-holes1 and the means by which it is 
made1 and seek for that result and that 
process in the world of mind which most 
resemble them1 ,i am sure that he will  
find them in a man of one idea4 ,in     
truth1 these scenes that ,i have been   
painting were all recalled to me by     
looking upon one of these men1 studying 
his character1 and watching the effect  
of the single idea by which he was      
actuated4 ,there1 said ,i1              
involuntarily1 is a moral pot-hole with 
a pebble in it2 and the hole grows      

larger and the pebble smaller every     
year4  ,i suppose it is useless to      
undertake to reform men of one idea4    
,the real trouble is that the pebble is 
in them2 and whole freshets of truth are
 poured upon them1 only with the effect 
to make it more lively in its grinding1 
and more certain in its process of      
wearing out itself and them4 ,the little
 man who1 when ordered by his physician 
to take a quart of medicine1 informed   
him with a deprecatory whimper1 that he 
did not hold but a pint1 illustrates the
 capacity of many of those who are      
subjects of a single idea4 ,they do not 
hold but one1 and it would be useless to
 prescribe a larger number4 ,in a       
country like ours1 in which every thing 
is new and everybody is free1 there are 
multitudes of self-constituted doctors1 
each of whom has a nostrum for curing   
all physical and moral disorders and    
diseases1--a patent process by which    
humanity may achieve its proudest       
progress and its everlasting happiness4 

,the country is full of hobby-riders1   
booted and spurred1 who imagine they are
 leading a grand race to a golden goal1 
forgetful of the truth that their steeds
 are tethered to a single idea1 around  
which they are revolving only to tread  
down the grass and wind themselves up1  
where they may stand at last amid the   
world's ridicule1 and starve to death4  
,man cannot live by bread alone1 but by 
every word that proceeds out of the     
mouth of ,god1 whether spoken through   
nature or revelation4 ,there is no one  
idea in all ,god's universe so great and
 so nutritious that it can furnish food 
for an immortal soul4 ,variety of       
nutriment is absolutely essential1 even 
to physical health4 ,there are so many  
elements that enter into the structure  
of the human body1 and such variety of  
stimuli requisite for the play of its   
vital forces1 that it is necessary to   
lay under tribute a wide range of       
nature2 and fruits and roots and grain1 
beasts of the field1 fowls of the air1  

and fish of the sea1 juices and spices  
and flavors1 all bring their            
contributions to the perfection of the  
human animal1 and the harmony of its    
functions4 ,the sailor1 kept too long   
upon his hard biscuit and salt junk1    
degenerates into scurvy4 ,the occupant  
of the ,irish hovel who lives upon his  
favorite root1 and sees neither bread   
nor meat1 grows up with weak eyes1 an   
ugly face1 and a stunted body4 ,it is   
precisely thus with a man who occupies  
and feeds his mind with a single idea4  
,he grows mean and small and diseased   
with the diet4 ,the soul bears relation 
to such a wealth of truth1 such a       
multitude of interests cluster about it1
 it has such variety of elements--as    
illustrated by its illimitable range of 
action and passion--it touches and      
receives impressions from all other     
souls at such an infinite variety of    
points1 that it is simply absurd to     
suppose that one idea can feed it1 even 
for a day4  ,a mind that surrenders     

itself to a single idea becomes         
essentially insane4 ,i know a man who   
has dwelt so long upon the subject of a 
vegetable diet that it has finally taken
 possession of him4 ,it is now of such  
importance in his eyes that every other 
subject is thrown out of its legitimate 
relations to him4 ,it is the constant   
theme of his thought--the study of his  
life4 ,he questions the properties and  
quantities of every mouthful that passes
 his lips1 and watches its effects upon 
him4 ,he reads upon this subject        
everything he can lay his hands on4 ,he 
talks upon it with every man he meets4  
,he has ransacked the whole ,bible for  
support to his theories2 and the man    
really believes that the eternal        
salvation of the human race hinges upon 
a change of diet4 ,it has become a      
standard by which to decide the validity
 of all other truth4 ,if he did not     
believe that the ,bible was on his side 
of the question1 he would discard the   
,bible4 ,experiments or opinions that   

make against his faith are either       
contemptuously rejected or ingeniously  
explained away4 ,now this man's mind is 
not only reduced to the size of his     
idea1 and assimilated to its character1 
but it has lost its soundness4 ,his     
reason is disordered4 ,his judgment is  
perverted--depraved4 ,he sees things in 
unjust and illegitimate relations4 ,the 
subject that absorbs him has grown out  
of proper proportions1 and all other    
subjects have shrunk away from it4 ,i   
know another man--a man of fine         
powers--who is just as much absorbed by 
the subject of ventilation2 and though  
both of these men are regarded by the   
community as of sound mind1 ,i think    
they are demonstrably insane4  ,if we   
rise into larger fields1 we shall find  
more notable demonstration of the       
starving effect of the entertainment of 
a single idea4 ,scattered throughout the
 country we shall find men who have     
devoted themselves to the cause of      
temperance1 or abstinence from          

intoxicating liquors4 ,here is a grand1 
a humane1 a most worthy and important   
cause2 yet temperance as an idea is not 
enough to furnish food for a human soul4
 ,some of these men have only room in   
them for one idea1 and1 so far as they  
are concerned1 it might as well be      
temperance as any thing1 though it is   
bad for the cause2 but the majority of  
them were1 at starting1 men of generous 
instincts1 a quick sense of that which  
is pure and true1 and a genuine love of 
mankind4 ,they dwelt upon their         
idea--they lived upon it for a few      
years--and then they showed their       
keeping4 ,if ,i should wish to find a   
narrow-minded1 uncharitable1 bigoted    
soul1 in the smallest possible space of 
time1 ,i would look among those who have
 made temperance the specialty of their 
lives--not because temperance is bad1   
but because one idea is bad2 and the men
 afflicted by this particular idea are  
numerous and notorious4 ,they have no   
faith in any man who does not believe   

exactly as they do4 ,they accuse every  
man of unworthy motives who opposes     
them4 ,they permit no liberty of        
individual judgment and no range of     
opinion2 and when they get a chance1    
they drive legislation into the most    
absurd and harmful extremes4 ,men of one
 idea are always extremists1 and        
extremists are always nuisances4 ,i     
might truthfully add that an extremist  
is never a man of sound mind4  ,the     
whole tribe of professional agitators   
and miscalled reformers are men of one  
idea4 ,that these men do good1 sometimes
 directly and frequently indirectly1 ,i 
do not deny2 and it is equally evident  
that they do a great deal of harm1 the  
worst of which1 perhaps1 falls upon     
themselves4 ,like the charge of a       
cannon1 they do damage to an enemy's    
fortifications1 but they burn up the    
powder there is in them1 and lose the   
ball4 ,like blind old ,samson1 they may 
prostrate the pillars of a great wrong1 
but they crush themselves and the       

,philistines together4 ,the greatest and
 truest reformer that ever lived was    
,jesus ,christ2 but ah6 the difference  
between his broad aims1 universal       
sympathies1 and overflowing love1 and   
the malignant spirit that moves those   
who angrily beat themselves to death    
against an instituted wrong6 ,as an     
illustration1 look at those who have    
been the prominent agitators of the     
slavery question in this country for the
 last twenty years4 ,are they men of    
charity8 ,are they ,christian men8 ,is  
not invective the chosen and accustomed 
language of their lips8 ,do they not    
follow those against whom they have     
opposed themselves1 whether for good    
cause or otherwise1 into their graves   
with a fiendish lust of cruelty1 and do 
they not delight to trample upon great  
names and sacred memories8 ,are they men
 whom we love8 ,do we feel attracted to 
their society8 ,teachers of toleration1 
are they not the most intolerant of all 
men living8 ,denouncers of bigotry1 are 

they not the most fiercely bigoted of   
any men we know8 ,preachers of love and 
good will to men1 do they not use more  
forcibly than any other class the power 
of words to wound and poison human      
sensibilities8  ,it is not the quality  
of the idea which a man entertains that 
kills him4 ,freedom for every creature  
that bears ,god's image--the breaking of
 the rod of the oppressor and letting   
the oppressed go free--this is a good   
idea4 ,it is so great1 so broad1 so     
full1 so flowing1 that a world of men   
might gather around it for a time as    
they do around ,niagara1 and grow divine
 in its majestic music and the vision of
 the wreath of light which heaven holds 
above it4 ,if a man undertake to live   
upon a single idea1 it really makes very
 little difference to him whether that  
idea be a good or a bad one4 ,a man may 
as well get scurvy on beans as beef4 ,i 
suppose a diet of potatoes would be     
quite as likely to support life         
comfortably as a diet of peaches4 ,it is

 because the human soul cannot live upon
 one thing alone1 but demands           
participation in every expression of the
 life of ,god1 that it will dwarf and   
starve upon even the grandest and most  
divine idea4  ,the agitators and        
reformers are very ready to see the     
dwarfing effect of a single idea or a   
single range of ideas upon the          
,christian ministry1 and a large number 
of ,christian men4 ,i admit the accuracy
 of their observations in this matter1  
and1 admitting this1 ,i can certainly   
ask the question whether they hope to   
escape depreciation when the ,christian 
idea--the divinest of all---is          
insufficient of itself to make a man1   
and fill him1 and give him all desirable
 health and wealth and growth4 ,as ,i   
have touched upon this point1 ,i may say
 that it is coming to be understood that
 a man or a minister1 in order to be a  
,christian1 must be something else--that
 ,christianity received into nature and 
life is only one of the elements of     

manhood--and that a man may become      
starved and mean and bigoted and        
essentially insane by feeding           
exclusively upon religion4 ,what means  
the vision of these sapless1 sad1 and   
sanctimonious ,christians--these poor1  
thin1 stingy lives--but that all ideas  
save the religious one have been shut   
out from them8 ,is it not notorious that
 a minister who has fed exclusively upon
 religion is a man without power upon   
the hearts and minds of men8 ,is it not 
true that he has most efficiency in     
pulpit ministration who has the largest 
knowledge of and sympathy with men1 the 
broadest culture1 and the widest        
acquaintance with all the ideas that    
enter as food and motive into human     
life8 ,is it not true that in the       
life-long1 absorbing anxiety and        
carefulness of a multitude of souls to  
secure their salvation1 those souls are 
constantly becoming less valuable1 and  
thus--to use the language of the        
market--less worth saving8  ,i cannot   

fail1 however unwilling1 to see much    
that is dry and stiff and unlovely in   
the style of ,christianity around me4   
,it has no attraction for me4 ,i do not 
like the people who illustrate it2 and  
the reason is1 not that they have got   
too much of ,christianity1 but that they
 have not got enough of any thing else4 
,flour is good1 but flour is not bread4 
,if ,i am to eat flour1 ,i must eat it  
as bread2 and either milk or water must 
be used to make it bread4 ,if a little  
milk is used1 the bread will be dry and 
heavy and hard4 ,if a good deal is used1
 the flour will be transformed into a   
soft and plastic mass1 which will rise  
in the heat1 and come to my lips a sweet
 and fragrant morsel4 ,christianity is  
good1 but it wants mixing with humanity 
before it will have a practical value4  
,if only a little humanity be mixed with
 it1 the product will be dry and        
tasteless2 but if it be combined with   
the real milk of humanity1 and enough of
 it1 the result will be a loaf fit for  

the tongues of angels4 ,no3 the divinest
 idea that has yet been apprehended by  
the human mind is not enough for the    
human mind4 ,that which ,god made to be 
fed by various food cannot be fed with  
success or safety by a single element4  
,we cannot build a house of dry bricks4 
,it takes lime and sand and water in    
their proper proportions to hold the    
bricks together4  ,this selection of a  
single idea from the great world of     
ideas to which the mind is vitally      
related1 and making it food and drink1  
and motive and pivotal point of action1 
and supreme object of devotion1 is      
mental and moral suicide4 ,it makes that
 a despotic king which should be a      
tributary subject4 ,it enslaves the soul
 to a base partisanship4 ,it is right to
 make money1 and it is right to be rich 
when wealth is won legitimately2 but    
when money becomes the supreme object of
 a man's life1 the soul starves as      
rapidly as the coffers are filled4 ,it  
is right to be a temperance man and an  

anti-slavery man1 and an advocate of any
 special ,christian reform2 but the     
effect of adopting any one of these     
reforms as the supreme object of a man's
 pursuit1 never fails to belittle him4  
,one of the most pitiable objects the   
world contains is a man of generous     
natural impulses grown sour1 impatient1 
bitter1 abusive1 uncharitable1 and      
ungracious1 by devotion to one idea1 and
 the failure to impress it upon the     
world with the strength by which it     
possesses himself4 ,many of these fondly
 hug the delusion to themselves that    
they are martyrs1 when1 in fact1 they   
are only suicides4 ,many of these look  
forward to the day when posterity will  
canonize them1 and lift them to the     
glory of those who were not received by 
their age because they were in advance  
of their age4 ,so they regard with      
contempt the pigmy world1 wrap the      
mantles of their mortified pride about  
them1 and lie down in a delusive dream  
of immortality4  ,whether the effect of 

devotion to a single idea be disastrous 
or otherwise to the devotees1 nothing in
 all history is better proved--nothing  
in all philosophy is more clearly       
demonstrable-- than the fact that it is 
a damage to the idea4 ,if ,i wished to  
disgust a community with any special    
idea1 ,i would set a man talking about  
it and advocating it who would talk of  
nothing else4 ,if ,i wished to ruin a   
cause utterly1 ,i would submit it to the
 advocacy of one who would thrust it    
into every man's face1 who would make   
every other cause subordinate to it1 who
 would refuse to see any objections to  
it1 who would accuse all opponents of   
unworthy motives1 and who would thus    
exhibit his absolute slavery to it4 ,men
 have an instinct which tells them that 
such people as these are not            
trustworthy--that their sentiments and  
opinions are as valueless as those of   
children4 ,if they talk with a pleasant 
spirit1 we good-naturedly tolerate them2
 if they rant and scold and denounce1 we

 hiss them if we think it worth while1  
or we applaud them as we would the feats
 of a dancing bear4 ,if they say        
devilish things in a heavenly sort of   
way1 and clothe their black malignities 
in silken phrases1 we hear them with a  
certain kind of pleasure1 and take our  
revenge in despising them1 and feeling  
malicious towards the cause they        
advocate4 ,it would kill us to drink    
,cologne water1 but the perfume         
titillates the sense1 and so we sprinkle
 it upon our handkerchiefs4  ,no great  
cause can be forwarded by the advocacy  
of men who have no character1 and no man
 can devote himself to an idea without  
the loss of character4 ,when a man comes
 forward to promulgate an idea1 we      
inquire into his credentials4 ,how large
 a man is this8 ,how broad are his      
sympathies8 ,how wide is his knowledge8 
,what relation does he bear to the great
 world of ideas among which this is only
 one1 and very likely a comparatively   
unimportant one8 ,is he so weak as to be

 possessed by this idea1 or does he     
possess it1 and entertain a rational    
comprehension of its relations to       
himself and the community8 ,i know that 
multitudes of good men have been so     
disgusted with the one-sided1 partisan  
character of the advocates of special   
ideas and special reforms1 that they    
would have no association with them4 ,we
 have only to learn that a man can see  
nothing but his pet idea1 and is really 
in its possession1 to lose all          
confidence in his judgment4 ,when in a  
court of justice a man testifies upon a 
point that touches his personal         
interests or feelings or relations1 we  
say that his testimony is not           
valuable--not reliable4 ,it decides     
nothing for us4 ,we say that the        
evidence does not come from the proper  
source4 ,we do not expect candor from   
him1 for we perceive that his interests 
are too deeply involved to allow sound  
judgment and utterly truthful           
expression4 ,it is precisely thus with  

all professional agitators and          
reformers--all devotees of single ideas4
 ,they are personally so intimately     
connected with their idea--have been so 
enslaved by their idea--are so          
interested in its prosperity---that they
 are not competent to testify with      
relation to it4     ,,lesson ,,xvi4     
,,shying ,,people4              ,it is  
jealousy's peculiar nature   ,to swell  
small things to great2 nay1 out of      
naught   ,to conjure much3 and then to  
lose its reason   ,amid the hideous     
phantoms it has formed4 ,,young4    ,i  
will not shut me from my kind2     ,and1
 lest ,i stiffen into stone1     ,i will
 not eat my heart alone1    ,nor feed   
with sighs a passing wind4              
,,tennyson4    ,fear is the virtue of   
slaves2 but the heart that loveth is    
willing4 ,,longfellow4   ,reader1 did   
you ever drive a horse that had the mean
 habit of shying8 ,if so1 then you will 
remember how constantly he was on the   
lookout for objects that would frighten 

him4 ,he would never wait for the       
bugbear to show its head2 but he        
conjured it up at every point4 ,every   
hair upon his sides seemed transformed  
into an eye2 and there was not a colored
 stone1 nor a stick of wood1 nor a bit  
of paper1 nor a small dog1 nor a shadow 
across the road1 nor any thing that     
introduced variety into his passage1    
that did not seem to be endowed with    
some marvellous power of repulsion4     
,first he dodged to the right1 after    
having foreseen the evil from afar1 and 
wrought himself up to a fearful pitch of
 sidelong excitement2 and then he dodged
 to the left1 having been surprised into
 passing a cat without alarm2 and so1   
dodging to the right and left1 he has   
half worried the life out of you4 ,being
 constantly on guard1 and always        
watching for objects of alarm1 and      
suspicious of dangers in disguise1 he   
has had no difficulty in maintaining a  
condition of permanent fright1 which has
 worked itself off in spasms of shying4 

,to a man who has driven a horse up to a
 locomotive without danger or fear1 such
 an animal as this seems to be unworthy 
of the name of a horse2 and to one who  
has read of the spirit and fearlessness 
of the war-horse1 a shying horse seems  
to be the most contemptible of his race4
  ,well1 ,i have met shying men1 and ,i 
meet them upon the sidewalk almost every
 day4 ,i have watched them from afar1   
and known by their eyes and a certain   
preparatory nervousness of body1 that   
they would shy at me4 ,i have been      
conscious1 however1 that there was      
nothing in me to shy at4 ,i have had no 
pistols in my pocket1 and no ,bowie     
knife under my coat-collar4 ,i have been
 innocent of any intention to leap upon 
and throttle them4 ,i have had no       
purpose to trip their heels by a sudden 
flank movement1 and not even the desire 
to knock their hats off4 ,indeed1 ,i    
have felt toward them a degree of       
friendliness and kindness which ,i would
 have been very glad to express1 had    

they afforded me an opportunity2 but    
they were shying men by nature1 or by   
habit1 or by whim4 ,so far as ,i have   
been able to ascertain the causes of    
their infirmity1 it is the result of a  
suspicion that they are not quite as    
good as other people1 and a belief that 
other people understand the fact4 ,far  
be it from me to deny that their        
suspicions touching themselves are      
well-grounded2 but that is no reason why
 other people should not speak to them  
politely4 ,there is a class of men and  
women who are always looking out for1   
and expecting1 slights from those whom  
they suppose to be their superiors4     
,they get a suspicion that a certain man
 feels above them2 so when they pass him
 in the street1 they shy at him--go     
around him--will not give him an        
opportunity to be polite to them4 ,they 
are martyrs1 as they suppose1 to unjust 
social distinctions4 ,they act as if    
they were painfully uncertain as to     
whether they are men and women or       

spaniels4  ,now by the side of the      
person who carries an unsuspicious1     
self-respectful1 open face1 into any    
presence1 such people as these seem     
unworthy of the race to which they      
belong4 ,it is not the bold1 brassy1    
self-asserting man who is their         
superior1 because his sort of offensive 
forwardness originates in even a worse  
state of mind and heart than the habit  
of shying4 ,when a man shies1 he only   
suspects that he is inferior to his     
surroundings4 ,when a man offensively   
puts himself forward1 and talks loudly  
among his betters1 he knows he is mean1 
and knows that he is not where he       
belongs4 ,you will find a professional  
gambler to be a loudmouthed man1 who not
 only does not shy at his betters1 but  
who seeks all convenient opportunities  
for associating with them1 and claiming 
an equality with them4 ,the shying man  
is one who has not much respect for     
himself1 who is envious and jealous of  
others1 and who1 however strongly he may

 protest against the charge1 has the    
most abject respect for social position 
and arbitrary social distinctions4 ,if  
he see a man who either assumes or seems
 to be above him1 it is a reason in his 
mind why that man should not notice him4
 ,the result is that decent men soon    
take him at his own valuation1 and      
notice him no more than they would a    
dog2 and they serve him right4  ,i know 
of no more thankless task than the      
attempt to assure shying people that we 
love them1 respect them1 and are glad to
 continue their acquaintance4 ,the      
instances in which old school-mates meet
 in the journey of life with a sickening
 coolness1 in consequence of changed    
circumstances and relations1 are of     
every-day occurrence4 ,two persons who  
separated at the school-house door in   
dawning manhood1 with equal prospects1  
come together later in life4 ,one has   
risen in the world1 has won hosts of    
friends1 has been put forward by them   
into public office1 perhaps1 and has    

acquired a competence4 ,the other has   
remained upon the old homestead1 has had
 a hard life1 and has won neither       
distinction nor wealth4 ,the fortunate  
man grasps the hand of the other with   
all the cordiality of his nature and of 
his honest friendship2 but he meets a   
reserve which may be almost sullen4 ,he 
strives to call up the scenes gone      
by--the old school-sports--the school   
companions1 boys and girls--the old     
neighborhood friendships--but they will 
not come4 ,all attempts to touch the    
heart of his former schoolmate1 and     
bring him into sympathy through the     
power of association1 fail4 ,the poor   
fool suspects his friend of patronizing 
him1 and he will not be patronized4     
,feeling that his friend has got along  
in the world better than himself1 he    
cannot understand why he should not be  
regarded as an inferior1 and treated as 
such4 ,thenceforward1 the fortunate man 
must seek the society of the unfortunate
 man1 or he will never have it4 ,the    

former may give practical recognition of
 entire equality1 to the best of his    
ability1 but it will avail nothing1 for 
the latter will not toady to his friend1
 nor be patronized by him4 ,at last the 
fortunate man becomes tired of the      
effort to make his unfortunate friend   
understand him1 and he kicks him and his
 memory aside1 and calls it a friendship
 closed forever1 without fault upon his 
part4  ,i have often wished that it     
could be understood by these people who 
are so uncertain in regard to their     
position1 and so suspicious that        
everybody has the disposition to slight 
them1 and so much afraid of being       
patronized1 and so averse to the thought
 of toadying that they stand stiffly    
aloof from the society which they envy1 
and so much offended with people for    
feeling above them1 that their          
sentiments and feelings are sufficient  
reasons for society to hold them in     
contempt4 ,there is a lack of           
self-respect--a meanness--in their      

position1 that is really a sufficient   
apology for treating them with entire   
social neglect4 ,they habitually        
misconstrue those among whom they move2 
they are exacting of attention to the   
last degree2 they are always            
uncomfortable1 and they are ready to    
take offense at the smallest fancied    
provocation4 ,i have now in my mind an  
artisan whom ,i had occasion to get     
acquainted with a dozen years ago2 and  
,i have compelled him to speak to me    
every time ,i have met him since4 ,i    
really do not know what he had done to  
make him regard himself so              
contemptuously1 but ,i think he has     
never to this day fully believed that ,i
 have the slightest respect for him4 ,he
 has tried to dodge me4 ,he has shied   
repeatedly1 but ,i have compelled him to
 make me a good-natured bow1 till he    
begins to like it1 ,i think-- till he   
expects it1 at least4  ,many children   
are bred to the idea that certain       
families are socially above them4 ,they 

are taught from their cradles to        
consider themselves in a certain sense  
inferior4 ,how few ,american children   
are taught that there is no degradation 
in poverty1 and that a humble employment
 and an obscure position are entirely   
consistent with self-respect1 under all 
circumstances1 in whatever society4 ,i  
do not mean to say that they have not   
heard their parents remark that they    
were as good as anybody4 ,there is      
enough of this talk2 and it is precisely
 this which teaches children that they  
are born to what their parents consider 
dishonor1--inferiority to their         
neighbors4 ,it is impossible for        
children who have been bred in this way 
ever to outgrow1 entirely1 their feeling
 of inferiority4 ,the people who are    
entirely self-respectful never have any 
thing to say about their position in the
 presence of their children2 and it is a
 cruel thing to teach a child1 not that 
there is a grade of society which is    
actually above him1 but that the persons

 who occupy that grade look down upon   
him--and1 in the constitution of        
society1 have the right to look down    
upon him--with contempt4 ,to see an     
honest lad in humble clothing actually  
awed by finding himself in the presence 
of a well-dressed child of affluence1 is
 very pitiful2 and there are thousands  
of these poor boys who1 having won      
wealth and distinction1 never in their  
consciousness lose their early estate   
sufficiently to feel at home with those 
among whom the advance of fortune has   
brought them4  ,a thoroughly            
self-respectful person will command     
respect anywhere4 ,a man who carries    
into the world an unsuspecting1         
unassuming face1 who is polite to       
everybody1 minds his own business1 and  
does not show by his demeanor that he   
bears about with him a sense of         
degradation and inferiority1 and who    
gives evidence that he considers himself
 a man1 and expects the treatment due to
 a man1 will secure politeness and      

respect from every true gentleman and   
gentlewoman in the world4 ,the man who  
shies1 and suspects1 and envies1 and is 
full of petty jealousies1 and is always 
afraid that he shall not get all that is
 due to him in the way of polite        
attention1 and manifests a feeling of   
great uncertainty and anxiety concerning
 his own social position1 is sure to be 
shunned at last1 and he will well       
deserve his fate4 ,no real gentleman1   
and no true gentlewoman1 ever has       
feelings like these4 ,it is only those  
who are neither1 and who do not deserve 
the position of either1 that are        
troubled in this way4 ,i give it as a   
deliberate judgment that there is far   
less of contempt for the poor and       
obscure among what are denominated the  
higher classes of society than there is 
of envy and hatred of the rich and      
renowned among the poor and humble2 and 
that the principal bar to a more cordial
 and gentle intercourse between the two 
classes1 is the lack of self-respect    

which pervades the latter1 and the mean1
 degrading humility which they manifest 
in all their relations with those whom  
they consider above their level4        
,american society is                    
mixed--heterogeneous--more so1 probably1
 than that of any other country4 ,there 
is no such thing as well-defined        
classification4 ,there is no nobility1  
no gentry1 no aristocracy1 no peasantry4
 ,the owners of palaces were bred in log
 cabins2 men of learning are the        
children of boors2 and one can never    
tell by a man's position and relations  
in society into what style of life he   
was born4 ,the boy goes into the city   
from his father's farm1 carrying only a 
hardy frame1 a good heart1 and a suit of
 homespun1 and twenty years frequently  
suffice to establish him as a man of    
fortune1 and marry him to a woman of    
fashion4 ,there is no bar to progress in
 any direction for the ambitious man1   
except lack of brains and tact4 ,society
 erects no barriers of caste which      

define the bounds of his liberty4       
,notwithstanding this1 there is always1 
in every place1 a body of people who    
assume to be the best society4 ,the     
claim to the title is rarely well       
substantiated1 and is based on different
 ideas in different places4 ,we shall   
find in some places1 that society       
crystallizes around the idea of wealth2 
in others1 around the idea of literary  
culture2 in others1 around certain      
religious views1 so that1 as it may     
happen1 the best society is constituted 
of the ,presbyterian1 or ,episcopalian1 
or ,unitarian1 or other sectarian       
element4 ,in other places1 an old family
 name is the central power1 and1 in     
others still1 a certain style of family 
life attracts sympathetic materials     
which assume the position of the best   
society4  ,whatever may be the central  
idea of the self-constituted elite1 they
 are always the objects of the envy of a
 large number of minds4 ,silly people   
lie awake nights to get into the best   

society4 ,those who are securely in1 of 
course sleep soundly in their safety and
 their self-complacency2 and those who  
are too low to think of rising to it1   
and those who do not care for it1 go    
through the six to ten hours of their   
slumber without landing1 as the ,north  
,river boatmen say4 ,but a middle class1
 who range along the ragged edges of    
society1 know no rest4 ,they sail along 
in an uncertain way1 like the moon on   
the border of a cloud-- sometimes in and
 sometimes out--feeling naked and very  
much exposed among the stars1 and rather
 foggy and confused in the cloud1 as if1
 after all1 they did not belong there4  
,it is in this class that we meet with  
shying men and shying women4 ,it is in  
this class that we find heart-burnings1 
and jealousies1 and envyings1 and       
sensitive misunderstandings4 ,it is a   
sort of purgatory through which the     
rising man and woman pass to reach the  
paradise of their hope1 and from which  
an unhappy soul is never lifted4 ,these 

people do not stop to inquire whether   
they have any sympathy1 or any thing in 
common with the society which they      
seek--whether they would be lost1 or    
whether they would be at home in it4    
,they do not even seem to suspect that  
much of that which is called the best   
society1 is the last society that a     
sensible1 good man should seek4  ,let us
 suppose that wealth is the central idea
 of the best society1 and then let the  
aspirant to this society ask himself    
whether he has wealth4 ,has he a fine   
house and an elegant turnout8 ,does he  
dress expensively1 and is he able to    
give costly entertainments8 ,is he      
prepared to unite1 on a plane of perfect
 equality1 with those who give the law  
to this society8 ,if so1 it will not be 
necessary for him to seek it1 for the   
society will seek him1--that is1 if he  
be an agreeable man4 ,if he be very rich
 indeed1 why1 it is not necessary that  
he be agreeable at all4 ,but suppose    
literary culture be the central force of

 this society--has the aspirant any     
fitness for1 or sympathy with it8 ,can  
he meet those who form this society as  
an equal1 or mingle in it as a          
thoroughly sympathetic element8 ,would  
he feel happy and at home in a literary 
atmosphere8 ,those questions indicate a 
legitimate direction of inquiry1        
touching every case of this kind4       
,multitudes of those who are            
dissatisfied with their position have   
nothing in common with the society to   
which they aspire1 and would be so much 
out of place there that they would be   
very unhappy4 ,my idea1 then1 is1 that  
so far as society is concerned1 men and 
women naturally find their own place4 ,a
 true gentleman and a genuine           
gentlewoman1 wherever they may appear1  
and whoever they may be1 are as readily 
known as any objects2 and really good   
society recognizes its affinities for   
them at once4 ,they do not have to seek 
for a place1 for they fall into their   
place as naturally as a soldier falls   

into1 and joins step with1 his company4 
,now what can be meaner than the        
jealousy which sits in the circle where 
it is really most at home1 and regards  
with its green and greedy eyes1 a circle
 for which it has no affinities1 except 
the affinities which envy has for that  
which it considers above itself8 ,it is 
a meanness1 too1 which has two sides to 
it4 ,it is notorious that the black     
overseer upon the plantation is severer 
with his companions in slavery than a   
white man would be1 and it is just as   
notorious that the man who has abjectly 
bowed before the distinction of wealth  
and social standing1 always becomes     
insufferably pretentious when fortune or
 favor lifts him to the place of his    
desire4 ,the man who shies those he     
esteems his betters is always a proud   
man at heart1 or if the adjective be    
allowable1 an aristocratic man2 and he  
is very careful to preserve his position
 of comparative respectability with     
relation to those below him4 ,he will   

always be found to be pretentious in his
 own circle1 and supercilious with      
relation to those in lower life4 ,is it 
not true that half of the neighborhood  
quarrels that take place1 and           
three-quarters of the slander1 and all  
the gossip that are indulged in1 result 
from these petty jealousies between     
circles1 and the sensitiveness that is  
felt regarding social standing on the   
part of those who are not quite so high 
in the world as they would like to be8  
,i can only notice briefly the shying   
that is done by the other side of       
society4 ,in effect1 ,i have done this  
already1 perhaps1 but it is proper to   
say directly that there are many moving 
in what is called the best society1 who1
 with a suspicion that they do not      
belong there1 or a feeling that their   
position is not secure there1 shy a     
humble man when they meet him1 and dodge
 all vulgar associations4 ,i suppose    
that no true gentleman is ever afraid of
 being mistaken for any thing else4 ,a  

gentleman knows that there is nothing   
which is more unlike the character of a 
gentleman than the supercilious         
treatment of the humble1 and the fear of
 losing caste by treating every class   
with kindness and politeness4 ,i        
recognize no difference between the two 
shying classes--the men who shy their   
fellow-men because they are high1 and   
the men who shy their fellow-men because
 they are low4 ,both are mean1 both are 
unmanly1 and both are deficient in the  
self-respect necessary to the           
constitution of a gentleman4 ,there are 
no better friends in the world--no men  
who understand each other better--none  
who meet and converse more freely at    
their ease--none who have more respect  
for each other--than a genuine gentleman
 and a self-respectful humble man1 who  
knows his place in the social scale1 and
 is abundantly satisfied with it4 ,there
 is no need of any intercourse between  
men1 of whatever difference of social   
standing1 less dignified and gentle than

 this4     ,,lesson ,,xvii4  ,,faith    
,,in ,,humanity4     ,say1 what is      
honor8 ',tis the finest sense    ,of    
justice which the human mind can frame1 
,intent each lurking frailty to         
disclaim1    ,and guard the way of life 
from all offense1    ,suffered or done4 
,,wordsworth4    ,a child of ,god had   
rather ten thousand times suffer for    
,christ1 than that ,christ should suffer
 by ,him4--,,john ,,mason4    ,for      
mankind are one in spirit1 and an       
instinct bears along    ,round the      
earth's electric circle the swift flash 
of right or      wrong2    ,whether     
conscious or unconscious1 yet humanity's
 vast frame    ,through its             
ocean-sounded fibres feels the gush of  
joy or      shame2--    ,in the gain or 
loss of one race1 all the rest have     
equal claim4    ,,lowell4  ,one of the  
most reliable supports of that which is 
best in man is faith in other men4 ,in  
truth1 ,i believe that no man can lose  
his faith in men and women1 and remain  

as good a man as he was before the loss4
 ,better evidence that a man is rotten  
in some portion of his character1 or    
rotten clean through his character1     
cannot be found than real1 or pretended1
 loss of faith in his fellows4 ,when a  
young man tells me that he has no doubt 
that certain persons1 publicly reputed  
to be good1 take sly drinks in their own
 closets1 and descend into grosser      
indulgences when in strange places2 that
 the best men are hypocrites2 that there
 is no such thing as womanly virtue2 and
 that appetite and selfishness outweigh 
everywhere principle and manly honor1 ,i
 know that1 ninety-nine times in one    
hundred1 he finds a reason in his own   
heart and life for his declarations4 ,i 
know that he simply wishes to maintain a
 certain degree of self-respect1 and    
that he finds no way to do this save by 
bringing everybody around him down to   
his own level4 ,a man who has lost his  
virtue1 and is still suffering under the
 blows of conscience1 is very both to   

believe that there is any virtue in the 
world4  ,yet there are circumstances in 
which faith in humanity is lost without 
fault1 though never without damage1 on  
the part of the loser2 and very sad     
cases they are4 ,i remember an abused1  
broken-hearted1 and forsaken wife1 who  
declared to me her belief that her      
husband was no worse than other men     
7pleasant for me1 wasn't it87--that     
there was not a man in the world who    
could withstand temptation1 or who would
 have done differently from her husband 
under the same circumstances4 ,why was  
this8 ,she had loved this man with all  
the devotion of which her warm woman's  
heart was capable2 she had respected him
 as an embodiment of all manly          
qualities2 he had impersonated her beau 
ideal4 ,if he--the peerless1 the        
prince--could fall1 and forsake1 and    
forget1 who would not8 ,he who had once 
been to her the noblest and best man in 
the world1 could never become worse than
 the rest of the world4 ,now one of the 

foulest wrongs and one of the deepest   
injuries which this man had inflicted   
upon his wife was the destruction of her
 faith in men4 ,he had not only blotted 
out her faith in him1 but he had blotted
 out her faith in humanity1 and1 of     
course1 her faith in herself4 ,what     
safeguards of her own virtue fell when  
her faith in man was destroyed1 she did 
not know2 but1 in her innermost         
consciousness1 she must have grown      
careless of herself-- possibly          
desperate4  ,hardly a month passes by in
 which we do not hear of some           
defalcation1 some lapse from integrity1 
by a man who1 through many years of     
business life1 had maintained an        
untarnished reputation4 ,i have half a  
dozen such cases in my memory now1 and  
,i do not know what to make of them4    
,when ,i see a character standing to-day
 above all reproach1 compacted through  
many years of manly1 honest1 ,christian 
living1 overthrown to-morrow1 and       
trodden in the mire1 ,i am shocked4 ,if 

such men fall1 where are we to look for 
those who will not8 ,if such men1 with  
worthy natures1 and long practice of    
virtue1 and myriad motives for the      
maintenance of an unspotted character1  
yield to temptation1 and are suddenly   
overthrown1 what reason have ,i to      
suppose that my partner1 my brother1    
myself1 shall escape8 ,i am scared1 and 
grow cautious1 and suspicious4  ,did you
 ever think that there is one           
individual1 at least1 in the world--that
 possibly there are ten individuals1    
possibly one hundred1 possibly more--who
 believe that you are1 as a man or a    
woman1 just as nearly right as you can  
be8 ,did you ever think that there are  
people who pin their faith to you1 who  
believe in you1 who trust you1 and that 
among those people your own reputation  
is identified with the reputation of the
 race8 ,i care not how humble a man may 
be1 there are always those who trust in 
him4 ,think of the trust which a family 
of children repose in their parents1 and

 of the faith which the parents have in 
their children4 ,very humble the parents
 may be--very untrustworthy as moral    
guides1 and judges1 and authorities2 but
 if they were angels1 with the light of 
heaven in their eyes1 they would not be 
more confided in and relied upon by the 
little ones who cling to their knees4   
,so1 at all ages1 we garner our faith in
 individuals2 and so1 all men and women1
 however humble and unworthy they may   
be1 become the objects and recipients of
 this faith4  ,now1 if there be ten men 
and women who have garnered their faith 
in me--who believe in me1 through and   
through--and whose faith in all humanity
 would be sadly shocked1 if ,i should   
fall1 and prove to them that their      
confidence had been entirely misplaced1 
then ,i hold for those ten persons the  
reputation of the human race in my      
hands4 ,if you1 my reader1 have         
attracted to yourself the honest faith  
of a thousand hearts1 then you hold in  
your hands1 for those hearts1 the good  

name of humanity4 ,upon the shoulders of
 each man in the community1 there rests 
a great responsibility4 ,he has not only
 his own reputation to take care of1 but
 he has the reputation of his race4 ,if 
all mankind are to be thought more      
meanly of by mankind1 to be less        
trusted1 and less loved1 because ,i have
 been untrue1 though my untruth touch   
but one person directly1 ,i commit a    
great crime against my race4 ,yet this  
crime is nothing by the side of that    
which ,i commit against those who have  
trusted in me4 ,it injures them to think
 meanly of mankind--to have their       
confidence shaken in humanity--much more
 than it injures humanity to be thought 
meanly of4 ,a man may as well stab me as
 to destroy my faith in my kind1 for the
 comfort and happiness of my life depend
 upon the maintenance of this faith4    
,there are not a few men and women in   
this world who are thoroughly conscious 
that not only their immediate personal  
friends think better of them than they  

deserve1 but that the community--all who
 know them--accord to them a higher     
excellence of heart and life than they  
really possess4 ,there are some who seem
 fitted by nature to attract the        
affection1 and secure the respect of all
 those with whom they come into contact1
 in a very remarkable degree2 and1 yet1 
these persons may be painfully          
conscious1 all the while1 that they are 
not so good as they are thought to be4  
,they are not hypocrites2 they have     
never intended to deceive anybody2 they 
have never pretended to be what they are
 not2 but people believe in them without
 limit4 ,a person who has this power of 
attracting the confidence of men has    
forced upon him an immense              
responsibility4 ,to say nothing of his  
duty to himself and his ,god1 he owes it
 to his race to be1 or to become1 as    
good as he seems4 ,it is essentially a  
crime against humanity for one who draws
 the hearts of men to him easily1 to do 
any thing which will tend to depreciate 

their estimate of his character4 ,a man 
should carry a life thus extravagantly  
over-estimated1 as he would carry a cup 
of wine--careful that none be spilled1  
and careful that no impurity fall into  
it4 ,it is a great blessing to be loved 
and respected-- nay to be admired for   
admirable qualities--and when men are   
generous enough to pay in advance for   
excellence1 they should never be cheated
 in the amount and quality of the       
article4  ,there is such a thing as     
honor among men2 there are such things  
as modesty1 truth1 and integrity4 ,they 
are qualities that belong to humanity1  
irrespective of religion and of         
,christian culture4 ,there are men so   
true to their higher natures that ,i    
would trust them with my name1 my gold1 
my children1 my all1 without a doubt4 ,i
 am proud to claim kinship with such    
men4 ,they confer dignity upon the race 
of which ,i am a member4 ,i am glad to  
take their hands in mine4 ,suppose one  
of these--or such things have been--    

should deceive me1 and ,i should        
discover that my name had been abused1  
my gold wasted or stolen1 and my        
children ruined by this man3 could ,i   
ever trust again8 ,should ,i not be     
humiliated8 ,should ,i not feel         
disgraced8 ,should ,i ever be willing to
 let another man into my heart8 ,should 
,i not doubt whether there are1 indeed1 
such things as honor1 and modesty1 and  
truth1 and integrity1 in the world2 and 
thus doubting1 would not the strongest  
defences of my own virtue be thrown     
down8 ,the truth is1 that no man can do 
an unmanly thing without inflicting an  
injury on the whole human race4 ,no man 
can say ,i will do as ,i choose1 and it 
will be nobody's business4 ,every man's 
sin is everybody's business1 literally4 
,every sin shakes men's confidence in   
men1 and becomes1 whatever its origin1  
the enemy of mankind2 and all mankind   
have a right to make common cause in its
 extermination4  ,i once heard a        
careless fellow say that he professed   

nothing and lived up to it2 but         
professing nothing does not exonerate a 
man at all1 so far as relates to the    
personal maintenance of honor1 purity1  
and truth4 ,the man who would excuse a  
lapse from virtue1 or any obliquity of  
conduct1 on the ground that he did not  
profess any thing1 simply announces to  
me the execrable proposition that every 
man has a kind or degree of right to be 
a rascal until he pledges himself to be 
something better4 ,there are altogether 
too many men in the world who am keeping
 themselves easy with the thought that  
if they are not very good1 they never   
pretended or professed to be1--as if    
this failure publicly to pronounce      
themselves on the side of the highest   
morality1 were a sufficient apology for 
minor delinquencies6 ,it seems to be a  
poultice of poppies to some sensitively 
inflamed consciences1 that1 whatever    
they may have done1 they have never     
broken promises voluntarily made1 to do 
right--as if there were a release from  

the obligation to do right1 in failing  
to make the promise6 ,if it will help a 
man to do right1 publicly to profess to 
do right1 and to do good to other men by
 placing his influence on the right     
side1 then the first duty a man owes to 
his race1 is to make this declaration4  
,but ,i will not linger here1 because my
 words have led me to the discussion of 
the obligations of those who have made a
 profession of ,christianity1 and taken 
upon themselves the vows of ,christian  
church-membership4  ,when a man joins a 
,christian church1 he becomes related to
 that church in the same way that nature
 makes him related to humanity4 ,the    
reputation of the church is placed in   
his keeping4 ,he cannot do an           
unchristian thing without injury to the 
church1 or without depreciating1 in the 
eyes of the world1 every other member4  
,think what a blow is inflicted upon the
 church of ,jesus ,christ by such       
scandalous immoralities as some of its  
most prominent members have been guilty 

of--by forgeries1 and adulteries1 and   
drunkenness6 ,these cases are not       
common1 but when they occur1 they are   
blows under which the church reels4 ,the
 outside world looks on1 and scoffs3    
,aha6 ,that's your ,christianity1 is it8
  ,i declare that ,i do not know of a   
position that more strongly appeals to a
 man's personal honor than that of      
membership in a ,christian church4 ,even
 if a man in such a position should say 
within himself3 ,this costs more than it
 comes to4 ,i love my vices more than ,i
 love the ,master whose name ,i profess4
 ,either openly or secretly1 ,i will    
give rein to my appetites and           
passions--he should be arrested by the  
consideration that he proposes to do    
that which will wound the feelings1 and 
degrade the position1 and injure the    
influence1 of thousands of the best men 
and women in the world2 that he proposes
 to inflict an irreparable injury upon a
 cause which has never injured him1 and 
whose office it is to save him1 and all 

mankind4 ,perhaps he is so weak1 and    
temptation is so strong1 that he feels1 
in the stress of his trial1 that he can 
afford to perjure his own soul2 but if  
he does1 he has no right to wound       
others4 ,better fight the devil until   
the animal within us bleeds at every    
vein--until it dies1 if that must be--  
than offend one of these little ones4 ,a
 man who will join a church1 and then   
lead an unchristian life1 not only      
demonstrates before the world his       
hypocrisy1 but he voluntarily undertakes
 to prove that he has no personal honor4
 ,an honorable man will sacrifice       
himself always before he will           
voluntarily inflict injury upon a cause 
he has pledged himself to sustain1 and  
upon men and women whose good name is in
 his hands4 ,when a member of a church  
has become so hardened in a course of   
bad living1 that no pang comes to him   
when he thinks of the injury he is      
inflicting upon the ,christian church1  
he is bad enough for a prison4 ,i would 

not trust him the length of my arm4  ,we
 have had1 within the last ten years1   
too many notable instances of falls from
 virtue among the clergy2 and every fall
 has been like an avalanche4 ,they come 
from a point so near to heaven1 and fall
 so far1 that mountain-sides are scarred
 and whole communities whelmed by the   
calamity4 ,it takes1 often1 many years  
for the villages that lie at their feet 
to smile again4 ,all ,christendom feels 
the shock1 and mourns with downcast eyes
 the consequences4 ,i freely grant that1
 as a class1 the ,american clergy1 of   
all denominations1 are the purest and   
best men whom ,i know2 but ,i cannot    
resist the conviction that there are    
many of them who forget what the        
responsibility is that rests upon them4 
,it was the remark of an aged clergyman1
 retired from pulpit duties1 that if he 
were a layman he should watch with more 
anxiety and carefulness than laymen do  
the relations that exist between pastors
 and the women of their flock4 ,i do not

 understand this as a statement that    
there is any general looseness of       
conduct among the clergy at all2 but as 
one which covers a kind of impropriety  
for which there is no name and no       
punishment4 ,there are women whose      
affection for their husbands is uprooted
 through their intercourse with their   
pastors4 ,there shall never be an       
improper word spoken2 there shall never 
be a deed committed that would bring a  
blush to the most sensitive cheek2 yet a
 susceptible woman in the society of a  
minister of strong and magnetic         
sympathies1 may become as passive as a  
babe4 ,led toward him by her religious  
nature1 attracted and held by his       
intellectual power and the graces of his
 language1 yielding to him her          
confidence1 it is not strange that1     
before she is aware1 she is a captive   
without a captor1 a victim without an   
enemy1 a wreck without a destroyer4     
,now ,i know that there is not a pastor 
of a strong and graceful and sympathetic

 nature who reads these words without   
understanding what ,i mean--who does not
 know that there are women in his       
congregation who are1 either consciously
 or unconsciously1 the slaves of his    
will4 ,i have no doubt that there are   
some such pastors who will read this    
essay with a flush of guilt upon their  
faces4 ,they have never meant these     
women any ill--they would not harm them 
for the world--but they are conscious of
 a selfish and most unchristianly       
pleasure in these conquests of female   
natures-- these parlor triumphs1 ,god   
forgive them6 ,perhaps they go further1 
and1 by the lingering1 fervent pressure 
of a hand1 or the glance of an eye1 or  
the utterance of some bit of gallantry  
or flattery1 send into a woman's heart  
an unwomanly and an unchristian thought4
 ,perhaps they take special delight in  
the society of some half a dozen female 
members of their flock1 and find        
themselves dressing for them--betraying 
to them their weaknesses--opening1 in   

various ways1 avenues by which the quick
 eyes and instincts of these women can  
see directly into them4 ,the number of  
pastors is not small1 ,i think1 who are 
not aware that there is one woman1 or   
that there are some women1 who know more
 of what is in them1 to their           
disadvantage1 than any man--that before 
certain lenient--possibly sad and       
forgiving eyes--they stand as men who   
indulge in essentially unchristian      
vanities of purpose and life4  ,of all  
woman-killers in this world1 ,i know of 
none so disgusting as one whose chosen  
profession it is to preach the ,gospel  
of ,jesus ,christ4 ,a clerical fop1 a   
ministerial gallant1 a man who preaches 
the love of ,god on ,sunday1 and lays   
snares for an innocent heart on ,monday 
afternoon1 is a disgrace to             
,christianity1 and a sad burden to the  
,christian cause4 ,does such a man think
 that he can add a little zest to a     
leisure hour and a humdrum life1 by     
toying with a tender friendship1 and    

giving lease and latitude to his desire 
for personal conquest1 and yet that no  
one shall know it8 ,ah1 the fallacy6 ,i 
know of eminent clergymen-- earnest     
workers--who1 by yielding to this desire
 once1 have been shorn of their power   
for good forever1 so far as those are   
concerned who really know them and their
 weakness4 ,there are ministers in      
,america before whom strong men tremble1
 and great congregations bow themselves1
 who could be laughed to scorn and      
smothered in a cloud of blushes1 by some
 girl to whom1 in a weak moment1 they   
betrayed the vain heart that beats      
within them4 ,ah6 ye men of the black   
coat and the white neck-cloth--toying   
with women1 under whatever disguise2    
indulging in the vanity of personal     
power1 however ingeniously you mask it1 
is not for you4 ,you can never do it    
without an injury to the religion which 
you profess to preach4 ,if you find that
 you are too weak to resist these       
temptations--and they are great to such 

as you--then you should leave the desk  
forever4 ,you1 at least1 are bound in   
personal honor to quit the public       
advocacy of a cause which your private  
life dishonors4  ,easy to preach1 you   
say8 ,easier to preach than practise8   
,nobody knows it better than ,i--unless 
it be you4 ,i do not expect perfection  
in this world1 of anybody2--,i do not   
expect impossibilities of anybody4 ,but 
there are certain duties which men owe  
to humanity and their race1 and which   
members of ,christian churches and      
teachers of ,christian churches owe to  
,christianity and to their brotherhood1 
which are possible to be performed1 and 
which ,i insist upon4 ,i do not appeal  
to the highest motives--at least ,i do  
not appeal to religious motives4 ,i     
appeal to personal honor4 ,i say that   
every man1 high or low1 is bound in     
honor so to conduct himself as not to   
disgrace humanity--as not to shake the  
confidence of men in human honor4 ,i say
 that every man who belongs to a        

,christian church--no matter what his   
internal life may be--is bound in honor 
so to carry himself before men and      
women1 that the ,christian name receive 
no damage and the ,christian cause no   
prejudice in their eyes4 ,every man     
carries the burden of his race and his  
brotherhood2 and if he be a man1 he will
 neither ignore it nor try  to shake it 
off4     ,,lesson ,,xviii4  ,,sore      
,,spots ,,and ,,sensitive ,,spots4      
,canst thou not minister to a mind      
diseased2    ,pluck from the memory a   
rooted sorrow2    ,raze out the written 
troubles of the brain8    ,,shakspeare4 
,i have gnashed   ,my teeth in darkness 
till returning morn1   ,then cursed     
myself till sunset2 ,i have prayed      
,for madness as a blessing2 'tis denied 
me4   ,,byron4      ,alessandra4        
,methinks thou hast a singular way of   
showing   ,thy happiness--what ails     
thee1 cousin of mine8   ,why didst thou 
sigh so deeply8     ,castiglione4 ,did  
,i sigh8   ,i was not conscious of it4  

,it is a fashion1   ,a silly--a most    
silly fashion ,i have   ,when ,i am very
 happy4 ,did ,i sigh8   ,,poe4  ,there  
is a hill opposite to my window1 up     
which1 during all the long and weary    
day1 horses are drawing heavy loads4    
,the majority of them crawl patiently   
along1 with their heads down and with   
reeking flanks and shoulders1 pausing   
occasionally as the water-bars brace the
 wheels1 and impatient only with the    
flies that vex their ears1 and the      
insufficiency of their short and stumpy 
tails to protect their quivering sides4 
,some of these animals are not so       
patient1 but are nervous and spasmodic  
and unhappy4 ,i have noticed one among  
them particularly1 that has a very bad  
time every morning with his first load4 
,he is what the teamsters call balky1   
though evidently an excellent horse4    
,much coaxing and not a little whipping 
seem necessary to get him started2 and  
then he plunges into his work as if he  
were determined to tear his harness and 

his load all in pieces4 ,i notice that  
there are certain unusual fixtures about
 his collar1 and learn that the poor    
animal has a galled shoulder1 so raw and
 inflamed that all his first efforts in 
the morning are attended by pain1 and   
that he only works well after the flesh 
has become benumbed by pressure4 ,i ask 
his driver why he does not turn the     
creature into the pasture1 and let the  
ulcer heal1 and am told that he has been
 treated thus repeatedly1 but that it   
always returns when labor is resumed4   
,there is a livery stable that ,i visit 
frequently2 and while ,i wait to be     
served ,i notice what the grooms are    
doing4 ,i see that when the currycomb or
 brush touches a certain spot upon the  
horse's skin there is a cringe1 and     
usually a kick and a squeal1-- possibly 
a harmless nip at the groom's shoulder4 
,i learn1 too1 that there is a certain  
place upon the back of every horse that 
the grooms are not permitted to bathe   
with cold water4  ,these sore spots and 

tender spots and sensitive spots on     
horses have very faithful counterparts  
in the minds and characters of men4 ,i  
do not know that ,i ever met a man who  
had not on him1 somewhere1 a sore spot1 
or a tender spot1 or a sensitive spot--a
 spot that would either gall under the  
collar of labor1 or bring on hysterics  
if harshly rubbed1 or communicate a     
damaging shock to the nervous system    
when suddenly cooled4 ,very few men     
arrive at thirty-five years of age      
without getting galled1 and very few    
entirely recover from the abrasion while
 they live4 ,the spot never thoroughly  
heals1 and the old collar only needs to 
be put on1 even after the longest period
 of rest1 to develop the ulcer in the   
same old place4 ,i heard a young        
clergyman preach recently1 and ,i       
instantly learned that he had a sore    
spot under his collar4 ,he was a young  
man of fine powers1 bold intellect1 a   
strong love of freedom1 and a will      
determined to do honor to his           

convictions4 ,he had formed his own     
opinion upon certain points of doctrine1
 and had insisted upon it in the        
presence of his elders4 ,the consequence
 was that he had been bitterly opposed1 
and was with great difficulty settled   
over his parish4 ,the screws had been   
put tightly down upon him1 and he had   
felt1 in the very depths of his         
sensitive soul1 that the liberty        
wherewith ,christ had made him free had 
been tampered with4 ,so he could neither
 pray nor preach without showing that he
 had a sore spot on him4 ,he did not    
betray it by refusing to draw at all2   
but he drew violently1 as if he had been
 hitched to the leg of an obtuse ,doctor
 of ,divinity1 and intended to give all 
the other ,doctors of ,divinity notice  
to get out of the way4 ,now that sore   
spot on that young man's shoulder is    
sure to color all his efforts from this 
time henceforth1 until he puts on       
another kind of collar4 ,the same old   
sting will be in all his preaching--a   

tinge of personal feeling--that the     
masses of those who hear him preach will
 not understand1 and that he1 at last1  
will become unconscious of4 ,ministers  
have more sore places under their       
harnesses than any class of men ,i know 
of4  ,a minister who has adopted        
unpopular views1 and1 in his advocacy of
 them1 has rubbed against the fixed     
opinions or prejudices of the people to 
which he is called to preach1 is very   
sure to get sore2 and he will either    
wince with the friction or oppose       
himself to it with violence4 ,his       
soreness will always be calling         
attention to that which caused it1 so   
that if his wound was procured in the   
advocacy of some infernal doctrine like 
infant damnation1 why1 infant damnation 
will seem to become a very precious     
doctrine to him1 and he will always be  
talking about it1 and enforcing it4 ,if 
he has preached against slavery1 or     
intemperance1 or any other public wrong 
or popular vice1 and been fiercely and  

persistently opposed by any portion of  
his charge1 he will betray the sore     
under his collar on all occasions1 and  
very possibly become so fractious and   
violent that his flock will be obliged  
to turn him out to pasture4 ,a minister 
who gets sore under the friction of any 
particular collar seems to feel that it 
is necessary for him to wear that       
particular collar all the time2 and he  
fails to remember that the reason why he
 has so much feeling with this collar   
on1 is that it has made him sore4 ,not  
unfrequently he becomes so sensitive and
 so nervous that he kicks out of the    
traces1 and runs away with1 and smashes 
up1 the vehicle to which he is attached4
  ,no small degree of the sourness and  
bitterness and violence of the advocates
 of special reforms comes from wearing  
too long the collar of the public       
apathy1 or the public contempt4 ,the men
 are very few1 who1 with the            
consciousness of being actuated by a    
good motive1 can work against opposition

 a long time1 without getting sore1 and 
without betraying their soreness1 either
 by stubbornness or violence4 ,touch    
them anywhere but upon the galled spot1 
and they will be as calm as clocks1 and 
as good-natured as kittens2 touch them  
there1 and we are sure to get a kick and
 a squeal1 and a nip at the shoulder4   
,heartless practical jokers understand  
where the raw is1 and know exactly what 
to say to provoke a galled man to make a
 fool of himself4  ,the conscience is   
very liable to become sore with         
friction4 ,one entire section of the    
,american nation became sore1 even to   
madness1 with working in the collar of  
the world's condemnation4 ,the slave    
,states of ,america were very           
comfortable with slavery so long as they
 could hold it with self-respect1 and so
 long as the world regarded them rather 
with sympathy and pity than with        
condemnation4 ,as the popular opinion   
against slavery strengthened and became 
intensified1 both in this and other     

countries1 they became sore and         
sensitive4 ,first1 they tucked a        
constitutional rag between the collar   
and the skin2 and as that did not seem  
to relieve them1 they lined it with     
leaves from human philosophy2 and       
philosophy soon wearing out1 they tore  
their ,bibles into pieces for materials 
with which to soften the cushion1 and   
set the ,christian church to making     
padding4 ,every thing failing to produce
 the desired result1 and relieve them of
 their pain1 they refused to draw their 
portion of the national load1 kicked the
 ,union in pieces1 and ran away4 ,they  
will never be happy again until slavery 
is abolished1 or the attitude of the    
nation and of the world towards slavery 
is changed4 ,this sore under the collar 
will never heal1 either in or out of the
 ,union1 until the cause shall in some  
way be removed4  ,it is the same with   
individuals as with peoples4 ,a man     
cannot long wear a collar that presses  
upon his conscience1 without getting    

through the skin--down upon the raw4    
,when a man who sells liquor to his     
neighbors for drink1 voluntarily        
apologizes to me for it1 or justifies   
himself in it1 ,i know very well that   
his conscience has a raw place upon it1 
and that it gives him trouble4 ,when a  
woman takes particular pains to tell me 
that she is exceedingly economical1 and 
that she really has had nothing for a   
year1 ,i cannot but conclude that she   
has been making some expenditure1 or    
some series of expenditures1 that she   
knows she cannot afford1 and that there 
is a raw place upon her conscience in   
consequence4 ,in truth1 ,i have never   
known a woman who wished to impress me  
with a sense of her rigid economy1 who  
was not more anxious to convince herself
 of it than me4 ,when a man undertakes  
to soften the character of any crime by 
apologies1 and by arguments1 it is      
invariably for the purpose of relieving 
its pressure upon a galled conscience1  
or shaping it to a different place4 ,i  

am afraid the men are few who have      
escaped a galled spot upon their        
consciences4  ,pride has had a terrible 
time of it in the world4 ,it is1        
perhaps1 the most sensitive spot in     
human nature4 ,collars1 curry-combs1 and
 cold water have alike served to torment
 it4 ,a great multitude of men and women
 have been obliged to work in the collar
 of poverty1 against a galled pride1    
during all their life4 ,they never start
 in the morning without flinching1 and  
never work without violence1 until their
 pride has become entirely benumbed by  
pressure4 ,ah6 if society could be      
unveiled1 how few would be found with   
pride free from scars and raw places6 ,i
 once heard a simple boy tell a young   
man that his legs were crooked2 and     
though the lad was very innocent1 and   
only supposed that he had made and      
announced a pleasant discovery1 he had1 
alas6 hit the man's pride on the very   
centre of its soreness and              
sensitiveness4 ,one never knows1 in     

large things1 where he will hit the     
sensitive places in the pride of those  
he meets2 but in little things he is    
pretty sure to learn it concerning      
everybody4 ,it is always safe to suppose
 that a very small man is sore on the   
subject of bodily dimensions4 ,it will  
never do for a tall man to propose to   
measure altitude with him in the        
presence of women4 ,it is never safe to 
inquire the age of any lady whom one    
knows to be more than twenty-five years 
old4 ,there is not one man or woman in a
 hundred who possesses an unpleasant    
personal peculiarity1 without getting a 
galled spot upon personal pride in      
consequence4 ,a long nose1 a squint eye1
 a clumsy foot1 a low forehead1 a hump  
in the back--any one of these will not  
bear mention in the presence of its     
possessor4  ,it is quite amusing to     
witness the various methods resorted to 
for cheating the world with regard to   
these sore places in personal pride4    
,men who are conscious that they do not 

possess a particle of musical taste1 and
 are really ignorant of the difference  
between ,dundee and ,yankee ,doodle1    
will profess to be very fond of music1  
and will not unfrequently convince      
themselves that they are so4 ,men who   
are exceedingly sensitive touching any  
eccentricities of person1 will be       
constantly joking about their own long  
noses1 or red hair1 or big feet1 and run
 on about them in the pleasantest sort  
of way1 and persist in doing it on all  
occasions1 as if the matter were        
exceedingly amusing to them1 when the   
fact is that their pride is very sore in
 that particular spot4 ,a woman who has 
passed her hour of bloom1 and feels with
 sensitive pain the creeping on of      
ancient maidenhood1 will talk           
charmingly1 and with superfluous        
iteration1 about the usefulness of old  
maids1 and the independence of their    
lot--determined to cover up the galled  
spot that burns upon the surface of her 
personal pride4 ,the trick of keeping up

 the appearances of wealth1 after wealth
 is departed1 is a familiar one2 and    
though if rarely deceives1 it is likely 
to be persisted in to the end of time4  
,it is often very pitiful to witness the
 ingenuity of the efforts that are made 
to cover from public observation the    
soreness of personal pride1 caused by a 
change of circumstances4 ,the ,hepsibah 
,pynchons abound in houses of less than 
seven gables4  ,there is probably no    
harness so apt to gall the shoulder of  
personal pride as that of ambition4 ,the
 number of men in the world whose       
personal pride has a sore on it1        
inflicted by disappointed ambition1 is  
sadly large4 ,i have seen many a worthy 
man utterly spoiled by his failure to   
reach the political1 social1 or literary
 eminence at which he has aimed4        
,thenceforward1 his hand has been       
against every man1 and he has imagined  
that every man's hand has been against  
him4 ,all who contributed to his defeat1
 and all in any way associated with     

them1 have become the subjects of his   
hatred and his animadversion4 ,he has   
retired into himself1 sneering at every 
thing and everybody1 doubtful of the    
sincerity of all friendly professions1  
and regarding himself as a passenger1   
while the poor fools among whom he once 
so gladly numbered himself1 chase the   
baubles by which his life has been so   
miserably cheated of its meed4 ,it is   
very hard for a proud man1 with a strong
 will1 to feel that he has been baffled 
and beaten2 and a really noble man1     
defeated in his objects by trickery and 
meanness1 will sometimes become half    
insane with the wound which his pride   
has received4 ,he will never forget it2 
and the old sore can never be touched1  
even in the most accidental way1 without
 calling the fire into his eye1 and the 
color into his cheek4 ,in the domain of 
politics1 sore heads notoriously abound1
 and ,i suppose they always will4       
,literary life is probably as prolific  
of failures1 and as full of sore heads  

as political4 ,the number of men and    
women who are ambitious of literary     
distinction1 and who make great efforts 
to win it1 is very large--larger than   
the world outside of the publisher's    
private office dreams of4 ,the number of
 manuscripts rejected and never         
published is greater than the number    
published2 and of those which are       
published1 not one in ten satisfies1 in 
its success1 the ambition of its author4
 ,i suppose that it is within the bounds
 of truth to say that nine authors in   
every ten are disappointed men--men     
whose personal pride is wounded1 who    
believe that the world has treated them 
unjustly1 and who cherish a sore spot on
 their personal pride as long as they   
live4 ,some of these refuse to draw in  
any harness1 and give themselves up to  
poverty and laziness1 as the victims of 
the world's undiscriminating stupidity4 
,some become critics of the works of    
successful authors1 and take their      
revenge in the hearty abuse of their    

betters4 ,others enter into other       
departments of effort1 but carry with   
them through life the belief that they  
are out of their place1 and the         
conviction that if they had been born in
 a nobler age they would have been      
recognized as the geniuses they imagine 
themselves to be4  ,there is still      
another class which get sore with       
drawing in a harness that ,god puts upon
 them1 and in the adoption of which they
 have had nothing to do4 ,a man of      
poetic sensibilities finds himself      
engaged in the pursuit of some humdrum  
calling4 ,he sees how beautiful poetry  
is2 he feels its influence upon his     
soul2 but he has no power to create it4 
,another feels something of the divinity
 of music1 but muscular facility has    
been denied to him so that he cannot    
play1 and his voice is harsh or feeble  
so that he cannot sing4 ,he melts and   
glows under the sway of eloquence1 and  
worships at a distance the power of the 
orator over the hearts and minds of men2

 but he knows that if he were in the    
orator's place1 he would break down and 
become the object even of his own       
contempt4 ,great susceptibilities these 
people have--passive spirits--open to   
all good impressions1 appreciative of   
that which is best in nature and art1   
yet without the power to act4 ,they must
 always be plates to receive the        
picture1 and never suns and cameras to  
imprint it4 ,they must always live      
within sight of great and beautiful     
powers1 but never have the privilege of 
wielding them4 ,doomed to the attitude  
of receptivity1 they see that they can  
never change it2 and that they can never
 be to others what others are to them4  
,thus they grow sore with the thought of
 their weakness1 and a sense of the     
circumscription of their faculties4     
,they see wonderful things--they        
apprehend the grace and the glory of    
great actions--but they can achieve     
nothing4 ,many of these walk as in a    
dream through life--with a sense of     

wings upon their shoulders1 clipped or  
lashed down4 ,they see their companions 
rising1 but they cling to the earth1 and
 feel the difference as a humiliation4  
,alas6 how many souls chafe against the 
consciousness of inferior powers1 till  
even the fine susceptibilities with     
which nature endowed them are destroyed6
  ,there would seem to be no end of the 
causes which produce sore and tender and
 sensitive spots upon the human soul4 ,i
 have said nothing of grief and love and
 pity and anger1 and a whole brood of   
powerful passions1 but they are all     
operative toward the results which we   
are discussing4 ,the cure for these     
sensitive sores is obvious enough4 ,i   
would prescribe for a man as ,i would   
for a horse--go out to pasture1 or adopt
 another kind of collar1 and never wear 
the old one again4 ,if a man has become 
sore by working against the apathy1 the 
misconceptions1 the misconstructions1   
and the prejudices of the world1 so that
 he feels the galling burden of the     

collar in all his actions1 let him      
change his style of labor until the     
ulcer heal4 ,if the conscience becomes  
sore1 relieve it of that which made it  
sore1 and never believe that padding can
 effect a cure4 ,even wounded pride will
 heal if we let it alone1 and refrain   
from opening the wound on all occasions1
 and rubbing it against the causes which
 inflicted it4 ,all the natural         
peculiarities of our constitution which 
wound our pride may be happily got along
 with by ignoring them4 ,if my neighbor 
is a lovable man1 ,i do not love him any
 the less because he wears a long nose1 
and ,i should never think of it if he   
were not always joking about it1 and    
trying to convince me that it did not   
offend him4 ,a man who quarrels with his
 own constitution1 and questions the    
benevolence that adjusted it to its     
conditions1 quarrels with1 and          
questions1 his ,maker4 ,i believe there 
are no sorenesses of the sort we are    
considering which time or change will   

not heal4  ,it seems to me a very       
melancholy thing for a man to carry a   
mental ulcer with him through life--to  
feel its prick and pang in every        
effort--to be conscious of its presence 
every hour--to be engaged in covering it
 from sight1 or in the attempt to       
deceive the world with regard to it4    
,life is altogether too good a thing to 
be spoiled by a little sore1 or a large 
one1 when there exists an obvious mode  
of cure4 ,it is our immense and intense 
self-consciousness that stands in our   
way always in this matter4 ,the truth is
 that the world does not think half so  
much about us as we imagine it does4 ,a 
man may walk through the city of ,new   
,york with a face as homely as a        
hedge-fence1 thinking about it all the  
time1 and wondering what people think of
 it1 and not a man of all the throng    
will even see it4 ,it is so in the world
 at large4 ,our personal peculiarities1 
our personal failures1 our personal     
weaknesses1 our personal affairs        

generally possess very little interest  
for others4 ,they have enough to do in  
taking care of themselves1 and have     
weaknesses1 and failures1 and           
peculiarities enough of their own2 and  
if the world should spurn our well-meant
 efforts in its behalf1 why1 let it go4 
,it mends nothing to get sore and       
sensitive over it4 ,when a man truly    
learns how little important he is in the
 world1 he is generally beyond the      
danger of becoming galled by his        
harness1 whatever it may be4            
,,lesson ,,xix4  ,,the ,,influence ,,of 
,,praise4     ,now ,i praise you1       
brethren1 that ye remember me in all    
things1 and keep the ordinances as ,i   
delivered them unto you4--,,st4 ,,paul4 
,o popular applause6 ,what heart of man 
,is proof against thy sweet seducing    
charms8    ,,cowper4    ,arbaces4 ,why  
now1 you flatter4   ,mardonius4 ,i never
 understood the word4    ,a ,,king ,,and
 ,,no ,,king4              ,praising    
what is lost    ,makes the remembrance  

dear4 ,,shakspeare4  ,it is pleasant to 
be praised4 ,the man does not live who  
is insensible to honest praise4 ,the    
love of approbation is as natural to    
every human soul as the love of         
offspring1 or the love of liberty4 ,it  
was planted there by ,god's hand1 and it
 is as useful and important in its      
fruit1 as it is fragrant and beautiful  
in its flower4 ,i repeat that the man   
does not live who is insensible to      
honest praise4 ,that great orator who   
seems to be a king in the world1        
independent of his race1 holding        
dominion over human hearts1 lifted far  
above the necessity of the plaudits of  
those around him1 will pause with       
gratified and grateful ear1 to listen to
 expressions of approval and admiration 
from the humblest lips4 ,the greatest   
mind drinks praise as a pleasant        
draught1 if it be honest and deserved4  
,perhaps you think that ,doctor of      
,divinity who weighs two hundred pounds 
more or less1 and is clad in glossy     

broad-cloth1 and lifts his shining      
forehead above a white cravat1 as ,mont 
,blanc pierces a belt of cloud1 and     
talks articulated thunder1 and veils his
 wisdom behind gold-mounted spectacles1 
and moves among men with ineffable      
dignity1 is above the need of1 and the  
appetite for1 praise4 ,ah6 you don't    
know the soft old heart under that satin
 waistcoat6 ,it can be made as warm and 
gentle and grateful1 with just and      
generous praise1 as that of a boy4 ,nay1
 the barber who takes his reverent nose 
between his thumb and finger1 and sweeps
 the beard from his benevolent chin1    
understands exactly what to say in order
 to draw from his pocket an extra       
sixpence4 ,there is no head so high1    
there is no neck so stiff1 there is no  
back so straight1 that it will not bend 
to take the flowers which praise tosses 
upon its path4  ,it's a sign of         
weakness1 after all1 sighs my friend1   
who is not praised quite as much as he  
would like to be4 ,begging your pardon1 

sir1 it is no such thing4 ,the strongest
 ,being in the universe-- the ,god of   
the universe--is the one who demands1   
receives1 and accepts the most praise4  
,listen for a moment to those marvellous
 ascriptions which rise to ,him from the
 bosom of ,christendom as ceaselessly   
and beautifully as clouds from the      
,heaven-reflecting ocean3 ,thou art the 
,king1 immortal1 invisible4 ,thou art   
the ,source of all life1 the ,author of 
all being1 the ,fountain of all light   
and love and joy4 ,thou art ,love       
itself2 ,thou art the ,sum of all       
perfections4 ,for what ,thou art1 we    
worship ,thee2 for what ,thou hast done 
for us1 in ,thy infinite                
loving-kindness1 we praise ,thee4 ,we   
bless ,thy ,holy ,name4 ,we call upon   
our souls and all within us to magnify  
,thy name forever and ever4 ,the ,bible 
itself has given us almost numberless   
forms of expression into which we may   
cast our divinest adoration1 and the    
broadest outpourings of our hearts4 ,the

 poets of all ages have been touched to 
their finest utterances in the rapture  
of worship and of praise4  ,now why     
should ,god want praise of us8 ,it      
certainly is not because ,he is weak4   
,can it be because ,he wishes by means  
of it to produce some desired effect in 
us8 ,is there no hearing of this praise 
in ,heaven8 ,are we who sing and shout  
mere brawlers1 who get a little strength
 of lungs by the exercise8 ,there are   
some poor souls1 doubtless1 who believe 
this1 as they believe that prayer has   
significance only as a moral exercise1  
and effect only as it reacts upon the   
soul4 ,i believe that praise is pleasant
 to ,him who sits upon the throne--that 
the honest and sincere expressions of   
love and adoration1 and gratitude and   
praise1 that rise to ,him from the earth
 are at least shining ripples upon the  
soundless ocean of ,his bliss4 ,out from
 ,him proceed1 through myriad channels  
of effluence1 the expressions of ,his   
love for those whom ,he has made and    

endowed with intelligence2 and ,i       
believe that it is requisite for ,his   
happiness that back along these lines of
 manifestation there should flow a tide 
of grateful recognition and adoring     
praise4 ,even a ,god would pine in      
loneliness and despair if there should  
come back no echoes to ,his loving      
voice--no refluent wave to the mighty   
bosom which makes all shores vocal with 
its breath and beating4 ,god demands of 
all men that which all men owe to       
,him--that which ,his perfections and   
,his acts deserve4  ,this love of       
approbation in men1 then1 is            
,heaven-born and ,godlike4 ,the desire  
for approbation is as legitimate as the 
desire for food4 ,i do not suppose that 
it should be greatly a motive of        
action--perhaps it should never be2 but 
when a man from a good motive does a    
good thing1 he desires the approval of  
the hearts that love him1 and he        
receives their expressions of praise    
with grateful pleasure4 ,nay1 if these  

expressions of praise are denied to him1
 he feels in a certain sense wronged4   
,he feels that justice has not been done
 him--that there is something due to him
 that has not been paid4 ,i met a friend
 the other day who unveiled his heart to
 me2 and ,i caught in the vision his    
heart's sense of the world's injustice4 
,he had been a very poor boy1 and had   
been bred under a poor boy's            
disadvantages2 but a strong will1 a good
 heart1 fine talents1 and a favoring    
fortune1 brought to him gold1 and lands1
 and equipage4 ,they brought these not  
only1 but they brought the power to be a
 benefactor of his native town4 ,he won 
competence for himself1 and then he     
became a public-spirited citizen1 and   
did that for his home which no other man
 had done4 ,now he felt that he had done
 for himself and for those around him   
nobly2 and it was natural that he should
 desire some response-- some expression 
of praise4 ,he did not get it4 ,people  
either envied him1 or they misconstrued 

his actions2 and he felt that his       
townsmen had been and were unjust---that
 they owed him something which they had 
failed to pay4  ,the world is so much   
accustomed to confound praise with      
flattery that if ,i were to go to a man 
with an honest tribute like this3 ,my   
friend1 ,i admire you very much2 ,i     
think you possess noble talents1 fine   
tastes1 and an excellent heart2 and ,i  
regard your course of action and your   
life with the warmest approval1 he      
would1 nine times in ten1 look into my  
face either with astonishment1 or       
amusement1 or offense4 ,he would not    
know whether ,i intended to insult him  
or to practice a joke upon him4 ,praise 
between man and man is so rare that we  
neither know how to bestow it nor how to
 receive it4 ,this is carried to such an
 extent that one-half of the family life
 of ,christendom is deprived of it4 ,the
 husbands who never have a word of      
praise for their wives1 the wives who   
never have a word of praise for their   

husbands1 and the parents who only find 
fault with their children1 are1 ,i fear1
 in the majority4 ,i know that the women
 are numberless who devote themselves   
throughout all their life to the        
comfort1 the happiness1 and the         
prosperity of their husbands1 and who   
lie down in their graves at last1       
thirsty for their praise4 ,their patient
 and ceaseless ministry is taken as a   
matter of course1 without the slightest 
recognition of its value as the         
expression of a loving and devoted      
heart4 ,now ,i believe that praise is   
due to the love and unselfish devotion  
of a wife1 just as really as it is to   
the loving-kindness and beneficent      
ministry of ,god1 differing only in kind
 and degree4 ,husbands may die worth    
millions1 and leave it all to their     
wives1 7subject to the usual            
contemptible provision that they do not 
marry again17 and yet be shamefully     
indebted to them forever and forever4   
,children are often spoiled because they

 get no credit for what they do4 ,of    
censure1 they get their due2 but of     
praise1 never4 ,they do a thing which   
they feel to be praiseworthy1 but it is 
not noticed4 ,when a child takes pains  
to do well1 it feels itself paid for    
every endeavor by praise2 and the most  
unsophisticated child knows when praise 
is its due4 ,it often comes to its      
mother's knee in natural simplicity1 and
 asks for it4 ,it is very well for men  
to say that virtue is its own reward1   
and that the highest satisfactions are  
those which spring from a sense of duty 
accomplished2 but praise is pleasant and
 precious to men who not only say this1 
but feel it4 ,many a noble and sensitive
 pastor is disheartened because no one  
of the multitude which he so carefully  
and constantly feeds1 ever tells him1   
with an open1 honest utterance1 his good
 opinion of him1 and his satisfaction   
with his labors4 ,many an excellent     
author toils over his work in secret    
distrust1 and issues it in fear and     

trembling1 feeling that a word of praise
 will exalt him into a grateful and     
fruitful joy1 and that an unjust and    
unkind criticism will half kill him4    
,it is true that the mind is unhealthy  
which lives on praise2 and it is just as
 true that he is mean and unjust who    
fails to award praise to those who earn 
it4 ,the appetite for praise may become 
just as morbid and greedy by improper   
stimulus and abuse1 as any other natural
 and legitimate appetite4 ,it frequently
 does so1 in those who associate it very
 intimately with success and gain4      
,actors and public singers1 and all     
those whose success in life and whose   
pecuniary income depend upon the amount 
of popular praise they can win1 are very
 apt to become greedy of praise1 and    
will not unfrequently receive it in its 
most disgusting forms4 ,there are       
lecturers and public speakers who depend
 upon praise for strength to speak an   
hour--men who1 if their performances are
 repetitions1 wait at certain points for

 applause1 as a horse1 travelling over a
 familiar road1 stops always at certain 
hills to rest and take breath1 and at   
certain wayside cisterns to drink4 ,many
 of these men demand praise1 talking    
about themselves continually1 and       
begging assent to their self-laudations4
 ,in these cases1 praise becomes the    
dominant motive1 and degrades and       
belittles its subjects always4 ,the     
voluntary profanity and the impure jests
 that so often offend the ears of decent
 people at the theatre1 are put forth to
 call out a cheer from groundlings whose
 praise is always essential disgrace4   
,the jealousy and the quarrelsomeness of
 authors1 actors1 and singers1 result   
from the fact that praise has become so 
much the motive of their life that they 
grudge the applause awarded to their    
fellows4  ,the difference between praise
 and flattery is as wide as that between
 praise and blame4 ,praise is a         
legitimate tribute to worth and worthy  
doing4 ,it is entirely unselfish in its 

motive4 ,it is the discharge of a debt4 
,flattery originates always in a selfish
 motive1 and seeks by falsehood to feed 
an unhealthy desire for praise4 ,a man  
whom it is proper to praise cannot be   
flattered1 and a man who can be         
flattered ought not to be praised4 ,it  
is always safe to praise a man who      
really deserves praise4 ,such a man     
usually knows how much he deserves1 and 
will take only the exact amount4        
,indeed1 he will be very particular to  
give back the right change4 ,the        
flatterer is like the man who stands    
behind a bar to deal out poison to a    
debased appetite for gain4 ,the man who 
utters honest praise is noble2 the man  
who receives it does so without         
humiliation1 and is made strong by it4  
,the flatterer is always a scoundrel1   
and the glad receiver of his falsehoods 
is always a fool--natural or otherwise4 
,the desire for praise is often very    
strong in those who never do any thing  
to deserve it1 and who are never ready  

to award it to those who have earned it4
 ,there are men in every community who  
are universally recognized as supremely 
selfish1 yet supremely greedy of praise4
 ,this desire does not arise from       
over-indulgence in the article1 for they
 never had even a taste of it4 ,they are
 known to be selfish and hard and mean1 
yet they long for praise and popularity1
 with a desire that is almost ludicrous4
 ,they never give a dollar to the poor1 
they never deny themselves for the good 
of others1 they are shut up in          
themselves--without any good or great or
 generous qualities--yet they clutch at 
every word that sounds like praise as if
 they were starved4 ,the only use of the
 desire in these men is to furnish the  
world with a nose by which to lead them4
  ,it is a mistake to suppose that      
praise should be rendered directly in   
all cases to the persons to whom it is  
due1 for the relations between debtor   
and creditor may be such as to forbid   
it4 ,i may be a humble admirer of some  

great and good man1 who has been the    
doer of great and good deeds1 but my    
personal relations to him may be such   
that it is not proper for me to approach
 him1 and pay my tribute into his hands4
 ,men are often careful of the channels 
through which the response to their     
deeds1 in the hearts of other men1      
reaches them2 but ,i may discharge my   
debt1 nevertheless1 by sounding their   
praise in other ears4 ,it is usually the
 work of those who stand next to a man1 
to gather up the tributes of a grateful 
and admiring community or people1 and   
bear them to him to whom they belong4   
,because ,i may not approach a          
praiseworthy man1 with the offering     
which ,i feel to be his due1 it is none 
the less incumbent upon me to discharge 
the debt4 ,just and generous praise will
 come from every just and generous      
nature in some form1 and will be        
deposited in some bosom subject to the  
draft of the owner4  ,it is not easy for
 any man to work alone1 out of the sight

 of his fellows1 and beyond the         
recognition of his deeds4 ,however      
self-sufficient he may be1 he is        
stronger1 and he feels stronger1 in the 
approbation of generous and appreciative
 hearts4 ,we are very much in the habit 
of thinking that men of great minds and 
noble deeds and self-reliant natures do 
not need the approval of other minds1   
and do not care for it2 but ,god never  
lifted any man so far above his fellows 
that their voices were not the most     
delightful sounds that reached him4 ,if 
this be true of great natures1 how much 
more evidently true is it of smaller    
natures6 ,we1 the people of the world1  
go leaning on each other2 and we totter 
sometimes1 even to falling1 when a      
shoulder drops from underneath our hand4
 ,we need encouragement with every step4
 ,in the path of worthy doing1 we need  
some loving voice to witness with our   
approving consciences1 that we have done
 that which becomes us as men and women4
 ,we long to hear the sentence1 well    

done1 thou good and faithful servant1   
from day to day2 and when we hear it1 we
 are ready for further labor4 ,we need  
also to give this daily meed of praise  
to those who deserve it1 that we may    
keep ourselves unselfish1 and root out  
from ourselves all niggardliness4 ,we   
owe it to ourselves to pay off every    
debt as soon as it is incurred1 and     
never1 under any selfish motive1 to     
withhold it4  ,it is notorious that the 
finest spirits of the world1 and the    
world's greatest benefactors1 have gone 
through life unrecognized4 ,they have   
lain down in their graves at last       
without having received a tithe of the  
debt which their generation owed to     
them4 ,when the turf has closed over    
their bosoms1 and the mean jealousies of
 their cotemporaries have been          
vanquished by death1 then whole nations 
have thronged to do them honor4 ,songs  
have been sung to their memory2 and the 
words of praise which would have done so
 much to cheer and strengthen them once1

 are poured out in abundance when the   
need of them is past4 ,stately monuments
 are erected to them1 and their children
 are petted and caressed1 and a tardy1  
jealous1 and hypocritical world strives 
to win self-respect by the payment of a 
debt long overdue4 ,speak nothing but   
good of the dead is a proverb that had  
its birth in the world's sense of its   
own meanness1--the consciousness that it
 had not done justice to the dead while 
they were living4 ,many a man is        
systematically abused during all his    
active life1 only to lie down in his    
grave amid the laudations of a nation4  
,i know of nothing in all the           
exhibitions of human nature meaner than 
this4 ,it amounts to a virtual          
confession of fraud4 ,it is the         
acknowledgment of a debt1 which1 while  
the creditor could get any benefit from 
it1 the world refused to pay4           
,posthumous fame may be a very fine     
thing2 but ,i have never known a really 
worthy man1 with a healthy nature and a 

healthy character1 who did not prize far
 above it the love1 the confidence1 and 
the praise of the generation to which he
 gave his life4  ,it is the mark of a   
noble nature to be quick to recognize   
that which is praiseworthy in others1   
and ready on the moment to award to it  
its fitting meed4 ,such a nature looks  
for that which is good in men1 sees it1 
encourages it1 and gives it the strength
 of its indorsal4 ,all that is noble in 
other men thrives in the presence of    
such a nature as this4 ,it is sunshine  
and showers and healthful breezes to all
 that is amiable and laudable in the    
souls around it4 ,woman grows more      
womanly and lovable and happy in its    
presence4 ,men grow heroic and unselfish
 by its side4 ,children gather from it  
encouragement and inspiration1 and      
impulse and direction into a beautiful  
life4 ,what knows the charming wife whom
 we lay in the tomb1 of the tears we    
shed above her1 of the endearments we   
lavish upon her memory1 and of the      

praises of her virtue with which we     
burden the ears of our friends8 ,this   
same wife would have drunk such         
expressions during her life with        
satisfaction and gratification beyond   
expression4 ,why can death alone teach  
us that those whom we love are dear8    
,why must they be placed forever beyond 
our sight before our lips can be        
unsealed8 ,why must it be that in our   
public1 social1 and family life we have 
penalties in abundance1 but no          
rewards--censure in profusion1 but no   
praise--fault-finding without stint of  
freedom1 but approbation dealt out by   
constrained and niggardly hands8        
,,lesson ,,xx4  ,,unnecessary ,,burdens4
     ,i groan beneath this cowardice of 
heart    ,which rolls the evil to be    
borne to-day    ,upon to-morrow1 loading
 it with gloom4    ,,alexander ,,smith4 
,there are two ways of escaping from    
suffering2 the one by rising above the  
causes of conflict1 the other by sinking
 below them2 for there is quiet in the  

soul when all its faculties are         
harmonized about any centre4 ,the one is
 the religious method2 the other is the 
vulgar1 worldly method4 ,the one is     
called ,christian elevation2 the other1 
stoicism4--,,beecher4  ,there were few  
houses of the old time in ,new ,england 
that did not contain a well-thumbed     
volume of the ,pilgrim's ,progress2 and 
there were few children who did not     
become acquainted with its contents1    
either through its text or its pictures4
 ,i am sure that all the children felt  
as ,i did--very tired with sympathy for 
the poor pilgrim who was obliged to lug 
that ugly pack from picture to picture1 
and very glad and lightsome when at last
 it fell from his shoulders1 and went   
tumbling down the hill4 ,we did not     
marvel that he stood still awhile1 to   
look and wonder1 or that he looked1 and 
looked again1 even till the springs that
 were in his head sent the waters down  
his cheeks4 ,it was a great thing for a 
man who was bent on progress to be freed

 from an unnecessary burden2 and it may 
be pleasant to know that at the foot of 
the hill of life the same sepulchre     
which swallowed the burden of ,bunyan's 
,pilgrim1 so that he saw it no more1    
still stands open1 and has room in it   
for all the burdens of all the pilgrims 
there are in the world4  ,i wonder      
whether all the pilgrims who have       
undertaken the journey from this world  
to that which is to come ever lose the  
pack whose fastenings were so quickly   
dissolved when our favorite old ,pilgrim
 looked upon the ,cross8 ,i doubt it4 ,i
 hear many people groaning throughout   
the whole course of their ,christian    
experience with the oppressive weight of
 this same burden4 ,instead of losing it
 at the sight of the cross1 they hold to
 it1 and will not let it go4 ,they mean 
well enough2 but they do not understand 
that the cross was reared1 and the meek 
sufferer nailed to it1 that the burden  
of the penitent soul might be forever   
rolled off4 ,they carry their own sins1 

and never yield the pack to ,him who    
bore it for them in ,his own body1 on   
the tree4 ,they are never light and     
gladsome with a sense of great relief2  
and their ,christian progress is sadly  
impeded by the burden from which the    
central truth of the ,christian scheme  
releases them4 ,if there be any such    
thing as forgiveness1 then there is such
 a thing as release2 but ,i think there 
are many subjects of free and full      
forgiveness who insist on carrying their
 old1 dirty packs to their graves1      
staggering under them all the way4  ,but
 this is not what ,i started to write   
about4 ,a great many men carry their    
life as an author carries a book which  
he is writing-- never losing the sense  
of their burden4 ,when a writer         
undertakes a book1 and feels the        
necessity of perfect continuity of      
thought and symmetry of structure1 he   
can never lay it wholly aside4 ,when    
once he has taken up the first chapter1 
and comprehended his materials and      

machinery and end1 he does not dare to  
lay down his work1 or diverge from the  
grand channel of his thought1 until the 
last chapter is finished4 ,he can take  
no three months' vacation2 he can read  
no books that do not contribute to his  
progress in the chosen direction2 he can
 never wholly lay aside the burden that 
is on him4 ,it is like lifting upon     
one's shoulder the end of a long pole1  
and then walking under it from end to   
end4 ,the burden upon the shoulder is   
not relieved until the whole length has 
been passed1 and it drops as we walk    
from under it4 ,such is the way that    
many men1 and1 perhaps1 most men1 carry 
life4 ,if their business troubles them1 
they have no power to throw it off1 and 
no disposition to try to do it4 ,they   
are entirely aware that they gain       
nothing by carrying their tedious       
burden1 but they carry it4 ,not content 
with doing their duty1 and trying their 
best while actively engaged1 they take  
home with them a long face1 breathe     

sighs around them in the saddest        
fashion1 and really unfit themselves for
 the healthy exercise of their reason1  
and the active employment of their      
faculties4  ,with men of this stamp1 it 
makes little difference whether they are
 prosperous or otherwise4 ,if times are 
good1 and they really have no fault to  
find with matters as they exist1 they   
become troubled about bad times that may
 possibly lie just ahead4 ,oh1 it's all 
well enough to-day1 they say1 but you   
can't tell what is coming2 so they bind 
the burden of the future upon them1 and 
undertake to steal a march on ,god's    
providence4 ,such a thing as doing the  
duty of a single day1 and doing it well1
 and then throwing off the burden of    
care1 and having a good time in some    
rational way1 until the hour comes for  
the commencement of the next day's duty1
 they are strangers to4 ,they walk into 
their houses with a cloud upon their    
faces4 ,they have no words of cheer for 
those whom they have left at home during

 the day4 ,they are moody and sullen and
 sad--absorbed by their troubled        
thoughts-- taking no interest in the    
schemes1 and having no sympathy with the
 trials1 of their wives and children1   
and making no effort to relieve         
themselves of their burdens4 ,if they   
pray at all1 they practically pray like 
this3 ,give us this day our daily bread1
 and to-morrow1 and next day1 and the   
day after1 and next year1 and fifty     
years to come2 and lest ,thou shouldst  
forget it1 or neglect to answer us1 we  
have undertaken to look after the matter
 ourselves4  ,to say nothing of the     
constant sadness1 uneasiness1 and       
discomfort of such a life as this1 to   
all those who lead it1 and to all who   
are intimately associated with them1 the
 permanent effect of it upon the        
character of its subjects is to make    
them selfish and hard1 and small and    
mean4 ,whatever may be their            
circumstances1 they become sensitive    
upon any expenditure of money for       

purposes beyond the simplest necessities
 of personal and family life4 ,this     
result is both natural and inevitable4  
,a man whose life1 in and out of his    
counting-room1 is absorbed by business1 
ceases1 at last1 to be any thing but a  
man of business2 and his mind contracts 
and hardens down to its central1 motive 
idea4 ,that which becomes the dominant  
aim and the grand end of life1 always   
determines the character of life2 and ,i
 have known young men1 even before they 
have approached middle age1 to become   
mean and miserly to such a degree as to 
disappoint and disgust their friends1   
simply in consequence of a few years'   
absorption in business4 ,business is not
 life1 nor is it life's end4 ,it is     
simply a means of life2 and all true    
living lies outside of it4 ,ministry is 
the mission of business--ministry to    
necessity1 to comfort1 and to a         
personal1 family1 and social life into  
which business never enters1 save with  
an unwelcome foot and a disturbing hand4

 ,this everlasting hugging of the burden
 of business1 is1 therefore1 not only a 
painful task1 but it is permanently     
damaging to all who indulge in it4  ,it 
is very easy to talk1 says my friend1   
with a load upon his shoulders1 but     
talking does not pay notes at the bank1 
and keep creditors easy1 and provide for
 one's family4 ,granted3 and now will   
you be kind enough to tell me how many  
notes you ever paid at bank1 and how    
much provision you ever made for your   
family by mugging over your troubles out
 of business hours8 ,if your retort is  
good for any thing1 mine is4 ,you never 
accomplished one good thing in your life
 by making yourself and others unhappy  
through constant dwelling upon trouble  
when not engaged in active efforts to   
extricate yourself from it4 ,you never  
gained a single inch of progress by     
dwelling upon miscarriages in business  
which you could not avoid4 ,all your    
absorption1 all your sad reflection1 all
 your misgivings about the future1 all  

your care beyond the exercise of your   
best ability in action1 has not only    
been utterly useless1 but it has injured
 the comfort of all around you1         
destroyed the peace of your life1       
cheated you out of the reward of your   
labor1 and made a smaller1 harder1      
meaner man of you4 ,if any good result  
could be secured by carrying the burden 
of your business into all your life1    
then there would be some apology for it2
 but you know that no such result can be
 secured4 ,it is very easy to talk1 my  
friend persists in saying1 but one      
cannot always command one's mind1 in    
such a matter as this4 ,did you ever    
try8 ,have you ever systematically tried
 to do this8 ,is it your regular aim1   
after you have discharged the business  
of the day1 to throw off care until the 
next day's business is undertaken8 ,no8 
,then how do you know whether it is easy
 or not8  ,i believe it is in the power 
of every man1 who has not too long      
abused himself1 to lay aside every night

 his pack of mental care and anxiety1   
and enter into life4 ,not only this1 but
 ,i believe that it is absolutely       
essential to his business success that  
he do this4 ,a man who dwells constantly
 upon the dark side of his affairs1 and 
is troubled and gloomy in his           
apprehensions concerning the future1    
becomes a weak and timid                
man--disqualified in many essential     
respects for the work of his life4 ,his 
mind needs rest and revivification4     
,suppose an ass were to be treated in   
the manner in which men treat           
themselves4 ,suppose the burden which we
 place upon him during the day were kept
 lashed to his back at night1 so that he
 must bear it1 either standing or lying1
 off duty as well as on4 ,how long would
 he be worth any thing for labor8 ,the  
illustration is apposite in every       
particular4 ,if the mind is to be kept  
fit for business1 it is at regular      
periods to be kept out of business4 ,a  
great multitude of business failures are

 attributable1 ,i have no doubt1 to the 
debilitating and damaging effect of     
carrying the burdens of business between
 business hours4 ,men become in a       
measure sick and insane by dwelling upon
 their affairs1 when they should be     
receiving rest and refreshment4  ,again1
 men who insist upon keeping their packs
 upon their shoulders1 practically deny 
the existence of the providence of a    
,being superior to themselves1 and      
dominant in all human affairs4 ,if ,i   
were to say to one of these men3 you do 
not believe in ,providence at all1 he   
would accuse me of a harsh judgment1 and
 feel injured by it2 but it is certainly
 legitimate for me to ask him what      
evidence he gives of his belief4 ,all1  
indeed1 profess to believe in           
,providence1 in a certain general way4  
,the popular idea is very foggy upon the
 matter4 ,we somehow imagine that ,god  
knows every thing in general and nothing
 in particular--that ,he takes interest 
in1 supervision of1 and controlling     

influence over1 matters at large1 with  
an imperial disregard of details--that  
,he moulds with a majestic hand the     
character and destiny of nations1 but   
never condescends to meddle with the    
small and insignificant affairs of      
individuals4 ,providence1 in this view1 
would seem to be very much like certain 
tongs used in a blacksmith's shop1 whose
 jaws do not wholly close--convenient   
for handling large pieces of iron1 but  
incapable of grasping a nail4 ,or1      
,providence is like a great general1 who
 only directs the movements of large    
bodies of men1 deals only with the      
officers1 and never thinks of so small a
 thing as looking after the blanket of a
 private soldier1 or dressing a wounded 
finger4  ,it is very easy to perceive   
that such a ,providence as this has no  
practical value in every-day1 individual
 life4 ,very evidently it is not that   
,providence which numbers the hairs of  
men's heads1 and without whose notice   
not a sparrow falls to the ground4 ,one 

is a ,providence made by men who        
undertake to measure ,god by themselves2
 the other is the ,providence revealed  
in the ,bible4 ,god exercises a special 
providence1 which reaches to the        
minutest affairs of the most            
insignificant man1 or we are all in a   
condition of essential orphanage4 ,a    
special ,providence denied1 and prayer  
becomes a mockery1 devotion a deceit1   
and the sense of individual             
responsibility slavery to a             
superstitious idea4 ,now ,i do not      
pretend to address myself to men who do 
not believe in prayer4 ,i know men well 
enough to know that there are very few  
of them who do not believe in prayer1   
and that there are very few of them who 
do not1 particularly in moments of      
danger1 pray4 ,deep down under the      
thickest crusts of depravity there lies 
the conviction1 always ready to rise in 
painful emergencies1 that ,god takes    
cognizance of every man1 and is able to 
help him4 ,smooth away the idea of      

,providence as we may1 into an unmeaning
 generality1 the time comes1 in every   
man's life1 when he recognizes the fact 
that ,god is dealing with him2 and he   
may as well recognize the fact all the  
time as when he is driven to feel that  
he has no help in himself4  ,so1 if     
there be a special ,providence1 it is a 
,providence to be trusted2 and the man  
who believes in it has no apology for   
carrying a single unnecessary burden4   
,this providence in all human affairs1  
is like the principle of vitality in the
 vegetable world4 ,it does not release  
us from effort1 in every legitimate and 
needful way1 for the accomplishment of  
our laudable purposes2 but when our     
efforts are complete1 it takes care of  
the rest4 ,what should we think of the  
farmer who could never roll the burden  
of his cornfield from his mind1 and who1
 after hoeing his ground repeatedly1 and
 cutting or covering every weed1 should 
go night after night and sit up with it1
 and think of it1 and dream of it all   

the while8 ,he has done all there is for
 him to do1 and beyond this he cannot   
control an hour of sunshine1 a drop of  
dew1 or a single cloud-full of rain4 ,he
 cannot influence the law of growth in  
any particular4 ,his field is in the    
control of a power entirely above and   
beyond him2 and every thought he gives  
to it1 after having done what he can for
 its prosperity1 is utterly useless4 ,it
 is his business to trust4 ,having done 
what he can1 the remainder is in the    
hands of ,him who feeds the springs of  
being with light and heat and moisture4 
,it is thus that man's affairs grow     
while he sleeps4 ,the hand that         
ministers to every plant will not fail  
to minister to him for whose use the    
plant was made4  ,why do not men trust  
in ,providence8 ,simply because1 in     
their usual moods and in their usual    
circumstances1 they do not believe in   
it4 ,there is no other explanation4     
,you1 my friend1 who carry your burdens 
around on your shoulders all the time1  

and who1 perhaps1 pray every morning and
 every night1 do not believe in         
,providence4 ,you do not feel that you  
can trust ,providence4 ,you assent to   
all that ,i say upon the subject1 but1  
after all1 your belief in ,providence   
has no genuine vitality4 ,you do not    
believe in it as you believe in the     
purity of your wife or the honor of your
 friend4 ,you do not rely upon it for an
 hour4 ,you do nod your head and        
say--yes1 yes2 and you think you are    
sincere2 but you deceive yourself4 ,so  
long as you persist in carrying your    
pack1 which is a very unpleasant burden1
 as you know1 you do not believe in     
,providence2 else you would trust in it4
 ,you are tired and harassed by your    
daily labor2 and it is very natural to  
suppose that if you could remove your   
burden each evening1 and place it in the
 charge of one whom you believe would   
take care of it1 you would do it with   
gladness4 ,you fail to do it1 and what  
is the natural conclusion8 ,it is that  

your belief in ,providence is a humbug4 
,you believe in the honor of your       
friend1 and you trust it4 ,you believe  
in the honesty and ability of your      
creditor1 and you trust him4 ,you trust 
every thing and everybody that you      
firmly believe in2 and the only reason  
under heaven why you do not roll off the
 burden that oppresses you1 every day   
and every hour of your life1 and commit 
it to the care of ,providence1 is1 that 
you do not believe in ,providence4  ,we 
are in the habit of talking about the   
world as a world of care1 and speaking  
of human life as inseparably accompanied
 by trouble4 ,this is1 indeed1 the      
truth2 but if we were to remove from the
 world all its useless care1 and take   
from life all its unnecessary trouble1  
they would be transformed into such     
bright and pleasant things that we      
should hardly know them4 ,i know very   
few men and women who do not bear about 
with them care and trouble which ,god   
never put upon them1 and which ,he has  

no desire to see upon their shoulders4  
,it does not belong to them4 ,it relates
 to things that are in the realm of     
,providence alone1 or to things over    
which they have no control4 ,the future 
is ,god's1 but they voluntarily take it 
upon their shoulders1 and try to bear   
it4 ,they pluck a section of ,god's     
eternity out of ,his hands1 and groan   
with the burden4 ,they assume care which
 is not their own--which belongs to the 
,controller of their lives1 and the     
,governor of the universe4 ,it is care  
for that which is beyond human          
care--anxiety for that which anxiety    
cannot reach--trouble about that which  
we can neither make nor mend--that      
oppresses humanity4 ,we can bear our    
daily burdens very well4 ,we can go     
through our regular hours of bodily and 
mental labor1 and feel the better rather
 than the worse for it2 but to care for 
that which our care cannot touch1 and to
 be troubled about that which is        
entirely beyond our sphere--this is the 

burden that breaks the back of the      
world--this is the burden which we bind 
to our shoulders with obstinate fatuity4
     ,,lesson ,,xxi4  ,,proper ,,people 
,,and ,,perfect ,,people4               
,i must have liberty    ,withal1 as     
large a charter as the wind    ,to blow 
on whom ,i please4 ,,shakspeare4        
,they say best men are moulded out of   
faults4    ,,the ,,same4    ,there's no 
such thing in nature1 and you'll draw   
,a faultless monster which the world    
ne'er saw4    ,,sheffield4  ,nature     
calls for room and for freedom--room for
 her ocean and freedom for its waves2   
room for her rivers and freedom for     
their flowing2 room for her forests and 
freedom for every tree to respond to the
 influences of earth and sky according  
to its law4 ,exceedingly proper things  
are not at all in the line of nature4   
,nature never trims a hedge1 or cuts off
 the tail of a horse4 ,nature never     
compels a brook to flow in a right line1
 but permits it to make just as many    

turns in a meadow as it pleases4 ,nature
 is very careless about the form of her 
clouds1 and masses and colors them with 
great disregard of the opinions of the  
painters4 ,nature never thinks of       
smoothing off her rocks1 and cleaning   
away her mud1 and keeping herself trim  
and neat4 ,she does very improper things
 in a very impulsive manner4 ,instead of
 contriving some safe1 silent1 and      
secret way to dispose of her            
electricity1 she comes out with a       
blinding flash and a stunning crash1 and
 a rush of rain that very likely fills  
the mountain streams to overflowing1 and
 destroys bridges and booms1 and cabins 
and cornfields4 ,on the whole1 though   
nature keeps up a respectable           
appearance1 ,i suppose that1 in the     
opinion of my particular friend ,miss   
,nancy1 she would be improved by taking 
a few lessons of a ,french gardener1 and
 reading savage criticisms on ,ruskin4  
,i have alluded to my particular friend 
,miss ,nancy4 ,perhaps ,i ought to say1 

at starting1 that ,miss ,nancy is a man1
 and that ,i use the name bestowed upon 
him by his enemies1 because it is1 in a 
very important sense1 descriptive4 ,miss
 ,nancy's boots are faithfully polished 
twice a day4 ,his linen is immaculate2  
and the tie of his cravat is square and 
faultless4 ,he never makes a mistake in 
grammar while engaged in conversation4  
,he is versed in all the forms and      
usages of society1 and particularly at  
home in gallant attention to what he    
calls the ladies4 ,he seems to have lost
 every rough corner1 if he ever had one4
 ,in politics and religion1 he is just  
as proper as in social life4 ,the most  
respectable religion is his religion2   
and the politics that shun extremes are 
his politics4 ,i think he is what they  
call a conservative4 ,at any rate1 ,i   
newer knew him to do a rash or impulsive
 thing1 or speak an improper word in his
 life4 ,i think he is as nearly perfect 
as any man ,i ever saw4  ,but1 after    
all1 ,miss ,nancy is not a popular man4 

,he will probably live and die an old   
bachelor1 because all the women will    
persist in laughing at him4 ,he is      
certainly good-looking1 his dress is    
unexceptionable1 his manners are as good
 as they make them1 and his morals are  
as proper as his manners2 yet ,i have   
not yet seen the woman who would speak a
 pleasant word of my friend4 ,he is     
decidedly a woman's man1 yet no woman   
will own him1 and no woman feels        
comfortable with him4 ,his language is  
so carefully guarded against all        
impropriety of style and structure1 that
 she feels as if he were criticizing    
every word she utters1 as well as       
measuring his own4 ,his manners are so  
very proper that they are formal and    
constrained1 and make her uncomfortable4
 ,his sentiments and opinions are so    
very conservative1 that they have no    
vitality in them4 ,with a curious       
perverseness1 the most gentle and       
accomplished women will turn from him   
with a sense of relief1 to join in the  

society of a hearty fellow with a loud  
laugh and a dash of slang1 and a free   
and easy way with him4 ,it may be       
difficult to explain all this1 but it is
 true4 ,an exceedingly proper man is    
never a popular man4 ,that life which is
 controlled by rigid and unvarying      
rules1 and regulated by                 
conventionalities in every minute       
particular1 and restrained in every     
impulse by notions of propriety1 is     
unlovely and unnatural1 and can never he
 otherwise4  ,the instincts of men are  
always right in this and all cognate    
matters4 ,all formalism is offensive to 
good taste4 ,the painter does not study 
landscape in a garden4 ,formal isles1   
closely-trimmed trees1 rose hushes on   
the top of tall sticks1 flowers tied to 
supports1 vines trained upon trellises1 
lakes with clipped and pebbled margins  
and ,india-rubber swans--these are not  
picturesque4 ,there is no more          
inspiration in them than there would be 
in a row of tenement houses in the city4

 ,the painter looks for beauty out where
 nature reigns undisturbed amid her     
imperfections1--where the aisles are    
made by the deer going to his lick2     
where the trees are never trimmed save  
by the lightning or the hurricane2 where
 the rose-bushes spread their branches  
and the vines trail themselves at       
liberty2 and where the lake looks up    
into the faces of trees centuries old1  
and hems itself in with thickets of     
alders and green reaches of flags and   
rushes1 and throbs to the touch of the  
mountain breeze1 while on its bosom     
,the black duck1 with her glossy breast 
,sits swinging silently4  ,a little     
child whose head is piled with laces and
 ribbons1 whose dress is a mass of      
embroidery1 and who is booted and gloved
 and otherwise oppressed by parental    
vanity and extravagance1 is not         
picturesque1 any further than its face  
goes4 ,the portrait painter will cling  
to the face and let the clothes alone4  
,all this ,i trickery of art1 brought   

into comparison or contrast with the    
simple beauty of nature1 is offensive4  
,yet a little beggar boy1 with an old   
straw hat on1 and with bare1 brown feet1
 and a burnt shoulder which his torn    
shirt refuses to cover1 would be a      
painter's joy4 ,here would be drapery   
that he would delight to paint1 simply  
because there would be no formality     
about it4 ,it is impossible for us to   
know how ridiculous a dress-coat is     
until we see it in a statue4 ,we are    
obliged to put all our modern sages and 
heroes into togas and blankets and long 
cloaks in order to make them presentable
 to posterity4  ,we never find groups of
 accordant1 striking facts like         
these--and their number could be largely
 increased--without finding that they   
are all strung together by an important 
law4 ,all life demands room and         
freedom--freedom to manifest itself in  
every way1 according to the law of its  
being and the range of its              
circumstances4 ,all life is individual  

and characteristic1 and comes           
reluctantly under the sway of outside   
forces4 ,it is not natural to be proper1
 or to love propriety4 ,in saying this  
,i simply mean that it is against nature
 to bring one's individuality under the 
curbing and controlling hands of        
others--to make the notions of the world
 the law and limit of one's liberty1 and
 to square every word and every act by  
arbitrary rules imposed by cliques and  
customs4 ,a man who has been clipped in 
all his puttings-forth1 and modelled by 
outside hands and outside influences1   
until it is apparent that he is governed
 from without rather than from within1  
is just as unnatural an object as a tree
 that has been clipped and tied and bent
 until its top has grown into the form  
of a cube4 ,thus the reason why ,miss   
,nancy is not popular1 and why the women
 refuse to delight in him1 is1 that he  
is not his own master--that he has1 in  
himself1 no independent life4 ,it is not
 proper that he give utterance to his   

impulses2--so he suppresses them4 ,it is
 not proper that he frankly reveal the  
emotions of his heart2 so he conceals   
them4 ,it is not proper that he enter   
enthusiastically into any work or any   
pleasure2 so he is a constant check to  
the enthusiasm of others4 ,it is not    
proper that he speak the words that     
spring to his lips when his weak        
sensibilities are touched2 so he studies
 his language1 and shapes his phrases to
 the accepted models4 ,thus is he       
shortened in on every side1 until his   
individuality is all gone1 and the      
humanity in him becomes as characterless
 as its expression4 ,every utterance of 
his life is made with a well-measured   
reference to certain standards to which 
he is an acknowledged slave4  ,a        
scrupulously proper man is often a      
self-deceiver1 and not unfrequently an  
intentional deceiver of others4 ,i do   
not say that he is necessarily a        
scoundrel or a fool4 ,he may be very    
little of either1 and he may be a little

 of both4 ,these two words1 which sound 
rather roughly1 will give us1 ,i think1 
a faithful index to his character4 ,a   
man who is punctiliously proper has     
usually become so in consequence of an  
attempt to cover up his mental          
deficiencies or his moral obliquities4  
,punctilious propriety is always        
pretentious1 and pretentiousness is     
always an attempt at fraud4 ,a shallow  
mind is very apt to clothe itself with  
propriety as with a garment4 ,a brain   
that cannot handle large things very    
often undertakes to manage a            
multiplicity of little things1 and runs 
naturally into those minute proprieties 
of life which are showy1 and which      
appear to the ignorant to indicate great
 powers and acquisitions in reserve4    
,most proper men are nothing but a      
shell1 although many of them pass with  
the world for more4 ,their life is all  
on the outside1 and is placed and kept  
there for show4 ,we approach them1 and  
very frequently find them so well       

guarded that we do not get a look into  
their emptiness for a long time4 ,we    
examine them as we would a hillside     
strewn with fragments and planted with  
boulders of marble4 ,we are obliged to  
dig to learn whether the signs we see   
are from an out-cropping ledge1 or an   
outside deposition4 ,sometimes the      
plunge of a single question will reveal 
the whole story4 ,a man with large      
brains and a large life in him has      
something to do besides attending to the
 notions of other people4 ,he has at    
least no motive to deceive the world by 
striving to appear to be more than he   
is4  ,i have said that there are some   
men who are punctiliously proper for the
 purpose of covering their moral        
obliquities4 ,the virtue of a prude is  
always to be suspected4 ,so you have    
been looking after the bad words1 was   
savage old ,dr4 ,johnson's reply to the 
very proper woman who found fault with  
him for introducing so many indecent    
words into his dictionary4 ,there are   

few men who have not frequently1 during 
their lives1 broken their way through a 
crust of punctilious propriety into     
hearts full of all the blackness of     
sensuality and sin4 ,the world is full  
of hypocrisy1 and hypocrisy is nothing  
more than appearing to be what one is   
not4 ,indeed1 ,i believe that one of the
 strongest motives operative in the     
world to render men scrupulously proper 
in their deportment and behavior is sin4
 ,i make no hesitation in saying that   
shallowness and sensuality are the      
leading ingredients in the majority of  
the exceedingly proper characters with  
which ,i am acquainted4  ,leaving this  
particular phase of my subject1 ,i wish 
to call attention to the well-recognized
 fact that all perfect people are bores4
 ,a perfect character in a novel has no 
more power over a reader--no more       
foothold among his sympathies--than a   
proposition in mathematics would have4  
,of all stupid creations that the brain 
of man has given birth to1 there are    

none so stupid as the perfect men and   
women whom we find upon the pages of    
fiction4 ,sometimes we find in actual   
life a character so symmetrical1 so     
rounded off at the corners1 and smoothed
 at the edges1 and polished on the      
sides1 and unexceptionable in all its   
manifestations1 that we cannot find     
fault with it2 yet we find it impossible
 for us to love it4 ,such a character   
gets beyond the reach of our sympathies4
 ,human affection is like ivy4 ,it      
cannot cling to glass2 it must plant its
 feet in imperfections4 ,it is not to be
 denied that imperfection is the true   
flavor of humanity4 ,the mind refuses to
 sympathize where it does not exist4    
,what the world would call a perfect    
man--what would be adjudged a perfect   
man by the best standards--would be as  
tasteless as a last year's apple4 ,a    
perfect woman could no more be loved    
than she could be hated4 ,i never saw a 
man with a perfect face--a face modelled
 so symmetrically and so perfectly that 

no fault could be found with it--who was
 not more or less a numskull4 ,a pretty 
man is always a pretty fool2 and the    
more symmetrical the features of a woman
 are1 the more does she approach to the 
style of beauty and expression and      
native gifts of a porcelain doll4 ,the  
mind and the character can be so        
symmetrical that they will lose all     
charm and all significance4 ,they       
descend into simple prettiness1 which is
 simple insipidity4  ,i say that        
imperfection is the true flavor of      
humanity4 ,in explanation1 ,i ought to  
say that all individuality is either    
based upon it or pre-supposes it4 ,for  
instance3 the preponderance of certain  
powers and qualities of mind and        
character in me1 over certain other     
powers and qualities1 and the weakness  
and imperfection of these latter as     
related to the former1 and to the       
individualities of others1 make my      
individuality what it1 is4 ,if in me all
 mental and moral powers were in        

equipoise--if ,i were a symmetrical man1
 as the first ,adam may possibly have   
been--,i should have no individuality1  
no qualities that would distinguish     
me--no weaknesses that would furnish    
footholds for human sympathy--no        
freshness and flavor4 ,a whole world    
full of perfect men and women1 each one 
like every other1 would be unutterably  
stupid4 ,where there is no weakness     
there is no individuality2 where there  
is no individuality there is no true    
humanity2 where there is no true        
humanity there is no sympathy2 and where
 there is no sympathy there is no       
pleasure4 ,we demand that a man shall   
live according to his law--develop      
himself according to his law-- manifest 
and express himself according to his    
law2 and then he will become the object 
of our sympathy or antipathy1 according 
to our law4 ,we demand that the true    
flavor of every individuality shall be  
declared1 and not be masked by the      
imposition of conventional regulations4 

,if every tree in the world were        
perfect1 according to any recognized    
standard1 then all the trees would be   
alike1 and would cease to be attractive 
and picturesque4 ,we keep all perfect   
things out of pictures1 because they are
 formal and tasteless4 ,a bran new      
cottage1 with a picket fence around it1 
and every thing cleaned up about it1 is 
too perfect to be picturesque4 ,an old1 
tumble-down mill1 with rude and rotten  
timbers1 and a wheel outside1 is        
decidedly picturesque1 because its      
imperfections make it informal4 ,the    
most unattractive of all houses is a    
model house4 ,a house that no man can   
find fault with1 is a house that no man 
can love4 ,it is precisely thus with    
human character and with men4 ,a proper1
 perfect1 model man1 is an unlovable    
man4 ,a sphere cannot be made to fit an 
angle1 and a spherical character has no 
point of sympathy with one that is      
thrown into the angles necessary for    
individuality4 ,so we neither love      

symmetry and perfection in men1         
according to any recognized standard1   
nor the appearance of them4 ,we demand  
not only that men shall have            
individuality1 but that they shall      
express it in their language and their  
lives4 ,in society we demand variety2   
and in order to have it1 men must act   
out themselves4 ,the harmony and        
sweetness of social life consist in the 
adjustment of the strong points of some 
to the weak points of others4  ,with    
these facts so very evident as they must
 be to all thoughtful minds1 it is      
strange that such an effort is made to  
bring all men to a certain standard and 
style of life4 ,i do not believe there  
is a country on the face of the earth   
where public opinion and fashion and    
conventional and individual notions1    
exercise so despotic a sway as they do  
in ,america4 ,there is1 in this free    
country1 no play to individuality       
tolerated4 ,no room is made for the     
peculiarities of a man--no freedom is   

given to his mode of manifestation4 ,a  
man who has peculiar manners1 and whose 
style of individuality is marked1 has no
 room allowed to him at all4 ,he is very
 likely to be called a fool1 and laughed
 at by his inferiors4 ,we take no pains 
to look through the outside to find the 
heart and soul1 and refuse to see       
excellence behind manifestations that   
offend our notions or our tastes4 ,we go
 to hear a preacher1 and if he do not   
happen to have the externals1 and the   
style of delivery which we most admire1 
we condemn him at once4 ,we make no room
 for his individuality1 and allow to it 
no freedom of manifestation4 ,room and  
freedom--that which the ocean has1 that 
which the rivers have1 that which the   
forest has1 and that from which all of  
them derive their beauty and their      
glory--room and freedom are denied to   
men by men who need both1 quite as much 
as their fellows4  ,the choicest food of
 the gossips is the personal            
peculiarities of their acquaintances4   

,the grand staple of ridicule is this   
same individuality1 whose importance ,i 
have endeavored to illustrate4 ,all the 
small wits of society busy themselves   
upon the eccentricities of those around 
them4 ,church and creed1 party and      
platform1 fashion and custom1 all direct
 themselves against the development of  
individuality4 ,sensitive natures shrink
 before such an array of influences1 and
 retire into themselves1 drawing back   
and keeping in check all their          
out-reaching individuality4 ,many a man1
 indeed1 who would face a cannon's mouth
 without trembling1 flinches when beset 
by ridicule4 ,it is not the fault of    
society that the whole race of mankind  
are not reduced to a dead level of      
character1 and a tasteless uniformity of
 life4 ,were it not that ,god does ,his 
work so strongly1 it would have been    
undone long ago4 ,as it is1 we always   
have a few men and women who are true   
enough to ,god and themselves to keep   
the world from stagnation1 and give zest

 to life4 ,they sometimes shock ,miss   
,nancy1 but as they do not happen to    
care what ,miss ,nancy thinks of them1  
they manage to live and do something to 
keep ,miss ,nancy's friends from        
settling into chronic inanity4          
,,lesson ,,xxii4  ,,the ,,poetic ,,test4
         ,i walked on1 musing with      
myself   ,on life and art1 and whether1 
after all1   ,a larger metaphysics might
 not help   ,our physics--a completer   
poetry   ,adjust our daily life and     
vulgar wants   ,more fully than the     
special outside plans1   ,phalansteries1
 material institutes1   ,the civil      
conscriptions and lay monasteries1      
,preferred by modern thinkers4 ,,mrs4   
,,browning4  ,the highest poetry is the 
purest truth4 ,to learn whether any     
thing is as it ought to be1 we have only
 to learn whether it is truly poetical4 
,it is a popular fallacy to suppose that
 poetical things are necessarily        
fanciful1 or imaginative1 or sentimental
 in other words1 that poetry resides in 

that which is both baseless and         
valueless4 ,in the popular thought1     
poetry is shut out of the realm of truth
 and reality4 ,the reason1 ,i suppose1  
is1 that poetry demands more of truth   
and harmony and beauty than is commonly 
found in the actualities of human life4 
,let us suppose that in a country       
journey we arrive at the summit of a    
hill1 at whose foot lies a charming     
village imbosomed in trees from the     
midst of which1 rises the white spire of
 the village church4 ,if we are in a    
poetical mood1 we say3 ,how beautiful is
 this retirement6 ,this quiet retreat1  
away from the world's distractions and  
great temptations1 must be the abode of 
domestic and social virtue--the home of 
contentment1 of peace1 and of an        
unquestioning ,christian faith4         
,fortunate are they whose lot it is to  
be born and to pass their days here1 and
 to be buried at last in the little     
graveyard behind the church4 ,as we see 
the children playing upon the grass1 and

 the tidy matrons sitting in their      
doorways1 and the farmers at work in the
 fields1 and the quiet inn1 with its    
brooding piazzas like wings waiting for 
the shelter of its guests1 the scene    
fills us with a rare poetic delight4 ,in
 the midst of our little rapture1       
however1 a communicative villager comes 
along1 and we question him4 ,we are     
shocked to learn that the inn is a very 
bad place1 with a drunken landlord1 that
 there is a quarrel in the church which 
is about to drive the old pastor away1  
that there is not a man in the village  
who would not leave it if he could sell 
his property1 that the women give a free
 rein to their propensity for scandal1  
and that half of the children of the    
place are down with the measles4  ,the  
true poet sees things not always as they
 are1 but as they ought to be4 ,he      
insists upon congruity and consistency4 
,such a life should be in such a spot1  
under such circumstances2 and no        
unwarped and unpolluted mind can fail to

 see that the poet's ideal is the       
embodiment of ,god's will4 ,the poet's  
,indian is very different from the real 
native ,american who has been exposed to
 the corrupting influences-of the white 
man's civilization4 ,the poet insists on
 seeing in the ,american ,indian a noble
 manhood1 simple tastes1 freedom from   
all conventionality1 heroic fortitude1  
and all those romantic qualities which a
 free forest life seems so well         
calculated to engender4 ,he looks upon  
the deep1 mysterious woods1 traversed by
 nameless streams2 the majestic         
mountains1 haunted by shadows2 the broad
 lakes1 swept only by the wind and the  
wild man's oar1 and he says3 it is      
fitting1 and only fitting1 that out of  
such a realm should come such a life4   
,which is the better and the more       
truthful ,indian--that of the poet1 or  
he who drank the rum of our fathers and 
then scalped them8 ,the poet's village  
is the model village1 and the poet's    
,indian is the model ,indian4 ,both are 

built of the best and truest materials  
that ,god furnishes1 and we see that    
when the actual village and the real    
,indian are tried by the poetic         
standard1 they are tried by the severest
 standard that can be applied to them4  
,the poet's ideal embodies ,god's ideal 
of a village and an ,indian4  ,the      
grand1 basilar idea of ,american        
institutions is human equality--the idea
 embodied in the ,american ,declaration 
of ,independence1 that men are created  
free and equal1 each with an            
independent1 and all with a co-ordinate1
 right to life1 liberty1 and the pursuit
 of happiness4 ,there is in this idea   
the highest poetry1 because it is the   
transcendent truth2 and there is no true
 poetry this side of the highest truth4 
,poetry follows the universal law1 and  
is dependent for its quality upon its   
materials4 ,in the degree in which its  
materials are fictitious and artificial1
 is it poor and false4 ,the ,pilgrim's  
,progress is essentially better poetry  

than the ,paradise ,lost1 because it    
contains more of the truth as it is in  
the divine life of man4  ,the poetic    
test1 then1 is practically a very       
valuable one1 in all the important      
matters that relate to our life4 ,much  
of that which is miscalled poetry has   
been based upon arbitrary and artificial
 distinctions in human society and human
 lot4 ,the poet has often sung of       
thrones and palaces1 of kings and       
queens1 of men and women of gentle      
blood1 of barons and knights and        
squires1 of retainers and dependents1 of
 patricians and plebeians1 and thus     
drawn his grand interest from           
distinctions in which ,god and ,nature  
have had no hand4 ,there may be romance1
 fancy1 imagination1 sentiment1 and even
 instruction in such compositions as    
these1 but there is no poetry4 ,they    
have not in them the immortal life and  
the motive power of truth4 ,we have only
 to carry distinctions thus attempted to
 be glorified to their logical results  

to land in the slavery of the masses to 
the over-mastering few4 ,now there never
 was1 and there never can be1 any poetry
 in slavery4 ,since time began no true  
poet has undertaken to write a line in  
praise of slavery4 ,poets have always   
been1 and they must necessarily forever 
be1 the prophets and priests of freedom4
 ,multitudes of men have undertaken to  
justify slavery by the ,bible1 by       
expediency1 by history1 by necessity1 by
 philosophy1 by the constitution of the 
country2 but no man ever undertook to   
justify it by poetry4 ,the most         
brilliant prize offered by a national   
committee for the best poem in praise of
 human slavery1 would not be able to    
draw forth a single stanza from any man 
capable of writing a line of true       
poetry4 ,philosophical defences of      
slavery can be purchased1 political     
justifications can be had at the small  
price of a small office1 and ,christian 
apologies to order1 but1 thank ,god6 not
 one line in praise of slavery could be 

written by a true poet1 if the wealth of
 the world were to be his reward4  ,we  
have in the present age a sickly1       
sentimental humanity which is busily    
endeavoring to pervert the sense and    
love of justice in mankind4 ,it regards 
the disposition to do wrong as a        
disease1 to be treated with appropriate 
emollients applied over the heart1 or   
some gentle opiate or alterative taken  
through the ears4 ,it pities the        
murderer1 and aims to give the          
impression to him and to the world that 
he is a victim to the barbarous         
instincts of society in the degree by   
which his punishment is made severe4 ,it
 aims to transform prisons into         
comfortable asylums1 where those who    
have been so unfortunate as to burn     
somebody's house1 or steal somebody's   
horse1 or insert a dirk under somebody's
 waistcoat1 may retire and repent of    
their little follies1 and in the mean   
time get better food and lodging than   
they were ever able to steal4           

,punishment--retribution--these are     
words which make them shudder4 ,nothing 
in their view is proper but such        
treatment of the criminal1 be it soft or
 severe1 as will contribute to his      
reformation4 ,the criminal has forfeited
 no rights1 and society has no claims   
upon him1 if he only repents2 and all   
punishment inflicted beyond the measure 
necessary to secure repentance is cruel4
 ,we have a great deal of this2 and more
 or less it is modifying theological    
systems and vitiating public policy4 ,it
 is carried to such an extent1 often1 as
 to make of the greatest criminals      
notable martyrs4 ,society and the victim
 of wrong-doing are both forgotten in   
sympathy for the wrong-doer4  ,now these
 sentimental sympathizers with          
criminals1 call themselves ,christians1 
and are not willing to believe that any 
man can1 in a truly ,christian spirit1  
oppose their theories and their         
influence4 ,they have been able to blind
 almost every sense in a man except the 

poetic sense2 but to this they appeal in
 vain4 ,poetic justice maintains its    
purity4 ,the reader of a novel1 no      
matter how good or how bad he may be1   
demands that the villain of the book    
shall be punished as a matter of justice
 alike to him4 and to those who have    
been his victims4 ,nothing but justice--
 nothing but a fitting retribution--will
 satisfy4 ,the poetic instinct demands a
 perfect system of rewards and          
punishments1 and is as little satisfied 
when a hero succeeds indifferently1 as  
when a scoundrel fails to be punished   
according to his deserts4 ,there is no  
poetic fitness without                  
justice--retribution1 pound for pound1  
and measure for measure4 ,set any       
audience that can be gathered to        
watching a play in which criminal and   
crafty art is made to meet and master a 
guileless spirit and pollute a spotless 
womanhood1 and the sympathies of the    
vilest will follow the victim1 and1 in  
the end1 demand the punishment of the   

victor4 ,nothing will seem to any       
audience so entirely out of place as    
kind and gentle treatment toward the    
artful brute1 and nothing more          
outrageously unjust than the idea that  
repentance is the principal end of his  
punishment4 ,the poetic instinct of     
fitness once thoroughly roused1 as it is
 in a story1 a poem1 or a play1 will be 
satisfied with nothing but full         
suffering for every sin4 ,now ,i would  
trust this poetic instinct of fitness   
further than ,i would all the sympathies
 of the humanitarians1 all the          
sophistries of the philosophers1 all the
 subtleties of the theologians1 and all 
the milder virtues of ,christianity     
itself4 ,to me1 it is as authoritative  
as a direct revelation from ,god1 and is
 equivalent to it4  ,again1 nothing is  
more apparent in ,american character and
 ,american life than a growing lack of  
reverence4 ,it begins in the family1 and
 runs out through all the relations of  
society4 ,the parent may be loved1 but  

he is much less revered than in the     
olden time4 ,parental authority is cast 
off early1 and age and gray hairs do not
 command that tender regard and that    
careful respect that they did in the    
times of the fathers4 ,in politics1 it  
is the habit to speak in light and      
disrespectful terms of those whose      
experience gives them the right to      
counsel and command4 ,young men talk    
flippantly of fossils1 and old fogies1  
and wonder why men who have been buried 
once will not remain quietly in their   
graves4 ,of course1 when such a spirit  
as this prevails1 there can be no       
reverence for authority1 no respect for 
place and position1 and no genuine and  
hearty loyalty4 ,we nickname our        
,presidents2 and old ,buck and old ,abe 
are spoken of as familiarly as if they  
were a pair of old oxen we were in the  
habit of driving4 ,every man considers  
himself good enough for any place1 and  
great enough to judge every other man4  
,if a pastor does not happen to suit a  

parishioner1 the parishioner has no     
feeling of reverence for him that would 
hinder him from telling him so to his   
face4 ,every man considers himself not  
only as good and as great as any other  
man1 but a little better and a little   
greater4 ,no being but ,god is revered1 
and ,he1 ,i fear1 not overmuch4 ,what we
 call ,young ,america is made up of     
about equal parts of irreverence1       
conceit1 and that popular moral quality 
familiarly known as brass4  ,it is the  
habit to applaud ,young ,america--to    
magnify the superior wisdom and         
efficiency of young men1 to treat old   
age familiarly1 and to compel those of  
superior years to ignore the honors with
 which ,god has crowned them4 ,every dog
 has his day1 we say1 and we are        
impatient of a man who declines to step 
into retirement the moment that his hair
 turns gray1 to make room for some      
specimen of ,young ,america with a snub 
nose and a smart shirt-collar4 ,now1    
however this irreverence may be         

justified--and it is not only justified 
but shamelessly gloried in--it is not   
poetical4 ,poetry cannot be woven of    
improprieties4 ,a people bowing with    
reverence to those in authority1 and    
regarding with profound respect high    
official station2 a family of children  
clinging1 even through a long manhood   
and womanhood1 around the form of an    
aged parent with assiduous attentions   
and tender reverence2 a community or a  
nation of young men looking to age for  
wisdom and for counsel2 universal       
respect for years on the part of the    
young--these are1 and must forever      
remain1 poetical4 ,out of reverence can 
be woven the most beautiful pictures    
which the poet's brain can conceive2 but
 ,young ,america can no more excite     
poetic sentiment1 or inspire poetic     
imaginations1 than the sham ,havana it  
smokes1 or the mongrel horse it drives4 
,there is no poetry in an irreverent    
character1 or in an irreverent          
community4 ,irreverence in any form will

 not stand the poetic test4  ,americans 
boast habitually of their country1 and  
their boastings always assume the poetic
 form4 ,the ballot-box that they talk   
about is the ballot-box that ought to be
 and not the ballot-box that is4 ,one   
would think1 to hear what is said of the
 ballot-box1 that it literally shines   
with glory1 so that every ,american     
freeman who marches up to it to deposit 
the paper embodiment of his will1 glows 
like a ,god in its light1 and grows     
godlike by his act4 ,if we are to       
believe ,mr4 ,whittier1 the poor voter  
sings on election day3    ,the proudest 
now is but my peer1     ,the highest not
 more high2   ,to-day1 of all the weary 
year1     ,a king of men am ,i4         
,to-day1 alike are great and small1     
,the nameless and the known2   ,my      
palace is the people's hall1     ,the   
ballot-box my throne6  ,this is a very  
splendid sort of a ballot-box1 and he is
 a very fine sort of an ,american who   
sings about it2 but what are the facts8 

,there are a good many chances that the 
box stands in a corner grocery1 and that
 the poor voter is led up to deposit his
 priceless ballot so drunk that he      
cannot walk without help4 ,mr4 ,whittier
 would have us believe that the poor    
voter sings3    ,to-day shall simple    
manhood try     ,the strength of gold   
and land2   ,the wide world has not     
wealth to buy     ,the power in my right
 hand4  ,the truth is that gold and land
 try the very simple manhood as a rule1 
and very much less than the wide world  
is sufficient to buy the power in a     
great multitude of poor voters' hands4  
,the poet sees what the ballot-box may  
be1 ought to be1 and1 in some rare      
instances1 really is4 ,he unerringly    
seizes upon the dignity and majesty of  
self-government1 the equal rights and   
privileges of manhood1 and the          
dissipation of all distinctions in the  
exercise of the political franchise     
among freemen4 ,the great truth of human
 equality inspires him1 and he uses the 

ideal and possible ballot-box to        
illustrate it1 and thus furnishes the   
standard by which the real ballot-box is
 to be judged4  ,the poetical view of   
our ,american system of government is   
that all men have a voice in the        
government2 that we choose our own      
rulers and make our own laws2 that no   
man has a hereditary right to rule1 and 
that men are selected for the service of
 the people1 in the construction and the
 execution of the laws1 because of their
 fitness for office4 ,outside of this   
view1 the ,american system of government
 has no beauty and no foundation in     
truth and justice4 ,if we undertake to  
argue with a monarchist1 we never bring 
forward any other4 ,it has in it the    
essential element of poetry1 because it 
does justice to the nature and character
 of man1 and describes a perfect        
political society4 ,the poetical view of
 the ,american system of government1 is1
 then1 the highest view4 ,it covers the 
sovereignty of the citizen1 and the     

wisdom of the popular voice4 ,around    
this idea the poets have woven their    
noblest songs2 but again we ask what are
 the facts8 ,the people are led by the  
nose by politicians2 and not one officer
 of the government in one hundred is    
chosen to his place because of his      
fitness for it4 ,the people do not      
nominate those who shall rule them1 or  
those who shall make laws for them4     
,those whom the politicians do not      
nominate for office1 nominate           
themselves4 ,the political machinery of 
,america practically takes the choice of
 rulers and officers out of the hands of
 the people1 and puts it into the hands 
of a set of self-appointed leaders1     
whose patriotism is partisanship1 and   
whose principal aim is to serve         
themselves and their friends1 and use   
the people for accomplishing their      
purposes4 ,no greater fiction was ever  
conceived than the pleasant one that the
 people of ,america govern ,america4    
,the people of ,america1 except in      

certain political revolutions1 have     
always been governed by a company of    
self-appointed and irresponsible men1   
whose principal work was to grind axes  
for themselves4 ,the poetry of ,american
 politics is then the severest standard 
by which to judge the reality of        
,american politics4  ,religious freedom 
is another poetical idea in which the   
,american glories4 ,it is essentially a 
poetical thought that every man is free 
to worship ,god according to the        
dictates of his own conscience--that    
there is no ,church to domineer over the
 ,state1 and no ,state to domineer over 
the ,church1 that the ,bible is free1   
and that each individual soul is        
responsible only to its ,maker4 ,this   
great and beautiful liberty stirs us    
when we think of it as music would stir 
us1 breathed from heaven itself4 ,it is 
grand1 ,god-begotten1 belonging in the  
eternal system of things1 full of       
inspiration4 ,this religious freedom we 
claim as ,americans4 ,some of us enjoy  

it2 but the number is not large4 ,the   
freedom of the sect is not greatly      
circumscribed1 but the freedom of the   
individual is hardly greater in ,america
 than it is in those countries where an 
established church lays its finger upon 
every man4 ,i would as soon be the slave
 of the ,pope or the ,archbishop as the 
slave of a sect4 ,i would as readily put
 my neck under the yoke of a national   
church as under the yoke of a sect4 ,it 
does not mend the matter that the       
multitude are willing slaves1 and it    
certainly mars the matter that the sects
 themselves do what they can1 in too    
many instances1 to circumscribe each the
 other's liberty4 ,sects are religiously
 and socially proscribed by sects4 ,take
 any town in ,america that contains half
 a dozen churches1 representing the same
 number of religious denominations1 and 
it will be found that1 with one1 and    
that probably the dominant sect1 it will
 be all that a man's reputation and     
position are worth to belong to another 

sect4 ,perfect religious freedom in     
,america there undoubtedly is2 but it is
 the possession of only here and there  
an individual4 ,prevalent               
uncharitableness and bigotry are        
incompatible with the existence of      
religious liberty anywhere4  ,it is thus
 that the poetic instinct grasps at     
truth and beauty1 and fitness and       
harmony1 wherever it sees it1 and it is 
thus that it furnishes us 7subordinate  
only to special1 divine revelation7 with
 the most delicate tests of human       
institutions1 customs1 and actions4     
,litmus-paper does not more faithfully  
detect the presence of an acid than the 
poetic instinct detects the false and   
foul in all that makes up human life4   
,all that is grand and good1 all that is
 heroic and unselfish1 all that is pure 
and true1 all that is firm and strong1  
all that is beautiful and harmonious1 is
 essentially poetical1 and the opposite 
of all these is at once rejected by the 
unsophisticated poetic instinct4        

,verily the poets of the world are the  
prophets of humanity6 ,they forever     
reach after and foresee the ultimate    
good4 ,they are evermore building the   
paradise that is to be1 painting the    
millennium that is to come1 restoring   
the lost image of ,god in the human     
soul4 ,when the world shall reach the   
poet's ideal1 it will arrive at         
perfection2 and much good will it do the
 world to measure itself by this ideal1 
and struggle to lift the real to its    
lofty level4     ,,lesson ,,xxiii4      
,,the ,,food ,,of ,,life4     ,to the   
soul time doth perfection give1     ,and
 adds fresh lustre to her beauty still2 
,and makes her in eternal youth to live 
,like her which nectar to the ,gods doth
 fill4    ,the more she lives1 the more 
she feeds on truth2     ,the more she   
feeds1 the strength doth more increase2 
,and what is strength1 but an effect in 
youth     ,which1 if time nurse1 how can
 it ever cease8    ,,sir ,j4 ,,davies4  
,a horse can live1 and do a good deal of

 dull work1 on hay2 but spirit and speed
 require grain4 ,there is no            
self-supplied1 perennial fountain within
 the animal that enables him to expend  
more in the way of muscular power than  
he receives in the way of muscular      
stimulus and nourishment4 ,food1 in its 
quality and amount1 up to the limit of  
healthful digestion1 is set over        
against1 and exactly measures1 under    
ordinary circumstances1 the quality and 
amount of labor of which a horse is     
capable4 ,so1 a cow can live on straw   
and corn-stalks2 but it would not be    
reasonable to suppose that she would    
give any considerable amount of milk    
upon so slender a diet4 ,we do not      
expect rich milk1 in large quantities1  
to be yielded by a cow that is not      
bountifully fed with the most nutricious
 food4 ,the same fact attaches to land4 
,we cannot get out of land more than    
there is in it2 and having once         
exhausted it1 we are obliged to put into
 it1 in fertilizers1 all we wish to take

 from it in the form of vegetable       
growths4 ,wherever there is an outgo1   
there must be an equal income1 or       
exhaustion will be the inevitable       
consequence4  ,the principle which these
 familiar facts so forcibly illustrate  
is a very important one1 in its         
connection with human life4 ,we cannot  
get any more out of human life than we  
put into it4 ,all civilization is an    
illustration of what can be accomplished
 by feeding the human mind4 ,all        
barbaric and savage life is an          
illustration of mental and moral        
starvation4 ,the differences among      
mankind are the results of differences  
in the nourishment upon which their     
minds are fed4 ,eunice ,williams1 who   
was taken captive by the savages of     
,canada a hundred and fifty years ago1  
was the daughter of a most godly        
minister1 of the old ,puritan stamp2 but
 a very few years of savage feeding made
 her a savage4 ,her mind was cut off    
from all other varieties of nourishment1

 and could only tend to savage issues4  
,she kept a knowledge of her history1   
and many years after her capture        
revisited her home1 accompanied by her  
tawny husband2 but no persuasions could 
call her from her savage life and       
companionship4 ,the conversion of men   
from heathenism to ,christianity and    
,christian civilization is accomplished 
by introducing new food into their moral
 and mental diet4 ,a change of pastures 
makes fat calves1 we are told2 and any  
one who has noticed the effect upon an  
active mind of its translation from one 
variety of social and moral influences  
to another1 will recognize the truth of 
the proverb4  ,if a man will call up his
 acquaintances1 one by one1 and mentally
 measure the results of their lives1 he 
will be astonished to see how small     
those results are4 ,he will also see    
that they are1 under ordinary           
circumstances1 in the exact proportion  
to the amount1 and in correspondence    
with the variety1 of the food they take 

in4 ,it is astonishing to see how little
 it takes to keep some people1 and how  
very little such people become on their 
diet4 ,a man who shuts himself away from
 all social life1 and lays by his       
reading1 and declines all food that     
addresses itself to his sensational and 
emotional nature1 and refuses that bread
 of life which comes down from heaven1  
and feeds himself only with relation to 
the accomplishment of some petty work1  
will become as thin and scrawny1        
mentally and morally1 as the body of a  
half-starved ,hottentot4 ,it is the one 
curse of rural life that it does not    
have a sufficiency and a sufficient     
variety of food4 ,the same scenes1 the  
same faces1 the same limited range of   
books1 the same dull friends1 exhausted 
long ago--no new nourishment for powers 
cloyed with their never-varying         
food--these are what make rural life1 as
 it is usually lived1 unattractive and  
most unfruitful4 ,the fruits--the       
issues--of this life cannot be greater  

than the food it gets1 and the food is  
very scanty4 ,it is not necessary that  
it should be so1 and sometimes it is not
 so2 but the rule of common rural life  
is insufficiency of mental food1 and    
consequent poverty of manifestation4    
,the utilitarian habits of ,new         
,england1 originating in necessity1 and 
far outliving the circumstances in which
 they had their birth1 have tended more 
than any other cause to make ,new       
,england character unlovable4 ,the      
saving of half-pence to add to one's    
store1 and the denial to one's self and 
children of that which will delight the 
famished senses1 and stir the thin      
emotions1 and enlarge the range of      
experience1 is the direct way of        
arriving at meanness of life4 ,there are
 those who will not allow their families
 to cultivate flowers1 because flowers  
are not useful1 and they involve a waste
 of time and land4 ,they will not have  
an instrument of music in their houses1 
because music is not useful1 and it     

involves an expenditure of money1 and   
the throwing away of a great deal of    
time4 ,they will not buy pictures1      
because pictures are not useful1 and    
because they cost money2 so that many a 
rich man's parlor is as bare of ornament
 as a tomb would be4 ,they will not     
attend a lecture1 because1 though it    
might furnish them with mental food for 
a month1 it would not bring their       
shillings back to them4 ,they will not  
attend a concert1 because a concert is  
not useful4 ,they will not hire a       
minister who possesses fine gifts--gifts
 that would enrich them mentally1       
morally1 and socially--because they     
cannot afford it4 ,so they take up with 
ministerial dry nursing1 and one        
another's dry experiences1 as spiritual 
food1 in order to save a few more       
dollars4  ,there are a few of the       
severer virtues that will live upon a   
diet of this kind4 ,endurance1 industry1
 a negative purity1 thrift1             
integrity--these can live1 and do live1 

after a sort1 on a plain and scanty     
diet1 and these1 as we know1 abound in  
,new ,england4 ,but generosity1         
hospitality1 charity1 liberality--all   
those qualities that enrich the         
character1 and all those virtues that   
enlarge it and give it fulness and      
beauty and attractiveness1 are always   
wanting among the class that sacrifices 
every thing for use4 ,more cannot be got
 out of any life than is put into it4   
,modern chemistry analyzes soils1 and   
ascertains exactly what they need to    
make them produce bountifully of any    
kind of grains and fruits4 ,wheat cannot
 be grown on land that does not contain 
the constituents of wheat2 and if it be 
desirable to grow wheat1 those          
constituents must be added to the soil4 
,if any mental soil does not produce    
those vital manifestations and results  
which characterize a large1 rich1 and   
attractive life1 then the constituents  
of that life must be introduced as      
nutriment4  ,one of the common          

experiences in the world of authorship  
is the writing of a single successful   
book1 and the failure of all that follow
 it from the same pen4 ,the explanation 
is1 that the first book is the result of
 a life of feeding1 and those that      
follow it come from an exhausted mind4  
,there are many writers who1 as soon as 
they begin to write1 stop feeding1 and  
in a very short time write themselves   
out4 ,the temptation of the writer is to
 seclusion4 ,his labors in a measure    
unfit him for social life1 and for      
mingling in the every-day affairs of    
men4 ,he is apt to become warped in his 
sentiments1 and morbid in his feelings1 
and to grow small and weak as his works 
increase4 ,the greatest possible        
blessing to an author is compulsory     
contact with the world--every-day       
necessity to meet and mingle with men   
and women--social responsibilities and  
business cares1 and the consequent      
necessity of keeping up with the events 
and the literature of his time4 ,an     

author in this position not only keeps a
 healthy mind1 but he takes in food     
every day which his individuality       
assimilates to itself1 and utters as the
 expression of its life4 ,i have no     
belief that ,shakspeare would ever have 
given us his immortal plays1 but for the
 necessities which brought him so much  
into contact with men4 ,outside of his  
authorship1 he lived an active1         
practical life--trod the boards of a    
theatre1 managed men1 looked after his  
money1 rubbed against society in        
multiplied ways-- and kept himself      
strong1 healthy1 and abundantly fed with
 that food which was necessary to him4  
,shakspeare had genius1 it is true1 but 
genius without food is quite as helpless
 as a barren acre4 ,all great geniuses  
are immense feeders4 ,all true and      
healthy geniuses fasten for food upon   
every thing and every body4 ,their      
antennas are always out for the         
apprehension of ideas1 and their mouths 
always open for their reception4 ,walter

 ,scott was engaged in the active duties
 of the legal profession when writing   
his novels1 and there was not a legend  
of ,scotland1 nor a bit of history or   
gossip1 nor an old story-teller that    
lived within fifty miles of him1 that he
 did not lay under tribute for mental   
food4 ,it is declared1 to the           
everlasting disgrace of ,goethe1 that he
 practiced upon the affections of women1
 even to old age1 that he might gather  
food for poetry4 ,byron traversed       
,europe in search of adventure1 and     
rummaged the scenes of legend and story 
for food for his voracious senses and   
sensibilities4 ,his ,childe ,harold is  
nothing but the record of his tireless  
foraging4 ,all men who have produced    
much have fed bountifully4  ,the writers
 are few in whom we do not notice       
something painfully wanting4 ,we do not 
always understand what it is1 but we    
know that1 while we may accord to them  
good sense1 and even genius1 they fail  
to satisfy us4 ,there is some good thing

 which they lack--something unbalanced  
and partial and one-sided about them4   
,we presume that this is often the      
result of a constitutional defect1 but  
in most instances it is attributable to 
insufficient nourishment in some        
department of their nature4 ,all but1 is
 the appropriate epitaph for the        
tombstone of many an author2 and if we  
look carefully into his history we shall
 find an answer to the question3 ,all   
but what8 ,we shall find1 perhaps1 that 
he is a recluse1 that his social nature 
is not fed at all1 and that be is1 of   
course1 unsympathetic4 ,this is a very  
frequent cause of dissatisfaction with  
an author1 as it always gives a morbid  
tinge to his writings4 ,dickens is      
eminently a social man1 and eminently   
healthy and sympathetic4 ,possibly an   
author may starve his senses and become 
purely reflective1 yielding up his      
points of contact with the outside      
world1 and shutting the channels by     
which the qualities of things find their

 way to his mind4 ,not unfrequently a   
man's domestic affections may be        
starved1 or ill fed1 and if so1 the fact
 is sure to be betrayed in his writings4
 ,and if a writer's religious nature be 
starved1 it invariably vitiates all his 
characteristic works4 ,no man who shuts 
out ,god and heaven from his life can   
write without betraying the poverty of  
his diet4 ,if an author would write     
satisfactorily1 touching all kinds of   
human nature and all sides of human     
nature1 he must feed every department of
 his own nature1 for he has nothing to  
give that he does not receive4  ,as in  
animal1 so in mental life1 there are    
gormandizing and gluttony1 tending      
always to paralysis of voluntary effort4
 ,the devouring of facts1 as they are   
found both in nature and in books1      
indulgence in social pleasures          
immoderately and constantly1 pietism    
that feeds exclusively upon the things  
of religion1 the feasting of the        
imagination upon the creations of       

fiction--all these are debilitating2 and
 a blessed thing to the world is it that
 they unfit the mind for writing at all1
 as the overfeeding of the body unfits  
its organs for labor4 ,plethoric minds  
do not trouble the world with books1 or 
with conversation1 or with preaching4   
,activity simply demands food enough1   
and in sufficient variety1 to feed its  
powers while operative1 from day to day4
 ,this is the reason why immensely      
learned men have rarely done much for   
the world4 ,many of them have won       
reputations1 like remarkably fat steers1
 for breadth of back and depth of       
brisket1 but they are never known to    
move more than their own enormous bulks4
 ,beyond a certain point of mental      
feeding1 over and above the necessities 
of labor1 the mind gets sleepy and      
clumsy4  ,i have alluded to authors1    
particularly1 because1 unlike the world 
in general1 they give form and record to
 their life4 ,the masses of men live as 
authors live1 but their lives are not   

put down in books1 so that the public   
may read and measure them4 ,we will     
suppose that two men are fed upon the   
same diet4 ,each shall have sufficient  
food for his religious1 social1         
esthetic1 domestic1 sensational1 and    
emotional natures1 yet only one of them 
shall embody in books the life which he 
draws from these varieties of           
nourishment4 ,the other lives           
essentially the same life1 but it fails 
of record4 ,it may be as rich1 and      
characteristic1 in every particular1 as 
that of the author1 but it fails of     
artistic form because1 perhaps1 he lacks
 the peculiar mental gift required for  
its construction4 ,so the real life of  
the author and the life of his reader   
may be the same1 the one having         
advantage over the other in no          
particular1 and the fact that one is    
embodied in artistic forms conferring   
upon it no essential excellence4 ,what  
,i have said about authors1 therefore1  
applies to all mankind1 engaged in      

whatever calling or profession4 ,if any 
portion of any man's nature be not well 
fed1 he will betray the fact in his     
life4 ,poverty of food in any particular
 will surely bring poverty of           
manifestation in that department of life
 which is deprived of its natural       
nourishment4  ,a familiar illustration  
of the failure of a life to secure its  
appropriate food1 will be found in men  
and women who live unmarried4 ,an old   
bachelor will sooner or later betray the
 fact that his finer affections are     
starved4 ,it is next to impossible for  
him to hide from the world the wrong to 
which he is subjecting himself4 ,his    
character will invariably show that it  
is warped and weak and lame1 and his    
life will be barren of all those        
manifestations which flow from domestic 
affections abundantly fed4 ,here and    
there1 one like ,washington ,irving will
 nourish a love transplanted to ,heaven1
 and bring around him the sweet faces   
and delicate natures of women1 to       

minister to a thirsting heart1 and      
preserve1 as he did1 his geniality and  
tenderness to the last2 but such as he  
are comparatively few4 ,an old bachelor1
 voluntarily single1 always betrays a   
nature badly fed in one of its important
 departments4 ,so1 too1 those who marry1
 but who are not blest with children1   
betray the lack of food4 ,many of these 
hunger through life for children to feed
 their affections1 and take on          
peculiarities that betray the fact that 
something is wrong with them4 ,some     
adopt children in order to supply a want
 which seems imperative1 and others take
 pets of different kinds to their       
bosoms1 ranging through the scale from  
birds to bull-dogs4 ,it is a familiar   
trick of starved faculties and          
affections to take on a morbid appetite1
 and feed themselves on the strangest of
 supplies4  ,so1 if a man would live a  
full and generous life1 he must supply  
it with a full and generous diet4 ,so   
far as his ability will go1 he should   

make his home the embodiment of his best
 taste4 ,there should be abundant       
meaning in its architecture4 ,there     
should be pictures upon its walls1 and  
books upon its shelves and tables4 ,all 
the domestic and social affections      
should be abundantly fed there4 ,his    
table should be a gathering place for   
friends4 ,music should minister to him4 
,he should bring himself into contact   
with the great and wise and good1 who   
have embalmed their lives in the varied 
forms of art4 ,the facts that live in   
the earth under his feet1 the beauty    
that spreads itself around him1 and all 
those truths which appeal to his        
religious nature1 are food which should 
minister to his life4 ,an irreligious   
man--no matter what his genius may      
be--is always a starveling4 ,an unsocial
 man can by no possibility lead a true  
life4 ,a man's nature should be thrown  
wide open at every point1 to drink in   
the nourishment that comes from the     
healthy sources of supply2 and thus only

 may his life become abundantly rich and
 beautiful4 ,i repeat the proposition   
that ,i started with3 we cannot get more
 out of human life than we put into it4 
,there is another aspect of this subject
 that ,i have barely space to allude to4
 ,the illustration with which this      
article opens1 touching the effects of  
hay and grain respectively upon the life
 of the horse1 suggests that the food   
with which our bodies are nourished may 
have an important bearing upon our      
mental and moral life4 ,of this ,i have 
no doubt4 ,coarse food1 made of material
 but feebly vitalized1 makes coarse men 
and women4 ,muscular tissues not formed 
from choice material1 brains built of   
poor stuff1 nervous fibres to which the 
finest and most delicate food has not   
ministered1 are not the instruments of  
the highest grade of mental life4 ,the  
dispensation of sawdust is passed away4 
,it is pretty well understood that the  
most complicated1 the noblest1 and the  
finest creature in the world requires   

the best food the world can produce2 and
 that he requires it in great variety4  
,if a man leads simply an animal life-- 
eating1 working1 and sleeping--let him  
feed as animals do2 but if he lives a   
life above animals1 as a social and     
religious being1 then let him take food 
that gives pleasure to his palate1 and  
pluck and power to all the instruments  
of his mind4 ,hay may answer very well  
for a mind that moves at the rate of    
only three miles an hour2 but a mile was
 never yet made inside of #b3dj without 
grain4     ,,lesson ,,xxiv4             
,,half-,,finished ,,work4               
,ah ,god6 well1 art is long6   ,and life
 is short and fleeting4   ,what         
headaches have ,i felt and what         
heart-beating1   ,when critical desire  
was strong4   ,how hard it is the ways  
and means to master   ,by which one     
gains each fountain head6   ,and ere one
 yet has half the journey sped   ,the   
poor fool dies--,o sad disaster6        
,,brooks' ,,translation ,,of ,,faust4   

,mankind are nothing1 if not critical2  
and nothing would seem to be criticism  
with them but fault-finding4 ,it is     
astonishing to see what a number of     
architects there are in the world--how  
many people there are who feel competent
 to give an opinion upon buildings in   
course of erection on the public        
streets4 ,if a dwelling is going up1    
there is not a day of its progress in   
which its builder or architect is not   
convicted of being a fool1 by any number
 of wise people who judge him on the    
evidence of a half-finished structure4  
,when the dwelling is completed1 it     
usually looks better than they ever     
supposed it could2 but they learn       
nothing from this1 though the proverb   
that only fools criticize half-finished 
work is a good deal older than they are4
 ,every man who builds is obliged to    
take this running fire of fault-finding4
 ,passing a new church recently1 in the 
company of an architect1 ,i asked him   
what he thought of the building4 ,i can 

tell better when the staging is down1   
was his reply4 ,he knew enough not to   
criticize half-finished work1 while     
probably a hundred men1 knowing nothing 
of architecture whatever1 had1 during   
that very day1 freely given their       
opinion of the building in the most     
unqualified way4  ,did it ever occur to 
the reader of this essay that nearly all
 the judgments that are made up and     
expressed in this world relate to       
half-finished work8 ,we hear a great    
deal of criticism indulged in with      
regard to ,american society4 ,i have no 
doubt that this criticism is just1 in a 
certain sense1 but ,american society is 
only a half-finished structure4 ,if it  
had arrived at the end of improvement   
and growth2 if the elements which enter 
into it had already organized themselves
 in their highest form2 if the creation 
of a high1 refined1 and beautiful       
society were not a thing of time2 if    
such a society did not depend upon the  
operation of forces that require a great

 range of influences and circumstances1 
then the criticism might be entirely    
just2 but it is as unreasonable to      
expect a high grade of social life in   
,america1 at this point of ,american    
history1 as it is to expect perfection  
in a church before the carpenters get   
out of it1 and the staging is down4     
,wealth1 learning1 culture1             
leisure--these cannot be so combined in 
this country yet as to give us the      
highest grade and style of social life4 
,we are all at work upon the structure1 
and unless ,american ideas are incurably
 bad1 and we are faithless to our       
duties1 ,american society will be good  
when the work upon it is completed4 ,no 
society is to be condemned so long as it
 is progressive toward a goodly         
completeness4  ,men and women are always
 judging one another before they are    
finished4 ,a raw boy1 with only the     
undeveloped elements of manhood in him1 
is denounced as a dunce4 ,a             
light-hearted1 sportive girl1 with an   

incontinent overflow of spirits1 is     
condemned as a hoiden4 ,neither boy nor 
girl is half made4 ,there is only the   
frame-work of the man and woman up1 and 
it does not appear what they are to     
become4 ,a young man is wild1 and judged
 accordingly4 ,it is not remembered that
 there are various modifying influences 
to be brought to bear upon him1 before  
he will be a man4 ,we see the bold      
outline of a new house1 and we say that 
it is not beautiful4 ,soon1 however1 a  
piazza is built here1 and a dormer is   
pushed out there1 and gracefully        
modelled chimneys pierce the roof1 and  
cornice and verandah and tower are      
added1 until the structure stands before
 us complete in beauty1 convenience1 and
 strength4 ,when we condemn a young man 
we do not stop to think that he is not  
done1--that there is a wife to place    
upon one side of him1 and children to be
 grouped upon the other1 and sundry     
relations to be adjusted before we can  
tell any thing about him at all4  ,there

 is nothing more common in experience   
and observation than the partiality felt
 by young and unmarried men for the     
society of married women1 and the love  
of unmarried young women for the society
 of married men4 ,i suppose that nearly 
every young man and young woman has a   
time of feeling that all the desirable  
matches in the world are disposed of1   
and that the marriageable young persons 
left are really very insipid companions4
 ,this is entirely natural1 but         
exceedingly unreasonable4 ,to expect a  
man to be as much of a man without a    
wife as with one1 is just as reasonable 
as to expect a half-finished house to be
 as beautiful as a finished one4 ,it is 
impossible for an unmarried man1 other  
things being equal1 to be as agreeable a
 companion as a married man2 and lest ,i
 be suspected of a jest in this         
statement1 ,i wish to assure my reader  
that ,i am entirely in earnest4         
,intimate contact with the nature of a  
good woman1 in the relation of marriage1

 is just as necessary to the            
completeness of manhood1 as the details 
of an architectural design are to the   
homely conveniences around which they   
are made to cluster4 ,every man is a    
better man for having children1 and the 
more he extends those relations which   
grow out of the family life1 the more   
does he open up to culture and carry to 
completeness the very choicest portions 
of his manly nature4 ,it is natural1    
therefore1 that the unmarried woman     
should become possessed of the notion   
that all the desirable men are married1 
and that the unmarried man should be the
 subject of a similar mistake with      
relation to the other sex4 ,it must be  
remembered that men and women are made  
desirable by matrimony1 and that        
half-finished work should not be        
subjected to any sweeping judgments4    
,men and women are always turning out   
differently from what we expected and   
predicted they would4 ,men who have been
 laughed at and slighted during all     

their early life1 become1 quite to our  
surprise1 very important and notable    
persons1 and we are mortified to        
ascertain that we have been criticizing 
half-finished men4 ,the college faculty 
give a diploma to some very slow young  
man1 with great reluctance1 but in the  
course of twenty years he completes     
himself1 and when he comes back to honor
 them with a visit they make very low   
bows to him4 ,all young people are      
pieces of unfinished work1 to be judged 
very carefully1 and always to be        
regarded as incomplete4 ,we can say that
 we do not like their general style1 as 
we would say that we do not like the    
style of an unfinished house4 ,grecian  
may not be to our liking1 and we may    
prefer ,gothic4  ,it seems to me that   
the ,christian ,church suffers more from
 the judgments of those who criticize   
unfinished work than any organized body 
of men and women4 ,here is an           
organization whose members do not       
pretend to perfection2 whose whole      

theory forbids any such idea4 ,they are 
disciples--learners of the ,divine      
,master4 ,they are members of a school  
in which none ever arrives at fulness of
 knowledge4 ,their prayer is that they  
may grow2 and they know that if they    
have the true life in them they will    
grow while they live4 ,if there is one  
thing in the world of which they are    
painfully conscious1 it is that they are
 pieces of unfinished work4 ,some of the
 members are very much lower in the     
scale of completeness than others4 ,in  
some there is only a confused pile of   
timber and bricks4 ,in others only a    
part of the frame is up1 or the walls   
are hardly more than begun4 ,in others1 
perhaps1 the roof is on4 ,in            
comparatively few do we see the outlines
 all defined and the rooms in a good    
degree of completeness4 ,in none of them
 is there a perfected structure1 and    
none see and acknowledge their          
incompleteness more than those whose    
characters are farthest advanced toward 

perfection4  ,now ,i put it to the world
 outside of the ,christian ,church to   
say if it has been entirely fair1 and   
just in its judgments of the ,church4   
,has it not judged ,christianity by     
these imperfect disciples1 and has it   
not condemned these imperfect disciples 
because they are not what they never    
pretended to be8 ,has it not criticized 
half-finished work1 and condemned1 not  
only the work1 but ,christianity itself1
 because this work was not up to the    
sample8 ,it is very common to hear men  
say that such and such a ,christian is  
no better than the average of people    
outside of the ,christian ,church1 thus 
condemning the genuineness of his       
character because he is not a perfect   
,christian4 ,a house is a house1 even if
 it be only half-finished4 ,at least1 it
 is not any thing else2 and as          
,christians cannot by any possibility be
 perfected on the instant1 it follows   
that the large majority of ,christians  
must be in various stages of            

progress--nay1 that most of this large  
majority are not even half-finished4    
,the ,christian ,church itself is a     
piece of unfinished work1 and every     
individual member is the same4 ,it is   
not pretended that either is any thing  
else4 ,i never knew a ,christian to set 
himself up as a pattern4 ,so far as ,i  
know1 they are very shy of pretension1  
and deprecate nothing more than the     
thought that anybody should take them   
for finished specimens of the work of   
,christianity in human life and         
character4  ,a sermon upon any important
 subject is always a piece of unfinished
 work4 ,i once heard a famous preacher  
say that he could preach throughout his 
whole life on the text1 the heart is    
deceitful above all things and          
desperately wicked1 and even then have  
something left to say4 ,the statement   
illustrates the many-sidedness of truth1
 and the multitude of its relations to  
the life of the individual and the      
world4 ,any sensible preacher knows     

that1 within the compass of a single    
sermon1 he can only present a single    
aspect of a great and important truth1  
yet he is criticized as if it had been  
expected that the work of a dozen       
volumes could be crowded into the       
utterances of half an hour4 ,what is    
called an exhaustive sermon would       
exhaust an audience long before it would
 its subject4 ,a sermon is only the dab 
of a brush upon a great picture1 and if 
it gives a single striking view of a    
single great truth1 it accomplishes its 
object4 ,it must necessarily be an      
unfinished piece as regards its         
exposition of truth2 and the same may be
 said of any essay on any subject4      
,every writer begins in the middle of   
things1 and leaves off in the middle of 
things2 and every thing he writes       
relates at some point to every thing    
that everybody has written4 ,no man     
cleans up the field over which he walks1
 and leaves nothing to be said2 and the 
best we do is unfinished work4  ,there  

are those who1 in view of the sin and   
suffering which appear on every hand1   
are moved to impugn the goodness and    
love of ,him who created the world by   
,his power1 and sustains and orders it  
by ,his providence4 ,millions are       
whelmed in the darkness of heathenism2  
other millions are bound by the chains  
of slavery2 the oppressor is clothed in 
purple and fine linen2 the beautiful and
 innocent are the victims of treacherous
 lust2 children cry for bread beneath   
the windows of luxury2 justice is denied
 to the poor by men who take bribes of  
wealth2 and deceit circumvents and      
baffles honor4 ,such a world as this the
 critics condemn as a failure1 which    
reflects alike upon the benevolence and 
power of its ,maker2 but these men have 
an eminent place among the fools who    
criticize half-finished work4 ,if they  
could have witnessed the creation of the
 earth1 and watched it through all the  
processes by which it was prepared for  
the reception of the human race1 they   

would doubtless have been quite as      
critical as they are now1 and quite as  
unreasonable4 ,suppose a man should     
visit his pear-trees in midsummer1 and  
on tasting the fruit upon them1 should  
condemn them and order them to be cut   
down and removed--how should we         
characterize his folly8 ,he has         
criticized half-finished fruit1 and made
 a fatal mistake4 ,it is just as        
unreasonable to condemn a half-finished 
world as a half-finished pear4 ,human   
society must be brought to perfection by
 regularly instituted and slowly        
operating processes4 ,it may take as    
long to perfect society as it did to    
create the world that it lives on2 and  
,god is not to be found fault with for  
the flavor of a fruit slowly ripening   
beneath the light of ,his smile and the 
warmth of ,his love1 but not yet fully  
ripe4  ,mr4 ,buckle has undertaken to   
write a history of civilization1 or1    
rather1 he has commenced to write an    
introduction to a history of            

civilization4 ,his progress has not been
 great1 and he doubtless realizes that  
he has undertaken a task which he can   
never finish4 ,he will probably labor   
upon it while he lives1 and then some   
other daring man will take up the thread
 where he will drop it1 and go on until 
he in turn will be obliged to relinquish
 his unfinished task to a successor4    
,when the work shall be finished1 after 
its original design1 it will doubtless  
be found to be antiquated4 ,it undertook
 to organize a half-finished life--to   
reason upon forces that had only half   
revealed their nature and their         
power--to develop principles whose      
relations were imperfectly known4 ,in   
short1 it must necessarily prove to be a
 half-finished history of a             
half-finished civilization1 whose every 
newly-opened event will throw a         
modifying light on all that shall have  
preceded it4  ,we have1 therefore1 but  
little finished work in this world4 ,not
 a finished character lives among       

mankind4 ,no nation of the world        
illustrates a consummate civilization4  
,all presentations of truth1 of whatever
 nature and relation1 are necessarily   
incomplete4 ,life is too short1         
comprehension too limited in its grasp1 
and expression too feeble or too clumsy1
 to allow the mind fully to organize1   
vitalize1 and fill out to roundness and 
just proportion1 a single creature of   
legitimate art4 ,it is1 therefore1      
literally true that the criticisms of   
the world are the judgments of the      
world's half-finished men on the world's
 half-finished affairs4 ,imperfection   
sits in judgment on incompleteness1 and 
the natural consequence is that         
criticism1 in whatever field of         
demonstration1 is little more than a    
record of notions which assume to array 
themselves against other notions1 which 
may be better or worse than those that  
oppose them4  ,it is with a depressing  
sense of the incompleteness of these    
lessons in life1 that ,i now indite     

their closing paragraph4 ,i cannot but  
be aware that the criticisms ,i have    
indulged in relate very largely to      
half-finished work1 and ,i painfully    
feel that they are the product of a most
 imperfect judgment4 ,if the reader has 
found them kind1 charitable1            
hopeful--tending toward that which is   
good--and lenient toward human frailty1 
loyal to common sense1 and faithful to  
virtue2 if he has found in them that    
which leaves him a larger and a more    
liberal man--advanced in some degree    
toward that perfection which we are ever
 striving for1 but which we never reach1
 then my aim has been accomplished1 bid 
him ,god speed6  ,,the ,,end4