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THE

NOETH AMERICAN

REVIEW,

EDITED BY ALLEN THOENDIKE RICE.

VOL. CXLV.

Public Library,

Tros Tyrm§?j«^-JHliu-e«HcrSiscrimine agetur.

NEW YORK:
No 3 EAST FOURTEENTH STREET.

COPYRIGHT BY

ALLEN TIIOENDIKE EICE.

1887.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,

No. CCCLXVIIL

JULY, 1887.

THE NEW PARTY.

THE era in American politics which began with the candidacy
of Fremont closed with the defeat of Elaine.

When in a time of strong feeling and clashing interests no
man can state a principle which will be a test question between
the great political parties, and a Presidential contest, fought on
questions of personal character, is decided by the foolish utter-
ance of an irresponsible speaker, it needs not even the son of a
prophet to tell that the time for the drawing of new political
lines h,as come, and that essentially new political parties must
^ear.

| Republican party died at heart some time ago — with the
-administration of Grant or, at least, with the early part
[ministration of Hayes ; but partly for reasons similar to
tat make the days of the autumnal equinox warmer than
the vernal equinox, and partly because of the weakness
>pponent, it still held its place. If the great party that
the war and abolished slavery had become but a party of
the great party that claimed political descent from
Jefferson had become but a party of the outs. It needed only
that the ins should take the place of the outs to destroy both.
And $iis, thanks finally to the Rev. Dr. Burchard, the election
-:PCL. CXLV. — NO. 368. 1

2 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of 1884 accomplished. Now that the Republican party has lost
control of the National Executive and no disaster has occurred,
and the Democratic party has gained it and no particular good
been done, the old prejudices, old fears, old hopes, old habits of
thought and touch, are so broken down that new issues can
readily come to the front and new alignments of political forces
take place.

The process of disintegration and reconstruction is now going
on. The growth of the Prohibition party on the one side and of
a labor party on the other, and the readiness with which Republi-
cans and Democrats have united in some of the recent municipal
elections when threatened with what seemed to them a common
danger show how rapidly.

The prohibition movement, a natural effort to bring into poli-
tics, in the absence of larger questions, a matter on which a great
body of men and women feel strongly, is in itself a significant evi-
dence of the disposition to turn to social questions, but the great
movement now beginning in the rise of the Labor party takes hold
of these questions lower down, and whatever importance prohi-
bition may for some time retain in local politics, the drawing of
political lines on a wider and deeper issue must throw its sup-
porters to one side or the other of the larger question.

The deepest of all issues is now beginning to force its way into
our politics, and in the nature of things it must produce a change
that will compel men to take their stand on one side or the other,
irrespective of their views on smaller questions. Of all social
adjustments, that which fixes the relation between men and the
land they live on is the most important, and it is that which is
coming up now.

It has been, of course, for a long time evident that American
politics, in the future, must turn upon the social or industrial
questions, and while the questions growing out of the slavery strug-
gle have been losing importance, these questions have been engag-
ing more and more thought, and arousing stronger and stronger
feeling. "What men are thinking about, and feeling about, and
disputing about, must, ere long, become the burning question of
politics, and the organization of labor, the massing of capital, the
increasing intensity of the struggle for existence, and the increas-
ing bitterness under it, have for years made it clear that in one
shape or another the great labor question must succeed the

THE NEW PARTY. 3

slavery question in our politics. In farmers' granges and al-
liances, and anti-monopoly associations, in trades unions and
federations, and notably in the enormous growth of the Knights
of Labor, a vague, but giant power has been arising, which
could only reach its ends through political action. What has
delayed the crystallization of these forces into a political party
has been the indefiniteness of thought on such subjects. Discon-
tent with existing conditions there has been enough, but when it
came to the improvement of these conditions by political action
there was no agreement. In short, up to this time, Labor has
not gone into politics, because it did not really know what to do
in politics. This great vague power has been like a vast body of
unorganized men anxious to go somewhere, but uterly ignorant of
the road and without leaders whom they have learned to trust. And
while one has called " This way ! " and another " That way ! " and
constant efforts have been made by little parties starting out in
this or that direction to get the great mass to follow them, the
main body has refused to move.

The Greenback Labor party was a protest against the wasteful
and unjust financial management which has enriched the few at
the expense of the many, and it appealed with great strength to
the debtor class ; but the issue that it tried to raise was not large
enough to move the great body. So with the various anti-monop-
oly movements, and with the local labor parties which have here
and there from time to time carried a municipal or county elec-
tion, and sometimes by combining forces with one or the other of
the two great parties have carried a State. With all such move-
ments the fatal weakness has been that they could formulate no
large vital issue on which they could agree.

Political parties cannot be manufactured, they must grow.
No matter how much the existing political parties may have
ceased to represent vital principles and real distinctions, it is not
possible for any set of men to collect together incongruous ele-
ments of discontent and by compromising differences and pooling
demands create a live party. The initiative must be a movement
of thought. The formation of a real party follows the progress
of an idea. When some fundamental issue, that involves large prin-
ciples and includes smaller questions, and that will on the one hand
command support and on the other compel opposition, begins to
come to the front in thought and discussion, then a new party, or

4 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

rather two new parties, must begin to form, though of course one
or both may retain old names and develop from old organizations.

That now is the situation. Gradually yet rapidly the land
question has been forcing itself upon attention ; and that process
of education that has been going on in Central Labor Unions, in
Assemblies of the Knights of Labor and in the movements, abor-
tive though they may have have been in themselves, by which it
has been attempted to unite the political power of the discon-
tented classes, has been steadily directing thought toward the rela-
tion between men and the land on which they live, as the key to
social difficulties and labor troubles. And this process has been
powerfully aided by the interest and feeling that the Irish move-
ment has aroused in the United States. Here, in fact, the ten-
dencies of that movement have been more openly radical than
in Ireland. Shut out of Ireland the Irish World has freely circu-
lated here, and in the beginning of the Irish movement sowed
broadcast among a most important section of our people the doc-
trine of the natural right to land ; and while the influential editors
and politicians and clergymen who have been so ready to assert or
to assent to the truth that God made Ireland for the Irish people
and not for the landlords, have been careful to avoid any insinua-
tion that this continent was also made by the same power and for
an equally impartial purpose, they too have been unwittingly aid-
ing in the same work.

I was originally of the opinion that the first large steps to the
solution of the labor question by the recognition of equal rights to
land would be taken on the other side of the Atlantic, and in what
I have done to help in arousing sentiment there have always had
in mind the reflex action on this country, where, as I have told
our friends on the other side, I believed the movement would
be quicker when it did fairly start. But although I have known
better perhaps than any one else, how widely and how deeply the
ideas that I among others have been striving to propagate have
been taking root in the United States, they have reached the
stage of political action quicker than the most sanguine among
us would have dared to imagine. In going into the munic-
ipal contest in New York last fall on the principle of abol-
ishing taxation on improvements and putting taxes on land values
irrespective of improvements, the United Labor party of New
York City raised an issue, which by the opposition it aroused and

THE NEW PARTY. 5

the strength it evoked showed the line along which the coming
cleavage of parties must run. We did not win that election — few
among us really cared for winning, for we were not struggling for
offices. But we did more than win an election. We brought the
labor question — or what is the same thing, the land question — into
practical politics. And it is there to stay.

The coming party is not yet fairly organized, nor is the name
it will be known by probably yet adopted. But it has an idea,
and that an idea that is growing in strength every day, and that
from the opposition it provokes, no less than from the enthusiasm
it arouses, must gain support with accelerating rapidity. For
so monstrous is the notion that some men must pay other men
for the use of this planet, — so repugnant to all ideas of justice and
all dictates of public policy is it that the values created by social
growth and social improvement shall go but to swell the incomes
of a class ; so opposed to the first and strongest of all perceptions
is it that the rights of individual ownership which properly at-
tach to the products of human labor should attach to natural
elements that no man made ; and so clearly does the simple
means by which the common right to land can be secured, the
taking of land values (i. e., the value which attaches to land by
reason of social growth and improvement, and irrespective of the
improvements made by the individual user) for public purposes
harmonize with all other desirable reforms, — that our present
treatment of land as individual property can only be acquiesced in
where it is not questioned or discussed.

As this discussion goes on, and it is now going on all over the
United States, the principle of common rights in the land, brought
to a definite issue in the proposition to abolish all other taxes in
favor of a tax on land values irrespective of improvements, must
win adherents, and permeate and bring in line under its stand-
ard those associations and organizations whose existence is a proof
of widely-existing discontent, but which have lacked the defi-
niteness of purpose necessary to successful political action.

As yet the United Labor party of New York is the strongest
organization on the new lines, and the convention which it will
hold in Syracuse on the llth of August will probably give an
impetus to organization throughout the country, the way for
which is now being prepared by the formation of land and labor
clubs. What is known as the Union Labor party formed at Gin-

Q THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

cinnati in February by a gathering composed of some delegates
from the Farmers' Alliances of the West, Greenbackers, and
Knights of Labor, with self-appointed representatives of all sorts of
opinions and crotchets, was one of those attempts to manufacture
a political party which are foredoomed to failure. Sooner or later
its components must fall on one side or the other of the issue
raised by the more definite movement. On which side the majority
of them will fall there can be little doubt.

While the new party aims at the emancipation of labor, and in
its beginnings derives from the organization of labor that has been
going on the strength which wherever it has yet appeared has
made it at once a respectable factor in politics, — it aims at the im-
provement of the conditions of labor, not by doing anything special
for laborers, but by securing the equal rights of all men. It will
not be a labor party in any narrow sense, and in the name which
it will finally assume the word labor, if not dropped, will at least
be freed from narrow connotations.

But questions of name and questions of organization, are to us
who see the coming of the new party, and who know its power,
matters of comparatively unimportant detail. We have faith in
the idea, and as that moves forward we know all else will fol-
low. We can form no combinations and will make no com-
promises. How our progress may affect the political equilib-
rium, and give temporary success, locally or nationally, to
either of the old parties, we care nothing at all. Even
whether our own candidates, when we put them up,
are elected or defeated, makes little difference, — the contest will
stimulate discussion and promote the cause. We follow a principle
that through defeat must go on to final triumph. And because the
new party that is forming is clustering round a great principle, we
have no fear that it can be captured or betrayed. The " poli-
ticians" who would anywhere get hold of its organization, would
get but an empty shell, unless they, too, bent themselves to serve
the principle.

What is the deep strength of the new movement is shown no
less by the manner in which the Catholic masses have rallied
around Dr. McGlynn than by the political power it has exhibited
when its standard has been fairly raised. Whoever has witnessed
one of those great meetings which the Anti-Poverty Society is
holding on Sunday evenings in New York, must see that an idea

THE NEW PARTY. 7

is coming to the front that lays hold upon the strongest of politi-
cal forces — the religious sentiment ; and that the " God wills it !
God wills it V of a new crusade is indeed beginning to ring forth.
Our progress will at first be quicker in the cities than in the
agricultural districts, simply because the men of the country are
harder to reach ; but whoever imagines that the foolish falsehood
that we propose to put all taxes on farmers will long prevent the
men who till the soil from rallying around our banner leans on a
broken reed.

GEOKGB.

WHY AM I A FREE RELIGIONIST!

IN the autumn of 1865, immediately after the war, when the
idea of union was in all minds, the plan of combining all the so-
called liberal sects into a single working fraternity occurred to a
brilliant, energetic leader among the Unitarians, and led to the
formation of the " National Conference/' The invitation to the
first formative meeting in New York was hearty and comprehen-
sive ; so broad, in fact, that many came who were not in sympathy
with any sectarian aims whatever, and were drawn by the hope of
a wider spiritual fellowship than the occasion warranted. No
expectations then seemed extravagant. All shackles were falling
off ; all souls mounted on wings. These high anticipations were
soon disappointed, as the men who called, managed, and organ-
ized the conference, did not propose to go beyond the lines of
Unitarianism, as at that time defined. Thereupon, the Radicals
protested, not being able to accept the phrase ' ' Lord Jesus
Christ," which had a conspicuous place in the preamble of the
constitution. Vain were all arguments, persuasions, explanations,
disclaimers of intention to exclude anybody by insisting on the
binding force of a form of words, which each might interpret in
a manner to suit his own conscience. The dissenters, without
mutual agreement, seceded not so much because they objected to
the symbol, as because they resented everything like an obliga-
tory creed. This, however, was rather the occasion than the cause
of the departure. For several years the gulf between the believ-
ers in tradition and the believers in reason had been growing
wider, and the fact was disclosed now that it was impassable.
Twenty years later such a split could not have happened, for the
reason that the faith in tradition had greatly diminished, the tem-
per of conciliation was larger, and the former issues were obsolete;
but at that period division was inevitable. After some meetings,
which proved to be preliminary, notably one at C. A. Bartol's, in

WHY AM I A FREE RELIGIONIST ? 9

Chestnut street, Boston, a call was issued for a public gathering
at Horticultural Hall, Boston, on Thursday forenoon, at ten
o'clock, " to consider the conditions, wants, and prospects of Free
Religion in America." The room was full. The spirit was brave,
inspiring, hopeful. The breadth of the expectation is shown by
the circumstance that R. W. Emerson, John Weiss, R. D. Owen,
W. H. Furness, Lucretia Mott, Henry Blanchard (Universalist
minister), T. W. Higginson, D. A. Wasson, Isaac M. Wise (a
Hebrew rabbi), Oliver Johnson (a well-known abolitionist), F. E.
Abbot, and Max Lilienthal (another rabbi), were invited to speak.
All responded kindly, and several made addresses. Mr. Emerson
was present, a sympathetic participant, and said a few words of
encouragement. This was the beginning of the Free Religious
Association, and sufficiently explains its aim. The objects of
the Association were, as its constitution declared, " to encourage
the scientific study of religion and ethics, to advocate freedom in
religion, to increase fellowship in spirit, and to emphasize the
supremacy of practical morality in all the relations of life."

It will be evident that the first tendency of the Association
was towards non-sectarianism. Its purpose was to throw down
fences, even wire ones, erected to keep minds out, to allay ana-
mosities, to promote a friendly feeling among inquirers after
religious truth. It was inclusive ; a " spiritual peace society,"
suggesting the wisdom of disarmament. Polemics were forbid-
den, adverse criticism was disallowed. The leaders were radical
Unitarians, young men of strong, in some instances of explosive,
convictions, and it would have been surprising if, now and then,
they should not have given expression to their individual opinions.
But all this was at variance with the principles of the organiza-
tion. The single intention was to win confidence, to augment
fellowship. At the outset cordial endeavors were made to include
different classes of believers in Christendom, — orthodox, hetero-
dox, Protestants of every name, Romanists, — to come together
on one platform, amicably to hear each other's frank confession,
to state freely the reasons for their own faith, and thus add to the
sum of sympathy among disciples. Great efforts were made to
draw into concert the most opposite parties. The society, as such,
had no opinions ; creedlessness was its creed. Not that it was
indifferent, for it was just the reverse ; catholic rather, standing
above division, and appreciating all sincere endeavors to get at

10 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the soul of truth. At this period it had hearty co-operation from
eminent men and women of every Protestant denomination.

Soon, however, the Association passed over the bounds of
Christianity and welcomed other religions to its hospitalities.
RELIGION was before RELIGIONS, faith above doctrine, the
spirit of adoration, aspiration, sacrifice, superior to organizations,
character pre-eminent over churches. Then Christianity itself
became a gigantic sect, and other faiths, — Judaism, Brahman-
ism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and the rest,— were raised to
the peerage. No attempt was made to depreciate our own belief ;
on the contrary, the President, in an essay, spoke of Christianity
as " the queen of faiths/' but the excellencies of foreign systems
were celebrated, sometimes with exaggeration. There was not
so much learning then as there is now. Neither did nice dis-
crimination enter into the plans of an Association which tried to
lift aspersion from despised beliefs. Any overstatement on this
side may easily be pardoned.

The Association was never less than national in its scope. Its
membership and official representation covered many States. The
first call was for a meeting to consider the conditions, wants, and
prospects of Free Religion in America. Now it was world- wide.
The managers wanted to introduce some prominent professor of
Judaism. A real Brahmin, Buddhist, Parsee would have been
an acquisition. A high-souled atheist would have been a " God
send." The sole limit to sympathy was practical infidelity.
Every aspiring soul was, in the best sense, " orthodox."

The implications were exceedingly broad. It was assumed
that all religions had the same substantial texture ; that all enun-
ciated the same moral principles ; that all illustrated the same
spiritual aspirations ; that all had at heart the supreme welfare
of men. And it was thought that all might be persuaded to join
forces for the moral elevation of the race. This was the antici-
pation. This was the endeavor. The establishment merely of a
free Parliament was a great thing ; but here was a greater, namely,
the re-enforcement of the spiritual poivers of mankind. A hope
of this kind lay very near the heart of the projectors. The
chief reason why it was not more heavily emphasized was the
immediate pressure of other points, less inspiring, but more im-
perative, previous also in time. Four of these were put forth in
the original constitution, — the scientific study of religion and

WHY AM I A FREE RELIGIONIST ? H

ethics as distinguished from the doctrinal, ecclesiastical, or senti-
mental method ; the advocacy of rational freedom in religious
inquiry ; the increase of spiritual fellowship ; the maintenance of
the moral element as supreme over dogmatic prejudice. These
were high aims, that well might be cherished by the most soaring
minds ; as, in fact, they were. William Henry Channing, one of
the most lofty, pure, ardent, worshipful of men, was a firm
friend of the Association to the end of his life, spoke on its plat-
form whenever opportunity offered, and warmly entertained the
ultimate hope it foretold. The noblest transcendentalists, —
Weiss, Johnson, Emerson, Wasson, Alcott, Bartol, — adhered
stanchly to its grandest affirmation, though they were unable,
some of them, to join the organization, partly from an aversion
to all grouping of sects, and partly through personal dislike of
incidental utterances they chanced to hear. They were a com-
pany of idealists ; many called them enthusiasts ; a few applied
to them a less complimentary name. The more practical men,
those who were interested in the spread of denominationalism,
the history of doctrines, the diffusion of opinions, the triumph
of a sect, the moderate part played by existing organizations, of
course, took no interest in the movement. These were simply of
a different temperament, not necessarily hostile. Some joined
the new Association while retaining their former connections
with orthodox or liberal societies, for it was expressly declared in
the beginning that membership in the Association should " affect
in no degree one's relations to other associations," though in one
or two instances it did. Indeed, the plan involved nothing that
the most rigid believer could not accept, even " supernaturalism,"
as it was called then, being defined occasionally as a more subli-
mated kind of spiritualism, natural because coming in the order
of the souFs development, the normal method of growth. Thus
the four points mentioned — the scientific study of religion, the
advocacy of rational freedom, fellowship in the spirit and not in
the letter, the vital supremacy of character over belief — might
be received, not by a formalist surely, but by an earnest Protes-
tant, yes, by a devout Komanist. For such might well be con-
vinced that his system rested on foundations of reason and science.
That the Romanists did not come in was due rather to their
anticipated primacy than to any logical objection. At least that
was the reason assigned by a leader among them.

12 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Still, to the common mind, these four propositions went very
far in the direction of naked rationalism. They implied a com-
plete recasting of the ancient formularies, an entire abolition
of wonted usages, the bestowal of the ugly name of prejudices on
cherished opinions, the consecration of what seemed visionary
experiences, the friendly offer of the open hand in place of the
clenched fist. They were, in a word, revolutionary, just as
Emerson's protest against the communion was revolutionary in
reality though constructive ; just as Quakerism was a repudia-
tion of the form though in obedience to the idea. If the Free
Religious Association had had a different origin it would have
met with a more cordial welcome. At any rate, no opprobrium of
suspicion would have been attached to it. The more reason for
holding high the conception.

It is not claimed that the design of the Association has been
carried out, or will be in any definite time, though advances
toward it have been made in the lapse of years ; nor is it pretended
that the society has accomplished all that has been done. Every
organization is as much the creature as the creator of its period.
The thought of the Free Religious Association was in the air of
the epoch. The passion for scientific knowledge, the demand for
liberty, the craving after union, the appreciation of goodness is
characteristic of the age. But prepossessions yield slowly ;
the passage from dream to reality is long. The method of
sentimentalism prevails when the method of science has vindi-
cated its title to pre-eminence. The application of liberty is pain-
ful. Fellowship in the spirit is beautiful, but seems hardly feasi-
ble. The supremacy of character is noble, but far off. As to the
sympathy, symphony, essential identity of religions, we have
our own revelation, say the ordinary sectarians, and that is good
enough for us, and every attempt to put Christianity on a level
with other faiths must result in dragging it down, hot irr raising
these up. In the interest, therefore, of an exalted, spirituality, the
work of the Free Religious Association is more than justified.

It has been a standing complaint that the Association did noth-
ing, that it was merely speculative, that it consumed the hours in
talk, and in somewhat metaphysical talk, too, that it lived in the
air, keeping itself aloof from the organized interests of belief.
This is, in a measure, true, but it only proves the design of the
Association. It was purposely speculative. Therein lies the motive

WHY AM I A FREE RELIGIONIST? 13

of its existence, and to this it steadily adheres, after twenty years
of being. It was not a reform club, though eminent reformers
spoke from its platform, and individual members held conspicu-
ous positions in the ranks of reform. It was not a philanthrop-
ical society, though papers on charity were read at its conven-
tions and were listened to with delight, as well as hearty ap-
proval, while beneficent work occupied much of the time of the
managers. For several years the President was a well-known
philanthropist, who exerted himself to raise money for charitable
undertakings, and who resigned because the Association could not
be committed to any plan of practical labor. When its specula-
tive mission is completed, if it ever is, some form of beneficence
will, undoubtedly, be adopted, but it will be comprehensive,
human, inclusive, looking to the general elevation of man. Local,
partial, spasmodic it could not be. Most consonant with its idea
would be a congress of charities, at which each might present its
contribution to the purification of human life, advancing its
plea to consideration. This would be as original and unique as
its first conception, and would supply the sole practical aspect
this will admit of. A mere union, headquarters, clearing-house
of charities, would not be sufficient. Something more than a
convenience is required ; a concert of sympathetic action is called
for, and this can be obtained only by some such plan as is sug-
gested. At present, an armed truce, based on mutual jealousy, is
the utmost that has been projected in society, and so much has
been obtained with difficulty. A hearty co-operation, founded
upon the desire to dimmish the evils under which human beings
suffer and to multiply the chances for improvement, is still unat-
tempted. Perhaps this achievement is reserved for the Free Ee-
ligious Association. It is a curious comment on this criticism
that the society does nothing but talk, whose history is one of
' ' chatter," that the leader of practical religion at the West, the
author of a spiritual movement founded upon a basis purely
humane, without a speculative test of any sort, was for years a
diligent worker among its advisers, a friend of its officers, a grad-
uate from its school. He is but carrying out its resolution.

I have said that the Free Eeligionist has no creed. He has
none as a Free Religionist, though as an individual he may be-
long to the most stringent church in Christendom. But he must
be a religious man ; he must be a man of character, pure, honor-

14 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

able, devoted. He may define religion in his own way, may be a
disbeliever in a personal God, as well as in conscious immortality ;
but he must be convinced of the necessity to reconcile his life to
general laws, and to be faithful to moral principle. A large
love of duty must be in him before he can think of joining this
fraternity. Speculative freedom alone is not a recommendation.
If it is associated with looseness of conduct, it may be the opposite
of a recommendation. The freedom of religion is the aim, not
freedom without religion. The supremacy of character is the ob-
ject, not the absence of character ; creedlessness, not unrighteous-
ness ; the abolition of doctrinal tests, not the abrogation of moral
laws ; the establishment of humanity, not the overthrow of good-
ness. No bitter words are spoken against belief, we simply de-
mand the fruits of it, assuming the virtues of individual faith.

One persuasion, however, seems to have exerted a fascination
over leading minds, namely, the essential spirituality of man.
This article has been interpreted differently by different orders of
mind. The late D. A. Wasson, one of the speakers at the first
meeting, maintained that religion was the expression of an in-
finite soul in man ; that his earliest act was one of instinctive
worship ; that the primitive literature consisted of hymns, prayers,
invocations ; that aspiration is native and spontaneous ; that the
hope of immortality, the sense of deity, trust in Providence grow
out of this tendency upwards, and that the dark, foolish, bewil-
dered interpretations were due, in the main, to want of knowledge,
crudity of feeling, or incoherence of language. W. H. Channing,
on the other hand, thought there had been a primitive revelation
from God ; that every important truth was communicated from
above ; that the earliest religion had the same ideas as the later,
and that the cardinal beliefs were covered up by various circum-
stances, prominent among which was the growth of speculative
science. Both men were champions of mental freedom ; both
were students of history ; both were confident that research would
vindicate their theory ; both welcomed foreign systems of faith.
Mr. Channing, at his last visit to this country, in 1880, spoke
fervently upon the platform of the Association in advocacy of his
favorite opinion, assuring the managers that if they went far
enough they would arrive at Christianity as the modern version
of religion, the form in which the primitive revelation is pre-
sented to us.

WHY AMI A FREE RELIGIONIST ? 15

These are my reasons for being a Free Eeligionist, because so
I secure absolute freedom of thought in the study of religious
literature, perfect freedom of movement among all religious
phenomena, a pure fellowship of religious intention and purpose,
a frank confession of the superiority of practical morality to
dogma even of the most liberal description, If it be urged that
these principles are avowed by other bodies, the answer is, " So
much the better." The wider the postulates are diffused, the
stronger is the testimony to their felt importance. Their complete
prevalence will attest the full attainment of the end sought.
Twenty years ago they were not recognized. Twenty years hence
they will be far from domesticated. Cordial books have been
written, hearty words have been spoken for the ancient faiths of
the world, but they represent the more advanced types of thought ;
they are still accounted bold, if not heretical. Not until it is
easy to extend a friendly right hand to all believers and hail their
co-operation in re-enforcing the highest sentiments of mankind,
can the Association venture to disband. As a voice only, to express
the conviction of the age, it is valuable.

The re-enforcement of the highest sentiments of mankind; is not
this a crying demand ? Does not the age travail in pain till this
be accomplished ? The sigh of our generation is for unity in all
the departments of life. The field of moral sentiment, of ideal
principles is the most important. A " Spiritual Peace Society,"
for this our Association has been called, should be held in honor.
It is not a sectarian or denominational question, not a question
of Unitarianism or Presbyterianism,of Protestantism or Romanism,
but of Religion itself in its wide human aspects. It is not a ques-
tion of belief or disbelief, but of faith in its most vital, that is, its
most life-giving sense. The idea is, in the highest degree, con-
servative. By a logical accident it was launched by radical
Unitarians, for they were in the condition to see the beauty, to feel
the necessity of it, and in their hands it must remain so long as
its fundamental conception is unchanged, but it deeply concerns
all who seek the spiritual harmony of men. Its origin should
not be a stigma upon it, while its implications should be cordially
cherished. Of course, the substantial identity of religion must
be conceded, and to get at this one must go beneath forms and
dogmas, down to the pure spiritual and ethical principles that
lie at the foundation of all. He who does not admit this will

16 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

frown on any attempt to bring them together for purposes of
mutual encouragement or support, but he who recognizes this as
a truth will be glad of an opportunity to say so. Of course, too,
he who devotes himself to this idea will be prepared to face honest
criticism, to put away the spirit of contempt, to submit to a long
discipline in patience, and to be educated in the charity that never
fails.

0. B. FliOTHItfGHAM.

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO.

IK a letter from President Cleveland, dated May 11, 1885, he
asked me if I would accept the office of Governor or Surveyor-
General of New Mexico, and co-operate with him in breaking up
the " rings " of that Territory, stating that he considered the
latter position the more important of the two. The question was
a complete surprise to me, and my strong inclination was to return
a prompt answer in the negative. In view of advancing years and
failing health, I had no desire to venture so far out on the frontier,
and engage in a vexatious struggle with the organized roguery
that had so long afflicted New Mexico. On conferring with intelli-
gent friends on the subject, however, my impressions were modi-
fied, and, after listening to their stories about the climate of Santa
Fe and indulging in dreams of restored health, I finally answered
the President in the affirmative. My appointment as Surveyor-
General was made soon thereafter, and I entered upon the duties
of the office on the 22d of July.

All that I had heard about the climate was true, but the half
had not been told me concerning the ravages of land-stealing. In
dealing with this subject I shall confine myself in the present
article to the single topic of Spanish and Mexican land grants.

When New Mexico was ceded to the United States the esti-
mated area of these grants was about twenty-four thousand square
miles, or a little over fifteen million acres, being equal in extent
to the land surface of the four States of Ehode Island, Connecti-
cut, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo of 1848, and the Law of Nations, obliged the United
States to respect the title of all these grants, so far as found valid
under the laws of Spain and Mexico ; and to this end the Act of
Congress of July 22, 1854, was passed, creating the office of Sur-
veyor-General for the Territory, and making it his duty to " as-
certain the origin, nature, character, and extent " of these claims,
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 368. 2

18 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and report his opinion thereon for the final action of Congress.
This armed the Surveyor-General with very large and responsible
powers. He was required to pass upon the title of hundreds of
thousands of acres, while no court in the Union had any authority
to review his opinions, which were final and absolute, subject only
to the ultimate supervision of Congress. This legislation would
have proved wise and salutary if the Surveyors-General had been
first-rate lawyers, incorruptible men, and diligent in their work,
and if Congress had promptly acted upon the cases reported for
final decision. But the reverse of all this happened. Competent
and fit men for so important a service would not accept it for the
meagre salary provided by law. Official life in an old Mexican
province, and in the midst of an alien race, offered few attractions
to men of ambition and force. Moreover, the men who could be
picked up for the work were exposed to very great trials. Their
duties presupposed judicial training and an adequate knowledge
of both Spanish and American law ; but with one or two excep-
tions they were not lawyers at all, while they were clothed with
the power to adjudicate the title to vast areas of land. Of course,
the speculators who bought these grants at low rates from the
grantees or their descendants, in the hope of large profits, compre-
hended the situation perfectly. They sought the good- will of the
Surveyor-General because they desired an opinion favorable to
their titles. In furtherance of this darling purpose they took
note of his small salary and his natural love of thrift, while care-
fully taking his measure with the view of enlisting him in their
service by controlling motives. It quite naturally happened that
forged and fraudulent grants, covering very large tracts, were
declared valid, and that the Surveyor-GeneraFs office very often
became a mere bureau in the service of grant claimants, and not
the agent and representative of the Government. Instead of con-
struing these grants strictly against the grantee, and devolving
upon him the burden of establishing his claim by affirmative proofs,
the Survey or- General acted upon the principle that Spanish and
Mexican grants are to be presumed, and all doubts solved in the
interest of the claimant. The details of this systematic robbery
of the Government under the forms of law will be noticed as I
proceed.

But the wholesale plunder of the public domain was carried on
with still more startling results through extravagant and fraudu-

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 19

lent surveys. The grant owners did not exhaust their resources
on the Surveyor-General. Their dalliance with his deputies was
still more shameful. At the date of these old grants, the Spanish
and Mexican governments attached little value to their lands.
They were abundant and cheap, and granted in the most lavish
and extravagant quantities. Leagues, not acres, were the units of
measurement, and no actual survey was thought of when a grant
was made. A rude sketch-map was drawn by some uneducated
herdsman, giving a general outline of the tract, with some of the
prominent natural objects indicating its boundaries. These bounda-
ries were necessarily vague and indefinite, while the natural ob-
jects which marked them often became obliterated by time.
When New Mexico became the property of the United States,
and the owners of these grants asked the Government for
a preliminary survey in aid of their identification, and for the
purpose of asserting title, there was no law providing for the ju-
dicial determination of the true boundaries, and the deputy sur-
veyor, who was under no particular obligations to ascertain them,
was interested in the length of his lines, being paid so many dol-
lars per mile. He was nominally an officer of the Government,
but really a mere contractor, and naturally in sympathy with the
grant owner, rather than the United States. The latter was never
represented in these surveys, while the owner of the grant was al-
ways present, in person or by his agent, and directed the deputy
surveyor in his work. His controlling purpose was to make the
area of his grant as large as possible, and his interpretation of its
terms invariably conformed to this idea. If a given boundary of
the tract was a mountain, the deputy surveyor went to the top of
it, instead of stopping at the base. If there were several mountain
ranges of the same name, at different distances, the farthest of
them was selected as the boundary, instead of the nearest. If the
phraseology of the grant was found equivocal, or uncertain in any
respect, it was always construed in the interest of extension, rather
than limitation'. In doubtful cases, in which it was deemed wise
to fortify the views of the claimant by oral testimony in the field,
witnesses could readily be found who would serve his purpose.
Perjury and subornation of perjury were by no means uncommon,
while the questions propounded were usually printed, and sug-
gested the answers to be given, and there was no cross-examination
of the witnesses. It generally happened that they could neither

20 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

read nor write, and in quite a number of instances their pretended
testimony was not attested by their signatures, nor authenticated
by the officer referred to as officiating in the case ; while the dep-
uty surveyor sometimes assumed the right to swear the witnesses
before entering upon the farce of their examination.

Such were the processes by which the titles to these grants
were adjudicated, and their boundaries determined. It is easy to
imagine the results which followed. Millions of acres of the pub-
lic domain were thus appropriated to the uses of private greed. In
dealing with this enormous theft of the national patrimony, I do
not speak at random, but on the authority of ascertained facts.
My attention was directed to this subject soon after entering upon
my official work, and the result was an order from the Land De-
partment instructing me to re-examine the cases acted on by my
predecessors, wherever the public interest seemed to require it. In
obedience to these instructions, I have overhauled the work of
my office for the past thirty years, and made supplementary re-
ports in many of the most important cases. The curtain has been
lifted upon a very remarkable spectacle of maladministration, and
I refer to the following illustrative facts :

What is known as the Pedernales grant is dated in the year
1807. It was approved by the Surveyor-General, but no grant, in
fact, was shown, nor any delivery of possession. The land asked
for by the grantee was a narrow strip about a mile in length in
the Canon de Pedernales ; but the unauthenticated paper purport-
ing to show the juridical delivery of possession, describes the tract
as equal to twenty miles square, or 400 square miles, containing
256,000 acres. The title to all this, resting upon avoid and fraud-
ulent grant, is asserted by the present claimants, and the land re-
served from actual settlement till Congress shall pass upon the
validity of the claim.

The Canada Ancha tract was a grant to Salvador Gonzales,
who simply asked the Governor of New Mexico for a spot of
land on which " to plant a cornfield " for the support of his fam-
ily. It was one of a group of small grants in the immediate
vicinity of Santa Fe, and contains a fraction over 130 acres,
with well defined and easily ascertained boundaries. The claimants
of this grant, whose names were not given to the Surveyor-General,
filed a sketch map representing an area of 240,000 acres, or 375
square miles. The deputy surveyor placed himself at the head of

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 21

a roving commission, in search of the boundaries, which he ex-
tended some twenty miles from Santa Fe, and made to include the
highest mountain peaks of New Mexico, and 103,759 acres. A
second survey was made afterwards, containing only 23,661 acres,
including more than 20,000 acres of hills and mountains utterly
unfit for cultivation, although the grantee only asked for land for
(( a cornfield/' The land covered by the larger survey is reserved
from settlement, and will so remain till Congress shall adjudicate
the title ; but in the meanwhile the claimants of the land, having
been made ashamed of their performances, have abandoned their
case since the actual area and boundaries of the little tract have
been determined by an authentic survey.

The grant to what is known as the Canon de Chama tract is
claimed to have been made to Francisco Salazar and others in
1806. The present claimants, in their petition to the Surveyor-
General, did not give their names, but claimed title to a hundred
and eighty-four thousand acres. The Surveyor-General illustrated
his genius in the art of measuring land by giving them 472,000.
There is no proof that any valid grant was ever made, but if ther«
was it was plainly confined to the Canon de Chama, which is
narrow, and would probably restrict the entire tract to 25,000
acres or less. The deputy surveyor gave no heed to these facts.,
but went outside of the canon from ten to fifteen miles in search of
the boundaries. The entire tract, as surveyed, is reserved from
settlement under the Act of July 22d, 1854, and is enjoyed by a
few monopolists ; and should Congress approve the recommenda-
tion of the Surveyor-General, the public domain will be defrauded
of at least four hundred and fifty thousand acres.

The grant to Antonio Sandoval, or Estancia grant, was made
under the Mexican colonization law of 1824. It was void under
that law, because neither the grant nor the record of it was
found among the archives of the Mexican government. There is
not even an equitable claim to the land, since it is not shown that
the grantee ever occupied it, or exercised any acts of ownership
over it. The grant, however, was approved by the Surveyor-Gen-
eral, and surveyed for 415,036 acres, or 648 square miles ; and
this large area is reserved from settlement.

The claim known as the grant to Ignacio Chaves covers about
four leagues, or 17,712 acres. There was no evidence that the
conditions of the grant were ever complied with, or of the existence

22 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of any heirs or legal representatives of the grantee. The grant,
however, was pronounced valid by the Surveyor-General, and the
survey made the tract fifteen miles from north to south, and
twenty-two from east to west, containing an area of 243,036 acres,
or nearly 380 square miles. The land is reserved from settlement.

The Socorro grant invites particular attention. It is alleged
to have been made in 1815 or 1816, but its existence is not shown.
The fragmentary papers relied on as proof utterly fail to establish
it. An equitable claim may be asserted with some plausibility to
a small portion of the tract, including a group of villages existing
at the date of the alleged grant ; but the claim made covers
1,612,000 acres, and as surveyed it contains 843,259 acres, includ-
ing very valuable minerals which are not excepted by the recom-
mendation of the Surveyor-General, as they should have been.
All of this land, amounting to 1,317 square miles, as surveyed, is
reserved from settlement awaiting the action of Congress.

The grant to Bernardo Miera y Pacheco and Pedro Padilla was
one league of land, or 4,438 acres. The conditions of the grant
were never complied with, and no title therefore vested in the
grantees. The land, however, was surveyed for 148,862 acres,
and this area is unwarrantably reserved from settlement in the
interest of the claimants.

The Canada de Cochiti grant is dated August 2d, 1728. The
grantee petitioned for "a piece of land to plant thereon, and on
said piece of land to cultivate ten fanegas of wheat and two of
corn," being about 32 acres, and to pasture his " small stock and
horse herd." The validity of the grant is not shown, nor is there
even an equitable claim ; but it was approved by the Surveyor-
General, and the survey covers a strip of land averaging from five
to six miles in width, and from twenty-five to thirty in length,
aggregating an area of 104,554 acres, or a little more than 163
square miles. The whole of this tract is reserved from settle-
ment in behalf of the monopolists who claim it without right.

The San Joaquin del Naainiento grant was made in 1769. It
was genuine, but the conditions were never complied with, and
the title, therefore, did not vest. It was approved, however, by
the Surveyor-General, and surveyed for 131,725 acres. The land
is reserved from settlement, and must so remain till the title is
acted upon by Congress.

The Jose Sutton grant was made for sixteen square leagues,

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 23

although it could not exceed eleven under the Mexican coloniza-
tion law, which governs it. It was surveyed for 69,445 acres. The
grant is believed to have been genuine, but it was made on funda-
mental conditions precedent, which were totally disregarded by the
grantee, who left the Territory many years ago without having shown
the slightest purpose to assert title. The land is valuable, but is
reserved from settlement, and has been so reserved for twenty
years. It is one of the most bare-faced frauds yet perpetrated
through the machinery of the Surveyor-General's office.

The grant of the Arroyo de Lorenzo tract was made in the
year 1825, and the grantee took possession, but there is no evi-
dence that he ever complied with the conditions of the royal laws
under which such grants were made. As the grant must be
governed by the Mexican colonization law of 1824, it could not
exceed one square league, or a fraction over 4,438 acres ; but it
was surveyed for 130,000 acres, and its confirmation to this ex-
tent recommended by the Surveyor-General. The land is reserved
from settlement and the government defrauded.

The Vallecito de Lovato grant was recommended for confirma-
tion, but no grant was shown, nor any trustworthy evidence that
possession of the land was ever delivered. The claimants were not
named, and were unknown to the Surveyor-General. The survey
of the pretended grant, however, was made for 114,400 acres.
The land is reserved from settlement, and has been for a dozen
years.

The grant of Bernab6, M. Montano and others was recom-
mended for confirmation by the Surveyor- General for seven square
leagues, or nearly 31,000 acres, and is believed to be valid to that
extent ; but the tract, as surveyed, is nine miles from east to west,
and twenty-two miles from north to south, covering 151,055 acres,
or about 241 square miles. The whole of this tract is appropriated
to the uses of private greed, and withheld from actual settlers.

These illustrations of legalized spoliation and robbery could
readily be multiplied, but it is unnecessary. They form a part
only of a large group of claims now before Congress for final
action, and they show that the General Land Office was amply
justified in its effort to place before that body all available infor-
mation looking to the rescue of the public domain from the
clutches of roguery, and its restoration to actual settlement. The
amount of lands which may thus be restored, added to the area

24 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

misappropriated under forged and fraudulent titles and unwar-
ranted surveys in the original cases investigated by me since I
came into office, will aggregate from four to five million acres.

But I pass to the cases in which Congress has taken final action,
being forty-nine in all, of which two only have been rejected. Of
the forty-seven confirmed cases, twenty-four have been patented,
covering 6,176,857 acres, leaving twenty-three unpatented cases,
covering an area of 2,498,108 acres. In the latter class of cases
large areas may be restored to the public domain by a resurvey,
fixing the true boundaries of the grants under the direction of the
General Land Office. This will doubtless be done. A partial
examination of these cases clearly indicates the same maladminis-
tration pointed out in the unconfirmed claims already noticed.
In the survey of the Antoine Leroux grant, for example, more
than 100,000 acres of the public domain are included. In the
Las Vegas claim, which covers a small grant in fee of tillable land,
with the right of pasturage over a much larger area, the survey is
made to include 496,000 acres. In the Juana Lopez grant, which
covers a small table-land of from ten to twelve thousand acres,
with well-defined boundaries, the survey is made to include 42,000
acres. In all these and like cases resurveys are demanded. Judg-
ing from the facts disclosed by the records of the Surveyor-Gen-
eral's office, fully one-half the aggregate of these confirmed but
unpatented lands is illegally included in the preliminary surveys
already made, and may be restored to the public domain by an
honest resurvey.

In the patented grants the rights of the United States are fore-
closed, unless the patents can be set aside on the ground of fraud
or mistake. In the case of the Ortiz mine claim, no grant was
ever made. It was conceived by the Surveyor-General and mid-
wived by the act of Congress approving it ; but as that act refers
to the boundaries mentioned in the papers, and thus seems to rec-
ognize them, the government has no redress. The survey of the
Armendaris grant is largely excessive, and the patent should be
set aside, as I trust it will be in due season. The Tierra Amarialla
grant is surveyed for 596,515 acres, or 932 square miles. If any
grant was made in this case it was restricted by the Mexican
colonization law to eleven square leagues, or about 48,000 acres.
There is nothing in the act of Congress confirming this grant to
warrant the survey, and the Land Department, on my report of

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 25

the case, has recommended that proceedings be instituted to set
aside the patent. The Mora grant is surveyed for 827,621 acres,
or nearly 1,400 square miles. A good deal of the testimony in
this case is not signed by the witnesses, nor are their statements
accompanied by the usual affidavits. No grant was produced in
evidence, and there was nothing to indicate a grant in fee, but
only a distribution of the lands claimed, while there is no conclu-
sive proof that the conditions of the grant were performed. A
judicial examination of the whole case is called for.

Of the patented and unpatented lands I have noticed, aggre-
gating 8,674,965 acres, I think it will be safe to estimate that at
least one-half, namely, 4, 337, 482 acres, have been illegally devoted
to private uses under invalid grants or unauthorized surveys. If
to this sum I add the estimate before mentioned of from four to
five million acres unlawfully appropriated in cases pending before
Congress, an approximate estimate will be reached covering about
9,000,000 acres of the public domain which are now, and for
many years past have been, in the grasp of men who have used
and enjoyed the land for their own emolument, and whose earnest
prayer is to be let alone in their ill-gotten possessions.

But I have only partially exhibited the results of " earth-hun-
ger" in New Mexico, and the power of these grant owners. It
would be an extravagance to assume that they have not exercised
a shaping influence over the action of Congress touching their
claims. It will not do to lay all the blame upon Surveyors-Gen-
eral. The House Committee on Private Land Claims of the
Thirty-sixth Congress, in its report recommending the approval
of fourteen of these claims, emphasized the incompetency of these
Surveyors-General for the adjudication of such cases, and
frankly confessed the unfitness of Congress for the work ; yet
Congress, as I have shown, has approved forty-seven out of forty-
nine cases already examined. That the claimants in these cases
have prowled around the committees of Congress, and utilized all
the tactics of the lobby in furtherance of their purposes, is at least
probable. The famous Maxwell grant deserves attention in this
connection.

It was limited by the law under which it was made to twenty-
two square leagues, or about 96,000 acres ; but it has been sur-
veyed and patented for 1,714,764 acres, or nearly 2,680 square
miles. This was done in 1879, in violation of an express order of

26 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the Secretary of the Interior made ten years before, and still in
force, restricting it to twenty-two square leagues, and the patent
for the larger area issued under circumstances indicating the re-
markable readiness of the Commissioner of the General Land Of-
fice and the Surveyor-General to serve the claimants. But this
astounding piracy of the public domain did not originate
with these officials. It had an earlier genesis. Congress had
been beguiled by the claimants in 1860 into the confirmation of
the grant, with the exterior boundaries named in it, which covered
the whole of this immense area, and thus vested the title thereto in
the grantees, as the Supreme Court of the United States has recently
decided. Congress laid the egg in 1860, which was kindly incu-
bated by the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the
Secretary of the Interior in 1879. It was an inexcusable and
shameful surrender to the rapacity of monopolists of 1,662,764
acres of the public domain, on which hundreds of poor men had
settled in good faith, and made valuable improvements, while it
has been as calamitous to New Mexico as it has been humiliating
to the government. I have already referred to the Ortiz mine
grant, in which Congress was induced to unite with the Surveyor-
General in squandering upon private parties over 69,000 acres of
exceedingly valuable mineral land which the Mexican govern-
ment never granted. The careless action of Congress and the pre-
sumptive influence of claimants were further illustrated in the
confirmation of the Tierra Amarilla and Mora grants, under
color of which nearly a million and a half of acres have been segre-
gated from the public domain and dedicated to the uses of mo-
nopolists, in consummation of the work of the Surveyor-General
in these cases, as before stated. In the matter of the Las Vegas
grant, which was claimed by the town of Las Vegas and also by the
heirs of Luis Maria Baca, the land actually granted in fee was a tract
of moderate size for agricultural purposes. The Surveyor-General
decided that both claims were valid, which was simply impossible.
Congress confirmed the claim of the town, and did it so un-
guardedly that the claimants managed to have it surveyed for
496,446 acres, covering probably 440,000 acres in excess of the
grant; and then, yielding to the demands of the heirs of Baca,
who certainly had no right to anything if the claim of the town
was valid, gave them scrip in lieu of the lands thus unwarrantably
asked for, covering the same area, and thus defrauded the public

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 27

domain to the extent of about 900,000 acres. But I will not
multiply these examples. It is sufficient to say that of the whole
number of cases submitted by Surveyors-General for final adjudi-
cation and passed upon by them in the reckless manner I have
specified, Congress has rejected but two, and has thus criminally
surrendered to monopolists not less than 5,000,000 acres which
should have been reserved for the landless poor. I only add that
the grant owners of New Mexico have not yet retired from their
field of operations in Congress. They have their allies in both
Houses. Distinguished Senators and Representatives from some
of the great land States of the West are well understood to be in
sympathy with S. W. Dorsey, S. B. Elkins, and their confederates,
and nothing but the dread of antagonizing the President in his
fight against land thieves restrains them from acting openly.

The power of these grant owners over the General Land Office
in past years is well known. Its most remarkable illustrations
occurred under the administrations of Grant and Hayes, and
among these I may specify the attempt to breathe life into
the trumped-up Nolan grant in New Mexico, covering 575,968
acres ; the extension of the Eaton grant from 27,854 acres to
81,032 acres ; and the survey of the Ortiz mine grant for double
the area it contained if valid. The case of the Una de Gato grant
affords another illustration. The area of this grant, according to
Mr. Dorsey, its claimant, was nearly 600,000 acres. It was
reserved from settlement, and is so reserved to-day by the Act of
1854 ; but when the forgery of the grant was demonstrated in 1879,
and he thought it unsafe to rely upon that title, he determined
to avail himself of the Homestead and Pre-emption laws. This
he could not legally do, because the land was reserved ; but the
Commissioner of the General Land Office was touched by his mis-
fortune, and in defiance of law ordered the land to be surveyed and
opened to settlement. Mr. Dorsey, who was already in possession
of thousands of acres of the choicest lands in the tract, at once
sent out his squads of henchmen, who availed themselves of the
forms of the Pre-emption and Homestead laws, in acquiring pre-
tended titles, which were conveyed to him, according to arrange-
ments previously agreed upon. No record of this unathorized action
of the Commissioner is to be found in the Land Office. What
was done was done verbally and in the dark, and nothing is now
known of the transaction but the fact of its occurrence, and

23 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the intimate relations then existing between Mr. Dorsey and the
Commissioner and his chief of surveys. Of course, Mr. Dorsey
and his associates in this business have no title to the lands thus
acquired, and their entries should be cancelled, not only because
the land was reserved from sale by Act of Congress, but because
these entries were fraudulently made, as will be shown by inves-
tigations now in progress.

The influence of these claimants over the fortunes of New
Mexico is perfectly notorious. They have hovered over the terri-
tory like a pestilence. To a fearful extent they have dominated
governors, judges, district attorneys, legislatures, surveyors-
general and their deputies, marshals, treasurers, county com-
missioners, and the controlling business interests of the people.
They have confounded political distinctions and subordinated
everything to the greed for land. The continuous and unchecked
ascendancy of one political party for a quarter of a century has
wrought demoralization in the other. T. B. Catron is a leading
Kepublican, and C. H. Gildersleeve, an equally prominent Demo-
crat, but no political nomenclature fits them. They are simply
traffickers in land grants, and recognized captains of this con-
trolling New Mexican industry. This tells the whole story.
They have a diversity of gifts, but the same spirit. They are
politicians "for revenue only," and have a formidable follow-
ing. In the Democratic Territorial Convention, which met in
August of last year, resolutions were unanimously adopted depre-
cating the agitation of the question of land frauds in New Mexico,
and denying that such frauds exist to any considerable extent ;
and this slap in the face of a Democratic administration went un-
rebuked. The leaders of the party in this convention well knew
the extent to which these frauds were ramifying the whole terri-
tory, and scourging the people. They knew this from the records
of the General-Land Office, the reports of its special agents, the
action of courts and grand juries, and the startling developments
of the Surveyor-General's office ; but no member of the conven-
tion dared say what all intelligent men in New Mexico knew to be
the truth. The grant owners were the masters of the situation.
They had no stomach for unpalatable facts, and, therefore, sup-
pressed them. They believed in the gospel of " devil take the
hindmost." To rob a man of his home is a crime, second only to
murder ; and to rob the nation of its public domain, and thus

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 39

abridge the opportunity of landless men to acquire homes, is not
only a crime against society, but a cruel mockery of the poor. If
the convention had said this, it would have sounded the true key-
note and battle-cry of reform in New Mexico, while rebuking the
ravenous conclave of land-grabbers, whose hidden hand made it
the foot-ball of their purposes, and led astray the honest and con-
fiding rank and file of the convention, who would gladly have re-
sponded to a brave and honest leadership.

What is the remedy for the evils I have endeavored to depict,
and what the hope of New Mexico? The answer is already fore-
shadowed. In all the cases in which confirmed and unpatented
grants have been extended by false and fraudulent surveys, a re-
survey should be made under the direction of the General Land
Office, fixing the true boundaries and area. In all the cases in
which patents to confirmed grants have been procured by fraud,
including lands not covered by the confirmatory act of Congress,
suits to set aside such patents should be instituted under the
direction of the Department of Justice. And the grinding oli-
garchy of land sharks, whose operations have so long been the
blight and paralysis of the Territory, should be completely routed
and overthrown. This can only be accomplished by the speedy
and final adjudication of their pretended titles. How shall this
adjudication be secured ? The act of Congress of July 22d,
1854, expressly imposes this duty upon that body ; but Congress
utterly refuses to take any further action, and, as I have
shown, is unfitted for such a service. The project of a
Land Commission is equally futile. The act of Congress
of 1851, providing such a commission for California, has been in
operation for thirty-six years, and from thirty to forty cases of con-
troverted title and survey are yet undisposed of, and now pending
in the Surveyor-General's office, the General Land Office, or the
courts. The Commission was composed of men of ability and
character, but under the malign influence of land-stealing experts
the most shameful raids upon the public domain were made
through fabricated grants and fraudulent surveys. What is
known as Mr. Joseph's bill is a substantial copy of the California
act, and the provision in it allowing an appeal from the Commis-:
sion to the Territorial courts would, of itself, make the project ut-
terly abortive, since the fact is well known that these courts are
already loaded down with more work than they can accomplish,

30 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and would be obliged to forego even an attempt to adjudicate these
titles. To hope for their speedy settlement through such a
project is simply preposterous, and its emphatic approval by the
grant owners of the Territory is proof positive of the fact.

Equally vain is the hope of relief through the machinery of
what is known as the Edmunds bill, which has repeatedly passed
the Senate, and as often been disowned by the House. It refers
these claims for adjudication to the District Court of the territory
in whose jurisdiction the lands are situated, with the right of
either party to appeal from its decision within six months to the
Supreme Court of the territory, and from the decision of that
court within one year to the Supreme Court of the United States,
which is behind with its work four or five years. In all cases in
which the judgment of the District Court shall be against the
United States, an appeal must be taken to the Territorial Supreme
Court, and also to the Supreme Court of the United States, un-
less the Attorney-General shall otherwise direct. The cases are
thus to be tried in three several courts, and it is provided that in
all of them oral evidence shall be heard, while in the two lower
tribunals it would be practically impossible to try the cases at all,
by reason of their overburdened territorial business. While such
a measure would certainly breed litigation and be very acceptable
to lawyers, it could not fail to prove a mere mockery of its pro-
fessed purpose ; and it ought to be entitled " an act to postpone
indefinitely the settlement of all titles to Spanish and Mexican
grants, and secure to their claimants the unmolested occupancy
and use of the same."

In my judgment, what is obviously wanted is a simple enact-
ment of Congress referring all these cases to the Secretary of the
Interior for final decision. They are all on the files of the
General Land Office, including duly certified copies of all the
papers in each case, the evidence, both documentary and oral,
the reports of the Surveyors-General, and the supplementary
reports recently submitted. The questions of law and fact in-
volved are by no means remarkably intricate or difficult, and they
are such as the officials of the Interior Department are accus-
tomed to examine and competent to decide. They involve no
greater interests than those constantly adjudicated by the head of
that department, with the help of his able legal advisers. Of
course, mistakes might be made in deciding these cases. No in-

LAND-STEALING IN NEW MEXICO. 31

fallible tribunal has yet been devised for the settlement of legal
controversies. Even our higher courts sometimes go astray ;
while I have already shown what a travesty of both justice and law
was the action of the California Commision, and that Congress, by
slipshod legislation in dealing with these grants, has surrendered to
monopolists and thieves millions of acres of the public domain.
No such results need be apprehended from the Department of the
Interior. In any event, there would be a settlement of titles,
which is the paramount desire of all good men. The authority
of Congress to do what is proposed is as unquestionable as its
authority to create a commission or to refer the cases to the courts.
Should it be done, coupled with a statute of limitation fixing a
time within which new claims shall be presented or thereafter be
barred, the whole of these long pending contests can be disposed
of within the limit of three or four years, and New Mexico will
have a new birth in the restitution of her stolen domain and the
settlement of her titles. The stream of settlers now crossing the
Territory in search of homes .on the Pacific will be arrested by the
new order of things and poured into her valleys and plains. Small
land-holdings, thrifty tillage, and compact settlements will super-
sede great monopolies, slovenly agriculture, and industrial stagna-
tion. The influx of an intelligent and enterprising population
will insure the development of the vast mineral wealth of the
Territory, as well as the settlement of her lands ; while the men
who have so long reveled in their triumphant plunder, and are
already troubled with "a fearful looking to of judgment to
come/' will be obliged to take back seats in the temple of civiliza-
tion which will be reared upon the ruins of the past. All this
will come to pass if Congress will but open the way.

GEORGE W. JULIAN.

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS.

ABOUT one hundred years ago, during the period that stretched
from 1770 to 1800, the human world suffered what may be termed
seismic convulsion. Premonitory symptoms of the approaching
trouble were not wanting during the preceding century, but it
broke forth with the American revolution and culminated in the
great French convulsion of 1789. Manquakes upheaved the
social and political structures, overthrowing the ancient edifices,
and shaking society to its bases.

Mankind, from the earliest recorded time, had been trying
upon itself experiments of various forms of government, includ-
ing monarchies more or less absolute, hierarchies, military
empires, oligarchies, republics of every fashion. One form
alone had never been fairly tested upon an important scale. This
was pure democracy. Every attempt to establish a pure and
simple government by the people had been denounced as a dream
of the philosopher ; it was accepted as a conclusion that Moboc-
racy might be practicable when applied to a small primitive com-
munity, but would inevitably expand into monarchy when that
community grew into a great nation.

The outcome of the convulsion of the last century was the
experiments attempted in the United States and in France to
establish the democratic form of government. These experiments
are now proceeding. Here, in America, democracy has enjoyed
exceptional advantages : we had a new country, with unbounded
sources of wealth, no antecedent institutions, no historical preju-
dices, no vested rights to restrain or affect our progress, no
powerful neighbors to dictate or to influence our acts and wishes.
Our people were young, powerful in mind and body, sprung
from the most manly blood in Europe, law-loving, industrious,
level-headed. We had a clear course ; we began at the beginning,
with every advantage. If democracy had failed in the United
States, it was a failure forever.

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS. 33

France, on the other hand, had not one of these advantages.
She had nothing but her passionate sympathy with, and her aspi-
ration after, democratic principles and institutions. It is not
strange, therefore, that her first effort degenerated into a military
tyranny; her second effort, in 1830, subsided promptly into a
constitutional monarchy ; her third effort, in 1848, was countered
by a conspiracy of adventurers. Her fourth effort, in 1870, is still
an experiment.

It was during this convulsive period that the newspaper press,
as we now have it, was born. It was the inevitable creature pro-
duced by the social elements during their great disturbance.
Liberty became a living thing, and its voice, the press, was an
indispensable, and, therefore, a natural organ of its body. It was
to arive at this birth that (at the risk of incurring the reproach of
traveling over beaten ground) the direct parentage of this great
institution has been recalled. Previously to 1770 there existed no
newspaper press, properly so called. There were flying sheets,
not more important than hand bills. There were pamphlets and
essays. But the daily record of all affairs of interest and impor-
tance had never existed. Gradually this monstrous power began
to assume the shape it now takes ; the Tribune where Public
Opinion is supposed to express and declare the will and mind of
the world. The divinity from whom few secrets are concealed,
the tribunal to which public and private woes are amenable
gradually came into existence. It exerts a consular power over
all civilized nations, for all are subject to its decrees. The private
and obscure citizen goes in fear of this inquisition. The Caesar
is not secure from its right of search into his palace. The press,
then, was the gift of God to the people — being a college of their
great minds, exercising a ministry over public affairs and bring-
ing together the human race into honest and grand communion.

Is it Utopian to consider, or to imagine, what this institution
might have become had it been true to its vocation, and faithful
to its palpable mission ? To what power and station it has every
right to aspire ! The title of journalist, or pressman, should
have been a patent of nobility, such as enjoyed by the mandarin
in China ! Are the attaches of European and American news-
papers so considered ? To what base uses has the press descended,
and with it have descended its ministers and its staff ! How has
this result come to pass ? How, in so short a life, not much more
VOL. CXLV. — ]sro. 368. 3

34 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

than the life of a man, has this noble edifice come to desecration ?
Can it be ascribed to any fault in the journalist ? Not so. The
literary part of the press exhibits more skill and power than any
other branch of literature ; hastily as the work must frequently
be performed, it is excellent in substance and in style. This is
more conspicuous in the critical notices of the Fine Arts and the
Drama than in the treatment of political and social subjects, and
apparently from the reason that the art critic is permitted to write
from his own inspiration, while the political writer is fettered by
the policy of the journal. It is only just to the press of the
United States to confess that the writers of New York, Boston,
Chicago, and San Francisco, are equal in talent and brilliancy to
the best writers of Paris and London, Berlin or Vienna.

The decline and fall of the newspaper press is due to corrup-
tion. It has three functions : First — The collection and circula-
tion of useful and important news. Secondly — The perception of
the subjects that are agitating the public mind, and the opinion
of thoughtful minds thereupon. The great expenses attending
the performance of these duties would not be covered by the sale
of the journal if the third function — advertisement — did not
come to its support. When it was apparent that the revenue
arising, from this source was enormous, the newspaper attracted
the attention of capital as an important investment, and it soon
became a commercial enterprise to which all other considerations
were subordinated. As character and dignity did not pay,
these were disregarded. The only business of the newspaper pro-
prietor was to increase its circulation by any means, for on its
circulation depended the value and number of its advertise-
ments. In this sordid struggle the editor and his staff were in-
structed by the proprietor to pander to the degraded appetites of
the reader. The most unsavory details of crime and domestic
misfortunes were paraded in conspicuous fashion ; the literary
and moral standard was hauled down to give place to these flags
of abomination. Its emissaries were sent into the houses of pri-
vate citizens to obtain the offal of society — the filthier the better.
It became a ragpicker when the nation was engaged in any great
political struggle. The journal shielding itself behind its im-
personality and the cry of ee the liberty of the press" would hurl
accusations of the most infamous character against its opponents,
to the sacrifice of all dignity, conscience, and truth. It carried

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS. 35

the craft of misrepresentation to the level of a fine art. This was
the work of the commercial proprietor of the newspaper, to whose
sordid objects this mighty engine was degraded. The journalist
became his hired scribe, who waited on his will.

Let us see how the Fine Arts and the Drama were affected by
this state of things. Fortunately, the press gave little attention
to these matters until about 1837. The public at that time still
continued to think for itself, and formed its own opinions on
painters, dramatists, actors, and singers. The corrupting power
of advertisement had not reached this region. The first sign of
its appearance was the association composed of Bulwer, Macready,
Stone, John Forster, "White, and others, to ' ' work the oracle of
public opinion." Albany Fonblanque lent the Examiner to the
society, and Forster was the journalist. Each of the club be-
praised his fellows, and, recruiting followers, instructed them in
the worship. Idolatry is catching ; gradually the Examiner
overflowed into other journals, and the " Macready craze," like
the " Irving craze," set in with severity. It was not until 1844
that the leading morning papers of London began to admit the
Drama and the Fine Arts to any prominent position in their col-
umns. The Morning Post was the first that devoted a very im-
portant space to the Eoyal Academy and to the stage. The Times
followed suit, but so carelessly, that this work was handed over
to the department of the "city editor" of the paper, Mr. Alsager,
who presided over the stock exchange and financial business of
that great journal. It had previously been given to the reporter
who attended public dinners and collected scraps of news. In
Alsager's employ happened to be a clerk, his nephew, John Oxen-
ford, and a supernumerary clerk, Charles Kenney — both men of
fine critical perception. They were misplaced in the financial
office to which they were attached. From this moment the Lon-
don press generally commenced the manufacture of public opinion
by critical notices of the Drama and the Fine Arts.

The result was unfortunate ! The artist who had looked to
the public across the footlights for appreciation, soon learned to
look only to the columns of a newspaper. The audience are incor-
ruptible. They will not laugh or shed tears, even to oblige their
favorites. An actor can distinguish between the measured, per-
functory applause of a hired claque, and the hearty, impulsive
enthusiasm of a public. By degrees, however, the action of the

36 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

press began to affect the audience ; they gradually lost their sense
of independence, as they found the press usurped their function
of appreciating a performance. They yielded their privilege of
judgment, and waited to see "what the papers said/' This
would not have been very injurious, had it not affected the actor.
He soon found that his art was infructuously employed in obtain-
ing applause ; his reputation began to depend upon press notices.
So he or she must, by any and every means, capture the critic.
The conscientious and proud artist declined to turn press cour-
tier, and he soon found that his more obsequious fellows were
" written up." The painter turned his soul from the study of
nature to the study of the art critic.

There used to be amongst the public a critical phalanx of ex-
perienced, thoughtful experts, whose pleasure and pride it was to
attend the first representation of new plays — the first appearance
of artists. This crowd became leaders of public opinion. This
body guard of the drama was dissolved and the press assumed
its functions. One instance will serve to exhibit how they were
performed. In 1860, Mr. Fechter made his first appearance on
the London stage ; the bulk of the audience rejected the trage-
dian, but the upper classes of society received him with enthusi-
asm. The press followed the fashion, but one or two of the most
distinguished critics declined to worship the new Hamlet in
broken English. They were reprimanded by the proprietors, who
had met Fechter socially at the tables of noble lords. Encour-
aged by his success in Hamlet, the French actor undertook to
perform Othello and altered the text to suit his ideas — publishing
his new version as "a book of the play." This proved too much
for the critic on the Morning Chronicle, who dealt somewhat
severely with this intrusion on sacred ground. Exasperated by
the attack, the actor brought to bear on the proprietor of the
journal all the influence of his friends, and Mr. Ottley, one of the
most distinguished and conscientious writers of that period, was
discharged.

Since this state of things has existed, the Drama has declined
in a deplorable manner. All the pride has gone out of the dram-
atist and out of the actor. The sources of inspiration seem to have
become dry. During the last forty years not one important play
has been produced that has survived. All the works which now
serve the great actors for a repertoire are the produce of the stage

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS. 37

previously to 1847. Never before in the history of the Drama has
there been such a barren period. No great actor, either in comedy
or in tragedy, has appeared.

If the record of other arts, and of literature be examined, it
will be found to show a similar lack of important productions. Fic-
tion has lost its masculine power, and that field is almost exclu-
sively occupied by women. In musical composition of the galaxy
containing Meyerbeer, Eossini, Mendelssohn, Bishop, Verdi, Doni-
zetti, Balfe, Wallace, Barnett, Macfarren, Auber, Flotow, Bellini,
and a score the reader will not fail to recollect — only Gounod re-
mains, and he, like Verdi, belongs rather to the past than to the
present, which has produced Offenbach, Strauss, Lecoq and Sulli-
van. These are the exponents of the Musical Age !

It is here and now contended that this deplorable condition of
affairs has been brought about by the destructive agency of adver-
tisement, by means of which impostors and quacks obtain the
great rewards heretofore bestowed by the public upon merit.
Notoriety has taken the place of fame. The people have lost their
sense of appreciation from lack of exercising their powers of judg-
ment. Many of our leading actors cultivate their social and press
influences to the neglect of their art. The student of Shak-
spere poses in drawing rooms and creates a following, sending
them forth as devotees to preach his artistic gospel and to mag-
nify his name. He brings the gentlemen of the press around him
by every means he can devise, who for the most part yielding sin-
cerely to good fellowship, allow their better judgment to be misled,
and are false to their ministry out of good nature. By these
means impostors are helped to seats in the high places ; patient
merit sees itself passed by, and genius turns aside in disgust, dis-
daining to occupy the throne to which it is entitled.

Kegarding the actors and actresses that have, during the last
twenty-five years, lifted themselves into prominent notice, how
many have any artistic titles to the position they occupy ? Then
how came they there ? A lady arrives from England or from France.
She is paraded by the press as somebody of remark. Her photo-
graph appears in the shop windows. Cablegrams are published
recording her doings in Paris or London. It is not a question
whether she has any merit — it may be she has none ; no matter !
If she appear in big type she becomes a great artistic feature. If
she fail, it is because the type was not big enough.

38 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Again: Some enterprising speculator in " stars " unearths a
likely looking wench in an obscure corner of the land. After a
few months' training, he buys her a wardrobe, and announces the
discovery of an Arkansas Juliet. You go to see this phenomenon,
and you recognize a third-class novice, and, in mind and manners,
a very commonplace person. You tell the speculator so ; but he
replies, with a confident smile, " My good sir ! I mean to spend
twenty thousand dollars upon her this season ! thirty next season !
fifty the third season ! I will pack the houses with admirers, and
fill a page in the leading journals with mammoth advertisements,
which will place her name above that of Pears, whose soap ' will
pale its ineffectual fires' in the presence of my star. It will cost
me a hundred thousand dollars in advertisements before she is a
great attraction ; but then, sir, she will rake in forty thousand a
year clear profit."

If two-thirds of the successful artists and popular favorites
owe their position and their fortunes to this management ; if it
be well-known to the theatrical world that the public may be
nose-led by these means, is it strange that the profession has
lost heart and regards itself with contempt ? A comedy of some
pretension was recently produced in London ; it was the work of
a leading dramatic author. The London Times, in its notice of
the play, recorded its opinion in these words, " There is no money
in it." Mark the significance of the phrase ! it was not " there is
no merit in it."

Circumspection for one moment will reveal to any thoughtful
mind the justice of the accusation that the condition of the
Drama and the stage during the last generation has gone from bad
to worse. The productions of the dramatist and composer of
music have been trivial, and little above the entertainments offered
by a booth at a fair or a music hall. Buffoonery has replaced
Comedy, and scenic display has displaced Tragedy. It is not
pretended that " Faust " is performed ; it is painted and grouped.
Goethe is laid out in state, and we admire the robes in which the
corpse is clothed. We are admitted to admire the parade, and to
assure ourselves that the poet is very dead indeed.

The newspaper press holds great power and high office. It
has accepted the functions which the lovers of art once dis-
charged. The public have transferred their confidence from the
dilettanti to the press critic. He has been charged with betraying

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE PRESS. 39

that trust from sordid motives. It may have been so, in a few
instances, but the press does not quite deserve this direct re-
proach. It must be accused, however, of sins of omission. As
guardian of the high places, and custodian of the Temple of Art
and Literature, it was its duty to expel hucksters, mummers, and
money-changers. It stood by and applauded the clown who put a
fool's cap and bells on the shapely head of Thalia, and arrayed
Melpomene in travesty. It has assisted in the deification of
mockery.

DlON BOUCICAULT.

MY PERSONAL FINANCES/

BY his political enemies, General Garfield was accused of complicity in the
Credit Mobilier fraud, aikd with profiting largely by lending his influence to other
illegal transactions. It was conceived that a statement from him of his financial
condition would be the best answer to these charges : therefore questions were
asked of him that drew out the statement which follows, from which it appears
that at the close of nearly twenty years of public life he was a comparatively poor
man, and not a millionaire like some of his fellow members of Congress who had
" served their country" for no longer a time, and had enjoyed no greater oppor-
tunities for Lcnest accumulation.

EDMUND KIRKE.

By 1857 I was out of debt for college expenses, and even with
the world. At the time of my marriage — November llth, 1858 — I
had accumulated about twelve hundred dollars, — the result of my
salary and of lecturing before some literary associations. We
lived very economically and frugally, and — still continuing to
teach and lecture — I was worth when I went into the army, in
July, 1861, about three thousand dollars.

After about a year's service in the army I returned home
deadly sick, and, when sufficiently recovered, went on to Washing-
ton to serve on the Fitz John Porter court-martial. On my
return home I was assigned to Eosecrans, who then commanded
the army of the Cumberland. I was at home only one day and
two nights, but during that time I bought the house at Hiram,
for which I paid $1,200. While I was away with Rosecrans at
this time my wife built an addition to the Hiram house, at a cost
of a thousand dollars. When I returned from the war, in
December, 1863, 1 was worth this house, costing $2,200, and nearly
$3,000 besides; that is, while in the army I had saved about
$2,000.

I had, when I went into the war, a wife and one child, — the

* Autobiographical notes furnished by the late President Garfield to Edmund
Kirke as materials for a life.

M Y PERSONAL FINANCES. 41

child that died. I left her grave-side the day I buried her, and
started for Washington to take my seat in Congress. Just before
she died our oldest son, now living, had been born. He is my boy
Harry. At the time I went into Congress I was worth, as I have
said, about three thousand dollars. If they propose to discuss
the question of honesty, here is a point. During my army life,
as the Chief of Kosecrans's staff, I was asked twenty times in a
day to grant permits to go through the lines and trade in cotton.
By doing this I could have made myself rich ; and yet I came
out of my two and a half years' service, having saved, in all that
time, only two thousand, — and my pay as brigadier had been three
thousand a year, and for the last few months, as Major-General,
five thousand. I had to pay for my own horse and uniform,
though we have some few allowances. I had, of course, to live
like a gentleman and to support my family, but neither my wife
nor I spent money needlessly.

I served in the army up to the 5th of December, 1863, resigned
one day, and took my seat in Congress the next. I had not even
time, coming direct from the field as I did with dispatches, to get
a suit of civilian's clothes. I delivered my dispatches to Lincoln
and Halleck from Eosecrans, went over the ground with them,
and then took my seat in the House. I stayed in Washington
alone the first winter, leaving my wife and our little Harry at Hi-
ram. When I got home from that session, and we were sitting
together in our little parlor, my wife slipped into my hand a little
memorandum that she had made. In it she had figured out that
we had been married four years and three-quarters, and had lived
together only twenty weeks. I had been two winters in the Ohio
Legislature, two years and a half in the army, and one winter in
Washington.

Then I said to myself, " If I am to be in public life I have to
determine at once whether I shall live in a state of practical di-
vorce from my family, — as most public men do, leaving their
wives and children to grow apart from them in experience, cul-
ture, and knowledge of the world, — or whether we shall make it a
matter of yoke-fellow life together. I then resolved that I would
never again go to a session of Congress in Washington without my
family. The second winter I went on ahead and rented rooms,
and they came on and we boarded together. We had, I think,
a couple of rooms for a hundred dollars a month, with additional

42 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

for board — war prices. We found that unsatisfactory, and the
next winter I hired a furnished house for two hundred dollars a
month, and we set up housekeeping. We had then two children
— Harry and Jimmy. We occupied that house two years.

We lived in rented houses until 1869, keeping house in Wash-
ington during the sessions, then breaking up, and moving back to
Hiram in the spring. We moved twice a year for sixteen years.
But I have kept my family with me all the time, and, so long as
we have kept house, my mother. She was not with us while we
were boarding, for then we could not make it comfortable for her.
As soon as I commenced renting houses, so I had a home of my
own, I took her with me.

This ran along till May, 1869, when I made an estimate, and
found that I had paid out about six thousand dollars for rent up
to that time. Major Swaim, who had been my Chief of Staff, was
then on duty in Washington, and he said to me : " Build yourself
a house ; I will lend you enough money to pull you through, and
take a mortgage as security." He is a man of some means. The
Campbell will case, which I had just tried, had brought me in a
fee of thirty-five hundred dollars, and by borrowing- about sixty-
five hundred from Swaim, I built my house in Washington. Jt
cost about ten thousand, and I mortgaged it to Swaim for all it
cost over my thirty-five hundred. Years afterwards I made some
additions to it, which increased its value ; and I also bought an
additional lot. I moved into that house in the winter of 1869.

Now, right here is a point on that Credit Mobilier business.
At the very time I was borrowing that money of Swaim to build
my house, those people say there were three to four thousand dol-
lars in dividends standing to my credit on Ames's books, which I
had not called for. That could not very well have been without
my knowing it ; and does any man of ordinary common sense bor-
row money when he has it in bank, or in his pocket ?

As our family grew, our little house at Hiram became too
small for us, and about 1872, instead of coming up here, and being
overcrowded, we took quarters at Ocean Grove. We rented a cot-
tage and spent the summer there. When I came here the next
year, I found that a company of gentlemen were about starting a
summer club up on Little Mountain. They invited me to join
them, and I bought a share for a thousand dollars, and put up a
little cottage that cost me about $300 — just a cheap shell. We

M Y PERSONAL FINANCES. 43

spent three summers there, I think, and during that time I sold my
house in Hiram to Hinsdale, now the president of the college. I
got a little less than the house had cost me, but not much — the
loss was trifling.

While on Little Mountain, looking around and riding about,
my love of farm life came back to me, and I said to myself, " I
must either go tossing about in summer at watering places, at a
heavy expense, or I must get some place where my boys can learn
to work, and where I can myself have some exercise, — touch the
earth and get some strength and magnetism from it. I saw this
farm [at Mentor, Ohio], for sale, and late in the fall of 1876, just
as I was about setting out for Washington, I bought it on five or
six years' time.

Question. Had you in the meanwhile paid the mortgage on
your Washington house ?

Not entirely. I made small payments from time to time, and
within the last year, — soon after I tried a heavy railroad suit in
Alabama, for which I got five thousand dollars, — I finished paying
for it, — that is, I made so much of a payment that Swaim released the
mortgage, though I still owe him about fifteen hundred dollars.

Now, coming back to this Mentor house. I bought this place
in 1876 — 118 acres for one hundred and fifteen dollars an acre,
and subsequently I bought 40 acres adjoining at a hundred dollars
an acre, because the owner had a right of way, that was an annoy-
ance. For both of these places I gave my notes, secured by
mortgage, paying five thousand dollars down on one, and one
thousand on the other. In my first insurance case, where I was
associated with Curtis, I was paid fifteen hundred dollars, and
in the second case I got thirty-five hundred, just before I made
the purchase on this larger tract, — those two amounts made the
five thousand payment. I have been paying for the place along
in installments, according to the contract, which was that it should
be paid for from time to time during five years. The mortgage
still stands against it uncancelled, but as I have paid I have taken
up the notes. Then I spent about four thousand on the. house
and grounds. This was an old house, only a story and a half
high. I have lifted it up to two stories, and I have repaired the
fences, and put the farm generally into good order. I suppose
that I have an equity here of about $10,000, another $10,000 in my
Washington house, and, say, about $5,000 in my library and outside

44 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

traps, so that I may prudently say I am worth about $25,000 — the
result of all of twenty-five years reasonably hard work.

I have a pretty valuable library. Outside of documents which
have come to me from Congress, and have cost me nothing, I
have about three thousand volumes of picked books, among them
a complete set of U. S. Supreme Court Eeports, worth of them-
selves five hundred dollars. The result of the whole is, as near as
I can get at it, that my salary has just about supported my fam-
ily, and that all the property I have has been the result of my
legal practice, and of one or two small outside operations.

My legal practice has been my principal resource for accumu-
lation. But that has not been regular — it has varied much in
different years, being some years not over a thousand dollars, and
in others running up as high as seven and eight thousand. Dur-
ing my first years in Congress my family was small, and I not
only lived within my salary, but saved a little every year. Sub-
sequently, as my family grew larger, it just about consumed the
whole of my salary.

My salary for the first two or three Congresses was $3,000, then
it was raised to $5,000, and, temporarily, to $7,500 — but that in-
crease I declined to take, and covered it back into the Treasury. I
ought to say that for my first year in Congress I received only $750,
for the reason that for the first nine months of that year I was in
the field, and drawing pay as a brigadier-general. I did just as
much service in Congress as anybody else ; but there was a ques-
tion whether one could rightfully draw two salaries, so I solved the
doubt for myself, and drew pay for only the actual time that I
served in Congress.

Now, as to my outside operations. They have been very small,
and are scarcely worth mentioning ; but while we are on this sub-
ject I may as well tell you the whole. In 1865, during one of my
vacations, I took an interest with a few gentlemen in some oil lands
in Pennsylvania, out of which I realized a certain sum, I have
forgotten what, but I got in payment some western lands, which
I held for some time, selling portions of them along from time to
time. Those sales helped my payments on my Washington house.
Then, some years ago, I bought a little stock in one of the Bo-
nanza silver mines. I held the stock for a couple of years, and
then sold it, making something upon it — not much. And about
1865 I bought 320 acres of land near Iowa City. That I held

MY PERSONAL FINANCES. 45

about ten years, when I sold it, making about fifty per cent. These
all were small matters, but they helped to meet my Washington
house payments. As a general thing I have kept out of specula-
tions. I have no taste for that sort of transaction. I think this
is about the whole of my financial history.

JAMES A. GAEFIELD.

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS.

No. 6, PART 2v. — To Hoi*. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

YOUR partisans noticeably do not share the extreme sensibility
of him who fell beneath the tower of Thebez. Instead of display-
ing his virile antipathy to being a woman's trophy, they seem to
think that if they can but persuade men to say of one, ( ' A woman
slew him," he need not be so very dead after all !

I shall perhaps be considered as lending myself to these humane
efforts by adding what may be reckoned a postscript to my pre-
vious letter ; but a postscript which you were good enough to fur-
nish and which it would be presumptuous in me to suppress. As
if anxious to prove my conclusions not too severe, even before my
letter had left the printers' hands, you gave so ample and so
luminous a justification of its strictures, that I should be a mere
spendthrift of demonstration not to present it as the latest, most
characteristic and most impressive of your political achievements.

The Union League Club, of Chicago, designing to inaugurate
a revival of patriotism, and to stimulate a true and distinctive
Americanism, determined to emphasize the birthday of Washing-
ton. To this end they resolved to establish a series of lectures
to be delivered on the 22d of February of each year. It was
assumed that an occasion so specifically marked, and so carefully
prepared for, would be honored by an address, written with the
motive of the Club or the central idea of the new movement in
mind, — I am giving almost the very language of the Club itself.
It was a noble purpose, and the mode of effecting it was nobly
planned. The whole movement started on the highest level.
Socially, morally, patriotically, it is fraught with promise to our
country.

The Club paid you the high honor of inviting you, as long ago
as last October, to deliver the opening lecture of this series. You

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS. 47

accepted, and named your subject — " Our Politics." You were
invited to make your own terms, and you are reported to have
made them five hundred dollars. Your theme and your terms were
instantly agreed to. The programmes were prepared, the audi-
ence was assembled, and then, instead of delivering the speech
which had been promised and paid for, you coolly substituted an
altogether different and inapposite dissertation, which no one had
demanded and which no one wanted ! I do not place this on a
level of obligation or honor. On the ordinary plane of financial
business, of mercantile traffic, I ask, is this fair dealing ? Cer-
tainly it is not considered fair dealing at the corner grocery whose
introduction into politics you deplore. If the corner grocer should
conduct his business in that way, it would not be long before he
would find himself lodged in the county jail.

And you had hardly found your tongue before you began to
talk of your " conscience," which, you intimated, was so imperious
that it would not let you alone, and so superior in delicacy to that
of your countrymen that its voice is like the voice of one crying in
the wilderness. Beyond doubt the Club will agree that your voice
cannot be more appropriately engaged than in crying — crying loud
and hard in a genuine and penitent wail, till you are ready to
come out of the wilderness into Christian society and behave your-
self like an honest corner-grocer, in or out of politics.

What reason did you give for the extraordinary liberty you
took ? Simply that on arriving in Chicago you found that you
were to address a mixed audience, an audience composed of both
parties ! You professed that you "had been in the habit of speak-
ing your mind pretty strongly, but you felt that here you stood
in a very delicate position, where you could not express your-
self with entire frankness."

And then you walked into the dining-room, and rising among
the little wax Cupids and Venuses and Apollos of boned turkey
en Bellevue and aspic of foies gras, you announced boldly that
"what is wanting in our politicians of the present day, more than
anything else, is the one element of courage. To ME courage is
the highest of the virtues, because it is the safeguard of every
other virtue ! "

And you said it as blandly as if you had not just waved the
white feather of retreat more palpably than ever the soldier King
of Navarre wore the white plumes of onset.

48 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Every other American sees the grotesqueness of your attitude.
Is it possible that you cannot be made to see it ? It is so simple
that he who runs — and certainly you are he — may read.

You are a man of letters. Learn the a b c of courage. You
wrote your lecture and carried it to Chicago. When you got there
you found so many who did not agree with you that you dared
not deliver it, and you rushed to cover in the grave of Shake-
speare !

This is all there is of it. You had not the courage of your
convictions. You dared not face a disapproving audience. You
had been quite resolved to " speak your mind pretty strongly, "
so long as you thought your audience were of the same mind ;
but as soon as you saw opposition, you fancied six Richmonds in
the field, and you turned and fled with Richard III. It is idle to
talk of the " delicacy of your position." It was no merely private
and social occasion ; it was a Club with a thousand members
celebrating the birthday of Washington. You were invited to
speak on politics. The object, you were fully informed, was to
seek higher political education. There was no delicacy in your
position, but there was danger, — danger of your audience disa-
greeing with you, since it was " a mixed audience, an audience
composed of both parties. " But that was the very thing you
ought, as a man of patriotism and a man of nerve, to have wel-
comed. That was your opportunity ; that is what the politicians
whose cowardice you deplore are constantly doing. Every man
in Congress, every man in our State Legislatures, every man on
the stump, faces " a mixed audience, — an audience composed of
both parties." It is because they face you and combat you, you
and your faction, boldly, uncompromisingly, that they have earned
your hostility. But you, — you who et place courage above all the
other virtues because it is the safeguard of all the others," —
when you found that you could not compliment the English
Government as you wished, without offending the Irish who had
but lately heard Justin McCarthy, or that the Union League
Club of Chicago were not all Mugwumps, as the wrathful Club-
men variously and rather roughly put it, you threw down your
manuscript, left all the other virtues to shift for themselves, and
shambled after Richard III. as sorry a sight as the deformed
King himself. The part of courage would have been to address
the men who were not Mugwumps. What hindered you ? You

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS. 49

" threw up your political discourse because you could not make
it to your mind." Who forbade your making it to your mind ?
No one had control over you, and you had months of notice.
It was your own fears that dominated you, and make us con-
clude that you do not know what cowardice or courage is.
You had so little comprehension of the situation that you sum-
moned the prophet Nathan to your assistance ; but if Nathan
had been of your kind, as soon as he found himself in the King's
presence, and saw that David actually was the man and that
David's eye was on him, he would have quietly smothered his
little ewe lamb under his prophet's robe and delivered to the royal
and formidable sinner a rambling dissertation on the question as
to whether Moses or Miriam wrote the Song of the Red Sea !

Could the most practical politician of your despised corner
grocery display more of childishness than you, when, after your
own confession that you had come to Chicago to tell the truth,
but, finding that you were likely to meet a good many who did
not believe or did not like your truth, you had decided not to
tell it ; having, that is, run away with your truth from the first
men you met, you had the brazen or the infantile assurance to
rise up in the evening and say, "The one thing that is more
wanting than anything else is people who will tell the truth to
the first man they meet, or to any number of men that they
meet."

Do you not see that your position is exactly that of the
soldier of our war of the rebellion who declared that his head was
" just as good a fighter as Grant's or Sherman's, but, damn it !
when the fighting begins my legs won't hold me."

In the comparatively safe shelter of the banqueting hall, in
the centre of a hollow square of Harvard graduates, behind a
fortification of smilax and tulips, your courage rose to the valiant
pronunciamento that "it is the business of us educated men, if
we can but unite ivith anybody else — at any rate to unite with
each other — to see if we cannot do something." You had already
shown what you would do if you had to stand alone ; you would
" stand edgeways ;" but, if we can unite with each other, it is the
business of us educated men "to see if we cannot do something."
You deplored — indirectly, to be sure, and "edgeways" — our lack
of great men and our indisposition to send to the front the best
we have, and you thought we ''educated men" should "pay a
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 368. 4

50 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

little more attention to politics, still more to other people's
politics/'

Very well. The Union League Club determined to do some-
thing ; to pay more attention to their own and to other people's
politics. They were already united with each other, and they were
eager to unite with you. But you refused to unite. They brought
our greatest man to the front, and you were so poor as not to do
him reverence. You had been asked to take the chief part in cele-
brating the birthday of Washington ; to induce a revival of patriot-
ism by emphasizing the observance of Washington's birthday. The
very menu of your banquet was inscribed with Washington's wisdom
and statesmanship. You never so much as mentioned him. You
never referred to him, except in a parenthesis of a paragraph de-
voted to an English duke. You may well indulge lament, and it
will be a long lament, over our lack of great men, if Washington is
not great enough to inspire you with one uplifting word, aglow with
his courage, his wisdom, and his patriotism. It may even be that
you will follow in the path pointed out by your English com-
peer, General my Lord Wolseley, and presently place in your empty
niche of greatness the rebel Lee as the hero of the nineteenth
century.

When the question was of great men, telling the truth, display-
ing courage, you ambled off into a superficial and fragmentary
investigation of the stale old question as to whether Shakespeare
was written by Shakespeare or by another man of the same name.

The portieres and tapestries of the hall had been removed to
make place for the flag of our country, and that nothing might be
wanting to the lofty inspiration of the occasion, even the daffodils
and Jacqueminots breathed the noble sentiment, (< In proportion
as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it
is essential that public opinion should be enlightened/' You
responded by throwing no light, but rather darkness visible on the
unimportant authorship of an insignificant character, whose only
claim upon modern attention is that four centuries ago he sat for
two bloody years upon the English throne. Is this the point upon
which " we educated men" suppose the Chicago Club, in the spirit
of Washington's Farewell Address, desire to enlighten public
opinion ?

You claim loftily to be a man of letters, but you have not learned
the alphabet of Americanism if you think the purpose of cherish-

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS. 51

ing and stimulating a more exalted patriotism in the hearts of the
American people on the day which of all days signifies the birth,
the growth, and the genius of our institutions is to be subserved
by your scrambling behind Robin Hood's barn and amusing your-
self with shooting a few play-arrows at a home-made target, four
hundred years off, on the other side of the ocean.

If anything could reconcile us to your ignoble back-down at
Music Hall it would be the political addresses which you we're
forced to stand and deliver at the banquets. It must have re-
quired something like nerve to enable you to confront the strong,
impatient common sense of a Western audience with your com-
placent saws and your flat contradictions. Your amazing uncon-
sciousness of the latter even spread a certain quaint grotesque
flavor over the dreariness of the former.

It must have been something akin to courage which permitted
you who had so ignominously dropped the laboring oar, to
address the gentlemen of the Club who had taken their magnifi-
cent pains to inaugurate a revival of exalted patriotism — " Now,
gentlemen, you may be as indifferent as you like, but / say " thus
and thus. Was it .a mental obscuration so complete as to be
indistinguishable from courage, that suffered you to lay down as a
novel and self-evident proposition "that we ought in this country
to be choice in our leaders ; that here, more than anywhere
else, especially in the chief place in this Nation, it is the man who
makes the place, and not the place that makes the man ?" Think-
ing it over afterwards, in the calm seclusion of Harvard, do you
consider it a brilliant illustration of the good to be accomplished
by the irruption of "us educated men " into politics that you
have put a Sheriff, without collegiate, or political, or social edu-
cation, into the chief place in the Nation, to make it after his own
Buffalo fashion ? You conceive of a higher plane of politics than
"a matter of practical business" — "a kind of politics which
studies the laws of cause and effect, and gradually formulates cer-
tain laws by which its judgment is guided;" and this you call
" statesmanship." And the President of your " educated " choice
practices statesmanship by sitting at his desk fourteen hours a
day writing away for dear life, like the veriest clerk, evidently
under the impression that he was made President by the Pharisees
in order to do the work of a Scribe.

You discovered that " the city of Boston has joined the ring

52 THE XORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of American cities, and has a governing board which enriches
itself by utilizing the offices of government." Did you say this
when you were banqueting at the Boston board ? That would
have been the place to say it, rather than the banquet of the
Chicago Club, a thousand miles away — not the safer place, per-
haps, but the bolder and more effective place. You think that
reform of or within the old parties is hopeless, and you do not
wish to form a new party. You only desire that "good men and
sensible men and honest men shall act together on certain points. "
What is that but a party ? Any number of men acting together
on certain points is a party. This party of good, sensible, honest
men is called the Democratic party, or the Republican party,
according to the person speaking. A man must flock all by him-
self if he wants to stay outside of party. You take a leaf from
Mr. ParnelPs book, but you read it upside down. Mr. Parnell is
perhaps the strongest party man on this earth. He holds a dic-
tation more rigid than any American leader would venture to
apply, and the cause of Ireland is strong because he holds it.

You are inclined to make it a reproach to your country that
the population of the Colonies, at the time of our Revolution, was
on the whole better educated in the principles of English liberty
than their descendants of to-day. Undoubtedly they were, and it
was because our Colonial ancestors were so well educated in the
principles of English liberty that they would have none of it.
The English liberty to which they were treated is fully summed
up in the Declaration of Independence — a document which, even
to this day, is regarded in England as an atrocious insult to the
Crown. It may be that you also regard it as one of those rash,
outspoken arraignments which the educated taste of the Harvard
of to-day should condemn. But an English liberty which im-
posed taxes without consent of the taxed, which quartered sol-
diers in private houses in time of peace, which dissolved repre-
sentative assemblies that proclaimed liberal principles, which de-
prived the people of the right to elect legislatures, which con-
stantly obstructed the administration of justice, and made trial
by jury a farce or a mere form of subservient obedience to auto-
cratic authority, is an English liberty of which our Colonial fore-
fathers learned altogether too much. If you choose that type of
English liberty, instead of the broad American liberty whereunto
you were born, I am ready to believe what I have hitherto refused

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS. 53

to believe, that on your way from Madrid to London, to assume
the English Mission, you gleefully recalled with special gratification
the fact that an ancestor of yours fought on the Royal side at
Bunker Hill. I can believe what many of your countrymen
have refused to believe, that more than once in Tory houses in
England you have referred to this fact as matter of family pride.
No one would restrain your right of free speech, or your free en-
joyment of your ancestors, but you would have been a truer repre-
sentative of your country if you had avowed this source of your
family pride in America, to your own government, before you
were appointed to the English Mission ; since in that case you
would have been unanimously chosen to represent your cherished
ancestral tombstone in the quiet shades of Harvard.

Your idea of our Civil Service long ago passed the stage of
analysis or argument, and merits now only to be dismissed — if ever
the slang of your English may cross the threshold of a decent peri-
odical,— as " beastly rot." What else is your discovery, on your
return to your own country, — that " the one, and only one, source
of all the ills is the condition of our Civil Service ; " that " the evil
in Spain was a civil service precisely like our own," which in Spain
had gone so far .as to "keep the people ready for revolution at any
moment ? " Are our people ready, or getting ready, or developing
a tendency to get ready for revolution at any moment ? In what
respect was the civil service of Spain precisely like our own ? "Was
it it in collecting and disbursing the revenues of the country with
scrupulous fidelity ? Was it in the personnel of the Civil Service —
a class of men averaging as high for integrity and intelligence as
any profession or occupation in this country or in any country ?
You say the notion is spreading that every man who has a share
in the government of the country ought to have a share in its
funds. Spreading where ? I have had a wide acquaintance in
this country, and, beyond the salaries of officials, which are some-
times niggardly, and never generous, except perhaps in the high-
est office, the Presidency, I have not heard that sentiment so much
as breathed. Designate any man or club, inside or outside our
Civil Service, that ever publicly or privately uttered such a senti-
ment, or anything which could be construed into such a motive of
action ; or that was ever known to act on such a sentiment with-
out incurring the contumely of disgrace or the penalty of crime.
If this robber-theory of our government is spreading anywhere,

54 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,

it must be spreading where you have lived so long — in England.
And it is spreading there, not by reason of any dishonesty or in-
competency of our Civil Service, but because the faction of dis-
satisfaction to which you belong has never ceased its endeavor to
build itself up by groundless and reckless slander of our common
country.

As a consequence of our defective Civil Service, you maintain,
other countries are better represented in their Parliaments than we.
What countries ? Is Ireland one — fighting tooth and nail for a
hundred years, with famine and woe, with torch and bullet, and at
last, and successfully, with rigid self-discipline and every device
of Parliamentary skill and Constitutional right, for any represen-
tation at all ? Is Scotland better represented, that cannot build
a railroad at Inverary without asking permission at London ? Is
England one of these countries ? You certainly cannot mean
that other countries are more equitably represented, for, as we
give in our House of Commons a representation based impartially
on the number of people, we present a fairness in that regard
unknown in any other country. If you mean that we do not send
as able men to the American Congress as are sent to European
Parliaments, that would resolve itself into an odious comparison —
one in regard to which your own career has placed a disability
upon you as judge. We are not familiar in this country with Con-
tinental Parliaments, knowing only the towering personalities like
Bismarck in Germany, Cavour in Italy, Gambetta in France ; but
if you seek a comparison in England, and confine it to the half
century since you left Harvard, certainly the United States would
not suffer. The era of Clay, Webster, Calhoun, and Benton ; the
era of Douglas, Seward, Sumner, and Fessenden ; the era of
Blaine, Hoar, Thurman, Sherman, Carlisle, and Conkling, — will
certainly compare favorably with the corresponding era of the
British Parliament. Where has the United States intrusted lead-
ing positions in the House to such men as Hicks-Beach, Arthur
Balfour, and W. H. Smith ? You are probably viewing the
Congressmen chosen by the people in the light of your own little
shy at selecting a popular representative for the head of the
Nation ; but you will do well to remember the Prince's rejoinder
when the tailor complained that the company was not sufficiently
exclusive — " Does he expect it to be all tailors ?"

With your invincible genius for unconscious contradiction and

LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONS. 55

self-portrayal, you admit that " the worst part of the corruption
of our Civil Service is that office is a reward for political service of
any kind/' with the result that "when a man has got experience
we put another man in his place ! " This maudlin stuif long ago
fell below the level of argument, fortunately for both of "us edu-
cated men/' since in point of this argument between you and me,
honors will be easy. As your office was given you unquestionably
in reward for political service, you hold the ace ; but since the
same corruption put another man in your place, your country as
unquestionably takes the trick.

Mr. Lowell, when in the decisive moment you decided for the
evil side, you seem to have lost your power of distinguishing good
from evil. Your high political morality exhausts itself in sound-
ing words. You declaim of courage ; then throw your musket over
your shoulder and run. You denounce corruption, yourself mil-
dewed all over with its fungi, — if corruption is, as you say, reward-
ing political service with office. You pause, out of breath with
your swift rush from the defeated to the winning side, only long
enough to condemn " the practical politician '" for being "first on
one side of the question and then turning suddenly to the other."
You deplore our lack of greatness, and with all your strength
you celebrate littleness. You summon "us educated men" to
politics, and you show a solid political ignorance to the square
inch, that, volatilized, would envelop the world in haze. While
you have been dining and wining in England, you have lost the
run of the United States. You stand outside, not only of party,
but of that strong, subtle, mysterious current which is the soul
of our real politics. Should we send our best to the convention
of 1888, if it were to be held now, you ask, and looking around
upon your Harvard Alumni, — you answer by implication, No ; —
and no doubt correctly for your part of Harvard, which would strike
as it struck before on the level of an ex-sheriff and a creature of
accident, — the " wooden idol " whom you bear aloft on your
shoulders with the shrill outcry, " These be thy Gods, 0, Israel I"
But the West, for whom in Chicago you profess a livelier hope than
for your own Massachusetts, the West from whose greater force and
freshness, and vitality, and Americanism you gather trust for the
future ; this great West of the keener insight and the stronger
courage, is the same West, that, while you were dallying and shilly-
shallying, bewailing our lack of great men and dropping finally

56 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

into the grasp of small men, — has built itself up year after year,
in convention after convention, against your opposition and the
opposition of all the sham and shoddy of your party ; built itself
up, not of men who acted with it in convention, and acted against
it outside of convention, but built itself up steadfastly like a
well of adamant round that which is best and broadest in your
cause ; made a stand for Americanism in its widest commercial
sweep, in its loftiest attitude of continental dignity, in its ultimate
purpose of the freedom, the happiness, the elevation of every
human being.

You announce that you have arrived at a time of life when
you may fairly hang up your armor in the Temple of Janus. As
you like. Your partiality to hanging cannot be more harmlessly
indulged. But you must not stand in the doorway of the temple,
and fire random shots, poisoned bullets, at your countrymen out-
side, who are still fighting in the thick of the battle.

" But if anybody touches my shield/' you say, " possibly I
may answer."

I await your answer, with the eager desire that you may yet
show yourself to be what your countrymen would most gladly
believe you — a Knight without fear and without reproach.

AKTHUR RICHMOND.

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH.

n.

BACON* knew that, sooner or later, some one would notice this
concatenation of "FRANCIS," " BACON," "NICHOLAS/' "BA-
CONS/' "BACON-fed," "FRANCIS/' "FRANCIS/' "FRANCIS,"
etc.; " WILLIAM," " WILLIAM," " WILLIAM," etc. ; "SHAKES,"
"PEERE," "SHAKE" "SPEARE," and the infinite shakes, spurs,
speares, and spheres scattered through every play in the Folio ; and
would dove-tail all this into what Bacon had said in the " De
Augmentis" in his essay therein upon Ciphers, ahout the best
cipher of all, " where the writing infolding holdeth a quintuple
relation to the writing infolded," and, having once started upon
the scent, would never abandon the chase until he had dug out
the cipher.

Turn to that page, 53, of the Histories, in the fac-simile of
the Folio, and count down from the top, counting the spoken
words only, and not the stage directions, or names of characters,
and the word " BACON " is the 371st word from the top. Now,
the page is 53. There are seven italic words on that column.
Multiply 53 by 7 and the product is 371 — to wit, the word
" BACON."

The next page is 54 ; there are twelve italics upon the first
column ; 54 multiplied by 12 makes 648. If you start to count
at the same place, the top of the first column of 53, and omit to
count the words in brackets, the 648th word is the 189th word on
the second column — to wit, " NICHOLAS."

If you turn to page 67 of the same play, on the first column,
you will find the word "S. ALBONES" (Saint Albans), the name of
Bacon's residence, from which he took the title, when knighted,
of "Francis St. Albans." There are six italic words in that

58 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

column. Six times 67, the number of the page, are 402. Count
from the top of the column, and " ST. ALBOKES " is the 402d word !

I would ask the attention of the reader to the fac-similes of
the Folio of 1623 which accompany this article. These are well
worth studying ; that Folio is the greatest book ever published on
earth since man invented the first hieroglyphic.

I cannot at this time give the rule of the cipher ; I hope to
have my book in the hands of the printer in two or three months,
and satisfy fully the expectations of the world ; but I can give
enough, I trust, to convince any one, not absolutely steeped
to the lips in ignorance and prejudice, that the composition is
artificial and not natural ; that it is gnarled, compressed, con-
densed, with its weight of compact thought ; and that it is twisted
to conform to the requirements of a mathematical cipher.

Observe the way in which the verse is loaded with significant
words (col. 1, page 76) :

41 The lives of all your loving complices,
Leaue-on your health, the which if you give-o'er
To stormy passion, must perforce decay."

What will decay ? The lives of your complices ? Lives can
end ; can they decay f

u You cast the event of war [my noble Lord],
And summed the accompt of chance, before you said
Let us make head."

Why is " my noble Lord" in brackets ? Why are " lean" " on"
united by a hyphen ? " Let us make head :" — was there no better
expression for let us declare war ?

" It was your presurmise
That in the dole of blows your son might drop,
You knew he walked o'er perils on an edge,
More likely to fall in than to get-o'er."

" Dole of blows ?" " On an edge " of what ? Could the great
master of language, if unrestrained, have done no better than
this?

" And yet we ventured for the gain proposed,
Choked the respect of likely peril feared."

This may perhaps sound natural enough to the reader, but I,
who know how almost every word has been forced in, to make up

'The Firfl Tart oflQng Hexrj ihe Fcurtb*

» 8ower efScodsnd,andof Yoike
To ioyne with «V/err«cwr, He.

'War. • And fa they (hall.

/to. Itifahhtt is exceedingly well ayrn'd.

tf^er. And *tis no little i-cafoo bids vs fpeed.
To fare our heads, by raifmg of a Head ;
For, beatc our fdaes as cuetvas wecan,
TheKing will aiway c s ihmke htm in our debt.
And thmkc.we thinke oui felues vnfatisrjed,
Till he bath found a time to pay vs hoare*
And fee already, hotw he doth bcginne
To make vs ftrsngers co his lookes of ioue.

'Hot*' He doe$» he does; wee'l be reueng'd on him.

iver* Coufir>/£?ew£ii. No further go in this*
Then 1 by Utters flwlldirec* yourcoutfe
When time is ripe, which will be fodainly:
Sle (Icfile to Glendavser^ and loes tAorliaxr*
YVhereyou,and Du&alw^nd our pomes at once,
Aa I will fafhion it, ihali happily mecte,
To beare our fomraeuo our owne Arocg arrnes9
Which now we hold a? much vncertalnty. *

Nv. Farewell good Brother, we (hail thriue,
_ Hci Vncle.adieu : O let the houres be Oiorc,
TjJlefieldsjand blowes^nd grones,appUsd our fpore.«stf

. Scena*Prtma.

•> Enter a Corner vritb a LoHterwrp} bu hood*
l.Cor. Hejgh-rto. an'i benoe foure by the day, I'? be

hang'd. Cfar/es vntiae is ouer the new Chimney^ acul yet

ourhorfe not packt. What Oftisi ?
O/?. Anon, anon.
ij^sr. I pTethee Tow, beat e Cuts Saddle, pat a few

FJoche. in the point : c'fl? poore lade is vjrung in the v>'i-

Peafe and Scants are a» danke here as a Dog,
s?\d this is the next way to glue poore lades the Bo tes:
This hoafe is turned vp fide downe fince T^An the Ofller
dyed.

s .Car.^ Poore fellow rseuer ioy'd fince the price of oats
tofe, it was the death ofhjm.

*. Car. I thinke thu is ihe moft vilianous houle in a)
London rode fot Fleas: I.aro ftung like a Teneh^

i.^ir. Like a Tench/ There is ne're a King in Oui-
rlendonje,cowldb« be«e^bi«,tbenlhauebeen« fince the1
firftCocke.

t.C«r.- V/hy, you w'ril allow vs ne're a* Jourdso, and
then we leak? in your Chimney : and your Chamber-lye
breeds Fiea? like a Loach.

: I twne a Cainmon of Bacon, and fwo razes of
?E^o be deliuered »f rarre as Channg.crofTe.-
t.Ctf'1. IheTnrktesininy Pannier are quite ftarued.
Whai Oflkr? A plague on rhec,haftehou neiw an eyt in
thyhga<J?Can1<}noshearel?> Ar.dt'wer* nocavgood a
deed as drinke. t o break rhepate ofthee.I am a very Vil-
fainet Co.me and be hang'd^a^ no faith m'tbee ?

, Enter Gads-hi$.

gad Good-morrow Orriersr What's a clocked
C*r { >hmke u be c wo a clockc.
C*l I pi«hee knd me thy Lanthorne to fee my Gel-

ding in theftabie

v .Car. Nay foft I pray yet I know a crick worth two
of char

Cad. I prethce lend me thine.

z.Car. I,vrhen,canftteJI? Lend mee thy Lanthorne
(quozh .a) marry lie (ee thee hang'd firft.

Cad. Sirra Carrier :Whaotime do you mean to oome
to London ?

t.Ctxr. Tltne enoucb to goe to bed with a Candle, I
warrant thes. Come nei^hbouf 'JMugfes, wec'll call vp
the Gentlemen, they will along with company , foe they
haue great chwgs. Exeunt

Exftr

Cad. What ho, Chamberlaine ?

tkam. At hand quoth Pick-purfe.

Cad. ) That's eueo as faire,as at hand quoth the Clum-
be;!am<s: For thou yariefl DO more from picking of Pur.
fes, thengsuing direfljafi, doth from labouring Thou
lay t) the plot, how»

(.bam. G»od morrow Mafter Gatb-Htll,l\. hoW* nn>
faHe that 1 told you yeHerntgnt. There's a Franklin in the
•wide of Kent, hath brought thcee hundred Markes with
H«n in Gold: 1 heard him tell it to on« of his company laft
ftjghc a*i Supper ; a kinde of Auditor, one that hath abun-
dance ofcJiafge 100 (God knowcs what) they are vp al-
ready, and cslJ for Eggss and Butter.^ They will away
pieftarJy.

Cad. Sirra, tfth?y mjsele noS v^ith S.Nicholas Chrks,
Jkgiue thee this necke.

£haK No, lie none cf it ? J pry thee keep that foVriie
Hangoian.foi I know thou worfhipftS.Nichtnas a»tru>!
!y as a man of faifhood may.

GW.1, Whatealkefl thcuto me of thcHangnun r If I
hang, He make a fat payrs of CoJ2owi>s. For, If I nang»
old Sir /obfi hangs with tnee, 1 aad thou know'ft hce's no'
SJarueling. Tut, tlwre af e ojhcr Troians that f dream'f ^
not of, the which (for fport bkc) are content to doe* the
Profeflion foroe grace ; that would (If mailers ihooid bee
lock'd into) for their owncCiedit falje, make ail Whole;
J am ioyned with noPoot-land-Rakeri^ no Long-fbflfe
fix-penny Rrifcer^none of thefemad MuHac1no*pufpie«
huM Maltwornies.bMtWHh Nobility, and Tranquill'tiea"'
Bourgomafters, andgtearOneveri*, fucrhas can hcldfi m/
fuch as wiilftnke fooner then (peake j and fpeake footier
then drinke, and drinlce fooner 'then pray : "and yet I lye,
for they pray fontinuailjr*. vnfo their Saint the.. Co mm on-
wealth ; or r aiher , not to pray to her, but prey on fieri tot
they ride vp 8( downe on belaud rnake hu their fioots.

C'/&k3n»oWhat,!heCommonwealth cheif Bootes? Will.
(he hoidout watei io foule way?

Cad. She wfll,{ne will; luHicc hath KqoorM hefr .We
fteale as.ln a Caftlc,cockfure : wehaue the scceii cflrern-
feede.wewalke inuiftbre.

Cham. Nay. I rhinke rather^ you are more beholding"
to the Night, then to the £c;m't«J3 for your, .walking to*
infible.

C<*d. CHoerm thy hand
Thou fn&lt haue a fhsre in our purpofe
Aslamatruemanv

Cli&n. • Nay, rather let mee haue it, as you arc a falfe
The-efe. ---- -

God. > Goeioo : M>mo is a common name to all men!
Bid thP.Ofiler bf ing the Gelding out of the ftable.^ Fare-
uddy Kcaue. Exeunt.

c a £caea

artofK^ng Jlmyt^ FwrA.

pchuj. Come fhelter.fhe.'tf r, T haue remoued ¥dftefr

frets like a gum' "
Stand cloft.

FaL Povutt^offtet, and be hang'd fifing

Prin. Peace ye fat-kidney'd Rafcait,
dofl thcu fceepe

Whai^tf/w/. //«*/>

. He is walk's! vp co the top of the hill, lie go feck
htm.

F<J/» 1 ?rn sccurfl to rob in thai Theetf? company: that
Rafcail hath remoued mv Ho?fc,9tid tied him Iknow not
where. Jr 1 traueil but fcure foot by the fqutre furthw a
fooce« 1 fcall breake my wind?. Well, I doubt not but
to o'ye a fatst death for a'.l this, if I fcape hanging for kil-
ling that Rcgue, Ihaue forfworne hit company hovrely
any time this two and twenty year?,& yes 1 a«n bewitch:
with the Rogues company. IftheRafcallhauenoi giuen
ens medicines eo mcke me loue htm,Iie behang'd;it could
notb«eJfe: I hauedrunke Medicines. Pomtt, HJ, a
Plague vpon you bosh. 'Bardotyh. Ptto : ileftaruecrel
rcb a foots further. And 'twere not as good a d cede as to
d.'inke, to cutne Truckman, and to leaue she ft Rogues, 1
sm the v«rseft Variec thsc euer cheved with a Tooth
Eight yards of vn?uen ground, is threefcore & ten miles
afoot with rne : and the Aony-hear??d Villair.es know? it
we!! enough. A pbgire vp-ca'r, when Theeus* cannot be
t jue one 10 another. TA^y trhiftle.

Whew : a ptague light vpon yo-j all. Giue rny Haifa you
logues : giueme my Horfe,3nd be hang'd.

peace ye fat gaties, lye downplay ihane tare
clofe to the ground, and liA if thou can hear? the tread of

Tel. Haue y ou any Leauer s to lift me vp again being
lowne fr !Jc not b«are mine owne flc(h fo far afoot again,
for ail the coine in thy Fathers Exchequer .What t ptague
meane ye to colt me thus?

;>r»XTnouly'ft.thou art not cotted,thou art vncolted^
F<t(» I ptetheegood Ptince /f<»/,help roe to my horfe.
good Kings fonne.

Prsrt. OutycuRoguc, ftal! I b?yourOftler?
fal. Go hang thy felfe in thine owne heire<apparant-
Barters: if 1 be tane. lie peach for this; andl haue not
lalhds made on a!!, and fung to filthy tunes, let a Cup of
Jacke be my poyfon : when aiefl i i to forward* & a foot«
oo,I hate it

Gal. Stand.

F-i/. So I do agalnft my wiH.

Pain. O'ti* our Setter, 2 know his voyce •
Bardolfe, whatnewes t

"Ear. Cafe y?.cafey«; on with your Virard*, thete'i
mony of the Kings comromg downe the hill, 'tis going

che KingsExchequer.

Fcl. You lie you rogutr,'ti* going to the Kingi Tausrn.

G^d. There's enough to make v» a'L

FaL To be hang'd.

Jfvin, You fowc ihali frcnt th«m in th* narrow Lan
fftd &nd I,*!!] wnike lower; if they fcip« fro
counter, then chey light on v»«

Tero . Buthov/rnanyh* of them >

Gad. Some eighr ot ten.

Pel. \Villtheynotrobvi?

Fol.
but yec oo Coward, Hd.

Prm. Wee'! leauerhat to the proofe

Poin. Sirrs Jaclre, thy horfe fhnds behind* »he hedg,
when thon need'A hicn, there thou foaJe find* him. Fsre-

pel. Now cannot I ftr ike him,»f ( ftwmW b« hang'd.
Prw. W^ whtre ate ou? dtfguifea ?
Prin. Hecr€ hard by : S«znd clofe.
Fal. Now roy Matters, happy man behis doU, fay I
cuery man to hii bufineiTe.

£ user Travellers.

7r*. Come Neighbor: the boy Owl! kadfowHorfea
downe the hiii : Wee'J waik« a-foot av/hj|e,and eefe our
Lcgges.

Tbee&t. Stay.

7^. Icfuble(Tev$.

Trf/. Suike: down with them, cut the villains threaten
a whorfon Caterpillars . Bs<on-fed KnauCT, they hue
yourh; downe with themrfleece them.

Tr4. O,we are vndone.both we a nAourj for euef.

F&l. Hang ye gorbc)!iedknauej,areyoy vniione? No
ye Fat Chuff?*, I would your ft are were h?ere. On B:-
cons on, what yeluiauc* ? Yong men muA liue, you tie
Grand Iurers,areye ^ Wee'! iure ye ifaith.

Heere they rt6 thtmtond binb them £tttr rht

Prin. TheThecues Sane bound the True-men \ Now
could thou snd ! rob theTheeuet,3nd go ir>tr>iy to Lon
don. H would be argument lor s Weeket Laughter for a
Moneth.and a good ieA for euer

Stand clof^ ! heare ihem comnung.

Enter Tkrenei agoing.

Fa!. Come nty Maftfrs, let vs fh^re,e.n<3 chen rohorfft
before da^ ; and the Prince and Pnyncs bee not twoar*
rand Co wards, there's no equity ftirring. There's no mot
rs!ou; in that Poyne*8than in a wildtfDucfcc.

Pnj*. Your money.

Pan. ViJlames
*At they are faring jl>f Prince flWPoynes/*r vpontkem .,

The) all run awRytleauing rke boetj behind them.

Pnnct. Got with much eafe. Now merrily to Horfe.
TheTheeues are fcartred^nd poffcft with fear fo ftrong
ly, thai they dare noi meet eaeh other : each cakes hfs fel
[ow fot aTS Officer . 4 way gostJ Ned, Tolft&fr fwcatei to
death.and Lard* the leant earth as bt: walkes atong:wer't
not for Uughing,!ftiou!d piny him.

Rogue toaj'd. f.xeunff»

Enter Hotfrurre fclsa ,f ending a Letter.

"jBat fcf mine tra>»e part jnf Lard. leauldbte wr&Cffatenlcdto
be (hfret in rt/beB (ftte tave Ibeareycur houfe*

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH. 59

part of a cipher sentence, can see the lines of the mortar in the
awkward masonry.

" What hath then befallen ?
Or what hath this bold enterprize bring forth
More than this being which was like to be."

Read that last line over, and read it slowly :

" More than this being which was like to be."

It sounds like an extract from Mark Twain's recent essay on
" English as she is taught."

Any one who will read that column will observe the forced and
unnatural construction of the sentences, and the crowding in of
significant words, with hardly enough of smaller words to bind
them together. The necessities of the cipher sometimes con-
strain the writer to make the sentence ungrammatical, as in that

" Or what hath this bold enterprize bring forth."

See how the larger words are crowded together in these lines :

" Turns insurrection to religion.
Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts."

Then turn to page 75, and observe how arbitrarily the words
are bracketed. Note, on column one, this line :

"I ran from Shrewsbury [my noble Lord]."
Farther down we have :

" But speak [Morton],
Tell thou thy Earle his Divination lies."

Then take the last line on that column :

" You are too great to be [by me] gainsaid.
On the second column of 75 we have:

" I cannot think [my Lord] your son is dead."

" From whence [with life] he never more sprung up."

No printer in the world would set up these sentences in that
fashion unless he was especially directed to do so.

But, it may be said, this, perhaps, was the custom of the time

ft) THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

or of the author. Turn to page 73, given here in fac-simile, and
you will find but three words in brackets ; you will not find a
single word in brackets on the whole of page 72 ; there is one on
page 71, none on page 70, none on page 69, and one on page 68.
Now, the two plays, " 1st and 3d Henry IV.," are continuous ;
the former ends with the battle of Shrewsbury, and the other
begins with the bringing of the news of the battle to the Earl of
Northumberland. The cipher narrative runs continuously from
one to the other. And yet on the last six pages of " 1st Henry
IV." there are but five words in brackets, while on the first six
pages of " 2d Henry IV." there are two hundred and forty -two
words in brackets.

One of the most curious specimens of bracketing is on the
second column of page 78, " 2d Henry IV.," which is printed in
the Folio as follows :

" Much more, in this great worke
[Which is [almost] to plucke a Kingdome downs
And set another up], should we survey
The plot of Situation."

Here. we have a bracket of one word inside of a bracket of
eleven words. And here we see that same crowding together of
incoherent words necessitated by the cipher,

" Should we survey
The plot of Situation. "

Now observe the way in which words are hyphenated in these
fac-similes: "Well-known," "post-horse," and "'peasant-towns"
(column 1, page 74), are well enough ; but consider that combina-
tion near the bottom of the same column :

*' And this Wonne-eaten-Hole of ragged stone."

" Worm-eaten stone" is something out of the common order ;
but why unite " worm-eaten-hole" in one word ?
Then take the last lines on that column :

" From Rumors Tongues;
They bring smooth-Comforts-false, worse than True-wrongs."

There is not a compositor in Christendom who would set up
those words in that fashion unless he was absolutely ordered to do
so.

On the last six pages of "1st Henry IV." there are twenty-

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH. 61

two hyphenated words ; on the first six pages of " 2d Henry
IV." there are eighty-three.

Think of printing "the horse he rode on," "the horse he
rode-on," as it is on the first column of page 75.

Now, must not all these facts go far to convince any reasonable
mind that there is something strange and unusual in the con-
struction of this text ?

Consider now attentively the first column of page 74. There
are on it ten words in brackets and twelve words in italics. But
one of the words in brackets is the compound word "post-horse."
If this is counted as two words, we have then eleven words in
brackets ; so that the first column of page 74 will yield us three
numbers, ten, eleven, and twelve. We have seen how the words
" NICHOLAS," " BACON"," and fs ST. ALBA^S" occupied the position
on the column obtained by multiplying the number of the page
by the number of italics on the column.

Now, there are in scene one, of Act 1st, "2 Henry IV., "three
pages, 74, 75, and 76. If we multiply these numbers by the three
numbers we have found on the first column of page 74, to wit :
10, 11, and 12, we have the following numbers : 740, 750, 760,
814, 825, 836, 888, 900, and 912.

Let us take the first number, 740. If the reader will count
the words from the top of the first column of page 74, counting
only the words of the text, omitting the stage directions and names
of the characters, and also the words in brackets, and counting
each compound word as one word, he will find that the 740th word
is the word " volume." But if he will count, in the same way, and
go up the first column of page 75, instead of down, he will find
the 740th word to be the word " maske." These are surely very
significant words. Let us make this plainer.

There are 532 words on page 74. The count then stands :

10 x 74 = 740

Deduct the words on page 74 533

308 = volume.
308 = mask.

Now, if we commence at the beginning of column one, page
75, and count forward and down the column, we have as the
740th word the 293d word on the second column of page 75, to
wit, "his ;" up the column it is the word "greatest."

62 . THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Now, begin again at the top of the second column of page
73, and count backwards and down the second column of page 72,
and the 740th word is the word " therefore," the 334th word,
while up the column it is the word " image."

We saw that after deducting the words on page 74 from 740
there were 208 words left. Now, carry this remainder back to
the beginning of the scene, on page 73, and count forward and
down, and the 208th word is the 129th word on the second column
of page 73, and it is the word " shown."

Again, if you commence to count from the top of the second
column of page 74 forward and down, the 740th word is {f say,"
the 45th word on the second column of page 75, while up the col-
umn it is " upon," the 464th word.

Again, if we commence to count at the top of the first column
of page 74, and backwards, the 740th word down the second
column of page 72 is the word " lut" the 50th word ; while up the
same column it is the word " own."

But if I go much further I shall let out more of the cipher than
my publishers will deem prudent. Here we have the words say,
greatest, image, shown, upon, his, volume, but, mask, own ; each
one of which is the 740th word from a well-defined starting point.
They are the component parts of a sentence like this : "I was in
the greatest fear that they would say that the image shown upon
the title-leaf of his volume was but a mask to hide my own face. "
I will even be obliging enough to point out some of these words :
"fear" is the 234th word, second column, page 75 ; " title-leaf"
is the 201st word, column one, page 75 ; " hide" is the 54th word,
second column, page 72 ; and "face" the 57th word on the same.
Now, let the ingenious reader see if he can piece out the rest of
the sentence with the aids I have given him.

But it is a "volume" of plays ; and here we have the word
"plays." Multiply 74 by 12, the number of italics on the
column, and the result is 888: — three eights in a row, a quite
unusual arrangement of figures. Now begin to count from the
top of column one, page 72; the 888th word is the word "plays."
If we count up the column the 888th word is the word "or," the
195th word ; the sentence is, "plays or shows," " shows" being the
Elizabethan word for exhibitions. The "shows" will be found on
page 76; it is the 272d word, and the 888th from a certain start-
ing point, which the reader must find out — if he can.

TbeFirft Tan cf$Qng HemytbeF&ovt.

So many ofhi» fhadowes thou hz£ mcc,

And not she very King.

SetkePttT/and thy fcffe^out

But feeing chou faU'ft c« me

I will a(Tay the? t ic defend :hj feife.

25«^ ifeare tfeou art anoth
Andyee infatih tbou beat'&iheeiiketKrsg
But mine I am fure thou crt,wbone shou be,
And thus I svin thee. -

frfo. Hold ;vp they head vsIcS:otsor tboB^niske.
Neaer to held ic vp agsine ; the Spirits
Of valiant Sixrlj.Suffirrjli'BliaxjM in my Awnes;
1 1 is the Prince of Wde$ shat tbreasens thcc,

how fere's year Orasc
^Nicholas tffl*'/?)' hath for fuccotir fent,
And to hash fiiften : lie co ff/r/*** ffratght.

King*. Sjsy.anc breath awhii-s.
Thou n&ftr edeem'd ihy loft opinion,
And rhcwMihao reel'.' ft feme cruder of my iUe
la this &ire refcue thou haft br ought to mer,

Prix. O besueo, they did me 100 much Hilary,
Tbaceucr fad I headcned to your death.
{fit were fo« I might haue let alorve
The tofuUing hand of Dpwr/rf/ ouer ycti,
Which would hauebenees fpeedy in yooi end,
As &11 thepoyronousPotions in thetvorld,
Aftd fau'd the Treacherous laboejr ef r

I'ae^ Hi rovRakenot.

Prtxl Thou fpcikl! as if I would deay my naeac.

//OT. Mynsm« is ffarritFetfit.

Vr~t* Why tbcnl fees very viliantrebe! ofchst RKa&
lamtfer Prince of Wiles,and thinkc ooi $t*ej9
To ihaie with me in glory sny.njsre :
T'-eo Sucres keepc not their morion in one Sphere*
^or can one England bracks » <i&ub!er£t^nc,
Of Harry Percy ^nd the Princs c-f Wa5e».

//*•/, No? feail it Harry* fat the bcure is eorafc
T? end eHt: erne of vs; and would to bc&ecn,
Thy n^nsein Am>w. wereriow » grettas miae.

y>rt«. lie nuke ic gieuer.esc I pare from thee5
And all ih^: budding Honors on ihy Oeft«
lie crop, to make a Cariand for Rty head. '

Ar5?. \ csa no longer brockc thy Yanuin. JTs^tyt.
Enter Falftaffj.

Td. Wellfatd/^/.eoi; Wk/, Nsyyou fl»«UfiudcRO
Boyes play heere.I can teil you.
E&er Devgltujkt fight! wi:

K<«. Ph Wflirf.thou had rob'd me of (Kj youik i
! better brooks the lone of btittle life,
Then thofeprooid Titles thoa Iiaft wonn-r cf ««*,
They wound n»y rboght* wotCe.chen the fword my &&;
But thought's the flauecf U?e,srvj Life,T:mcaid«^e;
And Time, that t»k« funxey of «U the world,
MuS hzue a ftep. 0. 8 could Prophdte,
Best that the Earth.and die cold hand of dcarh,
L7ss on my Tongue :No /'^•f/.thou art Juft
A r>d food mr^«-.^ —

f i!-v»eau'ci Anr.bi tiari,hr.-vr nwch art thou Quunke?
Y/btn ttiat this bodi; did coaiaine '* fpirk,

A Xing dense far ic was too fffiali 2
But now two ecc« cf che vile&lknh.
Is soorne enough. Tfais Harsh that bcaree *hs dcasi,
Beares Rotalme fo floor a Gentleman,,
If khoti wcr'cffinftbleofciSftefis,
I fiiouid not make fo grew a ihsw cf£cet&
But Is: my Cutouts hide thy manglec fr.ce,
And enen in shy behalfejle cHanke my felfa
Tof&J0ir>g t-hefe&'/re Rhes ofTeno'erne/re.
AdiCUpSnd tskc thy prailc uvtth thee to liesusi?^
Thy ignorny iiecpe with therm the grsac,
But not rfifnembrcd in thy Epitaph.
What?Old Acquaintance? Cculd ocraK i
Keepe in a little Ufe/Pcore I«c1u/are\reU ;
J eou!dtiE?is bettet fpar'd a better man.
Ot I f!>suld hauea heauy nufie of titee,
If 1 were much in louc with Vanity.
Death hathnot fiiucke Co fat a Deere to dsya
Though ?tsany dearer in this b!oody Frey ^
EmboweSl'd will I fee thee by and by,
Till then,in b4oodtby!Nobie Pereit iye. Exif.

Fdfizjjf fifeib vp.

7djl* ImbowrcU d? If ihou Lmbowdl me? eo.dsy( U
giae you leaic to powder rae.and eat roe too co nwrow
Tws*t:me co coan«crfeiB or that hotte Twrnsgani Scot,
had paidinc fee; ^nd los too.Coumwfeit? I am no coun-
terfeit; to dye.ktoJbea counrerfeic, for hec is busl tb-
«oua:«rfeit of t oun.who hath not the life of a man jlf ut
to C4.unte?f2!2 dwinp^.vlum afr.in thereby ltueth,is to he

deede. Thebeti«jp3rEofVa!our.isI>ifcr«ion$ in the
which bestet patt,! hzue faaed my Jtfe. I wna(T«^eo
this Gun-powder Percy though he be dead. How if hes
fhouM counterfektoo, pmSfife? lam afoul htewouh
proiK the better eouomfeit:therefcr£ Siemakc him f?jre
yca,aad lie fac&t c 1 fcilfd him. Why m*y not hcc rife A
v»el5 as j rNcthing confutes rasbtst cyes» and no-b««5se
fcc« o>c.Tf«reforc ftf^witL a new wound in your thigh
6OG3« you d ong roe.

fn»» Come Brothn j&A/r, full braascly haft thov£kfh(

Bus foft,who hiue we heere ?
Did you net ceil roc thisf st roan was dcwi >

^riw. t did, lf»w him dead,
Steathldre^nd bkeding en ibz ground: A« ihoucTuw.?
Or is it fantafie tbatplayes vpon out eye-fight ?
I pr«hcc fpea^e. we wilJnos srjjft oui eyes
Without ota eai-es, >Thou an not what thou (eeoVft.
^ ^s/. JMo, zhaa'i ce?5»ine : I am no: a double rnao ; but
ifl be aos /*c^f F^^.shen *m I a i acke : There i* Per-
.j^,lf youtPadier vrill do m* anyHonor,fo: if nct,lrt hi»j
kill the next ^«r»rhim(clte, IlookeiobeeithetBafieor

/rw. Why .P^^ I kili'd my feife. and ftw thee d«d.

FsL B Id'a thoo? Lord,Iord, how the wosld is giuen
to Lvtag? I grauntjw I wasdowne, and out of Breath,
8tvu fowashethuc wcrofeboth as auinflaiitvSnd faughc
e looc hccre b Shrewsburie cJocke. If/ tna bee beiee-

the finne vpon theU owne heads. lie cabe't on rrsy death
J gauc him thii vvoasvd in theThsgh t if the roan were a.
Jtue.and woaid deny it, I yrouid ni&ke him eate 4
cf r«y fv/of d.

This ift t^ fJrangcR Tale that eVe 1 heard.

75

Co.oc bring yoov w ggage Nobly OD y acr bacsa :

my parst<:f a lye may do rj»ee grace,
! lc £jl d is witfa the boppicft ccsm»«? I hsue.

The Tosrapm CsumS Rnvcat.chc day Is OOTJ :
Come Brother, tort to the higbcft of die fieid,
Io fee whas Fftcodj are lining, who are dead.

at.lte follow a« they fay. for Howard Hee (hairr-
diit5€,he«uen reward him. Jf I dogtow grearagajn.
Ik grow kflc ? For Tie purge, am3 lea«c Sackr, und Uut

lour ft* FC.«g .

, /.<»• J /0fat cf Laxafls

Ki»g. Thos eccr did Rcbcllicn fin J« Rebutte.
lll-fpirfced Wbreeftcr.did we not frnd Cra&te
Pardon,cnd tcarmcs of IXNIC to aJl of yoo f
And would'A thou atrneowofirri conuary ^
Mifafc the ccoor of thy Ktafasani ea ft ?
Three Knighu vpon out party flame to day,
A Noble Ejirlc.ind many a creacoir slfc,
ri»d beene a Jiut chis howre.
K like a Chnfhan thou had'ft truh/ b«me
in win out Anwes^ cmc lotclligence.

K'cr. What I hsue ooae, roy ufcty vrg'd me co

Aad r eabwce i!us rorrone patiently,
Siorc not to be suoy&d. tc fats on mee,

X/>^j. Beare
Other Oficndcr & we vv U; gaufe vpoa,

£w jr wereefttrand Vermnh
How goes the Ficld^

Prtw. Tbc ISSobk Scot L ord DevgUt, when bee few
The fortune oc che day quite tum'd fromhito,
The Noble Percy flainc.and allhb rnco,
Vpon the foot of firare,fled with the rcfl ;
And failing rrom a hilU be was (6 t>ruix'd
Tha4 ths puri'utrs toofce him, AtspyTent
Tbe Iteivglesi*, and J b* feocb your Grace.
I may divpofe of him.

K.m*, WiihaUmy heart.

To y «u this honoetaWe bounty fhali belong :
<j»o to cbe Dtfr^^aovl dcliuer him
Vp co h«s pJeafi^c, raaionBlsfTe and free :
His Valour flsevsne vpcnoarCrefts to d»y,
H aih taught v§ hovs :o chenfn fuch high jteui,
Eocn »n tbe bof ocnr of oor Aduerfar tes.

A^iT^^ ThOT tfeis remausw . chat we diuide ons Powet.

Toward* Ycrkc flizJl bend you.wkhryour deercft l^esd
To ocst NOTthan3ber!aad,andthePtdaje^iT«pr,
Who(as we hear£)sre bufiiy in Arrocs.
My Sdfe, aad you Sonae /zV^j wrsll cowards Waks.
To fight wt£h G!eKd9&ersanA ihe Earlc of Maxch.

Rfbciiioo m tbu Land (hail lo(e hb way,
Meecing the Checie of luch another day j
And fines tfae BufmetH: To faire u done,
Lst vi QOC issue till all our cwoc be wmne.

£.10011.

FINIS.

The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,

Containinghis Death : and the Coronation

of KingHeniy the Fife.

IjTDVCT.TO.Nr.

Enter 'fy

,Pen yowEares :For which of you will ftdp
IThe vent of Hcaring,when loud /Jwcrfpeakcs?
!, troin thcOricnt, lothe drooping Weft
*(Miking'thevvinderny Poft-horfe) ftiUvnfoW
The.A&J commenced on this Ball of Eartfh,
Vp;on rny Tongue, continual! Slanders ride,
The; vrhicKiueuery Language,'! j/ronounce,
Stuffing the Eares of rhem with falfe Report* »
J Tpeake o^tPeace, while coucrt Enmitie
(Vndrr the f«rtoe of Safecy)woundj the World t
.And who fcutV?«2jw«r7\vho bur onety I
Make fear full Mufter$,and prepar'd Defence,
Whti'a fhe bigg-? yeare, fwoSne vv'rth feme 'Other gnef«,
I* thought wfth childe, by the fterne Tyrant, Wairc,
hd »o fuch matter? I\KmofsrtK a Pipe
owf^. by Surroifes. Teloufies, Conic^ures;
And of To eafte, and To plaine a ftop,
That the blunt Monfter, wnh vncountetl heads,
The fiil! difcordant,"1 waucring Muttitude,
Can play vpon it. Dot \vhst nrede I ihus
My welUknov/neBody to AnathomJzc
Among my hoafiKoJd ? Why b ^«
I run befoc e King Harrictvt&tory,
Who in a bloodielield by Shrewsburie
Hath bcaccn downc yong //c/j£*rrr,aud bi$ TroopcSj,
Qnc-nchtng the flame of bold Rebellion,
Euen vsiitkche Rebels bleed; /Bur whac meane I
To fpeakc Io true ^l firfl f My Office i*
TO rioyfe abroad, thai ffarrjr {JMoaTntath fell
Vnder t^e Wrath of Noble Hufyurrer S wind i
And that ite King, before the 'Daaglat Rage
Stoop'.d>>i$ Annointed head, as low as,dsrath.
This haue I_nzmout'd through the peafant-TcWlWp
Berweene'che Roj-ait Field of Shrevwiburie,
And tliis Worme-eaten-Holc of ragged Stone,
Where Hotfiarrei Father, old Northumberland,
Lyes crafty ficke. -Tlft Poftcs come tyring on.
And not a man of thern brings other nrww
Then ihry hatic leatn'd of Me./ From /J*»w»r/To
They btingfmoo!h-Comfons-f8lf2,vwoife th«n
wongs,

ScenaSecuruia.

•. What (hall 1 dy you are ?

That she Lord Ssrdslfi doth srtenJ blifi heer?P

Per. His Lor dftv? is wslk'd ronh ioto the Gsco0?4,
Plesft it yout Hoivor, knccke but as the Gai£,
And he Kimfelfs v»UI anfaer.

Enter NaTitsurH&ertail,

'L.'Str. Kcer? ffome$ the Earfe.

Nrr. What newes Lord Bordotfe'* Eu'ryminutt now
Should beihe Father offome Stravapem;
T,be Times are wilde .-Contention (like a Horfe
Vull of high Feeding) madiy.hath broke loof^,
And bearrs downe all before h»iu

. LJSar.. "Noble E«tle,
I bring you certain? ne wesTrom Shrewsbury

ffor. Good.and hesuen will.

L.Bor. As good as heart can vri/h:
The King b dmoQ wourioed to the death •
And in the Fortune of my Lord your Sonne,
Prince Horri? fiasp<? out-right : and both the £/«»»
KUI'd by the hand ofDovgl*/. Yong Prince /<>£»,
And l'/eftmerhnd, and Stafford, fled the Field.
And Harris MrnmsatStM Bra\vne (ihe IlulkeSii b&$
Is prifonerroyourSosme. O.fucha^Day.
^So fought, fo follow 'd, and fo fairely wonae)
Came riot, till nowa to di^nifie ^he Times
Since C«/5jr/ Fortune*.

Nor* How is this denVd?
Saw you the Field? Came you from Sbrewsbuiy

L^er.l fpake with one (my U)rhai catne h
A Gentleman well bred,and of good name,
That fieely render'd rue thefe ntwes for true.

^Var. H«e« comes mySerosnt TraKers^hom I lent
On Tuefday kii, to lifVen after Newes-

00

L.Ttzr,, My lord,! over-rod him on the wsye
And he is furnifh'd vritr. no- certainties v

n he (haply)roay retcile from tne>

what good sidings conwf

5,

75

Wttb {oyfuU vy<Smg«iand (being better hcrs'd)
Out-«xf me. After p.lmv cartse frmrvjag head
AGentlemaq filmofi fore-fpetitv#:tfc fps-cd)
That fiopp'd by me, to breath hh t loo died rasrftf*
He ask'd tha v/ay to Chcftcr : And of him
I did dcrosnd what Ncwes feom Shrewsbury j
ife(c!d rac,tio? Rebellion had ?ii luck&j
And thsf yon^aJD^- Ftreiff Spurre w<« roij.
WiA that he gace his able Horfe the head.

anting fides of his poore lade
Vp ro the Rowcii nead, and ftarung fo,
Hs fcern d in running, to dcuaure sne
Staving no longer queftion. ^
Ha?.Ageiaei

U^mct ill iockc?

L.'Bs'* My Lord : tic tell you what,
Ifiny yong Lord your Sonne,haue noc the Az-fr
Vpcn mine Honor, for^n filken point
EegiccrnyBaeoay. Ncgercaikeofiz,

Afir.Wby (hoaid cheGfepttasan that racfe by Ttd&tsn
Giue th&n inch !nfhnces o* Lc(F« f

L.2?^, Wbo^hc?

Hs WES foma hiddingFello^,, that Had ftoJnc
Tfee li&trfe lie rodc-on J and voon my lift

Looke^ere conws nsoieKnTttk

2toi*. Yea; this mans brow, (ike to
FcK-EeUiheNasure of a Tragiclc
So loojkes the Srcond, when the I
Ifeth leftzwkneft Vfurpation.
Say itfjnct3>di6*R thou come from Shrewsbury ?

J5-ia?. I ran firan Sbrexvsbury (my Noble Lif<5}
Whcra4wKS-fiill death put OQ bis vglicA Mashe
Jo fr ighs cur pa»y.

' m onne.an rot

hecke

Is apler

Eucn fucha nun, Co fain^fo fpirideCTe,

So dull, fo dead ta looke, fo \voe-b«-gone,

Drew Frii^yis C::rsainef is* ihe dead of night,

And would ba»8to!d htm, Half* his Troy waj

And !, my ?fK*i death, e« thoareport'lf| it
Thls,tho«j wouid'fl fey : YcutSonne sndthiiSjaad thus :
Yout Brother, thu« i So TcugVit the Noble D
Stocking my greedy care, with cheir bold
Bui in the end (to ftop mine Eare indwd)
Thou hsfta Sigh, 10 blow away this Praife,
Fr.oirsg with Brother, Sonnc^nd all arc dead.

./rfcr. rD9sy^lat\& liuing^and your Bfocher,yctt
But for mv Lord, youc Sonne,

'&anb. Why.heisdead.
See whs? e ready tcngue^Brpieion hath i
Hethw bus fsarcsthe chlng.hs would nor knaur,
Hath b? Infilndjknow ledge from others JIju^,
Thac w<iac he fcard, is ehdns'd. Y« fpcakc(K«w»)
Tci! thoa thy Eark,,hisDiuination Lies,
And I will cake- is, as a fw*et Difgrace.
A«<J maKe c ha rich, for doing m« fach v»rong»

. You are too great, (to bs^by me} gainiaid t

Y^ar Spirit Is &»o ttoe, yoar F«lm
North. Y»4 ^oc «'• OB^IMI I!
1 fe« ? finn"e CcafejSoii in thine Bye :
Tboa fhafc'ft rhy head, «nd hold'ft it Fcsre, or SSB
To fpcaJte a truth. If he be fiaJne3fay fo :
TheToagaecScndr nci, thz? rcpc?cg his c'wzh i
And he doth finne sher dosh bcj'/c thj dg*d :
Not hc.wbiehfsyes thc^csjJ ;t»ota!iue^
Yes the firfl bjjnge? of rcrwrliomc Newet
Hach but a looting OfiBt* s snri bia Torgy.?,
Sounds euer iiFctf as » fuiien Bt li
Kemcrobred^ knelling c de

.

, I h?h fcrvy. I Jhosild for«c you to be
Ttiat9 whith 5 would to hestiKi, I hsd not feene.
Bui tbcfe mine ey«3,fa whiffs in bi^ody ftcse,
Rend'ring fain* quittance (wcaiicd^nd oct^
To Harris yift/»£W3t&,v»l*oftf fwifc wrath bcjj.fi dcisa^
The n«ie?-<JcKnted Ptfr^ to the earth,
from v»hence(wUh.Ufe)hs n«:tt rr.ors
In fewj his death (whoie rpirir l«m£ a Are,
Eueo to the oulieii Psaianf in his Camp*)
Being bruised cnsce, tookefire and heare E we'?
From the beA temptK'd Coi'jagj; m hsc Ttoo^,
For from his Metric, was his Perry RftTd j
Which oncc.in him ibsied, sit the rcO
Turn'd on chemfdues,, like dull snd heaay Lead i
And as the Thing, thafcs beany ir^ frlfe,
Vpooenforccmcn£.3y«w:th greati-R fpcsde,
So did ous Men;hs3«y in Keiflxsrrvi Iof5e,
Lend co- this weight, jfuch !i ghtnerTe wjth chei: Fssre^
That Arrowes Sed not fwifssf toward theii a/rnc,
Then dad ow? Soldiers f s'/ming as r.hs5r«fsfejy)
Fly from khc field. Then ivsa fcas Nob^c Vyorcaflsr
Too loone cs'oepEifor/ef : tnd uiesrud^o; Sce^
(Tht bloody^a^/^) whofe w«i3-lai>2WPh?s fi's<?r4
Had three tlraes flainc ih'&ppcsrfince ofthe iCir/ga
Can vsile his ftcmacke. and did grscs the fhsrns '
Of thofethaj eurn'd their backcs : and in his Highe,
StamUing in Feaie.wcs Caaks. The fon'sme DlfiU,
Is, that the King hath wonne ; icdligih fenr O«B
A fpeedy powor, w encounter you my Lord,
Voder the Ot<5u£ of yong Lancafte?
And Wellrr>erbf»d/ This is theNcwes es'&H.

ftfanb. For shii J {hall haue tini« enough EO ppsynie,
In Poy(on,?btte is ^hyficks : and this iwwtf
(H wtn» beene we'S^hat wocdonaoc msdt nw Hckc^
Being nckc.haue in fome oieafwre^o^s me v»clJ.
And &i the W6«ch,wbof< Feaaer-Tweahned jcyna,
Like arengtttiefje Hiodges^baciile vnder !i^,
Imp4tient of his Fit, brczkeJ Sike a Rre
Qu^ oPhis kscyert ctrmct : HUCT fo, rny Llnxfcss
( We»k*nsiJ wrth gteefe) being now in«g'd wrri? gswtfi*,-
Af e thrice therofebes. Hence therefore csca Bice Mtttcli*

A fc»liir Gswirjilet oow,wi;h >

Mu8 g^ov:« th'M hand.

Thou art a gtss.rd too v:<rrtton for the head,

Which Pr m«e- ficfh'd'vrteh ConqceJlj^pX' to look.

No<.v biode m^ awes with Jron,snd apprc»cli

The tcgged'fi hQ-iJre,that7i^*^kiSp,igb:

To fro^ne vpco ttf&isaga r^L^ttenfessls

Lei Heau«n kiffe Earth :«ow Iss

Keepe die wilde Flood confin'cS ? Let Order

And l«r the world no icnger: be s fta^s

To feede Ccnrention tn a img'ring /i« *

But les. one fptrtt of cits Rift

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH. 63

But the most conclusive proof that these plays are cipher-
work, is found in an illustration which I have already given to
the public, but which is so unique and conclusive that it will bear
repetition.

I have shown that page 75 multiplied by the 12 italics on first
column of page 74 yielded 900 ; and that page 76, the last page
of the scene, multiplied by 11, the words in brackets, counting
" post-horse " as two words, made 836.

Now what I have already shown indicates that Bacon is talk-
ing in the cipher narrative about the "plays or shows," and the
fact that somebody's image, or picture, was but a mask for his own.
face. He was afraid of this being found-out. " Found out " was a
very pregnant phrase for a man who lived and moved for years
under such a perilous disguise. He was afraid that it would be
"found out " that he wrote the plays with a treasonable intent ;
for the playing of "King Richard II.," was one of the counts in
the prosecution which eventually cost Essex his head. He was
afraid that it would be "found-out" that he, a scion of the
nobility, the son of a Lord Chancellor, and nephew of a Lord
Treasurer, had eked out his miserable income by sharing with
Shakspere the proceeds of the plays ; the pence and shillings
taken up from the dirty rabble of London at the gate of the play-
house. Hence we might naturally look for "found-out " in this
narrative about plays and shows and volumes and masks.
" Found-out " was probably engraved on Bacon's heart.

And here we find it in the cipher : commence at the top of the
first column of page 74, and count forward and down the first
column of page 75, omitting to count the words in brackets, and
counting the hyphenated words like " well-known," as one word,
and the 836th word will be found to be the word "found)" the
304th word on the first column of page 75. Now commence again
tit the top of the next page, and count in the same way, and the
836th word is the word " out" the 389th word on the second column
of page 75. Thus we have the compound word "found-out."

We saw that paL 75, multiplied by the 12 italic words on the
first column of page 74, yielded 900.

Let us begin to count again from the same points, but count-
ing in the words in brackets, and counting each of the hyphen-
ated words separately, and the 900th word from the top of page
74 is that same 304^ word, on the first column of page 75, the

64 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

word " FOUND." And if we commence at the top of page 75 and
count the same way, the 900th word is that same 389^ word, "OUT."

In 'other words, the two words, "found " and " out/' do
double duty by two different modes of counting, from the same
starting points ; and the number of bracket words and hyphens
between the top of column one of page 74 and anterior to the
word "found" is precisely the difference between 836 and 900 !
And again, the number of bracket words and hyphens between
the top of column one, page 75, and the word " out " is precisely
the difference between 836 and 900 !

Let me state the proposition like a sum in arithmetic :

11 x 76 = 836

12x75= 900

Words on 1st column, p. 74 284

Words ou 2d column, p. 74 248

Words down to the word "found •' 304

836
Again : —

Words on 1st column, page 75 447

Words down to the word " out" 389

836
"Found" is the 836th word

Now let us add the following :

Bracket words, column 1, p. 74 10 )

Hyphenated words, column 1, p. 74 8 >

Bracket words, column 2, p. 74 22 >

Hyphenated words in column 2, p. 74 2 >

Bracket words anterior to 304th word 13 )

Hyphenated words anterior to 304th word 9 i

— 64

Which added to 836 makes 900

" Out" is the 836th \rord.

Let us add :

Bracket words, column 1, p. 75 21 )

Hyphenated words, column 1, p. 75 9 )

Bracket words anterior to the 389th word 30 }

Hyphenated words anterior to the 389th word 4 • »

— 64

Which added to 836 makes... .. 900

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH. 65

Can any man believe that this is the result of accident ? It
could not occur by chance one time in a hundred millions. See
how precisely the count matches ; there are exactly 64 bracket and
hyphenated words between the top of the first column of page 74
and the word "found;" there are precisely 64 bracket and
hyphenated words between the top of the first column of page 75
and the word " out." The man who can believe that this is the
N- result of chance would, to use one of Bacon's comparisons, "be-
lieve that one could scatter the letters of the alphabet on the
ground and they would accidentally arrange themselves into
Homer's Iliad/'

And remember that if "smooth-comforts-false" and "worm-
eaten-hole" had not been hyphenated, so that each combination
could be counted as one word to make 836, and as three words to
make 900, this beautiful piece of mathematical checker-work
would have failed. If the line

* l You are too great to be [by me] gainsaid ;"

or,

*' I cannot think [my Lord] your son is dead,"

had been printed in the usual and natural fashion, as similar
phrases are printed in " 1st Henry IV.," the whole count would
have failed. The dropping of a single hyphen would have brought
the entire piece of delicate adjustment to nought.

What does this prove ? That the man who read the proof
must have known of the cipher. And as William Shakspere had
been dead seven years when this Folio was printed, he could not
have read the proof. But, as one-half the words are cipher words,
whoever wrote the cipher wrote the plays ; ergo : Shakspere did
not write the plays.

I have no hesitation in saying that the publication of my book
will convince the world that these plays are the most marvelous
specimens of ingenuity, and mental suppleness, and adroitness,
to say nothing of genius, power, and attainments, ever put to-
gether by the wit of man. There is no parallel for them on earth.
There never will be. No such man can ever again be born. His
coming marked an era in the history of the world.

The scholar remembers the old play, now conceded to be
Shakespeare's, "The Contention between York and Lancaster."
VOL. CXLV. — xo. 368. 5

66 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE \V.

It is referred to half a dozen times in this cipher narrative. Let
me point out the words here. See second col., page 74.

" The times are wild : Contention [like a horse
Full of high f eedingl madly hath broke loose,
And bears down all before him."

Here the "loose" is part of the name of Sir Thomas Lucy
(Loose-see), used in telling the story of Shakespeare's youth. Turn
to the 145th word on the second column of page 72, and you have
the "deere" he killed.

Then again, we have " Contention" in the line near the bottom
of the second column of page 75.

" Be a stage
To feed contention in a lingering act."

Here we have "stage" and "act;" near the top of first
column, of page 74, we have (29th word) the word " acts;"&i the
top of the first column of page 76 we have " the rude scene may
end -" the 286th word, 1st column, page 75, is the name of the
" Curtain" theatre ; the 114th word on 2d column, page 74, is the
name of the " Fortune" theatre.

But to proceed with the name : — " Contention between York
and Lancaster." We have "between" as the 236th word, 1st
column, page 74; and "betwixt" the 156th word, column 1, page
73 ; we have " York" the 167th word, 2d column, page 73 ;
" Lancaster " the 105th word on the same column ; " York"
again the 242d word, 1st column, page 76 ; and "'La ncaster" again
the 327th word, 2d column, page 75.

We have " Shake-speare" as follows. On the fourth line of the
second column of page 75 we read :

" Thou shaWst thy head ; and hold'st it fear," etc.

This illustrates the exquisite cunning of the work ; it is not
" shakest" but " shak'st "; and " shak'st-spur" gives us the exact
sound of " Shakesper." We have the terminal syllable peppered
over the top of 1st col., p. 75 :

" And that young Harry Percey's Spurre was cold."
And again :

" Said he young Harry Percey's Spurre was cold ?
(Of Hot-Spurre, cold-Spurre f ) "

THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH. 67

In the records of the town council of Stratford the name ends
seventeen times in "per"; while many other times it terminates
with "peyr," "pere" and "spere."

And at word 291 of 1st col., p. 72, we have,

" Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere."

This was formerly pronounced as if spelled " spere." The
word " Jacke " does service in many cases for the first syllable of
the name, tending to confirm the belief that the original name
of the Stratford man was Jacques-Pierre, or Jack-Peter.

And many of the plays are referred to herein. We have
" King " " John " time and again. And " Richard the Third " is
found on second column of page 78 :

14 The glutton-bosom of the royal Richard."

("2 Henry IV.," I., 4.)
And, on the same column :

" Perforce a third
Must take up us."

("2 Henry IV.," I., 4.)

The play of "Measure for Measure" is referred to. Look at
the lower part of 2d col., p. 75, and you have :

" Being sick have in some measure made me well."

While near the top of the 3d col. of page 77 you have the
rest of the name :

*' You measure the heat of our livers with the bitterness of your galls."

But, if I run on, this article will turn into a book.

There is no more doubt of the reality of the cipher than there
is of the reality of the plays. My work has been delayed by the
very immensity of the story. I cannot begin to work out now all
the narrative there is even in the 1st and 3d " Henry IV. ;" it
would take me a year longer. I will publish part of the story
this year, and satisfy the incredulous of the truth of the dis-
covery.

What astonishes me is the fierce opposition which the English
people show to the theory that Bacon wrote the plays. If one
were attempting to prove that a Frenchman or a German produced

(53 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

them I could understand it ; but when it is proposed to take the
mantle of immortality from the shoulders of one Englishman and
place it on the shoulders of another Englishman,, I cannot see
where national feeling has any place in the discussion. Con-
ceding, for the moment, all that has been said against him, and
Francis Bacon the scholar, statesman, philanthropist, and founder
of the school of philosophy which has done so much to produce
our modern advancement and civilization, is certainly a nobler
and more admirable figure on the canvass of time, than the guz-
zling, beer-drinking, poaching, lying play-actor, of whom tra-
dition does not record a single generous expression, or a single
lovable act. And as to Francis Bacon's real biography, it is yet
to be written, when all the materials furnished by the cipher nar-
rative are in the hands of the world. We know enough now
to see that he , was sacrificed by James I. , that vile slobbering
"sow," as Buckingham called him, to save his favorite from the
fury of the Commons, and to appease the rising tempest which
eventually swept the royal family from the throne, and the head
of Charles I. from his shoulders.

The world can afford to wait until all the evidence is in, before
it passes final judgment on the grandest and most gifted of all the
sons of men. I believe it will be made manifest, in the end, that
the moral grandeur of Francis Bacon was as great as his intel-
lectual power ; and that he

11 Who died in shame
Will live in death with endless fame."

IGNATIUS DOXXELLY.

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUMNER.

THE events that closely preceded and followed the resolution
of the House of Representatives, February 24th, 1868, to impeach
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, for "high crimes
and misdemeanors," are fraught with perpetual interest. The
occasion was unparalleled in America. It absorbed public atten-
tion. It awakened unprecedented bitterness. It aroused the
extremist political rancor. Amid the fury of the hour, the im-
peachment trial lost the dignity of a judicial investigation ; the
prominent figures therein were hailed, pro and con, as leaders in a
fiery contest; and all the passions of the Civil }Var were brought
into play. The scenes thus enacted embraced an epoch which the
student of affairs must ever regard with profound concern. It
was a solemn juncture in the progress of those measures which,
between 1865 and 1870.. underlaid the work of reconstruction by
which the rebellious States were reorganized as members of the
Union ; and all papers that bear an instructive relation to it must
have an enduring value. Continuing the line of assault so boldlv
waged before and during the impeachment trial, the enemies of
President Johnson have constantly charged that he was faithless
to his pledges, and that his administration was a treasonable sedi-
tion against the liberties of the people, and the results of the war.
In support of this charge, industrious partisans have printed so
much since 1868, that impartial readers may fairly crave the relief
which the extremest opposing view might now afford. Recalling
Governor BoutwelPs contributions to the history of the impeach-
ment, and the reminiscences of the event that have flowed from
the pen of General Badeau, it may be truly said that the surviving
haters of Andrew Johnson have used every opportunity to " gibbet
him in the face of the world, after death has disarmed him of the
power of self-defense."

In justice, now, to the calumniated President, it is deemed
both timely and right to disclose here two posthumous letters

70 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

from Hon. Gideon Welles, who was Minister of Naval Affairs un-
der Lincoln and Johnson, and a participant, therefore, in the
scenes to which they refer. The letters were not written for pub-
lication. Addressed to Hon. Joseph S. Fowler, of Tennessee, one
of the seven Eepublican Senators, who, on the memorable 16th of
May, 1868, voted against impeachment, they were designed to por-
tray from the stand of a Cabinet Officer the spirit of a great crisis,
and confidentially to give important information to be publicly
used by Mr. Fowler in correcting certain errors appertaining at
once to the motives of the President, to the true significance of
his policy, to his veto of the tenure-of-office law, to his removal of
Edwin M. Stanton from the Department of War, to his appoint-
ment of Gen. Grant as Stanton's successor, with the purpose of
testing in the Supreme Court an unconstitutional statute; to the na-
ture and extent of the agreement between the President and Grant,
and to the latter's betrayal of plighted faith in the famous con-
troversy which ensued. The circumstance which caused this cor-
respondence was that, shortly after President Johnson's death,
Ex-Senator Fowler was chosen to deliver, in Tennessee, an oration
on the character and public services of the dead statesman, where-
upon, in reply to interrogatories, Ex-Secretary Welles wrote the
following letter, the original of which, with the consent of Mr.
Fowler, is in my possession, for the present use :

EX-SECRETARY WELLES TO EX-SENATOR FOWLER.
[COPY.]

" HARTFORD, September 4, 1875.
" HON. JOSEPH S. FOWLER :

" DEAR SIR: I am glad to know that you, who knew Andrew Johnson well*
and were familiar with his official acts while President, have been selected by his
fellow citizens to deliver an address upon his character and public services. It
•will give me pleasure to reply to your interrogatories, and furnish any facts in my
possession on the subject of your inquiry.

" In regard to the reduction of the navy at the close of the war, I would refer
you to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, in December, 1865, which
will furnish you data and facts more full and complete than I could present in a
letter. Immediately after hostilities ceased, a reduction of the naval force was
commenced, and prosecuted as rapidly as circumstances would permit. The large
number of vessels which had been purchased from the commercial marine, and
otherwise obtained and fitted at no inconsiderable expense for war purposes, were,
as soon as there was a demand from reviving commerce, without too great a sacri-
rifice, as there would have been by crowding the market, promptly sold. Volun-
teer officers and enlisted men were discharged, mechanics and workmen in the

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUMNER. 71

navy yards were dismissed, and expenses of every description reduced, so that
Congress, in 1866, was informed that funds that had been appropriated for the
vigorous prosecution of the war and placed at the disposal of the Navy Depart-
ment would not be required, and that fifty millions of dollars of those appropria-
tions, and of the avails from the sale of vessels and other property, might be relin-
quished and returned to the Treasury. Congress, however, neglected to take any
action or notice of the suggestion, and the Secretary of the Navy, therefore, of his
own accord, on the 30th of September, 1867, relinquished to the Treasury sixty-
five millions of dollars. I am not aware that any other department of the govern-
ment made return of funds to the Treasury.

"The naval force, which, at the close of the war, consisted of about 51,500
men in the service, was forthwith reduced to 15,000, and thereafter still further
reduced as the terms of enlistment expired and vessels were put out of commis-
sion.

" No chief magistrate, no officer of the government whom I have ever known
—and I have been somewhat familiar with most of them from the days of John
Quincy Adams— was more attentive and devoted to his duties than President
Johnson. Though possessed of a strong and rugged constitution, I have never
doubted that his health was seriously and probably permanently impaired by his
assiduous and close application in the labors of his office. He bad been prostrated
by a long and severe illness in the winter of 1864-5, which rendered his appearance
at Washington at the inauguration doubtful and precarious. But it was the ear-
nest wish of President Lincoln, who did not conceal his gratification at Mr. John-
son's election, that the Vice-President, a Southern patriot, should be present on
that occasion. His absence would, he apprehended, have an unfortunate influence
and construction abroad. It was in compliance with this earnest and expressed
wish of President Lincoln, seconded by his own disposition to evade no responsi-
bility or labor, that he was present, in enfeebled health and strength, to enter upon
his duties as the presiding officer of the Senate, on the 4th of March . He was a
man of fine presence and bore himself with dignity in the Cabinet, in his inter-
course with officials and the representatives of foreign governments, and with all,
indeed, with whom he came in contact. Always self-possessed and courteous, he
never failed to receive and command respect even from his enemies.

" The difference between him and Mr. Stanton, and I may say with Congress,
was, in origin, political rather than personal. Their differences date back and
were, in fact, anterior to the election of Mr. Johnson. They may be said to have
beeun during the administration of President Lincoln, who could not assent to or
adopt the extreme and centralizing views of his radical supporters. While Presi-
dent Lincoln felt it to be his duty to put forth all his power and authority to sup-
press the rebellion, and was at times compelled to resort to extreme measures to
accomplish that object, he was not disposed, by any arbitrary exercise of federal
or undelegated authority, to deprive either States or people of their reserved and
constitutional rights. These sound, tolerant, and benignant views were not in ac-
cord with the ideas and intentions of the extreme radicals, who did not conceal
their hostility to the doctrine of State rights, and who avowed themselves the ad-
vocates of central power and supremacy, insisting that the federal government
could and should control the local governments, treat them as mere corporations,
with no original or primary powers, but only such as were granted them by the
central government, which could dictate in regard to their organic law, and
especially as to the right of suffrage. In his efforts to arouse the patriotic senti-
ment of the people of the South, and promote union by State action, President
Lincoln had, in his message in December, 1863, invited the people in the insur-

72 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

rectionary States to come forward and organize local government, stating that
those who were entitled to vote under their respective constitutions, prior to the
ordinances of secession, and no others, could exercise the right of suffrage.
These constitutional views so dissatisfied the radical Republicans that they strove
to prevent his renomination.

'* Secretary Stanton, who, in 1863, fully assented to the principles then laid
down by President Lincoln, and to the policy of his administration, began, in the
winter of 1865, to manifest a disposition to favor a tendency towards the central-
izing theories of the radicals. The subject of reconstructing and reconstituting
the States which had attempted secession, and their restoration to the federal
union, was discussed in Cabinet a few hours preceding the assassination of Presi-
dent Lincoln. When Mr. Johnson by that sad event became President, an earnest
and unwearied effort was made by the radicals to commit him to their proscriptive
and revolutionary scheme of excluding those States from the Union. But, although
opposed to secession, and embittered, perhaps, to wards those who had brought such
woeful calamities upon the country, and caused a war in which he had been per-
sonally a sufferer beyond others, he denied that the Executive, or Congress, or
both combined, could assume and exercise undelegated and ungranted powers,
break down the State governments, and deprive them and the people of their in-
herent and reserved rights. On the question of reconstruction, Mr. Stanton and
his associates took the position that the States and the people of the States that
made war upon the government and the Union, had forfeited and lost their rights
— that the resumption and re-establishment of their ancient constitutions, as they
were prior to the secession ordinances, even with slavery abolished, were not per-
missible— that there must be new constitutions framed in each, under the direction
of Congress or the central government. The first step in this revolutionary move-
ment was brought forward in Cabinet, a few days after the inauguration of Mr.
Johnson, by Mr. Stanton, who claimed that the colored man had the right to vote
and should exercise this right in the formation of the new constitutions. President
Johnson could recognize no such claim, said suffrage was a privilege, not a right,
— that the subject belonged to the States, not to the Federal Go vernmenc, and that
the re-establishment of the Union must be on the constitutional basis of the equal
political rights of all the States.

u In these differences between President Johnson and the radical members of
Congress, who soon, by caucus machinery, obtained control of the Republican
party and of Congress icself, Mr. Stanton identified himself with the radicals, and
became their counsellor and adviser in most of their measures. With his convic-
tions, the President could not yield his assent to their schemes, and he was there-
fore impelled to put his veto on the Civil Rights Bill, the Freedman's Bureau Bill,
the Military Reconstruction Bill, the Tenure of Office Bill, and other bills which,
in his opinion, were without constitutional authority and in palpable violation of
that instrument. Mr. Stanton did not approve, but acquiesced in those vetoes,
except that on the Tenure of Office Bill. That enactment he openly and indig-
nantly denounced as not only unconstitutional, but as a legislative usurpation,
trespassing upon the Executive Department of the government, and impairing, if
not destroying, its efficiency. So strong and emphatic was the opposition of the
Secretary of War, so earnest and decisive his protest against the law, which
assumed to compel the Executive to retain in place officers for whom he was
responsible, forcing him to receive into his political family, and to associate and
consult in his private council with men in whom he had no confidence, that the
President devolved on Mr. Stanton the preparation of the veto message on that
bill. It was the only occasion when such a request was made of Mr. Stantoa or

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUMNER. 73

of any of the Cabinet, for the President wrote his own messages ; but he was then
writing another message on a different subject, which was completed and trans-
mitted to Congress on the same day with his veto on the Tenure of Office Bill.
Mr. Seward, by Mr. Stanton's request, was associated with him in preparing that
document, which in form was less positive than Mr. Stan ton had manifested in
Cabinet, but was toned down and modified by the cautious and wary circumspec-
tion of the Secretary of State.

" In the progress of events, and as the estrangement between the President and
the party majority in Congress became more marked, those members of the
Cabinet who regretted the differences, but were unwilling to break their party
connection, courteously and in a friendly spirit tendered their resignations and
retired from the Cabinet, unwilling to embarrass the Administration. But Mr.
Stanton pursued an entirely different course. While the retiring members felt
they could not preserve their self-respect and act in good faitk by holding on to
place under a chief whose policy they did not, in all respects, indorse, Mr. Stan-
ton, who not only did not indorse, but actively opposed the President on almost
every important question, refused to withdraw, and insisted on administering a
department of the government without the concurrence of the Chief Executive, or
consulting or holding communication with him. In total disregard of the princi-
ples which he had laid down, and of the message which he had himself prepared,
as well as of common courtesy, Mr. Stanton would not resign his office, but clung
to place under the shield of the Tenure of Office Bill, which he had declared to be
indecent, unconstitutional, and, of course, no law. Under these circumstances, and
in order to test the constitutionality of that enactment, President Johnson removed
or suspended Mr. Stanton from office and appointed General Grant in his place,
with the distinct understanding that he was to retain it until the highest judicial
tribunal should decide on the validity of the act.

" General Grant, who, in the early days of President Johnson's administration
had professed himself to be, and doubtless was, in full accord with him in his
measures, began to indicate alienation after the elections in the autumn of 1&66,
though he continued upon friendly and almost intimate relations with the Presi-
dent, who, aiter others distrusted the General's sincerity, still gave him bis confi-
dence. General Grant did not hold Mr. Stanton in high esteem, and had willingly
assented to a proposition, the year previous, to supersede him in the War Depart-
ment. But, before the change was consummated, President Johnson, who would
have been glad to be relieved of Mr. Stanton, hesitated at the critical moment to
take a step which would aggravate the existing ill feeling, and make more violent
aad vindictive the master spirits of opposition. The proposition had been very
quietly discussed and was known to but few ; but the disappointment of General
Grant, who did not originate though he consented to the arrangement, contributed
to the estrangement. It doubtless gave edge to his animosity, when, at a later day,
he forfeited the promise he had made to remain firm at his post as Secretary of
War, so that the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office law should be decided by
the Supreme Court. The equivocation and ultimate failure of General Grant to
fulfill his promise, and his abandonment of the trust and the War Department, de-
feated the purpose and efforts of the President to obtain a legal decision on that
enactment. Mr. Johnson, always truthful and inflexibly honest, never forgot and
probably never forgave the deception, and further intimacy or personal inter-
views with General Grant ceased .

"Mr. Stanton was not a cordial supporter of the President until after the
Philadelphia Convention, as you seem to suppose ; but General Grant apparently
was, and approved of that movement to promote reconciliation between different

74 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

sections of the country. The Secretary of War was opposed to any immediate fra-
ternization or union with the people or States of the Confederacy, or to receiving
or meeting them on terms of equality ; but General Grant, for nearly two years
after the accession of Mr. Johnson to the Presidency, favored harmony and
peace.

"There was acquiescence, or submission, on the North Carolina Proclamation,
rather than unity, in the Cabinet. It was the purpose and determination of M ••.
Stanton and the radical portion of the Republican party to hold North Carolina
and the other States of the ' Confederacy' in subjection. Before Mr. Johnson was
President, Mr. Stanton had presented a plan to place those States under military
control, and thus strike a blow at distinctive State rights, by establishing military
departments over them, each department to comprise two or more States, over
which should be, respectively, placed a General of the Army, Provost Marshals
and their assistants, all to be appointed by the Secretary of War, who, under the
Generals, was to organize civil government in those departments. The Secretary
of War would, by this agreement, have the supervision and government of those
States. Their constitutions, as they existed prior to the secession ordinances, were
to be overthrown and no longer recognized. New constitutions were to be framed
for each State, and, under the guidance and discretion of the Secretary of War, his
Generals and Provost Marshals, with the aid of the colored population who were
to vote, such governments would be established as conformed to the views and
theories of the radicals. This device to reduce eleven States to a condition of terri-
torial dependence was so repugnant to the ideas and principles of Mr. Johnson, so
subversive of our Republican system of popular rights and of self-government,
that the President could not give it his sanction. He was confronted with this pro-
ject in April, at the very threshold of his administration, when he was anxious to
conciliate his real and professed friends and supporters. He could not, however, be
a party to any usurping scheme that was in conflict with the organic law, nor dic-
tate to the States in regard to su^rage. On this latter point, the Cabinet, with the
exception of Mr. Seward, who was incapable of attending, were at first equally
decided. Thenceforward the divergence between the President and the Secretary
of War increased until Mr. Stanton was dismissed.

44 No more rigid constitutionalist than Andrew Johnson was to be found ; few
have ever studied the organic law more closely. The Federal Constitution had
been his nidi mental, elementary, first lesson, his political bible and text-book, care-
fully scanned and observed through his whole official life ; and it was revolting to
his mind and nature that any of its provisions should be violated. His radical
opponents, never strictly mindful of constitutional restraints, insisted that the war
had broken down constitutional barriers, that Congress was omnipotent, and legis-
lative action was absolute and supreme. Hence the antagonism that sprang up be-
tween the executive and the legislative departments of the government. Both had
denied and resisted the heresy of Secession, but when Congress presented the oppo-
site heresy, and arrogated the power of exclusion, and of denying to States and
people the undoubted right of representation which is essential to free govern-
ment, there was a fundamental difference which could not be reconciled. It
eventuated, under the madness of party excitement, in a conspiracy to impeach
the President for an honest and faithful discharge of his duty. Fidelity to the
Constitution was denounced as treason to party. For boldly and honestly main-
taining the rights of the Executive, he was arraigned and tried, but not con-
victed. It was a sad spectacle to witness his persecutors of the House of Repre-
sentatives and the Senators who sat in judgment meeting in secret to strengthen
and discipline the timid, and, under the audacious domination of the more unprin-

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUMNER. 75

cipled, predetermine the course to be pursued in open session as triers and judges !
Happily for the country and its fame, there were Senators who refused to be dis-
ciplined to do a wicked and wrong act, or so to prostitute themselves to the
demands of party as to pronounce an unrighteous judgment against a pure patriot
and an honest man.

"Called, unexpectedly and without anticipation, to discharge the duties of
Chief Magistrate just as the great civil conflict was near its close, and while con-
tending and belligerent parties, filled with hate, were unrelenting and unforgiv-
ing, Mr. Johnson labored under great embarrassments in administering the gov-
ernment. A large portion of those who elected him were old political opponents,
whose opinions and views of government were diametrically opposed to those
which he deemed essential. Consequently, there was not harmony, nor that
mutual confidence between him and the dominant party in Congress which was
necessary to give strength and secure success to his administration. On the other
hand, his former political and party associates were estranged, because he had, in
his devotion to the Union and his fidelity to the Constitution, broken and cast
aside the fetters of party, and, irrespective of the exactions and requirements of
party organizations, resisted secession. His fearless and independent stand —
' solitary and alone' in the Senate from his section— won the respect and admira-
tion of the people, and especially of Mr. Lincoln, who desired his nomination, as
did a majority of the Republicans, for the office of Vice-President in 1864. When
the responsibilities of the government were devolved upon him in consequence of
the assassination of his chief, he was compelled to pursue a course acceptable to
neither of the great party organizations. He had, therefore, to encounter the hate
of one and the indifference of the other in a great emergency, when he was en-
titled to and should have received the earnest support of every true patriot. But,
in the midst of trials and struggles, such as none of his predecessors ever experi-
enced, his firmness, independence, and inflexible purpose were never shaken ; he
remained true to his convictions and faithful to his principles.

" If, while honestly striving to discharge his duty as Chief Magistrate and
restore peace, good-will, and union to the Republic, he was hampered, thwarted,
and defeated in his policy, which was also the policy of Mr. Lincoln — if the domi-
nant party, in a broken and fragmentary Congress, were successful in their fac-
tious war upon his administration — it vras to them but a temporary triumph.
Time and reflection, the curatives and rectifiers of erroneous^ public opinion, have
already in a great degree reversed the hasty and heated judgment which partisan
prejudice fulminated against him, and his country and posterity will do him jus-
tice. While his opponents in Congress, by the force of party discipline, suspended
their legislative functions to pass questionable constitutional enactments in order
to limit the rightful power and authority of the Executive, and thereby prevent
or postpone immediate union and reconciliation, the messages and public docu-
ments of Andrew Johnson are in strong contrast with the course of the Legislative
Department, and testify not only to his ability and wisdom, but to his lofty and
unselfish patriotism — his abiding love of country.

" That he may have been disturbed, vexed, and annoyed under the assaults
upon the Executive, personally and officially ; at the perverted, mischievous, and
assuming legislative acts of Congress ; at the revolutionary schemes to change and
centralize the government ; at the insincerity and infidelity of some men in
whom he had confided, is undoubtedly true; and it is also true .that he boldly,
freely, and, perhaps, indiscreetly, expressed his indignation against false friends and
wicked measures.

"My letter, which you requested might be early sent, has been written under

76 THE NORTH slMERICAN REVIEW.

peculiar circumstances, which must be my apology for inadvertence and the ab-
sence of more careful preparation.

" There is, I think, a prevailing erroneous opinion in regard to the differences
and causes of differences between President Johnson and Secretary Stanton and
General Grant, to each of whom he gave his willing confidence until convinced
that each was unfaithful. Ultimately inexorable truth will appear, and it seems
to me the facts may well be brought out over the grave of the departed states-
man. I have, therefore, mentioned to you soma of the more prominent of the
many circumstances of the differences between the President and his subordinates,
and the consequences to the country. You will please make use of these facts as
you may deem best.

" I will thank you for a copy of your address when published, and shall be
always happy to hear from you. Very respectfully,

[Signed.] " GIDEON WELLES."

Apart from its interesting statement as to naval affairs at the
close of the war, and its account of the act of the Naval Secretary,
September 3Qth, 1867, in relinquishing to the Treasury sixty-five
millions of dollars, despite Congressional failure to care for the
funds remaining from unspent appropriations and from the sale
of vessels and other property, the foregoing epistle is entitled to a
significant place in the history of the last generation. It is the
first expression of the kind that has reached the press from a
member of President Johnson's Cabinet. It is a full, frank, free
revelation of its author's careful estimate of contemporary events,
and of certain controlling figures in the most thrilling drama that
has transpired since the surrender of Lee — a drama that affected
at once the fate of statesmen and the existence of States them-
selves. It is proper here to say that, in preparing his oration, Mr.
Fowler failed to use a number of important facts which the letter
contains, forbearing, likewise, to delineate the alleged conduct of
Grant and of Stanton in a manner commensurate with the severity
which Mr. Welles himself employs in recounting the movements
of the President, and the origin, progress, and end of the impeach-
ment ; and hence, after reading the oration, the ex-Secretary was
impelled to supplement his former by the subjoined letter, the
terms of which, in portraying the writer's conception of Secretary
Seward, Senator Sumner, General Grant, Edwin M. Stanton, and
John Covode, have but few parallels in epistolary composition :

II.

[COPY.]

"HARTFORD, November 9, 1875.
«* MY DEAR SIR :

" On my return after ten days absence, I received your letter of the 25th ulto.,
and, also, the Nashville American containing your interesting, elaborate, and

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUKINER. 77

carefully prepared address, which does justice to our deceased friend I have read
it with much satisfaction, and, when published in pamphlet form, do me the favor
to send me a copy ; for the facts, and incidents, and remarks are so well and
clearly presented, that I wish to have them in a more enduring form than the
columns of a newspaper.

" In some matters of opinion and estimate of the same men, we should, perhaps,
entertain different views, although in most respects we agree. Your statement of
the impeachment is the best I have seen, and yet it falls short of the measure of
severity due to the chief actors in that great conspiracy. As regards Stanton, you
give him credit which he does not deserve, and his perfidy and treachery are not
fully told. I may say the same of Grant, who was false to the friend who gave
him his confidence, and ungrateful for the trust and benefits bestowed.

u There is a mistake, or a misconception of the condition and understanding be-
tween President Johnson and Grant, in regard to the terms and tenure by which
the latter received and held the office of Secretary of War when Stanton was
displaced.

" You say that * General Grant was assigned to the place for the time under the
promise to surrender the office to the President if the decision of the Senate should
be adverse to him, which was certain to happen.' Now, the fact is, the terms
were precisely the reverse. The President knew, and so did Stanton, that the
Tenure of Office law, under which Stanton held on when requested to resign, was
unconstitutional. The President and Cabinet were satisfied the Supreme Court
would so decide, if a case could reach them. He, therefore, determined that the
suspension of Stanton should be taken before that tribunal. It was to be a test
case. Grant promised to receive and hold the office until the Court decided the
question of constitutionality, or, if he concluded not to retain the place, he would
notify the President and resign in season for the President to select another man.
But Grant was treacherous and false. He held on to the place until the Senate
passed its adverse vote, and then immediately locked the Secretary's office, handed
over the key to one of the attending officials, left the War Department and went to
Army Headquarters. By this trick President Johnson was deprived of the oppor-
tunity of bringing the constitutionality of the act before the highest judicial
tribunal. The factious conspirators in Congress well knew that the judicial
department of the government would be against the legislative on that law, and
with the Executive.

" Thad Stevens, Butler, Boutwell & Co. were unwilling to trust to constitutional
remedies for constitutional wrongs; and Grant, by deception and trickery, was
their willing instrument to perpetuate the injustice, and prevent the tribunal,
which the Constitution has provided, from passing judgment on the legality of the
legislative act. I never saw Grant appear more insignificant, or President John-
son to better advantage, than on the occasion when the latter summoned Grant to
appear before him and explain his course and conduct. You will recollect that the
falsehood of Grant was proved by all the members of the Cabinet who were present
at that interview. I think it very essential that that part of the address should be
put right in your pamphlet edition. In one or two other less important matteis I
might make suggestions, but this is the most important, and should be rightly pre-
sented. Grant took the office of Secretary of War with an express agreement to
stand in the gap until the Supreme Court virtually pronounced whether the Ex-
ecutive or the Senate was right; or, if he flinched, the President should have timely
warning to select another that would stand the test. Grant, false to the Chief
Magistrate who trusted him, joined the conspirators and prevented a legal decision
from the proper tribunal.

78 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

"As regards men, the time has not, perhaps, arrived to award each his true
position, and I, therefore, for obvious reasons, would not publicly give a free and
full opinion of some whom you name, and concerning whom I, in some respects,
differ with you. For instance, neither Mr. Sumner nor Mr. Seward was strictly
a constitutionalist, nor do I class either among the highest order of statesmen.
Mr. Sumner was a scholar, and better read on the subject of our foreign relations,
international law, our treaties and traditions, than any other man in Congress. He
better filled the position of Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations than
any of his associates could have done. But he was not a practical man, nor a con-
stitutionalist— knew not how to construct or build up a government, though he
•could pull down ; was an idealist and theorist ; could criticise, find fault, and take
exceptions, and could tell Stanton to " stick" and defy his principal. There was
violent partisanship, but no enlarged and enlightened statesmanship, in such counsel
at any time ; it was unworthy of a senator in such a crisis of public affairs.

"Mr. Se ward was a skillful politician, full of expedients, strongly wedded to
party — much stronger than to principles ; with little reverence for the Constitu-
tion, which he treated much as he would legislative enactments. In his speech ot
January 13th, 1861, and in propositions subsequently made at that session, as well
as in his course of policy during the first few weeks of Mr. Lincoln's Administra-
tion, you have the characteristics of which I speak. He was for calling a National
Convention, revising or remodeling the Constitution, conceding to the secessionists
their demands, incorporating a provision that should be irrevocable, perpetuating
slavery. This was the key to his ninety days' prophecy of harmony and peace.
His policy was to concede, to yield to his antagonists. Our rights he almosb
invariably surrendered to foreign demands during the war. He was always
ready, always superficial — not a profound thinker, nor with any pretensions to the
scholarly culture and the attainments of Sumner. The two men were of different
temperaments — had differently constituted minds. Each of them had a large party
following, and a host of claquers and journalists to extol and glorify them.
Sumner was imperious, ready to break down the States and their governments to
carry out his schemes, regardless of the Constitution ; and made war on President
Johnson because he would not assume and exercise undelegated and illegal power.
Seward, while he had little deference for State rights, and would have been will-
ing to let Thad Stevens, Stanton, and Butler have their way in reconstructing the
Southern States, was not unfaithful to President Johnson, and acquiesced in the
President's policy.

" I have written more of the two leading but differing minds of men of whom
you make mention than I intended ; but my remarks are drawn out unconsciously.
Grant has none of the redeeming qualities of either Sumner or Seward ; nor had
he a single qualification for the office of Chief Magistrate. He is a man of little
reading, limited capacity, vulgar habits, and was in employment more suitable to
his mind and taste when serving as a porter in a leather store at Galena than as
the official head of a great nation. Covode, who introduced the impeachment reso-
lution, was a coarse, cunning man, without culture, fond of intrigue, and craving
notoriety. These comments on men are made not for publicity, or to induce any
change or modification of your excellent address.

44 1 am desirous that the paragraph relative to Grant's holding the office of
Secretary, whatever might be the action of the Senate, until the Court decided
the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act, should be corrected. He was,
by express agreement, to stand by the President and meet the anticipated conflict
with the Senate, until the Judiciary, the expounder of the law and Constitution,
should pass upon the question. Justice to President Johnson, to the country, and

JOHNSON, GRANT, SEWARD, SUMNER. 79

to truth requires this matter, wherein Grant was treacherous and false, should be
put right. Please excuse the freedom and frankness of my criticism, which I am
confident you will properly appreciate. It will always give me pleasure to hear
from you. My son, to whom you send remembrance, is now in Europe, but his
return is expected in December. Yours truly,

[Signed] "GIDEON WELLES.

41 Hon. Joseph S. Fowler."

The letters here disclosed from the late Naval Minister may
convey to the reader a useful lesson : Two decades have vanished
since the trying days of 1867-8, and, meantime, the asperities of
"reconstruction" have been subdued. Party ties and partisans
have alike been changed by time, and new relations mark the
face of American politics. Johnson and Stanton, Grant and
Seward, Sumner, Covode, and Welles himself, are in their graves,
and all they did and said in their busy day belongs to history.
The Eepublic, purified by blood and strengthened by sacrifice, has
long since quickened its majestic stride ; and the views of men,
like current measures of State, have grown with the widening
scope of affairs. Popular thought has been liberalized, political
toleration broadened, and public sympathy deepened. It is
remembered that Mr. Welles figured, as others did, in a decade of
passion, of revenge, and of hate ; he became an indignant foe of
Stanton and of Grant, and, in reproducing now his severities of
opinion — the sharpness of which was acquired on the very edge of
a fratricidal war — it does not follow that the phrase in which they
are couched shall be approved. The picture which he paints is
upheld simply because it offers a portraiture of the time, and
thereby reflects, in its own way, a chapter of the past.

Whatsoever criticism be evoked by the invectives that are used
by the author of these letters to characterize the conduct of Stan-
ton and of Grant toward President Johnson in reference to the
Secretaryship of War, the Tenure of Office law, and the measure
of impeachment, it must be conceded that he has presented a
potent defense of his illustrious chief ; and, furthermore, that in
view of the malignant assaults that have been incessantly made
upon the fame of that chief, there is ample reason for this publi-
cation. These letters inspire another suggestion, viz., that the
seven Republican Senators — Trumbull, Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes,
Henderson, Van Winkle, and Eoss — who, " facing the wrath of
the party with which they had been so long identified," on that
day so fatal to impeachment, voted with the Democrats for the

80 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

acquittal of the President, averted a new revolution, and displayed
a courageous patriotism that deserved the nation's gratitude.
They stood

" Against allurement, custom, and a world
Offended ; fearless of reproach and scorn,
Or violence I"

The attitude of Andrew Johnson in that critical hour was
unequaled and heroic, and his acquittal by the Senate is ratified
by the dispassionate judgment of his countrymen.

GEORGE BABER.

ENGLISH WOMEN AS A POLITICAL FOKCE.

THE origin, rise, and progress of the Primrose League has
been already too amply given to necessitate repetition. My
province is simply to touch on the part taken by the ladies of the
League in this great political organization. I believe I am not
wrong in saying that it is to a certain degree a social revolution,
for it is the first time in England that women have taken an open
and avowed part in political movement and have been recognized
as political agents. The Primrose League, as is well known, was
founded by a few gentlemen, of whom Lord Kandolph Churchill,
Et. Hon. Sir H. Drummond Wolff, Sir John Goret, Sir Algernon
Borthwick, and Colonel Burnaby were amongst the earliest mem-
bers. The first meetings were held in a small second-floor room
in Essex street, Strand, where the ten original founders met con-
stantly for discussion, and were soon joined by others.

A few paragraphs in the newspapers awakened public curios-
ity, and adherents speedily sent in their names. Not many
weeks had elapsed when some hundred persons had joined, and
the work of forming clubs or habitations was begun ; hundreds
soon became thousands, and a large public demonstration was
held with unprecedented success in Free Mason's Tavern. Since
that day the League has steadily increased, and has now attained
its present gigantic proportions. It numbers now close upon six
hundred thousand members and nearly thirteen hundred habita-
tions. .

The aim and object of this new society was, first, the main-
tenance of religion, law, order, and the integrity of the Empire ;
secondly, to encourage voluntary canvass at the time of elections ;
thirdly, the establishment of habitations or clubs all over the
Kingdom, which should hold meetings and elect members for the
furtherance of those principles ; fourthly, a strict inquiry into the
registration of all Conservative voters.
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 368. 6

82 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The Primrose League had already been started two years when
a prominent member expressed a wish that Lady Wimborne and
the writer of this article should call together a committee of ladies,
and enroll them as members with power to act on the part of
the League. After some consideration, this was done, and the
first committee was held on the 3d of March, 1885, at 139 Pica-
dilly.

" At which meeting it was resolved to form a ladies' branch of
the League, composed of the following ladies, who each guaranteed
to subscribe an annual sum toward the funds of the League, viz. :
Lady Borthwick (in the chair), Julia, Countess of Jersey,
The Duchess of Marlborough, Mrs. Hardman,
Lady Wimborne, Lady Dorothy Nevill,

Lady Kandolph Churchill, Miss Nevill,

Lady Charles Beresford, Lady Campbell (of Blythswood),

Dow. Marches of Waterford, Hon. Mrs. Armytage,
Julia, Marches of Tweedale, Mrs. Bischoffsheim."

Meetings were at once held, often two and three times a week,
and much attentive work was required for the drawing out of the
rules, which till then had never been written ; but good will was
shown, as well as steady application, and at the end of a few
weeks the new branch made rapid progress.

Members from all classes joined. Many of the great employ-
ers of labor gave powerful aid, and now at this moment no less
than 106 habitations have been founded by the Dames of the
League, some of them numbering from two to sixhundred persons
in a club or habitation. An Executive Council was then formed,
of which the Duchess -of Marlborough became Acting President.
Six officials, viz., three Presidents, the Duchess of Marlborough,
Marchioness of Salisbury, and Countess Iddesleigh, and three
Vice-Presidents, Lady Wimborne, Lady Borthwick, and Baroness
Bolsover, were elected for life. A Grand Council was formed,
with the right of voting. Since March, 1885, the League has
numbered 1,043 Dames of the Grand Council, and 34,400 Dames
of the League. These numbers are constantly increasing, and
during the late elections sometimes as many as 2,000 male and
female members joined in a day.

The work of the ladies was of an intricate description, that of
forming clubs or habitations, each of which should be composed
of a president, vice-president, secretary, dames, and associates.

ENGLISH WOMEN AS A POLITICAL FORCE. 83

They had in each district to find places where such clubs might
meet for discussion and work. The next important question was
that of the literature to be dispensed at such habitations, and a
separate committee was formed for the purpose of editing and
publishing the leaflets. As the ladies' branch rapidly increased,
so did also their financial prosperity, and two ladies were ap-
pointed, Lady Gwendoline Cecil and Lady Hardman, as treas-
urer and secretary of the committee. It would be difficult to
enumerate all the many services rendered by the women of the
League, but it will give some idea of how well they have worked,
when I say that no fewer than 371 clasps have been conferred for
special services. These are only given for some unusual amount
of work. There have also been 53 orders of merit awarded. One
among many cases of work and discipline I must name, as it
came under my special notice. During the time of the second
election for South Kensington, a Eadical candidate was started
five days before going to the poll. The time being so short, there
was some difficulty in getting out the voting papers. At once
some 80 or 100 ladies enrolled themselves, and so admirably, so
steadily, so efficiently did they work, that in less than 24 hours
10,000 voting cards were written, directed, stamped and posted.
This is one of many examples of the united work of the League.
Among those whose names may be mentioned, as having helped
greatly to further the cause, should be named Lady Wimborne,
who has started numbers of habitations ; Lady Campbell of
Blythswood, who started seven habitations in three months in
Scotland, and turned out a Eadical who had started in Renfrew-
shire.

Miss Nevill, who worked most efficiently in personally canvass-
ing east and west St. Pancras, and drove about for days in taking
voters to the poll. The Hon. Mary Henniker founded 13 habi-
tations in Suffolk, and framed the by-laws to suit each locality.
Lady Bolsonn, Lady Pembroke, and Lady Jersey have also been
most successful in their efforts. But it would be impossible here
to mention all the valuable work performed by the ladies of the
League and carried out by their undaunted perseverance, cour-
age, and energy. I cannot resist quoting a few lines from the ad-
dress of Mrs. Fawcett to the students of Bedford College, last
November, who, though opposed in politics, has given a most gen-
erous commendation, to the women of the League.

84 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

" It is an undeniable fact that the Primrose League has done
more to give women the position which has been so long and so
rigidly withheld than any other organization in this or any period
of the world's history. The originators of the movement showed
their judgment and discrimination when they included women in
their ranks, and, so far, I do not think there is one who has
betrayed the confidence reposed in her by showing that she in any
way merits the legal stigma of being classed with lunatics and
that ilk. It is an admitted fact, by friend and foe, that the Prim-
rose League throughout the length and breadth of the land has
rendered the organized help of women in such away as no help
has ever been given before at Parliamentary or municipal elec-
tions. It has been the frank and universal admission of success-
ful Conservative candidates that they have been lifted into Parlia-
ment by the Primrose League/'

I fully believe that a wide future is opening to women. As yet
their capacity has been to a great degree untried ; they have proved
themselves to be endued with quick perception, foresight, energy ;
we know they have shown a great power of devotion, of unselfishness,
of patience under suffering, of calm courage in danger. We know
them to be at once to be the good and bad angels of the opposite
sex, capable alike of inciting them to higher aims, noble ambition,
and lofty aspirations, as they are alike capable of ruining them by
their demoralizing influence. That woman's power is unbounded,
is undeniable. It has been shown in every great movement, re-
ligious or political, since the world began. Let that influence be
turned to some good account. But to make noble women, you
must give them responsibility; they must feel they have a place in
the universe, that their actions are important, that their word is
sacred, that they stand before the world not as mere irresponsible
puppets, but as rational human beings, capable of good and evil,
both in themselves and in influencing others.

I believe that the great faults attributed to woman are the
faults rather of education and of public opinion than of nature.
Had she a more recognized and important position, I fully believe
that the trivialities, the petty jealousies, the spitefulness, the
scandalmongering, the untruthfulness, would all disappear before
the serious work of life.

But while we give to woman the place that is fully her due,
let us not run to the other extreme. Let her not try to emulate

ENGLISH WOMEN AS A POLITICAL FORCE. $5

man in the many qualities he alone possesses ; let her rather try
to excel as woman in all that is most feminine and womanly.
Woman was created to be the complement of man's stronger
qualities, not the rival of his intellect. Their very contrast
should make their strength. Neither is complete without the
other. Let us then work, not only for the good cause, but for
the education of our own better nature.

" Woman's mind, and special gifts, and ways
Should ever join with man's to solve the problems of our days."

ALICE B. BOETHWICK.

THE INTER-STATE RAILWAY SOLVENT.

THE Inter-State Commerce problem does not seem to have ad-
vanced much towards a satisfactory solution, although we have
had what was so long delayed, and what has been all the time es-
sential to its solution, Congressional action. A specific, however,
is not likely to cure a chronic disease, but even if the disease can
be brought to the surface, and present for a time a more aggra-
vated appearance, it may be a step in advance. Faults in the
legislation of this country are not a new thing ; we do not address
ourselves to the application of remedies with the directness of an
absolute government, nor even with that of a popular government
where the people surrender their prerogatives for a time to the
sway of a responsible officer — which is the present characteristic of
Great Britain — but there is a holding back by the party or indi-
viduals of the party in power, and a timidity in action that is un-
favorable to the expression of pronounced and highly intelligent
ideas. Power is held by so slight a tenure with us, not only by a
party, but, presuming the party stays in power, by particular
individuals of the party, that the thing first to do is to hug the
popular sentiment, even though that sentiment be ignorant, mis-
led, and utterly without grasp of the necessity of the situation.
Our statesmanship then does not so much seek to grasp the situ-
ation as the popular interpretation of the situation, and public spirit
ordinarily does not get further than to seek office, and retain it
afterwards. It is natural for a man of ordinary disinterestedness to
believe that he can administer an office to which he aspires equally
well or better than another man, and, having obtained an office,
he feels it is better to make what he regards, perhaps, only a slight
surrender of his best wisdom, rather than to turn over his position
to another; but "the only way into truth is to enact your
insight," and the man who halts and holds back from the expres-
sion of his highest wisdom is not the man to grapple with and

THE INTER-STATE RAILWAY SOLVENT. 87

bring out of confusion a matter intertwined with truth and false-
hood, and with conflicting private and public advantage.

In saying this there may be no special value, but it calls atten-
tion to the unpreparedness of the national legislative mind and
the lack of surrender of that mind to the solution of the railroad
problem, and that it is but natural, consequently, that the country
should grope in getting out of the difficulty.

The administration of railroads has become bone of the bone
and flesh of the flesh of the public affairs of this country, and
these affairs are so public that they no longer admit of a purely
private administration ; and it has been the fault of government
with us that this point has not been foreseen, that it has become
a serious matter before it has been taken up, and, worse than
this, that we are even now destitute of any special wisdom as to
how we should grapple with it.

The present Inter-State Commerce Law does not fairly com-
bine even any two schools of thought in regard to the solu-
tion of the Inter-State railroad problem, and much less is it the
expression of any one school of thought. Nobody, consequently,
supports the law as it now stands with any heartiness. It is sup-
ported because it is a law, because it is the presumed wisdom, or
compromised wisdom, of Congress upon the subject, and it has a
special body of officers, selected with great care by the President,
whose duty it is to see that it is enforced. The main feature of
its passage was that the country wanted something upon the sub-
ject, that it was not best even to leave it over until another Con-
gress, and, in the conflicting ideas, there was a general consensus
to let something go through upon the subject, not very special
reference being had as to what that something might be. Under
this pressure of showing a result, the law fell short of showing
the " average " wisdom of Congress upon the subject. This first
act of " something" having been done, and that something hav-
ing been demonstrated to possess no particular wisdom upon the
subject, the next step to get at is-^what is wisdom upon it ?

In the first place, the force of the law is mostly spent upon
the long and short haul clause, which has not been one of the
burning questions of railroad administration in this country.
The long and short haul clause affects localities, whereas the
chief objection in our railroading is in the aggrandizement of in-
dividuals— the wealth and the power, in railroading and out of it,

38 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

that has come to individuals, that in a measure has changed the
character of our institutions, that has greatly changed the rela-
tive condition of individuals, and that is threatening further
changes of these kinds, and is alarming to the public mind.

This enormous power and wealth to individuals is, first, in the
individual ownership and management of railroads, and, second,
in the control of the business of the country, that has been given
over to other individuals by those controlling the railroads. The
former power comes, stating it in the most succinct form,
through stock manipulation, the latter through freight discrimi-
nation.

In advancing this subject towards a solution, I cannot see
wherein it is not unfortunate that such prominence should have
been given to the long and short haul clause — that is, to locality —
when this is not, and it is not possible that it should be, a national
issue. The extreme aggrandizement of individuals is a national
issue, as the great railroad man, holding his power through
changes of party administration and through a succession of in-
dividuals holding high offices, is more important in the affairs of
the country than one holding any elective office, and this is a,
change of the most extraordinary kind, not of our written, but of
our unwritten constitution. The constitution of no country or
government can be embodied in a state paper for any great length
of time ; the men of one generation cannot lay down the law com-
pletely for the men of another generation, nor can the subtle
changes from one period to another be recognized as changes and
find a formal constitutional record. Each generation has to
govern itself very largely without help from any preceding genera-
tion, and too much and too greatly revered automatic governing
machinery may be an evil. As soon as a man ceases to be alone
he has to be more or less goverened ; this pertains to marriage, to
the family, to private and natural defense and aggrandizement ;
and transportation in the development it has received in the nine-
teenth century is perhaps the chief of these. Transportation in
this country undoubtedly exceeds its importance in any other
country. This is on account of our extent, the promise of
development before us, and the greatly variegated products of the
different parts of the country, making exchange of these
products over great distances of the utmost consequence. The
chief nations of Europe have international affairs, and the preser-

THE INTER-STATE RAILWAY SOLVENT. 89

vation of their own boundaries and autonomies, to develop states-
manship of the first class. We do not have these spurs to states-
manship, and are of the order of people, supposed to be the most
happy order, that has the least history. In this way transporta-
tion becomes for us of this country the greatest subject of our
time. As our government has been constituted since the re-
bellion, its administration has not offered the greatest prizes for
individual ambition, but these have been found in the administra-
tion of the affairs of railroads and other branches of transporta-
tion. This is because the tenure of power is longer, and the
opportunities of individual wealth much greater. The office-
holder may have the shadow of power, but the transportation
magnate has the substance. If, to the holder of high office, there
was the tenure of power such as rules, say, in Great Britain, the
equilibrium of the affairs of this nation would be better, the rail-
road man would be held in check, — he would not weigh so heavily
in courts, Congress, legislatures, lobbies, conventions, caucuses,
and at the polls ; and there awaits us development in one of two
directions — men powerful in office, able to impose a policy and
regimen upon the country, or transportation affairs so passed over
into the affairs of the administration of the relations of one to
another, — become affairs of government, — that the transportation
magnate sinks to the level of the competitive citizen, although he
may be a very rich one, as is now the case with many bankers and
merchants. Unless one of these courses is pursued, our institu-
tions, as they have been known, are substantially at an end. Free
institutions cannot exist with the wealth of the country practi-
cally at the command of irresponsible individuals, as has been the
case since the railroads arrived at their pre-eminence. As I have
cited, this has come through stock manipulation and freight dis-
crimination. It is the old problem of government, whether
individual or national, taking new form : there cannot be two
masters. The individual cannot serve God and Mammon. Our
predecessors could not live on territory part slave and part free,
nor can we live under an oligarchy with unrestrained power for
the absorption of wealth and maintain free institutions. A cur-
sory view of this absorption of wealth shows : 1st, the railroads
"manipulated" into the hands of a comparatively few ; 2d, manu-
facturing, trading, mining, and stock-raising annex businesses to
railroading through discriminations ; 3d, the pockets of Eastern

90 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

land-holders emptied into the pockets of railroad magnates, who
are the chief Western land-holders, by the cheap means of
mechanical transportation East and "West, and the consequent
depreciation of the values of Eastern lands. He who has saved
money by other occupations is likely, sooner or later, to have it
swallowed up by one of these vortexes, as a surplus of money im-
plies some form of investment.

It is the misfortune of the country that a law has been enacted
that overslaughs by diversion of attention the most important
features of railroad administration, discrimination and stock
manipulation ; that has attempted to substitute arbitrary law
where natural law should control, nature having preceded railroads
in establishing favored places by sea, and lake, and river trans-
portation, and that destroys the last result of highly organized
transportation, the railroad federation or pool.

A patient trial of the present law might inhibit the evils of
discrimination and stock manipulation, as the first is positively
forbidden, and the publicity of facts, made obligatory, might in
time root out the latter. But the energies of the Commission, as
the law now stands, with the pressure upon it from the long and
short haul clause, can but imperfectly reach this portion of the
act.

It is impossible to equalize, in points of advantage, all parts of
this country ; and, as nature established the precedent of favor-
ing one locality at the expense of another, it is not reasonable to
expect that, in changing the chief method of transportation from
water to rail, this precedent can be annulled, although the fa-
vored localities may not be entirely the same as they were before.

The pool is an extraordinary convenience at least. With an
uncontrolled private ownership of railroads, it might be a terrible
instrument of oppression, and by rooting out competition, and by
fixing such rates of transportation as it might choose, and direct-
ly, or through its agents, entering upon the business of trading,
as well as transporting (which was at one time the case with the
Standard Oil Company — that company acting as the pool agent
for oil transportation), it might absorb in an extraordinarily short
time the wealth of the country. But the pool with, an intelligent
and honest government supervision takes all complication out of
transportation, and raises its powers to the highest efficiency.

It is possible there may come a time in the affairs of trans-

THE INTER-STATE RAILWAY SOLVENT. 91

portation when there will be more or less regulation regarding
locality, but this is one of the niceties of the question that cannot
be successfully reached while government oversight is in a crude
state. This issue cannot well be national, as the friends of action
for locality (which I repeat is the principle of the long and
short haul) are likely to be arrayed each for his own locality, and
against another locality when specific action comes. The attempt
to treat this, in the present inchoate state of the subject, dis-
appoints the country on the relation of the government to trans-
portation. It makes the judicious grieve, but the magnate of
transportation laugh. And fancy the feelings of a Commissioner,
with discretionary powers, trying to do that which nature never
did, and which no way has yet been invented for finite man to do !

The preponderating fault of the law is that it attempts to do
altogether too much ; it is a nineteenth century bull against the
comet, a Texan steer running amuck in a china shop.

It is grounded first on the idea that the railroad manager must
not be scotched but killed, that there has been no evolution worth
preserving in railroad management, that the whole subject can be
reconstructed on d priori ideas, that railroading in its entirety is
reeking with abuse, and that the true American has not come to
the front in its management.

Speaking more definitely, Mr. Reagan in the House repre-
sented the d priori idea of settling the railroad problem, and was
able to impose his views upon the majority, while Mr. Cullom in
the Senate, with the majority of that body with him, accepted
principles that have been plainly evolved as good ones, and at-
tempted to discriminate against the abuses that have grown up
in the system. Between these forces, neither party yielding to
the other, but both willing to give way that something might be
done without much reference to how intelligent that something
might be, we have the present hotchpotch of a law, which has
resulted in giving the railroads advantages over the public that
they did not possess before.

We have it now demonstrated that one law does not settle the
railroad problem, and, unfortunately, -this law has not put us in
the way to learn much upon the subject, as what it has done more
than anything else is to establish confusion where confusion did
not exist, and divert attention from the true gist of the question.
Under these circumstances, it is not to be expected that the next

92 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Congress will be able to act very wisely ; the subject is vastly too
intricate for ready solution, and all now living and taking an
interest in public affairs are likely to see their course pretty well
advanced before it can be eliminated from a controversial position
in the public mind.

The difficulties of settling the question are congenital, as the
framers of our constitution knew not railroads, and, in looking
into it to see what may be formulated there that applies to them,
there is the greatest room for latitude of opinion. This is unfa-
vorable to the development of knowledge upon the subject, ex-
cept as that is forced by dire experience. The public mind
of the country ignored the whole subject of the relation of
the government to railroads until it was forced by events ; but
now the point is reached that something has to be done, that it is
right to do something, and that to do something is harmonious
with the constitution. We have been getting " judge-made law"
on the subject pretty fast for a few years, and now stand on the
ground, from the federal standpoint, that no state can legislate
on transportation that pertains to two states, and that the federal
government has full power, and exclusive power, on all transpor-
tation from one state to another state. With the volume of our
inter-state commerce, this makes the judicial and legislative field
of the federal government in transportation very large.

Railroad transportation of the country as it pertains to regula-
tion, may be classified as follows :

1st. Railroads that run from state to state.

2d. Commodities and passengers that are moved from state
to state.

3d. Railroads that are located wholly in one state.

4th. Commodities and passengers moved wholly within one
state.

There is no further controversy to take place on the first two
of these propositions, as it is settled in the public mind and in the
courts that the federal authority has exclusive jurisdiction. The
establishment of the federal authority regarding the second
proposition also establishes it in a measure regarding the third
proposition, as a railroad located wholly in one state participates
in moving commodities from one state to another, and this
brings it in a measure under the domain of the federal authority.
But is it reasonable, practicable, and in the line of efficient

THE INTER-STATE RAILWAY SOLVENT. 93

regulation to let it stop here ? It is a nice division in the
business of a railroad to know what is state and what is inter-state,
almost too nice to follow with exactness for practical results. A
railroad participates in inter-state commerce ; it sells tickets to
passengers that are good over its line and over lines in other states ;
it honors tickets in the same way held by passengers coming from
other states, and the same principle is true regarding the move-
ment of commodities. It is too much of an abstraction to draw a
line and say, the part of the business of the railroad that is done
wholly in one state the authority of the federal government in no
way relates to and cannot touch. The fact that the railroad par-
ticipates in the national and federal business at all — is an instru-
ment of inter-state commerce — is sufficient to make it amenable
in all its business to the national and federal law. The adoption
of this principle would not include the railroads of municipalities,
the ordinary street car lines, where no recognition is taken of a
passenger's destination or whence he comes.

But it is desirable in this country to localize the exercise of
authority as much as possible, to distribute it among the various
states. And this is specially true regarding neighboring citizens
and corporations. Let the federal law on the subject be so framed
that a state law, made in harmony with and to carry out the same
provisions as those of the federal law shall have jurisdiction,
within the territory of that state, and if a state does not legislate
to this effect the federal law to be supreme. This would give to
each state the option to do for its own citizens what otherwise the
federal law would do : it would establish uniformity of law re-
garding railroad transportation throughout the country, and at
the same time it would maintain the local jurisdiction of each
state, unless it voluntarily surrenders it.

C. WELCH.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE AUTHORSHIP OP THE GLACIAL THEORY.

FIFTY years have now elapsed since the glacial theory was first formulated
and promulgated. This brilliant scientific conception is commonly supposed to
have originated with the Swiss savant, Louis Agassiz ; but Dr. Otto Volger, in" a
recent paper published in the Allgemeine Zeitung, of Munich (February 17th and
18th), affirms and clearly proves that Agassiz borrowed this idea from Karl
Schimper, and that he was not only fully conscious of this indebtedness, but also
most carefully concealed it. In the interests of truth and justice, and as a matter
of scientific history, it certainly seems desirable that the facts in the case should
be presented to the English-reading public.

Karl Schimper, eminent as a botanist, and esteemed as a poet, was born in
Mannheim, February 15th, 1803. From 1836 to 1829, he pursued his studies at
the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich, in intimate daily association with
Agassiz and Alexander Braun, and made, during this period, several original and
exceedingly important contributions to the morphology of plants. In recognition
of his discoveries, and for the purpose of facilitating the further prosecution ot
his scientific researches, he received a small annual stipend from the Bavarian
Academy of Sciences, which, by enabling him to make frequent excursions among
the Bavarian and Tyrolese Alps, turned his attention more and more to geognostic
investigations. Gradually his interest in mountain flora was overshadowed by
the curiosity excited in him by the gigantic bowlders, near which it grew, and he
was led irresistibly to inquire as to the nature and origin of these exotic and
erratic blocks. As a botanist, he was first attracted to them by the foreign
character of the lichens and mosses, which he found growing upon the bowlders
scattered over the Bavarian plains. He continued these observations for several
years, and "finally embodied the results in a course of lectures, delivered at Munich,
in the winter of 1835-36.

In these lectures, Schimper not only unfolded the main features of the glacial
theory, but he also seems to have anticipated Mr. Croll in attributing the glacial
epoch to astronomical influence*, which produced an alternation of "cosmic
summers and cosmic winters." According to the Bavarian Privy Councilor, the
late Gustav von Bezold, who attended and took notes of these lectures, Schimper
proved conclusively that the erratic blocks of granite, or so-called " foundlings,"
had been transported to their present position, not by water, as had been hitherto
supposed, but by the agency of ice, masses of which, several thousand feet thick,
once covered all Europe. He also expressly stated that it was due to this method
of transportation that the alluvion and drift did not fill up the lakes and the
valleys, which would have been the case with diluvial deposits of detritus.

In July, 1836, Schimper was present at a meeting of Swiss naturalists in

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 95

Solothurn, where he made the acquaintance of Charpentier and Hugi, with whom
he discussed the glacial theory. Agassiz was also there, but showed no interest in
this subject, being wholly absorbed in fossil fishes, echinoderms, and mollusks. At
this time Schimper investigated the glacial phenomena on the slopes of the Jura
and in the Black Forest, where he discovered unmistakable traces of glacial
action. Iii September of the same year he visited Charpentier at Bex, where he
remained till December. On his arrival, he found Agassiz already there, who,
however, had come, not for the purpose of studying glaciers, as is stated in his
biography (p. 261), but solely for the sake of examining Charpen tier's fine collec-
tion of fossil fishes and shells. He listened to the conversation of the two friends,
but took little or no part in it, and only once accompanied them, with his brother-
in-law, Francillon, on an excursion conducted by Schimper, to the Col de Balme
and the Trient Glacier.

On the 16th of December Schimper arrived at Neuchatel, and on the 19th dis-
covered the famous glacier marks near Landeron, in the chalk rocks of the Jura.
Agassiz, to whom he communicated this discovery, now showed the liveliest inter-
est in it, as well as in the general doctrine of a great glacial epoch, towards which
he had hitherto maintained a decidedly skeptical attitude. His constant inter-
course with Schimper, who imparted the results of his daily researches without re-
serve, kindled in him an ardent enthusiasm for this subject, and ha resolved to
present it to his fellow-citizens of Neuchatel in a series of public lectures, which
were accordingly announced in the Courrier NeuchAtelois for January 24th, 1837.

In order to cany out this purpose more successfully Agassiz requested
Schimper to let him have the manuscript of the lectures, which the latter had,
as already stated, delivered in Munich a year before. But as Schimper was.
unable to procure this manuscript, owing to the fact that it was locked up in his
room at Munich, he wrote to Gustav Bezold, a former pupil, to send with all possi-
ble haste the notes which he had taken of the aforementioned lectures. These
notes were received in January, and early in February Agassiz began his course
of lectures, and continued them at foe rate of five a week uutil the beginning of
March. But in the very first lecture Agassiz betrayed so great ignorance of the
subject and made so many blunders, especially concerning the nature an! consti-
tution of ice, that Schimper generously offered to aid him henceforth in the
preparation of each lecture, and this offer was gratefully accepted. Schimper
also wrote an ode entitled " Die Eiszeit. Fiir Freunde gedruckt am Geburtstage
Galilei's, 1 837 " (The Ice Period . Printed for Friends on Galilei's Birthday, 1 837) ,
which Agassiz distributed among his auditors. It was signed " Dr. K. P.
Schimper," and dated "Neuchaiel, February 15th, 1837." Here the word
" Eiszeit " appears for the first time in print, and the date of Schimper's ode is,
therefore, regarded by Dr. Volger as the nativity of the glacial theory, although it
was really born into the scientific world a twelve-month earlier.

It was perfectly natural that the people of Neuchatel should have looked upon
their distinguished townsman as the author of the strange and striking theory
which he promulgated. The local newspapers gave him the full credit of it and
probably had not the slightest conception of Shimper's real and originary connection
with it. At any rate, it was more pleasing to the proverbially provincial spirit of
the Swiss and the cantonal conceit of the Neuch&teles, already restive under
Prussian domination, to think that " our A^ass'z" should explain tha cosmic sig-
nificance of " our glaciers," than that they should be indebted to a foreigner for
the interpretation of their familiar phenomena.

In the summer of 1837, the twenty-second session of the " Helvetic Society of
Natural Sciences " was held at NeuchAtel. As Schimper was then in Karlsruhe

96 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and unable to be present at the meeting of the association, he wrote to Agassiz,
urging him as a brother (Schimper was betrothed to a sister of Agassiz's first wife)
to bring the glacial theory before the assemble') savants, in his stead, and to
make use of the fit opportunity afforded to secure the scientific recognition of this
" immensely important truth." My discovery, he adds, has already been to me
the source of much annoyance, since it offends the inveterate prejudices of neptu-
nists and plutonists alike, and runs counter to the traditional " unbiological notion
of a merely mechanically progressive diminution of the earth's temperature." He
also refers to some glacial phenomena in the vicinity of Neuch£tel, to which the
Helvetic Society should be conducted, and gives the necessary instructions. In
view of this letter, the greater part of which is published in the " Actes de la So-
ciete Helvetique des Sciences Naturelles, Neuch&tel, 1837," no one can doubt, says
Dr. Volger, " who was the teacher, and who the pupil."

A comparison of the "Discourspreliminaire," with which Agassiz, as President
of the Helvetic Society is said to have " startled" his auditors, shows how greatly
he was indebted to Schimper's communication in the preparation of this address,
as it appears in the printed proceedings. He speaks of his exposition of the glacial
theory as a " fusion of his views with those of Mr. Schimper ;" and it is clear
that where he does not follow Schimper, he usually errs, as, for example, when he
asserts that the transportation of bowlders by glaciers was due to a gliding or slid-
ing motion on an inclined plane produced by the upheaval of the Alps. Indeed, Dr.
Volger declares that Agassiz, notwithstanding all his; later glacial investigations,
never acquired a knowledge of ice and its peculiar energies. In his preliminary
discourse he passes over points which he could not explain, with the phrase,
" Comme Us sont en partis connus,je ne m'y arrete pas ;" adding " M. Schimper
a fait un beau travail sur les effets de la glace, auquelje renverrais mes lecteurs,
s't7 etait public1." The rage of Leopold von Buch, mentioned in Mrs. Agassiz's
biography of her husband (p. 264), was directed against Schimper, as the real
author of the mischief, if we are to believe the account of the affair given shortly
afterwards by Agassiz himself to Schimper in Karlsruhe.

But whatever glory emanated from the new doctrine haloed round the brow of
Agassiz as its public expounder, and naturally enough he soon grew fond of the
easily- won fame. The nimbus of the saint is a covetable head-gear, provided one is
not compelled to win it by the thorny crown of martyrdom. It would seem as
though Agassiz had so often heard it said that he was the originator of the glacial
theory, that he finally began to believe it himself. At this time a certain tension
becomes apparent in the personal relations of the two friends. Schimper wrote
to Agassiz calling his attention to the fact that the press uniformly attributed to
him the theory of a glacial epoch, and earnestly entreating him not to consent
by silence to this wrong, but to publish fully and frankly the true state of the
case. To this reasonable request Agassiz replied, October 23d, 1837, in a somewhat
lofty manner, that he neither read the newspapers nor had anything to do with
their contents, butthat in the official report of the society's proceedings everything
would have its due place.

In his "Etudes sur les Glaciers" (published in 1840), Agassiz does not make
the slightest allusion to Schimper ; and in a letter to Alexander Braun, ac-
companying a presentation copy of this work, he remarks : " You need not won-
der that Schimper's name is no where mentioned. I wished thus to punish his
presumption. Whatever he could call his own, in the remotest degree, I have
passed over, even when I was compelled to agree with him." Wherein consisted
this " presumption," which Agassiz wished to punish by a policy of utterly
ignoring: the achievements of a colleague, in a manner which, in the interests of

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 97

true learning and to the honor of human nature, one would gladly think is rare in
the annals of scientific research ? Merely in the modest expression of a desire to
have his name publicly mentioned in connection with a. theory, of which, as is
now clearly shown, he was the real and only author.

Schimper urged Braun, who was fully cognizant of the facts, to uphold him in
the defense of his rights. But Braun declined to take part in the controversy, on the
ground that he * ' could not approve of the angry attitude of the two friends. " Nev-
ertheless, in a letter addressed to Professor Roper, of Rostock, and dated February
22d, 1840, he refers to the glacial theory and declares that "Agassiz and Charpen-
tier, who are now doing most in this matter, are both Schimper's pupils."

Schimper died at Schwetzingen, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, December 31st,
1867. At Munich he was the favorite pupil of Schelling, who predicted a brilliant
future for him. That his subsequent career did not fully realize the promise of his
youth was due partly to a certain idealistic indifference to worldly emoluments,
but, in a great measure, to the persistent enmity of Leopold von Buch, who could not
forgive the young botanist for having introduced into geology a new ice-epoch-mak-
ing idea, of which he, the veteran geognost, had never dreamed. There is a grim
irony in the fate, which, on the one hand, robbed him of the honor of being recog-
nized as the originator of the theory, for which, on the other hand, he appears to
have suffered no little persecution.

The ignoring policy which Agassiz inaugurated in his first work on glaciers,
he pursued to the bitter end. In the recently published " Life and Correspond-
ence," edited by Mrs. Agassiz, Schimper is mentioned about half a dozen times. He
is spoken of as a "most congenial companion," "a young botanist of brilliant
promise," and is playfully referred to as " our professor of philosophy ;" but there
is no intimation that he ever saw a glacier, or took the slightest interest in glacial
phenomena.

Dr. Volger's article, of which we have given an abstract, has already attracted
considearble attention among scientific men in Germany, and, unless its statements
can be refuted, will seriously injure the reputation of Agassiz as a savant, and
leave an indelible stain upon his character as a man.

E. P. EVANS.
II.

IRISH AID IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

WITH one glance at Faneuil Hall, and the Irish " love of liberty " that would
prevent Englishmen from using it in polite and harmless celebration of " Queen
Victoria's Jubilee," peimit me to correct the public misapprehension that the
Irish were of any great and special service to this republic of ours, in the days of
the Resolution. Among Irish-Americans and the politicians who court their
votes, the claim of such service usually comes up at public meetings about
as follows :

"111 would it become us to turn a deaf ear to the cry of suffering Ireland when we
remember how, in the hour of our own travail— in the hour when our own country was
coming into the world amid roar of cannon and groans of anguish — it was Ireland that
held out to us the hand ot fellowship, etc., etc."

Those who read the papers doubtless remember many orations framed upon
this model. Sometimes the speaker goes farther, and attempts to particularize ;
and then we see something like the recent effort of a Massachusetts statesman and
ex -governor who, in recounting the benefits received, says : " She sent us Mont-
gomery ! and also remarks with unconscious humor, " Remember the memorial
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 368. 7

98 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

which Congress addressed to Ireland !" He does not give Ireland's response, but
leaves us to believe that a beggar is indebted to him he asks for alms, even though
no alms be forthcoming.

Now, let us look, first, at the individual cases of prominent Irishmen in the
Revolution.

There were soldiers of fortune from almost every country in Europe, who
thronged to the revolutionary army, even to the extent that Congress was seri-
ously embarrassed to provide offices for a host of applicants who looked for
nothing less than major- generalships and separate commands. Among these there
were doubtless Irishmen, but, unfortunately for the force of the demagogues' plea,
we do not find that our Irish auxiliaries were unmitigated blessings. They cannot
point to a single name like Lafayette, Kosciusko, Pulaski, or Steuben ; but there
was Conway, whose restless, scheming spirit, and selfish treachery, well nigh im-
periled the cause of liberty, and whose conspiracy to degrade Washington, to
drive him from the service with a blackened reputation and to install the shallow
Gates as commander-in-chief of the American army is registered in history as
" Conway's Cabal." Fortunately the attempt failed.

I do not include the name of Richard Montgomery, the name that is most of ten
quoted by the Irish panegyrist — first, because he did not come here to assist us,
but was a resident in the colonies before the war broke out, and second, because,
though born on Irish soil, he was certainly not an Irishman. His name alone dis-
closes his Scotch lineage, and, as a matter of fact, he was a descendant of one of
Cromwell's settlers — one of that class upon whom the vials of Irish wrath are ever
emptied, and who, as Macauley informs us, would resent the name " Irish" as a
deadly insult.

I must be pardoned for mentioning, also, the historical circumstance that the
soldier who, for an English bribe, undertook to poison George Washington, was
an Irishman. But I have no wish to dwell on this part of the subject. It is not
just to charge the acts of isolated individuals against their race, any more than it
is just to credit to the race the virtues of stray individuals.

And now for a few hard facts which really bear upon the issue, — only a few
out of many, but enough to explode forever the fiction of American indebtedness
to Ireland on the score of revolutionary succor.

In the first place, as to the disposition of the rank and file of Irish immigrants,
I quote from Bancroft's " History of the United States," Vol. X., page 175 (first
octavo edition) :

" While it was no longer possible for the Americans to keep up their army by enlist-
ments, the British gained numerous recruits from immigrants. In Philadelphia, Howe
had formed a regiment of Roman Catholics. With still better success, Clinton courted
the Irish. Tbey had fled from the prosecutions of inexorable landlords to a country
which offered them freeholds. By flattering their nationality, and their sense of the
importance attached to their numbers, Clinton allured them to a combination directly
averse to their own interests, and raised for Lord Rawdon a large regiment, in which
officers and men were exclusively Irish. Among them were nearly five hundred desert-
•ersfrom the American army."

The italics are mine.

So much for the spirit of the Irish immigrants.

Now let us see about the sympathy of the Irish in Ireland.

In 1779 the Spanish government, then at war with England, sent an emissary,
a Catholic priest, to see what could be done in the way of creating a diversion in
Ireland to aid the cause of the allies in Europe and America. Bancroft speaks of
Iris mission as follows :

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 99

" He could have no success. After the first shedding of American blood in 1775, one
hundred and twenty-one Irish Catholics, having indeed no formal representative author-
ity, jet professing to speak not for themselves only, but ' for all their fellow Roman
Catholic Irish subjects,' had addressed the English Secretary in Ireland, ' in proof of
their grateful attachment to the best of kings, and their just abhorrence of the unnat-
•wal American rebellion,'' and had "made a tender of two millions of faithful and
affectionate hearts and hands in defense of his person and government in any part of
the world.' "

The italics are again my own. My references are Bancroft's " History," Vol.
X., page 252, and Froude's, " The English in Ireland," Vol. II., page 176.

Now turn to Ireland as represented in her Parliament ; for she had a Parlia-
ment of her own then. I quote again from Bancroft, Vol. X., page 453.

*' When the tidings from Lexington and Bunker Hill reached them (the Irish), their
Parliament came to a vote that ' they heard of the rebellion with abhorrence, and were
ready to show to the world their attachment to the sacred person of the King.' Taking
advantage of its eminently loyal disposition, Lord North obtained its leave to employ
four thousand men of the Irish army for service in America. That army should by law
have consisted of twelve thousand men ; but it mustered scarcely more than nine thou-
sand. Out of these the strongest and best, without regard to the prescribed limitation
of numbers, were selected, and eight regiments, all that could be formed, were shipped
across the Atlantic."

This, it may be said, was the act of the Irish Parliament as a whole. But to
close the last loophole of doubt, let us examine the position taken by the Irish
patriots, with Henry Grattan at their head. Bancroft again says, on page 454 :

" When, in 1778, it appeared how much the commissioners sent to America had
been willing to concede to insurgents for the sake of reconciliation, the patriots of Ire-
land awoke to a sense of what they might demand. ... At the opening of the ses-
sion of October, 1779, Grattan moved an amendment to the address, that the nation
could be saved only by free export and free import, or according to the terser words that
were finally chosen, by free trade. The friends of government dared not resist the
amendment and it was carried unanimously. New taxes were refused. The ordinary
supplies, usually granted for two years, were granted for six months. The house was
in earnest, the people were in earnest. . . . Great Britain being already taxed to the
uttermost by its conflict with America, Lord North persuaded its Parliament to concede
the claims of the neighboring island to commercial equality."

Here we have the patriot party of Ireland signalizing the American revolu-
tion, not by sympathy, not by aid, but making use of the occasion for obtaining
advantages for themselves in return for the resources they furnished England to
help suppress the cause of American independence ! Comment is entirely unneces-
sary ; and, while, perhaps, we should not blame them, under the circumstances,
for the course they took, yet when they claim our gratitude for it, they exhibit an
ignorance or an impudence for which they should occasionally, at least, be
snubbed. There may have been isolated instances of Irish sympathy with
"the spirit of '76," which I have been unable to discover; but it would
require a long list of them to weigh much against the recorded facts. Let
us hear somewhat less of this " debt to Ireland," save, of course, from the
lips of the Irish agitator or American demagogue. By giving to the Irishman or
German praise which has not been earned, we belittle the gratitude which we do
owe to one and only one European race, for aiding our American Revolution. To
France as a nation, and to the French as individuals, we are deeply indebted ; and
those who, for political capital, harp other names and display other flags, should
remember that by so doing they insult the country to which America owes
most, but whose citizens are not here in sufficient numbers to incite the politician
to defend their merits. DUFFIELD OSBORNE.

100 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

III.

THE SISTER OF THE DRAMA.

PERMIT me to offer a few objections to Mr. Boucicault's interesting article in
your April number, and correct some inaccuracies of statement. The torm of
drama called opera was invented nearly 300 years ago, instead of 200, as he says.
As early as 1594 Peri composed an opera, and in 1600 the work was published and
performed in honor of Maria Medici and Henry the 4th of France. Conceding
the point, that opera is not a drama in the realistic sense in which Mr. Boucicault
so amusingly represents it, to those who have been thrilled and delighted by the
indescribable power of song, enhanced with the adjuncts of chorus and orchestra,
it would seern more appropriate to say that opera is not a drama any more than
an angel is a woman.

Opera is essentially an idealization of the drama. No character can remain
on the plane of reality in lyric works. It is unnatural for Romeo and Juliet to
sing their thoughts of love even, and from a realistic (dramatic) standpoint silly
for the nurse, Mercutio, and the rest of them to utter their ideas in sustained
tones ; yet a serenade introduced for the one, and a comic song for the other,
would be perfectly proper and logical. For this reason it is necessary that oper-
atic subjects should be ideals rather than realities. For this reason the masters
chose always classic subjects, Orpheus, Iphegenia, etc., characters of fable suffi-
ciently unreal to wear with grace the garments of music. It is not more absurd
for your neighbor Jones to go about chanting, " How do you do this morning,
sir ?" "What's the price of stocks ?" etc., than it would be to appear on change
wrapped in a Roman toga with a laurel wreath on his brow.

Therefore, I do not wonder at Mr. Boucicault's disgust at the dramatic incon-
sistencies in Sir Julius Benedict's treatment of his "Rose of Killarney." But, in
spite of these inconsistencies and monstrous absurdities, let me draw attention to
some facts which seem to have escaped his notice. w

In the first place, his operatic experiences have been of an era dating nearly
fifty years back. No doubt his own activity on the boards has prevented him from
attending many more modern works, and thus much has escaped his attention
which I doubt not he would have enjoyed, even from a dramatic standpoint. To
prove that musical treatment of a dramatic work may be successful, let me remind
him that Gounod's opera, "Faust," has driven Goethe's drama of the same name off
the stage. Here the characters were ideal, and the French master's inspiration
clothed them with a charm and beauty that the drama itself could not have repre-
sented. Even so realistic a subject as the troubadour, " II Trovatore," has been
given a vital strength of enduring impressiveness which, it seems to me, no drama
on the same subject could have sustained.

And who that has witnessed the mental agonies of the king's jester m " Rigo-
letto," when performed by a good actor and singer like G-alassi, has not felt a
sympathy as deep, if not so horrible, as when the "Foci's Revenge" is enacted even
by Booth ?

Again, Wagner, in his operas, the "Flying Dutchman" but more especially
in " Lohengrin," has given a happy wedding of ideal characters in action, with
music that dees not offend the sense of logic, while it transforms them to the dig-
nity of demi-gods, and lifts the listeners into a lofty realm of emotion where
speech is awed into silence, and thought is merged into adoration and ecstasy.
Of the thousands who have been uplifted and transfused with these divine inspi-
rations, you will find few to admit that opera is a thing of the past, " evanescent,"
an "exotic," etc.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 101

Dramatists use music as a valuable adornment to add charms to their crea-
tions. Musicians use the drama for the sake of giving them greater opportunities
for power and variety. The power and enduring qualities of music are best shown
when it is remembered that for generations a " Don Juan," by Mozart, with its
utterly inane libretto, can remain attractive. And so, if it be true that our oper-
atic artists are not histrionic geniuses, it is equally true that the librettos usually
call for little acting. And the same pieces presented by the best actors in the
world without music would not attract any one at all. So, if it be true that many
vocal artists might find no place as juvenile tragedians or leading ladies, should
they loose their voices, it is equally true that your actors appearing in " Lucia,"
" Carmen," or other operas without music, would fare as badly. I also deny the
implied inferior histrionic abilities of Gerster, Patti, Lucca. Nilsson, Hastreiter,
Hauk, Brandt, and other singers, as compared to Miss Terry, Ada Rehan, and
others, whose talents grace the dramatic arena. If these singers should lose their
vocal art, I believe there is not one but could, if she chose, appear with advan-
tage in the drama. If in opera they appear at a disadvantage, it is because the
opportunity is not offered to demonstrate their talent in that direction, and not
because of lack of histrionic power.

Who that has seen Marianne Brandt in the " Prophet," " Fidelio," and u Lo-
hengrin," can deny her wonderful dramatic power ? And did not Madame Has-
treiter present a consummate characterization of Ortrud, the embodiment of hatred,
hypocrisy, and revenge ?

The sextette of " Lucia," of which Mr. Boucicault speaks in such (logically
just) ridicule, I have never yet heard given without its moving audiences to enthu-
siasm ; and who that has witnessed a Lucca as Marguerite, a Nilsson as Valentine,
in the u Huguenots," and the matchless Patti in " Traviata," would deny that they
were actresses as well as singers f

Again, the opera is not dependent upon government support abroad any more
than the drama, and in Italy it is self-supporting. That music is an art continually
changing is true. The music of the seventeenth century is not the music of the
nineteenth. Our day has absorbed the best of the past. But turning to the drama,
does not the same picture present itself ? Where is Boccaccio, where Katzebue,
Congreve and others ? Perhaps no writer of plays knows as well as Mr. Bouci-
cault himself where the best of these authors may be found in modern dramas, for
no doubt he is conscious of having assimilated much in his own works.

Music is the youngest of the arts, poetry the oldest ; yet the spirit of transmi-
gration is shown even in poetry. For is not Homer a compilation of various men's
recitations ; .^sop's fables a collection of stories of many generations' filter-
ings of wisdom ; and does not Dante absorb and reiterate the gloomy supersti-
tions and bigotries of hundreds of mediaeval fanatics ? At the present day there
is not found in England a single theatre where Shaksp3re's immortal works can
be seen and heard, and the waves of but two centuries have washed the tablets of
his soul's deep thought-carvings. How long will the process of disintegration of
this greatest combination of mortal talents be retarded ? At the most but a cen-
tury ; for it is in nature that the centuries devour each other and reproduce in
some new form their vital qualities.

If this is true of the oldest of the arts, with a definite speech to aid in crystal-
lizing it for enduring, is it strange that change should be written on the face of
music, yet a child in the family of the true and baautiful ? Permit me to remind
Mr. Boucicault that despite this apparent fickle character of music, the Grego-
rian chants have been sung for more than a thousand years. The Hallelujah, still
sung in the Jewish synagogues, is thousands of years old. The music of Paleetrina

102 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

is yet in vogue in the church service. Thus it would seem that the " divine art "
possessed a vital individuality almost equal to that of its older sister.

But the power of music in connection with the drama has asserted itself in
spite of logical absurdities, and while it is true that it appeals in these instances to
the senses rather than to the intellect, it is not that the opera is appreciated
by the illiterate masses as compared with the educated classes ; for music is a
matter of special cultivation. Only a small minority are usually found who enjoy
it in the higher forms, such as oratorio, opera, and symphony. To the many
educated thousands who recognize the adage that " fiction hath in it a higher aim
than fact," Mr. B. will appeal in vain for the destruction of opera. For while
admitting the service and power, not alone for entertaining, but of instructing
and improving the mind, of the drama, I must claim that music hath in it a higher
aim than realism, an aim which tints our sorrow-clouds with golden sunlight of
hope, gives joy wings to soar above mundane things, aud lifts the soul in inexpress-
ible adoration before the Creator of the Universe.

S. GK PRATT.

IV.

MOBLEY ON EMERSON.

THE essay on Emerson by Mr. John Morley is read with extreme pleasure, be-
cause one feels that, although the writer's views of the world differ fundamentally
from those of Emerson, he yet endeavors to render the fullest justice. Therefore,
it is that, when he seems inadequately to interpret our seer, the impulse arises to
set the matter right. I find Mr. Morley at fault when he views Emerson's solution
of the great problem of individual deprivation. I will quote his words:

" One radical tragedy in nature Emerson admits. If I am poor in faculty, dim
in vision, shut out from opportunity, in every sense an outcast from the inheritance
of the earth, that seems indeed to be a tragedy. ' But see the facts clearly and these
mountainous inequalities vanish. Love reduces them, as the sun melts the icebergs
in the sea. The heart and soul of all men being one, this bitterness of His and Mine
ceases. His is mine. ' Surely words, words, words 1 What can be more idle, when one
of the world's bitter puzzles is pressed on the teacher, than that he should betake
himself to an attitude whence it is not visible, and then assure us that it is not only
invisible, but non-existent ? This is not to see the facts clearly, but to pour the fumes
of obscuration around them."

But what are the " facts ?" A person who is blind, for instance, through the
loving devotion of another, receives so much he may almost be said to have gained
his sight. It is the constant effort on the part of the good to equalize conditions.
The causes of deprivation, whether of body, mind, or environment, are being in-
vestigated to the intent that they be removed. In those few terse words of
Emerson, where he speaks of "love" and the "inequalities" that "vanish," he
suggests the process whereby men are to become equal partakers of their inherit-
ance—are becoming so, in fact. Who can look around him and see the work being
done for the amelioration of the less-favored, and not declare that Emerson truly
answered the problem ? Every new discovery of science that can be turned into
this channel of help is so turned, and so each decade sees the problem lessened in a
wonderful ratio. The larger share of humanity's woe and loss seems to have been
the result of man's own iafliction ; it only remains for man to undo his work.

The words quoted from Emerson by Mr. Morley were from the essay on
Compensation. In another, on " Heroism," Emerson shows how the puzzle, when
the threads are untangled, proves to be of the eternal law of debit and credit, and

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 103

hence what had been seen to be incredible, as connected with a moral system of
things, is yet justified :

" A lockjaw that bends a man's head back to his heels ; hydrophobia that
makes him bark at his wife and babes ; insanity that makes him eat grass ; war,
plague, cholera, famine, indicate a certain ferocity in nature, which, as it had its
inlet by human crime, must have its outlet by human suffering. Unhappily, no
man exists who has not in his own person become, to some extent, a stockholder in
the sin, and so made himself liable to a share in the expiation."

A. M. GANNETT.

V.

"THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION."

MANY, who are neither the friends nor legal champions of the New York
Aldermen or Chicago Anarchists, do not consider it one of the " admitted duties "
of the press to arraign upon rumor, try on heresay evidence, and pass judgmen
upon one charged with a crime. The arrogant assumption of such a tribunal is
equaled only by the futility of its attempts. It is commonly supposed that
courts, juries, and counsel constitute the proper tribunal ordained by the people
for the trial of alleged criminals. It has remained for the author of the " Court
of Public Opinion " to assume that such is not the case, and that the machinery of
justice exists merely for the purpose of automatically registering the prejudiced
decision 'of a self -constituted tribunal. And woe betide the daring lawyer who
attempts the defense of one against whom the judgment of this august tribunal
has been passed. A trial court whose judgment is infallible, and from whose
decision no appeal lies, is a very unsafe tribunal for the people of this country to
adopt.

It matters not how heinous the offense charged, or how degraded the offender,
no circumstances can alter the unalterable rule that it is the sole and exclusive prov-
ince of court, jury, and counsel, to conduct the trial of alleged criminals, and reach
a decision. Any attempted interference with the exercise of these duties by the press
is presumptuous, unwarrantable, and often productive of a great wrong. Many
egregious blunders made by this " infallible " court might be cited, but one will
suffice for the present purpose. In the summer of 1883, Mrs. Carlton, of Boston,
was brutally murdered, and Roger Amero was charged with the crime, extradi-
tion proceedings were instituted to bring the accused from Nova Scotia. The
justice before whom the proceedings were held was of the opinion that the
evidence was insufficient, but yielded to the force of public opinion and
the clamor of the press. Amero was taken to Boston and imprisoned. For
days the columns of the press teemed with "evidence" against the accused,
the shrewdness of the detectives was praised, and the speedy conviction and
execution of the accused demanded. After a six months imprisonment Amero was
released upon the statement of the prosecuting attorney that there was no evidence
upon which a trial, much less a conviction, could be had. Then the opinion of the
"infallible" court was reversed, and so great was the sense of the wrong committed
against the accused, that a bill for compensation to him was introduced in the legis-
lature, and barely defeated upon the sole ground that it would be a bad precedent.

And this is not a solitary instance. Let the press keep to its own well defined
province, and leave the trial of alleged criminals to the tribunals ordained by the
people, although they lay no claim to infallibility.

WALLACE F. CAMPBELL.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

IT is a patriotic duty, as well as one consistent with the best literary ethics, to
recognize attempts in fiction towards giving American life that halo of romance
and picturesqueness which the old world owes to the poets and novelists. The
great Sir Walter has made all aliens love Scottish moors and crags, and London
has a glamor over it, due to the romancing of Thackeray, Dickens, and even Ains-
worth. We welcome, then, with pleasure, two recent American novels,* "The
Yoke of theThorah" and "The Story of a New York House." Mr. Sydney
Luska, author of the first, has produced a new flavor in American literature
by describing certain phases of Jewish life in New York. " As It Was Written "
was his first effort in this line. " The Yoke of the Thorah " is a distinct advance.
Mr. Luska has worked, notably in his description of the Koch household, a vein
of humor which is without bitterness ; it admirably relieves the sombreness of
Elias Bacharach's sombre love story. The young Jewish artist, bred under Talmu-
dic influences, which, in spite of the corrective action of energetic, materialistic
New York life, have a strong grip on his mind, is a personage requiring strength,
as well as subtleness of touch, to prevent him from seeming mock heroic or melo-
dramatic. Eh' as, amid scenes of realism that throw Mr. Ho well's dainty touches
into the shade, falls in love with a young New York girl, ' ' a graduate of the Normal
School." He resolves to marry her. His uncle, a rabbi, threatens him with the
curse of that unwritten law, whose yoke Elias, with all other orthodox
Jewish youth , has undertaken to bear. He asks his uncle what is the most accursed
crime under the Thorah . "To marry a Goy , " the rabbi answers, and then quotes the
blood-freezing curses called down by the orthodox on the heads of those who
break the law. Elias is moved by the superstitions of his childhood, and the
author wisely provides that he shall wander through Central Park on the day of
the wedding in a rain-storm : the epileptic fit which strikes him at the most impor-
tant'part of the ceremony would otherwise have been too much of a coup de thedtre.
He is persuaded by the rabbi to jilt the " Goy " — by which name all who are not
of the Jewish creed are known to the very orthodox. He marries a commonplace
and characteristic Jewess, attempts to go back to his old love, and dies one of the
most pathetic deaths ever described with a few simple touches in a novel. Union
Square and other parts of New York are struck by Mr. Luska with a ray or two
of that " light that never was on sea or land," and Bacharach and Christine Red-
wood will always be connected with Steinway Hall, and Delmonico's with the little
supper, after the concert, when Bacharach began to love this "daughter of Heth "
and ate of the unclean meal, to the rabbi's displeasure. Mr. Luska's style smacks of
American argot at times. A man who will write " swallowtail" for evening coat

* " The Yoke of the Thorah." By Sydney Luska. New York : Cassell & Co. " The
Story of a New York House." By H. C. Bunner. New York : Charles Scribner.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE. 1Q5

seems almost capable of writing " gent." But the author of a good strong study
of American life, written as if we had a vitalitj' of our own, may be indulged in
some eccentricities, when they are not affectations, and Mr. Luska has no affecta-
tions. Mr. Bunner, who writes ' ' The Story of a New York House," is more civilized,
iLore sophisticated than Mr. Luska. He has an exquisite sense of form and the
truest artistic reticence. In fact, he keeps his story in so low a key that any burst
of sound, such as the appearance of the prodigal son in chase of a runaway slave,
and the death of old Mr. Dolph, seem almost too melodramatic. Mr. Bunner's
story is true of many New York houses, in which the children of the old world
now swarm, ignorant of the moving and pathetic histories of the past. It is
much better in every sense, and certainly less artificial, than Mr. Bunner's earlier
story, " The Midge." Here we have two genuine American novelists growing in
strength before our eyes. And now that the " international school" has gone out
of fashion, let us hope that fresh, frank, and careful presentments of American
life, which is so complex and picturesque, may come in.

* Miss Bayle is elevated to the position of a heroine of romance because she is
represented to be a girl of that class which the average Englishman has learned
from the novelists to consider typical of America. She is simply a pert and vulgar
creature, entirely in keeping with the English and American sets in which she
moves. It is a cheap trick to array a set of dummies and call them " Jay Gould,"
the " Prince of Wales," and other noted and notorious names, and the author of
"Miss Bayle's Romance " plays it very clumsily. He is not a good master of
marionettes.

Mr. Grilmore's biography of John Sevier,t the patriotic founder and ruler of the
State of Tennessee, contains some conclusions with which many old Tennesseans
and those who come much in contact with them will not agree. Mr. Gilmore rec-
ognizes this, and with the frankness of a single-minded desire for the truth, he
asserts that he maintains these opinions until facts disproving them shall have
been brought to light. It is the absence of a theory on which facts are strung as
beads on a string which makes Mr. Gilmore's work so satisfactory. Mr Gilmore
follows his facts, and therefore, even in his severe remarks on John Tipton, we
must agree that he follows his premises, although persons familiar with the oral
traditions of Tennesseans may reserve the right of considering these premises ill-
founded. Mr. Gilmore's sketch of the causes that made North Carolina inferior
to Virginia in public spirit and generous treatment of good citizens shows that
he believes in " blood " and, however aristocratic this may seem, he still follows
his facts. John Sevier was a well-bred gentleman, not in the French or English
sense. M. de Bacourt, coming to Washington as Minister from that very Louis
Philippe who in former days had stood on Governor Sevier's cherished rug in a
Knoxville log cabin, expressed his amazement at finding President Van Buren so
gentlemanly, " although it was said he had kept an inn." John Sevier, the founder
and hero of Tennessee, made a competence by managing a grocery store, and
when he was not fighting Indians, he was weighing sugar. Nevertheless, the last
royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, was charmed by his manners, and in
1772 gave him a commission in the corps in which Washington was then colonel. He
left his influential place among the Virginians and went to the western slope of the
Alleghanies, to fight and to work. He may have been actuated by that instinct

* " Miss Bayle's Romance." New York: Henry Holt & Co.

t " John Sevier: The Commonwealth Builder." By James R. Gilmore (Edoiund
Kirke). New York: D. Appleton & Co.

106 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

which leads a man to find out his vocation. No other reason appears. He found
North Carolina a shrewish, grasping stepmother to the new settlers, and from her
exactions Sevier and his friends cut loose. Mr. Gilmore tells us that in those early
days the skins of animals were currency,— coon-skins beiug especially prominent.
It was thought that this currency could not be counterfeited. " It was mostly of
skins, which passed from hand to hand in bundles or bales, from the ends of which
the caudal appendages were allowed to protrude, to designate the species of the ani-
mal. Before long, acute financiers affixed the tail of the otter to the skin of the
fox and the raccoon, and thus got the better of the receiver in the sum of four shil-
lings and nine pence upon each peltry." Sevier's policy in regard to the Indians was
one of attack. He was never treacherous, though, in open war, no measures were
too bard for him. The Indians respected him ; and, cutthroats as they were, they
did not usually torture fighters who had met them fairly in the field. It was to
the sneaking and underhanded enemy that they meted out their refinements of
cruelty. Mr. Gilmore paints John Tipton, Sevier's rival, in dark colors. Tennes-
seans believe that he was hot-headed and imperious, but that, in accordance
with Mr. Gilmore's belief in the virtue of good blood, his descendants are fair evi-
dence of the character of their ancestor. And one of them — a mere boy — in battle,
blood-stained and powder-marked, was asked, "Where is your colonel ?" " Dead."
" Where is your captain ?" " Dead." " Who commands this regiment ?" " I—
Ensign Tipton." Apart from a few opinions, — apparently well founded, — this story
of John Sevier's remarkable career ought to be received with a hearty welcome by
all Americans. As a keen thinker recently said, ideals have greater influence
in the world than ideas. And the story of a patriot like John Sevier, told as well
as Mr. Gilmore tells it, must make the ideals of the young citizen, — and the old
one, too, for that matter, — higher and purer. Books like "John Sevier" show
Americans tl at the foreign idea of gentlemanhood is not, after all, the only true
idea, and that a man may be a knight and gentleman, a governor and grocery-
man, without losing real dignity or truest effectiveness for high aims.

Mr. Lecky's two new volumes,* large as they seem, are so full of genuine, even
thrilling, interest, that one hardly knows how to find salient points. There is
little color in them, except that which comes from the incidents of Mr. Lecky's
chapters. Readers fed on Froude will miss the attractive garnishings of Carlyle's
biographer. But Mr. Lecky's exactness of statement and full reference-list make
up for the lack of romantic enticements of style. Besides, there is romance and
gossip enough in the periods in which Mr. Lecky dwells. Are there not strange
doings among Lords and Ladies, in which the Prince Regent is not unmentioned ?
Does not Egalite" disport himself in London ? Lecky holds, with the best authori-
ties, that the selfish and corrupt "first gentlemen in Europe," — the Mr. Turvey-
dropof his time,— was married to the famous Mrs. Fitzherbert. The chapter on the
causes of the French Revolution is more valuable and more comprehensive than
De Tocqueville's " Ancien Regime" to which thoughtful men have hitherto gone
for those philosophical analyses of the causes of that great outburst of humanism,
which Carlyle's phantasmagoria fails to give. Then we have Mr. Lecky's estimate
of Pitt, in which, unfortunately, we find some opinions that seem illogical, but
not unfair. Mr. Lecky is disposed to hold that Pitt's Irish policy was the result of
Irish opinion rather than the creation of a great mind foreseeing the future. So
strong, however, is the effect of Mr. Lecky's desire not to be partisan, that even the
most earnest Pitt worshipers will not be exasperated by the summing-up. Mr.

*" History of England in the Nineteenth Century." By William Edward Hartpole
Lecky Vols. V. and VI. New York : D. Appleton & Co.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE. 107

Lecky believes that the unspeakable mass of corruption in which the France of
Louis XVI. festered would have been easily removed by a strong man, arising at
the proper time. We may exclaim in answer that Mirabeau was a strong man,
who attempted to save the monarchy ; and yet, in spite of this intellectual giant, the
monarchy died with him, before Louis and Marie Antoinette even expected death.
Mr. Lecky thinks that if Louis XVI. had found a Cavour, a Bismarck, or a Rich-
elieu, the revolution would have been averted. Most Americans, having read the
chapter on the causes of the French Revolution, will be inclined to think that in
all the array of financiers that had crossed the threshhold of the French Court,
Franklin alone could have saved it. What, in Mr. Lecky's showing, was most
needed, was clear vision, determination, and common sense. Common sense above
all. Necker, Lome'nie de Brienne, and the rest were blinded by the most insidious
thing that Rousseau, Voltaire, and their followers could have created, — a pseudo-
classic sentimentality. Franklin understood what was practical in the theories of
the new teachers, and he could apply them, laughing at the travesties of classic-
al speeches and actions which resulted in the death of the king as well as of Ma-
rat, of Madame Roland as well as Egalite". On the Irish question, Mr. Lecky is
more satisfactory as a narrator than as a deductive philosopher. He does not bring
us in his sixth volume down to the suicide of the Irish Parliament, and the consum-
mation of the union. Mr. Lecky's picture of the prosperity of Dublin under the Irish
Parliament would seem overdrawn if he were a Parnellite. But he makes very evi-
dent that he has no sympathy with the "Jacobin " policy of the Irish party. Ac-
cording to his account, Moore's young lady, who went through Ireland clothed prin-
cipally in beauty and "rich and rare " jewels, was as safe in the time of the Parlia-
ment as she is said to have been in the palmy days of Brian Bom. The commercial
prosperity of Ireland, following the loosening of restrictions on Irish trade, the
return of capitalists before kept out of the country by the penal laws, and the in-
creased intercourse on almost equal terms with England was so great, that in 1790
the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared that be did not think that any nation
could have improved so much in six years as Ireland had done. Both agricul-
ture and manufacture were stimulated, and the whole country felt the impetus.
Dublin, as was to be expected in an Irish capital, became even more splendid than
the resources of the country warranted, and Mr. Lecky does not hesitate to say
that, if Dublin was extravagant, the reason of that extravagance was in the
sure hope that Ireland's wealth was not to be evanescent, provided the Parlia-
ment's policy of low taxes and industrial encouragement were continued. Logic-
ally, we would deduce from all this that the most certain way to make Ireland
prosperous would be to restore her Parliament. Mr. Lecky's facts, which he piles
up with stern precision, giving all the time the best authorities for the process,
lead him, however, to sneer at modern schemes for reconstructing the Irish Par-
liament—at once the means of Ireland's aggrandizement and of her further en-
slavement. He thinks that the new Parliament would be made up of irresponsible
adventurers, — in a word, of ultra Democrats. The eld Parliament showed itself,
in the end, — which Mr. Lecky will relate in his next volume, — to be composed of
ultra and venal aristocrats. A new Parliament, however "irresponsible" in Mr.
Lecky's eyes, would be directly and closely responsible to the people. Mr. Leckyl
does not see this. But, after all, we go to a historian for stated facts, not for
deductions ; we tolerate the deductions out of respect for scrupulous and careful
work which, in Mr. Lecky's case, has never been surpassed by any of the array
of great German historians. In Mr. Lecky's hands we feel, as somebody said of
Longfellow, " safe." He is free from the contortions of the sibylline and force-of-
destiny class of historians. He writes, not as a seer obliged to force a confirmation

108 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of his prophecies, but as an honest student giving the actual truth without cur-
tailment.

*The sudden renaissance of the author of " The Blessed Damozel" in popular
favor is more comprehensible than the growth of the Browning cult. Rossetti is
sensuous, fuH of color, thoroughly exotic, wonderfully musical, and, in the whole,
easily comprehended, and when not comprehended, replete with the drowsy effect
of poppy-seeds. He flashes in red and gold ; and strikes angular Byzantine postures,
which are taken for the genuine Italian mediaeval manner. This translation of the
poems, — mostly sonnets, — of the writers before and around Dante is chiefly valu
al)le for the light it casts on the literary influences in which the great poet lived.
It is interesting to know what manner of man Dante Cavalcanti was, and to
understand the thought and manners of Florentine Bohemians and the ladies they
adored. It seems a pity that Rossetti should have attempted to translate from
Italian into English the metre and form of the delightful series of poems in this
book. It was too much for even him, knowing both languages so well, to attempt.
The rhymes are sometimes exceedingly forced ; and, as it is easy to find a hundred
rhymes in Italian to one in English, one grows tired of the iteration of "love" and
" of," and other equally hackneyed assonances.

* " Dante and His Circle." Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Boston : Roberts
Bros.

'1

Jfl

- NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

No. CCCLXIX.

AUGUST, 1887.

STATE INTERFERENCE,

I DESIRE, in this paper, to give an explanation and justification
of extreme prejudice against state interference, and I wish to be-
gin with a statement from history of the effect upon the individual
of various forms of the state.

It appears, from the best evidence we possess, according to the
most reasonable interpretation which has been given to it, that
the internal organization of society owes its cohesion and intensity
to the necessity of meeting pressure from without. A band of
persons, bound by ties of neighborhood or kin, clung together in,
order to maintain their common interests against a similar band
of their neighbors. The social bond and the common interest-
were at war with individual interests. They exerted coercive
power to crush individualism, to produce uniformity, to proscribe
dissent, to make private judgment a social offence, and to exercise
drill and discipline.

In the Roman state the internal discipline gave victory in con-
tests with neighbors. Each member of the Roman community
was carried up by the success of the body of which he was a member
to the position of a world-conqueror. Then the Roman community
split up into factions to quarrel for the spoils of the world, until
the only escape from chronic civil war and anarchy was a one man
YOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 8

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

power, which, however, proved only a mode of disintegration and
decay, not a cure for it. It has often been remarked with
astonishment how lightly men and women of rank at Rome in the
first century of our era held their lives. They seem to have been
ready to open their veins at a moment's notice, and to quit life
upon trivial occasion. If we can realize what life must have been
in such a state we can, perhaps, understand this. The Emperor
was the state. He was a mortal who had been freed from all care
for the rights of others, and his own passions had all been set
free. Any man or woman in the civilized world was at the mercy
of his caprices. Any one who was great enough to attract his at-
tention, especially by the possession of anything which mortals
covet, held his life at the utmost peril. Since the Empire was the
world, there was no escape save to get out of the world. Many
seemed to hold escape cheap at that price.

At first under the Empire the obscure people were safe. They
probably had little to complain of, and found the Empire gay and
beneficent; but it gradually and steadily absorbed every rank and
interest into its pitiless organization. At last industry and com-
merce as well as all civil and social duties took the form of state
functions. The ideal which some of our modern social philoso-
phers are preaching was realized. The state was an ethical per-
son, in the strictest sense of the word, when it was one man, and
when every duty and interest of life was construed towards him.
All relations were regulated according to the ethics of the time,
which is, of course, all that ethical regulation ever can amount to.
Every duty of life took the form and name of an "obsequium,"
that is, of a function in the state organism.

Now the most important relation of the citizen to the state is
that of a soldier, and the next is that of a tax-payer, and when
the former loses importance the latter becomes the chief. Ac-
cordingly the obsequia of the citizens in the later centuries were
regulated in such a way that the citizen might contribute most to
the fiscus. He was not only made part of a machine, but it was
a tax-paying machine, and all his hopes, rights, interests, and
human capabilities were merged in this purpose of his existence.
Slavery, as we ordinarily understand the term, died out, but it
gave way to a servitude of each to all, when each was locked tight
in an immense and artificial organization of society. Such must
ever be the effect of merging industry in the state. Every attempt

STATE INTERFERENCE. Ill

of the Koman handicraftsmen to better themselves was a breach of
the peace ; disobedience was rebellion ; resistance was treason ;
running away was desertion.

Here, then, we have a long history, in which the state power
first served the national interest in contest with outside powers,
and then itself became a burden and drew all the life out of the
subject population.

In the Middle Ages a society which had been resolved into its
simple elements had to re-form. The feudal form was imposed
upon it by the conditions and elements of the case. It was as
impossible for a man to stand alone as it had been on the hunt-
ing or pastoral stage of life, or on the lower organizations of
civilization. There was once more necessity to yield personal
liberty in order to get protection against plunder from others; and,
in order to obtain this protection, it was necessary to get into a
group, and to conform to its organization. Here again the same
difficulty soon presented itself. Protection against outside aggres-
sion was won, but the protecting power itself became a plunderer.

This oppression brought about guild and other organizations
for mutual defense. Sometimes these organizations themselves
won civil power ; sometimes they were under some political sover-
eign, but possessed its sanction. The system which grew up was
one of complete regulation and control. The guilds were regu-
lated in every function and right. The masters, journeymen,
and apprentices were regulated in their relations, and in all theii
rights and duties. The work of supplying a certain communit}
with any of the necessaries of life was regarded as a privilege,
and was monopolized by a certain number. The mediaeval sys-
tem, however, did not allow this monopoly to be exploited at the
expense of consumers, according to the good will of the holders
of it. The sovereign interfered constantly, and at all points,
wherever its intervention was asked for. It fixed prices, but it
also fixed wages, regulated kinds and prices of raw materials,
prescribed the relation of one trade to another, forbade touting,
advertising, rivalry ; regulated buying and selling by merchants ;
protected consumers by inspection ; limited importations, but
might force production and force sales.

Here was plainly a complete system, which had a rational mo-
tive and a logical method. The object was to keep all the organs
of society in their accepted relations to each other, and to pre-

112 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

serve all in activity in the measure of the social needs. The plan
failed entirely. It was an impossible undertaking, even on the
narrow arena of a mediaeval city. The ordinances of an authority
which stood ready to interfere at any time and in any way were
necessarily inconsistent and contradictory. Its effect upon those
who could not get into the system, that is, upon the vagabondage
of the period, has never, so far as I know, been studied carefully,
although that is the place to look for its most distinct social effect.
The most interesting fact about it, however, is that the privilege
of one age became the bondage of the next, and that the organi-
zation which had grown up for the mutual defense of the artisans
lost its original purpose and became a barrier to the rise of the
artisan class. The organization was a fetter on individual enter-
prise and success.

The fact should not be overlooked here that, if we are to have
the mediaeval system of regulation revived, we want it altogether.
That system was not, in intention, unjust. According to its light
it aimed at the welfare of all. It was not its motive to give privi-
leges, but a system of partial interference is sure to be a system of
favoritism and injustice. It is a system of charters to some to
plunder others. A mediaeval sovereign would never interfere with
railroads on behalf of shippers, and stop there. He would fix the
interest on bonds and other fixed charges. He would, upon ap-
peal, regulate the wages of employes. He would fix the price of
coal and other supplies. He would never admit that he was the
guardian of one interest more than another, and he would inter-
fere over and over again as often as stockholders, bondholders,
employes, shippers, etc., etc., could persuade him that they had
a grievance. He would do mischief over and over again, but he
would not do intentional injustice.

After the mediaeval system broke up, and the great modern
states formed, the royal power became the representative and
champion of national interests in modern Europe, and it estab-
lished itself in approximately absolute power by the fact that the
interest of the nations to maintain themselves in the rivalry of
states seemed the paramount interest. Within a few months we
have seen modern Germany discard every other interest in order
to respond to the supposed necessity of military defense. Not
very long ago, in our civil war, we refused to take account of any
thing else until the military task was accomplished.

STATE INTERFERENCE. 113

In all these cases the fact appears that the interest of the
individual and the social interest have been at war with each other,
while, again, the interests of the individual in and through the
society of which he is a member are inseparable from those of the
society. Such are the two aspects of the relation of the unit and
the whole which go to make the life of the race. The individual
has an interest to develop all the personal elements there are in
him. He wants to live himself out. He does not want to be
planed down to a type or pattern. It -is the interest of society
that all the original powers it contains should be brought out to
their full value. But the social movement is coercive and uni-
formitarian. Organization and discipline are essential to effective
common action, and they crush out individual enterprise and
personal variety. There is only one kind of co-operation which
escapes this evil, and that is co-operation which is voluntary and
automatic, under common impulses and natural laws. State
control, however, is always necessary for national action in the
family of nations, and to prevent plunder by others, and men have
never yet succeeded in getting it without falling under the neces-
sity of submitting to plunder at home from those on whom they
rely for defense abroad.

Now, at the height of our civilization, and with the best light
that we can bring to bear on our social relations, the problem is :
Can we get from the state security for individuals to pursue hap-
piness in and under it, and yet not have the state itself become
a new burden and hindrance only a little better than the evil
which it wards off ?

It is only in the most recent times, and in such measure as the
exigencies of external defense have been diminished by the par-
tial abandonment of motives of plunder and conquest, that there
has been a chance for individualism to grow. In the latest times
the struggle for a relaxation of political bonds on behalf of indi-
vidual liberty has taken the form of breaking the royal power,
and forcing the king to take his hands off. Liberty has hardly
yet come to be popularly understood as anything else but republi-
canism or anti-royalty.

The United States, starting on a new continent, with full
chance to select the old world traditions which they would adopt,
have become the representatives and champions in modern times
of all the principles of individualism and personal liberty. We

114 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

have had no neighbors to fear. We have had no necessity for
stringent state discipline. Each one of us has been able to pur-
sue happiness in his own way, unhindered by the demands of a
state which would have worn out our energies by expenditure
simply in order to maintain the state. The -state has existed of
itself. The one great exception, the Civil War, only illustrates the
point more completely per contra. The old Jeffersonian party
rose to power and held it, because it conformed to the genius of
the country, and bore along the true destinies of a nation situated
as this one was. It is the glory of the United States, and its call-
ing in history, that it shows what the power of personal liberty is
— what self-reliance, energy, enterprise, hard sense, men can
develop when they have room and liberty, and when they are
emancipated from the burden of traditions and faiths which are
nothing but the accumulated follies and blunders of a hundred
generations of "statesmen."

It is, therefore, the highest product of political institutions so
far, that they have come to a point where, under favorable circum-
stances, individualism is, under their protection, to some extent
possible. If political institutions can give security for the pursuit
of happiness by each individual, according to his own notion of
it, in his own way, and by his own means, they have reached their
perfection. This fact, however, has two aspects. If no man can
be held to serve another man's happiness, it follows that no man
can call on another to serve his happiness. The different views
of individualism depend on which of these aspects is under obser-
vation. What seems to be desired now is a combination of liberty
for all with an obligation of each to all. That is one of the forms
in which we are seeking a social philosopher's stone.

The reflex influence which American institutions have had on
European institutions is well known. We have had to take as
well as give. When the United States put upon their necks the
yoke of a navigation and colonial system which they had just re-
volted against, they showed how little possible it is, after all, for
men to rise above the current notions of their time, even when
geographical and economic circumstances favor their emancipa-
tion. We have been borrowing old-world fashions and traditions
all through our history, instead of standing firmly by the political
and social philosophy of which we are the standard bearers.

So long as a nation has not lost faith in itself, it is possible for

STATE INTERFERENCE. 115

it to remodel its institutions to any extent. If it gives way to sen-
timentalism, or sensibility, or political mysticism, or adopts an
affectation of radicalism, or any other ism, or molds its institu-
tions so as to round out to a more complete fulfillment somebody's
theory of the universe, it may fall into an era of revolution and
political insecurity which will break off the continuity of its
national life, and make orderly and secure progress impossible.
Now that the royal power is limited, and that the old military and
police states are in the way of transition to jural states, we are
promised a new advance to democracy. What is the disposition
of the new state as regards the scope of its power ? It unques-
tionably manifests a disposition to keep and use the whole arsenal
of its predecessors. The great engine of political abuse has always
been political mysticism. Formerly we were told of the divine
origin of the state and the divine authority of rulers. The mys-
tical contents of " sovereignty" have always provided an inex-
haustible source of dogma and inference for any extension of state
power. The new democracy having inherited the power so long
used against it, now shows every disposition to use that power as
ruthlessly as any other governing organ ever has used it.

We are told that the state is an ethical person. This is the
latest form of political mysticism. Now, it is true that the state
is an ethical person in just the same sense as a business firm, a
joint stock corporation, or a debating society. It is not a physi-
cal person, but it may be a metaphysical or legal person, and, as
such, it has an entity, and is an independent subject of rights
and duties. Like the other ethical persons, however, the state is
just good for what it can do to serve the interests of man, and no
more. Such is far from being the meaning and utility of the
dogma that the state is an ethical person. The dogma is needed
as a source from which can be spun out again contents of phrases
and deductions previously stowed away in it. It is only the most
modern form of dogmatism devised to sacrifice the man to the
institution which is not good for anything except so far as it can
serve the man.

One of the newest names for the coming power is the ' ' om-
nicracy." Mankind has been trying for some thousands of years
to find the right -ocracy. None of those which have yet been
tried have proved satisfactory. We want a new name on which
to pin new hopes, for mankind " never is, but always to be

116 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

blessed." Omnicracy has this much sense in it, that no one of
the great dogmas of the modern political creed is true if it is
affirmed of anything less than the whole population, man,
woman, child and baby. When the propositions are enunciated
in this sense, they are philosophically grand and true. For in-
stance, all the propositions about the ' ' people " are grand and
true if we mean by the people every soul in the community, with
all the interests and powers which give them an aggregate will
and power, with capacity to suffer or to work ; but then, also, the
propositions remain grand abstractions beyond the realm of prac-
tical utility. On the other hand, those propositions cannot be
made practically available unless they are affirmed of some lim-
ited section of the population, for instance, a majority of the
males over twenty-one, but then they are no longer true in phi-
losophy or in fact.

Consequently, when the old-fashioned theories of state inter-
ference are applied to the new democratic state, they turn out to
be simply a device for setting separate interests in a struggle
against each other, inside the society. It is plain on the face of
all the great questions which are offered to us as political ques-
tions to-day, that they are simply struggles of interests for larger
shares of the product of industry. One mode of dealing with this
distribution would be to leave it to free contract under the play
of natural laws. If we do not do this, and if the state interferes
with the distribution, how can we stop short of the mediaeval plan
of reiterated and endless interference, with constant diminution
of the total product to be divided ?

We have seen above what the tyranny was in the decay of the
Roman Empire, when each was in servitude to all ; but there is
one form of that tyranny which may be still worse. That tyranny
will be realized when the same system of servitudes is established
in a democratic state ; when a man's neighbors are his masters ;
when the "ethical power of public opinion " bears down upon him
at all hours, and as to all matters ; when his place is assigned to
him, and he is held in it, not by an emperor or his satellites, who
cannot be everywhere all the time, but by the other members of
the " village community," who can.

So long as the struggle for individual liberty took the form of
a demand that the king or the privileged classes should take their
hands off, it was popular, and was believed to carry with it the

STATE INTERFERENCE. 117

cause of justice and civilization. Now that the governmental
machine is brought within every one's reach, the seduction of
power is just as masterful over a democratic faction as ever it was
over king or barons. No governing organ has yet abstained from
any function because it acknowledged itself ignorant or incom-
petent. The new powers in the state show no disposition to do it.
Nevertheless, the activity of the state, under the new democratic
system, shows itself every year more at the mercy of clamorous
factions, and legislators find themselves constantly under greater
pressure to act, not by their deliberate judgment of what is ex-
pedient, but in such a way as to quell clamor, although against
their judgment of public interests. It is rapidly becoming the
chief art of the legislator to devise measures which shall sound as
if they satisfied clamor while they only cheat it.

There are two things which are often treated as if they were
identical, which are as far apart as any two things in the field of
political philosophy can be : 1. That every one should be left to do
as he likes, so far as possible, without any other social restraints
than such as are unavoidable for the peace and order of society.
2. That "the people" should be allowed to carry out their will
without any restraint from constitutional institutions. The for-
mer means that each should have his own way with his own inter-
ests ; the latter, that any faction which for the time is upper-
most should have its own way with all the rest.

One result of all the new state interference is that the state is
being superseded in vast domains of its proper work. While it is
reaching out on one side to fields of socialistic enterprise, inter-
fering in the interests of parties in the industrial organism, assum-
ing knowledge of economic laws which nobody possesses, taking
ground as to dogmatic notions of justice which are absurd, and
acting because it does not know what to do, it is losing its power
to give peace, order and security. The extra-legal power and
authority of leaders over voluntary organizations of men through-
out a community, who are banded together in order to press their
interests at the expense of other interests, and who go to the
utmost verge of the criminal law, if they do not claim immunity
from it, while obeying an authority which acts in secret and with-
out responsibility, is a phenomenon which shows the inadequacy of
the existing state to guarantee rights and give security. The boy-
cott and the plan of campaign are certainly not industrial instru-

118 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

mentalities, and it is not yet quite certain whether they are vio-
lent and criminal instrumentalities, by which some men coerce
other men in matters of material interests. If we turn our minds
to the victims of these devices, we see that they do not find in the
modern state that security for their interests under the competi-
tion of life which it is the first and unquestioned duty of the state
to provide. The boycotted man is deprived of the peaceful enjoy-
ment of rights which the laws and institutions of his country
allow him, and he has no redress. The state has forbidden all
private war on the ground that it will give a remedy for wrongs,
and that private redress would disturb the peaceful prosecution
of their own interests by other members of the community who
are not parties to the quarrel ; but we have seen an industrial war
paralyze a whole section for weeks, and it was treated almost as a
right of the parties that they might fight it out, no matter at
what cost to bystanders. We have seen representative bodies of
various voluntary associations meet and organize by the side of
the regular constitutional organs of the state, in order to delib-
erate on proposed measures, and to transmit to the authorized
representatives of the people their approval or disapproval of the
propositions, and it scarcely caused a comment. The plutocracy
invented the lobby, but the democracy here also seems determined
to better the instruction. There are various opinions as to what
the revolution is which is upon us, and as to what it is which is
about to perish. I do not see anything else which is in as great
peril as representative institutions, or the constitutional state.

I, therefore, maintain that it is at the present time a matter of
patriotism and civic duty to resist the extension of state interfer-
ence. It is one of the proudest results of political growth that
we have reached the point where individualism is possible. Noth-
ing could better show the merit and value of the institutions which
we have inherited than the fact that we can afford to play with all
these socialistic and semi-socialistic absurdities. They have no
great importance until the question arises: Will a generation
which can be led away into this sort of frivolity be able to trans-
mit intact institutions which were made only by men of sterling
thought and power, and which can be maintained only by men of
the same type ? I am familiar with the irritation and impatience
with which remonstrances on this matter are received. Those
who know just how the world ought to be reconstructed are, of

STATE INTERFERENCE. 119

course, angry when they are pushed aside as busybodies. A group
of people who assail the legislature with a plan for regulating their
neighbor's mode of living are enraged at the "dogma" of non-in-
terference. The publicist who has been struck by some of the
superficial roughnesses in the collision of interests which must
occur in any time of great industrial activity, and who has there-
fore determined to waive the objections to state interference, if he
can see it brought to bear on his pet reform, will object to abso-
lute principles. For my part, I have never seen that public or
private principles were good for anything except when there seemed
to be a motive for breaking them. Any one who has studied a
question as to which the solution is yet wanting may despair of
the power of free contract to solve it. I have examined a great
many cases of proposed interference with free contract, and the
only alternative to free contract which I can find is ' 'heads I win,
tails you lose " in favor of one party or the other. I am familiar
with the criticisms which some writers claim to make upon indi-
vidualism, but the worst individualism I can find in history is that
of the Jacobins, and I believe that it is logically sound that the
anti-social vices should be most developed whenever the attempt
is made to put socialistic theories in practice. The only question
at this point is : Which may we better trust, the play of free social
forces or legislative and administrative interference ? This ques-
tion is as pertinent for those who expect to win by interference as
for others, for whenever we try to get paternalized we only suc-
ceed in getting policed.

W. G. SUMNBB.

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

IN some remote corners of Europe, legends linger of phantom
hosts appearing at certain periods, and waging through the night
aerial warfare over battlefields where they anciently contended in
the flesh. The superstition is recalled by the ghostly conflict
between St. George and St. Patrick, which made the mild sensa-
tion of the Queen's Jubilee in America. A hundred years ago
our Union was founded, and for the first generation thereafter
the wars raging in Europe were reflected in violent political
struggles in the United States. The new republic had no domes-
tic politics. This situation did not end without war, but it
ended. America was detached from European broils and
entanglements, and Old World notions and institutions have
become more and more shadowy to us with every year of this cen-
tury. Nay, even for English and Irish colonies, the American
atmosphere seems to change transatlantic forms to phantoms.
The Victoria eulogized by St. George does not exist in the flesh ;
the Queen denounced by St. Patrick does not exist.

On a Sunday, in the Jubilee, I attended a historical American
church, owning some allegiance to Canterbury, which for a time was
made over to St. George. The solid Englishman who preached
on the occasion seemed to me adrift in seas of mental confusion.
He invited us to leave contemplation of the Queen and consider
her excellence as a woman. He pronounced her the " typical
wife, typical mother, typical woman," but none of his anecdotes
or illustrations warranted any inference that Alexandrina Victoria
was any better than hundreds of good women, wives, and mothers,
around him. A cynical critic might have interpreted such per-
sonal eulogy as a sarcasm on royalty, as implying wonder that even
ordinary womanly virtues could co-exist with it. We were also
called to admire because Victoria sent sympathetic messages to
Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Garfield. What marvelous self-sacrifice !

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

The prayers and lamentations of millions of ordinary people, in
many countries, may pass without notice, — but think of these
royal regrets ! What are Presidents that the Queen should be
mindful of them !

Unquestionably it is not for the woman, — who long ago passed
her fiftieth birthday without parade, — but for the Queen that pe-
culiar honor may be claimed. Yet, when we turn from colonial
canonization of the woman to Celtic denunciation of the Queen,
we find the latter equally phantasmal. The Queen has officially
as little responsibility for the sufferings of Ireland as Mrs. Cleve-
land. To ascribe to the English monarch powers similar to those
of an American President is a delusion into which many migrate
when they reach this country. It is our constitutional supersti-
tion. The Mayor of New York declared that he paid honor to
the Queen because, while visiting England during our war, he
learned that the non-intervention of England was due to Her
Majesty's personal friendship for us. Now, I was there, too, and
am certain that the non-intervention was due to the friendship
for us of the English masses, and of their leaders, — Bright, Cob-
den, Peter Taylor, and others. The Mayor's theory, if true, would
justify personal animosity to the Queen on the part of all censors
of English wrongs. If she could successfully intervene in behalf
of the American Union and emancipation, why has she not inter-
vened against British oppressions in Ireland, Egypt, the Soudan,
Burmah ? If she could control the hand of Palmerston, why not
that of Salisbury ?

The Queen has no power of that kind at all. That she has
made her throne the tomb of every last relic of personal authority
is the immediate jewel of her crown. The royal prerogative has
been exercised once by Gladstone and once by Disraeli, but never
by Queen Victoria. As the greatest writer on the English Con-
stitution has said, the Queen would certainly sign her own death-
warrant were it laid before her by the Ministers. On her acces-
sion, contemporaneous historians remarked that the youthful
maiden followed the instructions and words of her Ministers with
an intent exactness ; the literal fidelity at that ceremony has been
followed by fifty years of intelligent fidelity to the constitution.
It needed but such a reign to sum up and consolidate all the
results of English revolutions, to embody the liberal progress of
a thousand years, to send all arbitrary laws to their fossil bed, to

122 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

make England what its Laureate has claimed, the Crowned Re-
public.

The last time an attempt was made to utilize the Queen polit-
ically is especially memorable as bearing upon her sex. In the
agitation for female suffrage some of the American advocates of
that measure had spoken of the Queen as representing the princi-
ple of the participation of woman in political power, and this
notion found some echo among the more ignorant friends of that
cause in England. But a few years ago, when the subject was be-
fore Parliament, a member read an extract from " Our Life in the
Highlands," in which the Queen declared women unfit for politics,
and that good women will leave these things to men. There were
cries of " Order ! " throughout the House of Commons, even the
majority, to whom the sentiment was agreeable, recognizing that
it was unconstitutional to bring influence from the throne to bear
on a debate in the Legislature. But the arrow had sped to its
mark. The woman's declaration against the political aspirations
of her sex was even feathered by cries of "order" which recog-
nized the throne's abdication of political power. At the same
time the many eminent and worthy women now claiming
the franchise in England felt sore about the incident.
The question naturally suggests itself whether submissive
readiness to sign measures passed by Parliament, how-
ever repugnant to herself, is consistent with the highest
character. No one can doubt that the Queen has often
done this, and that she would have signed Gladstone's Home
Rule bill as promptly as Salisbury's Coercion bill. To those who
realize that every assertion of personal prerogative, even on their
own side, forges a precedent that may be- used on the other side,
and restores a weapon which has normally proved fatal to human
liberty, it will appear that the wisdom of Victoria as a woman is
reflected in her strict constitutionality as a Queen. This is the
open secret of the homage paid by the English people to a Queen
who is neither beautiful nor brilliant, and whose withdrawal of the
throne from all political power has not been accompanied by its
usual lustre as a social centre. For though to Puritanism and
prosaic Radicalism the Court in mourning has been agreeable, as
showing the needlessness of any Court at all, the majority of the
English people desire a splendid Court, and have felt aggrieved
by its long eclipse. Also the leading political thinkers of England

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND. 123

place a high value on the throne, especially since it has ceased to
be a political institution. What is that value ?

To the superficial view England appears made up politically
of ancient and moldy institutions, trying to maintain themselves
in an age that has outgrown them. A nearer study reveals the
fact that this apparent antiquity is unreal, and that amid archaic
walls, names, decorations, machinery of a modern and even ad-
vanced kind is at work. It is true that this implies that each in-
stitution is turned to some work for which it was not originally
intended, and in some cases the adequacy to modern exigencies is
doubtful. But an American is apt to look for such defects where
they least exist; in the House of Lords, for instance, where under
a delusive show of hereditary legislation sits a Supreme Court not
inferior to any in the world. The throne also, from which Eng-
land was so long ruled, is now turned to other purposes altogether.
Its political purpose may be fairly, if paradoxically, described as
the reverse of that for which it was founded: the throne is Eng-
land's defense against monarchy. Were the throne abolished
this year it would surely be succeeded by some monarchy,
either of the German or the American type, planted by a revolu-
tion. Evolutionary ages have determined that complex England
cannot be ruled by any individual. By alternate revolutions and
bribes the English people have turned their throne to a historic
symbol, and the royal family into its guardians. A royal family, by
intermarriages and hospitalities, can surround the politically vacant
throne with entrenchments of international interest and etiquette
which no foreign despot will pass for its seizure. In this direction it
is fortunate for England, in the epoch of the consolidation of the
German Empire, that its throne is already occupied by a German
family. And the same circumstance is advantageous as a check
on the royal family itself. It is a guest in England, and feels
that it reigns by sufferance. When to this timidity of alienage is
added the feminine timidity, it will be seen how, under this
Guelph lady, the people have been able to surround their throne
with such walls of precedent that no future monarch will be able
to break through them. That is, so long as the country is at
peace ; for if a great war should find a military genius on the
throne there might be a relapse from the progressive work of
generations. At present there is no such perilous prospect.

A royal family defends England from internal as well as

124 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

foreign ambitions. By gathering the supreme social lustre around
a non-political centre, political offices are thrown into a sort of
atrophy, so far as glory is concerned. No politician will seek office
for the sake of any social splendor. It cannot be found there.
The statesman or the minister must depend on his services for his
renown. Only by intellect, toil, patriotism can he be great. The
tinsel and the powers of chieftainship are bestowed in separate
estates. The artificial glories are permanently monopolized ;
there remains open to personal ambition only the lustre that ema-
nates from personal qualities and deeds. Thus, while the British
throne is the gilded sepulchre of monarchy, its occupants, — non-
elective, alien, depositories of all fictitious honors, — guard that
sepulchre against any resurrection of monarchy from without or
within.

Carlyle raised his lamentations over this grave of kingship, but
it was an intolerable evil in England, chiefly because it could only
exist by preserving the militant age in which it originated. The
resources of England were of old seen to be immeasurable could it
only enter on an industrial age. What it needed was domestic peace.
It mattered not how many of its roughs and plumed captains might
go off to fight in Russia, India, Africa ; the more the better for itself ;
England was drained of them and left free to develop its science,
literature, and arts. England's two literary ages bear the names
of women, and alike were the products of peace. The greatness
of the Elizabethan age was based on its forty-five years of rarely in-
terrupted peace at home, and therein the Victorian age is like it.
An age of great generals cannot produce a Shakespeare or a Darwin.
Elizabeth, more a king than a queen, was yet not really interested
in anything outside of England. She compelled religion to speak
English and to respect an English Pope. From her time the
people were left but one throne to deal with — their own ; this
they have steadily shaped to their own ends, however rough-hewn
to others by this or that occupant ; and all the thank-offerings
now surrounding it are really to an island divinity, ideal
embodiment of the average comfort of England. It is this divin-
ity the Archbishop of Canterbury has addressed the jubilee
thanksgiving for "the abundance of dominion with which Thou
hast exalted and enlarged her empire." The Gods of other
nations are idols. The cost of maintaining this com-
posite English divinity is considerable ; it is, however, not mere

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

commutation money ; it is a bribe by which the imperial wolf,
which used to ravage the fold, has been domesticated, induced to
accept a jeweled collar, and to guard the flock against invasion of
the wild race from which it sprung. The English throne has
long been the traitor to the European family of crowned heads ;
it has harbored and protected the conspirators against them ; it
has patronized a literature and science which undermine every
throne. It has equally betrayed the privileged class it originally
created, signing away its powers, until the House of Commons,
once petitioners at its lordly door, now holds the purse and the
sword of the nation. Nothing but the divinity that doth hedge
about a legitimate member of the royal fraternity of Europe could
have restrained these powerful classes at home and abroad from
arresting this steady reduction of their privileges, and transfer of
their powers to the people.

As to the mere pecuniary cost of the throne, it must be borne
in mind that the greater part of it returns to the people. The
castle, the palace, the park, the royal paraphernalia, besides sup-
porting many lives, constitute a distributed museum of an-
tiquities with many useful and agreeable adjuncts. But a few
closets are reserved for individual persons amid the magnificence.
Emptied of political power, the throne is turned to the functions
of landscape gardener, social impresario, and festive masquerader
for their Majesty the People. The only serious cost of the throne
is moral — the snobbery it engenders. But, if distance lends
enchantment to some views, it may occasionally lend horror to
others. The traditional American prejudice against the aristoc-
racy of birth is derived from a period when there existed in Eng-
land a hereditary legislature. The House of Lords has now been
reduced to a debating society ; its power to alter or defeat an act
of the Legislature has been changed to a mere right of demand-
ing reconsideration. It cannot even require that the measure it
temporarily suspends shall be repassed by an increased majority.
Now and then, indeed, the peers are permitted to exercise their
antiquarian privilege in defeating some non-political measure of
infinitesimal interest, such as marriage with a deceased wife's
sister. The exception proves the rule. The hereditary political
and legislative power being thus extinct, we may view with im-
partial calmness the English aristocracy.

An aristocracy of birth is, at least, not so vulgar as that of
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 9

126 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

wealth, which seems the only alternative in a democratic age. In
the natural influence of high breeding there is something scien-
tific, at any rate, something Darwinian ; it will be easier to evolve
an intellectual aristocracy out of that than from an upper-tendom
of millionaires. Just now, when the English nobility are ignobly
fighting for a landlord interest with which their class is historic-
ally identified, to the sacrifice of humanity, they appear to the
worst advantage. It cannot be forgotten, however, that many
members of the aristocracy have espoused the cause of Home
Rule, and that even Lord Salisbury has brought in a land bill for
Ireland which would have been deemed radical by his ancestors.

An aristocracy of birth, relieved of any discredit on account
of political or landed privileges, would be a phenomenon not with-
out philosophical interest in this time when the " survival of the
fittest " has become a familiar law, while survival of the unfittest
seems a no less familiar fact. The conjunction of the Queen's
jubilee and our Constitution's centenary may remind us that
some things which the English have found unfit to survive,
save in name, survive among ourselves in all except name. As
regards snobbery, it is doubtful whether we can safely throw
stones.

A member of the English aristocracy, also of the House of
Commons, familiar with and friendly to society in America, ex-
pressed the opinion that more attention is paid to precedence in
Washington than in London. Such is my own impression after
residence in both cities. Recently an eminent American author,
lecturing before a fashionable audience on " Literature in the Re-
public," spoke with almost passionate horror of the precedence
given to title over scholarship on ceremonial occasions. He seemed
to think that literature must deteriorate under such conditions.
Apart from the non- justification of his theory by the facts,
the lecturer showed an amusing unconsciousness that he was
manifesting an interest in " precedence " unknown to English
scholars. The fact that such ceremonial etiquette in England
has been settled for ages, that for centuries it has ceased
to be any test of merit or esteem, while conveniently
relieving hosts of the responsibility of making distinctions,
deprives the arrangement of such serious interest as that
which attaches to it in this country. The same lecturer,
when presently referring to complaints of under-payment among

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND. 127

American authors, admonished them that they ought not to
expect to attain the wealth gained by those who devote themselves
to making money. Business men have their reward, literary men
theirs, and these ought not to ask the gains of the others. An
English author would have paralleled the reasoning. The hered-
itary noblemen, he would say, has his reward ; he goes in to din-
ner first. But that is not the kind of advantage we are seeking.
That does not interest us. For a lord to precede Browning to
dinner is, if anything, a compliment to the poet ; if he were sup-
posed to be so commonplace as to aspire to the first place on that
plane of baubles, he would not be invited. Not only Oarlyle, but
many literary men, might have had such decorations for the seek-
ing. Tennyson refused title for many years, accepting it at last
only because it seemed selfish to withhold the social advantage
from his son and daughter-in-law, — his expressed wish to have the
title pass to them first being inconsistent with the regulations.

The right way in which to estimate England is to study it as a
development out of certain conditions of its own. It can no more
be transmuted to our America than its chalk cliffs can be changed
to granite hills. Its political and social system has been built by
slow- working ages, and refashioned by the genius of the people in
necessary obedience to the material given them to work on. Inside
feudal walls they have cultivated the fruits of liberty, they have
established a republic with decorations of royalty, they have evolved
a free-thinking church amid symbols of ecclesiasticism. These,
facts have become recognized, and have been assured, mainly
during the last fifty years; and, because they represent the genius,
of the English people, in whose face no individual can glory, they
are all the more strikingly symbolized in the homely representa-
tive of a disfranchised sex whose common sense and unostentatious
character have left her nation free to govern itself without inter-
ference for this memorable half century.

D. COKWAY.

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL

DEAR SIR : I am glad that I know yon, even though some of
my brethren look upon you as a monster because of your unbelief.
I shall never forget the long evening I spent at your house in
Washington ; and in what I have to say, however it may fail to
convince you, I trust you will feel that I have not shown my-
self unworthy of your courtesy or confidence.

Your conversation then and at other times interested me
greatly. I recognized at once the elements of your power over
large audiences, in your wit and dramatic talent — personating
characters and imitating tones of voice and expressions of coun-
tenance— and your remarkable use of language, which even in
familiar talk often rose to a high degree of eloquence. All this
was a keen intellectual stimulus. I was for the most part a
listener, but as we talked freely of religious matters, I protested
against your unbelief as utterly without reason. Yet there was
no oifence given or taken, and we parted, I trust, with a feeling
of mutual respect.

Still further, we found many points of sympathy. I do not
hesitate to say that there are many things in which I agree with
you, in which I love what you love and hate what you hate. A
man's hatreds are not the least important part of him ; they are
among the best indications of his character. You love truth, and
hate lying and hypocrisy — all the petty arts and deceits of the
world by which men represent themselves to be other than they
are — as well as the pride and arrogance, in which they assume
superiority over their fellow-beings. Above all, you hate every
form of injustice and oppression. Nothing moves your indigna-
tion so much as "man's inhumanity to man," and you mutter
" curses not loud but deep" on the whole race of tyrants and op-
pressors, whom you would sweep from the face of the earth. And
yet you do not hate oppression more than I, nor love liberty more.

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 129

Nor will I admit that you have any stronger desire for that intel-
lectual freedom, to the attainment of which you look forward as
the last and greatest emancipation of mankind.

Nor have you a greater horror of superstition. Indeed, I might
say that you cannot have so great, for the best of all reasons, that
you have not seen so much of it ; you have not stood on the banks
of the Ganges, and seen the Hindoos by tens of thousands rush-
ing madly to throw themselves into the sacred river, even carrying
the ashes of their dead to cast them upon the waters. It seems
but yesterday that I was sitting on the back of an elephant,
looking down on this horrible scene of human degradation. Such
superstition overthrows the very foundations of morality. In
place of the natural sense of right and wrong, which is written
in men's consciences and hearts, it introduces an artificial stand-
ard, by which the order of things is totally reversed : right is
made wrong, and wrong is made right. It makes that a virtue
which is not a virtue, and that a crime which is not a crime. Re-
ligion consists in a round of observances that have no relation
whatever to natural goodness, but which rather exclude it by being
a substitute for it. Penances and pilgrimages take the place of
justice and mercy, benevolence and charity. Such a religion,
so far from being a purifier, is the greatest corrupter of morals ;
so that it is no extravagance to say of the Hindoos, who are a gentle
race, that they might be virtuous and good if they were not so
religious. But this colossal superstition weighs upon their very
existence, crushing out even natural virtue. Such a religion is
an immeasurable curse.

I hope this language is strong enough to satisfy even your own
intense hatred of superstition. You cannot loathe it more than
I do. So far we agree perfectly. But unfortunately you do not
limit your crusade to the religions of Asia, but turn the same
style of argument against the religion of Europe and America,
and, indeed, against the religious belief and worship of every
country and clime. In this matter you make no distinctions :
you would sweep them all away ; church and cathedral must go
with the temple and the pagoda, as alike manifestations of human
credulity, and proofs of the intellectual feebleness and folly of
mankind. While under the impression of that memorable even-
ing at your house, I took up some of your public addresses, and
experienced a strange revulsion of feeling. I could hardly be-

130 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

lieve my eyes as I read, so inexpressibly was I shocked. Things
which I held sacred you not only rejected with unbelief, but
sneered at with contempt. Your words were full of a bitterness
so unlike anything I had heard from your lips, that I could not
reconcile the two, till I reflected that in Robert Ingersoll (as in
the most of us) there were two men, who were not only distinct,
but contrary the one to the other — the one gentle a nd sweet-tem-
pered ; the other delighting in war as his native element. Be-
tween the two, I have a decided preference for the former. I
have no dispute with the quiet and peaceable gentleman, whose
kindly spirit makes sunshine in his home ; but it is that other
man over yonder, who comes forward into the arena like a gladi-
ator, defiant and belligerent, that rouses my antagonism. And
yet I do not intend to stand up even against him ; but if he will
only sit down and listen patiently, and answer in those soft tones
of voice which he knows so well how to use, we can have a quiet
talk, which will certainly do him no harm, while it relieves my
troubled mind.

What then is the basis of this religion which you despise ? At
the foundation of every form of religious faith and worship, is the
idea of G-od. Here you take your stand ; you do not believe in
God. Of course you do not deny absolutely the existence of a
Creative Power : for that would be to assume a knowledge which
no human being can possess. How small is the distance that we
can see before us ! The candle of our intelligence throws its
beams but a little way, beyond which the circle of light is com-
passed by universal darkness. Upon this no one insists more than
yourself. I have heard you discourse upon the insignificance of
man in a way to put many preachers to shame. I remember your
illustration from the myriads of creatures that live on plants, from
which you picked out, to represent human insignificance, an insect
1 too small to be seen by the naked eye, whose world was a leaf, and
whose life lasted but a single day ! Surely a creature that can only
be seen with a microscope, cannot know that a Creator does not
exist !

This, I must do you the justice to say, you do not affirm. All
that you can say is, that if there be no knowledge on one side,
neither is there on the other ; that it is only a matter of proba-
bility ; and that, judging from such evidence as appeals to your
senses and your understanding, you do not believe that there is a

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. IXGERSOLL. 131

God. Whether this be a reasonable conclusion or not, it is at
least an intelligible state of mind.

Now I am not going to argue against what the Catholics call
"invincible ignorance" — an incapacity on account of tempera-
ment— for I hold that the belief in God, like the belief in all
spiritual things, comes to some minds by a kind of intuition.
There are natures so, finely strung that they are sensitive to influ-
ences which do not touch others. You may say that it is mere
poetical rhapsody when Shelley writes :

" The awful shadow of some unseen power
Floats, though unseen, ainoug us."

But there are natures which are not at all poetical or dreamy,
only most simple and pure, which, in moments of spiritual exalta-
tion, are almost conscious of a Presence that is not of this world.
But this, which is a matter of experience, will have no weight
with those who do not have that experience. For the present,
therefore, I would not be swayed one particle by mere sentiment,
but look at the question in the cold light of reason alone.

The idea of God is indeed the grandest and most awful that
can be entertained by the human mind. Its very greatness over-
powers us, so that it seems impossible that such a Being should
exist. But if it is hard to conceive of Infinity, it is still harder
to get any intelligible explanation of the present order of things
without admitting the existence of an intelligent Creator and Up-
holder of all. Copernicus, when he swept the sky with his tele-
scope, traced the finger of God in every movement of the heaven-
ly bodies. Napoleon, when the French savants on the voyage to
Egypt argued that there was no God, disdained any other an-
swer than to point upward to the stars and ask, " Who made all
these ? " That is the first question, and it is the last. The
farther we go, the more we are forced to one conclusion. No
man ever studied nature with a more simple desire to know the
truth than Agassiz, and yet the more he explored, the more he
was startled as he found himself constantly face to face with the
evidences of MIXD.

Do you say this is "a great mystery/' meaning that it is some-
thing that we do not know anything about ? Of course, it is " a
mystery." But do you think to escape mystery by denying the
Divine existence ? You only exchange one mystery for another.

132 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The first of all mysteries is, not that God exists, but that
we exist. Here we are. How did we come here ? We go back
to our ancestors ; but that does not take away the difficulty ; it
only removes it farther off. Once begin to climb the stairway of
past generations, and you will find that it is a Jacob's ladder, on
which you mount higher and higher until you step into the very
presence of the Almighty.

But even if we know that there is a God, what can we know
of His character ? You say, " God is whatever we conceive Him
to be." We frame an image of Deity out of our consciousness —
it is simply a reflection of our own personality cast upon the sky,
like the image seen in the Alps in certain states of the atmos-
phere— and then fall down and worship that which we have
created, not indeed with our hands, but out of our minds. This
may be true to some extent of the gods of mythology, but not of
the God of Nature, who is as inflexible as Nature itself. You
might as well say that the laws of nature are whatever we imag-
ine them to be. But we do not go far before we find that, instead
of being pliant to our will, they are rigid and inexorable, and we
dash ourselves against them to our own destruction. So God does
not bend to human thought any more than to human will. The
more we study Him, the more we find that He is not what we
imagined Him to be ; that He is far greater than any image of
Him that we could frame.

But, after all, you rejoin that the conception of a Supreme
Being is merely an abstract idea, of no practical importance, with
no bearing upon human life. I answer, it is of immeasurable im-
portance. Let go the idea of God, and you have let go the high-
est moral restraint. There is no Kuler above man ; he is a law
unto himself — a law which is as impotent to produce order, and to
hold society together, as man is with his little hands to hold
the stars in their courses.

I know how you reason against the Divine existence from the
moral disorder of the world. The argument is one that takes strong
hold of the imagination, and may be used with tremendous effect.
You set forth in colors none too strong the injustice that prevails
in the relations of men to one another — the inequalities of society ;
the haughtiness of the rich and the misery of the poor ; you
draw lurid pictures of the vice and crime which run riot in the
great capitals which are the centres of civilization ; and when

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 133

you have wound up your audience to the highest pitch, you ask,
" How can it be that there is a just God in heaven, who looks
down upon the earth and sees all this horrible confusion, and yet
does not lift His hand to avenge the innocent or punish the
guilty ?" To this I will make but one answer : Does it convince
yourself ? I do not mean to imply that you are conscious of
insincerity. But an orator is sometimes carried away by his own
eloquence, and states things more strongly than he would in his
cooler moments. So I venture to ask : With all your tendency to
skepticism, do you really believe that there is no moral govern-
ment of the world — no Power behind nature " making for right-
eousness ?" Are there no retributions in history ? When Lincoln
stood on the field of Gettysburg, so lately drenched with blood,
and, reviewing the carnage of that terrible day, accepted it as the
punishment of our national sins, was it a mere theatrical flourish
in him to lift his hand to heaven, and exclaim, "Just and true
are Thy ways, Lord God Almighty I" •

Having settled it to your own satisfaction that there is no
God, you proceed in the same easy way to dispose of that other
belief which lies at the foundation of all religion — the immortality
of the soul. With an air of modesty and diffidence that would
carry an audience by storm, you confess your ignorance of what
perhaps others are better acquainted with, when you say, " This
world is all that / know anything about, so far as I recollect."
This is very wittily put, and some may suppose it contains an
argument ; but do you really mean to say that you do not know
anything except what you " recollect," or what you have seen
with your eyes ? Perhaps you never saw your grandparents ; but
have you any more doubt of their existence than of that of your,
father and mother whom you did see ?

Here, as when you speak of the existence of God, you carefully
avoid any positive affirmation : you neither affirm nor deny. You
are ready for whatever may " turn up." In your jaunty style, if
you find yourself hereafter in some new and unexpected situation,
you will accept it and make the best of it, and be "as ready as
the next man to enter on any remunerative occupation ! "

But while airing this pleasant fancy, you plainly regard the
hope of another life as a beggar's dream — the momentary illusion
of one who, stumbling along life's highway, sits him down by the
roadside, footsore and weary, cold and hungry, and falls asleep,

134 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and dreams of a time when he shall have riches and plenty. Poor
creature ! let him dream; it helps him to forget his misery, and
may give him a little courage for his rude awaking to the hard
reality of life. But it is all a dream, which dissolves in thin air,
and floats away and disappears. This illustration I do not take
from you, but simply choose to set forth what (as I infer from the
sentences above quoted and many like expressions) may describe,
not unfairly, your state of mind. Your treatment of the subject
is one of trifling. You do not speak of it in a serious way, but
lightly and flippantly, as if it were all a matter of fancy and con-
jecture, and not worthy of sober consideration.

Now, does it never occur to you that there is something very
cruel in this treatment of the belief of your fellow-creatures, on
whose hope of another life hangs all that relieves the darkness of
their present existence ? To many of them life is a burden to
carry, and they need all the helps to carry it that can be found in
reason, in philosophy, or in religion. But what support does
your hollow creed supply? You are a man of warm heart, of the
tenderest sympathies. Those who know you best and love you
most, tell me that you cannot bear the sight of suffering even in
animals ; that your natural sensibility is such that you find no
pleasure in sports, in hunting or fishing ; to shoot a robin would
make you feel like a murderer. If you see a poor man in trouble
your first impulse is to help him. You cannot see a child in tears
but you want to take up the little fellow in your arms, and make
him smile again. And yet, with all your sensibility, you hold
the most remorseless and pitiless creed in the world — a creed in
which there is not a gleam of mercy or of hope. A mother has
lost her only son. She goes to his grave and throws herself upon
it, the very picture of woe. One thought only keeps her from
despair : it is that beyond this life there is a world where she
may once more clasp her boy in her arms. What will you say to
that mother ? You are silent, and your silence is a sentence
of death to her hopes. By that grave you cannot speak : for if
you were to open your lips and tell that mother what you really
believe, it would be that her son is blotted out of existence, and
that she can never look upon his face again. Thus with your
iron heel do you trample down and crush the last hope of a
broken heart.

When such sorrow comes to you, you feel it as keenly as any

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 135

man. With your strong domestic attachments one cannot pass
out of your little circle without leaving a great void in your
heart, and your grief is as eloquent as it is hopeless. No sadder
words ever fell from human lips than these, spoken over the cof-
fin of one to whom you were tenderly attached : " Life is but a
narrow vale, between the cold and barren peaks of two eterni-
ties ! " This is a doom of annihilation, which strikes a chill to
the stoutest heart. Even you must envy the faith which, as it
looks upward, sees those " peaks of two eternities," not " cold
and barren," but warm with the glow of the setting sun, which
gives promise of a happier to-morrow ?

I think I hear you say, " So might it be ! Would that I could
believe it ! " for no one recognizes more the emptiness of life as it
is. I do not forget the tone in which you said : ' ' Life is very
sad to me ; it is very pitiful ; there isn't much to it." True in-
deed ! With your belief, or want of belief, there is very little to
it ; and if this were all it would be a fair question whether life
were worth living. In the name of humanity, let us cling to all
that is left us that can bring a ray of hope into its darkness, and
thus lighten its otherwise impenetrable gloom.

I observe that you not unfrequently entertain yourself and
your audiences by caricaturing certain doctrines of the Christian
Religion. The "Atonement," as you look upon it, is simply
" punishing the wrong man" — letting the guilty escape, and put-
ting the innocent to death. This is vindicating justice by per-
mitting injustice. But is there not another side to this ? Does
not the idea of sacrifice run through human life, and ennoble
human character ? You see a mother denying herself for her
children, foregoing every comfort, enduring every hardship, till
at last, worn out by her labor and her privation, she folds her
hands upon her breast. May it not be said truly that she gives her
life for the life of her children ? History is full of sacrifice, and
it is the best part of history. I will not speak of " the noble army
of martyrs," but of heroes who have died for their country or for
liberty — what is it but this element of devotion for the good of
others that gives such glory to their immortal names ? How
then should it be thought a thing without reason that a Deliverer
of the race should give His life for the life of the world ?

So, too, you find a subject for caricature in the doctrine of
"Regeneration." But what is regeneration but a change of

136 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

character shown in a change of life ? Is that so very absurd ?
Have you never seen a drunkard reformed ? Have you never
seen a man of impure life, who, after running his evil course,
had, like the prodigal, "come to himself" — that is, awakened
to his shame, and turning from it, come back to the path of
purity, and finally regained a true and noble manhood ?
Probably you would admit this, but say that the change
was the result of reflection, and of the man's own strength of
will. The doctrine of regeneration only adds to the will of man
the power of God. We believe that man is weak, but that God
is mighty ; and that when man tries to raise himself, an arm is
stretched out to lift him up to a height which he could not attain
alone. Sometimes one who has led the worst life, after being
plunged into such remorse and despair that he feels as if he were
enduring the agonies of hell, turns back and takes another course :
he becomes " a new creature," whom his friends can hardly recog-
nize as he " sits clothed and in his right mind." The change is
from darkness to light, from death to life ; and he who has known
but one such case will never say that the language is too strong
which describes that man as "born again."

If you think that I pass lightly over these doctrines, not bring-
ing out all the meaning which they bear, I admit it. I am not
writing an essay in theology, but would only show, in passing, by
your favorite method of illustration, that the principles involved
are the same with which you are familiar in every-day life.

But the doctrine which excites your bitterest animosity is that
of Future Retribution. The prospect of another life, reaching on
into an unknown futurity, you would contemplate with com-
posure were it not for the dark shadow hanging over it. But to
live only to suffer ; to live when asking to die ; to " long for
death, and not be able to find it " — is a prospect which rouses the
anger of one who would look with calmness upon death as an
eternal sleep. The doctrine loses none of its terrors in passing
through your hands ; for it is one of the means by which you
work upon the feelings of your hearers. You pronounce it
" the most horrible belief that ever entered the human mind :
that the Creator should bring beings into existence to destroy
them ! This would make Him the most fearful tyrant in the uni-
verse— a Moloch devouring his own children ! " I shudder when

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT O. INGERSOLL. 137

I recall the fierce energy with which you spoke as you said,
" Such a God I hate with all the intensity of my being ! "

But gently, gently, Sir ! We will let this burst of fury pass be-
fore we resume the conversation. When you are a little more
tranquil, I would modestly suggest that perhaps you are fighting a
figment of your imagination. I never heard of any Christian
teacher who said that " the Creator brought beings into the world
to destroy them ! " Is it not better to moderate yourself to exact
statements, especially when, with all modifications, the subject is
one to awaken a feeling the most solemn and profound ?

Now I am not going to enter into a discussion of this doctrine.
I will not quote a single text. I only ask you whether it is not a
scientific truth that the effect of everything ivhich is of the nature of
a cause is eternal. Science has opened our eyes to some very
strange facts in nature. The theory of vibrations is carried by the
physicists to an alarming extent. They tell us that it is literally
and mathematically true that you cannot throw a ball in the air
but it shakes the solar system. Thus all things act upon all.
What is true in space may be true in time, and the law of physics
may hold in the spiritual realm. When the soul of man departs
out of the body, being released from the grossness of the flesh, it
may enter on a life a thousand times more intense than this: in
which it will not need the dull senses as avenues of knowledge,
because the spirit itself will be all eye, all ear, all intelligence;
while memory, like an electric flash, will in an instant bring the
whole of the past into view; and the moral sense will be quickened
as never before. Here then we have all the conditions of retribu-
tion— a world which, however shadowy it may seem, is yet as real
as the homes and habitations and activities of our present state;
with memory trailing the deeds of a lifetime behind it; and con-
science, more inexorable than any judge, giving its solemn and
final verdict.

With such conditions assumed, let us take a case which would
awaken your just indignation — that of a selfish, hard-hearted, and
cruel man ; who sacrifices the interests of everybody to his own ;
who grinds the faces of the poor, robbing the widow and the orphan
of their little all ; and who, so far from making restitution, dies
with his ill-gotten gains held fast in his clenched hand. How
long must the night be to sleep away the memory of such a
hideous life ? If he wakes, will not the recollection cling to him

138 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

still ? Are there any waters of oblivion that can cleanse his miser-
able soul ? If not — if he cannot forget, surely he cannot forgive
himself for the baseness which now he has no opportunity to
repair. Here, then, is a retribution which is inseparable from his
being, which is a part of his very existence. The undying memory
brings the undying pain.

Take another case — alas ! too sadly frequent. A man of
pleasure betrays a young, innocent, trusting woman by the promise
of his love, and then casts her off, leaving her to sink down, down,
through every degree of misery and shame, till she is lost in depths
which plummet never sounded, and disappears. Is he not to
suffer for this poor creature's ruin ? Can he rid himself of it by
fleeing beyond "that bourne from whence no traveler returns?"
Not unless he can flee from himself : for in the lowest depths of
the under-world — a world in which the sun never shines — that
image will still pursue him. As he wanders in its gloomy shades,
a pale form glides by him like an affrighted ghost. The face is
the same, beautiful even in its sorrow, but with a look upon it as
of one who has already suffered an eternity of woe. In an instant
all the past comes back again. He sees the young, unblessed mother
wandering in some lonely place, that only the heavens may witness
her agony and her despair. There he sees her holding up in her
arms the babe that had no right to be born, and calling upon God
to judge her betrayer. How far in the future must he travel to
forget that look ? Is there any escape except by plunging into
the gulf of annihilation ?

Thus far in this paper I have taken a tone of defence. But I
do not admit that the Christian religion needs any apology, — it
needs only to be rightly understood to furnish its own complete
vindication. Instead of considering its " evidences," which is
but going round the outer walls, let us enter the gates of the
temple and see what is within. Here we find something better
than "towers and bulwarks" in the character of Him who is the
Founder of our Keligion, and not its Founder only, but its very
core and being. Christ is Christianity. Not only is He the
Great Teacher, but the central subject of what He taught, so that
the whole stands or falls with Him.

In our first conversation, I observed that, with all your sharp
comments on things sacred, you professed great respect for the
ethics of Christianity, and for its author. " Make the Sermon on

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT O. INGERSOLL. 139

the Mount your religion," you said, " and there I am with you."
Very well ! So far, so good. And now, if you will go a little
further, you may find still more food for reflection.

All who have made a study of the character and teachings of
Christ, even those who utterly deny the supernatural, stand in
awe and wonder before the gigantic figure which is here revealed.
Renan closes his "Life of Jesus" with this as the result of his
long study : " Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will be
renewed without ceasing ; his story [legende] will draw tears from
beautiful eyes without end ; his sufferings will touch the finest
natures ; ALL THE AGES WILL PROCLAIM THAT AMONG THE SONS

OF MEN THESE HAS NOT RISEN A GREATER THAN JESUS ;" while

Rousseau closes his immortal eulogy by saying, " SOCRATES DIED

LIKE A PHILOSOPHER, BUT JESUS CHRIST LIKE A GOD I"

Here is an argument for Christianity to which I pray you to
address yourself. As you do not believe in miracles, and are
ready to explain everything by natural causes, I beg you to tell us
how came it to pass that a Hebrew peasant, born among the hills of
Galilee, had a wisdom above that 'of Socrates or Plato, of Confucius
or Buddha ? This is the greatest of miracles, that such a Being
has lived and died on the earth.

Since this is the chief argument for Religion, does it not be-
come one who undertakes to destroy it to set himself first to this
central position, instead of wasting his time on mere outposts ?
When you next address one of the great audiences that hang upon
your words, is it unfair to ask that you lay aside such familiar
topics as Miracles or Ghosts, or a Iteply to Talmage, and tell us
what you think of JESUS CHRIST ; whether you look upon Him as
an impostor, or merely as a dreamer — a mild and harmless enthu-
siast ; or are ready to acknowledge that He is entitled to rank
among the great teachers of mankind ?

But if you are compelled to admit the greatness of Christ, you
take your revenge on the Apostles, whom you do not hesitate
to say that you " don't think much of." In fact, you set
them down in a most peremptory way as "a poor lot." It did
seem rather an unpromising " lot," that of a boat-load of
fishermen, from which to choose the apostles of a religion
— almost as unpromising as it was to take a rail-splitter to be the
head of a nation in the greatest crisis of its history ! But per-
haps in both cases there was a wisdom higher than ours, that

140 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

chose better than we. It might puzzle even you to give a better
definition of religion than this of the Apostle James : " Pure re-
ligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this : to visit
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world ; " or to find among those sages of antiq-
uity, with whose writings you are familiar, a more complete and
perfect delineation of that which is the essence of all goodness
and virtue, than Paul's description of the charity which
" suffereth long and is kind ; " or to find in the sayings of Con-
fucius or of Buddha anything more sublime than this aphorism of
John : " God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him."

And here you must allow me to make a remark, which is not
intended as a personal retort, but simply in the interest of that
truth which we both profess to seek, and to count worth more
than victory. Your language is too sweeping to indicate the care-
ful thinker, who measures his words and weighs them in a bal-
ance. Your lectures remind me of the pictures of Gustave Dore,
who preferred to paint on a large canvas, with figures as gigantesque
as those of Michael Angelo in his Last Judgment. The effect is
very powerful, but if he had softened his colors a little, — if there
were a few delicate touches, a mingling of light and shade, as
when twilight is stealing over the earth, — the landscape would be
more true to nature. So, believe me, your words would be more
weighty if they were not so strong. But whenever you touch upon
religion you seem to lose control of yourself, and a vindictive
feeling takes possession of you, which causes you to see things so
distorted from their natural appearance that you cannot help run-
ning into the broadest caricature. You swing your sentences as
the woodman swings his axe. Of course, this " slashing " style
is very effective before a popular audience, which does not care
for nice distinctions, or for evidence that has to be sifted and
weighed ; but wants opinions off-hand, and likes to have its pre-
judices and hatreds echoed back in a ringing voice. This carries
the crowd, but does not convince the. philosophic mind. The
truth-seeker cannot cut a road through the forest with sturdy
blows ; he has a hidden path to trace, and must pick his way
with slow and cautious step to find that which is more precious
than gold.

But if it were possible for you to sweep away the ' ' evidences

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.

of Christianity," you have not swept away Christianity itself ; it
still lives, not only in tradition, but in the hearts of the people,
entwined with all that is sweetest in their domestic life, from
which it must be torn out with unsparing hand before it can be
exterminated. To begin with, you turn your back upon history.
All that men have done and suffered for the sake of religion was
folly. The Pilgrims, who crossed the sea to find freedom to wor-
ship God in the forests of the New World, were miserable fanat-
ics. There is no more place in the world for heroes and martyrs.
He who sacrifices his life for a faith, or an idea, is a fool. The
only practical wisdom is to have a sharp eye to the main chance.
If you keep on in this work of demolition, you will soon destroy
all our ideals. Family life withers under the cold sneer — half
pity and half scorn — with which you look down on household
worship. Take from our American firesides such scenes as
that pictured in the Cotter's Saturday Night, and you have
taken from them their most sacred hours and their tenderest
memories.

The same destructive spirit which intrudes into our domestic as
well as our religious life, would take away the beauty of our vil-
lages as well as the sweetness of our homes. In the weary round
of a week of toil, there comes an interval of rest; the laborer lays
down his burden, and for a few hours breathes a serener air. The
Sabbath morning has come:

" Sweet day ! so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky."

At the appointed hour the bell rings across the valley, and sends
its echoes among the hills; and from all the roads the people come
trooping to the village church. Here they gather, old and young,
rich and poor; and as they join in the same act of worship, feel
that God is the maker of them all. Is there in our national life
any influence more elevating than this — one which tends more to
bring a community together; to promote neighborly feeling; to
refine the manners of the people; to breed true courtesy, and all
that makes a Christian village different from a cluster of Indian
wigwams — a civilized community different from a tribe of savages?
All this you would destroy : you would abolish the Sabbath, or
have it turned into a holiday ; you would tear down the old church,
so full of tender associations of the living and the dead, or at least
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 10

142 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

have it "razeed," cutting off the tall spire that points upward to
heaven ; and the interior you would turn into an assembly room —
a place of entertainment, where the young people could have their
merry-makings, except perchance in the warm Summer-time,,
when they could dance on the village green ! So far you would
have gained your object. But would that be a more orderly com-
munity, more refined or more truly happy ?

You may think this a mere sentiment — that we care more for
the picturesque than for the true. But there is one result which
is fearfully real : the destructive creed, or no creed, which
despoils our churches and our homes, attacks society in its first
principles by taking away the support of morality. I do not be-
lieve that general morality can be upheld without the sanctions of
religion. There may be individuals of great natural force of
character, who can stand alone — men of superior intellect and
strong will. But in general human nature is weak, and virtue is
not the spontaneous growth of childish innocence. Men do not
become pure and good by instinct. Character, like mind, has to
be developed by education ; and it needs all the elements of
strength which can be given it, from without as well as from
within, from the government of man and the government of God.
To let go of these restraints is a peril to public morality.

You feel strong in the strength of a robust manhood, well
poised in body and mind, and in the centre of a happy home,
where loving hearts cling to you like vines round the oak. But
many to whom you speak are quite otherwise. You address thou-
sands of young men who have come out of country homes, where
they have been brought up in the fear of God, and have heard the
morning and evening prayer. They come into a city full of
temptations, but are restrained from evil by the thought of father
and mother, and reverence for Him who is the Father of us all —
a feeling which, though it may not have taken the form of any
profession, is yet at the bottom of their hearts, and keeps them
from many a wrong and wayward step. A young man, who is
thus "guarded and defended" as by unseen angels, some evening
when he feels very lonely, is invited to "go and hear Ingersoll,"
and for a couple of hours listens to your caricatures of religion,
with descriptions of the prayers and the psalm-singing, illustrated
by devout grimaces and nasal tones, which set the house in roars of
laughter, and are received with tumultuous applause. When it is

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 143

all over, and the young man finds himself again under the flar-
ing lamps of the city streets, he is conscious of a change ; the
faith of his childhood has been rudely torn from him, and with it
"a glory has passed away from the earth ;" the Bible which his
mother gave him the morning that he came away, is " a mass of
fables ; " the sentence which she wished him to hang on the wall,
" Thou, God, seest me," has lost its power, for there is no God
that sees him, no moral government, no law and no retribution.
So he reasons as he walks slowly homeward, meeting the tempta-
tions which haunt these streets at night — temptations from which
he has hitherto turned with a shudder, but which he now meets
with a diminished power of resistance. Have you done that
young man any good in taking from him what he held sacred be-
fore ? Have you not left him morally weakened ? From sneer-
ing at religion, it is but a step to sneering at morality, and then
but one step more to a vicious and profligate career. How are
you going to stop this downward tendency ? TV hen you have
stripped him of former restraints, do you leave him anything in
their stead, except indeed a sense of honor, self-respact, and self-
interest ? — worthy motives, no doubt, but all too feeble to with-
stand the fearful temptations that assail him. Is the chance of
his resistance as good as it was before ? Watch him as he goes
along that street at midnight ! He passes by the places of evil
resort, of drinking and gambling — those open mouths of hell ;
he hears the sound of music and dancing, and for the first time
pauses to listen. How long will it be before he will venture in ?

With such dangers in his path, it is a grave responsibility to
loosen the restraints which hold such a young man to virtue.
These gibes and sneers which you utter so lightly, may have a sad
echo in a lost character and a wretched life. Many a young man
has been thus taunted until he has pushed oif from the shore,
under the idea of gaining his " liberty," and ventured into the
rapids, only to be carried down the stream, and left a wreck in the
whirlpool below !

You tell me that your object is to drive fear out of the world.
That is a noble ambition : if you succeed, you will be indeed a
deliverer. Of course you mean only irrational fears. You would
not have men throw off the fear of violating the laws of nature :
for that would lead to incalculable misery. You aim only at the
terrors born of ignorance and superstition. But how are you going

144 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

to get rid of these ? You trust to the progress of science, which
has dispelled so many fears arising from physical phenomena, by
showing that calamities ascribed to spiritual agencies are explained
by natural causes. But science can only go a certain way,
beyond which we come into the sphere of the unknown, where all
is dark as before. How can you relieve the fears of others —
indeed how can you rid yourself of fear, believing as you do that
there is no Power above which can help you in any extremity ;
that you are the sport of accident, and may be dashed in pieces by
the blind agency of nature ? If I believed this, I should feel that
I was in the grasp of some terrible machinery which was crushing
me to atoms, with no possibility of escape.

Not so does Keligion leave man here on the earth, helpless and
hopeless — in abject terror, as he is in utter darkness as to his fate —
but opening the heaven above him, it discovers a Great Intelli-
gence, compassing all things, seeing the end from the beginning,
and ordering our little lives so that even the trials that we bear,
as they call out the finer elements of character, conduce to our
future happiness. God is our Father. We look up into His face
with childlike confidence, and find that " His service is perfect
freedom." " Love casts out fear." That, I beg to assure you, is-
the way, and the only way, by which man can be delivered from
those fears by which he is all his lifetime subject to bondage.

In your attacks upon Religion you do violence to your own man-
liness. Knowing you as I do, I feel sure that you do not realize
where your blows fall, or whom they wound, or you would not
use your weapons so freely. The faiths of men are as sacred as
the most delicate manly or womanly sentiments of love and honor.
They are dear as the beloved faces that have passed from our sight.
I should think myself wanting in respect to the memory of my
father and mother if I could speak lightly of the faith in which
'^hey lived and died. Surely this must be mere thoughtlessness,
for I cannot believe that you find pleasure in giving pain. I have
not forgotten the gentle hand that was laid upon your shoulder,
and the gentle voice which said, " Uncle Robert wouldn't hurt a
fly." And yet you bruise the tenderest sensibilities, and trample
down what is most cherished by millions of sisters and daughters
and mothers, little heeding that you are sporting with "human
creatures' lives."

You are waging a hopeless war — a war in which you are certain

AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 145

only of defeat. The Christian Religion began to be nearly two
thousand years before you and I were born, and it will live two
thousand years after we are dead. Why is it that it lives on and
on, while nations and kingdoms perish ? Is not this " the survival
of the fittest ? " Contend against it with all your wit and elo-
quence, you will fail, as all have failed before you. You cannot
fight against ithe instincts of humanity. It is as natural for men
to look up to a Higher Power as it is to look up to the stars. Tell
them that there is no God ! You might as well tell them that
there is no Sun in heaven, even while on that central light and
heat all life on earth depends.

I do not presume to think that I have convinced you, or
changed your opinion; but it is always right to appeal to a man's
"sober second thought" — to that better judgment that comes
with increasing knowledge and advancing years; and I will not
give up hope that you will yet see things more clearly, and recog-
nize the mistake you • have made in not distinguishing Religion
from Superstition — two things as far apart as " the hither from
the utmost pole." Superstition is the greatest enemy of Religion.
It is the nightmare of the mind, filling it with all imaginable
terrors — a black cloud which broods over half the world. Against
this you may well invoke the light of science to scatter its dark-
ness. Whoever helps to sweep it away, is a benefactor of his race.
But when this is done, and the moral atmosphere is made pure
and sweet, then you as well as we may be conscious of a new Pres-
ence coming into the hushed and vacant air, as Religion, daughter
of the skies, descends to earth to bring peace and good will to
men.

HEXKY M. FIELD.

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS.

THAT those somewhat indefinite, numerous, and entirely
abominable disorders termed dyspepsia and biliousness belong
peculiarly to sedentary men is a quite noticeable fact. The
writer's memory recalls very few instances where out-of-door,
daily laborers have applied for the relief of sufferings of this
class, and, when this has been the case, their maladies have
always proved to be true organic diseases, and not mere disorders,
while, among professional or business men, similar symptoms
usually indicate the presence of disorder only.

It is unnecessary here to attempt to depict a life rendered bur-
densome and often intolerable by these maladies. But the utter
misery of the poor, melancholy, irritable victim must be felt to be
appreciated. His whole physical, mental, and moral nature is
vitiated. He becomes a curse to himself and to all who come in
contact with him. This is the more deplorable since such martyrs,
for the most part, rank among the leaders of the world in thought
and action, among the delicate, refined, and educated, the choice
products of civilization. Language fails to describe the aggregate
of woe daily endured by this large class of our fellows, and by
those who are dependent upon them. It cannot be exaggerated,
and is the more lamentable since it certainly can be avoided or
palliated to a very large extent.

It has been well said that " half that passes in the world for
talent is nothing but exuberant health." And it might truth-
fully be added that sound thought, true emotion, and clear dis-
crimination must originate in healthful organisms. As well ex-
pect good music from an organ out of tune as right thoughts, vir-
tuous emotions, and just judgments from a brain not backed and
sustained by a stomach and liver that functionate normally.

It may be that much that is weird and mystic in poetry and
art, in philosophy and religion, much which is eccentric in life,

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 147

much even which has passed for genius among men, might
never have dawned upon an entirely healthful race. But it may
well be questioned whether mankind could not have advan-
tageously dispensed with such vagaries. What has the world not
suffered from cynical philosophers, morbid religionists, and
fanatical reformers of every kind and degree, who but for foul
stomachs and congested livers might have blessed it !

For these great organs stand at the very threshold of the body.
Through both must pass, and undergo elaboration, all the food
upon which life depends, and imperfect function here scatters
havoc throughout the entire system.

It is assumed, then, that dyspepsia and biliousness are pecu-
liarly and distinctively the maladies of sedentary men. Why
is this the case ? Is there a remedy? And, if not, how can these
evils be reduced to a minimum ?

To this result, doubtless, many causes contribute. But the
main and efficient cause lies in the destruction of the relations
which should exist between food and the wants of the organism by
the essential and unavoidable habits of sedentary life.

To many, perhaps, this will appear an at least doubtful asser-
tion. But, if it be not susceptible of exact proof, it can be shown
that it is very possible — indeed, that it is a far more probable and
sufficient theory than any heretofore propounded, while it surely
is one which guides us to the most simple and effective means for
the palliation of this melancholy state of things.

In the discussion of this subject, let us begin with distinct*
definitions and clear physiological principles.

Dyspepsia may be defined as indigestion, or digestion per-
formed with pain or distress.

Biliousness includes a variety of symptoms, which are known
to depend upon disordered function of the liver. It is unneces-
sary to repeat them here.

Turning now to physiology. It has been demonstrated that
the phenomena of life are accompanied by, and, in some sort, are,
dependent upon constant disintegration and waste, and equally
constant renewal and repair of all the tissues.

It is also a law of the body that increased use of any tissue or
organ involves an increase of waste, and consequent necessity for
additional or more active repair in that special part.

To a large extent this truth has been established by direct

148 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

experiment. It is also confirmed by the failure of particular
organs to perform their functions beyond a certain point. Espe-
cially marked is this in those whose action is under the control of
the will, and which can, therefore, be compelled to prolonged and
excessive effort.

But repair must come from fresh material derived from prop-
erly digested and assimilated food.

Excessive muscular exertion, then, causes an over-production
of urea and other similar substances, and demands an excess of
material suitable to muscular reconstruction.

So, also, excessive use of the brain involves excessive waste of
the nervous tissues and a corresponding necessity.

But food is practically invariable in its constituents. Each
mouthful contains a definite and fixed proportion of elements — so
much for the skin, so much for the muscles, so much for the
brain, etc.

Now, let it be granted that this is the proper proportion.
That, under or without the direction of a higher power, the wit
of man has enabled him to select suitable materials for food and
properly prepare them for the stomach. But are there no con-
ditions— no premises here ? Surely. And these are, first, that
the individual is physiologically perfect ; and second, that he
lives physiologically.

But where shall we find the normal man, and who lives or can
live physiologically ? We do not know a tithe of the laws of life,
and violate those we do know constantly. Is it physiological to
live in houses, to wear clothes ? How much sleep is proper, for
each ? Is it right to retire with the birds, or consistent to turn
night into day ? Is it even physiological to perform the labor
compelled by the primal curse ?

Our ignorance on these, and a multitude of other points, is
very great. In short, to live in accord with the few of nature's
laws which have been discovered is an utter impossibility. The
demands of life will not admit of compliance with them, and the
result is disorder, derangement, and disaster at every turn.

To take opposing classes as examples, let us consider the
conditions of the laboring and sedentary man. The former
wastes his muscles out of all proportion to his brain, while the
latter does the exact reverse, and both thus destroy the relations
which should exist between their food and necessary repair.

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 149

Both must eat the same food, and each is compelled to swallow
more than he needs for one portion of his body in order that he
may obtain sufficient nourishment for another.

To the laborer this condition of affairs is comparatively harm-
less, for two reasons. He can not use his muscles without employ-
ing his brain to some extent, and an excess of material for so small
a part of the body as the nervous system is easily disposed of by
the various emunctories. But with the sedentary the difficulty is
much greater, for use of the brain does not include nor necessitate
muscular action, and, forming, as do the muscles, the main bulk
of the body, and the elements in the food adapted to their nutri-
tion being far the most abundant, the disproportion is greater,
and the injurious results more numerous and obvious. In order
that his overtasked brain may obtain sufficient nutritive material,
he must eat largely, and, of course, too abundantly for the unem-
ployed portion of his body. And these are the inevitable and
natural results, viz. : If his stomach is unable to accomplish the
work put upon it, it complains — voila dyspepsia! If it does
digest it, his portal circulation is overloaded, the liver fails to
complete its functions, and behold, biliousness !

It is certain that sedentary men (unless their appetites are
restricted) are quite as heavy eaters as laborers, and rarely escape
the disorders mentioned. The exceptions named comprise those
who already suffer from these maladies, or who, by the habitual
use of the so-called paratriptics, tea, coffee, tobacco, wine, etc.,
daily lessen the waste of the brain, and thus diminish the amount
of necessary food. Setting these aside, every hospitable house-
keeper knows, and exact experiment proves, that sedentary men are
quite as large consumers as an equal number of daily laborers. They
must eat largely or fail to obtain sufficient brain supply from food
which contains but a small proportion of it. Even then it is
probable that the nervous tissues often suffer from starvation.
Else why the frequent examples of collapse in this class of the
community ?

What can be done to modify this condition of affairs and to
palliate its consequences ?

No doubt a complete readjustment of the habits of sedentary
men would do most toward eradicating these evils. A reduction
of the hours of mental strain by one-half, and' a devotion of the
time thus exempt to suitable exercise and recreation would proba-

150 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

bly remove the whole difficulty. But such a revolution, unhap-
pily, is Utopian, and therefore unworthy of consideration.

Much study and experiment has been bestowed upon modifica-
tions of diet to this end, and something has been accomplished.
More perfect methods of preparing food have been adopted, and
artificial aids to digestion have been introduced to assist the over-
taxed stomach. But these only serve to shift the burden over upon
the liver, which, having fewer sensitive nerves, has less voice with
which to complain.

The only really effective and feasible means of palliation in
this dilemma are to to be found in the judicious employment of
those substances which nature has placed in our hands, apparently
for this very purpose, and which the blind instinct of man has al-
ready discovered and applied. I refer to the use of the so-called
paratriptics— or preventers of waste in the body. Of these the
most common and best known are wine, tea, coffee, and tobacco.
Other substances, such as the South American coca, the betel nut,
and all the narcotics exhibit similar powers.

No doubt all of these substances exert a more or less deleterious
influence, especially when first used. But it is not a little curious
that to the poisonous properties of most of them the system soon
becomes unresponsive, while the paratriptic effect persists and
daily continues to manifest itself . The novice in the use of to-
bacco is nauseated and often greatly prostrated by it. But, after
a more or less protracted time, these unpleasant symptoms cease
to appear, while the daily habit still limits the amount of food
consumed. The same is true of arsenic and of some other poisons,
while others still produce cumulative effects. Of these latter,
digitalis is an example. The tolerance mentioned is, however, in
some persons, established with difficulty, and with certain tem-
peraments and individuals certain of the paratriptics persistently
disagree. Intelligent and careful adaptation is necessary. One
man cannot endure the effects of tea, while coffee agrees with him.
To another coffee is injurious, while tobacco is grateful and bene-
ficial.

Now, no physiological fact is better established than that all
these substances, while they differ widely in some respects, pos-
sess in common the power, in some way not fully understood, of
limiting disintegration and waste in the tissues. And not only so
but they manifest this influence especially, and more decidedly, in

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 151

those portions of the body which are most used. They act like
oil on the joints of machinery, lubricating, preventing friction
and wear. Testimony to these facts is abundant and convincing.

And still we find many who strenuously object to the use of
these paratriptics, and consider them very harmful to mankind.

To the employment of tea and coffee little opposition is made
at the present day. But time was when even these were objur-
gated severely. To tobacco and wine, however, there still exists
the most violent objection, which, as a rule, proceeds from the
very men who most need them.

To reply fully to such partisans would consume more space
than is now at command. But of the devout, who believe in the
guidance of the race toward ever better and higher conditions,
and even in personal control by a beneficent Providence, we may
properly ask why mankind has been led to the discovery and uni-
versal employment of such substances. Why, indeed, were tea,
coffee, and tobacco ever created — plants which possess almost no
other than a paratriptic value ?

Of the optimist we may inquire how it happens that no bar-
barous nation was ever found without some similar substitute for
food ? How shall we explain the marvelous avidity with which
the race has seized upon plants of this kind ? And, if their con-
sumption is so extensive, as we know it to be, and so prejudicial
as some would have us believe, how is it that, since their intro-
duction, the average duration of life has so greatly increased ?

A very brief statement of well-known historical facts will be
appropriate here.

It is about two hundred years since tea and coffee were brought
into Europe, and now millions of tons of them are annually
consumed.

Columbus discovered tobacco with America. Not till a cen-
tury later was it much used. But since that date the rapidity
and universality of its spread has been unequaled by any other
substance. For every soul existing upon the entire planet, five
pounds are now yearly demanded. This is far beyond what can
be said of rice or maize, or any other vegetable product ever pre-
sented to the palate of man.

Wines, too, or equivalent stimulants, have been universally
adopted.

Surely there must be some sound physiological reason for such

152 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

wonderful phenomena — for a craving common to the whole race.
The rigors of climate have taught man everywhere to build houses
and to wear clothes. His reason and taste have led him to cook
and season his food. His habits in these regards have a self-evi-
dent origin. But no such explanation is competent to the above
facts.

It will not serve to claim that man has chosen these things
because they afford him pleasure or enjoyment. Doubtless some
of them do ; but tea and coffee can hardly be reckoned as sensual
delights, and certainly, to the novice, tobacco is nauseous in a high
degree. Still further, the pleasurable effects of haschisch and of
opium have long been known to the world, and still men do not,
and will not, use them as they use tobacco.

The fact is that these paratriptics meet some want in human
life. And no better or more rational solution of the problem can
be given than this, viz., that the demand for them is based upon
their power to prevent waste in the body, so that, by their help,
men can work longer and endure more privation with a smaller
amount of food.

Who shall measure these benefits, or adequately depict them ?
Silently and unseen these tremendous influences are at work, and
their effects, in the aggregate, must be astounding. It would be
a small estimate of their powers to claim that they reduce the
otherwise necessary food supply by one-tenth, and this in a world
where even now famine and starvation are not unknown.

Wherever men are obliged to endure hardship and privation
their aid is indispensable. The soldier, the sailor, the explorer,
the sedentary man, the laborer, all fly to them for help. Mole-
schott calls them the " savings bank " of the tissues, and the com-
mon voice of physiologists unites with the almost universal testi-
mony of mankind in pronouncing them a blessing to humanity.

It is now time to remark that it is the properly limited
employment of paratriptics to which we refer. They are not
food, although, temporarily and continuously, they supplement
it. And excess in the use of any of them probably never
fails to result in injury more or less extensive and lasting. But
this is true of excess in any good thing. And it must be noted
that excess is a purely relative term. Moderation for one is excess
for another, and vice versa. Excess, too, in some of them is a
far greater evil than excess in others.

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 153

Of those in common use, without doubt, the various forms of
alcohol are capable of inflicting the greatest amount of injury.
Separated by a long distance, follow, in their order, tea, tobacco,
and coffee.

Much has been said of the dreadful results of the use of coca
by etiological idiots, who attribute all the ailments of the debased
Peruvian Indians to its consumption. They rival in wisdom those
who lay all the physical woes of modern life at the door of vacci-
nation. Some instances have been adduced in the public prints
of insanity and death following over indulgence in its main
derivative — cocaine. But these have never yet been properly
linked as cause and effect.

Lack of space forbids more than a brief analysis of the effects
of the paratriptics named. We cannot now give them more
attention singly than will be germane to our subject.

All the world knows but too well the terrible results of the
abuse of alcohol. But these should not blind our eyes to the
beneficial effects of its proper employment. The latter are im-
measurable and unseen even except by physicians, and, in the
estimate, it should have no light weight that, while none know
better than they the fearful consequences of excess, the most
intelligent and conscientious physicians still universally prescribe
alcoholic beverages.

They often find it impossible to save or to prolong life without
them. In 1867 Sir Francis Skey stated that during the preced-
ing forty years, the consumption of stimulants in the London
hospitals had increased fourfold.

Some physiologists claim that they are true foods, since it is an
undisputed fact that they are, in some way, at least partially con-
sumed in the body. But, we do not need a scientist to proclaim
their paratriptic power, for common observation shows how little
the drunkard eats.

During a famine in Germany, Baron Liebig states that in
temperance families where beer was rejected, and the money it would
have cost given in its place, it was soon found that the monthly
consumption of bread was so strikingly increased that the beer
was twice paid for — once in money, and a second time in bread.
With this conclusion also agree many other experiments.

It is a serious mistake to claim that all forms of dilute alcohol
are, and can be, nothing but poison, because when concentrated or

154 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

in large quantities it has been proven to be such. Salt is a val-
uable ingredient of food, but strong solutions of it are poisonous.

Nor can we allow what reformers so vigorously claim, that
moderation in stimulants necessarily leads to excess. Careful ob-
servation will convince any candid mind that of those who have
long partaken moderately of wines, etc., but a very small minority
ever become drunkards.

There appear to be two quite different temperaments regarding
the effects of stimulants. One is pleasantly affected by them.
The more he consumes the more happy he feels, the more vivid
become his emotions, the more brilliant his conceptions, arid
drunkenness is the supreme point of enjoyment. Fortunately
this is true of but a very small number. Upon the great major-
ity of men stimulants have a stupefying effect, and even an
approach to drunkenness is accompanied by such nausea, ver-
tigo, and general discomfort, that one such experience forbids
repetition. Of these two classes of men the former become
drunkards with great uniformity. Moderation, to them, in stimu-
lants, and usually in any delightsome thing, is an impossibility.
But the majority form a class out of which drunkards are never
made, unless it be by remorse or trouble.

To suppose, then, that there is any necessary connection be-
tween moderation and excess in alcohol, is not only to fly in the
face of evidence, but to ignore physiology. Multitudes of men
daily consume a certain amount of tea, coffee, tobacco, or wine
with unvarying regularity for a lifetime, and never increase the
amount. It must be remembered that the tissue of to-day is not the
tissue of to-morrow. The particles acted upon to-day will not be
living when fresh influences are applied to-morrow.

Whether the evil results of a use of alcoholic beverages as a
whole outweigh the beneficial effects derived from their moder-
ate use must ever remain an open question. There can be no
doubt, however, that the former are palpable and cognizable, as
well as enormous, while the latter are obscure and hidden ; that
the former are often exaggerated, and the latter entirely over-
looked.

But, in any event, it cannot be truthfully denied that the
various derivatives from the grape have a paratriptic influence
of no small extent and value to mankind.

Next to alcohol in its injurious effects upon its consumers, I

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 155

have placed tea, and its proper position there will hardly be dis-
puted by any observant physician, although, as remarked, an im-
mense hiatus exists between the two substances. Chief among its
bad effects must be ranked constipation and excessive nervousness.
It contains about eighteen per cent, of tannin — a well-known
astringent which notably restricts the normal action of the intes-
tines. The evils of the habit thus induced need not be discussed
here. It is sufficient to state that they are numerous and very
great.

Again, when taken in strong solution and frequently, tea pro-
duces nervous tremors, irregular action of the heart, and, in ani-
mals, even paralysis. The excessive tea drinker starts and
screams at every sudden incident. Very marked are its paratrip-
tic effects among ordinary domestics who are greatly addicted to
its use. Every housekeeper observes among her servants some
who labor hard and continuously, who maintain their flesh and
strength, and yet who eat almost nothing. Year after year they
continue this custom without perceptible change. Such persons
consume tea in great excess. But, though, often enough, it
renders their lives miserable, I am not aware that it results in
disease or shortens the natural term of existence. It is certainly
a paratriptic of great value.

It is not a little remarkable that tobacco, one of the least
harmful of these substances, should have been so long and so
loudly decried. From the " counterblast " of King James to the
f ulminations of the latest gathering of the clergy, the diatribes
uttered against its use have been equaled only by the denuncia-
tions of alcohol. In these, many physicians, who should know
better, have heartily joined. And yet, in spite of this, not only,
but in defiance of its nauseous properties, and of the disgusting
forms in which it has often been used, the rapidity and universal-
ity of its adoption by the race speak volumes for its peculiar
adaptation to the demands of life.

Quite incapable of producing the exhilarating effects of alco-
hol, mildly narcotic only as compared with opium and other sub-
stances of this class, almost destitute of power to give pleasur-
able sensations or to excite the emotions, its acceptance by
man has no parallel in quickness and extent, its hold upon him
is absolute, and its pojfUlarity ever continues to increase. It
appeals equally to the savage, to the civilized, and to all cla&ses in

156 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the community. And for these truly wonderful facts there is no
conceivable sufficient explanation, except this, viz. : that it is, of
all others, the paratriptic which best meets the demands of cus-
tomary life, is best adapted to the habits of men, and is practic-
ally found to produce but slight injurious results.

Certainly most of the bad effects which have been charged to
its excessive and continued use are either entirely undeserved or
greatly exaggerated.

It is matter for well-merited astonishment that even men of
discernment are so ready often to select a single one out of
the endless chain of causes, and attribute to it alone certain
results. Surely of all sciences etiology is least entitled to respect.
And no more glaring example of the foolish facility mentioned ex-
ists than that common even among eminent oculists, who charge
upon the excessive use of tobacco a certain form of atrophy of the
optic nerve. And this they persist in doing even though that
opinion is based upon a mere supposition, and although competent
colleagues of their own, residing in countries like Turkey, where
the ordinary use of tobacco fully equals what we should term great
excess, declare that this form of disease of the eye is there utterly
unknown. There are nations where the smoking of tobacco is
begun by infants before they can walk, and where the habit is uni-
versal, and were these wiseacres correct in their etiology, the entire
adult population ought logically to be blind.

Ex uno disce omnes. Not a single charge brought against
tobacco has a better basis. With great wisdom it is remarked,
how much better health some individual has attained since ceasing
to use tobacco. But any decisive change in long-continued habits
— even what are termed "good habits" — is often temporarily
beneficial. The great curative principle of change is what has
been successfully appealed to here — the most powerful, and, in
fact, broadly considered, the only existing curative principle.

In estimating the true influence of tobacco and its congeners,
it is manifestly unfair to consider individual instances of their
use. Only by taking masses of men who for years are under con-
trol as to their diet and habits, and who, therefore, live upon
equal terms, can we approximate a fair estimate ex uso. And in
this regard there could be no test more equitable than that made
by Sir John Sinclair, and recorded in his " Code of Health " re-
cently published. In the pension hospitals of England Sir John

SEDENTARY MEN AND STIMULANTS. 157

found one hundred and fifty men over eighty years of age. Fif-
teen of them were over ninety, and four were over one hundred.
These formed the remnant of the armies of England. The rest
were dead, and of these survivors all but two had been consumers
of " the weed" all their lives. It may be added that the use of
tobacco by smoking forms the most desirable paratriptic for the
dyspeptic, as it decidedly assists digestion by stimulating the secre-
tion of gastric juice. It appears to be most useful to men of
lymphatic temperament, and to disagree most decidedly with those
of highly developed nervous organizations.

Regarding coffee little need be said. Its effects are similar to
those of tea ; but, since the proportion of tannin is much less,
it does not constipate, as a rule, and, as it is less abused, its harm-
ful powers are less manifest.

Concerning coca, the great South American analogue of tea
and coffee, but few words are necessary, since it is only a recent
importation in this country and in Europe. An experience of
more than twenty years in its use by the writer, and by many
others under his direction, however, enables him to state his
conviction that, while it is the most powerful paratriptic known,
it is also the one which least disturbs the functions of the
body, and is, therefore, probably the least harmful of any. I
have elsewhere* discussed its properties in extenso, and to that
work the reader is referred for more complete information.
» And now, of all these paratriptics, it should finally be said that
only personal trial or skilled advice can determine which is best
suited to each individual. The writer has often successfully pre-
scribed them to many of the class to which reference has been
made for the relief and cure of the maladies named. And, if to
the use of these be added an entire avoidance of the greatest
gastronomic sin of the times, viz, , an indulgence in all forms of
freshly baked bread, he has good ground for the opinion that
biliousness and dyspepsia would largely cease to afflict sedentary
men.

W. S. SEARLE, A. M., M. D.

* See Essay on Coca. Fords, Howard & Hurlburt, N. Y. 1881.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 11

COQUELIN-IRYING.

M. COQUELIN is an accomplished comedian, whose great
natural gifts were cultivated in the College of the Histrionic Art,
the Comedie Franpaise, where he graduated as a star.

Mr. Irving is a comedian who has had no collegiate training
for the stage, as there is no school of art in England.

The Frenchman, therefore, acquired his principles before he
acquired his experience. The Englishman acquired his practice
from which he deduced his principles. These two artists discuss
the pathology of tragedy. They describe the artistic process by
which the tragic actor embodies the passions delineated by the
tragic poet.

We cannot regard Mr. Irving as a tragedian. He is a versa-
tile character actor, who, like Frederick Lemaitre, plays every-
thing, but shines chiefly in character parts. Frederick was
equally great in Ruy Bias and Robert Macaire ; Irving is equally
great in Louis the Eleventh and Jeremy Diddler. But Frederick
was not a Talma, and Irving is not an Edmund Kean.

It is questionable, therefore, whether these two eminent art-
ists are equipped with experience of the kind required to pass
judgment on this matter. Let us see !

Comedy aspires to portray by imitation the weaknesses to
which human beings are subject; and, it may be, to correct such
frailties by their exposure to our ridicule. Character, in our dra-
matic sense, is the distinction between individuals, and it is ex-
hibited by the manner in which each bears and expresses his or
her trouble, or deals with his neighbors.

Tragedy aspires to portray the passions to which strong natures
are subject, and a resistance to their influence. But strong
natures exhibit no distinctive character. Heroes are monotonous.
Othello, Richard, Macbeth, Lear, Hamlet, are great sufferers from
various causes, but they suffer alike; they all cry in the same his-
trionic key. Edwin Booth, Forrest, Macready, Kean, Salvini, al-
ways presented the same man in a different costume. Eachel was
always Rachel. Bernhardt is always Bernhardt. But Irving in

COQUELIN— IRVING. 159

Louis the Eleventh is not Irving in Mephistopheles. Coquelin in the
Lute Player of Cremona is not Coquelin in the Due de Sept Monts.

We may surmise, therefore, that as the object of the comedian
differs so diametrically from the object of the tragedian, the prin-
ciples and the practice of one of these branches of the same art
may not be applicable to the other.

M. Coquelin denies poetic afflatus and impulsive effusion to the
tragedian. He claims that every feature in the actor's face, every
note in his voice must be under his complete control, as the mu-
sical instrument is to the performer. In this opinion he is backed
by Shakspere, who counsels the tragedian " in the torrent and
tempest of his passions to beget a temperance that will give it
smoothness." But it may be said this is, meaningly, an advice to
repress rant.

May I, without intrusion, exemplify from personal experience
the action of the mind under the two different affections while
engaged in tragic and comic composition ? While writing com-
edy the mind of the dramatist is circumspect and calculating, care-
ful in the selection of thoughts, a fastidious spectator of the details
of his work, thoroughly self-conscious and deliberate. Such is
not the condition of his mind when writing tragic scenes, or
scenes of deep pathos. The mind of the poet becomes abstract,
his thoughts shape themselves into language — the passion wields
his pen. The utterance is impulsive — he is an actor, not a spec-
tator in the scene, and when he awakes from this transport of the
mind he looks round to recover consciousness of where he is !
Surely every author must have experienced this illusion, and under
these circumstances. I have never known, in all my experience,
that scenes so composed have failed, when fairly acted, to convey
a like emotion to the audience.

M. Coquelin says the voice of the heart is inartistic ; it must
be controlled and molded by the brain ! Yes ! in comedy — into
which the emotions alluded to never enter, or, if so, in a very
modified degree. I am not a tragedian ; therefore can only speak
with much reserve ; but if the poet, under the great impulse of
tragic composition, can lose his perfect self-control, and in that
state his thoughts shape themselves into exquisite language, if
grammar and spelling become instinctive work, as the pen follows
the mind without circumspection or aforethought ; if this can be
with the poet, may it not be likewise with the tragedian ? May

1(30 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

not the rules and principles of his art be so much a part of his
nature that he can give rein to his passional spasm while retaining
his seat and control of Pegasus ? If he fail to do so, he becomes,
I admit, ridiculous ; but if he succeed, he mounts to the verge
and edge of the sublime. Such a feat can only be safely attempted
by the perfectly trained artist. When novices give way to their
effusion they inevitably become grotesque.

M. Coquelin describes his method of building up a character.
It affords an admirable lesson to comedians, and should be pre-
served as an imperishable record in the archives of our art. But
as comedy is largely a physiological study, tragedy is largely
pathologic. Doubtless there are many great tragic figures in the
drama that should be treated from the outside, as are the great
comic figures ; but this part of them is comedy ; such for ex-
ample is the grim comedy of ' ' Louis the Eleventh." And, in so far
and so much, the play is less purely tragic. The process, there-
fore, so valuably detailed by the French comedian is applicable to
comedy only, inasmuch as it is applicable only to the molding
of character, and character belongs to comedy.

Salvini goes so far as to declare that domestic passions, such as
love, are beneath the grandeur and dignity of the tragic muse. I
suggested that " Othello" and te Lear," and even " Romeo and
Juliet " were able to stand beside any works of Sophocles. He
could not admit they were so. He regarded them as being on a
lower plane.

I concede to M. Coquelin that the tragedian of the day follows
the principles he has laid down, but with all the admiration justly
due to great merit, I doubt the application of Zolaism to our art.
For example: The last scene in "Adrienne Lecouvreur," as per-
formed by Sara Bernhardt, exhibits a powerful scene of physical
agony. The girl, under the excruciating torture of the poison she
has inhaled, dies in convulsions, writhing between her two lovers,
moaning over her loss of life, so young, so happy. The spectators
watch the throes of death as if they were present at a terrible
operation. It is very fine.

Many years agoJ witnessed the performance of Rachel in the
same play. I remember the gaze of wonder with which she
recognized the first symptoms of the poison, then her light strug-
gles against the pain that she would not acknowledge. And when
the conviction came that she was dying, her whole soul went out

COQUELIN-IRVIXG. 161

to her yoting lover — her eyes never left his, her arms clung to Mm,
not to life, or only to life because life meant him. There was no
vulgar display of physical suffering excepting in her repression of
it. And she died with her eyes in his, as though she sent her
soul into him.

I have known her pause hysterically in a scene when she heard
the barking of a little dog confined in one of the dressing-rooms.
If she had herself completely in control, as M. Coquelin describes,
so small a matter need not have discomposed her.

Those who have traveled in Italy have seen artists making
copies of the celebrated pictures in the galleries at Florence and
Rome. I saw before the Beatrice Cenci, in the Barberini Palace,
one of the most perfect duplicates imaginable, the minutest exam-
ination could not detect a touch in the original that was not repro-
duced. What was wanting ? There was something. Out of the
original there came that tender, reproachful, beseeching look that
haunted the spectator. - It was not in the copy. It marked the
difference between talent and genius. There is in all great works
an almost imperceptible something so fine that it evades descrip-
tion, sensible rather than palpable, and of that faint, heavenly
light the aureole is made.

Surely this exquisite touch of the soul cannot be the effect of
cerebro-mechanism such as M. Ooquelin describes. May not such
a process, applied to great minds, tend to crib, cabin, and confine
their effulgence ? Is it not just possible that with a little less of
this mechanical practice in the Comedie Fran9aise, and a little less
admiration for Zola, Sara would have been a head and shoulders
(including her heart) higher than she is ?

The dependence of the artist on mechanism, so eloquently and
truthfully laid down by M. Coquelin, may be accepted- as ap-
plicable to comedy and to such parts of tragic plays as may con-
tain an infusion of comedy ; but — with great respect to him — no
further.

The independence of the artist from mechanism, claimed per
contra by Mr. Irving, is admirable so far as pure tragedy is con-
cerned, and only in scenes where such effusion is indicated by the
eruptive language of the poet, which, if given with mechanical
deliberation, might appear beneath the level of the volcanic
passion.

Diox BOUCICAULT.

OLD TIMES ON THE WESTERN RESERVE.

NOWHERE in this country can now be found a class of men like
the first settlers on the Western Reserve of Ohio. They were the
culled grain of Connecticut, as their fathers had been the culled
grain of Massachusetts, and, transplanted into a new region, they
developed a genius that is essentially Yankee — an adaptedness to
circumstances, which, I think, belongs to no other than the New
England people. They could drive an ox team, or a sharp bar-
gain ; chop cord-wood, or chop logic ; throttle a bear, or solve
knotty questions in theology ; and the most illiterate among them
could make the eagle scream on the Fourth of July in the most
approved fashion. And their wives had the same universal genius.
There was not one among them who could not brew and bake, turn
a spinning-wheel, make her husband's clothes, or darn his stock-
ings, and at the same time entertain guests, execute fine embroid-
ery, or sing Watt's hymns in a way to set the birds a-listening.
Before it had become a national question, they solved the servant-
girl problem by doing their own housework, — employing " help "
only on such occasions as harvest time, or when a raising-bee
was going on in the neighborhood.

All of these old settlers have passed away — gone where, ac-
cording to St. Paul, there are no house-raisings ; but their imme-
diate descendants are left behind, and they may still be seen
here and there on the Western Reserve, standing like moss-grown
mile-stones on the road which we all are journeying. More than
five hundred of them linger there, and they come together once a
year to live over again their early days, and to glorify the homely
virtues of their ancestors. Their gatherings are enlivened with
song, and social chat, and story of the olden time, and then many
an ancient beau, of wrinkled visage and snow-white hair, tells how,
arrayed in homespun and straight-combed locks, he used to "sit
up " of Sunday nights with a rosy-cheeked, raven-haired girl, while

OLD TIMES ON THE WESTERN RESERVE. 163

the old folks were snoring soundly behind a curtain in the corner.
And the same rosy-cheeked girl, sitting by his side, smiles and
blushes at the tale, though now her cheeks are withered, her hair
is gray, and she is a great-grandmother.

The President of this association is a venerable man of eighty-
six, with a face and eye remarkably like Whittier's. He is tall,
erect, broad-shouldered, and he seems to be twenty years younger
than he is ; and this impression is confirmed by the fact that,
though long retired from active life, he is still a worker in the
affairs of a younger generation. He mingles almost daily among
men, is an efficient co-operator in scores of benevolent societies,
and within five years has written and published a volume of
poems, and a book on the early settlers of the Western Eeserve,
that will keep one awake like a novel by Scott or Dickens. * It
was my good fortune to pass a couple of evenings not long ago in
the society of this gentleman and his venerable lady, and, I think,
I shall not be accused of abusing hospitality if I take the reader
with me in imagination into his cosey library, filled in every corner
with odd knick-knacks, and lined with books to the very ceiling.
In the centre of the room stood his writing-table, littered over with
pamphlets and papers, and by his side was seated his companion of
more than fifty years, her features wearing the beauty which falls
on the faces of the good and the pure when they stand in the near
light of the upper country. And thus they sit there, waiting for the
dawn, but casting backward glances upon well-spent lives, crowned
with the honor and esteem of all who know them. As they talked
I listened, and some of the things they said I condense into that
which follows.

This gentleman settled in Cleveland in 1820. The place was
then but a small hamlet, to which a mail came only twice a week
on horseback. When the mail arrived the postmaster delivered
the letters personally, carrying them around in his hat ; and that
duty done, he would lock up his office and " go a fishing with the
boys." His entire receipts for the first quarter were two dollars
and eighty-three cents — not enough, certainly, to warrant an
extravagant outlay in fishing tackle. The town had then a news-
paper which professed to come out weekly, but it was so very
weakly that it seldom appeared till the week following. It

*4' Mount Vernon and Select Poems," and "Pioneers of the Western Reserve."
Lee & Shepard, Boston, 1883.

164 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

was a sickly infant, and soon died for want of the "milk of
human kindness." However,, the " News-Letter/' of which my
host himself was editor, had a longer existence. It has, in fact,
survived to this day — on the shelves of the Congressional Library.
One of its time-worn issues is a curiosity of literature, and worthy
of a cursory examination.

Over its editorial column is the cut of a printing press, radi-
ating rays of light, from whose centre issues a scroll with the
words, "The News-Letter. The Tyrant's Foe. The People's
Friend." There are no market reports, no special correspond-
ence, no Associated Press dispatches, or other modern inventions,
of large cost and larger utility ; but in their stead are several
editorial columns that "go in, hammer and tongs," for Old
Hickory. There is also a " Bank Note List," from which we per-
ceive that the bills of the Ohio banks of that day were worth even
less than our much abused trade dollar. But the advertisements
of a journal are what carry down to other days " the very form and
impress " of a preceding time. To the future historian they are
worth more than the price they originally cost per square, for
they let him into the homes, the shops, and the every-day lives of
the people.

In this small sheet they occupy the first page, and were " con-
spicuously inserted three times, for one dollar per square, pay-
able in grain, if delivered within three months." One advertise-"
ment is of a shooting-match — the prize, a forty-five dollar rifle.
te Shots, one dollar each. Off-hand, fifteen rods ; from a rest,
twenty rods." Another offers a reward for a " Runaway Slave" —
" Ten dollars if taken within, and twenty dollars if taken without,
the State/' Another promises one hundred dollars "for the
detection of the person who fabricated a marriage notice, and
clandestinely contrived to procure its insertion in this paper,"
showing that e\ en in those primitive times there existed practi-
cal jokers who could sport with sensibilities long since buried
under ground. Mr. Oviatt announces that he will sell his fine
stock of dry goods and groceries " at lowest prices for cash or
pork." Good board could be had in the town for from one dollar
seventy-five to two dollars and seventy-five cents per week ; and
the " St. Glair Female Seminary" would teach reading, writing,
spelling, arithmetic, and history for one hundred dollars per quar-
ter, board included — towels, soap, and apothecary's bill at the

OLD TIMES ON THE WESTERN RESERVE. 165

expense of parents. The dress of the young lady students was
required to be uniform — namely, " two black bombazette frocks and
one white one ; two black capes and two white ones ; and two
black bombazette aprons. . No colors permitted." Poor things !
So many red cheeks, and not a red ribbon among them.

In those early days small currency was scarce, and silver dollars
and halves were cut into pieces to make change, each piece passing
for a shilling. To relieve this scarcity the village trustees, after
a time, issued ' ' shin-plasters" of small denominations. Provisions
were decidedly cheap : flour two dollars per barrel, butter eight
and ten cents a pound, and whiskey, of the exact price quoted by
the Irishman who attempted to lure his friends to this country by
the promise of whiskey at cnly twenty-five cents a gallon, and no
hanging for stealing.

These are some of the things that I have gleaned from this
time-worn hebdomadal. Others not less interesting were related
to me by my host. At that primitive period it was the custom,
when a family was at home, to leave the latch-string out, in token
that the house was open to all comers. Its absence, except at
night, indicated that all the household were away, and then a
dwelling was as safe from intrusion as if locked and double-bolted.
One of the early banks of Cleveland was, it is stud, once robbed
because the officers neglected to take the latch-string iri when they
closed for the day. There were a good many lawyers in Cleve-
land, but not much law, for all the laws of the State at that early
time were contained in one thin volume, bound in flexible leather,
and known as the " Sheepskin Code." Almost every one was in
debt, and as few could pay in cash, a statute was enacted allowing
debtors to turn over to creditors any kind of personal property at
the appraisal of a jury. A Cleveland merchant sold goods to a
farmer who failed to pay for them at the time agreed upon. There-
upon, the merchant brought suit and recovered judgment, when the
farmer turned over to him fence rails and maple-sap troughs,
which were duly appraised by a jury at about ten times their value.
The result was the merchant forgave the debtor the debt, and
allowed him to retain the sap troughs and fence rails. It was not
till the Erie Canal was opened in 1824 that Ohio had a market for
her surplus produce.

The Ohio farmers were a shrewd class, and, being in the
majority, made such laws as suited their interests. They were not

166 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

overfond of lawyers. At a later time, one of them met on the
steps of the court-house, the Hon. Ben Wade, and Joshua R. Gid-
dings, who were law partners. Said the farmer to them : " Well,
the wolves used to go about in sheep's clothing ; but wool has riz,
so they've taken to broadcloth." The two M. C.'s laughed good-
naturedly at the hit, and thus secured a fat client. A young law-
yer of Cleveland, canvassing for a county office, once visited a
country town, but he very soon left it on being told by a farmer
that the men of his class had formed a league to tar and feather
any lawyer who ventured into the neighborhood.

And some of these agriculturists had regard for neither law nor
gospel. One of the wealthiest among them — Benjamin Tappan,
the founder of Ravenna — was once applied to by a clergyman to
aid in building a church in his settlement. Mr. Tappan declined
to subscribe, on the ground that he never went to church — let those
who did go, pay for the privilege. The clergyman persisted, urg-
ing that Mr. Tappan was merely a steward of the Lord, who owned
all things — the rich man's granaries, and the cattle upon a thou-
sand hills. "Is that so?" asked Mr. Tappan, dryly. "Then
why doesn't he sell off some of his live stock, and build his own
meeting-houses. "

Some of those who have gray in their beards remember Lorenzo
Dow, the eccentric evangelist. He was announced to preach in
Cleveland, in 1827, at two o'clock of a summer day, and a large
concourse of people gathered under a wide-spreading butternut on
the outskirts of the town, where he had appointed to hold services.
Precisely at two o'clock he made his appearance, and, mounting a
stump, took a leisurely survey of his audience. Then he began
his harangue with, " Well, here you all are, rag, shag, and bob-
tail." Taking then a small Testament from his pocket, he held it
aloft and proceeded. " See here ! I have a commission from
heaven to cast out devils, of which some of you are possessed,
if I may judge from the dialect I have just heard spoken. Now,
my friends, you are going straight to [Gehenna] — to a lake of
fire, vastly deeper and broader than Lake Erie." He continued
in this strain for an hour or more ; but it may be questioned
if his hearers fared as badly as a poor sinner who once went to
hear a Millerite preacher hold forth in the open air. He was an
old professional, and somewhat under the influence of alcohol.
With a lighted pipe in his mouth, he took a seat under a hay

OLD TIMES ON THE WESTERN RESERVE. 167

stack, and falling asleep, set the hay on fire and was soon envel-
oped in the flames. Waking up suddenly, he vociferated, " In
, just as I expected."

My host had been a prominent disciple of Blackstoiie, but a
more celebrated lawyer of those early days was the Hon. Sherlock
G. Andrews, who was somewhat noted for eccentricity. He was
once employed to defend a clergyman against a charge of slander,
and the opposite lawyer, who was an avowed atheist, asserted, in ad-
dressing the jury, that the clergyman had attempted to blackmail
his client, adding that all clergymen preached for money, and
there was nothing in religion but money. As Mr. Andrews rose
to reply, he drew his watch from his pocket, and holding it
towards the jury, said in a slow and measured tone, " The gentle-
man says there is nothing in religion but money ; in other words,
he asserts that this watch never had a maker, and this beautiful
earth, and the glorious heavens over our heads, never had a Creator
— that all this magnificent frame of earth and sky is the result of
chance and accident. If that be so, has he no fear that chance
may some day catch hold of him, and whirl him into some region
where all is everlasting chance and chaos ? " He said no more,
made no allusion whatever to the charge against his client, but
without leaving their seats the jury gave a verdict for the clergy-
man.

Another prominent attorney was Judge Austin, who was a
high authority in matters of church as well as of state, and a
leading Methodist. During a revival in his church a wretched
wreck of a man was ( ' hopefully converted," and applying for ad-
mission to the congregation, was referred to Judge Austin. The
Judge, not having an abiding faith in the stability of the man's
conversion, answered him as follows : "So many have come into
our church during this awakening, sir, that it is just now com-
pletely full. Over the way there, at the Baptists, they're not so
crowded. Perhaps they can find room for you."

Another professional associate of my host was the Hon. E. P.
Spalding, who, from his readiness at drafting political resolutions,
came to be known as Resolutionary P. Spalding. He is still liv-
ing, at the great age of eighty-eight, highly respected. On a
certain occasion in 1823, Mr. Spalding was on a visit to Judge Tod,
at his farm at Brier Hill, near Youngstown. Vocal music was
much the fashion in those days, and the Judge and his daughters

168 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

had entertained their guest with a variety of songs, when his Honor
said to him, with somewhat of a boastful air, " All my children
are singers, Mr. Spalding. They all sing well ; but David is the
sweet singer of Israel. Where is David ? Do, some of you, call
David."

Some one went for David, a lad of fifteen, who soon appeared,
clad in homespun, and with a broad-brimmed felt hat on his head.
Removing this last, and bowing to his father, he asked his wishes.
When these were made known, the boy, without any apparent
emotion, either of pleasure or diffidence, struck up the old tune
of Mear, accompanying it with the dirge of " Old Grimes." The
lugubrious strain being finished, the boy scraped an awkward bow
and left the room. Then his father turned to Mr. Spalding, and
said with much feeling, " That boy has more in him than shows
on the surface ; I wish I could give him the right schooling ; I am
too poor to educate my children properly."

" Send him to me," said Mr. Spalding. i( He shall go to
school and to college. As long as I have anything for dinner, he
shall share it with me."

The boy went, and some forty years afterwards was heard of
all over this broad country as the Hon. David F. Tod, the patriotic
war governor of Ohio.

KIEKE.

WHY AM I A HEATHEN?

raised in a certain faith usually adhere to it, or drift into
one of its cognates. Thus a heathen may wander from simple
Confucianism into some form of Buddhism or Brahminism, just
as a Christian may tire of following the Golden Rule, and adopt
some special sect — one more latitudinarian or ceremonious, ac-
cording to the temper of his religious conscientiousness ; but the
latter continues still a Christian, though a pervert ; while the
heathen, in Christian parlance, is still a pagan.

The main element of all religion is the moral code controlling
and regulating the relations and acts of individuals towards ' ' God,
neighbor, and self;" and this intelligent "heathenism" was
taught thousands of years before Christianity existed or Jewry
borrowed it. Heathenism has not lost or lessened it since.

Born and raised a heathen, I learned and practiced its moral
and religious code ; and acting thereunder I was useful to myself
and many others. My conscience was clear, and my hopes as to
future life were undimmed by distracting doubt. But, when
about seventeen, I was transferred to the midst of our showy
Christian civilization, and at this impressible period of life
Christianity presented itself to me at first under its most alluring
aspects ; kind Christian friends became particularly solicitous for
my material and religious welfare, and I was only too willing to
know the truth. • «

I had to take a good deal for granted as to the inspiration of
the Bible — as is necessary to do — to Christianize a non-Christian
mind ; and I even advanced so far under the spell of my would-be
soul-savers that I seriously contemplated becoming the bearer of
heavenly tidings to my "benighted" heathen people.

But before qualifying for this high mission, the Christian
doctrine I would teach had to be learned, and here on the
threshold I was bewildered by the multiplicity of Christian sects,

170 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

each one claiming a monopoly of the only and narrow road to
heaven.

I looked into Presby terianism only to retreat shudderingly from
a belief in a merciless God who had long foreordained most of
the helpless human race to an eternal hell. To preach such a
doctrine to intelligent heathen would only raise in their minds
doubts of my sanity, if they did not believe I was lying.

Then I dipped into Baptist doctrines, but found so many sects
therein, of different "shells, "warring over the merits of cold-water
initiation and the method and time of .using it, that I became dis-
gusted with such trivialities ; and the question of close com-
munion or not, only impressed me that some were very stingy and
exclusive with their bit of bread and wine, and others a little less
so.

Methodism struck me as a thunder-and-lightning religion —
all profession and noise. You struck it, or it struck you, like a
spasm, — and so you " experienced" religion.

The Congregationalists deterred me with their starchiness and
self-conscious true-goodness, and their desire only for high-toned
affiliates.

Unitarianism seemed all doubt, doubting even itself.

A number of other Protestant sects based on some novelty or
eccentricity — like Quakerism — I found not worth a serious study
by the non-Christian. But on one point this mass of Protestant
dissension cordially agreed, and that was in a united hatred of
Catholicism, the older form of Christianity. And Catholicism '
returned with interest this animosity. It haughtily declared
itself the only true Church, outside of which there was no salva-
tion— for Protestants especially ; that its chief prelate was the
personal representative of God on earth, and that he was infallible.
Here was religious unity, power, and authority with a vengeance.
But, in chorus, my solicitous Protestant friends beseech ed me not
to touch Catholicism, declaring it was worse than my heathenism
— in which I agreed ; but the same line of argument also convinced
me that Protestantism stood in the same category.

In fact, the more I studied Christianity in its various phases,
and listened to the animadversions of one sect upon another, the
more it all seemed to me " sounding brass and tinkling cymbals."

Disgusted with sectarianism, I turned to a simple study of
the " inspired Bible " for enlightenment.

WHY AM I A HEATHEN? 171

The creation fable did not disturb me, nor the Eden incident ;
but some vague doubts did arise with the deluge and Noah's Ark ;
it seemed a reflection on a just and merciful Divinity. And I
was not at all satisfied of the honesty and goodness of Jacob, or
his family, or their descendants, or that there was any particular
merit or reason for their being the " chosen" of God, to the detri-
ment of the rest of mankind ; for they so appreciated God's
special patronage that on every occasion they ran after other
gods, and had a special idolatry for the " Golden Calf," to which
some Christians allege they are still devoted. That God, failing
to make something out of this stiff-necked race, concluded to send
his Son to redeem a few of them, and a few of the long-neglected
Gentiles, is not strikingly impressive to the heathen.

It may be flattering to the Christian to know it required the
crucifixion of God to save him, and that nothing less would do ;
but it opens up a series of inferences that makes the idea more
and more incomprehensible, and more and more inconsistent with
a Will, Purpose, Wisdom, and Justice thoroughly Divine.

But when I got to the New Dispensation, with its sin-forgiv-
ing business, I figuratively "went to pieces" on Christianity.
The idea that, however wicked the sinner, he had the same
chance of salvation, "through the Blood of the Lamb," as the
most God-fearing — in fact, that the eleventh-hour man was
entitled to the same heavenly compensation as the one who had
labored in the Lord's vineyard from the first hour — all this was
absolutely preposterous. It was not just, and God is Justice.

Applying this dogma, I began to think of my own prospects
on the other side of Jordan. Suppose Dennis Kearney, the Cali-
fornia sand-lotter, should slip in and meet me there, would he
not be likely to forget his heavenly songs, and howl once more :
" The Chinese must go! "and organize a heavenly crusade to
have me and others immediately cast out into the other place ?

And then the murderers, cut-throats, and thieves whose very
souls had become thoroughly impregnated with their life-long
crimes — these were they to become "pure as new-born babes"
— all within a few short hours of a death-preparation — while
I, the good heathen (supposing the case), who had done naught
but good to my fellow-heathen, who had spent most of my
hard earnings regularly in feeding the hungry, and clothing
the naked, and succoring the distressed, and had died of yellow

172 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

fever, contracted from a deserted fellow being stricken with the
disease, whom no Christian would nurse, I was unmercifully con-
signed to hell's everlasting fire, simply because I had not heard
of the glorious saving power of the Lord Jesus, or because the
construction of my mind would not- permit me to believe in the pe-
culiar redeeming powers of Christ !

But, then, it was gently insinuated : ee Oh, no ! You heath-
en who had not heard of Christ will not be punished quite so
severely when you die as those ' ' who heard the gospel and be-
lieved it not.-"

The more I read the Bible the more afraid I was to become a
Christian. The idea of coming into daily or hourly contact with
cold-blooded murderers, cut-throats, and other human scourges,
who had had but a few moments of repentance before roaming
around heaven, was abhorrent. And suppose, to this horde of
shrewd, "civilized" criminals should be added the fanatic thugs
of India, the pirates of China, the slavers, tfte cannibals, et al.
"Well, this was enough to shock and dismay any mild, decent soul
not schooled in eccentric Christianity.

It is not only because I want to be honest, and to be sure of
a heavenly home, that I choose to sign myself " Your Heathen,"
but because I want to be as happy as I can, in order to live
longer ; and I believe I can live longer here by being sincere and
practical in my faith.

In the first place, my faith does not teach me predestination,
nor that my life is what the gods hath long foreordained, but is
what I make it myself ; and naturally much of this depends on
the way I live.

Unlike Christianity, (( our" Church is not eager for converts ;
but, like Free Masonry, we think our religious doctrine strong
enough to attract the seekers after light and truth to offer them-
selves without urging, or proselytizing efforts. It pre-eminently
teaches me to mind my own business, to be contented with what
I have, to possess a mind that is tranquil, and a body at ease at
all times, — in a word it says : " Whatsoever ye would not that
others should do unto you do ye not even so unto them." We
believe that if we are not able to do anybody any good, we should
do nothing at all to harm them. This is better than the restless
Christian doctrine of ceaseless action. Idleness is no wrong
when actions fail to bring forth fruits of merit. It is these fruit-

WHY AM I A HEATHEN? 173

less trials of one thing and another that produce so much trouble
and misery in Christian society.

If my shoe factory employs 500 men, and gives me an annual
profit of $10,000, why should I substitute therein machinery by
the use of which I need only 100 men, thus not only throwing
400 contented, industrious men into misery, but making myself
more miserable by heavier responsibilities, with possibly less
profit ?

"We heathen believe in the happiness of a common humanity,
while the Christian's only practical belief appears to be money-
making (golden-calf worshiping); and there is more money to be
made by being " in the swim" as a Christian than by being a
heathen. Even a Christian preacher makes more money in one
year than a heathen banker in two. I do not blame them for
their money-making, but for their way of making it.

How many eminent Christian preachers sincerely believe in all
the Christian mysteries they preach ? And yet it is policy to be
apparently in earnest ; in fact, some are in real earnest rather
from the force of habit than otherwise ; — like a Bowery auction-
eer who, to make trade, provides customers too — to keep up the
appearance of rushing business. The more converts made, the
more profit to the church, and the more wealth in the pocket of
the dominie.

How would the hundreds of thousands of these Christian
ministers in the United States make their living if they did not
bulldoze it out of the pockets of the credulous by making the
" pews " believe what the " pulpit " does not ?

Nor do we heathen believe in a machine way of doing good.
If we find a man starving in the streets we do not wait until we
find the Overseer of the Poor, nor for the unwinding of other
civilized red tape before relieving the man's hunger. If a heathen
sees a man fall from a tree-top, and seriously injure himself, he
does not first run to a hospital for an ambulance, nor does the
ambulance-man first want to know what precinct the injured man
belongs to ; but forthwith he is cared for and taken to the nearest
shelter for other needed treatment, and when the danger is over
then red tape may come in — the Christian machinery.

If we do anything charitable we do not advertise it like the
Christian, nor do we suppress knowledge of the meritorious acts
of others, to humor our vanity or gratify our spleen. An instance
VOL. CXLV. — KO. 369. 12

174 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of this was conspicuous during the Memphis yellow-fever epi-
demic a few years ago, and when the Chinese were virulently per-
secuted all over the United States. Chinese merchants in China
donated $40,000 at that time to the relief of plague-stricken
Memphis, but the Christians quietly swallowed the sweet morsel
without even a "thank you." But they did advertise it, heavily
and strongly, all over the world, when they paid $137,000 to the
Chinese Government as petty compensation for the massacre of 23
Chinamen by civilized American Christians, and for robbing these
and other poor heathen of their earthly possessions.

In matters of charity Christians invariably let their right hand
know what the left is doing, and cry it out from the house-
tops. The heathen is too dignified for such childish vainness.

Of course, we decline to admit all the advantages of your
boasted civilization ; or that the white race is the only civilized
one. Its civilization is borrowed, adapted, and shaped from our
older form.

China has a national history of at least 4,000 years, and had a
printed history 3,500 years before a European discovered the art
of type-printing. In the course of our national existence our race
has passed, like others, through mythology, superstition, witch-
craft, established religion, to philosophical religion. We have
been (s blest" with at least half a dozen religions more than any
other nation. None of them were rational enough to become the
abiding faith of an intelligent people ; but when we began to rea-
son we succeeded in making society better and its government more
protective, and our great Eeasoner, Confucius, reduced'our various
social and religious ideas into book form, and so perpetuated them.

China, with its teeming population of 400,000,000, is demon-
stration enough of the satisfactory results of this religious evolu-
tion. Where else can it be paralleled ?

Call us heathen, if you will, the Chinese are still superior in
social administration and social order. Among 400,000,000 of
Chinese there are fewer murders and robberies in a year than
there are in New York State.

True, China supports a luxurious monarch — whose every whim
must be gratified ; yet, withal, its people are the most lightly
taxed in the world, having nothing to pay but -from tilled soil,
rice, and salt ; and yet she has not a single dollar of national debt.

Such implicit confidence have we Chinese in our heathen

WHY AM I A HEATHEN? 175

politicians that we leave the matter of jurisprudence entirely in
their hands ; and they are able to devise the best possible laws for
the preservation of life, property, and happiness, without Christian
demagogism, or by the cruel persecution of one class to promote
the selfish interests of another ; and we are so far heathenish as to
no longer persecute men simply on account of race, color, or pre-
vious condition of servitude, but treat them all according to their
individual worth.

Though we may differ from the Christian in appearance, man-
ners, and general ideas of civilization, we do not organize into
cowardly mobs under the guise of social or political reform, to
plunder and murder with impunity ; and we are so far advanced
in our heathenism as to no longer tolerate popular feeling or
religious prejudice to defeat justice or cause injustice.

We are simple enough, too, not to allow the neglect or abuse
of age by youth, however mild the form. " The silent tears of
age will call down the fire of heaven upon those who make them
flow."

' "He who witnesseth a crime without preventing its commis-
sion or reporting the same to the nearest magistrate is equally
responsible with the principal."

" If a stronger man assaults another who is weaker, it is the
duty of the passer-by to take the weak man's part." But to Chris-
tians this would be a spectacle merely, — one to be encouraged
rather than prevented.

A heathen is not allowed to marry unless he is a good citizen,
moral, and capable to instruct the children he may be honored
with.

"Parents are responsible for the crimes of their children."
This is an axiom of the common law in* Chinese heathendom.

We do not embrace our wives before our neighbor's eyes, and
abuse them in the privacy of home. If we wish to fool our neigh-
bors at all about our domestic affairs we would rather reverse the
exhibition — let them think we disliked our wife, while love at
home would be the warmer.

I would rather marry in the heathen fashion than in the
Christian mode, because in the former instance I would take a
wife for life, while 'in the second instance it is entirely a game of
chance.

We bring up our children to be our second selves in every sense

176 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of the word. The Christian's children, like himself, are all on
the lookout for No. 1, and it is a common result that the old peo-
ple are badly " left " in their old age.

While traveling among the Christians one has to keep his eyes
wide open ; even then he has to pay dear for his comforts. In
traveling in China among the pure heathen, especially in the
interior, a stranger is not everybody's cow, — only good to be milked
and then turned loose, — but he is the public's guest: his money is
a secondary consideration.

As the heathen does not encourage labor-saving machinery, I
do not have to be idle if I don't want to, and, as a result, work is
more equally distributed.

If a hungry heathen steals a bowl of rice and milk, and eats it
on the premises, the magistrate discharges him — as a case of
necessity — like self-defense. But he who knows the law and vio-
lates it, is punished more severely than he who is ignorant of it.

Christians are continually fussing about religion ; they build
great churches and make long prayers ; and yet there is more
wickedness in the neighborhood of a single church district of
one thousand people in New York than among one million heathen,
churchless and unsermonized.

Christian talk is long and loud about how to be good and to
act charitably. It is all charity, and no fraternity — " there, dog,
take your crust and be thankful ! " And is it, therefore, any
wonder there is more heart-breaking and suicides in the single
State of New York in a year than in all China ?

The difference between the heathen and the Christian is that
the heathen does good for the sake of doing good. With the
Christian, what little good he does he does it for imme-
diate honor and for future reward ; he lends to the Lord and wants
compound interest. In fact, the Christian is the worthy heir of
his religious ancestors.

The heathen does much and says little about it ; the
Christian does little good, but when he does he wants it in the
papers and on his tombstone.

Love men for the good they do you is a practical Christian
idea, not for the good you should do them as a matter of human
duty. So Christians love the heathen ; yes, the heathen's posses-
sions ; and in proportion to these the Christian's love grows in
intensity. When the English wanted the Chinamen's gold

WHY AM I A HEATHEN? 177

and trade, they said they wanted "to open China for their
missionaries." And opium was the chief, in fact, only, mission-
ary they looked after, when they forced the ports open. And
this infamous Christian introduction among Chinamen has done
more injury, social and moral, in China than all the humani-
tarian agencies of Christianity could remedy in 200 years. And
on you, Christians, and on your greed of gold, we lay the burden
of the crime resulting ; of tens of millions of honest, useful
men and women sent thereby to premature death aft;er a short
miserable life, besides the physical and moral prostration it entails
even where it does not prematurely kill ! And this great national
curse was thrust on us at the points of Christian bayonets. And
you wonder why we are heathen ?

The only positive point Christians have impressed on heathen-
ism is that they would sacrifice religion, honor, principle, as they
do life, for — gold. And then they sanctimoniously tell the poor
heathen : " You must save your soul by believing as we do \"

Members of my faith do not so worship gold, although they
know it is a very handy thing to have in the house ; but
honor and principle are dearer than pelf to the average heathen.
But I dare say when the heathen have become sufficiently
demoralized by contact with Christian civilization and its Vanity
Fair of pretence, pride, and dress, they will probably be worse
even than the Christian in beating their way through this wide,
wicked world. Pupils are often too apt.

In public affairs, it is either niggardliness that puts a premium
on dishonesty, or loose extravagance for show, that encourages
political debauchery and jobbery. In general, business men are
lauded as great financiers who actually conspire to buy laws,
place judges, control senates, corner and regulate at will the price
of natural products ; and, in fact, act as if the whole political and
social machinery should be a lever to them to operate against the
interests of the nation and people. In a heathen country such
conspirators against social order and the general welfare would
have short shrift.

Here in New York, the richest and the poorest city in the
world, misery pines while wealth arrogantly stalks. The poor
have the votes, and yet elect those who betray them for lucre to
corporate and capitalistic interests ; and the administration of
justice — in fact, the whole system of jurisprudence — is to stimulate

178 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

crime rather than prevent it. As to preventing poverty, or
rendering it less intolerable, that is the most remote thought
of religious and political local administration.

It is no wonder, under such circumstances and conditions, that
New York is a most heavily taxed city, and the worst governed
for the interests of New York. " Public office a public trust ?"
Kather, it is a farm to be worked, Christian-like, for all it is
worth. Public spiritedness and moral worth have no value or
utility in " practical " Christian politics. Such civic virtues
" don't pay."

Do as we do. Give public office to the competent. Pay them
well. If they are inefficient or indifferent, remove them at once.
If dishonest, morally or financially, kill them as traitors.

" It is better that a child knows only what is right and what
is wrong than to have a rote knowledge of all the books of the
sages, and yet not know what is right and what is wrong." Col-
legiate education does not necessarily make a youth fit for the
duties of life. And men like Lincoln, Greeley, and other such
Americans prove it.

" The most successful youth in life is not the most learned,
but the most unblemished in conduct." So say the heathen. But
here, it is called smart when a boy is merely impudent to the old,
and it is " smartness," and is excused by the phrase that " boys
will be boys" when a boy throws a stone with malice to break
some one's window, or do some injury. And parents of such a
boy, while they chide, will secretly chuckle, " he's got the mak-
ings of a man in him."

It is our motto, " If we cannot bring up our children to think
and do for us when we are old as we did for them when they were
young, it is better not to rear them at all." But the Christian
style is for children to expect their parents to do all for them,
and then for the children to abandon the parents as soon as
possible.

On the whole, the Christian way strikes us as decidedly an un-
natural one ; it is every one for himself — parents and children
even. Imagine my feelings, if my own son, whom I loved
better than my own life, for whom I had sacrificed all my comforts
and luxury, should, through some selfish motive, go to law with
me to get his share prematurely of my property, and even have
me declared a lunatic, or have me arrested and imprisoned, to

WHY AM I A HEATHENt 179

subserve his interest or intrigue ! Is this a rare Christian case ?
Can it be charged against heathenism ?

We heathen are a God-fearing race. Aye, we believe the whole
Universe-creation — whatever exists and has existed — is of God and
in God ; that, figuratively, the thunder is His voice and the light-
ning His mighty hands ; that everything we do and contemplate
doing is seen and known by Him; that He has created this and
other worlds to effectuate beneficent, not merciless, designs,
and that all that He has done is for the steady, progressive
benefit of the creatures whom He endowed with life and sensibil-
ity, and to whom as a consequence He owes and gives paternal
care, and will give paternal compensation and justice ; yet His
voice will threaten and His mighty hand chastise those who delib-
erately disobey His sacred laws and their duty to their fellow man.

"Do unto others as you wish they would do unto you," or
" Love your neighbor as yourself," is the great Divine law which
Christians and heathen alike hold, but which the Christians
ignore.

This is what keeps me the heathen I am ! And I earnestly
invite the Christians of America to come to Confucius.

WONG CHIN Foo.

PAYMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.

THE subject to which I wish to call the attention of the pub-
lic is one that is of great interest to each and every citizen. I
have reference to the labor troubles, now disturbing the business
relations throughout the country. I have for years made a
study of the relation of labor and its results to accumulated debt,
a question closely connected and involving the perpetuity of re-
publican institutions. The association of the subjects, inseparable
in their relations, involves personal liberty and individual protec-
tion. I would say in connection with this subject that I have al-
ways looked upon our Government, as established by its founders,
as the means to develop the highest manhood consequent
upon the capacity of the individual, he being left free and
unencumbered by all unnecessary restraints, other than
those that give security to the whole. To establish this individ-
ual standard, we have gone to an immense expense to educate the
masses. The diversity of capacity made it necessary that each
and every one should be equally protected by law. The great
necessity for this was to protect the weak from the strong. This
is essential that Democracy should survive and live.

The natural qualifications, or gifts, of men are varied. The nat-
ural capacity of some to acquire is manifestly so superior that even
with the protection of law it is difficult to maintain equality of right.
We all recognize that to regulate intelligence by law is impossible,
but to protect the weak from being fraudulently overreached is
possible. Upon the questions involving the equal rights of man,
the Government, in administering public affairs, has departed
from the rule of the founders, and passed its sovereign powers
to corporations, making them co-ordinate in one of its most im-
portant and essential features — the taxing power — and this, not
for the benefit of the Government, but for private uses. By doing
so it has swelled the indebtedness to an alarming extent. So
ponderous has this irregularity grown, that we stand to-day over

PAYMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEBT.

a volcano which is liable at any moment, by eruption, to rend the
whole fabric. The question is, if it has not already broken through
the crust.

The tendency of man to seek wealth, and through its pow-
ers to dominate his fellow-man, is the history of the world.
In a private capacity this tendency is oppressive enough,
but, when a great government lends its powers to back the
natural capacity to acquire wealth, and then, through law,
gives coloring to support domination and oppression, it resolves
itself into a despotism, and becomes cruelty intensified. The
struggle of 1776 placed in our possession a rule of govern-
ment unsurpassed for carrying out the designs intended.
Mr. Jefferson's construction of it has proved concise, clear,
and unanswerable. Let us return to its powers as expounded by
him. To do so we must first pay off the national debt, and return
to an economical administration of the Government. We should
eschew all ambition for a great" and powerful government, to
which we are tending through the machinery cumulating round
the great war debt. What we want is a great people. To accom-
plish this, we must elevate the individual standard. To do this
it is necessary to remove all stress that gives power to one class
over another.

The first essential step to return, is to clear away the rub-
bish consequent upon the struggle between the North and South.
The excrescence called a national bond, upon which is based
that other form of debt, known as bank notes, or corporate
promises to pay, wherein lies an offensive distinction,, anti-demo-
cratic, a distinction created between man and man, that makes
one class to live upon the interest of its debts, which it
dispenses across the counter to another class in exchange
for their promises to pay, from which the interest is exacted —
a privilege by which idleness is enabled to live upon the proceeds
of industry without consideration, like unto the aristocracy of the
feudal days, save the Baron was a man of blows, while our bank-
barons are men of legalized fraud. Such a condition cannot exist
in our midst and the Republic survive ! Which shall it be ? The
bird is about to be hatched — the shell or crust is cracking ! We
must meet the question ! There is no avoidance. There is but
one remedy ; that is, to remove the evil that is the source of our
trouble — the War debt !

182 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The public debt is the bane of liberty. Liberty cannot exist
with such bondage suspended over the industry of the land —
a fiction created by law for war purposes, to enable accumu-
lated capital to escape taxation, and now perpetuated that it may
prosper at the expense of labor. For this purpose its far-reach-
ing powers affect every department of industry, and absorb the
life currents. It is an ulcer upon the body of the toiler, that not
only destroys the vital forces, but invites disease in its most horrid
form, in the shape of fraud.

The human heart knows no passion that comes with such force as
the desire of gain. It subserves all other ends of life to its use.
It overrides justice, crushes life, and subverts established rules of
government by perverting them to its designs. It prostitutes the
noblest impulses of nature. It enters the church, the counting-
house, and all available points, to secure its ends through the
interest-bearing debt. The debtor is the servant of the creditor —
his slave, his menial — a private ownership without responsibility.
Whether he lives or perishes, the pound of flesh is the penalty of
the bond. But more : a national bond means national enslave-
ment through its officials. The bondholder is the master, for
whom principal and interest is to be collected. The government
official is the slave-driver, who cracks the whip and applies the
lash for such unholy extortion. You cannot take from man
that which he earns and give it, through any device,
to another without equivalent, and not commit robbery.
You not only deprive labor of its results, but you enslave him to
the use of those who receive. t At the commencement of the civil
war, the laborer was taken from shop and field and marched to
the front with gun upon his shoulder to be shot down to save the
Union. Those who were fortunate enough to return have since
been toiling with their fellow laborers to pay the interest upon
the debt. They saved the Union, they nominally liberated the
blacks, but they enslaved themselves to a master who remained
at home during the struggle, and inaugurated the condition to
the fostering of his own greed. Can such condition be continued
and liberty retained ? Impossible ! Where the slave foot treads,
freedom has no existence.

The situation has culminated and become positive in our midst.
It demands immediate relief. "An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure." Let us be wise in time and avert the evil.

PAYMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. 183

There is no conflict between capital and labor. No conflict is
possible between labor and its results. The conflict is only with
those who take its results unjustly. Labor is the wealth of the
nation. The wealth of the nation, through the powers of govern-
ment, is turned into the coffers of the bondholder. In this wise,
at the close of the intestine struggle for the Union, the slave block
of the South was moved to Wall street, New York, and now daily
the laborer is virtually put up and sold through the bonds and
sureties offered. To hold this situation, all the devices and
practices possible are resorted to. To remove it, there is but one
way possible, and that is to cancel the debt ; for the Government,
being the debtor, is owned by the creditor, who converts all its
sovereign powers to absorb through taxation the values produced
for his benefit, until we find that to satisfy his greed and per-
petuate its own existence, it sweeps annually the whole wheat
crop into the treasury, and there, under various pretexts, hoards
the surplus or squanders it by appropriations. The tons of silver
remaining in the vaults are kept ostensibly for the same purposes.
In connection with this vast accumulation of silver the treasurer,
by his act, has set aside as an idler one hundred millions of gold
to redeem the greenback, which experience should have taught
him needs no redemption. No one asks it, no one wishes it. The
note is non-interest bearing and the people's money. It is the
life of our business, for it is a harmonious trust of the whole to
the individual for commercial purposes. Every time the individ-
ual purchases what he needs with it, it is redeemed. Is this vast
amount held in idleness to continue as the galling chain of bond-
age ? Its glitter does not lighten its burden. The accumulation
is a violation of the spirit of our Government. The constitution
provides that the House of Congress may lay and collect taxes, reg-
ulate duties and imports for specific purposes, but not a dollar more
than is necessary for the end designed. This is strict construction to
which Mr. Jefferson held. The last twenty-five years have changed
the whole condition. In the struggle of 1861, when it was
found that the capital of the country would not come to its relief
in the hour of peril, it was purchased with these bonds. It then
refused to pay taxes upon them, and has done so ever since. Under
them it has expedited itself from any and all support in the shape
of taxes. Not satisfied with this relief, it has sought every avenue
to compound interest in its favor. The promissory note, known

184 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

as a bank-note, is the first compound upon the debt. To give it
existence as money, it is indorsed by the Government, from which
the holder again draws interest on loans at thirty, sixty, and
ninety days, so compounding by taking the interest out of
the principal loaned. Here we have debt based upon debt
without limit. This condition is exhaustive. No business
in the world will, or can, pay compound interest and survive.
Fostered by the sovereign powers of government, interest has
become king, ruling a nation staggering under this unnatural
condition. Labor cries aloud against the misery he suffers, and
strikes at random in his blind frenzy. His violence gives pre-
text to the master to order him shot down, which the Government
cruelly executes by slaying or driving him back to his den.
Such the events of recent days verify. We call these cruel
murders justice. To maintain law and order, without investigating
the cause, we force him to ignominious submission. The slavery
of the South was a blessing compared to the present debt bondage.
Through the slavery of the South, we were, in obedience to the
inordinate greed of the human heart, unwittingly civilizing a
barbarous people ; but in this instance, through government force
and fraud, we are enslaving the Christian laborer to this same greed
of his fellow man. The view presented of the accumulated burden
of debt is not a fancy. I have before me a tabulated statement
of interest upon the bond from the beginning, with the connect-
ing link of the slave chain, the National Bank exhibit. To state
these figures is simply to confuse. The human mind fails to
grasp it. Hence I avoid figures, and keep as close as possible to
the principle involved. The debt of the country piled upon the
national debt runs into billions.

The national debt is the foundation upon which is piled State
and town debt. Divested of figures, let me state again that debt is
slavery in its most objectionable form. Its ponderous weight carries
with it the horrid idea of perpetuity, simply for the reason that the
human mind fails to grasp the possibility of payment. Each and
every individual, pausing to consider, must recognize that the per-
petuity of the debt means the sale of our children into bondage.
However we may enslave ourselves, we do not possess the right
to sell our children. Mr. Jefferson held, and there is no greater
authority, that each generation should pay its own debts. If we
have received the benefit let the obligation be cancelled in

PAYMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEBT. 185

full; if not, the more reason to extinguish the fire that must
consume our children in its flames, who, with this burden of
debt entailed upon them, must curse the parent that begot them
and the day that they were born ! In order to comprehend the
condition we must grasp its fullest scope. We have, as I have
stated, at an immense expense, educated ourselves to a higher esti-
mate of life and its advantages. We have given to the common
mind a fuller knowledge of the luxuries to be enjoyed. Imbued
with this knowledge, the laborer is capable, willing, and efficient.
Under such conditions is it justice, is it right, to relegate him to
absolute servitude of debt, which must be the result unless this
question is met and adjusted by removing the incubus and return-
ing to the old standard of economical government ? General An-
drew Jackson, in his message vetoing the old United States Bank,
expressly said: "Pay the national debt. Let no surplus be
allowed in the Treasury. Practice the closest economy in the ex-
penditures of the Government." Let me call attention to one
more precedent that should have great weight in the administra-
tion of the affairs of the Treasury Department. I refer to the
platform upon which Horatio Seymour was nominated for
President, July 7, 1868. The 3d and 4th resolutions are as fol-
lows :

Third — Payment of the public debt of the United States as
rapidly as practicable, all money drawn from the people by taxa-
tion, except so much as is requisite for the necessities of the Gov-
ernment economically administered being honestly applied to
such payment, and where the obligations of the Government do
not expressly state upon their face, or the law under which they
were issued does not provide that they shall be paid in coin, they
ought in right and in justice be paid in lawful money of the
United States.

Fourth — Equal taxation of every species of property, according
to its real value, including, government bonds and other public
securities.

With all these precedents so instructive before us, is there any
reason for pursuing a tardy policy ? We must not for a moment
imagine that the bondholder, the national banker, who holds the
key to the situation, will for a moment relent. Not so, they only
seek evasion. They propose arbitration. Arbitration with cor-
ruption gives them time to fix more firmly their fangs. Industry

186 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

cannot arbitrate with the hand that grasps its throat. What it
requires is the removal of the hand, and then it may consider arbi-
tration. To relieve the situation only requires the will of the
Government to do so.

The bonds that are due may be called in. Those that still
have time may be purchased at a much more reasonable rate than
their continuance involves. Further, retire the bank-notes, can-
cel them with greenbacks, and so destroy their face in bonds. To
close, issue greenbacks sufficient to pay the balance. It is better
that the people should wear out the debt in shape of greenbacks
than that the debt should wear them out. People have the debt
to pay, and this is the easiest way by which it may be accom-
plished.

A. SANDERS PIATT.

HEALTH INSURANCE.

THIS is an age of reforms. The spirit of the " Star-eyed God-
dess " is everywhere active, and the lists are thronged with her
eager champions bearing every imaginable device. They range
far and near. No truth, however axiomatic, no custom, how-
ever hoary, can feel itself safe from the most peremptory chal-
lenge, and each champion implicitly believes that his particular
antagonist is the chief author of all the evils that flesh is heir to.
In no department is this activity more noticeable than in the
realm of Sanitary Science, and it is its particular lists in which I
would fain modestly lay a lance in rest long enough, at least,
to ring a challenge upon the shield of that hoary old relic, our so-
called system of health preservation, as embodied in our present
plan of medical attendance. Is the system of making a physi-
cian's income from a family or community depend solely upon the
amount of sickness occurring in it the best that can be devised ?

Such, practically, is our system. Its philosophy might be con-
densed in the motto, " Millions for cure, but not one cent for
prevention." The astute Chinese, who were discussing civil
service reform when our ancestors were building the reed hut and
hurling the flint-tipped javelin, are said to pay their medical
attendants regularly as long as they enjoy good health, but prompt-
ly to discontinue their remittances on the first appearance of sick-
ness, to resume only on recovery — which, no doubt, has arisen from
their absurdly attempting to live up to a foolish old proverb of
ours about "an ounce of prevention."

The weakness of our present system lies in this one fact, that
it gives such an exceedingly limited opportunity for what has
been well called " the practice of preventive medicine." No one
thinks of consulting a physician until at least "feeling un-
well ; " and in many instances, not until days, or even weeks,
of precious time have been wasted, or worse, in trying to Cf wear

188 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the trouble off " or in blindly applying every crude remedy which
household experience, patent quackery, or superstition can sug-
gest ; all because the ailing one is not " sick enough to call a doc-
tor"— in other words, does not feel uncomfortable enough to be will-
ing to pay more than the price of a bottle of patent medicine for
relief. To such an extent has this habit of delaying been carried,
that we often find patients hesitating to call us in, just because they
are unwilling to admit even to themselves that they are so seri-
ously ill as to need our services. In fact, the abominable phrase
"sick enough to need a doctor " has become almost the popular
synonym for, at best, a serious indisposition, and often a well-
developed stage of a possibly fatal disease. The phrase and the
feeling it represents ought to be obliterated from the speech and
thought of every civilized community. Through its influence
we are brought face to face with the legitimate result of months
or even years of violation of the laws of our being, aggravated by
days of neglect or mal-treatment, and confidently expected to
avert the vengeance of outraged nature and undo the work of
years in days or weeks. "If I had been only called sooner " is
a sadly familiar phrase in our professional vocabulary. To
stem or even reverse the current of nature, we are driven to use
the most powerful agents, many of them deadly poisons ; to call
" halt ! " in tones which will compel the attention of the most
obstinate morbid process ; and every few decades a not wholly
unnatural wave of popular indignation sweeps over the com-
munity, not against itself for living so as to render such drugs
indispensable, but against physicians forsooth for prescribing
them. Thus the mutual confidence and sympathy which should
exist between the profession and the public is seriously impaired,
and the interests of both suffer in consequence. Would not a
system of constant medical attendance, remunerated alike in sick-
ness and in health, enabling us to give advice or treatment just
when we see it is needed, even if unasked, and rendering profes-
sional counsel, not only in disease but in health, the first thought,
the easiest and the most natural thing, the rule instead of the
exception — would not such a scheme as this, if practicable, most
happily modify the condition of affairs, and prove a long step
toward securing the health and happiness of the race ? But sup-
pose ourselves installed in full charge of a case : are we even
then freed from the perplexities of our financial system ? By no

HEALTH INSURANCE. 189

means. If we call too frequently we are accused of " nursing the
case," with a view to the fees ; if we continue our visits a day
longer than seems necessary we are thought anxious to make all
we can out of the patient. These unfortunate experiences are
only occasional, but they are sufficiently frequent to seriously
hamper our activities by compelling us to be constantly on our
guard. When the immediate danger is past our patient, blissfully
ignorant of the hundred and one pitfalls which yet lie between
him and health, calmly pronounces himself cured and dismisses
us. If he escapes a fatal relapse, or we escape the blame of his
slow and incomplete recovery, does the trouble end here ? These
results would be apparent to any one ; but what a prophecy of evil
to come can be read in living letters by the eye of the trained
observer in the history of many of these half -cured cases, even
when their course and termination may have been perfectly satis-
factory to the unsuspecting patient and his friends ! How many
of our most serious and obstinate chronic troubles spring directly
from the half -removed result of some acute attack ? How often
are the germs of evils which will curse generations yet unborn
left lurking in the system simply because the subject thinks him-
self cured and doesn't want to make his bill any larger !

What influence does our present system of attendance give us
over the sanitary surroundings, diet, or habits of life of our
patients ? Almost none. It is true we have the priceless privilege
of giving any amount of excellent advice on these subjects, which
they may perhaps remember for a week, though usually they
regard it simply as a customary and harmless prelude to a pre-
scription, which they regard as the " value received " for their
fee. Such an effect has the proportioning of our remuneration
to the number of distinct, definite services rendered, had upon
the ideas of the laity, that many of them have no idea of pacing
for anything except some such tangible benefit as a prescription
or an operation. In some instances we are actually obliged to
give a prescription in order to secure the right, in their minds, to
claim a fee. They will pay a dollar for a prescription and get the
advice thrown in for nothing, and as the immortal "Josh Billings"
has sagely remanked, " What peeple gits fer nothing, thare mitey
apt to valoo at about what they give fer it." Over the home life
of our patients Ave have almost no control, or even supervision,
until after the mischief (which often might have been averted by
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 13

190 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

a few timely precautions) has been done ; and even that ceases
almost as soon as we begin to exercise it. What sort of success
would we expect from a nurseryman who was not permitted to prune
his trees until they were already misshaped, to destroy their
infesting parasites until the foliage was withered, who was not
allowed to water them till they began to droop, or enrich the soil
about them till they were almost exhausted ? And yet this is the
relation to the bodies of our patients in which we are practically
placed by our present system. The words " cobbler " and "tinker "
are terms of reproach, and yet cobbling and tinkering is about all
we are permitted to do to the vital mechanisms of most of our
patrons. When we consider this fact in the light of the deliberate
statement of Mr. Chadwick, the distinguished English sanitarian,
that he can build a city which shall have any required death rate
from 3 per 1,000 up (the present average being nearly 18) ; when
we remember that the "white plague of the North," as Holmes
aptly calls consumption, which is responsible for the lion's share
of our death rate, is more than analogous to the familiar spindling
of plants deprived of air and sunlight ; that as much as fifty years
ago even a layman like Lord Palmerston declared that "for every
death from typhoid somebody ought to hang ;" that an unfailing
specific for malaria, diphtheria, and cholera is contained in a 6-inch
drain-tile, — in short, that nearly one-half of our existing diseases are
preventible, does not a readjustment of our relation to the public
appear urgently pressing ? How would a system of constant at-
tendance at a fixed sum per year or month, including an annual
or semi-annual inspection of the residence and surroundings, and
review of the diet and habits of life of the family, if practicable,
modify the conditions under which we are now attempting to pro-
mote the health of the public ? The system, in part at least, is
in practical operation in the different lodges and benefit associa-
tions, in manufacturing establishments and mines all over the
country, with generally satisfactory results regarded from an
economic standpoint. As, of course, the principle upon which
all these plans are adopted is a purely economical one, to get the
greatest amount of service for the least possible cost, they could
only be expected to be a success in this direction.

The plan which I would respectfully submit is much wider in its
scope, and is briefly as follows : That at the beginning of the calen-
dar year each individual or family should engage his or their medi-

HEALTH INSURANCE. 191

cal attendant for the next 12 months, agreeing to pay him a specified
annual salary in advance, either in full or in quarterly or monthly
installments. The physician, on his part, should agree to render
any and all professional services required, except operations or
manipulations requiring the skill and training of a specialist, for
the annual consideration specified, which might readily be fixed
according to some rate per capita or per familiam laid down in the
fee bill. The physician should further agree, jn consideration of
the sum specified, to make an annual or semi-annual inspection of
the sanitary condition of the house and premises of his client, and
to oifer such suggestions as he saw fit in regard to the diet or hab-
its of life of himself or his family ; in short, to act as general
adviser on all matters of hygiene or therapeutics. The system
might briefly, and perhaps not inaptly, be described as a scheme of
" health insurance."

What are the advantages which seem to be presented by this
plan ? In the first place, our patients would have no inducement
whatever to delay consulting us ; in fact, moved by a not unnat-
ural desire to get their money's worth out of us, would probably
hasten to do so at the earliest appearance of discomfort or danger,
and thus give us full control of the case at that period in which a
"stitch" properly taken often saves not "nine," but "ninety and
nine." We should have every opportunity to abate or favorably
modify the attack, and the value of this vantage ground would be
well nigh inestimable.

Later, during the progress of the case, there would not be the
slightest danger of any objection to the frequency of our visits ;
on the contrary, the difficulty would be in exactly the opposite
direction, and would constitute for us the principal drawback of
the system. In convalescence, we need fear no interruption to
those finishing touches which may exercise such a powerful influ-
ence upon the future comfort or safety of our patient, and in the
giving of which the master-hand finds scope for the finest and
most highly appreciated subtleties of its skill. Above all, it
would give us a fair opportunity for the practice of the grand
branch of preventive medicine, " the medicine of the nineteenth
century," a privilege which under the present system is practic-
ally denied to us.

WOODS HUTCHINSOX, A.M., M.D.

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHINGISM AND THE OLD.

THE Know-Nothing party of a generation ago, growing out of a
secret society, said to have been so-called because of the affecta-
tion of ignorance on the part of its members when questioned as
to the society and its objects, had for its mainspring hostility to
the influence of foreign-born citizens in our American politics, and
particularly a bitter enmity, very similar to that of the Orange-
men in Ireland and Canada, toward the adherents of the Catholic
church. The alleged justification of this hostility was the danger
to our American liberties and institutions likely to arise from this
foreign influence, and especially from what was considered a for-
eign religion, the supreme head of which was in reality a foreign-
er, an Italian, living 4,000 miles from our country — and, what
made it worse, a king ruling with despotic authority, commanding
an army and navy, and treating with this country, as well as with
the monarchies of Europe, as an equal sovereign power. The
}I no w-No things conjured up direful visions of menace to our
institutions from an armed invasion of this foreign king and his
foreign allies, with the object of suppressing our hated demo-
cratic liberties and institutions. They imagined and asserted
that the Catholics of this country were bound, as Catholics, to
hold that they owed primary allegiance to this foreign potentate,
and that they would feel obliged by their religious obligations to
the Pope to take sides with him in any such conflict, — not merely
not to serve against him, but to give him every aid and comfort in
their power, even to the extent of taking up parricidal arms in his
behalf against their country. They held that Eoman Catholics,
even in politics, must be papists first and Americans afterwards,
if at all, and that they were, therefore, unworthy of American citi-
zenship, unfit to be trusted with the sacred responsibility of the
ballot, and still less worthy to hold any public office of trust or
emolument. The hostility to foreigners who were not Catholics

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHINGISM AND THE OLD. 193

was defended on the ground that they had not, and in most cases
could not be reasonably expected to have, that knowledge of Amer-
ican institutions, their growth and history, and that love for
them, which come, as a matter of course, to those of the elder
American stock. It was felt that foreign-born citizens, in spite
of their renunciation of all foreign allegiance, must neces-
sarily be filled with the habits of thought, the prejudices
and the traditions of the lands they had left, and more con-
cerned about the good or evil fortune of these than about that
of their adopted country. And therefore was it that even with
regard to non-Catholic foreign-born citizens the Know-Noth-
ings maintained the maxim, " Put none but Americans on guard ! "
which maxim bore, in their view, with double force on the un-
fortunate foreign Catholics, who were considered twice foreign,
since to the disadvantages of their nativity they added the much
more serious one of, as it was supposed, a blind and absolute obe-
dience, from religious motives, to a foreign power.

To us of this generation it must appear that the fears, if they
were honest, of the Know-Nothings, for the immediate future of
America, were ludicrously exaggerated. The proportion of foreign-
born people and of Catholics to the people of old American and
non-Catholic stock was then much less than it is to-day, and the
importance of foreign-born citizens and Catholics in their in-
fluence on politics, and in the number, dignity and power
of the offices held by them, was quite as disproportionate. We
may well surmise that a large part of the zeal of the Know-Noth-
ings of that day was prompted by an insensate and vulgar theo-
logical hatred, precisely of the kind that still makes Orangemen and
Catholics beat and kill one another year after year in Ireland, and
again was largely stimulated by base selfishness and envy in the
matter of a few wretched political offices then held by Cath-
olics and foreigners, not very often rising higher than tide-waiter-
ships and similar positions. The Roman Catholics of that day
were evidently so conscious of their comparative fewness,
and their utter inability to do, if they would, the dire things
charged to them in intention, that, fearful of religious broils
in which they could, as a rule, be only the victims, they
made haste to disclaim with the greatest vehemence the evil
designs and possibilities attributed to them, and more than
one distinguished churchman said that, if necessary, they

194 TH3 NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

would themselves take up arms to meet the papal invader on
the shore, and to repel him with as much vigor as if he were but
an ordinary foreign enemy. The late Archbishop Hughes, to
correct these impressions and to refute these charges, loved to quote
the example of the republic of Venice, waging vigorous war against
the soldiers of the Pope to defend her interests and her political
rights, while acknowledging the authority of the Pope in spirituals,
and agreeing with him entirely in religion. Catholics, both
lay and cleric, went out of their way to demonstrate their love of
American institutions, and their pride in American citizenship.
Bishops positively forbade that they should be addressed by the
title of "lord'' and " lordship," common in European countries,
and nearly all the bishops and priests forbore to obtrude on
the public their dignity or their profession, by those distinc-
tions in dress which are now (to the great annoyance of the more
American-minded among them) actually made mandatory, by the
statutes and decrees of their synods and councils. For similar
reasons all foreign-born citizens, whether Catholic or non-Catholic,
were eager to assimilate themselves to the common American
type, to learn, if they did not already know, the common language
of our country, and, from choice as well as necessity, they merged
their foreign nationality, and rapidly became Americans.

There were not then, as now, in our great cities, and in whole
quarters of the agricultural districts of great states, vast agglom-
erations of men of one foreign nationality, preserving almost entire
their manners, language, and traditions, and by virtue of their
numbers making even the public schools in many places use a
foreign tongue as the common vehicle of instruction, and produc-
ing the strange spectacle of native Americans of some totally
different stock actually taking on the speech and characteristics of
other nationalities. Thirty years ago there was no thought of
what to-day is with many of our foreign-born citizens of other
speech than the English, and especially with their clergy, whether
Catholic or Protestant, an avowed hope and intention, through
their influence in public schools, and still more in church schools,
of which they have exclusive control, to perpetuate their foreign
tongue, and to make it for all time the language of large portions
of the country. To the dispassionate observer this hope is so wild
that it seems incredible that it should be entertained by any man
having the least acquaintance with our country. Yet it has been

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHIN3ISV AND THE OLD. 195

avowed to me by a German clergyman of this city, who flattered
himself that Great Britain and Ireland were almost exhausted as
sources of emigration, while Germany, with her 45,000,000, would
continue year after year to pour hundreds of thousands of her
people on our shores. This insane hope is cherished chiefly in
Yusconsin and in the Valley of the Northern Mississippi. The
ears of American boys born of German parents are boxed by the
religious teacher in parochial schools in St. Louis for the heinous
offense of speaking the common language of America — the Eng-
lish— and a clerical superintendent, to reproach an American boy
of German parents for manliness and independence, can find no
better words to do justice to his reprobation than to say, "Du Ust
ein Amerikaner"( — You are an American ! — ) There is a widespread
and persistent effort, with scarcely any attempt to conceal it, to
Germanize the Catholic Church in the Northwest. The means
toward the attainment of this is to multiply German church
schools and German parishes, and to make the multiplication of
the latter an excuse and a justification for the appointment,
with the aid of German Cardinals in Eome, of German-speaking
Bishops.

In furtherance of this plan, Germans speaking but imperfectly
the English language are appointed pastors over English-speaking
congregations, and especially where there is the excuse of the
existence in the congregation of a few German-speaking families.
This plan has been so successful that the ecclesiastical archiepis-
copal province of Milwaukee, with its German archbishop and its
German theological seminary, has been very largely Germanized,
and similar designs for the immediate future 'are entertained for
the great archbishoprics of Cincinnati and St. Louis. I may as
well mention here, as not impertinent to the subject, that a German-
American bishop who went to Washington to sound the Govern-
ment upon the question of diplomatic relations with the Pope,
expected, as his reward for the service, the archbishopric of St.
Louis, which, it was hoped, would speedily become vacant by the
death of the octogenarian, Kenrick.

The fact is, as has been stated by Professor Boyesen in a
recent magazine article, urging restriction of immigration as a
means of preserving our American nationality and institutions,
that so great is now the spirit of foreign nationality among foreign-
born citizens that many among them make no concealment of their

196 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

sense of superiority, and of their contempt of Americans, and of
American manners and traditions. It can hardly be denied that
in all this there is some danger in the way of the speedy assimila-
tion of the peoples of various origins to one common American
type. If the wishes and designs avowed by not a few of these
foreign-born citizens were really practicable and likely to be
realized, we might well brand them as guilty of constructive
treason against our institutions and the best interests of our
country ; and there would be immensely greater occasion and
excuse in all this for a display of rabid Know-Nothingism
than there was for the great ebullition of antagonism to foreign-
born citizens a generation ago. Yet, strange to say, what little we
hear to-day of complaint is but a faint muttering compared to the
former storm of denunciation and remonstrance. The two most
conspicuous instances of recent date are the article just referred to,
written by Professor Boyesen, himself a foreign-born citizen of but
a few years' residence in our country, whose experience, as he tells
us, has been chiefly with men of foreign speech — Scandinavians
and Germans — and the utterances of Mr. Powderly, Master Work-
man of the Knights of Labor, who, if the same rule had been
applied to his parents coming from Ireland that he would now
apply to new-comers, might himself, as some one has said, be
carrying turf, in an Irish bog, instead of being able, from the
influential position he enjoys among Americans, to warn off
later comers. There is surely as much room to-day in our
widely increased territory as there was for his parents, and
they are as likely to make worthy citizens and to be the pro-
genitors of as worthy Americans, if this question of foreign
immigration and its consequences be but treated with good
sense and statesmanship. The object of Professor Boyesen
seems to me a worthier one, and the danger he points out
more real, while the object of Mr. Powderly is but a corollary,
logical and consistent enough, from his standpoint, of that
wretched business called " protection to American industry,"
which began by taxing and oppressing the whole American
people to build up, by quasi monopolies, the fortunes of u
privileged class of manufacturers and other producers. The
too often deceived and robbed laboring classes have discovered
that protection does not protect, and those of them, who still
believe in the fetish of protection, now begin to deceive them-

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHINGISM AND THE OLD. 197

selves with the false hope of protecting labor by making labor
artificially scarce, and therefore by restraining the increase
of population in a country so vast and so wonderfully supplied
with all manner of good things that it would be able to hold and
support the population of the whole world, and in which an aver-
age single State is as large and as well endowed as England, and
needs only a population as large as that of England to make it as
great in all respects. The wonder is that it has not occurred to
these misguided workingmen to demand the abolition of the
protection that does not protect, once they have discovered how
badly they have been fooled, and to substitute in its stead a
prohibitory, or at least an extremely high, protective tax upon
the importation of men, and, for that matter, to be consistent,
upon the birth of children.

Strange as is the mildness of the complaint of the new Know-
Nothingism, compared with the old, in the protest against for-
eign immigration, and strangely unexpected as is the quarter from
which the protest comes, stranger far is the mildness of toleration,
or the indifference, and in innumerable cases the actual approval by
Americans, especially by those of them that are represented in the
public press, of the attitude of the churches, and especially of the
Roman Catholic Church, towards our Government, our laws, our
American principles, traditions and institutions. Now that the
number of foreign-born inhabitants, and still more the number of
Catholics, is in a much larger proportion to the total population,
we hear nothing like the former frantic cries of alarm from the
native-born and the Protestant. And yet things have been hap-
pening within the last few years all over the country, and especially
in our State and City of New York, a mere tithe of which would,
but a generation ago, have stirred the country to a white heat of
anger.

But a few years ago, many bishops, assembled in the provincial
council of Cincinnati, issued a pastoral letter, the product of the
pen of the Scotch bishop Gilmour, of Cleveland, which was largely
a deliberate thesis against our Declaration of Independence, in the
attempt to show that men are not born "free and equal," and
when some remonstrance was called forth, in not a few instances
from Catholics, the Franco-American bishop, Chatard, of Indian-
apolis, hastened to justify the manifesto, which he had himself
signed, in a letter to a New York paper, in which he corroborated

198 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the teaching of the pastoral letter by quotations from a letter of
the Pope, whom he slavishly described as " our present holy
father, Pope Leo XIII., now gloriously reigning." The new
generation of bishops is by no means so averse as were their pred-
ecessors to having their ears tickled by the grateful appellations
of " lord " and " lordship," and nothing is now more common
than to speak of and to address an archbishop by the ducal
sobriquet of "his grace" and "your grace." The bishops, in
great majority, are now eager to obtrude their professional rank
on the public by the use of a distinctive garb, wearing about
their necks the imperial purple, with which, as well as with
wealth and power, the first Christian emperors began the corrup-
tion of the Church. And they force the priests to wear, in public
as well as in private, a professional badge known as the Roman
collar, of which an old American priest, some years ago, hearing
of the desire of his bishop that the priests should always wear it,
said, with bitterness, "I suppose the next thing will be that we
must have the bishop's name written upon the collar."

Thirty-five years ago it was extremely rare to hear from bishops
and priests the denunciations, now so common, of the public
schools, which, in spite of the hackneyed character of the phrase,
have well been called, and may for all time to come well be called,
the palladium of our liberties, and the safeguard of American insti-
tutions. The late James A. McMaster, editor of the Freeman's
Journal, well-known for his rabid hatred of the public schools,
stated in his paper that at the time of the First Plenary Council of
Baltimore, only one venerated prelate and himself took the correct
view of the school question. From this we can gather that the other
bishops did not then see in the public school system the horrors
that their successors almost unanimously discover. This is also
shown by the language of the earlier councils of Baltimore, in
which, speaking of the public schools, they have nothing to
say of the " godlessness," the " wantonness," and the "immorali-
ties " of these schools, of which things we have in late years
heard so much from bishops and priests, and their journalistic
organs. One of these earlier utterances, incorporated in para-
graphs 428 and 429 of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore,
shows that so far was it then from being the desire of the bishops
(while complaining of certain inequalities to which Catholics were
subjected in the schools) to restrain Catholic children from going

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHING ISM AND THE OLD. 199

to the public schools, that they made it the duty of pastors to take
an interest in the schools, and to secure in them the rights of con-
science of Catholic children. The words of the Council are :

" Since often in books in use in the schools there are things which are hostile to
our faith, and which place our doctrines in a false light, and distort history, the
welfare of religion, the right education of youth and the honor of our country de-
mand a remedy for so great an evil. As it is certain that in most of the States pub-
lic education is so conducted that it is made to serve the interests of the sects, so
that the minds of Catholic children are gradually imbued with their principles, we
admonish pastors that they should spare no pains in looking to the Christian and
Catholic education of children, and should watch diligently to prevent their using
the Protestant Bibles and reciting and fringing the prayers of the sects. Therefore,
they should be vigilant in guarding against the introduction of such books and ex-
ercises into the public schools. They should everywhere resist these sectarian efforts
with constancy and moderation, and endeavor to obtain the necessary remedy
from the authorities."

Contrast the moderation of this language, and this incul-
cation of moderation upon the p'riests, with the violent denuncia-
tions and gross calumnies of later days. There is now an avowed
determination, as shown in the last Council of Baltimore, to estab-
lish all over the country a great system of parochial schools in
opposition to the public schools, and it is made the most
urgent duty of priests everywhere, under threat of expul-
sion, to found such schools. The hope is not concealed that,
when the so-called " Catholic vote" shall become larger, the
politicians may be induced to appropriate, through State legisla-
tures or local governments, all the funds necessary for the support
of these schools. This has already been accomplished in Pough-
keepsie, New Haven, and elsewhere, and for a brief period during
the offensive and defensive alliance between a certain set of priests
and the Tammany ring of the days ' of Tweed, Connolly, and
Sweeney, an appropriation procured by legislative trick and fraud,
under the management of Peter B. Sweeney, awarded several hun-
dred thousand dollars to the parochial schools of New York City.
What would the old-time Know-Nothings have thought of this ?
It should be noted that these parochial schools, which it is the
design to multiply, are exempt from taxation, and that thus
the public in some sense puts a premium upon a system of schools
hostile to its own, and so encourages the laying of an enormous
additional burden upon the poor Catholic people who have
already paid, directly or indirectly, their full share of the taxes
for the support of the public schools, which it is now the grow-

200 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

ing tendency to forbid them to use, under penalty of privation
of the sacraments of the church. Another thing which was
almost unheard of a generation ago, and the suggestion of which,
in anything like • its present extent, would then have caused the
gravest civil disturbances, is the appropriation of valuable public
lands and of millions of dollars of public money, to the support of
all manner of sectarian institutions under the control of churches,
and especially of the Roman Catholic Church. It may be suffi-
cient, by way of illustration, to refer to the Catholic Protectory,
in Westchester, to the House of the Sisters of Mercy in 81st
street, and to the Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity in
68th street, immense institutions supported by the city treasury
of New York, at an expense of from half a million to a million of
dollars a year, and the two latter built upon blocks of ground
given by the city through the favor of the Tammany ring, and
worth hundreds of thousands each. There is a host of smaller
institutions of the same character, and supported chiefly by the
public treasury, to nearly all of which children are committed as
to public institutions by the civil magistrates. Would it not be
enough to make the elder Know-Nothing bigots turn in their
graves could they hear that vast sums and great public properties
are thus turned over to irresponsible private and sectarian insti-
tutions, especially if they could learn that the priests, and monks,
and nuns, whose institutions are thus benefited by the public, are
but the more emboldened to denounce our schools and other pub-
lic institutions, in language at times brutal if not obscene, while
indulging in unwarranted pharisaic glorification of their own
institutions and of themselves. The extraordinary zeal mani-
fested for the getting up of these sectarian schools and institu-
tions is, first of all, prompted by jealousy and rivalry of our pub-
lic schools and institutions, and by the desire to keep children
and other beneficiaries from the latter, and, secondly, by the de-
sire to make employment for and give comfortable homes to the
rapidly increasing hosts of monks and nuns, who make so-called
education and so-called charity their regular business, for which a
very common experience shows that they have but little qualifica-
tion beyond their professional stamp and garb.

It is not risking much to say that if there were no public
schools there would be very few parochial schools, and the Cath-
olic children, for all the churchmen would do for them, would

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHING ISM AND THE OLD. 201

grow up in brutish ignorance of letters ; and a commonplace of
churchmen here would be the doctrine taught by the Jesuits in
Italy, in their periodical magazine, the Civiltd Cattolica, that the
people do not need to learn to read, that all they do need
is bread and the catechism, the latter of which they could manage
to know something of, even without knowing how to read. A
confirmation of this is to be found in the very general illiteracy in
countries where churches and churchmen have been exceedingly
abundant and have exercised temporal control. It is a remark-
able fact, that in Italy, France, and other so-called Catholic coun-
tries, in spite of the hostility to the government schools, the clergy
do not establish parochial schools. The ecclesiastical authorities
of Italy, while willing enough to impose on our Catholic people
of America so heavy a burden, do not dare to try to impose a
similar burden upon their people nearer home. But what, most of
all, might seem well adapted to revive and intensify the old
hateful and bigoted spirit of Know-Nothingism, and justify its fears
and predictions, is the actual and direct interference in politics of
bishops, vicars-general, and priests in their ecclesiastical capacity
and because of their ecclesiastical influence, to promote the pecun-
iary and other temporal objects of the ecclesiastical machine.

Recent instances of this, not a few, could be mentioned. It
must suffice here merely to refer to the letters and messages of
the late Vicar-General Quinn, of New York, sent to clergymen to
secure their influence as churchmen to defeat constitutional
amendments which, even after their adoption, have been prac-
tically over-ridden and over-ruled in the interest of Catholic insti-
tutions, and to secure the election to the Legislature of such men
as Mr. J. W. Husted, because he was willing to favor " generous
appropriations ; " the instance referred to in this article of the
clerical alliance with the Tweed ring ; the letter of Monsignor
Preston to Joseph O'Donoghue in the late Mayoralty canvass ;
the denunciation of one of the candidates and his party from
Catholic altars ; the secret prohibition to a priest, who went not
as a priest, but as a citizen, to keep his engagement to speak
at a political meeting, the chief demerit of which speech was
clearly in the fact that the movement it was intended
to help was likely to bring disaster upon the Tammany
ally of the ecclesiastical machine ; the abuse of the con-
fessional in forbidding men under penalty of refusal of absolution

202 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

to attend the meetings of one political party ; and last and worst
of all, the effort, of an archbishop in the late election, to defeat at
the polls by the abuse of his ecclesiastical position the call for a
constitutional convention, which, as the result proved, was
demanded by an overwhelming majority of all those who voted
on the question — an effort in full keeping with the action of the
same archbishop, when bishop of Newark, in sending to the Cath-
olic pastors of New Jersey a secret confidential letter, telling them
to "instruct" their people how they "must" vote upon certain
proposed constitutional amendments, giving minute details as to
the striking out of certain clauses, and suggesting that for greater
surety it might be better that the Catholic voters should strike
out all the clauses. The heinousness of this action will be better
understood when it is mentioned that the object of the proposed
amendments was to protect the public treasury, and to prevent the
people of counties and towns from being oppressed and robbed by
railroad and othercorporations.

From this cursory review of the situation, then and now, it
would seem that the fear of the things, the alleged evils and
dangers of which were dreaded, predicted, and denounced with
so much vehemence by the elder Know-Nothings, would find
to-day a hundredfold greater justification. And yet we wit-
ness the extraordinary spectacle of the indifference of the
old political parties to the danger, and their actual co-opera-
tion in bringing about this state of things through legis-
lative action. A similar indifference, where there is not positive
acquiescence or co-operation, is to be noticed in the great majority
of the journals of the country. The reason of this is not hard to
find. It is actually the fulfillment of the prevision of those who
saw in the growth of a vast army of foreign-born voters likely to
be swayed as one man by other than American objects and con-
siderations, and in the growth of an ecclesiastical power, secret
and despotic in its methods, and owing, it was alleged, blind
obedience to a foreign potentate, a real danger to the unity and
distinctive characteristics of our nationality, and to the liberties
and institutions of our country. The old political parties, and
the newspaper press, which is mostly devoted to one or the other
of them, are now so much impressed with the importance of the
Catholic vote, and the adopted citizens' vote, that they will not
run the risk of alienating either, by shocking even the most un-

THE NEW KNOW-NOTH1NGISM AND THE OLD. 203

reasonable and un-American prejudices. But those most active as
political leaders and partisans,, and those whose opinions get the
most airing in the press, are not the most nor the best of the
people of either party. We hear whisperings and mutterings here
and there that portend the speedy crystallization and emphatic
enunciation of an American public opinion which, while free from
the vulgar theological hatred and low-minded jealousy against
foreign-born citizens that characterized the elder Know-Nothing-
ism, will have something more effectual to propose as a remedy
for the grave evils we have pointed out than the ridiculously in-
adequate and selfish new Know-JSTothingism of restricting immi-
gration, as proposed by Prof. Boyesen and Mr. Powderly.

I do not think that the party that shall adopt this crystallized
opinion into its platform will be open to the charge of Know-
Nothingism, whether of the earlier and more virulent, or of the
later and weaker sort, and I venture to predict that this view of
the situation and of the remedy will be adopted by the Labor party
now forming — a giant, though yet in its infancy — which is ad-
hered to by citizens of foreign birth and by men of Catholic faith as
largely and probably more largely than is either of the old politi-
cal parties. The remedy must not be one that shall create an
artificial scarcity of population in a land that is crying out for
hundreds of millions to come and occupy it and to produce untold
wealth by their labor. The remedy must not consist in any
measure that shall abridge the religious liberties or interfere with
the rights of conscience of any man. It must substantially con-
sist in securing to all men the largest liberty compatible with the
liberties and rights of others, and therefore in granting absolute
equal justice to all, and never the slightest privilege or favor to
any. On such lines as these, and only on such lines, can be per-
petuated one magnificent American nationality, covering a whole
continent, speaking one language, enjoying equal laws, its members
living together in perfect peace and fraternity, and accomplishing
for humanity greater wonders of civilization than the world has
yet ventured to hope for. These lines are not new lines, but old
and safe ones, marked out by Jefferson and the other seers and
sages to whom we owe the Great Declaration and the foundations
of our government — they are :

Eespect for the rights of conscience ;

Separation of Church and State in that sense which is really

204 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the best union of Church and State, namely, the perfect respect of
each for the rights of the other, and a perpetual abstinence from
interference by either in the affairs of the other ;

The making of our country for all time to come what it has
been in the past, a beacon of liberty and a refuge to the oppressed
of all the nations of the world ;

The abolishing of all privileges granted by public authority to
individuals or corporations, whether civil or religious, and the
equal taxation of the property of all such corporations, without
exemption or exception in favor of any church, charity or school,
or, in a word, of any institution that is not the property of the
people and controlled for some public and common use by public
officials ; and the conduct of government, in all things, absolutely
for the public, that is the common, good — or, in other words, for
the masses, and never for an individual or a class.

Thus, only common schools and common charities should be
supported from the common treasury. Only the common lan-
guage of the country should be taught in the common schools. The
values that have been given to land by the growth of the community
should be restored to the community by the payment, in the form
of a tax, of a perfect equivalent ; while all the taxes that are now
levied upon the production, exchange or accumulation of wealth
— all the taxes, that now repress industry and add to the cost of
living, should be abolished. And the privileges and franchises
that have been granted by the community to individuals or to cor-
porations shou Id be either terminated by the sovereign community
— as all our jurisprudence teaches that they may be — or the pos-
sessors thereof should likewise pay to the community a perfect
equivalent. When perfect justice shall thus be done the old
wondrous charm and vigor will be more than restored to
our American nationality, and the rapid decline of American
patriotism which Professor Boyesen observes and deplores in our
foreign-born citizens, and contrasts witi^he sentiments of a simi-
lar class as late even as fifteen years ago, will speedily cease,
and the foreign- born citizen, enjoying equal access to the boun-
ties of nature, and therefore able as never before to procure wealth
and to assert and develop his manhood, contrasting his present
condition with that of his European home will, in his keener
appreciation and thankfulness, as of old, rival in American
patriotism the elder American stock.

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHINGISM AND THE OLD. 205

Some not well-informed reader of this article may imagine
that these views are new to the writer, or that I may never before
have thought it expedient to publish them. It may not therefore
be amiss to reproduce in concluding this article a series of sug-
gestions looking towards "an act (or amendment to the Constitu-
tion ) to guard against the union of church and state and to protect
liberty of conscience/' published by me in the New York Sim of
April 30, 1870, as follows :

" 1. Forbidding appropriations of school funds to any but common schools.

"2. Forbidding the reading of the Bible or any other distinctively religious
book ; all praying, worship, and singing of religious hymns in common schools.

"3. Forbidding magistrates to commit to any but public prisons, asylums,
etc.

"4. Repealing all existing laws by which appropriations are made to any but
public institutions, and forbidding (legislature) counties, cities, towns, and villages,
to donate any property, or to sell or lease it at lower than market values, or to
donate money for the payment of assessments, or for any other purpose, to any
church, or to any school, college, asylum, hospital, etc., or to any institution of
charity, correction, or learning, which is not the property of the people, and under
the exclusive control of officers of the people.

"5. Revoking existing appointments, and forbidding future appointments of
chaplains, whether salaried or not, in any public institution, and forbidding com-
pulsory attendance at, or joining in, any prayer, worship, or religious service or
instruction in any public institution, and forbidding any insult to the faith or
religious convictions of any inmates of public institutions, or pupils in public
schools.

" 6. Granting all reasonable facilities to citizens and clergymen of all denom-
inations, to visit public institutions of charity and correction, to impart religious
instruction or consolation, or administer religious ordinances to those of their own,
faith or those who may freely desire it."

EDWAKD

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 369. 14

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

CLAIMS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.

IT is a singularly inconsistent thing, that while there is a surplus in the United
States Treasury numbered by the hundred millions, and while the bonded in-
debtedness of the government is paid, principal and interest, with rare prompti-
tude and fidelity, the ordinary claims of citizens for supplies furnished and
services rendered should in many cases be practically out of the reach of
collection. It is safe to say that when an obligation or indebtedness of the
United States falls into the unhappy condition in which it is stigmatized as
a "claim," it is practically not worth fifty or twenty-five cents on the dollar.
Men have passed from the meridian of manhood, grown gray and died,
in the ever hopeful effort to collect what they believed to be a just claim, and
sons and grandsons have inherited these doubtful expectancies, in which the
means of so many have been swallowed up. Congress, since the Government began,
has been besieged by such claimants. Committees have been converted into a spe-
cies of judicatories to try them. The old Committee on Claims has been divided
into committees on War Claims, Pension Claims, Land Claims, and many other ;
and in fact almost eveiy committee, from that on " Ways and Means" down, has a
long string of those historical reminiscences before it. While a few painstaking, labo-
rious men show a disposition fairly to consider these propositions, with the great
majority the prevailing sentiment seems to be to show " how not to do it." In a
spirit of bitter economy, which does not extend to all branches of the government,
some of these committees have actually been organized so that almost anything in
the shape of a claim against the government would be rejected. The unhappy
claimant goes before them like a lamb to the slaughter. He pinches himself so as
to obtain the means to stay in Washington to attend to his case. He has his bill
introduced and referred if he can find a member sufficiently complaisant, " a bill
being in the nature of a petition." He wearily waits on committee and sub-com-
mittee. He tries to get documents from the departments and elsewhere to fortify
it. He may or may not employ legal help ; in any event he becomes initiated in
the mysteries of petitions, briefs, arguments. He finds out that committees do
not always meet on the days appointed, and if they do that they have probably
more important business than his to attend to. Hope rises strong within him on a
promise to obtain a favorable report. Should he after months of toil and delay
be fortunate enough to obtain one, he goes into rapture when his bill is reported
and gets on the calendar. Poor man, little does he know that the " Calendar" is
usually the " tomb of all the Capulets." He affectionately watches it, and tries
to get some friendly member to call it up. In a moment of misguided confidence
he has probably written to his friends that he is just on the point of being paid.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 207

From these dreams he is rudely awakened by the rap of the Speaker's gavel ad-
journing that Congress sine die. If he is a novice he will probably suppose that
the new Congress will take up his case where the old one left it, but learns, to his
horror, that the fearful rap of the speaker's gavel buried ail the incompleted
work of Congress. All has to be done over again. The case of " Jarndice versus
Jarndice" was nothing to this.

It is to be taken for granted that a certain number of these claims ought not to
be paid. Many more with a just basis are no doubt exaggerated, and should only
be paid in part. Yet the fact remains, that a great many of them are honest, and
that the United States, through the action of its agents, occupies, to them, the
questionable position of a dishonest and equivocating debtor. When you come to
analyze it, the Government exercises several widely different functions. The
Government, as a law-making power, seems to trench almost on the attributes of
Deity, but the Government as a huckster in saddles, clothing, arms, commissaries,
military service, mail route contracts, stationery, horses, bricks, mortar, marble, and
sandstone, is quite another character. The people have to deal with both. An im-
portant part of the law-making function is to provide for levying and collecting taxes
and appropriating money for disbursements. The executive branch is supposed
simply to execute the law . In doing so, however, it has got into a habit of construing
law that is nob altogether barren;of results. Between the law making and executive
branches there has always been more or less encroachment and collision. Jealous
ef executive disbursements of money, Congress has scrupulously stripped the ex-
ecutive of many elements of discretion. There is, indeed, an expansive tendency
in the disbursements of public money requiring pretty rigid rules. This has led,
however, to the habit of hedging in all payments by technicalities, restricting
appropriations to the expenses of the current year, and providing that all unex-
pended balances after a certain date shall lapse. It is difficult to estimate for the
axact expenses of a growing government like ours. It is impossible to estimate
the losses that must occur in working its widely ramified machinery. From all
these circumstances unpaid debts arise.

Every other person in these United States who does business, except Uncle Sam,
can " sue and be sued." This robust Government of ours, which thus assumes to
buy aad sell and make bargains with all of its citizens, claims exemption from the
operation of courts and the sheriff on the traditional, royal doctrine that " the
king can do no wrong." This precious legacy has come down to us like a great
deal. of other rubbish. As a matter of rigid statistical fact kings are always in
the habit of doing wrong. While governments have undoubtedly improved, the
best of them are not infallible. Why should not the Government of the United
States be compelled to pay its honest debts when it is tardy about it ? If in my
dealings with my neighbor I inflict an injury upon him without fault of his, he
has a legal remedy against me. Why should not the Government of the United
States be equally responsible.

It may be said that we have the Court of Claims. That court is a half halt-
ing step between justice and arbitrary rule. It exists only at the capitol of the
country, and cannot be said to offer any remedy for the prompt collection of the
small claims of poor people. Its jurisdiction is fenced within narrow limits, and is
estopped by arbitrary limitation laws, in which the United States does not hesi-
taLe to plead the statute to bar out an honest claim. Its judgments are not
final, and cannot afford prompt redress. After a judgment by that court,
Congress must appropriate the money, thus entailing a year's delay, and,
while Congress usually pays judgments, it may not do so. Under one
act that has been in existence for several years the head of a depart-

208 TEE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

merit, or a commi tee in Congress, may send the papers in a case to the
Court of Claims for an ascer tainment of facts, but no verdict is allowed

to be rendered. So far as the claimant is concerned, it entails all the expense of a
suit without a definite result. It is a Pickwickian arrangement by which there is a

dual jurisdiction : one body finds all the facts, and another, too lazy to do it, decides
the ca se. Practically, it is a mode of escaping responsibility. If the head of a

department gets a favorable report from the Court of Claims, and is inclined to
pay the claim, he does so ; otherwise he does not. It is about the same thing with
the committees, the result being that this act is of but little use to the Government or
the claimant. It will easily be seen that this offers no adequate remedy to a man
with money justly due him.

The other, and the old remedy, is to appeal to Congress. Men at all conver-
sant with the subject w ill never maintain that a committee, or even Congress, is

at all suited for the adjudication of claims between the Government and its citizens.
In the first place, it has, or should have, a much more important function to per-
form. It is not a judicial tribunal and should never be permitted to do judicial
work. No law should ever be enacted by a parliamentary body that can-
not, if necessary, be passed upoui by the courts. Any law which embodies

in its form a complete executive and judicial function is mere brute force, a mon-
strosity under our constitution, and should not be tolerated.

Many reasons have been given why Congress should not determine questions

involving private interests. The proper function of the law-making power is to
deal with general principles, which should be of general application. It is diffi-
cult, indeed practically impossible, to pass small claims through Congress. To
give it any show for a respectful hearing, a claim must be of majestic proportions.

Disappointed applicants do not hesitate to allege that if they had only claimed
four times as much they might have had some chance, and that the extra amount
thus saddled on the claim would be no more than sufficient to compensate the ex-
penses ani vexatious delays. It is not an economical way of carrying on business
for either the claimant or the Government. Committees passing upon
the interests of individuals or corporations, where great sums are con-
cerned, have always been exposed to suspicion, no doubt unjustly, but
the true remedy lies in eliminating such an exercise of power. It is usual, in bad
cases, to blame the lobby. It is the scapegoat that is sent to the wilderness with
all the sins of the congregation on its head, but this vicarious atonement rarely
mends matters. The lobby has existed since parliamentary bodies were evolved
from the chaos of protests and petitions. The "third house" is probably no
better, and no worse than the first and second. It exists legitimately, and will, so
long as Congress and legislatures attempt to pass on matters affecting private
interests, and just so long should the individuals affected be respectfully heard.
To create a professional lobby at Washington, as has been proposed, would in-
fringe on the rig hts of the humblest citizen from the remotest State or territory.
The capital and its business is general property ; but it is needless to argue the
question, since the Constitution declares that " the right of petition shall never be
abridged."

Without enumerating all the causes that create legitimate claims against the
Government, and which are thus, in the absence of a more convenient and prompt
remedy, thrown before Congress, enough has been stated to show that the law-
making branc h of the Government is totally unable to grapple with them, or to
afford the prompt and certain justice that should be the right of every aggrieved
citizen. Under our form of Government every injured person is supposed to be
entitled to his " day in court." So long as the Government continues to have busi-

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 209

ness with its citizens there is no reason why it should be exempt from the opera-
tion of this rule. To plead the statute of limitation does not appear to be in keep-
ing with a great and magnanimous government. Neither should the Government,
nor any of its agents, ever conceal information in regard to what it lawfully and
equitably owes any person ; and yet there is a strange rule in the departments
by which all information is refused, and access to the public records is denied, un-
less the applicant makes an affidavit that it is not to be used in making claims
against the Government. If a private citizen concealsd the evidence of his indebt-
edness, so that the children or heirs of his creditors would be kept in ignorance of
sums justly due them, his conduct would be deemed ID famous. It is difficult to
imagine where such a low grade of official morality could have originated. Akin
to it is the spirit so often manifested, by some officials, of rejecting meritorious
claims on some flimsy technicality. Many of the most extravagant forms of gov-
ernment expenditure pass smoothly under systematic forms of red tape, while
honest accounts of men not so familiar with government technicalities are apt to
suffer, or to be relegated to the class of " claims."

It is not surprising that many claims against the Government are continually
arising out of the great business of the Government with its citizens. Some grow
out of the inflexible terms of appropriation acts, others from a deficiency, and a
few from the lapse of appropriations. No inconsiderable number owe their origin
to the fact that some officials of the Government do not rigidly follow the law, and
the unhappy citizen with whom they have dealt is liable to suffer for their care-
lessness. Anoth er class of cases arises from arbitrary and unlawful enforcement
of taxation, or strained enforcement of custom dues. Thousands of cases have
arisen from arbitrary and unlawful reduction of pay to government laborers by
certain official?, who did not approve of the law under which they acted. Numer-
ous cases have grown out of different constructions of the law under which not
only official persons, but soldiers and sailors, are paid. The law decides that cer-
tain parties shall receive pensions, and the executive department decides on the
individual case ; therefore Congress is flooded with pension bills. Government
transportation and the postal service of the United States are fruitful sources of
claims against the Government, not only on account of disagreements as to the
meaning of contracts and the law, but because the Government often demands
service that is destructive to the property of those dealing with it. Ques-
tions affecting the disposal of the public lands are settled in an execu-
tive rather than in a judicial way. Mere clerks pass on interests involving
thousands or even millions of dollars. The question remains : How shall these
conflicting claims be most promptly and honestly adjusted ? There may be, and
doubtless are, cases where there are equities, which should be considered, that have
not a sufficiency of applicable law on which courts could pass, and for which there is
only a remedy with the law-making power. It is also true that in the greater
number of cases before Congress, a remedy in the courts could be had if complete
and proper jurisdiction was given. These tribunals should pass, not only on tech-
nical law, but on questions of equity. Supplement this by more comprehensive laws
to cover every class of claims. Create an inexpensive jurisdiction for the smaller
cases. One thing is certain, Congress should be relieved from a burden which it
is so much in the habit of shirking, and honest claimants be furnished a just and
prompt remedy. WM. A. PHILLIPS.

II.

THE COMING " PRODUCERS' PARTY."

THE " fortunate" classes in England, France, and Germany, know that there
exists in those countries a conflict— an irrepressible conflict between the fortunate

210 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and the not-fortunate— sometimes called a conflict between capital and labor.
Only the most thoughtful of the well-to-do Americans have, as yet, an idea that a
similar dispute exists in this country. City Chamberlain Wm. Ivins, of New
York, well i!1ustrated the current of opinion among the prosperous here in a recent
speech. He said : " We are not staring any great social problem in the face to
day, nor is any such problem staring us in the face. There only exist isolated
cases of hardship, due to local causes, and these should be redressed. The great
fortunes of the day were made by speculation rather than by grinding the poor."

Against such men and such opinions wage-labor, through its leaders, stands
up swart, grim, toil-stained, earnest, vehement, prepared to be fierce, and says :
" We have an immense land and labor question here. Social problems of the
gravest sort stare at us from all sides. Millions, nay, the majority of our people,
are suffering hardships because they are defrauded of the fruit of their labor by
the shrewd and forceful. Finally, it is the shallowest sophistry to speak thus of
fortunes got through speculation. All wealth not obtained by honest industry is
as good as stolen ; for it is a mortgage obtained, without service, upon the future
services of others."

In coming political movements, a large portion of the middle class, who consider
themselves producers as compared with the alleged non-producers among the
wealthy, will side with wage- workers.

Here is a brief marshaling of the forces arrayed for this conflict. No special
list of the fortunate need be given — the great landholders, bondholders, possessors
of mines, oil, railroads, telegraphs, general produce and manufactures, patents
and monopolies of all sorts. Actual non-producers are not so easily enumerated.
The point of interest is : Who and how strong are they ? Who are arrayed on the
other side ? Who will constitute " The Producers' Party ?"

(1) TRADE UNIONISTS. —They ran down very much during the hard times,
but are now stronger than ever before, and more than ever tinctured with the idea
of seeking what they esteem their rights through the ballot-box. Their numbers are
not easily verified. The great majority regard the wealthy with aversion ; but
the very strongest unions — those of locomotive engineers and firemen — have been
so liberally treated by their employers that they are disposed to fraternize with
the rich, as seen in their recent invitations to conspicuous men of wealth to speak
at their banquets.

An immense trade union movement has taken form during the past year. It
is claimed that " The American Federation of Labor" has now enrolled 560,000
men, who are opposed to being so much controlled by the Executive Board of the
Knights as they have been ; 190,000 of them have cut loose from the Knights,
300,000 are still Knights. The point at issue is that they think their union work
more precious than their work as Knights. The Knight leaders seem to have
coerced them too strenuously. That this body is ready for political action, as
producers, is seen in the fact that their very able President, Samuel Gompers, wa^
a leading worker for Henry George last fall, though not now active in that
direction.

(i) KNIGHTS OP LABOR. —This body continues to grow rapidly in many sec-
tions, but has continual conflicts with trades unions. It has wider views and pur-
poses than the unions, and tries continually, with much success, to get them to let
themselves be pigeon-holed in its assemblies without losing their identity as unions.
This causes much disturbance, as many unionists do not wish to identify them-
selves with the larger plans of the Knights, and fancy that such identification
interferes with the usefulness of the unions as a means of getting better pay, shorter
hours, etc. The general opinion of the Knights is, as yet, that Powderly, tbeir

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 211

Grand Master, is the best man for the place. He has had terrible responsibilities
put upon him, and some of the tasks set before him having been really impossible
of performance. He has made some mistakes and failures. Powerful cliques are
now banded against him. If he retains the mastership after the annual meeting
this autumn, he will probably be the candidate of the " Producing Classes" for the
Presidency next year.

(3) GRANGERS. — Although an impression prevails that this organization has
collapsed, such is far from being the case. They do not make as much noise as
they did, but they retain their grand system of grange meetings, fairs, co-opera-
tive buying, and stores, i i most States. Their grange meetings are doing much to
modify the terrible isolation of farm life ; and their system gives the farmers the
chance to throw themselves very effectively into any political, moral, or social
movement. Many of them, like trade unionists, affiliate as lodges with the Knights,
but the proposed total absorption of them by the Knights is strenuously opposed
by most thoughtful farmers.

(4) UNITED LABOR PARTY AND UNION LABOR PARTY.— It is well known
that Henry George started last Autumn ' ' The United Labor Party," with
his land tax as its principal plank. On February 22d there was a large
gathering at Cincinnati of Knights, Grangers, Greenbackers, etc., who do not
believe in George's land tax and extreme free trade. They adopted a platform.
They made, as some think, the mistake of travestying the George party by calling
themselves "The Union Labor Party." As one consequence, the leaders of the
two parties claim, in their papers and speeches, that each political movement of
labor is " ours." The end is not easily prophesied. It is so difficult to get farmers
to adopt the land tax that thus far " Union " is greatly ahead of *• United " in the
country at large. It seems probable that " United " would have been discouraged
by this time at its lack of rural success had not the great McGlynn boom and the
Anti-Poverty Society and the O'Brien fiasco come ia time to give it a new lease of
life. One effect of this is to prevent any strong demonstration of "Union" this
year in some Eastern and Middle States. Another is to give great life and vivacity
to " United" in New York city and some ether large towns. A pleasing feature
of "United" work in New York City is the gathering of wives, sisters, and
children into social meetings in connection with the political movement. " Union "
is said to be making great progress in the Western States, especially Illinois, Indi-
ana, Ohio, Kansas, and Kentucky. But the George movement in Eastern cities
will, apparently, have the effect of keeping these two Dromios from merging
their existence into one until next year. The prevailing signs are, in my opinion,
that the Western movement, in the hands of such veterans as Jesse Harper, Samuel
Crocker, Trevellick, and Norton, and perhaps De la Martyr, Weaver, Gillette, and
other old Greenback labor leaders, backed by John Swinton and many others in
the East, will absorb " United " after the McGlynn enthusiasm subsides.

The total stoppage of immigration is likely to be a plank of the platform
when real union takes place. The labor press of the whole country is clamoring
for a check to the incoming of the ruder nations of Europe. But the most radical
leaders scoff at the idea of stopping immigration to exclude socialists and anarch-
ists. They grimly exclaim, "There is a strike in the American shop ! Let
foreigners stay out until we find whether the producers or the drones are to run
this country."

In an article on *' The New Party," in the July NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,
Henry George shows his enthusiastic confidence in the triumph of his land tax as
the all-embracing reform, and generalizes about the narrowness of all past move-
ments of producers in the line of political action, and the futility of all such

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

efforts. It will be a surprise to me if his " United " party attains in ten years the
proportions, vigor, and results reached by the Greenback Labor party in 1878,
when it polled 1,400,000 votes, elected twenty Congressmen (about five of whom
betrayed their trust), and frightened their enemies into many benificent measures.
Where Mr. George gets his data for saying " The United Labor Party of New
York is the strongest organization on the new lines," is a puzzle. He characterizes
" what is known as the Union Labor Party " as composed of " self -appointed repre-
senatives of all sorts of opinions and crotchets," and as " one of those attempts to
manufacture a political party which are foredoomed to failure. Sooner or later its
components must fall on one side or the other of the issue raised by the more defi-
nite [George] movement. On which tide the majority of them will fall there can
be little doubt."

I have given reasons for the opposite view. Time will decide.

(5) CO-OPERATIVE AND STATE SOCIALISTS.— The Co-operative Socialists, or
Associaticnists, who flourished so greatly under Horace Greeley's favor forty years
ago, are again becoming a power in the land. Millions of people have an idea
that co-cperation is the grand panacea. All of this view may be counted as upon
the side of the producers in a political movement.

Three of the extremely socialistic organizations of this country are disposed to
amalgamate for political action. They are "The Socialistic Labor Party "or
"Social Democrats," ".The International Workingmen's Association" or " Reds,"
strong in the Western States, and the "Blacks" or " Anarchists." The Chicago
groups, anticipating the present action, disbanded, leaving the members free to
join whatever body they may incline to. These societies are exotics in this country.
They are composed mainly of foreign-born citizens, who have come here, for the
most part, honestly impressed with the idea that they have panaceas for human
ills.

They have made so much more noise than the other and milder Socialists of
late. that most people have forgotten that the latter exist. Even Christian Social-
ists in America, England, aud Germany, hide their lights in dismay when they
observe what a racket the others are making, and find the name Socialist becom-
ing synonymous with all that is vile and bloody.

The fact is that there are at least twent}7 kinds of Socialists. Every one,
from the non-resistant Shaker to the bloodiest Anarchist and Nihilist, who starts
out to reform social abuses — to establish real sociability or friendliness among
human creatures — is entitled to the name.

All such may certainly be counted as arrayed against non-producers.

(6) UNCLASSIFIABLE " KICKERS." — A large mass of dissatisfied men, some of
them wealthy, who have grievances that the old parties do not remove, may be
counted upon to join any tolerably consistent new " producers' " party. Independ-
ents, Mugwumps, Prohibitionists, Anti-monopolists, Greenbackers, middle-class peo-
ple who think that the outlook is for the rich to grow richer and the poor poorer.

SAMUISL LEAVITT.

III.

AN AMERICAN PENAL COLONY.

REGARDED from the economic standpoint our system of prison administration
yields very unsatisfactory results. The prisoners cannot be rendered self-sup-
porting, and every attempt to lighten the burden of costs only results in its un-
equal distribution.

As regards the reformatory tendency of prison discipline, it may be laid down

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 213

as a sound axiom, that every f orm of slavery is degrading, and that prison slavery,
with its isolation of the sexes, is infinitely more degrading than domestic slavery.

The one admissible argument for the maintenance of the system is necessity :
we would gladly reform the criminal classes if the possibility of doing so were
recognized, but having no hope of its accom plishment, the next best course is to
incarcerate them. We do this in self-defense, and cannot be held responsible for
such evils as follow.

But the problem of protecting society from the criminal classes, and at the
same time rendering the criminals industrious, orderly and law-abiding, appears to
me not wholly hopeless of solution.

The great body of criminals have the same desires and appetites as the indus-
trial classes, quite as much energy in the pursuit of the means for their gratifica-
tion, and although some of them are very low in the scale of intelligence, it is
doubtful if the majority of them are below the average of the working masses.

"We may, I think, assume that the criminal classes, as a whole, havealJ the facul-
ties necessary to their self-support as an industrial community ; the one thing neces-
sary is to direct the exercise of those faculties into right channels.

To do this we must appeal to the mainspring of human actions— self-interest :
the prisoners must be placed amid surroundings in which they will recognize,
beyond all doubt, that labor is the indispensable condition of their continued exist-
ence ; the one means by which they can hope to gratify their needs and desires.

Their isolation is both indispensable to the protection of society and necessary
to their own reformation. As a body they constitute only a small minority of
society, and cannot be turned loose on it without realizing the possibility of prey-
ing on it as of old ; even if there were no dispos ition to do so, the liberated crimi-
nal generally finds the industrial ranks closed to him. But removed in a body to
a reservation, fairly rich in natural resourc es, with full permission to turn them
to the best account — a reservation from which there should be no hope of escape —
necessity wou Id drive them to industrial pursuits for an existence. There would
be no accumulated wealth to prey on.

To render the criminal industrious, it is necessary to set him free, face to face
with nature, under conditions which re nder it possible for him to gratify his needs
by honest labor and by no other means ; to render him law-abiding it is neces-
sary that he have a personal interest in the enforcement of the laws ; to lift him
up, and give him self-reepect, it will be necessary to give him a share in framiug the
laws.

Alaska is a possession admirably calculated for carrying out these suggestions:
escape from it would be difficult ; it has abundant natural resources, of which the
products of the fisheries and the mines could be immediately utilized with but small
capital, and I am of opinion that if our whole criminal population were drafted
there under a well- considered plan of colonization, the hope of a new life would
dawn upon them ; and that, allured by hope on one hand, and driven by necessity
on the other, the great majority would at once become industrial and range them-
selves on the side of law and order. But the scheme must be carried out liberally.
The colonists m ust be treated as free men as long as they do not break bounds-
free to marry, to acquire land, engage in commerce or productive industry, accu-
mulate property, hold office, and enjoy a liberal share of self-government.

Self interest would prompt the great majority to range themselves on the side

of law and order. The new society, becoming industrial and acquiring wealth,

would toon have its criminal classes. We must leave the colonists to deal with

them. The criminal laws of such a colony would be necessarily Draconian. The

colonists would be in no temper to handle crime with soft gloves.

214 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

But the great point would be gained. Our criminal population, debarred from
making \v ar on society, would as a body be driven to industrial pursuits, and to
the support of law and order as indispensable to their own well being — to their
existence, in fact.

la a less favored climate, but in a climate with abundant natural resources
and fitted to the development of a hardy and vigorous race, I see no reason to
doubt that the proposal I have pointed out, if carried into action, would result in
the rapid development of the natural resources of Alaska, and of a very con-
siderable commerce between it and the United States.

The benefit would be only temporary. As the descendants of the early colonists
rise in the industrial and social scale, they will protest against their country being
made a dumping-ground for convicts. But the problems of to-day are for our
solution ; our children must solve the problems of the future, as they arise.

In a certain sense themaasure here proposed maybe regarded as experimental.
It will not bo disputed that S3lf-interest-is the mainspring of human conduct, and I
think there is little reasonable ground to doubt that under the conditions I have
prescribed the majority would range themselves on the side of law and order at the
dictates of self interest. That the society would not be Utopian I am quite ready to
believe. The criminal class would, perhaps, be large in comparison with the
criminal classes of other States of the Union, and the general tone of the society
low, but the great end would be achieved, a large criminal population now prey-
ing on society would be rendered self supporting.

Oae condition not yet touched on is indispensable to success. There must be
some approach to equality of the sexes. The axiom that he who marries gives
hostages to fortune would hold good here as elsewhere.

To make Alaska a convict settlement of the Tasmanian type, as has been re-
cently proposed, would be a retrograde step. The costs of establishment and
maintenance of such a settlement or settlements would ba enormous ; and, if we
consider only the protection of society and the reformation of th3 criminal, the
plea for the adoption of the proposal must rest on the assumption that a few years
of slavery is a necessary preparation for free colonization.

This assumption is, of course, untenable. If the criminal classes are to be
rendered industrial and law-abiding, it is only by environing them with conditions
which render it evidently to their interest to be so. The proposal here outlined
commends itself as humane and economic, and, if I have rightly indicated the main-
spring of human action, it is no less scientific.

C. F. AMERY..

IV.

GENERAL POPE AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

IN the REVIEW for Jun?, General John Pope calls attention to the fact
that, at the close of our Civil War, which was calculated to bring to tLe
front the great, heroic, predominating spirits of the time, the President
and Vice- President, Chief Justice, all the cabinet officers, the Speaker of the
House, the first and second generals of the victorious Union Army, and the
Admiral of the Navy, — in short every prominent Government official, civil and
military, were Western men ; and the further fact that during the same period
New England produced neither a great general nor a statesman of commanding
influence. These facts are remarkable, but the conclusion drawn therefrom by
General Pope is still more so. He suggests " with much diffidence," that the pub-
lic school system may be looked to for a clue to "so strange a fact." The
clue is, that uniformity in methods and fameness of books have a tendency to

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 215

educate up, and down to, a dead level mediocrity, and to suppress individuality
and the effort and success that characterize and accompany it.

But does not General Pope overlook one of the plainest and most oft-repeated
lessons of history ? In the time of tha Revolutionary War New England produced
her full quota of great soldiers and able statesmen. That portion of our country
was then in a condition favorable to the development of hardy, adventurous spirits,
who naturally take positions of leadership in troublous times. The hunter
and pioneer is a soldier ready-made, who only needs to hear the toc-
sin of war, to turn from the defense of his cabin against wild ani-
mals and wilder savages, to the defense of his country against an armed foe.
At the beginning of the present century New England entered upon another stage
of development and progress,— the era of letters, arts, and culture. Since then it
has been her province to produce scholars, poets, artists, and literati. "When asked
for her soldiers and statesmen, she can point to her Longfellows, Emersons,
Lowells, Holmeses, and Steadmans, and say, " these are my heroes, my soldiers of
peace, my statesmen of light." At the time of our Civil War the West was the
frontier, the new home of the pioneer, — the hunter-soldier. Life there held out
inducements to the adventurous sons of the East, and fed the spirit of enterprise
and daring they carried thither. There every condition was favorable to the
production of soldiers, and they were produced, which, according to the evolu-
tionists, i« a way nature has of doing things.

Do you hear the sound of a great tidal wave that is sweeping up from the
South and lapping the classic shores of Massachusetts Bay ? It is the revival of
Southern literature. The South stands now where the East did when Bryant
wrote his " Thauatopsis ; " when Longfellow was writing poems at one dollar
apiece ; when the " Autocrat" first took his seat at that " Breakfast Table," the
crumbs from which young Texans feast upon to this day.

Is it necessary to speak, through the pages of THE NORTH AMERICAN
REVIEW, in behalf of public free schools — the schools of the people? Back a
quarter of a century I see a lad, scarce ten years of age, not on his way to school,
but following the plow. I look into his soul and see that it is starving. With a
universe of mystery round him, ages of legendary lore behind him, and the
Pierien springs in front, and yet he cannot slake his undying thirst because
he is chained, Tantalus-like, to the rock of Ignorance, guarded by the dragon
Poverty. In memory of that boy, in behalf of every son and daughter of toil
and poverty in this broad land, I appeal to the wealth and culture, to the
patriotism and statesmanship of America for public free schools, with compulsory
attendance for at least four months in the year.

W. T. S. KELLER.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

TRANSLATIONS* from the French have given place to paraphrases from the
Russian, the Flemish, and even the Icelandic. We are promised a posthumous
work from the Flemish of Hendrik Conscience, the novels of Tolstoi, Dostoyevsky,
and Gogol are first among the literary fashions, and now we have the Icelandic
idyl, " Sigrid." "Sigrid"is a simple, pastoral story, having the directness of
truth, without, however, the color and imaginative glow which makes Boyesen's
"Gunnar" a poem in prose. " Sigrid " is an Icelandic maiden, who remains true
to her lover in spite of the wiles of those who would separate them. The farm
life of the Icelanders, their economies, their almost brutal way of looking at the
material side of existence, their isolated world, — which is like the great world seen
through a microscope, — and the easy code of morality which obtains among the
laborers and farm-servants, are described by Jan Thordsson Thoroddson without
one superfluous word. Turning from Thoroddson to Gogol, the Russian novelist,
whose " Taras Bulba" and " Dead Souls" are issued by the same publisher, we are
struck by the similar characteristics in both, and in the crude and uncomplex natures
they have to deal with. In essentials, the pastoral Icelander is very like the nomadic
Cossack or the Russian of agricultural places. The latter is more fierce, more terri-
ble, and more capable of fiery passion. But in " Taras Bulba," as in " Sigrid," the
same view of women and matrimony obtains among the men who are incapable of or
are untouched by love. In " Taras Bulba" the wife and mother is a mere chattel,
powerless to make or mar her sous. In " Sigrid," Bard, the old farmer, tells his
son, " Gudmuud," that he will have to find "a bit of a woman" for him. " I
have found out, Gudmund," he says, " since my wife died that wives are better
than housekeepers ; and it is very true that, in spite of the fact that my late wife
was lavish, she never attempted to have the last word about everything as this
devilish housekeeper does." Gudmund declares that there is nobody in the neigh-
borhood whom he would like to marry, " because there is no one who owns any-
thing." The state of society in Reykjavig, where the wholesale merchants ranked
as aristocrats and servants attended balls given by the " best" people in the city,
is delightfully depicted. " Crime and Punishment " may be fitly called a novel of
horrors by that master of the horrible, Dostoyevsky. It is the recital of the effects
of a murder on the mind of a man who commits it when in poverty and despair. He
is a student, whose mother and sister are almost as poor as himself, but who
help him out of their pittance. He kills an old woman for the sake of her
savings, which turn, as it were, to dust in his hand. His gradual sink-
down through various stages of remorse and delirium to despair is photographed
in every phase by the most realistic of the Russian realistic school of novelists.

* •' Sigrid; an Icelandic Love Story." By Jan Thordsson Thoroddson. 4l Taras Bulb i."
By Nicholas V. Gogol. " Crime and Punishment." By Dostoyevsky. " The Death of
Ivan Ilyitch. By Count Tolstoi. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE. 217

Sonia, the heroine, has sold her honor and become a woman of the town, — " taken
the yellow ticket," as the urban Russian expresses it, — in order to help her step-
mother and her children to live. She becomes the guardian angel of the mur-
derer, though, while expressing the purest sentiments, she continues to follow her
avocation as industriously as possible. With Sonia's drunken father, her erratic
and consumptive stepmother, and any number of wretched and uncanny Rus-
sia as, whose misery is without love or hope, Dostoyevsky manages to show
powers of realism as effective as Zola's, but without Zola's grossness. The book is
not a cheerful one, notwithstanding the promise of the author that the murderer
and Sonia are to be shown, lovingly hand and hand, helping each other to better
things in another novel. Another depressing but forceful novel is " The Death of
Ivan Ilyitch," by Count Tolstoi. It is the latest work of that celebrated religious
enthusiast, and in it he has carried the grotesque to its uttermost point. As usual,
it it pessimistic ; but it has some of the pleasant touches that make his little story,
" Katia, " so charming and true to life. Nevertheless, it is a danse macabre, headed
by a skeleton. Tolstoi's personality actually possesses Ivan Ilyitch and dissects
the qualities of that awful fear of death which comes to each man, at one time or
another, forcing on him a sense of his helplessness. Ilyitch cannot see, feel, or
hear what the terrible It is. Ic is death ; he knows that ; he is in its grasp ; the
whole world united cannot save him, and slowly but surely the relentless and
unseen force loosens his hands from the hold they have o n earth. The keenness
and pitilessness of psychological analysis makes one shiver as if one had been
present at a delicate bit of dissection done by a skillful surgeon. The dance of
death begins in Ivan's household almost before his eyes, full of questions and
remorseful fears, are closed. " Ivan Ilyitch " is the first novel Tolstoi has written
in ten years. It was supposed that the peculiar ethics he had adopted were
opposed to his further continuance in the art of novel- writing. The appearance
of " The Death of Ivan Ilyitcb " puts aside this supposition, and also the other,
that his philosophical and theological meditations — culminating in the famous
" My Religion "—had destroyed his interest in human life as a subject for artistic
study. American readers may wonder why Russian novelists seem to bend all
their energies towards increasing the gloomy tendency of the Russian nation
under its present gloomy conditions. " Ivan Ilyitch " will increase that wonder.

Notwithstanding Dumas' recent philippic against Victor Hugo at the reception
of M. Leconte de Lisle at the French Academy, the interest in the personality of this
great but egotistical giant of French literature continues to increase in all civilized
countries. We all admit, with Dumas, that the ego in Hugo was supreme; he was
capable of writing, with Napoleon, " I am who I am," and there was much that
was meretricious in his nature and productions; but this rubbish has been, since
his death, burned out in the red fire with which the Parisians have enthusiastically
honored his maaes. What is good in Husp lives and will live. In* "Things
Seen" we have some rapid sketches, date-i from 1838 to 1875, beginning with a
wonderful portrait of Talleyrand and ending with Thiers and Rochefort. It
would be strange, indeed, if the personality of a writer who came to earth with
that strange miracle, the French Revolution, could ever lose its fascination.
These sketches have the power of simplicity. Hugo attempts in them none of
those vast and Dor^-like effects which in his more important works became eventu-
ally a blemish . He draws Talleyrand in a few lines, —"He was of noble descent,
like Maohiavil, a priest like Gondi, unfrocked like Fouch<5, witty like Voltaire, and

* Things Seen. By Victor Hugo. Harper & Bros.

218 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

lame like the devil. It might be averred that everything in him was lame like him-
self. The nobility which he had placed at the service of the Republic, the priesthood
which he had dragged through the parade ground, then cast into the gutter, the
marriage which he bad broken off through a score of exposures and a voluntary
separation — he received the confession of Mirabeau and the first confidence of
Thieis." In the Rue Saint Florentin, Hugo says, there are a palace and a sewer.
Talleyrand lived in the palace, where he wove his webs that took in all Europe,
but he never looked at the sewer. After his death, the doctors who made the
autopsy left his brain on a table, and a servant, wondering what was to be done
with it, remembered there was a sewer in the street ; he went and threw the brain
into the sewer. Finis rerum I The f&te given by the Duo de Montpensier is de-
scribed with the strength of Foe's " Red Death." It is in this sketch, as in several
others, that one feals how plastic Hugo's political principles were. He was Or-
leanist at this tune, July 6, 1847, and there is no trace of the Republican of later
days in him. Commenting on the indignation excited among the poorer Parisians
by this luxurious ball, which gave employment to so many of them, he ex-
claims, with an insight as true as that which taught the Roman emperors that
their subjects wanted games more than bread, — "No ; they, too, want not the
work, not the wages, but leisure, enjoyment, carriages, horses, lackeys, duchssses 1
It is :iot bread tliey require, but luxury." Tiicre are some very grim touches in
the '* Funeral of Napoleon ;" tne note, for instance, concerning the ceremonial,
while the remains of the emperor lay in state, " the lighting of the chapel costs the
state three hundred and fifty francs a day. M. Duchatel, Minister of the Interior
(who, it may be stated, by the way, is said to be a son of the emperor), groans
aloud at this expense 1 "

Mr. Butler, who as tutor to the sons of the present Khedive, seems to have
been well qualified for his tasks, has made a very readable book ;* from it one gets
two impressions in regard to the author, — the first that he carries his "tub " with
himand demands respect for it from the untubbed foreigner, the other that he has a
firm belief in his own virtues and a high respect for them. He tells us little of real
importance, but what he tells is well told. He hints at the immorality of the
women of the harem and describes it fully in Latin notes. He gives the Egyptian
barerns a character worse than bagnios. And w hen he feels that he is verging ou
a revelation too piquant for the English language to express, he drops into silence
abruptly and leaves the imagination to finish it. The Khedive, he says, is exces-
sively good. He hates polygamy ; he hates slavery ; he " never even looks " at
one of the large train of pretty slave girls who surround his wife, the princess. Mr.
Butler hints that the Khedive told him some singular things concerning the prac-
tices of the harem ; but, as an instructor of youth and a friend of the virtuous
Khedive, — who, however, does not hesitate to accuse his father, the ex Khedive,
of shocking crimes, — he refuses to reveal them. Until Mr. Butler went to Egypt, a
horse mounted by the sheik of the dervishes, was, on the birthday of the
prophet, led over the bodies of prostrate dervishes, who were maimed or
killed by the animal's crushing hoofs. The Khedive kept in his tent during
this horrible operation, but Mr. Butler described it to him, and, after
several years of pleading and argument, succeeded in inducing him to stop
it. The Khedive is fond of modern progress and would willingly extend the bless-
ings of English civilization, though he is a stanch Mohammedan, throughout his do-
minions, were it possible. The character of the courtiers of the reigning Khedive is

* " The Court of the Khedive." By A. J. Butler. Charles Scribner's Sons.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE. 219

shown in a rather favorable light. They like polite and talkative people; they are
easily pleased, densely ignorant, but anxious for knowledge provided it amuses
them. The Egyptians of the upper classes despise women,— which is not surprising
since young children are systematically corrupted in the harems, — they are sensual,
perpetual bribe-takers, and incurably indolent. The Khedive appears to be the
one Egyptian whom Mr. Butler regarded with respect. General Gordon was
looked on by the Egyptians as a crank, and, although Mr. Butler would probably
resent the assertion, the English, with their " fads " about the suppression of the
slave-trade and the improvement of Egypt, are regarded in the same way. Mr.
Butler says that the Khedive is sincere in his opposition to slavery; this is probable
if Mr. Butler's estimate of his character is correct. But he seems to be the only
Egyptian whose idea of suppressing the slave-trade is not to call it by some other
name pleasanter to English ears.

The motive of Mr. Henry Bernard Carpenter's poem* is love. Brother Aurelius
is a monk who, in his serene cloister, tells a story full of poetic feeling, high aspi-
ration, and passion purified by religion and suffering. Brother Aurelius was
perhaps of that Port Royale order, which affiliated Madame G-uyon and almost
secured Fenelon. He cries, in an exquisitely poetic death scene, —

" The hour is coming— hear ye not her feet
Falling in sweet sphere-thunder down the stairs
Of Love's warm sky ?— when this our holy church
Shall melt away in ever widening walls,
And be for all mankind, and its place
A mightier church shall come, whose covenant word
Shall be the deeds of love. Not Credo then —
Amo shall be the password through its gates.
Man shall not ask his brcther any more
'Believest thou ?' but ' Lovest thou ?' till all
Shall answer at God's altar, 'Lord, I love.'
For Hope may anchor, Faith may ^teer, but Love,
Great Love alone is captain of the soul."

Mr. Carpenter has a rare facility in the use of dactyls ; but the songs interspersed
through his graceful, lucid, and adaptable blank verse lack the highest lyric qual-
ities of ease and suggestiveness. They express thoughts carefully, but never
moods exquisitely. The " Liber Amoris " is a poem which may fairly be consid-
ered a hostage given by the author to the world for the performance of even
greater things.

The visit of the Queen of the Hawaiian Islands to this country affords an
opportunity for the publishers of this interesting bookt to bring it again before the
public. It was written in 1885, by C. M. Newell, an evident persona grata at
the Hawaiian Court, and dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Kapiolani. Mr.
Newell's romance is valuable less in its assumed character than as a key to the
condition of the Hawaiian people. The Hawaiian manners and customs, with the
exception of the outward observances of the tabu, which fell, of course, with
the power of the priests, have not changed so very much since the time of

*"Liber Amoris." Being the Book of Love of Brother Aurelius. By Henry Bernard
Carpenter. Boston: Ticknor& Co.

t " Kamfihanalha, the Conquering King." A Romance of Hawaii. C. M. Newell.
G. P. Putnam's Sons.

220 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Kame*hamflia, the savage, with some touches of greatness, of whom Mr.
Newell makes a hero. Pele, the terrible goddess of the volcano, no longer gets the
sacrifice of a human being ; her goddesship is obliged to be contented with a roast
pig. But we are told that all of the royal family, which is generally supposed to
be entirely Christianized, are not above sacrificing publicly to PeZe, whose fire and
thunder reverberates from the volcano whenever a sacrifice is needed. Mr. Newell
graphically disposes of the theory, still held by a few, that the famous Captain
Cook was a martyr to Hawaiian treachery. He was, according to our author, a
truculent and brutal person, who foolishly persisted in outraging the natives long
after the patience of a less patient people would have been exhausted. Mr. Newell
has a gift of picturesque writing, and his sympathy seems, whenever possible, to
be with the Hawaiians, so much so that the goddess Pele takes the position of a ver-
itable power. At times the Hawaiian Christian, reading this book, may, judging
from Mr. Newell's fervor, almost fancy that he has become a convert to belief in
" the goddess of the fiery mountain."

It was predicted that the author of " Mr. Isaacs," of " Dr. Claudius," of " A
Roman Singer," of "An American Politician," was at once too prolific and too
versatile. Nevertheless, he has continued to be prolific and versatile ; and, after
reading his last novel, there are few who will prefix the " too " to those adjectives.
"Saracinesca*" is fresh, virile, and well-sustained. It has not only what the
constant reader of novels demands, a new "flavor," but it has the ripe flavor
of matured thought and the style of an experienced ariist. Saracinesca is
a Roman Prince, the son of an older Roman Prince. Two of the most subtle
studies in the novel are characters of this old man and another, the old nobleman
with whom Corona, the altogether womanly and noble heroine of " Saracinesca,"
has made a marriage of reason. She loves the younger Saracinesca ; he
returns her love. He speaks finally, and then there follows one of the finest reve-
lations of tenderness, honor, and dignity made in a modern novel. Corona remains
faithful to her husband in will and act, though her thoughts have wandered. The
death of her husband, after a fit of jealous rage, and because of the reaction pro-
duced by the certitude that she has been true to him, is a scene of dramatic force
of so high an order that one can best appreciate it by understanding the artistic
reticence of the writer of it.

" Sar aclnesca, " by F. Marion Crawford. McMillan & Co .

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,

No. CCCLXX.

SEPTEMBEE, 1887.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS.

THE most important elective office in the world to-day is the Presidency of the
United States. Judged by the character and ability of the men who have thus
far filled the Presidential chair, American democracy has no reason to dread com-
parison with other and older systems of government. If there have been in our his-
tory some conspicuous failures to elect good representatives of American statesman-
ship to the highest place in the gift of the people, those failures have been so few and
far between that they must be regarded as the exceptions which prove the rule. Yet
it cannot be denied that there is a rapidly growing: spirit which teaches that, in
the matter of Presidents, we are to look out for the impossible, and prepare to
content ourselves with makeshift mediocrity.

This spirit has grown from the belief that, amid the din and strife of party
struggle, scandal is too busy with the names of those who have served the state long
and conspicuously to admit of their facing the light that beats so fiercely and falsely
upon a Presidential candidate. It is true that, at such moments of popular emo-
tion, we look less curiously into the mylhology of scandal, and accept more
willingly the tales of good or evil that float from mouth to mouth. And the more
conspicuous the subject the more marked is the tendency to idolize or to depreciate.
We know that Washington himself was not exempt from the fulsome adulation
and the slanderous vituperation that follow in the wake of glory.

But in times of calm we may look for calmer judgments. We may even look
for mercy in its more tempered state. It has seemed, therefore, a good time, at
this distance from the date of Presidential nominations, to offer the readers of
the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW a series of articles on possible Presidential can-
didates of the great parties. Each of these articles will be written by a friendly
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 370. 15

222 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

hand, and each of them will endeavor to set forth the respective merits, or claims,
or fitness, of some conspicuous public maD, whose talents, services, or popularity,
have seemed to designate him as a possible President.

Certainly it is not within our purpose, in the present series, to test anything
but the power of friendly pens in attempting calmly and fairly to present the
claims of men of mark to the Chief Magistracy. For the slanders and disparage-
ments of a Presidential campaign will do enough to offset any partial prejudice
of the present writers. Standing then, as it were, at the very bar of judgment,
the Presidential candidate has little to hope from his enemies.

As some one has wittily remarked, " There is one thing to be said in favor of
running for the Presidency : the citizen who survives the ordeal has nothing to
fear from the day of judgment ; for he knows that all his sins and shortcomings
have been published in this world."

ALLEN THORNDIKE RICE.

JAMES G. BLAIKE.

IT has been well said that ideals have more influence upon the
world than ideas. It might be better said that ideas chiefly influ-
ence the world through ideals. Whether the question be religion
or patriotism, the infinite possibilities of material resource or of
individual freedom, it is, so to speak, held in solution in the
human mind, inert and ineffective, till some leader arises who
flashes upon it the light of his personality, — and forthwith the
vague idea shapes itself, an army is organized and mobilized, and
the world makes a visible and permanent upward movement.

The Kepublican party is rich in men who would serve it well
in the Presidency, but Mr. Elaine is the leading Presidential can-
didate of the Republican party, and the only popular Presidential
candidate of any party. In his personality centres an interest for
which many reasons have been given by friend and foe, while there
remains ever something that eludes explanation. It is an interest
which strengthens alike under incessant activity and under pro-
found silence ; in the full sunlight of publicity no more than in
the seclusion of strictest privacy. Wherever Mr. Blaine moves
the eyes of his countrymen follow. But a few days ago, in a care-
fully cherished autograph book, we were shown a carelessly pen-
cilled note from Mr. Garfield long antedating his Presidency, with
an explanation that during a session of the Electoral Commission
before the Supreme Court, Mr. Blaine had entered the crowded
court room. Every square inch seemed pre-empted, but a seat
was instantly proffered him. Whereupon a Senator pencilled to
Mr. Garfield the simple yet significant question : " Do you sup-

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 223

pose there is any assembly in America that Elaine could enter,
however crowded it was, that somebody wouldn't instantly find a
chair for him ? " — a note which Mr. Garfield laughingly indorsed
and passed on to the next man.

It is significant because of what it signifies. It marks
the attention, not merely admiring, but affectionate, which Mr.
Elaine's presence invariably attracts, and which, indeed, is far
from being limited to his presence. So powerful is his personality,
that thousands who have never seen him have yet come under its
spell. When he rises to speak in the Senate, the other chamber
and the corridors are emptied. If he goes as a private citizen to
help in a Pennsylvania election, his compatriots turn it into a
triumphal progress. He stands before an Ecclesiastical Club in
the city of his bitterest foes, and his few hearty, practical, merry,
and serious words bring out the clerical huzzas and handkerchiefs
in as wild a snow-storm as if it were a nominating convention.
He is summoned by a legislative committee to testify on a ques-
tion of plumbing, and forthwith a stream of life rushes through
the pipes of every newspaper on the ground. He consents to
speak a word for unhappy Ireland to a local assembly in a provin-
cial city, and instantly the electric wires are stretched into the
British Parliament, and the Tories of England rage over their
morning tea and toast as vigorously as if it were a deliverance
from the Opposition Benches.

He changes skies, but his observers do not change mind. On
the contrary a syndicate seems to have taken out a contract to
supply America with Elaine items at whatever cost to truth and
type. The brain reels but follows. Mr. Elaine has gone on a cosmo-
politan mission, embracing the pontificate, the German Empire,
the Irish autonomy, at the. same moment that he is shut up in
the Caves of Fingal pulling the wires of the Ohio State Conven-
tion. He is betraying the Irish cause under the fascinations of
Tory drawing-rooms, while in the same pyrotechnic paragraph the
Tories are sternly rebuking the American Minister for visiting
Mr. Elaine's political sins with the punishment of social ostracism.
We have hardly had time to force the bidden tear over his inter-
nal, unnamed, and mysterious, but complicated and fateful, dis-
orders, before he is whirled from his sick bed and set to steering
an endangered boat out of the jaws of death under the Bridge of
Earn. Whatever feats of biography the future may have in store

224 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

for us, one fact is demonstrated : the reporters have a perfect and
touching confidence in the interest with which the people regard
Mr. Elaine. Nothing can be more naive or engaging than their
child-like trust that his name on their wares makes their wares a
marketable commodity, however, grotesque and out of drawing
those wares may be. And there is always the stimulus of know-
ing that it is a fund which can never be overdrawn ; since, as soon
as the event disproves the prophecy or upsets the comment, it is
only to rush into black letter head-lines that " Mr. Elaine Changes
His Mind."

In the economy of the world this interesting and powerful
personality would be ill-placed, would perhaps be impossible if it
were not allied with large ability. Mr. Elaine is by every endow-
ment of his nature a statesman. His mind moves naturally,
freely, with buoyancy and exultation, on broad national and
international lines. He divines a danger or a promise to the country
by that swift process of reasoning which is called intuition.
To minds of more limited scope and slower motion his course
seems erratic, " dramatic, " inexplicable, or explicable only on
some petty ground. Whereas his course is invariably along a
steady, self-impelling principle. His action, therefore, is con-
sistent and becomes presently and openly justified. Using
language with singular and scholarly accuracy, he is greatly
liable to be misunderstood and misconstrued by men who read
and render language with the ordinary careless inaccuracy ; as
when, before its appearance, "Twenty Years of Congress," a
philosophical political history, was widely pre-outlined in the press
as " Twenty Years in Congress," a volume of personal reminis-
cence ; as when the proffered choice " between the civilization of
Christ and the civilization of Confucius " was sharply arraigned
and condemned as a choice "between the religion of Christ and
the religion of Confucius ;" or as when the entirely practicable
demand that the Chinese should not be allowed unrestrictedly to
come, was translated into the vulgar and impracticable demand
that " the Chinese must go."

Mr. Elaine's course regarding the Chinese question furnishes
a good illustration of his superior political insight. When it
first became a subject of Congressional debate California was
chiefly interested. Not only the whole Atlantic Coast, but the
whole interior, was practically indifferent to the question of

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 225

Chinese or any other immigration. With California it was a
matter of primary and pressing moment. California uttered
a cry of distress. Mr. Elaine, it may almost be said alone,
grasped the situation, used the opportunity, met the question
with appreciative intelligence, with instant action. The effect
was as when hot iron is suddenly immersed in cold water.
The sizzling hissed over the continent. The sentiment and
tradition of the country were up in arms. So far as the question
had been considered at all it had been considered in its senti-
mental aspect. America was the asylum of the world and the asy-
lum of the world it must remain. The fathers had made America
the refuge of the oppressed and the refuge of the oppressed it must
continue. Religion and politics, for that time at least, laid down
their warfare and joined in the stern iteration that God had made
of one blood all nations of men ; and both alike forgot to finish
the quotation and iterate that the same Supreme Power had
determined the bounds of their habitation. Mr. Elaine became,
therefore, for a while, the object of extreme and almost violent
objurgation. He was pandering to the hoodlums and the Sandlots
for votes, — though it should have been palpable to the most
superficial observer that for one vote gained on the Pacific
Coast he must be losing twenty votes in the East. He was
dishonoring the fathers and disgracing our country before the
world by making her false to the genius of her institutions, though
a very little accurate history shows that the fathers troubled
themselves not at all about the genius of their institutions and
made short work of turning back the Chinese of their day, or
even of turning out the few who squeezed in through the lines.
Public men, even of his own party, were against him. Many
antagonized his position openly. Many more were disapprovingly
silent. Probably no political opposition was ever more universal,
more natural, more hearty and conscientious.

Much of the hostility which Mr. Elaine has encountered has
been purely positional, artificial, fabricated under the necessity
of preventing him from obtaining office. But this was sincere
and spontaneous. Without regard to party or place the country
honestly believed that his attitude was anti-Republican, anti-
Democratic, anti-American, anti-Christian, — a reversal of the
policy of the fathers, a surrender of the principles upon which
our Government was established, a betrayal of the law of Christ.

226 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The world has rolled on, and by the logic of events Mr.
Elaine has been more than justified. The question of immigra-
tion, of which the Chinese question is but a single phase, has
come to the front as a question of immediate concern to the
welfare, to the very existence of the nation. As I write these
words, the newspapers, even those which were most strenuous
against Mr. Elaine's "un-American policy/' are resounding
with protests against unrestricted immigration ; against per-
mitting our shores to be submerged by the tide of foreign
ignorance, incapacity, and immorality; against suffocating the
republic with an alien element impossible of assimilation.

Nay, since these last words were written, I find religious author-
ity suggesting that " it would be a good thing to prevent all im-
migration to the United States from every country under the sun
for the next twenty-five years, till we can have time to assimilate
the something more than eight millions of foreigners which we
now have," and " rejoicing that many people are waking up
to the enormous strain upon a government like ours in attempting
to blend and weld such a mass into constituent parts of a free and
orderly republic," and that " no considerations of sentiment or
tradition should keep us from searching out and applying a rem-
edy for this very serious and menacing evil." The " one blood "
and the " asylum " theory have, under stress, been set aside in
favor of self-preservation ; and the objection to anti-Chinese leg-
islation is that it is not broad enough — is an unfair discrimination
against one race which is to be remedied by legislating against all !

But to see the situation clearly beforehand, and to take timely
action, is what constitutes the difference between the statesman
and the "mob of gentlemen who write with ease."

No credit is due to Mr. Elaine for discerning the danger years
before it became visible to the naked eye of the populace. He could
not help it. He was endowed with the statesman's vision. No
credit is due him for maintaining his position against the entreaties
of friends and the attack of foes. He could not help it. The neces-
sity made itself so felt that there was nothing else to do. Conse-
quently there was no heroism in doing it ; for just as clearly as
he saw the darkening cloud, just so clearly he saw that his
country must presently discern it also, and would ultimately
second the efforts which were now resisted.

Mr. Elaine is the most prominent Presidential candidate of the

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 227

people, because a great mass of sensitive, acute, proud, and
patriotic Americans believe that when a man sees more quickly
and clearly than others the dangers to which the nation is exposed,
and shows himself prompt, fertile, and fearless in resources against
them, the interests of the country require that this man should
be put in command. There are . many thousands of personally
unambitious, straight-forward, and clear-sighted men, who would
like once more to try the experiment, not unknown among us,
of putting a statesman at the head of the State.

But the statesman is not only quick to discern and avoid
dangers, he is quick to discern and improve advantages.

Garfield's short administration was shorter even than the
calendar shows. During its two closing months, a whole people
dwelt hushed and stricken, in the valley of the Shadow of Death.
The utmost actual work of the Administration was confined
within four months, yet during that short period two statesmen,
men of ideas, moved by one lofty patriotism, sent new life coursing
through the nation's veins. Previous to this time it might
almost be said that we had no foreign relations. After the young
republic had cut loose from the mother country and shown her
independence in certain apparently inevitable wars she seemed
to think her place in the world permanently assured if not
assigned, and gave herself strictly to minding her own business.
Reared in the principle of Washington to friendship with all,
entangling alliances with none, confident in the power of her iso-
lation behind her barriers of the sea, strong in the infinite
resources of her continental domain, the Republic was content
to work on with a giant's force of muscle and brain, paying but
little heed to the rest of the world.

It was like Hawthorne's rowing and forging ahead, with never
a protest that the second oarsman was all the while rowing against
him. America was getting over the course with unexampled
rapidity, but with a wholly unnecessary tug and sweat, and slow-
ness even, because the crack oarsman of the world was in the
same boat, and steadfastly pulling the other way. In their one
swift moment of place and power, President Garfield and Mr.
Elaine changed all this. They recognized that a time may come
when one will best mind his own business by paying a little at-
tention to the business of other people. While an infant nation may
well use its isolation for the development of its own practically

228 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

inexhaustible internal resources, and while prosperity, on such a
basis, may become not only stable but phenomenal, they recog-
nized also that steam and electricity have changed the conditions
of the world, have annihilated time and space ; that almost
without knowing it we had perforce entered into foreign rela-
tions. We had become a part, and an intimate and practi-
cal part, of the brotherhood of nations. We had become
a standing, if silent, menace to the outworn, a living encourage-
ment to the new spirit. Old nations, less confident than we in
their inward vitality, more eager than we to strengthen them-
selves at every assailable point, because we did not feel ourselves
assailable, were securing every vantage ground, while we main-
tained an indifference seemingly altogether stolid, yet, perhaps, a
little sublime. Certainly, ii it was not a noble it was a not
wholly ignoble indifference, begotten as it was of a too tranquil
faith in our institutions. President Garfield sent Mr. Elaine to
the fore, and it ceased to be indifference at all. Our foreign
relations, before invisible, came out under his warm breath in
legible not only, but in glowing characters. Men saw that the
great republic had reached the hour when she should be no
longer supinely content in her prosperity, but should lead
the continent forward. Though she loitered, they found
that the world would not wait. Trade and commerce were
struggling for greater scope. If America refused to take her
true place, she would lose it, for the vigilant nations were
ready, were even then on the noiseless advance. The great Re-
public stirred. Not a single member of the sisterhood of re-
publics, however weak, or far, or torn with internal dissensions,
but felt the thrill of this new contact. England, strong, alert,
clever, eternally aggressive, with long experience, and with-
out a rival, felt herself unceremoniously jostled at the gates
where she had been wont to enter supreme. In tropical seas,
on the Pacific coast, wherever she had been steadily, not to
say stealthily, penetrating, suddenly the bells struck, the ban-
ners flew, the gates slammed, and, in diplomatic but determined
language, that enterprising and persistent island sovereignty
was " given notice/' It was but for a moment. Death came and
the status quo was restored. But the silence will never again be
quite the same. The patriotic chord had been struck. The sense of
nationality had been aroused. Pride of country, the consciousness

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 229

of power had awakened. It had been perceived that the republic
owes a duty to her own citizens commensurate with her resources ;
that it is not enough to be doing well ; noblesse oblige ; the occasion
demands that we do our best ; it is shameful for a great nation to
fall below the opportunity and abandon to other nations the
place, the advantages, the trade and commerce, the influence and
the prestige that of right belong to her. All this, lying
undefined in the heart of American manhood, especially of young
American manhood, was stimulated into efficient activity, took
form and direction under a guiding hand, and will never be
forgotten. Mr. Elaine is the leading Presidential candidate of
the country because he recognized her honorable ambition,
sought to open new channels for her restless energies, and
showed in his short sole term of office that American citizenship
would not degenerate in his hands, but would advance to greater
opportunity at home and greater honor before the world.

To enumerate the points on which he has thrown light, the
questions which he has seized and held up before his countrymen,
showed in their various phases and has set in their true position,
would be to write his biography. Wherever there has been a policy to
be defined, a pledge to be redeemed, a liberty to be secured, a debt to
be paid, a right to be defended, a wrong to be prevented, a danger
to be avoided or defied, there his voice has given unmistakable
utterance. He has never evaded a real issue ; he has never been
forced into a false issue. ISTo pressure of political necessity has ever
imposed upon his allegiance or his advocacy a platitude for a
principle, an administrative detail for a national policy, a disputed
experiment for a universal solvent, speech for silence, or silence
for speech.

He is a man of genius in the sphere of state-craft. In that
sphere his resources seem to be inexhaustible. It has been fool-
ishly said that the politician thinks of the next election, — the
statesman of the next age. The man who confines himself to the
next age may be a dreamer, a philosopher, a scientist, a useful
man in his way, but he is not a statesman. The statesman is just
as mindful of the next election as the man who thinks of nothing
but the next election. The statesman uses the next election for
the furtherance of the next age and of this as well. The states-
man comprehends all things in the sweep of his vision and his
action. He sees the eternal principles, he follows the eternal

230 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

order, and he strives to bring the popular mind into harmony
with that order, into conformity with those principles.

It is not strange that a thousand devices should be sought to
explain away Mr. Elaine's unrivaled influence with the people.
The influence is not denied, nor the fact that such influence is
power. What he touches answers. Another essays a similar
touch and there is no response. Since this is undeniable there only
remains to opposition the task of neutralizing its effects. Honorable
and intelligent partisan opposition attempts this by argument and
eloquence, honorable rivalry by greater services, unprincipled
incapacity by unprincipled vituperation. But the resource of
unprincipled incapacity has ever been to maintain that devils
are cast out through Beelzebub the prince of the devils. He
against whom the charge was originally made refuted it with
prompt and vigorous reasoning, but it is not recorded that
his accusers ever withdrew the charge or acknowledged its re-
futation. Logic is against the theory and history is against it,
but stern necessity compels it, and against an argument of the
will an argument of the reason has no power. Criticism is
always on the level of the critic. It may hit or miss its object,
but it is* ever true to its source. His revilers did not succeed in
persuading the world to accept their characterization of the
Christ, but the world has accepted their own self -revelation with
entire unanimity.

It is not unnatural that men who are incapable of broad views
should misunderstand the broad view. Every great man is fol-
lowed by interpreters, who must write him small, because they
are small ; it is not their will, but their doom. Their real contri-
bution to his greatness is that they follow him.

There are other men who are large in their own province, but
not quite wise enough to keep within it. When Mr. Tyndall
considers heat as a mode of motion he' secures our consideration
also, but when he pronounces Mr. Gladstone "a desperate game-
ster" we simply regret that the shoemaker has gone beyond his
last. We do not change our opinion of Mr. Gladstone.

The storms of political calumny sweep almost as low in this
country as they do in England, and as little affect the atmosphere
which a man creates around himself. In Mr. Elaine's vicinage
the air has never grown murky. All the outpour has been but
the pelting of a theatre-thunder-shower on a natural ledge of rock.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 231

In spite of intense political antagonism he has steadily increased
in political stature, because character, ability, education, and
achievement have combined to endow him with marvelous
political vitality. Privacy has not developed the 'smallest ten-
dency to relegate him to obs3urity, because his influence flows
from himself and not from his position. His bow abides in
strength because it is of hard wood, without a flaw, well seasoned,
and well strung. He touches the heart because his own heart is
touched. He commands because he understands. What seems
dramatic is dramatic, for it is direct nature, and nature is
always dramatic. We are stiff and ineffective because we dare
not or cannot be natural. Men call him magnetic simply because
they do not know what else to call it. He has not the inex-
haustible flow of rhetoric, or of wit, or of drollery, which
characterizes one and another of our orators, but he has a never-
failing fund of brilliant common sense and of quick human sym-
pathy. He has the rare power of seeing and of setting forth a
subject in its real relations. His logic is so luminous that
it often has the effect of wit. His sympathy is so ready and
so efficient that to minds of a different calibre it seems to be
a demoniac ingenuity, — whereas it is not ingenuity at all, but
spontaneity. Long and labored explanations of him come to grief,
because by the time a fine-spun theory is well woven around
him he is liable to rise and walk out of it, quite unconscious of
the broken threads. That his personality can never be ignored
is partly because he himself is so unaware. He is the more in-
teresting to others in that he completely forgets himself. He
is absorbed in the theme under discussion or under thought.
He will sit in his chair in Congress, the cynosure of all eyes,
unconscious of any gaze, head well sunk in his shoulders, every
feature heavily drooping in a face from which the soul seems
absolutely to have gone out — or gone in. I have seen him riding
through the streets of Washington, the bridle-rein hanging loose
in his hand, gazing groups on each side of the street, his blank
unseeing eyes fixed on the sunset sky which illumined his face as
round and fine and about as expressionless as a Dresden plate.
When occasion comes he argues with a vehemence that glows like
passion. The soul of him rushes in like a flood, charges feature
and figure with vital force ; he is erect, alight, alive. And the
occasion is very apt to be occasional. With a simple inter-

232 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

locutor, in a chance turn of table-talk, or after-table chat, a
suggestion will elicit from him a statement, a presentation, terse,
vivid, forceful, convincing, as if it were a speech prepared in the
closet and delivered under the inspiration of a listening Con-
gress. So furnished and trained is his mind that on whatever he
is moved to speak, and in whatever circumstances, — in the Senate,
on the stump, before a benevolent society, at a party of pleasure,
or walking with a friend on the street, — he hoards no illustra-
tion, he is aware of no bystander, he sees only his theme, and all
his resources are at command.

Mr. Elaine is a politician in the true and noble sense of the
word, but he does not know how to play the demagogue. Baffled
and uncomprehending Balaks, tired of hearing him repeatedly
and altogether blessed on the very altars which they have built
for his cursing, sardonically declare that this is the very way he
does it ; that demagogism is all there is of it. Too ardent adher-
ents have sometimes been ready to wish that it were. If it had
been possible for him to pose a little on Civil Service Reform, he
could have had all the Mugwumps at his feet. Mr. George
William Curtia has publicly notified the President that he may
" spoil " as much as he likes if he will only keep the pose.
Mr. Elaine through his whole public life has been a consistent
and unvarying civil service reformer, but he could never catch
the pose. His reform has always been by the way, never by
buncombe. Formal complaint was lodged against his letter of
acceptance that he sought to turn the campaign away from per-
sonal to political issues, a complaint which was a eulogy.

Mr. Elaine brought out in 1884 the remarkable increase in the
Republican vote and is a leading candidate for the Presidency
because the intelligent ambition of the American people desires
to see at the head of the nation a man who represents at once
its aspiration and its achievement.

Mr. Elaine is not a candidate because he wishes it himself.
Whether he wishes it or not is a matter of absolutely no moment. .
That the office should seek the man, and not the man the office,
is one of those silly saws that pass for wisdom with the unthink-
ing, but whose only practical effect is to nurture hypocrisy. If a
man wants an office, and is fit for it, seeking the office is no dis-
qualification. Coyness is not a sign of virtue any more than of vice.
But the Presidency of the United States is too great to be a ques-

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 233

tion of personal desire. A man's wish does not enter as a factor
into the problem. When a man has shown pre-eminent fitness
for the place, the only question is whether the elements that enter
into a popular election can be so combined as to elect him. It is a
question for the country. It is not a question for the man. This
strong, great, drifting country needs a captain none the less be-
cause she does not founder in the command of a deck-hand. We
can never be sure whether Mr. Elaine desires or dreads the Presi-
dency ; perhaps he does not know himself ; but he has demon-
strated that his usefulness and his happiness are independent of
it. If the Presidential bee is in his bonnet, it is subject to a pro-
found quadriennial hibernation.

Frank in this as in all matters, his position before his nomi-
nation was as outspoken as succinct : " Once I was eager and once I
was willing. Now I am neither." But even when he was "eager,"
he was not too intent for badinage. Entering the Chamber of
Representatives with a telegram from Oregon in his hand in the
earliest opening of the campaign for his nomination in 1876, he
blithely waved it, exclaiming : " Maine has declared for me and
Oregon has declared for me. All that now remains for my friends
is to fill up the little gap bettveen! "

Defeated in his first nomination he started anew in the
Senate, as alert as if that had been his goal. Defeated a second
time in the nominating convention, he leaped into the new field
of diplomacy with the nerve and the gayety of youth. Thrust
back from the full tide of work by the same murderous hand that
laid low his chief and friend, he turned into the quiet ways of
literature and achieved the most brilliant success of his success
f ul life. For not only is his book an addition to the historical
literature of the world, not only is it a signal example of personal
moral greatness, but it is a service rendered to the America of
the future greater probably than could have been gathered into
any administration of the Government.

Defeated finally in his election, he returned to his library and
resumed his literary work with the same mental composure, with-
out a trace of bitterness, without a suspicion of resentment,
giving thus an exemplification of the American character hitherto
absolutely unique.

It is for his countrymen to say whether he shall ever be called
from that library to serve them as President. It is for them to-

234 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

say whether they will have for President the man they want or a
man they do not want. It is for them to say whether they will
be represented in their highest position and led in their noblest
ambition by their most widely known, their most fitly endowed,
their best beloved fellow citizen.

THE MARCH TO THE SEA.

HALF the people of America have grown from childhood to
manhood since the country was electrified by the news that Sher-
man's army had marched from Atlanta to the sea. Twenty years
have gone, and we begin to know better the significance of the
most picturesque as well as the most important campaign of the
Civil War.

The battle of Chattanooga had proven the most crushing dis-
aster that had happened to the Confederacy during the war ; but
a greater disaster still was waiting the South. Grant had gone to
the armies in the East, and Sherman was threatening to cut what
was left of the Confederacy in two. Of course that could not be
done without first destroying or crippling the rebel army in his
front. It was a long and perilous journey for an army from
Chattanooga to Atlanta, the "gate city of the South." Nature
had fortified the country against invasion almost every foot of the
way, and a well commanded army of veterans occupied intrench-
ments, and river banks, and bridges, and mountain heights, in
such force as to make almost disheartening any attempt at a for-
ward campaign. Sherman's campaigns, however, had all been
of the forward kind. He had seldom fought twice over the
same ground, and he led an army accustomed to victory. In him-
self was represented a type of soldier that comes not once in a
century ; courageous, original, blest with great resources of intel-
lect, a trained soldier, with the heart of a civilian, perfect in
knowledge of the conduct of wars, cool in judgment, audacious
in action, enthusiastic in the cause he was fighting for ; an
intense patriot, and possessed of the universal affection of his
troops. Only such a leader could undertake with hopes of suc-
cess a campaign so difficult as the 120 days' battle that lay be-
tween him and Atlanta. This 120 days' fighting was more than
preliminary to the march to the sea ; in a sense, it was a part of

236 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

that march. To destroy the armies in front of him, to take At-
lanta, the central furnishing depot of the South ; to destroy the
lines that fed Lee's army ; to show the Confederacy that their very
interior and strongest places were not invulnerable ; to put a
victorious Northern army right in the heart of the South, and
show the world that it could stay there ; this was what Sherman
set out to do. To do it, the Atlanta campaign became a neces-
sity ; so did the march to the sea. Throwing the same army
that marched to Savannah right into Lee's rear, and later compell-
ing him to surrender to Grant or flee to the mountains, was the
additional possibility planned for, and believed in, long before the
march seaward was commenced. The plan to strike Lee's rear
with Sherman's army from Atlanta, 1,000 miles away, developed
slowly. Its execution meant a tremendous move on the military
chess board. Lee saw the fatal danger, ere the campaign was
half done, and mentally resolved, as we see later, on leaving Rich-
mond the moment Sherman's columns should get as far toward
him as the Roanoke River.

The terrific events in Sherman's campaign, between the Ten-
nessee River and Atlanta, had never been surpassed on the Conti-
nent. They were scarcely surpassed by the great single battles
of Spottsylvania, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor. It was not
so much one very great battle, as a constant succession of heavy
battles and fights in the woods. Day and night were heard the
roar of cannon and the clash of musketry. Those not engaged in
the perpetual conflict on the lines could scarcely sleep when the
cracking of musketry ceased at times, so accustomed were they
to the continued sound of guns. It was like a constant siege,
filled up by never ending assaults, charging breastworks, taking
bridges, manoauvres, reconnaissances, skirmishes, and battles :
then the siege, and the assaults on Atlanta itself, the flanking
movements, and, at last, the end. "Atlanta ours and fairly
won," flew across the wires to Washington, and the first act in
Sherman's campaign was finished. It had been a tremendous
succession of hard fighting — a constant battle for four months.
The great commander on the James realized the magnitude of the
events. " You have accomplished,'' said Grant, in a etter to
Sherman, "the most gigantic undertaking of any ma jn this
war."

And what next ? Grant wrote from Virginia. And lie, too,

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 237

asked what next. What had Sherman gone to Atlanta for ?
Could he stop there ? " It is now my opinion, " wrote Sherman
to Grant, ' ' that I should keep Hood employed, and put my army
in fine order for a march on Charleston (the sea)." These are the
first written words about the " march" to be found in the records
of the war. And again he wrote : "I would not hesitate, were
there a new base in our hands at the coast, to cross the State of
Georgia with sixty thousand men." The possibility of a march
somewhere seaward had, as said, been looked forward to when the
army left Chattanooga. Where he should strike, when he should
strike, or whether new events would permit a march at all, were
left wholly unsettled in his mind in the beginning ; but at Atlanta
Sherman conceived the true plan, and adopted the direction he
would take, if only Hood would be foolish enough to march his Con-
federate army north into Tennessee, where Thomas stood waiting
to welcome him. At last Hood did move, and northwards, and, to
make the blunder more visible, Jefferson Davis himself rushed out
to Palmetto, near Atlanta, and approved the plans of his General.
Addressing the soldiers and the public, he pictured Sherman's
army as now about to be lost. Advance he could not ; and the
retreat of Napoleon from Moscow was child's play compared with
what would happen were the Federal General to attempt to fall
back. A scout took the speech to Sherman, and that moment he
determined on his " march to the sea." Davis was Commander-
in-Chief of the Confederate armies, and his speech had convinced
Sherman that the Confederate President was as weak in general-
ship as he was strong in boasting.

All surplus material and men were at once sent to the rear,
and arrangements for another move in the brilliant campaign
completed.

The origin of the plan of marching to the sea Was Sherman's
own, as much as was the execution of it, spite of certain malevo-
lent critics, who sought to rob him of this part of the glory. " The
honor is all yours," wrote President Lincoln, when success had
crowned 'he march ; "none of us went further than to acquiesce."
Nothing rHut the overzeal of one of General Grant's admirers, or
the mali^ of some jealous enemy, could have thought to put the
origin of Ihe march in doubt.

To I' Jleck Sherman now telegraphed: "I prefer for the
future t* lake the movement on Milledgeville, Millen, and Savan-
voi JXLV. — NO. 370. 16

238 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

nah ; " and almost the same day he telegraphed General Grant :
" If Hood goes north, why will it not do for me to leave Tennessee
to Thomas and his forces at Nashville, and for me to destroy
Atlanta and march across Georgia to Savannah or Charleston."
Grant advised him first to follow Hood, destroy him, and after-
wards move towards the sea. Thomas opposed the idea of moving
South entirely, as did others. In no direction was the under-
taking much encouraged. Events were drifting slowly; Hood
was starting northward, and then Grant telegraphed to Sherman
on November 2d, 1864: "I say go on, then, as you propose."
Being authorized to act, Sherman wrote to Thomas, speaking of
the march: "I want all things bent to the plan. I purpose to
demonstrate the vulnerability of the South, and make its inhab-
itants feel that war and individual ruin are synonymous terms."
And again, to Thomas : " The only hope of a Southern success is
in the remote regions, difficult of access. We have now a good
entering wedge, and should drive it home. We must preserve a
large amount of secrecy, and I may actually change the ultimate
point of arrival, but not the main object." Still again to Thomas :
"Let us keep Beauregard busy, and the people of the South will
realize his inability to protect them." Beauregard was kept busy
— very busy. He, like Hood, and all the rest of the Confederates
there, had, in fact, been having a busy time of it for many
months, opposing soldiers like Thomas, Schofield, Logan,
Howard, Hooker, McPherson, Morgan L. Smith, Stanley, Cox,
Gresham, and others of the great fighting heroes of the Atlanta
campaign.

To Stanton Sherman now wrote: "I will wait a few days
yet to see what head he (Hood) makes about Decatur, and may
yet turn to Tennessee, but it would be a great pity to take a step
backward." On the same day, learning more of Hood's starting
north, he telegraphed again to Washington : "I am pushing my
preparations to march through Georgia." He had telegraphed to
Thomas that " things must be bent to his plan," and they were
bent. Messages were sent in every direction to urge haste in get-
ting the trains and the sick to the rear ; no neglect, no delay of
any kind, would be brooked for a moment. Even apparent delays,
and the temper of the commander flew to a white heat, no matter
who might be at fault. Certain condemned horses and cavalry
trains had been ordered sent back. Somebody had blundered, or

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 239

not been prompt. "I gave ten days' notice," exclaims the
General, in a furious telegram to the Chief of Cavalry, " and I
want to know who is responsible for this outrageous delinquency ?
I hope all will be killed or captured. Be ready for the saddle at
an hour's notice. " Here is the laconic order for the final destruc-
tion of Atlanta.

" CAPT. POE :

" Yen may commence the work of destruction at once, but don't use fire until
towards the last moment.

" SHERMAN.'1

In burning Atlanta he was fighting the rebels, not conciliating
them. Of course, a roar followed all over the South, finding a
little echo, even in the North. It did not disturb him. " If
my reasons," he wrote to Washington, "are satisfactory to the
United States, it makes no difference whether it pleases General
Hood and his people or not." He was now ready for the start.
Jefferson Davis was apparently doing his best to aid him on his
way. Cotton was no longer to be " king" in the South. Jeffer-
son Davis had said it. " Corn" must grow on every field. It
must have been with a grim smile that Sherman wrote to Secre-
tery Stanton : "Convey to Jefferson Davis my personal and of-
ficial thanks for abolishing cotton, and substituting corn and
sweet potatoes in the South. These facilitate our military plans
much, for food and forage are abundant."

Just then came the news of Sheridan's victory in the East.
Sherman had been killing men all summer, and he liked to see
war of just the killing kind, the more desperate the better, and the
sooner ended. The kindest hearted man in the world, he still
liked Sheridan's way. " I am satisfied," he wrote the latter, just
before leaving Atlanta, " and have been all the time, that the
problem of this war consists in the awful fact that the present
class of men who rule the South must be killed outright, rather
than in the conquest of territory. Hard bulldog fighting, and a
great deal of it, remains yet to be done." Sheridan was one of the
men he believed capable of doing it. The South had thrown
down the desperate gage of battle. It was kill or get killed, and
while Sherman, as his course always proved, pitied the South, and
would have given his life for honorable peace, nothing to his
mind could bring that peace so quick as fighting in dead earnest.

240 THE NOETH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Peace restored, no man in all America so prompt to offer the
hand of reconciliation.

Sherman's first thought, after Atlanta had been taken, was to
march on Augusta, connecting with the coast by the Savannah
Eiver. " If you can manage," he writes to Grant, on September
10th, " to take the Savannah River as high as Augusta, or the
Chattahoochee as far up as Columbus, I can sweep the whole State
of Georgia."

In fact, three routes seaward had been considered by Sher-
man : the line direct south, striking the sea at Appalachicola ; the
line to Augusta ; and the middle, or southeast one to Savannah.
Events proved the last the best in many senses : that route fol-
lowed, Lee's army could be hurt the quickest, and it was Lee's
army now, not Hood's, that Sherman was striking at. It was also
time to choose. The whole Confederacy was waking to the
danger of leaving him longer at Atlanta. The time had come
possibly to drive him to the death. Davis said it had come.
Hood was reaching his lines of communication, and quietly put-
ting an army between him and the North. Grant telegraphed
Sherman on the 27th September, that an awful effort was being
made to crush him at Atlanta. Three courses were open to him :
to remain at Atlanta, and risk losing his supply lines ; to turn
back and follow Hood's army northwards ; or to cut loose, march
south, and destroy Lee's chances from his far rear. He had al-
ready determined, however, not to fight the old ground over again
— to take no step backward, but leave Hood and his Northern
invasion to the competent hands of General Thomas.

The gigantic labor of supplying large armies from distant
points can scarcely be realized. To feed Sherman's army about
Chattanooga, from its supply base at Nashville, had required the
labor of thousands of men and teams, and the use of one hundred
and forty-five railway cars daily. That meant the use of a hun-
dred locomotives and a thousand railway cars. The risk to sup-
plies, with thousands of well-led hostile cavalry in the rear, was
too serious to contemplate. A move somewhere from Atlanta
was rapidly becoming not only the best thing to do, but a ne-
cessity, if the fruits of the last campaign were not to be lost.

The reveille beat at four o'clock in the morning of November
15th, 1864, and waked the sleeping soldiers about Atlanta to break
camp and start, many of them, on their last campaign. Daylight

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 241

saw sixty-two thousand two hundred and four men, with sixty-
five cannon, moving in separate, but nearly parallel, columns
seaward. The orders had been carefully given ; every officer,
every soldier, knew his place, and something in the very air told
them they were starting on a march that would end with the
closing of the war. Sixty-two thousand men was no small army
to cut loose from a base and enter the lines of a hostile country,
with no foothold but the ocean beyond. The last mile of the
railroad behind had been destroyed ; the last message, & good-bye
and an " all right," had been telegraphed back to Thomas ; the
wires were cut, the last link lost communicating with the North.

Passing the city in flames and ruin, Sherman rode forward,
joined one of his columns, and the march to the sea had begun.

Three hundred miles southeast lay Savannah and the ocean.
Towards this point all columns were headed, though greatly
diverging at times, threatening important positions, like Macon
and Augusta, right and left, and, by mysterious movements on
the flanks, leading the enemy at the front to concentrate to-day
in one place and to-morrow forty miles away.

Two great wings, almost equally divided as to numbers, formed
the marching army. The right was led by Major-General Howard,
and Major-General Slocum commanded the left, with soldiers such
as Blair, Davis, Williams, and Osterhaus, directing Army Corps, and
veterans like Corse, Geary, Force, Ward, Mower, Morgan, Woods,
Hazen, Smith, Leggett, Baird, and Carlin, leading Divisions.
Fighting men, every one of them, and the soldiers were veterans,
hardened by scores of battles.

Sherman's cavalry, kept under his personal direction, was
commanded by Kilpatrick — but in numbers, it was inferior to the
cavalry of Wheeler in his front, and hanging on his flanks. The
enemy possessed strong garrisons all along the seacoast and in the
interior towns. Columns from these were liable to be concentrat-
ed and thrown in front of Sherman at any hour ; troops from
Virginia, even, might be hastening, by train, to stop the invaders'
way. If there had been audacity in conceiving the movement,
and entering on the march, the utmost caution and vigilance
were necessary to prevent surprise, detection of routes and concen-
trating of hostile forces at unexpected places, and at unexpected
times. Possibly for safety, the cavalry force seemed inadequate,
but the weakness was made up by a force never before known in

242 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

war — the mounted " foragers/' Every twentieth man in the army
was regularly detailed to scour the country right and left, and
sometimes front, for food and forage. In three days' time the
greater number of these foragers had mounted themselves on some
species of horse or mule, and the " foragers" became a sort of ir-
regular, or partisan cavalry — flying hither and thither, at all
times, and in all places. They confiscated horses, mules, cattle,
pigs, sheep, poultry, grain, fodder, potatoes and meat in such en-
ormous quantities as to supply the whole army. Only occasion-
ally were the regular rations in the supply trains touched at all.
The army was living completely off the country. The corn Jeffer-
son Davis had ordered planted in the cotton-fields was feeding
Sherman's soldiers. The " foragers " were becoming the historic
personages of the campaign. They were men accustomed to
danger, to improvising defenses, to fighting on foot or mounted,
to ambuscades and open fields ; soldiers of infinite resources, and
it is doubtful if any cavalry in existence could have been half so
useful to the army as Sherman's mounted " foragers." Their ir-
regularities, and they were not great, for discipline met them when
they came to camp, were overlooked in the good that they accom-
plished. At times on the march, the whole army concentrated,
as at Milledgeville, Millen, and at the approaches to Savannah, and
diverged, or else marched in parallel lines, seldom more than twenty
miles from flank to flank, keeping to the right and to the left of
them, as protectors, the Savannah and the Ogeechee rivers, leading
seaward. Sometimes the columns, as at Duncan's farm by Macon,
met the enemy, and with a sharp battle hurled them back ; or, as
at the crossing of Briar River, where the cavalry met in severe
engagement, fighting for a bridge, or when the advance run on to
the hidden intrenchments in the swamps outside Savannah.
Unexpectedly, however, there was little fighting on the march ;
but fighting, of a desperate kind, too, might still occur at any
moment. Once, the enemy's wires were tapped, and a dispatch
captured saying that Bragg, with ten thousand men and part of
Wade Hampton's cavalry, was leaving Augusta for his rear that
very night. Day after day the invading army tramped along
through the unknown country, their very whereabouts a mystery
to the waiting North, whose anxiety, fed by false reports from
Richmond, became intenser every hour. For twenty days the col-
umns swung along with a steady step, and then, in the distance,

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 243

they beheld the sea. The swamps, the woods, the intrenchments
and the well manned forts guarding the City of Savannah had
been reached. Sherman's eyes strained for the white sails of the
friendly fleet. They were not to be seen. His army lapped
almost around the city, but there was no possibility of reaching the
sea-side or the Union ships. On his left lay the swamps, the forts,
and a rebel army ; on his right, bristling with heavy guns, and
armed with heroic men, frowned Fort McAllister. That captured,
communication with the fleet were possible. Different troops
begged the privilege to assault. Just before sundown of December
13th, a division of blue coats under Major General Hazen ap-
peared from the thick wood skirting the approaches to the fort.
From the top of a rice mill, across the river, Sherman, glass in
hand, was watching the movement. In front of these men, whose
guns glistened in the slanting rays of the setting sun, stood a
strong fort armed with heavy guns, protected by a deep ditch, by
continuous palisades and abattis, and by veteran soldiers.

Sherman looked at the setting sun and feared the approach of
night. "Signal Hazen to assault at once," he ordered. The
little signal flag at his side fluttered a little, and was answered by
Hazen's whole line advancing to the palisades. That moment the
fort belched forth its artillery. Steadily the line advanced, spite
of hidden torpedoes exploding under their feet ; spite of the
musketry and shells from the fort, and in a few moments entered
the cloud of smoke made by the battle. For a minute, only the
rattle of musketry was heard ; all was darkness there, and then
the cloud-vail lifted, revealing the stars and stripes planted on
the fort. In fifteen minutes Fort McAllister had been taken
by assault. Such quick work had hardly been done in the war.
That night communication was established with the fleet, and
Sherman slept in Fort McAllister alongside the dying and the dead.
The second step of the march to the sea was finished, and from the
whole North went up a prayer of thankfulness. The end of the
war was now in sight. The resources of the South were gone ;
Lee's lines of supply were cut in two, and the confidence of the
South in her leaders was turning into hate. For Sherman to
serve South Carolina as he had served Georgia, to march his
army to the Eoanoke, demolishing Charleston and Columbia on
the way, would be to end the war. In a sense, Richmond was
already taken by a force five hundred miles away. General Lee

244 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

saw what Sherman's movements were resulting in. " It was easy
to see," he writes in a private letter three years later :

" WARM SPRINGS, Va., July 27, 1868.
" GENERAL WM. S. SMITH :

" As regards the movements of General Sherman, it was easy to see that un-
less they were interrupted I should be compelled to abandon the defense of Rich-
mond, and, with a view of arresting his progress, I so weakened my force by send-
ing re-enforcements to Scuth and North Carolina that I had not sufficient men to
man my lines.

" Had they not been broken I should have abandoned them as soon as General
Sherman reached the Roanoke.

41 (Signed) R. E. LEE."

Sherman did reach the Roanoke or its neighborhood, and was
but eighteen miles away when the evacuation of Eichmond be-
gun.

If the hopes of the South failed when Sherman reached
Savannah, the spirits of the North were correspondingly buoyant.
Grant himself, so reticent usually, hastened to lay a tribute at the
feet of his friend.

" I nevar had a doubt of the result when apprehensions for your safety were
expressed by the President. I assured him that with the army you had, and you
in command of it, there was no danger, but you would strike bottom on saltwater
some place ; that I would not feel the same security; in fact, would not have in-
trusted the expedition to any other living commander. I congratulate you and
your army upon the splendid results of your campaign, the like of which is not
read of in past history."

Now, more than ever, Sherman and his army felt they were
striking Lee's army from behind. Hood was no longer a factor
in the game, and the force between Sherman and the Roanoke
River was not a force to fear. It was Lee Sherman was thinking
of only. To Halleck he wrote on the 24th of December : "I
think my campaign of the last month, as well as every step I take
from this point North, is as much a direct attack upon Lee's army
as though I were operating within the sound of his artillery ; "
and to Grant, three days before Christmas he wrote : " I have
now completed my first step, and should like to join you via
Columbia and Raleigh. If you can hold Lee, and if Thomas can
continue as he did on the 18th (referring to his battle of Nash-
ville) I could go on and smash South Carolina all to pieces, and

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 245

break up roads as far as the Roanoke." Grant did hold Lee, and
Thomas did do as well as on the 18th, and Sherman did smash
things all to pieces in South Carolina. He went to the Roanoke,
and Lee went from Richmond.

The war was done, and Sherman's victorious soldiers tramped
on another four hundred miles to Washington. The fighting had
commenced on the Tennessee River, the marching ended on
Pennsylvania avenue, and whole divisions of the soldiers who
saluted the President that afternoon of the grand review had
marched with their rifles on their shoulders a distance of almost
three thousand miles,

S. H. M. BTERS.

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE HON. JOHN
CALDWELL CALHOUN.

GRATEFUL appreciation of the services and veneration for the
character of a distinguished statesman has overcome the reluctance
belonging to a consciousness of inability to do adequate justice
to the theme. A long personal acquaintance would enable me to
say much learned in friendly intercourse, but I shall rely upon
those official records which are within the reach of all who choose
to consult them.

No public man has been more misunderstood and misrepre-
sented than Mr. Calhoun. Not unfrequently he has been
described as a " hair-splitting abstractionist," a "sectionist" and a
"disunionist." That he was eminently wise and practical, that
his heart and his mind embraced the whole country, that he was
ardently devoted to the Union of the constitution as our Fathers
made and construed it, his official acts and published speeches
clearly demonstrate.

The subject of this sketch was of Scotch-Irish descent, a
stock characterized by sturdy integrity, intrepidity, and intel-
lectual vigor. They have been represented in our history by
Presidents Monroe and Jackson, and many distinguished in the
civil and military service.

Mr. Calhoun was born in 1782, the last year of the Revolution-
ary "War, and while negotiations were pending which terminated
in the treaty of peace, recognizing the declared sovereignty and
independence of the several States, late colonies of Great Britain.

At the time of his birth the State of his nativity, South Caro-
lina, was a member of the confederacy styled the " United States
of America," being bound by articles of confederation and per-
petual union between the States enumerated. Rocked in the
cradle of the Revolution, his earliest years amid the shouts of a

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHODN. 347

people triumphant in their liberation from foreign rule, and the
enjoyment of community independence, may he not fairly be
regarded as having imbibed with his first sensations the belief in
State rights, maintained with such ardent devotion in defiance of
all the clamor which pursued him to the end of his life, and stops
not even at his grave ?

Beared in a rural district of South Carolina, with such prepara-
tion as the country schools of that day could give, he entered
Yale College and was graduated with distinction, evincing at that
early period the exact and analytic character of his mind by a
special proficiency in mathematics. He read law as a profession,
but practiced little, and at an early age became the representative
of his district in the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of his State, and subsequently a Representative in the Congress
of the United States. He entered the House of Representatives
in 1811, a period of intense excitement, of depredations upon our
commerce, and upon the rights of seamen, citizens of the United
States, which had aroused a just spirit of resistance. The policy
of non-intercourse no longer satisfied the prouder spirits among
our people ; but, timidity and selfishness magnifying the danger
of conflict with Great Britain, contended both in and out of Con-
gress for further toleration of the ills we had, sooner than brave
"those we knew not of." It was such a time as this that natu-
rally brought forward men who loved their country, their ivliole
country, and who would as soon fight for the commerce and sail-
ors of New England as if they had belonged to their own State
or section ; and thus it was that, foremost of those who advocated
defiance to Great Britain, and war with all its consequences, stood
Calhoun of South Carolina and Clay of Kentucky. So ardent
and effective were Calhoun's invocations as to cause a jeer to be
thrown at those advocating the protection of our sailors, as "back-
woodsmen who never saw a ship till convened here." Mr. Calhoun
claimed that such sympathy was commendable, and said : "It con-
stitutes our real Union, the rest is form ; the wonder is, in fact, on
the other side. Since it cannot be denied that American citizens
are held in foreign bondage, how strange that those who boast of
being neighbors and relations should be dead to all sympathy/'
In his speech December 12th, 1811, he put to his opponents the
searching question: "Which shall we do, abandon or defend our
commercial and maritime rights and the personal liberties of our

248 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

citizens employed in exercising them ? " Again he answered to the
excuse of those who opposed preparation for war by representing
the defenseless state of the country for which the majority, not
the minority, was to be held responsible, and said : " It is no less
the duty of the minority than a majority to endeavor to defend
the country. For that purpose we are sent here and not for that
of opposition." In the same spirit of broad patriotism he rebuked
those who were pleading against the necessary expense which
would attend armed opposition. " But it may be, and I believe
was said, that the people will not pay taxes, because the rights
violated are not worth defending ; for that the defense will cost
more than the gain. Sir, I enter my solemn protest.
There is, sir, one principle necessary to make us a great people —
to produce not the form, but the real spirit of union — and that
is to protect every citizen in the lawful pursuit of his business."

After the war of 1812 had been successfully ended, to which
success Calhoun, in civil life, and his compatriot, Jackson, in the
army, had been recognized as mainly contributing, we see him
laboring with the same zeal, though under different form, for the
general welfare and common defense.

On January 31st, 1816, referring to the condition and future
prospects of the country, he thus spoke : (( We are now called
upon to determine what amount of revenue is necessary for this
country in time of peace. This involves the additional question,
What are the measures which the true interests of the country de-
mand ? " Treating of the defense of the country on land, he advo-
cated a regular draft from the body of the people in preference to
recruiting an army by individual enlistment, and of the latter
said : " Uncertain, slow in its operation, and expensive, it draws
from society only its worst materials, introducing into our army,
of necessity, all the severities which are exercised in that of the
most despotic governments. Thus composed, our armies, in
a great degree, lose that enthusiasm with which citizen
soldiers, conscious of liberty and fighting in defense of their
country, have ever been animated." Then, with the same deep
concern for every interest of the broad Union to which he was
proud to belong, he proceeded to discuss material questions as
follows : "I shall now proceed to a point of less, but still of great
importance — I mean the establishing of roads and the opening of
canals through various parts of the country." Kef erring to the

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 249

widely dispersed condition of our population, and the difficulty in
the then condition of the country of collecting the military means
at a menaced point, he said : " The people are brave, great, and
spirited, but they must be brought together in sufficient numbers,
and with a certain promptitude, to enable them to act with effect.
Let us make great permanent roads ; not like the Romans,
with views of subjecting and ruling provinces, but for the more
honorable purpose of defense and of connecting more closely the
interests of various sections of this great country." This he en-
forced by reference to the embarrassments felt for the want of fa-
cilities in transportation during the preceding war, and then pro-
ceded to consider what encouragement could properly be given to
the industry of the country. He said : "In regard to the ques-
tion, How far manufactures ought to be fostered, it is the duty of
this country, as a means of defense, to encourage its domestic in-
dustry, 'more especially that part of it which provides the neces-
sary materials for clothing and defense. . . . Laying the
claims of manufacturers entirely out of view, on general principles,
without regard to their interests, a certain encouragement should
be extended at least to our woollen and cotton manufactures/'
After the war of the Revolution, it will be remembered that Presi-
dent Washington recommended special encouragement for the
manufacture of materials requisite in time of war, and indicated
the payment of bounties for the same. A like experience of the
sufferings of the defenders of the country during the suspension
of foreign trade suggested to both the propriety of guarding
against such want in the future. Mr. Calhoun, in the same
speec h, called attention to the preparation which should be made
for the defense of our coast and navigable rivers, and answered
the argument which was opposed to the taxation which would be
required, that it would impair the moral power of the country, and
in that connection said : " Let us examine the question, whether
a tax laid for the defense, security, and lasting prosperity of a coun-
try is calculated to destroy its moral power, and more especially
of this country. If such be the fact, indispensable as I believe
these taxes to be, I would relinquish them ; for of all the powers
of the Government, the power of a moral kind is most to be
cherished. We had better give up all our physical power than part
with this. But what is moral power ? The zeal of the country and
the confidence it reposes in the administration of its government."

250 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

After stating the obligation of the representatives as agents of
the people, and their duty to influence their constituents to agree
to whatever sacrifices were necessary for the security and pros-
perity of the country, he said : "I know of no situation so re-
sponsible, if properly considered, as ours. We are charged by
Providence, not only with the happiness of this great and rising
people, but, in a considerable degree, with that of the human race.
We have a government of a new order, perfectly distinct from all
others which have preceded it — a government founded on the
rights of man ; resting, not on authority, not on prejudice, not on
superstition, but reason. If it shall succeed, as fondly hoped by
its founders, it will be the commencement of a new era in human
affairs." To men of the present day, the full significance of the
argument of Mr. Oalhoun for the encouragement of the manu-
factures which had grown up under the necessities of the war
may not be appreciated in their anti-sectional character ; it may,
therefore, be not inappropriate to say that it was before the
invention of steamships and steam locomotives, and that the
manufactures were almost exclusively in the Northern States, and
it would have required prophetic vision to foresee their introduc-
tion into the land of Calhoun. Commerce was then conducted
on the sea and in sailing vessels. A wide plain lay between the
mountains of South Carolina and the sea. If the water-power at
the base of the mountains had been utilized for purposes of manu-
facture, the transportation across the plain would have been too
slow and expensive for a profitable commerce. Therefore, the
agricultural products, chiefly in the country near to the sea, were
transported in ships to places where the water-power was near to
a harbor, and thus it will be seen that to advocate encouragement
to the manufacturers was to benefit, not the people of his own
section, but those far away from it, and that in this, as well as in
his zealous efforts for the vindication of the rights of sailors, he rose
above any considerations of sectional interest or feeling, and stood
forward as the champion of his countrymen, to whatever State they
might belong. I now submit it to any candid and intelligent
reader whether I have not disproved the charge of sectionalism as
made against Calhoun.

The services rendered by him in the House of Eepresentatives
during the war of 1812 and immediately thereafter, not merely
by the ability he exhibited, but by the purity and patriotism

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 251

which characterized his course, gave to him a high reputation in
every portion of the country. He was invited by Mr. Monroe
and accepted a seat in his Cabinet as Secretary of War, but many
of Mr. Calhoun's best friends objected to his accepting the
appointment, believing that the parliamentary field was one for
the labors of which he was peculiarly fitted. They underrated
the universality of his genius. His administrative ability was
soon exhibited in so marked a degree as to induce the belief that
he was then in his most appropriate sphere. Many eminent men
had occupied that post, and, without detracting from their merit,
the fact must be noted that there was a want in the system of
accountability and the general conduct of our military affairs,
which was marked by a very large amount of unsettled accounts
and more or less of confusion in all the operations of the depart-
ment, which at that time included the conduct of our relations
with the Indian tribes. Rapidly a system of accountability was
established, so perfect as to require very little modification by his
successors, at least for the next quarter of a century. Under
that system default by disbursing officers of the War Department
became a very rare exception, though new posts were being estab-
lished on the remote frontier, requiring heavy expenditures beyond
the limits of commercial facilities, and that the only foreign war
in which our country has been engaged was also embraced within
the period I have named. The exclusion of party considerations
in appointments and preferments may not have originated, but
was certainly perpetuated by him, so that the War Department
and the officers of the old army were so far removed from political
influence, and politics were so rarely discussed in army circles,
that if an officer had been asked to what party one of his most
intimate friends belonged, he probably would have answered that
he could not tell.

It was during Mr. Calhonn's occupancy of the War Office that
the system of seacoast defenses received its great impulse, and
army discipline and instruction were nurtured by schools of
practice. In this, as in every other public office he held, a broad
and comprehensive . view of the general interests of the country,
together with a strict observance of the powers and limitation con-
ferred by the Constitution on the Government of the United
States, was the polar star by which his course was directed. At the
close of his service in the War Office the popular verdict was that

252 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

he had done well in all his stewardship, and should go up still
higher. Thus, by a rare unanimity, in 1824, he was elected Vice-
President, at a time when many candidates for the Presidency
divided the people into earnestly contending parties.

Thus the breath of life was breathed into the Union. It was
created by the States, its purposes and powers expressly enumer-
ated and restricted by the compact. The Constitution was the
soul, the form of government the body of the Union. Whoso
adhered to the Constitution, and maintained its validity, defend-
ing its principles and upholding its purposes, was a friend of the
Union, and he who perverted it from its declared purposes, thus
breaking the only bond which held the States together, was
logically and criminally a disunionist. To claim, because he still
adhered to the form of the government, that he was, therefore, a
friend of the Union of the States is as if the man who should take
the life of his neighbor could, by embalming his body, prove him-
self to have been his friend.

In the beginning of Mr. Calhoun's career we find him the
champion of the honor and independence of the United States,
and subsequently advocating a policy of a tariff and internal im-
provements as a means of providing for the common defense.
His patriotism and generosity caused him to overlook the danger
which lurked beneath measures which, distorted from their real
purpose, could be made to serve the aggrandizement of one sec-
tion, the impoverishment of another, and taxation, not for com-
mon defense, but for the benefit of individuals and corporations.
In this, as in other instances of his public career, we find
evidence of the extent to which his broad patriotism, generosity,
and purity engendered a confidence which never proved mis-
placed. When abuses, progressing in geometrical ratio, warned
him of the evils which threatened the perpetuity of the Union,
he labored assiduously, even unto the end of his life, to point out
the danger and invoke the application of appropriate remedies.
It is but justice to him to say that his ardent devotion to the
Union of the Constitution was the source of whatever his friends
will admit were the errors of his political life, and it is a tribute
to his elevated nature that he did not anticipate all that sordid
avarice and narrow selfishness would build on the small founda-
tion which patriotic credulity had laid.

Imposts designed to provide revenue, like the costs of trans-

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 253

portation from foreign countries, were of advantage, and served
to encourage home manufactures, and in so far as the benefit
thus resulted to individuals in any of the States, Mr. Calhoun did
not object ; but when duties were made, not to provide the means
necessary for the support of government, but were discriminations
intended solely for the profit of particular classes — this was not
the scheme to wnich he had ever given favor ; and then he invoked
the Constitution as the shield of the minority to protect it against
oppression. In pointing out the landmarks of the fathers, and
showing how they were being obliterated, and the tendency of
such crime to produce disunion, he was not expressing a thought
which originated in desire, but warning those who, he hoped,
would, like himself, recoil from the approach of so great a disaster,
that they might, in time, retrace their steps, and, before it was too
late, avert the threatened calamity. He was too wise to ignore
how many and grievous would be the consequences of disrupting
the bonds which held the States together ; not only the compact,
but the traditions, memories, and historical glories which cemented
them as a family together. To those who knew him well, and
remember how regardless he was of his personal safety, when,
with a disease that was rapidly carrying him to the grave, he re-
jected all solicitation to remain quietly at home, and came, at an
eventful period, to renew his labors in defense of the Constitution
and the preservation of the Union, it must seem absurdly strange
that currency could have been obtained for a report that he de-
sired to destroy a confederation to which his life had been devoted,
and in the annals of which all his glories were recorded. This
may, perhaps, be due to the fact that the unreflecting have con-
founded nullification with disunion, when, in point of fact, the
idea of nullification, so far as South Carolina is concerned, was
adopted as a remedy within the Union. The hope was, by State
interposition, to induce the call of a convention of States, to which
would be submitted the constitutional question of laying duties ;
otherwise, imposing taxes upon the whole people for the benefit of
a particular class. The question to be presented was, What was
the proper limit of the powers delegated by the States to the gen-
eral government ? All else was expressly reserved to the States or
the people. The phrase ' f the people " necessarily meant the peo-
ple of the several States, as there were no other people known to
the Constitution. The language must have been intended to con-
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 370. 17

254 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

vey the State governments and the people of the States so far as
they possessed rights and powers with which their governments
had not been invested. The whole proceeding of South Carolina
was on the ground that the Constitution did not authorize the
general government to impose and collect duties on imports for
the benefit of manufacturers, i. e., a protective, not a revenue tariff.
In this connection Mr. Calhoun referred to the constitutional pro-
vision for amendment, and it was in the nature of his profound
intellect to believe that, if the States were assembled in conven-
tion, any imperfection which experience had proved to exist would
be remedied, and additional safeguards provided to protect the
people from the usurpations of government. It would be need-
less to inquire, in the light shed by the experience of 1860 and
1861, especially of the peace congress, whether that hope would
have been realized. I am now treating of the question as it was
presented to his mind and that of his associates. Thus it is evi-
dent that their remedy looked, not to a dissolution of the Union,
but to the purification of its general government, the happiness
and contentment of the people, and the perpetuity of their frater-
nal relations. No more dangerous and vicious heresy has grown
up than the supposition that ours is a government made and
controlled by a majority of the people of the United States
en masse.

Let us now examine the odious and unfounded accusation
that he was a disunionist.

To the clear understanding of the charge it is necessary, in
the first place, to define the true meaning of the word "union."
The history of its formation irrefutably proves that it was a con-
federation of Sovereign States, each acting separately and for
itself alone. The States so agreeing to unite entered into a com-
pact styled " The Constitution of the United States of America."
This constitution was declared to be binding between the States
ratifying the same, and that ' ' The ratification of the conventions
of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of the con-
stitution between the States so ratifying the same." — Art. VII.

The men who founded our constitutional government were too
profound as statesmen and philosophers, after having achieved their
independence of Great Britain, to transfer the liberties they had
acquired to the Control of a majority of the people, en masse.
The most careless reading of the Constitution, and the laws enacted

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 255

to carry out its provisions, will show there is not a department or
officer of the Federal Government who derives power and authority
from a majority of the people of the United States. The
power of amending the Constitution was given to the States, not
to the people collectively. From the speech of Mr. Calhoun de-
livered in the Senate February 15th and 16th, 1833, I make the
following extract :

" To maintain the ascendency of the Constitution over the
law-making majority is the great and essential point on which
the success of the system must depend. Unless that ascendency
can be preserved, the necessary consequence must be that the laws
will supersede the Constitution ; and finally, the will of the execu-
tive, by the influence of his patronage, will supersede the laws ;
indications of which are already perceptible. This ascendency
can only be preserved through the action of the States as organ-
ized bodies, having their own separate governments, and possessed
of the right, under the structure of our system, of judging of the
extent of their separate powers, and of interposing their authority
to arrest the unauthorized enactments of the general government
within their respective limits. " Additional evidence could be
abundantly offered that nullification was intended to conserve, not
to destroy the Union, and in the manner proposed to secure a
remedy short of secession. It would be unfair to judge of the
practicability of the plan by the state of the country at a subse-
quent date, and we must presume that it was more feasible in
1833 than it was in 1860.

In 1850, during the long and exciting debate over what was
known as the compromise measures of that year, Mr. Calhoun
was generally confined to his lodgings, being too ill and debili-
tated to occupy his seat in the Senate. In that condition he wrote
the speech read for him to the Senate on March 4th, 1850. It
was the effort of a dying man whose affections clung so tenaciously
to the Union he had long and faithfully served, that, though
unable to deliver the speech, he submitted the MSS. to the
Senate. To him earthly ambition was a thing of the past, but
the love of truth and justice, devotion to the cause of liberty,
and hopes for the people's welfare and happiness under the
Constitution, all of which could not die, sustained his sink-
ing frame for this last supreme effort in his country's cause.
A few brief extracts from that speech are here inserted.

256 THE XORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Referring to the supposition of States held together by force,
he said :

" It may indeed keep them connected ; but the connection
will partake much more of the character of subjugation, on the
part of the weaker to the stronger, than the union of free, inde-
pendent, and sovereign States in one confederation as they stood
in the early stages of the government, and which only is worthy
of the sacred name of Union." Then, referring to frequent eulo-
gies on the Union, he said :

" It usually comes from our assailants. But we cannot be-
lieve them to be sincere ; for, if they loved the Union, they would
necessarily be devoted to the Constitution. It made the Union,
and to destroy the Constitution would be to destroy the Union."

The day after the reading of the speech from which these ex-
tracts have been made, a Senator made a speech in review, Mr.
Calhoun being absent ; but, when his colleague, Mr. Butler, had
commenced a reply Mr. Calhoun came in. After expressing his
regret that a member of the body should have commented upon
his speech during his absence and before the hour for the con-
sideration of the question under discussion, he said : " I had not
the advantage of hearing the remarks of the Senator of Missis-
sippi. Did he accuse me of disunion ? Did he mean to insinu-
ate that ?" To which Mr. Foote, the Senator referred to, replied
that he " had not the slightest intention to impute to him de-
signs hostile to the Union." . . . <( I have always main-
tained that he is one of the most devoted friends of the Union in
this body."

The evident purpose for which the question was put was to
answer the charge or insinuation, if made, by the most emphatic
denunciation. This was the last time Mr. Calhoun appeared in
the United States Senate. Death had laid its icy hand upon him ;
he was aware of the near approach, and with the heroism of a
martyr strove with his last breath to bear testimony to the faith in
which he had lived and labored.

If a young man should ask me where he could, in a condensed
form, get the best understanding of our institutions and the duties
of an American patriot, I would answer, "In Calhoun's speech
in the Senate on what is known as 'The Force Bill/"

No one has so fully and clearly expounded the Constitution,
no one has so steadily invoked a strict observance of it, as the

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 357

means of securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, for which the more perfect Union was formed. It re-
quired neither his dying assertion nor the testimony of others to
exculpate him from the charge of desiring to destroy our Consti-
tutional Union. His whole life speaks trumpet-tongued denial.

Another accusation was his inconsistency — to which it may be
briefly answered, he was practical as well as logical, and was con-
sistent to principle, to truth, to the Constitution, and to the
duties of a patriot. Consistency as to measures when every day
brings forth unforetold phases could honestly belong only to one
having more than human foresight, or to one having less than
human capacity to learn.

The questions agitating the country to such degree as to
threaten convulsion were the subjects under discussion when Mr.
Calhoun last addressed the Senate. They were the slavery and
territorial questions. Long he had foreseen and given warning
of the danger of the hostile and unconstitutional interference with
the domestic institution of African servitude. The States having
that institution had become a minority and claimed the protection
which the compact of Union had expressly promised to give.

In regard to the territories outside of the limits of any State,
there were three divisions of opinion. The one, that they be-
longed to the United States, and consequently that the citizens of
every State, with every species of property recognized by the
United States, had equal right therein; another, that they
belonged to the immigrants who should settle thereon; and
another, that the United States Government had proprietary
right over them. This last form of opinion, which has
grown with the political decadence of our time, was, in
1850, the least dangerous, because it was then, as it is now,
the least defensible. The general government was formed to be
the agent of the States for specific purposes and with enumerated
powers; it was penniless, could only collect revenue as the agent
of the States, and as the agent of the States only had the means
or authority to acquire anything. The authority conferred upon
Congress to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations
respecting the territory or other property belonging to the
United States applied equally to the public lands within the new
States as to the outlying territories, save and except such regu-
lations as might be necessary in the outlying territories with a

258 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

view to the exercise of the granted power. The arguments of
Mr. Calhoun were directed to support the first-named opinion
and to demonstrate the fallacy of the other two. His proposition
was maintained with the conclusiveness of a mathematical
demonstration, but we shall be verging on the millennium when
reason shall prevail over passion and prejudice, and the lust of
dominion shall yield to truth and justice : it was a contest of
might and right.

The permitted limit of this article does not allow me to follow
the career of this great statesman through that period when he
sacrificed personal ambition and party ties to lead the few against
the many, in defense of truth, justice, and the liberty the Union
was formed to secure and perpetuate. Exposing himself as a
target to serried ranks of foes, he stood like a sentinel on the
watch-tower warning the people he loved.

In my early manhood I enjoyed the personal acquaintance of
Mr. Calhoun, and perhaps received especial consideration from the
fact that, as Secretary of War, he had appointed me a cadet in
the United States Military Academy. In 1845, as a member of
the House of Representatives, I frequently visited Mr. Calhoun,
who was then a Senator, at his residence. His conversation was
always instructive and peculiarly attractive. The great question
of the day was on giving notice to Great Britain of a termination
of the joint occupation of Oregon. He and his colleague, the
brilliant orator McDuffie, did not fully concur, as I had occasion
to learn, being one of several in a private consultation. There
was great excitement in the country, and there was believed to be
imminent danger of a war with Great Britain. Under these cir-
cumstances, Mr. Calhoun, though in such feeble health as to
require rest, responded to the call for his services in the Senate,
and went to Washington to labor in the cause of peace. War was
to him an evil which only defense of the honor and rights of his
country would justify. That state of the case made him the advocate
of the war of 1812, but, in 1845, he saw no such justification, and
was, therefore, in favor of negotiation, by which he believed war
could be averted Avithout the surrender of the rights of our
country.

As a Senator he was a model of courtesy. He politely listened
to each one who spoke, neither reading nor writing when in his
seat, and as long as his health permitted was punctual and con-

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CALHOUN. 259

stant in his attendance. His correspondence was conducted by
rising at dawn and writing before breakfast. Issues growing out
of the disposal of the public lands within the States occupied
much of the time of Congress, and for this and more important
reasons he proposed, on certain conditions, to surrender the public
lands to the new States in which they lay. This was but another
exhibition of his far-reaching patriotism and wisdom, as shown
in his argument for the measure.

Always earnest, often intense in debate, he was never rhetorical,
seldom sought the aid of illustration, simile, or quotation, but,
concisely and in logical sequence, stated his views like one demon-
strating a problem, the truth of which was so clear to his mind
that he did not doubt its acceptance by all who listened to the
proof. Perhaps he was too little of a party man to believe, as the
English parliamentarian did, that opinions might be, but votes
were never changed by a speech.

Wide as was his knowledge, great as was his foresight, reach-
ing toward the domain of prophecy, his opinions were little
derived from books or from conversation. Data he gathered on
every hand, but the conclusions were the elaboration of his brain
— as much his own as is honey not of the leaf, but of the bag of
the bee. He paid little attention to style — probably undervalued
it ; words were to him merely the medium to convey his thoughts,
and these flowed on unbroken and with the resistless power of a
mighty river.

The death of Mr. Calhoun, though anticipated by those who
saw him, with tottering steps, enter the Senate Chamber for the
last time, and feebly struggle to repel misconstruction, created
the deep impression which his high and reverend character
commanded. His great political antagonist, Mr. Webster, had
always been his personal friend ; they were born in the same year,
1782. There was a custom in the old Senate that, at the begin-
ning of each session, Senators should give one another a friendly
salutation as evidence that past controversies were buried. On
one occasion I remember that Mr. Webster approached Mr. Cal-
houn, and with cordial greeting said : " How do the men of '82
stand on their pins ? " When the death, was announced in the
Senate, Mr. Webster said : "I think there is not one of us, when he
last addressed us from his seat in the Senate, who did not feel that
he might imagine that we saw before us a Senator of Rome, when

2(50 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Rome survived. ... He had the basis, the indispensable
basis of all high character, and that was unspotted integrity — un-
impeached honor and character. If he had aspirations, they were
high, and honorable, and noble. There was nothing groveling,
or low, or meanly selfish that came near the head or the heart of
Calhoun. . . . We shall delight to speak of him to those
who are rising up to fill our places. And when the time shall
come that we ourselves shall go, one after another, in succession, to
our graves, we shall carry with us a deep sense of his genius and
character, his honor and integrity, his amiable deportment in
private life, and the purity of his exalted patriotism."

DAVIS.

SUMMER REFRIGERATION.

PHILOSOPHERS have often called attention to the curious
influence which the experience of childhood is apt to exert on the
theories of after years. A city lad who has passed his vacations
in the highlands will come to associate the advantages of country
life with his plans of salvation ; an overworked backwoods boy
who has enjoyed the hospitality of an indulgent city uncle will
prefer St. Augustin's City of the Blest to the shadiest idyl of
Elysium. In a similar way the predilections of civilized nations
seem to be biased by the habits of their primitive ancestors.
Wealthy Turks, even in the chill climate of Adrianople, still pass
the evening hour squatting silently at the foot of their doorsteps, as
their nomadic forefathers did in front of their desert tents. The
descendants of the sea-faring Normans are still the most enterpris-
ing emigrants of northern France. A Mexican land-owner of my
acquaintance noticed with surprise that the American colonists of
his neighborhood preferred treeless to wooded tracts of land,
and pitched their tents in the dry gravel of an abandoned
cotton-field. "Next summer," said he, "they will be sorry for
it ; but I suppose they come from some part of the States where
trees were badly in their way, and where droughts never amounted
to much."

And if that shrewd hidalgo could study the architecture of
our North American cities he would readily infer that the builders
of such houses and streets must have come from a country of
hard winters and very mild summers. Our dwelling-houses are
winter forts. They defend us from snow and storms, and com-
bine manifold facilities for the production of artificial warmth ;
our streets, with their long ramparts of unbroken masonry, admit
every ray of the vertical sun, but exclude the breezes that sweep
freely through the open arcades of the forest ; our clothes are

262 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

calorific contrivances, calorific food forms the perennial staple of
our diet ; all our domestic arrangements seem carefully calculated
to make winter as tolerable and summer as intolerable as possible.
A few months ago a prominent religious weekly estimated that
during the past winter the organized charities of a single Christian
denomination distributed in the United States a weekly average
of 104,000 bushels of coal. Coal riots (as in Dakota, where a fuel
train was stopped and emptied by the armed inhabitants of a
treeless settlement) are more readily condoned than even bread
riots ; every larger forest furnishes free fuel for scores of impecu-
nious neighbors. As in the days of our Scandinavian forefathers,
gods and men still join in the battles against Eymir, the frost
giant ; but the cry for help against the Dog-star fiend — the Noon-
day Devil of the Semitic pandemonium — appeals in vain to the
sympathies of our northern souls. And while the cities of pagan
Rome vied in the establishment of free public baths, the cities of
Christian North America vie in the enactment of penal by-laws
against the use of the scant bathing facilities by which a conven-
ient river might mitigate the midsummer martyrdom of the
poor. In combination with the influence of the compulsory
indoor life of our workshops and factories, our peculiar type
of civilization has, indeed, succeeded in completely inverting the
order of Nature's almanac, and doomed millions of our fellow
men to endure the maximum misery of their existence at the very
season when the creatures of the wilderness celebrate life as a
festival.

Habitual indoor life might tend to produce that result even in
a climate of less torrid summers, but it seems certainly strange
that an artificial evil has failed to suggest the usual expedient of
an artificial remedy. The problem of refrigerating a summer
house should seem to offer no insuperable difficulties to the inven-
tive genius of an age that has managed to create an artificial
summer amidst the snows of Quebec and St. Paul ; for after all,
cold, like darkness, silence, or poverty, is a mere negative condi-
tion, and refrigeration a deductive, rather than productive, pro-
cess. The time may come when suffering from an excess of heat
will seem as strange an embarras de richesse as a complaint
about an excess of light or a superfluity of bed-clothing. In a
state of nature the problem of survival has no difficulties in
summer time. Wild animals that risk to perish in cold weather,

SUMMER REFRIGERATION. 263

pass their summer noons pleasantly enough in forest glens or in the
shade of caverns ; the pachyderms of the tropics keep their siesta
in a state of semi-submersion. ; savages avoid the inconvenience
cf summer heat by negative precautions, less exercise, less cloth-
ing,, a minimum of calorific food. The Bedouins, even, of the
great desert, if not migrating, pass their afternoons day-dream-
ing in the shade of a tent or at the brink of a rock-sheltered
spring.

Civilization has deprived us of such expedients, and ought to
devise available substitutes. The architecture of our dwelling-
houses would admit of manifold improvements, but there is no
doubt that even the average tenement, or, indeed, any structure
of weatherproof walls, could be made habitable by the introduc-
tion of cold, as well as by the introduction of warm, air. Ice is
cheap, and could be made cheaper than the cheapest fuel, and the
experiments with the government buildings of Vienna and Wash-
ington, and the arsenal workshops of Marseilles, prove that the
largest halls can be cooled to a temperature of 20 to 30 degrees
below that of the outdoor atmosphere. In the cartridge factory
of the Marseilles arsenal, a hall of fifty feet square by sixteen
high, and ventilated by means of revolving fans, the temperature
was, in one instance, kept forty-Jive degrees Fahrenheit below that
of the coolest nooks of the adjoining streets ; in other words,
while the outdoor thermometer may rise to a hundred degrees in
the shade, a room large enough for a lecture-hall can be brought
to a thermal condition resembling that of a breezy October day in
the highlands, and cool enough to chill flies into inactivity. In
Washington, similar results have been obtained with the most
primitive apparatus, a combination of air-pumps and ice-boxes,
connected with pipes unprotected by any thermal non-conductors,
yet efficient enough to suggest the possibility of completely restor-
ing the amenities of the summer season.

Considering the number of refrigerating agencies known to
modern chemistry, there would, indeed, be nothing surprising in
the invention of a parlor cooler, as portable as a small cooking-
stove ; and it needs no special clairvoyance to foresee that the
cities of the future will have refrigeration companies and Arctic
reservoirs with network of cold-air pipes, and that their plutocrats
will freeze their ears in over-cooled summerhouses with the com-
placency of Hacklaender's parvenu, who endured all the horrors

264 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of the Calcutta Blackhole, to demonstrate his ability of indulging
in a lavish expenditure of fuel.

The antiseptic uses of artificial cold are likewise destined to as-
sume proportions hardly anticipated by the constructor of the
first refrigerating car. Refrigeration is nature's method for
counteracting the decomposition of organic tissues, and the
chemist of the future may smile at the barbarisms of the primi-
tive plan which tried to prevent decay by the use of parasite-killing
poisons. The protective efficacy of salt, pepper, and mustard be-
ing exactly analogous to that of the arsenious acid by which the
taxidermist insures the integrity of his mummies. Frozen meat
will keep for an unlimited length of time ; the undecayed mam-
moth carcass discovered in the sand of a Siberian river-delta had
thus been preserved for a period measured perhaps by millenniums ;
and the experiments of a Belgian chemist have established the
fact that in a dry and uniformly cold store-room even raspberries
can be kept from June to the end of the next winter.

In October, when the first night-frosts expurgate the atmos-
phere of our Southern swamps, ague and yellow fever subside
with a suddenness which would certainly have suggested the idea
of curing climatic diseases by artificial refrigeration, if cold had
not somehow become the hygienic bugbear of the Caucasian race.
Gout, rheumatism, indigestion, toothaches, and all sorts of pul-
monary disorders are ascribed to the influence of a low tempera-
ture, with persistent disregard of the fact that the outdoor laborers
of the higher latitudes are the halest representatives of our species.
" Catching cold " is the stereotyped explanation for the conse-
quences of our manifold sins against the health laws of Nature ;
but the secret of the delusion can be traced to the curious mis-
takes which logicians used to sum up under the head of the "post
hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy," — the tendency of the human mind
to mistake an incidental concomitance for a causal connection.
Woodpeckers pick insects from the trunks of dead trees, and the
logic of concomitance infers that the decay of the tree has been
caused by the visits of the birds, which in our Southern States
are, indeed, known as " sap-suckers." Young frogs emerge from
their hiding places when a long drought is broken by a brisk
rain, and the coincidence of the two phenomena has not failed to
evolve the theory of a frog-shower. In winter, when millions of
city dwellers breathe the air of ill-ventilated dwelling houses,

SUMMER REFRIGERATION. 265

lung affections are more frequent than in midsummer, when
ventilation is enforced by the horrors of stagnant heat. But the
coincidence of frosts and catarrhs has decided the bias of the
popular hypothesis, and in sixteen different European languages
the world cold has become a synonym of an affection which the
absolutely conclusive evidence of physiological facts proves to be
a result of vitiated warm indoor air, and to be curable by cold out-
door air. In other words, the best remedy has been mistaken for
the cause, and as a consequence catarrhs are considerably more
frequent than all other disorders of the human organism taken
together.

If cold outdoor air were the cause of pulmonary affections, the
frequency of such affections would increase with the distance
from the equator, and the prevalence of outdoor occupations ; but
it so happens that among the natives of the Arctic regions lung
diseases are almost unknown, and that consumption is from ten
times to twenty-five times more frequent in the cities of the lower
temperate zone than in the pastoral regions of Scotland and
Scandinavia. Consumptives have also ascertained (if not
explained) the circumstance that their affliction can be relieved
by a winter bivouac in the Adirondacks far more promptly than by
a sojourn in the perennial summer of the Bermudas ; nay, that
even impure cold air is a more effective lung balm than warm air,
for the intense frosts of the Arctic winter nights disinfect even the
foul hovels of the Esquimaux seal hunters.

The gastronomic exploits of those same seal hunters would
leave no doubt that cold air is the most effective peptic stimulant,
if local experience should fail to convince us that digestive dis-
orders increase with every warm summer and decrease with the
temperature of the shortening days. The diseases of infancy
are chiefly summer diseases, so much, indeed, that their average
death rate during the six warmest weeks relates as 3 to 1 in
northern Europe, and as 4^ to 1 in North America, to the
average death rate of the six coldest weeks. All zymotic diseases,
i. e., cholera and small-pox, as well as yellow fever, are -more
virulent in summer than in winter. The opponents of the " germ
theory of disease " must at least empirically admit the fact that
in ninety-nine of a hundred cases warm air promotes and cold air
counteracts the development of disease, just as they promote and
counteract the development of maggots and mushrooms. Cold air

266 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

is an antidote which mitigates the effects even of those anorganic
poisons which the stimulant-vice has made almost a necessity of
existence to a large portion of our fellow men ; for we find that
the degree of impunity in the use of intoxicating drinks decreases
with the degree of latitude, and that the organism of a Russian
soldier can eliminate, if not assimilate, a quantum of ardent spirits
that would transfer his French comrade to the spirit land.

Cold air is Nature's panacea, as proved by numberless facts
which are being more generally recognized the more the study of
disease has been diverted from the suppression of the symptoms to
the removal of the cause, and it would be an insult to the intelli-
gence of the coming generation to doubt that the hospitals of the
future will be ice-houses.

FELIX L. OSWALD.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OUTLOOK.

i.

The Two Opposing FOR the first time in thirty years the Democratic

Party h°lds the trUmP CaidS in the P°litical Pack'

It has only to play them to win. The record of
an administration which has addressed itself to the business of
the country with cleanliness and directness ; the possession of
the National House of Eepresentatives at a moment when the re-
duction of taxation is an inexorable demand of an over-flowing
treasury ; and the personal character of a candidate who has
impressed the popular imagination variously, but on the whole
favorably, and whose renomination is assured without a contest,
complete a very strong hand.

It is the Republican party, whose discipline and tactics have
been so invincible in days gone by, which is irresolute and which
trusts to luck. It has only a single suit to lead from, and this it
has nearly, if not quite, exhausted. Out of a throng of brilliant
captains, but one whose name excites universal enthusiasm
remains to it, and on him there appears to have fallen, with the
genius and renown, also the fatality of Henry Clay. That
luck may save it, as luck has saved it, is possible. But there
is bad luck no less than good luck, and Burchard did not look
like good luck, which, having whipped over to Cleveland and
the Democrats, seems to stay with them.

Thus we find a leader so considerable as Sherman talking one
way in Tennessee and another way in Illinois ; whilst lesser lights
of the party, with the Governor of Ohio at their head, plunge with
the recklessness of men who have nothing to lose. These things
have the air of ill omens. The battle-flag incident, on the other
hand, furnished a curious instance of the President's continuous
good luck. Though an official blunder, it turned out to his ad van-

268 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tage. It completely and prematurely developed the hand of his ad-
versaries ; startling the country by the lurid spectre of a Red Repub-
licanism it had not suspected, and warning the Administration of a
danger to be avoided. If such an accident had come about in
the heat of a national campaign it might, and perhaps it would,
have precipitated irretrievable disaster. Falling upon a tranquil
state of public feeling, it simply disclosed a conspiracy to rob the
treasury, and produced a reaction among the tax-payers.

Within his competency, indeed, the President is a crafty
politician, and the use to which he put the violence of his critics
had done credit to an older strategist. It did add im-
mensely to his strength with those who regard the office of
Chief Magistrate as the representative of the sovereignty of the
people, commanding the respect of all, without regard to party
association. Before the eyes of these, at least, the defender of its
dignity stood in the character of a sacred bull. More than this
could not have been achieved by the most astute diplomatist.

II.

The President and Peter Simple's ingenious friend surmised, in ac-
Go-T uck ^onc cepting the challenge of a famous duellist to fight
with rapiers, that the expert would be more dis-
concerted by his adversary's lack of skill than helped to a victory
by his own superior swordmanship ; which, indeed, was proved
to be true by the issue of the encounter. Such freaks of humor
used to be common and favorite devices with a certain class of
play-writers. Mr. Pierce O'Hara on the race-course and Sir Pat-
rick O'Plenipo in diplomacy perpetrated blunders enough to
baffle all calculation and keep the audience in a perpetual roar ;
yet, somehow, to their amazement, everything went to their profit
— worked, as far as they were concerned, by the rule of contraries.
The President seems to be a lineal descendant of these happy-
go-lucky sons of Irish wit.

He came to Washington not merely unqualified by antecedent
experience for the duties of the Presidency, which he had
reached by a succession of events unequaled except in comic
opera, or the Hibernian drama, but disqualified by a conviction
that he was himself the one honest man in the public life of the
country. The oldest and best known members of the party which
had elected him — barring Mr. Bayard — were ignored with the

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OUTLOOK. £69

most unconscious disdain. Even such men as Thurman and
McDonald were left to find their way to the White House as best
they might, or to stay away if they liked that better. A smart
attorney was discovered hid away in a little Eepublican pocket-
borough, and placed at the head of our Diplomatic Service in
Europe. The Congress of the United States was considered and
treated as much the same sort of body as the Legislature of the
State of New York. Each day brought in its sensations and sur-
prises, until the reorganized official fabric — at home and abroad —
had Americanized the French saying that it is the impossible
which happens.

The government thus formed has existed nearly three years,
to execute the conceits of this self-confident and well-intentioned
theory of Administration ; and for all the blunders — and truly
our melodramatic Celtic friends could hardly have perpetrated
more or greater ones— who that knows the state of the public
mind shall say that the President is not stronger than he was
when he took the oath of office ? He has flouted the function-
aries ; and there is that in human nature which takes a secret sat-
isfaction in seeing its favorites come to grief. He has had his own
way, and carried it with an exceedingly high hand ; and this has
pleased the image-makers and the worshipers of sturdy independ-
ence. He has worked like a hodman himself, and commanded others
to work in the language of an overseer ; and this has identified him
with Mr. Lincoln's " plain people," and aroused a sense of fellow-
feeling never before existing between a chief magistrate and the
far-away masses. Back of all, two fine and real elements ef
beneficent power have stood on the right and the left of this favorite
child of fortune, unflinching integrity, and robust common-
sense. I cannot, for my part, help admiring the good that is in
him, and when I consider the good it has brought in excess of
the evil — which might hare attended the efforts of one less blessed
in his cradle — I almost forgive his inconsiderate personal be-
havior, his disregard of the claims of the aged, and the counsels
of the wise, in the political family of which he was, until
raised to chief hood, the merest cadet.

It is my opinion, therefore, that he will be re-elected, and that

we shall have four years more of an administration that pleases

nobody very much, but which does strike a kind of general

average, continuing the policy of letting well enough alone, which

VOL. CXLY. — NO. 370. 18

270 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

falls in so aptly with the prevailing spirit of material progress
and money-getting developed at the South at last in a degree
hardly less eager than at the North ; a spirit which has no time
to quarrel about exploded issues, nor temper to listen to disturb-
ing theories from humane agitators.

III.

False Hopes and The coming session of Congress will meet amid

i a great confusion of ideas and clashing of in-

the Party Leaders. & -o , i i i_ ^ ^

terests. But here, as elsewhere, the Demo-

crats will find themselves in possession of all the strategic posi-
tions. Those Kepublicans who think that there is campaign
capital to be made for their party out of the tariff, and who
affect the wish that this may become the battle-line of politi-
cal controversy, base their conclusion upon the belief that the
Democrats are irremediably divided and muddled upon the ques-
tion, and the hope that Democratic failure to unite and pass a
bill will prove fatal to the Democratic ticket in the ensuing Pres-
idential election.

The case stands otherwise. The fruits of unjust taxation are
at length visible to the naked eye in a vast surplus needlessly
wrung from the people and lying idle in the Treasury. This
raises a question which is bound to be settled, and which the
politicians cannot shirk. 1st. The surplus must be disposed of.
3d. Its recurrence must be prevented. There are many ways of
disposing of the surplus, but there are but two ways of prevent-
ing its recurrence. These latter present to time-servers the
dilemma of abolishing the internal taxes on whisky and tobacco,
-or reducing the duties on imports. On that issue, the Demo-
cratic party, led by the Democratic administration, will be sub-
stantially united in favor of lower import duties; and if a meas-
ure to this end be defeated, the responsibility will rest where it
vwill foekvng, with the Republicans.

Nor need the Republicans expect anything from the extremism
of the Free Traders, as they persist in naming the Revenue
.^Reformers, or from the recalcitrancy of the handful of Protec-
tionists who masquerade as Democrats. These middle men are
mainly from Pennsylvania and Ohio, sure Republican States, and
will be dismissed as common enemies after they have been given
and jhave .refused. A fair chance to act with their party. The

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OUTLOOK. 271

majority of the party is in as little mood to put up with mere
doctrinal trifling as with individual performances. It is led in
the national House of Representatives by conservative and
enlightened men, and the tariff training they have had the last
four years has not been without its instruction. They are ready
for practical legislation and equipped for debate. The measure,
therefore, which they are likely to frame will embrace none of the
features so glibly foretold by the Republican press and hailed so
gleefully by the Republican managers. It will contain a series
of provisions so tangible and plain as to mark the clearest dis-
tinction of party lines, and to leave no doubt in the minds of in-
telligent men — anticipating the assembling of the national
Democratic convention, and constituting in advance the tariff
plank in the national Democratic platform. Nor will its authors
be thrust by a factional organization of the National Democratic
Committee out of the next Presidential campaign, as the friends
of Revenue Reform were thrust out of the last. They will be
present in the East no less than in the West to advocate the views
of the majority and to meet misrepresentation with truth. To
this extent, at least, progress has been made.

The issue between the two parties will in this way be simpli-
fied, and will become a fight for a cheapening of the necessaries
of life through a reduction of excessive imports on everything
that enters into the daily consumption of the people, against free
whisky, to be procured by a repeal of the internal taxes on dis-
tilled spirits, the surplus serving as a very dark lantern to expose
the inequalities and false pretensions of an economic system that,
not content with robbing millions to enrich a few, has piled up a
useless fund in the treasury, to be stolen or wasted.

Hitherto, the Republicans have had it pretty much their own
way, construing and misconstruing Democratic tariff utterances to
suit themselves. The question has now descended from the
heights of theory to the dead-level of business, and it must be
considered in a businesslike way ; as, in fact, the Democratic
leaders in Congress have always proposed to consider it, but as,
unfortunately, certain Democratic bosses out of Congress, and
directly concerned in protected monopolies, have not had the hon-
esty or courage to meet it. Thus submitted to the people, the
Republicans will discover it a horse of quite another color than
the grotesque effigy they have for years set up.

272 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

IV.

The Red Republi- The single issue on which the Eepublican party
cans and Their leaders are united, and to which they can and

Sectional Issue. «•-..«

will appeal with confidence and enthusiasm, is

the sectional issue. They hope, if they do not believe, that in
the folds of the "bloody shirt" one more President is enwrapped,
and, whether there be or not, the "bloody shirt" is a never-
failing recourse of waning party spirit, and can, in extremities,
be relied on to serve many party purposes. We may look, there-
fore, to see it enter very early in the coming session as the oppo-
sition shibboleth and ensign ; an oriflamme to inspire the Repub-
licans and a red-rag to goad the Democrats.

Two excellent pretexts are right at hand by which this may be
done ; the introduction of a pension bill more sweeping than that
vetoed by the President, and a fusillade of partisan resolutions
touching crimes alleged against the franchise in the South.

In both these plans of campaign the ground may be found
uncertain, if not untenable. There is a limit to the just claims
of the soldier upon the bounty of the Government, which must be
admitted even by the Grand Army of the Kepublic ; and when our
pension laws are compared with those of other countries, thought-
ful men are disposed to ask themselves whether this limit was not
reached long ago. Indeed, a pretty general belief has taken
hold of the public mind that thrift lies at the bottom of
that excess of loyalty which so delights in appropriating the
money of others, and a suspicion is gaining currency that
the resonance of the patriotic clamor which followed the veto of
the Dependent Pension Act was largely the work of the claim
agents. As to complaints against the operation of the franchise in
the South, it is worth no man's while to say that they are without
foundation. But it is true to declare that the negro in Missis-
sippi is no worse off in this regard than his ignorant white yoke-
mate in Massachusetts ; and it is positively certain that no remedy
this side of the millennium can be reached short of a total revolu-
tion in the spirit and machinery of our Government.

During one entire decade the Republicans had it all their own
way in the South. They enfranchised the blacks en masse. Very
nearly en masse, they disfranchised the whites. The army and
navy were sent to carry out the scheme of bouleversement,
which went by the name of Reconstruction. After ten years of

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OUTLOOK. 273

trial it fell by its own weight and rottenness. Who shall pro-
pose seriously to go back to it and to set it up again ? Yet, if
this be not the purpose of the agitation of the question in its
sectional form, what purpose have the Republicans in forcing it
upon the country ? Their outcry is very great, and, doubtless,
it is very sincere. Obliged at last to take a dose of their own
medicine, they like it no better than those for whom it was
originally compounded liked it. In short, now as ever, it makes
a considerable difference whose ox is gored.

The true answer which reason and justice have to give im-
patient criticism in this matter may be summed up as follows :
Government must rest upon a responsible basis ; that basis does
not exist among the blacks of the South, and, where they are in
a numerical majority, society will find some means for its own
preservation ; but, on the other hand, society is concerned in law
and order, and can be trusted, in its own behalf, to maintain
these, wherever left to itself. During the reign of force, society
had no other recourse than force, and, as an inevitable conse-
quence, a bloody record of violence ensued. Thrown upon its
own resources, society was not slow to seek milder, but not less
efficacious, measures of defense against the preponderating mass
of ignorance and barbarism. If the native white population were
removed and replaced by an equal number of extreme Republicans
the outcome, would be the same. It is not a sectional, or party,
but a race question.

But, considering the case from a party standpoint, the Red
Republican leaders can never unite the North against the South
upon any sentiment of hostility based upon old sectional preju-
dices and antagonisms. There is nothing to sustain the attempt,
except a job-lot of obsolete partisan freaks and fancies, which will
be everywhere met by the contradicting actualities of love, com-
merce, and religion. The day when it was argued that one South-
ern man could whip six Yankees with a corn-stalk is not deader
than the day when it was thought the first duty of patriotism
to make treason odious and to punish traitors. But the South
can always be united in its own defense against an agrarianism
which loses none of its terror because it happens to be black, and
gains nothing of consideration in the circumstance that it is led
by a few white men claiming exclusive loyalty.

The moment outside pressure is withdrawn parties will divide

274 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

in the South. Whilst outside pressure is applied, the simplest
law of self-preservation will keep the white people together. If
the Republican idea had any breadth or forecast to it, it would
realize this truth, and, accepting it, would bury the bloody shirt,
and seek in the South an honorable, responsible, and logical fol-
lowing. It will find such a following awaiting it whenever it has
the courage to go in quest of it.

These, then, are the grounds on which the Democratic party
may stand and defend its position against the simulation of an
implacable hatred on the part of the Red Republicans. No such
hatred exists among the masses of the North, nor can any such
be justified by fair-minded men. The people of the South are no
more perfect than the people of the North, but they are just as
law-abiding, patriotic, and humane, and are equally interested
in the maintenance of their domestic integrity and in the na-
tional well being. The genius of our free-fabric is home rule,
nowhere clung to with more tenacity than in New England, and
as reasonably might Texas set herself to dictate internal policies
to Maine and Vermont as that a party, wholly sectional, should
seek to lay out the Southern States upon a six-inch Puritan foot-
rule. Each community must regulate itself, and be left to itself.
In the long run good, and not bad forces will predominate, be-
cause it is in every case the interest of society to seek the good,
and not the bad, in the business of self-government.

V.

A Charcoal Sketch ln taking an inventory of the possibilities and
liti°fl Sit P<ti probabilities of the political situation, two forces
are attracting an attention greater than they de-
serve. These are the Mugwumps and the Socialists. The Mug-
wump is the professional gentleman in politics. The Socialist is
the professional adventurer. Neither seems quite clear in his mind,
or steady in his aim ; yet both affect confidence in the virtue of
certain nostrums which they have put upon the market.

Indeed, to be strictly accurate, there is a third claimant for
the recognition of mankind in general, and the notice of the
people of the United States in particular, who has as good a right
and as strong a case as the Mugwump or the Socialist, — I mean
the Prohibitionist. In spite of the black eye he got in Texas the
other day, he, too, will be around next year, confusing the man-
agers and upsetting calculations.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OUTLOOK. 275

All these factions play into the hands of the Democratic party.
The Mugwumps, if they contribute nothing else, supply it a
much-needed press, and the Prohibitionists will cut at least as
deeply into the Eepublican vote as the Socialists are likely to cut
into the Democratic vote. As long as the President continues to
regard himself, and to wish to be regarded as better than his
party, he will satisfy the Mugwumps. Whether he will displease
the rank and file of Democrats sufficiently to cost him the absence
of enough Democrats at the polls to lose him his election remains
to be seen. He has made up an issue largely personal, support-
ing this issue with a great array of practical and valuable reforms
in the conduct of the Government, particularly with respect to the
public lands. Even at this moment it is the administration
against the field, and, having brought the leaders of his party to
a complete, though unwilling, subjection, the President will ap-
peal to the whole vote of the country for a confirmation of his
title. No disinterested man, who takes the trouble thoughtfully
to examine this title, can fail to see that it has a weight not usually
ascribed to it by the professional politicians. To contest it, suc-
cessfully, will require all the resources and address the Kepubli-
cans are able to muster, and even at their best they can hope to
set it aside only through the defection of Democrats in the States
of New York and Indiana.

These are, of course, mere speculations, and in affairs of this de-
scription one man's surmise may be said to be as good as another's,
since it is given to no man to foretell the issue of a horse-race,
the verdict of a petit-jury, or the result of an election. They are
thrown out more than twelve months in advance of the events to
which they relate, rather in the way of suggestion than in the way
of prophecy, and have no claim to consideration other than that
of a disinterested attempt to get at the truth, as it is, with-
out malice or fear or favor ; being, in fact, but the mid-summer
essay of an off-year in political criticism. Nevertheless, the be-
lief is held by the writer that be has given a charcoal sketch of
the present condition of the country, and the actual state of par-
ties, which those professionally and personally concerned may
peruse, not without profit to themselves, and which may amuse,
if they do not instruct, that great multitude of good Americans
who care little what happens so it does not happen to them.

HENRY WATTEKSON.

A SERVICE OF LOVE.

A FRIEND told me that he once overheard the following dia-
logue between two members of the old State militia :

Officer (half jokingly) — " I guess I'll have to report you for dis-
respect to your superior/'

Private (sturdily) — "Report and be hanged. When we get
home Fll discharge you."

For the first and second speaker bore to each other in civil
life the relation of employe and employer.

The vast improvement in the discipline and military spirit of
the National Guard would render the above a matter of extreme
unlikelihood at the present day, and so palpable a lack of courtesy
from an inferior to his officer would even be made the subject of
investigation and punishment by court-martial.

Indeed, the change is immense from the old "umbrella and
corn-stalk militia/' with its village muster and carousing parades
in buff-faced swallow-tails, to the present highly-drilled and
organized force each State has at its call. Yet, organized as these
forces are, highly drilled and improved as they have been, they
have hardly attained perfection, nor are they yet quite ready
to assume the position that will undoubtedly be theirs ; for
in the opinion of the most far-sighted, the regular army is
destined to be supplanted by these State armies, till it becomes
simply a nucleus for them to gather around, and a fountain head
of instruction for the more popular branches.

Certainly when we reflect that the regular army now, with our
population of sixty millions, is no larger, but rather smaller, than it
was in ante-bellum days, with half the people, the importance of
our National Guard must have grown with the population.
Simultaneously with this comparative reduction of the army, too,
our wealth and interests have multiplied enormously, and the
complexities of modern society have brought in their train the

A SERVICE OF LOVE. 277

element of discontent. Every day the country instinctively relies
more on our National Guard, because there is relatively less in
the way of any army to rely on, and still again because the police
forces of our numerous cities have hardly been augmented in pro-
portion to their growth.

Our State armies become our principal defenders in time of
need, and they are really stronger than any army of hirelings could
be, because, being based on free consent, they have the weight of
popular approval to back them. How to bring up this force to the
highest state of efficiency, how to keep it at once an active agent
and yet in harmony with our democratic institutions, becomes,
therefore, a matter worthy of the most careful investigation. Of
the organized forces throughout the country we have a grand
aggregate of 92,734 men, and amongst the different States and
territories $200,000 (lately increased by act of Congress to
$400,000) is yearly distributed. This sum at the requisition of
the Adjutant General of each State is paid in kind, and the right
to share in this is based on the possession of one hundred uni-
formed and organized men for each congressional representative.

Four hundred thousand dollars amongst ninety-two thousand
odd men is not a very liberal allowance, and to make matters worse
the requisitioned supplies are given grudgingly and so slowly
that the necessity has often ceased by the time they arrive.
Early this spring a modest request was made by New York for
targets, but up to the present time I learn that they have not
been received.

Four hundred thousand dollars amongst ninety-two thousand
men amounts to a little more per man than one cent a piece per
diem, and when you think that up to now it has been only half
of this you can readily perceive that the volunteer has not been
exactly pampered at the hands of his government.

But, you say, the State governments make up for this lack of
generosity. Let us see : Vermont allows $13 to each man for his
uniform; the cheapest, however, costs $23, and though the soldier
pays this difference out of his own pocket, Vermont yet claims
that uniform as her own. The rifles with which she arms her
sons have been in use twelve years, and while many of them are
without sights the majority are defective in their mechanism.

Missouri allows nothing to her volunteers, and the expenses
of her late encampment were defrayed partly by voluntary con-

278 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tributions and partly by the sale of tickets to witness a sham
battle.

Imagine the effect upon the morale of troops of seeing a gen-
eral officer, it may be in full feather, taking in gate money, or a
perspiring adjutant clearing the fences of interested but non-pay-
ing spectators.

The condition of things in Indiana last year was even more
distressing, for here, horresco referens, the grand parade was
made in conjunction with Barnum's circus.

Indiana votes no appropriation for her encampment, and al-
lows a flying battery of artillery no horses to fly with.

"As they had no horses," writes the government inspector,
"they had only the standing drill." "I find," concludes the
same authority, "that the great drawback was lack of funds."
In fact, the necessary money " had to be obtained by the sale of
tickets to the fair grounds and Barnum's circus. It did not look
well to see officers in full uniform acting as ticket agents."

The artillery of Alabama is in almost equally hard straits, for
though there are horses (hired, presumably, by the men), some of
the guns have no front sights, while the harness, as if to counter-
vail any feeling of superiority in the possession of quadrupeds,
" is old, and would not stand rough usage." The State, however,
atones for her frugality in this respect by lavishly allowing $50
per quarter to every organized and uniformed company, and if we
take the full complement of the company to be one hundred men,
we obtain the gratifying results of fifty cents per man for one
quarter of a year. This sum, if economically administered and
judiciously spent, would just about keep a man a quarter of a
year in shoelaces.

Kansas and Dakota providing no bedding, the boys sleep on
nice clean straw; and as the former supplies no blankets the
nice clean straw would not stay down, we are told, but blew
about during the last encampment in a manner to blind the run-
ner of a threshing-machine. The State of Iowa allows each en-
listed man of its National Guard four dollars yearly, and on this
extravagant sum he is expected to provide himself with full and
undress uniform. " The money for the clothing is paid into the
hands of the captain on the orders of the men," relates Col.
K. I. Dodge, "and I questioned the captain of a specially dilapi-
dated company as to why his men appeared in such miserable rags.

A SERVICE OF LOVE. 279

' Oh, you see/ was the reply, "the former captain got the money,
bought this [inferior] clothing, and then skipped. 99i Of a truth,
from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he
hath.

Section 31 of the Military Code of Iowa provides certain pen-
alties for breaches of discipline and requires that all suits shall be
brought in the name of the State, adding with a thrift worthy of
the most cautious spinster, that she will, however, in no case pay
the costs of such suits herself. What is the likelihood of an
officer bringing suit against any of his men for an infraction of
discipline if, in the event of his losing it, he must pay the costs
out of his own pocket ?

Minnesota has but sufficient tents for one regiment, while the
overcoats of the wealthy State of New York were made a tenth
of a century ago.* Speaking about overcoats, there are just four
men to each overcoat in the State of Michigan, and during cold
weather her troops are compelled to take turns at them, since it
is manifestly impossible for four of these men, half starved and
emaciated as they presumably are, to occupy one coat at the same
time.

" I noticed," says Colonel Pennington, while speaking of these
same troops, ' ' that many of their bayonets had the screws off,
and a number of rammers were missing from their guns."

They have no canteens or haversacks, and the colonel closes
with a pathetic appeal that they should at least be supplied with
tin cups.

Yet with all this cruel neglect and niggardly treatment at the
hands of both State and General Government the verdict of the
several inspectors whom I have quoted is that the personnel of
our State armies is magnificent, that their drillings and march-
ings often equal and occasionally surpass that of regular troops;
and that if they seem better instructed in mechanical precision
than in the active duties of a soldier, it is because their instruc-
tion has been principally gained in armories. Looking over the
reports on some twenty odd encampments, I should say that the
first requisite for the improvement of these, our national guards,
is a little more liberal treatment at the hands of both General
and State Governments, appropriations in short worthy of the
great service these troops stand ready to perform.

* Overcoats just arrived about eight years late.

280 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

In regard to the personnel of these forces the Government in-
spectors speak, as I have said, in the highest terms. As a
rule they excel in smartness of drill, and many of them have at-
tained to a high degree of perfection in rifle practice. They are
always zealous, anxious to learn the duties of a soldier, quick and
intelligent to a wonderful degree. "I saw many companies,"
says Col. Field concerning the Maine troops, " that inspired feel-
ings of positive envy and a wish to enlist every man." The
defects of our militia force as a whole are "an ex-
uberance of animal spirits on the part of the men that
sometimes gives to their encampments the appearance of
junketing grounds," "intolerable violations of the dignified
relations between officers and men," and in short a scanti-
ness of cermonial and of military discipline. " I was often
saluted by men sitting down and once by a man lying on his
back," relates one Government inspector. " The military salute
was seldom, if ever, given me," reports another, " and at night "
(referring to the annual encampment) "there was a perfect din
of noise, shouting, cheering, singing, and marching about in
squads."

"During a portion of at least two nights" (in another encamp-
ment), observes a third inspector, "the noise caused by the firing
of blank cartridges and loud yells was such as to render sleep
impossible, and the attempts of the guard to suppress this uproar
proved utterly futile. These disturbances did not proceed from
vicious traits or drunkenness, but from the exuberant spirits of a
multitude of young men suddenly brought together."

Now, the inference which these several inspectors draw from
their observations is that the system to which the militia officer
owes his position is responsible for this lack of discipline. Strictly
to enforce order, whether in camp or elsewhere, they argue, is for
the officer to incur a possible loss of popularity with his sub-
ordinates. Now, that officers who are looking to promotion fear
to do this is very likely true, but it seems to me that the trouble
can be also explained by the shortness of the service in camp,
the comparative newness and rawness of many of the men, and
the too evident contempt with which both State and General
Government treat the militia.

From the strictly military standpoint, however, from which these
United States officers naturally look, the election of National Guard

A SERVICE OF LOVE. 281

officers must undoubtedly seem odd, but be it remembered that
these are civilian soldiers, volunteers without bounty ; they must
have some keen inducement to enter the ranks at all, and the chance
of promotion for every one is probably the keenest inducement that
you can give them. Take the State of New York, for instance : the
system is the same. But General Jackson, the United States In-
spector, speaks in the highest terms of the military discipline and
the courtesy from soldiers to officers that prevailed in last year's en-
campment. Does not this show that the system is not at fault ?
He says in his report, "the discipline was indeed admirable. The
men were obedient and respectful. The quiet that prevailed in
camp, particularly between taps and reveille, was remarkable.
Military courtesy, as a rule, was strictly enforced, and the police of
the camp and its surroundings was carefully attended to."

Going on to speak of the efficiency of these elected officers, he
says they have generally a good knowledge of their duties and are
zealous in performing them. lieutenant Thurston, recognized
as a most competent instructor, delivered daily lectures in camp,
and he also in equally high terms alludes to the anxiety of all,
both officers and men, to profit by his teachings.

Of this willingness to learn an amusing illustration was given
me during the last encampment by a bluff old sergeant of a well-
known Irish regiment, for in speaking about his men and their
desire to receive instruction, he said that " if they did not do it
willingly, begorra he'd make 'em do it willingly" ; and as for the
attention to military courtesy, I have seen whole lines of men ris-
ing to their feet and saluting their superiors when I am quite
sure they were beyond the regulation distance. Therefore, I
think it can scarcely be said that the lack of discipline in the
organizations of other States and territories comes from the elec-
tive system. It probably comes, as I have said, from the lesser
attention newer States have been able to pay to military matters,
the shorter time the men have had to derive instruction, and the
contemptuous treatment they have received at the hand of the
Government.

Nevertheless, the elective system can be improved, I think, and
greatly improved, without any very radical change of principle.
At present the officer who is elected has to pass an examination
before receiving his commission, but this is offset by the fact that
no regular progression is necessary. Thus a captain can jlimp

282 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

into a colonelcy, or even a lieutenant, if sufficiently popular, I
suppose, might be raised over the intermediate stages to the same
high rank. What would seem to be preferable is this, that pro-
motions, except in extraordinary cases, should proceed in regular
order, and that the elective principle should be left to the men in so
far as nominating their favorites for the vacancy is concerned ;
then, that the best of these nominees should be selected by com-
petitive examinations.

This would leave all that is good in the elective system,
and would deprive it of its evil features, for there is much that is
good in the elective system, even when directed to the selection
of officers. Bodies of men are quick in discerning traits of char-
acter, courage, firmness, dash, and endurance ; and it is just here,
viz., in determining traits of character such as these, that com-
petitive examinations fail. The knowledge that the nominees
would be subjected to a searching examination of a competitive
character would gradually tend to reduce the value of good fel-
lowship as a qualification in favor of military knowledge as a
qualification ; and if military knowledge is combined with the
traits of character enumerated above, namely, courage, firmness,
dash, and endurance, we have the perfect basis for the perfect
officer.

A factor without doubt contributing much to the high stand-
ard of the National Guard of the State of New York is, I think, to
be found in the extensive disbandments that have taken place.
The dismissal from the service of an inferior force has a good
moral effect upon the rest, and in addition to these disbandments,
the present Adjutant General has consolidated into four effective
brigades the troops previously distributed in eight brigades and
four divisions.

A curious condition of the law touching the responsibili-
ties of the soldier, would, if settled definitely, tend greatly to
the peace of mind of guardsmen as well as of regulars. At
present the civil code says a soldier is only required to obey
his superior if the order is a lawful one. Suppose, for in-
stance, the command to fire is given. The private may be
afterwards held responsible for the results. He must decide
at the time being whether the occasion warrants his pulling the
trigger. In other words, the civil courts may hold him guilty of
murder if he obeys and the military tribunals (I will take an

A SERVICE OF LOVE. 283

extreme case) may punish him with death for disobedience
should he consider it unwise to follow the order of his superior.
He is placed on the horns of an awkward dilemma, and could
only go into action safely with the statutes under his arm and an
able lawyer at his side to expound the legal aspects of each case.

On the other hand, the unfortunate soldier must remember
that on occasion he is expected to act — even without orders. " A
soldier/' says Sir James Mansfield, "is as much bound to pre-
vent a breach of the peace or a felony as any other citizen. In
1780," continues the Chief Justice of Common Pleas, alluding
to a riot in Bristol, '* this mistake (as to the soldier's duties)
extended to an alarming degree, soldiers with arms in their hands
stood by and saw felonies committed, houses burnt and pulled
down before their eyes, without interfering, some because they
had no commanding officer to give the order, and some because
there was no Justice of the Peace with them." The law here is
identically the same as in England on this point, and under the
circumstances it seems hardly too much to say that the statutes
are as necessary to the soldier as a knapsack, and a lawyer as a
captain.

"We have seen that officers of the regular army are an-
nually detailed to the encampments of the different States.
A wise suggestion, as it strikes me, is made by Lieut. Totten, to
return this compliment, and to detail from each State officers of
the National Guard to the encampment at West Point, and to con-
venient army posts. Nor would it be a matter of too great
expense for some of the wealthier States to send an officer occa-
sionally abroad to follow the army manoeuvres of some of those
European nations whose misfortune it has been to have had a
greater experience in modern wars than ourselves.

To argue about the advantage of a uniformity of arms between
the States and the general government would seem to be scarcely
necessary, so palpable ought it to be. For one State to have Sharp's
rifles, another Remington, while the General Government uses
Springfield, is to prevent an interchange of ammunition and ac-
coutrements at a time, perhaps, when such interchange might be
invaluable. The inconvenience of a difference of armament in the
same State is open to the same objection, only with still greater
force. With regard to a uniformity of dress, however, so strict as to
preclude all individuality, the gain seems less pronounced. The

384 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tendency at present is to abolish regimental uniforms in favor of
a State uniform closely approximating to that of the General
Government. So far as a fatigue or active service dress is con-
cerned, this general uniformity of attire is undoubtedly advisable,
but I think a distinctive uniform, and even a showy one for
dress occasions, has much to recommend it. A distinctive uni-
form gives ' ' esprit de corps," undoubtedly tempts and attracts a
larger enlistment, engenders greater care in its preservation, and
keeps alive the martial fervor. I remember talking to a French
officer on this subject, and he told me that there were once but
two sizes of uniforms for the French infantry, and the necessity
of every man to adjust himself to one of these extremes caused
greater dissatisfaction than even could have been produced by
short rations.

Lord Wolseley is equally decided on the value of dress uniforms.
1 f The soldier is a peculiar animal," he says, " who can alone be
brought to the highest efficiency by inducing him to believe that
he belongs to a regiment infinitely superior to others about him.
In their desire to foster this spirit, colonels are greatly aided by
being able to point to some peculiarity in dress." Again he says:
' ' The better you dress a soldier the more highly will he be thought
of by women and consequently by himself."

Smartness, beauty, picturesqueness has its utility, much as
this utilitarian age affects to despise it, and we must not forget
that if we rob the soldier of his glamor there remains to him little
but cold steel.

To sum up, I have endeavored, by glancing at the different
encampments during the past year, to show the necessity of larger
appropriations from both State and General Governments to our
militiamen. I have tried to meet the objections of the inspectors
detailed by the War Department against electing the National
Guard officer, and have ventured to suggest an improvement that
would yet leave the best features of that system intact and with-
out change of principle. I have touched on certain legal aspects
of the responsibilities of our troops ; and instead of the present
mania for tinkering at uniforms and for reducing them down to
a dead level of monotony, I have tried to show how much more
useful would be the same energy in the line of a uniformity
of armament. These, however, are all principally matters of
detail and of technical improvement. There now remains to

A SERVICE OF LOVE. 285

consider what I deem the most important shortcoming of our
National Guard, and I have purposely left it to the last in order
to give to it special weight. The criticism I would make is on
the general plan of their training, for it seems to me that this
has not been of such a character as to develop the highest
efficiency in case of attack from outside.

Armory drills, parades, and annual encampments are extremely
useful as far as they go. They give the rudimentary instruction
of a soldier's career in the best and most practical manner, but at
most they are the trainings of troops by detachments. The mass-
ing of troops from different States together could easily be accom-
plished, and is occasionally necessary for both officers and men.
The concentration of these State forces on our frontiers, and
at possible places of landing on our coasts, practice in rearing
earth- works at the most exposed points, and exercises in handling
heavy ordnance are also essential if our troops are really to be of
practical utility.

The training, up to now, of our National Guard would seem
to have been conducted on the principle of fitting them to re-
press intestine strife alone. They have been drilled too much as
if police work were their only destiny, and as if labor and
capital were expected to be continually flying at each other's
throat.

Fit them also for the blow that may come from without ; thus
and thus only shall they attain the popularity with all classes
that they deserve, and be veritably in all men's eyes the free sons
of a free country shouldering their muskets willingly at their
country's call.

LLOYD S. BRYCE.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 370. 19

THE FUTURE AMERICAN.

WHAT is to be the outcome of the amalgamation of the
numerous languages, races, colors, customs, and conditions of life
in America ?

Are the English-speaking people drifting toward a universal
language and race of the future ?

Is a new type of man in process of development, of a higher or
lower degree ?

The present manifestations of the influence of foreign tongues
upon the English language in America covers too wide a field to
be answered in entirety. In one article, the data on the sjibject
can only be considered briefly and in sections. In the southwest-
ern portion of America the Aztec and Spanish tongues have
stamped themselves upon our language. There we are con-
fronted with a vocabulary of words and phrases of which we have
little or no comprehension. In the Western mining regions are
numerous terms which have become a part of our dictionary, and
which emanated from various foreign sources, and were grafted
into our language. In Louisiana we find a Creole population
from whom the whites borrowed ; a dissemination also of Aca-
dian words which add to the confusion. There we find negroes
who speak the Creole language, or the Acadian, or their own ex-
clusively, or all of them indifferently, or mix one or more so as to
be quite misunderstood by the Northerner. We find that Creoles,
whites, blacks, Frenchmen, and Spaniards have intermarried some-
what, and interbred more with the descendants of these in the
form of quadroons, mulattoes, etc. Many of these have no
definite tongue of their own, and it would require the most skilled
linguist to trace their vocabulary to its many sources. In that
section one finds many people who cannot speak English at all,
although possessed of the soil for over a century ; again others

THE FUTURE AMERICAN. 287

who speak a garbled or mongrel English ; and still others, who con-
verse in several languages but cannot claim any one as their own.
Further north, in such States as Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky,
Tennessee, South Carolina, etc., we find the negro and white
dialects thoroughly amalgamated. In New York State, the Dutch
tongue has left its wreckage all along the Mohawk Valley and
among the Catskill Mountains. In the Western States, there are
large areas where only German, or Scandinavian, or some other
foreign language is spoken. The Irish have introduced many
words from the Celtic tongue. In large cities, such as Chicago,
there is a confusion of German, French, Polish, Chinese,
Japanese, Irish, Greek, Scandinavian, and various other dialects.
In spite of all that can be done — and little is done, by the way —
we find the words and customs of these people stamping them-
selves upon our existence. I have not made a pretension of go-
ing over the entire field, or to speak of Quakers, Down East
Yankees, and the peculiar expressions and words common to
every State as distinguished from those of every other State. One
has only to cross a river at Cairo, 111., for instance, to imagine
that Kentucky or Missouri is some planet far removed from
Illinois, on which he has accidentally been transplanted.

The English tongue has no basis of its own. It has been a
collection of thefts from its incipiency. Its roots extend into
many dead languages, and its branches into all modern. Being
a thief on a colossal scale, it follows necessarily that it is made
richer by every acquisition from the sources mentioned. It may
have become demoralized and degenerated in some instances, but
I take the hopeful and optimistic view, that the grand tendency
of the amalgamation of languages in America is upward and
onward into a broader sphere, with a completer and a more sur-
passing vocabulary than the world has ever seen.

The question of a universal language as the outgrowth of
amalgamation in America seems beyond forecast at present. We
must admit that the vast assemblage of nations on this continent
would have a tendency to make English the universal tongue,
although not in its present form. This would be particularly
true if the English-speaking people should become the majority,
or, by force of numbers, conquer other nations. There can be no
doubt that foreign people who learn English in the United States
materially influence their respective fatherlands. At present

288 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

this is a very important element in the universal language ques-
tion. But we must be frank to admit that the German tongue is
still the superior one, and through it thoughts can find expression
for which the English has no equivalent. We still lack a gram-
mar, and what we call our " grammar " is a heterogeneous con-
glomeration, the laughing stock of foreign scholars and the
despair of our own. We also lack words which no one has been
able to coin, nor does it seem possible to create their perfectly
satisfactory German equivalent into English. On the other hand,
the English vocabulary is surpassing in the number of its words.

In arguing in favor of the English as the universal tongue we
can say that the territory covered by our people is vast, that owing
to a vaster number of occupations, inventions, and progresses,
there are a vaster number of thoughts and ideas to be expressed,
requiring an overwhelming vocabulary. This condition must
have a tendency to engulf all foreign languages into one English
tongue. But what will be the English tongue of the future ?
All foreign languages in future, more than in the past, will con-
tinue to stamp upon the English speaking races their impress,
which will cling to it. It will not do to forecast too much. We
stand upon the borders of the infinite sea of the future, blank to
us, unknown as to the riches it has in store for the human race.

In this connection we must take into consideration the pub-
lication of papers and periodicals in foreign languages in the
United States. The question has already arisen as to whether
these ought not to be suppressed, as retarding the acceptance of
the English tongue by those who have already cast their lot with
America. The abolition of such publications would create much
injury, as they have proved of the greatest possible advantage to
America. When immigrants arrive in the United States they
cannot speak its language and know nothing about its ways and
methods of industrious living. These papers publish American
news in the foreign tongue and give exactly the information these
immigrants most need and could not otherwise obtain with facil-
ity. The new arrivals are thus enabled to settle down to work at
once. As fast as they learn the language they begin taking
American papers as well. Their children, who are invariably
ashamed of their foreign origin, strive to pose as Americans,
change the spelling of their names to make them appear Ameri-
can, and read only American publications. There is still another

THE FUTURE AMERICAN. 289

field of usefulness for the papers published in foreign tongues.
Thousands, yes millions of them, are scattered broadcast in the
old countries, giving full information about America, which could
not otherwise be disseminated among all classes abroad. This
method of reaching old countries invites immigration of desirable
brawn and brain. It must be confessed also that the study of
German in American public schools has proved of great benefit in
broadening the mind and as a mental discipline.

The amalgamation of color in the United States is a very
remarkable spectacle. Negroes are becoming so white skinned,
in many instances, as to lose apparently their African origin, and
are often regarded by those unpossessed of the facts as whites.
This, of course, is generally due not to intermarriage, but to
interbreeding without the formality of a ceremony. The illegiti-
mate descendants of the old slaveholders are exceedingly numer-
ous, and the progeny of these are unmistakably white. These
illegitimate progeny have in most instances inherited brains, and
are smart, well educated people, highly industrious and good
citizens. In brief, it may be said that the tendency of color of
southern races in the United States has been toward the white,
and of the white races toward the red, or copper-color, of the
aborigines. In the latter case climate has been the prime factor,
and its influences are quite visible in many sections. If we were
to cast the horoscope of a thousand years hence we might say
that the whites of that period will be the reds of to-day, and the
blacks and southern races of to-day the whites of to-morrow.

Of the amalgamation of customs much might be said. The
German has made the average American a beer drinker ; foreign
cooking is found on all the better tables in the United States ;
English clothing, manners and styles are borrowed by American
gentlemen, and Paris makes the dresses and fashions for the
ladies. The American army, outside of the graduates of West
Point, is made up of the light-haired Europeans. Foreign
music is cultivated by all classes in America. All of the
lower political offices are in general held by foreign-born citizens.
In the large metropolitan cities ladies purchase and use more
cigarettes than men, a custom imported from southern lands.
But while the American is taking these customs upon himself, he
is also influential abroad. His inventions go into all foreign
countries, and he follows to explain their use. The English and

290 T]SE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

American men-of-war have pushed into isolated places and forced
in the missionary and white-race customs and trade.

In borrowing, the English speaking people capture many from
whom they borrow, and in lending, force the lenders to become
like themselves somewhat.

It is perhaps impossible to fathom the outcome of inter-
marriage of races in America and the consequent intermixture of
blood. The result ought to be the same as among the lower ani-
mals. If a cat and dog, for instance, are interbred, a result may
be obtained ; but nature stops there and will permit no further
descendants from the resulting object. But species of the same
family invariably interbreed with the best of results, often produc-
ing a higher type of an animal. The human family all belong to
the same genus. The intermixture of blood ought to have a
health-giving influence on the descendant. If the descendant in-
herits the best traits physically and mentally of ancestry, certainly
this would be true. I am inclined to believe, in fact forced to ad-
mit from observation, that such has been the case in America, and
that intermarriage has resulted in a higher type of brains and
physique, although no specific race is prepared, through pride, to
make such an admission.

We now find ourselves confronted with the greatest question
of modern times, viz. : What is to be the American of the future ?
History would show that nations which lived unto themselves
have died out. To say that we are living over their lives, litera-
ture and thoughts — that there is nothing new under the sun — is
the greatest libel on the grandest age in the history of the world.
The past is scarcely the basis of the present and future. The
growth of man intellectually during the past ten years is greater and
of more importance than that during his entire previous history.

If, then, other nations died out because they lived unto them-
selves, it is proof presumptive that an intermixture of races by
intermarriage, and in customs and languages, must endure for-
ever. This assemblage of nations on the American continent ;
this rapid development of a universal language by the amalgama-
tion of all tongues, past and present ; this formation of a single
race of man out of all races, can only be regarded as a colossal
scheme of nature to infiltrate new life into humanity, and pro-
duce an enduring and higher type of man and language.

WILLIAM HOSEA BALLOU.

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY.

IT is entirely proper to "regulate," by law, good things which,
in the hands of bad men, are liable to abuse. The law-making
and law-enforcing power may be properly invoked to regulate
transportation by rail or water, the law may be called upon to
declare what is proper interest, and at what point interest leaves
off and usury begins, and the law may also regulate the sale of
necessary drugs to prevent their misuse by careless, immoral, or
bad men.

But an evil, a known, marked, admitted evil, an evil which
has no admixture of good, an evil which the sense of the entire
civilized world has branded as an evil, can no more be " regulated"
than a barrel of powder can be fired off by degrees.

Any evil that needs regulation needs death. If it be an evil,
if the world ackno wledges and regards it as an evil, killing is the
only remedy.

What would be thought of a proposition to make :

A Law regulating Adultery,

A Law regulating Burglary,

A Law regulating Arson,

A Law regulating Larceny,

A Law regulating Highway Kobbery,

A Law regulating Forgery,

A Law regulating Assault and Battery,

A Law regulating Wife Beating,
and so forth ?

These crimes are not to be regulated. They are forbidden. The
law does not say, " You MAY, under certain Rules and Regula-
tions, do these things;" but, for the protection of society, it says,
" You shall NOT," and when the law is broken swift punish-

292 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

ment is meted out to the offender in any country where law really
holds sway.

All offenses against what civilization has decreed to be good
are absolutely prohibited, and punishment is prescribed for the
offender. The violator of any of the laws of the country expects
the punishment prescribed, if he be convicted thereof, and no
party has ever been organized to in any way change the nature
either of the crime or punishment. There has never been a prop-
osition made to change the estimation in which these crimes are
held, neither have those addicted to them ever asked that the
protection of the law be thrown over them, or that they should be
given any consideration. They are crimes against society,
crimes against God and man, and are treated as such.

The traffic in intoxicating liquors is a greater crime than any
of these, because it is the parent and cause of all of them, with
pauperism, insanity, wretchedness, and everything that is included
under the general head of human misery thrown in as make-
weights. It is the only traffic on earth permitted to exist that
is based upon pure selfishness, and that lowest of all low kinds
of selfishness which sees suffering of the most frightful kind
unmoved, and which makes profit out of the sufferings of others.
There is no traffic permitted to exist so destructive of every-
thing that is good, and so promotive of everything that is
bad. It blights, it sears, it rots, it decays, it destroys what-
ever it touches. If the seller outlives the buyer, it is only be-
cause he is cold-blooded enough to make profit out of the destruc-
tion of his fellows without exposing himself to the danger they in-
vite, but in the end it kills him. It so worries what little good
there may have been in him originally, that if liquor itself does not
finally get hold of him, the demoralization inseparable from it
brings him to a frightful end in some way. He can no more es-
cape than his victims.

It is the cause of ninety per cent, of the pauperism with
which the world is afflicted, and which good men have to pay for,
and fully ninety per cent, of the crime in the world may be
charged to the same cause. It makes paupers and criminals of
men in the first instance, and entails pauperism, insanity, and an
irresistible tendency to crime upon posterity. There is but little
use in saying this, for it has been said and proven a thousand
times over.

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 293

The fact that liquor-using is idiocy, and liquor-selling crime,
being admitted, we come to the one question, " What are you
going to do about it ?"

A vast majority of thinking men say — prohibit it. Treat it as
you do any other crime — call it crime, treat it as crime, punish it
as crime. They want this monster which is eating the very
foundation out of everything that is good and decent in society
strangled and buried, without the benefit of clergy, with the stake
of public opinion thrust through its foul body.

But, unfortunately for humanity, there is another class who
say "No" to this, the only direct way of reaching the evil.
They admit the criminality of the business ; they admit its utter
and entire infernalism ; they admit that it is ruin, past, present,
and future, but they say "Kegulate" it. And they base their
demand for Eegulation upon three propositions.

First. That Prohibition does not prohibit; that where you
close the saloons with Prohibition, the drug stores and secret
resorts continue to furnish the material for drunkenness the same
as ever.

Second. That license, which is their favorite form of regula-
tion, compels the rumseller to pay into the public treasury what-
ever amount is assessed upon him, which goes to make up to the
community a part, at least, of the cost of the traffic.

Third. That under a license system the law will have some
control of the traffic, and thus confine it to respectable men.

Never in the world were there three more untenable or absurd
positions.

First. No Prohibitionist claims or ever has claimed that
Prohibition does away with the use of intoxicating liquors entire-
ly. Everybody knows that in the Prohibition States of Maine,
Iowa, and Kansas, liquors are bought, sold, and drank. No one
supposes that an appetite which was productive of disastrous re-
sults so far back as when the human family consisted of but
eight persons, and, so far as we know, was the cause of the re-
duction of the human family to that number, and which has
been steadily increasing ever since, the same as leprosy, the
syphilitic taint, and other curses which in the providence of God
have been let loose upon mankind, can be stopped at once by the
mere edict of a State Legislature. " Thou shalt not steal,"
" Thou shalt not commit adultery," with eight other " Thou

294 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Shalt Nots," were thundered from Sinai some thousands of years
ago, the utterances were clothed with the authority of the
Eternal, and the penalty for' violation, misery on earth and
damnation hereafter, accompanied the Divine command ; but, all
the same, all these commandments are violated to-day, as they
were yesterday and will be to-morrow, if to-morrow comes.

Does any one suppose for a moment that the rum-enthralled
soaker of Portland, whose stomach would make a fair war map of
Virginia, in whose enfeebled system the fires of alcoholization
have been burning and eating for years, is not going to continue
to have the stimulant upon which he has lived so long ? He
would have it were it forbidden by twice the authority of the
utterer of the Ten Commandments, and were the penalty thrice
that spoken by the Almighty and written by Moses.

Does any one suppose that the young thief, or the still younger
harlot, the one who wants fictitious courage for the commission of
crime, and the other a quick and sudden Lethe in which to find
forgetfulness, will be without what they have made necessary to
them?

Does any one suppose that the fast young man who has gotten
himself well along the road which has but one ending, is going to
be deprived of his wine at his club, and all the accompaniments
to the life he has been drawn into ?

Does any one suppose that the proprietress of the brothel is
not going to have wine and other stimulants to inflame the habitues
of her place, especially as her profit on this branch of her fright-
ful trade is five hundred per centum ?

Who so believes, knows nothing of human nature. Give profit
enough, and facilities for breaking this law will be found just
as plenty as for the breaking of any other. Is there theft in
Portland ? Is there adultery ? Is there Sabbath-breaking ? Is
there murder ?

As a matter of course liquor will be sold and drank, no matter
what laws are enacted against it. But, mind you, under the well
enforced Prohibition laws in those States, the drinkers are only
those who are already ruined, either in whole or in part, and, leav-
ing out individual hardships and individual heart-strings as well,
it makes precious little difference how much this class gets of it.
Confirmed drinkers and confirmed hoodlums are, as a rule, incur-
able, and the sooner they are out of the way, so far as the com-

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 295

munity is concerned, the better. It would be a good thing to
give all of these classes all they want, that the reproach of their
living might be removed as soon as possible. There is no knife
to remove the cancer of appetite when once fixed; there is no
medicament that can resuscitate the will-power drowned in alcohol.
In ninety-nine cases in a hundred the' man once enrolled in the
great army of drunkards remains true to his flag, and he marches
to no other drum-beat. His fate is fixed, and to the community
at large the sooner death relieves him from the service the better.
In life he is a curse to himself, a burden either to some one in-
dividual or to the community at large, and what power he wields
by virtue of his having been born a man, and being borne upon
the census rolls as a man, is always wielded to the detriment of
everything that is decent and good.

Were this class the only ones affected by the open saloons, I
would have them open wide their doors. The community could
well afford to furnish the rum to kill off quickly the confirmed
drunkards, for modification is impossible in nine hundred and
ninety-nine cases in a thousand, and a complete cure is out of the
question.

These confirmed victims of the drink habit will have it, and
so long as they will have it, and can beg, borrow, or steal the
money to pay for it, men will be found who will furnish it to
them. It may be a druggist who keeps a back room — it may be
an ingeniously contrived hole in the wall or cellar — it may be
almost anything, but it can and will be had. In Portland the
construction of hiding places for illicit liquor is a regular business
out of which one or two men make a rich living.

The admission that Prohibition does not entirely prohibit is
no argument against Prohibition. It does prohibit, and at the
right place. The dealer who is compelled by virtue of the sweep-
ing Prohibitory law, to which penalties are attached, and which
penalties are enforced when the crime is brought home and
fastened, may and will sell to confirmed drunkards, but what is
he going to do with the boys and the young men who are not con-
firmed drunkards ? He dare not sell to them, and much less dare
he entice them into his place. The claws of the hyena are pared
and its teeth are extracted. The rum-soaked wretch who must
have it can always get it, because his appetite seals his lips and
makes him an unwilling witness, but the boy is not so prudent.

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

And, besides, it is not constantly in the way of the boy. The
gilded saloon, with its light, and warmth, and glitter, and show,
is not on every corner, furnishing him a more than comfortable
lounging place. There is no place open where he can hear
the laugh, the song, -the jests born of rum, which amuse him
more and more as he hears them. To get rum he must go in
search of it, and he must undergo the severest kinds of tests before
the seller dare commit himself to the chances of furnishing it to
him. The young man who lays the foundation of his ruin by oc-
casionally taking a drink with a friend, because he is invited,
rather then because he wants it, is spared this temptation. The
laboring man who drifts into the whirlpool because he wants a
place that is warm and light, where he can read a newspaper, talk
politics, or play at games, finds no such place under Prohibition,
and he spends his evenings at home, where he should be, seven
nights in the week. These classes, which furnish recruits to the
great army, are saved, because there is nothing enticing to invite
them. It costs more than it comes to to find the stuff, and, when
found, there is nothing but the baldest and coldest inducement
for them.

Second. The only way that any one has found yet to " regulate"
the liquor traffic is to license the sale of liquor, exacting a penalty in
money from each one licensed, thus prescribing who may sell and
who may not. Two things are sought for in this, or rather one
thing is actually sought for, and the other is pretended to be. The
thing that is actually sought for is the money for the license ; the
pretended thing is that no license shall be issued except to re-
spectable persons.

It is true that the licensing of the sale of liquor does pour
money into the public treasury at a fearful rate, because the
profit on the business enables it to pay almost any tax without
material injury to it. The brewer who has a net profit of $2 a
barrel on his product cares but little what tax is put upon the re-
tailer, who is always his man. He cares, as a matter of course ;
for the less impediments put in the way of his nefarious business
the better for him, but it makes but little difference. Few of the
large breweries manufacture less than 100,000 barrels a year, and
the tax imposed by a license upon each of his retailers is nothing
to a man with an income of $200,000 per year. Make it $200, as
it is in Ohio now, under the " Dow Law," and he laughs at it.

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 297

Where the tax is low he does not pay it, because the retailer can
well afford to. All the retailer has to do is to be a little more en-
terprising in seducing weak men and thoughtless boys into his
den, and the amount is easily made up. His profits are so enor-
mous that a tax of $200 per year is nothing to him. He makes it
up by the ruin of a few more than he would have been content
with without it.

This tax does close out a few grocers who combine liquor with
other goods, but that is the very class who do no special harm.
Liquor is not their principal business, and they give it up if it
does not pay, and the fact that a tax of $200 compels them to
give it up shows how little damage they do. The aggressive
liquor dealers, — those whose business it is to hunt men and boys,
— they laugh at it. They go on just the same, only they put
enough extra work into their business to make up for what the
State exacts from them.

Eaise the tax to $500, or even $1,000 per year, and the result
is the same. The brewer reimburses himself by adding some-
thing to the price per barrel to the retailer, and the retailer makes
himself good by adding a cent a glass to the price to the drunk-
ard. As to the retailers of whisky, they care nothing for it.
Another bucket of water in each barrel of whisky makes them
all right with the tax. The dealer has a mortgage on the stom-
ach and the nerve system of his customer, and he is absolutely
sure of him. If for rum a man will pawn his wife's last gown, or
his children's shoes, or the tools he lives by, does it make any
difference to him whether the price is five cents or ten ? The
better class of drinkers can afford any price, the lower grade can-
not help themselves. They must have it, and they will have it.
Tax, indeed ! It is not as it is with flour, and meat, and dress-
goods. The poor slave may choose whether he will or will not
buy those things, but rum he must and will have, and price is
nothing in the count.

I repeat. The manufacturers and dealers have it all their own
way. The poor victim must have it, and will have it, no matter
what the price may be. Price is nothing to him. Food for him-
self and family, clothing, shelter, and fuel — when a man can part
with all these for rum, it makes no difference to him what the
price may be. He will have it.

True, a license law pours money into the treasury, but put the

298 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tax as high as you choose, the amount of this blood money does
not and cannot bear any proportion to the cost of the traffic to the
community. It does not pay one per cent, of the money-cost to
the public, to say nothing of the tears and anguish it occasions.
These latter items may not count in the mind of a stern legislator,
but to the mother whose life is one of abject misery, who sees be-
fore her the certainty of harlotry for her daughters, and the pen-
itentiary and gallows for her boys, it does count something. Her
interest, in this question cannot be expressed with figures with a
dollar mark before them. But the figuring member of the legisla-
ture, no matter how much he may brush up his stiff iron-gray hair,
cannot show that the heaviest tax makes the community good for
the money-cost of the liquor traffic. We do not ask him to con-
sider the moral or heart aspect of the case at all.

One should be ashamed to write on the dollar-and-cent aspect
of the trade with the black shadows of the misery it inflicts hang-
ing over him, but there are those who can only be reached through
the pocket. The people of the United States pay one thousand
millions of dollars per annum for drink alone. What an infini-
tesimal figure the money taken for licenses cuts compared with
this colossal sum ! Figure up the cost of your police system, your
jails, penitentiaries, alms-houses, criminal courts, insane asylums,
with the thousand other items that should be charged to rum, and
then compare it with your petty little license fees ! Toledo, Ohio,
pays $3,000,000 per annum for rum. The city supports a costly
police force and has an expensive infirmary, house of correction, in-
sane asylum, and gorgeous courts, — police and criminal, — and the
receipts from licenses, all told, amount to about $80,000 ! Rum
does not pay in license one per cent, of its direct cost to the com-
munity.

Third. The claim that a system of license confines the
business to men of respectability is absurd. There can be
no such thing as " respectable" whisky sellers. I mean exactly
what I say. It is true the proprietors of the Fifth Ave-
nue Hotel are whisky sellers because there is a bar in the
house, and it is true that the place is kept quiet, and that only a
certain grade of people are admitted. But because they do not
show themselves they are not counted as whisky sellers in the
general business sense of the word.

But they do more damage to humanity than the regulars, and

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 299

this class is the first who should be wiped out. How many
respectable men are in the business, or ever have been ? There
is that in the trade which prevents respectability.

A man may enter it as pure as a snow-flake and in a year
every particle of decency will be rubbed out of him. No man
can sell the poison, or be where it is sold, without going by the
board, morally.

He sees in a bar-room, I care not how respectable it may be,
only the nasty side of humanity. The bar and the rooms adjoin-
ing where liquor is sold is where all the smut in the world is
originated, and it is where it is retailed and given currency. In
these places is where the prize-fighting, the foot-racing, the
amusement-gambling of all kinds, is most securely entrenched.
There is nothing that is vile or demoralizing that has not whisky
for its centre — whisky is the magnet which attracts everything
that is indecent, demoralizing, and criminal. Bets are arranged
for yacht and base-ball in the bar of the fine hotel, burglaries and
murders in the low grade saloons. It is all bad, it is all vile, it is
only a question of degree. The wealthy debauchee frequents the
Hoffman House, the low ruffian finds his place in Baxter street.
But whisky is the inspiration of both, and their ends and aims
are exactly alike. It is merely the difference between broadcloth
and fustian. There is rotten and rotting mankind under both.

Did anybody ever know of any one being refused a license
under a license law because of moral unfitness ? Ah, no. In
States where the applicants are required to publish their applica-
tions, what sort of men make up the long list ? The fine hotels
are there as a matter of course, but side by side with them are the
lowest grade of dives — the vilest places, kept by the vilest men and
women.

They get their licenses, never fear. The licensing board dare
not offend this class by refusing them. And why ? Because
these very men make the licensing board. The board is made up
by and for these moral pests for their protection. They make
the power that makes the licensing power, and they control it.
Year after year the sickening farce is played — the lowest and most
notorious of the low dives get their license and are authorized to
keep their thieves' resort as " respectable" men. License neither
diminishes the number nor betters the character of those engaged
in the nefarious business.

300 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

License does not do the only thing which should be done with
the traffic — it does not kill it. I have no patience with the religious
sentimentalism that whines about " Licensing a sin/' and all that.
If a license law would shut an appreciable number of groggeries,
and make it more difficult for men and boys who are not caught
by the drink habit, I should say license in default of anything
better. A family saved from utter ruin is so much good done — a
boy saved from ruin is so much good done. The person who
would do what he or she can to help humanity has no right to re-
ject any aid. A half loaf is better than no bread, and if license
could be shown to be even a half loaf I should take it eagerly.

But it is not. It does not lessen the amount of liquor sold; it
does not improve the personelle of the wretches engaged in the
nefarious business, and if it does drop money with one hand into
the public treasury, it takes it out with the other in increased
charges and more shameless raids upon the attenuated purse of
the individual victim. It does not stop the traffic. It does not
stop the infernal raid upon humanity which is filling jails and
lunatic asylums and feeding the gallows. It leaves the conscience-
less wretches who are hunting men and boys to pursue their
infernal trade, with the additional protection that law gives them.
It keeps the saloon open on the most prominent corners, with its
private rooms for the initiation of the young into the vices of
which it is the centre and inspiration. It makes liquor free, it
licenses with the sale all the horrible devices for strengthening its
reign and consolidating its power. It leaves the enormous class
of weak men and inexperienced boys, which society is bound in
its own interests, if not in theirs, to protect — it leaves them open
to approach the same as before.

It throws no shield over the helpless wife, or the naked, hungry
child. It leaves the State with the regular burden of lunatics and
paupers. The mill grinds on just the same, and the never ending
grist of fresh humanity, with capabilities for good, goes into the
hopper, and out comes the horrible product of lunatics, paupers,
and criminals, just the same.

The wail of the worse than widow, the cry of the starved and
suffering child goes up to Heaven, but human fatuity has inter-
posed the shield of " Regulation," and no answer comes. Regu-
lation, forsooth ! Can the vitiated appetite of the boy be ( ' regu-
lated ? " Is there any way to regulate the man or boy who has

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 301

implanted within himself an appetite which has taken from him
every particle of will-power ? Can you save a man with a fever in
any other way than to remove the cause of the fever ? ' ' Kegula-
tion ? " Do you want to take a census to enumerate your children
and say, " I will so regulate this evil that this child shall be mine
and that one the saloon keeper's ? " In brief, do you want to
perpetuate an evil, or do you want to kill it ? If the rum power
really owns the State and community, in God's name let it have
its way in peace. If it does not, if humanity has any rights, if
the State and the family have any claim to be considered, let the
law assert itself, and stamp it out. It is regulated in Ohio, it is
prohibited in Maine, Kansas, and Iowa. Ohio is given over to
rum and beer. In the others the coming generation, at least, are
free from the horrible crime.

At the risk of prolixity I want to re-refer to one or two points
already touched upon.

There are two lies which have always been accepted as truths,
that ought to be exploded : The first is, " Men will drink in spite
of all the law in the world."

Men will not drink until they have been educated to drink.
No man was ever born with an appetite for liquor save those
unfortunates born of drunken parents. They take to it more
kindly than others, but it requires temptation to start even them
on the short but steep road. No natural stomach ever craved it.
After the boy has been enticed into a whisky or beer shop, and
has been plied with the horror a certain time, he wants it more
and more every day, and the time comes when he will have it at
no matter what cost, but it takes months of bedevilment to bring
him to that pass. Of himself he is neither going to hunt the ruin
nor take it after he has found it. It is a matter of education, and
the brewer, and his agents, the saloon keepers, are the educators.
The drunkard is made, not born.

The other lie is that quotation of Pope's which is more
quoted than almost any other in the language :

" "Vice is a monster of such frightful mie«,
That to be hated needs but to be seen,
But, seen too oft, familiar with its face,
First we endure, then pity, then embrace."

Pope sacrificed sense to sound. Vice never puts itself up in.-.
VOL. CXLV.— NO. 370. 20

302 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

frightful form at the beginning. On the contrary, vice is alwaj s
clothed in light and is always pleasant and as alluring as the ingenu-
ity of the devil can make it. Vice, in gin mills, has gorgeous mir-
rors, cut glass ornaments, bright, cheery furniture, and the most
gorgeously beautiful pictures that human genius can devise.
Artists of the highest ability are employed to make these places
beautiful, and their art is prostituted into a decoy. Is there any-
thing frightful in the gorgeous bar-room of the Hoffman
House, with its walls made luminous with nude nymphs warm
from the sensuous brush of Bouguereau ? Is there anything
frightful in the wonderful pictures which speak to the senses
from all the walls ? Not at all. Thousands throng that wondrous
place to see those jewels so appropriately set. What are they
there for ? The proprietor probably knows no more of art than
the pig does of Sunday, but other people do, and he paid his
money for the best in art. What for ? In the interest of
art ? Ah, no. These pictures are so many decoys. The young
man whose pulse quickens as he stands before this work of for-
bidden beauty, must patronize the bar, and he drinks, paying
two prices for what he consumes. He takes this art bait kindly,
and comes again, or goes straightway to other bars of the same
kind, whose proprietors give him quite as tempting excuses. The
proprietors are simply rumsellers, and these fittings and accessor-
ies are their advertisements.

Vice does not stop with beauty on its walls. Vice has the
liquors it kills with, of the warmest and most seductive colors.
Its wines sparkle, it puts pure cold vestal ice into glasses, through
which prismatic rays dart and glitter to the enticement of the eye ;
it adds to that sugar of the whitest and purest, lemon of the rich-
est and coolest colors, and liquors that look as beautiful as a
painter's dream, and it mixes the delicious compound in a way
that would seduce an anchorite. And the compounder has dia-
monds blazing from his immaculate shirt-front, his hair is combed
and brushed in most careful particularity, his apron is of the
whitest and his boots are polished to the last degree. And then
this compound, which is seduction to the eye as well as the stomach,
is not shoved at the victim coarsely or carelessly. The very mix-
ing of it is artistic. In the most tantalizing way the right hand
of the low priest of vice pours the glittering mixture in a rainbow-
"like stream from one beautiful glass to another, permitting it to

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 303

dance through the air, giving you as many tints as there are in a
kaleidoscope, and filling space with a delicious perfume. The
drink is a work of art. There is a seduction in the clink of the
ice against the sides of the glass, there is a treacherous kindliness
in the " glug, glug, cloop, gug glug" of the liquor as it leaps out in
an amber stream over the ice, and lights up with brilliant color its
crystal whiteness, and when the compound is completed it is per-
mitted to stand a moment while the rim of another glass, as thin
as paper and as beautiful as a fairy's dream is dipped into pure
refined sugar, making an inexpressibly delicate frosting, the vision
is poured into this, the whole then crowned with cool green leaves
of mint, with slices of lemon artistically disposed, and with ripe
luscious red strawberries nestling lovingly among them ; well, talk
of vice putting on a frightful mien. Why there is nothing more
beautiful in the world. No housewife so decorates the dishes she
places before her guests ; nowhere can anything so absolutely
esthetic be found.

But the bottom, the foundation of the whole is alcohol, and
that bites and stings just the same as though it came hot from the
still, and was drunk out of a tin dipper. The eye, and sight, and
the other senses are used to betray the young man at his vulnera-
ble points, the stomach and brain, and the law gives the greedy
seller the right to do it.

Is there anything frightful in the heated air that steals up from
unseen sources in the winter and the cooled air that comes without
call in the summer ? Is there anything frightful in the flowers
they have for your delectation all the seasons, and the things of
beauty with which they surround you ? Ah ! no, indeed.

But what has all this to do with license ? Everything. When
an advocate of license wants to crush a Prohibitionist he takes him
to one of these places to show what the liquor business should be,
and would be were it properly conducted. The idiot does not
realize that these are the places that should be remorselessly
crushed out first of all ; that these places are the ones above all
others that should be killed. These are the recruiting stations.
These are the places where young men congregate, because they
are respectable. Here is where Vice exerts her greatest power,
because she is disguised and in her best array. The skeleton is
puffed, padded, and painted.

If mankind had to deal with the hideous, frowsy, filthy

§04 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

termagant Pope has in his mind, there would be no danger, to
the young at least. After dealing awhile with the syren who
invites him, he will and does become so depraved as to deal with
the hag, but not at the beginning.

When it comes to the " frightful mien," it is when vice has
him safe in her clutches, and does not need to masquerade. It
is after the fancy drinks have done their work that vice finds
that sugar, lemon, pounded ice, and all that is wasted, that all
she needs to finish with is plain matter of fact alcohol, undis-
guised. Then vice becomes hideous, but she cares not. She is
then dictating terms — not the victim. So that he gets the alco-
hol it does not matter whether it is served by a sprucely dressed,
be-diamonded young man, or a toothless hag whose hair has not
known a comb from girlhood. It may come from washed or un-
washed hands, the alcohol is all that is wanted ; the shortest road
to death on a dung-hill or the padded cell in the lunatic asylum
is what the victim wants then, and he will get it no matter what
laws stand in his way.

Now, what are you going to do with these gilded places where
your boys are seduced ? License them ? Better license the
places of low resort, the finishers.

The young man who is seduced into these places by the cut
glass and wonderful concoctions will not long stay there. Ah,
no ! The time will come when his blunted senses will have no
enjoyment of these beautiful surroundings ; when all he will re-
quire will be the straight, unadulterated liquor ; when he will care
nothing for surroundings, but drink for effect only. He goes
from the Hoffman to the Bowery, and from the Bowery to Bax-
ter street. He is as sure to come to it as the sun is to rise and set
so many days. He starts with the cut glass and the strawberries,
but the day will come when the bottle will be good enough for
him, and that day is never far distant. It only takes a few years,
— sometimes months, — to mark the time. There is no disease
that does its work so certainly and none so quickly.

Looked at from any point of view, " Regulation " of the liquor
traffic is not to be thought of, provided the liquor traffic is wrong.
"When you have conceded the necessity of " Regulation," you have
conceded the necessity of Prohibition. If it is an evil that calls
for legal intervention at all, it calls but for one kind, and that is
destruction. A good thing that may be abused may be regulated,

HIGH LICENSE NO REMEDY. 305

but not a bad thing, which, the whole world concedes to be bad
through and through. You license the respectable makers of
drunkards with a faint hope of prohibiting the traffic by the
finishers of the work. Humanity does not want " Regulation/'
It makes no difference to the starving and freezing wife whether
her rum-enthralled husband gets his liquor at the licensed
drunkery or at a free one. He will have it anyhow, at no matter
what cost. But it does matter to the suffering mother whether
there shall be licensed rum shops on every corner, full of light,
full of beautiful things, warm in the winter and cool in summer,
full of enticements, which, under the protection of the law, shall
entice her children into their awful devil-fish embrace, and add
to the horible curse of a drunken husband boys certain to be
drunkards and girls certain to be harlots. It makes a difference
to the community at large, to the tax-payers, whether the evil
shall go on, the black stream rolling on for ever, bank-full.
License, which is Regulation, means its perpetuation, its continu-
ance, without let or hindrance. Prohibition means the saving of
the coming generations and the help of those now on the road.
One strengthens traffic — the other is an honest attempt at its
suppression.

That is the difference between Regulation and Prohibition.

DAVID R. LOCKE.

•,

WHY I AM NOT A HEATHEN.

A REJOINDER TO WONG CHIN FOO.

I DRAW a sharp distinction between Keligion and Ethics. Re-
ligion pertains to the heart. Ethics deals more with outward
conduct. Religion inculcates principles. Ethics lays down rules.
Religion without Ethics is like a disembodied spirit ; Ethics with-
out Religion is a body from which the soul has fled. The most
intelligent form of Heathenism, namely, Confucianism, never
taught the " relations and acts of individuals toward God," the
Ruler of the Universe. Confucius inculcated a lofty morality,
but left Religion to shift for itself.

f ' Born and raised a heathen, I learned and practiced its moral
and religious code," by worshiping the prescribed number of
idols, and I was useful to others, though not to myself, because I
helped to fatten the lessees of the temples, incense-venders and
idle priests. " My conscience was clear, " because I knew not
what I was doing, "and my hopes as to the future life were un-
dimmed by distracting doubt/' simply because they were never
very bright. In fact, I was not precocious enough to think much
on the subject.

I came under Christian influences at the age of thirteen, and
I am ashamed to confess that I did not take to Christianity kindly
at first, and for three years to come, — for it takes a long time to
weed out error, and my Chinese friends and teachers had taken
special pains to prejudice my mind against Christianity. But in
1876 that grand man of God, Mr. Moody, came to proclaim the
Gospel in Springfield, Mass. I attended the meetings and listened
to his presentation of the truth with wonder, and, at length,
with conviction of my lost estate, of my need of redemption. I
had a personal interview with Mr. Moody, and was strengthened
in my resolution to be a Christian. That was one of the happiest

WHY I AM NOT A HEATHEN. 307

periods of my life. I did not join the church then, as friends
advised me to wait ; for it was feared that the Chinese Commis-
sioner of the Educational Mission, to which I belonged, might
send me home before I got well started on the right road. I
identified myself with Christians, and took part in all religious
exercises ; and certainly friends there are who can testify that I
became more gentle and more thoughtful of others. I got along
well with my studies, because my mind was free and I had
learned concentration. When the Chinese students were recalled
in 1881, I went home with the rest. The mandarins made some
attempt to draw us back to heathenism, with varying success.
Not confident of my strength to stem the current that was setting
in toward heathenism, I left the naval school as soon as I could
get leave of absence, went to Canton, and joined the Presbyterian
Church in charge of Rev. Dr. A. P. Happer. I had to give up
the government service and heathenism at the same time ; but do
you suppose I regretted it ?

I did not bother myself with the peculiarities and shortcomings
of different denominations. It mattered little to me which sect I
identified myself with. For the frailties of human nature are no
part of Christianity. They are the very things it teaches us to
overcome. There are as many conceptions of Christianity as
there are men who give any thought to the subject. But Chris-
tianity is one ; it is like its head, — the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever. It appears to be distorted on account of the human
medium through which it must pass. But the very fact that so
many people misunderstand it, misapply its principles, and abuse
its privileges, is proof positive of its Divine origin. Whatever
is human can be understood of man ; whatever is from God can
only be apprehended imperfectly by man.

Thus, I not only discriminate between Christianity in the
abstract and Christianity in the concrete, but also between its
correct application and its perversion. There was at one time a
dyspeptic who preached a crusade against eating. He argued
that, because a great many men abused it, and injured themselves
by eating too much, and ruined their health by defying its rules
and violating its principles, therefore the whole doctrine and
practice of eating was a humbug. He said, moreover, that eat-
ing, instead of giving health and maintaining life, was every day
making people sick, and in some cases people had actually died

308 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

from eating. In consequence of such representations, he con-
verted a great many to his views, and was hailed as a great
deliverer of mankind. The more zealous of his followers eschewed
eating, and, as they persisted to the last, of course they died. Then
people began to open their eyes, and said : " Since without eating
we die any way, while with eating we may live to a green old age,
we will stand by eating and let those cranks do as they please."
The doctrine and practice of Christianity is very much like the
doctrine and practice of eating.

I did not have much difficulty in believing the Bible to be an
inspired book. If the wickedness and imperfections of men ob-
scured the mercifulness and goodness of God, it was a great pity ;
but that is no argument against Christianity. Clouds may get be-
tween me and the sun, but I believe it is there, and that it shines
all the same.

I did not profess to comprehend the Divine Will, Purpose,
Wisdom, and Justice, in the plan of Salvation. What a conceited
fool you would have called me if I did ! I accepted the truth as
it is told in the Bible, and confessed that there were things that I
could not comprehend, and was not expected to comprehend.

If others believe that a man can enter heaven by repenting at
the eleventh hour, what is that to me ? How should that destroy
my faith in the saving grace of Christianity ? Such, indeed, is its
power to change the heart of man, that even if Dennis Kearney
should slip into the Heavenly Jerusalem, he would be lamb-like
and would be heard to say : " The Chinese must stay ! Heaven
is incomplete without them."

It is very easy to misinterpret the Bible. Some minds are so
crooked that everything which goes through invariably comes out
crooked. Some men understand the Bible literally. Others take
each verse out of its context and tack it to some other place, and
the result is something like this : " And Judas went out and
hanged himself," " Go and do thou likewise \"

The reason why I am enabled to sign myself a " Christian *
is because I am endowed with the faculty of reason, which I have
supplemented with formal logic and a desire to tell the truth.

Heathenism teaches nothing if it does not teach fatalism and
the control of Destiny. If it does not go so far as predestination,
it is because its notions of a future life are a confused heap of
nonsense.

WHY I AM NOT A HEATHEN. 309

Now, my faith teaches me to cultivate my mind, rectify my
heart, and to make my conscience delicate and sensitive. It bids
me to be tolerant, charitable, and just to my fellow-men. It tells
me to faithfully discharge my duties, public and private. It
gives me the requisite strength to act the good citizen and the
true husband. It commands me to accord to others their rights,
and to take nothing that is not my due. Finally, it teaches me
how to discharge my duties towards God, Father and Preserver
of us all.

I not only discriminate between Christianity and its profes-
sors, but I also discriminate between true Christians and hypo-
crites. Confucius says: "It is impossible to carve on rotten
timber. " Christianity is not responsible for the acts of morally
rotten men, and yet, where there is any soundness at all, it has
demonstrated its power to heal and to save. I think that min-
isters should be paid according to the work they do. The
laborer is worthy of his hire. But I am not " down" on all min-
isters, because some betray their trust. I do not believe that all
Christians are worldly, because I have met some conspicuous
cases of worldliness among them.

Organized charities may seem to lack sympathy, and, perhaps,
have too much of red tape to be vigorous ; but private charity is
too apt to be indiscriminate, and too liable to be imposed upon, so
that, instead of relieving the distress of the really deserving, it may
encourage shiftlessness and idleness. Neither method of relief is
perfect. But that is owing to the sinfulness of man, which
Christianity alone can cure. When the Chinese were persecuted
some years ago — when they were ruthlessly smoked out and mur-
dered— I was intelligent enough to know that Christians had no
hand in those outrages ; for the only ones who exposed their lives
to protect them were Christians. The California legislature that
passed various measures against the Chinese was not Christian, the
Sandlotters were not Christians, nor were the foreign miners.
They might call themselves Christians, but I don't call a man a
great genius simply because he claims to be one. Let him do
something worthy of the name first. You shall know a man by
his works. If there is any sentiment in this country in favor of
the Chinese to-day, it is only to be found in the Christian church.
I don't forget that that Congress (which was most liberal and most
jealous of the national honor) that finally voted the magnificent

310 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

indemnity, was influenced and urged on by Christian opinion as
expressed in petitions and the press. If there was no Christianity
in this land, things would be too hot, not only for the Chinese,
but for all who form the base of the social pyramid.

I flatter myself that I am broad, and entertain cosmopolitan
views. For while I glory in China's ancient civilization, her
extensive literature, and lofty philosophy, I am aware that other
nations are superior to her in science and the arts. While I am
proud of China's philosophers, statesmen, and heroes, I can admit
that other countries have also produced great men.

Murders and robberies may be pretty frequent in New York
State, but who knows how many are committed in China in a
year ? If foreigners have such paradises in their native countries,
why do they persist in staying here 9 For my part, I am content
to stay and cast my lot with the good people of this country, who,
you will find, are mostly Christians.

I do not confound Christian congregations with cowardly
mobs organized for arson and murder, and I deny that Christianity
encourages the young to abuse the aged. Granting that there is
more wickedness in the neighborhood of a single church district
of one thousand people in New York than among one million
heathen in China, that only proves that one thousand heathen in
New York have a greater capacity for wickedness than one million
heathen in China.

By no torturing of Aristotelian logic can I connect heartbreak-
ing and suicides in New York with Christian charity, and wher-
ever I have met with any " fraternity " I invariably found it in
the Christian church. Having been a heathen myself, and an
associate of the heathen, I am competent to say that they never
do any good without expecting a return, or gaining some merit.
The true Christian does good for the love he has toward all God's
creatures. When I was in need of friends, Christians befriended
me. Christians helped me to return to this country, and they
said nothing about .it either. When I was in doubt about the
advisability of returning to college, Christian friends gave me
encouragement and promised help. When I undertook to work
my way through college, Christian people assisted me in pursu-
ing that course. They got me to lecture, and aided me in the
disposal of my literary wares. When I stood on the commence-
ment platform to denounce the anti-Chinese policy of this gov-

WHY I AM NOT A HEATHEN. 3H

eminent, it was the Christians who strengthened me with their
enthusiasm and their applause. It is the Christian who looks on
me as his equal, and who thinks that the Chinese are as well
endowed, mentally, as he. The true Christian is the friend of the
poor, the down-trodden, and the oppressed of all countries.
When the famine was at its height in China, some twelve years
ago, Christian missionaries went into the doomed districts to heal
the sick and relieve the distressed.

If England were a truly Christian country, as she claims to be,
the Opium War would have never taken place. Christianity is
nowhere so explicit as where it warns people against the sin of
covetousness. If Mephistopheles persuaded John Bull Faustus
to sell his soul for gold, I don't see what Christianity has to do
with it. Were half the Christians running mad after the Golden
Calf, Christianity would still be the only saving religion in the
world.

The ways of the American heathen and the Chinese heathen
are wonderfully alike. Only the American may become a Chris-
tian whenever he chooses with greater facility than the Chinese.
That is not saying, however, that the American heathen may not
be worse than the Chinese.

I fervently believe that if we could infuse more Christianity
into politics and the judiciary, into the municipal government,
the legislature and the executive, corruption and abuses would
grow beautifully less. The Christian men are the last hope of
the Eepublic. The final appeal is to be made to the Christian
sentiment of the nation.

I have the misfortune to be a college-bred man; but a collegiate
education does not necessarily disqualify one for the duties of life.
A classical education would not have injured men like Lincoln
and Greeley, but they had something better than that,— they had
a Christian education. No greater praise can we give them than
this : They were Christian gentlemen.

The duties of parents and children are reciprocal. The
Americans lay more stress on the duty of parents towards their
children, while the Chinese insist too much on the duty of child-
ren towards their parents. Both have departed from the golden
mean. Christianity alone can restore harmony in the domestic
relations. Neither foolish parents nor undutiful children are the
products of the Christian religion. They are such either from

312 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

imperfect training or natural depravity. Water, and air, and sun-
light are beneficent things, but when applied to some seeds, fine
fruit-trees spring up from the soil ; when applied to others, poison-
ous weeds overrun the land. In the last case, water, air, and
sunlight are misused. So the perversion of Christian teachings
has produced many poisonous weeds.

It is hard to tell what a heathen fears or what he believes. It
is some consolation to know that he does believe something. He
is slightly better off than the atheist. There are good men among
the heathen. Such men you will find to be just, reasonable,
honest, and truthful. Christianity would- make such men per-
fect almost. But a bad heathen is quite the reverse.

I have some confidence left yet that Christianity will survive
this last and most terrible of attacks. Indeed, I am silly enough
to believe that that religion, which flourished in spite of the
Pharisee and the Sadducee, which survived the persecutions of
the Caesars, and finally supplanted them, which passed through
the Dark Ages of ignorance and barbarism undimmed in lustre,
which rose serenely after the terrible French Eevolution, will con-
tinue to reign supreme so long as eternity itself shall endure.

Christianity has demonstrated its fitness to supply my spirit-
ual needs. Its authenticity as a history no reasonable man can
deny. I believe, I accept, its truths, as I hope to be happy in this
life and to enjoy a blessed immortality in the life to come.

Do you wonder that I am a Christian ? I cordially invite all
heathen, whether American, or English, or Chinese, to come to
the Saviour.

YAK PHOU LEE.

BLUNDERING AMERICAN DIPLOMACY.

AFTEE the overthrow of Napoleon the First, a league was formed
by the sovereigns of Europe nominally to regulate the relations
of Christendom by the principles of Christian charity, but really
to preserve the power of the existing dynasties. This compact
became known as the " Holy Alliance," and in virtue of its
power, Austria crushed the revolutions in Piedmont and Naples,
in 1821, and France restored absolutism in Spain, in 1823. The
apprehension soon became general that the Alliance would lend
its aid to reconquer the Spanish-American colonies, whose inde-
pendence had been recognized by the United States ; and that
while a portion of those colonies would be restored to Spain, the
others would be divided among the allies.

. In view of this probable result, President Monroe declared in
a message to Congress, with a view of giving formal notice to Eu-
rope, that no portion of the American continent was thenceforth
to be deemed open to European colonization ; and that the Gov-
ernment of the United States would consider any attempt to in-
terfere with the sovereignty of the Spanish-American States, or
any attempt to colonize a portion of the American continent, as
imposing upon it the obligation to use all the means in its power
to prevent it. This declaration became known as the " Monroe
doctrine; " and it seems almost superfluous to add that it neither
contemplated intervention by the United States in the internal
affairs of the Spanish- American States, nor interference with any
vested European rights on this continent. But it was intended
and understood as an emphatic protest against any extension of
European influence, power, or dominion on the American conti-
nent ; and, in this sense, it responded to an intelligent public
sentiment, and has always been appealed to by our ablest and
most conservative statesmen as a settled principle to be upheld
and maintained at whatever cost.

314 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

It is worth while, therefore, to inquire how the " Monroe
doctrine," thus defined and understood, has been respected by
European powers ; and, above all, to what extent it has been ad-
hered to by those charged with the administration of our foreign
affairs. And this inquiry is the more pertinent at this time in
view of the possible failure of the Panama Canal scheme, or rather
the probability, by no means remote, that French dominion on
the isthmus will be the final outgrowth of the failure of the
de Lesseps Company. In order, however, to a clear comprehen-
sion of the subject, let us recur briefly to some antecedent circum-
stances.

Something more than a century ago, some British merchants
sent out ships to Central America, and loaded them with mahogany
and dye-woods cut from the forests of Balize. Balize then be-
longed to Spain ; and subsequently, by treaty stipulations, Spain
granted to England permission to cut and ship logwood from
that province, without, however, conveying any right to the soil
or any right of eminent domain. It was merely a permit to cut
and ship logwood, and nothing more.

But, under this permit, England founded a settlement at
Balize (now British Honduras) without any fixed boundaries ;
and, subsequently, when Central America became independent of
the Spanish crown, this "settlement" was gradually extended
without much regard to the territorial rights and boundaries of
the adjoining States. In the course of time, England claimed
to have made a treaty with an insignificant tribe of Indians
called the Mosquitos, then living near the coast of Honduras, by
which they had been guaranteed the protection of the British
Government. After this, the British Government sent out an
agent to the Mosquito coast, found a half Indian boy, the reputed
son of some mythical Indian chief, carried him over to Jamaica,
there crowned him as " King " of the Mosquitos, took him back
to his native country, and set him up as its nominal ruler ; the
real authority being prudently vested in the English Consul at
Balize. All this, it should be remembered, took place at a time
when the entire Mosquito country was known to be within the
territorial limits of Nicaragua, and when the Mosquitos them-
selves were under the allegiance and jurisdiction of the Nicara-
guan Government.

This was the condition of affairs in Central America in 1848,

BLUNDERING AMERICAN DIPLOMACY. 315

when our war with Mexico had been brought to a close. The
English Government, through its diplomatic agent in Mexico,
exerted its entire influence to defeat any treaty with that repub-
lic by which the United States might acquire any territory on the
Pacific coast, disclaiming, in the meantime, the purpose to
establish a British colony in Central America, and declaring its
only concern in the premises to be the " protection" of the Mos-
quito kingdom. But this solicitude for the welfare of the Indian
' ' King " became so great that, when it was known a treaty had
been signed by which California was transferred to the United
States, the British fleet immediately set sail from Vera Cruz and
proceeded directly to the mouth of the San Juan Eiver, took
possession of the town of San Juan, changed its name to Grey-
town, established authority there in the name of the Mosquito
"King," and commenced fortifying the place. This, of course,
was not only an unprovoked aggression upon the sovereignty of
Nicaragua, but it likewise revealed a hostile motive toward the
United States, since it had for its object the closing of the only
channel of communication then available between our Atlantic
and Pacific coasts.

Now let us see how this high-handed measure was met by our
Government. I sincerely wish so humiliating a page might be
erased from our diplomatic annals ; but since that is impossible,
we cannot ignore its existence.

After a mild protest, the Government at Washington finally
sent an agent to Nicaragua, who negotiated a treaty with that
republic, known as the Hise Treaty, by which the United States
was invested with the exclusive right to open a ship canal between
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the territory of Nicara-
gua, together with the right to establish towns and free ports at
the termini, and to fortify the canal itself from end to end. In
other words, the treaty provided that the proposed water transit
of the isthmus should be under the exclusive control and protec-
tion of the United States ; but before it reached Washington the
Government had changed hands, the quadrennial division of the
"spoils "had commenced, and Mr. John M. Clayton, of Dela-
ware, had become Secretary of State.

The new administration, representing an adverse political or-
ganization, refused to accept this treaty, or even to submit it to
the Senate for consideration, and, in the re-distribution of the

316 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

political offices, a new. man was sent to Nicaragua as minister,
and a new treaty was negotiated by which the proposed canal
should be under the joint protection and control of the United
States and Great Britain! Nor did the " reform " stop here.
Fresh in the starch of office, Mr. Clayton opened negotiations
with Sir Henry Bulwer, then British Minister at Washington,
the result of which was the famous " Clayton-Bulwer Treaty" of
1850. That treaty not only recognized and ratified the scheme
of a joint protectorate of the proposed canal, but contained a
clause by which both England and the United States pledged
their faith, each to the other, that neither of them would ever
colonize, annex, fortify, or attempt to exercise exclusive control
over any portion of Central America.

It would be unjust to assume that this step was taken pre-
liminary to an unconditional repudiation of the Monroe doctrine.
On the contrary, it is quite certain that the new administration
had no such ulterior purpose. Its primary object, doubtless, was
to secure from the British Government a solemn pledge not to
colonize the isthmus ; and the agreement to a joint control of the
proposed canal was probably made as much for the accomplish-
ment of this purpose as for the purpose of stimulating capital to
undertake the opening of a water transit at a time when money
for such enterprises was difficult to raise. But this presumption
of a patriotic and praiseworthy motive involves conclusions that
are very detrimental to the judgment and diplomatic skill of the
new Secretary of State. For if he was not aware of the fact that
the British Government had already established a Protectorate,
and was in the full exercise of dominion, within the jurisdiction
of a friendly state in Central America, he certainly ought to have
been ; and he ought to have been equally well aware that the
pledge not to exercise dominion could not be so far retroactive as
to very materially alter the status quo on the Mosquito coast.
And knowing these facts, it seems most remarkable that he should
have so unwittingly committed his Government to at least a con-
structive recognition of British dominion in Central America ; and
more remarkable still that he should have supplemented this
recognition by an express agreement to a partnership control of
the isthmean transit, thus laying the foundation for endless mis-
understandings, and providing for a source of discord rather than
a bond of friendship.

BLUNDERING AMERICAN DIPLOMACY. 317

It has been asserted, by way of apology for this piece of head-
long diplomacy, that Mr. Clayton refused to sign the treaty un-
til after he had obtained the secret pledge of two-thirds of the
Senators to ratify it ; and that this secret pledge was given on the
assurances of the British minister, made through him, that, upon
ratification of the treaty, the English Government would abandon
its scheme of colonization on the isthmus. This is not improbable.
In fact, it is very well-known that he did refuse to sign the
treaty before consultation with certain Senators, and that they
did give him the pledge to ratify ; and it seems wholly improbable
that such a pledge would have been given in the absence of some
authentic assurances such as were attributed to the British minis-
ter. But the curious part about it is, that this assurance seems
to have been ex-parte and verbal ; for in none of the long discus-
sions which followed, has any written memorandum been pro-
duced, or any evidence disclosed, that the minister gave the assur-
ance by authority of his Government. At any rate, the fact is
that, no sooner had the ratification of the treaty been officially
proclaimed, than the British Government put forth the claim that
the United States stood committed by its provision to a recogni-
tion and acknowledgment of the status quo on the Mosquito
coast.

This awakened the country to the magnitude of the blunder
that had been committed, the treaty became odious, and the
Diplomatic discussion which followed was kept up at intervals
until the breaking out of our civil war in 1861. In May, 1862,
when we were in the midst of that terrible struggle, and when
France was preparing to send Maximilian to Mexico, the British
Government threw off the mask, and, by royal commission, erected
the pretended " Kingdom " of the Mosquito Indians into a full
British colony, and placed it under the Colonial Government of
Jamaica.

This was the condition of affairs on the Nicaraguan isthmus
in 1873, when two several efforts had failed to secure a concession
from the Columbian Government for the opening of a ship canal
across the Isthmus of Darien, to be under American control
exclusively, and a commission had been named to re-examine and
report upon the Nicaraguan route. And in 1876, while our
people were absorbed in the contest for the Presidential succes-
sion, and after the demagogues in Congress had, in the interests
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 370. 21

318 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of "economy," abolished our legation in Columbia, a French
syndicate obtained from the Columbian Government the basis of
the exclusive privilege under which M. de Lesseps is still oper-
ating along the line of the Panama Railway. This caused a sec-
ond awakening to possible perils incident to so anomalous a con-
dition of affairs on the isthmus ; and, after much diplomatic
floundering, it was discovered, in May, 1882, that the Clayton-
Bulwer treaty was voidable, first, because it contemplated an
enterprise which had never been begun, and, principally, because
its provisions had been violated in the act of converting the Mos-
quito protectorate into a British colony. The position thus
assumed by our Government was not only legally tenable, but
commended itself, as a politic measure, to the common-sense of
every well-informed and patriotic American citizen. True, the
voluminous diplomatic correspondence which ensued was barren
of immediate results ; but it ultimately led to the negotiation of
a treaty with our sister republic of Nicaragua, analogous to the
Hise treaty of 1848, but which has never been ratified.

It is said that history repeats itself, and the saying has been
often verified ; but it has seldom been more strikingly illustrated
than in the instance of the two Nicaraguan treaties negotiated in
1848 and 1884, whereby provision was made for an inter-oceanic
canal under American control exclusively, and which were smoth-
ered out of existence by the succeeding administrations of 1849
and 1885. Meantime, amid much fruitless discussion, in which,
under successive administrations, our Government has managed
to get on both sides of the Isthmean transit question, it has
failed to formulate any well-defined policy, or to adopt any prac-
tical measures touching the canal problem ; while the declaration
of 1823, known as the Monroe doctrine, has been contemptuously
disregarded by at least one European power, and by us apparently
abandoned with a pusillanimity in strange contrast with our
national character.

WILLIAM L. SCRUGGS.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

I.

IRISH AID IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

THE Queen's Jubilee year has bad many surprises for the Irish race the world
over, but none so strange as the information afforded the American section of the
children of the Gael in the July issue of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, which
Mr. Duffield Osborne concludes is sufficient "to explode forever the fiction of
American indebtedness to Ireland on the score of revolutionary succor." Most
Irish- Americans had hitherto believed otherwise, even to the extent of doubting
with " the demagogues" the truth of Mr. Osborne's oracular : 4t We do not find
that our Irish auxiliaries were unmitigated blessings." It might be asked, what
depth of historical research made Mr. Osborne a plural of sufficient weight " to
correct the public misapprehension that the Irish were of any great and special
service to this republic of ours in the days of the Revolution ?" Indeed, a glance
at his corrective contribution merely shows that he is fresh from the perusal of
the pages of Mr. Froude, and entirely too guileless to perceive that, unfettered by
the four corners of hard matter of fact, his historian is a past-master in the pleas-
ing art of realistically romancing — to borrow from Punch's parliamentary vocab-
ulary.

Mr. Osborne looks first at " the individual cases of prominent Irishmen in the
Revolution," and kindly admitting that among the "soldiers of fortune" who
thronged to the revolutionary army " there were, doubtless, Irishmen," he can
find no " single name like Lafayette, Kosciusko, Pulaski, or Steuben," except Con-
way of " the cabal," over whom he waxes wroth. Mr. Osborne seems to be una-
ware that Conway was one of the soldiers from France of whom he is enamored,
or that he was a mere tool, " imprudently led into the cabal," as General Sullivan
said in his letter to Washington, to further the jealous ambitions of the un-Irish
clique headed by Gates, Mifflin, Schuyler, and Lee, who made him the scapegoat of
their intrigue. He also conveniently ignores Conway's manly apology and regret
for the part he took in the affair. If Mr. Osborne means that there were no
trained Irish generals like Lafayette and bis brother commanders, the explanation
is easy. Ireland then, as now, was a nation of disarmed men, ground as far into
the dust as the penal laws could force her. Where could commanders spring from
euch a source ? But, even with this disadvantage, there are some single Irish
names that stand out in American history on a par with those Mr. Osborne has
mentioned. On the theory, I suppose, that being born in a stable does not make a
man a horse, the name of Richard Montgomery is stricken off the roll of Irish-
men, although he was born in " Dark Donegal," and his father was a member of
the Irish Parliament. Granting this style of reasoning to Mr. Osborne, he must
allow me the same privilege, and he will then be confronted by the " single names"
of such Irishmen born in America as Major-General John Sullivan and his brother

320 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

James, Ma jor-General Henry Knox, Major-General Anthony Wayne, Major-General
James CJinton, and Major-General John Stark in the army ; Jeremiah O'Brien,
and his four stalwart brothers, sons of Maurice O'Brien, of Cork, the heroes of
" the Lexington of the Seas ;" or among the signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence with the names of George Read and Thomas McKean, of Delaware ;
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Md. ; Thomas Lynch, of South Carolina ; and
Thomas Nelson, of Virginia, whose grandfathers were Irish born ; and Edward
Rutledge, of South Carolina.

If he does not like this turn and wants to hear of native-born Irishmen like
Montgomery, let him hunt up the histories of Generals Stephen Moylan, Edward
Hand, William Thomson, Walter Stewart, William Maxwell, Griffith Rutherford,
John Fitzgerald, Washington's favorite aid ; Commodore John Barry ; or among
" the Signers," of James Smith, and George Taylor, of Pennsylvania, and Mathew
Thornton, of New Hampshire. These are "a few of the hard facts which really
bear upon the issue— only a few out of many, but enough to explode forever " Mr,
Osborne's fiction of the absence of American indebtedness to Ireland on the score
of Revolutionary succor.

In answer to the assertion that a drunken vagabond of an Irishman was
bribed to poison Washington, it can be said there was also an Arnold, and, to dis-
approve any refaction on the race by the former fact, it is recorded that when
Arnold's treason was discovered, the picked men of the whole army sent by Wash-
ington to guard West Point were the " Pennsylvania Line," Irishmen nearly to a
man, as their muster rolls prove.

To show the " spirit of the Irish immigrants," Mr. Osborne cites from the not
unprejudiced or reliable pages of Bancroft, that Clinton raised for Lord Rawdon
" a large regiment in which officers and men were exclusively Irish. Among
them were nearly five hundred deserters from the American Army."

Well, what if he did. The Tory Joseph Galloway, a native of Pennsylvania,
in his testimony before the House of Commons in 1779, stated that he had received
in Philadelphia, from the army at Valley Forge, 3,000 deserters ; and Sabine, in
his "History of the Loyalists of the American Revolution," says: "I conclude
that there were, at the lowest computation, 25,000 Americans who took up arms
against then* countrymen in aid of England." This proves "the spirit "of the
army and of the country at large in the same ratio as Bancroft's " large regiment "
does for the Irish immigrants. What are the real facts ? In the Parliamentary
investigation above quoted, Galloway again testified, in answer to the question of
the nativity of the army enlisted in the service of the Continental Congress: " The
names and places of their nativity being taken down, I can answer the question
with precision. They were scarcely one-fourth natives of America, — about one-
half Irish,— the other fourth English and Scotch "(Vol. 13, page 431, British
Commons Reports) .

General Robertson, who had served in America twenty-four years, swore : " I
remember General Lee telling me that he believed half the rebel army were from
Ireland" (M, page 303.)

Washington's adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis, says in his Per-
sonal Recollections :

"Tell me not of the aid we received from another European nation in the
struggle for Independence. That aid was most, nay, all-essential to our ultimate
success ; but remember the years of the conflict that had rolled away ; and many
a hard field had been fought ere the fleets and the armies of France gave us their
powerful assistance. We gladly and gratefully admit that the chivalry of France,
led by the young, the great, the good, and gallant Lafayette, was most early and

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 321

opportunely at our side. But the capture of Burgoyne had ratified the Declara-
tion of Independence. The renowned combats of the Heights of Charleston and
Fort Moultrie ; the disastrous and bloody days of Long Island, of Brandy wine,
and of Germantown ; the glories of Trenton, of Princeton, and of Monmouth, all
had occurred ; and the rank grass had grown over the grave of many a poor
Irishman who had died for America, ere the Flag of the Lilies floated in the field
by the Star Spangled Banner. . . .

"Of the operatives in war — the soldiers, I mean — up to the coming of the
French, Ireland furnished in the ratio of a hundred for one of any foreign nation
whatever.

" Then honored be the good old service of the sons of Erin, in the War of Inde-
pendence. Let the Shamrock be intertwined with the laurels of the Revolution,
and truth and justice, guiding the pen of history, inscribe on the tablets of
America's remembrance eternal gratitude to Irishmen 1"

Perhaps Mr. Osborne will set this down, however, as coming from the lips of
an "American demagogue."

The Marquis de Chasteloux, a distinguished Frenchman, who was here in
1782, published an account of his travels. An English gentlemen, in his transla-
tion of this novel, in a note to a friendly allusion to an Irish soldier of the Revolu-
tion, writes as follows :

"An Irishman, the instant he sets foot on American soil becomes ipso facto
an American. This was uniformly the case during the whole of the late war.
While Englishmen and Scotsmen were regarded with jealousy and distrust, even
with the best recommendation of zeal and attachment to the cause, a native of
Ireland stood in need of no other certificate than his dialect.'1'1

The "spirit of the Irish immigrants" was still further manifested in July,
1780, by an association in Philadelphia called the " Friendly Sons of St. Patrick,"
the members of which were either of Irish birth or blood. Twenty-seven of them
subscribed, in gold and silver, to the relief of the starving patriots of the army,
then at Valley Forge, the sum of one hundred and three thousand five hundred
pounds, Pennsylvania currency. General Stephen Moylan was the President of,
this society, and the men whose generosity then saved the nation bore such Irish
names as Thomas Fitzsimmons, John and Matthew Mease, John Maxwell Nesbitt,
John Shee, Blair McClenachan, and George Meade. If Mr. Osborne will accept
the testimony of a " demagogue" named Alexander Hamilton, he will find him
bearing witness to the help he obtained from Thomas Fitzsimmons, in establishing
the financial policy of the Government and in funding the debt incurred in waging
the Revolutionary War. The "Friendly Sons of St. Patrick" made Geoige
Washington an honorary member at their meeting, at which he was present, at
the City Tavern, in Philadelphia, on January 1st, 1782. In accepting the mem-
bership, Washington wrote to the president of the society:

" I accept with singular pleasure the ensign of so worthy a fraternity as that of
the Sons of St. Patrick, in this city, a society distinguished for the firm adherence
of its members to the glorious cause in which we are embarked."

Another instance of " demagogery ! "

In 1789, the Catholics of the United States, then almost exclusively of Irish
birth or origin, presented an address of congratulation to Washington on his elec-
tion to the Presidency. In his reply the first President said :

" I presume that your fellow citizens will not forget the patriotic part which
you took in the accomplishment of their revolution and the establishment of their
government."

All this hardly agrees with the " spirit" with which Mr. Osborne has tried to

322 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

animate his " Irish immigrants," and he has had no better success with his " Irish
in Ireland."

In order to draw a parallel, he cites from Bancroft again, and from Froude the
alleged fact that " in 1775 one hundred and twenty-one Irish Catholics," in proof
of their " just abhorrence of the unnatural American rebellion," made a tender to
the English King of " two millions of faithful and affectionate hearts and hands
in defense of his person and government in any part of the world."

Has Mr. Osborne ever heard of the powerful body known as the historical cou-
rocation of the " three tailors of Tooley street ?" or, has he read, recently, in the
public press, of the extraordinary manifestation of Irish National gratitude and
rejoicing over Queen Victoria's " jubilee," as evidenced in the presentation to " Her
Majesty," by a poor Irish widow, of two fresh eggs ? Either of these incidents
would be on a representative par with his alleged historical " petition." Besides,
Mr. Froude has been challenged to produce this " petition," and has failed to do
so. A few lickspittle " nobles " — having as little in common with the Irish nation
as have the Anti-Home Rulers, to-day — did send a petition, in 1775, to Sir John
Blaquirre, protesting their " loyalty " in terms of slavish and servile adulation ;
but there is not a single word about America in the copy that is extant.

Then Mr. Osborne, with that thorough insight into Irish history that distin-
guishes his whole article, next turns " to Ireland as represented in her Parlia-
ment ; for she had a Parliament of her own then," he adds with unction ; and
tries to show that this Parliament voted soldiers to Lord North to put down the
Revolution. He does not state (he probably does not know) that the Irish Parlia-
ment of those days did not have the right to originate any bill whatever, and was
made up exclusively of a section of Protestants barely representing one-sixth of
the population of the Island. Whatever voting was done was done by the govern-
ment majority of place-holders, who were as representative of the nation as were
the " one hundred and twenty-one Catholics " of Mr. Froude's " petition." There
was not a single Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, or other "dissenter" eligible
to a seat in the so-called Irish Parliament of that time. Not a single one of the
three million Catholics in the land could vote for a Member of Parliament, or
even for a parish beadle. Lord Chancellor Bowes, speaking in the highest court
of law in Ireland at the time, said officially:

"The law did not presume a Papist to exist in the kingdom, nor could they
breathe without the connivance of the government."

Chief Justice Robinson, in a similar declaration, said :

*' It appears plain that the law does not suppose any such person to exist as
an Irish Roman Catholic."

The Irish Parliament consisted of three hundred members, only seventy-two of
whom, were elected by th°people, the rest being appointed by the Lord Lieutenant
and a few of the Anglo-Irish nobles, who owned the land.

These are the people of Mr. Osborne's " petition " and his Parliamentary
enemies of American liberty !

Yet he has the effrontery " to close the last loophole of doubt " by an attempt
(again quoting from Bancroft) to make " the Irish patriots, with Henry Grattan
at their head," appear as having neither aid nor sympathy for the American Revo-
lutionists. Unless Mr. Osborne is invincibly ignorant, he will find by an examina-
tion of the Irish Parliamentary reports, or of Barrington's "Rise and Fall of the
Irish Nation," that the exact contrary is the case. The Irish patriot leaders— Yel-
verton, Hatch, Wilson, Hussey Burgh, Bushe Daly, Ponsonby, Hewenham, Ogle,
Fitzgibbon, Connolly— are all on record in strong speeches in opposition to the gov-
ernment's sending of resources or troops " to help suppress the cause of American

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 323

independence." Grattan, in the terrible scoring: he gave Flood, on this very sub-
ject, said :

" With regard to the liberties of America, which were inseparable from our
own, I will suppose this gentleman to have been an enemy decided and unreserved ;
and that he voted against her liberty — and voted, moreover, for an address to
send four thousand troops to cut the throats of the Americans; that he called these
butchers ' armed negotiators,' and stood, with a metaphor in his mouth and a
bribe in his po ket — a champion against the rights of America, the only hope of
Ireland and the only refuge of the liberties of mankind.'1'1

Has Mr. Osborne ever read the speeches in favor of the justice of the Ameri-
can cause made by an Irishman named Edmund Burke ? They say some things
very pointedly in opposition to his theory.

Arthur Lee, the diplomatic agent in Europe of the Continental Congress, with
Deane and Franklin, wrote home, in June, 1777, saying :

" The resources of our enemy are almost annihilated in Germany, and their
last resort is to the Roman Catholics of Ireland. They have already experienced
their unwillingness to go — every man of a regiment raised there, last year,
having obliged them to ship him off tied and bound; and most certainly they will
desert more than any other troops whatsoever.1'

Plonden, in his history, says : "In Ireland the people assumed the cause of
America from sympathy."

General Howe, writing to his government in 1775, expressing a preference
for German troops, tells of his "great dislike for Irish Catholic soldiers, as they
are not at all to be depended upon."

In the third volume of the " American Archives," an account given of the at-
tempt of a Major Roache to get recruits in Cork, says : " The service is so dis-
tasteful to the people of Ireland in general, that few of the recruiting officers cau
prevail upon the men to enlist and fight against their American brethren."

In the English House of Commons, in 1775, Governor Johnstone said : " I
maintain that some of the best and the wisest men in the country are on the side of
the Americans ; and that, in Ireland, three to one are on the side of the Ameri-
cans."

In the House of Lords, in the same year, the Duke of Richmond stated :

" Attempts have been made to enlist the Irish Roman Catholics, but the Min-
istry know well that these attempts have proved unsuccessful."

The Congress of the United States, addressing the people of Ireland in 1775,
said:

" Accept our most grateful acknowledgments for the friendly disposition you
have always shown to us."

I have here cited a few "isolated instances of Irish sympathy with the
* spirit of '76,' " which Mr. Osborne was unable to discover. He wishes us to
praise France for the help she gave. Does he know that among the soldiers she
sent were several regiments of the Irish Brigade ? or that at the siege of Savan-
nah and at Y"orktown, where the French contingent were specially prominent,
among the officers who distinguished themselves were "Frenchmen" named
Count Arthur Dillon, Col. Roche de Fermoy, Col. Hand, Col. Browne and Col.
Lynch ? If he has ever been in Savannah he must have seen the monument in
one of the principal squares that commemorates the " isolated instance "of the
Irish hero, Sergeant William Jasper.

To conclude this very imperfect record, I shall slightly alter one of Mr.
Osborne's own sentences, and say of his assertions : Comment is entirely unneces-
sary ; and, while perhaps we should not blame him, under the circumstances, for

324 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the course he took, yet when he claims that we ought to hear no more of this
" debt to Ireland," save, of course, from the lips of the Irish agitator or Ameri-
can demagogue, he exhibits an ignorance or an impudence for which he should
occasionally, at least, be snubbed. Like Dick Deadeye, "he means well, but he
don't know." When he learns more of the real history of the country, he will
have less to say. And I do not even despair of having him an Irish- American
champion. Did not the study of Irish history make a Home Ruler of Mr. Glad-
stone ? In the face of that conversion shall we despair of so ripe a historical
scholar and investigator as Mr. Duffield Osborne ? Perish the thought 1 But he
must abjure Froude and Bancroft, at least on Irish topics.

THOS. F. MEBHAN.

II.

A PLEA FOB THE PAGAN HINDOO.

An Open Letter to the Rev. Henry M. Field, D. D.

REVEREND SIB : In your open letter to Colonel Ingersoll, published in the
August number of the NOBTH AMERICAN REVIEW, you lift up your voice in right-
eous horror at the shocking superstition of the poor Hindoo. You gaze in disgust
from the back of your elephant at the " horrible scene of human degradation,"
enacted in the river at Benares. With indignant protest you cry out that " such a
religion, so far from being a purifier, is the greatest corrupter of morals."
. . . And finally, in pious abhorrence, you anathematize such a religion as
" an immeasurable curse."

Of course, using the words of an eloquent writer, I might tell you that " you
swing your sentences as the woodman swings his axe." Or that " this slashing
style is very effective before a popular audience, which does not care for nice dis-
tinctions, or for evidence that has to be sifted and weighed, but wants opinions
off-hand, and likes to have its prejudices and hatreds echoed back in a ringing
voice." And I might add that " this carries the crowd, but does not convince the
philosophic mind." But I prefer to ask you, " Does it never occur to you that
there is something very cruel in this treatment of the belief of your fellow
creatures, on whose hope of another life hangs all that iclieves the darkness of
their present existence ?"

When thus inveighing, you forget the same eloquent writer's words that " the
faiths of men are as sacred as the most delicate manly or womanly sentiments of
love and honor." In your publicJetter " things that I held sacred you not only
rejected with "unbelief, but (gratuitously) sneered at with contempt."

Now, I do not propose to argue in favor of this religion or of that. I do not
care to make a Hindoo of you, and you cannot make a Christian of me, for I have
lived among both Hindoos and Christians, and know them well ; besides, I am of
the opinion of our Bagavad-Gita, which tells us that "it is good for a man to
abide in his own faith, for the faith of another bringeth fear ;" but I do claim a
fair and impartial statement of facts.

You inform your readers that with the Hindoos " penances and pilgrimages
take the place of justice and mercy, benevolence, and charity ! " Yet you have
been in India. Have you forgotten that so universal i& the individual charity of
the people that work-houses and poor-laws do not exist ? Do you not remember
the "choultries" (rest-houses) which are met with every few miles from the
Himalayas to Cape Comorin ? In some, food is given freely to all comers, but in
all the weary wayfarer, irrespective of caste, is sure of free shelter and a bath-
ing tank near at hand. The custom, it is true, owes its origin to Qakya Muni's

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 325

gentle teaching, as do so many of the Hindoo rites and thoughts, for although the
Brahmins consider Buddha's philosophy as heretical, he has, nevertheless, strange
to say, been granted a place in the Hindoo Pantheon, and is an admitted incarnation
of Vishnu. Indeed, stranger still, he has been canonized by your Christian Church.
But, as Doctor Hunter says so truly, " the noblest survivals of Buddhism in India
are to be found, not in any peculiar body, but in the religion of the people ; in
that principle of the brotherhood of man, with the reassertion of which each new
revival of Hindooism starts ; in the asylum which the great Vaishnavite sect affords to
women who have fallen victims to caste rules, to the widow and the outcast; in that
gentleness and charity to all men, which take the place of a poor-law in India, and
give a high significance to the half -satirical epithet of the * mild Hindoo.' " Know-
ing this, is it fair to condemn the sacred creed of millions of your fellow-men as
without justice or mercy, benevolence or charity ? Is it strictly in accordance
with the principles of " justice and mercy, benevolence and charity " to stigmatize
such a faith as " the greatest corrupterof morals f " Is the religion which teaches
the "brotherhood of man," and which practices what it preaches, "cm immeas-
urable curse ?" " But gently, gently, sir ! We will let this burst of fury pass
befcre we resume the conversation." "When you are a little more tranquil, I
would modestly suggest that perhaps you are fighting a figment of your imagina-
tion."

You profess a great horror for the superstition which induces the Hindoo to
wash in the Holy Ganges ; but stop a moment : Is it not an imperative necessity
that every Christian should be baptized in the sacred water of Jordan (figuratively
speaking), the shivering convert being immersed more or less deeply, according to
the tenets of the sect to which he or she is to belong ? Does not the Catholic
sprinkle himself with the Holy Water at the entrance of his church ? You shud-
der at the Hindoos " even carrying the ashes of the dead to cast them upon the
waters ;" yet pause for a moment and consider your own superstitious horror at
burying your beloved dead in any other than consecrated ground ! You partake
at your altars of bread and wine, calling it the " body and blood of your Lord,"
while the Hindoo eats his sacrificial cakes before the emblem of his Deity. You
make the sign of the cross on your children's foreheads, while the Hindoo mutters
his " mantras" and rinses his mouth with Ganga's flood. You confirm your youths
and maidens with diverse ceremonies, while the Brahmin stripling is invested
with the "sacred thread." You confess or comfort your dying (as the case may
be), or administer absolution with the extreme unction, while the expiring Hindoo
is sprinkled with water from the Ganges (or any other of the sacred rivers or
pools). In either case salvation is promised. The mourning watchers at either
bed-side are solemnly convinced that all that is necessary for the future welfare
of the departing soul has been accomplished.

It seems to me that all these instances may be fairly pronounced as parallels.
If so, is it not illogical to object that one is superstition while the other is not ?
And do such superstitions " overthrow the very foundations of morality ? "

Of course, no person conversant with the subject will drag into the discussion
the miserable " suttee," for this blot on Hindooism has no more religious sanction
than witch-burning. Although considered by the masses as highly meritorious, it
was as purely an act of supererogation as that of Saint Simon Stylites on his
pillar.

But, as I have said above, it is not my intention to argue the pros and cons of
either system ; superstition, unfortunately, exists in both religions— not more so
with the uneducated Hindoo than with his low-born Christian brother — but I have
no fear but that all who know India will agree with me that the "religion of

326 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

humanity " is strongest within the breast of the Asiatic, and that whatever may
be its metaphysical errors from a Christian point of view, such a creed cannot in
justice be stigmatized as " an immeasurable curse."

The origin of Brahminism is lost in the night of time. Would not the Hindoo,
in so far as mere antiquity is concerned, be justified in claiming for his creed
what you do for yours, and, making use of your own words, exclaiming, on his
side : "Why is it that it liv^s on and on, while nations and kingdoms perish ?"
" Is not this the survival of the fittest ?"

SCKIMAN MADHWA-CHARYAR.
III.

WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR DAUGHTERS I

THE article on working women, by Ida M. Van Etten, in the NORTH AMERI-
CAN REVIEW for March, ends with a regret expressed for their condition, the
hopelessness of bettering their outlook for lack of capital, and the impossibility of
ever saving enough to enable them to establish, even in a small way, a business of
their own. I take up Mrs. Van Etten's regret, and will endeavor to show a way
in which women would be enabled to have a financial future.

My proposition is meant, not for working women only, but includes every
family of moderate means, blessed with daughters.

All over Germany exist what are called "Sparcassen" (saving banks), which
correspond, in a measure, to the endowment plan of the American assurance
companies. The best known is the " Wilhelmscasse," named after the Emperor,
who is its patron . At the birth of a girl, the father and mother insure her (kanf en
sie ein) in such a Casse for as much as they are able to bestow every year on the
future of their new born baby girl. The amount is paid annually. The Casse lays
out the money in behalf of the insured, at interest, chiefly in real estate. In this
way the money accumulates, and at 18, or her majority, the girl is the possessor
of a snug little capital. This will serve her to study any favored profession, go to
some good conservatory, or start in business ; and last, but not least, buy her
trousseau, if she has a chance to follow woman's truest mission ! Now, why can-
not well-to-do American women establish such a way of providing for their less
fortunate sisters ? What a blessed gift from a godmother to a poor little girl
such an insurance would be ! I truly believe it would give zeal and encour-
agement to many true, poor parents, if by this small economy they could help to
provide for their dear ones. It is better than a life assurance, for it takes away
the u sting of death : " all may live and enjoy the fruit of their economy ! How
much better a yearly outlay would be, for people in moderate circumstances, than
in costly toys and extravagant dress, by which children are brought up to ex-
pectations.

There is no great capital needed for this *' Casse," only the help of some well-
known woman! The "Casse" itself would afford employment to many intel-
lectual women, for I advocate the exclusive management by women. This Casse
established, women who now slave for large factories at starvation prices could,
with the help of their few hundred dollars, establish a work room of their own and,
through thrift, again provide in the same way a future for their daughters I And
for all classes it would help to solve the puzzling question :

" What shall we do with our daughters ?"

E. SHUSTER.
IV.

NO AMERICAN SIBERIA.

MUCH has been said in favor of a project to utilize Alaska as a penal settle-
ment, and to largely substitute exile tkither for the penalty of imprisonment in

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 327

the jails of our cities and States. We have heard of the advantages sure to fall to
the lot of the criminal classes from life in the open air at a distance from the vices
of the prison and the evils of injurious association ; of the great and excellent
work in the interest of the nation at large that could be done in the opening up
for travel and commerce, and in the provision with ways and means of communi-
cation, of a territory fine and important as that of Alaska ; finally of the relief
from unjust competition that would be afforded to the honest workmen and
artisans of the country by the transportation to that territory of the convicts who
are now let out periodically for the intramural performance of set industrial
tasks. But what are the natural results of punitive exile, and above all what has
been the experience of Russia in this form of convict deportation ?

Foremost among the evils that have been wrought by punitive exile to our
neighbor continent of Siberia is the scourge of vagabondage. A Russian official
once said to me : " Siberia is a huge prison. In which of its cells a convict is con-
fined matters little. The great thing— and this we accomplish pretty successfully
— is to prevent him from getting over its walls." In this statement we have pre-
sented to us the first condition of convict life in a penal settlement such as it is
proposed to form of Alaska. Exchange the open fields for the prison, and you
make strict supervision of the convicts an impossibility. In Siberia, where to
break prison simply means to lag behind until the guards have passed on, the es-
cape of convicts has taken place so habitually and incessantly as to have given
rise to a special class of the population known as the "vagabonds" (6 rodyagi).
These outlaws number many thousands, and are constantly accumulating. Some
of them ramble aimlessly about, laboring in the fields when there is work to be
had, or living at the expense of the colonist when there are opportunities for plun-
der ; not infrequently the vagabonds band themselves together for a raid on some
inadequately protected farm or isolated village. The raison tf&tre of vagabond-
age is the hope of return to Europe, but the task of getting over Siberia's walls is
well nigh impossible to the single brod>jaga, nor is it much more easily performed
under circumstances of joint effort. There is, nevertheless, a regular vagabond
road far off from the ordinary caravan routes, one perfectly safe, so far as the
authorities are concerned. The road is a simple path through some of the wildest
tracts of Siberia, and can only be followed with success, if followed at all, by the
oldest and most experienced of the wanderers.

How deeply rooted and ineradicable has become the vice of vagabondage is
shown by the obstacles and perils in spite of which it thrives. It is not merely ihat
the brodyaga must cross foaming torrents, too rapid to be forded even on horse-
back ; must clamber over mountains carpeted with eternal snow, or force his way
through the tangled growths of primeval forests, where a single false step brings
in its wake the punishment of death from hunger. The vagabonds have their ene-
mies in human form. They are shot down without mercy by the colonists. It is
true that they sometimes provoke this treatment. Convicts who have escaped
from the mines or settlements, and are making their way westward, mark the line
of their retreat by the most audacious acts of plunder. Kitchen gardens are
robbed, fruit trees despoiled, even houses and cellars entered, in order that the
vagabond may have the means of subsistence on his homeward journey. Preda-
tory habits of this kind have naturally given rise to acts of retaliation on the part
of the colonists. But the inhabitants have not been content with barricading their
houses, turning their grounds into miniature fortifications, and providing them-
selves with guns and revolvers. They have carried the war into the enemy's camp
with such zeal, and under such circumstances of open encouragement or tacit ap-
proval on the part of the Russian Government, that " vagabond hunting" (okhota

328 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

na brodyag) has become in some cases a pastime, in others, a means of subsistence
for large numbers of the Siberian population.

The necessities of the vagabond are often his ruin. Obliged to offer his services
to the colonist, he is worked like a beast of burden, and punished in a terrible
fashion for wishing to resume his journey. His wages are paid without demur,
but before the convict can get clear cff, he falls dead, killed by the bullet of his
< ruel employer. This method of ridding the country of the brodyaga is sometimes
carried out on a large scale. It is adopted in the case of vagabond laborers, who,
having finished their autumn work in the fields, return to the neighboring village
to be paid off. The wages are forthcoming, and the laborers allowed to depart
with their hardly earned money, but they have no sooner gone than the farmer
assembles his neighbors, and having provided them with horses and fire-arms, the
whole party set forth in pursuit of the vagabonds. The retiring laborers are
speedily overtaken, most of them are killed on the spot, all are robbed, while the
recovered money is divided between the farmer and his confederates.

While the celebrated Transbaikal region was being colonized, the settlers
looked upon the hunting of vagabonds as a legitimate diversion. In the Tomsk
Government whole communities are described as living solely by the robbery of
murdered convicts. Near Fingul there are some open woods that have acquired
notoriety as the slaughter ground of vagabonds. The river Karasau was at one
time so filled with the bodies of murdered exiles as to become putrid. The whole
of this district is full of the memories and traditions of Siberian man-hunting.
Heroes of the sport still enjoy the fame they acquired as experts in the shooting of
vagabonds. One "Romanov, for example, gained celebrity in the village of Fingul
by lying in ambush close to the highway and picking off with a musket every
vagabond who happened to pass that way. In autumn evenings a certain Bitkov
used to shoot stragglers along the banks of the river Angara. During subsequent
sport along the Biryus there were individual Siberians who boasted that they had
brought down sixty, in some cases ninety, vagabonds. The barbarous custom
finally spread as far as the Chinese frontier, and there for immense distances along
the rivers Kaluky and Chikoy are villages the inhabitants of which, without
exception, engaged habitually, and as a means of subsistence, in the business of
plundering vagabonds. In the Irkutsk district, Governor Rupert had to sentence
thirteen hunters of vababonds to death, while not many months ago, in the Atch-
jnslsy Government, there were fourteen sentences for willful killing, all of them
for the slaughter of vagabonds.

It would thus seem that the authorities not only do not approve of the sport,
but adopt severe measures for its suppression. Yet the hanging of an occasional
offender has had no visible restraining effect. Indeed, the measures adopted by
the government have tended rather to confirm the colonists in their ineradicable
habit. Since a reward of ten roubles was offered for the recovery of a convict
alive, and of five roubles for the return of his body, whole populations have been
demoralized into the business of vagabond hunting. The official system of re-
wards, besides giving a general encouragement to the cupidity of unscrupulous
settlers, soon brought into existence a class of professional vagabond hunters.
One of them captured a hundred convicts. Of these, one-half were seized by him
and presented alive ; the remainder were killed outright and robbed. Another
professional vagabond hunter, named Grudinsky, received a gold medal from the
authorities for his zeal in intercepting and capturing escaped convicts. Large
sums of money are known to have been stored up for the purpose of providing
means for man-hunting on a large scale and a paying basis ; the same blood-
thirsty amusement has raised inauy a Siberian peasant from a condition of pov-
erty to one of signal affluence.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 329

Such is the practice of man-hunting, as it has been described hundreds of times
by newspapers like the Golos ["Voice], the Dyelo [Deed], the Otechestvenniya
Zapiski [Annals of the Fatherland], the Sibirskaya Qazeta [Siberian Gazette],
the Vostochnoye Obozreniye [Eastern Review], the Sibir [Siberia] and the
Vyestnik Yevropy [European Messenger]. But Siberia suffers not alone from
vagabondage. The system of punitive exile has destroyed even the morals of the
governing class. The worst forms of Russian bribery and corruption have pene-
trated to this icy north of tundra and morass. The offense of robbing the govern-
ment by reducing the already miserable rations of convicts in close confinement
has become far too common to excite remark. Exiles possessing money, moreover,
have only to dispense their wealth judiciously to command not only complete
immunity from troublesome surveillance, but to acquire a power over their fellow-
convicts positively tyrannous in its character. The whole fabric of social order
and administrative stability in Siberia is menaced by the growing influence of
men who, representing the worst vices and grossest ignorance of the convict class,
have bought their way into place and power.

As to the bearing of exile upon the relations of capital and labor, let me cite a
few lines from an article recently published in the Siberian Gazette. The writer
says : " Exile is a highly important factor in the economical life of Siberia, for it
places at the disposal of the exploiter of labor a willing and homeless army of
workers — a body of men without natural or legal rights — a population of human
beings with whom one can do what one likes, even to the extent of taking their
lives. It is with the aid of this army that the capitalist exploiter nas been enabled
to usurp large tracts of public land, and by carrying on great enterprises — partic-
ularly the gold-mining industry — to completely break up, disorganize and destroy,
in his own interest, the broad tracts and the ancient system of the village com-
mune. In the wake of operations like these, bad harvests and terrible famines have
everywhere made their appearance."

But I have a still more pregnant statement to cite. It appears in the last
number of the Eastern Review, and forms the appeal, so far as it can be
expressed, of the Siberian community at large, to the central authorities at St.
Petersburg. " The moment has come," it says, " to speak out and to indicate
plainly the great evil from which we in Siberia suffer as a community. It is we,
remember, the settlers of Siberia, who have maintained the convoys, provided and
kept in order the station-houses, fed and doctored the convicts as they came to us.
"Yet for all this we have been repaid only by risk and danger. Siberian society
has awakened to the consciousness of its burden, and now gives expression to its
natural instinct and aspiration — to its desire to be rid of a heavy responsibility.
Siberia feels all the injury done to its best interests by the system of exile, and
not only the injury, but the demoralization wrought by that system, together with
the dishonor which it visits upon the community. It does not ask for any vindic-
tive increase in the punishment now visited upon these convicts, but it appeals to
the central authorities to relieve it and its honest population from the necessity of
mixing and coming into contact with a class of people who are without honor and
without conscience — with men who disgrace and pollute the community by their
very presence— with beings that trample out in our midst the very germs of social
order and moral sentiment. Our sense of this evil and danger has been rendered
all the more acute in recent times, because of the fact that the exiled convicts who
now enter Siberian territory from week to week, and month to month, are not
only, for the most part, persons highly immoral and depraved, but men possessing
resources of wealth such as enable them to command the advantages of social
position, to seize upon important official and administrative positions, to control

330 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

public opinion, and even to create and possess their organs in the Press." The
appeal goes on to say, " Only by the abolition of the system of punitive exile can
we look for a safe and steady development of our social life. Siberia," it urges in
closing, " asks for the abolition of that system, and she awaits the moment when
her prayer shall be granted, as the moment of her greatest happiness and good
fortune. The abolition of exile to Siberia will be as grand a blow for civilization
and humanity as was the abolition of serfdom in 1861. For even if these parallel
cases had no other point of resemblance, they would be profoundly alike in the
demoralization suffered in each of them by the two classes — by the one as the
victims of the system, and by the other as the enforcers of it."

These words — the appeal of a despairing community threatened with the com-
plete extinction of its social order and moral sentiment— abundantly show how
significantly inopportune is the clamor for a system of convict deportation in this
country. We are asked, in fact, to send our offenders into exile in Alaska at the
very moment when the Siberians, after decades of experience in the reception of
deported prisoners, are recoiling in horror from the results of an experiment that
has already ensanguined the white north with the blood -red signs of its disastrous
failure. Who, now, among us, believes that America, with her democratic form
of government, continually held in check by the people, could compete favorably
in such an experiment with a Tzar untutored and unthwarted, having at his back
the resources of all the Russias ? How many of us are prepared to affirm
that the administration of Alaska, under the penal settlement scheme, would not
shelter more corruption and jobbery than has been fostered in any two territories
of this country since the beginning of the United States ? Yet these questions and
the issues they suggest are of minor importance. Quite apart from the Alaska
scheme, there opens up a prospect not at all hopeful to contemplate. We have had
our own vagabondage for years, and our tramp class— a class found only in
America and Siberia — definitely allies our conditions with those of our neighbor
across the Pacific. Imagine, now, the result of empowering a distant territory to
create a brand new class of vagabonds. Think of transporting our murderers,
house-breakers, thieves, to the broad lands of Alaska, and thence turning them out
at the expiration of their sentences, should they remain for " honorable discharge,"
to tramp their way back to civilization, to the place whence they came ? Picture
the result for honest labor of this hungry, penniless, and homeless army of indus-
trial serfs, offering its services, in peaceful moodily to the lowest bidders, or the
dilemma for society and constituted authority of desperate bands of escaped and
liberated convicts, robbing farms, sacking villages, barricading towns ! A better
plan for infesting our Northwest with a dangerous army of outlaws and exile-
breakers, for terrorizing whole communities, cursing labor and capital alike,
demoralizing society, and giving infinite perplexity to the government and the
police, was surely never suggested.

You ask that America shall stretch out the blood-stained hand of anew slavery
to our human brethren in the West — that two territories, the homes of the Anglo-
Saxon American and of the Russian Slav, shall kiss each other beneath the sea, not
with the salute of countries pledged to universal freedom, but with the greeting of
territories alike cursed with the evils of convict serfdom and punitive exile.

The heart revolts against such a project— the reason condemns it. No ! There
will be no American Siberia !

EDMUND NOBLB.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

HISTORICAL RETROSPECTIONS.

THE third and concluding volume of the " Greville Memoirs " * covers a period
so recent that to many it must seem almost like contemporaneous history, and yet
in nothing does the flight of time appear more startling than in the reflected light
which gleams from these pages. One feels a constant tendency to ask, " Can these
things have taken place so long ago as to have become sober history ? " The charm
of Mr. Greville's writings lies in their genuine, Boswell-like simplicity. To the
American reader there may seem to be surprisingly little about our country in
these pages. It might be supposed that a man of observation and affairs, like Mr.
Greville, would have found certain American events worthy of a place in his jour-
nals, in the remarkable epoch through which this country was then passing, and
which must have furnished, one would think, subjects of occasional discussion in
intelligent circles in Britain. The preliminary rumblings of our great national
convulsion were making themselves heard. John Brown's raid had been described
in every English newspaper. But the truth is that American affairs at that time
were matters of little interest to the average English mind. They became of
interest soon after the Greville journals closed. The only distinct reference to the
United States we have discovered in this volume is on the question of Foreign
Enlistment, when some American citizens were enlisted for service in the Crimea.
Greville met Thackeray, who had just returned from his American tour, and
describes him as saying that there was not an American who did not believe that
if war ensued they could give England a good thrashing; upon which Greville
remarks: " But in a country where the statesmen, if there are any, have so little
influence, and where the national policy is subject to the passions and caprices of
an ignorant and unreasoning mob, there is no security that good sense and moder-
ation will prevail." At the same time he deplores even the remote prospect of
what he calls a " suicidal contest between the two countries."

" Retrospections of America " f goes farther back. John Bernard was one of
the first British actors to figure as a stage manager in the United States.
The greater part of these retrospections are here published for the first time. The
author had good opportunities for observing the state of society then existing, and
he describes it very graphically. He seems to have been favorably impressed with

* "A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria. From 1852 to 1860." By the late
Charles C. F. Greville, Esq., Clerk of the Council. Edited by Henry Bee re. Registrar
of the Privy Council. D. Appleton & Company.

t "Retrospections of America, 1797—1811." By John Bernard, sometime secretary
of the Beefsteak Club. etc. Harper and Brothers.

332 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

republican institutions, and stands up for them in his introductory chapter. He
saw in America, even at that time, the arena of new principles, and even of man-
ners and morality. " Thanks," he says, " to the spread of intelligence, French
manners may be seen in loving alliance with English morality." He has many
pleasant anecdotes and adventures which throw light on the social and domestic
habits of his day, both Northern and Southern, and which are, therefore, of more
than transient interest. The book should on this account, if no other, be in every
historical library. We cannot refrain from quoting from a conversation the author
had with Washington. Washington was giving utterance to some strong senti-
ments about liberty, when in walked a black negro carrying a pitcher of spring
water, and the author says he could not repress a smile, which the general at once
interpreted, and which furnished the occasion for the expression of his opinions
about slavery. The mind of the slave, he thought, should first be educated to un-
derstand the obligations of freedom before the slave could profit by emancipation.
He added, ** Not only do I pray for it on the score of human dignity, but I can
clearly see that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence
of our Union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle."

" Recollections of a Private Soldier"* brings us nearer our own day. This
book is written from the standpoint of the rank and file. Without considering every
opinion expressed — that, for example, as to the policy of calling for volunteers to
suppress the rebellion, instead of at the outset drawing soldiers ratably and by lot,
which the author thinks should have been done — it may be said that his book
is exceedingly valuable in many respects. It is certainly interesting and thoroughly
readable. It gives a better idea of the reality of a soldier's life than many of the
more pretentious histories of the War. When the author enlisted the Rebellion
was at its height, and the first flush of excitement in volunteering was over. He
speedily found himself among eight hundred or a thousand ruffians, most of them
bounty-jumpers, who were guarded by heavy lines of sentinels, and were almost
to a man cowards and bullies. His description of his life among these wretches
until he found himself in camp gives a vivid picture of unrelieved misery. And
there is a good deal about camp life and drill which comes in for criticism, though
not in a spirit of mere fault-finding. The story of Grant's last campaign is
graphically told. The impression had got abroad in the ranks that Grant was a
fighting general, and veterans shrugged their shoulders and said : " He can find
all the fighting he wants." The author states that the soldiers of the Potomac had
the highest opinion of Lee and his army, and recognized the fact that it required
the best kind of generalship to overmatch them. Human life was sacrificed in a
constant and fruitless endeavor to drive the army of Virginia from their defenses.
The author states that on one occasion, at the battle of Cold Harbor, after a ter-
rible repulse accompanied with immense loss of life, the order to charge was
again given but not a man obeyed it.- "The army to a man refused to obey
the order, presumably from General Grant, to renew the assault. I heard
the order given, and I saw it disobeyed." Many of the enlisted men had
been up to and over the Confederate works. They had seen their strength and
they knew they could not be carried by direct assault and they refused to make a
second attempt. Again, when before Petersburg, the author heard some veteran
soldiers thus describe a charge: ' 4 We are going to run toward the Confedef ate
earthworks and then we are going to run back. We have had enough of assault-

* " Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac." By Frank
Wilkeson. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 333

ing earthworks. We are hungry and tired, and we want to rest and eat." He
states that in the latter part of June, 1864, it was freely charged by the generals
in the Army of the Potomac that the army was not fighting as stanchly at Peters-
burgh as it had fought in the Wilderness or at Spottsylvania. He believes that the
charge was true, and was explainable by the demoralization of the army, owing in
part to its loss of confidence in the generalship which hurled it unavailingly against
impregnable earthworks, and in part to the wretched character of the raw recruits
sent to fill up its broken ranks. The general opinion was that if Grant had had
command of the army in 1862 the rebellion would have been crushed that year.
With regard to McClellan, he states that while personally liked by his soldiers,
they did not, as a rule, concede to him great aggressive military talent.

Our author did not follow Grant to his final victory. Having been offered a
commission some time previously, he at length decided to claim his discharge, and
subsequently rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the Fourth Artillery, and served
with his regiment before Washington and elsewhere.

It is quite natural that widely different estimates should be formed of the men
who rose to eminence during our civil war ; but to select five such characters, and,
without reference to the services of other men, to eulogize these five as the men
who saved the Union, as Mr. Donn Piatt does,* is to in vite the suggestion, not simply
of hero-worship, but of idolatry. Nevertheless, his volume is exceedingly in-
teresting. And the men here portrayed undoubtedly stand in the central group
of heroes and councillors who earned immortal honor as saviours of their country.
But they were not the only men worthy to be so designated. Lincoln, Stanton,
Chase, Seward, and Thomas were mighty men, and their names will live ; but to
ignore the part which other brave and prominent chiefs bore in the great ordeal of
the nation, is to ignore the facts of history. It is, for instance, commonly supposed
that General Grant and General Sherman had something to do in saving the Union.
Mr. Piatt not only refuses to admit General Grant into his galaxy of heroes,
but takes special pains to belittle him. Whenever Grant or Sherman is spoken
of in this book it is in tones of depreciation approaching contempt. McClellan,
of course, is consigned to the incapables. In Mr. Piatt's view, General Thomas was
the one soldier-general who saved the Union, and, in admiration of his hero, our
author sees none else. The best thing he has to say of General Grant is that he was a
brave man, and would fight, but his success is regarded as purely adventitious, .and
in no sense the result of high military qualities. Of course, this is no place for dis-
cussing that question. But to ignore Grant in any memories of this kind is to place
one's self at once on the defensive, since, rightly or wrongly, the country persists in
regarding him as the central hero of the war. But in spite of his prejudices, Donn
Piatt's work is always brilliant and captivating. In his present book Lincoln
stands before us in all his homeliness and in all his grandeur, the man of the hour,
to whom the preservation of the Onion was the one great object to which every
other question, including slavery, was secondary. Stanton, Chase, and Seward
appear natural and life-like on the canvas, each filling his peculiar sphere and each
indispensable, the first two occupied with the heavy responsibilities of domestic
administration, and the last managing with infinite tact the nation's difficult
foreign affairs. Speaking of the statue of Seward in Union Square, New York, the
a»thor justly says : " For four years nothing stood between that great commercial
centre and the utter ruin of a bombardment but the subtle intellect and patriotic
heart of that one man. Without a navy, possessed of no coast defenses, our cities
on the sea were at the mercy of the weakest naval power in Europe."

* " Memories of the Men who Saved the Union." By Donn Piatt. Belford, Clarke & Co.

VOL. CXLV. — xo. 370. 22

334 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. -

Of General Thomas, whose sketch is the longest, the American people are well
proud, and it may possibly be true that his not coming to the front as Com-
mander-iu-Chief was a national calamity. General Sherman, in a recent article
in these pages, has marked his high opinion of the soldierJy qualities of Thcmas.
But it certainly appears to be too late to convince the American people that he,
aud he alone, of all the generals of the war, is worthy of a niche in the monument
erected to the saviours of the Union.

II.

DOUBT, NEGATION, FAITH.

THE interest excited by Count Tolstoi's book, " My Religion," will naturally
find many readers for the " Confessions." In this book, which really preceded the
other in the order of composition, the author lays bare his individual life, shows
what his early training was, how he drifted into the current of fashionable folly
and wickedness, and the mental processes by which he emerged from an easy-go-
ing skepticism t3 a tranquil and assured faith. What this faith is, and how
related to the life of man and the teachings of Christ, also form a part of this in-
teresting memoir. There is evident, throughout, deep earnestness of spirit, a
knowledge of books and men, the power of philosophic abstraction, and a pro-
found conviction on the part of the author that he has reached the conclusion of
thii whole matter. The thoughtful reader will find himself carried along without
effort over roads often traversed,— through labyrinths of questions which have baf-
fled wise men all the ages, — until at length he reaches the goal, which in this case is
the restful faith which gives satisfaction and peace to the author. Probably the
majority of readers will be unable to accept the views of life here put forward
as a whole. There is a touch of mysticism and, perhaps, of fanaticism in the
Count's theology, but not enough to spoil the book. The author breaks clear away
from ecclesiastical moorings, but instead of landing in infidelity or mere negation,
finds refuge in a fervid spirituality, in the atmosphere of which worldly and sen-
suous things fade and melt away. In many particulars this Confession and
the added synopsis of Christ's teachings are remarkably suggestive.

The author sees a good illustration of life in " an old Eastern fable about a
traveler in the steppes who is attacked by a furious wild beast. To save himself
the traveler gets into a dried up well; but at the bottom of it he sees a dragon
with its mouth wide open to devour him. The unhappy man dares not get out for
fear of the wild beast, and dares not descend for fear of the dragon, so he catches
hold of the branch of a wild plant growing in a crevice of the well. His arms
grow tired and he feels that he must soon perish, death awaiting him on either side,
but he still holds on ; and then he sees two mice, one black and one white, gnawing
through the trunk of the wild plant. As they gradually and evenly make their way
around it, the plant must soon give way, break off, and he will fall into the jaws
of the dragon. The traveler sees this and knows that he must inevitably perish ;
but, while still hanging, he looks around him, and, finding some drops of honey on
the leaves of the wild plant, he stretches out his tongue and licks them." " Thus,
says Tolstoi, do I cling to the branch of life, knowing that the dragon of death in-
evitably awaits me, ready to tear me to pieces, and I cannot understand why such
tortures have fallen to my lot. I also strive to suck the honey which once comforted
me, but it palls on my palate, while the white mouse and the black, day and night
gnaw through the branch to which I cling."

* " My Confession and the Spirit of Christ's Teaching." By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi.
Translated. T. Y. Crowell & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 335

The author feels that all the attempted solutions of the problem of life to bo
found in physiology, psychology, biology, sociology, present " a striking poverty
of thought," with an utterly unjustifiable pretension to decide questions beyond
their competence, and a constant contradiction of one thinker by another, and even
of most thinkers by themselves. He draws a broad distinction between exact
science, which deals with the succession of cause and effect in material phenomena,
and theoretical science, which deals with the conception of the uncaused. The
former avoids, the latter only mystifies the great subject of infinite causation. As
to philosophy, the author finds that Solomon, Buddha, Socrates, Schopenhauer, all
deny a meaning in life and proclaim its vanity ; that however much and well men
may reason they get no real answer to the question : " What is life ?" except that
it is an evil ; hence, philosophy tends on the one hand to fatalism, despair, suicide ;
or, on the other, to an epicurean recklessness. As to the Church, orthodox, hete-
rodox, evangelical, catholic, the doctrines set before him still further obscured the
question, especially as nobody ever thought of living up to them. " I felt," he
says, " that they (Christians of his own class in life) deceived themselves, and that
for them, as for myself, the only meaning of life was to live from hand to mouth,
and take, each for himself, all that his hands can lay hold on." At the same time
he found that apaong simple peasants there were multitudes whose lives, while in-
terwoven with superstitions, were sustained by a faith which deprived poverty and
even death of terrors. This set him on a new line of research. Finally, having
barely escaped suicide as a " rational" way out of the wood, he renounces the life
of his own class, with its luxury, and begins the simple life of a laboring man, be-
lieving that to live after God's word a man must, in very fact, renounce all the
pleasures of life, labor, be humble, endure, and be charitable to all men. He is a
Christian in the sense of accepting the teachings of Christ, apart from everything
else, either in Scripture or tradition ; and what the teachings of Christ really are
he discovers in the Gospels, and he finds, after a long process of analyzing and sift-
ing, that " the Lord's Prayer is indeed nothing less than the whole teaching of
Christ, expressed in the most condensed form." " On studying, "he says, "the
various forms of Christian religions, I found them to consist in large measure of
the strangest superstitions, which, however, did not prevent many from finding
life in their teaching. Now, the chief matter is, not whether Jesus Christ was God.
or from whom descended the Holy Ghost, or when and by whom was a certain
Gospel written," but the undimmed light flowing from the teachings of Christ; and
in these teachings he sees not even a hint of the great mass of doctrinal theology
which people usually identify with Christianity.

III.

UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN SCIENCE.

No apology, such as the author offers in his preface, is needed for the appear-
ance of well written and intelligible works on such topics as are discussed by Mr.
J. H. Kedzie, of Chicago, in the treatise before us.* Revolutionary some of the
ideas advanced may indeed be called ; but not in the sense of being unscientific, or
of unsettling conclusions regarded as scientifically established. And even if the
book were revolutionary in this sense of the term it would not, for that reason, be
unwelcome. The world stands in need of books which throw light on the great
problems of existence, or which place old truths in a new light. It would be rash
to say that Mr. Kedzie has succeeded in establishing his positions in relation to the
unsolved problems indicated in the title of his book, but he has certainly presented

* " Solar Heat, Gravitation, and Sun Spots." By J. H. Kedzie. S. C. Griggs & Co.

336 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

a good case. It will be a misfortune if his theory does not awaken interest and
lead to discussion.

We have been told, for example, in so many words, on good scientific
authority, that the universe is but a cloud of suns and worlds, and that, even as
the cloud3 come only to disappear, so the planets and suns will disappear and pass
away, while others shall take their place and play their part. Our own suu is
said to be burning out at an inconceivably rapid rate, his enormous bulk, aided,
perhaps, by certain foreign influences, being our only guarantee against an eclipse
that shall have no end. Millions of years may elapse before the fuel shall be ex-
hausted which makes our earthly summers, and occasionally makes them so ex-
uber ntly warm as to suggest a little economy in the celestial furnaces; but the end
must come, if we are to credit the theory advanced by some eminent scientific
authorities. Mr. Kedzie attacks this doctrine, or rather advances another, which
indefinitely postpones the period of the "sun's exhaustion, and he states this doctrine
in such clear and expressive terms, and fortifies it by arguments so convincing, at
least from a layman's standpoint, as to create a strong desire to know what can be
said on the other side.

The more commonly received theories as to the supply of solar heat are
arrested motion owing to the constant pouring in of meteoric matter into the sun's
orb, and the evolving of heat from the gravitation of the sun's mass towards its
centre. Other theories look to the condensation of the universal atmosphere, or,
with Sir William Thomson, to the existence of convection currents within the orb
of the sun, by which the combustion on the surface is constantly maintained by
new supplies from the interior. Mr. Kedzie holds that these theories are all un-
tenable and inadequate, and there is at least one question which none of them
attempts to answer, namely, what becomes of the enormous amount of heat
radiated from the sun, and of which our earth, and all the sister planets together,
receive so minute a fraction. Mr. Kedzie rightly says : "If this heat dwindles
into non-existence, then the grandest discovery of modern times, the conservation
of energy, disappears with it."

In theorizing as to the cause of solar heat, the author discovers, or thinks he
discovers, a principle which, if true, not only settles the question of heat, but also
throws light on unexplained points in gravitation and the solar spots. We have
only space remaining to state in general terms what this principle is, leaving the
interested reader to find in the book itself the processes by which it is made appli-
cable to these several subjects. According to the acknowledged teachings of
science, the etherial ocean of the universe, in which suns and planets are in one
sense sparsely scattered — millions of miles between them — is full of waves of me-
chanical force propagated in all directions. These etherial undulations start from
non-etherial senders and are transmitted through the ether to non-etherial re-
ceivers, representing the sum total of all the energy of the universe. There is no
such thing, according to our author, as dormant energy. The forces of nature are
always at work, even when seemingly in repose. So these vibratious, intercepted
by planets or suns, undergo change, but are not lost. They leave the suns as
heat, but " during long processes through space turn to mechanical force and
other forms of energy, only to reappear as heat.in other solar orbs ad etemum."
As waves of mechanical force they fall upon the sun's photosphere and there meet
conditions which transform them to heat again, but without diminishing the effect
of the mechanical impact. As force vibrations they " pervade all space, attacking
every molecule and every mass equally on all sides, except when intercepted by
one molecule or mass from others. The nearer the intercepting bodies are to each
other the more rays of force they intercept from each other in the proportion of

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 337

the inverse squares of the distances, thus marking lines of least resistance in which
all the bodies will infallibly seek to approach each other," and causing what is
known as gravitation. And lastly, the sun's spots are caused by the interception
by the planets " of a portion of the emanations of a wide belt of the heavens.''
We are conscious that in the above condensed statement of a principle we do but
scant justice to the author. The reader will find, however, that the whole subject
is very clearly and forcibly put in this treatise, and in a style which makes it read-
able and interesting to persons of even moderate scientific attainments.

IV.

SKETCHES OP RUSSIAN SOCIETY AND PEOPLE.

THE author of "Dead Souls"* has a European celebrity which lends the
charm of anticipation to the opening chapters of these volumes, but which does
not prevent their becoming rather dull reading. As journeys of a typical kind
of Russian gentleman, "neither a beauty nor yet very plain in his personal appear-
ance ; neither too stout nor too thin," and neither old nor young, they have the
merit of introducing us to living characters that few of us, probably, have met,
and to social and geographical surroundings also peculiar. The "Dead Souls"
rather darken the title and raise expectations of horrors and tragedies, which are
doomed to disappointment. As a picture of Russian life and manners the book
has a value of course, but it takes some time in reading it to discover that
"dead souls" are simply " dead serfs," and that their connection with the jour-
neys, adventures, and scrapes of our unpronounceable friend is simply objective.
He wishes, for reasons which it takes a long time to find out, to buy up the title
to the ownership of a certain number of serfs. The standing and wealth cf a
Russian is estimated in \ art by the number of his serfs. He owns these people,
body and soul— at least he did so under the old regime— and after their death he
keeps their names on his records ; and the object of Tchitchikoff is to induce pro-
prietors of serfs to transfer their " dead souls" to him. There is no plot, no out-
come of this, as far as we can discover, and the idea of buying up the title to
dead men's bones — which at first is suggestive of the most delightfully mysterious
horrors — is simply a peg upon which to hang a kind of extended diary of a jog-
trot journey through the empire. For the rest, the book is Russian, and the author
is Gogol, and it should be read, of course.

Now and then there -s scope for some good sarcasm ; indeed, the book itself
may be taken as an extended satire on Russian institutions. In a certain town
the good people who show attention to our traveler gossip to each other about the
destination of these " dead souls." It has got abroad that Tchitchikoff intends to
colonize a distant province. One person suggests that our friend will find it diffi-
cult to manage so many serfs — that hundreds and thousands of them will run
away. Another answers that the Russian peasant never runs away— whither can
he run? Then it is suggested that there must be many bad characters
among them, and a wise head wonders how they are all to be trans-
ported to their destination. To all these points our traveler replies in an
easy, off-hand way, and intimates that all his "souls" are of a sin-
gularly, quiet and peaceable character, that the question of transportation does not
trouble him, and that he has not the slightest fear of his souls running away ; and
so on. On another occasion a public functionary, who has lost a number of serfs by
cholera, hunts up Tchitchikoff in the hope of indemnifying himself for his great loss

* •' TchitchikofTs Journeys ; or, Dead Souls." By Nikolai Vasilievitch Gogol.
Translated from the Russian. T. Y. Crowell. 2 vola.

338 THE XORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

by selling the carcasses. There is a good deal that is grotesque and humorous in
some of the scenes and characters described, but the book is terribly prolix.

V.

CONVENTIONAL CANT AS A BRITISH FAILING.

To search for national failings, even with the view of prescribing a remedy for
them, is not the most agreeable or easy of tasks, but it is one that entitles a capable
and earnest writer to attention and respect. In reading this book * the American
man may feel calmly judicial and sternly impartial. Except as he may have a
share of British blood in his veins he may take these strictures with perfect cool-
ness and even enjoy them. We can afford to take our time in discovering what
an English author — for such we presume Mr. Whitman to be— has to say on a
subject on which English people are usually a trifle sensitive. If it were an
American who had written about the conventional faults of our trans- Atlantic
cousins, we could readily anticipate what he might have to say, but for an Eng-
lishman to chastise the English is a very refreshing spectacle, and is calculated
to awaken some little curiosity on this side of the world. There is a great deal in
the book that is worthy of attention, and we hope that not only our English rela-
tives, but some of our own people may profit by it.

The author does not, at the start, give a very precise definition of cant, but he
distinguishes between the cant which is conventional and that which goes by the
name of religious cant or hypocrisy, with which he does not deal. Before defin-
ing his subject he gives us an essay on pharisaism, or that insular pride in things
English which peculiarly pervades the middle and untraveled classes. In this con-
nection he makes a fling at English efforts to "convert" the heathen and the
Jews, and at certain instances of foreign intermeddling, and he adds : •' There
are signs abroad that we are not so cocksure of our own excellence in everything
as we used to be." This is very well for an Englishman, and very satisfactory to
the rest of mankind, besides which it is expressed in a thoroughly English fashion,
and our readers will no doubt say " Amen."

What do English people think of the expression " toadying debasement before
rank and social power— one of the greatest blemishes of tne English race ?" This
is pretty good I

As an instance of social cant, the author alludes to the practice of public
speakers interlarding their speeches with Latin or Greek quotations. " These
quotations are not meant for popular consumption ; they are merely canting
clap-trap, recalling references to the social position of the speakers and their
hearers." There is a lesson for our future valedictorians 1 Another instance of
cant is the peculiar way of pronouncing certain aristocratic family names.
" That a man whose name is Marjoribanks should call himself Marchbanks —
that Leveson Gower should be pronounced Lewson Gore, and Cholmondely Chum-
ley — would in any other country but England be suggestive of insanity." Then
there is an aristocratic " coldness of manner," and a middle class " grin of
amiability," and lastly a habit of self-depreciation with a gushing appreciation of
others — all of which are stigmatized and rebuked, and which, we regret to say,
are not peculiar to England.

As to manners, they are affected and artificial, with an awkward aiming at
naturalness which does not, after all, succeed. A man is ashamed to say " my
wife;" he must speak of her as Mrs. A. or Mrs. X. The best mannered people in

*•' Conventional Cant; its Kesults and Remedy." By Sidney Whitman . Kegan,
Paul, Treucn & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 339

England the author finds among policemen and railway officials. We cannot
help asking where he would put a London *' cabby," or the typical American car-
conductor, the latter having a peculiarly national habit of ordering his passengers
to " move on," and of punching them in the ribs for their faros. " Society in Eng-
land, except that small cosmopolitan section which is almost international, is painful
enough by its hollo wness, its pretentiousness, its gush, its fetish- worship, but also
more especially by its want of any intelligible code of manners." Mr. Whitman
admits that in England people do not put their knives in their mouths,— many of
U3 do in America, — but he thinks even that would be better than asking people to
your home and not introducing them to each other.

Out author levels his lance against newspaper press cant, which praises John
Stuart Mill and denounces Bradlaugh ; and in passing he gives a slap at the in-
consistency of burying Darwin, the agnostic, in Westminster, while an established
clergyman cannot exchange pulpits with a dissenting minister. This latter, by
the way, should come under a different heading, but the author thinks that the
press is largely answerable for such an anomaly. There is a sarcasm about the
mutual admiration style of the English and American press at this particular
period of the Victorian era. The author also regards the recent Pall Mall Gazette
revelations as a stupendous instance of daring press-cant. Not to be beaten, we
might, perhaps, add something about the American press and Jacob Sharp !

From the press to politics and principles is an easy transition, and something
is said about the English diplomatic noble and " free trade." The author, however,
is not hopeless of reformation for his country. He believes that the best way to
begin to cure a disease is to begin to understand it, and he augurs in the growth
of individualism among all classes a splendid possibility for the future. He sug-
gests, however, that the national character may be drifting toward a cataclysm,
out of which a new life, born of a new morality, shall make the past look like a
hideous nightmare. So there is a very serious side to this bright and suggestive
book.

VI.

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

THERE is something to be learned from the story of any individual life, if truth-
fully told. The author of " Years of Experience "* is a lady now in her seventieth
year, and may, therefore, be justified in concluding that her life-work is sufficiently
near its completion to make a calm review of it her special duty. Without setting
forth any reasons for taking the public into her confidence she has made the public
her debtor. No thoughtful person can read this modest autobiography without
interest and profit, as showing the course of a self-reliant and intellectual woman,
thrown early in life upon her own endeavors, and bravely holding her own through
all adversities and difficulties. It is not so much, however, a story of material as
of intellectual and spiritual experience, gathered under outward circumstances
and associations that impart to it special interest. Born in England, with a mix-
ture of aristocratic French blood in her veins, she finds herself while still a child
rebelling in spirit against the current orthodox dogmas about the Deity, and
through life she appears to have maintained her determination to accept nothing
f as authoritative in religion which off ends her moral intuitions and conceptions.
Circumstances caused her to emigrate, and in the course of a few years, after a
brief residence in Canada, we find her a member of the community known as "The
Brook Farm," and some of the most interesting pages of the book are occupied
with her mental and spiritual experiences in connection with that short-lived en-

* " Years of Experience : An Autobiographical Narrative." By Georgiana Bruce
Kirby. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

340 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

terprise. She afterwards went West and South and saw the workings of slavery,
but meanwhile had some prison experiences as assistant matron at Sing Sing.
One of her intimate personal friends was Margaret Fuller, of whom she gives some
pleasant recollections. Another person of interest introduced to the reader is the
wife of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. This lady disclosed to her many of
the earlier secrets of the Mormon delusion, and apparently had not the slightest re-
spect for her husband's character.

VII.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS.

DR. PEABODY has presented the public in these twelve lectures * with an ad-
mirable digest of the fundamental principles of moral philosophy in relation to dis-
tinctly Christian ethics, and as concerned with human progress and the practical
affairs of life. The reader must not expect to find an exhaustive treatise on the
history and development of ethics as a science. The lectures were delivered to a
class of divinity students at Harvard University from the Chair of Christian Morals,
and are, therefore, as might be supposed, somewhat didactic in tone, and are im-
bued throughout with Christians ideas and sentiments. They are evidently the pro-
duction of a scholarly mind, well read in the literature of this special class of knowl-
edge. Moral philosophy is usually an attractive study with theological students,
and has an influential bearing upon the work of the pulpit. These lectures, there-
fore, throw some light on the probable trend of pulpit-teaching in respei-t of
morals and ethics for some time to come. They do n©t present many novel ideas —
perhaps the ground has been too thoroughly traversed for that ; and the main
positions are those which have been taught in theologic schools for at least half a
century. But they are well put together, and the arguments are clear and favor-
able, and never prolix. If the excursions of the author into the realm of debate-
able philosophy are not long, nor too venturesome, they show enough of the
enemy's territory to indicate the points of attack and defense.

The lectures start with a discussion on human freedom, which the author
maintains as in fact furnishing the very foundation of moral science. Then
follows " the ground of right," in which some of the modern theories are disposed
of ; for example, the will of God. This, if accepted, might be held to justify
every form of imposture and fanaticism. Adam Smith's theory of sympathy and
the views of right derived from mysticism are discussed. The author argues
that the ground of right is fitness — which, we suppose, is another way of saying
that right is based on eternal and abstract law, and the existence of a moral dis-
cernment in every rational being, by which this law can be applied to every
conceivable act. Utilitarianism and expediency are shown to be very poor guides,
and the subtle fallacy of Bentham's principle, "the greatest happiness of the
greatest number," proved to be no rule for individual conduct, however it may
be accepted as a political maxim. Expediency has a place in morals, but not as a
fundamental rule, else we should all be liars. The argument for truthfulness is
exceedingly well put.

Space does not permit our following the lecturer through the discussions on
conscience, virtue, the Hebrew Scriptures, Christian ethics, and Moral Beauty, nor
the briet exposition of hedonism and stoicism, and the influence of Christian
ethics on Roman law, with which the volume ends. Dr. Peabody's main position
is the existence in man, as man, of a special moral faculty, divinely bestowed, and
not an evolution from physical conditions, and he argues that as this faculty is
enlightened and guided by the precepts, spirit, and example of Christ, we reach
toward the perfection of morality, both in theory and practice.

* Moral Philosophy. A series of lectures, liy Andrew P. Peabody, D. D., LL.D.
Lee & Shepard.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 341

VIII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE publishers of these translations of some of Plato's masterpieces * are to be
congratulated upon the fidelity with which the original has been rendered into
good English, reproducing the noble and graceful expressions and lofty ideals of
the great philosopher. Gorgias, the polite and versatile rhetorician, who boasts
that by the skillful use of speech he can win every one to his way of thinking, and
therefore claims for rhetoric the highest place among the arts, is confronted by
Socrates, who stoutly disputes this position, and classes rhetoric among such dex-
terous and minor arts as fancy cookery and flattery. In this dialogue the great
thoughts of Socrates, as to u the best way of life" and the supremacy of " the
good," are opposed to the airy and flippant philosophy of expediency. These
translations should command a wide circle of modern readers.

In a series of short papers,-!- Professor Alexander presents very fairly some
of the principal subjects debated in modern philosophy. He truly says that "to
enumerate all of the difficulties of philosophy which have thus far not been wholly
removed would be to give a synopsis of a philosophical system/' and he contends
that scientific preparation for encountering these difficulties is as essential to the
philosopher as it is in another sense to the surgeon. Just what is meant in this con-
nection by " scientific" is not quite clear— probably a careful mental training and
discipline ; fcr he adds: " In the mysterious country lying between theology and phi-
losophy"— metaphysics we presume — " many a hopeful, speculative mind has been
lost in doubt or extravagant theory." Again he says : " The history of failures"—
to explain the nature of being as distinct from appearances — "has led some to think
that failure is the inevitable consequence of metaphysical inquiry." He dissents
from this position, as also from the position taken by the metaphysical dogmatist,
bub insists on the importance both of analysis and synthesis in establishing a sound
system. He would avoid the one extreme of skepticism, as applied to the unsolved
questions of philosophy, as well as the other extreme of relying on traditional
opinions, which modern investigations have exploded. Students of philosophy will
find this little treatise very helpful.

In this series of thirteen lectures delivered on Sunday evenings before a city
congregation,* we find a capital and exceedingly interesting statement of the
latest phases of Egyptian discovery. One object of these lectures— probably the
chief —is to demonstrate the truth of Scripture prophesy ; and certainly some of
the facts disclosed are of great significance, and calculated not only to delight the
religious reader who implicitly believes in his Bible, but also to awaken new inter-
est in Biblical questions. Dr. Robinson excels in a masterly simplicity of style,
and has, justly, a reputation for scholarly accuracy and diligence, and it is there-
fore not surprising that this little book has proved to be exceedingly sought after
by teachers in Sunday-schools and many others. It is a book that any person of
average intelligence will find readable and instructive. The author narrates the
particulars of the discovery of the burial place at Deir-el-Bahari, and graphically

* "Talks with Socrates about Life." Translations from the Gorgias and the Repub-
lic of Plato. Charles Scribner's Sons.

t " Some Problems of Philosophy." Archibald Alexander, Professor of Philosophy in
Columbia College. Charles Scribner's Sons.

* " The Pharaohs of the Bondage and the Exodus." By Chas. S. Robinson, D.D.
The Century Company.

342 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

describes the identification of the mummies of "the king who knew Joseph,"
" the father of Pharaoh's daughter," of Seti I., who put to death the male chil-
dren of the Hebrews, and other famous personages. There are also interesting
chapters on Gosheu, Pithom, and Zoan, and discussions on the wonders of Egypt
and certain points of exegesis and doctrine growing out of this subject.

It is a matter for some surprise that until the appearance of the little book here
noticed* no person competent for the task had undertaken to write an account of
the Draft Riots in New York in 1863. As a piece of purely local history, the story
is well worth telling. And not alone for New York, but for all great cities are
the lessons which grow out of this narrative worthy of serious attention. Great
cities are proverbially the centres of bad as well as good influences, and in them
all the depraved and reckless and criminal classes find hiding places, constituting
the volcanic force which may at any moment, in times of excitement, work
its way by upheaval and explosion to the surface. The author, who took
the part of a volunteer special in helping to quell the riots of 1863, writes from
recollection ; but not only so, for he tells us that he has carefully searched the
newspapers of the period, and all the official dispatches and records for materials
and dates, besides comparing notes with officials and others who were eye-wit-
nesses of the events. He has also submitted his manuscript to the highest authori-
ties for revision. The work may, therefore, be regarded as historic and trust-
worthy. The writer is satisfied that the draft for army recruits was but the prick-
ing of a great social tumor, and that it was not the mechanics and artisans, but
the great restless mob at the very base of society, led on by designing communists
and demagogues, who brought about the trouble. He thinks that there are the
same elements in our cities to-day as in 1863, and that true wisdom lies in being in
a state of constant preparation to overpower them. He states that there are now
about thirty thousand known convicts in the city of New York, and at least as
many unknown convicts, besides the evil-disposed who sympathize with them.
These are the volcano under the city. No possible outbreak could last longer than
a few days, but in a few hours a fearful amount of destruction of property and
loss of life could be brought about. To prevent a mob gaining headway by even
a few hours should, in his opinion, always be manifestly in the power of the au-
thorities.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Chas. Scribner's Sons.

Elements of Physiological Psychology. Ladd.

The Provinces of the Roman Empire, from Caesar to Diocletian. Mommsen.

2 vols. Translated by W. P. Dickson.
The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre. Bairrl. 2 vols.
The Essentials of Perspective. L. W. Miller.

Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. I. Marvin R. Vincent.
History of Modern Philosophy. Kuno Fischer. 1. Descartes and his school.

Translated by Gordy. Edited by Noah Porter.
Psychology— The Motive Powers. McCosh.
Some Problems of Philosophy. Archibald Alexander.

* " The Vo!cano under tha City." By a Volunteer Special. Fords, Howard & Hul-
bert.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 343

Talks with Socrates about Life. Translations from the Gorgias and the Re-
public of Plato.

Areund the World on a Bicycle. Vol. I. From San Francisco to Teheran.
Thomas Stevens.

D. Appleton & Co.

The Greville Memoirs. A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria. From

1852 to 1860.

Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit. H. W. Beecher.
On th.9 Susquehanna. Hammond.
What is the Church ? Plain Instructions about the Church, especially in

England, with notes, and a supplementary chapter on the P. B. Church in

the United States.

The Pleasures of Life. Sir John Lubbock.
Red Spider. A novel. S. Baring-Gould.
Thraldom. A novel. Julian Sturgis.
China. Travels and Investigations in the " Middle Kingdom," with a glance

at Japan . James Harrison Wilson.

Harper and Brothers.

Outlines of International Law, with an account of its origin and sources, and

of its historical development. George B. Davis, U. S. A., Asst. Professor

of Law at the U. S. Military Academy.
The Russian Church and Russian Dissent, comprising Orthodoxy, Dissent, and

Erratic Sects. Albert F. Heard, formerly Consul-General for Russia at

Shanghai.
Episodes of a Life of Adventure ; or, Moss from a Rolling Stone. Lawrence

Ohphant.

Things Seen. Victor Hugo.
A Blot on the 'Scutcheon, and Other Dramas. Robert Browning. Edited

with notes by M. J. Rolfe and Heloise E. Hersey.
History of Mediaeval Art. Dr. Franz von Reber. Translated.
Introduction to Psychological Theory. Borden P. Browne.
Retrospection of America. 1797-1811. John Bernard.

Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.

Tchitchikoff's Journeys ; or, Dead Souls. Gogol. Translated from the Rus-
sian. 2 vols.

My Confession, and the Spirit of Christ's Teaching. Lyof N. Tolstoi. Trans-
lated from the Russian.

The Labor Movement in America. Richard T. Ely, D.D.

Mrs. Shillabeer's Cook Book. A Practical Guide to Housekeepers.

Fords, Howard & Hulbert.

The Volcano Under the City. By a Volunteer Special.
The Labor Movement in America. Ely.
Principles of Art. John C. Van Dyke.

Roberts Brothers.

Prisoners of Poverty. Helen Campbell.

Agatha and the Shadow. A novel. Anon.

Some Chinese Ghosts. Lafcadio Hearn.

Through the Gates of Gold. A Fragment of Thought. Anon.

O. P. Putnam's Sons.

The Van Gelder Papers, and other sketches.

American Literature 1607-1885. Vol. I. Chas. F. Richardson.

Memorials of a Half Century. Bela Hubbard.

344 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Sociology. John Bascom.

The Story of Assyria. Ragozin.

The Story of Alexander's Empire. Mahaffy.

The American Electoral System. Chas. A. O'Neil.

Years of Experience. An Autobiographical Narrative. Georgiana Bruce

Kirby.

Social Studies. R. Heber Newton.
Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac. Frank

Wilkeson.

American Patriotism. An essay. Putnam P. Bishop.
The Federal Constitution. An essay. John F. Baker.
Questions of the Day Series : Railway Practice, Alexander ; American State

Constitutions, Hitchcock ; The Fishery Question, Isham : The Inter-State

Commerce Act, Dos Passos ; The Margin of Profits, Atkinson.

Lee & Shepard.

Moral Philosophy. A Series of Lectures. Dr. A. P. Peabody.
Natural Law in the Business World. Henry Wood.
Bridge Disasters in America. Vose.

Cupples, Upham & Co.

i Am That I Am. The Philosophic Basis of the Christain Faith. A Metrical

Essay. Warriner.
The World as We Saw It. Mrs. Amos R. Little.

The Century Co.

The Pharaohs of the Bondage and the Exodus. Robinson.

S. C. Origgs & Co.

Kant's Ethics : A Critical Exposition. Noah Porter.
Solar Heat, Gravitation, and Sun Spots. Kedzie.

Belford, Clarke <Sb Co.

Memories of the Men who Saved the Union. Donn Piatt.

Ticknor & Co.

American Literature, and Other Papers. Edwin P. Whipple,

Kegan, Paul, Trench & Co.

Conventional Cant; its Results and Remedy. Sydney Whitman.

Longman, Green & Co.

The Problem of Evil. Daniel Greenleaf Thompson.

Townsend MacCoun.

New Historical Atlas and General History. Labberton.

Saxon <& Co.

The Story of Metlakaptla. Wellcome.
A. Lovell & Co.

The Fortunes of Words. Garlanda.
Edward W. Bok.

Beecher Memorial. Contemporaneous Tributes.

Macmillan & Co.

Romantic Love and Personal Beauty. Their Development, Casual Relations,
Historical and National Peculiarities. Henry T. Mnck.

Worthington Co.

Select Poems. Algernon Charles Swinburne.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

No. CCCLXXI.

OCTOBER, 1887.

SOME DEFECTS IN OUR POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS.

IF our Government and legislation are permeated and fortified
by divine revelation and Christian traditions, we cannot ignore
the fact that they are assailed by unbelief, impiety, and socialism.
We have our moral Hell Gate, which threatens our ship of State,
and which it requires more than the genius of a Newton to
remove. If we have strong hopes for the future of our country,
we are not without fears. The dangers that threaten our civiliza-
tion may be traced for the most part to the family. The root of
the commonwealth is in the homes of the people. The social and
civil life springs from the domestic life of mankind. The official
life of a nation is ordinarily the reflex of the moral sense of the
people. The morality of public administration is to be gauged
by the moral standard of the family. The river does not rise
above its source.

We are confronted by a number of great evils — Mormonism

and divorce, which strike at the root of the family and society ;..

an imperfect and vicious system of education, which undermines

the religion of our youth ; the desecration of the Christian Sab-

VOL. CXLV.— NO. 371. 23

346 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

bath, which tends to obliterate in our adult population the salu-
tary fear of God and the homage we owe Him ; a fraudulent
ballot ; and an administration of justice pernicious in its dila-
tory character. Our insatiable greed for gain, the co-existence of
colossal wealth with abject poverty, the extravagance of the rich,
the discontent of the poor, our eager and impetuous rushing
through life, and every other moral and social delinquency, may
be traced to one or other of the radical vices above enumerated.

Every man that has the welfare of his country at heart, can-
not fail to view with alarm the existence and the gradual develop-
ment of Mormonism, which is a plague-spot on our civilization, a
discredit to our Government, a degradation of the female sax, and
a standing menace to the sanctity of the marriage bond. The
feeble and spasmodic attempts that have been made to repress
this social evil, and the virtual immunity which it enjoys, have
rendered its apostles bold and defiant. Formerly they were con-
tent with enlisting recruits from England, Wales, Sweden and
other parts of Scandinavia ; but now, emboldened by toleration,
they send their emissaries throughout the country and obtain
disciples from North Carolina, Georgia, and other States of the
Union.

The reckless facility with which divorce is procured is an
evil scarcely less deplorable than Mormonism ; indeed, it is, in
some respects, more dangerous than the latter ; for divorce has the
sanction of the civil law, which Mormonism has not. Is not the
law of divorce a virtual toleration of Mormonism in a modified
form ? Mormonism consists in simultaneous polygamy, while
the law of divorce practically leads to successive polygamy.

Each State has in its statutes a list of causes, or rather pretexts,
which are recognized as sufficient ground for divorce a vinculo.
There are in all twenty-two or more causes, most of them of a
very trifling character, and in some States, as in Illinois and
Maine, the power of granting a divorce is left to the discretion of
the judge !

The second evil that bodes mischief to our country and en-
dangers the stability of our Government arises from our mutilated
and vicious system of public school education. I am persuaded
that the popular errors now existing in reference to education
spring from an incorrect notion of that term. To educate means
to bring out, to develop the intellectual, moral, and religious fac-

SOME DEFECTS IN OUR INSTITUTIONS. 347

ulties of the soul. An education, therefore, that improves only
the mind and the memory, to the neglect of moral and religious
training, is at best but an imperfect and defective system. Ac-
cording to Webster's definition, to educate is ' ' to instill into the
mind principles of art, science, morals, religion, and behavior."
" To educate," he says, " in the arts is important ; in religion,
indispensable/'

It is, indeed, eminently useful that the intellect of our youth
should be developed, and that they should be made familiar with
those branches of knowledge which they are afterward likely to
pursue. They can then go forth into the world, gifted with a well-
furnished mind and armed with a lever by which they may elevate
themselves in the social scale, and become valuable members of
society. It is also most desirable that they should be made
acquainted, in the course of their studies, with the history of our
own country, with the origin and principles of its Government,
and with the eminent men who have served it by their states-
manship and defended it by their valor. This knowledge will
instruct them in their civic duties and rights, and contribute to
make them enlightened citizens and devoted patriots.

But it is not enough for children to have a secular education ;
they most receive a religious training. Indeed, religious knowl-
edge is as far above human science as the soul is above the body,
as heaven is above earth, as eternity is above time. The little
child that is familiar with the Christian Catechism, is really more
enlightened on truths that should come home to every rational
mind than the most profound philosophers of Pagan antiquity,
or even than many of the so-called philosophers of our own
times. He has mastered the great problem of life. He knows
his origin, his sublime destiny, and the means of attaining it — a
knowledge which no human science can impart without the light
of Eevelation.

We want our children to receive an education which will make
them not only learned, but pious men. We want them to be not
only polished members of society, but, also, conscientious Chris-
tians. We desire for them a training that will form their heart, as
well as expand their mind. We wish them to be not only men of
the world, but, above all, men of God.

A knowledge of history is most useful and important for the
student. He should be acquainted with the lives of those illustri-

348 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

ous heroes that founded empires — of those men of genius that en-
lightened the world by their wisdom and learning, and embellished
it by their works of art.

But is it not more important to learn something of the 'King of
Kings, who created all these kingdoms, and by whom kings reign ?
Is it not more important to study that uncreated Wisdom before
whom all earthly wisdom is folly, and to admire the works of the
Divine Artist who paints the lily and who gilds the cloud ?

The religious and secular education of our children cannot be
divorced from each other without inflicting a fatal wound upon
the soul. The usual consequence of such a separation is to
paralyze the moral faculties and so foment a spirit of indifference
in matters of faith. Education is to the soul what food is to the
body. The milk with which the infant is nourished at its
mother's breast, feeds not only its head, but permeates at the
same time the heart and other bodily organs. In like manner
the intellectual and moral growth of our children must go hand
in hand ; otherwise their education is shallow and fragmentary,
and often proves a curse instead of a blessing.

Guizot, an eminent Protestant writer of France, expresses
himself so clearly and forcibly on this point that we cannot for-
bear quoting his words : " In order," he says, ( ' to make popular
education truly good and socially useful, it must be fundamen-
tally religious. . . . It is necessary that national education
should be given and received in the midst of a religious atmos-
phere, and that religious expressions and religious observances
should penetrate into all its parts. Eeligion is not a study or an
exercise to be restricted to a certain place or a certain hour ; it is
a faith and a law which ought to be felt everywhere, and which,
after this manner alone, can exercise all its beneficial influence
upon our mind and our life."

The remedy for the defects of our system would be supplied,
if the denominational plan, such as now obtains in Canada, were
applied in our public schools.

The desecration of the Christian Sabbath is another social
danger against which it behooves us to set our face, and to take
timely precautions before it assumes proportions too formidable to
be easily eradicated.

The custom of observing religious holidays has prevailed both
in ancient and modern times, and among nations practicing a

SOME DEFECTS IN OUR INSTITUTIONS. 349

false system of worship, as well as among those that have professed
the true religion. They have set apart one day in the week, or, at
least, certain days in the month or year, for the public and solemn
worship of their Creator, just as they have instituted national
festivals to commemorate signal civic blessings obtained by their
heroes and statesmen.

The Hebrew people were commanded by Almighty God to
keep holy the Sabbath day, or Saturday, because on that day God
rested from His work ; and we have warrant for asserting that
the Sabbatical observance was anterior to the promulgation of the
Mosaic law, and derived from the primitive law given to Adam.

With what profound reverence, then, should we view an
ordinance which was instituted to draw man closer to his Maker,
and to inculcate on him humanity toward his fellow-being, and
compassion for even the beast of burden; an ordinance whose
observance was requited by temporal blessings, and whose viola-
tion was avenged by grievous calamities ; which is first proclaimed
at the dawn of human life, re-echoed on Mount Sinai, and engraved
by the finger of God on the Decalogue ; which applies to all times
and places, and is demanded by the very exigencies of our nature !

Sunday, or the Lord's day, is consecrated to rest from servile
work and to public worship by the Christian world, to commemo-
rate the resurrection of our Saviour from the grave, by which He
consummated the work of our redemption, and to foreshadow the
glorious resurrection of the elect and the eternal rest which they
will enjoy in the life to come. Most appropriately, indeed, has
Sunday been chosen ; for, if it was proper to solemnize the day on
which God created the world, how much more meet to celebrate
the day on which He redeemed it !

As the worship of our Creator is nourished and perpetuated by
religious festivals, so does' it languish where they are unobserved,
and become paralyzed by their suppression. Whenever the enemies
of God seek to destroy the religion of a people, they find n^ means
so effectual for carrying out their impious designs as by the sup-
pression of the Sabbath. Thus, when Antiochus determined to
abolish the sacred laws of the Hebrew people, and to compel them to
conform to the practice of idolatry, he defiled tjj^temj^es of Jeru-
salem and Garizem ; he put an end to the Jewish sacrifices, and,
above all, he forbade, under pain of death, the observance of the
Sabbath and the other religious solemnities, substituting in their

350 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

stead his own birthday and the feast of Bacchus as days of sacri-
fice and licentious indulgence.

The leaders of the French Revolution, in 1793, adopted similar
methods for the extirpation of the Lord's day in France. The
churches were profaned and dedicated to the Goddess of Reason,
the priests were exiled or put to death, and the very name of
Sunday, or Lord's day, was abolished from the calendar, so that
every hallowed tradition associated with that day might be obliter-
ated from the minds of the people.

And it is a well-known fact that, in our own times, the enemies
of religion are the avowed opponents of the Christian Sabbath.
I have seen the Sunday violated in Paris, in Brussels, and other
capitals of Europe. And even in Rome I have seen government
workmen engaged, on the Lord's day, in excavating and in build-
ing houses. Who are they that profane the Sunday in those cities
of Europe ? They are men lost to all sense of religion, who glory
in their impiety, and who aim at the utter extirpation of Chris-
tianity.

A close observer cannot fail to note the dangerous inroads
which have been made on the Lord's day within the last quarter
of a century in our own country ; and if these invasions are not
checked in time the day may come when the religious quiet now
happily reigning in Baltimore and other well-ordered cities will
be changed into a day of noise and turbulence, when the sound
of the bell will be drowned by the echo of the hammer and the
dray, when the prayer-book and the Bible will be supplanted by
the newspaper and the magazine, when the votaries of the thea-
tre and the drinking saloon will outnumber the church worship-
ers, and the salutary thoughts of God, and of the soul, and of
eternity will be choked by the cares of business and by the pleas-
ures and dissipations of the world.

We cannot but admire the wisdom of God and His intimate
knowledge of the human heart in designating one day in the week
on which public homage should be paid to Him. So engrossing
are the cares and occupations of life, so absorbing its pleasures,
that it is difficult, if not impossible, to direct the thoughts of
mankind £p thqjhigher pursuits of virtue and religious worship,
unless a special t*me is set apart for these spiritual exercises. We
have certain hours assigned to the various functions of daily life.
We have stated hours for retiring to rest at night, and for rising

SOME DEFECTS IN OUR INSTITUTIONS. 351

from sleep, for partaking of our meals, and attending to our regu-
lar avocations. If we discharged those ordinary functions only
when the spirit would move us, and inclination would prompt us,
our health would be impaired, and our temporal interests would
suffer. And so would our spiritual nature grow torpid if there
were no fixed day for renovating it by the exercise of divine praise
and adoration. We might for a time worship God at irregular in-
tervals, and would probably end by neglecting to commune with
Him altogether.

The Christian Sabbath is a living witness of revelation and an
abiding guardian of Christianity. The religious services held in
our churches each successive Sunday are the most effective
means for keeping fresh in the minds and hearts of our people the
sublime and salutary teachings of the Gospel. Our churches ex-
ercise on the truths of revelation an influence analogous to that
exerted by our courts of justice in the civil law. The silence and
solemnity of the court, the presence of the judge, the power with
which he is clothed, the weight of his decisions, give an authority
to our civil and criminal jurisprudence and invest it with a sanc-
tion, which it could not have if our courts were closed.

In like manner, the religious decorum observed in our temples
of worship, the holiness of the place, the sacred character of the
officiating ministers, above all, the reading and exposition of the
sacred Scriptures, inspire men with a reverence for the divine law
and cause it to exert a potent influence on the moral guidance of
the community, and the summary closing of our civil tribunals
would not entail a more disastrous injury on the laws of the land,
than the closing of our churches would inflict on the Christian re-
ligion.

How many social blessings are obtained by the due observance
of the Lord's day ? The institution of the Christian Sabbath has
contributed more to the peace and good order of nations than
could be accomplished by standing armies and the best organized
police force. The officers of the law are a terror, indeed, to evil
doers, and arrest them for overt acts, while the ministers of re-
ligion, by the lessons they inculcate, prevent crime by appealing
to the conscience, and promote peace in the kingdom of the soul.

The cause of charity and mutual benevolence is greatly fostered
by the sanctification of the Sunday. When we assemble at church
on the Lord's day, we are admonished by that very fact, that we

352 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

are all members of the same social body, and that we should have
for one another the same lively sympathy and spirit of co-opera-
tion which the members of the human body entertain towards
each other. We are reminded that we are all enlivened and sanc-
tified by the same spirit : " There are diversities of graces/' says
the Apostle, ( ' but the same spirit ; and there are diversities of
ministries, but the same Lord ; and there are diversities of op-
erations, but the same God, who worketh all in all." We have
all divers pursuits and avocations ; we occupy different grades
of society ; but in the house of God all these distinctions are
leveled and the same spirit that enters the heart of the most ex-
alted citizen does not disdain to descend also into the soul of the
humblest peasant.

If, indeed, the observance of the Sunday were irksome and
difficult, there would be some excuse for neglecting this ordi-
nance. But it is a duty which, so far from involving labor and
self'denial, contributes to health of body as well as to content-
ment of mind. The Christian Sunday is not to be confounded
with the Jewish or the old Puritan Sabbath. It prescribes the
golden mean between rigid Sabbatarianism on the one hand, and
lax indulgence on the other. There is little doubt that the
revulsion in public sentiment from a rigorous to a loose observ-
ance of the Lord's day can be ascribed to the sincere but mis-
guided zeal of the Puritans who confounded the Christian Sunday
with the Jewish Sabbath, and imposed restraints on the people
which were repulsive to Christian freedom, and not warranted
by the Gospel dispensation. The Lord's day should always be
regarded as a day of joy. We should be cheerful, without being
dissipated ; grave and religious, without being sad or melancholy.
Christianity forbids, indeed, all unnecessary servile work on that
day ; but, as " the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath," she allows such work whenever charity or necessity
may demand it. And as it is a day, not only of religion, but also
of relaxation of mind and body, she permits us to spend a por-
tion of it in innocent recreation. In a word, the true conception
of the Lord's day is expressed in the words of the Psalmist :
" This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us be glad and
rejoice therein."

A word must be added on two other pregnant evils : The ballot
is the expression of the will of a free people, and its purity should

SOME DEFECTS IN OUR INSTITUTIONS. 353

be guarded with the utmost jealousy. To violate that purity is
to wound the State in its tenderest point.

The repeated cry of "election frauds" is one full of warning.
In many instances, undoubtedly, it is the empty charge of .de-
feated partisans against the victors ; yet enough remain, of a
substantial character, to be ominous. In every possible way — by
tickets insidiously printed, by "stuffing" the box, by "tissue
ballots," and "repeating" and "personation" — frauds are at-
tempted, and too often successfully, upon the ballot. It is the
gravest menace to free institutions.

Defective registration laws and negligence to secure the ballot-
box by careful legal enactments, in part account for such a state
of affairs ; but a prime cause is that the better class of citizens
so often stand aloof from practical politics and the conduct of
campaigns. It is one result of universal suffrage that elections
very frequently turn upon the votes of that large class made up
of the rough and baser sort. To influence and organize this vote
is the "dirty work" of politics. Gentlemen naturally shrink
from it. Hence it has gotten, for the most part, with the general
political machinery, into unreputable hands ; and from these
hands issue the election frauds, which thicken in the great cities,
and gravely endanger our institutions. The ballot is the ready
and potent instrument which registers the will of a free people
for their own government, and the violation of its purity leads
directly to the point where there is either loss of liberty or revolu-
tion to restore it. We all remember what happened in 1876,
when alleged tampering with election returns affected the Presi-
dential succession, and a great cloud arose and for weeks hung,
dark and threatening, over the land. It was a tremendous crisis,
and perhaps only the memories of recent war averted disastrous
strife.

We hail it with satisfaction, that a more healthy public opin-
ion in this quarter seems developing, that reputable citizens ap-
pear more disposed to bear an active part in practical politics,
and that " reform," "a free ballot," "a fair count," are becom-
ing, under the pressure, more and more party watchwords. It is
a purifying tendency in a vital direction.

Yet, another crying evil is the wide interval that so often in-
terposes between a criminal's conviction and the execution of the
sentence, and the frequent defeat of justice by the delay. Human

354 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

life is, indeed, sacred, but the laudable effort to guard it has gone
beyond bounds. Of late years the difficulty to convict (in mur-
der trials, especially) has greatly increased from the widened
application of the pleas in bar, — notably, that of insanity. When
a conviction has been reached, innumerable delays generally stay
the execution. The many grounds of exception allowed to coun-
sel, the appeals from one court to another, with final applica-
tion to the Governor, and the facility with which signatures for
pardon are obtained have combined to throw around culprits an
extravagant protective system and gone far to rob jury trial of its
substance and efficacy. A prompt execution of the law's sen-
tence, after a fair trial had, is that which strikes terror into evil
doers and satisfies the public conscience. The reverse of this
among us has brought reproach upon the administration of jus-
tice and given plausible grounds for the application of lynch-
law.

JAMES CARDINAL GIBBOKS.

MY FRIEND THE KING.

I BELIEVE I am the only man in the United States who has
interviewed the King of Dahomey.

The circumstances were these :

Some years ago it was my fate to be appointed supercargo of
a fine brig, clearing from New York for Sierra Leone, sometimes
known as Freetown, on the west coast of Africa, or a market,
which means that we were bound on a trading voyage, and had a
cargo suitable, consisting of calicos, cotton cloth, muskets, gun-
powder, beads, tobacco, whiskey, and knick-knacks.

We stopped twelve hours at Freetown and two days at Cape
Coast Castle, a desolate, dreary spot, made celebrated by being
the tomb of Letetia E. Landon, the English poetess.

After a passage of forty-five days we made the port of Whydah,
on the coast of that unexplored land where the missionary has
not yet reached, Dahomey. Here, from all the information I had
received, I determined to get rid of my cargo, but here I was
deceived. We who think that the slave trade is at an end, should
look into the indications in that neighborhood now.

Where they are shipped to no one seems to know, but that
there are cargoes of captives run off that coast yet to Brazil and
the West India Islands is a certainty, and that there are hundreds
of Portuguese along that coast regularly in the trade is as certain
as that negroes exist there.

At the time of my arrival there was especial excitement. The
British cruisers, which are still maintained on the coast, had
taken a freak of running as close in shore as they could get, and
firing, at long distance, on any building which they supposed to be
used as a barracoon, or slave house, and in doing this they did not
use very wise distinction between the barracoon and the factory,
as it was called, being the building where the goods were stored

856 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

which were brought down by the caravans coming from the
interior.

These goods were of great value, though not of great quantity,
and consisted of hammered gold, of the very finest kind, ivory,
ostrich feathers, palm-oil, etc., peculiarly agreeable to the trader.

The result of this promiscuous shooting was that the caravans
would not come to the coast, and I could not get cargo. Just at
this juncture I came across a little bustling, jovial Englishman,
of the name of Evans, who was waiting at Whydah for a chance
to get into the interior ; and, after getting acquainted, he told me
confidentially that he was bound on a mission to the King of Da-
homey, though what that mission was he never would tell me,
and was then awaiting the return of his messenger, whom he had
sent to the King.

Evans advised me to join him, and go to the city of Abomey,
the city of the King, as it was called, only one hundred miles
distant, and a place of 80,000 inhabitants, and yet, strange to say,
I could find but one single Portuguese half-breed Krooman on
the coast who had ever been there, and what he told me only
muddled my ideas.

Evans said that I could "get trade" there, that he had been
there before ; but unlike most travelers he did not enlarge. I
understood nothing, but determined, as I could do nothing else,
to venture on seeing that mythical being the King of Dahomey.

In a few days his messenger returned. He had a scroll in
Arabic, which I was told by a Portuguese priest was pure, and
which I can attest was beautifully written on good English paper,
to the effect that the King would receive Mr. Evans, and instruct-
ing him how to reach Abomey, which was not by going north
through Dahomey, but going east to the mouth of the Lagos
River, which we were to ascend to a place called Dagbee, on the
left bank, where the King would send an escort to meet us.

Now all was business. I put myself entirely into the hands of
Evans, though the captain of the brig, a weighty Nova-Scotian,
" Pooh-poo-ed ! " the expedition, and refused to go along.
Firstly, came the question of cost. We would have to take over
thirty canoes and one hundred attendants — nothing can be done in
Africa without a splurge — and it would be as well to be on the
safe side, and take with me at least two hundred dollars, and he
would take fifty. This money was to be taken in small English

MY FRIEND THE KING. 357

silver and cowries, a little shell with a hole bored through it,
and strung, eighty of them representing a half penny English.

To explain this, it is only necessary to come down to the labor
idea to cover everything else. The daily work of a man is worth
two cents a day, our money ; a woman's one cent ; therefore a man
with an income of $10 a year is independent and can live on the
best the market affords.

The time came for us to depart, and we got away, with the
whole population of Whydah literally throwing old shoes at us.
We had no adventures to speak of until we reached the mouth of
the Lagos, which we did in two days, camping ashore on the first
night, and finding nothing sensational but the simple fact that
the hyenas kept up a fandango fifteen feet below our hammocks
all night, notwithstanding the fires. But they can't jump worth
a cent.

At the mouth of the Lagos, we had a stop of one day. This
was to lay in provisions, and look out for relays of rowers. I
must give my best praise to the Portuguese, of whom I have
spoken, and whom I had engaged, and to a Krooman whom he
brought into my service, for their good business management.
The latter spoke every language that ever was known, or heard
of, including English and Dahomian, to say nothing of Ashantee,
Ethiopic, and Arabic. His swear, in English, was simply won-
derful, and his wages being twenty-five cents a day, he was, of
course, a great man.

I shall never forget the passage up the Lagos. Talk of tropic-
al beauty and poetry. Why it was a dream of the latter all the
time. The clear, quiet, flowing stream, when you lean over the
side of your canoe and look down at the fish twenty-five feet
below, some of them good sized, three, four feet in length, and
brilliant in color, taking occasionally an upward skip and
coming almost to the side of the canoe. Then the soft, low song,
if I may call it so, but rather the chant, of the boatmen, the
language being a species of coast patois in which I could occasion-
ally detect English or French.

Above our heads flew countless parrots and cranes of every
hue, the latter dipping to the glassy surface, the former flying
higher, and breaking the stillness with their cries, which, even in
the untutored state, sounded like the human yoice.

Along the banks were any quantity of monkeys, a small, nim-

358 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

ble breed, who chattered in a quarrelsome tone and appeared to
be always in trouble, while the larger chimpanzee, the most intel-
ligent of all the tribe, wandered singly or in couples, seemingly
despising the association of his smaller fellows.

Two days it took us to reach Dagbee, a kroom, or village, on
the banks of the river, as nearly as I could count, one hundred
miles above its mouth. Here we met the escort sent by the King,
consisting of twenty stalwart fellows of the purest black, grave
as deacons, and called " sticks/' a title which made them trusted
and confidential emissaries of His Majesty of Dahomey.

The African does not understand rushing things, and the re-
sult was that, in spite of all the hurrying, we remained three
days at Dagbee. To any one who enjoys the mere lassitude of
life there was nothing to be found fault with ; plenty to eat, of
great variety, well cooked, and good, clean sleeping, in hammocks
or in bamboo houses.

Here I met an English missionary, an Oxford student, and a
thorough gentleman, who had been there over twenty years, sent
out on an original salary of £100 per annum, afterward increased
to £150, which was really a fortune. He was running a fine
farm, with one hundred laborers, making sugar, which he sold
on the coast, and was getting rich, but showed not the slightest
disposition to go home. I was very sorry that I could not spend
a few days with him, in which he promised me a variety of
sights, among the rest a troop of • chimpanzees, which he had
trained as servants, not only for tricks, but as useful laborers.
(Fine chance for an enterprising showman.) We started from
Dagbee across what was called the Koosie country, to the north-
east of which, not two hundred miles away, lies the little king-
dom of Yoruba, the Sultan of which has been kicking up a row
recently by slaughtering missionaries, and, the English say, eat-
ing them, which I doubt, as none of the inhabitants of that part
of Africa are cannibals, even Dahomey, with all its horrors and
its slaughters, being exempt from that, though accused of it.

Our way lay through a dense jungle by a foot-path alone. We
had no animals, and our train consisted of ninety people — thirty
of them women, who are there the beasts of burden and carried
all our baggage, it taking ten of them to carry the money of
cowries and small silver alone, weighing one hundred pounds. I was
told that each woman must carry twenty pounds, but I would not

MY FRIEND THE KING. 359

allow but ten. Through this jungle, with the cane sometimes
thirty feet above our heads, we tramped on day after day, making
from eight to fifteen miles in the six hours we traveled — from
daylight, 3 A. M. to 7, and two hours before dark — always guiding
our night stoppages by reaching a kroom, or village. These krooms
are an assemblage of one to three hundred natives, living in
bamboo huts, or on an opening beneath palms, and clearing space
to plant yams, vegetables, and fruits enough to exist on.

Always when we left a kroom in the morning the whole popu-
lation— men, women, and children — would start out with us, going
as far as we would let them, until we drove them back. The
noise they made kept us from seeing any animals, or many
birds ; and on the whole route, with the exception of a herd of
antelope, a few nylghaus, or deer, we encountered nothing of
note but a pair of cheetahs or hunting leopards, a trio of
lions in the distance, and an aboma, or boa constrictor, which
we killed and found to be eighty feet long — not, as Barnum
says, " museum measure," but honest American feet. Of this
condiment I ate a hearty meal and found it good, and my guides
devoured it eagerly.

I would simply say here that the women were good cooks, and
I ate some of the most toothsome morsels of my life in Koosie
and Dahomey.

On the twelfth day we arrived at the gates of Abomey, over a
calculated distance of about one hundred and ten miles, and Mr.
Evans sent a messenger to the King announcing his arrival. Cere-
mony and etiquette govern everything at Abomey. While the
messenger was gone we took a walk to see the sights outside the
walls, — we could not enter without the King's permission, — and
among the things that struck me as queer was a sentinel walking
up and down before one of the gates, shouldering an ancient
Yankee musket, with nothing on but a native made shirt of
Yankee muslin.

He walked solemnly back and forth, not stopping even when
the interpreter spoke to him, but picking up a round stone upon
one side of the gate and depositing it on a similar heap at the
other. That was the Dahomian city time, a substitute for clocks,
and accepted as official. The next odd thing, among many, was
the fact that wherever we met with a flock of chickens about the
cabins the cocks wore a muzzle, which did not prevent them from

360 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

eating but did from crowing. This was by order of the King,
who did not like a cock-crow, not being, perhaps, an early riser,
and being disturbed with his three hundred and seventy wives
too early. In an hour the messenger returned, three of the high
officers of the King bringing his welcome, especially to the
American, one of whom he had never seen, but supposed them to
be of the same hue as his own subjects.

It must not be supposed that the present King of Dahomey,
whose name is Bad-ja-hoong, is an ignorant man. His Majesty
is conversant with Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Ethiopic, Ashan-
tee, and his own tongue. The Dahomians have schools, in one
otf which I counted eighty-four scholars, and the King has a
reader, a native of the Mandingo tribe, who read French and
German books when he could get them to him, translating as he
went along. I had in my possession various books written by
Mandingo and Foulah scribes in Arabic, as handsome as fine
missals, on English paper, one of which, the Koran, was an
exquisite copy.

"We marched into the city through the main street, a hundred
feet wide, and the " sticks" displayed most worthily their right
to the cognomen by belaboring the crowd to open the way, with a
vigor that augured badly for next day's heads. On the route, Mr.
Evans informed me that the King had quartered us on Ah-dah-
see-see, a benevolent looking old gentleman, who was one of the
three messengers of welcome, and the richest man in Abomey,
owning seven hundred slaves and six thousand head of cattle.

We soon arrived at the palace of Ah-dah-see-see, a house cover-
ing over two hundred feet square of ground without the court-
yards, and built altogether of bamboo. Here we dismissed all our
train, except my Portuguese half-breed, the Krooman interpreter,
and a few servants, and were consigned to compartments where
we received another messenger from the King and a present for
myself of two Foulah girls, very light colored and ten years old,
the age of belledom in Dahomey. The messenger told us that
the King could not receive us till the following day, and Mr.
Evans told me that I must not refuse the King's present, as it
was the forecast of his favor, so I turned the two virgins over to
the care of my Krooman, with instructions.

The next day, by another messenger, we received word that
the King would be ready for us at high noon, and a little before

MY FRIEND THE KING. 361

that hour, a messenger, another messenger, always a messenger —
they have no postal facilities in Abomey — came with bearers and
pole-slings. A pole sling is a long pole, about twenty-five feet,
from which is suspended a leather seat and a board on which to
rest the feet. You ride sideways, and with a man at each end
of the pole, the motion is pleasant, and the pace for short dis-
tances about eight miles an hour.

Ten minutes, and we bounced into the vast courtyard of the
King. We were given to understand that he then was in the
privacy of his harem, which was established in an immense silk
and velvet circular tent in the centre of the ground, surrounded
by smaller tents, the large one being a present from Her Majesty,
the Empress Victoria 1st.

Scattered about the grounds were innumerable gay colored
silk and gold embroidered umbrellas, some of twenty feet diame-
ter, all gifts from potentates, traders and wealthy subjects, who
all, by the way, hold their wealth by permission of the King only,
and I could not help feeling small that I, coming for, avowedly,
trade purposes, had no umbrella to offer — not even a tent.

While we were examining all these, drums were heard — a thin
skin of some kind stretched over the half of a dried gourd and
pounded — announcing the coming of the King. The lappets of
the big tent were drawn, and he stepped from behind a screen, a
tall, well-built negro of about forty, dressed in a blue silk short
gown, reaching to his knees, covered with silver half-moons, stars
and quaint shaped spangles, about the size of half dollars. The
Dahomian always uses silver for ornamentation instead of gold ;
the reason supposably being that Dahomey produces no silver,
but plenty of gold.

On his head he had what we would call a smoking cap of red
velvet, with gold lace, and the figures of a skull and cross bones
in front. On his feet were gold-laced sandals, no stockings and
no leggings. In his hand he held a sceptre of solid gold, sur-
mounted by a red skull — the skull being the symbol of Dahomey
— and thousands of them being constantly in sight on walls, roofs
and posts about the city.

The King motioned, and we approached him, graciously per-
mitted, as Evans informed me, as a personal favor to him, to do
it in an upright position, instead of crawling on all fours, as we
saw hundreds doing afterward. The King received us graciously,
VOL. CXLV.— NO. 371. 24

362 THE NORTH A3IERICAN REVIEW.

scanned me all over, as I did him, asked a few stupid questions
through my interpreter about America, which I answered as I
saw fit, stretching truth to fit the occasion ; and then he dis-
missed us with an invitation to come next day at the same hour,
and he would hold a grand review of his Amazon army for my
benefit.

Mr. Evans told him of the annoyance we suffered from the
crowds in the streets pressing on us, and the King said he would
stop all that, and then turning to his chief officials, issued a
verbal order to that effect, which my Krooman instantly trans-
lated ; in fact, the words from any one were hardly out of their
mouth when I had them in understandable English from
Kam-ki.

In this case they were quickly disseminated and rigidly
obeyed, for on our return to our quarters, half an hour later,
hardly a peregrinating Abomian could be seen, the few that re-
mained in sight jamming themselves against the walls of houses,
or throwing their bodies fiat on the ground.

We slept well, on couches made of bamboo, and stuffed with
scraped bamboo, with mats of the same material, exquisitely fine,
and gayly colored, and we fed well on every variety of food, meats,
game, fish, fruits and vegetables, properly cooked, as soon as the
cooks could be made to understand that we did not want pepper,
red African pepper, and could get salt, a scarcity, and all brought
from the coast.

The next day we went to the market, where the chattering
ceased in an instant, and the populace stood still and stared.
There we could have bought a whole deer for half a crown — they
did not take American money — and a nylghau, which is larger,
for the same. Ten pounds, about, of not bad beef or mutton for
two cents, our money, -and a pair of chickens for less. Eggs one
cent a stone, of about thirty — the stone being a weight of possibly
four pounds — eggs, game and monkey in proportion, and fruit
and vegetables so ridiculously cheap as to make one ashamed of
them. A yam of thirty or forty pounds, one cent ; beets, carrots,
etc. , in proportion. Grapes, pines, sour-sap, sweet-sap, alligator
pears, bananas, and almost every kind of fruit known to tropical
climes at two cents a calipash of two bushels, calipash and all, the
•calipash being the half or three-quarter part of a dried gourd
shell, which sometimes holds as much as six bushels, though two

MY FRIEND THE KINO. 363

is the standard measure. A hearty man cannot devour more than
one cent's worth of average food per day.

Of this abundance very little finds its way to the coast, the
cost of transportation being tenfold its price; and the time con-
sumed— ten or twelve days — precluding the possibility of anything
fresh being carried. The farmers of Dahomey are very skillful,
and the soil prolific, and I fear I should be accused of exagger-
ation if I should tell what I have seen ; but I will tell of a tur-
nip, or yam, that could not be got into an ordinary barrel, and a
melon, of the orange species, over the top of which two men of
nearly six feet in height could not clasp hands.

The next day at noon, our messenger and the pole slings
appeared, and we were soon at the palace, where we found the
King's guard, the famous Amazonian bodyguard, of, perhaps, five
thousand women, assembled. They were divided into regiments
or bodies of one thousand, only known apart by the silver orna-
ment in front of their caps as the crocodile, the lion, the elephant,
the leopard, or the snake.

These women are admitted to the guard on attaining the age
of ten, full growth, and are given as wives to the soldiers of the
King, of which he has twelve thousand, and are discharged from
service upon becoming mothers of two children. As it is a privi-
lege much coveted to be one of the King's bodyguard, and per-
haps promotion to his harem, motherhood is not very much
sought after. The uniform of these women is a short tunic of
coarse cloth cotton, with a leathern belt, in which is stuck a long
knife and a pipe, a cap of coarse blue cloth, and muskets of every
conceivable make on earth. Barefooted, and barelegged, this
completes their makeup, and their rations are sifted down to the
lowest point that will sustain human life. One cent each to the
whole army, as a gift, would be munificent.

The King received us in the pavilion, and put the army
through its paces for half an hour, by word of command, in a
way that showed they had received some sort of military educa-
tion, most likely, as Evans suggested, from a stray Portuguese
soldier, who had got to Abomey by chance, and got away by
stealth, for it is dangerous to become useful to the King ; he
never is known to part with anything he wants.

The drill over, we were invited to lunch, and to our astonish-
ment were regaled with champagne, sherry, cold meats, and tol-

364 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

erable bread, the wines being the gifts of traders, especially seek-
ers for slaves, coming up from the coast, who always brought His
Majesty some present.

For a day, or two, now, we had comparative qtiiet, and by aid
of the pole slings saw much of the country, traveling only early
in the morning and late in the afternoon. The white man, or
even half-breed, never does anything in the middle of the day
but keep quiet. To the north lay many small lakes and ponds,
crowded with fish, as are all the streams ; the jungle is filled with
game, the farms — such as they are — teeming with produce and
cattle, and food abundant everywhere. Some of these farmers
run large plantations, and live in Abomey, like our host, Ah-dah-
see-s,ee, who was an educated gentleman, speaking and writing,
as he told me, seven languages.

On the third day the King, in our honor, and to impress us
with his great wealth, gave an exhibition of his gifts. These
were contained in a building called the treasury, and at high noon
— everything starts at noon — were brought forth by their bearers,
numbering something like three hundred, paraded for an hour
through the principal streets, and again restored to their domicile.
The King does not use any of these gifts, unless personally re-
quested so to do. Therefore, in the list, there were articles that
had accumulated for several generations. There was a piano, a full-
rigged brig twelve feet in length ; there were French mirrors, into
which his Majesty never looked, china vases and bowls, oil paint-
ings of doubtful merit, and every conceivable article, including
Yankee clocks and sewing machines, never used, to say nothing
of trash without end, valuable because its use was unknown.
After this I began to find time to devote to the purposes of trade ;
and as I was the first white man who ever came to Abomey for
tkat purpose, the King afforded me every facility. If I had
brought my cargo with me, I could have made it yield twenty-
fold, but I was obliged to make my contracts deliverable on the
coast, and so missed those great profits. While I was engaged on
this Evans informed me that in a few days one of the "customs,"
as the Dahomians call them, was to come off in the courtyard of
the palace, and that I could witness it if I chose. I did choose,
but I wished afterward that I had not.

These customs, which have existed as long as Dahomey has —
they claim a thousand years — are of various kinds, and with

MY FRIEND THE KING. 365

names. The one I was to witness was called " Throwing of the
Presents," others, " Watering the King's Graves/' " The Feast of
the Troubadours/' " The Day of the King," " The Milking of
the Palm," etc.

The day came off. Evans, with a shudder, declined to attend.
He had seen it the year before. In the centre of the courtyard a
platform was erected, hung with silks, velvets, and flags, includ-
ing that of Dahomey — a white ground, with a figure in black hold-
ing aloft a decapitated head in one hand, and a cimiter in the
other. On this platform stood the King, surrounded by his
nobles, among whom I had a prominent seat, while below struggled
a mass of fifty thousand or more people, kept in some order by
the woman guard.

The affair began by the King, personally, throwing into a
sliding trench various packages of goods, consisting of cottons,
clothes and cloths, knives, muskets, pipes, and tobacco, all of
which were fought fiercely for by the crowd below. Then came
the grand point, the slaughter.

The victims were brought forth lashed into boat-shaped
baskets, in a sitting position, with knees drawn up to the chin,
and lifted into the slide, from which they went down to the crowd
below. Then there came a horrible scramble. Thousands, with
long and bright knives, threw themselves on the victim, and in a
moment he was hacked to pieces, as well as were some of his
hackers, the victor being the one who came off with the head.

This was kept up for three hours, the number killed amount-
ing to about two hundred, until the crowd below was reeking and
smeared with blood. A more horrible sight was never witnessed,
and it did not lessen the horror with me to be told that this is not
a mere useless slaughter, as civilized nations suppose, but a day
of execution, the decapitated being criminals, traitors and prison-
ers of war, who have been "offensive political partisans." It is
the highest holiday in the year, and the only one where much
slaughtering is done ; and there is no doubt — according to Mr.
Evans — that the King himself wishes to abolish that part of it,
but dares not. That night, perhaps as a soother to my nerves,
the King gave us a serenade by his own private band. I was
awakened about midnight by a noise that I can compare to noth-
ing but a thunder-storm in scales. They ran from high to low,
and got terribly mixed in the middle. It was not really unpleas-

368 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

ant, but, like the chiming of bells, should be heard at a distance —
the greater the distance the better. I sprang to the window, to
find that this band consisted of twenty-two men, each with a log,
or piece of wood, the largest so heavy that it took four men to
carry it. These were set, one end on the ground, the other sup-
ported by a wooden trestle, and beaten on the high end with wood
hammers, of all sizes, from the hand hammer to a sledge, each
stick or log emitting its sound, but no distinguishable air re-
sulting.

After three weeks of varied experience, we departed from
Abomey, accompanied to the gate by the King — he never leaves
the city — and, it seemed to me, by the whole population of 80,000,
— by their own census — to return to the coast by the Whydah road,
a broad, well-kept highway, with many toll-gates collecting revenue
for the King. Why we did not come that way was a mystery I
never solved. We had. horses to return with, but I preferred the
pole slings most of the way. We reached Whydah in five days,
stopping at comfortable houses every night. This being a culti-
vated country, we had little of adventure to relate, and the very
next day my cargo began to arrive — palm oil, hides, ostrich feath-
ers, ivory, gold in grain, and hammered trinkets of the purest and
heaviest, one bangle for the waist weighing twelve pounds, and
some of the workmanship beautiful. For one month I was busy
night and day, and then sailed with the richest cargo ever brought
from Africa.

For the Dahomians, I will only say, against all comers, that
they are a kind, quiet, but brave and warlike people, industrious,
as far as the negro can be, and domestic. England has looked for
years on Dahomey with a watery mouth. For Dahomey she got
up the Ashantee war and all the hobgoblin stories that are told,
but she cannot seem to get in. Dahomey will have nothing to do
with her, not even with her missionaries, and has remained as
much an unknown country as Japan used to be.

J. W. WATSON.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG.

PAKT I.

ON the 9th of June General Butler sent a strong force across
the Appomattox for the purpose of striking another blow at Peters-
burg. Fully five thousand men, more than half of whom had
been taken from General Gillmore's corps, the others from Kautz's
mounted infantry, participated in that expedition, about the prob-
able results of which much hope was entertained at Federal head-
quarters. The main reason for thus counting upon success on
this occasion lay in the belief that Petersburg was totally unpro-
tected, even more so than it really was ; and, in fact, as already
stated, only twenty-two hundred men, of all arms, defended it
then. But these defenders understood the great and imperative
duty devolving upon them, and although not a few belonged to
the local militia of the place, composed, as the Northern papers
of that period had it, of old men stolen from the grave and of
boys borrowed from the cradle, they so nobly and heroically acted
their part, under the gallant and judicious leadership of General
Wise, assisted towards the end by General Bearing and some of
his cavalry, that they succeeded once again in saving Petersburg
from the almost inevitable fate which then hung over it. It was
indeed a narrow escape ; so much the more so that the defensive
line of the city, planned before my arrival in the department,
measured seven miles and a half in length, more than four of
which were entirely undefended. Without, therefore, intending
in any way to disparage the intrepid conduct of the handful of
men who so signally repulsed the Federal attack on that day, it is
but fair to add that, had the enemy displayed sufficient boldness
and enterprise, and had the Federal commanders, Gillmore and
Kautz, judged correctly of our condition at the time, the e l en-
trance gate to Richmond" would have necessarily been lost to the

368 THE NORTH AMERICAN RE VIEW.

Confederacy, without the firing of a single gun from the Army of
the Potomac.

It was while reflecting upon the limited means I had at my
disposal and upon the movements of the Federal transports,
canal-boats, and heavily laden schooners in the lower part of the
James, as reported from our picket lines ; it was also after revolv-
ing in my mind what I would attempt to do, were I to occupy
General Grant's position with Richmond as my objective and such
vast resources to help carry out my plans that, in addition to two
telegrams * sent by me, June 7 and 8, to General Bragg, I also
wrote to him the following letter :

" HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT N. C. AND So. VA.,

»' SWIFT CREEK, Va., June 9th, 1864—7 A. M.
" GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG, Comd'g C. S. Armies, Richmond, Va. :

44 GENERAL — The present movements of Grant's army have a significancy which
cannot have escaped your observation. He clearly seeks to move around Lee's
forces by an advance upon his left flank, in the direction of the James River, with
a view to operate between that river and the Chickahominy. and, in case of his
meeting with no adequate resistance, to plant himself on both sides of the former,
throwing across it a pontoon bridge, as close to Chaffin's Bluff as circumstances
may permit ; and, failing in this scheme, he may continue his rotary movement
around Richmond, and attack it by concentrating the whole of his army on the
south side of the James, using the fortified position at Bermuda Hundreds Neck
as a base for his operations.

41 In that hypethesis our first object would seem to be to throw him off as far
as practicable, from his objective point (Richmond), unless the Government were
to adopt the bold and perhaps safer policy of giving him battle, and decide at once
the fate of that city, while we remain with a comparatively compact, well dis-
ciplined, and enthusiastic army in the field.

44 To accomplish this object, the river battery at Hewlett's should be com-
pleted without delay and thoroughly armed ; the river should be obstructed by rope
works and torpedoes, so distributed as to leave passage for only one iron-clad at a
time, which, in the meanwhile, should prevent the crossing of the river between
that battery and Chaffin's Bluff. My defensive line, now nearly completed, and
extending from the river battery at Hewlett's to Mrs. Dunn's house, would be
held by Johnson's Division.

44 Tke comparatively level and open country between these two points might

* The telegram of June 7, referred to above, read thus :

41 Should Grant have left Lee's front, he doubtless intends operating against
Richmond along James River, probably on south side. Petersburg, being nearly
defenseless, would be captured before it could be re-enforced. Kanson's brigade
and Hoke's division should, then, be returned at once."

The telegram of June 8 was in these words :

44 All quiet in our front to-day. Pickets on lower part James River report
one steamer, towing up canal-boats and pontoons, with pontoniers ; also steamers
and schooners going up, heavily loaded ; whereas those going down are light.
This may indicate future movements of Grant."

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 369

be defended by a line of redoubts from Dunn's house to Swift Creek. The short
line west of Fort Clifton, between Swift Creek and the Appomattox, would be a
barrier against any approach from the intersection of these two streams.

"The defensive line from Mrs. Dunn's to the Appomattox could be defended
by a part of Hoke's Division, while the rest, taking position in Petersburg, might
hold it until re-enforcements from Lee's army were obtained.

"Two divisions, of about fifteen thousand men in all, would thus prevent any
force of the enemy from penetrating between Drury's Bluff and Petersburg, and
compel him to take the latter before he could venture a real advance on Rich-
mond.

" With these views hastily thrown on paper, I send you a statement of the
strength and organization of the forces at the lines around Petersburg, at Drury's
Bluff, and in front of Bermuda Hundreds Neck, that you may judge of my
resources and ability to face the impending contingencies for which I may, from
moment to moment, have to provide.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" G. T. BKAUBKGARD, General.'"

This failed to arrest the attention of the administration at
Eichmond ! Its policy— one too often pursued during the war
— was to put off the solution of all-embarrassing questions ; to
await events ; to procrastinate ; to tire out the patience or ardor
of the enemy, as the case might be, in the vain hope of " gain-
ing" time, — which, to others, whose counsels were rarely heeded,
was " losing" it instead, and neglecting and casting aside our
best opportunities. The letter given above shows that without
anticipating each and every detail of General Grant's intended
change of base, I had, nevertheless, "foreseen" the probable
"action" of the Federal commander, as General Badeau ex-
presses it ;* and that while strongly urging the return of the
troops withdrawn from my command, I persistently warned the
War Department of a danger which was most imminent.

General Bragg, as he officially informed me at the time, had
forwarded my telegrams — and no doubt my letter also — to Gen-
eral Lee. General Lee stated in an answer addressed to me, that
no troops had then left General Grant's army, and that none
could have crossed the James without being perceived. He
thought it very improbable that the Federal commander would
diminish his force at such a moment, and was of opinion that
General Butler himself had retained s,uch troops only as were
sufficient to hold his lines. He concluded, therefore, that Gen-
eral Wise must have been mistaken as to the strength of the force
he had seen. It was, he said, " a small one truly — a reconnois-

* " Military History of U. S. Grant," Vol. II., Chap, xx., p. 343.

370 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

sance to discover your (my) operations."* He made no mention
of my suggestions as to what should be done to arrest the progress
of the enemy.

But General Wise was not mistaken. The force he had re-
ferred to as menacing his lines proved to be the five thousand
men from Butler's army, under Gillmore and Kautz, who actually
attacked Petersburg, on the 9th of June, but were repulsed and
ordered back without accomplishing their object, because, strange
to say, General Gillmore " reported the works in his front too
strong to assault. "\

General Lee was right, however, in asserting that no troops
had at that time crossed over to the south side of the James.
But what was not attempted on the 7th, on the 8th, and on the
9th, was accomplished very soon afterwards ; for it is a fact that
the projected movements of the Army of the Potomac began on
the evening and night of the 12th of June ; and that Smith's
Corps (the Eighteenth) was at Bermuda Hundreds in the early
afternoon of the 14th. From Point of Rocks, it crossed the river
that night and was pushed forward, without delay, against Peters-
burg. Kautz's mounted infantry and Hink's command of
colored troops had been added to it, thus swelling the Eighteenth
Corps to an aggregate of twenty-two thousand men. The
Ninth Corps (Burnside's) and the Sixth (Wright's) moved by
way of Jones' Bridge and Charles City Court-House Road. The
Second Corps (Hancock's) and the Fifth (Warren's) were
marched from Long Bridge to Wilcox Landing. In General
Badeau's work, already referred to above, the following is found :

'•The operation now contemplated by Grant transcended in difficulty and
danger any tbat he had attempted during the campaign. He was to withdraw an
army from within forty yards of the enemy's line, and to march through the diffi-
cult swamps of the Chickahominy bottom, to positions where the stream could be
erased without interruption from the rebeis ; then to advance to the James, a
great and tidal river, at a point seven hundred yards across, to effect a passage
with all the munitions and supplies of a hundred thousand soldiers, changing his
base at the same time from White House to City Point, a hundred and fifty miles
apart, to effect a combination of Mende's force with that on the James, and,
finally, advance, with his double army, against Petersburg. "J

*See General Lee's telegram to General Beauregard, dated Gaines Mill,
June 9th, 1864, 2.30 P. M.

f "Military History of U. S. Grant," by General Badeau, Vol. II., Chap, ss.,
p. 343.

* " Military History of U. 8. Grant," Vol. II., Chap, xx., p. 346.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 371

It was with a view to thwart General Grant in the execution
of such a plan, avowedly "liable to interruption" from more
than one quarter, that I proposed to the War Department the
adoption — should the emergency justify it, and I thought it did
— of the bold and, to me, safer plan of concentrating all the
forces we could readily dispose of to give battle to General Grant,
and thus decide, at once, the fate of Eichmond, and of the cause
we were fighting for, while we still possessed " a comparatively
compact, well disciplined, and enthusiastic army in the field."
It was not a fixed, definite, or finally developed plan, on my part;
but, as the letter shows, a mere suggestion, the general outline of
a plan which the leader of the great army of Northern Virginia,
I thought, might have been asked to mature and put into execu-
tion at the proper hour, on the proper ground, before it were too
late, and before his heroic troops and his lieutenants had had
time to realize the possibility of defeat and, coupled with it, the
dreadful results that would unavoidably ensue.

From Swift Creek, early in the morning of the 14th of June,
I sent this telegram to General Bragg :

"Movement of Grant's across Chickabominy and increase of Butler's force
render iny position bere critical. With ray present forces I cannot answer for
consequences. Cannot my troops sent to General Lee be returned at once ? Please
submit my letter of 9th instant to President."

No answer came to the above. The War Department, not in-
tending to order the return of my troops, without General Lee's
consent, was apparently adverse to entertain the subject in any
way. Late in the evening of the same day, having further reason
to believe that one corps at least of General Grant's army was al-
ready within Butler's lines, I announced the fact to General Lee
in the following telegram :

" SWIFT CREEK, Va., June 14. 1864, 8:10 p. M.

"A deserter from tbe enemy reports that Butler has been re-enforced by
the Eighteenth and a pars of the Tenth Army Corps."

To this dispatch, likewise, there came no response. But, as
prompt and energetic action became more and more imperative,
and as I could no longer doubt the presence of Smith's Corps with
Butler's forces, I sent one of my aids, Colonel Samuel B. Paul, to
General Lee with instructions to explain to him "the exact con-
dition and situation of my forces between Drury's Bluff and

372 TBE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Petersburg, and to ask him such a statement of his present and
future movements as he might feel at liberty to communicate, in
order that I might be prepared to act in concert with him, accord-
ing as circumstances might make it expedient." * Colonel Paul
was also instructed to say that the large force of the enemy which
had already crossed the James had evidently no other purpose
than to commence immediate operations against Petersburg ; and
that it was of the utmost importance that all the troops taken
from my command to re-enforce the army of Northern Virginia be
ordered back to me with the least possible delay, adding to them
such others as could be spared at the time.

General Lee's answer to Colonel Paul was not encouraging.
He said that I must be in error in believing the enemy had thrown
a large force on the south side of the James ; that the troops
referred to by me could be but a few of Smith's Corps going back
to Butler's lines. Strange to say, at the very time General Lee
was thus expressing himself to Colonel Paul, the whole of Smith's
Corps, numbering, as already stated, twenty-two thousand men,
was actually assaulting the Petersburg lines, defended by twenty-
two hundred men under General Wise. But General Lee finally
said that he had already issued orders for the return of Hoke's Divi-
soin ; that he would do all he could to aid me, and even come
himself should the necessity arise.

A few words describing the Federal attack of the 15th upon
Petersburg would be of interest :

The Confederate forces opposed to Smith's Corps on that day
consisted of the 26th, 34th, and 46th Virginia regiments ; the
64th Georgia, the 23d South Carolina, Archer's Militia, Battle's
and Wood's Battalions, Sturdevant's Battery, Bearing's small
command of cavalry, and "some other transient forces," says
General Wise, in his report, making an aggregate of some two
thousand seven hundred men of all arms, reduced to a real
effective for duty of two thousand two hundred only.

These troops occupied the Petersburg line on the left from
battery No. 1 to what was called the Butterworth's Bridge,
towards the right, and had to be so stationed as to allow but one
man per every four yards and a half. From that bridge to the

* My telegram to General Lee, dated Dunlop's, on Swift Creek, June 14th,
1864, informing him of Colonel Paul's visit

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 373

Appomattox — a distance of fully four miles and a half — the line
was entirely defenseless.

Early in the morning — at about seven o'clock A. M. — General
Bearing, on the Broadway and City Point roads, reported his reg-
iment engaged with a large force of the enemy. Just at that
hour, from Department Headquarters, at Swift Creek, I had in-
formed General Bragg by telegram of the critical position I was
in. The last words of my dispatch were these :

" Enemy could force my lines at Bermuda Hundreds Neck, capture Battery
Dantzler, now nearly ready, or take Petersburg before any troops from Lee's
army or Drury's Bluff could arrive in time. Can anything be done in the mat-
ter?"

The stand made by our handful of cavalry, near their breast-
works, was most creditable to themselves and to their gallant
commander, and the enemy's ranks, at that point, were much
thinned by the accurate firing of the battery under Graham. But
the weight of number soon produced its almost inevitable result,
and in spite of the desperate efforts of our men the cavalry breast-
works were flanked and finally abandoned by us with the loss of
one howitzer. Still, Bearing's encounter with the enemy, at that
moment and on that part of the field, was of incalculable advan-
tage to the defenders of our line, inasmuch as it afforded time
for additional preparation and the distribution of new orders by
General Wise.

At ten o'clock A. M. the skirmishing had assumed very alarm-
ing proportions. To the urgent demands of General Wise for
re-enforcements, I was enabled at last to answer that part of
Hoke's division was on the way from Drury's Bluff and would be
in time to save the day, if our men could stand their ordeal, hard
as it was, a little while longer. Then all along the line, from
one end to the other, the order was given tf to hold on at all haz-
ards!" It was obeyed with the resolute fortitude of veterans,
though many of the troops thus engaged, with such odds against
them, had hardly been under fire before, and Archer's militia not at
all. At twelve M., and as late as two P. M., our centre was vigor-
ously pressed, as though the Norfolk & Petersburg Eailroad was
the immediate object of the onset. General Wise now closed the
line from his right to strengthen Colonel Goode and, with him,
the Thirty-fourth Virginia ; while, at the same time and with

374 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

equal perspicacity, he hurried "Wood's Battalion towards the left
in support of Colonel Page and his command.

At one o'clock p. M., I had sent this telegram to General
Bragg :

" Hoke's Division is ordered to Petersburg. Hope it will get there in time. I
will bold lines of Bermuda Hundrt ds Neck as long as practicable, but I may have
to re-enforce Hoke with Johnson's Division, when lines would be lost. I advise
sending forthwith another strong division to intersection of turnpike and rail-
road, near Port Walthal Junction."

And to be certain that General Lee would be informed of the
course of action I might soon be compelled to adopt, the tele-
graph operator was instructed to forward a copy of the above dis-
patch to General Lee, which was done with all due speediness.

The enemy, continuing to mass his columns towards the centre
of our line, pressed it more and more and concentrated his heaviest
assaults upon batteries Nos. 5, 6, and 7. Thinned out and exhausted
as they were, General Wise's heroic forces resisted still, with such
unflinching stubbornness as to equal the veterans of the army of
Northern Virginia. I was then on the field and only left it when
darkness set in. Shortly after seven p. M., the enemy entered a
ravine between batteries 6 and 7 and succeeded in flanking battery
No. 5. General Wise, in his report, says :

" The line then broke, from No. 3 to No. 1 1 inclusive The whole line on the
right was then ordered to close to the left, up to battery No. 14; batteries 1 and
2 being still ours. The Fifty-ninth Virginia arriving at that time, was sent on the
City Point road towards battery No. 2, to arrest the retreat of the line on the left."

But just then very opportunely appeared, advancing at double-
quick, Hagood's gallant South Carolina brigade, followed soon
afterwards by Colquitt's, Clingman's, and, in fact, by the whole of
Hoke's Division. They were shown their positions, on a new line
selected at that very time by my orders, " a short distance in the
rear of the captured works," and were kept busy the greatest part
of the night throwing up a small epaulement for their additional
protection. These gallant men and true soldiers, who had just gone
through a forced march and who were being placed into position
in the darkness of the night, upon ground totally unfamiliar to
them, never faltered nor hesitated a moment, but rushed forward,
with their wonted alacrity, and showed once more how reliable they
were under all and every circumstance.

Strange to say, General Smith contented himself with break-

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 375

ing into our lines and attempted nothing further that might. All
the more strange was this inaction on his part, that General
Hancock, with his strong and well equipped Second Army Corps,
had also been hurried to Petersburg, and was actually there, or in
the immediate vicinity of the town, on the evening of the 15th.
He had informed General Smith of the arrival of his command
and of the readiness of two of his divisions — Birney's and Gib-
bon's— to give him whatever assistance he might require. Peters-
burg at that hour was clearly at the mercy of the Federal Com-
mauder, who had all but captured it, and only failed of final suc-
cess because he could not realize the fact of the unparalleled dis-
parity between the two contending forces. Although the result
of the fighting of the 15th had demonstrated that two thousand
two hundred Confederates successfully withheld nearly a whole
day the repeated assaults of at least eighteen thousand Federals,—
if the strength of Smith's Corps as given by General Badeau*
be the correct one and not my own computation of twenty-two
thousand, — it followed, none the less, that Hancock's Corps, being
now in our front, with fully twenty-eight thousand men, — which
raised the enemy's force against Petersburg to a grand total of
forty-six thousand, — our chance of resistance, the next morning
and in the course of the next day, even after the advent of Hoke's
Division, was by far to uncertain to be counted on, unless strong
additional re-enforcements could reach us in time. At 9:11
o'clock P. M., on the 15th of June, I therefore sent this telegram
to General Bragg :

" Re-enforcements not having arrived in time, enemy penetrated lines, from
battery 5 to 8 inclusive. Will endeavor to retake them by daybreak. I shall
order Johnson to this point, with all his force*. General .Lee must lo^k to the de-
fenses of Drury's Bluff ard the lines across Bermuda Neck if practicable.

'* Telegraph operator will send a copy of this dispatch to General R. E. Lee.f

"Without awaiting an answer from the authorities at Kich-
mond, I ordered General Johnson to evacuate the lines in front

*Vol. II., Chap, xx., p. 354.

t General Lee had also received this telegram :

"PETERSBURG, VA., June 15, 1864., 11:15 p. M.
"GEXERAI, R. E. LEE., Headquarters A. N. V.

" I have abandoned my lines on Bermuda Neck, to concentrate all my forces
here. Skirmishers and pickets will leave there at daylight. Cannot these lines be
occupied by your troops ? The safety of our communications requires it.
" Five or six thousand men may do.

•'G. T. BEAUBEQAED, General."

376 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of Bermuda Hundreds at the dawn of day on the 16th, leaving
pickets and skirmishers to cover the movement until daylight, or
later if necessary, and to march as rapidly as possible with his
entire force to the assistance of Petersburg. The emergency jus-
tified this action. I had previously communicated with General
Bragg upon this point,* and had asked the War Department to
elect between the Bermuda Hundreds line and Petersburg, as,
under the present circumstances, I could no longer hold both.
The War Department had given me no answer, clearly intending
that I should assume the responsibility of the measure, which I
did. Before leaving this part of the subject, it may be proper to
state that, scarcely two hours after General Johnson's Division
had abandoned its position at Bermuda Hundreds, Butler's forces
drove off the Confederate pickets left there, as already stated,
and took full possession of the lines. The heavy guns, the car-
riages and chassis belonging to Fort Dantzler had been carefully
buried, according to precise instructions given by me to Colonel
Harris, my chief engineer. They were recovered the day after —
on the 18th — when General Pickett with his division, sent there
by General Lee at my request, compelled Butler to fall back
again to his original position. The buried guns, together with
all their appurtenances, were found entirely uninjured and did
effective work immediately afterwards against the enemy's gun-
boats.

It is clear, from the preceding narrative, that no troops from
General Lee's army were at Petersburg on the 15th of June,
despite the assertions of a few writers to that effect, among whom,
strange to say, is Mr. Davis himself. It is true that Hoke's
Division had been sent from Drury's Bluff at that date, and had
arrived late in the evening, and been placed in position on our
new line, a fact which had given a feeling of unequivocal relief
to all who had seen or taken part in the unequal contest of that
memorable day. But Hoke's Division, composed then of Col-
quitt's, Hagood's, and Clingman's brigades, with the addition

* *• SWIFT CREEK, Va., June 15, 1864, 1:45 p. M.
" GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG, Richmond, Va. :

" Your telegram of 12 M. received. I did not ask advice with regard to
movements of troops, but wished to know preference of War Department between
Petersburg and lines across Bermuda Hundreds Neck for my guidance, as I fear
my present force may prove unequal to hold both,.

11 G. T. BEAUREGARD, General"

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 377

later on of Martin's, had never belonged to the Army of Northern
Virginia, though sent temporarily to re-enforce it after the battle
of Drury's Bluff, on the 16th and 17th of May. They formed
part of my new command, as did also Bushrod Johnson's Division,
including Matthew Ransom's Brigade, transferred north of the
James, on or about the 4th of June.

Gr. T. BEAUEEGAKD.
(To le Concluded.}

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 371. 25

WHY I AM NOT A FREE-RELIGIONIST.

MY friend, 0. B. Frothingham, has lately, in the NORTH
AMERICAN" REVIEW, given his reasons for taking the attitude of
a believer in Free Religion. It is not my purpose to reply to this
article, or to criticise these arguments, but to state the reasons
which cause me, though a heretic in view of the popular creeds,
to adhere to Christianity as that historic faith which is still the
belief of civilized man, and to follow Jesus as the great religious
and moral leader of the human race.

But what is meant by " Free Religion ?" I understand by it
individualism in religion. It is the religious belief which has
made itself independent of historic and traditional influences, so
far as it is in the power of any one to attain such independence.
In Christian lands it means a religion which has cut loose from
the Bible and the Christian Church, and which is as ready to ques-
tion the teaching of Jesus as that of Socrates or Buddha. It is,
what Emerson called himself, an endless Seeker, with no past be-
hind it. It is entire trust in the private reason as the sole authority
in matters of religion.

Free Religion may be regarded as Protestantism carried to its
ultimate results. A Protestant Christian accepts the leadership
of Jesus, and keeps himself in the Christian communion ; but he
uses his- own private judgment to discover what Jesus taught, and
what Christianity really is. The Free Religionist goes a step
further, and decides by his own private judgment what is true
and what false, no matter whether taught by Jesus or not.

Free Religion, as thus understood, seems to me opposed to
the law of evolution, and incompatible with it. Evolution
educes the present from the past by a continuous process. Free
Religion cuts itself loose from the past, and makes every man the
founder of his own religion. According to the law of evolution,

WHY I AM NOT A FREE-RELIGIONIST. 379

confirmed by history, every advance in religion is the develop-
ment from something going before. Jewish monotheism grew
out of polytheism; Christianity and Mohammedanism out of
Judaism ; Buddhism out of Brahminism ; Protestant Chris-
tianity out of the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus himself
said, " Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the
Prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." The higher
religions are not made ; they grow. Of each it may be said, as
of the poet : " Nascitur, non fit." Therefore, if there is to arrive
something higher than our existing Christianity, it must not be a
system which forsakes the Christian belief, but something devel-
oped from it.

According to the principle of evolution, every growing and
productive religion obeys the law of heredity and that of varia-
tion. It has an inherited common life, and a tendency to modi-
fication by individual activity. Omit or depress either factor, and
the religion loses its power of growth. Without a common life,
the principle of development is arrested. He who leaves the great
current which comes from the past, loses headway. This current,
in the Christian communion, is the inherited spirit of Jesus. It
is His life, continued on in His Church ; His central convictions
of love to God and to man ; of fatherhood and brotherhood ; of
the power of truth to conquer error, of good to overcome evil ; of
a Kingdom of Heaven to come to us here. It is the faith of
Jesus in things unseen; His hope of the triumph of right over
wrong ; His love going down to the lowliest child of God. These
vital convictions in the soul of Jesus are communicated by con-
tact from generation to generation. They are propagated, as He
suggested, like leaven hidden in the dough. By a different fig-
ure, Plato, in his dialogue of Ion, shows that inspiration is trans-
mitted like the magnetic influence, which causes iron rings to
adhere and hang together in a chain. Thoughts and opinions
are communicated by argument, reasoning, speech, and writing ;
but faith and inspiration by the influence of life on life. The
life of Jesus is thus continued in His church, and those who stand
outside of it lose much of this transmitted and sympathetic influ-
ence. Common life in a religious body furnishes the motive
force which carries it forward, while individual freedom gives the
power of improvement. The two principles of heredity and
variation must thus be united in order to combine union and free-

380 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

dom, and to secure progress. Where freedom of thought ceases,
religion becomes rigid. It is incapable of development. Such,
for instance, is the condition of Buddhism, which, at first full of
intellectual activity, has now hardened into a monkish ritual.

Free Eeligion sacrifices the motive power derived from asso-
ciation and religious sympathy for the sake of a larger intellectual
freedom. The result is individualism. It founds no churches,
but spends much force in criticising the Christian community,
its belief, and its methods. These are, no doubt, open to criti-
cism, which would do good if administered sympathetically and
from within ; but produce little result when delivered in the spirit
of antagonism. Imperfect as the Christian Church is, it ought
to be remembered that in it are to be found the chief strength and
help of the charities, philanthropies, and moral reforms of our
time. Every one who has at heart a movement for the benefit of
humanity appeals instinctively for aid to the Christian churches.
It is in these that such movements usually originate and are car-
ried on. Even when, as in the anti-slavery movement, a part of
the churches refuse to sympathize with a new moral or social
movement, the reproaches made against them show that in the
mind of the community an interest in all humane endeavor is
considered to be a part of their work. The common life and con-
victions of these bodies enable them to accomplish what individ-
ualism does not venture to undertake. Individualism is incapa-
ble of organized and sustained work of this sort, though it can,
and often does, co-operate earnestly with it.

The teaching of Jesus is founded on the synthesis of Truth
and Love. Jesus declares himself to have been born "to bear
witness to the truth, " and He also makes love, divine and human,
the substance of His gospel. The love element produces union,
the truth element freedom. Union without freedom stiffens
into a rigid conservatism. Freedom without union breaks up into
an intellectual atomism. The Christian churches have gone into
both extremes, but never permanently ; for Christianity, as long as
it adheres to its founder and His ideas, has the power of self -recov-
ery. Its diseases are self -limited.

It has had many such periods, but has recovered from them.
It passed through an age in which it ran to ascetic self-denial,
and made saints of self-torturing anchorites. It afterward became
a speculative system, and tended to metaphysical creeds and

WHY I AM NOT A FREE-RELIGIONIST. 381

doctrinal distinctions. It became a persecuting church, burning
heretics and Jews, and torturing infidels as an act of faith. It
was tormented by dark superstitions, believing in witchcraft and
magic. But it has left all these evils behind. No one now is
put to death for heresy or witchcraft. The monastic orders in
the church are preachers and teachers, or given to charity. No
one could be burned to-day as a heretic. No one to-day believes
in witchcraft. The old creeds which once held the church in
irons, are now slowly disintegrating. But reform, as I have
said, must come from within, by the gradual elimination of those
inherited beliefs which interfere with the unity of the church and
the leadership of Christ himself. The Platonic and Egyptian
Trinity remaining as dogma, repeated but not understood, — the
Manichaean division of the human race into children of God and
children of the Devil, — the scholastic doctrine of the Atonement,
by which the blood of Jesus expiates human guilt, — are being
gradually explained in accordance with reason and the teaching
of Jesus.

Some beliefs, once thought to be of vital importance, are now
seen by many to be unessential, or are looked at in a different
light. Instead of making Jesus an exceptional person, we are
coming to regard Him as a representative man, the realized ideal
of what man was meant to be, and will one day become. Instead
of considering His sinlessness as setting Him apart from His race,
we look on it as showing that sin is not the natural, but an un-
natural, condition of mankind. His miracles are regarded not as
violations of the laws of nature, but anticipations of laws which
one day will be universally known, and which are boundless as the
universe. Nor will they in future be regarded as evidence of the
mission of Jesus, since He Himself was grieved when they were so
looked upon, and made His truth and His character the true
evidence that He came from God. The old distinction between
(< natural" and " supernatural" will disappear when it is seen that
Jesus had a supernatural work and character, the same in kind
as ours, though higher in degree. The supreme gifts which make
Him the providential leader of the race do not set Him apart from
His brethren if we see that it is a law of humanity that gifts differ,
and that men endowed with superior powers become leaders in
science, art, literature, politics ; as Jesus has become the chief
great spiritual leader of mankind.

882 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Men are now searching the Scriptures, not under the bondage
of an infallible letter, but seeking for the central ideas of Jesus
and the spirit of His gospel. They begin to accept the maxim of
Goethe : " No matter how much the gospels contradict each other,
provided THE GOSPEL does not contradict itself." The profound
convictions of Christ, which pervade all His teaching, give the clue
by which to explain the divergencies in the narrative. We inter-
pret the latter by the light of the spirit. We see how Jesus em-
phasized the law of human happiness — that it comes from within,
not from without, that the pure in heart see God, and that it is
more blessed to give than to receive. We comprehend the stress
He lays on the laws of progress — that he who humbleth himself
shall be exalted. We recognize His profound conviction that all
God's children are dear to Him, that His sun shines on the evil
and the good, and that He will seek the one lost sheep till He find
it. We see His trust in the coming of the Kingdom of God in
this world, the triumph of good over evil, and the approaching
time when the knowledge of God shall fill the earth as the waters
cover the sea. And we find His profound faith in the immortal
life which abides in us, so that whoever shares that faith with
Him can never die.

The more firmly that these central ideas of Jesus are under-
stood and held, the less importance belongs to any criticism of the
letter. This or that saying, attributed to Jesus in the record,
may be subjected to attack ; but it is the main current of His
teaching which has made Him the leader of civilized man for
eighteen centuries. That majestic stream will sweep on undis-
turbed, though there may be eddies here or stagnant pools there,
which induce hasty observers to suppose that it has ceased to
flow.

" Rusticus expectat dum defluit amnis, at ille
Volvitur et volvetur, in omne volubilis aevium."

I sometimes read attacks on special sayings of the record,
which argue, to the critic's mind, that Jesus was in error here, or
mistaken there. But I would recommend to such writers to
ponder the suggestive rule of Coleridge : "Until I can understand
the ignorance of Plato, I shall consider myself ignorant of his
understanding ;" or the remark of Emerson to the youth who
brought him a paper in which he thought he had refuted Plato :
"If you attack the King, be sure that you kill him."

WHY I AM NOT A FREE-RELIGIONIST. 383

When the Christian world really takes Jesus Himself as its
leader, instead of building its faith on opinions about Him, we may
anticipate the arrival of that union which He foresaw and foretold —
"As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may
be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."
Then Christians, ceasing from party strife and sectarian dissen-
sion, will unite in one mighty effort to cure the evils of humanity
and redress its wrongs. Before a united Christendom, what
miseries could remain unrelieved ? War, that criminal absurdity,
that monstrous anachronism, must at last be abolished. Pauperism,
vice, and crime, though continuing in sporadic forms, would cease
to exist as a part of the permanent institutions of civilization. A
truly Catholic Church, united under the Master, would lead all
humanity up to a higher plane. The immense forces developed
by modern science, and the magnificent discoveries in the realm
of nature, helpless now to cure the wrongs of suffering man, would
become instruments of potent use under the guidance of moral
forces.

According to the law of evolution, this is what we have a right
to expect. If we follow the lines of historic development, not
being cheated into extreme individualism, if we maintain the con-
tinuity of human progress, this vast result must finally arrive.
For such reasons I prefer to remain in the communion of the
Christian body, doing what I may to assist its upward movement.
For such reasons, I am not a Free Keligionist.

JAMES FBEEMAN CLARKE.

OUK POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS.

DAVID B. HILL.

AMONG the many eminent and worthy statesmen in the Demo-
cratic Party, whose names must appear in any trustworthy lists
of " our possible presidents/' there is no worthier, more capable,
or more available name than that of David Bennett Hill, the pres-
ent Governor of the State of New York, and there is little doubt,
among political leaders who have taken the trouble to watch care-
fully the driftings of popular feeling and opinion, that the states-
man who succeeded Grover Cleveland as Governor of the State of
New York, will also be his successor as President of the United
States.

Governor Hill, as President, will do equal honor to the party
that shall elect him, and to the office to which he shall be elected.
He fulfills every just demand that a democracy should make of
the men whom it elects to high office in the Republic. He is
able, an excellent judge of men, an incomparable public officer,
a friend true and tried of the working classes, and that he
possesses executive capacity in an eminent degree is admitted
alike by partisans and opponents.

A brief review of his public life will justify this praise.

David B. Hill was born in August, 1843, at Havana, Schuyler
County, New York. His father, Caleb Hill, was a carpenter who
had come from New England and who has been described as " an
industrious hard working man, ready to build anything from a
canal-boat to a town-hall " — a man universally respected by his
neighbors for his sterling qualities as a citizen.

David B. Hill, like Abraham Lincoln, was educated in the
little cross-road schools of his district. He was noted as " a very
studious and bright scholar, occupying his leisure hours in the
study of the elementary principles of the law." After he had

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 385

advanced himself somewhat in these studies, he made arrange-
ments to pass his hours out of school in the office of Mr. Mark
Crawford, a village lawyer. In 1862 David went to Elmira, and
entered the office of the then leading law firm of that part of the
State, Messrs. Thurston & Hart. It shows that his early and
undirected studies must have been quite extended that, after only
two years spent with Thurston & Hart, hewas admitted to the bar
and immediately was offered and accepted a partnership with the
County Judge, G. L. Smith, who had been for some time observ-
ing, with a friendly interest, the young student's course. In the
same year (1864), at the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Hill was
elected Corporation Counsel of the City of Elmira, as the Demo-
cratic candidate. During the term for which he had been elected
he began publicly to display those traits that he subsequently has
so conspicuously exhibited in a larger field, — great executive ability,
a painstaking diligence that mastered every detail of his business,
a spirit of fairmindedness, and a rare promptness in seizing the
strategic points of every situation. He gave entire satisfaction to
the whole community for the able and impartial manner in which
he discharged the duties of this his first public office. He had
already become a popular political orator; and, indeed, at the
early age of seventeen, had stumped his county in favor of Stephen
A. Douglass as a Presidential candidate. He was especially popular
as a speaker at workingmen's meetings, and gave his public adher-
ence and zealous support to every measure calculated to ameliorate
their condition and advance their true interests. It should be
borne in mind that this was before the days of politically organ-
ized labor, and, therefore, was a proof of his sincere interests in
their welfare, as no politician, at that time, had anything to gain
by seeking their special favor. Those were the days of strict party
allegiance.

In 1870, and again in 1871, Mr. Hill was elected to the State
Assembly from the Chemung District. During those sessions he
served on the Judiciary and Railroad Committees, although the
youngest member of the house.

While a member of the Assembly he introduced, and passed
through the lower house, a bill to abolish the system of contract
prison labor. It failed to pass the Senate, owing chiefly to the
objection and belief that the people would not approve it. Twelve
years later the Legislature submitted the proposition embodied in

386 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

this bill to the popular vote, and it was adopted by a majority of
138,916; and, during the last session (1887), Mr. Hill, as Gov-
ernor, had the gratification of signing a bill enacting the principle
that he had tried to assert in legislation as a member of the
Assembly. After his last session as legislator (in 1872) Mr. Hill
was elected one of the managers of the impeachment of Judges
Barnard and McCunn. Among the members of the Assembly of
1872 was the late Samuel J. Tilden, whose friendship he soon
won — a cordial personal and political friendship, which lasted until
the death of the Sage of Greystone. Mr. Tilden at once recog-
nized the ability of Mr. Hill, and constantly sought and consulted
and advised with him in political affairs. For a number of years
Mr. Hill was a member of the Democratie State Committee. By
his action on this committee he established a reputation with his
associates as a prudent, wise, and judicious counsellor.

After Mr. Hill's retirement from the Legislature, he resumed
the practice of the law, avoiding all political honors, but taking
an active interest in the affairs of his county and his party. A
well-known citizen, familar with the fact of Mr. Hill's career at
this time, thus speaks of it : "As a lawyer, Mr. Hill was indus-
trious, painstaking, and erudite ; his briefs were models of legal
lore and perspicuous statement ; whenever he appeared he was al-
ways attentively listened to by jury, bar, and bench. It was quite
a common occurrence for the judges to quote the language of Mr.
Hill's brief with such complimentary phrases as ' so aptly expressed
by counsel/ etc. His speeches to the jury were noted for one dis-
tinguishing characteristic, — he never l spoke over their heads '; he
addressed them in language so plain that they fully understood
him, and followed his plea, from point to point, without losing
a single link of it ; speaking, too, always concisely and with
force." This made him a very successful jury lawyer. As the
public now know, the same traits have distinguished Governor
Hill's state papers, which are all addressed to the average citizen,
and, while irreproachable in style, are always plain, clear, and
strong in presentation — qualities too rare in our public men and
their documents. Mr. Hill as a lawyer constantly accepted cases
for workingmen, when convinced that they had been wronged,
withoiit demanding retainers ; thus, before the days of trade
unions, practically and professionally demonstrating that his sym-
pathies were with the laboring men.

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 387

His popularity at home was attested by the fact that whenever
it was known that he was to speak in court the court room was
always crowded by the people.

In 1882 Mr. Hill was elected Mayor of the city of Elmira ; and
in the fall of the same year he was elected Lieutenant Governor of
the State of New York, receiving the largest majority ever re-
ceived by a candidate for any State office.

As Lieutenant Governor, he was presiding officer of the State
Senate, and in that capacity displayed rare parliamentary ability
and knowledge. The impartiality of his actions and the justice
of his rulings were conceded by both parties.

The election of Governor Cleveland to the Presidency in 1884
transferred Mr. Hill to the Executive Mansion, as Governor of
the State.

There are three traits by which the success or failure of a chief
executive, under our system of government, can be fairly tested,
— his appointments to office, his recommendations to the legisla-
tive branch, and his exercises of the veto power.

By each of these tests Governor Hill deserves to have his
name enrolled in the list of our most successful and practical states-
men.

His opportunities for making appointments have not been
numerous, but it is of uneffacable record that he has never nomi-
nated or appointed any person to office who was not both capable
and trustworthy.

In considering Governor Hill's recommendations to the Legisla-
ture, it should be remembered that, with his characteristic desire
to attempt the attainable only, he has consistently refrained from
suggesting such measures as he knew would be rejected by the
politically hostile body to which they would have to be addressed
— for the Legislature has never been in political accord with Gov-
ernor Hill, but always politically antagonistic to his party.

In his first message Governor Hill recommended a vigorous
prosecution of the policy of restoring and renewing the structures
of the Erie Canal and its banks in order to promote the general in-
terests of business. It is hardly necessary to point out that this
policy was also the only practicable way, at that time, of check-
ing, in some measure, the arbitrary power of the railroad monopo-
lies of which there was so much and such just complaint.

Having always taken a great interest and pride in the National

388 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Guard, Governor Hill recommended the purchase of the grounds
near Peekskill for the purposes of a State camp of instruction. Un-
der Governor Hill's fostering care, New York has now a system of
citizen soldiery which is not surpassed in efficiency and equipment
by any State in the Union — a result largely due to his personal
interest and efforts.

He recommended such amendments of the laws relating to the
ballot as should remove all irritating and unwise technical ob-
structions against its free exercise by our adopted citizens. " The
path to the ballot-box/' he wrote., " should be as free to the adopted
citizen as to the native born."

He recommended that practical measures should be adopted
for the protection of the Adirondack and other forests in order to
insure the preservation of our State water-courses.

He referred, at considerable length, to the constitutional pro-
vision guaranteeing absolute freedom of worship, and gave notice
that any act having for its purpose the enforcement of the in-
violable right of religious liberty and freedom of worship would
have his prompt executive approval.

Governor Hill has repeatedly recommended the appointment of
a special counsel for the Legislature, whose duties shall be to pre-
pare, in legal form, all bills to be introduced by any member; to
inspect the bills before their final passage in order to detect tech-
nical errors, imperfections, and mistakes ; to suggest and frame
the necessary amendments, and generally to act as legal adviser of
the Legislature as to matters of form.

Every person who has had practical experience in legislation
knows that by want of technical knowledge in the framing of bills
our laws are needlessly obscure, contradictory, and otherwise im-
perfect, thereby often occasioning expensive litigation — a clear
loss to the community ; and that, also, as the Governor pointed
out, " much valuable legislation is lost every year by reason of
defective bills, hastily drawn and crudely prepared, which might
have been saved with the aid and assistance of such counsel/'

This statesmanlike suggestion is the first practical remedy
ever proposed for evils in legislation everywhere acknowledged,
and everywhere resulting in waste and confusion, and sometimes
in corruption. As an illustration of the wisdom of this sugges-
tion, the writer may state that last winter he was shown a bill to
amend a law that had been repealed two years ago.

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 389

He recommended to the fostering care of the Legislature, the
New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, with the
most cordial indorsement founded on a personal investigation of
its management.

He recommended the adoption of " some less barbarous
method of execution than hanging, which has come down to us
from the dark ages •" that some method more in accord with the
advanced science of the day should be adopted in the execution of
criminals.

After showing that all the penal statutes providing that certain
acts are misdemeanors ought to be embraced within the penal code,
and that there are many laws upon special subjects providing that
their violation shall be a misdemeanor, which are not included in
that code, — a code, he argued, that ought to be complete within
itself, and embrace every crime recognized by law, — he recom-
mended that, when the code should be thus perfected, the people
should be made familiar with its contents, and, to this end, sug-
gested that " a copy of such code should be placed at public
expense in every school library in the State, so that the people
might know, and the children might be taught, what acts are
criminal in the eyes of the law."

He recommended such legislation respecting railroads as
should insure to the traveling and business public the lowest
rates of transportation compatible with the protection of the rights
of honest investors in that kind of property, thus insuring exact
and equal justice to all parties.

After illustrating the injustice and imperfections of our pres-
ent system of taxation, and showing that personalty does not pay
its fair share of the State burdens, he recommended such changes
in the laws as should insure equality of taxation on all property,
whether it should be in realty or personalty.

He recommended that the State and municipal elections should
be held at different times.

Every practical politician knows that this measure, to quote
the Governor's language, " would relieve the choice of local offi-
cers from the influence of partisan politics." But it would do
more. It would remove one of the most prolific sources of polit-
ical corruption — " trades" and " deals," made without reference
to the fitness of the individual or the welfare of the State.

He recommended the separation of the Bureau of Elections

390 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

from the Police Department in the city of New York, and the
creation of a separate, independent bureau of a non-partisan
character, having no connection with and deriving none of its
powers or authority from that department, and requiring that its
members and employes shall not be officers or members of the
general committee of any political organization, or hold any other
office, and conferring the appointment upon such authority and
in such a manner as to insure the service of independent citizens
of the highest standing and character in the community.

He recommended home rule for New York City, and he has
always opposed the policy of governing distant communities from
Albany instead of by their local governments. He has always
favored and urged the enactment of such general laws as should
establish definitely municipal home rule throughout the State.

He recommended the passage of a joint resolution asking Con-
gress to take immediate action on the subject of coast defenses,
in which this State is more interested than any other of her
sisters.

He recommended the creation of a Gas Commission to exer-
cise over gas companies an authority similar to that held by the
Insurance Department and by the Railroad Commission of the
State, this new commission to be supported by special taxes to be
levied on the gas corporations.

He recommended, as a measure of protection to the people
against adulterations of food and medicines, that the scattered
laws on the subject should be corrected, where needed, and then
incorporated into one general statute.

He recommended a reorganization of certain executive depart-
ments, so as to insure greater simplicity and less expense in carry-
ing on the business of the State.

He recommended, in 1885, that criminals in capital cases in
the Court of Oyer and Terminer should be enabled to appeal di-
rectly to the Court of Appeals without expense to them ; thus en-
abling the poor to have the advantages which the rich only, under
the existing system, could secure. In 1887 he had the pleasure of
signing a bill embodying this recommendation.

In his second message Governor Hill made a recommendation
of the greatest importance on the limitation of the power of cor-
porations to issue stocks and bonds. He showed that, under ex-
isting laws, with few exceptions, there is no limit to the amount

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 391

of bonds which corporations may issue or upon the price at which
they may be sold, and that, thereby, the interests of shareholders
and bondholders are often rendered of little value by issues of bonds
exceeding the value of the property of the corporation ; and that,
therefore, if dividends are paid upon these over issues, rates must
be charged to pay like dividends upon the capital actually and
honestly invested. Shares so issued and bought by investors are
frequently found not to represent values — to be practically worth-
less. This prevailing policy therefore robs the honest investor by
depreciating his property, while it unjustly taxes the general public
by levying excessive charges to pay dividends on so-called "values"
which in reality do not exist. The Governor accordingly recom-
mended the enactment of a law prohibiting the issue of shares of
stocks except on receipt by the corporation of their par value in
cash, and prohibiting the issuing of bonds in excess of the
amount of the capital of the corporation paid in cash.

"No attempt should be made," he suggested, "to affect
vested interests, or stocks, or bonds already issued, but the stat-
ute should be applicable to future issues only."

This recommendation, if it had been adopted, would have re-
moved, I am satisfied, the chief just cause of discontent now so
widely felt by the working classes.

A bill embodying this recommendation was introduced into
the last Legislature by the Democrats, but it was defeated by the
Eepublican majority. I sincerely hope, however, that this effort
will not end here, but that the next State and National Demo-
cratic Conventions will incorporate a policy in harmony with this
wise and vitally important recommendation.

This recommendation, when generally acted on, will frustrate
the present alarming tendency to supplement the power of corpo-
rations, already too great for the public good, by the creation of
union trusts, — vast combinations of capital irresponsible to the
law or the people, and which threaten to become more powerful
than the Government itself.

There is nothing more certain than that, hereafter, no man
will ever be elected President of the United States who has not
made a long and consistent record showing that his sympathies are
with the laboring and agricultural classes — the real producers of the
national wealth. No conspicuous public man has a more desirable
racord on this point than Hon. David B. Hill. Himself the son

392 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of a mechanic, his lot has been cast among the people, and he has
grown up with a thorough knowledge of and sympathy with their
needs, their hopes, and their aims. He has always kept in touch
with the people, both as a private citizen and a public officer.
Without violating the unwritten law which holds the private life
of public men sacred from intrusion, I do not feel that perfect
justice can be done to Governor Hill without referring to the un-
pretentious simplicity, the entire absence of all ostentation, that
distinguishes his mode of living. Easy of approach and always
respectful, courteous, and considerate to the sovereign people, whom
he has been honored to serve, no citizen, however humble, is de-
nied an audience with his Chief Executive when any real or sup-
posed interest impels him to seek an interview with the Governor.

His recommendations on industrial questions have shown a pro-
found interest in them and a most intelligent comprehension of
the requirements of the day.

In his first message he gave a conspicuous passage to a state-
ment of the interests of labor, in which, after referring to the un-
precedented increase of the wealth of the country, he said that the
great importance of the labor question was shown by the fact that,
notwithstanding the great increase of wealth, the further fact that
there are now thousands of laboring people who are able and
willing to work standing idle, while they and their families are
denied the comforts and many of the necessaries of life, makes
it evident that labor does not receive its fair proportion of
the rewards which industry and honesty entitle it to share, and
that mismanagement exists which should be inquired into and
remedied.

He recommended that the importation of pauper contract
labor should be prevented, and that some system for the settle-
ment of controversies between employers and employed other and
better than the remedy by strikes should be devised ; and that,
as, under existing laws " facilities have been afforded to enable
capital to incorporate and combine for its protection, like facili-
ties should be afforded for the organization of labor." These
recommendations were of course ignored by the Republican major-
ity, but were again brought to the attention of the Legislature in
his message of the following year. On these reiterated recom-
mendations the present State Board of Arbitration was established.
In urging these measures Governor Hill announced a principle

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 393

that had guided his entire public career, when he wrote " the
Legislature should generously favor whatever conserves the wel-
fare of the toiling masses."

In the same message Governor Hill recommended that an act
be passed abolishing labor by children under fourteen years of age,
especially in factories and similar workshops, and properly regu-
lating the employment of all minors. In accordance with this
recommendation, a general law was subsequently passed.

In the interest of the laboring classes, Governor Hill also
recommended the " Tenement-House Bill " of the last session of
the Legislature, imposing penalties on the owners of tenement
houses for criminal neglect in providing such sanitary require-
ments as are essential for the preservation of the health of the
tenants, which, after much opposition, became a law ; such an
amendment of the laws for the collection of debts as would enable
laborers to collect their wages more easily and with less expense,
which also became a law ; a law limiting the hours of labor in
certain cases, and the law establishing a legal annual holiday on
the first Monday of September, commonly known as Labor Day,
and the recognition of every Saturday afternoon as a legal half-
holiday, of which he was the sole originator.

In advocating these measures, he gave expression to these
statesmanlike views :

"It is the true policy of the State to elevate and dignify
labor, not by exacting the greatest amount of toil that the laboring
classes are capable of furnishing, but by legitimately encouraging
every honest effort to improve their condition and requiring that
only reasonable hours of labor shall constitute a day's work, for
which full and adequate compensation should be received. The
dignity of labor can best be preserved by insisting that labor shall
be better compensated. Increased compensation will furnish
greater facilities for education, more comfortable homes, more
contented families, and better opportunities for recreation, as well
as tend to develop nobler aims and purposes on the part of work-
ing men, greater interest in the peace and prosperity of the State,
and higher ideas of citizenship/'

I have not space to review other of his sagacious and
thoughtful recommendations, but enough have been cited to give
an accurate idea of the ability, the policy, and the principles of
the man.

VOL. CXLV. — -so. 371. 26

394 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

If all of these wise recommendations have not been embodied
in legislation the fault does not rest with Governor Hill.

I cannot now and here review the vetoes of Governor Hill, but
it will suffice to say that they exhibit the same spirit, expressed in
the same clear and terse style that characterized his professional
briefs and arguments. Perhaps his most notable recent veto was
that of the " Crosby High License Bill," so called, which he con-
demned because it was a questionable measure of discriminative
taxation providing for unlimited license for two localities instead
of a fixed reasonably high license applicable to the whole State,
and consequently was special legislation, to which Governor Hill
is inflexibly opposed. In this veto message he showed that, in
the interior of the State (which had been exempted from the op-
erations of this bill), the percentage of saloons to population was
from four to five times greater than that of the two cities to which
it was proposed to apply it, thus exposing its injustice and incon-
sistency.

Governor Hill has never signed any bill without first making a
very careful study of it, and, therefore, although his vetoes have
been quite numerous and have been sent to a hostile body, not one
of them has been overruled by the Legislature. One cause of this
success has been his willingness to hear the advocates and oppo-
nents of all bills before taking final action.

As to Governor Hill's availability as a candidate there can be
no doubt.

The NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW is not a political ABC
class, and therefore I need not waste time here in demonstrating
that to carry New York is essential to the success of any party at
the next Presidential election. Now, beyond question, Governor
Hill is the most popular Democrat in this State. Whenever he
has run for any office he has been triumphantly elected, and
whenever he has been a candidate with others he has run ahead
of the ticket. Governor Hill has greatly strengthened his hold
on the people by his course as Governor. He is bold without that
hardihood which faces dangers and difficulties with a reckless
inappreciation of their import. He always fully understands
what is before his party or himself as one of its representatives,
and performs whatever duty may befall him with the firm
unshrinking spirit of the truly brave man who, " knowing danger,
does not fear to meet it;" and few men in executive office have been

OUR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 395

more persistently assailed by an opposition majority. He does
not belong to the new school of Mugwumpish politics, which sneers
at party allegiance and seeks its reward in the praises of enemies
rather than in the continued support of the party that elected him.
Governor Hill has been grateful and loyal to his friends ; he has
cemented, not distracted, his party. His influence has been used to
keep it abreast of the best thought and purposes of the times and
in harmony with its own best traditions, not to breed discord by
aifecting to be superior to it, and to be under no binding obliga-
tions to it.

He has impressed his ability and individuality upon his
party to such a remarkable degree as to have inspired it with a
feeling of confidence and reliance unprecedented.

It has become a settled feeling among his colleagues, as well
as his fellow citizens, that, whoever else may be doubtful, Governor
Hill can be depended upon as a matter of course. One of the
most common expressions in his party, when its representatives
are undecided, or wish to avoid the responsibility of acting or de-
ciding upon a measure of policy — Oh, well, leave that to Governor
Hill. To such an extent has the feeling of trust in Governor
Hill grown with all factions of the Democratic Party, that he is
not only considered as a " possible President," but as an inevit-
able President.

In a word, Governor Hill is an ideal Democrat, who has been
weighed in the balances of power and not found wanting.

" LAUD STEALING IN NEW MEXICO."

A REJOINDER.

IN the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW for July George W. Julian,
now a United States Surveyor-General, under the caption of
" Land Stealing in New Mexico," attempts to make a severe
arraignment of the past administration of the General Land
Office in connection with the affairs of that territory. His charges
of corrupt practices, and of mal-administration generally, cover
a period of twenty-five years, and, by implication, go back to al-
most the entire period of our occupancy. In doing so, Mr.
Julian assails, by name, well-known citizens of that territory, and
charges them with being robbers of the public lands. They are
represented as suborners of perjury, corruptors of public officials
and courts, demoralizers of the territorial press and politics, and,
in general, as the creators and maintainers of an infamous system
of plunder and wrong doing. The author of this wholesale
diatribe is a most picturesque and unique character. His coun-
terpart it will be difficult to find in any country ; certainly not in
ours. Mr. Julian himself has often been charged with being a cor-
ruptionist of the worst order. These charges have had much more
apparent foundation than those he makes against others. He was
Chairman for several years of the Committee on Public Lands, in
the House of Representatives. During that time bills covering
more than half of all the land granted to railroads in the United
States were favorably reported by that committee, and passed
Congress as a result of such report. The Public Lands Commit-
tee voted away, under Mr. Julian's chairmanship, a larger area
to railroad corporations than would cover all the New England
and half the Middle States. The land thus given away was the
most fertile in the country. Whether that was corruptly done or

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO:1 397

for the public interests, it is not worth while now to discuss, but
that Mr. Julian, more than any one t,lse, is responsible for it, is a
thing the public ought to know in view of his recent astounding
freak of virtue. It was Mr. Julian, also, who insisted on, and
persisted in, compelling the settlers on the reserved sections
within the limits of railroad grants to pay $2.50 per acre for
their lands, when the House of Representatives was disposed to
let the cos^ thereof remain at the ordinary pre-emption price of
$1.25 per acre. He thus added more than two hundred millions
of dollars to the burden of the settlers who sought homes along
the proposed lines of the railways. The same law necessarily in-
creased the value of lands granted to the railroads two hundred
millions of dollars. The railroad lobby won.

It should also be remembered, that with the exception of the
Pacific Railroads, and they only in part, these land grants, for
the favorable reports on which Mr. Julian is chiefly responsible,
were not given in the arid regions of the West. They did not
cover the sage brush, the cactus, and the sand hill country. They
were taken from the splendid lands of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota*
Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Eastern Kansas, Dakota and the
Southern States of Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana.
Every acre was worth more than thirty acres within the arid'
region. If there has been a land grabber in this country, a man
who has done more than any other man to prevent the settlers
from exercising their rights under the homestead and pre-emption
laws, Mr. Julian is that man. Whether all of this was done
honestly in the public interest or not, it was done by the present
Surveyor-General of New Mexico. On the whole, I think, that
the railroad land grants were for the best interests of the whole
country, but no more so than were the grants given by the Spanish
and Mexican governments of large tracts in New Mexico,
Arizona, and California, to induce colonization in some cases,
and to reward eminent public services in others. At the time
they were given, they were regarded by their respective govern-
ments as worthless. Many of them are practically worthless yet.

Mr. Julian himself deserves some attention. Nearly fifty
years ago he was first elected to office as a proi-slavery Democrat.
Defeated for re-election he left his party. After a, short time he •
posed as a Free Soil leader, and was elected on anti-slavery issues.
When again retired to private life he became a conservative Whig.

398 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Again he was unsuccessful and returned to the more promising
field of political abolition. Being practically alone in his own
locality, he thereafter reigned supreme. When the war broke out
he was one of the few able-bodied men who bravely remained at
home. The late Adjutant-General Thomas, of the United States
Army, said of him : * ' He (Julian) is the only member of Con-
gress who has ever visited my office to injure an officer in the
field." During the war period and for some subsequent years, Mr.
Julian was in Congress as a Kepublican. He was a zealot of
zealots ; a destructionist and radical of the bitterest type, as
against the Southern States and their people. But, as usual, he
quarreled, and this time with Senator Oliver P. Morton, a man
who could deal properly with such a character. The Republican
party suddenly became too corrupt for Julian. The people of
Indiana at the time did not concur in his estimate of either
Senator Morton or of the party of which the Senator
was so sagacious a leader. The " Reformer" was not re-
turned to Congress. Since then there has been no denunciation
too bitter against the Republican party for him to make, and no
accusation too vile for his tongue or pen to express against men
who have been in anywise prominent in its ranks. In his eye
there was no public crime of which Ulysses S. Grant was not
guilty. He denounced General Garfield to my personal knowledge
at every cross-road in Indiana, as a " thief," a l ' bribe taker," a
" bribe giver," and a " perjurer." He used these exact words in
characterization of that lamented man, within my hearing. If
the testimony of his neighbors can be relied upon, no man has
ever used Federal patronage for more selfish purposes. Can it be
doubted then that he has earned his present position ? Mr. Cleve-
land, evidently, knew this man when it was desirable to raise the
issue of "land jobbery" and "corruption" in New Mexico, but
he may possibly have forgotten the letter which Mr. Julian wrote
to Henry Villard, desiring to be employed as a lobbyist for the
Northern Pacific Railroad, which afterwards came to light through
Carl Sehurz. Mr. Villard declined his services.

Mr, Julian declares in the very first paragraph of the article
I :am .discussing, that President Cleveland asked him, in May,
1885,, to accept the office of either Governor or Surveyor- General
of New Mexico, that he might " co-operate " with him, the Presi-
dent,/*'in breaking up the rings of that territory."

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 399

Understanding that the Surveyor-General's office was "the
more important," he finally accepted the same, and on the 22d of
July, 1885, entered on its duties. Of course he did, but* Mr.
Julian would have us believe that he doubted the propriety and
hesitated before accepting the President's offer. However, he
went to New Mexico, not as a judge, but as a pre-determined ac-
cuser. His mission was not to develop the truth, but to estab-
lish the existence of "rings." After two years of industrious
efforts he has failed to prove any one of his allegations, or to sus-
tain in the courts, aided by the powers and appliances of the Gen-
eral Government, a single accusation. Mr. Julien has barred him-
self at the outset out of the court of public opinion. He assumes
that the legislation of 1854, under which the incumbents of his
present office are given such "large and responsible powers, "and
in the administration of which, as he charges, they have all
proven themselves to have been corrupt, was in itself " wise
and salutary" in character, when "properly administered."
That is, of course, when the Julians are in power. As a matter
of fact, the land grant legislation of 1854 was, at its best,
merely tentative in character. Mr. Julian illustrates this him-
self, when in his wholesale, unwarranted, and sweeping attack
upon all his predecessors, he declares that the "meagre salary"
could not secure the services of "competent and fit men," and
that " official life in an old Mexican province, and in the midst
of an alien race, offered few attractions to men of ambition and
force." Again, the position of Surveyor-General pre-supposed
" judicial training and an adequate knowledge of both Spanish
and American law," while, according to him, most of his predeces-
sors have possessed no such requirements. This, however, is a
mere assumption on his part. The real difficulty with the act of
1854 and of all subsequent legislation is, that it deals with the
public lands in the arid region as well as the Mexican land grant
system, without due regard to the physical phenomena of climate
and topography.

All who are familiar with Mexican land grants know that in
describing boundary lines the grantor, as well as the grantee,
were alike unfamiliar with the distances between the several land-
marks named in the concessions. For example : A grant would
begin by describing the summit of a certain mountain named as a
starting point, running thence to a river, also named ; from there

400 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

to the dividing line of drainage between two rivers described ;
then possibly to some other mountain and back to the place of
beginning. It is undoubtedly true that neither party had the
remotest idea of the area of land lying within these natural land-
marks. That was only arrived at when the surveys were finally
made, perhaps a century afterward. In some cases it was found
that a grant covered four or five times the number of acres of
land that the owner supposed to belong to him. The natural land-
marks were indicated in the concession, and the courts, as well as
Congress, held that the grant must confirm according to the
description therein set forth. In this connection it is a notable
fact that Mr. Julian omitted to say that with a very few excep-
tions every land grant in New Mexico was confirmed prior to
1861. He alludes especially to the Maxwell grant, which, I
believe with him, was never intended when made to cover
the extent of territory that is now claimed as included
within its borders. That grant, however, like many others,
was made before the country was occupied, and the natural
landmarks were named in the concession. It was reported favor-
ably by a Democratic Surveyor-General. It was approved by
Jacob Thompson, who was Democratic Secretary of the Interior.
It was confirmed by a Democratic Congress, and the confirmatory
act was approved by Mr. Buchanan, a Democratic President. The
other grants confirmed in New Mexico, as I have stated, passed
through the same partisan hands, from the Surveyor-General to
the President. Mr. Julian cannot point to a single grant con-
firmed by a Republican Congress that will not stand the closest
scrutiny. As to the Una de Gata grant, to which he alludes, in
his unwarranted use of my name, it had been approved by the
Surveyor-General and the Secretary of the Interior. It had also
passed the lower House of Congress. Eleven years ago I proposed
to buy this grant. Upon investigating the title I became satis-
fied that it was fraudulent. I wrote to the Hon. Carl Schurz,
then Secretary of the Interior, stating circumstantially all the
facts in my possession regarding the grant. I asked him to send
a special agent to make a careful investigation, at the same
time turning over to him all the papers in my possession.
Upon such investigation, it appeared that the grant was
a forgery, and that the forger, one Gomez, was then in
the penitentiary for forging other grants in California. I then

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 401

applied to the Honorable Secretary to have the land within the
bounds of the so-called grant thrown open for settlement. This
was done. It is now occupied by a body of as good citizens as
there are in the United States, whose improvements within the
lines of this so-called grant are extensive and valuable. All of
these facts were and are accessible to my accuser, as my letters
and papers are on file in the Interior Department. There is not
the slightest foundation for the charge that I seized upon the
" choicest land " in this neighborhood or sent my " henchmen " to
occupy it. I built my home there nine years before Mr. Julian
came into the country. He has never been within twenty-five
miles of my place, and I do not believe that he has the slightest
knowledge, direct or indirect, respecting a single acre of the land
I own. As a matter of fact I am among the smaller owners of
land in New Mexico, and I have paid more money than the same
number of acres would cost in Iowa. And yet, he gravely accuses
me before the country.

To show how easy it is to make such charges, and how difficult
it is to prove them, I will state that mainly through Mr. Julian's
exertions, nearly four hundred citizens of New Mexico have been
indicted on charges similar to those made in the July number of
the EEVIEW. Yet up to this time, every man tried has been ac-
quitted. There is not a grain or a shadow of truth that there
have been or are now frauds committed to any extent in New
Mexico under the homestead and pre-emption laws. Citizens of
the United States are entitled to take one hundred and sixty
acres of land as pre-emptors and pay for it within the time desig-
nated by law, after fulfilling certain requirements, at the rate of
$1.25 per acre. The person entering this land must swear that he
is doing it for his own use and benefit, and not with the view of
selling it. Before the title passes to the pre-emptor, he pays the
Government the price for the land. The Government is not de-
frauded, so far as that is concerned. Now, the question is,
whether after this pre-emption the person entering the land has
the right to sell it to another. That issue has been settled a hun-
dred times in almost every court in the Union. The only possible
fraud that can be charged is that the man sold his land instead
of living upon it, and that would not be a fraud against the Gov-
ernment, because the Government has received its full pay.

The July article carries with it the implication that between

402 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

1861 and 1885 every incumbent of the Secretaryship of the In-
terior, of the Oommissionership of the General Land Office, and
of the Surveyor-Generalship of New Mexico has been a corrupt
and dishonest man. It also accuses Congress by the wholesale.

No one of these grants has passed Congress since I exposed
the fraudulent nature of the grant with which Mr. Julian at-
tempts to link my name unfavorably. Does any one, whether
Eepublican or Democrat, seriously believe that men like Caleb
Smith, J. P. Usher, 0. W. Browning, J. D. Cox, Columbus De-
lano, Zachariah Chandler, Carl Schurz, Samuel J. Kirkwood, and
Henry M. Teller, each of v/hom, since 1861, has served as Secre-
tary of the Interior are of the dishonest mold Mr. Julian has
represented them to be ? Such accusations will not stand against
the several incumbents of the Commissionership of the General
Land Office.

These men are all well known, and where they are known no
one has ever even suspected them of dishonesty. More capable,
more thoroughly upright, and more deserving men never dis-
charged a public trust.

James M. Edmonds, of Michigan, who was the head of the
Union League of America during the whole war period, and the
friend and confident of Senator Chandler up to the time of his
death, was appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office
by President Lincoln. Following him was John Wilson, who
had faithfully served thirty-five years in different capacities in
the General Land Office. Then Judge Drummond, General Bur-
dette, General Williamson, and Mr. McFarland cover the list.

Mr. Julian is nothing if not sweeping. He virtually declares
that his predecessors as Surveyor-Generals have all been thieves,
and have conspired with public robbers to defraud the United
States. He alleges, also, that many Senators and Representatives
now holding seats from Western States have a hand in the general
conspiracy. Not content, he winds up by alleging, in almost definite
terms, that the Supreme Court of the United States has joined
hands with his phantom army of plunderers to defraud the Gov-
ernment and the people of the lands covering the barren plains
and desolate mountains of the Southwest. The assumption is
monstrous. The presumption is that he has allowed his imagina-
tion to reach far beyond any possible or remote fact, or else that
he is proceeding, for partisan and personal ends, to deliberately

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 403

misrepresent and malign men, " the latchet of whose shoes he is
not worthy to unloose."

I turn from the consideration of these wild accusations of a
common scold to the remedy offered as a cure for the obstacles to
settlement and progress which the uncertainty of the land titles
has created in New Mexico, and also in Arizona. It is the only
issue of importance to be found in his article. The fatal error
has been made in dealing with the arid region, largely which is,
at its best, mere grazing land, as if it was of the same character,
condition, and capacity as the purely agricultural domain of the
country.

A certain remedy is proposed, and the critic considers others
that have heretofore been presented. He demands a speedy settle-
ment of land titles ; but how does he seek to achieve this ? In
his opinion, Congress " is unfitted for such service." Mr. Julian
opposes the establishment of a land commission, because in the
case of California, after thirty-six years labor, and the disposal of
hundreds of intricate cases, there are about forty claims yet un-
settled. Mr. Julian also opposes the bill of Senator Edmunds.
That measure provides that the United States District Court,
within the territory, shall adjudicate all land claims. The right
of appeal within six months to the Supreme Court of the territory
is given, and from that within twelve months to the United States
Supreme Court. In all cases where the judgment is against the
United States, an appeal must be taken, unless the Attorney-
General otherwise directs. This measure is regarded as good for
lawyers but bad for litigants. Having thus put aside all the pres-
ent proposed methods, what does Mr. Julian suggest as a substi-
tute ? Nothing more than ' 'a single enactment of Congress refer-
ring all these cases to the Secretary of the Interior for final de-
cision." This lame and impotent conclusion is a fitting finale to
a paper which sets out with the assertion that a law which has
done nothing but prove itself worse than inoperative, contains
provisions that are "wise and salutary" if properly administered.

The head of the Department of the Interior is one of the
most overloaded of public officers connected with the general
government. He has nearly a score of the most important bureaus
connected with any department, embracing the Public Lands,
Indians, Patents, Agriculture, Pensions, Pacific Railways, and
Geological Survey; the Bureaus of Labor and Education, the

404 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

National Museum, the Public Institutions, and Government of
the District of Columbia, besides other minor duties and affairs.
He is the supervisory officer and reviewing authority in all mat-
ters that arise in this varied assortment of public duties. As a
matter of fact, the Secretary of the Interior is now charged with
the very duty that Mr. Julian proposes to reimpose. It is the
Secretary of the Interior who transmits the Surveyor-General's
reports to Congress, through the President, with his approval
or disapproval duly attached. This reviewing is the work of
a sub-law clerk. The Secretary may examine a case himself, but
it is improbable. He will at most look over a brief prepared
for him by the aforesaid law clerk, checked possibly by a reference
to one of the two Assistant Secretaries, or to the Assistant At-
torney-General of the United States, assigned to the department
of the Interior. All of these things have been done ever since
1854, and, if our critic be correct, have produced nothing but con-
fusion, collusion, contention, and corruption. The proposition
is, however, a logical one for Mr. Julian. The Secretary under
whom he serves is alone to be trusted. He alone is honest and
incorruptible. Granted ! Yet he could not dispose of the New
Mexico land grant cases if he devoted all of the official time that
remains of his term of service to their consideration. And who
shall guarantee to Mr. Julian that Mr. Lamar will be able to
transmit the especial qualifications with which his subordinate
endows him to his successor ? His remedy is simply ridiculous.
It would only render corruption easier by concentrating it on the
poorly paid clerks, who would really do the reviewing and prac-
tically prepare the decisions. As the accusations are thus shown
to be baseless, and the remedy offered for admitted evils is un-
questionably absurd, I venture to present some suggestions as to
the proper mode of adjudicating land grant claims in the South-
west.

First. There should be appointed with ample powers a special
court or commission, large enough to be subdivided, the full body
to have appellate jurisdiction.

Second. All claims brought before this tribunal should be
limited as to period. I suggest three years from the date of
organizing the court for filing ; and not more than five years for
the completion of adjudication.

Third. This tribunal should be required to take up at once

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 405

and decide within one year all cases wherein charges now rest
upon confirmed or patented grants.

Fourth. The decision of this tribunal, when averse to a claim-
ant, should be a mandate to the Secretary of the Interior for the
ordering of an immediate survey, and the opening of the land to
general settlement.

Fifth. Power to be given for a full examination of all records
— American, Spanish, or Mexican.

With this tribunal having such powers, and with the limit in
time, I venture to say that there would be at once achieved a
larger degree of prosperity to New Mexico than Mr. Julian can
possibly conceive of or express.

This land-grant question is, however, but part of a much
larger one, and that embraces the proper disposition which shall,
under law, be made of the lands of the arid region. They are
useful chiefly for grazing or mining purposes. Lying beyond the
one hundred and second meridian of west longitude and west to
the Pacific Ocean, is a region that requires a different system
of disposal and settlement than the country lying east of the
meridian named.

Nothing is more idle than the talk that can be heard on all
sides respecting the rain-fall increasing within what is known as
the arid region. It is stated, with great earnestness and appar-
ent conviction, that Kansas and Nebraska were at one time in-
cluded in what was erroneously known as the great American
desert, but that now the larger part of both of these States is cov-
ered with fertile farms. It must be remembered that as far back
as 1847 the rain-fall has been accurately recorded at Fort Eiley,
Kansas ; Fort Bent, Colorado ; Santa Fe, New Mexico ; Fort
Bridger, Wyoming ; Salt Lake City, Utah ; and at several points
on the Pacific Coast. These records show that the rain-fall from
1850 to 1860 was two inches more than from 1870 to 1880, and
that the average rain-fall west of the one hundred and second
meridian, not including Oregon and Washington Territory, is
under fourteen inches per annum. There has been no increase
whatever in the past forty years. The present year has been an
exceptional one in a portion of these territories. The rain-fall
of New Mexico is likely this year to reach twenty inches, while
last year it was only fourteen, and in 1880 was only nine; at the
same time even the Mississippi Valley States have suffered.

406 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The talk about opening up such a country, a plateau as exten-
sive and much more broken than that of Central Asia, for ordinary
farming, is only suggested by those who have no knowledge of the
facts or physical structure of the region. Its water-courses are
scant indeed, and the evaporation in some parts of the South-
west is simply enormous. Even in fairly protected reservoirs,
with cement sides and bottoms, where leakage is impossible,
the evaporation will reach thirteen feet. During the summer the
wind blows continually from the southwest, passing over vast
plains of heated sand and barren treeless mountains, absorbing
every particle of moisture the scant precipitation provides. A large
portion of arable land of New Mexico has been under cultivation
for more than three hundred years. Still the fields must be irri-
gated now the same as they were three centuries ago. While it
is true that but a small part of the water in the Eio Grande and
other large streams has been diverted to the use of agriculture,
and that there is room in New Mexico for a large farming popu-
lation, the construction of canals for that purpose will require
a capital far beyond the ability of the ordinary farmer to com-
mand.

Under our present land laws, the practice is absurd which
legally permits the occupation, settlement, and purchase of only
160 acres within the arid region. No progress can ever be made
therein. Where the precipitation is not equal to industrial uses,
there can be no farming without irrigation. All authorities
place the agricultural rain-fall at not less twenty-eight inches
per annum. West of the one hundred and second meridian, the
precipitation will seldom, even in favored but limited localities,
exceed twenty inches, while the average will barely reach fourteen
inches. The greater portion of the arid region is a mountain
plateau rising from four thousand to six thousand feet above
sea level. Ordinary farming is simply impossible. Grazing,
even, is available only when the springs, water-holes, and in-
frequent streams, often sinking in sand or the detritus made
by constant erosion, are carefully conserved. The water sources
and supplies control the use of land within the arid region. Any
policy adapted to its dominating features must centre around this
water supply. It practically does do this, whatever the law may
declare to the contrary.

Along the infrequent streams of this section, it will prove true

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 407

that the valley lands, if the water of such streams be utilized for
industry, by proper public regulations as to withdrawal and distribu-
tion, and by means of the necessary storage reservoirs, dams, weirs,
and ditches, main and lateral, could be made valuable in parcels
of much less than 160 acres in extent. In the colony enterprises
of Southern California, now so rapidly forming and making the
" desert bloom and blossom" like a rose, the majority of the new
farms are much less than 100 acres in extent. Many of them even
do not exceed 20 or 30 acres. But nothing of the sort could have
been achieved under the present land laws of the United States. It
has been possible only because in California the Mexican land grant
system has prevailed, enabling capitalists or colony enterprises to
obtain control of land areas sufficient in extent to warrant them in
expending large sums of money for the construction of irrigation
works, wells, storage reservoirs, and distributing ditches. In
several instances the cost of these works have exceeded a million
dollars. The squatter farmers could never has combined to
achieve such great enterprises. The evidence of this last fact is
to be seen on all sides in New Mexico. Yet Mr. Julian talks of
stopping the stream of travel on its way to the Pacific Coast, and
by means of homestead settlement people that territory with pros-
perous agriculturists. The Surveyor-General only talks of his
ignorance and not from his knowledge. If the scant valley areas
are dependent for their utilization entirely upon the proper dis-
tribution of water, of how much more importance becomes the
water sources and supplies, by which the vast inter-plateau por-
tion of our mountain system can alone be made available for pas-
toral' purposes, or in a less degree for mining also ?

I -challenge those who persist in claiming that what is now
known as the arid region will sooner or later become productive
by the natural rain-fall to show me a single instance anywhere on
the surface of the earth where such a result has been attained.
New Mexico, parts of Arizona, and nearly all of the Republic of
Mexico have been under cultivation for three hundred and fifty
years, Peru and Chili quite as long, and Central Asia for un-
known thousands of years. What climatic changes have occurred ?
Are not the irrigating canals required now as much as in the cen-
turies gone by ? There has been no such climatic change on this
or any other continent.

The experiences of the countries wherein artificial distribution

408 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

of water has been necessary for cultivation, especially on this con-
tinent, have compelled a different system of water conservation and
land distribution than has existed in more favored regions. This
is a fact that we have been, and are still slow, to apprehend. But
we must do so if we are ever to utilize the region under consider-
ation. Mexico makes, for example, the water supply the centre
of her land laws. Access to public streams or supplies must not
be obstructed. If, to reach such water, private property has to
be used, proper compensation is provided. Springs, etc., situated
on private lands, but needed for neighborhood use, are subject to
such " servitudes/' the owners having exclusive use for at least
sixty hours per week. The grazing lands are usually leased or
granted in blocks of not less than eleven leagues, about 4,500
acres each, experience having demonstrated that within the Sierra
Madre plateau region such blocks are accessible, as a rule, to
water sufficient for the cattle that may be grazed thereon. It is
very evident to my mind, then, that the great area lying beyond
the one hundred and second meridian, and comprising the larger
portion of our remaining public domain, must be placed under
legal conditions widely different from those now existing.

The first condition must be the conservation of the water sup-
plies, under National and State authority.

The second must be some method of encouraging or providing
for the construction and maintenance, as required by the growth
of population, of needed irrigation works, both for storage
and distribution. These works should be paid for by those who
will receive benefit from them. Some system of encouragement
to capital, therefore, under proper engineering requirements, must
be introduced.

The third step will be the sale or leasing, in suitable blocks,
of the lands which no irrigation can ever make useful for any
purpose other than the raising and feeding of cattle. This di- -
posal of such lands must be controlled by the water supply alone,
and not by any cut-and-dried mode of distribution, as at present.

I have thus attempted only to indicate the controlling condi-
tions, not to lay down rules or perfect a system. Such things
may as well be left to the Bourbons of the Julian order, who are
so truly believed to neither learn nor unlearn. " Wise in their
own conceit/' they may be left to the enjoyment their vanity
brings them.

"LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO." 409

Practical men of affairs look at things as they find them.
Certainly no such conditions can be found in New Mexico, as
the writer whom I have reviewed herein assumes to exist there.
I have pointed out on the other hand the facts that are found,
and the larger conditions that dominate the arid region. The
subject may be left by me at this point, confident as I am that
my view is fortified by observation and possesses the saving
quality of common-sense.

STEPHEN W. DORSET.

VOL. CXLV. — tfo. 371. 27

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET.

IT seems to be a genial pastime for men in various walks of
life who know very little about financial affairs, and the methods
of doing business in Wall street, to denounce this great centre of
the moneyed interests, as the sum of all villainies, a kind of
Pandora's box, but without any hope at the bottom. In opposi-
tion to popular delusions of this nature, I propose to show that
Wall street is a great civilizer, and the mighty channel through
which has flown the enormous wealth that has been powerful and
necessary in developing our industrial enterprises. I shall also
endeavor to demonstrate that Wall street men, generally, are
paragons of personal honor, and that they were chiefly instru-
mental in providing the means of saving the nation in the hour
of its peril.

I am sorry to say that the clergy have done a great deal to
foster erroneous impressions of the character of the men who do
business in this part of the city, and to utterly misrepresent the
nature of their transactions. This might be overlooked in people
who have not the knowledge or the means to obtain correct infor-
mation on this subject. There is no excuse, however, for a man
in this enlightened age, who professes to be a spiritual leader of
the people, to remain ignorant of an important fact, or to con-
tinue to see that fact through a false medium, when he has the
opportunity of coming into Wall street and seeing for himself.
He has no right to set himself up as a censor, a public detractor,
and a public libeller upon a set of men and merchants who are
the bone and sinew of the financial, commercial, and industrial
interests and prosperity of the country. It is not only a personal
wrong, but a public injury.

The Rev. T. De Witt Talmage has, perhaps, done more than
any other clergyman in the attempt to ir^fce speculators, in-
vestors, and business men obnoxious in the eyes of the rest of the

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 41 [

community and in the estimation of John Bull, in whose dominion
his so-called sermons are extensively read. Talmage has employed
his flashy wit and mountebank eloquence to bring financial dis-
grace upon the business methods of the country by the manner
in which he has ignorantly vilified Wall street. He went, in per-
son, to the Cremorne Garden, Billy McGlory's, Harry Hill's, and
other places of dubious reputation, in order to " make himself
acquainted with the real condition of things " there. How far he
has penetrated into the green rooms and behind the scenes in
these places it is not my business to know, but why should he
not treat Wall street, where everything is open to inspection, as
fairly as he does these dens of vice, where midnight scenes of
villainous revelry and reckless dissipation reign supreme ? Why
does he misrepresent Wall street without knowing anything
about it. He can come here and go wherever he wishes
without a bodyguard of detectives or fear of molestation. Why
is he so particular about doing justice to the brothel and the
gaming den, while he uses his ludicrous eloquence to the highest
degree to falsify the respectable business methods of Wall street ?
I recollect the time that men in the higher walks of life, and
among the higher classes (if I may use the expression, in opposi-
tion to the opinion of the New York Sun, whose editor maintains
that we have no classes in this country) would have been ashamed
to be seen in Wall street. Now, men in the same sphere are proud
of the distinction, both socially and financially. In fact, Wall
street has become a necessity, and a healthy stimulant to the rest
of the business of the country. Everything looks to this centre
as an index of its prosperity. It moves the money that controls
the affairs of the world.

Take the Clearing-house, for example, with its $50,000,000,000
of transactions annually. All but a fraction of this wonderful
wealth, compared with which the stupendous pile of Croesus was
a pittance, passes through Wall street, continually adding to its
mighty power. This great power, in comparison with which the
influence of monarchies is weak, is not, like the riches of these
monarchies, concentrated chiefly on itself. It is imparted to all
the industries and productive forces of the country. Wall street
is a great distributor. It is also universal in its benevolent
effects, practically unlimited by either creed or geography.

It has taken greater advantage, for the general good, of scien-

412 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tific discovery than all the scientific societies combined. Wherever
the electric wires have penetrated the "Wall street broker has fol-
lowed. The members of the Stock Exchange are, through the
power of electricity, in closer sympathy with the great heart of
civilized humanity than all the missionaries and philanthropic
societies in the world. They are the great cosmopolitans of the
age. In practical sympathy they outshine the most devoted
efforts of the benevolent associations of half the continent. They
have the means to do it, and this comes chiefly from their being
practical, and from their strong antipathy as a body to cant and
hypocrisy.

ERROR VERSUS FACT.

There are many false ideas outside the ranks of the clergy
concerning Wall Street affairs entertained by the general public.
It is a popular delusion that " the Street " is a place where people
who are in the "ring" take something for nothing. No idea
could be further away from the mark in regard to Wall street men
as a class, however true it may be of individual instances, as in
all other departments of business. Wall street gives full value
for everything it receives, and the country at large is deeply its
debtor. Some people may think this a paradox, but there is
nothing more easily demonstrated to those who have observed the
commercial and industrial progress of the country and the age.

A PIONEER OF PROSPERITY.

Wall street has furnished the money that has set the wheels of
industry in motion over the vast continent, and in one century
has brought us abreast, in the industrial arts, of countries that
had from one to two thousand years the start of us. In this re-
spect it has assisted nobly to carry out the ideas of the fathers of
the Constitution. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin,
and Hamilton laid down the doctrine that it would be a betrayal
of the interests of posterity to limit the productive energies of
this country to raw material. With our present experience we
may think it strange that this question should ever have been de-
bated, but it was, even after the old tyranny had been obliged to
loosen its grasp on the struggling enterprise of the young Repub-
lic. The revolutionary sires deserve credit for their foresight ;
but what would have been the fate of their commercial philoso-

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 413

phy if Wall street had not supplied the sinews of war to develop
the forces of nature, to work our mines and build our railroads,,
and through these and other means to attract the teeming popu-
lation from every clime to cultivate our virgin soil and develop
our wonderful industries and resources ?

Apropos of the above observations, I may add that during the
debate in the British Parliament, on the recognition of the Con-
federacy, the great manufacturing power in our industrial, finan-
cial, and commercial progress was clearly exhibited and thoroughly
appreciated by British statesmen. It was made one of the
strongest arguments, too, by some of the representatives of our
jealous and envious cousins on the other side of the ocean, why
Great Britain should recognize and aid the South in the war.
Lord Salisbury, then Lord Robert Cecil, at present the leader of
the Tory party in England, and the advocate of twenty years'
coercion for Ireland, was one of the bitterest foes of the Union,
chiefly on this account. He was one of the Vice-Presidents of
the " Southern Independent Association," for the promotion of
the cause of the Rebellion, and for supplying the Confederates
with money and arms, and for the ultimate object of founding an
empire of slavery on this continent.

JEALOUS " JINGOES" AS CIYILIZEES.

In his speech then, on the Southern blockade, the future Lord
Salisbury made the following touching allusion to our dangerous
prosperity on this side :

*• The plain matter of fact is, as every one who watches the current of history
must know, that the Northern States of America never can be our sure friends,
for this simple reason, not merely because the newspapers write at each other, or
that there are prejudices on both sides, but because we are rivals ; rivals politically,
rivals commercially. We aspire to the same position. We both aspire to the
government of the seas. We are both manufacturing people, and in every port
as well as at every court we are rivals to each other. With respect to the Southern
States the case is entirely reversed. The population are an agricultural people.
They furnish the raw material of our industry, and they consum3 the products
which we manufacture from it. With them, therefore, every interest must lead us
to cultivate friendly relations, and we have seen that when the war began they at
once recurred to England as their natural ally."

Thus we see how anxious Great Britain was to take the place
which the North had reserved for itself, and so proudly main-
tained in commerce and industry. The great "coming man,"

414 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Salisbury, wanted to reduce us all to the position of hewers of
wood, drawers of water, and planters and pickers of cotton, for
the special accommodation of Great Britain as the mighty centre
of the world's manufacturing industries. This would have given
a set-back to our civilization, and have caused us to make a retro-
gressive move to the dark ages. Since then we have afforded this
noble lord and his nation ample proof that we are very far ad-
vanced in the manufacturing arts ourselves, and that in many
things we are far ahead of England, and they are no doubt greatly
surprised that the arrangement, by which England was to have
all the profit and America all the hard work, was not carried out.
In this wonderful development of the industrial arts, Wall
street money, enterprise, and speculation have played by far the
most conspicuous and progressive part, thus enabling us, in a
little more than two decades, to outstrip the old nations that were
so anxious to enslave us, in spite of the fact that they had centu-
ries upon centuries the start of us. It must be galling to some
of these people that we are now the most available candidates for
the commercial and industrial supremacy of the world, and we
have attained this position in a great measure through the instru-
mentality of Wall street as a civilizer.

PERSONAL HONOR OF WALL STREET MEN.

It is true the honor of Wall street is sometimes tarnished,
especially in the eyes of those who reside at a great distance,
owing to the delinquencies of dishonorable men, who consider
Wall street men and Wall street money fair game for swindling
operations. These are for the most part outsiders, who' pounce
upon the Street as their illegitimate prey, after probably making
a show of doing business there.

There is no place, of course, where confidence men have the
opportunity of reaping such a rich harvest when they can succeed
in establishing the confidential relations that help them to make
their swindles successful. But Wall street proper is no more
responsible for such men than the Church, whose sacred precincts
are used and abused by the same social pariahs in a similar man-
ner. The Street is the victim of these adventurers, and has no
more to do with nurturing and aiding them than the Church has.

What should be said of a financier who would have the temerity
to assert that the Church was an asylum for swindlers, and that

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 415

thence they issued forth to commit their lawless depredations
upon society ? He would be tabooed by all intelligent people.
Yet there would be about as much truth in such a statement as in
most of the eloquent anathemas and objurgations launched from
the pulpit against Wall street. There is no place on this earth
where adventurous thieves have fewer sympathizers than in
Wall street, not excepting, perhaps, in Pinkerton's and Byrnes's
detective bureaux.

There is another popular delusion with regard to those who do
not succeed in Wall street. Their failure is frequently attributed
to sharp practice on the part of the old habitues of the street.
People forget that the business of speculation requires special
training, and every fool who has a few hundred dollars cannot
begin to deal in stocks and make a fortune. The men who do
not succeed are usually those who have spent early life elsewhere,
and whose habits have been formed in other grooves of thought.

The business of Wall street requires long and close training
in financial affairs, so that the mind may attain a flexible facility
with the various ins and outs of speculative methods. If this
training is from youth upward, all the better. It is among this
class that many of our most successful men are to be found,
although there are some eminent examples of success among
those who began late in life. It will be found, however, that the
latter must have had a special genius for the business, and genius,
of course, discounts all the usual conditions and auxiliaries ; but
among ordinary intellects early training is generally indispensable
to financial success. It seldom happens, moreover, that the early
trained man from youth up does any great wrong.

A DANGEKOUS " GENIUS " IN FINANCE.

Ferdinand Ward may seem an exception to this rule, but he
had a born genius for evil, and though he had all the early advan-
tages of Timothy and Samuel the Prophet, with a higher civiliza-
tion thrown in, so utterly incorrigible was his nature that nothing
but prison walls and iron bars could prescribe bounds to his ras-
cality. He is an extraordinary exception, a genius of the other
extreme, against whose subtle operations society must always be
on its guard ; but he is only one of the dangerous exceptions that
prove the rule for which I am contending — the rule that early

416 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

training in finance more, perhaps, than in any other field of hu-
man energy, is the great desideratum.

If such a man is unsuccessful, dishonor seldom accompanies
his misfortunes. He may pass through the whole catalogue of
financial disasters and their natural results. He may fall to the
gutter through over-indulgence in liquor and the despair attend-
ant on a run of bad luck or unfortunate connection with wicked
partners, but he is still capable of rising from the ashes of his
former self. He will never stoop to swindling no matter how low
the rest of his moral condition may fall.

No great business can be built up except upon honest and
moral principles. It may flourish for a time, but it will topple down
eventually. The very magnitude to which the business of Wall
street has grown is a living proof of its moral stamina. It is im-
possible, in the social and moral nature of things, to unite a large
number of men, representing important material interests, except
upon principles of equity and fair dealing. A conspiracy to cheat
must always be confined to a small number.

The most successful men of Wall street, to my personal
knowledge, are those who came to the street young, and have
" gone through the mill," so to speak ; those who have received
severe training, who have had some sledge-hammer blows applied
to their heads to temper them, like the conversion of iron into
steel. These are some of the requisites of a successful financial
career.

One of the most common delusions incident to human nature
in every walk of life is that of a man who has been successful in
one thing imagining he can succeed in anything and everything
he attempts. In general, overweening conceit of this kind can
be cured by simple experiments that bring men to a humiliating
sense of their mortal condition and limited capacity. When the
experiment is tried in Wall street, however, to these healthy ad-
mtmitions are frequently added irreparable disaster and over-
whelming disgrace.

I shall note a few examples within the memory of men still
active in business life. The brief panic of 1884 brought several
instances of this character to the surface. Some of them had
fought our battles .for national existence, and preserved the Union
when this achievement seemed almost hopeless. Their fame as
generals was as extensive as history itself. They had planned

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 417

and executed projects with success on which the destiny of a
great nation, and perhaps the destiny of other nations, depended;
yet, when they attempted to manage banks, railroads, and finan-
cial operations, they became hopelessly entangled.

WHY GENERAL GRANT WAS VICTIMIZED.

The great captain of the Union's salvation was as helpless as
a babe when Ferdinand Ward and James D. Fish moved upon his
works. The eye that took in the whole situation at a glance at
Yicksburg, Richmond, and Appomattox was unable to penetrate
the insidious and speculative designs of the "Young Napoleon
of finance." General Grant was a victim, not so much to the
sincere, veracious, and unsuspecting attributes which were so
largely predominant in that great man, as to his want of early
training in financial business affairs, and to the fact that he was
unable to appreciate its necessity in dealing with sharp business
men of loose morals. Generals Winslow and Porter fell into a
similar error of judgment in the West Shore Eailroad matter.
Their mistake came near being a serious blow to the railroad in-
terests of this country. General Wilson, of the New York & New
England, and General Gordon were similarly unfortunate. The
common mistake committed by these worthy men, to whom the
country owes an inestimable debt of gratitude, was the chief cause
of the ''general demoralization" to which Treasurer Jordan
facetiously, but indignantly, alluded when denouncing railroad
methods, and which, from time to time, has played sad havoc with
some of the best securities in the country.

Therefore, I say to all who have sons destined for a business
career, let your cherished offspring have the advantage of early
practical training in the particular line of business for which you
may consider them best adapted, and do so, even to the partial
neglect of their school and college education. Practical business
is the best school and college in which they can possibly graduate.

HOW WALL STREET SAVED THE COUNTRY.

Wall street men were found in the vanguard fully equipped for
duty in the early days of the late Civil War. When money was
to be raised to enable the North to carry on that terrible struggle
it had to be obtained through Wall street. At this momentous

418 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

juncture, when there was no eye to pity, and when no other arm
seemed mighty enough to save, the Wall street men were equal to
the occasion. They put their heads together, came to the front,
and resolved to extricate the Government from its perilous posi-
tion. It is true they were well paid for it. They charged twelve
per cent, for the loan, but that was little enough when the risk is
taken into account. It was then almost impossible to get a loan
at any rate of interest. By some of the great nations of Europe
the risk then involved in such a loan was regarded in about the
same light as the people of this country now estimate the present
chance of realizing on Confederate paper money, or Georgia
bonds of the old issue. In this state of public feeling Lombard
street was not in a favorable mood to negotiate loans with this
country, and the whole fraternity of the Rothschilds shut their
fists on their shining shekels and shook their heads negatively
and ominously at the bare mention of advancing money to the
once great but then distressed Republic.

Money was dear at the time, and the Government was only ob-
liged to pay for what could not be obtained in other quarters.
Curiously enough, private property then was considered better
security than the Government indorsement, on the principle —
which was not a very patriotic one, though in reality true — that
the country could survive its form of government. That form,
however, the best the world has yet seen, survived the shock and
maintained its autonomy. That it did so was in a large measure
due to the prompt action of Wall street men in raising the sinews
of war at the incipient stage of the rebellion. Had they failed to
do so, it is not improbable that the repulse at Bull Run might
have proved a decisive blow to the Union, and plunged the country
into a state of anarchy from which nothing but a despotism almost
as bad could have succeeded.

The negotiation of this loan brought out the twelve per
cent. Treasury notes. After this issue the rates fell. Then came
the 11 and the lOf per cent, issues, and subsequently the well-
known and long to be remembered 7 3-10 Treasury notes. After
this issue had been popularized, successfully disposed of, and
finally taken up at maturity by the 5-20 loan, Jay Cooke was
quick to issue, after their pattern, his famous 7 3-10 Northern Pa-
cific Railroad bonds. Evidently he had a patent for negotiating that
famous 7 3-10 per cent, railroad loan, as almost every clergyman,

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 419

Sunday-school teacher, and public benefactor were found to have
invested in them when the crash came, and although the road
was the means of his financial downfall, with the ruin of an in-
numerable number of others, besides, who were dragged into the
same speculative whirlpool, this unfortunate event was not en-
tirely an unmixed evil. It is true that this was the main and visi-
ble cause of precipitating the panic of 1873, but the Pacific road
was the great pioneer in opening up the Far West, and de-
veloping its material resources, the great artery of the Western
railroad system, conveying vigorous and durable vitality to the in-
dustrial life of the expansive regions beyond the Rockies.

Thus, in taking a retrospect of my twenty-eight years in Wall
street, I find that what sometimes appeared to be great evils have
been succeeded by compensating good, fate counterbalancing
fate, as the Latin poet has it. It was so after the panic of 1857.
It was so after the convulsion of 1873, and though I have only
historic evidence to guide me in regard to the earlier history of
the Street, I find it was so after 1837. So the maxim that his-
tory repeats itself has been fully verified in Wall street.

A GKEAT INCENTIVE TO INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS.

So, now that I have relapsed into a reflective mood on this
subject, a host of important associations connected with the main
issue rush upon me. The prominent idea that stands out in bold
relief is the rapid and wonderful progress made in Wall street
during the period that I have undertaken to chronicle. And not
only so, but the rapid strides that have been made in everything,
almost universally, during that time, present a vast theme for
consideration. The part that Wall street men have taken in this
mighty evolution is the topic that concerns me most at present.
As I attempt to progress with my subject, I observe this division
of it becoming more expansive, so that I find myself in the posi-
tion of the Irishman when he ascended to the top of a mountain.
After recovering from the first effects of his surprise, he exclaimed,
' ' I never thought the world was so large I"

So it is with me. I never thought that Wall street was so big,
nor that Wall street affairs were so extensive, until I began to
write about them. They expand, as well as improve, surprisingly
on closer acquaintance. I only hope I shall be able to impress
this idea more vividly on the minds of my clerical friends and

420 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

others who have been misguided in this respect, chiefly on hearsay
and irresponsible evidence, and who, I am sorry to say, have been
the well-meaning, but over-zealous, instruments of misleading
others.

To come to an approximate deduction of facts, then, it is, I
think, a fair estimate of the general progress of humanity, to say
that there has been greater material advance in everything that
relates to a higher civilization, and the greatest good to the great-
est number, during the last thirty years, than in all the previous
time that has elapsed since the period that the father of history,
old Herodotus, began to chronicle, in his racy style, the real and
imaginary events of the human family.

The part that Wall street has played in this amazing progress
has been comparatively large, and would in itself, if thoroughly
investigated and fully discussed, make a very large book.

There is one point to which I wish to call particular atten-
tion, because it is one which is unknown to the alleged critics of
Wall street methods, and it is one which is marked in comparison
with the ways of any other branch of the business of this or any
other country. In the commercial or manufacturing world, if it
becomes desirable for a business man to borrow money, he does so
upon notes which bear his own and perhaps the indorsement sig-
natures of other men who are liable in law for the amount. Now,
when a Wall street man wants to borrow money, he takes his note
to the bank or to the fellow broker from whom the cash is obtained,
but attached to the note is collateral security, in the form of stocks
and bonds, the market value of which is 10 to 20 per cent, above the
amount borrowed, and by the terms of the loan these col-
lateral securities can be sold out at any instant upon the fail-
ure of the broker to repay his loan. This is the point in dif-
ference, namely, that on Wall street loans the collateral can be
turned into cash in the Stock Exchange inside of a few minutes'
time, while upon loans made upon the notes of other business
men the collateral cannot be turned into cash except through pro-
cess of court, and the loss of months, and sometimes years, of
time. Hence, I say, Wall street loans are more safe and less liable
to losses, because of depression in values, than are those in any
other section of the business world. This is demonstrated by the
fact that so many of our banks doing a broker's business threw up
their charters two or three years ago, rather than submit to the

DELUSIONS ABOUT WALL STREET. 421

law, which prevented the certification of brokers' checks. It is
a fact most creditable to Wall street business men, and pleasantly
reflected upon the ways and means which have obtained here, that
the losses through brokers' loans have been less during the past
decade by — well, say 98 per cent. — than in any other line of
business.

HENRY CLEWS.

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE."

THZ following article by Mr. Hugh Black was received some weeks ago
from Kincardine, Ontario. It attaches an entirely neve meaning to the famous
epitaph of Stratford. Mindful of the motto, Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo dis-
crimine agetur — and for the benefit of " Baconians," whose theories have recently
found so able a champion in our contributor, the Hon. Ignatius Donnelly — Mr.
Black's article is here published, with some interesting comments by Mr. Edward
Gordon Clark. It is hardly necessary to restate the fact that the editor of this
REVIEW is not responsible for the opinions of its contributors, nor to add that he
holds himself guiltless of any wish to dethrone the King of Literature.

ALLEN THOBNDIKE RICE.

" FRA BA WRT EAR AY."*

IF Lord Bacon wrote the plays that have come down to us
under the name of Shakespeare, it was his duty to leave to pos-
terity the means of ascertaining the truth. A secret writing such
as Ignatius Donnelly has found in the plays would be one way.
Another way might be an epitaph, containing an inner writing,
placed on Shakespeare's grave. And the key to the cipher might
be made known afterwards. An inscription such as this would
seem well suited to the purpose he would have in view. In this
inscription he might insist that the grave be not disturbed, and
that the stone, with the epitaph on it, be preserved intact. Such
a device would possess the quality of permanency in a high de-
gree. It would keep the secret securely till the time for its reve-
lation should arrive. Taking into account the place and the cir-
cumstances, a statement conveyed in this way would deserve to be
regarded as the most solemn affirmation it was possible for the
writer to make. The purpose of this article is to show that Lord

* Ttis title is Mr Black's.— EDITOR.

BACON1 S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE." 423

Bacon did make such an epitaph. The epitaph, which all stu-
dents of Shakespeare will remember, is as follows :

GOOD TREND FOB JESUS SAKE FOBBEAEE
To DIGG T-E DUST ENCLOASED HE. RE.
BLESE BE T-E MAN -$• SPABES T-Es STONES

CUBST BE HE - MOVES MY BONES.

I have copied it, preserving the distinction of large and small
letters, as I find it in Knight's Edition of Shakspere's Works.
Charles Knight thinks it was not written by Shakespeare. He
says :

4 * It is very remarkable, we think, that this plain freestone does not bear the
name of Shakespere — has nothing to establish the fact that the stone originally
belonged to his grave. We apprehend that during the period that elapsed between
his death and the setting-up of the monument a stone was temporarily placed over
the grave ; and that the warning not to touch the bones was the stone-mason's in-
vention, to secure their reverence till a fitting monument should be prepared, if
the stone were not ready in his yard to serve for any grave. We quite agree with
Mr. De Quincey that this doggerel attributed to Shakespere is ' equally below his
intellect, no less than his scholarship,' and we hold with him that ' as a sort otsiste
viator appeal to future sextons, it is worthy of the grave-digger or the parish
clerk, who was probably its author.'"

On one point at least De Quincey and Charles Knight are cer-
tainly in error. If we take the group of large capital letters near
the end of the first and second lines of the epitaph, and arrange
them in the proper order, we get all the letters of the name
" Shakespeare " except two, enough to establish the fact that the
stone was prepared purposely for his grave. And further, the
epitaph could not have been made by any local poetizer ; for while
there was a great variety of ways of spelling the name in Strat-
ford, in no single instance does the letter E occur in the first
syllable. Neither could Shakespeare himself have been the author,
for a similar reason.

The seeming eccentricities of three of the words of the epitaph
are thus accounted for. But there are other peculiarities, of
spelling and of large and small capitals, that are not explained.
And this brings me to the discovery I have made. It occurred
to me, as the epitaph consists of two kinds of letters only, large
and small, that Lord Bacon's omnia per omnia cipher, described
in the De Augment is, might be the key to the secret. " For this

424

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

cipher is practicable in all things that are capable of two differ-
ences." That the reader may be able intelligently to follow the
explanation, I will now quote from the De Augmentis, published
seven years after Shakespeare's death, the essential part of what
Lord Bacon there says on the subject of ciphers, including the
key to the cipher used in the epitaph.

" There is a new and useful invention to elude the examination of a cipher,
viz., to have two alphabets, the one of significant and the other of non-signiticant
letters; and folding up two writings together, the one conveying the secret, whilst
the other is such as the writer might probably send without danger. In case of a
strict examination about the cipher, the bearer is to produce the non-significant
alphabet for the true, and the true for the non-significant; by which means the
examiner would fall upon the outward writing, and finding it probable, suspect
nothing of the inner.

" But to prevent all suspicion, we shall here annex a cipher of our own, that
we devised at Paris in our youth, and which has the highest perfection of a cipher
— that of signifying omnia per omnia (anything by everything), provided only
the matter included be five times less than that which includes it, without any
other condition or limitation. The invention is this: first, let all the letters of tbe
alphabet be resolved into two only, by repetition and transposition ; for a trans-
position of two letters through five places, or different arrangements, will denote
two and thirty differences, and consequently fewer, or four and twenty, the num-
ber of letters in our alphabet, as in the following example :

A BILITERAL ALPHABET

consisting only of A and B changed through five places, so as to represent all
the letters of the common alphabet.

A = aaaaa
B = aaaab
C = aaaba
D = aaabb
E = aabaa
F = aabab
G = aabba
H = aabbb

I = abaaa
K = abaab
L = ababa
M = ababb
N = abbaa
O = abbab
P = abbba
Q = abbbb

R = baaaa
S — baaab
T = baaba
V = baabb
W = babaa
X = babab
Y = babba
Z = babbb

" Thus, in order to write A, you write five a's or aaaaa,' and to write B, you
write four a's and one 6, or aaaab ; and so of the rest.

" Let there be also at hand two other common alphabets, as for example,
Roman and italic. All the letters of the Roman are read cr deciphered, by trans-
lating them into the letter A only. And all the letters of the Italic alphabet are
to be read by translating them into the letter B only. Now adjust or fit any ex-
ternal double-faced writing, letter by letter, to the internal writing, first made
biliterate ; and afterwards write it down for the letter or epistle to be sent."

It will be observed that Lord Bacon speaks of Roman and
italic letters, but large and small letters will do equally well. I
now repeat the epitaph, placing the letters in twenty-two groups
of five letters each, translating the large capitals into B, and the
small capitals into A. The dash is reckoned a small letter, be-

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE." 495

cause it stands for H. The combination? is reckoned as a sin-
gle large letter, because the T is placed exactly over the Y.

baaab aaaaa aabaa aabbb baaaa
aaaab aaaaa babba aabaa aabaa abbba
baaaa aabab baaba aaaaa babab aaaaa
baaaa aaaaa babaa aaaaa baaaa

Two things will be noticed that give evidence of design : first,
there are no letters left over ; second, the combinations are all
significant, that is, they all stand for letters in Bacon's biliteral
alphabet, although the number of possible combinations is thirty-
two, and the number used in the alphabet only twenty-four. Re-
ferring to the alphabet, the twenty-two groups are found to stand
for the following twenty-two letters :

s

A

E

H

R
E
X

P
A

B
R

A
F

Y

T

E
A

R A W A R

Above and to the right of the line I have drawn are the letters
forming the word " Shaxpeare," spelled this time with an X.
The thirteen letters below and to the left form suggestive parts of
five other words, " Fra Ba wrt ear ay" which, being completed,
read, "Francis Bacon wrote- Shakespeare's Plays." Whilst the
letters are arranged promiscuously, it will be seen that there is
a certain order followed, beginning at the bottom left-hand cor-
ner, and ending at the upper right-hand corner. This seems to
indicate that the word (t Shaxpeare" is to be read last, and is in-
tended as a signature.

It is now clear that this epitaph was written by Bacon ; for a
cipher is used that was devised by him, and this cipher was not
published until long after the plain freestone had been placed
over Shakespeare's grave.

It remains only to indicate what seems to have been Shake-
speare's part in the affair of the epitaph. It is not at all likely
that his family would have allowed such a piece of doggerel to be
placed on his grave if they had not known that it was by his ex-
press command. Nor is it likely that Bacon would have caused
it to be put there if he had not previously obtained Shakespeare's
consent. And the fact that his name occurs in the inner writing,
VOL. CXLV. — sro. 371. 28

426 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

seems to show that the cipher had been explained to him, and
that he had consented to have his name put in it by way of sig-
nature.

The tradition that Shakespeare himself made the epitaph a
little before his death, has probably this much foundation : That
before his death he instructed the stonemason to prepare the
gravestone, gave him the epitaph, and insisted that every letter be
faithfully copied, preserving accurately the distinction between
large and small letters. To help in securing accuracy, he very
likely explained that the large letters near the end of the first two
lines were intended for his own name. In doing so he would have
been acting according to the plan recommended by Bacon in the
first paragraph of my quotation from the De Augmentis. In the
epitaph, then, it would appear that we have the solemn affirma-
tion, not of Bacon only, but of Shakespeare also, that Francis
Bacon was the author of Shakespeare's Plays.

HUGH BLACK.

"BAKOH, SHAXPERE— WE,"

MR. CLARK'S DISCOVERIES.

COMPLYING with the request of the editor of THB NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,
I have very carefully examined the contribution from Mr. Hugh Black, and will
state the results. But they are so unexpected and startling that no one but myself
must be held accountable tor my conclusions.

Mr. Black claims that be has discovered the application of Francis Bacon's
biliteral cipher to William Shakespeare's epitaph. There can be no doubt that Mr.
Black's paper, entitled " Fra Ba Wrt Ear Ay," justifies the claim. Any one who
will look at Bacon's "Advancement of Learning" (the translation in Bohn's
Philosophical Library) will find, from page- 221 to page 225, all the quotations
that Mr. Black has made. Bacon explains also, with perfect precision, the work-
ing of the cipher. Mr. Black has followed his directions implicitly.

The Shakespeare epitaph is correctly reproduced by Mr. Black— every letter,
every point of punctuation. The epitaph is rarely printed in modern editions of
Shakespeare, and is sometimes incorrect even in the editions of Knight. For
instance, in "The Stratford Shakespeare," published by Appleton & Co., 1874
VoL 1, page 159, I find this :

GOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE
TO DIQG T-E DUST ENCLOASED HEARE :

BLESTE BE ^r MAN —• SPARES THESE STONES,

AND CURST BE HE ^ MOVES MY BONES.

But, on appeal to "Snake-speare's Complete Works," Knight's Biographical
volume, page 542 (London : Virtue & Co.), the epitaph is found in print as Mr.
Knight says it was put on the tombstone, and as Mr. Black has transcribed it.

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE." 437

Mr. Black calls attention to the monstrous peculiarities of this piece of
" doggerel," but insists, against Mr. Knight, that it must have been designed for
Shakespeare's grave, and no other. Again, Mr. Black is undoubtedly correct.
He points to the words u SAKE " and "HE .RE." in the first and second lines,
as containing nearly all tLe letters in Shakespeare's name. .But suppose we glance
at "SAKE" in the first line, and then at SPABES, immediately under it in the
third line. Then only H and E are missing from the name, and these two letters
are fairly thrown at the eye from all parts of the epitaph.

S(H)AKE SP(E)ABES, T-Es Stones ; T-E Dust ; T-E Man.— It is an eye pretty
nearly blind that is unable to see a very strange and artful purpose here. But
just in this queer way of saying " Shake-speare," lies Bacon's "non-significant
alphabet," as he termed it, which hides the " true one," yet in itself looks like a
cipher " by which means the examiner would fall upon the outward writing, and,
finding it probable, suspect nothing of the inner." The spurious cipher here— the
one that " gives itself away " as soon as a cipher is thought of at all — and was
undoubtedly meant to do so — is the plain fact that the epitaph is loaded with the
name of Shakespeare, without directly uttering it.

But now let us follow Mr. Black with the " inner," the " true," the " signifi-
cant" cipher. Any one can easily verify him at every step.

I took the epitaph, as Bacon directs, and divided it into segments, so that each
segment was " a combination of five letters." In these segments, I then followed
Mr. Black in reducing the whole epitaph to a and b. a would naturally be used
for all the small letters, and b for the large ones ; as, otherwise, the biliteral alpha-
bet— capable of thirty-two combinations — would give eight possible letters not used
as English signs of sound. Moreover, any one constructing a sentence to hold a
cipher would avoid suspicion by using as few large, or in any way peculiar letters,
as the writing would permit. The first segment of the epitaph is | G-oodF| , or
baaab.

But here I repeat a little of Mr. Black's work, for the reason that I have made
some additions to it. He treats the hyphen which forms the " H " in " T-E " as a
small letter. It is both small and large. Alone, it is small enough, but, in
conjunction with the " T " and the " E," it is certainly a full capital. The result
is this :

S A E H R

baaab aaaaa aabaa aabbb baaaa

BAY E E P

aaaab aaaaa babba aabaa aabaa abbba
bbbba

Q

R F T AX A

baaaa aabab baaba aaaaa babab aaaaa

aabbb bbbab

H Z

R A W A R

baaaa aaaaa babaa aaaaa baaaa

This is Mr. Black's diagram of Bacon's " significants :"

S A EH R

BAYE
HF T A

EP
XA

RAW A R

The extra letters, obtained by reading the Hyphen (with its limits) as a capi-
tal letter, are H Z Q.

428 THE KORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

It should be said that the names of Shakespeare and Bacon would, by
the very nature of the case, be at once anticipated and sought by any one dis-
covering the connection between Bacon's cipher in De Augmentis and Shake-
speare's tombstone. Tt was inevitable, therefore, that Mr. Black should place the
letters of this anagram about as he did, and should read them thus :

FRA BA WRT EAR AY.

SHAXPKAEB.

But it will be found that the assertion, tl Francis Bacon wrote Shake-speare's
Playes," is not derivable from these " significants." That assertion is just now " in
the air," or, rather, it is in the mind of every" Baconian," and it appears to have
taken Mr. Black away from the actual interpretation. Let us stick to Bacon, his
inles and his facts.

It is necessary to mention, at this point, that I find the Shakespeare epi-
taph to consist of a methodical series of anagrams, composed of such '' sig-
nificants" as Mr. Black exhibits in the figure he has drawn. On falling into order,
each of these anagrams gives a brief statement in regard to Francis Bacon, Will-
iam Shakespeare, or both. Toe anagrams are exact, and cannot be made to work
except as the author intended. But they are compressed and abbreviated, and
they are phonetic. No attention is paid to sp'illing. The struggle is to express the
As I read the first one, it stands thus:

FRA BA WRYT EAR. A, A !— SHAXPERK.

" Writ" is an old form of the indicative pass frequently used by Shakespeare,
and I place the two A's as solemn affirmations. The anagram might be read :

FRA BA WRT EAR. AYA !— SHAXPERE.

This would in no wise change the sense ; but that the surplus A's stand for
iteration and exclamation I have reason to judge from what will follow. Re-
membering that we are at work with Lord Bacon— Tits cipher, his key— the
phonetic sentence easily translates itself into this :

FRANCIS BACON WROTE HERE : AYE, AYE !

SHAXPERK.
Of course the sentence might be inverted, to read

SHAXPERS WROTE HERE: AYE, AYE !

FRA BA.

But that would really make no difference ; for another application of the
cipher, as I shall show, affirms that Bacon " obeyed Shaxpere" in " narrating" the
epitaph.

But now let us take the three letters— " significants " they are indeed— which
are derived from reading the hyphens of the epitaph as capitals Two of these let-
ters, Q and Z, depend on reading their " significants " inversely, just as we invert
the effect of the hyphen in finding them. The third letter, H, is simply what the
hyphen forms, in its direct outward use, whether large or small. The three " sig-
nificants" are H. Z. Q., or

His CUE.
So we have :

FRA BA WRYT EAR H Z. Q : A, A ! ,—
FRANCIS BACON WROTE HERE HIS CUE : AYE, AYE !

A subsidiary meaning is undoubtedly this : Ail the letters, H. Z. Q. (his cue),
depend on the hyphen, and just this hyphen is the " cue " by which his cipher

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE." 429

fits the epitaph, and by which his nom de plume " Shake-speare " is related to
Shaxpere.

But let us put all the " significants " together. The whole list is this :

A !— FEA BAQ WBYT HEAH AZ SHAXPERE.
AYE ! FRANCIS BACON "WRIT" HSRS AS SHAXPERE.

The world is certainly indebted to Mr. Hugh Black for a most amazing dis-
covery. Let us look further at the Shakespeare epitaph.

To a scholar, the most ridiculous thing in it— an utter abomination— is the
separation, at the end of the second line, of the word " here " into two parts : thus,
•* HE.RE." Could anything else in all literature be in such bad form as this ? But
in the light of Bacon's cipher, the abbreviated Latin particle, '* Re," instantly sug-
gests the command to return, to go backward, to try again. I so understood it, and
applied the cipher, beginning at the last letter of the epitaph and ending with the
first. It comes out thus :

B
aaaab

A

aaaaa

F

aabab

A

aaaaa

B

aaaab

A

X

A

K

W

B

aaaaa

( babab {
1 babbb \
Z

aaaaa

abaab

( babaa )
\ bbbaa f
H

aaaab

P

E

E

0

A

R

abbba

aabaa

aabaa

j abbab )
\abbbb f

Q

aaaaa

baaaa

B

aaaab

H

bbbaa

E
aabaa

A

aaaaa

S
baaab

The hyphen is again tabulated as both a large and small letter, and the second
combination in the last line must be read backward.

The translation of the cipher in Mr. Black's way gives these letters as Bacon's
significants:

B A F A B

AXAK
P E E O
B HE A

W B
A R

S.

The upper line consists of Francis Bacon's initials ; or, rather, the letters F.
BA, peculiarly repeated by the position of the F. The line may be allowed to stand
by itself awhile.

The next glance shows that the name of SHAXPERE can be eliminated. The
remaining letters below the line form the sounds, BACO, WE, BA. Adding the
letters of the top line, we have, as the whole product, so far:

SHAXPERE, BAKO, WE : F. BA, BA, BA, A.

It is plain that, if the letter N were in the anagram, it would have wonder-
ful significance, containing, as it would, the full names, phonetically at least, of

430 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

both Shakespeare and Bacon. But wait : b and a are the constituents of the
cipher itself. How do they form an N ? Thus— abbaa. Take the superfluous
letters from F. Ba, Ba, Ba, A, and we have just the required abbaa, or N.— leav-
ing F. BA. So the epitaph reads :

BAKON, SHAXPERE,

SHAXPERE, BAKON,

or
WE. WE.

F. BA. F. BA.

If now, the hyphens of the Shake-speare epitaph are used as large, instead of
small, letters,— as b's instead of a's,— we are confronted with the significants H H
ZQ.,or,

H HZ Q— H His CUE.

Once again : Letting the names Shakespere and Bacon stand as they are,
suppose we take all that is left. Then we have :

FBA WE HZQ
Rearranged, the letters are :

F B Q W A Z H E— F. BQ. WAS HE.
Or the meaning of the significants, entire, is this :

SHAXPEBE :

BACON WAS HE.

F. BAQ.

The acute reader will, of course, observe that Bacon's "Re.," in the word
" HE.Re.," has more than one application. The command, or hint, is many-sided,
and appears to have special reference to the position of the particle in the epitaph.
I tried the cipher next, beginning at the period in " HE.Re.," connecting with the
right-hand end of the line above, then keeping on and around back to the period.
This process gives :

R

baaaa
D
bbaaa

A

aaaaa
F
aabab
aabbb
H

bbbba
S
baaab

C

aaaba
B

aaaab

A

aaaaa

D

aaabb

I

obuuci

R AQC AI
D F S B D— or,

FBACS BAQ DID— FRANCIS BACON DID I

Here is a reiteration of the solemn "Aye I" previously found, and which I
said I must regard as coi rect.

But here, too, I have followed Mr. Black, and used the hyphen in " T-E" as a
small letter (a). In my list of significants, liowever, it is included as H (b). It
changes the first result into

FRACS BAQ HIDD. (FRANCIS BACON HID.)

My fourth application of the cipher began, again, with the period in " HE.Re "
—that is, with " E.," going back and around to the stare. These are the biliteral

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYE." 431

combinations and their alphabetic correspondents— omitting, at first, the doubly
counted hyphen.

D R S W D

bbaaa baaaa baaab babaa aaabb

bbbaa
H

C A I Q A B

aaaba aaaaa abaaa abbbb aaaaa aaaab

DRSWD CAIQAB

BAQ RAISD DC. TV.
BACON RAISED DECEASED WILLIAM.

I was puzzled, at first, to know whether Bacon meant he * ' raised " Shakespeare
—say from his young manhood to his theatrical maturity— or whether, as we
should say, he " elevated " William's "standing." I was soon informed; for, on
reducing the first line of the epitaph backward, and the second line forward, to
the cipher and its anagram, there came out of it the words :

BA AIDED, EQUIPPED.

I need not further display the biliteral reductions in detail, as any reader can
obtain them for himself by going carefully over my ground.

I must mention here, to avoid the " smart " criticism of some sweet-minded
wag, that the statement " BAQ RAISD D C W " is not the most direct reduc-
tion, which would be

BAQ RAISED C D (SEEDY) WILLIAM.

But " FraBaq"— that terrific dealer in double meanings, phonetic and other-
has anticipated the charge of such post-mortem levity. The hyphen as a large let-
ter (H)— not used at first in any of my results- has no application, this time,
that I can see, except to drop faintly between D and C, and determine the word
as "deceased."

I must now mention another striking peculiarity of the Shake-speare epitaph,
and state a finding I have made in connection with it. The "£" in each of the
last two lines stands for a large letter in the epitaph as a whole, and counts for b
in the biliteral alphabet. Mr. Black has so used it, and rightly. But Bacon gave
it a double use. *^ is at once a large letter (double size) and four small ones.
Turned on its side the T makes an H ; the foot of it crosses the v-part of the Y,
making A ; and the lower part of the Y, crossed by its base, makes a second
T. The £is thus literally "that" in one large letter. So it can be used as
five biliteral signs— one large letter and four small ones. This gives eight new
counters for the biliteral alphabet— all a's in their several combinations. They
are used with great effect in the last two lines of the epitaph, where they stand in
conjunction with the " Re" of tho second line ; for thus the combinations of five,
constituting the biliteral alphabet, come out even. " Fra Baq" has made good use
of these extras. Now, keeping them in mind, biliteralize the epitaph, beginning at
" Re.," taking the third and fourth lines backward. Then join the end of the third

* See the epitaph. The regular type here does not quite express the matter. —
E. G. C.

432 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

line with the beginning of the fourth, and go to the end of it. The significants of
the third and fourth lines alone are:

RFICAMD
QARRCB A
Those of the fourth line ani its connecting B are :

D A L A A R.

The first anagram delayed and annoyed me greatly. The initials F. B.
were there, and the inevitable "Q." The bunch of R's necessitated some such
word as " robbery" or " bribery," but neither would answer. Finally I eliminated
" F. B." and his " Q. ;" put the letters R A D I C A together, merely because I
was stuck there, and threw down the rest in disgust. These strange " signifi-
cants" suddenly shaped themselves as

M B R A C R,

and the story was told. *' Embracery" is the old legal term for judicial corruption,
and Lord Bacon has come down in history as an ' Embracor." The whole state-
ment is

EMBRACER Q: F. B. RADICAL.

EMBHACER CUE : F. BACON RADICAL.

Bacon was '* radical" enough, in politics, religion, and science. Besides, he in-
stantly corroborates himself. The significants, D A L A A R, already given,
constitute

A LADAR.

The three lines (belonging together, remember) become
MBRACER Q : F BA. RADICA LADAAR.

Bacon gives two reasons in one why he was charged with ''Embracery !"
He was " radical " and a (court) " ladder " (for some one else to climb on). Hence,
in those packed " significants," he makes one " L " do for the end of " radica(l) "
and the beginning of *' (l)adder." The " Embracery " (bribery) cue is that Francis
Bacon was " radical" and a " ladder."

I will give three more reductions from this wonderful epitaph.

Begin with " Re." and read to the end of the lines. The product is :

WBNRAL )pr p
RIALAAR fH'^

Two legitimate readuigs come out of this anagram :

BA WIL NARRA HPR LA (Lays)

and
BA WIL NARRA HR PLA (Plays).

After we get well along in the use of his cipher, Bacon uses "HPR" for
the hyphenated " Shake-speare ;" but at this point he has been giving me informa-
tion in regard to " Shakespeare" in general, whom he explains as a symbol, in
" iambic-idyllic heroics," of Henry of Navarre ; declaring, as I understand him,
that " Henry Laq " (Lackland, I suppose) was produced by order of Elizabeth. To

BACON'S CLAIM AND SHAKESPEARE'S "AYES

433

" narrate " is the old form of saying " to put in story," and " lay" is an obsolescent
word for almost anything in the way of metrical composition. I am not sure but
even the Shakespeare sonnets are filled with some cipher ; but I think Bacon means
that he will inject a story into the Henry Plays. The most direct possible phonet-
ics generally express him. Here the double sound may declare a double signifi-
cance. I can tell later. But, relying on my Lord Bacon himself, I am perfectly
confident that the forthcoming work of Ignatius Donnelly is anything but a hoax.
If Bacon's biliteral alphabet, according to the explanations I have now made,
be applied to the whole Shakespeare epitaph, counting the period in *' HE . Re"
as a small letter, the result is

BA WlL NARRA AL SHAPERE HEAR BY Q

OR

BA WlL NARRA AL SHAQPERE HEAR. —
BACON WILL NARRATE ALL SHAKESPEARE HERE.

44 Fra Baq " has already told me about " Shaqpere," in pronouncing upon his
origin and the derivation of his name. But my space is limited.

I must explain one thing more, however. Mr. Black reminds us that Shake-
speare's epitaph has always been called " doggerel." It is such. But that is in
what Bacon would call the " non-significant " aspect. In the inner, the " signifi-
cant " aspect, I suspect it will turn out to be the most marvelous stanza of writing
ever composed on earth. Nothing is in it without a purpose. In putting on the
whole pressure of his cipher, Bacon finally u?es even the period at the end of
44 Re(.) " as well as the one in " HE(.)Re." This connects the whole epitaph into
such a number of combinations (five*) that the first two lines can be used with the
second two when the £'s are counted as five letters each.* Fit the cipher to the
four lines connected in this way, and what was probably intended for tue conclud-
ing anagram of the Epitaph is this :

S
baaab

A
aaaaa

E
aabaa

1
abaaa

A

aaaaa
Y

babba
bbbba
Q
B
aaaab

A

aaaaa

E
aabaa

E
aabaa

H A

aabbb baaaa

E
aabaa

B

aaaab

O

abbab

N R

A

abbaa baaaa

aaaaa

bbbaa

H

L A

A

ababa aaaaa

aaaaa

SAEHAB

AYEEOQ

EBNRAL

HRIALAARP.

L
ababa

R

baaaa

R
baaaa

P

abbto

SHAQ PERE ALL NARA HERE: A 1 I OBAY.

BA.

JACQUES PIERRE is ALL NARRATED HERE : AYE !
I OBEY (HIS WISHES) .

BACON.

* He also uses the period at the end of the last line, and with marvelous results.—
E. G. U.

434 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

As these comments on Mr. Hugh Black's wonderful discovery will be apt to
bring a little thunder and lightning about my own head, I must be pardoned for
saying that I have never been a " Baconian," nor do I care much who wrote the
Shakespeare plays. Not that I am indifferent to justice of any kind — even musty
and moldy historic justice. But I have in hand what, to me, are moral and
practical interests of so much greater moment, that I had taken but little interest
in the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy until Mr. Black's paper was put into my
hands, that I might deal with it professionally, as an impartial literary expert. I
have taken out of the Shakespeare epitaph what I have found in it ; and have
ascertained that Francis Bacon fitted that epitaph to his u Omniaper Omnia
Cipher." No head on the globe, that holds any conception of cause and effect, can
long doubt Mr. Black's claim in that regard. There is no use of talking about
" happy coincidences," or stopping to consider any other like nonsense. The geo-
logic epoch of the earth, to say nothing of the historic epoch, is not long enough to
produce tv~o such " coincidences" as we find here by the score. In this piece of
accidental work I have already gathered so much material that I am tempted
to announce, for the immediate future, '' The Anagrammatic Biography of Will-
iam Shak«»pere : By Francis Bacon." It has lain unpublished some two hundred
and seventy yoars. But there is no great difficulty in bringing it out.

EDWARD GORDON CLARK.

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY.

SOME years ago when visiting England, it was my good for-
tune to induce the greatest living Englishman to write for this
REVIEW the now famous paper "Kin Beyond Sea." In this
essay Mr. Gladstone expressed the opinion that the time was not
far distant when America would wrest from England her com-
mercial primacy, and that Englishmen would have no more title
to murmur than had Holland, or Venice, or Genoa.

This prediction at the time challenged severe criticism and
even vehement personal denunciation in England, but in this
country it only emphasized the far-reaching foresight which has
so strongly marked the utterances of this illustrious statesman.

In view of the recent Victorian Jubilee a rapid glance at
half a century of national advancement in the United States as
contrasted with that of Great Britain will be instructive and per-
haps to some readers surprising. It is far from my present pur-
pose to belittle the wonderful work done in England throughout
the reign of Queen Victoria, which in material advancement has
made Englishmen prosperous beyond precedent, and in govern-
ment has gone far to recognize the essential right of public opin-
ion and to demonstrate the weakness of old-world despotism. My
object is merely to review in outline the achievements of a people
dedicated to the great experiment of American democracy as
compared with the advancement recorded during half a century
by the most enlightened and most liberally governed of trans-
atlantic countries.

It should be borne in mind that the last fifty years in this
country have been full of peculiar dangers and difficulties. Our
embarrassments have been those of a young man starting in
the world without capital or credit. The spell of progress was
upon us from the first, yet our stock in trade was insignificant

436 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

when compared with the wealth and credit of England in the
plenitude of her commercial prosperity. But the nobility of in-
dustry and commerce was early recognized in this country. The
true religion of American democracy prevailed — labor are est orare.
The migration of nations peopled states, vast as old empires.
The enfranchised genius of the "plain people" bore us through
all the tribulations of new governments. It sustained the nation
through the deadliest war of modern times, and has built up,
within the memory of tens of thousands of living men, the most
colossal power the world ever saw.

The rapid development of American wealth and institutions
seems to have brought with it a marked change in the American
national character. This change was wrought by our civil
war. The ante-bellum traits of daring youth, doubt, and con-
sequent boastfulness, have yielded to the more tempered traits of
maturity. Four years of Titanic struggle and of sorrow that
cast a shadow over every home in the land, sobered the nation
North and South. British tourists of a generation ago never
failed to point out, and generally to exaggerate, the American
trait that Emerson described as "the peacock in our national
character." It has been taken for granted by most observing
Americans that this peacock was one of the victims of
the war. But, strangely enough, recent British literature
compels one to doubt whether our peacock was correctly
numbered among the dead — whether it ought not to
have been classed among the "missing." For it seems to have
crossed the Atlantic, to have foresworn its allegiance to America
to become a truly loyal British subject. John Bull has common-
ly been regarded as a personage too proud to be vain, but the
English Jubilee reviewers have seemed disposed to mark the
Jubilee year by a display of self-complacency which puts into
the shade our old-time Fourth of July orators in the palmiest
days of their spread-eagle rhetoric. If this is an illustration of
the much dreaded "Americanization of England," it is to be hoped
that she will not assume the cast-off follies and frailties of our
national adolescence. Great as has been the progress of the United
Kingdom during the Victorian Era, we cannot on this side of the
Atlantic admit that John Bull is, so to speak, the Kit Carson of
advancing civilization.

Although it is true now, and a century hence will be still

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 437

more widely true, that " Europe, not England, is the mother
country of America/' yet the fact remains that Americans, as a
class, whatever their race-origin, feel, and will continue to feel, a
closer sense of relationship to the people that founded our earlier
settlements, and from whom we inherited our language, a large
portion of our literature, and the crude framework of our political
institutions, than they feel toward any other nation of the old
world, ancient or modern. And while we can rejoice, and do re-
joice, in this marvelous growth during the last half century of the
United Kingdom, yet there is no disposition, in America, to admit
that, in any element of national prosperity, we have any cause to
shrink from a comparison.

To show that this feeling is founded on no vain-glorious
assumption or presumption, let us compare briefly by the light of
accessible data * the relative progress of the United Kingdom and
the United States during a period of fifty years.

The increase of population is one of the surest tests of national
prosperity, as well as the best guarantee for its perpetuity.

In fifty years the population of the United Kingdom has in-
creased at the rate of 42 per cent.; from 26,000,000 in 1837 to
37,000,000 in 1887. During fifty years the population of the
United States nearly quadrupled — a ten times greater increase.
In 1830 it was 12,866,020 ; in 1880 it was 50,155,783.

English writers assign, as one cause of the less rapid growth
of the United Kingdom, the loss of not quite 24,000 men in the
Crimean War and of 95,000 persons by cholera. But the natural
increase of the population of the United States was far more seri-
ously checked by wars and disease ; for during our Civil War, the
North alone lost 279,376 men killed in battle, and 29,725 who
died in Confederate prisons. The Confederates lost, according to

* Desiring to avoid the uncertainty of estimates and to rely as far as possible
upon official statistics, I have been forced in some instances to compute the fifty
years contrasted with the Victorian Era as the period between 1830 and 1880.
This method of computation decidedly favors the United Kingdom and compels
the omission of comparisons more telling and more favorable to the United States
than any here given. In some few cases, as, for example, in referring to the
increase of post-offices, my deduction from comparisons has followed the same
course of reasoning as the Victorian Jubilee writers have generally adopted,
although such a course of reasoning may, in these few instances, be open to objec-
tions. It should also be borne in mind that American statisticians fall short, in
many cases, of the elaborate computations of foreign statisticians, and this is
especially true of the earlier years referred to in this article.

438 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

one partial statement, self -evidently not complete, and admitted
to be an under-estimate, 133,821 killed in battle. There is no
record of naval losses on both, sides available ; but it is certain
that America did not lose fewer -than half a million of men dur-
ing the war, and it is believed by expert statisticians that the
united losses were nearly a million of men, who perished directly
or indirectly, from wounds and disease, during the war, or in
consequence of it. Immigration also decreased greatly during
the continuance of our Civil War. During our Mexican War,
we lost over 4,000 men ; and yellow fever, in our Southern States,
and cholera throughout the country, have far exceeded in mortal-
ity all the ravages of epidemics in the United Kingdom.

Fifty years ago, our leading cities of to-day were either not in
existence or were small towns and villages, while the City of New
York at the last census — not to speak of the extraordinary in-
crease since the last National census of 1880 — had a population
of 1,206,299, Philadelphia of 847,170, Brooklyn of 566,663,
Chicago of 503,185, Boston of 362,839, and St. Louis of 350,518.
No English city, except Sheffield, has increased at a greater rate
than 138 per cent, — London at the rate of 108 per cent, only, —
and yet the increase of English towns, as a whole, has been three
times more rapid than that of the population.

. Eecent statistics show, also, that the rate of increase in the
United Kingdom is steadily declining.

This fact is attributed to emigration ; but emigration is only
another form and anotner proof of a decline in national prosperity.
For people never leave their native country in large numbers,
unless they are driven away by necessity and are tolerably certain
of bettering their condition in exile.

The influx of immigration is also a sure sign of national pros-
perity. For the vast majority of immigrants are induced to
emigrate by reason of letters from the country to which they go
attesting its prosperity.

The United Kingdom has lost over nine millions of souls by
emigration during the Victorian Era. Of these British subjects
who preferred the chance of prosperity in exile to the certainty
of poverty at home, 4,186,000 were Irish, 4,045,000 were English,
and 870,000 were Scotch. The number of foreigners who settle
in Great Britain has averaged about ten thousand yearly for the
last decade, " Of whom," a high English authority says, "a

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 439

strong feeling of jealousy has sprung up. This is most unjust
and impolitic, since no country is more indebted than England to
foreign settlers and refugees for the development of her indus-
tries." True ; and English historians have not failed to eulogize
England as a land of refuge for the oppressed, nor to show how her
hospitality has been richly repaid by the introduction of indus-
tries of which at one time the native countries of these exiles
enjoyed a monopoly. Yet these writers fail to perceive that Eng-
lish Government has driven nine millions of the people of the
United Kingdom to other countries, mostly to the United States
(700 persons, chiefly adults, leave England every day), in order to
enjoy greater liberty, as well as to share in our general prosperity,
of which the chief cause is our system of government.

Only four per cent, of the population of the United Kingdom
are foreign born.

The statistics of emigration for the United States show that
during the Victorian Era no less than 13,448,657 emigrants
arrived in the United States, of whom 4,698,098 were from Great
Britain and Ireland, and 8,746,921 from the continent of Europe.
The lowest number was 8,385 ; the highest— (in 1857)— was 298,-
967. This is a practical, international and incontrovertible ver-
dict on the prosperity of the United States that no patriotic
sophistry can set aside. For this vast emigration was wholly vol-
untary.

But the quality of a country's population is as important as
its number. An educated and intelligent people is one of the
best proofs of national prosperity and a demonstration of the ex-
cellence of its government. The education of the English people
has made great progress during the Victorian Era. " The increase
of school children recently — since 1875 — has been seventy per
cent., or seven times faster than that of population." Yet this at-
tendance is fifty per cent, less than the school accommodations.

Millions of the working classes of the United Kingdom are so
poor that they cannot take advantage of the educational oppor-
tunities provided for them. The percentage of adults who can
write is 82 in the United Kingdom, against 90 in the United
States, and it should be borne in mind that an overwhelming pro-
portion of our percentage of adult illiterates is of foreign birth,
or was born in slavery, and, therefore, had no chance of enjoying
the advantages of our educational institutions. The number of

440 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

school teachers in the United Kingdom is 89,477 ; in the United
States 272,686. The United Kingdom, with a population of 37
millions, had four million of school children. The United States,
with a population of 50 millions, had five and a half million
school children.

It is claimed that the number of post-offices is an indirect test of
the increase of intelligence. In 1837 there were less than 12,000
post-offices in the United States. There are now about 54,000.

: The sale of periodicals is perhaps a better test. In 1850 there
were 2,526 periodicals published in the United States. There are
now nearly 15,000, and in thirty years (from 1850 to 1880) their
united circulation has increased from 5,142 millions to 31,177
millions. There are no equivalent statistics of the United King-
dom at present available, but it is claimed that the amount of
money spent to-day in that country is nine shillings per head on
both books and newspapers, as against two shillings in 1840.
These figures show that we are far ahead of the United Kingdom
in our "patronage" of current literature. In 1886 we spent
$50,800,000 in the purchase of periodicals alone, or about five-
eighths of the amount, per capita, expended in the United Kingdom,
both in books and periodicals ; and this does not include what we
paid for English periodicals, which are very largely circulated in
this country.

The United Kingdom has increased enormously in wealth
during the Victorian fifty years— from 120,500,000,000 to $46,-
050,000,000, or at the rate of 124 per cent — three times greater
than the rate of increase of the population.

The chief items of the wealth thus estimated are railways,
houses, furniture, cattle, etc., shipping, merchandise, bullion,
and "sundries."

In 1840 there were 840 miles of railway in the United King-
dom ; in 1837 there were 1,500 miles in the United States; to-
day there are in the United Kingdom, 19,170 miles; in the
United States, 136,195 miles. All of Europe has but 123,526
miles.

There was no authentic report of the total investments in
railroads in the United States until quite recently ; but to-day
the investment in railroads in the United Kingdom is $4,080,000,-
000— in the United States $8,339,285,842— much more than
double, to our credit.

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 441

American official statistics do not furnish authentic figures to
make a contrast in the relative increase in houses, except on
farms, the total value of which, in the United States, in 1880,
was $9,000,000,000,— only three billions of dollars less than the
entire value of all the houses, rural and city, in the United King-
dom. This single fact shows that the amount invested in the
United States in buildings in city and country far exceeds the
amount similarly invested in the United Kingdom.

I find no specific computation of the value of furniture in
America ; but, assuming, as British statistical experts assume,
that the value of furniture, on a large average, is about fifty per
cent, of the value of the houses, the value of the furniture in our
rural buildings alone is $5,000,000,000, while the value of the
furniture in every house in the United Kingdom is only $6,600,-
000,000. It is a very moderate deduction from these figures to
estimate the value of furniture in the United States at double
that of the United Kingdom.

The value of lands in the United Kingdom has fallen, since
1870, $2,150,000,000, and, to use a common market report phrase,
"it still has a downward tendency." The value of land in the
United States, in every State in the Union, has risen during the
same period, and during that time several great and flourishing
States were organized, including the entire Pacific Slope. Amer-
ica created, peopled, and covered with great cities, railways,
and vineyards the prosperous State of California, while the
United Kingdom, according to a high English authority, was
devoting her energies to the erection of a tawdry House of Par-
liament.

The value of all the cattle and farm implements in the United
Kingdom is $2,000,000,000. There are no statistics available of
the value of farm implements in the United States ; but we kill,
in the slaughter-houses of the Northwest alone, every year, cattle
whose value is about one-sixth of that amount, or over $300,-
000,000. Our live cattle on farms were valued, in the census ol
1880, at $1,500,384,707.

Shipping in the United Kingdom has multiplied sixfold in
value. In 1840, the average tonnage cost £10 ; in some of the
great transatlantic steamers it now averages £40 a ton.

At the outbreak of our Civil War the United States led all the
world in the amount of its steam tonnage; but, since that period,
VOL. CXLV.— NO. 371. 29

442 THE NOETH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the United Kingdom has taken the lead. She owes the present
prosperity of her shipping interests less to her own enterprise
than to the misfortunes of her former rivals.

Our domestic shipping on the rivers and great lakes shows no
decrease ; but has steadily increased, and is now more prosperous
than at any previous period of our history, notwithstanding the
enormous competition of the railroads at all points as common
carriers.

The value of merchandise (the term meaning commercial
articles within the country) is fixed by British statisticians at the
amount of six months exports and imports.

This item in the United Kingdom was, in 1840, $350,000,000 ;
and, in 1886, $1,605,000,000.

The same reasoning would show the merchandise in the
United States to have been $121,000,000 (in 1837) and $720,000,-
000 in 1886. But a comparison, under this rule of computation,
while showing a five-fold increase by the United Kingdom and a
six-fold increase by the United States, is unfair to us ; for we are
daily increasing the consumption of our own products, the values
of which (although properly falling under the head of merchan-
dise) do not appear in the tables of our exports and impo'rts.
The United Kingdom, on the other .hand, depends for food,
clothing, and the -other necessaries of life largely upon foreign
countries, and such articles, therefore, enormously swell its bulk
of imports. Thus, in 1880, the United States manufactured
flour to the value of more than $500,000,000, fully two-thirds of
which was consumed at home. Although this should be com-
puted with the articles comprising merchandise, yet it has no
showing in the figures of the imports and exports of the United
-States ; and the same may be said of cattle which, being
slaughtered, became merchandise to the value, in 1880, of $303,-
'000,000, so that a fair comparison between the merchandise of
the two countries would show not only a greater increase by the
United States but a vastly greater sum total.

The bullion in a country is one of the items, — not generally
'unappreciated, — of her wealth. The United Kingdom valued
her possessions of this article at $305,000,000 in 1840, and at
;f71~5,000,000 in 1887. I know of no trustworthy estimate of
the bullion in the United States, but during the last forty
.years we have produced, from our mines, gold and silver to

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 443

the value of $2,393,000,000, and the vast unmined supply is un-
ealculable.

Loans to foreign countries constitute the bulk of the items of
"sundries" in the estimated wealth of the United Kingdom.
These "sundries" were estimated, in 1840, at $3,650,000,000, and
in 1882 at $9,070,000,000. More than $4,000,000,000 of this
sum is in "foreign loans," — such as the Egyptian and Turkish
loans, — and $2,160,000,000 in Colonial loans. It may well be
questioned whether these loans to foreign countries are in reality
wealth. Certainly the Turkish and Egyptian will be utterly
valueless if ever the United Kingdom ceases to have the power
to extort the payment of the interest on them.

We are embarrassed by no such present or possible complica-
tions.

But the accumulation of wealth is not the only nor chief
measure of progress. The increase of manufactures, of " steam-
power and energy," of the food supply, and of banking — the ad-
vance in science, in agriculture, and in the production of
machinery and metals — the improvements of methods of instruc-
tion, and facilities of inter-communication between the various
parts of the country — these are factors of national prosperity far
more important than the mere heaping up of the precious metals.

The value of manufactures in the United Kingdom has treb-
led during the Victorian Era, but between 1850 and 1880 the
manufactures in the United States increased at least fivefold, alike
in the value of products, of capital invested, and of wages paid.

Before 1850, there were no trustworthy statistics of manufact-
ures in the United States, and it is therefore impossible to illus-
trate the comparative growth during the different decades.

Two of the principal textile manufactures of the United
Kingdom during the Victorian Era were cotton and wool. In
1841 the annual value of woolen manufactures in the United
Kingdom was $140,000,000 ; in 1885 it was $210,000,000. In the
United States in 1850 it was $39,000,000 ; in 1880, $267,000,000.
The. cotton industry in the United Kingdom in 1840 was $200,000,-
000, and in 1885 it was $440,000,000. In the United States in
1860 it was $107,337,783, and in 1880 it was $211,000,000.
Thus, in these two items alone, while the sums total of both
industries do not equal the production of the United Kingdom,
the percentage of increase is vastly greater.

444 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Among the industries of the United States, which have com-
paratively no existence in the United Kingdom, are flouring,
which has risen from $136,000,000 (in 1850) to $505,000,000 (1880) ;
slaughtering and meat packing, which has risen from nil to $303,-
000,000 ; and the manufacture of tobacco, which has risen from
$13,000,000 (in 1850) to $117,000,000 (in 1880).

Distilleries and breweries are among the most flourishing in-
dustries of both the United Kingdom and the United States ; the
production, in both instances, being almost wholly consumed at
home. In 1840 the United Kingdom consumed 646,000,000 gal-
lons of malt liquors, and in 1885 991,000,000 gallons. The
United States in 1840 consumed 23,000,000 gallons, and in 1886
614,500,000 gallons. The United Kingdom in 1840 produced
16,500,000 gallons of distilled liquors, against 30,000,000 gallons
in 1885 ; the United States produced 43,000,000 gallons in 1840,
and 76,000,000 gallons in 1886. From an ethical point of view
these figures may not seem very flattering to us ; but as a test of
the general diffusion of wealth and increase of manufactures they
are important. A comparison of miscellaneous manufactures of
the two countries shows similarly a result in favor of the United
States.

Coal and iron are the only minerals of note in the United.
Kingdom. The United Kingdom produces annually 60,000,000
more tons of coal than the United States ; but if in the coal yield
of the United States be included petroleum and natural gas, our
production will at least equal and probably surpass that of the
United Kingdom. Another important fact to be noted is that
the mineral wealth of the United Kingdom is decreasing at a
most alarming ratio, whereas the United States has, unmined,
mineral treasures that have been calculated to be able to supply
its present and prospective population for several centuries to
come.

There is hardly any mineral which is not found in some part
of the vast territory of the United States. Of the precious
metals, we have produced — since the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia, in 1848, and of silver, in 1859— up to 1885, $2,393,046,-
471. The United Kingdom has no offset against this produc-
tion.

" The production of iron in the United States and in other
countries," says an eminent British authority, " has had such ex-

*

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 445

traordinary development in recent years that there has been a
general outcry, in the United Kingdom, that the best days of the
British iron industry have passed." In 1840 the United King-
dom produced 1,450,000 tons of iron, and in 1884, 7,530,000 tons
— a fivefold increase. In 1840 the United States produced 360,-
000 tons ; in 1884, 4,090,000— an elevenfold increase. Still
greater was our proportional increase in the steel industry, be-
tween 1870 and 1884. The United Kingdom, in 1870, produced
245,000 tons of steel, and in 1884, 1,780,000 — a sevenfold in-
crease. In 1870 the United States produced 64,000 tons of steel,
and in 1884, 1,540,000 tons — a twenty-fourfold increase.

The growth of steam-power, and the invention and improve-
ment of machinery, have greatly accelerated the development of
manufactures. The United States surpasses the United Kingdom
in the proportion of "energy" to population, by an average of
fifty foot-tons per inhabitant daily. The ratio of work done by
hand in the United States is only 4.5, as against 4.7 in the United
Kingdom.

The United Kingdom has 140 joint stock banks, with an
aggregate paid-up capital and reserve of $500,000,000. The
United States in 1882 had 2,308 national banks, with a capital of
$485,000,000; 4,473 State and private banks, with a capital of
$229,000,000. The savings banks in the United Kingdom in 1886
had on deposit $490,000,000; the savings banks in the United
States, $994,000,000.

The English banks discounted, in 1885, $1,200,000,000. The
Scotch, Irish, and other banks discounted in the same year $600,-
000,000. The amount of discounts of the banks in the United
States is not obtainable, but the Clearing House, in New York
City, cleared, in 1886, from only sixty-three banks, $33,374,682,-
216, and the loans of the national banks were, on October 7th,
1886, $1,450,000,000.

The large amount of business done by the British Government
through the Bank of England, swells the aggregate of the bank-
ing business of the United Kingdom, while the corresponding
business done by the United States is not represented in our
bank returns. And if the marvelous financial ability which
supplied the United States Treasury with money during the late
war, and has since so largely reduced the principal and rate of
interest of the national debt, be considered, then, in the extent

446 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of banking and in the exhibition of financial genius, we surpass
the world.

The vast expenses of our Civil War (about $7,000,000,000) pre-
vent any just comparison between the normal public expenditures
of the two countries during the period of fifty years. The na-
tional expenditure of the United Kingdom shows a steady in-
crease ; that of the United States varies from year to year, our
largest annual expenditure being in 1865, when it reached the
enormous sum of $1,295,000,000.

The expenditures for the army, navy, and government gener-
ally, of the United Kingdom have risen from $1.75 to $3.75 per
inhabitant, and this is exclusive of the expense of the Royal Irish
Constabulary. The military expenditure of the United States
was in 1865 for the army, $1,030,000,000; for the navy, $122,-
000,000. In 1886 the expenditure for the army was $34,000,000,
and for the navy $14,000,000 — a decrease unparalleled in the
history of any civilized nation.

A national debt is a national evil. The United Kingdom has
made small progress in reducing the amount of her debt as com-
pared with the United States. In 1837 the national debt of the
United Kingdom was $3,980,000,000, in 1886 it was $3,710,000,-
000. In 1865 the national debt of the United States was $2,885,-
000,000. On January 1st, 1887, it had been reduced to $1,714,-
000,000, and the rate of interest has been greatly lowered. The
credit of the United States to-day is second to that of no other
country.

It would seem almost absurd to contrast the agriculture of the
two countries. The Chicago tourist who complained that the
want of elbow room in England was so great that he did not dare
to take a morning walk because he could not swim, and was
" afraid of falling into the sea," explains — in a perhaps some-
what exaggerated form of statement — the difference between the
United States and the United Kingdom. The production of
wheat in the United Kingdom has fallen from 110,000,000 bushels
(in 1851) to 76,000,000 bushels (in 1885). In the United States
it has increased from 100, 000, 000 bushels (in 1850) to 459, 000,000
bushels in 1880. The production of the other cereals shows a
proportionate decrease in the United Kingdom, and a proportion-
ate increase in the United States. With rising rents and falling
markets in the United Kingdom, her tenant farmers have found

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 447

little cause to rejoice at her progress during the Victorian Era.
For more than one-half of her food supplies the United King-
dom has to depend on foreign countries. If it were ever possible
for an enemy to blockade the pores of the United Kingdom, even
no more efficiently than our Southern ports were blockaded dur-
ing the war, Great Britain would be starved into surrender, in
less than a year.

The United States has contributed to the world's progress
more than any other nation in the wonderful variety of her inven-
tions. It was American enterprise that first proved the practica-
bility of steam navigation across the oceans of the globe ; and that
too, within a few years after the then most eminent scientist of
England had publicly declared his readiness to eat the first
steamer that crossed the Atlantic. The American steamer
Savannah first crossed the Atlantic, from New York, in 1819.

In 1835 Morse set up his experimental line of telegraph ; and,
in 1837, was petitioning Congress for aid — having previously
demonstrated the practicability of his great invention.

Americans invented electric light, electric motors, the sewing-
machine, the palace and sleeping car, the revolver, the machine
gun, the monitor, the screw propeller, the steam fire-engine, the
air-brake, elevators, the harvester and reaper, the type-writer,
rubber goods and innumerable other lesser contrivances to substi-
tute mechanical for human labor, and to contribute to the com-
fort and civilization of humanity. Americans developed the print-
ing press, armored vessels, the friction match, the locomotive, the
steam engine, and the horse-car, district telegraph and messenger
systems. The first ocean cable was laid by the pluck and enter-
prise of an American.

The care of the sick and wounded has been brought to greater
perfection in the United States than in any other country, while
the ambulance system originated with us. The pain of surgical
operations has been obliterated by the use of anaesthesia, nitrous-
oxide gas being first administered as an anaesthetic by Colton, in
1844 ; while Long performed a surgical operation upon a patient
under the influence of sulphuric ether, in 1842 — five years before
Simpson of Edinburgh utilized the most dangerous of all anaes-
thetics, chloroform. American enterprise has created new indus-
tries, of which the vast petroleum trade and the utilization of elec-
tricity are illustrations.

448 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

United States explorers have crossed equatorial Africa and
have not been surpassed by other nations in their daring at-
tempts to reach the utmost confines of the earth. Japan was
opened to the world by an American commodore — without a
hostile shot being fired, or a drop of blood shed — greatly to
the advantage of her people, as well as to the commerce of all
nations. The United Kingdom opened China to the world, but
she not only employed military force, but compelled the Chinese
to permit the introduction of a drug which has proved the
greatest curse of her people. Wong Chin Foo, a man of great
ability and education of the Mandarin class, thus expressed
in the NORTH AMERICAN KEVIEW for August the general
Chinese opinion of the United Kingdom : " When the Eng-
lish wanted the Chinamen's gold and trade, they said they wanted
'to open China for their missionaries/ And opium was the
chief, in fact1 only, missionary they looked after, when they forced
the ports open. And this infamous Christian introduction among
Chinamen has done more injury — social and moral — in China
than all the humanitarian agencies of Christianity could remedy
in two hundred years. On you, Christians, and your greed of
gold, we lay the burden of the crime resulting — of tens of millions
of honest, useful men and women sent thereby to premature
death after a short, miserable life — besides the physical and
moral prostration it entails even where it does not prematurely
kill. And you wonder why we are heathen."

The United States is not only at peace with all the world, but
she has the good will of all nations — savage and civilized — with
whom she has dealings. In its dealings with conquered people,
England's policy has made her enemies ; whereas the only un-
civilized race (the North American Indians) whom the United
States has ever subjugated, is protected, pensioned and educated
at our expense ; and Mr. Jefferson Davis — who is not regarded
as a fanatical enthusiast of Federal action — has recently shown,
that whatever failures may have marked its dealings with In-
dians, it has always been the intention of the Government of the
United States to deal justly with them. No revolutionist ever paid
a similar tribute to the policy in Hindoostan of the Government
of the United Kingdom. The American Indian has never been
blown from the mouths of cannon.

In literature, the United States has made advances that re-

THE RACE FOR PRIMACY. 449

dound to its credit. It can no longer be asked, as Sydney Smith
asked, " Who reads an American book ?" Although the trained
intellect of America, owing to the necessity created by our un-
paralleled increase of population, has been chiefly directed to ma-
terial enterprises — the creation of great states rather than great
books. Yet, to-day, the United States need make no apology for
her authors and poets as contrasted with the authors and poets
of the United Kingdom. American literature, which was in its
infancy at the beginning of the Victorian Era, has risen to the
front rank ; and, to-day, our books, reviews, and other periodi-
cals circulate all over the world. In magazine literature, and in
the arts of typography and illustration, we are far ahead of the
United Kingdom, and the enterprise of our journals is unpar-
alleled by any nation.

In the science of government the United Kingdom has no
title to exult. Seven centuries have passed since she overran and
annexed Ireland, and yet the Irish of to-day hate the United
Kingdom as much as did their fathers who followed the stand-
ard of Brian Boru. British statesmen and writers have hitherto
excused their failures to conciliate Ireland by attributing them to
the incorrigible character of the Celtic race. But the same peo-
ple whom she practically drove into exile by the million—
the most ignorant and poorest of her population — have been
absorbed into the American nationality, and are not surpassed
in their loyalty by the descendants of the men of the May-
flower.

Hardly one generation has passed since we ended the bloodiest
and fiercest war of modern history, waged against the United
States by an educated and courageous people, led by statesmen of
distinguished ability and by generals of the highest skill and
genius. Yet, to-day, if a foreign war were threatened, so
generously was the defeated party treated, that every survivor
among the generals who followed Lee, would instantly offer his
services to the army of the United States, whose General is a
Catholic and the descendant of an Irish Catholic exile. We have
shown to the world, and especially to the United Kingdom, that the
wisest and safest policy of converting enemies into friends is to
treat them with kindness and justice. If the United States had
deal with the South as the United Kingdom dealt with the Sepoys
and the Irish, the Southern people would have remained in sullen

450 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

rebellion to the present hour, waiting, as the Irish wait, to make
their conqueror's difficulty their opportunity.

In one respect the United Kingdom can make a longer record
than the United States. We have not passed as many Reform
bills as England has passed during the Victorian Era. But
this is perhaps because there has been less need of them. The
most important efforts towards reform which the United King-
dom has claimed as characteristic of the Victorian Era, were
either, when passed in England, already on the statute books of
the United States, or a timid approximation to the existing more
liberal American legislation, as for example the extensions of the
franchise under Earl Gray and Disraeli.

Yet with all these facts before him, no American can turn
without wonder and admiration from the once savage outlying
Roman province to the highly civilized little island that now rules
one-seventh of the human race, on whose empire the sun never
sets, and " whose morning drum-beat/' in the words of Daniel
Webster, "following the sun, and keeping company with the
hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain
of the martial airs of England."

ALLEN THOENDIKE RICE.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

i.

ELECTORAL REFORM.

WHEN a great and educated people, who can justly boast of scores of thor-
oughly equipped statesmen— orators of unequaled power, legislators of experience
and sagacity — deliberately nominate and elect, through the machinery of their two
chief parties, the one Hayes, and the other Cleveland, it is surely time to cry
Halt ! and to examine into the causes of such ridiculous results. One need not go
far to find them. They are the work of petty intriguers who have obtained con-
trol of the political machinery of both parties ; and, by " manipulating " pri-
maries and bribing or overawing voters, and by secret and corrupt " trades "
and " combines," have gained the power, under our existing system, of defy-
ing, falsifying, and otherwise perverting the will of the people. These
evils can only be eradicated by a law that shall provide for absolute secrecy
of voting, and, at the same time, secure the nomination of honest and able
candidates without the intervention and even in defiance of the desires of the
"practical politicians," who now "control" the primaries and nominating
conventions and "manage" the elections. Our system of voting is nominally
secret ; but, practically, it is open. It is easy to discover how any man votes.
Working men complain of the dictation of capitalists to their employe's, and cap-
italists complain of the dictation of trades unions to the members of their societies,
often, as they claim, to the serious injury of business and private interests.

A project of law, ingeniously adapting what is known as the Australian sys-
tem to our American institutions, drawn by Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice, recently
published, has attracted great attention and elicited wide discussion. It has also
entered into the sphere of practical politics by its unanimous adoption by the
Committee on Resolutions at the recent Syracuse Convention of the United Labor
Party, by which it will be made a prominent issue in the pending State campaign.
The delegates to that convention were enthusiastically in favor of it, and Mr.
George, the leader of the party, has taken occasion, since the convention, to advo-
cate it with great earnestness. The Republican State Convention has also, since
the discussion of this bill, made a similar issue. As the bill completely provides for
the eradication of existing defects in our system of nominating and voting, I ask
the privilege of putting it on permanent record in the pages of THE NORTH AMER-
ICAN REVIEW. The Resolution as adopted at Syracuse was in these words :

Resolved, That we earnestly recommend the adoption of what is known as tha
Australian system of elections, by which absolute secrecy of voting is secured, and
the members of the next Legislature who shall be chosen at the coming election by

452 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the United Labor Party are hereby requested to urge the passage of the following

bill:

AN ACT TO PROMOTE OPEN NOMINATIONS TO OFFICE, and provide greater security for the

secrecy of the ballot.

The People of the State of Nevj York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as
follows :

SECTION I.— In all places where tbe registration of citizens entitled to vote at an
election is authorized by law, the re?is' ration shall take place on the second and third
Tuesdays of October next preceding the election.

SEC. II.— The registering officers shall receive and print at least five days before the
day of reg stration the names of all the eligible persons who, after the first day of Sep-
tember and before the first Tuesday of October in each year, may be recommended as
fitted for the offices to be filled at the ensuing election. The recommendation to be
signed by at least voters of the district w^o voted at the last election.

SEC. III. — At the time of the registration each citizen registered shall be requested
to designate such of the persons so recommended as he may wish to put in nomination
for the offices to be filled.

SEC. IV.— If any person shall be thus designated by one-tenth of the persons regis-
tered at the last election, his name shall be placed upon the list of candidates whose
expenses for election are to be borue by the county as hereinafter mentioned.

SEC. V.— In the event of death after nomination any candidate receiving one-tenth
of the indorsement given to the deceased candidate shall, if practically within the power
of the registering officers, be placed upon the list of regular candidates.

SEC. VI. —The registering officers shall prepare suitable ballots, in the form now
required by law, containing the name6! of the persons thus nominated, and shall furnish
these ballots in sufficient numbers to serve all the voters of the district at the election.

SEC. VH.— The expense of printing these ballots, and of providing polling places for
their distribution, and persons to distribute them, shall be borne by the county as other
expenses of the election are now borne.

SEC. VIII.— 1. The ballots shall be upon white paper without any impression or
mark to distinguish one from another except as herein expressly authorized.

2. Every ballot shall have a caption, but such caption snail be printed in one straight
II-' e in black ink with plain type of the size generally known as " Great Primer Roman
Condensed Capitals." There shall be as many ballots as there are offices to be filled,
and the names of all candidates for the same office shall be upon one ballot. Each bal-
lot must be attached to a stub or counterfoil, and the face of the ballot must be in the
following form, viz. :

No.

Stub or counterfoil.

1. A. B. of 1. A. B. of St. or Ave. City.

The counterfoil is

to have a number 1. C. D. of St. or Ave. City,

to correspond

with that on the 1. E. F. of St. or Ave. City,

back of the bal-
lot. 1. O.H. of St. or Ave. City.
The form on the back of the ballot must be in the following form, viz. :

No

Election for

18

3. It shall be the duty of the officer who furnishes the registry lists as provided by
law to furnish also the Chairman of the Board of Inspectors at each polling place, on
the morning: of the election, a book or books of ballots of the form and characters
above described, and also to furnish to the same person the stamp heieinafter directed
to be used.

4. After the canvass of the votes the stubs or counterfoils of the ballot-book,

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 453

together with all defaced or mutilated ballots and all unused ballots and the stamp, shall
be filed in the same manner and at the same lime as the poll-list or registry list is required
to be fi ed.

SEC. IX-— 1. Each polling place must be furnishad with such number of compart-
ment in which electors can mark their votes screened from observation as the Coairman
cf the Board of Inspectors thinks necessary, so that at least one compartment is provided
for every 200 voters. Each compartment must be kept provided with suitable materials
for voters to mark their ballots with.

2. Before a ballot is delivered to an elector the number, name, and description of
the elector, as stati d in the registry lis , must be called out aad a mark or marks must
be placed in the re gistry list to denote that he has received a ballot or ballots, aad the
ballot or ballots must there be stamped by the chairman of the Board of Inspectors with
the official stamp hereinbefore mentioned. And such official stamp must be changed
each year and kept secret by the officers furnishing it, as hereinbefore provided, until
the morning of the election, when it must be delivered to the respective chairmen of the
Boards of Inspection and to no one else.

3. The elector upon receiving his ta lot or ballots must forthwith proceed into one
of the comparfments of the polling place and there mark his ballot or ballots by mark-
ing a line or lines through the names of the candidates for whom he does not wish to
vote. He mu^t then fold each ballot so as to conceal the contents and deliver it so folded
to one of the inspectors in the presence of the Board, and the same must thereupon be
deposited in the ballot-box in the mariner now required by law.

4. If the elector inadvertently spoils a ballot he can return it to the chairman of the
Board of Inspectors, who must, if satisfied of such inadvertence, give him another.

5. If an elector is incapacitated by blindness or other cause from voting in the man-
ner herein prescribed, he may inform the chairman of the Board of Inspectors of the
fact, and thereupon the chairman must go with the elector into the compartment, and
cross out the names as directed by the elector.

6. Ko voter shall take a ballot lis$ cub of the polling place nor deposit in the ballot
box any other paper than the one given him by the Board of Inspectors.

SEC. X.— Every officer, clerk, or agent, in attecdance at a polling station must main-
tain, or aid in maintaining, the secrecy of tne voting in such station, and must not com-
municate, exc-pt for some purpose authorized by law, before the poll is closed, any
infoi mation as to the name er number on the register of votes or the registry list, of any
cltctor who has not applied for a ballot paper, or voted at that station, or as to the official
stamp ; and no officer, clerk, agent or other person whasotsver shall interfere with or
attempt to interfere with a voter when marking his vote, or otherwise attempt to obtain
at the polling station information as to the candidate fur whom any voter in such station
is about to vote or has voted, or as to the immb^r on the back of the ballot given to any
voter at such station. Every officer, clerk, or person in attendance at the counting of
ibe votes must maintain and aid io maintaining the secrecy of the voting, and must not
attempt to ascertain at such counting the number on the back of any ballot paper, or
communicate any information obtainei as to such counting or &s to the candidate for
whom any vote is given in ary particular ballot paper. No person shall directly or
indirectly induce any voter to display his ballot after he shall have marked the same, so
aa f o make known to any person the name of the candidate for or against whom he may
have voted. No person shall be n quired, in any legal proceeding relating to the election
or return, to state for whom he h^s voted.

SEC. XI.— Any officer clerk, or agent in attendance at the polling station, convicted of
violating the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of misdemeanor.

SEC XII.— All acts and parts of acts heretofore passed, so far as the same are incon-
sistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

The most perfect machinery of politics will be of no avail, of course, unless
every citizen does bis part by a sacred fulfillment of all political duties, chief
among which are voting for able and honest men only, and voting without tbe
trammels of ignorance or fear ; but we have no right to complain of the evils

454 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

•wrought by corrupt men and bad laws until we so perfect our political machinery
that the will of the people shall be truthfully registered. It is not now so recorded.
Even the final remedy of thoroughly educating the people will prove inadequate
until this reform is accomplished. Having done all in our power to secure an hon-
est count and honest candidates, if evils shall continue, the only remedy left is
given in the famous advice of " Bob Lowe," when Disraeli extended the franchise,
" We must educate our masters."

JAMES REDPATH.

II.

A MONETARY WHIM EXPLODED.

MR. EDWARD ATKINSON, in bis discussion of " Low Prices, High Wages, Small
Profits: What Makes Them?" assumes that the "working classes," so-called,
" have steadily gained in the purchasing power of their wages" since 1865, and
more especially since 1873, and that the farmers of the country have also pros-
pered during this period, and that, therefore, "instead of attempting to check the
fall in prices by tampering with the standard of value or by other empirical
devices for making money plenty, it may be expedient to fight it out on this line,
even if several more years of so-called depression should follow this determina-
tion." Competent critics have ventured to doubt some of Mr. Atkinson's optimistic
conclusions, and have also questioned the figures which be gives as the basis of
them. But, admitting that a year's wages will buy more of the necessaries of life
in this country than twenty years ago, it certainly is not true that the " farmers,"
who he says ''number (not including farm laborers) 250 in each 1,000," are rs
well off with wheat at 70 cents a bushel or corn at 40, as they would be
if these products were twice that sum. Mr. Atkinson's conclusion that inventions
practically woiked out, and, chiefly, greatly improved facilities for transportation
have been most important factors in the country's progress, and especially
in cheapening many of the necessaries of life, is undoubtedly well-founded.
But he ignores entirely the increase, amounting to several hundred millions
of money in this country, since January 1st, 1878, resulting partly from
large importations of gold, partly from making available for monetary
purposes a large amount of gold upon the resumption of specie payments,
partly from the coinage of our own gold product, and partly from the coinage
of about two hundred and fifty millions of silver. In other words, the policy of
contraction which prevailed in the period preceding the legislation in 1878 for
remonetizing silver, ceased to foe operative after that time, and the extension of
our great railway system, which Mr. Atkinnra recognizes as " the most beneficent
factor in the lowering of prices and in raising wages," has been coincident with
our increased monetary supply.

Our great Union and Central Pacific railways had their birth in a period of
monetary expansion. Even a depreciated paper currency was sufficient to secure
their completion, as well as an important beginning of the Northern Pacific.
Monetary contraction was the most important factor in bringing about the bank-
ruptcy of the Northern Pacific and a general suspension of railway building
throughout the country. This suspension continued as long as the cause lasted.

While it is doubtless true, as the British Royal Commission not long since re-
ported, that one of the important causes of depression in Great Britain has been
the appreciation in the value of gold, that cause doubtless affects Great Britain
much more than it does the United States, as we have gained the gold which
Europe bas lost, and at the same time have coined a part of the product of our gold
and silver mine s to meet, tn some measure, our monetary needs . The appreciation of

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 455

the value of gold has doubtless contributed to lower the price of breadstuff s and
cotton in Europe. The United States, being the largest exporter of these commod-
ities, has suffered most thereby. Although the increased supply of money in the
United States has prevented a reduction in wages here, the price of our leading
agricultural products has been affected adversely by the lower price of the ex-
ported surplus which governs the price of the whole. The increasing millions of
farm mortgages, held in the East, attest the injury to our agriculturists brought
about by low prices for their products. Money is the life-blood of commerce.
A sufficiency gives health. Undue inflation produces fever. Contraction causes
stagnation and death. Money sustains a like relation to manufactures and the
practical development and use of inventions. Witness the suspension of manufact-
uring and the bankruptcy of manufacturers in the period from 1873 to 1878.
One not informed would never suspect from Mr. Atkinson's figures the suffering
of the wage class in that terrible period, when our streets and by-ways were filled
with tramps and life and property were insecure. Was that period of monetary
contraction of benefit to the laboring classes ? In view of Mr. Atkinson's well-
known persistent opposition to our continued silver coinage the statement of his
'' conclusion that tampering with or debasing the standard of value is the most
malignant fraud which the Government can perpetrate," is understood to be
aimed at our coinage of silver, although it is not easy to see that our present coin-
age of a part of the product of our silver mines, upon the old basis of weight and
with a larger ratio of silver than is found in European coinage, is such a tamper-
ing or debasement. It seems safe to say that but for our coinage of the last eight
years the measure of prosperity which the United States now enjoys would not ex-
ist. We cannot build great railways or carry on extensive manufacturing, or even
succesofully transport large amounts of produce upon existing lines, witb a great
insufficiency of money, although it may take less than it once did to accomplish a
givtn amount of these things. Although the United States has increased her
coinage, our monetary gain, and especially its circuJation, has hardly kept pace
with the demands or' our constantly increasing population and expanding internal
commerce. It i emains for Congress to so legislate as to put in circulation a part
(something less than half) of our great treasury surplus to insure for this country
a greater meagre of prosperity than it has hitherto enjoyed. This may be wisely
done by paying a part of the National debt, by securing a navy, and by making
some provision for coast defense, not forgetting that a considerable amount may
be economically expended in improving our rivers and harbors, thus giving larger
facilities to both our internal and foreign commerce, and at the same time giving
remunerative employment to thousands of laborers. When Europe shall again
coin full legal tender silver in considerable amounts, as sooner or later she doubt-
less will, the United States will not fail to reap great benefit therefrom.

HENRY ROGERS.
III.

A POSTHUMOUS LETTER BY GOVERNOR WISE.

IN the early part of the year 1855, Knownothingism was obtaining a strong
foothold in the South, and particularly in the State of Maryland. Many promi-
nent Whigs had espoused its principles, and the secret societies where its tenets were
promulgated were increasing with great rapidity. Into these secret societies
Democrats in large numbers were being drawn, until it became a matter of great
concern to the leaders of that party how to stop this wholesale desertion from
their ranks.

It was at this juncture that Mr. Geo. H. Richardson, then a prominent Demo-

456 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

crat in Worcester County, Maryland, anxious to prevent his political brethren
from uniting themselves with this new party, concluded to address a letter to the
Hon. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, asking from him such an expression of his
opinion as could be used to deter Democrats from joining the Knownothing organi-
zation, to which Mr. Wise replied as follows :

ONANCOCK, Va., June ^9, 1855.

DEAR SIR: At my earliest convenience I reply to yours of the 15th inst , by saying
briefly that lam fully convinced the K. Nothing organization had ifs origin in
Old England. It is a foreign influence, sent over here to abolish slavery or dissolve our
Union. This is its aim and origin in New England and the North. Seeing its potency in
all the slave-holding States, the Whigs generally of the South have seized on it for politi-
cal purposes. And the worst of its evil everywhere is its priestcraft element, which
seizes on Protestant bigotry to pollute our churches and corrupt our political powers.
No sensible Democrat will be caught in its snare, and the sound and conservative will
alike eschew it. With thanks for your kind congratulations, I am, respectfully yours,

HENRY A. WISE.

GEO. H. RICHARDSON, ESQ.

That Mr. Richardson could not have struck Knownothingism a severer blow,
in so far as they hoped to be aided by Democratic disaffection, is apparent when
it is kn wn that Mr. Wise was much respected and admired by the Democrats in
Mr. Richardson's -ection of country, having, in the preceding presidential cam-
paign of 1852, made many telling and forcible speeches in their district against
General Scott, the Whig candidate. The result also showed that this letter was
most effectual for the purpose for which it was intended, for although Know-
nothingism still flourished because of its Whig adherents, the Democrats almost
unanimously let it alone, and many of those who had become members of Know-
nothing societies renounced their allegiance to their new favorite and went joy-
fully back into the Democratic party. For these rea-ons, and because it is sought
by some to revive for present or immediate future use some of the features of
Knownothingism, I have thought that these sentiments of Mr. Wise deserve a
wider publicity than have hitherto been accorded them.

WM. TINGLE DICKERSON.

IV.

THE "STATE SOVEREIGNTY" HERESY.

IN his interesting essay on the "Life and Character of John C. Calhoun"
(NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, Vol CXLV., p. 254), Mr. Jefferson Davis uses this
language :

" No more dangerous and vicious heresy has grown up than the supposition that
< urs is a government made and controlled by a majority of tne pejple en masse."

The term "heresy" here designates an opinion in opposition to some estab-
lished or usually received doctrine ; namely, in the present case, the proposi-
tion that ours is a government made and controlled, not by a majority of the peo-
ple of the United States, buc by certain corporate entities, originally known as
" Colonies," and now as "States." This is manifest from the subsequent use of
the terms " has grown up," which imply a heresy of recent origin.

Let us briefly inquire, then, whether the opinion that ours is a government
made and controlled by a majority of the PEOPLE, be a '" heresy" of " recent ori-
gin."

In 1765 the British Parliament asserted the general right to bind the colonists
by its acts, and the specific right to tax them without their consent. The denial

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 457

of this right by the colonists, and the attempt by the British Government to en-
force it, led to the Revolution. The moving force of that revolution was the gen-
eral Congress at Philadelphia, of September, 1774, and it was composed, as the
records of the time inform us, of " delegates nominated," not by the colonial
governments, but by "the good people of these colonies." The people of all the
colonies were ultimately represented therein ; and it was, in the fullest sense, a
revolutionary body. It exercised sovereign power, and "the people" whom it
represented, by recognizing its authority, placed themselves on a revolutionary
footing. And they did this as moral persons, not as colonial agents. In other
words, the measures taken by the Congress could be translated from mere words
into actual deeds only by the consent of " the whole people," in whose name it had
been convoked ; and to the extent that it assumed power to itself and adopted
measures national in their character, to that extent did "the people" of the sev-
eral colonies declare themselves, not a confederation of distinct peoples or com-
munities, but " ONE people" represented by one government.

Moreover, from September, 1774, to March, 1781 (a period of nearly seven
years), this revolutionary Congress was recognized by all the colonies as a dejure,
no less than as a de facto national government. As such it came into contact with
foreign powers, and as such it entered into engagements, the binding force of
which, on the whole people, has never been questioned. During all this time the
colonial governments had not taken a single step that could place them before the
world, or before the mother country, either as de facto or as dejure sovereign
States. They remained dependent upon the British Government until the revolu-
tionary Congress "of the whole people" declared, "in the name of the people,"
these united colonies to be "free and independent States."

Thus, the transformation of " Colonies " into " States " was the result, not of
independent action by the colonial governments, nor yet of the Colonies themselves
as such, but of the whole People en masse, through their representatives in the
revolutionary Congress. Each " Colony " became a " State" only in so far as it be-
longed to " the United States," and so far only as its population constituted a part
of " the People " of the " United States." The national government (known as the
Federal Union) is therefore necessarily older than any of the States, since it
created them as " States ; and since the States are the creatures of the Union, not
one of them ever had a legal status outside of the Union. Not one of them ever
had a State Constitution independent of the Union. [See speech of Mr. King, in
Constitutional Convention, June 19, 1787, reported in the Madison Papers ; also,
Elliott's Deb. v., p. 212 ; Story's Comm. I., sec. 313-216 ; Dallas' Rep., III., p.
232 ; Curtis' Rep., I., p. 176.]

It seems to me, therefore, that the "heresy" which so much disturbs Mr. Davis
is co-existent with the Government itself ; and that in point of fact, it is no
" heresy" at all, since it antagonizes no established or generally received doctrine
connected with the early history of our Government.

WILLIAM L. SCRUGGS.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 371. 30

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

i.

THERE are " sermons in stones " more pregnant than any fancied by Shake-
speare's genius. The secret plucked by Champollion which made the dumb his-
tory of Egypt speak, and the acumen of Rawlinson, which deciphered the wedges
engraved on the Assyrian cylinders, belong to the glory of one of the more recent
sciences. Archaeology is now pursued with enthusiasm by scholars of all nations,
and it is with more than ordinary interest that we note its results when devoted to
unraveling the prehistoric civilization of our own continent. The publication of
M. Charnay's researches* will be welcomed as a valuable contribution to the
study of the monuments of Mexico and Central America, and of the historic mys-
teries hidden behind their sculptured facades.

M. Charuay's expedition was organized under the joint patronage of Mr.
Pierre Lorillard, of New York, and of the French Government, and the results
seem to have fully justified expectation. The civilization, which has left splendid
relics of its presence from the Gila River in the United States to Nicaragua Lake,
has awakened keen controversy. "The drums and tramplings of conquest after
conquest," to use Sir Thomas Browne's noble phrase, swept over this vast region
from the time of the mound-builders, if indeed these were the autochthones, to that
of the Spanish irruption. Of these waves of population, one, it is understood by
consent of most explorers and archaeologists, that of the Toltecs, carried with it the
rich seed and sediment, lush as the Nilotic flood, of a notable civilization. Whether
politically dominant or subject, through all vicissitudes of place and power, the Tol-
tec civilization stamped on the kindred races with which it came in contact the deep-
est traces of its subjugating genius in the arts of peace and progress. The question
of immediate interest concerning this mysterious people is whether it was the sole
source of the civilization indicated by the Mexican monuments, or whether its arts
commingled with those of other races prior to or concurrent with its own in
producing such amazing results. M. Charnay subordinates all other problems
to this inquiry. Other students of American antiquities have considered the
primal origin of the civilizing force which organized an empire of intricate

* "The Ancient Cities of the New World. Being Voyages and Explorations in Mexico
and Central America from 1857 to 1882." By D6sir6e Charnay. From tho French of
J. Gonino and Helen 8. Con ant. Introduction by Allen Thorndike Rice. New York :
Harper & Brothers.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 459

polity, and scattered over thousands of square miles temples and palaces, statues,
and mural sculptures, only inferior to those of Egypt and India. Did this force come
from Asia at some remote period by the route of Bearing's Straits, or through the
intermediate stage of some Atlantis or chain of Atlantides, the subsidence of which
has sunk " deeper than did ever plummet sound " all trace of the itinerary ? Was
this civilization strictly indigenous ? These questions Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice, in
the lucid brief which by its review of the subject in all its wide bearings clears the
way for the general reader to a clearer grasp of M. Charnay's researches, touches in
common with many others. But M. Charnay, with the practical scientific instincts
of his race, declines to hamper himself with insoluble problem?, or he treats them
only by implication. The question to which he confines himself is clearly within
the reach of rational induction— whether the Toltecs were the fountain head of all
that was best in the ancient civilization of Mexico and Central America.

The Toltecs, it is believed, came to the valley of Mexico from the north, and
founded their empire at Tollan, or Tula, early in the 7th century. After a lapse
of 500 years their numbers and power were so broken by civil war and pestilence,
that most of them emigrated to the south, settling in Yucatan and Guatemala.
Before leaving the valley of Mexico, they had established their arts and civilization
and left them as an inheritance to the more savage tribes of their own native
Nahoa or Nahuatl stock, who had drifted concurrently with them into the same
region, and on whose rugged ferocity they had grafted their own mild and intel-
lectual qualities. A Toltec remnant, however, remained and became again rich
and powerful. Of the kindred tribes, that assimilated the Toltec civilization, while
adding to it their own more barbaric customs, the Aztec, which had remained for
centuries a haughty military and priestly caste amidst their neighbors, rapidly
assumed the hegemony, and in the fourteenth century reduced the others to a posi-
tion of feudal service. It was this monarchy which Cortez overthrew. To the
genial religion of the Toltecs, whose favorite diety was Quetzocoati, the god of
the air, worshiped with f nuts and flowers, a Saturnian god, symbolical of the
golden age of peace and plenty, succeeded the sanguinary cult of Huitzilopochtli,
the Aztec Mars, to whom armies of human victims were sacrifled each May, till
his temples ran blood in rivers. M. Charnay observes an utter absence of the
peculiar sacrificial stone in the temple ruins of those regions where Aztec influence
had not been dominant, while on the other hand there is a general identity
in the character of the fragments and relics from Aztec land to Maya land in
Yucatan. The pyramidAl forms given to the basements of edifices, the invariable
shape of the monuments after the Toltec model of the Calli, the mural ornamen-
tation, the statuary, the works of terra-cotta, the pottery, the overlapping arch
forming the vault, the cultus of the cross — all these show incontestably in M. Char-
nay's view the mold of a common civilization.

In relation to the claims made for the anterior civilization of Yucatan in the
Maya race, our explorer finds conclusive evidence against this in the fact that the
same customs, institutions, and religion, the same method of recording events and
of computing time, and the same arms were common to the tribes of the plateaux
and of Yucatan. From Tula, Palpan, Comalcalco and Palenque in the Valley of
Mexico to Chichen-Itza, Kabah and Uxmal in Yucatan, and the more mysterious
ruins, christened by the explorer, Lorillard Town, the identity of origin seems to
be sustained by cumulative proof. M. Charnay has enriched his book with repro-
ductions derived from photographs taken on the spot or papier macho" squeezes, won-
derfully preserving all the characteristics of bas-relief and other mural ornament.
The originals are partly in the Trocadero Museum of Paris, and partly in our own
Smithsonian Institute.

460 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

II.

XJFE OF POPE LEO XIII.

THE present occupant of the papal throne has found an enthusiastic biographer
in Dr. Bernard O'Reilly, whose high attainments in this department of literary
work are already well known through his life of Pius IX. This volume,* how-
ever, is more than a personal biography ; it is also a review of the period covered
by the public career of the Pope. The materials are ample for a work of lasting
interest, and the reverend author has made good use of them. The biographical
details are comparatively few, and might be compressed into a single chapter.
Usually, in biographies, one expects to read the record of the unfolding of numer-
ous personal traits and characteristics through incidents and correspondence of a
more or less private and privileged character. Perhaps, as the subject of this his-
tory is still living, the author felt himself under restriction in this respect, and, as
the authentic memoirs from which the personal narrative is mainly derived were
furnished by His Holiness himself, it can easily be imagined that there would nec-
essarily be some reservation. As a rule, no public man's life can be adequately
written until after his death ; but, on the other hand, the life of a public man may
be so closely identified with the movements of his age that a history of the one
may be, to a great degree, a history of both. This is the impression left upon us
after a perusal of this interesting book. What glimpses we get of the personality
of the Pontiff show us a man of gr^at amiability and piety, of rare culture and
learning, of exceeding discernment and prudence, and withal, of a born diplomatist
and statesman. Of course, the book is eulogistic. Dr. O'Reilly has his countrymen's
gift of loving well. He sees no fault, not even the faintest shadow of a weakness,
in the character he here delineates. There is, therefore, no formal attempt at a
critical estimate of the personal character of the Pope, no suggestion of imperfec-
tion or infirmity in mind or manners, in temper or temperament. We are bound
to add that the result is a picture of rare ability and attractiveness. As portrayed
in this volume, Pope Leo XIII. is a man whom it would be easy to love and rever-
ence for his own sake, apart from his exalted office — a man of vast attainments
without a shadow of vanity or self -consciousness — sagacious and yet simple-mind-
ed—a man of the keenest insight and yet overflowing with charity— exacting and
methodical in office, and yet inspiring others to a willing performance of duty —
more than an equal in diplomacy for the acutest pcliticians, and yet unwilling to
contend, if contention can be honorably avoided— a man at whose feet kings might
sit for instruction, and yet with whom little children feel perfectly at ease and
happy. Such is the man here pictured, and there is no reason to doubt the fidelity,
or the skill, of the artist.

Pope Leo XIII. was born in March, 1810, and is therefore now in his 78th year.
His father was Count Lodovico Pecci, of Carpineto Romano, an ancient family.
His mother was a woman of noble birth, and of eminently Christian virtues.
To these advantages were added a splendid educational career from childhood
to manhood. In these early days he was brought under the personal influence of
Pope Leo XII., and it was no doubt his love and admiration for that eminent man
that led him to choose the name of Leo at his consecration to the papal throne.
At twenty-eight, having joined the secular priesthood, he became Governor of the
little papal province of Benevento, which he restored from a state of lawlessness and

* "Life of Leo XIII." From an authentic memoir furnished by his order. Written
with the encouragement, approbation, and blessing of His Holiness the Pope. By
Bernard O'Reiily, D. D. , LL. D. Charles L. Webster & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 461

brigandage to peace and prosperity. At thirty-three he was appointed papal nuncio
to Belgium, where he continued three years, gaining during that period considerable
insight into Protestantism, as well as winning the personal friendship of many
Protestants. He remained there three years, when he was created Archbishop of
Perugia, in Italy, but meanwhile he visited London and Paris, studying there the
peculiar social, religion*, and political condition of affairs. He continued Arch-
bishop of Perugia until the death of Pius IX., when he was elected as his successor,
on February 20th, 1878. These were dark and troublous days for the Catholic
Church. The temporal sovereignty had been divorced from the papacy. Italy
had become a united kingdom under Victor Emmanuel. Pius IX. died a prisoner
in the Vatican, and it was seriously feared that the Piedmontese government
would overawe the solemn conclave and nominate a successor to the papal chair.
An interesting account is given of the proceedings at the papal election, which
passed by without the dreaded interference from the civil power, though under
restrictions and limitations rendered necessary by the circumstances.

It is to be expected that, in dealing with the great questions which agitated
Europe during this period, and with which the subject of these memoirs is iden-
tified by his public acts, both before and after his coronation, our author should
be animated by an intensely catholic spirit ; and such is the fact.. So also is Pope
Leo. At the same time the Protestant reader of this book will not fail to note a
fairness of tone— we might almost say a breadth and liberality of view— in mat-
ters relating to Protestantism from a religious standpoint. Thus, in speaking of
American institutions, the author says : " At the bottom of that people's unpar-
alleled prosperity lay a twofold fact,— they were a religious people, among whom,
though divided into various and hostile denominations, there reigned a deep re-
ligious sense, pervading not only private life, but influencing and regulating pub-
lic life ; and they were a practical people," etc. Again : " The laws, the manners,
customs, and governmental forms of a nation from its early birth to its adult
state — if these are hallowed by religion and in conformity with the deep moral
sense of the people— are as much the creation of Nature as the tree is the growth
of the soil." There are other passages which indicate a tendency to regard Protest-
antism fairly and to distinguish between it and the socialistic and atheistic move-
ment which he regards as a great and fatal onslaught alike upon civilization and
the Church. Protestantism is recognized as Christianity, and Protestants are
appealed to as Christiats. " The battle," says the author, * * which is now raging
in Italy and in Spain, in France, and Germany, and Belgium, in Great Britain,
and even in our own United States, is not so much a battle against Catholicism as
the most powerful, wide-spread, compact, and ancient form of Christianity, as
against Christianity itself." Speaking of the United States he observes again :
" The Catholic religion and its institutions exist side by side with other denomina-
tions on the solid ground of the common law." Again : "In the British empire,
where the large-minded Pope desires to see the same union of all creeds and races,
. . no chronic injustice or oppression weakens any one portion" (Ireland ex-
cepted). These utterances are significant, because they point in the direction of a
basis of union between Catholic and Protestant on essential principles common to
both. The danger menacing the Christian fortress is depicted in eloquent and stir-
ring words in the Pope's repeated encyclicals and other public documents. When
the Pope actually appeals to Protestants to help defend the citadel, he proposes in
fact a union of forces which is hardly compatible with thunderings and anath-
emas ! Take as an illustration the Pope's attitude on the Irish question. He pro-
poses that England should recognize Ireland's status as a kingdom and the home of
a different race, and by conceding home rule end the feuds of race and religion

462 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

together. On the same principle let Catholic cease calling Protestant heretic and
Protestant cease calling Catholic idolater, and then may come the happy period
when Christianity shall again be a unit, though not in the exact sense in which the
Pope understands the term.

The Pope's great remedy, however, for the evils which affect society in the
prevailing irreligion of the age, is not such a union as we have indicated, but the
restoration of temporal sovereignty. " We shall never cease," says Leo, in his first
encyclical, "to contend . . for our restoration to that condition of things in
which the Provident design of the Divine Wisdom had formerly placed the Roman
Pontiff." "Not only," he continues, "because the civil sovereignty is necessary
for the protecting and preserving of the full liberty of the spiritual power, but be-
cause . . the interests of the public good and the salvation of the whole of
human society are involved." This, then, is the great object to be kept before the
Catholic world — the restoration of the Pope to an independent temporal sovereignty.
"How can the Catholics of all nations," exclaims Cardinal Pecci, "believe that
the decisions of their parent and guide are free when he is the subject of an Italian,
a German, a French, or a Spanish sovereign ?"

There is material in this book for a much more extended review than is possi-
ble within our limits. Many of its features we find ourselves unable to notice,
but its general scope will be understood by the reader of the foregoing remarks.
We would say, in conclusion, that in our judgment, this life of Leo XIII. is worthy
of a very wide circulation and perusal. Protestants should read it for the light it
throws upon modern Catholicism. It is a most earnest, eloquent, comprehensive
plea for papal supremacy ; and withal it is authoritative. No intelligent and fair-
minded Protestant desirous of seeing things from a papal standpoint will regret
the time spent in reading it. Catholics will, of course, read it. It is worthy of
study by thoughtful people on all sides of the religious controversies of the age — a
book that cannot be ignored as unimportant, either by friend or foe.

III.

CHINA AS A FIELD FOR COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.

THE latest book on China as a field for railroad construction and commercial
enterprise, General Wilson's volume,* is also entitled to serious attention for the
clear, matter of fact information it conveys as to the actual state of affairs in that
mysterious country. The General went there in the autumn of 1885 for the specific
purpose of judging by personal observation as to whether railroads could be built
there under such terms and conditions as to management as w«uld make them a
desirable channel for the investment of American capital. He spent the greater
part of a year in that country and Japan, traveled nearly thirty thousand miles
by sea and land, and came to the conclusion that there are immense, almost bound-
less resources waiting in China for development, but that the future of that coun-
try is beset with complicated problems and perils, the outcome of which it is very
difficult to predict. Our author, by reason of his experience and qualifications,
gathered in the service 01 the public and otherwise, was pre-eminently qualified to
go on an investigating tour of this kind. As chief of the Cavalry Bureau at Wash-
ington he had been charged with the supervision of the organization and equipment
of all the cavalry troops, and had served in the field as a commander of cavalry,
attaining the rank of Major-General of Volunteers and Brevet Major-General of

* " China : Travels and Investigations in the ' Middle Kingdom.' " A study of its
civilization and possibilities. With a glance ai Japan. By James Harrison Wilson. D.
Apple ton & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 463

the regular army. When the war was over he returned to his duties as officer of
regular engineers, took charge of the improvement of the Mississippi, the Illinois,
and the Rock rivers, and on resigning from the army devoted himself to the work
of building and operating railroads, in which work he has been engaged for a period
of about fifteen years. No better training could have been had for the serious task
which, with the concurrence of his friends, he undertook of investigating China as
a great railroad field — " the only great country yot remaining to be provided with
railroads." Whether General Wilson and his friends may feel encouraged to go
further in this line of enterprise, we are not able to surmise, but we think that it
was a capital idea to publish an account of this journey. Not only will this tend
to awaksn interest both here and in China in the direct work of railroad construc-
tion, but it also, in the meantime, adds greatly to the general stock of information
about the condition of the Chinese — for which every reader of this book wi)l feel
grateful to the author.

Some prevalent delusions are here swept away — that one, for example, about
the unparalleled density of the population. General Wilson does not think that
the population of the entire empire exceeds three hundred millions — a vast num-
ber, it is true, but much less than has commonly been supposed— and he states
that in his opinion the country could support in comfort three times as many
people as now inhabit it if all its available land were brought under proper culti-
vation, and if it were pi ovidcd with a properly located system of railroads. He
also comes to the conclusion that, on the whole, the Chinese are remarkably
strong, robust and healthy, and specially free from consumption and all forms of
constitutional disease. The race also, so far from showing signs of decay, shows
all the marks of youthful strength. " The Chinaman's natural intelligence,
although dwarfed and misdirected by a peculiar if not pernicious system of social
and political government, is quite as great as that of other races. He is full of
the conceit and prejudice engendered by ignorance, but is no fool," and may be
expected to play his full part in the future of the world.

One of the most interesting persons to whom the reader is introduced in this
volume is Li-Hung-Chaug, Viceroy of the Province of Chihli, in Northern China,
and First Grand Secretary, equivalent to Foreign Secretary, of the Empire. This
gentleman seems to be a remarkably enlightened and cultivated man. He was
the leading military adviser of the throne during the rebellion, and has statesman-
like qualities of a very high order. He is now sixty-six years of age, erect,
tall, manly, and dignified. He expressed himself in favor of railroads, asking
many questions as to their probable cost and other matters, and proved to be of
the greatest service to our traveler by his suggestions as to routes, and in other
ways.

There is at present but one railroad in the whole of China, and that one is
only seven miles in length. The Chinese Government are opposed to railroads as
an innovation, and this one exists by sufferance only, connecting the Kaiping
coal mines in North China with a canal. As the Government needs the coal for the
naval fleet which it has lately organized, it winks at the existence of this railroad,
and will probably authorize its extension to a point on the canal more favorable for
shipment. China is rich in unexplored mineral resources, and the Government is
slowly awakening to their value. The extension of the railroad system would
therefore appear to be but a question of time.

The author passes in review the history of foreign interference in Chinese affairs
from the earliest period down to the present day, and especially with reference to
the opium traffic. This is one of the most instructive portions of a book which is
throughout both instructive and interesting. T he great agencies that have worked

464 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

toward the development of China have been war, diplomacy, commerce, and mis-
sionary enterprise — and to all of these the author yields a meed of praise. He has
little expectation of converting the Chinese, but cannot speak too highly of the
civilizing effects produced by the contact of the missionaries with the people,
especially by means of their primary schools and hospitals. To these he would
add a system of technological schools giving instruction in science and mechanics.
"As it is at present, no Chinamen belonging to the literary class will attend a
Christian meeting or listen to a Christian teacher. Serene in the conviction that
there never was a greater sage than Confucius, he thinks it absurd to waste time
with any one who claims to bring him ' good tidings of great joy,' whether they
come from Christ or Buddha."

IV.

A PLEA FOR VIRTUOUS ENJOYMENTS.

THE hackneyed advice " be good and you will be happy " is as a general rule
received with respect, but no less surely do the people who implicitly follow it find
that every rule has its exceptions. Sir John Lubbock in a series of addresses* de-
livered chiefly at school and college opening exercises in Great Britain, takes
up the general question of Virtuous Enjoyments, and shows very plainly that they
are worthy of pursuit. He does this in part — as we gather from his prefatory note —
to relieve his own mind of some of that despondency to which he admits is rather
prone, and also to help others to cast away dull care without the sacrifice of any
of the proprieties. The title he has affixed to this brief collection of essays is in no
sense to be interpreted from an epicurean standpoint. It is not to be supposed
that " life " as discoursed upon from an academic chair, has the same meaning as
when discussed in Vanity Fair, or that pleasure as here enjoined has anything to
do with "fast living." The distinction is not unnecessary, for, to many people, Sir
John's title may seem a little strained. He himself fears that some may think
him too dogmatic, and to guard against mistake he is careful to state that he has
not referred to all the sources of happiness ! He specifies seven, of which he places
duty first on the list, and then follow, in order, books, friends, the good use of time,
travel, home, science, and education.

He has not a word to say about pleasures outside of this circle, and we must,
therefore, at starting take an exception to the title, which promises a much wider
field and a much fuller discussion of a very important subject than it here receives.
The title is really a very comprehensive one. It is quite possible that many persons,
feeling like Sir John their need of a little up-lifting, may search this little treatise
in vain for what they need, so we caution our readers beforehand that it offers no
exhaustive treatment of the subject. A more correct title for the work would
have been, "Concerning some sources of pleasure." Life, itself, a source of pleasure,
is not specially discussed, and exception may, therefore, be taken to the word
** life " in the title, as superfluous, if not misleading. Of course, life of some kind
is essential to pleasure, for without life there would be no sensation. If there were
some qualifying word, as virtuous, or moral, the aim of the author would be more
clearly set forth. The pleasures of a virtuous life are doubtless many and great,
and their praises have been sung in all ages. But without some such qualifying
adjective the word " life " in the title means either too little or too much. The
book, indeed, is not a disquisition on the pleasures of life, but a series of short es-
says on some of the sources of gratification and enjoyment open to those who are
virtuously disposed.

* " The Pleasures of Life." By Sir John Lubbock. D. Appleton & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 465

The value of these essays lies in the high moral and intellectual purpose run-
ning through them. Any pleasures, real or imaginary, flowing from the mere
senses, are entirely ignored. The same treatment, however, is practicably accorded
to religion. The vein in which the author finds the riches of consolation is a pure-
ly philosophic one. He quotes La Bruyere : " Most men spend much of their
lives in making the rest (of their lives) miserable," and in opposition to this he be-
lieves in the duty of being happy— if we can ! Probably nobody really disputes
this, but practically we too often hug our miseries. Again, an honest perform-
ance of duty is unquestionably a source of happiness ; but why then are men and
women constantly running away from duty ? This question is not, we think, even
suggested. Sir John contents himself with quoting from his favorite philosophers
to show the exalted peace which is the reward of virtue, and with pleasantly put-
ting forth some reflections, not always new, about the folly of avarice, ambition,
and other infirmities of human nature, common to both ancient and modern times.
Among other suggestions on this point is this : " If we are ever in doubt what to
do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we
had done." Perhaps the avaricious and ambitious, as well as the contented and
virtuous, may find this rule a profitable one, though not always a plain one. In
the chapters on the choice of books we find the famous list of one hundred books,
about which so much has been written in the public press. The author, of course,
extols friendship, but warns us that friendship gives no privilege to people to make
themselves disagreeable to each other. The best chapters of the treatise are to our
thinking those on science and education.

V.

THE ELECTRIC MOTOR AND ITS APPLIANCES.*

WHILE the broad features of the dynamo-electric machine and the electric
motor were probably outlined permanently when Gramme and Pacinotti made
their first machines, yet the work of invention still goes on, and no one can say
that the aggregate of improvement within a given period is inconsiderable. In fact,
each year's contributions to the perfecting and adapting of these machines since
they were first invented have thus far been very important, and never more so than
during the last two or three years. The improvements, however, really affect the
applications of the machines mentioned more than the machines themselves. For
these reasons Messrs. Martin and "Wetzler have done wisely to give prominence in
their recent work on the electro-motor to a discussion of the various uses to which
such motors have recently been applied. The theory of the electrical transmission
of power has been ably set forth by others, and all the early forms of motor have
been adequately described. These points are not overlooked by the authors of the
present work, but they are discussed only so far as is necessary to give the
treatment cohesion and continuity. In a chapter entitled "Elementary Con-
siderations, "is found a clear statement of the relations between motors and
dynamo-electric machines, and in Chapter IV. the theoretical aspects of the sub-
ject are- still further treated. The rest of the book deals with the electric motor
historically and practically, and is mainly devoted, as has been intimated already,
to its more recently applications. One of the chief excellences of the authors'
method is a careful observance of proportion. The writers have no hobby. The

* "The Electric Motor and its Applications. " By Thomas Commerford Martin and
Joseph Wetzler, Associate Editors The Electrical World, Members American Institute of
Electrical Engineers. With two hundred illustrations. New York: W. J. Johnston,
168-177 Potter Building 1887. Second edition.

466 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

electric railway, of course, receives the first place, as is its due ; but the domestic
and industrial applications of the motor get their proper share of attention. As
regards different systems or the inventions of different individuals, the authors
have happily made it their duty to record and not to draw comparisons. Perhaps
the most valuable feature of the book is that it gives full structural details both in
the text and in a large number of excellent illustrations. On this account it can-
not fail to take its place in that important class of books which enable one to com-
mit a whole library of pamphlets and periodicals to the flames without substantial
loss.

Messrs. Martin and Wetzler have done their work with manifest enthusiasm.
It is clear that they have an abiding faith in the future of the electric motor. As
associate editors of an electrical journal, they have enjoyed unusual facilities for
collecting their facts. It may fairly be said that they have used their enthusiasm
and their opportunities to good purpose. They have performed a work which no
one had done before them and which probably could not have been done so well
by anybody else.

HUGUENOT HISTORY.

THE history of France during the half century preceding the Edict of Nantes
is a history of commotion and internal conflict in which the noblest heroism and the
worst passions of human nature were in full exercise. Professor Baird, in his two
latest volumes of Huguenot history,* undertakes to tell the story, and he does so
with a minuteness of detail that does him infinite credit as a diligent and painstak-
ing investigator. He writes from a Protestant point of view, ano is at no pains to
conceal his sympathies, but his fidelity as a historian is always conspicuous, and he
is careful and conscientious in his statements.

In the two volumes preceding these, entitled *' The Rise of the Huguenots," the
author deals with what he terms the formative age of the Huguenots of France,
and brings the narrative down to the death of Charles IX. in 1574. The present
volumes take the reader through the reigns of Henry III. and Henry IV., a period
of thirty-seven years. As the St. Bartholomew massacre constituted the most
thrilling occurrence of the former period, so the Edict of Nantes is the culminating
point of the latter. It is understood, we believe, that there is soon to be forthcom-
ing a continuation of Huguenot history, down to and beyond the Revocation, thus
completing the survey of this eventful period of French history. The conception
and execution of the task are alike admirable, and the connected books will take
their place among the most honorable historical productions of our country.

The nature of the Huguenot claims and the causes of their discontent and up-
rising have been variously stated, but from these researches it would seem clear
that the idea of overturning the throne or of superseding Catholicism by Galvanism
was never seriously put forward in any of their councils. Their contention was
for freedom, and their warlike attitude a protest against repression. This view is
borne out by the nature of the concessions and compromises exacted from time to
time from the dominant party. What the internal discipline of the Huguenot
church was may be gathered from the records of the Reformed Synod of Ste. Foy
la Grande in 1578. It is like reading the minutes of a Presbyterian Synod or
Assembly in the present day. They enunciated the principle of religious and civil
equality. They emphasized the importance of religious education, and enjoined
ministers to teach the catechism, and to inculcate family worship. They protested

* " The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre. " By Professor Henry M. Baird . Charles
Scribner's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 437

against immodesty in dress and other vanities of the age. But there is not a
treasonable or disloyal utterance in the whole of the proceedings.

The author paints in very strong colors the characters and characteristics of
the leading personages in his history. One of the most interesting of these por-
traits is that of Henry IV. in the closing chapter— too long to quote in full, but
presenting a very vivid likeness of that remarkable man. " So grand a man, in
some aspects, that we wonder that .his character should have been marred by such
blemishes ; so faulty a man, from other points of view, that wo marvel that he
could ever have been esteemed magnanimous ; an enigma to his contemporaries,
scarcely less an enigma to succeeding generations." His assassination and that ot
his immediate predecessor were events for which no adequate motive could be dis-
covered. It was the work, probably, of fanatical men acting solely on their own
impulses, like the assassins of Lincoln and Garfield. How of ten in this respect does
history repeat itself 1

VII.

CRITICAL STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

THE critical, as distinct from the exegetical study of the New Testament, is the
point from whJch to approach Dr. Marvin R. Vincent's recent work,* of which
the first volume is before us. The idea is an excellent one of bringing before the
reader of average education the results of scholarly investigation into the meaning
and force of separate words and idiomatic expressions, thus enabling him to steer
clear of crude interpretations and to discern the inner and peculiar thought of the
writer. The author has in view those who are ignorant of Greek ; but as the
majority of his readers will probably be persons who have at ieai>t some acquaint-
ance with that language, he has wisely inserted the original words, with the
translation, however, always appended. The present volume embraces the
synoptic gospels, Acts, and the epistles of Peter, James, and Jude, and is to be
followed, we trust, at no distant date by an additional volume containing the rest
of the New Testament.

The author, as a rule, does not attempt textual criticism, but follows Westcott
and Hert's text, comparing it with the eighth edition of Tischendorf . The plan of
the work embraces short introductory chapters to each book or set of books under
review, followed at once by the " Word Studies." Thus, for example, we have a
very brief account of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with a disquisition upon the
literary style and other features of the writing of each. We are told that Lake
writes better Greek than the other evangelists ; that he uses seven hundred words
which occur nowhere else in the New Testament ; that many of his terms are of a
technical character peculiar to a physician, and instances of this are brought
forward. To those who desire a general knowledge of such facts without poring
over long treatises, these short chapters will be welcome. Even Alford's con-
densed New Testament for English readers is altogether too heavy for the quick
work now often demanded from clergymen, to say nothing of those readers who
can only digest a little of this kind of intellectual food at a time. We are given
the literal meaning of such words as "repent," "apostles," "tribulation," and the
peculiar force of such expressions as "being in a great agony," "almost thou
persuadest." The peculiarities of the Greek tenses are mada clear, as for
instance in Luke 6: 18: "When he was come into the ship," meaning, while he
was in the act of coming. These few specimens will suffice to show the general

* " Word Studies in the New Testament." By Marvin R. Vincent, D. D. Vol. I.
Charles Scribner's Sons.

468 . THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

scope and plan of the work, and also its practical utility, since the results here
given may fairly be assumed to represent a good deal of material locked up in
lexicons and etymologies.

It is very seldom that Dr. Vincent turns aside from the task of simple defini-
tion and analysis, but he occasionally brings in illustrations of the use of words
from secular writers. Thus, of the expression " Strain at a gnat" he cites Aris-
totle— who had observed that a certain Moorish soldier before he drank wine
always unfolded the end of his turban and placed it over the mouth of his bota, to
strain out the gnats. On disputed renderings the author states the case impar-
tially, and avoids all discussions of doctrine and everything of the nature of
homily. The work will be exceedingly useful to the working clergy, and to men
and women who for any reason desire a closer acquaintance with the thought of
Scripture than comes to people in the ordinary way of reading, or in the perusal of
lengthy commentaries.

VIII.

A GREAT BICYCLE ACHIEVEMENT.

THE conception of a solitary ride round the world on a bicycle was a daring one,
and previously to the appearance of this volume* would have justly been regarded
by most sensible people as foolish and visionary. A journey of this length, even
by an experienced tourist, and with all the modern facilities of travel by land and
sea, is usually thought to demand a good deal of forethought and preparation,
besides a moderately comprehensive outfit. To undertake a journey, much of
which must necessarily be occupied by carrying one's conveyance, one must needs
reduce the baggage to the very smallest compass and weight, discarding everything
not absolutely necessary. Even a knapsack cannot be thought of. A bicycler's
ordinary outfit, with a few indispensable accessories wrapped round the front axle,
stowed in a diminutive baggage-carrier behind, or inclosed in a sole leather case in
front, must suffice for the land journey. Where sea voyages have to be made
other articles can be purchased, but for the bicycle journey proper the impedi-
menta must be of the lightest. For self defense, in circumstances of extreme
peril, a revolver is sufficient. But most necessary of all is a stout heart, perfect
health and spirits, and a practical, ready wit, and self-possession under all vicissi-
tudes. But granting all these, risks of a most serious character and difficulties
seemingly unsurmountable naturally suggest themselves. Mr. Stevens, no doubt,
gave to these points careful preliminary attention. Maps wpre, no doubt, care-
fully studied, and all that forethought and planning could suggest as fitting was
duly noted, and in due course the journey was begun, and was successfully
finished.

This first volume contains the diary of adventure between San Francisco and
Teheran, the capital of Persia, occupying the period between April 22d and Sep-
tember 30th, 1884,— over five months. It was eminently fitting that the narrative
should take the diary form. The impressions as daily described are vivid, and
the reader has all the sensation of sharing the adventures with the traveler him-
self. The amount of information conveyed, and the insight obtainable through
these pages, as to the habits and customs of the many peoples and tribes visited, is
simply wonderful. In no other way could the plain matter-of-fact world be so
thoroughly opened up to scrutiny. Mr. Stevens tells his story with such evident
candor and modesty that one feels perfectly safe in trusting his statements.
Moreover, the style of the book is free from redundancy or exaggeration. There

* "Around the World OB a Bicycle. Vol. I. From San Francisco to Teheran." By
Thomas Stevens. Charles Scribner's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 469

are no rhetorical flourishes or ponderous paragraphs of rhapsody or philosophiz-
ing. The minutest points of incident and travel are set down, as if in anticipation
of the thousand and one questions an interested listener would put, and yet there
is no prolixity, nothing wearisome, not a vestige of egotism, no suggestion of
self -consciousness. At the same time the author does not withhold a single point
of information necessary to the understanding of the case. In this respect the
book is worthy of all commendation. One rises from it refreshed and returns to
it with anticipation,— for it is not to be disposed of at one or two sittings,— and
after reading it through the feeling is one of satisfaction that so much has been
learned with so little effort. It would be a great mistake to imagine that the chief
merit of the book lies in its grotesque and humorous features. There is humor
and all that, but there is an intrinsic value besides, which puts it on a level with
the best descriptive works. The illustrations are very numerous, and help the
reader to the better understanding of the text. A few good maps would have been
a welcome addition. A second volume is to come.

IX.

MISCELLANEOUS .

ALTHOUGH Mr. Baring Gould's short story, entitled " Red Spider,"* contains
few features of the modern sensational novel, being, as the author states in the
preface, but " a slight tale," yet there are in it evident touches of a master hand.
It presents capital features of English village life as it sluggishly ran its rural
course some forty or fifty years ago on the border line of Devonshire and Cornwall.
There are few things more strange than the great diversity to be found in the cus-
toms, habits, and dialect of the various little provinces which make up the island of
Great Britain. Notwithstanding all the leveling influences of modern civilization,
there is still enough of this diversity remaining to constitute a most interesting
and even fascinating study, although, as the author says, old things are passing
away, as in a great social dissolving view. The object of the author in this story
has been not so much to write a novel as to photograph a picture of the dissolving
past before it quite disappear?. We think he has succeeded in his purpose, and, at
the same time, he has written a very interesting story, with a good deal of indi-
viduality about it. The picture of the heroine is a beautiful one, and quite
true to nature. England is rich in just such noble women as Honor Luxmore.
The condition also of the sturdy yeoman farmer, removed by a long mark from the
aristocrat, and yet distinctly and influentially a social feature ,in English life, is
well delineated. It needs a residence of years in the country to find out these
things. We doubt if the changes anticipated by the author will be so sweeping as
he imagines. Some ancient landmarks will remain. Meanwhile we welcome the
attempt to give permanency to these pen pictures by clothing them in the form of
an entertaining story which every reader who begins it will read through to the
end.

" Thraldom11 + appears to us rather a weak and pointless story told in a lively
vein, yet sufficiently interesting, perhaps, to beguile away an hour on a railway
journey. It is the story of a wooing which was almost spoiled by the machina-
tions of a designing woman who had another bridal destination in view for the
young lady. The scene and characters are English.

A short Selection from Mr. Swinburne's Poems t will be welcomed by many

* " Red Spider." A novel. By S. Baring: Gould. D. Appleton & Co.
t " Thraldom." A novel. By Julian Sturgis. D. Appleton & Co.
t Select Poems. By Algernon Charles Swinburne. Worthington Co.

470 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

persons, and we have here a very neat book of two hundred and thirty pages, con-
taining nearly forty pieces, brought together by the author himself and therefore
presumably representing him as he would desire to be seen on a short acquaintance.
This selection is free from some of the idiosyncracies of the poet which have been
subjects for animadversion, but the peculiar style and rhythm are here, and the
hidden meanings also, which are not easily divined by the superficial reader, and
which compel some attention and study if they are to be understood. We agree
with Mr. Stedman, that the distinguishing feature of this poet is his command
over the unexpected resources of the English language, giving a power of expres-
sion to it, and a charm that grows upon one by reflection. Perhaps the most
powerful and passion revealing of these selections is that entitled Iseult at Tin-
tagel, from Tristam of Lyonese. Here are lines almost wholly of monosyllabic
words that are full of pathos :

Nay, Lord, I pray thee let him love not me,
Love me not any more, nor like me die.

* * * *

Turn his heart from me, lest my love too lose
Thee as I lose thee.

* * * *

Let me die rather, and only ; let me be
Hated of him so he be loved of thee,
Lord : for I would not have him with me there
Out of thy light and love In the unlit air,
Out of thy sight in the unseen hell wnere I
Go gladly, going alone, so then on high
Lift up his ; oul and love him.

In '* My Lodger's Legacy,"* while there is enough interest to while away two
or three hours of time that might otherwise be wasted, it can hardly be said that
there are any marks of creative or descriptive talent of a high order. The hero of
the story, whose troubles are thus ventilated, is an English gentleman of good
family, who marries a pretty and ambitious girl in an inferior station of life, and
who, after twenty years of peaceful married life, discovers an intrigue between his
wife and a young man belonging to her former sphere. The husband, not knowing
to what degree of guilt his wife has fallen, but made desperate by his discovery,
plans to take his enemy's life. He is saved from the crime of murder by the
death of the young man from another cause, but the circumstances of the case
throw suspicion on the husband, who is tried for the crime of murder and
acquitted. After this he settles the bulk of his property upon his wife and children
and leaves them for ever, dying in his self-imposed exile. The story is sad
enough to leave a good moral behind it.

In the anonymous story of Agathat the purpose of the author seems to be
the enforcement of the principle that sin is in itself and its consequences evil only,
and can only be overcome by self sacrificing goodness. A young wife learns soon
after her marriage that her husband had committed a grievous wrong against an-
other woman. This is the shadow that falls upon what would otherwise have
been a peaceful and prosperous home. The unhappy victim of the former attach-
ment follows her seducer to New England— these were the days of the early settle-

* " My Lodger's Legacy ; or, The Historv of a Recluse." Written by himself. Com-
piled and arranged by Robert W. Hume. Funk & Wagnalls.
t " Agatha and the Shadow." A novel. Roberts Bros.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 471

ment — and makes matters very uncomfortable for the married pair. Her object
is to induce the husband to leave his present wife and make good his early vows to
herself by marriage. She is a Jewess, with strong traits of character and powers
of fascination. Failing in this purpose she loses self-respect and sinks to the lowest
depths of vice. The husband does not deny his guilt or attempt justification,
though there appear to be some extenuating circumstances. He cleaves, however,
to Agatha, who gives him her trust and sympathy. After his death the widow
finds a long-sought opportunity of befriending the outcast and winning her back to
virtue. The scene of the story is laid principally in the new colonies, and a good
deal of the early history of the settlements is interwoven with the narrative,
which is evidently founded on fact, and is in many respects a quaint and powerful
story, with a sound moral underlying it.

The thought of gathering together in a memorial volume* a number of tributes
and testimonies from representative people of all schools and persuasions in mem-
ory of Henry Ward Beecher was happily conceived and has been well carried cut.
About a hundred such tributes have been thus brought together. We find the
names of Robert Collyer, Talmage, Swing, Ctiyler, Ormiston, Hepwcrth, McGlynn,
Lyman Abbott, Chadwick, Bartol, Frothingham, Gladden, S. *. Smith, Adler,
Eggleston, Scbaff, Newman Hall, among theologians. The list is not a long
one, and not as thoroughly representative as might have been expected, even
after making all allowances for the peculiar position sustained by Mr. Beecher
towards his brethren in the ministry. From the ranks of the laity we find such
names as Dr. O. W. Holmes, General W. T. Sherman, Admiral D. D. Porter,
Whittier, Fremont, Mrs. Garfield, ex-President Hayes, President Cleveland, Col.
Robert G. Ingersoll, Geo. W. Childs, Boucicault, Pasteur, Henry Bergh, and
many others. Most of these tributes are in a tone of unqualified admiration, and
many of them contain anecdotes and reminiscences which have not been published
elsewhere. Taken as a wkole, the collection is remarkabla, as showing the different
points of view from which such a man and such a life has been regarded.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Charles Scribner^s Sons.

The Story of a New York House. H. C Bunner. Illustrated by A. B. Frost.
Underwoods. Robert Louis Stevenson.

From, the Author.

Medical and Surgical Memoirs. Vol. II. Fevers. Joseph Jones, M.D., New
Orleans.

Charles L. Webster & Co.

Life of Leo XIII. From an authentic memoir furnished by his order. Ber-
nard O'ReilJy, D.D., LL.D.

Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.

The Girl's Book of Famous Queens. Lydia Hoyt Farmer.

* " Beecher Memorial." Contemporaneous Tributes to the Memory of Henry Ward
Beecher. Compiled and Edited by Edward W. Bok. Privately printed.

472 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Famous American Authors. Sarah K. BoJton.

What to Do ? Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow. Count Lyof N.
Tolstoi

HuVbard Brothers.

Samantha at Saratoga : or. ** Flirtin' with Fashion." Josiah Allen's Wife
(Marietta Holley).

A. Lovell & Co.

Greater America. Hits and Hints. A Foreign Resident.

Benjamin & Bell.

Sea Spray ; or, Facts and Fancies of a Yachtsman. S. G. W. Benjamin.

O. P. Putnam's Sons.

Questions of the Day. No. 39. Federal Taxes and State Expenses. William
H. Jones.

The Author.

Songs and Song Legends. Edward Lippitt Fales.

Funk & Wagnalls.

My Lodger's Legacy ; or, The History of a Recluse. Robert W. Hume.

Thomas Whittaker.

The Vine Out of Egypt ; or, The Growth and Development of the American
Episcopal Church, with Special Reference to the Church Life of the Future.
Wm. Wilberforce Newton.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW,

No. CCCLXXII.

NOVEMBER, 1887.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M, FIELD, D. D.

" Doubt is called the beacon of the wise."

My DEAK MR. FIELD :

I ANSWER your letter because it is manly, candid and generous.
It is not often that a minister of the gospel of universal benevo-
lence speaks of an unbeliever except in terms of reproach, con-
tempt and hatred. The meek are often malicious. The state-
ment in your letter, that some of your 'brethren look upon me as
a monster on" account of my unbelief, tends to show that those
who love God are not always the friends of their fellow men.

Is it not strange that people who admit that they ought to be
eternally damned, that they are by nature totally depraved, and
that there is no soundness or health in them, can be so arro-
gantly egotistic as to look upon others as f ' monsters .?" And yet
" some of your brethren/' who regard unbelievers as infamous,
rely for salvation entirely on the goodness of another, and expect
to receive as alms an eternity of joy.

The first question that arises between us, is as to the inno-
cence of honest error — as to the right to express an honest
thought.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 372. 31

474 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

You must know that perfectly honest men differ on many
important subjects. Some believe in free trade, others are the
advocates of protection. There are honest Democrats and sincere
Eepublicans. How do you account for these differences ? Edu-
cated men, presidents of colleges, cannot agree upon questions
capable of solution — questions that the mind can grasp, concern-
ing which the evidence is open to all and where the facts can be
with accuracy ascertained. How do you explain this ? If such
differences can exist consistently with the good faith of those who
differ, can you not conceive of honest people entertaining differ-
ent views on subjects about which nothing can be positively
known ?

You do not regard me as a monster. ( ' Some of your breth-
ren " do. How do you account for this difference ? Of course,
your brethren — their hearts having been softened by the Presby-
terian God — are governed by charity and love. They do not
regard me as a monster because I have committed an infamous
crime, but simply for the reason that I have expressed my honest
thoughts.

What should I have done ? I have read the bible with great
care, and the conclusion has forced itself upon my mind not only
that it is not inspired, but that it is not true. Was it my duty
to speak or act contrary to this conclusion ? Was it my duty to
remain silent ? If I had been untrue to myself, if I had joined
the majority, — if I had declared the book to be the inspired word
of God, — would your brethren still have regarded me as a mon-
ster ? Has religion had control of the world so long that an hon-
est man seems monstrous ?

According to your creed — according to your bible — the same
Being who made the mind of man, who fashioned every brain,
and sowed within those wondrous fields the seeds of every thought
and deed, inspired the bible's every word, and gave it as a guide
to all the world. Surely the book should satisfy the brain. And
yet, there are millions who do not believe in the inspiration of the
scriptures. Some of the greatest and best have held the claim of
inspiration in contempt. No Presbyterian ever stood higher in
the realm of thought than Humboldt. He was familiar with
Nature from sands to stars, and gave his thoughts, his discoveries
and conclusions, "more precious than the tested gold," to all
mankind. Yet he not only rejected the religion of your

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 475

brethren, but denied the existence of their God. Certainly,
Charles Darwin was one of the greatest and purest of men, — as
free from prejudice as the mariner's compass, — desiring only to
find amid the mists and clouds of ignorance the star of truth.
No man ever exerted a greater influence on the intellectual world.
His discoveries, carried to their legitimate conclusion, destroy
the creeds and sacred scriptures of mankind. In the light of
"Natural Selection/' "The Survival of the Fittest," and " The
Origin of Species," even the Christian religion becomes a gross
and cruel superstition. Yet Darwin was an honest, thoughtful,
brave and generous man.

Compare, I beg of you, these men, Humboldt and Darwin,
with the founders of the Presbyterian Church. Head the life of
Spinoza, the loving pantheist, and then that of John Calvin, and
tell me, candidly, which, in your opinion, was a " monster."
Even your brethren do not claim that men are to be eternally pun-
ished for having been mistaken as to the truths of geology, as-
tronomy, or mathematics. A man may deny the rotundity and
rotation of the earth, laugh at the attraction of gravitation, scout
the nebular hypothesis, and hold the multiplication table in ab-
horrence, and yet join at last the angelic choir. I insist upon
the same freedom of thought in all departments of human knowl-
edge. Reason is the supreme and final test.

If God has made a revelation to man, it must have been ad-
dressed to his reason. There is no other faculty that could even
decipher the address. I admit that reason is a small and feeble
flame, a flickering torch by stumblers carried in the starless night,
— blown and flared by passion's storm, — and yet it is the only
light. Extinguish that, and nought remains.

You draw a distinction between what you are pleased to call
" superstition " and religion. You are shocked at the Hindoo
mother when she gives her child to death at the supposed com-
mand of her God. What do you think of Abraham, of Jephthah?
What is your opinion of Jehovah himself ? Is not the sacrifice of
a child to a phantom as horrible in Palestine as in India ? Why
should a God demand a sacrifice from man ? Why should the
infinite ask anything from the finite ? Should the sun beg of the
glow-worm, and should the momentary spark excite the envy of
the source of light ?

You must remember that the Hindoo mother believes that her

476 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

child will be forever blest — that it will become the especial care
of the God to whom it has been given. This is a sacrifice through
a false belief on the part of the mother. She breaks her heart for
the love of her babe. But what do you think of the Christian
mother who expects to be happy in heaven, with her child a con-
vict in the eternal prison — a prison in which none die, and from
which none escape ? What do you say of those Christians who
believe that they, in heaven, will be so filled with ecstacy
that all the loved of earth will be forgotten — that all the sacred
relations of life, and all the passions of the heart, will fade
and die, so that they will look with stony, unreplying, happy eyes
upon the miseries of the lost ?

You have laid down a rule by which superstition can be dis-
tinguished from religion. It is this : ' ' It makes that a crime
which is not a crime, and that a virtue which is not a virtue."
Let us test your religion by this rule.

Is it a crime to investigate, to think, to reason, to observe ?
Is it a crime to be governed by that which to you is evidence, and
is it infamous to express your honest thought ? There is also an-
other question: Is credulity a virtue ? Is the open mouth of ig-
norant wonder the only entrance to Paradise ?

According to your creed, those who believe are to be saved,
and those who do not believe are to be eternally lost. When you
condemn men to everlasting pain for unbelief — that is to say, for
acting in accordance with that which is .evidence to them — do you
not make that a crime which is not a crime ? And when you
reward men with an eternity of joy for simply believing that which
happens to be in accord with their minds, do you not make that a
virtue which is not a virtue ? In other words, do you not bring
your own religion exactly within your own definition of superstition ?

The truth is, that no one can justly be held responsible for his
thoughts. The brain thinks without asking our consent. We
believe, or we disbelieve, without an effort of the will. Belief is a
result. It is the effect of evidence upon the mind. The scales
turn in spite of him who watches. There is no opportunity of
being honest or dishonest in the formation of an opinion. The
conclusion is entirely independent of desire. We must believe,
or we must doubt, in spite of what we wish.

That which must be, has the right to be.

We think in spite of ourselves. The brain thinks as the heart

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 477

beats, as the eyes see, as the blood pursues its course in the old
accustomed ways.

The question then is, not have we the right to think, — that
being a necessity, — but have we the right to express our honest
thoughts ? You certainly have the right to express yours, and
you have exercised that right. Some of your brethren, who re-
gard me as a monster, have expressed theirs. The question
now is, have I the right to express mine ? In other words,
have I the right to answer your letter ? To make that a crime in
me which is a virtue in you, certainly comes within your defini-
tion of superstition. To exercise a right yourself which you deny
to me is simply the act of a tyrant. Where did you get your right
to express your honest thoughts ? When, and where, and how did
I lose mine ?

You would not burn, you would not even imprison me, be-
cause I differ with you on a subject about which neither of us
knows anything. To you the savagery of the Inquisition is only
a proof of the depravity of man. You are far better than your
creed. You believe that even the Christian world is outgrowing
the frightful feeling that fagot, and dungeon, and thumb-screw
are legitimate arguments, calculated to convince those upon whom
they are used, that the religion of those who use them was founded
by a God of infinite compassion. You will admit that he who now
persecutes for opinion's sake is infamous. And yet, the God you
worship will, according to your creed, torture through all the end-
less years the man who entertains an honest doubt. A belief in
such a God is the foundation and cause of all religious persecution.
You may reply that only the belief in a false God causes believers to
be inhuman. But you must admit that the Jews believed in the
true God, and you are forced to say that they were so malicious,
so cruel, so savage, that they crucified the only Sinless Being who
ever lived. This crime was committed, not in spite of their re-
ligion, but in accordance with it. They simply obeyed the com-
mand of Jehovah. And the followers of this Sinless Being, who,
for all these centuries, have denounced the cruelty of the Jews for
crucifying a man on account of his opinion, have destroyed mill-
ions and millions of their fellow men for differing with them. And
this same Sinless Being threatens to torture in eternal fire countless
myriads for the same offense. Beyond this, inconsistency cannot
go. At this point absurdity becomes infinite.

478 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Your creed transfers the Inquisition to another world, mak-
ing it eternal. Your God becomes, or rather is, an infinite
Torquemada, who denies to his countless victims even the mercy
of death. And this you call " a consolation."

You insist that at the foundation of every religion is the idea
of God. According to your creed, all ideas of God, except those
entertained by those of your faith, are absolutely false. You
are not called upon to defend the Gods of the nations dead, nor
the Gods of heretics. It is your business to defend the God of
the bible — the God of the Presbyterian Church. When in the
ranks doing battle for your creed, you must wear the uniform
of your Church. You dare not say that it is sufficient to insure
the salvation of a soul to believe in a god, or in some god.
According to your creed, man must believe in your God. All
the nations dead believed in Gods, and all the worshipers of
Zeus, and Jupiter, and Isis, and Osiris, and Brahma prayed and
sacrificed in vain. Their petitions were not answered, and their
souls were not saved. Surely you do not claim that it is sufficient
to believe in any one of the heathen gods.

What right have you to occupy the position of the deists, and
to put forth arguments that even Christians have answered ? The
deist denounced the God of the bible because of his cruelty, and
at the same time lauded the God of Nature. The Christian re-
plied that the God of Nature was as cruel as the God of the bible.
This answer was complete.

I feel that you are entitled to the admission that none have
been, that none are, too ignorant, too degraded, to believe in the
supernatural ; and I freely give you the advantage of this admis-
sion. Only a few — and they among the wisest, noblest, and
purest of the human race — have regarded all gods as monstrous
myths. 'Yet a belief in ' ' the true God " does not seem to make men
charitable or just. For most people, theism is the easiest solution
of the universe. They are satisfied with saying that there must
be a Being who created and who governs the world. But the uni-
versality of a belief does not tend to establish its truth. The
belief in the existence of a malignant Devil has been as universal
as the belief in a beneficent God, yet few intelligent men will say
that the universality of this belief in an infinite demon even tends
to prove his existence. In the world of thought, majorities count
for nothing. Truth has always dwelt with the few.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 479

Man has filled the world with impossible monsters, and he
has been the sport and prey of these phantoms born of igno-
rance and hope and fear. To appease the wrath of these mon-
sters man has sacrificed his fellow man. He has shed the blood
of wife and child ; he has fasted and prayed ; he has suffered
beyond the power of language to express, and yet he has re-
ceived nothing from these gods — they have heard no supplica-
tion, they have answered no prayer.

You may reply that your God " sends his rain on the just and
on the unjust," and that this fact proves that he is merciful to
all alike. I answer, that your God sends his pestilence on the
just and on the unjust — that his earthquakes devour and his
cyclones rend and wreck the loving and the vicious, the honest
and the criminal. Do not these facts prove that your God is
cruel to all alike ? In other words, do they not demonstrate the
absolute impartiality of the divine negligence ?

Do you not believe that any honest man of average intelligence,
having absolute control of the rain, could do vastly better than is
being done ? Certainly there would be no droughts or floods ; the
crops would not be permitted to wither and die, while rain was
being wasted in the sea. Is it conceivable that a good man with
power to control the winds would not prevent cyclones ? Would
you not rather trust a wise and honest man with the lightning ?

Why should an infinitely wise and powerful God destroy the
good and preserve the vile ? Why should he treat all alike here,
and in another world make an infinite difference ? Why should
your God allow his worshipers, his adorers, to be destroyed by
his enemies ? Why should he allow the honest, the loving, the
noble, to perish at the stake ? Can you answer these questions ?
Does it not seem to you that your God must have felt a touch of
shame when the poor slave mother — one that had been robbed of
her babe — knelt and with clasped hands, in a voice broken with
sobs, commenced her prayer with the words " Our Father ?"

It gave me pleasure to find that, notwithstanding your creed,
you are philosophical enough to say that some men are incapaci-
tated, by reason of temperament, for believing in the existence
of God. Now, if a belief in God is necessary to the salvation of
the soul, why should God create a soul without this capacity ?
Why should he create souls that he knew would be lost ? You
seem to think that it is necessary to be poetical, or dreamy, in

480 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

order to be religious, and by inference, at least, you deny certain
qualities to me that you deem necessary. Do you account for the
atheism of Shelley by saying that he was not poetic, and do you
quote his lines to prove the existence of the very God whose being
he so passionately denied ? Is it possible that Napoleon — one of
the most infamous of men — had a nature so finely strung that he
was sensitive to the divine influences ? Are you driven to the
necessity of proving the existence of one tyrant by the words of
another ? Personally, I have but little confidence in a religion
that satisfied the heart of a man who, to gratify his ambition, filled
half the world with widows and orphans. In regard to Agassiz,
it is just to say that he furnished a vast amount of testimony in
favor of the truth of the theories of Charles Darwin, and then
denied the correctness of these theories — preferring the good
opinion of Harvard for a few days to the lasting applause of the
intellectual world.

I agree with you that the world is a mystery, not only, but
that everything in Nature is equally mysterious, and that there is
no way of escape from the mystery of life and death. To me, the
crystallization of the snow is as mysterious as the constellations.
But when you endeavor to explain the mystery of the universe by
the mystery of God, you do not even exchange mysteries — you
simply make one more.

Nothing can be mysterious enough to become an explana-
tion.

The mystery of man cannot be explained by the mystery of
God. That mystery still asks for explanation. The mind is so
that it cannot grasp the idea of an infinite personality. That is
beyond the circumference. This being so, it is impossible that man
can be convinced by any evidence of the existence of that which he
cannot in any measure comprehend. Such evidence would be
equally incomprehensible with the incomprehensible fact sought
to be established by it, and the intellect of man can grasp neither
the one nor the other.

You admit that the God of Nature — that is to say, your God
— is as inflexible as Nature itself. Why should man worship
the inflexible ? Why should he kneel to the unchangeable ? You
say that your God <s does not bend to human thought any more
than to human will," and that "the more we study him, the
more we find that he is not what we imagined him to be." So

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 481

that, after all, the only thing you are really certain of in relation
to your God is, that he is not what you think he is. Is it not
almost absurd to insist that such a state of mind is necessary to
salvation, or that it is a moral restraint, or that it is the founda-
tion of social order ?

The most religious nations have been the most immoral,
the cruelest and the most unjust. Italy was far worse under
the Popes than under the Caesars. Was there ever a barbarian
nation more savage than the Spain of the sixteenth century ?
Certainly you must know that what you call religion has pro-
duced a thousand civil wars, and has severed with the sword all
the natural ties that produce " the unity and married calm of
States." Theology is the fruitful mother of discord ; order is the
child" of reason. If you will candidly consider this question— if
you will for a few moments forget your preconceived opinions —
you will instantly see that the instinct of self-preservation holds
society together. Eeligion itself was born of this instinct. People,
being ignorant, believed that the Gods were jealous and revenge-
ful. They peopled space with phantoms that demanded worship
and delighted in sacrifice and ceremony, phantoms that could be
flattered by praise and changed by prayer. These ignorant
people wished to preserve themselves. They supposed that they
could in this way avoid pestilence and famine, and postpone per-
haps the day of death. Do you not see that self-preservation
lies at the foundation of worship ? Nations, like individuals,
defend and protect themselves. Nations, like individuals, have
fears, have ideals, and live for the accomplishment of certain
ends. Men defend their property because it is of value. In-
dustry is the enemy of theft. Men, as a rule, desire to live, and
for that reason murder is a crime. Fraud is hateful to the
victim. The majority of mankind work and produce the neces-
sities, the comforts, and the luxuries of life. They wish to re-
tain the fruits of their labor. Government is one of the instru-
mentalities for the preservation of what man deems of value.
This is the foundation of social order, and this holds society
together.

Religion has been the enemy of social order, because it directs
the attention of man to another world. Religion teaches its vo-
taries to sacrifice this world for the sake of that other. The effect
is to weaken the ties that hold families and States together. Of

482 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

what consequence is anything in this world compared with eternal

joy?

You insist that man is not capable of self government, and that
God made the mistake of filling a world with failures — in other
words, that man must be governed not by himself, but by your
God, and that your God produces order, and establishes and pre-
serves all the nations of the earth. This being so, your God is
responsible for the government of this world. Does he preserve
order in Russia ? Is he accountable for Siberia ? Did he establish
the institution of slavery ? "Was he the founder of the Inquisi-
tion ?

You answer all these questions by calling my attention to "the
retributions of history." What are the retributions of history ?
The honest were burned at the stake ; the patriotic, the generous,
and the noble were allowed to die in dungeons ; whole races were
enslaved; millions of mothers were robbed* of their babes. What
were the retributions of history ? They who committed these
crimes wore crowns, and they who justified these infamies were
adorned with the tiara.

You are mistaken when you say that Lincoln at Gettysburg
said : "Just and true are thy judgments, Lord God Almighty."
Something like this occurs in his last inaugural, in which he says,
— speaking of his hope that the war might soon be ended, — " If it
shall continue until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be
paid by another drawn with the sword, still it must be said, 4 The
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether/" But
admitting that you are correct in the assertion, let me ask you
one question : Could c-ne standing over the body of Lincoln, the
blood slowly oozing from the madman's wound, have truthfully
said : "Just and true are thy judgments, Lord God Almighty ?"

Do you really believe that this world is governed by an infi-
nitely wise and good God ? Have you convinced even yourself of
this ? Why should God permit the triumph of injustice ? Why
should the loving be tortured ? Why should the noblest be de-
stroyed ? Why should the world be filled with misery, with igno-
rance, and with want ? What reason have you for believing that
your God will do better in another world than he has done and is
doing in this ? Will he be wiser ? Will he have more power ?
Will he be more merciful ?

When I say " your God," of course I mean the God described

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 483

in the bible and the Presbyterian Confession of Faith. But
again I say, that in the nature of things, there can be no evidence
of the existence of an infinite being.

An infinite being must be conditionless, and for that reason
there is nothing that a finite being can do that can by any pos-
sibility affect the well-being of the conditionless. This being so,
man can neither owe rior discharge any debt or duty to an infinite
being. The infinite cannot want, and man can do nothing for a
being who wants nothing. A conditioned being can be made
happy, or miserable, by changing conditions, but the conditionless
is absolutely independent of cause and effect,

I do not say that a God does not exist, neither do I say that a
God does exist ; but I say that I do not know — that there can be
no evidence to my mind of the existence of such a being, and that
my mind is so that it is incapable of even thinking of an infinite
personality. I know that in your creed you describe God as f ' without
body, parts, or passions." This, to my mind, is simply a description
of an infinite vacuum. I have had no experience with gods. This
world is the only one with which I am acquainted, and I was sur-
prised to find in your letter the expression that " perhaps others
are better acquainted with that of which I am so ignorant." Did
you, by this, intend to say that you know anything of any other
state of existence — that you have inhabited some other planet —
that you lived before you were born, and that you recollect some-
thing of that other world, or of that other state ?

Upon the question of immortality you have done me, uninten-
tionally, a great injustice. "With regard to that hope, I have
never uttered " a flippant or a trivial " word. I have said a thou-
sand times, and I say again, that the idea of immortality, that,
like a sea, has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, with its count-
less waves of hope and fear beating against the shores and rocks
of time and fate, was not born of any book, nor of any creed, nor
of any religion. It was born of human affection, and it will con-
tinue to ebb and flow beneath the mists and clouds of doubt and
darkness as long as love kisses the lips of death.

I have said a thousand times, and I say again, that we do not
know, we cannot say, whether death is a wall or a door — the be-
ginning, or end, of a day — the spreading of pinions to soar, or
the folding forever of wings — the rise or the set of a sun, or an
endless life, that brings rapture and love to every one.

484 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The belief in immortality is far older than Christianity.
Thousands of years before Christ was born billions of people had
lived and died in that hope. Upon countless graves had been laid
in love and tears the emblems of another life. The heaven of
the New Testament was to be in this world. The dead, after they
were raised, were to live here. Not one satisfactory word was said
to have been uttered by Christ — nothing philosophic, nothing
clear, nothing that adorns, like a bow of promise, the cloud of
doubt.

According to the account in the New Testament, Christ was
dead for a period of nearly three days. After his resurrection,
why did not some one of his disciples ask him where he had been ?
Why did he not tell them what world he had visited ? There was
the opportunity to " bring life and immortality to light." And
yet he was silent as the grave that he had left — speechless as the
stone that angels had rolled away.

How do you account for this ? Was it not infinitely cruel to
leave the world in darkness and in doubt, when one word could
have filled all time with hope and light ?

The hope of immortality is the great oak round which have
climbed the poisonous vines of superstition. The vines have not
supported the oak — the oak has supported the vines. As long as
men live and love and die, this hope will blossom in the human
heart.

All I have said upon this subject has been to express my hope
and confess my lack of knowledge. Neither by word nor look have
I expressed any other feeling than sympathy with those who hope
to live again — for those who bend above their dead and dream of
life to come. But I have denounced the selfishness and heartless-
ness of those who expect for themselves an eternity of joy, and for
the rest of mankind predict, without a tear, a world of endless
pain. Nothing can be more contemptible than such a hope — a
hope that can give satisfaction only to the hyenas of the human
race.

When I say that I do not know — when I deny the existence of
perdition, you reply that "there is something very cruel in this
treatment of the belief of my fellow creatures."

You have had the goodness to invite me to a grave over which
a mother bends and weeps for her only son. I accept your invi-
tation. We will go together. Do not, I pray you, deal in splen-

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 485

did generalities. Be explicit. Eemember that the son for whom
the loving mother weeps was not a Christian, not a believer in the
inspiration of the Bible nor in the divinity of Jesus Christ. The
mother turns to you for consolation, for some star of hope in the
midnight of her grief. What must you say ? Do not desert the
Presbyterian creed. Do not forget the threatenings of Jesus
Christ. What must you say ? Will you read a portion of the
Presbyterian Confession of Faith ? Will you read this ?

" Although the light of Nature, and the works of creation and Providence, do
so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave man inexcus-
able, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of his will which
is necessary to salvation."

Or, will you read this ?

" By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and
angels are predestined unto everlasting life and others foreordained to everlasting
death. These angels and men, thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly
and unchangeably designed, and their number is so certain and definite that it can-
not be either increased or diminished."

Suppose the mother, lifting her tear-stained face, should say :
(c My son was good, generous, loving, and kind. He gave his life
for me. Is there no hope for him ?" Would you then put this
serpent in her breast ?

" Men not professing the Christian religion cannot be saved in any other way
whatsoever, be they never so diligent to conform their lives according to the light
of Nature. We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin. There is no sin so
small but that it deserves damnation. Works done by unregenerate men,
although, for the matter of that, they may be things which God commands, and of
good use both to themselves and others, are sinful and cannot please God or make
a man meet to receive Christ or God ."

And suppose the mother should then sobbingly ask: " What
has become of my son ? Where is he now ?" Would you still read
from your Confession of Faith, or from your Catechism — this ?

u The souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and
utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. At the last day the
righteous shall come into everlasting life, but the wicked shall be cast into
eternal torment and punished with everlasting destruction. The wicked shall be
cast into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torment, both of body and soul,
with the devil and his angels, forever."

If the poor mother still wept, still refused to be comforted,
would you thrust this dagger in her heart ?

486 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

" At the Day of Judgment you, being caught up to Christ in the clouds, shall
be seated at his right hand and there openly acknowledged and acquitted, and you
shall join with him in the damnation of your son."

If this failed to still the beatings of her aching heart, would
you repeat these words which you say came from the loving soul
of Christ ?

" They who believe and are baptized shall be saved, and they who believe not
shall be damned ; and these shall go away into everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels."

Would you not be compelled, according to your belief, to tell
this mother that " there is but one name given under heaven and
among men whereby" the souls of men can enter the gates of para-
dise ? Would you not be compelled to say : " Your son lived in
a Christian land. The means of grace were within his reach.
He died not having experienced a change of heart, and your son
is forever lost. You can meet your son again only by dying in
your sins ; but if you will give your heart to God you can never
clasp him to your breast again."

What could I say ? Let me tell you :

" My dear madam, this reverend gentleman knows nothing of
another world. He cannot see beyond the tomb. He has simply
stated to you the superstitions of ignorance, of cruelty and fear.
If there be in this universe a God, he certainly is as good as you
are. Why should he have loved your son in life — loved him, ac-
cording to this reverend gentleman, to that degree that he gave
his life for him; and why should that love be changed to hatred
tne moment your son was dead ?

" My dear woman, there are no punishments, there are no re-
wards— there are consequences ; and of one thing you may rest
assured, and that is, that every soul, no matter what sphere it
may inhabit, will have the everlasting opportunity of doing
right.

" If death ends all, and if this handful of dust over which you
weep is all there is, you have this consolation : Your son is not
within the power of this reverend gentleman's God — that is some-
thing. Your son does not suffer. Next to a life of joy is the
dreamless sleep of death."

Does it not seem to you infinitely absurd to call orthodox
Christianity " a consolation ?" Here in this world, where every

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 487

human being is enshrouded in cloud and mist, — where all lives are
filled with mistakes, — where no one claims to be perfect, is it " a
consolation" to say that " the smallest sin deserves eternal pain ?"
Is it possible for the ingenuity of man to extract from the doctrine
of hell one drop, one ray, of " consolation ?" If that doctrine be
true, is not your God an infinite criminal ? Why should he have
created uncounted billions destined to suffer forever ? Why did he
not leave them unconscious dust ? Compared with this crime,
any crime that man can by any possibility commit is a virtue.

Think for a moment of your God, — the keeper of an infinite
penitentiary filled with immortal convicts, — your God an eternal
turnkey, without the pardoning power. In the presence of this
infinite horror, you complacently speak of the atonement, — a
scheme that has not yet gathered wi thin its horizon a billionth
part of the human race, — an atonement with one-half the world
remaining undiscovered for fifteen hundred years after it was made.

If there could be no suffering, there could be no sin. To un-
justly cause suffering is the only possible crime. How can a God
accept the suffering of the innocent in lieu of the punishment of
the guilty ?

According to your theory, this infinite being, by his mere will,
makes right and wrong. This I do not admit. Eight and wrong
exist in the nature of things — in the relation they bear to man,
and to sentient beings. You have already admitted that te Nature
is inflexible, and that a violated law calls for its consequences."
I insist that no God can step between an act and its natural
effects. If God exists, he has nothing to do with punishment,
nothing to do with reward. From certain acts flow certain con-
sequences ; these consequences increase or decrease the happiness
of man ; and the consequences must be borne.

A man who has forfeited his life to the commonwealth may be
pardoned, but a man who has violated a condition of his own
well-being cannot be pardoned — there is no pardoning power.
The laws of the State are made, and, being made, can be changed ;
but the facts of the universe cannot be changed. The rela-
tion of act to consequence cannot be altered. This is above all
power, and, consequently, there is no analogy between the laws
of the State and the facts in Nature. An infinite God could
not change the relation between the diameter and circumference
of the circle.

488 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

A man having committed a crime may be pardoned, but I deny
the right of the State to punish an innocent man in the place of
the pardoned — no matter how willing the innocent man may be to
suffer the punishment. There is no law in Nature, no fact in
Nature, by which the innocent can be justly punished to the
end that the guilty may go free. Let it be understood once for
all : Nature cannot pardon.

You have recognized this truth. You have asked me what is
to become of one who seduces and betrays, of the criminal with
the blood of his victim upon his hands. Without the slightest
hesitation I answer, whoever commits a crime against another
must, to the utmost of his power in this world and in another, if
there be one, make full and ample restitution, and in addition
must bear the natural consequences of his offense. No man can
be perfectly happy, either in this world or in any other, who has.
by his perfidy broken a loving and a confiding heart. No power
can step between acts and consequences — no forgiveness, no
atonement.

But, my dear friend, you have taught for many years, if
you are a Presbyterian, or an evangelical Christian, that a man
may seduce and betray, and that the poor victim, driven to
insanity, leaping from some wharf at night where ships strain at
their anchors in storm and darkness — you have taught that this
poor girl may be tormented forever by a God of infinite compas-
sion. This is not all that you have taught. You have said to the
seducer, to the betrayer, to the one who would not listen to her
wailing cry, — who would not even stretch forth his hand to catch
her fluttering garments, — you have said to him : " Believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be happy forever ; you shall
live in the realm of infinite delight, from which you can, without
a shadow falling upon your face, observe the poor girl, your vic-
tim, writhing in the agonies of hell." You have taught this.
For my part, I do not see how an angel in heaven meeting another
angel whom he had robbed on the earth, could feel entirely blissful.
I go further. Any decent angel, no matter if sitting at the right
hand of God, should he see in hell one of his victims, would leave
heaven itself for the purpose of wiping one tear from the cheek
of the damned.

You seem to have forgotten your statement in the commence-
ment of your letter, that your God is as inflexible as Nature —

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 439

that he bends not to human thought nor to human will. You
seem to have forgotten the line which you emphasized with italics :
" The effect of everything which is of the nature of a cause, is
eternal." In the light of this sentence, where do you find a place
for forgiveness — for your atonement ? Where is a way to escape
from the effect of a cause that is eternal ? Do you not see that
this sentence is a cord with which I easily tie your hands ? The
scientific part of your letter destroys the theological. You have
put " new wine into old bottles/' and the predicted result has
followed. Will the angels in heaven, the redeemed of earth, lose
their memory ? Will not all the redeemed rascals remember their
rascality ? Will not all the redeemed assassins remember the faces
of the dead ? Will not all the seducers and betrayers remember
her sighs, her tears, and the tones of her voice, and will not, the
conscience of the redeemed be as inexorable as the conscience of
the damned ?

If memory is to be forever " the warder of the brain/' and if
the redeemed can never forget the sins they committed, the pain
and anguish they caused, then they can never be perfectly happy;
and if the lost can never forget the good they did, the kind actions,
the loving words, the heroic deeds; and if the memory of good
deeds gives the slightest pleasure, then the lost can never be per-
fectly miserable. Ought not the memory of a good action to live
as long as the memory of a bad one ? So that the undying mem-
ory of the good, in heaven, brings undying pain, and the undying
memory of those in hell brings undying pleasure. Do you not see
that if men have done good and bad, the future can have neither
a perfect heaven nor a perfect hell ?

I believe in the manly doctrine that every human being must bear
the consequences of his acts, and that no man can be justly saved or
damned on account of the goodness or the wickedness of another.

If by atonement you mean the natural effect of self-sacrifice,
the effects following a noble and disinterested action ; if you mean
that the life and death of Christ are worth their effect upon the
human race, — which your letter seems to show, — then there is no
Question between us. If you have thrown away the old and bar-
barous idea that a law had been broken, that God demanded a
sacrifice, and that Christ, the innocent, was offered up for us, and
that he bore the wrath of God and suffered in our place,, then I
congratulate you with all my heart.
VOL. CXLV.— NO. 372. 32

490 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

It seems to me impossible that life should be exceedingly joy-
ous to any one who is acquainted with its miseries, its burdens, and
its tears. I know that as darkness follows light around the globe,
so misery and misfortune follow the sons of men. According to
your creed, the future state will be worse than this. Here, the
vicious may reform; here, the wicked may repent; here, a few
gleams of sunshine may fall upon the darkest life. But in your
future state, for countless billions of the human race, there will
be no reform, no opportunity of doing right, and no possible
gleam of sunshine can ever touch their souls. Do you not see >
that your future state is infinitely worse than this ? You seem
to mistake the glare of hell for the light of morning.

Let us throw away the dogma of eternal retribution. Let us
"cling to all that can bring a ray of hope into the darkness of this
life."

You have been kind enough to say that I find a subject for ,
caricature in the doctrine of regeneration. If, by regeneration, ,
you mean reformation, — if you mean that there comes a time in
the life of a young man when he feels the touch of responsibility,
and that he leaves his foolish or vicious ways, and concludes to
act like an honest man, — if this is what you mean by regeneration,
I am a believer. But that is not the definition of regeneration in
your creed — that is not Christian regeneration. There is some
mysterious, miraculous, supernatural, invisible agency, called, I
believe, the Holy Ghost, that enters and changes the heart of. ,
man, and this mysterious agency is like the wind, under the con-
trol, apparently, of no one, coming and going when and whither it
listeth. It is this illogical and absurd view of regeneration that
I have attacked.

You ask me how it came to pass that a Hebrew peasant, born
among the hills of Galilee, had a wisdom above that of Socrates
or Plato, of Confucius or Buddha, and you conclude by saying,
" This is the greatest of miracles — that such a being should live
and die on the earth/'

I can hardly admit your conclusion, because I remember that
Christ said nothing in favor of the family relation. As a matter
of fact, his life tended to cast discredit upon marriage. He said
nothing against the institution of slavery ; nothing against the
tyranny of government ; nothing of our treatment of animals ;
nothing about education, about intellectual progress ; nothing of

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 491

art, declared no scientific truth, and said nothing as to the rights
and duties of nations.

You may reply that all this is included in " Do unto others as
you would be done by" ; and " Resist not evil." More than this
is necessary to educate the human race. It is not enough to say
to your child or to your pupil, " Do right. " The great question
still remains : What is right ? Neither is there any wisdom in
the idea of non-resistance. Force without mercy is tyranny.
Mercy without force is but a waste of tears. Take from virtue
the right of self-defense, and vice becomes the master of the
world.

Let me ask you how it came to pass that an ignorant driver of
camels, a man without family, without wealth, became master of
hundreds of millions of human beings ? How is it that he con-
quered and overran more than half of the Christian world ? How
is it that on a thousand fields the banner of the cross went down
in blood, while that of the crescent floated in triumph ? How do
you account for the fact that the flag of this impostor floats to-day
above the sepulchre of Christ ? Was this a miracle ? Was Mo-
hammed inspired ? How do you account for Confucius, whose
name is known wherever the sky bends ? Was he inspired — this
man who for many centuries has stood first, and who has been ac-
knowledged tho superior of all men by hundreds and thousands of
millions of his fellow men ? How do you account for Buddha, —
in many respects the greatest religious teacher this world has ever
known, — the broadest, the most intellectual of them all; he who
was great enough, hundreds of years before Christ was born,
to declare the universal brotherhood of man, great enough
to say that intelligence is the only lever capable of rais-
ing mankind ? How do you account for him, who has
had more followers than any other? Are you willing to
say that all success is divine ? How do you account
for Shakespeare, born of parents who could neither read nor
write, held in the lap of ignorance and love, nursed-at the breast
of poverty — how do you account for him, by far the greatest of
the human race, the wings of whose imagination still fill the
horizon of human thought ; Shakespeare, who was perfectly ac-
quainted with the human heart, knew all depths of sorrow, all
heights of joy, and in whose mind were the fruit of all thought,
of all experience, and a prophecy of all to be ; Shakespeare, the

492 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

wisdom and beauty and deptli of whose words increase with the
intelligence and civilization of mankind ? How do you account
for this miracle ? Do you believe that any founder of any religion
could have written <s Lear " or et Hamlet " ? Did Greece produce
a man who could by any possibility have been the author of
" Troilus and Cressida ? " Was there among all the countless
millions of almighty Eome an intellect that could have written
the tragedy of " Julius Caesar"? Is not the play of "Antony
and Cleopatra " as Egyptian as the Nile ? How do you account
for this man, within whose veins there seemed to be the blood of
every race, and in whose brain there were the poetry and philosophy
of a world ? :.:h

You ask me to tell my opinion of Christ. Let me say here,
once for all, that for the man Christ — for the man who, in the
darkness, cried out, " My God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" —
for that man I have the greatest possible respect. And let me
say, once for all, that the place where man has died for man is
holy ground. To that great and serene peasant of Palestine I
gladly pay the tribute of my admiration and my tears. He was
a reformer in his day — an infidel in his time. Back of the theo-
logical mask, and in spite of the interpolations of the New Testa-
ment, I see a great and genuine man.

It is hard to see how you can consistently defend the course
pursued by Christ himself. He attacked with great bitterness
" the religion of others." It did not occur to him that "there
was something very cruel in this treatment of the belief of his fel-
low creatures." He denounced the chosen people of God as a
"generation of vipers." He compared them to " whited sepul-
chres." How can you sustain the conduct of missionaries ? They
go to other lands and attack the sacred beliefs of others. They
tell the people of India and of all heathen lands, not only that
their religion is a lie, not only that their Gods are myths, but that
the ancestors of these people — their fathers and mothers who
never heard of God, of the bible, or of Christ — are all in perdition.
Is not this a cruel treatment of the belief of a fellow creature ?

A religion that is not manly and robust enough to bear attack
with smiling fortitude is unworthy of a place in the heart
or brain. A religion that takes refuge in sentimentality, that
cries out: " Do not, I pray you, tell me any truth calculated to
hurt my feelings," is fit only for asylums.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 493

You believe that Christ was God, that he was infinite in
power. While in Jerusalem he cured the sick, raised a few from
the dead, and opened the eyes of the blind. Did he do
these things because he loved mankind, or did he do these
miracles simply to establish the fact that he was the very Christ ?
If he was actuated by love, is he not as powerful now as he was
then ? Why does he not open the eyes of the blind now ? Why
•does he not with a touch make the leper clean ? If you had the
power to give sight to the blind, to cleanse the leper, and would
not exercise it, what would be thought of you ? What is the dif-
ference between one who can and will not cure, and one who causes
disease ?

Only the other day I saw a beautiful girl — a paralytic, and yet
her brave and cheerful spirit shone over the wreck and ruin of her
body like morning on the desert. What would I think of myself,
had I the power by a word to send the blood through all her
withered limbs freighted again with life, should I refuse ?

Most theologians seem to imagine that the virtues have been
produced by and are really the children of religion.

Eeligion has to do with the supernatural. It defines our duties
.and obligations to God. It prescribes a certain course of conduct
by means of which happiness can be attained in another world.
The result here is only an incident. The virtues are secular. They
have nothing whatever to do with the supernatural, and are of no
kindred to any religion. A man may be honest, courageous,
charitable, industrious, hospitable, loving, and pure without being
religious — that is to say, without any belief in the supernatural ;
and a man may be, the exact opposite and at the same time a
sincere believer in the creed of any church — that is to say, in the
-existence of a personal God, the inspiration of the Scriptures and
in the divinity of Jesus Christ. A man who believes in the bible
may or may not be kind to his family, and a man who is kind and
•loving in his family may or may not believe in the bible.

In order that you may see the effect of belief in the formation
of character, it is only necessary to call your attention to the fact
that your bible shows that the devil himself is a believer in the
existence of your God, in the inspiration of the scriptures, and
in the divinity of Jesus Christ. He not only believes these
things, but he knows them, and yet, in spite of it all, he remains
a devil still.

494 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Few religions have been bad enough to destroy all the natural
goodness in the human heart. In the deepest midnight of super-
stition some natural virtues, like stars, have been visible in the
heavens. Man has committed every crime in the name of Chris-
tianity— or at least crimes that involved the commission of all
others. Those who paid for labor with the lash, and who made
blows a legal tender, were Christians. Those who engaged in the
slave trade were believers in a personal God. One slave ship was
called "The Jehovah." Those who pursued with hounds the
fugitive led by the Northern star prayed fervently to Christ to
crown their efforts with success, and the stealers of babes, just be-
fore falling asleep, commended their souls to the keeping of the
Most High.

Aa you have mentioned the apostles, let me call your attention
to an incident.

You remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The
apostles, having nothing themselves, conceived the idea of having
all things in common. Their followers who had something were
to sell what little they had, and turn the proceeds over to these
theological financiers. It seems that Ananias and Sapphira had
a piece of land. They sold it, and alter talking the matter over,
not being entirely satisfied with the collaterals concluded to keep
a little — just enough to keep them from starvation if the good
and pious bankers should abscond.

When Ananias brought the money, he was asked whether he
had kept back a part of the price. He said that he had not.
Whereupon God, the compassionate, struck him dead. As soon
as the corpse was removed, the apostles sent for his wife. They did
not tell her that her husband had been killed. They deliberately
set a trap for her life. Not one of them was good enough or
noble enough to put her on her guard ; they allowed her to be-
lieve that her husband had told his story, and that she was free
to corroborate what he had said. She probably ftlt that they
were giving more than they could afford, and, with the instinct
of woman, wanted to keep a little. She denied that any part of
the price had been kept back. That moment the arrow of divine
vengeance entered her heart.

Will you be kind enough to tell me your opinion of the
apostles in the light of this story ? Certainly murder is a greater
crime than mendacity.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 495

You have been good enough, in a kind of fatherly way, to give
me some advice. You say that I ought to soften my colors, and
that my words would be more weighty if not so strong. Do you
really desire that I should add weight to my words ? Do you
really wish me to succeed ? If the commander of one army should
send word to the general of the other that his men were firing too
high, do you think the general would be misled ? Can you con-
ceive of his changing his orders by reason of the message ?

I deny that " the Pilgrims crossed the sea to find freedom to
worship God in the forests of the new world." They came not
in the interest of freedom. It never entered their minds that
other men had the same right to worship God according to the
dictates of their consciences that the Pilgrims themselves had.
The moment they had power they were ready to whip and brand,
to imprison and burn. They did not believe in religious free-
dom. They had no more idea of liberty of conscience than
Jehovah.

I do not say that there is no place in the world for heroes and
martyrs. On the contrary, I declare that the liberty we now have
was won for us by heroes and by martyrs, and millions of these
martyrs were burned, or flayed alive, or torn in pieces, or assassin-
ated by the Church of God. The heroism was shown in fighting
the hordes of religious superstition.

Giordano Bruno was a martyr. He was a hero. He believed
in no God, in 'no heaven, and in no hell, yet he perished by fire. He
was offered liberty on condition that he would recant. There was
no God to please, no heaven to expect, no hell to fear, and yet he
died by fire, simply to preserve the unstained whiteness of his soul.

For hundreds of years every man who attacked the Church
was a hero. The sword of Christianity has been wet for many
centuries with the blood of the noblest. Christianity has been
ready with whip and chain and fire to banish freedom from the
earth.

Neither is it true that " family life withers under the cold
sneer — half pity and half scorn — with which I look down on
household worship."

Those who believe in the existence of God, and believe that
they are indebted to this divine being for the few gleams of sun-
shine in this life, and who thank God for the little they have en-
joyed, have my entire respect. Never have I said one word

496 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

against the spirit of thankfulness. I understand the feeling of
the man who gathers his family about him after the storm, or
after the scourge, or after long sickness, and pours out his heart
in thankfulness to the supposed God who has protected his fire-
side. I understand the spirit of the savage who thanks his idol
of stone, or his fetich of wood. It is not the wisdom of the one
or of the other that I respect, it is the goodness and thankfulness
that prompt the prayer.

I believe in the family. I believe in family life; and one of
my objections to Christianity is that it divides the family. Upon
this subject I have said hundreds of times, and I say again, that
the roof-tree is sacred, from the smallest fibre that feels the soft,
cool clasp of earth, to the topmost flower that spreads its bosom
to the sun, and like a spendthrift gives its perfume to the air. The
home where virtue dwells with love is like a lily with a heart of
fire, the fairest flower in all this world.

What did Christianity in the early centuries do for the home ?
What have nunneries and monasteries, and what has the glorifica-
tion of celibacy done for the family ? Do you not know that
Christ himself offered rewards in this world and eternal happiness
in another to those who would desert their wives and children and
follow him ? What effect has that promise had upon family life ?

As a matter of fact, the family is regarded as nothing. Chris-
tianity teaches that there is but one family, the family of Christ,
and that all other relations are as nothing compared with that.
Christianity teaches the husband to desert the wife, the wife to
desert the husband, children to desert their parents for the mis-
erable and selfish purpose of saving their own little, shriveled
souls.

It is far better for a man to love his fellow men than to love
God. It is better to love wife and children than to love Christ.
It is better to serve your neighbor than to serve your God — even
if God exists. The reason is palpable. You can do nothing for
God. You can do something for wife and children. You can
add to the sunshine of a life. You can plant flowers in the
pathway of another.

It is true that I am an enemy of the orthodox Sabbath. It is
true that I do not believe in giving one-seventh of our time to the
service of superstition. The whole scheme of your religion can
be understood by any intelligent man in one day. Why should

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 497

he waste a seventh of his whole life in hearing the same thoughts
repeated again and again ?

Nothing is more gloomy than an orthodox Sabbath. The
mechanic who has worked during the week in heat and dust, the
laboring man who has barely succeeded in keeping his soul in his
body, the poor woman who has been sewing for the rich, may go
to the village church which you have described. They answer the
chimes of the bell, and what do they hear in this village church ?
Is it that God is the Father of the human race ; is that all ? If
that were all, you never would have heard an objection from my
lips. That is not all. If all ministers said : Bear the evils of
this life ; your Father in heaven counts your tears ; the time will
come when pain and death and grief will be forgotten words, I
should have listened with the rest. What else does the minister
say to the poor people who have answered the chimes of your
bell ? He says : " The smallest sin deserves eternal pain." " A
vast majority of men are doomed to suffer the wrath of God for-
ever. " He fills the present with fear and the future with fire.
He has heaven for the few, hell for the many. He describes a
little grass-grown path that leads to heaven, where travelers are
" few and far between," and a great highway worn with countless
feet that leads to everlasting death.

Such Sabbaths are immoral. Such ministers are the real sav-
ages, ^adly would I abolish such a Sabbath. Gladly would I
turn it into a holiday, a day of rest and peace, a day to get ac-
quainted with your wife and children, a day to exchange civilities
with your neighbors ; and gladly would I see the church in which
such sermons are preached changed to a place of entertainment.
Gladly would I have the echoes of orthodox sermons — the owls
and bats among the rafters, the snakes in crevices and corners —
driven out by the glorious music of Wagner and Beethoven.
Gladly would I see the Sunday-school, where the doctrine of eter-
nal fire is taught, changed to a happy dance upon the village green.

Music refines. The doctrine of eternal punishment degrades.
Science civilizes. Superstition looks longingly back to sav-
agery.

You do not believe that general morality can be upheld with-
out the sanctions of religion.

Christianity has sold, and continues to sell, crime on a credit.
It has taught, and it still teaches, that there is forgiveness for

498 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

all. Of course it teaches morality. It says : " Do not steal,
do not murder ; " but it adds : " but if you do both, there is a
way of escape : believe 011 the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. " I insist that such a religion is no restraint. It is
far better to teach that there is no forgiveness, and that every
human being must bear the consequences of his acts.

The first great step toward national reformation is the univer-
sal acceptance of the idea that there is no escape from the conse-
quences of our acts. The young men who come from their coun-
try homes into a city filled with temptations, may be restrained by
the thought of father and mother. This is a natural restraint.
They may be restrained by their knowledge of the fact that a thing
is evil on account of its consequences, and that to do wrong is
always a mistake. I cannot conceive of such a man being more
liable to temptation because he has heard one of my lectures in
which I have told him that the only good is happiness — that the
only way to attain that good is by doing what he believes to be
right. I cannot imagine that his moral character will be weak-
ened by the statement that there is no escape from the conse-
quences of his acts. You seem to think that he will be instantly
led astray — that he will go off under the flaring lamps to the riot
of passion. Do you think the bible calculated to restrain him ?
To prevent this, would you recommend him to read the lives of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the other holy polygamists
of the Old Testament ? Should he read the life of David, and of
Solomon ? Do you think this would enable him to withstand
temptation ? Would it not be far better to fill the young man's
mind with facts so that he may know exactly the physical conse-
quences of such acts ? Do you regard ignorance as the foundation
of virtue ? Is fear the arch that supports the moral nature of
man ?

You seem to think that there is danger in knowledge, and that
the best chemists are the most likely to poison themselves.

You say that to sneer at religion is only a step from sneering
at morality, and then only another step to that which is vicious
and profligate.

The Jews entertained the same opinion of the teachings of
Christ. He sneered at their religion. The Christians have en-
tertained the same opinion of every philosopher. Let me say to
you again — and let me say it once for all — that morality has

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 499

nothing to do with religion. Morality does not depend upon the
supernatural. Morality does not walk with the crutches of mira-
cles. Morality appeals to the experience of mankind. It cares
nothing about faith, nothing about sacred books. Morality de-
pends upon facts, something that can be seen, something
known, the product of which can be estimated. It needs no
priest, no ceremony, no mummery. It believes in the freedom of
the Jiuman mind. It asks for investigation. It is founded upon
truth. It is the enemy of all religion, because it has to do with
this world, and with this world alone.

My object is to drive fear out of the world. Fear is the
jailer of the mind. Christianity, superstition — that is to say,
the supernatural — makes every brain a prison and every soul a
convict. Under the government of a personal deity, conse-
quences partake of the nature of punishments and rewards.
Under the government of Nature, what you call punishments
and rewards are simply consequences. Nature does not punish.
Nature does not reward. Nature has no purpose. When the
storm comes, I do not think : "This is being done by a tyrant/'
When the sun shines, I do not say : " This is being done by a
friend." Liberty means freedom from personal dictation. It
does not mean escape from the relations we sustain to other facts
in Nature. I believe in the restraining influences of liberty.
Temperance walks hand in hand with freedom. To remove a
chain from the body puts an additional responsibility upon the
soul. Liberty says to the man : You injure or benefit yourself ;
you increase or decrease your own well-being. It is a question of
intelligence. You need not bow to a supposed tyrant, or to in-
finite goodness. You are responsible to yourself and to those you
injure, and to none other.

I rid myself of fear, believing as I do that there is no power
above which can help me in any extremity, and believing as I do
that there is no power above or below that can injure me in any
extremity. I do not believe that I am the sport of accident, or
that I may be dashed in pieces by the blind agency of Nature.
There is no accident, and there is no agency. That which hap-
pens must happen. The present is the child of all the past, the
mother of all the future.

Does it relieve mankind from fear to believe that there is
some God who will help them in extremity ? What evidence

500 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

V have they on which to found this belief ? When has any God
listened to the prayer of any man ? The water drowns, the cold
freezes, the flood destroys, the fire burns, the bolt of heaven falls
— when and where has the prayer of man been answered ?

Is the religious world to-day willing to test the efficacy of
prayer ? Only a few years ago it was tested in the United States.
The Christians of Christendom, with one accord, fell upon their
knees and asked God to spare the life of one man. You know the
result. You know just as well as I that the forces of Nature
produce the good and bad alike. You know that the forces
of Nature destroy the good and bad alike. You know that the
lightning feels the same keen delight in striking to death the
honest man that it does or would in striking the assassin with his
knife lifted above the bosom of innocence.

Did God hear the prayers of the slaves ? Did he hear the
prayers of imprisoned philosophers and patriots ? Did he hear the
prayers of martyrs, or did he allow fiends, calling themselves his
followers, to pile the fagots round the forms of glorious men ?
Did he allow the flames to devour the flesh of those whose hearts
were his ? Why should any man depend on the goodness of a
God who created countless millions, knowing that they would
suffer eternal grief ?

The faith that you call sacred — " sacred as the most delicate
or manly or womanly sentiment of love and honor " — is the faith
that nearly all of your fellow men are to be lost. Ought an hon-
est man to be restrained from denouncing that faith because
those who entertain it say that their feelings are hurt ? You say
to me : " There is a hell. A man advocating the opinions you
advocate will go there when- he dies." I answer : " There is no
hell. The bible that teaches it is not true." And you say :
' ' How can you hurt my feelings ? "

You seem to think that one who attacks the religion of his
parents is wanting in respect to his father and his mother.

Were the early Christians lacking in respect for their fathers
and mothers ? Were the Pagans who embraced Christianity
heartless sons and daughters ? What have you to say of the
apostles ? Did they not heap contempt upon the religion of their
fathers and mothers ? Did they not join with him who denounced
their people as a "generation of vipers ?" Did they not follow
one who offered a reward to those who would desert fathers and

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. £01

mothers ? Of course you have only to go back a few generations
in your family to find a Field who was not a Presbyterian. After
that you find a Presbyterian. Was he base enough and infamous
enough to heap contempt upon the religion of his father and
mother ? All the Protestants in the time of Luther lacked in
respect for the religion of their fathers and mothers. According
to your idea, Progress is a Prodigal Son. If one is bound by the
religion of his father and mother, and his father happens to be a
Presbyterian and his mother a Catholic, what is he to do ? Do you not
see that your doctrine gives intellectual freedom only to found-
lings ?

If by Christianity you mean the goodness, the spirit of for-
giveness, the benevolence claimed by Christians to be a part, and
the principal part, of that peculiar religion, then I do not agree
with you when you say that " Christ is Christianity and that it
stands or falls with him." You have narrowed unnecessarily the
foundation of your religion. If it should be established beyond
doubt that Christ never existed, all that is of value in Christianity
would remain, and remain unimpaired. Suppose we should find
that Euclid was a myth, the science known as mathematics would
not suffer. It makes no difference who painted or chiseled the
greatest pictures and statues, so long as we have the pictures and
statues. When he who has given the world a truth passes from
the earth, the truth is left. A truth dies only when forgotten
by the human race. Justice, love, mercy, forgiveness, honor, all
the virtues that ever blossomed in the human heart, were known
and practiced for uncounted ages before the birth of Christ.

You insist that religion does not leave man in " abject terror "
— does not leave him "in utter darkness as to his fate."

Is it possible to know who will be saved ? Can you read the
names mentioned in the decrees of the Infinite ? Is it possible
to tell who is to be eternally lost ? Can the imagination conceive
a worse fate than your religion predicts for a majority of the
race ? Why should not every human being be in ' ' abject terror "
who believes your doctrine ? How many loving and sincere
women are in the asylums to-day fearing that they have com-
mitted " the unpardonable sin " — a sin to which your God has
attached the penalty of eternal torment, and yet has failed to
describe the offense ? Can tyranny go beyond this — fixing the
penalty of eternal pain for the violation of a law not written, not

502 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

known, but kept in the secrecy of infinite darkness ? How much
happier it is to know nothing about it, and to believe nothing
about it ! How much better to have no God !

You discover a " Great Intelligence ordering our little lives, so
that even the trials that we bear, as they call out the finer
elements of character, conduce to our future happiness." This
is an old explanation — probably as good as any. The idea is,
that this world is a school in which man becomes educated
through tribulation — the muscles of character being developed
by wrestling with misfortune. If it is necessary to live this life
in order to develop character, in order to become worthy of a
better world, how do you account for the fact that billions of the
human race die in infancy, and are thus deprived of this neces-
sary education and development ? What would you think of a
schoolmaster who should kill a large proportion of his scholars
during the first day, before they had even had the opportunity to
look at A ?

You insist that e( there is a power behind Nature making for
righteousness. "

If Nature is infinite, how can there be a power outside of Na-
ture ? If you mean by if a power making for righteousness" that
man, as he becomes civilized, as he becomes intelligent, not only
takes advantage of the forces of Nature for his own benefit, but
perceives more and more clearly that if hs ' < > be happy he must
live in harmony with the conditions of *ris being, in harmony
with the facts by which he is surrounded, in harmony with the
relations he sustains to others and to things ; if this is what you
mean, then there is "a power making for righteousness." But if
you mean that there is something supernatural back of Nature
directing events, then I insist that there can by no possibility be
any evidence of the existence of such a power.

The history of the human race shows that nations rise and* fall.
There is a limit to the life of a race ; so that it can be said of
every nation dead, that there was a period when it laid the founda-
tions of prosperity, when the combined intelligence and virtue of
the people constituted a power working for righteousness, and that
there came a time when this nation became a spendthrift, when
it ceased to accumulate, when it lived on the labors of its youth,
and passed from strength and glory to the weakness of old age,
and finally fell palsied to its tomb.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 5Q3

The intelligence of man guided by a sense of duty is the only
power that makes for righteousness.

You tell me that I am waging " a hopeless war/' and you give
as a reason that the Christian religion began to be nearly two
thousand years before I was born, and that it will live two thou-
sand years after I am dead.

Is this an argument ? Does it tend to convince even yourself ?
Could not Caiaphas, the high priest, have said substantially this
to Christ ? Could he not have said: " The religion of Jehovah
began to be four thousand years before you were born, and it will
live two thousand years after you are dead ?" Could not a follower
of Buddha make the same illogical remark to a missionary from
Andover with the glad tidings ? Could he not say : " You are
waging a hopeless war. The religion of Buddha began to be
twenty-five hundred years before you were born, and hundreds of
millions of people still worship at Great Buddha's shrine ?"

Do you insist that nothing except the right can live for two
thousand years ? Why is it that the Catholic church " lives on
and on, while nations and kingdoms perish ?" Do you consider
that the survival of the fittest ?

Is it the same Christian religion now living that lived during
the Middle Ages ? Is it the same Christian religion that founded
the Inquisition and invented the thumb-screw ? Do you see no
difference between the religion of Calvin and Jonathan Edwards
and the Christianity of to-day ? Do you really think that it is
the same Christianity that has been living all these years ? Have
you noticed any change in the last generation ? Do you remem-
ber when scientists endeavored to prove a theory by a passage
from the bible, and do you now know that believers in the bible
are exceedingly anxious to prove its truth by some fact that
science has demonstrated ? Do you know that the standard has
changed ? Other things are not measured by the bible, but the
bible has to submit to another test. It no longer owns the scales.
It has to be weighed, — it is being weighed, — it is growing lighter
and lighter every day. Do you know that only a few years ago
" the glad tidings of great joy " consisted mostly in a description
of hell ? Do you know that nearly every intelligent minister is
now ashamed to preach about it, or to read about it, or to talk
about it ? Is there any change ? Do you know that but few min-
isters now believe in "the plenary inspiration " of the bible,

504 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

that from thousands of pulpits people are now told that the crea-
tion according to Genesis is a mistake, that it never was as wet as
the flood, and that the miracles of the Old Testament are consid-
ered simply as myths or mistakes ?

How long will what you call Christianity endure, if it changes
as rapidly during the next century as it has during the last ?
What will there be left of the supernatural ?

It does not seem possible that thoughtful people can, for many
years, believe that a being of infinite wisdom is the author of the
Old Testament, that a being of infinite purity and kindness up-
held polygamy and slavery, that he ordered his chosen people to
massacre their neighbors, and that he commanded husbands and
fathers to persecute wives and daughters unto death for opinion's
sake.

It does not seem within the prospect of belief that Jehovah,
the cruel, the jealous, the ignorant, and the revengeful, is the
creator and preserver of the universe.

Does it seem possible that infinite goodness would create a
world in which life feeds on life, in which everything devours
and is devoured ? Can there be a sadder fact than this : Innocence
is not a certain shield ?

It is impossible for me to believe in the eternity of punish-
ment. If that doctrine be true, Jehovah is insane.

Day after day there are mournful processions of men and
women, patriots and mothers, girls whose only crime is that the
word Liberty burst into flower between their pure and loving lips,
driven like beasts across the melancholy wastes of Siberian
snow. These men, these women, these daughters go to exile and
to slavery, to a land where hope is satisfied with death. Does it
seem possible to you that an " Infinite Father " sees all this and
sits as silent as a god of stone ?

And yet, according to your Presbyterian creed, according to
your inspired book, according to your Christ, there is another
procession, in which are the noblest and the best, in which you
will find the wondrous spirits of this world, the lovers of the
human race, the teachers of their fellow men, the greatest soldiers
that ever battled for the right ; and this procession of countless
millions in which you will find the most generous and the most
loving of the sons and daughters of men, is moving on to the Siberia
of God, the land of eternal exile, where agony becomes immortal.

A REPLY TO THE REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D. 505

How can you,, how can any man with brain or heart, believe
this infinite lie ?

Is there not room for a better, for a higher philosophy ? After
all, is it not possible that we may find that everything has been
necessarily produced, that all religions and superstitions, all mis-
takes and all crimes, were simply necessities ? Is it not possible
that out of this perception may come not only love and pity for
others, but absolute justification for the individual ? May we not
find that every soul has, like Mazeppa, been lashed to the wMd
horse of passion, or like Prometheus, to the rocks of fate ?

You ask me to take the " sober second thought/' I beg of you
to take the first, and if you do, you will throw away the Presby-
terian creed ; you will instantly perceive that he who commits the
" smallest sin" no more deserves eternal pain than he who does
the smallest virtuous deed deserves eternal bliss ; you will become
convinced that an infinite God who creates billions of men
knowing that they will suffer through all the countless years is an
infinite demon ; you will be satisfied that the bible, with its
philosophy and its folly, with its goodness and its cruelty, is but
the work of man, and that the supernatural does not and cannot
exist.

For you personally, I have the highest regard and the sincer-
est respect, and I beg of you not to pollute the soul of childhood,
not to furrow the cheeks of mothers, by preaching a creed that
should be shrieked in a mad-house. Do not make the cradle as
terrible as the coffin. Preach, I pray you, the gospel of Intellect-
ual Hospitality — the liberty of thought and speech. Take
from loving hearts the awful fear. Have mercy on your fellow
men. Do not drive to madness the mothers whose tears are fall-
ing on the pallid faces of those who died in unbelief. Pity the
erring, wayward, suffering, weeping world. Do not proclaim as
" tidings of great joy" that an Infinite Spider is weaving webs to
catch the souls of men.

KOBEKT G. LtfGERSOLL.

VOL. CXLY. — STO. 372. 33

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG.

PART II.

Three Federal corps — Smith's, Hancock's, and Burnside's —
aggregating about sixty-six thousand men, confronted our lines
on the 16th of June. Opposed to them I had, after the arrival
of Johnson's Division, at about ten o'clock A. M., an effective of
not more than ten thousand men of all arms.

Through a mere sense of duty, but with no sanguine hope of
succeeding in the attempt, I addressed the following telegram to
General Lee :

"HEADQUARTER*, Petersburg, June 16, 1864, 7:45 A. M.

"Prisoner captured this A. M. reports that he belongs to Hancock's Corps
(Second), and that it crossed day before yesterday and last night from Harrison's
Landing. Could we not have more re-enforcements here ?"

No direct answer was received to the above. But, in reply to
another dispatch of mine, relative to tugs and transports of the
enemy reported to have been seen that day by Major Terrett,
General Lee sent this message :

"DRURY'S BLUFF, June 16, 1864, 4 P. M.
" GENERAL BEAUREGARD :

" The transports you mention have probably returned Butler's troops. Has
Grant been seen crossing James River ?"

This shows that General Lee was still uncertain as to his ad-
versary's movements, and, notwithstanding the information al-
ready furnished him, could not realize that the Federal army had
crossed the James, and that three of its corps were actually
assaulting the Petersburg lines.

General Hancock, the ranking Federal officer present, had
been instructed by General Meade not to begin operations before
the arrival of Burnside's command. Hence the tardiness of the
enemy's attack, which was only made after five o'clock p. M., though
Burnside had reached Petersburg, according to his own report, at
ten o'clock A. M.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 507

The engagement lasted fully three hours, much vigor being
displayed by the Federals, while the Confederates confronted them
with fortitude, truly admirable, though they knew they were fight-
ing against overwhelming odds, constantly increasing. Birney's
Division of Hancock's corps finally broke into part of our line
and effected a lodgment. The contest, with varying results, was
carried on until after nightfall, with advantage to us on the left
and some serious loss on the right. It then slackened and gradu-
ally came to an end. In the meantime, Warren's Corps, the
Fifth, had also come up, but too late to take a part in the action
of the day. Its presence before our lines swelled the enemy's
aggregate to about ninety thousand, against which stood a barrier
of not even ten thousand exhausted, half-starved men, who had
gone through two days of constant hard fighting, and many sleep-
less nights in the trenches, but who were ready, nevertheless, un-
complaining and unfaltering, to again face and repel their assail-
ants.

Hostilities began early on the morning of the 17th. I here
quote from "Military Operations of General Beauregard :"

" Three times were the Federals driven back, but they as often resumed the
offensive and held their ground. About dusk a portion of the Confederate lines
was wholly broken, and the troops in that quarter were about to be thrown into
a panic, which might have ended in irreparable disaster, when happily, as General
Beauregard with his staff was endeavoring to rally and reform, the troops,
Gracie's Brigade, of Johnson's Division, consisting of about twelve hundred men —
the return of which to his command General Beauregard had been urgently ask-
ing— came up from Chaffin's Bluff, whence, at last, the War Department had
ordered it to move. It was promptly and opportunely thrown into the gap on tb 3
lines and drove back the Federals, capturing about two thousand prisoners. The
conflict raged with great fury until after eleven o'clock at night." *

Anticipating the inevitable result of such a pressure upon our
weak defenses, and knowing that at any moment they might be
irrevocably lost to us, I had — accompanied by Colonel Harris, of
the Engineers — selected the site of another and shorter line, near
Taylor's Creek, at a convenient distance towards the rear. I
caused it to be carefully staked out during the battle, and shown
to the adjutants, quartermasters, and other staff officers of Hoke's
and Johnson's divisions, and through them to all the available
regimental adjutants on the field ; so that each command, at the
appointed hour, even at dead of night, might easily retire upon

* Vol. II., Chap, xxxvl, p. 23&

508 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the new line with order and precision, and unperceived hy the
enemy. Meanwhile, the order to " hold on at any cost " remained
unchanged all down the line. There was no reason to hope for
assistance of any kind. The Army of Northern Virginia was yet
far distant, and I had failed to convince its distinguished com-
mander of the fact that I was then fighting Grant's whole army
with less than eleven thousand men ! On the 17th, from " Clay's
House/' at twelve o'clock M., General Lee answered as follows
one of my telegrams of that morning :

" Telegram of 9 A. M. received. Until I can get more definite information of
Grant's movements, I do not think it prudent to draw more troops to this side of
the river."

And, acting on the desire for additional information, at 3:30
p. M., on the same day, he telegraphed Major-General W. H. F.
Lee, then at Malvern Hill, as follows :

" Push after the enemy, and endeavor to ascertain what has become of Grant's
Army. Inform General Hill."

Later on — i. e., at 4:30 P. M., on the same day — he sent this
message to Lieut. -Gen. A. P. Hill, at Kiddle's Shop :

" General Beauregard reports large numbers of Grant's troops crossed James
River, above Fort Powbatan, yesterday. If you have nothing contradictory of
this, move to Chaffing Bluff."

Just at that time, however, and upon being informed by my
Inspector-General of the statements of some of the last prisoners
taken, I determined to send another telegram to General Lee, re-
iterating my former assertions, with the addition of other partic-
ulars :

'* PETERSBURG, June 17, 1864, 5 p. M.

" Prisoners just taken represent themselves as belonging to Second, Ninth,
and Eighteen Corps. They sfcate that Fifth and Sixth Corps are behind coming
on. Those from Second and Eighteenth came here yesterday, and arrived first.
Others marched night and day from Gaines Mill, and arrived yesterday evening.
The Ninth crossed at Turkey Bend, where they have a pontoon bridge. They say
Grant commanded on the field yesterday. All are positive that they passed him
on the road seven miles from here."

Prisoners sometimes err in their statements. Very few, how-
ever, hesitate to say to what corps, division, brigade, or regiment
they belong; and the greater number answer truthfully when
properly interrogated. These had followed the general rule.
But others also had come in later, and had been again examined

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 5Q9

by my Inspector-General, who had' reduced to writing the sub-
stance of all the information thus obtained. It confirmed me in
the belief that not three only, but four Federal corps actually
confronted us. And without further delay, at 6:40 P. M., I
addressed this dispatch to General Lee :

" The increasing number of the enemy in my front, and inadequacy of my
force to defend the already too much extended lines, will compel me to fall within
a shorter one, which I will attempt to effect to-night. This I shall hold as long as
practicable, but without re-enforcements I may have to evacuate the city very
shortly. In that event I shall retire in the direction of Drury's Bluff, defending
the crossing at Appomattox River and Swift Creek.''

I had also sent, that day, to General Lee's headquarters, first,
Lieutenant Chisolm, one of my aids ; then, later on in the even-
ing, Colonel Roman, my chief inspector ; and, after midnight,
on the 18th, Major Cooke, one of the assistant inspectors of the
department. Their instructions were to verbally explain, with
all necessary details, what it had been impossible to express in
the laconic telegraphic messages already forwarded ; and to fur-
ther impress upon General Lee the urgency of sending immedi-
ate assistance to me. To Colonel Roman, who had taken with
him the condensed statements of more than forty prisoners ex-
amined by him on that day, I had. specially enjoined to say :

" That if General Lee did not come to my assistance with bis whole army in
less than forty -eight hours, God Almighty alone would save Petersburg and Rich-
mond."

Lieutenant Chisolm saw General Lee, Colonel Roman did not.
General Lee said to Chisolm, and his efficient Chief of Staff in-
formed Roman, that General Grant's army was still facing the
Army of Northern Virginia, and that the prisoners upon whose
statements we appeared so much to rely, had greatly exaggerated
the danger of the situation, if they had not altogether falsified the
truth. Major Cooke arrived at General Lee's headquarters, an
hour or two afterwards, on the 18th. His diary of that date
contains the following :

..." After talking with the General (Lee) for some time, and accomplish-
ing in part my object in seeking him, I left for Petersburg."*

* See in " Military Operations of General Beauregard," Vol. II., Appendix to
Chap. XXXVL, p. 579, extracts from Major Cooke's Diary. See also in same
Appendix, same Vol., pp. 575-6-7-8, Colonel Roman's letter about his mission to
General Lee, at that time.

510 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The firing lasted, on the 17th, until a little after eleven
o'clock P.M. Just before that time, I had ordered all the camp
fires to be brightly lighted, with sentinels well thrown forward
and as near as possible to the enemy's. Then, at about 12.30
-A.M., on the 18th began the retrogade movement, which, not-
withstanding the exhaustion of our troops and their sore dis-
appointment at receiving no further re-enforcements, was safely
and silently executed, with uncommonly good order and precis-
ion, though the greatest caution had to be used in order to retire
unnoticed from so close a contact with so strong an adversary.

The digging of trenches was begun by the men as scon as they
reached their new position. Axes, as well as spades ; bayonets
and knives, as well as axes ; in fact, all and every utensil that
could be found was used to accelerate the termination of the
perilous work undertaken, and successfully carried through, that
night, amid untold difficulties and dangers. And when all was
over, or nearly so, with much anxiety still, but with comparative
relief, nevertheless, I hurried off this telegram to General Lee :

'* PETERSBURG, June 18, 1864, 12:40 A. M.

" All quiet at present. I expect renewal of attack in morning. My troops
are bacomtng much exhausted. Without immediate and strong re-enforcements,
results may be unfavorable. Prisoners report Grant on the field with his whole
army."

But General Lee, although not wholly convinced even at that
hour that the Army of the Potomac had operated a change of
base, and was already on the south side of the James, long before
the dawn of day, on the 18th, and immediately after his confer-
ence with Major Cooke, sent me this message :

" Am not yet satisfied as to General Grant's movements ; but upon your repre-
sentations will move at once to Petersburg."

And, in fact, even previous to that hour, on the same night,
he had concluded to send Kershaw's Division to my assistance.
His dispatch to that effect read thus :

"GENERAL G. T. BKAUREGARD, Petersburg. Va.

''General Kershaw's division, which will camp to-night on Red water Creek,
is ordered to continue its march to-morrow to Petersburg."

Those of my staff who were near me when this unexpected
good news was received remember, no doubt, what inexpressible

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 511

relief it afforded me at the time. And in order that my troops
should share in the comforting prospect ahead I caused the fol-
lowing to be immediately forwarded to General Hoke and, through
him, to General Bushrod Johnson :

"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT N. C. AND So. VaM

"June 18, 1864, 2:30 A. M.
44 MAJOR-GENERAL B. f. HOKE, Commanding Division.

" GENERAL : The Commanding General directs me to inform you that the
division of Ma jor-General Kershaw is on its way to this point as re-enforcement,
as also th» whole of the army corps commanded by Lieutenant-General A. P.
Hill.

" General Lee will himself be here in person some time to-day. This should
be published to the troops at once.

•* You will send to Major-General Johnson a copy of this for his information
and action. Respectfully, your obedient servant,

"JNO. M. OTEY, A. A. G.»

The next step taken by General Lee was to endeavor to procure
sufficient means for the immediate transportation of his troops, as
is shown by this telegiam :

"DRURY'S BLUFF, June 18, 3:30 A. M.
"SUPERINTENDENT RICHMOND & PETERSBURG RAILROAD, Richmond:

" Can trains run to Petersburg ? If so, ?>end all cars available to Rice's Turn-
out If they cannot run through, can any be sent from Petersburg to the poiut
where i,ne road is broken? It is important to get troops to Petersburg without
delay."

The same morning he communicated with General Early, who
had not yet returned from his Shenandoah campaign. He said
to him :

" HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, June 18, 1864.
*• GENERAL J. A. EARLY, Lynchburg, Va.

*• Grant is in front of Petersburg. Will be opposed there. Strike as quick as
you can, and if circumstances authorize, carry out the original plan, or move upon
Petrrsburg without delay."

Late as had been the credence given by General Lee to my
representations of Grant's movements, it was, fortunately, not yet
too late, by prompt and energetic action, to save Petersburg — and,
therefore, Richmond — from the inevitable fate otherwise awaiting
both. With such an army as the Army of Northern Virginia, and
with such a commander to lead it, time lost was but rarely, if
ever, irretrievably lost.

General Kershaw's Division, which proved to be, on this occa-

512 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

sion, the van-guard of General Lee's army, reached Petersburg
early Saturday morning, June 18th ; it numbered about five thou-
sand men, and was placed, by my orders, on the new line already
occupied by our forces, with its " right on or near the Jerusalem
plank road, extending across the open field and bending back
towards the front of the cemetery/'* General Field's Division,
of about equal strength, came in some two hours after Kershaw's.
It had not yet been assigned to its place on the line when General
Lee, in person, arrived at 11:30 o'clock A. M., on that day.

My telegram to General Bragg, informing him of these recent
events, so important to the success of our future operations, read
thus :

" HEADQUARTERS, PETERSBURG, June 18, 1864—11:30 A. M.
" GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG, Richmond, Va.

*' Occupied last night my new lines without impediment. Kershaw's Division
arrived about half-past seven, and Field's about half-past nine o'clock. They are
beine: placed in position. All comparatively quiet this morning. General Lee has
just arrived."

The comparative quiet referred to was due to the fact that
when, early in the morning, the enemy was pushed forward
to make the "grand attack ordered by the Major-General com-
manding the Army of the Potomac, for four A. M., on the 18th, "f
the retirement of our forces, on the previous night, from their
first positions to the new line of defenses selected by me, as already
explained, had so much surprised the assaulting columns, as to
induce their immediate commanders to additional prudence in
their advance and to a complete halt in their operations. The
absence of the Confederates from positions in which they were
expected to be found disconcerted the Federals in the extreme.
They knew not what might be in store for them.

On that morning, the troops arrayed against us consisted of
Hancock's, Burnside's, and Warren's Corps, with the larger por-
tion of Smith's under General Martindale, and finally, with
Neill's Division, from Wright's Corps (the Sixth), strengthened
by its whole artillery. This gave the enemy an aggregate of over
ninety thousand effectives. We had on our side, from and after
; Kershaw's arrival, but fifteen thousand men ; no deduction being
made for the casualties of the three preceding days. It was only
later on, somewhere between twelve M. and one P. M., that Field's

* General Kershaw's letter to me from Camden, S. C., July 33d, 1876.
+ General Meade's Report, dated November 1st, 1864.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 513

command was put in position on the line ; and from that moment
to the end of the day, our grand total amounted to about twenty
thousand men. At noon — or thereabouts — the predetermined
" grand attack" was renewed, although partial, disconnected
assaults had been made before that hour, on several parts of our
line, but with no tangible result of any kind. This renewed attack
had been mainly led by Gibbon's Division, of Hancock's Corps.
It proved to be entirely ineffectual ; and General Meade, in his
report, acknowledges it to have been so when he says : " An
unsuccessful assault by Gibbon's Division was made about noon
on that day." And still another grand attempt was made at four
p. M., with at least three full Federal Corps co-operating; Han-
cock's on the right, Burnside's in the centre, and Warren's on
the left. General Meade, in his report, says it was "without
success." And he adds these words : " Later in the day, attacks
were made by the Fifth and Ninth Corps with no better results."
The truth is that, despite the overwhelming odds against us,
every Federal assault, on the 18th, was met with most
signal defeat, " attended," says Mr. Swinton, the Federal His-
torian, "with another mournful loss of life." This was, in fact,
very heavy, and exceeded ours in the proportion of nine to one.
' ' Indeed, it amounted to more than the number of men we had
in action."*

My welcome to General Lee was most cordial. He was at last
where I had, for the past three days, so anxiously hoped to see
him, — within the limits of Petersburg ! Two of his divisions had
preceded him there ; and his whole army, or whatever of it was
with him at the time, would be in by evening of the next day,
namely, the 19th of June. I felt sure, therefore, that for the present
at least, Petersburg and Richmond were safe ; not that our forces
would be numerically equal to those of the enemy, even after the
arrival of the last regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia.
We were not accustomed to such advantages, which in act had very
seldom, if ever, been ours during the entire war. But I was
aware that our defensive line would now count more than one
man per every four and a half yards of its length ; and I felt
relieved to know that, at last, the whole of our line, — not portions
of it only as heretofore, — would be guarded by veteran troops

*" Military Operations of General Beauregard," Vol. II., Chap, xxxvii.,
p. 249.

514 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

alike, — if not superior, — in mettle, to the veteran troops oppos-
ing them.

Scarcely two hours after General Lee's arrival, I rode with him
to what was known as the " City Reservoir," on a commanding ele-
vation, towards the right of our line. A good view of the surround-
ing country could be had from that point, and the whole field was
there spread out before us like a map. I explained to General
Lee and showed him the relative positions of our troops and of
those of the enemy. I also pointed out to him the new and shorter
line then occupied by us, and gave my reasons for its location
there. They were these :

"First. That it kept the enemy's batteries at a greater distance from the
besieged town.

" Second. That it would act as a covered way (as the phrase is in regular forti-
fications) should we deem it advisable to construct better works on the higher
ground in the rear. In the meantime we could construct a series of batteries to
protect our front Iin6 by flanking and over-shooting fires ; and we could throw up
infantry parapets for our reserves, whenever we should have additional troops.

*' Third. That the new line gave a close infantry and artillery fire on the re-
verse slope of Taylor's Creek and ravine, which would prevent the construction of
boyaux of approaches and parallels for a regular attack."*

General Lee, whose capacity as a military engineer was uni-
versally acknowledged, — and none appreciated it more than I did,— -
was entirely of my opinion. Thus the new defensive line selected
by me, which my own troops had been holding for twelve hours
before the arrival of General Lee, at Petersburg, and which his
troops occupied as they came in, were maintained, unchanged as
to location — though much strengthened and improved thereafter —
until the end of the war.

After those explanations to General Lee, and while still
examining the field, I proposed to him that, as soon as HilFs and
Anderson's corps should arrive, our entire disposable force be
thrown upon the left and rear of the Federal army before
it began to fortify its position, f General Lee, after some
hesitation, pronounced himself against this plan. He thought
it was wiser, under the circumstances, to allow some rest to
his troops after the long march all would have gone through

* "Military Operations of General Beauregard," Vol. II., Chap, xxxvii., p.
255-6.

+ " Military Operations of Gen. G. Beauregard," Vol. II., Chap, xxxvii., p.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG. 515

with, those present as well as those still coming up ; and he stated
as a further reason for his objection, that our best policy — one,
he said, which had thus far proved successful to him — would be
to maintain the defensive as heretofore. I urged that the Federal
troops were at least as much exhausted as ours, and that their
ignorance of the locality would give us a marked advantage over
them ; that their spirits were jaded and ours brightened just then
by the fact of the junction of his army with my forces ; and that
the enemy was not yet entrenched. But I was then only second
in command, and my views did not prevail.

The evening of the 18th was quiet. There was no further at-
tempt on the part of General Meade to assault our lines. He was
" satisfied" there was "nothing more to be gained by direct at-
tacks/'* The spade took the place of the musket, and the regu-
lar siege of Petersburg was begun. It was only raised April 3d,
1865.

No event of our war was more remarkable than the almost in-
credible resistance of the handful of men who served under me at
Petersburg, on the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th of June, before the
arrival of General Lee. They knew they were fighting more than
seven times their number. In fact, the disproportion of the first
day had been much greater ; and opposed to them were some of
the finest and best disciplined Federal corps. They (my troops)
had had no regular sleep, and had hardly had a scanty meal once
in twenty-four hours. And yet the courage, the endurance, and
spirit of these men never quailed. They fought unremittingly
until the end — until their opponents ceased to fight. ISTot one of
them had left his post, except, perhaps, to remove the dead body
of a fallen comrade, or to have bandaged his own wound. I am
proud to think that I was the leader of such troops. My only re-
gret is that the name of each of them is not inscribed on the
memorial tablets of history.

G. T. BEAUKEGAKD.

* See his report

ARE THE LOWER ANIMALS APPROACHING MAN?

THE remarkable advance in the mental evolution of the lower
animals naturally gives rise to some propositions, viz. :

I. That many species of lower animals of to-day possess a higher mentality
than primeval man ; and that some species are endowed with a higher mentality
to-day than the lower classes of men of to-day.

II. That the mental differences of man and the lower species are to some
extent the result of training, experience, and tenacity of life.

III. That the mental future of the lower animal may become more equalized
with that of man; that a method of conversing with lower animals is possible.

I.

Herodotus related' 2, 500 years ago that the priests of Egypt
told him of the migration of the Egyptians from the East to the
Nile country 10,000 years before their time. Le Plongeon, the
archaeological explorer, professes to have verified this story, and
announces the existence of the Egyptians in Yucatan 15,000 years
ago. Granted that the genesis of the history of mind must be located
in Yucatan, 9,000 years before the stated time of Adam, then the
15,000 years of mysterious silence of the lower animals must be
charged to man. In all that time no lower animal has arisen to tell
his story and confront the human race with its annual havoc of
butchery, persecution, and cruelty. In the awful silence which ever
confronts him, the St. Bernard licks the hand of a master, grovel-
ing in the densest of Alpine ignorance in comparison with his own
masterful intelligence ; and the elephant, with a brain endowed
with visible knowledge, kneels in the circus to an ignorant and
contemptuous clown ; and the horse, with the wonderful and
highly sensitive intelligence of a Maud S., is beaten before a cart
of coal by a man-shaped brute, who can neither write his name
nor mention the common decencies of life. This is merely an
intimation of the mentality of the lower animal. If we were to

ARE THE LOWER ANIMALS APPROACHING MAN? 517

briefly grade animals according to their mentality we would, per-
haps, have a table as follows :

Lowest species mentally.
Low aud ignorant mankind.
Aborigines.
Insects.
Many lowest animals.

Next higher.
Trained lower animal*.
Pets and some domesti cated
animals.

Highest.
Educated man.

In discussing the first proposition we must measure the truth-
fulness of the knowledge possessed by the lower animal as com-
pared with that of primeval man. For instance, Aristotle, in dis-
cussing natural phenomena usually assigned a supernatural ex-
planation. A child of to-day, then, who knows practically the
breeding habits of the domestic animals about him, is possessed of
a higher intelligence than was Aristotle, who maintained such
ridiculous doctrines as that "the eel is born of worms produced
by the mud/' And so, the dog that carries one's mail and does
errands, that pulls one out of bed when the house is in flames,
possesses a higher intelligence than the aborigines, who, with all
their powers of observation, had no sense of the utility of things,
whose judgemnt was ever biased by the supernatural, and who
lived like the wild beast of the field. The same dog is naturally
familiar with all things about the home and place, and knows the
utility of many objects of the household. He is, then, more in-
telligent in this respect, if in a wealthy and refined home, than all
who enter there unfamiliar with the use of the same objects and
who cannot be taught the use of them. A commodore of the
Chicago Yacht Club once rescued a black Newfoundland dog in
mid Lake Michigan and gave him a home on the yacht Idler.
This animal was familiar with the orders issued on shipboard, and
when a command was given concerning the sails would run to the
particular rope connecting, look up at the sail, bark and wag his
tail. "Was not this dog more intelligent in this respect than any
one unfamiliar with a ship ? " Bob/' I think that was his name,
had a habit of jumping in the lake to bathe and of barking when
he desired to be helped on board the Idler. The sailors neglected
him one day and his grand, great head was swept down in the
storm. Could not the sailors of the Idler have better been
spared ? They had their opportunity in life to advance the tre-
mendous evolution of mind going on in man and mammal but pre-
ferred the destiny of the vast army of the commonplace who lift no

518 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

hand to unveil the mystery of the infinite unknown. " Bob/' with
his increasing knowledge, might have become the ancestor of
some future dog who should in some way communicate to us the
secrets of the lower animal world.

These comparisons of the amount of knowledge possessed by
certain lower animals and certain classes of men might be multi-
plied indefinitely. I have numerous authentic animal instances
illustrating the advanced intelligence of dogs, cats, birds, and
species in general ; and there are books filled with them. Hav-
ing shown that any lower animal having knowledge not pos-
sessed by certain classes of men is more learned in that respect,
the question naturally arises as to the extent of the intelligence of
lower animals.

We must concede in the light of modern times that the term
" instinct " is no more applicable to the lower animal than to man,
since it implies action without the aid of reason. Any training a
lower animal acquires, or any knowledge or experience, is just as
much learning in his case as it is in the man who has to be simi-
larly trained or experienced. The turkey and some other ani-
mals which have become domesticated, according to Judge John
D. Caton, revert to their wild state when set free. Arctic ex-
plorers and sailors when deprived of food and the conveniences of
civilization often revert to aboriginal cannibalism and the lowest
forms of existence ; and, beyond a doubt, if they continued to be
deprived of such conveniences their descendants would be as wild,
dirty, savage, and ignorant as an African Pigmy. These facts
show simply that instinct is as dominant in the human race as
among the lowest animals, and manifests itself under like circum-
stances.

The opposite must then be true in part, that the knowledge which
is above and relieved from instinct is partially as dominant in the
lower animal as in man. Dr. Thomas Brian Gunning, whose
scientific discoveries, I believe, have given him alone among
Americans a fellowship in the Eoyal Society of Surgeons of
Great Britain, once owned one of the most learned cats known.
In selecting instances* of this kind I prefer to relate only
those which can be verified by any one, from the lips of men
whose honesty and standing cannot be questioned. " Black"

* For selected instances of lofty animal intelligence, see article entitled " Cats"
in Harpers Bazar of October 35th, 1884, by the author.

ARE THE LOWER ANIMALS APPROACHING MAN? 519

was the name of the cat. Of his many learned qualifications it is
only necessary to mention a few. He always sat at the table with the
family in his own chair, with his own crockery, and with his fore-
paws delicately placed beside his plate. He used his paws and
mouth much more deftly and politely than the masses of humanity.
After an absence of several years, the family assembled at dinner
one day and were surprised to see Black come forward and gravely
demand, as only a cat can, his place and chair, which even they
had forgotten. Black delivered the mail at the box on the corner
lamp-post, and never forgot a face or friend, though years inter-
vened between the meetings. The most remarkable of his acts
occurred when a swelling appeared on his body, causing him
great pain. Black was always present at surgical operations, and
in this instance demonstrated that he had not been an unobservant
student. His master examined his painful sore, and requested
his boy to call in a young surgeon and " have the sore lanced, as
he could not bear to do it."

Black heard the words, jumped on the bed, and lanced the sore
with his teeth, so that the blood spurted over the coverlid. When
the young surgeon came he pronounced the operation successful,
and sewed up the skin. When he went away Black tore out the
threads, and after that attended to the wound without interfer-
ence. When the place healed there was no scar, and the sur-
geons agreed that they could not have performed the operation
and cure without leaving one. Dr. Gunning resides at No. 21
West 21st street, New York, and will verify these incidents in
person and by witnesses to those who desire.

The extent of the knowledge of lower animals must be meas-
ured by specific instances. Professional men often have cats
which acquire knowledge of their professions. Alexander Hesler,
of Chicago, and George C. Phelps, of New Haven, Conn., are
photographers who have posing cats that are learned in most of
the minutiae of the gallery. Kockwood, of Union Square, and
Alman, of Fifth avenue, New York, have photographed over
3,000 dogs and cats celebrated for special knowledge and attain-
ments. Sir John Lubbock is highly educating his dog. The
circus has produced innumerable highly educated and trained
dogs, horses, elephants, and other animals.

It is evident that the animal which enjoys the most constant
and intimate association with educated people is most learned.

520 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Thus the pet dogs and cats, constantly with their owners, acquire
the most intelligence. Many of these are taught to be epicures,
dining in the choicest way, to show disdain for vulgar people, to
have a fondness for jewelry, to cast off the indecent street man-
ners of their kind, and in every way to show a sense of refine-
ment. One must then be ignorant, unobserving, and obstinate
who still uses the term instinct as applied to all acts of the lower
animals arid will not admit that some of them have a higher men-
tality than primeval man and the modern scum of mankind.

II.

The photographers who possess posing cats train them to sit
on the camera and amuse babes. These cats invariably succeed
in making the babes laugh, smile, cry, or look interested, accord-
ing as the parent wishes the child to appear in the photograph.
It is well known that neither the photographer nor his assistants
can often accomplish these results with infants. The trained
cat is, therefore, more learned in this particular than the human
being. Puss enjoys a course of training which fits her for her
occupation, just as the college trains the youth for his. The un-
trained cat, and an animal which does not reason cannot be
trained, cannot do this work any more than the untrained man
can practice law. In Central Park there is a zebra which
has been trained to be loving, gentle, and human in many ways ;
yet it has ever been asserted that the zebra is an utterly untamable
animal. In tracing the history of all domestic animals we find
that no species was domesticated by nature. The life history of
the domestic cat and dog is of immense duration and extent. No
two naturalists arrive at identical conclusions in regard to their
origin. I examined all the books and data back to the time of
Herodotus with interest, yet with despair. The animals soon get
lost in obscurity, but students generally agree that the ancestors
were once wild, like man. As to the domestic cat, I found but
one dominant instinct of the wild Felidm that survives, and that
is a love for fish, unless we include, incidentally, the peculiar odor
exuded by all of this family, not, however, an instinct. Eeading
in the London Nature an account that a British investigator had,
by persistent effort, discovered that the tapering tail of the
domestic cat was originally prehensile, I put the two facts

ARE THE LOWER ANIMALS APPROACHING MAN? 521

together. Was there a wild species with a prehensile tail
that suspended itself from trees and caught fish from a
stream ? Such a cat I found in Bengal and Hindoo-
stan, known as the fishing cat, Felix viverrina. This
animal, then, probably was the ancestor of the domestic cat. Its
domestication, extending through three thousand years, has only
advanced its mentality beyond the prehensile use of its tail, its
fishing habits, and given it such use of its mind by training and
association as has been stated above. As regards the dog, I found
several wild ancestors clearly proved by naturalists. The Ameri-
can Indian dog I had photographed side by side with the coyote,
or prairie wolf. As no one can detect a particle of physical dif-
ference, it is easy to assume that the Indians domesticated their
dog from the coyote, as did the Esquimaux theirs from a wild
animal. Prof. Edward D. Cope has recently shown, after the
most extensive, examination of skeletons, particularly craniums,
that the ancestor of dogs belonged to the genus Oalecygnus in
the lower miocene times, and in the upper miocene to Canis.
Strangely enough, between these two periods one section of the
dog family degenerated and became the bear ; that is, the dog
genus Amphicyon changed during the middle miocene period to
the bear genus Hymnarctus. The mentality of the dog has
therefore advanced under difficulties of a natural type ; it has
been delayed by his vast association with the savage in all climes ;
and civilized man has never eradicated his most serious instincts,
although he has secured some marvelous results from training.
It is now known that although the talk of a parrot is somewhat
artificial, yet many birds learn to understand the meaning of the
words they use, and their use of them then becomes apropos.
Training has done marvels for the mentality of the parrot and
other birds. The crow particularly, in special instances, has been
trained somewhat to the standard of an apt human intelligence.

It is difficult to estimate how far training has advanced the
mentality of the lower animals, because of the shorter duration
of their lives as compared to man's life. Age is not permitted
to the lower orders, because of their deliberate destruction by
man. The dog, however intelligent and learned he may become,
is ruthlessly shot at the first indication of a disease or of madness.
The cow is sent to the slaughter-house early in her career. If
Maud S. breaks her leg, poor horse, the surgeon is not thought
VOL. CXLV. — tfo. 372, 34

522 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of; she is shot. Puss, because of her instinct to prowl, is a
nightly victim ; yet it is well to mention here that many celebrated
cats have been trained to forget the instinct for association with
their kind. The list might be continued with profit, but enough
has been given to show that the mental differences of man and
the lower animals are somewhat the result of training, experience,
and tenacity of life.

III.

It has been clearly established by evolutionists that man, like
the domestic animal, descended through geological periods in
which he had no mentality above instinct. Before he showed
mental activity, man, according to the best and now agreed
authorities, led by Cope, was an anthropoid ape, and before that
an anthropoid lemur. In those early stages of his history, he was
not even endowed with a potential mentality. But what seems
the most startling in modern times is, that the human child, left
to himself, according to Edward S. Morse, President of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, would be
an idiot or a wild man. None of the overwhelming, vast knowl-
edge, accumulated through ages, seems to become instinctive in
the human race or is hereditarily bequeathed. The knowledge
which the child acquires has to be taught him. After he learns
the elementals from others he begins to use his organs of sight and
hearing to add to his knowledge. What does this teach ? Simply
that the lower animals are yet children, and to become learned
like man, must be taught as diligently as he and from their in-
fancy. If man has required 15,000 years to accumulate the sum
total of knowledge of to-day, certainly tireless years must be spent
with the lower species to advance their mentality to a state some-
what equal to his own. It is obvious from the array of visible in-
telligence in the modern lower animal that he can be taught much
more that is known by man, together with its utility.

How can the lower animal be taught ? The best animals must
first be separated from their kind, those showing the highest
mentality mated with each other. Their offspring must be as
carefully taught, as is the babe, such mere elements of knowledge
as they are best enabled to acquire. The descendants through
successive generations and through years, if necessary, must

ARE THE LOWER ANIMALS APPROACHING MANf 523

receive the same diligent attention and teaching that has advanced
the mentality of man. That the lower animal of himself has
been unable to acquire knowledge by experience to such an extent
as man is no reason why we should despair of his ultimate eman-
cipation. Given the same training and advantages that man has
ennobled himself with during the last several hundred years, and
many lower animals would be endowed with much knowledge and
its utility, and be able to converse with us.

Shall the lower animal talk ? If I have shown conclusively
that many lower animals have knowledge above instinct, greater
in extent than those men who are unlearned, then it is proof pre-
sumptive that some method can be discovered by which they can
communicate with us what they know. I have no method to offer.
I shall be content to so present my data that those more familiar
with the lower animals can effect the result. I will simply sug-
gest that if some one of wealth will bequeath $100,000 to him
who shall open communication with the lower animal world some
dog, cat, or bird may, ere long, break the silence of ages, and
teach his companions the method. In this article only simple
facts, plainly obvious to all, have been advanced. The subject is
so serious and humane in its import that a single psychological
theory, or remark bordering on a hobby, or anything that reads
like a new doctrine or " ism," or any attempt at philosophical de-
ductions from the data advanced in connection with this, would
ruin a good cause, and, perhaps, turn it to ridicule. Let those who
have animals strive to advance their mental good, and eradicate
their unconscious, indecent habits. A decent, well-bred lower
animal is a far better citizen than an indecent, ill-mannered
person.

WM. HOSEA BALLOU.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS.

SEKATOK JOHK SHERMAN.

THE Ohio Republican Convention on the 28th of July last,
composed of 723 delegates representing all parts of the State,
unanimously resolved that they " have just pride in the record
and career of John Sherman . . as a statesman of fidelity,
large experience, and great ability, " and that they respectfully pre-
sent him " to the people of the United States as a candidate" for
the Presidency, and will give him "our hearty and cordial sup-
port/' The resolution does not present him because he was
" born" in the State, nor merely as "a favorite son," but because
' ' his career as a statesman began with the birth of the Republican
party ; his genius and patriotism are stamped on the records of
the party and the statutes and constitution of the country," and
because " his nomination would be wise and judicious."

Ohio has never failed in securing the nomination and election
of any of her citizens upon whom she ' ' heartily and cordially
united," as she did upon Harrison, Hayes, and Garfield, and now
does on Sherman.

Political sagacity points to Sherman as a candidate who will
avoid antagonisms, and have in more than a united party that
popularity born of great qualities and great achievements. He
has the availability which results from great ability, long experi-
ence, practical conservative statesmanship, an intimate knowledge
of all the interests of the country, a thorough acquaintance with
the people and resources of every State, with the workings of our
dual system of government in all departments, and in their rela-
tions to each other and to foreign nations. He is available because
he has the highest order of executive ability, is efficient and pro-
found in all that fits a man to be President, and has a record
unblemished, and integrity unassailed and unassailable. His
popularity has stood the test without one failure. Though never

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 525

a Democrat, he was four times elected a Kepresentative in Con-
gress in a district always previously strongly Democratic.

The result of Ohio elections has always been uncertain ; even
during the war, in 1862, the Democrats elected a majority of
Eepresentatives in Congress. In all of the five legislative elec-
tions with Mr. Sherman as a prospective candidate for Senator the
Kepublican party carried the State, and he was elected. In other
years Ohio went Democratic, and elected Thurman, Pendleton,
and Payne as Senators. In 1883 many leading Republicans of
Ohio insisted that Mr. Sherman should, as the most available citi-
zen, leave his place in the Senate, to lead the Republican party
to victory as a candidate for Governor; but other counsels pre-
vailed, and Hoadly, the Democratic candidate, was elected.

Mr. Sherman is now urged as a candidate for the Presidency,
not by disparaging other eminent and good men, but because his
greater services give him stronger claims and better fit him for
the great office ; he can unite and solidify the Republican forces ;
he can attract outside support, and so is the leading and most
popular candidate mentioned.

It is not possible to give all the reasons which prove this, but
it will be shown that, with twelve different classes comprising
all, he is an available candidate, and with most of them he is the
most available. " He is the only man in the United States Gov-
ernment whose views on all questions of public affairs in extenso
are obtainable in book form," or otherwise.

I. Mr. Sherman is available to secure the votes of laboring
men.

Many of our citizens engaged in mechanical industry in fac-
tories, workshops, mines, in forests, and in labor in other forms
have recently effected organizations, some of which seek to pro-
mote their interests by separate political party action. A Presi-
dential candidate in other respects acceptable, who can save the
Republican party from disintegration at their hands, will be
elected. Mr. Sherman will satisfy their just demands. Like
other intelligent citizens, they can see that their rights and inter-
ests must be intrusted to one of the two great parties. They
want a public policy which will secure employment, just compen-
sation, payment therefor in good money, and otherwise insure
their well-being. No man in Congress has done more, and no
candidate for the Presidency so much as Mr. Sherman to secure

526 THE NORTH' AMERICAN REVIE W.

the enactment of protective tariff laws, the chief object of which
is to give employment to labor, and by making a demand therefor
to insure it a just reward. He has done more than any other to
secure an abundant and good currency, to develop industries, to
make a demand for and reward labor. His life, utterances, and
public acts prove his sympathy with laboring men and devotion
to their interests. Left fatherless at the tender age of six years
he was thrown upon his own resources ; at fourteen years of age
he became junior rodman on the Muskingum River improvement,
and in this and other employments became inured to toil.

He always speaks of the laboring man, " whose reasonable de-
mands ought always to be heard and always to be heeded."
In a recent speech he indorsed the policy which welcomes " to
our shores the well-disposed and the industrious immigrant," yet
urges Congress "to protect us from the inroad of the anarchist,
the communist, the polygamist, the fugitive from justice, the
insane, the dependent paupers, the criminal classes, contract
labor in every form, and all others [Chinese] who seek our shores
not to become a part of our citizenship, but to diminish the dig-
nity and rewards of American workingmen."

He is earnestly in favor of the exclusion of Chinese laborers.
He voted for the act of July 5th, 1884, for that purpose, and on
April 29th, 1886, as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, reported to the Senate a bill amendatory of the Chinese
acts, and made an able speech in favor of the exclusion. He
voted for the act of July 1st, 1862, for Agricultural and Mechan-
ical Colleges ; the eight-hour law of June 28th, 1868 ; the act of
May 18th, 1872, to prevent its evasion; the act of June 27th, 1884,
to create the Bureau of Labor, and the joint resolution of August
21st, 1886, as to prison labor.

His position will enable him to carry doubtful States like
New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Indiana, and Nevada.

II. Mr. Sherman can carry more votes of colored citizens than
any other candidate.

His opposition to slavery extension antedates the organiza-
tion of the Republican party. He has done as much if not more
efficient service than any living statesman for human freedom,
for equal civil and political rights, and for the intellectual and
moral advancement of the colored race.

The Missouri compromise was repealed in 1854 for the pur-

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 527

pose of carrying slavery into Kansas. Election frauds, intimida-
tion, violence, and murder were among the means employed to
secure this object. At the age of 31, Mr. Sherman was elected
in a strong Democratic district a Eepresentative to Congress
pledged to freedom. He presided on the 13th of July, 1855, over
the first Ohio Republican convention, which nominated Salmon
P. Chase for Governor, and his speeches in the canvass aroused
the enthusiasm of the friends of freedom throughout the nation.

On the 20th of March, 1856, a committee was appointed by
the House of Representatives to investigate the pro-slavery out-
rages in Kansas, and Mr. Sherman, though in his first term, was
placed on it. He wrote the able report made to the House July
1st, 1856. This — the first great document on the subject in Con-
gress— secured, in its varied results, freedom to Kansas, and gave
to the Republican party success in the election of 1860. He gave
his potential influence in favor of all the great measures for free-
dom, including the " Wilmot proviso," the act to abolish slavery
in the District of Columbia, the proclamation of emancipation,
the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the
Constitution, and the acts to carry them into effect. During the
war he was among the first to advocate the enlistment of colored
citizens as soldiers.

In 1865 President Johnson attempted to reconstruct State
governments in the South under proclamations denying to colored
citizens the right to vote. Congress denied his power ; the
House passed a bill to reorganize loyal State governments ; Mr.
Sherman offered a substitute which, over the President's veto,
became the first reconstruction act of March 3d, 1867. Thus he
became the author of the first act of Congress which gave colored
citizens the right to vote. To this measure, its example and its
fruits, and thus to Mr. Sherman, every colored citizen is in-
debted for his right to vote.

During the Ku Klux outrages on colored citizens, President
Grant asked Congress to give him enlarged powers to protect
them. For this purpose the " Force Bill " was introduced into
Congress in 1871, but was defeated. The colored citizens have
never ceased to feel that they were abandoned to a cruel fate by
the Republicans who aided the Democrats in defeating the bill.
Mr. Sherman was their friend.

He is now in advance of all others in demanding that " in

528 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

States where free orderly elections for representatives in Congress
cannot be had, Congress should " enact laws for elections with
protection to citizens.

He is " in favor of aiding the States in the education of illit-
erate children by liberal appropriations of public money " by
Congress.

In March last, while stopping at a hotel in Alabama whose
proprietor would not permit colored citizens to call on him, he
immediately left it, and went to one where he received them with
the utmost courtesy.

He can carry Virginia, "West Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and other States, all of which a candidate not acceptable
to the colored citizens might lose. G-ive them Sherman, and
they (e will preserve the jewel of liberty in the household of its
friends."

III. Mr. Sherman will command the united support of the
Kepublicans, and of many conservative Democrats in the South-
ern States.

A large body of men were in the Confederate service who ac-
cept the results of the war, demand a lf free ballot and a fair
count, " desire the animosities of the war to cease, and that the
resources and industries of the South shall be developed. Senator
Mahone is one of these, and he has declared in favor of Sherman,
who, more than any other candidate, is satisfactory to this con-
servative class. This results from his pacific utterances, from his
prominence as an advocate of a protective tariff, and his conserva-
tive character.

In his recent Springfield (Illinois) speech he said :

"I do not wish to utter one word to revive the animosities of the war, that
was fought out manfully and bravely by the two contending parties, with such
courage as to inspire the respect of each side for the other, and to its logical con-
clusion of the complete success of the Union cause. All that I ask is that the
defeated party will honorably fulfill the terms of their surrender, and that the
results of the war may be respected and observed with honor by Confederates, and
firmly, but with charity and kindness, by Union soldiers and citizens. For this
I appeal alike to Confederate and Union soldiers, to the blue and the gray, so that
when passion and prejudice disappear both sides will stand by each other in the im-
provement and development of our great and united country."

It was because Mr. Sherman had made a special study of the
means of developing the resources of the New South, by the pro-
tection of industries, by opening new channels of trade and com-

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 539

merce with the American Republics and Brazil, by the protection
of her citizens in all their rights, the education of her people,
the growth of manufactories, and by peaceful relations among all
the people, between all the States and with foreign nations, that
the Legislature of Tennessee invited him to address that body, as
he did March 24th, 1887, when he avowed all these purposes, alike
beneficial to the South and to the great North, whose trade will
be enlarged thereby. No such invitation has been extended by
any State to any other candidate.

His nomination means an end to the Democratic " solid
South/' with Republican success in Virginia, West Virginia, and
other Southern States.

IV. Mr. Sherman, as the author of currency, revenue, and pub-
lic debt measures, and by their execution as Secretary of the
Treasury, has rendered greater services on these subjects, and has
more largely the confidence of business men, than any other can-
didate.

If it can be said that any one quality, more than any other, is
required in a President for the next term, it is that he should be
a great financier — not for one class, but for the benefit of all.

The history of nations is largely that of war and finances.
With a conservative President for the next term, war will not dis-
turb business ; the great questions will be revenue and currency.
The Government is collecting annually more than a hundred mill-
ions in excess of public needs. A Democratic House has been
unable to agree on any reduction. The next administration must
revise our revenue system, treat with other nations as to silver,
legislate on the subject of greenbacks, national bank notes, gold
and silver certificates, the public debt, etc. Mr. Elaine has said
that Mr. Sherman has "established a financial reputation not
second to any man in our history." This cannot be said of any
other living statesman.

The Republican party came into power March 4th, 1861, with
civil war imminent. The treasury was bankrupt, the credit of the
Government so low that 6 per cent. 20 year bonds sold at $89. 10
per $100. The total coin in the country was $214,000,000,
total currency local bank paper $207,000,000, confessedly
insecure and liable at all times to failure. The war came ;
it is officially shown it required an expenditure from July
1st, 1861, to June 30th, 1879, of $6,189,929,908. Our people

530 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

could give a million soldiers to save the Republic, but who among
her great financiers could secure the legislation to raise this vast
sum of money, and establish a new paper currency that could
not fail ? As member or chairman of the Senate Finance Com-
mittee, Mr. Sherman was, more than any other, the author of
the acts of Congress which secured these results, by customs
duties, internal taxes, greenbacks, by loans on government bonds,
under which the largest indebtedness was January 7th, 1866,
$2,739,491,745, and the highest rate of interest 7 3-10 per cent.,
and by national bank acts which supplied the best currency the
world ever saw, and by levying a tax of 10 per cent, on irrespon-
sible local bank issues wiped them out.

He was in like manner the author of the refunding acts by
which three per cent, bonds have reached a premium ; the acts
from time to time reducing internal and other taxation ; the acts
relating to coinage, and those authorizing gold and silver certifi-
cates constituting a part of our currency.

Early in the war the local banks suspended specie payment.
Mr. Sherman gave us the great resumption act of January 14th,
1875, which brought resumption January 1st, 1879, and as Secre-
tary of the Treasury he achieved the crowning success of perfect-
ing the work of resumption, and of refunding the bonds at a lower
rate of interest than ever before in our history. What have been
the fruits ? Funds were raised to pay the vast expenditure men-
tioned, the war was prosecuted to a successful issue, the credit of
the Government was improved in the very agonies of flagrant war
almost without the aid of foreign capital and in spite of foreign
hostility, and now is better than that of any nation on the globe.
The national banking system is better than the bank of England
— better than any ever devised since the first banco in 1171. In
this respect the statesmanship of Mr. Sherman exceeds that of all
nations through the seven centuries succeeding. AH these meas-
ures were so wise, that our people grew in wealth even during the
war as ever since, the only instance in the world's history where
such a result has been achieved under similar circumstances.
After her wars with Napoleon, England resumed specie payment
May 1st, 1821, under Sir Eobert Peel's act, after a suspension since
1797. PeeFs resumption was accomplished by withdrawing nearly
all the paper from circulation, resulting in the ruin of the debtor
class and of most of the industries of the country. Mr. Sherman's

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 531

resumption did not reduce the volume of the currency, and it was
followed by prosperity, advancing from the day of its consumma-
tion.

And now we have an aggregate of coin and currency of
$1,747,331,525, with revenues too abundant, and our national
debt, exclusive of greenbacks and less available cash in the Treas-
ury, only $908,788,275. The chief struggle with other nations is
to obtain sufficient revenue, ours is to reduce it to the limit of
our wants. The reduction of the public debt in England and
France has been merely nominal for many years, and ultimate pay-
ment if ever made is for the distant centuries ; the reduction of
our debt is so rapid the only danger is it may come before we can
adapt ourselves to the transition.

In all the elements of great financial ability and achievements,
Mr. Sherman has no superior in the world's history.

When financial questions present the great work of the next
administration can any citizen doubt whether gratitude, duty, and
interest do not require us to place at the helm the world's greatest
living financier ? Nominate him and every business man will
feel secure. The Germans, distinguished for their advocacy of
honest money, whether Republicans or Democrats, these and
others will rally to his support. He can carry New York, New
Jersey, Connecticut, and other States which will make Republi-
can success certain. Is it wise to hazard the result with any other
candidate ?

V. Mr. Sherman will command the support of those interested
in the protection and increase of the American commercial
marine.

"Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation con-
stitute the four pillars of our prosperity. "

Mr. Sherman is in full sympathy with the policy of commer-
cial development, by legislation and treaty stipulations. As
early as March 7th, 1871, he introduced into the Senate "a bill to
facilitate commerce between the United States and China and
Japan and the countries of Asia." On December llth, 1883, he
introduced a "bill for the encouragement of closer commercial
relationship, and in the interest and perpetuation of peace be-
tween the United States and the Republics of Mexico, Central
America, and the Empire of Brazil." February 8th, 1886, he
introduced another bill on the same subject. He is now chairman

532 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of a joint committee of the two houses in regard to an exposi-
tion proposed to be held in Washington for the purpose of more
intimate relations with the South American States. He is also
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, having
charge of similar questions.

The whole country is interested in the increase of our com-
mercial marine to save the money we now pay to foreign ship-
owners, to give employment to sailors, to build new shipyards,
and thus give employment to men, and make a market for our
agricultural products and the timber of our forests*.

VI. Mr. Sherman will command the cordial support of the
soldiers.

He took his seat in the Senate March 23d, 1861. The attack
on Fort Sumter in April precipitated the war. In April he ten-
dered his services to General Patterson with two Ohio regiments
at Harrisburg, with which he served as aide-de-camp without pay
until the extra session of Congress in July, after the adjournment
of which, under the authority of Governor Dennison, he recruited,
largely at his own expense, two regiments of infantry, a squadron
of cavalry, and a battery of artillery comprising over two thou-
sand three hundred men. When Congress met in December he
intended to resign as Senator and offer his services in the army,
but at the request of President Lincoln and Secretary Chase re-
mained in the Senate to render greater services there. Without
his financial achievements and those of his compeers the rebellion
would never have been suppressed. Brave soldiers were the first
great need, but without the " sinews of war" — money — even they
could not have saved the Eepublic. His financial measures fed,
and clad, and paid, so far as money could pay, for their services,
and has since paid their well-earned pensions. Before, and dur-
ing the war, he was in constant correspondence with his brother,
Gen. W. T. Sherman, and fully shared in his devotion to the
Union.

Mr. Sherman is in full accord with the soldiers in all they ask.
Chief among their requests is that Congress will " repeal the re-
strictions limiting arrearages of pensions to applications made
prior to July 1st, 1880, and allowing all persons to claim pensions
from the date of disability, without respect to the time of filing
their applications." He declared himself in favor of this in a
speech at Mt. Gilead, 0., August 22d,1885, and made an earnest

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 533

speech for that purpose in the Senate, January 27th, 1887. He re-
iterated the same purpose in his Wilmington, 0., speech, Septem-
ber 15th, 1887, and denounced the President's vetoes of pension
bills. On January 5th, 1887, he introduced a bill in the Senate to
grant arrearages of pensions from date of disability to soldiers
who lost a limb. He voted for the ' ' dependent pension bill," and
others which Cleveland vetoed.

The soldiers have no truer friend, and but few with equal abil-
ity to render them effective service. He voted for the law which
requires a preference to be given to them in making appointments
to office ; he faithfully executed it when Secretary of the Treas-
ury, and, as President, would not permit its evasion, as under
Cleveland's administration.

VII. Mr. Sherman has been longer in the public service, has
larger experience in public affairs, and has rendered more valu-
able public services than any other candidate.

He was elected to Congress in October 1854, 1856, 1858, 1860,
and served in the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth
Congresses. Before he could enter on service in the Thirty-seventh
Congress he was elected to the Senate in March, 1861, to which
he was re-elected in 1866 and again in 1872. He resigned March
5th, 1877, when he became Secretary of the Treasury, in which
capacity he served to March 3d, 1881, and having been in the
meantime re-elected to the Senate, was again re-elected in 1886
for a term of six years commencing March 4th, 1887. He was
elected December 7th, 1885, President of the Senate, thus becom-
ing Vice-President; he resigned that office February 27th, 1887,
and yet he remains a Senator.

In the 36th Congress he came within a few votes of being
elected Speaker of the House, bat having declined he was
recognized as the leader, and so made chairman of the Committee
of Ways and Means, the most important committee of the House.

Here is a continuous service of over thirty-three years, so
varied in character as to familiarize this illustrious statesman
with the Government in all its departments and relations. This
period covers greater questions, greater events, and more stupen-
dous achievements, than have been crowded into any other equal
period of time. On all these his great research, learning, and
ability have made him profoundly versed. In his final con-
clusions he has never made a mistake on any public question.

534 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

In private employments the value of experience is recognized.
He is the most popular applicant for such service who can per-
form it best. The " sober second thought" of the people de-
mands that the best equipped man for public office shall fill it.
He who has rendered most and best public service has claims to
office as a reward for merit. To deny the justice of this claim,
or the obligations to recognize it, is to give effect to the fallacy
that <f Republics are ungrateful."

VIII. Mr. Sherman will command the united support of all the
Republican wool growers and draw a large support from Democrats.

A million voters are flock owners, — one-twelfth of all the voters,
— a political power the Republican party will not ignore, a power
which holds the fate of other industries in their hands. They have
a national and state associations, and "mean business." A Re-
publican candidate who has not been a pronounced friend of pro-
tection to this industry may lose enough votes in doubtful States
to insure his defeat. Of the flock owners, Indiana has 54,069 ;
Virginia, 32,498 ; West Virginia, 30,909 ; California and other
States large numbers. The wool growers can turn the scale in
these States. Mr. Sherman has said and done more than any
other candidate to secure protection to this industry. It had no
sufficient protection until the tariff of 1867, agreed upon by
wool growers and manufacturers, and satisfactory to both.
Under this, it prospered. It had the successful support of Mr.
Sherman in the Senate.

And he condemned the ruling of the Treasury Department,
which admitted at a duty of 2^ cents per pound scoured clothing
and combing wool under the false name of "waste." On Janu-
ary 21st, 1884, the Senate passed a resolution introduced by him
requiring a report on f radulent undervaluations on imported wool.

IX. Mr. Sherman will command the support of the " Civil
Service Reformers."

In the Presidential election of 1884 there was a large class of
intelligent citizens known as " Civil Service Reformers," some-
times called " Mugwumps," led by George William Curtis, Carl
Schurz, and Henry Ward Beecher. They had been Republicans,
and are yet, though they supported Mr. Cleveland, as Mr. Curtis
has said, "because as Governor of New York his course in sup-
port of the reform movement was acceptable to the great body of
the independent voters."

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 535

Civil service reform was recommended by President Grant.
Congress passed the Civil Service act of March 3d, 1871, for which
Mr. Sherman voted. Mr. Curtis was chairman of the Commis-
sion under it. President Hayes carried civil service reform farther
than most of his predecessors. He was supported in this by Mr.
Sherman, then in his Cabinet. As early as January 26th, 1869, he
reported back to the Senate a bill to reorganize the Treasury De-
partment, and offered a concurrent resolution, passed March 3d,
1869, providing for a joint committee "to examine and report
upon the expediency of reorganizing the civil service in the sev-
eral departments," and for "a more economical and efficient per-
formance of the civil service." On January 4th, 1871, he advocated
TrumbulFs bill to prohibit members of Congress from interfering
with appointments to office.

He has not encountered antagonism from the civil service re-
formers ; their opposition never has been aimed at him. His
nomination would secure a vote which will insure success in New
York.

X. Mr. Sherman will command the solid support of the Ee-
publicans of the Pacific Coast and the mining regions.

The people of California, Oregon, and Nevada are opposed to
the admission of Chinese laborers. For some time their coming
was not opposed, it was rather encouraged, until its injurious
tendency was ascertained. Some eminent statesmen, fearing the
effect on commerce of violating treaty stipulations with China,
did not approve measures in Congress to restrict immigration
until our treaties could be modified. Accordingly, two treaties
were made with China, — one in relation to immigration, one
commercial, which had the support of Mr. Sherman. He is
earnestly opposed to such immigration. He voted for the act of
July 5th, 1884, to prevent it. He subsequently reported back to
the Senate another bill for the same purpose.

Nevada and other States are largely interested in silver mining.
The demonetization of silver, or a limitation in amount as to the
legal tender quality of silver coin, would impair the value of sil-
ver mines, diminish labor therein, and so the market furnished
thereby. The debtor class would suffer by it, because it would
enhance gold, the only remaining coin with which to pay debts.
The same interests which require bi-rnetallic money here insist on
treaty arrangements with other nations to preserve it there.

536 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Demonetization in Europe would destroy foreign demand for sil-
ver coin for which our people want a market. Mr. Sherman has
always favored silver coinage and the preservation of its legal
tender quality. His resumption act of January 14th, 1875, made
it a legal tender. He made a speech in the Senate in favor of in-
vestigating the complaint that the Assistant Treasurer at New
Orleans declined to receive silver dollars and issue certificates
therefor as required by law. He favored silver coins with suffi-
cient metal therein to make their commercial value equal to gold
coins of the same denomination. He favored the several interna-
tional monetary conferences with foreign nations to retain bi-me-
tallic money, and on December 9th, 1867, introduced a resolution
into the Senate directing the Secretary of State to furnish the
correspondence in respect to the international monetary confer-
ence held in France in June and July, 1867.

England is one of the nations which limits the legal tender
capacity of silver to forty shillings. The result is, our silver
coins as such will not buy products in that country. With a view
to secure an international ratio Mr. Sherman, on the seventh day
of January, 1876, introduced a resolution into the Senate, adopted
June 7th, "proposing a convention to secure uniformity in
coins and money between the United States and Great Britain. "

XI. Mr. Sherman has been and is the earnest and efficient
advocate of all the great purposes and measures of the Eepublican
party.

He gave his support to legislation declaring that " all natural-
ized citizens . . . while in foreign countries . . shall re-
ceive" the protection of our Government, thus asserting the right
of expatriation, a right further protected by numerous treaties
which he aided to ratify. His liberal opinions have drawn to him
the confidence of Germans, and other naturalized citizens, whose
right he has always upheld. He has been the earnest friend of
the homestead policy, and will receive the cordial support of the
pioneers who have secured homes thereby. While favoring the
policy of land grant aid for railroads in new States at the time
when most needed, and conservative of all vested rights, he has
"voted for the repeal of every grant where there has not been a
substantial compliance or an active and reasonable effort to com-
ply with the grant," and he has long since favored the policy of
making no further grants, but of reserving the lands for actual

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 537

settlers and of prohibiting sales for speculation. He has been the
efficent advocate of internal improvements to build up our interior
cities, and secure cheap transportation for farm products, for
shippers of stock, of grain, and other commerce on all the great
water-ways of the country. He has maintained that Congress
should regulate railroad and water transportation of interstate
commerce to secure the same great object.

XII. Mr. Sherman can command more votes of the agricul-
turists than any other candidate.

He has supported all measures in Congress for the advance-
ment of agricultural interests.

He has favored all measures to make cheap transportation for
stock and farm products.

He is in advance of all great statesmen on one subject requir-
ing attention.

The Eepublican doctrine is, that those industries should be
protected which by protection can be sufficiently developed to
supply our wants. Such protection does not ultimately enhance
the cost, because home competition has always secured products
cheaper than imports. Protective duties on raw sugar have thus
far failed to develop the cane sugar industry sufficiently to supply
our wants, and the result is, that the duty on sugar is in some
measure a tax on the consumer. The value of sugar and molasses
imported in .the fiscal year 1886 was $76,723,266, the duty col-
lected $51,766,923 ; our annual consumption of foreign and do-
mestic sugar is about 40 pounds per head of population. Thus
we are paying large sums to other countries for sugar, and they
buy but little of our products. The present duty on sugar, if
continued, will for a time be an onerous tax on consumers, and
yet it would be unjust to the Louisiana and other planters who
have invested money on the faith of protection to abandon them
to destruction. Free trade in sugar with no inducement
to increase our sugar product, would prevent the further de-
velopment of cane sugar, and destroy the sorghum sugar and
beet sugar industries, and the production of glucose from
corn. Recent experiments in the new "diffusion process"
of extracting saccharine from sorghum, conducted at Fort Scott
by Mr. Colman, the efficient Commissioner of Agriculture, show
that 98 per cent of saccharine can now be extracted from sorghum
and sugar cane, being 28 per cent, more than by former methods.
VOL. CXLY. — tfo. 372. 35

538 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Mr. Sherman has said :

" There should be a decided reduction in the tariff on sugar, and then a bounty
should be paid on American sugar sufficiently generous to procure the production
of all the sugar in the United States that our people may consume We have the
best soil in the world for the sugar beet and sorghum cane, covering almost limit-
less acres. We ought to produce all the sugar we consume, and we may reason-
ably do so by a judicious tariff and liberal bounties to producers."

Mr. Sherman is emphatically the farmer's candidate, a class of
intelligent voters, comprising 54 per cent, of all, and whose in-
dustry is the basis of all others.

His nomination will insure success and restore the Government
to the party which has a grander record than any that has lived
since the adoption of the Constitution.

A CHESTNUT BUR.;

WHAT it was called eight and thirty years ago was the Andover
Fuss, and that is just what it is to-day. It has sturdily outlived
a generation, and it shows no sign of decadence. We shall see the
last of earth before earth will see the last of the Andover Fuss.

It is lasting, because it is everlasting. Seeming only an
ecclesiastical quarrel about an unpractical point, it is the succes-
sive bursting of burs that marks the ripening of successive kernels
of truth. And while the kernel must ripen, or the fruit of the
tree of life fails, it must not be forgotten that the bur does good
work in holding fast the precious seed till moved by the internal
and eternal force to loosen its life-long grasp.

But while there is the same old drama, the actors have changed
parts. The villain of the last generation has become the hero of
this. Professor Park was the Newman Smyth of 1849. Professor
Park is gathering up the weeds and grass of 1849. He is now
gathering up the weeds and grass and stones that were flung at
him forty years ago, and shying them at Professor Smyth with as
hearty a good will as if he did not know how they felt when they
first hit, or how useless they were as an argument against the truth.

Even the foolish men who edit newspapers and Reviews and
think people are not interested in theology ; and the foolish pub-
lic who give them reason to think so, to such a degree that every
theological paper appearing from this pen may be considered as
representing a fierce war and a bloody victory over an obstinate
editorial foe, even they could not but be entertained and edified,

* " The Andover Fuss ; or. Dr. Woods versus Dr. Dana, on the Imputation of
Heresy against Professor Park, Respecting the Doctrine of Original Sin." Bos-
ton : Tappan & Whittlemore. 1853.

** A Review of Dr. Dana's Remonstrance of September, 1849." Boston: Press
of Crocker & Brewster. 1853.

" The Associate Creed of Andover Theological Seminary." By Edwards A.
Park. Boston : Rand, Avery & Co. 1883.

" The Andover Trial" Boston : Cupples, Upham & Co. 1887.

540 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

by reading these time-stained pamphlets. Exhumed from boxes
beneath the eaves, they are still glittering with the sarcasm, moist
with the tears, and red hot with the wrath evoked by the derelic-
tions of Professor Park when he presided over the Seminary
whose head has just been cut off, although it refuses to roll into
the basket. Every charge of breach of trust, logical inconsist-
ency, dangerous error brought against Professor Smyth to-day
was brought against Professor Park forty years ago. All that is
not appalling is amusing in the spectacle of this heretic of the
last generation, absolutely forgetting those things which are be-
hind and reaching forth unto the heretic of to-day with the same
unwieldy old blunderbusses that fired their vain volleys at him.
That it is a Holy War does not prevent the tactics from being
grotesque.

In their time, the old formulas did good service, but the world
moves — moves in the evolution of religious truth just as really
and rapidly as in the evolution of material truth. Flint and steel
marked a momentous invention. The doctrine of election, in
politics and in theology, was a great advance over hereditary trans-
mission of saving grace and sovereign power. But to take the
doctrine of election out of history and present it to the world as
a nugget of unrelated truth is just as absurd as it would be to de-
clare flint and steel the one divinely appointed method of kind-
ling the domestic hearth.

Then, as now, the piece of toughest resistance was the West-
minster Catechism. " If there are words in the English language
which can make anything plain," protested the remonstrants
against Professor Park in 1849, " the Pounders have made plain
and undeniable their intention that the doctrines of the Assembly's
Catechism, and no other, should be maintained, defended, and
propagated through the instrumentality of their Seminary."
But, under Professor Park's deft hand, original sin and other
related doctrines prove to be an altogether different grist from
that which came out of the Westminster hopper. Just as heretic
Smyth is charged with the "stupendous crime" of breach of
trust, the beloved Park aiding and abetting the charge, so did
the world, the flesh, and the devil nag Professor Park in 1853.
How can the Professor reconcile his position with the principles
of moral integrity ? On the one hand, distinct and explicit
declarations of doctrinal belief, and pledges to teach in accord-

A CHESTNUT BUR. 541

ance therewith, and, on the other hand, a course of teaching
apparently contrary. There must rest a painful feeling of mis-
giving, lest in his ardent love and pursuit of philosophical specu-
lations he may have forgotten what is due to those high princi-
ples of uprightness which ought so manifestly to govern all the
professors in the Seminary that every question respecting it
should be wholly precluded.

Professor Park is of too large a nature to lay to heart little
grievances of this sort. Volunteers never resent the petulant cry
of "foul" when Thistles lag astern. In his noble forgetfulness
he now declares that if an official doubt of his allegiance to the
Creed had ever been intimated, " I should have regarded the intima-
tion as an insult to me and as an implied charge of prevarication I"

" I am afraid" said President Lincoln, to a friendly judge who
was giving an account of his proceedings at the nominating con-
vention, " I am afraid, there, you prevaricated a little."

" Prevaricate I" cried the too ardent judge, " I lied like I"

And beyond and above any crime charged upon Professor
Smyth, this conservative of to-day but iconoclast of yesterday,
was accused of having repeatedly stamped the articles that he
rejected "with ridicule and exposed them to public scorn." And
I am afraid he did ! I am sure that when he saw the bur splitting
it was not in him to press it together, but rather to join forces with
the interior expanding truth and hasten its release by the keen
thrusts of his playful and polished but powerful wit.

On the face of it, those theological Forty-niners had Professor
Park on the hip exactly as Professor Park has President Smyth
on the hip now. Each alike had to avow on the day of his in-
auguration, and, to prevent a subsequent breaking away, every
five years thereafter, his faith in the Westminster Catechism.

To prove Professor Park's heresy, the remonstrants quoted
from his sermons such words of wisdom and righteousness as
make the yellow pages of my garret rubbish thrill with living fire.
Why is Professor Park training in the old camp when his own
words show that he belongs with the New Departure, falsely so
called ? Newman Smyth, Dean Stanley, never struck a truer
note, never gave a clearer exposition of the proper method of Bible
interpretation and the common errors of exegesis than does
Professor Park in these heretical and Heaven-taught sermons.
Every page is crowded with insight, discrimination, the all-corn-

542 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

polling eloquence of lucidity. It is inexplicable that his opponents
did not give in to their truth at once. It is inexplicable that
pulpits should still be found preaching the dead and petrified
method of interpretation when, for these forty years and more,
Professor Park has been so illuminating the living way. It is a
freak of nature that Professor Park himself, in his vigorous and
magnificent age, should turn upon Professor Smyth for following
in the footsteps of his splendid and stirring prime.

Professor Park is the most brilliant as well as the most delight-
ful man in the world. He is always brimming over with mischief
— using the word "for true heart, and not for harm." It must be
that as his work is well done he cannot help playing. Walking
up and down the beautiful greenery wherein, like gems, are set
his house and all the Saints' houses and haunts of the Andover
School of the Prophets, he spies Professor Smyth, remote, un-
friended, melancholy, gliding out from the shadows of Brechan
Hall ; and instantly grabs a wisp of " speculations" and handfuls
of "moral integrity" and " German rationalism " and lets fly at
him for pure fun, as who should say, " See here, young man, if
you think it is a fine thing to step into my shoes and be a pro-
gressive theologian instead of a stationary one, take this — and
this — and this, and see how you like it ! "

The Hon. Ohauncey Depew has, in the most charming, that is,
in his usual manner, announced himself to be of his mother's
faith. He could not do better, but if he will lay aside for a day
the roar and bore of his trumpery railroads, and will read these
four pamphlets, he will know more exactly what his mother was
taught to believe, what she could not believe, what she did believe,
and what it behooves him to believe, than, I suspect, he has yet
discovered. He would then and thus certainly contribute more
to our upbuilding in his holy faith, and there can be but one
reason why he would not himself grow in grace — that he is already
as graceful as theology can make him.

Just as unprogressive theology casts longing glances back
from the aggressive incursions of present thought to the good old
times when Professor Park held fast the form of sound doctrine,
so did the stationary of the last generation bemoan themselves
for the Golden Age of the good Dr. Woods, when the Westmin-
ster Catechism was in its glory of unquestioned supremacy. The
doctrine of Original Sin, including the personal guilt of each and

A CHESTNUT BUR. 543

every individual of the human race, in all successive ages to the
end of time for its commission ; and the just desert of and lia-
bility to everlasting punishment in hell, by one and all of the pos-
terity of Adam, for their violation of the law of God, imputed to
them as their own transgression, done by them in liim, their ante-
cedent representative and covenant head, this good old wholesale
doctrine, not whittled down by reason, but officially guarded and
transmitted by Professor Park's model predecessor, Dr. Woods,
this doctrine the remonstrants of 1849 declared to be the touch-
stone of New England orthodoxy. No doubt a great host outside
of New England orthodoxy will agree with them and gloat over it
with unseemly mirth.

But I, who gather within myself the strictness of eight gen-
erations of New England orthodoxy, am justified therein by find-
ing that Dr. Woods says nothing of the sort. Dr. Woods, so far
from setting his hand and seal to such American irrationalism, left
on record a theology worthy of his grandson, the late Rev. John
Cotton Smith, beloved and lamented Rector of the Church of the
Ascension in New York ; worthy of the gracious presence and
noble promise of his great-grandson, the youthful Rector of the
Church of St. Peter in Beverly, Mass. ; worthy even of his great-
great-grandson, the most reverend of all, John Cotton Smith, of
the Church of the Holy Innocents, whose theology is yet unde-
fined, but was certified by the Redeemer of the world as entitling
him to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Behold what Dr. Woods saith: " Every attempt which has
been made to prove ttat God ever imputes to man any sinful dis-
position or act which is not strictly his own has failed of success.
,tov • • I say, with the utmost frankness, that we are not entirely
satisfied with the language used on this subject in the Assembly's
Catechism. Though we hold that Catechism, taken as a whole,
in the highest estimation, we could not with a good conscience
subscribe to every expression it contains in relation to the doctrine
of Original Sin. Hence it is common for us, when we declare
our assent to the Catechism, to do it with an express or implied
restriction. We receive the Catechism generally as containing
a summary of the principles of Christianity. But that the sin-
fulness of our natural fallen state consists, in any measure, in the
guilt of Adam's first sin is what we cannot admit." And all the
people said Amen !

544 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Here, then, we have the striking spectacle of a group of solid
New England Christians conscientiously striving to oust Professor
Smyth because he cannot keep step on the Creed with Professor
Park; and we go back thirty years and find another group of saintly
men trying just as hard to oust Professor Park, because he could
not keep step with Dr. Woods on the Catechism, and we go back
thence twenty years, and find that Dr. Woods made no pretence of
keeping step at all. He made the march right loyally, but he de-
liberately proclaimed from his mountain-top, the wide world over,
that the Catechism was often out of time, and that he and his
comrades made no scruple of marching to their own music.

Professor Park finds that Professor Smyth has softened down
the. everlasting penalty of the creed into everlasting possibility,
and Dr. Dana mourned that Professor Park had softened down the
Original Sin of the catechism into a " series of intense expres-
sions." But Dr. Woods, to whom we are directed as the standard,
made short work of both Creed and Catechism, and taught the
common sense doctrine that Original Sin is the Sin that originates
with every man. Why must Professor Smyth shut out all the
light let in by Professor Park in the last generation, and by Dr.
Woods in the* preceding generation, and contract his pupils to the
gray twilight of Westminster Abbey ?

Professor Park says that it is because he only revolted against
the "summarily expressed " doctrines of the Catechism, whereas
Professor Smyth flies out from the traces on those doctrines
as "particularly expressed " in the Creed. His statement is
as convincing as William Lloyd Garrison's avowal of fatherly
impartiality when he used to declare that he loved all his children
alike, especially Fanny ! The great Professor balancing himself
a tiptoe on that slender adverb and calling aloud to Orthodoxy
and Heterodoxy to behold on what

" A narrow neck'of land

Twixt two unbounded seas 7 stand !"

seems a very Blondin of acrobatic theology. But we of the weak and
wicked world — no Blondins, but craving Eternal Life — must have
the solid rock beneath our feet. And that Rock is Christ. Pre-
sented to us under a thousand figures, he was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be, the Divine Word, the Redeeming Reason,
God manifest in the flesh, reconciling the world to himself.

GAIL HAMILTON.

" PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY."

IN the course of a conversation with one of the condemned
Chicago anarchists, a gentleman who was induced by sympathy
to visit their prison is said to have related the following little
story :

VISITOR : " An uncle of mine had a good-sized farm once, with a considerable
amount of waste land attached. Being a kmdly old man, and widely known
throughout the country, he was constantly subjected to all sorts of demands on his
charity. One day a party of tramps came along, who asked for shelter, and, after
taking as many into his house as it would hold, he stowed the rest away in his
barn."

ANARCHIST : "Ant charget 'em nuthin' for their lotgins ?"

VISITOR : " No, not a cent, and moreover he fed them with the best that he
had."

ANARCHIST : (Shrewdly) " I guess it vasn't long before some more of their
frents came smellin' along that same road, vasit ?"

VISITOR : " It was not ; a fresh batch, strangely enough, arrived the very next
day. As all the buildings were full, however, the old man told them they might
go down to the waste land and build themselves shanties, and he would feed them
all as well as he could."

ANARCHIST : " Mein Got, he was a ferry remarkable man. After that I guess
he couldn't keep dem off mit a club."

VISITOR : "He could scarcely have done so had he tried, for they continued
to arrive in greater numbers every day. Because the best land, however, soon got
taken up, and the sugar for the coffee would no longer go round, the last comers
got very angry. They swore at the old man and abused him frightfully. They
even proceeded to smash the windows in his house, and, not satisfied with that,
they tried to burn down his barns, and would attack his hired men whenever they
could catch them alone about the place."

ANARCHIST: " They vas a mean, dirty pack. If I had been dot old man I'd
haf fired them all out."

VISITOR': " That is just what the old man was at last compelled to do."

ANARCHIST: " Goot! But vot koint of peoples vos these, anyhow ?'

VISITOR: *• Well, I don't wish to be personal, but it is supposed they were
friends of i/ours."

ANARCHIST (Confusedly) : " Got in Himmel, frents of mine ! But hold on, vot
did you say the name of dot uncle of yours vas ?"

VISITOR : " I didn't say, but down in the country where be lives he usually
goes by the name of ' Uncle Sam.' "

The doctrines of the Anarchist would seem scarcely worthy of
notice were it not that they are gradually superseding all other

546 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

forms of Communism, and are attracting, by their radical nature,
large numbers of even educated people in Europe. These are the
tenets of the Nihilist, and for this faith pure women, talented
men, and even children mount the gallows in Eussia, or willingly
suffer exile to the frozen steppes of Siberia. The Eussian, the
Bohemian, and the Pole come to these shores, if not permeated,
at least tainted with the poison of Nihilism, and we have seen the
terrible effects of these teachings amongst the unfortunate seven
with whom this little sketch opens.

Has the madness of these people any counterpart in history, or
is it a rank growth special to our day ? Amongst early Christians,
and indeed in all primitive religions, we find the idea of a reju-
venation through destruction held as an article of faith :

Dies irae, dies ilia,
Solvet sseclum in favilla.

"The idea of palingenesis," says Laveleye, "arose from the
problem of evil. The just suffer, the wicked triumph. The be-
lief that the world, fundamentally bad, must perish in flames in
order to make way for a new heaven, is found in all religions,"
" In Mazdeism, the successive cycles of the development of hu-
manity on earth end in a general conflagration, followed by a
universal renewal." " In the Wolospa of the Eddas, the palin-
genesis is conceived almost exactly as in our Gospels ; " while in
the deluge of Noah we find the same belief, though the purifica-
tion is through another element.

" The revolutionists of our time," continues Laveleye, speak-
ing of the anarchists, ' ' reproduce the same train of reason-
ing." The only difference is that our Nihilists, for the most part
denying the existence of a Deity, have to take the matter of de-
struction into their own hands.

Nevertheless, Anarchism has an intermediate stage in inter-
nationalism, and to understand the former we must take a glance
at the last. Internationalism seems to owe its birth to trades
unionism, and got its first start, if not its name, from the Inter-
national Exhibition of London in 1862, while Poland, Italy,
France, Germany, and England, we are told, raised the munifi-
cent sum of three pounds sterling to carry along the movement.
By gradual stages Marx's theories of a laxity of federal ties came
to mean a " collectivity" of the human family, like the Hauscom-

"PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY" 547

nmnionen, or groups of family communities in Servia and Croa-
tia, where bands of men and women are seen working together in
the fields to the music of the guzla. Surely a most charming
picture, though what " the guzla" may mean I can only trust to
my imagination.

Briefly, the aim and ultimate object of internationalism was to
draw all nations into one vast trades union, but that the seeds of
disruption were sown from the very start is shown by Hepworth
Dixon in his secret " History of the Internationale," where he
well describes the differences on the subject of nationality that
sprang up.

" I want," says the Frenchman, "to lay down true principles
and to found a society in which eternal justice shall reign." "As
for me," replies the Englishman, with stolid obtuseness, " I care
only for better wages and the nine-hour bill."

" What a sorry beast is this John Bull," mutters the French-
man," raising his hands with a gesture of acute despair. " No
ideas, no syntheses, no imagination. He will never light the
torch and lead the world. Sacre Dieu !"

Now the transition of Internationalism into Nihilism is just
here. The Nihilists, seeing the utter absurdity of having one
state manage the conflicting interests of the world, thought to
improve matters by having no management. Internationalism
would have one state for all, the Anarchist would have no state
for any, and if you look into it closely you will see that the last
follows naturally from the first. For how could one government
serve all the countries of the world, even as to the question
of the location of its capital ? There would have to be a
head centre someVhere, and which capital city should have
this privilege ? A capital fixed immutably in England might
cause jealousy to America, and if New Guinea agreed to enter
any such federation it would probably be only on the terms,
that the seat of empire should occasionally be within her
domains. Would Ireland, having at last gained her Parlia-
ment, suffer the seat of empire to be again transferred to London,
or would France submit to having it in Berlin ? Oh, says Marx,
there would be government but no seat. This is equivalent to
saying that the government would be on its legs ; and most likely,
in order not to give offense, it would have to make good use of
its legs in its earnest efforts to suit all countries, all climates, all

548 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

religions, by timely visits. One great principle would be illus-
trated by such a government at all events ; namely, the principle
of perpetual motion. It would indeed bear a striking resemblance
to the government of one of the South American Republics, to
which I have heard my uncle, the late John L. Stephens, was
accredited as Minister. After three years of energetic pursuit he
could never catch up with that government, and was obliged to
return with his credentials in his pocket.

But, says the Internationalist, again ready to meet this new
difficulty, the government I propose would be an amorphous one,
made up of amorphous or formless communes ; that is, a govern-
ment having no arms, no seat, and no legs. If it has no legs
this certainly settles the question about its rapid progress. But
it seems to me that a government without a seat, without arms,
and without legs, would have a pretty hard time of it in enforcing
its decrees, and would be only too likely to suffer the disrespect-
ful treatment an india rubber humpty-dumpty meets that is
kicked over the floor by the playful child.

Let me quote a few extracts from the pen of Jules Nos-
tag, if only to show that the reductio ad absurdum is the best
way to treat such absurdities: " Fatherland/' says he, "is a
phrase, a folly, that has only served for penning up human cattle
in inclosures, where they maybe shorn and bled." "'Nations are
brothers.-" " Nations, countries, are no longer more than
words." "Nationality, the result of birth, is an evil."

Or let us look into the frenzied utterances of some of our own
Anarchists. " The stars and stripes are only fit for prison suits
for officials, much better the red flag of universal brotherhood."
" Presidents are but unvarnished kings who keep alive the curse
of nationality. " " Open your eyes," " down with despots," te away
with tyrants." Can there be any greater display of insanity than
this ? So far from national boundaries being a curse they have
produced the very qualties we hold most dear in humanity. Ri-
valry between nations has been the spur that has urged all nations
forward and has placed them to-day above where they were one
thousand years ago. Would America be as great but for her for-
mer rivalry with England ? Our victories first inspired us with
a feeling of self-reliance, and on self-reliance our prosperity has
been built. Would Germany, without France as a rival, be as
great as she is ? Without emulation mankind goes backward ;

" PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY." 549

and so far from being pens for their people's slaughter, boundary
lines of nations are the hedges of their sanctity, the bulwarks of
their traditions, and inspire as they protect their art, their litera-
ture, their science, and their song.

Is there an American that does not take pride in his country ?
Is there any one so besotted as not to recognize what practical
results have been attained by this very pride ? To show the world
what we could do, has made us what we are, and the plow, the
printing press, and the steam engine have been more than the
sword the instruments of our advance. Arbitration daily tends
to fix the sword the firmer in the scabbard ; but the same old
emulation remains, nerving our horses on foreign race tracks to
no less honorable efforts than in following the bugle call, and
causing the mastership of the ocean to be contended for by pleasure
boats instead of being bled and battled for by grim old Ironsides
of war. This is the true internationalism ; the internationalism
of friendly contest with rivalry minus blood. God preserve me
from any other sort of internationalism, particularly from that
tasteless, spiceless, flabby, hodge-podge that would merge me with
a Zulu and would reduce all distinctive flavor till you couldn't
tell a Yankee from a Hottentot.

Bakunin's conception of internationalism has come to revolu-
tionize the old. Bakunin would destroy government and civiliza-
tion itself in order that a new condition of society might spring
up on their ruins. In short, Bakunin is the political father of Mr.
August Spies. Chaos, according to Mr. Spies, must be had
recourse to before anything desirable can be obtained. All that
modern civilization has taught us, all we hold most dear, — religion,
science, family, marriage, and our laws, — must be destroyed in
order that a return should be had to primitive simplicity as a basis
for a new beginning. Rousseau had, indeed, the same idea, only
it was confined to theory, and uttered rather as a lament than as
an argument. " Science, art, and literature, are they not the
agents of demoralization ?" he asks, and what is " civilization but
the source of all evils ?" " In that case," replied Voltaire, "we must
return to the woods and go down on all fours." This is exactly
what Bakunin would have us do.

But suppose we did go back to the primitive simplicity of all
fours, would our condition be improved ? Primitive simplicity,
by doing away with wealth, certainly diminishes inequality between

550 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

the rich and the poor, but leaves a harsher form of inequality, i.e.)
that between the weak and the strong. In early times, in the
sweet simplicity of primitive society, the weaker were not only
driven to the wall, were not only made slaves of by the stronger,
but were also, what is worse, very frequently eaten.

If Bakunin had really lived in the times he deems so perfect,
unless he had been possessed of a stout arm, he would simply
have been clubbed on the . head by some brawnier savage, and
served up for lunch. In primitive, or at least in barbaric society,
the lines of caste are strictly drawn. There are cup-bearers, fly-
catchers and ticklers, umbrella carriers, and any one familiar with
Polynesian history will remember the Kahili-porters that walked
before the chief. Instead of courtiers, these are slaves ; and to have
a combination of strength and cunning is to be king. Indeed, the
very word king is derived from "can." Unless the anarchist
were king, he would have no liberty at all. For a word against
the ruler he would suffer the extreme penalty of the law. And
to that very civilization which he would destroy, he owes his im-
munity in vaporing as he does.

I once heard of a gentleman who had gained quite a reputation
as a chess player by accidentally kicking the table when he found
himself getting worsted, hoping that the next game would go
more in his favor. This is the exact position of the anarchist as
regards his desire to kick. But how, in the name of all the seven
wonders, is he going to kick over the wide and strong table on
which our civilization reposes ? We are not all pawns, nor are the
supports on which we rely fragile or of wood. Blowing up a few
policemen in Chicago, or even the carriage in which a Czar drives,
won't destroy civilization.

Bakunin, in his Kevolutionary Catechism, says the "revolu-
tionist is a man under a vow ; he must be entirely absorbed in one
single interest, one single thought, one single passion — destruction
of society." That is all very well as far as it goes, but to succeed
in destroying society you must have a vasfc organization — an or-
ganization compared with which your anarchist societies are as
naught. Trained armies must be employed, equipped, and thor-
oughly disciplined. Would it not be hard to maintain this disci-
pline when the object that called these armies into being was to
destroy discipline ? Every country all over the world would have
to be thoroughly overrun and subjugated by these bands, even to

" PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY:1 551

those as inaccessible as Abyssinia ; otherwise a new phase of the
old civilization might radiate therefrom. Who would command
these expeditions ? How would they be fed, not so much during
the devastation as afterwards, when all was destroyed ? Not only
houses, cathedrals, monuments, but knowledge also, would have
to be extirpated. The knowledge of how to make machinery, that
competitor, that rival of human labor ; the knowledge of how to
make arms and gunpowder, that, at present, keep labor in subju-
gation ; the knowledge of how to run printing presses, that now
lyingly teach men that whatever now is at least is necessary if not
morally right. All this must be destroyed, with every evidence
that it once existed. Indeed, Bakunin loudly declaims against
all information. " Give no thought to this useless knowledge, in
the name of which men try to tie your hands," he says in his
"Paroles addressees aux etudiants." Again, " Ignorance is
holy and wholesome," " The student must leave the schools."
Granted this knowledge were destroyed ; however, memories of
this knowledge wculd exist. Indeed, memories are germs that lie
hid for generations to burst on the most unexpected occasion
into life. With dead men alone would memories be safe ? There-
fore, to make a thorough extirpation we must destroy the workers
themselves in all these various branches, and further submit to a
long interregnum of chaos in order to allow time to bury in
oblivion the memories of any chance survivor, and so to prevent
his communicating to any one else the secrets of a tyrannical
past.

But suppose that one of those distant communities should
have refused to permit everything within its boundaries destroyed
— some powerful, pig-headed, pig-tailed nation like the Chinese, for
instance, that could rally some 350,000,000 people to its defense?
France withstood the power of combined Europe in the last great
revolution. Why might not China beat off all the hordes of
anarchy in this second revolution ? Then this nation, waiting
till you had reduced yourselves through anarchy to the primitive
conditions which you had craved, till you were luxuriating, as it
were, in the sweet simplicity of ignorance, this nation, pig-tailed
and pig-headed as they are, naturally resenting, as pig-headed peo-
ple will, the good that you had intended doing them, would swoop
down upon you. Having relaxed into barbarism, being meta-
phorically on " all fours," you would be unable to resist them ;

552 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and having voluntarily destroyed even the recollection of gun-
powder, you would probably scamper off at the first discharge of
their artillery on all fours into the woods. They would, how-
ever, in all likelihood, capture you and lead you off to be sold,
your sons into slavery, your daughters into harems, and yourself
to some enterprising showman, who would probably exhibit you
for the poor old fool that you were.

Such is the whole course of history ; the weaker nation goes
to the wall, aboriginal peoples give place to others a little more
advanced, and if civilization were destroyed your condition would
infallibly be worse than it is at present. But allow me to reas-
sure society ; allow me to raise it from the depths of despair into
which the horrors I have drawn will probably have plunged it.
Society is not to be destroyed. It is not possible to destroy it,
and its grand onward sweep will be no more affected by Bakunin
and his company of anarchists than the waters of the Mississippi
by a chorus of hysterical frogs croaking on the bank.

LLOYD S. BKYCE.

SOME WAR LETTERS;

ADMIKAL POKTEE TO GENERAL SHERMAN.

SOME insight into the "no quarter" given by the irregular
bands that attacked the colored camp at Milliken's Bend is given
in this private letter of Admiral Porter to Gen. Sherman. The
" Cincinnati" referred to was one of our gunboats, sunk by the
batteries in Vicksburg.

" FLAG SHIP * BLACK HAWK,' June 10, 1863.
" DEAR GENERAL:

" I received yours in relation to the guard on board the ' Cincinnati,' ard feel
quite satisfied that DO harm will happen to her. The officer in the tug did not
rep jrt matters right that night. I had her examined night before last to s<-e if I
could stop the holes in her, but the stench was so great in her magazine that the
carpenter could not get down there. There are likely some dead bodies in her.
The ground about her is too muddy to work on in getting the guns out just now,
but it will soon dry up, and when she is high and dry I think it better to throw up
some earth around her to protect her, and with the addition of some cotton bales
the rebels will not be able to hurt her. I will watch her closely, and when we take
Vicksburg we can soon launch her.

" We had quite an affair here the other day. The excitement you saw was ow-
ing to a gang of about 4,500 rebels attacking Milliken's Bend. The few trocps
there behaved well until overpowered by numbers, when they retreated to the
water side under the protection of the ' Choctaw ' and ' Lexington,' when those
two vessels set the rebels to scampering, with severe loss to them and without get-
ting a thing.

"They did not know there was any gunboat about. The rebels attacked
Young's Point, where there were no troops ; the gunboats were ready for them,
and shelled them away in short order. The rebels have no artillery and seem to
be a miserable set of fellows, judging from the specimens of killed I saw. There
were about eighty rebels laid out in the camps and trenches, and a number lyiug
in the fiel "s killed by our shells. There were no wounded of any account ; no
quarter seemed to be given by either side.

" Pemberton sent over some women and children yesterday. They report the
rebel soldiers as coming into their houses or caves and taking the food from the

* Continued from the March and other preceding numbers. These letters have
hitherto been unpublished. They were furnished by Gen. Wm. T. Sherman to bia
friend Captain Byers for publication in the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

VOL. CXLV. — tfo. 372. 36

554 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

children. I sent word to the commanding officer at the picket station to let no
more come. Half their deserters are spies ; one that came into us jumped over-
board on the way up and attempted to escape to shore. He was retaken. I have
ordered the captains to shoot all who attempt to escape after they are recaptured.

"I received a letter from Captain Palmer, of the 'Hartford;' he says, that
Banks received another severe repulse, and that he will not take Port Hudson the
way he is going to work, though he has 30,000 men there. In his first repulse he lost
2,000 in killed and wounded, and the rebels made a sort'eon hia centre and drove
him back. He left a hole for them to get out off, but they declined taking advan-
tage of the occasion.

•* Hoping this rain will not interfere with your operations,

" I remain very truly yours,

" DAVID D. PORTER.

" GENERAL SHERMAN."

THOSE WONDERFUL CIPHERS.

IT is all the fashion nowadays to believe that something Shake-
speare did or did not write contains a cipher. The literary man
who has not his own pet Baconian cipher or Shakespearian crypto-
gram is a rara avis. As a rule, the more credulous the man
is, the more his cipher will disclose to him. Thus, one "literary
expert " finds in the epitaph on Shakespeare's tombstone a con-
fession by Francis Bacon, in which that individual confesses to
crimes which we know he never committed ; and, by another in-
vestigator, the plays are made to yield a history of the reign of
Elizabeth.

A cipher, then, is a modern improvement which every brain
should be furnished with, and as there is quite a variety of
ciphers to choose from, I will content myself with displaying
the general feature of each — in the order in which they were dis-
covered— leaving the reader to determine for himself which one
he will add to his literary equipment.

Besides the four ciphers, which will be here presented, there
are others which have been brought to public notice by the
press ; but these latter are evidently written in jest and serve
only " to illustrate the vast capabilities of the human intellect,
however vainly or preposterously employed." I have restricted
this article to those ciphers which have actually found believers
and proselytes.

But I may be pardoned if, before beginning the exposition of
these literary curiosities, I call the attention of the reader to
the earliest expression of doubt as to the authorship of Shake-
speare's plays. It is found in " High Life Below .Stairs," a farce
written by the Rev. James Townley, and first acted in Drury
Lane in 1759. The dramatis personce in the dialogue are holding
high carnival in the absence of the owners of the mansion, all,

556 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

except Kitty, assuming the titles of their respective masters and
mistresses :

LADY BAB : "I never read but one book."

KITTY : " What is it that your ladyship is so fond of ?"

LADY BAB : u Sbikspur. Did you never read Shikspur ?n

SIR HARRY : ** I never heard of it."

KITTY : " Shikspur ! Shikspur! Whowroteat? No, I never read Shikspur."

LADY BAB : " Then you have an immense pleasure to come."

DUKE : '* Shikspur ! Who wrote it ?"

SIR HARRY : ** Who wrote it ? Why Ben Jonson."

DUKE : " Oh, I remember, it was Koily Kibber."

KITTY : " Well, then, I'll read it over one afternoon or other."

The reader will readily perceive from this quotation that the
origin of the doubt about the authorship is very ancient.

THE FIRST CIPHER.

Although Delia Bacon, in 1852, proclaimed her discovery that
the works of Shakespeare and of Bacon contained hidden writ-
ings, yet she did not then explain to the world just how those
hidden writings were to be read. Undoubtedly she intended —
and, indeed, she partly promised — to furnish a method of de-
ciphering those secret communications, but her insanity prevent-
ed. However, the work which she left uncompleted was undertaken
by Mrs. C. F. A. Windle, who, in 1881 and 1882, gave her discov-
eries to the world in a book entitled, ( ' The Discovery and Opening
of the Cipher of Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, alike in his
prose writings and in the ( Shakespeare ' dramas, proving him the
author of the dramas. "

That now famous passage about the art of ciphers in the
" De Augmentis Scientiarum" did not, of course, pass unnoticed,
and, adding to this the idea of allegory, Mrs. "Windle obtained a
cipher which is extremely ingenious, and, perhaps, hardly less
interesting. It is cabalistic, it is biliteral, it has a Biblical aspect,
it is prophetic, it is under a spell, it is commodious, it is adroit,
and it is altogether the most extraordinary specimen of vagary
that the curious could wish to puzzle over. The Astor Library-
possesses a copy of this work, but, as it is quite rare, I may be
permitted to quote somewhat from it.

A specimen of Mrs. Windless literary style is found in the
dedication to the trustees of the British Museum, which is as
follows :

"GENTLEMEN: It is mine— on behalf of the Annals of Great Britain and. of
the pride of the reign of her Majesty, Queen Victoria, as well as the glory of this

THOSE WONDERFUL CIPHERS. 557

new era which it marks for all nations and for the whole civilized world— herewith
most reipectfully to tender to you, as guardians of the British special archives,
this report of my discovery and opening of a Cipher in the works of your hitherto
egregiously misconceived but still highly illustrious countryman Francis Bacon,
Lord Verulam. I have found that this cipher was employed by Lord Verulam for
the purpose of his identification ultimately with the Supernal Volume of Dramas,
which it was the whole object of his being, during the last twenty or more years
of his life to perfect and transmit as his testimonial and memorial of all time —
that 'Ariel' — as in the cipher he has designated its title — which now, in the full-
ness of to-day, springs on golden wings from the encrusting chrysalis of the mask
of Shakespeare and mounts towards its infinite empyrean," etc., etc.

The Cipher which Mrs. Windle discovered she claims to have
found in the " De Augmentis." It is "a writing in the received
manner" which " no way obstructs the manner of pronunciation/'
but which, to the discerner, suggests something hidden. She
took certain sentences from the "De Augmentis" and deciphered
them as follows :

4 A Conclusion on the true Deliberative.

4 A. conclude you on the true; deliver A. to live.

4 Corollary on an Exact Division.

* Carol Ariel; annex art to D. ; visi on.

' A Prepossession against an Inveterate Opinion.

' I prepossess you on A. ; gain is 't, and invite her to A. to 't ; open you on."

From Bacon's letters she also takes sentences and deciphers
them, even in the addresses : thus, one of them, To the Most
Eeverend and Learned William Eawley, D. D., becomes " Must
reverence and learn it; William rawlie, dead he," and then,
"Must revere end and lore in 't; William rare lie; deed ye."

The title to each play has a catch or refrain. These are meant,
says Mrs. Windle, "to be suggestive of the spirit presence of the
author, and they must necessarily be adopted to more or fewer
changes, according to the measure of the mind and ear to which
they address themselves. To attempt to limit them, either in
sound or sense, would be to materialize them and entirely to lose
the ideal and supersensuous effect which belongs to them." The
catch to Othello is :

44 A tale oh ! I tell, oh !
Oh, dell, oh ! What wail, oh !
Oh, hill, oh I What willow 1
What hell, oh ! What will, oh 1
At will, oh ! At well, oh 1
I dwell, oh 1"

558 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

b«i< Titus Andronicus has this catch :

"Tie t'us, and drone accuse ;
Tie t'us, and drown a curse ;
Tie t'us, and drum the news.'1

The Merchant of Venice becomes :

•« Marchant of Venus.
Merry chant of Vine uso.
More chant to win us."

All the characters of the plays have their attendant meanings.
Desdemona goes with "A Demon A." Cyprus means "Cipher
us," ' ' Sigh for us," and " gives the information of a cipher in the
dramas, with appeal to unfold it, so as to elicit sympathy on the
disclosure." Lavinia represents " Bacon's muse, and the loss of
her arms and tongue signifies its crippling by the fact that in per-
mitting the publication of the Venus and Adonis with the con-
struction it must receive, he had rendered it impracticable for
him, in consistency with his personal respect, to issue his future
poetical compositions in his own name."

These may be called the tools or cues with which Mrs. Windle
evidently expected to work out an elaborate history of Bacon's
life ; but, unfortunately, too close application and study of the
subject unbalanced her mind and she became insane. But to her
belongs whatever credit is due to the first cipher discoverer.

It is curious to note that both Miss Delia Bacon and Mrs.
Windle claimed to have been dominated by the spirit of Francis
Bacon while engaged in their discoveries.

THE SECOND CIPHER.

Second in point of time is the cipher discovered by Ignatius
Donnelly. We know only a very little of what this cipher is, and
until the appearance of the book which Mr. Donnelly promises,
our main sources of information about it are the NORTH AMERI-
CAN REVIEW and the New York World. So far as their con-
tributors have explained it to us, the cipher is read by multiply-
ing the number of the page by the number of italicized words on
that page, the product giving the number of the word on that or
some other page. It is manifestly unfair to judge of this cipher
from the very imperfect information we yet possess, but we
should remember that Mr. Donnelly finds his cipher only in one

THOSE WONDERFUL CIPHERS. 539

special edition of Shakespeare's plays — the Folio of 1623 — and
that the pagings of the copies of the Folio now in existence, and
known to be authentic, diifer in several cases very considerably
one from another.

When a cipher is presented to us for examination, or that we
may believe in it, we should not only examine into its construc-
tion, but we should also criticise the story which it unfolds, and
see if this tells us anything that we do not already know, or is
sufficiently important to justify its record in a complex cipher ;
and we should inquire, moreover, if the character of the disclos-
' ure is such as we should naturally expect of the reputed writer.

These rules we cannot now apply to the Donnelly cipher— we
must wait till his book comes out — but we can apply them to the
third and fourth ciphers, to which I now proceed.

THE THIRD CIPHER.

The third cipher is the invention of Mr. Herbert J. Browne.
He is the first to have found a cryptogram in the epitaph on the
stone of Shakespeare's grave. The cryptographic sentence which
. he finds is :

" Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays.

"SHAXPEARE ;"

And the epitaph from which he extracts this is the one given
by Halliwell and Richard Grant White, although Mr. Browne's
more immediate authority is a tracing or rubbing of the stone.
We shall have occasion to speak of this epitaph further on.

The method by which Mr. Browne extracts this cryptographic
sentence is, so far as I can gather from his book, as follows : All
the letters of the epitaph are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., consec-
utively from the beginning, the double letters being taken both as
one and as two letters. All the letters of the cryptographic sen-
tence are similarly numbered, from the beginning, from the end,
and from the letter s in the word Plays. Two alphabets are used
in the solution, one beginning with A and the other with 0.
These letters and figures are Mr. Browne's tools. He has two
sets of letters and at least three sets of figures, and by putting
these in various combinations, adding, subtracting, multiplying
and dividing, " as the exigencies of the count may demand," he
gets his sentence : " Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's Plays.

560 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Shaxpeare." There seems to be, however, no reason why sub-
stantially the same method would not produce from the epitaph
the sentence : " Shaxpeare wrote Shakespeare's Plays. Francis
Bacon ;" nor why it should not also yield f( Shaxpeare wrote
Francis Bacon's Plays. Shakespeare." A cipher that can be read
all ways is not, of course, the best evidence, but, at least, it may
be taken for all that it is worth.

THE FOURTH CIPHER.

To Mr. Hugh Black belongs the credit of discovering the
fourth cipher, found in the epitaph on Shakespeare's gravestone.
And Mr. Edward Gordon Clarke must be credited with having
extended and amplified the ideas of Mr. Black until a biography
of the entire life of Shakespeare and some very curious informa-
tion about Francis Bacon are discovered.

Some little while ago it became necessary for me to determine
exactly what the inscription on Shakespeare's gravestone was.
To my surprise I found that there was a very considerable differ-
ence in the fac-similes given by Shakespearian authorities. Thus
Richard Grant White and James 0. Halliwell give one form as
fac-similes. George Eussell French gives a fac-simile closely
approximating those of White and Halliwell, yet differing in
some particulars. In the various editions of Charles Knight's
works the epitaph is variously given, but in one of these it is rep-
resented with a curious arrangement of big letters and hyphens —
and this, though it is absolutely lacking of any proof of authen-
ticity, is the one on which Messrs. Black and Clark have based
their discoveries.

The readers of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW are already
conversant with this fourth cipher, and its details need not now
be specified. Like all the other ciphers, it was suggested by
the now famous first chapter in the sixth book of the "De Aug-
mentis," where Bacon gives a biliteral cipher which he claims to
have invented in his youth in Paris.

In a letter dated June 30th, 1622, Bacon speaks of the " DQ
Augmentis Scientiarum " as a work already in the hands of the
translators, and likely to be finished by the end of the summer. It
was not, however, published until the next year (1623), and the delay
in publication has always been supposed to be owing to Bacon's age
and infirmities and the fact that his income was barely sufficient

THOSE WONDERFUL CIPHERS. 561

for him to live upon. In those days, it cost considerable money
to publish a book. I have made this seeming digression because
the first edition of the " De Augmentis " is, after all, the only
authority from which we can learn exactly what Bacon had to
say about ciphers ; and because an examination of that edition,
or any reproduction of it, will show that Bacon had not the
slightest thought of basing any cipher whatsoever upon Roman
letters, or italic letters, or big letters, or little letters. Big and
little, Roman and italic types were in constant use in Bacon's
day, yet Bacon, poor as he was, went to the expense of having
special characters representing handwriting cut on wood, the only
distinction between the letters being loops or flourishes. The idea
of using types belonging to different founts to show the distinc-
tion between the two sets of characters originated long after
Bacon's death, and was a device of translators and publishers to
save the expense of reproducing the engravings of the original
edition of 1623.

Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Browne, Mr. Black and Mr. Clark have
all been putting into Bacon's book words that Bacon never wrote
and ideas that he probably never entertained, but which origin-
ated with the "literary experts" of modern publishers. Upon
these false premises they base their discoveries and theories.

When we look for a cipher revelation from Francis Bacon we
should naturally expect to find something worthy of his genius
and in literary merit equal, at least, to the works that bear his
name ; but all his pretended communications are (with the one ex-
ception of the claim to the authorship of Shakespeare's works)
utterly unimportant, frivolous and trifling. Indeed, Mr. Clark
makes Bacon confess to crimes that we know he never committed ;
that is, that he was an embracer. Now embracer is the legal
term for one who commits embracery, and embracery is the crime
of bribing, coercing or corrupting a jury. The bribery of a judge
or a court officer is not embracery, and never was. The term al-
ways has been and is to this day restricted in its application to an
offense against the freedom and purity of a jury and a jury only.
From Thomas Littleton to Sir Edward Coke, and from him to
the latest of law dictionary and digest makers, the term embracery
has meant one and the same thing, and there never could be an
embracer without a jury. Now, Bacon was an expert lawyer and
it is utterly impossible that he would have used the term em-

563 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

bracer as applicable to himself. He was a judge, the highest
judicial dignitary of the realm, and he took bribes, but he never
tampered with a jury. Embracery is not and never was, as Mr.
Clark states, " the old legal term for judicial corruption," nor has
Lord Bacon ever " come down in history as an ' Embracor.' "

But Mr. Clark is not content with imputing the crime of em-
bracery to Bacon ; he goes further and makes him out to be a
"radical" and "radical ladder." But the word radical had in
Bacon's time no such meaning as it has now. Then it was purely
a scientific word used in the arts and sciences. It did not acquire
any political significance or use, such as Mr. Clark imputes to it,
until Bacon — and also the great lexicographer, Dr. Samuel John-
son— had long been dead.

Mr. Clark calls himself a "literary expert," but his expert-
ness leads him to find altogether too much ; and those of us who
have read Bacon and admired his writings may be pardoned if we
think that such cipher discoveries as these which Mr. Clark makes
are revelations of Mr. Clark's enthusiasm rather than of Bacon's
criminality or prophetic power.

But Bacon was guilty — not of embracery, but of a literary pla-
giarism, which is of interest just at this time. He says in that
famous first chapter of the sixth book of the " De Augmentis " :

" Ut vero suspicio omnis absit, aliud inventum sub jiciemus, quod certe cum
adolescentuli essemus Parisiis excogitaviinus; nee etiam adhuc visa nobis res
digna est quse pereat."

" But to prevent all suspicion, we shall here annex a cipher (or invention) of
our own, which we devised in Paris in our youth; which still seems to me worthy
of preservation."

The cheap edition relied on by Mr. Clark leaves out entirely
the last clause; not an important omission indeed, but sufficient
to show that cheap editions are not always trustworthy.

Now, in point of fact, this very cipher which Bacon claimed
as original with himself, is found described* in two books, the first
written by Porta and first printed in 1563 (when Bacon was three
years old) and reprinted in Strasbourg in 1606, and the second
written by de Vigenere, and published in Paris in 1587. It is
certainly amusing to know that the Baconian rebus-mongers are
using a plagiarized cipher to steal away Shakespeare's reputation.

Such are the four ciphers from which the reader may make a
choice. ABTHUE DUDLEY

ENGLISH TAXATION IN AMERICA.

A SPEAKER at one of the recent meetings held in New York
City to collect money for the Irish Parliamentary Fund said that
the tax which the fathers of the Eepublic denied to England
when they threw the tea into Boston harbor she has been collect-
ing ever since by the indirect taxes Irish landlordism has imposed
on one of our most important industrial classes. The point he
thus made is one that seems to escape the notice of most Ameri-
can sympathizers with the Irish cause. It is an economic truth
that ought to arouse the attention of all patriotic Americans.

" Irish landlordism," says another writer dealing with this
topic, "works like the darkey's coon trap,, that 'cotched 'im a
eomin' and cotched ?im a goinV The Irish landlord first robs the
old people of the fruits of their toil, by an impossible rent, and
then forces the young people off to America, to make up, under
our more favorable surroundings, what is necessary to meet the
exactions the soil of Ireland refuses any longer to yield. They
thus profit, in a double way, by emigration, and have the energies
of the Irish race, on both sides of the Atlantic, employed for
their behoof."

This is no rhetorical exaggeration, but a plain, everyday mat-
ter of fact ; for which one late instance will serve as a sufficient
example. In the New York World of August 25th, 1887, there
appeared the following news item :

"During William O'Brien's tour through Canada he had no such harrowing
tale of Lord Lansdowne's cruelty to tell as that related yesterday in the office of
Father Riordan, in Castle Garden, by Timothy Sullivan, of Bonane, near Ken-
mare, County Kerry, Ireland. Sullivan called at the Mission of Our Lady of the
Rosary to request Father Riordan to send home $25, which represented Sullivan's
earnings since he came to this country six weeks ago. His father, Daniel, was
evicted some months ago by Lord Lansdowne's order. With his four little chil-
dren he was compelled to sleep in the open air. and every penny he could scrape
together was used in paying Tim's passage to this country with the hope that his
labors here would be sufficiently remunerative to regain the farm. About six
weeks ago Daniel, driven to desperation, entered the land from which he had been

564 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

evicted, for the purpose of taking with him enough vegetables to feed his hungry
children. For this he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to one month's im-
prisonment at hard labor. Tim is afraid that his brothers and sisters are DOW
starving. He is working with a farmer at Flatlands, L. I. , where he is earning
only $18 a month."

It is often asked, Why do not the Irish settle down quietly and
peacefully here, like their fellow-emigrants from Germany or
Scandinavia, and not be a continual source of political and social
trouble to their American-born fellow citizens, and of unrest and
unsatisfied ambitions to themselves ? The answer is contained
in the pathetic story of the Kerry peasant.

From May, 1851, when the official figures of the great Irish
exodus first began to be collected, to the end of July, 1887,
according to the statistics of the English Registrar-General,
there have emigrated from Ireland, in round numbers, 3,169,500
persons, the majority of whom came to the United States. The
proportion can be judged from the figures of the first seven
months of the present year, during which time, of the 55,338
persons who emigrated from Ireland 49,830 came here. The
most of these were victims of Irish landlordism, and were the
flower of the youth and vigor of an industrious, hard-working
people — the most profitable and desirable class of citizens any
country could have. But, though all admit that they have
become one of the most important parts of our social fabric, yet
the Republic has never been able to reap the full measure of their
energies, because, unlike the men of other nationalities, they
were never free from the annoyances, unrest, and direct loss that
the reflex action of the rack-renting Irish land system imposes
upon their industry and labor here.

A familiar taunt in the English press is the sneer that Irish
agitation lives on the savings of American servant girls. There is
a very judicious silence kept over the indisputable fact that it is
the Irish landlords, not the agitators, who have been living on the
money wrung from the servant girls and servant men of America.
Thousands among the readers of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW
can bear personal testimony how the toilers in their employment
labor, month after month, and year after year, only to send
across the Atlantic, like the Kerry peasant, the bulk of their earn-
ings. One of the most common things in our brokers' offices and
in many savings banks is the sign : " Sight drafts for £1 and up-
wards on the Bank of Ireland for sale here." How few stop

ENGLISH TAXATION IN AMERICA. 565

to think that those words — you never see them written of any
other nation — are a eulogy as trumpet tongued of the fidelity and
generosity of the Irish exiles to their kin beyond the sea, as they
are unprofitable to American progress and industry. The figures
of the tax Irish landlordism has thus wrung as tribute from
American toilers are startling when considered in bulk. One hun-
dred millions of dollars would scarcely cover the drain from 1848
to the present time. T. M. Healy, M. P., in his " Why there is
an Irish Land Question," says :

" During the famine period, the exiled Irish in America sent over large sums
to their friends at home, most of which, it may. be presumed, went into the land-
lords' pockets to pay the rent. The following statement of sums remitted by emi-
grants in America to their families in Ireland, through bankers alone, exclusive
of money sent privately, was printed by order of Parliament :

During 1848 £460,180

1849 540.619

" 1850 957,087

" 1851 990,811

Total £2,948,697

' ' Between 1848 and 1864 the Irish emigrants had sent back to
Ireland upwards of £13,000,000," says Lord Dufferin's " Irish
Emigration and Tenure of Land in Ireland."

The Irish Emigrant Society of New York, since it was started
in 1841, has transmitted to Ireland over three millions of pounds
sterling, mostly in small drafts, more than the majority of its
customers being Irish servant girls. This, though the principal
agent for financial exchanges of this character, is only one of the
many that exist in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco,
and other centres, where there is a large Irish American popula-
tion. Chief Justice Charles P. Daly, who was chairman of the
New York Irish Relief Committee in 1846-47, at a meeting for a
similar purpose, held in the Astor House, in 1862, stated that he
had traced, through the New York public and private agencies
for the remission of money to Ireland, no less than five millions
of dollars sent from this city up to that date, and of the remit-
tances included in that sum not one exceeded five pounds in
amount, the majority being for sums of two pounds and one pound,
clearly showing this immense sum was drawn directly from the
scanty earnings of the most hard-working and poorest paid class
of our industrial masses. These cold statistical figures, always
in arrear, much understate the love-tax that landlord greed
has filched through the pressure it has exerted on the sore hearts

666 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of the Irish exiles in America. A well-worn line in the press
accounts of the recent harrowing evictions in Ireland is the state-
ment that the rents were faithfully paid " until the remittances
from America failed."

The hardest fact in all this sad story is the certainty that the
heroic sacrifices of the Irish-American toilers fail to achieve
the object for which they strive. The Irish tenants are as badly
off as ever they were, and have benefited little by these great
sums of money that were almost immediately devoured by the
rapacious appetite of landlordism, to be spent, for the most part,
in riot and pleasure by the absentees in England or on the Con-
tinent. No repugnance was ever felt by Irish landlords over
accepting money coming from such a source, nor did their allies
of the English press ever deride the tribute or the class whence
it came. It is only when, exasperated at the continued injustice
and cruelty of the age-old tyranny, the Irish exiles add the addi-
tional tax on their industries of a contribution to political organ-
izations founded to put an end to the evil under which their
brethren in Ireland have groaned so long, that the English land-
lord organs come forward with their sneers about the c< money of
the Irish servant girls of America."

The sums sent over to Ireland by patriotic political organ-
izations are but trifles when compared to the amounts that year
after year have been remitted privately by emigrants in America
to their families in Ireland. At the conference in Dublin, on
October 17th, 1882, Patrick Egan, in resigning his position as
Treasurer of the Irish National League, stated that from October,
1879, up to that date, there had passed through his hands for the
various Irish National funds the sum of $1,224,100.

At the last convention of the Irish National League of Am-
erica, held at Chicago, in August, 1886, the General Treasurer of
the organization acknowledged the receipt — in the two years from
August 15th, 1884, to August 19th, 1886— of the sum of $363,-
508. At the previous convention of the same body, held in Bos-
ton in August, 1884, the financial statement showed the receipt,
from May 1st, 1883, to August llth, 1884, of $40,076. At the
convention in Philadelphia, in April, 1883, the treasurer showed
that his remittances to Ireland during a little over two years pre-
viously had been $210,531.76. .During seven years therefore
American industry had been taxed by Irish agitation in the vast

ENGLISH TAXATION IN AMERICA. 567

sum of $614,415, every penny of which was lost to American com-
mercial interests.

This was only one leak, however. During the same period
there had been contributions sent over through the New York
Irish Parliamentary Fund (the " Hoffman House Committee") to
the amount of $137,000; through the Brooklyn and other similar
committees of the Irish Parliamentary Fund, say $40,000 ; the
"Parnell Testimonial " $30,212; the "A. M. Sullivan Testi-
monial " $6,000, and various other items that would foot up an-
other total of at least $300,000, and make a round million con-
tributed in public Irish funds in the past seven years. This year,
although there has been a comparative lull in the collection of
money for Irish political agitation, about $100,000 has already been
sent over to Ireland, and of this amount $65,000 was sent in two
lump sums — $35,000 by the Hoffman House Committee and $30,-
000 by the Irish National League, within the past two months.

These few figures will show the thinking American the enor-
mous proportions to which this continual drain on the resources
of the country has grown. They should make him, if he does
not already, from higher motives, sympathize with the cause, an
ardent advocate of Home Rule and national autonomy for Ireland.
He surely cannot view without an indignant remonstrance any im-
pediment to the remedy that must put an end to the necessity of
sending so many millions of hard-earned American money across
the Atlantic. And, if impelled by this strictly commercial motive
alone, he investigate the subject a little further, he will find that,
with the stoppage of this drain on Irish- American industrial and
financial progress, the loss of which, of course, the Eepublic is
too rich to feel the immediate result, there will also have been re-
moved a most irritating cause of disturbance from our social,
political, and commercial life, in the repose and relief that shall
have been brought to the people of Ireland.

The logic of figures is incontestable, and the arithmetical view
of the Irish question, in its relations to American industrial pro-
gress, is one that seems to have occasioned too little consideration
from the parties most interested financially. When it is laid bare
to public criticism, it adds another to the many proofs that, taken
no matter from what point, moral, social, or commercial, Irish
feudal landlordism, in the language of one of its chiefest organs,
the London Times, " stinks in the nostrils of Christendom."

THOS. F. MEEHAN.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

WANTED.— A REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE.

THE earnest efforts of Mrs. Thurber and the friends associated with her in the
"National Opera Company" to foster and develop native musical talent will, it
is to be hoped, be followed at no very distant date by a kindred organization de-
voted to the improvement of the American Stage. Extreme difficulties have
attended the operatic enterprise — first, because the field was almost a new one, and
there was comparatively little native talent to be obtained, — a fact due partly to
the lack of previous opportunity and partly to the climatic influences, which are
generally considered to be opposed to the production of the best singing voices, —
and secondly, to apparently conflicting and inexperienced management, that has
caused scandals, disputes, and final failure. A National Theatre need, however,
have none of thesa dangers to contend with, and would necessarily appeal to
a much larger audience. If we may judge from the number of theatres devoted
respectively to drama and opera, the supporters of the former are at least ten
times more numerous than those of the latter. And this is probably an exceed-
ingly low estimate. Of able actors a ad actresses there is assuredly no lack,
though the majority of these are to be found in the ranks of the veterans. The
younger members do not as a rule shine, because the systems of " long runs" and
"traveling combinations" have deprived them of the advantages in training
which their elders enjoyed. But I believe there is more crude talent to be found
to-day among actors than ever before. Certainly their number has vastly in-
creased within the last few years, and the growing consideration in whirl* the
profesiion is held, has attracted to it recruits of superior intellectual and social
qualifications. There would probably be little difllculty in inducing one of our
ablest and most experienced managers to assume the direction of a National
Theatre.

In all countries where the drama has been brought to the greatest perfec-
tion, liberal Court patronage or State aid in the form of subventions have been
found necessary to that result. In the United States it is frequently contended
that national aid to Art is opposed to the spirit of our institutions, and even if this
opinion did not exist, the jealousy of other States would probably prevent
the founding of a governmentally-assisted theatre in New York— the only place
where it should be started. Nor is it probable that our State Legislature could be
induced to vote an appropriation for such a purpose. TLe average rural member is
impressed with the idea that, as things now are, New York City gets too much and
pays too little. There is, however, no reason why private enterprise should not
take the place of a Government grant. The public-spiritedness that is now so
often displayed in the foundation and endowment of libraries, museums, and art
galleries might, I believe, be also attracted towards a representative theatre, if

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 569

associated, as it certainly ought to be, with a conservatoire or training-school
Though such a donation should not be obtainable at the start, the foundation and
proper carrying out of the enterprise by a stock company would undoubtedly be
followed by many valuable legacies.

The great need of the American stage is a theatre, the policy of which shall
not bs guided solely by the desire of money-making ; where the manager shall not
be debarred from engaging a valuable actor, because he can not feel sure of his
availability for every play ; where the programme is frequently changed, a reper-
tory gradually formed, and where alone, in the metropolis at least, its successes
could be seen. (The modern system of hawking round plays at the cheap theatres,
after they have obtained one run at the higher priced places, is responsible for the
failure of several managers who, had they kept their property uncheapened, could
have always reckoned upon successful revivals.) To this theatre should, as has
before been stated, be attached a training school, with the principal actors and
actresses as instructors ; and the most promising graduates should be absorbed, as
rapidly as consistent with reasonable economy, into the regular company.

Several of our managers are frequently prevented from producing plays
which their own tastes and inclinations prompt them to accept, because they fear
that they are " over the heads " of the majority of their patrons. This dread has
deprived us of adaptations of many of the best works of the contemporary foreign
drama, and relegated us to more melodramatic and sensational plays. .Yet the
receptions accorded during the last two or three seasons to several high-class plays
ought to be sufficient proof that our theatre-going public, in New York at least, is
willing to accept the best, and not, as some pessimists have declared, averse to
anything that will make it think.

In many respects no better basis could ba chosen for the formation of a repre-
sentative theatre than that of the Com£die Frangaise. The selection of playa
should rest with the manager, assisted by a limited number of the company. A
financial interest should be given to certain members after a specified time of ser-
vice, and retiring pensions should also be allotted. To gather a splendid company
for a theatre so conducted would not be difficult. Many of our " stars," who are
now compelled to travel, would gladly embrace the chance of once more having
homes. It is an open secret that Mr. Booth and Mr. Jefferson are weary of their
enforced nomadic life, and contemplate speedy and well-earned retirement.
But, in all probability, both would be glad .to act occasionally in such a theatre,
where the frequent changes of programme would not necessitate their appearing
every night. That they might also be relied on to assist the students by advice and
illustration, I am confident, though they would probably shrink from the labors
of regular tuition. Mr. Lawrence Barrett, who is excelled by none in his devotion
to and study of his art, and who has done more than any tragedian of the last
decade to introduce new and revive meritorious old plays, is known to be desirous
of establishing himself in the metropolis, and would doubtless be willing to merge
his individual aspirations into those of the founders and company of a representa-
tive theatre.

The prospect of retiring pensions would be held by many actors to quite com-
pensate for the possibly greater profits that might accrue from * ' starring." Posi-
tions in this theatre would be the prizes of the profession, and would give to all a
much needed stimulus for study and self-improvement. Aud they who might
gain entrance, would feel their futures assured, and thus the public and the pro-
fession might be spared the humiliation of seeing a really great actor naving at
the end of his career to appeal, through a benefit, for the means to support his last
years.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 372. 37

570 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

That such a theatre would also help to develop the art of play- writing in this
country, I firmly believe. To have their plays interpreted by so great a company
would attract to dramatic work writers who, while in sympathy with the stage,
do not consider that it offers "a fair field and no favor." One of the most
eminent of our managers once said to me, " give me an American and a French
play of equal merit and I will take the French one." So unpatriotic a decision
would not, I hope, be often arrived at, if the manager were assisted in his selection
by a council of American actors. I would not urge that plays written here
should be produced in preference to superior foreign work, but all things being
equal, in a representative American theatre American plays should have pre-
cedence.

JULIAN MAGNUS.

"THE CALIFORNIA HUNDRED FOOT LAW."

I HAVE read with great interest Mr. Redpath's note on Electoral Reform in
the October number of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, in which Mr. Rice's elec-
toral bill is given at length. In no way can this law, I think, be improved, unless
by the insertion therein of the California statute known as the " Hundred foot
law," being §s 1,192 to 1,195 of the Political Code, which is as follows :

" § 1,192. No ticket or ballot must on the day of election be given or delivered to or received
by any person, except the inspector or a judge acting as inspector, within one hundred feet of the
polling place.

tk§ 1,193. No person must, on the day of election, fold any ticket or unfold any ballot which
he intends to use in voting, within one hundred feet of the polling place.

"§ 1,194. No person must, on the day of election, within one hundred feet of the polling
place, exhibit to another, in any manner by which the contents may become known, any ticket or
ballot which he intends to use in voting.

"§ 1,195. No person must, on the day of election, within one hundred feet of the polling
place, request another person to exhibit or disclose the contents of any ticket or ballot which such
other person intends to use in voting."

Under the working of these provisions of the California law, the tickets are
always printed and distributed several days in advance, and interested parties
afford to every elector an opportunity to procure and fix his ticket days
before the election, so that each elector may come to the polling place with a bal-
lot already prepared. Then, if a ticket or ballot is delivered to him and coercion
attempted, he is at least afforded some opportunity to vote his own choice, for no
ticket can be delivered to him within one hundred feet of the polling place, and he
has that distance within which to change a ballot delivered to him for one he has
already prepared. Again, independent of the question of coercion, there is another
consideration founded on the well-known fact that in cities clubs are formed for
the avowed purpose of selling the votes of the members. If the seller has one hun-
dred feet in which to change his ballot, and no mark can be used on it, he will
have no means of establishing the fact that he has voted for any given person, and
when the ability to prove this is taken away from him bis occupation is gone—
for the men who would sell their votes are not persons in whom any trust or faith

are put.

GEOFFREY CHAMPLIN.

III.

MISTAKES OF CARDINAL GIBBONS.

THE amiable character and undoubted piety as well as the exalted rank of
Cardinal Gibbons, are well calculated to protect him from the criticism to which any
less distinguished writer would be subjected. But, as truth owes no allegiance

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 571

to rank, it is right that when a cardinal errs his mistakes should be pointed out as
plainly as if he were an anonymous journalist.

Cardinal Gibbons instances the desecration i>L the Christian Sabbath as one
of the dangers that threaten our civilization. But whoever has traveled in Cath-
olic countries in Europe must admit that the tendency in America is neither more
nor less than our gradual approximation to the continental or Catholic and our
recoil from the English or Puritan method of observing the Sabbath. In Spain,
Italy, France, and other Catholic countries,— or in the distinctive Catholic por-
tions of them, — theatres and concerts and public gardens and public institutions are
open as on week days and liberally patronized by all classes of Catholics. In
Ireland — said to be the most loyal Catholic country on the globe — political meetings
are regularly held on Sunday, and are attended by the people and clergy without
distinction of creed. No visible deteriorating influence marks these customs, which
are justified on the saying of the Master, that the Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath.

It is against the rigid enforcement of gloomy rules founded in the narrow and
ascetic faith of Calvin, which became the creed of Puritanism, not against an
orderly and respectful observance of a Christian institution, that America is
quietly rebelling. We are at war with the Calvmistic, not the Christian Sabbath.
I see no cause of alarm in this tendency. Rome and Berlin are certainly more
moral cities than Edinburgh or Glasgow, and yet in the Continental cities the
ascetic observance of Sabbath that characterizes the Scotch cities is notable by its
absence.

It is absurd to describe Divorce as a twin-sister of Polygamy. There can be no
such thing as " successive polygamy. " Monogamy is the marriage of one man to
one woman ; polygamy the marriage of one man to several women. Divorce dis-
solves the civil contract of marriage as absolutely as death. When a person is
divorced, therefore, no moral nor religious, nor civil law is broken by a second mar-
riage ; and to describe a marriage after a divorce as successive polygamy is to con-
found the profoundest moral distinctions in the interests of a theological dogma.
Divorce, as a rule, leads to purer marital relations, and well-guarded and honestly
administered divorce laws, instead of being a source of danger to the Republic, are
one of the minor causes of the higher home life that characterizes America over
states where divorces are practically denied to all but the aristocratic classes.
There are two American States where the dogma of the Catholic Church is also the
law of divorce — where there is no divorce, save for adultery ; but neither New
York nor South Carolina would be selected by any honest investigator who has
ever lived in them as the best examples of a pure American social life.

Polygamy is indefensible and should be rooted out of our body politic at any
sacrifice. It is monstrous that this social cancer should have been inoculated into
our system. Whenever the churches of America, Catholic and Protestant, still-
ing for a season their theological storms, unite to demand the extirpation of
polygamy, it will be abolished ; but not till then. The remedy is in the hands of
the churches ; for, thus united, thev could compel any legislation that they should
see fit to demand. Mormonism Jias the sanction of the civil law, the Cardinal to
the contrary notwithstanding ; for whatever the law tolerates, when it has the
power to extinguish it, the law does practically sanction. I trust that the Car-
dinal will lead in this needed reform. With his genius, his prestige, and his power,
he could destroy this " Goliath of the Philistinas" single-handed. I appeal to him
to begin the good work.

JOHN BALL, JR.

572 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

IV.

REPLY TO GEN. BEAUBEGABD.

My attention has lately been called to the letters of General G. T. Beauregard
and Rear-Admiral Wm. Rogers Taylor in the July and October (1886) and March
(1887) numbers of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

As my book, entitled " Recollections of a Naval Officer," is frequently men-
tioned in these letters, I feel myself called upon to make a few corrections.

Rear- Admiral Taylor in his first letter attemps,to prove his statements by ex-
tracts from my book. That these extracts are garbled no fair man can deny
after reading the book in question (1.) The Admiral says: "A book entitled
4 Recollections of a Naval Officer ' written by Captain Wm. Harwar Parker, who
at the time in question was first-lieutenant of the * Pa Imetto State ' says that the
statement accompanying the proclamation of General Beauregard and Commo-
dore Ingraham, viz. : that * the British Consul and the Commander of the British
war steamer " Petrel " had previously gone five miles beyond the usual anchorage
of the blockaders, and could see nothing of them with their glasses was a foolish
statement.'"

What I did say was: "The Charleston papers said: 'The British Consul,
with the Commander of the British war steamer ' Petrel/ had previously gone five
miles beyond the usual anchorage of the blockaders, and could see nothing of them
with their glasses .' I do not understand that General Beauregard and Flag-Officer
Ingraham indorsed this foolish statement in their proclamation. The * Petrel ' was
not there."

(2) Again, the Admiral quotes : " As we entered the harbor the Federal ves-
sels closed in and resumed the blockade."

This I said, but only after having shown that the Federal fleet was dispersed
and driven off, as stated in the proclamation. I said "The enemy's ships went off
to the southward and eastward, and there they remained hull-down for the re-
mainder of the forenoon." The point of difference between what the proclama-
tion said and what I remembered was as to whether the vessels went entirely out
of sight, or hull down with their masts visible through the glasses ! I presume the
masts were not visible to the naked eye, and I do not know but that they were en-
tirely out of sight at some time during the day. I should doubtless have written
" after we entered the harbor the Federal fleet closed in," etc., but I was not pay-
ing much attention to the time when the blockade was renewed, but simply at-
tempting to describe the events of the day. In any event, the fact that I said the
" Federal vessels closed iti" showed that they had gone outside their old anchor-
age, which fact Admiral Taylor denies.

(3) The Admiral quotes me as. saying " as to the proclamation in regard to
the blockade being broken, I looked upon it as all bosh. No vessels went out or
came in during the day."

This I wrote ; not that I disputed the fact that the blockade was broken, for I
had already showed that it was. What I meant to say was that I considered it
ill-advised, inasmuch as I did not believe the English Government would recognize
it (as indeed it did not) . This is clearly to be inferred from my previous remarks.
It is true no vessels went out or came in during the day ; but any number of
vessels could have done so, and that without any opposition on the part of the
enemy. And this, too, clearly appears in my description of the battle.

The word " bosh " was certainly ill-chosen by me, as it might be construed as
a want of respect to General Beauregard aud Commodore Ingraham, which was
very far from my intention.

(4) The Admiral further quotes me as say?ng : " I am constrained to say that

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 573

this was a badly managed affair on our part, and we did not make the best use of
our opportunity."

This I said, but only after showing why I thought it badly managed, and
this was that we should have remained near the " Mercedita," and in the dark
captured the other vessels as they came up, for the reason that as soon as day broke
they would discover the strength of our vessels and run away— which they
promptly did.

Finally, if any one will take the trouble to read my account of this affair off
Charleston (" Recollections," page 294), he will see that the only point on which I
differ with General Beauregard is as to whether the enemy's vessels were driven
entirely out of sight. I only assume to give my recollection. I distinctly remem-
ber to have viewed the enemy's vessels at some time during the forenoon. My at-
tention was specially called to them by Lieutenant Shryock. I looked through a
glass and they were hull down, with their masts barely visible.

That they were not at some time during the day eiitirely out of sight I cannot
say ; neither can I say at what time they took up their old anchorages, for I was
at that time in Charleston Harbor and could not see.

General Beauregard asserts that the enemy's ships were driven entirely out of
sight, and Commodore Ingraham said in a dispatch written while outside the bar
and with the foreign consuls on board : " The blockading fleet has gone to the
southward and eastward out of sight."

Admiral Taylor having so freely noticed my book, I may be allowed a few re-
marks bearing upon his letters :

(1) The Admiral (taking care to explain that *' picking up" an anchor means
hauling in and securing the cable and remaining in the same position as before
slipping) says :

44 The ' Housatonic' picked up her anchor in the course of the afternoon."
How is it then that her lose shows she did not pick up her anchor, but remained
under weigh certainly till 8 p. M. ? [See Sec. Navy's Report, 1863.]

(2) The Admiral says : " The 'Quaker City' picked up her anchor in the
course of the forenoon."

The 4' Quaker City " weighed her anchor and ran off with it to the southward
and eastward, as her log will no doubt show.

(3) How many miles off must Colonel Leckler have been, wben, on a bright,
clear day, he required a glass to see Fort Sumter and to be told that it was Fort
Sumter ?

(4) Does not the log of the 44 Housatonic " show that she was outside her an-
chorage and had to stand in to look for it ? [Sec. Navy's Report, 1863.]

(5) Why was it necessary to send Captains Turner and Godon '' to investi-
gate the whole matter ? " and why, when the "indignant protest " was drawn up,
(and which simply charged the foreign consuls, General Beauregard, Commodore
Ingraham and Captain Tucker with wholesale Jying), why, I repeat, was it found
necessary to obtain the signatures of at least two, if not three, captains who were
not there, and who could have had no personal knowledge of what transpired after,
say, eight o'clock of the morning of that day ?

WM. HABWAB PABKKB.

V.

OLD YACHTS AND NEW.

THE recent races for the America's Cup have excited such universal interest
that it may not be untimely to lemind enthusiastic yachtsmen that we are at this

574 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

day working over an old field which elder, and now almost forgotten, nations once
tilled for all it was worth.

When a grizzled and superannuated seaman first laid his eye upon the
" America," he exclaimed : ** Why she's a bow like an Arab dhow." The Phoeni-
cians were great sailors, but we have no reliable information of their sea-going
vessels. The Vikings at the North, and the Arabians in the South, were semi-
piratical in character, and speed in their vessels was a consideration of the first
importance. The Arab dhow still exists, and within comparatively recent years
we have discovered vessels of the old Norsemen.

When a Viking died, they buried him in his favorite vessel and built a mound
of earth and stones over the ship and her commander. The Viking went to the
Vikings' Heaven, the ship stayed in the mound, and the most perfect specimen yet
met with was discovered at Christiana Fjord, in Norway, in 1879. Its lines were
as perfect and beautiful as anything we produce to-day, and in form of hull it was
exceedingly well adapted for fast sailing and rowing combined. On the water line
it was 73 feet 3 inches, in extreme breadth it was 16 feet 7 inches. The Marquis
of Ailsa had a small pleasure boat constructed after the same pattern for Lady
Brassey. One who examines the lines of these old ships and compares them with
vessels of recent note must be amazed at the perfection attained by those ancient
designers. Not that they ever constructed a " Volunteer," nor even a 'k Mayflower,"
but they teach us that there were new and fine forms of naval architecture cen-
turies before a Burgess rose to receive the plaudits of a grateful nation.

ETIENNE AYRAULT.

VI.

A PLEA FOE FRACTIONAL CURRENCY.

THE action of the U. S. Treasury in purchasing bonds and anticipating inter-
est, in order to relieve the monetary stringency, is remarkable mainly because of
the small amount of bonds offered for redemption . The amount of money put in
circulation by this action of the Treasury is comparatively small, and the circulat-
ing medium has not yet been increased to the amount demanded by the needs of
the industries of the nation.

A very easy way to place ten millions of additional money in circulation would
be to resume the issue of fractional paper money in denominations of five, ten,
twenty-five, and fifty cents, redeemable (in sums of one dollar and upward) in sil-
ver dollars at the Treasury or any of the sub -treasuries. It is not extravagant to
say that ten millions of such money would be absorbed immediately by the people.
It would be at once appreciated, for it would be a convenience which the nation
now stands greatly in need of, viz., a species of small money capable of being cir-
culated through the mails. I need hardly say that ninety-nine hundredths of our
people use the mails to send money by. This would not be inflation, for the specie
to redeem the paper at sight would be in the Treasury.

Public convenience is not the only argument in favor of such an issue of frac-
tional currency. The loss to the Government by abrasion (the wear and tear of
use) is far greater than one would at first expect. There are no reliable data of
what it amounts to in the United States, but English statistics are more full (though
by no means complete), and one joint stock bank in London lost $150,000 in one
year, by receiving gold at its face value and paying it out at its weight value. I
think it not improbable that the coin circulation in tiie United States deteriorates
at least one million of dollars.

The great objection to the fractional currency of war times was that it became

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 575

exceedingly dirty. This could be easily prevented by requiring that all the cur-
rency deposited by customers in a national bank should be exchanged at the
Treasury before reissue. This system is in vogue in England with bank-notes,
where only clean, hitherto uncirculated notes are paid out over the bank counters.
There is no reason why the system should not work as smoothly here as it does in
England. I hope some Member of Congress, who wishes to benefit the public, will
procure the reissue of the once very convenient and now very necessary *• shin-
plasters."

V. PERBT ATWELL.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

I.

RECENT WORKS ON PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS.

STUDENTS of philosophy, and all who feel at home in the discussion of
abstractions, will rejoice at the appearance of a good translation of an important
part of the great history of Modern Ph losophy, by Professor Kuno Fischer, of
Heidelberg.* This volume contains the author's Introduction to the History, and
three books on Descartes, namely, his life and writing, his doctrine, and the devel-
opment and modification of the doctrine. The Introduction deals with ancient
and mediaeval, as well as modern philosophy, on the ground that the latter is
conditioned in its origin by the-other two. At the same time it is distinct from
them, standing forth in direct contrast and on independent foundations. The
author considers " that philosophy, like the human mind itself, is capable of and re-
quires an historical development ; that it participates in the life of systems of cul-
ture which ages and nations consummate, and therefore shares in their progress,
and is subject to their destinies." Grecian philosophy, as the predominant phi-
losophy of antiquity, is briefly epitomize'!, and is characterized as u an incompara-
ble example of a profound and at the same time natural growth." " In its origin
it was in contact with the cosmogonal fictions of the religion of nature ; at its
close it stood in the presence of Christianity ; and it was not only an essential
factor in its production, but is still an indispensable means in its education. The
Jewish philosophy is defined as a species of religious PJatonism, ante-dating Pla-
tonism, of course, but essentially the same as to its great principles. Of the
Asiatic philosophies nothing is said, nor of the Egyptian school, though the rela-
tion of these to both Jewish and Grecian ideas has suggested itself to some of the
most eminent philosophic historians. This we regard as an unfortunate omission.
Perhaps the author would regard the Hindoo, Chinese, and Egyptian philosophic
systems as among the crude cosmogonal fictions above mentioned, but we would
like to have had his views of them, nevertheless.

From the development of Grecian philosophy the author passes on to Chris-
tianity and the Church. Primitive Christianity was not a system of thought, but
later on it gave its impress to the philosophy of the age, and so we reach Augus-
tinianism with its concept of original sin, predestination, and the Church as the king-
dom of God. From this point the author shows the trend of philosophic thought
in scholasticism, in the periods of the Renaissance and the Reformation, and in
the course and development of modern philosophy, which dates from the first
third of the seventeenth century. The main general feature of modern philosophy

*" History of Modern Philosophy." By Kuno Fischer. Descartes and his school. Translated
from the third and revised German edition, by J. P. Gordy, Ph.D., Professor of Pedagogics in
Ohio University. Edited by Noah Porter, D.D.— Charles Scribner's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 577

is that " it seeks to know things by means of human reason" and has u complete
trust in the power of human reason." Early in its development came the conflict
between empiricism, represented by Bacon and Locke, and speculative rationalism,
of which Descartes is regarded as the founder. The history of the development of
the empirical philosophy, based on experience only, and culminating in material-
ism, is treated by our author in a separate work. We find in the book before us
a full and exhaustive treatment of Descartes and the rationalistic school, which
bases true knowledge not on the evidences of the senses, but on the understanding,
kD owing things as they are, by process of clear and distinct thought, independent
of the senses.

The reader will hardly need to be reminded that while Descartes was the
father of the rationalistic philosophy, he was no atheist. His reasonings led him
onward and upward to the sublimest conceptions of truth, morality, and immor-
tality, but he was not a believer in revelation as that word is understood by ortho-
dox theologians. The starting point in his system is doubt, and his road to cer-
tainty lies through right reasoning. The great difficulty with the busy world is
that few men can reason rightly, and still fewer will take the pains to do so. To
thoroughly understand the philosophy of Descartes one must read closely. The
majority of men must have their thinking done for them. And if the rationalist
dery the claim of infallibility to a Churcu or a Bible, how can he expect other
people to accept his own reasoning as infallible ?

And, again, if reason is to be our guide, how is itpthat it leads men to such
opposite conclusions ? Reason led Descartes to the theory of a universal ether or
fluid atmosphere, but other philosophers maintained the possibility of a void in
nature. The intellectual world is under great obligations to men who think inde-
pendently, although in their conclusions they may be entirely opposed to each other.

We should not put this volume into the hands of a person entirely ignorant of
the Cartesian theories as an introduction to that system, but to one who is fairly
at home with philosophic studies it will prove both interesting and instructive.
It is decidedly a rich contribution to philosophic literature.

Another book which is deserving of a warm welcome is Professor Bowne's
Introduction,* which deals not so much with the various details and theories of
psychology as with its underlying principles. Perhaps of all subjects of investiga-
tion psychology presents most difficulties, since it.concerns itself so largely with the
unknowable. Starting from the basis of consciousness, it propounds and seeks to
answer questions touching man's inner nature, on which the exact sciences are
speechless; but there is no .stifling the desire of men for certainty on these points.
Psychology is opposed to materialism, and until the latter give a solution of the
problem of mind as allied to matter, it will find a wide field for independent
researcn. Our author, following the method usually in vogue, recognizes two schools
in psychology — the empirical or associational, which claims that sensation and the
laws of association produce and fashion the mental life, and the rational, which
claims that there is a distinct thought-activity, which is independent of mere ex-
perience or association. Sometimes this is called the intuitive school. Like
Descartes, our author belongs to the latter, and considerable space is given to a
statement of the argument on both sides, in which the positions of Mill, Spencer,
and other exponents of the associational theory are combatted. " Experience,"
he says, u could never decide as to the correctness of a logarithm or differential

* " Introduction to Psychological Theory." By Robert P. Bowne, Professor of Philosophy
in Boston University. — Harper & Brothers.

573 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

formula. This can be done only by the mind itself reviewing its processes and
scrutinizing their various steps." He also argues that sensationalism and material-
ism are mutually destructive of each other, and that as the evolution theory is
based upon them it also disappears before sound reason. From this point the
author proceeds to discuss the various mental states and activities, the feelings,
the will, consciousness of self, etc. These he terms the elemental factors of the
mental life, proving it to be a reality, and not a simple faculty or bundle of facul-
ties dependent upon or emanating from material substance. The second part of
the work treats of these factors in combination, dealing with perception; the
forms of reproduction, such as memory, imagination, and the like ; the thought
process; the interaction of soul and body; and lastly, sleep and abnormal mental
phenomena, such as dreams, insanity, etc. One passage we quote as showing the
general tendency of the book: " The abstract possibility of our existing apart from
the body admits of no dispute ; but this is is far enough from proving that we shall
so exist. Yet the fact that the soul cannot be identified with the body shows that
the destruction of the body contains no assignable ground for the destruction of
the soul. The indestructibility of substance, also, upon which physics is based,
would suggest that every real thing must be assumed to continue in existence until
its annihilation has been proved." Replying to the objection that this involves the
continued existence of brute souls, he urges that brute souls have no absolute
value, absolute worth being an attribute of moral goodness alone.

The style of the book is simple and clear, and the arguments logical, and, from
the author's standpoint, convincing. Some portions are too abstruse for the general
reader, but any intelligent person may consult it with profit as an introduction to
a complex, but most attractive study.

Dr. McCosh, in his second volume on Psychology,* treats of the Motive Powers
as distinct from the Cognitive Powers, which were discussed in tho first volume of
the series. He regards this division of the human faculties as better and more nat-
ui'al than the more common arrangement of Kant into the faculties of cognition,
feeling, and will, the great objection to which is that it leaves out of sight the moral
power or conscience. Not that Kant ignores the moral nature, but that he treats
it as if it were a phase of the rational faculty— reason having the power to awaken
moral susceptibility and to hold it, as it were, to the truth and right action through
the will. The motive powers are arranged by Dr. McCosh under three heads,—
emotions, conscience, will, — making conscience or the moral faculty one of the lead-
ing faculties. He combats the several theories which suppose that the moral sense
iu man is the product of certain things in combination, such as sensation and re-
flection, or of circumstances acting on tho susceptibility to pain or pleasure, or
oi; the association of ideas, or, as Herbert Spencer teaches, of heredity and evolu-
tion. Conscience, according to Dr. McCosh, is both a cognitive and a motive
power, and so in a sense is superior to all the other faculties.

By far the greater part of this book is given to the consideration of the emo-
tions, which are considered in various aspects, and classified and described with
great minuteness. The appetences or inclinations, the rub'ng idea in them, and the
causes which excite or repress them, are set forth in methodical order, as also
their various complex divisions and characteristics. The last section is devoted
to the Will under ten different aspects, and to brief statements with regard to

* "Psychology: The Motive Powers, Emotions, Conscience, Will." By James McCosh,
D.D., LL.D., President of Princeton College.— Charles Scribner's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 579

the religious tendency. Dr. McCosh certainly presents us in this treatise with a
very compact, lucid, and comprehensive view of the subject under discussion.

Another book of practical value, lately issued, is Dr. Noah Porter's critical
exposition on l< Kant's Ethics."* The criticisms are, of course, from the standpoint
of the Christian system. For instance, where Kant insists on a sense of duty as
the mainspring of right action, his critic suggests that this is far below the Chris-
tian standard of love. The natural theism of the Kantian philosophy is also con-
trasted with the divine fatherhood as revealed by Christ. The interpretation,
however, of Kant's doctrines and theories is fair and bespeaks a careful study of
his philosophy. We are not sure that a stranger to this philosophy can form ,an
adequate idea of it from such a work as the present, but to one who has some ac-
quaintance with the writings of Kant it cannot fail to be both instructive and
suggestive.

II.

THE PROBLEM OF VICE AND SUFFERING.

THE taking of the census in Moscow in 1882 awakened serious questionings in
the mind of a man whose writings have since then been read and criticised all
over the world. Count Tolstoi is an original thinker, and he does not stop at
thinking. He combines in his own person the man of thought and the man of
action. In the book before us -f he deals with the most painful and pitiful aspects
of life. The census reveals certain facts interesting to the sociologist. "So
many beggars, so many prostitutes, so many uncared for children." These and
other data will be studied by a few scientific people, but what is the outcome of it
all ? The Count believes that something ought to be done to make human life
better, happier, moie equal, and he sets for himself the task of deciding what
that something shall be. The reader will see from this preliminary view of the
book that its scope is wide. The thoughtful world is ready to listen to any earnest
man who has a theory on this subject, and is ready to put his theory into prac-
tice. It is one of the saddest comments that can be made on human life and effort,
that the solution of the problem of vice and suffering has not been found, or, if
found, that it has not yet been made generally available. Count Toisto'i is a Chris-
tian philosopher, and he takes the word of Christ literally. "If we encounter a
man who is hungry and without -clothes, it is of more moment to succor him than
to make all possible investigations, than to discover all possible sciences. " But this
is a kind of thing that in the Count's opinion cannot be done by deputy, nor
through great societies, nor by mere almsgiving. There will always be vice and
suffering in the world till men learn to live as brethren— that seems to us to be tbe
Count's main position. One has to read through the book almost to the end to
discover this, but in so doing one follows, step by step, the gropings of an earnest
man through the intricacies of social science and through practical difficulties
suggested by his very efforts to do good, till at last the conclusion is reached.

The book is quaint and peculiar in style. There is an air of almost childlike
simplicity in the questions he proposes for solution, and the statements of obstacles
encountered. And when the conclusion is reached, there is no great flourish of

* "Kant's Ethics." A critical exposition. By Noah Porter, President of Yale College.— 8. C.
Griggs & Co.

t " What to do ? Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow " By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi.
Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood.— T. Y. Crowell & Co

580 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

trumpets— no proclamation of an approaching milleDium. It is simply the state-
ment of the manner of life into which, in the opinion of the author, all true
philanthropists should come. That the world will accept the conclusion, and act
up to it, is another matter. Probably not. But, none the less, the author believes
this to be the only road out of the difficulty. Labor for everybody, end slavery
for nobody— that is, in a word, the Count's theory. Man must come back to the
old Bible regime : "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, and in sorrow
shalt thou bring forth children," But he adds pensively, speaking of the upper

and cultured class in which he was born, " Nous avons chang6 tout fa

Men need not work in order to eat, and women need not bear children." He does
not mean that life should be devoted wholly to physical work — that would be slav-
ery ; but that physical toil and simple living should be features in every life. Six
or seven hours out of the twenty-four should be given to the " labor of the bauds,
feet, shoulders, back, from which you sweat," three or four to the employment of
the fingers and wrists in some sort of artisan work, three or four to some kind of
intellectual labor, and the rest to social intercourse, food, and sleep. The idea of
one life being wholly intellectual, another mechanical, another physically laborious,
and another wholly idle, and living on the labors of others, is false and p^rmcious.
He claims that, having discovered this for himself, he has found immense content-
ment— he is brought into sympathy with man as man. It is in the rotation of
labor that man finds rest and enjoyment.

III.

ESSAYS BY EDWIN P. WHIPPLB.

IN this collection of republished essays* the reader will not fail to find much
pleasant and instructive criticism. The paper on American literature, which
heads the series, reviews the literary history of the first century of cur national
life, and is, we have no hesitation in saying, notwithstanding its limitations and
omissions, worthy of a position among the classics of our age. The limitations and
omissions are such us may be pardoned when the wide range covered by the title
of the essay is compared with the brevity essential to the performance. This
essay is not, of course, an extended treatise, like the larger work on the same sub-
ject by Mr. Richardson, covering nearly three times the number of years and ex-
panding into two large octavo volumes. Some important and familiar names are
not mentioned, for instance, the Hodges, Bushnell, and Hickok in theology, Gar-
rison and Choates in politics, E. P. Roe among popular and prolific novelists, but
the author in a measure disarms this criticism by anticipating it, and acknowl-
edging the necessary imperfectness of a magazine article. But as giving a bird's-
eye view of the growth and leading characteristics of American authorship, the
essay is admirable, and will repay a second and even third perusal. The death of
Mr. W hippie, before the publication of this volume, gives to the introductory re-
marks of Mr. J. G. Whittier a sad tone. " It is the inevitable sorrow of age," he
says, •' that one's companions must drop away on the right hand and' the left with
increasing frequency, until we are compelled to ask with Wordsworth—

' Who next shall fall and disappear ? '

" But in the case of him who has passed from us," he adds, " we have the sat-
isfaction of knowing that his life-work has been well and faithfully done, and that
he leaves behind him only friends."

Mr. Whittier's recognition of the critical insight and clear literary judgment

* " American Literature and other Papers." By Edwin Percy Whipple. With introductory
•ote by John Greenleaf Whittier.— Ticknor & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 581

of the essayist will commend itself to the reader of these papers. Mr. Whipple
errs, if anywhere, in the direction of over-appreciation and amiability. He ap-
pears to be most at home in favorable criticism, though doubtless not blind to
faults. Possibly, in the hands of a sterner critic, many of the less fortunate liter-
ary traits of some of our living men and women of letters might have been dis-
covered. One of the severest criticisms uttered is in reference to Walt Whit-
man's " Leaves of Grass," of which he says that, in his opinion, this poem would
be, if thoroughly cleaned, even now considered the ablest and most original work
of the author.

In his remarks on the earlier portion of the period under notice, there are
many just and discriminating reflections. He regards American literature as
subsidiary to the grander movement of the American mind, the operation of
which has hitherto been rather in the direction of practical and material progress
than of literary effort. Still the land has given birth to giants in literature. He
thinks that Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin represent the double aspect
of the thought of the colonies at the time of the Revolution— Edwards as a man
of the next world, Franklin as a man of this world. "Edwards represents,
humanly speaking, the somewhat doleful doctrine that the best thing a good man
can do is to get out of this world as soon as he decently can, into one which is
immeasurably better. Franklin, on the contrary, seems perfectly content with
this world, so long as he thinks he can better it.n This is a very striking and apt
contrast between the two philosophies, which are happily becoming more and more
blended as the world grows older. Thomas Paine he regards as the most influential
assailant of the orthodox faith in his time, but as owing his popularity to the im-
portance to which he was lifted by his horrified theological adversaries, whose
dogmas he submitted to the test of " a hard, almost animal, common-sense." But
he judges that these dogmas have, in the main, been quietly repudiated by the
clergy of later days. This may be true to some extent, but, possibly, there may
be enough of dogma left to justify a little more of the winnowing process. Mr.
Whipple draws a distinction between the dogmas of the church and the practical
teachings of the clergy, which he thinks have been of inestimable value in the for-
mation of the national character.

The essay on Daniel Webster is a masterpiece of discriminating criticism, and
the same may be said, with, perhaps, slight reservations, of the papers on Emerson
and Carlyle, and of the concluding article on the character and genius of Thomas
Starr King.

IV.

CHURCH AND DISSENT IN RUSSIA.

THERE has been an increasing tendency of late years among thoughtful people
in this country and in Europe to investigate the peculiar conditions and surround-
ings of religious life in those countries where the Greek Church is accounted ortha
dox. Various attempts have been made for centuries to heal the great schism
which divided Greek from Latin Christianity, and Protestants as well as Catholics
have endeavored to bring about some degree of mutual recognition and harmony,
but in vain. Probably over eighty millions of professing Christians in Eastern
Europe adhere to the Greek Church, regarding it as the Church of God, while they
look upon the two hundred millions of Catholics and the almost equal number of
nominal Protestants as alike heretics and wanderers from the fold. An interest-
ing contribution* has recently been made to the published facts in reference to the

* " The Eussian Church and Russian Dissent, comprising1 Orthodoxy, Dissent, and Erratic
Sects." By Alfred F. Heard, formerly Consul-General for Kussia at Shanghai.— Harper and
Brothers. . •

582 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Church in Russia, by Mr. Alfred F. Heard, who has had the advantage (for this
purpose) of a long residence in the country, and who has also consulted all the
available authorities on the subject. Those who are disposed to investigate may
derive considerable instruction from this book, which professes to give " a consecu-
tive account of the Orthodox Church of Russia," and of " the innumerable sects"
which have sprung from the great schism of the seventeenth century or from the
inherent devotional character of the people. The work bears evidence of very
careful and conscientious labor, and it has the advantage for the general reader
of brevity and conciseness. A work of greater elaborateness might have em-
braced more details, but would not have been so generally acceptable as this
volume, which meets a very widespread demand for information upon this sub-
ject among intelligent people.

The early chapters are historical, and upon these we need not dwell. Most of our
readers are acquainted with the main causes which, in the early centuries of our era,
divided Eastern from Western Christianity. The schism was complete in the be-
ginning of the eleventh century, when the Pope's delegates deposited the written
declaration of anathema on the altar of the cathedral of St. Sophia, having
utterly failed to bring about any adjustment of differences. There was evidently
a great deal of human nature among the holy and eminent ecclesiastics of those
days. The patriarchs of Constantinople chafed at the assumption of superiority
by their brethren at Rome, and felt quite equal to setting up in ecclesiastical busi-
ness for themselves. The disputes about leavened or unleavened bread in the
sacrament, the right way of computing Easter, the use of milk food in Lent, and
even the graver matters of doctrine and practice involved in the use of " filioque"
in the creed, and the celibacy of the clergy, though very real and intense among
good men, seem, to our modern idea, very poor reasons for so serious a result as
the creation of two hostile factions in the Church, mutually excommunicating
each other. And our author seems to take this view when he says that the diver-
gence of the two Churches " was based on essential variations in the character and
disposition of the people in the East and West, on the nature of their civilization,
and on the different, almost antagonistic, development of the Christian idea in one
Church and in the other." Some aspects of these essential variations are sketched
forth in this treatise.

Russia was at this time (1004) included in the patriarchate of Constantinople,
from which it was separated in the fifteenth century. The government of the
Orthodox Church in Russia is now synodical, and its connection with the state
complete. The clergy are distinguished as black and white ; the former being
the monks, who are always attired in a black habit, and the latter, called popes,
being the parochial clergy ; these latter adopt some other color for their vest-
ments than black, but not necessarily white. The monks are celibates, but the
popes must marry before they have charge of a parish. Should a pope's wife die,
a second marriage is not permitted. On the other hand, a clergyman may return
to secular life by permission of the Holy Synod, which is the supreme authority
in the church. The influence of religion over the masses of the people in Russia is
supreme; but since the days of Feter the Great the spirit of doubt and skepticism
has pervaded the upper classes, not, however, to the extent of making them leave
the Church. The piety of the Russian peasant is characterized by intense supersti-
tion. He believes in gnomes and sprites. "When hunting, he offers to the Lyeshi,
or wood demons, the first game he kills ; if he be sick, he leaves in the forest a bit
of bread or salt, with an invocation to the sylvan deity."

Of the dissenting sects in Russia, Mr. Heard gives us an interesting account.
As a rule, dissenters are found among the peasant class, and instead of being

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 583

frowned upon or ostracised by their orthodox neighbors, are generally looked up to
as worthy of special respect. There are many instances, however, in which these
people have acquired wealth in commercial and manufacturing enterprises, and
then it often happens that there is a considerable relaxing of ascetic practices and
habits. Some of the Russian sects hold opinions as to the relation of the sexes re-
pugnant to morality; others make vows of perpetual continency ; and, with some
the rites and ceremonies enjoined have a hideous character. Singularly enough,
the people holding these extravagant and revolting beliefs are usually in outward
conduct the most respectable and honest of men. There are also many communities
somewhat similar to the Friends or Quakers among us, rejecting the sacraments and
all ritualistic observances, and meeting for worship in private houses, because " the
Almighty dwells not in temples made by hands." As in other countries, dissenting
sects have from time to time undergone persecution by the civil power, but at the
present time enjoy freedom and toleration under certain restrictions, amongst
which is the prohibition to proselytize from the orthodox communion. This is a
crime against Russian law, and applies to all denominations.

V.

TOPICAL TREATMENT OF HISTORY.

AMONG the many modern methods for teaching history the topical possesses
some points of superiority to all others. The student who would become familiar
with the tendency of thought, the political constitution, and the social conditions
of France in the eighteenth century has only to study the events of the French
Revolution. The burning of Troy, the fall of Babylon, the siege of Jerusalem,
the retreat of the Ten Thousand, when surveyed from all possible standpoints,
and with the best possible aids, furnish the learner with all that he can appropri-
ate of the history of these times. Such topical inquiry accomplishes far more of
the desirable results of historical research than the confused massing of incidents
and dates so commonly insisted on in the class-room.

The Institutes of General History,* prepared by a practical professor at Brown
University, is a remarkably concise historical work in this line. It discusses,
in forms suitable for the student or the general reader, ten of the more important
periods and events in the world's history, exclusive of English affairs, except as
they are closely connected with those of the Continent. The topics noted include
The Old East, The Classical Period, The Dissolution of Rome, The Mediseval
Roman Empire of the West, Feudalism, and the French Monarchy, Islam and
the Crusades, The Renaissance and The Reformation, The Thirty Years' War,
The French Revolution, and Prussia and the New Empire. The subject matter is
widely suggestive rather than final, and while clearly presenting the more impor-
tant facts connected with a given topic, it encourages the reader to diligent research.
The work " blazes through the jungle of the ages a course along wkich the
instructor can guide his class as much as he lists."

The general preparation and careful condensation of these important and
fruitful themes is worthy of especial praise. But no feature of the work will be
more valued by those who would thoroughly acquaint themselves with the philoso-
phy of great events in the history of the world than the select bibliographies which
precede each section, and which are sufficiently exhaustive to stimulate the ambi-
tion of all lovers of history. The authorities to whom reference is made are so

* " Brief Institutes of History. " Being a companion to the author's " Brief Institutes of Our
Constitutional History, English and American." By E Benjamin Andrews, D D., LL.D., Pro-
fessor of History in Brown University.— Silver, Bogers &, Co.

584 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

numerous, and so diverse in their sympathies and deductions, that a broad and
comprehensive idea may be gained of the theme under consideration. For exam-
ple, the bibliography of the chapter on The Classical Period contains particular
and exact reference to Grote, Duncker, Zeller, Ranke, Cox, Mulford and Thirl-
wall, Mommsen, Duruy, Curteis, Thierry, Nitzsch, Arnold, und as many more.
So that a course of collateral reading may be extended to almost any limit.

VI.
THACKERAY'S LETTERS.

THOSE who have, as well as those who have not, read the series of Thackeray's
Letters which has just been brought to a close in Scribner's Magazine, will alike
be interested by their republication in book form in the very handsome volume
just issued.* They reveal the man Thackeray as none of his books can do.
"Written in the warmth of personal friendship, and without a thought of their be-
ing preserved and published, they constitute a perfect photograph of character.
Quaintly and deliciously humorous as most of them are, there are very many
glimpses in them of the more serious and reflective side of Thackeray's nature, and,
after reading them, one ceases to wonder at the strength of personal attachment
so many different kinds of people felt towards him. It would be unfair to search
through them for profundities, and happily there is no pedantry, but here and,
there the philosopher as well as the humorist is revealed. Here is a touch of na-
ture : " What a history that is in the Thomas & Kempis book ! The scheme of
that book would make the world the most wretched, useless, dreary, doting place
of so journ— there would be no manhood, no lrve, no tender ties of mother and
child, no use of intellect, no trade or science, a b,-t of beings crawling about, avoid-
ing one another, and howling a perpetual miserere." Again, " I am sure it is
partly because he is a lord that I like that man ; but it is his lovingness, manli-
ness, and simplicity which I like best." Of letter writing in general Thackeray
complains that "most people in composing letters translate their thoughts into a
pompous, unfamiliar language, as necessary and propei under the circumstances."
Certainly he himself is free from this formality. At one time he begins a letter
with the question, " Do you see how mad everybody is in the world ? Or is it not
my own insanity ? " But it must be remembered that it is not only the person
writing, but the person written to, that helps to make the letter. Moreover, if
Thackeray had had the least suspicion that one day the world would read this
correspondence with familiar friends, could he have written in so neglige a form ?
We think not. And perhaps there is such a thing as overdoing this species of
triviality, if so it may be called. There will be many imitators of Thackeray, we
fear, whose correspondents happily will be the only people likely ever to feel bored
by their attempts at drollery. That Thackeray found time amidst his literary
work to write so often and at such a length to his intimate friends shows the
loyalty of his heart, and also perhaps suggests a touch of " homesickness" which
found relief in just this way.

There is only one thing wanted to make this collection complete, and that is
the appearance in it of at least some of the letters from Thackeray's correspond-
ents. One gets such charming glimpses of these good people, particularly of Mrs.
Brookfield, through Thackeray's spectacles, that it seems a pity not to know more
about them and hear them talk for themselves.

* "A Collection of Letters of Thackeray, 1847-1855." With portraits and reproductions of
Letters and Drawings. — Charles Scribner's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 585

VII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

" BODTKB is a pleasant little village of a score or two houses and half a dozen
shops, all in one wide street a couple of a hundred yards long, and it lies upon the
slope of a picturesque green valley." So begins the thrilling story of a series of
Irish evictions, originally published for the most part in the Pall Mall Gazette, of
London, and other English journals, and collected in the little book before us.*
Mr. Norman was the correspondent of the Gazette, and these articles as they ap-
peared in print in England created a great deal of attention, and were the subject
of a warm debate in the House of Commons. They tell a very pitiable tale in a
matter of fact way which bears the impress of truth. They show the grasping
character of some of the Irish landlords, increased in a measure by their pecuniary
embarrassments, the elaborate and expensive machinery employed to oust the ten-
antry from their holdings, the violence necessary to accomplish this, and the sad
condition and prospects of the Irish tenant farmer. It appears from a supple-
mentary chapter that no fewer than 555,341 persons — men, women, and children
—were evicted from their homes between 1849 and 1885. These evictions at Bo-
dyke were twenty-eight in number, and besides the misery inflicted on many peo-
ple and the list of persons maimed and otherwise injured in the process, they cost
the British Government in the services of police and military, and in other ways, no
less than five thousand pounds sterling — a sum sufficient to pay the rents de-
manded ten times over. And to this must be added the pauper relief to the home-
less families, the loss of rents to the landlord, and, worse than all, the sowing of a
large and promising crop of wrol^ Ind outrages.

Of Longfellow and Hawthorne, of Whittier and Bryant, and other authors
whose names are cherished as a part of the national life, Americans do not weary
of hearing. And a biographical work having for its subject any of these must
of necessity attract some measure of attention, and inspire a certain degree of
interest by reason of its subject, whatever the manner of presentation. Following
so soon the complete and carefully prepared life of Longfellow by his younger
brother, another study of his life and works from the hand of a friend almost
challenges comparison. It is difficult to imagine the raison d'etre of Mr. Austin's
book,f since nothing is added to what has already been written, unless we except
a possibly fuller account of his ancestry (which the average reader is liable to skip
altogether), while much of interest is omitted. The familiar incidents of Mr.
Longfellow's uneventful life, the unfolding of his creative powers and the analysis
of his not very subtle compositions, are again spread out to our view ; and numer-
ous quotations, many of them familiar as household words, fill out the pages. The
author intends, as his preface explains, to present a popular biography, and,
having condensed his work into a single volume, he will undoubtedly attract
readers who may prefer the briefer view of the poet's life. Among several minor
discrepancies, we notice that, in the chapter on " Evangeline," reference is made
to the "temple" of the Acadian peasants. A somewhat ambitious word, as it
seems to us, fbr the modest meeting place of these poor people. An admirable
Mthotype of Mr. Longfellow and fac-simile pages from the manuscripts of three
of his poems add much to the interestrof the work.

* " Questions of the Day" series. "Bodyke ; a Chapter in the History of Irish Landlord-
ism." By Henry Norman.— G. P. Putnam's Sons.

+ " Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: His Life, His works, His Friendships." By George
Lowell Austin.— Lee & Shepard.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 372. 38

586 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The study of the French language is now so nearly universal in polite society
that a really effective method of teaching it is sure to command attention. We
have betore us a little book* designed for primary classes, which is in many re-
spects the best we have ever seen for that purpose. M. J. D. Gaillard and his
wife are both remarkably successful as instructors, and they have in this primer
disclosed the secret of their success. The system is easily understood, and in prac-
tice it works admirably. Instead of the old parrot-like process of mere imita-
tion and memorizing, the pupil finds here a series of tableaux or outline sketches of
pleasant tales which he soon learns to fill up, and which indelibly stamp them-
selves upon the mind and memory. Every tableau has in it a distinct French
lesson. The vowel sounds, the consonants, the accents, the various peculiarities of
inflection and grammatical construction, are correctly learned almost without
effort. We cordially commend this book to teachers of French, and for general use
in schools. M. Gaillard's method is indorsed by the highest educational author-
ities.

The second volume of "Medical and Surgical Memoirs, "•}• by Dr. Joseph Jones, of
New Orleans, is a treatise on fevers, and is complete in itself, the purchaser not
being obliged to commit himself to take any of the past or succeeding volumes. Dr.
Jones is exceedingly well qualified to write such a work, having practiced medicine
in New Orleans for the past thirty years, and having been President of the Louisiana
State Board of Health during four years of that time (1880 to 1884). He has
himself suffered from a severe attack of yellow fever, and should, therefore, be
able to write feelingly on that subject.

The arrangement of matter is a little confusing, as the author's idea seems to
have been more to draw comparisons between the symptoms and pathology of the
different fevers than to give descriptions of them. It would, consequently, not
come into everyday use with the general practitioner ; but, as a book of refer-
ence and study in obscure and doubtful cases, it would certainly be a most valu-
able addition to any medical library. There are many plates, showing the gross
and microscopic changes of the different organs and tissues in disease.

The history and description of leprosy in Louisiana is intensely interesting, not
only to the physician, but also to the laity. There are also very entertaining
articles on Albinism and Elephantiasis. Altogether the book shows an enormoas
amount of research and labor, and is most comprehensive, containing much that
is of value and interest to every practicing physician. It might, however, with
advantage have been somewhat smaller, as it contains a great deal of detail, and
many digressions from the subjects treated of, which are not of any special use
to the busy practitioner, but are, on the contrary, in the way of a rapid under-
standing of that which is useful and valuable.

The story told by Mark Rutherford and edited by his friend % reminds us of
the parson who said that he always felt safe when he had a whole chapter or a
psalm for a text, because, if he was persecuted in one verse he could then flee to

*" French for Young Folks." Comprising a phonic treatise on pronunciation ; graphic, pictorial
and progressive outlines, with questions, to be used as materials for reading, vocabulary, conver-
sation, and composition. Fully illustrated. By J. D. Gaillard, officer d' Academic, etc., and
Madame Emilia Gaillard.— Edgar Werner.

t " Medical and Surgical Memoirs." Vol.2. Fevers. By Joseph Jones, M. D., New Orleans.
Author's edition.

\ " The Revolution in Tanner's Lane." By Mark Kutherford. Edited by his friend Reuben
Shapcott.— G. P. Putnam's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 587

another. The story begins in the year 1814 and ends somewhere in the forties.
At least half a dozen heroes and heroines appear and disappear, and there is not
even the suspicion of a plot. Where Tanner's Lane is and what the revolution was
we do not discover till the story is almost ended, and instead of a thrilling politi-
cal episode, as the first chapters seem to promise, the reader finds himself inter-
ested in the affairs of an obscure dissenting congregation in an English country
town. But in spite of all these drawbacks "The Revolution in Tanner's Lane" ia
an interesting book. It gives in a rambling sort of way a very good idea of cer-
tain phases of English life during the first half of the century, when radicalism
was a crime and the masses of the people were slowly working out their independ-
ence and poli tical rights. The sketch of the dissenting minister and his congregation
in Cowfold, and of their local surroundings, is very good, and could not be drawn
from the imagination only. The times, however, are changing, and the particu-
lar types of men and women here pictured are growing scarcer every year as civ-
liization blends classes together.

Dr. W. A. Hammond's last novel, " On the Susquehanna," * is a well written
story of American life in the iron districts. A young woman of twenty-five be-
comes, by the death of her father, the proprietor of some extensive iron works, and
also the possessor of a painful family secret, which reflects upon her parentage.
She considers it her duty to endeavor to unravel a certain mystery which accom-
panies this secret, though by so doing she expects to bring a species of humiliation
and disgrace upon herself. In the meantime, she finds Herself in constant commu-
nication with the superintendent of the works, a manly fellow, well educated, and
of great executive ability. They love each other, but each is careful not to allow
the other to suspect the attachment. The interest of the story lies in the gradual
unfolding of the family mystery, as well as of the love affair, in the course of
which we are introduced to a variety of characters, including some designing
rascals, who work upon the susceptibilities of the lady for their selfish interests.
There are opportunities here for sketches of mountain scenery, and for narratives
of contests with desperate people in lonesome regions, and of fine amateur detect-
ive work, which give zest and excitement to the book, and illustrate the old adage
about the course of true love. The single criticism we would make is that the
position of this young lady at the iron works, surrounded by a society almost ex-
clusively of men, and with apparently so light an acquaintance with the outside
world, is . rather anomalous. An American girl of wealth and culture, without a
galaxy of companions of her own sex, is a rarity. We miss the silver laughter
and innocent mirth of maidens, and find everything unusually prim and serious in
the household of this young iron queen. At least one or two companions of her
own age and sex would have given a naturalness to the book, which we think is lack-
ing in this respect.

Tinder the title of "The Van Gelder Papers," t a number of quaint, old-
fashioned stories have been strung together, having all the appearance of genuine-
ness, the scenes of which are laid either on Long Island or on the banks of the
Hudson. The compiler, in a prefatory note, states that these stories are a portion
of the papers of a deceased friend, who spent hi? time in hunting up information
about past events and traditions of the earlier settlers on Long Island. They have
the flavor of antiquity about them, and will serve as a reminder of the old worthies
who helped, by their industrious toil, to lay a good foundation for our modern im-
provement and cultivation.

* " On the Susquehanna." A novel. By William A. Hammond. — D. Appleton & Co.

t " The Van Gelder Papers, and other sketches." Edited by J. T. I.— G. P. Putnam's Sons.

588 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Lee & Shepard.

The Soug of Roland. Translated into English verse by John O'Hagan, M.D.
Henry Wadswprth Longfellow ; his Life, his Works, his Friendships. George

Lowell Austin. Ilustrated. New edition.
Life Notes, or Fifty Years' Outlook. William Hague, D.D.
Ready About, or Sailing the Boat. Oliver Optic.

The Century Co.

Parish Problems. Hints and Helps for the People of the Churches. Edited
by Washington Gladden.

Charles Scribner's Sons.

The Making of the Great West. 1512-1883. Samuel Adams Drake. Illus-
trations and maps.

The Science of Thought. 2 vols. F. Max Muller.

A Collection of Letters of Thackeray. 1847-1855. With portraits and re-
productions of letters and drawings.

Christian Facts and Forces. Newman Smyth.

Living Lights. A Popular Account of Phosphorescent Animals and Vege-
tables. Charles Frederick Holder.

A Short History of Architecture. Arthur Lyman Tuckerman. With illus-
trations by the author.

Recollections of a Minister to France. 1869-1877. E. B. Washburne, LL.D.
2 vols. With illustration.

Th°! Ethical Import of Darwinism. Jacob Gould Schurman.

A. S. Barnes & Co.

Lights of Two Centuries. Edited by Rev. E. E. Hale. Illustrated with fifty
portraits.

G. P. Putnam's Sons.

The Revolution in Tanner's Lane. Mark Rutherford. Reprinted by his

friend Reuben Shapcott.

Bodyke. A Chapter in the History of Irish Landlordism. Henry Norman.
Decisive Battles since Waterloo. The most important military events from

1815 to 1887. Thomas W. Knox.

Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.

The Invaders, and other Stories. Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from
the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole.

Silver, Rogers & Co.

Brief Institutes of General History. E. Benjamin Andrews, D.D., LL.D.

Edgar Werner.

French for Young Folks, comprising a phonic treatise on pronunciation, graph-
ic, pictorial and progressive outlines, with questions, etc., etc. Fully illus-
trated. J. D. Gaillard, and Madame Emilia Gaillard.

E. W. Allen, London.

The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review. Also papers of the London
Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

No. CCCLXXIII.

DECEMBER, 1887.

TJHVERSITAS HOMINUM; OR, THE UNITY OF

HISTORY.

FOE those who must shortly quit the scene of life, it is an
allowable desire to suggest what may be of use to persons who have
in prospect a longer tenure ; what may promote thrift and obviate
waste in the matter of mental effort ; what may help to invest
thought with unity and method, to bring the various and separated
movements of growing minds into relation with one another, and
to give them their places as portions of the general scheme of life.
The old are but too conscious, in retrospect, that their own path
of life is a path strewn all along with waste material, and it can
hardly be otherwise than seemly and appropriate for them to wish
that those who follow them in the long procession of the human
race may make fuller profit of their means and opportunities.
Like the divine ideal of the human form, ever present to the mind
of the Greek artist, the vocation of man is one greater than he can
fulfill ; but the unattainable is itself a means of attaining, if it
leads and empowers us, as it did him, to reach a point in the scale
of progress of which we must otherwise have fallen short.

And it will tend to give this subjective unity to study, in its
largest sense, if there be a corresponding objective unity in that
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 373. 39

590 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

field where study finds its highest and most fruitful employment,
namely, in man and in the world considered with respect to man;
for the plan of the world, material and moral, seen and unseen, is
adjusted and subordinated to man and to the fulfillment of his des-
tinies, girt about, it is true, with speculative problems, which
none ever have solved and perhaps none ever will, but yet in itself
large, stirring, profound, and fruitful, so that we can in some
degree understand why it is said that this little earth, and what
passes upon it, may form a spectacle to men and angels ; a lesson
of wonder, of sympathy, and it may be of warning, to orders of
being besides and beyond our own.

Torn and defaced as is the ideal of our race, yet have there
not been, and are there not, things in man, in his frame, and in
his soul and intellect, which, taken at their height, are so beauti-
ful, so good, so great, as to suggest an inward questioning, how
far creative power itself can go beyond what, in these elect speci-
mens, it has exhibited ? Not that such a questioning is to be
answered ; it is only warrantable as expansion, not as limitation,
as a mode of conveying that what has been actually shown us,
what our eyes have seen and our hands have handled, would, but
for experience, have been far beyond the powers of our poor con-
ception to reach ; that humanity itself, deeply considered, touches
the bounds of the superhuman.

And if this chequered picture may be designed to give instruc-
tion beyond our borders, then we may safely believe that, both in
its parts and as a whole, it is so designed for ourselves ; for our-
selves in the first instance, and perhaps in the first degree. What-
ever be the place of actual man, the place of potential man in the
hierarchy of creation is a very high one.

In a survey, necessarily brief and slight, as well as wide, much
must be left without notice, and those materials only can
be touched which are associated with the highest recorded evolu-
tion of man in history ; with what is sometimes termed the Cauca-
sian family, or with that portion of the human race which is now
within the precinct of the Christian civilization. Among attempts
to exhibit the known universe and its great inhabitant, collective
man, as an unity, the attempt of Homer, in the Shield of
Achilles,* made familiar to the British eye through the elab-

* II., XVIII., 478-608.

UNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 591

orate work of Flaxman, is perhaps the oldest. Perhaps, also, it re-
mains unsurpassed in simplicity, in splendor, or in its approach,
not indeed to exactitude, but to completeness within its own
limits. It comprises all the chief of what the eye beheld, earth
and heaven, land and sea, and the great bounding Ocean-Kiver,
and all the chief of what experience arrayed upon the stage of life.
"We have there Peace and War ; both, as things then stood, alike
requisite, alike normal. Peace, alternating between joy, exhibited
in the festivity of marriage, and contention in the suit before the
judges ; or again, marriage, the provision for individual life;
judgment, as the bond of political association. Then we have War
in its three great Homeric forms of the siege, the ambush, and the
battle. Next are presented to us seed time and harvest ; the vin-
tage brings in song with measured movement, the herd at pasture
introduces the hunt, and the flocks the milder cares of the shep-
herd. Finally, art and the bard are glorified by a picture, " such
as Daidelos made for Ariadne," of a brilliant dance, with music
to which tumblers also adapt their feats. Gods are present in the
battle, and the Homeric poems exhibit largely what Dr. Caird calls
" the religion of common life;" but there is no separate or profes-
sional representation of any sacred function.

This picture of the human and mundane unity, exhibited in
simultaneous, not successive, presentment, stands, I think, apart
from all others in the frame of its conception. With it, however,
may be compared, but only in one point of view, the great work
of Dante. The Divina Commedia presents to us again the human
unity, not under the burden of the flesh, but after its release, and
only as summed up in the cardinal determining fact of its rela-
tion to God in Christ. This also may be termed a simultaneous
presentment, since it exhibits the whole Providential order, out-
side the boundaries of this life, as conceived to exist at a given
point of time and place, though the journey of the Poet in a
specified number of days is the thread on which it hangs, and
though its plan allows by way of incident the introduction of his-
tory no less than theology and metaphysics. The change of scene
from the one world to the other corresponds with the transplan-
tation since the Advent of the chief concern and interest of man :
" for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."*

* Col. iii. 3.

£92 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

In the world of action the human unity has variously figured
as an idea in the eyes of towering ambition. The wars of those
great empires, which have been termed prehistoric, appear to have
been inspired by the design of universal dominion. This becomes
more distinct when Persia has obtained the general possession of
the Asiatic field. The same idea is stirred by way of reaction in
the mind of G-reece when she moves against the Great King. It
buds in the expeditions of the Ten Thousand and of King
Agesilaos ; it blossoms in the vast conquests of Alexander, pre-
pared by the initiatory operations of his father Philip upon the
Greek race and territory. It becomes *a law of existence to the
matured Roman State and Empire, where the conflicts of the most
daring personal aims are inextricably mingled with the establish-
ment of the world-wide dominion. After the foundation of Con-
stantinople, it is partly divided, partly transferred. With the
establishment of the German Empire, it undergoes, for the West,
revival and development. It is relatively strengthened at one
epoch, when positively it is about to lose ground by the disastrous
fall of Constantinople. The shadow of this aspiring grandeur
hangs round Vienna until the title is finally quenched in 1804,
through the disastrous wars with France.

In a more vulgar and less historic form, the notion is recalled
in Louis XIV., named, but probably misnamed, the great ; and
once more by the colossal figure and performance of JSTapoleon.
The more recent course of history does not favor the notion of its
reappearance. But while the possibilities of a political unity
have receded into the distance, there have been fragmentary mani-
festations, mixed and often questionable in their character, of an
initiatory substitute for it in the collective action of the great
European powers ; and some real progress, favored by the new
facilities of trade and communication, has been made toward a
great unity of human consent, by the formation of a common
judgment among civilized mankind under the name of the Law of
Nations, upon many matters that touch the liberty, morality, and
well being of man. And there also lies in the far distance a pros-
pect, attractive to all Americans and Englishmen, the prospect
of a powerful and perhaps paramount moral influence which may
accrue, unsought, to the great English-speaking race, before
another century has passed, through the ever growing preponder-
ance of its numbers, joined with its penetrating and unresting

UNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 593

energies, both in mental and in material things. The English
speakers of the world have multiplied perhaps sevenfold in the last
hundred years. They now exceed one hundred millions. Con-
tinuing to multiply at the same rate they would after another
century pass seven hundred millions.*

By the side of this current of political endeavor and device
there have been some parallel manifestations in the world of
thought. The character of Achilles represents the effort of the
sire of poets to project into form the ideal man ; and the mother-
hood of a goddess, which brings him into the world, is probably
referable to the same impulsion as that which prompted the artists
of classical Greece to travel

Along the line of limitless desires,*

and to aspire in the human after the divine. When the great Chris-
tian literature of the middle ages dawned upon the world, this
search for the ideal, as a typical and all-embracing unity, became a
standing law. It is nowhere, perhaps, so boldly set up as in the
single line of Pulci:J

Un Dio, ed una Fede, ed uno Orlando.

The noblest developments of the conception are in Orlando and in
Arthur ; and we have to observe that the aim distinctly is, not the
mere exhibition of a hero, but the presentation of the typical and
ideal man, the man who collects and integrates within himself
all of our nature that is glorious and noble. I suppose that, upon
a somewhat lower level, the principle of construction is the same in
the character of the Cid, and even in the Siegfried of the Nibelun-
genlied. This luminous erection cast its backward rays upon an-
tiquity, where it sought for an analogue. Refracted through the
discoloring medium of the Roman tradition, it illuminated the
figure of Hector, lifted him into a place "a world too wide " for
him, and glorified him as the ideal man.

While the Christian literature was thus essaying to fulfill the
aspirations of the world for a type of unity and perfection, Dante, in
the De Monarchia, compacted a framework in which human affairs

* Mr. Barhnm Ziuohe has estimated them for that date at a thousand millions.
+ Wordsworth, Excursion.
% Morgante Maggiore.

594 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

were to be adjusted in one normal order. Denying to the Church
the right or capacity of property, he gave spiritual power to the
Pope, and temporal power to the Emperor, each in theory inde-
pendent of the other, each universal, and each established once for
all to fulfill a charge co-extensive with the estimated doctrines of
the species. But this succinct statement is only a safe one, espe-
cially as regards the Popedom, if taken to illustrate the poet's view
of the naked or theoretic basis upon which, in the affairs of both
worlds, an unity was provided for the human race.

I think we cannot doubt that this distinctive tendency of the
Christian literature was due to the Advent of our Saviour ; and
that from the exhibition in the world of the one absolute Perfec-
tion, there resulted a legitimate desire and tendency to embody,
on the same basis of oneness, imitated forms, adapted to the
conditions of common life, and modified according to the specific
qualities of the various portions of the human family.

* These, then, were tendencies, in idea or in act, to find or make
an unity of man ; of man individual and of man associated.
But we have yet to trace the links of a more comprehensive
design pervading history, from its first beginnings, which bore
the promise of a larger provision for the same end. Yet this
provision was, in its inception, so modest, so like the flowers that
are " born to blush unseen," and the gems of the "dark, unfath-
omed cave," that through thousands of years, while human
genius, intellect, and statecraft rose to their climax in the grander
theatres of life, it made no mark whatever upon the great central
tissue of human history. For even the conquests of David, and
the opulence and splendor of Solomon, failed to lift into any wide
notoriety the annals of the Jewish race. Yet there, and there
only, was the guardianship of a seed that would one day burst its
husk ; would expand into forces which were to gather up around
themselves, and to array in their service all other elements of
power ; and would integrate, if not the world so far as present
experience has advanced, yet the most choice, capable, and domi-
nant races of the world.

It» is obvious that outside that course of human history
which has culminated in modern Christendom, there have lain
at all times great masses of humanity, most of them having but
few points of contact with it. That Mahometanism at one time
contended with the Gospel for a real sovereignty of the world ;

UNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 595

that the Buddhists, taken at four hundred millions, may roughly
be stated to be as numerous as Christians; that the Olympian
religion was a marvelous phenomenon, transitory, indeed, but
with a lease, so to speak, of fifteen centuries ; that there are other
cults and systems of high interest and importance ; that mission-
ary progress has been slow and intermittent ; all these facts in no
way detract from the main proposition.

Let me not, however, be supposed to imply that these great
outlying tracts of human life were excluded from the care of the
Almighty Father. What treasures of true piety, what devotion to
duty, what negation of self may have been reared within the field
of religions less favored than our own, is a question which may
well wait for final elucidation from the All-just and All-wise.
My proposition does not go beyond affirming that these extraneous
masses, weighty as they are, lie apart from the central thread which
runs through the entire tissue of the destinies of the race.

There is one scheme, and one only, which tends and has tended
for eighteen hundred years to centrality and universality, which
carries on its forehead the notes of an imperial power ; which is
now felt at every point where human breath is drawn ; which is far
indeed from having accomplished its work, and which has within
it partial and sometimes formidable signs of disintegration ; but
which holds the field, holds it with ever growing hope and effort,
and holds it without a rival. That is the Christian scheme.

Let us now look to the Hebrew traditions, known to us as the
Sacred Scriptures. I forbear to lay stress for the present purpose
upon the fragmentary, but strong, support which they derive from
ancient religion and history, especially through the results of
archaeological research. In these precious records, we, the Adamic
race, are assured of the unity of our origin, of our special rela-
tion to the Creator, of the entrance into the world, by disobedience,
of a widespread moral ruin, and of a great remedial Power, promised
from the very date of the downfall, which was to deal a deadly blow
at the source of our sorrow and our sin. Discipline and develop-
ment in, with, and through evil seemed thus to be set upon us
from the first as the distinctive note of our destiny.

The patriarchal period was the childhood of man. It was
marked, as childhood is, by the absence of self-consciousness, by
simplicity of life, by directness of guidance. Life was realistic
and without abstract conceptions. It passed on, with the arrival

596 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

of the Mosaic period, from the nursery to the schoolroom. The
precepts of a moral law, covering the main lines of individual con-
duct, were laid down. The claims of the Almighty on His creature
were stated in their utmost breadth; and it seems difficult to deny
that, through the institution of an elaborate sacrificial and sacer-
dotal system, there was planted in the Hebrew race a conception
of sin, of the great and terrible curse of the world, which was
probably an absolute precondition of any adequate conception of
the corresponding redemption. This idea of sin and of the viru-
lence of its poison was brought home with such force and depth
and clearness to the general mind that while it was gradually
effaced from the circle of ideas which prevailed* among the most
cultivated nations of the earth ; yet with the Hebrews, amid all
the frightful aberrations of conduct and terrible vicissitudes of
destiny, it subsisted, without abatement of vital force, down to
the manifestation of our Lord. Of His teachings, wonderful to
say, it needed not to be a portion, since it formed, jointly with
monotheism, their ready made point of departure.

These great ideas, once established, were alike sustained, re-
paired, and refreshed by the perpetual voices of the Psalms, and
by the intermittent, but most powerful, trumpet calls of the
Prophets. Through all the stages of the dispensation, and all the
utterances of the Divine oracles, there ran an unbroken thread of
Messianic promise, f There was for the journey of generations
through the ages, as well as for the momentary exodus from
Egypt, a pillar of fire by night, and a pillar of cloud by day, lead-
ing up to the birth of Him in whom before and after were to
unite, and the whole human race, one in its affliction, was to be
made one in its deliverance. And when Dante built his material
universe on Jerusalem as its centre, the physical error was the sig-
nification of the deepest of all truths, that the Life and Death of
Christ were the one and only centre for the destinies of the
world.

But this secret of the Lord, so marvelously kept, under a

* I leave apart the movement of the Stoics in the direction of a return to that
idea, which \vould require a separate argument, especially upon the question
whether it originally drew its inspiration from the translated Scriptures of the
Hebrews.

t On the pervading and multiform character of this promise see a recent, as
well as valuable authority, in the volume of Dr. Briggs, of the New York Theo-
logical Seminary, on " Messianic Prophecy."

UNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 597

guardianship so wayward, and seemingly so ineffective, was
wholly a spiritual secret. There was at one time a habit of point-
ing to the Old Testament and the Jewish nation as the matrix of
all human greatness, all mental excellence. There is still a tend-
ency to glorify the Jewish Scriptures under the poor and narrow
name of the Hebrew literature. Now, to my mind, it is a litera-
ture absolutely incommensurable with the literature of other lands.
As compared with these, both its source and its aim were far
higher, but they were also far more limited. Its mission was to
touch humanity at its centre, but at its centre only. It was to work
out, for its time and place, the highest part of the Providential design
for the education of man. But other parts were left to other
hands, and those other hands were, in the Divine Counsels, shaped
and fitted for them. Under the coming Christian civilization, the
whole nature of man in all its parts was for the first time to be
trained, and the internal harmony and balance of those parts was
to be restored and consolidated. It was a complex organization,
of which the spiritual and ruling factor was made ready in Judea
for use in the Christian Church, the Kingdom of God upon earth.
What may be called in the widest sense the intellectual factor was
matured elsewhere; it had its training chiefly among the Greeks. In
preparation for the preaching of the Gospel, it was given to that
unique race to establish an intellectual mastery, and an intellec-
tual unity, by their literature and language, throughout the vast
range of the Roman sway. It was through a concurrence surely
not fortuitous that, at the time when our Saviour came into the
world, the language of the Greeks had become its ruling language.
I suppose it to be a question still open among the learned whether,
and in what degree, the Saviour himself employed it in His min-
istry. But there is no doubt that it was the first and general
channel for the propagation of his teaching, and that by those
supple and elastic properties, which even now appear to be insepa-
rable from its undying genius, it furnished admirably the form
in which a Christian terminology was framed, and the new teach-
ing was adapted, through the early creeds, to the apprehension
and belief of man.

But the office of Greece in making ready the Gospel feast was
not confined to supplying a form of language. She had also to
supply a form of mind. Greece prepared the mold in which at
the time, and down to our time, and as some may hope, for all

598 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

time, the mental culture of man was to take shape, and its prin-
cipal conditions were to be determined.

There was one important particular of the new or Christian
training, to which Greek religion and Greek art had a special
affinity. It is not easy, perhaps, to trace with precision in the
Old Testament the law of " graven images," of the corporal repre-
sentation of living, and especially of human forms. I suppose
there can be little doubt, first, that this law was originally adverse,
and next, that it was, in whatever measure, modified by the Incar-
nation, which presented to our eyes Deity in human shape, and
which hardly allows of the supposition that that shape was never
to be reproduced.

Now, there was one country in the world where, for centuries
before the Advent, it had been the prime pursuit of Art to asso-
ciate deity with the human form; and, moreover, where this prac-
tice spontaneously grew out of the prevailing and fundamental
idea of the established religion. This aim led the artist ever
upward to surmount imperfection and to reach upward after per-
fection. And though the finite could not incorporate the infin-
ite, yet, under this inspiration, actual performance was advanced
to a point in the presentation of form, such as to supply a model
for every country and every age.

With the three first objects of human quest, the good, the
true, the great, there is associated a fourth, the beautiful, which
is also indispensable in the full training of our nature. For the
good, as such, the good in connection with God, its origin and
basis ; that is, the holy, the supreme grade in this fourfold scale,
we have seen that the ' f evangelical preparation " (to use the
phrase of Eusebius) was exhibited by the Scriptures of the Old
Testament, which were the treasure and the glory of the Hebrew
race. In the pursuit of the great and the true, and in establish-
ing the laws of that pursuit, the principal share was given to
Greece. With respect to the beautiful, her office was supreme,
almost exclusive. Or, if we contemplate the process only as two-
fold, the Providential order was, that on the spiritual side we
should draw from Hebrew sources, but that on the human or
earthly side of mind and life, taken at large, the type was fash-
ioned among the Greeks.

This was for the individual. But neither was the share of
Greece a small one in the collective or political education of the

VNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 599

race. Not to speak of the scientific treatises of Aristotle and Plato,
we have the earliest political ideas and practices of the Greeks
recorded in the poems of Homer. The forms of those ideas and
practices are only, so to speak, in the gristle. They had not
hardened by use into shapes sufficiently defined for exact descrip-
tion. But, so far as spirit and essence are concerned, I know not
where else in all antiquity to find a living exhibition so much in
harmony with the fundamental conceptions, and even institutions,
of the English-speaking races of the world.

At the same time it is clear that, so far as direct and actual
preparation was concerned, this office, in the political sphere, was
specially committed to the Romans. With them alone do we find
organization both large and firm. Those ancient roads, so strong
and well compacted, which bound mother earth much as she is
now bound by the iron rail, which still defy the gnawing tooth of
Time, and which furnished for the civilized world continuity of
dwelling space, and unity of communications, were also an
emblem of that higher unity, of which Rome laid the foundations
in the well-knit system of its law, diffused throughout the world,
and destined to remain an imperishable portion of the human
patrimony.

This in the world of action. But there was a bond also in the
world of thought between the' Hellenic and the Latin. From
Greece and the Grecian East, the sacred torch, so to speak, was
handed over to Italy, and by a process which began with the rise
of Roman literature, and ended with the Renaissance, the sister
peninsula became, in due course, the mother of European letters.
This great fact seems to have been forgotten, at least in England,
by modern fashion ; and there has, during our time, been a
deplorable decline in the study of that illustrious literature which
forms a link in the central chain of civilization and of history.

History, then, complex and diversified as it is, and presenting
to our view many a ganglion of unpenetrated and perhaps impene-
trable enigmas, is not a mere congeries of disjointed occurrences,
but is the evolution of a purpose steadfastly maintained, and
advancing towards some consummation, greater probably than
what the world has yet beheld, along with the advancing numbers,
power, knowledge, and responsibilities of the race. That purpose
is not always and everywhere alike conspicuous ; but is it not like
the river in the limestone tract, which vanishes from the surface,

600 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and works its way beneath, only to reappear with renovated force ?
or like the sun, which returns to warm us after the appointed space
of night,

And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky.*

Its parts are related to one another. The great lines of human
destiny have every appearance of converging upon a point. As
the Mosiac writer at the outset of Genesis declares the unity of
the world, and as Doctor WhewelL, in a passage of extraordinary
magnificence, countersigns this testimony by predicting its catas-
trophe in the name of cosmic science ; as again the mind of an
individual, by the use of reflection, often traces one pervading
scheme of education in the experiences of his life ; so, probably
for the race, certainly for its great central web of design, which
runs unbroken from Adam to our day, there has been and is a
profound unity of scheme well described by the poet Tennyson :

" Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.'H

" At sundry times and in divers manners," sometimes by con-
scious and sometimes by unconscious agency, this purpose is
wrought out. Persons and nations who have not seen or known
one another, nevertheless co-operate and contribute to a common
fund, available for their descendants and themselves.

That, together with powers and resources, responsibilities must
increase, is almost a truism. That there is such an increase in
the sum total of powers and resources extraneous to ourselves
appears also undeniable. It seems then, as if the Almighty Ruler
were now raising His claims upon His creatures and demanding at
least the larger usury which these larger gifts should earn.
Whether there is a corresponding increase in the available brain
forces of the world, and in its moral energies, is a question per-
haps only to be answered with some qualification, even some mis-
giving. But it will have been usefully put, if it lead us to bow
ourselves down as in dust and ashes before the one Source of
Strength, and if it remind us that the humblest man should also,

* Milton's Lycidas.
+ Locksley Hall.

UNIVERSITAS HOMINUM. 601

under the Christian dispensation, be the strongest man, though it
is in a strength not his own.

When, indeed, we speak of the Christian dispensation, there
starts up first of all the remembrance of its woful shortcomings in
act, as compared with its glorious design. Yet does it offer a
mass of net results, which can nowhere else be equaled, of which
I will select two, the most comprehensive in their character.
First, that in the precinct of Christendom is found the actual
mastery of the world, where all that exists, exists in the main by
its permission, or under its control. Secondly, that whereas other
ruling powers and paramount forms of civilization have had, fol-
lowing upon their maturity, their " decline and fall," the question
now seems at least an open one, whether the Advent and the Gos-
pel have, for collective as well as individual man, " brought life
and immortality to light ;" in this sense, that the great Christian
civilization presents many and perhaps conclusive signs of a pro-
gressive, though a chequered growth, without any decree set forth
against it of a boundary or an end.

It may be said that the Christian testimony, on which that civ-
ilization is based, is now divided against itself. Supposing we
allow that the Church for nine centuries spoke with the authority
which attaches to a consent so wide, visible, and permanent that
all discordant voices were either transitory or inaudible, and passed
out of the reckoning. That form of authority no longer exists ; it
has been supplanted by divisions and subdivisions of communion
and of tenet. But has not authority of another kind taken its
place, the moral weight, namely, which attaches to the testimony
of a number of witnesses having mutual feuds and conflicting
interests, and yet speaking with one voice on the highest, broadest,
and most profound of the matters which made up the great message
of God to man ?*

Turning now to the title of this paper, I remind the reader
that the history of which it speaks is not the limited and frag-
mentary record commonly known under the name, but is noth-
ing less than the sum total of human life and human experience,
as lived and as gathered on the surface of the globe, within the
lines already laid down. And here arises my concluding ques-

* Dr. Mohler, in the Symbolik, has, by his explanation of the grand difference
between the earlier and the later Christian controversies, made a valuable contri-
bution to the examination of this important subject.

602 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tion. If in history, thus understood, there is an unity, should
there not be a reflection of that unity in study ? As every straw
and ear in the cornfield promotes the design of the husbandman,
should we not, each in our several sphere, however humbly, strive
to promote in our studies the design of the Master and Maker of
the world ? To every man, obviously, this is open in the sphere
of action. Nay, there is none who can avoid either promoting
or obstructing it ; for every one must of necessity, by his own
doings, add to, or take away from, the sum total of goodness and
of happiness, of evil and of sorrow, in the world. It seems to
me that what we must do in the world of action, we at least may
do in the world of thought ; those of us, I mean, whose field of
labor belongs to or includes that world. Take any branch of
mental effort, be it what it may, educative, creative, inquisitive,
or materially productive, none should be pursued without a pur-
pose, and all real purpose, though it may be atomic, is permanent
and indestructible. All bear upon human relations and the con-
ditions of life, and each, unless unnaturally bound down to the
merest inanity, should have its place in the great design. The
farmer, said Mr. Emerson, is man upon the farm. Each writer
is bettering (if he be not worsening) the thought, the frame, or
the experience of man, upon the subject on which he writes,
works, or teaches ; he is enlarging the text ; he is extending the
bounds of the common inheritance. A fire of aspiration should
prompt him in his labor, and its warmth will be part of his
reward. That Shield of Achilles, to which I return once more,
was a collection of compartments. To some one of those com-
partments was assorted each part of human life and action. Even
so there is now a place, perhaps a larger place than ever, in the
grand Providential order for all we seek or find, think or do. For
all of it there will be, if only such be our desire, a compartment
ready to receive it, in the framework made ready by the Eternal
Workman ; and it will contribute truly, though it may be
infinitesimally, to the accomplishment of His all-comprehending
plan.

W. E. GLADSTONE.

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE.

IK this age of ingenuity and invention the domains of discov-
ery and research are the hunting grounds of the scientist and the
explorer. In the interest of science and the pursuit of truth, no
ground is too sacred for exploration, no theory too venerable or
cherished for the detention of the evolutionist. TIi3 age of reason
is restored, but with method, this time, in its madness. The true
is sought in the concrete, and new beliefs are substituted for older
faiths. History is being rewritten by a race of writers brilliant
in style and fearless in the pursuit of truth as supported by
knowledge. The geologist has called the great globe itself to
testify to the truth of his theories, the naturalist has compelled
the dryad and the naiad, from their evasive existences, to yield
up their secrets to the evidences of their physical construction,
and, deep down in the atom and the protoplasm, man searches
for the cause which shall unsettle forever his hitherto unques-
tioned belief. The arc of this theory embraces the five senses,
and is perfect within that radius ; — beyond, all that we feel but
cannot prove, is false and untrustworthy ; analyze, prove, and be-
lieve ; theorize, with the soul's uplifted, inexpressible aspiration of
faith, and you are lost. The pioneers in this new movement were
great, earnest, wise men. who, loving nature with a child's love,
sought to fathom her groat secrets with a reverent curiosity.
Tolerant and indulgent themselves, they undermined the venera-
tion for old doctrines without advocating universal ruin or entire
unbelief. Pursuing the path of their research with determined
steps, applying the torch to every cranny of the tortuous path,
they have yet held by that cord of tradition and memory to which
inheritance attached them, and thus into the bowels of the earth
they drag at each remove a lengthening chain.

In seeking for Nature's source through all its physical struct-
ure they have yet looked reverently upward unto Nature^ God.

604 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

The value of their labors who shall calculate ? The glory of
their discoveries who will decry ? But light is not always clear-
ness : it is only to the eye of the crowned one that the full orb of
day is bearable. The same heat which sustains and revives will
as easily destroy, and the torch which, in skillful hands, may lead
a Darwin or a Tyndall into safety, may prove only an ignis fatuus
to the ignorant follower. Reverence and "Wisdom are not un-
worthy guides, and he who seeks for truth in Nature will never
wisely abandon his awe for the Creator. Fools only rush in where
angels fear to tread. Literature has partaken of the analytical
spirit of the age. Ingenuity is substituted for fancy. That
which was once deemed not the less true for being, like our exist-
ence itself, awful and inexpressible, save in symbols, must have
its lawful credentials or fall in contempt as useless fable. The
poet whose supersensitive ear was once held to have caught the
warmest pulsations of the great heart of Nature, is now discred-
ited, and he must bring us the ocular proof, or else be, like lago,
damned. By this rule Browning is abstract and Tennyson a
word painter. " The . Psalm of Life," the ' ' Building of the
Ship," and the " Song of the Blacksmith," are Longfellow's best
gifts to man, while rhythm is only a pleasing echo to the sense.
The result is obvious. It is easier to destroy than to create. The
writer has educated his reader, and a whole book full of fact-seek-
ers has produced a world full of fact-lovers. It is so much easier for
common minds to measure a fact than to entertain a fancy, that
it is no wonder to see Pegasus toiling before a baggage wagon.
Thus, the scientist who found sacred devotion and old faith in the
way of his discovery, and yet pushed on regardless of their
destruction, has unintentionally been the forerunner of the icono-
clast in all the cathedrals of our lives, Omar has outstripped the
Christian. The first destroyer of a text burnt only those volumes
which ran counter to his faith ; the Mahomedans applied the torch
to the very source and citadel of all knowledge ; Huxley, Darwin,
and Tyndall have proved forerunners of a literature which has all
imaginative and spiritual nature for its field and blind irreverence
for its guide. To pursue an original and ingenious theory to its
logical conclusion, to refine analysis to a needless point, to be
euphemistic in idea as well as in speech, is a fine art. Let the evo-
lutionist overturn faith in the pursuit of a First Cause, his follow-
ers will gratify the spirit of the age in the ingenious undermining

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE. 605

of a reputation long established, or the destruction of a belief too
sweet and sacred to be idly questioned. The pioneer is out-
stripped by his disciple. The betrayer of the Saviour becomes a
patriot and dies a martyr to a sincere belief. The songs of
Homer, too great to be the work of one, become the easy pastime
of many.

Belisarius is no longer an unkinged beggar, exciting our pity
and teaching a wise truth ; and the wisest, greatest, meanest of
mankind becomes the author of the immortal works of a ci-devant
William Shakespeare. The force of reason could no further go.

This is what seems to be the truth, or has seemed so, for over
two centuries and a half. In the year 1564, in the town of Strat-
ford-on-Avon, England, was born a child who was named William
Shakespeare. His place of birth, parentage, and many incidents
of the domestic life of his family, are well attested. Many inci-
dents of his early boyhood, favorable and otherwise, are also well
proven. His early maniage with a lady older than himself, his
departure for London, and his arrival there, are not to be gain-
said. We know positively that he became an actor in London ;
a companion and partner in theatrical enterprises with other
men, and whose labors are not denied by contemporaries as of a
value increasing year by year. Of his usefulness to the corpora-
tion to which he belonged, there is ample proof in the substantial
fortune which he accumulated, and in the enlargement of the
circle of his enterprises. Contemporary writers extol his genius
as a play-writer while living ; and, in the maturity of his years
and powers, he retires to his native town ; becomes the largest
landed proprietor in the place ; dies there in the full possession of
his faculties in 1616 ; is buried in the picturesque church
of his native town, under its very altar — the most honor-
able and conspicuous place in that temple ; and over his grave
his widow surviving him causes to be placed a copy of his features,
and some touching allusions to his worth. In 1623, two of his
surviving partners, fellow actors and managers, venerating his
genius, and wishing that his labor should not be lost, collected
from the acting copies in the theatre library, from quarters stolen
or badly printed, his works, edited them in their poor way, and
commended these " trifles" to posterity, in the timid hope that the
applause of contemporary audiences might find an echo in the
enduring admiration of other ages. A contemporary poet, who was
VOL. CXLV. — KO. 373. 40

606 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

also a fellow actor, "rare old Ben" Jonson, in lines immortal,
bequeathed the portrait of his rival to posterity, and seemed to
entertain no doubt that even his small Latin and less Greek would
not invalidate the poetical claims of his friend William Shake-
speare. These are things that we know, and can lay our hands
upon as proofs. Other confirming facts concur in testimony, as
well in the sonnets as in the plays, and in the words of rivals
and contemporaries. To sum up all, we may declare that we
know of a man, William Shakespeare by name, born as above,
moving to London as above, and writing and working there ;
dying as above, and being so spoken of and written about ; and
whose surviving works were collected, edited, and published by
his fellow-actors, and given in type to the public which had known
and applauded their author. What follows ? For two centuries
these works have been the study of the wise, the resource and
delight of the scholar, and the growing solace of the people.
Whole libraries have been written to clear up doubtful meanings
in the text.

Annotators and commentators have reached enduring fame in
-companionship with this "nature's child," and criticism has
halted with reverence at the door which bears that immortal
name. All nations have striven to make the plays of Shakespeare
the text book of their scholars, and all the boundaries of nation-
ality have been obliterated to naturalize this universal genius.
His characters have passed into realities, as life-like and true as
if they had indeed lived, breathed, and had their being. He has
created symbols and characterized traits. He has so dealt with
the great passions of human nature that his men and woman are
emblems. A whole gallery of his portraits would be the f ac-similes
of our world, and a catalogue of his passions would begin and end
with all that the heart has ever felt. With small Latin and less
Greek he has created a vocabulary by whose side only one vol-
ume may be placed — the Bible. Confined within the watery
band which clasps green England, his far-reaching vision over-
looked her boundaries and saw his fellow-man as he lived in all
lands. Ignorant of mere geographical outlines, his knowledge
and measurement of the human heart and its wide range of emo-
tions, was perfect and true. Untaught, perhaps, in that technical
learning which makes more pedants than scholars, his marvelous
vision penetrated deep into life's mystery, and his feeling heart

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE. 607

did the rest. Clear-minded and sane himself, he saw into the half
disturbed soul of the Eoyal Dane ; into the " overturned vase
of the mind of the fair Ophelia," and scaled the heights where
uncrowned Lear forsook his reason and foreswore his kind. His-
tory in his hands becomes personified narrative, and the Kings
and Queens, the neble and churl, the peasant and the dame of
liis own land, passed by his clear sight, and moved life-like into
the field of his recording fancy, there to exist forever. His crea-
tions stand breast-high with those of the Old and New Testa-
ments, and when we have torn from the writers of the Bible their
Moses, Isaiah, and Ecclesiastes, their evangelists and teachings
of the sacred text, we may then, and then only, be ready to deny
his Hamlet and his Lear, his tender Imogen and moralizing
Jaques, his gallery of Romans and the star-eyed Egyptian, to the
"poor player" who lived and died, was buried, and who has come
down to us as William Shakespeare.

Now, after two xjenturies and a half of this belief, we are
called upon to reject, not the estimate which time has only deep-
ened as to the works themselves, but the authenticity of their
authorship. The poems, sonnets, and plays, now passing as the
works of Shakespeare, were not his work at all !

In support of this theory, which is the seed-ground of many
others, born of and growing out of it, we are offered conjectural
negatives and distorted facts. It is necessary, in the first place, to
declare that the plays and poems in question could not have been
the work of Shakespeare, because of his place of birth, his condi-
tion in life, and of his scanty learning. The necessity of sustain-
ing this point precedes the search for the true author of the
works. How are we to believe that a lad born in an obscure vil-
lage of England, of poor parentage, and with scanty opportunities
of obtaining an education, could ever have written these sublime
works ? Could a person so born and educated, a poor player,
have given us the only true glimpse of the early days of the
Roman Republic, as well as those of its highest glory, and by his
marvelous reproduction of the very men themselves, -moving,
speaking, and eating, have dwarfed all so-called history of those
eras ? Could a man who had small Latin and less Greek tra-
verse the fields of legend and story in the Greek and Italian biog-
raphy, and present us with a gallery of their portraits, as true
and accurate as if he were a Phidias or a Raphael, and had truly

608 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

copied features which he bodily saw ? Could a poor lad who had
been detected in deer killing in his little village, and been ban-
ished from the place when his condition was so poor, ever have
looked into the homes of the high-placed and lived for us the
lives of kings and queens as if he were one of their order ? Illus-
trations which were taken from the older classics, metaphors with
local application borrowed from the records of dead empires ;
technicalities of arts and callings, learned and scientific terms,
definitions in dead and living tongues — these the appliances only
of the graduate or the pedant, could never have been the heritage
of the actor at the Globe. Whoever was the author of the plays,
it was certainly not he.

" He might have been a Rooshan,
A German, French, or Prooshan,
But not a Stratford man."

When it can be proved that it is only the scholar and the an-
tiquarian who give us our works of Shakespeare and kindred
blessings, we shall not only have corrected history, but we shall
have acquired a new debt which ought to be repaid. It might
almost be maintained, however, that in the domain of literature
in which we are now traveling, in the region of creative litera-
ture, simple learning and technical attainments have never yet
laid us under any obligation whatever. If the author or authors
of the first great epic, and the greatest (for the Shakespearean
myth has a counterpart here at the dawn of learning) were a uni-
versity graduate, or a man of place or parts, we have no record
of it, no note of the college which claimed him, of the nobility of
which he was a member. The creator and founder of the Greek
language was a minnesinger, whose blindness of sight did not dim
the glories of that inward vision, which penetrated the hearts of
men and spoke the history and romance of the land whence Delos
rose and Phoebus sprung.

Was it a scholar and noble who, from a cart's tail, before a mul-
titude of listeners, dramatized the belief of a nation, and by his
own creative genius gave vitality and clearness to the story of
Prometheus ? When Solon stood in simple amazement amidst the
audience of Thespis did he recognize in the founder of the Greek
drama one of his own august order ? History is strangely silent
here. Coming into the era when biography and history are au-

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE. 609

thentic one may ask, did Socrates and Plato ever seek to claim the
honors of the drama from the hands of less philosophic writers ?
We are not curious as to the literary acquirements or the social
standing of Eschylus, Sophocles, or Euripides, the fathers of
tragedy, but certainly Plato never claimed the authorship of their
plays on the score of his philosophical wisdom, nor has that honor
been awarded him. The tragedies of the Greeks were written by
men who were actors or managers, and no fragments of a tragedy,
no contemporary note of any lost work, disproves this fact. The
Roman drama being only a faint copy or theft of the Greek, need
not be mentioned here. Terence was only a half menander. The
works of the French dramatists in the golden age of Louis, which
have a hold on posterity, are those which a poor actor and dram-
atist created while building the walls of the only temple which
stands to-day unharmed by time in France, — the House of Moliere ;
while the plays of the scholarly Racine and Corneille remain
monuments of the beauty of language, indeed, before which, as
such, all scholars will reverently bend on their way to the
temple where the human beings of Moliere live, move, and
have their being. In fine, if this hypothesis must be taken
as argument, scarcely a reputation of the contemporaries of
Shakespeare may hope to escape. The language of Chaucer and
of Spenser was the armory of Marlowe, and of Jonson, as well as
of the woolen-draper's son ; and while the brightest Latin and
Greek scholar of his day — and an actor, too — gave us the Alchem-
ist and other learned dialogues, the drunken youth who died in a
brawl on the confines of manhood left us, in Marlowe's mighty
line, a foretaste of what was coming soon in the native wood notes
wild of Nature's child. We are told that in one of the chronicles
of the time, which carries down the names of worthies of the Eliz-
abethan era, Shakespeare is not even mentioned, and that such an
omission is as significant as if a biography of the writers of the
Victorian era were published with Alfred Tennyson's name omitted.
When it can be shown that contemporary writers of any era are
quick to recognize the higher genius of a fellow- worker, we may
accept this statement as argument, but in fact it is no proof at all.
It is not necessary to show that Shakespeare held, as an author,
among the non-theatre goers of his time, the secure place which
he now holds, although it could easily be done. His works were
unpublished, save over the lights of the stage. His calling was

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degraded in the eyes of many of the literary class, and it
would be curious indeed to have his claims allowed by such
contemporaries as Sir Thomas Browne or Kobert Greene. The
case of Tennyson is no parallel, the age of Victoria no coun-
terpart to those environments which surrounded the actor-
dramatist in the age of Elizabeth at the seething time of
Puritanism. Contemporary mention is abundant, but the authors
of the new theory must cast discredit upon it wherever found.
The praises of Jonson and of Spenser, the slurs of Greene, the
love of Southampton, and the not too remote mention of Milton
are cast aside as either specious aids to the fraud which was being
practiced, or as ignorant testimonies to a fame built upon lies.
The genius of invention, however, is exhausted in the elaborate
theories as to identity, which the sonnets are forced to contribute,
and here the Baconian theory reaches its last ground of proof.
It is declared that Bacon is proved to be the author of the Shake-
speare plays by the evidence which lies in these sonnets, and line
by line the patient theorist seeks out new aids to his argument.
Lines which seem quite innocent and impersonal become, under
this minute inspection and original application, clear evidences of
Baconian craft. It is shown that at one time he held that his life
was in danger, and the lament of a lover for the loss of his mis-
tress's love is the warning cry which the endangered statesman
utters in the tender folds of a sonnet. Without pursuing this
theme to a tedious limit, it may be said of it, that its authors
claim that Bacon wrote the Shakespeare plays, or many of them,
and the sonnets, and was ashamed to own them.

We are asked to believe that this great man not only allowed
his greatest works to pass before the audiences of his time, of
which they were the delight and pride, unclaimed, but that, when
the alleged author was dead, he quietly looked on while an edition
of those plays was given to the world by the fellow-actors of the
dead Shakespeare, and made no sign ; nor did he leave any record
or claim in his papers at his death. It would seem that the answer
of Macaulay to this Baconian theory had already been overlooked
or forgotten. He declared that, even if there were any excuse
when he upheld the empire in the exercise of his great office, why
he should disown the dramatic works of his creation, there came
a time, not far off, when, disgraced from office, mulcted in a heavy
fine, driven from the Court, and only allowed to live by the

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE.

clemency of a nation which had not forgotten his great gifts, the
declaration that he was the true author of the great plays already
the popular delight of the English nation, would have raised him
again in popular favor, and regained for him some of the glory
which he had forever lost. He died and made no sign. Finally,
he bequeathed to his own generation his ephemeral dramatic
works, under a fraudulent paternity in the vulgar language of his
own countrymen— the language of Chaucer and of Spenser, of
Raleigh and of Marlowe, consigning his moral treatise to. a
certain immortality in the studied garb of a dead language. In
this regard, at least, he seems not the wisest or greatest of man-
kind.

To conclude, if it be true that Poets are born, not made, it
may as truly be said that Dramatists are born and grow. In that
glorious age of Elizabeth, many royal Poets were born whose lines
will remain imperishable in our literature. Shakespeare, the Poet,
was one of these. The heart of England gave him birth ; the
Valley of the Avon, with its surpassing loveliness of field, hill, and
shade, was the natural cradle of a poet. He drank in, with his
earliest inspiration, all the influences of that beautiful land ; the
mysterious deep shadows of an English forest quickened his fervid
imagination to people its depths ; the placid stream along whose
flowery banks his childish footsteps strayed gave calm and peace
to the tempest in his fiery soul, while the glorious records of his
country's splendor lay unfolded to him at one of its brightest
pages, in neighboring Kenilworth and Warwick. The internecine
wars of a century were giving way to a season of prosperity and calm.
A new world was opening to the enterprise of man, a vast field
of novel experiences enlarging and expanding the area of knowl-
edge. That hour had come in a nation's life which contained
the seeds of genius in the arts and sciences over the earth, an in- >
terval of awakening to all that is vast and noble, in thought and '
deed. An effete language was giving way before a living tongue.
And again, as out of many jargons grew the polished Greek, the
rude utterances of a semi-barbarian nation fashioned its own im-
perishable language, and, through the drama, forced the channel of
poetic aspiration. Into this new spirit many gifted Poets poured
their cherished thoughts. But it was given to but one in that age
to melt the jewels of the mind in the crucible of the dramatist.
Hie early experience at Stratford, whence many of his fellow

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players also came ; the fact that the stage was the one open and
lucrative road to fame and wealth for the poet as well as the play-
wright in that day, and the instinct which led the young Stratford
friend of Burbage and Greene to their theatre on his arrival in
London to seek his fortune — all these facts lead us up to the
time when his own first play was produced. It must have been
after he had gained a practical knowledge of the stage require-
ments by the duties of an actor, and the sequence of the plays
themselves denotes the growth of this mechanical handicraft
which was soon to fashion the immortal dramas bearing his name.
The plays, by contract, passed out of the author's hands into those
of the company which managed the theatre, and were no longer
his own personal property. Hence, when his will was made, he
had no such property to devise. All the published copies of the
plays in his lifetime, and even until the Folio of 1623 appeared,
were either pirated from the parts of the actors for a small sum,
or taken down in shorthand during performances. The same
indifference, if such it may be called, may be laid to the charge of
Lord Bacon, who in his will devised his papers to Constable with-
out specifying these plays, and no such precious manuscripts
have yet emerged from that source.

He thus addresses the Bishop of Lincoln : "I find that the
ancients, as Cicero, Demosthenes, Plinus and others, have presented
both their orations and epistles. I have done the like to my own,
which I will not publish while I live, but I have been bold to
bequeath them to your Lordship and Mr. Chancellor of the
Duchy." In accepting the trust, the Reverend Bishop, while
doing justice to Bacon's oratorical powers, plainly intimates that
his fame would not be raised by the publication of his letters, a
criticism in which Lord Campbell, who quotes the above in his
"Lives of the Chancellors," published in 1849, entirely concurs,
and still further says: "They are written in a stiff, formal,
ungraceful style, and when the writer tries to be light and airy,
we have such a botch as might have been expected if Horace
Walpole had been condemned to write the Novum Organum."
Lord Campbell further says: "He wrote some religious tracts,
and he employed himself in a metrical translation into English of
the Psalms of David, showing by this effort, it must be confessed,
more piety than poetry; his ear had not been formed, nor hia
fancy fed, by a perusal of the divine productions of Surrey, Walls,

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE. 613

Spenser, and Shakespeare, or he could not have produced rhymes
so rugged, and turns of expression so mean. Few poets deal in
finer imagery than is to be found in the writings of Bacon, but if
his prose is sometimes poetical his poetry is always prosaic/'

The sonnets and many of the plays were republished after the
death of Shakespeare with his name unusually prominent, as
an indication that the value of the work had been enhanced by
the repute of the author ; and while this so-called imposture was
being practiced, Bacon was silently enduring the ignominy of his
recent punishment for crimes which a whole nation would have
condoned could he have proclaimed his authorship of these remark-
able plays.

Jt is necessary, in order to sustain this Baconian theory, to
prove not only that Shakespeare was an impostor, but that all
about him were knaves or fools. Ben Jonson becomes a lying
panegyrist, and in vile collusion with a poor player, to shield the
virtuous Bacon from immortality and wealth, and he plays his
part so ill that his posterity refuses to believe that the author of
the dedication of the print in the Folio of 1623 was other than what
he seemed to be. The friendship of Southampton for Shake-
speare is denied in the face of the early dedication of the Venus
and Adonis, in face of the pretty well authenticated gift of
one thousand pounds to his friend upon the building of the Globe
Theatre, and of the absolutely proved interest which he and Lord
Eutland took in all matters relating to the theatre. The attempt
to unite Bacon with Lord Southampton in friendship is a violation
of decency, especially at any time of his life subsequent to
the death of his friend and relative, Essex, whose trial and
condemnation were the infamy of that Bacon who owed his
public advancement to his bounty, and whose conduct, both
at the trial and after the grave had closed upon the unfortunate
Earl, has drawn down upon the Philosopher's head that withering
denunciation of Lord Macaulay which will cling to Bacon when
the Shakespeare myth shall have been forgotten. There is no
ingenuity of reasoning by which the life work and career of Bacon
is associated with these plays which cannot be more sensibly and
clearly used in favor of the reputed author. Scholarships do not
make Dramatists. Colleges do not create Poets. They have so
often burst the environments of poverty, seclusion, ignorance, low
birth, that we are tempted to believe that only such surroundings

614 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

can suffice to release the sublime spirit of creation. The very de-
fects of the Shakespearean verse would be the dishonor of the ac-
curate collegians. Mixed metaphors, false quantities, strained geo-
graphical and ethical allusions, anachronisms of all kinds, which
would disgrace a merely well read or educated man, abound in all
the pages of the text. Shakespeare was a dramatist, making plays.
He was consciously doing this wi£h the greatest gift for his work
the world has any note of. He was, at the same time, it may be
unconsciously, fashioning a literature by which his claim to the
originality of his dramatic work would one day be invalidated.
He not only fashioned the statue ; he was called upon at once, also,
to make the tools with which he labored. But, like all uncon-
scious laborers, he did this with so little effort, he used the lan-
guage in which he wrote with such indifferent facility, that to an
age of mere word users, to whom the style is more important than
the thing, he seems an anomaly. When God had given us such a
Dramatist, it was an easy task to make him speak. The soul which
could contain the image of Lear in the storm, or Hamlet on the
rack, would soon find a voice to utter its sublime conceptions.

Finally, while it is not necessary that one must be a good or a
sober man to have done great work for mankind, even here the
comparison between Bacon and Shakespeare is in favor of the
actor. No such infamous life has been lived in the world's history
as that of Bacon, when one considers his gifts and his surround-
ings. The son of the most learned woman of her day, in an age
when learning was uncommon among her sex, and of a Lord-
keeper who stood high in the favor of the wise Elizabeth ; con-
nected by blood with Burleigh and by rank and genius with all
the ruling spirits of his time, educated beyond denial above any
scholar of that age of scholars, it is yet proved that his whole
public career was infamous. False to Essex, false to his great
office as Chancellor, the last English jurist who favored torture,
who took bribes from plaintiff and defendant alike, and whose
character was not redeemed by the excuse that he was amiably
weak enough to have any but colossal vices, a lover of fame and
money, the " meanest of mankind," he yet, when disgraced and out-
lawed, poor and friendless, saw, undisturbed, the great fame of
his conceded works, the profit of them also, pass into the hands
of a despised play actor, and made no sign. Nothing but his
immortal writings could redeem such a character from immortal

CONCERNING SHAKESPEARE. (515

contempt. No need now to picture to this age the portrait of
that Shakespeare whose frailties, even, are forgiven in the effulgent
light of his royal gifts to mankind. His life was so lived that it
gave no sign. We may catch a glimpse of a heavenly smile when
playfully recreating at the Mermaid with Raleigh and Jonson
and that immortal Table Round, or we may see him in his native
place, the wise husbandman, the good citizen, taking care of the
few years between himself and the grave. That is all. For his
enduring likeness, find it in the plays themselves, in the benefi-
cence of that gift which lays the world under contribution, and
yet claims no reward.

One other such life we know of. Across the channel, in the days
of the fourteenth Louis, a poor player comes to the barrier of
Paris with his country company. He begs his way into the fair
metropolis, is denied to practice his calling there, while royal pat-
ronage fosters a more aristocratic association. Like another
Thespis, he presents his portraits under despised surroundings.
But the fame of them penetrates where their author cannot go.
At last, by royal request, he not only enters the forbidden capitol,
he has taken it by right of conquest. He exchanges the
rage of Edgar for the robes of a king ; he founds the most en-
during Temple in France, becomes the author of a gallery of
works imperishable while the language endures, is refused ad-
mission to the then infant Academy of Immortals, unless he will
resign his vagabond calling ; and, upon his refusal to make this
sacrifice, for fear his poor boys and girls would starve, he is
shunned by fashion, but favored by the Grand Monarch, who has
a lien upon immortality for that act at least; and in the fullness
of years, in harness upon the stage, in the pursuit of his duty,
Moliere dies, leaving his fame as a dramatist to mankind, his
name to the great House of Moliere which he founded, and his
bunt to the Academy of Immortals which rejected him when
living. If not equal in achievement, there is at least great simi-
larity in the lives of the two great actor-dramatists.

LAWRENCE BARRETT.

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.

MY DEAE COLONEL INGEBSOLL :

I HAVE read your Keply to my Open Letter half a dozen times,
and each time with new appreciation of your skill as an advocate.
It is written with great ingenuity, and furnishes probably as com-
plete an argument as you are able to give for the faith (or want of
faith) that is in you. Doubtless you think it unanswerable, and
so it will seem to those who are predisposed to your way of think-
ing. To quote a homely saying of Mr. Lincoln, in which there is
as much of wisdom as of wit, " For those who like that sort of
thing, no doubt that is the sort of thing they do like." You may
answer that we, who cling to the faith of our fathers, are equally
prejudiced, and that it is for that reason that we are not more
impressed by the force of your pleading. I do not deny a strong
leaning that way, and yet our real interest is the same — to get at
the truth ; and, therefore, I have tried to give due weight to
whatever of argument there is in the midst of so much eloquence ;
but must confess that, in spite of all, I remain in the same'obdu-
rate frame of mind as before. With all the candor that I can bring
to bear upon the question, I find on reviewing my Open Letter
scarcely a sentence to change and nothing to withdraw ; and am
quite willing to leave it as my Declaration of Faith, to stand side
by side with your Reply, for intelligent and candid men to judge
between us. I need only to add a few words in taking leave of the
subject.

You seem a little disturbed that ' ' some of my brethren "
should look upon you as " a monster" because of your unbelief.
I certainly do not approve of such language, although they would
tell me that it is the only word which is a fit response to your
ferocious attacks upon what they hold most sacred. You are a
born gladiator, and when you descend into the arena, you strike
heavy blows, which provoke blows in return. In this very Keply

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT O. INOERSOLL. 617

you manifest a particular animosity against Presbyterians. Is it
because you were brought up in that Church, of which your
father, whom you regard with filial respect and affection, was an
honored minister ? You even speak of " the Presbyterian God ! "
as if we assumed to appropriate the Supreme Being, claiming to be
the special objects of His favor. Is there any ground for this impu-
tation of narrowness ? On the contrary, when we bow our knees
before our Maker, it is as the God and Father of all mankind ;
and the expression you permit yourself to use, can only be regarded
as grossly offensive. Was it necessary to offer this rudeness to the
religious denomination in which you were born ?

And this may explain, what you do not seem fully to under-
stand, why it is that you are sometimes treated to sharp epithets
by the religious press and public. You think yourself perse-
cuted for your opinions. But others hold the same opinions with-
out offense. Nor is it because you express your opinions. Nobody
would deny you the same freedom which is accorded to Huxley
or Herbert Spencer. It is not because you exercise your liberty
of judgment or of speech, but because of the way in which you
attack others, holding up their faith to all manner of ridicule,
and speaking of those who profess it as if they must be either
knaves or fools. It is not in human nature not to resent such
imputations on that which, however incredible to you, is very
precious to them. Hence it is that they think you a rough
antagonist ; and when you shock them by such expressions as I
have quoted, you must expect some pretty strong language in
return. I do not join them in this, because I know you, and
appreciate that other side of you which is manly and kindly and
chivalrous. But while I recognize these better qualities, I must
add in all frankness that I am compelled to look upon you as a
man so embittered against religion that you cannot think of it
except as associated with cant, bigotry, and hypocrisy. In such
a state of mind it is hardly possible for you to judge fairly of the
arguments for its truth.

I believe, with you, that reason was given us to be exercised,
and that when man seeks after truth, his mind should be, as you
say Darwin's was, "as free from prejudice as the mariner's
compass." But if he is warped by passion so that he cannot see
things truly, then is he responsible. It is the moral element
which alone makes the responsibility. Nor do I believe that any

618 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

man will be. judged in this world or the next for what does not in-
volve a moral wrong. Hence your appalling statement, "The
God you worship will, according to your creed, torture ( !) through
all the endless years the man who entertains an honest doubt,"
does not produce the effect intended, simply because I do not
affirm nor believe any such thing. I believe that, in the future
world, every man will be judged according to the deeds done in the
body, and that the judgment, whatever it may be, will be trans-
parently just. God is more merciful than man. He desireth not
the death of the wicked. Christ forgave where men would con-
demn, and whatever be the fate of any human soul, it can never
be said that the Supreme Ruler was wanting either in justice or
mercy. This I emphasize because you dwell so much upon the
subject of future retribution, giving it an attention so constant as
to be almost exclusive. "Whatever else you touch upon you soon
come back to this as the black thunder-cloud that darkens all the
horizon, casting its mighty shadows over the life that now is and
that which is to come. Your denunciations of this " inhuman "
belief are so reiterated that one would be left to infer that there
is nothing else in Religion ; that it is all wrath and terror. But
this is putting a part for the whole. Religion is a vast system, of
which this is but a single feature : it is but one doctrine of many ;
and indeed some whom no one will deny to be devout Christians,
do not hold it at all, or only in a modified form, while with all
their hearts they accept and profess the Religion that Christ came
to bring into the world.

Archdeacon Farrar, of Westminster Abbey, the most eloquent
preacher in the Church of England, has written a book entitled
" Eternal Hope/' in which he argues from reason and the Bible,
that this life is not ( ' the be-all and end-all " of human probation ;
but that in the world to come there will be another opportunity,
when countless millions, made wiser by unhappy experience, will
turn again to the paths of life ; and that so in the end the whole
human race, with the exception of perhaps a few who remain irre-
claimable, will be recovered and made happy forever. Others look
upon " eternal death " as merely the extinction of being, while im-
mortality is the reward of pre-eminent virtue, interpreting in that
sense the words, ( ' The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. " The latter view might
recommend itself to you as the application of " the survival of

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 619

the fittest " to another world, the worthless, the incurably bad,
of the human race being allowed to drop out of existence (an end
which can have no terrors for you, since you look upon it as the
common lot of all men), while the good are continued in being
forever. The acceptance of either of these theories would relieve
your mind of that " horror of great darkness " which seems to
come over it whenever you look forward to retribution beyond
the grave.

But while conceding all liberty to others I cannot so easily rer
lieve myself of this stern and rugged truth. To me moral evil in
the universe is a tremendous reality, and I do not see how to limit
it within the bounds of time. Retribution is to me a necessary
part of the Divine law. A law without a penalty for its violation
is no law. But I rest the argument for it, not on the Bible, but
on principles which you yourself acknowledge. You say, i( There
are no punishments, no rewards : there are consequences." Very
well, take the "• consequences," and see where they lead you.
When a man by his vices has reduced his body to a wreck and his
mind to idiocy, you say this is the (£ consequence" of his vicious
life. Is it a great stretch of language to say that it is his " pun-
ishment," and none the less punishment because self-inflicted ?
To the poor sufferer raving in a mad-house it matters little what
it is called, so long as he is experiencing the agonies of hell. And
here your theory of " consequences," if followed up, will lead you
very far. For if man lives after death, and keeps his personal
identity, do not the " consequences" of his past life follow him
into the future ? And if his existence is immortal, are not the
consequences immortal also ? And what is this but endless retri-
bution ?

But you tell me that the moral effect of retribution is destroyed
by the easy way in which a man escapes the penalty. He has but
to repent, and he is restored to the same condition before the law
as if he had not sinned. Not so do I understand it. "I believe
in the forgiveness of sins," but forgiveness does not reverse the
course of nature ; it does not prevent the operation of natural law.
A drunkard may repent as he is nearing his end, but that does
not undo the wrong that he has done, nor avert the consequences.
In spite of his tears he dies in an agony of shame and remorse.
The inexorable law must be fulfilled.

And so in the future world. Even though a man be forgiven, he

620 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIE W.

does not wholly escape the evil of his past life. A retribution follows
him even within the heavenly gates ; for if he does not suffer,
still that had life has so shriveled up his moral nature as to
diminish his power of enjoyment. There are degrees of happi-
ness, as one star differeth from another star in glory ; and he who
begins wrong, will find that it is not as well to sin and repent of
it as not to sin at all. He enters the other world in a state of
spiritual infancy, and will have to begin at the bottom, and climb
slowly upward.

We might go a step farther, and say that perhaps heaven it-
self has not only its lights but its shadows, in the reflections that
must come even there. We read of " the book of God's remem-
brance," but is there not another book of remembrance in the
mind itself — a book which any man may well fear to open and to
look thereon ? When that book is opened, and we read its awful
pages, shall we not all think "what might have been ?" And
will those thoughts be wholly free from sadness ? The drunken
brute who breaks the heart that loved him may weep bitterly,,
and his poor wife may forgive him with her dying lips ; but he
cannot forgive himself, and never can he recall without grief
that bowed head and that broken heart. This preserves the ele-
ment of retribution, while it does not shut the door to forgive-
ness and mercy.

But we need not travel over again the round of Christian doc-
trines. My faith is very simple ; it revolves around two words :
GOD and CHRIST. These are the two centres, or, as an astrono-
mer might say, the double-star, or double-sun, of the great orbit
of religious truth.

As to the first of these, you say " There can be no evidence to
my mind of the existence of such a being, and my mind is so that
it is incapable of even thinking of an infinite personality ; " and
you gravely put to me this question : " Do you really believe that
this world is governed by an infinitely wise and good God ? Hare
you convinced even yourself of this ? " Here are two questions —
one as to the existence of God, and the other as to His benevo-
lence. I will answer both in language as plain as it is possible for
me to use.

First, Do I believe in the existence of God ? I answer that it
is impossible for me not to believe it. I could not disbelieve it if
I would. You insist that belief or unbelief is not a matter of

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT G. INQERSOLL. 621

choice or of the will, but of evidence. You say ' ( the brain thinks
as the heart beats, as the eyes see." Then let us stand aside with
all our prepossessions, and open our eyes to what we can see.

"When Eobinson Crusoe in his desert island came down one day
to the seashore, and saw in the sand the print of a human foot,
could he help the instantaneous conviction that a man had been
there ? You might have tried to persuade him that it was all
chance, — that the sand had been washed up by the waves or blown
by the winds, and taken this form, or that some marine insect
had traced a figure like a human foot, — you would not have moved
him a particle. The imprint was there, and the conclusion was
irresistible : he did not believe — he knew that some human being,
whether friend or foe, civilized or savage, had set his foot upon
that desolate shore. So when I discover in the world (as I think
I do) mysterious footprints that are certainly not human, it is
not a question whether I shall believe or not : I cannot help
believing that some Power greater than man has set foot upon the
earth.

It is a fashion among atheistic philosophers to make light of
the argument from design ; but " my mind is so that it is inca-
pable" of resisting the conclusion to which it leads me. And
(since personal questions are in order) I beg to ask if it is possible
for you to take in your hand a watch, and believe that there was
no " design" in its construction ; that it was not made to keep
time, but only "happened" so ; that it is the product of some
freak of nature, which brought together its parts and set it going ?
Do you not know with as much positiveness as can belong to any
conviction of your mind, that it was not the work of accident,
but of design ; and that if there was a design, there was a designer ?
And if the watch was made to keep time, was not the eye made to
see and the ear to hear ? Skeptics may fight against this argument
as much as they please, and try to evade the inevitable conclusion,
and yet it remains forever entwined in the living frame of man,
as well as embedded in the solid foundations of the globe. Where-
fore I repeat, it is not a question with me whether I will believe
or not — I cannot help believing ; and I am not only surprised,
but amazed, that you or any thoughtful man can come to any
other conclusion. In wonder and astonishment I ask, " Do you
really believe " that in all the wide universe there is no Higher
Intelligence than that of the poor human creatures that creep on
VOL. CXLV. — tfo. 373. 41

622 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

this earthly ball ? For myself, it is with the profoundest convic-
tion as well as the deepest reverence that I repeat the first sentence
of my faith : " I believe in God the Father Almighty."

And not the Almighty only, but the Wise and the Good. Again
I ask, How can I help believing what I see every day of my life ?
Every morning, as the sun rises in the East, sending light and
life over the world, I behold a glorious image of the beneficent
Creator. The exquisite beauty of the dawn, the dewy freshness
of the air, the fleecy clouds floating in the sky — all speak of Him.
And when the sun goes down, sending shafts of light through the
dense masses that would hide his setting, and casting a glory over
the earth and sky, this wondrous illumination is to me but the
reflection of Him who " spreadeth out the heavens like a curtain ;
who maketh the clouds His chariot ; who walketh upon the wings
of the wind."

How much more do we find the evidences of goodness in man
himself : in the power of thought ; of acquiring knowledge ; of
penetrating the mysteries of nature and climbing among the stars.
Can a being endowed with such transcendent gifts doubt the
goodness of his Creator ?

Yes, I believe with all my heart and soul in One who is not
only Infinitely Great, but Infinitely Good ; who loves all the creat-
ures He has made ; bending over them as the bow in the cloud
spans the arch of heaven, stretching from horizon to horizon ;
looking down upon them with a tenderness compared to which
all human love is faint and cold. " Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him ; for He know-
eth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust."

On the question of immortality you are equally "at sea."
You know nothing and believe nothing ; or, rather, you know
only that you do not know, and believe that you do not believe.
You confess indeed to a faint hope, and admit a bare possibility,
that there may be another life, though you are in an uncertainty
about it that is altogether bewildering and desperate. But your
mind is so poetical that you give a certain attractiveness even to
the prospect of annihilation. You strew the sepulchre with such
flowers as these :

** 1 have said a thousand times, and I say again, that the idea of immortality,
that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, with its countless waves
of hope and fear beating against the shores and rocks of time and fate, was not

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT Q. INGERSOLL. 623

born of any book, nor of any creed, nor of any religion. It was born of human
affection, and it will continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists and clouds of doubt
and darkness as long as love kisses the lips of death.

" I have said a thousand times, and I say again, that we do not know, we can-
not say, whether death is a wall or a door ; the begianing or end of a day; the
spreading of pinions to soar, or the folding forever of wings ; the rise or the set of
a sun, or an endless life that brings rapture and love to every on?."

Beautiful words ! but inexpressibly sad ! It is a silver lining
to the cloud, and yet the cloud is there, dark and impenetrable.
But perhaps we ought not to expect anything clearer and brighter
from one who recognizes no light but that of nature. That light
is very dim. If it were all we had, we should be just where Cicero
was, and say with him, and with you, that a future life was " to
be hoped for rather than believed." But does not that very un-
certainty show the need of a something above Nature, which is
furnished in Him who " was crucified, dead and buried, and the
third day rose again from the dead ? "' It is the Conqueror of
Death who calls to the faint-hearted : "lam the Eesurrection and
the Life." Since He has gone before us, lighting up the dark
passage of the grave, we need not fear to follow, resting on the
word of our Leader : " Because I live, ye shall live also."

This faith in another life is a precious inheritance, which can-
not be torn from the agonized bosom without a wrench that tears
every heartstring ; and it was to this I referred as the last refuge
of a poor, suffering, despairing soul, when I asked : " Does it
never occur to you that there is something very cruel in this treat-
ment of the belief of your fellow-creatures, on whose hope of
another life hangs all that relieves the darkness of their present
existence ? " The imputation of cruelty you repel with some
warmth, saying (with a slight variation of my language) : " When
I deny the existence of perdition, you reply that there is something
very cruel in this treatment of the belief of my fellow-creatures."
Of course, this change of words, putting perdition in the place of
immortal life and hope, was a mere inadvertence. But it was
enough to change the whole character of what I wrote. As I
described " the treatment of the belief of my fellow-creatures," I
did think it " very cruel," and I think so still.

While correcting this slight misquotation, I must remove from
your mind a misapprehension, which is so very absurd as to be abso-
lutely comical. In my Letter referring to your disbelief of im-
mortality, I had said : " With an air of modesty and diffidence

624 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

that would carry an audience by storm, you confess your igno-
rance of what perhaps others are better acquainted with, when you
say, ' This world is all that / know anything about, so far as I
recollect.9 " Of course " what perhaps others are better acquainted
with " was a part of what you said, or at least implied by your
manner, (for you do not convey your meaning merely by words,
but by a tone of voice, by arched eyebrows, or a curled lip) ; and
yet, instead of taking the sentence in its plain and obvious sense,
you affect to understand it as an assumption on my part to have
some private and mysterious knowledge of another world ( !), and
gravely ask me, "Did you by this intend to say that you know
anything of any other state of existence ; that you have inhabited
some other planet ; that you lived before you were born ; and
that you recollect something of that other world or of that other
state ?" No, my dear Colonel ! I have been a good deal of a
traveler, and have seen all parts of this world, but I have never
visited any other. In reading your sober question, if I did not
know you to be one of the brightest wits of the day, I should be
tempted to quote what Sidney Smith says of a Scotchman, that
" you cannot get a joke into his head except by a surgical opera-
tion r

But to return to what is serious : you make light of our faith and
our hopes, because you know not the infinite solace they bring to
the troubled human heart. You sneer at the idea that religion
can be (f a consolation. " Indeed ! Is it not a consolation to have
an Almighty Friend ? Was it a light matter for the poor slave
mother, who sat alone in her cabin, having been robbed of her
children, to sing in her wild, wailing accents :

" Nobody knows the sorrows I've seen :
Nobody knows but Jesus" ?

Would you rob her of that Unseen Friend — the only Friend she
had on earth or in heaven ?

But I will do you the justice to say that your want of religious
faith comes in part from your very sensibility and tenderness of
heart. You cannot recognize an overruling Providence, because
your mind is so harassed by scenes that you witness. Why, you
ask, do men suffer so ? You draw frightful pictures of the
misery which exists in the world, as a proof of the incapacity of
its Ruler and Governor, and do not hesitate to say that " any

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 625

honest man of average intelligence could do vastly better." If
you could have your way, you would make everybody happy ; there
should be no more poverty, and no more sickness or pain.

This is a pleasant picture to look at, and yet you must excuse
me for saying that it is rather a child's picture than that of a
stalwart man. The world is not a playground in which men are
to be petted and indulged like children : spoiled children they
would soon become. It is an arena of conflict, in which we are to
develop the manhood that is in us. We all have to take the
" rough-and-tumble" of life, and are the better for it — physically,
intellectually, and morally. If there be any true manliness within
us, we come out of the struggle stronger and better ; with larger
minds and kinder hearts ; a broader wisdom and a gentler charity.

Perhaps we should not differ on this point if we could agree as
to the true end of life. But here I fear the difference is irreconcil-
able. You think that end is happiness : I think it is CHARACTER.
I do not believe that the highest end of life upon earth is to
" have a good time •" to get from it the utmost amount of enjoy-
ment ; but to be truly and greatly GOOD ; and that to that end no
discipline can be too severe which leads us (( to suffer and be
strong." That discipline answers its end when it raises the spirit
to the highest pitch of courage and endurance. The splendor of
virtue never appears so bright as when set against a dark back-
ground. It was in prisons and dungeons that the martyrs showed
the greatest degree of moral heroism, the power of

" Man's unconquerable mind."

But I know well that these illustrations do not cover the whole
case. There is another picture to be added to those of heroic
struggle and martyrdom — that of silent suffering, which makes of
life one long agony, and which often comes upon the good, so that
it seems as if the best suffered the most. And yet when you sit
by a sick bed, and look into a face whiter than the pillow on
which it rests, do you not sometimes mark how that very suffering
refines the nature that bears it so meekly ? This is the Christian
theory : that suffering patiently borne is a means of the greatest
elevation of character, and in the end of the highest enjoyment.
Looking at it in this light, we can understand how it should be
that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared [or even to be named] with the glory which shall be re-

626 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

vealed." When the heavenly morning breaks, brighter than any
dawn that ef blushes o'er the world/' there will be "a restitution
of all things" : the poor will be made rich, and the most suffer-
ing the most serenely happy ; as in the vision of the Apocalypse,
when it is asked ' ' What are these which are arrayed in white
robes, and whence came they ?" the answer is, " These are they
which came out of great tribulation. "

In this conclusion, which is not adopted lightly, but after
innumerable struggles with doubt, after the experience and the re-
flection of years, I feel "a great peace." It is the glow of sunset
that gilds the approach of evening. For (we must confess it) it is
towards that you and I are advancing. The sun has passed the
meridian, and hastens to his going down. Whatever of good this
life has for us (and I am far from being one of those who look
upon it as a vale of tears) will soon be behind us. I see the
shadows creeping on ; yet I welcome the twilight that will soon
darken into night, for I know that it will be a night all glorious
with stars. As I look upward, the feeling of awe is blended with
a strange, overpowering sense of the Infinite G-oodness, which sur-
rounds me like an atmosphere :

" And so beside the Silent Sea,

I wait the muffled oar ;
No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

" I know not where His Islands lift

Their fronded palms in air ;
1 only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care."

Would that you could share with me this confidence and this
hope ! But you seem to be receding farther from any kind of
faith. In one of your closing paragraphs, you give what is to
you "the conclusion of the whole matter." After repudiating
religion with scorn, you ask " Is there not room for a better,
for a higher philosophy ? " and thus indicate the true answer to
be given, to which no words can do justice but your own :

" After all. is it not possible that we may find that everything has been neces-
sarilv produced ; that all religions and superstitions, all mistakes and all crimes,
were simply necessities ? Is it not possible that out of this perception may come
not only love and pity for others, but absolute justification for the individual ?
May we not find that every soul has, like Mazeppa. been lashed to the wild horse
of passion, or, like Prometheus, to the rocks of fate ? "

A LAST WORD TO ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. 627

If this be the end of all philosophy, it is equally the end of
"all things." Not only does it make an end of us and of our
hopes of futurity, but of all that makes the present life worth
living — of all freedom, and hence of all virtue. There are no
more any moral distinctions in "ihe world — no good and no evil,
no right and no wrong ; nothing but grim necessity. With such
a creed, I wonder how you can ever stand at the bar, and argue
for the conviction of a criminal. Why should he be convicted
and punished for what he could not help ? Indeed he is not a
criminal, since there is no such thing as crime. He is not to
blame. Was he not "lashed to the wild horse of passion," carried
away by a power beyond his control ? What cruelty to thrust
him behind iron bars ! Poor fellow ! he deserves our pity. Let
us hasten to relieve him from a position which must be so painful,
and make our humble apology for having presumed to punish
him for an act in which he only obeyed an impulse which he could
not resist. This will be "absolute justification for the individual."
But what will become of society, you do not tell us.

Are you aware that in tnis last attainment of "a better, a
higher philosophy," (which is simply absolute fatalism), you have
swung round to the side of John Calvin, and gone far beyond
him ? That you, who have exhausted all the resources of the
English language in denouncing his creed as the most horrible
of human beliefs — brainless, soilless, heartless ; who have held
it up to scorn and derision ; now hold to the blackest Calvinism
that was ever taught by man ? You cannot find words sufficient
to express your horror of the doctrine of Divine decrees ; and yet
here you have decrees with a vengeance — predestination and dam-
nation, both in one. Under such a creed, man is a thousand
times worse off than under ours : for he has absolutely no hope.
You may say that at any rate he cannot suffer forever. You do
not know even that ; but at any rate he suffers as long as he exists.
There is no God above to show him pity, and grant him release ;
but as long as the ages roll, he is " lashed to the rocks of fate/'
with the insatiate vulture tearing at his heart !

In reading your glittering phrases, I seem to be losing hold of
everything, and to be sinking, sinking, till I touch the lowest
depths of an abyss ; while from the blackness above me a sound
like a death-knell tolls the midnight of the soul. If I believed
this I should cry, God help us all ! Or no — for there would be

628 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

no God, and even this last consolation would be denied us : for
why should we offer a prayer which can neither be heard nor
answered ? As well might we ask mercy from " the rocks of fate "
to which we are chained forever !

Recoiling from this Gospel of Despair, I turn to One in whose
face there is something at once human and divine — an indescrib-
able majesty, united with more than human tenderness and pity ;
One who was born among the poor, and had not where to lay His
head, and yet went about doing good ; poor, yet making many
rich ; who trod the world in deepest loneliness, and yet whose
presence lighted up every dwelling into which He came ; who
took up little children in His arms, and blessed them ; a giver of
joy to others, and yet a sufferer himself ; who tasted every human
sorrow, and yet was always ready to minister to others* grief ;
weeping with them that wept ; coming to Bethany to comfort
Mary and Martha concerning their brother ; rebuking the proud,
but gentle and pitiful to the most abject of human creatures ;
stopping amid the throng at the cry of a blind beggar by the way-
side ; willing to be known as " the friend of sinners," if He might
recall them into the way of peace ; who did not scorn even the
fallen woman who sank at His feet, but by His gentle word,
" Neither do I condemn thee ; go and sin no more/' lifted her up,
and set her in the path of a virtuous womanhood ; and who, when
dying on the cross, prayed : ( ' Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." In this Friend of the friendless, Comforter of
the comfortless, Forgiver of the penitent, and Guide of the erring,
I find a greatness that I had not found in any of the philosophers
or teachers of the world. No voice in all the ages thrills me like
that which whispers close to my heart, ' f Come unto me and I will
give you rest," to which I answer : THIS is MY MASTER, AND I

WILL FOLLOW HlM.

HENBY M. FIELD.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS.

PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.

THE career of President Cleveland is unique in our history.
Save for a single day, he had never been in Washington until ne
went there to assume the duties of his great office. Just past
forty-seven years of age, he was the youngest of all our Presi-
dents, except President Grant. f$o presidential candidate had
been so little known to the people, knew so little of the official
life of the country, or was acquainted with so few of the great
men of his party. He had never met a member of his cabinet
except those from his own State. He had never been in New
England, nor further south than Washington, nor further west
than Ohio. He had been neither a popular orator, an editor, nor
a public writer on any question. He had had no part in military
affairs or in any popular movement. He had not been a party
leader, or the head of a faction, nor had he rendered any party
services which in the view of politicians is a claim for office. He
had no personal followers. No candidate, ever so dependent
upon his own personality, ever so utterly destitute of adventitious
aid, ever made President for reasons so original, personal, and
peculiar. Never a partisan, he was a sturdy Democrat always.
His official experience, when made President, had been far less
than that of any one of his predecessors. Until November, 1881,
when he was elected Mayor of Buffalo — but thirty-six months
before his election as President — Mr. Cleveland had held no other
offices than those of Assistant District- Attorney for a few months
and Sheriff for three years. Beyond his own section of his State,
even his name was unknown. He had served as Mayor less than
eleven months when he was nominated for Governor of New
York, and as Governor less than twenty months when he was
nominated for the Presidency. Nothing in our history so extraor-

630 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

dinary, or, upon the theory of the politicians, so inexplicable
as this. No national crisis, no military glory, no chance of for-
tune raised him, as some of his predecessors, to the highest place.
Lincoln had been in Congress, and had been nominated for the
Vice-Presidency nearly three years before the uprising for free-
dom and his rare genius raised him to the highest place.

Mr. Cleveland suffered not a little, in his own party, from a feel-
ing that he had not earned his nomination, that it had done injus-
tice to old leaders — Tilden,Thurman, McDonald, Carlisle, Hoadley,
Randall — and that he could not be relied on to give its managers
the universal patronage which they craved ; and, in addition, he
was heavily handicapped by the natural feeling that a party which,
in the crisis of a war for liberty and the union, had declared that
war "a failure" — that a party, a large proportion of whose ad-
herents had lately stood in arms against their country- — could not
be safely trusted to pay pensions to Union soldiers, and yet refuse
to pay Confederate pensions, debts, or losses.

No Presidential candidate, in this generation, made less effort
than Governor Cleveland to elect himself, or had so little aid from
office-holders or political assessment. His most distinctly avowed
principles, on the other hand, damped the zeal of the working
politicians of his party ; their belief that they could force him to
abandon them being their main inducement to exertion.

The Republican party had been twenty years in power, with
the vast prestige of continuous victory in a noble cause. Its
achievements in a general way had been honorable and brilliant
beyond all precedent in the party history of the world. Patriot-
ism itself, gratitude for a Union restored, the pride and joy of the
nation by reason of slavery destroyed, were associated with the
very name of the party. The thrilling memories of the battle-
fields, the grandest triumphs of peace, the prestige of the nation
exalted the world over, crowned its heroes and statesmen, and
gave immortal glory to its policy.

Its adherents — a large portion of them selected and disciplined
for efficient party service — filled more than 100,000 offices and
the whole labor service of the nation. No party was ever more
highly organized or had managers more thoroughly trained for
victory, at least on the partisan's theory, than the Republican
party in 1884. It had for its leader and candidate a gentleman
of the highest natural aptitude and the most thorough training

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 631

for partisan politics, but,, strange enough, without identification
with any event of war or any great measure of peace, upon which
the glory of his party rested. He was the ideal politician and
statesman, according to that theory, — the impersonation of
strength and the pledge of victory. Long experience as an editor
and member of Congress, six years as Speaker of the House,
repeated preparations, thorough beyond precedent, for his can-
didacy, made his acquaintance with party methods and party
leaders nearly universal. Twenty skillful personal followers
labored devotedly for him for every one who thus served his
opponent. According to every theory accepted by politicians, — or
which does not sound the deeper forces of politics, — a victory for
the Democratic party, under such circumstances and with such a
leader, was improbable, if not inconceivable.

Nevertheless, Mr. Cleveland was elected. It is by far the most
important election since that of Lincoln. Better than any other,
it deserves careful study at this moment, for without understand-
ing it no man can understand the strength of President Cleveland
or the greatest force in the next election. He was nominated and
elected on a new and single issue — his opinions on all the old sub-
jects being unknown to his party — and that an issue which his
opponent despised. It is plain there was a new force, if not the
opening of a new era, in politics. The claim lately made by
Senator Sherman that the Republican party has always been right,
and its administration always honest and pure, is simply an
impeachment of the people for overturning it. It is not wise to
attempt to conceal the true cause of that defeat, nor possible to do
so. Why had the Republican party been growing weaker and
the Democrats stronger for several years ? Is that fact evidence
of national decay or of the decay of the Republican party ? An
answer to this question is worthy the best effort of that Senator.
As the defeated party had all the patronage — and, therefore, the
victors none of it — what shall we think of the value of patronage
to a party ? If the distinguished Senator thinks, as I assume he
does, that public virtue and intelligence, as a whole, had suffered
no decay under Republican rule, why did the majority of the
people support the Democratic candidate ?

It is idle to refer to the tariff question, the silver question,
or any of the old issues as decisive, for each party was divided
upon them, and Mr. Cleveland had never dealt with either or

632 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

made his views known concerning them. There was nothing new
in connection with the old issues, great and vital as they are.
Nothing spasmodic or extraneous decided the contest of 1884.
There were three new things — new to many voters — involved in it,
and they were the decisive forces : 1. The remarkable personality
of Mr. Cleveland. 2. The principle and need of administrative
reform, as a great issue in a Presidential election. 3. The accept-
ance of such a candidate and principle by the Democratic party
as a political necessity. It is not important to nicely estimate
the relative influence of these elements, but we need to under-
stand them.

This new man in national affairs, whom the statesmen of his
party sagaciously supported, whom its partisan leaders accepted
in mere despair of electing one of their kind, whom vast numbers
of greedy office seekers voted for in the belief that they could
force him to universal proscription, — this man, who has risen far
more rapidly than any other in our history, — has, in the 32 months
since taking the Presidential chair, become not only the greatest
moral and political force in his party, but the statesman most
respected and trusted by those whose judgments are least biased
by party prejudice. When Mr. Theodore Eoosevelt declared, in
this EBVIEW, in October, 1885, that President Cleveland had
agreeably disappointed those who ' ' looked upon his advent to power
with dread/' he recognized the early stages of a change in the
opinion of the President's opponents in both parties which has
continued ever since.

He has become the real leader of his party, so far as it has
any as a whole, not by going down the way of its passions, but
by calling it up to the plane of its duty. In a cabinet as able,
perhaps, as any in this generation, he is conspicuously foremost.
If we except Jackson and Lincoln, no President since Jefferson
has been so great a political force. His acts and state papers
would be a better platform for his party than any its leaders
could frame. He has elevated the leadership of his party and
made a new career possible for it. His death would be the sever-
est loss it could suffer, and more than that. of any other three
men in the country would change all the problems of the next
election. The assault of Senator Eustis, which accompanied the
article of Mr. Roosevelt, must now appear as contemptible even to
himself, as the partisan scheming of Mr. Randall and of Mr.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 633

Taulbee, of Kentucky, have always been to everybody else. When
a party has been a long time engaged in a guerilla warfare, its
captains reluctantly submit to a true general who tries to sup-
press pillage.

From the personality of the President, let us turn to those
new and peculiar principles and sentiments involved in his elec-
tion.

We must go back a few years to get a clear view. So long as
the great issues of the war filled the public mind, it overlooked
lesser evils. When half of the adherents of the Democratic party
were hostile at the South, few persons at the North would com-
plain of such abuses as political assessments, of prosrciptive re-
movals, or of partisan work by officials, under pretense of keep-
ing the only patriotic party in power. These vicious practices, —
of which the Democrats had long before been guilty, — very soon
made the Eepublican managers arrogant, corrupt, and despotic.
The moral tone of their party was debased. Demagogues and
schemers more and more secured the high places which noble men
had held. Administrative abuses increased and became conspic-
uous, as one after another the war questions were settled.
Their exposure made them appear intolerable. Mr. Jenckes
opened the war upon them in 1866. Here was a chance and a
duty for the Eepublican party and a Eepublican Congress to take
up a great reform befitting its noblest spirit and its greatest
achievements. Had that duty been performed the career of
Grover Cleveland would have been impossible in our politics.
President Grant in some degree appreciated the situation. In
1870 he had the moral courage to declare the need of entering
upon such a reform. He then persuaded the Eepublican lead-
ers in Congress to aid him in such a work by one meagre sen-
tence of law. In 1871 he appointed a commission and promul-
gated rules for substituting civil service examinations of merit, ir-
respective of political opinion, for the old partisan tests for ap-
pointments. Some feeble legislation against assessments soon
followed. This, in a technical and practical sense, was the be-
ginning of Civil Service Eeform.

The party thus entered upon the second stage of its career.
Under the lead of its President, it was apparently showing an
ability to make " a reform within the party" by responding to the
higher sentiments of the people. But would it hold out ? The

634 THE KORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

answer was prompt. When the examinations began to diminish
the patronage of party leaders and members of Congress, it be-
came plain that the effort was too much for their public virtue.
The rank and file of the party — the soldiers who had followed
General Grant and the farmers and mechanics who had fed and
paid his army — were too ill informed to make their patriotism
effective in his warfare on patronage and spoils. He was de-
serted by civil officers under him, by Congressmen and by party
leaders in acts of cowardice, treachery, and venality hardly less
disgraceful and disastrous than an open desertion of his flag by
his staff officers would have been on the battlefield of Appomattox.
Congress, abandoning the President, slunk from its duty, and re-
pudiated the party pledges of 1872. Twice in 1874, President
Grant appealed by message for the appropriation needed in the
work of reform, declaring it had been beneficial and could be
made more so. On his suggestion to me as a commissioner, I
explained to leading members of both houses — some of whom
have since voted for a Civil Service Reform law — the reasons for
his request. It was all in vain. Every member of the House
committee on the subject, which Speaker Elaine had appointed,
was as hostile as himself to the reform ; and Gen. B. F.
Butler was their appropriate leader. He and Mr. Blaine, with
Senator Conkling and General Logan, and their followers — who
had at all times opposed the President — formed a combina-
tion too strong for him to overcome. Shrinking from all record
of a vote, both Houses of Congress, under their lead in 1874,
condemned and abandoned the President — thus committed before
the country and the world — by refusing all appropriations for a
reform he had done so much to advance ; a censure and defeat
which that man of few words declared in a message to be a
ss mortification. "

Thus, at this point where two roads were open, these Repub-
lican leaders deliberately took the downward way, with results as
disastrous to themselves as to the party. President Grant
bringing to this reform but a small part of the persistency and
faith he had shown on many a battlefield — but a small part of
those virtues exhibited by President Cleveland in support of the
same cause, allowed himself to be led by Mr. Conkling into the
follies and humiliations of a third term candidacy, which the
reform would have made impossible.

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 635

It is familiar knowledge how soon the New York Senator was
hopelessly deserted and ruined by the minions of his own partisan
despotism. Every one knows how rapidly General Butler sunk to
the profoundest depths of spoils system demagogism. The
Eepublican party, Mr. Elaine, and General Logan were defeated
together in 1884, by an opponent and a party made strong enough
for victory, as we shall see, only by adopting that very reform
policy which those gentlemen were the chief actors in suppress-
ing just ten years before. The author of the t( History of Our
Own Times " tells us that " the most important lessons a nation
can learn from its own history are to be found in the exposure of
its own errors." It is not for me to explain why, in the 1,300
pages of Mr. Elaine's "Twenty Years in Congress," where many
trivial matters find space, and the leading Independents are volu-
minously censured, not a line is given to this condemnation of
President Grant or the overthrow of reform in 1874, by far the
most important matters then before Congress, and from which
the most important lesson might be learned. Does he still
approve those acts, or does he regard them as too disgraceful for
record °

Thus rebuffed by the Republican leaders, the friends of reform
turned to the people, irrespective of party. A literature of re-
form soon appeared. Scores of associations, made up of adherents
of both parties, were organized.

This movement, first called the f ' Independent movement," is
far more comprehensive than what is technically termed " Civil
Service Reform," the latter being but a particular, though far-
reaching, expression of its spirit.

It requires parties to be kept within their true sphere, and to
be so regulated by law as to prevent fraud. It repudiates exces-
sive party organization and discipline, and demands open appeals
to the people on the basis of sound principles and meritorious
candidates alone. It rejects patronage and manipulation as the
sources of political strength. It forbids public officers being de-
graded into party minions. It insists that municipal government
shall be taken out of party politics. It censured Speaker Colfax
as it did Speaker Elaine.

Before 1879 this movement had become a political power
in New York. By opposing Mr. Cornell for Governor, its
friends, — called " scratcliers" by the supporters of the machine, —

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

reduced his vote 20,000 below the votes of his associates on the
ticket.

Such was the situation in 1881, when Mr. Cleveland was elected
Mayor of the Republican city of Buffalo. He had had, I believe,
no real connection with these organizations or with the independ-
ent movement. His most important acts, however, were a spon-
taneous expression of the spirit of both, being quite original in
municipal affairs. In his inaugural address he declared — and by his
acts he emphasized the truth — "that the affairs of the city should
be conducted upon the same principles that a good business man
manages his private concerns." He became known as the Veto-
Mayor, vetoing more measures than all his predecessors for many
years. He periled all his future prospects of office, according to
the views of politicians, by telling the common council — the party
despots of city politics — that its action in a certain case was " an
impudent, shameless scheme to destroy the interests of the
people." His pure, able, and economical administration began a
new era in Buffalo. To the horror of its little politicians, it gave
him the nomination for Governor before he had been ten months
in office. What could more forcibly show how imperative was the
demand for executive reform, how widely the views of the people
differed from those of the politicians, how absurd it is to look
upon what took place as something sporadic and temporary.

Mr. Pendleton, at Washington, was preparing to re-introduce
the old Jenckes reform bill in the Senate. The reform associa-
tion at New York City was preparing the much better reform bill
which is now a law.

Such was the situation in 1882, when the Republican managers
nominated Mr. Folger — ex-Chief Justice of the State, and a pure
and able man — for Governor of New York.' But he was Secre-
tary of the Treasury, and under him in the State were two
thousand or more subordinates who could be made to work ser-
vilely for his party. The old leaders of 1874, who had learned
little and were still in the ascendant, sneered at the reform ele-
ment which they could not comprehend.

The Democratic platform on which Mr. Cleveland was stand-
ing, after condemning this menace of an army of office holders,
added this language : " We repeat our demand of 1881 for a
reform and the purification of the Civil Service," and then con-
demned ' ' the levying of blackmail from dependent office holders

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 637

to promote the interests of a party." In his letter of October
7th, accepting the platform, Mayor Cleveland declared that
" subordinates should be selected and retained for their effi-
ciency ; tenure should depend on ability and merit ; levying
assessments for partisan purposes cannot be too strongly con-
demned." Here, under Mr. Cleveland as a candidate, was the
first direct Civil Service Eeform issue made in a State election.

On the twenty-eighth day of October, he declared his views in
a public letter to the Chairman of New York Association, in
which he said : "I fully approve the principles embodied in the
Pendleton bill " (then pending for the next session of Congress),
and expressed the hope that those principles would be extended
to municipal aifairs. No previous candidate for Governor had
thus committed himself. He boldy told the patronage-mongers
and office-seekers of his party that he would close the doors of
extortion and spoils against them — which to mere politicians
seemed like digging his own grave. Nevertheless, the people,
breaking all party lines, elected him Governor, on such issues,
by the unprecedented majority of more than 190,000 votes.
Such was the suppressed discontent and resolve for reform of
which the Eepublican Bourbons were ignorant.

It was the good fortune of Mr. Cleveland not merely to be lifted
to an exalted station by the rising tide of a noble sentiment, but
to be a part of the creative power which raised it. His re-
form pledges were made more than three months before a Re-
publican Congress, repenting of its folly in 1874, and compre-
hending the dangers from that sentiment which it had repelled,
passed the Civil Service Reform bill — presented in both houses
by Democrats — January 16th, 1883.

In his annual message of January 2d, of that year, covering
the points of his reform policy, Governor Cleveland recommended
a Civil Service Reform law for New York. It was enacted, and he
promptly appointed a commission and promulgated rules, which
extend to the municipal as well as the State service, covering in
all more than fifteen thousand places. This new State system
has since been enforced with great benefit to the public. Repub-
lican Massachusetts, the next year, adopted the same system, ex-
tending it to nearly 6,000 places.

Governor Cleveland, in a later message, congratulated the
people of New York " upon the progress made in practical and
VOL. CXLV. — KO. 373. 42

638 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

thorough Civil Service Reform/' " in the prohibition of political
assessments, " " and in the protection of citizens at primary elec-
tions."

Some other acts of the Reform Governor should have pre-
pared his party for his career as President. One of the first of
his many vetoes suppressed a cunning partisan scheme in aid of
the Democratic politicians of Buffalo. His veto of the bill for
reducing fares on the elevated railroads of New York City was as
dangerous in the eyes of partisans, and as bold and righteous in
the view of just-minded men, as his veto of the indigent pension
bill. The vetoes of bills relating to hours of labor and the selec-
tion of a Superintendent of Public Works illustrated the same
bold performance of duty despite the threats of party managers.

Such had been the career, such were the character and the prin-
ciples of the man whom the Democrats nominated for President in
July, 1884. It is plain that he was both a Civil Service Reformer
and an Independent in the true sense, and yet a decided Democrat
with a sturdy faith in his party. What, in politics, more incredi-
ble than that any intelligent, honest Democrat should have be-
lieved that such a Governor could be degraded into a partisan
President, or what more unfair and disgraceful than for party
leaders, after having gained power by the strength of such a char-
acter and such principles, to combine to force a repudiation of both
for patronage and spoils under the pretended purpose of strength-
ening a party !

The Republican party had in its ranks at the last election
much the larger share of the conviction and sentiment which
demanded reform ; and even to this time, I think, it has the larger
portion. The one thing, then, most essential to victory was a due
regard for these elements in selecting its candidate. That portion
of its voters demanded nothing for themselves. They could not
be coerced. They were resolved to support no party unfaithful to
great principles of policy or morality, upon which the public
safety depended. With a folly and perversity greater even than
the original desertion of President Grant, the Republican leaders
nominated a candidate who — omitting all other objections — had
been, as we have seen, one of the foremost in defeating the very
reform policy which the Republicans had been forced to resume,
and which had just given New York to their more sagacious
opponents, who chose for their candidate in the approaching

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 639

election the reformer who had led them to victory in the last. With
the admonition to Cornell, the ruin of Conkling, the profound
burial of Folger, the elevation of the Democrats to power before
their eyes — and all alike due to attempts of the machine to ride
down the independent sentiment of the Empire State — the blind-
ness and folly of the Republican nomination of 1884 seems almost
incredible. The Republicans did the most suicidal thing possible
by giving the lead to their most partisan, intolerant, and scheming
elements, at the decisive moment when the Democrats did their
best to subordinate these elements to their most patriotic and
independent statesman.

The Republican managers seem the doomed victims of the
adroit Democratic leaders, who had been playing for the very
votes the Republican candidate was certain to repel.

As between such candidates, every fair minded man must see
that the Independents and Reformers could have but one choice.
However anxious the Republicans among them were to believe
that the views of the candidate of their party had changed, they
were deprived of that hope by the facts that, not long before his
nomination, there had appeared a long series of articles in the
great New York daily most friendly to Mr. Elaine and most un-
friendly to reform, over the familiar pseudonym of a devoted
member of his own family, in which a reform policy was denounced
as utterly needless and silly, and its chief supporters, and the
Independents generally, were unsparingly ridiculed — views which
naturally interpreted many acts of that gentleman himself.

The Republicans must make it clear by their platform and can-
didate whether they propose a policy of proscription or a re-
sumption of the reform policy of Presidents Grant and Arthur.
Nothing certainly could make the former purpose more probable
than the renomination of the man who rejected the hand of
reconciliation proifered by the most independent member of the
Senate, in the house and over the dead body of the last Repub-
lican President. It is not difficult to imagine the fate of the
humble servants of the nation with such a man as President when
the most distinguished Senator, with a devoted State behind him,
is thus treated.

President Cleveland is certain to be renominated. To sub-
stitute another, no matter on what pretense or with what plat-
form, would be held by every voter, intelligent enough to be an

640 ra# NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

independent or a reformer, to mean a repudiation of his policy
and a triumph of the patronage-mongers and office-seekers whom
he has baffled and offended.

Feeble indeed would the Democratic party be, hopeless its
prospects, if they depended on what has been done in Congress,
or by the old party leaders. It is the indescribable contrast be-
tween President Buchanan and President Cleveland, which has
made so many people, fortunately for it, forget even the nominal
identity of the party behind them. A new Buchanan would ruin
the Democratic party. There are hundreds of thousands of
voters feebly attached to any party, but deeply interested in good
government, and having the courage of their convictions, who have
taken notice that the vigor and moral tone of this administration
will bear comparison with any in their time. They have seen
with satisfaction the honor and dignity of the Nation firmly up-
held in every quarter of the globe, and would dread a change,
especially to a policy of diplomatic meddlesomeness. The
moneyed interests of the country have lost their anxiety and
gained confidence in the evidence that the finances of the Gov-
ernment have never in their day been more wisely or honestly
administered. They not only see a navy being built, but ap-
parently without frauds. ' If neither our customs duties nor
our currency systems have been materially improved, they do not
see how it would have been better had the last election been de-
cided differently.

The not unnatural distrust, lest Confederate debts should be
paid and rebel soldiers pensioned, has given place to gratitude
towards a President who has had the courage to veto more than a
hundred indefensible bills for squandering the public money un-
der the pretense of pensions for Union soldiers, which the dem-
agogues and schemers of both parties alike united in passing. No
bill especially beneficial to the South has been favored by the dom-
inant party or administration, but such a bill presented by a Ee-
publican Senator was defeated by the aid of Democratic argu-
ments and votes. In other words, the Southern question is dead,
sectional issues are no more available, the outs cannot get in on
the feebleness or the faults of those in power. The record of the
Republican party stands in immortal glory, but is as useless as
Pegasus for the war chariots of the next election.

With my strong conviction that the Republican party yet con-

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 641

tains the highest qualifications for good government, its success
in the next election seems hopeless, save on the basis of the most
absolute commitment to those great principles with which it has
so disastrously trifled, illustrated in the most unequivocal manner
in the career and character of its candidates. The mistakes and
follies of 1874 and 1884 can be retrieved against such a leader as
Mr. Cleveland, only by a supreme effort of wisdom and patriotism.
Senator Hawley, who was Chairman of the Senate Committee in
charge of the the Keform bill ; Senator Allison, who has done
more than anyone else to secure the appropriations needed for
carrying it into effect, and ex-Secretaries Lincoln and Gresham,
who were faithful in its execution, could be trusted by its friends.
Senator Sherman has of late declared himself for a reform policy.
The last Republican candidate would be more bitterly opposed by
every friend of reform than he was in the last election. He was
then silent on the reform issue until he returned from the West to
New York to find the State threatening to deal him a fatal blow.
The same member of his family who had once before, as we have
seen, interpreted his silence, repeated that service in Lippincott's
Magazine for January of last year, by declaring all reform needless
and all reformers dupes, if not hypocrites ; to which that candi-
date himself, a few months ago, in a speech in Pennsylvania,
apparently set the seal of approval by misrepresenting the methods
and effects of a reform policy so grossly and needlessly that only
an antagonism, intense enough to preclude ordinary knowl-
edge of the subject, affords an adequate explanation. In no
instance has he encouraged the work of reform, by word or deed,
and under President Garfield he appears to have seriously
obstructed it.

There is no occasion to compare the intrinsic importance of
the questions of reform with those relating to the tariff and the
currency. It is certain, however, that, after the latter questions
have been settled, — that as long as the greed for office and the self-
ishness of human nature shall endure, — the irrepressible conflict
between all those who hold office to be a trust and all those who
grasp for it as spoils, — between hostile parties contending for the
Government, — between all that is pure and patriotic, and all that
is selfish and corrupt in public administration, will not only con-
tinue, but tend to become more dangerous with every increase of
wealth and population.

642 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

«g The tariff and currency questions must, in the main, be set-
tled by Congress. The President can do but little, as public
opinion is now divided.

i But, on the reform issue, the President is the source of power,
action, and responsibility alike. His courage and his opinions are
of supreme importance. It has been what President Cleveland
has done and said on this subject, far more than on both
the others which has perplexed his party, given character
to his administration, fixed his name in history, and made
him a great political force. It is the vital relation of the
next President to this subject ; his stupendous power of appoint-
ment, promotion, and removal ; his ability to prevent official
interference with elections ; his vast veto power ; his capacity to
invigorate or arrest the work of reform ; his right and duty to
extend the examinations to many more post-offices and customs
officers, — to the District of Columbia, to the railway and the
consular service and promotion generally ; it is this mighty per-
vading discretionary power, far more than anything that he can
do in connection with other great questions, which in the eyes of
both patriots and partisans make the character and opinions of
the next President of such transcendent interest. It is not with-
out deep significance that the whole partisan press and the
politician class who most decry the reform issue, nevertheless
find the motives of their activity and the rewards of their exer-
tions almost wholly within its sphere.

The President must be judged, not by an ideal standard, but by
the facts of his situation — the possibilities open to him. He
could advance neither the cause of reform nor good government
in any way by open hostilities with his party. Though a wrong-
ful act may never be done to gain a working majority, yet an ex-
ecutive officer must always keep the measure of his attempts at
improvement within that of his supporting force.

He cannot be held absolutely to the standard of purposes like
those expressed a month or more after his election, in a letter to
Mr. Curtis, as if they were pledges ; and they should perhaps be
regarded as excessive declarations of his enthusiasm and inexperi-
ence. Nevertheless, to me it seems clear that he should have
promptly cast out the scandalous Higgins ; that the nomination of
the disreputable Thomas and Rasin are not excused by their con-
firmation by a Republican Senate ; that Senator Gorman, the most

POSSIBLE PRESIDENTS. 643

insidious of all patronage-mongering $ciiators, should have been
politically kicked down the "back-stairs, where he is always climbing
and scheming, though it had disrupted a cabinet ; and that such
short-comings and the indefensible removal of Combs, have made
the President in some degree responsible for the condition of the
politics of Maryland — the most degraded in the Union.

The cunning and powerful influence of the late Vice-Presi-
dent no more excused the almost universal removals which have
dishonored the administration in Indiana than the gain of Repub-
lican votes there proves them to have been profitable.

The great pledge of the President in the matter of reform
was to enforce the Civil Service act — a bold pledge ; indeed,
ten times more difficult for him than for his predecessors, as it
would tend to retain mostly Republicans in office. Senator Ed-
munds stated the general view of the leaders and politicians of
both parties when he declared that no cabinet could be found to
support him, and that he would slide into the spoils system faster
and faster, like a boy from a steep roof. Nevertheless, that
pledge has been kept. No cabinet of any one of the five Presi-
dents, while I was a commissioner, was more loyal to reform than
that of President Cleveland. The President has allowed no one of
the 14,000 and more places brought under the examinations by
President Arthur's rules to revert to patronage, and has made ma-
terial additions to them, notably, a class of more highly compen-
sated officers in the Pension Office, that scandalous old hot-bed of
partisan favoritism. He has also extended the examination to cer-
tain promotions. The first change President Cleveland made in the
rules was to avoid the need of turning from the public service
several supernumerary Republican clerks in his own office, whom he
was thus enabled to transfer to other places ; and the five left, with a
single new one, have done the work of the ten formerly employed.
In the 5,000 and more places in the departments at Washington, to
which the examinations extend, there have been only fourteen re-
movals in the past year, against eleven in a year under President
Arthur, and 381 appointments, against 438 in 1884 — very small
indeed, therefore, must have been the effects of political opin-
ions and interests. The failure of the last administration to ap-
prove that part of the rules as prepared by the Commission
which required examinations for filling positions of Chief Clerk
and Chiefs of Bureaus and Divisions, left about 200 such offices

644 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

at Washington at the mercy of the appointing power. To its
credit, it can be said, that a hard contest with the spoilsman has
saved many from the axe. In the Treasury Department, for ex-
ample, there are 101 such officers, of whom 28 hold their old
places and 26 have been transferred to others ; more than half, con-
sequently, being still in the service.

In considering so much beyond the scope of the examinations
which is unsatisfactory, we must not forget the ceaseless, exhaust-
ing, aggravating, almost irresistible pressure and solicitation —
beyond all precedent in his office, and which a whole article could
not describe — to which the President has been subjected for pro-
scription and spoils. Day after day, month after month, from
early morning until late into the night, he has maintained the
contest, one standing for the common interests against tens of
thousands seeking their own advantage — the President against an
army of partisan chiefs and spoilsmen of his own party. Hun-
dreds of journals and tens of thousands of office-seekers have
united in arraigning him as ungrateful and unjust to that party,
as reprehensibly indulgent to Republican officeholders, as foolishly
and disastrously devoted to reform. Nothing but a lofty sense of
duty and power to resist and to work, given to few men, could
have withstood all this and performed his other functions — all
the more difficult by reason of his inexperience and the wish of
many to embarrass him, because he would not pander to their
greed. As we regret that he has allowed so much that is bad, we
should take notice that his party has been almost rent asunder by
his efforts in the spirit of his pledges. He has done more than
any other President for reform in administration and manhood
in politics.

DORMAN B. EATON.

DISSENT IN ENGLAND.

ACCEPTING an invitation to say something upon this subject,
I am assured I may speak freely, without any fear of being mis-
understood by my American readers. This assurance is based
upon the fact that in the United States there is no Established
Church. Unfortunately the basis of the assurance is too narrow
for all its issues. Not only are there in England " political dis-
senters/'there are also "religious nonconformists." The latter
are not necessarily the former, nor are the former necessarily the
latter, though it is only fair to state that there are many who
might be called politico-religious dissenters. In order to make
this distribution of classes clear to American readers, it .should
be stated that the religious non-conformists in particular do not
necessarily make a vital question of Church establishment. They
object to the doctrines, creed, ceremonies, and sacerdotal profes-
sions of the Episcopal Church. Were that church disestablished
to-morrow, religious non-conformity would still entertain its:
objections to Anglicanism as denned and insisted upon in the
Book of Common Prayer. Religious non-conformists look upon
that book as a compromise between popery and Protestantism ;
they have carefully considered all the comments which have been
made upon doubtful words, and they have given due value to the
pleadings of men who, being nominally stanch Protestants, have
yet given their " unfeigned assent and consent" to the doctrines in
the Book of Common Prayer ; yet, having done so they feel that the
plain and natural interpretation of the words of the latter lead to
the conclusion that the Prayer Book is distinctly more papal than
Protestant. There are many religious non-conformists in England
who look upon the hierarchy as entirely inconsistent with the
simplicity of the conception of the Christian Church which is
given in the New Testament. They are unable to accept all the
pompous and regal titles which are claimed by the clergy of vari-

646 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

ous degrees ; they are overwhelmed by such distinctions as, " Most
Reverend," " Right Reverend Father/' "Very Reverend/' " Right
Reverend Lord Bishop " of London or Winchester ; feeling that
such designations are inconsistent, as I have said., with the sim-
plicity of apostolic spirit and custom. Then again, religious non-
conformists are strongly antagonistic to the sacerdotal claims
which are not illogically set up by many of the English clergy.
Not a few clergymen in England insist that they alone have
received valid and authoritative ordination, and under this im-
pression they reject the claims of the entire non-conformist
ministry to be regarded as in any sense divinely sanctioned.
The clergy now more particularly in view are not unwilling to be
friendly with dissenting ministers in a non-professional capacity ;
on the contrary, the personal and social manners of such clergy-
men are often distinguished by the highest consideration and
courtesy ; but let a dissenting minister suggest that even one of
the least sacerdotal clergymen should occupy a non-conformist
pulpit, and conduct a non-conformist service of the simplest and
least pretending kind, and the clergyman will fly off as if he
had been stung by fire. The clergyman has what he calls a
" professional conscience " or an " ecclesiastical conscience ;" in
the keeping of this self -created conscience in his relation toward
dissenters he is most fastidious, whilst many dissenters wonder
how he can accommodate that same discriminating conscience to
not a few of the things plainly insisted upon in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer. Religious non-conformists, not a few, are unable to
accept the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England as they
should be grammatically construed. Others of them think they
find in the Book of Common Prayer the doctrine of regeneration
by baptism. Others, again, are quite unable to accept the Burial
Service, because it seems to make no discrimination between those
who died in known sin and those who died as professed believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ; the Prayer Book looks upon them all as
men whose resurrection to Eternal Life is assured and undisputed.
"Whether religious non-conformists are right in all their interpre-
tations and inferences is not the immediate question before me ;
it is enough to state as a matter of fact that such interpretations
and inferences do keep out of the Church o*f England many who
have not finally made up their minds upon the political question
of Church Establishment.

DISSENT IN ENGLAND. 647

Oh the other hand there are great numbers in England who are,
in the clearest sense of the term, (< political dissenters." The term
has often been used as a stigma, and it has been accepted as such
by those to whom it has been applied. The stigma, however, has
not been regarded as an argument, nor has it, in the slightest
degree, mitigated the hostility which is entertained by those
who believe that the State ought not to be called upon to main-
tain any form of religion. Amongst the political dissenters are
found not a few really earnest Christian men whose political oppo-
sition is stimulated by their simple and ardent piety. Speaking
of the religio-political dissenter, I may say that he starts his argu-
ment from a distinct conception (right or wrong) which he has
formed of the nature and scope of the Christian Church. He says
in effect : The Church of Christ is a spiritual institution : the object
of that Church is the conversion and salvation of man. Its conse-
quent purpose or duty is the spiritual education and edification of
souls : it proceeds upon a recognition of the supremacy and sover-
eignty of the individual conscience : under these circumstances
it is not only absurd, but profane for the State — necessarily a com-
plex body — representing all varieties of religious opinion and cer-
tainly representing many who are unbelievers in Christian doctrine
— to attempt, in any form, or in any degree, to rule a distinctively
spiritual institution. Religious dissenters have been shocked by the
idea that Papists, Jews, Infidels, and Agnostics, should have any
official part or lot in deciding affairs which belong to the Protestant
branch of the Church of Christ. They are fully aware of all the
interpretations and glosses which have been put upon this action,
yet, in this case, as in the other, after giving full considera-
tion to them, they cannot but feel that the Christian Church is
tainted by the touch — however guarded and even generous — of an
unchristian hand. The time was when payment was demanded
from dissenters, as from others, in support of the Established Church
of England. That time has gone by, but no credit is due to the
Church itself for its expiration. For many years a desperate
battle was fought about this question of church rates, and the
battle ended in what may be regarded, without offense, as a vic-
tory on the non-conformist side. I allude to this fact, because it
is often said that surely the Church, which has given up its
claim to this species of taxation, has a right to believe and to
teach and to propagate whatever it may believe to be true. In

048 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

this contention there is an obvious sophism ; any voluntary body
of Christians may logically elect to stand upon this ground and its
claim cannot be justly or successfully disputed. But an Established
church is not a voluntary body ; it distinctly and perhaps proudly
claims to be a national corporation ; it uses the national name ;
its designation is nationally inclusive ; every man, therefore, in
the nation has a right to protest against what he may believe to
be a misuse of his name. In theory the Church of England
claims every Englishman as a member. As a matter of fact,
probably one-half of the English population should be reckoned as
wholly outside the establishment ; — some because of distinct con-
scientious conviction ; some because of simple religious hostility,
and others on the ground of religious indifference; yet, still as a
matter of mere statistics, there remains the fact that fully one-half
of the inhabitants of England are not included in what is called
the National Church. Is not this, then, plainly a contradic-
tion in terms ? Ought a church to claim to be the whole,
when it is obviously only a part ? Would the Church be content
with non-conformists who describe England as a non-conformist
nation ? Yet, in view of facts of the most obvious and sugges-
tive kind the Church goes on calmly claiming to be the Church
of the Nation, the Church of the whole people, and in so
arrogantly ignoring facts it can hardly be wondered at that non-
conformists should answer the arrogant claim with resentment
not always, perhaps, well controlled or happily expressed.

The social influence of the Established Church in England is
often very insidious and very baleful. Dissenters, though osten-
sibly recognized, often have to explain and almost to apologize for
their existence. The ignorance of the common run of Church
people respecting non-conformists and non-conformity is simply
astounding. That there are Church of England dignitaries and
others who are perfectly conversant with the whole history of non-
conformity is, of course, indisputable ; but, speaking of the aver-
age Churchman, I should say that his knowledge of English dis-
sent is of the barest possible kind. A very zealous member of the
Established Church once took up a Congregational Hymn-book in
my study, and having perused it a few minutes exclaimed with
unfeigned astonishment: " Why, I see here several of our hymns I"
The hymns in question were the compositions of James Montgom-

DISSENT IN ENGLAND. 649

ery, Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Phillip Doddridge, yet the
hymns of these historical non-conformists were quietly assumed to
be "' Our hymns" in the sense of the Established Church ! This
incident, trivial enough in itself, is quoted as indicative of an
amount of ignorance which would be simply incredible to an
enlightened American reader. Even where dissenters are tolerated
they are seldom really understood by English Churchmen. It is
next to impossible to get out of the mind of the English Church-
man the impression that the dissenter is secretly bent upon
robbing the Established Church. The Churchman feels convinced
that if the dissenter could only possess himself of the endowments
of the Church he would be quite satisfied. The Churchman may
be argued down upon every point and may be put to the very
humiliation of silence by logic and by fact, yet, there will linger
in his mind the more or less unconscious persuasion that every dis-
senter is a heretic and a felon. I have hardly ever known an in-
stance in which the average English Churchman has grasped the
moral position of the English dissenter. A vicar of good stand-
ing in London lately published a pamphlet on the question of dis-
establishment, in the course of which he pensively inquires, " If
the Church were destroyed, who would baptize your children, who
would marry you, who would officiate at the interment of your de-
ceased?" The absurdity of these inquiries would be simply farcical
if they did not indicate something deeper and deadlier than them-
selves.

No dissenter wishes to destroy the Church. No non-conform-
ist is seeking to limit the spiritual influence of the Anglican
Church, or any of its institutions. It would appear as if the men
in question were under the impression that if they were disen-
dowed they would, of necessity, be silenced. They give the im-
pression to those who are outside that they only preach the Gos-
pel and administer the sacraments because they enjoy the protec-
tion and the emoluments of the State. If a Church were dises-
tablished, what is to hinder those men preaching as zealously as
ever ? And if the Church were disendowed what is there to pre-
vent those men marrying and burying people, as occasion might
arise ? Here again creeps in the influence of the sacerdotal argu-
ment, which leads the untrained mind to accept the sophism that
nothing is religiously valid that is not sanctioned by a certain
official process. Suggestions of this kind cannot but have a very

650 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

unhappy effect upon the general thinking of the Anglican com-
munity. The impression cannot always be put into words, but it
affects the thought and habit and action of the religious public to
an unlimited and often undefinable extent. Dissenters are every-
where regarded as the enemies of the Church, than which there
can be no greater mis judgment and no greater calumny. Dissent-
ers are among the first to recognize, in the most cordial and em-
phatic manner, the noble service rendered by the clergy and laity
of the Church of England. Their liberality, their zeal, their sym-
pathy with the people, their fearlessness in visiting the abodes of
poverty and the abodes of disease, are all recognized with deep
emotion and unfeigned gratitude by the dissenters of England.
Those dissenters are filled with the conviction that if the Church
of England were disestablished and disendowed, and thus put upon
an apostolic basis, not one of these characteristic features need be
in the slightest degree depleted of energy and beneficence. If any
American readers are under the impression that English dissent-
ers have in view the destruction of the English Church, I should
be thankful if my word could be accepted that the dissenters of
England only wish to liberate the Church from State bonds and
not in any degree to interfere with its spiritual enthusiasm and
activity.

I have spoken of the social influence of the establishment
being insidious and baleful. In illustration of this opinion I
may say that I had not been many days in this country until I
cut out of an American paper the following announcement :

" Here is an advertisement from an English paper :

" 'To Let. — St. Katharine's, Verulam Road. One of the prettiest residences
in Hitchen. Nine rooms, cellars, large garden. £50. Dissenters not eligible.' "

Let any unprejudiced man read this advertisement and say
whether there is not in it a spirit calculated to sow dissension in
the national mind. Three thousand miles away from the action
of such a spirit, American readers may be able to contemplate
the scene with equanimity, and, perhaps, with some measure of
amusement. But let Americans be given to understand that the
great steamships sailing from the port of New York are open to
all the community, except those who belong to a certain religious
persuasion — say .Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Presbyterians
— let the Episcopalians of this country feel that anybody may

DISSENT IN ENGLAND. 651

avail themselves of those ships but Episcopalians, then they will
be able to express proper feeling in proper terms. Nor may this
advertisement be regarded as in any degree exceptional or singular.
The spirit of this advertisement penetrates English society through
and through. I have known farms engaged, and the leases drawn
up, and all the documents ready for signature, when a question
has been asked regarding the religious position of the incoming
tenant, and on its being discovered that he was a dissenter all the
negotiations have been pronounced null and void. There are
many villages and hamlets in England where a "Wesleyan Metho-
dist may not hold a prayer meeting, even in his own house, and
this is made absolute, not by some general verbal agreement, but
by definite legal covenant. Can it be wondered at, then, that it
should be felt by dissenters that the social influence of the estab-
lishment is often insidious and baleful ? People who suffer from
the puncture of these thorns are more likely to know how sharp
they are than those who look upon the suffering from a comfort-
able distance. There are mercantile situations in England which
are not open to dissenters. There are high educational positions,
as head masters and governors, that are not open to non-conformists.
In this way the spirit of religious persecution is still rampant.
Lord Selborne, in his recent defense of the Church of England,
has pointed out the direction in which his own thoughts are run-
ning. Whilst a tolerant and eminently amiable man, yet his lord-
ship has put it on record that, in his opinion, Mr. Gladstone is
endangering the continued existence of the Church of England by
inviting into his Cabinet men who have made Disestablishment an
item in the new Liberal programme. Is not this religious perse-
cution ? Is not this the very spirit of the Inquisition ? Is it not
herein suggested that Mr. Gladstone should first ask every man
eligible for a cabinet position whether he is a Churchman or a
dissenter ?

The advertisement in the above instance pronounces a dis-
senter ineligible for the tenancy of a beautiful villa ; other ad-
vertisements pronounce dissenters ineligible for certain educa-
tional official positions ; Lord Selborne, an ex-Lord Chancellor
of Great Britain, pronounces dissenters who have the courage of
their convictions ineligible for cabinet service ! If this is not re-
ligious persecution the term needs to be redefined. In the face
of facts of this kind it is somewhat galling to be exhorted to "let

652 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

bygones be bygones." The dissenter is perfectly willing to adopt
this maxim and to follow this policy, but he rightly insists that
the bygones should be gone in reality and not in pretense. The
tree is not gone so long as the root remains.

Not a single concession has ever been made to English dis-
senters in a spontaneous and cordial manner on the part of the
English Church. Church rates have been abolished, University
Tests have been superseded, churchyards have been opened for
the general use of the parish, and many penalties and disabilities
have been swept away, but, in every instance, the action has been
begun, continued, and completed by dissenters themselves. Thus
the Church is being gradually disestablished in England ; piece
by piece the old fabric is being taken down. I cannot but regret
this piecemeal disestablishment. So long as persecution was
allowed to retain concrete forms and to operate in a way which
could be felt without metaphysical exposition, there was hope
that the people would rise in religious indignation and demand
the eradication and not the mere disbranching of the evil. Eng-
lish dissenters, however, have acted on the policy of a gradual
and almost imperceptible disestablishment, so that now the
Church is brought to about the last degree of attenuation, so
much so, indeed, that Churchmen are asking on every hand,
" What have dissenters to complain of ? what grievances have
they to state ? under what penalties do they suifer ?" All these
questions show that the interrogators have no idea -of the funda-
mental and eternal principle upon which non-conformity takes its
stand, namely, the principle of liberty of conscience and freedom
of action in all matters relating to religious life and conviction.
Dissenters are opposed to the idea that the State should have any-
thing whatever to do with religion, in the way of directing, con-
trolling, or patronizing it. It is, therefore, not a question ot in-
tolerance, persecution, or penalty, however feeble or small these
may be ; the question is infinitely greater, penetrating, as it
does, to the very heart of things and insisting that a right con-
ception of the Kingdom of Christ upon earth is inconsistent with
political CaBsarism and worldly criticism and patronage.

It may be asked whether the opposition to the Church of
England is organized, or whether it is left to the expression of

DISSENT IN ENGLAND. 653

general sentiment. In reply to this inquiry I have to say that
there is an institution known by the name of " Society for the
Liberation of Keligion from State Patronage and Control" which
is supported by a large number of the most able and most gener-
ous British non-conformists. This Society has been in existence
about forty years, and has been characterized in all its action by
the highest intelligence, determination, and munificence. I am
afraid, without having official records at hand, to say how much
money has been contributed to the funds of this Society, but I am
certain that, taking the whole period of its existence, the sum has
been worthy of the great cause which the contributors have
espoused. Perhaps I may speak the more freely of this Society,
because I am neither a member of it nor a subscriber to its funds.
The name of the Society indicates clearly that the interest of its
members begins in religion, rather than in politics. When we
read of a society for the emancipation of slaves we justly infer
that originators and supporters of the society have studied the
question of slavery, and are deeply interested in the subject of
human liberty ; so, when we read of the liberation of religion, we
naturally conclude that those who are interested in that service
are those deeply convinced of the nature and obligation of relig-
ious doctrine and life. Such a society, therefore, I could heart-
ily join, were its action faithful to its name. I do not join the
existing society because it has not shrunk from inviting to its
platform men whom I know to be merely political in their sym-
pathies and purposes, and whom I also know to be hostile to
every form of religion, whether established or non-established. I
am prepared to accept the charge of being in some degree narrow-
minded in this matter, but my narrow-mindedness absolutely pre-
vents me from co-operating with men in the liberation of religion,
whose often avowed object I know to be the destruction of
religion. Certainly, as citizens, such men are at liberty to carry
out their convictions, but they ought to be members of a society
for the Liberation of the State from the control and patronage of
religion. Under some such designation as this their society
would be legitimate, and their relation to it would be logical,
natural, and necessary. I simply point out this distinction to
indicate why some Englishmen, who are zealous non-conformists,
and even political dissenters, are not connected with the Libera-
tion Society. The words " Liberation Society" are not the whole
VOL. CXLV. — NO. 373. 43

654 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

title of the Society ; if they were, they would be perfectly sufficient
to cover the whole ground ; but, from my point of view, the posi-
tion which is given to " religion" in the title of the Society should
prevent co-operation within the limits of that Society and under
its noble watchword with men who openly live by denouncing
religious doctrine and service of every kind.

Having thus delivered my mind on this matter, I am free to
say that the Liberation Society is from end to end of its history
inspired by an honest and lofty purpose. Its officers, its lectur-
ers, its agents are in the overwhelming majority of instances men
whom the Christian churches of England delight to honor. The
Liberation Society is now acknowledged to be a political factor in
contemporaneous English history. Statesmen quietly, and some-
times openly, inquire what the Liberation Society will do in such
and such cases. Even conservative statesmen cannot ignore the
growing power of English non-conformity in the cities, villages,
and hamlets of the country. Much of this is due to the action of
the Liberation Society, whose lecturers have gone everywhere ex-
pounding sound Christian doctrine with regard to Church Estab-
lishments, and circulating in great abundance literature adapted
to popular use.

So much for what maybe called organized opposition to the
Established Church. But, beyond this, there is an opposition of
what I cannot but consider a more vital and more influential char-
acter. Every non-conformist chapel is, in reality, a non-conform-
ist argument. In nearly every village in England non-conformity
makes its institutional sign. Here is the Primitive Methodist
Chapel, yonder is the Congregational Chapel, further on is the
Wesleyan or Presbyterian Chapel, and the very appearance of
these buildings excites inquiry and stimulates discussion. For
my part, I am more hopeful of influences of this kind than of
influences that are critical, controversial, and openly hostile.
Growth is sometimes better than attack. Sometimes men do not
know exactly what course their action is taking, or to what issue
it is tending, so that many who imagine themselves to be simply
living a quiet Christian life, without taking any part or lot in
ecclesiastical politics, are ail the time doing a constructive work,
the proper issue of which is the overthrow of Church Establish-
ments, and the inauguration of a healthy religious spontaneity and
independence. Many men, who would hardly allow themselves to

DISSENT IN ENGLAND. 655

be called dissenters, are thus, indirectly, upholding the cause of
dissent. So that, in this way and in that, some openly, some
controversially, some silently, some influentially, the great work
of propagating right ideas regarding the Christian Church is pro-
ceeding rapidly and surely in England.

All this I have written in no merely controversial spirit, but
simply with a desire to give a frank expression to my own
convictions and, I believe, to the convictions of many of
the English people. If I change the point of view and look
upon the Church of England with Christian eyes, I should
claim to be among the foremost to recognize, as I have already
said, the great work which the Church of England is doing.
I can never forget the obligations of Christian England to the
English Church. He would be, not only an unjust man, but
utterly blind, who denies that the erudition, the zeal, the personal
liberality, of the English Church are worthy of the devoutest com-
mendation. I may be permitted to add as an English Congrega-
tional minister that probably no minister in England preaches to
more English clergymen than I myself do, in connection with the
noonday service held every Thursday in the City Temple, London.
The personality of the reference will be forgiven for the sake of
the object which I have in view, which is to indicate that on every
hand I have received the broadest and kindest encouragement from
clergymen of the Established Church. In speech, in writing, in
published articles, they have done everything in their power to
encourage me in my service. Yet, this very kindness brings into
strongest contrast the point to which I have already referred,
namely, that not one of these clergymen would be allowed by his
bishop to preach in my pulpit. Clergymen have accepted invita-
tions to preach there. Our arrangements have actually proceeded
to the point of public advertisement. They have even gone to the
very morning of the day on which the service was to be rendered,
and at the eleventh hour the bishop has interposed and forbidden
the fulfillment of the engagement. On two occasions, the Bishop
of London has done this in my own case. Now, this is no ques-
tion of Establishment or Disestablishment. This is purely an
Episcopal and sacerdotal question, and the Episcopal injunction
would just be as prompt and resolute as it is to-day, were Dises-
tablishment to take place instantly.

Circumstances of this kind justify me in saying that the Estab-

656 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

lished Church question may be viewed from either of two points,
either from the point of Episcopacy, amounting almost to Papacy,
and from the point of political dissent or Disestablishment. Al-
together the Church life of England is in a very disturbed and
undesirable state. Even courtesy itself is often streaked by sus-
picion. The most cordial social relations are often felt to be
reserved and restrained in a sense that can hardly be expressed in
words. That the Church of England will be disestablished within
a comparatively brief period is my firm conviction. I hope noth-
ing will be done by violence, but that we shall accept the pro-
cesses of education which, though often slow, are sure. Every
Board School that is founded helps the education of society, and
my conviction is that we only need larger, freer education in or-
der to liberate men from the superstitions and fantasies which
have so much to do with the maintenance of mechanical religion.

JOSEPH PARKEK, D.D.,
Minister of the City Temple, London.

THE COMING CIVILIZATION.

THE philosophers of pagan antiquity derived many of their
theories from the results of astronomical studies, and the sum of
their cosmic knowledge was expressed in the apothegm that " the
steps of nature move in eternal circles."

" The path of nature is a path of progress/' was the axiom of
the earlier evolutionists. " The evolutions of nature progress in
undulations," is the verdict of modern science. In other words,
the progressive tendencies of the physical universe are disguised
in a rhythm of rise and decline, of ebb and tide, of growth and
decay, or even of apparent death. When the poet-philosopher
Lucretius wrote his didactic rhapsody, the experience of mankind
seemed to justify the belief in the possibility of a constant progress
from barbarism to higher and higher planes of culture ; the stock
of human knowledge had for ages increased by a simple process of
aggregation, and, for more than a thousand years, the civilization
of the Mediterranean nations had advanced with the triumphant
steadiness of a rising sun. But the world had to witness the de-
cline of that sun and its ultimate extinction in the gloom of a
night that threatened to outlast the hopes of a dawn.

Daylight has, after all, returned, and the law of eventual
progress has already been vindicated in the fact that, in several
essential respects, the brightness of the new morning has
undoubtedly eclipsed the brightness of any former day. Light
has spread from the hilltops to the valleys and plains of science.
The temples of dogmatism have ceased to throw their gigantic
shadows, and the waning of ancient loadstars is compensated by
the simultaneous disappearance of vampires and night-hags.
The traditions of the long night still cloud the eastern horizon,
but the ascendancy of civilization is progressing as unmistakably
as the rise of a March sun through winter mists to the brightness
of a higher noon, or like the advance of a river, long lost in

658 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

caves, and emerging^to pursue its way with a broader and swifter
stream. That swiftness of progress has, indeed, increased at a
portentous, and certainly unprecedented rate ; but the impetuous
force of the current may, after all, not presage the brink of an
abyss, but derive its impetus from the rush of the dam-breaking
waters — the long pent-up waters freed by the outburst of the
Protestant revolt. Dam-breaking rivers are apt to make up for
lost time ; though, on the other hand, it is not impossible that
the very force of that impulse may have hurried the stream far
beyond the fair highland regions of its course, and that the free
horizon of the widening plain may presage an age of prose and
the neighborhood of the coast swamps. The land of promise has
its limits, and we have traveled far.

But though the sailors on the river of time cannot predict the
distance of the sea, their pilots may, at least, read the promise of
the morrow and foresee cliffs or shallows by ascertaining the gen-
eral direction of the stream. The science of prognostication has,
indeed, been defined as the " art of distinguishing the main cur-
rent of tendencies from the incidental ripples of the stream ;"
and within the last fifty years the currents of civilization have
revealed their direction by symptoms of rather unmistakable sig-
nificance. Ever since the revival of natural science the signs of
the times have yearly become more legible, as legible almost as
in the middle of the fourth century, when even the optimistic
Romans could no longer ignore the omens of the approaching
eclipse. A few years after the death of the Emperor Valens, the
son of the prophetess Sospitra was one day praying in the temple
of Serapis, when the spirit of his mother came over him and the
veil of the future was withdrawn. " Woe be to our children, " he
exclaimed, on awakening from his trance, " I see a cloud approach-
ing; a great darkness is going to spread over the face of the
earth I" And, but too soon, even less prophetic eyes might have
discerned the gathering mists of superstition, the rising smoke-
clouds of the Auto da Fe and the sand-whirls of the desert des-
tined to overspread the fields of once fertile empires.

" The night ends with storms ; yet rejoice ; they herald the
morning," were the last words of Erasmus, and in the brighten-
ing light of the new day the horizon of the future now plainly re-
veals the verdure of wide forests, temples of health and science,
the fruit plantations of reclaimed fields, and the garden-homes of

THE COMING CIVILIZATION. 659

renaturalized men. The progress of our latter-day civilization has
not yet reached its ultimate goal, but we can no longer doubt that
the principle of that progress is a reaction against the doctrine of
Anti-naturalism. All the leading nations of the Caucasian race
are retracing their steps from ghostland to earth. From the Cau-
casus to the foot of the Cordilleras, science is busy reclaiming the
blighted gardens of our earthly paradise. All our successful re-
formers are preaching a gospel of physical regeneration.

The two most important reform projects of the present age are
undoubtedly those of the Temperance League and the Forestry
Association, and it would be blasphemy against the spirit of
human reason to doubt that the triumph of both is now fully in-
sured. The cities of the future may have underground distilleries
and remnants of overground drunkards, but a licensed rumseller
will come to seem as ludicrous an anomaly as a licensed pick-
pocket, or a diplomaed well-poisoner. A " witch-hunter's war-
rant/' dated Cologne, 1387, was recently offered for sale by a Leip-
zig bibliopole, who, in spite of his honorable reputation, had to
secure the signatures of three learned antiquarians to clear himself
from the suspicion of having forged the preposterous document.
A. D. 1987 a similar indorsement may be needed to establish the
authenticity of a Government certificate to the effect that, " in
consideration of a prepaid percentage of his probable profits, the
holder of this license is hereby authorized to poison his fellow-
men."

Nor can we doubt that our children will, in time, recognize
the significance of a mistake which has, in the literal sense,
evolved a hell on earth by turning 6,500,000 square miles of once
fertile lands into a Gehenna of arid sandwastes. Since the begin-
ning of our chronological era the area of an artificial desert, pro-
duced by the unspeakable folly of forest destruction, has increased
at an average yearly rate of 3,200 square miles, and another thou-
sand years of equal improvidence would seal the fate of the human
race by exhausting the vegetable productiveness of this planet.
The discovery of two new continents has respited the doomed
nations of the Old World, but the rapid settlement of those land-
grants will soon reduce our children to the alternative of tree culture
or emigration to the almshouse of the New Jerusalem. Tree culture
is clearly destined to redeem the barren uplands of our Western
territories, and in a hundred years from now even the present ex-

660 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tent of our treeless prairies will have become a tradition. For,
by that time, the logic of necessity will not have failed to reveal
another secret of agricultural economy : the fact, namely, that
the chief peril of overpopulation can be almost infinitely postponed
by the substitution of perennial for annual food-plants. Thus a
plantation of bread-fruifc trees will support twelve times as many
families as the same area planted in wheat or potatoes ; banana or-
chards, according to Humboldt's estimate, exceed the food value
of wheat-fields more than twenty times, and improved varieties of
the Italian chestnut — as hardy a forest tree as the birch or maple
— could undoubtedly furnish an available substitute for the bread-
stuffs of our Northern cereals. Oily beechnuts, olives, bananas,
chestnuts, sugar pears, maples, and the sugar pine of the Pacific
slope could furnish, in almost unlimited abundance, the three chief
elements of man-food, viz., the oleaginous, farinaceous and sac-
charine ingredients. Moreover, tree plantations improve from
year to year, while deciduous plants exhaust the fertility of the
soil, and the time saved from weeding and plowing could be de-
voted to experiments with new varieties of fruit trees, which, be-
sides, would bless their cultivator with shade in summer and wind-
falls of fuel in winter, and temper the rigor of climatic extremes
as effectually as the other tree plantations.

Till the gospel of tree culture shall teach us to " work the world
over again/' the history of progress will remain almost identified
with the history of the North American continent, especially
within the present territory of our States, united or otherwise ;
and several interesting auguria may be safely implied from the
premises of Old World analogies. Even a superficial study of
those precedents can, for instance, leave no doubt that Mormonism
has passed the repressible stage, and that the Ethiopian alloy of our
population will melt away before the influx of Caucasian ele-
ments. The Women's Right Plan, Secular Education, and Free
Trade will be accommodated with the opportunity of a practical
test. The increase of wealth will not fail to foster art, as well as
oligarchy and luxury. The progress of chemistry will develop in-
dustries undreamed of in the philosophy of our political econo-
mists. Its application to the improvement of homicidal machinery
will greatly modify our present methods of warfare, though trial
by -battle, in some form or other, will, too probably, continue to
the end of time, the most virtuous resolutions of the Millennium

THE COMING CIVILIZATION. 661

Congress being apt to get wrecked against the argument of Ibra-
him Pasha. " War is a curse," admitted that ingenuous Mussul-
man, " and it is quite conceivable that a large number of princes
could.be induced to agree on some plan for settling international
disputes by arbitration. But suppose that any member of the syn-
dicate should take it in his head to break his contract and reassem-
ble his troops — the only visible way to coerce him would be to re-
prime our old muskets and go to war again/'

There is no danger that the revived Nature worshipers of the
coming generation will abuse their sacred groves after the man-
ner of the Canaanitish idolaters; but they will probably adopt the
plan of the Grecian gymnasiarchs, who utilized the shade of their
suburban parks for the training-ground of their young athletes.
When the Turn-Bund established its first gymnasiums in North-
ern Germany, the government harassed their leaders with the
suspicion of political intrigues, but the athletic unions of our free
American cities, our wrestling matches and ubiquitous base-ball
clubs, leave no doubt that the present generation is fast outgrow-
ing the anti-physical bias of the mediaeval bigots. We have re-
discovered the truth that physical exercise profiteth a good deal,
and the school trustees of the twentieth century will build a gym-
nasium near every township school. Athletic sports will be
patronized as the best safeguard against the temptations of the
alcohol habit, and the ever-growing enthusiasm which, even now,
kindles about every paltry walking match or boat race, makes it
evident that the age of the next generation will witness the re-
vival of the Olympic Festivals.

The civilization of the future will, however, respectfully
decline Mr. Kuskin's plan for regaining Arcadia by the substitu-
tion of moonshine and manual labor for gaslight and steam-
engines. Labor-saving machinery has come to stay, and if steam
shall not monopolize the rough work of the next century it is only
because it will share its functions with its twin giant of electricity.
We shall have steam quarries and steam digging machines, and
the speed of travel is destined to surpass the achievements of the
present age by just as much as a modern express train surpasses
a mediaeval mail coach. The coming American autocrat of
the breakfast table will growl at the delay of the morning mail
per night boat from Europe. Excursion trains leaving Boston
after breakfast will avoid the night fogs of the Cordilleras by

662 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

reaching the City of Mexico in time for supper. The competi-
tion of rail and ocean routes with balloon bee lines will make
travel cheap enough to familiarize our tourists with every zone of
their continent ; and climatic epicures will probably contrive to
enjoy a perpetual summer by convening their July picnics in the
Yellowstone Park, and their New Year's symposium in Val-
paraiso.

The Fresh Air Union, too, will become an international insti-
tution. Cities that can afford to promote the theological sound-
ness of distant heathens will not much longer neglect the physical
health of their own children. Summer camps, free parks, and
Zoos, free kindergartens, athletic festivals, cottage suburbs, and
free public baths will obviate many of the social evils which our
Nihilists propose to cure by actual cautery. The tenement curse
is a fruitful source of such ailments, and the propaganda of our
land reformers proves that the existence, if not the remedy, of the
evil is beginning to be recognized. The enthusiasm of that prop-
aganda is, indeed, in more than one sense, a most significant
sign of the times, and presages an age of thus far undreamt-of
methods of co-operation. Like other social Messiahs, the apostles
of the new gospel are haunted by panacea visions ; but even the
Anti-Poverty project does not deserve the cruel sarcasm of the
British satirist who proposes an anti -misfortune league, and a
society for the abolition of the origin of evil.

Our modern crusaders may have underrated the distance of their
promised land and the strength of the hostile entrenchments, but
their mistakes do evidently not extend to the direction of their
march route. The fact also remains that they will enter the field
with siege engines of tremendous efficiency ; and there is no valid
reason to doubt that, failing in their attack on the citadel of
inevitable ills, they will turn their attention to the avoidable and
decidedly unnecessary evils of social life. The workingmen of
the future may waive their claims for the establishment of " gov-
ernment soup-houses for the mitigation of the natural penalties
of shiftlessness," but they will most emphatically protest against
mediaeval methods of government interference with the legitimate
rewards of industry — as, for instance, by the suppression of public
recreations on the only day when about ninety-nine per cent, of
our laborers find their only chance of leisure.

On the infatuation of an age that could perpetrate such outrages

THE COMING CIVILIZATION. 663

in the name of religion, the ethic philosophers of the future will
look back with a shudder, as upon the dream of a hideous night-
mare— yet withal with more of pity than of hatred. For we shall
never reconcile the religion of humanity to the traditions of the
past till we recognize the fact that the inhuman asceticism of the
Middle Age was anything but selfish. It was rather unselfishness
gone mad — unworldliness carried to the extreme of insane unnat-
uralism. Hindostan, where the apostles of Kenunciation
preached the unalloyed gospel of Buddha Sakyamuni, their doc-
trine retained for centuries the form of an actual world-denial.
Life was considered a disease, and death its only cure ; — death,
not by suicide, but by the more conclusive method of crushing
out the very instincts of life, to prevent their revival in new forms
of re-birth. To tempt a life-weary fellow man with the sweets of
physical enjoyment, and thus revive the waning love of earth,
would have been deemed an act of extreme unkindness ; and with-
out the slightest claim to future compensation, the- saints of
Buddhism renounced the hopes of life to avoid its disappoint
ments.

Compared with such doctrines it seems certainly a symptom of
progress, if the Kev. Hengstenberg vindicates the hope of immor-
tality by assuring us that " the chief motive of rational self-denial
is the hope of making death worth dying." But, while recogniz-
ing the merit of that " step in the right direction," the Religion
of the Future will prefer to attempt a further amendment by try-
ing to make life worth living.

FELIX L. OSWALD.

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA.

You ask me — Why have not the Irish joined in the celebra-
tions of the Queen's Jubilee ? I answer that, if the Jubilee were
intended to honor the Queen in a personal sense, Ireland had
ample reason for her sullen silence. If it were designed to cele-
brate her government of Ireland for fifty years, holding her re-
sponsible, Ireland could not participate in it ; for, if responsible,
she is, as a sovereign, to Ireland — infamous.

Let the Queen tell her own story of her government of Ire-
land and expound her own sense of her responsibility for it. It
is to be found in the s< Life of the Prince Consort/' approved and
annotated by her. It is clearly shown therein that the Prince, who
habitually obeyed the injunction of his friend and mentor, Baron
Stockmar, to "be the constitutional genius of the Queen,"
" qualified himself thoroughly for supporting the sovereign by his
advice" by " giving the most assiduous attention to every sub-
ject, whether at home or abroad." His diary confirms this and
affords copious details in support of it. The standard of duty
and prerogative which animated them is defined in a letter from
Stockmar to the Prince " containing the expression of a convic-
tion," says the official biographer, with the Queen's sanction,
" which it was the study of the Prince's life to realize." Whigs
and Tories, writes Stockmar, saw that there was only one thing
to keep democracy within bounds :

"This one thing was the upholding and strengthening of the autonomy of the
monarchcial element, which the fundamental idea of the English constitution had
from the first conceded to royalty and indeed concedes to the present hour. . . .
In reference to the Crown the secret is simply this : Since 1830 the executive
power has been entirely in the hands of the ministry; and these being more the
servants of Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, than of the Crown,
it is practically in the hands of that House. This is a distortion of the funda-
mental idea of the British constitution which could not fail to grow by degrees out
of the incapacity of her sovereigns rightly to understand and to deal with their
positions and out of the encroachments on their privileges by the House of Com-
mons. Still, the right of the Crown to assert itself as permanent head of the

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 665

council over the temporary leader of the ministry, and to act as such, is not likely
to be gainsaid even by those who regard it through the spectacles of party."

Upon this significant intimation the official biographer de-
clares that " The Prince's reply must have been most welcome, for
it gave Baron Stockmar the clearest assurance that the objects
of his solicitude had advanced far in securing the very posi-
tion before the country which he had set his heart upon their
maintaining."

The insidious hint of Stockmar, — that it was the incapacity of
preceding sovereigns that had made effectual "the encroach-
ments of Parliament upon the power of the crown " — would have
cost a head in the sturdy days when those " encroachments " were
being effected. The Queen's reprinting of the Stockmar letter
and her approval of the comment upon it, is a sufficient refuta-
tion of the pleasant apology in her behalf that she did not meddle
with government. The truth is that while the Prince lived they
devoted their entire time to meddling with government, when
not visiting on the continent or absorbed in private pleasure at
home. The " Life " shows that they shared the industry of minis-
ters in all diplomatic transactions ; that they indicated their own
preferences in advance to cabinets upon all matters which aroused
their feelings or touched their interests. Concerning Ireland, the
diary of the Prince, the letters of the Queen, and the narrative of
the " Life " show that they had constant and close contemplation of
the condition of that country between 1842 and 1851 ; and the
spirit which both betray toward it is one of stolid prejudice and
profound hatred. The gigantic famine which came slowly but
with awful distinctness upon the country in 1846, and whose
effects were not over in 1850, is minutely chronicled "by his hand
and hers. The chronicle shows that she was silent when a word
from her would have saved the lives of tens of thousands of those
she claimed as subjects ; that she participated in gay festivities
while thousands were being buried, like dogs, coffinless, starved
amid plenty ; that coercion laws, enacted at every session of Par-
liament while the famine continued, to " enforce tranquillity "
while the slaughter went on all over the land, received her prompt
signature, and that she refused to visit the suffering country
while the dread visitation was blighting it. She knew that every
year, while tens of thousands perished of hunger, food enough was
raised by their labor to feed more than twice the entire popula-

666 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

tion. Where is her protest against its export ; where is her pro-
test against the tithes collected during those years from the starv-
ing and the dying for the support of the church of which she was
the head and whose portals the victins never crossed ?

When the famine was over she visited the island for the first
and last time, carefully guarded by seven men-of-war. Sur-
rounded by military she gazed upon a country over whose face
the great scars must have been as visible as the paths of lava
down fertile uplands and over the fair bosom of the volcano-swept
landscape. Two million and a half of the people had disap-
peared ; more human beings had been starved into the grave in
three years under her rule than England lost by the sword in all
her wars. She had written that in the presence of great events
she is unmoved; "it is only trifles that irritate me-/' In the
presence of the greatest disaster that Europe has witnessed, she
remained unmoved. During the week of her stay she spoke no
word of pity, performed no act of clemency. In the phrase of
the great poet she could say

I have given suck and know
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me;

but she was unmoved when Irish mothers gave suck to adult sons
that they might be able to stand up in the Belief works and earn
a pittance to postpone death for the robbed infants. She was
unmoved when frenzied mothers ate the babes that plucked in
vain at withered nipples. She was unmoved when crowds of
little children could be seen scattered over the ripened fields, or,
in winter, like flocks of famishing crows, devouring raw turnips,
shivering in snow, half naked, and uttering cries of hunger. She
was unmoved when signing bills taking away the last remnant of
civil liberty from an entire people whose offense was that land-
lords carried out of their country the food intended by nature
and raised by their own hands for their sustenance, leaving
three-fourths of them to feel the pangs of starvation. Des-
peration had resulted in the attempt at insurrection which filled
the jails with victims. It had been represented to the people
that if they treated the Queen with civility she would release
some of the prisoners. They needed no bribe to be courteous
to a woman. But the pledge, whether authorized or not, was
unfulfilled.

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 667

Forty years have passed. She has been consistent. The tra-
ditions of her stock and of the Prince, that men exist to be sold or
to be kept as taxpayers, have not been infringed for Ireland, even
by caprice or chance. When another famine was threatened in
1880 the precepts and precedents of Albert's days — " those days
of untroubled happiness," as she has recently described them —
were sacredly maintained. Once more coercion — the clang of the
prison door, the rattle of musketry, the suppression of the press,
the cowing of the people, men-of-war in the harbors, increased
evictions, "enforced tranquillity." Nor has she been recreant to
her principles even in her year of Jubilee. The meanest tyrants
who occupied the throne of declining Rome might dignify their
jubilees by the manumission of slaves, the liberation of captives
of war, the breaking of dungeon-locks upon political prisoners.
With unflinching hand Victoria has celebrated the fiftieth year of
her reign in Ireland by another of Albert's "remedial measures" —
a coercion act ; and instead of pardoning a prisoner who loved his
poor motherland even more than he despises the Queen, she will
erect, if necessary, additional jails to inclose, on the slightest pre-
text, hundreds, including among them, without hesitation, the
elected representatives of the people.

Nor can she cloud behind extraordinary intellectual attain-
ments or virile governing faculties her want of attributes essen-
tially womanly. She has incessantly meddled with the State.
But she is guiltless of statesmanship. An Elizabeth might be
cruel like a man ; but she was fearless, capable ; she governed
like a man. Victoria has never surrendered government to the
constitutional agents who did not exist in Elizabeth's time ; her
interference has been petty, persistent, personal. She has not
suggested a statute. She has not modified a legislative proposal.
She has not furnished her country or her age with a sentence, a
deed, an episode, to lend a glow to a page of her reign. The
only claim seriously made for her is that she is a good woman, a
good wife and mother. The privilege of denying for their sover-
eign what good women the world over make no matter of boast —
it is happily so common — I leave to English pens. The charac-
terization of the Queen extant among her courtiers it would ill
become a man of the Irish race to repeat. Whether as woman
or sovereign, that race owes her only execration.

If we consider the history of Ireland apart from the Queen,

668 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and compare it, during the fifty years period, with the history of
Great Britain, the result can be indicated by using the plus sign
for increase and the minus sign for loss. Thus :

Great Britain. Ireland.

Population + —

Trade + —

Shipping +

Textile industry 4- —

Hardware -f —

Mining + —

Steam power + —

Wealth + +

Liberty +

Taxation +

Poverty +

A notable work of the year is Mr. MulhalFs " Fifty Years of
National Progress. " If we take his percentages and apply them
to Ireland under their respective heads, we shall have some strik-
ing exhibits of the reason why Ireland abstained from the Jubilee.
For instance, he finds that the population of the United Kingdom
increased 42 per cent. The decline of Ireland's population is
greater than the increase of that of the United Kingdom. Had
everything in Ireland declined proportionately, we would have the
figures in the first column of the* following table instead of those
in the second :

TABLE A. — ON BASIS OF DECLINE OF POPULATION.

What ought to be. What is.

Wealth £47,643,000 £183,429,000

Taxation 2,500,000 7,531,857

Physical force (cost of) 738,714 4,794,600

If, ignoring the decline in population of Ireland, we apply the
percentages of increase under their respective heads for the
United Kingdom, we will have the figures in the first column of
the following table, instead of those in the second, which are the
actual ones :

TABLE B.—ON BASIS OP PROGRESS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

What ought to be. What is.

Population 11,000,000 4,800,000

Wealth £195,336,300 £183,429.000

Shipping (nominal tonnage) 1,138,588 235,344

Increase of steam tonnage 18 4

Textile manufacture (linen) £20,000.000 £5,000,000

All other manufactures, textile and mineral ? 0

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA.

Whence it appears that in everything which constitutes pro-
gress Ireland has declined ; and in everything which proves decay
Ireland has progressed.

Some of these figures involve peculiar and unique interest ;
and I am glad to be able to draw the thoughtful attention of my
American fellow citizens to their extraordinary significance.

In the June number of the NORTH AMERICAN KEVIEW it was
shown that under the inspiration of the National movement to re-
cover legislative independence, certain facts were co-incident :
That crime of every kind had declined until it is the lowest propor-
tionately in the civilized world ; that school enrollment has become
the highest, proportionately, in the world ; and that 85 of 103 con-
stituencies have sent Nationalists to Parliament. That is the sum
total of what the people have done for themselves. Now what has
the Government done for them in fifty years, in resistance to the
National spirit ?

It has reduced the tilth of one of the most fertile countries in
Europe to an eighth of the cultivable land ;* and compels the peo-
ple of England and Scotland to buy food from Russia, India, Can-
ada, and the United States, instead of permitting them to buy a
considerable quantity at their own doors. It has diminished by
more than half the purchasers ' of English manufactures a few
hours' sail from the factories. This blindness for British in-
terests has been inseparable from a policy of brutality towards
Ireland, of which the decay of her tillage and her population
are only two great incidents.

A monstrous falsehood, which has been persistently sent forth,
is completely refuted by the figures following "Physical force/'

*A very recent publication entitled "The Material Progress of Ireland," by
Prof. Leone Levi, claiming that since there is more land under cultivation in Ire-
land than there was forty years ago Ireland has been making progress, is mislead-
ing, because he fails to point out that in the decline of tillage and the increase of
pasture there is a two-fold loss. First, the loss represented by the difference be-
tween the food supply produced by land under crops and land under grass,— a pro-
portional difference of five to one ; and secondly, the loss to Ireland in the export
of meat almost exclusively on the hoof, the English manufacturer getting the ad-
vantage in hide, tallow, etc., at the expense of both the Irish farmer and manu-
facturer. Prof. Leone Levi also says that emigration has been necessary because,
presumptively, Ireland has been overpopulated. This theory never had any sub-
stantial support and was long ago exploded. The only arguments ever advanced
in its behalf were political, not economic. In proportion to area and capacity for
food production and manufactures, Ireland has been and is the most sparsely popu-
lated country in Europe.

VOL. CXLV.— NO. 373. 44

670 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

It has been repeatedly asserted that only a small portion of the
people were hostile to the Government ; that the great mass would
be loyal if they got the chance. But what do the figures prove ?
That when the population was 8,000,000, and the school enroll-
ment was one-sixteenth of it, the country was kept ' ( loyal " by
an expenditure of £1,500,000 for military and constabulary ; and
that with a population half as large and the school enrollment
one-fifth of it, with the great increase of intelligence which that
indicates, it requires an expenditure more than six times greater,
proportionally, for soldiers and constables to keep the country
"loyal."*

If taxes had declined with population, Ireland would be pay-
ing £2,500,000 instead of three times that amount, which she
actually pays. There is another significant fact under this head.
The population fell away between 1847 and 1851 two million and a
half on account of famine and excess of poverty. The time had
surely come for a reduction of taxation. In 1852, the taxation of
England and Scotland was reduced and 52 per cent, was added to
the taxation of Ireland.

I will be reminded that more than half the taxes are paid in
excise. That is true ; distilling arid its related industries are the
only manufactures spared by English legislation for Ireland.
Inasmuch as every article manufactured in Ireland which could

* In addition to the armed police, England finds it necessary, for the mainte-
nance of Castle government in Ireland against the will of the Irish people, to keep
An immense military garrison constantly in occupation of the country. This gar-
rison amounts to an unusually strong expeditionary army. There are hardly ever
less than 30,000, and often more than 50,000, English regular troops of all arms-
infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers — quartered in Ireland. They occupy
all the cities, chief towns, and strategic points. Proportionately to population,
there are six soldiers in Ireland to every one there is in England.

To maintain this force in Ireland, England's standing army is put to a severe
strain. This force is composed of the cream of the English levies — leaving out the
Irish regiments, undoubtedly the best in the army, which are always carefully
sent on foreign service whenever the Irish situation is thought "critical ." For the
purpose of the late war in Egypt Sir Garnet Wolseley was sorely pressed to scrape
together an efficient expeditionary force ; volunteers had to be asked for from the
reserves to bring the war regiments up to their full campaigning strength ; and,
in the end, after reducing the regiments of the home linked battalions to skeletons,
Wolseley's force was largely made up of raw boys, who dropped like flies under
the climate of Egypt. Yet, at that moment, there were 50,000 troops, the flower
of the English army — twice as big a force as would have sufficed Wolseley, for
these were real soldiers — under arms in Ireland ; and of these England was afraid
to stir a single man !— Castle Government, by T. P. Gill, M. P.

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 671

be manufactured in England was by law prohibited in Ireland
and destroyed, the inference is justified that Ireland was per-
mitted to continue making whisky because England could not
make it as well to her satisfaction ; while, at the same time, by
keeping intoxicating drink cheap in Ireland, the latter would be
rendered less able to cast off the yoke of her oppressor.

Customs., in spite of the alleged free trade of the United
Kingdom, pay one-fourth of the Irish taxes, stamps pay one-
thirteenth, and the income tax one-tenth. Only a small portion
of the total goes back to the people for their good. Physical
force to keep them " loyal" consumes half the entire expenditure.
A fifth goes to the National debt of Great Britain, in express
violation of the Act of Union, by which it was declared that Ire-
land should not be held responsible for the debt of the empire
prior to that act. An army of tax-eaters hostile to the tax-payers
consumes a considerable sum ; and after all this is done, a bal-
ance remains to be sent over annually to the English exchequer.
In proportion to population .and, benefit to the tax-payers, Ireland
is the most heavily taxed country on the globe.

The financial history of Ireland during the reign of the
present sovereign would be incredible if it could not be demon-
strated. While the population has diminished, the cultivation of
the soil has declined, and manufactures have failed to recover
from the effects of prohibitory laws followed by the fixed domina-
tion of English interests in the Irish railways and markets, the
banking power of Ireland has shown no decline. Forty years ago,
when the population was about 8,000,000, the deposits in the
joint stock banks of Ireland were £8,031,044. In 1885, with a
population a little below 5,000,000, they were £29,240,000. The
increase is not sevenfold, as it is in the United Kingdom ; but it
is far more than sevenfold when we remember that the population
and all the manufacturing industries in England and Scotland
have also increased with the increase of the banking power.

The increase of the wealth of Ireland, as exhibited under
this head alone, is complete proof of systematic misgovernment.
The increase of wealth, as in England and Scotland, as Mr.
Mulhall shows, is a diffused increase ; more people have money,
and the comforts it produces, in proportion to population in
England and Scotland, than fifty years ago. In Ireland the rich
have grown richer ; the many have died of famine, or have been

672 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

driven into exile ; those who have remained at home have been
kept in poverty for the enrichment of the few.

The complete impoverishment of the mass of the people and
their subjection to the money power is shown from the bank sta-
tistics in still another way. In 1845 the certified issue of all
the banks in Ireland was £6,354,000. In 1885 it was £6,052,516.
It has never varied much from these figures during the entire
interval, except following the famine of 1847, when it declined to
about one-half for a short time. This uniformity in circula-
tion, while deposits have increased and capital remained the
same, discloses the absolute monopoly of the business of Ireland
in the hands of the wealthy few. They need no more money in
circulation now than they needed forty years ago. The bank
stock, meanwhile, in a country without manufactures, with de-
clining agriculture and diminished population, has always been
excessively profitable. For many years in succession the Irish
banks have paid their shareholders dividends of 20 per cent, per
annum. They pay their own depositors 2 per cent. They loan
in London at from 4 to 10. Meanwhile, the country which pro-
duces the deposits goes to ruin, so far as the mass of the people
are concerned ; and the wealth which is the result of their labor
upon the soil, — for nine-tenths of the joint stock bank deposits
represent only agriculture, — instead of being used in Ireland for
their benefit, is drained out to enrich their oppressors and per-
petuate the monopoly of the Irish market for the British manu-
facturers. The Bankers' Magazine, commenting on the deposits
for 1886, remarks that they belong for the most part to persons
"resident in England, whence their funds are naturally re-
mitted. " That is a roundabout way of describing the absentee
landlords and their creditors. It is a very candid way of admit-
ting that the wealth produced by Irish labor out of Irish soil is
not spent in Ireland.

A glance at the increase and decrease of deposits during the
reign will show how complete is the separation of the moneyed
minority, — the landlords, — who do nothing to make money, from
the people, whose labor is the sole money-maker. From 1843 to
1846 inclusive, the deposits increased 9 per cent. In 1847 there
was a fall of 23 per cent. But in 1848, 1849, and 1850 there was
an increase of more than 9 per cent., while the charity of the
world was sending money into Ireland to stop the extermination

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 673

of the people by famine. That increase represents in part better
crops, but also in large part the remittances sent from America and
elsewhere, nearly every dollar of which found its way into the
landlords' pockets. From 1852 to 1856 the deposits increased 13
per cent., while population continued to diminish ; in 1857 there
was a very slight decline, owing to the universal financial panic ;
but the landlords' crops and serfs pulled them up again promptly.

In 1879, when the cry of famine again startled the humane
world, and the machinery of charity was set in operation, the
deposits were £30,191,000. The effect of charity money sent in
was apparent in the increase of deposits in 1882 and the next year,
again confirming the statement that the bulk of money sent to
friends and relatives in Ireland for charity goes to the landlords.
In spite of a diminution of population from 11,000,000 to less
than 5,000,000 ; in spite of diminished tillage and the continued
paralysis of manufactures, the landlords' income has grown five-
fold during the reign of Victoria.

This money is the natural capital of Ireland. It does not
represent, speaking broadly, a cent of original investment by the
landlords who have exclusive enjoyment of it. No error could
be greater than to presume that the agriculture of England and
of Ireland has been conducted upon identical principles. In
England, at least in our own day, the landlord's capital is
applied to the estate, and if the tenant adds out of his capital to
its value, he gets the benefit of his enterprise in rebate of rent.
In Ireland the reverse has been true. The improvements consti-
tuting value have been generally and uniformly made by the ten-
ant ; and instead of being allowed a reduction in rent in conse-
quence, the rental has increased, as the bank deposits show, in
proportion to the increase of value effected by the tenants.
When, therefore, critics of Mr. Gladstone complain of his land
legislation for Ireland being exceptionally favorable, they ignore
the exceptional injustice which made that legislation compul-
sory.

But instead of investing this labor-and-land-made capital in
the country which produces it, the landlords, through their
agents, the Irish banks, send it over to England. Two of the
banks have head offices there ; the others employ London bankers
as agents for them. tf So that," remarks an official commen-
tator, " a large portion of this Irish capital "—at least $150,000,000

674 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

— " is really circulating in the great money market of the world,
London."

No country having only one industry, and that the production
of food, ever prospered, or ever can prosper. Until this Irish cap-
ital is invested in manufactures in Ireland, no hope need be in-
dulged that the industrial paralysis of the country is to be dis-
turbed.

The subject of manufactures in Ireland is one which it would
be folly to undertake to discuss within the limits of this article.
Under the self-respecting stimulus of the National agitation, a
spurt of activity, in a small way, has been effected ; and among
the masses of the people, it has become fashionable to wear and
use Irish manufactures. But sentiment is not capital. The nat-
ural manufactures of Ireland were destroyed by English statutes.
The best account of them is given by Professor Thompson in
"University Lectures."* Ireland has been, since the abolition of
the Irish Parliament in 1800, as truly the property of the English
manufacturer as the Parliamentary borough and its nominal rep-
resentative were the property of the landlord prior to legislative
reform. Ireland exports only food ; she imports only English
manufactures. The colonies of Great Britain have profited by
Ireland's ruin. Each of them has not only its domestic govern-
ment, with which the British Parliament cannot interfere, but
they have, one and all, a protective tariff to keep English manu-
factures out while they build up their own. Ireland has not asked
a protective tariff as an indispensable part of Home Eule. She
does ask for Home Rule with power enough to induce the invest-
ment of Irish capital in Ireland.

If we compare the savings banks of Ireland with the savings
banks of the United Kingdom, we find another reason why Ire-
land could not participate in the Jubilee. These accumulations
have grown fourteen times faster than population in the United
Kingdom, and population has grown 42 per cent. Since popu-
lation has declined much more rapidly in Ireland than it has in-
creased in the two sister countries, it would be reasonable to look
for a decline of savings, provided the source of them were the
same. But the source is not the same. The savings of England
and Scotland are derived chiefly from the wage-workers, whose

* "Protection." Four Lectures delivered in Harvard University. By Rev.
Robert Ellis Thompson. 1886.

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 675

earnings have risen 20 per cent, or more during the reign, while
the prices of necessaries have declined. In Ireland the wage-
earning class, aside from poorly-paid agricultural and domestic
labor, is inconsiderable, owing to the dearth of manufactures.
The savings are chiefly the profits of the small shop-keepers who
buy English manufactures and sell them to Irish consumers.
These savings, therefore, small as they are, are a dubious proof
of Irish prosperity. An anti-National economist boasted, as an
evidence of Ireland's happiness under the legislative union with
England, that even in 1847 she exported food. Five hundred
thousand of the people who had grown the food perished of hun-
ger that year.

In 1835 the number of depositors in the Irish savings banks
was 58; 482, and the total of their deposits £1,608,653. In 1867
the number of depositors was 53,006, and the total of the deposits
£1,633,015. The population meanwhile had declined from
8,000,000 to 5,486,509. In that year the savings in England
were £1 9s. Id. per head of population ; in Ireland 5s. lOd. per
head. In the post-office savings banks in England there was in
the same year one depositor for every eleven persons ; in Ireland
one depositor for every sixty-nine persons. In 1885 the whole
number of depositors in both postal and trustee savings banks in
Ireland was 186,013, and the total of their deposits £4,113,387,
which may be looked upon as Irish capital employed for the pro-
motion of English industry. The total deposits, therefore, have
increased threefold and the number of the depositors about the
same, showing that while everything tending to indicate Na-
tional growth has declined, this item tending to show National
prostration has augmented.

The fisheries are an indisputable illustration of the apparent
hopelessness of Irish industry while the country is governed in
the interest of foreigners.

In 1836 the number of boats engaged in them was 10,761, and
the number of men and boys 54,119. In 1885 the number of
boats was 5,667, and the number of men and boys 21,491. At
the same time many Scotch vessels are engaged in the Irish fish-
eries, and the imports of fish into a land of fish without fishers
amount to nearly 70,000 cwt. at the principal Irish ports.

The charge is commonly made that in dealing with the griev-
ances of Ireland her friends are addicted to denunciation. The

676 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

facts I have presented are submitted not only without denuncia-
tion, but without argument.

I beg to ask a question : Why have Englishmen celebrated the
Queen's jubilee ? Is it to supply history with a gigantic absurdity ?
For is it not true that every idea carried into Great Britain by the
stock whence she sprang has received its deathblow by the changes
effected during her reign ? Is it not true that every political step
of the past fifty years has been progress away from monarchy and
aristocracy ? Is it not true that this great change, brought about
in part by the leveling up of the people through more widely
diffused education, and in part by the curtailment of hereditary
privilege through the lowering of the franchise, has been forced
along constitutionally, in defiance of the dearest principles of the
ancestors of the sovereign, and would have been stolidly resisted
by her, as other steps forward were by them, if she possessed any
genius for reigning ? Is it not true that, instead of being in any
degree due to her influence, even negatively, this progress of fifty
years is the retroaction of the revolted American colonies upon
England? Is it not true that England has seen each of her
foreign dependencies discarding the constitutional model she still
retains, seriously modified within fifty years, and adopting instead
of it the model of the American Republic ? The English people
may justly celebrate their fifty years of political, commercial, and
moral growth ; but to celebrate it in association with the name,
the antecedents, or the character of Queen Victoria will be smiled
upon by history as a great national jest.

They would have still more substantial reason for their Jubiiee
if Ireland could have consistently joined in it. Deeply respecting
their devotion to constitutional liberty, — for themselves, — and
sympathising with all that is humane, noble, and just in their
progress, I rejoice that the chief barrier which has kept them
from beholding Ireland in truth is rapidly losing its strength.
The destiny of the London Times has been to prolong hatred be-
tween England and Ireland. For the fulfillment of that it has
continually commanded the newest resources of science and the
best purchasable intellect. Every proposal calculated to lighten
upon Ireland the cruel burden of the past ; every legislative enact-
ment whose effect would have been to bring the people of the two
countries face to face so that they might see their common
humanity, it has resisted with vicious energy, and conscienceless

IRELAND AND THE VICTORIAN ERA. 677

skill. Its favor has been unstinted to every brutal reactionary,
every fiendish bigot, every exasperating act of tyranny, aiming at
perpetuity of oppression.

At last its power is waning. Its name is no longer feared ; it
aever was respected. When contemporaries were few and feeble,
and news gathering constituted its monopoly, its editorial opinion
could be delivered with an impressiveness and effect due largely
to a lack of competition. Isolated eminence and resounding
noise won for it the name of The Thunderer. The epithet has
long been obsolete. Influence derived from persistent injustice
urged with violent indecency is not proof against the spread of
God-like love over the world and the penetration of the dullest
human intelligence by the gentle but resistless light of liberty.
The habits and manners it has to-day it had in O'ConnelFs days,
when to break him down it vied with the harridans of London
fish lanes in vulgarity. The malevolence of its attitude toward
mankind secured for it half a century ago the name of the DeviFs
organ from the Quaker statesman. Bobbed of its legitimate re-
nown by younger and more alert rivals, it is reduced to theatrical
devices to keep up the appearance of being formidable. If it can
no longer forge thunderbolts, it can forge letters. If it can no
longer play Vulcan, it can still be

as foul
As Vulcan's stithy.

If it can no longer whip out of public life Irishmen who will
not betray their country for office or gold, it can pay handsomely
for slander on Irishmen in America by knaves without credit in
any American newspaper office. During our civil war its profli-
gate instincts cheated the British public to the last moment with
falsehoods about actual events ; and the English generation still
living knows that it received with amazement the news of the
surrender of Lee, because up to the hour Eichmond fell the Lon-
don Times had deliberately suppressed the truth about the re-
sults of great battles. It was as solicitous to prevent a reconcili-
ation of the North and South and as anxious to see the Republic
fall as it has been greedy and tenacious in feeding fat the hatred
between England and Ireland. It reached the climax of brutal-
ity when, the morning after the defeat of the Home Rule bill, it
told the greatest of the sons of England to gather his old bones

678 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

about him and hurry into his grave. If all the signs of the time
are not misleading, the grave will wait for Gladstone until the
triumph of Home Rule shall furnish for the monument Great
Britain and Ireland will rear to him its most glorious line.

ALEXANDER SULLIVAK.

AN ELECTION IN NEW YORK.

THE candidacy of Mr. Delancey Nicoll for District Attorney
in the late municipal election appealed to me as worthy of the
personal exertions of good citizens. Filled with what was per-
haps the zeal of one unfamiliar with "practical politics," I vol-
unteered to work in behalf of Mr. Nicoll at the polls on the day
of election. Whether my political preference was proper or im-
proper is immaterial for the purposes of this article, but the ex-
perience I met with illustrates so clearly the grave defects in our
present electoral system as to seem worthy of relation. It has
been stated that honest men, at all conversant with the methods
employed at the polls in New York City, have, without distinc-
tion of party, arrived at the conclusion that hereafter either
respectable men will be forced to abandon all participation in
politics, or a radical reformation in the mechanism of our elec-
tions must take place. The facts which fell under my observa-
tion certainly bore this out, and while they may be sufficiently
familiar to most well-informed persons in New York City, they
teach a pregnant lesson to the entire country. What has just
taken place here will inevitably occur in other large cities when
the occasion arises which seems to demand from political bosses
the employment of the same methods.

The polls were opened at 6 A. M. I had been assigned by the
" Citizens' Committee/' which had charge of Mr. Nicoll's canvass,
to look after a number of election districts in the western part of
the city. I was, therefore, not confined to a single district, but
had ample opportunity to observe what was going on all over that
portion of New York. I reached several election districts before
the polls were opened. At all of them a large number of persons
were congregated, and formed a line extending some distance
from the polling place. My curiosity was at once excited to see
who the zealous citizens were who were so anxious to exercise the
" priceless boon of citizenship " that they had arisen almost before
daybreak in order to avail themselves of the privilege. On ap-
proaching I saw that they held their ballots tightly clenched in

680 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

their right hands, which were elevated at right angles with their
bodies, and that they took good care to keep them in this position
until the polls opened. In a few minutes the voting began. As
soon as each man voted he passed out and filed into the side door
of a bar-room located near by. I entered and saw a well-known
ward " heeler " (whom I did not then know, but whose name was
familiar to me as soon as I heard it) pass a five dollar bill into
each voter's hands with no effort at concealment. The whole
transaction from first to last had quite the air of a common busi-
ness transaction. This was my first introduction that day to
"practical politics, " and thus did I grasp the very arcana of our
election system at a bound.

The polls had not been opened an hour when a voter approached
and asked me for some Nicoll ballots. " I do not vote here/' he
said, ' f but up above in the — election district of the — assem-
bly district. There are no Nicoll ballots to be had there. He is
sold out. The Irving Hall worker has been bought up ; the Nicoll
worker (a paid colored man) has disappeared, and the Republican
is issuing ballots with Fellows's name on them."

I started for the district he mentioned and found every-
thing exactly as he had stated. Many of the voters did not
examine the ballots furnished them by their party workers, but
deposited them without inspection. The more intelligent opened
them and saw the fraud, but few took the trouble to go to another
polling place to procure proper ballots when they found that none
were to be obtained in the vicinity.

I set about to remedy this. I warned each voter as he ap-
proached to examine his ballots. The result was Bedlam let
loose. I was surrounded by a gang of perhaps twenty " heelers/'
most of whom looked as though they had attained great dis-
tinction in crime, and was subjected to a torrent of curses and
abuse. The burden of their complaint, stripped of bad language,
seemed to be that " a dude with a clean collar had come to de-
prive them of an honest living." One even went so far as to
threaten my life when he found that I intended to remain there
and furnish Nicoll ballots to those who wanted them. A per-
sonal encounter was the result of preventing two of the roughs
from taking ballots forcibly out of the hands of a Nicoll voter.
The police were " in with the boys/' refused to interfere, and
seemed to derive considerable amusement from the whole affair.

AN ELECTION IN NEW YORK. 681

The police also refused to keep the way to the polling place clear.
It was blocked by a part of this same gang, and every voter had
to undergo an examination as to his intentions before he could
enter. Intimidation was frequently practiced on those whose po-
litical views did not meet with the approval of the ' ' boys/' and
in some instances with successful results. One old man came
away without voting, evidently terrified by threats that had been
made.

Later in the day bribery was openly practiced. One instance
was so flagrant that I determined to challenge the voter. An
attempt was made to pull me out of the polling place by force, but
the approval of the police did not quite extend to this, and I was
allowed to remain. The man was evidently afraid of perjuring
himself, and at first refused to take the oath, but the ' ' gang"
backed him up and insisted ; so he finally swore himself through.

Having been relieved by two other workers, I had an oppor-
tunity about noon of inspecting some of the other election dis-
tricts. In the colored districts west of Sixth avenue and south
of Thirty-fourth street, the answer given by the colored workers
was always the same in its general tenor : " There is too much
money against us/' said one of them. " My best friends come to
me to-day and say that they would like to vote the Eepublican
ticket but they have been offered $4 for their votes, and that is

too great an inducement for them to withstand.

(mentioning the name of a man who keeps an infamous colored
"dive" in the vicinity) has had $1,000 placed in his hands with
which to carry this district, and he seems to be spending most of it."
While we were talking a man shambled up to us and deliberately
asked in so many words " how much we would give for his vote."

This was the uniform experience I met with in going from one
election district to another. The price for votes varied from two
to five dollars, but in two instances I heard of as much as ten dol-
lars having been given for a vote. From personal observation,
and from the statements of friends whose experience agreed with
mine, there can be no doubt that about a quarter of a million of
dollars was spent in this city for illegal purposes, — an average of
three hundred dollars for each election district.

The result proved a great triumph for those who conducted
this campaign of corruption and debauchery. But it also proved
something more. It proved that the "bosses" can carry any

682 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

election by the same means if they consider it worth while to
spend the money.

Police Commissioner Stephen B. French, certainly not a
novice or a silk-stocking in election experience, recently said :
"If as much money is spent in the next Presidential election as
was spent on this last one they can elect almost any candidate
that is put up. I never saw anything like it. It has got to be
not a question of candidates or honesty, or even political honor.
There never was so much money spent on a Presidential canvass
as was spent here in New York last Tuesday. It was simply
awful ; I have not yet recovered my breath."

In the face of this, the personal issue between Mr. Nicoll and
Mr. Fellows, and their respective fitness to serve the city's interests,
sink into insignificance. Were George Washington elected Al-
derman over Benedict Arnold by these methods it would be none
the less a fearful disgrace and a heavy blow at the stability of
Democracy.

It may be safely said, without any attempt to palliate their crime,
that the anarchists lately hanged in Chicago have not so sinned
against society as have the political leaders who make such a thing
as free choice in elections an impossibility.

For, when it can be first positively declared that a number of
political adventurers, by the lavish use of money taken from the
office holding class or liquor interests, or from other sources, control
the local, State, and National governments of this country, then
can it be said that Democracy is a failure.

How large a proportion of voters understands the practical
workings of our election methods ? If the American people be
credited with but the slightest leaven of political morality, we
must count that proportion small indeed, or the present system
of nominating and voting for candidates for public office would
never be allowed to disgrace the fabric of our republican insti-
tutions.

The average American voter of respectability is permeated by
an optimism so complete and self-satisfying that he rarely recog-
nizes in himself the existence of a political conscience.

If the truth — the whole truth — were but known ; not merely
read in the newspapers, doubted and then forgotten, but Jcnoivn
in the light of personal observation, in what guise would these
same respectable American voters see themselves ?

AN ELECTION IN NEW YORK. 683

As drones in the political bee-hive, outnumbering the workers
ten to one, these drones live on in a state of beatific quiescence,
taking no part in the management of their society, robbed of all
power, helpless in the hands of the small minority, owing their
very peace and security to the contemptuous tolerance of their
rulers. Only when we come to the comparative virtues of the two
kinds of workers — bees and bosses — does the simile need some
slight modification.

Is there no remedy ? Yes. A system of nomination and
election, somewhat similar to that now in successful practice in
Australia, would effectually prevent all manner of bribery, intimi-
dation, and fraud. Its details have already been described in the
NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW by Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice. It
will suffice to say that, through its workings, no one would under-
take to bribe voters, because it would be impossible to tell how
they voted. The fact that a certain number of electors could in
writing nominate candidates and have their names printed on the
ballots provided by the State, would in no wise interfere with the
legitimate purposes of party organizations, while a check would,
nevertheless, be exercised on the too unscrupulous dictation of
party bosses. The idea of giving over the machinery of elections
to party organizations and private individuals, and throwing upon
them the expenses thereby incurred, is too primitive for the pres-
ent state of our society. If there ever was a public function that
the State should exclusively exercise it is the management of its
elections.

The Rice bill, which I trust will be introduced in the Legisla-
ture this winter, ingeniously aims at changing our methods so as
to conform approximately to the Australian system, and should
receive the enthusiastic support of every honest citizen, without
distinction of party, who believes in the supremacy of the voice
of the people.

It will meet with opposition from those who make a living out
of the abuses of the present system. But did not the movement
to introduce a paid fire department meet with the bitterest hos-
tility ? As the latter proved beneficial, so will the former, but
in tenfold degree. Its advent is timely. Even now, people are
talking hopelessly of electoral reform. Another election such as
that we have just passed through would make our political future
altogether gloomy and the right of suffrage a farce.

EDGAR J. LEVEY.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

I.

" LAND STEALING IN NEW MEXICO."

IN the October number of this REVIEW Stephen W. Dorsey makes what he
calls a " rejoinder" to my article on " Land Stealing in New Mexico." I find it a
palpable misnomer, for, with a single exception, he does not even attempt a reply
to the mass of facts which constitute my indictment against 'the rogues of this ter-
ritory. A very brief notice of what he says may, however, be proper ; but I
shall take no notice whatever of his personalities, because I frankly confess myself
hopelessly lost if I need to be defended against any conceivable charges he may
see fit to make . Mr. Dorsey is the defendant, and I shall confine myself to the sin-
gle case of the Una de Gato grant, in which he is personally involved, and in
which he endeavors to defend himself. Here is what I said in my^ July article :

" The area of this grant, according to Mr. Dorsey, its claimant, was nearly
600,000 acres. It was reserved from settlement, and is so reserved to-day by the
act of 1854 ; but, when the forgery of the grant was demonstrated in 1879, and he
thought it unsafe to rely upon that title, he determined to avail himself of the
homestead and pre-emption laws. This he could not legally do, because the land
was reserved ; but the Commissioner of the General Land Office was touched by
his misfortune, and, in defiance of law, ordered the land to be surveyed and opened
to settlement. Mr. Dorsey, who was already in possession of thousands of acres
of the choicest lands in the tract, at once sent out his squads of henchmen, who
availed themselves of the forms of the pre-emption and homestead laws in acquir-
ing pretended titles, which were conveyed to him according to arrangements pre-
viously agreed upon. No record of this unauthorized action of the Commissioner is
to be found in the Land Office. What was dona was done verbally, and in the
dark, and nothing is now known of the transaction, but the fact of its occurrence,
and the intimate relations then existing between Mr. Dorsey and the Commissioner
and his Chief of Surveys. Of course Mr. Dorsey and his associates in this busi-
ness have no title to the lands thus acquired, and their entries should be cancelled,
not only because the land was reserved from sale by act of Congress, but because
these entries were fraudulently made, as will be shown by investigations now in
progress."

Now, how does Mr. Dorsey answer me ? Upon investigating the title of this
grant he says he became satisfied that it was fraudulent. When did he make this
investigation, and reach this conclusion ? The records of my office and of the
Interior Department give no answer to the question. They do not show that he
ever made an investigation, but the contrary. He says he wrote to the Secretary
of the Interior, stating circumstantially all the facts in his possession regarding
the grant, and asked him to send a special agent to make a careful investigation,

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 685

and turned over to the Secretary all the papers in his possession. Unfortunately
for Mr. Dorsey these statements are unsupported by the records of the Land De-
partment and contradicted by them. They show that he persisted in his claim for
years following the first agitation of the validity of his title, and up to January,
1879, when the forgery of the grant was demonstrated. He did nothing what-
ever in instigating rthe inquiry which led to this demonstration, which inquiry
was set on foot by Lewis Kingman and Henry M. Arms in the year 1877. The
papers show that he was displeased with their intermeddling with his title, and
that it was solely at the instance of these men that the Land Office directed an
investigation to be made. In the light of these facts, the reader can ;|udge for
himself as to Mr. Dor^ey's reverence for the truth when he says, " I exposed the
fraudulent nature of the grant with which Mr. Julian attempts to link my name
unfavorably."

But he says he applied to the Secretary of the Interior to have the land within
the bounds of this fraudulent grant thrown open for settlement, and that it was
done accordingly. This is what I said in my article ; but I stated, further, that
the Land Department had no power to do this. One Surveyor-General had pro-
nounced the grant valid, and another had declared it to be a forgery. Congress
alone could determine the question, and the land was absolutely reserved by law in
the meantime. Commissioner Williamson knew this perfectly, and for this rea-
son, doubtless, no written order for the survey and sale of these lands was made,
and the business was done u in the dark."

Mr. Dorsey knows all this, but makes no defense. He admits the action of the
Land Department, in response to his request, but stands mute as to its illegality.
He knows that that action was totally unauthorized and secretly performed,
and that the lands acquired by him and his allies under an illegal order now right-
fully belong to the United States. In these statements 1 am supported by the
records of the Government, and no lawyer will attempt to controvert them. This
disposes of Mr. Dorsey's defense, and I leave him to his reflections.-

GEORGE W. JULIAN.

II.

COMPULSORY VOTING DEMANDED.

I HAVE read with great interest Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice's bill copied into
Mr. Redpath's note on Electoral Reform in the September number. If Mr. Rice
will add another section to his law, making it compulsory on all electors to vote, he
will then have provided a perfect system of nominations, as well as of elections.
Nearly one-fifth of the registered voters neglect to vote in all States — even in
England and France. Reading Mr. Rice's bill, and the accompanying note in con-
nection with Cardinal Gibbons article in the same number, you will find, by carry-
ing out their thoughts, that all the evils in government result from neglecting the
exercise of the right of franchise. It was by this neglect on the part of the citi-
zens of New York that Tweed became the master f 6r years of New York City,
and was enabled to rob the people of millions of dollars. He so continued to
plunder the municipal treasury until the people were compelled to combine, and
by the exercise of the ballot turned him out of office.

I subjoin a project of law to render voting compulsory; a duty no more to be
evaded than jury duty.

Under my law, supplementary to that of Mr. Rice, we should always have not
only an honest vote, but a full vote ; and both are equally demanded in the
interests of good government.

VOL. CXLY. — NO. 373. 45

686 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

I may add that the compulsory idea embodied in my bill, came up in the
Massachusetts Legislature a short time ago, and, after a full debate, it received
43 votes to 48 against it, lacking only 5 votes of passage. If you should use your
influence to have the bill introduced into the New York Assembly I am sure it
would at once become a law in your State. The principle is sound.

HARRIS J. CLINTON.

I subjoin the bill that I prepared embodying the principle of compulsory
voting :

SECTION I. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland, that it shall be
compulsory upon every qualified voter, of the State of Maryland, to cast a ballot at each and
every general election, hereafter held in Baltimore or any of the several Counties of this State,
according to law.

SECTION II. And, be it enacted, that it shall be the duty of the Judges of Election, at each
and every general election hereafter held in this State, according to law, at the closing of the polls
of said election, to examine the book containing the names of the said qualified voters, of their
respective polling places, and to make a red mark under the name of each voter who has neglected
to cast his ballot at said election ; and to have copied a true and correct list of names and addresses
of all voters who failed to cast their ballots, as aforesaid ; such copy to be signed by each Judge
and attested by the clerks, at each polling place, and to be transmitted by the returning Judge,
within the next succeeding ten days of said election, to the Clerk of the Criminal Court of Balti-
more City, or Clerk of the Circuit Court of the County in which said election was held.

SECTION III. And, be it enacted, that it shall be the duty of the Clerks of said Courts, to im-
mediately issue summons under the seal of the Court, to be served by the Sheriff upon said delin-
quent voter, commanding him to appear in person before the Court at its next sitting thereafter, to
show cause why the fine, hereinafter prescribed, shall not be imposed upon him for neglecting to
cast his ballot at said election.

SECTION IV. And, be it enacted, that it shall be the duty of the presiding Judge of said Court
to hear the cause or excuse of said voter for his failure to cast his ballot at said election, and if he
be unable to give such an excuse under oath as prescribed by Section 5 of this Act, then said
Judge shall give judgment against said voter for the fine of $5 (five dollars) and costs, to be col-
lected as other fines and forfeitures are collected in this State

SECTION V. And, be it enacted, that every voter who violates Section 1 (one) of this Act shall
be subject to the fine herein imposed, unless he can show to the satisfaction of the Judge before
whom his case is heard, that he was unable, by reason of sickness, or absence from the City or
County, wherein he is a qualified voter, at the time of the holding of said election, to cast his bal-
lot at said election.

SECTION VI. And, be it enacted, that if any qualified voter be adjudged guilty of violating
Section 1 of this Act, his property, to the amount of one hundred dollars, shall be exempt from
liability for said fine and judgment.

SECTION VII. And, be it enacted, that all fines collected under or by virtue of this Act, shall
go to the Public School Fund of Baltimore City, or of the County wherein said fine is imposed
and collected.

SECTION VIII. And, be it further enacted, that this act shall take effect from the date of its
passage.

III.
PRESIDENTIAL HAND-SHAKING.

To the unreflecting observer the rite of hand-shaking, as officially counte-
nanced in the greatest of republics, may seem alight and trifling matter, but to one
who has the public interest really at heart it is fraught with large importance.
There are a great many persons still living who remember a tall, gaunt figure, with
mighty reach of arm and a hand that was big enough and strong enough to shake
a kingdom — a figure that for near five years stood in the White House and sur-
vived an ordeal such as has fallen to the lot of very few men in all times. On oc-

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 687

casions of " state and ceremony" he would receive one visitor after another with
the mechanical hand-shake required of him, but to his intimates he confessed that
his mind was frequently far away — with Sherman, perhaps, on his March to the
Sea, with Grant in the Virginian Wilderness, or with Thomas in Tennessee. To
the sensitive spectator who may have joined one of the groups near by the spec-
tacle of this patient giant permitting hundreds to grasp his hand for an insrant
was pitiful in the extreme, and more than one has been tempted to remonstrate.
But the public has established the custom and demands its perpetuation, and just
now a young and attractive woman is called upon to bear her share of the burden.
The present chief executive of the United States is probably better able to en-
dure the physical strain of excessive hand-shaking than are most of his contem-
poraries. At all events, he has, up to this writing, given no signs of exhaustion,
but the drain upon his vital powers must be enormous — no milder term is adequate
— and the problem of abolishing, or in some way modifying, what is already a grave
abuse, must, sooner or later, be considered. Men who hold a position involving
such responsibilities as those of the President should not be permitted, much less
required, to weary themselves unnecessarily. It is not beyond the range of possi-
bility that under such a process of slow worriment — the worst kind of torture —
some mental process might be induced that should inure to tha public injury. This
is merely thrown out as a hint, but suppose the President should go into the East
Room determined to veto, let us say, a River and Harbor Bill, is it not easily within
the range of possibility that his noble resolve might literally be shaken out of him
before the ceremonies were over ?

CHARLES LEDYABD NORTON.

IV.

NATIONAL PLAGUE-SPOTS.

As civilization grows older the problems of life grow more perplexing, the
why and wherefore of human existence become more involved in doubt, and
the conflict between good and evil seems to be growing yearly more in favor of the
devil. Just as there are diseases which are rife among the rich, and seldom found
among the poor, so in our national life there are ills which germinate in the cities,
and from which the rural populations are comparatively free.

Man ages more rapidly in the town than in the country. The wear and tear
of city life exhaust human vitality. Men live faster and spend themselves more
freely in the city, and so the towns of the nation become centres from which
radiate the arteries of trade and intelligence, bearing the products of human in-
tellects and human hands into far-away homes, and promoting the free comparison
and interchange of ideas, customs, and habits. Evil and good come and go with
the human life that pulsates through these arteries of national existence, and the
great cities, which are the ganglionic centres of the nation, spread the vices, which
thrive so luxuriantly in their boundaries, until their evil influences are felt in
Maine and California and Texas.

Great cities are, therefore, the plague-spots of the nation. They will cease to
be plague-spots only when the virtue within them exceeds the vice. New York is
the metropolis of crime, as she is the metropolis of trade, and nearly all the dis-
eases to which the body politic is subject are found in her— some visible to every-
one, others hidden in special localities, not to be seen unless carefully looked for.
All have so vast a potentiality for evil that the whole nation is interested in the
experimental efforts to purge and purify her. The reform of the electoral system,

688 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

as proposed by Mr. Rice, is one of these remedies. The enforcement of justice
against corrupt officials is another, and so the list extends.

It may be doubted if the city, left to herself, has recuperative power suffi-
cient to cure herself ; but the needed reforms can be accomplished if the public
sentiment of the nation will, as its duty and self-interest require, strengthen the
hands of the reformers.

GEORGE NELSON.

V.

OUR NATIONAL DIGESTION.

THE country has hitherto been able to digest all the incongruous elements offer-
ing themselves to it ; but just as a man who eats too much, or who bolts his food
with haste is, sooner or later, sure to become a victim of dyspepsia, so the nation is
now beginning to show symptoms of inability to turn into the bone and sinew of good
citizenship the immense hordes of ignorant and biased foreigners who come hither.
It has been at once our boast and our safeguard that we have made good Americans
of the millions of foreign emigrants landing upon our shores. On the pre-Rev-
olutionary stock of Dutchmen, Huguenot, Frenchmen, and Irish, English and
Scotch men, we have grafted scions of the Welsh, Russian, modern French, and
Italian races, and the fruit that has resulted has been sweet and wholesome. We
have had three wars since we became a nation — one a family quarrel, which, hap-
pily, is now settled, and the other two with Spain and our natural enemy, Great
Britain ; we have had differences with foreign nations, and the composite charac-
ter of our nationality has borne us safely and triumphantly through all difficul-
ties. Our composite nationality has been our preservation. Opposed to Great
Britain, we have found our defenders in men of Scotch, Welsh, English or Irish
descent. The generals who conducted our war against Mexico were nearly all
descendants of the Latin races the Gallic blood predominating. And so it has ever
been. We have had at our disposal the strongest and best race-traits of the races
with which we were contending, blended and fused with the strong characteris-
tics of other races into one harmonious whole.

But, alas ! all this has now changed. Our French immigrants now nate Ger-
mans. Our Irish citizens bear an ungovernable enmity to England. Our Italian
children yield blind and unreasoning fealty to old-world influences. We are no
longer able to digest the varied and hostile elements which our habit induces us to
swallow.

We are beginning to realize now that unrestricted immigration is not an un-
mitigated blessing. We are beginning to talk about the necessity of restricting
the privilege of citizenship. Why ?

I have stated the facts ; they must be but results of appreciable causes. Who
can tell what those causes are ?

GEOFFREY CHAMPLIN.

VI.

NO SECTARIAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

PLEASE permit me to enter an emphatic protest against the linking of our public
schools with Mormonism and ballot-box stuffing by Cardinal Gibbons in the No-
vember number of your REVIEW. A system of popular education, growing up
with our republic, in it and of it, directed and controlled by a body of teachers of
the highest moral character, representative of and selected from among the people,
in which is inculcated the principles, history, and patriotism of the republic's

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 689

founders, is not, and never can be, a menace to our institutions. And equally un-
just is the assertion that such a system is undermining the Christian faith of our
youth, unless in the negative sense, that it does not teach abstract orthodox Chris-
tianity, which of course in the Cardinal's mind means the tenets of his church.

A century of trying experience confirms the wisdom of the men who founded
our republic upon the simple elemental principle of giving to the citizen entire
control in the domain of politics, leaving to the Church the care of the spiritual ;
thus broadly marking the separation of Church and Scate. To radically change
this elemental principle, to divide the general taxes for denominational support,
would be the entering wedge of the Church into the State, and is the real menace
to our republican institutions. General Grant was as supremely American when,
in his public speech at Des Moines, he counselled Americans never to give a dollar
of public taxes for denominational uses, as he was when receiving Lee's sword at
Appomattox.

Cardinal Gibbons asks the adoption of the Canadian system, whilst Monsignor
Preston demands the adoption of the German system. Americans feel that their
institutions are above either. We do not require the colonial enlightenment of
the one nor the military absolutism of the other. It is amazing what a longing
these distinguished prelates have for the institutions of monarchy.

The true position of Catholics in this republic is to loyally and patriotically
support all its institutions in the future, as in the past, thereby aiding in its grand
development and sharing in its progress and prosperity.

A Catholic myself, I have for obvious reasons abstained from any discussion
of the question of religious education. The American State has left that to the
Church and the home, to the Christian preacher and Christian parent. It is not
the State's province to make good Methodists, Episcopalians, or Catholics, but
good citizens. To this end our public school system is specially adapted — a na-
tional laboratory from which our future composite people will come, national-
ized and fraternized.

There is in the public mind an idea crystallized into a conviction that the re-
public cannot long survive the destruction of our public schools. This is why any
attack upon them must ever awake the antagonism of all true Americans.

JEREMIAH QUIN.

VII.

DUTY OF THE LEADERS OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT.

SOME of the ablest and best known representatives of the great Christian de-
nominations have been telling the readers of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW why
they remain believers in their respective denominations. The papers are interest-
ing, because they unconsciously show the strength and the weakness of modern
Christianity. Its weakness consists in the fact that denominational principles and
methods are elevated into the place which should be occupied by the fundamental
principles and methods of Christianity. But at the same time this very weakness
has proved to be a source of strength. Multitudes of men and women who would
never be attracted by the lofty principles of pure Christianity, are ready to live
by it, and even die for it, when it is mixed with something earthly and cast into the
very human molds of denominationalism. We cannot bear to look at the white
light from heaven. It blinds us and stuns us, accustomed as we are to the half
darkness of human opinion and prejudice. And so we wear highly-colored eccle-
siastical glasses, which give to everything around us the denominational hue.
which we love. Thus it is that many of us go to our graves without ever having
caught the faintest glimpse of Christianity as it is when freed from its human ac-

690 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

cretions. The fact that Christianity has grown under these-circumstances, and is
to-day oae of the strongest, if not the strongest, force in modern life, is one of the
most convincing proofs of its divine claims.

Nevertheless, denominationalism has had its day, and the era of its decadence
has begun. In the past it drew men into the Church ; in the future it will drive
^hem out of the Church. Indeed, it is beginning to do so now. The old sanctions
of ecclesiasticism are losing their force with thinking people. The Christian de-
nominations are in a state of flux ; religious opinion and belief are in a condition of
chaos, out of which nothing is certain and everything is possible. And, as in the
case of all chaotic movements, so in this, many strange and counter tendencies ex-
ist side by side. There is the reactionary backward movement towards a mediae-
val conception of dogma and ceremony which is so puzzling in this materialistic
age, and there is on the other hand the movement away not merely from all set-
tled creeds and dogmas, but from every vestige of organize I Christianity. This
movement divides itself up into a number of smaller movements, and we have as a
result the new theology in its more orthodox manifestations, liberal Christianity of
all grades, free religion, agnosticism, and infidelity. Now, what the leaders of
Christian thought should do in this crisis is to provide temporary, though safe, in-
tellectual bridges over which men may travel from the old and outworn denomina-
tional conceptions of Christianity to the new and unknown conception of it that is
to be. The human mind cannot rest upon negations ; it must grasp something posi-
tive ; else it will sink under the black waters of pessimism and die. And it is here
that many of the leaders of the progressive movement in theology have erred.
They have not only torn down more than was necessary for their day and genera-
tion, but they have torn down much more vigorously and effectively than they
have built up. They should remember that although truth is mighty, and will
finally prevail, its day of triumph cannot be hurried nor anticipated. The Church
of the future, with its larger view of truth, will come in the future, not to-day.
What we of the present hour need to do is to wisely discern the signs of the times,
and find some feasible modus mvendi for the traditional forms of denomination-
alism and the newer and better Christian consciousness of the age.

JAMES B. WASSON.

VIII.

ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE ILLUSTRATED.

THE article in the last REVIEW on the intelligence of animals brings to my
mind a little incident that is related of a late distinguished gentleman, who, though
eminent as a statesman and constitutional lawyer, prided himself especially upon
his scientific attainments and the local celebrity he had won as a naturalist. He
was a firm believer in the possession of reason by most of the four-footed creation,
and he considered their intuitions and instincts keener and less liable to error
than those of man. Being, on a certain occasion, invited to deliver an address be-
fore a scientific association, he chose for his subject " Animal Intelligence," and in
the course of his remarks adduced the instance of a cat of remarkable sagacity
which had quartered herself upon his family. She was an unbidden guest, and an
unwelcome one, for she was continually under foot, in all parts of the house, but
particularly upon the front door step. No visitor ever rang the entrance bell but
puss was there to greet him ; and the door mat was her favorite couch at all hours
of the day and night. At last she became so intolerable a nuisance that the states-
man determined to be rid of her ; but not desiring to have her blood upon his
hands, he hit upon the expedient of taking her with him on his next visit to New

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 691

York City, and there leaving her on some crowded thoroughfare. The distance
was forty miles, and the cat not having, as he supposed, the keen scent of the dog,
she would never find her way back to again decorate his door mat. He acted on
this resolution, but, wonderful to relate, when he mounted his front door step on
his return at night the obnoxious puss was there to greet him. He recounted the
incident in his address, and, enumerating the number of creeks and rivers the
cat had been obliged to swim, he called special attention to it as a striking instance
of the remarkable intelligence, sagacity, and local attachment of her species.
There was a decided snicker in some parts of the audience when he told this story,
the occasion of which was as follows : Two young men, living in the neighbor-
hood, had gone to the city upon the train with the statesman, and observing that
he had the cat in the basket, and suspecting his intentions, they irreverently
decided to play upon him a practical joke. Following him from the railway sta-
tion, they noticed that he turned down Fourth avenue, and there, in an alleyway,
opened his basket and gave the cat her freedom. He was no sooner out of sight
than they caught the not unwilling creature, and putting her into another basket
took her home by an early train and deposited her in her accustomed place on the
statesman's door mat. The incident came near to ruining that gentleman's repu-
tation as a naturalist.

DANIEL WINTHROP

IX.

CHURCHMEN AND REFORMERS.

** ACCORDING to the laws of evolution, confirmed by history, every advance in
religion is the development of something going before. . . . According to the
principle of evolution, every growing and productive religion obeys the law of
heredity and that of variation. It has an inherited common life, and a tendency
to modification by individual activity."

It seems to me that the above statement, made by Rev. James Freeman Clarke
in an article entitled " Why I am Not a Free Religionist," in the October number
of the NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, is a correct one. Some of the illustrations of
it in history may be stated thus : Jewish monotheism grew out of polytheism ;
Christianity out of Judaism ; Islamism out of Christianity, insisting on monothe-
ism by exclusion of the worship of Mary and Jesus ; Protestantism out of Roman
Catholic Christianity ; Unitarianism out of Orthodox Protestantism ; and now,
the idea and its embodiment which (for want of a better name) are called Free
Religion, out of Unitarianism. All these changes, as Dr. Clarke justly says, are
modifications of a preceding system by individual activity, the activity of Moses,
Jesus, Mohammed, Luther, Channing, Parker, Frothingham. But Dr. Clarke not
only represents Free Religion as out of this order of development, but he neither
expresses nor implies the fact which explains these transformations, namely, that
each of them was formed by elimination of somewhat that investigation had
shown to be unsound in its predecessor. These changes illustrate the law of varia-
tion.

The law of heredity, " the inherited common life," is shown in each successive
change by its insistance on -righteousness as the thing indispensable in religion.
Character before creed is the idea of those who are now stigmatized as heter-
odox by the churches ; and, after the Free Religious Association has for twenty
years been preaching " Freedom, Fellowship, and Character in Religion," a mi-
nority of Dr. Clarke's own denomination in the West are making it conspicuous
as their standard, not without protest and apprehension on the part of the
majority.

692 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Admitting that the Christian Church continues to need reformation, Dr. Clarke
still insists that the reformation must come from within. No doubt it would be
vastly better that it should do so. But, when years and centuries pass without
movement within, while enormous public evils and vices are growing in extent
and virulence, it seems excusable, and even proper, that " individual activity," out-
side, should take up the work, and of this there have been many instances in the
present century.

Dr. Clarke, assuming much in behalf of the church which to me seems un-
founded, assumes also that " Every one who has at heart a morement for the benefit
of humanity appeals instinctively for aid to the Christian churches." This state-
ment was true in the first quarter of the 19th century ; up to the time when Noah
Worcester and William Ladd appealed to the churches to oppose war, and when
Garrison appealed to them to oppose slavery. All three were denied, at first with
utter indifference and disregard, and, when they persisted, with active opposition,
by the clergy and the churches. I am sorry to see such a misleading understate-
ment of fact by Dr. Clarke as that apart of the churches refused to sympathize
with the anti-slavery movement. Nineteen-twentieths of all the churches and of
all the clergy not only refused to sympathize, but threw the weight of their in-
fluence more or less actively against the movements for the abolition of war and
of slavery. Instructed by these demonstrations, later seekers for reform saw the
uselessuess of looking to the church for help. When Abby Kelley and Lucy Stone
saw that women were unjustly treated both in church and state ; when Felix
Adler saw that ethical culture was neglected by the churches, who stigmatized it as
" mere morality ;" when Henry George saw that those bodies were indifferent to the
enormous and increasing evil of pauperism, they saw it hopeless and a waste of
time to appeal to the churches, and they sought help in other quarters and found it.

Dr. Clarke says, in conclusion, " I prefer to remain in the communion of the
Christian body." He is, no doubt, in the communion of that very small division
of it which is most intelligent and enlightened ; but, when we remember that nine-
ty-nine hundredths of those who call themselves Christians deny him their fellow-
ship and oppose his view of religion as a dangerous heresy, and remember that all
the Christians together are bat a small minority of the earth's inhabitants, the at-
tainment of universality for what he recognizes as Christianity seems not only
distant, but doubtful ; especially since he admits that the present Christian world,
while it calls Jesus " Lord and Master," is building its faith on opinions about
Him, instead of taking Himself as its leader.

C. K. WHIPPLB.

BOOK EEVIEWS AND NOTICES.

I.

BECOLLECTIONS OF THE LAST FRENCH REVOLUTION.

THE recent death of the Hon. E. B. Washburne imparts a melancholy interest
to the two stately volumes just issued of his Recollections. * The period covered is that
of his Ministry to France— 1869-1877— from before the fall of the empire to the
establishment of the present Republic. The book is written in an interesting, un-
affected style, being almost a daily record of events. Mr. Washburne gives us pen
and ink sketches of Napoleon III. and the Empress Eugenie, from whom he received
many pleasant civilities. He was in Paris when war was declared against Germany,
and he narrates the political events which led to the short but decisive contest be-
tween the two great powers. Then came the flight of Eugenie and the death of
Napoleon , and soon afterwards the siege of Paris. During these exciting events Mr.
Washburne was at his post doing his duty, often, of course, with the most trying
and perilous surroundings. The successive changes of the French Ministry and the
excitable character of the population of Paris made his position a very delicate
and difficult one. Not only had he to look after the interests of his own country-
men, but he took upon himself, at the request of the German Goverment, the
guardianship of the rights and property of the German population in Paris. His
tact and judgment under all these circumstances were most noteworthy. The
Germans, from the Emperor to the poorest subject, have since regarded him with
love and veneration, and Mr. Washburne was always proud to show to his friends
the magnificent portraits of the Emperor and of Prince Bismarck, which those
eminent personages presented to him as a personal acknowledgment of bis diplo-
matic courtesy and efficiency. The most trying period of all was during the brief
reign of tho Commune, when the French Ministers retreated to Versailles, and the
diplomatic corps went with them— all except Mr. Washburne, who felt that the
interests of his own countrymen and of tbe Germans, who looked to him for pro-
tection and advice, made it necessary for him to remain at his post, and to enter
into diplomatic relations of a certain kind with the leading spirits of that anarchial
period. He gives us in these memoirs some very interesting personal details
respecting these men, who for a brief period held France at bay, and made riotous
and terrible u?e of their short lived but despotic power. He often interposed to
save valuable and innocent lives, sometimes successfully, oftener, alas ! in vain.
The name of America sufficed to keep personally respectful even the fiercest of the
miserable wretches who for a time ruled supreme, and to insure him practical
protection. The events leading to tbe recaptura of Paris by the regular troops and
the re-installment of the French Republican government are graphically told. On
the whole, the book is a noble contribution to historical literature, and has the merit,

* " Eecollections of a Minister to France, 1869-18T7." By E. B. Washburne, LL.D. With
illustrations. Charles Scribner's Sons.

094 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

not always belonging to such literature, of being in the highest degree readable. The
eminent author looked forward, we believe, with great interest to the publication
of these volumes, and it is deeply to be regretted that he has not been spared to
witness their cordial reception by his countrymen. The books are handsomely
bound and copiously illustrated.

II.

ECCLESIASTICAL, ECONOMY AND CHUECH LIFE.

NOTWITHSTANDING the wonderful vitality and the triumphant progress of the
Christian church, its best friends do not yet claim that its organization is perfect.
Viewed as a corporate body, consisting often of several hundred members, each
claiming a voice in her deliberations, it is not a matter of surprise that knotty
problems sometimes arise.

The ethics of church relations in all possible circumstances has never received
fuller or more able treatment than in the handsome volume,* edited and in part
written by the Rev. Washington Gladden. The inception of the work is due to
Mrs. Margaret Woods Lawrence, known as "Meta Lander," but her collected
material was purchased by the publishers, and by Mr. Gladden combined with his
own work and that of other men well versed in matters of social and ecclesiastical
polity. Prominent among these may be named the Rev. Drs. Lyman Abbott,
Josiah Strong, J. H. Vincent, T. T. Munger, H. M. Scudder, J. K. Nutting, A. F.
Schauffler, with Mr. Austin Abbott, Mr. E. C. Gardner, and Profs. Llewellyn and
Waldo Pratt.

The series of brief, crisp, suggestive essays, seventy-seven in number, is con-
veniently arranged under the general divisions of the Pastor's Call, Parish Busi-
ness, Parish Building, The Pastor at Home and at Work, Helping the Pastor,
The People at Work, The Sunday-School and Worship. No more than brief
mention of the most thoughtful is here possible.

Under The Pastor's Call, Mr. Gladden criticises the sentiment which would
prevent a weary and overworked pastor from seeking to change his field so long
as his services are acceptable. "If they [the churches] could create a sentiment
which would prevent a settled minister from receiving a call, the ministers would
be left in an embarrassing position. The attempt to create such a sentiment is an
attempt to form a kind of ecclesiastical trades-union, under which ministers shall
be wholly at the mercy of the churches." The practice of "stealing a pastor,"
as it is called, could be avoided by the establishment of ministerial bureaux, con-
ducted with so much dignity and delicacy that no clergyman need hesitate to en-
ter his name as an applicant. The still more difficult matter of getting rid of an
undesirable pastor is happily treated by Mrs. Lawrence.

So many churches suffer partial or entire shipwreck on account of financial
embarrassment that the practical opinions of an eminent lawyer as to the best
means of conducting parish business are well inserted in a work of this character.
Mr. Austin Abbott offers several short chapters of wise suggestions, in which he
carefully explains the principles underlying church organization, spiritual and
secular, and gives rules for the successful administration of church affairs, for con-
tracts, funds, and special trusts and financial accounts. And Mr. E. C. Gardner,
whose numerous and popular works on building entitle his opinions to considera-
tion, agreeably discusses the church edifice, favoring the use of the most durable
material and the choicest architectural designs, and insists that the interior shall

* " Parish Problems : Hints and Helps for the People of the Churches." Edited by Washing-
ton Gladden. — The Century Company.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 695

be light and cheerful. " Our perceptions, physical, mental, and moral, are most
easily led astray in the drowsiness that is sometimes honestly mistaken for devout-
ness and is apt to be induced by darkness. To avoid this danger the auditorium
should be light." Lovers of ecclesiastical splendor will not agree with the conclu-
sion that it is " inexcusably stupid to shut out from country and village churches
the beauty of trees, and skies, and distant hill-tops by horrible caricatures of ador-
ing but distracted-looking saints, depicted in colored glass and lead." Or " to pro-
fane Scripture texts by employing them for doubtfully decorative purposes in such
fantastic typography that they might as well be Egyptian hieroglyphics or un-
meaning arabesques." A few trenchant and eminently sensible words are added
about the practice of closing the church building, with all its beauty of adornment
and capacity for use, for six days out of seven.

To the popular delusion concerning the total depravity of parsonage children,
Mrs. Lawrence opposes certain statements gathered from carefully prepared sta-
tistics, by which it appears that of two thousand five hundred and thirty-five chil-
dren of ministers and deacons, whose careers have been traced to years of matur-
ity, only two and one-half per cent, have disgraced the family name and the sacred
office.

From his own abundant experience, Mr. Gladden writes of The Helpfulness
of Hearing, emphasizing some familiar truths, but especially urging remem-
brance of the fact that a large audience not only inspires the pastor to put forth his
best efforts, but induces greater intellectual and spiritual impressibility in the
hearers.

The most important chapters should, obviously, relate to the people at work.
Here, as elsewhere, Mr. Gladden's vigorous thoughts claim attention. He allows
no idlers in his corner of the vineyard. Do something, he entreats. " It is better
to be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than to be a dead-head." Dr. Abbott
has an excellent paper in this division on Mission Work in the Home Field,
which he finds suffering because of the lack of willingness to undertake home
work that is ready to hand, and he urges the giving of one's self. " The church
member drops a nickel on the missionary plate, and repeats, with a difference,
Isaiah's proffer, " Here, Lord, am I ; send Mm." More aggressive efforts are re-
quired. We must go out to the highways. They will not come to us.

Perhaps no chapters in the entire book will accomplish better results, if
thoughtfully considered, than two by the Rev. Dr. Josiah Strong on The Latent
Power in the Churches. Endeavoring to keep before the reader the true object
of the church institution, Dr. Strong pitnily says : " The church is not an ark, in
which the elect few may take refuge and float placidly along over the perishing
members of a lost race. It is not a ferry-boat intended to transfer idle passen-
gers to the heavenly shore." The latent power in numbers in financial matters;,
and in work, is conclusively shown, with ample and effective examples of its
operation. Under the latter topic, emphasis is laid on the fact, that whatever the
Christian's occupation, his BUSINESS is to save souls."

Some of the best Sunday-school writers in the country, notably Rev. Drs.
Vincent and Shauffler, discuss the purposes and best conditions for success in that
department of church work. The final section, on Worship, concludes with a
thoughtful paper by the Rev. R. G. Greene.

III.

RABELAIS.

YESTERDAY, a purified Rabelais would have been deemed an impossibility. To-
day, a most noteworthy achievement is precisely such a version, which has been

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

prepared by Mr. John Dimitry, and has been issued, as a book for the holidays,
under the title of " Three Gooa Giants." * The illustrations by Dore" and Robida
fit the stirring text.

It needed courage of a special kind to open a door leading to so many sealed
chambers. But now that the door swings wide, it is cause for wonder that no
one, up to this age of old things made new, should ever have thought the attempt
worth making. Three centuries have turned the high road once running to it
into a path untrodden save by scholars intent on wild guesses at what was never
meant to be guessable. One can easily fancy the old Cure" of Meudon chuckling
at the idea that his giants have, in a strange land and under other skies of which
he but dimly knew, been rated so high. Mr. Dimitry claims, however, that
Rabelais's gigantic creations, Grandgousier, Gargantua, and Pantagruel, are
"good," and cites for his witness Rabelais himself. In dividing his author
" sharply into incident and philosophy— throwing out the philosophy altogether "—
he seems to have found the only key to Rabelais on which learned pundits are
likely to agree. In all that touches the Giants he has followed the original closely
— cleansing it, as he goes along, from impurities, yet fairly preserving, through
all the chapters quick with marvelous deeds, the rollicking dash of its rtcit bouffon.
We note a few departures from the narrative part of the text. One we should
have been glad to have seen kept,— that old-world jest of the roast-meat seller and
the hungry porter. Its omission has the look of a lapse of the pen.

Such other changes as are found are invariably made in the line of morality.
Take, for instance, Chapter XXVIII. This is a chapter which has always been held
#s chief among the Rabelaisian atrocities. The compiler has put a clean story—
instead of a foul one — into the mouth of that unmatched rake Panurge, who gives
an explanation which he does not believe, and grins like an ape over it. This,
while a gain in purity, does not lose in point. The story is simply retold by mak-
ing the- innocent gambols of children stand for the lusty games of King Phara-
mond's jaunting party. Something more than graceful recognition of those pro-
prieties which are holy is shown in substituting a stout staff for doughty Friar
John's crucifix, in his mighty onslaught on the thieving Bunmakers of Lerne. It
is certainly curious — given, these material facts which have so long rested on a
cess-pool— to find a strong and skilled hand turning all into decency. No easy task
must it have been to treat a Master who has, for centuries, only been " trusted with
a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog." Yet, through this sustained swing of a
wonderful narrative, what least shows itself is the idea of a task. A story, poi-
soned throughout in the original by a vicious philosophy, reads here like a brave
tale of new-found giants. Rabelais's giants have now reached a dignity not known
in their history. For the first time, they will find a welcome in American homes.
They are worthy of it.

IV.

TOLSTOI'S SHORT STORIES.

OP the six short stories by Count Lyof Tolstoi which have been collected under
the title of the first,f none, with possibly a single exception, is of recent composi-
tion. At the age of twenty-three, Count Tolstoi, fascinated by his brother's

* " Three Good Giants." Recorded In the Ancient Chronicles of FRANCOIS KABELAIS. Com-
piled from the French by John Dimitry, A. M. Illustrated by Gustave Dor6 and A. Eobida.
Boston, Ticknor & Co., 1887.

t " The Invaders" and other stories. By Count Lyof N". Tolstoi. Translated from the Rus-
sian by Nathan Haskell Dole. T. Y. Crowell & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 697"

account of army life in the Caucasus, left home to serve in the corps of Junkers, or
non-commissioned officers of the nobility, and at this time, in the wild magnifi-
cence of those mountain regions, he probably made his first Jiterary ventures. To
this date are assigned the two sketches of army life which introduce the volume.
Of the others, " Polikuschka" was published in a magazine a few years-later, while
the " Kholstomir" appeared in 1861. It is therefore obviously unfair to compare
the work of the young count, full of the;romantic enthusiasm of his first military
experience, with that of the melancholy mystic, whose theories of social and
religious life have attracted so much attention. These early tales, however, if dis-
playing less power and complexity, bear the impress of true genius, and show a
development of the imaginative and introspective faculties most unusual in a
youth fresh from an incomplete university course. But Tolstoi's genius needs a
broader field than the brief limits of a sketch affords. A wide-spreading, wind-
swept steppe is not too wide for this fierce, untamed Mazeppa.

His minute analysis of character, and vivid descriptions of trivial events, is
as fascinating in these earlier productions as in the fruits of his later years. We
accompany him on his first night march. The crickets and grasshoppers are
awake in the tall grass. Frogs are croaking. The army crosses a bridge " amid
a crash of cannon, caissons, military wagons, and commanding officers shouting
at the top of their voices." We notice " the glow of a cigarette, casting a gleam
on a reddish mustache; a fur collar ; a hand in a chamois skin glove." We are under
fire for the first time. " When I realized that the enemy were firing at us, every-
thing that was in the range of my eyes at that moment assumed a new and ma-
jestic character. The stacked muskets, and the smoke of the bonfires, and the
blue sky, and the green gun-carriages, and Nikolai's sunburned, mustachioed face
—all this seemed to tell me that the shot which at the instant emerged from the
smoke, and was flying through space, might be directed straight at my breast."
" In the depths of my soul two voices were speaking with equal distinctness ; one
said, * Lord, take my soul in peace ;' the other, ' I hope I shall not duck my head
but smile while the ball is coming.' " We grieve honestly over the deaths of the
brave young ensign and of the guileless Velenchuk. We share his dread of seeing
the face of the wounded, or standing on the spot marked by the death struggle. Or,
we ride with him over the lonely steppe in a blinding snow-storm— our yamschuk
is unreliable, his back is not shaped like that of an honest driver,— we are slowly
freezing, all trace of the road is lost. Suddenly, the mind reverts to an incident
of childhood. It is a warm, idle afternoon, — a boy lies musing on a bench in the
garden. The flies fall heavily, like cherry-stones, on his heated face. Through
the red-stemmed rose-trees he sees the bright blue mirror of the pond. A woman
rushes in crying that a muzhik has fallen into the water ; he sees again the hasten-
ing of the peasants, the fruitless efforts to rescue the man ; he longs to jump into
the pond, but does not. Then the net is drawn in with its shining carp, and,
later, with something terribly still and white. All these things the reader plainly
sees, and then he returns, with the dreamer, to the blinding storm and the track-
less waste.

The sketch most resembling Tolstoi's later works, in style and subject, is " Poli-
kusha," a powerful stor.y of Russiam peasant life, the plot of which turns on the
conscription of a young peasant and his release by a sad tragedy of the ghastly
sort in which the author is fond of displaying his skill. But entirely unique and
unlike anything from this pen is the last sketch—" Kholstomir, the History of a
Horse. " Never did piebald gelding find a more faithful and sympathetic histo-
rian. It might be called a study in equine ethics. The piebald ife old. " There is
an honorable old age; there is a miserable old age; there is a pitiable old age; there

698 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

is also an old age that is both honorable and miserable. The old age which the
piebald gelding had reached was of this latter sort." He was of great size ; his
forelegs were crooked at the knees ; his body marked with signs of misfortune and
abuse. " The expression of his face was sternly patient, deeply thoughtful and
expressive of pain." His ugliness, albeit aristocratic ugliness, for he is of the breed
of the Orlofs, and has large black eyes, delicate skin and hair, is the more marked
by contrast with the colts of smooth and shiny skin, black and silken forelock, by
whom he is surrounded. The description of the horses to whom the hero relates
his adventures, as they are standing in the field on a summer morning, is a bit of
pastoral poetry worthy of Virgil or Izaak Walton. " 'Tis the tune when the rail-
bird, running from place to place among the thick reeds, passionately calls his
mate ; when, also, the cuckoo and the quail sing of love ; and the flowers send to
each other, on the breeze, their aromatic dust." The young colts, the yearlings,
and the handsome, coquettish bay mare, whose mission it is to tease the old horse,
are frisking about or bending their swan-like, short- shorn necks to nibble at the
blades of grass. " One of the older little colts, lifting for the twenty-sixth time
his rather short and tangled tail, like a plume, gamboled around his dam, who
calmly picked at the herbage, having evidently had time to sum up her son's char-
acter, and only occasionally stopping to look askance at him out of her big black
eye." The charming pictures of equine beauty could only have been drawn by a
lover of fine horses, and as keen in his perceptions as the artist of *' The Horse
Fair,"

•

V.

MODERN BATTLE FIELDS.

THE history of the world's progress in the nineteenth century is a promising
and comprehensive theme, and Mr. Knox brings to the difficult task which he
undertakes the pen of a ready and popular writer, a mind sufficiently dominated
by the historic imagination and personal acquaintance with nearly every field
which he describes.

Sir Edward Creasy's " Fifteen Decisive Battles," which book closes with the
battle of Waterloo, is naturally followed by that of Mr. Knox,* which, taking up
the thread of events at Waterloo, concludes with the Fall of Khartoum.

When Napoleon was making kings in the Bonaparte family, Ferdinand VII.,
of Spain, was deposed to give place to Joseph Bonaparte. The South American
•States, loyal to their sovereign, bravely defended his rights, and sent the mes-
senger who came to announce the change in government back to his home in
Spain to report that they knew no king but Ferdinand. The Spanish Peninsula
also refused to acknowledge the French sovereign, and provincial juntas were
formed, each claiming entire control in Spain and in the American colonies. The
Spanish-American States wisely concluded that the time was ripe for their
declaration of independence, and after a long and bloody warfare, in which the
country was ravaged and plundered, they succeeded in establishing a confedera-
tion of republics by the victory at Ayacucho, Peru, in 1824. Brazil, a Portuguese
dependency, received her fleeing king, and, with less difficulty, made herself for-
ever free from the Spanish yoke.

From South America to India is a long step around the globe, but the con-
quest of Burmah by the English justly deserves mention in the story of the world's
progress in this century, and while the battle of Prome, in the first Burmese war,

* " Decisive Battles Since Waterloo. The Most Important Military Events from 1815 to 188T. "
By Thomas "W. Knox. Illustrated. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 699

did not at once give the country into the hands of the British, it was the point
from which the dynasty of Aloinpra began to decline.

For fifteen years preceding 1830, the Mohammedans were connected with all
warfare of importance on the continent of Europe. In Hellas occurred one of the
bravest of these encounters. The Greek Hetairists, a secret society, having for
its object the freeing of their country from Turkish rule, had enrolled in its
highest rank, limited to sixteen members, Count Capo d'Istria, private secretary to
Alexander I. of Russia, and, as was secretly believed, the Czar himself, together
witb. the Crown Prince of Bavaria and Wurtemburg, the Hospodar of Wallachia,
and other distinguished personages. For many years this society existed without
the knowledge of the Turks, and, in the final event to their great dismay. The
barbarity of the ruling power flt length aroused the Greeks, and with the aid of the
Russian, Ecglish, and French allied forces, a battle was fought in the Bay of
Navarino, in which the Turkish fleet was destroyed with great loss of life, and the
Turks were forced to abandon Greece. To the ambassador's request for an inter-
view, the Sultan made reply: " My positive, absolute, definitive, unchangeable,
eternal answer is, that the Sublime Porte does not accept any proposition regard-
ing the Greeks, and will persist in his own will regarding them, even to the last
day of judgment." However, the threatened overthrow of the Ottoman Empire by
the allies at length brought the haughty ruler to submission.

The attitude of Russia towards the Greeks naturally arou&ed the hostility of
the Porte against that nation, and a series of battles, terminating in the siege
of Silistria, brought about the treaty of Adrianople, in favor of the Russians.
Following this, the fall of Algiers and capture of Antwerp, in 1832, brines us to
the familiar events of the Mexican struggle for Texas and the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.

The fertile region of the Punjaub, inhabited by the Sikhs, is the scene
of the decisive battle of Gujerat, by which a valuable track of land, including
nearly two hundred thousand square miles, became a part of British India.
Of equal interest, and more generally familiar, are the stories of Sebastopol and
Lucknow.

Of Chinese warfare, comparatively little has been known by reason of the
Celestial Kingdom's long centuries of exclusiveness. Mr. Knox classes the capture
of the forts in the Peiao River and Fekin among important events in the history
of nations, because by the succeeding treaty of Tien-Tsin the hitherto secluded
region was practically opened to the rest of the world. The journal of Mr.
Olyphant, Secretary of Lord Elgin, furnishes the data for the interesting account
of this achievement. By the treaty of Nankin, in 1843, having been violated by
the Chinese^, Lord Elgin sought in vain an audience with the Governor of Shang-
hai, and at length determined to force an entrance to the city. Up the river
Peiho, guarded on either side by mud forts, which were entirely unprotected in
the rear, but well supplied with cannon on the riverside, sailed the fleet, the first
hostile ships ever seen on this " River of the North." The Chinese gunners gave
them a loud greeting, and, owing to tbe peculiar Chinese babifc of hiding in a
bomb-proof when receiving the enemy's fire, the engagement was a long one, but,
to the great surprise of the natives, who supposed that fighting must be confined
to the fortified portion of the fort, the invaders entered from the rear. The poor
Chinamen fled with such haste that they could not be overtaken, and soon not one
was to be seen. A wholesome terror of the bright British sabres overwhelmed
those who attempted resistance. The forts were all captured, and the following
announcement appeared in the Pekin Gazette, concerning Tan, the Imperial Com-
missioner, to whom the task of driving out the barbarians had been committed :

700 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

" Whereas, Tan-Tin-Siang, already degraded from the office of Governor- General
of Chih-Li, has been found not guilty of cowardice and desertion, but in that his
operations were without plan or resource, his offense is not the less without excuse.
Let him be banished to the frontier [confines of Siberia], there to redeem his guilt
by his exertions."

The author has chosen for the representative battles of our civil war the
engagement of the Monitor and Merrimac, battles of Gettysburg and of Five
Points, and Lee's surrender. Sedan, Khiva, and Plevna, in the decade of 1870,
are followed by the history of the Russian overthrow of the Tekke Turcomans in
their fortified town of Geog Tepe, and the end of their barbarous alamans on the
defenseless Persians.

Each of the twenty-five battles is so amply illustrated by maps, sketches of
fortifications, and battle plans, that the lover of military tactics will find the book
an interesting study.

VI.

A SOCIALISTIC ROMANCE.

IN " Marzio's Crucifix" * one hardly knows which most to admire, the creative
talent which finds expression in the delineation of characters so true to life as the
artist chisseler Marzio and his family, or the dramatic genius which glows in
every page of the book. Marzio is a socialist at heart though an inimitable
worker in silver, and a true artist. He is thoroughly imbued with anarchical prin-
ciples, though he has made a fortune out of the Church which he would willingly
annihilate. Moreover, he is a domestic tryant, and remains so till the close of the
story ; but this feature of the man is brought out mainly through the manner in
which he finds his purposes crossed and thwarted through the influence of a
brother, a priest, who is the means of bringing him a succession of lucrative
orders, but, of course, discountenances his revolutionary principles. A wife and
daughter, and a young man in love with the latter, constitute the principal per-
sonages, and the plot of the story extends over less than two days. It will be
hard for any one to begin this book without finishing it at a sitting. The ways of
a middle class Roman household are drawn to the life. The scene is constantly
shifting, and the reader is kept on the qui-vive for some denouement or other which
never happens. The mere plan of the story is slight, but it is woven together
with consummate art. As it touches frequently upon socialistic questions it has an
interest aside from its effect as a mere story, and we cannot forbear making one
quotation from a conversation between the priest and his friend the Cardinal, in
which the Cardinal thus expresses himself — prophetically as many may think :
"Your brother represents an idea, which is a subversion of all social principle.
It is an idea which must spread because there is an enormous number of depraved
men in the world who have a very great interest in the destruction of law. The
watch word of that party will always be * there is no God,' because God is order
and they desire disorder. They will, it is true, always be a minority because the
greater part of mankind are determined that order shall not be destroyed. But
those fellows will fight to the death, because they know that in that battle there
will be no quarter for the vanquished. It will be a mighty struggle, and will last
long, but it will be decisive, and will perhaps never be revived when it is once
over. Men will kill each other wherever they meet, during months and years,
before the end comes, for all men who say that there is a God in Heaven will be
upon the one side, and all those who say there is no God will be upon the other."

* " Marzio's Crucifix." By F. Marion Crawford. Macmillan & Co.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 7Q1

"May we not be alive to see anything so dreadful!" exclaimed Don Paolo
devoutly.

" No, you and I shall not see it. But those little children who are playing
with chestnuts down there in the court — they will see it. The world is uneasy
and dreads tbe very name of war, lest war should become universal if it once
breaks out. Tell your brother that."

VII.

AN OCTOGENARIAN WOOER.

IN " Bledisloe"* there is the impress of strong native talent dealing with a well
worn subject in somewhat 'prentice fashion. A sporting English country rector
overhead in debt sees a way out of trouble by marrying off his oldest daughter to
an octogenarian nabob. A young man of mixed aristocratic and plebeian
descent, and with some objectionable family antecedents, but noble in bearing and
in purpose, has awakened a glimmer of love in the lady's breast, and naturally
feels decidedly blue at the prospect of the marriage. The young lady believes it
to be her duty to go to martyrdom for the sake of her father, whose debts the aged
Croesus is to assume immediately after the marriage ceremony. Around this cen-
tral romance the author weaves a readable little story, designed to bring out some
of the special features of country life in England. The scene is laid on the banks
of tbe Severn, near Gloucester. A peculiarity of the incoming tide as it meets the
swift downward current of the river at that part of its course is a rapid and turbu-
lent rising of tbe level of the water, advantage of which is taken by vessels desiring
to get in or out of the port of Gloucester. This peculiarity is designated " The Bore,"
and plays an interesting part in the story. Two young American ladies appear
at Bledisloe as inheritors of an ancient estate of moderate value, and are drawn
into the plot as spectators. The reader looks into the pictures of English life with
the eyes of these fair damsels, and the impressions likely to be produced under such
circumstances are, we think, fairly described. We find the customary bevy of
healthful English girls, and of young men who can ride across country, but one of
the American girls astonishes them all by her skill and daring on horseback, while
she also captures the heart of a crusty woman-hating bachelor cousin who " hates
Americans."

A great deal of the book is taken up with minor incidents and description, and
must be voted commonplace, but there are indications of power in the sketches of
the principal characters, particularly that of the aristocratic, selfish, easy going
rector, and the ancient party who aspires to carry off the fair prize. The two men
most interested meet, and the younger one begins to speak his mind, but the old
gentleman is his match at an argument. " A man who has lived his life" began
Irwine, " can afford to be indulgent to such an appeal as I now have to make

u Nay I that argument will not stand," smiled Sir Ralph. " Life is never lived
until the final hour is come. Life grows dearer as its sands run out ; because I am
fourscore years I cannot afford to spare a single hour of happiness to you who own
youth, genius, and success, with a physique the very gods might envy."

The author does not indiscriminately denounce disparity of age in wedlock.
4 ' The man of sixty, whose clean soul has lived in God's sight with child-like desire
to grow near to heaven, is a younger, fitter companion for a maiden than a blase"
youth of twenty." Unfortunately our octogenarian had drifted far beyond sixty,

* " Bledisloe; or, Aunt Pen's American Nieces." An International story. By Ada M. Trot-
ter. Cupples & Kurd.

VOL. CXLV. — NO. 373. 46

702 TBE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

and was never suspected of any child-like desire to grow near to heaven, but be was
the most cool and considerate of wooers, and how near he came to being a winner
the tale itself must say.

VIII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

AMONG men of % letters, educators, and readers of general literature there is an
increasing demand for books on special subjects, which shall be as far removed
from the tedious prolixity of the cyclopaedia as from the realms of fiction.
Between Miss Muhlbach's portrayal of Napoleon, for instance, and the minute
analysis of his life by Hazlitt or Scott, there is place for a brief biography, giving
in concise form the important events of his life, yet pleasantly colored by the
imagination of a master of literature. The busy man has no time to spend in
reading the larger work ; the other does not contain the facts for which he seeks.

Such brief standard biographies the Rev. E. E. Hale supplies in " Lights of
Two Centuries ;"* and while the author claims to have wrought for those interested
in educational work, his book will be found of service to any worker in the field of
literature, art, or science, as well as of interest to the general reader.

The biographies are arranged under the general divisions of artists and sculp-
tors, prose writers, composers, poets, and inventors, and the names selected,
usually ten under each heading, are intended to include the master minds in each
department. The fairness of omitting the names of Lamb and Addison from the
list of master prose writers may be questioned. Lovers of art will agree that the
selection of Watteau, Hogarth, Reynolds, Canova, Thorwaldsden, Turner, Ingres,
Barye, Millet, and Bastien-Lepage, fairly represents the school ot great artists
and sculptors. Mr. Hale justly says: "Many of the workers whose objects have
been the enlightenment and happiness of the human race have been so bound
together in their labors that they have, in a measure, ceased to exist as individuals."
And, " If in these pages the reader fails to find the name of some favorite writer,
composer, artist, or inventor, let him feel sure that the omission was made with
reluctance on the part of the editors of this book."

In this age of prof use Shakespearian literature it seems strange to say that Mrs.
O'Connor's book+ fills a " long felt want;" yet this is exactly what maybe said of
it. It is a compact, thorough, and handy compilation, a condensation of the expen-
sive and rare indices and concordances which have previously been published. It
will prove a great convenience to the casual reader of Shakespeare, and schools will
find it the best book of reference that has appeared for some time.

In the October number of THE REVIEW. Mr. Allen Thorndike Rice, contrast-
ing the recent progress of the United States with the progress of Great Britain
during the Victorian era, said : u In the arts of typography and illustration we
are far ahead of the United Kingdom." The truth of his remark is exemplified by
a work recently published by the J. B. Lippincott Company. $ Six etchings of re-
markable power, and most beautifully reproduced, illustrate the text of an essay

* "Lights of Two Centuries." Edited by Rev. E. E. Hale. Illustrated with fifty portraits.
A. S. Barnes & Co.

t "An Index to the Works of Shakspere." By Evangeline M. O'Connor. D. Appleton &
Co.

£ " Faust : The Legend and the Poem." By William 8. Walsh, with etchings by Hermann
Faber. J. B Lippincott Company.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 703

on the origin and development of the Faust legends, poems, and plays. More thsn
two thousand seven hundred and thirteen books, pamphlets, musical compositions,
and plastic and pictorial illustrations, dealing with the legend of Faust have been
printed in Europe ; but none of them equal in beauty of typography and illustra-
tion the volume under review. As a holiday gift this book is unrivaled by any-
thing yet presented to our notice.

Miss Hapgood's translation of '" Les Miserables" * has the merit of close fidelity
to the original without being too slavishly literal. The reader receives an excellent
impress of the peculiar and bracing style of the author. The publishers are to be
commended for producing this remarkable work in one volume at a low price.
To accomplish this a very light and thin paper is used, but the type is new and
clear, and the work will receive a wide welcome.

Bridge accidents are so often happening that any judicious explanation of the
cause and cure must be regarded as timely. Mr. Vose is a highly competent au-
thority and has had extensive experience in bridge construction. Town authorities
and others who contemplate building highway bridges will do well to consult his
short treatise on Bridge Disasters^ before committing themselves to a contract.
Mr. Vose states that during the past ten years over two hundred railroad bridges
in the United States have broken down, and he argues that the present system and
methods of inspection are very little better than a farce. With regard to highway
bridges matters are still worse. For all this there is a simple remedy in building
bridges properly, with good material, on safe calculations as to strength, and
under impartial and competent inspection.

There is a quaintness and sadness about Mr. Bunner's " Story of a New York
House,"* which takes strong hold of the reader. This is not a novel, but a page
of local history. The names may be invented, but the facts are as here narrated.
From 1807 to 1875, or thereabouts, New York has made mighty progress, but in-
dividuals and families grow old and pass away, and this is the one unvarying
round men call life. Vanitas vanitatum is the moral of this melancholy tale, but
the book is a poem and a study.

To write a novel which shall find its heroes and heroines in a, matter-of-fact
community of country farmers in New York State is, one would think, a trying
task. The author of "Seth's Brother's Wife"§ has produced a story of u lequal merit,
but succeeds in holding the attention of the reader, partly by reason of the very
homeliness of the material selected for his work. Few things can be less attract-
ive or romantic-looking than a neglected and impoverished American farmhouse
and its surroundings, and the lean, hard-featured people living and moving about
it. The story starts from such a place . A great deal of it is written in what pur-
ports to be the dialect of the northern part of the State, and as the plot advances
it is easy for any one who has mingled amongst farm folk in this latitude to recog-

* "Les Miserables." By Victor Hugo. Translate'] from the French by Isabel F. Hapgood.
1vol. T. Y. Crowell & Co.

t " Bridge Accidents in America. The Cause and the Eemedy." By George L. Vose. Lee &
Shepard.

$ "The Story of a New York House." By H. C. Bunner. Illustrated by A. B. Frost.
Charles Scribner's Sons.

§ 'Seth's Brother's Wife." A study of life in the greater New York . By Harold Frederic.
Charlea Scribner's Sons.

704 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

nize familiar people and scenes. The fidelity of the artist to nature is perhaps
the principal charm of this book. The old homestead with its shaky barns and
lean cattle, the soil-stained, lanky hired man, the maiden aunt, the dull round of
drudgery are drawn to the life. The gradual decay of a once thrifty and prosper-
ous family and its upbuilding again through the ambition of a scion of the house
are skillfully described. The youngest son is liberated from the distasteful plow,
and becomes a journalist and editor, and here again there are some strong and
faithful touches which appeal feelingly to all those who have gone through similar
experiences. A sentimental attachment springs up between this youtli and his more
matured sister-in-law, but a more healthy love saves him not only from scandal,
but from the suspicion of a fearful crime which flings its shadow across his path.
There are pieces cf true character sketching and the outline of the plot is strong,
but the details we think are rather feebly drawn. One sees too clearly from the
first just how matters will work out. There is an evident overhaste in the com-
position. With more time and thought the author would have produced a greater
novel.

Mr. James Baldwin has been very skillful in his attempt to weave into a con-
nected story for the young some of the old Greek myths, as a prelude to the read-
ing of Homer and other classic productions, either in the original or in trans-
lations.

" A Story of the Golden Age" * begins with a glimpse at sea-girt Ithaca, the
home of King Laertes, and we are soon introduced to the boy Odysseus and his
tutor, and to the details of their journey to the halls of old Autolycus, and the
series of adventures following.

Short, crisp chapters, throwing some light on the boyhood of famous authors
is what we find in Mr. Rideing's book. I- The sketches will prove both entertain-
ing and stimulative to lads of average mold, but we are bound to say that in
every case the facts collected together are few. There is no claim to the term
biographical. Most of the eighteen authors selected are Americans, the excep-
tions being Gladstone, Boyesen, and James Payn.

One of the brightest novels of the season is entitled " Paradise,'^ by Lloyd S.
Bryce. It is written in a bright and sprightly style, and in such faultless lan-
guage that it reminds one of the ablest masters of French fiction — tbe literary
touch is so firm and yet so dainty, the style so pure and sparkling ; the plot so sim-
ple, yet. always of such absorbing interest ; the dialogue so crisp and natural, while
the delicate sarcasm and refined humor that characterize every chapter are seen to
be merely the glistening of the weapon of an earnest moral purpose. The author
has taken for the theme of his story the social and moral confusion wrought by
our conflicting and loosely-drawn laws of divorce, by which either stupidity or
criminality — the fool or the knave — may have tbe marriage obligations dissolved
by law with or without adequate cause. General Bryce is to be congratulated on
his first story, which has so many and such varied merits that it may be re-
garded as the sure prophecy of a most successful career in literature.

* "A Story of the Golden Age." By James Baldwin. Illustrated by Howard Pyle. Chas.
Scribner's Sons.

t" The Boyhood of Living Authors." By Wm. H. Ktdeing. T. Y. Crowell & Co.
J " Paradise." By Lloyd S. Bryce. Funk & Wagnalls.

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES. 705

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Charles Scribner^s Sons.

History of the Christian Church. With maps. George Park Fisher, D.D.,

LL.D.

The Story of the Psalms. Henry Van Dyke, D.D.

Guatemala : The Land of the Quetzal. A Sketch. William T. Brigham, A.M.
Seth's Brother's Wife. A study of life in the greater New Y0rk. Harold

Frederic.

A Story of the Golden Age. James Baldwin. Illustrated by Howard Pyle.
Sermons for Children, including the Beatitudes and the Faithful Servant.

Preached in Westminster Abbey. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D.
Fifteen Years in the Chapel of Yale College, 1871-1886. Noah Porter.

J. B. Lippincott Co.

The Deserted Village, by Oliver Goldsmith. With etchings by M. M. Taylor.

Ida Waugh's Alphabet Book. Verses by Amy E. Blancbard.

Priuce Little Boy and other Tales out of Fairy Land. S. Weir Mitchell, M.D.,

LL.D.
Faust ; the Legend and the Poem. With etchings by Herman Faber. William

S. Walsh.

T. Y. Crowell & Co.

Les MiseYables. Victor Hugo. Translated from the French by Isabel F.

Hapgood.

The Babyhood of Living Authors. William H. Rideing.
Burnham Breaker. Homer Greene.

E. Glaeser.

The Social Question in the Light of History and the Word of Truth. Rev.
John H. Oerter, D.D.

Chas. L. Webster <K Co.

Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock. By his Wife.
The Genesis of the Civil War. The Story of Sumter, 1860-61. Samuel
Wylie Crawford, Brevet Major-General, U. S. A.

Lee & Shepard.

The Life and Times of Wendell Phillips. George Lowell Austin. New edition.
Human Life in Shakespeare. Henry Giles. With introduction by John Boyle

O'Reilly.
Perseverance Island ; or, the Robinson Crusoe of the Nineteenth Century.

Douglas Frazer. Illustrated. New edition.
C. a Ira ! or Danton in the French Revolution. A Study. Lawrence Gron-

lund.

D. Appleton & Co.

An Index to the Works of Shakespere. Evangeline M. O'Connor.

Theodore Sutro.

The Sutro Tunnel Company, and the Sutro Tunnel. Report to the stock-
holders.

The Century Co.

I. The New Day. A Poem in Songs and Sonnets. II. The Celestial Passion.
III. Lyrics. Richard Watson Gilder.

L. C. Baker.

The Fire of God's Angel, or Light from the Old Testament upon the New
Testament Teaching concerning Future Punishment. L. C. Baker.

706 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

J. Thompson Gill.

Within and "Without. A philosophical, lego-ethical, and religious romance,
in four parts.

Woman's Temperance Publication Association.

Childhood ; its Care and Culture. Mary Allen West.

A. S. Barnes & Co.

An Outline of Anglo-Saxon Grammar, from the Appendix of Harrison & Bas-
kerville's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. W. M. Baskerville.

Macmillan <& Co.

Marzio's Crucifix. F. Marion Crawford.

Oupples db Hurd.

Thoughts. Second Series. Ivan Panin.

Bledesloe ; or, Aunt Pen's American Nieces. An international story. Ada M.

Trotter.
Zorah, a Love Tale of Modern Egypt. Elizabeth Balch .

Funhdk Wagnalls.

The Science of Politics. Walter Thomas Mills.

Thomas WhittaJcer.

Morality. Robert B. Fairbairn D.D., LL. D.

O. P. Putnam's Sons.

Sketch of American Finances, 1789-1835. John Watts Kearny.

INDEX

TO THE

HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH VOLUME

OF THE

Agnostic Side, The. 473.
America, English Taxation in, 563.
American, The Future, 286.
AMORY, C. F. An American Penal Col-
ony, 212.

Anarchy, Criticism of, 545.
Andover Controversy, 539.
Animals, Are the Lower, Approaching

Man? 516.

Animal Intelligence Illustrated, 690.
Artificial Cold, 261.
ATWELL, V. PERRY. Plea for Frac-
tional Currency, 574.
Authorship of the Glacial Theory, 94.
AYRAULT, ETIENNE. Old Yachts and

New, 573.
BASER, GEORGE. Comments on Letters

of Gideon Welles, 69.
Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy, 46,

422, 426, 555, 603.
BALL, JOHN, JR. Mistakes of Cardinal

Gibbons, 570.
BALLOU, WILLIAM HOSEA. The

Future American, 286; Are the Lower

Animals Approaching Man? 516.
BARRETT, LAWRENCE, Concerning

Shakespeare, 603.
Battle of Petersburg, Part I, 367; Part

II., 506.
BEAUREGARD, G. T. The Battle of

Petersburg, Part I., 367; Part II.,

506.

Beauregard, G. T., Reply to, 573.
BLACK, HUGH. "Fra Ba Wrt Ear

Ay," 422.

Black, Hugh, Criticism of. 555.
Blaine, James G. Possible Presidents,

221.

Blockade of Charleston, The, 573.
Blundering: American Diplomacy, 313.
BOUCICAULT, DION. Decline and Fall

of the Press, 33 ; Coquelin-Irving,

158.
BOTHWICK, ALICE B. English Women

as a Political Force, 81.
BRYCE, LLOYD S. A Service of Love,

276 ; Primitive Simplicity, 545.

BYERS, S. H. M. Sherman's March to

the Sea, 235.
Calhoun, John C., 246.
California 100-foot Law, 570.
CAMPBELL, WALLACE F. The Court of

Public Opinion, 103.
CHAMPLIN, GEOFFREY. The California

100 foot Law, 570 ; Our National Di-
gestion, 688. •

Charleston, Blockade of, 573.
CHARY AR. See MADHWA-CHARYAR.
Chestnut Bur, A, 539.
Christian Thought, Duty of the Leaders

of, 689.

Churchmen and Reformers, 692.
Cipher, Baconian, 46, 422, 426, 555.
Ciphers, Those Wonderful, 555.
Claims against the Government, 206.
CLARK, EDWARD GORDON. " Bakon,

Shaxpere — We," 426.
Clark, Edward Gordon, Criticism of,

555. .

CLARKE, JAMES FREEMAN. Why I am

Not a Free Religionist, 378.
Cleveland, Grover. Possible Presidents,

629.
CLEWS, HENRY. Delusions About Wall

Street, 410.

CLINTON, HARRIS J. Compulsory Vot-
ing Demanded, 685.
Coming Civilization, 657.
Concerning Shakespeare, 603.
CONWAY, MONCURB D. The Queen of

England, 120.
Coquelin-Irving, 158.
Court of Public Opinion, The, 103.
CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

Yoke of the Thorah, Sydney Luska,

Miss Bayle's Romance, 105.

John Sevier : the Commonwealth
Builder, James R. Gilmore (Ed-
muudKirke), 105.

History of England in the 19th Cen-
tury, W. E. H. Lecky, 106.

Dante and His Circle, D. G. Rossetti,

708

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

Sigrid, J. T. Thoroddsen, 216.

Taras Bulba, N. V. Gogol, 216.

Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky,
216.

The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, Count Tol-
stoi, 216.

Things Seen, Victor Hugo, 217.

The Court of the Khedive, H. A. But-
ler, 218.

Liber Amoris, H. B. Carpenter, 219.

Kame'hamiha, C. M. Newell, 219.

Saracinesca, F. M. Crawford, 220.

Journal of the Reign of Queen Vic-
toria, 1852 to 1860, C. C. F. Gre-
ville, 331.

Retrospections of America, J. Ber-
nard, 331.

Recollections of a Private Soldier, F.
Wilkeson, 332.

Memories of the Men Who Saved the
Union, Donn Piatt, 333.

My Confession, Count Tolstoi, 334.

Solar Heat, Gravitation, and Sun
Spots, J. H. Kedzie, 335.

Tchitchikoff' s Journeys, N. V. Gogol,
337.

Conventional Cant, Sidney Whitman.
338.

Years of Experience, G. B. Kirby, 339.

Moral Philosophy, A. P. Peabody. 340.

Talks with Socrates About Life, 341.

Some Problems of Philosophy, A.
Alexander, 341.

Pharaohs of the Bondage and the
Exodus, C. S. Robinson, 341.

Volcano Under the City, 342.

Ancient Cities of the New World,
De~sire" Charnay, 458.

Life of Leo Thirteenth, B. O'Reilly,
460.

China, J. H. Wilson, 462.

Pleasures of Life, J. Lubbock, 464.

Electric Motor, T. C. Martin and J.
Wetzler, 465.

Huguenots and Henry of Navarre, H.
M. Baird, 466.

Word Studies in the New Testament,
M. R. Vincent, 467.

Around the World on a Bicycle, T.
Stevens, 468.

Red Spider, S. B. Gould, 469.

Thraldom, J. Sturgis, 469.

Select Poems, A. C. Swinburne, 469.

My Lodger's Legacy, R. W. Hume,
470.

Agatha and the Shadow, 470.

Beecher Memorial, E. W. Bok, 471.

History of Modern Philosophy, K.
Fischer, 576.

Introduction to Psychological Theory,
R. P. Bowne, 577.

Psychology, J. McCosh, 578.

Kant's Ethics, N. Porter, 579.

What to Do ? Count Tolstoi, 579.

American Literature, E. P. Whipple,
580.

CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.
The Russian Church, A. F. Heard,

581.
Brief Institutes of History, E. B.

Andrews, 583.
Collection of Letters of Thackeray,

584.

Bodyke, H. Norman, 585.
Henry Wads *orth Longfellow, G. L.

Austin, 585.
French for Young Folks, J. D.

Gailard, 586.
Medical and Surgical Memoirs, J.

Jones, 586.
Revolution in Tanner's Lane, Mark

Rutherford, 586.

On the Susquehanna, W. A. Ham-
mond, 587.

The Van Gelder Papers, J. T. I. , 587.
RecollectioDs of a Minister to France,

E. B. Washburne, 693.
Parish Problems, Edited by W. Glad-
den, 694.

Three Good Giants, J. Dimitry. 695.
The Invaders, Count Tolstoi, 696.
Decisive Battles since Waterloo, T. W.

Knox, 698.
Marzio's Crucifix, F. M. Crawford,

700.

Bledisloe, A. M. Trotter, 701.
Lights of Two Centuries, E. E. Hale,

702.
Index to Shakspere, E. M. O'Connor,

702.

Faust, W. S. Walsh, 702.
Les MiserabJes, V. Hugo, 703.
Bridge Accidents, G. L. Vose, 703.
Story of a New York House, H. C.

Bunner, 703.
Seth's Brother's Wife, H. Frederic,

703.
Story of the Golden Age, J. Baldwin,

704.

Boyhood of Living Authors, W. H.
• Rideing, 704.
Paradise, L. S. Bryce, 704.
Dahomey, King of, 355.
Daughters, What Shall we do With

Our, 326.
DAVIS, JEFFERSON. John C. Calhoun,

246.

Decline and Fall of the Press, 33.
Defects in Our Political and Social In-
stitutions, 345.

Delusions About Wall Street, 410.
Democratic Party Outlook, The, 267.
DICKERSON, WILLIAM TINGLE. A
Posthumous Letter by Gov. Wise,
456.

Diplomacy, Blundering American, 313.
Dissent in England, 645.
DONNELLY, IGNATIUS, The Shake-
speare Myth. Part II., 46.
Donnelly, Ignatius, Criticism of, 555.
DORSET, STEPHEN W. Land Stealing

in New Mexico, 397.
Drama, The Sister of, 100.

INDEX.

709

EATON, DORMAN B. Grover Cleveland.
Possible Presidents, 644.

Elections, Proposed Bill to Reform, 435.

Elections. Amendment to Law of, 570.

Electoral Reform, 435, 576, 685.

Emerson Morley on, 102.

England, The Queen of, 120 ; Dissent
in, 645.

English and American Progress Con-
trasted, 435.

English Taxation in America, 563.

English Women as a Political Force, 81.

EVANS, E. P. Authorship of the Gla-
cial Theory, 94.

FIELD , HENRY M. Letter to Col . Robert
G. Ingersoll, 128; Last Word to
Robert G. Ingersoll, 616.

Field, Henry M., Open Letter to, 324.

Field, Henry M., A Reply to, 473.

Finance. A Monetary Whim Exploded,
454.

Fractional Currency, Plea for, 574.

Free Religionist, Why I am a, 8; Why
I am not a, 378.

FROTHINGHAM, O. B. Why I am a
Free Religionist, 8.

Future American, The, 286.

GANNETT, A. M. Morley on Emerson,
102.

GARFIELD, JAMES A. My Personal
Finances, 40.

GEORGE, HENRY. The New Party, 1.

GIBBONS, JAMES, Cardinal. Some De-
fects in Our Political and Social In-
stitutions, 345.

Gibbons, James, Cardinal, Mistakes
of, 570.

Glacial Theory, Authorship of the, 94.

GLADSTONE, W. E. Universitas Homi-
num, 589.

Government, Claims Against the, 206.

Grant, U. S. See WELLES.

HAMILTON, GAIL. A Chestnut Bur,
539.

Health Insurance, 187.

Heathen, A Plea for the Pagan, 324 ;
Why am I a, 169 ; Why I am not
a. 306.

Hill, David B. Possible Presidents, 385.

History, Unity of, 589.

HUTCHINSON, WOODS. Health Insur-
ance, 187.

Ingersoll, Letter to Col. Robert G.,
128 ; Last Word to, 616.

INGERSOLL, ROBERT G. The Agnostic
Side, 473.

Institutions, Some Defects in Our Politi-
cal and Social, 345.

Insurance, Health, 187.

Intelligence, Possibilities of Animal,
516.

Inter-State Railway Solvent, The, 86.

Ireland and the Victorian Era, 664.

Irish Aid in the American Revolution,
97, 319.

Irving, Coquelin-, 158.

Johnson, Andrew. See WELLES.

JULIAN,- GEORGE W. Land-Stealing
in New Mexico, 17, 684.

KELLER, W. T. S. General Pope and
the Public Schools, 214.

KIRKE, EDMUND. Old Times on the
Western Reserve, 162. See also GAR-
FIELD.

Know-N^thingism, The New and the
Old. 192. Letter from Governor
Wise, 456.

Labor, The New Party, 1.

Land-Stealing in New Mexico, 17, 397,
684.

Last Word to Robert G. Ingersoll, 616.

LEAVITT, SAMUEL. The Comins: Pro-
ducers' Party, 209.

LEE, YAN PHOU. Why I am not a
Heathen, 306.

Letters to Prominent Persons. No. 6,
Part II . To Hon. James Russell Low-
ell, 46.

LOCKE, DAVID R. High License No
Remedy, 291.

Lowell, James Russell, To. Part II.,
46.

MADHWA-CHARYAR, SCRIMAN. A Plea
for the Pagan Heathen, 324.

MAGNUS, JULIAN. Wanted: A Repre-
sentative Theatre, 568.

Man? Are the Lower Animals Approach-
ing, 516.

March to the Sea, Sherman's, 235.

MCGLYNN, EDWARD. The New Know-
Nothingism and the Old, 192.

MEEHAN, THOMAS F. Irish Aid in the
American Revolution, 319. English
Taxation in America, 563.

Morley on Emerson, 102.

My Friend the King, 355.

National Debt, Payment of, 180.

National Digestion, Our, 688.

National Guard, The, 276.

NELSON, GEORGE. National Plague -
Spots, 687.

New Mexico, Land-Stealing in, 17, 397.

Nihilism, Criticism of, 545 .

No American Siberia, 326.

NOBLE, EDMUND. No American Si-
beria, 326.

NORTON, CHARLES LEDYARD. Presi-
dential Hand Shaking, 686.

Old Times on the Western Reserve, 162.

OSBORNE, DUFFIELD. Irish Aid in the
American Revolution, 97.

OSWALD, FELIX L. Summer Refriger-
ation, 261 ; The Coming Civilization,
657.

PARKER, JOSEPH. Dissent in England,
645.

PARKER, WILLIAM HARWAR. Reply
to Gen. Beauregard, 573.

Party, The New, 1.

Party, The Democratic, Outlook, 267.

Party, The Coming Producers', 209.

Payment of the National Debt, 180.

Penal Colony, An American, 212. No
Penal Colony, 326.

710

THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

Petersburg, Battle of, Part I., 367; Par*

II., 506
PHILLIPS, WILLIAM A. Claims against

the Government, 206.
PIATT, A. SANDERS. Payment of the

National Debt, 180.
Plea for the Pagan Heathen, 324.
Political Institutions, Some Defects in

Our Political and Social Institutions,

345.
Pope, Gen., and the Public Schools,

214.
PORTER, DAVID D. Letter to Gen.

Sherman, 553.
Possible Presidents : James G. Elaine,

221 ; David B. Hill, 385 ; John Sher-
man, 524 ; Groyer Cleveland, 629.
Possibilities of Animal Intelligence, 516.
PRATT, IS. G. The Sister of the Drama,

100.

Presidents. See Possible Presidents.
Presidential Hand-Shaking, 686.
Press, Decline and Fall of, 33.
Primacy, The Race for the, 435.
Producers' Party, The Coming, 209.
Progress, American, during Fifty Years,

Public Opinion, The Court of, 103.
Public Schools, Gen. Pope and the,

214.

Public Schools, No Sectarian, 688.
Queen of England, The, 120.
QUIN, JEREMIAH. No Sectarian Public

Schools, 688.

Railway, the Inter-State, Solvent, 86.
REDPATH, JAMES. Electoral Reform,

435.

Refrigeration, Summer, 261.
Revolution, Irish Aid in the American,

97, 319.

RICE, ALLEN THORNDIKE Introduc-
tion to Possible Presidents, 221 ; The

Race for the Primacy, 435.
ROGERS, HENRY. A Monetary Whim

Exploded, 454.
SCHUSTER, E. What Shall We Do

With Our Daughters, 326.
SCRUGGS, WM. L. Blundering Amer-
ican Diplomacy, 313; The "State

Sovereignty" Heresy, 456.
SEARLE, W. S. Sedentary Men and

Stimulants, 146.

Sedentary Men and Stimulants. 146.
Service of Love, A, 276.
Seward, W. H. See WELLES.
Sherman, John. Possible Presidents,

524.
Sherman, W. T. Letter from Admiral

Porter, 553.

Sherman's March to the Sea, 235.
Shakespeare-Bacon Controversy, 46,

422, 426, 555, 603.

Shakespeare, Cipher in Epitaph, 422,
426,555. Cipher in Plays, 46, 555.

Simplicity, Primitive, 545.
Sister of the Drama, The, 100.
Social Institutions. Some Defects in
Our Political and Social Institutions,
345.

Speculation. Delusions About Wall
Street, 410.

State Interference, 109.

"State Sovereignty" Heresy, The, 456.

Stimulants, Sedentary Men and, 146.

Stock Speculation, Delusions About
Wall Street, 410.

SULLIVAN, ALEXANDER. Ireland and
the Victorian Era, 664.

Summer Refrigeration, 261.

Sumner, Charles. Kee WELLES

SUMNER, W. G. State Interference, 109.

Taxation, English, in America, 563.

Theatre, Wanted : A Representative,
568.

Those Wonderful Ciphers, 555.

United States. See America.

Victorian Era, Progress of America
during, 435 ; Ireland and the, 664.

Vikings, Ships of, 573.

VINTON, ARTHUR DUDLEY. Those Won-
derful Ciphers, 555.

War Letters, Admiral Porter to Gen.
Sherman, 553.

WASSON, JAMES B. Duty of the
Leaders of Christian Thought, 689.

WATSON, J. W. My Friend the King,
355.

WATTERSON, HENRY. The Democratic
Party Outlook, 267.

WELCH, JOHN C. The Inter-State Rail-
way Solvent, 86.

WELLES, GIDEON. Johnson, Grant,
Seward, Sumner, 69.

Western Reserve, Old Times on, 162.

WINTHROP, DANIEL. Animal Intelli-
gence Illustrated, 690.

WHIPPLE, C. K. Churchmen and Re-
formers, 692.

Why I am a Free Religionist, 8.

Why I am not a Free Religionist, 378

Why am I a Heathen ? 169.

Why I am not a Heathen, 306.

What shall we do with our Daughters ?
326.

kindle, C. F. A . , Criticism of, 555.

Wise, Henry A., Posthumous Letter
of, 456.

Women, English, as a Political Force,
81.

WONG CHIN Foo. Why am I a Heath-
en ? 169.

Yachts, Old, and New, 573.

YAN PHOU LEE. Why I am not a
Heathen, 306.

Seventy-Third Year. Tros Tyriusque nrihi nullo discrimine agetur. Vol. 145: No. 1.

THE

NORTH AMERICAN

REVIEW/^,

EDITED BY ALLEN THORNblKE RICE.

July, 1887.

I. The New Party HENRY GEORGE.

II. Why am I a Free Religionist ? . REV. O. B. FROTHINGHAM.

HI. Land-Stealing in New Mexico GEORGE W. JULIAN.

IV. The Decline and Fall of the Press .... DION BOUCICAULT.

V. My Personal Finances PRESIDENT GARFIELD.

VI. Letters to Prominent Persons ...... ARTHUR RICHMOND.

No. 6, Part 2d.— To Hon. James Russell Lowell.

VII. The Shakespeare Myth IGNATIUS DONNELLY.

Part 2d. — The Bacon Cipher. . ;\-fi

VIII. Johnson, Grant, Seward, Sumner GIDEON WELLES.

With Comments by GEORGE BABER.

IX. English Women as a Political Force . . . LADY BORTHWICK.

X. The Inter-State Railway Solvent JOHN C. WELCH.

XI. Authorship of the Glacial Theory .... PROF. E. P. EVANS.
XII. Irish Aid in the American Revolution . DUFFIELD OSBORNE.

XIII. The Sister of the Drama S. G. PRATT.

XIV. Morley on Emerson A. M. GANNETT.

XV. " The Court of Public Opinion." . . WALLACE F. CAMPBELL.

XVI. Current American Literature.

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THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

VOL. 144.— JANUARY TO JUNE, 1887.

JANUARY NUMBER.

The Renaissance of Nationalism, by Judge Tourgee ; Socialism, Its Fallacies and Dangers, ly
Charles Bradlaugh ; Progress of Minnesota, by The Governor ; Future of the National Banking
System, by John Jay Knox ; Good Works of False Faiths, by Gail Hamilton ; The Anthracite
Coal Pool, by James F. Hudson ; Some War Memoranda, by Walt Whitman ; Why am I a
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Chase ; What shall be Done with the Surplus ? by W. M.'Grosvenor ; Labor in Pennsylvania,
by Henry George ; Burnside's Controversies with Lincoln ; Religion, by George Sand ; Henry
George's Land Tax, by Edward Gordon Clark ; Are the Heathen our Inferiors ? by Joseph
Hewes ; Defense of the President, by Donn Piatt.

FEBRUARY NUMBER.

Political Economy in America, by Prof. Richard T. Ely ; Our King in Dress Coat, by Moncure D. CoW
way ; Future Probation, by Gail Hamilton ; Specialists in Medicine, by Morris H. Henry, M.D,;
Vulgarity, by Ouida ; ' l The New South"— Financially Reviewed, by Marion J. Verdery ; The Co»
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Some Interrogation Points, by Robert G. Ingersoll ; Why Ami a Baptist, by Rev. Thomas A
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addressed to Gen. W. T. Sherman ; Our Inequalities of Suffrage, by J. Chester Lyman ; C(U
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APRIL NUMBER.

Open Nominations and Free Elections, by David Dudley Field ; Why Am I a Congregationalism
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Un-American Amerjcans, by Washington Messinger. CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

JUNE NUMBER.

The Court of Public Opinion, by Lemuel Ely Quigg; The Lodging-House Vote in New York, by
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Vol. 145: No. 2.

THE

NORTH AMERICAN
REVIEW.

I.

II,

HI.

IV.

V,

VI,

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.
XIII.
XIV.

XV.

EDITED BY ALLEN THORNDIKE

August, 1887.

State Interference . . . . PROF. W. G. SUMMER.

The Queen of England MONCURE D. CONWAY.

Open Letter to Col. Robert G. Ingersoll.

REV. HENRY M. FIELD, D. D.
Sedentary Men and Stimulants .-. v . \ . W. S. SEARLE, M. D.

Coquelin — Irving DION BOUCICAULT.

Old Times on the Western Reserve .... EDMUND KIRKE.

Why am I a Heathen ? WONG CHIN Foo.

Payment of the National Debt . . . GEN. A. SANDERS Pi AT*.

Health Insurance WOODS HUTCHINSON, M. D.

The New Know-Nothingism and the Old.

REV-. EDWARD MCGLYNN, D. D.

Claims Against the Government WM. A. PHILLIPS.

The Coming Producers' Party SAMUEL^LEAVITT.

An American Penal Colony C. F. AMORY.

General Pope and the Public Schools. JUDGE W. T. S. KELLER.
Current American Literature.

No.

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THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

VOL. 144.— JANUABY TO JUNE, 1887.

JANUARY NUMBER.

The Renaissance of Nationalism, by Judge Tourgee; Socialism, Its Fallacies and Dangers,
Charles Bradlaugh ; Progress of Minnesota, by The Governor ; Future of the National Bank:
System, by John Jay Knox ; Good Works of False Faiths, by Gail Hamilton ; The Anthrac
Coal Pool, by James F. Hudson ; Some War Memoranda, by Walt Whitman ; Why am '.
New Churchman ? by Rev. James Reed ; The Constitutional Amendments, by Chief Just
Chase ; What shall be Done with the Surplus ? by W . M. Grosvenor ; Labor in Pennsylvar
by Henry George ; Burnside's Controversies with Lincoln ; Religion, by George Sand ; Hei
George's Land Tax, by Edward Gordon Clark ; Are the Heathen our Inferiors ? by Jost
Hewes ; Defense of the President, by Doun Piatt.

FEBRUARY NUMBER.

Political Economy in America, by Prof. Richard T. Ely ; Our King in Dress Coat, by Moncure D. C
way ; Future Probation, by Gail Hamilton ; Specialists in Medicine, by Morris H. Henry, M.!
Vulgarity, by Ouida; " The New South"— Financially Reviewed, by Marion J. Verdery ; The C
dition of the American Stage, by Julian Magnus ; The Conspiracies of the Rebellion, by Leoni
Swett ; Life Among the Insane, by ^fdrianaP. Brinckte ; Literary Backbiting, by George Pars
Lathrop ; Assumption and Pretension, by George Sand ; Scientific Taxation, by Edward Gor«
Clark ; Should Women be Hanged ? by Helen Mar Wilks. CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE
McClellan's Own Story ; 2. History of tne Second Army Corps by Francis A. Walker ; 3. Pe
and the Persians, by S. G. W. Benjamin ; 4. The Making of New England, by S. A. Drake.

MARCH NUMBER.

Some Interrogation Points, by Robert G. Ingersoll ; Why Am I a Baptist, by Rev. Thomas Ar
tage, D.D., LL.D. ; Drury's Bluff and Petersburg, by Gen. G. T. Beauregard ; Our King
Dress Coat, by Moncure D. Conway : A Letter on Prayer, by The Duke of Argyll, with C<
ments by Cora Linn Daniels ; Modern Feudalism, by James F. Hudson ; Some Unpublis]
War Letters, by Secretary Chase, Generals Grant, Halleck, F. P. Blair, and Admiral Porl
addressed to Gen. W. T. Sherman ; Our Inequalities of Suffrage, by J. Chester L>man ; C
stitutional Reform in New New York, by George Bliss; A Rejoinder to Gen. Beaurega
by Rear- Admiral W. R. Taylor ; Working Women, by Ida M. Van Etten ; " The South in
Union Army," by A. P. Morey ; Mr. Conway's Dress-Coat King, by C. H. T. Collis ; The I
Works of False Faiths, by A. C. Bowen. CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

A FRIL NUMBER.
Open Nominations and Free Elections, by David Dudley Field ; Why Am I a CongregatiqnaT
by Gail Hamilton ; Opera, by Dion Boucicault ; Grant and Matthew Arnold *' An Estima
by Gen. James B. Fry ; Letters to Prominent Persons, by Arthur Richmond : No. 6, To I
James Russell Lowell ; Some More War Letters, by Gen. Braxtpn Bragg, Generals Gf^
Garfield, and Ord, addressed to Gen. W. T. Sherman ; Destruction of Art in America,
K,ush C. Hawkins ; Profit Sharing, by N. O. Nelson ; Meteorological Predictions, by Fell;
Oswald ; The Transporation Problem, by John C. Welch ; A Chaplain's Record, Hei
Ward Beecher, with Comments by Col. David E. Austen ; Economic Optimism, by Da
C. Smith ; Storm Effects on Mentality, by George Sand ; Uniform Marriage and Divo
Laws, by Thomas M. North; Donn Piatt on Arthur Richmond, by I. J. Allen. CURRI
AMERICAN LITERATURE.

MAY NUMBER.

Grant, Thomas, Lee, by Gen. W. T. Sherman ; My Public Life, by President Garfield ; Cc
merrial Education, by the Mayor of Baltimore ; Our Hand in Maximilian's Fate, by Ged
S. Boutwell ; That Everlasting Andover Controversy, by Gail Hamilton ; Beecher's Pens
ality, by His Physician ; High License, by Ernest H. Crosby ; Heroes to Order, by C. Cha!
Long; Practical Penology, by Henry J. W. Dam ; Trial by Newspaper, by Roger Fosto
The Coercion Bill, by John Boyle O'Reiliy ; Economic Pessimism, by Edward Atkinson ; 1
Boucicault on Opera, by Julian Mqgnus ; Rip Van Winkle's Manual, by M. H. H. Caldw*
Un-American Americans, by Washington Messinger. CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

JUNE NUMBER.

Parties and Independents, by Dorman B. Eaton; My Experience as a Lawyer, President Garfie
The Shakespeare Myth, by Ignatius Donelly : Some Legacies of the Civil War, by General J«
Pope; Why Am I a Jew ? by Dr. H. Pereira Mendes; Parnell as a Leader, by Alexander Sullivi
The Court of Public Opinion, by Lenmel Ely Quigg; The Lodging-House Vote in New York,
Henry A. Gumbleton; The American Vedas, by Gail Hamilton ; Parnell and the " Tim<
by Dion Boucicault; The Telephone of 1665, by Charles Rollin Brainard; Boucicault e
Wagner, by Edgar J. Levey; Courage, George Sand. CURRENT AMERICAN LITERATURE.

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We also have the largest and finest stock of

nter supplies in the world.
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SS9 BROADWAY, NEW YOKE.

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23 and 25 Nassau Street,
Corner of Cedar, NEW YORK.

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