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diff --git a/43618-0.txt b/43618-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bd8bb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/43618-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3332 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43618 *** + + HUMAN LIFE + + BY + S. S. KNIGHT + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK + R. F. FENNO & COMPANY + 18 EAST 17TH STREET + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1910, + BY S. S. KNIGHT + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE HABITAT OF MAN 9 + II. THE LENGTH OF TIME DURING WHICH MAN HAS EXISTED 29 + III. THE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS OF EXISTENCE 56 + IV. THE PURPOSE OF LIFE 76 + V. KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION 99 + VI. RELIGION AND ETHICS 120 + VII. LOVE 156 + VIII. PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE 180 + + + + +DEDICATION + + +This volume is dedicated to my Mother and my Wife--the two women whose +influence has most largely shaped my life, and whose companionship +has afforded me so much happiness. It was written with the hope that +it might be of value to my two children, and may they find as much +happiness in life as has the author. + + + + +HUMAN LIFE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HABITAT OF MAN + + +In reviewing the facts concerning humanity, which are well +authenticated at the present date, with the object of getting a +composite view of the greatest of all "world riddles"--"Life"--possibly +nothing tends so largely to expand our mental horizon as a study of +the earth itself or man's place of abode. The ideas of the educated +and cultured mind, at the beginning of the twentieth century, upon +cosmogony, are necessarily of such a character that man's heretofore +undisputed boast of being the objective and acme of creation or +evolution is forced into that great mass of theories which science has +proven to be absolutely untenable. Since the relative importance of the +factors of heredity and adaptation has become known, the environment, +or conditions surrounding man's existence in times past, is of +exceptional importance, as, from an understanding of these prehistoric +limitations, we are better able to judge what must have been the +achievement of the individual and the race than we could be when in +ignorance of these facts. + +The length of prehistoric time (so far as our earth is concerned) has +been the subject of much intelligent labor and thought, as well as +the occasion for much dissenting of opinion and more or less designed +misstatement. Until very recently, it has been difficult to reconcile +the theories, as promulgated by the authorities in the various +departments of science; but, notwithstanding this, some light may be +obtained by the summarization of the most plausible hypotheses now +advocated. We cannot take the space to go into detail concerning these, +but will merely touch upon the most salient points. + +The constancy of the supply of heat furnished by the sun and the +division of the year into definite seasons was one of the first +phenomena which attracted the attention of man at the dawn of history, +and in the many accounts of the creation which we find in literature +we see the feeble attempts of man to account for what he observed. +Although the knowledge which we have at the present time is not +complete enough to warrant any feeling of pride, yet we do know enough +to say, with certainty, some things concerning the solar system. We +know that our sun cannot forever radiate away its heat into space +without sometime becoming as cold or colder than we are, unless the +energy which it is losing in the form of heat be restored to it by some +means not at this time known. Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) has +calculated that at the present rate of solar radiation, which amounts +to about twenty-eight calories per minute, per square centimeter, at +the distance of the mean radius of the earth's orbit, it would have +taken somewhat more than fifteen million years for the heat generated +by the contraction of the sun's mass from the orbit of the outer +planet, Neptune, to its present size, to have been radiated away into +space. This means that gravity, as a source of heat development, at the +rate of solar radiation now known, would account for, perhaps, twenty +million years' expenditure of energy in reducing the sun's diameter to +but one-thirteen-thousandth part of what it once was. Not only does +the nebular hypothesis fall short of accounting for the facts, as will +subsequently be shown in this one particular of the length of time +during which our solar system has existed, but it does not account for +the variation in the obliquity of the poles of the planets, which are +the attendants upon the sun; nor does gravitative attraction alone +enable us to account for the tremendous velocities of some of the stars +through space, such as Arcturus,--so that it may be safely assumed that +we shall be forced to modify our ideas as to the value of the nebular +hypothesis as a working basis, before we can harmonize our deductions +from astronomical and geological grounds. Fortunately, the study of +the spiral nebulæ has done much to elucidate our conceptions of the +formation of the planetary systems, and from the discoveries made +concerning these highly attenuated bodies of matter, a new hypothesis +has been formed which will completely harmonize, perhaps, with these +above stated facts, which could not be made to accord with the nebular +theory as previously held. + +One source of the continued acquisition of energy by our sun, whose +value is hard to estimate, is the shooting stars, or meteors, which +constantly fall into it. Astronomical records show that, from the earth +alone, no less than twenty million shooting stars are daily within +the limits of vision, and inasmuch as the solar system is moving with +a velocity of some twenty miles per second through space, it will be +seen that the number of meteors which would come within the influence +of the sun, being as it is about one and one-third million times the +volume of the earth, would be practically infinite. What then must be +said of the amount of energy acquired by the sun from these, although +each meteor may have a mass of but a few grams, and perhaps may be +only several hundred miles away from its successor? It is clearly +demonstrated that, if no such additions of energy were received by +our sun, in about ten million years its diameter would be reduced to +one-half of what it is now, and its mass, where now it exists as a gas, +would then become a solid, at least upon the surface, and the quantity +of heat received by the earth would become so small that life here, as +we know of it, would be an impossibility. But if it be granted that the +sun annually gathers, by its gravitative attraction, a combined mass +of matter equal to the one-hundredth part of our earth, at a distance +away from its center equal to the main radius of the earth's orbit, the +energy dissipated by its radiation of heat at its present rate would be +accounted for, while the sensible heat of the sun would not diminish, +and the supply would be kept up indefinitely. That such additions of +mass are made, there can be no doubt, but as to their quantity, we +cannot, with our present knowledge, even hazard a guess. + +In speaking of the solar heat and man's dependence upon it in a +constant definite quantity, as one of the conditions of his existence, +perhaps it will give us some just appreciation of his place in nature +when we consider that the earth receives somewhat less than one +two-billionth part of the heat radiated away by the sun, and while +this expression makes the quantity which we receive seem rather small, +it is, nevertheless, large enough annually to melt a layer of ice one +hundred and seventy-five feet thick--all over the surface of the earth, +and is a little more than one six-thousandth part of the quantity of +heat which would be generated by the burning of a mass of coal as large +as the sun. + +The researches of Halley and Adams have shown that from some cause, +probably the result of gravity acting in conjunction with the varying +eccentricity of the earth's orbit, the motion of the moon has been +slightly accelerated as time went on, while the diurnal motion of the +earth has been reduced by the action of the tides, and that the amount +of this loss, in time, is equal to about one second in the length of +our day, in 168,000 years. Now, this retardation in the earth's motion +has not taken place at a uniform rate if caused by the reaction of the +tides, as the nearer to the earth the moon was, the greater would be +the tides, and, consequently, the greater would be the reaction; +_i. e._, the retardation. But assuming that this retardation took +place, on the whole, at twice the rate now prevailing, we would still +have a period of six million years since the moon was thrown off by the +earth, when our days were but three hours long. + +Turning from the theories of astronomy, which are obviously more or +less inaccurate, owing to their very nature and the character and +duration of the observations upon which they are based, we come to +the nearer and more certain deductions of geology. Here we have the +phenomena of denudation and deposition with which to deal, and inasmuch +as these are measurable at many places, and under many conditions +upon the earth to-day, it is safe to assume that computations made +from these measurements cannot be far from the truth. We know that +practically all of the great formations of the earth were depositions +of material from water which contained them, and that, in many +cases, heat caused these strata to be metamorphosed or crystallized +ages after they were deposited, and that in this crystallization +many of the fossils remaining imbedded in the deposited matter were +destroyed. Concerning this deposition we know that it is going on +to-day in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where, in the deeper +portions the Globigerina ooze is filling in these depressions with a +deposit, resembling chalk, at the rate of perhaps an inch per century. +We know that the Gulf of Mexico and several other ocean areas are +being filled in with silt at the rate of as high as three inches +per century. This silt is brought down in the tributary rivers and +emptied into the gulfs. We also know that large areas in the Indian +Ocean are being covered with coral and the débris from the coral +reefs. We are absolutely certain that every geological period has had +its characteristic fauna and flora, and that, in both the animal and +vegetable kingdoms, some persistent types have connected it with both +the past and the future, so that the fossils have become the "open +sesame" to the geological records. We further know that the strata +composing the earth's surface are subject to elevation and subsidence, +such as is now going on in the delta of the Nile, on the coast of the +Netherlands, and in many other places, and that such movement is a +measurable quantity, given only the necessary time. + +The total thickness of known strata measures but about one-three +hundred and twentieth part of the earth's diameter, or, in round +numbers, twenty-five miles. Thirty thousand feet of this is quite +readily identified as belonging to the old Archaic or Laurentian +period, and constitutes the oldest stratified deposit known. Even +in this, we find the remains of the Eozoon Canadense, which is now +universally acknowledged to be the petrifaction of a foraminiferous +living organism with a chambered shell. This means that, at this time, +the earth's atmosphere must have been very similar to what it is at the +present, and that the temperature of the sea was somewhere between the +boiling and the freezing points of water. What time had elapsed since +the earth was thrown off by the sun in an incandescent state can only +be faintly imagined. At the rate of deposition given for the deepest +of ocean deposits, this Archaic period would have taken perhaps +thirty-six million years; but inasmuch as the water may have been far +warmer then than now, and the rainfall more abundant, and the forces of +denudation in all respects more active, this figure may be excessive. +The next eighteen thousand feet of strata are easily identified as +Lower Silurian, by the Diatoms which occur imbedded in them, and these +formations include some of the largest deposits of limestone known. At +our rate of calculation, this deposit would require no less than nine +and one-half million years, and, in assuming this figure, no account +is made of the intervals of time during which no deposit took place, +although such periods of inactivity must necessarily have been. The +Upper Silurian strata consists of twenty thousand feet, the fossils of +which are the lower fishes, and for which we must assign a period of +time equal to no less than twenty-five million years, inasmuch as these +deposits are limestones and sandstones, or the remains of water-living +animals and plants. + +Coming now to the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, the strata +of the former, which is filled with fossils of the dipnoi, and the +latter with those of the amphibia; we have deposits aggregating about +forty thousand feet, and inasmuch as long intervals of time must have +existed during the subsidence and elevation, and _vice versa_, of the +land, while the process of coal-forming was going on, it is certain +that our rate of deposition as heretofore used, is entirely too high. +Dawson and Huxley have estimated, after most careful investigation, +that the period of time consumed in laying down the coal measures, +could not be less than six million years, and upon this basis it is +safe to assume that between seventy-five and eighty million years were +consumed in laying down the Devonian and Carboniferous deposits. This +makes Paleozoic time occupy about one hundred and fifty million years, +which is probably under- rather than over-estimated. The flora of the +Carboniferous period was composed of tree ferns of the Sagillaria +and Lepidodendron species which have since become extinct; but the +Lingula, a shell in the Cambrian and Upper Silurian formations, and +the Terbratula, another shell, is found in the Devonian rocks. Both of +these are found living to-day, of the same identical genus and species. + +In the Silurian rocks, we find the remains of an air-breathing +scorpion, very similar to that found to-day, which shows that the +atmosphere at that remote period was practically the same as we have at +the present time. + +In the Mesozoic time, we find deposits aggregating some fifteen +thousand feet, and inasmuch as the Triassic sandstones were formations +of slow deposition, our heretofore established rate will not answer +the conditions. It has been estimated, after the most careful study +of the Triassic and Jurassic measures, that probably no less than +thirty million years were occupied by these periods, and that the +chalk deposits of the Cretaceous must have taken at the present +known rate, in like formations, somewhat over six million years of +ceaseless activity. This gives to Mesozoic time a period of thirty-six +million years, as a minimum, and, from what we know of the rate of +biological evolution, this figure is conservative. The first period +of the Mesozoic time was characterized by monotremes, the Jurassic by +marsupials, and the latter by the first of man's direct progenitors, +the placentals. The flora of this period consisted almost entirely of +gymnosperms, or naked seed plants, and, as far as we know, at the close +of this second great division of geological time, conditions on the +earth were, in all respects, very much as they are to-day. + +Concerning the climatic conditions at the beginning of the Cenozoic +time, we have every reason to believe that from the commencement of +the Lower Silurian epoch, until then, there were no climatic zones +upon the earth. Not only have coral formations been found in what are +now Arctic waters, when we know that such reefs are formed only in +waters where a moderately warm temperature is constantly maintained, +but the cephalipods of the genus Ammonitoidea are found in what is now +the Antarctic zone, and in the torrid. While, at the present time, we +cannot see how the obliquity of the earth's poles to the plane of the +ecliptic could have been changed after the earth began its career as an +independent planet, yet the facts above stated show that the climatic +zones must have been unknown during the Tertiary period. Our common +cypress, which is now so plentiful in Florida and California, had +very close relatives living as far north as Spitzbergen, as lately as +Miocene time. Magnolias, which are now so abundant in all of the Gulf +States, are plentifully found in the Miocene strata of Greenland. + +Returning to the length of the Tertiary period, it is well to note +that, covering Wyoming and Nebraska, there was an immense lake, at +least as large as Lake Superior is to-day, and into which several +quite large rivers emptied, whose head waters were in the surrounding +mountain ranges. This lake was at one time at least five thousand +feet deep, and was completely filled up by the fine mud and silt, as +the formation now shows, although at the known rate of filling in of +smaller modern lakes, into which rivers, which originate in glaciers, +empty, this would have taken the better part of fifty thousand years. +This figure is particularly conservative, as during the Eocene period, +there could have been neither glaciers nor melting snowfields to assist +in the denudation at the head waters of the tributary rivers. During +the Miocene period, many of the best geologists hold that America and +Europe were connected, and there are certain similarities in their +fauna and flora which make this very probable. Supposing that this +depression which constitutes the bed of the North Atlantic Ocean, took +place at the highest known rate of subsidence, as measured upon the +coast of Sweden to-day, it is almost impossible to state the amount +of time that necessarily elapsed from the beginning of the sinking of +this strip until it finally went below the surface of the water. That +such changes in level did take place in the Tertiary period, no one +can doubt, as chalk deposits in England, which must have been laid +down in the deep oceans, have now an elevation of thousands of feet. +The Nummulite limestone of this same period is found in both the Alps +and the Himalayas, at an elevation as great as ten thousand feet. The +consideration of the fact that the greatest known rate of elevation or +subsidence is, perhaps, scarcely more than two feet per century makes +the figure of five hundred thousand years, as a minimum for Pliocene +time, seem rather conservative. + +Toward the close of the Tertiary era the finishing touches were placed +upon some of the greatest of the geological works. The folding of the +strata, which had been going on for a long period in Eastern New York, +was brought to an end by a violent rupture therein, and the out-rushing +igneous rock, which was subsequently cooled rapidly by the floods of +water flowing over it, gave us the beautiful palisades of the Hudson +River. In the west, this folding resulted in the Rocky Mountains and +the Coast Range, with their attendant high plateaux. In Europe, the +Alps and the Pyrenees Mountains both belong to this period, while the +grandest and highest of all mountain chains, the Himalayas, of Asia, +were the culminating effect of the gigantic foldings of the earth's +crust. + +The deposits of the Tertiary period will aggregate somewhat more than +three thousand feet, and, inasmuch as this entire time was one of +continued change in level, or the fluctuation between the subsidence +of the earth's strata on the one hand and the elevation on the other +(particularly in the Pliocene period), it is very hard to form any +conjecture as to the actual amount of time required to do this work. +Certainly, from what we know of the rate at which like phenomena are +taking place at the present time in Northeastern North America, in +Northwestern Europe, and Western Asia, the figure, as sometimes given, +of ten million years seems very conservative. + +In the brief review which we have just given, of what can be +conservatively considered the minimum limits of geological time, we +have taken into account generally only periods of activity, and in +but a few cases has any estimation been hazarded as to the proportion +which this was of the whole time consumed in bringing about the +changes which the fossils show so clearly to have taken place during +the various epochs. But one thing should be kept clearly in mind, and +that is, that no matter how long geological time may seem, it is but +an infinitely small fraction of the period which must have elapsed +since the world came into existence, as this globe had to cool down +to below the boiling point of water before any geological records +could be made. When thought of in this way, the Laurentian period +becomes as but yesterday, and even man's dwelling place, which seems +relatively so large, dwindles into nothingness, when compared with the +vastness of the interstellar spaces or the size of the larger stars. +Whoever conscientiously endeavors to form any idea of the teachings of +astronomy and geology, must necessarily feel any prejudice which he had +for man as the object and culmination of either the evolutionary or +creative power, shrink at a tremendous rate, while over his mentality +comes the sense of his diminutiveness, which awakens in him a brotherly +feeling for even the primitive single-celled Laurentian Eozoon +Canadensis, or the unnucleated monera of the present time. It must +have been this same sense-perception in the Hindoos which made them +worship and revere life wherever they found it, and which inspired them +with so active a sympathy toward all living things. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE LENGTH OF TIME DURING WHICH MAN HAS EXISTED + + +In the preceding chapter, no mention has been made of the length of the +Quaternary sub-division of Cenozoic time, and it will now be our aim to +briefly review this period and then investigate the evidence which we +have as to how much of this time man has been a portion of its fauna. + +With the opening of the Quaternary Period, we come to what is +undoubtedly the most remarkable era in all geological time. From a +climate which had been, heretofore, uniformly, warmly temperate, with +but few exceptions, we come to a period known as the Glacial, in which, +by a depression in the temperature, all vegetation and animals in high +latitudes were killed; _viz._: in the central west--almost to the Ohio +River; in Europe--to the northern part of Italy--while the addition of +vast quantities of ice to the oceans, destroyed all life in them to +about the latitude of the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Nor +was this period of cold confined to the northern hemisphere, as the +southern part of South America and Africa show. Concerning the cause +of the Glacial Period, but little is positively known. Of the theories +which have been advanced, it seems very plausible that perhaps two more +clearly account for the conditions which must have then existed, if we +consider them together, than all the rest. + +The geological record teaches us that in the so-called Glacial Period, +at least two distinct epochs of low temperature, and the consequential +accumulation of ice, are to be definitely discerned. Still further +back, we see evidence of glacial action in the Permian Strata, and +possibly as far back as the Cambrian formations, although these eras +of cold are not comparable with the period at the beginning of the +Quaternary time. Croll, the Scottish physicist, first called attention +to the fact that at certain regular intervals of time, the precession +of the equinoxes, and the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, would +so act in conjunction as to render favorable a great many conditions +which would certainly all point toward a period of extreme cold. He +calculated that the earth was traveling around the sun in an ellipse +of maximum eccentricity, and that winter was occurring in the northern +hemisphere when the earth was furthest from the sun, for the last time +some quarter of a million years ago. About eighty thousand years after +this date, the coincidence of the two phenomena reached a maximum +effect, and about eighty thousand years later, climatic conditions +were again about as we have them to-day. Upon this hypothesis, another +period of extreme cold must have existed some one-half million years +earlier, as calculations upon the same premises as were used in the +last computation will show. It is likewise true that, according to this +theory, there must have been at least one other such period further +back in geological time, and it is now to be seen whether our records, +as shown by the strata, establish these facts. + +Prior to the enunciation of this theory by Croll, the famous English +geologist, Sir Charles Lyell, from measurements of the strata, had +calculated that the last period of glaciation occurred about as +Croll stated, and that a period of cold and ice far more intense and +extensive occurred some four or five hundred thousand years earlier. +Mr. Laing has shown that, in order to make such conditions as must have +existed at this time, not only is a low temperature necessary, but a +certain amount of land must have an elevation sufficient to give the +required initial fall to the ice river, so that it may move over the +obstacles in its way, and that the higher such elevations in the Arctic +zones, and the greater the humidity of the air when it strikes such +elevated polar plateaux, the more augmented will be the probability of +glacial activity. The rapidity of the glacier's movement can have no +bearing upon the duration of the glacial period, inasmuch as a certain +length of time may have been required for the ice-cap to form and push +forward to a certain place, and it may have remained there for an +indeterminate period, governed only by the amount of snow deposited +upon the original source, and the rapidity of melting at the moraine. +In Eastern England, no less than four distinct boulder clays have been +found separated by the débris deposited from the moraines of each ice +sheet, and a few hundred miles away in France, the record is so certain +that we know that the Arctic fauna and flora gave away twice for that +of the warmer parts of the Temperate zones. + +We are certain that both that portion of Scandinavia and Canada, which +were the centers of the great European and American ice-caps, had an +elevation greatly in excess of what it is to-day, at the time of the +glacial epoch. During the first glaciation, Eastern Canada, or that +part south of Hudson's Bay, was certainly twenty-five hundred feet +higher than it is now, and the area covered by ocean formations or +marine beds to the southward, show that at the same time these sections +were very much lower than they are at the present day. On the other +side of the Atlantic Ocean, the elevation in Norway was at least a +couple of thousand feet more than at present; while both England and +Ireland have risen a considerable amount since this period. + +There are other ways by which we may form some estimate of the time +which has elapsed since the melting away of the great glaciers, besides +that given by Croll. From measurements taken on Table Rock, at Niagara +Falls, which we know has receded in post-glacial times from Lewiston +to the place which it occupies at present, we are certain that Lyell +was not far wrong when he estimated this to have taken at least sixty +thousand years. Shaler, on entirely different grounds,--mainly the +redistribution of certain angiosperms--has arrived at figures in +excess of these. Calculations made upon the canyons of the Columbia, +San Joaquin, and Colorado Rivers, all show the estimations previously +given to be conservative. Of course, the figures given will apply +only to the time which has elapsed since the melting of the American +ice-cap, as we have no means of knowing that the American and European +glaciers acted at all in unison in their retreat to the northward. The +manner in which we can get some idea of the length of time required +to account for the enormous quantity of work done in the Champlain +period, is by taking into account the deposits which lie in almost +all of the great river valleys which were covered by the glaciers, or +whose watersheds were made into lakes by the subsidence of the land to +the north, and the rapid melting of that portion of the ice-cap which +contained stones, dirt, and other material picked up in the travels of +the glacier across the country. The Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube +in Europe, and the St. Lawrence, the Connecticut, and the Mississippi +in America, all flow through valleys lined with cliffs of loess. These +accumulations overlying the coarser sands and gravels, and conforming +to the river valleys, have been measured in the case of the Rhine, and +were found to be about eight hundred feet in depth. It is unreasonable +to suppose that these deposits being, as they are, material thrown down +out of the water after the rivers had lost their transporting power, +could have accumulated at a greater rate than that now going on in the +rivers, such as the Mississippi and the Nile, to-day, and if this was +the case, these deposits must have taken no less than three hundred and +twenty-five thousand years to form. Inasmuch as this work was all done +during the Champlain period, this figure can be safely taken as the +minimum for the measure of the duration of that time. + +Arriving now at the recent period of Quaternary time, we find in Europe +evidences of a very short and less intense period of cold; in the +remains of the reindeer and other Arctic animals in southern France. +Associated with these, although of a later period, we find the bones +of the cave bear, hyena, and lion, and in many of the localities +intimately associated with these are the bones of man. In fact, since +the first discovery of the paleolithic implements in the gravels of +the Somme, there have been almost countless finds of human remains in +England, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Greece, in Europe; Algiers, +Morocco, Egypt, and Natal, in Africa; in China, Japan, India, Syria, +and Palestine, in Asia; in Brazil and Argentina in South America, and +in no less than ten States of this country, associated with stone +implements or paleoliths, and all of which, dating from the beginning +of the Quaternary period, have established the certainty of human +existence during the entire Quaternary era, beyond the possibility of +doubt. + +The evidences of the existence of the human species during Tertiary +time are many, and hardly a year goes by without adding another +discovery of human remains in the deposits belonging to this period. To +begin with, the existence of man so generally and widely distributed as +we find him to be at the beginning of the Quaternary period, is almost +_prima facie_ evidence of his occupation of the earth for some time +previous. With the means of communication and the motives for it, such +as they must have been at this remote period, we know that thousands +of years would have been required to scatter any species all over the +earth, as we have seen that man was from the locations of the remains +found. Further than this, there are three well-authenticated cases +where the bones of Tertiary animals have been found, upon which there +were cuts made by edged tools, which could have been made only by human +agency. Since these have been discovered, crude implements as well as +human bones have been found in no less than a dozen places in both the +Eastern and Western Hemispheres, which attest, beyond doubt, to man's +having existed since the Middle Miocene or early Pliocene time. We not +only have the opinions of such authorities as Rames, Hamy, Mortillet, +Quatrefages, and Delauney, to accept in this matter, but the more +recent thorough investigations of Laing and Haeckel. + +Turning now from geological evidence to that founded upon other +observations, as to the length of time man has been an inhabitant of +the earth, perhaps one of the most interesting discoveries was that of +the Tumuli or mounds of shells of such animals as the oyster, cockle, +limpet, etc., and, along with this, the bones of birds, wild animals, +and fish, together with stone implements and rude pottery. These +kitchen-middens were first discovered in Denmark, but they have since +been found in many countries where savages have lived along the coast. +In many of the Swiss lakes, such as Zurich and Neufchatel, there have +been found piles driven into the ground, around which, in dredging, +human bones, as well as stone implements, have been brought up, and +which are now known to have been the dwelling-places and remains of +prehistoric peoples, who located in this manner so as to protect +themselves from prowling wild animals and from their savage neighbors. +From the amount and character of these deposits, we are forced to +assume that the habitations were used for a long period, and from +geological computation of the time required to deposit the silt around +these piles in the Swiss Lake-villages, and from the similarity of the +remains in the Danish peat-mosses and the kitchen-middens no period +could be assigned to their antiquity of less than seven thousand years. + +Our earliest record of historic man is found in the Valley of the +Nile, where we can say with certainty that, over seven thousand +years ago, there existed a high state of civilization under the old +Egyptian Empire. Menes was the first recorded king who sat on the +throne, and during the six dynasties of kings which composed this +period, we see the rise to supremacy of Memphis, the building of the +pyramids, the accumulation of a varied and extensive literature, and +the perfection of the industrial and fine arts. In fact, so faithfully +and indestructibly were the lines of human faces reproduced upon +stone and other materials, that, at this day, we have no difficulty +in identifying the different races of men from their resemblance at +the present time. Menes, himself, carried to completion the great +engineering feat of turning the course of the Nile so as to obtain a +site for his capital, at Memphis. His successor was not only a patron +but a practitioner of the art of medicine. From the monuments and +papyri of the great tombs of Ghizeh and Sakkara, we have learned so +much of the social and political life of Egypt at this period through +the deciphering of the Rosetta stone by Champollion, that we may be +said to have a very accurate knowledge of mankind, as his existence +was conditioned in Egypt from four to five thousand years before the +beginning of our present era. From Memphis, the seat of the government +first shifts to Heracleopolis, and then to Thebes, and, during these +changes, we see Egypt go back into the night of semi-barbarism +(comparatively speaking), and after a long period of time to again +develop a high state of civilization, under a new language and a new +religion, in the eleventh dynasty. Egyptian influence extended from +the equator on the south, to southern Syria on the north, and Isis +and Osiris were the deities that commanded the veneration of the then +civilized world. The kings of this dynasty built the famous labyrinth +of Fayoum, where in the desert was formed a large artificial lake +with tunnels and sluices so arranged that the annual inundations of +the Nile were partially controlled by allowing the surplus water +to fill this lake, and in the time of a drouth, letting it out to +irrigate the valley as needed. Many temples, obelisks, and statues +were erected, and the period was one of social and literary activity. +About two thousand years before Christ, the seat of the government was +transferred from Thebes to the Delta, and, shortly after this, the +Hyksos dynasty began with a conquest by these invaders, who laid all +Egypt under tribute. The conquerors adopted both the civilization and +the religion of their subjects, and reigned over Egypt somewhat more +than five hundred years. Their expulsion marks the beginning of the new +empire, which extended the Egyptian influence from the Persian Gulf to +the Mediterranean, and subjugated both Babylon and Nineveh. From this +time on, we are on certain and firm historical grounds, and with the +founding of the great library at Alexandria, by Ptolemy Philadelphus, +Egypt received her last great literary impulse, and since the fourth +century of this era the part which she has played in the struggle of +humanity has been inconsiderable. From other data gathered by Horner, +who sunk numerous shafts across the Nile Valley at Memphis, and who +brought up copper knives and pottery from depths approximately of +sixty feet, it has been calculated, from the rate of deposition in +that valley to-day, that these remains are upward of twenty-five +thousand years old. In other places, Paleoliths have been found that +are undoubtedly very much older than the oldest temples and tombs. +Furthermore, we know that in all the traditions of this country, the +first inhabitants are represented as being autochthonous, which, if +correct, must mean a very great state of antiquity, so far as man is +concerned; if it be granted that this Egyptian civilization, which is +known to have existed at Memphis, had to develop of its own accord in +the Valley of the Nile, abundantly fertile though it always has been. + +In the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, we have further +evidence of the existence of a high state of civilization, as taken +from the cylinder of Sargon I, which reads, "Sharrukin the mighty king +am I, who knew not his father, but whose mother was a royal princess, +who, to conceal my birth, placed me in a basket of rushes closed with +pitch, and cast me into the river, from which I was saved by Akki, the +water-carrier, who brought me up as his own child." The date of this +king is generally accepted as about four thousand years before Christ, +and his exploits have been found pictured and described on the relics +taken from Cyprus, Syria, and Babylonia. He did for Mesopotamia what +Menes did for Egypt, and the prestige of his arms, and the renown +of his civilization, spread over all Asia Minor. As a patron of +literature, he founded some of the most famous libraries in Babylonia, +and compiled a work of seventy-two volumes on Astronomy and Astrology, +which was even translated into Greek. From recent researches, which +have resulted in the finding of a great many clay tablets from the +libraries of Mesopotamia, it seems certain that this Sargon I, upon his +ascension to the throne, found the Accadian people (he was a Semite) +already enjoying a high civilization, with sacred temples, a sacred +and profane literature, and one who had a large and well-ordered +knowledge of astronomy, as well as of agriculture and the industrial +arts. From the archæological remains which have been discovered, and, +in particular, the marble statue of a king by the name of David, which +was recently found at Bisinya, and whose antiquity is probably greater +than 4,500 B. C., it is entirely conservative to assume that Chaldean +civilization was as old, if not older, than that of Egypt; while no +figure can be set upon the length of time which was required in these +fertile valleys for this state of affairs to develop from a condition +of barbarism. + +In China, strangely enough, where the oldest historical records would +be expected, we can find nothing to compare with the Egyptian papyri +or the Chaldean clay-cylinders, and competent authorities are well +agreed that there is great reason to suppose that much of the early +civilization was brought from Accadia. In any case, at the dawn of +history, we find China just as she is to-day:--an overpopulated, +agricultural country, where blind imitation of predecessors ruled, and, +consequently, progress, unless brought in by conquest, is extremely +slow. If the empire was founded, as has been supposed, by an Accadian +invasion or immigration, which must have occurred about 5,000 B. C., +or at least before the time of Sargon I, then these wanderers drove +out the aboriginal inhabitants, the Mioutse, who have been crowded at +last into the mountains of the western provinces. Certain it is that no +greater date can be assigned to the civilization of this country, at +the beginning of its historical record, than about 2,750 B. C., which +time is known in Chinese tradition as the "Age of the Five Rulers." + +Perhaps next in order of antiquity, comes the small country known as +Elam, lying between the Tigris River and the Lagros Mountains, and +extending to the south along the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf +to the Arabian Sea. As in both Egypt and Chaldea, this country was +brought into prominence by an aggressive and warlike king,--the famous +Cyrus of history,--and, fortunately, his clay-cylinder; from one of +the magnificent libraries of Susa, or Shushan; was recently found by +Mr. Rassam, amid the débris composing the mound, which is now the +only mark left to show where these great centers of population once +were, in the fertile valleys and coast plains of this part of Asia; +and this cylinder is now kept, with hundreds from like sources, in the +British Museum at London. On this memorial cylinder, Cyrus gives his +genealogy and an account of his exploits, and we find that he came from +a line of kings, and held to the popular faith of his country, thanking +and petitioning the whole Elamite Hierarchy of gods. Cyrus carried +the Elamite arms into southern Syria and Palestine, and overthrew +Mesopotamia about 2,300 B. C. It was the reaction from this conquest +that caused some of the most gigantic struggles of antiquity. + +Of the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, no definite historical +record can be found earlier than from fifteen hundred to two thousand +years before Christ. The Hittite civilization and influence we find at +their height at about the same time, but here we can get no inkling of +a greater antiquity for man than that given in the Middle Egyptian +Empire. In the cities of Troy and Mycenæ, we find civilization at its +crest some five hundred years later, and it is not until we come to +Arabia that we again find evidence of such high antiquity as we find +in Chaldea and Egypt. The old kingdom of Saba was built upon the ruins +of a still older, known as Ma'in, and the former was in its decline +as an empire at the beginning of the eighth century, B. C. Now, +contemporary history shows that this country has gone through all the +transformations which Egypt and Chaldea had, and if this is also true +of the Ma'in kingdom, then a date of great antiquity must be given to +it. But these are not certainties, while in the cases of Chaldea and +Egypt there can be no mistake. The Israelite civilization was at its +height under David and Solomon, about contemporaneously with that of +Troy and Mycenæ, and even the Hebrew tradition does not attempt to +antedate the year 2,000 B. C., so that we can obtain no information +from this source. Greece flourished but five hundred years before the +present era, and even if we regard Homer as authentic, no more remote +date can be given to their earliest civilization than that of the +attack by the Hellenes upon Troy, which was about 1,000 B. C. + +In the Western Hemisphere archeologists are every year making valuable +discoveries in Mexico and Peru which will probably give a remote date +for the civilizations which flourished in these countries long before +the conquests of the Spaniards. The great pyramids of the Sun and +Moon on the Mexican plateau and the similarity of their design and +orientation with the Egyptian all point to an interchange of ideas +between the East and the West in prehistoric time. + +The geological table given at the close of this chapter may be of +interest, as a careful consideration of it, and the foregoing facts, +will show the real value of man in nature. That man is ascendent now, +does not, in the light of experience, mean necessarily that he will by +any means remain so. In the warm Champlain period, we know that brute +mammals thrived and attained gigantic size, and, as Dana aptly remarks, +"the great abundance of their remains and their conditions show that +the climate and food were all that could have been desired." Yet the +mastodon and the cave-bear have gone, together with countless other +species which have become extinct, and, if science teaches anything at +all, it tells us that nature delights in fostering one species at the +expense of another. In the case of man, we most clearly see this. "For +the historical succession of vertebrate fossils corresponds completely +with the morphological scale which is revealed to us by comparative +anatomy and ontology. After the Silurian fishes come the dipnoi of the +Devonian period,--the Carboniferous amphibia, the Permian reptilia and +the Mesozoic Mammals. Of these again, the lowest forms, the monotremes, +appear first in the Triassic period; the marsupials in the Jurassic, +and then the oldest placentals in the Cretaceous. Of the placentals, +in turn, the first to appear in the oldest Tertiary period are the +lowest primates, the prosimiæ, which are followed by the simiæ, in the +Miocene. Of the carrhinæ, the cynopitheci precede the anthropomorpha; +from one branch of the latter, during the Pliocene period, arises the +apeman, without speech, and from him descends finally the speaking man. + +"Since the germ of the human embryo passes through the same +chordula-stages as the germ of all other vertebrates; since it evolves, +similarly, out of the two germinal layers of a gastrula, we infer by +virtue of the biogenetic law, the early existence of corresponding +ancestral forms. Most important of all is the fact that the human +embryo, like that of all other animals, arises, originally, from a +single cell, for this stem-cell--the impregnated egg cell--points, +indubitably, to a corresponding unicellular ancestor, a primitive +Laurentian protozoon." + +In the foregoing quotation, Haeckel clearly states what every geologist +and embryologist plainly knows to be the truth, and in this case, as in +all others, does it hold good: + + "Because truth is truth, to follow truth + Were wisdom, in the scorn of consequence." + +For any human being, endowed with reason, to wilfully deceive himself +could be nothing less than the height of folly. There is nothing +more pitiful in all literature than Cicero, at the close of his "De +Senectute," bowed down with years, and crushed with grief over the +loss of his son and intimate friends, saying that if his belief in +personal immortality be illogical and untrue, as he almost intimates +that he thinks it more than likely to be, then he wishes to willingly +delude himself for the satisfaction which he will get therefrom. How +different from the man who, in his impeachment of Verres, or his +defense of Archias, runs the chance of public disfavor,--always little +less than death to the politician,--or even to that staunch patriot, +who, with almost his last breath, defied the powerful Antony, although +it cost him his life! How strange it is that Tully did not realize that +allegiance to the truth, regardless of whether it be for or against us, +carries with it, _per se_, the greatest of all virtues,--the virtue of +sincerity. Polonius' death demonstrated the truth of his philosophy: + + "This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow as the night the day, + Thou canst not then be false to any man." + +In considering this problem of the origin and destiny of man, which, +axiomatically, includes ourselves, let us remember that it matters not +what we may wish, for we have no choice in the matter,--the truth is +inexorable, and, consequently, cannot be influenced. It is directly up +to each human being to work out this problem for himself, and this can +only be done by the fearless recognition of the truth, wherever found. +It is in this spirit that the preceding and the succeeding chapters are +written, and if they contain misstatements and errors, the author will +not only most cheerfully acknowledge the same, when proven to him, but +will accept the logical conclusions drawn therefrom, although they may +completely revolutionize the philosophy of life as he now sees it, and +is trying to live it. + + + Geological Table, showing Approximate Minimum Duration in Time. + Comparative Duration of Periods: Paleozoic, 12/16ths; Mesozoic, + 3/16ths; Cenozoic, 1/16th. Geological Time, at least 200,000,000 + years. + + Geological Epoch | Petrographic | Ascendant Form | Thickness + Sub-Division | Formation | of Life | of + of G. E. | | | Deposits + | | | + Paleozoic | | | + | | | + Laurentian | Archaic Igneous | Eozoon | + | Rocks | Canadense | 30,000 ft. + Cambrian or | | | + L. Silurian | Potsdam Sandstone |} | + | Magnesian Limestone |} Diatoms | 18,000 ft. + | Trenton Limestone |} | + | | | + Upper Silurian| Niagara Limestone |} | + | Medina Sandstone |} | + | Saline Formations |} Lower Fishes | 22,000 ft. + | Lower Helderberg |} | + | Oriskany Sandstone |} | + | | | + Devonian | Corniferous or |} | + | Upper Helderberg |} | + | Limestone, |} Dipnoi | + | Hamilton, |} | + | Portage and Chemung|} | + | Shales |} | + | | | + Carboniferous | Crinoidal Limestone |} | + | Lower Coal Measures |} | + | Mill Stone Grit |} Amphibia and | 42,000 ft. + | Upper Coal Measures |} Sagillaria | + | Permian Sandstone |} | + | | | + Mesozoic | | | + | | | + Triassic | Sandstones | Monotremes and | + | | Gymnosperms | + Jurassic | Wassatch Mountains | Marsupials | 15,000 ft. + | | | + Cretaceous | Sandstone and Chalk | Placentals | + | | | + Cenozoic | | | + | | | + Tertiary-- | | Lowest Primates | + Eocene | | and Angiosperms| 3,000 ft. + Miocene | | Simiæ | + Pliocene | | Catarrhinæ | + | | | + Quaternary-- | | | + Glacial | | | + Champlain| | | + Recent | | | + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS OF EXISTENCE + + +The tremendous strides made in the sciences of biology, histology, +physiology, and psychology in the latter part of the last century, in +connection with the development of the science of organic chemistry, +have done much to unravel the life-mystery from a physical point of +view. One by one the determining characteristics of the mentality +of the _genus homo_ have dwindled down until to-day even reason in +its broadest sense is granted by the most conservative to some of +the vegetable forms of life, and any unbiased mind will have hard +work to determine the difference between the so-called "Brownian" +movement of particles of gamboge when macerated in a little water, +or even of bits of camphor when dropped upon the surface of water, +and the movements of the particles of a protoplasmic mass; although +one is caused by temperature changes, and the other by chemism. The +selectative growth of a vertex of a crystal in a saturated solution, +and the claw of a crab, both of which have previously suffered the +loss of their respective parts, are perhaps not so different as +the words "organic" or "inorganic" would lead us to believe when +applied as a classification to their principals. We know that in the +life-process, as everywhere else, the law of substance and the law of +the conservation of energy are held inviolate, and the theory which +treats of life as a characteristic entity apart from the condition +which makes it possible, is certainly false. The matter which +composes the living body is chemically the same as that which we find +everywhere. The fact that some living bodies have the power to form +protoplasm out of its chemical elements or simple combinations of +them, or only assimilate such protoplasm after it has been formed from +inorganic matter, constitutes, in the broadest sense, the difference +between the vegetable and the animal life, as we now know it. But, +whether living or dead, the protoplasm has about the same composition, +and, therefore, it must be that life _per se_ is in reality only the +manifestation of a form of motion. Science, by deduction, teaches us +to look upon the living body very much as a theoretically perfect +motor-generator set, the line terminals of the dynamo being the feed +wires of the motor. Such a machine, standing still, would be "dead" in +all senses of the word, although, potentially, its integrity would be +the same as when in operation. But, once put in motion, this machine +would directly come up to speed, and maintain itself at its normal rate +of rotation until something interfered with it, or set up resistance +within its circuit. From this time on, its rate of rotation would +diminish until it stopped. If its integrity were suddenly violated, +this stop would come at once. + +Fifty years ago, heat, light, and electricity were all talked of, and +believed to be forces whose existence was in no way dependent upon +matter. Since the investigations of Thomson and Helmholtz, there is no +unbiased scientist who can for a minute think that the manifestation +of any of these could possibly exist without material of some sort, +such as in a general way we call matter. Even chemism, the most +obscure of all physical forces, we know to be very closely allied to +gravitative attraction, and to be so powerful since it operates through +such short distances. In fact, if we adopt the only known feasible +hypothesis to account for the formation of matter, we must, in the +end, admit that motion, and not matter, is the most potent of all the +primal causes which we can imagine to-day. If we could eliminate motion +entirely from the universe, we do not know of a single characteristic +which would be left, by which we could identify existence as we know +it, certainly not even matter itself. Every investigation or experiment +which has been made in the domain of the natural sciences has only +amassed additional evidence to the tremendous amount already gathered; +all going certainly to prove that at least the former two of the old +three universally accepted postulates were false, _viz._: the free +moral agency of man, the immortality of the soul, and the existence +of a personal God, or a power outside of and superior to nature. +The latter will in no wise interest us, inasmuch as experience has +taught us that, in general as well as in particular, the universe is +governed by law; all honor to Humboldt and Descartes for so clearly +demonstrating this. + +We are quite sure to-day that, roughly estimated, each pound of human +flesh represents an amount of potential energy equal to about sixteen +million foot-pounds, and that all of the life-processes are, in the +last analysis, purely physical, and that they follow physical laws. Any +exertion, either muscular or nervous, which we make, over and above +that supplied by the energy in our assimilated food, will have to be +taken from the stock as represented in the tissue,--consequently, +continued work means hunger; if continued longer without food, it means +exhaustion, and if continued longer without food and rest intervening, +it means the deterioration of the tissues. The recent investigations of +Matthews upon the manner of nerve action, and the fact that the same +is due to substances known as reversible gelatines, as well as to the +cause of the negative variation of nerves exposed to exciting stimuli, +all show that these most complex of life's processes are as purely +physical, in the largest sense, as the most simple ones. The artificial +fertilization of sterile eggs by the use of dilute solutions, whose +actions might almost be called catalytic, still further emphasizes +the fact that life's processes, even in the embryo, are essentially +physical. Take, for instance, the sterile egg of the sea-urchin; the +two per cent. solution of potassium cyanide; the continued constant +temperature for a definite time, and all of the other conditions which +enter into the development of this crude protoplasmic mass, are all +physical factors, regardless of the fact that the result is a living +organism, where we would, according to our old ideas, certainly expect +an undeveloped sterile egg, or a potentially dead body. As with this +ovum, so with the vegetable protoplasmic mass in the germinal radical +of a seed: if its development is once started, it must continue its +natural course without interference, upon pain of speedy degeneration +upon interruption, and, in this light, both the egg and the grain of +seed are places where life can be started (or motion on a larger scale +begun) rather than living things before their development began, or +while they were lying in their dormant state. + +The death-knell to the theory of the personal immortality of the +human soul, as ordinarily enunciated, was rung in 1875 by the German +biologist, Hertzig, when he succeeded in bringing the living ovum into +the presence of the ciliated sperm-cells under the microscope, while in +the field of a lens of sufficient power to enable him to see clearly +what took place. It is sufficient for our purpose to state that the +minute the spermatozoon had pierced the cell wall of the egg-cell, +the new individual of that species came into existence, and had, +potentially, all of the life-possibilities, or was, in fact, as much +alive as it would have been if this had happened under conditions which +would have been favorable to its further development. The fact that +the fertilized egg-cell immediately forms a mucous sheath the moment +that its nucleus coalesces with that of the spermatozoon to prevent +the further entrance of other spermatozoa, has done much to give rise +and impetus to the theory that each cell has a soul, and that when +these two nuclei completely fuse together, the resulting cytula, or +fertilized ovum or stem-cell, has a soul peculiarly its own; which is +made up in much the same way as two corresponding magnetic fields which +are blended when two magnets are brought within the territory of each +other's influence and unite to form a resultant field. That each of the +sexual una-cells is distinguished by a form of sensation and motion of +its own, and that this is true throughout the whole animal world, has +given peculiar significance to these empirical facts of conception; as +these will at once offer an explanation of the mysterious influence +of heredity, such as was never possible heretofore. That each human +individual has a beginning of existence with the coalescing of the +nuclei of the parent cells, just as he has an end of existence with the +violation of the integrity of his physical body, whether after the +lapsing of one second or one century, must, to anyone who has observed +biological phenomena like the above, be perfectly clear. + +With the recent development of the science of embryology, there is no +longer any ground upon which man can lay claim, in the largest sense, +to free moral agency. Conditioned as he is, even before birth, by the +influence of heredity, which science has now localized to the inner +nucleus of the cytula, not only are his natural tastes and temperament +quite largely determined for him, but often, in at least as large a +sense, his mental and physical possibilities. It was our genial Dr. +Holmes, who, some years ago, said, "If you would make a man, you must +begin at least four generations before he is born," and, as embryology +has since proven, he spoke more truth than he thought. Any person +possessing a normally trained observation cannot help but note in +their aptitude, or in their manner of doing certain things, their debt +to their ancestors. How seldom (we might say, never) do we find in +our friends what we had pictured and hoped for, owing, perhaps more +than anything else, to the baneful influence of heredity. Degenerate +features, scrofula, epilepsy, melancholia, etc., are all practically +in every case the gift of some progenitor. Tendencies to insanity and +crime are clearly recognized to-day by the administrators of the law, +in every civilized country, as possible a legacy as coin, real estate, +or chattels were a few centuries ago. + +Whatever influence can be ascribed to heredity, as a positive +limitation to human existence, we know absolutely that in a much +larger sense is man a victim of his environment, particularly during +the period of his childhood and adolescence. Professor Loeb has shown +that at least as large proportion (possibly one-half) of the influence +of heredity may be eliminated by the artificial fertilization of the +ovum of many species, but embryology tells us that it is beyond the +possibilities of science to ever render impotent the adaptive tendency +of the individual. With human beings, the importance of environment is +much greater under a high state of civilization than in the condition +of savagery or barbarism, since the possibilities of achievement are +infinitely greater in the individual well-educated than in a condition +of illiteracy. What would the mathematical genius of Newton or Leibnitz +accomplish in developing the calculus, had they been born among the +Patagonians or the bushmen of Australia? Would Napoleon's military +talent have availed him anything if he had been placed by birth among +the cliff-dwellers of Arizona instead of the fomenting political +corruption of overpopulated France? Even in a much more restricted +sense, Austerlitz, Marengo, and Lodi could not have become noted as +the stepping-stones toward his imperialism, had he not attended the +military school at Brienne. + +In the discussion of this question, of the freedom of the will, or the +free moral agency of man, it seems almost preposterous that educated +people still cling to a theory so at variance with all known facts. +That all men are created free and equal is not only relatively but +absolutely untrue in the largest sense, but that they are all entitled +to, and have equal possibilities, so far as is within their power, is +not only the meaning which the writer of the "Declaration" intended to +convey, but is what every fair-minded man must necessarily accord to +all of his fellow-men, even regardless of sex. In Jefferson's time, +the last clause could not have been inserted, but at the beginning of +the twentieth century, at least in four of the States of this country, +woman has been given her full property rights, and in one she has +full and complete citizenship on an equal basis with man. It cannot +be many years until culture and a sense of equity will have been so +disseminated that, at least under democratic forms of government, woman +will be given her full civil and political rights, and regarded, as +she justly should be, as no longer a forced parasite of man, but as +potentially his equal in every respect. + +While considering this matter, it is worthy of note that no less an +authority than Havelock Ellis has conclusively shown that, not only in +the moral world, where woman is and has been the acknowledged superior +of man, is she at least his peer, but also in her intellectual power +and physical development as concerns the evolution of the race when +surrounded by equally advantageous conditions has she occupied the +very van. The chivalrous and insane worship which man has bestowed +upon her as an exchange for her condoning his moral crimes, has tended +both to make him lax in his morality, by reason of her readily granted +forgiveness, and to rob her of her rights as his equal, by keeping +her in seclusion and incapacitated for self-support. Probably no one +thing has worked more harm to the race as a whole than this, and it +is perhaps the crowning glory of the age in which we are living that +woman, in America, no longer has to accept the physical and moral +derelict which the average man is when he comes to the age at which he +has finished "sowing his wild oats," and wishes to settle down to a +domestic existence, as a candidate for reform under the tutelage of a +pure and virtuous woman; or by refusing his proffer of marriage, become +the laughing-stock of not only her suitor, but of her own sex as +well, under the name of "an old maid." As woman has become capable of +self-support, man has lost his power over her, and his accountability +for his actions has directly increased, just as woman has gone from +under his power. That woman can have an honorable destiny to fulfill +other than as a convenience or source of amusement for man is, at last, +after countless ages of darkness, beginning to dawn upon the world of +culture and intelligence. + +Perhaps the greatest of all human limitations arises from the fact +that after the gratification of physical desire, of whatsoever kind, +comes satiety. The food which, to the starving man, was priceless, +and which afforded him keen delight as he ate it, but nauseates him +when temporarily his appetite is satisfied and try, as hard as he +may, he can contain no more. How many a man has failed to realize +this, and, after a youth of penury has, by the closest application, +obtained a competence, and by its use, a gratification of his desires, +but without consideration kept up his earning power, and hoarded his +wealth, only to find, to his sorrow, that it was impossible to furnish +gratifications when he no longer had the shadow of a desire! No matter +how much of a gormand a man is he can eat but a certain small quantity +of food per day, the amount of which varies directly with the manual +labor which he does, and, as a usual thing, the more he is able to +purchase, the less likely he is to do that labor which alone will make +his money of value to him from a gastronomic standpoint. Should his +desire be to pale "the lilies of the field" with his raiment, he is +still limited to a certain quantity and character of vesture, so that +in comparison with "unreasoning" vegetable life, his pride will not +be greatly gratified should he possess any sense of humor at all. If +prestige and prowess resulting as the outcome of any physical endeavor +be his ambition, he must realize that whatever pinnacle of popularity +he may attain to, it will be only a few years until he must acknowledge +a successful rival. + +In the constant mutation of all the conditions which surround human +existence, we find another most potent limitation to life. How few +of these vital conditions, from a physical standpoint, are under our +control? And yet how important some of the even trivial ones really +are? The extent to which we are dependent upon health, comeliness, +wealth, location, the physical aspects in the lives of our friends, and +all of those complex details which go to make up our routine of life, +can hardly be over-estimated. Starting, as the individual does, with a +complete lack of experience from which to judge, and without even the +power to exercise his reason, as this develops within him after years +of mistakes, until his fund of recollection of these errors constitutes +a basis of experimental knowledge, he is at best upon most dangerous +ground in early life. He is handicapped just in proportion as he has +not some guardian who pilots him until he is able to judge for himself +of the character of his actions. It is the most pathetic thought +which the human mind is capable of comprehending, that nature cannot +be imprecated, bribed, or frightened out of her relentless rule of +exacting full and complete consequence of our every action. Ignorance +is no plea for mercy before her court, and her penalties are exacted +without either fear or favor. Nor is her tribunal cognizant of any plan +of vicarious atonement, but in many cases partially are we visited +with the penalties of our progenitors' disobedience to her immutable +laws. In view of these truths, let us not falsely be inflated with +pride, because of any ephemeral successes. Let us in the moments of +aggrandizement remember Massillon, as he stood at the bier of "Le Grand +Monarch," and when we consider the truth in his opening statement, in +that magnificent funeral oration, "God only is Great," we must feel our +sense of importance leave us. Whoever stood erect with egotism over +the corpse of a friend, even though he be as mad as Lear, raving, "O +that a horse, a dog, a rat hath life, and thou no breath!"? Our control +over our physical condition is worthy of mention only on account of its +paucity, and we can never appreciate our true position on earth, until +at times we are filled with the sentiment, so well expressed by Bryant: + + "In sadness then I ponder, how quickly fleets the hour, + Of human strength and action, man's courage and his power." + +It is not for us to be crushed with the appreciation of our real lack +of importance, from a physical and moral viewpoint, but no scheme of +life can be built upon a sure foundation without an understanding of +what in the case of Schopenhauer, and some other brilliant intellects, +formed the basis of their pessimistic philosophy. That we are not +absolutely free, morally, to select our course, does not keep us from +being relatively so, and, after all, the destiny of the individual is +very largely within his power to shape. It is only through incessant +and vigorous struggle that anything worth while is accomplished, and +nature, in this and many other instances, is with us, since we become +capacitated for greater endeavor through practice, and the habit, once +formed, makes the effort for advancement become almost an instinct +within us, so that our mental activity does not have to be continually +consumed in holding our will to the course, but can be applied to +fighting our way upward along it. Just as fresh recruits are unable +to render the efficient service of veterans in actual warfare, so our +capabilities, morally and intellectually, become augmented by constant +practice. In the succeeding chapters, we shall attempt to show what is +possible to be got from life by the use of all of the advantages which +we have, and, in doing this, we shall elucidate a philosophy which is +as consistent with the facts of life as known to us as we can make it. + +In the days of the decadence of the Roman Empire, when perhaps life was +as uncertain as it ever was in the history of the world, the walls of +the banquet halls of a certain clique were always adorned with skulls +and other tokens of death, and according to all accounts, the mirth +was more furious, and the licentiousness greater, as the guests were +brought to realize the shortness of the time during which they had to +live. We moderns may well get an idea from these feasts, in which +the sentiment of Solomon, as voiced a thousand years earlier--than +the instance cited, and under similar conditions, "let us eat, drink, +and be merry, for to-morrow we die," is the dominating one, and, in +considering the shortness of life, realize that every minute should be +filled with effort, as time which is passed is gone forever. Even at +the best, whatever we may elect to accomplish, should take all of our +attention, and, although we may give it this, we will still be able to +find moments in which we did not live up to our possibilities. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PURPOSE OF LIFE + + +In the preceding chapters, we have attempted to get a view of life +from a purely physical standpoint, and to show in what ways our race +is connected with the terrestrial past, and how much the individual +is dependent upon physical conditions, beyond his control, which +constitute both the background and the framework of his existence. But +as great as are these limitations, they are still not so important +as they at first sight would seem, since at least a portion of each +person's environment is of his own choosing, and both his body and his +mind are, to a greater or lesser degree, what he may elect to make +them. Diligence and pertinacity have accomplished wonders along this +line, and the poor struggling manual laborer very frequently turns out +to be the great discoverer, not only in the province of geography, +perhaps on the "Dark Continent," but along all the lines of truth. Nor +is even age a bar to achievement, as our own bard tells us: + + "Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles + Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides + Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers + When each had numbered more than fourscore years; + And Theophrastus, at fourscore and ten, + Had but begun his 'Characters of Men.' + Chaucer at Woodstock, with his nightingales, + At sixty, wrote the Canterbury Tales. + Goethe, at Weimar, toiling to the last, + Completed Faust, when eighty years were past." + +However, it is far more safe to assume that, whatever we have to +do, should be started early in life, for, if we are to carve out +our own destinies, we shall need all the time which we have at our +disposal. While fully realizing the limiting conditions of heredity and +environment, it is difficult to disprove the statement of Cassius, when +he says: + + "Men, at some time, are masters of their fates; + The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars + But in ourselves; that we are underlings." + +Perhaps Bulwer-Lytton has, in other words, more forcibly expressed a +similar idea when he says: + + "We are our own fates. Our own deeds + Are our own doomsmen." + +Let us not shift the responsibility of our being other than we desire +upon the shoulders of either our progenitors or circumstances, but, +taking what is, as a fact, we should try to so regulate our conduct +that what we wish may come to pass. It is not he who mourns the power +which he has not--who becomes either the master of himself or of +others, as the parable of the talents tells us, but it is he who, +with a strong heart, dares and does, that achieves the great things +on this earth. Perhaps as close an analogy as we can get to the real +life-condition, is to represent the individual's power over himself +and his destiny, by one line, and the power of heredity and forced +environment by one of equal length; then his power of accomplishment +will be the _vector sum_ of these two lines. The line representing the +uncontrollable condition will necessarily be longer (as the influence +is more powerful) in youth, while, during the life period, it gradually +shortens up until it reaches its minimum at the physical and mental +culmination of life, or when the individual is at his best, and +lengthens again as old age comes on, and the physical and mental forces +decline, and habit and environment become the prevailing factors. With +our responsibility clearly before us, then, let us investigate what is +worth having. + +At this particular time, when all of the Occidental world is hopelessly +insane with its Machiavelian money greed, it would seem that one of +Horace's sentiments, uttered satirically, had become the slogan of the +battle: + + "Get place and wealth, if possible, with grace; + If not, by any means, get wealth and place." + +Everything is thrown away by the average individual to-day, in his +haste to satisfy his desire for inordinate wealth;--friendship, +liberty, decency, humanity, honor, and even life itself, is hurled into +the maw of this Mammon, which is not satisfied with such sacrifices, +and gives only hard, cold gold as a return for the priceless jewels of +the human soul, and even this usually at a time in life when the little +value which the mental ever possessed has gone, since there are no +longer desires to gratify by it, with the one exception of that calling +constantly for more of the counters which have lost their purchasing +power. Our forefathers thought of wealth as worth having only +because with it came leisure, and with leisure came culture through +application. Sir John Lubbock has well said, "If wealth is to be valued +because it gives leisure, clearly it would be a mistake to sacrifice +leisure in the struggle for wealth." + +Unfortunately, our country is going through that period which all other +nations that have risen to "world power" have had to pass through, +only, in our case, we have reached this period much earlier in point of +time, owing to our vast natural resources, the activity of scientific +research, and the multitude of inventions resulting therefrom within +the last century. But, with the enormous increase in our national +wealth, the legislative branch of our Government neglected to pass +such restraining measures as would insure that no gigantic individual +fortunes were amassed, or, in case that they were to have such wealth, +bear its proportion of the tax; and, consequently, we are confronting +a condition of both anarchy and socialism, inasmuch as, to-day, our +law-making and higher judiciary branches of Government both have a +decided leaning toward whatever is favorable to capital, as against +the interests of the laboring people. Our lower judicial and executive +officials, however, are in this country and in England, owing to rank +partisan political influence, almost hopelessly under the domination +of organized labor, whose leaders (necessarily demagogues) use all the +means within their power to corrupt our system of jurisprudence to +further their own ends. It remains to be seen whether our Government, +owing to its democratic form, will be able to right these evils and +withstand the stress and strain which such a changed social system +must necessarily involve. Remembering our experience at the time of +the Civil War, which was brought about by very similar causes, we have +every reason to be hopeful of the outcome. Our vast alien population is +the only factor which would be decidedly against us at a time such as +this, since these foreigners have not had the privileges of citizenship +where they were born, and into them has been instilled the blind hatred +of all who possess wealth, owing to the monarchical feudal oppression +of the poorer laboring classes, by the titled and plutocratic nobility +of Europe. The most crying need of our time is a law equitable for poor +and rich alike, and a judicial and executive system which will see that +this law is enforced and its penalties are imposed impartially. + +Perhaps the worst feature about the possession of wealth, is that +it tends to dwarf and belittle the finer sensibilities of man. Its +acquisition becomes a passion of such violence that, in the majority of +cases, its possessor no longer cares for anything but the few paltry +pleasures which it will buy. And as few as these apparently are, they +are even less upon closer examination, since only the counterfeits +of anything of real moral value can be purchased for money. Purity, +sincerity, culture, or love, owing to their nature, never could be +bought for gold. Yet many an individual has acquired the opposite of +the four "pearls of great price" just mentioned, by having too much +money at his disposal; and most truly has it been said that "poverty is +one of the greatest teachers of virtue." In fact, if it were not for +the truth of our American aphorism, that "three generations cover the +time it takes one of our wealthy families to go from shirt-sleeves to +shirt-sleeves," our wealthy aristocracy would be much more profligate. +There can be no heritage of equal value to children, so long as +their poverty does not interfere with their fundamental education, +comparable to their being born in straitened, rather than in opulent, +circumstances. Consequently, we must accept the fact that beyond a +small competence set aside against age, money has no value of moment, +nor is it worthy of greater than a reasonable effort being spent to +acquire it. + +In this age of bustle and hurry, the nervous system is operated at +a very high tension, and as a result often refuses to do the work +demanded of it. As a consequence, artificial stimulants are resorted +to, with the most baneful effects upon our citizen body. Caffine, +thermo-bromine, nicotine, narcine, alcohol, and, frequently, chloral, +cocaine, morphine, and hyoscine, are used in some quantity, and often +under several forms, for this purpose by over seventy-five per cent. +of our population; and we have seen the statement that over ninety per +cent. of the males, over the age of twenty-one, are addicted to some +narcotic habit in this country. As a result of this, the vitality of +the individual, suffering from these habits, is eventually lowered, +owing to the effect which such stimulants have upon the involuntary +muscular fibre; while the over-wrought nervous system, sooner or later, +collapses, and we become, both mentally and physically, human wrecks. +Particularly is the taking of the weaker stimulants, such as are more +commonly used, harmful to children, inasmuch as, at this period of +development, nature has about all that she can well care for, without +interference from the outside, and abnormal activity of the imagination +at this time is not to be desired; since, under these circumstances +with the majority of human beings, the imaginative impulse runs more to +sensual than to æsthetic things. + +The demands of our present civilization upon the individual, especially +if he belongs to the coterie constituting the so-called social set, is +so great for both time and effort, that the use of narcotic stimulants +with this class is even greater than with the majority. Hence, it +happens in America, where wealth is often acquired very quickly, that +instead of bringing with it leisure, health, education, and refinement, +as it should, we see very frequently the opposite result. On this +account, in our country, we have no aristocracy, in any real sense of +the word, and, in general we are forced to believe that real culture +and refinement are becoming all the time more rare. The late Mark Twain +has well illustrated this tendency in his trite character sketch, "The +Man who Corrupted Hadleyburg." If our age tends toward degeneration +ethically from this cause, it does so even more from a physiological +point of view. It is becoming more imperative all the while that +we ascertain, for certain, that those with whom we must enter upon +intimate relationship, should be able to show a clean bill of health, +not only in a strictly physical sense, but in a moral sense as well. +To-day, luxury and vice in our centers of population are corrupting and +ruining a far larger proportion of our young and middle-aged men than +ever before. Since all branches of our Government are influenced by +plutocratic power, we are at a loss immediately to rectify these evils +by closing up the dens of vice, and raising the age of consent, to stem +the tide of infamy. + +Any system of ethics is valuable as a guide for conduct just to that +extent to which our interest is aroused. Inasmuch as with us all, self +is always the paramount consideration, the safest and surest basis +upon which we can build an ethical system is self-interest. Every +human being of intelligence must sooner or later realize that he is +on earth primarily by no choice of his own, and, since he is here, +it is of the first importance to him that he should know, early in +life, in just what way he will be able to secure the most out of his +terrestrial existence. Now, as we take it, happiness, in its broadest +and best sense, is alone the desideratum which is _per se_ worth the +individual's effort, and, in the aggregate, is worth the pains, both +as an end to be attained, and through the effects of the struggle +of obtaining it upon others. By happiness, we mean that feeling of +contentment and satisfaction which should, at all times, be with the +conscientious and sincere being, whether he is expecting to live a few +more decades, or if he has arrived at that inevitable hour which must +sometime come to all. In other words, let his end come when it will, if +he has happiness, in our sense, he feels and knows that he has had all +that he could get out of life, and, if he had to live it over again, +he would wish to operate upon only those principles which he had used +to guide his existence. In this sense, then, should happiness be the +purpose of life, we will now attempt to show what conditions must, of +necessity, be fulfilled in order to attain it. + +Happiness, for the individual, is but slightly dependent upon +circumstances outside of his control, and, in general, is the result of +living up to the highest moral possibility, which means the development +of self in the highest conception. Since any environment can be made +to serve the purpose, we are always so conditioned that some degree of +happiness may be ours. The presence of the objects of our affection, +in the form of human beings, is perhaps an actual necessary detail of +our environment, without which we cannot experience that feeling of +satisfaction and contentment which we call "happiness." + +The matter of the greatest importance is so ordering your life that, +in all your actions, you may be equitable in the most amplified sense +of the word. This has, at all times, been understood by those teachers +of humanity who have been reformers or saviors, from the priests of +Osiris in Egypt and Zoroaster in Bactria, more than five thousand +years ago, to Abbas Effendi in Palestine, within the last century. +And, strange as it may seem, the world has advanced perhaps less in +the understanding and practice of this, than in any of the truths of +lesser importance. The exposition of the Decalogue of the Pentateuch +is less refined and more constricted in meaning and application than +the Negative Confession in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, or the +Vedantic philosophy, as given in the older Hindoo writings, or in the +more modern Upanishads. From this point of view, the ethics of the +Zend or of the Chinese sages are infinitely beyond the best modern +practice of a majority of the people in any part of the earth. But +all conscientious and fearless thinkers, regardless of the date or +locality in which they existed, have realized that in every sense the +"Golden Rule" is the only safe guide for conduct, if contentment and +real happiness were the end sought. And if we once get thoroughly fixed +in the individual's mind that this is certain, and that, no matter +what the intention, if our acts are not ordered in accordance with +this fundamental principle of equity, we cannot be happy; we can rest +assured that the individual would no sooner pursue a line of action +which he absolutely knows will end in his own misery, than he would +wilfully take a dose of poison. It is the putting of ethical matters +upon a plain commonsense basis that will greatly assist, socially and +morally, in revolutionizing the world. We have too long deformed and +twisted facts to fit our fancies and prejudices, and we, as well as the +rest of the human race, have paid "a pretty penny" for our delusion. +The prevalence in all of the Western countries since Constantine raised +Christianity to the prominence of a State religion, of a belief in a +scheme of vicarious atonement, has worked inestimable harm to the human +race. Certainly, in one particular, the doctrine taught by the gospel +of Gautama Buddha is immeasurably further advanced ethically than that +of his subsequent rival, Jesus of Nazareth, if we accept their gospels +as correct reports of their teachings. Our blood, to-day, is tainted +with venereal diseases, and our minds with a predisposition to infamy, +because our ancestors were not taught, and did not know, that from the +consequence of their actions, both physically and mentally, they could +not escape. How many men would work day and night to accumulate wealth, +at the expense of their fellows, through unfair advantage and unjust +means, if they only knew that this could not, on account of immutable +law, add one iota to their happiness after they had secured possession +of their so much coveted gold? How many women, for the consideration +of a home of leisure and luxury, would rush into a marriage "of +convenience" with a man for whom they knew they had no semblance of +an affection, if they felt, with certainty, that nature does not +discriminate, even for a marriage license and a religious ceremony, +between prostitution within the bonds of wedlock, and without, and that +the horrors of remorse and disappointment are just as frightful in one +case as in the other? How many young men would go out into the world +with a Satanic sneer upon their faces, a cigarette between their lips, +and a glass of champagne in their hands, to sow their wild oats under +the tutelage of their older degenerate friends, if they fully realized +that, in this one act, they were forever incapacitating themselves for +the highest pleasure of life, and that no matter what their lives might +be thereafter, that nature would ruthlessly hold them to the strictest +accountability for their actions, and that ignorance would be no plea +for mercy before her bar? This inexorable impartiality of nature is at +once the saddest and the sublimest matter of contemplation, depending +entirely upon whether we are considering the awful weight of her +penalties or the magnificence of her rewards. The old axiom of prudery +that "knowledge often comes hard," is, in the cold light of fact and +reason, a most palpable absurdity. It is to-day, the man and woman +who _knows_; not necessarily from his or her own experience, but from +the authentic records of the results of the actions of others, whose +motives of narration cannot be questioned, who are well-equipped to +fight the battles of life, and get from terrestrial existence all the +real pleasure which is to be obtained. It is from such simple yet grand +souls that we have inspirations, and fortunate is that individual +who can call himself a friend to a man or woman whose life has, from +the earliest childhood, been so ordered that purity and sincerity +have been kept inviolate, and all of the fundamental conditions of +equity, as applicable to our fellow human beings, have been observed. +A friendship with this character of human being is one of the few +unalloyed pleasures of life, inasmuch as their company, when present, +or their memory, when absent, is equally delightful. But to get the +highest enjoyment from such a person, we must not only strive to reach +his or her level, but, just in proportion as we do attain their moral +altitude, we will have our capacity for enjoyment augmented. + +Perhaps in nothing more than in our moments of relaxation and amusement +should we be careful that we make our actions accord with this law +of equity. How many a careless thing we do without thinking what +the result will be upon someone else! While the indulging in some +amusements, such as a game of chance, for an insignificant stake, in +order to maintain the interest, may be done with impunity by parties +whose financial condition is such that the counters involved are of +no moment to them, and the stability of their temperament is sedate +enough so that the excitement of the game will not fascinate them +with a snake's charm; yet are these particular participants sure that +this is true of all of the company at such times? If not--and in no +gathering of this kind can we be sure--there is a possibility of great +harm being done. The same is also true of an occasional glass of +stimulant, so much in vogue on all social occasions; of the occasional +cigar or cigarette; of a little gossip or scandalous small-talk, which +we all enjoy so much; and of a thousand and one other things which, +in themselves, are almost positively not so harmful when properly +conditioned, but which may, and frequently do, become the means of +a fellow mortal's ruin. It is the lack of discerning and realizing +our responsibility in these matters of conduct that causes almost all +of the misery of the world. It is not, however, enough that we act +equitably only toward our friends and strangers, but we must, within +reasonable limits, follow the injunction which the Chinese philosopher +has so well enunciated twenty-five hundred years ago: "Requite hatred +with goodness." In this particular instance, Lao-Tse's philosophy is +more sensible than Christ's, who commanded us to turn the other cheek. +It is not the part of good judgment that we should throw ourselves +open to the ravages of our enemies, but it is essential that we do +not wilfully harm or wrong even the least of human beings. It has +been the most unfortunate thing for the Occidental world that those +in high authority in the Christian movement should have so belittled +their physical self in comparison with their spiritual natures, that +anything pertaining to the flesh was thought unclean and worthy of no +consideration. Everything which tends toward real beauty and sincerity, +and helps to make us learned, just, and charitable, must necessarily +be worth striving for; and the possession of this should be counted +above all other things. At the same time, we must appreciate the +awfulness of our responsibility, and continually test our actions in +the light of their equity toward others, if we would be following the +safe line of conduct. On the other hand, we should not be blind to +the evil in others, and we should be willing to go to any reasonable +self-sacrifice to better terrestrial conditions. + +The philosophy, as enunciated in the foregoing, is not at all +altruistic; it is, on the contrary, very selfish, and as such it has +its chief value. If we teach our children that they must be good, +not for the sake of doing the right thing, but for the purpose of +increasing their happiness, it would seem but reasonable that such +incentive in the latter case would be more potent than that given in +the former one. Above all, the idea of vicarious atonement must be +abhorred as a false conceit, and human beings should be taught that, in +the moral as in the physical world, consequences are always absolutely +true to their antecedents. As Orlando J. Smith so forcefully and +tritely says, "Know that the consequences of your every act and thought +are registered instantly in your character. This day, this hour, this +moment, is your time of judgment. He who deceives, betrays, kills--he +who entertains malice, treachery, or other vileness, secretly in his +heart--takes the penalty instantly in the debasement of his character. +And so, also, for every good thought or act, be it open or secret, he +shall receive an instant reward in the improvement of his character. + +"Every night as you lie down to sleep, you are a little better or a +little worse, a little richer or a little poorer, than you were in +the morning. You have nothing that is substantial, nothing that is +truly your own, but your character. You shall lose your money and your +property; your home shall be your home no longer; the scenes which know +you now shall know you no more; your flesh shall be food for worms; +the earth upon which you tread shall be cinders and cosmic dust. Your +character alone shall stay with you, surviving all wreckage, decay, and +death; your character is you, it shall be you forever. Your character +is the perfect register of your progress or of your degradation, of +your victory or of your defeat; it shall be your glory or your shame, +your blessing or your curse, your heaven or your hell." + +Truly has Plato said: "Character is man's destiny." "Whatsoever a man +soweth, that shall he also reap." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION + + +In entering upon the consideration of the part which knowledge plays +in the making of human happiness, it seems impossible to secure a +view of satisfactory breadth. What we, as children, knew as recently +established facts was with our fathers, in many instances, entirely +undreamed-of, so rapidly has the fund of knowledge grown within the +last century. With us now, more than at any other time, is correctness +of judgment advantageous, since, with increased learning, has come a +fiercer competition in all the affairs of life, and more dependent +than ever before is the individual now, upon his intelligence for +his livelihood, as well as for his happiness. In this day, as never +previously, are the words of Bacon true: "Crafty men contemn studies; +simple men admire them, and wise men use them." + +At the present time, also, as at no time in the historic past, is +experience gained at the hands of others or through them; so that the +youth of to-day does not have to suffer the consequences of getting +experience "first hand" on account of the lack of books, or of the +prejudice or ignorance of his parents and teachers, as was so often +the case in the not remote past. Furthermore, intelligent parents are +taking their children into their confidence, and informing them upon +all subjects with perfect freedom, since, inasmuch as knowledge must +come to children at some time, it is vastly preferable that it should +come through those who have the interest of the inexperienced at heart, +so that the proper color and perspective may be given to each and every +fact. It is almost an axiom of pedagogics to-day that "ignorance is +the most potent cause of crime." With the unprecedented dissemination +of knowledge which has taken place during the past few decades, there +has necessarily been a proportionate advancement in the culture of the +masses, and, with culture, comes refinement and conscience. + +The cheapness and attractiveness of current literature, before the +decline in culture which engulfed this country with the rise of +commercialism and imperialism, was a thing of which America had every +reason to be proud; and while we are now in the trough of the wave of +progress, and will continue to be until money and commercial influence +lose their present prestige, yet it does not take an optimist to see +that, sooner or later, and somewhere, humanity will take advantage of +its hard-won victories of the past and commence again its march toward +better conditions. + +Here, again, as with the individual, so with the entire race. As we +outgrow the things of our childhood at the arrival of mature years, +so has and will the human family as a whole. Who cannot remember the +marvelous width and depth of the vistas of youth, as looked back at in +the transmuting light of memory; and yet, when, after years of toil, +we look at the same scenes again in reality, how disappointing and +dwarfed they are! It is not the actual physical distance which has been +altered, but we, ourselves. Our horizons have unconsciously widened +every day; our standards of comparison have been insidiously raised. +Just as an inch, when compared with a foot, seems relatively small, +with a yard, smaller, and so on until we reach the "light year," the +value of the fraction is reduced to almost an inappreciable sum; so, as +we progress through life, the momentous events of our youth lose their +importance, and we look at our past through the minifying glass of +experience, until at last we can hardly believe that the person whose +life we have been reviewing is, in reality, one with our present self. +Furthermore, events seen at a distance assume their true proportions, +and we are less influenced by passions and prejudices after the lapse +of time; hence it is only in retrospection that we are able to secure +a view of anything which we have experienced without distortion. All +normal human beings are so constituted that their psychic activity runs +through a long series of periods of evolution during each individual +life. As Haeckel has shown, five of these, at least, can be clearly +defined: + +1st--The Infantile Stage--from birth to the beginning of +self-consciousness. + +2nd--The adolescent stage--from self-consciousness to puberty. + +3rd--The idealistic stage--from puberty to the period of sexual +intercourse. + +4th--The mature stage--from the time of sexual intercourse to the +beginning of degeneration with age. + +5th--The senile stage--from the commencement of degeneration with age +until death. + +The investigation of a human life, according to this outline, will +prove, quite readily, the psychic possibilities of mundane existence. + +As is well known, the child enters life with its cerebellum almost +devoid of functions. The vital processes are carried on through the +cerebrum and the medulla oblongata, purely by virtue of the stamp of +heredity, and it is only after some days that the outside stimuli, such +as light, heat, pressure or contact, etc., of the most elementary and +primitive sort, are responded to by the infant. Its life is a matter +of little or no individual interest to it, and it is usually only +after many months, and, in some cases, years, before the child has any +conception of its own existence. Previous to the comprehension of its +existence, the infant has to learn to see and judge something of the +distance and size of objects by the use of its eyes, if not to invert +the retina image. In a non-monistic sense, the child, during this +period, has no soul, and its life or death is of absolutely no moment +to it. + +In the second, or adolescent stage, the most important of the +individual's concrete knowledge is obtained--that upon which the basis +of judgment rests in after-years. The developing mentality seizes +new facts with avidity, and the memory is more keen, potentially, +at this stage than at any other. The value of correct associations +at this era cannot be over-estimated, as ideas and habits formed in +this period cling tenaciously to the individual. So deeply seated do +they become that they form a part of what we call, in after-years, +our instinct, and upon these memories and the foundation of habits +we build our later intuition. Voltaire has somewhere remarked that +"Mankind is led more by instinct than by reason," and his observation +is a just one. The acquisition of concrete facts or knowledge, in +a specialized form, takes place at a very much more rapid rate at +this period than during any other one, and the child's mind is very +plastic, and absorbs information greedily. Nature has so arranged it +that at this time, when most is to be learned, learning comes more +easily than before or afterwards. In the normal child, the sense of +duty begins to make itself felt at this juncture, and while this may +be entirely an objective idea, nevertheless, it clearly shows an +appreciation of justice in a regard for the rights of others. Coupled +with this, there is a satisfaction which comes both from a sense of +our knowledge--little though it be--and the feeling that this is being +used as a guide to our conduct; a sentiment which Bacon eloquently +expresses in his aphorism: "No pleasure is comparable with the standing +upon the vantage ground of Truth." With this realization, life for +the first time becomes worth living, and our desire for more knowledge +follows directly upon our appreciation of the power which truth gives +over our destiny. The grasping and comprehension of this idea by the +child is one of the greatest, if not the most important, points to be +attained in any educational system. The absorption of abstract facts +does not constitute, primarily, any part of an education, as Spencer +has so clearly shown; but the implanting of the desire for truth, and +the manner in which we should assimilate and use it, does attain the +highest aim of any scheme of erudition. It is in this second stage +of development that this must be done rudimentally; consequently, +compulsory education must be carried at least through this period. + +At the beginning of the third subdivision in the life of the +individual, we find a peculiar nervous tension, which is invariably an +accompaniment of this stage of physical development. The imaginative +faculties are enormously stimulated, and, unless directed into the +right channels, are sure to work to the eternal harm of both male and +female children. They should have been given a general knowledge of +their physical peculiarities, previous to this time, by their parents, +and should be allowed the companionship of playmates of the opposite +sex so long as their characters are not objectionable. These close +acquaintances between girls and boys should be fostered and allowed +to become friendship, rather than be discouraged and ridiculed, by +the parents and guardians, as is so often the case. The polarity of +sex will assert itself at this early age, and the boys will strive to +appear manly, strong and noble, while the girls, in a less positive +sense, perhaps, but in an equally beneficial manner, will attempt to +assume the womanly peculiarities of reserved kindliness and sympathy, +which has made the female character so lovable and universally admired +through all the ages. In this matter of the intersexual association +of children, our public school system is usually in error, since, in +most towns, the playgrounds of the boys and girls are separated by +high fences, and communication is entirely cut off during play times. +The association with a large number of individuals of the opposite +sex gives the child a broader basis upon which to form a judgment +concerning any one, and if taught at the same time to use his mind +analytically, will mean a correspondingly high ideal of his own. The +ideal of the child is but the selected striking characteristics of his +own acquaintances, coalesced into an imaginative being. This ideal +is high or low, just as he has been taught to reverence and worship +beautiful or unlovely and vile things; but, all conditions being equal, +there is no other time in life when the human mind will so readily +respond to the pure and noble stimulation of æstheticism as against the +baseness and depravity of unbridled sensuality. + +Much has been said concerning the difference in the systems of +education and the class of facts to be presented to the male, as +distinguished from the female, mind. There can be no doubt that the +desired result of education in either case is broadly similar--the +fitting of the individual for a useful and happy life. But it +does not follow that, because in our present civilization, the +woman is necessarily the guardian of the æsthetic, while the man is +engrossed with the practical, that the same set of facts and power of +investigation and reason are not just as good a preparation with which +to meet the identical world-problems in the one life as in the other. +Truth is the same to the boy as to the girl, and the material facts +do not change whether faced by one sex or its opposite. Since in our +industrial life, we have allowed woman to assume already no mean part, +we have more than ever a valid reason for giving her the same course +of training in general which we prescribe for her brother. Nor are we +speaking of intellectual and moral education alone--but the physical +as well--and this in its broadest sense. If we can but stamp indelibly +upon the minds of our children that the natural consequences of their +actions are the punishments, _per se_, which they must suffer in +person, we have done about all possible toward making their pathways +through the world lead at least through negative enjoyment, in place +of absolute grief. There must be inculcated a frankness and sincerity +into the processes of their mentality, before correct judgment can +exist, and, without this, no scheme of education can fulfill its +mission. This honesty of character or intro-active integrity is a hard +matter to instill into the child, since our methods and actions are +very rarely consistent, as Richter, Rousseau, Spencer, and others--in +truth, all of our great educational thinkers--have so well realized. +The indispensability of this candor and fervor is none the less +appreciated, however, owing to the almost insurmountable difficulties +attending its procuration. It is just in this connection that intimate +friendships with members of both sexes so nicely supplement the work +accomplished by parental association, since the restraint certain to +come from the authority of the parent or guardian, is unknown as an +influence between those equal in age and station in life. + +In the use of the beginning of sexual intercourse, as a line of +demarcation between periods of human existence, it would seem that +a most natural and rational selection were made. As a proof of this, +it is but necessary to call to mind the large number of barbaric and +semi-civilized peoples who observe some initiatory rites or mysteries +connected with the arrival of the individual at puberty or nubility, +which with them is, to all intents and purposes, the same as, if not +absolutely identical with, the beginning of sexual indulgence. Under +our civic law, it is at this time that, through marriage, the human +being assumes his full responsibilities, and, by the beginning of an +independent family relation, becomes an integral, co-ordinate member +of the state. It is at this "stress and storm" period that the real +work of life--the fruition of existence--takes place. Beginning with +the intimate association with another human being, whose rights and +privileges are so interwoven with our own that it is frequently a +hard matter to respect them without becoming distant, tolerating the +idiosyncrasies, and lauding the virtues, in such a way that the former +are diminished, while the latter are increased; trying to anticipate +the wants and wishes of the other so that they may be gratified--not +for their own satisfaction, primarily, but for our own; seeing the +pleasures of sensuality transmuted in the crucible of pain into the +gold of a new existence; feeling the supplementary affection and +interest, which, for the want of a better name, we call parental +love, and, as the offspring grow older, the pride and elation which +comes with their achievements; standing at last beside the grave, +crushed with grief, raving like Macbeth in despair, or inspired with a +transcendental insanity like Richter's--these all are the vicissitudes +of mature human life, when at its best. + +But, great and varied as they are, we find them, in fact, very closely +fused together; and like all life-processes, they take place at a +comparatively slow rate, so that before we are aware, we have arrived +at the beginning of senile degeneration. + +Prior to the ending of this fourth stage, the education of the +individual has been finished, and it depends largely upon the +previous mode of living, and the manner of thinking whether he +may not remain at his best for a while, or must at once begin the +descent, from which there is no return. Fortunate, indeed, is he +whose "star remains long bright at the zenith." Considering now what +constitutes an education and the best means of obtaining it, we can +profitably review the principles involved. As Spencer has shown, +intellectual, moral, and even physical development for the human +being must proceed in one direction--call it what we will. There can +be no question that the infant, as an individuality, is homogeneous +in its ignorance and positive influence; that the first facts which +dawn upon its germinating intelligence are concrete and empirical, +and that all of its acts are simple, resulting from comparatively +simple stimuli. Education, in its broadest sense, is the development, +cultivation, and direction of all the natural powers of man, and +its purpose should be to fit the individual for a useful and happy +life. Education can come only through the acquisition of knowledge, +but knowledge can be obtained in two ways. By knowledge, we mean +assurance born of conviction, based upon sufficient evidence, that +a mental conception corresponds with that which it represents. The +primal way of gaining knowledge is by experience, and undoubtedly +this is the most satisfactory and thorough in all cases, where the +result of such experience is not of such a nature as to potentially +lessen the possibilities of the individual for future usefulness and +happiness. Where this would occur, or where, for any reason, such as +lack of time or opportunity, it cannot be resorted to, the accurately +recorded experience of others can be assimilated through the memory and +reasoning faculties, and added to the store of knowledge for the mind's +use. In using the second method of acquiring knowledge, we should not +only exercise the utmost care in selecting authorities who have a +reputation for keenness of perception and truthfulness of narration, +but we should not accept their dictum for what seems to be to us +contrary to our previous experience, and unsound to our reason and +judgment. Unless we are able to follow with our reason their narration +of the causes of events, it is of but little avail that we reach their +conclusion. + +The adoption of the scientific as distinguished from the Aristotelian +system of education by the leading teachers of all the Occidental +countries within the last century, has been of enormous benefit to +the human race. We know now that the first thing to be learned is +to maintain the body in as nearly perfect physical condition as +possible--since the mind, to a marked degree, reflects the pathological +state of the flesh. Consequently, hygiene becomes the fundamental +science in the education of the human being, and facts relating thereto +should take precedence generally over all others in the priority of +time in a youth's education. + +With the habit of health once established, the next matter is to see +that those studies which will place the individual in possession of +the greatest numbers of facts concerning his physical and mental +environments, and which will give him the best training in observation +and reasoning, are pursued. + +For this, natural science and its accompanying mathematics, are +supreme, although enough manual training and domestic science should be +included in the curriculum to insure an acquaintance with the matters +of everyday life. Human physiology and anatomy, as well as the subject +of parenthood, should also have a share of attention commensurate +with their importance--and this has long been denied them. Elementary +psychology must also have a place even in that course of education +which should be made compulsory in every State. A knowledge of the +elementary Latin and Greek is also to be desired in those countries +whose vernaculars are largely made up from word-roots to be found in +these dead languages. + +As a matter of amusement and erudition every individual should have +some line of work other than that of his daily routine, upon which to +devote his spare time, regardless of the educational advantages which +he may have had before assuming his responsibilities in the world's +work. This is equally true of woman. However, this should not be done +with the intention of winning fame--although that is not impossible, +since Newton developed his Calculus in his spare time after hours, +while working as a clerk upon a very moderate salary--or attracting the +attention of others, but as a means of self-development. Either some +particular unsolved problem may be taken hold of, such as the sciences +of chemistry, physics, or biology are so replete with, or the subject +of literature and _belles lettres_ may be studied most entertainingly +and profitably. This class of workers were very much more numerous +formerly than at present, owing to the rise of commercialism recently +over the whole world, and it is among these that labor for love, rather +than for profit, that much of the real accomplishment occurs. From +our standpoint, no plan of human existence can be complete, in the +highest and best sense of the word, which does not include this phase +of life, nor can any scheme of education be comprehensive which does +not lead up to it. There is probably no natural law, the knowledge +of which is of so much importance to the human race at large, as that +commonly known as the law of compensation. How many of the thinking +vulgar have for ages repeated the ancient adage: "You cannot have your +pie and eat it." But it has remained for modern science to demonstrate +how absolutely true this is, and Emerson only partly stated his case in +one of his best essays: "Tit for tat; an eye for an eye; a tooth for a +tooth; blood for blood; measure for measure, love for love. Give and +it shall be given to you. Nothing venture, nothing have. Thou shalt be +paid exactly for what thou hast done, no more, no less. Who doth not +work, shall not eat. Harm watch, harm catch. Curses always recoil on +the head of him who imprecates them. If you put a chain around the neck +of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own. Bad council +confounds the adviser. 'What will you have?' quoth God; 'pay for it and +take it.'" It is one of the largest parts of any education, yea, it is +the major, to know that you must pay for what you get in life whether +you will or no, and that you are forced constantly to bargain and +barter what you have for what you have not, and it is imperative that +you see that you get something which you really want, and which will +add to your happiness. And, in spite of yourself, you will get what you +really want, for you can't help it; but for it you will have to pay out +something, as you are doing all the time. Be sure to get something back +of value, let your ideals be high, choose the thing which will give you +the most happiness, but, remember, that you must pay its price. It is +the sudden realization of the law of compensation, held possibly to an +untenable extreme, that accounts for the recent rapid proselyting of +the Christian Science cult. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +RELIGION AND ETHICS + + +Those who have noticed little children playing contentedly in the +early evening, when one of their number suggested the change of +amusement to the game of bugoo-bear, could not have failed to see the +almost immediate alteration in the infantile mind from the most happy +placidity to the most tense apprehension. Although the lights still +burned at their utmost brilliancy and the game was entered into with +perfect good faith by the children, nevertheless it was a matter of +but a short while until all were thoroughly scared and expected the +bugoo-bear to appear in any dark or shadowed place. This phenomenon +has always seemed to be a very close analogy to just what happens +with grown persons who are working up a religious fervor. Just as the +darker the room is, the more apprehensive the children become, so the +deeper the ignorance of natural science is which engulfs the mature +human individuals, directly in that proportion will be their capacity +for religious fanaticism. The consciousness of man that he is dependent +upon some supernatural being, has been and always will be the only +basis upon which religious belief can be postulated. If we insert +the idea of natural causes in place of the supernatural being in the +foregoing sentence, then instead of a religious belief, we have the +foundation for a system of ethics. + +The dissemination of scientific knowledge in the last century has +done more to break down religious caste and hatred than all other +influences combined previous to that time. The authority of age has +been appreciably lessened, the significance of miracles as certain +proofs of divinity on the part of religious teachers has changed, the +reasonableness or expediency of any system of vicarious atonement +as a means of attaining either spiritual or moral "grace," and the +realization of humanity in general that the individual expiates his +physical crimes by bodily suffering, and his moral sins by the +tortures of a guilty conscience, are all verifications of what has +occurred in the spiritual and moral world recently. The enormous +strides made in proselyting by monism within the last few decades, +speak volumes upon this topic. The statement has recently been made, as +the result of an ecclesiastical census conducted by one of the largest +Christian denominations, that less than twenty-five per cent. of our +people in this country regularly attend church service. The demand +of the age for demonstration does not well accord with the credulity +insisted upon by the powerful religious organizations of to-day. +Religious beliefs are of necessity mere matters of superstition, and +are based very largely upon the tendency of the human mind to bow +down before authority, particularly, if it is insolent, and the power +of a falsehood to put on the appearance of a truth, if it can but +gain sufficient repetition. "Credidi propter quod, locutus sum." The +brazenness of this in much of the literature of religious revelation, +particularly in the Hebrew, Christian, and Mohammedan collections, is +most readily apparent to the most cursory critic. In fact, no strictly +religious literature at the time of the supremacy of the belief is free +from it. + +It is true of all religions that into the warp of superstition the woof +of a code of ethics is interwoven. In the earlier stages of culture +it has long been one of the accepted criteria of any faith whether +its accompanying science of duty, as developed in it, was relatively +good or bad. That there is a logical connection between these two +elements no one can doubt, but this inter-relation is more frequently +accidental than it is essential. Facts show that the instituters and +early promulgators of all of the great religions of which we have +knowledge, have seized with avidity upon any moral stipulations which +were necessary for their locality or condition of life, and that if +capital could be made out of these peculiar provincial circumstances, +they were not slow in coining them to their advantage. An instance +of this will be readily recognized in the inculcating within their +tenets such doctrines as the existence of an omnipresent and omniscient +deity, whose favor may be won by supplication, humility, or sacrifice, +or that of a personal immortality for each individual in a pleasurable +condition as one of the rewards for belief and an endless existence of +pain for its lack. As the number of converts increased, there has, in +almost every case, grown up a powerful and wealthy sacerdotal class +having special privileges. This cult of priesthood is soon corrupted +by idleness and luxury, and the great influence which is attached to +it by virtue of its vocation, has sooner or later been largely exerted +to keep its parishioners under its control by means of ignorance and +superstition. No matter how pure and sincere may have been its founder, +or how elevating or altruistic its doctrines might be, practically +all religions have suffered from the infamy and gross selfishness of +their priesthoods, who by their short-sighted policies of opposing all +adjustment of its dogma to newly-discovered facts, or their advancement +along with contemporary civilizations, have but precipitated their +downfall. From one to another of the gods of heaven has the "sceptre of +power and the purple of authority" passed with advancing ages, until it +is no wonder that thinking people are asking, "Who will next occupy the +old throne?" + +The earliest religion of which we have any knowledge was that +prevailing in the Valley of the Nile over seven, and perhaps as long +as ten, thousand years ago. The origin of these Egyptian Aborigines +we do not know--some have supposed that they came from a mixture of +conquering Lybians, with the early dwellers along the lower courses of +the river. Time has effaced all record of any religious texts which +they may have possessed, yet we can tell from the manner in which +they buried their dead, when not dismembered, with their faces always +to the south, and lying upon their left side, while the corpse was +wrapped in the skins of gazelles or in grass mats--that their ideas of +a future life were tolerably well-defined. The civilization of this +people was modified by the arrival of the conquering immigrants who +probably came from Asia, either by way of Arabia or across the Red +Sea, and who, in turn, engrafted upon the religion of the conquered +certain tenets of their own, and in this way formed a new system, the +records of which we find in "The Book of the Dead," which is not only +the oldest book extant, but also the most antiquated collection of +sacred literature of which we have knowledge. Exploration in Egyptian +burying-grounds plainly shows that between the time of the disposition +of the dead, as first noted, and the date of the supremacy of the "Book +of the Dead," that there existed civilizations in this valley who no +longer buried their dead whole, with crude attempts at embalming with +bitumen, but who burned their corpses more or less completely, and +threw the remaining bones into a shallow pit. After this came a race +who dismembered the bodies of their dead, burying the hands and feet +in one place, while the trunk and the rest of the arms and legs were +placed in a grave, separate again from the head. It is impossible, of +course, to even guess at the length of time necessary to effect such +changes in the customs of people, but we do know that at least seventy +centuries ago the ritual contained in the "Book of the Dead" was +generally accepted. And from this remote pre-dynastic time down to the +seventh century after Christ, mummifying was, in some form or other, +continually practiced in the Valley of the Nile. At the earliest time +of which we have record, we find the Egyptians worshiping a number of +autochthonic gods, of whom Osiris and his sister Isis were the chief. +Their ideas of the deities were entirely anthropomorphic. Osiris having +lived and suffered death and mutilation, and having been embalmed, was +by his sisters, Isis and Nephthys, provided with a series of charms, +by which he was protected from all evil and harm in the future life, +and who had recited certain magical formulæ which had, in the world to +come, given him everlasting life. It is certain that the practice of +this belief changed in minor details many times as the semi-barbarous +and sensual North Africans were subjected to the influence of their +more highly moral and spiritual Asiatic conquerors. Their tombs changed +from shallow pits to brick sepulchres, and these were in turn replaced, +by those who could afford it, by pyramids--the most substantial +form of human architecture left by historic races. As showing the +height of the civilization reached by the ancient Egyptians, it is +worthy of note that the great Pyramid of Cheops is not only the most +gigantic tomb ever built, but that it was designed to serve also as an +astronomical observatory, and that its Orientation for this purpose is +very accurate, when we consider that the Egyptians had no transits or +other instruments such as we have now. Consequently, in the location of +this work, they were forced to either use the shadow or polar method, +and the latter being the most accurate was, in fact, selected by +them. Had they known anything of the refraction of light as it passes +from space into our atmosphere, and been able to make the correction +for horizontal parallax, their location would have been accurate. +The purposes of their astronomical observations, as made from this +pyramid, were astrological undoubtedly, as the completion of the tomb +shut off the galleries which had been so carefully located. + +According to the "Book of the Dead," the human economy was composed +of nine different integral parts, all of which, except the "ren" or +name, are comprised broadly within our idea of _body_ and _soul_. The +judgment of each individual took place after death, before the tribunal +of Osiris, and in his Hall of Judgment. Here the soul, stripped of all +chance of deceit or subterfuge, was forced to make, as his address +to Osiris, the justly famous "Negative Confession," and the truth +being apparent to Osiris and his forty-two associates, judgment was +given impartially and upon an absolute basis of fact. The standard of +ethics demanded of the individual can be realized from the fragments +quoted from this address:--"In truth I have come to thee and I have +brought right and truth to thee, and I have destroyed wickedness for +thee. I have not brought forward my name for exaltation to honors. +I have had no association with worthless men. I have not uttered +evil words against any man. I have not stirred up strife. I have not +judged hastily. I have not made haughty my voice, nor behaved with +insolence. I have not ill-treated servants. I have not caused harm to +be done to the servant by his master. I have not made to be the first +consideration of each day that excessive labor should be performed for +me. I have not oppressed the members of my family. I have not defrauded +the oppressed one of his property. I have neither filched away land, +nor have I encroached upon the fields of others. I have not diminished +from the bushel, nor have I misread the pointer of the scales nor added +to the weights. I have not carried away the milk from the mouths of +children. I have caused no man to suffer hunger. I have made no one +to weep. I have not acted deceitfully. I have not uttered falsehood. +I have not wrought evil in the place of right and truth. I have not +committed theft. I have not done violence to any man. I have done no +murder. I have ordered no murder done for me. I have not caused pain. +I have not done iniquity. I have not defiled the wife of any man. I +have not committed fornication, nor have I lain with any man. I have +not done evil to mankind. I have not committed any sin against purity. +I am pure. I am pure. I am pure." Those who were condemned before this +tribunal were instantly devoured by the "Eater of the Dead," while +the good were admitted into the realm of Osiris to enjoy everlasting +happiness and life. + +We turn now from the Valley of the Nile to that of the Tigris and +Euphrates, lying about one thousand miles eastward. Here we find the +home of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, and interwoven with their +religion we find many of the old myths which, in a corrupted form, +occur in our own Bible. As the papyri of Egypt have been forced to give +up their secrets, so have the clay cylinders of Mesopotamia. These, +now lying in the British and Berlin Museums, tell in a purer and more +primitive form than that found in the Old Testament, the story of the +fall of man, and upon an old cylinder seal we have it illustrated, +apple tree, woman, serpent, and all. The story of the deluge is also +there taken from the library of Sardanapalus at Nineveh, just as it was +written upon the cylinder more than two thousand years before Christ. +All that is required to duplicate this deluge as far as the valley of +Mesopotamia is concerned, is a tremendous downpour of water, coincident +with a tornado blowing up the Persian Gulf, just as some thirty years +ago, in the delta of the Ganges, nearly a quarter of a million persons +perished during a like phenomenon in the Bay of Bengal. Here also we +find the creation myth, and how after a terrible struggle with the +engulfing waters, Marduk finally cut them in twain, and out of one-half +made the roof of heaven, while out of the other half he made the +earth. Then, too, out of mingled clay and celestial blood, he made the +first two human beings, man and woman. The Babylonians and Assyrians +believed in the immortality of the soul, dependent, of course, upon +the mode in which it lived here. Thus, we find the fifth, sixth, and +seventh commandments just as we have them in the Pentateuch, together +with injunctions of humanity, charity, mercy, and love on the part of +the follower of Babel. Speaking the truth and keeping one's word, as +well as freedom from deceit, are also commanded, and infringements +of these were regarded as sins punishable by human afflictions and +ailments of all sorts, including death. Their idea of heaven was fairly +well-developed, very greatly in excess of that of the Hebrews. Their +heaven was a place of delight and ease, while Sheol was a place full +of thirst and discomfort. It is also interesting to know that the Jews +got their ideas of angels from the Babylonians, with whom, as far as we +know, this idea was original, inasmuch as we find no mention of them in +the Egyptian religious system. + +Considering now the civilization which existed in the valleys of +Mesopotamia from five to six thousand years ago, the first thing which +arrests our attention is their knowledge of astronomy. In place of +the Egyptian pyramid, with its sides Oriented toward the cardinal +points, we find the ziggurat pointing the angles instead. This one +fact shows that Chaldea did not borrow from Egypt, but developed her +science independently of her western neighbor. The planets were all +known and named, eclipses were foretold with accuracy, and to Accadia +we owe not only our observance of Sunday, but our angular duodecimal +scale. What length of time must have been required to admit of such a +highly-developed civilization as this, with such advanced religious and +ethical ideas, is beyond the faintest conjecture. Far more remote than +that time, however, were the first settlements on the alluvial plains +by the rude aborigines of the highlands. + +On the plateau of Iran, in Central Asia, we find the location of the +oldest known habitation of the Aryan race. Here, in the earliest +twilight of our history, we find tribes of human beings who possessed +well-developed religious and ethical ideas, and whose descendants, +moving toward the southeast and into the valleys of the Himalayas, +formulated the hymns which, when compiled, constitute the Vedas or the +sacred literature of the Aryan Indians, while the portion who remained +behind, became the progenitors of the Aryan Iranians whose religious +lore we find in that wonderful collection known as the Avesta. In these +two literatures, both of which are worthy of the deepest investigation +and maturest deliberation, we have, so far as is known, the oldest idea +of a non-anthropomorphic deity. His attributes with the Indian were so +subdivided and abstracted as to allow this one god essence to almost +fill a panthenon. Their worship took the form of adoration for the +striking grandeurs of nature, each of whom they regarded as a separate +personal consciousness possessed of superhuman powers. Their religion +seems to the superficial investigator to be but an exceptionally +pure form of pantheism, but this is not, in fact, the case, since +philologists to-day recognize that the overwhelming spontaneous +impulse which forces the barbaric human mentality to give utterance +to its deepest emotions, is a certain index of a crude monotheistic +conception. It is Brahma who is the universal self-existent soul, +and who comprises, in his infinity, both the god and the adorer. +Of course, as time went on, these ideas became more gross, until, +with the introduction of caste, the ancient Vedic religion had lost +much of its beauty and purity. The religious system had become both +dogmatic and pretentious, and particularly insolent in its authority +with the rise in power of the sacerdotal class, the Brahmans. While +the Vedic religion is imbued with a spirit of strong belief in the +efficacy of sacrifice and prayer, we find that this steadily increases +in domination as we approach modern times. To all, except the Sudras +or Serfs, a course of life conduct is prescribed consisting of four +stages, _viz._: as a religious student, as a householder, as an +anchorite, and last, as a religious mendicant. Corresponding to these, +there were four sacred debts, _viz._: that due to the gods and paid by +worship; that due to the ancient sages and discharged by Vedic study; +that which he owes to his manes, and which he relieves himself of by +the perpetuation of his name in a son; and last, that which he owes to +mankind, and which demands his incessantly practicing kindness and +hospitality. They believed in the immortality of the soul and through +metempsychosis, in its reward or punishment, according to its existence +here. + +In the sixth century before Christ, there lived in India a member of +the Brahman class who was destined to more than restore Brahmanism to +its pristine purity. Gautama Buddha was born as the son of a local +ruler and his wife, whose conception was accomplished by her falling +into a trance and dreaming that the future Buddha had become a superb +white elephant, who, walking around her and striking her upon the +right side with a lotus flower, entered her womb. Such is the Hindoo +myth. This reformer altogether denied the existence of the soul, as an +entity or substance possessing immortality in the individual sense, +and he taught that the soul's future happiness in the abstract was +entirely dependent upon its performance while here, as distinguished +from any recollection or effect of its previous existences. He denied +the authority of the Veda and the efficacy of prayer--in fact, his +creed is best shown by a quotation from his gospel: "Rituals have no +efficacy, prayers are but vain repetitions, and incantations have no +saving power. But to abandon covetousness and lust, to become free +from all evil passions, and to give up all hatred and ill-will; that +is the right sacrifice and the true worship." This is the kernel of +the pure Buddhistic belief, and this declaration at once reduces his +system from a religious to a purely ethical one. Excepting the myth of +his conception, his life was a perfectly natural one. Nothing could +be more real than his discovery of sorrow and misery, and his inquiry +after its cause; nothing can be more touching than his parting from +his wife and son, whom he loved so much that he could not hazard the +pleasure of a last farewell. And under the stress of this situation, we +are particularly told that he was human enough to give way to tears. +No ethics could be higher in the aggregate than his--not once, but +time and again, does he speak thus: "Indulge in lust but little, and +lust, like a child, will grow. Charity is rich in returns; charity is +the greatest wealth, for though it scatters, it brings no repentance. +Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than living in heaven, +better than lordship over all the worlds, is the fruit of holiness. For +seeking true religion, there is never a time that can be inopportune. +The present reaps what the past has sown, and the future is the +product of the present. Far better is it to revere the truth than try +to appease the gods by the shedding of blood. What love can a man +possess who believes that the destruction of life will atone for evil +deeds? Can a new wrong expiate old wrongs? And can the slaughter of +an innocent victim take away the sins of mankind? This is practicing +religion by the neglect of moral conduct. The sensual man is the slave +of his passions, and pleasure-seeking is degrading and vulgar. But to +satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good +health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp +of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear. There is no savior in +the world except in truth; there is no immortality except in truth. +The truth is best as it is, have faith in the truth and live it. Not +by birth does one become an outcast; not by birth does one become a +Brahman; by deeds one becomes an outcast and by deeds one becomes a +Brahman." What could more strongly emphasize the position of Buddha in +regard to the infamy of the caste system, as it has been developed in +India, than the parable of the low-caste girl at the well who had been +asked by the disciple Ananda for a drink. This girl, seeing that he was +a Brahman, or member of the highest caste, replied that she could not +give him even a drink of water without contaminating his holiness. To +this, Ananda promptly replied: "I ask not for caste, but for water." +And when she came to Buddha with her heart full of gratitude and love +for Ananda, he spoke to her in the following language: "Verily, there +is great merit in the generosity of a king when he is kind to a slave, +but there is greater merit in the slave when, ignoring the wrongs which +he suffers, he cherishes kindness and good-will to all mankind. He will +cease to hate his oppressors, and even when powerless to resist their +usurpation will, with compassion, pity their arrogance and supercilious +demeanor. Blessed are thou, Prakrita, for although you are of low +caste, you will be a model for noblemen and noblewomen. You are of low +caste, but Brahmans will learn a lesson from you. Swerve not from the +path of justice and righteousness, and you will outshine the royal +glory of queens." + +Very little wonder is it that, from North Hindustan, the doctrines +of Buddha soon largely prevailed over Central, Southern, and Eastern +Asia. Of the almost numberless sects into which Buddhism is divided, +all go back for their inspiration to his teachings. In fact, he left +little for his disciples to do in the matter of enunciating a pure +and virtuous system of ethics, so thoroughly did he cover the ground +himself. When we remember that Confucius was living in China at almost +the identical time that Buddha was preaching in Hindustan, we cannot +help but wonder at the strangeness of the occurrence--both enunciating +a philosophy or system of ethics which was destined to affect the +conduct of so large a portion of the human race. As we read Lao-Tse's +injunction to "requite hatred with goodness," it seems that he must +have drawn his inspiration from an Indian source. + +We return now to the location in Central Asia, and to the remote +antiquity from which we digressed. At the same time the Indians in the +southeast have been developing their religion, the Iranians have not +remained quiescent. Their great sage, Zarathustra, or Zoroaster, had +been teaching his dualism--in many respects the most subtle religious +philosophy ever promulgated. From what little of the Zend lore that +has escaped the ravages of time, we are able to-day to trace the +outlines of a religion and philosophy based upon primal polarities. +Ahura is to Zoroaster the great Life-Spirit-Lord, the Great Creator, +the Great Wise One. His six characteristics are the fundamental laws +of a righteous universe; simple, clear, and pure. Ahura creates the +world during six periods: in the first, heaven; in the second, water; +in the third, earth; in the fourth, plants; in the fifth, animals; +and in the sixth, man. All of the human race is descended from a +primitive pair. There is a deluge, and one man is selected to save +and protect representatives of each species so that the earth may be +repeopled with a better race. Zoroaster questions Ahura on the Mount +of Holy Conversations, and receives from him answers. So far, the +parallel between Zoroastrianism and Judaism is complete. The difference +now appears, for the former held that the world was to last four +periods--during the first two, Ahura has complete authority. Then comes +Ahriman, the self-existent evil-principle, and their conflict fills +the third period. The fourth period, which opens with the advent of +Zoroaster, ends with the downfall of Ahriman, and the resurrection of +the soul for a future life. It is entirely within the power of the +individual as to whether he wishes to come under the power of the Good +or Evil Spirit, and with whom he chooses to ally himself. But the +struggle is incessant, and watchfulness must always be maintained. +So much for the religion--now for the ethics. To the Zoroastrian, +the natural and normal in life is not derided and scorned, nor is +woman looked upon as "a necessary evil," as is the case in Buddhism, +Christianity, and Mohammedanism. Here is a quotation from the Zend +Avesta from the mouth of Ahura himself: "Verily, I say unto you, the +man who has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he who +keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who has children is far +above him who is childless; he who has riches is far above him who has +none." If we can use the moral code of the only remaining Zoroastrians +in the world to-day, the Parsees, as a criterion to judge by, we must +acknowledge that no religion enjoys a purer and more perfect course of +conduct. Dr. Haug tells us that the following are strictly denounced +by its code: Murder, infanticide, poisoning, adultery on the part +of men as well as of women, sorcery, sodomy, cheating in weight and +measure, breach of promise, regardless of to whom made, deception of +any kind, false covenants, slander and calumny, perjury, dishonest +appropriation of wealth, taking bribes, keeping back the wages of +laborers, misappropriation of religious property, removal of a boundary +stone, turning people out of their property, maladministration and +defrauding, apostasy, heresy, and rebellion. Besides these, there are +a number of special precepts relating to the enforcement of sanitary +regulations, kindness to animals, hospitality to strangers, respect to +superiors, and help to the poor and needy. The following are especially +condemned--abandoning the husband, not acknowledging the children on +the part of the father, cruelty toward subjects on the part of a ruler, +avarice, laziness, illiberality, egotism, and envy. Here we find a +system of religion whose predominating symbolism was the worship of +fire as the nearest human concept of Ahura, and well it might be, +for those primitive people who had so sacredly to cherish it. In the +Greek mythology, Prometheus was inconceivably tortured for filching +from heaven the divine fire and carrying it to mortals. But according +to the Zoroastrian philosophy, Ahura has placed all good within +the reach of man, and it is for him to choose whether he will avail +himself of this or become a slave of Ahriman. It seems strange that +from Bactria, either from the old Mazdaism or through Zoroaster, the +world should have conceived its only monotheistic conception reasonably +free from anthropomorphism, and whose associated code of ethics was +so reasonable, firm and pure. There is in Zoroastrianism no thought +of dogmatic bigotry any more than there is in ancient Buddhism, and +its philosophy of primitive polarity well corresponds with what modern +science has taught us within the last five decades. Both of these +systems are meditative rather than militant, and, consequently, have +not exercised the influence over the destiny of the human race which +Judaism has. + +In the consideration of the Jewish religion and its descendants, +Christianity and Mohammedanism, we are face to face with the most +warlike and combative monotheism which history has recorded. In the +earlier form, and as in the Hebrew worship of to-day, Jehovah shares +his authority with no one--in the Christian system, God and Christ +are equally powerful, while with Islam it would seem that Mahomet +had slightly the balance of power, notwithstanding the oft-repeated +declaration that "there is no God but Allah." Here we have the idea +of a chosen people of God carried to its logical conclusion; the +jealousy of Jehovah being in no wise an efficient operative cause for +the terrible butcheries of men, women, and children, such as we have +described in the Old Testament, as having befallen the enemies of the +Hebrews when they were victorious. This wild and fanatical worship of +a suspicious and revengeful God, although it called for the waging of +countless wars upon his supposed orders, and even for the immolation +upon the sacrificial altar of one's own children; yet it did not +promise, until the rise of the Pharisees into potent influence; the +pleasure of a personal immortality for his followers, or the punishment +by endless torture for his non-adherents. The effect of the selfish +idea of God-ownership we see inherited by Christianity with the ancient +heredity qualification changed to one of faith. There can be no +question that the historical Christ was, perhaps, next to Buddha, the +greatest religious reformer whom the world has known, if we accept as a +criterion the number of individuals affected, and the nature of their +work. As the enunciator of a system of ethics, it is impossible to see +how the Jew could be regarded as the equal of the Indian; although +no estimate of Christ can be consistently formed from the St. James +version of the Bible, owing to the many and important interpolations +of recent church enthusiasts. The plan of vicarious atonement is one +of the most immoral doctrines of which the world has a record, and the +contempt for woman which the Hebrew shows is not equalled by Buddha, +although he, too, was filled with that eastern asceticism which looked +with disdain upon intersexual affection. The narrowness and bigotry +which can regard an omnipresent and omniscient deity as working for +the benefit of but a few followers as against the great proportion of +human beings who have passed through an earthly existence entirely in +ignorance of Him, and who, on account of this, have to suffer eternal +torture, has been responsible for no less than ten million murders in +the name of Christ alone, to say nothing of the numberless victims of +war and famine who have perished as a result of the insatiable thirst +of Jehovah, Christ, and Mahomet for more influence in terrestrial +affairs and an augmentation of adherents. The code of ethics prescribed +by the Jewish régime was good--far in advance of that of the greater +portion of their neighbors. But Egypt and Chaldea both played a +very important part in this matter, as we must remember that Hebrew +chronology only places the creation some four thousand years ago, +and we now know that at least three and perhaps five thousand years +previous to the possession of the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, the +Valley of the Nile was teeming with a well-developed civilization. +Christianity in the Egyptian City of the Greeks, through Philo, became +deeply imbued with the spirit of Zoroaster, and the aid thus derived +has been of incalculable value to it. The religion of Islam remains +much as Mahomet left it, and it has been, and now is, well suited for +much of the territory over which it has dominion. While its code of +ethics is reasonably high, its conceptions are usually grossly sensual, +and, unfortunately, since shortly after the death of its founder, the +institution of the church and the political organization of the various +countries where it prevails, have both been under the same head, and +are both, consequently, full of corruption. + +Before taking up the possibility of a religious conception based +upon the best knowledge we have, there is an interesting point to be +considered. Between the two dates of 650 B. C., and 650 A. D., we have +the work of Buddha, Confucius, Mencius, Christ, Philo, and Mahomet, +as well as a score of lesser lights; in fact, all the great religious +reformers who have been instrumental in shaping the beliefs of the +majority of mankind since their time. And, stranger still, that since +Mahomet, the world has seen no reformer who could wrest a following of +any note from the established religions, although now, with modern +facilities for publication, it would seem to be a much easier task than +formerly. And so it would be, were it not for the dissemination of +knowledge, and the influence of the scientific system which has come +about during the last century, so that now there is not that fanaticism +prevalent concerning religious matters which was so rife at almost all +stages of the world's history until recently. More and more are people +beginning to realize the truth which Pope so well expressed in his +Alexandrine: + + "For modes of faith, let graceless zealots fight, + His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right." + +About 1850 A. D., there began to be felt among scientific men a +possibility that perhaps all of the natural phenomena of which we have +knowledge are so inter-related that all of our observations are but +different views of a few fundamental primary laws. These so-called laws +or statements of facts in their natural order of sequence were always, +and under all conditions, operative in natural affairs, had been quite +thoroughly understood since Humboldt's time. But it remained for +Herbert Spencer in England, and Ernest Haeckel in Germany, to correlate +the vast quantity of facts gained from experiment and observation +along the various lines of scientific research. Particularly has the +latter been a most potent factor in formulating the new and necessarily +predominating theology of the future--a system of belief which is +in accordance with everything which the individual knows, and which +is always ready to accept a new fact upon demonstration, although +its reception may revolutionize even its fundamental concepts. This +doctrine, which has been most aptly termed "monism," stands squarely +upon its basis of "empirical investigation of facts, and the rational +study of their efficient causes." In place of worshiping the trinities +of the old superstitions, it holds for reverence the "good, the true, +and the beautiful" wherever found, and in antithesis to the sacredness +of Sabbath and the church, it holds that for the contemplation of the +objects of its trinity, "all seasons to be summer and all climates +June." While denying the existence of a God outside of Nature, the +freedom of the human will and the possibility of an immortality for +the individual human soul, as usually understood, it does insist +upon the sequence of effect upon cause, and shows that here, in this +earthly existence, we are forced to be virtuous if we would be happy, +and that although we are not completely masters of our fates, yet +it fundamentally lies with us, in the vast majority of cases, to so +conduct our lives that either misery or happiness will result therefrom. + +Monistic ethics differ from those of any religious system, from the +fact that the good of all is selected and digested into a code which +looks toward the "greatest good to the greatest number." In doing +this, individual effort is lauded and not proscribed, and altruism +and egotism are developed with equal emphasis. The pleasures of this +life are not forfeited to gain delectation in another, nor is the +"illitative sense" considered a safe guide for conduct. Woman is not +looked upon as fundamentally "unclean," nor is she denied any right +or any privilege which man enjoys. The righteousness of intersexual +love and association is maintained, when in operation within a proper +constraint, and the family is not only the social and political unit, +but the religious as well. Love is held to be more potent than hate, +and justice more beneficial than charity. There is no such thing as +either the forgiveness or remission of sins--the responsibility of +our actions is ours, and ours alone, and can be assumed by no other. +The result is the same whether our acts come through ignorance or +intention--it is for the individual to know before doing. + +In the foregoing, a very brief outline of the progress which humanity +has made in historic times in religion and ethics has been attempted, +and, if an interest has been aroused in this subject, its purpose will +have been fulfilled. No matter what creed we hold, we cannot afford to +be bigoted, as simple investigation will show that in many ways we are +but little in advance of our progenitors of seven thousand years ago. +Only in the matter that we have a scientific basis to work upon, and a +vast accumulation of observed facts, have we any reason for pride. And +this has been gained, at almost all times, against every obstacle which +the church, as established at the moment, could bring into potency. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LOVE + + +Without doubt, the greatest source of happiness, as known to human +beings, is love. Scott voiced the sentiment of all rational and normal +persons when he said: + + "Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, + And men below and saints above, + For love is Heaven, and Heaven is love." + +It is owing to the fact that we cannot enjoy anything to the fullest +extent alone, since our nature is so constituted that we must have +company in our pleasures, that friends are indispensable. Cicero +realized this over two thousand years ago when he said that, "The +fruit of talent, and worth, and every excellence, is gathered most +fully when it is bestowed upon every one most nearly connected with +us." Appreciating this, nature has given us the love and friendship +of parents in our childhood; of the companions of our youth as we +grow older; of our life-partner at a later period, and last, the love +of our children and grandchildren, so that, by an interest in their +lives, we may become ourselves rejuvenated. In this, as in everything +else of a physical or mental character, we start at the bottom, and, +by a crescendo movement, reach the acme of the condition which with +age diminishes, but in this instance the quality does not deteriorate. +Our likelihood of forming acquaintances and friends in later years +is very much less than in youth, and, certainly, with our habits +and idiosyncrasies established, as they are after middle age, the +possibility of forming intimate friendships is very much decreased. +In childhood and youth, we are more imaginative and less practical, +and, consequently, our inclinations in the line of friendships will be +more natural and less influenced by considerations alien to friendship +itself. Nothing can be more true than the axiom of Cicero, "Friendship +does not follow upon advantage, but advantage upon friendship." Clearly +demonstrated as this is, but few people seem to realize it. For the +fundamental truth at the bottom of this matter is, as he further +states, "the basis of that steadfastness and constancy which we seek in +friendship is sincerity. For nothing is enduring which is insincere." + +Of all virtues, sincerity is the greatest, yet, broadly speaking, how +extremely rare! There is almost no trouble and pains which people will +not take to make the world think that they are something other than +they really are, when but a fraction of the cost might make them what +they are trying to seem to be. The reciprocal relation of friendship +demands sincerity, just in proportion as it becomes intimate, and this +applies to all friendships, of whatsoever character. + +The love of children is perhaps the greatest of all affections in +the aggregate, because experience has not taught them to doubt and +impugn the motives of others, since everything to them is just what it +superficially appears to be. Our most violent heartaches come through +dissimulation toward others, and nothing tends to make so callous and +blunt our finer sensibilities as this. But just in proportion as we +are sincere, must we be careful as to who arouses an interest of more +than passing moment within us, as after affection is once started and +nurtured into luxuriance, it is not within our power to control it. +While love, when reciprocated, can afford an ecstasy and happiness, +otherwise unknown, it can, also, when not returned by the object of +our affection, become the most potent cause of superlative pain and +anguish. The expression of this truth by the greatest of all English +poets, would, in itself, make his name forever immortal had he never +written another line, and constitutes not only the soundest philosophy, +but the most sublime of all sentiments evolved from the human mind: + + "Love is not love + That alters when it alteration finds, + Or bends with the remover to remove. + Oh no! It is an ever-fixed mark + That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; + It is the star to every wandering bark + Whose worth's unknown, altho' his height is taken. + Love's not Time's fool; though rosy lips and cheeks + Within his bending sickle's compass come. + Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, + But bears it out e'en to the edge of doom." + +If all the race thoroughly understood the truth of these words, how +much more happiness there would be in the world! It is our trifling +with our affections, or the reckless manner in which we bestow them +upon others, which causes us our deepest sorrows. In childhood, with +ordinarily kind parents, we have such experiences as afford us pleasant +memories throughout life, simply because we lived in accordance with +nature's law, which she makes easy for us at this age to follow, when +we have no experience or reason by which we may be guided; but as we +grow older, we form those habits of dissimulation which lead us into +all sorts of trouble; simply because we can do certain things without +our friends and acquaintances becoming cognizant of our actions, we +are foolish enough to think that no harm can be done. If we would use +our intelligence at all, we would see at once, that while it may be +possible to deceive others in the matter of our thoughts and actions, +we cannot delude ourselves. We would also realize that our actions and +our thoughts are efficient causes in the making of our own characters. +We would further see that in order to get any real enjoyment out of a +friendship, of even the most Platonic kind, we must be able to play our +part sincerely; in other words, we must be all that we attempt to make +our friends think we are. The old proverb which tells us that we should +go courting in our old clothes, is true in the largest sense in which +we can apply it. + +When we consider how much we are dependent upon our after-affections +and their outcome for our happiness, we see that Coleridge resorted to +no hyperbole when he wrote: + + "All thoughts, all passions, all delights, + Whatever stirs this mortal frame, + Are but the ministers of Love + And feed his sacred flame." + +Nor did he overestimate the bearing which each and every act of our +life has upon our ability to either love or to be loved, since it is +only when we are capable of returning affection as pure and unsullied +as is given us, that we achieve the acme of delight. It is on account +of the necessity of the possession of these qualities which we have +found to constitute the only possible basis for really lasting love, +that we are so much interested in those of great affection. Emerson +truly said that "all mankind loves a lover," and equally valid is his +observation that "Love is not for levity, but for the total worth of +man." It is the affection of any human being which constitutes his +life and his friendships, both as living and when coming into his +companionship, and when dead, as forming the memories upon which the +imagination will fondly dwell, and that bring into his life whatever +real satisfaction he may have. As a means of æsthetic development, +nothing is of higher value than the affections, and, as a stimulant +for action along this line, they are without an equal. We have only to +remember the story of Damon and Pythias, to see that the ancients fully +realized the power of affection; or to read what Plato puts into the +mouth of Phoedrus, when he has him say, "Love will make men dare to +die for their beloved, and women as well as men." + +What we have noted, heretofore, refers to all affections. Now we come +to the culmination of all affairs of friendship,--that relationship +which is known as marriage. Upon the immensity of the importance of +this ceremony have almost all of the religious ideas of man been built, +and in many cases, if not in all, to the utter profanation of the thing +itself. + +In the old tribal civilization which prevailed, the idea of marriage +was ill-defined, and it was only as the desire for the ownership of +children grew that moral ideas in this relation became at all definite. +The fact that men wished to leave to their children property and +chattels, which they might not have the opportunity of disposing of +satisfactorily before their death, brought about a desire for marriage +upon the monogamous and monandrous basis; and the fact that man was +the owner of the property, and that the wife, until recently, had +no inherent right therein, made the matter of the ownership of the +children of primal importance, so that the wishes of the father in +regard to the inheritance might be fulfilled. It was on account of the +supremacy of man in his own home that the family became the unit upon +which the State is built, just as the male individual was the unit upon +which the family was built, and citizenship was primarily evolved and +applicable only to the male portion of the population, inasmuch as they +were necessary to the State both as tax-payers and as warriors. This +idea of the ownership of children enforced upon woman the moral code +under which she lives in Occidental countries to-day; and, at the same +time, and for the reasons above stated, kept man immune from it. + +The significance attached to the sexual desire in this relationship +is and has been greatly overestimated, to the greatest disadvantage +of mankind at large. The most distinguishing feature about connubial +affection as compared with Platonic friendship, is that in matrimony +there is the added unification of the parties thereto, owing to the +community of interest between them. Their individualities are merged +into one another; their development must be along similar or parallel +lines. Richter has given us a good account of what a man should select +in the character of his wife "to whom he may be able to give readings +concerning the more essential principles of psychology and astronomy +without her bringing up the subject of his stockings in the middle of +his loftiest and fullest flights of enthusiasm; yet he will be well +content should one possessed of moderate excellencies fall to his +lot--one who shall be capable of accompanying him, side by side, in +his flights so far as they extend--whose eyes and heart may be able to +take in the blooming earth and the shining heavens, in great, grand +masses at a time, and not in mere infinitesimal particles; one for whom +this universe may be something higher than a nursery or ball-room, and +one who, with feelings delicate and tender, both pious and wide, will +be continually making her husband better and holier." Since the time +of Jean Paul Richter, woman has been allowed educational advantages +more nearly equal to those of her brothers than heretofore; and, as a +consequence, in many instances and quite often, do we find the lady not +only the better but the larger half of the home, intellectually. + +As Geoffrey Mortimer has well shown, love among cultured people is +largely dependent upon the imagination. In savages and in the human +race, primarily, when at this period of their existence, it took the +form of hedonism, or even the more gross sex-worship, and it was not +until mankind was removed far from the brute that his imagination +developed, and his mind was capable of abstract thought, that his +æsthetic nature began to develop. As his intellect became more +profound, and his mental range wider, his power of abstract thinking +was accordingly augmented, until to-day, with the average human +being, love is only, in a restricted sense, dependent upon physical +gratification. Herbert Spencer has given a very sure test of love, +based upon its dependence upon the imaginative faculty. According to +him, when we are absent from the one we love, the mental picture +which we form of her, and the attributes which we at that time give +her, are all found in her when in her actual presence. Then, we are +really in love with the person whose faults we cannot see. The truth +of the old adage, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," still further +shows the part which the imagination plays in love. There is no human +being who has been so fortunate as to marry the first object upon +which his affections settled, providing, of course, that his previous +life has been spent so that he can enter into this relationship +equitably, who did not find that if his love was reciprocated, life +possessed a transcendent charm which words cannot express. Such an +affection is necessarily based upon a most profound respect, and can +only continue when this deferential regard exists. While feeling a +security in its sense of ownership of the one loved, yet it asks and +demands nothing, and can only bud, blossom, and ripen into its fullness +in the atmosphere of kindness and absolute liberty. While sensual +gratification, in the earlier stages, has been the means of nature +in perpetuating the species, it is also the most powerful factor in +the evolution of that community of interest which is the very soul of +this attachment. The infinite number of little incidents which are +never to be forgotten by any real lover, are all of a purely physical +nature, but, in the aggregate, they form the nucleus of that "amazement +of love and friendship and intimacy" which is like the melodious +harmony of the sweetest sounds, which lead us into an ecstasy in every +way supersensual. It is in the realization of such delight that Gay +remarks, "Not to know love, is not to live." + +We can best understand the real potency of sensual gratification in +love, if we consider that those moments which are the subject of +our most pleasant memories, are not those in which our desires were +gratified, but those in which we ourselves practiced the most ascetic +self-denial. Well has Schlegel expressed this sentiment when he says, +in his essay upon the Limits of the Beautiful:--"Those who yield +their souls captive to the brief intoxication of (sensual) love, if +no higher and holier feeling mingle with and consecrate their dreams +of bliss, will shrink tremblingly from the pangs which attend their +awakening." But nature has here so arranged her course, that after +marriage, our children's, or, in their absence, our lovers' affairs, +become a part and parcel of our lives, and thus, what began as selfish +interest, from the pleasure which we obtain from the presence of our +loved one, is transmuted into altruism of the highest type. To those +who love, there is nothing of the spirit of boasting in the words of +"Valentine," when he says: + + "She is mine own, + And I as rich in having such a jewel + As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearls, + The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold"; + +but rather of a pious appreciation of the being who has brought him +such great happiness. There is something unaccountable about this +passion called love, and anyone who has experienced it does not wonder +at the words of Madame de Stael, "Love is the emblem of eternity; it +confounds all notions of time, effaces all memory of a beginning, all +fear of an end." + +In speaking of the happiness which is to be attained by means of love, +we should not fail to note the fact that in order to secure the most +enjoyment from it, we must be able to satisfy the conditions for which +such a close and reciprocal relationship calls. It is here that the +philosophy of living, based upon self-interest, is by far the safest +guide of conduct known, since once the fact that we must be able to +give to the ones whom we love all that we ask of them is instilled in +our minds, we will have a most powerful stimulant to virtuous living. +And in this matter, there is no chance for misunderstanding. If we +would get all the happiness out of love, we must go into it according +to the old injunction given to clients who were both about to try their +case before a court in equity: "You must enter with clean hands." It is +strange, that even in the affairs of a Platonic friendship, a citizen +of morally rotten Rome at the time of the decadence of the consulate, +should realize that "Nothing is more amiable than virtue; nothing +which more strongly allures us to love it," and yet, two thousand years +later, so few people are practicing this truth, and many, who, in their +ignorance, will utterly deny it. This has largely come about from the +fact that, in times past, man has been able to mold the opinions of +his sisters, and, consequently, virtue was not demanded from him. But +if we will teach our children that it is essential to their happiness +that they should be virtuous, so that they may enter into an _affair +d'amour_ with equity, and obtain from it the happiness which it only +can bring, we would sweep from their paths, with one stroke, the +temptations of licentiousness which are to-day proving to be the ruin +of the majority of the young men of this country. We should teach our +boys that they must be able to give to their wives a mind and body as +unpolluted by debauchery as they expect and insist upon receiving, +and that unless they are able to do this, the pleasures of love, as +it affects the marriage relationship, are forever beyond their power +to experience. We should teach our girls that they should demand, +from the man who asks for their hand, as clean and as spotless a past +as they are able to give him, and that, unless they insist upon this, +matrimony will not turn out to be the "grand, sweet song" which they +have been told about, but will be more like an "armed truce." Connubial +love is of such a nature that it will not find happiness in the +contemplation of the possibility of a rival, and of all of the exacting +passions with which humanity has to deal, undoubtedly this of love +is the strongest. The old saying that "familiarity breeds contempt," +is based upon this fact--that unless we are able to maintain, in the +one we love, the esteem for us, which under a smaller knowledge of +our individuality, we have excited, the sentiment of attraction soon +turns to one of repulsion even more potent than its opposite, and even +as great a source of misery as is the repulsion of hatred; not even +being secondary when compared with jealousy, which "mocks the meat it +feeds upon." What possibility of happiness is there in marriage where +there is constantly running through the mind a comparison of the +partner which you have, and a possibility of what you have given up? +How much happiness is possible when you are always comparing yourself +with some rival, and wondering what your lover sees in him which you +do not possess? It is the strongest argument in favor of monogamy and +monandry, that only under this condition can the marriage relationship +be equitably fulfilled, even more potent than the necessity of parental +guidance in directing the development of the growing mind. + +Man is, by nature, socially inclined, and it is only in the society +of his fellow-men that he really matures intellectually and morally. +Under the influence of love, in the most intimate association with a +limited number of others, preferably of his own kin, who will reprove +his faults gently and reasonably laud his courage and achievements--he +finds the perfect element for inspiration and development. Holmes has +expressed this sentiment beautifully in his lines: + + "Soft as the breath of a maiden's 'yes'; + Not the light gossamer stirs with less; + But never a cable holds so fast + Through all the battles of wave and blast." + +The enthusiasm which comes from the struggle of maintaining a home for +your loved ones, where privacy and comfort may be found; a retreat from +the cares and trifling annoyances of the work-a-day world, makes the +place of abode a shrine where all of our interests are centered. Most +truly has Longfellow said: + + "Each man's chimney is his golden milestone; + Is the central point from which he measures + Every distance, through the gateways of the world around him." + +Without having experienced a real and genuine affection, no man can +realize the highest possibility. Edwin Markham has most truly said that +the love adventure is the episode of every human life, and, without +it, no existence is complete. There is no other earthly possession +with which it can be compared; consequently, we cannot be too careful +in seeing that our lives conform to the necessary demands of the +nature of this passion. The effect of love upon human ethics cannot be +doubted. The finest faculty which we have is that by means of which we +are able to judge right from wrong, and is what we call conscience. +With this truth in mind, we have only to remember a portion of an +incomplete sonnet of Shakespeare's, saying, "Conscience is born of +love." + +In this observation, as in many of his others, the bard of Avon has +reached the heart of the matter at once. Without love, we would have, +and could have, no conscience, as we are only considerate of others +when we have much at stake ourselves, and wish this consideration for +reciprocal reasons. Had we no affection, we would have but little +incentive to moral discrimination. In this sense, as well as for its +happy memories, + + "It is better to have loved and lost + Than never to have loved at all." + +In considering the advantages of real love, it is also important that +the disadvantages of its counterfeits should be made clear. In the +first place, many of the noted teachers during the last decade have +called attention to the frightful reduction in our marriage and birth +rates; and this, notwithstanding the fact that we feel that we are +progressing upward in the scale of civilization. Now, while many of our +political economists believe that the increased cost of living has been +largely responsible for this, it seems that we should not, however, +attach too great importance to the claim. There has been a growing of +the moral sense among women of the Western nations, and particularly in +America, during the last few years, which has tremendously influenced +the foundations of our civilization. The Women's Christian Temperance +movement, under the guiding hand of Miss Willard, not only advocated +the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic stimulants, but also became +a tremendous power in the social purity crusade, which began to sweep +over this country some twenty-five years ago. The agitation, which +resulted from this reform movement, developed facts which were +previously unknown to the general public, and in every way caused +people to begin to think about subjects which had previously never +been brought to their attention in a specific way. When the statistics +were published that, in this country of eighty million people, we were +having one divorce for every twelve marriages, and that every year +showed a decrease in the marriage and birth rate, thinking people of +all classes began to seek to find the cause for such facts. + +It would seem that one of the primal causes for the decrease in the +marriage rate is the ease with which vice has been allowed to become +organized in this country into a regular system, which is conducted +upon a basis of cold-blooded business calculation. The fact that we +have between six hundred thousand and three-quarters of a million +of prostitutes in America, and that this class of people is being +recruited at the rate of over fifteen thousand per annum from foreign +countries and about seventy-five thousand per annum from our own +country, is certainly highly significant. Furthermore, the fact that +probably three-quarters of the women in America who marry are forced +to undergo major operations within the first five years of their +married life, on account of the moral delinquency of their husbands, +has certainly not given any impetus to marriage in our own country. We +have also to remember that over one-third of all the blindness in this +country is traceable to a like cause, and that this occurs in innocent +children, who usually are less than a week old when their sight is +lost, as the result of venereal infection. Furthermore, in many of the +homes which we all have an opportunity to observe, there is not that +happiness existing which would lead thinking people to rush ruthlessly +into matrimony, and the necessity for making divorce easy and the +marriage relationship hard to enter into was never as imperative as it +is to-day. The majority of the children being born, and in whose hands +the entire welfare of this state in the future will rest, are usually +those of parents who are either unfitted or unable, physically, +intellectually, and morally, to give them such character and education +as will make them good citizens; in other words, vice and crime are +breeding faster by far than moral restraint and virtue. Whenever we +are able to have our young men understand that self-control on their +part is a matter of first importance in the requirements of good +citizenship, and a prime requisite if individual happiness is desired, +then and only then will we begin to find marriage becoming more popular +and divorce less to be desired by those who have entered into this +relationship. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +PROBLEMS OF THE FUTURE + + +The close of the last century found humanity under a different aspect +than ever before. Westward and ever westward had swept the course of +empire until the early years of this decade found the Mongolian again +demonstrating his superiority over the Slavonic people of Eastern +Europe. For centuries the battles for individual freedom of body +and mind had been fought in torture chambers, at heresy trials, at +the stake of every auto-da-fé, as well as in the legislative halls +of insular and continental Europe, and finally this struggle has +culminated in the greatest, fiercest and most devastating war of +modern times, which was America's tribute to the cause of democracy +and freedom. The nations of Europe have looked with wonder upon the +growth and sudden rise into importance of the American Confederacy of +States, and crowned and titled tyrants, ruling by the "divine right," +have long dreaded the absorption of American ideas by their subjects +or American interference with the course of governmental procedure. +With the advancement and dissemination of learning, democratic +government has got to come, and woe to those who oppose it when the +time is ripe. Poor, bleeding, ignorant Russia is at this minute in +the throes of internecine strife, and no one realizes better than +those of the autocracy who by their selfishness and sloth have brought +upon themselves the engulfing tide of revolution, what was meant by +the dissolute associates of the French Court directly before the +horrors of the Commune when they used to say "After us the deluge." +And little as they expected it, this deluge did not wait for them to +leave, but in many instances helped to usher them from the field of +human activity, upon the block, before the guillotine. It is not at +this time even improbable that the great Siberian prisons may soon +be filled with the bluest blood of royalty, and perhaps the Kara +mines will yet be worked in by their owners, for the benefit of the +revolutionists. But whether this comes to pass or not, we know that +we have seen absolutism gradually give way to constitutional forms of +government, and these in turn become metamorphosed into republics. And +in these democracies we see a tendency to return to a centralized form +of government, particularly when the chief executive is an individual +whose judgment, although it is in error, has been actuated by motives +which no one can impugn. What then is the meaning of this--is humanity +traveling in cycles? Politically, we can answer emphatically, NO. The +ease with which knowledge is communicated among people to-day and the +unimpeachable integrity of the great middle classes are the surest +guarantee that never will we return to the degrading darkness and +servility of the past, while the trenchant manner in which our press +uses the weapons of ridicule and cartoon insures for our posterity +an even better and more active public conscience, which will demand +duty performed commensurate with privileges granted. Municipalities +and commonwealths may be full of political rottenness and corruption, +senates may be filled by the paid agents of capital, representative +halls may be packed by demagogues elected by the most radical element +of organized labor, but regardless of temporary mistakes, just as long +as we maintain an efficient public school system and make education +compulsory and leave the press unshackled, we cannot under a democratic +form of government, where tenure of office is for a short period only, +ever permanently retrograde. + +Students of contemporaneous American history who have followed closely +the exposure of municipal officials guilty of the worst forms of +malfeasance, will probably be led to believe that we are going from +bad to worse politically in our larger cities. Owing to the publicity, +however, which such matters get, and the fact that our citizen body in +the aggregate respect honesty and integrity, we have nothing to fear. +The reform wave which oftentimes sweeps with violence over our cities, +to be checked only when persons of much influence have their liberty +jeopardized, will inevitably bring about an understanding on the part +of the majority of the citizens that politics must not be corrupted by +people who make a business of seducing the electorate of our cities. +The commission form of government has already done much to lead the way +to a better state of affairs, and even if it had not, it would be only +a question of but a short time until publicity itself would bring about +a better, purer, and more economic administration of government. + +As a nation, we are more seriously menaced by the accumulation of +gigantic individual fortunes than from any other one and perhaps from +all other sources combined, as in but very few cases does a competency +mean the use of time for a leisure of culture and ennoblement, but +rather for the development of selfishness, avarice, cruelty, and +immorality. Christ certainly did not overrate the awful disadvantage +of riches, particularly if considered in relation to the recent +developments of our criminal trials in our great cities, when He said +that "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle +than for a rich man to enter Heaven." Wealth in the hands of the young +is the worst condition with which they can be surrounded--it almost +forces them into the company of irresponsible and immoral persons who +lead them into vice, thus sapping their vitality, as well as engrossing +them in habits of infamy, which their weakened mentality can usually +never shake off. The direst poverty, on the other hand, pinches and +confines both the body and mind through lack of proper nutrition and +time for rest and recreation, so that it is of double importance to +the State to see that enormous private accumulations of wealth do not +exist, and more especially that they cannot be inherited. A reasonable +sum should be fixed upon by our lawmakers as the maximum amount which +could be inherited by any one individual, and any part of an estate +which was not legally disposed of under this act, by will or otherwise, +should pass into the undisputed possession of the State and should +be spent, not for the ordinary administration of the law, but for the +building of schools, hospitals, parks, museums, and the purchase of +public utilities, such as water, lighting, power and transportation +companies. Should the means above suggested prove too slow in operation +or inadequate to meet present emergencies, an income-tax might, for +a decade or two, be a necessity--the returns from which should be +expended as suggested above. Unless something of this character is done +within the next century, it would seem that our country cannot continue +to advance in civilization, although she might in political prestige +and commercial importance, but would follow in the steps of so many +other great states, and sooner or later arrive at a time where her +present would be but a meagre shadow of her majestic past. + +If we would have the most that is to be got out of life, we should see +to it that more time and attention is paid to the development of the +æsthetic side of our natures. Our public buildings are to-day usually +designed upon grand and majestic lines; some of our public parks are +laid out with the idea of showing the beauty of simplicity and harmony; +a few of our private mansions are architecturally works of art; we +have in our large cities a few museums which are kept open a few hours +to the public upon days when it has leisure, but, further than this, +how little are we taught, or do we see, the beautiful aside from its +arrangement in nature in the ordinary routine of life? With all but the +wealthier class, the getting of a livelihood and the attention to other +material things, consumes all the time and energy available under the +present régime so that no leisure is left to cultivate an appreciation +or desire for the beautiful. It is the amount of development of the +æsthetic nature of the masses which is the surest and most certain +index of any civilization. Schlegel has most justly observed that +"when men are left to the sole guidance of artificial law, they become +reduced to mere empty shadows and soulless forms; while the undivided +sway of nature leaves them savage and loveless." It is therefore in +this middle ground that we should provide stimuli for the growth of +this cult of the beautiful, and to do this we must begin with the +children. It should be the care of the state to see that our streets +are kept clean, that grass plots and flower beds are harmoniously +and tastily arranged at the intersection of the highways, wherever +possible, and that all houses intended for tenement purposes be so +built that plenty of light and air can be always available. Powerful +and elevating music should be performed in public parks at frequent +intervals, whenever the weather will permit of general gatherings +in the open air. The best talent should be secured to address the +people upon subjects of a general nature, such as topics of the day, +political economy, popular science, etc. Our school rooms should not +only be clean and well ventilated, but their walls should be hung +with interesting and beautiful pictures, and our school libraries, +as well as our public libraries, should be numerous, and filled with +the best literature that money can buy. In our homes, we should see +that every refining influence possible is thrown around the children, +and, above all, they should be taught the beauty of self-sacrifice and +heroism. Particularly should they be taught the value and beauty of +affection, and they should be both told and shown that the pleasure +derived therefrom, and its value to the human species, depends almost +wholly upon the self-restraint and self-sacrifice which is exercised +in connection with the intimate relations arising from it. Schlegel +again speaks right to the point, "Every inordinate indulgence involves +a corresponding amount of suffering.... Others, on the contrary, who +devote themselves to glorious deeds and seek enjoyment only in the +intervals of more serious exertion, will have their best reward in the +pure, unchanging happiness purchased by such self-denial. Pleasure, +indeed, has a higher zest when spontaneous and self-created; and it +rises in value in proportion to its affinity with that perfection of +beauty in which moral excellence is allied to external charms." + +Our attention as a nation to the acquisition of material wealth to +the utter disregard of our æsthetic natures may very largely account +for the fact that America has produced but few of those literary and +artistic stars which are almost always coincident with commercial +prosperity. We seem to have neither passed the Elizabethan nor the +Victorian age in literature upon this side of the water--not because we +have not produced talent along these lines, but because the quantity +has been so small and seems to be growing less every year. Since the +opening of the present century, there has practically been nothing +produced which will demand recognition among literary and artistic +people after our own generation. + +There seems to be only one other great problem before humanity to-day. +Next to the distribution of wealth, it, however, is undoubtedly the +most perplexing question with which every democratic country will +sooner or later have to deal. In its two forms--as prostitution and the +restriction of birth--it constitutes what for a better name is commonly +called "the social evil." Under our civilization and in our system of +social caste we have no class of serfs; but as low, if not lower, than +these we have those women who sell their favors for money to anyone +who will pay the price. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached the +place where the majority of our male population decry moral looseness +on the part of women with whom they are not connected by blood or +matrimony; although this may or may not have been done for profit, as +the case may be. It is still largely a matter as to how general the +knowledge is, as to how great is the crime. Nevertheless, with those +unfortunates whose character is generally known, our modern society +has no place--they are outcasts in the true sense of the word. Worse +than all, is the fact that society refuses to proscribe immorality of +this nature in man as it does in woman--consequently, she alone before +the world is made to suffer for what he is as much to blame for as +she is, and very frequently more so. The incongruity of this, under +a democratic form of government, is readily apparent to anyone and +that such a condition of affairs may not exist permanently under our +civilization cannot be doubted. It would therefore seem that either +one of two things will have to come to pass in the future; either we +shall have to regard our prostitutes as a class, as they were probably +esteemed in ancient Greece, or we shall have to attach an equal calumny +to man as we now attach to woman in these relations. In the first +instance, we tacitly admit that the nature of man differs from that +of woman, in that continence and monogamy are not fitted for him but +are for her, which every fair-minded person knows to be a falsehood; +or else in the other alternative we have the entire sentiment of this +country upon this whole matter to make over and that against those who +are in power. Mrs. Parsons, in her carefully prepared and comprehensive +study, entitled "The Family," does not, it would seem, speak other than +satirically when she proposes that the same license be allowed woman +before she bears children as society now allows man. This would seem +to be a step backward, inasmuch as there is to-day, with no small +percentage of the people in this country, a decided stigma attached +to promiscuity on the part of man, and this should be fostered and +encouraged, at any expense. Her recommendation of early trial marriage +also smacks of the satirical, while her propositions "to make the +transmission of venereal diseases in marriage a penal offense, to +render identical the age of consent with the legal age of marriage, +and to abolish all laws requiring parental consent to marriage, to +consider parental duties the same in the case of an illegitimate as in +that of a legitimate child, and to abolish legal separation and divorce +law provisions prohibiting the defendant to remarry," must appeal to +all fair-minded persons as exactly what is needed. With sentiment once +well started in this direction, we can hope that the next two or three +decades will accomplish much--more particularly if we lose our money +madness and return from "the flesh-pots" to things that are of real +value. The happiness and virtue of our children will never be secure +until society is founded upon a basis of real monogamy, and male as +well as female continence before marriage, and the sooner this fact +is admitted and enforced the better will it be for the human race. In +this molding of sentiment, woman can be and is an important factor, +and her position becomes the more commanding as she becomes more +independent financially. If she demands purity on the part of her male +friends--sooner or later it will be accorded to her--if she insists +upon it in her lover, her Prince Charming will come forth with the +quality. + +Concerning that part of this question which deals with the restriction +of birth, it has always seemed that outside of voluntary childless +marriages the importance of "race suicide" was over-estimated. Where +there is no pathological reason why children should not be born, there +can be no question but that voluntary childless marriage is what has +been well termed "a progressive substitute for prostitution." But +where not used to consummate this end, but to keep within the limits +of the proper education and the bringing up of the progeny of a human +pair, such practice as does not involve infanticide cannot be against +the best interests of the race. Consequently, it would seem that, +before marriage, young men and women should become acquainted with +the fundamental phenomena of conception, with the purpose in view of +regulating the number of children which they bring into the world to +such a number as they can properly educate and equip for the struggle +of existence. Such biological knowledge as is necessary to attain this +should become the common property of humanity, and the state should +not restrict the sale of such articles as would further this end. On +the other hand, young men and women should be taught that it is their +duty to have what children they can care for, and at such times and +under such conditions during wedlock as will insure their descendants +the best physical and mental equipment. Infanticide in any form and at +any time, except when performed under the jurisdiction of a reputable +physician, should be made a crime and proper punishment provided +therefor. In this phase of the question, there is also a place for the +fostering of proper sentiment. Parents should show their children that +they constitute a very large proportion of their happiness, and that +child-bearing, within the limits above set forth, is a privilege and +not a burden. Under these conditions, voluntary childless marriage will +become less frequent and the family will occupy the position of primary +importance in the state to which it is entitled. + +It is impossible to estimate the far-reaching influence of the Woman's +Rights movement. The agitation to-day extends completely around the +world, and even such Oriental countries as Turkey, Japan, and China +are being forced to realize that they have it to face in the near +future. Politically, there can be no question but that the movement +will tend more towards the purity of the administration of justice +and the elimination of corruption in politics than any movement which +has been started within the history of man; and, as examples of this, +we have only to look for ample proof in countries where women have +been given full rights of citizenship, such as New Zealand, and in +Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada States in this country. Socially, +we have already noticed the effect which this movement will have as +tending towards the purity of masculine morals. Economically, however, +it presents a far different aspect, since every woman who enters +commercial life, whether in the office or factory, diminishes the +child-bearing population of the earth, and with the greater sense of +justice and equity which comes from the higher education, the demands +of woman will not only become more and more exacting, but she will be +becoming constantly more potent in their enforcement. The economic +phase of this problem is so great that it is impossible to state at +this time what the outcome will be, but a still further tremendous +decrease in the birth rate is absolutely sure to come about; and it +would seem that possibly those evils which will, in the long run, +be most largely rectified by this movement will be augmented in the +immediate future, as a result of this agitation, until such a time as +the majority of our citizens may be given such education as will enable +them to reason more logically about the fundamental propositions of +life. + +We have looked at a few of the phases of human existence; what shall +be said of the value of life? Modern science has forever taken from us +the comforting delusions of a personal Deity, an immortality for the +soul in a personal sense, and the idea of our possessing a will, free +to force our direction whithersoever we elect. It has left, in place of +these, the idea of duty--individual and personal responsibility--which +cannot be shirked. George Eliot, in the epilogue of Romola, preaches +as strong a sermon as she ever could to Mr. Meyers, when she talked to +him upon that now famous evening in May at Cambridge. Carlyle, no less +than his countrywoman, realized, not only the importance of living up +to individual responsibility, but also understood how hard it often +was to know just what should be done. His rule, which is most worthy +of emulation, was: "Do the nearest duty that lies to your hand, and +already the next duty will have become plainer." In order that we may +be the better prepared to fulfill our responsibilities, we should +obtain all the knowledge possible, even although it may cause us lack +of insight temporarily, and much mental agony. Faith is not comparable +to knowledge, any more than wishing is equal to the obtaining of +results. We should therefore be aggressive in the discharge of our +duty--liberal and tolerant, pure and upright, loving and unselfish, +virtuous and truly religious, so that it may be said of us, when we +have finished, that the world is a little better, and life has been, +for as many as possible, a little happier for our having lived. + + +THE END + + + + +THE ~"HOW DOES IT WORK"~ SERIES + + +No. 1. =Electricity.= By THOMAS W. CORBIN. With many Illustrations. +Price, 75 Cents, Cloth. + +Explains in simple language the working of Dynamos, Motors, Heating and +Lighting Apparatus, Trainways, Railways, &c. + +"The information given is clear and easily understood, and many +excellent halftones and line drawings are given. It is an A1 book for +any boy or man with a leaning towards things electric."--_Publishers' +Circular._ + +"The descriptions are given in very plain language and there are +excellent illustrations." + + +No. 2. =Model Making.= By CYRIL HALL. Cloth. With many Diagrams. +Price, 75 Cents. + +Contains instructions for making a Steam Locomotive--Turbine--Steam +Boat--Electric Engines--Motors--Yacht--Printing Press--Steam +Crane--Telephone--Electric Bells--Telegraph, &c. + + +No. 3. =Modern Engines.= By THOMAS W. CORBIN. With many illustrations. +Price, Cloth, 75 Cents. + +Steam Engines, Gas Engines, Petrol Engines, Marine Engines, Steam +Pumps, Steam Boilers, &c., &c. + + + At all Booksellers or postpaid by + R. F. Fenno & Company + + + + +Transcriber's note + + +Text in italics has been surrounded with _underscores_, underlined +words with ~signs~, bold with =signs= and small capitals changed to all +capitals. + +The first two columns of the Geological Table at the end of Chapter II +have been combined to keep the width within limits. + +The following corrections were made, on page + + 91 "posession" changed to "possession" (after they had secured + possession of their) + 127 "formluæ" changed to "formulæ" (had recited certain magical + formulæ which had) + 175 ' changed to " (never to have loved at all.") + 200 " added ("The information given is clear). + +Otherwise the original has been preserved, including archaic and +unusual words, as well as unusual or inconsistent spelling and +hyphenation. For instance: Phoedrus is usually spelled as Phædrus, +this has not been changed. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Human Life, by Sherwood Sweet Knight + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43618 *** |