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LIBRARY

JNJVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
SANTA' CRUZ

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF
JOHN FISKE

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I

THE

LIFE AND LETTERS OF
JOHN FISKE

JOHN SPENCER CLARK

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME I

Disce ut semper victurusyvivf ut eras moriturus

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
fitoerj&ib* ^tejjjS
1917 •

Published December II

TO
ABBY MORGAN FISKE

THE WIFE OF JOHN FISKE AND THE INSPIRER
OF MUCH THAT IS FINEST IN HIS WRITINGS

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED

/75

PREFACE

JOHN FISKE was not a voluminous correspondent;
hence we have not many self-revealing letters to
intimate ^ friends and kindred thinkers, regarding
his wrestling with some of the great themes which
from time to time engaged his mind. The absence
of these desirable data is, however, greatly mini-
mized by the possession of his deeply interesting
personal letters to his wife and his mother, and of
his diaries in which the innermost feelings of his
nature are disclosed. These, taken in connection
with his published writings, enable us to make out
quite a full record of his subjective activities, which,
when considered in relation to the seething thought
of the time as a stimulating objective environment,
yield copious material for a "Life" of Fiske in both
its unity and its variety.

In the correspondence between Fiske and Spen-
cer, and in the letters of Fiske describing Spencer,
we get pleasanter impressions of Spencer's person-
ality than from any other source. To the end, Fiske
was thoroughly loyal to Spencer, while immensely
broadening his philosophy; at the same time it
must be admitted that Spencer withheld the public
acknowledgment of indebtedness to Fiske which
he so freely admitted privately.

Preface

In the preparation of this work I have been
greatly assisted by George Litch Roberts, the life-
long friend of John Fiske, who appears in these
pages, and who, after an honored career at the
bar, carries into the period of life when the shad-
ows lengthen all the enthusiasm for science and
philosophy which marked his early years. Fiske
and Roberts, as they came to their maturity, dif-
fered somewhat in their philosophic views; but
their friendship was never broken, and Roberts has
cheerfully aided in the preparation of this 'work
as a tribute to the memory of his friend. To his
criticism and his wise suggestions much is due.

I also wish to make acknowledgment of the great
assistance I have received at the Boston Athe-
naeum. My special demands upon this library have
been many and oftentimes perplexing; but they
have always been met with the utmost considera-
tion and kindness by its scholarly librarian Charles
Knowles Bolton and his assistants. No small por-
tion of my work has been done in the alcoves of
this fine library, overlooking the Granary Bury-
ing-Ground, where sleep, in the midst of the great
city's traffic and roar, many of New England's
distinguished worthies of years gone by. My ex-
perience here is a delightful memory.

JOHN SPENCER CLARK.

BOSTON, October i, 1917.

CONTENTS

I. His PATERNAL ANCESTRY — THE GREEN FAMILY — His
MATERNAL ANCESTRY — THE FISKE AND THE BOUND
FAMILIES . . . * • I

II. THE MIDDLETOWN ENVIRONMENT — JOHN FISK — THE

FISK HOMESTEAD 14

III. THE FISK HOUSEHOLD — BOYHOOD AND EARLY EDUCA-

TION (1847-1854) .... V V :.T '. . 25

IV. THE MARRIAGE OF MRS. GREEN TO MR. STOUGHTON —

THE CHANGE OF NAME TO JOHN FISK — Two YEARS
AT BETTS'S ACADEMY, STAMFORD — JOINS ORTHO-
DOX CHURCH, MIDDLETOWN (1855-1857) ... 55

. V. RETURNS TO MIDDLETOWN — PREPARES FOR ENTRANCE

AT YALE — GENERAL READING — HUMBOLDT'S

" COSMOS " — DAWNING RATIONALISM — MUSICAL

DIVERSIONS — PASSES FRESHMAN EXAMINATIONS FOR

i YALE — DECIDES TO GO TO HARVARD (1857-1858) . 71

VI. SELF-PREPARATION TO ENTER HARVARD AS SOPHOMORE
— WIDE READING — BREAKS AWAY FROM CHRISTIAN
THEOLOGY — SOCIAL OSTRACISM — LEAVES MIDDLE-
TOWN FOR CAMBRIDGE (1859-1860) 104

VII. BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE (1860) 129

VIII. HARVARD COLLEGE (1860-1863) 147

IX. AN UNDERGRADUATE AT HARVARD (1860-1863) . . 193

X. FAILS TO GET POSITION AS TEACHER OR AS TUTOR AT
HARVARD — ENTERS THE HARVARD LAW SCHOOL —
ADMITTED TO THE BAR — His GENERAL READING —
OPENING OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER — MAR-
RIAGE (1863-1864) 261

XL GIVES UP LAW FOR LITERATURE — PHILOSOPHY OF HIS-
TORY — ESSAYS ON LAWS OF HISTORY — GROTE'S
OPINION — CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER — NEW

vii

Contents

ERA AT HARVARD— UNIVERSITY REFORM— BRYCE'S
"HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE" (1864-1866) . . . .300
XII. THE REFORM AT HARVARD UNDER WAY — FISKE
MOVES TO CAMBRIDGE — DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL
LIFE — REVIEW AND ESSAY WRITING — DIVERSIONS

— CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER (1866-1868) . 327

XIII. A MEMORABLE YEAR TO HARVARD AND TO FISKE —

ELECTION OF CHARLES W. ELIOT AS PRESIDENT —
FISKE CALLED TO LECTURE ON THE POSITIVE PHI-
LOSOPHY — ELIOT'S INAUGURATION — WIDE EF-
FECT OF FISKE'S LECTURES (1869) ... .341

XIV. RENOMINATED AS LECTURER AT HARVARD — SIGNIF-

ICANT LETTER FROM SPENCER — To DEVOTE
HIMSELF TO THE PROPAGATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF
EVOLUTION — ACTING PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT
HARVARD — STUDIES AND LITERARY WORK (1870) 364

XV. SECOND COURSE OF HARVARD LECTURES — CORRE-
SPONDENCE WITH SPENCER AND DARWIN — LECTURES
ON EVOLUTION — PERSONA NON GRATA AT LOWELL
INSTITUTE — ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN AT HARVARD —
AGASSIZ ARTICLE — SAILS FOR QUEENSTOWN (1871-
1873) • • • ,.r'.:. ... . V . . 380

XVI. DIVERSIONS — PIANO PRACTICE AND MUSICAL COM-
POSITIONS—BEGINS COMPOSITION OF A MASS —
PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT AND RELIGIOUS FEELING —
DOMESTIC LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE AND PETERSHAM
(1871-1873) 412

XVII. VOYAGE TO QUEENSTOWN — VISITS CORK, BLARNEY
CASTLE, LAKES OF KILLARNEY, AND DUBLIN —
REACHES CHESTER — FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENG-
LAND AND ENGLISH PEOPLE — A HURRIED TRIP TO
LONDON WITH HIS FRIEND HUTTON, THENCE TO LIVER-
POOL— VISITS THE LAKE DISTRICT — EDINBURGH

— SCOTCH HIGHLANDS — CATHEDRAL TOWNS — IPS-
WICH— CAMBRIDGE (1873) 423

XVIIL IN LONDON AGAIN — TAKES ROOMS NEAR BRITISH
MUSEUM — CORDIALLY RECEIVED BY SPENCER
AND OTHER EVOLUTIONISTS — ARRANGES FOR PUB-

viii

Contents

LICATION OF HIS BOOK — DISCUSSIONS WITH SPEN-

CER AND OTHERS — RELIGIOUS IMPLICATIONS OF
DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION — PERSONAL SKETCHES
OF SPENCER, DARWIN, LEWES, GEORGE ELIOT, HUX-
LEY, LYELL (1873) 456

XIX. His CONTINENTAL JOURNEY — His ORIGINAL PLAN
AND WHY CURTAILED — His BRIEF STOP IN PARIS
AND HIS HASTY RUN THROUGH FRANCE — His FOUR
WEEKS IN ITALY — SWITZERLAND VIA MONT CENIS
— LES CHARMETTES, FERNEY, GENEVA — ROUS-
SEAU, VOLTAIRE — IMPRESSIONS OF SWITZERLAND —
DOWN THE RHINE TO BELGIUM — BACK IN LONDON
FAREWELL VISITS (1873-1874) \ . . . . .493

ILLUSTRATIONS

JOHN FISKE Photogravure Frontispiece

From a photograph taken in 1889

HUMPHREY GREEN, GRANDFATHER OF JOHN FISKE . . . a

EDMUND BREWSTER GREEN AND MARY FISK (BOUND) GREEN,
PARENTS OF JOHN FISKE . . . . . . . . . 6

STADHAUGH MANOR, LAXFIELD, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND: HOME-
STEAD OF THE FISKE FAMILY FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 8

JOHN FISK, GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF JOHN FISKE . . . 12

POLLY (FISK) BOUND, GRANDMOTHER OF JOHN FISKE ... 12

THE FISK HOUSE, MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT ~. . . 22

JOHN FISKE IN 1850 (EIGHT YEARS OLD) . . . . - . 36

From a daguerreotype

FACSIMILE OF A "GREEK ORATION" WRITTEN BY JOHN FISKE
AT THE AGE OF ELEVEN . . . . . •• • . . 46

HARVARD COLLEGE YARD . . . • , . . . . 166

ABBY MORGAN BROOKS * . . . . . . . . 248

From a miniature made in i86r, shortly before her engagement to John Fiske

HERBERT SPENCER .... . . .... . 292

JOHN FISKE IN 1867 . • . . ...«'. . 328

CHARLES DARWIN "« .... . . ' . ... 390

EDINBURGH . ... . . . . ... . . . • ' . 436

THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY . . . . ... . .462

FACSIMILE OF NOTE FROM HERBERT SPENCER . . . .474

GEORGE HENRY LEWES 48(>

GEORGE ELIOT 484

SIR CHARLES LYELL . . 49<>

The illustrations for this book were selected
under the supervision of Mrs. John Fiske

INTRODUCTION

JOHN FISKE has an exceptional and honored place
in American literature. He was a ripe scholar,
possessed of a great fund of well-ordered, accu-
rate, useful knowledge; he was a profound philo-
sophic thinker, well versed in the world's specu-
lative thought; he was an able and fair-minded
critic, ever alert to detect the good in men and
things; he was an eminent historian, gifted with
remarkable powers of insight into the cosmic prin-
ciples which underlie the social, religious, and po-
litical organizations of mankind ; at the same time
he had such a rich endowment of aesthetic tastes
so combined with exquisite humor, that he was
keenly responsive to the beauties of nature and of
art in all their varied forms. If to these character-
istics it be added that in the art of thought ex-
pression he possessed a literary style of great sim-
plicity, beauty, and power, we have the subjective
causes which have given him a distinctive place not
only in American literature, but also among the
deepest thinkers of our time.

But Fiske was not only fortunate in his subjec-
tive endowments; he was equally fortunate in the
period in which his life was cast — the latter half
of the last century — in many respects the most

xiii

Introduction

memorable period in the history of human think-
ing. His life was synchronous with this great
period, the turmoil of which in philosophic, scien-
tific, religious, and social thinking raged all about
him as a mighty objective environment and which,
breaking upon his highly endowed subjective mind,
brought forth the many intellectual treasures the
world so greatly admires to-day. Indeed, when
the life of Fiske is considered in its relation to his
subjective endowments, on the one hand, and to
his objective environment on the other, it is seen
that his life in its totality was a distinct embodi-
ment of the highest, most comprehensive definition
of all life — <"the continuous adjustment of inter-
nal relations to external relations. " *

Hence much attention is given in this biography
to the environing conditions of thought which sur-
rounded Fiske from his early youth, and which, in
one way or another, served as an impelling force
to his mind.

Fiske's life on its productive side was of a two*
fold character: that of a scientifico-philosophic
thinker^combined with that of a philosophic histo-
rian. He did not live to see his contemplated task
in either form of activity completed, but he did
see great and significant progress in thought in
both.

As a philosophic thinker he takes a prominent
place as a protagonist of the doctrine of Evolution,
as the process by which the cosmic universe with

xiv

Introduction

man's place in it has been brought into being, in
conformity to immutable law. As consistent with
this doctrine, he affirmed four important corollaries:
a theistic basis for all cosmic phenomena; ethical
principles an outcome from man's social experience ;
man's immortality a rational hypothesis from cos-
mic phenomena; religion the rational adjustment of
man to his environment.

In the realm of philosophic thinking Fiske lived
to see the vital problems of life and conscious
mind lifted by science out of the narrow mythical
categories of theology, and centering around the
consideration of their rightful place in a cosmic
universe where matter and energy, and life and
mind are harmoniously interrelated.

At the same time he was cognizant that as yet
no positive knowledge exists as to how the two
orders of physical and psychical phenomena of the
universe are interrelated; and also that two radi-
cally different hypotheses are dividing rational
thought on this supreme point in philosophic think-
ing: the one, affirming that matter and energy are
ultimate and self-existing, that life and mind in all
their varied forms from plant to conscious man, are
potential in matter and energy, and that they
become manifest wholly under cosmic conditions
— materialism ; the other affirming that life and
mind in all their varied forms, particularly in con-
scious man, are manifestations of a force or power
entirely distinct from cosmic matter and energy, a

Introduction

force imparted to matter and energy in some un-
known way by a postulated Infinite Eternal Power,
the Source and Sustainer of all that is — spiritual-
ism. Fiske did not leave any doubt as to his ac-
ceptance of the latter hypothesis.

As a historian Fiske took for his theme the un-
folding of one of the great epochs in human his-
tory: The discovery of the Western World; the
transplanting to this new world of the elements
of the social and political organizations of Europe;
the rise and the establishment of the Republic of
the United States; the reflective influence of this
Republic upon the political organizations of the
world.

He was only enabled to lay the foundations of
the great historic undertaking he had in mind, with
intimations here and there of his ultimate conclu-
sions regarding the fundamental principles which
govern political development. His narrative was
brought down to the Inauguration of Washington
as the first President of the great Republic. He
had fully equipped himself for tracing out, in the
first century of its political existence, through the
interplay of the twin evolutionary forces common
to all forms of democratic political organization, —
local liberties or differentiations on the one hand,
combined with provisions for national integration
on the other hand, — the rise of powerful political
parties whose dissensions culminated in a great
civil war, in which were displayed some of the

xvi

Introduction

noblest characteristics of humanity, and which
was illumined by types of personal character un-
surpassed in the records of any other race or people
— all culminating in the firm establishment of the
most powerful political organization of the globe,
a government of the people, by the people, for the
people.

Would that we had to-day Fiske's ripe judgment
upon this present world turmoil, when our Na-
tional Government is laying its hand upon every
citizen demanding that he play his part, not only
in defending his own interests, but also in doing
his bit towards making the political condition of
the world safe for democracy.

There can be no question but that Fiske would
find, in the despatching of American soldiers to
contest for the establishment of democracy in Eu-
rope, the legitimate evolutionary outcome from
what he had affirmed was the greatest event in
human history since the birth of Christ: The
voyage of Columbus into the Sea of Darkness
in 1492.

THE LIFE AND LETTERS

JOHN FISKE

VOLUME L

THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF
JOHN FISKE

CHAPTER I

HIS PATERNAL ANCESTRY — THE GREEN FAMILY

JOHN FISKE was born at Hartford, Connecticut, on
the 3Oth of March, 1842. His father was Edmund
Brewster Green. His mother's maiden name was
Mary Fisk Bound. His father and mother were
married at Middletown, Connecticut, September 15,
1840. At his birth he was given the name of Ed-
mund Fisk Green. For reasons which will appear
later his name was legally changed in 1855 to John
Fisk. In 1860 he added an e to his surname.

We have but slight record of the family of Ed-
mund Brewster Green back of his father, Humphrey
Green, who was born in Salem County, West New
Jersey, October 15, 1770. Humphrey Green was
of a Quaker family, an only child, early left an or-
phan, and brought up by his grandparents. He
was a man of notable personality, with qualities
to hand down. In appearance he was a staunch,
old-fashioned gentleman, of large, stalwart frame,
carrying himself with that dignity and self-respect
characteristic of a fine military bearing. He was a
free-thinking Quaker, with a mind of his own. He

John Fiske

was noted for his great memory, and was respected
by his neighbors as a man of wide knowledge and
practical ability.

Humphrey Green was twice married. His first
wife was Ann Buzby, of Quaker ancestry. By her
he had two children. For his second wife he mar-
ried, February 19, 1807, Hannah Heaton, of Downs
Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey, a
daughter of Levi Heaton, who served in the Revo-
lutionary War, and a grand-daughter of the Bap-
tist clergyman, the Reverend Samuel Heaton. At
this time Humphrey Green was an extensive land-
holder in Newport, Cumberland County, and had
given an acre and a half in Downs Township on
which to build a Methodist Episcopal Church.
Subsequently he removed to Smyrna, Delaware,
and settled in the timber belt of Thoroughfare
Neck where he farmed and dealt in ships' timber.
At this time he was a faithful attendant at Quaker
meetings and was a noticeable figure riding to
and from the Quaker Meeting-House at Duck
Creek Crossroads.

Six children were born of Humphrey Green's
second marriage, three sons and three daughters, of
whom Edmund Brewster was the eldest son. He was
born in Smyrna January 3, 1814, but later went
with his parents to Philadelphia where Humphrey
Green became a merchant in the coastwise trade,
and owned vessels that plied between Philadelphia
and Norfolk. Humphrey Green lived to the ripe old

HUMPHREY GREEN

His Paternal Ancestry

age of ninety years and died March 12, 1860, in the
full possession of his mental powers.

Humphrey Green was a man of means, and as
Edmund Brewster Green gave decided indications
of scholarly tastes it was decided to send him to
Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut,
then the leading Methodist college of the country.
Accordingly, young Green was entered at Wesleyan
University in 1834, in the class of 1838, and his
studies were mainly in the literary and scientific
courses.

He was a good student and knowledge came
easy. He had an attractive personality with very
engaging manners. He was quite noticeable in his
dress in that he wore the Southern style of soft hat
and flowing cloak, which were in marked contrast
to the stiff hats and prim, tight-fitting coats of the
Northern students. He was popular at the college,
and made friends among the young people of the
town.

On leaving the University Edmund Green read
law in the office of William L. Storrs, of Middle-
town, an able lawyer and a judge of the Superior
Court of Middlesex County, Connecticut. His
predilections, however, were for journalism and
politics, and in 1840 he became the editor and part
proprietor of the "New England Review, " a
weekly Whig journal published at Hartford, which
was then one of the two capitals of the State of
Connecticut. The " Review " was a journal of high

John Fiske

character, and in former years it had had for editors
George D. Prentice and John G. Whittier.

In the mean time Edmund Green had become en-
gaged to Mary Fisk Bound, who with her widowed
mother was living with her grandfather, John Fisk,
one of the most estimable and honored citizens
of Middletown. Young Green's acquaintance with
Mary Fisk Bound began early in his college days
and quickly ripened into a strong attachment. She
was a young woman of great beauty and charming
personality, vivacious and independent. She had
been carefully brought up after the New England
fashion, was well educated, and possessed marked
artistic ability.

Soon after assuming his editorial position at
Hartford, Green regarded his business prospects
as well established. Accordingly, on the I5th of
September, 1840, he and Mary Fisk Bound were
married by the Reverend Dr. Crane at the Fisk
homestead in Middletown. The young couple be-
gan their united life at Hartford, and on the 3Oth
of March, 1842, a son was born to them, the subject
of this memoir, and was given the name of Edmund
Fisk.

But the journalistic venture at Hartford did
not prosper. Green made many excellent friends
among the Whig politicians of the State, but the
Connecticut field was not large enough to satisfy
his ambition — it did not give full scope to his
powers. In 1843 he sold out his interest in the

His Paternal Ancestry

"Review," and essayed journalism in behalf of
Whig principles in the City of New York. He found
the effort uphill work, and he gained a very limited
and precarious income. The day for the great
Metropolitan journals with their large editorial
staffs had not yet come; and during this period
three master minds, James Gordon Bennett, Horace
Greeley, and Henry J. Raymond, were laying the
foundations of the powerful daily journalism that
was to be. Mrs. Green bravely shared the struggles
of her husband, and to eke out their slender income,
she taught in private schools for young ladies in
Newark and New York City.

When Edmund Green and his wife left Hartford,
they were glad to accept the offer of the grand-
parents to take charge of their infant son until they
should establish a home of their own. We shall re-
turn to the son's maternal ancestry and his Mid-
dletown environment when we have followed the
fortunes of Edmund Brewster Green a little farther
to the end.

The election of General Zachary Taylor as Presi-
dent of the United States in 1848 and his inaugura-
tion in 1849 were great triumphs for the Whig
Party. As Edmund Green had for years been an
ardent advocate of Whig principles, and as he had
strong support among the leaders of the party in
New York and Connecticut, it was natural, in view
of his labors and sacrifices in behalf of the party
principles, that he should turn his attention to

John Fiske

Washington for some substantial reward now that
his party had come into power. In the winter of
1849 and 1850 we therefore find him in Washington,
seeking office with the very highest credentials from
the political Whig leaders in Connecticut and New
York. He was for some time private secretary to
Henry Clay, at that time one of the leading states-
men of the country. He applied for positions in the
State, the Interior, and the Treasury Departments.
He was strongly commended by Mr. Clay, in an auto-
graph letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, as one
who "unites to excellent attainments and qualifi-
cations for business, the manners, deportment, and
character of a gentleman of honor and probity. "

His political support was indeed strong and of the
best character; but the Whig Party had been long
out of office and the scramble for place was great,
and the new Administration had to face a series of
political obligations entered into by its supporters
which necessitated to a large degree an obliviousness
to purely personal claims. It needed time to adjust
itself to its duties and to its political obligations. In
the summer of 1850 the situation was still further
complicated by the death of President Taylor and
the accession to the Presidency of the Vice- Presi-
dent Millard Fillmore.

Green could not wait the slow development of
political manipulation. At one time an important
office was apparently within his grasp — that of
Surveyor-General of Oregon. He had been advised

His Paternal Ancestry

of his appointment and was then tricked out of it
in a way he could not understand. Thus, after
several months spent in pursuing illusions of office
in the Treasury and the Interior Departments, he
came to the conclusion that the Whig Party was
ungrateful, and in the autumn of 1850 he returned
to New York.

The year 1850 was marked by a prodigious ex-
citement, world-wide in extent. Two years before
gold in unprecedented quantities had been found
in the streams and in the surface deposits of Coloma
County, California. These discoveries were so ex-
tensive and the mining so easy that the story spread
throughout the world, and started an immense emi-
gration to California across the plains and over the
mountains, and by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
Edmund Green joined this great movement, and
sailed for Panama on his way to San Francisco in
December, 1850. On arriving at Panama he stopped
to study the prospects for business on the isthmus
incident to this rushing of populations to the new
El Dorado. The conditions appealed to his jour-
nalistic proclivities, and he at once began the pub-
lication of a weekly newspaper — the " Panama
Herald." He was measurably successful in this un-
dertaking. It soon became a semi-weekly, and a
little later a tri- weekly publication. In the spring of
1852 Green came up to New York and Middletown
for a short visit. He returned to Panama in June,
1852. On the 4th of July following he delivered, at

John Fiske

the request of the American residents, an oration
at Panama. This address was marked by a good
knowledge of American history, by scholarly taste,
and great felicity of style. One week later, July 1 1 ,
1852, he died very suddenly of cholera. His loss was
greatly felt at Panama, where he had gained a posi-
tion of much influence through his enterprise, his
probity, and his genial personality.

HIS MATERNAL ANCESTRY — THE FISKE AND THE
BOUND FAMILIES

Having given the paternal ancestry of the subject
of this memoir, and having seen him placed in the
charge of his grandparents, we now return to the
Fisk family at Middletown, to trace as briefly as
possible his maternal ancestry through the two New
England Puritan families, the Fiskes and the Bounds,
which were united in his mother.

The Fiske family was of a pure New England
Puritan type. It was descended in unbroken lineage
for a period of over four hundred years from Simon
Fiske, Stadhaugh Manor Parish, Laxfield, Suffolk,
England, who was born in the reign of Richard II,
— that is, before 1399, — and who died in 1463
or '64. The full record is an honorable one. In
the sixteenth century the Fiskes were considered
very daring and troublesome heretics. John Noyes
of Laxfield was burned alive in 1557, by order of
44 Bloody Mary"; and Foxe, in his " Booke of
Martyres," mentions that Nicholas Fiske, Noyes's

STADHAUGH MANOR, LAXFIELD, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND

Homestead of the Fiske family from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century.
(June 4. 1880)

His Maternal Ancestry

brother-in-law, visited him in prison. Cotton
Mather, in his "Magnalia," has anecdotes of how
these heretics were persecuted. Robert Fiske, fifth in
descent, fled during the persecutions to the Conti-
nent (possibly to Geneva, as that was the resort
of the Suffolk Protestants at that time), but after
the accession of Elizabeth, he returned and settled
at St. James, South Elmham, Suffolk. Before his
flight he married Sybil Gold, by whom he had four
sons, William, Jeffrey, Thomas, and Eleazer, and one
daughter, Elizabeth. From Robert and Sybil came
all the Fiskes who settled in New England in the
seventeenth century. Robert Fiske died in 1602.

The daughter Elizabeth married Bernard

of Custridge Hall, and was the grandmother of John
Locke, the great English philosopher of the seven-
teenth century. The descent we are pursuing was
continued through the son Thomas, who married
Margery (surname not given), and who lived at
Fressingfield, Suffolk. Thomas died in 1611. He
had three sons, Thomas, James, and Phineas; and
two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. The line was
continued through Phineas, who came to Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1641, and moved to Wenham in
1644. He was a man of note; was constable and
selectman of Wenham, captain of militia, and in
!653 was a representative in the General Court of
Massachusetts. Phineas had three sons, James,
John, and Thomas, all born in England. The line
was continued through the son John, who we find

John Fiske

was constable at Wenham in 1645, and in 1669 was
representative in the General Court. The Chris-
tian name of John's wife was Remember. He had
three sons, John, Samuel, and Noah; and two
daughters, Elizabeth and Remember. This John
died in 1683. The next in line was his son John, who
was born in Wenham in 1654 — the first Fiske born
in Massachusetts. He practised medicine, and in the
annals he was called Dr. John. He married Hannah
Baldwin, of Milford, Connecticut, in 1682. She was
descended from an old English family in Cheshire.
Dr. John moved to Milford in 1694. He was a man
of substance, as appears by the deed of his estate in
Wenham, which he sold in 1693. Dr. John had four
sons, Phineas, Ebenezer, John, and Benjamin.

Continuing the line through the son John, we find
that this representative of the family was known as
Captain John Fiske. He was born at Wenham in
1693 and was decidedly a man of mark. He was
town clerk of Middletown in 1722, was ensign in
1729, lieutenant in 1732, captain in 1735, quarter-
master of the Eleventh Connecticut Regiment in
1744, representative to the Connecticut General
Court in 1742. He wore a wig and sword, and was
41 very stylish. " He had a negro slave, appraised at
a value of £35. He was twice married. His first
wife was Hannah, to whom he was married in 1716,
and by whom he had three children, John, Hannah,
and Martha. He often dropped the e in his sur-
name. He died in Middletown in 1761.

His Maternal Ancestry

Next in order is Captain John's son, who was
known as John, Jr. He was born in 1718, and lived
at Middletown. He succeeded his father as town
clerk of Middletown in 1761 and he was also clerk
of the Superior Court. The records of this member
of the family are very slight. By Ann Tyler, a sec-
ond wife, he had a son Bezaleel, who was born at Mid-
dletown in 1744. There is no record of the death
of John Jr., but it probably occurred in 1777, as in
that year his son Bezaleel succeeded to the town
clerkship. Bezaleel was married in 1768 to Marga-
ret Rockwell, by whom he had a son John, born in
1772. Bezaleel Fiske held the office of town clerk;
for twenty years, till 1797, when he was succeeded
by his son John. Bezaleel Fiske lived to the ripe
old age of eighty-six years and died in 1830.

Great probity of character is conspicuous in the
line of the Fisk family we are pursuing: for this
reason the following lines, written by Bezaleel Fiske,
in his eighty-fourth year, and in which the pleas-
anter side of the grim theology of the time is some-
what reflected, are of interest: —

ON A WATCH

Could but our tempers move like this machine,
Not urg'd by passion nor delayed by spleen;
But true to Nature's regulating power,
By virtuous acts distinguish every hour —
Then health and joy would follow as they ought,
The laws of Nature and the laws of thought —
Sweet health to pass the present moments o'er,
And everlasting joy when time shall be no more.

John Fiske

Bezaleel's son John succeeded to the town clerk-
ship of Middletown in 1797 — the fourth Fiske to
hold this office in the order of succession. His first
wife was Polly Merrill, of Killings worth, Connec-
ticut, to whom he was married August 10, 1793. His
second wife was Olive Cone, to whom he was mar-
ried in 1837. By his first wife he had six children,
four sons, and two daughters. His second child was
a daughter, Polly, who was born March n, 1795.
Polly Fisk was married in 1817 to John Bound, of
Middletown. Of this marriage there were six chil-
dren, two of whom grew to maturity — John Fisk
Bound,1 born in 1819, and Mary Fisk Bound, born
June 21, 1821.

As we have already seen, Mary Fisk Bound was
married September 15, 1840, to Edmund Brewster
Green. Of this marriage we have also seen that a son
was born March 30, 1842, who is the subject of this
memoir, and who at his birth was given the name of
Edmund Fisk Green.

The Bound family, which in the ancestral line we
are pursuing was united with the Fiske family in
1817 by the marriage of John Bound to Polly Fisk,
was no less Puritan in character, and no less honor-
able in its descent, than that of the Fiskes. Its an-
cestral line runs back, through the Bound, Francis,
and Hall families, to John Hall, who was born in

1 Founder of the financial house of Bound & Company, of New
York.

O c

His Maternal Ancestry

England in 1627, and who died in Medford, Massa-
chusetts, in 1 701 . From one branch of the Hall fam-
ily in Medford was descended Francis Parkman,
and thus we have a clear family relationship be-
tween the two eminent historians Francis Parkman
and John Fiske.

And now, having established the subject of this
memoir in the helplessness of his infancy in the
Fiske family at Middletown, and having put in
order his family antecedents which have revealed,
on the paternal side, the sturdy, free-thinking,
genial qualities of the Quaker, in contrast, on the
maternal side, with the strict, religious character of
the Puritan, embodied in the attractive personal-
ity of his mother, we will leave him to be brought
through the critical period of his infancy, while
we make ourselves acquainted with some of the
physical and social characteristics of Middletown,
which served for his environment during the period
of his boyhood and his youth.

Following the death of Edmund Brewster Green,
his widow, Mary Fisk Bound Green, continued her
teaching in New York City and vicinity, leaving her
son, Edmund Fisk Green, in the care of his grand-
parents in Middletown.

CHAPTER II

THE MIDDLETOWN ENVIRONMENT — JOHN FISK —
THE FISK HOMESTEAD

READERS familiar with the historical works of John
Fiske know the importance he attached to the town
as the basis or unit for all social or political orga-
nization. How much he was aided in the develop-
ment of his thought in this direction by the in-
fluence of the environment of his early years, we
cannot say. This, however, may be said : that if, in
view of his important work in the world, a place
had been soughtwith special reference to its salutary
influence upon his youthful mind, it is doubtful if
more fitting surroundings could have been found
than were presented by the physical and social
conditions of Middletown between the years 1840
and 1860.

It was a typical New England town of the period,
of the best sort. It was beautifully situated on the
west bank of the Connecticut River, about sixteen
miles below Hartford, and twenty-five miles above
Saybrook, where the river enters Long Island
Sound. The town lies on an elevation of land which
runs along the river for about a mile from north to
south, and between two tributary streams, Little
River on the north and Sumner's Creek on the
south. The land rises from the river in a gentle slope

The Middletown Environment

to the height of about a hundred and fifty feet, and
then forms a sort of plateau extending nearly a mile
westward, where it slopes into a broad valley reach-
ing to the Meriden hills beyond. On a portion of
the western side of the plateau there rises, quite
abruptly, a small elevation called Indian Hill.
Along the whole front of the eastern slope the noble
river sweeps with slow, majestic power on its way to
the Sound. At the southern end of the slope, and
directly in front of the southern end of the town,
the river makes a sharp bend to the eastward, form-
ing almost a right angle in its course. This bend in
the river, the slow current, and depth of water are
the conditions that gave to Middletown in years
gone by a commodious inland harbor for the prose-
cution of a prosperous shipping and shipbuilding
industry.

The main street of the town runs along the whole
face of the slope, a short distance up from the river,
and parallel with its course from north to south.
The principal business buildings are along Main
Street, and the educational buildings and the pri-
vate residences, picturesquely placed in broad, elm-
shaded streets, cover the upper face of the slope and
the plateau beyond. Indian Hill has been taken as
a cemetery.

At the time when this narrative begins — 1840 —
Middletown had about ten thousand inhabitants,
mainly of New England ancestry. It had a rich
historical background of colonial experience and

John Fiske

character running back to the first settlements in
the Connecticut Valley about the middle of the
seventeenth century by seceders from "My Lords
the Bretheren" of the Massachusetts Bay colonies,
by settlers from adjacent Connecticut colonies, and
also by seceders direct from England. Middletown
itself was settled in 1650, and its founders had all
the strong and distinguishing characteristics which
marked the people of the great Puritan exodus.
They had but little property and they had to begin
a new social life under the most trying conditions.
Their first dwellings were hardly a shelter from the
wind and the storm. Their food was meagre and
their clothing of the crudest kind, and they were
surrounded by tribes of hostile Indians who natu-
rally resented this powerful, unbidden intrusion into
their domains. The privations and suffering bravely
and cheerfully encountered by these early pioneers
cannot be conceived by their descendants of the
present generation.

The demands of their religion were of the first
consideration in their minds, for it was the "heroic
age of theology, when John Cotton used at bed-
time to sweeten his mouth with a morsel of Cal-
vin " ; accordingly we find in the earliest Middletown
records appropriations for building a meeting-house
twenty feet square, with provisions for calling the
people to service by the beat of a drum. They were
none the less attentive to matters of practical,
everyday life. People in our day sometimes wonder

The Middletown Environment

at the strong hold the protective idea — the pro-
tection of home industry — has among the people
of New England. The idea was indigenous among
them from the first; it grew out of their needs and
conditions. The early records of our New Eng-
land towns are full of provisions for the promotion
of home industries. In the Middletown Records of
1658 we find a grant to "shomaeker eagellston " of
"a peas of Meddow, he ingaging to inhabit it seven
years upon it and also doth ingag to endevour to
sut the towne in his trade for making and mending
shoes/' It also appears that to get a blacksmith
to come among them they offered him a hundred
pound lot, he pledging himself " to inhabit upon the
land and to do the Townes worck of smithing dur-
ing the term of four years, before he shall make sale
of it to any other." Wiser than the protective leg-
islators of our day, these simple-minded Puritan
promoters of home industry required their bene-
ficiaries to render specific public services for the
favors granted.

For one hundred years — 1650 to 1 750 — Middle-
town grew but slowly, and its Records during this
period are mainly "the simple annals of the poor/'
save where they are irradiated with matters pertain-
ing to the Indians, to questions of church doctrine
or discipline, and by assertions of the right of self-
government in local affairs coupled with the desir-
ability of corporate representation in all matters
affecting the federation or well-being of the Connec-

John Fiske

ticut colonies as a whole. It is a well-known his-
toric fact, that out of the experience of the practical
working in unison in the Connecticut colonies or
towns of these two forms of political association
— an experience which clearly demonstrated that
separate communities could harmoniously pre-
serve their autonomy in local affairs while federated
for mutual protection and welfare — came the
Connecticut Compromise, which in the memorable
Constitutional Convention of 1787 was a vital fac-
tor in the formation of the Constitution of the
United States, and gave to that immortal document
its two most distinctive features — equal represen-
tation of States, coupled with a representation of
the people as a whole.

By the middle of the eighteenth century Middle-
town had grown to a population of nearly five
thousand. It was larger than Hartford or New
Haven, and was the most important town in Con-
necticut. The growth of the New England colonies
had by this time developed an active shipping
trade with the West Indies whereby New England's
agricultural products and her fisheries were ex-
changed for such staple articles as salt, sugar, mo-
lasses, and rum. The colonists had also ventured
into the East India trade, and Middletown from its
situation on the largest river, with prosperous-grow-
ing towns and well-cultivated farms on either side,
with a commodious harbor easily accessible from
the sea and contiguous to excellent facilities for

The Middletown Environment

shipbuilding and repairs, was well situated to en-
gage in these various lines of colonial commerce.
Accordingly the town became between 1750 and
1775 a shipping port for the West and East India
and China trade hardly second to any other port in
New England.

This trade, with the shipbuilding which followed
in its wake, was very prosperous, and together they
brought much wealth to the town ; they also diver-
sified the occupations of the people. In 1770, among
fifty persons registered as engaged in business on
Main Street, seventeen were in one way or another
— as merchants, shipowners, skippers, rope-mak-
ers, etc. — connected with the shipping of the port.
What is particularly noteworthy in this record
of occupations is the frankly stated fact, that a
Captain Gleason and a Dr. Walker were slave-
dealers.

This prosperous shipping business was almost
wholly destroyed by the Revolutionary War. It
revived somewhat when the war was over, but ow-
ing to the changed conditions of commercial inter-
course with other nations that followed upon the
establishment of the Government of the United
States, and to the new spirit that entered into the
commercial relations between the people of the re-
spective States, Middletown was, by its isolation
from the sea, heavily handicapped for meeting the
new conditions in competition with the larger and
more accessible ports of Boston, Providence, New

John Fiske

York, and Philadelphia. Consequently, in 1840,
the shipping business of Middletown was but a re-
minder of a former prosperity.

The manufacturing period of later years, involv-
ing corporate management and entailing large
numbers of foreign laborers and trade-union as-
sociations, had not yet set in. The few industries
that existed were small and had grown up with the
shipping industry or were the outgrowth of local
needs or of limited individual enterprise. In 1840
the town had not entirely differentiated itself from
the country; and on market days Main Street, alive
with farmers whose loaded trams gave ample evi-
dence of the rich agricultural country, also testified
to the existence still of barter trade between the
farmer and the storekeeper or trader. It was, more-
over, the day of stage-coaches, and the only means
of public transportation to the interior, to Hart-
ford or New Haven, to Providence or Boston, was
by stages, and their arrival and departure were
matters of no little interest in the daily life of the
town. Then, too, Middletown was the county seat
of Middlesex County and when the courts were in
session another centre of interest was created; if a
noted case was being tried, the whole town became
interested in the result.

In this community in 1840 the people were well-
to-do and the social life was as yet unstratified.
The contrasts of great wealth on the one hand and
of poverty on the other did not exist. The people

The Middletown Environment

generally knew each other, as well as their family
histories, and personal interests were freely inter-
mingled. The descendants of the prosperous mer-
chants, shipowners, and traders of the colonial days
were numerous and among them were persons of
education and character, who, with their moderate
fortunes of inherited wealth well invested, and their
comfortable style of living, gave a quiet, refining
influence to the social life of the town. This circle
had been increased by well-to-do families from other
places who had been attracted to Middletown by
reason of its delightful location, its well-shaded,
beautiful streets, its healthfulness, and its many
comfortable homes, so that in 1840 it was one of the
most beautiful residential towns in New England.

It can also be said that Middletown comprised a
religious community of a distinctly New England
character. The Sabbath was duly respected, and
attendance at prayer meeting and church was uni-
versal. In the social life of the town, church mem-
bership was an indispensable prerequisite for social
recognition. There were six churches — two ortho-
dox Congregational, one Episcopal, one Baptist,
and two Methodist — in which were presented four
phases of evangelical faith and doctrine. Among
these churches the Episcopal and the two Congre-
gational churches were the more prominent by rea-
son of the greater number and the social standing of
their members. The preaching in all these churches
was of the strictest evangelical character, and in the

John Fiske

Congregational churches particularly the grim
theology of John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards
was emphasized more than the simple, humanizing
religion of Jesus.

The Wesleyan University — a Methodist college
— was also an important factor in the social and
religious influences of the town, by reason of the
number of students and the learning and high
character of members of the faculty. In later years
the University has greatly broadened in its ideals of
religious truth, but at the period we are now con-
sidering, it was the express purpose of the institu-
tion to present knowledge bound in the fetters of a
particular scheme of theology.

In this community of good citizens, among the
remarkable men of that day, and in some respects
the most remarkable, was John Fisk. He was town
clerk and treasurer, clerk of the Superior Court, ,
county treasurer and clerk of probate at the same
time, — five different offices which he filled with
ability and to the satisfaction of the public. The
great and growing confidence reposed in him was
shown in the fact that just previous to his death in
1847 he had been elected town clerk and treasurer
for the fiftieth year in succession. He was in very
truth a walking encyclopaedia of the town's civic
affairs. He was a member of the First Congrega-
tional Church and took part in all its activities.
John Fisk was a great reader of good literature and
was especially fond of the Waverley Novels, often

The Fisk Homestead

carrying one in his pocket so that when leisure
moments came in the course of his official duties
he could amuse himself by dipping into its pages.

Judge William D. Shipman, an honored member
of the New York Bar, had occasion to practise in
the Middletown courts at this period. Fifty years
after he was a great admirer of the writings of John
Fiske. In a letter to Fiske's mother, Mrs. E. W.
Stoughton, anent her son's philosophical works,
dated October 23, 1896, he gives the following pen-
picture of John Fisk, the old town clerk and the
clerk of the Superior Court: " Whenever I see the
name of John Fiske, I strike off the final ' e ' in Fiske
and my memory goes back to his great-grandfather
when the latter was clerk of the courts in Middlesex
County and clerk of pretty much all the municipal,
judicial, and ecclesiastical organizations in Middle-
town. I recall his visage, his snuff-colored clothes,
his gold-bowed spectacles, and the quiet way in
which he swore the witnesses and did his other
clerical duties, even in a case involving a death pen-
alty, and then took a novel from his pocket and se-
renely read while great lawyers were contending at
the bar."

John Fisk was moderately well-to-do. Being
a frugal liver, he had managed to accumulate
from the returns of his various public offices a
small competence, and he lived in a modest way
in a very comfortable house on Union Street. In
1840 he built himself a more commodious house

John Fiske

on Hanover Street, a most desirable location, with
fine spreading elms in front, and with ample grounds
in the rear, over which there was an extended view
down the broad, slowly flowing river with the eastern
hills beyond. It was in his former house on Union
Street that his granddaughter, Mary Fisk Bound,
was married to Edmund Brewster Green on the isth
of September, 1840. It was to the Hanover Street
home that their son, the subject of this memoir,
was brought in the autumn of 1842 bearing poten-
tially in his infantile brain the strong, virile traits
of the Quaker and the Puritan.

CHAPTER III

THE FISK HOUSEHOLD — BOYHOOD AND
EARLY EDUCATION

1847-1854

THE Fisk household in 1842 consisted of John Fisk,
the town clerk, "a jolly, fun-loving old man"; his
second wife, Olive Cone Fisk, " the dearest, heartiest
soul in the world"; Polly Fisk Bound, John Fisk's
daughter by his first wife and grandmother to the
infant boy, "a little, alert old lady, very refined and
beautiful"; and four sons, Henry, John, Charles,
and Frederick. Charles was a civil engineer. It was
an orthodox family of the liberal sort, and all the
members attended the First or North Congrega-
tional Church of Middle town.

John Fisk, as has been said, was a great reader,
and in the house were many books of a stimulat-
ing character to a young, inquiring mind. There
were the Bible, with the standard orthodox Com-
mentaries; "Pilgrim's Progress," that simple yet
powerful dramatization of Christian character and
experience, which has a place in English religious
literature second only to the Bible; and that vol-
ume so consolatory to the believer in Calvinistic
theology, Baxter's "Saints' Rest." For histories
there were Josephus with its Christian interpel-

John Fiske

lation, Rollin's "Ancient History/' Goldsmith's
"Greece," Froissart, Gibbon's "Rome," Robert-
son's "Charles V," with its masterly introduction
of European history, Prescott and Hume. In bi-
ography there were Plutarch's "Lives"; the Lives
of many religious worthies, including John Calvin
and Jonathan Edwards; Sparks's "Life of Wash-
ington" was also there. In general literature there
were the "Iliad," the "Arabian Nights," "Don
Quixote," and the works of Shakespeare, Milton,
Pope, and Walter Scott. To these should be added
the textbooks of Henry Fisk on English and Latin
grammar, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and as-
tronomy.1

In this family and with these surroundings Mary
Fisk Bound had grown to womanhood shedding
the charms of her attractive personality over the
entire household, and her early marriage left a sad
void in the family circle.

Under the tender care of his grandparents, Ed-
mund Fisk Green emerges for our notice, when
about four years of age, a slender, shy, open-eyed,
inquisitive boy, with an extraordinary memory and
an insatiable desire to know about things. He
seemed not to forget anything that came under his
observation, and he had already learned to read,
mainly by his own efforts. To see a book or a

1 This list of books should be particularly noted ; for, in the devel-
opment of the mind whose unfolding we are to trace, nearly all of
these works were put under tribute.

Boyhood

newspaper excited his curiosity, and to have a per-
son read from either using words, some of which
he understood, excited him still more. When a story
was read to him, he became as deeply interested
in the process of reading as in the story itself — he
wanted to know how the reader could tell just those
words in the print. When it was explained, and he
was shown how words differed from each other, he
began working by himself — picking out words, and
then running to his grandmother, or whoever would
help him, to have them named. In this way he
soon mastered quite a vocabulary of printed words,
and then began to relate them as in speech. In fact,
before any one had thought of teaching him his
letters or sending him to school — there were no
kindergartens in those days — he had taught him-
self to read, mainly through his own exertions. We
shall see later that he learned music in much the
same way. Furthermore, in these beginnings for
the mastery of his native English language, we
have foreshadowings of that deep interest in philo-
logical studies which was a marked characteristic
of his mature years.

In these days of character-foreshadowings, we
should note his great regard, let us say his deep
respect, for books. As soon as he had learned to
read, he began to look upon books as the most de-
sirable of possessions; and his pride in such as came
to him, and his thoughtful care of them, are promi-
nent among the incidents related of his very early

John Fiske

years. As the story of his youth unfolds, it will be
noted how ready he was to sacrifice everything for
books. They were always the chief measures of
value in his mind.1

When Edmund was about three years of age his
grandmother married Elias Lewis, a worthy citizen
of Middletown, who, with Sallie, his daughter by a
former wife, became members of the Fisk house-
hold. Mr. Lewis's daughter took great interest in
Edmund and encouraged all his efforts to learn
about things and to do things.

As soon as Edmund could read with understand-
ing, everything in the way of print that came under
his notice had to yield tribute to his desire to know
what it was about; and then he was equally desir-
ous of telling what he had learned. This twofold
form of mental activity went out in every direction.
He early began to observe the activities of people,
and what he saw others do, he wanted to do himself.
In these early years, therefore, he was interested in
his grandmother's embroidery and was delighted
when he could lend a hand, meanwhile telling what
he had been reading about.

Among the incidents of this period of which he
retained pleasant recollections were the semi-annual
visits of Eliza Cotton, a sort of peripatetic boys1
tailor for a few of the Middletown families. This

1 This respect for books always restrained him from marking or
in any way defacing them. In his Cambridge library the volumes
that were his constant companions bear only the marks of respectful
usage.

Boyhood

was before the days of regular tailors for boys, or of
ready-made clothing; and throughout New England
there was hardly a town that did not possess one
of these indispensable public servants. They per-
formed two important social functions: they helped
to clothe the needy, and being, as it were, the re-
positories of the social gossip of the town, they en-
tertained their patrons with incidents in the lives,
and particularly in regard to the clothes, of their
neighbors, as interesting and as fully embellished
with personal flavor as are to be found in the present
weekly newspaper.1

Eliza Cotton was an exceptionally intelligent
woman of good family, and for her own character
she was greatly respected. She took great interest
in Edmund, and he became very much attached to

1 This peripatetic tailoring is one of New England's lost arts.
James W. Brooks in his reminiscences of Petersham, Massachusetts,
a town which is to figure quite largely in future pages of this work,
speaking of one of this honorable guild of craftswomen, Mary Ann
Howe, says: —

" How familiar to some of us her big shears, and goose, and press-
ing-board, and big steel thimble, that for many years went from
farm to farm, to cut and stitch and press the clothing of the farmer,
and his boys, at fifty cents a day. How her keen wits gauged his
character and habits, as her tape took measurements of his taber-
nacle of flesh ! An industrious and helpful being, the product of whose
honest and ill paid toil was many a generous deed in life, and a
handsome sum bequeathed at death. How rough her left forefinger
where the needle pricked it; and what conscience went into the jerk
of her linen thread as she drew our buttons home to stay — an alto-
gether excellent woman — although it must be confessed, she wrought
such a similarity of expression in the fore and aft of our trousers,
as to remind us of the breeches of the little chap whose mother said,
that when too far away to see his face, she could never tell whether
he was going to school, or coming home."

John Fiske

her, looking forward to her visit with pleasure for
two reasons, she was interested in his books and his
reading, and she would let him help in her work. In
helping her, he learned to sew with much skill. His
interest in needlework was no indication of effemin-
acy in his nature or his tastes, but was prompted
by his desire to know how to do what he saw had
a useful purpose, and also to be helpful in the
doing.

Another of Edmund's activities of these early
years was his delight and facility in preaching to
his grandparents and imitating their minister, the
Reverend Dr. Crane, a preacher of the strict
orthodox school who gave to his exposition of the
orthodox creed a manner duly impressive. The re-
markable thing about these personations was their
accuracy in the collocation of words; whole sen-
tences, which to Edmund must have conveyed but
little or no meaning, were reproduced with great
fidelity. These personations were not prompted by
any desire to burlesque. His active little mind took
in the religious exercises as a part of the reality
going on about him, and back of all his expres-
sion and wholly unobserved by his elders, he was
forming conceptions of God and Heaven and Hell,
which, so far as we can get at them, reflect in
their naive truthfulness the materialistic anthro-
pomorphic preaching to which he was an attentive
listener.

He has given such direct testimony as to his con-

Boyhood

ception, at this period, of God and His methods of
judgment that his words are well worth quoting:1

" I imagined a narrow office just over the zenith,
with a tall standing-desk running lengthwise, upon
which lay several open ledgers bound in coarse
leather. There was no roof over this office, and the
walls rose scarcely five feet from the floor, so that
a person standing at the desk could look out upon
the whole world. There were two persons at the
desk, and one of them — a tall, slender man, of
aquiline features, wearing spectacles, with a pen in
his hand and another behind his ear — was God.
The other whose appearance I do not distinctly
recall, was an attendant angel. Both were dili-
gently watching the deeds of men and recording
them in the ledgers. To my infant mind this pic-
ture was not grotesque, but ineffably solemn, and
the fact that all my words and acts were thus writ-
ten down, to confront me at the day of judgment,
seemed naturally a matter of grave concern."

Perhaps it was the death at this period, Feb-
ruary 17, 1847, of his great-grandfather John Fisk,
full of years and honorable service, and with the
respect and esteem of the whole community for his
upright character, that served to impress upon
Edmund's mind such a vivid conception of God and
his method of keeping account of the conduct of
people here on earth.

In the ample grounds of the Fisk homestead
Edmund had a plot of ground given him for his own

1 See The Idea of God, by John Fiske, p. 116.
31

John Fiske

cultivation. This garden was a never-failing source
of interest, and in watching and tending the germina-
tion and development of plant life, he not only made
himself acquainted with the more obvious facts of
our common vegetable and flora culture: he also
laid in a stock of direct personal observations of
nature's processes which were of much value in
later years when tracing the theory of Evolution
from the inorganic in nature to the organic — that
is, the beginning of life and its development through
the vegetable and animal kingdoms.

It is noteworthy in these very early years that
Edmund was an obedient, dutiful boy with an in-
nate consideration for others. These traits will
appear as distinct elements in his character as his
life unfolds. We have simply to note them as active
at the very beginning. Closely connected with these
traits was another very pronounced one, which was
a fitting complement to the others — a strong self-
propulsion towards doing useful work. He seemed
to find pleasure in his tasks. Never was it neces-
sary to put pressure upon him. He was self-directed
from the first. He was a remarkably healthy boy
physically, and there was nothing morbid in his in-
tellectual make-up. While he was not robust, he
had no ailments. He loved outdoor sports, and was
especially fond of rowing, and as soon as he could
handle oars he had a boat on the river. In short, he
early presented remarkable mental power in happy
combination with a healthy, responsive, physical

Early Education

organization — a combination that enabled him to
find pleasure in both work and play; and when he
did not have agreeable companions, he could work
and play by himself.

Edmund began going to school when he was
between four and five years old. He was sent to a
private primary school kept by a Miss Wilcox, and
he was so slight that he was sometimes carried on the
shoulders of his great-grandfather Fisk. This was
a school where very young pupils were inducted
into the elements of knowledge after the methods of
sixty years ago, when all primary education began
with the presentation of the abstract symbols — in
language, the letters with their combination in
simple words; in mathematics, the nine digits with
the four forms of arithmetical process, all learned
mnemonically. Penmanship, oral spelling, compo-
sition, some reading, and a little geography were
included in the course. This elementary schooling
was continued for nearly two years, and Edmund
proved an apt pupil.

But he did not confine himself to his studies. He
early began to use them in enlarging his powers of
independent acquisition. He was not content to
limit himself to school requirements. When six years
old he could read readily, and as in his home
there were some of the great works in general litera-
ture, these were put under tribute by his inquiring
mind. Even the dry textbooks of Charles Fisk were
examined, "to see what they were like." At six, he

John Fiske

began the study of Latin, under whose instruction
does not appear; and at seven we find him reading
Caesar. History, language, and mathematics were
his first loves, and before he was eight he had read
Plutarch's " Lives," Rollin's "Ancient History," Jo-
sephus, Goldsmith's " Greece," " Arabian Nights,"
"Pilgrim's Progress," and had dipped into Shake-
speare, Milton, and Pope.

We have seen that during this period his mother
was engaged in teaching in New York City and
Newark, New Jersey. Her visits to the Middle-
town homestead were frequent, and occasionally
Edmund visited her. As soon as he had acquired suf-
ficient skill in penmanship to express his thoughts
in writing, letter-writing, telling his mother of his
interests and what he was doing, became a source
of great pleasure to him. Fortunately these letters
have been preserved, and in them we have a rec-
ord of his youthful development, a record of his
studies, his reading, his amusements, his ambi-
tions — all put forth spontaneously as it were, in
the service of a dutiful affection, a record all the
more valuable because of its naive, unconscious
truthfulness.

The first letter is of date March 17, 1850, when
Edmund was nearly eight years of age. It is written
on both sides of a half -sheet of letter paper, and with
a bold, heavy hand. There are no erasures or blots
on the sheet. It is the letter of a real boy, contain-
ing a mixture of local incidents, personal experi-

Early Education

ences, domestic matters, and ancient history. His
reference to Artaxerxes indicates that he had been
browsing in Rollin's " Ancient History," or Gold-
smith's " Greece," or Xenophon's "Anabasis."
Only one word is misspelled — " witch " and " wich "
for " which." The following is the letter verbatim et
literatim: —

MIDDLETOWN, March 17, 1850.
Dear Mother —

There has been a terrible fire about a fortnight
ago. Mr. Johnsons & Mr. Parmalees and Elliots,
Mr. Storrs & a part of Mr. Putnams all burnt down
and several other buildings got on fire. Grand-
mother lost all her magazines wich she had brought
to Mr. Putnams to get bound, & yet I slept through
the whole of it! I got a new "Gladius" 1 the other
day out of the new house witch John is building.
There are 12 men out there to work and every one
of them is John. I am tired of hearing John all the
time. It is all the time John you go and take hold
of that end of the log, and John you go and take
hold of the middle of the log and John you take
hold of this end of the log and John you pry up the
log and it is all John all the time. There were 4
Artaxerxes viz Artaxerxes Smerdis, Artaxerxes
Longimanus Artaxerxes Mnemon and Artaxerxes
Ochus. Don't you think this a bad letter? The
other night Bridget said there was just enough oil
to last that night the next night she said the same
so I asked her what made her say there would be
just enough for last night, and then say so again to-

1 Sword.
35

John Fiske

night. Bridget said oh I brought out the balance
tonight.

We all send our love.

From your affectionate son,

EDMUND FISK GREEN.

It appears that a few weeks later Edmund was
visiting his father and mother in Newark, New Jer-
sey. At this time his father was pressing his claims
for political preferment, and as he had promises of
a substantial position in the government service
in South America or on the Pacific Coast, he was
hopefully looking forward to getting his little
family together in a home of his own. This pleasant
prospect in the mind of Mr. Green is indicated in
a letter written by Edmund to his Grandmother
Green during this visit. This letter is of special
interest because of its self -revealing character. It
clearly shows that Edmund had been dipping into
his Uncle Charles's textbooks and that the pursuit
of knowledge was assuming a dominant position in
his mind. The letter is as follows : —

NEWARK, N.J., i9th May, 1850.

My dear Grandmother Green —

I am very anxious to see you and Aunt Arriana
whom I have never seen. Father says mother and
I will visit you with him before we go to South
America. I am going to Connecticut on Wednesday
with grandmother Lewis where I shall have a nice
time cultivating my little garden. I am now 8 years
old and have read about 200 vols of books on all

JOHN FISKE IN 1850 (EIGHT YEARS OLD)
(From a daguerreotype)

Early Education

subjects, particularly on Nat. History, Philosophy,
Chemistry, Astronomy, Grammar, Mathematics,
and miscellaneous things. I have also read Spanish
a little. I can't write very well but I shall improve
by practice so you must excuse my first letter to
you.

Give my love to Aunt Roberts and my cousins
and tell them I hope to see them soon.

I remain, dear grandmother,

Your very affectionate little boy,

EDDIE F. GREEN.

In this letter all the words are correctly spelled,
and the penmanship, while clearly legible, indicates
the hand of a boy not yet brought into complete
subjection to his thought. There is added to the
letter in the handwriting of Mr. Green the follow-
ing: " Ed has written the above letter without any
assistance, and although he can't write very well,
he can talk 'a few1 with anybody."

When between eight and nine years of age —
November, 1850 — Edmund was placed by his
grandmother in a private preparatory school for
boys in Middletown, conducted by Daniel H.
Chase, a graduate from the Wesleyan University.
The public schools in Middletown in 1850 were not
what they are to-day, and in this school, which was
of excellent repute, boys were prepared for busi-
ness life or for college. It does not appear at this
time that any definite aim or purpose in Edmund's
education had been considered. The need of his
receiving systematic schooling and the convenient

John Fiske

location of the school were the reasons for placing
him under the charge of Mr. Chase.

Edmund's regular studies at the beginning
were English grammar, Latin and Greek gram-
mar, arithmetic, algebra, geography, with attendant
exercises in reading, spelling, penmanship, and com-
position. It is worth while to note in this list
the entire absence of many studies which are now
universal in primary education in both public and
private schools, such as nature study, elementary
physics and chemistry, music, art. The advantages
of these latter studies Edmund did not enjoy until
his college period and then only to a very limited
extent. In view of the important work of John
Fiske in interpreting to his time the truly human-
izing studies, the thought arises, in passing, would
the influence of his life-work have been greater had
his early educational training been directed to these
modern "humanities" as well as to language, his-
tory, and mathematics?

Edmund continued in Mr. Chase's school until
April, 1853, and here he was brought into close com-
panionship with boys of his own age as well as with
boys much older than himself. His studies were the
first consideration in his mind and along with them
went an ever-expanding range of home reading.
He readily made himself amenable to the school
discipline and soon distanced his classmates both
in deportment and in his studies. His proficiency
and the regard he received from the teachers made

Early Education

the older boys jealous and they took various ways
to annoy him. In some instances they combined to
abuse him as only cowardly boys will when they
find a boy younger and smaller than themselves.
What grieved him most, however, was the defacing
of his books. This persecution was carried into the
school, until Mr. Chase assigned him a place where
he could study undisturbed.

This persecution by his schoolmates tended to
drive Edmund the more in and upon himself. There
are no complaints in the letters. He is interested
in telling only of what is of interest to himself. He
is closely observant of what is going on in the town,
and thoughtfully listens to the discussions of a
question that then divided the people into two
parties — the building of a railroad that should con-
nect Middletown with other Connecticut towns as
well as with the general outside world. There were
some who strongly opposed the movement.

It is interesting to find that long before the days
of manual training in education, Edmund had
adopted this feature in his self-imposed educational
course. This fact appears in the following letter,
where the information is given, boy-like, along with
matters of local interest : —

MIDDLETOWN, Sept. 17, 1851.
Dear Mother —

I have made a splendid shop out in the wood-
house. First there is a large box set up on edge on
that bench and nail down. Second there are posts

John Fiske

set up and boards nailed across from post to post so
that they form a roof and two sides which is all I
want as the front is open and the box forms the 4th
side. In the box are shelves to put tools on. Mr.
Faxon is dead. Dr. Casey is going away and they
are going to have his house for the great Central
Bank. They have tore down the old hotel and are
going to build up a new one in stone carve work.
They have built up that place where the Great Fire
was. They have tore down the County Bank and
building it up in stone carve work. We all send our
love.

From your affectionate son,

EDMUND F. GREEN.

In this little shop Edmund found occupation for
stormy days, and here he made many things. The
near-by shipyards had many lessons for him, and
beginning with a misshapen sloop he progressed in
his miniature shipbuilding until he had made a full-
rigged frigate with a full complement of guns — the
guns being specially cast for him by his friend Mr.
Wilcox, who owned a foundry, and who took much
interest in Edmund's ingenuity and skill. This
frigate was, indeed, a remarkable piece of skilled
workmanship, and for it at a local exhibition, he re-
ceived a prize. Among the treasures in his library
at Cambridge none are more interesting than the
few mementoes of this little shop — a miniature
plane, a compass, and sun-dial.

John Fiske tells us, in later years, that it was
largely owing to his visits to the shipyards and his

Early Education

making models of vessels that he early became inter-
ested in geography, astronomy, mathematics, and
navigation — they were of interest because they
were of service, they had to do with the sailing of
vessels over the ocean.

At this early period his imagination was also
actively at work. In one of his letters in the begin-
ning of 1852 he tells of a dream he has had which
he calls a "Castle in the Air." It is a boyish ex-
travaganza, and is of interest as showing his grow-
ing proficiency in English composition, and also as
indicating that he had been feeding his mind with
the "Arabian Nights " and other fairy tales. At the
close of the letter he tells his mother that at school
two other boys and himself have taken the first
prize. It is worthy of note that he puts the names
of the other two boys before his own.

A few days later he writes and gives such an inven-
tory, as it were, of himself and his studies — such
a genuine boy's letter — that the letter is well worth
giving in full : —

N.B. When you find a star after a word you must
look at the bottom of the page.

MIDDLETOWN, Feb. 25th, 1852.
Dear Mother —

By my Geography of 1850 London is 2,520,000.
I have o debits and 1200 credits. I went to Thads
last Sat. and slid all day on the factory pond. Is
there any moral to my dream? Next summer I want
to study Surveying, Rhetoric & Psychology. To-

John Fiske

day I worked out a very difficult proposition in
Engineering 2 more in Surveying & 23 in Legendre
of Geometry. I uhave got in Arithmetic to the cube
root. Have you received Grandmother's letter
about the worsteds? I have got three compositions
on shell-fishes. If * you look in my last letter you
will see the ist prize was Dickinson, Griswold and
Green — but Dickinson and Griswold have now
I Dr. each which leaves me the whole. My garden
for 1852 is 55 ft. long and 31 ft. wide. We all send
our love.

From your very aff'nate son,

EDMUND F. GREEN.
N.B. Mr. Crofoot is dead and buried.

* Feb. 20.

In the spring of 1852, as we have already seen,
Edmund's father returned from Panama for a short
visit. He and Mrs. Green came to Middletown and
Edmund returned with them to New York City and
saw his father' sail for Panama, where he was soon
to end his days. Edmund retained a delightful
memory of this last visit with his father, and in after
years always spoke of him with much affection and
described him as a man of great personal charm.

There were persons in Middletown who, seeing
this slender, open-eyed boy on the street, shunning
the rough boys who took delight in persecuting him,
thought him simply a little coward! If these per-
sons had known the standing of this boy at school,
had heard his interested, thoughtful inquiries in the
shipyards, had seen him ingeniously at work in his

Early Education

own little workshop, had known something of the
character and extent of his reading, and had they
also been aware of the fact that all the time he was
writing to his mother of the things uppermost in his
mind — never alluding to the persecutions he en-
dured — they would have formed a worthier esti-
mate of him.

It is one of the fine characteristics of these letters,
noticeable all the way through, that they are cheer-
ful, hopeful letters. Edmund has something before
him constantly worth striving for, and the letters are
the record of this striving, with many incidents by
the way; and while they were written solely for the
eye of his mother, they give such a naive mixture of
knowledge and boyish expressions in gaining it as
to make them of general interest as the record of
the mental development of a healthy-minded boy,
who loved knowledge and his mother in about
equal proportions.

Here are some reflections derived from his studies
as well as personal experiences in the pursuit of
knowledge that are of interest as showing the work-
ings of his mind. He is studying astronomy and he
desires to inform his mother that " it is now about
5850 years since the creation. If a train of cars 30
miles per hour had travelled ever since, it would be
284,000,000 miles from Herschel. To reach him
would take 1000 years. To reach Neptune would
take 6522 years to come." His economical tenden-
cies are manifested early and many instances might

John Fiske

be given. For the Fourth of July this year — 1852 —
he proposes to spend but twenty-five cents. But his
crowning financial operation was his scheme for
getting a copy of Playf air's Euclid, which his teacher
had recommended him to study in place of Brew-
ster's Legendre — a book he already had. The story
should be told in his own words : —

"So after school what should I do but go poking
into Mr. Putnams to ask the price of Euclid. One
dollar was the Binomial that met my astounded
eares. Terrible! ! ! I could n't buy the book as I
had but 55 cents; so I left the store. The next noon
I saw George Smith's skates (by the way he was
turned out of school for being impudent to Mr.
Brewer). At the sight of the skates, a lucky thought
struck my head. After school, I took my skates and
went up to Mr. Atkins and sold them for 46 cents.
So I went poking into Mr. Putnams a second time
and got the book, together with some drawing
paper to make the figures on. So now I have to use
all my instruments because there are some things
to do which you can't do with anything else."

During the winter of 1852-53 Edmund's studies
appear to have been Greenleaf's Arithmetic, Per-
kins's Algebra, Euclid, Latin and Greek grammar,
and Caesar, with geography, English grammar and
composition.

In April, 1853, the term closed, and Edmund's
schooling with Mr. Chase came to an end. He did
not get a prize at the close of the term, something
unusual for him. He appears to have made a few

Early Education

warm friendships among the boys, and to have be-
come much interested in outdoor sports. He gives
his mother a description of the game of " roly-
poly, " which is particularly noteworthy for its
clearness of statement and its good grammatical
construction. He was interested in boating, and
tells of trading off his old boat for one three times
as large. We get glimpses of him in his little work-
shop, for he tells of making "a seconds clock which
will go very well until the weight gets half-way
down (about one foot) and then I can do nothing
with it. I have taken it to pieces in hopes to put it
together so that it will go somehow half decent. "
His penmanship has greatly improved. It is per-
fectly legible and begins to show something of that
simple elegance that characterized the handwriting
of John Fiske in his maturity.

For the six months from April to October, 1853,
Edmund studied without instructors and the let-
ters show that he was as faithful to his studies as
when under school discipline. In one letter he says :
" I study Cicero de Oratore Oratio, ist Collectanea
Grseca Majora, Davis's Algebra. I have almost fin-
ished equations of the ist degree. Flint's Geometry,
I recite to Prof. Nobody. " In this letter he sends
an original " Greek Oration " which he particularly
requests his mother "not to show to any one be-
cause it may have mistakes." The events of the
intervening years have given this bit of boyish
mental activity an especial value, and it does not

John Fiske

appear as a breach of confidence, under the cir-
cumstances, to give this " oration " in facsimile.
Greek scholars will appreciate it as the diversion
of a lad eleven years of age, studying without
direction.

In addition to keeping his mother informed in re-
gard to his studies, Edmund tells her of the various
incidents in his daily boyhood life — of his going to
a magician's exhibition and his being called upon to
take part in some of the tricks; of his having four
shirts with bosoms and collars; a flowered satin vest
made over by Eliza Cotton, with some help from
himself; and of his grandmother's giving him a new
broadcloth suit. He also tells of his forming a boys'
club and of his being elected president; of his
rambles in the woods, and of his wading in the
beautiful Sabetha River; and, most important of
all, of some gifts of books from his grandmother and
from Mr. Lewis, by which his library is increased
to one hundred and eighty-seven volumes. In his
naive record of these various incidents the begin-
nings of his art of narration are clearly observed.

In October, 1853, Edmund enters another private
school in Middletown conducted by a Mr. Brewer,
— possibly a teacher previously with Mr. Chase, —
where he continued for six months. Shortly after
entering this school there was an examination,
Edmund's account of which gives us a further in-
sight into his studies and his proficiency.

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Early Education

October, 1853.
Dear Mother —

This letter will be all about studies. We had an
examination Thursday. I was examined in Green-
leaf's Arithmetic; Perkins* and Loomis* Algebra;
through 4 books Euclid; through Hedge's Logic;
through 4 books Caesar; 8 books Virgil; 4 Orat.
Cicero and the Graeca Majora; through the Latin
and Greek Grammars; and last, but not least
dreaded, through Greek syntax.

Mr. Brewer said I passed an admirable examina-
tion. I am reading Sallust which is so easy that I
have read 48 chapters without looking in the dic-
tionary. My school report was thus — 9 being per-
fection: Attendance 7: Arithmetic 8: Algebra 8:
Composition 7: Declamation 7: Geometry 9:
Greek 7: Latin 8: Logic 8: Deportment 9: Reading
9: Writing 9: — the most perfect report of all: none
of the other reports were above 4. I have studied
my Sallust this morning and have got 7 cr. making
54 in all. I guess I shall finish him in three weeks
and then I shall take Livy. I am reading now about
Jugurtha, king of Numidia, and his wars with the
Romans : Sallust was governor of Numidia 40 years
after, and so had excellent opportunities of knowing
about it by the traditions of the people and by the
records.

From your affectionate son,

EDIBUS F. GREENIBUS.

P.S. Mr. B. said I was a better scholar than he
ever had before.

P.S. 2. If you will bring Anthon's Xenophon's
Anabasis 1.25 I will value it more than the broad-
cloth suit.

John Fiske

Edmund was so earnest and faithful in his stud-
ies that Mr. Brewer cautioned him about studying
too hard; evidently without much effect, for the
letters bear witness to the great expansion of his
mind in various directions, so much so that his
school studies seem to have engaged the lesser part of
his mental activities. No small portion of his spare
time was given to translating Caesar into Greek
ahead of his translating the Latin into English.
His reasons for this self-imposed task are charac-
teristic— "It makes the translation into English
easier'*; and, "I like to see the Greek letters —
they look so handsome/' He was fond of drawing
maps, and read history with the maps before him,
thus visualizing his historical acquisitions as much
as possible. He committed to memory hundreds of
dates of important events just for mental exercise.
With his expanding knowledge he felt the necessity
of having a systematic method of noting down for
ready reference special subjects of interest as they
came to his attention in his studies and in his
reading. He therefore made a chronological record
of important events from 1000 B.C. to 1820 A.D. as
a sort of historical framework around which to
group his historical acquisitions. This record filled
a small quarto blank book of sixty pages. He also
began an alphabetical commonplace book which he
made out of some paper purchased with seventy-
one cents given him by his mother for spending-
money. This record and this commonplace book

Early Education

have not been preserved: the fact, however, that
thus early, and of his own motion, he began to put
his knowledge into order in his mind, and also to
systematize his acquisitions, is especially worth
noting in view of what we shall see later — his
marvellous command of his wide and varied his-
toric knowledge.

After studying with Mr. Brewer for about six
months Edmund appears to have left the school (in
April, 1854) and again to have studied at home
without an instructor for about a year. During
this period his mother visited Middletown fre-
quently, and Edmund's letters are fewer than
formerly, and less definite in regard to his studies
and his reading. Nevertheless, in the few letters
that were written we get interesting glimpses of his
daily boyish life as well as evidences of his men-
tal activity expanding in various directions. And
here should be given in his own words the story of
his purchase of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English
Lexicon.1

" By the beginning of 1854 I had read most of the
Collectanea Graeca Majora with the aid of Schre-
velius' Lexicon in which the meanings of the Greek
words were given in Latin. This I found very in-
convenient and I longed for a good Greek- English
dictionary; but my grandmother thought five dol-
lars a great sum for so unpractical a luxury as Greek.

1 From a manuscript note of John Fiske's, in the copy of Liddell
and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon in the Fiske Library at Cam-
bridge, written in 1883.

John Fiske

I then began to earn money. Among other things I
learned that an Irishman, named Hennessey, would
buy old bones at 37 cents a barrel. I picked up
bones here and there till I had got five barrels which
brought me $1.85. In other ways I raised my fund
till it amounted to about $3.40, when my grand-
mother, seeing my determination, suddenly fur-
nished the remainder of the $5.00 and in June 1854
I became the jubilant possessor of this noble dic-
tionary, which I have ever prized most highly, as
I count the knowledge of Greek one of my most
spiritual possessions."

A panorama depicting various incidents in Bun-
yan's "Pilgrim's Progress " came to Middletown at
this time, and an illustrated poster of the exhibition
was placed in the post-office. Bunyan's immortal
work was one of Edmund's classics, and he studied
this poster carefully as he daily came for the mail.
So impressed was he by it that he made a reproduc-
tive drawing of it.1 He managed by pasting to-
gether several small sheets of paper to get a sheet
of goodly size, and then on his visits to the post-
office he would fix the features of the poster dis-
tinctly in his mind, and on his return would draw
them out on his sheet. His drawing is of interest

1 Edmund's reproduction of this poster has been preserved and
is now owned by Herbert Huxley Fiske. It bears the following in-
scription : —

"Early in the summer of 1853, when I was eleven years old, a pano-
rama of Pilgrim's Progress came to Middletown ; and while it was
there, a picture representing the scenes of the allegory was hung up
in the Post-Office and excited my intense interest and admiration,
as Bunyan was one of my favorite authors. I used to stand before

Early Education

as showing the inherent tendency of his mind to
grasp serious subjects, and also to render some
account of its activity, while dealing with them.

He hears a lecture on metals, and also attends
the Commencement exercises at the Wesleyan
University of which he gives excellent, thoughtful
accounts in his simple, lucid style. One letter of
this period gives a bit of verbal self-criticism that is
worthy of note as showing that in these early years
he was awake to subtile distinctions in the use of
words. He had given his mother quite an account
of some military operations in the Crimean War,
then raging, and he closed with this sentence: "If
anything has been stated wrong it is (that I have)
understated (it)." He then scratches out the words
in parenthesis and adds: "I scratched out these
words because the statement might be taken in a
different sense from what I meant."

The only allusion to his reading during this in-

the picture and study it every day on my way home from Daniel
Chase's school. I presently tried to reproduce from memory its
principal features. After making this sketch, I wished to introduce
the human figures, but was not satisfied with my crude attempts to
draw a man. So I decided to leave it for my mother, on her next visit
to Middletown, to draw the men, and marked provisionally, with
numerals, the places where they were to come. I intended afterward
to fill out the minor details of shrubbery, etc., somewhat as already
filled out to the left of Palace Beautiful. But with the pause thus
necessitated, the work stopped, and was by and by forgotten. Now,
after thirty-six years, finding it — folded, frayed and torn — among
some old papers, I have had it mounted and framed as a keepsake
for my son, Herbert Huxley Fiske, who is about the same age that
I was when I made this sketch.

JOHN FISKE.
Cambridge, June 6, 1889.

John Fiske

terregnum year is a remark in a letter of August 30,
1854, that at last he has finished Gibbon's " History
of Rome."

The question had now arisen as to the direction
of Edmund's future education — for college or for
practical life. His decided predilections for knowl-
edge, his remarkable powers of acquisition and
memory, his self-imposed studious habits, and his
good physical health, all united with strong, up-
right traits of character, seemed to demand a col-
lege education as their fitting complement. In the
year 1854 Mrs. Green received a proposal of mar-
riage from Edwin Wallace Stoughton, of New York
City. Mr. Stoughton had been a warm personal
friend of Mr. Green's, and he had known Mrs.
Green for several years and greatly admired her.
He was a self-educated man with a wide practical
knowledge. He had a notable and impressive per-
sonality, which indicated great force of character.
Without assistance he had won his way to a lead-
ing position at the New York Bar. He had a large
circle of friends in other professions as well as in his
own; and, enjoying an ample income, he sought to
surround himself with the amenities of social life.

Mrs. Green was an exceptionally attractive
woman in the full maturity of her powers. To her
personal attractions were added many intellectual
gifts. She had a keen appreciation of art in its three-
fold forms of literature, music, and painting ; at the

Early Education

same time she took a deep interest in the leading
social and political questions of the day. In addi-
tion to these characteristics she possessed the charm
of a dignified, gracious manner which placed every
one at ease in her presence: in short, she possessed
in a marked degree the endowments essential to
leadership in refined social life.

Mr. Stoughton's proposal appealed to Mrs.
Green. By his abilities and his triumphs over diffi-
culties he had won her admiration ; while his pro-
fessional and social standing were assured.

But Mrs. Green could not forget her son and her
duty to him. She longed to have him with her, and
in addition to her devoted affection for him, she also
felt a great responsibility for his educational bring-
ing-up in view of the very extraordinary mental
powers he had already put forth, coupled as they
were with certain character elements — all of
which gave promise, under proper training, of a
mind of exceptional power on reaching its maturity.
She took Edmund, young as he was, into her confi-
dence. She assured him that her first duty was to
him, and that any prospects that did not include
his happiness as well as her own would not be con-
sidered by her. Edmund 's ready response shows a
remarkable maturity of mind for a boy twelve
years of age. He told his mother of his great love for
her and how it would grieve him to have any one
come between them so that she should lose any of
her love for him. But he did not want her to make

John Fiske

any sacrifice for him. He was happy with his
grandmother. His wants were few; and with a few
years more of study he could take care of himself.
He did n't need schools or teachers; he knew how
to study by himself; in short, he showed, along with
his manly consideration for his mother, the simple
optimism of youth.

In the latter part of 1854 Mrs. Green accepted
Mr. Stoughton's proposal of marriage. The ques-
tion then arose as to Edmund's future home. His
mother wanted him with her, now that she was to
have a home of her own. The grandparents, how-
ever, were inconsolable at the thought of giving up
their charge, having tended him through his in-
fancy and early boyhood, just as he was entering
on the most interesting period of his development,
and they could not relinquish him without much
sorrow. It is probable that the decision finally
reached was largely owing to the wishes of Ed-
mund himself. Much as he loved his mother, he did
not wish to live in New York City. He hated its
confinement, its narrow streets, and its noise. He
loved Middletown, its quiet, its freedom, its near-
ness to the country where he could enjoy nature
at his will. He dearly loved his grandparents, and
their home was the only real home he had known.
He wished to remain with them; and in his boyish
way he pleaded to have his wishes respected. They
were respected, and it was decided that he should
remain with his grandparents.

CHAPTER IV

THE MARRIAGE OF MRS. GREEN TO MR. STOUGHTON
— THE CHANGE OF NAME TO JOHN FISK— TWO
YEARS AT BETTS'S ACADEMY, STAMFORD — JOINS
ORTHODOX CHURCH, MIDDLETOWN

1855-1857

MR. STOUGHTON and Mrs. Green were married at
the Fisk homestead in Middletown in March, 1855.
As it had been decided that Edmund should remain
with his grandparents, it seemed eminently proper
that his surname should be changed so as to express
his identification with the Fisk family of which
he was then the sole male representative. This be-
ing granted, and several of his ancestors having
worthily borne the Christian name of John, — par-
ticularly his great-grandfather who had died in re-
cent years leaving an honored name, — it seemed
equally fitting that he should take this Christian
name also. Accordingly he was given the name of
John Fisk, and the change of name was duly legal-
ized in September, 1855, by the Superior Court of
Connecticut.

Henceforth in our narrative, therefore, the sub-
ject of this memoir will appear in propria persona as
John Fisk.1

1 The use of "e" in his surname does not appear until he reaches
college in 1860. By an error in printing the Harvard Catalogue for

John Fiske

Immediately following the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Stoughton arrangements were made for John's
going to the Betts Academy, a well-established pre-
paratory school at Stamford, Connecticut, in close
proximity to his mother, so that she could visit him
and he could visit her.

In April, 1855, tne letters to his mother over his
new name begin. The first letter, under date of
April 26, relates mainly to his getting ready for go-
ing to Stamford. He tells his mother that he is
going to take forty books with him, not including
Lardner, which he will also take; that he has put all
his nicely bound books from downstairs, and up gar-
ret, in order in his book-case. He also tells her that
his grandmother has given him a large black trunk
with his name on it; and that she has put one hun-
dred dollars in the bank for him because he has taken
his great-grandfather's name. He also tells of his
closing up various boyish financial operations which
leaves him four dollars to take with him, all given
with the methodical accuracy of an official trustee.
Then, too, he gives a list of the persons on whom he
is to make parting calls, not omitting Bridget, an
old family servant. The penmanship of this letter
is very legible, and in appearance it reflects the
characteristics of a mature mind, and yet he asks
his mother to excuse his writing because he is so

this year his surname appeared as Fiske. As his ancestors had been
free to use or drop the " e," according to their good pleasure, he took
a like liberty and retained it.

At the Betts Academy

"ecstatic." That he takes pride in his name is
shown by the evident practice he has given to the
form of his new signature. It has a resemblance to
the signature of his great-grandfather, who was a
fine penman.

On May i, 1855, Mrs. Stoughton took John to
Stamford and placed him in charge of Mr. Betts, the
principal of the school. One week later he writes his
mother the following letter: —

STAMFORD, May 7, 1855.
Dearest Mother —

You promised me that you would come to see me
within a week. By the time this reaches you it will
be a week. I am very homesick and if you come
up it will cheer me very much. Never mind your
housekeeping affairs. I would have written you be-
fore but Mr. Betts reads all the letters the boys
send, and I was afraid to write. But Mr. Betts says
I may write just what I please. I have got my
garden ready for planting. Walter and I sleep in
No. 3. Each room has two beds in it; one single
the other double. I am very comfortable. I have
enough to eat, warm bed, and Mr. Betts is very
kind, but still I have an irrepressible longing to see
home. To see Grandma Fisk take naps in her rock-
ing chair in the corner; to sit by the side of the
stove in the dining-room writing; to sit with Julia
Nichols and talk about the war;1 and to see
Grandma Lewis, Mr. Lewis, and Mary and Allen
Griswold.

I am going to write to Grandma Lewis as soon as

1 The Crimean War.

John Fiske

I have finished this. I want to write a long letter
but cannot find any more to say.

From your very affectionate son,

JOHN FISK.

P.S. Be sure to come Wednesday if you don't
stay more than an hour. Oh, how I shall look for
you Tuesday 8th. I am getting along very well
with the boys. I shall plant musk and watermelons
only. It rains very hard.

The letter to his grandmother is interesting in
that it shows his dutiful consideration for all mem-
bers of the family; and then the postscript! observe
the fine feeling in it.

STAMFORD, May 7, 1855.
Dearest Grandma —

You must come down before the first of June. I
cannot say but a few words. I am very homesick
although surrounded with every comfort that heart
can wish. If you do not write me a letter I shall not
write you one. It seems as if I had been here six
months instead of six days. Walter and I sleep to-
gether. I like it better than sleeping alone. Give
my best love to Grandma Fisk, Mr. Lewis, Allen
Griswold, Mary, Miss Julia and all.

From your affectionate grandson,

JOHN FISK.

The next morning he added the following post-
script : —

"I am getting along very well with the boys.
They are very polite and use no bad language. I did
not mean to hurt your feelings by saying that I
should not write until you wrote me."

At the Betts Academy

Looking at the originals of these letters, and ob-
serving the legible handwriting, their freedom from
blots, or erasures, or misspelled words, as well as
the generally correct punctuation, one can hardly
realize that they were the easy product of a boy
just turned thirteen years of age.

The Betts Academy was a well-conducted school
of the period. Order and method prevailed under
the influence of a genial religious feeling. John read-
ily made himself amenable to the school discipline,
and the following extracts from a letter to his
grandmother, apropos of her visiting him, written
after being in the school a fortnight, are of interest
as showing his studies and his purpose to trans-
cend the school requirements in his private study
and reading. The pride he takes in his home li-
brary is also shown, as well as the distinct and
orderly way in which he has the several works in
mind : —

"I get up at 5^ o'clock every morning, am
dressed and ready for prayers in 15 minutes. At
6| o'clock we have breakfast. From 8 till 10 I study
Greek. Then there is half an hour recess. From
loj till 12 I study mathematics. From 2 till 4
Latin. At 6 o'clock we have supper. From *]\ till
8J I study Latin Prose. From 8J to 9 I read. The
playhours are from 7 to 8 A.M., from I to 2 and from
4 to 6 P.M. Every Wednesday morning we draw.
Every Saturday morning we speak or write com-
positions. Wednesday and Saturday afternoons we
go of an excursion. . . . We have a library in the

John Fiske

school-room with books for the use of the scholars.
It is not one-third as large as mine though.

"If you look in my book-case in the china closet,
you will find ' Kuhner's Greek Grammar ' bound in
black cloth with a morrocco back; ' Evenings with
the Old Story Tellers,' bound in blue muslin;
'Johnston's Natural Philosophy/ bound in yellow
leather, and ' Second Book Practical Anatomy and
Physiology,' bound in green muslin, with red mor-
rocco back. Please bring them. . . .

11 1 have ten hills of melons — five of each kind.
Probably these will yield 20 or 30 melons."

The real boy nature comes out at the close of this
matter-of-fact letter where he says, "You want to
know what you shall bring me; bring me 'suthin
good/"

From the composition and penmanship of these
letters it might be thought that their excellence is
owing somewhat to the criticism of the principal
of the school. It can be said, however, that in these
particulars the letters are in no way superior to
what had preceded them.

Subsequent letters show an increasing interest in
his studies as well as in all the personnel of the
school. His language teacher thinks him deficient
in Latin and Greek, although he is the youngest boy
in his class, and has already read the whole of Virgil,
Horace, Tacitus, Sallust, Suetonius, several books
of Livy, a dozen orations of Cicero, and some of
his philosophical writings, with more or less of
Ovid, Catullus, and Juvenal.

At the Betts Academy

Mr. Betts, observing John's predilection for
study over everything else, early forbade his study-
ing during play hours. John's comment is, "Now
having once got out of doors I hate staying in school
as bad as the other boys." His accounts of the va-
rious amusements, of the Fourth of July celebration,
and of the school excursions are models of simple,
lucid narration. He early writes a composition on
the sun and also one on Sir Isaac Newton. He reads
Irving's "Knickerbocker's New York." His marks
are very uniform, and remarkably high. One in-
cident connected with his marks is worth giving
in his own words as it shows how well balanced his
mind was at this early age : —

" I am going to relate to you an incident which
shows the bad results of idleness. Tuesday after-
noon I talked to Charley Sterling in school thinking
I would have plenty of time for my lesson. All of a
sudden the class in Sallust was called. I knew noth-
ing about the lesson and was simply obliged to look
on. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Betts, when the
lesson was called, he read off, * John 7f.'"

John's first term at the Betts Academy closed
the last of September, 1855, and he returned to
Middletown to spend the vacation with his grand-
parents. It seems that the school vacations then
were in the months of April and October. Two in-
cidents in this vacation are of interest as showing a
growing appreciation of his personal appearance
and also that the idea of going to college is firmly

John Fiske

fixed in his mind. For the first time in his, life he is
to have a tailor-made suit, of which he gives this
brief but lucid description: —

" My coat is to be of black broad-cloth to come an
inch below my knees. My pants and vest were done
Saturday night. The pants are small black and
brown plaid. Grandma thinks they are the prettiest
I ever had. The vest is dark brown with narrow
satin stripes cutting it into squares. "

His grandmother has given him a room for his
study into which he has gathered his books and his
various belongings, and the idea of going to college
distinctly appears in his description of this room
and its contents : —

" I have got the north bed-room for my study. I
shall have it when I go to college. Before the east
window is the large black rocking-chair; in the
Northeast corner is the high table which stood in
the upper front hall, and on it is the little book-case
with 1 1 6 books. On the north side is the black sofa.
At the west end of the sofa is a chair. Two chairs
on the west side. In the middle of the room is the
table which stood in the back parlor before the
looking glass. It has got a red table-cloth on it;
and my writing-desk, and blank books, and box of
instruments and father's 'reliquae poetica' are ar-
ranged on it so as to look as business-like and as
much like Mr. Stoughton's table as possible."

This description was accompanied by a very com-
plete diagram showing the shape of the room
and the precise location of every article referred to.

At the Betts Academy

It is perhaps unnecessary to point out the uncon-
scious logical arrangement of the details in this
description, but what we should particularly note
is the keen sense of order here manifested. This is a
character trait which we shall see manifested in
later years, in the orderly arrangement of his wide
and varied knowledge. This room became his great
pride, and his retiring place during a very impor-
tant period in his intellectual development.

John's second term at the Betts Academy —
November I, 1855 to April I, 1856 — does not
appear to have been marked by any incidents of
special significance. The latter part of November
he thinks of writing to his Grandfather Green, but
being perplexed as to how he should sign the letter,
he does not write. His studies for the term appear
to have been mainly given to Latin, Greek, and ge-
ometry, with an intimation that he might have had
some textbook chemistry. Being near New York
City his mother visited him often; hence the letters
were not so frequent, nor were they as full of detail
as when he was writing from Middletown. He
mentions having written two compositions, one
of sixteen pages on the Crimean War, and one of
nine pages about the ancient Romans — a subject
he confesses he "had not nearly exhausted. " His
marks during this term were exceptionally high.
One week he was perfect in everything — the high-
est record ever attained in the school.

At the close of the term in March, 1856, the ques-

John Fiske

tion arose as to his preparing to enter Yale in the
following September. At this time there was no
thought of his entering any other college than Yale.
That he possibly could have entered as freshman
was admitted, but as he was only fourteen years of
age his mother decided against his making the at-
tempt and so he returned to the Betts Academy
in May, but with the purpose in his mind of enter-
ing Yale as sophomore the next year.

The following letter written to his mother a little
later gives a glimpse at his studies, and also shows
that he was going about his college preparation in
a very definite, self-reliant way: —

STAMFORD, June 25, 1856.
Dear Mother —

In reply to your questions I can say that in my
studies I am progressing about as well as usual. I
am commencing the 2nd book of Virgil and the 3rd
of Trigonometry and have entered upon a new
Greek author, ''The Death of Socrates," by Plato.
I have written no poems this summer. Mr. Osborn
says he thinks I can enter Yale next summer in the
sophomore class, and as you had rather have me do
that than enter freshman this year, I think I will
do it. After the time of Henry Eno leaving here —
which will be the last of next month, I shall com-
mence the freshman studies, — Livy, Xenophon,
Latin Prose Composition.

The letters to his mother and grandmother dur-
ing this term show, in addition to a fine feeling of du-
tiful consideration, a growing breadth and serious-

Religious Stirrings

ness of thought, while his simple, lucid style in his
accounts of the various incidents of the school life
continues as a very noticeable feature. The political
contest that was then going on is reflected in the
letters. This was the first Republican Presidential
campaign under Fremont, with Buchanan and
Fillmore as opposing candidates. The sentiment of
the school was wholly in favor of Fremont, and we
have this bit of political vaticination, which re-
flects somewhat the nature of the contest that was
being waged: " If Fillmore or Buchanan should be
elected we shall be ruled by Paddies, or Dutchmen,
for the next four years."

And now we find John's mind beginning to be
deeply exercised on the subject of religion. He had
accepted the faith of his mother and his grand-
parents as a matter of course, and regarded the cus-
tomary religious observances as quite in the natural
order of things — matters that were settled and
were to be accepted without question. Then, too,
the Betts school, while not sectarian, was strictly
evangelical in character, and attendance at prayers
and church services was obligatory. Just what par-
ticular experiences roused John's religious feelings
does not appear. It is a fair supposition that to
his upright, well-balanced mind, religion came as
wholly in the natural order of things; and that as his
ideals of life enlarged he seemed to see in the Chris-
tian faith the complement to all positive knowledge
— what was unknown to man was known to God,

John Fiske

so that religion, the manifestation of man's faith in
God, " who doeth all things well," was the funda-
mental part of all human knowledge.

Whatever may have been the direct, impelling
causes of his religious feelings, certain it is that dur-
ing this term they were so thoroughly roused that
he went beyond the school requirements in his at-
tendance upon the religious exercises: indeed, he
went so far as to request his mother not to visit him
on Wednesday or Friday evenings, as he had meet-
ings on those evenings. A little later he formally
joined the North Congregational Church in Mid-
dletown.

During this term he appears to have had diffi-
culty with one of his eyes. He writes, August 18,
1856: " I have been putting my drawing into effect.
I went with Mr. Betts about a month ago to survey
a lot for a new church. I drew several large plans
and maps for the deacons of the church. My eyes
have troubled me very much in consequence/'
His school record during this term is, for deport-
ment, perfect; while for his lessons, the average is
9A perfect.

John's devotion to his studies and his ambition
for an early entrance at college combined with his
religious earnestness gave his mother grave concern
over preparing for college at his early age. With his
great desire for knowledge and his faithfulness to
his studies, it was apparent that his physical con-
stitution could not stand the strain he was willing to

Joins Orthodox Church

put himself under, and that his ambition must be
checked, at least for a period. Accordingly, toward
the close of the term his teachers seriously advised
him to give up his idea of entering Yale the next
year as sophomore, to take things easier, to come
back and take another term at the school and not
try to enter above freshman. John accepted this
advice — in part — and returned to the school in
November for the winter term.

During these last two terms his visits to his
mother and her visits to him were frequent, so that
we get in his letters but few particulars in regard to
his studies. Apparently they were confined to Latin,
Greek, and English grammar, with readings and
translations of the classics, arithmetic, algebra, and
geometry. His reading is evidently quite excur-
sive, for he asks his mother to bring him a copy
of "Hudibras," which he wants very much; and he
writes an essay on the " Habitability of Planets"
and one on the "Augustan Era," in the former of
which he made the point, familiar now, but new
then, that Jupiter and Saturn, owing to their great
size and slow refrigeration, are in a much earlier
phase of development than Venus and the Earth.
Then, too, he appears to have been dwelling upon
the thought that the tracing-out of God's Provi-
dence in history would be a suitable work for his
mature years.

On January 2, 1857, John writes his mother a
letter of four pages, portions of which are of special

John Fiske

interest as reflecting the profoundly serious char-
acter of his religious feeling, as well as marking a
stage in his religious development. The letter opens
with an excuse for not writing for some days be-
cause of illness. To use his own words: "I, John
Fisk, have had the mumps! For a week my en-
larged face rested upon a double chin." And here is
a bit of adolescent moralizing, which shows how
seriously his religious experience was affecting the
whole order of his thought: —

"The old year has fled: those many happy hours
which it has witnessed — that happy visit 1 are fled
likewise. It has gone, all gone. Those lost opportu-
nities can never be recovered : those hours of pleas-
ure will never return: those scenes have fled and
live but in the past. Oh, may this new year be the
witness of yet happier scenes to you, as well as to
myself dear mother; and to all dear to us. May we
live so that in future years we may look back upon
it as one spent in the service of the meek and lowly
Jesus."

And this is his felicitation of the advent of the
New Year: —

"Hail New Year! It welcomes me with a glad
smile as it beholds me reading Cicero, Xenophon,
and^Elian; and peradventure, dipping into Algebra,
or poring over the rules of Latin composition.
Farewell, O Virgil! thou hast been a source of pleas-
ure as well as profit. Many a '9' hast thou given

1 Evidently a reference to a visit from his mother, when he con-
fided to her his deep religious feeling, and received her sympathy.

Religious Development

me ; never has the bitter ' 7 ' risen from thy pages to
meet my unwelcoming eyes."

The letter closes in the following serious strain: —

" Mother, I wish you many * Happy New Years r ;
and that we may meet to spend a happy eternity in
Heaven is the prayer of your son,

"JOHN FlSK."

The letters during the remainder of the term
have but little general interest, save as showing his
faithfulness to his studies and as reflecting some-
what the seething adolescent impulses that were
coursing through his brain. His school record for
the whole term was very high — the highest ever
attained in the school — deportment, perfect: les-
sons, 353.85 out of a possible 380 as perfect.

At the close of the term there was the usual school
exhibition, with speaking and prizes for both com-
position and speaking. John won the first prize
for an oration on "Silent Influences" — the prize,
awarded by three clergymen of Stamford, being
for both the composition and the delivery. In a long
letter to his mother John gives a graphic account of
the exhibition and the awarding of the prizes. This
letter is marked not only with all the felicities of
style we have had occasion to notice in previous
letters; it also shows an innate trait of character
remarkable in a boy of his years — a clear sense of
justice and a desire to do justice to others, and
especially when unfortunate in presenting their

John Fiske

claims. Although John was the hero of the occasion,
— the youngest in the graduating class, having the
highest school record ever attained in the school,
and the winner of the first prize, — yet in his account
of the affair he says as little of himself as possible,
while he warmly praises his competitors and shows
his greatest interest in the boy who failed through
embarrassment: in short, he gives a clear idea of the
excellence of his own performance by the generous
praise he gives his competitors.

John received for his prize a copy of Cowper's
" Works " in one octavo volume bound in morocco;
he also received from his teacher, Mr. Osborn, " a
Greek Testament, a cunning little thing with maps/'
These volumes he always prized as mementoes of
his happy days at Stamford; and they remain to-
day, in his library at Cambridge, among the cher-
ished souvenirs of his educational period.
i And thus, having just passed his fifteenth birth-
day, John's schooling at Stamford came to an end ;
he left the Betts Academy with the affectionate re-
gard of his classmates, his teachers, and Mr. Betts;
and he returned to Middletown, wearing, as he tells
us, "a tall silk hat as an emblem of manhood."

CHAPTER V

RETURNS TO MIDDLETOWN — PREPARES FOR EN-
TRANCE AT YALE — GENERAL READING — HUM-
BOLDT'S "COSMOS" — DAWNING RATIONALISM —
MUSICAL DIVERSIONS — PASSES FRESHMAN EXAMI-
NATIONS FOR YALE — DECIDES TO GO TO HARVARD

1857-1858

JOHN'S return to Middletown in April, 1857, was
only to take up another phase of his educational
training. His purpose was to enter Yale as sopho-
more the following September. In this purpose he
had the approval of his mother, and he sought a
tutor to review him in the freshman studies. In the
course of his inquiries he heard of an unattached
clergyman, the Reverend Henry M. Colton, who
had recently opened a preparatory school for boys
in Middletown, and who had an excellent reputa-
tion at Yale for scholarship, and also for his suc-
cess in preparing students for the entrance examina-
tions. John called upon Mr. Colton with reference
to getting assistance in continuing his preparatory
studies during the summer, and he gave his mother
an exceedingly graphic account of the interview.
In view of the subsequent relations between John
and Mr. Colton, and also as an illustration of John's
power of personal characterization at this early age,
the letter is of particular interest : —

John Fiske

MIDDLETOWN, May 26th, 1857.

My dear Mother, —

I went to Mr. Colton's on Saturday, and the sub-
stance of the proceedings is as follows after the us-
ual preliminaries — statement of case, etc., etc., etc.

He has seven boys, all sons of nabobs. His terms
are $500. per annum for his boarders!!! and about
$40. for me until August 1st. Whew!!! He wished
to know what course I intended to pursue with
him — Latin, Greek, etc., etc., etc. I said I wished
to review everything. He made some question
about what I had studied, etc., — looked very
profound!

Just then Dr. Taylor came in to see him about
some hymns for the choir on Sunday. Glad to see
me — son of Mrs. E. W. Stoughton, residing in
New York — grandson of Mrs. E. Lewis in Mid-
dletown — residing with, and under care of his
grandmother, etc., etc. To which Mr. Col ton re-
plied— "Oh!"
, Dr. T. "He is quite young to go to college?"

Mr. C. "Oh! Ah! Ugh! not more than 18 or 19 I
should say."

Dr. T. "He is only seventeen."

J. F. "I am only fifteen."

Mr. C. "Ha, Ha, Ha!!!"

Exit Dr. Taylor.

Mr. C. "Do you know German?"

/. F. "No, sir! "

Mr. C. "Do you know French? "

J. F. "No!"

Mr. C. "Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!"

J. F. "Why?"

Mr. C. "Why!!! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!"

Returns to Middletown

J. F. "Why should I understand French and
German? they are not required. " (You see I was
beginning to get mad at his rudeness.)

Mr. C. (not heeding me). "Oh! you want to say
I graduated when I was 19. You want to seem
smart and precocious! You want to swell up and
be big — Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!! etc., etc."

Well, after he had got through with his everlast-
ing guffaws,he said I had no business to go to college
(Yale especially) at 15; 'twould kill me, wear me
out, etc., tremendous hard time of it — and all that
lingo. But you see he wanted to get me for a whole
year or two. (Ah! thought I, you don't come that.)
He is going to have a row-boat. His marks are
from o to 300 — pretty minute system that. He is
very liberal, etc., has had his 7 "nabobs junior" six
months on twelve Greek pages!! Wants to do the
same with me! Marks boys for sitting badly, for
hesitating, for saying a word twice over; and spends
more time I should think with his 300 marks than
with his pedagogical duties.

He is not possessed of an extraordinary degree of
politeness, though a very fine scholar; thinks he is
just the smartest man in creation — self-made man,
educated himself, etc. Talks all the time about him-
self, gabbles continually. Little weazen-faced man
of about 35, hard brow, cold eyes, spectacles, high
cheek-bones, light hair, shaggy eye-brows, no beard,
small nose of no particular species; on the whole
rather decidedly plain. Very pleasant face though
odd way of speaking; very 'set' and can't be si-
lenced : chilling repulsive feeling came over me when
I saw him: and before I had talked with him five
minutes I hated him like sixty. Very strange, be-

John Fiske

cause he was pleasant as could be. He talked, tak-
ing it for granted that I did n't know anything, and
seemed to have imbibed the idea that money was
not an indigenous crop where I lived. When he
thought I was 18 years old he was as civil as could
be; but when he found I was only 15 he talked quite
differently.

We have come to no agreement as yet; and I
most ardently hope that I shall never have him for
my boss. I would rather have Mr. Chase or "Mr.
Squeers" 2000 times. His price is stupendous —
perfectly alarming. $40. for three months school-
ing! Mr. Chase would be only $8. That was his
price when I used to go to him. It can't be much
more now.

At any rate I don't want to go to him if you had
just as lief have me recite to Mr. Chase. I don't
like that particularly; but out of two evils I would
choose the least.

I guess you will get used to the beaver by mid-
summer. Good-bye.

JOHN.

But John's dislike of Mr. Colton was overborne
in the mind of his grandmother by Mr. Colton's
reputation for scholarship and for his influence at
Yale. Speaking of Mr. Colton's influence at Yale
John writes: "Grandmother (Mrs. Nickleby like)
was so elated at that, that she persuaded me to go
to him — said she was willing to pay. So we went
in the afternoon and fixed it up."

His first day's experience with Mr. Colton was
indeed discouraging. He writes his mother: —

Prepares for Yale

" Yesterday I went and with all his fine (?) teach-
ing he has got a set of dunces. Oh, I thought, if he
could only hear us at Mr. Betts! Why, such recita-
tions as yesterday's, would be considered at Stam-
ford as reflecting shame on both school and teacher.
Mr. Col ton wants to see you and convince you of
the feasibility of my staying out. Staying out of Col-
lege and going to Mr. Col ton's!!!! I have no words
to express my contempt and indignation at the
proposal unless I repeat the significant particle.
Bah!!!"

Three days' experience in the school, however,
brought a complete change in John's mind in regard
both to Mr. Colton's methods of teaching and his
own early entrance at college. The reasons for his
change of mind are frankly given; and we have here
a clear instance of his open-mindedness and his
power of self-control which enabled him to face a
very unpleasant situation with a course of action
based upon sound judgment, and quite in opposi-
tion to what he had, upon imperfect knowledge, set
his mind. The following extracts are from a letter
dated May 30, 1857, to his mother: —

"I like Mr. Colton's method more and more.
He is without doubt a wise, kind, though very ec-
centric, man. But just think how different from
what I am used to. I study three hours and a half
upon one third of a page in Greek! What do you
think? I have to give a flowing translation which is
not always easy. I have to trace every word through
its different phases and dialectic changes. I have

John Fiske

to find and give the corresponding word in Latin,
Hebrew, Sanskrit, German and sometimes in
French ; so that although I have only been with him
three days, I can already see the beautiful and won-
derful relations of these parallel languages."

We shall have occasion, in subsequent years, to
observe John's great interest in comparative phil-
ology. Here we have to note the beginning of that
interest. Having become a convert to Mr. Colton's
method, John now takes under favorable consid-
eration Mr. Colton's suggestion of postponing his
college entrance for two years or more and giving
the time to a broader and more thorough prepara-
tion than he had hitherto considered. Mr. Colton
brought some strong arguments in support of his
suggestion, basing them on John's extreme youth
and his exceptional interest in his studies — two
points which, united as they were in his case, would
inevitably lead to excessive mental strain and bring
on a mental break-down before he could finish a
thorough college course. John repeats Mr. Colton's
arguments, and then adds: —

" Suppose I should go to Mr. Colton a year or
two and get well grounded in this thorough system
of education, and then keep studying and teach
school, and go to college when I am 21 or 22 years
old and then take the valedictory and render my-
self immortal! for a Yale valedictorian is immor-
talized. I don't want to do this; but I think it is
best. I have but one life to live and I cannot live
too well. I cannot learn too much, nor take too high

His Studies

a niche in the Temple of Fame. Now I am urging
you to let me take a course which is disagreeable
to me; but I do want to stand high in college."

How well the fine-tempered boy comes out in this
paragraph! What a pity that he had no adequate
preparatory or college ideal to turn to at this in-
teresting period ! He seems to have been left in the
final determination to his own choice. The prepara-
tory course for an early entrance at Yale was aban-
doned, and John put himself under Mr. Colton's
educational guidance for an indefinite period and
immediately settled down to his studies in his usual
thoroughgoing way.

John gave an account some years later of this
change of purpose with Mr. Col ton with the results
that flowed from it, and his succinct account has a
fitting place here.

"I began reading with him (Col ton) just for a
few weeks until I could go to Yale and I got so
much in love with his methods of scholarship, that
I studied with him over two years and got steeped
in^Greek to the very ends of my toes, besides getting
an excellent reading knowledge of German. I often
wonder that I staid with him so long, for his man-
ners were odious. He was cross, rude, unreasonable,
ill-tempered, furious in his outbursts of anger —
quite a savage — and I hated the sight of him : but
1 liked his teaching."

We have not the particulars of all his studies
with Mr. Colton. It is evident, however, that he

John Fiske

put himself into full conformity to Mr. Colton's re-
quirements, and that he took up the study of Ger-
man, algebra, and Euclid, in addition to Latin and
Greek. He tells us in his letters that at this time he
could read easy Greek like Plato or Herodotus at
sight. His reading was not in scraps as boys usually
read Greek, but he would take up an oration of
Lysias and read it through; and the "Iliad" he
would read continuously.

The latter part of July of this year — 1857 — he
went to the Yale commencement, taking in Stam-
ford by the way, and his account of the trip has
all his felicity of style. Knowledge of his probable
early entrance at Yale had preceded him, and while
in New Haven he visited two college societies and
he was "bored like sixty" to join them. What was
of greatest interest to him on this trip was his hear-
ing an address by Wendell Phillips, which he says
was "perfectly splendid — one of the finest things
I ever heard."

It was while John was settling down at Colton's
that he became acquainted with George Litch
Roberts, a junior at the Wesleyan University. Rob-
erts was possessed of a strong, self-reliant character,
and was John's senior by five years; but as both
were earnest students, and as they had much in
common in their ideals of the knowledge that was
of most worth, as well as in their musical tastes
and religious beliefs, this disparity of years was not
felt between them, and their acquaintance ripened

Interest in Music

into an intellectual companionship which, as we
shall see later, had a strong, stimulating effect upon
John's intellectual development as he came to ma-
turity.

Another incident of this period must be referred
to, as we are to see an influence radiating from it,
which, permeating the whole of John's subsequent
life, gave to it no small degree of its richness and
fulness. A friend had left with his grandmother for
safe-keeping a piano. John became greatly inter-
ested in playing upon it, and gave to this diversion
a goodly portion of his spare time. Having a " good
ear" he worked by himself until he could play such
works as Mozart's Twelfth Mass, "just to see what
they were like." He could find no encouragement in
those days for learning the piano; and when in
later years we are to see him finding his greatest
solace from his intellectual labor in mastering its
"wonderful harmonies," we shall do well to recall
this early unpremeditated experience with a friend's
piano.

The awakening of John's interest in music was
coincident with the rise of his religious feelings, and
having joined the choir of the North Church he
sought among other interests to give his religious
emotions musical expression. Accordingly at this
period he composed a number of musical composi-
tions, some of which are of a decidedly religious
character. These compositions have been preserved,
and are of interest, not only by reason of the neat-

John Fiske

ness and the technical accuracy of their execution,
but also by what they show of his musical profi-
ciency, gained without any instruction.

At the opening of the year 1858 John was ap-
proaching his sixteenth birthday, and he reveals
himself as in good health, enjoying physical exer-
cise, and with his mind, free from any outside pres-
sure, expanding in several directions. He is so well
satisfied with Mr. Colton's methods that he has
settled down to his studies with great ardor. In
Greek, Latin, and German he is studying the
grammatical construction and syntactical relation
of the three languages; and to this end he is work-
ing simultaneously with two or more grammars of
each language for the purpose of getting various
views on essential points, and then discussing these
points with Mr. Colton. In mathematics he is
working with Euclid to the fourth book, and in
algebra with the textbooks of Loomis and Peirce.
He is delighted to find Mr. Colton so thorough; and
in addition to his day study, he assigns two eve-
nings a week to study purposes.

As the year progressed, Spanish was added to his
language course, and he became greatly interested
in "theming" — that is, in tracing out the origin
and significance of words in the Greek and Latin
languages, and their modifications and significa-
tions in the modern languages. Nearly every letter
during the latter half of the year contains one or
more of these themes.

His General Reading

And here is a comment on the exercise of them-
ing, not unworthy of a mature philologist, which he
drops by the way: —

" Nothing like Theming to give one a broad view
of language. It gives one the thoughts which lie in
the mind, and which call forth words to embody
ideas, and to develop the words into genera and
species."

John's language work leads to a study of the phil-
ological essays of Gibbs and of Key, and also to a
careful reading of Davidson's and of Ladewig's
Virgil. More than this, these philological readings
reawakened John's interest in ancient history, and
he reread Rollin down to Greece, and then he
took up Grote's " History of Greece." That this
historical reading was of a thoughtful character is
shown by an incidental remark: —

"I am reading the sixth volume of Grote. He
must be a genius, or he never could use such splen-
did language as he does in describing the Pelopon-
nesian War. He seems to approach the grandeur of
his model Thucydides — or, to use the new orthog-
raphy, Thoukydides."

In mathematics during this year, John advanced
in algebra to Maclaurin's Theorem inclusive; while
in geometry he seems to have confined himself to
working out a few theorems, some of which he gives,
particularly one developed from the proposition of
Pythagoras which was proposed for demonstration

John Fiske

by the u Mathematical Monthly/' and which he
worked out himself, and " without once referring to
Euclid." As a sort of mathematical diversion he
read Sir William Hamilton's essay on " Mathe-
matics. "

Phrenology was a subject of wide popular interest
in those days, and John became greatly interested
in the rough-and-ready way of reading character
inculcated by it. He read very thoughtfully Fowl-
er's works on "Phrenology," then very popular,
and immediately began to apply the "Theory of
Bumps " to himself, to his mother, to his friend
Roberts — in fact, to all his friends — in the inter-
pretation of their characters. His phrenological
readings are to-day very amusing, yet we must
not forget that during the first half of the last cen-
tury, phrenology played an important part in the
development of what is now known as rational
psychology.

John's miscellaneous reading during this year is
not only a further illustration of his mental activity ;
it is also an indication of the high order of his in-
tellectual tastes, for what a mind in the process of
unfolding selects for its diversions reflects its in-
herent character or tastes no less than its positive
activities. In addition to what has been given,
his reading comprised Dickens's "Little Dorrit,"
"TheOld Curiosity Shop," and " Barnaby Rudge " ;
Emerson's "English Traits"; Bayne's essays on
Macaulay and Tennyson; Shakespeare's poems;

His General Reading

Milton's "Lycidas"; Comstock's " Elements of
Geology"; Hugh Miller's "The Testimony of the
Rocks"; Humboldt's " The Cosmos "; and Mackie's
"Life of Leibnitz."

That these works were read with a similar
thoughtfulness to that which marked his study-
reading, is shown in the letters. In speaking of
"Barnaby Rudge," he says: "I think it surpassed
by none of his other works. I don't know which of
Dickens's works is the best, but I think they can
never be surpassed." Of Shakespeare and Milton
he says: "I think Shakespeare better than Milton,
just as Homer is to Sophocles, or Virgil to Lucre-
tius." He was so impressed by Mackie's "Life of
Leibnitz" that he gave his mother a complete
sketch of the life of the great philosopher, closely
written on three letter-sheet pages, and without
blot or erasure.

The most significant of his comments on his read-
ing are with reference to Humboldt and his great
work, "The Cosmos." We have here to note par-
ticularly a dawning interest in cosmic phenomena,
and that he appears to have had a dim apprehen-
sion of the great discussion over "origins" that
was soon to follow — that was already in the air;
for we see him reading Hugh Miller, the orthodox
champion of special creations, almost coincidently
with his reading of Humboldt's profoundly sug-
gestive work. Of deep significance, therefore, in
the life of John Fiske are the following questions

John Fiske

which he puts to his mother at this time, with ref-
erence to Humboldt and to his "Cosmos": —

"Do you not consider Humboldt the greatest
man of the igth century, and the most erudite that
ever lived? Does not the 'Cosmos* exhibit more
vast learning than any other uninspired book?"

These questions of John Fiske, bearing date of
1858, are the first dawnings that we find of the
subject of Cosmic Evolution in his mind.

John's musical diversions are continued through
the year. In view of what we are to see later these
early musical experiences are worth noting. He
joins a musical association of which Roberts is a
member, and he reads Marx on " Musical Composi-
tion" and studies various oratorios. He begins the
composition of an opera which he calls "The Storm
Spirit," and gives an analysis of the theme, express-
ing the hope that during his vacation there may
be some good opera or oratorio performing in New
York City, that he may attend with his mother. He
adds: " I don't want to attend any American opera
after studying the works of Schubert, Mendelssohn,
and their less distinguished Italian contemporaries."

In music, as we shall see, in literature, architec-
ture, painting, and sculpture, his instinctive taste
strikes true from the first — he demands the best.

And with all his interests, his religious duties
were not neglected. "Something of a revival " was
going on in Middletown this year, and John appears
to have taken an active part in the various forms of

Music and Religion

•

service at the North Church. He and Roberts were
members of the choir, he taught in the Sunday
School, was interested in the Bible Class; and dur-
ing the revival interest, he specifically assigned two
evenings a week to the revival meetings, in the
conduct of which he not only led the singing, but
also took an active part in the speaking. In brief, he
appears to have accepted the Calvinistic interpreta-
tion of the Christian faith without reservation;
and in all his studies and in all his acts he seems to
have been actuated by a sincere desire to conform
his life to the highest ideals of Christian conduct.
At the opening of the year 1859 John had come
to about the limit of Mr. Col ton's philological
and mathematical knowledge, while in his historical
studies he had gone far beyond Mr. Col ton; nev-
ertheless, he continued to recite to him till July.
His regular studies during this period were Greek,
Latin, German, French, Spanish, spherical geometry ,
trigonometry, and conic sections. In his language
studies he gave much time to theming and to the
careful reading of classic writers in each language.
In one of his letters he remarks: " I have just done
with the first book of the 'Iliad.' Splendid but
rather hard " ; and again : " I am studying the ' Iliad '
with the greatest minuteness through the first six
books. I shall investigate the theme and history of
every word. The remaining 18 books I shall read
straight through." He also reviewed the freshman
studies at Yale.

John Fiske

The latter part of July he went to Yale and took
the freshman examinations and passed very credit-
ably, as appears from a letter of July 26, 1859: —

"I missed only one question and that was in
arithmetic. A tutor asked me to find the present
worth of a sum of money. I told him I was not pre-
pared on mercantile problems. He smiled and gave
me a sum in square root of decimals which I did.
Another tutor asked me for the 3d Prop., 2d book,
Euclid. I gave it, demonstrated it, and gave the
schol. in algebra. Another examined me a long
time in algebra — particularly in surds. I an-
swered all his questions without hesitation, did the
sums: he said, ' You have a decided taste for mathe-
matics, have n't you?' But the best of all was my
examination in Greek by Prof. Hadley. I read two
pages without stopping to look it over beforehand.
He asked me to decline nouns, conjugate verbs, etc.,
etc.; then points in syntax, then euphonic laws;
finally a lot of themes. Said he, ' What does " hyp-
eresias" come from?' (This word means 'hard
labor' and means * hypo' — 'under,' 'eiresia' —
' oars'). I answered, ' As the Greeks must have had
to work very hard in order to propel their immense
triremes, I suppose they called anything done "un-
der oars," "hard service." ' Said he, 'That is suffi-
cient for you, Mr. Fiske. I see that your preparation
has been singularly fine!'

"Col ton says that Hadley was delighted, and
astonished at me. I have my certificate of admis-
sion signed by President Porter."

Having passed the freshman examination at Yale
so creditably, John now has a strong desire to post-
86

Decides to go to Harvard

pone his college entrance for another year and to
enter Harvard rather than Yale, because, as he
says, "the course at Harvard is very different and
very much harder," another reason being the more
liberal intellectual atmosphere at Harvard. In
pleading his case he says: "It is true that the in-
struction at Harvard is conducted with less strict-
ness than at Yale. It is a bad place for a careless
scholar, but unequalled in facilities for an ambi-
tious one."

In his desire to enter Harvard instead of Yale,
John had his way; and so his college entrance was
again postponed and for another year — until Sep-
tember, 1860.

But John's desire to enter Harvard rather than
Yale had its origin in quite other considerations
than those arising from differences in methods of in-
struction at the two colleges. In fact, the change of
college — the preference of Harvard over Yale —
was only one of the effects produced by the great
revolution that took place during the year 1859 in
all John's inner life.

Before following him, therefore, in his prepara-
tion for and his entrance at Harvard, we must
review his religious inquiries and experiences with
their causes during this eventful year, for, as will
appear, all his subsequent thinking was vitally
affected by certain philosophical and religious con-
clusions he reached at this time.

We have seen that during the year 1858 John

John Fiske

was pushing his inquiries in various directions, and
particularly along the lines of physical phenomena
and human history. We have also seen that, hav-
ing accepted in all sincerity the Calvinistic faith of
his family and of his Puritan ancestors, he had
entered upon the observance of his religious duties
with great earnestness.

Actuated by such a desire for "the knowledge
that leadeth unto wisdom," the reading of Gibbon,
Grote, and Humboldt could not fail to stir his
thought in various directions; and nothing could be
more in the order of his thinking than that, after
converse with these stimulating and suggestive
minds, in addition to his general knowledge of clas-
sic literature, he should be led to inquire, in the
finest spirit of a Christian believer, into the founda-
tions of the religious faith which he had accepted
as embodying the highest truth vouchsafed to the
human mind.

Certain it is that, at the opening of the year, he
reveals himself as earnestly seeking light on certain
religious problems that were engaging his thought;
and that we may the better follow him through his
own personal experiences in his search for religious
truth, and the more clearly perceive the character
of the religious faith he did so much to promote, we
should get clearly before us the fundamental dog-
mas of Christian theology with their verifications,
which he found confronting him as an ultimate
philosophico-religious system at the opening of his

Religious Questionings

inquiries, an implicit belief in which was regarded
by all evangelical Christians as the essential part of
all true religion.

? Then, too, it is highly important that we get
these dogmas, with their implied philosophic sys-
tem, clearly before us at this stage of our narrative,
not only because of Fiske's personal experience in
emancipating his own mind from their baleful
tyranny, but also because his emancipation was
coincident with the rise of the philosophy of Evolu-
tion,— a philosophy based on science and "the
sweet reasonableness of the human mind," — to
the setting forth the religious implications of which
we are to see him, at his maturity, giving the full
measure of his powers as a co-worker with the most
eminent scientists and philosophic thinkers of the
time.

These dogmas of Christian theology, claiming to
be the presentation of ultimate truth as to the
Infinite Power back of the physical universe and
of conscious man, together with the dealings of
this Infinite Power, concisely stated were as fol-
lows : —

Dogma I. The Bible a sacred Book. Divinely in-
spired by the Infinite Creator of the cosmic uni-
verse it contains His messages to man.
The Old and the New Testaments contain the

Divine Creator's messages to man, and also His

covenants regarding man's Fall, his Redemption,

and his future state.

John Fiske

These Testaments are to be implicitly accepted
by man as containing the highest truth. Sub-
mitting these divinely inspired records to criticism,
in the light of science, or of historic evidence, or of
reason, is infidelity ; and shows a want of faith in the
Divine Creator; and a disbelief in His method of
creating and sustaining the cosmic universe, in-
cluding His creation and subsequent dealings with
conscious man.

Dogma II. The Infinite Creator a Trinitarian God-
head.

The assertion of an eternal uncreated Trinitarian
Godhead, existing from everlasting to everlasting;
omniscient and omnipotent; just and terrible in
judgment, yet most merciful and forgiving; the
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all that
in them is; composed of three Divine Persons in
one: —

God the Father.

God the Son.

God the Holy Ghost.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma III. The creation by fiat of the physical uni-
verse by God the Father, and His direct personal
care and supervision of it.

The assertion of the creation of the inorganic
physical universe out of hand in definite time by the
omnipotent power of God the Father and its sus-
tentation and control by His ever watchful care.
This dogma makes the whole physical universe sub-
ject not to universal law, but to the temporary will
of the asserted Creator.

Christian Dogmas

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma I V. The creation of the organic world of vege-
tal and animal phenomena out of hand by
Divine fiat; their endowment with the property of
life and its power of propagation.
The assertion that the creation of the vegetal
and animal kingdoms, with all their multifarious
forms of existences, was done out of hand, in defi-
nite time, by the omnipotent power of God; and
that he endowed these creations of His hand with
the mysterious property of life, and its power of
propagation.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma V. The creation of man as a perfect being;
his disobedience and fall; his condemnation; the
total depravity of the human race.

The assertion that God created, out of hand,
Adam and Eve in His own likeness, as perfect hu-
man beings and as the progenitors of the human
race; that Adam wilfully disobeyed God's express
command; that God thereupon condemned Adam
and his posterity to eternal punishment therefor —
thereby establishing the total depravity of the hu-
man race.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma VI. God plans man's redemption and salva-
tion through His Son; the Covenant of Grace.
The assertion that God the Father mercifully
stayed His hand, and devised a scheme for man's

John Fiske

redemption and salvation through His Son; who in
the fulness of time was to descend from Heaven ; was
to be miraculously born into the world; and was to
reveal God's complete plan, and give God's com-
plete message to man. This Son was then to be
crucified; was to arise from the dead and ascend
into Heaven and resume His place at the right hand
of God the Father in the final judgment of man-
kind. Only those who believe in the Divinity of
the Son arid His divine mission were to be saved.
The only verification of this stupendous dogma
presented to human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma VII. God chooses the Hebrew people as a
special portion of the human race through whom
to carry out His plan for man's redemption and
salvation.

It is asserted that God selected the Jews as a
chosen people for the carrying out of His purpose;
that He revealed Himself to them exclusively;
that He gave them an inspired record of His crea-
tion of the universe and its creatures; that He
gave them a code of laws written on stone with His
own hand ; that by inspired messages He prescribed
how they should worship Him, as well as the main
features of their social intercourse; that by many
miracles He attested His watchful care over them,
as well as His displeasure at their sinful acts; that,
above all, He kept alive in their minds, through the
inspired teachings of their Prophets, their belief
that in the fulness of time their Messiah or Re-
deemer would come.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Christian Dogmas

Dogma VIII. Christ appears on earth as the Son of
God and as man's Redeemer: His perfect life;
His crucifixion; His resurrection; His ascension.
It is asserted that at the beginning of the Chris-
tian era, Christ appeared in Judea as the Son of
God ; that He had a miraculous birth ; that He was
anointed with the Holy Spirit; that He led a per-
fect life; that He taught the doctrines ascribed to
Him; that He performed miracles; that He was
crucified; that He arose from the dead; that He
ascended into Heaven.

The only verification of this dogma presented
to human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma IX. The descent of the Holy Ghost.

It is asserted that the descent of the Holy Ghost
took place at a Pentecostal festival; that it was a
visible confirmation of the Divine mission of Christ;
that it was an assurance to the Apostles that the
Holy Spirit would henceforth be an ever-active
Divine force in the world, tending to lead men to
believe that God was still merciful ; and to embrace
Christ as their only means of salvation.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma X. Resurrection — A Day of Judgment — •

Immortality.

This dogma is presented as physical phenomena
yet to come, in the working-out of the Divine plan
for man's redemption and salvation. There is to be
a Day of Judgment, when Christ is to appear in great
power and glory, when the dead are to be raised

John Fiske

and all mankind are to be judged in righteous-
ness for conduct here on earth. The righteous are
then to be separated from the wicked and awarded
eternal joy in Heaven; while the wicked or the un-
redeemed are to be condemned to eternal punish-
ment in Hell. Christ's resurrection and ascension
are adduced as physical proofs of the dogma.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Dogma XL The existence of Satan, an evil spirit in
rebellion against God the Father, and ever active
in endeavours to thwart God's holy purposes re-
garding man.

Until recent years the existence of Satan as a re-
bellious spirit of superhuman power was asserted
by Christian theology with hardly less positiveness
than was the existence of God Himself/ To the in-
spiration of Satan was attributed much of the crime
and wickedness which afflict mankind; and fifty
years ago Satan and his machinations to draw per-
sons to his abode were not exceptional topics for
pulpit discourses.

The only verifications of this dogma presented to
human reason are Dogma I and Milton's "Para-
dise Lost."

Dogma XII. Heaven and Hell.

It is asserted that Heaven is God's holy dwelling-
place somewhere beyond the conception of the hu-
man mind; where the Redeemed of earth are to
enjoy the Divine Trinity in company with the holy
angels forever; that Hell is a place somewhere set
apart where the unredeemed of earth are to suffer

Christian Dogmas

endless punishment in company with Satan and
other evil spirits.

The only verification of this dogma presented to
human reason is Dogma I.

Professor Eucken has well said: "There is a tre-
mendous logic about the development of these dog-
mas which cannot be broken in the middle: he who
wants one cannot refuse the others." 1

These dogmas were venerable in their antiquity,
and in their origin and historic development they
were a connecting link between the philosophico-
religious systems of the ancient and the modern
world — in fact, it was claimed that they embodied
and transcended all the higher phases of ancient
philosophy. Considered by themselves these dog-
mas presented a mighty drama of existences wherein
God, the physical universe, organic life, conscious
man, virtue and sin were all accounted for; and
wherein man's religious and moral duties in the
conduct of life with their rewards and penalties
were distinctly set forth — the whole presenting a
complete and rounded philosophico-religious sys-
tem embracing all existences with the Ultimate
Cause and teleological purpose underlying the whole.

This mighty drama was presented to human rea-
son as resting upon one fundamental fact — which
must in no way be questioned — the fact that the
Bible, the sole authority for the scheme, was a
divinely inspired Book and contained God's mes-

1 Eucken and Historical Christianity, by E. Hermann, p. 107.

John Fiske

sages to man, and hence transcended all other
knowledge. During the Christian centuries great
thinkers had beaten these dogmas into shape and
had related them for ready comprehension by
the common mind until they had become, as it
were, integral parts in the consciousness of the
Christian world, while upon them had been or-
ganized a vast system of ecclesiasticism through
which the spiritual relations between God and man
enshrouded in the dogmas were presented to im-
agination and to religious faith in the most impres-
sive forms of architecture, literature, music, and art.
It is becoming somewhat the fashion, in these
later days of science and new religions, to look with
a feeling akin to supercilious disdain upon these
dogmas and to credit them with but little good in
the moral and intellectual development of man-
kind. We may admit the gross anthropomorphic as
well as the mythical character that pervades them ;
the bitter persecutions and the terrible destruction
of human life that have attended their promulga-
tion as a system of religious faith may all be ad-
mitted; yet it must be conceded that these dogmas
have enshrouded far beyond any other religious
system a religious truth of the utmost significance;
a truth which was dimly apprehended in the an-
cient civilizations, and which philosophic thinkers
of all ages have recognized as lying back of all ex-
periential knowledge; a truth which by its majes-
tic spiritual import held European society together

Christian Dogmas

during the turbulent period of the Middle Ages
and which modern science is now confirming as
the ultimate truth of all cosmic phenomena — the
existence of an Infinite Eternal Power from whom
all things have proceeded; whose Divine nature
is reflected in the universe of material things, but
most of all in the moral consciousness of man,
and that this Eternal Power is ever further reveal-
ing itself through the moral progress of the race.
Now, it is an inevitable corollary to this ultimate
truth of science — the revealing of the Infinite
Divine Power through moral man — that between
the Divine Creator and the individual human soul
there is, and always has been, a direct spiritual re-
lation which is strengthened as the cosmic knowl-
edge and the moral life of man broadens.

Viewed in this light these dogmas have borne an
important part in the intellectual and moral de-
velopment of mankind. During the long period in
which man was slowly stumbling forward with his
scientific knowledge to a rational conception of the
physical universe, the conscious human mind, and
the Infinite Eternal Power lying back of both, these
dogmas enshrouded this great religious truth: that
between this Infinite Eternal Power and every in-
dividual soul there exists a direct spiritual relation
which is ever working to greater fulness of individ-
ual life — a truth which man's arts, in their varied
forms of architecture, painting, sculpture, litera-
ture, and music, fully confirm.

John Fiske

With the progress of modern science, this great
religious truth has been undergoing a steady pro-
cess of dogmatic denudation ; and as this denuding
process has gone forward, the great enshrouded
truth has ever come forth in a clearer light as of
vital significance to the intellectual and moral well-
being of mankind.

During the middle period of the last century
there came a number of culminating discoveries in
the physical, the biological, the psychological, the
philological, and the sociological sciences, accom-
panied by results in Biblical criticism, which en-
tirely discredited the dogmatic assertion of the
special Divine inspiration of the Bible, thereby
•completely annulling the binding force of the Chris-
tian dogmas as ultimate truth.

The nature and the full philosophic bearing of
these discoveries will appear a little later when we
come to consider the philosophy based on the doc-
trine of evolution. In 1859 the Christian world
was discussing these discoveries, with the results of
Biblical criticism thrown in, mainly from the view-
point of dogmatic theology; and thus a new phase
was given to the long contest between theology and
science.

In this contest the most eminent theologians

took a hand. They saw that they were facing a

more serious issue than ever before, and they

rushed with the utmost vehemence to the defence

1 See vol. n, chap. xx.

Christian Dogmas

of the Christian dogmas as the embodiment of Di-
vine truth. They were unsparing in their condem^
nations of the new revelations of science and in
Biblical criticism as the height of infidelity, as de-
liberate attempts to invalidate the truths of re-
vealed religion.1 In the crusade against these new
forms of infidelity no terms of objurgation were too
severe against such fair-minded investigators as
Lyell, Hooker, Asa Gray, Huxley, Tyndall, Wal-
lace, Darwin, Mayer, Faraday, Joule, and Helm-
hoi tz; or against such rational critics as the au-
thors of "Essays and Reviews," Matthew Arnold,
Buckle, Renan, and the Tubingen School ; or against
such noble religious teachers as Channing, Emerson,
Theodore Parker, and Bishop Colenso. In fact, the
immediate effect of the new revelations of science
and of Biblical criticism was a hardening of the
theologic heart against all scientific knowledge and
against any questioning of the special Divine in-
spiration of the Scriptures, resulting in an emphatic
reassertion of the old dogmatic claim that there
was, and must ever remain, a broad line of de-
marcation between the sacred truths of theology
and the experiential knowledge derived from soci-

1 People whose memories go back to fifty years ago can recall
sermons by scholarly clergymen, in which it was seriously main-
tained that the palaeontological discoveries attesting man's animal
origin and great antiquity were but evidences of the adroit work of
Satan in creating these fossils, and so distributing them as to confuse
men's minds in regard to the Divine truth of creation revealed in
Genesis. Happily the days for such presentations of Divine truth
no longer exist.

John Fiske

ology and science; in short, that the latter must
ever be interpreted by the former.

John Fiske was seventeen years old when his
rapidly expanding mind, eager in its search for
truth, was brought within the circle of this pro-
found discussion between dogmatic theology on the
one hand and science and Biblical criticism on the
other. It was not in his nature to do things by
halves; and his religious feelings being as we have
seen thoroughly aroused, and his inquiries showing
him that the religious faith he had accepted rested
wholly upon these dogmas as truths of the highest
import, he could not rest content until he had
brought them together and interrelated them in
his own mind. When he had done this, when he
had got them with all their implications inter-
related as into a complete and rounded whole, it
then appeared that the religion founded on these
dogmas did not present as its vital elements the
love of a Divine Creator "who doeth all things
well," and ethical conduct among men as the es-
sential condition for individual fulness of life, so
much as it emphasized a belief in certain super-
natural phenomena that were to be accepted wholly
on faith. In fact, it appeared that the real religious
elements — love to God and love to man — were
so completely enshrouded in a series of unverifia-
ble assertions in regard to God, the physical uni-
verse, and man, that it was not only impossible

100

Dogma and Science

to bring the reasoning mind to bear upon them
in any rational way ; it also appeared as the purpose
of the dogmas — if they may be said to have had
a purpose — so to stifle the mind in its aspiration
for religious truth that it should be forever re-
strained from seeking other light on the great prob-
lems of existence than that vouchsafed by the
dogmas themselves.

The collocation of these dogmas, therefore,
started trains of thought in John's mind in various
directions. He saw more clearly than ever before
why in Christian literature so much importance
was attached to the dogma of the special inspira-
tion of the Scriptures — the placing of the Bible in
authority over and above all other sources of
knowledge. He saw that this was done, not be-
cause of the intrinsic religious truth the Bible con-
tained, — the love of God and the love to man, —
but because such an alleged divinely inspired record
of God's dealings with man was necessitated as a
foundation for the scheme of Man's creation, his
fall, his redemption through Christ, and the condi-
tions of his future existence, as well as for the plac-
ing of the scheme beyond the reach of any criticism
based on verifiable knowledge.

John's reason at once stumbled over this stu-
pendous assumption of the Divine authority of the
Biblical record, at this placing all other knowledge
subordinate to it, at this begging the whole theolog-
ico-religious question at the outset. As he studied

101

John Fiske

his Bible and brought under review his historic and
scientific knowledge, and saw how radically the pro-
foundly impressive scientific record of the devel-
opment of the cosmos and its inhabitants, as in-
terpreted by Humboldt, Lyell, and the biologists,
differed from the crude, childish cosmogony of Gen-
esis, and how the ancient Greek and Roman civiliza-
tions, which knew not the Christian dogmas, yet
presented, as interpreted by Grote and Gibbon,
some points of moral and religious advantage over
Christian civilization, John's whole religious nature
was deeply stirred by the manifest incongruities
between the revelation of the Divine Creator as
asserted by dogma and the verifiable revelation
given by science and by history. He began to ques-
tion in the very sincerity of his heart, " Is this
Christian religion as set forth in these dogmas the
ultimate measure of the Infinite Creator of the
physical universe, of the human soul? Can it be
true that this religion is a veritable form of worship
and conduct instituted by the Divine Creator of all
things for man's special behoof and salvation; is the
human race under such a fearful doom ; and do such
portentous consequences to the eternal future of all
mankind depend upon individual acceptance of the
conditions of salvation as set forth in these dogmas? "
Similar questions have often arisen in the minds
of sincere Christian believers, and Christian litera-
ture has many answers. John's answer was the
complete emancipation of his mind from bondage

102

Dogma and Science

to these dogmas, his firm grasp of the vital religious
truth that they partially revealed, and his subse-
quent efforts to set forth this truth, not simply as
consistent with, but rather as the necessary com-
plement to the broadest scientific knowledge — in
a word, his answer was his intellectual life as we are
to see it unfold from this point.1

1 Years after, in a conversation I had with Fiske in regard to these
dogmas and the hold they had on the evangelical Christian mind
down to the promulgation of the doctrine of Evolution, he said in
substance : —

" I can never forget the feeling of revulsion I experienced when I
first brought these dogmas together in my mind as an interrelated
whole. I had received them from time to time as elements in the re-
ligious faith which I had accepted as Divine, without any question
whatever. When, however, in my seventeenth year, I sought to
bring my religious views under a rational interpretation, I found it
was required that these dogmas should first be posited as the em-
bodiment of all ultimate truth. I then tried to get clearly before me
the scheme of cosmic creation and sustentation which these dogmas
set forth; and what a mighty drama of Infinite and finite coexistences
stood revealed ! Both orders of existences appeared as inextricably
immeshed in a mass of metaphysical assumptions, wherein science
was disowned, where reason was discredited, and where blind, un-
questioning faith was regarded as the only passport to true Christian
knowledge. Fortunately science was then giving a nobler and a more
verifiable knowledge in regard to cosmic creation and the meaning of
human life, as well as yielding a far higher conception of the Infinite
Power back of the cosmos than could be derived from these dogmas,
and I was not long in freeing my mind from their benumbing influence.

"With more mature thought, I came to see the great spiritual
truth enshrouded in these dogmas; and a wider acquaintance with
the philosophy of history, led me to see that the dogmatic coverings
of this great truth had been of immense service in its protection
and its development while knowledge was slowly being organized
through science, for its verification in human experience. And now
the Christian world is beginning to see that religious and social
progress consists mainly in the freeing of this great spiritual truth
from the dogmatic wrappings it has outgrown."

CHAPTER VI

SELF-PREPARATION TO ENTER HARVARD AS SOPH-
OMORE— WIDE READING — BREAKS AWAY FROM
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY — SOCIAL OSTRACISM —
LEAVES MIDDLETOWN FOR CAMBRIDGE

1859-1860

THUS far we have been tracing the life of John Fiske
through his boyhood and youth under the influence
of his family and his home surroundings, his ele-
mentary schooling and his preparation and his
passing the examinations for entrance at Yale Col-
lege. We have had frequent occasion to note his
strong self-propulsion for knowledge, his orderly
methods of study, his remarkable intellectual at-
tainments, his high ideals of the life of a scholar,
and his deep religious convictions. We are now to
follow him into a broader field of experiences, and
for the ensuing four years particularly we are to
observe him as intellectually developing under three
closely interrelated conditions: in his preparation
for and as an undergraduate at Harvard; as a
student of philosophy and religion in the new era
of scientific thought then opening ; and in his stead-
ily widening social relations. To use Mr. Spencer's
definition of life: we are to observe him during this
formative period in his "continuous adjustment of

104

Preparation for Harvard

internal relations to external relations." This plan
of observing him will entail considerable particu-
larity in regard to the external relations.

It having been settled in August, 1859, that
John should enter Harvard instead of Yale, he de-
termined to enter as sophomore or junior; and to
prepare for such an advanced entrance, he planned
for several months' study by himself in Middle-
town and then to finish with a tutor at Cambridge.
His plans for his studies show the same orderly pre-
vision we have had occasion to note in previous
years. Each study had its hour and its time limit.
In the required languages at Harvard he was al-
ready prepared; nevertheless, he took up Latin,
Greek, and German with fresh ardor, and added
Italian and Hebrew thereto; he also provided for
persistent comparative study of the structural fea-
tures of the several languages supplemented by care-
ful readings in the classics of each. In mathematics
he prepared to review his geometry and algebra, to
go twice over the freshman requirements, and to
anticipate some of the sophomore requirements,
and to finish in Cambridge.1

1 The following is a list of the textbooks and philological and classi-
cal works studied during this preparatory period : Becker's German
Grammar, Key's Latin Grammar, Ollendorff's French Grammar, Xeno-
phon's Anabasis (ed. Anthon), Xenophon's Cyropadia (ed. Owen),
Virgil's jEneid (ed. Ladewig), Sallust's De Bello Jugurthino (ed.
Jacobi), Caesar's De Bello Gallico (ed. Kraner), Fenelon's Telemaque,
Iliad, lib. l-vi (ed. Anthon), Chapman's Homeric Hymns, Ciceroni's
Orationes Selectee, Sallust's De Conjuratione Catilina (ed. Jacobi),
Arnold's Latin Prose Composition, Part I, Eaton's Elements of Arith-
metic, Day's Algebra, Euclid's Elements (ed. Playfair), Racine's Les

105

John Fiske

Having thus laid out his preparatory course he
writes his mother in a moment of gratulation:
"How thankful for Harvard and self, instead of
Yale and Col ton. "

While this self-imposed course was substantially
carried out, it is interesting to note that by mid-
winter, 1860, his scientific and philosophic reading
had awakened in his mind the importance, in a
truly philosophical education, of a knowledge of
science in addition to a knowledge of the languages
and mathematics. Accordingly he puts this ques-
tion to his mother: "Would a scientific education
be of advantage to me or not? This question I
would like some experienced person to answer. I
am inclined that way, though I love classical studies
and find no trouble in them. A scientific course
which includes the sciences and German would not
interfere with my private study of Latin and Greek.
I shall read all the works of antiquity anyway."
He appears to have answered the question himself,
and by a preparation in science which was not at all
called for at Harvard at that time. !

Frdres Ennemis, and his Alexandre, DeStaeTs UAllemagne, Peirce's
Geometry, Vergani's Italian Grammar, Gesenius's Hebrew Grammar
(begun), Peirce's Algebra and Trigonometry.

1 His scientific reading during 1859 and the early part of 1860
comprised the following works: Agassiz's Principles of Zoology and
his Essay on Classification, Johnston's Natural History, Turner's
Chemistry, Lambert's Practical Anatomy and Physiology, Lardner's
Astronomy and Physics, Chambers's Elements of Zoology, Milne-
Edwards's Elemens de Zoology, Cuvier's Le Regne Animal, Redfield's
Zoology, Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, Laplace's Systeme du
Monde, Dalton's Human Physiology, Peaslee's Human Histology,

1 06

Wide Reading

His thoughtful manner of self-study is indicated
by his passing remarks anent his studies in the
languages and in classic literature. Speaking of
language he says: "It is the objective correla-
tive to the subjective reason or mind"; and in
speaking of the origin of languages we have this:
"The similarities of languages do not prove that
they all sprang from one primitive dialect." These
remarks are indicative of his mental alertness
in grasping significant points in his studies. But
here is something that is distinctly self-reveal-
ing. He has procured a copy of Rawlinson's He-
rodotus containing the discoveries revealed by the
cuneiform writings, and he is jubilant: "Just the
thing," he says, "to read with Grote! How blest I
am to learn such things before college! What a
treasure to the mind is a critical and extensive
acquaintance with ancient history! Grote is a phil-
osopher; he lays open the Hellenic mind and traces
beautiful thoughts and lovely guesses on every

Wilson's Human Anatomy, Dunglison's Human Physiology, Gray's
Structural and Systematic Botany, Darwin's Origin of Species, Ves-
tiges of the Natural History of Creation, Viery's Philosophic de V His-
toric Naturelle, Ampere's Sur la Philosophic des Sciences, Thompson's
Inorganic Chemistry, Williams's Principles of Medicine.

In years to come, we are to see him discussing questions of the
highest philosophic import growing out of the interrelations between
the physiological and the psychological forces in the human organism.
We may marvel at his ready command of the varied scientific knowl-
edge involved in the discussions. We should note here, therefore,
that in this self-directed scientific study and reading of this early
period, we have the beginning of his scientific acquisitions; and the
thing to be particularly noted is the fundamental character and the
high quality of these acquisitions.

107

John Fiske

page. His chapter on Socrates is perfectly enrap-
turing."1

John's preparation for Harvard was completed
at Cambridge; but before entering upon that very
interesting phase of his preparatory work, we must
stop to note quite another phase in his life in Mid-
dletown during the year 1859 and the early part of
1860 from that of the preparatory student we have
been considering.

We have seen that during the latter half of 1858
he was greatly interested in ancient history as
portrayed by Rollin and by Grote, and also in
the development of the physical universe as pre-
sented by Humboldt. During these months, there-
fore, while all this preparation, first for Yale, and
then for Harvard, was going forward, questions
of the highest import in religion and philosophy
were engaging his mind.

Humboldt's " Cosmos " was one of the really
great works of the middle period of the last century.
Its encyclopaedic learning, its lucid arrangement of
subject-matter, its eminent fairness on controverted
points, and its entire freedom from dogmatic pre-
suppositions gave it the character of an impartial
textbook of physical science; while its record of
wide and rare personal experiences, all given in a
graphic, easy-flowing style, secured for it a wide
circulation among fair-minded readers throughout
the world. It was a masterly summing-up of the
1 See Grote on Ffeke, post, p. 312.
1 08

Humboldt and Grote

results of cosmic science, a presentation of the
cosmic universe as "that which is ever growing
and unfolding in new forms, " and it came as a sig-
nificant preparation for the doctrine of Evolution
which was soon to follow.

John read this work with deep interest, and he
could not but contrast the physical universe as
presented by Humboldt accompanied by positive,
scientific verifications, with the wholly different
presentation given by dogmatic theology without
any scientific verifications whatever. His question-
ing of the theological dogmas as the embodiment
of all ultimate truth had its origin, therefore,
in 1858 when he was reading Humboldt's great
work contemporaneously with Grote's " History of
Greece." 1

This questioning once started in Fiske's mind
could not be suppressed; the more he investigated
and reflected, the greater seemed the variance be-
tween the positive, verifiable truths of science and
the unverifiable claims of theology. And his his-
torical reading perplexed him still more. Early in
1859 he took up Gibbon's " History of Rome," and
Gibbon's fifteenth and sixteenth chapters in addi-
tion to Grote's portrayal of Hellenic civilization led
him seriously to question the credibility of much
of the Biblical history. The points of contrast be-
tween the Hellenic and the Jewish civilizations
were great and showed much in favor of the former
1 See ante, pp. 84, 88.
109

John Fiske

over the latter. If dogmatic theology was true, then
the whole Hellenic civilization was foolishness, and
its great exemplars, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle,
were expiating for misspent lives in Hell.

John's reason was staggered with such a confron-
tation, and he reveals himself during the early part
of 1859 as in a greatly perturbed state of mind over
his religious questioning and as earnestly seeking
light. He was greatly encouraged in his search for
truth by contact with two congenial minds — the
Reverend John Langdon Dudley, pastor of the
South Congregational Church, Middletown, and
his student friend, George Litch Roberts.

Mr. Dudley, although the pastor of an orthodox
Congregational church, was a clergyman of exceed-
ingly liberal views for the time. In philosophic
thought he was a sort of Fichtean Emersonian
Transcendentalist, who was endeavoring to find
points of agreement between the assumptions of
Christian theology and the claims of the Transcen-
dentalists of the innate existence in the conscious-
ness of man of the Divine Immanence that makes for
righteousness. Mr. Dudley was cheerily optimistic
in his religious faith and saw the good in life. He
was a great comfort to John at this time, for he
had a sympathetic, appreciative feeling for the ex-
perience through which the latter was passing. We
shall meet with him in years to come.

Young Roberts, as we have seen, had all of John's
ardor for knowledge. He was also animated with a

Religious Questioning

spirit of free inquiry, to such an extent that he did
not acknowledge any subject as too sacred for the
fullest investigation in the light of reason; in brief,
he possessed the true critical spirit with perfect
frankness in self-expression. John and Roberts were
much together in their church relations as well as
in their musical diversions; they also took long
walks together discussing the subjects uppermost
in their minds ; and as their philosophico-religious in-
terests broadened they grew into a close intellectual
relationship which was stimulating and helpful to
both.

John had another friend in Middletown who aided
him much in his studies and his reading and for
whom he always cherished a kind remembrance —
Joseph Whitcomb Ellis. Mr. Ellis was an alumnus
of Wesleyan University, and at this time he was
a teacher of mathematics in the Middletown High
School. He was a good mathematician, and was
well read in science. He had a choice library which
contained the mathematical works of Lagrange,
Laplace, Goss, and Peirce ; as well as representative
works in science and philosophy. Mr. Ellis was a
liberal-minded Swedenborgian in his belief, and to
encourage John in his pursuit of knowledge he gave
him the free use of his library — a kindness which
was greatly appreciated.

It was in many ways unfortunate that at this
period of his religious questioning John should
have had dogmatic Christianity preached to him in

John Fiske

its most repulsive form. His pastor at the North
Church, Middle town, the Reverend Jeremiah
Taylor, D.D., was in no sense a learned man, either
in history or in Biblical criticism, much less in
science. His sermons, therefore, partook of vigorous
assertions of the divinity of dogma, combined with
ignorant condemnations of the recent advance-
ments in science and in Biblical criticism. These
advancements in knowledge he alleged were only
fresh devices of Satan to discredit the religion of
Christ divinely revealed in the Bible.

John's fairness of mind is shown at this point.
He was not ready to give up his Christian belief
without investigation ; and so we find him reading,
in addition to a very broad course in science and
history, such works in sound orthodoxy as Hugh
Miller's "Testimony of the Rocks," Walker's "God
Revealed in the Creation and in Christ," Walker's
"Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," Wayland's
" Intellectual Philosophy," Isaac Taylor's "The
World of Mind," Edwards on "The Will," Hickok's
"Rational Psychology," Nelson's "Cause and
Cure of Infidelity," Hopkins's and Alexander's
"Evidences of Christianity," Alford's "Prole-
gomena to the Gospels," Campbell and Douglas
on "Miracles," Watson's "Reply to Gibbon and
Paine," and Bushnell's "Nature and the Super-
natural"— the last then regarded as a master-
piece in the defence of Christian theology.

In his investigations John's mind appears to have

112

Influence of Buckle

been centred on the Christian dogmas as a whole
— on the theologic claim that they presented a
completely rounded philosophical system of all
existences; and it further appears that he early be-
came impressed with the conviction that the de-
fenders of these dogmas almost wholly ignored
science, and rested their defences mainly on as-
sumptions rather than on positive verifications. In
regard to Bushnell's work he writes, a little later,
"The rhetorical work of Bushnell, with its total
ignorance of physical science, did more to shake my
faith than anything else."

It was while thus investigating for ultimate
truth — in May, 1859 — that Roberts brought him
the first volume of Buckle's "History of Civiliza-
tion in England.'* Few books published during the
last century made such a stirring of philosophic and
religious thought as this. Its laudation of science
over metaphysics, its proclamation of the superi-
ority of external or natural forces over internal or
subjective forces in the development of civilization,
its bold grappling with many accepted philosophic
conclusions and religious beliefs, and its great dis-
play of learning, — all presented in a vigorous, at-
tractive style, — fairly took by storm the unsettled
condition of philosophic thought of sixty years ago,
and set serious-minded thinkers to a careful reen-
visagement of the philosophic verities that underlie
human well-being. The book made a profound im-
pression on the public mind, and the discussion it

John Fiske

called forth was an interesting prelude to the far
deeper philosophic discussion which came, a little
later, with the publication of Darwin's "Origin of
Species," with its philosophic complement, Her-
bert Spencer's theory of Evolution.

Fiske fairly devoured Buckle. The book stirred
his thought to the uttermost. His own reading
gave him great equipoise in weighing Buckle's
arguments. In Buckle's main contentions he found
much to dissent from as well as much to agree with.
He finished the volume with a greatly clarified
mind and with the conviction that it was "a great
and noble book, written by a great and noble

marl."

Later thought has somewhat lessened the value
of Buckle's contribution to the great discussion of
which it was the forerunner. It had an immediate
effect upon Fiske's mind, however, in two directions.
In the first place, it led him to focus his thought
upon the important part played by nature in the
development of civilized man, and upon the need
of a philosophy which should present the objective
world of phenomena as revealed by science and the
subjective world of human consciousness as revealed
by civilization in harmony with some universal
principle which could absorb both in unity or pur-
pose. In the second place, it was the culminating
influence which completely freed his mind from
bondage to dogmatic theology. Two years later we
are to see him writing an article on Buckle which

114

Abandons Dogmatic Christianity

stands to-day among the best judgments upon this
eminent thinker that have been published.

It was no easy matter for John to break away
from the religious faith in which he had been bred,
and which he had himself embraced in full credence
of its Divine origin and character. Granting its as-
sumptions, dogmatic theology gave the Christian
believer something veritable to tie to. Denial of
its Divine origin and character left the mind ap-
parently without a positive hitching-post in the
vast swirl of cosmic phenomena. That John fully
realized the significance of the change, and that
the breaking-away was attended with distress of
mind, the letters bear witness. In this hour of trial
he could not appeal to his mother or to his grand-
mother. They could not understand him. He could
turn for sympathy only to his friend Roberts, who
was passing through a similar experience ; and both
found comfort and encouragement in their broad-
minded friend Dudley.

By midsummer Fiske's abandonment of dog-
matic Christianity was complete, and the following
remark in a letter to his mother in July is indicative
of what was passing in his mind : —

"I must not try to write about the Trinity in a
letter: I will tell you what I think about it when you
come. If the system is true, orthodoxy, Unitarian-
ism, and Swedenborgianism are alike false."

His mother came to see him shortly after, and he
opened his mind to her in regard to his change of

John Fiske

religious views freely and frankly. He pointed out
how unphilosophical and how unreasonable the
orthodox scheme of theology appeared to him as
a basis for religious faith; that the existence of a
personal, triune Godhead as the first Great Cause
and as a Divine Ruler was an anthropomorphic as-
sumption; that the Mosaic cosmogony by which a
universe was created by fiat out of nothing was un-
thinkable; that the creation of man — also by fiat
— as a perfect being was opposed to all the teach-
ings of science; that man's temptation, fall, and re-
demption through Christ had no valid historic veri-
fication; while the existence of a veritable Heaven
and Hell, where the Divine Ruler eternally re-
warded or punished mankind for its belief or non-
belief in Him, had no justifiable basis in reason or
experience. He assured her that with no honesty or
sincerity of heart could he any longer believe in a
religion based on such foundations — a religion
which made such a monster of God and held such
a frightful doom over the greater portion of the
human race, a doom which included some of the
noblest characters that have ever lived.

His mother could neither say nor do anything to
oppose him. She found comfort, however, in his
assurance that he regarded atheism as more unrea-
sonable and unthinkable than dogmatic theology,
and in the fact that his ideals of moral conduct
were heightened, while his desire to prepare him-
self for service through a thorough course of col-

116

Abandons Dogmatic Christianity

lege training showed no abatement whatever. Real-
izing, therefore, that if he was in error, he could be
convinced of the fact only through his own experi-
ence, she let him go forward; but, grievously for
him, without her sympathy or understanding.

Resuming John's personal experiences in Mid-
dletown, we find that during the latter part of 1859
the change in his religious views began to have effect
upon his religious conduct. He no longer believed
in the orthodox theology or the religious faith based
on that theology. Out of filial regard for his grand-
mother he had retained his connection with the
North Congregational Church, where he had to
listen to such presentations of religious truth by
Dr. Taylor as this: —

" But at this point of the discussion a scene bursts
upon my vision: it is from the depths of eternity.
A multitude of holy angels enter singing 'Holy,
Holy, Lord God Almighty' — but the scene changes.
Envy enters into the breast of the mightiest of that
angel host. He asserts his dominion against the
Father. Consternation reigns in Heaven ; but Christ
sent by Jehovah hurls in holy wrath and Godlike
vengeance that rebel host to hell," etc.

Such crude expositions of "Divine truth" out-
raged all John's religious nature, and we can easily
understand his indignant outburst in giving his
mother an account of the sermon: " I wished some
one had pitched him out of the pulpit in the same
way."

117

John Fiske

Dr. Taylor's sermons reflected the religious un-
rest of the time and abounded with ignorant preju-
dice against what was termed " scientific infidelity,"
as well as with bitter invective against the rising
school of "scientific infidels " who would discredit
God's inspired messages to man.

John could not endure such preaching. He began
to absent himself from the communion service, and
finally he withdrew from church attendance alto-
gether. He felt that with his disbelief in the Chris-
tian dogmas it was pure hypocrisy to appear as their
supporter. He was supported by his friend Roberts.
They acted together, and it soon became current
throughout the town that young Fiske and Roberts,
the two brightest young minds and the two most
exemplary young men in the North Church, had
turned infidels.

In a conservative, orthodox community like
Middletown of fifty years ago, to be called an in-
fidel was one of the severest terms of social reproach.
There was charity for the moral delinquent, and
even for the burglar, for they might be reclaimed
by subscribing to the dogmatic orthodox creed;
but for the infidel, the disbeliever in the creed itself,
one who boldly denied the inspiration of the Bible
and the Divinity of Christ, he had no title what-
ever to social recognition; he was to be regarded, in
fact, as the foe of all social and religious order; and
all the more dangerous if well educated and of un-
exceptionable moral character.

118

Social Ostracism

John's pastor, Dr. Taylor, was greatly exercised
at the outbreak of such a virulent form of heresy
under his own preaching. He felt it not only a
scandal to the orthodox Christian faith, but also an
imputation upon his own faithfulness in presenting
the dogmatic foundations of that faith. He must
bestir himself. He called upon Mrs. Lewis, John's
grandmother, to get more light upon the cause of
John's ''backsliding." This true Christian woman,
firm in her belief that moral conduct is the real test
of religious character, stoutly maintained that John
could not be an infidel. "Why," said she, "he never
did a bad thing in his life; and then, he is such a
faithful student." "Yes," said Dr. Taylor, "that
makes him all the worse. He does not believe in
the inspiration of the Bible nor in the Divinity of
Christ; and he has given up the church." Still she
maintained he could not be an infidel; and in the
innocence of her heart she took Dr. Taylor into
John's library to see the fine collection of books he
had got together, all of which she knew he had read.

Alas, to the heresy-hunter the exhibit was too
conclusive ! There side by side with books of sound
orthodoxy were many ancient classics, and the
works of Humboldt, Voltaire, Lewes, Fichte,
Schlegel, Buckle, Cuvier, Laplace, Milne-Edwards,
De Quincey, Theodore Parker, Strauss, Comte,
Grote, Gibbon, and John Stuart Mill. Dr. Taylor
had no praise to bestow upon such a collection of
books in the hands of his young parishioner; and in

119

John Fiske

response to the inquiry as to what he thought of
them, he could only shake his head.

Shortly after, Dr. Taylor had an interview with
John himself. John frankly stated his views in re-
gard to the inspiration of the Bible and in regard to
creation and the Divinity of Christ, with the reasons
therefor. He also stated that to his mind the dog-
matic presentation of God was belittling and vulgar,
when compared with the conception of a Divine
Creator and Sustainer which reason, informed by
science, must postulate as the Ultimate Source of
all things. Dr. Taylor was not equipped for parish-
ional service against such views. He could only
condemn them as rank infidelity. John then said:
"You see where I stand. Why not expel me from
the church? " Dr. Taylor replied : " That we cannot
do unless you commit some gross act of immoral-
ity." "That," said John, " I pray God I may never
do." Dr. Taylor then asked: "How do you explain
your conversion?" John replied: "You will find
that accounted for in Esquirol's 'Des Maladies
Mentales.'"

Finding that John was not to be brought back to
the church by any means at his command, Dr.
Taylor resorted to the course usually pursued in
such cases by clergymen with narrow minds. He
began to decry John in the most unjust manner.
There was hardly any epithet too opprobrious to
apply to him. He was an atheist, an infidel, a
blasphemer, a hypocrite, an immoral person, and

1 20

A Religious Storm-Centre

finally he was a Unitarian.1 As a result, this
modest, scholarly youth found himself a religious
storm-centre, as it were, in the orthodox com-
munity of Middletown, which swept reason, jus-
tice, and even common courtesy entirely out of
consideration. Worst of all, it brought great dis-
tress of -mind to his grandmother. At the church
gatherings she was subjected to expressions of sym-
pathy, made personally poignant by being accom-
panied by reflections upon the base conduct of
John in turning against all the precepts of his
Christian training. With his whole life before her
as an open book, wherein on every page was written
his dutiful consideration for others as well as his
faithfulness to his studies, she could not understand
how it was possible for him to become such a moral
reprobate as Dr. Taylor had pronounced him to
be.

In her sore perplexity she went to John and asked
him if it was true that he did not believe in the
Bible and in the Divinity of Christ. He told her
that in the way in which the Church and Dr. Taylor
presented the Bible and Christ he did not believe,
but that in a far higher and nobler interpretation of

1 I have never been able fully to understand just why it was that
in orthodox communities of fifty years ago the name " Unitarian"
had such an opprobrious signification. I recall that about this period
I was visiting, in Western New York, the family of a Presbyterian
deacon. The deacon's wife, a most estimable woman, told me, as a
Bostonian, that during her girlhood she lived in Boston; and then,
with much seriousness, she added: " I then attended Dr. Channing's
church. I have since deeply repented; but I don't think it ever did
me any harm."

121

John Fiske

them he did believe. And then, as patiently and
as simply as possible, he tried to explain to her
his conviction that the Bible, although containing
much of error and superstition, was still the great-
est of books ; that the real Jesus of history, although
perverted to men's minds by the Christ of dogma,
was still the noblest character that ever lived;
while over all was a Divine Creator and Ruler, of
whose wisdom, goodness, and power the human
mind can form no adequate conception.

Accustomed to regard the positive, dogmatic as-
sumptions which formed the basis of her religious
faith as divinely inspired messages to man, the dear
old lady could hardly grasp the implications or the
meaning of this purer, more abstract faith; but
she found comfort in John's assurance that his belief
in a Divine Creator, " Who doeth all things well/'
and in upright conduct as the imperative condition
for fulness of life, was stronger than ever.

Another incident in John's Middletown experi-
ence should be given, as it shows that at this early
stage he was getting his mental acquisitions into
order for effective use either in argument or for
lucid exposition.

There was living in or near Middletown a retired
orthodox clergyman, the Reverend Jonathan Eben-
ezar Barnes, D.D. Dr. Barnes was a contributor
to religious magazines, and had published one or
more articles in the "New Englander," then a dis-
tinctly representative organ of dogmatic theology,

122

Controversy with Dr. Barnes

especially in its philosophic bearings or implications.
Dr. Barnes had much local reputation as a scholar,
and occasionally prepared students for college. His
orthodoxy was sound. He knew John as a youth of
good family and of studious habits. He had heard
of his heretical opinions and of his withdrawal from
the North Church. Out of his Christian feeling, he
wrote John a friendly letter, in which, as an older
scholar and a student of philosophy, he offered
by correspondence to guide his steps through the
"specious" mazes of the " Positive Philosophy "
then current, to the goal he felt sure he would ulti-
mately reach, "Christ and Him crucified," as the
ultimate truth of all philosophy.

John was somewhat piqued at the tone of this
letter, notwithstanding the evident good intention
of the writer. Its quiet assumption that all knowl-
edge, all philosophy outside of Christian theology
was foolishness; and that he, in his eagerness for
knowledge, owing to his extreme youth, was greatly
in need of a friendly Christian adviser seemed
slightly too presumptuous. Then, too, it would
appear that John welcomed the receipt of this let-
ter as a fitting opportunity to defend his heretical
opinions. Accordingly, in answering Dr. Barnes,
he not only stated his reasons for giving up the
orthodox Christian faith, he also challenged Dr.
Barnes to the defence of that faith. The letter is
too long for insertion here. It was a remarkable
production for a youth who had but just turned his

123

John Fiske

eighteenth year. Its points may be summarized as
follows: —

First. His faith was not shaken by .the " specious "
philosophy of the " Positivists " ; he was convinced
of the insufficiency of the "evidences" of Chris-
tianity long before he knew what " Positivism"
was.

Second. He considers the "internal evidences"
of Christianity as presented by its supporters, in-
cluding the originality of its doctrines; the unique
character of Jesus and its ethics. These points he
analyzes with great clearness and impartiality, and
he finds no satisfaction in them.

Third. He next considers the ' ' external evidences, ' '
the miracles, the prophecies, the historic record in
the different books of the Bible ; the argument from
existing institutions and from the rapid spread of
Christianity. He applies to the evidences adduced
on these points the canons of logic and historic
criticism and finds that they do not stand the
test.

Fourth. He interrogates metaphysics, but does
not find much to rest upon in " Kant's negations or
Fichte's beautiful dreams," or anything of the kind
he touched. The metaphysicians appear to have
neglected or ignored science, and to have established
a cosmogony of their own in place of the well-es-
tablished truths of science.

Fifth. He interrogates science. Here he finds
rest; for in the verifiable phenomena of the universe
he finds a revelation of its Divine Creator, written
in hieroglyphics — the sacred language which sci-
ence is daily translating into the dialects of man-
kind..

124

Controversy with Dr. Barnes

The letter closed with this quotation from the
early philosopher Thales: —

" Tldvra 7T\rjprj Oeov"
All things are full of God.

Dr. Barnes acknowledged the receipt of the letter
and expressed himself as pleased at the evidences
it gave of John's " industry." He promised a full
reply later. That reply never came.1

From contemporary evidence and from the fact
that John's mind was too well balanced to accept
any negative philosophy, it appears that at this
time the ultimate problem of philosophy as the
quest of reason, had shaped itself in his mind sub-
stantially as follows: —

I. Granting the existence of the world of subjec-
tive phenomena as revealed in individual con-
sciousness and as objectified in the various
elements and phases of man's civilization ;

1 During this period — that is, the year 1859 and the first quarter
of 1860 — of active searching for a new base for philosophic thinking
we have John's record of reading the following works in addition to
the works named on page 106: Grote's History of Greece, the last six
volumes; Arnold's History of Rome, and also his Later Roman Com-
monwealth; Merivale's History of the Romans, Gibbon's History
of Rome, Guyot's Earth and Man, Coleridge's Religious Musings,
Bayne's Essays, Upham's Mental Philosophy, Ferrier's Institutes of
Metaphysic, Schlegel's Philosophy of History, also his Philosophy of
Life; Finlay's Greece under the Romans, Hallam's Middle Ages,
Thompson's Outlines of the Laws of Thought, Fichte's Nature of the
Scholar, and The Destination of Man; Hume's History of England,
De Quincey's Philosophical Writers, several volumes of sermons and
addresses by Theodore Parker, Carlyle's Heroes and Hero-Worship,
and Past and Present; Lewes's History of Philosophy, Strauss's Life of
Jesus, Paine's Age of Reason, Max Mullet's Survey of Languages,

125

John Fiske

II. Granting the existence of the universe of ob-
jective phenomena as verified to human con-
sciousness or mind through experience;

III. Granting that the human mind has never been
able to penetrate with any verifiable experi-
ence the causal mystery that enshrouds the
world of subjective, and the universe of ob-
jective, phenomena, and their interrelations;

IV. Granting that the creation or emanation of
these two orders of phenomena out of nothing
is an unthinkable proposition to the reasoning
mind;

V. What, then, as the very basis of philosophic
thinking, must the rational mind postulate as
the Ultimate First Cause back of all phe-
nomena; and what must be its method of man-
ifestation or revelation to the human mind?

To the solution of this problem John's intellect-
ual powers were now fully roused, and he took up
its solution as a quest for a higher and purer phil-
osophic religious faith than he had known. This
quest he took up at this early period with as sincere
and lofty a devotion as ever animated knight of the
Holy Grail; and it was pursued, in addition to his
collegiate and legal studies and his subsequent liter-
ary work, without any intermission for the ensuing
fifteen years, forming, as it were, a background to

Vie de Voltaire, par Condorcet ; Comte's Positive Philosophy, Whate-
ley's Elements of Logic, Mills's System of Logic, Wallon's His-
toire de Vesclavage Ancienne, Rousseau's Confessions, Comte's
Philosophy of Mathematics, Newman's History of the Hebrew Mon-
archy, De Wette's Introduction to the Old Testament, Mansel's Limits
of Religious Thought, Mackay's Progress of the Intellect.

126

Social Ostracism

his intellectual life during this period. The ground
he covered in this quest was immense, and his
method of investigation, as we shall see, was re-
markable for its fair-mindedness as well as its
breadth; and it was an investigation which brought
him to some ultimate philosophical conclusions
which he embodied in his "Outlines of Cosmic
Philosophy," published in 1874 — one °f tne most
important philosophical works of the last century.

Meantime, while all this deep study was going
forward and all this high thinking was taking shape
in John's mind, his life in Middletown was most un-
happy. Socially he was practically ostracized from
homes where he had formerly been cordially wel-
comed. On the street he was shunned by his ac-
quaintances, and was pointed at as the " Infidel of
the North Church/' while in his own home at his
grandmother's, where all his life he had received
affection and encouragement in his studies, he was
not at all understood and consequently was with-
out sympathy in his high purpose. His letters bear
witness to his great mental perturbation and to the
"dull and sunless days" through which he passed;
and in the midst of it all he plaintively appealed to
his mother to let him get out of Middletown, and
be freed from the atmosphere of ignorance and reli-
gious intolerance which had such a depressing influ-
ence upon his mind.

His mother granted his request, and on the i8th
of May, 1860, he left Middletown to prepare for his

127

John Fiske

collegiate life at Cambridge under more congenial
surroundings. He left with a saddened heart; for
he could not forget that back of the persecutions of
the past few months all the tender recollections of
his boyhood and youth were indissolubly linked
with the dear old town.

Just forty years after, Middletown celebrated the
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of her civic
existence. She chose for her orator on this memo-
rable occasion the most eminent of American histo-
rians and one of the profoundest thinkers of the
time, proud in the consciousness that during the
period of his boyhood and his youth he too had
trod her pavements: he too had breathed her air.1

1 Longfellow's poem "Nuremberg" contains his beautiful tribute
to Albrecht Diirer, as " the Evangelist of Art." In this tribute occurs
the following line: —

" That he once has trod its pavement, that he once has breathed its air."

In borrowing the sentiment of this line, I have made some slight
verbal changes in it, to fit the time conditions of the narrative as
well as change of person.

CHAPTER VII

BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE
i860

YOUNG Fiske arrived in Boston Friday afternoon,
May 1 8, 1860, and immediately went out to the
home of Mr. J. G. Bradford in the suburban town
of Quincy, by whom it had been arranged he should
be definitely prepared for the Harvard examina-
tions to be held the last of August.

Fiske's first interview with Mr. Bradford re-
vealed the fact that the latter entirely misunder-
stood what was desired. He supposed that Fiske
was to be prepared for the freshman entrance at
Harvard. When he found that a preparation for
sophomore — and possibly junior — entrance was
desired, he frankly said he was not qualified to give
such a preparation; and he advised Fiske to seek a
tutor acquainted with the requirements of the soph-
omore and junior examinations.

And thus, far from home and among strangers,
young Fiske found himself at the outset of his new
life thrown upon his own resources to meet a rather
embarrassing situation.

The eminence of Mr. Stoughton at the New York
Bar had given him a wide acquaintance with the
leading attorneys and jurists of the country, and the

129

John Fiske

charming personality of Mrs. Stoughton had added
to this professional acquaintance social relations
of the highest character. In Boston, Judge Benja-
min R. Curtis, formerly Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, and greatly honored for his dissent-
ing opinion in the famous Dred Scott case, one of
the most important cases ever brought before the
Supreme Court, was the warm personal friend of
both Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton — in fact, the two
families were socially intimate. Since his retire-
ment from the Supreme Bench, Judge Curtis had
resumed active practice, and was at this time the
most distinguished member of the Boston Bar. In
his practice he had associated with himself his
brother, George Ticknor Curtis.

Fiske in his perplexity bethought himself to ap-
ply to Judge Curtis for counsel. Accordingly, the
next morning he found his way to Judge Curtis's
office. He was received by George Ticknor Curtis,
whom he describes as "a very stiff man, but quite
good-hearted," who told him that the Judge was
out of town for the day and advised him to pack up
his things in Quincy, and to see the Judge in the
evening. In the evening he called on Judge Curtis
at his home, 32 Hancock Street, Boston, and what
followed is best told in Fiske' s own words in his
first letter to his mother written the following
Monday : —

"I found the Judge's house easily. Delightful
man — received me with the kindest of welcomes,

130

Consults Judge Curtis

and urged me to stay at his house. I declined at
first, but as he urged me warmly I stayed. He in-
troduced me to his nephew Greenough, a freshman,
and to his daughters — the eldest, Miss Bessie, is
a lovely girl. I felt at once perfectly at home with
the family. Sunday morning I went to church with
them at Kings Chapel — a Unitarian church re-
taining a part of the Episcopal service. I heard a
Unitarian minister but no one could tell the dif-
ference. I supposed he was an Episcopalian until
Miss Minnie (who is Miss Curtis number two) in-
formed me. After church Miss Minnie and I took
a walk to see the common and the mill-dam. In
the afternoon I went to church with Miss Minnie.
After church the Judge invited me to take a walk
with him — we went to Long Wharf and to Faneuil
Hall. The evening I spent talking about philology
with Miss Bessie; she knows something of Latin,
Italian, French, and German, and she delights in
such studies.

"This morning the Judge very kindly went to
Cambridge with me, and leaving me with Green-
ough to look at rooms, he called on President Felton
to find a tutor for me. Meanwhile I examined the
rooms in the house where Greenough was, and I en-
gaged a study room for the summer at somewhere
about twenty dollars. The room is one of the pleas-
antest in Cambridge and in full sight of the college.
There is no table connected with it, but board can
be had for from $2.50 to $4.00 per week. The
Judge said on returning I could do no better, that
is why I took the room. The Judge found a tutor,
a resident graduate, named Bates, highly recom-
mended by Felton. His terms are enormous — two

John Fiske

hours a day at $1.00 per hour; that will come to
$172.00 by Sept. ist. It will be more than my tui-
tion in college for the whole two years. I made no
engagement with Bates but said I would call on
Friday, at 12 o'clock. I did not like to make such a
stupendous bargain without consulting you.

I returned here to the house of this most en-
chanting of men. I don't know when I was ever so
fascinated by any one. Indeed, harmony and love
seem to reign through the whole family. Never be-
fore was I treated with such kind attention; and
to-morrow, I shall leave for Cambridge in love with
all the family, from the Judge, to his representa-
tive of four years, who spent Sunday morning play-
ing marbles with me on the carpet/'

Fiske began his Cambridge life on Wednesday,
May 23, 1860, in a house in Holmes Place kept by
"the ancient" Royal Morse. The house was next
door to the house which was the birthplace of Oliver
Wendell Holmes. Both houses long since gave way
to the more imposing buildings of the Harvard Law
School. The letters give full particulars of his get-
ting settled for a summer of efficient study.

Mrs. Stoughton readily assented to all John's
arrangements and also to the engagement of Bates
as tutor, and so on Monday, May 28, 1860, he be-
gan his definite preparatory studies. On the advice
of both Judge Curtis and his tutor, he gave up the
idea of trying for a junior entrance and settled down
for the sophomore examination. His preparatory

132

Visits George Ticknor

reading and studies were not at all exacting for him.
They comprised : —

Reading: Peirce's "Analytic Geometry/1

Smyth's "Differential Calculus/'
Thompson's " Inorganic Chemistry/'
Reviewing : Latin and Greek Grammar and Com-
position.

Latin and Greek prose and poetry.
Geometry, algebra, and arithmetic.

Early in June he received a visit from his friend
Roberts, who was then balancing in his mind the
choice of a profession — teaching or the law. They
took counsel with Judge Curtis on this point. The
Judge after "drawing Roberts out," strongly ad-
vised him to take the law 1 and recommended that
he should also consult George Ticknor, the eminent
Spanish scholar, who took great pleasure in encour-
aging young men to lives of professional usefulness.
The Judge gave Fiske and Roberts a cordial letter
of introduction to Mr. Ticknor. This was an in-
troduction in Boston at that time of the highest
social character. Fiske's account of what followed
is of much interest : —

"Went up to Mr. Ticknor's study. Most splen-
did room I was ever in. Mr. Ticknor was most
gracious — he advised George to be a lawyer. Then
he talked with me — said I had better not get ac-
quainted with the students — 'fast set of fellows';
more, he gave me full permission, 'since I was an

1 Two years after Roberts entered the office of Judge Curtis.

133

John Fiske

earnest scholar,' to come to his library whenever I
choose and take away any book whatever which
I wanted to read. Was n't that a great favor?"

The young men must have made a very favor-
able impression upon Mr. Ticknor, who was one
of the most precise and unimpressionable of men.

Fiske's letters to his mother and to Roberts give
full particulars of his activities during this prepar-
atory period. He was delighted with his tutor's
method of instruction, and he gave himself unre-
servedly to it. In addition he read widely and with
exceeding thoughtfulness upon the philosophic prob-
lems that were working in his mind. We have to
note that at an age when most young men would
have found themselves pretty heavily taxed to pre-
pare through the summer months for a sophomore
entrance at Harvard, he was taking his preparatory
work with the greatest ease and giving much the
greater part of his time to philosophical studies.

In these studies his friend Roberts went with him
hand in hand, so that we have in their correspond-
ence a very high order of self-imposed thinking
common to both young men. The few extracts
from this correspondence which are to follow will
show that, while indulging in the freest thought
in religious and philosophic matters, they were as
insistent upon upright conduct in all matters per-
taining to social life, as are those who maintain
that right living can be the product only of certain
forms of religious belief.

134

Settled in Cambridge

Fiske's early Cambridge letters to his mother tell
of his delight in getting the choice books from his
Middletown library into more congenial surround-
ings. He has weeded out the less desirable books
and has made some additions, so that his library
now numbers two hundred and sixty-six volumes,
every one of which is identified with a bit of per-
sonal experience in his pursuit of knowledge. Con-
spicuous were a choice selection of the Greek and
Latin classics, and a complete edition of the works
of Voltaire. Beside these were the works of Gibbon,
Grote, Humboldt, Lyell, Darwin, Buckle, Comte,
Mill, Spencer, Mackay, Lewes, Lagrange, Donald-
son, Emerson, Theodore Parker, and several vol-
umes of Dickens.

He also tells his mother about the adjustment of
his furniture and pictures. Over his mantelpiece
he has a framed portrait of Humboldt and he has
turned his " study table halfway around so as to
face the portrait." He has also a portrait of Voltaire
in the room. He has seen a full-length statuette of
Goethe, which "looks very majestic, in other words
very much like Goethe," and he wishes his mother
would get it for his room — which she did.

Fiske's Saturdays were usually spent in "mous-
ing among the book-shops in Boston," not only to
keep in touch with the new books along his chosen
lines of study, but also to see and handle any new
or fine edition of a favorite author. He had a great
fondness for fine editions of good books, — not

135

John Fiske

editions-de-luxe, but serviceable editions with good
print and margins and substantial bindings. To
him a good book was far more than a material
object, far more than a product of mechanical
processes. It was the latter into which had been
breathed, as it were, a human soul. His tender re-
gard for good books grew out of his reverent feeling
towards them as distinct embodiments of man's
spiritual nature.

In a letter to his mother of June 17, 1860, he
tells of a visit to the book-store of Little, Brown
& Company1 and in speaking of the interesting
books he saw there, he says : —

" I saw the works of all the English Positivists —
they comprise some of the first men of the cen-
tury: —

f Logic, 2 vols.
John Stuart Mill — his works •< Political Economy, 2 vols.

(_ Philosophical Writings, 2 vols.
f Seaside Studies.

Exposition of Comte.
George Henry Lewes — " M X History of Philosophy.

Life of Goethe.

I. Physiology of Common Life.

George Grote — History of Greece, 12 vols.

Henry T. Buckle — Civilization in England. ,

f Outlines of Astronomy.

Sir John Herschel — " " -J Natural Philosophy.

(. Essays.

Principles of Psychology.
Social Statics.
Senses and the Intellect.

Herbert Spencer- " " |

(

Rain -

£>am — ~~ •»-> • ji ITTMI

( Emotions and the Will.

1 Little, Brown & Company's book-store and publishing house
was at 1 12 Washington Street, and the firm was famous throughout
the country for choice editions of standard English works.

136

Interest in Positivism

Robert W. Mackay - his works { l^688 ot. *h.e .I"*ellfct'

( Progress of Christianity.

Charles Darwin — The Origin of Species.

Sir Charles Lyell - " " \ Wortks «?. 9eol°^ ™e

( greatest living geologist.

"In Germany, to omit lesser names, the Posi-
tivists enumerate among their number that of
Humboldt and also Ehrenberg — probably the first
living zoologist. In France there is Comte himself,1
Robin the first anatomist, Littre and Berard and
Pouchet, three of the greatest physiologists, and
Verdeil, perhaps the greatest chemist. So it seems at
present all departments of science are under the
control of Positivism. What does it mean? No pre-
vious instance in the history of thought can be
found of so many great thinkers uniting under the
same standard. I did n't know but you might like
to know who the great men are to whose school I
belong. "

This extract is of interest, not only as showing the
wide range of Fiske's thought at this time, but also
as reflecting somewhat the confusion which pre-
vailed in the scientifico-philosophic thought of the
period. The philosophic speculations of Auguste
Comte were, during the middle period of the century,
much in evidence, and were presented with some
original and striking suggestions regarding the pro-
gressive development of human knowledge. Fur-
thermore, it being claimed that these speculations
were based on positive science, and as scientific in-
vestigations in various directions were opening lines

1 Comte was not then living, — he died in 1857.
137

John Fiske

of thought in direct opposition to established re-
ligious and philosophic beliefs, there was much con-
fusion of thought in the general situation, with a
very prevalent disposition to regard the advance-
ments in science as in harmony, if not identified,
with the claims of the Positive Philosophy of Comte.
In fact, the Comtean philosophy was credited with
too much on the one hand, while science was deb-
ited with too much on the other hand. It was a
false kind of double-entry. It appears that at this
time Fiske was more or less in sympathy with the
Comtean philosophy. He had studied the Positive
Philosophy of Comte with great interest and much
care. It does not appear that he had given much,
if any, attention to the later sociological vagaries of
Comte. In the years to come, we are to see him
battling vigorously to defend the doctrine of Evolu-
tion — which was charged with Comtean character-
istics — against any affiliations with the Comtean
philosophy.

In the latter part of June, on one of the Saturday
excursions to Boston referred to, Fiske found in the
"Old Corner Book-Store " of Ticknor & Fields, the
original prospectus of Herbert Spencer's system of
philosophy, the publication of which, in quarterly
numbers, to be sold by subscription, was an-
nounced. In view of what is to follow in the
development of Fiske's own mind and in his per-
sonal acquaintance with Spencer, the following
extracts from the letters are of special interest.

138

Enthusiasm over Spencer

Writing Roberts under date of June 24, 1860, he
says: —

"Oh, George, my soul is on fire! (to use a favorite
expression of Horace), for Herbert Spencer is about
to execute a gigantic series of Positive books on
which he has been at work for years. I will try to
get you a printed notice of them before sending this.
He cannot finish them unless he gets subscribers
enough to sustain him. My name goes down to-
morrow— subscription only $2.50 per year. There
will be about ten volumes comprising Organic Na-
ture. There is Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and
Morality. Language comes in, too, and the 'Re-
ligion of Science' will also be treated. George, if I
were you, I would put down my name, for every one
counts. Mill's name is down, so is Herschel's besides
Buckle, Lewes, Grote, Mackay, Newman, Froude,
Darwin, Lyell, Hooker, Carpenter, Bain, De Mor-
gan, Lieveking, Morell, and many others whom I
do not think of."

Writing the same day to his mother he expresses
his enthusiasm over Spencer's undertaking thus: —

" I will try to get you a notice of Herbert Spen-
cer's gigantic series of works — a perfect library of
Positivism. You will see all about them in the
notice. I hope Mr. Stoughton will subscribe. I
consider it my duty to mankind as a Positivist to
subscribe; and if I had $2,000,000 I would lay
$1,000,000 at Mr. Spencer's feet to help him exe-
cute this great work."

Little did he dream in these moments of exulta-
tion over this announcement of Spencer's great

139

John Fiske

work that in the years to come he was to be brought
into close personal relations with him in the work-
ing-out of the latter' s philosophic system; and also
to become the chief interpreter of its spiritual im-
plications.

The letters, and particularly those to Roberts,
show not only great mental activity outside of his
preparatory studies; they also show the wide range
of his interests under his new surroundings. In
the letter of June 24, which contains the above ref-
erence to Spencer's undertaking, there is the follow-
ing passage: —

" I am slamming into German and find ' Kosmos'
much easier than Lessing. If you ever get 'Kos-
mos' get the German edition. It is splendid, but
the translation murders it. I am reading Boccaccio
and I find I have stumbled on one of the hardest
authors next to Guicciardini. Machiavelli is one of
the easiest Italian authors, he is so clear and precise.
In Spanish I am reading Navarrete's 'Veda7 Cer-
vantes prefixed to his edition of 'Don Quixote/
The second volume of Lewes' s * Physiology of Com-
mon Life ' is out and he goes into the cerebral part
like the devil."

Fiske is studying Sanskrit and dropping into
Confucius, and in a letter of July 8 he says: —

" If you are going to be a lawyer, you will need
to learn Sanskrit so as to read the 'Institutes of
Menu.' Nothing like going to the fountain head.
... I am reading Confucius, and it is the most
infernal piece of nonsense I have got hold of —

140

Wide Range of Study

neither head nor tail to it. Shape it hath none dis-
tinguishable in member, joint, or limb. Though I
have read in it for two evenings with praiseworthy
diligence, I confess my ignorance of what it is about.
The Chinese may understand it; I don't, for my
brains are not celestial as theirs are.*'

And then follows this fine tribute to Humboldt's
"Kosmos": —

"Ye Gods: what a book is 'Kosmos/ It is the
Epic of the Universe. It would pay to learn Ger-
man if that were the only book in the language.
Every now and then Humboldt quotes some beau-
tiful ode or sonnet of his brother William; e.g.: —

1 Wie Gras der Nacht myriaden Wei ten keimen.' l

"What a line that is! The entire style of the
work is grand and majestic. It is the poem of Posi-
tivism; though Peter Bayne says that Positivism
chills the poetry in man's nature."

Fiske visited the Harvard Library, and was cor-
dially received by the genial old librarian, Dr.
Sibley, whose chief delight was rummaging among
old books and papers for the chance of finding a
volume or sermon or address not hitherto collected,
and Fiske was given free access to the rare books in
the library. It is interesting to note that he at once
turned to the rare philological works. In an alcove
given to philological and Asiatic books he found
much to engage his attention. He tells Roberts that
there were "books in Sanskrit, Persian, Prakrit,

1 Like grass of the night myriads of worlds come into being.

141

John Fiske

Arabic, Turkish, and all sorts. " He itemizes from
memory the following: —

" There was W. v. Humboldt's 'Ueber die Kawi-
sprache auf der Insel Jawa,' in 3 vols. huge quarto : I
am going to read it. They say it is the best philolog-
ico-ethnological work out. There was Diez : ' Gram-
matik der Romanischen Sprachen,' 3 vols.: I am
bound to read that; it is the best grammar out, of
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norman Provencal,
Italian, and Wallachian. There was Schlegel's
' Etudes sur les langues Asiatiques' ; Lassen's ' Insti-
tutiones Linguae Pracriticse ' and ' Indische Alter-
thumskunde'; Ritter's ' Erdkunde,' about 12 vols.;
' Mahabharata/ 'Ramayana,' and 'Rig Veda' in
Sanskrit, bound in red calf. Also Klaproth's 'Asia
Polyglotta,' and so many other books that I was
driven nearly wild by the sight of them. I tell you
your uncle goes into these books like the very devil.
No use in being scared. I spend 2 j- hours per day
on German now, and it is coming by degrees. I shall
read it readily by winter. Then I can take out Deiz,
and old W. von Humboldt, and Grimm, and cram a
deuced lot of philology into my cocoa-nut shell."

Among the subjects uppermost at this time in the
minds of Roberts and Fiske was the early history
of Christianity, a subject on which both had read
widely and thoughtfully. They felt that no true
history of this important period in human civiliza-
tion had yet been written. But light was breaking.
German scholarship and historic research had so
clearly punctured many of the theologic dogmas of
the Christian religion that many minds had begun

142

Early Christianity

to think rationally on the historic development of
Christianity, where they had hitherto accepted
what they had been commanded or induced to be-
lieve. Nevertheless, there was very little tolerance
for rationalistic views on this subject, and we shall
see later that among the unfinished projects of
Fiske 's life — the one that was nearest his heart —
was the writing of a popular history of the first five
centuries of the Christian era. Bearing on this sub-
ject, if not the first suggestion of it, to the mind of
Fiske is the following passage in one of the letters
of Roberts, apropos of his reading Mackay's "Rise
and Progress of Chris tianity": —

" I wish there was a good edition of the 50 apocry-
phal Gospels, the 36 apocryphal Acts, and the 12
apocalypses, together with a good critical history
of the early Church. It would disabuse the public
of their prejudices amazingly. I recommend the
work for your consideration.'1

Fiske spent a Sunday with the family of Judge
Curtis, and the Judge and Fiske got into a theologic
discussion regarding which Fiske writes: —

" In a respectful way I used the Judge up — cor-
nered him everywhere. The Judge seemed to enjoy
it, and appeared puzzled at me. Finally he gave
up, beaten, and ordered a bottle of ale and some
crackers."

He had a conversation with the Judge about
Agassiz, concerning which he reports to Roberts
thus: —

John Fiske

"The Judge can't say that Agassiz is a Christian
— only a theist — that's all. I '11 tell you a story
Agassiz told the Judge about Arago. It seems that
Agassiz, Arago, and several other scientific men
were dining with the Murchisons. Says Lady Mur-
chison, * Now, M. Arago, what can be the reason that
in France all your men of science, so learned as they
are, invariably reject Christianity?' 'Madame,'
said Arago rather drily, ' they never give any atten-
tion to such matters.' Arago's answer strikes me
forcibly as showing how in France Christianity is
all a thing of the past."

The last sentence should be interpreted as refer-
ring to the opinion of Christianity among the scien-
tists of France. The high ideals of scholarship held
by both Fiske and Roberts is reflected in a passage
in a letter of Roberts apropos of a remark by a per-
son in Middletown who knew Fiske but slightly, to
the effect that Fiske was somewhat conceited, and
that he would get taken down tremendously if he
entered Harvard above freshman. Roberts says : —

" I do not think you or any earnest scholar con-
ceited. I would like to know if we both do not de-
plore our ignorance enough, and see a field broad
enough to cure us of complacency at our present
attainment."

Only once during this preparatory period was
Fiske interrupted in his studies. About the first of
August the hot midsummer weather of Cambridge
began to tell upon his physical strength, pushed as
it had been in the support of his varied intellectual

144

Enters Harvard

activity, and he was forced to take a few days' rest
at Middle town. On the loth of August he re-
turned to Cambridge and resumed his studies;
and so confident was he of creditably passing the
entrance examinations that he engaged his rooms
for the ensuing year and set about getting his
things in order for an undergraduate three years'
life at Harvard.

Thus, with his mind variedly occupied, the sum-
mer rapidly passed, and on Thursday, the 3Oth of
August, 1860, Fiske presented himself for exami-
nation for the freshman and the sophomore en-
trances at Harvard.

The examinations lasted three days. They con-
sisted of: —

Written exercises in

Latin Grammar and Composition.

Greek Grammar and Composition.

Geometry, Algebra, and Arithmetic.
Oral Examinations in

Latin Prose and Poetry.

Greek Prose and Poetry.

Geography and History.

The absence of all requirements in the sciences
and in modern languages is noticeable.

Fiske passed both examinations creditably in all
subjects, — he was one of six unconditioned, —
and at the close, he telegraphed Roberts as follows:
" Sophomore without conditions. Please promul-
gate." To his mother he gave a detailed account

145

John Fiske

of the examinations; and then he went down to
Swampscott and spent Sunday with Judge Curtis
and his family, by whom he was most cordially wel-
comed, and congratulated on the auspicious open-
ing of his college career.

CHAPTER VIII

HARVARD COLLEGE
I860-I863

FROM what we have already seen it appears that
young Fiske brought to Harvard a mind well
stocked with an exceptional amount of varied, well-
arranged knowledge, remarkable powers of appli-
cation and acquisition, together with high ideals of
scholarship and of personal character — in a word,
he came fairly as a model student. To trace under-
standingly his development through the next three
years it is essential that we become acquainted
with the intellectual and social life that prevailed
at Harvard during the period of 1860-1863. This
is necessary inasmuch as the more important phases
of Fiske's intellectual development took definite
shape during this period, and in directions so op-
posed to the accepted academic thought, and owing
to influences so entirely independent of the college,
as to relieve us from measuring the student by the
college, even if we are not led to some unflattering
measure of the college itself.

The freshman and sophomore examinations
through which Fiske so easily passed reveal how
completely modern science and modern languages
— the latter the necessary tools with which to

147

John Fiske

master the former — were ignored in the entrance
examinations, and even a cursory view of the aca-
demic course as a whole shows that at this time
Harvard College as an institution of learning was
still under the dominance of mediaeval ideas of
"what knowledge is of the most worth"; and that
the great seething, virile thought of the nineteenth
century, which was demanding of knowledge veri-
ties rather than speculation, which was placing new
values on intellectual culture, values based on sci-
ence and its application to social well-being, had as
yet no properly recognized place in its academic
course of instruction.

With these facts before us, and as we are tracing
the intellectual development of one of the most il-
lustrious of Harvard's alumni, it is well worth while
to take a brief glance at the academic course of
study and also at the faculty — the governing body
of the college — "as they were in themselves" at
the time young Fiske was seeking knowledge at
their hands. We shall find this diversion of much
assistance in tracing our alumnus through his under-
graduate experiences.

There were two Presidents of the college during
the period — Cornelius Conway Pel ton and the Rev-
erend Thomas Hill, D.D. For thirty years previ-
ous to his presidency, President Felton had been
Professor of Greek at the college. He had written
upon Greek literature, but he was not distinguished
for scholarship. His administration was brief —

148

The Harvard Faculty

less than two years. President Hill was a Unitarian
clergyman. He had been President of Antioch
College. He excelled as a mathematician. He was
a sincere, devout man; and in the great discussion
then opening between Science and Religion, he
would have the former held in bondage by the latter.
He was not a man of impressive personality, nor
was he noted for scholarship or executive ability.
He was a very worthy man, but he was singularly
out of place as President of Harvard College.
Neither incumbent left any marked impress upon
the college.

The Classical Department, which comprised
instruction in the Greek and Latin languages and
literatures, was the best equipped department of
the college. It was in charge of three Professors:
the Greek, of William W. Goodwin, Ph.D., Eliot
Professor of Greek Literature, and Evangelinus A.
Sophocles, A.M., University Professor of Ancient,
Byzantine, and Modern Greek; the Latin, in charge
of George M. Lane, Ph.D., University Professor of
Latin. For the Greek, there were two assistant in-
structors or tutors, and for the Latin, there were
four.

While the study of these two languages was re-
quired in the first three classes, and was an elective
in the senior class, and while a greater teaching
force was given to this department than to any
other in the college, we have to notice the absence
of any adequate provisions for making students

149

John Fiske

acquainted with classic history or literature while
studying the languages ; and classical philology, in
the sense in which philology is now understood, does
not appear to have been at all considered. One of
the most significant points of contrast between the
educational ideals of the Harvard academic course
in 1860 and that which obtains at present, is shown
in the provisions for classical instruction at the two
periods.

Of the professors and instructors in this depart-
ment much that is good can be said. Professor Good-
win was a young man who had studied at Gottingen
under the eminent classical scholar Hermann, and
he brought to his chair at Harvard a knowledge of
the Greek language and literature quite exceptional
at the time, as well as an enthusiastic love for the
products of the Hellenic mind. The glimpses we
get of him during the period under review are highly
creditable to his scholarship and also to his influence,
which was of an inspiring nature, upon the students.
He appears to have been absorbed principally in
his own line of work. Technically he was a Greek
grammarian, and his influence during the last half-
century upon the instruction in Greek at Harvard
and throughout the country has been great.

The most distinct personality in the department
— if not in the whole college — was Professor
Sophocles, who, by reason of his Greek features,
his flowing locks, his simple, quaint garb, presented
a noticeable appearance. His manners, too, were

150

The Harvard Faculty

unique — a combination of the courteous gentle-
man, the scholarly recluse, and the cynic, which
caused him as an instructor to appear in various
aspects. Many are the incidents related of his se-
verely brusque and unjust treatment of students,
partially atoned for by acts of courtesy, which
show that a tenderness of heart was as genuine a
part of his nature as was his love for his noble lan-
guage. And he did love his Greek tongue! He
seemed to know every Greek word, and its proper
use, that has come down to us from the classic pe-
riod, and his insights into the great masterpieces of
Greek literature were the valuable parts of his teach-
ing. He had no patience with indifferent students,
but to those who took an interest in the Greek lan-
guage and literature he was a great help, an in-
spiration. Often he was unjust in his judgments.1

Professor Lane was an excellent Latin scholar
and he had a fine appreciation of Latin literature.

1 The following incidents illustrate somewhat Professor Sophocles's
manner of dealing with his students: —

A backward student called to explain his remissness and to assure
the Professor that he did love his Greek study. " Then name two of
your favorite passages," said the Professor. The student named one
in the Iliad and one in the (Edipus. Professor Sophocles then handed
him the books, saying, " Find those passages and read them to me."
The student, in his reading, revealed serious errors. Said the Pro-
fessor in his brusque way: "Young man, you do not understand
Greek ! You have no love for that noble language ! You murder it !
Enough. I want no more to do with you."

There was much complaint in the class of '63 that the Professor's
marks were incorrect, and particularly in the cases of three students
who were entitled to widely different marks. On complaint being
made, Professor Sophocles replied: " I can't distinguish between you
gentlemen. You must take your chances as to what you get."

John Fiske

Although somewhat reserved in manner he was at
heart of a kindly, genial disposition. While firm in
his insistence upon the importance of technical
drill, he sought to throw students upon their own
resources in mastering the grammatical construc-
tion of the Latin language and also in interpreting
the masterpieces of Latin literature. He was a clear
and inspiring lecturer.

The department was fortunate in having as in-
structor Ephraim W. Gurney, sometime tutor, and
later assistant professor in Latin. In the teaching
staff of the college no one exercised a more stimu-
lating, healthful influence upon the students than
did Mr. Gurney. He was a man of broad culture,
with a scholarly love for knowledge — not that of
the pedantic sort, but of that knowledge which
leadeth unto wisdom. He was an earnest student of
the educational, and also the scientific and philo-
sophic, problems of the time. He held his knowledge
as a gift for distribution, and his method of teach-
ing was through lending his torch to every one's
candle.

It should be mentioned that, although not a fea-
ture of the Classical Department, instruction in
Hebrew and other Oriental languages was optional
to the senior class, the instruction to be given by
George R. Noyes, D.D., Professor of these lan-
guages in the Divinity School. There does not ap-
pear to have been any demand for this instruction
among the seniors. We shall see that Fiske, how-

152

The Harvard Faculty

ever, was prompt to avail himself of it by taking up,
as extras, Hebrew and Sanskrit, in his sophomore
year.1

The Department of Mathematics was presided
over by Benjamin Peirce, LL.D., Perkins Professor
of Astronomy and Mathematics. There were three
assistant instructors. Mathematics was a required
study during the first two years and was an elective
during the junior and senior years.

Professor Peirce was one of the leading astron-
omers and mathematicians of his time. He had a
deeply reverent mind and possessing an active,
fertile imagination the heavens were his dwelling-
place no less than the surface of our globe. Having
crystallized his thought into mathematical formulae
of the widest generality, he explored the vast realms
of space and brought forth fresh evidences of the
existence throughout the sidereal universe of im-
mutable, ever-unfolding law.

Professor Peirce was one of the most important
personalities in the intellectual and social life of
the Harvard of his day. His strong features and
his flowing locks of iron-gray hair gave him an im-
pressive appearance, and he did not fail to attract
attention when strolling through Harvard's classic
yard. It was not an infrequent sight to see him
and Professor Agassiz strolling through the yard
together. His enthusiasm in his own line of work

1 Fiske read the Bible in Hebrew with Dr. Noyes, who pronounced
him the best Hebrew scholar he ever had.

153

John Fiske

was great, and his ready command of his vast
knowledge, combined with rare powers of exposi-
tion, made him an attractive lecturer, and gave to
his conversation a peculiar charm. At times, it
must be confessed, his enthusiasm in his sidereal
excursions led him to soar beyond the grasp of the
undergraduate mind. Even in such instances his
greatness was fully admitted by his hearers.

Professor Peirce had accepted the theory of Evo-
lution as the Divine order of creation, and in re-
ligious belief he was a theist akin to Channing and
to Emerson. It may be said that his deep reverence
for the Divine Power which he saw back of all the
phenomena of the universe was so sincere that no
one ventured to measure him with a doctrinal
creed. Of him it was truly said : —

"For him the Architect of all
Unroofed our Planet's star-lit hall.
Through voids unknown to worlds unseen
His clearer vision rose serene." l

The Department of History, one of the most
important departments of the college, appears to
have been sadly neglected. Henry W. Torrey, Pro-
fessor of Ancient and Modern History, with one
assistant, was in charge of the department. The
instruction was limited to the freshman and senior
classes. Professor Torrey was a very amiable man,
but he had not the preparation essential for the
head of this department at the college. It appears
1 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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The Harvard Faculty

that, not unlike Mr. Wegg, he dropped into history
"in a friendly sort of way." The character and
scope of the instruction shows that the value at-
tached to history in the general academic course
was very slight. Better historic instruction is now
given in the public high schools.

In the Department of Rhetoric and Oratory, the
college tried to hide a really fine scholar and critic
in the subordinate position of a literary pedagogue.
The department was in charge of Francis J. Child,
Ph.D., Boylston Prof essor of Rhetoric and Oratory.
Professor Child was an authority on all matters re-
lating to early European, and particularly to early
English, literature; and besides, he was one of the
best critics of general literature of the day. To
Professor Child, with one assistant, was given the
task of seeing that in all the classes the students'
training in the use of English was consistent with a
college course. He went farther. Beyond the formal
exercises in grammar and rhetoric, he sought to
make students acquainted with the resources of
their native language as a vehicle of thought ex-
pression, thus lifting mere pedagogic instruction
to the higher plane of philologic study. Professor
Child was a most genial man. He read his certifi-
cate of professorship as an unlimited authorization
to lend a helping hand wherever needed, and his life,
therefore, was a constant overflow of assistance to
students in many directions. In religious belief, he
was broad-minded and without creedal limitation.

155

John Fiske

He was short of stature and familiarly known
by the students as "Stubby " Child, a sobriquet
which he made synonymous with rare learning so
that it became a veritable title of honor in the un-
dergraduate mind. How Professor Child would have
gloried in the provisions that are now given for the
study of his noble English tongue at Harvard!

The Department of Modern Languages was un-
der the direction of James Russell Lowell, Smith
Professor of the French and Spanish languages, and
Professor of Belles-Lettres. He was assisted by two
instructors — one in French and one in German.
Professor Lowell gave lectures and also personal in-
struction in Spanish and Italian. The slight value
that was then put upon modern languages is shown
not only by their absence from the entrance ex-
aminations, but also by the fact that in all the col-
lege classes their study was optional.

But slight as was the value put upon modern lan-
guages and literature in the framing of the college
course of study, Professor Lowell made his lec-
tures one of the most valuable, and to some of the
students, one of the most attractive, features of the
course. He was at the maturity of his rare powers,
and his lectures partook of the nature of informal
talks. He made them occasions for blending his
ripe scholarship, his keen, illuminating criticism,
his genial wit, and his profound thought, in a man-
ner wholly his own: in truth, he happily illustrated,
in his own case, how "language curtsys to its nat-

156

The Harvard Faculty

ural king." People familiar with Professor Lowell's
11 Letters" and "Essays" — particularly his essays
on Shakespeare, Dante, Lessing, Don Quixote,
and on Modern Languages and Literatures — can
readily imagine what intellectual occasions these
lectures must have been. Their fame still lingers
among the finer traditions of the college.

The provisions for scientific instruction in the
academic course were in 1860 very meagre. The
fact that the claims of science were entirely ignored
in the entrance examinations is indicative of the
low estimate that was put upon science as a subject
in collegiate education. It appears, however, that
its claims had some recognition in the academic
course, although the methods of instruction were
sadly deficient. There were provisions for in-
struction in what was designated as three Depart-
ments of Science: the Department of Physics; the
Department of Chemistry and Mineralogy; the
Department of Natural History, Anatomy, and
Physiology.

The first of these departments, that of Physics,
was in charge of Joseph Lovering, A.M., Hollis
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.
Instruction was given only to the junior and se-
nior classes, wholly by textbook recitations and by
illustrated lectures; there does not appear to have
been any laboratory work whatever. Professor Lov-
ering was painstaking and precise in all his work.

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John Fiske

He was not an original investigator, but a facile in-
terpreter of the work of others. He was a clear, but
not an inspiring, teacher. At a time when the fun-
damental conceptions of physics were undergoing a
radical change it does not appear that he brought
any intimation of this fact to the knowledge of his
students.

The second of these departments was under the
direction of Josiah P. Cooke, A.M., Erving Pro-
fessor of Chemistry and Mineralogy. This depart-
ment, as a practical feature in the academic course,
had been created virtually by Professor Cooke. He
was graduated in 1848, when no instruction in
chemistry worth speaking of existed at the college.
He had, however, much enthusiasm for this branch
of science. He saw its great importance in the de-
velopment of the industrial arts, and he prepared
himself, mainly by self-study, to give instruction
in it. In 1850 he was appointed to the Erving
Professorship and he secured the placing of chem-
istry as a required study in the sophomore year and
as an elective in the junior year — the instruction
being by textbooks and lectures. By 1860 he had
managed to get together a small equipment of ap-
paratus for laboratory work. The study was still
confined to the sophomore and junior classes and the
method of instruction continued to be mainly by
textbook recitations and lectures: laboratory work
was given as an elective in the junior class.

Professor Cooke was an earnest teacher and was

158

The Harvard Faculty

fertile in devices for utilizing his limited facilities
for effective illustrative and laboratory work. It
does not appear that in his instruction he paid any
attention to the " Correlation and Conservation of
Forces," a subject which in 1860 was engaging the
thought of the scientific world, and the acceptance
of which has been productive of great changes in
the fundamental conceptions of chemical and phys-
ical phenomena.

Professor Cooke was a deeply religious man, and
his lectures were permeated with a sincere desire
so to interpret the principles of chemical and phys-
ical science that they should appear as but con-
firmations of the assertions of Christian theology.1

The third of these scientific departments — that
of Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology —
had at this period hardly more than an incidental
relation to the academic course. The instruction
was mainly by lectures given to the three upper
classes. In the junior and senior classes attendance
was optional. Incidental as was the instruction
in this department, it served to bring some of the

1 It was the opinion of Fiske, often expressed in later years that
" Joby Cooke " — as the Professor was known in the undergraduate
life — mixed too much theology with his science for the good of
either his science or his theology.

Here it is well to note that in 1860 and 1861 we catch glimpses of
a young man reserved in manner, hovering, as it were, between the
departments of mathematics and chemistry, positive in his teach-
ing and a member of the faculty, who had already made a strong
impression at the college. This was Charles W. Eliot, who, a few
years later, as President of the college, was to reconstruct it from its
foundations and place it among the great universities of the world.

159

John Fiske

students into personal relations with three eminent
men of science. These were Asa Gray, M.D., Fisher
Professor of Natural History, one of the greatest of
living botanists; Louis Agassiz, LL.D., Lawrence
Professor of Zoology and Geology, one of the
world's great zoologists and geologists; and Jeffreys
Wyman, M.D., Hervey Professor of Anatomy, of
world-wide reputation as an anatomist.

These eminent instructors were greatly hampered
in the presentation of their respective subjects by
the absence of adequate facilities for illustrative
and laboratory work. Two of them, Professors
Agassiz and Gray, figured prominently, as we shall
soon see, in the great controversy over the "Origin
of Species," a subject which was then engaging the
thought of the scientific and religious world. Pro-
fessor Wyman, although not so conspicuous in the
public eye, was an authority in his special subject
of anatomy, which he had studied in its relations to
all phases of organic life. His personal character
was of the highest, and it had a fine, pervasive, en-
nobling influence in the intellectual life of the col-
lege. He was an Evolutionist in his philosophico-
religious belief, but he was not disputatious in its
advocacy. His life was well summed up by Dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes: "He suffered long and was
kind; he envied not; he vaunted not himself; he was
not puffed up; he sought not his own; was not
easily provoked; he thought no evil, and rejoiced jn
the truth."

160

The Harvard Faculty

In all matters relating to instruction in the sci-
ences, the difference between what obtained at
Harvard in 1860, and what obtains now, is simply
incalculable.

The Department of Philosophy was in charge of
Francis Bowen, A.M., Alford Professor of Religion
and Moral Philosophy. The instruction was con-
fined to the senior class. The Department of Phil-
osophy in a college should be the meeting-place
where the instruction in the other departments is
brought to focus around the ultimate questions of
the physical cosmos, the human soul, and the In-
finite Power that lies back of both. The wise di-
rection of such a department requires not only a
familiar acquaintance with the various depart-
ments of human knowledge, but also the possession
of the philosophic temper, which enables its pos-
sessor to look with equanimity upon all phases
of human thinking as adumbrating to some extent
the truth regarding the above three questions, the
ultimates of all knowledge. Professor Bowen was a
Unitarian of the indeterminate religious belief pre-
vailing at the period. He held firmly to the tenets
of Christian theology save in regard to the Trinity,
a dogma he seems to have ignored; and he sought
to interpret the later developments of science as
but confirmation of the claims of dogmatic theology.
He was bitterly opposed to the doctrine of Evolu-
tion in any of its forms, and he found something

161

John Fiske

atwist in the arguments of all its advocates. He
was not an educated man in science; yet he de-
livered himself on scientific questions with the air
of one who thought his judgment final, and that
metaphysical vociferation would prevail over scien-
tific demonstration. Holding an important posi-
tion at a great epoch in philosophic and religious
development, he appears as endeavoring to stifle,
rather than as striving to stimulate and direct, the
awakening thought of the period. The course of
study in this department presents a noticeable as-
semblage of me taphysico- theological husks. In the
undergraduate life of the college, Professor Bowen
was known by the expressive sobriquet of "Fanny."

Religious instruction was given a place in the
academic course. The instruction was given by
Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., Preacher to the Univer-
sity, and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals.
It was confined to the freshman and senior classes,
and consisted of textbook recitations from Whate-
ley's" Lessons on Christian Morals and Evidences"
and Butler's " Analogy and Ethics." Attendance
at daily morning prayers, and at two church serv-
ices on Sunday, was compulsory for all students.

Dr. Peabody was of the Unitarian faith, but be-
tween the assumptions of dogmatic theology and
the affirmations of positive science, he seems to
have found a sort of religious resting-place which
did not put him in strong antagonism to either side

162

Orders and Regulations

in the religious controversy then raging, while it en-
abled him to draw support from both. This reli-
gious peace he sought to share with others. His was,
indeed, a kindly soul. He recommended the study
of the works of broad-minded, devout thinkers ; he
preached "the efficacy of good works" as of greater
value in life than creedal beliefs; and he gained the
affectionate regard of the students.

'* Before passing from the consideration of the
academic course, we should take a brief glance at
the "Orders and Regulations" of the faculty espe-
cially in regard to attendance at religious services by
the students, for here we shall see the strong hold
the " theological bias" had upon the most " liberal "
college in New England.

We have already seen that daily attendance at
prayers, and that attendance at two church serv-
ices on Sunday, were compulsory for all students.
We have now to note that non-compliance with
these requirements was strictly noted, and more
heavily penalized than were absences from, or
failures in, recitations or lectures. For instance: a
" Private " — that is, a private admonition — was
given to a student for his unexcused absence from
a single church service, while he could "cut" six
recitations or lectures before being called to account.
Again a "Public" — that is, a public admonition
— was given to a student for two half-day absences
from church services, while he could "cut" twelve

163

John Fiske

recitations or lectures before being subjected to such
punishment. And again: a student could be ''sus-
pended, dismissed, or otherwise punished at the
discretion of the faculty," for being absent from
three church services, while he could indulge in
eighteen absences from recitations or lectures be-
fore receiving the severest censure of the college.
Then, too, in the "scale of merit," attendance at
prayers and church services played an important
part. In the final summing-up of the term's record
there were deducted from the total favorable marks
eight for every absence from a lecture or recitation,
while for "every absence from daily prayers" two
were deducted, and for "every half -day absence
from public worship," thirty-two were deducted;
and in case a student received a "Private," thirty-
two were additionally deducted; and if he gained
a "Public," sixty-four were additionally deducted.

It also appears that a strict record was kept of
"all tardinesses at prayers and Sunday services,"
and that this record was sent to the faculty at the
end of each term, and that for every instance eight
marks were deducted from the rank of the student
so reported.

The strictness with which the conforming of stu-
dents to the religious requirements was supervised
is indicated by the following provisions in the "Or-
ders and Regulations of the Faculty for 1860": —

"Every student obtaining leave of absence for
Sunday must bring back a certificate from his par-

Orders and Regulations

ent or guardian or some other accredited person of
his having attended church. "

" Absences from prayers and Sunday services
shall be reported at the Regent's office by the re-
spective monitors every Monday."

" Whenever, in the course of any one term, any
student's unexcused absences from prayers shall
amount to ten, or his tardinesses at prayers to five,
or his absence from church (half-day) to one, he
shall be immediately reported to the faculty, and
shall receive a private admonition."

From what will appear later, we should note that
reading during church services was considered as
an offence against "Good Order and Decorum."
Then, too, the faculty were not unmindful of the
propriety of dress on the part of students; as wit-
ness this provision: " On Sabbaths, on Examination
Days, and on all public occasions, each student is
required to wear in public a black coat with buttons
of the same color."

A careful study of the "Orders and Regulations"
gives the impression that in the minds of the faculty
the greatest delinquency on the part of a student,
and the one against which the heaviest penalties
should be brought, was the neglect of religious
services.

The enforcing of the "Orders and Regulations"
with reference to religious services was in the hands
of a " Parietal Committee" composed of the officers
of the college living within the college walls. This
Committee deputized many of its duties to mon-

165

John Fiske

itors chosen from approved students of the senior
class. Thus, under these provisions, a system of re-
ligious espionage was established throughout the
college in behalf of requirements which instinc-
tively aroused opposition, which made a virtue of
hypocrisy, and which heavily discredited the value
of scholarship honors.

Growing out of these religious requirements was
a very noticeable sight to be seen at seven o'clock
every morning — the rush of students to morning
prayers. At the first stroke of the chapel bell,
a motley throng of students was seen streaming
through Harvard Square, out from Garden Street,
and the purlieus of Kirkland Street, all surging into
the college yard and all intent upon one thing:
getting within the chapel door before the last stroke
of the bell. It was, indeed, a motley throng: some
were adjusting any old hat to locks of hair much
dishevelled; some were putting on collars or tying
neckerchiefs; some were getting into coats or ad-
justing discordant garments; some were making
long coats, buttoned closely at the neck, " cover a
multitude of sins"; some were hopping on one foot
and lacing a shoe on the other; while here and there
might be observed students, who, having paid due
attention to their sartorial appearance, were pro-
ceeding leisurely to the chapel. In one sense the
scene was intensely amusing. It was a very distinct
presentation of some of the difficulties which sur-
rounded the pursuit of knowledge at Harvard. In

1 66

College Halls

another and far deeper sense, the scene, as a whole,
showed that the attempt to teach or inculcate re-
ligion by a universal, formal observance had made
the observance ridiculous. Viewed in its everyday
aspect, the call to prayers, with its penalties, had
much more the aspect of a roll-call of the students
for the purpose of bringing them under the eye of a
monitor, to be checked off and counted, than as a
summons to a religious exercise.

Reviewing the academic course as a whole and
in the light of the "Orders and Regulations," the
criticism of the college in 1866, by a distinguished
alumnus, applies with even greater force to the col-
lege of 1 860. At the inauguration of the new era at
the college in 1866, the Reverend Frederick H.
Hedge, D.D., gave an address before a triennial
festival of the alumni and spoke of the then condi-
tion of the college thus: —

"The college proper is simply a more advanced
school for boys, not differing essentially in principle
and theory from the public schools in all our towns.
In this, as in those, the principle is coercion. Hold
your subject fast in one hand and pour knowledge
into him with the other. The Professors are task-
masters and police-officers — the President the
chief of the college police. "

As complementary to this state of things, in 1860,
the college halls or dormitories were the Massachu-
setts, Stoughton, and Hollis buildings. These halls
were hardly more than barracks: they were sadly

John Fiske

deficient in sanitary provisions as well as without
the conveniences of common life. Each student had
to supply himself with water for all purposes from
the pumps in the college yard ; and water stood in
the cellars of all the halls most of the time. It was
not until 1860 — Fiske's entrance year — that gas
was put into the halls and the yard lighted.

But the academic course of study and its inter-
pretation by the faculty and instructors were not
the only educative influences that were operative
upon the broadly developing mind of Fiske during
his three years of undergraduate life at Harvard.
These three years comprised a portion of an event-
ful period in religious, scientific, and political think-
ing at Harvard, the results of which were more or
less felt in all departments of the college, while they
were prolific of much grave questioning on the part
of thoughtful students. As the great activity along
these fundamental lines of thinking had a powerful
effect upon the expanding mind of Fiske, and as in
subsequent years we are to trace his career as a
leader in setting forth the philosophic import of
these new lines of thought, it is well to take here a
brief survey of three important questions — three
fundamental subjects of thought, which, by the
circumstances of the time, were, during his under-
graduate period, thrust, as it were, directly into
the very life of the college.

It should be stated that in the course of its de-

168

Unitarianism

velopment there had grown up around the college
some professional and observational schools which
were more or less incidentally related to the college,
either as giving aid to the instruction or as offering
post-graduate courses of professional study. These
were the Harvard Divinity School, the Harvard
Law School, the Harvard Medical School, the Law-
rence Scientific School, an Astronomical Observ-
atory, and a Museum of Comparative Zoology.
These professional and observational schools, with
the college proper, made up the institution known
as Harvard University — the whole being under the
executive management and control of the President
of Harvard College. !

The three questions referred to were of a reli-
gious, a scientific, and a political nature; and they
were focussed at the college mainly through the
incidental relations existing between the Divinity
School, the Scientific School, and the Law School,
respectively, on the one hand; and on the other
hand, the college as an institution of learning, with
a large body of inquiring students.

What is Unitarianism ?

The first of these questions may be stated thus:
Is Unitarianism, as interpreted by the Divinity
School, and as accepted by the college, consistent
with the fundamental tenets of the Christian re-
ligion and the revelations of science ?

For full fifty years the Presidents of Harvard

169

John Fiske

College had been clergymen or laymen of the Uni-
tarian faith. For over thirty years the Harvard
Divinity School had been the headquarters of Uni-
tarianism in America. Here the great preachers of
the denomination had been trained : men like Gan-
nett, Bellows, Furness, Emerson, Osgood, Dewey,
Theodore Parker, James Freeman Clarke, Froth-
ingham, Ellis, Huntington, Hale, and others. Its
leading professors were Unitarians, and on the es-
tablishment of the Plummer Professorship of Chris-
tian Morals, in 1855, on an endowment from Miss
Caroline Plummer, of Salem, Massachusetts, with
its accompanying post of Preacher to the Univer-
sity, one of the most distinguished clergymen of the
Unitarian denomination, the Reverend Frederick
D. Huntington, was selected for the chair. Harvard
College, therefore, was rightly regarded as a Unita-
rian college, and as such it was generally credited
with admitting the utmost liberality of thought in
all matters pertaining to religious belief.

In January, 1860, Harvard College, the Divinity
School, and the Unitarian denomination were all
startled from their state of religious complacency
by Dr. Huntington's resignation from his professor-
ship at the college, and from his post of Preacher to
the University, followed shortly after by his be-
coming a candidate for orders in the Episcopal
Church. Never before in this country did a change
in any individual's religious faith and practice make
such a profound and widespread impression upon

170

Unitarianism

the public mind as did this. The prominence, the
abilities, the high character of Dr. Huntington
gave much denominational significance to his ac-
tion. It was a severe blow to conservative Unitari-
anism. It was hailed with great joy by the various
evangelical denominations. But the reasons assigned
for the change of faith went deeper than mere de-
nominational lines. They were such as to bring
under full review the binding force of the funda-
mental Christian dogmas in the light of modern
science and historic and philologic criticism.1

1 In an autobiographic article published in The Forum for June,
1886, we find a summary of Dr. Huntington's reasons for his change
of religious faith: —

" It appeared to H. that beneath the shiftings on the current of
speculation, there was a change at work in the whole doctrinal basis
of the denomination to which he had belonged. Doubtless that the
jejune self-interested moralizing of the Priestley and the English
socinian school should be spiritualized by a lofty appeal to conscious-
ness and insight under a direct power of the spirit of God, was an im-
measurable gain. St. Paul proclaimed an eternal law when he wrote
'Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.' But Christianity is a
revelation. Of that revelation there is a record. Its credentials, its
history, the general and reverent consent of eighteen Christian cen-
turies, its marvellous power over civilized peoples hardly less than
miraculous, invest it with tremendous sanctions. There is no trace
of anything like Christian culture apart from its authority. In open
questions it has been, what there must be, a court of ultimate ap-
peal. Hitherto H. had seen it so held in his own as well as in other
Protestant bodies. Throughout the Unitarian and Trinitarian polem-
ics, that appeal had been made with confidence by both sides alike.
The main question was: What do the Scriptures teach and mean?
It was a question of interpretation of documents, hardly a question
of whether the documents were authentic and binding. ... In the
short space of twenty years the Unitarian press and pulpit virtually
ceased to. make a stand on the foundation which had been known as
the Word of God. . . . He asked himself: Is there anywhere in eccle-
siastical annals, an instance of so swift a plunge downwards in any as-
sociation of people bearing the name of Christ, simply losing hold of

171

John Fiske

Thus, during the period we are reviewing, 1 860-63,
What is Unitarianism? and, What is its attitude
toward modern knowledge? were flung as vital ques-
tions into the intellectual life of Harvard.

Fiske, as might be expected, took a deep interest
in this discussion; and as we are to see in later years
that his mature philosophic thought found a ready
welcome among Unitarians generally, it is worth
while to pause a bit in our narrative, and take a
glance at the kind of religious faith which, under
the name of Unitarianism, Harvard was offering at
this time to her students, accompanied by such pen-
alties as we have seen for non-compliance with its
formal requirements, penalties which were made to
weigh so heavily against scholarly honors.

Just a brief chapter of ecclesiastical history. It
was under the lead of William Ellery Channing
that Unitarianism as a distinct form of religious
belief became established during the early part of
the last century — 1815 to 1825 — in New England.
It came as a quiet protest on the part of a number of

the central fact of revelation? H. could no longer be content with a
kind of Christianity destitute of a Christ in whom is all the fulness
and power of God, without an inspired charter, without the law and
inheritance and corporate energy and universal offer of the gifts and
graces of eternal life, in a visible church."

That Dr. Huntington left the college with " strained relations " is
evident from the curt mention of his resignation in the Annual Re-
port of the President for the college year 1859-60: —

" Professor Huntington having resigned his place after five years
of devoted service, his resignation was accepted at the close of the
year, and a special arrangement was made with him by the President
to perform or provide for the duties of the office until the end of the
following term."

172

Unitarianism

sincerely religious minds against many of the dog-
mas of the Calvinistic theology. It grew directly
out of the Calvinistic Congregational churches:
many of these churches transforming themselves
bodily into Congregational Unitarian churches. It
was a change of religious faith, without a schism
in the church organization.1 With Dr. Channing,
Unitarianism stood for the freest thought in reli-
gious matters and the widest toleration for religious
beliefs. It affirmed the Divine Fatherhood of God
and His creating all things good; it affirmed the
innate goodness of the human soul as a part of the
Divine Nature, and as possessing conscious reason
as a means of knowing the good; it affirmed a belief
in God's revelation of Himself: in the world of Na-
ture; in the heart of man, inclining him to worship
and to acts of brotherhood; and in the Bible — the
last a special revelation of the Divine Will and Pur-
pose; it affirmed a belief in Christ as a divinely in-
spired man sent as a type for humanity to model
itself by.

The enunciation of this comparatively simple
form of religious belief brought the Unitarians into
a bitter controversy with their orthodox brethren

1 People outside of New England are often confused by the fact
that in New England both the orthodox or Calvinistic churches and
the Unitarian churches have the same generic title of Congregational
churches or societies. Even Theodore Parker's church had its legal
title in the " Twenty-eighth Congregational Society." This anomalous
condition of things has its explanation in the text — the original Unita-
rian churches or societies were simply Calvinistic churches or societies
transformed as to their religious belief.

173

John Fiske

over points of doctrine in the Calvinistic theology.
The Unitarians were charged with leaving the vital
elements of Christianity out of their scheme; some
of their opponents went so far as to call them down-
right infidels. But in spite of the opposition the
Unitarians steadily grew in numbers, and among
them were the most cultivated people of New Eng-
land ; and they soon came to possess a controlling in-
fluence at Harvard College.

In 1825 they formed an Association for confer-
ence and mutual support; and in order the better
to supply their denomination with pastors and
preachers they established a Divinity School in con-
nection with Harvard College. They wished to be
known as liberal Christians, and by 1830 they had
become a powerful religious organization in New
England.

But they were not long in religious peace among
themselves. Out from their own Association came
two heretics, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore
Parker, men of the broadest culture, both breathing
the same spirit of religious liberty and toleration;
and both animated with the same love to God and
man that the Unitarians themselves professed. But
Emerson and Parker went further than their Uni-
tarian brethren in their dissent from Calvinistic
theology. They would have religion consist of
heartfelt affirmations of the Divine Fatherhood of
God revealed in all that exists; together with affirm-
ations of the brotherhood of man, to be exemplified

174

Unitarianism

in upright conduct as necessary for the fulness of
individual human life; these affirmations to be at-
tended by no sacraments or binding formalities be-
yond the expression of grateful, cheerful hearts and
upright lives.

Conservative Unitarians were shocked at the
simplicity of these affirmations, and were fright-
ened at the application of their boasted liberality
to these progressives. Like their orthodox brethren
of a few years before, they found themselves facing
a heresy in their own midst which swept away all
theologic dogmas and creeds whatsoever,, and to
which by their own principles they must extend
complete toleration. Had Dr. Channing lived a
few years longer, the course of events might have
been different. Deprived of his inspiring leader-
ship, the Unitarians lost faith in their affirmations
as well as in the great principle of toleration. Ac-
cordingly, in the words of Lowell : —

" They brandished their worn theological birches,
Bade natural progress keep out of the churches/'

and began a retreat. They treated Emerson and
Parker shabbily. By sugar-coating with mystical
phrases the dogmas of Biblical inspiration, the
miracles, the nature and office of Christ, and the
Sacraments, the orthodox view of them was made
more acceptable to timid souls. With a show of
learning. German criticism of Biblical and ecclesi-
astical history as well as dogma was patronized,
and was thought unsuited to the lay mind of New

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John Fiske

England. Much thought was given to speculative
philosophy, with but little or no application to the
social needs of the time. Science was well bespoken,
and in its name the varied phenomena of the uni-
verse were presented as evidences of Divine crea-
tion and sustentation in conformity to a specially
revealed will or purpose. In short, by eschewing
Emerson and Parker, Unitarianism shut itself out
from the great forward intellectual movement of
the period, and about the middle of the century it
became an eminently respectable, cultured, self-
satisfying form of religious observances. Well might
Fiske think, as he did, on his first attendance at a
Unitarian Church, that he was present at an Epis-
copal service.1

It was between 1850 and 1860 that the scientifico-
philosophic thought of the nineteenth century broke
upon all religious systems, bringing wholly new
conceptions of the Divine First Cause and its mode
of action in the universe of objective phenomena,
and also in the world of subjective phenomena re-
flected in the conscious mind of man. The effect of
this new movement in thought was the reconsidera-
tion of all religious dogmas in the light of positive
knowledge and reason, and when Unitarianism,
with its smug religious complacency, was brought
under philosophic envisagement in the light of sci-
ence and historic criticism, it was found that as a
religious organization it had nothing tangible to tie
• 1 Cf. ante, p. 131.

176

Unitarianism

to but the three fundamental points given by Dr.
Channing: the loving Fatherhood of God, declared
in all His work; the brotherhood of man, an essen-
tial condition for the fulness of life; and the utmost
toleration of thought as absolutely necessary for at-
taining religious truth — all of which had been com-
promised by evasions.

There followed a notable parting of the ways:
a movement backward as well as forward; and the
backward movement had its culmination in the ac-
tion taken by Dr. Huntington. And his was the
action of a sincerely devout man, in whose intel-
lectual make-up emotional sensibility had prece-
dence over ratiocinative methods of thinking. He
deliberately chose to set aside (if he knew them)
the facts of science bearing upon man's origin and
development, as well as the results of Biblical criti-
cism as affecting the truth of a special Divine revela-
tion, that he might give himself up unreservedly to
an unquestioning belief in the fundamental dogmas
of Christian theology. Of him this can be said, that
into his interpretation of these dogmas he imparted
such an ethical character and meaning as enabled
him to become a preacher of social righteousness
hardly second to any man of his time.

Many followed Dr. Huntington's example. In
the forward movement, however, quite other per-
sonal influences were at work. From his quiet retreat
at Concord, Emerson, wholly undisturbed by the
religious perturbations of the time, was affirming,

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John Fiske

in words that have taken a place in the aphoristic
wisdom of the race, that "the world is a temple
whose walls are covered with emblems, pictures, and
commandments of the Deity" ; that " the faith that
stands on authority is not faith"; that "reliance
on authority measures the decline of religion, the
withdrawal of the soul"; that "we can never see
Christianity from the catechism ; from the pastures,
from a boat in the pond, from amidst the song of
wood-birds we possibly may"; that "it is the office
of a true teacher to show us that God is, not was;
that He speaketh, not spake"; that "there is no
pure lie, no pure malignity in nature. The enter-
tainment of the proposition of depravity is the
last profligacy and profanation"; that "Ought and
Duty are one with Science, Beauty, and Joy"; and
that "ineffable is the union of God and man, in
every act of the soul." Over all was heard the res-
onant voice of Parker, as, like a prophet of old,
with sublime faith, he cried out from his national
pulpit in Music Hall — "On to reason and be a
man, or back to Rome and be a chimpanzee."

During the period 1860-63 this fermentation of
religious thought caused by Dr. Huntington's res-
ignation was greatly intensified by events we are
next to consider. This fermentation was surging
all about the Divinity School, and permeated the
whole intellectual atmosphere of the college, giving
rise to much questioning on the part of thoughtful
students and producing a discreet silence on con-

178

Darwinism

troverted points by some members of the faculty.
We are to see this negative sort of Harvard Unita-
rianism threatening Fiske with expulsion for opin-
ions which a few years later he was called to ex-
pound to the college.

Darwinism, or the "Origin of Species11
The second of the three questions referred to
came before the public primarily as a scientific
one — whence the origin of the varied forms of the
faunal and floral life of the globe. The question was
presented in the form of two rival theories: the first
by Professor Louis Agassiz in 1858, in an "Essay
on the Classification of the Animal Kingdom," in
which the theory of special Divine creation of
species was very positively asserted; the second, in
1859 by Charles Darwin, by the publication of his
"Origin of Species," a work in which he suggested
the theory of organic development under the prin-
ciple of natural selection. He brought forward a
remarkable series of original observations in sup-
port of his theory. Involved in the discussion of
these two theories was the vital question, — the
origin of the human race, — and as the conclusions
of these two eminent scientists bore, the one affirma-
tively, and the other negatively, upon some of the
fundamental dogmas of the Christian faith, there
arose immediately a scientifico-religious contro-
versy, world-wide in its extent, and in which the
ablest scientists and theologians were engaged.

179

John Fiske

In America, this discussion was centred in a
measure around Harvard College by reason of the
fact that two of the leading scientists in this country
engaged in this controversy and representing the
opposing sides were professors in the Lawrence
Scientific School and instructors in the college —
Professor Agassiz, one of the world's great zoologists,
and Professor Asa Gray, one of the world's great
botanists and the firm supporter of the views of Mr.
Darwin. The points of difference between these
two eminent teachers as to origins of organic life
were apparent in their instruction, while the larger
scientific implications of their views as to "origins"
were set forth in their public discussions.1

It is not in place here to enter into the full details
of the Darwinian discussion. But inasmuch as it
was an active element in the Harvard thought of
the time, and inasmuch as the labors of Mr. Darwin
were a very important contribution to the doctrine
of Evolution, in the setting-forth of which Fiske
was to take a conspicuous part in subsequent years,
and particularly as in years to come we are to see
Fiske in close friendly relations with Mr. Darwin
growing out of their respective labors in behalf of
Evolution, a brief presentation of the origin of the
discussion is appropriate here.

The first half of the last century was a period of

1 Professor Gray published a series of articles on the Darwinian
theory in the Atlantic Monthly, which were so imbued with his wide
knowledge of organic phenomena, and were withal so admirable in
tone, that they were a great influence in favor of the new theory.

1 80

Darwinism

great scientific activity, and it was specially marked
by searching inquiries into the phenomena of or-
ganic life as revealed in the past and present con-
dition of the globe. To this end the departments of
geology, palaeontology, embryology, zoology, ethnol-
ogy, physiology, and botany were interrogated by
able observers intent upon getting at the funda-
mental facts conditioning organic life, both in its
particulars and in its widest generalities.

It is in evidence that these investigators at
every stage of their inquiries found themselves face
to face with a fresh and greater mystery — the
mystery of origins. From the knowledge we now
possess of these various investigations, we know that
the idea of transformation or development in con-
formity to changed conditions of physical environ-
ment, an idea suggested by Goethe and Lamarck in
the early part of the century, was not an infrequent
thought in the minds of some of the investigators.
This idea, however, being directly opposed to the
accepted theory of origin by the direct, miraculous,
creative action of Divine Power, and having no
sufficient basis in observed phenomena to rest
upon, was regarded by the leaders in science as
untenable 'and by theologians as the height of in-
fidelity if not downright atheism. But this opposi-
tion could not keep the broadening thought of in-
dependent inquirers wholly in subjection. Witness
the anonymous publication of "Vestiges of Crea-
tion," a superficial book viewed from to-day, but

181

John Fiske

a work profoundly significant of the unrest of the
period.

In 1850 Professor Agassiz was rightly regarded
as one of the great scientific men of the world. His
contributions to science had been important and
many. His zoological knowledge had been acquired
largely by personal observations and was indeed
profound. He had received from orthodox theolo-
gians the titles of infidel and atheist, because, as a
geologist, he had denied as Divine truth the Mosaic
cosmogony, and as a zoologist the "one pair " theory
for the origin of animal life. In 1855 he undertook
a fresh classification of the animal kingdom on the
basis of Cuvier's classification in 1817, with the
additions that had since been made to zoological
knowledge. This was a task commensurate with
his wide knowledge and his rare powers of lucid ex-
position.

The first volume of this great work was published
in 1857 and it contained an "Essay on Classifica-
tion" which was a prolegomena to the whole work,
in which Professor Agassiz affirmed, with great
positiveness and much heat of argument, the direct
and miraculous action of the Divine Creator in the
origin and distribution of the animal life of the
globe; and further, that this special form of creative
action had existed through the vast periods of geo-
logic time.

This essay was written in such a trenchant, ag-
gressive style, it was so positive in its interpretation

182

Darwinism

of observed phenomena, and was fortified with such
a display of apparently supporting authorities, that
the scientific world was roused to the consciousness
that under a great scientific name Science and
Theology were conjoined in giving a special teleo-
logical interpretation to the origin, distribution,
and sustentation of all organic life. Professor
Agassiz went so far as to invoke the aid of meta-
physics by claiming that species had no material
existence, that they were but objective representa-
tions of categories of thought existing in the Divine
Mind.

Theologians of all orthodox creeds were delighted.
In view of Professor Agassiz 's uncompromising ad-
vocacy of special Divine creations, the charges
against him of infidelity and atheism were over-
looked, and he was hailed as the great champion
who had at last enthroned a personal, miracle-
working God upon a thoroughly scientific basis.

While Professor Agassiz was collecting the ma-
terials for his great work, another eminent scientist,
an earnest, patient observer of the phenomena of
organic life, one who had had exceptional oppor-
tunities for personal observations by extended ex-
plorations in various parts of the world, and who
found himself sorely perplexed satisfactorily to ac-
count for the origin and distribution of the great
variety of the earth's flora and fauna, had retired to
Down, a quiet place just outside London, where he
could, the while in communication with leading

183

John Fiske

scientists, pursue his quest ^for a more rational
explanation of the origin and distribution of the
world's organic life than was afforded by the gener-
ally accepted theory of special Divine creations.

The story of the life of Charles Darwin during
the twenty years he spent in brooding over the
theory of organic development and natural selec-
tion with which his name is identified; the honest
patience with which he sought facts from every
possible source ; the care with which he classified the
facts and the fairness with which he weighed their
evidence both for and against his theory; his cor-
respondence with Sir Charles Lyell, the eminent
geologist, with Sir Joseph D. Hooker and our own
Professor Asa Gray, two of the most distinguished
botanists then living, — a correspondence which
shows how these leaders in science, starting in op-
position to Darwin's theory, at last became con verts
to it, so that on its publication they became sponsors
for it to the scientific world, — is one of the most
interesting chapters in the whole history of science.

Darwin published his theory under the title of
"The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Se-
lection," in which he placed himself squarely in
favor of the theory of Development or Evolution,
as the method by which the world had been peopled
with its varieties of organic life. The work was
issued in 1859, just two years after the publication
of Professor Agassiz's "Essay on Classification."
The style was simple, clear, direct, and not in the

184

Darwinism

slightest degree dogmatic in tone. The facts pre-
sented, however, were so significant, and they were
so clearly and logically arranged, as completely to
traverse the fundamental points in Professor Agas-
siz's essay; and further, the points that naturally
arose against the theory of Development were so
frankly stated and so dispassionately reviewed that
no impartial mind could rise from a reading of the
work without a respect for the author, even if un-
able to accept his views.

The publication of the theory made a profound
impression on the public mind. It was bitterly at-
tacked by theologians of all schools, as well as
by scientists with theological beliefs stronger than
their faith in the truths of science. On the other
hand, it was cordially endorsed by scientists like
Lyell, Hooker, Lubbuck, Alfred Wallace, Asa Gray,
and particularly by Huxley, the champion debater
of the time, who came to its support well equipped
witH a knowledge drawn from the whole armory
of science, and whose pen in the bitter theologic
contests that ensued became as potent as the magic
spear of Ithuriel.

And thus between the upholders of the theologic
theory of special creations and the advocates of
the theory of Evolution in regard to the origin and
the distribution of the organic life of the globe, an
issue was distinctly joined, perhaps the most im-
portant issue, in the long contest between Science
and Theology.

185

John Fiske

As we survey this conflict just half a century
after,1 what a transformation has taken place in all
the higher phases of human thinking. The doctrine
of Evolution has been accepted by science, causing
the remodelling of nearly every one of its depart-
ments. Evolution has also given a scientific basis
to sociology, the great benefit of which to the so-
cial and spiritual well-being of the race cannot yet
be estimated. Above all, it is causing all religious
creeds to remodel their dogmas so as to present their
conceptions of the Divine Power back of all that is,
consistent with the manner of unfolding Himself
in the universe of material things, as well as con-
sistent with the conceptions of his spiritual existence
adumbrated in the ethical consciousness of man.
And the one great work of the epoch, the one that
rises above all others, and takes its place in the ad-
vancement of learning beside the works of Aristotle,
the "Novum Organum" of Bacon and the "Prin-
cipia" of Newton, is Darwin's "Origin of Species."

As we leave this great discussion, it is interesting
to note that in March, 1860, shortly before leaving
Middletown for Cambridge, Fiske records the con-
secutive reading of Agassiz's "Essay on Classifi-
cation," Asa Gray's "Structural and Systematic
Botany," and Darwin's "Origin of Species." In
this record Darwin and his work appear thus: —

DARWIN, "The Origin of Species."

1 This chapter was written in 1909.
186

War Powers of the President

This putting the author's name in capitals was
Fiske's way of indicating that Darwin was one of
the great thinkers who were influential in shaping
his own thought at this period.

The War Powers of the President
The third of these questions grew out of a memo-
rable exigency in our great Civil War struggle. It
might be termed "The War Powers of the Presi-
dent." It arose primarily as a legal or constitutional
question, but by the disturbed political condition
of the time it soon became a political as well as a
military question and thus was brought home to
every citizen. It had its origin as a political ques-
tion in the action of President Lincoln in issuing
his Proclamation of Emancipation and military or-
ders supplementary thereto for the suppression of
the rebellion. These acts were immediately chal-
lenged by the opponents of the Administration at
the North, on the alleged ground of their uncon-
stitutionally, and a bitter political controversy en-
sued which for a time greatly endangered the Union
cause. This controversy, aside from the great pub-
lic interest in it, was projected directly into the
intellectual atmosphere of Harvard College by rea-
son of the strong divisive opinions regarding it
which prevailed in the Law School: the Profes-
sor of Constitutional Law, Joel Parker, LL.D., bit-
terly assailing the President both privately and
publicly, while the Professor of Commercial Law,

187

John Fiske

Theophilus Parsons, LL.D., was vigorously sustain-
ing him.

In view of the historic importance of this great
discussion, and as we are soon to see the serenity of
Fiske's student life greatly disturbed by it, and
further, as in his mature years Fiske is to give us
the best history we have of the growth and the es-
tablishment of the Constitution, a brief sketch of
the events which brought this " Charter of our
Liberties'* to its greatest trial, and under his own
observation, is in place here.

In the summer of 1862 President Lincoln found
himself facing a critical period in his Administration.
The partial victory at Antietam had not retrieved
McClellan's terrible disaster before Richmond.
There were divided counsels in the Administration,
and the war languished. Hitherto the war had been
conducted on the theory that the issue was simply
and only a constitutional one — the protection of
an abstract instrument of political organization and
the enforcement of its provisions as interpreted
by the people of the Northern States. No person,
no one in rebellion in the Southern States even, un-
less a prisoner of war, had yet been deprived of his
legal rights to person or property under the Consti-
tution. The moral sentiment of the people of the
Northern States, reflected in their opposition to
slavery, was strong in the insistence that the insti-
tution of slavery, being the real cause of the war,
should be made to suffer by the war. This anti-

188

War Powers of the President

slavery feeling had very generally gone to the sup-
port of the President, at the same time urging with
much impatience more aggressive measures against
the "peculiar institution." But the Administration
had a strong, unrelenting pro-slavery party at the
North to contend with as well as with the South-
erners in arms.

President Lincoln, by the summer of 1862, had
come to see that the war as it had been conducted
by the Administration had no clearly defined moral
issue back of it, and that he could no longer find
justification in continuing such a terrible conflict
as he was waging against the people of the Southern
States on the sole issue of an interpretation of the
Constitution. He saw the necessity, for the salva-
tion of the Nation, of getting the issue squarely on
its merits as a moral issue — a conflict between the
idea of freedom and the idea of slavery, and then
uniting the moral and political forces of the North
in support of his policy.

To this end he moved on his own initiative; and
one of the finest chapters in all statesmanship is the
history of his skill, his patience, his wisdom, his
faith in rousing the dominant moral feeling of the
North and focussing it in support of his Proclama-
tion of Emancipation.

This memorable document was issued on the 22d
of September, 1862, and two days later the Presi-
dent proclaimed the establishment of martial law
and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus

189

John Fiske

throughout the United States, as against any per-
sons "guilty of any disloyal practice in affording
aid and comfort to the rebels against the authority
of the United States.*' These two proclamations,
with subsidiary orders from the War Department
putting them into effect, were issued as war meas-
ures; and while they served to unite the loyal peo-
ple of the North in a more vigorous prosecution of
the war, they stirred to greater activity than ever
the opponents of the Administration who declared
that the President's proclamations were not only
unconstitutional, but that they were also subver-
sive of the fundamental principles of republican
government — in short, the Administration was
more severely denounced than the rebels it was
fighting.

Among the prominent citizens in the North who
took this position of opposition to the Administra-
tion was Benjamin R. Curtis, of Boston, late Justice
of the United States Supreme Court, of whose en-
gaging personality we have already had some de-
lightful sketches. Judge Curtis enjoyed the repu-
tation of being one of the ablest judges that ever
sat on the Supreme Bench. His knowledge of con-
stitutional law was indeed profound, and he was
not identified with any political party.

In this great crisis Judge Curtis, as an independ-
ent citizen, felt called upon to speak. In a pam-
phlet under the title of "Executive Power," ad-
dressed "to all persons who have sworn to support

190

War Powers of the President

the Constitution, and to all citizens who value civil
liberty/* he reviewed in a respectful manner the
President's war measures; and in language of great
plainness and force, he pointed out how in his
judgment the President, under the plea of mili-
tary necessity, was subverting the Constitution,
and establishing in its stead the supremacy of mil-
itary law.1

This pamphlet was widely read and the inde-
pendent position of Judge Curtis gave his views
great weight in the public mind. His argument
gave the Northern opponents of the President the
semblance of a distinct constitutional ground for
their opposition, and the issue was brought directly
home to Harvard College by the prominence in the

. discussion of the two professors in the Law School
already named. The contest waxed strong and fu-

: rious. By one party, President Lincoln was branded
as a tyrant who ought to be impeached; by the
other, Judge Curtis and Professor Parker were
branded as traitors who ought to be imprisoned.2

1 Studying, in the light of to-day, this pamphlet and what followed,
we see how clearly the loyal people of the North, in the darkest days
of the war, saw the real issue involved in the struggle; and we also
see how much wiser was President Lincoln, in his interpretation of
his duty under the Constitution, than were the eminent jurists who
found its provisions for the protection to persons and property of
those who would destroy the Government stronger than its provisions
for the protection of those who would save it.

It is said that when Mr. Lincoln had read Judge Curtis's argu-
ment, he remarked, in his pithy Rabelaisian way, " I never heard of a
patient's acquiring a taste for emetics by being obliged to take one
now and then."

2 I recall attending public meetings in Boston at this time, and

191

John Fiske

The students in the Law School represented both
sides in this discussion, and as these students
mingled freely, in the college halls and boarding-
houses, with members of the junior and senior
classes, the current opinions in the Law School, as
well as the wide public discussions, had free access
to the undergraduate mind. We shall soon see
from Fiske's letters how deeply he was impressed
by President Lincoln's action, and how closely the
discussion we have been considering was brought
home to him.

hearing Professor Parker denounce President Lincoln in the severest
terms, — he was not given to moderate speech, — and if my mem-
ory serves me rightly, the feeling against him in Cambridge was
so strong that his friends were apprehensive of some expression of
public indignation.

CHAPTER IX

AN UNDERGRADUATE AT HARVARD
1860-1863

WE have seen that Fiske, just previous to his en-
trance examinations at Harvard, was so confident
of passing them that he had engaged his rooms
for the ensuing year. In view of the condition of
the college halls many parents objected to placing
their sons in such forbidding surroundings. Conse-
quently there fiad grown up around the college a
number of boarding-houses, all under the approval
of the faculty, which, as living places, were by many
students preferred to the college halls. Of these
boarding-houses none had a better repute than the
one kept by Miss C. Upham on the corner of Kirk-
land and Oxford Streets. The house gave a full
view of the college yard, — Memorial Hall and
Sanders Theatre did not then exist, — and it was
within sound of the chapel bell, a very important
consideration in the pursuit of knowledge at Har-
vard at this time, as we have already seen.

It was at Miss Upham's that Fiske had taken
rooms. They were pleasant rooms and he found
much pleasure in getting settled in them, particu-
larly in getting his books and pictures in order.
From the particulars he gives, his library must have

193

John Fiske

been the most scholarly student's library in Cam-
bridge.

And thus, very happily domiciled, on Monday,
September 2, 1860, Fiske began his college life. He
continued his letters to his mother and to his friend
Roberts, and it is from these letters mainly that
the following record of his undergraduate life is
made up.

From what we have seen of Fiske's attainments,
his methods of study and his ideals of scholarship,
together with what we have learned in regard to
the academic course of study, it is evident that this
course did not present sufficient requirements to
give a healthy, varied activity to his inquiring mind.
Had he chosen to confine himself to the prescribed
course and to work for honors, he could easily have
gone to the head of his class. The honors secured by
such efforts, however, appeared to him as tempo-
rary — they did not seem to him worth the sacri-
fice of better scholarship to be attained by broader
study than was offered by the college course. Ac-
cordingly, he deliberately chose to do the necessary
work for the recitations and examinations, and
to concentrate himself upon his favorite studies of
history, philology, literature, science, and philoso-
phy, utilizing, as far as possible in these studies, the
facilities of the college.

As his conception of an undergraduate life was
quite an exceptional one, it is of interest to see how
it was embodied in experience. This can best be

194

Collegiate Work

done by seeing his college life grouped around cer-
tain centres of interest with which his mind was en-
gaged during this period. These centres of interest
were the following : —

I. His collegiate work, and his class associa-
tions.
1 1 . His methods of study ; the mass'of his reading.

III. His college and living expenses; his book
purchases.

IV. His visit to Emerson.
V. His literary work.

VI. His thoughts by the way.
VII. He receives a "Public Admonition," with a

threatened expulsion.

VIII. The Civil War; its effect upon his mind.
IX. His engagement to Abby Morgan Brooks.

We will take up these centres of interest in the
above order.

/. His collegiate work and his class associations
In regard to his collegiate work it can be said
that he did not neglect any study; that he added
Italian, Hebrew, and Sanskrit to the language re-
quirements ; that he stood high in his classes through
the three years; that he creditably passed all ex-
aminations, and was graduated in 1863, the forty-
seventh in his class. It should be said that his rank
would have been near the head had it not been for
his cutting prayers and church services, and some

195

John Fiske

recitations and lectures. He failed of winning a
scholarship in his first, the sophomore, year, simply
through cutting prayers. In fact, the only serious
dereliction of duty charged against him during the
three years was a neglect of religious services.

The excellence of his recitations and the interest
he took in his studies soon attracted the attention
of some members of the faculty, and we find Pro-
fessor Child reporting "that the breadth of his
views was perfectly astonishing." In mathematics
his proficiency is also noted, Professor James M.
Peirce speaking of him "as a jewel of a mathe-
matician" ; while President Pel ton, writing to Judge
Curtis, says that "Fiske is going to be one of the
most distinguished in his class;" in support of his
opinion he quotes Bates, the tutor in Latin, as say-
ing that " Fiske was the best scholar he ever had."

But the best testimony to the high quality of his
college work is the fact that he established cor-
dial personal relations with several members of the
faculty — relations that were continued after his
graduation, that ripened into strong friendships
which were terminated only by death. Among these
may be mentioned his friendships with Professors
Lowell, Child, Goodwin, Sophocles, Peirce, Gurney,
Wyman, Asa Gray, and Dr. Peabody. From each of
these professors he gathered much outside of and
beyond their formal teaching ; and in his mind these
men stood in their personalities more than in their
professorial relations for the Harvard College that

196

Collegiate Work

he loved. Particular mention should be made of
the friendship which was formed between Fiske and
Professor Gurney during the college period. The
letters bear witness to the existence of a far deeper
feeling between them than that of instructor and
pupil. In fact, Professor Gurney appears as Fidus
Achates, and in this relation we have a reflection of
him both as a scholar and a friend.

It does not appear that Fiske came into any per-
sonal relations with Professor Agassiz. The reason
we can understand — Fiske' s strong dissent from
Professor Agassiz 's theory of special creations in the
organic world. This is to be regretted. Agassiz had
such a vast fund of valuable zoological knowledge,
he was also such an inspiring instructor, and with it
all was such a lovable man, that Fiske lost much by
not establishing personal relations with him while
in college. Fiske was less inclined to listen to
Agassiz during his college period, inasmuch as both
Professors Gray and Wyman were opponents of the
special creation theory — they were in fact advo-
cates of the Darwinian theory of organic evolution.
He did not establish any cordial relations with
either Professor Cooke or Professor Bowen. He
regarded both as more earnest in presenting pre-
conceived theological ideas in their respective de-
partments than in presenting the facts of modern
science freed from metaphysical interpretation. It
is evident that, in a respectful way, he sometimes
questioned their conclusions. In chemistry and

197

John Fiske

philosophy, therefore, his marks were lower than in
other studies.

Among his classmates Fiske was generally liked,
but his reserved, studious nature did not invite to
elose intimacy save with a few. He had a quiet
frankness of manner in greeting his friends that was
inviting; but he instinctively shrank from every-
thing like boisterous conviviality. There was no
suggestion of swagger or pretence about him, and
his only dissipation was a pipe and a mug of beer.
His studious habits, his excellent recitations, and
ready command of his wide and varied knowledge,
together with the impressions given by his library,
soon made him a marked member of his class. It
was not long before the first scholar in the class said
to him, "Do you know, Fiske, that your transla-
tions in Greek are the astonishment of the class?"
In mathematics his proficiency was no less marked.
He soon went to the head of the class in this study,
and the class feeling was reflected in the remark of
a classmate who, on trying on Fiske's hat, said,
"Tell you what, fellows, the reason Fiske has got
such a big head is because he is such a thundering
mathematician. " From the records we find that
his marks from the first were very high, nearly per-
fect, save in chemistry — and chemistry was a
study he particularly liked. From his letters it ap-
pears that he regarded his college studies as mere
play.

One or two incidents are worth noting by the way,

198

Collegiate Work

as reflecting Fiske's ready command of his knowl-
edge, as well as the prevailing undergraduate ideas
of scholarship. At table a classmate put to him the
following questions : The situation of Potidaea, Am-
phipolis, and Delium; the years of Socrates's birth
and death; the circumstances of the battle of Argi-
nusae. Fiske answered clearly right out of hand,
whereupon another classmate said, "What in God's
name, Fiske, did you expect to learn by coming to
college?" And the following is reported of a class-
mate who in subsequent years attained high profes-
sional honors. Fiske writes: "The other day, when

reading over his Whateley's Rhetoric cried

out to me, ' Fiske, what the devil is an enthy-
meme?' 'Why/ said I, 'it is a syllogism with the
major premise suppressed/ 'Well, what in hell is
a syllogism? ' was the hyperastonished reply. Great
Zeus! I thought I should split! There 's a speci-
men of Harvard scholarship ! "

Fiske's comments upon the student life displayed
about him are many. His standard of judgment of
his fellow students was their scholarship and their
love of study. He writes: "Among the students
here scholarship is held in disrepute"; "To study
closely is considered disgraceful"; "The present
senior class, having studied somewhat more faith-
fully than others, is called 'scrubby'"; "A good
recitation is called a 'squirt,' and some fellows have
undertaken to call me 'Squirty,' a name which has
been fastened on to one of the mathematical tutors

199

John Fiske

on account of his superior scholarship." He also
gives this incident: " A poll student told me to-day
that twenty pipes of tobacco a day would not in-
jure a man as much as six hours of study. I asked
that ignoramus if he considered six hours of study
much? He replied he could n't say as he never
studied over three. "

How instinctively he made a fellow-feeling for
scholarship the condition of intimacy with fellow-
students is shown by a passage in a letter to his
mother written about a fortnight after his entrance.
The passage also shows his fine democratic feeling —
that he was no respecter of persons, save in their
love for knowledge. He writes : —

"I have found a nice man here named Ethridge,
about 27 or 28 years old; entered Soph, with me.
He boards with Dr. Gray at the entrance to the
Botanic Gardens, and rooms in the Gardener's
house. He is a plain, practical, common-sense man;
perfectly simple, very diligent — quite a fun-lover
withal. I like him on the whole very much. He is a
good scholar but poor; speaks Spanish and Dutch;
reads German and French. I went up to see him
the other day and he showed me about the Gardens.
I wish you could see them. Ethridge has studied
Botany a great deal, and has a great love for it; is
a real old Darwin man. He has been down to see

me once."

In the college societies Fiske does not appear to
have taken much interest. He was elected to the
O.K. Society, but the letters contain only a brief

200

Student Life

reference to this society and no reference to the
other societies.

Athletics were not at this time regarded as abso-
lutely necessary for a college education. Previous
to 1860 football played in a ladylike sort of way
was permitted; but at the beginning of the college
year 1 860-61 — Fiske's sophomore year — the fac-
ulty prohibited it. This caused much grief among
Harvard's young knights of learning, and the let-
ters give full particulars of how, on the evening of
September 3, 1860, the class of 1863 gave expression
to their feelings at the want of sympathy on the
part of the faculty with the ideals of football educa-
tion. It appears that the class buried their Idol with
ceremonial rites in the classic Delta, the field of many
a football contest. A procession numbering about
one hundred and twenty was formed with officers, a
chaplain, a coffin, pall-bearers, grave-diggers, and
with muffled drums. All were dressed in mourning
and the main body bore torches. They marched
through the principal streets about the college and
came to the Delta. Here a grave was dug. Then a
funeral oration was delivered, and, as the coffin was
lowered into the grave, the following dirge was
sung to the tune of " Auld Lang Syne" : —

THE DIRGE

Ah ! woe betide the luckless time
When manly sports decay,

And foot-ball, stigmatized as crime,
Must sadly pass away.

201

John Fiske

Chorus — Shall Sixty-three submit to see

Such cruel murder done,
And not proclaim the deed of shame?
No: let 's unite as one.

O, hapless ball, you little knew,

When, last upon the air,
You lightly o'er the Delta flew,

Your grave was measured there.

Chorus — But Sixty-three will never see

Your noble spirit fly
And not unite in funeral rite,
And swell your Dirge's cry.

Beneath this sod, we lay you down,

This scene of glorious fight;
With dismal groans and yells we '11 drown

Your mournful burial rite.

Chorus — For Sixty-three will never see

Such cruel murder done,
And not proclaim the deed of shame: —
No! let 's unite as one.

This important event occurred on the second day
of Fiske's undergraduate life, and he became an in-
terested participator in the ceremonies.1

Notwithstanding Fiske's intellectual tastes and
studious habits he was by no means wanting in the

1 College boating, while practised to quite an extent on the
Charles River, had not developed into anything like its present
status in education. Not unfrequently the class clubs entered the
holiday regattas of the City of Boston. The boats of those days were
quite different in construction from the racing-boats of to-day. Pres-
ident Eliot tells us they served for transportation as well as sport; and
were so constructed that while they could conveniently take nine men
into Boston, they could not with safety carry out more than six.

Fiske took no interest in football or boating. During his sopho-
more year he was quite faithful to daily exercise in the Gymnasium ;
but as his intellectual interests broadened in his junior and senior
years his physical exercises gradually diminished.

202

Student Life

fine trait of comradeship, which in college life is
manifested in class feeling. A memorable incident
occurred in the first term of his sophomore year,
which put his class allegiance to a severe test, a
test which proved that it was of fine quality.

The incident grew out of an attempt at " hazing"
by some members of his own class. It appears that
eight sophomores took two freshmen to one of their
rooms to introduce them to some of the unauthor-
ized ceremonial mysteries attending collegiate edu-
cation at Harvard. Another freshman ran and told
the faculty — who were holding a weekly meeting —
of the highly objectionable educational experiment
that was under way. The faculty, or some of the
members, led by the President, pounced upon the
assembled sophomores and found them with the two
freshmen imprisoned in a closet. The next morning
the eight sophomores were suspended. So far, in
the opinion of the sophomore class, the faculty were
justified in their action. But the faculty went fur-
ther, and forbade any public demonstration by the
class in bidding the suspended men good-bye. This
edict seemed to the class unjust and uncalled for;
and as the suspended members were all very popu-
lar, the class decided to disregard the faculty edict,
and as a whole to express their regard for the sus-
pended members. This they did by drawing them
in an open carriage to the Boston line. There, with
much display of affection, they bade the suspended
men good-bye and marched back past the Presi-

203

John Fiske

dent's house to the college yard — Bowditch, the
first scholar of the class, at their head.

In regard to this demonstration Fiske writes: —

" Now this was only intended as an expression of
sympathy with those who were sent away, called
forth by their many excellent traits of character and
their fine scholarship. Had it been some fellows,
there would have been no such demonstration ; but
these were the cream of the class, respected by all
and none of them 'fast.' No one disputed the jus-
tice of the sentence; or intended this as an insult to
the Faculty. If such had been its aim I never should
have joined it."

And in regard to what followed he writes: —

"Now I think the Faculty have begun to act
shamefully. Bowditch was 'summoned.' He is the
First Scholar, a grandson of the great geometer and
a perfect gentleman. He made a speech to the
Faculty, perfectly respectful and conciliatory in its
tendency. It met with the manifest approval of
some of the Faculty. But the President spoke up:
' Mr. Bowditch, you have disgraced your illustrious
name; you are no gentleman, sir, and all unworthy
the name of scholar.' 'Mr. President,' said Bow-
ditch, ' I came here to render an account of yester-
day's proceedings; not to be insulted."

The result was that Bowditch was suspended —
a result brought about wholly by the efforts of
President Felton and secured by his own vote —
the vote of the faculty being ten for, and nine
against his suspension.

204

Student Life

The verdict created intense feeling throughout
all the classes. The sophomore class petitioned
the faculty in a body asking that Bowditch be
recalled or that the whole class be suspended —
alleging that the whole class were equally guilty
with him.

In time the excitement passed by and all the sus-
pended members returned to the class. Fiske never
regretted his action in the matter. We shall soon
see that not long after, Fiske himself gave President
Felton a still more memorable occasion for display-
ing his constitutional narrow-mindedness.

Early in his senior year Fiske was elected asso-
ciate editor of the "Harvard Magazine " — a task
which was a great bore to him, but one which he
cheerfully undertook as an obligation to his class.
During his editorship, he contributed the following
articles to the " Magazine": "Ye Vital Principle/'
"A Very Old Tale," "Diatribe on Archbishop
Whateley," "The Life and Teachings of Gotama
Buddha."

There were several Emerson men and Theodore
Parker men in the various classes, and there is evi-
dence of much religious discussion among the stu-
dents growing out of Dr. Huntington's resignation
and the opening-up of the Darwinian question. We
have glimpses of students coming from Agassiz's
lectures enthusiastic over his "triumphant vindica-
tion of special creations" and of Fiske' s quietly tak-

205

John Fiske

ing Agassiz's own premises and bringing the argu-
ment right around in favor of the doctrine of Devel-
opment or Evolution. In short, at the opening of
Fiske' s junior year, his fine library and his command
of scientific knowledge gave him the reputation
throughout the college of being a well-equipped
Darwinian, and of holding philosophic views of a
Positivist character — views that were at least open
to suspicion. The undergraduate dissensions grow-
ing out of the Civil War will presently be considered
by themselves.

In Fiske's life, as we are to see it unfold after
college, we shall have frequent occasion to note his
great interest in music — that music was, in fact,
his chief means of diversion, and that he became,
principally through self-study, proficient both as a
composer and as a performer. During his college
life, however, this deep harmonic element in his
nature was wholly untouched by anything in the
academic course. It was a matter of profound regret
that his college course had no provisions whatever
for making students acquainted with the artistic
principles governing the higher forms of musical
expression. His deprivation in this respect was par-
tially remedied, however, by his acquaintance with
Professor John K. Paine, which began at the time
of Fiske's marriage in 1864, and which ripened into
a lifelong brotherly friendship of the most ennobling
kind. To know Professor Paine intimately was to
enjoy the fruits of the ripest musical culture. We

206

Methods of Study

are to see much of the effect of this fine friendship in
the years to come.

//. His methods of study: the mass of his reading
From his early boyhood we have had frequent
occasions to note Fiske's great fondness for books
and his passionate love of study. To read and to
study were to him the most delightful of occupa-
tions and especially if we include composition as re-
lated to them or as their complement. The letters
are full of the particulars of his devotions. Twelve
hours a day, except Saturdays and Sundays, was his
regular allowance for reading and study; and this
generous allowance was often extended to sixteen
hours or more when specially interested in any sub-
ject. He had a very clear method in his reading-
study, and various hours were apportioned to speci-
fic subjects. Throughout the college period he was
seeking the fundamental truths of science and phil-
osophy, and the breadth or catholicity of his read-
ing is a noteworthy characteristic, particularly when
it is considered that this whole line of study-read-
ing was self-imposed and self -directed. According
to his usual methodical custom he kept an accu-
rate account of his reading, and the mere mass of
it was something extraordinary. During the three
college years he read two hundred and thirty-three
volumes containing nearly sixty thousand pages.
Most of these works were on subjects requiring the
deepest thought. Many were in foreign languages.

207

John Fiske

All were thoughtfully read as the extracts from
the letters we shall give abundantly show, and
as the literary work of subsequent years clearly
proves.1

His mother and Roberts were insistent upon his
keeping up a regular course of physical exercise. He
did play at exercise in the kind of gymnasium that
was then attached to the college; but this exercise
was not pursued with just the ardor he bestowed
upon his favorite authors — Grote, Gibbon, Donald-
son, Humboldt, Voltaire, Mill, Mackay, Darwin,
Spencer, Dickens, Scott, Goethe, and many others.

///. His college and living expenses: his book purchases
A student's college expenses are a very clear
revealer of both his inner and his outer life. In
Fiske' s letters to his mother we have quite full de-
tails of his receipts and expenditures, so that we
have in this account a pretty complete voucher, as
it were, for the general uprightness of his under-
graduate conduct. From this evidence it appears
that the whole cost of his college education did
not exceed six hundred dollars a year. This in-
cluded his living expenses. There was absolutely
nothing spent in dissipation of any sort. He gave
his mother a pledge at the beginning that he would

1 The rapidity with which he read was indeed remarkable. The
letters make frequent mention of his reading from two hundred and
fifty to three hundred pages per day in addition to his studies. As
an instance, in one place he says: " I began Miiller's Dorians to-night,
and read ninety pages in about two hours."

208

College Expenses

not drink wine or spirituous liquors and this pledge
he faithfully kept. As has been said already, the
extent of his dissipation was a pipe and a mug of
beer. His aversion to dissolute conduct, which is a
marked characteristic of the letters, was no less
marked in his intercourse with fellow students.
Yet such is the tendency of the shallow mind to
think evil and to see evil even where it does not exist,
Fiske the student, owing to the fact that he was
a reader of Voltaire, Emerson, Theodore Parker,
Buckle, Darwin, and other liberal thinkers, and that
he sometimes cut prayers, had gained, at the open-
ing of his junior year, the reputation in certain
quarters of being a very objectionable young man.
This opinion was undoubtedly heightened by reports
of his wide knowledge and his liberal way of think-
ing. Fiske became conscious of this impeachment
of his moral character, and in a letter to Roberts he
says: " It is quite amusing to see that I have got the
reputation of being a dreadful hard fellow, while
other students who drink, gamble, and go about
with women are pronounced 'only a little fast.' It
shows the prevalence of superstition. "

With the full particulars that we have of the
unfolding of Fiske's life to the full maturity of his
intellectual powers, it can be positively asserted
that biographical literature presents no instance of
a mind unfolding to high ideas and ideals with a
sweeter, purer life than his.

And yet, in the mind of his mother, kind mother

209

John Fiske

that she was, he had a great extravagance — a
propensity to buy books. We have seen that from
his early boyhood his love of books, and his pride
in possessing books, was a dominant passion in his
life — in fact, that books were his chief companions.
The amount of his "book extravagance" during
his college period does not appear to have greatly
exceeded one hundred dollars — a college extrava-
gance that most parents would gladly encourage in
their sons. Yet, as in the first instance the pur-
chases were books not in any way required in his
collegiate studies and as some of them related to
subjects regarding which his mother was not in full
sympathy with him, she raised decided objection to
what she felt was an impulsive act on his part. Let
us not criticise her action. If she could not see the
propriety of his purchases in this instance, her ob-
jection served to bring into clear light certain traits
in his character which, if she could have seen them in
their relations, would have appeared of far greater
value than the cost of the books. The instance is
worth giving. No sooner was Fiske settled in Cam-
bridge, in June, 1860, for his examinations than he
began to plan his future lines of study in science,
philology, history, and philosophy in addition to his
collegiate work. His letters to Roberts are quite
full of the details of what was gestating in his mind.
Falling in with one of Quaritch's catalogues of rare
books for sale, he ordered through Mr. Sever, the
Harvard book-seller of that day, the following

210

Visit to Emerson

works: Donaldson's " Varronianus " and his Greek
Grammar, Wilson's Sanskrit Grammar, Bleek's
Persian Grammar, Stewart's Arabic Grammar,
Mill's "Logic," von Bohlen's "Genesis," Sainte-
Hilaire's "Histoire des Anomalies de 1'Organisa-
tion." When the bill came in September it amountd
to forty-five dollars and his mother gave him a
severe chiding for what she thought was a wholly
needless purchase. Fiske patiently and dutifully
pointed out how essential the books were to the lines
of thought he was pursuing and the help they would
be in giving him enlarged views in his college
studies. He took his mother's chiding much to
heart, and for months afterwards the letters show
little economies, that he might recoup towards the
bill. He even went so far as to propose giving up his
dearly prized Thanksgiving visit to his grandmother,
that "money might be saved towards that dreadful
book-bill." *

IV. His visit to Emerson

One incident which occurred at the beginning of
Fiske's college life, and was wholly unconnected with
his college course, deserves a setting by itself, and
should be given in his own words: this is his visit to
Emerson. How greatly in the development of his
own thought Fiske was influenced by Emerson has
hardly been noted. When we come to the considera-
tion of Fiske's mind at its maturity and with the
evidences then at hand, we shall see that he re-

211

John Fiske

garded Emerson as the true protagonist of Evolu-
tion; that he clearly "insighted" it as the Divine
order of creation before science had laid the founda-
tions upon which the doctrine could be established.
We shall also see that Fiske was a free partaker of
the Emersonian philosophy as a source of noble
thinking pure and undefiled.1

Early in his sophomore experience Fiske made
the acquaintance of Edward Dorr McCarthy, a very
brilliant but erratic student, quite radical in his
general views and acquainted with the leading radi-
cal men of the time. McCarthy was somewhat ac-
quainted with Emerson, and about the middle of
September he asked Fiske to join him in an excur-
sion to Concord for the purpose of calling on Emer-
son. Fiske gladly accepted the invitation and the
next day he gave an account of the visit, to his
mother and to Roberts. The account of the visit is
essentially the same in both letters. The following
is the account given in the letter to his mother
with a few words interpolated from his letter to
Roberts: —

CAMBRIDGE, Septr. i6th, 1860.
My dear Mother : —

Yesterday I shall never forget. McCarthy was
going to drive up to Concord to see Ralph Waldo
Emerson with whom he is quite well acquainted,
and to try to get a school for the winter. He came
and got me to go too. We got to Mr. Emerson's

1 See vol. n, chap, xxxvi. See also vol. ii, chap, xxvii, Emerson
and Herbert Spencer.

212

Visit to Emerson

about 7 o'clock. The family were just through tea
and Mr. Emerson was out. He soon came in and
McCarthy introduced me. He welcomed us warmly
and said he was going out to supper alone and we
had better come out and take tea with him. He had
just that winning, Judge Curtis like way which
compels assent, and so we went out and took tea
with him, while Mrs. Emerson and his daughters
sat sewing at the other end of the table. He talked
with us about all sorts of things: with McCarthy
about Carlyle and other literary men ; and with me
about Bichat, Voltaire and Buckle. He says that
Buckle is the master mind of the age; that Voltaire
deserves all the praise that Buckle has given him, if
not more. About Bichat he ran into raptures.1 I
did n't expect to find him booked on science, but I
find him tremendously so. I was astonished not only
at his learning but also by his wisdom and his good-
ness. I thought him the greatest man I ever saw.

But most of all he liked to talk about Carlyle. He
showed us a daguerreotype which Carlyle had given
him when he last saw him. He told anecdotes about
Carlyle some of which were amusing. He said that
Theodore Parker went to see Carlyle one Sunday
evening, and found him alone over a great bowl of
whiskey punch ladling it into his mouth with a
tablespoon. "Why, Tom," said Parker, "what on
earth are you doing?" Carlyle's face was radiant.
"Why, I take a whole bowl of whiskey punch every
Sunday night, Theodore, don't you?" said the old
Scot.

We talked some time. Emerson's voice is a very

1 Marie Francois Xavier Bichat, a celebrated French physiologist
and anatomist, 1771-1802.

213

John Fiske

deep bass. I felt as much at my ease as I would
with an old acquaintance; there was something so
charming, so simple and unaffected and exquisitely-
bred about Emerson.

At last we got up to go, and Emerson said he
was very glad indeed to have seen us, and hoped
we would come and see him again. Of all the men
I ever saw, none can be compared with him for
depth, for scholarship, and for attractiveness, — at
least so I think.

With this expression of youthful enthusiasm over
his first meeting with Emerson, it is in place to note
that in the years to come, we are to observe that in
Fiske' s personal contact with Nature in her quiet
moods or in her grand and sublime aspects, with the
world's masterpieces of literature, sculpture, paint-
ing, music, and architecture, as well as with other
of the most eminent thinkers of his time, his own
thought instinctively strikes true as to what is en-
nobling in nature, in art, and in human character.

V. His literary work

At the close of Fiske's sophomore year, July, 1 861 ,
the fur or scribendi was full upon him. The second
volume of Buckle's "History of Civilization in
England" had just been published, and the reading
of it brought back a recollection of his reading of
the first volume two years before and the effect
produced upon his mind. Since then he had reread
the volume twice, and had weighed well its general
argument in connection with a wide course of his-

214

Literary Work

torical and scientific reading, inspired by his ac-
ceptance of Spencer's theory of Evolution. Wider
knowledge had led him to see serious defects in
Buckle's contentions; and much as he admired
some portions of Buckle's general argument, there
were some points he desired to bring under a critical
review. The publication of the second volume in-
vited him to the task. Rather a heroic courage, this,
entering the lists against one of the master minds of
the age, by a youth who had only just turned his
nineteenth year.

Yet was Fiske nothing daunted. The letters
during the summer vacation of 1861 reveal him
as in active preparation, reviewing his authorities.
The latter part of September we see him in the
midst of composition. On the I4th of October, — let
us mark the date, — the article is finished. Before
sending it to the "National Quarterly Review,"
where it was published in the number of that jour-
nal for December, 1861, he submitted it to his
friend Professor Gurney, who was warm in its
praise, assuring Fiske that "it was the ablest, most
just, and philosophical review of Buckle that had
been written."

Reading this article to-day we note the easy grace
with which, in opening, he surveys the phenomena
of political and social development as presented by
eminent thinkers previous to Buckle; then we note
the perfect fairness with which he states Buckle's
contentions, and the frankness with which he

215

John Fiske

assents to some of them. The significant feature of
the article, however, is his firm grappling with
Buckle's main contention, "Intellect vs. morals in
the development of civilization," in which Buckle
substantially affirms that all progress is owing to the
growth or expansion of man's intellectual nature,
while his moral nature remains stationary. Fiske
takes a square issue with Buckle on this point; and,
basing his argument on the law of Evolution, he
marshals his wide knowledge of both science and
history with great skill ; and, to use his own words,
he "bangs Buckle's argument all to pieces."

Throughout the article Fiske's respect for Buckle
as a thinker of rare independence and force is appar-
ent, and he closes with this fine tribute : —

"With respect to Mr. Buckle's work, an unprej-
udiced mind can have but one opinion. It is cal-
culated to awaken independent thought, and to
diffuse a spirit of scientific inquiry. Written in an
easy and elegant style, it will be read with pleasure
by many who would not otherwise have the patience
to go through the subjects of which it treats. Thus,
grand and startling in its views, impressive and
charming in its eloquence, it cannot fail to arouse
many a slumbering mind to intellectual effort. Such
has its tendency already been, and such will it con-
tinue to be. ... Whatever may be thought about
the correctness or incorrectness of Mr. Buckle's
opinions, the world cannot be long in coming to
the conclusion that his 'History of Civilization in
England' is a great and noble book, written by a
great and noble man."

216

Literary Work

This article was fully abreast with the Evolu-
tionary thought of the time. Since his first reading
of Buckle in 1859, Fiske had made a careful study
of the philosophy of Auguste Comte, in the light
of Mill and of Lewes; and he had also followed
Spencer, so far as Spencer had developed his theory
of Evolution. All this line of philosophic thinking
based on science was known as " Positivism/' and
was supposed to reflect the philosophic vagaries of
Comte. We shall see later the difficulties both
Spencer and Fiske had in freeing the doctrine of
Evolution from any implied affiliations with the
Positive Philosophy of Comte. This article bears
evidence of Fiske's study of Comte, but it has none
of the vagaries of the latter. Nor has it any marks
of juvenility. The argument is clear, compact, and
logical in its arrangement, while the style is re-
markably simple and easy in its flow. There is no
suggestion of pedantry in it; no attempt at fine
writing. In short, the article has all the marks of
a skilled, practised debater. As such it at once ap-
pealed to Professor E. L. Youmans, the champion
in this country of the doctrine of Evolution, and
was by him sent to Spencer, as evidence that the
light of Spencer's philosophy was breaking in
America. We shall see later that both Spencer and
Lewes were desirous of knowing who wrote the
article.

Fiske's next literary effort was not until near
the close of his senior year. By this time he was

217

John Fiske

pretty thoroughly grounded in the theory of Evolu-
tion. Spencer had formulated a very substantial
philosophic basis for the theory in his immortal
work " First Principles," and it remained for the
specialists in the various departments of science to
gather impartially the facts from the two worlds
of objective and subjective phenomena for collation
and integration under this theory. What a new
light was thrown upon, what a new impulse was
given to, all branches of scientific inquiry by the
promulgation of this theory is a story which belongs
to the history of science to tell. Philology, as soon
as scholars began to study language as a natural
growth and not as a manufactured product, as soon
as they had begun to see that its origin and develop-
ment were largely conditioned by objective sur-
roundings, took on a new character. It could no
longer be regarded as a metaphysical study with no
rational raison d'etre back of it. Rather, it was seen
to be a subject broadly open to scientific observa-
tion, and that it was related to other branches of
science at many points. The middle period of the
last century saw much stirring of philological
thought in the direction of its scientific character
and also of its scientific relativity. Fiske, as we have
seen, in his boyhood days was deeply interested in
philological studies; and we have had occasion to
note his quick appreciation of philological works
whenever he came in contact with them. When,
therefore, he came to see the full implications of

218

Literary Work

Evolution, and that language was a subject which
presented a fruitful field for investigation under the
illumination of this new scientific searchlight, he
turned to his philological studies with greater in-
terest than ever.

The letters tell us of his frequent dipping into
these philological studies during his college days,
and in the months of March, April, and May, 1863,
while preparing for his graduation, we see him ac-
tively engaged in writing an essay on. ''The Evo-
lution of Language." When the essay was finished
he submitted it to Professor Gurney, who pro-
nounced it "splendid." He then offered it to Dr.
Peabody, the editor of "The North American
Review," who promptly accepted it, and it was
published in the "Review" for October, 1863.

In this essay Fiske took as his text the philolog-
ical theories of Max Miiller, Renan, and Spencer,
and with the ideas of these thinkers as a basis, he
reviewed the whole philological question as to the
origin and development of language, undertaking
to show that the growth of human speech has con-
formed throughout to a fixed regular law of Evolu-
tion.

After clearing away, as inconsistent with an at-
tempt to give a rational explanation of language, the
two alternate theories that "it was invented by an
academy of mute philosophers, or that some super-
human instructor came down with grammar and
dictionary and taught mankind the rudiments of

219

John Fiske

speech, " he gave a rapid survey of the results of
philologic induction. These he claimed had estab-
lished the fact that there were root words which
were the ultimate constituent elements of all lan-
guages; that these root words were of two kinds:
predicative, expressing actions or existences, and
demonstrative, denoting locality. A rational sys-
tem of classification was then seen to be that which
recognizes as its basis a degree of coalescence be-
tween roots, and that this degree of coalescence was
an index of a certain degree of integration. Integra-
tion and differentiation were then traced as prime
factors in the development of language, not only in
the coalescences of roots, but also in the concentra-
tion of syllabic sounds and in the increasing logical
coherence of clauses. Moreover, the generation of
dialects, the rise of parts of speech, the growth of
widely divergent words from a common root, and
the development of widely divergent languages
from a common stock, were seen to be pronounced
instances of differentiation or linguistic evolution.
The external causes of the evolution of language
were then considered, and emphasis was put upon
coherence and stability in social relations — a sta-
bility implied in family relationships which are alike
removed from Turanian nomadism and from Chi-
nese immutability.

In the development of his argument the results
of philological science seem to have been at his
ready command. The ideas of Tooke, Schelling,

220

Literary Work

Humboldt, Grimm, Bunsen, Bopp, Muller, Gar-
nett, Donaldson, Becker, Renan, Rapp, Diez, and
Spencer are cited so apropos and illustrative of his
own thought that they seem to drop into place in
his argument as a matter of course. This relieves
the essay from the taint of pedantry. While im-
mensely learned, the points are so clearly and logi-
cally arranged and the style is so lucid that any
person acquainted with the declension and gram-
matical arrangement of words can readily under-
stand the general argument.

The article was one which appealed, of course,
only to scholars. One eminent reviewer said of it : —

"This is by far the most thoughtful and elab-
orate article in this number of the 'Review/ The
author has something of the tone and trend of the
' great reviewers * in his style, and we are glad to see
one who can leave the nervous, jack-o'-lantern style
of our New England Transcendentalists, and talk
like a man of some growth, stature and dignity/*

Professor Youmans was quick to detect the qual-
ity of the article ; and we shall see a little later, how
he sought out Fiske and induced him to open corres-
pondence with Spencer.

Of Fiske's contributions to the "Harvard Maga-
zine " during his senior year, already alluded to, it
can be said that they bear witness to his wide read-
ing and the fertility of his thought. His "Diatribe
on Archbishop Whateley" is an instance of how
pungent he could make his criticism of theologic

221

John Fiske

assumptions when fully roused, while his brief ar-
ticle on Buddha is a fine illustration of his fair-
minded historico-religious criticism. He did not re-
publish this article in his collected works because
he intended to do the subject greater justice in a
complete essay.

' ' Ye Vital Principle ' ' is a brief undergraduate bur-
lesque on the metaphysical manner of argumenta-
tion. It is of interest as showing that at this time
Fiske's thought, even in its lighter moods, was cen-
tred around the ultimate questions of philosophy.

"A Very Old Tale" gives us a glimpse of the
working of his mind in a humorous way in the re-
gions of classic fable. This "Very Old Tale " and his
" Class Supper Ode " are the only instances we have
of his invoking the muse.

It is a little remarkable that Fiske, with his
high order of thinking, his great familiarity with
the masterpieces of poetry, and his rare musical
gifts, should not have felt impelled at times to self-
expression in poetic form. This apparent anomaly
is in a great measure accounted for by the high
poetic quality of much of his prose. We shall see
later that in the expression of fine and noble feeling
through the medium of elegant prose no writer of
his time has exceeded him.

VI. His thoughts by the way

There is a common saying, very much in evi-
dence in some branches of industry, that "a good

222

Thoughts by the Way

workman is known by his chips." Fiske's under-
graduate letters are so full of fine bits of thought in-
cidentally thrown off by him while " hewing to line,"
as it were, in his various studies, that a few examples
of his thoughts by the way are in place, as show-
ing how continuously and naturally and easily his
mind was working with great themes.

His mother has asked him the meaning of " ham "
in Petersham — a town we are to know a great deal
about in the years to come. Fiske replies, quite
incidentally, with the following interesting bit of
philologico-historic information: —

1 ' ' Ham ' means town or village. 1 1 is kindred with
'home* in old Teutonic. 'Hamlet* means a little
village — ' let/ like ' leaflet/ a little leaf. Appended
to the names of towns we have 'ham/ 'wick/
'stead/ 'burg/ 'ville/ 'Wick* is from the Latin
' Vicus ' — a village. ' Vicus ' comes from ' victim '
the participial of 'vivere/ to live, and is kindred
with 'victuals/ 'vital/ 'vivacity/ and a host of
words. 'Stead/ as 'Barnsted/ comes from 'stadt*
: — town, that which stands. ' Ipswich ' — ' Ips ' and
'vicus.' 'Burg St. Edmunds' — 'Burg* and 'St.
Edmunds/ No use in filling a quire called up by
association. Suffice that the ends of towns show the
different conquerors of England.

Wick is Celtic.

Ham is Danish.

Sted 1

Stead > are Saxon.

Burg J

Ville is Norman French.

223

John Fiske

"Language is a witness that cannot give false
evidence."

Fiske is reading Lewes's "Life of Goethe," and
with it he is also reading Goethe's "Faust." He
writes: —

"I had no idea that Goethe was such a miracu-
lous giant of intellect. His mind was clear and ob-
jective, almost positive. As a poet he must be
placed almost on the level of Shakespeare; and his
conception of the Law of Development in the organic
world will place him in the first rank of scientific
thinkers; while his universal learning could put to
despair the most assiduous plodder Germany has
ever produced. Lewes says, 'Faust' is the greatest
poem of modern times; and I will say that I never
before came across such a marvellous poem in my
life. The metres in 'Faust' are magical; the most
exquisite little short verses, light and airy as gossa-
mer, are mingled with, or rather followed by, as the
thought changes, massive hexameters which pound
like the tramp of a thousand battalions."

He is reading the Old Testament in Hebrew with
Dr. Noyes, and his penetrating eye has caught
an anachronism in the sacred record. He writes
thus: —

"This week I found a Chaldee word in the Elo-
him document. There was no Semitic Chaldee how-
ever until after David. What could that Chaldee
word be doing in a document written by the fes-
tive Moses? The Elohim is the earlier document
you know."

224

Thoughts by the Way

There is much in the letters regarding his philo-
logical studies. He is reading Garnett's "Philo-
logical Essays," and he says: —

"Garnett's analysis of the verb is glorious and is
based on an immense induction from the principal
languages of both continents. He shows it to be
simply a noun or other part of speech always in com-
bination with a pronoun in an oblique case. This is
said by Donaldson to be a great discovery and he
proves it in regard to the Greek verb in Cratylus."

There are many references to Donaldson, the
eminent English philologist and Biblical critic. In
one letter Fiske says: —

"I have read nearly the whole of Donaldson's
' Varronianus' this week. It gives some most won-
derful revelations as to the origin of the different
original races, particularly those of ancient Italy."

i Speaking of Donaldson's death in 1 861 , from over-
work, he says: —

"I don't wonder at it, for I believe he had read
every square inch of paper that had been dirtied by
ink since the world began."

One of the important scientific books of the time,
and one that has been of much influence upon the
development of physical and chemical science dur-
ing the last half-century was Grove's "Correlation
and Conservation of Forces." This work Fiske read
with great eagerness and he comments thus: —

"Grove's work is just the thing. He shows that
heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity,

225

John Fiske

and motion can all be transformed into one an-
other and are but manifestations of one and the
same force. What I like best of all in the book is
that the author entirely abstains from bringing in
metaphysical ethics or entities. He writes in a
positive spirit, and everything he writes is forcible
and striking."

Fiske's comments upon President Felton's Greek
scholarship are of interest, not only by reason of
the latter's long service at the college as Professor
of Greek, but also because we are soon to see him
administering to Fiske a "Public Admonition."
Fiske is reading Grote's " History of Greece" for
the second time and in a letter to Roberts he ex-
presses himself thus: —

"I am disgusted to see that Felton, in his notes
on the ' Clouds of Aristophanes,1 embraces all those
old-fashioned Kronian ideas about the * base prin-
ciples of the Sophists' and the 'corruption* which
they produced in Athens during the Age of Pericles
and the Peloponnesian War. ... He likewise amuses
himself with blackguarding Klion and the Athen-
ian constitution. ... I consider Grote's chapters on
the Sophists and on Socrates to be two of the best
chapters I ever read."

In this same letter he gives quite a full sketch of
the life and works of Voltaire, with the judgment
upon him of Goethe, Humboldt, Carlyle, Buckle,
and others. In closing he says: —

"When we consider the immense influence which
Voltaire's writings have had upon the European

226

Dogmatic Christianity

mind, we may perhaps affirm that he did more than
any other single man to destroy (dogmatic) Chris-
tianity. It may be well however to remark that he
never mentioned the Founder of Christianity except
in terms of the deepest respect."

The very earnest public discussion of dogmatic
Christianity at this time, occasioned by the resigna-
tion of Dr. Huntington and the publication of Mr.
Darwin's great work, can hardly be conceived. This
discussion was greatly heightened by the publi-
cation in England and America of a remarkable
volume of seven " Essays and Reviews " by seven
prominent English churchmen, in which there was
given out a distinctly evangelical call for a more
rational interpretation of Scripture and dogma, in
the light of science and Biblical criticism, than
had hitherto prevailed. Accordingly, we find Fiske
giving much attention to ecclesiastical history,
especially in its bearing upon dogma. The many
bare-faced assumptions by Christian apologetics
for the Divine origin of the principal dogmas of the
Christian religion ; the long and terrible struggle the
human mind has undergone to free itself from
bondage to these dogmas, together with the fact
that through ecclesiastical intolerance belief in them
was still enforced, made Fiske indignant that in
these later days the love for knowledge and the
search for truth should be held in subordination to
belief in a dogmatic religious creed.

His conviction that the great body of Christian

227

John Fiske

believers were ignorant of the facts regarding the
origin and development of the Christian dogmas
finds frequent expression in the letters. In a letter
to Roberts he has occasion to refer to the Christian
forgery of the account of Jesus in the eighteenth
book of Josephus and to the opinions of the scholars
of the first centuries of the Christian era regarding
the doctrines of the early Christians (some extracts
were given), and he says: —

"Of course, if Christianity had been anything in
A.D. 80 or 90, Josephus would have spoken of it.
The Christians must have felt the force of this, or
they would not have forged a passage to suit them-
selves; and may we not infer from these extracts
that Christianity was an insignificant thing in the
3d century when a man like Plotinus knew it only
through one of its most heretical forms; while men
of genius like Lucian and Porphyry rejected it with
contempt — Porphyry showed up its shortcomings
with an erudition unequalled until modern times.
Dogmatic Christianity reigned supreme in the Dark
Ages of ignorance; and the first heralds of the new
dawn of the intellect — such as Abelard were here-
tics, and the men of three or four centuries after,
such as Vanini and Giordano Bruno were down-
right infidels. Talk about its miraculous progress!
When Plotinus in the 3d century had hardly heard
of it; when Mohammed, one century after his death
was acknowledged as Prophet from Delhi to Cor-
dova; and when Mohammedan science and learn-
ing was all that kept the lamp of knowledge from
expiring. While Christians were going through
their mummeries to save their souls the Kalif Al

228

Dogmatic Christianity

Mamum was observing stars and measuring a de-
gree on the surface of the earth."

Many extracts from the letters might be given
showing Fiske's bitter hostility at this time to dog-
matic Christianity; and this feeling was intensified
by the discussion going on about him, and as we
shall further see, by his own college experiences. In
later years, however, we are to see him give Chris-
tianity a place in his scheme of philosophy as em-
bodying the highest phase yet reached in the de-
velopment of the religious nature of man, and as
undergoing a process of development to a higher
stage of religious manifestation.

There are, of course, many references to Spencer
in the letters. All are of interest as showing how
readily Fiske's thought responded to Spencer's as
the latter was unfolded, but three extracts must
suffice the purpose here. In a letter to Roberts he
says: —

"The 5th number of Spencer 1 concludes the ex-
planation of the change from the homogeneous to
the heterogeneous — differentiation — and the re-
maining numbers are to be taken up in explaining
the change from the indefinite to the definite — in-
tegration. I see that the old fellow is gradually
proving that the Law of Evolution is itself a co-
rollary from the Persistence of Force, and conse-
quently possesses the highest deductive as well as
the highest possible inductive proof."

1 Spencer was then bringing out First Principles in " Numbers."

229

John Fiske
Again: —

" I read Spencer on the 'Laws of Organic Form'
last night, but it was so omnisciently learned that
I could barely understand it. He brought up as il-
lustrations, nearly one hundred kinds of plants
of which I knew absolutely nothing. He brought
them in with such perfect coolness, and proceeded
to argue from the way the leaves are cleft and the
petals arranged in each kind, with such an apparent
unconsciousness that other people did n't know all
the vegetables in creation that I began to think
myself a block-head. However, though I did n't
know all the facts, I was enough of a naturalist to
appreciate the argument; and he showed that same
amazing power of thought, and that same incon-
ceivable amount of learning he shows in whatever
he undertakes to write about. I felt a sense of awe
after closing the book as if I had been holding
communion with Omniscience; and this I never felt
when reading any one else. During a country
ramble with Lewes in 1851, he, Spencer, happened
to pick up a buttercup, and as he drew it through
his fingers so as to alter the shape in a curious way,
an idea struck him which he has since developed into
one of the greatest discoveries of the century. In
reading this one thinks of Newton and the apple."

And again : —

" I am more and more persuaded that Spencer is
the greatest thinker of this time. He has found the
summum genus; he has made all the specific divi-
sions and sub-divisions ; and has not only pointed out
the methods of constructing a Positive philosophy,
but has also constructed one."

230

Publicly Admonished

In the letters are equally thoughtful references
to Grote, Bunsen, Gibbon, Comte, Humboldt, Max
Miiller, Lyell, Calvin, Tocqueville, Dickens, Bul-
wer, Huxley, Tyndall, Herschel, Darwin, Agassiz,
and others. The foregoing extracts are sufficient,
however, to show the general tendency of Fiske's
thought at this period, and how far and away it
was beyond the college requirements.

VII. He receives a "Public Admonition" with a
threatened expulsion

And yet, notwithstanding his excellent scholar-
ship and his exemplary personal conduct, Fiske was
persona non grata to some members of the Harvard
Faculty, who fain would have had students meas-
ured, not by their attainments and general upright-
ness, but rather by their religious beliefs and their
observance of church services. Mention has been
made of the reputation Fiske achieved during his
sophomore year of being a pretty well-equipped
Darwinian. He was also credited with holding
the heretical opinions of Emerson and Theodore
Parker, as well as being infected with the highly
objectionable virus of Positivism.

The opening of his junior year, therefore, reveals
him as a " suspect" with some members of the fac-
ulty who appear to have been apprehensive of his
* l silent influence ' ' among the students. Accordingly,
he was closely "observed" by the Parietal Commit-
tee for discipline on the slightest occasion. And the

231

John Fiske

committee had not long to wait. In October, 1861,
he was caught flagrante delicto in a high "misde-
meanor. ' ' He was ' ' observed * ' reading in church from
a volume of Com te and was promptly "summoned."

Students had read in this church without cen-
sure for years, and Professor Goodwin said that
Fiske was probably the least guilty of all. On
answering the summons he was first questioned by
the President in regard to his religious views. Fiske
frankly stated his disbelief in many of the dogmas
of Christian theology, and was equally frank in
expressing his adherence to what was then termed,
for want of a better name, the Positive Philosophy.
He was then taken before the faculty and charged
with disseminating infidelity among the students
and with gross misconduct at church by reading
during the service. The effort was made to inter-
relate the two offences by presenting the latter as
the natural outgrowth of the former — a desire to
show a disrespect for the Christian faith.

Fiske met the two charges in a manner character-
istic of the fair-minded youth that he was. He had
no apologies to make for his opinions; and he dis-
sociated the two charges as having in his mind
not the slightest relation to each other. He denied
having in any way tried to influence the religious
views of others ; asserted that such an effort would
be wholly against his principles; and that he re-
spected the views of others as much as he wished
his own respected. As to the misconduct at church

232

Publicly Admonished

he frankly admitted that it was unjustifiable; that
if it had been meant as a deliberate insult to the
Christian faith, it would have been also an insult
to the college, and there could be no punishment
too severe for such misconduct. He fully justified
the faculty for calling him to account. He did the
act unthinkingly, but that was no excuse; he had
violated a regulation of the college; he apologized
and assured the faculty there would be no repeti-
tion of the offence.

The President and Professors Bowen and Cooke
were very bitter — Professor Bowen contending
that the misconduct at church was not only a legiti-
mate outcome, but was also a mild form of mani-
festation, of such reprehensible doctrines as were
held by Fiske — and they wanted him suspended
for a year. They would have carried their point had
it not been for the very active part taken by several
members of the faculty, and especially by Dr. A. P.
Peabody, who maintained that it would be a dis-
grace to the college to suspend one of the best
students simply for reading in church and especially
after an ample apology had been freely made.

Fiske was let off with a "Public Admonition."
He read no more in church, nor do we hear of
charges against him of disseminating infidelity
among the students; but we do hear of the preva-
lence of opinions very similar to his, all through the
junior and senior classes, while they appear to have
been rife among the members of the faculty itself.

233

John Fiske

The most significant fact, however, connected
with this church incident is President Felton's sub-
sequent action. It appears that under date of Oc-
tober 16, 1861, he wrote Mrs. Stoughton, giving his
version of the affair, — which does not differ materi-
ally from the foregoing account, — and closed his
letter with the following courteous, but no less pos-
itive, admonition, as to the result which would at-
tend her son's giving any further expression to his
religious views while at college. He said: — •

" Your son's good character in general, and his
faithful attention to his studies, induced the faculty
to limit the censure to a Public Admonition. I have
only to add, that while we claim no right to inter-
fere with the private opinion of any student, we
should feel it our duty to request the removal of
any one who should undertake to undermine the
faith of his associates. I hope you will caution your
son upon this point; for any attempt to spread the
mischievous opinions which he fancies he has es-
tablished in his own mind, would lead to an instant
communication to his guardian to take him away."

It should be noted that this church incident and
this letter of President Felton to Mrs. Stoughton
are coincident with Fiske's completion of his article
on Buckle, which was finished, as we have seen,
October 14, 1861. A cursory glance at that article,
with its evidences of wide reading and deep think-
ing on some of the profoundest problems that can
engage the human mind, shows how far and away

234

The Civil War

was the thought of this upright youth beyond the
minds of his instructors, who would fain have found
in his "daily walk and conversation" reasons fof
expelling him from college.

It is a significant commentary on this letter of
President Felton's, threatening the expulsion of
Fiske if found guilty of disseminating Positive or
Evolutionary ideas among students, that eight
years later, in the first dawn of the new era at
Harvard, Fiske should be officially called by the
new President to expound these same ideas to the
college.

VIII. The Civil War: its effect upon his mind
And still the record of these eventful college days
is incomplete. These well-preserved letters of fifty
years ago, with their display of a noble love for
learning, coupled with high ideals of personal char-
acter, show yet another phase of the life of this
scholarly student which is of great interest to-day,
as reflecting somewhat the terrible ordeal through
which the Nation was passing.

We have already seen how the main issue in the
great Civil War struggle was projected into the col-
lege life through the Law School : we are now to see
how the undergraduate life was affected thereby.

The baleful effect of this fearful conflict was at
the outset severely felt in the quiet, academic shades
of Harvard. In the spring of 1 86 1 every class experi-
enced the sundering of class ties through the resig-

235

John Fiske

nations of students from the Southern States, or by
the departure of loyal students who resigned to join
the Union Army; and Harvard's peaceful yard re-
sounded with military preparations in response to
President Lincoln's "call to arms." Harvard's noble
Memorial Hall is an eloquent witness to the patriot-
ism of her sons.

At the outbreak of the war Fiske appears to have
been indifferent to the issues involved in the strug-
gle. His youth and his scholarly tastes had pre-
cluded his taking an active interest in the political
discussions which had preceded the war. He saw
no vital difference between the contending political
parties. Strongly anti-slavery in his own views, the
political issues appeared to him mainly as questions
of more or less slavery. The outbreak of the war,
therefore, found him so deeply interested in the
profound philosophic questions then coming for-
ward, and so engrossed in his studies, that he was
in great measure oblivious to the social, industrial,
and political questions involved in the struggle.
* This attitude of mind is not surprising, for the
only direct issue presented by the Northern States
or by the Administration was a political one — the
saving of the Union under a Constitution which
legalized human slavery. Fiske's friend Roberts,
however, was alive to the deeper issues involved in
the struggle, and in April, 1861, he wrote Fiske a
very thoughtful letter on the two diverse forms of
political and social organizations presented by the

236

The Civil War

Northern and Southern States, in which he pointed
out what might be expected in case the war should
be prolonged.

Fiske did not reply to the political portion of
Roberts's letter, but he did write giving full par-
ticulars of his reading. Roberts then chides him for
his indifference to the condition of the country and
the impending struggle; whereupon Fiske writes: —

" What fools people make of themselves about
this confounded war! Why, I forget there is a
war half the time. What's war when a fellow has
'Kosmos' on his shelf, and 'Faust' on his table?"

One is reminded by this sententious remark that
a good portion of ' ' Faust ' ' was written when all Ger-
many was engaged in the great Napoleonic strug-
gle, and that Goethe has been subjected to much
criticism for his apparent national indifference.

But with the whole nation aroused, Fiske could
not long remain indifferent, and the events of the
war soon brought his eminently philosophic mind
to the realization, in the pithy words of Lowell —

"That civlyzation doos git forrid
Sometimes upon a powder-cart."

During the winter and spring of 1862, in full
sympathy with the Union people of the North, he
became an interested observer of the gathering of
the Army of the Potomac under General McClellan
for the campaign against Richmond. With a feeling
of loyal pride he saw this magnificent army officered

237

John Fiske

by the ripest experience and the best blood of the
Northern States and thoroughly equipped with all
the munitions for offensive warfare. Never before
.in human history was there gathered a nobler army
for a nobler purpose than was this Army of the
Potomac ; and never before did an army go forth to
combat with greater confidence on the part of its
supporters in its ultimate victory.

With dismay Fiske saw this heroic army when
within sight of Richmond caught in the treacherous
swamps of the Chickahominy, where, divided by an
impassable stream and without the possibility of
concentration, it was attacked by a greatly inferior
force and was compelled to fight defensively day
after day, until, banged and beaten in detail, it was
at last driven, after immense losses, to the shelter
of its guns on the banks of the James, whence it was
rescued by the naval transports.

It is impossible for the present generation to real-
ize the effect of this disaster upon the people of the
Northern States, accompanied as it was by an effort
on the part of General McClellan to shift the re-
sponsibility for the disaster on to the War Depart-
ment, and also by a letter from him to the President
advising the latter as to the political conduct of the
war. This letter was a strong pro-slavery document.
Fiske became thoroughly aroused, and he expressed
in strong language his opinion as to McClellan's
incapacity, and his indignation at his attempt to
"play politics" in the face of such a disaster.

238

The Civil War

Three months after McClellan's defeat before
Richmond, September 22, 1862, President Lincoln
issued his first Proclamation of Emancipation, fol-
lowed by more vigorous measures for the prosecu-
tion of the War. How these measures were received
by many influential "constitutional" people at the
North we have already seen. How they were re-
ceived by the loyal people of the North is clearly
reflected in the following extract from a letter of
Fiske's, written September 24, 1862, two days after
the Emancipation Proclamation: —

"What a splendid thing the President's Procla-
mation is. I am really enthusiastic about the war
now. I feel as if we were fighting henceforth with
an end in view. I hope that the fiendish institution
of slavery, which has hitherto made me ashamed of
America, is at last to fall. I always was a red-hot
anti-slavery man in principle, but never cared much
for the success of a war that was to leave us on
this question just where we were before. I always
felt that union was impossible without abolition.
I think the Union cause is better off now than ever;
and if this Proclamation takes effect, I shall con-
sider homely ' Old Abe ' the most glorious ruler we
ever had. I am studying the war hard, strategy and
everything."

Fiske's manner of studying the war strategy was
characteristic of his thorough way of doing things.
He subscribed to the "New York Daily Times."
He then procured large maps of the various fields
of military operations which he fastened to the

239

John Fiske

walls of his rooms, and with pins of different col-
ored heads he was able on his maps to follow the
movements of the contending forces. Every eve-
ning after supper he took his strategy lesson.

But what is of special significance, in view of
Fiske's future history of the Federal Constitution,
and his subsequent thought as to its practical work-
ing, was his deep interest in the Constitutional ques-
tions that now arose from President Lincoln's ex-
ercise of the war powers of his great office.

In the autumn of 1862 the political opposition
to President Lincoln was focussed around the can-
didacy of Horatio Seymour for Governor of New
York; and the issue was the alleged usurpation of
unconstitutional power by the President. This
phase of the contest was brought directly home to
Fiske, not only by reason of his warm personal re-
gard for Judge Curtis, but also by the fact that the
views of Judge Curtis were shared by Mr. and Mrs.
Stoughton — and they were all heartily support-
ing Mr. Seymour. Fiske, however, did not waver
for a moment in his support of the President ; and in
a letter to his mother, after expressing a wish that
she would read John Stuart Mill's pamphlet on
"The Contest in America," he says: "When next
you see me you will find me full to the brim of
war and politics — a fierce anti-secession and anti-
slavery man."

Shortly after, he received from his mother a
letter, in which, besides giving him her own views,

240

The Civil War

she sent him a batch of the politico-constitutional
literature of the day, in which the Administration
was presented as a greater foe to the country than
the Southerners in arms. Fiske's loyal indignation
knows no bounds: and in a letter under date of
November 3, 1862, — the day before the New York
election, — he frees his mind. This letter contains
one paragraph which to-day has a historical as
well as a deep personal interest: —

"Oh, I cannot sleep in peace until I know the
result of to-morrow's election in New York. If all
were confided to our armies it would be well; but
here is a great secession party arisen at the North,
and calling itself Democratic! what shall we do?
Just think of voting for Horatio Seymour and
Fernando Wood ! It is high time to suspend Habeas
Corpus, when treason is rife in every dwelling.
Much as I love liberty of thought and speech, it
were better to have a despotism than this horrible
anarchy. What is the use of getting up these im-
mense armies of 600,000 men and building iron-
clad fleets, if we are going to have a hornet's nest of
treason growing here at home. I am getting dis-
couraged. I hear treason and nothing else talked
all the time. If Lincoln would hang the leaders of
the Democratic party, and kick McClellan out of
the army, it would be well ; but such a result is too
good to be hoped for."

Some worthy people might say that the foregoing
extract was rather an extravagant ebullition of a
somewhat heated youthful patriotism. Neverthe-

241

John Fiske

less, it reflects with great truth the terrible ordeal
through which President Lincoln's Administration
was passing, as well as the depth of feeling of the
loyal people of the Northern States who were deter-
mined that the Nation in its entirety should live,
and that the disgrace of upholding slavery should
be removed forever from its Constitution.

From this time forward Fiske' s absorbing inter-
est in the success of the Union cause never lessened.
He carefully followed Grant's campaign against
Vicksburg, as well as the movements of the contend-
ing forces around Washington; and the letters give
instances of sharp altercations with students of
"Secesh" proclivities. To Mr. Lincoln's letters in
1862 and 1863 to various persons, defending his
Administration, Fiske paid particular attention, re-
garding them as the best and clearest expositions
of the war powers of the President under the Consti-
tution that were called forth by the President's
exercise of " Executive Power/'

IX. His Engagement to Abby Morgan Brooks
Still another phase of Fiske' s life during his col-
lege days remains to be told. Not his study, not
his writing, not his college rank, not his patriotism
are the full index of his intellectual activities during
this memorable period. No record of his collegiate
life would be in any sense complete that did not
include his romantic acquaintance with Abby Mor-
gan Brooks, their engagement, and the ennobling

242

Engagement to Miss Brooks

influence of their betrothal upon the whole range
of his intellectual activities during his junior and
senior years. Briefly as this story must be told, it
will be seen that it reveals an affectionate element
as a marked characteristic in Fiske' s intellectual
make-up ; and that this element is a fitting comple-
ment to his love for knowledge, in that it gives to
the latter its finest zest — a desire to share its tri-
umphs and honors with another.

There is further reason for this story here with
much particularity of incident, for in the years to
come we are to see this betrothal experience, of
which we have such an interesting and faithful
record, unfold and ripen into a domestic life of
great richness and fulness, carrying with it, in ever-
increasing measure to the very end, the fine, enno-
bling flavor with which it began.

At Miss Catharine Upham's, where, as we have
seen, Fiske had taken rooms, there were a goodly
number of boarders. Professor and Mrs. Child
were there; and, in addition to a few undergradu-
ates like Fiske, there were students from the Law
School, as well as some young women attending
Professor Agassiz's school for young ladies. Among
the students from the Law School was James W.
Brooks, of Petersham, Massachusetts, who, having
been graduated at the Law School in 1858, was now
pursuing some extra studies. The elder sister of
Mr. Brooks, Abby Morgan Brooks, had previously
been a student at Professor Agassiz's school, and

243

John Fiske

had also boarded at Miss Upham's. She had many
friends in Cambridge, and during the spring of 1861
she was much with her brother at Miss Upham's.

Miss Brooks enjoyed intimate social relations
with Professor and Mrs. Child, and Professor Child
had frequently spoken of young Fiske as one of the
very best scholars in the college. He seemed to take
pleasure in telling of Fiske's devotion to his studies,
of how he economized his time, and especially of his
library — a most extraordinary one for a student.
Miss Brooks being with Professor and Mrs. Child
one morning at prayer time, he took her to the
window and said, "With the first stroke of the
chapel bell, Fiske will start and you will see a race
to reach the chapel door on the last stroke." Sure
enough, the first stroke brought a rush from the
house, and then, with rapid strides across the Delta,
where now stands Memorial Hall, Fiske reached
the chapel just as the last stroke announced the
closing of the doors.

"This," said Professor Child in his genial way —
"this is the devotion we see every morning."

Miss Brooks and Fiske, although they lived in
the same house for several weeks in the spring of
1 861 , did not meet until the evening of June 1 1 , at a
lawn party given for Miss Brooks previous to her
leaving for her home at Petersham. They then met
casually, and Fiske was introduced to her. They
had a pleasant general conversation of less than
half an hour; and on her remarking that she was

244

Engagement to Miss Brooks

leaving the next day, he expressed his regret that
he had not met her before, and the hope that he
might have a further acquaintance in the autumn.

Miss Brooks was favorably impressed. Fiske was
deeply so; and the impression with him endured.
She was much in his mind during the summer vaca-
tion. Soon after his return in September he learned
that Miss Brooks was planning to go to Chicago in
October, with the intention of spending the winter
there with her brother John. He was so deeply in-
terested that he decided upon prompt action. He
would go at once to Petersham, have an interview
with Miss Brooks in her home, and, as a preliminary
to a better acquaintance, ask for the privilege of a
correspondence. Accordingly, he got a week's leave
of absence from the college for the ostensible pur-
pose of seeking a school for teaching during the
winter, and on Friday, September 13, 1861, he set
out for Petersham, by way of Athol — a pilgrimage
which involved at its farther end, by reason of the
train arriving too late for the coach, a tramp of nine
miles on foot. The long tramp was without ad-
venture, save that at a roadside watering-place he
was accosted by some country folk, probably by
reason of his somewhat blousy costume, with a
question which reflects the agitation of the time —
11 Be ye a solger"? Fiske could only assure his ques-
tioners that he had no belligerent intentions.

The day was fine. It was one of those September
days in New England when all nature seems at-

245

John Fiske

tuned. The glories of autumn's rich foliage were
just beginning to manifest themselves in the occa-
sional burning bush, the scarlet maple, and the
variegated tints creeping over the woodlands. As
Fiske plodded the long rise of road from Athol to
the high plateau of Petersham, every step forward
was the revelation of an ever-increasing charm,
until, as he reached the summit, he found spread
before him a scene of indescribable beauty and of
singular impressiveness, as on either hand the re-
spective valleys with their ridges of wooded hills,
just blushing with autumn's coming colors, rolled
miles and miles away.

As Fiske moved onward he was profoundly
affected by the beauty of the surrounding country,
and as he approached Petersham, lying a little be-
low him on the southern slope of the plateau, he
stepped aside to survey the whole scene with this
hamlet lying so quietly before him, its church spire
gilded by the setting sun and rising so picturesquely
among the trees, and to speculate upon what these
surroundings held in store for him.

Could he only have known! In the years to come
we are to see this temporary resting-place trans-
formed in his mind into a veritable Mount Pisgah;
we are also to see this romantic adventure ripen, in
the midst of these beautiful surroundings, into the
holiest of human ties. Further, we are to see these
surroundings so made a part of his own life that they
are to become a measure of nature's beauty in many

246

Engagement to Miss Brooks

Old- World places famous for their scenic charms,
while they are also to serve as a fitting setting to
some of the profoundest thinking that can engage
the human mind.

Fiske was graciously received by Miss Brooks
and the other members of her family — her mother,
her brother James and sister Martha. At first he
sought to disguise the purpose of the visit under the
plea that he was looking for a school to teach dur-
ing the winter. James Brooks, however, soon saw
through this gentle subterfuge, and on his remark-
ing " that there was n't much to call a young fellow
to such an out-of-the-way place as Petersham un-
less he has some object of special interest in view/'
Fiske smiled, and frankly admitted, " That's just
my case, Mr. Brooks!" His errand, therefore, was
revealed and he remained in Petersham until the
following Wednesday.

He saw Miss Brooks several times. She was very
gracious, and his regard for her greatly increased.
Just before leaving he asked for the privilege of a
correspondence, and he accompanied the request
with the assurance that there was not an act of his
life that he was not perfectly willing she should
know. Somewhat confused by the directness and
the evident purpose of the request, Miss Brooks
thanked him for his desire for a further acquaint-
ance and told him she would be pleased to corre-
spond with him were it not that she was under
certain obligations that would prevent her doing so

247

John Fiske

at present. Seeing his evident embarrassment, she
delicately gave him to understand that she was not
engaged to be married. Feeling that it would be
impertinent to press for further explanation of the
nature of her obligations, Fiske let the matter of the
correspondence rest for the present. By her gra-
cious manner Miss Brooks placed him at his ease,
and on his leaving, she thanked him for his visit,
telling him that she would be in Boston for a few
days previous to going to Chicago, and that it would
give her pleasure to see him there.

Fiske returned hopeful if not confident. What
could be the nature of the obligation Miss Brooks
was under? Was it a promise to some member of
her family given to protect her from all "entangling
alliances," or was it a bit of womanly tactfulness or
reserve thrown out as a protection against a rather
impetuous suitor? In either case he felt that he had
made decided progress in his suit. He had enlarged
his knowledge of the conditions, and he had an-
nounced his purpose, which had not been rejected.
Further than this, he had found Petersham the most
delightful place he had ever seen; that the Brooks
family and homestead fitly represented the best
type of the pure New England character; and that
Miss Brooks, in her own home, appeared to much
better advantage even than on the occasion of his
chance meeting with her in Cambridge. He deter-
mined, therefore, to follow up his suit on the visit of
Miss Brooks to Boston.

248

ABBY MORGAN BROOKS
(From a miniature made in 1861, shortly before her engagement to John Fiske)

Engagement to Miss Brooks

In the meantime her ideal in his mind is greatly
heightened and becomes a fresh source of inspira-
tion to his thought. He goes at his Buckle article,
which we have already seen was under way, with
renewed ardor, the while hoping that ere long she
may read it and like it, and that he may be able to
tell her that she was in no small degree an elemental
force in its composition.

Just as he was leaving for his Thanksgiving visit
to his grandmother, Fiske learned that Miss Brooks
was spending Thanksgiving week at her brother's
in Boston. He called upon her on his way to his
train, but did not find her at home. He cut short
his visit to his grandmother, and returned on Satur-
day of the Thanksgiving week. In the evening he
called upon Miss Brooks and was cordially received.
During the interview he asked if she was willing to
explain the nature of the "obligations" to which
she had referred in their conversation at Petersham.
This she said she was perfectly willing to do, and it
was arranged that he should call the next Monday
afternoon for the explanation.

It is needless to say that Fiske was prompt in
keeping the appointment, and it is quite probable
that he "cut" a recitation or lecture in so doing.
He found Miss Brooks knitting socks for the soldiers,
a very general occupation then for loyal women,
and he " lent a hand " in the unwinding of the yarn.

The "obligation" proved to be a promise to her
brother John that she would not enter into cor-
-* 249

John Fiske

respondence with any gentleman without his con-
sent. The evidence is abundant that Miss Brooks
was under the thoughtful care of her brothers. In
the course of the conversation, she told Fiske that
she had thought much over his proposal of a cor-
respondence since his Petersham visit, and inas-
much as her mother and her brother James had
no objection to her engaging in it, she had decided
to ask the consent of her brother John. They
parted with mutual expressions of much good-will,
not again to meet until Miss Brooks's return in the
spring.

Miss Brooks was delayed in getting away by
reason of the departure of her brother James for
Paris as Vice-Consul with John Bigelow, and she
sent Fiske a brief note in explanation. He re-
sponded by sending her a copy of his article on
Buckle, then just published. On Christmas Day he
received a letter from Miss Brooks in which she
acknowledged the receipt of the article and ex-
pressed her profound admiration of it. Best of all,
she told him that her brother John gave his cordial
consent to their correspondence.

Fiske was supremely happy, and in his New
Year's letter to his mother of January i, 1862, he
gave her the full particulars of his acquaintance
with Miss Brooks, and he wished his mother "A
Happy New Year" in nine different languages!

In replying to Miss Brooks's letter assenting to
their correspondence, Fiske expressed his great

250

Engagement to Miss Brooks

pleasure at her approval of his Buckle article, and
added, "More than one sentence in it was framed
with the thought that you were one day to read it;
and since you like it, what more could I desire?"

He proposed, for their better acquaintance, that
they exchange confidences and tell each other what
they had felt, studied, thought, done; and as an
evidence of the strength and sincerity of his own
feeling he enclosed a letter he wrote her on the eve-
ning of their meeting at Miss Upham's the previ-
ous June — a letter he had withheld. In this letter
he asked for "an occasional" friendly correspond-
ence, and then added : —

Something almost compels me to write this,
though I readily imagine how assuming I may ap-
pear in doing so. But I can sincerely say that were
the state of things now to exist, of which we read in
fairy fable, and were some beneficent genii to ask
me what boon of all I would soonest have granted
me, I should at once answer this — that you might
deign to bestow upon me the favor for which I
have just asked. Should you think best to refuse
this request, I beg you to think no more of it. I am
yours, with deep respect,

JOHN FISKE.

In the exchange of confidences which followed,
there are delightful passages of self-revealing on
both sides. On his part he gives, in a simple, truth-
ful way, charming sketches of his past life from
his earliest boyhood; of his father, his mother, his
grandparents; his Middletown life, his schooling,

251

John Fiske

his religious experiences, his search for truth and
his high ideals of scholarship, which are in accord
with the presentation in the foregoing pages. Miss
Brooks responded with equal frankness and gave
an account of her life as a member of a cultured New
England family in the midst of the pleasantest sur-
roundings; of her educational training and the free-
dom of her mind from religious sectarianism or
intolerance; and then, with fine womanly feeling,
she expressed her appreciation of the upright,
manly traits in his character, her deep sympathy
with him in his aspirations, and her desire to follow
him as far as possible in his scholarly pursuits.

Only a few, comparatively, of the fine passages in
Fiske' s letters can be given here. The letters as a
whole are another witness to the uprightness of his
character and the breadth of his knowledge, as well
as to the fact that through his affections he was
being stirred to still broader and nobler ideals of
life and of duty.]

He spent his winter vacation in Middletown, and
he gives Miss Brooks the following bit of evidence
that she possesses rare magical powers: —

"I brought to Middletown, for vacation study,
the text of the Hebrew Bible with the theoretic com-
ments of several old tobaccoy, lager-beery Germans,
a book on Hebrew syntax, a book on Sanskrit in-
flections, and several other highly interesting and
profitable works of a similar stamp. Just for vari-
ety, I brought along Dante and a book on zoology.

252

Engagement to Miss Brooks

Ordinarily, I should have been engrossed in these
interesting works; but since I have come within
the radius of your attractive power, which extends
more than 1000 miles, — the attraction NOT di-
minishing as the square of the distance increases, —
I feel compelled to write to you rather than to
study. So Q.E.D. you must be a magician of no
ordinary power."

Miss Brooks has given him a sketch of her edu-
cational training, and he comments upon it with
such ripe judgment that we forget it is not a ma-
ture, experienced mind that is speaking : —

"I supposed you must have acquired a familiar-
ity with French, and I am very glad to know that
you have studied Latin and German. After all, my
dear girl, you have hit upon those dialects which are
most useful and most fraught with pleasure. I
mean especially French and German, though I would
not discourage the study of Latin for young ladies.
Still, Latin has less charms for me than the others.
I have got a thorough acquaintance with the gram-
mar and structure of it and some little facility in
translating; but from what I have seen of Roman
literature I think it so dry and dull, so wanting in
freshness and thought and feeling, that it seems
almost a waste of time for a young lady to study
it when she might be spending her leisure on Ger-
man — a language of eternal freshness, beauty, and
poetry. Of all the languages I have looked into, I
know of none which possesses such intense and
growing fascination, such exquisite beauty, such
exhaustless wealth of learning, thought, fancy,
and emotion as the German. I will make but one

253

John Fiske

exception to this — the dear English, which, thank
Heaven, we know already. But next to your own
language you can learn no other which will so
richly repay you as German." 1

Miss Brooks modestly told him that she had
"a smattering of Latin, a little French and German,
some geometry, a trifle of history, and more or less
of current literature. ' ' He responds : —

"That is very promising. Don't laugh! I am in
earnest. It looks chaotic to be sure, but the wand
of the Positivist conjurer can bring shape and order
into the mass. 'A smattering of Latin' is all you
need for my purposes; ' a little French and German '
can soon become much French and German ; ' some
geometry ' can grow into a perception of the posi-
tion and scope of mathematics and into wide
views of space, etc.; 'a trifle of history* may de-
velop, imperceptibly, into a knowledge of the un-
folding of the human intellect in all ages and coun-
tries. I know I could do all this if I were with you.
Besides, I could tell you ' anecdotes' of any or every
science, which would be sweeter than fairy-legend."

Speaking of his own linguistic acquirements he
says: —

"I can't talk in any language but my own; but
I read in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portu-
guese, Latin, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon. Then with
hard study I can decipher sentence by sentence

1 When Miss Brooks was studying Italian with Mr. Fiske dur-
ing their engagement, he carefully preserved in his notebook all
the Italian exercises written by her; the lessons came to an end
with the reading of I Prcmessi Sposi, by Alessandro Manzoni.

254

Engagement to Miss Brooks

Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Hebrew, Chaldee, and
Sanskrit; and there are some few which I have
dipped into without doing much, either because
they have little literature, or because I have no
time for them — Zend, Gothic, Wallachian, and
Provencal. Persian and Arabic I long to know, but
I despair of ever having the time to learn them;
there is so much to be done in other things. Before
long anatomy, physiology, and kindred sciences
will engross me, and I am afraid I shall have to bid
a last farewell to philology/1

Even at this early age, he has a clear concep-
tion of the need of an underlying philosophy which
shall unify all knowledge; hence this fine passage: —

"There are so many things to be learned, that at
first sight they may seem like a confused chaos.
The different departments of knowledge may ap-
pear so separate and conflicting, and yet so mingled
and interdependent, as to render it a matter of
doubt where the beginning should be made. But
when we have come to a true philosophy, and make
that our stand-point, all things become clear. We
know what things to learn, and what, in the in-
finite mass of things to leave unlearned — and then
the Universe becomes clear and harmonious.1'

Fiske is greatly pleased to know that Miss
Brooks wishes to follow him in his scholarly pursuits,
and he tells her how he would have her follow him.
The passage in which he tells her this is worthy of
special note, in view of their intellectual compan-
ionship, as we are to see its future unfolding: —

255

John Fiske

" Believe me, these pursuits are sweet and pleas-
ant as no others are : they never weary, they never
satiate. Yet for all that I would not have my dar-
ling a book- worm. I would not care to have her
immensely learned and wise — do you appreciate
and not misunderstand the feeling? I would have
her 'follow me,' as she says, 'in my pursuits.' I
would have her sympathy in them. I would im-
part to her the ideas which keep coming into
my mind. Then I would love her so dearly, and
honor and respect her so deeply and truly, that the
thought of her — that her blest influence would
keep me ever from the wrong, and call forth all
that is best and holiest in me. God grant that it
may be so."

Such a correspondence (and these extracts in-
dicate the character of the thought which imbued
the letters) led, as might be expected, to an early
engagement. On the return of Miss Brooks in
March, 1862, she spent a few days in Boston and
the engagement was announced. On her return to
Petersham the correspondence is resumed and we
have further revelations of her inspiring influence
upon his mind. His thought turns to the means of
gaining a livelihood for them both after his gradu-
ation, and very naturally, with his youthful opti-
mism, he looks forward to engaging in some form
of literary work. The following passage reflects his
state of mind : —

11 1 am going to work now, and the thought of you
will inspire me to new exertion. I am going to

256

Engagement to Miss Brooks

study more thoroughly than ever the Hebrew lan-
guage, history and mythology, and trace the con-
fluence of ancient philosophies and theologies into
the great stream of thought which issued in Chris-
tianity; then the rise, culmination and decline of
dogmatic Christianity, till its forms fell away and
the deep religion which lay beneath them was taken
up by Positive philosophers and grew into the
world religion announced by Herbert Spencer, the
greatest of the sons of men! Won't it be glorious
when I can pursue these studies with you by my
vside, and some day write a history of the religious
development of mankind. I am confident that the
happy time will come. No use in despairing. What
a book I could write if you were sitting by me.
' On dira dans mille ans, " 0, 1'ceuvre vive et tendre,
brulante encore!" Mais, c'est qu'elle etait la!'
Don't you believe it is so? I will show you some
day."

At this time his friend Roberts had also become
engaged, and the high philosophico-religious feeling
that animates both young men finds expression in
the following terms. After the departure of Miss
Brooks for her home at Petersham, Fiske writes
Roberts thus : —

"The last twelve days have been by far the
happiest of my life. I know now what it is to be
loved. I am at last SAVED. My religion is the reli-
gion of love. My God is the Eternal incarnate in
my beloved. I hate this infernal college life of poll-
debauchery which is going on about me, and look
forward to the time when we shall together lead
the life of the Eternal man."

257

John Fiske
Roberts promptly responded: —

" It is with the greatest pleasure that I read your
letter, and I again feel that we both have the same
noble aims, the same ambitious purposes, the same
religion, the same creed — but not the same Gods.
For I perceive that this religion is polytheistic, con-
sidered socially; but considered with reference to
the individual worshipper, monotheistic. This is the
grand reconciliation of the past with the present —
the grand paradox of the universe. Man pronounces
a creed which is more mystic than the Nicene —
a creed wherein not three only, but an infinite num-
ber of pure and holy Beings are confounded in the
person of the Eternal Woman. But the worshipper
finds his Saviour, his Redeemer, his Evangel in that
one Divinity of his free choice, before whom there
are no other Gods."

Space forbids further extracts from these interest-
ing letters. The ennobling influence which entered
into Fiske's soul through his engagement to Miss
Brooks is apparent during the remainder of his col-
lege life, broadening his sympathies and heighten-
ing his purposes, and in the years to follow we
are to trace it as an enriching influence to the very
end.

In closing the account of this episode in Fiske's
college life, it only remains to be added that Peters-
ham soon became endeared to him beyond all other
places; that he made occasional visits to Miss
Brooks which involved heavy penalties against his
"honors" for recitations and religious services

258

His College Rank

unduly "cut," while Petersham absorbed the princi-
pal part of his subsequent vacations. In the years
to come, we shall see that in his personal calendar
of memorable days, the I3th of September was al-
ways held in tender regard as the anniversary of his
romantic journey to Petersham, when to him, foot-
sore and weary, its beauties and its interests were
first revealed.

And so, faithfully going through his college ex-
ercises, completing his essay on the "Evolution of
Language" for the "North American Review,"
reading widely on scientific and philosophic sub-
jects, following with great interest Grant's cam-
paign in Mississippi as well as the movements of
the contending armies around Washington, the
while looking forward with radiant hope to the
"large excitement that the coming years would
yield" when he should be united to the object of
his affections, Fiske's senior year at Harvard comes
to its close, and on the I5th of July, 1863, he was
graduated with his class, while the great Union vic-
tories at Vicksburg and at Gettysburg were echo-
ing through the land.

At his graduation Fiske supposed that owing to
his marks he stood near the foot of his class, and he
did not care enough about the matter to find out
what his rank was. Several years after, he was in
the Dean's office overhauling the books, when he

259

John Fiske

came across the records of his class and he writes
his mother : —

" I found I stood 47th among 112 and my name
ought to have been printed: eleven names were
printed which stood lower than mine. The amount
of my deductions for absences, etc., was above 5000.
Omitting these from the amount, and calculating
my rank on my marks on my examinations alone,
I should have stood first for senior year, and
fourth or fifth for the whole course. My average
percentage for senior year was almost unprece-
dentedly high. But the measles spoiled it: I lost six
weeks and never cared enough about it to make
them up."

CHAPTER X

FAILS TO GET POSITION AS TEACHER OR AS TUTOR AT
HARVARD — ENTERS THE HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
— ADMITTED TO THE BAR — HIS GENERAL READ-
ING — OPENING OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPEN-
CER— MARRIAGE

1863-1864

DURING the latter half of his senior year Fiske's
thought was much given to the choice of a profes-
sion. Spurning the thought of being dependent
upon his mother, and at the same time desirous of
being married, the letters reveal the balancing in
his mind of the comparative advantages and dis-
advantages of the two professions — law and teach-
ing. Each was considered from two viewpoints —
as a means of earning a livelihood, and as giving at
the same time opportunity for the pursuit of his
scientific and philosophic studies. The law was the
choice of his mother, while his own preference was
decidedly for teaching. Following his own inclina-
tions, he secured before graduation commendations
for his scholarship from Professors Peabody, Low-
ell, Child, Gurney, and Bowen, and also one from
Mr. George Ticknor. He was somewhat surprised
at getting a commendation from Professor Bowen,
and he says regarding it: "Professor Bowen is a
fellow who loves to argue and likes opposition, and

261

John Fiske

he has taken quite a fancy to me because I pitch
into him."

Thus equipped, the securing of a good position as
instructor in the classic or modern languages, or in
history, in a high school or in a well-established
private school, did not appear to him as a matter
likely to be attended with much difficulty. He also
felt quite confident that his scholarship and the
personal good-will of Professors Peabody, Lowell,
Child, and Gurney would secure him a position as
tutor at the college should he desire to begin teach-
ing there.

We have seen that during the latter half of his
senior year, he was busily engaged upon an essay
on the "Evolution of Language" for the "North
American Review." While finishing this essay, he
sends Miss Brooks the following declaration of his
purpose to push the teaching project as soon as the
essay is off his hands : —

A MOVE SOON To BE MADE

A SCHOOL
To BE TAKEN

Wonders
To be done

But without experience in teaching, the getting
of a position as instructor that would warrant his
being married was not a matter of such easy accom-
plishment as appeared to the student Fiske. His

262

Choice of Profession

first contact with the conditions of practical life
brought him to a distinct realization that "expe-
rience" was not wholly a philosophic term and
limited to the theory of knowledge; but that it em-
bodied something tangible, something negotiable in
the interchange of social service which takes place
when a person earns his living. •

Before his graduation Fiske made application to
Dr. Francis Gardner, the Principal of the Boston
Latin School, and to Dr. J. D. Philbrick, the Super-
intendent of the Boston Public Schools, for any
position as instructor in the languages or in his-
tory at their disposal. His letters of commendation
and his modest, scholarly bearing secured for him
courteous consideration; and it was while pressing
his case in Boston that he learned of a vacancy
in the High School in Charlestown, which had not
then been annexed to Boston. It appears that he
applied to the Committee of the Charlestown High
School for the position in July. His application was
well received. There were twelve applicants — all
recent graduates — and he was made to feel that he
was the preference of the Committee. He was much
elated. The action of the Committee was post-
poned from time to time during the summer, and
until early in September, when a fresh candidate
appeared, — one who had had several years' expe-
rience in teaching, — and he was elected.

During the period of suspense Fiske was at
Petersham and at Middletown, and plans for his

263

John Fiske

marriage and for settling down to a life of strenu-
ous labor as teacher, student, and occasional writer
on the many philosophic questions that were en-
gaging public attention, were much in his mind. It
disappointed him greatly to learn — as he did dur-
ing this period — that one line of teaching, which
he felt sure he could fall back upon in case of ne-
cessity, was not open to him — professional work at
Harvard College. He consulted Professor Gurney
about applying for a tutorship. Professor Gurney
frankly told him that his application would not
be favorably received in the minds of some of the
faculty ; that his reputation as a pronounced Dar-
winian would preclude any consideration of his ex-
ceptional qualifications as a tutor.

It appears that during these few weeks of un-
certain waiting and partial discouragement, he
found a sort of solace as well as mental recreation
in reading the Waverley Novels. He gave himself
with perfect abandon to the charm of the " Scotch
Romancer/' After reading "The Heart of Mid-
Lothian" and "The Bride of Lammermoor" he
writes his mother thus : —

"I am almost or quite as much delighted with
Scott as with Dickens. What a rich treat I shall
have in the score or so of novels I am now going to
read! In view of the delight now in store for me I
am almost inclined to forgive myself for not hav-
ing looked into Scott before. What a great writer
he is!"

264

Choice of Profession

The other reading he indulged in during this
period was Spencer's "Biology," which was then
appearing in numbers. He has secured a photo-
graph of Spencer, and he gives his mother the im-
pression the portrait makes upon his mind : —

"Spencer's face is a magnificent one. There is
something not quite perfect about the mouth; but
the eyes are like those of a lynx, and the grandest I
ever saw. Taken all together, the effect of the head
and face is as imposing as Newton's; while at the
same time the expression is gentle, humorous, and
lovable, in the extreme.11

We also get from the letters of this waiting period
other glimpses of the great Civil War struggle, par-
ticularly what followed in the wake of the decis-
ive victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg — how
Boston and Cambridge were alive with rockets and
candles; how the draft riots in New York made
Fiske apprehensive for his mother's house there;
how the draft was being enforced in Cambridge;
how Fiske had escaped, while a " secesh " class-
mate who had ridiculed Lincoln and had jeered at
"Mr. U. S. Grant," had been drafted; and how
"Copperheads," believing that Lee would capture
Philadelphia, had bought gold at $1.45 which they
were now selling at $1.28.

Failing to get a position as instructor in a high
school, and finding that he was persona non grata
for a tutorship at Harvard, Fiske realized that he
must look to some other profession than that of

265

John Fiske

teaching as a means of support and that his mar-
riage might be indefinitely postponed. He now
turned his attention seriously to the law. All
through his college course his mother and Mr.
Stoughton had held before him the study and
practice of the law as a proper sequence to his
collegiate studies. He had, however, steadily re-
fused to entertain the thought of giving up the pur-
suit of scientific knowledge in the very interesting
era that was opening before him.

But now that he was graduated and found him-
self facing the question of a self-supporting profes-
sion, with the desire of being married uppermost in
his mind, and with the profession of teaching not
practically available to him, he turned to the con-
sideration of the law as offering the best way out of
the difficulties that confronted him . He reviewed
the whole situation calmly, and after consulting
with Professor Gurney and Judge Curtis, he writes
his mother, under date of September 19, 1863, — two
days after the Charlestown decision, — as follows : —

4 'As soon as I have thought things over a little
and discussed with Abby, I want to come to New
York, if it is convenient, and talk with both you
and Mr. Stoughton. Writing is a poor means of
communication. I am quite sure that my present
views will please you and Mr. Stoughton; and Mr.
Gurney thinks it of the first importance that I go
to New York in person as soon as I have seen
Abby. Don't telegraph for me, but let me take
time and be mysterious for a few days. I think,

266

Chooses the Law

perhaps, you will not be sorry at my failure, when
you hear what it has brought me to."

After a full consideration of the situation with
Miss Brooks, and with her hearty consent, he de-
cided to accept the law, and he went to New York
to see his mother and Mr. Stoughton.1 He was re-
ceived with special cordiality. His decision was
highly commended, and he was encouraged to
think that the law, in some of the higher phases
of its practice, would afford ample scope for the
employment of his eminently philosophical and ju-
dicial mind. That Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton were

1 In this connection the following letter from Judge Curtis to Mr.
Stoughton is of interest: —

BOSTON, September 22, 1863.
Dear Stoughton, —

Some time last spring we had a conversation about the choice of
a profession for John, and I then told you, if I remember, quite de-
cidedly that I did not think he had best study law. My reasons, I
believe, were, that I thought he was better adapted for a teacher, a
profession now of much importance and of increasing consideration.
I have lately had some further means of judging, from intercourse
with him and conversations with Roberts about him, and I think I
ought to write to you and say that I believe I expressed too confident
an opinion, and that I am inclined to change it. I should trust
Roberts's opinion rather than my own. From conversation with
him I suppose he is getting much inclined to study law. His friend,
Professor Gurney, strongly advises it, and Roberts is very much of
the same opinion. And having reflected a good deal upon it, I cer-
tainly should not dissuade him if I would be asked what my opinion
is. I have therefore thought I ought to write to you and say that
you should not be influenced by anything I have heretofore said to
the contrary.

Yours always,

B. R. CURTIS.
E. W. STOUGHTON, ESQ.,
NEW YORK.

267

John Fiske

greatly pleased at the turn his thought had taken is
evident from the fact that they made ample pro-
vision for his taking a two years' course of study at
the Harvard Law School, at the same time assur-
ing him that on his admission to the bar — for
which the course at the Law School was a prepa-
ration — he should have their hearty assent to his
marriage.

Fiske returned to Cambridge in a happy state of
mind. He now had a definite purpose before him,
the accomplishment of which was to take prece-
dence of all other interests. His entrance at the
Law School bears date of October 7, 1863.

As the Harvard Law School was at this time the
leading law school of the country, a glance at its
course of study and its requirements is not without
interest. The course of study embraced "the vari-
ous branches of the Common Law and of Equity;
Admiralty; Commercial, International and Consti-
tutional Law, and the Jurisprudence of the United
States." There were but three instructors or pro-
fessors, and the instruction was mainly by lectures.
Students elected their own lines of study, could
enter at any time and without examination; and
upon the certificate and recommendation of the
faculty — and on payment of all dues to the
college — could receive, without any examination
whatever, the degree of Bachelor of Laws. The only
requirement was with reference to the degree, and
this was that eighteen months' study of the law

268

At Harvard Law School

should be the condition of its award. There seems
to have been a genial "go-as-you-please" air about
the whole school.

The letters to his mother give many incidents
connected with his settling down to his new line of
work — such as arrangements for convenient study,
allotment of hours to his legal studies, his enthusi-
asm for these studies, his provisions for scientific,
historic, and philosophic reading, as well as for in-
cidental work. We will note a few of them.

During the latter half of his senior year we saw
him writing his essay on the "Evolution of Lan-
guage." The essay was published in the "North
American Review" for October, 1863, and he re-
ceived as payment for it the very moderate sum
of forty dollars. This money he appropriated to
his convenience in working, and he gives his mother
the particulars as follows : —

" My desk came yesterday. It is the most beauti-
ful piece of furniture almost that I ever saw. I take
the more pride in it that it is peculiarly the fruit of
my own brain. In the first place, I paid for it —
within $3 — by writing that article ; and 2nly , I
designed the whole thing, leaving nothing to the
cabinet-maker but to put my ideas into wooden
shape. I take more pleasure in it than in almost
any chattel I ever possessed."

In another place he tells his mother that he has
"got a Worcester's Dictionary, for in reading law,
a lexicon is an absolute necessity. I have occasion

269

John Fiske

to use it at least two dozen times a day. I had no
English dictionary before/'

That he began his new line of work in his usual
systematic way is shown by his general plan, which
he gives as follows : —

" My plan is to study law from 8 A.M. to 4^ P.M.,
then go to the gymnasium and bowling alley till 6,
and then have the evening for side study. As soon
as I get a little more settled, I shall set apart some
special time every week for writing letters."

What was the nature of his side study is partially
revealed in the following incidental passage : —

"George l has been here all the afternoon and
evening, and we have been discussing a little law,
and reading together about Cause and Effect, and
trying to ascertain the date of the passage of the
Earth's perihelion through the vernal equinox."2

In the beginning, his comments on his legal
studies are of interest, especially upon the classic
11 Commentaries" of Blackstone which came first in
his order of legal study. In an early letter to his
mother, he says : —

" Since Wednesday morning I have been steadily
engaged on Blackstone, the first volume of which
I shall finish to-morrow. Then I shall commence
Story on Bailments and read it and Blackstone to-

1 His friend George Litch Roberts.

2 In a letter to Miss Brooks, referring to this astronomical calcula-
tion, he says: "We found the year, viz. 3987 B.C., but couldn't suc-
ceed in ascertaining the exact day."

270

At Harvard Law School

gether. I am perfectly enraptured with Blackstone.
I scarcely ever read anything so interesting in my
life. I get so engrossed in it that I can hardly bear
to leave it to go to bed. I am inclined to think that
this notion of the law being 'dry' is all humbug,
and that I shall find it as attractive as any study I
ever pursued."

And a few days later he writes: —

"I have been working hard at law all this week
— have got well along in the second volume of
Blackstone, and by to-night shall be half through
Story on Bailments. I have also read 'Rob Roy/
which probably closes my account with Scott for
the present — barring his remaining ' Tales of a
Grandfather/ I never knew what I was talking
about when I professed a dislike for the law. The
subject of 'Contingent Remainders/ is said to be
one of the driest in the whole science, but from what
I get of it in Blackstone I think it perfectly fascin-
ating; and as for Bailments, it is as pretty reading as
Trigonometry/'

To Miss Brooks he writes in the same strain: —

" I am really getting in love with the law. My
scholarly habits are beginning to tell. Instead of
taking it up with a listless dilettante air like those
fellows who don't know how to study, I am going
right into it just as I have been wont to go into
other things 'head over heels/ I think I have got
into my true sphere now."

By the end of October Fiske is completely settled
in his former student rooms, Holyoke Place, Cam-

271

John Fiske

bridge, and is fully "squared away" in his attack
upon the law, the while keeping up his scientific,
historic, and philosophic studies; and at the same
time watching with intense interest the movements
of the contending armies in Virginia and eastern
Tennessee.1 From the letters we have these further
glimpses of his state of mind, his surroundings, and
his manner of working.

In a letter to Miss Brooks he says: —

"The day is perfectly divine, and the sunlight
just beginning to creep in at the bay-window on the
plants, looks so mild and dreamily beautiful that
it makes me feel perfectly happy — like one of
Tennyson's Lotus-Eaters. I think myself in that
blessed land —

'In which it seemed always afternoon.'

" These beautiful October days are the pleasant-
est in the year to me. Now that I have begun to
quote poetry, and since I am smoking my after-
dinner pipe, let me quote Scott's exquisite lines
about tobacco: —

'The Indian leaf doth briefly burn;
So doth man's strength to weakness turn;
The fire of youth extinguished quite,
Comes age, like embers dry and white.' "

And to his mother he writes: —

" I am all alone; nobody comes to hinder me, and
so the coast is clear. I mean to make it a rule to read

1 To Miss Brooks he sends diagrams of the military movements
in the two fields of operation.

272

Visited by E. L. Youmans

one volume of Law and one volume of Science or
History every week, except when I write instead
of extra reading. This can be done in 6 hours per
day for Law, and 4 for Science. I am going to
study like a biquadrated Joseph Scaliger."

But his quiet life as an isolated student at law
was not to continue. His two essays — the one on
Buckle and the other on " Language" — had at-
tracted the attention of thoughtful minds in Eng-
land and at Cambridge, and it may properly be
said that the progressive thought of the time sought
him out, and in two notable ways that had a marked
effect upon his young', expanding mind. The man-
ner in which his quiet student life was invaded is
given in a letter to his mother, November 2, 1863.
The letter covers five closely written pages, and evi-
dently was written at different times. He writes : —

" I have a great deal to say and must be brief on
each subject. Youmans, the author of the Chemis-
try, has called upon me. He got Buckle republished
in this country, was attracted by my article, and
tried to discover the author, but could n't. He
knows Spencer, Lewes, Mill, Tyndall, Huxley,
Bain, Lyell, Morell, and all the great thinkers. He
told Spencer that my article on Buckle was the
ablest one that had been written on that subject.
Spencer wanted to see the article, and told You-
mans to hunt up the author by all means. Lately
Youmans saw my last article, found out who wrote
it, and came out to see me. He wishes me to write
to Spencer at once and says that both Spencer and

273

John Fiske

Lewes want to know the author of the Essay on
Buckle. He tells me to send Spencer both articles,
and await a reply.

" Youmans manages the publication of Spencer's
serial. He is going to issue an edition of Spencer's
Essays and wants me to write an Introduction for
it, which I have agreed to do — a popular thing,
you know, about ten pages, for American readers.

"Youmans promised to send a copy of Draper's
work,1 and if he thinks to send it, I think I can write
an article on it in time for the April number of the
' North American Review/ Youmans came out and
spent the afternoon with me yesterday, and George
and I went in and took supper with himself, wife
and sister at the Parker House."

Fiske interrupts his narrative of Youmans's visit
to speak of the change of editors of the "North
American Review/' and what the change signifies
to him.

"The 'North American* has again changed
hands. Peabody is superseded by C. E. Norton and
J. R. Lowell. Norton has just sent down to me to
come and see him at once, for he wants me to keep
him supplied with critical notices and also to write
an article whenever I have time. The ' Review ' is
going to give double pay, viz.: $2. a page instead of
$1.00. Of course I shall accept. I am going over to
see him as soon as I have mailed this. I think I am
being taken up in great style. Bully! is n't it?"

1 History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, by John William
Draper, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Chemistry, University of New
York.

274

Visited by E. L. Youmans

That the visit of Youmans was a predominating
influence in his mind, and that Youmans gave
him much interesting information in regard to the
personnel of his English friends, is evident from the
closing paragraphs of this letter, where the follow-
ing particulars in regard to Spencer, Lewes, and
George Eliot are abruptly introduced: —

" Spencer is forty- two years old — bachelor. —
Lewes is forty-six, married to Marian Evans; a big
imperturbable Englishman; has written 'History
of Philosophy,' 'Comte's Philosophy of the Sci-
ences/ 'Life of Goethe,' 'Philosophy of Common
Life,' — (his chef d'&uvre) 'Studies in Animal Life/
'Seaside Studies' — the last I have read two or
three times — also a Spanish drama, ' Ranthorpe, '
a novel, and several dramas. He is now writing a
1 History of Science/ Mrs. Lewes has made $35,000
off of 'Romola/

" Spencer has been a Civil Engineer by profession
— has never been to college but is by all compari-
son the most learned man living. His power of
concentration is so intense as to be dangerous, for it
brings the blood rushing to the head so that he has
to desist from work and go out and play. He is six
feet high, rather slender, very graceful, prodigious
head, quite bald, voice very melodious and rich;
temperament very nervous and excitable. You-
mans calls him the kindest and dearest old fellow
that ever lived ; says his conversational powers are
absolutely miraculous; most magnetic man he ever
saw. Takes great interest in our war and sides with
the North. Gets mad if anybody says a word for
the South! bangs into the London Times and the

275

John Fiske

aristocracy for their course in the matter. You-
mans says all the scientific men abroad are for the
North. Nobody for the South but old fogies like
Brougham."

Youmans was a very inspiring man. His life had
been a struggle against obstacles that would have
daunted an ordinary mind. Born into a family life
where prudent living was a necessity, where good
literature was common, and where serious thinking
on questions of social life and duties prevailed, he
early became imbued with high ideals of social
serviceableness. Just as he was preparing for col-
lege he became afflicted with partial blindness,
which at times became total, and which made con-
secutive, persistent study impossible. He never re-
covered from this affliction. Notwithstanding such
a heavy physical handicap he struggled bravely
on in his pursuit of knowledge; and at the age of
thirty he had become, through his own exertions,
one of the best-informed scientific men of his time.
He then thought to put his knowledge to use; and
through lectures, essays, and textbooks, he became,
in a national sense, an " Interpreter of Science to the
People."

In 1860 he was among the first persons in Amer-
ica to recognize the significance of the new school of
thought rising in England and crystallizing around
the scientific researches of Lyell, Huxley, Tyndall,
Faraday, Grove, and Darwin, with its philosophic
culmination in Spencer's Law of Evolution. Nor

276

Visited by E. L. Youmans

was he slow to perceive the bearing of this thought
upon theology, upon education — in fact, upon all
the interests of social well-being. His wise counsels
induced the eminent publishing firm of D. Appleton
& Company to undertake the publication in Amer-
ica, on a copyright basis, of the works of these
eminent English scientists. This led to a visit to
England by Youmans in 1862 and to his personal
acquaintance with the whole group of English
scientists and thinkers who made the middle period
of the last century the most memorable in the
history of science. His intelligent enthusiasm won
their respect, and he returned with assurances of
their hearty cooperation in his efforts to make
science a fundamental feature in the education of
the people.

It was while engaged in various projects to this
end that he fell in with Fiske's two essays men-
tioned above. He saw at once that here was an
American scholar whose erudition was of full meas-
ure, and who was gifted with remarkable powers
of lucid exposition. Youmans saw the need of such
a thinker and writer properly to present the new
philosophy of science to the American public, and
he sought out Fiske, as we have seen.1

This visit of Youmans was the beginning of a
warm personal friendship between the two men,
which had no interruption until the death of

1 In his endeavor to find the author of the two essays, Youmans
made inquiry of a clergyman in Boston, and was told that " they were
written by a young atheist in Cambridge, named Fiske."

277

John Fiske

Youmans in 1887. In the years to come, we shall
see them working side by side in the propagation of
ideas common to both, with Fiske's fine tribute to
the memory of his friend when that friend's hand
was still. At present we should note two things:
that this visit is the first substantial recognition of
his thought that has come to Fiske outside his own
personal circle; and also, that it brings to him direct
personal knowledge of the group of English scientists
and thinkers whose thought was so largely influ-
encing his own, and in so sympathetic a way, that
he feels that in support of the higher phases of his
own thinking, friendly hands are stretched out to
him across the sea.

Norton's request for contributions, and Fiske's
visit to Norton, which followed at once, were only
a little less gratifying to Fiske than the visit of
Youmans. The " North American Review" had
long been the representative organ of the best
scholarship in America; and now that its editorial
control had passed into the hands of such scholars
as James Russell Lowell and Charles Eliot Norton,
a personal editorial request for contributions was
one of the most flattering recognitions an American
scholar could receive.

In his call upon Norton, Fiske was received with
such courtesy and marked appreciation that the
call insensibly lengthened to a visit. The conversa-
tion ranged over a wide variety of subjects in classic
and mediaeval history, literature, and art; it also

278

Visits Charles Eliot Norton

covered the~general principles of criticisnTapplica-
ble to the interpretation of life both in the past and
the present. In this delightful atmosphere, Fiske
for the time being forgot all about the law, and
yielded himself without reserve to the simple yet
helpful way in which Norton bore himself as scholar,
critic, and adviser. In after years Fiske referred to
this visit as one of the most helpful incidents in his
life. We shall see later that some thirty years after
Norton also held a distinct and pleasant remem-
brance of this interview.1

These visits of Youmans to Fiske and of Fiske to
Norton, occurring almost simultaneously, were sig-
nificant events in the life of Fiske. He was not yet
twenty-two years of age. His intellectual output
had been but incidental in his college life, and yet
it was of such mature character as to attract the
attention of leaders of thought in England and
America. His gratulatory remark, therefore, to his
mother, that he thinks he is " being taken up in
great style/' was only the expression of a na'ive
youthful enthusiasm fully warranted under the cir-
cumstances. The letters are absolutely free from all

1 As this paragraph is being written, — October 22, 1908, — the
obsequies attendant upon the close of the life of Charles Eliot Norton
— scholar, teacher, and eminent citizen — are being paid. Among
the many tributes to his memory it is to be regretted that none can
come from the scholar and historian whose advent into literature
Norton so cordially welcomed forty-five years ago. What Fiske
would have said of Norton to-day would have been a scholar's
appreciation of a scholar, with a historian's estimate of eminent
citizenship, expressed in language befitting the subject and the
occasion.

279

John Fiske

pedantic conceit. With his mother he is perfectly
open and frank because he wishes her to share in
every honor that comes to him.

From this time forward we have to recognize in
Fiske's mind a growing sense of " touching elbows"
in the great world of thought he saw surging around
him, but before tracing further the interesting phase
of his philosophical activities, we must follow him
in his legal studies for the next few months, as they
were the dominating consideration in his life at this
time.

These studies, as we have seen, were given the
complete right of way in his allotment of study
hours, and in his letters to his mother and to Miss
Brooks there is revealed a Boanerges sort of energy
in his manner of pursuing them. To Miss Brooks
he writes: " I am in the highest imaginable spirits:
nothing agrees with me like a regular furious set-to
at Books." He did not find the various legal text-
books as easy or as entertaining reading as the clas-
sical "Commentaries" with which he began. Yet
no subject daunted him. All the required textbooks
were taken up in order and plunged into with per-
fect abandon, their special points mentally digested
and put in place in his orderly mind. His comments
on some of the textbooks through which he waded
are many, but most of them are without special
interest to-day, owing to the changes that have
taken place in recent years in the courses of study
in the leading law schools of the country. It can be

280

His Legal Studies

said, in a general way, that he took the " Com-
mentaries*' and the works on " Contracts" and on
" Maritime Law" with delightful ease, hiving much
philosophic thought therefrom; that while he re-
garded the subject of "Notes and Bills" as clearly
presented, he yet found "that 1300 pages of en-
dorser and endorsee, acceptor and payee, grantor,
etc., etc., gets rather insipid before it is all read";
that he found the textbooks on "Real Property"
"the very salts and senna of reading" — one of
which so completely exhausted his patience that he
characterizes it as "detestable: the style is clumsy,
inelegant, ungrammatical, lame, feeble, muddy,
inaccurate, systemless, metaphysical, ambiguous;
while the thinking is but a little more lucid than the
style."1

But no irritation over the subject-matter of his le-
gal studies could check his steady progress to their
mastery for the immediate end he had in view —
his admittance to the bar and marriage. The two
years' course of study at the Law School was de-

I To Miss Brooks he sends, in a playful way, the following extract
from one of his legal textbooks — a bit of feudalism — as a sample
of the "nice reading" he finds in his legal studies: —

II The tenant cannot in an avowry avoid the lords possessory right,
because of the seizin given by his own hands. This writ does not lie
for tenant in tail ; for he may avoid such seizin to the lord by plea to
an avowry in replevin. The writ of mesne lies when upon a subin-
feudation the mesne lord suffers his tenant paravail to be distrained
upon by the lord paramount. In such case, the tenant shall be in-
demnified by the mesne lord; and if he make default therein, he
shall be forejudged of his mesnality, and the tenant shall hold imme-
diately of the lord paramount."

281

John Fiske

signed as a proper preparation for admittance to
legal practice, and it was embodied in some thirty-
seven volumes of legal lore. After six months' study
Fiske saw that he could compass the course in much
less than the allotted time — in fact, within nine
months! This accomplished, he regarded his ad-
mittance to the bar assured, and then the way was
clear to his marriage in the following autumn.
With this plan in mind, and to guard against any
misunderstanding of the condition attached to his
marriage, he had the condition of his admittance to
the bar distinctly reaffirmed by both Mr. Stoughton
and his mother. This secured, he bent himself un-
reservedly to his legal studies for the next three
months. His scientific and philosophic studies are
much curtailed. His critical and essay writings are
entirely given up, and he gives graphic pictures
of his ploughing his way through such works
as Abbott on Shipping, Stearns on Real Actions,
Stephens on Pleading, Greenleaf on Evidence,
Story on Equity Pleading and Jurisprudence, Long
on Sales, Byles on Bills, etc. — the course closing
with the eminently practical and entertaining work,
the General Statutes of Massachusetts.

To be examined for admittance to the bar, it was
necessary that he should be recommended to the
examining board by some reputable lawyer. Fiske
thought of Judge Curtis for a sponsor: but would
the Judge recommend him on the basis of nine
months' preparation? He sounded the Judge by

282

Admitted to the Boston Bar

asking if it was possible to pass the examination
with a year's study. The Judge very positively
assured him it was not — such a thing had never
been heard of, and the examination was much more
thorough than formerly. Fiske saw he could get no
assistance from the Judge in his project. Not at all
disheartened, he took another method of approach.
He got from Professor Parsons, of the Harvard Law
School, a certificate of membership, attendance,
general character and intelligence; and through his
friend Roberts was introduced to Judge George
White, of the Probate Court. Judge White, upon
being told of Fiske's college training, his literary
work, and his having taken the two years' course of
reading at the Law School, very readily consented
to propose him for examination and admission to the
Boston Bar. What followed is best told in Fiske's
own words, in a letter to his mother under date of
July 13, 1864: —

" I was admitted to the Bar Monday morning.
Last week Tuesday, I went into Court and passed an
eight hours' written examination, answering every
question at length, and correctly. There were 39
questions. I was then told to come in Monday, and
learn the result. On Monday morning I was ad-
mitted, took the oath of office, and received my cer-
tificate— Judge Russell saying I had passed ' a most
excellent examination.' I did not expect to be ex-
amined in writing, or on Tuesday; but supposed
that the Judge would appoint some attorney to
examine me orally, on Wednesday or Thursday.

283

John Fiske

However, I am glad that it was in writing, on the
whole, for I was thereby enabled to work up my
answers into better shape. I felt dreadfully tired.
I feel as if I could bid good-bye to Law with good-
will until October."

He duly signs this letter — " John Fiske, Attorney
at Law."

The condition precedent to his marriage having
been fully complied with, preparations for this im-
portant event in his life engrossed his attention
to the exclusion of all else — save the reading of
Scott's novels — during the remainder of the sum-
mer of 1864. Before following him to this long-
looked-for consummation of ennobling companion-
ship, we must return to the previous November and
trace what followed from Dr. Youmans's visit to
Fiske and Fiske's visit to Norton — in other words,
take note of some of the things that Fiske did in
those hours for side study he had so carefully re-
served from his legal studies.

His letters and his record of his reading show that
during the following winter and early spring his
mind was as active along the main lines of scientific,
historic, and philosophic thinking as ever — as
active as though he knew not law. The following
titles of some of the works he read show that he
ranged over a wide variety of subjects, while his
letters make it clear that he read thoughtfully, and
always with a definite purpose. Among the works
read were Huxley's "Man's Place in Nature";

284

Side Study and Reading

"Authority in Matters of Opinion*' and "Observa-
tion in Politics," by Sir George Cornewall Lewis;
Maine's "Ancient Law"; Irving's "Mahomet and
his Successors"; the Koran; several volumes in
Italian, including Vico's "Scienza Nuova"; Mill's
"Political Economy"; Weiss's "Life of Theodore
Parker"; Youmans's "Chemistry"; Draper's "In-
tellectual Development of Europe "; Kenan's "Vie
de Jesu"; "Autobiography of a Dissenting Minis-
ter"; and he read again the works of Spencer and
of Buckle.

The breadth of Fiske's thought at this time is in-
dicated by his giving attention, in this "storm and
stress" period of his affairs, to a seventeenth and
eighteenth-century thinker like Vico. We have,
however, a ready explanation in the fact that Vico
was one of the first of modern thinkers to give a
philosophy to history based on natural law. Vico's
place in modern thought was discussed by Fiske
and Norton at the visit referred to, and Norton
loaned Fiske his copy of the "Scienza Nuova."
Fiske's comments on the work illustrate his thor-
ough method of study. He says : —

"It is the driest, obscurist metaphysicalist book
I ever got hold of. Confucius is a more lucid writer.
'Mortgages' and 'Remainders' are pleasanter to
peruse. And still it has many capital ideas — some
of them quite Maine-y-Cornewall Lewisy — enough
to keep me from throwing down the book, even
while I curse at its clumsy phraseology."

285

John Fiske

During the winter Fiske was giving serious
thought to a rationalistic philosophy of human his-
tory, with the idea of embodying his thought in a
review of Draper's "Intellectual Development of
Europe." In his search for this philosophy he had
better rewards than anything he found in Vico.
One of the first thinkers of this period along the
lines of ethical and jurisprudential evolution was Sir
Henry Sumner Maine, whose profoundly thought-
ful essays on "Roman Law" and "Ancient Law"
were not only the most important contributions
ever made by any Englishman to historical jurispru-
dence; they were also extremely valuable contribu-
tions to the doctrine of Evolution in its applica-
tion to human society.

It might well be expected that the thought of
Sir Henry Maine would find a hearty reception in
Fiske's expanding mind. What really occurred is
given in a letter to Miss Brooks written imme-
diately after reading Maine's "Ancient Law." He
writes : —

" I have passed through an Era, and entered upon
an Epoch in my life. Thursday evening I began
Maine's 'Ancient Law,' and read it all day New
Year's, finishing it at exactly twelve in the evening.
No novel that I ever read enchained me more. I
consider it almost next to Spencer. It has thrown
all my ideas of Law into definite shape. It has sug-
gested to me many new and startling views of social
progress. It has confirmed many new generaliza-
tions. I scarcely ever read a work so exceedingly

286

Side Study and Reading

suggestive. In fact it suggests far more than it says.
Almost every proposition in it may be made the
foundation of a long train of thought. But what it
hints at, what it expresses, is wonderful.

"He lays open the whole structure of ancient
society; penetrates into the ideas of primitive men;
discovers the origin of International Law; explains
the notion of succession to property, and shows
how wills arose ; points out the origin of the idea of
Property; shows the progress of the idea of Contract
and of our moral notions of Obligation ; shows how
Criminal Law has grown up; illustrates the progress
of men's ideas of Justice; lays bare the whole
structure of the Feudal System, and exhibits the
condition of society in the Middle Ages; traces
the history of Roman jurisprudence; shows up the
social condition of India, Russia and Austria; ex-
plains the influence of Roman law on theology, on
Morality and on Metaphysics; shows the way in
which national thought depends on its language
— O, my dear! it is perfectly GLORIOUS! I am
going to read it over and over until I know it by
heart.

"And I am going to get you so posted up that
you can read it. Years of study are richly rewarded,
when they enable one to experience such an intel-
lectual ecstasy as I felt New Year's day! When I
came out to dinner and heard the fellows talking
the small-talk — the stuff that people talk when
they have nothing in them to let out — you can't
imagine how dreadfully low and worthless their pur-
suits and ideas seemed to me. O, my dear! there
is nothing in this world like SCIENCE; nothing so
divine as the life of a scholar! "

287

John Fiske

It was with his review of Draper's work in mind
that he also read at this period "living's Life of
Mahomet and his Successors," and also the Koran,
suggested by Draper's laudation of Saracenic sci-
ence, social well-being, toleration, and culture, in
contrast to the ignorance, squalor, immorality, and
persecution that prevailed throughout Christian
Europe during the Dark Ages. Fiske did not write
his contemplated essay on Draper, but the thoughts
he gathered while holding the subject in mind he
utilized later in his essays on " Rationalism" and
"The Laws of History." Here it is interesting to
note the effect produced on his mind by the read-
ing of the Koran. Writing to Miss Brooks he says : —

" I have nearly finished the Koran, and though it
is a tedious piece of reading, requiring a great deal
of patience and attention to wade through its intri-
cate oriental sentences — yet I cannot help being
amazed at its wonderful eloquence, its sublime poe-
try and its lofty morality, as well as its extensive
knowledge of Eastern traditions.

"Mohammed must have been one of the most
extraordinary men that ever lived to have com-
posed such a book, without knowing how either to
read or to write. That he did compose nearly all of
it, can hardly be doubted. The work bears every
evidence of genuineness. To any one that has read
it, it is easy to see how the Arabians must have
looked upon him as inspired, or even how he might
well have deemed himself so, without having re-
course to any of the old theories of his being an
impostor.

288

The Kor^n

11 1 expect to finish it on Monday; I am glad that
I have read it; for I can now appreciate the history
of the Arabs far better than before. Our ideas of
Mohammedanism which we get from its enemies
mostly, are extremely distorted and falsified. Peo-
ple don't scruple to lie about it. The Korin is
continually accused of being sensual. On the con-
trary it is as free from sensuality as the New Testa-
ment; and far more so than the Old Testament. Its
ethical tone is not quite equal to the New Testa-
ment; but much higher than the Old. On the other
hand, as a specimen of sublime composition it ex-
cels the New Testament, but falls short of the poetic
books of the Old. But when I consider it as the
work of one man, and that an untaught man, then
am I stupefied at the magnitude of the genius which
produced it."

The wide variety of his interests is reflected
throughout the letters. Intellectually he seems to
have been busy every waking hour of the day, and
yet there does not appear to have been any hurry
or confusion in the steady working of his mind.

He is guiding Miss Brooks in a course of reading
in ancient history, and the following are among the
suggestions he gives her; — they show how orderly
his historical knowledge is in his own mind.

"CANON OF BELIEF

"All Roman history previous to the invasion of
Italy, by Pyrrhus, is largely myth, legend, and
fable. Authentic contemporary records begin with
Pyrrhus. This has been decisively proved by Sir

289

John Fiske

G. C. Lewis since Arnold wrote. I do not mean that
early Roman history is all false, but that it is very
unreliable. "

f And here he counsels her in a way that reflects
the scope and accuracy of his own historic knowl-
edge:—

"Yes, read your Roman history next, if you like.
As a general rule it would be best to read Greek
history first; but it is always best to read what we
feel most in the mood for. Study can't be gov-
erned by recipes.

"When you tell me how you are getting along,
please tell me by the events, thus: 'I am in the
reign of Henry VI 1 1/ or wherever you may be in
English history. Similarly in Greek and Roman
history, where there are no reigns to go by, tell me
at what war or other great event you have arrived.
Any event or man mentioned at random will do, for
I have them all tabulated in my mind."

And here we have a passage which reflects his
deep feeling in regard to the Athenians and to
Athens, apropos of Miss Brooks's reading in Greek
history: —

"Their twenty-eight years' resistance to almost
all the rest of Greece combined is one of the grand-
est things in history. I will quote the surpassingly
beautiful lines of Byron to Athens in ' Childe Har-
old':—

'And still his honeyed wealth Hymettus yields;
There the blithe bee his fragrant fortress builds,
The freeborn wanderer of thy mountain-air;

290

Literary Writing

Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds —

Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare;

Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.'

" Is n't that divine? Apollo is the Sun, you know.
I think that one of the most exquisite things ever
written. It brings the tears even when I write it.
The history and life of Athens have always taken
hold of my feelings intensely. Its career is one of
the sublimest things in the world's history. Were
n't you deeply interested in that glorious struggle
with the Persians at Marathon, at Plataea, at
Thermopylae and Salamis?"

We have had occasion to notice Fiske's keen
appreciation of fine thought wherever found. In
a postscript to a letter to Miss Brooks we find the
following gem : —

"The Vedas, inculcating forgiveness, say: —
"'The tree withdraweth not its shade from the
woodcutter. ' —

" Is n't this splendid? Nothing in the Bible sur-
passes it in my opinion. The beauty of the figure is
perfectly irresistible."

Fiske's literary writing during this period was
limited to two review notices — Mill's "Political
Economy" and Youmans's "Chemistry." Both
were written for the "North American Review."
The review of Mill was marked by a clear, mature
handling of a very abstruse subject, and it was
accepted with cordial approval by Mr. Norton.
The review of Youmans's " Chemistry " Mr. Norton
declined, because of Fiske's hearty commendation

291

John Fiske

of the new views in chemistry which Youmans had
introduced into his work, — views which then were
not accepted at Harvard, but which have since been
universally accepted and have fairly reconstructed
chemical science. Fiske had no difficulty in getting
the review accepted by the " Atlantic," as we shall
see a little later.

But the most interesting feature of Fiske 's life
at this period was his growing interest in Herbert
Spencer and the opening of their correspondence.
His letters to his mother show that Spencer's per-
sonality — what he could learn of it — strongly im-
pressed him. In one of his letters he expresses a
wish that his mother would paint him a portrait of
Spencer from a photograph which he sends her. Of
this photograph he says: —

4 'The principal thing about the face is the ex-
pression of the eyes and that is given in the photo-
graph to perfection. I think I had rather have a
picture of him as good as my head of Galileo than
anything else in the world almost."

• He advises his mother to read Spencer's essay on
the "Nebular Hypothesis," saying: —

" It is the greatest production of the human in-
tellect since the Principia of Newton. With La-
place's own data he proves what Laplace could n't."

After the visit of Youmans, Fiske brooded much
over the idea of writing to Spencer as Youmans
had suggested. He hesitated, awed apparently by

292

HERBERT SPENCER

Correspondence with Spencer

the thought of Spencer's greatness. In January
he received a letter from Youmans in which the
latter said that Spencer had read Fiske' s essay
on the "Evolution of Language" with marked ap-
proval ; and again he urged Fiske to write Spencer
without delay. After some further deliberation
Fiske wrote Spencer the following letter: —

PETERSHAM, MASS., February 20, 1864.
My dear Mr. Spencer: —

I have known you a long time through your
writings and have felt a strong desire to become
personally acquainted with you, but the fear of
appearing presumptuous has hitherto restrained
me from taking any steps to secure that end. This
apprehension has, however, been allayed by re-
cently-occurring circumstances.

Early in November I received a visit from Dr.
E. L. Youmans, of New York, who had heard of
me as the author of two Essays; the one entitled
"Fallacies of Buckle's Theory of Civilization, "
published in the "National Quarterly Review" for
December, 1861 ; and the other entitled "The Evo-
lution of Language," published in the "North
American Review" for October, 1863.

Dr. Youmans encouraged me to gratify my long
felt desire of writing to you, and advised me to ac-
company my letter with the two Essays just men-
tioned as the most appropriate means of introduc-
tion. Both articles have fared somewhat roughly in
the hands of the Editors; and especially the latter
one — several entire passages were omitted by the
late Editor of the "N. A. R." — an exhibition of
moral cowardice none the less reprehensible because

293

John Fiske

born of Christian narrowness, and accompanied by
Christian intolerance. The most important of these
omissions I have inserted in manuscript, thus re-
storing the Essay, as nearly as is worth while, to
its original form.

The first article, written when I was nineteen
years old and had but recently become acquainted
with your Discovery, marks a transitional phase in
my thought. I was brought up in the most repul-
sive form of Calvinism in which I remained until I
was sixteen years of age. My skepticism, excited in
1858 by geological speculations, was confirmed in
the following year by the work of Mr. Buckle.

At the time when I reviewed Buckle I was just
passing out from Comtism. During six months of
incessant study and reflection my former idols were
all demolished. Having successively adopted and
rejected the system of almost every philosopher
from Descartes to Professor Ferrier, I began the
year 1860 with Comte, Mill, and Lewes. I then
favored the scheme of acquiring a general knowl-
edge of all the sciences in their hierarchical order
as laid down by Comte, which scheme was eventu-
ally carried out. I first noticed your name in Mr.
Lewes's little exposition of Comte early in 1860, and
the extract from "Social Statics" there given led
me to put down my name for "First Principles,"
before there could have been as yet more than a
dozen subscribers.

It is unnecessary to enter into further details.
The influence of your writings is apparent alike in
every line of my writings and every sentence of my
conversation : so inextricably have they become in-
tertwined with my own thinking, that frequently

294

Correspondence with Spencer

on making a new generalization, I scarcely know
whether to credit myself with it or not.

I graduated at Harvard last summer and am
now connected with the University as a student
of Law. It is my purpose to occupy the leisure
time left by my profession in working out a com-
plete theory of the origin and evolution of Lan-
guage after the manner sketched in my Essay on
that subject.

Associated with me to some extent in my stud-
ies, and endeavoring to carry the same principles
into Jurisprudence, is Mr. George L. Roberts, an
attorney in the office of Mr. Justice Curtis.

If the articles which I now send meet with your
approval, I can desire nothing better. Hoping
sincerely that the encouragement and assistance
which you have so long unconsciously given me,
you will not think it unworthy to consciously
vouchsafe,

I am, yours truly,

JOHN FISKE.

To HERBERT SPENCER, ESQR.,
LONDON, ENGLAND.

Spencer's reply was as follows : —

29 BLOOMSBURY SQ., W. C.,
March 26, 1864.

My dear Sir: —

Excuse the delay in replying to your letter of
February 2Oth. I have been so busy with a pam-
phlet that I have in hand that I have been able to
attend to nothing else.

It is very refreshing to me to meet with so much
sympathy as that expressed in your letter. The

295

John Fiske

account you give of your intellectual progress from
a narrow form of theology to wider beliefs is inter-
esting; and the amount of labor and thought you
have evidently gone through in the course of this
change implies an unbiased search after truth very
unusual — would it were more usual. It is a satis-
faction to me to find that after traversing such wide
and various fields of speculation as those you de-
scribe, you should express so decided an adhesion
to the doctrines I have set forth. As your fellow-
countryman, Emerson, remarks, "One's own be-
liefs gain in strength on finding that another's co-
incides with them."

Thank you for sending copies of the two essays
with the manuscript additions. I had already seen
the one in the " North American Review." After
reviews of the ordinary unthinking kind it was
pleasant to read a review which showed not only
power of appreciation but also power of independ-
ent thought. Judging from the indications given
in that article I doubt not that you will render im-
portant service in elaborating the doctrine of Evo-
lution in its application to Language. By all
means persevere; and encourage your friend Mr.
Roberts to do the like in his department. The field
is so vast a one that it requires more than one
labourer to work in it.

The pamphlet named at the outset as having so
much absorbed my energies since receiving your
letter, is on the " Classification of the Sciences,"
with an appendix rebutting the current idea that
I belong to the school of Comte. This will be is-
sued here in a few days: and I hope will be issued
in the United States some few weeks after you

296

Correspondence with Spencer

receive this. I will request Professor Youmans to
forward copies to you, and to Mr. Roberts.
I am, dear Sir,

Very truly yours,

HERBERT SPENCER.
To JOHN FISKE, ESQR.,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,
U.S. A.

That Fiske was delighted to receive this recogni-
tion from Herbert Spencer — a recognition which,
considering Spencer's habitual reserve, was remark-
ably cordial — the following bears testimony. The
letter was at once shown to Roberts and was then
sent to his mother in New York, with whom Miss
Brooks wras visiting, with the following hasty com-
ments: —

"I have had a splendid letter from Spencer —
hardly dare to send it by mail. Yet I will put it in
with this. Give it to Abby to bring back with her
when she comes. Treat it as carefully as if it were a
scroll of Al Koran just tumbled from the Prophet's
pen — which he did n't use, by the way, as he
could n't write."

Having by April fully made up his mind that he
would prepare for the bar examination to be held in
Boston in July, Fiske gave up all writing during the
intervening time, and concentrated his mind upon
his legal studies, as we have seen, with an occasional
dip into his philosophical studies. His review of
Youmans 's "Chemistry," which Norton declined,

297

John Fiske

was readily accepted by the " Atlantic Monthly*1
and was published in the August number of that
magazine for 1 864 — thus becoming his first con-
tribution to the magazine that subsequently came
to regard him as one of its most valued contributors.

Reviewing Fiske's intellectual activity in its
variety and its totality, during the nine months in
which he was preparing for admission to the bar,
one cannot but be impressed both by its quantity
and its quality. His law reading speaks for itself.
His general reading centering around the doctrine
of Evolution reflects not only his own predilections,
but also the philosophic trend of the time. An ex-
amination of the leading journals of thought during
this, the middle period of the last century, shows
most convincingly the great unrest that was affect-
ing all phases of religious and philosophic thinking,
arising from the then recent advances in science and
their bearing upon all the interests of social well-
being.

Fiske was not insensible to this great discussion.
He could not be. He was surrounded by an atmos-
phere of doubt and speculation as to absolute veri-
ties, the like of which had never before occurred in
the development of human thinking, and he was
simply seeking for the truth. We shall soon see what
these advances in science were that were producing
such momentous changes in the development of hu-
man thought. At present we have only to note that

298

His Marriage

the study of the law — even under the very excep-
tional conditions we have been considering — could
not crowd out, could hardly diminish, Fiske's activ-
ity in the pursuit of his favorite studies in science,
history, and philosophy. And this statement should
be made — during these months of persistent, stren-
uous mental labor, he was cheered, encouraged, and
sustained by the ever-considerate, sympathetic af-
fection of Miss Brooks. The state of his mind just
before his examination for the bar is reflected in this
passage in one of his letters: "Tell you what, my
dear, Petersham hills will look pleasant, if I am a
member of the bar when I next see you."

Following his admission to the bar, the letters to
his mother give interesting details of his and Miss
Brooks's happy cooperative work in furnishing and
arranging his student rooms at Holyoke Place,
Cambridge, in which they were to begin, in a mod-
est way, their wedded life. These letters show his
ever- thoughtful consideration for his mother and his
grandmother.

On the 6th of September, 1864, at 11.30 A.M.,
John Fiske and Abby Morgan Brooks were mar-
ried by the Reverend Edmund B. Willson, assisted
by Dr. A. P. Peabody, at Appleton Chapel, Harvard
University, Cambridge. This was the first wedding
in Appleton Chapel, and Professor Paine played the
organ on the occasion.

CHAPTER XI

GIVES UP LAW FOR LITERATURE — PHILOSOPHY OF
HISTORY — ESSAYS ON LAWS OF HISTORY — GROTE'S
OPINION — CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER —
NEW ERA AT HARVARD — UNIVERSITY REFORM
— BRYCE'S "HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE"

1864-1866

FISKE'S practice of the law was brief and uneventful.
On his return from his wedding journey he sought
office room with an established attorney, where, by
paying a portion of the rent, he could have a desk,
and thus to some extent come into touch with pro-
fessional practice. He had the good wishes of a
number of influential friends, and Mr. Stoughton's
extensive clientage required occasional professional
work in Boston. After applications in a few direc-
tions he finally secured desk-room with Edward F.
Hodges at No. 42 Court Street, where on the office
door his name duly appeared as "Attorney at
Law." He was afterwards in the office of David P.
Kimball for a time. Desiring to obtain the degree
of LL.B. from the Harvard Law School, he kept his
connection with the Law School as student for an-
other year, and took part " on the wrong side " in
a moot case. In July, 1865, he received his degree.
He was as methodical in his practice of the law
as in his literary work, and was faithfully at his

300

Attorney at Law

office desk five hours a day. But clients were not
forthcoming. Meantime he seems to have given
himself largely to the reading of modern fiction
as represented by the novels of Scott, Dickens,
Hawthorne, George Eliot, Charles Reade, Dumas,
Bulwer, Thackeray, and Charles Kingsley. This
fiction reading appears to have been interspersed
with quite a wide range of general reading in phil-
ology, history, science, and philosophy, and with
very little law. His admiration for Scott and Dick-
ens finds frequent expression, as well as his strong
liking for Thackeray, Charles Reade, and George
Eliot. Hawthorne he does not like at all, and he
expresses himself thus — "Hawthorne's 'Marble
Faun* and 'House of Seven Gables' are trash.
'Scarlet Letter' is bearable."

The record of his reading shows that the works
of Spencer, Darwin, Mill, Lewes, and Lyell were
read and re-read, while the letters reveal the fact
that the whole tenor of his thought was centring
around the evolutionary philosophy. And this fact
seemed to enlarge his sympathies and interests in
various directions, as a few extracts from the letters
will show.

Fiske's historical reading included Prescott's
"Ferdinand and Isabella," and "Philip the Sec-
ond," together with Motley's "Rise of the Dutch
Republic" and his "United Netherlands." Fiske
comments upon Prescott and Motley as historians
thus: —

301

John Fiske

" I like Motley better than Prescott. He treats tyr-
anny more disrespectfully. If a king like Philip II
is a rake, a bigot, a burglar, an assassin, he calls
him so, instead of his speaking of his 'arbitrary
and somewhat unscrupulous policy/ While, on the
other hand, his reverence for a great defender of hu-
man rights, like William the Silent, almost amounts
to worship. Motley is a historian of the People.
Prescott of Kings and Nobles: so that, although
Prescott is a rather better writer, I consider Motley
much more of a historian. Motley's style is a little
too jerky and mannerish, but it has vitality. "

His thought is turned to making a list of the
men who should be placed in the first rank for intel-
lectual power, and he is struck by the fact that
"Florence has been the birthplace of four men of
the first order of genius — Dante, Leonardo da
Vinci, Michael Angelo, Machiavelli; and Galileo,
although born in Pisa, was of a Florentine family/'

Speaking of Shakespeare, he says : —

" I am angry because I am so ignorant of Shake-
speare. I have thought of beginning at once and
reading him through, interrupting Spanish history
for the purpose/'

Writing of a translation of Goethe's "Faust," he
says : —

"The prayer of Margaret to the Virgin is, in the
German, one of the most heart-breaking things in
poetry. I have never read it without crying aloud.

302

Essay Writing

The translation is as good as it could be made; but
not having been done by miracle, it necessarily fails
to produce the combined effect of music and mean-
ing, of sound and sense, which the German does."

Referring to his philological studies, he says: —

"Getting a lot of languages is like getting a lot of
money. You have to keep at it all the time in order
not to lose your acquisitions. A word has a tend-
ency to slip out of one's head, much as a quarter
has a tendency to crawl out of one's pocket-book.
With sufficient digging and scrubbing, however,
I suppose that both words and quarters could be
saved and accumulated."

While waiting for clients and reading discursively
in various directions, Fiske's thought was centring
around questions pertaining to man's sociological
development and the application to these ques-
tions of the doctrine of Evolution. Two subjects
along the lines of historico sociological inquiry were
brought freshly before him by the publication of
Max Miiller's "Lectures on the Science of Lan-
guage" and Lecky's "History of Rationalism in
Europe." He took these two works as texts for
writing two essays, entitled "Problems in Lan-
guage and Mythology" and "The Conflict of Rea-
son with Bigotry and Superstition." Both essays
were published in the "Christian Examiner," the
leading organ of the Unitarian denomination.

The latter essay was first sent to Norton for the
"North American Review." Norton accepted it

303

John Fiske

with marked approval "as an excellent piece of
work," but, after keeping it for several months, he
returned it for some changes, which Fiske, as a care-
ful student of mediaeval and modern history, could
not make. This essay is especially noteworthy for
its fine spirit of critical equilibrium or tolerance
throughout. Having occasion to review the whole
history of Christian superstition, bigotry, and per-
secution, he writes not at all in the spirit of a parti-
san, but with the fairness of an Evolutionist, who
saw, beneath the perturbations of European society
from the beginning of the Christian era down to
the present time, the steady unfolding of ever-
higher ethical ideals, as well as of conduct based on
those ideals; in other words, the slow but steady
metamorphosing of Christianity itself through the
evolution of its own ethical and spiritual content.

During this period of waiting, Fiske reveals him-
self to his mother through his reading, his thought,
his writing as frankly as before his marriage. On
July 21, 1865, his daughter Maud was born, open-
ing, as we shall see, through parenthood, a fresh and
deeply interesting phase in Fiske' s character.
. Still few clients: and facing the future with a
family on his hands, it appears that, during the
autumn of 1865, thoughts of giving up the law and
devoting himself to literature, science, and philoso-
phy were forcing themselves on Fiske 's mind. His
experience of a year in an endeavor to unite the
practice of the law with the pursuit of his favorite

304

Gives up Law for Literature

studies had shown him that the task was a hopeless
one, that they had nothing in common, and that
one must be given up.

But he hesitated to give up a definitely formed
purpose. He writes: "My obstinacy comes in and
says, ' By George, I won't give up what I have once
tried, unless I have to!'" And so, at the opening
of the year 1866, we find him still in doubt as to
his future course — literature and philosophy or
the law. His predilections were all for the former,
while his respect for the wishes of his mother and of
Mr. S tough ton restrained him from decisive action.
But his mother and Mr. Stoughton were not un-
observant. They saw his desire to respect their
wishes and the uncomplaining way in which he had
entered upon a course of professional life that had
for him but few attractions; while his letters re-
vealed the great activity of his mind along the new
lines of thought which science was now opening for
human consideration. His mother and Mr. Stough-
ton, .therefore, clearly saw that any form of pro-
fessional life that would compel him to give up his
favorite studies would be a perversion of his re-
markable intellectual powers, and they readily ac-
quiesced in his proposal to give up the law and con-
centrate himself upon a literary life, with whatever
results the future might unfold.

This decision having been reached early in 1866,
in the spring of this year Fiske took his little family
for a while to his grandmother's home in Middle-

305

John Fiske

town, Connecticut, where amidst the scenes of his
youth he could quietly get his thoughts into order
and make a beginning upon the various literary
projects that for some time had been shaping in his
mind.

In the first place, he seems to have made a care-
ful inventory, as it were, of his intellectual prop-
erty, to see where his mental capital was most ad-
vantageously invested for productive working. He
realized that while he had a fair grasp of the gen-
eral principles underlying the physical, chemical,
and biological sciences, he was not an original in-
vestigator in any one of them. He saw that his
chief acquisitions were in the mathematical, the
historical, and the sociological sciences, with a de-
cided taste for philosophic science; that is, the
science of the sciences — the ultimate postulates of
the human mind as to the origin and destiny of the
phenomena of the physical cosmos and human con-
sciousness, as well as to the reality that lies back
of all cosmic phenomena.

This survey of his intellectual equipment was
accompanied by an equally thoughtful survey of
the historical and sociological sciences, wherein it
appeared that the record of human history was still
to a large extent under bondage to certain theo-
logico-historic assumptions which denied to the
various historic periods all causal sequence, and
made them the unrelated, mysterious workings of a
Divine personality whose methods of dealing with

The Doctrine of Evolution

humanity were forever inscrutable to the reason-
ing mind. Fiske's chief acquisitions were in these
sciences, and he had been a careful student of
Vico, Lessing, Herder, Comte, Mommsen, Grote,
and Buckle in their efforts to free the historic record
of civilization from its bondage to theologic dogmas.
Further, he was familiar with the recent advances
in the ethnological, the philological, and the eco-
nomical sciences, wherein the existence of some deep-
seated physico-sociological laws governing man's
relations to the cosmos and to his brother man were
clearly adumbrated. Again, he had come to the
acceptance of Spencer's definition of life — "the
continuous adjustment of internal relations to ex-
ternal relations" — as the law of the organic world
and the master key to all social phenomena. The
doctrine of Evolution in its physical and sociolog-
ical bearings meant to him the reenvisagement of
human knowledge for the synthetic production of
higher ideals of character and life than had prevailed
in previous dispensations, and hence, the presenta-
tion of the bearing of this doctrine upon all the
higher interests of humanity seemed to him to be
his special vocation.

That Fiske clearly saw that his generation was
passing through a memorable epoch in the unfold-
ing of civilization, and that he realized what the
doctrine of Evolution meant to the social well-
being of the future, is evident from his letters and
his essays, while those who enjoyed his personal

307

John Fiske

friendship bear testimony to the radiant hope with
which (in the face of much discouragement) he
entered upon his task.

One thing should be specially noted here. Among
scholars in America he stood practically alone in
his advocacy of Evolution. The only scholar with
whom he could have familiar converse on this sub-
ject was Professor Gurney, but he was too closely
identified with the negative feeling prevailing at
Harvard, in regard to the scientific thought of the
time, to act other than as a friendly, conservative
adviser. He sympathized with Fiske in his aspira-
tions and his ideals, but he could not counsel Fiske
to their advocacy. It is difficult at the present time
to understand the bitter feeling the doctrine of
Evolution brought forth at Harvard a generation
ago. The doctrine was associated with Darwinism,
or man's simian ancestry, and Agassiz stood for-
ward as the great scientific champion of the theo-
logical dogma of special Divine creation. His word
was law, in both science and philosophy; and as he
had characterized Darwinism as but an ephemeral
phase of English thought, and was active in cham-
pioning the idea of special Divine creation through-
out the organic world, the whole philosophic weight
of his teaching was thrown directly against any
rational philosophy of organic life, or of human
history. Both were regarded as but the mysterious
workings of a Divine will, and this Divine will was
but an outcome from the finite mind of man. Hence,

308

Laws of History

as we have already seen, the courses in philosophy
and history were wholly unworthy of the college.

It is worth noting that at this time, while Fiske
was preparing himself for a ministration a little
later at Harvard which was to be one of the first
steps in a significant change in all departments of
the university, he was practically isolated in his
thought from all the Harvard influences. And yet
he was not isolated from the active world of thought
that was surging around every independent, fair-
minded thinker. Free to give his mind its natural
tendency, he turned to the philosophy of history as
offering, through the new light of Evolution, rich
fields for exploration.

The first fruits of his intellectual freedom were
two essays on the "Laws of History/' in which he
reviewed some theories of historical development
recently set forth by Goldwin Smith, William
Adam, John W. Draper, and Sir Henry Sumner
Maine. He sent these essays to George Henry
Lewes, the editor of the "Fortnightly Review," the
organ of liberal thought in England, and they were
promptly accepted. These essays were not repub-
lished by Fiske, for the reason that he used their
main points in his subsequent writings. They are
of interest, however, in tracing the development of
Fiske's thought, by reason of the emphasis he put
upon certain points which have since held no un-
important place in the philosophic discussion of
history. These points were: —

309

John Fiske

Fir stt he asserted the existence of a universal law
of life governing all organic phenomena — - a law as
operative in the development of human society as in
the vegetable and animal kingdoms, a law which
had been defined by Spencer as " the continuous ad-
justment of internal relations to external relations. "

Second, he claimed that human history should
be regarded in relation to its origins, and also in re-
gard to its wholeness as embracing a fundamental
ethical content.

Third, he denied the volitional theory of history
both in regard to its being the product of man's
free will, or the product of a Divine Will, so long
as the latter is limited to the finite conceptions
of man — the Divine Will of theology.

Fourth, he postulated the existence of "an all-per-
vading, all-sustaining Power, eternally and every-
where manifested in the phenomenal activity of
the universe, alike the Cause of all and the in-
scrutable essence of all, without whom the world
would become like the shadow of a vision and
thought itself would vanish" — a power far trans-
cending any possible conception of the human mind,
and whose manifestations in human history are to
be truly traced only by a careful and reverent study
of "the conditions of co-existence, and the modes
of sequence of historic phenomena. "

In his notes for the essays there appears the fol-
lowing fine passage which does not appear in his
text: —

"Though the history of our lives written down
by the unswerving finger of Nature presents motive
and volition in an ever unbroken sequence, yet the

310

Laws of History

detached fragments of the record, like the leaves of
the Cumsean sibyl caught by the fitful breeze of cir-
cumstance, and whirled wantonly hither and thither
lie in such intricate confusion that no ingenuity can
enable us wholly to reconstruct the legend. But
could we attain to a knowledge commensurate with
the facts — could we reach the hidden depths,
where according to Dante,1 the story of Nature
scattered over the universe in truant leaves, is lying
firmly bound in a mystic volume, we should find
therein no traces of hazard or incongruity."

In summing up the points in these two essays
Fiske says: " Doubtless to many persons the views
here maintained may seem all but atheistical. They
are precisely the reverse. Our choice is no longer be-
tween an intelligent Cause and none at all. It lies
between a limited Cause, and one that is without
limit"; and he adds that the conception of a pre-
siding Will, the product of the finite mind, "is a
truly shocking conception."

We should note the distinction that Fiske makes
here, for we shall see him emphasizing it again and
again in the years to come. He does not deny the
existence of God. What he denies is the power of
the finite mind to conceive God. What he affirms
is the existence of a Divine Being transcending the
power of the human mind in any way to measure or
to limit. What he denies is the existence of any

1 Dante's Paradise, xxxm, 85 : —

Nel suo profondo vidi che s'interna
Legato con amore in un volume
Cid che per 1'universo si squaderna.

John Fiske

such limited Being as dogmatic theology has im-
posed on the Christian world.

The first of these essays attracted the attention of
the eminent historian George Grote, who, in writ-
ing his friend Alexander Bain, under date of Sep-
tember 4, 1868, says: —

"The same number ["Fortnightly Review" for
September, 1868] contained also an admirable ar-
ticle upon the 'Science of History,' written with
great ability and in the best spirit by an American
whose name I never heard before — John Fiske. I
am truly glad to find that there are authors capa-
ble, as well as willing, to enunciate such thoughts.
This article is the first of an intended pair: it con-
tains the negative side exceedingly well handled. I
scarcely dare to hope that the positive matter in the
sequel will be equally good."1

It was while engaged upon these essays that
Fiske, through his friend Youmans, heard with pro-
found sorrow of Herbert Spencer's contemplated
abandonment of the further development of his
philosophical system owing to the want of sufficient
support. Fiske was stirred to prompt action in
Spencer's behalf, and he sent to the "New York
World" a brief yet remarkably lucid exposition of
the philosophy of Spencer with the following earn-
est plea for its support : —

"One of Mr. Spencer's eminent countrymen re-
marks that the closing of his series of works would
1 Life and Letters of George Grote.
312

Correspondence with Spencer

be a blow to English thought and a shame to Eng-
lish education. The disgrace would not be Eng-
land's alone, but would fall more or less upon the
whole civilized world. Mr. Spencer's discoveries,
though the production of one country and one
epoch are destined to become the heritage of all
nations, and of all time and all are interested in
seeing that they are not permanently brought to
a close."

Fiske's thought at this time turned strongly to-
ward Spencer personally. His deep interest in the
latter's philosophy, his isolation in America as an
advocate of that philosophy, together with the
knowledge of Spencer's financial embarrassment in
the publication of his work, all combined to pro-
duce in Fiske's mind a feeling of profound respect,
if not veneration, for Spencer himself. The feeling
of the two men toward each other and the difficul-
ties under which they were both laboring in the
propagation of their philosophical ideas are reflected
in the sort of autobiographical letters that passed
between them at this time: —

Fiske to Spencer

MlDDLETOWN, CONN., June 3, l866.

My dear Mr. Spencer: —

I have allowed two years to elapse without writ-
ing to you, from a natural unwillingness to encroach
upon your valuable time. At present, however, I
have something to tell that may interest you. But
first, let me say, that since my first letter to you I

313

John Fiske

have graduated at the Law School, been admitted
to the Bar, become a husband, and a father, prac-
ticed law a year, and abandoned the profession in
disgust. I have made the discovery that I am, as
regards my constitutional relations to my environ-
ment, an idealist and not a realist; and that in order
to accomplish anything worthy I must not seek to
quit my ideal world. I have therefore come to a
quiet country town where I expect to stay (alone
with my books and family) until some philological
professorship or other place, which " practical"
men cannot fill shall take me away. I shall devote
much time to acquiring a thorough knowledge of
Sanskrit and Greek, as the basis of future labors;
and hope from time to time to write articles, as
a means both of mental training and of material
support.

At Dr. Youmans's request, I recently wrote for
"The World," a New York paper, a short exposi-
tion of the Law of Evolution adapted to the com-
prehension of newspaper readers. There is nothing
remarkable in the article, but as it relates to your
philosophy I send you a copy. I also sent copies to
Mr. Mill and Professor Huxley, neither of whom I
have the pleasure of knowing but who as I thought
might be interested in it by reason of its subject.

To come to what I had chiefly in mind in be-
ginning this letter — I hope to publish next year a
volume of essays illustrative of your philosophy,
entitled "Essays of Evolution," unless I can find a
better title. I twill consist of the following essays:
I, the Evolution of Language; II, Language and
Mythology; III, The Evolution of Written Lan-
guage; IV, The Laws of History; V, Buckle's

Correspondence with Spencer

Theory of History; VI, The Positive Philosophy;
VII, Ancient Science; VIII, The Influence of Ra-
tionalism. I wrote number VIII six months ago,
but the Editor of the " North American Review/*
after enthusiastically accepting it, has returned it
unpublished. It will, I trust, appear elsewhere be-
fore long and then I will send you a copy. Number
IV is nearly finished and I have offered it to Mr.
Lewes for the " Fortnightly. " The rest all exist in
embryo, except number VII, in which I may include
some remarks on Mr. Lewes's Aristotle. Number V,
which I think I sent you, will be greatly improved.
Into number VI, I wish to introduce some consider-
ations respecting your true relations to Comte and
Mill. It seems to me that a book of this sort will
not be wholly without raison d'etre, even though it
may contain but little that is absolutely new under
the sun.

May I ask if you know of an English periodical
which will publish an article on Positivism? I
hardly dare apply to the "Westminster"; and in
the "Fortnightly," also, the ground is taken up.
I shall be obliged to depend to a great extent on
English reviews, for the Editor of the "North
American" looks askance at everything written
from my point of view. It is indeed almost impos-
sible to deal with him, and all the other periodicals
here are, I grieve to say, orthodox (except the
"Christian Examiner," which is pecuniarily poor).

The proposed abandonment of your series of
works has filled me with consternation and sorrow,
but I cannot bring myself to contemplate that
abandonment as final. I live in the hope that the

John Fiske

present state of things will sometime be changed
and that your scheme will be ultimately completed.
Whatever can be done in my humble way to excite
interest in your work will always be cheerfully done,
and as I grow older, I trust that I shall be able to do
more than at present.

With all the deep affection and respect of a dis-
ciple, I am, my dear sir, very truly yours,

JOHN FISKE.

Spencer to Fiske

88 KENSINGTON GARDENS SQUARE,

LONDON, June 19, 1866.
My dear Mr. Fiske: —

Your letter, received the other day, gave me much
gratification as one coming from so active a sym-
pathizer was sure to do. I read it, however, not with
a uniform feeling of pleasure; for some of the pas-
sages giving me an account of your personal affairs
and prospects and intentions caused me some re-
gret. Judging from my own experience I fear that
you will meet with much difficulty in getting an
adequate demand for the kind of writing with which
you propose to occupy yourself. Besides the very
limited number of periodicals sufficiently liberal to
admit articles of the kind you have sketched out,
there is even among such liberal ones, a very general
unreadiness to receive such articles, on the ground
that they are unattractive to readers. As I have
myself had ample proof in the case of the "West-
minster Review," it frequently and I believe gen-
erally happens, that periodicals established for the
purpose of propagating liberal opinions, but pres-
ently having to struggle for existence from want of
sufficient support, are prone to subordinate their

316

Correspondence with Spencer

original aims to the cultivation of a light literature
that will bring more readers, and while there comes
to be a great anxiety to secure lively articles, the
graver articles, having for their aim the diffusion of
the ideas which the periodical specially represents,
come to be looked at coldly, and to be postponed
or declined in favor of articles of a more popular
kind.

Possibly this state of things may be less marked
in America than it is here: you have a larger public
interested in advanced opinions. This aspect of the
matter will I fear be unexpected and disappointing
to you ; for you appear to imply the hope that there
may be a larger sphere for philosophical writings
with us, than with you. This, however, as I have
hinted, is by no means the case, and I fear there will
be great difficulty in getting places here for articles
of the kind you describe.

Dr. Chapman, the Editor of the "Westminster/1
who has all along been under pressure to make as
much income as he can by it, has been in the habit
of obtaining a considerable proportion of gratuitous
articles — articles of the graver kind being more es-
pecially those for which he is least willing to pay.
This, as you may suppose, is an obstacle in the way
of those who have not established relations with
him. I will, however, name the matter to him —
mentioning more especially the article on the " Evo-
lution of Written Language" as one which he might
look upon favorably, because it gives some prom-
ise of facts of popular interest. The only other
periodical besides the "Fortnightly Review" which
occurs to me as a possible sphere is "Macmillan's
Magazine." I will speak to Professor Masson on

317

John Fiske

the matter if I can see him before leaving town, and
will read him the titles of the articles you propose —
some of which I think he may consider available.

Thank you for the copies of papers you have been
so good as to send me, as also for the labor you have
bestowed on the clear expositions they contain,
which will, I doubt not, be of great service in diffus-
ing general and approximate conceptions. The vol-
ume you name would I think help very much to
popularize the general doctrine as well as strengthen
it by further illustrative matter. To the average
mind the special applications to minor groups of
the phenomena are more instructive than more
general expositions; and are especially desirable as
steps by which they may ascend to a comprehen-
sion of the whole. I hope, therefore, that you will
be able to fulfil your intentions; and shall be heartily
glad to hear that you make the book remunerative.

Respecting my own affairs to which you so sym-
pathetically refer, you will perceive by the notice
appended to the forthcoming number, that I have
cancelled the notice of cessation issued with the
last. An unforeseen event — the sudden death of
my father — has changed my position so far as will
enable me to continue my work without going on
sinking what little property I possess; as I have
been doing year by year ever since I began writing
books. I shall therefore persevere as hitherto, and
hope, indeed, after the completion of the present
volume, to proceed somewhat more rapidly.1

Very truly yours,

HERBERT SPENCER.

1 The references in these letters to the cessation by Spencer cf
his work on his philosophy and its resumption do not tell the whole

318

New Era at Harvard

These letters are of interest as showing how diffi-
cult it was at this time (1866) to get any phase of
the doctrine of Evolution before the public, even
through the periodicals devoted to the propagation
of liberal thought. Both Spencer and Fiske lived to
see the day when anything.they might write on the
subject would be gladly welcomed by the leading
periodicals and at the highest rate of payment.

In the meantime events were taking place at
Harvard which were destined completely to change
the ideals of education and the methods of instruc-
tion throughout the university. The recent discover-
ies in the physical and chemical sciences and their
applications in the arts and the industries, the re-
sults of investigations in the physiologico-sociolog-
ical sciences and their social import, the advances
in historical, philological, and Biblical criticism
and their bearing upon men's religious beliefs and
ideas of causation, were bringing great changes
in the vocations of the people and opening new
avenues for scholarly research. They were also pre-
senting human life in its sociological aspects as
of supreme importance, as well as emphasizing, as
never before, that the outcome of University educa-
tion should bear directly upon the production of the

story. The month following these letters (July, 1866) Youmans
called upon Spencer and presented him with seven thousand dol-
lars in good securities, and a beautiful gold watch of American
manufacture, as an expression of appreciation from his American
friends. (See Spencer's A utobiography, vol. n, p. 165, Fiske's Life of
Edward L. Youmans, p. 215.)

319

John Fiske

broadest efficiency in individual social serviceable-
ness.

In a way, Harvard was not insensible to the on-
ward trend of the deeper thought of the time. With
men like Benjamin Peirce, James Russell Lowell,
Asa Gray, Ephraim Gurney, Jeffries Wyman,
Francis J. Child, William W. Goodwin, and Louis
Agassiz as members of her staff of instruction, she
could not be. Yet the best aspirations of her faculty
were held in check or thwarted by a system of
control wholly undemocratic in character, and which
held the administration tied to mediaeval ideals
and methods of education which had been practi-
cally outgrown.

This year 1866 distinctly marks the beginning of
a new era in the life of Harvard. As an outgrowth
of her Puritanical foundation, the college had since
1810 been held in a sort of vassalage to an external
ministerial and political control, exerted through a
Board of Overseers. The duties of this Board were
not well defined, nor were its prerogatives clearly
established. Since 1851 the Board had consisted of
the Governor of the State, the Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, the Secretary of the State
Board of Education, the President and the Treasurer
of the College, and thirty other persons elected by the
joint action of both houses of the State Legislature.
The thirty persons elected by the Legislature were
citizens of the State eminent in the professions and

320

New Era at Harvard

they represented more or less the local religious and
political interests of the State. By virtue of its
political creation and its vaguely defined duties,
the Board assumed much authority; and often,
through its affirmative and its negative action,
proved a serious obstruction to needed changes in
the conduct of the university, while the very na-
ture of its local, political creation stood as a bar to
any broad interest in the university on the part of
its alumni.

In 1865 some broad-minded members of the
alumni sought to break up this archaic ministerial
and political alliance in the control of the univer-
sity. They succeeded in getting an act through the
Massachusetts Legislature on April 28, 1865, by
virtue of which the State entirely withdrew from
any further connection with the Board of Over-
seers, both on the part of its executive officers and
through the Legislature. By this act also it was
ordered, that, beginning with Commencement Day,
1866, all future members of the Board should be
elected by the alumni of the college.

Accordingly on Commencement Day, July 19,
1866, the new method of electing the Board of Over-
seers was inaugurated ; and as the alumni on this
occasion held one of their triennial festivals, the
orator of the day, the Reverend Frederick H.
Hedge, D.D., an alumnus of the class of 1828, and a
liberal-minded Unitarian clergyman, took the occa-
sion of the coming of the alumni as an electorate

321

John Fiske

into the government of Harvard as a fitting oppor-
tunity for offering some suggestions as to needed
reforms at their Alma Mater.

Dr. Hedge was outspoken in his condemnation of
the educational ideals and methods that then pre-
vailed at Harvard. He described the college "as a
place where boys are made to recite lessons from
textbooks, and to write compulsory exercises, and
are marked according to their proficiency and
fidelity in these performances, with a view to a
somewhat protracted exhibition of themselves at
the close of their college course, which, according
to a pleasant academic fiction, is termed their
' Commencement/ '

After this arraignment, Dr. Hedge pleaded for
the abolishment of the whole system of marks and
college rank and compulsory tasks, and for the free-
dom of a true university — freedom for the young
men to select their studies and their teachers from
the material and the personnel that was offered to
them.

The address was an inspiring call to the alumni,
now that they had become invested with no small
degree of responsibility for the future conduct of
the university, so to use their power that their
beloved Alma Mater might "lay off the pr&texta of
its long minority, and take its place among the
universities, properly so called, of modern times."

Fiske came up to this Commencement for his
degree of M.A., and heard Dr. Hedge's address.

322

New Era at Harvard

Shortly after I met him with Professor Gurney.
Fiske was delighted with the address, and was full
of enthusiasm for the possible development of Har-
vard, now that the shackles which had bound her
to the past had been broken and her alumni had
become a positive force in her government. In the
course of the conversation Fiske expressed the hope
that Dr. Hedge's address would be supplemented
by a more detailed statement of what the reform
at Harvard should be, and the ground upon which
it should be based. Professor Gurney then said:
"John, why don't you write such a paper your-
self? You can do it." "Yes," said Fiske, "but I
am not sufficiently known, and I don't know where
I could get such a paper published. " I then said:
"There is no doubt but Mr. Fields would take it for
the ' Atlantic Monthly/ l as he is greatly interested
in this whole question here at Harvard, and has
arranged to print Dr. Hedge's address in the next
number of the ' Atlantic.' " Professor Gurney imme-
diately said: "John, here is your chance. You are
just the man for this task. You know the conditions
here and what the nature of the reform should be. Go
in and identify yourself with the new movement!"
The next day I brought the matter to Mr.
Fields's attention, and he was only too glad to fol-
low up in the "Atlantic " Dr. Hedge's address with
such a paper as Fiske proposed. Accordingly I

1 James T. Fields was then the editor of the Atlantic Monthly
and I was one of its publishers.

323

John Fiske

arranged with Fiske for an article on " University
Reform" of about ten pages. He sent me the
article in November following, and Mr. Fields was
so greatly pleased with it that, in paying for it,
a substantial sum was added to the stipulated
price. The article was published in the " Atlantic
Monthly " for April, I867.1

One cannot read this article to-day without be-
ing impressed by the clear insight with which Fiske
viewed the various problems of University educa-
tion that then confronted Harvard and the judicial
fairness with which they were brought under con-
sideration. He defined the object of university edu-
cation to be the teaching of " the student how to
think for himself, and then to give him the material
to exercise his thought upon." He then adds:
" When a University throws its influence into the
scale in favor of any party, religious or political,
philosophic or aesthetic, it is neglecting its conse-
crated duty, and abdicating its high position. It
has postponed the interests of truth to those of
dogma." His appraisement of the distinctive values
of the mathematical, the scientific, the historical,
and the classical studies, and his adjustment of
them in a well-rounded scheme of University edu-
cation, were very clearly set forth, while his sugges-
tions for introducing the elective system under the
varied conditions of elementary education which

1 My recollections in regard to this article are confirmed by
Fiske's letters to his mother, written at this time.

324

University Reform

so seriously handicapped every freshman class at
Harvard, show the thoroughness with which he had
studied this very perplexing phase of the general
problem.

As might be expected, he emphasized the impor-
tance of providing for fine scholarship at the uni-
versity, by establishing a course of post-graduate
instruction. This, however, was not, perhaps, the
immediate need of the college so much as the getting
a right appraisement of the undergraduate studies,
with good methods of instruction. He, of course,
touched upon some of the police regulations by
which the undergraduate life was so absurdly har-
assed, but in no unfilial way — these shortcomings
were simply survivals of obsolete social conditions
and should be quietly brushed away.

The argument and the whole tone of the article
were admirably adapted to further the object for
which the best friends of Harvard were then work-
ing — a reform and not a revolution in the conduct
of the university. The article was widely read, and
it served a good purpose in crystallizing opinion in
regard to the nature of the reform. It distinctly
identified Fiske with the new movement, albeit his
well-known Evolutionary views — or his Positivism,
as Darwinism or any phase of Evolutionary thought
was then called — tended to make him persona non
grata to some of the leaders in the movement.1

1 This article, entitled "University Reform," is included in
Fiske's collected works, in the volume Darwinism and Other
Essays.

325

John Fiske

The record of his brief literary sojourn in Middle-
town may well close with the following jubilant
extract from a letter to Roberts concerning James
Bryce's "Holy Roman Empire." This is another
instance of his " striking true" in his estimates of
the really fine things in literature. Under date of
December 16, 1866, he writes: —

"Well, my boy, I have finished Gibbon at last,
and have derived therefrom much healthful nutri-
ment to my soul as well as to my notebooks ; hav-
ing made upwards of 400 notes on the 8 vols. But
now, O Zeus SCDTTJP ! Yesterday and to-day I have
had the greatest intellectual treat since I first
read Maine.1 I have one of the good old fits
of enthusiasm upon me. Get, old fellow, out of
the Athenaeum, and read Bryce's 'Holy Roman
Empire/ Caesarism, Papacy, Feudalism, World-
Empire, World-Church, Guelfs, Ghibellines, Terri-
torial Sovereignty, mediaeval philosophy, politics,
religion — mediaeval ideas generally — are all eluci-
dated here as never before. It will clarify your
ideas of history more than almost any book you
ever read. And it is written in a charming style
to boot. Worth reading once a year as we used
to say of Mill's ' Logic/ Yes, sir, James Bryce,
B.C.L., of Oriel College, Oxford, is one of the rising
stars of the age. Do get it and read it; it can be
read as quickly as Maine. By Jove, the rising gen-
eration in England is hard at work. I am eager
to get hold of E. A. Freeman's 'Lectures on the
Saracens/ I think of reviewing Bryce, using its
principles to illustrate the late war in Germany."
1 See ante, p. 286.

CHAPTER XII

THE REFORM AT HARVARD UNDER WAY — MOVES
TO CAMBRIDGE — DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE —
REVIEW AND ESSAY WRITING — DIVERSIONS —
CORRESPONDENCE WITH SPENCER

1866-1868

MEANWHILE dissatisfaction with the Reverend
Thomas Hill as President of Harvard was increas-
ing. A most worthy man in the ordinary amenities
of life, and well fitted for pastoral duties, he was
without any high degree of scholarship and was
lacking in executive efficiency. He was therefore
singularly out of place as Harvard 's chief execu-
tive at this very important period in her develop-
ment. The first convocation of the alumni for the
election of members to the Board of Overseers gave
clear indication that in the new electorate, now in-
vested with a large degree of responsibility in the
conduct of the university, there was a very posi-
tive feeling that the first step in the way of reform
was the complete breaking up of the current idea
that the presidency of the university was a sort
of perquisite belonging to the clergy of the Uni-
tarian denomination.

The participation of the alumni in the govern-
ment of Harvard started, therefore, at the very be-
ginning, with ideas of reform in various directions.

327

John Fiske

This was a development Fiske had not considered
when he retired to Middletown. By the time he
had finished his article for the "Atlantic," how-
ever, he was made aware by Professor Gurney and
others of the rapid spread of the reform movement
now that it had a status in the government itself
of the university. He bethought himself, therefore,
to return to Cambridge and establish a home in
close proximity to the college, where he could be in
touch with the friends of the reform movement and
ready to lend a hand whenever needed. In this pro-
ject he was encouraged by his friends in Cambridge.
He also had the support of his mother and Mr.
Stoughton as well as of Mrs. Fiske's family. Con-
sequently the month of March, 1867, saw him very
happily settled in a house of his own at 123 Oxford
Street, Cambridge.

Fiske's domiciliation at Cambridge was coinci-
dent with the publication of his article on " Uni-
versity Reform" in the " Atlantic Monthly," and
he was cordially welcomed by all the liberal-
minded people connected with the university. Mr.
Longfellow, Professors Lowell, Peirce, Child, Gur-
ney, Gray, and Goodwin were very emphatic in
their commendations of his article as well as cor-
dial in welcoming him back to the social life of
Cambridge.

It would be pleasant to linger over the letters of
this period to his mother, in which he gives in a
delightful way the details of the ups and downs

328

JOHN FISKE IN 1867

Moves to Cambridge

attendant upon his youthful experience in home-
building, where provisions for literary work and
high philosophic thinking were made coincident
and harmonious with the details of his domestic
social life. In the midst of all, his second child,
Harold Brooks Fiske, was born.

The letters give so many touches of a purely
personal character, revelations of the finely tem-
pered soul behind the scholar and the critic, that a
few extracts are in place here. After getting his
family settled in the new home he writes: —

"Our house is rather a gem in its way, being
perfectly convenient — all the rooms being very
pleasant and there is lots of sunshine coming into
it. It is such a jolly feeling to be in a home of my
own, and back among literary men, that I boil over
with good nature all the time — don't get cross at
anything, and so get credit for being a gem of a
boy! When it is really only the result of circum-
stances. I have thus far been up at six o'clock
every morning, and have done a good slice of work
before breakfast. "

In a letter a few days later he reveals his aesthetic
taste. His mother had given him a sum of money
as a birthday present, and in acknowledging its
receipt, he writes: —

" After some discussion and contemplation I re-
solved to put it into something — yea even into
the one thing — which our house lacked, to wit: a
picture for the parlour chimney-piece. So after
a thorough inspection of the treasures at De Vries',

329

John Fiske

Abby and I selected a magnificent engraving; viz.
Benvenuto Cellini in his workshop at Fontainebleau,
showing his newly-finished statue of Jupiter To-
nans to Francis I and some members of his court.
The group is very grand ; all the separate pieces are
portraits. Cellini stands in a noble attitude in the
centre, pointing to the great statue elevated on
the right; his sculptor's tools and a few unfinished
works lie around. King Francis and his Mistress,
the Duchesse d'Etampes, sit in carved, high-
backed chairs to the left, gazing at the statue just
uncovered. On the back of the Duchesse's chair
leans Margaret de Valois, Queen of Navarre, and
grand-mother of Henri Quatre. Behind her stands
her husband Henri d' Albert; by her side, Catherine
de Medicis, and her husband, afterwards Henry
II. In the background is the Cardinal Jean de
Lorraine, chief of the house of Guise. The faces
are so good that I recognized most of them at
once. Nothing could be finer than the tout en-
semble; and nothing could have gone further to
make our parlour pleasant and elegant."

From the very beginning of his daughter Maud's
learning to talk, Fiske became a close observer of
her linguistic development, and the letters are
many that make mention of her naive efforts to
conjoin sound and meaning in her childish prattle.
Let one instance suffice. He had already reported
her use of the phrase " pick-a-wow " ; he now adds:

"She has developed the phrase 'pick-a-wow'
into ' peck-a-boo,' from which I think that ' pick-a-
wow ' was meant for picture book. I shall quote her

330

Domestic Life

'puttaba' for apple, as it throws some light on
the origin of language. She can say 'dear* and
'papa'; but putting them together makes 'dear-
wawa.' Now this change occurs regularly in Welsh
compounds, and throws great light on the conso-
nantal structure of the Aryan languages. "

Fiske's reading at this period, while as discursive
as ever, was yet in its general trend related to
modern culture, which, by the great advancement
in the sciences, was assuming a new significance in
his mind. His writing at this time was confined to
book reviews, many of which were really essays,
in which is shown the ready command he had of
his wide and varied knowledge. The more not-
able among these review-essays were: "The Life
and Works of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing," by
Adolf Stahr; Longfellow's " Translation of Dante" ;
Alger's "History of the Doctrine of a Future
Life"; Fel ton's "Greece — Ancient and Modern";
Youmans's "Culture for Modern Life "; Whitney's
4 ' Lectures on Language ' ' ; Matthew Arnold's ' ' Cel-
tic Literature," etc.

The quality of his review writing was such as to
make it in great demand, and periodicals and jour-
nals like the "North American Review," the "At-
lantic Monthly," the "Christian Examiner," the
"Nation," the "New York World," and the "Bos-
ton Advertiser" were solicitors for review notices
of important works; so much so that during the
summer of 1867, Fiske writes: —

33i

John Fiske

" I am terribly busy to-night as usual, but must
turn aside from work a minute to give you a bit
of surprising news. You will be proud to hear that
I have been elected a Member of the American
Oriental Society. I was notified of it to-day by
a note from Prof. Whitney (Prof, of Sanskrit at
Yale). I was thoroughly surprised by it, not expect-
ing anything of the sort for some years to come."

"I have had my fill of book-noticing for one
while; but the end does n't seem to have come.
More work is offered me than I can do. I don't
expect to make a business of this transient work:
but it will do for a while."

With his usual discursive reading and this re-
view writing, and at odd times working upon the
plot of ground that surrounded his house, the sum-
mer of 1867 was passed. The autumn found him
well established in a home of his own, and free to
work out the various literary projects that were
germinating in his mind. His social surroundings
were indeed pleasant. William D. Howells, re-
cently called to the editorship of the " Atlantic
Monthly," was a near neighbor. Norton's delight-
ful home was not far away. Longfellow, Lowell,
Child, and Asa Gray among others had called, and
had welcomed him and Mrs. Fiske to their homes:
while Gurney, J. M. Peirce (son of Benjamin Peirce),
N. S. Shaler, Chauncey Wright, William James, the
psychologist, John K. Paine, the eminent composer,
and his faithful Middletown friend, George L.
Roberts, were frequent visitors. In this widely

332

Wide Reading

cultured atmosphere Fiske found not only generous
appreciation, but also much stimulating thought.1

The letters for 1868 reveal still further Fiske's
simple, happy domestic life, his methodical way
of working, his constantly expanding thought, his
great productiveness, and his steadily growing
reputation.

The expanding minds of his children and their
childish ways are a constant delight, as well as of
deep interest to him. We get charming glimpses of
little Maud — especially of her incursions into his
library, and her arrangements of his books accord-
ing to her childish fancy instead of their subject
order — and his treatment of her visits as pleasant
episodes in his daily routine of work, rather than
as troublesome interruptions.

Fiske's reading this year covered more than a
hundred volumes in English, French, and German,
comprising the latest thought along the lines of
history, philology, physiology, the sciences, and
philosophy, with a generous mingling of general

1 One incident connected with this period is worth relating.
Fiske and Chauncey Wright — the best of friends — while in agree-
ment on the question of Darwinism, were in apparent opposition in
regard to many points in the philosophy of Herbert Spencer. Their
discussions were many and were often prolonged to a late hour. One
summer evening the discussion had been exceptionally vigorous;
and when Wright started for home, Fiske set out to accompany him
a little way. Fiske walked to Wright's gate, and the discussion not
being finished, Wright walked back to Fiske's gate. Not having
then arrived at any concluding point, the two started again for
Wright's home — and this gate-to-gate discussion was continued
until the light of a new day forced its postponement.

333

John Fiske

literature. Complementary in a measure to his
reading was the production of some twenty essays
or book reviews, the more notable of which were
essays on "Liberal Education " and "Myths of
the New World/' published in the "North Ameri-
can Re view "; and reviews in the "New York
World " of Lewes's " History of Philosophy/1 Mot-
ley's "United Netherlands/' Lessing's "Nathan
the Wise" (in which Fiske's religious ideas are
clearly indicated), Froude's "Short Stories on
Great Subjects," Freeman's "Norman Conquest,"
Max Miiller's "Chips from a German Workshop,"
Taine's "Philosophy of Art," and George Eliot's
"Spanish Gipsy."

Some of these papers were republished by Fiske
in his volumes of essays; all were characterized by
a wealth of learning bearing upon the several sub-
jects treated, 'and also by a spirit of judicial fair-
ness in statement and discussion that reminds one
of that master of critical style, Sainte-Beuve.

We have also to note that at this time there was
shaping in his mind the project of a work about the
size of the first volume of Buckle's "History of
Civilization in England," to be entitled "Studies
in Philosophy"; a work "that would be an illus-
tration, though by no means a mere exposition, of
the views of Mr. Spencer."

During the latter part of the year Fiske in-
dulged in a bit of polemical criticism that attracted
no little attention at the time, and which showed

334

Essay Writing

his quality as a skilful debater. James Parton, a
popular writer, had published a little book entitled
"Smoking and Drinking, " in which he sought to
maintain the two theses, that the coming man
would not smoke, nor would he drink wine. It was
a very superficial work made up of illogical asser-
tions and perversion of much physiological knowl-
edge; yet it was warmly welcomed by an ti- tobacco
and temperance reformers, as a conclusive argu-
ment against the use of tobacco and of alcohol in
any form or degree whatever.

Fiske's attention as critic, or public reviewer
was called to the book; and, as in his psycho-
physiological investigations he had given much
attention to the effects of narcotics upon the hu-
man organism, he thought the great importance of
temperance in the use of tobacco and alcohol could
be much more convincingly shown, through a clear
and popular presentation of the laws of physiologi-
cal action in regard to these two narcotics, than
through the heated assertions of ignorant social
reformers who denied all virtue to them whatever
in pharmacology, and who saw in their use the
source of all social ills. Accordingly he took Mr.
Parton's essay under consideration, and applying
to it sound physiological and pathological knowl-
edge combined with common sense, he so com-
pletely shattered its contention that no rejoinder
was attempted.

Fiske's essay was published by his friend Henry

335

John Fiske

Holt, in a little volume under the title of " Tobacco
and Alcohol: It does Pay to Smoke — The Coming
Man will Drink Wine." The essay attracted much
attention at the time, and Fiske received many
commendations of it from leading members of the
medical profession. In tracing the development of
Fiske's philosophic thought, the essay is of interest
as showing the wide diversity and accuracy of his
knowledge.

Among his pleasurable recreations of the year,
two are especially worthy of note, because of their
high artistic character and his intense enjoyment
of them. These were the Readings of Charles
Dickens from his own works, and the presentation
of a series of great tragedies by Edwin Booth and
Madame Janauschek in combination. In his re-
creations as in his serious work Fiske's taste in-
variably asserted itself in demanding what was
best. He instinctively guarded his mind against
wasting itself on frivolous things. We have seen
his great fondness for the works of Charles Dickens,
whose various characters became in his mind
familiar friends. The Readings by Dickens in
Boston, in which (with his great mimetic power) he
gave masterly personations of some of the charac-
ters he had created, was one of the chief artistic
features of the season. Fiske entered into the en-
joyment of these Readings with a full appreciation
of their quality, as he found Dickens hardly less

336

Diversions

great in the presentation of character through the
dramatic art than in creating character through
the literary art. As a result of these Readings
Dickens's characters had a new birth in Fiske's
mind. They became more distinctly Dickensized,
and remained his faithful companions to the last.
Fiske was profoundly impressed by the dramatic
genius of Janauschek. As a dramatic artist he
placed her beside Mrs. Siddons. He gives a fine
bit of critical appreciation in a description of her
rendering of Lady Macbeth; but what is of greater
interest is the account of a call he made upon her.
Fiske had made her acquaintance in New York.
Under date of November 4, 1868, he writes: —

" Yesterday I called on Janauschek. Had a most
delightful time and staid two hours. For about
half an hour we talked in German, and I succeeded
in talking it very well. Then we changed to Eng-
lish which she has learned since April. Then we
mixed up languages just as came handy, and so
had a most charming talk. I found her to be very
highly cultivated, her knowledge of things being by
no means limited to tragedy and acting. Her talk
was so entertaining, her eyes so bright and her face
so full of expression, that I thought it about as
great a pleasure to sit and talk with her as to see
her on the stage. We talked about Greek tragedy,
Shakespeare, Goethe, Corneille, German politics,
mythology, and all sorts of things. I told her about
Maud's strutting about with a tragic air and call-
ing herself Janauschek, and she was exceedingly
pleased at the idea. She professed herself to be

337

John Fiske

crazy over children, and said she wished I would
call again and bring das kleine Mddchen with me.
Perhaps I shall if I can get time. To-night, Abby
and I are going to see her in Mary Stuart."

I have reserved, as a fitting close to the record of
this year, the following letter of Fiske to Spencer,
as it has a sort of autobiographical interest.

OXFORD STREET, CAMBRIDGE,
September 27, 1868.

My dear Mr. Spencer: —

Having for some time felt an inclination to write
to you in reply to your letter of June 19, 1868, I
am now stimulated to do so by the circumstance
that I wish to ask a favour of you.

(Fiske asks Spencer to have sent to him two
numbers of the parts of the "Biology," which he
had failed to receive, and which he could not get
in America.)

I am better able now than when I received it, to
answer your letter expressing misgivings as to the
possibility of my succeeding in a literary career.
I could then only hope: I can now point to some-
thing achieved. I now laugh at the times when I
dreamed of paying my monthly bills by means of
money earned from English reviews. I soon learned
that magazines alone would never give work enough
to keep one from starving ; and that in order to suc-
ceed, I must attach myself to a daily paper. I
therefore made an arrangement with Mr. Marble,
editor of the "New York World," to write for him
causeries on literary and philosophical subjects as

338

Letter to Spencer

often as I pleased. His terms were so generous that
my ability to earn is limited only by my ability to
produce; and that, in point of quantity, is about
300 columns, equivalent to two or three octavos
per year. Thus, so far as money goes, I am cer-
tainly prospering. In March, 1867, I became the
owner of a pleasant little house in Cambridge, and
planted with my own hands the maples which I
hope will shade me in my old age. I live in my
library, walled with books, like a mollusc in his
shell, writing six hours, reading six, and sleeping
nine, all days except Sunday: always well, and
hardly ever more than pleasantly weary; and have
reason, therefore, to believe that I am "seeing my
best days." The difficulty of doing anything elab-
orately and the necessity of constantly writing
crude thoughts, occur to trouble me: but these
things, with due economy of time, may by and by
be changed. At any rate, my thoughts are always
busy with philosophical subjects; and this is cer-
tainly far better than to be wasting one's strength,
physical, intellectual and emotional in harassing
law-cases.

I have published no magazine articles during the
past two years except one on " University Reform,"
in the "Atlantic Monthly," April, 1867, upon
which, I am proud to say, the University have seen
fit to base several reformatory acts; and one on
"Liberal Education" in the "North American
Review" July, 1868. Of my two papers on the
"Laws of History," after a delay of more than two
years, the first has appeared in the "Fortnightly";
and when I behold every one of the gross typo-
graphical errors (such as would not pass unchal-

339

John Fiske

lenged by the first proof-reader at our University
Press, and which I carefully corrected on the proof-
sheets in 1866) conscientiously reproduced, it is
difficult to bear the sight with philosophic resigna-
tion, or wholly to refrain from the use of language
having theologic implications. In the second of
these papers on the "Laws of History " there are
some speculations which, though too briefly stated,
may perhaps interest you. In a future paper in
the " North American" I hope to devote fifty pages
to what I have said in the last six or eight of the
second part of the present article.

I am eager to see your " Psychology " finished and
your "Sociology" begun, and gladly hailed the
appearance of No. 20 as an indication that you
were again going to work with renewed health and
vigour. It was with pleasure that I heard, some
time ago, that you were coming to this country, and
it is with disappointment that I see spring and
autumn go by without bringing you. When you
come, you will doubtless not fail to look at Cam-
bridge; and I shall esteem it a favour if you will
consider my house and myself entirely at your ser-
vice, so long as you like to be about here.

Meanwhile, dear Sir, believe me,

Ever faithfully yours,

JOHN FISKE.

CHAPTER XIII

A MEMORABLE YEAR TO HARVARD AND TO FISKE
— ELECTION OF CHARLES W. ELIOT AS PRESI-
DENT— FISKE CALLED TO LECTURE ON THE POSI-
TIVE PHILOSOPHY — ELIOT'S INAUGURATION —
WIDE EFFECT OF FISKE's LECTURES

1869

THE year 1869 was a memorable one in the history
of Harvard and a very important one in the life of
Fiske. In September, 1868, the Reverend Thomas
Hill resigned as President of Harvard, and the
year 1869 opened with the Reverend Andrew P.
Peabody acting as President ad interim. There
was much strife as to the professional character of
the person who should be chosen to fill the vacancy ;
that is, as between a clergyman and a professional
educator. Conservative people, impressed by Har-
vard's long line of clerical Presidents, would follow
precedent; and all those friends of Harvard who
wished to see a distinctly religious character main-
tained in the administration of the university,
albeit that religious character was of the negative
Unitarian faith of the period, would fain have a
candidate selected from the Unitarian clergy. On
the other hand, the newer life and fresher thought
which were permeating the great body of the
alumni had already gained several strong repre-

34i

John Fiske

sentations on the Board of Overseers, who saw a
better state of things for their beloved alma mater
only through the complete breaking-up of the
clerical domination of the past, and the bringing of
the University, in all its educational provisions,
into line with the conditions of modern culture
and social development. These representatives of
university reform naturally sought a candidate for
President among professional educators rather than
among clergymen.

In December and January this Harvard Presi-
dential canvass appears to have been in a sort of
tentative stage of crystallization around two can-
didates, the Reverend Andrew P. Peabody, D.D.,
the candidate of the conservative party, and Pro-
fessor Ephraim W. Gurney, the candidate of the
reform party.

At the height of the discussion James Russell
Lowell and E. L. Godkin, the editor of the "New
York Nation/' asked Fiske for a trenchant article
for the "Nation," on the situation at Harvard,
with special reference to advancing the candidacy
of Professor Gurney. Fiske wrote the article, which
was published as an editorial in the "Nation"
of December3i, 1868, under the title of "The Pres-
idency of Harvard College." It was an admir-
able article, well balanced against both toryism
and radicalism, and holding even scales for rational
reform.

In view of what took place a short time after,

342

A Memorable Year

the following paragraph from this article is of in-
terest : —

"To sum up, then: What we do not want is a
mere business man, a fossil man, an ultra-radical
man, or a clergyman. What we do want, is a man
of thorough scholarship — not a specialist, not a
mere mathematician, or physicist, or grammarian;
but a man of general culture, able to estimate at
their proper importance the requirements of cul-
ture, and at the same time endowed with sound
judgment, shrewd mother wit, practical good sense.
If such a man is to be found among those who have
already taken a part in the management of the
college, so that he will come to his new office with
some adequate knowledge of the work before him,
so much the better; he will be the better able to
understand what the college needs. If he should
also happen to be found among those who have
been graduated within the past twenty years, he
will be the better able to understand what the
present time requires."

The article made a great impression at Cam-
bridge. It presented the whole situation so clearly
and fairly that it practically killed the candidacy
of Dr. Peabody, while it paved the way for a
greater reformer than Professor Gurney.

Shortly after the publication of Fiske's article in
the "Nation," there appeared in the "Atlantic
Monthly" for February, 1869, the first of two
articles entitled "The New Education — Its Or-
ganization"; the second appearing in the March
number. These two articles comprised, first, a re-

343

John Fiske

view of the recent attempts in this country to or-
ganize a system of practical education based chiefly
on the pure and applied sciences, the modern lan-
guages, and mathematics, instead of upon Greek,
Latin, and mathematics as in the established col-
lege system; and, secondly, a discussion of what
should be the preparatory training of a youth who
is to enter a scientific or technological school by the
time he is seventeen years old.

Under these two subject divisions was clearly
set forth the need of a high-grade technical educa-
tion for the youth of America, to be developed har-
moniously, side by side with, and out of similar
preparatory schooling for, the broadest collegiate
education. These articles were written by Charles
William Eliot, Professor of Chemistry and Miner-
alogy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and one of the recently elected members of the
Board of Overseers of Harvard College. They at-
tracted wide public attention, and since they re-
vealed the possession by the writer of a clear com-
prehension of the needs of higher education in the
two fields of technological training and collegiate
culture, together with a full knowledge of the
various problems attending all higher education
arising from the varied conditions of preparatory
or secondary education throughout the country,
attention was at once directed to Professor Eliot as
a candidate for the Presidency of Harvard. There
was much beside in his favor. He was an alumnus

344

Election of President Eliot

of the class of 1853. He had been Assistant Pro-
fessor in the Departments of Mathematics and of
Chemistry. He possessed executive ability of a
high order, and was in the prime of manhood. All
these considerations, fused as they were in a per-
sonality marked by great force of character, made
Professor Eliot particularly acceptable to the ad-
vocates of reform at Harvard, and after a short
canvass, he was, on the I2th of March, 1869,
chosen President of the University by the Cor-
poration, and this choice was confirmed by the
Board of Overseers on the igth of May following.

Fiske, as may well be supposed, took great in-
terest in this election, and although his predilec-
tions were strong in favor of Professor Gurney, he
readily acquiesced in the choice of President Eliot.
And he had not long to wait for the institution of
great and wise reforms, in which he was to bear a
part, in both the ideals and methods of education
throughout the university.

Before entering, however, upon the significant
changes which soon began at Harvard, and which
were fraught, as we shall see, with great impor-
tance to the subsequent life of Fiske, we should
pause to take a glance at his domestic and liter-
ary life during the first half of this year 1869. The
letters reveal the same abounding delight in his
home surroundings and especially in the expand-
ing minds of his children — that we have noted in
previous years. On the loth of May, a second son,

345

John Fiske

Clarence Stoughton Fiske, was born into his fam-
ily circle.

The letters also reveal the high order of his
thought. His reading appears to have been mainly
of a philological character, while his productive
writing was limited to three essays — "Ancient
and Modern Life," published in the "New York
World"; "The Genesis of Language," published in
the "North American Review"; "Are we Celts or
Teutons?" published in "Appleton's Journal." He
also gave much thought to collecting material for,
and preparing a volume on "Liberal Education,"
as well as one on the "Evolution of Language."
But these two projects did -not materialize — for,
as we shall soon see, he had his mind and his hands
full of work in another direction.

One incident of this period is worth noting as
showing his growing reputation as a thinker and a
writer. He received from responsible parties in
New York an offer of the editorship of a free- trade
journal at a salary of six thousand dollars per year.
This offer he declined.

It was in June, while absorbed in the problems of
language and their bearing on the doctrine of Evo-
lution, and also while mulling over his projected
volume on Education, that he received from Presi-
dent Eliot a call for a special service at the univer-
sity which roused all the enthusiasm of his nature.
It appears that President Eliot was preparing,
among other things, to inaugurate his administra-

346

Lecturer at Harvard

tion by bringing within the pale of the university
provisions for the broadest interpretations of
philosophy. To this end, while allowing Professor
Bowen, from his chair of philosophy within the
college, to fulminate at will against recent progress
in philosophic thinking, he determined that un-
der the auspices of the university undergraduates
and all persons interested in philosophic discussion
should have critically and fairly interpreted the
" thoughts that move mankind" embodied in
the leading philosophic systems — especially in the
modern systems. Accordingly, he arranged for the
academic year 1869-70 seven courses of univer-
sity lectures on Philosophy, two of which were to
represent recent philosophic thought — thought
which had been particularly taboo at Harvard.

The first of these two courses in significance at
the time was the one on "The Natural History
of the Intellect," by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The
significance of this course arose from the fact that
ever since Emerson's famous address before the
Harvard Divinity School in 1838, and while during
the intervening years his thought had been a great
illuminating moral force in the culture of the mod-
ern world, Emerson, as a philosophic thinker, had
been persona non grata at Harvard.

The second of these two notable courses was one
on what was then called "The Positive Philosophy."
At this period the English Evolutionary school
of philosophy had not been clearly differentiated

347

John Fiske

from what was known as the Scientific or Positive
Philosophy of Auguste Comte. As the latter was
first in the field and had found some favor in Eng-
land, the rising Evolutionary thought in England,
also based on Science, was by theologians identi-
fied with Comtism, and by them baptized with all
the philosophico-atheistical vagaries that they read
into the Positive Philosophy of Comte. The reader
should bear in mind that this was in the year 1869,
when the bitter theological controversy started by
the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species11
and Spencer's "First Principles" of Evolution was
at its height, and that Positivism in the public
mind was the summation of infidel philosophy and
included along with the vagaries of Comte, Dar-
winism and Spencer's theory of Evolution. Presi-
dent Eliot appears to have seen somewhat the op-
posing philosophical principles that were jumbled
together in the popular conception of the "Posi-
tive Philosophy"; and it is a fair inference that he
desired such an exposition of this philosophy as
should clearly set forth both its Comtian and its
English Evolutionary connotations. For this pur-
pose he selected Fiske.

The high purpose and the moral courage of the
new President could not have been better shown
than in inaugurating his administration by these
two acts — the summoning of Emerson and Fiske,
with their respective subjects, into service at the Uni-
versity in the highest department of knowledge.

348

Lecturer at Harvard

Fiske responded favorably to President Eliot's
request, and his reasons for doing so are fully given
in a letter to his mother of July 5, 1869. He writes:

"As you will see from the enclosed slip, I have
been chosen as one of the university lecturers on
Philosophy for the year 1869-70. The subject on
which I have been especially invited to deliver a
course of from 12 to 20 lectures, is Positivism. . . .
Eliot invited me, and I accepted sur le champ, for
it gives me a chance to elaborate the book which I
have had lying in scraps for 4 years on this subject.
There are two aspects from which this event may
be viewed — the sentimental, and the practical.

"I. From the sentimental aspect it is worthy of
notice, that only 8 years ago I was threatened with
dismissal from college if caught talking Comtism
to any one. Now, without any solicitation on my
part, I am asked to expound Comtism to the col-
lege, and defend or attack it as I like. This shows
how vast is the revolution in feeling which has
come over Harvard in 8 years, and which is shown
among other things in the election of such a Presi-
dent as Eliot. I silently regard this as a triumph
for me, and the pleasantest kind of vengeance!

"II. Practically, this is a very great honour, and
is considered so by every one — to be chosen as
lecturer along with such eminent men as Emer-
son and Cabot. Furthermore, if I do myself credit
in the lectures, my success for the future is almost
certain. The days of old fogyism here are num-
bered, and the young men are to have a chance.
I have a chance now to come out strong, as Mark
Tapley says; and if I improve it I shall be sure to
get into the college as professor before a great while.

349

John Fiske

Eliot has a great liking for me now. He thinks
my article helped to get him elected. He saw the
best side of my college career. He never had any
prejudice against me. He never gave me anything
but a perfect mark in my recitations. Now he is
prepared to be pleased with anything I may do.
He expects me to do a good thing, and I must do
it. It won't do to fail or only half succeed. There-
fore I want to throw my whole force into this thing,
and come out with brilliant success. No subject
could have been better selected for me to treat!
I have studied Comte off and on, for 10 years;
have already mapped out a discussion of his doc-
trines ; have a good many original views about him ;
have once believed in him, but do so no longer;
so that I can criticize him without misrepresent-
ing him; and the subject, moreover, is one of great
variety, embracing questions of science, logic, phil-
osophy, ethics, history and religion, so that I can
bring almost all my reading to bear upon it. I
don't want to have people say merely, that I did
very well. I want to make a profound stir, and
have people say: ' Well, now here is something new;
these are philosophical lectures such as one does n't
hear every term.' In short, I want to conquer a
permanent position here; and I believe I can do it."

Animated with this high purpose, Fiske spent
the rest of the summer in finishing some literary
work he had in hand for the "New York World,"
in revising his essay on "The Genesis of Language"
for the "North American Review," in reading
Plato and two or three recent works on Positivism,
and blocking out his course of lectures in his mind.

350

Lecturer at Harvard

A good portion of the time was spent with his fam-
ily at the delightful ancestral Brooks homestead
in Petersham; and the letters give charming pic-
tures of his sweet family life with his children in
this beautiful old town, which, associated as it was
with the tenderest feelings of his nature, he loved
to call his home.

Early in September we find him back in Cam-
bridge and fully " squared away" at his lectures.
His method of work is of interest as revealing the
firm mental grasp of his subject, and also the or-
derly way in which he held the wide and varied
knowledge essential to his purpose at ready com-
mand. He first mentally blocked out the whole
course of eighteen lectures with a distinctive title
for each lecture. There is no indication whatever
that he made any preliminary sketch or outline of
any of the lectures. I do find, however, that he
took into consideration the time at his command —
the lectures were to begin October 26 — and that
he made a careful computation of the quantity of
manuscript to be prepared and the time limit to
be given to the preparation of each lecture. The
result was that a lecture must be written each
week.

Considering the vast knowledge in the depart-
ments of science, history, sociology, and philoso-
phy that had to be brought into order and made
subservient to the end in view, this was a most ex-
traordinary undertaking. So wisely was the whole

John Fiske

scheme planned, however, so carefully had he meas-
ured his own powers, that the course was carried
through without the slightest interruption. The
lectures when delivered were marked by such a full,
lucid, easy-flowing style of exposition, as gave no
indication whatever of undue pressure or haste in
their composition.

Fiske's article on "The Genesis of Language,"
to which reference has been made, was published
in the October number of the "North American
Review." In this article, after a brief survey of
the field of philological discussion Fiske advanced
some new views in regard to disputed points in the
interpretation of linguistic phenomena. Starting
with the simple juxtapositive form of objective
words as the barbaric genesis of language, he traced,
by a process of subjective elimination and inte-
gration, the gradual development, through the ag-
glutinative languages, of the present highly com-
plex inflexional or amalgamative languages. In brief,
his article was an attempt to apply the principles
of Evolution to some of the problems of philology.

Fiske sent a copy of this article, not only to Her-
bert Spencer, but also to Dr. J. Muir, an eminent
Sanskrit scholar at Edinburgh, to Professor Max
Miiller, the distinguished philologist at Oxford, and
to Michel Breal at Paris, Professor of Sanskrit in
the College de France.1

1 While this article was highly commended for its erudition, Fiske
never reprinted it.

352

President Eliot Inaugurated

Fiske's letters to his mother during October,
while showing his steady progress with his lec-
tures, give also an account of an occurrence at Har-
vard which has passed into history as one of the
most memorable events in the life of the univer-
sity, and from what we have already seen was an
event of great significance to Fiske — the inaugura-
tion of President Eliot, and his inaugural address.
As the delivery at Harvard of such a course of lec-
tures as we are about to consider had been made
possible through the action of President Eliot,
Fiske's impression of the new President's inau-
gural address has a historic value as well as a per-
sonal interest here. On the 2Oth of October, 1869,
he writes : —

"Yesterday President Eliot was inaugurated.
Abby and I went to the Church. The music was
perfectly sublime. I don't know when I ever heard
anything equal to it. Eliot's Inaugural address
was also very fine indeed. I never before heard a
speech so grand and impressive. It lasted an hour
and three quarters; and during all you might have
heard a pin drop, save when the old arches rang
with thunders of applause. We are going to have
new times here at Harvard. No more old fogyism,
I hope. Abby was moved to tears; and I felt 'the
chokes come' many times at the grand ideas he
put forth. We have got for President a young man
and a practical genius. Everybody so far as I know,
went away feeling that the light of a new day
had dawned upon us. I had a very high opinion of
Eliot before, but I had no idea of what was in him,

353

John Fiske

till I heard him yesterday announce his views. In
the evening I went to his reception. " 1

Another incident connected with these lectures
and related to the philosophic ideas they were to
set forth is of interest here — the interchange of
letters between Fiske and Herbert Spencer. Only
the main points in the letters will be noted.

Under date of October 6, 1869, Fiske sends
Spencer proof-sheets of his article in the "North
American Review" on " The Genesis of Language"
and he explains how he proposes to elaborate
this in connection with his essay on "The Evo-
lution of Language," published in 1863, into a
volume which should be an illustration of the law
of Evolution applied to language. He tells Spencer
this volume "will set forth results of philological
as well as philosophical value, obtained by the ap-
plication of your doctrine and method to a set of
phenomena which you have not yet come to treat

1 As the inauguration of President Eliot was such a memorable
event in the history of Harvard, I give an extract from the charge
of the President of the Board of Overseers, the Honorable John H.
Clifford, as he placed the keys, the ancient charter, and the seal of
the college in President Eliot's hands, — these being the symbols
and the warrant of the authority conferred upon him as Harvard's
official head, — and also President Eliot's response.

President Clifford said : —

" When, sir, the far-reaching issues that are involved in the great
trust now confided to you, and the influence its wise, faithful and
efficient performance is to exert upon the country and the world are
measured and understood; when we reflect that we indulge but a
reasonable hope in looking forward from your period of life, that
through this day's proceedings your hand will be instrumental in
leading the minds and moulding the characters of a larger number
of the best youth of the country than were guided by any of your

354

Correspondence with Spencer

in detail"; and he asks for any suggestions Spencer
has to offer on his proposed task.

He then gives some particulars in regard to the
course of lectures he has in hand — the circum-
stances under which he was called to deliver them,
the ground he proposes to cover, and the difficulty
he finds in the endeavor to give an interpretation
of the philosophy of Evolution under the title of
" Positive Philosophy, " by reason of the various
connotations of Positivism in the public mind. He
calls for a new title for the new Evolutionary phil-
osophy— one that shall differentiate it entirely
from the " Philosophic Positive " of Auguste Comte.
He does not think Spencer's proposed title, " Syn-
thetic Philosophy/' sufficiently generic.

This statement in regard to the lectures leads

predecessors, — it is no exaggeration to say, that the ceremony
surpasses in interest and importance any that accompanies the
investiture of ruler or magistrate with the functions of civil govern-
ment, however imposing or significant they may be. ... Tender-
ing you, therefore, the awaiting confidence, the cordial sympathies
and the ready cooperation of the Fellows and Overseers, — in their
name and in their behalf, I now greet and welcome you as the Presi-
dent of Harvard College."

President Eliot's response: —

"Mr. President, — I hear in your voice the voice of the Alumni
welcoming me to high honours and arduous labours, and charging me
to be faithful to the duties of this consecrated office. I take up this
weighty charge with a deep sense of insufficiency, but yet with
youthful hope and a good courage. High examples will lighten the
way. Deep prayers of devoted living and sainted dead will further
every right effort, every good intention. The university is strong
in the ardor and self-sacrifice of its teachers, in the vigor and wis-
dom of the Corporation and Overseers, and in the public spirit of
the community. Above all, I devote myself to this sacred work in
the firm faith that the God of the fathers will be also with the
children."

355

John Fiske

him to refer to the great changes that have taken
place at Harvard during the past eight years —
since the time when, as an undergraduate, he was
threatened by the President with immediate ex-
pulsion if detected in disseminating "Positive"
ideas among his fellow students; whereas he has
now been called to expound to the students from
the lecturer's chair these same "pernicious opin-
ions." He then tells how the change has been
brought about, by overthrowing the clerical do-
mination of the college and placing the governing
power in the alumni, who, as an electorate, choose
the Board of Overseers. Fiske concludes his state-
ment thus: "So the university governs itself: the
alumni elect competent men for Overseers, who
choose a modern man for President, who appoints
a Spencerian as lecturer — and this is the house
that Jack built."

Spencer replied to this under date of November
I, 1869: —

"I congratulate you, Harvard, and myself, on
the event of which your letter tells me. It is
equally gratifying and surprising. That eight years
should have wrought such a change as to place the
persecuted undergraduate in the chair of lecturer
is something to wonder at, and may fill us with
hope, as it must fill many with consternation."

Spencer approved of Fiske's proposed volume
on language, and made some pertinent suggestions,
but admits that he is hardly prepared to offer any

356

Correspondence with Spencer

positive criticism. He finds Fiske's programme of
his lectures inviting, but regrets the use of the title
" Positive Philosophy," and fears that the confu-
sion between Comtism and English Positivism will
be worse confounded. He writes: "The scientific
world in .England, in repudiating * Comtism/ re-
pudiates also the name 'Positivism1 as the name
for that general aggregate of scientific doctrine to
which they adhere." He then makes this sugges-
tion: "Why should you not by using some neutral
title avoid committing yourself in any way? Might
not such a title as 'Modern Philosophy* or 'The
Philosophy of the Time* or 'Reformed Philoso-
phy1 — or something akin, answer the purpose?"

The whole tone of Spencer's letter shows his
appreciation of Fiske's growing power.

As both letters refer to the confusion of thought
that then existed in regard to the nature and im-
plications of Comtism, Positivism, and the rising
philosophy of Evolution, a brief explanation is in
place here.

For a number of years the "Philosophic Posi-
tive" of Auguste Comte had been in the field as a
philosophy based on science, as a philosophy freed
from all ontological metaphysics — in short, as the
last word in philosophy. While it made parade of
much scientific and historic knowledge, and while
it contained many suggestive insights into the
great universe of cosmic phenomena, as a philo-
sophical system it was so overladen with Comte's

357

John Fiske

purely subjective ideas, and was withal so atheis-
tical in its implications, that it met with the utmost
hostility from the theological world, and only a lim-
ited, quasi-support from the scientific world. Posi-
tivism, therefore, in the public mind, was classed
as a sort of scientific atheism.

About 1860 the philosophy of Evolution arose
out of the discovery of the correlation of physical
forces by Mayer, Joule, Helmholtz, the scientific
labors of Darwin in tracing the origin of species in
the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and the philo-
sophic thought of Herbert Spencer, seeking for
some universal principle underlying the whole
realm of the cosmic universe. This philosophy
presented the cosmic universe, including man, as
forever unfolding, as evolving from a lower to a
higher stage of phenomenal existence. It was also
founded on science, and presented all knowledge as
relative to human experience, as conditioned by
human experience. It could not rest, however, on
the relativity of knowledge as an ultimate datum,
and it therefore postulated as its final ultimate the
highest ontological conception that has been given
in the whole history of philosophy — an Infinite
and Eternal Being, far beyond the determination
of science, far beyond the power of the human
mind to cognize, as the source and sustentation of
the whole cosmic universe.

This Evolutionary philosophy, by reason of its
rising above and beyond all metaphysical onto-

358

Evolutionary Philosophy

logical speculation, was not comprehended in its
profound theistic implications by the theological
folk. It was by them denounced as atheistic in
character, and at one with the Positive philosophy
of Comte — as in fact the Comtian philosophy in
an English guise.

We shall see both Spencer and Fiske contending
for years to come against this confusion of thought
in regard to the Positive and the Evolutionary
philosophies. At present we have to note Fiske's
purpose, which was to show the completeness of a
philosophy based on the doctrine of Evolution as
an explanation of the Cosmos, and by contrast to
point out the very serious shortcomings of the
philosophy of Comte. He labored, however, under
one serious disadvantage — alluded to by Spencer
— a public misconception of the scope of his lec-
tures. The title was a misnomer. They were
called "Lectures on the Positive Philosophy " : they
were, in fact, "Lectures on the Evolutionary Phil-
osophy versus the Positive Philosophy."

While Fiske's direct purpose was the setting-
forth of philosophic doctrine, he was well aware
that the religious implications of this doctrine
would not find acceptance among the believers
in a revealed religion, in a religion based on theo-
logical dogmas transcending scientific verification.
He well knew that by such people the profoundly
religious character of the Evolutionary philosophy
would be entirely overlooked, and that he would

359

John Fiske

come under severe condemnation as an atheist and
an infidel. Yet he was not deterred from express-
ing his full thought; and the sincerity of his con-
viction that he was setting forth a Divine truth
of a higher, more commanding religious charac-
ter than any born of theological assumptions —
a truth that would ultimately become universal
among thinking men — was so strong, that it gave
to his whole exposition a deeply reverent tone.

The lectures began October 26 and were con-
tinued to December 10, 1869. Ordinarily they
would have passed without special comment be-
yond the collegiate circle. The audience, although
appreciative, was small and not in the slightest
degree revolutionary in character. Yet an explo-
sion was at hand. Professor Youmans, in New
York, ever on the lookout for opportunities to
advance the Spencerian philosophy of Evolution,
arranged, with Fiske's consent, for the publication
of the lectures unabridged in the "New York
World." The first lecture appeared in the " World"
for November 13, 1869, with a little flourish of the
editorial trumpet over the significance of such a
course of lectures at Harvard. Immediately an
alarm was sounded at what was called "Harvard's
Raid on Religion," and a wave of bitter objurga-
tion and denunciation broke forth from the religi-
ous and a portion of the secular press, against Har-
vard, President Eliot, Fiske, and the "World,"
in which it was charged that the institution and

360

Effect of his Lectures

publication of these lectures was "part of a plan
obtaining among free-thinkers to disseminate far
and wide attacks upon the system of revealed
religion."

This outburst of religious intolerance, so wide-
spread and so virulent in character, fairly startled
the quiescent conservative feeling in Cambridge
into questioning as to what the new President
would do to avert impending danger to Harvard
from such an aroused state of religious feeling. But
President Eliot apparently was not in the slightest
degree disturbed. He appears to have accepted as
a governing principle in the highest teaching of
the university the wise saying of Jefferson, "All
error may be safely tolerated, where reason is left
free to combat it." He knew what Fiske was try-
ing to do — that in a critical way, marked by
thorough knowledge and great fairness, he was try-
ing to rid the true Positive Philosophy of science of
the unphilosophical vagaries of Comte and give
it an interpretation in harmony with the English
school of scientific thinkers — men like Darwin,
Spencer, Huxley, Lyell, Mill, Bain, etc. There-
fore, he met the situation with perfect composure,
and in the midst of the hubbub, he took occasion
to express to Fiske his approval of the lectures
and requested their repetition the following year,
with an additional course devoted more particu-
larly to the presentation of the philosophy of Evo-
lution from the English viewpoint.

John Fiske

Fiske had much to cheer him, from his outside
audience, against this wholly unreasoning theolog-
ical rattle-t'-bang. The most significant of all the
sympathetic expressions he received came from
the everyday readers of the "World." I have be-
fore me as I write at least a hundred of the letters
sent to the editor of the "World," and sent by
him to Fiske; and they are indeed a revelation.
They are from professional men, business men, and
working men throughout the country, and they
testify, by the varied interests they represent, to
the great craving that exists in the public mind for
the highest philosophic truth when presented with
fullness, clearness, and honesty.

When the lectures were over, Fiske was tired.
For over three months his mind had been at ex-
treme tension, without any relaxation whatever.
He had in eighty-two days written six hundred and
fifty-four pages, quarto letter-paper manuscript,
hardly looking into a book save to verify quotation
or date. He writes thus: "I feel like a cat in a
strange garret with my work done. I can actually
take a nap in my hammock without telling Abby
to come and rout me out in half an hour."

After a few days of absolute rest he went to visit
his mother in New York. There he met many of
his friends, particularly Professor Youmans, Henry
Holt, the publisher, Manton Marble, the editor of
the "World," Mr. E. L. Godkin and John Dennett,
of the editorial staff of the "Nation," and several

362

Effect of his Lectures

old classmates. He was everywhere received with
marked appreciation, and Dr. William A. Ham-
mond, late Surgeon General of the United States
army, and an eminent alienist, gave a dinner in his
honor, where to a company of distinguished scien-
tists he was introduced as the expounder of the
new philosophy of science.

Thus the year 1869, which opened with Fiske's
plea for a new administration at Harvard that
should place the university in line with modern
progress, came to an end, having witnessed a series
of changes at the university that more than real-
ized his fondest hopes — changes which had called
him to service of the very highest character in be-
half of his beloved alma mater, the performance of
which had placed him foremost among the leaders
of liberal thought in America.

CHAPTER XIV

RENOMINATED AS LECTURER AT HARVARD — SIG-
NIFICANT LETTER FROM SPENCER — TO DEVOTE
HIMSELF TO THE PROPAGATION OF THE DOC-
TRINE OF EVOLUTION — ACTING PROFESSOR OF
HISTORY AT HARVARD — STUDIES AND LITERARY
WORK

1870

EARLY in January, 1870, President Eliot renomi-
nated Fiske as Lecturer on the Positive Philosophy
for the academic year 1870-71, and the nomina-
tion was confirmed by the Board of Overseers
without opposition. This fact, in connection with
the wide interest aroused by his first course of lec-
tures, led to a significant change in the whole tenor
of Fiske's thought — gave it, in fact, quite a new
direction and purpose. We have seen that ever
since his graduation his thought had been concen-
trated mainly upon philological questions, in the
endeavor to establish in the genesis and develop-
ment of language the working of the law of Evolu-
tion — a purely scholastic piece of work.

The wide discussion which followed his lectures,
even in their newspaper form of publication, and
the request by President Eliot for their repetition
and enlargement, brought to his consideration a
far more important task than the tracing-out of

364

Renominated as Lecturer

the law of Evolution in any single department of
knowledge — a no less important task than the
setting-forth of the theory of Evolution as a dy-
namic principle underlying all Cosmic phenomena,
with its theistic, its ethical, and its religious impli-
cations.

It is true that some of these implications had
been touched upon in the lectures recently given;
but as the lectures were prepared without any
definite purpose beyond combating the idea that
the theory of Evolution was synonymous with
the Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, Fiske
could not think of letting the lectures as delivered
stand as in any way an adequate presentation of
the doctrine of Evolution.

The response to his lectures, in the way of both
condemnation and approval, was clear evidence
to Fiske's mind that a presentation of the new
doctrine, stripped of all "Comtism" and with its
legitimate philosophical implications clearly set
forth, was greatly needed; and during the winter
of 1870 we find him giving serious thought to this
important undertaking. He weighed the whole
matter in his usual methodical way. He saw that
such an undertaking would necessitate a thorough
review of the sciences — particularly the historical
and sociological sciences, as well as a careful review
of the modern schools of philosophy in the light of
recent advances in biology, ethnology, physiology,
and psychology. He also saw, as conditioning the

365

John Fiske

proper execution of such a task, the necessity of a
visit to London, for he could not think of bringing
out a work on such a subject without consulting
with Spencer and the leading English scientists.

While considering this project, Fiske received
the following significant letter from Spencer: —

37 QUEEN'S GARDENS.

BAYSWATER, LONDON, W.

February 2, 1870.

My dear Fiske: —

Our friend Professor Youmans has duly for-
warded me, from time to time, copies of the "New
York World/' containing the reports of your lec-
tures. Though my state of brain obliges me to be
very sparing in the amount of my reading, and
though, consequently, I have not read them all
through, yet I have read the larger parts of them;
and of the latter ones I have read nearly or quite
all. This fact shows that they have produced in
me an increasing interest. Taken together they
constitute a very complete and well-arranged sur-
vey of the whole subject, which can scarcely fail
to be extremely serviceable, especially when it
comes to be repeated in an improved form, as I
learn from Professor Youmans it is likely to be
next session.

Into the latter lectures especially, you have put
an amount of original thought which gives them
an independent value. Indeed, in several of the
sociological propositions you set forth, you have
to some extent forestalled me in the elaboration
of the doctrine of Evolution under its sociological
aspects. I refer to the dominance you have given

366

Letter from Spencer

to the influence of the sociological environment,
and to the conception of social life as having its
action adjusted to actions in the environment,
which you have presented in a more distinct way
than I have as yet had the opportunity of doing.
When, some two or three years hence, you get a
copy* of the first volume of a set of doubly-classi-
fied Sociological Facts, which has been in course
of preparation for upwards of two years by Mr.
Duncan (who now holds the pen for me), you will
see that I have made the character of the environ-
ment, inorganic, organic and sociological, a con-
spicuous element in the tabulated account of each
society, with the intention of tracing the connex-
ion between it and the social structure.

You have made out a better case for Comte than
any of his disciples have done, so far as I am aware.
Or, perhaps, it seems so to me because you have
not joined with the more tenable claim, a num-
ber of untenable claims. If the word "Positive"
could be dissociated from the special system with
which he associated it, and could be connected in
the general mind with the growing body of scientific
thought to which he applied it, I should have no
objection to adopt it, and by so doing accord to
him due honour as having given a definite and co-
herent form to that which the cultivated minds of
his time were but vaguely conscious of. But it
seems to me as the case stands, and as the words
are interpreted both by the Comtists and by the
public, the amount of correct apprehension result-
ing from the adoption of the word will be far
outbalanced by the amount of misapprehension
produced.

367

John Fiske

In so far as I am myself concerned, I still hold
that the application of the word to me, connotes a
far greater degree of kinship between Comte and
myself than really exists. I say this not simply in
virtue of a reason which you naturally do not rec-
ognize in the way that it is recognized by me. I
refer to the fact that the elements of my general
scheme of thought which you have brought into
prominence as akin to those of Comte (such as the
relativity of knowledge and the deanthropomor-
phization of men's conceptions), have never been
elements that have occupied any conspicuous or
distinctive place in my own mind — they have been
all along quite secondary to the grand doctrine of
Evolution, considered as an interpretation of the Cos-
mos from a purely scientific or physical point of
view. You may judge of the proportional impor-
tance which these respective elements have all
along had in my mind, when I tell you that as I
originally conceived it, "First Principles" was
constituted of what now forms its second part;
that along with the succeeding volumes, it was in-
tended to be a detailed working-out through all
its ramifications of that conception crudely set
forth in the essay on "Progress, its Law and its
Cause," and that I subsequently saw the need for
making such preliminary explanation as is now
given in Part I (The Unknowable) simply for
the purpose of guarding myself against the charges
of atheism and materialism, which I foresaw would
most likely be made in its absence.

If you deduct the doctrines contained in this
part, and the doctrines set forth in the reply to
M. Laugel, which were not consciously included

368

Letter from Spencer

in my original scheme — if you conceive that as
I originally entertained it, and still consider it,
as essentially a Cosmogony that admits of being
worked out in physical terms, without necessarily
entering upon any metaphysical questions, and
without committing myself to any particular form
of philosophy commonly so called; you will begin
to see why I have all along protested, and continue
to protest, against being either classed with Comte
or described as a Positivist in the wider meaning
of that word. If you bear in mind that my sole
original purpose was the interpretation of all con-
crete phenomena in terms of the redistribution of
Matter and Motion, and that I regard all other
purposes as incidental and secondary; and if you
remember that a cosmogony as so conceived has
nothing in common with the Positive Philosophy,
which is an organon of the sciences; and further,
that a Cosmogony as so conceived is not involved
in that general Positivism that was current before
Comte or has been current since; you will see why
I regard the application of the word Positivist to
me as essentially misleading. The general doctrine
of universal Evolution as a necessary consequence
from the Persistence of Force, is not contained or
implied either in Comtism or in Positivism as you
define it.

I have gone thus at length into the matter,
partly because I want you to understand most
fully the grounds of my dissent, which you prob-
ably have thought inadequate; and partly because
it might be that in preparing your course for a
second delivery, the explanation I have given may
lead to some modification of statement.

369

John Fiske

Hence it happens that when certain views of
mine which are in harmony with those of Comte,
are put into the foreground as implying a funda-
mental kinship which makes the same title appli-
cable to both, the inevitable result is to exhibit,
as all essential, these quite secondary views, which
I should have been content never to have expressed
at all ; and by so doing to put into the background
the one cardinal view which it has been, and still
is my object to elaborate.

Pray do not suppose that in saying all this, I am
overlooking the sympathetic appreciation which is
everywhere manifested throughout your lectures,
or the frequent passages in which you have seized
the occasion to draw contrasts and to point out
the essential differences. But I have gone thus at
length into the matter with the view of showing
you a ground for my dissent which you have prob-
ably never perceived.

I was glad to gather from Professor Youmans
that your lectures were being favorably received.
I should hope that the appreciation has continued
to grow as you have progressed toward the end of
your series. Let me add that I hope you have not
suffered in health by the close application you must
have entailed on yourself in preparing so elaborate
a course of lectures in so short a time.

I am, very sincerely yours,

HERBERT SPENCER.

The significance of this letter lies, not so much
in what it reveals of Spencer's thought regarding
Comte and the Positive Philosophy, as in what it
reveals of Spencer's attitude at the time toward

370

Letter from Spencer

the ultimate questions of all philosophy with their
religious implications. This letter clearly states
that he regarded these ultimate questions as of
" incidental and secondary importance"; that in
his scheme as originally planned they were en-
tirely ignored; and that their consideration in his
" First Principles " was an afterthought, introduced,
not as necessary to his argument, but, as he says,
"simply for the purpose of guarding myself against
the charges of atheism and materialism, which I
foresaw would most likely be made in their ab-

sence."

This letter is perhaps the clearest evidence we
have of Spencer's wholly indifferent attitude to-
ward the Christian religion, and especially toward
the Christian conceptions of God and of the broth-
erhood of man. It has been felt by many that the
implications of the doctrine of Evolution as pre-
sented by him completely sweep away the funda-
mentals of the Christian religion without leaving
in their stead any tangible religious truth for the
mind to grasp; that while destroying that which
the Christian of whatever sect has for ages been
taught to regard as the highest verity — a dis-
tinctly personal, knowable God — he offers in its
place nothing but a vague intellectual generality or
abstraction.

This letter, coming at a time when Fiske was
giving serious thought to devoting himself to the
exposition of the new doctrine, produced a crys-

37i

John Fiske

tallizing effect in his mind. He felt that Spencer
was making a grave mistake in minimizing the
religious implications of his great doctrine. In
Fiske's mind these implications, with their bearing
on the religious faith and social well-being of Chris-
tendom were by no means unimportant considera-
tions, in that, rightly interpreted, they enlarged
the Christian conception of God from a purely
finite anthropomorphic conception to that of an
Infinite Eternal Being incapable of being conceived
by the human mind ; a Being of whom the cosmos
is but a phenomenal manifestation. And the sub-
jective implications of the doctrine were no less
ennobling, inasmuch as he found deeply implanted
in the human consciousness a feeling of depend-
ence upon, and aspiration towards, a Being or
Power transcending finite experience, together
with certain innate ideas of ethical conduct in
social relations — the whole conditioning man's
fulness of life, whereof his various civilizations
are but the evidences of his progressive develop-
ment.

And further, these philosophico-religious impli-
cations were of supreme importance in Fiske's
mind; not only because they formed the highest
aspect of Spencer's profound definition of life —
"the continuous adjustment of internal relations
to external relations"; but also because they were
intellectually constructive in their nature, and
prepared the way for higher and purer religious and

372

Acting Professor of History

social ideals than had obtained in any previous
system of philosophy.

While his mind was thus seething with these pro-
found philosophico-religious questions Fiske wrote
two articles, one entitled "The Jesus of History,"
and the other, "The Christ of Dogma/' * These two
articles were a clear, impartial summing-up of the
results of New Testament criticism at the time; and
were intended as a prelude to a work which had
been near his heart since his college days, a work
the preparation of which he was looking forward to
amidst all his subsequent engagements with the
deepest interest; a work to which he proposed to
give the title "Jesus of Nazareth and the Founding
of Christianity. "

In this winter of 1870, therefore, Fiske decided
that he would devote himself to the exposition of
the doctrine of Evolution with special regard to its
religious and social implications, as a most impor-
tant task.

And yet with such a noble purpose he did not
escape the relentless heresy-hunter. In January
of this year Professor Gurney, the University Pro-
fessor of History, was elected Dean of the Faculty;
and President Eliot nominated Fiske to occupy
Professor Gurney's chair for the spring term, as
Acting Professor of History. It was a good test of
the "liberality" of the Board of Overseers as well

1 These two essays were subsequently published in his volume of
essays entitled The Unseen World.

373

John Fiske

as of Fiske's prospects of advancement at the
college. The orthodox element in the Board of
Overseers, chafing under the steady progress of
President Eliot's liberalizing policy, was roused to
opposition, and a vigorous protest to Fiske's con-
firmation was promptly made. Itwas openly charged
that Fiske was a pronounced atheist, and the more
dangerous because of his learning and ability. It
was alleged that the Board had gone to the ex-
treme limit of toleration in confirming him as Lec-
turer on Philosophy : to go further and sanction his
occupancy of the chair of History, even tempora-
rily, would be an insult to all the traditions of the
college. The opposition was, indeed, bitter. Sev-
eral members lost their temper, and vowed they
would take their sons away from the college. The
confirmation was referred to a special committee,
who reported in favor of Fiske; and yet it required
the utmost persistency on the part of President
Eliot, supported by the very positive action of such
broad-minded clergymen as James Freeman Clarke
and Edward Everett Hale, — members of the
Board, — to carry the nomination through. Fiske
was confirmed, but by a bare majority.1

1 The following letter from the Reverend James Freeman Clarke
to his friend, the Reverend William R. Alger, is of interest here: —

JAMAICA PLAIN, February 17, 1870.
Dear Alger: —

I thank you for your note, and wish I had received it before the
meeting of the Board of Overseers. I decided to recommend the
Board to concur in the appointment of Mr. Fiske, for after reading
the reports of his lectures in the " New York World " I saw that he

374

Acting Professor of History

In the teaching of history Fiske found congenial
labor. His specific task as Acting Professor of
History was the interpretation of mediaeval history
to the senior class, and it was a great pleasure to
him to come in contact with a group of fresh young
minds in the exposition of one of his favorite stud-
ies. He met his class for recitation or lecture twice
a week, and the class appear to have been greatly
pleased with their instructor. Here are a few ex-
tracts from the letters : —

"May 26. Gave my seniors an extempore lec-
ture yesterday on the services of the Catholic
Church during the Middle Ages and they seemed
to like it a good deal. . . . James Freeman Clarke
witnessed a recitation of mine last week, and he
seemed to like the way I did it. ... To instruct
1 20 cheerful and gentlemanly fellows is not an
unpleasant task. I shall be rather sorry to get
through."

" June 8. Had my last recitation Monday and
was vociferously clapped and hurrahed by the
class for a good-bye and am invited to more

was no more of an atheist than Mansel was an atheist. I do not in
the least agree with his philosophy, nor that of Herbert Spencer.
I believe we can know God, though we cannot comprehend Him ; just
as we know a great many other facts which neither the understand-
ing nor the imagination can grasp. The knowing, however, goes
deeper than either. But if a man does not call himself an atheist, I
shall not call him so ; because from my premises my logic would lead
me to that conclusion. So I decided to recommend Mr. Fiske, which
made a majority of the Committee, and perhaps a majority of the
Board on that side. I shall hope some day to know Mr. Fiske, whose
vigorous and clear thoughts are very interesting to me.

Very truly yours,

JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE.

375

John Fiske

' spreads ' on Class-day than a man can go to in a
month. "

It was hoped by Fiske's friends that a better
understanding of his philosophical views, and the
demonstration of his rare qualifications for histori-
cal instruction would greatly mitigate, if not en-
tirely overcome, the theologic prejudice against
him at the college, so that he might at least be
given the Assistant Professorship of History. But
it should be considered that the controversy over
Darwinism and Evolution was at its height, and
that Positivism, Darwinism, and Evolution were
jumbled together by the theological folk as the
latest form of scientific infidelity, which not only
antagonized common sense, but also insulted a
divinely revealed religion by presenting man with
his rational mind as descended (we should now say
ascended) from a Simian ancestry. It should also
be considered that the theologic dogma of man's
special creation by Divine fiat was affirmed within
the college as an ultimate truth of science by Agas-
siz, with all the weight of his great influence.

Fiske's pronounced Darwinian and Evolution-
ary views had the effect, therefore, of uniting all
these influences into a bitter opposition to his
holding any permanent position in the instruction
at the college; and the opposition was so pro-
nounced that President Eliot did not again nomi-
nate him.

Fiske's labors in the Department of History, for

376

Studies and Literary Work

the spring term of 1870 were therefore the full ex-
tent of his instruction, but by no means the meas-
ure of his work at Harvard.

Notwithstanding his duties as Acting Professor
of History and the claims of philosophy upon his
thought, Fiske did not at any time neglect his clas-
sical or his philologic studies. In his mind these
studies, along with music, appear to have been
regarded as diversions, albeit to most persons the
manner in which the diversions were pursued
would seem a serious form of study. This personal
characteristic, however, should be noted, — for it
appears throughout Fiske's whole intellectual life,
— he found a supreme pleasure in whetting his
thought upon the intellectual masterpieces of the
race, and tracing in them the development of lan-
guage as a vehicle of thought expression. Of his
classical reading at this time he writes: —

" I am getting to read Greek almost like English.
I began the ' Odyssey ' last Sunday, and at odd
moments have read two thirds of it in five days. I
believe there is no intellectual pleasure like that
derived from reading the Greek poets. Divine old
creatures."

During the summer and autumn of 1870, Fiske's
chief activities were given to writing a series of
papers on popular mythology and superstition for
the "Atlantic Monthly, " some book reviews for
the "New York World," and to studies in the
history of music, with the purpose of writing an

377

John Fiske

article on the philosophy of music. This article
was never written ; and as I look over the prepara-
tion for it, — bearing in mind his rare musical
gift, — I cannot but express a regret that he
never carried out his purpose. He greatly enjoyed
writing the mythological articles, and they were
warmly appreciated by Mr. Howells, then editor
of the "Atlantic," — indeed, the letters reveal de-
lightful neighborly interviews between editor and
contributor during their preparation.

The book reviews for the "New York World"
comprised such works as Proctor's "Other Worlds
than Ours," Dalton's "Hereditary Genius," Hux-
ley's "Lay Sermons," Lankester's "Comparative
Longevity in Man and the Lower Animals," Dar-
win's "Descent of Man," and Gladstone's "Ju-
ventus Mundi — The Gods and Men of the Heroic
Age."

These reviews were not mere "book notices."
They were real reviews, and in the choice of sub-
jects and method of treatment there is shown the
steady broadening of the Evolutionary doctrine in
Fiske's mind, with its application to a wide variety
of subjective phenomena. The review of Glad-
stone's "Juventus Mundi" was in Fiske's best
vein, and was a clear and scholarly presentation of
the fact that while Gladstone, as a statesman,
might notably succeed in holding a "fretful realm
in awe," as a classical scholar, in the philological
and historical sense of the term, he was sadly de-

378

Book Reviews

ficient. Fiske showed the fairness and fine quality
of his criticism by heartily commending Glad-
stone's classical enthusiasm amid his great public
duties, as well as his " extensive and accurate knowl-
edge of the surface of the ' Iliad* and 'Odyssey/ "

In common with all thoughtful minds Fiske was
profoundly stirred by the Franco- Prussian War,
then raging, upon "which he comments thus to his
mother: —

"The downfall of Napoleon pleases me much.
He has been a fearful curse to France, killing her
morally, while cheating her with an appearance
of material prosperity. I hope this will be the last
of the Bonapartes. The Prussian success does not
surprise me unless by its wonderful rapidity and
completeness. I had n't the slightest expectation
that the French could withstand them. To under-
stand how the best class of Frenchmen regard
Bonapartism you should read Taxile Delord's
'Histoire du Second Empire.' '

On November 16, 1870, his third son, Ralph
Browning Fiske, was born. And during this latter
half of 1870, side by side with these varied inter-
ests, his second course of Harvard lectures, as-
signed to the spring term of 1871, were mulling in
his mind.

CHAPTER XV

SECOND COURSE OF HARVARD LECTURES — CORRE-
SPONDENCE WITH SPENCER AND DARWIN — LEC-
TURES ON EVOLUTION — PERSONA NON GRATA AT
LOWELL INSTITUTE — ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN AT
HARVARD — AGASSIZ ARTICLE — SAILS FOR QUEENS-
TOWN

1871-1873

THE year 1871 opened to Fiske with a task before
him of no slight nature — the delivery of thirty-
seven lectures on Philosophy, the last nineteen of
which were yet to be prepared, while of the first
eighteen many were to be materially revised. The
lectures were to begin February 15, and were to
continue twice a week until the 1 5th of June. The
letters during January reveal Fiske as completely
absorbed in thinking out the nineteen new lec-
tures preparatory to their composition, and it is
interesting to note what the "thinking-out" proc-
ess was. It consisted of getting into his mind, first
of all, through pure mental abstraction, a very
definite conception of his object. This done, the
writing out of his thought became to him com-
paratively an easy matter. I find no indication
whatever that he made any sketch plan of the
course, or that he even made any notes or refer-
ences to authorities; and yet the lectures, when

380

Second Course of Lectures

written out, fairly bristled with apposite quota-
tions from authorities in all departments of knowl-
edge. In fact, we have in his preparation for, and
writing-out of, these Evolutionary lectures, an-
other illustration not only of his method of working,
but also of the thorough command of his wide and
varied knowledge, and the readiness and logical
force with which he could marshal it in the exposi-
tion of his ideas.

It was while thinking out these lectures on Evo-
lution that Fiske clearly saw his way to weave
into them, as a permeating woof of thought, three
considerations of the very highest import in devel-
oping the doctrine of Evolution into a philosophi-
cal system. These were, first, the complete demon-
stration of the fact that there was not, nor could
there be, any possible congruity between the Posi-
tive Philosophy of Comte and the philosophy of
Evolution. Secondly, the positive, teleological, con-
structive nature of a philosophy founded on Evo-
lution, in that it posits an Infinite and Eternal
Being ' ' everywhere manifested in the phenomenal
activity of the Universe, alike the cause of all and
the inscrutable essence of all, without whom the
world would become 'like the shadow of a vision/
and thought itself would vanish/' Thirdly, the
identification of the religious implications of such
a philosophy with the two fundamental elements
of the Christian religion — love to God and love
to man. On the first point Spencer and Fiske were

John Fiske

in accord: the second and third points, as we have
seen, Spencer regarded as of incidental and secon-
dary importance.

The thirty-seven lectures were delivered pre-
cisely as planned — the last on the I4th of June.
The audience was small, with a slightly increased
number for the concluding lectures on Evolution,
notably by a few clergymen and students from the
Divinity School. While not large, the audience was
a thoughtful and responsive one. The publication
of the Evolutionary lectures in the "New York
World " promptly followed their delivery. They
were widely read; but their publication did not
cause any such outburst of theological denuncia-
tion as attended the first series. The fact was, the
theological folk saw that they had a new antago-
nist to face; one who was far from setting forth
any Comtian or atheistical doctrine; one who was
backed by the highest authorities in science; one
who was in very truth presenting a higher, a purer
form of theism than obtains in any Christian creed ;
and who was giving to existing ethical morality,
on the basis of individual and social conduct, an
origin and a binding force far transcending any-
thing found in the assumptions of Christian the-
ology.

Fiske was, of course, desirous of getting Spen-
cer's opinions on several points in the lectures, and
especially on his treatment of the sociological and
religious bearings of Evolution. Accordingly, he

382

Correspondence with Spencer

sent copies of the lectures to him, and from the
exchange of letters that took place the following
extracts are made.

Under date of September 29, 1871, Fiske writes
Spencer: —

. . . After much incubation on the subject, I have
come to think that you are right in refusing to ac-
cept the appellation "Positivist" in any sense in
which it is now possible to use the word ; and I can
see many points of difference between your phil-
osophy and that of the Littre school, which es-
caped my notice last year, and which are quite
fundamental, albeit not very conspicuous on a su-
perficial survey of the case. . . .

As the clear statement of the points of agree-
ment and difference between your philosophy and
Positivism is a matter of much importance, I hope
that, if you can spare the time to look over the
first part of lecture i8th, you will do so, and kindly
communicate to me any criticisms which may oc-
cur to you. I should like also to know what you
think of the term "Cosmic Philosophy1' and "Cos-
mism." In the iQth lecture, the significance of
these terms is still further illustrated.

Besides this I should like to invite your atten-
tion to lecture nth on "The Evolution of Intelli-
gence," and especially to lecture iyth on "Moral
Progress." In the latter I have rudely sketched a
theory of the transition from animality to human-
ity, from gregariousness to sociality, as determined
by that prolongation of infancy which is itself
due to the increasing complexity of intelligence. I
do not know that I have been anticipated in this

383

John Fiske

theory, and it seems to me to be a valuable con-
tribution to the discussion of the origin of society.
It would give me great pleasure to know what you
think of it. ...

. . . Before publication, I feel it very desirable
to come to England, and talk things over with you
and with Lewes, Mill, and Huxley. I should also
like to secure an English copyright on the book.
Always desirous of seeing you more than any one
else in the world, I now feel that I can make "busi-
ness1' a legitimate excuse for leaving home for a
few weeks. If I can possibly bring it about, I shall
sail for England early in the spring.

In reply to your kind inquiries after my health
and private circumstances, I may say, figuratively,
that to the strength of a gorilla and the appetite
of a wolf, I add the capacity for sleep of a Rip van
Winkle. Having a wife and little daughter and
three little sons to take care of, and having a strong
" gout du bien-etre" not to call it a taste for luxury, I
may find it rather hard to get on. Still, I find that
literary work pays better than I ever expected it
would. .This is partly due to the generosity of Mr.
Man ton Marble, proprietor of the "New York
World, " who has always given me unstinted space
in his columns, and paid me at high rates.

Rumour tells me that you are in better health
than usual, and ready to proceed rapidly with your
work. I am getting very impatient to see the " So-
ciology, " and the rapid appearance of the last four
numbers of the "Psychology" I have hailed with
unseemly and barbaric laughs of exultation. One
of my dearest hopes is to see you finish the whole
work, and then go back and insert the unwritten

384

Correspondence with Spencer

portion on inorganic phenomena; and one of my
most earnest labours will be to do what little I can
in helping to secure for the results of your profound
studies, the general recognition which they deserve,
and are surely destined to obtain.1 . . .

Hoping before long to meet you, I am
Yours faithfully,

JOHN FISKE.

The particular lectures in regard to which Fiske
especially desired Spencer's criticism were those
dealing with the evolution of human intelligence
and the development of theism and of moral and
religious ideals through the working of the un-
known evolutionary principle of life — a principle
which had been defined by Spencer as "the con-
tinuous adjustment of internal relations to exter-
nal relations." In point of fact, Fiske's request was
a courteous way of asking Spencer to define him-
self, on the subjects of theism and religion, more
completely than he had yet done in the setting-
forth of his philosophy. j

Under date of November 27, 1871, Spencer re-
plied : —

My dear Mr. Fiske : —

The packet of lectures safely reached me along
with your letter. Thank you very much for them.
Already I had read a good number of them with

1 In Fiske's original draft of this letter he wrote, and then can-
celled, the following: —

11 1 trust you will not tyrannize over later generations as Aristotle
did ; but I am sure they will rate you as high as he was rated in the
Middle Ages."

385

John Fiske

much interest (some of them brought by Youmans ,
and others sent to him), but several were missing,
and I am glad to have a tolerably complete series.
They cannot fail to be of immense service by pre-
senting the general view in a comparatively mod-
erate space. Beyond the advantage of brevity,
however, they have the great advantage of being
a coherent re-presentation of the doctrine as it
appears to another mind, a re-presentation which
cannot fail to be helpful to many. To the great
value which your lectures thus possess in their ex-
pository character, has to be added the farther
value they derive from the original thought run-
ning through them, which here and there eluci-
dates and carries out the general doctrine to great
advantage.

It is satisfactory to me to hear that the course
is likely to be repeated in Boston this winter, and
that you contemplate subsequently embodying it
in a volume. Good arrangements can doubtless
be made for you here, under the general system
of international publication which Youmans has
been doing so much to inaugurate. It will give me
great pleasure to see you in England, and to do
what I can toward furthering your aims. Mill,
you will not, I fear, be able to see. He is now at
Avignon and intends, I am told, to spend most of
his time there henceforth ; coming to England only
for a few weeks, probably in the summer. But with
the others you name, I shall have pleasure in bring-
ing you in contact.

... I have not had time to read, or re-read those
particular lectures, or parts of lectures to which you
refer, for I have been recently pressed in finishing

386

Correspondence with Spencer

some work that had to be done to date. Either
soon, or else before you come, I hope to prepare
myself to say something about them.

Meanwhile, respecting one of the questions you
raise, — that of the title, — I may as well say
what has occurred to me. To put my view in its
most general form, I should say that a system of
philosophy, if it is to have a distinctive name,
should be named, from its method, not from its
subject-matter. Whether avowedly recognized as
such or not, the subject-matter of philosophy is
the same in all cases. If it is consistently inter-
preted as that order of science which unifies the
sciences (and it has from the beginning had uncon-
sciously, if not consciously, this character), then
its subject-matter has all along been essentially
the same. The speculations of the Greeks had ref-
erence to the genesis of the cosmos, just as clearly
as the doctrine of Evolution has. And if so, it
seems to me that the title "Cosmic'* is not distinc-
tive. It applies to the system of Hegel, of Oken,
and of all who have propounded cosmogonies. The
word expresses simply the extent of the theory, and
may be fairly applied to every theory which pro-
poses to explain all the arrangement of things —
even though it be the theory of final causes. Hav-
ing regard to this requirement, that the title for a
Philosophy shall refer not to its subject-matter,
which it must have in common with other Philos-
ophy, but to its method, in which it may more
or less differ from them; I continue to prefer the
title " Synthetic Philosophy."

This and various other questions, however, we
can discuss at length, when you come to England.

387

John Fiske

Respecting the final revision of your lectures be-
fore publication, I would suggest that you should,
if you can, obtain the criticisms of experts on the
respective divisions of science dealt with. Here
and there there are statements and hypotheses
which seem to me open to criticism; while they
are not essential to the argument it is very impor-
tant to avoid giving handles to antagonists. In the
popular mind, a valid objection to some quite un-
important detail of an argument, is very often
taken for a disproof of the argument itself.

I am glad to have good accounts of your health
and vigour. There is plenty of work to be done,
and it is satisfactory to hear of one otherwise able
to do it, who is at the same time physically strong
enough.

Very sincerely yours,

HERBERT SPENCER.

While the general tenor of this letter gave Fiske
great encouragement, it left a tinge of disappoint-
ment in his mind, in that Spencer had evaded his
request, for particular criticism on the lectures
dealing with the application of the law of Evolu-
tion to the development of human intelligence, to
theistic, to moral, and to religious ideals. He was
further disturbed by Spencer's strong insistence
upon " Synthetic Philosophy" as a suitable title
for a philosophy based on Evolution — a title
which seemed to Fiske neither generic nor in any
way distinctive.

Two years later, we shall see these points again
brought under consideration, when Fiske, in per-

388

Correspondence with Darwin

sonal conference with Spencer in London, was re-
vising his lectures for publication.

Fiske also sent copies of the lectures to Darwin,
and the following correspondence ensued. As we
have here two self-revealing letters: the one from
a young man with rare mental endowments, seek-
ing with the utmost sincerity of purpose the high-
est truths in science and philosophy; the other from
one of the world's greatest scientists, wherein we
see a mind serenely poised after a contribution to
human knowledge of the very highest import, and
ready generously to welcome fresh thought from
whatever source, I give the letters entire: —

Fiske to Darwin

HARVARD UNIVERSITY,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., October 23, 1871.

Mr. Charles Darwin: —

My dear Sir, — Since it came in my way, in dis-
charge of my duties as lecturer at the university,
to notice your discoveries in so far as they bear
upon the organization of scientific truths into a
coherent body of philosophy, it has been my in-
tention to write and seek the honour of your ac-
quaintance, forwarding to you, as a sort of letter
of introduction the reports of my lectures.

A few days ago I met your two sons at dinner
(who afterwards kindly called at my house) and I
gave to Mr. F. Darwin the reports of a few of my
lectures to transmit to you. I cannot however re-
sist the temptation to write to you, and tell you
directly how dear to me is your name for the mag-
nificent discovery with which you have enriched

389

John Fiske

human knowledge, winning for yourself a perma-
nent place beside Galileo and Newton.

When your " Origin of Species" was first pub-
lished, I \vas a boy of seventeen; but I had just
read Agassiz's "Essay on Classification" with
deep dissatisfaction at its pseudo-Platonic attempt
to make metaphysical abstractions do the work
of physical forces; and I hailed your book with
exultation, reading and re-reading it till I almost
knew it by heart. Since then "Darwinism" has
formed one of the pivots about which my thought
has turned. And though I am no naturalist, and
cannot claim any ability to support your discov-
ery by original observations of my own, yet I have
striven, to the best of my ability, to point out the
strong points of your theory of natural selection,
and to help win for it acceptance on philosophic
grounds.

There is one place in which it seems to me that
I have thrown out an original suggestion, which
may prove to be of some value in connection with
the general theory of man's descent from an ape-
like ancestor. In the lecture on "Moral Progress"
(which along with others your son will hand you)
I have endeavoured to show that the transition
from Animality (or bestiality, stripping the word
from its bad connotations), to humanity, must
have been mainly determined by the prolongation
of infancy or immaturity, which is consequent
upon a high development of intelligence, and which
must have necessitated the gradual grouping to-
gether of pithecoid men into more or less defined
families.

I will not try to state the hypothesis here, as you

390

CHARLES DARWIN

Correspondence with Darwin

will get a clearer statement of it in the lecture.
I should esteem it a great favour if you would,
after looking at the lecture, tell me what you think
of the hypothesis. It seems to me quite full of
significance.

I am on the point of giving a few popular lec-
tures in illustration and defence of your views.
You will see from the papers, which I have sent
you, that I am an earnest admirer of Mr. Herbert
Spencer — a thinker to whom I am more indebted
than I can possibly tell ; and who has been so kind as
to give me some of his personal advice and assist-
ance by way of letters during the past seven years.
I hope before next summer to visit England, and
I count much upon seeing you, as well as Mr.
Spencer and Mr. Huxley. Meanwhile and always,
believe me, dear sir,

Yours with deep respect,

JOHN FISKE.

Charles Darwin to Fiske

DOWN BERKENHAM, KENT,
November 9, 1871.

My dear Sir: —

I am greatly obliged to you for having sent me,
through my son, your lectures; and for the very
honourable manner in which you allude to my works.
The lectures seem to me to be written with much
force, clearness, and originality. You show also an
extraordinary amount of knowledge of all that has
been published on the subject. The type in many
parts is so small that, except to young eyes, it is
very difficult to read. Therefore I wish you would
reflect on their separate publication; though so

39i

John Fiske

much has been published on the subject that the
public may possibly have had enough.

I hope this may be your intention; for I do not
think I have ever seen the general argument more
forcibly put so as to convert unbelievers.

It has surprised and pleased me to see that you
and others have detected the falseness of much of
Mr. Mivart's reasoning. I wish I had read your
lectures a month or two ago, as I have been pre-
paring a new edition of the "Origin," in which I
answer some special points; and I believe I should
have found your lectures useful; but my manu-
script is now in the printer's hands, and I have not
strength or time to make any more additions.

With my thanks and good wishes,

I remain, my dear sir,
Yours sincerely,

CHARLES DARWIN.

P.S. By an odd coincidence since the above was
written I have received your very obliging letter
of October 23d. I did notice the point to which
you refer, and will hereafter reflect more over it.
I was indeed on the point of putting in a sentence
to somewhat the same effect, in the new edition of
the " Origin" in relation to the query — why have
not apes advanced in intellect as well as man? but
I omitted it on account of the asserted prolonged
infancy of orang. I am also a little doubtful about
the distinction between gregariousness and hered-
ity. Memo, case of baboons.

When I have time and thought, I will send you
description.

When you come to England, I shall have much
pleasure in making your acquaintance; but my

392

Lectures on Evolution

health is habitually so weak, that I have very small
power of conversing with my friends as much as
I wish.

Let me again thank you for your letter. To be-
lieve that I have at all influenced the minds of able
men is the greatest satisfaction which I am capable
of receiving.

CH. DARWIN.

These letters of Spencer and Darwin confirmed
in Fiske's mind the wisdom of his purpose to de-
vote himself to the exposition of the philosophy of
Evolution, and he now sought engagements for a
course of lectures presenting Evolution as a philo-
sophic system, or for single lectures presenting
special points in the system, such as "The Mean-
ing of Evolution,'* "Evolution and Comtism,"
"The Nebular Hypo thesis, " "The Composition of
Mind," "Darwinism," "Science and Religion," etc.

During the winter of 1872 he delivered the com-
plete course of lectures in Boston, and he had rea-
son to be well pleased with the manner in which
they were received by a popular audience. The
audience was sympathetic from the beginning, and
two of the lectures he repeated by request. At
the concluding lecture, the expressions of grati-
tude for the new light he had thrown on the deep-
est of all problems — man's relations to the In-
finite — were so marked that Fiske was greatly
affected thereby. Writing to his mother, under
date of March 31, 1872, he says: — _

393

John Fiske

11 My concluding lecture — on the ' Critical Atti-
tude of Philosophy toward Christianity,' in which,
as the consummation of my long course, I throw a
blaze of new light upon the complete harmony be-
tween Christianity and the deepest scientific phil-
osophy, was given Friday noon, and was received
with immense applause. You ought to have been
there. I suppose there was some eloquence as well
as logic in it, for many of the ladies in the audi-
ence were moved to tears. Many were the expres-
sions almost of affection which I got afterwards,
and tokens thereof in the shape of invitations to all
sorts of things, concert tickets, etc., etc. Abby and
I held a regular levee for about an hour. Several
people told me that their lives would be brighter
ever after hearing these lectures; that they had
never known any pleasure like it, etc., etc.; and as
these things were said with moistened eyes, I have
no doubt they came from the heart. To me it is a
delight to have made so many friends. . . . The
best effect of it will be to destroy the absurd theo-
logical prejudice which has hitherto worked against
me, chiefly with those people who have n't had the
remotest idea of what my views are.

"I have long known that my views needed only
to be known to be sympathized with by the most
truly religious part of the community of whatever
sect; that when thoroughly stated and understood,
they disarm opposition, and leave no ground for
dissension anywhere — and this winter's experi-
ment has proved that I was right."

And yet, at this very time, while preaching this
profoundly religious philosophy, and holding to a

394

Lectures on Evolution

faith in the fair-mindedness of people that they
would understand the highest philosophic and re-
ligious truth when properly presented, Fiske could
not, because of his heretical opinions, speak before
the Lowell Institute of Boston, an institution es-
pecially established for the dissemination of knowl-
edge among the people.

It appears that President Eliot sought to have
Fiske invited to give his course of lectures before
this institution. He was not successful; and he
gives the result of his effort in the following letter
to Fiske : —

HARVARD COLLEGE,

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,

27 March, 1872.

Dear Mr. Fiske: —

I have done my best with Mr. Lowell about a
course of lectures for you, and on some accounts
he would like to give you one. But public atten-
tion has been called to your religious opinions — -
through no fault of your own — and Mr. Lowell
does not feel able to disregard in such a case the
following expression of the wishes of the founder of.
the Lowell Institute: —

"As infidel opinions appear to me injurious to
society, and easily insinuate themselves into a man's
dissertations on any subject, however remote it
may be from the subject of religion, no man ought
to be appointed a lecturer, who is not willing to
declare his belief in the Divine revelation, of the
Old and New Testaments, leaving the interpreta-
tion thereof to his own conscience."

395

John Fiske

I could not declare my belief in the "Divine
revelation" of the Old Testament and I don't be-
lieve you can; that is, in the accepted sense of the
words "Divine revelation."

I am very sorry for this obstacle to your prog-
ress; but I beg you not to be discouraged, and not
to abandon faith in the force of scholarship, and
sincerity, and in the real and ultimate liberality
of this community.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES W. ELIOT.
To JOHN FISKE, Esqr.

In spite, however, of theological opposition,
Fiske's reputation for fine scholarship, for fair-
mindedness in the discussion of controverted points
of doctrine, and for rare powers of philosophic ex-
position, steadily broadened. He was fortunate
in his friendships. In New York his friends, Pro-
fessor Youmans, Henry Holt, John R. Dennett,
and W. P. Garrison (of the "Nation"), Homer
Martin (the artist), Benjamin Frothingham (his
classmate), and a few others, were active in ra-
diating, as it were, from the Century Club — at
that time the centre of literary, scientific, and ar-
tistic thought in New York — influences in his fa-
vor, as the chief exponent in America of the new
philosophy of Evolution. The result was that soon
after the close of his lectures in Boston, he was
called to give four lectures in New York — one at
the Century Club on the "Composition of Mind,"
and three on "Evolution" at the Cooper Union.

396

Growing Reputation

The result was all that his friends could desire —
to hear him was, in the court of reason, to be per-
suaded in behalf of his doctrine. And this, with the
profound discussion over the origin of man opened
up by Darwinism, drew to the consideration of
his doctrine an ever-widening circle of thoughtful
minds.

Personal honors were not wanting. While in
New York William Appleton, the publisher, gave
a " Cosmos Dinner" in his honor, and among the
distinguished guests were William Cullen Bryant,
Abram S. Hewitt, Dr. William A. Hammond,
George Ripley (literary editor of the "New York
Tribune"), Professor Youmans, and Dr. Austin
Flint.

John Hay, then one of the editors of the "New
York Tribune," also gave a dinner in his honor.

Meanwhile, the influence of Fiske's thought, un-
known to himself, was spreading in the West, and
he received a call from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
for the delivery of the complete course of Evolu-
tionary lectures with a guaranty of at least five
hundred dollars for the course. The call was ac-
cepted for the following September, and its fulfil-
ment became (as we shall soon see) a memorable
experience in his life.

At this time Fiske had under consideration an
appointment as non-resident Professor of History
at Cornell University. President White of Cornell
was in full sympathy with Fiske's philosophical

397

John Fiske

views, and he very much desired to have the new
university rising at Ithaca, New York, give recog-
nition to the new school of scientific philosophy.
Very properly, therefore, he turned to Fiske for
assistance. Why Fiske did not accept an appoint-
ment which at the time would have been a con-
spicuous honor, was owing to a call to service in
behalf of his own alma mater. 1

k This call is set forth in the following letters to
Fiske from Professor Gurney and President Eliot.

Professor Gurney to Fiske

^CAMBRIDGE, i8th May, 1872.
Dear John : —

I proposed to Eliot, some time ago, that you
should be offered Abbot's place in the Library.1
I am glad to say that he has taken to the idea more
and more, and I dare say, has communicated with
you.

As I had thought the matter over with care
before proposing it to him, I hope I shall have
a chance of talking about it with you, before you
give an answer at any rate.

Very truly yours,

E. W. GURNEY.

This note was immediately followed by the of-
fer to Fiske, by President Eliot, of the position of
Assistant Librarian at Harvard College. The offer
was cordially accepted, and in a few days Fiske

1 Ezra Abbot was Assistant Librarian; but owing to the infirmi-
ties of the Librarian, John Langdon Sibley, Mr. Abbot had for some
time been the Acting Librarian. He had tendered his resignation. .

398

Assistant Librarian at Harvard

had the pleasure of receiving the following letter
from President Eliot : —

HARVARD COLLEGE,

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,

29 May, 1872.
JOHN FISKE, Esqr .
Dear Mr. Fiske : —

You were duly appointed Asst. Librarian for the
ensuing academic year by the Corporation on Mon-
day last with a salary for the year of $2500.

This appointment was to-day concurred in by
the Board of Overseers, with one dissenting voice.
You had better have a talk with Mr. Abbot about
getting instructed in the work, after you have paid
your respects to your official superior, Mr. Sibley.
Very truly yours,

CHARLES W. ELIOT.

This unsolicited appointment came to Fiske as
a most gratifying surprise. And it came at a time
of special need. While his philosophical lectures
had greatly extended his reputation, they had
taken a great deal of time from his productive liter-
ary work and this had brought him but very slight
return. He was therefore somewhat exercised over
his financial future. His new appointment gave an
assurance of a modest and steady income, although
it brought a round of exacting duties which left
but little time for literary and philosophical writ-
ing, or for lecturing. It was the hope of his friends
that this appointment would pave the way for his
advancement to a professorship at the college.

399

John Fiske

Fiske's work at the Harvard Library did not be-
gin until October. During the summer he was busy
getting settled in a new home at No. 4 Berkeley
Street, Cambridge, and in finishing various liter-
ary matters, — among them getting his "Atlantic
Monthly'1 mythological papers ready for publi-
cation in book form under the title of "Myths
and Myth-Makers/' — and also in making himself
acquainted with his duties as librarian.

On July 22, 1872, his second daughter, Ethel,
was born.

The month of September was given to the de-
livery of his Evolutionary lectures in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. I regret that I can make room for but
a few extracts from the very deeply interesting let-
ters to Mrs. Fiske, in which Fiske so graphically
sets forth his experiences during this his first isola-
tion at a distance from all his home surroundings.

On his arrival at Milwaukee he was cheered
by the good prospect for his lectures. There had
been a sale of over one hundred season tickets.
He was especially pleased to find that the lectures
were to be given in a Unitarian Church.

He gives his first impressions of Milwaukee
thus: —

"There is celestial music of brass and reed bands.
The city is very beautiful. I am ravished with the
yellow Milwaukee brick. Never saw anything so
picturesque for building material.

"No language can do justice to the beauty of

400

Lectures in Milwaukee

the weather and the climate, the blue loveliness of
Lake Michigan, and the cheery brightness of the
city. The streets are lively here on Sunday; beer-
shops wide open, and street music — quite Euro-
pean. I have Germans at my lectures, and am
smiled on at the big beer-garden where a glass is
ordered for the 'Herr Professor,' as I make my ap-
pearance about 4 P.M."

He meets two old friends, the Reverend John L.
Dudley, formerly of Middletown, Connecticut, and
a sort of spiritual adviser in his youth, when Fiske
was passing through his trying religious experi-
ences;1 and his classmate Jeremiah Curtin. We
shall meet with both these old friends later. Of
the former he writes : —

"I should be lonely, and homesick, were it not
for Dudley with his good old smile, and his dreamy
talks about philosophy. The old fellow's black
hair is getting plentifully streaked with gray; but
he is the same dear old dreamer, myth-maker, and
poet, that he always was. His house is quite a little
garden of delights."

Of Curtin, Fiske writes: —

" Thursday who should call to see me but the
world-renowned Jeremiah Curtin, with whom I
spent all day Friday, and who left for Russia yes-
terday morning. Jerry is still on his muscle lin-
guistically— speaks now more than 40 languages
fluently, and reads about 25 or 30 more. During the
past few years he has been exploring the by-ways

1 See ante, p. no.
401

John Fiske

of Slavonic Europe, and can now talk in every
Slavonic language almost as readily as in English —
so he says, and I have no doubt he can. I found
him possessed of a very plethoric budget of amus-
ing and instructive experiences."

Here is a passage in a letter written September
17, which reflects the deep tenderness of Fiske's
nature : —

" Eleven years ago to-day was the day I asked
you to write to me up at Petersham.1 O, if we only
were in Petersham now (dearest spot on earth)
with our precious little flock! I am eaten up with
homesickness, and think if I can ever see New
England again, I shall be content never to travel
at all! I crave every word from home as a drunk-
ard craves his liquor, and the kindest thing you
can do for me will be to write a little almost every
day, even if it is only half a page, so that only I
may see an envelope directed by you, when I go
for my mail. Do keep writing, and tell me about
all the little ones — don't leave one of them cut!"

And here is the record of the beginning of an ac-
quaintance that deepened into a warm personal
friendship which lasted to the end of Fiske's
life: —

"Monday I was handsomely treated by a uni-
versally accomplished young man by the name of
Peckham." 2

1 See ante, pp. 245-48.

2 George William Peckham, City Librarian, Milwaukee; Presi-
dent of the Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Letters; and
author of several notable contributions to entomological science.

402

Library Work

Of Mr. Peckham's many courtesies, of Fiske's
pleasant meetings with many cultivated people,
German refugees and Catholics among the num-
ber, and of the public interest in his lectures, which
increased to the end, the letters make frequent
mention.

Fiske returned from Milwaukee, by way of New
York, stopping there three or four days to visit his
mother and to receive the felicitations of his
friends Youmans, Holt, Dennett, and others upon
the favoring prospects that were opening before him.

Fiske began his official work at the Harvard
Library the 1st of October, 1872. The Library at
this time contained some 160,000 volumes with a
great quantity of unclassified and uncatalogued
material consisting of pamphlets and unbound vol-
umes. For several years Fiske's predecessor, the
eminent Biblical scholar and critic, Professor Ezra
Abbot, had been engaged upon the great task of
bringing this in many respects unorganized collec-
tion into condition for ready reference through
what is now known as the card system of cata-
loguing, — a system then comparatively new, —
whereby the whole collection of books and pam-
phlets was to be alphabetically catalogued by titles,
and then these titles classified by subjects, and the
subjects also alphabetically catalogued. Professor
Abbot's work had been greatly hampered for want
of assistants, and at the time of his resignation the
cataloguing was greatly in arrears.

403

John Fiske

Of his varied duties as librarian, Fiske has
given such an interesting account in his published
volume, " Darwinism and Other Essays," that I
need not dwell upon them here, further than to say
that the carrying-on of the cataloguing of the Li-
brary with the means at his command was a press-
ing need and one that he had to face. While he did
not bring to his task any practical experience in
the clerical routine work of the library, he brought
something far more necessary to its practical needs,
— a service wholly exceptional in character and
without which the library would have been even
more severely handicapped than it was during
this period of transition to the great practical li-
brary that it is to-day This service was his power
of classification arising from his familiar acquaint-
ance with the various departments of human knowl-
edge, whereby he was enabled to carry on in some
measure, although checked by serious obstacles,
Professor Abbot's scheme of having the contents
of the library classified and catalogued by subjects
as well as by titles.

Fiske entered upon his duties with great ardor
and soon brought himself in conformity with the
routine requirements. He quickly mastered the
conditions for the work of cataloguing, and planned
for expediting the work; but just as he had got his
plans ready for the consideration of the Commit-
tee on the Library there came the great Boston
fire, November 9 and 10, 1872, byjwhich Harvard

404

Library Work ,

College met with a heavy loss in its invested funds.
For a time, it seemed as though a material reduc-
tion in expenditures would have to be made through-
out the college; and the letters reveal Fiske as fac-
ing not only the giving-up of his plans for expe-
diting the catalogue work, but also the probable
reduction of the present inadequate library force,
with perhaps a reduction of salary for those who
remained.

By the prompt action of the friends of Harvard,
however, the current needs of the college were pro-
vided for by the raising of a generous relief fund,
and the administration was relieved from the ne-
cessity of curtailing in any marked degree its exist-
ing very economical expenditures. Fiske's plans,
however, for expediting the cataloguing of the
library had to be postponed.

Obliged to suspend that portion of his work as
librarian most congenial to him, Fiske soon settled
down to the daily routine of supervising the cleri-
cal work of the library, and during the ensuing six
months, — November, 1872 to May, 1873, — his
literary work was entirely suspended save the writ-
ing each month of two or three pages of " Science
Notes " for the " Atlantic Monthly." During this
period two things worthy of note occurred — the
publication of his book on "Myths and Myth-
Makers," and the repetition of his lectures on
Evolution in Boston. His Myths volume was his
first book publication, and it was felicitously dedi-

405

John Fiske

cated to his friend Howells.1 The book was very
favorably received both in America and England,
and as we shall see later, it formed a very mem-
orable introduction of Fiske to George Eliot.2

The repetition of his lectures in Boston in the
winter of 1873 attracted a much larger audience
than on their first delivery at Harvard, and they
were attended with even more marked expressions
of appreciation than were given to their delivery in
Bos ton the year previous. Indeed, their close brought
to him a tribute the most gratifying he could re-
ceive, and one that touched his deepest feelings.

Among his hearers in Boston was Mrs. M. A.
Edwards, a lady of great refinement and intelligence,
who became profoundly impressed with the impor-
tance of the religious implications of the philosophy
of Evolution as presented by Fiske, and who saw a
supreme act of social service in assisting Fiske to
get his ideas before the public in published form.
On hearing that Fiske was withholding his lectures
from publication until he could make it conven-
ient to consult with Herbert Spencer, Darwin,

1 The dedication was as follows: —

To MY DEAR FRIEND
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS

IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT AUTUMN

EVENINGS SPENT AMONG WERE-WOLVES

AND TROLLS AND NIXES

I DEDICATE
THIS RECORD OF OUR ADVENTURES

2 See post, p. 484.

406

European Trip

Huxley, and other Evolutionists in England, Mrs.
Edwards, with true womanly delicacy, sent a note
to Mrs. Fiske enclosing a check for one thousand
dollars, which she wished appropriated to the ex-
penses of a journey to England for the revision of
Fiske's lectures for publication in the light of the
Evolutionary thought prevailing in England.
i A most enthusiastic family council was at once
held. The next step was to get a leave of absence
from the college — and here, President Eliot met
Fiske's application in the most cordial spirit, telling
him he should * 'seize the opportunity by all means ' ' ;
and to give Fiske ease of mind, he not only had
his leave of absence granted, he also had his ap-
pointment as assistant librarian made permanent.
i With every obstacle to his long-looked-for Euro-
pean trip removed, Fiske turned his thought to
arranging a detailed plan of his journey. I have
before me his itinerary of four and a half letter-
pages in his clear, beautiful handwriting, in which,
after a careful study of the European means of
transportation, he projected a plan for every day's
activity during the entire Continental journey.
While the plan was not carried out in all its de-
tails, — he at first thought of visiting Greece and
Constantinople, — the itinerary, as originally laid
out, is a self-revealing autobiographic document, in
that it unmistakably shows what were the domi-
nant interests in European history and civiliza-
tion in Fiske's mind, as he contemplated bringing

407

John Fiske

a goodly portion of the physical features of the
European continent under direct obsersation.

It is evident that he proposed to observe Euro-
pean civilization in the light of Spencer's law of
life — "the continuous adjustment of internal re-
lations to external relations." Hence we see him
proposing to observe Nature with her external pro-
visions for human life, together with man's utili-
zation of her forces for convenient living as well
as his artistic creations — especially his architec-
ture— expressive of his spiritual life. And then,
as supplementary to all these, Fiske longed to look
upon places made memorable by great lives —
lives which have left the human race their debtors.
Hence in his original plan he proposed to look
upon what remains of the physical and social en-
vironment of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well
as upon the surroundings of Marcus Aurelius and
Caesar, of Dante and Michael Angelo, of Shake-
speare and Newton, of Voltaire and Goethe. i

As one of the principal objects of his visit to
England was to consult with Herbert Spencer, as
soon as he had completed his arrangements for
sailing he advised Spencer of his projected visit
by the following letter: —

HARVARD COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., June 8, 1873.

My dear Mr. Spencer : —

At last I seem likely to see you face to face. An
unexpected and surprising stroke of good fortune

408

European Trip

enables me to spend a year in Europe. I shall sail
from Boston in the ' Olympus' August I2th reach-
ing Queenstown, I suppose August 22d. I shall land
there and run through Ireland and over to Glas-
gow; and my further plan is to go slowly through
parts of Scotland and England, reaching London
about the middle of October.

I should now like very much to know whether
you are likely to be in Scotland or northern Eng-
land in September, so that I might run across your
path? Also when are you likely to return to Lon-
don for the winter? When are Mr. and Mrs. Lewes
likely to have returned to London? Mr. Darwin
has invited me to visit him, at his place in Kent:
am I likely to be able to accomplish all these things
by reaching London about October I5th and re-
maining there till Christmas?

I intend to take a room in London and devote
myself to completing and publishing my lectures
in book-form. If this can be accomplished by mid-
winter, I hope then to go to Italy, and thence in
April to Germany and thence in July to Switzerland,
returning to America in August — I should be glad
to spend the whole year in England, but as I may
not again have an equally good opportunity to
visit the Continent, I feel that I ought not to let
this one slip. During the past two years my health
has suffered somewhat from overwork and monot-
ony; and I think a good deal of variety for one
year will bring back some of the youthful snap.

I count more upon seeing you than upon any-
thing else connected with my journey; and I hope
to get a few good talks with you without making
too great demands upon your time.

409

John Fiske

Youmans has just sent me a specimen of your
Sociological Tables, and I am very much interested
in it. I hope the " Sociology " itself is not to be long
delayed.

With warm anticipations of the coming autumn
I remain,

Ever faithfully yours,

JOHN FISKE.

In addition to arranging for the conduct of the
work at the library during his absence, Fiske had
two pieces of literary work to do before sailing —
the writing of an essay on Darwinism, or " From
Brute to Man," for the " North American Review,"
and an article on Agassiz for the " Popular Science
Monthly." The letters reveal him tugging at his
task during the intervening hot July days, cheered
by visions of the Scotch Highlands, which he
seemed to see near at hand. Both articles were
finished on time, although work on the Agassiz
article was continued till the last moment. Just
before starting for the steamer he writes : — I

" Chauncey Wright dropped in and solaced —
or distracted my last packing moments with phil-
osophy. But I fixed up my Agassiz article, in spite
of him." Fiske's purpose in the Agassiz article was
to show that Agassiz's opposition to Darwinism was
individual and personal, was not based on a com-
plete knowledge of Darwin's contribution to the
great discussion, and was not in accord with the
leading scientific thought of the time. Fiske duly

410

European Trip

appreciated Agassiz's important contributions to
science, and was by no means insensible to the
charms of his rare personality; but he was deeply
stirred at the wholly undue weight which the theo-
logical world was attaching to Agassiz's opinions,
making him a sort of pope on ultimate scientific
questions, notwithstanding the fact that the scien-
tific world was against him. Hence Fiske was
goaded into a criticism which, had he known the
critical condition of Agassiz's health, he would have
greatly modified. His object was to bring Agassiz's
contention for the special creation of man by Di-
vine fiat, which was then a vital religious as well as
an important scientific question, under the broad-
est discussion.1

August 12, 1873, Fiske sailed from Boston for
Queenstown, on the Cunard steamer " Olympus/1

1 The article was published in the Popular Science Monthly for
October, 1873. Agassiz died December 14, 1873. Through his teach-
ing, through his public lectures, and through his personal sacrifices
in establishing his great Museum of Natural History at Cambridge,
a monument to the very doctrine of Evolution which he condemned,
Agassiz had won the hearts of the American people, who felt his death
as a national loss. Under these circumstances Fiske's article was
untimely, and so far as it was considered in America, was regarded
as unjust. Quite a different opinion, however, in regard to the article
was expressed in England, as we shall see a little later when Agassiz's
position as a scientist was brought under discussion by some of the
foremost thinkers and scientists of the time.

CHAPTER XVI

DIVERSIONS — PIANO PRACTICE AND MUSICAL COM-
POSITIONS— BEGINS COMPOSITION OF A MASS —
PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT AND RELIGIOUS FEELING
— DOMESTIC LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE AND PETERSHAM

I87I-I873

Now that we have seen Fiske set sail for England
for the purpose of completing his philosophic task,
before following him through his English experi-
ences which made the visit a memorable epoch in
his life, it is well to turn back and briefly note
two forms of diversion which accompanied the
phase of his intellectual life that we have been
pursuing.

We have had frequent occasion to note his
strong musical taste — we might say, his passion
for music. It is evident that had he chosen to de-
vote himself to music, he would have become dis-
tinguished in the musical profession. As it was, he
became greatly respected by leading musicians, as
a keen appreciator and critic of the higher forms
of musical composition and rendering. It is inter-
esting, therefore, to note that at this important
period of his life, when he was grappling with the
greatest of themes that can engage the human
mind, his musical taste asserted itself, and in two
directions — in piano studies for the mastery of

412

Musical Diversion

the piano as a means for musical expression, and
in musical composition.

Fiske's piano studies were an after-dinner diver-
sion of an hour. He was aided in this practice
by his friend Mrs. Alexander Mackenzie, of whose
generous assistance he writes to his mother under
date of March 2, 1871, thus: —

" My amusements at present are limited to play-
ing piano duets with the orthodox minister's wife,
our warm friend, once a week. She is a most fin-
ished and artistic pianist, and it is about as useful
to me as taking lessons. I felt much encouraged
and flattered by the invitation. I take the hour be-
tween the close of lecture and dinner each Wednes-
day. We began with Mendelssohn's ' Midsum-
mer Night's Dream/ and shall by-and-by take
something harder. I learn much in this way, and
am getting into the true way of fingering."

And a little later he writes : —

"We are now on Mozart's four-hand Sonata in
D and several polonaises. I have mastered a Noc-
turne of Chopin all but two bars. If you ever see a
concert programme with Mendelssohn's Meerestile
Overture on it, don't fail to go and hear it. You
would never forget it. It is one of the most mar-
vellous pieces of harmony ever conceived. It is
like the music of angels." 1

Fiske became very proficient with the piano, so
much so that he could readily extemporize upon
it, and thus it became to him a great means of men-
tal relaxation, of expressing feelings through harmo-

413

John Fiske

nies and without words. He soon put his musical
proficiency to service in giving form to his reli-
gious feeling. I find mention of two hymns com-
posed at this time with these suggestive titles,
"Come unto Me/' and "A Hymn of Trust." The
latter was in E major with modulation in C sharp
minor, and he says of it: " I composed it last even-
ing. It is good, I think."

Under date of December 24, 1871, he writes: —

" I have sketched the Qui Tollis of my Mass,
soprano solo, semi-chorus, full chorus in D minor.
I am trying to avoid my fault of too complicated
harmony and excursive modulation, and so far feel
more satisfied with it than with any of my older
things. I don't know as I shall finish it, for a Mass
is a long thing, and I get no time to write what I
have already composed of it. Sometimes my head
is bubbling and boiling with harmonies as I go
about in the horse-cars or on foot."

A little later: —

"My Mass has spoiled, for the time being, my
piano practice. I have scored the Kyrie and Glo-
ria, and composed the Qui Tollis, Quoniam, Cum
Sancto Spiritu, and got half-way through the
Credo. The accompaniments bother me. I can hear
the violins, clarionets, hautboys, flutes, trumpets,
drums and organ coming in where they ought: the
double-basses crooning, the cellos sighing, etc., but
I don't know how to write for these instruments,
and so shall have to be content with a plain organ
accompaniment. Not much matter though, as I

414

Composing a Mass

shall probably never hear it any way except with
the ears of the imagination. Two or three musi-
cians have examined the score as far as it has gone,
and like it. John Paine says the melody and har-
mony are good, some of the themes grand — at
any rate, a few bars per day of it serve for a relief
to the mind."

And still later he writes : —

" My Mass has got thus far: —

"i. Kyrie Eleeson — Chorus — Adagio.

"2. Gloria in Excelsis — Chorus, Allegro Mod-
erato.

"3. Qui Tollis — Solos and Chorus Larghetto.

"4. Quoniam — Solo Allegretto.

"5. Cum Sancto Spiritu — Fugue Allegro Con-
brio.

" 6. Credo — Chorus — Allegro.

11 7. Et incarnatus est — Chorale Andante.

"This makes just half of the whole Mass. The
1 Crucifixus ' — an alia breve fugue — is taking
shape in my head. You will like this music even
as sketched on the piano. Paine says, it contains
much that ' a great composer need n't be ashamed
of.' The harmony is for the most part simple,
and the general style rather antique. The ' Cum
Sancto ' is a very rapid and spirited fugue — a
style which I always supposed beyond my reach
— but I did it in one after-dinner hour — I don't
know how."

In 1872 he was still at work upon it. On April 1 1,
1872, he writes: —

" I have finished my ' Crucifixus' and sketched

415

John Fiske

the ' Resurrexit,' so that the Mass is two- thirds
done." ,

The last mention of the Mass in this connection
was February 6, 1873, when he wrote: —

11 1 am studying Cherubini on counterpoint, and
am working at the 'Pleni Sunt Coeli' of my Mass
— which I am making an elaborate fugue, the
parts entering at regular distances and intervals,
and working up into a tremendous climax with a
long cantus firmus." ; j

It may be said that there is a marked inconsist-
ency here between Fiske's philosophical thinking
and his musical feeling — that while intellectually
he had no place for Christian dogma, yet in his
heart he made the Eucharist the subject of his
sublimest feeling and aspirations. ,

But there was no inconsistency. In his philosoph-
ical system Fiske regarded the Christian dogmas
as outgrown symbols of religious thought and be-
lief which had served their purpose — and a great
purpose — in the development of man's religious
thought; and he was so justly minded that he could
survey with impartiality and with a sympathetic
feeling, the centuries of Christian history when the
Eucharist was the deepest, the profoundest expres-
sion of the religious feeling of mankind. His Mass
was an attempt to give expression to this feeling in
its historic, poetic sense, with all the enrichment
he could give to it through the musical art. His
philosophy and his Mass, therefore, were in accord

416

Domestic Life

in this, that both affirmed the religious emotions
as the deepest impulses of the human soul: the
Mass was an attempt to give to this feeling an
artistic, historic form. In the same sense he re-
garded the oratorios of Handel, Bach, and Haydn
as the highest expression of religious emotion, and
he could enter into the full enjoyment of the " Crea-
tion," the "Elijah," or the " Messiah" without
thought of their dogmatic significance. There are
many who recall occasions when the great oratorios
were produced by the Handel and Haydn Society
of Boston — how the profoundly impressive cho-
ral parts quite overcame him.

In Fiske's mind Christianity was the mightiest
drama in human civilization: it was his rare gift
that he could appreciate it with the feeling of the
poet as well as with the critical judgment of the
philosopher.

Fiske was preeminently a domestic man in all
his tastes and feelings. His home was the centre
of his life, his "earthly paradise." And the letters,
while revealing the workings of his mind on the
profoundest questions of philosophy, constantly
bear witness to the tender regard and solicitude,
the deep affection, he had for his wife and his chil-
dren. The anniversaries of the main events in his
courtship and marriage were never forgotten, and
we already have had occasion to note how ten-
derly they were cherished if perchance he was away
from his home. His patience with and his delight

417

John Fiske

in his children, which have already been noted, re-
flected the happy poise of his mind in his inter-
course with them. He delighted in their childish
propensities to know about things, and he had a
ready sympathy for them in all their little mis-
fortunes. One of his chief delights was to picnic
with them: if in Cambridge, at Spy Pond, a beau-
tiful sheet of water a couple of miles or so distant;
if in Petersham, in the many attractive places
roundabout, such as Tom's Swamp, Philipston
Pond, and " Cut-Supper " Wood, so called by
William James; a beautiful spot, where he and the
Fiskes were wont to tarry beyond the supper-hour.
The picnics at Spy Pond were of special interest.
They were usually made on Sunday. Apropos of
this statement we have a letter to his mother of
November 12, 1873: —

"Next Sunday Abby and Harold, Clarence and
I are going to take a car to Arlington and then
walk around Mystic Pond, a most exquisitely
beautiful bit of country road of six miles. We shall
take a basket of sandwiches and ale, and picnic
under a giant oak tree and have a good time. Pos-
sibly the weather may turn cold and prevent us,
but so far the season is warm and we hope to carry
out this little November picnic. These little Sun-
day frolics with Abby and the children make up my
greatest happiness. And how I bless the day when
I can enjoy life with them!"

Partly for such excursions Fiske had had made
from his own design a double perambulator, or

418

Domestic Life

push carriage, large enough to take in two, and, if
need be, three, of the children. Into this carriage he
would pack Maud and Harold and sometimes little
Clarence, and then pushing the carriage he would
wend his way through the market gardens of North
Cambridge and Arlington to the pond, supremely
happy to put aside for the time being all the prob-
lems of philosophy to make himself one in the little
world of his children 's delights and imaginations.
Occasionally his friend John K. Paine was one of
the party, and on one excursion he met James Rus-
sell Lowell, who, looking at his precious freight,
said in the vernacular of Hosea Biglow, "I wish
they wuz every one on 'em mine."

And then there was the annual June visit to Bos-
ton of Barnum's Circus, which was looked forward
to every spring by the little Fiskes with the fondest
anticipations. One of my pleasantest recollections
of Fiske is his appearance on one of these happy
occasions with Maud and Harold on either side and
little Clarence in his lap, and his own countenance
— to use a Dickens expression — "one vast sub-
stantial smile."

This becoming a companion with his children
in the little world of their concerns produced at
times striking effects when the children, having
been brought into contact with his larger philo-
sophic thought, endeavored in a naive, childish
way to appropriate this thought to their own expe-
rience. Maud and Harold were not excluded from

419

John Fiske

the library when intimate friends like Paine, Wil-
liam James, Howells, Chauncey Wright, Professor
Gurney, or Roberts were calling, and when the
conversation turned, as it often did, on the great
problems of Evolution. The children were quiet,
thoughtful observers and listeners; and reflections
of the library discussions were not unfrequently
taken upstairs and seriously applied to questions
less complicated than that of Evolution. On one oc-
casion a difference of opinion arose between Maud
and Harold over some weighty matter in their ex-
perience, when the following argument was over-
heard : — i

"Well, Maudie, I guess it was due to the eccen-
tricity of the earth's corbit."

41 No, Rally, I think it was due to the convapora-
tion of Saturn's rings."

The fine poetic side of Fiske' s nature is clearly
reflected in the following passage in a letter to his
mother of June 19, 1872, in which he sketches his
immediate home surroundings : —

"As I sit here at work and occasionally glance
out of the window, I might imagine myself in thick
woods. I cannot see the street or any other house —
nothing but a little Gothic church spire over the
tree tops. Still I get plenty of sunlight all day —
it breaks in through the leaves. Though in the
very centre of Cambridge the stillness is profound,
almost like Petersham. The song of birds is al-
most the only sound which comes in from morn
till night — little sweet twitters, with now and then

420

Domestic Life

a distant cock-crow. It is a delicious place. Now
and then I hear a little voice, and, looking out,
see Maudie's flax, or Clarence's or ' Barley's' little
red head down among the bushes; or perhaps Wini-
fred Howells, reading to Maud under the apple-
tree."

And now, August n, 1873, the time had come
when Fiske must leave his little flock for a whole
year's absence. They were all in Petersham. The
day before leaving he took them to drive to the
various places made dear by associations. He left
at six o'clock in the morning, and the parting was
"sorrowful and heavy." His ride to the cars at
Athol, nine miles distant, took him over the same
road he had walked nearly twelve years before, on
the occasion of his first, romantic visit to Peters-
ham. As he came to the rise in the road, a short
distance from the village, — giving an overlook of
the village, — and which he had called Mount
Pisgah,1 as he said, " from here I got my first view
of the Holy City," he turned to look back at a
scene which was now familiar to him; and at once
there came surging through his mind the series of
events which had followed from that romantic ad-
venture of September 13, 1861, and which had knit
him to Petersham as the dearest spot on earth.

The next day, just after going on board the
steamer, he sends a good-bye message to Mrs.
Fiske containing this request: —

1 See ante, p. 246.
421

John Fiske

" I must have a pickerwow l of basket- wagon,
with yourself on back seat holding Ethel, and all
the other babies artistically disposed. It will be
better without me: for it will be as if I had just
stepped out, and was looking at the rest of you.
Don't forget to send this to me."

1 "We shall see that this particular "pickerwow" was of much
interest to Fiske's friends in England.

CHAPTER XVII

VOYAGE TO QUEENSTOWN — VISITS CORK, BLARNEY
CASTLE, LAKES OF KILLARNEY, AND DUBLIN —
REACHES CHESTER — FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENG-
LAND AND ENGLISH PEOPLE — A HURRIED TRIP
TO LONDON WITH HIS FRIEND HUTTON, THENCE
TO LIVERPOOL — VISITS THE LAKE DISTRICT —
EDINBURGH — SCOTCH HIGHLANDS — CATHEDRAL
TOWNS — IPSWICH — CAMBRIDGE

1873

FISKE reached Queenstown August 23, 1873, after
an uneventful voyage of eleven days. He made
a few friends on board, and with the captain,
McDowall, "a jolly old Scot who liked a pot of
beer and a pipe," he soon established friendly rela-
tions. With the captain he usually had a good
"chin- wag" after lunch or before going to bed.

At Queenstown he left the steamer for a trip
through Ireland which comprised a visit to Cork,
to Blarney Castle, to the Lakes of Killarney, and
to Dublin. During this trip he surrendered him-
self completely to the beauty of the Irish land-
scape and to the charm he felt in the naive charac-
teristics of the Irish people. The letters show such
penetrating observation, such keen appreciation
of nature and life and human history, that it may
be doubted if Ireland ever had a more sympathetic
visitor. From the Imperial Hotel, Cork, he writes
Mrs. Fiske, August 24: —

423

John Fiske

"I got off at Queenstown and am doing Ould
Ireland. This is a dear old quaint hotel, ever so
comfortable. No words can describe my delight in
the beauty and sleepiness of Ould Ireland and at
the queer Corkonian Paddies. I laughed yesterday
till I cried. How lovely the old walls covered with
thick ivy! To-day our party, six in number, are
going to Blarney Castle in jaunting cars. We go to
Killarney to-morrow. I feel new life in my veins."

Fiske gives a delightful description of Cork, and
he was intensely amused by the Irish in their own
home. The slow deliberation that characterized
all forms of social activity greatly impressed him.
This is the first thing one notices, and coming in
contrast with our Yankee hurry gives the impres-
sion that everything is slower than "stock-still."
Speaking of the waiters at a sleepily served dinner
he says : —

"You will never know what slowness is till you
have visited Ould Ireland. Barley at dressing time
is lightning compared with 'em."

Of his visit to Blarney Castle he gives an amus-
ing account, and particularly of his attempt to kiss
the well-known Blarney stone : —

" I prostrated myself, and Williams and Ingalls
took tight hold of my ankles, and I got nearly out
to the cussed thing, when all at once I became
aware of the horrible distance between me and the
ground below, and my head was turned, and I be-
came sea-sick, and said, 'For God's sake, pull me
back!' So they hauled me in, and I said, 'Blast

424

The Lakes of Killarney

all beetling eminences henceforth, and let those
kiss the Blarney stone who are willing to lean over
a place higher than a church steeple with nothing
to hold on to but their ankles.' '

Fiske's most interesting experience in this Irish
journey was his visit to the Lakes of Killarney.
Many as have been the visitors to these lakes it
may be doubted if their poetic charms ever had a
keener appreciation than was brought to them by
this young American who, fresh from the experi-
ences of a nineteenth-century civilization, saw for
the first time in the midst of nature's surpassing
loveliness the ruined vestiges of a mediaeval civili-
zation which had passed away, and with whose
history he was familiar.

How deeply, how profoundly he was impressed
is shown in the following extract from a letter to
Mrs. Fiske written at Killarney: —

"And now let me change the scene to fairy Kil-
larney. Away ocean voyage! Away groves of
Blarney! Off with you, into dim antiquity! For
it is now August 27th and I have been at Killar-
ney since Monday morning, and what I have gone
through here just crowds a year into three days.
It seems whole ages since I saw Blarney Castle.
For this place is one that fascinates you like the
wand of a fairy, so that minutes here are as good
as months elsewhere. I used to think I knew what
a fine landscape was; but now I give it up. Killar-
ney beats them all, even Petersham. We got here
Monday in time for noon lunch; and after lunch

425

John Fiske

started for the Muckross Abbey — a wonderful old
place built in 1190, and now covered with ivy,
with a gigantic yew-tree, 700 years old growing in
the court-yard.

" I lingered and lingered here over the old graves,
and the old hearth-stones, till my less romantic
friends yanked me aboard of the wagon, and we
proceeded to Dinis Island and there took a four-
oared boat for the Middle Lower Lakes. I won't
say anything about these lakes, for anything like
an adequate description of them would fill quires
of paper, and would seem like raving to any one
who has not seen them. And now the climax. We
did many things which I don't allude to, 'but to
dear Innesfallen I must give a word or two. Of
all the islands which God ever made this is the
most sweet and truly heart-resting paradise. As
I walked about the sacred precincts, I felt such
thrills as I never felt before — the hoary old mon-
astery, built more than thirteen hundred years
ago, now fallen into the richest ivy-grown ruins,
but with the outlines of every room and every fire-
place still distinct ; and the landscape lovely be-
yond everything my wildest imagination ever con-
ceived — a perfect heaven on earth. Stupendous
ash trees, — one of them 40 feet in circumference,
and others but little less, — enormous beeches,
with their dark iodine- tinted leaves, and their stems
standing ten feet in diameter; amazing holly-
trees of a size that would do credit to a New
England maple; and round, above, below, and
everywhere, the omnipresent ivy, with leaves four
inches in breadth and the deepest of deep greens.
And then the blue lake visible through every vista

426

The Lakes of Killarney

whichever way you turn; and beyond, the grand
Kerry mountains, like a dozen or twenty Monad-
nocks piled one upon another in desolate, awe-in-
spiring grandeur! And when amid all this wondrous
glory of nature I sat down for a moment on the
grave of an old friar 1 — dead more than a thousand
years — and tried feebly to look about and take
in all the miraculous picture — I felt the chokes
come and the tears in my eyes, and I knew that
words would be utterly powerless to describe any
such thing, you must feel it to know it; but I will
say that I never before had, and somehow can
hardly hope to have again, such a moment as I
felt in Innesfallen. . . .

"I wandered once more along the whispering
aisles of this temple of loveliness. I sat down just
inside the door of the ruined monastery where
there was a bit of dry stone, and looked out at the
gigantic ash-tree, and in my fancy filled the scene
with the stalwart figures of those grand old monks
— men of mighty placidity, begotten of trust in
God — who in the days of the decrepit Roman
Empire, built their refuge here, secure amid the
deep lake- waters from sacrilegious attacks. All the
long, long past, richly freighted with memories
came rushing by me, as I sat listening to the soft
dropping of the summer shower on the holly leaves,
and to the song of the thrush — at my feet a grave
where one of these heroes of Christianity had slept
these thousand years.

" I waited till the sunlight came once more flick-
ering through the leaves, and then took a last lin-
gering look, and went away —

1 He enclosed a fern leaf from the grave of the old friar.
427

John Fiske

"Sweet Innesfallen! fare thee well,

May calm and sunshine long be thine;
How fair thou art let others tell,

While but to feel how fair, be mine.' "

From Killarney, Fiske went direct to Dublin —
"a stupid ride of nine hours through a tame and
uninteresting country.1' He tarried but a couple
of hours in Dublin, and then set out for Chester
by way of Kingstown and Holyhead. He reached
Chester in a rain-storm, weary after his Irish
journey and fearfully hungry. He took a stroll
about the town, it having "cleared up," to get
his English bearings. He strolled along the famous
"Rows," and also on the city walls, "and then
moused around among the droll old dens of the
town." He also attended vespers in the cathedral,
where he heard some good music. He was delighted
with Chester, and his first impressions can best be
given in his own words: —

"O Zeus, and all the other gods of Olympus,
what an old place! I can't try to describe it; and
so before I leave, I shall send you a guide-book
giving an account, and some views, of the town.
I am supremely happy here, and shall explore it
from the sole of its head to the crown of its foot."

He tells of the good things he finds to eat, and
adds: —

" I mention these little things to show you what
an abundance of animal vigour the sea voyage,
and the seeing of novelties have awakened in me.

428

At Chester

I feel the blood bounding in my veins. I run up
three flights of stairs, two steps at a time, to my
room without puffing. "

At Chester he found letters awaiting him and
among them was a cordial welcome from his genial
friend Laurence Hutton. Fiske's joy was great and
he writes: —

" Glory Hallelujah! Hutton comes here to-day,
and I have secured a room for him next to mine.
He sails for America a week from next Tuesday,
and till then he will be with me."

The two friends explored Chester quite thor-
oughly. They walked in nearly all the "Rows,"
through the market in the evening, around the
walls, and visited Eaton Hall, the seat of the Duke
of Westminster.

The letters show how keenly Fiske was alive to
his new surroundings. What most impressed him
at Chester was the sort of English homogeneity of
all he saw about him. Hitherto in America he had
seen the Englishman as he had seen the Irishman,
the Scotchman, the Frenchman, the German, each
isolated from his own social habitat, and more or
less in antagonism with his surroundings. Here,
for the first time, he saw the Englishman in his
own social home with everything downright English
about him. The buildings had a sort of uniform
English character, the shop-signs all bore English
names, the shopkeepers, the clerks, the officials,
the servants were all English, save here and there

429

John Fiske

a stray Scotchman or Irishman, who served by a
little contrast, to emphasize the universal English
character.

r Fiske from the very first felt much at home in
this English environment. Not only did its social
homogeneity impress him; there was also a straight-
forward, outspoken, pay-as-you-go honesty in the
social life as a whole which challenged his admira-
tion. Of course he had to notice the many contrasts
in speech, language, and social customs between this
distinctly old and unified form of social life and the
opposite, new, composite character of the social
life of America. But the interest in his obser-
vations arises principally from the fact that he
does not philosophize; he simply gives his impres-
sions without other thought than to interest, for the
time being, the persons to whom he was writing
and whose main interest was in his own enjoy-
ment.

Fiske did not fail to note the strong English pro-
pensity for good, substantial living, and the letters
are at times quite appetizing from the relishing
way in which he sets forth the beef, the mutton,
the puddings, the ale, and the wholesome, savory
manner in which they were served. The charac-
teristics of the English system of railway transpor-
tation — so different from what obtained in Amer-
ica— he had to note, especially as he experienced,
as all American travellers do, the annoyance of be-
ing tied to one's " luggage"; and he expresses the

430

Impressions of England

opinion that "the Yankees can teach the English
people a good many things about railway conven-
iences that they have n't yet dreamed of."

With his musical ear, so sensitive to vocal har-
mony, he notes much unpleasantness in the English
speech. He says: —

"The English talk just as if they were Germans!
So much guttural is very unpleasant, especially as
half the time I can't understand them, and have
to say, ' I beg your pardon?' Our American enun-
ciation is much pleasanter to the ear."

Fiske's plan was to go from Chester to Liver-
pool, where he was to meet his sister-in-law, Miss
Martha Brooks, who had been spending some time
in Europe, see her aboard ship on her homeward
journey, and then to strike north for Glasgow and
Edinburgh, taking the Lake District on the way.
But Hutton, who was also to sail for America in a
few days, induced Fiske to change his plan, to run
up to London for a few days and to get his first
impressions of London with him. So they rushed
from Chester up to London and took lodgings at
II Craven Street, Strand, "a jolly and cheap lodg-
ing-house taken straight from Dickens's novels."
Fiske found Hutton "the most delightful of travel-
ling companions. He knows the economical ways
of doing things. We had charming, cosy break-
fasts together in our rooms, and then would sally
forth about town, and meet at 6 P.M. to dine at some
French restaurant — and so I have picked up a

John Fiske

good many notions about London, and when I get
back it will seem homelike. "

Fiske found Miss Brooks in London, and to-
gether they visited some of the noted places and
had several interesting walks about town. As this
visit to London was for provisional observation
mainly, he did not look up any of the people he
was desirous to see, and the letters contain but a
few observations upon what he saw. Of the chim-
panzee at the Zoological Gardens he remarks that
"he looks more like a man than a monkey, and I
believe he would be called a man if he could talk."
He got himself a suit of clothes at Poole's, the
famous tailor, and remarks, " I shall not patronize
Poole any more; for although the work is all done
in the finest style, I don't like the cut."

After four days of these preliminary observations
in London, September 5, 1873, Fiske, Miss Brooks,
and Hutton set out for Liverpool, with the purpose
of taking in Leamington, Kenil worth, Warwick
Castle, and Stratford-on-Avon by the way. They
visited these intervening places, but Fiske makes
no observations upon them — he simply notes the
fact to Mrs. Fiske that on Saturday, the 6th of
September, "the ninth anniversary of our wed-
ding-day, we drove to Kenilworth, then to War-
wick Castle, and then to Stratford-on-Avon."

On the following Tuesday he saw Miss Brooks
and Hutton sail from Liverpool for America, and
then set out alone on his trip to Scotland by way

432

The Lake District

of the Lake District, so well known on account of
its many natural charms as well as from its identi-
fication with much that is finest in English litera-
ture. He gives quite in detail his coaching and ho-
tel experiences while passing through this famous
section of Great Britain's " tight little island, " and
summarizes his impressions of this District and
of English landscape in general to Mrs. Fiske, as
follows : —

"I had seen nine lakes, viz., Windermere, Es-
thwaite Water, Coniston Water, Brothers Water,
tills Water, Rydal Water, Grasmere, Thirlmere,
and Derwent Water — ' some on 'em big and some
on 'em little ' — and I had acquired definite asso-
ciations with ten villages; and so I thought the re-
mainder would be more of the same kind.

"The Lake country is exceedingly beautiful, and
some of it quite grand; and one can understand
why Wordsworth, and Southey, and De Quincey,
and others chose to live there, more thoroughly
away from all civilization than one would now be
in Tom Swamp. But it does n't bewitch me like
Petersham. The only scenery that has fairly
thrilled me is that of Killarney. Still there was one
place on the road to Patterdale so much like Peters-
ham, that it made me cry, for it seemed as if the
basket-wagon with you and the little ones was
required to make the scene complete and comfort-
able. The Lake country is more American in ap-
pearance than the other parts of England which I
have seen. As for English landscape in general,
it has all the monotony of a face which is perfect
in beauty, without any play of expression. I say

433

John Fiske

every moment, 'How lovely/ but it does n't charm
or interest me one particle. Everything is deli-
ciously clean. The roads are like the drives in
Central Park; you never see old tomato-cans, cut-
tings of tin, piles of brush, etc., by the road-side;
every hedge is fresh and thrifty, every field is like
green velvet, every house is picturesquely and dur-
ably built, the stone walls are unexceptionable,
the trees are dotted about in sweet confusion, there
are flowers in all the windows, and ivy over all the
walls ; — in short, it is the cleanest, happiest, most
smiling landscape conceivable; and the effect of
about a hundred miles of it is to weary the eye so
that you are glad to look away from it, and read
your guide-book or the newspaper.

"I still say, give me New England for scenery.
I can say that I see things in London that would
make me like to live there; but I have n't seen any
rural part of England which would tempt me to
spend my days in it. I still swear by Petersham. "

He visited Furness Abbey and makes this note : —

11 Furness Abbey is fine for massiveness, but it is
very inferior in architecture to Muckross, and lacks
moreover the tenderness of the latter. I don't think
much of its architecture. There are two styles
patched together, a,nd they don't harmonize."

Fiske reached Edinburgh Saturday night, Sep-
tember 13, weary from an all-day's journey, and
fairly sickened by the disgusting habits of some
drunken Scotch passengers. The next day was a
rainy Sunday, and as all active life was suspended
by reason of religious faith, his first impressions

434

In Edinburgh

of the Scotch people were far from favorable. Writ-
ing to Mrs. Fiske in the afternoon, in the midst of
the prevailing gloom, he gives free expression to
his feelings : —

"Such a melancholy frowning set of people as
the Scotchmen, of a Sunday, you never saw. This
is a land where Puritanism still holds sway. . . .
Asceticism and mental acuteness, drunkenness and
thrift, somehow manage to get along together/'

But the next day brought an entire change of
scene, with a wholly different state of mind, on his
part, and the glories of Edinburgh found a keen
appreciator. It was while under the spell of this
fresh experience that he writes in the following
strain : —

"The ancient rhyme goes: —

"' Yankee Doodle came to town

In his striped trowsers,
Swore he could n't see the town,
There were so many houses.'

" This remark of the acute and sagacious Y. D.
will apply to most towns, but it does n't apply to
Edinburgh. Here everything is on top of something
else, and wherever you are, you can see a big town
around you. Even when you get down to the bot-
tom, the effect is not belied; for then you look up
and see another huge town all around in the sky.
Never before was such a stunning spread made
with an equal amount of granite and mortar. First
the New Town is built, in the coolest way, right
over the roofs of the Old Town. And then both

435

John Fiske

Old and New Towns have a way of running into two-
storiedness on their own hook. At one place I ac-
tually found three tiers of streets one above another,
and crossing each other on superb arched bridges,
while the railway burrowed away down in the
basement below all else. The effect is astonishingly
magnificent. "

Then follows quite a full account of the day's
experiences from which we take some extracts: —

"This morning I got up with my cold about cured,
and the sun shone bright, and the Sunday being
over, the town relaxed its severe countenance.
After breakfast, I started off afoot in a vagabond
way, without any object except to bask in the
glories of this glorious place, lit up by one of the
most gorgeous September days that was ever seen
since the earth began to rotate on its axis. A mir-
aculous atmosphere, such as you don't see six
times in a whole lifetime: a most brilliant sun
shining through the loveliest, thinnest veil of mist,
softening everything, obscuring nothing — just like
one of Turner's gorgeous misty pictures, you know
— that's the way it looked. I never got so much
eye pleasure in a day before.

"First I walked (my brain running riot with
musical phrases) up the Calton Hill, and ascended
Nelson's monument; then I went to Regent's Ter-
race to see my Sanskrit friend Dr. Muir — but he
was out of town; then I pegged along to Holyrood
Palace and saw the portraits of all the Scottish
kings — all the bloody, treacherous Stuart tribe —
and the bed Queen Mary slept in, and all the
scene of Rizzio's murder. . . . Cosy old rooms

436

In Edinburgh

Mrs. Darnley had; I would n't mind living in them
myself — and a grand old place it is — hoary with
antiquity, long before Queen Mary saw the light.
Not one of the long line of her Stuart ancestors
whose ' pickerwows ' I saw but has walked in those
very rooms. And perhaps it has been the scene of
more bitter tears and more atrocious villainy, than
any other house now standing in Europe. — By
the way, look in the 7th or 8th or 9th volume of
Froude's " History of England" (I think it is the
8th) and hunt up his magnificent description of the
murder of Rizzio and read it. It all came back to
me this morning, and •every one of the rooms was
peopled for me with living figures. You will find
Froude behind the piano, among the histories. Do
read it first of all; it is a great piece of descriptive
writing/'

Then he walked up the Canongate, and High
Street, crossed the Waverley Bridge, and roamed
northward as far as he could ; then he turned and
roamed southward, never losing his way and never
asking it, not even consulting the map in his pocket.

Fiske tells of going to the Castle, the Royal
Institution, and the National Gallery, only to find
them closed; and then, for want of something bet-
ter to do he made himself seasick by going to the
top of Scott's monument. While wandering, pur-
poseless, about the streets he espied a " tram-omni-
bus" — a horse-car — and to use his own words:

" Happy thought— 'jerk the horse-car!' J. Bull
is a sorry idiot in some things; but in the horse-car

437

John Fiske

he beats us Yankees quite hollow. Here there are
seats on top of the car where you can smoke and
enjoy the view."

Accordingly he took the horse-car, not knowing
or caring where it went, and was taken through
streets he had not seen, out into the country,
through lovely suburbs, and finally was brought
back through still another part of the town and
landed square in front of his hotel.

He gives the following incident as occurring dur-
ing his stroll about town : —

" I met a Highland shepherd who had never
been to Edinburgh before, and did n't know his way
to the railway station. I had n't the remotest idea,
but here was a definite object to walk for, and so
I volunteered and led him along with his dog. He
asked so many questions that I was obliged to own
that I was an American, and a stranger in Edin-
burgh. By this time we had got close to the station
and great was his astonishment — ' Ne 'er been in
Edinboro' afore, mon; weel, ye maun ha' hurd it
verra weel descraibed ! '

And thus, after an eight hours' walk and a two
hours' horse-car ride, he found himself "ripe for
dinner"; and at 9.30 ''ripe for bed, after a day
never once to be forgotten."

The next morning Fiske set out for a week's trip
to the Scotch Highlands by way of Stirling. Of
this trip he gives a full account to Mrs. Fiske in a
letter dated at Inverness, September 21, 1873. He
begins as follows: —

438

The Scotch Highlands

"What a week this has been! I came to see
mountains and lakes, and by Jove, I have seen
mountains and lakes, and felt 'em, I might say, in
various ways. — Ben Ledi, Ben A'an, Ben Venue,
Ben Lomond, Ben Cruachan, Ben Nevis, and I
know not how many more of the Benjamin family —
and as for the lakes they are like the long list of
one's early loves, and which is the loveliest, I
thought I knew when I had only seen the first one,
but now I give it up. I have sailed over the fol-
lowing— Lochs Katrine, Lomond, Fyne, Linnhe,
Leven Lochy, Oich and Ness; and I have walked
or ridden by the side of Lochs Vennachar Achray,
Leven, Etive, Awe, Tullich, Lydoch, and Eil. A
good week's work! ! For simple loveliness give me
Loch Katrine, for beauty and grandeur, Loch Lo-
mond, for magnificence, Loch Awe, for awful sub-
limity, Loch Linnhe."

It can be well understood that this letter is one of
great interest. Fiske's observations, his emotions
are depicted so simply, yet so graphically, that
the reader fairly feels that he is making the jour-
ney himself. A few extracts must suffice to give
an idea of his keen susceptibility to the beauty and
sublimity of nature, so opulently conjoined, in
this region consecrated as it were to human in-
terest by Scotch history, poetry and romance: —

Stirling Castle. "I went all over the castle, from
the ramparts of which there is one of the most
magnificent views to be had on this planet. The
whole Benjamin family in the distance; and an
immense plain at your feet, through which winds

439

John Fiske

the silvery Forth. In the midst of this plain the
rock of Stirling rises sheer into cloudland, and
on the very crest of this beetling eminence stands
the castle. Below me on the right lay the battle-
field of Stirling Bridge, where Wallace defeated
the English in 1297 — so that they had to quit
the castle. A little farther on are the ruins of Cam-
buskenneth Abbey. To the left is Wallace's Tower,
and beyond that the battlefield of Bannockburn,
where Bruce defeated the English in 1314. ...
Every portion of the field was entirely within view
— and a soldier of the garrison pointed out to me
all the strategic points so that the whole battle
came back to my mind with great vividness. Then
I went into the so-called Douglas room, where
James II basely murdered William, Earl of Doug-
las, after inviting him to an interview, and furnish-
ing him with a safe conduct — a crime which was
regarded with abhorrence even in those fiendish
times. I stood in the little bay window where the
king stabbed him, and imagined how the servants
came in from the little ante-room and threw the
body out of the window while others below dug a
grave in the garden and buried the great Earl like
a dog."

The Trossachs. "At Callander I took the top of
a coach for a superb ride of nine miles past Lochs
Vennachar and Achray, with Ben Ledi and other
Bens towering on the right. It was about I o'clock
when we reached the Trossach's Hotel, which is
famed for its cold weal pie (said Mr. Weller, etc.);
and after a rather exhaustive experiment upon it,
I can say it well deserves its reputation."

Loch Lomond. ' ' The scenery about Loch Lomond ,

440

The Scotch Highlands

for combined grandeur and sweetness surpasses
anything else which I have ever seen. There is noth-
ing else here which a painter would set before it,
though there is other scenery equally impressive
in a different way."

Loch Linnhe. "Leaving the Bay of Oban, the
steamer entered Loch Linnhe towards sunset. This
is a very large lake hemmed in by giant mountains
without a trace of vegetation, and the effect is aw-
fully sublime. It was the greatest sight I ever saw
— fairly overpowering in its weird solemnity. The
lake was rough, and its water inky black, with
savagely laughing white crests. I felt as if in the
black domains of some terrible enchanter."

An Experience at Ballachulish. "After 26 miles
of Loch Linnhe, we entered by twilight the beau-
tiful Loch Leven, and stopped at Ballachulish,
where I put up at the jolliest inn that I have found
in Great Britain. There was an Englishman there
who looked the very image of Manton Marble, so
that I fell in love with him at once, and when he
opened his mouth, it was Marble's voice that came
out of it. Him I will call M. and his wife was
of similar style to Mrs. Edwards; and they both
looked at me ever so much, and by and bye we
spake together, and they were cultivated and at-
tractive people. M. said I would n't see anything
of Glencoe in such a rain, but I said I had made
up my mind to despise rain and flood, and so off
we started. Rain? Floods? Far from it. Hail-
stones? By no means. It rained as if some arch-
angel had accidentally tipped over the biggest
water-butt in heaven, and sent it all down onto us
4 to onct ' ; it did n't come in drops — the air was

441

John Fiske

nothing but solid water, and we were like fishes
at the bottom of the sea, and the floods ran across
the road so profusely that I wondered they did n't
float the coach, and wash us all into Loch Leven.
The tempest was such that the driver turned back
before we had got to the heart of the glen, and
about noon we returned to the inn, where I sent
my boots and my ulster to the kitchen to be dried,
and went upstairs and changed clothes, and went
down into the parlour, where there was a pretty
good piano, and began to play with all the zest
of a chap that has been famished for a piano for
weeks and weeks. I began on the 'Squitch' and
extemporised several variations on it, and was go-
ing along with great glory when I looked up and
saw Mrs. M. seated in the bay-window with hood
and water-proof on, looking intently at me, with
tears on her cheeks, and then I became aware
that there were a dozen people in the room. When
I had finished there was a grand clapping of hands ;
and M. came lip and said that was grand, and could
I give 'em a dose of Mendelssohn? It was one of
my good days, when I can get the cantabile out of
a piano, and I played considerable of Mendelssohn,
Beethoven, and Chopin, with genuine applause
from all present; and then we all became very
sociable, and passed a charming afternoon in con-
versation and games, and dined together like a
family party."

The Pass of Glencoe, and the way thither. "It
was a superb morning, and at 8 I started on top of
coach for Tyndrum, through one of the grandest
roads in Scotland. We coasted along the banks of
Loch Etive, passed the ruined Dunstaffnage Castle,

442

The Scotch Highlands

an old stronghold of the Campbells, passed the
Brigg of Awe, — the scene of Scott's story of the
' Highland Widow/ — went through the wild pass
of Brander, and approached the head of Loch Awe.
Here several of us got down and walked two miles,
while the coaches toiled up an ascending grade.
It was a lovely walk. For magnificent scenery of
the true New England type, Loch Awe surpasses
anything I have seen!

"Resuming the coach, we passed through lovely
Glenorchy, and then came upon a long stretch of
very desolate moorland, with the giant Ben Crua-
chan in the background. Here some of us crossed
a bye-path over steep moorlands, overgrown with
heather, while the coach proceeded along the tor-
tuous main road. I enclose a sprig of the heather
which I plucked on this lonely spot. Here the scen-
ery is not at all like anything you ever saw in New
England. On every hand are steep mountains,
rising almost perpendicularly, without one solitary
tree to be seen — nothing but heather. The lone-
liness of the scene is beyond description. It is ' like
a lone land where no man comes or hath come
since the beginning of the world/ Everywhere
barrenness, everywhere blank desolation. After a
while we reached Tyndrum, which consists of one
granite hotel superbly built in the pointed Norman
style, and about two dozen nasty shanties. Here
I changed coaches, and bore toward Glencoe. We
passed pretty Loch Tullich, and halted at Invero-
ren, where I tried to see how much cold mutton I
could dispose of in ten minutes; and then we passed
Loch Lydoch, which is not especially interesting,
and then our road lay through utter desolation —

443

John Fiske

not a tree, not a house, nothing but mighty hills
rising on every hand like icebergs in the midst of the
sea. Towards dusk we entered the pass of Glen-
coe, where the scenery becomes terribly sublime;
even the heather appears no longer, the great
masses of jagged rock rise three thousand feet sheer
up each side the narrow glen and stand like grim
giants guarding some unearthly citadel. Here in
February, 1692, about forty Macdonalds were
foully and cruelly massacred by a body of English
troops under Col. Campbell of Glenlyon, at the in-
stigation of Sir John Dalrymple and the Earl of
Breadalbane, who had a grudge against the Mac-
jdonalds. It was the most perfidious and atrocious
.thing, I think, that ever happened in Scotland,
'which is indeed a land of horrors. "

To Inverness through the Caledonian Canal. "We
were now on the famous * Caledonian Canal/ which
it is thus, and this is the reason of this thusness.
Loch Linnhe, as the map will show you, commun-
icates directly with the Bay of Oban. From Loch
Linnhe, you pass into Loch Eil, along the banks
of which we posted Friday night in our wagonet
seeing just enough to see that we were losing a great
deal. At the head of Loch Eil stands the village of
Banavie. Now between Banavie and Inverness,
there lie three magnificent lakes — Loch Lochy,
Loch Oich and Loch Ness — and the art of man has
joined these lakes with each other, and with Loch
Eil at one end, and with the Moray Firth at the
other, by a deep canal, so that an ocean steamer
can go through the very heart of the Highlands
from the Atlantic to the German Ocean. Only as
some of these lakes lie high up in the mountains,

444

The Scotch Highlands

your steamer has to be hoisted up from one lake
to another by means of locks, and then let down
again. It so happened yesterday that it was a su-
perb day, bitter cold, with a very brilliant sun and
no rain at all, — being the third rainless day since
I landed at Queens town. You can perhaps imag-
ine how perfectly delightful the voyage was. Part
of the time in a canal so narrow that we seemed to
be sailing on land right between the most beauti-
ful hills; part of the time ploughing through wild
lakes bordered with forests of Scotch fir. It was
more fairy like than anything else I have seen.
First we passed by Ben Nevis, biggest of the Ben-
jamins, his hoary pate covered with snow; then we
sailed through Loch Lochy, which is sublime like
Loch Linnhe, only less so; then we climbed into
the lofty Loch Oich, away up in the mountains,
and passed through exquisite wooded scenery, like
that of Loch Katrine, only less so. Then we were
lowered down through seven locks, during which
operation many of us got 'out and took a walk.
Our steerage passengers consisted of a great flock
of sheep en route for Inverness to be slain for mut-
ton — a circumstance which caused Paine's great
chorus — ' He was brought as a lamb to the slaugh-
ter, yet he opened not his mouth ' — to run in my
head all day. — No joke about it; such are the
queer ways in which big and little ideas tie them-
selves together. One of these sheep had evidently
made up his mind to commit suicide, for he jumped
overboard in one of the locks, and was yanked up
and rescued by a shepherd's hook inserted under
one of his horns. He jumped overboard again, and
was rescued by a rope, which was skilfully lassoed

445

John Fiske

about his neck, though I should have thought it
would have strangled him. Poor sheep! He must
have been very desperate; for while we were in the
last lock, he tried it again; and before he could be
rescued the steamer sort of rubbed against the wall
of the lock and crushed him. Exit sheep from this
vale of tears!

"Then we entered Loch Ness which is twenty-
six miles long and only a mile and a quarter in width,
so that it seems like a river. It is more than 1000
feet deep. The scenery on it is very much like that
of the Hudson River near West Point. At Foyers
Pier we got out and walked a mile uphill to see the
Fall of Foyers tumbling down 200 feet into a wild
chasm, while the steamer waited for us. At 6 P.M.
(of a Saturday) we reached Inverness, the capital
of the Highlands, which is very likely the most
northerly point I shall ever reach."

Fiske was obliged to remain at Inverness until
Monday morning, and he had an attack of real
homesickness, as in his loneliness he pictured in
his imagination his little home group gathered in
the "obally" at Cambridge. He tells with what
eagerness he is looking forward to getting a batch
of letters at Edinburgh on the morrow, and there
is a touch of tender pathos in his remark, " I hope
that among them will be the 'pickerwow' of the
basket-wagon and its precious freight." He found
occupation, during what he calls "this vile Scotch
Sunday," in writing the letter to Mrs. Fiske, from
which the foregoing extracts are taken — it is a
letter of twenty-four closely written pages, care-

446

In Edinburgh

fully punctuated as to its meaning, and without a
single erasure or change of word.

On Monday, September 22, 1873, Fiske left In-
verness, by rail for Edinburgh. The weather was
fine, and he found the scenery delightful — "ex-
ceedingly like Petersham. " He remained in Edin-
burgh four days "and got more in love with the
city than ever/' He visited the castle, which he
thought one of the grandest places he ever saw —
standing on a beetling eminence more steep than
that of Stirling. He wondered how the Earl of
Murray in 1313, with thirty picked men, could
have climbed clean up the side, and captured it.
He went to the Advocate's Library, about the size
of the Boston Public Library, and thought that as
to cataloguing they were way back in the Dark
Ages as compared with Harvard. Next he went
to the National Gallery, where he found "many
splendid pictures by Rubens, Salvator Rosa, Rem-
brandt, Titian, Paul Veronese, Giorgione, Murillo,
etc., and lots of English and Scottish masters."
He says, "I staid there ever so long, and was so
stupefied with delight, that going out of doors
seemed like waking up into a dull every-day world
again."

This was Fiske's first experience with a large
collection of great masterpieces of representative
art, and it is to be noted that his appreciation
strikes true in regard to them — he is overpow-
ered by them.

447

John Fiske

Wednesday was spent in a futile attempt to find
an uncle of his friend Hutton, by an excursion to St.
Andrews. He partly compensated himself by visit-
ing the ruins of the cathedral and the castle which
brought to mind the "eminent virtues " as well
as "the somewhat acrid and irreverent temper "
of John Knox. He also found much to interest him
in the monument to the martyrs Wishart and his
four associates.

Thursday he says : —

" I spent a long time in the University Library —
about the same size as ours — and was so fortunate
as to meet the librarian of the Glasgow Univer-
sity. Had a long talk with the two librarians. The
more I see of these things, the more I appreciate
the greatness of what Ezra Abbot has done" (for
the Harvard Library).

At the library he found that his friend Dr. Muir
was not away, but had moved out to Morning-
side, one of the suburbs. Accordingly in the after-
noon he rode out and called. Dr. Muir was out.
He left his card and walked back to the city.

Friday he went to Melrose Abbey, which he says
"is a superb ruin, worthy of all that has been said
about it." Then he drove to Abbotsford. His com-
ments upon this shrine for all lovers of true romance
are brief : —

"Tell you what, my dear, Sir Walter Scott's
library is a rouser. The ceiling is a beautiful
specimen of oak carving. The house is a regular

448

In Edinburgh

curiosity shop,~and I saw so much that I will not
try to tell anything about it."

But Fiske's last experience in Edinburgh was —
to himself at least — the most interesting of all.
Dr. Muir promptly acknowledged his call by in-
viting him to dinner Friday evening. What fol-
lowed is given in a letter to Mrs. Fiske: —

"On returning from Melrose, I had just time to
get out to his lovely villa before dinner. He is a
very old bachelor and his niece Mrs. Lowe keeps
house for him. He had invited to meet me Dr.
Findlater, one of the first philologists in Scotland,
Dr. Aufrecht who is one of the greatest Sanskrit
scholars in the world, and who published many
years ago a great work on the Umbrian language.
I was at first overwhelmed at meeting so much
erudition, all at once, and was afraid I should ap-
pear to be a fool. But I got along very well.

They all knew the Myth-book. Dr. Muir said it
was ' the finest specimen of lucid exposition he had
ever seen in his life ' ; and he singled out one or two
of my own particular points in a way that showed
that he understood both their merit and their
novelty. The others appeared to agree with him.
Three more modest men, and three more consum-
mate gentlemen, I never met. . . . The dinner
was delicious, with some choice wines and the con-
versation was ferociously learned. We discussed
the Sankhya philosophy, and all sorts of stuff, and
Mrs. Lowe, having lived in India, also enjoyed it,
or seemed to. I staid till after horse cars were
over, and then Dr. Muir walked part way back to
town with me."

449

John Fiske

The next morning he left Edinburgh in a state of
mind very different from that in which he entered
the town a fortnight before. He writes: —

" I left Scotland almost tearfully, after two weeks
of such exuberant happiness, as is rarely experi-
enced this side of heaven."

On his way to London Fiske stopped at the
cathedral towns of York, Lincoln, Boston, Peter-
borough, Ely, and Norwich, and also at Ipswich
and Cambridge, and in his letters to Mrs. Fiske
we have quite full records of his impressions of the
cathedrals of Boston and of Cambridge. The few
extracts we can take from these deeply interesting
letters show a mind as keenly appreciative of the
beauty and grandeur of man's constructive arts as
it was responsive to the beauty and sublimity of
nature. The cathedrals gave him his first impres-
sions of grand constructive architecture, and how
he felt in the presence of these sublime creations
he tells in many passages in the letters. Writing
from York, he says : —

4 ' After writing some ' tezzletelts ' I went out again
and attended vespers in the cathedral. This, you
know, is one of the largest and grandest churches
in the world. I believe it is the largest in England.
The one at Ely is longer, but this beats it in area.
It is a truly magnificent building — lovely and
awful, solemn and sweet. It is like music to be in
it, and if you go in of a Sunday afternoon you hear
music too. The organ looks small — probably be-

450

Visits Cathedral Towns

cause it is in such an enormous place; but when it
opens its mouth, there issue forth such stupendous
volumes of sound as take your soul right off its
feet and float it up, away up, among the dim
arches overhead. I never felt so full of inspiration
as when the people were going out and the whole
vast space was fairly shaking and trembling with
harmony, as the organist worked up to the tremen-
dous fortissimo climax of some ancient fugue. This
alone was worth the whole voyage across the At-
lantic — and the window-tracing is absolutely
miraculous. I loafed around entranced till I got
'kicked out,' so to speak. One might spend a
month in this holy place. . . . They are always
tinkering it, to keep it fresh and vigorous; and in-
deed are repairing it now in one corner. But the
finest windows are just as they were in the thir-
teenth century. "

He sums up his cathedral impressions thus: —

" I have every reason to regard this tour among
the cathedrals as a great success. If there is any-
thing in England worth seeing, it is these gigantic
and exquisite buildings. The sensation you get
when inside of one is something that cannot be
described — you must feel it yourself. I have now
seen eight altogether, viz., Chester, Carlisle, Dur-
ham, York, Lincoln, Peterborough, Ely and Nor-
wich. Of these the first two are not especially grand,
though the east window of Carlisle is considered
the finest stained window in the world. Durham,
I only saw the outside of and that is exceedingly
magnificent. Norwich is fine but inferior to Lincoln
and Peterborough. York is considered the grand-

45i

John Fiske

est, but I think Ely rivals it. Its length is stupen-
dous, and you get the full effect of this because the
screen between the choir and the nave is of open
work. Instead of a plain lantern in the centre there
is a Gothic dome (the only one in the world) the
effect of which is incredibly grand. As you look
slantwise across this dome, taking in at one view
the entire north transept with parts of the nave
and choir — the effect is said to be unsurpassed
by any other architectural effect in Europe. The
finish of the interior (the carvings, etc.) is far more
elaborate than that of the other English cathe-
drals. It would take a month to drink in the effect
of all the curious carvings. At the east end of the
choir, there is a superb shrine of carved marble,
exhibiting six scenes from Christ's Passion — a
marvellous specimen of sculpture, so exquisitely
done that you could study it with a microscope and
find it perfect: — still there are scores of figures,
over a hundred I should say, in these six scenes.
The whole is set in a frame-work of mosaics of
precious stones — onyx and jasper, and lapis lazuli,
etc. . . . The building was terribly defaced by the
Puritans who smashed 280 statues in one of the
chapels alone, and broke every pane of glass in
the church. ... At Lincoln, they tore up all the
oak carvings in the choir, and substituted plain
church pews and the effect of these in contrast with
the grand Gothic pillars is odd enough. Fortu-
nately at Ely, they left the oak carved seats and
stalls, and they are very wonderful. ... I have
learned a great deal about Gothic architecture
since Sunday, compared to the little I knew before
from books. There is nothing like seeing things.1'

452

At Ipswich

When Fiske had finished his cathedral observa-
tions at Ely, although in great haste to reach Lon-
don, being in the vicinity of Ipswich he could not
resist the temptation to spend a night at the Great
White Horse Inn, made forever memorable in Eng-
lish literature by Dickens, as the house where Mr.
Pickwick had the romantic adventure with the
lady in yellow curl-papers. From this inn he writes
his cathedral impressions just quoted, and appends
the following brief account of the inn itself: —

"This old tavern where I am now writing was
famous long before Dickens made it immortal. It
has been standing here since thirteenth century,
and has been the Great White Horse Inn all that
time. It is a very ancient building with a paved
court yard, and trees in the middle. It is the
most picturesque tavern I have ever seen, and is
alone worth the short journey to Ipswich. The
house is so crooked I don't wonder old Pickwick
lost his way in it. Dickens often stopped here, and
there was once a l boots ' named Sam Weller. The
cooking is very good, and my ancient brass bed-
stead with its fat feather bed is the most comfort-
able affair I ever slept on. We must give old
England the first prize for home like and comfort-
able hotels, though as far as railroad travelling goes,
I think no language can do justice to the intense
feeling of contempt for the British intellect with
which it inspires me. Anything more heathenish
than an English railway train I have never seen.
And they are slower than snails. That 50 miles an
hour business is all a myth, except on the Irish
mail and one or two other trains. Mostly they

453

John Fiske

don't make over eighteen miles an hour; and they
jolt equal to a horse-car off the track. And they
are always, without any exception, 30 minutes be-
hind time."

From Ipswich Fiske went to Cambridge, where
he spent two days of rare intellectual enjoyment
in visiting various points of interest in the uni-
versity. He first called at the library, and intro-
duced himself to Mr. Bradshaw, the chief librarian.
Mr. Bradshaw received him with great cordiality,
took him all over the library containing 300,000
volumes, and explained very fully their system of
cataloguing, "wherein," he says, "I maintain that
Ezra Abbot has beaten them out of sight."

Among the curiosities in the library, the tele-
scope invented by Newton and used by him in his
researches greatly interested Fiske. He says : —

"It looks as much like our Harvard telescope
as a bark canoe looks like the steamer Olympus.
The greater the wonder at what he accomplished.
I never felt more like echoing the sentiment en-
graved on the pedestal of his statue in Trinity
Chapel —

1 Isaacus Newton
Qui humanum genus ingenio superavit.' "

After a delightful forenoon together Fiske was
taken by Mr. Bradshaw to the latter's rooms in
King's College for luncheon. Of this courtesy
Fiske writes to Mrs. Fiske as follows : —

"Such luxurious college rooms I never saw. The

454

In Cambridge

librarian is a senior Fellow of the college, has a
man-servant of his own and lives like a nabob.
We lunched on mutton-pie deliciously cooked,
sweet bread and butter and celestial beer! There
was a piano, also fine ' pickerwows,' bustuettes, and
everything jolly. He had seen Stubby Child quite
recently. He is rather a swell chap; quite a Don,
you know; and perhaps more swell than profound,
but very satisfactory in his good-breeding and
kindliness of manner.''

Fiske explored the buildings and grounds of
several of the colleges — King's, Trinity, St. John's,
Corpus Christi, Pembroke, St. Peter's, etc., and
he writes : —

"The buildings and grounds here so far surpass
what we have got at Harvard, that there is no use
in talking of them on the same day."

He left Cambridge for London Saturday, Octo-
ber 4, 1873, with the most delightful impressions
floating in his mind of the whole university, form-
ing in his imagination the fore-front of a perspec-
tive of the seventy-four towns and villages with
which he had so recently established associations.

CHAPTER XVIII

IN LONDON AGAIN — TAKES ROOMS NEAR BRITISH
MUSEUM — CORDIALLY RECEIVED BY SPENCER
AND OTHER EVOLUTIONISTS — ARRANGES FOR
PUBLICATION OF HIS BOOK — DISCUSSIONS WITH
SPENCER AND OTHERS — RELIGIOUS IMPLICA-
TIONS OF DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION — PERSONAL
SKETCHES OF SPENCER, DARWIN, LEWES, GEORGE
ELIOT, HUXLEY, LYELL

1873

FISKE'S delight in getting back to London was
something like what he was wont to feel in ap-
proaching Petersham, only as he says "less so."
He was in great spirits. He writes: " All these fine
things I have seen have put fresh blood into my
veins. I feel so wide awake and full of vim as I
have n't felt before since the days when we first
moved to Cambridge. "

- His first thought was to arrange for the publi-
cation of his book, and to this end he desired to
consult Herbert Spencer first of all. Accordingly,
Sunday, October 5, 1873, the next day after his ar-
rival, he walked out to Bayswater, near the farther
end of Hyde Park, Spencer's town residence, but
only to find that he was away for a few days. While
waiting his return, Fiske called upon William Ral-
ston, an eminent Russian scholar, and assistant
librarian at the British Museum. Fiske and Ral-

456

In London

ston at once took a strong liking for each other, and
by Ralston's advice Fiske took lodgings opposite
the museum at 67 Great Russell Street. In the
museum itself he was given every facility for carry-
ing on his work. He gives the following description
of his lodgings and his immediate surroundings : —

"My rooms look right out on the British Mu-
seum. I have a comfortable sitting-room and bed-
room well furnished, with grate and gas, etc. ; and
have got a cottage piano on hire. I have my break-
fast in my room and dine at a French restaurant
near by and am living very comfortably on ten or
twelve shillings per day piano included."

He was pleased to find in the same house his
classmate Jeremiah Curtin, still in pursuit of lin-
guistic lore, and on his way to the Caucasus, which,
Fiske remarks, "being the almightiest Babel of
languages on earth, is a paradise for Jeremiah !"

On Thursday Fiske received a cordial note of
welcome from Spencer. He called immediately and
was very warmly received. Spencer entered heart-
ily into Fiske's plan for an international publi-
cation of his philosophical work, and strongly rec-
ommended Macmillan for his English publisher.
He also offered his good services if any way needed
in the negotiation. But Fiske had no difficulty in
getting his work accepted by the Macmillans and
on precisely the same terms as he had arranged for
the American publication with the firm of James
R. Osgood & Co., of which I was then a member.

457

John Fiske

With the question of the English publication of
his work decided, Fiske settled down to steady
work in revising his lectures and in the writing of a
few new chapters in order to round out his Evolu-
tionary thought into the desired philosophic form.
He was engaged with this task for four months,
and during this period kept his rooms at 67 Great
Russell Street, which soon assumed in his mind —
so far as any rooms away from Cambridge could —
the nature of a home.

It should be borne in mind that at this time the
sociological implications of the doctrine of Evolu-
tion, in their bearing upon current political, ethi-
cal, and religious thought, were under very general
discussion by the leading English thinkers, and
that Fiske in his work in hand proposed to bring
these sociological implications more distinctly
under review than any Evolutionist who had pre-
ceded him had done. Spencer, it is true, in his
''Social Statics " and in his essays, had thrown out
many fruitful suggestions along these lines; but
his encyclopaedic works, " Descriptive Sociology/'
"The Principles of Sociology/' and "The Prin-
ciples of Ethics/' were still in embryo, while his
foundational work, "First Principles/' had left
the thinking world in doubt as to the nature and
realm of the Unknowable as postulated by him.
Fiske, therefore, had a very definite object before
him in this London visit. It was nothing less than
the freeing of the doctrine of Evolution from all

458

Cordially Received

kinship with the Positive Philosophy of Auguste
Comte, from all identification with atheism or
materialism, while at the same time rounding it
out into a philosophic system based upon science; a
system consisting of affirmations as to the existence
of Deity, accompanied by verifiable data regarding
the cosmic universe, with man's place in it with his
rational mind, as a unified, ever-developing mani-
festation of Deity. And it was for the completion
of this important task that he desired converse
with Spencer, Darwin, Huxley, Lewes, Tyndall,
Hooker, Clifford, Lockyer, and a few others of the
new school of scientific thought in England.

Fiske found himself on his arrival by no means
unknown to a goodly number of the English scien-
tific thinkers. His essay on Buckle, his articles in
the "North American Review " and the "Fort-
nightly," together with the reports of his Harvard
lectures, which his friend You mans had widely
circulated in England, had already drawn attention
to him as an exceptionally well-equipped thinker,
as well as a lucid expositor along the new lines of
thought which the investigations of science were
daily opening to view. Then, too, his trenchant
article on Agassiz, published since he had left
home, commended him to all the Darwinians in
England: so much so, that, to his surprise, where-
ever he was introduced he not only found himself
known, but people also very glad to meet him.
Then his bearing was so simple and modest, his

459

John Fiske

scholarship so broad and thorough, and his speech
so unaffected and rich with well-digested thought
that he gained the confidence and cordial coopera-
tion of the group of eminent men whose assistance
he so much desired.

The letters not only show how cordially he was re-
ceived by the great body of the English Evolution-
ists; they also contain interesting particulars of the
individual assistance rendered him. Professor W.
K. Clifford, the eminent mathematician, rendered
him a particularly valuable service, as Fiske says,
11 by punching through about six pages of my Nebu-
lar Hypothesis at once, and so saved me from
getting into trouble hereafter. " With Lockyer,
the astronomer, he had several interviews and an
evening's conference on the Nebular Hypothesis
and Spectroscopic Astronomy. Of Darwin he
sought particularly some information regarding
peculiarities in the arrangement of leaves around
the stem. He writes: "It was delightful to see
what oceans of illustrations Darwin had ready, and
how absolutely precise his conception of the case
was and how simply and quietly he said what he
had to say."

Fiske also had opportunities to ply Hooker, Tyn-
dall, Crookes, Galton, Foster, Sir Henry Sumner
Maine with questions bearing upon their special
lines of investigation ; while with Spencer, Huxley,
and Lewes he enjoyed the freest possible converse
extending over the whole period of his London so-

460

Letter from Huxley

journ. With Spencer and Huxley he discussed very
fully the various aspects of the doctrine of Evolu-
tion and its implications upon the future of phil-
osophic thought.

In the midst of these memorials of earnest minds
grappling with the profound mysteries of existence,
it is pleasant now and then to come across a brief
note — a mere scrap of paper — which, redolent
of an abounding personality, illumines with a bit
of delightful humor the whole Evolutionary sur-
roundings.

We have seen that among Fiske's ancestors in
Middletown there were four generations who con-
secutively held the office of Town Clerk, and that
Fiske himself wrote a beautiful hand. It appears
that during this London visit, he desired some
information regarding Amphioxus, one of the low-
est orders of vertebrates; and so he plied Huxley
with one of his beautiful notes. Huxley, after an-
swering Fiske 's question, gives what lawyers would
call an obiter dictum on the probable working of the
Evolutionary process as applied to Fiske's hand-
writing, which is full of pertinent suggestions: —

Huxley to Fiske

My dear Fiske: —

Amphioxus is quite rightly said to have no
brain. The anterior extremity of the nerve end,
what represents the spinal marrow, is rounded off
without any such differentiation as would give it
a title to the name of brain.

461

John Fiske

I did not expect you yesterday, knowing that
Macmillan is wise in his generation, but we shall
look for you on Sunday next.

What a pity you did not continue in the line of
your ancestors. In another generation or two we
might have had a Homo Townclerkensis whom the
orthodox of the day would have declared to have
been specially created in the latitude of Cambridge,
U.S.; and they would have justly pointed to the
difference between his handwriting and that of
my progeny (all of whom write badly) as the best
evidence of specific distinctness.

Yours very truly,

T. H. HUXLEY.

It was under these favoring conditions that the
physical or scientific portions of his work were re-
vised, that the sociological chapters were largely
rewritten, and the chapters entitled " Matter and
Spirit/' " Religion as Adjustment," and the " Criti-
cal Attitude of Philosophy" were entirely com-
posed.

Fiske's gratulatory feeling at being enabled to
revise and finish his work under such happy aus-
pices, finds frequent expression in his letters. In
November he writes: —

11 1 am thankful to be over here doing this work,
where there are so many ready and glad to help

me."

And again in December: —

"This is what I always longed for, to be able
to revise my book in England, where I can get good

462

THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY

Discussions with Spencer

criticism and advice from competent men, before
publishing; and now I seem to be getting my wish
accomplished." v

Among the many interesting people he met in
London was the Reverend Moncure D. Conway,
an American Unitarian minister who preached
very liberal sermons to a very liberal and intelli-
gent congregation at South Place Chapel, and
who enjoyed the acquaintance of all the best
thinkers in London. Conway and Fiske became
very warm friends, and at Conway's earnest re-
quest Fiske occupied his pulpit for two Sundays,
giving two discourses on Darwinism, which were
received with marked approval.

Fiske' s conferences with Spencer were many, and
were of an exceedingly pleasant nature. During
their conferences two incidents arose of some phil-
osophic interest which are referred to in Fiske' s
work, but which are more clearly set forth in the
letters. The first relates to Fiske's use of the word
" Cosmic " in the title to his work, " Outlines of Cos-
mic Philosophy." We have already seen that while
Fiske was delivering his lectures at Harvard under
the title of "The Positive Philosophy," Spencer
objected to the title "Positive Philosophy" being
applied to the philosophy of Evolution, and that
for his own system he had adopted the title "Syn-
thetic Philosophy." In the latter part of Decem-
ber Fiske was nearing the completion of his work,
and with the assistance of Huxley he had decided

463

John Fiske

upon the following as his general title: "Outlines
of Cosmic Philosophy based on the Doctrine of
Evolution, with criticisms of the Positive Phil-
osophy. "

On submitting this title to Spencer, he at once
raised objections, evidently the outcome of a feel-
ing that Fiske was in a way giving a title to the
philosophy of Evolution, a right or a duty that
belonged to himself. Several letters passed: those
from Spencer, although perfectly courteous in tone,
indicate some degree of personal irritation; while
the letters of Fiske are so free from all personal
self-seeking in the matter, so direct in setting forth
the implications of the word " Cosmic " in the
sense in which he has used the term, so emphatic
in his desire to clear the doctrine of Evolution
from all affiliations with the philosophy of Posi-
tivism, and so frank in his acknowledgment of his
great indebtedness to Spencer for thoughtful in-
spiration throughout the work, that Spencer grace-
fully withdrew his objections, remarking, "All
that I wish is that it should be made clear that I did
not myself adopt the word ' Cosmic ' and do not
think it desirable as a distinctive title.'1 The con-
troversy was conducted with such perfect frank-
ness on both sides that its settlement left no feeling
of rancor behind.

As the substance of this controversy is given by
Fiske in the preface to his "Cosmic Philosophy,"
none of the letters are given here. It appears that

464

Discussions with Spencer

Fiske had the cordial support of Huxley during the
controversy; and that Huxley strongly opposed the
title of "Synthetic Philosophy" when originally
proposed by Spencer as a distinctive title for the
philosophy of Evolution.

The other incident relates to Fiske' s notable
emendation of Spencer's phrase "nervous shock1'
into "psychical shock," in his chapter "Matter
and Spirit." This emendation was an important
one, and much has been made of it in subsequent
psychological and philosophical discussion. Fiske
says, in a footnote, that the emendation was
thoroughly approved by Spencer. In a letter to Mrs.
Fiske we have the particulars of the interview at
which Spencer authorized the emendation, with
just a glimpse at the personality of Spencer that
is not without interest. Fiske says: —

"Spencer called yesterday, to see what had be-
come of me. I had n't seen him for two weeks.
When he came in, I had just been quoting and
altering and mending a very important passage
from his ' Psychology,' and apologising in a foot-
note for the liberty I had taken with it. Just as I
had done this he came in and I read it to him, and
he told me to add in my footnote that he approved
of my emendation and considered it a bully thing." l

Fiske then adds this pleasing incident: —

1 This emendation was an important one and struck at a vital
point in Spencer's philosophy, where he had unwittingly placed
himself in the hands of the Materialists. Emphatic as he was in
commending Fiske's emendation, it does not appear that he made
any change in his text.

465

John Fiske

" We went in a cab to St. James's Square and I sat
by while he had his hair cut (what little he has got)
and it tickled me to hear him tell the barber: ' Now
hold your scissorrrrrs verrrrtically, etc.'!!! It is
positively wonderful the way he rrrrolls his rrrs."

How diligently and with what spirit Fiske worked
at his task we get glimpses from the letters in fre-
quent passages similar to the following: —

"Next day I got up early and did 8 pages on
religion, and worked like thunder the rest of the
week. . . . To-day I have worked all day and have
written 13 bran-new pages on ' Matter and Spirit.' "

In January, when he saw that the end of his task
was near, he writes: —

"Oh, how happy I have been in London! I can
never outlive it or forget it. It has been all solid
pure unbroken happiness. But after all, Peters-
ham, next summer, will beat it!!/19

And when he finishes his task on the evening of
February n, he writes at 10 P.M. in the following
jubilant strain : —

"Glory to God!!!

"I have finished 'Matter and Spirit' and have
been out (feeling hungry) to get a mutton chop and
glass of beer in Tottenham Court Road. Glory
Hallelujah! MY WORK is DONE! This has been a
profitable four months in London! To get that
everlasting big book into shape has been no fool
of a job; and it has been well done, too — O, sing
Hallelujah!"

466

Finishes " Cosmic Philosophy "

Here, as we make record of the finishing of his
book, which was at the time the completest presen-
tation of the philosophy of Evolution in its bearing
upon religious thought that had been made, it is
eminently fitting that we insert the following ex-
tract from a letter to his mother, written during
his stay in London, in which he gives expression
to the profoundly religious thought that underlies
the whole of his philosophy. His mother had
questioned the nature of the comfort his views had
for aching hearts, for people in affliction, to which
he replied: —

" As for the comfort which ' my science ' has for
aching hearts, the form of your question shows how
little you understand what 'my science* is. If I
were to say that my chief comfort in affliction
would be the recognition that there is a Supreme
Power manifested in the totality of phenomena,
the workings of which are not like the workings of
our intelligence, but far above and beyond them,
and which are obviously tending to some grand
and worthy result, even though my individual
happiness gets crushed in the process, so that the
only proper mental attitude for me, is that which
says, 'not my will but thine be done* — if I were
to say this, you would probably reply, 'Why, this
is Christianity/ Well, so it is, I think. This, how-
ever, is my faith, and it is 'a faith which owns
fellowship with thought/ as Miss Hennell says.
The difference between the Christianity of Herbert
Spencer, and that of Mrs. Pickett 1 is nothing but

1 Mrs. Pickett was a faithful family servant in Middletown.

467

John Fiske

a difference of symbols. One uses the language of
a man, and the other that of a child.

"But the germ of a faith which sustains Mrs.
Pickett is something which Spencer has not got
rid of, — it is something which mankind will never
get rid of. Read Matthew Arnold's 'Literature
and Dogma ' and you will see how little he cares
for doctrinal symbols, how much he cares for the
kernel of the thing. And when my ' Cosmic Phil-
osophy ' comes out, you will see how utterly im-
possible it is that Christianity should die out; but
how utterly inevitable it is, that it should be meta-
morphosed, even as it has been metamorphosed
over and over again."

And so, with his task of composition finished,
Fiske spent a few days in visiting Westminster
Abbey, the House of Commons, Westminster Hall,
and a few other places of interest which he had
not had time to visit before; and in saying good-
bye for a season to Spencer, the Huxleys, Mr. and
Mrs. Lewes, Ralston, and Macmillan. On Wednes-
day, the 1 7th of February, he delivered the last
of his manuscript to the printer, and in stating
this fact to Mrs. Fiske he takes great pleasure in
noting that the delivery was on the twelfth anni-
versary of their engagement.

On the 1 9th of February he left London for
Brighton, and on the 2Oth he set out for the Con-
tinent, via Dieppe, Rouen, and Paris.

Fiske's sojourn in London, however, is of gene-

468

Personal Sketches

ral interest for another reason than the comple-
tion of his "Cosmic Philosophy " — his personal
sketches of the eminent persons with whom he
came in contact. Reference has been made to
the reputation that had preceded him, and to the
social attentions he received. The latter were in-
deed remarkable, and they began immediately upon
his arrival. His cordial reception by Spencer,
Lewes, Darwin, Huxley, and his genial publisher
Macmillan, opened to him entrances to the high-
est intellectual and social converse that London
had to bestow. He was given the full privileges
of the Athenaeum and of the Cosmopolitan clubs
— two of the most select and distinguished clubs in
London. He dined with the X Club, the most
exclusive club in England. Darwin gave him a
luncheon. Spencer gave him a special dinner with
Huxley, Tyndall, Lewes, and Dr. Jackson. He was
Huxley's guest at a dinner of the Royal Society.
He was given a special dinner by the "Citizens of
Noviomagas," a club of " jolly good fellows." And
then, best of all, he was made an ever-welcome
guest at the delightful home of Mr. and Mrs.
Lewes (George Eliot), the Huxleys, and of his
"bonny old Scot" publisher, Macmillan.

It was under these favorable conditions that
Fiske had the pleasure of becoming personally ac-
quainted, not only with all the persons named,
but also with several others hardly less distin-
guished for their contributions to the science and

469

John Fiske

the literature of the time; as, for instance, Sir
Charles Lyell, Hooker, Foster, Clifford, Lockyer,
Proctor, Pollock, Crookes, Galton, Max Miiller,
Tennyson, Charles Kingsley, Browning, Tom
Hughes, Anthony Trollope, James Sime, Lord
Arthur Russel, Lord Acton, and others.

Fiske's letters to Mrs. Fiske, to his mother, and
to his children written during his London sojourn
would fill a volume by themselves. They have
been carefully preserved and abound with graphic
sketches of the eminent people with whom he was
brought into close personal relations in the work-
ing-out of his philosophic scheme. They also give
full accounts of his social diversions, at the clubs,
at the homes of Macmillan, the Huxleys, the Lewes's,
of Triibner (the publisher), and others: and they
also abound in rare and appreciative criticisms
upon the musical entertainments he enjoyed.
Then, too, the letters give expression to the ever-
painful feeling in his heart at his isolation from his
home — from his wife and his children. This feel-
ing of isolation, combined with a feeling of sadness
at having pleasures he cannot share with them,
permeates all the letters like a sad refrain, revealing
the deep tenderness of his nature, and giving to
the letters a rare personal charm.

Space can be given to but a few additional ex-
tracts from these letters: and these extracts are
limited to personal sketches of Spencer, Darwin,
Huxley, Lewes, George Eliot, and Sir Charles

470

Herbert Spencer

Lyell, because these persons, beyond all others
that he met, had been influential in shaping the
current of his evolutionary thought.

Herbert Spencer

The reader, as he recalls Fiske's enthusiasm for
Herbert Spencer during his college days, together
with his efforts during the intervening years to
interpret Spencer's philosophy, that of Evolution,
to the American mind, will be interested in getting
his impressions of Spencer's personality as derived
from their intercourse during this London sojourn.

Fiske's first impressions of Spencer are given in
two letters written October 13 and 17, 1873, the
one to Mrs. Fiske, and the other to his mother, and
the following is the merging, in his own words, of
the sketches in both letters: — '

" I called on Herbert Spencer last Thursday. He
received me very warmly, and we walked back to
town together. He is a ferocious walker. I would
like to see him and James [Brooks] start out on a
wager. He is built for travel. I dined with him on
Friday, and narrated my projects and he took
great interest. He is exceedingly refined and ele-
gant in manner, and appears like the great man
he is, though he seems overworked. He is at last
getting a handsome income from his books. I
shall see a great deal more of him. I told him all
about my infancy chapter, and he says it is a grand
discovery, and belongs entirely to me! He was
very much wrought up by it, and had never
dreamed of it before."

47i

John Fiske

While this rather meagre presentation of Spen-
cer's personality leaves much to be desired, it con-
firms in a marked degree the impression we have of
him derived from a variety of sources — that he
lacked the power of inspiring enthusiasm. But
Fiske's veneration for him was so great, he could
overlook his personal shortcomings in apprecia-
tion of his greatness, and in the following extracts
we have perhaps the completest presentation of
Spencer's personality that has been given. Writ-
ing to Mrs. Fiske, a little later he says: — i

"This morning dear old Spencer came in to see
me just after breakfast, and staid an hour. He
does n't feel very well, having overworked during
the summer, without much if any vacation; and
he said to me that he would be darned if he would
ever again undertake to do any work on time.
'Dear me,1 I told him, 'have n't you been making
that same vow over and over again ever since you
were 30 years old, and have n't you invariably
busted it?' Yes, he said, he was always vowing
never to do so again, but his vows were always
busted. . . . The old fellow was as charming as a
magician, and we had an almighty fine chin-wag."

In his account of the dinner which Spencer gave
him, at which Huxley, Lewes, Tyndall, and others
were present, and at which, he says, "we dis-
cussed pretty much the whole universe from cellar
to attic," Fiske writes to Mrs. Fiske: —

"Spencer was benign and admirable as always;
and the reverence which all these men feel for him

472

Herbert Spencer

was thoroughly apparent, in the way in which
they listened to every word that came out of his
mouth."

And to his mother Fiske writes: —

"You don't seem to know that Spencer is a
bachelor. How he came to know so much about
bringing up children I don't know, except that such
imperial common-sense as his cannot go far wrong
on any subject. Of all the men I have ever seen
he impresses me as the most remarkably endowed
with good straightforward common-sense. . . .
This illustrates what I have often thought, that
a really good psychologist — a man who really
fathoms all the processes of thinking and the
methods of reaching conclusions — has an advan-
tage over all other kinds of men. He gets down to
the bottom of what they are thinking about. It is
now getting to be generally admitted that in all
human history, the only men to be compared with
Spencer for insight into mental processes, are Aris-
totle, Berkeley, and Kant. And it is this wonder-
ful insight into the mind which is the secret of that
supreme common-sense which he shows in his chap-
ters on Education, and in everything he writes.1'

A little later he writes to Mrs. Fiske: —

"Then Conway and I went to Spencer's. Spen-
cer was down with his liver, and his stomach,
and his back-bone, and caved-in generally, and
disposed to be grouty; but he shook my hand in
an unmistakably affectionate way, and evidently
tried to be as jolly as he could. The more I see of
the poor old fellow, the more I pity him from the

473

John Fiske

bottom of my heart. He is so lonely and so cur-
tailed from want of human sympathy. And I don't
see how he is ever going to finish his work with his
present health. He thinks it a wonderful day's
work, if he can only keep at it from 9 A.M. until

noon.'!

And again : —

"Yesterday I lunched with Spencer, and walked
back through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park
with him. It was a beautiful day — warm as
summer — and such a delicious grey-blue sky as I
never saw before. I was wild with delight. But
Spencer never seems to warm up to anything but
ideas. He has got so infernally critical, that not
even the finest work of God — a perfect day — is
quite fine enougli for him. So he picked flaws with
the grey-blue sky, and the peculiar Turner-like
light, and everything. However, he was very jolly,
and we had a grand talk about primitive language,
which he has got on the brain just now. His talk
is very charming." (

It appears that on one occasion, Spencer in-
vited Fiske to luncheon at the Athenaeum Club,
forgetting that he (Spencer) had an important
engagement. At the appointed hour, Spencer did
not appear, and Fiske, on his return to his rooms,
found a note explaining matters. Fiske sends the
note to Mrs. Fiske with the following comments,
and with an additional sketch of Spencer's per-
sonality : — )

"Keep it [the note] as a relic. People would

474

[FACSIMILE]

C^Ov- lyS^^,

/^LaSL^si ^P^~-^-^_

i,^"^^

Herbert Spencer

give a good deal for some such little scrap show-
ing how Newton got his head overburdened and
made an impracticable appointment*, with a friend.
But Spencer is as wonderful a man as Newton, and
this little bit from him is worth as much as the
other would be. Poor old fellow! One can easily
see that he labours under the weight of his mighty
mind, and that the body protests against the quan-
tity of work it has to do in keeping said mind a-
going. Thus is the world made; you can't eat your
cake and keep it. Books like 'First Principles'
are made at the cost of terrible wear and tear of the
nerves. But Spencer does n't show it in the same
way that Lewes does. He does n't look feeble, but
he looks tired. He is wiry, and tough, and athletic,
and looks like a very strong man, tired. Lewes
looks feeble. That is the difference. I can fear that
Lewes may come in with his work half done, but
I can imagine it more likely that Spencer may stick
to it, tired as he is, for many a year to come. They
are a wonderful pair, anyway, and either one of
them would have been worth the journey across
the ocean to see.

"I showed Spencer the basket- wagon * picker-
wow/ this morning, and also the 'pickerwow' of
'Tick' sitting on the cricket, and of ' Barl' with his
hat and waterproof cape-coat on; and I told him
how I used to go to Spy Pond with my babies, and
he said he should like to be there, and go along with
us! When I think how lonely he must be without
any wife and babies, and how solitary he is in all
his greatness, it makes me pity him, and feel very
tenderly toward him. When I watched him in-
tently examining the basket- wagon 'picker wow/

475

John Fiske

I felt, though I did not say it — 'By Jove, that
wagon-load is worth more than all the philosophy
that ever was concocted, from Aristotle to Spencer
inclusive.' ' ^

Charles Darwin

Fiske's veneration for Darwin was hardly less
than his veneration for Spencer.^ While he cred-
ited Spencer with being the first thinker of mod-
ern times to bring forward the idea of Evolution
as the mode of manifestation of an unknown power
underlying all the phenomena of the inorganic and
organic universe, he recognized Darwin as having
furnished the most indubitable proof of Evolution
in the organic world by his epoch-making books,
"The Origin of Species" and "The Descent of
Man." Fiske's desire to meet Darwin, therefore,
for converse on some of the points in the philoso-
phy of Evolution he was working out, especially in
its relation to sociologic man, was hardly less than
his desire to meet Spencer.

He learned, however, that Darwin was in quite
feeble health, and hesitated about asking for an
interview, fearing it would be an intrusion upon
Darwin's necessary seclusion. But as he settled
down to his task, the desire to consult Darwin be-
came so strong that he was induced to send the
latter a note in which he stated his purpose in Lon-
don and from which the following extract is taken:

"I have known and revered you so many years,
that it would give me great pleasure if I could

476

Charles Darwin

meet you and shake hands with you before leav-
ing England. There are some subjects about
which I would fain have a word or two of conver-
sation; but as Mr. Spencer tells me that you are
(like himself) feeling poorly at present, and as I
know what a bore philosophy is under such cir-
cumstances, I shall seek for nothing more than to
tell you face to face, how much I, in common with
all thinking men, owe to you."

This note brought the following prompt reply
from Darwin : —

DOWN, November 3, 1873.
My dear Sir : —

I am much obliged for your very kind letter. I
am very glad of the nature of the work on which
you are engaged. I see so few people that I had
not heard of your presence in London. At the end
of the week I shall be in London at my daughter's
house, and I will on the following week propose your
coming to luncheon, which is generally my best time,
and I trust this may not be inconvenient to you.

I did receive the " Popular Science Monthly "
and read your attack (an attack it was with a
vengeance though properly admitting his great
services) on Agassiz, with great interest. I have
not received the " North American " and shall be
very glad to see it, but I can order a copy for my-
self. Until we meet, 1
Yours very sincerely,

CH. DARWIN.

On the evening after the luncheon Fiske writes
Mrs. Fiske as follows: —

477 ,

John Fiske

"To-day, I lunched with Darwin and Mrs. Dar-
win, Mrs. Litchfield (Darwin's daughter), Frank
Darwin (whom I saw in Boston two years ago) and
Miss Bessie Darwin, and Dr. Hooker, the greatest
living botanist, and Mrs. Hooker. . . . Darwin is
the dearest, sweetest, loveliest old Grandpa that
ever was. And on the whole he impresses me
with his strength more than any man I have yet
seen. There is a charming kind of quiet strength
about him and about everything he does. He is
not burning and eager like Huxley. He has a mild
blue eye, and is the gentlest of gentle old fellows.
I think he would make a noble picture after the
style of mother's picture which I call 'Galileo/
His long white hair and enormous beard make
him very picturesque. And what is so delightful
to see, as that perfect frankness and guileless sim-
plicity of manner, which comes from a man having
devoted his whole life to some great idea, without
a thought of self, and without ever having become
a ' man of the world ' ? I had a warm greeting from
the dear old man, and I am afraid I shall never see
him again, for his health is very bad, and he had
to make a special effort to see me to-day. Of all
my days in England, I prize to-day the most; and
what I pity you most of all for, my dear, is that
you have n't seen our dear grand old Darwin! I
think we both felt it might be the last time. He
came to the door with me and gave me a warm grip
of the hand and best wishes, and watched me down
the road till I turned the corner, when I took off my
hat and bowed good-bye."

On the same day, November 13, Fiske wrote his
mother as follows: —

478

Sketch of George Henry Lewes

"Of course I have formed opinions of all these
men, but it is interesting to see how they seem in
the flesh. There is no doubt that Spencer is the
profoundest thinker of all. But Darwin impressed
me with a sense of strength more than any other
man I have ever seen. Instead of Huxley's intense
black eye, he has got a mild blue eye, and his man-
ner is full of repose. None of these men seem to
know how great they are. But Darwin is one of
the most truly modest men I ever saw. The com-
bination of power and quiet modesty in him, is more
impressive than I can describe. I regard my lunch
with Darwin the climax of everything thus far."

George Henry Lewes

Next to Spencer and Darwin, the man Fiske
most desired to meet in the prosecution of his work
was George Henry Lewes. We have seen that when
Fiske gave up the practice of the law to devote
himself to literature, Lewes, as editor of the " Fort-
nightly Review," the organ of liberal thought in
England, cordially welcomed him as an unham-
pered contributor, with a more satisfactory re-
muneration that he had received at home. Then,
beside this fact, Fiske had been a careful reader of
Lewes's "Life of Goethe," his "Seaside Studies,"
and his essay on Aristotle ; while Lewes's "History
of Philosophy," with its masterly analyses of the dif-
ferent schools of philosophy from Thales to Comte,
had been familiar to Fiske ever since his college
days as a sort of textbook of human thinking, illus-
trating one great evolutionary truth that —

479

John Fiske

Through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widen 'd with the process of
the suns."

Fiske's first meeting with Lewes was by chance
in the store of Trubner, the publisher, and under
date of October 23 he gives the following graphic
sketch of Lewes's personality: —

"Tuesday, I went down to Trubner's store in
Ludgate Hill, near St. Paul's, and there I met
Mr. Lewes. He looks very old and feeble for a
man of 55 ; somewhat weazen, and little, like Ezra
Abbot, and ever so homely — a great deal more
homely than his picture. But when he opens his
mouth to speak, he becomes transfigured in a
moment. I never saw anything more winning than
the beautiful and cordial smile with which he met
me, and expressed his pleasure at seeing me at
last. I had meant to say all that to him, but he
forestalled me. His manners are fascinating beyond
all description, and he took my heart captive at
once. I never before saw a man who seemed so
full of the divine indescribable something that
makes a man different from common men — and
all this in spite of his homely, and meagre and
puny physique. I don't wonder that he captivated
George Eliot. I think he is just the man that any
woman would get in love with, who had an eye for
the spirituelle. We talked about an hour, when he
said he must run and catch a train to get home to
his wife, for he had promised her not to stay more
than three hours in the city.

"The work which he is beginning to publish is
one of great scope, and will fill many volumes if

480

GEORGE HENRY LEWES

Sketch of George Henry Lewes

it is ever finished.1 But it was with a pang that I
heard him allude to the probability of his never
finishing it, for it seems only too probable. He
said his wife called him her 'Mr. Casaubon' 2 and
kept egging him on to publish and get rid of what
he had got on hand anyway — the force of which
you will appreciate if you read ' Middlemarch.'
He is reading my Myth-book with his wife, and
they like it much. I am at last to see the great
George Eliot on Sunday, November 23, at two
o'clock P.M. They will then have returned to town,
and I am to lunch with them on that day. So you
can then imagine Hezzy in clover. I am perfectly
in love with Lewes/'

Lewes gave Fiske, in sheets, a copy of his forth-
coming book, "Problems of Life and Mind," and
under date of November 18, Fiske writes Mrs.
Fiske as follows: —

"I read Lewes's book, ('Problems of Life and
Mind') in the sheets, and I consider his treatment
of Kant one of the most masterly pieces of philo-
sophical criticism I ever read. I told Darwin about
it, and found that he has a great admiration for
Lewes's straightforward and clean-cut mind. I
have made up my mind that Lewes will have a
permanent place in history as the critic of Kant,
to say nothing of the other things he has done.
What a comical old fellow he is! At the dinner the
other day [Spencer's dinner to Fiske] I was say-

1 A history of science, the first section of which was " Problems
of Life and Mind."

2 Fiske says: " Mrs. Lewes calls it Cas-au'bon, with the accent on
the second syllable, but she says a good many people of that name in
England call themselves Cas'au-b&n, with accent on first syllable."

481

John Fiske

ing that very soon we should see Evolution taken
up by the orthodox. 'To be sure/ says Lewes, 'for
don't you see that Evolution requires an Evolver? '
Huxley was telling about something I said in my
Agassiz article, when Spencer blandly interrupted
with 'What will Agassiz say to all that?' 'O,'
said Lewes, ' he will say what Louis XIV said after
the- battle of Ramillies — Dieu nCa, abandonne;
et apres tout ce que fai fait pour Lull! I ' "

George Eliot

Fiske was no less desirous of meeting Mrs.
Lewes — George Eliot — than he was of meeting
Lewes. He had been a careful reader of her various
books and regarded them as the products of a
genius of the highest order. The wide variety of
characters she had created into the world of litera-
ture, such as Dinah, Mrs. Poyser, Dorothea, Rom-
ola, Fidalma, Adam Bede, Caleb Garth, Felix
Holt, Tito, Savonarola, and Zarca, he considered
unexcelled in modern fiction; while he seemed to
see through them all the reflection of a mind that
was looking out upon the drama of human life, not
with the pessimistic view of the theologic-dogma-
tist, but rather with an optimistic faith born of
a belief in Evolution — "of a power within us,
not ourselves, that makes for righteousness."

The story of the marital relations of Lewes and
Marian Evans (George Eliot) is not in place here.
Fiske gave to his mother the whole story, and in
closing it he says: —

482

Sketch of George Eliot

"My notions of these things are almost asceti-
cally strict; but about this case I have always felt
(knowing the thoroughly upright and noble charac-
ter of Lewes, and presuming George Eliot to be no
less so) that in all probability they did the very
best they knew how; and there are mighty few
people who are in a position to go pitching stones
at them/'

We have seen that at his first meeting with Lewes
Fiske was invited to luncheon with Mr. and Mrs.
Lewes on November 23, shortly after their return
to town. Fiske looked forward to meeting these
two people in their own home with great anticipa-
tions; and on October 31 he writes to Mrs. Fiske: > —

"Remember that on Sunday, November 23, I
lunch with Lewes and George Eliot. Imagine
Hezzy as hard as you can when that day comes
around, and if George Eliot is half as bewitching as
her husband, I shall no doubt have a day of it long
to be remembered.'1

On November 23, with the interview fresh in
mind, he writes Mrs. Fiske as follows: —

"To-day, my dear, I have been to the Lewes's
. . . And Ralston was there and there never was
a room so dark that his presence would n't at once
make sunlight in it. And ' Kingdon ' Clifford was
there, and several others — too many, indeed, for
Mr. and Mrs. Lewes had to play hostess to so
many that I could n't talk to her half so much as
I wanted to.

"Well, what do I think of her? She is a plain-

483

John Fiske

looking woman, but I think not especially homely.
She is much better looking than George Sand. She
is n't a blooming beauty, of course: you don't ex-
pect that at fifty-two. But her features are regular,
her nose is very good, her eyes are a rich blue and
very expressive, her mouth is very large, but it is
pleasant in expression. Her hair is light and profuse,
and she wears a lovely lace cap over it — and looks
simple, and frank, and cordial, and matronly, and
seems ever so fond of Lewes, and he ever so fond
of her. I call her a real good, honest, genuine,
motherly woman with no nonsense about her. She
seemed glad to see me. She said when my Myth-
book came to her (I sent her a copy last sum-
mer, as you know), she was sitting on the floor,
fixing a rug, or something of the sort, and she got
so absorbed in my book that she sat on the floor
all the afternoon, till Lewes came in, and routed
her up! She thought it was a beautiful book; but
she had known me ages ago, when I first wrote to
Lewes and sent things to the 'Fortnightly/ But
she disagreed with me as to the unity of the Hom-
eric poems. I found she was a strong Wolfian!
Well, we had a hard battle over it — she and I.
I never saw such a woman. There is nothing a
bit masculine about her. She is thoroughly femi-
nine. But she has a power of stating an argument
equal to any man. Equal to any^man, do I say? I
have never seen any man, except Herbert Spencer,
who could state a case equal to her. I found her
thoroughly acquainted with the whole literature of
the Homeric question; and she seems to have read
all of Homer in Greek, too, and could meet me
everywhere. She did n't talk like a blue-stocking

484

GEORGE ELIOT

Sketch of George Eliot

— as if she were aware she had got hold of a big
topic — but like a plain woman, who talked of
Homer as simply as she would of flat-irons. She
showed an amazing knowledge of the subject. But,
you see, Hezzy is not a fool on the Homer-question.
He knows every bit of the ' Iliad ' and * Odyssey ' as
well as he knows the ' Pickwick Papers/ and so he
was a little too much for her. On the whole, she
was inclined to beat a retreat before we got through,
and said she was glad of some new considerations
that Hezzy had presented on the subject — though,
on the whole, I don't think I converted her.

"I never before saw just such a clear-headed
woman. She thinks just like a man, and can put
her thoughts into clear and forcible language at a
moment's notice. And her knowledge is quite
amazing. I have often heard of learned women,
whose learning, I have usually found, is a mighty
flimsy affair. But to meet with a woman who
can meet you like a man, on such a question as that
of the Homeric poems, knowing the ins and outs of
the question, and not putting on any airs, but talk-
ing sincerely of the thing as a subject which has
deeply interested her — this is, indeed, quite a
new experience.

"On the whole, I enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Lewes
immensely to-day; and I think Lewes a happy man
in having such a simple-hearted, honest, and keenly
sympathetic wife. I call them a wonderful couple.
Spencer thinks she is the greatest woman that has
lived on the earth — the female Shakespeare, so
to speak; and I imagine he is not far from right.
My only sorrow is that the afternoon was not quite
long enough; but I shall go there again."

485

John Fiske

Thomas Henry Huxley

Huxley was one of the men Fiske was most de-
sirous to meet. In Fiske's mind there were four men
whose several labors had prepared the way for the
theory of Evolution; but before a complete system
of philosophy could be developed therefrom their
respective labors must be correlated into one con-
sistent whole. These were Spencer, Darwin, Lewes,
Huxley. Of these four men Fiske knew Huxley the
least, and only as an eminent zoologist, a valiant
defender of Darwinism, and as a bitter opponent
of the Positive Philosophy of Comte.

Fiske first met Huxley at the dinner given to
Fiske by Spencer, and next at the dinner at the X
Club; and from this time forth the letters overflow
with sketches of Huxley, and his delightful home
surroundings. After the dinner at the X Club he
writes to Mrs. Fiske: —

"Huxley seems to have taken a great fancy to
Hezzy. He devoted himself almost exclusively to
me during the evening, and we had one of the best
talks that two poor creeters ever succeeded in
getting up together. What a treat it is to meet
with such a fine- tempered mind! and none the
worse for having a handsome face to reveal itself
through !"

And again he writes : —

"I am quite wild over Huxley. He is as hand-
some as an Apollo. His photograph does n't begin

486

Sketch of Huxley

to do him justice. I never before saw such magnifi-
cent eyes. They are black, and his face expresses
an eager, burning intensity, and there is none of
that self-satisfied smirk which has crept into the
picture. He seems earnest — immensely in earnest
— and thoroughly frank, and cordial, and modest.
And, by Jove, what a pleasure it is to meet such a
clean-cut mind! It is like Saladin's sword which
cut through the cushion. When we parted it was a
heart-felt grip that I gave his hand, I can tell you.
There is no doubt at all that he is a grand man, and
a great man, too. There is nothing so pleasant as
seeing these men after one has known them in a
shadowy way so long. Reading their books doesn't
give you the flesh-and-blood idea of them. But once
to see such a man as Huxley is never to forget him/'

And a little later he gives the following account
of a Sunday evening at one of Mrs. Huxley's " tall
teas": —

"Then I went to Huxley's, where we had what
he calls a 'tall tea,' i.e., on Sunday they dine early
and have an old-fashioned tea at 6.30 with meat.
Huxley's house is the nearest to an earthly para-
dise of anything I have ever seen. . . . After tea
Huxley and I retired to his study, which is the
cosiest I have seen in England, and had a smoke
and the very best talk I ever had. Words can't
describe what a glorious fellow he is. Darwin is the
only man I have seen that equals him. Spencer
does n't begin to. And then Darwin is a dear old
grandpa, but Huxley is a younger man, not over
45 or 46, I think,1 and so I feel more at home with

1 He was forty-eight.

487

John Fiske

him. He is very much interested in the book, and
hopes I will add the chapter on * Matter and Spirit'
which I have been mulling for a year back. We
had a splendid talk about the soul. . , . And when
I left, Huxley said there would be a plate set for
me every Sunday, as long as I stay in London, and
it will be my own fault if I don't come and use it —
in which Mrs. Huxley joined. And I must say, I
never met more warm-hearted, loveable people in
my whole life."

- To his mother Fiske writes: —

"December nth, I went to a great dinner of the
Royal Society, as Huxley's guest. . . . My ' vio-
lent' friendship with Huxley began that evening.
He attracted me wonderfully the first time I met
him at Spencer's. But now I quite lost my heart
to him. The next Sunday evening I began going
to tea at his house, and now I go every Sunday
evening, and am becoming one of the family. It is
a lovely family. Mrs. Huxley is a sweet, motherly
woman. . . . And Huxley is such an immense-
hearted old fellow! Such a great, all-embracing
sympathy about him! Such tenderness, such ex-
quisite delicacy, such truthfulness, such a shrewd,
sensible, clear head, such immense and accurate
knowledge! And his great black eyes — as Charles
Reade says, ' the eye of a hawk, with the eye of a
dove beneath it.1 I never saw another such a man
as Huxley, and everybody warms up just so when
I express my opinion of him. Sir F. Pollock told
me the other day, that there was 'enough good-
ness in Huxley to make all England Christian, if
it could only be parcelled out, and distributed
around.' "

Sketch of Huxley

The following note shows the cordial relations
which existed between Fiske and the whole Hux-
ley family: —

4 MARLBOROUGH PLACE,

December 26, 1873.
My dear Fiske: —

I have a great mind to say that you will not be
welcome at Sunday's " tall tea" in revenge for your
entertaining any doubt as to the sufficiency of our
general invitation.

But it would be too big a lie for a man who has
not had the advantage of being brought up in a
pious family. Also I am prepared to play third
person competent or otherwise as the case may be.
Have you anything to do on New Year's Day?
I mean to interfere with your dining with us. If
not it will give us great pleasure to see you.

Any time these eighteen years, with hardly a
break, Spencer and Tyndall have dined with us on
that day, and we mean to hold high feast this year
to contrast with the last two occasions when I have
been wretchedly ill.

With the best regards and good wishes from all
of us,

Believe me,

Yours very faithfully,

T. H. HUXLEY.

Fiske accepted Huxley's invitation to a New
Year's dinner, where he had the pleasure of meet-
ing Spencer, Tyndall, Michael Foster, and others,
around Huxley's hospitable board.

These sketches of Huxley may well close with an
incident in Fiske's own experience which he re-

489

John Fiske

lated at one of the Sunday "tall teas" to the great
amusement of the whole Huxley family. On one of
his trips to New York, Fiske fell in with an Eng-
lishman who expressed much surprise at the great
interest Americans seemed to take in the scientific
thought of Spencer, Darwin, Tyndall, Lyell, etc.
On Fiske' s mentioning Huxley as one of the leaders
in the new movement, the Englishman broke out:
11 What, 'Uxley! 'orrid old hinfidel! Why, we don't
think hany 'think of 'im in Hingland. We think 'e's
'orrid. You don't say you hadmire 'Uxley? 'E's
perfectly 'orrid!"

Sir Charles Lyell

Among the eminent men of science no one was
at this time held in higher honor in England than
Sir Charles Lyell, the venerable geologist, whose
life was now drawing to a close after fifty years
devoted to the advancement of geologic science.
Fiske was perfectly familiar with Lyell's geological
writings. They had been stepping-stones to his
own comprehension of the cosmic universe. He
was no less acquainted with the facts connected
with Lyell's valiant stand in support of Darwin,
on the publication of the latter's "Origin of Spe-
cies"; as well as with his recantation of previous
views in regard to the antiquity of man, occasioned
by his acceptance of Darwin's theory of natural
selection as a vera causa of the multifarious forms
of the organic life of the globe.

490

SIR CHARLES LYELL

Sketch of Sir Charles Lyell

In Fiske's mind Lyell appeared as one of the
advanced guard of scientists, who, in the face of
theologic ignorance and prejudice, had added im-
mensely to the boundaries of human knowledge,
while increasing in men's minds a reverence for
the profound mystery that lies beyond. Accord-
ingly, on the 22d of December, 1873, he paid his
respects to Sir Charles by calling, being presented
by his friend Conway.

Of this memorable interview he writes to Mrs.
Fiske the same day as follows: —

"This afternoon Conway and I called on Sir
Charles Lyell. Think what an event in one's life,
my dear! Here is this old man whose great work
was really done forty- four years ago, when grandma
Stoughton was a little girl like Maudie, when Comte
was a young fellow like Hezzy, and Darwin a boy
in college, and Spencer a boy nine years old. Away
back in those days he laid the foundations of a
work so great and strong, that his name will here-
after hold the same place in geology forever, that
Newton's holds in astronomy. Scouted at in the
beginning, he has lived to witness his own immor-
tality — to see all men adopting as self-evident
the truths which he was the first to discover. A
rare good fortune for a man! To see him was like
looking at an age gone by. He is probably from 80
to 85 years old.1 He cannot see much of anything,
and walks with difficulty. He was glad to lean on
my arm in getting to his easy-chair before the fire.
We sat an hour before the bright fire in his lovely

1 He was eighty-six.
491

John Fiske

obally,1 aad talked about "many things. His mind
is as clear and clean-cut as ever — no nonsense
about him. And such exquisite politeness! Such
a well-bred, courteous, sweet old man! How ten-
derly he spoke of Agassiz (who had just died) and
with how much appreciation of his son Alexander
Agassiz, whom he hoped to see elected to his
father's place. He had dim and amusing recollec-
tions of old Dr. Barratt, of Middletown,2 but was
not very sure on the subject. He was as keenly
curious of all new things as a young man, but
owned that he reads nothing now-a-days; and he
said in a delicate way, that since Lady Lyell's
death, he did n't get much of the good flavor of
life. He reminds me very much of. Darwin — the
same gentleness, the same keenness of glance ; the
same precision of mind, the same kingly demean-
our. It was a great event in Hezzy's life — a thing
to tell the babies of years hence, when they have
grown up. I am so glad to have seen the dear old
man, and had him lean on me. He may die of old
age almost any day.3 And still his mind is just as
young, just as jolly as ever. Conway did n't say
much, leaving the field to me; but when we had
got away, he broke out with his admiration, and
our tongues ran pretty fast until we got to where
our roads diverged.

And here these interesting personal sketches for
the present must close.

1 His children's nickname for library.

* A former pupil of Lyell's. 3 He died February 22, 1875.

CHAPTER XIX

HIS CONTINENTAL JOURNEY — HIS ORIGINAL PLAN
AND WHY CURTAILED — HIS BRIEF STOP IN PARIS
AND HIS HASTY RUN THROUGH FRANCE — HIS
FOUR WEEKS IN ITALY — SWITZERLAND VIA MONT
CENIS — LES CHARMETTES, FERNEY, GENEVA —
ROUSSEAU, VOLTAIRE — IMPRESSIONS OF SWITZ-
ERLAND— DOWN THE RHINE TO BELGIUM — BAC£
IN LONDON — FAREWELL VISITS

1873-1874

FISKE'S plan for his Continental journey, which he
had worked out in all details before he left home,
was a comprehensive one, and it embraced visits
to the chief countries, and places of historic interest.
The trip was to begin December 20, 1873, and was
to take nearly eight months' time. The plan in-
cluded a visit to Constantinople and Athens. To
each country was allotted a definite portion of the
time — one month was to be given to France ; two
months to Italy; three weeks to Constantinople
and Athens; three and a half weeks to Austria; six
weeks to Germany ; one month to Switzerland ; one
week to the Rhine; and two weeks to Belgium and
Holland. With what we know of his historic and
philosophic interests, the underlying purpose of this
journey, so definitely planned, is apparent. He
wished to observe Continental Europe with all the
concomitants of modern life, surrounded with the

493

John Fiske

vestiges of the ancient and mediaeval civilizations,
out of which the present social and political condi-
tions have grown.

' It is to be regretted that this carefully planned
journey was not carried out, for a series of letters
from him, giving his observations under condi-
tions which brought substantially all Continental
history within his purview, would have been a per-
manent addition to literature — and he certainly
would have written such letters. But his stay in
England to finish his book had been prolonged two
months beyond the allotted period, thus mate-
rially shortening his available time for the Conti-
nent; and besides, when he was ready to leave
England, he had been over six months from home,
and was terribly homesick.

This home-longing, this feeling of loneliness
when separated for any length of time from his
family, was a personal characteristic we have had
occasion to notice in previous years, and we shall
also have occasion to note it in years to come. On
the present occasion this loneliness became almost
a veritable disease, and his longing to get home be-
came so great that it led him to cut down his Con-
tinental journey to a period of about ten weeks, a
limitation of time which only admitted a hasty
run through France, Italy, and Switzerland, a
mere glance at the Rhenish provinces of Germany,
with a very few days given to Belgium.

Then, too, no small portion of his time when not

494

His Continental Journey-
travelling was taken up with revising his "proofs,
writing the preface, and indexing his forthcom-
ing work, so that his letters are not as full of " im-
pressions " as might be desired. He took pains,
however, to gather photographs, as far as possible,
of the principal objects of interest to him, and on
his return he consecutively arranged these photo-
graphs in an album, so that we have his journey,
brief as it was, quite copiously illustrated, as it
were, by his own hand. And it will be noted that
he left England deeply in love with the English
people, and their ways; and that throughout his
journey he seemed to carry with him a sort of Eng-
lish social yardstick, filled out with subsidiary
American notations, with which he measured the
social life of the Continental peoples with whom
he came in contact: in short, he gives, in a way,
the impression of a highly cultivated American
John Bull on his travels.

A word in regard to the free, colloquial style of
his letters. It should be borne in mind, as has been
noted in regard to his English letters, that they
were written for the privacy of his own family, with
no thought that they would ever be submitted for
publication. Consequently, they abound with
sobriquets of the different members of the fam-
ily, together with familiar childish forms of expres-
sion, full of "local color" and well understood in
his home. To remove these reflections of his happy
home life, these evidences also of the tender work-

495

John Fiske

ings of his own mind, from even the serious por-
tions of the letters, would take from the letters
themselves much of their individual character and
charm. His story is best told in his own way. *

Notwithstanding the rapidity with which he
travelled and his greatly preoccupied mind, his
Continental letters, and his photographs, reveal
three subjective lines of thought called forth by
his observations — his great interest in the re-
mains of the ancient architecture and civilization;
his profound admiration for Gothic architecture,
and his seeming indifference to Renaissance archi-
tecture, and Renaissance painting. In these archi-
tectural predilections, we get another glimpse of
his religious nature and the inherent catholicity of
his mind which we have already noted in his musi-
cal predilections and creations. No philosophic
aversion to Christian theology could close his mind
to the beauty, the sublime spiritual impressive-
ness of Gothic art. It is a fair inference that in
Gothic architecture, as in the great Christian ora-
torios, he saw, he felt, man's spiritual instinct of
love and aspiration to a Divine Creator welling up
from the very heart of the race, bursting through
the bonds of dogmatic theology, and asserting the
everlasting reality of man's religious nature. In
Renaissance architecture he saw only a misap-
plied reflection of the greater art of ancient imperial
Rome. As the Renaissance period was the begin-
ning of modern civilization, a phase of civilization

496

His Continental Journey

the foundations of which are laid in a form of social
order, based on the democratic idea, which is yet
in a process of development to the complete en-
franchisement of man, he saw in Renaissance
architecture only an attempt to give architectural
expression to the new order of thought in an imita-
tive, in a wholly incongruous way. His general
unresponsiveness to Renaissance painting, I have
noted in connection with his visits to the Louvre
in Paris, and to the Uffizi and Pitti galleries in
Florence.

The Continental letters begin with a brief one
from Dieppe, wherein he gives a sketch of his last
day in England, spent at Brighton, and where he
found his greatest interest in the famous Brighton
Aquarium. Here is one observation: —

" I devoted three full hours to the octopus tank!
The octopus (cuttlefish) beats the chimpanzee all
hollow. If the chimpanzee looks like a man, the
octopus looks like nothing but the Devil. There
are nine of 'em in one tank — absolutely diabolical
monsters! I am going to write Huxley about the
octopus. "

He was not at all seasick in crossing the Channel,
and he found the temperature of France much
colder than that of England. On his way to Paris
he stopped four hours at Rouen, the richest of the
cities of France, in mediaeval architecture, par-
ticularly to see its three famous examples of the
Gothic style — the Cathedral of Notre Dame,

497

John Fiske

the Church or Cathedral of St. Ouen, — one of the
most beautiful buildings in the world, — and the
Church of St. Marclou. He did not make any notes
on these fine buildings, but from the photographs
he gathered of their special points of interest, it is
evident that he was impressed with the differences
between the English and the French rendering of
the Gothic style. He wandered about, without a
guide, until he reached Mont St. Catherine, one
of the environs of the city, from which he had a
general view which he briefly describes: —

11 No pen could do justice to the magnificence of
the view, comprising the old city, the two giant
cathedrals, the winding river and miles of flat and
rolling country round about, — all in a blaze of
sunlight, and gorgeous tents of cloud."

On reaching Paris, February 22, 1874, ne went
to the H6tel de Rivoli, just opposite the Tuileries.
His first impressions were forbidding: -•- j

"I am up 6 flights of stairs in a bleak, inhospit-
able little room. Nobody in the hotel understands
a word of English, except the proprietor. There is
one German waiter whom I fall back on when I
want an interpreter, for I can get along much bet-
ter with German than with French. Everything
looks bare and inhospitable here, after cosy old
England. Instead of carpets, and warm fires, and
chops and ale, they run to glass and gilding and
sardines and claret. It is colder than in London,
anyway. There is a bright sun, which is one good

498

Impressions of Paris

thing; but the streets don't seem so cheerful as in
London."

After two days' experience things look better, and
on February 24 he writes: —

"Which I will now change my tone, and will not
blackguard poor Paris. I am now writing out-of-
doors (!) at a little round table in front of a cafe in
a sort of triangular square just out of the Rue St.
Honore near the Louvre: before me, a glass of black
Bavarian beer, which is better than claret, though
not equal to the peerless Bass. I correct my proofs
and write ' tezzletelts ' [letters] in similar places, be-
cause there is no attractive place in-doors. I don't
like it as well as an English fireside ; but it is a new
experience, and that is what I came here for. One
can't have London everywhere, and so I will freely
confess that Paris is very charming. I never could
get to like it so well as London though. My tastes
are out and out Teutonic."

Fiske spent nine days in Paris, chiefly, as he says,
in tramping around and seeing things: —

"I saw the whole inside of the Louvre, and
Palais de Luxembourg, H6tel de Cluny, Sainte
Chapelle, Notre Dame, Pantheon, and heaps else;
and * parcourired ' the whole of the Boulevards in
all directions, and geographized the town generally,
and spent a whole day at Versailles — which is
better than anything in Paris. I made it a point to
walk up and down the Seine every day whatever
else I did. The views on the Seine are exceedingly
beautiful. The Seine is prettier than the Thames;
but I prefer the grand views, up and down, from

499

John Fiske

Waterloo Bridge, to anything here. There is a
grandeur about London which one misses here,
though this is more beautiful. Perhaps it looks a
little like New York — I am not quite sure."

He seems not to have been specially impressed
with the pictures in the Louvre. I find it difficult
to account for this fact, as he was usually so respon-
sive to great art in any of its forms of manifesta-
tion. Rewrites: — •,.« - ~ ?rv:^ ^

"I have spent the whole blessed day in the
Louvre, and have seen more things than I can ever
remember. I revelled in the sculptures, and an-
tiques, but was rather disappointed with the paint-
ings. Did n't see anything comparable to the
Raphael Cartoons at South Kensington." , „

Fiske's love of Gothic architecture, of course,
took him to the Cathedral of Notre Dame and to
" La Sainte Chapelle." He makes no comments
on these historic buildings, but he sends several
photographs of their details.

Of his visit to the great library he speaks thus:

''Of course I went to the great library in Paris,
and got posted as to their tricks and manners. I
think old Ezra Abbot knows more than the whole
of 'em."

And here is a remark he drops by the way in his
Paris letter: —

"The manners of the French are certainly very
charming — especially the common people."

500

Hasty Run through France

From Paris he went to Lyons, where he stopped
one day, and tramped all over the town seeing
the chief things, and where he also had a lovely
little trip in a wee steamer on the Saone.

His next stop was at Avignon, where he was
pleased to find the peach trees in blossom. One
day was given to visiting the points of interest in
this historic city, which was for nearly seventy
years — 1309-1377 — the residence of the Popes
of Rome and where remains of their palaces still
exist. As notes for his "impressions" of this his-
toric place he sent photographs of the remains of
an old Roman bridge, as well as of the castle of the
Popes.

At Avignon, being so near to Nismes, he turned
aside to take a look at the many memorials of the
ancient civilization which are here so well preserved.
First he went to see the great Roman aqueduct, the
Pont du Card, probably constructed by Vipsanius
Agrippa in the time of Augustus for conveying
water to Nismes; and then he went to Nismes it-
self. And here he was for the first time in his own
experience brought into direct contact with some
of the impressive remains of the civilization of the
ancient world with the history of which he was so
familiar. Of his visit to the Pont du Card and to
Nismes he writes: —

"The Pont du Card alone was worth coming to
France for; but as I can't describe it you must wait
till you see the 'pickerwow' which won't help you

501

John Fiske

much. The country round about looks like Peters-
ham, only far inferior.

" Next day I went to Nismes which is well worth
seeing. You may believe I was beset by cicerones
till I lost my patience and told them 'Allez au
diable,' and finally lifted my umbrella at one of
'em whereupon they all Allez! Relieved of these
pests, I serenely walked straight to the Amphi-
theatre — which is smaller than the Colosseum at
Rome, but completely preserved. It is very fine.
As I sat on one of the tiers basking in a southern
sun (in about the latitude of Portland, Maine) and
trying to imagine how an old fight would have
looked, a real fight was kindly gotten up for my
benefit. Some workmen, with trowels, etc., were
making a few repairs in the arena. Which two of
'em began to call each other 'bete/ 'imbecile/ etc.,
and shrugged their shoulders until their heads were
half hid, and pounded and clawed the air, and be-
gan to make allusions to each other's mother, when
one of 'em threw his trowel at the other, and hit
the other on the chin, whereat the hittee retorted
by jabbing a big sort of trident into his assailant's
forehead. Blood ran briskly ; and the wounded man
began to scream1, when other workmen came up and
separated 'em. Bah!"

From Nismes Fiske went to Florence by way of
Nice, Genoa, and Pisa.

His first impression of Florence he gives in a let-
ter to Mrs. Fiske of March 20, 1874: —

" If you want to know how Florence seems, read
the first chapter of 'Romola/1 where the old chap

1 The "Proem" to George Eliot's great novel Romola.
5<>2

In Florence

is standing on San Miniato. I have been there twice.
Next to Edinburgh, and Oxford, it is the finest city
I have seen. I have been around and seen the out-
side of almost every thing, and the inside of some
things. To-day, I did the Uffizi, and to-morrow,
I do the Pitti Gallery.1 . . .

11 1 can get along in talking without any trouble,
for most folks do understand French after all, I find,
and on a pinch I can talk Italian. My greatest
achievement in linguistics, was yesterday, when I
went to the Biblioteca Nazionale and found there
was n't a man there who knew a word of English,
except to read it! ! ! Well, darn you, said I, if
you can't talk English, I '11 talk French, which I did
glibly for two hours, inquiring into all the details
of their cataloguing, treatment of pamphlets, etc.,
etc., and getting some really good ideas out of
'em. But I could n't have talked French to them
if they had understood English."

Fiske remained in Florence thirteen days and he
gives these further details of his observations and
experiences: —

"Visited the interior of San Marco, and the
Annunziata. These churches did not impress me,
though the outside of the Cathedral is superb.
The Campanile or bell-tower by Giotto is the most
perfect thing, the most beautiful building I have

1 It seems impossible that, with his artistic nature and his his-
toric appreciation, he could visit these galleries without being pro-
foundly impressed. His graphic sketch of the Sacconi picture in
La Certosa Monastery leads us to think that in these two marvel-
lous collections of masterpieces of ancient and modern art, he must
have been quite overpowered. Certainly his was the mind to appre-
ciate the full significance of what is here gathered as representative
of the highest products of human civilization.

503

John Fiske

ever seen, and the bronze gates of the Baptistry,
by Ghiberti, are marvellous beyond description.
Altogether Florence is a wonderful place. . . .

" Sunday afternoon, I went out to La Certosa, a
Carthusian monastery about two miles from the
city. It was a gorgeous day. The monastery stands
on a high hill from which you get a magnificent
view of Florence, and all its surroundings. They
are very strict there. No woman is allowed even
to come and look at the premises. An old monk,
with a coarse white dress that looked as if made of
dingy crash, and which covered him from head to
foot, escorted us around and showed us the things.
In the crypts are some fine tombs by Donatello;
and in one of the chapels a great painting, (though
quaint) by Giotto. But what pleased me most was
a painting by Sacconi, representing a thinker tired
and overwhelmed with the mystery of the prob-
lem of existence, his book dropped from one hand
which lies idly across the knee, while the other
hand supports the cheek, the elbow resting on the
table. His eyes are half closed, as if in profound-
est reverie. All this is as realistic as if done yester-
day — it is just like real flesh and blood. But up
in the right-hand foreground, wrapped in a cloud-
like mystery, are dim forms of archangels, their
faces full of sublime sympathy, looking down upon
the wearied thinker, while yet beyond is I-know-
not-what in the colouring, something utterly mys-
terious, suggesting ineffable light, and glory like
the triumphant final allegro of Schumann's fourth
symphony. Something that seemed to say — the
riddle is hard, but behind the veil is an answer
yet. I do not know what the painter intended,

504

In Florence

by the picture, but this is what it meant to me. It
quite overcame me and brought the tears. The
painting was masterly, both in drawing, and in
colouring. I do not know who Sacconi was, and
no one seems to know unless it was one of the
names of Andrea del Sarto, but this picture is
hardly in his style, so they say. I have got a book
at home, which I think will clear the matter up.1

"I saw the refectory, the rooms where Pius VI
used to live, the cells where the monks live : there is
a monk there now who has n't left his cell for 28
years except to step out into the enclosed garden.
I lingered long in this garden, and found it hard to
tear myself away. You know the little picture —
'Disce ut semper victurus, vive ut crasmoriturus'2
which I like so much. The same air of profound
rest is all about this monastery-garden. In the
centre of it is a lovely well, built by Michael An-
gelo, who seems to have been everywhere, and to
have done everything, indomitable worker that he
was. The monks make delicious chartreuse — and
I bought a flask of it to bring home. . . .

" I drove to the cemetery where Theodore Parker
is buried, and there I also saw the graves of Mrs.
Browning, and Walter Savage Landor. Why Par-
ker should have gone to Florence for his consump-
tion, I cannot imagine. He might as well have
staid in Boston. The Italian climate is excessively
bad, for catching cold, and the Italians have a
great deal of consumption, and bronchitis. . . .

" * Hezzy ' is having an awfully good time here in
Florence. It is a charming place. I spent a truly

1 Carlo Sacconi was a draughtsman who lived in Florence about
1718. He prepared many drawings for Florentine Gallery work.

2 Fiske had this line inscribed over the fire-place in his library.

505

John Fiske

delightful evening last evening at Larkin Mead's.1
He is one of the gentlest and sweetest fellows I ever
saw. I am really enchanted with him. He looks
just like Mrs. Howells. I should have known him
for her brother, if I had stumbled on him in the
interior of Australia."

This Florence letter contains a brief summing-
up of his impressions thus far of his Continental
journey: —

"How do I like the Continent on the whole?
Well, it is all very pretty to look at, but beastly un-
comfortable, inhospitable, cold, dreary, and gloomy.
I don't cotton to the French people, or to the Ital-
ians. I feel lonesome all the time, and homesick
for London; and to be honest, I don't enjoy this
trip nearly as much as I did the trip to Scotland;
for I love the Scotch."

In one of her letters, Mrs. Fiske had intimated
that he had never seen Petersham in the resplend-
ent glories of its October foliage; whereupon he
promptly gives, from memory, the date and du-
ration of every visit to Petersham, since his
memorable first visit September 13-18, 1861, —
twenty-four in number. To this list he adds
these remarks —

"There, Mrs. Fiske, if you can diskiver any
month of the year that is n't represented, you are
smarter than Hezekiah. But by Jove, we will go
up for a day or two next October, and see autumn

1 Larkin G. Mead, an eminent American sculptor, lived in Flor-
ence. The wife of William Dean Howells was his sister.

In Rome

leaves. The reason they don't have bright au-
tumn leaves in Europe, is because they don't
have maples of course! The woodbine, imported
into England, turns just as bright red as at home.
We can beat all Europe (out of its boots) on trees."

On March 24 he left Florence for Rome, via
Perugia.

Fiske was in Rome four days, during which
time he visited some twenty-five of the more
noted buildings and places of interest. The list,
of course, includes the Piazza, del Popolo, the Corso,
several churches, the Forum of Trajan, the great
Forum, the Colosseum, the Tarpeian Rock, the
arches of Severus, Titus, and Constantine, the
palaces of the Caesars and of Nero, the Marmentine
Prison, the Baths of Caracalla, the Catacombs, the
Appian Way, and the statues of Marcus Aurelius,
Castor and Pollux, Michael Angelo's Moses, etc.

It appears from his records that his visits to
these memorable places, buildings, etc., in this
"Niobe of Nations," were devoid of any notable
experiences. It also appears that his observations
did not at the time stir his mind to much activity
in the way of critical or philosophic reflections, yet
we must suppose that it was intensely active in
both directions.

The two bits of artistic criticism in which he
indulged were in regard to the Catacombs and the
works of Michael Angelo. Referring to the former
he says: —

507

John Fiske

" There is nothing interesting there except to
say that you have seen them. The bug-a-boo feel-
ing is perhaps the chief attraction. To be sure,
there are frescoes — grotesque enough, too. I saw
the whale casting up Jonah, — a very sea-sick look-
ing monster. "

Fiske's first reference to Michael Angelo is in
connection with his visit to the tomb of S. Pietro
in Vincole, where he saw Michael Angelo's Moses,
which he pronounces a "wonderful, wonderful
statue." And again, after visiting Sta. Maria degli
Angeli, built by Michael Angelo out of a part of
the Baths of Diocletian just behind, he says: —

" It is a grand church built by a great architect;
but in architecture M. Angelo is surpassed by
nameless builders of Gothic, as in sculpture he is
surpassed by nameless Greeks. I am not impressed
with Italian churches generally, they are too pagan,
gaudy affairs. York Minster for me, before the
whole of 'em, tho' I have n't seen St. Peter's yet"

On March 29 Fiske left Rome with his friend
Adkins — an English traveller he had met in Rome
— for a six days' trip to Naples. He writes: —

"Left Rome at 9.40 and reached Naples at 5 P.M.
Adkins and I were put into a double-bedded room,
up one flight. It is a fine room with sofa, easy-chairs,
large writing-table, etc., and Brussels carpet. I
could easily throw a stone from my window into
the sea. Magnificent situation, and the most com-
fortable hotel I have found on the Continent.1 And
1 Evidently the Hdtel cTAngleterre.
508

Naples and Vicinity-
why? Because it is patronized almost entirely by
grumbling Englishmen, who will have what they
want. Every one here is a Britisher except Heze-
kiah, and one Hindu — a Brahman, who took hon-
ours at Cambridge, about 1864, and is both learned
and accomplished — speaking English with ab-
solute perfection, and Italian and French very
finely, besides many other languages. Handsome
and elegant too, like all the Hindus I have seen.
And there is an Englishman on his way home from
India — a fine-looking man of Charles Eliot's
style, and with such a musical voice that I sit
after meals as long as he sits, in order to hear him
talk. Also a big, rough-looking English captain, as
gentle as a kitten.

"Monday, March 30. My birthday. Went, along
o' my chum, Adkins, to Pompeii and spent the
day there. And now, what's the use of saying
anything about it except to tell you to read what
Howells says about it,1 and to say that it was the
very greatest day I have had since I left home;
and, like Howells, I swear to go again, and very
likely shall not? There's no use trying to grow elo-
quent about it, for it is altogether beyond words.
There is nothing else so wonderful or so solemn 'on
the earth or under it/ I bought a little book of
'pickerwows' of it, and will explain 'em when I
get home. My chum also, thought it was the
greatest day of his life, and after dinner we smoked
our pipes on the stone parapet by the sea here,
listening to the sound of the waves and talking it
all over.

" Tuesday, March j i. My chum left for Rome,

1 Italian Journeys, by W. D. Howells.

John Fiske

being tied by a circular ticket good for so many
days. Poor chap! he is in Venice by this time. He
said I was the best fellow he had ever seen, and he
was very mournful at parting. Left alone, I hired
a carriage (one-hoss barouche) for all day at 12
francs, and drove through the grotto of Posilipo to
Puzzuoli, where I first saw the Temple of Serapis
— which is a Greek temple with three great col-
umns left standing. They have all been lowered
into the sea by the sinking of the land, and ele-
vated again, and you can see where the little beasts
have chewed 'em! While I was examining this
place, in came an elderly man with his wife and two
sons about twenty years old, with very much the
air of fine Harvard boys. The old gentleman got
very sociable with me; and finally when I put up
my umbrella to keep off the sun, I observed that
I never had had to do such a thing before in
Europe; whereat he was very much surprised at
my being an American, and said he should have
taken me for a typical John Bull. Which they are
New York people, cultivated and pleasant, but I
don't know their names nor they mine. It was
agreed that our carriages should keep together,
and so we kept on to the ruins of Cumae — (Kymai)
the oldest Greek city in Italy. Nothing left now
but a bit of the citadel and the Acropolis, and a
few scattered stones. From here the direct road to
Lake Avernus lies through a tunnel, half a mile
long, cut by Agrippa a few years B.C. We drove
through, lighted by torches for which the lying,
thieving rascal of a torch bearer, demanded three
francs, and was glad to get one, when he found
it was all he could get. Lake Avernus is very

Naples and Vicinity

lovely, and with the vineyards and fields of wheat,
and green peas growing on the slopes all around
it, lighted up by intensest sunshine, it suggests
Eden, much more than Hades.

" Near by is a hill, some 150 feet high, which was
thrown up at one thrust by an earthquake in 1538.
We didn't go into the Sibyls' Cave here, because it
is bogus — the genuine cave is over at Cumse. Passed
Lake Lucrinus, and came to the sulphur-baths of
Nero, where you go into a hole in the side of the
mountain and boil in a brimstone atmosphere.
Guides pestered us at the entrance; but having little
tapers with us, the two young men and I went in,
though I did n't go far for fear of catching cold on
issuing forth. I will give a specimen of the Italian
character. A guide pestered me till I told him (in
good Italian) that I did n't want his services, and
that he might * allez au Diable.' He followed after
me when I went in, and followed me out to the car-
riage, and demanded a fee for having showed me the
place! ! ! I again gave him the same directions
with emphasis, and told the coachman to drive on.
The old fraud held with one hand on to the car-
riage and followed me a mile demanding the money
that I owed him, until at last I ordered cabby to hit
him with the whip, and you ought to have heard
the fellow as he moved off. The party in the other
carriage were similarly pestered.

"Next we reached the Capo d. Miseno, where
a beautiful little boy conducted us into an old
Roman reservoir, and afterwards up to a place
which commands the Bay of Naples, just as Mian-
tonomah Hill commands Newport. All the way
up, I was beset with little beggar children, some_pf

John Fiske

them as beautiful as cherubs, especially an angelic
little girl, about the size of Maudietick, who ran
along after me busily crocheting, and whom I
offered two pennies for a kiss, but she would n't
agree to it, whereupon I gave her the pennies
gratis, 'perche voi siete bellissima,' as I told her,
to the great glee of the other little girls, who evi-
dently admitted her beauty, and felt a common
interest in the compliment. Our American old
gentleman said he would give a great deal to see me
photographed with all those little brown young-
sters around me. This was our farthest point.

"Returning, we stopped opposite the Temple
of Hermes at Baiae, for lunch, and my American
friends called me to come and share their lunch,
which I did willingly. I sat upon the box, and we
did eat like Wardle, and the Pickwickians, at the
review. During our lunch we were surrounded by
Italians of every age and sex, who seemed highly
interested in our proceedings, and kept offering
us coral, and violets, etc. ; and asking for pence, and
making such a din that we could hardly hear our-
selves talk. The American lady said it took her
appetite away, and I could hardly blame her; but
to get 'shut of 'em1 (as Bridget would say) was
impossible! The best fun was after we had fin-
ished. Scraps of bread and meat were handed to
all, as to so many beseeching dogs, and then there
was great clamour for the empty wine-bottle, which
at last we gave to a little girl with a big baby over
her shoulder, which she bore off the said bottle in
the exuberant glee of triumph. We threw away the
fragments of eggshells, and one chap began to pick
them carefully up, though what he could do with

512

Naples and Vicinity

'em he knows better than I. Poor wretches! they
are poor because they are too lazy to work. They
will lie in the dirt by the roadside in the blazing
sun, and sleep rather than work. What can be
done with such people; they have neither honesty,
ambition, nor self-respect. The lowest Irish are
far above the level of these creatures.

" After lunch, my friends drove directly back to
Naples, but I went to the amphitheatre and Puz-
zuoli, which was overwhelmed by an eruption of
Solfatara, and has been partially dug out. The
inside is so complete that you have even the trap-
doors where the lions came up through the floor;
it is very interesting. Then I went to the now-
dried-up Lake of Agnano and saw the Grotto del
Cane or place where there is enough carbonic acid
to kill a dog in two minutes, and where sulphurous
acid comes smoking out of holes in the ground,
which yields under your feet if you stamp on it.
Last of all I visited the Tomb of Virgil. What do
you think of that for 'A Day's Pleasure'?

" Wednesday, April i. Yesterday I took steamer
for Capri, touching at Sorrento. Went into the
Blue Grotto of which I will only say that you go in
by boats through an opening about two feet high
in the side of the hill; and within, the water is a
most gorgeous blue, and the whole cave shimmers
with lovely blue, and it is a wonderful sight. I was
more successful with it than Howells, who went in
on a bad day.1 We lunched at the Hotel du Louvre,
on a balcony overlooking the bay — one of the
most glorious landscapes in the world. Capri also
has its share of beggars."

1 See the charming description of Capri and the Capriotes in
Italian Journeys, by W. D. Howells.

513

John Fiske

The next day was spent in Naples, and was given
to writing the letter to Mrs. Fiske from which I
have quoted, to work on his proofs and on his index,
and to strolling about the town and the museum.
Here are a few additional extracts from the letter: —

" Naples smells fearfully, and so does Rome.
Mother expected me to go crazy over Rome, but
save for the antiquities, I think it is a disgusting
place. I have seen quite enough of this country to
know how lovely it is. Tell Mrs. McKenzie that I
think of her here in Naples and fully agree with
her as to the surpassing beauty of this country.
The glory and beauty of this week at Naples I shall
never forget. I don't say that it is better than Eng-
land, or better than Petersham; but of its kind, it is
certainly quite a garden of Eden. Naples, too, as
a city, is more picturesque than Rome, barring
only the Forum and the Capitol. - ..

"My conversation now-a-days is a grand pot-
pourri of English, French, German and Italian,
so that I don't know what I am talking. I could
talk Italian pretty well with another month here.
• "Love to all the babies. I saw three little tots,
aged 9, 7, and 5, paddling their own canoe on the
Bay yesterday, and threw 'em a sou apiece, which
they cotched 'em."

Fiske had planned a visit to Sorrento and also
another visit to Pompeii, but his home writing so
intensified his home longing, his desire to set his
face homeward, that both visits were cut out, and
after a brief visit to Herculaneum he returned the
next day, April 3, to Rome.

Returns to Rome

His next letter is from Venice, wherein, under
date of April 14, he resumes the story of his jour-
ney in a very jubilant state ofjnind: —

"O, my dear! Glory hallelujah! ! ! PREFACE
WRITTEN! ! ! ! Only 150 pages more to be in-
dexed! ! ! Coming home right away! ! ! ! ! ! What
do you think of that?

" Did n't go again to Pompeii, nor to divine Sor-
rento, either. (Read Howells's 'Italian Journeys'
for Pompeii and Capri. It is one of the most charm-
ing books that ever was written — a real work of
genius, as you'll see if you ever see Italy, the fairy
land.) Got eager to get homeward bound! Went
to Herculaneum next morning, and felt richly re-
paid, though I can see why Howells was disap-
pointed. Went in the P.M. to Rome. Saw a lot
more things at Rome, and did the Capitoline
Museum and Vatican. But the Sistine Chapel was
shut all the time, and I could n't get in. The Pope
is full of obstinacy in these days, because he has
to play second fiddle to Victor Emanuel. Went to
St. Peter's Sunday,- but the Mass was n't worth
two cents. I don't see either the grandeur or the
beauty of St. Peter's, and I would back York
Minster against all the churches I've seen in
Italy put together!"

After a stop of two days in Rome he went again
to Florence, where he remained three days visiting
his friends the Grahams and Meads. Of what
he saw in these three days he makes no mention
beyond a casual remark that he again visited the
Uffizi Gallery. It is noticeable that, although on

515

John Fiske

both his visits to Florence he went to this famous
gallery, he does not mention impressions made upon
his mind by the great collection of masterpieces of
ancient sculpture and modern painting gathered
there, while he had much to say about them when
he reached home. He does not appear to have
noted in Florence anything suggestive of Michael
Angelo or Leonardo da Vinci, or Savonarola: yet
with the varied contributions of these great work-
ers to the world's thought, he was most familiar.

On his way from Florence to Venice, he stopped
one day at Bologna. From Venice he wrote his
mother, giving her some general impressions of
his Continental trip thus far: —

"I believe this is the first time I have written
to you, since I left London, and I have been very
wicked, I know, but it is very hard to write letters
when one is travelling fast, and I have hardly done
justice, even to Abby. I have usually told her to
send you my letters to her, and so have written
less often than I should otherwise have done. I am
beginning to get tired of Europe, and anxious to
get home. It is eight months now since I left home,
and it is a pretty long pull. And besides, I have
found travelling on the Continent rather tame
after my glorious days in London. I have n't found
any trouble in talking French, and Italian, enough
to get along comfortably; but it seems very lone-
some and dreary to be where you don't hear Eng-
lish spoken. I don't see how the people can prefer
the Continent to England. I am glad to have seen

Some General Impressions

France and Italy once, but I would n't give a six-
pence to visit either country again — not even to
revisit Paris. They don't fascinate or draw me,
though I enjoy everything I see very much — and
especially enjoyed my 32d birthday, at Pompeii,
more than any other one day in Europe. Rome, I
enjoyed very much — more than I can tell until I
have had more time to think about it; but what
I enjoyed was ancient Rome, and the sculptures in
the Vatican. In modern Rome I can see nothing
attractive at all. St. Peter's is neither impressive
nor beautiful to me — I think it hideous; and of
the dozen or twenty famous churches I saw, none
impressed me at all except St. Pauls- Without-the-
Walls. I do like St. Mark's, though, here in Venice;
and I don't know when I have more thoroughly en-
joyed paintings than the Titians, Tin tore ttos, and
Veroneses here in the Ducal Palace and the Acad-
emy — especially, on the whole, the Tintorettos.
I have been here about a week, and rather hate to
go away. I like Venice, on the whole, better than
any other city on the Continent, so far, although
I am very fond of Florence. It is delicious to go
gliding about in a gondola in these quaint old
canals; and I am not sure that I don't like the
little canals with their labyrinthine twists and con-
tinual surprises, even better than the big one. I
have got a most comfortable room, in a very queer
German hotel just off the Grand Canal, about two
minutes' walk from the Piazza. Did you ever see a
richer building than the Ducal Palace, unless pos-
sibly the palace at Versailles? . . .

"I saw considerable of Larkin Mead; of course
I like him very much — never yet saw a Mead that

John Fiske

I did n't like. The same brightness, sweetness, and
simplicity runs through the whole family.

"I go from here to Verona, and then to Milan
and Como. Hope to be able to get over either the
Spliigen or the St. Gothard into Switzerland. If
not, I shall go around by Geneva, through Turin.
In choosing routes, I find that, whichever one I
choose I am sure to enjoy it, but somebody else
always assures me I ought to have chosen some
other. I shall go down the Rhine from Switzerland
to Belgium, and leave out central Germany alto-
gether. I have seen quite enough for this time, and
I want to get home! I am much more homesick
than I was in London, for I am homesick for home,
and for London too."

This letter he signs — "From a Homesick Phil-
osopher."

Fiske remained in Venice but seven days, and a
goodly portion of his time was given to putting the
finishing touches to his book. The photographs he
collected, however, show that he managed to see
the points of greatest interest, although but few
are mentioned in his letters.

His next letter is from Interlaken, dated April
27, wherein he resumes the story of his journey: —

"Since I left Venice, every day has been better
than the other. Spent half a day at Verona and
then went on to Milan. Went thrice to the Milan
Cathedral and ascended the spire. The interior is
in some respects grander than any other that I have
seen; the facade is ruined by classical doors and

In Switzerland

windows; otherwise the exterior is wonderfully
light and beautiful, but not so grand as Lincoln
or York. There are upwards of 2000 statues carved
on it, — which will serve to give you some idea of
the elaborateness of it. Went up the lake of Como,
and stopped at Cadenabbia — beautiful place.
Went over Lake Lugano and stopped at Luvino
on Lake Maggiore, where I was the sole occupant
of a big hotel with over 200 rooms. Those swin-
dling Italians at Milan told me that the Spliigen
and St. Gothard passes were not open, and I was
fool enough to believe them, although nearly every
word ever yet told me, by an Italian, has been a
lie! When I got to the lakes, I found I could get
over easily, but I had left my portmanteau at
Milan, and so had to go back. I concluded to go
by Mont Cenis, and stop at Chambery, and
carry out the dream of my boyhood by seeing
Rousseau's home at Les Charmettes. I enclose a
picture, and think you will see why I like it — 'also,
some flowers gathered there. I also saw Voltaire's
chateau at Ferney — a much less charming place."

To Switzerland Fiske gave but seven days, and
his route was from Mont Cenis to Genoa, thence,
via Freiburg, Bern, Interlaken, and Luzerne to
Bale and Strasburg.

Two things are noticeable in his record of this
portion of his Continental journey, notwithstanding
the haste with which it was made — his interest in
Les Charmettes, one of the temporary abodes of
Rousseau during his vagrant social life, and his
visit to Ferney, so memorable as the home of

519

John Fiske

Voltaire, when as the " Squire of Ferney" he was
the most important personage in Europe.

"The visitor to Geneva, whose studies had
made him duly acquainted with the most interest-
ing human personality of all that are associated
with that historic city, will never leave the place
without making a pilgrimage to the chateau of
Ferney. In that refined and quiet. rural homestead,
things still remain very much as on the day when
the aged Voltaire left it for the last visit to Paris,
where his long life was worthily ended, amid words
and deeds of affectionate homage. One may sit
down at the table where was written the most per-
fect prose, perhaps, that ever flowed from pen,
and look about the little room with its evidences of
plain living and high thinking, until one seems to
recall the eccentric figure of the vanished master,
with his flashes of shrewd wisdom and caustic wit,
his insatiable thirstier knowledge, his consum-
ing hatred of bigotry and oppression, his merciless
contempt for shams, his boundless enthusiasm of
humanity. As we stroll in the park, that quaint
presence goes along with us till all at once, in a
shady walk, we come upon something highly sig-
nificant and characteristic, the little parish church
with its Latin inscription: — ' Deo erexit Voltaire ' ;
i.e. , ' Voltaire built it for God ' ; and as we muse upon
it, the piercing eyes, and sardonic but not unkindly
smile seem still to follow us. What meant this ec-
centric inscription? " *

Fiske regarded Voltaire as much the greater
and much the more fruitful thinker. His estimate
1 See Fiske's essay, The Everlasting Reality of Religion.
520

Les Charmettes and Ferney

of these two diverse illuminators of eighteenth-
century thought accorded with John Morley's,
whose judgment upon them Fiske regarded as the
fairest, on the whole, that had been given.1

Fiske's special interest in Les Charmettes arose
from the fact that during the early period of Rous-
seau 's social vagabondage it was his abiding place;
and when, in his "Emile," became to set forth his
ideas of " Religion according to Nature " in the guise
of a profession of faith on the part of a Savoyard
Vicar, he drew upon the natural scenery about Les
Charmettes for his inspiration, portraying the im-
pressiveness of nature as a religious influence, with
all his marvellous powers of exposition. The effect
upon the perturbed religious thought of Europe
of this fervid appeal to deistic religious sentiment-
alism is familiar to every student of the literature
and thought of the eighteenth century, and Fiske's
desire to take a glance at the nature surroundings
identified with the production of this remarkable
deistic polemic is readily understood.

Of his journey through Switzerland to Inter-
laken he writes: —

11 Heard the organ at Freiburg (one of the finest
in Europe) and spent half a day at Bern, a city of
great interest to me, historically.2 I like everything

1 See Morley's Voltaire, pp. 4-6; Morley's Rousseau, pp. 5-7.

2 Fiske probably refers to the history of Bern during the thir-
teenth century, when, after being declared a free imperial city by
the Emperor Frederick II, it established a democratic constitutional
government, out of which grew a legislative body of two hundred,

521

John Fiske

about Switzerland. The people are neat and honest,
the food is good, and you can get good cigars for
two cents apiece! It is a great relief after the ever-
lasting lying and thieving of Italy. I have n't seen
any beggars either. However, it would n't be fair
to blackguard the poor Italians too much. Switzer-
land has the advantage of having been a free coun-
try for 600 years.' In Italy you constantly meet
troops of lazy little beggar children, often beauti-
ful, but dirty as poison, holding out their hats for
coppers. Here it is a relief to see little boys and
girls on their way to school, with books and slates,
just as in New England. In many ways it seems
more homelike here than anywhere else in Europe.
If I had got to live on the Continent, I believe I
should choose some place in Switzerland."

He stopped at Interlaken to see the great Grin-
del wald glacier and also to take in Alpine scenery
roundabout — and from Interlaken he writes: —

" I did n't break my neck on the glacier, though
I seemed to come rather near it. The eight-mile
ride, going and coming, was occasionally pokerish
in aspect, but sound in principle, as the hoss was
sure footed — a dear honest old hoss. The worst
part was the glacier, which, I did n't have arctics
on, and found it very slippery, and though I did n't
go on the edge of any 1000 foot precipices, I went
on the edge of some 50 foot ones, and did n't like
it much. But it was a grand experience; to get
away up between two big Alps was quite a new sen-

which formed the germ of one of the most remarkable oligarchies of
modern European history.

522

At Interlaken

sation: And then the Ice Grotto! which is fine!
We had a truly superb day, only at noon it was
hotter than Shadrach's furnace. After doing the
glacier, I drove to Lauterbrunnen and lunched on
fresh trout just under the Staubbach. Returned
to Interlaken and walked up the Heimweh-Fluh
through a pine grove very much like picnic grove
[Petersham]. So I am awfully tired to-night and
call this my very greatest day in Europe so far.
At the Bear hotel, at Grindelwald, you are just at
the foot of three giant mountains, every one of
'em over 12,000 feet high; and I shall never forget
the sensations as I looked out of my bed-room
window at 5 this morning.

"I don't know that Switzerland is more sublime
than Scotland, for nothing can excel in sublimity
Loch Linnhe, and Glencoe, and the awful moors by
the King's House Inn. I don't know that it is more
beautiful than Italy, meaning by beautiful ' what the
eye admires.' And I don't know that it is any more
lovely than Petersham — meaning by lovely what
the heart clings to. But for sublimity, and beauty,
and loveliness combined, I say that Switzerland is so
far above all other countries, that there is no use in
saying any more about it. To compare any other
country with it is absurd. You must see it some
time. We '11 contrive to get a summer vacation over
here and give two or three weeks to Switzerland."

It was with profound regret that Fiske here de-
finitely gave up the German portion of his trip, espe-
cially his long-contemplated visit to Weimar; for, if
there was one particular place on earth he longed
to see, it was the one that for fifty years formed the

523

John Fiske

social environment of the many-sided Goethe. He
resumes the story of his journey at Cologne: —

" Been travelling like smoke — went from Inter-
laken to Lucerne over Lake Brienz, and 'one hoss
shay' over the Briinig Pass. Splendid ride. Next
A.M. got up at 4.30 and went the whole length
of Lake Lucerne to Fliielen, omnibus to Altdorf ;
breakfasted there, and saw Tell's statue. Grand
statue, exquisite little town, magnificent lake, one
of the grandest lakes I have seen. Returned by
shanks mare to Fliielen, steamer to Vitznau, and
halfway up the Rigi by railway. In summer, you
pays 12 cents, and goes to the end of the road. Now,
you only pay 6 cents and go halfway, and have to
walk the balance. Made me puff; but it paid for
the trouble. Sublime view, and far grander now
than in summer, because there is more snow. Forty-
six mountains, over 10,000 feet high, and nine over
12,000 feet. What do you think of that for a
'pickerwow'? Also nine lakes, and a batch of
country measuring 300 miles in circuit. It was a
superb day, and I never saw so magnificent a
sight before. The point where I stood was about
6000 feet high. Home again (to Lucerne) by
steamer, loafed about town an hour by moonlight,
and went to bed tired enough!

"Up at 5 next A.M. and went to Strasburg and
had three hours there to see the Cathedral. The
fagade is very fine, but otherwise it was disappoint-
ing — far inferior to the English cathedrals. Saw
also the remarkable clock there. Every woman in
Strasburg carries a baby in her arms. Never saw
so many babies before in all my life; had to pick

524

At Strasburg

my way carefully to keep from stepping onto some
baby or other, and crushing it! Went on to Heidel-
berg, and was too eager for tezzletelts to take bene-
fit of sleep next morning, and so got up early and
found a huge pile of letters at banker's from you,
the bairns, mother, George, Paine (a lovely lovely
letter), and Mrs. Adml Fanshawe. Also several
4 Notices' from Dennett. Did the castle and uni-
versity — especially library. Next day left at
8 A.M. for Worms. Saw the Cathedral (a second-
rate affair), and the new Luther monument, which
is sublime beyond description; one of the grandest
things I have seen in Europe. Went on to Mayence
and saw the Cathedral — a rather fair one ; also
some Roman remains. Went on by steamer down
the Rhine to Bingen just opposite the town where
the rats ate up Bishop Hatto.

"Read my Myth-book. Went to bed beastly
tired. Got up at 4 this A.M. bright as a lark, and
had a superb sail down the Rhine to-day reaching
Cologne, at 2.30 P.M.

'The Rhine is not equal to the Hudson, and I
think not equal to the Connecticut; but it is very
lovely and romantic, and there's an old castle
with forty-eleven legends to it, about once a mile.
I shall bring 'pickerwows.'"

Here are his impressions of the cathedral at
Cologne: —

"The Cathedral here at Cologne is unquestion-
ably the grandest that I have seen externally;
internally it is also absolutely perfect; but in im-
pressiveness not quite equal to Milan. The French
partly destroyed it in 1795 — but they (not the

525

John Fiske

French) are restoring it fast. Six hundred workmen
are at it daily — $2,000,000 have already been spent
upon it, and by 1880, probably, the grand towers,
over 500 feet high, will be finished. As for stained
glass, that is a lost art, and happy are the old Cathe-
drals like York, Lincoln, Carlisle (and Cologne) that
still keep their matchless old windows — the most
glorious things of beauty that the mind of man ever
conceived. Ever since I saw the great east window
at Carlisle, I have had stained glass on the brain."

At Cologne Fiske indulged in visions of a few
happy days in London before sailing for home.

" A week from this eve I shall probably spend at
the 'orrid 'Uxleys', and it will be worth all the past
ten weeks put together. I have had a magnificent
journey; but grudge every minute lost from h'old
h'England, and am satiated with sight-seeing, and
am homesick!"

He was three days in making the trip from
Cologne to London, the main incidents of which he
gives in a letter from London of May 9, 1874: — :

"O my dear! Hezzy's back in London! and in
Bloomsbury, too, just around the corner from where
I lived before.

"Left Cologne early Monday morning and
stopped at Aachen (what the French call Aix-la-
Chapelle), which, as you may not know, was the
titular capital of the Empire1 from 800 to 1793.
Saw the cathedral and Charlemagne's tomb therein.
Did n't see the Amsterdam Dutch, or the Rotter-

1 The Holy Roman Empire.
526

Down the Rhine to Belgium

dam Dutch, but rode through a part of Holland
(and saw a little of various kinds of Dutch).
Stopped at Antwerp, saw the cathedral, and in it
the truly stupendous and amazing picture by
Rubens — the ' Descent from the Cross ' — also
several other magnificent pictures by Rubens.
Rubens seems to me one of the greatest of all who
have held the brush, and I wish I had more time
to study him. His 'Last Supper' in the gallery at
Milan is immense in conception. By Jove, I am
beginning faintly to realize what an amount I have
seen and learned these three months.

"Went on to Bruges, and put up at a little one-
horse Flemish tavern opposite the Belfry. All this
was one day's work. It was 9 P.M. when I reached
Bruges, and there was a grand May festival in the
great square, which was brightly illuminated, and
covered with little tents and booths. I was awfully
tired, but this waked me up, and I staid out till
12 o'clock. O, how I wished I had the little ones
there! If some little 'deils' I know, had been there,
their wings would have flapped, I know. It was one
of the richest and jolliest sights I have seen in Eu-
rope — Dwarfs and Giants, operatic performances,
'pickerwows,' hobby-horse-riding, games, trials
of strength, etc. I went in for everything! laughing
and talking with the people; tried my hand at a
dead lift, both hands in front and lifted 60 kilo-
grammes — not quite my own weight (87 kilo-
grammes), but better than I thought I could do on
a dead lift. Also mesmerism, clairvoyance, legerde-
main, music — a regular carnival.

" Got up next morning at 7 and went about town
a little, which many of the streets are canals, just

527

John Fiske

as in Venice, but with common boats instead of gon-
dolas. Went on to Ostend, and embarked at 10 A.M.
Told the steward to wake me up in time to see the
white cliffs of h'old h'England and then went to
sleep and slept for four hours. When I got up we
were approaching Dover, and could see the shore of
France opposite just on the horizon. Gorgeous day.
I was absolutely frantic with delight at setting foot
on English ground again!

"Went to a beer-shop and drank the 'elth of
h'old h'England in a bright pewter mug; and went
on to Canterbury, and put up at the Rose Tavern,
in Rose Lane — lovely little cosy inn, with white
dimity curtains, and jolly little back-parlour, with
one lump of cannel flickering in a wee grate. Sat
down to a good plain supper of cold roast beef, and
home-made bread, pickles and beer; and O how
good things tasted !

" Spent all day Wednesday, till 4.30 P.M. in
Canterbury — one of the loveliest towns on the
face of the earth. Saw the inn where Chaucer's tales
were told — an inn no longer, or I would have
stopped there. The cathedral is very grand and
beautiful, and the King's school so bewitching that
I should like to have one just like it for Barl, and
Lacry. I also saw St. Martin's Church where
Christianity was first preached in heathen England,
where Ethelbert was baptized, and where he and
his queen Bertha lie buried.

"And, my dear, I always thought England lovely,
but what shall I say of these country lanes in May?
The beautiful green grass, the wild flowers, the
budding hedge-rows, the air heavy with the scent of
blossoms, the tinkling cow-bells, the superb great

528

Back in London

Southdown sheep, the clean little cottages, with
their windows all scarlet with geraniums, and the
ivy drooping about their eaves. Other countries
may be grander, but for pure delicious loveliness,
give me an English country lane. No wonder the
English poets love to sing of the beauties of spring
— and no wonder they love nature so much that
Taine does n't quite understand 'em. But la belle
France is a poor country in comparison.

"Got up to London Wednesday evening, and
next day found this room up here near the Museum,
where I feel at home. SawTrubner and Macmillan,
and they were awfully glad to see me. Thursday
evening called at the 'orrid 'Uxleys'. Huxley was
out, but Mrs. Huxley and the children were all
around the dining-room table, reading, and draw-
ing, and cutting things out of paper. A general
shout went up when ' Hezzy ' was announced, and
for about two minutes there was a deal of affec-
tionate greeting and hand shaking. Took a cup of
tea and spent the evening, and the young people
could hardly be coaxed or driven off to bed when the
time came, they were so much entertained by my
adventures.

". . . After getting my ticket, I called at Spencer's
and found him out, and left a note for him. Went
to Conway's and was warmly greeted. Went down
to the Royal Institution to see Tyndall, and found
him out, but saw Spottiswoode, who told me there
would be a roaring dinner of the Royal Society the
2 ist, after which Tyndall will illustrate some new
discoveries of his own on sound. That will be grand,
and I am to receive a formal invitation. Was in-
vited to a grand blow-out at Hyde Park Gardens,

529

John Fiske

last evening, and had to get my trunk and unpack
my dress-suit the first thing. Dined alone at the
Criterion Grill-Room on Piccadilly, where they
broil a delicious rump steak right^before your eyes,
and serve it piping hot, tender and juicy, with
mealy boiled potatoes, a pint pot of unequalled beer,
and a bit of cream cheese afterward — a truly
royal dinner — for half-a-crown : never made a
dinner like that on the Continent. I have learned
that a plain steak, cooked that way, is far ahead of
all the filets aux champignons you can get in France.

4 'After this magnificent repast, I went to the
Royal Institution, and heard a lecture by Sedley
Taylor, and saw Tyndall. Then went to the party
at Hyde Park Gardens, along with Conway, and
saw A. J. Ellis, the philologist, Mrs. Linton, who
wrote the ' Girl of the Period ' articles in the ' Satur-
day Review,' and many others. Got to bed at i
o'clock, which is as early as one can do here in
London.

"It bids fair to be a busy time the next fortnight.
To-morrow, I spend the day at Macmillans, with
hopes of much music. Monday, I go to the new
Museum of Archaeology, and dine at the Royal In-
stitution with Tyndall. Wednesday, there's a din-
ner for me at Conway 's. There's to be a grand
dinner for me also at Trubner's — day not yet fixed.
The 'orrid 'Uxley is to let me know when he'll have
me. No doubt I shall dine at least once at Spencer's.
Next Saturday, I am to go to Debrow to see the
Fanshawes, and Monday we are to go to St. Albans
together. I shall probably return to London the fol-
lowing day. Besides this, Conway and I are plan-
ning a trip to Salisbury together. We propose to

530

Back in London

leave next week Thursday for Winchester, and see
the Cathedral and antiquities, go on to Salisbury
and sleep at the Red Lion, famous all over England
for beer and stewed eels; and go to Stonehenge
next day, see the Cathedral, and return to London —
total, two days. I grudge the time from London, but
fear I shall never forgive myself if I don't see Salis-
bury Cathedral, the spire of which is thought by
many to be the finest in the whole world. And be-
sides all this, I must go to Windsor Castle, Rich-
mond, and Stoke Poges; and also hear a debate in
Parliament, if possible. Then there is the great ex-
hibition of pictures now, and lots more things. You
see I shall be gadding every minute from dawn till
dewy eve, and may be I shall not write again except
just a line before sailing — one steamer before. You
know I am safe and among friends, and dreadfully
stingy of time. Here I am writing to you, when I
ought to be putting the finishing strokes to my
Index so as to give it to Clay Monday, and get rid
of the proofs of it next week — that job will fill
up to-day. f • **M

"Now that I am back in London I love it more
than ever, and I believe it would n't take much to
make me willing to migrate here with all my traps,
and stay here ad infinitum. You would like it too !
It is a place that grows upon one more and more;
and you can no more exhaust it than you could
compass infinity. Other cities are great: this is
without beginning, or end; no human mind can
take it all in, and that is one reason why the sen-
sation of being here never loses its strange charm.

"But, after all, I stick to Petersham! Good-bye
for four weeks, two of which will be nearly gone when

531

John Fiske

you get this. It will seem mighty good to get to work
in the Library again. I feel equal to almost hany-
thirik. With 'eaps of love h'all around.

" 'EZZY."

Not all of Fiske's programme for the close of his
visit to England could be carried out. His much-
desired excursion with his friend Conway to Win-
chester and Salisbury had to be omitted, for the
social courtesies extended to him were of such a
cordial nature that he could not well refuse them,
and they took up all his spare time. He saw his
book, the production of which was the main object
of his visit, completely finished, and he sent some
last messages to Mrs. Fiske and to his mother, from
which the following extracts are taken.

To his mother he writes, May 21 : —

" I have had a great time since I returned to Lon-
don. Spent two days at Debrow. Had a farewell
Sunday at Macmillan's. Had a stupendous din-
ner party at Sherman's, Norbiton Hall, Surrey, at
which among others, Gen. Pleasonton was present,
and he and I staid all night there. Tuesday there
was a grand dinner at Triibner's, and Wednes-
day at Conway's, and to-night I dined at Spen-
cer's, with Masson, Bain, Lewes, and Clifford. It
was a glorious evening, and Lewes was in his most
bewitching humour. He kept us in a roar all the
evening and Spencer and I fairly laughed till we
cried, and my sides are still sore. He is an exceed-
ingly droll man. Masson and Bain are not devoid of
wit either, and their brrrroad Scotch accent helps it.

532

Farewell Visits

"I also had a grand dinner with Tyndall at the
Royal Institution, in the room which used to be
Davy's and Faraday's."

To Mrs. Fiske he writes, May 23: —

" I am just going down to Macmillan's to get a
complete bound copy of my book to bring home —
I pack up to-day. To-morrow, I lunch at Spencer's,
make a parting call on the little Oppenheims (at
Triibner's) and have a farewell evening at the
'orrid 'Uxleys'. Last evening I. spent with Ralston,
and he says that Huxley spoke to him about me in
'terms of the warmest affection.'

" Lord Arthur Russell got me into the House of
Commons yesterday afternoon, and I heard a great
debate about nothing — tempest in a teapot. Saw
Disraeli.

11 1 want you to meet me in New York — I shall
be very much disappointed if you don't.

" I weigh 192!!"

Glory Hallelujah!!

Book done!!
Coming home!!!
Love to the bairns!!!!
Meet me — in New York!!!!!

Amen!

END OF VOLUME I

THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

This book is due on the last DATE stamped below.

MAY 5 1971

I H0|

50m-l,'69(J5643s8)2373 — 3A,1

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