summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/old/55132-0.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'old/55132-0.txt')
-rw-r--r--old/55132-0.txt10612
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 10612 deletions
diff --git a/old/55132-0.txt b/old/55132-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 113eb71..0000000
--- a/old/55132-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10612 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, February 1884,
-No. 5., by The Chautauquan Literary and Scientific Circle
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, February 1884, No. 5.
-
-Author: The Chautauquan Literary and Scientific Circle
-
-Editor: Theodore L. Flood
-
-Release Date: July 17, 2017 [EBook #55132]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAUTAUQUAN, VOL. 04 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Emmy, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
- _A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE PROMOTION OF TRUE CULTURE.
- ORGAN OF THE CHAUTAUQUA LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CIRCLE._
-
- VOL. IV. FEBRUARY, 1884. No. 5.
-
-
-
-
-Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle.
-
-
-_President_—Lewis Miller, Akron, Ohio.
-
-_Superintendent of Instruction_—Rev. J. H. Vincent, D.D., New Haven, Conn.
-
-_Counselors_—Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D.; Rev. J. M. Gibson, D.D.; Bishop H.
-W. Warren, D.D.; Prof. W. C. Wilkinson, D.D.
-
-_Office Secretary_—Miss Kate F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.
-
-_General Secretary_—Albert M. Martin, Pittsburgh, Pa.
-
-
-
-
-Contents
-
-Transcriber’s Note: This table of contents of this periodical was created
-for the HTML version to aid the reader.
-
-
- REQUIRED READING FOR FEBRUARY
- German History
- V.—Summary from the Reformation to the Present Time 251
- Selections from German Literature
- Alexander von Humboldt 253
- Heinrich Heine 253
- Friedrich Schleiermacher 254
- Arthur Schopenhauer 255
- Readings in Physical Science
- V.—The Sea (continued) 255
- Sunday Readings
- [_February 3_] 257
- [_February 10_] 258
- [_February 17_] 258
- [_February 24_] 259
- Commercial Law
- I.—Law in General 260
- Readings in Art 262
- Selections from American Literature
- John G. Whittier 264
- Oliver Wendell Holmes 265
- James Russell Lowell 266
- United States History 267
- His Cold 269
- The Table-Talk of Napoleon 269
- Matthew Arnold 270
- Estivation, or Summer Sleep 273
- Recreation 274
- Luther 275
- Eccentric Americans
- IV.—The Mathematical Failure 275
- Astronomy of the Heavens for February 278
- The Sea as an Aquarium 279
- Speculation in Business 281
- Wine and Water 283
- Eight Centuries with Walter Scott 284
- Botanical Notes 287
- C. L. S. C. Work 287
- Outline of C. L. S. C. Readings 288
- Local Circles 288
- The C. L. S. C. in the South 292
- C. L. S. C. Round-Table 292
- Questions and Answers 294
- Chautauqua Normal Course 297
- Editor’s Outlook 300
- Editor’s Note-Book 302
- C. L. S. C. Notes on Required Readings for February 304
- Notes on Required Readings in “The Chautauquan” 305
- Banquet to Chautauqua Trustees 307
- C. L. S. C. Graduates 310
- Talk About Books 314
-
-
-
-
-REQUIRED READING
-
-FOR THE
-
-_Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle for 1883-4_.
-
-FEBRUARY.
-
-
-
-
-GERMAN HISTORY.
-
-By REV. W. G. WILLIAMS, A.M.
-
-
-V.
-
-The present and last of this series of readings in German history
-includes an outline of the historical changes and great events of the
-period of nearly four hundred years since the Reformation. Though
-condensed to a very great degree, it furnishes the reader a survey of
-that important period, and will afford him a helpful basis for his future
-study of the history of Germany. The reading closes with a selection from
-the pen of the poet and historian, Schiller, descriptive of the battle of
-Lutzen, where Gustavus Adolphus, that greatest character and hero of the
-Thirty Years’ War, met his fate.
-
-
-SUMMARY OF GERMAN HISTORY FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT TIME.
-
-From the death of Luther, 1546, to the end of the century the struggle
-continued. Now and then there came a brief pause to the general strife,
-such as followed the Treaty of Passau, or the Religious Peace of
-Augsburg, but it was soon renewed by the tyranny or treachery of the
-Catholic powers, whose hatred of the followers of Luther and of the
-spirit of protestantism did not abate till Europe had passed through
-the most terrible and disastrous war of history. This was the thirty
-years’ war, dating from 1618 to 1648, and involving not only the whole
-German Empire, but also the principal states of Europe. Seldom, if ever,
-has there been known such depletion of population and resources. It was
-finally brought to an end by the peace of Westphalia, when the worn-out
-and impoverished states subscribed to a treaty which gave comparative
-toleration in Germany. Under its conditions, in all religious questions
-Protestants were to have an equal weight with Catholics in the high
-courts and diet of the empire. The Calvinists were also included with the
-Lutheran and Reformed creeds in this religious peace. By its termination
-of the religious wars in Europe the peace of Westphalia forms a great
-landmark in history.
-
-The seventeenth century, from the thirty years’ war on to its close,
-might not inappropriately be called the period of pusillanimity in
-Germany. Public buildings, schools and churches were allowed to stand as
-ruins while the courts of petty princes were aping the stiff, formal,
-artificial manners of that of the French monarch, Louis XIV. The latter
-seeing the weakened state of the empire seized the opportunity to enlarge
-his own kingdom at the expense of Germany. He laid claim to Brabant and
-many of the fortresses of the frontier fell into the hands of the French.
-His ambition was only checked by the intervention of Holland, England and
-Sweden, and the war terminated by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Meanwhile
-the Turks in alliance with the Hungarians marched with an army of 200,000
-up the Danube and encamped around the walls of Vienna. There is good
-evidence that they were aided and abetted in this invasion by Louis XIV.
-The Emperor Leopold fled, leaving his capital to its fate. But the little
-guard of 13,000 men under Count Stahremberg held the fortifications
-against the invader’s overwhelming force till Duke Charles of Lorraine
-and the Elector of Saxony with their armies, and still another army of
-20,000 Poles under their king John Sobieski came to their relief. The
-Turkish army was routed and driven into Hungary. All this time Louis,
-like an eager bird of prey, was watching Germany. Finally, in 1688, two
-powerful French armies appeared upon the Rhine. The allied states at last
-saw their imminent danger and rallied to resist and drive back the common
-foe. Louis resolved to ruin if he could not possess the country; so he
-adopted a course than which a more wanton and barbarous was never known,
-even in the annals of savagism. Vines were pulled up, fruit-trees cut
-down, and villages burned to the ground. Multitudes of defenseless people
-were slain in cold blood, and 400,000 persons beggared. Germany, aroused
-at last, now entered with vigor into the war with France, and carried
-it on till both sides were weary and exhausted. It was concluded by the
-Treaty of Ryswick.
-
-The eighteenth century dawned, still to witness Germany the arena of war.
-Indeed from earliest history her soil, especially along the Rhine, had
-been the battle-ground of Europe. This time it was the war of the Spanish
-succession, whose tangled episodes and details we can not undertake to
-follow. It will be remembered by the student of history for its great
-battle of Blenheim, where the allied armies under the Duke of Marlborough
-and Prince Eugene defeated and routed the French. Louis XIV. was now old,
-infirm, and tired of war, and hence consented to a treaty of peace, which
-was concluded March 7, 1714.
-
-The century now begun witnessed the rise of Prussia out of the German
-chaos and the wonderful and brilliant career of Frederick the Great. It
-also saw the stronger and more enlightened reigns of Maria Theresa and
-Joseph II. in Austria.
-
-Though the wars never ceased, breaking out again in one quarter while
-peace was being concluded in another, yet the century as a whole gave
-prophesy of a coming better state of affairs.
-
-The grandfather of Frederick the Great had founded the university of
-Halle in 1694, and in 1711 an academy of science was established in
-Berlin upon a plan drawn up by the philosopher Leibnitz. Frederick
-William I., father of Frederick the Great, though coarse and brutal in
-his nature, had the wisdom to see the importance of German education and
-of breaking off from the established custom of imitating French manners
-and life. He accordingly established four hundred schools among the
-people, and by the vigor and economy of his reign contributed to the
-development of the character and individuality of his people. Frederick
-the Great and his rival, Maria Theresa, possessed greater elements of
-personal character and intelligence than their predecessors, and hence
-gave to their subjects, if not a more liberal form, at least a higher
-order of government. Contemporary with these was the beginning of that
-literary bloom which, by the genius of Lessing, Herder, Klopstock,
-Goethe and Schiller, gave to Germany a glory surpassing all she has ever
-achieved, either by war or statesmanship.
-
-We have now reached, just before the beginning of the nineteenth century,
-the time of the French Revolution. It was a time that required great
-political prudence on the part of the rulers in Germany. Unhappily the
-successors of Frederick the Great and Joseph II. were incompetent to
-their responsibilities. That great military genius that rose out of the
-turmoil and chaos of the revolution in France is soon marching through
-Germany, and on the 6th of August, 1806, Francis II., the last of the
-line, laid down his title of “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the
-German nation” at the feet of Napoleon. Thus, just a thousand years after
-Charlemagne the empire of his founding passed away. It had culminated
-under the Hohenstauffens, and for a long time before its formal burial
-had existed in tradition rather than in fact. Truly may it be said that
-Germany was as far as ever from being a nation at the beginning of our
-century.
-
-From 1806 to 1814 Germany underwent the humiliation of subjection to
-the power of Napoleon. By a succession of victories, such as Jena and
-Auerstädt, he cowed the spirit of the German princes and proceeded
-to construct the famous “Rhine-Bund” which made him protector over a
-territory embracing fourteen millions of German inhabitants, and imposed
-upon the states and principalities included conditions the most exacting
-and disgraceful. Prussia and Austria, which held out at first, were
-also compelled by force of his victorious armies to yield, and Napoleon
-dictated terms to all Germany. He marched in triumph into Berlin and
-Vienna; he changed boundaries, levied troops, prescribed the size of
-their standing armies at will, and when he set out on his campaign
-against Alexander of Prussia 200,000 previously conquered Germans marched
-at his command. Such was the abject state of Germany during those years
-when it seemed that all Europe must bend before the insatiate conqueror.
-But in the year 1813 the spirit of liberty began to live again. The
-revival began, however, not with the princes, but in the breasts of the
-people. The works of the great German authors were becoming familiar to
-them and were producing their effect. Klopstock was awakening a pride in
-the German name and race; Schiller was thrilling the popular heart with
-his doctrine of resistance to oppression, whilst the songs of Körner
-and Arndt were inspiring courage and hope. All classes of the people
-participated in the uprising, and within a few months Prussia had an army
-of 270,000 soldiers in the field ready to resist the power of France.
-This was the beginning of the turn in the tide of affairs which led in
-1815 to the overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo, and gave liberation to
-Germany.
-
-The remaining history of the present century is that of the Confederation
-formed in 1815 and lasting till 1866; of the North German Confederation
-which succeeded the above, and continued to the establishing of the
-present empire in 1871, as a result of the Franco-Prussian war; and of
-the new empire to the present time. The confederation of 1815, known as
-the “Deutscher Bund,” embraced a part of Austria, most of Prussia, the
-kingdoms of Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony and Hanover, the electorate of
-Hesse-Cassel, a number of duchies, principalities and free cities; in all
-thirty-nine states.
-
-When in 1866 the “Bund” was dissolved and the North German Confederation
-formed, Austria was excluded, and Prussia assumed the headship of
-the new compact which embraced the states north of the Main. The term
-Germany, from 1866 to 1871, designated the new Confederation, and the
-four South German States, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden and Hesse Darmstadt.
-The four latter had been made independent states, but were united with
-the North German Confederation by the Zollverein, and by alliances
-offensive and defensive.
-
-The late war between France and Germany belongs to the history of
-the present generation. Its great events and changes to Germany are
-within the memory of many of our readers. It will be longest remembered
-because of its association with the formation of the present empire.
-While the siege of Paris was yet in progress (January 1871) the spirit
-of enthusiasm became so great, and the desire for national unity so
-strong, that the various sovereign states, as well as the members of
-the Confederation determined on a revival of the empire. At their joint
-instance, in the great hall of Louis XIV., at Versailles, King William
-of Prussia received the imperial crown with the title of German Emperor.
-Under this new empire the whole German nation, Austria alone excepted,
-is united more closely than it has been for more than six hundred years,
-or since the Great Interregnum. It is not too much to say that the last
-decade has been the brightest and most prosperous in German history.
-The new empire has made possible and developed a feeling of patriotism
-which could not exist while the race was divided into fifty or more
-separate states. It was the complaint of her greatest poet, Goethe,
-that there was no united Germany to awaken pride and patriotism in the
-German heart. That condition of things is now done away by the present
-national government, which, though retaining many of the imperial
-features of the past, has, at the same time, embodied some of the more
-liberal governmental ideas of the present age. Such, for instance, is the
-election by direct universal suffrage and by ballot, of the Reichstag,
-one of the two legislative councils of the empire. The German name was
-never more respected and honored throughout the world than it is to-day;
-not alone for her eminent position among the powers of Europe, but for
-her high rank in the empires of art, philosophy and science. Her great
-universities are admired wherever in the world there is appreciation
-for scholarship, industry and genius. If the present has any right to
-prophesy it must be that the coming years contain for Germany less of
-wars and dissension, more of peace, coöperation and unity.
-
-
-BATTLE OF LUTZEN—DEATH OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
-
-“At last the fateful morning dawned, but an impenetrable fog, which
-spread over the plain, delayed the attack till noon.… ‘God with us!’ was
-the war cry of the Swedes; ‘Jesus Maria!’ that of the Imperialists. About
-eleven the fog began to disperse, and the enemy became visible. At the
-same moment Lutzen was seen in flames, having been set on fire by command
-of the duke, to prevent his being outflanked on that side. The charge was
-now sounded; the cavalry rushed upon the enemy, and the infantry advanced
-against the trenches.
-
-“Received by a tremendous fire of musketry and heavy artillery, these
-intrepid battalions maintained the attack with undaunted courage, till
-the enemy’s musketeers abandoned their posts, the trenches were passed,
-the battery carried and turned against the enemy. They pressed forward
-with irresistible impetuosity; the first of the five imperial brigades
-was immediately routed, the second soon after, and the third put to
-flight. But here the genius of Wallenstein opposed itself to their
-progress. With the rapidity of lightning he was on the spot to rally his
-discomfited troops; and his powerful word was itself sufficient to stop
-the flight of the fugitives. Supported by three regiments of cavalry,
-the vanquished brigades, forming anew, faced the enemy, and pressed
-vigorously into the broken ranks of the Swedes. A murderous conflict
-ensued.… In the meantime the king’s right wing, led by himself, had
-fallen upon the enemy’s left. The first impetuous shock of the heavy
-Finland cuirassiers dispersed the lightly mounted Poles and Croats,
-who were posted here, and their disorderly flight spread terror and
-confusion among the rest of the cavalry. At this moment notice was
-brought to the king, that his infantry was retreating over the trenches,
-and also that his left wing, exposed to a severe fire from the enemy’s
-cannon posted at the windmills, was beginning to give way. With rapid
-decision he committed to General Horn the pursuit of the enemy’s left,
-while he flew, at the head of the regiment of Steinback, to repair the
-disorder of his right wing. His noble charger bore him with the velocity
-of lightning across the trenches, but the squadrons that followed could
-not come on with the same speed, and only a few horsemen, among whom
-was Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenberg, were able to keep up with
-the king. He rode directly to the place where his infantry were most
-closely pressed, and while he was reconnoitering the enemy’s line for
-an exposed point to attack, the shortness of his sight unfortunately
-led him too close to their ranks. An imperial Gefreyter, remarking that
-every one respectfully made way for him as he rode along, immediately
-ordered a musketeer to take aim at him. ‘Fire at him yonder,’ said he,
-‘that must be a man of consequence.’ The soldier fired, and the king’s
-left arm was shattered. At that moment his squadron came hurrying up,
-and a confused cry of ‘the king bleeds! the king is shot!’ spread terror
-and consternation through all the ranks. ‘It is nothing, follow me,’
-cried the king, collecting his whole strength; but overcome by pain,
-and nearly fainting, he requested the Duke of Lauenberg, in French, to
-lead him unobserved out of the tumult. While the duke proceeded toward
-the right wing with the king, to keep this discouraging sight from the
-disordered infantry, his majesty received a second shot through the
-back, which deprived him of his remaining strength. ‘Brother,’ said he,
-with a dying voice, ‘I have enough! look only to your own life.’ At
-the same moment he fell from his horse, pierced by several more shots;
-and abandoned by all his attendants, he breathed his last amidst the
-plundering bands of the Croats. His charger flying without its rider, and
-covered with blood, soon made known to the Swedish cavalry the fall of
-their king. They rushed madly forward to rescue his sacred remains from
-the hands of the enemy. A murderous conflict ensued over the body, till
-his mangled remains were buried beneath a heap of slain. Bernard, Duke
-of Saxe-Weimar, gave to the bereaved Swedes a noble leader in his own
-person; and the spirit of Gustavus led his victorious squadrons anew.
-
-“The sun was setting when the two lines closed. The strife grew hotter as
-it drew to an end; the last efforts of strength were mutually exerted,
-and skill and courage did their utmost to repair in these precious
-moments the fortune of the day. It was in vain; despair endows every one
-with superhuman strength; no one can conquer, no one will give way. The
-art of war seemed to exhaust its powers on one side, only to unfold some
-new and untried masterpiece of skill on the other. Night and darkness
-at last put an end to the fight, before the fury of the combatants was
-exhausted; and the contest only ceased, when no one could any longer
-find an antagonist. Both armies separated, as if by tacit agreement; the
-trumpets sounded, and each party claiming the victory, quitted the field.”
-
- [End of German History.]
-
-
-
-
-SELECTIONS FROM GERMAN LITERATURE.
-
-
-ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.
-
- After every deduction has been made he yet stands before us as a
- colossal figure not unworthy to take his place beside Goethe as
- the representative of the scientific side of the culture of his
- country.—_Encyclopædia Britannica._
-
-
-The Cataracts of the Orinoco.
-
-The impression which a scene makes upon us is not so deeply fixed by the
-peculiarities of the country as by the light, the clear azure or the deep
-shade of low lying clouds, under which hill and river lie. In the same
-way descriptions of scenes impress us with more or less force according
-as they harmonize with our emotions. In our inner susceptible soul the
-physical world is reflected true and life-like. What gives its peculiar
-character to a landscape, to the outline of the mountain range which
-borders the dimly distant horizon, to the darkness of the pine forest, to
-the mountain stream which rushes madly between overhanging cliffs? They
-all stand in strange mysterious relations with the inner life of man,
-and on these relations rest the nobler share of enjoyment which nature
-affords. Nowhere does she impress us more strongly with consciousness of
-her greatness; nowhere does she speak more powerfully to us than under
-the Indian heavens. If I venture here to describe that country may I hope
-that its peculiar charm will not remain unfelt? The memory of a distant
-richly-endowed land, the glimpse of a luxuriant, vigorous plant-life
-refreshes and strengthens the mind as the restless worn spirit finds
-pleasure in youth and its strength.
-
-Western currents and tropical winds favor the voyage over the peaceful
-straits which fill up the wide valley between America and western Africa.
-Before the coast appears one notices that the waves foam and dash
-over each other. Sailors who were unacquainted with the region would
-suspect shallows to be near, or fresh water springs, such as are in
-mid ocean among the Antilles. As the garnet coast of Guiana draws near
-there appears the wide mouth of a mighty stream. It bursts forth like a
-shoreless sea and covers the surrounding ocean with fresh water. The name
-Orinoco which the first discoverers gave to the river, and which owes
-its origin to a confusion of language, is unknown in the interior of the
-country, for the uncivilized inhabitants give names to only those objects
-which might easily be mistaken for others. The Orinoco, the Amazon, the
-Magdalena are called simply the river, in some cases perhaps, the great
-river, the great water, when the inhabitants wish to distinguish them
-from a small stream.
-
-The current which the Orinoco causes between the continent of South
-America and the island of Trinidad is so powerful that ships which
-attempt to struggle against it with outspread sails are scarcely able to
-make any headway. This desolate and dangerous place is called the Gulf
-of Sorrow; the entrance is the Dragon’s Head. Here lonely cliffs rise
-tower-like in the raging flood. They mark the old, rocky isthmus which,
-cut off by the current, once joined the island of Trinidad and the coast
-of Venezuela.
-
-The appearance of this country first convinced the hardy discoverer,
-Colon, of the existence of the American continent. Acquainted with
-nature as he was he concluded that so monstrous a body of fresh water
-could only be collected by a great number of streams, and that the land
-which supplied this water must be a continent and not an island. As the
-followers of Alexander believed the Indus, filled with crocodiles, was a
-branch of the Nile, so Colon concluded that this new continent was the
-easterly coast of the far away Asia. The coolness of the evening air, the
-clearness of the starry firmament, the perfume of the flowers borne on
-the breeze, all led him to believe that he had approached the garden of
-Eden, the sacred home of the first human beings. The Orinoco seemed to
-him one of the four streams which are said to flow from Paradise, and to
-water the plants of the newly-planted earth.
-
-This poetical passage taken from Colon’s diary has a peculiar interest.
-It shows anew how the fancies of the poet are in the discoverer as in
-every great human character.
-
-
-HEINRICH HEINE.
-
- Heine had all the culture of Germany; in his head fermented all
- the ideas of modern Europe. And what have we got from Heine? A
- half-result, for want of moral balance, and nobleness of soul,
- and character.—_Matthew Arnold._
-
- In spite of the bitterness of spirit that pervades all his
- writings he possessed deep natural affections. His mother
- survived him, and although almost entirely separated from him
- for the last twenty-five years, he often introduces her name in
- his works with expressions of reverence.—_Translated by E. A.
- Bowring._
-
- Heine left a singular will, in which he begged that all religious
- solemnities be dispensed with at his funeral.… He added that this
- was not the mere freak of a freethinker, for that he had for the
- last four years dismissed all the pride with which philosophy had
- filled him, and felt once more the power of religious truth. He
- also begged forgiveness for any offence which, in his ignorance
- he might have given to good manners and good morals.—_Translated
- preface._
-
-
-To Matilda.
-
- I was, dear lamb, ordained to be
- A shepherd here, to watch o’er thee;
- I nourished thee with mine own bread,
- With water from the fountain head.
-
- And when winter storm roared loudly,
- Against my breast I warmed thee proudly;
- Then held I thee, encircled well,
- Whilst rain in torrents round us fell,
- When, through its rocky dark bed pouring,
- The torrent with the wolf, was roaring,
- Thou fear’dst not, no muscle quivered,
- E’en when the highest pine was shivered
- By forked flash—within mine arm
- Thou slept’st in peace without alarm.
-
- My arm grows weak, and fast draws near
- Pale death! My shepherd’s task so dear,
- And pastoral care approach their end.
- Into thy hands, God, I commend
- My staff once more. O do thou guard
- My lamb, when I, beneath the sward
- Am laid in peace, and suffer ne’er
- A thorn to prick her anywhere.
-
- From thorny hedges guard her fleece,
- May quagmires ne’er disturb her peace.
- May there spring up beneath her feet
- An ample crop of pasture sweet,
- And let her sleep without alarm,
- As erst she slept within mine arm!
-
- I have been wont to bear my head right high,
- My temper too is somewhat stern and rough;
- Even before a monarch’s cold rebuff
- I would not timidly avert mine eye.
- Yet mother dear, I’ll tell it openly:
- Much as my haughty pride may swell and puff,
- I feel submissive and subdued enough,
- When thy much cherished, darling form is nigh.
- Is it thy spirit that subdues me then,
- Thy spirit grasping all things in its ken,
- And soaring to the light of heaven again?
- By the sad recollection I’m oppress’d
- That I have done so much to grieve thy breast,
- Which loved me more than all things else, the best.
-
-
-Prose Extracts From Heine.
-
-The French are the chosen people of the new religion, its first gospels
-and dogmas have been drawn up in their language; Paris is the New
-Jerusalem, and the Rhine is the Jordan which divides the consecrated land
-of freedom from the land of the Philistines.
-
-When Candide came to Eldorado, he saw in the streets a number of boys who
-were playing with gold nuggets instead of marbles. This degree of luxury
-made him imagine that they must be the king’s children, and he was not a
-little astonished when he found that in Eldorado gold nuggets are of no
-more value than marbles are with us, and that the school-boys play with
-them. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine, a foreigner, when he
-came to Germany and first read German books. He was perfectly astounded
-at the wealth of ideas which he found in them; but he soon remarked that
-ideas in Germany are as plentiful as gold nuggets in Eldorado, and that
-those writers whom he had taken for intellectual princes, were in reality
-only common school-boys.
-
-
-The Lorelei.
-
- I know not what it may mean to-day
- That I am to grief inclined;
- There’s a tale of a Siren—an old-world lay—
- That I can not get out of my mind.
-
- The air is cool in the twilight gray,
- And quietly flows the Rhine;
- On the ridge of the cliff, at the close of the day
- The rays of the sunset shine.
-
- There sits a maiden, richly dight,
- And wonderfully fair;
- Her golden bracelet glistens bright
- As she combs her golden hair.
-
- And while she combs her locks so bright,
- She sings a charming lay;
- ’Tis sweet, yet hath a marvelous might,
- And ’tis echoing far away.
-
- The sailor floats down, in the dusk, on the Rhine
- That carol awakens his grief;
- He sees on the cliff the last sunbeam shine,
- But he sees not the perilous reef.
-
- Ah! soon will the sailor, in bitter despair,
- To his foundering skiff be clinging!
- And that’s what the beautiful Siren there
- Has done with her charming singing.
-
-
-FRIEDRICH SCHLEIERMACHER.
-
- He was an admirable dialectician, and did more than any other
- writer to promote in Germany a sympathetic study of Plato. Yet
- there is a touch of Romanticism in the vague, shadowy and mystic
- language in which he presents the elements of Christian thought
- and life.—_Sime._
-
- Wilhelm Von Humboldt says that Schleiermacher’s speaking far
- exceeded his power in writing, and that his strength consisted
- in the “deeply penetrative character of his words, which was
- free from art, and the persuasive effusion of feeling moving in
- perfect unison with one of the rarest intellects.”—_American
- Cyclopædia._
-
-
-Extracts From Schleiermacher.
-
-TRUE PLEASURE.—Pleasure is a flower which grows indeed of itself, but
-only in fruitful gardens and well cultivated fields. Not that we should
-labor in our minds to gain it; but yet he who has not labored for it,
-with him it will not grow; whoever has not brought out in his own
-character something profitable and praiseworthy, it is in vain for him
-to sow. Even he who understands it best can do nothing better for the
-pleasure of another than that he should communicate to him what is the
-foundation of his own. Whosoever does not know how to work up the rough
-stuff for himself, and thereby make it his own, whosoever does not refine
-his disposition, has not secured for himself a treasure of thoughts,
-a many sidedness of relations, a view of the world and human things
-peculiar to himself—such a man knows not how to seize the proper occasion
-for pleasure, and the most important is assuredly lost for him. It is
-not the indolent who finds so much difficulty in filling up the time
-set aside for repose. Who find vexation and ennui in everything? From
-whom are we hearing never ending complaints about the poverty and dull
-uniformity of life? Who are most bitter in their lamentations over the
-slender powers of men for social intercourse, and over the insufficiency
-of all measures to obtain joy? But this is only what they deserve; for
-man cannot reap where he has not sown.
-
-THE ESTEEM OF THE WORLD.—We all consider what is thought of us by those
-around us as a substantial good. Trust in our uprightness of character,
-belief in our abilities, and the desire that arises from this to be more
-intimately connected with us, and to gain our good opinion, everything of
-this kind is often a more valuable treasure than great riches. Of this
-the indolent are quite aware. If men would only believe in their capacity
-without the necessity of producing anything painstaking and really
-praiseworthy! If they would only agree to take some other proof of their
-probity and love of mankind than deeds! If they would only accept some
-other security for their wisdom than prudent language, good counsel, and
-a sound judgment on the proper mode of conducting the affairs of life!
-Instead of rising to a true love of honor, such men creep amidst childish
-vanities, which try to fix the attention of mankind by pitiful trifles
-and to glitter by shadowy appearances; instead of attempting to reach
-something really noble, they rest only on external customs; the mental
-disposition that arises from this is their virtue, and their governing
-passion is what they regard as understanding.
-
-
-ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER.
-
- A young man not understood.—_Goethe._
-
- German philosophers have as a rule been utterly indifferent to
- style, but Schopenhauer’s prose is clear, firm and graceful, and
- to this fact he owes much of his popularity.—_Sime._
-
-Our inductive science ends with the questions—“Whence?” “Wherefore?” We
-observe facts, and classify them; but then follows a question respecting
-the substance that lies behind the facts? What do they express? What is
-the Will of which they are the Representation?—If we were isolated from
-the world around us, we could not answer the question. But we are not so
-isolated. We belong to nature, and nature is included in ourselves. We
-have in ourselves the laws of the world around us. We find in our own
-bodies the mechanical laws, and those of the organic life manifested in
-plants and animals. We have the same understanding which we find working
-around us in the system of nature. If we consisted only of the body and
-the understanding, we could not distinguish ourselves from nature. If
-we know what is in ourselves, we know what is in nature. Now what do we
-find controlling the facts of our own natural life? An impulse which we
-may call the Will to live. We often use the word Will in a complex sense,
-as implying both thought and choice; but in its purest, simplest sense,
-as the word is used here, it means the impulse, or force, which is the
-cause of a phenomenon. In this sense, there is a Will from which the
-movements within the earth and upon its surface derive their origin. It
-works continuously upward from the forms of crystals, through the forms
-of zoöphytes, mollusca, annelida, insectia, arachnida, crustacea, pisces,
-reptilia, aves, and mammalia. There is one Will manifested in the growth
-of all plants and animals. That which we call a purpose when viewed as
-associated with intellect, is, when regarded most simply, or in itself,
-a force or impulse—the natural Will of which we are now speaking. It is
-the Will to live—the mighty impulse by which every creature is impelled
-to maintain its own existence, and without any care for the existence of
-others. It is an unconscious Egoism. Nature is apparently a collection of
-many wills; but all are reducible to one—the Will to live. Its whole life
-is a never-ending warfare. It is forever at strife _with itself_; for it
-asserts itself in one form to deny itself as asserted in other forms. It
-is everywhere furnished with the means of working out its purpose. Where
-the Will of the lion is found, we find the powerful limbs, the claws,
-the teeth necessary for supporting the life to which the animal is urged
-by his Will. The Will is found associated in man with an understanding;
-but is not subservient to that understanding. On the contrary, the
-understanding or intellect is subservient. The Will is the moving power;
-the understanding is the instrument.
-
-This one Will in nature and in ourselves serves to explain a great part
-of all the movements of human society. Hence arise the collisions of
-interest that excite envy, strife, and hatred between individuals or
-classes. Society differs from an unsocial state of life in the forms
-imposed by intelligence on egoistic Will, but not in any radical change
-made in that Will. Thus etiquette is the convenience of egoism, and law
-is a fixing of boundaries within which egoism may conveniently pursue
-its objects. The world around us, including what is called the social
-or civilized world, may seem fair, when it is viewed only as a stage,
-and without any reference to the tragedy that is acted upon it. But,
-viewed in its reality, it is an arena for gladiators, or an amphitheater
-where all who would be at peace have to defend themselves. As Voltaire
-says, it is with sword in hand that we must live and die. The man who
-expects to find peace and safety here is like the traveler told of in
-one of Gracian’s stories, who, entering a district where he hoped to
-meet his fellow-men, found it peopled only by wolves and bears, while
-men had escaped to caves in a neighboring forest. The same egoistic Will
-that manifests itself dimly in the lowest stages of life, and becomes
-more and more clearly pronounced as we ascend to creatures of higher
-organization, attains its highest energy in man, and is here modified,
-but not essentially changed, by a superior intelligence. The insect world
-is full of slaughter; the sea hides from us frightful scenes of cruel
-rapacity; the tyrannical and destructive instinct marks the so-called
-king of birds, and rages in the feline tribes. In human society, some
-mitigation of this strife takes place as the result of experience and
-culture. By the use of the understanding, the Will makes laws for itself,
-so that the natural _bellum omnium contra omnes_ is modified, and leaves
-to the few victors some opportunities of enjoying the results of their
-victory. Law is a means of reducing the evils of social strife to their
-most convenient form, and politics must be regarded in the same way. The
-strength of all law and government lies in our dread of the anarchic
-Will, that lies couched behind the barriers of society and is ready to
-spring forth when they are broken down.
-
-
-
-
-READINGS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE.
-
-Abridged from Professor Geikie’s Primer of Physical Geography.
-
-
-V.—THE SEA.
-
-[Continued.]
-
-The sea is full of life, both of plants and animals. These organisms die,
-and their remains necessarily get mixed up with the different materials
-laid down upon the sea floor. So that, beside the mere sand and mud,
-great numbers of shells, corals, and the harder parts of other sea
-creatures must be buried there, as generation after generation comes and
-goes.
-
-It often happens that on parts of the sea bed the remains of some of
-these animals are so abundant that they themselves form thick and
-wide-spread deposits. Oysters, for example, grow thickly together; and
-their shells, mingled with those of other similar creatures, form what
-are called shell banks. In the Pacific and the Indian Oceans a little
-animal, called the coral-polyp, secretes a hard limy skeleton from the
-sea water; and as millions of these polyps grow together, they form great
-reefs of solid rock, which are sometimes, as in the Great Barrier Reef
-of Australia, hundreds of feet thick and a thousand miles long. It is by
-means of the growth of these animals that those wonderful rings of coral
-rock or coral islands are formed in the middle of the ocean. Again, a
-great part of the bed of the Atlantic Ocean is covered with fine mud,
-which on examination is found to consist almost wholly of the remains of
-very minute animals called foraminifera.
-
-Over the bottom of the sea, therefore, great beds of sand and mud,
-mingled with the remains of plants and animals, are always accumulating.
-If now this bottom could be raised up above the sea level, even though
-the sand and mud should get as dry and hard as any rock among the hills,
-you would be able to say with certainty that they had once been under
-the sea, because you would find in them the shells and other remains of
-marine animals. This raising of the sea bottom has often taken place in
-ancient times. You will find most of the rocks of our hills and valleys
-to have been originally laid down in the sea, where they were formed
-out of sand and mud dropped on the sea floor, just as sand and mud are
-carried out to sea and laid down there now. And in these rocks, not
-merely near the shore, but far inland, in quarries or ravines, or the
-sides and even the tops of the hills, you will be able to pick out the
-skeletons and fragments of the various sea creatures which were living in
-the old seas.
-
-Since the bottom of the sea forms the great receptacle into which the
-mouldered remains of the surface of the land are continually carried, it
-is plain that if this state of things were to go on without modification
-or hindrance, in the end the whole of the solid land would be worn away,
-and its remains would be spread out on the sea floor, leaving one vast
-ocean to roll round the globe.
-
-But there is in nature another force which here comes into play to retard
-the destruction of the land.
-
-
-THE INSIDE OF THE EARTH.
-
-It may seem at first as if it were hopeless that man should ever know
-anything about the earth’s interior. Just think what a huge ball this
-globe of ours is, and you will see that after all, in living and moving
-over its surface, we are merely like flies walking over a great hill. All
-that can be seen from the top of the highest mountain to the bottom of
-the deepest mine is not more in comparison than the mere varnish on the
-outside of a school globe. And yet a good deal can be learnt as to what
-takes place within the earth. Here and there, in different countries,
-there are places where communication exists between the interior and
-the surface; and it is from such places that much of our information on
-this subject is derived. Volcanoes are among the most important of the
-channels of communication with the interior.
-
-Let us suppose that you were to visit one of these volcanoes just before
-what is called “an eruption.” As you approach it, you see a conical
-mountain, seemingly with its top cut off. From this truncated summit a
-white cloud rises. But it is not quite such a cloud as you would see on
-a hill top in this country. For as you watch it you notice that it rises
-out of the top of the mountain, even though there are no clouds to be
-seen anywhere else. Ascending from the vegetation of the lower grounds,
-you find the slopes to consist partly of loose stones and ashes, partly
-of rough black sheets of rock, like the slags of an iron furnace. As you
-get nearer the top the ground feels hot, and puffs of steam, together
-with stifling vapors, come out of it here and there. At last you reach
-the summit, and there what seemed a level top is seen to be in reality a
-great basin, with steep walls descending into the depths of the mountain.
-Screening your face as well as possible from the hot gases which almost
-choke you, you creep to the top of this basin, and look down into it.
-Far below, at the base of the rough red and yellow cliffs which form its
-sides, lies a pool of some liquid, glowing with a white heat, though
-covered for the most part with a black crust like that seen on the
-outside of the mountain during the ascent. From this fiery pool jets of
-the red hot liquid are jerked out every now and then, stones and dust are
-cast up into the air, and fall back again, and clouds of steam ascend
-from the same source and form the uprising cloud which is seen from a
-great distance hanging over the mountain.
-
-This caldron-shaped hollow on the summit of the mountain is the crater.
-The intensely heated liquid in the sputtering boiling pool at its bottom
-is melted rock or lava. And the fragmentary materials—ashes, dust,
-cinders, and stones—thrown out, are torn from the hardened sides and
-bottom of the crater by the violence of the explosions with which the
-gases and steam escape.
-
-The hot air and steam, and the melted mass at the bottom of the crater,
-show that there must be some source of intense heat underneath. And as
-the heat has been coming out for hundreds, or even thousands of years, it
-must exist there in great abundance.
-
-But it is when the volcano appears in active eruption that the power
-of this underground heat shows itself most markedly. For a day or two
-beforehand, the ground around the mountain trembles. At length, in a
-series of violent explosions, the heart of the volcano is torn open,
-and perhaps its upper part is blown into the air. Huge clouds of steam
-roll away up into the air, mingled with fine dust and red hot stones.
-The heavier stones fall back again into the crater or on the outer
-slopes of the mountain, but the finer ashes come out in such quantity,
-as sometimes to darken the sky for many miles round, and to settle down
-over the surrounding country as a thick covering. Streams of white hot
-molten lava run down the outside of the mountain, and descend even to the
-gardens and houses at the base, burning up or overflowing whatever lies
-in their path. This state of matters continues for days or weeks, until
-the volcano exhausts itself, and then a time of comparative quiet comes,
-when only steam, hot vapors, and gases are given off.
-
-About 1800 years ago, there was a mountain near Naples shaped like a
-volcano, and with a large crater covered with brushwood. No one had ever
-seen any steam, or ashes, or lava come from it, and the people did not
-imagine it to be a volcano, like some other mountains in that part of
-Europe. They had built villages and towns around its base, and their
-district, from its beauty and soft climate, used to attract wealthy
-Romans to build villas there. But at last, after hardly any warning,
-the whole of the higher part of the mountain was blown into the air
-with terrific explosions. Such showers of fine ashes fell for miles
-around, that the sky was as dark as midnight. Day and night the ashes
-and stones descended on the surrounding country; many of the inhabitants
-were killed, either by stones falling on them, or from suffocation by
-the dust. When at last the eruption ceased, the district, which had
-before drawn visitors from all parts of the old world, was found to be
-a mere desert of grey dust and stone. Towns and villages, vineyards
-and gardens, were all buried. Of the towns, the two most noted were
-called Herculaneum and Pompeii. So completely did they disappear, that,
-although important places at the time, their very sites were forgotten,
-and only by accident, after the lapse of some fifteen hundred years,
-were they discovered. Excavations have since that time been carried on,
-the hardened volcanic accumulations have been removed from the old city,
-and you can now walk through the streets of Pompeii again, with their
-roofless dwelling houses and shops, theaters and temples, and mark on
-the causeway the deep ruts worn by the carriage wheels of the Pompeians
-eighteen centuries ago. Beyond the walls of the now silent city rises
-Mount Vesuvius, with its smoking crater, covering one half of the old
-mountain which was blown up when Pompeii disappeared.
-
-Volcanoes, then, mark the position of some of the holes or orifices,
-whereby heated materials from the inside of the earth are thrown up to
-the surface. They occur in all quarters of the globe. In Europe, beside
-Mount Vesuvius, which has been more or less active since it was formed,
-Etna, Stromboli, and other smaller volcanoes, occur in the basin of the
-Mediterranean, while far to the northwest some volcanoes rise amid the
-snows and glaciers of Iceland. In America a chain of huge volcanoes
-stretches down the range of mountains which rises from the western margin
-of the continent. In Asia they are thickly grouped together in Java and
-some of the surrounding islands, and stretch thence through Japan and the
-Aleutian Isles, to the extremity of North America. If you trace this
-distribution upon the map, you will see that the Pacific Ocean is girded
-all round with volcanoes.
-
-Since these openings into the interior of the earth are so numerous over
-the surface, we may conclude that this interior is intensely hot. But we
-have other proofs of this internal heat. In many countries hot springs
-rise to the surface. Even in England, which is a long way from any active
-volcano, the water of the wells of Bath is quite warm (120° Fahr.). It
-is known, too, that in all countries the heat increases as we descend
-into the earth. The deeper a mine the warmer are the rocks and air at its
-bottom. If the heat continues to increase in the same proportion, the
-rocks must be red hot at no great distance beneath us.
-
-It is not merely by volcanoes and hot springs, however, that the
-internal heat of the earth affects the surface. The solid ground is made
-to tremble, or is rent asunder, or is upheaved or let down. You have
-probably heard or read of earthquakes; those shakings of the ground,
-which, when they are at their worst, crack the ground open, throw down
-trees and buildings, and bury hundreds or thousands of people in the
-ruins. Earthquakes are most common in or near those countries where
-active volcanoes exist. They frequently take place just before a volcanic
-eruption.
-
-Some parts of the land are slowly rising out of the sea; rocks, which
-used always to be covered by the tides, come to be wholly beyond their
-limits; while others, which used never to be seen at all, begin one by
-one to show their heads above water. On the other hand some tracts are
-slowly sinking; piers, sea walls, and other old landmarks on the beach,
-are one after another enveloped by the sea as it encroaches further and
-higher on the land. These movements, whether in an upward or downward
-direction, are likewise due in some way to the internal heat.
-
-Now when you reflect upon these various changes you will see that through
-the agency of this same internal heat land is preserved upon the face
-of the earth. If rain and frost, rivers, glaciers, and the sea were to
-go on wearing down the surface of the land continually, without any
-counterbalancing kind of action, the land would necessarily in the end
-disappear, and indeed would have disappeared long ago. But owing to the
-pushing out of some parts of the earth’s surface by the movements of the
-heated materials inside, portions of the land are raised to a higher
-level, while parts of the bed of the sea are actually upheaved so as to
-form land.
-
-This kind of elevation has happened many times in all quarters of the
-globe. As already mentioned most of our hills and valleys are formed of
-rocks, which were originally laid down on the bottom of the sea, and have
-been subsequently raised into land.
-
-This earth of ours is the scene of continual movement and change. The
-atmosphere which encircles it is continually in motion, diffusing heat,
-light, and vapor. From the sea and from the waters of the land, vapor is
-constantly passing into the air, whence, condensed into clouds, rain and
-snow, it descends again to the earth. All over the surface of the land
-the water which falls from the sky courses seaward in brooks and rivers,
-bearing into the great deep the materials which are worn away from the
-land. Water is thus ceaselessly circulating between the air, the land,
-and the sea. The sea, too, is never at rest. Its waves gnaw the edges of
-the land, and its currents sweep round the globe. Into its depths the
-spoils of the land are borne, there to gather into rocks, out of which
-new islands and continents will eventually be formed. Lastly, inside the
-earth is lodged a vast store of heat by which the surface is shaken, rent
-open, upraised or depressed. Thus, while old land is submerged beneath
-the sea, new tracts are upheaved, to be clothed with vegetation and
-peopled with animals, and to form a fitting abode for man himself.
-
-This world is not a living being, like a plant or an animal, and yet you
-must now see that there is a sense in which we may speak of it as such.
-The circulation of air and water, the interchange of sea and land; in
-short the system of endless and continual movement by which the face of
-the globe is day by day altered and renewed, may well be called the Life
-of the Earth.
-
-
-
-
-SUNDAY READINGS.
-
-SELECTED BY THE REV. J. H. VINCENT, D.D.
-
-
-AM I NOT IN SPORT?
-
-By JAMES WALKER, D.D., LL.D.
-
-[_February 3._]
-
- “As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the
- man who deceiveth his neighbor, and saith, ‘Am I not in sport?’”
- Proverbs xxvi, 18:19.
-
-It is incalculable how much pain is inflicted, and how much injury is
-done, without anything which can properly be called malicious intent, or
-deliberate wrong. Thus there are those who, like the madman mentioned
-in Scripture, will cast firebrands, arrows, and death, and then think
-it a sufficient excuse to say, “Are we not in sport?” Let it be that
-they _are_; I think it will not be difficult to show that this will not
-excuse, or do much to palliate, the conduct in question. I think it will
-not be difficult to show that men are answerable for the mischiefs they
-do from mere wantonness or in sport, and that it is wrong-doing of this
-description which makes up no inconsiderable part of every one’s guilt.
-
-It is to little or no purpose to be able to say that such offences do
-not originate in conscious malice, for, as has just been intimated,
-the same is true of a large proportion of acknowledged crimes. It is
-seldom, very seldom, that men injure one another from hatred, or for the
-sake of revenge—because they find, or expect to find, any pleasure in
-the mere consciousness of inflicting pain. Men injure one another from
-wantonness, or want of consideration; or, more commonly still, because
-the carrying out of their policy, or their prejudices, or their sport,
-happens to interfere with the interests and comfort of others, and,
-though really sorry for this, they are not prepared to give up either
-their policy or their prejudices, or their sport to spare another’s
-feelings. Wars are waged and conquests made, mourning and desolation
-spread through a whole country, in the wantonness of honor, or to gratify
-an insatiable ambition; but without anything which can properly be called
-malice, either in the first movers or immediate agents. Men opposed to
-each other in politics or religion will allow this opposition to go
-to very unjustifiable lengths, even to the disturbing of the peace of
-neighborhoods, and the breaking of friendships and family connections;
-and all this, to be sure, must give rise to a great deal of ill-will and
-hot blood; but it does not originate in malice, properly so called—in
-positive malice toward anybody. Likewise a rash and improvident man may
-bring incalculable mischief on all connected with him, involving them in
-pecuniary difficulties, or committing and paining them in other ways, and
-yet be able to allege with perfect truth that he did not mean to do them
-any harm; that, so far from being actuated by malice, he feels nothing
-and has felt nothing but the sincerest affection for the very persons
-whom he has injured, and most affection, perhaps, for those whom he has
-most injured. But why multiply illustrations? The whole catalogue of the
-vices of self-indulgence and excess—black and comprehensive as it is—has
-nothing to do with malicious intent; that is to say, these vices do not
-find any part of their temptation or gratification in ill-will to others,
-or in the consciousness of causing misery to others. And yet who, on this
-account, denies that they are vices, or that they are among the worst of
-vices?
-
-The moral perplexity existing in some minds on this subject may be traced
-to two errors: making malice to be the _only_ bad motive by which we
-can be actuated, and confounding the mere _absence of malice_ with
-that active principle of benevolence, or love of our neighbor, which
-Christianity makes to be the foundation and substance of all true social
-virtue.
-
-How unfounded the first of these assumptions is, appears generally from
-what has been said; but the same may also be shown on strictly ethical
-grounds. We must distinguish between what is simply _odious_, and what
-is immoral. The malignant passions when acted out by animals are odious,
-but they are not immoral, because they are not comprehended in that light
-by the agent. The reason why the malignant passions are immoral in man
-is that he knows them to be immoral; and accordingly any other passion,
-which he knows to be immoral, becomes for the same reason alike immoral
-to him as a principle of conduct. Hence it follows that, though not
-actuated by malice, we may be by some other motive equally reprehensible
-in a moral point of view, though not perhaps as odious—by the love of
-ease, by vanity or pride, by unjust partialities, by inordinate ambition,
-by avarice or lust—dispositions which have nothing to do with malice, but
-yet are felt and acknowledged by all to be bad and immoral.
-
-
-[_February 10._]
-
-Moreover, the tendencies of modern civilization are to be considered in
-this connection. Times of violence are gradually giving place to times of
-self-indulgence and fraud; and the consequence is that now, where one man
-is betrayed into vices of malevolence and outrage, twenty are betrayed
-into those of frivolity, licentiousness, or overreaching. I go further
-still. Suppose a man actuated by none of these positively bad motives;
-nay, suppose the injury done to be accidental and wholly unintentional,
-this will not in all cases justify the deed. The question still arises
-whether the injury done, supposing it to be wholly unintentional, might
-not have been foreseen, and ought not to have been foreseen; for, where
-the well-being of others is concerned, we are bound not only to mean no
-harm, but to take care to avoid everything which is likely to do harm;
-and negligence in this respect is itself a crime. So obviously just
-is this principle, so entirely does it approve itself to the reason
-and common sense of mankind, that we find it everywhere recognized, in
-some form or other, in the jurisprudence of civilized countries. “When
-a workman flings down a stone or piece of timber into the street, and
-kills a man, this may be either misadventure, manslaughter, or murder,
-according to the circumstances under which the original act is done. If
-it were in a country village, where a few passengers are, and he calls
-out to all people to have a care, it is misadventure only; but if it were
-in London, or other populous town, where people are continually passing,
-it is manslaughter, though he gives loud warning; and murder, if he knows
-of their passing and gives no warning at all, for then it is malice
-against all mankind.”[A]
-
-Equally groundless is the second of the above mentioned assumptions, to
-wit: that of confounding the mere _absence of malice_ with the active
-principle of benevolence itself or that love of our neighbor which
-Christianity makes to be the foundation and substance of all true social
-virtue. There is nothing, perhaps, which more essentially distinguishes
-worldly propriety and legal honesty from Christian virtue than this,
-that they stop with negatives. They are content with avoiding what is
-expressly forbidden, not reflecting that this, at the best, only makes
-men to be _not bad_; it does not make them to be good. Besides, if we
-take this ground, if we allege the absence of all anger and resentment,
-we bar the plea that we were hurried into the act by the impetuosity
-of our passions—a plea which the experience of a common infirmity has
-always led men to regard as the strongest extenuating circumstance of
-wrong-doing. If we have given pain to a fellow creature, it is stating an
-aggravation of the fault and not an excuse, to say that we did not do it
-in passion, but in cold blood; and worse still, if we say that we did it
-in sport. What! find sport in giving pain to others? This may consist, I
-suppose, with the absence of what is commonly understood by malice; but I
-utterly deny its compatibility with active Christian benevolence, or with
-what indeed amounts to the same thing, a kind, generous, and magnanimous
-nature. Were I in quest of facts to prove the total depravity of man, I
-should eagerly seize on such as the following: The shouts of heartless
-merriment sometimes heard to arise from a crowd of idlers collected
-around a miserable object in the streets; a propensity to turn into
-ridicule, not merely the faults and affectations of others, but their
-natural deformities or defects; jesting with sacred things, or practical
-jests, the consequences of which to one of the parties are of the most
-serious and painful character; and the pleasure with which men listen to
-sarcastic remarks though causeless and unprovoked, or to wit the whole
-point of which consists in its sting. Not that the doctrine of universal
-and total depravity is actually proved even by such conduct, for happily
-the conduct itself is not universal; to some it is repugnant from the
-beginning; and besides, even where it is fallen into, I suppose it is to
-be referred in a majority of cases to a love of excitement, rather than
-to a love of evil for its own sake. Still I maintain that the conduct
-in question, however explained, is incompatible, or at any rate utterly
-inconsistent, with thoughtful and generous natures.
-
-[A] Blackstone.
-
-
-[_February 17._]
-
-Still, many who would not think entirely to excuse the conduct in
-question can find palliations for it and extenuating circumstances, some
-of which it will be well to examine.
-
-In the first place it is said that the sport is not found in the
-sufferings of the victim, but in the awkward and ludicrous situations
-and embarrassments into which he is thrown. Now I admit, that, if these
-awkwardnesses and absurdities could be entirely disconnected with the
-idea of pain, they might amuse even a good mind; but as they can not be
-thus disconnected—as all this is known and seen to be the expression
-of anguish either of body or mind, or to be the consequence of some
-natural defect or misfortune, or some cruel imposition on weakness or
-good nature—I affirm as before, that he whose mirth is not checked by
-this single consideration betrays a want of true benevolence, and even
-of common humanity. Neither will it help the matter much to say that the
-pain and mortification are not known, are not seen, or at least _are not
-attended_ to; that this view of the subject is entirely overlooked, the
-mind being wholly taken up with its ludicrous aspects. For how comes it
-that we have so quick a sense to everything ludicrous in the situation
-and conduct of others, but no sense at all to their sufferings? Our
-hearts, it would seem, are not as yet steeled against all sympathy in
-the sufferings and misfortunes of our neighbors, provided we can be made
-to apprehend and realize them; and this is well; but why _so slow_ to
-apprehend and realize them? If, though directly before our eyes, the
-thought of them never occurs to our minds; if we can say, and say with
-truth, that while we enjoy the sport it never once occurred to us that
-it was at the expense of another’s feelings, though this fact was all
-the time staring us in the face—does it not at least betray a degree of
-indifference or carelessness about the feelings of others, which is only
-compatible with a cold and selfish temper? Put whatever construction you
-will, therefore, on this kind of sport, it argues a bad state of the
-affections; for either its connection with the pain and mortification
-of others is perceived, and then it is downright cruelty; or it is not
-perceived, and then it is downright insensibility.
-
-Another ground is sometimes taken. There are those who will say, “We
-cannot help it. Persons of a constitution less susceptible to the
-ludicrous, or less quick to observe it, may do differently, but we
-cannot.” Obviously, however, reasonings of this sort, if intended as a
-valid excuse, betray a singular and almost hopeless confusion of moral
-ideas. They cannot help it? Of course they do not mean that they would
-be affected in the same way by the same thing, under all circumstances
-and in all states of feeling. Let the coarse jest be at the expense of a
-parent, or of a sister; or let its tendency be to bring derision on an
-office, a cause, or a doctrine which we have much at heart; or let it
-offend beyond a certain point against the conventional usages of what
-is called good society—and, instead of provoking mirth, it provokes
-indignation or contempt. All they can mean, therefore, is simply this:
-Their sense of the ludicrous is so keen, that, when not restrained
-by some present feeling of justice, humanity, or decorum, it becomes
-irrepressible. Undoubtedly it does; but this is no more than what might
-be said of the worst crimes of sensuality and excess. What would you
-think if a sordid man should plead, that being sordid by nature, and not
-having any high principle or feeling to restrain him, he cannot help
-acting sordidly? Does he not know that it is this want of high principle
-and feeling which constitutes the very essence of his sin? We have
-shown that to find sport in what gives pain, argues a bad state of the
-principles and affections. Manifestly, therefore, it is to no purpose
-to urge as an excuse, that in the existing state of our principles and
-affections we can not help it; for the existing state of our principles
-and affections is the very thing which is complained of and condemned.
-
-It may be contended, as a last resort, that this state of mind is
-consistent, to say the least, with amiable manners, companionable
-qualities, and good nature. But if herein is meant to be included real
-kindness of heart, or the highest forms of generosity and nobleness of
-soul, I deny that it can be. There is no necessity of trying to make it
-out that men of this stamp are worse than they really are. Unquestionably
-they can and often do make themselves agreeable and entertaining,
-especially to those who are not very scrupulous about the occasions of
-their mirth, and feel no repugnance to join in a laugh which perhaps they
-would hesitate to raise. Good-natured also they may be, if nothing more
-is meant by this than the absence of an unaccommodating, morose, and
-churlish disposition; for there are two sorts of good nature, the good
-nature of benevolence, and the good nature of ease and indifference. The
-first will not consist, as we have seen, with wrong-doing from wantonness
-or in sport; but the last may; yet even when it does, not much credit can
-accrue from this circumstance. Worthy of all honor is that good nature
-which springs from genuine kindness and sympathy, or a desire to make and
-to see everybody happy; but the same can hardly be said of what often
-passes for good-nature in the world, though it is nothing but the result
-of an easy temper and loose principles.
-
-
-[_February 24._]
-
-Still, I can not but think that a large majority of those who sometimes
-look for sport in wrong-doing have enough of humanity and of justice to
-restrain them, if they could only be made to understand and feel the
-extent of the injury thus occasioned. Take, for example, jesting with
-sacred things. Its influence on those who indulge in it is worse than
-that of infidelity, for it destroys our reverence, and it is harder to
-recover our reverence, after it has been lost, than our convictions.
-Nay, it is often worse than that of daring crime; the latter puts us in
-opposition to religion, but it does not necessarily undermine our respect
-for it, or the sentiment on which the whole rests. Consider, too, its
-effect on others. The multitude are apt to mistake what is laughed at
-by their superiors for what is ridiculous in itself. In France it was
-not the sober arguments of a knot of misguided atheists, but the scoffs
-and mockeries and ill-timed pleasantries in which the higher classes
-generally shared, which destroyed the popular sense of the sanctity of
-religion; and when this great regulative principle of society was gone,
-it was not long before the mischief came back, amidst scenes of popular
-license and desperation, “to plague the inventors.” And so of cruel
-sports. In reading the Sermon on the Mount, you must have been struck
-with the fact that, while he who is angry with his brother is only said
-to be in danger of the judgment, “whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall
-be in danger of hell fire.” But, on second thoughts, is this anything
-more than a simple recognition of what we all know to be true; that
-hatred does not inflict half so deep or bitter a feeling of wrong as
-scorn? Much is said about the disorganizing doctrines and theories of
-the day, but, bad as these are, they are not likely to do so much to
-exasperate the poor against the rich, and break down the bulwarks of
-order and law, as the conduct of some among the rich themselves. The time
-was when the few could trample with indifference on the interests and
-feelings of the many, and make sport of their complaints with impunity,
-but that time has passed away.
-
-One word also on those cruel sports where animals, and not men, are
-the sufferers. Cruelty to animals is essentially the same feeling with
-cruelty to a fellow-creature, and in some respects it is even more
-unbecoming. Man is as a god to the inferior races. To abuse the power
-which this gives us over the helpless beings that Providence has placed
-at our mercy, is as mean as it is inhuman. If we would listen to the
-pleadings of what is noble and generous in our natures, it would be as
-impossible for us needlessly to harm an unoffending animal, as it would
-be to strike an infant or an idiot. Shame on the craven who quails before
-his equals, and then goes away and wreaks his unmanly resentments on a
-creature which he knows can neither retaliate nor speak! Besides, we may
-suppose that there are orders of beings above us, as well as below us.
-Look then at our treatment of the lower animals, and then ask yourselves
-what we should think, if a superior order of beings should mete out to
-us the same measure. What if in mere wantonness, or to pamper unnatural
-tastes, they should subject us to every imaginable hardship and wrong?
-What if they should make a show, a public recreation, of our foolish
-contests and dying agonies? Nay, more; what if it should come to this,
-that in their language a man-killer should be called a _sportsman_ by way
-of distinction?
-
-But I must close. We have it on the authority of the Bible, and we read
-it in the constitution of man, that there is “a time to weep and a time
-to laugh.” There will also be ample scope for the legitimate action of
-caustic wit, so long as there are follies to be shown up, pretenders to
-be unmasked, and conceit and affectation to be taught to know themselves.
-But, in the serious strifes of the world, the ultimate advantages of this
-weapon, though wielded on the right side, are more than dubious. “The
-Spaniards have lamented,” it has been said, “and I believe truly, that
-Cervantes’ just and inimitable ridicule of knight-errantry rooted up,
-with that folly, a great deal of their real honor. And it was apparent
-that Butler’s fine satire on fanaticism contributed not a little, during
-the licentious times of Charles II., to bring sober piety into disrepute.
-The reason is evident; there are many lines of resemblance between truth
-and its counterfeits; and it is the province of wit only to find out the
-likenesses in things, and not the talent of the common admirers of it
-to discover the differences.” At any rate we can shun the rock of small
-wits who think to make up for poverty of invention by a scurrility and
-grimace, who think to gain from the venom of the shaft what is wanting in
-the vigor of the bow. We can imitate the example of those among the great
-masters of wit in all ages, who have ennobled it by purity of expression
-and a moral aim; so that, in the end, virtue may not have occasion to
-blush, or humanity to mourn, for anything we have said or done. Take any
-other course and we are reminded of the confession which experience wrung
-from the lips of the wise man: “I said in my heart, go to now, I will
-prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold this also
-is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad; and of mirth, what doeth it?”
-“Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is
-heaviness.”
-
-
-
-
-COMMERCIAL LAW.
-
-By EDWARD C. REYNOLDS, ESQ.
-
-
-I.—LAW IN GENERAL.
-
-It perhaps would be well for us to take a glance at the origin of the law
-which we are about to consider in its practical applications. In all our
-business relations, and in fact in our general conduct, so far as that
-term would apply to one as a member of a community and a citizen, we are
-controlled in our action by absolute, and in some instances possibly,
-by arbitrary regulations or laws, with which perhaps we may be wholly
-unfamiliar, but which are none the less binding and positive in their
-exactions because we have neglected to familiarize ourselves with their
-requirements.
-
-It is a rule of law, that ignorance of it excuses no one. For this reason
-ignorance is never pleaded in court as an answer to civil or criminal
-allegations of any sort. This rule presupposes a knowledge of the law on
-the part of every citizen. While, strictly speaking, this is impossible
-and in reality but a fiction, any other provision would be fraught
-with danger. Although, through the observance of this rule, doubtless,
-hardships are occasioned—as in fact must result from the enforcement of
-any law, however wise—it is notwithstanding that, a very necessary and
-strictly proper presumption. Were it to be otherwise, any attempt to
-enforce obligations against dishonest parties or to punish crime would
-prove ineffectual, because recourse would always be had to this defense.
-Thus all law would be a nullity.
-
-There is fortunately a safe rule to be adopted as a guide for our
-conduct, which in the main, if strictly obeyed, will obviate the seeming
-hardship. Notwithstanding the fact that all inhibitions do not involve
-an absolute wrong or right, that all enforcements of law are not with
-justice, yet if a strict standard of right and honorable dealings
-characterize individual action and conduct, for those who adopt such
-a course there is but slight possibility that there is any especial
-oppression in store.
-
-But wrong doing exists. The remedy is existing law. What is it, which as
-such we are to obey, and which we may safely designate as the principle
-of personal protection?
-
-The nucleus of the now voluminous laws of our country was the well
-established laws, customs and usages of the American colonies of Great
-Britain, when their independence was secured. At that time the laws of
-Great Britain had become so generally interwoven into our judicature as
-well as into our business customs and relations, that the introduction
-of a wholly new system of laws would have proved disastrous, even if it
-could have been accomplished.
-
-Since, in part, law is the outgrowth of customs and ways, as we shall
-see, to have attempted the engrafting of a wholly new system would
-have been equivalent to an attempt to change at once the habits and
-characteristics of a people.
-
-The familiarity of the colonists with the then existing law, and its
-adaptability to the then commercial transactions, made it a desirable
-nucleus—already for our people, with which they might inaugurate a system
-of their own.
-
-This, then, was accepted as the common law of the country at that time.
-But however well adapted the then existing laws may have been to the
-wants of the people and commerce, ever changing conditions of life
-and ever increasing business complications rendered additions and new
-provisions necessary. These changes were made necessary and were fostered
-by statute law.
-
-Statute law is the result of the deliberations of legislative assemblies.
-Each state has its own legislature and statute law, as has the national
-government. The general government being the superior power, its laws
-must be recognized as superior to state laws, that is, there can be no
-state law inconsistent with the laws of the national government. The
-state legislatures and national congress have power to make laws, and
-whatever is declared by these bodies to be the supreme law of the land,
-for the government of the individual and the protection of property,
-providing it does not conflict with the provisions of the national and
-state constitutions respectively, must be obeyed as such.
-
-This then is statute law: An enactment regarding the rights of persons
-or property, passed by representatives of the people in legislature
-assembled.
-
-When a question has arisen concerning which statute law has no
-provisions, or some regular enactment is so worded that its meaning is
-doubtful and extremely liable to be misunderstood, to compensate for the
-lack in the one instance and to interpret properly the intention of the
-law makers in the other, we resort to the common law, fairly said to be
-“the accumulated wisdom of centuries.” Analogy will lead us to conclude,
-and correctly, that this is the conservative element of the system—the
-origin of which we have previously alluded to in part—to which we would
-add the customs and usages which have, since our recognition as an
-independent people, received the sanction of our courts, and to become
-acquainted with which reference must be made to the published reports of
-the courts, known as the “U. S. Reports,” “Maine Reports,” etc.
-
-That the common law may remain to a great extent unchangeable, much
-respect is paid to the decisions of the courts, by others than those by
-which they were enunciated, for it has ever been deemed better that a
-precedent be respected, even if it be not the soundest law, than to have
-what might seem to be better logic at the expense of a varying precedent.
-Then we conclude, that though legislatures be radical in the change of
-existing laws, yet in the task of applying or interpreting such laws, so
-changed, courts are generally very conservative. It will thus be seen
-that the rights of the people are not liable to be unwarrantably abridged
-or destroyed by any uncertain movement of a day.
-
-By referring to our national and state constitutions, our readers will
-see that the powers of both national and state governments are divided
-into three departments, known as the executive, legislative and judicial,
-each of which is distinct from the others, although they work in harmony
-in the enactment and enforcement of the laws. The courts come under the
-head of that last named, and their duties have been demonstrated to be
-“to define, declare and apply the laws.”
-
-Of this common and statute law a very essential part is that which
-is applicable to business, or commercial law, or, as it is generally
-denominated in the books, the “Law-Merchant.” Much of the law bearing
-upon this subject is the old common law, with the enlargements consequent
-upon an increased commercial activity. Here it is that we find many of
-the customs and usages of merchants gradually merging into recognized
-law. The three “days of grace” allowed on all commercial paper is but a
-common illustration of this, similar in origin to many customs in all
-departments of trade, which might easily be cited, and which were in
-their inception of very limited significance, but which have continually
-been receiving a more extended recognition, until we find them clothed
-with all the insignia of authority.
-
-These customs and usages we shall have occasion to give more extended
-explanations as we touch upon the several sub-divisions of our topic.
-There are a few technical words which we shall find it convenient to use.
-Prof. Greenleaf clearly expresses the reason for this, as follows:
-
-“A great deal of the language of every art or science or profession
-is technical (indeed, technical means belonging to some art), and is
-peculiar to it, and may not be understood by those who do not pursue the
-business to which it belongs. This is as true of the law as of everything
-else.… A good instance of this is in those words which end in _er_ (or
-_or_) and in _ee_. As for example, promisor or promisee, vendor and
-vendee, indorser and indorsee. These terminations are derived from the
-Norman-French, which was for a long time the language of the courts
-and of the law of England. And it might seem that we had just as good
-terminations in English, in _er_ and _ed_, which mean the same thing. But
-this is not so. Originally they meant the same thing, but they do not
-now, for both _er_ and _ee_ are applied, in law, to persons, and _ed_ to
-things, so that we want all three terminations. For example, indorser
-means the man who indorses; indorsee the man to whom the indorsement is
-made; but the note itself we say is indorsed. So vendor means the man who
-sells, vendee the man to whom something is sold, and the thing sold is
-vended.”
-
-In regard to the phrase “presumption of law,” to which we may have
-occasion to refer. The significance of this phrase is this: Under certain
-conditions, without absolute proof of the matter concerning which some
-conclusion is sought, the law will presume to interpret the intention
-or acts of persons. For instance, regarding criminal procedure, one is
-presumed to be innocent until he is proved to be guilty. Presumptions
-prevail only when proof is lacking.
-
-
-CONTRACTS.
-
-A contract has been aptly defined to be “an agreement to do or not to do
-some particular thing.” It may be verbal or in writing. If the conditions
-of a contract, whether verbal or written, be expressly stated and agreed
-upon, it is then termed an expressed contract. If on the other hand there
-are no well defined and specific agreements regarding the undertaking
-or the consideration to be paid for its accomplishment, it is called an
-implied contract.
-
-The conditions of an expressed contract must be strictly complied with,
-and the parties to it are bound to faithfully observe the same, however
-onerous may be the burden, while the conditions of an implied contract
-not being agreed upon specifically, are such as custom may dictate.
-As an illustration of this: A agrees to pay B two dollars per day for
-labor. This is expressed, so far as the rate of wages is concerned; but
-the number of hours that shall be taken to constitute a day’s work is
-not agreed upon, and must be determined by implication. As a result, the
-question would be settled by the custom in such matters which obtained in
-the place where the contract was made. Or, if A engages B to undertake
-the building of a cottage, with no stipulations regarding the wages to
-be paid, B when the work is completed can recover for his compensation
-whatever is proved to be the usual and customary remuneration paid men
-in the same business and possessed of equal skill. The enforcement of
-obligations is no less strict when the standing of the contract is
-implied than when expressed, after determining what the obligations of
-the parties are.
-
-The elements of a contract are parties, consideration, subject matter,
-mutual assent and time.
-
-PARTIES.—Two or more competent persons may make a legal contract.
-Competent persons, it will be observed. What constitutes competency?
-Generally, legal age and sound mind; while minority, insanity, idiocy,
-intoxication and coverture are said to be the conditions of incompetency.
-With the exception of a few states where females become of age at
-eighteen, the legal age is twenty-one years. A consideration of the
-conditions of incompetency will sufficiently explain the requisites of
-competency negatively. Minors, or those who have not attained legal
-age, or infants as the law denominates them, are considered incompetent
-because of inexperience, and a fair presumption that unprincipled
-parties might take unfair advantage of them, and lead them into business
-complications which a riper experience would disapprove. The contracts of
-a minor approved by him when he becomes of age are binding, however; so
-that it will be observed, such contracts are not absolutely void, only
-voidable at the discretion of the minor. If an infant makes a transfer
-of real estate he may, on reaching his majority, compel the purchaser
-to reconvey the property, by returning to him the purchase money. The
-law would not permit him to retain the purchase price and compel the
-re-transfer, because it is not the policy of the law to assist the
-minor in his fraudulent purposes, but only to protect him from the
-impositions of those skilled in wicked devices. There are some contracts
-which an infant can not disclaim, viz.: such as are for necessaries.
-It is something of a question to determine what are necessaries; but
-the minor’s fortune and social position must be the guide, for where
-sufficient food and clothes might be all that would be termed necessaries
-for one, for another by fortune more favored, “equipage, dress and
-entertainments” would be considered just as essential.
-
-UNSOUND MIND.—Insanity, or a mind deranged; idiocy, or the lack of
-a mind; intoxication, or a mind so beclouded as to be incapable
-of understandingly judging of the merits of an ordinary business
-transaction; a mind in any one of these conditions is unsound, and its
-possessor an incompetent.
-
-Coverture, or marriage, by the common law made woman an incompetent
-party, and she was thus precluded from legally contracting. By statutory
-enactments nearly all of the states have changed this, so that a married
-woman may now do business, contract debts as though unmarried, and
-also hold property in her own right. The ancient barbarous theory that
-marriage ought to annul a woman’s right to property in her own name and
-almost deny her individual existence is nearly a relic, an error almost
-of the past.
-
-CONSIDERATION.—Any consideration is sufficient to sustain a contract,
-provided it be not illegal, or that which is prohibited by law; immoral,
-or that which contravenes the moral law; and provided the contract was
-born of good faith, and not tainted by fraud. A contract into which any
-element of fraud has entered receives no countenance at the law. However
-favorable stipulations may seem, a fraudulent intent, proved, will
-nullify the contract.
-
-THE SUBJECT MATTER, or that concerning which the contract is made must
-not be illegal, immoral or impossible. The reasons for this are apparent,
-since it would controvert the very object of legal rights and public
-policy if an illegal or immoral undertaking were permitted to enter
-into a contract as a thing to be done and as a recognized right to be
-enforced; or, if a stipulation were permitted to stand, which called for
-the doing of that which is impossible.
-
-Mutual assent is an essential element. “It takes two to make a trade.”
-There must be an agreement of minds between contracting parties as to
-what is to be done, and how, and in consideration of what; and this
-agreement must be at the same time, or to state it in a legal fashion,
-“minds must meet.”
-
-The time stated for the performance of a contract should be agreed upon.
-In case it is not, then it must be accomplished within a reasonable time.
-
-What is a reasonable time must be determined by the special circumstances
-of each individual case. It is with this as with other elements of a
-contract if not fully understood and agreed upon, the assistance of
-customs and usages must be invoked to settle the disputed point.
-
-STATUTE OF FRAUDS.—This is an old English statute, adopted, slightly
-modified, by the several states. It requires the following contracts to
-be in writing: For the conveyance of real estate; lease of land for more
-than one year; in consideration of marriage; to answer for the debt,
-default or wrongful act of another; not to be performed within one year;
-for the sale of personal property of a certain value (by most states
-placed at fifty dollars), unless the sale be by auction, or part of the
-purchase money be paid, or part of the goods delivered at the time of
-sale.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is well that every man should be in a state of moral union with
-others; he must have one or more men to whom he can communicate the
-inmost feelings of his being, heart, and the reasons of his conduct;
-there should be nothing in him which is not known to some one else. That
-is the true meaning of the divine saying, “It is not good that man should
-be alone.”—_Schleiermacher._
-
-
-
-
-READINGS IN ART.
-
-
-GREEK ARCHITECTURE.
-
-Greek architecture seems to have emerged from a state of archaic
-simplicity in the sixth century before the Christian era. All its finest
-creations were between that date and the death of Alexander the Great in
-333 B. C.
-
-In the days of their greatest refinement the Greeks sought rather to
-adorn their country than their homes. If there were palatial residences,
-they were more perishable, and have decayed or been destroyed, leaving
-few remains to tell of their former grandeur. We know their architecture
-almost exclusively from the ruins of their public buildings, and mostly
-from temples and mausoleums. The Greek temple was peculiar, and made
-little or no provision for a congregation of worshipers. The design was
-largely for external effect. A comparatively small room or cell received
-the image of the divinity, and another room behind it seems to have
-served as a treasury for votive offerings. But there were no surrounding
-chambers, halls or court yards. The temple, though within some precinct,
-was accessible to all, and, being open to the sun and air, invited the
-admiration of the passer-by. Its most telling features and best sculpture
-were on the exterior. The columns and the superstructure which rested on
-them must have played a very important part in their temple architecture.
-
-There were in Greece three distinct manners, differing mostly in the
-manner in which the column was treated. These are called “orders;” and
-are named Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Each of these presents a different
-series of proportions, mouldings and ornamentations in the column used,
-though the main form of the structure is the same in all. The column and
-its entablature being the most prominent features of the building, have
-come to be regarded as the index or characteristic, from an inspection of
-which the order can be recognized, just as a botanist recognizes plants
-by their flowers.
-
-From a study of the column all the principal characteristics of the
-different orders are ascertained. The column belonging to any order is,
-of course, always accompanied by the use throughout the building of the
-appropriate proportions, mouldings and ornaments belonging to that order.
-
-The Doric temple at Corinth is attributed to the seventh century B. C.
-This was a massive structure, with short, stumpy columns, and strong
-mouldings, but presenting the main features of the Doric style in its
-earliest, rudest form. The most complete Greek Doric temple was the
-Parthenon—the work of the architect Ictinus. It is selected for our
-purpose of illustration, because on many accounts the best, and many of
-our readers have seen the plate representing it. The Parthenon stood
-on the summit of a lofty rock, within an irregularly shaped enclosure,
-entered through a noble gateway. The temple itself was of perfectly
-regular plan, and stood quite free from all dependencies of any sort. It
-consisted of the _cella_, or sacred cell, in which stood the statue of
-the goddess, and behind it the treasury chamber. In both these there were
-symmetrical columns. A series of columns surrounded the building, and at
-either end was a portico eight columns wide and two deep. There were two
-pediments of flat pitch, one at each end. The whole rested on a basement
-of steps. The building, exclusive of the steps, was 228 feet long by 101
-feet wide, and 64 feet high. The columns were 34 feet 3 inches high,
-and more than 6 feet in diameter at the base. The marble of which this
-temple was constructed was of the most solid and durable kind, and the
-workmanship in all the parts that remain shows great skill and care in
-the execution. The roof was probably of timbers covered with marble
-tiles; but all traces of the frame work have entirely disappeared, and
-hence the mode of construction is not known. Nor do authorities agree as
-to what provision was made for the admission of light. It seems probable
-that something like the clere-story of a Gothic church was used to light
-the Parthenon.
-
-This wonderful structure was Doric, and the leading proportions were as
-follows: The column was 5.56 diameters high. The whole height, including
-the stylobate or steps, might be divided into nine parts, of which two go
-to the stylobate, six to the column, and one to the entablature.
-
-The Greek Doric order is without a base; the shaft of the column springs
-from the top step, and is tapering, not in a straight line, but with a
-subtle curve, known technically as the entasis of the column. This shaft
-is channeled usually with twenty shallow channels, the ridges separating
-one from another being very fine lines.
-
-The Parthenon, like many, if not all Greek buildings, was profusely
-decorated with colored ornaments, of which nearly every trace has now
-disappeared, but which must have contributed largely to the beauty of the
-building as a whole, and must have emphasized and set off its parts.
-
-The most famous Greek building in the Ionic style was the temple of
-Diana, at Ephesus. This magnificent temple was almost totally destroyed,
-and the very site was, for centuries, unknown, till the energy and
-sagacity of an English architect enabled him to discover and dig out
-the vestiges of the building. Fortunately sufficient traces of the
-foundation remained to render it possible to make out the plan of the
-temple completely. From the fragments he was able to restore on paper the
-general appearance of the famous temple, which must be very nearly, if
-not absolutely correct. The walls of this temple were entirely surrounded
-by a double series of columns with a pediment at each end. The whole was
-of marble and based on a spacious platform of steps.
-
-The Corinthian order, the last to make its appearance, was almost as much
-Roman as Greek. It resembles the Ionic, but the capitals are different,
-the columns more slender, and the enrichments more florid.
-
-The plan or floor disposition of a Greek building, always simple, was
-well arranged for effect, and capable of being understood at once. All
-confusion, uncertainty or complications were scrupulously avoided.
-Refined precision, order, symmetry and exactness mark the plan as well as
-every part of the work.
-
-The construction of the walls of Greek temples rivaled that of the
-Egyptians in accuracy and beauty of workmanship; though the wall was
-evidently not the principal thing for effect with the Greek architect,
-as much of it was overshadowed by lines of columns, which form the main
-feature of the building.
-
-The Corinthian order is the natural sequel to the Ionic. Had Greek
-architecture continued till it fell into decadence, this order would have
-been its badge. As it was, the decadence of Greek art was Roman art, and
-the Corinthian order was the favorite order of the Romans.
-
-
-ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.
-
-The Etruscans, at an early day, inhabited the west coast of Italy,
-between the rivers Arno and Tiber. At the time of the founding of
-Rome as a city, they were a civilized people and showed considerable
-architectural skill, and their arts had a very great influence on Roman
-art. The remains of several Etruscan towns show that their masonry was of
-what has been called a Cyclopean character—that is, the stones were of an
-enormous size. The massive blocks being fitted together with consummate
-accuracy, much of the masonry endures to the present day. The temples,
-palaces and dwelling houses which made up the cities so fortified, have
-all disappeared, and the only structural remains of Etruscan art are
-tombs—some cut in live rock, and some detached structures. These built
-of heavy stones and arched securely, still exist as monuments of the
-science and skill of those early builders. They were acquainted with
-and extensively used the true radiating arch, composed of wedge-shaped
-stones. From them the Romans learned to construct arches, and combined
-the arch with the trabeated or lintel mode which they copied from the
-Greeks. Hence arose a style distinctively Roman.
-
-The largest Etruscan temple of which any record remains was that of
-Jupiter Capitolinus, at Rome, one of the most splendid temples of
-antiquity.
-
-The last of the classical styles of antiquity is the Roman. This seems
-rather an amalgamation of several other styles than an original,
-independent creation. It was formed slowly, and is harmonious, though
-uniting elements widely dissimilar.
-
-The Grecian artist was imaginative and idealistic in the highest degree.
-He seemed to have an innate genius for art and beauty, and was eager
-to perpetuate in marble his brightest conceptions of excellence. The
-stern, practical Roman, realistic in every pore, eager for conquest,
-was dominated by the idea of bringing all nations under his sway, and
-of making his city the capital of the world. At first he looked with
-disdain on the fine arts, in all their forms, and regarded a love for the
-beautiful, whether in literature or art, as an evidence of effeminacy.
-
-For nearly five hundred years there was very little architectural taste
-displayed in the buildings at Rome. All public works, as the Appian Way,
-bridges and aqueducts bore the utilitarian stamp. Their best buildings
-were of brick or the local stone, and there is little evidence that
-architecture was studied as a fine art until about 150 B. C.
-
-After the fall of Carthage, and the destruction of Corinth, when Greece
-became a Roman province—both which events occurred in the year 146 B.
-C.—Rome became desirous of emulating the older civilization which she had
-destroyed. She had, by her conquests, immense wealth, and expended much,
-both privately and publicly, in erecting monuments, many of which, more
-or less altered, remain to the present day.
-
-The first marble temple in Rome was built by the consul Q. Metellus
-Macedonicus, who died 115 B. C. From that period Roman architecture
-showed a wonderful diversity in the objects to which it was applied. Not
-only tombs, temples, and palaces, but baths, theaters, and amphitheaters,
-basilicas, aqueducts and triumphal arches were planned and built as
-elaborately as the temples of the gods.
-
-Under the emperors the architectural display reached its full
-magnificence. The boast of Augustus, that he found Rome of brick, and
-left her of marble, expresses in a few words the great feature of his
-reign, and of that of several of the succeeding emperors.
-
-Though the most destructive of all agencies—hostile invasions,
-conflagrations, and long ages of neglect—have done their utmost to
-destroy all vestiges of Imperial Rome, there still remain relics enough
-to make the city of the Cæsars, after Athens, the richest store of
-classical architectural antiquities in the world.
-
-
-BUILDINGS OF THE ROMANS.
-
-The temples in Rome were not, as in Greece and Egypt, the structures
-on which the architect lavished all the resources of his art and his
-science. They were, in a general way, copies of Greek originals, and did
-not equal the models after which they were fashioned, nor greatly honor
-the metropolis of the world. Few remains of them exist. The Church of
-Santa Maria Ezizica was once a heathen temple, and after some necessary
-changes, used for Christian worship. This was tetrastyle, with half
-columns around it, and of the kind called by Vitruvius pseudo-peripteral.
-A few fragmentary remains of other temples are found in Rome, but there
-are much finer specimens in some of the provinces. The best is the Maison
-Carrée at Nêmes. This was probably erected during the reign of Hadrian.
-There is a portico in front, while the sides and rear have columns
-attached. The details of the capitals and entablature are almost pure
-Greek.
-
-At Baalbec, the ancient Heliopolis in Syria, not far from Damascus,
-are the ruins of another magnificent, provincial Roman temple. It was
-built in the time of the Antonines, and must have been of very extensive
-dimensions. At the western end of an immense court, on an artificial
-elevation, stand the remains of what is called the Great Temple. This
-was 290 feet long by 160 feet wide, and had 54 columns supporting its
-roof, only six of which now remain erect. Their height, including base
-and capital, is 75 feet, and their diameter at the base 7 feet. They are
-of the Corinthian order, and above them rises an elaborately moulded
-entablature, 14 feet in height. The most striking feature of these
-buildings is the colossal size of the stones used in their construction.
-
-Among the most remarkable public buildings, whether in the mother city,
-or in the provinces, were the Basilicas, or halls of justice, used also
-as commercial exchanges. These were generally oblong, covered halls,
-divided into three or five aisles by rows of columns. At one end was a
-semi-circular recess, the floor of which was raised considerably above
-the level of the rest of the floor, and here the presiding magistrate had
-his seat.
-
-Although the Romans were not particularly interested in dramatic
-representations, they were passionately fond of shows and games of all
-kinds. Hence they built many theatres and amphitheatres in all their
-cities and large towns. The most stupendous fabric of the kind that was
-ever erected was the Flavian amphitheater or Colosseum, whose ruins
-attest its pristine magnificence.
-
-“Arches on arches, as if it were that Rome, collecting the chief trophies
-of her line, would build up all the triumphs in one dome.” It was oblong,
-620 feet in length, and 513 feet wide. It was favorably situated between
-the Esquiline and the Cœlian hills, and admirably planned for the
-convenience of the vast audiences, estimated at from 50,000 to 80,000.
-Recent excavations have revealed the communications that existed between
-the arena and the dens, where the wild animals, slaves, and prisoners
-were confined. The external façade is composed of four stories, separated
-by entablatures that run completely round the building, without a break.
-The three lower stories consist of a series of semi-circular arched
-openings, eighty in number, separated by piers with attached columns in
-front of them, the Doric order being used in the lowest story, the Ionic
-in the second, and the Corinthian in the third.
-
-From these meager facts the reader must imagine the magnificence and
-grandeur of the Colosseum, or seek for fuller information in works of
-ancient art. Nothing can give us a more impressive idea of the grandeur
-and lavish display of Imperial Rome, than the remains of the huge Thermæ
-or bathing establishments. These belong mostly to the Christian era.
-
-Agrippa built the first, A. D. 10, and thence to 324 A. D., no less than
-twelve of these vast establishments were erected by different emperors,
-including Constantine, and bequeathed to the people. The baths of
-Caracalla and Diocletian are the only ones that remain in any state of
-preservation, and were probably the finest and most extensive of them all.
-
-There is one ancient building in Rome more impressive than any other—not
-only because of its better state of preservation, but because of the
-dignity with which it was designed, the perfection of execution, and the
-effectiveness of the mode in which the interior is lighted—the Pantheon.
-It is the finest example of a domed hall that is left. It has the
-circular form with a diameter of 145 feet, and a height to the top of the
-dome of 147 feet. The magnificent dome is enriched with boldly recessed
-panels, and these covered with bronze ornaments.
-
-The domestic architecture of the Romans at an early day was rich, but few
-traces of it remain. The buildings were of two kinds; the _insula_, or
-block of buildings, containing a number of buildings, and the _domus_, or
-detached mansion.
-
-Their buildings, in the first centuries rude, came, in time, to have a
-very decided architectural character. We gather from them that daring,
-energy, readiness, structural skill, and a not too fastidious taste were
-characteristics of Roman architects and their works.
-
-
-BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE.
-
-Constantine the Great, who had encouraged the erection of houses of
-Christian worship in Rome and other parts of Italy, exerted a marked
-influence on architecture when he removed the seat of empire from Rome to
-Byzantium, and called the new capital Constantinople. He rebuilt the city
-that was almost in ruins, though not deserted. The people were largely
-of the Greek race, and had Greek ideas of architecture. Hence a new
-development of the church building differing somewhat from the style of
-the basilicas soon showed itself.
-
-In Byzantium buildings of most original design sprang up, founded, it
-is true, on Roman originals, but by no means exact copies of them. The
-most difficult problems of construction, particularly of roofs, were
-successfully met and solved.
-
-What course the art ran during the two centuries between the refounding
-of Byzantium and the building of Santa Sophia, we can only infer from
-its outcome. But it is certain that to attain the power of designing
-and erecting so great a work as Santa Sophia, the architects of
-Constantinople must have greatly modified and improved the Roman practice
-of building vaults and domes.
-
-The first church dedicated to Santa Sophia by Constantine was burnt
-early in the reign of Justinian; and, in rebuilding it, his architects
-succeeded in erecting one of the most famous buildings in the world,
-and one which is the typical and central embodiment of a distinct and
-strongly marked, well-defined style. Its distinctive feature is the
-adoption of the dome in preference to the vault, or timber roof, as the
-covering of the walls. In this grand edifice, one vast flattish dome
-dominates the central space. This dome is circular in form and the space
-over which it is placed is square, the sides of which are occupied by
-four massive semi-circular arches of 100 feet span each, springing from
-four vast piers, one at each corner. The triangular spaces in the corners
-of the square, so enclosed, and the circle or ring resting on it, become
-portions of the dome, each just sufficient to fit on one corner of the
-square, and the four uniting at their upper margin, to form a ring. From
-this ring springs the main dome that rises to a height of 46 feet, and is
-107 feet in clear diameter. Externally this church is less interesting,
-but its interior is of surpassing beauty, and is thus eloquently
-described by Gilbert Scott: “Simple as is the primary ideal, the actual
-effect is one of great intricacy, and of continuous gradation of parts
-from the small arcades up to the stupendous dome which hangs with little
-apparent support, like a vast bubble, over the centre; or, as Procopius,
-who witnessed its erection, said, ‘as if suspended by a chain from
-heaven.’” The type of church of which this magnificent cathedral was the
-great example, has continued in eastern Christendom to the present day
-with but little variation. Between Rome and Constantinople, well situated
-for receiving influences from both those cities, was Ravenna,—and there
-a series of buildings, all more or less Byzantine, was erected. The
-most interesting of these is the church of San Vitale. It recalls Santa
-Sophia, and its structure, sculpture, carving and mosaic decorations are
-equally characteristic and hardly less famous.
-
-We need only mention one other magnificent specimen of this style
-of architecture, more within the reach of ordinary travelers, and
-consequently better known. It can be studied easily by means of almost
-numberless photographic representations—St. Marks, at Venice. It was
-built between the years 977 and 1071, it is said, according to a design
-obtained from Constantinople.
-
-
-ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE.
-
-This term is used to indicate a style of architecture founded on Roman
-art, which prevailed in Western Europe before the rise of that known as
-Gothic.
-
-Under this general name, if applied broadly, many closely allied local
-varieties, as for example, the Lombard, Rhenish, Saxon, and Norman, can
-be conveniently included. After the removal of the Roman capital to
-Byzantium, and the incursion of the Northern tribes, the spectacle of
-Europe was melancholy in the extreme.
-
-Nothing but the church retained any semblance of organized existence;
-and when, at length, order began to be restored from a chaos of universal
-ruin, and churches began to be built in Western Europe, the people looked
-to Rome as their ecclesiastic center.
-
-Where the Romish church had influence, the architecture had the Roman
-type; and, where the Eastern church prevailed, it adhered closely to the
-Byzantium models. This style, with local varieties, still obtains in
-most parts of Europe, and, to some extent, in American church building.
-An architect of genius and taste may successfully combine different
-orders; but most who attempt it fail. To succeed well, a good degree of
-originality is needed.
-
-
-
-
-SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN LITERATURE.
-
-
-JOHN G. WHITTIER.
-
- Who, that reads poetry at all, has not read and admired
- “Snow-Bound?” “That exquisite poem has no prototype in English
- literature unless Burns’ ‘Cotter’s Saturday Night’ be one, and
- it will be long, I fear, before it will have a companion piece.
- Out of materials of the slightest order, really common-place,
- Mr. Whittier had made a poem that will live, and can no more be
- rivaled by any winter poetry that may be written hereafter, than
- ‘Thanatopsis’ can be rivaled as a meditation on the universality
- of death. The characters of this little idyl are carefully
- drawn.… Everything is naturally introduced, and the reflections,
- which are manly and pathetic, are among the finest that Mr.
- Whittier has ever written. ‘Snow-Bound’ at once authenticated
- itself as an idyl of New England life and manners.”—(Abridged)
- _R. H. Stoddard._
-
-
-The Vaudois Teacher.
-
- “Oh lady fair, these silks of mine are beautiful and rare,
- The richest web of the Indian loom, which beauty’s queen might wear;
- And my pearls are pure as thy own fair neck, with whose radiant light
- they vie;
- I have brought them with me a weary way,—will my gentle lady buy?”
-
- And the lady smiled on the worn old man through the dark and clustering
- curls
- Which veiled her brow as she bent to view his silks and glittering
- pearls;
- And she placed their price in the old man’s hand, and lightly turned
- away;
- But she paused at the wanderer’s earnest call,—“My gentle lady, stay!”
-
- “Oh lady fair, I have yet a gem which a purer luster flings,
- Than the diamond flash of the jeweled crown on the lofty brow of kings;
- A wonderful pearl of exceeding price, whose virtue shall not decay,
- Whose light shall be as a spell to thee and a blessing on thy way.”
-
- The lady glanced at the mirroring steel where her form of grace
- was seen,
- Where her eyes shone clear, and her dark locks waved their clasping
- pearls between.
- “Bring forth thy pearl of exceeding worth, thou traveler gray and old,—
- And name the price of thy precious gem, and my page shall count thy
- gold.”
-
- The cloud went off from the pilgrim’s brow, as a small and meager book,
- Unchased with gold or gem of cost, from his folded robe he took.
- “Here, lady fair, is the pearl of price, may it prove as such to thee!
- Nay, keep thy gold, I ask it not, for the Word of God is free.”
-
- The hoary traveler went his way, but the gift he left behind
- Hath had its pure and perfect work on that high-born maiden’s mind;
- And she hath turned from the pride of sin to the lowliness of truth,
- And given her human heart to God in its beautiful hour of youth.
-
-
-Providence.
-
- I know not what the future hath
- Of marvel or surprise,
- Assured alone that life and death
- His mercy underlies.
-
- And if my heart and flesh are weak
- To bear an untried pain,
- The bruised reed He will not break,
- But strengthen and sustain.
-
- No offering of my own I have,
- No works my faith to prove;
- I can but give the gifts He gave,
- And plead His love for love.
-
- And so beside the silent sea
- I wait the muffled oar;
- No harm from Him can come to me
- On ocean or on shore.
-
- I know not where His islands lift
- Their fronded palms in air;
- I only know I can not drift
- Beyond his love and care.
-
- And thou, O Lord, by whom are seen
- Thy creatures as they be,
- Forgive me if too close I lean
- My human heart on Thee.
-
-
-OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
-
- As in the case of Hood, the fun in Holmes is always jostling the
- pathos. After some comic picture or grotesque phrase or quick
- thrust, the reader comes suddenly upon a stanza of perfect beauty
- of form with the gentlest touch of natural feeling. To illustrate
- this, it may be pardonable to quote even from so well known a
- poem as “The Last Leaf:”
-
- I know it is a sin
- For me to sit and grin
- At him here;
- But the old three-cornered hat,
- And the breeches and all that
- Are so queer.
-
- The mossy marbles rest
- On the lips that he has prest
- In their bloom;
- And the names he loved to hear
- Have been carved for many a year
- On the tomb.
-
- The last stanza is a pearl so perfect that one can not conceive
- it as having been _made_; it seems that it must have been
- created.—_Francis H. Underwood._
-
- It is difficult to imagine the time when any of the
- characteristic poems of Holmes will slumber on the shelves
- of antiquaries. They must be eternally new to the new
- generations, because they are founded in nature, constructed
- with art, animated by the noblest qualities of intellect
- and feeling—uniting the wit of Heine with the freshness of
- Beranger—and are finished as few poems have been finished since
- the odes of Horace.—_Scribner’s Monthly._
-
-
-The Prisoned Nautilus.
-
- This is the ship of pearl, which poets feign,—
- Sails the unshadow’d main,—
- The venturous bark that flings
- On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
- In gulfs enchanted, where the siren sings,
- And coral reefs lie bare,
- Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.
-
- Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
- Wreck’d is the ship of pearl!
- And every chamber’d cell,
- Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
- As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
- Before thee lies reveal’d,—
- Its iris’d ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unseal’d!
-
- Year after year behold the silent toil
- That spread his lustrous coil;
- Still, as the spiral grew,
- He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,
- Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
- Built up its idle door,
- Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.
-
- Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
- Child of the wandering sea,
- Cast from her lap forlorn!
- From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
- Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn!
- While on mine ear it rings,
- Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:—
-
- Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
- As the swift seasons roll!
- Leave thy low-vaulted past!
- Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
- Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast
- Till thou at length are free,
- Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea.
-
-
-“The Boys.”
-
- Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys?
- If there has take him out, without making a noise,
- Hang the Almanac’s cheat, and the Catalogue’s spite!
- Old Time is a liar! We’re twenty to-night!
-
- We’re twenty! We’re twenty! Who says we are more?
- He’s tipsy,—young jackanapes! show him the door!
- “Gray temples at twenty?” Yes! white if we please;
- Where the snow-flakes fall thickest there’s nothing can freeze!
-
- Was it snowing I spoke of? Excuse the mistake!
- Look close,—you will see not a sign of a flake!
- We want some new garlands for those we have shed,—
- And these are white roses in place of the red.
-
- We’ve a trick, we young fellows, you may have been told,
- Of talking (in public) as if we were old:—
- That boy we call “Doctor” and this we call “Judge;”
- It’s a neat little fiction,—of course it’s all fudge.
-
- That fellow’s the “Speaker,”—the one on the right;
- “Mr. Mayor,” my young one, how are you to-night?
- That’s our “Member of Congress,” we say when we chaff;
- There’s the “Reverend” What’s-his-name?—don’t make me laugh.
-
- That boy with the grave mathematical look
- Made believe he had written a wonderful book,
- And the ROYAL SOCIETY thought it was _true_!
- So they chose him right in,—a good joke it was too!
-
- There’s a boy, we pretend, with a three-decker brain,
- That could harness a team with a logical chain;
- When he spoke for our manhood in syllabled fire,
- We called him “The Justice,” but now he’s “The Squire.”
-
- And there’s a nice youngster of excellent pith,—
- Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith;
- But he shouted a song for the brave and the free,—
- Just read on his medal, “My country,” “of thee!”
-
- You hear that boy laughing?—You think he’s all fun;
- But the angels laugh too, at the good he has done;
- The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,
- And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all!
-
- Yes, we’re boys, always playing with tongue or with pen;
- And I sometimes have asked, shall we ever be men?
- Shall we always be youthful, and laughing and gay,
- Till the last dear companion drops smiling away?
-
- Then here’s to our boyhood, its gold and its gray!
- The stars of its winter, the dews of its May!
- And when we have done with our life-lasting toys,
- Dear Father, take care of thy children, THE BOYS.
-
-
-Conscience.
-
- Nature has placed thee on a changeful tide,
- To breast its waves, but not without a guide.
- Yet, as the needle will forget its aim,
- Jarred by the fury of the electric flame,
- As the true current it will falsely feel
- Warped from its axis by a freight of steel;
- So will thy CONSCIENCE lose its balanced truth,
- If passion’s lightning fall upon its youth;
- So the pure effluence quit its sacred hold,
- Girt round too deeply with magnetic gold.
- Go to yon town where busy science plies
- Her vast antennæ, feeling through the skies,—
- That little vernier on whose slender lines
- The midnight taper trembles as it shines,
- A silent index, tracks the planets march
- In all their wanderings through the ethereal arch,
- Tells through the mist where dazzled Mercury burns,
- And marks the spot where Uranus returns.
- So, till by wrong or negligence effaced,
- The living index, which thy Maker traced,
- Repeats the line each starry virtue draws
- Through the wide circuit of creation’s laws.
- Still tracks unchanged the everlasting ray
- Where the dark shadows of temptation stray;
- But, once defaced, forgets the orbs of light,
- And leaves thee wandering o’er the expanse of night.
-
-
-JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
-
- It is not necessary to say that Lowell is the first poet of
- the time, or of the country, although it would be possible to
- maintain that proposition with strong reasons; but it will be
- conceded, we think, by most who have the capacity of appreciating
- poetic genius, that in some of his strains he reaches a note as
- lofty and clear and pure as any this generation has produced, and
- has written what will have long life in the world, and be hoarded
- by the wise as treasures of thought and expression.—_Boston
- Advertiser._
-
- The wisdom and wit and insight and imagination of the book are as
- delightful as they are surprising. The most cynical critic will
- not despair of American literature, if American authors are to
- write such books.—_G. W. Curtis._
-
- The moving power of Mr. Lowell’s poetry, which we take to be its
- delicate apprehension of the spiritual essence in common things,
- is, in some of his poems, embodied in the fine organization of a
- purely poetic diction; in others, in the strong, broad language
- of popular feeling and humor; and we enjoy each the more for the
- presence of the other.—_The Spectator_ (London).
-
-
-Hunting a Theme.
-
- Now I’ve a notion if a poet
- Beat up for themes, his verse will show it;
- I wait for subjects that haunt me,
- By day or night won’t let me be,
- And hang about me like a curse,
- Till they have made me into verse.
- …
- Make thyself rich, and then the Muse
- Shall court thy precious interviews;
- Shall take thy head upon her knee,
- And such enchantment lilt to thee
- That thou shalt hear the life-blood flow
- From farthest stars to grass-blades low.
-
-
-In the Twilight.
-
- Sometimes a breath floats by me,
- An odor from dreamland sent,
- That makes the ghost seem nigh me
- Of a splendor that came and went;
- Of a life lived somewhere, I know not
- In what diviner sphere,
- Of memories that stay not and go not,
- Like music once heard by an ear
- That can not forget or reclaim it,—
- A something, so shy, it would shame it
- To make it a show,
- A something too vague, could I name it,
- For others to know,
- As if I had lived it or dreamed it,
- As if I had acted or schemed it,
- Long ago!
- And yet, could I live it over,
- This life that stirs in my brain,
- Could I be both maiden and lover,
- Moon and tide, bee and clover,
- As I seem to have been, once again,
- Could I but speak and show it,
- This pleasure, more sharp than pain,
- That baffles and lures me so,
- The world should not lack a poet,
- Such as it had
- In the ages glad
- Long ago!
-
-
-[The following exquisite lines are suggestive, and in strong contrast
-with the familiar rollicking stanzas in the serio-comic “Biglow Papers.”]
-
-Longing.
-
- The thing we long for, that we are,
- For one transcendent moment,
- Before the present poor and bare
- Can make its sneering comment.
-
- Still, through our paltry stir and strife
- Glows down the wished ideal,
- And longing moulds in clay what life
- Carves in the marble real;
- To let the new life in, we know,
- Desire must ope the portal;
- Perhaps the longing to be so
- Helps make the soul immortal.
-
- Longing is God’s fresh heavenward will
- With our poor earthward striving;
- We quench it that we may be still
- Content with merely living;
- But, would we learn that heart’s full scope
- Which we are hourly wronging,
- Our lives must climb from hope to hope,
- And realize the longing.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The world is impatient of distinction; it chafes against it, rails at
-it, insults it, hates it; it ends by receiving its influence, and by
-undergoing its law. This quality at last inexorably corrects the world’s
-blunders, and fixes the world’s ideals. It procures that the popular poet
-shall not finally pass for a Pindar, nor the popular historian for a
-Tacitus, nor the popular preacher for a Bossuet.—_Matthew Arnold._
-
-
-
-
-UNITED STATES HISTORY.
-
-
-“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth, in order, a
-declaration” of such things as pertain to our national history, even as
-they testify to us who were contemporary with the events narrated, it
-seems good for me also to write, not because what may be here recorded
-will be new to the readers, but rather to call to remembrance things that
-were known, but are partially forgotten; and possibly to put them in such
-form that the tenure by which they are held may hereafter be more secure.
-
-If greatly interested in the annals of other nations, whether ancient or
-modern, and ready to gather instruction alike from their excellencies
-and defects, their failures and successes, the American citizen should
-certainly find special interest in the history of his own country.
-Whatever else fails to interest him, a freeman, worthy of his heritage,
-will carefully study the elements of strength or weakness, security or
-danger of our institutions. Knowing, as he must, that the events that
-pass in succession before him are not causeless, or without meaning, he
-both inquires for their source, and hears their prophecy of the future.
-When others see but happenings and accidents, the more thoughtful
-recognize a guiding, controlling hand, and confess
-
- “There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends,
- Rough-hew them as we will.”
-
-American, or United States history is luminous from its earliest dawn.
-Unlike other histories in the prescribed course, as the Greek and Roman,
-reaching back to such remote antiquity as to become quite lost in the
-shadowy past, ours has none of that “mythological period;” no age in
-which nymphs and dryads, fauns and satyrs, gods and demi-gods are
-introduced as actors. The annals of the earliest American civilization
-record not legends and fables, but facts, things of actual occurrence and
-thoroughly attested by those who knew well whereof they affirmed. Those
-introduced as sages and heroes, challenging our admiration for the wisdom
-of their counsels and valor of their deeds were not myths, of whose very
-existence there is doubt. Great men, indeed, they were, and worthy of all
-the honors received; yet, but men, and subject to the limitations and
-liabilities of our common manhood.
-
-We do not deify those to whom we are most indebted, or surround honored
-names with the flowers of rhetoric. The praise that is merited is
-bestowed as it is due to the truth.
-
-The pioneers in the settlement of the continent, by laying the
-foundations of our free institutions, and starting their communities
-toward the advanced civilization now enjoyed, conferred on us lasting
-obligations; but in regard to many of them “they builded better than they
-knew.” Often they were rude, narrow, superstitious and mistaken, though
-earnest, manly and sincere; their best eulogy is to tell the story as it
-was.
-
-The sources of reliable information on which we may draw are so
-abundant there can be no want of material. The only embarrassment is
-from the riches in possession. To make the most judicious selection
-for a succinct yet coherent, suggestive narration is a task of no
-ordinary difficulty. The country itself first demands some notice,
-before we speak of its inhabitants and their institutions. The domain
-of the great American Union is now nearly four times as large as at
-the close of the Revolutionary war. The thirty-nine sovereign states,
-District of Columbia, and eight large organized territories occupy an
-area of 3,280,572 square miles, with a reserve of 600,000 square miles
-of unoccupied or sparsely inhabited territory, from which we know not
-how many states may be made after the population has been sufficiently
-increased.
-
-The commonwealth, not including Alaska, is bounded north by the British
-possessions in America, from which it is partly separated by the great
-northern lakes, Superior, Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario, with the
-St. Clair, Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers; east by New Brunswick, the
-Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico; south by the Gulf of Mexico
-and the Mexican border; west by the Pacific Ocean. The greatest length,
-from the Atlantic to the Pacific is 2600 miles; the greatest breadth,
-from Maine to Florida, 1600 miles. The frontier line toward British
-America measures 3,303 miles, and the coast line 12,909 miles. With
-such possessions, stretching across the continent from ocean to ocean,
-and over 25° in latitude, having exhaustless resources, a climate
-sufficiently varied, a free government, and just laws, we may well say
-the future of the nation is full of promise.
-
-
-THE ABORIGINES.
-
-But little account can or need be given of the savage tribes inhabiting
-the continent when it first became known to the civilized world.
-
-Men multiplied on the earth and spread themselves widely over its
-habitable portions for ages, during which, in their dispersion, little
-was known by the clans of each other, or of the world beyond their local
-habitations. The few imperfect records made were not lasting, and the
-generations following often lost all knowledge of their own origin.
-
-In most European countries the once uncultured savage tribes either
-improving, through their own exertions, escaped by degrees from the
-effete barbarisms of their ancestors, or when overcome by foes of
-superior intelligence, they profited by their subjugation, and, accepting
-the better civilization of their conquerors, became important factors in
-the provincial governments that were established. These carried with them
-a little legendary knowledge. The earliest historians, as Herodotus and
-others, recorded many of their legends that were mere fancies—unauthentic
-fabrications relating to their pre-historic days.
-
-We have no such mythical elements in American history, particularly in
-the history of the United States. The first inhabitants (wild men of the
-forest) were possibly as rude and superstitious as any in the Orient.
-But the North American Indians of our region were never, unless in a few
-exceptional cases, made integral parts of the new communities established
-in the country. When friendly relations were sought they made treaties,
-retiring from the grounds they sold; and, when subject to hostile attack,
-they fell or fled before the invaders. Without letters or art, the rude
-monuments they left had little significance. Their few oral traditions
-did not descend to them from days very remote, and their origin is
-wrapped in mystery. From what branch of the human family their ancestors
-came, or by what route they reached the continent, is not known.
-
-If all the tribes had a common origin in this country it evidently must
-have been very remote, as they were found widely different in language
-and other tribal peculiarities. Some resemblance may be traced, but only
-by long separation and different modes of life could members of the same
-family become so dissimilar.
-
-The number of Indians previous to the settlement of the country by
-European colonists can only be estimated. It was great, and they spread
-over most parts of the continent. That it was overestimated is probable.
-Not much given to planting or building, but living principally by the
-chase, and on what the earth produced without tillage, they were more or
-less nomadic in their habits, and the bounds of their habitation not well
-defined. Yet, as tribes, they appropriated lands, and counted at least
-the number of their warriors who could go out to battle.
-
-The great nations—the Esquimaux, Algonquins, Iroquois, Mobillians and
-Dacotas seem to have been confederacies, each made up of several tribes,
-usually acting together in war; but, in peace, content to occupy their
-own hunting grounds. But a small number of all the Indians now on the
-continent are within the bounds of the United States, and the number is
-growing less. That the wild men of the forest vanish before the advancing
-hosts of civilization is doubtless true. The whole number at present
-in all the states and territories, including Alaska, probably does
-not exceed 200,000, much the larger number being women and children;
-a pitiable remnant of the one hundred and fifty-two tribes of warlike
-men, whose braves were a terror to their foes. The Cherokees, Creeks,
-Choctaws, Chickisaws, now in the Indian Territory, with the remnants of
-tribes that remain on small reservations in the states, in all about
-50,000, are in a more hopeful condition. They have already a good degree
-of civilization, and many of them cordially accept the teachings and
-institutions of Christianity. They have their homes, schools, ministers
-and churches. They practice the industries of civilized life, and in
-their moral and religious habits are scarcely inferior to their white
-neighbors. These may in time take their places as states in the Union,
-or personally become citizens of other states, as they elect. If they
-do not, extinction seems to be inevitable. They may receive, as they
-should, kind and liberal treatment. But to remain very long wards of the
-government, retaining a distinct nationality in the midst of powerful
-and rapidly increasing communities, from whom they are separated by no
-sufficient natural boundaries, is simply impossible. The only hope for
-them is in citizenship, collectively or personally obtained.
-
-The physical character of the country will be best understood when spoken
-of in connection with the political divisions. It presents as much
-variety as any other great section of the globe. There is both beauty
-and grandeur. The intelligent beholder from other shores is impressed
-with the vastness of what he sees. There are great prairies, plains and
-forests—with trees the largest in the world; great lakes, rivers and
-cataracts; magnificent mountain ranges, abounding in scenery as grand as
-the eye need look upon. It was just the place in which to found a great
-empire, and build institutions to last for ages.
-
-
-THE PERIOD OF DISCOVERY.
-
-The last half century has thrown much light on the question of discovery;
-and evidence is conclusive that it dates at least six hundred years
-before the first European settlement at Jamestown, Va., in May, 1607. In
-1001 Lief Erickson, an Icelandic captain, with a small company of daring
-Norsemen, sailed from Greenland, reached Labrador, and, in the spirit of
-adventure, coasted as far south as Massachusetts, where they remained
-a year. Thorwald, a brother of the last named hero, made a voyage a
-year later to Maine and Massachusetts, where he died. In 1005 and 1007
-there came larger crews from the same region, and made more extended
-explorations, but apparently with no well defined object in view. Those
-Norsemen, from the extreme northwestern part of Europe, were a rough
-race of dangerous pirates—bold, hardy, but ignorant navigators, known
-and dreaded by the countries they visited as the terrible “sea kings” of
-that age. Rovers over all seas to which they found access, they explored
-unknown lands for plunder, not for settlement. Nothing valuable resulted
-from their discoveries. For centuries all knowledge gained by them was
-lost, and nothing was known in Europe of their voyages. The very name,
-Vinland, given to the country in Iceland, was for ages lost. And the
-more intelligent efforts, afterward made, were in no way suggested, so
-far as we know, by even vague rumors of what these sea robbers found.
-The continent discovered by accident, was, through ignorance, never
-made known to the civilized world; and so, for centuries, remained the
-_terra incognita_; and the real discovery of such untold value to the
-race was reserved for those of more intelligence, who purposely, at
-great sacrifice, and guided by scientific principles, sought the western
-hemisphere, of whose existence they were confident.
-
-Christopher Columbus, born at Genoa, Italy, in 1435, was carefully
-educated, and interested in maritime matters from his youth. Mandeville,
-the traveler, had proclaimed the earth a sphere, or round, and had given
-his reasons. Columbus not only had faith in the astronomical discovery,
-but sought to turn his knowledge to some practical account. He argued,
-conclusively, that the world being round, if there were no intervening
-lands to hinder sailing westward over the open seas, he would much easier
-than by the known route, reach the spice lands of the East Indias. That
-was the object of his search, and when, after seventy-one days sailing,
-land was sighted, the anxious voyagers supposed their end was gained.
-He first stepped ashore, unfurled their flag, and finding the place an
-island, named it San Salvador. Three or four other islands of the group
-were added to his discoveries during the voyage; but the main land was
-not visited, and from a misconception as to the size of the earth,
-supposing it to be only 12,000 or 14,000 miles in circumference, they
-supposed the fertile, salubrious isles then discovered were near the
-coast of India, and so named them the West Indias.
-
-Columbus made a second voyage, discovered several more islands, and
-established a colony at Hayti, his brother being governor. After an
-absence of three years he returned to Spain, to find himself suspected,
-accused, and the victim of a relentless persecution. His enemies not
-only stripped him of his merited honors as a discoverer, but to further
-compass his disgrace, sent him from his colony he had revisited a
-prisoner in chains. Though soon released and fully vindicated, the
-balance of his days were clouded. It remained for posterity to rescue
-his name from oblivion. Though the less deserving Florentine, Amerigo
-Vespucci, by his craft and the dullness of the times, succeeded in
-attaching his name to the continent, we still heartily sing “Hail
-Columbia,” in memory of the real discoverer, while many towns, counties
-and cities perpetuate the honored name.
-
-Within ten years after the death of Columbus the principal islands of the
-West Indias were explored, and settlements were commenced. The excitement
-becoming intense not only in Spain, but in the western states of Europe,
-adventurers increased. In 1512 a Spaniard, rich and well advanced in
-years, left Porto Rico, touched at San Salvador, and in due time came
-in sight of an unknown land that seemed, as they entered it, a place of
-beauty; he named it Florida, or land of flowers. This, too, was supposed
-another island, more beautiful than any before discovered. A landing
-was effected, and the country claimed for the King of Spain. The coast
-was explored for many leagues, some valuable information gained, and
-the adventurers sailed back to Porto Rico. Afterward Ponce, the aged
-explorer, was sent to found a colony, and be its governor. In 1521 he
-again landed, but his right to rule was contested by the Indians, who
-were found in a state of bitter hostility. They at once made a furious
-attack. Many of the Spaniards were killed, and Ponce De Leon, wounded by
-an arrow, was carried back to Cuba to die.
-
-In 1519 Fernando Cortes landed at Tabasco, and began the conquest of
-Mexico. As that section of the continent is without the limits of the
-United States, we avoid a detailed statement of his progress, marked by
-the unexampled rapacity and cruelty of the invaders. Tens of thousands
-of the unoffending—many of them unarmed—inhabitants were not slain in
-battle, but massacred in their streets and homes.
-
-The lust of gold, rather than ambition, was the ruling passion, and the
-treasures of the Montezumas failed to satisfy it. Drenched in the blood
-of her citizens, Mexico became a Spanish province. The Spaniards bore
-the christian name, and sadly disgraced it. The appalling scenes of
-treachery, cruelty and bloodshed they enacted are scarcely equaled in the
-annals of savage warfare. To turn from them is a relief.
-
- [End of Required Reading for February.]
-
- * * * * *
-
-If a man wish to make his way in the world, he must bestir himself and
-work his brains; if he wish to rise to honor and place, he must bend his
-back to the golden load. If he prefer to enjoy the delights of home, with
-children and grandchildren round his knees, let him follow an honest
-trade in peace.—_Schiller._
-
-
-
-
-HIS COLD.
-
-By FOLLIOTT SANFORD PIERPOINT.
-
- “Who can abide his cold?”
-
- “Pray that your flight be not in the winter.”
-
-
- Is it not hard to live one day,
- When God His face has turned away,
- When prayer is wingless, or her wing
- Droops earthward like some weary thing?
-
- Yet did no bent and broken light
- Pierce the dark vault of utter night,
- Of hope or memory no ray,
- Who could abide His cold one day?
-
- Summer and winter, sun and rain,
- The soul needs for her golden grain—
- Warm sun, warm rain, the ear to fill,
- His cold, love’s selfishness to kill.
-
- Come, winter, come, to kill dull pelf,
- Love of His sweetness not Himself;
- Till we can kiss His frowning face,
- Unmeet our soul for summer grace.
-
- But when the harvest-tide is nigh,
- God grant His summer fill the sky,
- God grant His harvest-rays be shed,
- God grant His harvest-moon rise red.
-
- Cold is the shore, and dark the tide,
- Through which to His warm arms we glide
- But if He then His face withhold,
- Who can that day abide His cold?
-
- Not in the winter be our flight!
- Then need we most His summer light,
- His presence felt, His angels near,
- His bride to bless, His bread to cheer.
-
- From strength to strength, from Thee to Thee,
- Grant, Lord, our summer flight may be;
- From veiled form and mystic grace
- To splendors of Thine unveiled face.
-
-
-
-
-THE TABLE-TALK OF NAPOLEON.
-
-
-At St. Helena, when Napoleon had time to remember his early youth, he
-said to Montholon:
-
-“What recollections of childhood crowd upon my memory. I am carried back
-to my first impressions of the life of man. It seems to me always, in
-these moments of calm, that I should have been the happiest man in the
-world with an income of twenty-five hundred dollars a year, living as the
-father of a family with my wife and son, in our old home at Ajaccio.… I
-still remember with emotion the minute details of a journey in which I
-accompanied Paoli. More than five hundred of us, young persons of the
-first families in the island, formed his body-guard. I felt proud of
-walking by his side, and he appeared to take pleasure in pointing out to
-me the passes of our mountains which had been witnesses of the heroic
-struggle of our countrymen for independence. The impressions made upon me
-still vibrate in my heart.… Religion is the dominion of the soul. It is
-the hope of life, the anchor of safety, the deliverance from evil. What
-a service has Christianity rendered to humanity! What a power would it
-still have did its ministers comprehend their mission!”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Napoleon’s hand-writing was of a most unintelligible character. “Do you
-write orthographically?” he asked his amanuensis one day at St. Helena.
-“A man occupied with public business can not attend to orthography. His
-ideas must flow faster than his hand can trace. He has only time to
-place his points. He must compress words into letters, and phrases into
-words, and let the scribes make it out afterward.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“The rapid succession of your victories,” said Las Cases to Napoleon,
-“must have been a source of great delight to you.” “By no means,”
-Napoleon replied; “those who think so know nothing of the peril of our
-situation. The victory of to-day was instantly forgotten in preparation
-for the battle which was to be fought on the morrow. The aspect of danger
-was continually before me. I enjoyed not one moment of repose.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“Tents,” said Napoleon, “are unhealthy; it is much better for the soldier
-to bivouac in the open air, for then he can build a fire and sleep with
-warm feet. Tents are necessary only for the general officers, who are
-obliged to read and consult their maps.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“My extreme youth when I took command of the army of Italy,” Napoleon
-remarked, “made it necessary for me to evince great reserve of manner,
-and the utmost severity of morals. This was indispensable to enable me
-to sustain authority over men so greatly superior in age and experience.
-I pursued a line of conduct in the highest degree irreproachable and
-exemplary. In spotless morality I was a Cato, and must have appeared such
-to all. I was a philosopher and a sage. My supremacy could be retained
-only by proving myself a better man than any other in the army. Had I
-yielded to human weaknesses I should have lost my power.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Napoleon sent the celebrated picture of St. Jerome from the Duke of
-Parma’s gallery to the Museum at Paris. The duke, to save his work of
-art, offered Napoleon two hundred thousand dollars, which the conqueror
-refused to take, saying: “The sum which he offers will be soon spent; but
-the possession of such a masterpiece at Paris will adorn that capital for
-ages, and give birth to similar exertions of genius.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“Different matters are arranged in my head,” said Napoleon, “as in
-drawers. I open one drawer and close another as I wish. I have never been
-kept awake by an involuntary pre-occupation of the mind. If I desire
-repose I shut up all the drawers, and sleep. I have always slept when I
-wanted rest, and almost always at will.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-While at Milan, Napoleon had just mounted his horse one morning, when
-a dragoon, bearing important dispatches, presented himself before him.
-Napoleon gave a verbal answer and ordered the courier to take it back
-with all speed.
-
-“I have no horse,” the man answered. “I rode mine so hard that it fell
-dead at your palace gates.”
-
-Napoleon alighted. “Take mine,” he said.
-
-The man hesitated.
-
-“You think him too magnificently caparisoned and too fine an animal,”
-said Napoleon. “Nothing is too good for a French soldier.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“Pavia,” said Napoleon, “is the only place I ever gave up to pillage. I
-promised that the soldiers should have it at their mercy for twenty-four
-hours; but after three hours I could bear such scenes of outrage no
-longer, and put an end to them. Policy and morality are equally opposed
-to the system. Nothing is so certain to disorganize and completely ruin
-an army.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-“I have,” said Napoleon, “a taste for founding, not for possessing. My
-riches consist in glory and celebrity. The Simplon and the Louvre were,
-in the eyes of the people and of foreigners, more my property than any
-private domains could possibly have been.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-To General Clark, on the death of his nephew, at Arcola, Napoleon wrote:
-“Your nephew, Elliott, has been slain upon the battlefield. That young
-man has several times marched at the head of our columns. He has died
-gloriously, and in the face of the enemy. He did not have a moment’s
-suffering. Where is the _reasonable man_ who would not envy such a death?
-Where is he who, in the vicissitudes of life would not give himself up to
-leave in this manner a world so often ungrateful?”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Napoleon had no tendencies to gallantry. Madame de Stäel once said to
-him: “It is reported that you are not very partial to the ladies.” “I am
-very fond of my wife, Madame,” was the laconic reply.
-
- * * * * *
-
-“The English,” said Napoleon, “appear to prefer the bottle to the society
-of their ladies; as is exemplified by dismissing the ladies from the
-table and remaining for hours to drink and intoxicate themselves. If
-I were in England I should decidedly leave the table with the ladies.
-If the object is to talk instead of to drink, why banish them. Surely
-conversation is never so lively nor so witty as when ladies take a part
-in it. Were I an Englishwoman I should feel very discontented at being
-turned out by the men to wait for two or three hours while they were
-drinking. In France, society is nothing unless ladies are present. They
-are the life of conversation.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-A lady of rank once said to him, “What is life worth if one cannot be
-General Bonaparte?” Napoleon answered her wisely: “Madame! one may be a
-dutiful wife and the good mother of a family.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Traveling through Switzerland, Napoleon was greeted with such enthusiasm
-that Bourrienne said to him, “It must be delightful to be greeted with
-such demonstrations of enthusiastic admiration.” “Bah,” replied Napoleon;
-“this same unthinking crowd under a slight change of circumstances would
-follow me just as eagerly to the scaffold.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Speaking of the Theophilanthropists, Napoleon said, “They can accomplish
-nothing; they are merely actors.” “What!” was the reply; “do you thus
-stigmatize those whose tenets inculcate universal benevolence and the
-moral virtues?” “All moral systems are fine,” rejoined Napoleon. “The
-Gospel alone has shown a full and complete assemblage of the principles
-of morality, stripped of all absurdity. It is not made up, like your
-creed, of a few commonplace sentences put into bad verse. Do you wish to
-find out the really sublime? Repeat the Lord’s Prayer. Such enthusiasts
-are only to be met with the weapons of ridicule; all their efforts will
-prove ineffectual.”
-
-
-
-
-MATTHEW ARNOLD.
-
-By PROF. A. B. HYDE, D.D.
-
-
-A man of letters, eminent in England, deserves, on visiting these shores,
-our brotherly attention. Nothing so holds us in fellowship with the
-people of “the little mother-land” as our reading their literature, and
-their reading ours, without translation. Their writers and speakers
-are thus our true kinsfolk, nearer to us than French or German can be.
-Mr. Arnold, known well rather than widely, has position among English
-thinkers of our day, such as demands for the readers of THE CHAUTAUQUAN
-a reasonable understanding of him and his work. His essays and addresses
-are published in seven volumes by MacMillan & Co. His poems, in two or
-three volumes, are had from the same house. He came to this country
-partly to visit and partly to deliver a few lectures. Mr. Arnold was born
-at Christmas of 1822, in Laleham, where his father was privately fitting
-students for the universities. His father, Thomas Arnold, eminent as
-clergyman and historian, is still more famed as teacher. At Rugby school
-his pupils loved and honored him. He understood the good and evil of
-English boys, and with wonderful skill he trained them in sound learning,
-and moulded them to pure and generous character. Gaining from him the
-tone of manly sentiment, many of his “Tom Browns” have been blessings to
-their generation.
-
-Matthew was his eldest son. Another, Delafield Arnold, early worn out
-in the educational work of India, was buried on his homeward voyage, at
-Gibraltar, while his devoted wife went to a grave under the solemn shadow
-of the Himalayas.
-
-In Matthew’s boyhood the family home was fixed at Fox How, near the abode
-of the poet Wordsworth. Here in his vacations the father studied, and
-Matthew could see Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth, the “Lake Poets.”
-To Fox How, haunt of the muses, a crowd of distinguished visitors made
-streaming pilgrimage, and here the lad who early “seemed no vulgar boy,”
-could absorb the deep things of reason and the sweet things of song. He
-deeply revered these men under whose shadow he sat as a boyish listener.
-Of his father he says: “We rested till then in thy shade, as under the
-boughs of an oak. Toil and dejection have tried thy spirit, of that we
-say nothing. To us thou wast still cheerful and helpful and firm.”
-
-After Wordsworth’s death he says of the dear and venerable man to whom
-his eyes in young weariness had often turned for refreshment:
-
- “He spake and loosed our heart in tears,
- Our youth returned, for there was shed
- On spirits that had long been dead,
- The freshness of the early world.”
-
-In 1840, having prepared under his father, he was elected a scholar at
-Baliol College, Oxford, and four years later he gained a prize for an
-English poem. The next year he was made a Fellow of Oriel College. In
-1846 he became private secretary of Lord Lansdowne, and so remained
-for several years. He also—after his marriage, in 1851, with Frances
-Wightman, daughter of an eminent jurist—served as Her Majesty’s Inspector
-of British schools. In 1857 he was with sharp competition chosen
-Professor of Poetry at Oxford. The term of office is ten years. Finding
-himself in later years growing alien from poetic composition (“these lips
-but rarely frame them now”), he allowed the place to pass to Principal
-Shairp, a man more distinguished as a critic than a producer of poetry.
-Mr. Arnold still gives an occasional poem, oftenest on simple themes,
-as the death of his terrier, “Geist,” or his canary, “Matthias.” His
-“Westminster Abbey,” on the death of Dean Stanley, is grand as an anthem.
-He is now heard chiefly in essays, critical and æsthetic, and educational
-or other addresses. He is of noble presence and kindly, earnest face,
-over which his rich, full hair, now sable-silvered, parts and clusters.
-He is no orator, speaking low and slowly, but the charm of his personal
-appearance, the beauty of his thought, the clear incisive force of his
-silvery rhetoric make him to cultivated audiences ever welcome. Take
-him for all in all, he is so felt to-day and sure to be so read and
-felt hereafter, that some study of him as thinker and poet may be both
-instructive and entertaining.
-
-Of his lectures in this country the best was on Emerson, whom he prized
-as “the friend and aid of those who wished to live in the spirit.”
-
-His first stir of thought was from Wordsworth, not young Wordsworth, the
-flush “high-priest of man and nature and of human life,” but from the
-venerable laureate, when his utterances began to have “the sweetness, the
-gravity, the beauty, the languor of death.” The lofty energy which Arnold
-inherited from his father was seriously impaired by the contemplative
-egotism of his father’s friend. At the time when impressions deep and
-lasting were easily made on his young mind, Goethe, critic and artist
-of many generations, went to his grave. “Knowest thou,” says Carlyle,
-“no prophet even in the vesture, environment and dialect of this age?
-I know him and name him Goethe. In him man’s life begins again to be
-divine.” Goethe had at first held the principles of Rousseau. Later he
-announced with the serenity of a Brahmin and the authority of a Delphic
-oracle, that the chief end of man is “to cultivate his own spirit.”
-This utterance fell like a gospel on Arnold’s ear. He began to expound
-and enforce it, striving to engraft it on literary society and to embody
-it in the English national life. To him we owe that sense of the word
-“culture” which is so hard to state, and other terms and phrases, as
-“perfection, sweetness and light,” “harmonious development,” and the
-like. A better English pleader for the new “development” could hardly
-have been found. Clear and graceful in statement, gentle under criticism,
-patient under reproof and witty in reply, his one defect is in not doing
-what both the sacred and the profane oracles enjoin as the first thing in
-culture—to understand himself. Let us trace his ideas and doctrines in
-politics, in education, in religion, and in poetry.
-
-His view of the human race is that we are utterly separate, “enisled,”
-each forever by himself as in “the unplumbed, salt, estranging sea.”
-
- “Yes, in the sea of life enisled,
- With echoing straits between us thrown,
- Dotting the shoreless, watery wild,
- We mortal millions live _alone_.”
-
-It follows from this isolation (which is in one sense true) that no man
-can be his brother’s keeper. A strong-lunged islander can _call_ to his
-fellow, but nothing more. With this view of the “environment” the first
-duty ever to be taught and ever rehearsed is _endurance_. Patience under
-an order of things that “man did not make and can not mar,” is a teaching
-traceable through all his poetry and prose. Then comes in many a pleasing
-form the lesson of “self-centering.”
-
- “With joy the stars perform their shining,
- And the sea its long, moon-silvered roll;
- Why? self-poised they live, nor pine with noting
- All the fever of some differing soul.
- Bounded by themselves and unregarding
- In what state God’s other works may be
- In their own tasks all their powers pouring,
- These attain the mighty life you see.”
-
-In the “hopeless tangle of our age,” to which he is keenly alive, and
-to explore which is a task of misery and distress, “alone, self-poised,
-henceforward man must labor.” “No man can save his brother’s soul, nor
-pay his brother’s debt.” As man is thus set apart from his fellow,
-“self-culture,” “self-perfecting” are his duty and his chief concern.
-By culture Mr. Arnold means the development of every capacity and power
-enfolded within us, and the adapting of ourselves perfectly to the
-island, larger or smaller, of our Crusoe life. This culture is gained not
-by unions, coöperations, or harangues “with tremendous cheers.” It is of
-one’s self and for one’s self, save as the wind may waft the odors of one
-“islet” to another. Culture must come by patient personal effort. Here
-Mr. Arnold looks back longingly to feudal times, and even beyond. The
-evil communications of the present corrupt good manners. He seems to say
-“_any_ former times are better than these,” and to
-
- “Pine for force
- A ghost of time to raise,
- As if he thus might stop the course
- Of these appointed nays.”
-
-Such a doctrine can never come well into politics. It is too
-remote—unsystematic, not to say fastidious. Pure as Arnold’s motives
-are known to be, he is too dainty to serve in a party, even that of Mr.
-Gladstone. He scouts “equality,” and prefers benevolence to democracy.
-As a result, the “sweetness and light” shed from his “islet” is little
-regarded by the masses, being about as effective as an aurora borealis.
-
-_Punch_ sums up Arnold’s discourses to the laboring classes—and all other
-classes:
-
- To Matthew Arnold hark
- With both ears all avidity!
- That Matthew—a man of mark—
- Says “Cultivate Lucidity!”
-
-In education Mr. Arnold’s efforts have been steady and sincere. To him,
-among others, is due the successful entrance of young women in England
-upon higher study, so that Cambridge and Oxford are now beset by troops
-of young ladies who must some day effect entrance. He inherits from his
-father an educational zeal. His pleadings for literature in courses
-of study as against the exclusive pursuit of physical science and the
-“practical” branches, has been earnest and eloquent. He holds that, to
-know ourselves and the world, we must know the best that has been thought
-and said in the world. The study of belles-letters may be so conducted
-as to yield only a smattering of benefit, but it may be made a very
-serious and critical search after truth. What has been done by civilized
-nations, and what manner of people they were, is as well worth knowing as
-chemistry or geology.
-
-Examining a young man on the meaning of “Canst thou not minister to a
-mind diseased?” he received as explanation, “Can you not wait upon the
-lunatic?” He asks whether to know the products of the combustion of wax
-is better than to understand Shakspere? He is sure that man’s need of
-beauty in truth, and of acquaintance with the general human mind demands
-the study of literature, and that for this study the best of all is the
-Greek.
-
-Few will question, most teachers will accept, his educational doctrines.
-
-Mr. Arnold explains that to attain perfect culture, we must be perfectly
-religious, and for this, we must properly understand the Bible. This
-brings us to look at his darkened side. He is an _evolutionist_ in
-religion; that is, he holds that as the ages roll on, new religions
-unfold in newness of vigor and meaning, while the old decay and
-disappear. He tells us that to-day poetry is the true religion. In our
-time “every creed is shaken, every dogma questioned, every tradition
-dissolving.” “The strongest part of our religion to-day is its
-unconscious poetry, for poetry attaches its emotion to the _idea_, and
-all else is illusion.” Poetry has the highest truth, and the highest
-seriousness.
-
-“Be ye perfect,” said the Great Teacher, and this, says Mr. Arnold, is a
-harmonious development of all sides of our humanity; a thing not found
-in our broken world. Therefore he calls the orthodox belief a failure;
-the working classes will have nothing to say to it. He will fix it for
-them. He takes out of it all its facts and leaves only its tone and its
-ideas—its poetry. The scheme of Christianity has never been understood
-until now a select few have grasped it.
-
-“There is an enduring power, not ourselves, which makes for
-righteousness”—that is his cloudy piety. The “method” and “secret” of
-Jesus were commendable; the “method” was repentance, the “secret” was
-peace; but the Christian religion rests on the assumption of a Personal
-Ruler, “this cannot be verified.” Even the resurrection St. Paul poorly
-understood. It is in fact “rising to that harmonious conformity with the
-real and the eternal which is life and peace until it becomes glory.”
-Even the doctrine of the Trinity Mr. Arnold can speak of as “a fairy-tale
-of the three Lord Shaftburys,” a phrase that Ingersoll might quote. One
-can see—and it is a sad sight—how his religious views have been spoiled
-by a vain philosophy. How reassuring to know that Mr. Moody, preaching
-Jesus and the Resurrection at Oxford, in Arnold’s sight, found the
-working classes (and others) glad to hear. Where he had said,
-
- Resolve to be thyself! And know that he
- Who finds himself, loses his misery.
-
-Many are learning “Deny thyself” and in finding the Savior, losing their
-misery.
-
-This gifted disbeliever has longings that he cannot quite conceal. He
-does not believe Jesus divine, yet he seems to yearn for faith in him,
-such as his father had, and such as was easy when
-
- Men called from chamber, church and tent,
- And Christ was by to save.
-
-He himself would gladly have been caught in the tide
-
- Of love which set so deep and strong
- From Christ’s then open grave.
-
-Turning sadly away he says:
-
- Now he is dead! Far hence he lies
- In the lone Syrian town,
- And on his grave, with shining eyes,
- The Syrian stars look down?
-
-At last we seem to find this scholar and poet, Christian born and
-Christian bred, sinking into the pantheism of heathenism, such as our
-missionaries confront in India.
-
- Myriads who live, who have lived,
- What are we all but a mood,
- A single mood, of the life
- Of the Being in whom we exist,
- Who alone is all things in one?
-
-Through all Mr. Arnold’s utterances there seems a certain air of
-condescension. To the masses, “the un-Hellenic public,” he seems to look
-from his own “islet” and say, “Cultivate your own spirit;” “Cherish light
-and sweetness,” and to add, “Look at me and aspire to your own best
-self.” This looks like a delicate self-worship, such as was in Goethe,
-and thither “self-culture” easily leads.
-
-In Mr. Arnold as poet one finds enough to admire and enjoy. His first
-volume of poems was given anonymously to the world in 1849. It made
-some stir. We thought another of the immortals was among us, and so it
-proved. He followed in song the same who were his masters in culture,
-striving, “Wordsworth’s sweet calm, and Goethe’s wide and luminous view
-to gain.” He took up poetry seriously, for he thought that “poetry is the
-impassioned expression in the countenance of all science,” “the breath
-and finer spirit of all knowledge.” To him poetry is no idle warbling,
-but an intense criticism of life in which he works from sense of duty.
-In all his poems one finds dignity and grace of spirit, something of
-Goethe’s spiritual unrest, and of Wordsworth’s healing balm found in
-communion with nature.
-
-Thus, after Rustum in desperate fight has unknowingly slain his son
-Sohrab, (who has disclosed himself in his last moments) with how quiet
-dignity does the Oxus move on, leaving on its bank Sohrab in his gore,
-and Rustum in his hot agony and blinding tears!
-
- But the majestic river floated on
- Out of the mist and hum of that low land
- Into the frosted starlight, and there moved
- Rejoicing through the hushed Chorasmian waste
- Under the solitary moon, till at last
- The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide
- His luminous home of waters opens bright
- And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars
- Emerge and shine upon the Aral sea.
-
-He comes to nature, not to bring anything, but to seek rest and
-refreshment. Byron pours out upon nature, as in Childe Harold, the
-“sparkling gloom” of his own spirit. Coleridge, as in the Hymn at
-Chamouni, fills nature with his own lofty rapture. Arnold’s poems all
-show how he asks of nature, not pleasure or exaltation—only relief. By
-the lake he says:
-
- How sweet to feel, on the boon air,
- All our unquiet pulses cease!
-
-In his Summer Night,
-
- The calm moonlight seems to say,
- Hast thou, then, still the old, unquiet breast?
-
-He turns to the
-
- Heavens whose pure dark regions have no sign
- Of languor, though so calm and though so great,
- Yet so untroubled, so unpassionate!
- A world above man’s head to let him see
- How boundless might his soul’s horizon be;
- How it were good to live there and be free.
-
-In Kensington Gardens he says:
-
- In the huge world that roars hard by
- Be happy if they can!
- Calm soul of all things! Make it mine
- To feel, amid the city’s jar
- That there abides a peace of thine
- Man did not make and cannot mar.
-
-Nowhere in all his pictures of nature, given in the most musical of
-English and in style flowing, bright and tender, do we find the deep
-gladness of Wordsworth, or the organ-toned joy of Milton. To each, as his
-heart is, nature gives. Arnold, sad, unbelieving, self-absorbed, looking
-at his own shadow, sees the beautiful and sings it, as he finds it, but,
-“life is wanting there.” As our human race appears in his poems, the men
-of to-day are of small account. “There has passed away a glory from the
-earth.” He has little to say of hope, so much in his eye is the past
-better than any possible future. Even his favorite metres are of Greek
-pattern. Admitting that the Pagan world, worn and weary, was revived
-by Christianity, he thinks this is in its turn “outworn,” and men are
-waning now. Therefore he goes to olden time for heroes, for Prometheus
-and Pericle, Tristam and Rustum. His only poem truly dramatic, a complete
-work of art, is The Sick King in Bokhara. The elements of the story
-bring out his genius, and he puts forth the best effort of his mind and
-art. Here are that dignified self-poise, that unrest akin to remorse
-that frames so strangely with the calm of helplessness, that lip-curling
-criticism and that transparent simplicity of which we have been speaking.
-All is brilliant in setting and rich in color. All his poems we might
-read (and we should then all the more watch for new ones) but in none
-shall find the whole of Mr. Arnold as we find it in this.
-
-How beautiful is this from Tristam. It is Iseult after the death of her
-husband and rival, living with her children, as in a fading, misty,
-moon-lit dream:
-
- Joy hath not found her yet, nor ever will,
- Is it this thought that makes her mien so still?
- Her features so fatigued, her eyes, though sweet,
- So sunk, so rarely lifted save to meet
- Her children’s? She moves slow; her voice alone
- Hath yet an infantine and silvery tone,
- But even that comes languidly; in truth,
- She seems one dying in the mask of youth.
-
-Mr. Arnold does not attain to the first rank of either men or poets, but
-there is a charm about him and his poetry. Too bad it is that he has
-not the joy and nerve that come of Christian faith “which worketh by
-love.” He would diffuse sweetness and light indeed. But is his poetry,
-_as poetry_, the worse for his lack of faith? Its plaintive utterance
-of the sadness of a soul whose wants are proudly shut from their true
-satisfaction, will long be read by those who strive to still the _heart_
-with supplies from the _intellect_ and to make genius serve for Living
-Bread. No English poet has made the soul-hunger so attractive, or given
-airy negatives in forms and colors so fascinating.
-
- * * * * *
-
-It is often found that those feelings which are best, noblest, and most
-self-denying, are exactly those which lead to a disastrous issue. It
-is as if, by the command of a higher and wiser power, man’s fate were
-intentionally brought into variance with his inner feelings, in order
-that the latter might acquire a higher value, shine with greater purity,
-and thus become more precious by the very privations and sufferings
-to him who cherishes such feelings. However benevolent may be the
-intentions of Providence, they do not always advance the happiness of the
-individual. Providence has always higher ends in view, and works in a
-preëminent degree on the inner feelings and disposition.—_Humboldt._
-
-
-
-
-ESTIVATION, OR SUMMER SLEEP.
-
-By the REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A.
-
-
-I have already mentioned that the peculiar condition which we term
-hibernation is one which can be produced by heat as well as by cold, and
-that the bat passes into that state daily throughout summer. The name,
-therefore, is not sufficiently definite. The German naturalists more
-properly use two distinct terms, and employ the words “winterschlaf,” _i.
-e._, winter sleep, and “sommerschlaf,” or summer sleep.
-
-In order to maintain the same construction in the terms, I will call the
-summer sleep by the name of Estivation. This word is scientifically more
-correct than summer sleep, because, as I have already mentioned, the
-condition in question is not real sleep, but a kind of trance.
-
-As Estivation is produced in consequence of the withdrawal of food by
-heat, we must naturally look for it within the tropics. Many of the
-lower vertebrates are subjected to Estivation, but, as far as is known,
-no mammal estivates. It has been said that the Taurde, or Madagascar
-hedgehog, does so, but it is evidently a mistake. It is really one of
-the hibernators, like our own hedgehog; and though it assumes the trance
-condition in June, that month is the beginning of winter in Madagascar,
-and not in the middle of summer, as in England.
-
-I will only take two examples of true Estivation, one from Africa and the
-other from America. The first is the well known Lepidosiren, or mud-fish,
-a creature which has long been an enigma to zoölogists, as no one could
-say definitely whether it were a fish or a reptile. Professor Owen,
-however, states that the structure of its organs of smell proves that it
-is a true, though rather anomalous, fish. It is found in many parts of
-Africa, and inhabits the banks of muddy rivers, being plentiful in the
-Nile.
-
-Nowadays, the systematic naturalists have changed its name and called it
-Protopterus, giving the old and equally appropriate name of Lepidosiren
-to an allied species which is found in the Amazon river and its
-tributaries. I have, however, retained the original name, and see no
-sufficient ground for altering it.
-
-It is brownish grey in color, and eel-like in shape, but has four
-curious rudimentary limbs, apparently useless for locomotion, though
-they are seldom without movement. They are, in fact, soft single rays
-of the pectoral and ventral fins, which represent the limbs of beings
-more highly organized. Each ray carries a narrow strip of membrane along
-nearly the whole of its length.
-
-Along part of the back there is a very soft fin, extending over the tip
-of the tail, and returning on the under surface of the body as far as the
-base of the hind limbs. The body is always covered with viscous slime,
-insoluble in water, and the creature seems to be able to secrete it as it
-is wanted.
-
-Essentially predacious, it does not possess rank after rank of teeth,
-such as we see in the pike, and the wolf-fish, and the like, but is
-endowed with a most remarkable dental apparatus.
-
-Instead of separate teeth, there is in each jaw what may be called a
-tooth-ribbon. Suppose that we imagine the dental matter, instead of being
-made into separate teeth, to be rolled out into a continuous ribbon, then
-“pleated” into folds like those of a ruff, and so set in the jaws. Then
-let us imagine the projecting edge of each tooth-ribbon to be as sharp as
-that of a chisel, and we can realize the formidable apparatus with which
-the mouth is armed.
-
-These details are here briefly given, because without them the history of
-its estivation could not be understood.
-
-That the Lepidosiren was carnivorous had long been known, but no idea
-was formed of its voracity until some living specimens were successfully
-reared in the Crystal Palace. One of them was placed in the large water
-basin which then adorned the center of the tropical department at the
-north end of the Palace, but which may now be seen in the open air
-between the Palace and the water tower.
-
-Though confined in a tank, it contrived to escape into the basin, and
-straightway began to make havoc among the gold-fish. It swam gently under
-them, rose with open jaws, caught the fish just behind the pectoral fins,
-bit out a piece, its ribbon-like teeth cutting through scale, bone, and
-flesh, as if they had been shears, and sank out of sight with its prey.
-It never bit the same fish twice, and as long as it could find fish,
-declined to eat anything else.
-
-As this mode of feeding involved a gold-fish for each mouthful, Mr. F. W.
-Wilson, who was then in charge of the Natural History Department of the
-Crystal Palace, had the tank emptied, and fenced off a portion with wire
-grating, so that the Lepidosiren could not get at the fish. The creature
-was then fed with frogs, which I have seen it eat; and by reason of the
-perpetual supply of food, it grew so fast that it attained a length of
-thirty inches and weighed six pounds and a quarter, a very giant of
-Lepidosirens, which seldom exceed eighteen inches in length.
-
-It lived for more than three years, and might have grown to a much larger
-size, but for the neglect of an attendant who forgot on one winter night
-to keep up the fire which warmed the water, and in consequence this
-interesting creature was found dead next morning.
-
-Here then we have a carnivorous being of more than ordinary voracity, and
-requiring a constant supply of fish. But, during the rainless summer, the
-water is rapidly evaporated under the sun’s rays, the fish die, and the
-muddy bed of the river becomes as dry and nearly as hard as brick. What
-then is the Lepidosiren to do?
-
-By Divine Providence, the heat which withdraws its food acts upon it
-as cold acts upon hibernating animals in this country. As soon as the
-drying-up process has begun, the Lepidosiren wriggles itself into the mud
-while it is still soft, and by dint of turning round and round, makes a
-sort of chamber, the sides of which are preserved from collapsing by the
-slime which it pours from its body.
-
-It then doubles itself up sideways in a most curious fashion, wrapping
-the membranous tail over its head so as to cover it entirely. The body
-is not coiled in a circle, as might be imagined, but the two inner sides
-(mostly the left) are pressed closely against each other, so that the
-animal occupies a wonderfully small space. The dimensions of the chamber
-are soon contracted by the weight of the superincumbent mud, until at
-last there is scarcely the eighth of an inch of free space round the body.
-
-In this curious refuge the Lepidosiren passes into a state of Estivation.
-The mud is gradually dried, and then baked under the fierce rays of a
-tropical sun. But the Lepidosiren lies motionless and unconscious until
-the next rainy season refills the river, dissolves the hardened mud, and
-sets the creature free to resume its predatory life.
-
-Were it not for the Lepidosiren, the inhabitants of these countries would
-often be hardly pressed for food. But they search the dry bed of the
-river, dig up the buried estivators and live on them. So here we have
-Estivation as well as hibernation, indirectly beneficial to man. I may
-mention that most of the Lepidosirens which have been kept alive in this
-country were brought while still buried in their mud cells.
-
-There is little difficulty in finding the hidden Lepidosirens, as the
-aperture through which they entered the mud seems almost invariably to
-remain open, its smooth and slime-polished sides leaving no doubt as to
-its identity.
-
-I have possessed for more than four years a large lump of dry Nile mud,
-a hole in one of its sides showing that a Lepidosiren ought to be inside
-it. This morning I carefully cut it open, and there found the inhabitant,
-doubled up, with its tail over its head just as when it gave itself up
-to slumber more than twenty years ago. I expected to have seen a nearly
-spherical chamber, but found that the cell is cylindrical, and only just
-large enough to hold the creature.
-
-The slime with which the cell is lined has been hardened into a papery
-consistence, and is, in fact, about as thick as the paper on which this
-account is printed. When a piece is torn off and held in the flame of a
-spirit lamp, it takes fire and it gives out a very nauseous odor, like
-that of a beetle’s wing case when similarly burned. This thick coating of
-slime is only to be found in the cell itself, and surrounding the body of
-the animal. I imagine that the Lepidosiren must deposit many successive
-coats of slime after it has taken up its position. These cells are
-technically named “cocoons.”
-
-As some time elapses between the falling of the rain, when the creature
-awakes, and the dissolving of the cocoon, there must be some peculiar
-structure of the respiratory organs. Otherwise, the Lepidosiren, being a
-fish, and breathing by gills, must die before it can reënter the water.
-
-This structure is of a most unexpected character. The creature has
-rows of gills on either side of its head, and with these it breathes
-while it is in the water. The swimming-bladder, however, is modified
-so as to act as a substitute for a lung. A branch of the artery which
-supplies the gills is diverted to the swimming-bladder, and as there is
-a communication between the interior of the swimming-bladder and the
-external air, the creature is able to aerate its blood sufficiently to
-sustain life until it can assume its normal fish life.
-
-I may here mention that these African and American Lepidosirens, together
-with the Australian Ceratodus are especially interesting as being one
-only living survivor of a vast family which in bygone ages were extremely
-numerous.
-
-The Ceratodus is a comparatively new discovery, and came on naturalists
-by surprise. Until lately the only known examples of this fish were to
-be found in the earlier secondary rocks, and when it was announced that
-living specimens had been found, the discovery could hardly be believed.
-However, there the Ceratodus is. It looks like a resuscitated fossil, and
-is to our known fishes what the tree-fern is to our present vegetation.
-
-There is another interesting point about this object, showing how
-Estivation is connected with Scripture.
-
-The mud of which the cocoon is made is the same as that which the
-Israelites, while in captivity, were forced to make into bricks. It is so
-tenacious, that although merely dried by the Egyptian sun, it is so hard
-that I was obliged to employ mallet, chisel, saw, and butcher’s knife,
-while making the necessary sections.
-
-Occasionally the difficulty was increased by vegetable fibers which had
-become mixed with it, and which bound it together just as the cow-hairs
-bind builder’s plaster when honestly made. The Egyptians mixed straw with
-the clay of which their bricks were made, so as to strengthen it, and
-in order to secure a supply of such straw they did not reap their corn
-near the ground as we do, but cut off the ears close to the stem, leaving
-the stubble to be cut separately. The reader will remember that one of
-the grievances of the captives was, that instead of being supplied with
-straw, as formerly, they had to cut and fetch the stubble for themselves,
-and yet were forced to deliver the same number of bricks daily.
-
-So here is my lump of Nile mud acting as a link representing nearly four
-thousand years between the Christian world of the present day, and the
-long-perished Egyptian dynasty of the Pharaohs.
-
-Now we will pass to the opposite side of the world.
-
-In tropical America, as in tropical Africa, the rivers are dried up in
-the summer, and the mud which forms their banks and bed is baked as
-hard as that of the Nile and other African rivers. Many of these rivers
-are inhabited by a fish (_Callicthys_) popularly called the Hassar, or
-Hardback. The latter name is given to it in consequence of two rows
-of hard, narrow scales on each side of the body. There are four long,
-flexible tentacles on the upper lip. It is not nearly so large as the
-Lepidosiren, seldom exceeding eight inches in length. Its color is
-greenish brown.
-
-Unlike the Lepidosiren, which can not travel on dry ground, the Hassar
-is as good a walker as the Climbing Perch, a fish which not only leaves
-the water and traverses dry land, but can ascend the trunk of trees.
-All rivers have some portions deeper than others, “holes” as we call
-them in our rivers at home. So, when the process of drying up is nearly
-completed, the river is converted into a ravine along which “holes” or
-pools are seen at irregular distances.
-
-As long as the holes are capable of containing water, the Hassar makes
-its way to them over the dry ground. But, in process of time, even the
-pools are dried up, and just before this happens, the Hassar works its
-way into the mud, and acts after the manner of the Lepidosiren. The
-analogy between the two fishes is made still more remarkable, inasmuch as
-they both furnish food to man during the time of Estivation.
-
-The Hassar has a further interest in being one of the few fishes which
-make nests and watch over their young. Our sticklebacks do this, but
-whereas with the stickleback the double task of making the nest and
-guarding the young is relegated to the male, with the Hassar the latter
-duty is shared by the female. It begins the task of nest-making almost as
-soon as it escapes from its cocoon, so as to insure plenty of time for
-nest-making, egg-hatching, and rearing the young.
-
-The American Alligator, which, like the Hassar, is deprived of food when
-the rivers and swamps have been dried, allows itself to be buried in the
-mud, and there awaits the return of rain.
-
-A curious instance of this habit occurred some years ago. A party of
-travelers had halted on a piece of hard, level ground, lighted a fire
-and began to cook their dinner. But that dinner was spoiled, for before
-the cooking was completed the ground began to heave and swell, and out
-burst the head of an alligator. The unfortunate reptile was estivating
-exactly under the spot where the fire had been placed, and where it
-would have remained asleep until the next rainy season, had it not been
-disturbed.—_London Sunday Magazine._
-
-
-
-
-RECREATION.
-
-By JAMES PAGET.
-
-
-There are some rules regarding active recreations which it is well for
-all to observe: for all, at least, who must work, or who wish to work as
-well as play.
-
-First, recreations should not only be compatible with the business or
-duty of life, but absolutely and far subordinate; and this, not only
-in kind, but in number and quantity. Their utility, and, sometimes,
-even their only justification is that they may increase the power and
-readiness for work; beyond this they should not be allowed to pass.
-
-Then, they should chiefly exercise the powers which are least used in the
-work; and this, not only for pleasure but for utility. For there are few
-daily occupations which provide sufficient opportunities for the training
-of all the powers and dispositions which may be usefully employed in them
-and of which the full use, though not necessary for an average fitness,
-may be essential to excellence in the business of life. They, therefore,
-that work chiefly with their minds, should refresh themselves chiefly
-with the exercise of their muscles; manual workers should rather rest and
-have some study, or practice some gentle art, or strive to invent; or,
-for one more example, they whose days are spent in money speculations
-and excitement had better try to be happy in passionless thinking, in
-listening to sweet sounds, in quiet reading, and so on.
-
-It adds to the utility of every recreation if its events can be often
-thought of with pleasure; so that the mind may be sometimes occupied
-with them not only in careful thinking, but in those gaps or casual
-intervals of time in which, both during and after work, it is apt to
-wander uselessly. Especially is this true of mental recreations; they
-may thus prolong their happiness and their utility from day to day or
-year to year; as often as they are remembered the mind may be refreshed
-far more than it is in the mere vacancy of thought. And there may be
-as much refreshment in looking forward; as, for example, in planning a
-good holiday, or at the best, in trying, by the light of either faith or
-science, to anticipate the final decision of the doubts which now beset
-us, or the wonders that will be revealed, or the new powers that will be
-exercised in the far distant future.
-
-It is an excellence in recreations if they lead us to occupy ourselves in
-pursuits which give opportunities of gaining honest repute and personal
-success. Competition is good in all virtuous pleasures as well as in
-all work; the habit of being in earnest and of doing one’s best may be
-strengthened in recreations, and then employed in its still better use in
-work.
-
-And in agreement with this it is a great addition to the happiness and
-utility of a recreation if it enables us to do or to acquire something
-which we may call our own. In this is a part of the advantage which any
-one may find in giving part of his spare time to some study, some branch
-of art, some invention or research which may be recognized, at least
-among his friends as being, in some sense, his own. The study itself
-must be the first and chief refreshment, but its pleasure is enhanced if
-with the knowledge or the skill which it attains there is mingled some
-consciousness of personal property.
-
-Similarly, and for a like reason, the happiness of a recreation is
-increased if it leads us to collect anything; books, sketches, shells,
-autographs, or whatever may be associated with the studies or the active
-exercises of spare times or even with those of business. I think that
-none who have not tried it can imagine how great is the refreshment
-of collecting and of thinking, at odd moments, of one’s specimens and
-arranging and displaying them. There are few good recreations, few daily
-occupations with which something of the kind may not be usefully mingled.
-
-Cricket matches, rowing matches, foot ball, and the like, are admirable
-in all the chief constituent qualities of recreations; but besides this,
-they may exercise a moral influence of great value in business or in any
-daily work. For without any inducement of a common interest in money,
-without any low motive, they bring boys and men to work together; they
-teach them to be colleagues in good causes with all who will work fairly
-and well with them. They teach that power of working with others which
-is among the best powers for success in every condition of life. And by
-custom, if not of their very nature, they teach fairness; foul play in
-any of them, however sharp may be the competition, is by consent of all,
-disgraceful; and they who have a habit of playing fair will be the more
-ready to deal fair. A high standard of honesty in their recreations will
-help to make people despise many things which are far within the limits
-of the law.
-
-And, for one more general rule, it is an excellent quality in recreations
-if they will continue good even in old age. I think the experience of men
-would confirm this by the instances they see of unhappy rich old men who
-have retired from business and have no habitual recreations. None seem so
-unhappy as do some of these.
-
-They used to enjoy the excitement of uncertainty in their business; now,
-everything is safe and dull; then, mere rest after fatigue was happiness;
-now, there is no fatigue, but there is restlessness in monotony; they
-used to delight in the exercise of skill and in the counting of its
-gains; now, the only thing in which they had any skill is gone; they have
-no work to do, and they do not know how either to play or to rest.
-
-It is well, therefore, that all should prepare for the decline of power
-in recreations, as well as in much graver things. There are many that do
-not lose their charm or their utility as we grow older. One is in the
-refreshment of collections; for there are many whose value constantly
-increases as they become older, and with all of them the pleasure is
-enhanced the further we can look back in the memory of the events
-associated with each specimen, and can recollect the difficulty of
-obtaining it, and the joy of first possession. Or, there may be a change
-of active recreations; the elderly cricketer may take to golf and become
-sure that it is in every way the better of the two; the old hunting
-man may ride to cover more cautiously. Or, with less activity, there
-may be the happiness of reading or meditation, of music, or any of the
-fine arts; these, if they have been prudently cultivated, do not become
-wearisome in old age. If these and other like things fail, it may be a
-sign that it is time to leave off work; but so long as a man can work, so
-long will he be right if he will spend some of his leisure times, wisely
-and actively, in recreations; they may make him both more fit to do his
-work, and, at the last, more fit to leave it.—_The Nineteenth Century._
-
-
-
-
-LUTHER.
-
-By MRS. S. R. GRAHAM CLARK.
-
-
- Truth is eternal. He who dares
- To sign its deathless scroll
- Dares to live ever, linked to light,
- While ages onward roll.
-
- O dauntless hero! At thy grave
- A world uncovered stands!
- And o’er thy dust all christendom
- Clasps loving brother-hands.
-
- Our brother, ours! A land unborn
- When thou didst wage thy fight—
- We reap thy labors—race entailed—
- And in thy praise unite.
-
- Hail Germany! The world is bound,
- By fetters wrought from truth—
- Earth’s mightiest smith, upon thy breast
- Was cradled in his youth.
-
-
-
-
-ECCENTRIC AMERICANS.
-
-By COLEMAN E. BISHOP.
-
-
-IV.—THE MATHEMATICAL FAILURE.
-
-We do not often hear those who declare that “education does not educate,”
-trying to account for the failure charged against existing school
-systems. Are the alleged defects to be found in the unfit nature of
-the things studied, or in methods of study, or both? One of the chief
-exercises—indeed _the_ chief, in common schools—depended upon for mental
-development is numbers. Is the study of arithmetic worthy the place
-it holds in that regard? Does it do more than to cultivate a special
-faculty? Is that faculty one of the most important in the human mind?
-Is it related intimately to understanding, and does its culture imply a
-stimulation of the reasoning powers?
-
-Answers to these questions would doubtless be colored by the mental
-characteristics or experience of the individual answering. To some minds
-mathematics is a general stimulant; to others only a useful tool; to
-still others, a stumbling block and an offense. Some one has declared
-that while all specialties followed exclusively, are narrowing in their
-influence on the mind, the two specialties which lead straightest toward
-imbecility are music and mathematics. This was probably the conclusion
-of a mind which could not master the extraction of the cube root, and
-did not know “Yankee Doodle” from “Old Hundred.” Oliver Goldsmith said
-“Mathematics is a study to which the meanest intellect is competent.”
-He remembered many floggings because of the multiplication table, and
-hardly had patience to count change for a sovereign. If we appeal to
-first-rate examples of achievement in music and mathematics—say to
-a Mozart and a Newton—we shall find well-balanced minds; but on the
-other hand we may be confounded by finding prodigies in these lines
-who possess mean intellects otherwise. Blind Tom and Zerah Colburn are
-illustrations. Zerah Colburn had mathematics in “the natural way.” His
-parents in Vermont were poor and ignorant; the father appears to have
-been both selfish and stupid, but the mother was rather a shrewd Yankee
-woman. If there was any special gift in the family it was for hard work
-and sharp trading—rather commonplace gifts in New England. Out of this
-unpromising stock came Zerah in 1804. One day, when he was six years old,
-he flashed out a mathematical meteor, a revelation. His father overheard
-him reciting in his play the multiplication table, having never learned
-it. Examination showed that he knew it all and more too; was, in fact,
-himself a walking, frisking multiplication table. He answered instantly
-the product of 13×97—1261. The gift seemed to have descended on him then
-and there miraculously; the fact probably was that it had always been
-there, but he had been too dull to exercise it until the whim struck the
-little animal.
-
-The event created a sensation, which, inside of a year, was felt both in
-America and Europe. The popular wonder with which the child’s performance
-was received very speedily turned the head of his stupidly cunning
-father; he dropped his farm tools and rejecting all the offers of wealthy
-gentlemen to give the boy a complete education, set out to exhibit the
-prodigy through the land as a show. Thereafter, so long as both lived,
-the father was the evil genius of the son.
-
-At the outset of their wanderings, President Wheelock, of Dartmouth
-College, offered to take the child and give him a thorough education,
-but the father declined the offer, not including even a honorarium for
-himself. In Boston a committee of wealthy gentlemen, headed by Josiah
-Quincy, offered to raise $5,000, one-half to be given to the father, the
-other moiety to be devoted to Zerah’s education, under their direction.
-The father acceded to this, but for some reason, when the contract of
-indenture was drawn, it was different in the important particular that
-the father and son were to be _permitted_ to exhibit the lad publicly
-until the proceeds should amount to $5,000, when the sum was to be
-apportioned as before stipulated. This arrangement the father very
-properly rejected, and the negotiations failed. Wrong versions of this
-affair were published, imputing to the father the rejection of the
-genuine benefaction first proposed. That these reports injured him and
-their success thereafter wherever they went, the son always asseverated.
-
-They now went on “a starring tour” through the country, meeting with
-varied success, and in the early spring of 1811 returned to Vermont with
-about $600 as the proceeds thereof. The elder Colburn gave $500 of this
-to the mother, which, for the next twelve years, was all he contributed
-to the family support—the family then consisting of six children under
-fourteen years of age.
-
-From the first Zerah’s performance was confounding to all spectators.
-Mathematically, nothing seemed impossible to this child of six years.
-Being asked, “What is the number of seconds in 2,000 years?” he readily
-and accurately answered 63,072,000,000. Again, “What is the square of
-1,449,” he answered, 2,099,601. More intricate calculations based on
-concrete facts, were equally easy, as “Suppose I have a corn-field in
-which are seven acres, having seventeen rows to each acre, sixty-four
-hills to each row, eight ears on a hill, and one hundred and fifty
-kernels on each ear, how many kernels in the corn-field?” The answer,
-9,139,200 kernels, came readily. Asked what sum multiplied by itself will
-produce 998,001, he replied in four seconds, 999; and in twenty seconds
-produced the correct answer to “How many days and hours have lapsed
-since the Christian era began?” viz.: 661,015 days, 15,864,360 hours.
-He gave the answer to this: What is the square of 999,999×49×25; the
-answer requires seventeen figures to express it. Being asked what are the
-factors of 247,483 he made this reply: “941 and 263, and these are the
-_only_ factors.” How could he know that?
-
-These operations seemed the automatic action of mental power allied to
-instinct rather than to reason. The child had had absolutely no education
-in numbers and could neither read nor write; he would scarcely interrupt
-his infantile play to make his calculations. It was not till the spring
-of 1811 that he learned the names and the powers of the nine digits when
-written, and this he learned from a stranger who seemed to take this
-much more interest in his education than his father had ever taken.
-He was at this time a bright, playful, healthy boy. He answered mere
-puzzling questions with more than the ordinary shrewdness of his age, as,
-“Which is the greater, six dozen dozen or half a dozen dozen?” “Which is
-greater, twice twenty-five or twice five-and-twenty?” “How many black
-beans make six white ones?” He answered quickly, “Six—if you skin ’em.”
-During his calculations he would twist and contort like one in St. Vitus’
-dance. If asked, as he often was, his method of calculation, he would cry
-at the annoyance of attempting to explain.
-
-In April, 1811, father and son went to England, the child then being six
-and a half years old. The father tried (in vain, of course) to induce
-his wife to put their five little ones out in care of the neighbors
-and go abroad with him! Then, as at all other times, she seems to have
-monopolized the wit of the family. The same one-sidedness may have been
-detected in other families, for aught I know to the contrary.
-
-In England he at first created a marked sensation. His receptions were
-attended by wondering multitudes, among them being members of the
-nobility and royal family and distinguished scientists and literati.
-Among his achievements at this time was to multiply the number eight
-by itself up to the sixteenth power, giving the inconceivable result,
-281,474,976,710,656. He extracted the square and cube roots of large
-numbers by a flash of his genius. It had been laid down by mathematicians
-that no rule existed for finding the factors of numbers, but at the age
-of nine Zerah made such a rule; it was nearly as difficult to understand
-as his performance, however. Under this formula he gave the factors of
-171,395, viz.: 5×34279; 7×22485; 59×2905; 83×2065; 35×4897; 295×581;
-413×415. “It had been asserted,” he says, “by a French mathematician that
-4294967297 is a prime number; but the celebrated Euler detected the error
-by discovering that it is equal to 641×6,700,417. The same number was
-proposed to this child, who found out the factors by the mere operation
-of his mind.”
-
-The father was now happy. He was in the enjoyment of means and
-distinction through his child, all of which, with the usual conceit
-of a father, he arrogated to himself as the due reward of merit for
-having been the prodigious progenitor of so remarkable a child. Various
-money-making enterprises were started in connection with the “show,” from
-which others seemed to derive as much benefit as the father. Sir James
-Mackintosh, Sir Humphrey Davy (inventor of the safety lamp) and Basil
-Montague became a committee to superintend the publication of a book
-about the child; but though several hundred subscribers were obtained,
-many of whom paid in advance, the work was never published. A meeting
-of distinguished gentlemen was held to devise a scheme for his special
-education, which should develop his genius into a prodigy of matured
-intellectual powers, such as the world had never conceived. But all these
-plans were defeated by two circumstances—the boy’s general incapacity and
-the father’s special rapacity.
-
-The “show business” seemed to be the elder Colburn’s forté and he took
-the boy on exhibition to Scotland and Ireland, and finally to Paris
-(1814). Here, too, the extraordinary interest in his extraordinary
-faculty resulted in a project for his proper education—La Place, the
-author of “Méchanique Celeste,” and Guizot, the historian, being
-conspicuous in his interest. It resulted in his being given a scholarship
-in the Lyceum by order of Napoleon, just then back from Elba on his
-little excursion to re-resubjugate the world; this intervention in behalf
-of the boy being one creditable act of his brief restoration, at least.
-The lad showed his gratitude to his imperial patron by ardently assisting
-in the entrenchments thrown up to resist the attack of the allied armies
-on Paris after the defeat at Waterloo.
-
-The London admirers, spurred by pique at the French interest in and
-control of the boy, and by the father’s importunities, set about raising
-a purse to bring Zerah back and educate him in England. In furtherance
-of the enterprise, the father took his boy from the Lyceum and brought
-him to London in February, 1816. But this scheme fell through, owing,
-it is charged, to dissatisfaction with the father’s demand of a large
-endowment to himself as well as for the child; and soon both were living
-in poverty, unheeded and deserted.
-
-In a fortunate moment the Earl of Bristol interested himself in young
-Colburn and made a provision of $620 a year for his education at
-Westminster school, where he was regularly entered, being then a few days
-over twelve years old. Here he spent two years and nine months. Though
-he made creditable progress in languages he disappointed those who had
-built expectations on his peculiar powers, by revolting against higher
-mathematics. It was found, in fact, that his special faculty was less
-susceptible of discipline than is the ordinary mathematical power of
-other youth.
-
-But, I am gratified to state, the young Yankee made a stubborn resistance
-to the British form of white slavery in the school known as “fagging;”
-and what with his own obstinacy and the old man’s constant harassing the
-school authorities with remonstrances, the rule was suspended in the case
-of Zerah—probably the first and last case of such an alarming innovation
-on good old brutal British customs. Having won this emancipation the old
-father submitted with equanimity to being hooted off the “campus” with
-cries of “Yankee.”
-
-But the elder Colburn next quarreled with his generous patron, and took
-the boy from school. We may venture to doubt if this was after all a
-great privation to the lad. The curriculum of Westminster school the
-first four years consisted of Latin and fagging; the next four years
-of Greek and fagging. They had made it elective in Zerah’s case to
-the extent of omitting the fagging, taking away the live part of the
-curriculum and leaving him only the dead. Zerah himself tells us that the
-same time which was thus spent in linguistic body-snatching if spent in
-the French seminary would have afforded an excellent general education.
-This fatuity regarding dead languages has been since well maintained in
-English high schools and colleges, and, what is more remarkable, has been
-pretty faithfully imitated in higher institutions in America.
-
-Thrown on their own resources again, they found the novelty of Zerah’s
-performance had worn off, and he did not “draw.” The father now conceived
-the brilliant plan of making an actor of the boy. After four months’
-training by Kemble, he appeared on the stage at Margate, with a little
-success; went with strolling companies through England and Ireland
-during four months more, and then returned to London and ended the
-histrionic career. Next Zerah was prompted by the fond father to attempt
-play-writing, but as he says himself, his compositions “never had any
-merit or any success”—though this is substantially his opinion of all his
-own efforts through life.[B] Extreme poverty followed, almost the only
-means of subsistence being genteel begging from former friends. The last
-and kindest of these was at length worn out, and directed his footman to
-slam the door in the poor boy’s face when he presented himself on some
-alleged errand from his father.
-
-Zerah in his autobiography, subsequently written, speaks of these dark
-days with sorrow, but without one word of complaint of his father;
-indeed, the memoir seems to have been written more for the purpose of
-vindicating the father’s name than to do himself justice. He constantly
-laments that the mysterious faculty had been given him, and attributes to
-it and to his own general incapacity, all the misfortunes and sufferings
-of his father and himself. He called his gift “a peculiarly painful
-circumstance which destroyed all pleasing anticipations, blasted every
-prospect of social happiness, and after years of absence consigned
-the husband and father to a stranger’s grave.” Poor boy! He must have
-suffered more than he confesses. He hints at their want, his disgust
-with asking charity, the alienation of friends, and, above all his
-afflictions, he chafes at his idleness; and he naively sums up the whole
-experience as one of “comparative unhappiness!” How did Dickens ever miss
-these unique studies from real life?
-
-A situation as usher in a school was now obtained for young Zerah (ætat
-17) and he soon after set up a school on his own account. This was
-probably the first legitimate money he ever earned, and he mentions
-the chance, poor as it was, with more satisfaction than he does any
-of the achievements of his genius. It was far better than depending
-on patronage—which seems to have galled his pride. Before anything
-could come of school teaching, however, the father and son went off to
-other cities on a begging expedition. The usual humiliation and misery
-followed the undertaking, and they returned to London, where the young
-man reopened his school. Here, in 1824, his father died of consumption
-brought on by want and anxiety. One of Zerah’s biographers has said of
-the father: “Unhappily he had from the first discovery of his son’s
-extraordinary gifts, worked upon them with mercenary feelings, as a
-source of revenue. It is true he had a father’s love for his child, and
-in this respect Zerah, in the simple memoir of his own life, does his
-parent more than justice; but still it was this short-sighted selfishness
-which made him convert his child’s endowments into a curse to him, to his
-friends, and to Zerah himself. His expectations had been lifted to such
-a pitch that nothing could satisfy them. The most generous offers fell
-short of what he felt to be his due; liberality was turned in his mind to
-parsimony, and even his friends were regarded as little short of enemies.
-Such a struggle could not always last. His mind was torn with thoughts of
-his home and family, neglected for twelve years; of his life wasted, his
-prospects defeated; of fond dreams ending at last in failure, shame, and
-poverty.”
-
-After the death of his father, Zerah’s course of life was not less
-vacillating and unsuccessful, however, so it seems that his failures were
-not altogether due to his father’s bad counsels. He remained a while in
-London, making astronomical calculations and doing other mathematical
-work, as chance offered it. Aided by his old benefactor, Lord Bristol, he
-at last set out to seek his mother and family. She had done better alone.
-“During the long absence of her husband, with a family of eight children,
-and almost entirely destitute of property, she had sustained the burthen
-with indomitable energy. She wrought with her own hands in house and
-field; bargained away the little farm for a better one; and as her son
-says, ‘by a course of persevering industry, hard fare and trials such as
-few women are accustomed to, she has hitherto succeeded in supporting
-herself, beside doing a good deal for her children.’” Lucky for the
-family that one of them was not a genius. Mathematics, however, seems to
-be a form of monomania from which her sex is generally exempt. In fact,
-in the long list of eccentric Americans from which I can choose subjects
-for this series of sketches, I fear there is not to be one eccentric
-woman. This can be taken as complimentary to the sex or not, according as
-the reader regards eccentricity.
-
-Our arithmetical prodigy, now twenty years old, went to teaching a
-country school for a living, and at last fetched up in that other safe
-retreat of preaching the gospel. He followed this vocation with more
-persistence and credit than he had brought to any other of his numerous
-professions, though on his own modest representation he was not much of a
-preacher. His last venture was to become professor of—not mathematics—but
-languages in the “Vermont University” at Norwich. In this situation
-his life terminated, March 2, 1840. He plaintively, but in a somewhat
-pedantic style, sums up his career as follows:
-
-“Perhaps it has fallen to the lot of very few, if any individuals, while
-attracting curiosity and notice, to receive at the same time so many
-flattering marks of kindness, and it is not unfrequently a sorrowful
-reflection to him that after all the sympathy and benevolence shown
-by the liberal and scientific, certain unforeseen and unfortunate
-causes have prevented and still prevent his reaching and sustaining
-that distinguished place in the mathematical literature of the age to
-which, on account of the singular gift bestowed on him, he seemed to be
-destined. Now, after possessing that talent twenty-two years, he feels
-unable to account for its donation, and is unaware of its object.”
-
-Some facts regarding this singular gift may furnish suggestions to those
-who think upon educational matters.
-
-1. His peculiar faculty was _arithmetical_, not generally mathematical.
-He had little or no taste for higher mathematics: those which, like
-geometry and surveying, appeal to the perceptions, those which,
-like algebra, appeal to the imagination, and those which, like pure
-mathematics, appeal to the analytical reasoning powers, he disliked.
-His gift was natural, rudimentary and unreasoning, and as he reached
-adult life it passed from him, either because he outgrew it or lost it
-by over-use or disuse. Constant and long continued practice in mental
-calculation brought the possessor of this special mathematical gift,
-as he says, neither intellectual growth nor better capacity for mental
-application. In fact, the more he used it the stupider he grew.
-
-May we infer from this that arithmetic is a primitive, rudimentary
-and low branch of mathematics, having little or no relation to the
-perceptions of childhood, the imagination of youth and the reasoning
-powers of the matured mind, and hence of little or no value for the
-purpose of mental exercise and stimulation?
-
-2. His whole process was that of _multiplication_, and its inversion
-(division). He seems not to have practiced addition, which is in reality
-the rudiments of multiplication, or its converse, subtraction, which
-is only the long process of division. In the multiplication of large
-numbers, which so astounded people, he performed mentally several
-operations to get the result.
-
-May we infer from this analysis—arithmetic being assumed to be the most
-unintellectual form of mathematics—that multiplication is the least
-valuable part of arithmetic?
-
-If psychologists should grant these inferences to be sound, it remains
-the duty of teachers to address themselves to improving the teaching
-of the multiplication table, as the weak spot in all our primary
-education in numbers. Something can be done, perhaps, to idealize the
-multiplication table, and to make instruction in it concrete, objective,
-rational. Can not a child be shown why or how six times seven make
-forty-two? If arithmetic is so abstract, arbitrary and barren of ideas
-that this can not be done, were it not better to cease compelling the
-miniature mind to repeat year after year such stale and silly truisms
-as, “twice two are four,” etc., under the absurd expectation that some
-prodigious mental outburst must result from it in some mysterious manner?
-Why not substitute for this endless repetition “Eiry eiry, ickery Ann,
-fillisy follisy, Nicholas John,” to accomplish the same result?
-
-Some good teachers, here and there, are working on the problem of how to
-make arithmetic educational as well as useful. A person who has lively
-recollections of days and weeks and months wasted on the dead-lift of
-memorizing the multiplication table, as an achievement by the side of
-which all subsequent labors of life were easy, will find comfort in the
-perfect uselessness of Colburn’s wonderful genius for multiplication
-without effort.
-
-But it _was_ a wonderful faculty. What if a man were born with _all_ his
-faculties expanded to the same degree! Shall education and inherited
-progress yet produce minds as nearly infinite in every power as Zerah
-Colburn’s was in one? Is there, _is_ there an educational method which
-can take the shackles off all the faculties?
-
-If not, may there be somewhere a life in which the mind, let out of
-the strait earthly house of its tabernacle and freed from the sore
-limitations of physical nature may reach that acme in all its functions?
-Some of the operations of mind in a condition of suspended physical
-existence seem to suggest this as a probability for even common-place
-natures, as occasionally do such splendid exhibitions of a single faculty
-in so weak a nature as Zerah Colburn’s.
-
-[B] Another expedient adopted to keep the wolf from the door was to ask
-subscriptions to the yet unpublished and unwritten memoir of the lad. As
-he had by this time been able to formulate the method by which he made
-his mental computations, the father advertised to impart the secret of
-Zerah’s mysterious power to any one who would subscribe for ten copies of
-the memoir at eight dollars the copy.
-
-
-
-
-ASTRONOMY OF THE HEAVENS FOR FEBRUARY.
-
-By PROF. M. B. GOFF.
-
-
-THE SUN,
-
-As is evidenced by the continually lengthening days, is making its way
-northward. On the first it rises at 7:10 and sets at 5:18; on the 15th,
-rises at 6:54 and sets at 5:34; and on the 29th, rises at 6:35 and sets
-at 5:51, giving from the 1st to the 29th of the month an increase of one
-hour and eight minutes. The sun is “slow” during the entire month; that
-is, it does not reach the meridian until after noon; for example, on the
-1st, when the sun is on the meridian, a good time-piece says it is about
-fourteen minutes after noon. On the 1st, day breaks at 5:32, and evening
-twilight ends at 6:56.
-
-
-THE MOON.
-
-On the 4th, at 12:49 a. m., the moon enters her first quarter; on the
-10th, at 11:40 p. m., is full; on the 18th, at 10:04 p. m., enters her
-last quarter; and on the 26th, at 1:27, is again new. On the 1st, 15th
-and 29th respectively, she reaches the meridian at 3:55 p. m., 3:14 a.
-m., and 2:41 p. m. She is nearest to the earth at 3:54 on the evening of
-the 4th, and most distant at twelve minutes after three on the morning of
-the 18th. She reaches her greatest elevation, 67° 31′ latitude 41° 30′,
-on the 6th.
-
-
-MERCURY.
-
-Only early risers need expect to see Mercury this month, as he is a
-morning star, rising as follows: On the 1st at 5:54 a. m.; on the 13th,
-on which day also he reaches his greatest western elongation (26° 12′),
-at 5:41 a. m., or about 76 minutes before sunrise, and on the 29th at
-5:49 a. m. On the 26th, at 7:00 a. m., he is farthest from the sun. His
-diameter diminishes from 8.4″ on the 1st to 5.6″ on the 29th.
-
-
-VENUS,
-
-As intimated last month, continues to be an evening star, making every
-evening an increasingly handsome display in the western heavens, her
-diameter growing from 12.8″ on the 1st to 14.6″ on the 29th. Her motion,
-which is from west to east, amounts during the month to 31° 51′ 37″ of
-arc. Her time of setting, on the 1st, 15th and 29th, is as follows: 7:54,
-8:26 and 8:57 p. m., respectively. On the 29th, at 10:07 a. m., she will
-be in conjunction with, and 32′ south of the moon.
-
-
-MARS
-
-Will present nothing particularly new. His retrograde motion still
-continuing, he will rise earlier each evening, and, of course, set
-earlier the following morning. Thus, on the 1st, he rises at 4:51 p. m.;
-on the 15th, at 3:35 p. m.; and on the 29th, at 2:23 p. m. He sets on the
-mornings immediately following these dates at 7:29, 6:23 and 5:15; or, on
-the first date about twenty minutes after, and on the latter date about
-one hour and twenty minutes before sunrise; during the month taking his
-place as an evening star. His motion amounts to 9° 7′ 11″ of arc, and as
-he is going farther from the earth, his diameter grows smaller, being
-15″ on the first, and only 13.2″ on the last of the month. On the 10th,
-at 4:40 a. m., he is 9° 43′ north of the moon, and a little east of the
-nebula _Præsepe_ in _Cancer_.
-
-
-JUPITER
-
-Will be evening star throughout the month, and continue his retrograde
-motion from a point about twenty minutes west of _Præsepe_ on the 1st, to
-7 hours 48 minutes 35 seconds right ascension on the 29th. He will rise
-on the 1st at 3:56; on the 15th at 2:53; and on the 29th at 1:52 p. m.,
-and will set on the 2d at 6:30; on the 16th at 5:29; and on March 1st
-at 4:30 a. m. On the 9th, at 5:39 a. m., he will be 5° 45′ north of the
-moon. Of the four satellites, or moons, revolving around Jupiter, three
-are so near as to be eclipsed by him at each revolution. Roemer, a Danish
-astronomer, observed, however, that when the earth and Jupiter were on
-opposite sides of the sun, these eclipses occurred, as he estimated,
-about twenty-two minutes later than the time predicted by the tables. As
-the earth in this position was some one hundred and eighty-six millions
-of miles farther away from Jupiter than when Jupiter and the earth were
-on the same side of the sun, the discovery was made that the discrepancy
-in time was occasioned by the fact that light must have time to travel;
-and later and more accurate investigations afford us the truth that it
-takes light sixteen minutes and forty seconds to cross the earth’s orbit,
-or eight minutes and twenty seconds to come from the sun to the earth;
-and hence, that it travels about 180,000 miles per second. These eclipses
-occur frequently every month, and can be observed with telescopes of
-quite moderate power.
-
-
-SATURN.
-
-This planet will be evening star throughout the month, setting as
-follows: On the 2d, at 2:28 a. m.; on the 16th, at 1:33 a. m.; and on the
-29th, at 12:41 a. m. Its direct motion amounts to 41′ 32.1″ of arc. On
-the 3d, at 9 a. m., it is stationary. On the 5th, at 7:34 a. m., 1° 18′
-north of the moon. On the 22d, at noon, it is “quartile,” being 90° east
-of the sun. It can be found near the _Hyades_, a little north, at any
-time this month. Its diameter decreases from 18″ on the 1st, to 17.2″ on
-the 29th.
-
-
-URANUS
-
-Makes a retrograde motion of 55′ 47.1″, and retains the same diameter,
-namely, 3.8″. It will be morning star, rising however, early enough to
-be viewed in the evening. For example, on the 1st, at 9:00 p. m.; on
-the 15th, at 8:02 p. m.; and on the 29th, at 7:04 p. m. It will set as
-follows: On the 2d, at 9:10 a. m.; on the 16th, at 8:14 a. m.; and on the
-29th, at 7:18 a. m. On the 13th, at 7:44 p. m., it will be 3° 18′ north
-of the moon. On the 29th can be found nearly on a line between _Beta_ and
-_Eta_ in the constellation _Virgo_, and from _Beta_ about one-third of
-the distance between these two stars.
-
-
-NEPTUNE
-
-Will be evening star during the month, rising on the 1st at 11:24 in the
-forenoon, and setting next morning at 1:14; on the 15th, rising at 10:29
-a. m., and setting on the 16th at 12:19 a. m.; and on the 29th, rising at
-9:35 a. m., and setting at 11:25 the same evening. Its diameter is 2.6″.
-Motion direct, amounting to 16′ 56″ of arc. On the 4th, at 6:33 a. m.,
-is 11′ north of the moon; and on the 7th, at 9 a. m., is 90° east of the
-sun. Rises about forty-eight minutes earlier than Saturn.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Whoever wishes to perform something noble, if he would produce some great
-work, collects quietly and perseveringly the mightiest powers into the
-smallest space.—_Schiller._
-
-
-
-
-THE SEA AS AN AQUARIUM.
-
-A lecture delivered at the Monterey Assembly, Pacific Grove Retreat,
-California, 1883.
-
-By C. C. ANDERSON, M.D.
-
-
-I.
-
-It is said of Milton that in two short lines of poetry he made four
-mistakes in Natural History. He said of a whale:
-
- “At his gills takes in,
- And at his trunk lets out a sea.”
-
-Now, in the first place, the whale has no gills; second, he takes in
-air instead of water; third, he throws out expired air; fourth, the
-water “spouted” is thrown up by the force of expiration, not out of the
-animal’s body, but water that may lie between the “blow-hole” and the
-surface of the sea.
-
-I am not so sure but Milton made more than four mistakes in these
-lines. For whoever starts out on a wrong premise will follow a line of
-mistakes continually. Nevertheless, mistakes attentively observed may be
-profitable. We learn by mistakes. Unsuccessful experiments are mistakes
-of a kind—something wrong in the formula. The first aquarium I tried to
-start I made more mistakes than Milton made in his two lines. I made
-mistakes the second trial, and the third, and a dozen more times. And
-when I have succeeded in some instances, it was by accident, and to-day
-I can not tell why I sometimes failed, or why I sometimes succeeded. I
-have the consolation, however, of company in this respect. One of the
-most successful managers of aquaria says that he would give very much if
-he knew how to grow some of the higher marine algæ as one grows plants in
-a garden. Occasionally he has succeeded, but he confesses it was not by
-skill, but by chance.
-
-I propose, therefore, that for a little while we consider the sea as an
-aquarium—a place adapted to the growth of animals and plants. Our subject
-is somewhat large, I must confess, but if we can see and understand how
-these things live and grow in the ocean we must be able to grow them in
-our parks, and possibly in our houses. For what Nature does on a grand
-scale may also be done in a small way; and principles that govern the
-successful growth of plants and animals in a bottle of sea water must be
-the same that govern the fauna and flora of the Pacific Ocean.
-
-In order then to study and understand these things it will not be
-entirely necessary to make a trip to the equator, to the poles, or to
-travel around the world.
-
-It has been a favorite theory with Henry D. Thoreau and John Burroughs,
-those genial and poetical lovers and observers of nature, that we need
-not rove all over the earth, as is the custom of many, to see this
-curiosity or that, or to observe nature in her secret recesses, but that
-we only have to sit down in the woods or by the sea-shore, and everything
-of interest will come round to us. The little town of Concord was a whole
-world in miniature to Thoreau. Everything worth finding could be found
-there. And so to John Burroughs, is the juniper forest of the Hudson, a
-show case, with the whole world inside. “Nature,” he says, “comes home
-to one most when he is at home; the stranger and traveler finds her a
-stranger and a traveler also.”
-
-I think we may infer from this theory of our charming philosophers rather
-a poetical interpretation. They would urge a careful observation and
-study of phenomena in and near the places where we live, rather than
-gadding up and down the earth in search of novelties. If we familiarize
-ourselves with every day common objects and events of plants, animals,
-and other operations in nature, we shall then always be at home when
-nature calls, whether on one side or the other of the world.
-
-I have heard of a good old lady who, when nearing the end of her earthly
-existence, said she did not mind the dying if she could only breathe.
-Now this goodly person had doubtless spent all the years of her life
-without observing the fact that every plant or animal however small or
-simple in structure must have, if nothing else, the organs for breathing,
-and when that function is suspended or destroyed, life ceases. The
-respiratory organs may be reduced to a single cell, wall, or membrane.
-The forms of these organs, however, are exceedingly variable, elaborate,
-and sometimes complicated.
-
-In the sea, plants and animals have a compensatory relation to each
-other. The plant exhales oxygen and the animal exhales carbon. That is to
-say, the carbonic acid which is mixed mechanically with the water coming
-in contact with the cell, wall, or membrane, covering the plant, the atom
-of carbon is appropriated, freeing the two atoms of oxygen, which in turn
-are appropriated by the animal.
-
-Not only is this process of breathing compensatory and reciprocative—an
-interchange of commodities—the plant giving two atoms of oxygen for one
-of carbon, and the animal bringing its single but equally valuable atom
-of carbon for two atoms of oxygen, but without this interchange, neither
-could plant or animal live, and our world of life would become as dead as
-the moon is supposed to be.
-
-The process of breathing is so common that we seldom think about it,
-unless there is an interference in some way. Each one of us sitting
-quietly in this room would breathe about 1000 times in an hour, requiring
-over 100 gallons of air to sustain the proper supply of oxygen for the
-blood. During this time we have taken from the air a certain amount
-of oxygen and have returned to it an equal amount of something else,
-which we call carbon oxide, or carbonic acid gas. The oxygen has burned
-the effete material which is cast out of the blood in the process of
-breathing, and it is returned to the atmosphere as a kind of coal. The
-fundamental principle is the same in animals that breathe water as those
-that breathe air, only the apparatus is different. Animals that breathe
-water have a fine capillary network of blood-vessels spread out on gills,
-branchia or projections arranged so that the water shall pass rapidly
-over them, and thus the carbon is carried away and the oxygen taken into
-the circulation.
-
-Animals that breathe air through lungs have little air cells, so very
-small that a human lung is said to contain 600 millions of them; and
-these lie in contact with the capillary circulation of the lung which
-receives the oxygen and gives out the carbon. Some air-breathers have no
-lungs, but merely spiracles or minute holes in the body through which the
-air enters, coming in contact with the circulation.
-
-In all cases, whatever the form, size, or character of the animal
-the object is to bring the air in contact with the circulation that
-oxygen may be received in exchange for the burnt material—the carbon
-oxide—which, when once formed, is poisonous, and must be expelled from
-the animal.
-
-Now if we look over the earth we shall find immense deposits of coal.
-Here in the United States we have nearly 200,000 square miles of coal
-deposits. In other countries there is a like proportion of these carbon
-deposits, such as petroleum, bitumen, and paraffine. Then there are great
-forests and other vegetable growth. These have stored up the carbon
-set free by the animal, and have kept the air comparatively free from
-carbonic acid gas, which but for the vegetables would in a little while
-have rendered our atmosphere unfit for animal use. What is true of the
-air in this respect is also true of the sea.
-
-Thus it comes about that by the process of breathing, principally, we
-have the immense coal fields, the wide spread forests, and the herbage
-that covers almost the entire globe. For in the air and the water
-there exist the germs of animal and vegetable life so profusely, so
-universally, that the proper conditions of heat and light will develop
-contemporaneously, both the organic kingdoms. If we should take ten
-drops of water from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, near the surface,
-and add them to a small tube, say two ounces, of water that had been
-deprived of life by boiling, and kept sealed for a number of years, and
-place the tube in favorable conditions, we should in a few days see a
-little universe spring, as it were, into existence. There might not be a
-great variety of forms, but who can say that there might not be enough to
-populate or re-populate some world just entering into the conditions of
-such life as our earth contains, or some other world that had suffered a
-reverse, or cataclysm, by which all life was destroyed.
-
-Mr. Lloyd, Superintendent of the Birmingham Aquarium, says he kept for
-eight years a bottle of sea water, well corked and covered with paper,
-and that when he opened it the water was perfectly clear, free from
-smell, and of the same appearance as when taken from the sea. But when
-exposed for eight days to light in a window an abundance of microscopic
-plants and animals began to grow, and soon covered the sides of the
-bottle, and darted about in the fluid.
-
-Having occasion some ten months ago to use some sea-water, I brought
-to my house a demijohn full and placed it on the north side where the
-sun seldom shines, and where it is nearly always cool; although the
-temperature sometimes goes as high as 75° and 80° Fahrenheit in the
-afternoons. There was no particular effort to exclude light and air; the
-cork fitted loosely, and the wicker work was not unusually close. And
-yet, whenever I have examined this water it is clear and free from smell,
-and there are no plants or animals growing in it. But by exposure of a
-small quantity to the light and warmth of a window, these have rapidly
-developed. It is a fact, then, easily demonstrated in our own rooms and
-houses, that by excluding light from water and keeping it in a cool place
-we can arrest the growth of organisms. This is the case with springs.
-The microscope fails to discover germs in spring water until it has been
-exposed to the light for some time.
-
-Acting on hints of this kind, Mr. Lloyd has constructed aquaria with two
-reservoirs—one in a dark, cool place, quite large—the other in a light
-and warm place, favorable to the growth of plants and animals. By means
-of pipes these two reservoirs are connected so that a circulation can
-be set up between the light and dark portions. A pump may be used to
-force the water from the dark reservoir into the other, using vulcanite
-or rubber of some kind for sea water, instead of such oxidizable metals
-as brass, tin, lead, etc. The most convenient temperature is about 60°
-Fahrenheit.
-
-Thus, by exchanging the waters of these two reservoirs, as occasion
-requires, we shall be able to regulate an aquarium so as to keep many
-kinds of plants and animals in a healthy, growing condition.
-
-The best aquaria are those where the water is never changed, but ever
-circulated in the manner I have indicated. Water that has once been made
-clear and good, and maintained plants and animals, is better than any
-water newly brought from the sea. It must be remembered that evaporation
-takes place from the surface of an aquarium more or less according to the
-heat and dryness of the air. At a temperature of 60° in an ordinary dry
-air, such as occurs some miles inland, the evaporation from a surface of
-water six inches square would be about three drops in twenty-four hours.
-Some very warm, dry days it would be two or three times that much. This
-waste must be made up by adding occasionally some distilled water.
-
-An aquarium must be kept free of decaying matter. If once formed the
-sooner it is got rid of the better, for it will poison all creatures that
-come within its influence. The larger the dark reservoir the better. It
-can not be too large, but should be not less than four or five times
-larger than the reservoir in which the plants and animals are kept.
-Any dead matter then will quickly be burned at a low temperature—for
-oxygenation by means of the dark reservoir means no more nor less than
-the burning up of the effete and decaying particles thrown off by plants
-and animals.
-
-It might be profitable for me to tell now how I didn’t succeed with the
-first aquarium I undertook.
-
-It was a fine, large structure, capable of holding some twenty gallons.
-The sea water was procured, and at low tide a friend went with me to
-help carry an assortment of plants and animals. We had read a good deal
-about the compensatory properties of these two kingdoms; how the plants
-exhale oxygen and inhale carbon, and how the animals inhale oxygen and
-exhale carbon, and thus preserve the equilibrium and the purity of the
-water. Well, we had good luck in searching tide-pools, and the turning
-over of rocks; and we returned loaded with snails, crabs, sea-anemones,
-sea-urchins, clams, abelones, date fish, real fish, sea worms (with
-beautiful red branchia), and sea weeds, an extensive variety of red,
-green and brown, only one or two of which would grow, as I have since
-learned, even in the most successful aquarium yet known. There are many
-other things that I have forgotten. We had rock-work and sand, and
-pebbles of beautiful colors, and a great many _iridea_, a rainbow-colored
-sea weed. We intended to imitate one of the beautiful tide-pools we had
-seen, and astonish our friends with a little bit of the sea, snatched up
-and transported to our quiet room, away from the fog and wind and chill
-of the ocean shore. We would willingly have brought the tide and some
-waves, if they could have been dwarfed to the dimensions of our tank.
-With these and a few other things we might have succeeded, and kept our
-aquarium as long as Robert Warrington kept his in London, with unchanged
-water, during a period of eighteen years.
-
-But in eighteen hours our animals were all dead or dying; and although
-the plants were in proportion—that is, we had an equilibrium—they were
-almost equally in as bad a condition as the animals. First the water
-began to turn cloudy. We looked at our books for light, but they were
-equally obscure. Then we perceived a smell, somewhat like canned oysters,
-and this smell grew till it permeated the whole house. We suspected
-something wrong, so we emptied the aquarium, filtered the water, threw
-away the decaying matter, and put the things in again. But the “muddy
-vesture of decay” had covered the stones and entered the crevices, and
-in a few hours more we had to cast the contents away. The fact is, as I
-have learned since, we had a large number of bruised, broken and bleeding
-organisms from the handling in transfer, that the whole ocean’s waters
-could not save or heal, much less the little tank of twenty gallons.
-There were no waves to carry away the dead matter, no oxygen in the water
-to burn it, so it had to be breathed over and over again until the blood
-was poisoned and the animal died, because it could breathe such water no
-longer. And the plants began to fade and decay because their blood was
-also poisoned.
-
-Now let us turn and consider for a moment Nature’s aquarium—the sea. It
-covers two-thirds of the earth’s surface, and it has been explored to
-the depth of eight miles at places, without finding bottom. The average
-depth, however, is about 2½ miles. All this immense mass of salt water
-is inhabited with a fauna and flora in a state of nature. That is, the
-hand of man has done nothing in the way of taming or cultivating them.
-They are absolutely wild, whilst a large part of the earth is subject
-to man’s dominion, and he was commanded to subdue it. The herbs and the
-trees of the field “shall be for meat,” and his “dominion over the fish
-of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,” pronounced at creation, is, as
-yet, but partially accomplished. The sea and the air remain as mysteries
-unsolved, and as powers unconquered. The cyclone and the tidal wave are
-evidences of the untamableness of these elements. “He bindeth up the
-waters in thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them,” was the
-language of some thirty-five centuries ago, and it is equally as true and
-expressive to-day.
-
-Although the sea is inhabited at all depths, according to the best
-knowledge we have at present much the largest part lies beyond daylight.
-Light only penetrates a few fathoms—all below is darkness. This is the
-great, deep, cool reservoir from which the upper strata is constantly
-renewed by a circulation about which we, as yet, know but little. How
-is this circulation kept up? Who has charge of “the doors of the sea?”
-Who has “entered into the springs of the sea,” or “walked in search of
-the depth?” We have some knowledge in regard to these questions. The
-investigations of such men as Edward Forbes, Sir William Thompson, Dr.
-Wm. B. Carpenter, Lieut. M. F. Maury, Darwin, Kane, and a host of other
-scientific explorers equally as wise and industrious, have solved many
-mysteries in regard to the great ocean of salt water, and that lighter
-ocean of air that surrounds the earth.
-
-Many years ago Maury wrote some striking and impressive sentences in his
-“Physical Geography of Sea,” such as the following:
-
-“Our planet is invested with two great oceans; one visible, the other
-invisible; one underfoot, the other overhead; one entirely envelops it,
-the other covers about two-thirds of its surface. All the water of the
-one weighs about four hundred times as much as all the air of the other.”
-
-Then again in reference to the Gulf Stream he says: “There is a river
-in the ocean; in the severest droughts it never fails; in the mightiest
-floods it never overflows; its banks and its bottom are of cold water,
-while its current is of warm. The Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and
-its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. Its current is more rapid than the
-Mississippi or the Amazon, and its volume more than a thousand times
-greater. Its waters are of an indigo blue. They are so distinctly marked
-that their line of junction with the common sea water may be traced by
-the eye. Often one-half of the vessel may be perceived floating in Gulf
-Stream water, while the other half is in common water of the sea, so
-sharp is the line and such the want of affinity between those waters, and
-such, too, the reluctance, so to speak, on the part of those of the Gulf
-Stream to mingle with the littoral waters of the sea.”
-
-We have all read and doubtless thought a great deal about this wonderful
-stream; how England and the shores of the continent are warmed by
-this water. But there are other streams equally important, if not so
-distinctly marked. Every ocean and sea has its current or currents. As
-the waters are warmed by the rays of the sun, they expand and flow away.
-But these streams are not very deep, and the Gulf Stream is shallow
-compared with the dark, cold current that moves below it, but in an
-opposite direction.
-
- [To be continued.]
-
-
-
-
-SPECULATION IN BUSINESS.
-
-By JONATHAN.
-
-
-As a commercial term the word which heads this article stands for one
-of the marked tendencies of the times. Speculation is not a new thing.
-Words in the book of Proverbs suggest that the practice may have been
-rife twenty-five hundred years ago. “He that maketh haste to be rich
-shall not be innocent,” said the wise king; and it was his testimony
-that, even then, there was “nothing new under the sun.” But it is safe
-to say that seldom in history has a spirit of speculation so potent and
-wide-spread appeared among a people as in our own land in recent years.
-We often advert to a period in France. It was when John Law deluded
-himself, was deluding the people with his gigantic financial schemes.
-The “Mississippi Bubble” arose before the eyes of men, a fascinating
-thing, and grew larger and larger. Then everybody seemed seized with the
-fever of speculation. In 1719 it reached its height. All France was in
-a ferment, and every one bent on getting speedily rich. From all parts
-of the kingdom, and from other countries, people crowded into Paris to
-speculate in the enterprises of Law, who was the idol of the populace,
-with more than regal power. The disastrous results to the French nation
-flowing from the popular mania of that day are a matter of history, whose
-lessons may be pondered. Our country has seen no epoch which could match
-that in France of over a century and a half ago. There has been here no
-equal national convulsion resulting from the same cause. But the spirit
-of speculation to-day is in the air all over the land. We have seen it
-grow and widen; we have seen communities agitated by it, and suffering
-from its work; we have seen operations of a speculative nature carried
-on by our bold and skillful men of affairs, whose magnitude would have
-astounded the fathers; and mischievous consequences of speculation we
-have seen which were felt in every part of our country. Bishop Butler’s
-idea that insanity is not only an affliction of individuals, but likewise
-at times of communities, has abundance of historical facts to stand upon.
-It is hardly exaggeration to say there have been times when certain of
-our communities were beside themselves with the mania of speculation.
-The time was, and not very long ago, when a millionaire in America was
-almost unknown; now men with a million of money are common enough, and
-those with their hundred millions are likely soon to be so. These great
-fortunes, we understand, were acquired for the most part by fortunate
-speculation. This new western world has presented such a field for
-speculation as was never known elsewhere, and of the multitudes who have
-entered it, some have had success.
-
-The word speculation is a broad one, and covers an immense class of
-transactions. It may do, for a general definition, to say that it means
-the risking of money with the hope of gain. The element of contingency
-enters into all veritable speculation. The speculator assumes a risk;
-he makes a venture; he takes a chance. He may be entirely confident of
-gaining, but there is a possibility of his losing. The man who buys a
-piece of real estate, or any commodity, expecting that it will rise in
-value and he will make money by selling at a higher figure, speculates.
-The man who invests money in some undeveloped enterprise, believing it
-will prove a “bonanza,” speculates. The man who, in our stock and produce
-exchanges, deals in “futures,” and “options,” and “margins,” calculating
-upon a contingent rise or fall in the market to return him the amount of
-his venture increased, speculates. The man who risks his money in “pools”
-at the horse race or rowing match, hoping to double it, the man who tries
-his luck on the gaming table, hoping to win, speculates. In making this
-classification, however, the writer would not, of course, be understood
-as making these different transactions named in a moral point of view
-the same. Distinctions will presently be made which it is hoped to the
-reader’s mind will be clear.
-
-The great arena of operations in the line of speculation in our land is
-found in the Exchanges and Boards of Trade of the cities. These have
-become numerous, and of various kinds, and the growth of some of them
-has been prodigious. We now have stock exchanges and produce exchanges,
-cotton exchanges and oil exchanges and coffee exchanges. Thirty years
-ago the Chicago Board of Trade was just making a beginning, and feeble
-enough it was at the start. It is now by far the greatest exchange for
-produce in the world, and in the year 1882 not less than three billion
-dollars’ worth of business was here transacted. A seat in the New York
-Stock Exchange costs thirty thousand dollars; and it has been shown that
-the yearly transactions of this wonderful mart, represented in dollars
-and cents, are but little less than three times “the taxable valuation
-of all the personal property in the United States.” Our exchanges have
-become marts of speculation. The business now done in them, aside from
-that which falls properly into the speculative class, is inconsiderable.
-They are not, simply or chiefly, places to which producers bring their
-products for sale, and where men buy commodities, and sell at a fixed
-advance, which pays for the trouble of handling them. For the most part,
-those who trade here buy and sell calculating upon a rise or fall in
-the market which shall yield them a gain. Their gain is a contingent
-matter; they run the risk of a loss. This is speculation. It is a fact
-well understood that, in by far the greater part of the transactions in
-our exchanges, there is no veritable buying and selling of merchandise,
-the buyer paying the price demanded and receiving his purchase. The
-buyer neither pays for nor receives his purchase. His purchase is not
-a purchase. With a hundred or two dollars he buys merchandise to the
-value of thousands. The fact is, he pays, not for the commodity, but for
-a chance to make money from a rise in the price of the same; and his
-money goes to insure the one through whom he operates against loss from
-fluctuations in the market. On the other hand, the sale of the seller
-is not a sale. He sells what he has never seen and never bought. It
-is a chance he sells; and if fortune has favored him, he receives the
-difference between the price of the commodity at the time of buying and
-the time of selling. This is speculation, and something more. To one who
-had just come out of a Rip Van Winkle sleep and knew nothing of customs
-which in recent years have come into being in our land, there are things
-which would be decidedly puzzling. The present production of petroleum
-is estimated at about sixty thousand barrels a day; but in the different
-oil exchanges of the country nearly one hundred times this amount is
-daily bought and sold. Our farmers all together produce only one-fifth
-the number of bushels of grain per year as reported as changing hands
-in the Chicago Board of Trade; and the hogs of trade here are easily
-twice as many as the whole land affords. In the New York Stock Exchange
-stocks and bonds are daily bought and sold more by a million dollars’
-worth than exist; and the statement has been made that “when the cotton
-plantations of the South yielded less than six million bales, the crop on
-the New York Cotton Exchange was more than thirty-two millions.” It was
-from expressions in the speeches of General Butler upon finance that we
-formed the phrase “fiat money;” and it would seem that fiat wheat, and
-fiat pork, and fiat cotton, and fiat stocks, and fiat oil abound in the
-exchanges of our cities.
-
-It may be well, for the sake of the uninitiated, to attempt an
-explanation of certain terms in common use in connection with modern
-speculation. A man is “long on the market”—signifies that his buying
-has been in excess of his selling. He has oil, or grain, or whatever
-the article of merchandise may be, on hand—though perhaps not in fact;
-he has bought more than he has sold. A man “sells short”—means that
-he sells more than he has bought; he has an amount of merchandise to
-deliver in excess of what he has purchased. The trading in “options” has
-played an important part in the transactions of our exchanges. “Options”
-are of two kinds; buyers’ options and sellers’ options. In the case of
-the former, a man engages to take at a stipulated price merchandise to
-a certain amount, within a specified time; while the seller’s option
-binds one to deliver merchandise as aforesaid. The term “futures” in
-significance is not essentially different from “options.” “Puts” and
-“calls” are speculative terms which have become very familiar. A person
-thinks there is to be a decline in the market. He pays to another a
-sum agreed upon for the privilege of “putting” so much of an article
-in trade, or disposing of it to him at a price named, within a certain
-time—a privilege he may, or may not use, as he sees fit. Or, he believes
-the market will advance; and he pays for the privilege of “calling” or
-taking so much merchandise, as aforesaid. Buying and selling “on margins”
-is very common. In some exchanges the most of the business done is of
-this class. The method is easily understood. A man wishes to buy for
-speculation, a thousand barrels of oil. He pays into his broker’s hands a
-hundred dollars, more or less, and the broker buys the oil. The hundred
-dollars is a “margin.” The phrase of trade is “putting up margins.”
-The margin is the broker’s security. In case the market falls, and the
-oil remains on his hands, it secures him from loss. So much for the
-vocabulary and methods of speculation.
-
-But there is an aspect of this large question which must not be
-passed by. What is to be said of speculation regarded from a moral
-point of view? Unquestionably there is such a thing as legitimate
-speculation—speculation which is not to be condemned as morally wrong.
-The man who invests money in some commodity, paying for and receiving
-it, with the hope that he will be the gainer from its rise in value, it
-is right to call a speculator, but not right to call an immoral one.
-But there is another kind of speculation. A careful consideration of
-some of the practices set forth in this article should convince the
-candid that, though there are many good men engaged in them, they can
-hardly be justified in the light of the moral law. With regard to the
-character of gambling there is no controversy. Every one admits its
-immorality. And gambling is a broad genus; its species are many. This
-excellent definition has been given of it: “The art or practice of
-playing a game of hazard, or one depending partly on skill and partly on
-hazard, with a view, more or less exclusive, to a pecuniary gain.” The
-old Romans prohibited gambling, not on account of its immoral character
-and influence, but because its tendency was to render the people too
-effeminate; and for the same cause at first, laws against gambling were
-enacted in Great Britain. But in our own land the law forbids gambling of
-various forms because it is felt to be a vice, wrong and demoralizing.
-We have laws against lotteries and against betting. These, and other
-practices, are generally recognized as species of this vice. But our
-courts have decided that other things come under the same head, as to
-whose character there is not the same general consent. By judicial
-decision the person who takes a chance in a “grab-bag” at a church fair
-gambles; and in a most unequivocal manner, in the courts of different
-states, the opinion has been given that certain popular forms of
-speculation are gambling. Our judges have repeatedly said that those who
-speculate on “margins,” or trade in “options,” and have to do with “puts”
-and “calls,” gamble; and it is difficult to see how the decision can be
-gainsaid. Some people may be able easily to see that buying and selling
-“on margins” is not playing a game of chance for money; that taking an
-“option” is not like buying a ticket in a lottery; and that the method
-known as “puts and calls” is not very much the same as betting; but there
-are many thinking people who have not the ability.
-
-Just an allusion may be made to a practice of modern speculation, of
-which some one has forcibly and truthfully spoken as “exaggerated
-gambling.” It is what is known as “cornering the market.” Speculators
-by forming a combination gain a control of the market, and force it up
-and down to serve their own interests. In this way immense fortunes
-have been made. The writer’s limits do not allow of his entering into a
-discussion of the methods employed. Heartless, cruel, wicked, are mild
-terms to apply to this “exaggerated gambling.” It is true that, by this
-cornering of the market, men are “squeezed” and fleeced and ruined who
-are not themselves scrupulous as to their methods; but the effects of
-the pernicious practice often do not stop with these men. Great corners
-in grain markets, by raising the price of bread-stuffs, have resulted
-in untold suffering among the poor, and affected in a most unhappy way
-the whole country. In 1879 there were two famous corners which will not
-soon be forgotten, a corner in wheat, and the “Armour pork corner.” As a
-result of these, the price of pork was more than doubled, flour advanced
-two dollars a barrel, and there was a general decided rise in value of
-the necessaries of life. Millions of money were made, but the loss to the
-country was immense, and the suffering occasioned incalculable. It was
-estimated, in a report made to a state legislature, that the syndicate
-which manipulated the wheat corner was the occasion of a loss to the
-public in different ways of not less than three hundred millions. As yet
-there is no punishment by the law of the enormity of which these cases
-are illustrations.
-
-A final word can hardly be omitted with regard to the effects of
-speculation in general upon those engaged in it, and upon communities
-where the spirit is rife. Even those who are so hardened that they are
-unable to see that certain peculiar forms of it are immoral and wrong, as
-is claimed, will hardly deny that speculation is a pursuit which is to be
-censured on other grounds. The excitement of it is neither physically,
-mentally, nor morally healthful. It has a fascination which is dangerous;
-to break away from it comes to be like the Ethiopian’s changing his skin,
-or the leopard’s his spots. The cases are sadly frequent where it unfits
-one for the enjoyment of home, the pleasures of society, the duties
-of the citizen and the Christian. And in a multitude of cases it has
-brought those absorbed in it to the mad-house and to an untimely grave.
-The judgment of the candid and reflective must be that “making haste
-to be rich,” even by ways confessedly proper, is not best. Moreover,
-terms too strong can hardly be used in speaking of the harmful effects
-upon a community of a spirit of speculation filling the air. There is
-seen a feverish condition of things which is not well. Regular business
-is neglected; duties are passed by; the action of others is blindly
-and rashly followed. And it is always the case that, sooner or later,
-to by far the greater number who give way to the spirit and embark in
-the glittering speculative schemes, there comes disaster. Communities
-could easily be pointed out in whose condition of prosperity strikingly
-reversed one might read: “The demon of speculation hath done this.”
-
-
-
-
-WINE AND WATER.
-
-By BENJAMIN W. RICHARDSON, M.D.
-
-
-What has science said and what is she saying in more modern times on the
-question of fact in relation to strong drink and its effect on the world
-of life? Let us take some of her more salient teachings first.
-
-In the year 1725 she spoke to the government of this country, stating
-that “the fatal effect of the frequent use of several sorts of distilled
-spirituous liquors upon great numbers of both sexes is to render them
-diseased, not fit for business, poor, a burthen to themselves and
-neighbors, and too often the cause of weak, feeble, and distempered
-children, who must be, instead of an advantage and strength, a charge
-to their country.” Twenty-nine years later, she spoke again through
-the mouth of one of her most approved servants, the first inventor of
-ventilators, Dr. Stephen Hales. Through this illustrious philosopher she
-explained that strong liquors, though called spirituous, are so far from
-refreshing and recruiting the spirits, that, on the contrary, they do, in
-reality, depress and sink them, and extinguish the natural warmth of the
-blood.
-
-You will see from these evidences, which could be largely multiplied,
-that long ago science spoke strongly by her best speakers on matters of
-fact relating to the use of strong drinks. You will note, moreover, that
-her utterances in that respect are very urgent against strong drinks. At
-the same time you will with fairness reply, “All that is true; but the
-argument is so far against excessive use.” We all admit that argument;
-doctors admit that universally; statesmen admit it; statisticians prove
-that; clergymen who are not abstainers express that; nay, the very
-sellers of strong drinks, the gentlemen who sell wholesale, and the
-publicans who dispense for the gentlemen, they, too, admit the solemn,
-unanswerable truth, that strong drink kills. We therefore need no sphinx
-to inform us of what is universally admitted. This, however, we do want
-to know. We desire to be informed what is to be said by science on the
-moderate use of these agents. Let abuse of them go to the wall; let use
-stand forth alone, and let us hear what place this strong drink holds in
-relation to man and animals—what place it holds in nature—what good it is
-for man—what bad, when it is used in moderation. Let us have the for and
-against.
-
-The request is justice itself. There can be no objection whatever to put
-the answer of science to the “for” as well as the “against.”
-
-Let us begin by looking at the interpretations of science in her latest
-teachings as to the nature of strong drinks. On this point all are now
-agreed who speak scientifically. For many ages wine was looked upon as a
-distinct drink, as a something apart altogether from water. Strong wine
-will take fire; water will quench fire. Wine has a color and sparkles in
-the glass; water is colorless and clear as crystal. Wine has taste and
-flavor and odor; water is tasteless and odorless. Wine is the blood of
-the grape, and in some respects seems akin to the blood of man; water is
-of all things least like blood. Wine when drunken makes the face flush,
-the eyes sparkle, the heart leap, the pulses sharp, the veins full;
-water when drunken does none of these acts, and seems to do nothing but
-respond to the natural wish for drink. Wine makes the lips and tongue
-parched and dry, the drinker athirst; water keeps the lips and tongue
-and stomach moist, and quenches the thirst of the drinker. Wine when it
-is taken, sets all the passions aglow and dulls the reason; bids men
-enjoy and reason not; water creates no stir of passion, and leaves the
-reason free. Wine makes for itself a first and second and third and
-fourth claim on the drinker, so that the more of it he takes the more of
-it he desires; it is overwhelming in the warmth of its friendship; water
-sates the drinker after one draught; makes no further claim on him than
-is just consistent with its duty; leads him never to take more and more;
-and has no seeming warmth in its friendship. Wine multiplies itself into
-many forms, which appear to be distinct; it is new, it is old; it is
-sweet, it is sour; it is sharp, it is soft; it is sparkling, it is still;
-water is ever the same. Wine must be petted and cherished, stored up in
-special skins and special caves, styled by particular names, praised
-under special titles, and heartily liked or disliked, like a child of
-passion; water, pshaw! it is everywhere; it has one name, no more; it
-has one quality; it hurries away out of the earth by brooks and rivulets
-and rivers into the all-absorbing sea, where it is undrinkable; or it
-pours down from the clouds as if the gods were tired of it; it is no
-child of passion! Let the cattle, and the dogs, and the wild beasts alone
-drink water. Let the man have the overpowering drink, the blood of the
-grape—wine!
-
-Alas! for this poetic dream. Science, poetic, too, in her way, but
-passionless, destroys in those crucibles of hers, which men call
-laboratories, this flimsy dream. There she tells that, when one or two
-disguises are removed, even blood is water; as to wine, that is mere
-dirty water—sixteen bottles or cups or any other equal measures of water,
-pure and simple, from the clouds and earth, to one poor bottle or cup of
-a burning, fiery fluid which has been called ardent spirit, or spirit of
-wine, or alcohol, with some little coloring matter, in certain cases a
-little acid, in other cases a little sugar, and in still other cases a
-little cinder stuff.
-
-It is a pitiful fall, but it is such, and science not only declares it,
-but proves it so to be. A pitiful let-down, that men throughout all
-ages who have called themselves wine-drinkers have been water-drinkers
-after all; that men who have called themselves wine merchants have been
-water merchants; that men who have bought, and still buy, wines at
-fabulous prices have been buying, and still are buying, water. A dozen of
-champagne, bought at a cost of five pounds ten shillings, very choice—I
-am speaking by the book—consisted, when it was all measured out, of
-three hundred ounces, or fifteen pints of fluid, of which fluid thirteen
-pints and a half were pure water, the rest ardent spirit, with a little
-carbonic acid, some coloring matter like burnt sugar, a light flavoring
-ether in almost infinitesimal proportion, or a trace of cinder stuff.
-Science, looking on dispassionately, records merely the facts. If she
-thinks that five pounds ten shillings was a heavy sum to pay for thirteen
-pints and a half of water and one pint and a half of spirit, she says
-nothing; she leaves that to the men and women of sentiment and passionate
-feeling, buyers and sellers and drinkers all round.
-
-
-
-
-EIGHT CENTURIES WITH WALTER SCOTT.
-
-By WALLACE BRUCE.
-
-
-Twenty-eight years have passed since the battle of Bosworth, where the
-bitter struggle between the Houses of York and Lancaster ceased with
-the defeat and death of Richard the Third. We now come to the three
-best-known poems of Sir Walter, viz.: “Marmion,” “The Lay of the Last
-Minstrel,” and the “Lady of the Lake,” all grouped together in their
-relation to history between the years 1513 and 1560.
-
-It is beyond the scope and purpose of our plan to consider the beauties,
-defects or literary characteristics of these poems. We are constrained to
-consider them merely as links in the great historic chain. It may occur
-to the reader that they have less to do with actual history than the
-novels which we have considered; but, as the clear Scottish Lakes framed
-in rugged mountains, reflect every outline of rock, forest and shrub,
-so these poems framed and set in solid historic facts, reflect clearly
-the minutest features of the social feudal life in the reigns of James
-the Fourth and James the Fifth of Scotland. It is in fact the peculiar
-province of poetry, in all ages, to preserve the domestic habits and
-every-day happenings of the people. It would not be rash to assert that
-the real life of England and Scotland is better revealed in their ballads
-and poems than in their chronicles and histories.
-
-“Marmion” opens about the commencement of August, and concludes with the
-battle of Flodden, the 9th of September, 1513. It will be remembered that
-Henry the Eighth, at this time, was on the English throne. He sailed
-to France in July with a gallant army, where he formed the siege of
-Terouenne. During his absence the Scottish King, James the Fourth, urged
-by the French Queen, gathered an army to invade the north of England.
-He was distinguished for his romantic chivalry, and when the beautiful
-Princess of France called him her knight, sent a ring from her own
-finger, and requested him “to ride three miles on English ground for
-her sake,” the gallant king thought that he could not in honor decline
-the request. His fantastical spirit led to his ruin. He met the English
-forces at Flodden under the Earl of Surrey, and the Scottish forces were
-defeated. It was one of the bravest and fiercest struggles recorded in
-Scottish or English history. The battle commenced about four o’clock in
-the afternoon and when night came it was still undecided. The Scottish
-center kept its ground, and the King fought hand to hand with a bravery
-and courage worthy of a better cause. The English lost five thousand,
-and the Scotch ten thousand of their bravest soldiers. During the night
-the Scottish army drew off in silent despair, when they knew that their
-King and bravest nobles lay dead upon the field. Or as Scott poetically
-expresses it:
-
- “Their king, their lords, their mightiest low,
- They melted from the field, as snow,
- When streams are swollen and south winds blow,
- Dissolves in silent dew.
- Tweed’s echoes heard the ceaseless plash,
- While many a broken band,
- Disordered, through her currents dash,
- To gain the Scottish land:
- To town and tower, to down and dale,
- To tell red Flodden’s dismal tale.
- Tradition, legend, tune and song,
- Shall many an age that wail prolong;
- Still from the sire the son shall hear
- Of the stern strife, and carnage drear,
- Of Flodden’s fatal field,
- Where shivered was fair Scotland’s spear,
- And broken was her shield!”
-
-In the description of this battle Scott is true to the minutest points of
-history, and throughout the entire poem we breathe the atmosphere of the
-feudal ages. His sketch of James the Fourth at Holyrood is a contribution
-to historical portraiture. His words seem like side-lights thrown upon
-the king’s character, until the chivalry and weakness of the man are
-presented in living embodiment.
-
- “Old Holyrood rung merrily
- That night with wassail, mirth and glee;
- King James within her princely bower
- Feasted the chiefs of Scotland’s power;
- This feast outshone his banquets past;
- It was his blithest—and his last.”
-
-The night of revelry in Edinburgh, preceding the direful battle, may
-have suggested to Byron the grand poetic description of the “beauty and
-chivalry” convened in Belgium’s capital the night before the battle of
-Waterloo. The tradition to which Scott alludes of the ghastly midnight
-proclamation at the market cross of Edinburgh, summoning the king by
-name, and many of his nobles and principal leaders, to appear before
-the tribunal of Pluto within the space of forty days, found indeed sad
-realization. The description of “Edinburgh after Flodden,” a poem by
-Robert Aytoun, completes the picture, and, in lyrical power, is not an
-unworthy postscript to the vigorous canto which finds its culmination in
-the last words of the English knight:
-
- “When Stanley was the cry—
- A light on Marmion’s visage spread,
- And fired his glazing eye;
- With dying hand, above his head,
- He shook the fragment of his blade,
- And shouted ‘Victory!—
- Charge Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!’
- Were the last words of Marmion.”
-
-“The Lay of the Last Minstrel” is related in time to the middle of the
-sixteenth century; and the scene is laid in the border country of England
-and Scotland. It is sometimes claimed that poetry is not so much the
-outgrowth of monastic and studious seclusion as of stirring circumstances
-which inflame the imagination. Whether this is true or not, the principle
-finds proof in the border country of Scotland—a land of turmoil, poetry
-and song. On the English side of the border were strong and stately
-castles; on the Scottish side they were constructed for the most part on
-a limited scale. A few fortresses, like those of Jedburgh and Roxburgh,
-rivaled the Southron defences; but, after the usurpation of Edward the
-First, the Scots no longer attempted to defend their borders by strong
-places; they relied upon their own courage, and acted upon the familiar
-words of Douglas, that “they preferred to hear the lark sing than the
-mouse squeak.” In fact many of the strongest fortresses were torn down,
-and utterly demolished, that the enemy might not obtain a footing in the
-country. The south of Scotland was reduced to a waste desert. Even as
-late as the invasion of Cromwell the borders were left in this desolate
-condition. The Hall of Cessford, or of Branksome, was on the largest
-scale of the border fortresses in Scotland, but could not be compared
-with the baronial castles of the northern families of England.
-
-The poem opens with a description of the customs of Branksome Hall, how
-nine and twenty knights, with as many attendant squires with belted sword
-and spur on heel,
-
- “Quitted not their harness bright,
- Neither by day nor yet by night;
- They lay down to rest,
- With corselet laced,
- Pillowed on buckler cold and hard;
- They carved at the meal
- With gloves of steel,
- And they drank the red wine through the helmet barred.”
-
-That verse is worth a volume of history in emphasizing the irregular
-life of the time and place where every man’s charter was his sword. In
-the description of William of Deloraine and the holy monk digging up the
-grave of the wizard, Michael, Scott reveals the superstition of the times:
-
- “Slow moved the Monk to the broad flag-stone,
- Which the bloody cross was traced upon;
- He pointed to a secret nook;
- An iron bar the warrior took;
- And the Monk made a sign with his withered hand,
- The grave’s huge portal to expand.”
-
-The adventure with the strange knight on his return, the gathering of the
-clans by the beacon light, the English forces drawn up before the castle,
-and the decision of the battle by the conflict of single champions, are
-all true to the spirit of the times. Everything is so weird and wild
-that even the dwarf, the book and magic charms do not seem entirely out
-of place in the story. We must remember that it is a land of tradition—a
-land aglow with the deeds of the Douglas and the Percy; and those
-interested in the Border History will be well repaid by reading carefully
-the notes accompanying the poem. It was a labor of love to the author,
-for it relates intimately to the valley of the Tweed. Here and there
-throughout the poem his enthusiasm breaks out for “the land of brown
-heath and shaggy wood—land of the mountain and the flood.” It would seem
-like sacrilege not to quote the familiar lines:
-
- “Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
- Who never to himself hath said,
- This is my own, my native land!”
-
-It is no wonder that Scott struck the chords of the national heart in
-this production, for it embodies so much of that unwritten history which
-had an oracle at every fireside.
-
-As “Marmion” furnished us with a picture of James the Fourth, so the
-“Lady of the Lake” gives us a portrait of his son James the Fifth. He is
-said to have been handsome in person, and devoted to military exercises.
-He inherited his father’s love for justice, “was well educated, and like
-his ancestor, James the First, was a poet and musician.” His first care
-on taking the government was to restore the border country, of which
-we have just spoken, to something like order. He seized the principal
-chieftains and imprisoned them. He executed Adam Scott, known as king of
-the border, and John Armstrong, a free-booting chief, to whom the whole
-border country paid tribute. He thoroughly subdued these warlike chiefs,
-and it passed into a proverb, that “he made the rush bush keep the cow;”
-or, in other words, that cattle might remain safely in the fields without
-a guard.
-
-He proceeded in the same manner against the Highland chiefs, and reduced
-the mountain country to a degree of quiet unknown for generations. Some
-of his acts are pronounced cruel by historians, but, in those bitter
-times, he was compelled to consider the welfare of the whole nation, and
-was compelled to be cruel in order to be kind.
-
-James the Fifth also resembled his father in wandering, now and then,
-about Scotland in the dress of a private person. Many pleasing incidents
-are related of these royal visits in disguise, and the king in this
-way readily discovered the actual sentiments and feeling of the common
-people. Scott presents him in the “Lady of the Lake” in this character,
-after a long chase through the Highlands, which leaves him alone in the
-deep wilds of the Trosachs. His adventure in the disguise of Snowdoun’s
-knight, or James-Fitz-James, is doubly interesting as it presents a
-trait of the monarch’s character. The world likes true stories. It never
-outgrows the question of the child: Did it really happen? This is one of
-the marked features of these poems and romances. When we rise from the
-reading of Scott’s works we have in our minds something more than a mere
-story. We have not only the human qualities of love and friendship, but
-also the characteristics and features of the times, or the presentation
-of some well-known personage. The sketch of James-Fitz-James, from the
-time when he meets Helen Douglas near the margin of the Lake to the
-eventful day, when Snowdoun’s knight is revealed to her at Stirling
-Castle as Scotland’s King, is the faithful delineation of a real
-personage. He is not lifted into a realm of mere fancy, but everything is
-real and substantial about him. He is conducted to the island home which
-shelters the outlawed Douglas; around the walls hang trophies of the war
-and chase; spears, broadswords and battle-axes garnish with rude tapestry
-the sylvan hall; he sleeps upon the mountain heather, in the room
-
- “Where oft a hundred guests had lain,
- And dreamed their mountain sports again.”
-
-There is another character in the poem drawn true to life; that of
-the bold mountain chieftain Roderick Dhu, an outlawed, desperate man,
-representative of the Gaelic leaders driven back into their mountain
-fastnesses. In the harsh treatment which they received alike from kings
-and nobles, they found ready excuse for depredation. Scott puts this idea
-with great force in the lines of the Gaelic warrior:
-
- “Saxon, from yonder mountain high,
- I marked thee send delighted eye
- Far to the south and east, where lay,
- Extended in succession gay,
- Deep-waving fields and pastures green,
- With gentle slopes and groves between;—
- These fertile plains, that softened vale,
- Were once the birthright of the Gael;
- The stranger came with iron hand,
- And from our fathers reft the land.
- Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell
- Crag over crag, and fell o’er fell.
- Ask we this savage hill we tread
- For fattened steer or household bread;
- Ask we for flocks these shingles dry,
- And well the mountains might reply,
- ‘To you, as to your sires of yore,
- Belong the target and claymore!
- I give you shelter in my breast,
- Your own good blades must win the rest.’
- Pent in this fortress of the north,
- Think’st thou we will not sally forth,
- To spoil the spoiler as we may,
- And from the robber rend the prey?
- Ay, by my soul! While on yon plain
- The Saxon rears one shock of grain;
- While, of ten thousand herds, there strays
- But one along yon river’s maze,
- The Gael, of plain and river heir,
- Shall, with strong hand, redeem his share.”
-
-The poem also reveals the old Highland custom of gathering the clans by
-the cross of fire, and there is nothing more dramatic in descriptive
-verse than the journey of that flaming cross, as it passes from hand to
-hand, calling the mourner from the house of death, and stopping midway
-the joyous marriage procession:
-
- “Fast as the fatal symbol flies,
- In arms the huts and hamlets rise;
- From winding glen, from upland brown,
- They poured each hardy tenant down.
- The fisherman forsook the strand,
- The swarthy smith took dirk and brand;
- With changed cheer, the mower blithe
- Left in the half-cut swath the scythe;
- The herds without a keeper strayed,
- The plow was in mid-furrow stayed,
- The falconer tossed his hawk away,
- The hunter left his stag at bay;
- So swept the tumult and affray
- Along the margin of Achray.”
-
-The personal bravery of the Gael and Saxon is well presented in the
-mountain march, and we venture a long quotation, which finds apology not
-only in its strength and beauty, but also in the fact that it reveals the
-character of the King and the Highland chief. The Saxon says:
-
- “Twice have I sought Clan Alpine’s glen
- In peace; but when I come again,
- I come with banner, brand and bow,
- As leader seeks his mortal foe.
- For love-lorn swain, in lady’s bower,
- Ne’er panted for the appointed hour,
- As I, until before me stand
- This rebel chieftain and his band!”
-
- “Have then thy wish!” He whistled shrill,
- And he was answered from the hill;
- Wild as the scream of the curlew,
- From crag to crag the signal flew.
- Instant through copse and heath, arose
- Bonnets and spears and bended bows;
- On right, on left, above, below,
- Sprung up at once the lurking foe;
- From shingles gray their lances start,
- The bracken bush sends forth the dart,
- The rushes and the willow wand
- Are bristling into axe and brand,
- And every tuft of broom gives life
- To plaided warrior armed for strife.
- The whistle garrisoned the glen
- At once with full five hundred men,
- As if the yawning hill to heaven
- A subterraneous host had given.
- Watching their leader’s beck and will,
- All silent there they stood and still.
- Like the loose crags whose threatening mass
- Lay tottering o’er the hollow pass,
- As if an infant’s touch could urge
- Their headlong passage down the verge,
- With step and weapon forward flung,
- Upon the mountain side they hung.
- The mountaineer cast glance of pride
- Along Benledi’s living side,
- Then fixed his eye and sable brow
- Full on Fitz-James; “How say’st thou now?
- These are Clan Alpine’s warriors true;
- And, Saxon, I am Roderick Dhu.”
-
-The entire poem is so true to fact and scenery that it forms to-day a
-poetic guide-book to the country about Loch Katrine. The description of
-sunset upon the lake, the deep recesses, the lone mountain passes, the
-dashing cataracts, impart life, vigor and reality; and every line reveals
-the spirit and bravery of highland life.
-
-We have been tempted to give an analysis of the plot of the poem, and
-to quote some of the noble passages which Scott speaks through the
-honest lips of Helen Douglas and her faithful Malcolm; but it would
-have taken us aside from the main purpose of our historic relation. The
-events of these poems, as related to the world’s history, are trifling
-and insignificant, when compared with the far-reaching policy of Louis
-the Eleventh, which formed the frame work of our last paper; and are in
-no way prophetic of the great events that follow in the reign of Queen
-Mary and Queen Elizabeth, depicted in “The Monastery,” “The Abbott” and
-“Kenilworth;” but the rude life of these warlike days has passed into the
-world’s poetry, and the reader will trace, through the three poems which
-we have considered, the devoted faith of manhood and the abiding love of
-womanhood; ay more, perhaps discover a wholesome moral, which ought not
-to be unheeded in these days of broadening civilization.
-
-
-
-
-BOTANICAL NOTES.
-
-By PROF. J. H. MONTGOMERY.
-
-
-ON THE TERMS ANNUAL AND BIENNIAL.—There is certainly much ambiguity
-between the terms annual and biennial. Those plants which germinate in
-the spring and die in the autumn are not very different from those which
-vegetate in the summer or autumn and flower and die in the succeeding
-spring or summer; nor indeed can I see much between them and plants
-like _Agave_, which live in a barren state for many years, and then
-flower once and die. It seems to be only a question of time required
-to concentrate the requisite energy to produce flowers and fruit. True
-annual plants may be divided into winter annuals and summer annuals. The
-former usually store up nutritive matter in the autumn to supply the
-flowering state in the spring; differing in this from summer annuals.
-But this is not constantly the case. The _Agave_ is many years doing
-this. Although this plant flowers only once, we of course ought to have a
-term to distinguish it from the annuals. There are also the plants which
-produce stoles rooting at the end, such as the sympodes of _Fragaria_;
-in that case the plants are truly perennial. But see such plants as
-_Epilobium_, where the buds at the end of stoles alone remain alive
-during the winter, and produce the plants of the succeeding year; what
-are we to call these? We usually denominate them perennial. Then how
-separate them from those which are not aërial, but go through the same
-course? Then come such plants as _Orchis_, where a new tuber is formed
-by the side of the old one each year, usually at a very short distance
-from it, but sometimes at some considerable distance, as in _Herminium_;
-and the tuber which has flowered dies. The tuber is therefore a winter
-annual. Of course all these ought not to be confounded with the true
-perennials, where the same root lives and flowers at least several years
-in succession. DeCandolle’s terms, _mono-_ and _poly-carpic_ will not do;
-for they convey another idea. _Mono-_ and _poly-tocus_, as suggested by
-A. Gray, are better, but here we do not distinguish between _Agave_ and
-_Brassica_. And he has not attempted to distinguish these from _Orchis_
-(except by calling them perennial, as we all do), or _Orchis_ from
-_Fragaria_. Here is a subject of much interest for those to study who pay
-attention to such matters.—_Journal of Botany._
-
- * * * * *
-
-There is a strange plant with a curious flower growing in the damp
-valleys of New Granada, called _Masdevallia chimaera_. It is one of the
-unique productions of the vegetable kingdom. This plant has a dense
-cluster of thick leaves; the slender flower stems creep along and flower
-under the moss or leaves. The flower cup is divided into three lobes, and
-is whitish in color, with irregular spots of pink. So fantastic is this
-flower that a writer in _La Nature_ says: “In looking at this strange
-flower one sees the colors of a nocturnal bird, the form of a large
-spider in the middle, with two small, piercing black eyes.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-TREES OF LAKE CHAD.—Dr. Nachtigal, in his “African Journeys,”
-describes some curious trees that grow in the region of Lake Chad. The
-butter-tree, called in that country _toso-kan_, bears a green, round
-fruit, ripening into yellow, about as large as a small citron. This
-fruit consists of a nut resembling a horse-chestnut in color and in
-size, and a palatable, fleshy, smooth-skinned covering like a plum.
-The nut affords an oil, which solidifies under a slight decrease of
-temperature, and is used throughout North Africa as a substitute for
-butter. The _Parpia biglobosa_, of the same region, a leguminous plant,
-furnishes an excellent food in its seeds, which are eatable while
-still unripe. The ripe seeds contain a thick, saffron-colored marrow,
-inclosing black, shining grains. The meal made from them forms, when
-mixed with water or milk, a pap, which has a sweet and pleasant taste
-at first, but soon cloys. Relieved with sour milk or tamarind-juice, it
-forms a dish healthful and enjoyable to all. The wool-tree is the third
-characteristic tree of the country. It rises straight up, with thick,
-horizontal branches arranged in whorls, one above the other, and derives
-its name from its fruit, which bursts like pods of cotton, and discloses
-a similar mass of fibers, lustrous and soft as eider-down. This “wool”
-is used in stuffing cushions and mattresses and for the wadding-armor of
-heavy cavalry. It has the valuable property of never becoming so compact
-but that it can be restored to its original volume by a short exposure
-to the sun. The tree is a favorite place of refuge for the negroes in
-time of danger. Taking their children and goods up with them they secure
-an excellent natural fortress among the whorls of its limbs.—_Popular
-Science Monthly._
-
- * * * * *
-
-Peach leaves curl and wither because of a fungus growth upon their
-surfaces. This vegetable parasite often ruins the first crop of leaves
-and unless they are replaced by a new growth early in the summer the tree
-is injured, often permanently.
-
-
-
-
-C. L. S. C. WORK.
-
-By Rev. J. H. VINCENT, D.D., SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTION.
-
-
-Memorial Days for February: “Special Sunday,” February 10. Read Psalm
-xix—an exquisite poem about the Works and the Word of God. “Longfellow
-Day,” Wednesday, February 27.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The office will send out free to all members of the Circle, within a few
-weeks, a copy of “Memorial Days of the C. L. S. C.,” with readings for
-those days.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Required Readings for February: “Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation,”
-by J. B. Walker, completed; Chautauqua Text-Books—No. 21, “American
-History,” No. 24, “Canadian History;” “How to Get Strong, and How to
-Stay So;” Required Readings in THE CHAUTAUQUAN in “American History and
-Literature,” “Physical Sciences,” “Commercial Law,” “Arts, Artists and
-their Masterpieces,” with “Sunday Readings.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Concerning the life of Milton, the following information is received
-from a distinguished Professor of English Literature in one of the great
-universities of America: “The book you ask for is ‘Milton,’ by Mark
-Patterson, B.D., Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. It is in the ‘English
-Men of Letters’ series, edited by John Morley. It is pleasantly written,
-interesting, animated, and to the point. A very large work is the
-‘Life of Milton in connection with the History of the Times,’ by David
-Mason, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the
-University of Edinburgh.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-In the organization and conduct of Local Circles, there are developed
-many ingenious and useful schemes, devices, exercises, etc. I shall
-always be glad to receive suggestions from persons who devise and test
-such novelties of method.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A California friend writes: “There are doubtless many reading the C.
-L. S. C. Course who have not the advantage of Local Circles, and who,
-beside, have no friends who are interested in the work with whom they
-might correspond. Why would it not be a good plan to form a C. L. S. C.
-Correspondence Circle for such as wish to improve themselves in that
-way?” Persons desiring such correspondence may send their names, with
-postoffice addresses, to Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Members of the C. L. S. C. in Plymouth, Massachusetts, have sent a
-fragment of Plymouth rock, which is to be attached with great care to the
-banner-staff of the C. L. S. C. Our correspondent says: “Perhaps it would
-be of interest to members of the C. L. S. C. in general to know that the
-rock is said by geologists to have been brought here from the far north
-during the glacial period, and is the only one of its kind on the coast.”
-Our correspondent adds: “Our Circle received with much pleasure your
-proposal for the C. L. S. C. picnic at Plymouth in 1884, and are ready to
-enter into any plan which you may suggest.” We hope to have that picnic
-in June.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A New England woman writes: “I know mothers with from four to six little
-children, who take the Chautauqua course, and find that economized time
-is a gain in all things, while their homes are as scrupulously tidy, and
-their social relations as well sustained, as if they had not undertaken
-it.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-An old lady 68 years of age dreads “the _examination_ of the C. L. S. C.”
-Does she not know, or will not some one tell her that, while we desire
-thoroughness of work, and while we do provide a university course with
-rigid examinations for those who are qualified to attempt it, the C.
-L. S. C. does not require any “examination” whatever? It requires the
-reading of certain books, and the statement to the central office that
-they have been read. It also desires the filling out of certain memoranda
-which are not in any sense examination papers. Let us encourage the
-fearful, that they may join the Circle, prosecute the readings, catch the
-inspiration, receive the diploma, and continue through the coming years
-to read the appointed books!
-
- * * * * *
-
-A distinguished educator and personal friend of other years, resident in
-Kingston, Jamaica, writes: “I think I have hit on the way to introduce
-reading matter into the homes of our peasantry. In some districts where
-a minister or intelligent schoolmaster will take hold of the affair, I
-get a number of people, (from ten to twenty) to subscribe one shilling
-(twenty-five cents) each. With this money I send for a number of
-illustrated monthly papers, costing with postage, two shillings each
-_per annum_. These are circulated among the subscribers, each keeping
-the paper a week. In the course of the year I get the reading of what
-would otherwise have cost ten shillings to secure. Many that could not be
-induced to pay two shillings for the exclusive use of one would venture
-upon one shilling for the privilege of reading many papers.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-D. Lothrop & Co. consent to make an edition of “The Hall in the Grove”
-at seventy-five cents, binding it in strong manilla cover, for the use
-of the C. L. S. C., which decision enables us to retain “The Hall in the
-Grove” on our list.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A good housewife writes: “My fall work out door is about done. My corn is
-all gathered, and the two pigs are ready for killing. As soon as it is
-colder I shall be ready to go to work in earnest. You would laugh to see
-me at work in the garden, about my potatoes and onions, and then coming
-in, getting dinner and making my toilet, taking my embroidery and sitting
-down to earn a few cents beside what I can raise. Agriculture, science
-and art, are in reality connected. Then there is a basket of Christmas
-gifts yet to make for the Sunday-school children, by myself, and I have
-just done re-papering a small room that I may read, write, and work with
-comfort. I buried my aged husband September 23. He was nearly 84 years
-old. We were nearly forty years married.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-All new Circles should report at once to the C. L. S. C. office,
-Plainfield, N. J.; and if any of the members know of Circles not
-reported, please send names and address of the officers at once. We are
-anxious to get all the Local Circles on our list.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The number of class 1884 enrolled was about 7,000; motto, “Press
-forward—He conquers who wills;” badge old gold. Class 1885 numbers about
-6,000; the president writes that the motto will probably be, “We press
-on, reaching after those things which are before;” badge lavender. Class
-1886 numbers over 14,000; motto, “We study for light to bless with
-light;” badge white. Class 1887 numbers about 12,000 at present, and
-“still they come;” motto, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee;” badge
-blue.
-
-
-
-
-OUTLINE OF C. L. S. C. READINGS.
-
-
-FEBRUARY, 1884.
-
-The required readings for February include “Philosophy of the Plan of
-Salvation,” from chapter xv to the end of the book; “How to Get Strong
-and How to Stay So,” by William Blaikie; Chautauqua Text-Books, No. 21,
-American History, No. 24, Canadian History, and the Required Readings in
-THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
- * * * * *
-
-_First Week_ (ending February 8).—1. “Philosophy of the Plan of
-Salvation” from chapter xv, to section 6, page 187.
-
-2. “How to get Strong,” the first four chapters.
-
-3. German History and Selections from German Literature in THE
-CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
-4. Sunday Readings for February 3, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
- * * * * *
-
-_Second Week_ (ending Feb. 15).—1. “Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation,”
-from page 187 to chapter xvii.
-
-2. “How to Get Strong,” from chapter v, to chapter ix.
-
-3. Readings in Physical Science and Commercial Law, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
-4. Sunday Readings for February 10, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
- * * * * *
-
-_Third Week_ (ending February 22).—1. “Philosophy of the Plan of
-Salvation,” from chapter xvii, to the supplementary chapter.
-
-2. “How to Get Strong,” from chapter ix, to “The Abdominal Muscles,” on
-page 218.
-
-3. Readings in Art, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
-4. Sunday Readings for February 17, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
- * * * * *
-
-_Fourth Week_ (ending February 29).—1. “Philosophy of the Plan of
-Salvation,” from page 259 to the end of the book.
-
-2. “How to Get Strong,” from page 218 to the end of the book.
-
-3. History of the United States and Selections from American Literature,
-in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
-4. Sunday Readings for February 24, in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-
-
-
-
-LOCAL CIRCLES.
-
-
-=Ontario= (Picton).—The Picton branch of the C. L. S. C. held its second
-meeting for 1883-84 on the evening of November 19. We start on the new
-year with an increased membership of twelve, and also with a greater
-degree of enthusiasm in the prosecution of our studies. Our membership
-now reaches thirty-nine, representing the classes of ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87.
-The program for the evening’s entertainment consisted of selections
-bearing on the life and character of Martin Luther; two papers, one on
-art, condensed from THE CHAUTAUQUAN, the other on the lives of Philip
-and Alexander; an interesting and animated conversation on the works of
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, and quotations from the same, which were given
-by most of the members; the quotations in the November number of THE
-CHAUTAUQUAN on Grecian history, singing of selections from Chautauqua
-songs, and a solo by one of our members, which closed a very interesting
-and instructive entertainment.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Maine= (Calais).—When the news of the C. L. S. C. movement, and the
-advantages it offered for home study reached Calais, it was hailed
-with delight by three teachers, who enrolled themselves as members of
-the class of ’83. These kept up the work till last year, when they
-were joined by seven members of the class of ’86. During the winter
-and spring we held informal meetings monthly at the houses of the
-members. We received so much benefit from these that, in September, we
-met and organized a Local Circle. Our officers consist of a president,
-vice-president, secretary and treasurer, with an executive committee of
-three, whose duty it is to prepare programs for the meetings. We hold our
-meetings fortnightly in the parlor of the Congregational Church, which
-a good friend rented for us. We now number about thirty members, and a
-good deal of enthusiasm is shown in the work. Our programs consist of the
-questions in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, readings from some of the authors studied,
-papers on important events and persons considered, etc.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Vermont= (West Brattleboro).—The Pansy branch of the C. L. S. C. was
-organized on the evening of September 13, with officers consisting of
-president, secretary and executive committee, chosen for three months. By
-commencing thus early we were enabled to have the books on hand, and be
-in complete working order by October 1. We began with twelve names, and
-have since increased the list, until we now have enrolled sixteen regular
-and eleven local members, all of class ’87, and who have entered upon the
-Course with an earnest purpose to do their best to cultivate “the gift”
-that is in them. We have as yet settled upon no definite plan for our
-weekly meetings, but have been experimenting to find what exercises were
-best fitted to our needs and capacities. We have had at different times
-reading from THE CHAUTAUQUAN, essays, one minute oral reports on subjects
-previously assigned, quotation exercises, question boxes, etc. Bryant’s
-memorial day was also appropriately observed. We always close with
-the song so familiar and dear to all who have heard it in the Hall of
-Philosophy, “Day is Dying in the West,” followed by prayer. November 21
-was a “red letter day” in our annals, because it was then our privilege
-to listen to a lecture by Dr. Vincent. The members of both our local
-circles, numbering about seventy-five persons, sat in a body in the hall,
-and the “salute” was given heartily. After the lecture the Doctor was so
-kind as to improvise an informal reception, and give us a short address
-concerning our C. L. S. C. work, together with the pleasure of a personal
-meeting with him, and we parted feeling grateful for the renewed courage
-and ardor with which we shall continue the year’s reading, and for the
-increased opportunities for culture that have been made possible to us by
-the founder of the C. L. S. C.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Massachusetts= (Lowell).—On the evening of September 26, 1883, about
-twenty persons met in the vestry of the Eliot Church and formed a local
-circle. Some have left, while others have joined. We have now thirteen
-local members and ten regular members. We adopted the “Proposed plan for
-a Local Circle,” given in the Chautauqua Text-book No. 2, with slight
-changes. Our meetings are held on Monday evenings, every two weeks. They
-are very interesting and profitable. There are four other local circles
-in Lowell, and we intend to hold union meetings on the memorial days.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Massachusetts= (West Haverhill).—About twenty from this vicinity were
-privileged to attend the Assembly at Framingham, Mass. Of course we came
-home all aglow with enthusiasm for the C. L. S. C. Early in October we
-held a public meeting, thus adding some new names to our list. We now
-have a membership of twenty-five. Our meetings are well attended and
-interesting. We start out on this year of work with fresh courage and
-hope, and with strong faith in the C. L. S. C. as a means of blessing to
-all who engage in its work.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Massachusetts= (New Bedford).—The pastor of the Allen Street M. E.
-Church of this city suggested the formation of a local circle to a few
-young people of his parish last fall. He proposed that a meeting should
-be held in the vestry of the church every two weeks for a review of study
-and for mutual benefit. He called an organization meeting on the first
-of October, and when the evening was over there were thirty-three names
-enrolled. He presented a constitution which was adopted. A president,
-secretary, treasurer and committee of instruction were elected. This
-committee of instruction consists of the officers and three ladies. One
-of these persons, with any two members of the circle whom he or she may
-select, arranges the program for each meeting. We have had four regular
-meetings, each of which has been attended by from forty to sixty
-persons—members of the Circle and their friends. Each evening we have
-had original papers on topics suggested by the study, tests, suitable
-poems, songs, etc. We have now forty-two members, ranging in years from
-fourteen to fifty. It was a little undecided at first what we should
-call ourselves, but it seemed like such an earnest band of workers,
-some one suggested we should be the “Philomaths.” We all praise the
-Chautauqua movement for the precious advantages it offers to all “lovers
-of learning.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Connecticut= (Westville).—Our circle was formed in January, 1883.
-Although we had lost three months’ study, the year’s work was finished
-before July. We review all our reading in our meetings, held once in
-two weeks, the members taking turns in conducting the reviews, and
-dividing an evening’s work between three or four. We started with seven,
-all regular members, and now number fourteen, ten of whom are regular
-members. We enjoy our Chautauqua meetings very much, and as none of us
-like to miss them, we have a good attendance.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=New York= (Brooklyn).—We have lately organized a circle in the midst
-of this great city, which is the outcome of many informal meetings of
-resident members of the class of 1887. The proposition to form ourselves
-into an organized branch of the grand Chautauqua Circle was received with
-uproarious applause, and the manner in which every member lent his aid
-in arranging the details, bespoke the individual enthusiasm in the work.
-The program for our next meeting is as follows: Opening exercises; essay,
-“The Persian Wars;” remarks by the president on collateral themes; essay,
-“The Establishment of the Athenian Democracy;” speech by the treasurer
-upon subjects of his own choice; questions and answers; essay, “The Age
-of Pericles;” concluding exercises, which are very entertaining.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=New York= (Mount Kisco).—The Mount Kisco C. L. S. C. was organized
-in October, 1882. We meet in the rooms of the Lyceum, bi-monthly. The
-circle is made up of ten members, all enthusiastic, ardent workers in the
-field of science and literature. We recite, in concert, the answers to
-the questions in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, the leader reading the questions. The
-readings for the last two weeks are then discussed. We try to make our
-meetings quite informal, believing that restraint will thus be avoided.
-Our officers consist of a president, vice-president and secretary.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=New York= (Greenwich).—Our class of ’86 have semi-monthly meetings.
-During October and November we used the questions in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. One
-of our members gave the geography of Greek History from a large map, and
-others read from American Authors, Demosthenes’ Orations, etc.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=New York= (Newark Valley).—On October 17 we organized a local circle of
-the C. L. S. C., and though our regular members number but twelve, yet
-we have some very interesting and instructive meetings; upon the whole
-a very enthusiastic club. Our plan is briefly this: We meet once in two
-weeks, and after a Chautauqua song, and prayer, have two or three essays
-and recitations; then general class exercises in Greek History, or the
-current subject, a question box, and free criticisms.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Pennsylvania= (Canonsburg).—Although Canonsburg had what we would call
-a flourishing circle last year, we gave it no christening. We had a
-membership of twenty-five. We purchased the Geological Charts, which were
-a great help to the imagination in filling up the incredible proportions
-of those monsters of past ages. While we were studying astronomy we had
-the pleasure and profit of hearing a lecture on “The planet Jupiter,” by
-Professor McAdam, of Washington College. After the lecture the Professor
-kindly joined the class in the yard, and spent an hour in tracing the
-constellations. The examination papers were promptly answered. The year
-closed with an ice cream supper, when we spent the evening socially, and
-sang many of the Chautauqua songs. September 19 we organized for another
-year’s work with fifteen members. One of our members on going to Alabama
-organized a circle there. Others who have left us are still reading. We
-open our meetings with Scripture readings and roll call, at which each
-member responds by a motto. We use the questions in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, and
-recite the Required Reading by topic. We play the Chautauqua Games, and
-we would say to all circles, “Get games.” At the close of each meeting a
-few minutes are allowed for criticisms, in which all take part.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Pennsylvania= (Ridley Park).—At the call of a few of our literary loving
-people last spring, a preliminary meeting relative to the establishment
-of a local circle was held at the Ridley Park Seminary, and at least
-forty people assembled to hear the explanation of the principles embodied
-in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, as given by Mr. Wm.
-Curtis Taylor, a gentleman to whom our people are much indebted for
-their present literary inspiration. At a second meeting held a week
-or two following, a permanent organization was effected and officers
-elected. This circle, while it centers at Ridley Park, is not exclusively
-confined to this place, but extends a halo as it were around a circuit
-of probably ten miles. We are even represented in Philadelphia and
-Wilmington, Delaware. Holding our meetings but once a month, and having
-our membership so thoroughly scattered, we have found it a good plan to
-establish what we term sub-circles, which hold their meetings about once
-a week. These are presided over by chairmen appointed by our president,
-and comprise at this time three sub-circles—Ridley Park, Sharon Hill,
-and Philadelphia. At our last meeting, November 6, to each of these
-was assigned some question for consideration, upon which one of their
-members is expected to write an essay, and the sub-circle itself be
-prepared to answer any questions propounded by the other sub-circles on
-its particular subject. For example, the Ridley Park sub-circle which has
-been assigned the subjects of History and Art, will be prepared to answer
-whatever questions may be asked by the members of the other circles.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=New Jersey= (Newark).—At a meeting held October 8, a local circle was
-organized, called the “Central,” composed of about thirty members. The
-meetings are held fortnightly, the exercises being varied from time
-to time. In part they consist of essays and reading of short extracts
-from the best authors, varied by discussions as to the best methods of
-pursuing the appointed studies. An executive committee of five, appointed
-by the president, holding the office for one year, determine the nature
-of the exercises and make the necessary appointments. There are at least
-four local circles in the city.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=District of Columbia= (Washington).—At the earliest moment “Union”
-C. L. S. C. reorganized for their third year of study. Nearly every
-member was present, and there were a number of new recruits. One of
-the circle gave a graphic description of a visit to Chautauqua, of
-its surroundings and methods of work, thus creating an enthusiasm and
-a determination among the members to do thorough work and win their
-diplomas by honest endeavor. When they come to Chautauqua, as they will
-in 1885, they wish to feel that they can justly and proudly march through
-the Arches—true Chautauquans. The circle meets every Thursday evening
-at the residence of one of the members, and the exercises are opened by
-singing the Chautauqua songs as found in the _Assembly Herald_, with
-organ accompaniment, after which the subject of the lesson is discussed
-in a conversational way, by questions and answers and by essays by the
-members. As all are working members and realize that application is
-profitable, our meetings seldom lack in interest.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Maryland= (Baltimore).—The “Eutaw” branch of the C. L. S. C. held its
-November meeting in the cheerful parlors of the church parsonage, Rev. H.
-R. Naylor, D.D., and family as hosts. The exercises opened with singing
-and prayer. The president of the branch, after a few explanatory remarks,
-stated that the occasion was especially significant and interesting
-in that Miss Bessie G. Thomson, a member of our circle, had completed
-the required course of Reading, and had received her diploma to that
-effect, and would deliver before the Circle a valedictory address. After
-the address our president favored the circle with a conversazione upon
-the value of an education, abounding in apt quotations and valuable
-suggestions. This was followed by Bryant memorial readings. The very
-pleasant entertainment closed by a display of pictures of travel by one
-of our number who has recently returned from Europe.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Ohio= (Athens).—Our local circle held its first meeting this year, on
-October 1, with twenty members present. The leaven is working gradually,
-and each year we are able to record a number of new members, as well as
-an increased enthusiasm among the older ones. “The Irrepressibles” are
-well represented, but this term might, with propriety, be applied to
-all our members, as they have fairly won it by indefatigable zeal and
-industry. We have lost two of our members during the last year; one has
-removed to another part of the state, the other has gone to join the
-school above. Mrs. Alice S. Sloane was a member of the class of ’84, and,
-although an invalid at the time of taking the course, never ceased to
-keep up her reading until within a few months of her death. Her interest
-in the work was remarkable in one so afflicted, and whenever opportunity
-offered itself, she urged upon others the importance of accepting the
-advantages offered in this course.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Ohio= (St. Mary’s).—Our C. L. S. C. was organized the first week in
-October, 1882. We commenced with seven members, but one of whom had been
-at Chautauqua during the summer. One was a graduate of the class that
-year. At the close of the year we numbered fourteen. Attendance good.
-In alphabetical order each one takes charge of the exercises for the
-afternoon, asks the questions in THE CHAUTAUQUAN, and calls upon each
-member for a view of the topic assigned them in the Required Reading,
-these topics having been given out at the previous meeting. We keep the
-Memorial Days, and must say our members are quite enthusiastic in the
-work. We have had no lectures, etc., as yet, but hope to some time in the
-future.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Indiana= (Brazil).—We have organized a C. L. S. C. at this place with
-about twenty members, and the prospect is that several more will unite
-with us. There is an unusual degree of interest manifested. We call our
-circle the “Philomathean.” This is the first circle ever organized here,
-though a few of the members have been reading for two and three years.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Illinois= (Carlinville).—We have an enthusiastic local C. L. S. Circle
-at this place of fifteen members, five of whom belong to the general
-Circle, and to the class of ’84. We elect president, vice-president and
-secretary every two months; critic and question committees serve for one
-month. The latter furnish questions requiring verbal answers, or papers,
-as case may be. At roll call each responds with items of news quotations,
-or something of interest, short. Bryant’s Day roll call was responded to
-by a quotation from his writings by each. On Luther’s memorial day each
-one had something to say of him. We derive much profit and pleasure from
-every part of the course, and think it most admirably arranged.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Illinois= (Rushville).—The “Vincent” branch of the C. L. S. C. meets
-semi-monthly, and we are happy to say that our interest is unabated. This
-is our second year, and although we have lost several members by removal,
-and two have taken up a collegiate course, we still have an enthusiastic
-membership of fifteen. We have a president, vice-president, secretary
-and treasurer. Our order of exercises varies. At our last meeting we had
-read Dr. Talmage’s lecture on “Happy Homes,” delivered at Chautauqua.
-Some of our members took the _Daily Herald_ during the Assembly, and we
-have laid in store many good lectures which will be read at the circle
-during the winter. We advise all members to take the _Herald_ another
-year if they want to enjoy what is next best to going to Chautauqua—that
-is, hearing all about it. The items from other local circles are read
-with great interest.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Illinois= (Yorkville).—The local circle of our town was reorganized
-this year with thirty members. The officers consist of a president and
-secretary, both of whom hold office for a period of one month. The
-president appoints a teacher for each branch of study, and critics on
-language and pronunciation are appointed for each meeting. Every one
-feels a deep interest in the work.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Michigan= (Decatur).—For two winters some ladies of our town have had
-a class for the study of history, the members thinking they could not
-take the time necessary for the Chautauqua course. The meetings were
-pleasant and instructive, but during the past summer one and another of
-the class, and some not belonging to it, determined to take the C. L.
-S. C. readings. Accordingly a “Pansy” circle was organized October 1.
-Various reasons prevented our meeting again for nearly three weeks, but
-since that time we have had regular weekly meetings. They are not weakly,
-however, for with most of the circle the readings have been studies.
-Our president, who by the way is a member of the class of ’84, and has
-studied alone for three years, tells us that we do more studying than any
-circle she has known. We have ten members and two “local members,” and
-hope for additions to our number. We think the “Chautauqua Idea” a grand
-one. May it run the wide world through.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Wisconsin= (Milwaukee).—The “Delta” circle, of this city, reorganized
-October 2. Last year we numbered but sixteen, and this year we have
-enrolled over thirty, of whom twenty-five are regular members of the
-C. L. S. C. Our officers consist of a president, vice-president and
-secretary, elected annually; also a referee, elected monthly, who
-is expected to be able to settle doubtful questions in regard to
-pronunciation, etc. Meetings are held once a week at the homes of the
-members. We follow the outline of studies published in THE CHAUTAUQUAN.
-Our exercises consist generally of a review of the week’s reading,
-conducted by a leader who is appointed two weeks in advance, and who
-assigns topics, allowing one week for preparation. We try to make our
-meetings as informal and conversational as possible. It is at the
-pleasure of the leader to vary the exercises as much as he chooses. Our
-last evening was devoted to political economy, the leader having arranged
-for a discussion on “Free Trade versus Protection,” in which six members
-participated. The interest in the circle is constantly increasing.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Wisconsin= (Elkhorn).—At the close of last June the local circle at
-Elkhorn seemed at its lowest ebb. Owing to removals, sickness, and other
-reasons, only two remained out of the six who started in January, 1882,
-who were able to attend the regular meetings, and when one of them
-removed in September to Milwaukee, the remaining member almost forgot
-our class motto, “Never be discouraged,” for among her acquaintances
-there was apparently but little interest in the C. L. S. C., and she
-seemed doomed to plod on alone. In October, without any _great_ effort
-on the part of any one, there sprang into being a full-fledged local
-circle of nine members. This circle had been in existence under the name
-of the “Elkhorn Mutual Improvement Society,” for two years, and some
-good work had been done in English History and Literature, but now an
-inspiration seized the members to take up the C. L. S. C. studies, and
-the society was reorganized without a change of name, and retaining the
-old constitution nearly intact, into a C. L. S. C. local circle. Some of
-the members entered upon the studies with misgivings, lest they should
-not be able to do the work, but so far the work has been easier than was
-anticipated, and the circle, as a whole, is doing it enthusiastically
-and thoroughly. The main cause of this renewal of interest in the C.
-L. S. C. may be fairly traced, I think, to the influence of the Monona
-Lake Sunday-school Assembly, whose sessions at Madison last August were
-attended by two members of the “Mutual Improvement Society.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Wisconsin= (Milwaukee).—The C. L. S. C. is booming here. The “Bay View”
-local circle recently organized by Rev. B. F. Sanford has thirty members,
-and has live meetings. This one and one on the south side are part of the
-result of Dr. Vincent’s late visit.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Iowa= (Muscatine).—The local paper of Muscatine says: There is probably
-no town of its size where so much genuine literary taste abounds in
-society, as in Muscatine. Last evening, the third Chautauqua circle
-was organized with a membership of twenty-five, and the other two are
-flourishing like green bay trees. It will be said by the cynic that these
-organizations lack true _cultus_ and real literary taste, the cultivated
-man and woman having little occasion to put themselves under an arbitrary
-discipline to compel the prosecution of their reading or study, and
-feeling little sympathy for a movement that violates the sacred privacy
-between author and reader, and refusing to submit their literary tastes
-to the procrustean exercise of any man’s dictation. We have heard these
-things said against the Chautauqua system, but if a tree is to be known
-by its fruits, there can be but one opinion of an organization that is
-rearing so many youth of our land of both sexes in the cultivation of
-their mental powers and graces, informing them in history, philosophy
-and art, bringing them betimes to the streams of pure literature, and
-accomplishing them so thoroughly in their wide range of study as to make
-them authorities everywhere by reason of the universality and accuracy of
-their attainments. It is thus that we find the advanced Chautauquans whom
-we have the honor to meet, and so are they impressing themselves upon the
-whole country.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Dakota= (Yankton).—Our circle of ten or twelve members has had an
-existence of something more than a year. Our meetings, held once in two
-weeks, are intensely interesting and instructive, and each member seems
-enthusiastic in appreciation of the work. The interest has been such
-that one of our most difficult problems has been how to condense the
-discussion of the various points of interest in our studies, in order to
-close at a reasonable hour.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Dakota= (Faulkton).—The former president of the C. L. S. C. work in
-Muscatine (Iowa) has removed to Dakota. The following notice from the
-Faulkton (Dakota) _Herald_ proves that Chautauqua has not been forgotten:
-Last Friday evening a goodly number assembled at the residence of Major
-J. A. Pickler to discuss the advisability of forming a Chautauqua circle
-in Faulkton, and all appeared to be highly interested in having a society
-here. After some few remarks the Chautauqua circle was organized with
-Mrs. J. A. Pickler, president.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Kansas= (Leavenworth).—This is our second year. We organized in March,
-and although five months behind, we succeeded in completing the first
-year’s work; but were thereby compelled to double the lessons and omit
-the observance of the Memorial Days, and the following of the admirable
-plan laid down in THE CHAUTAUQUAN; but are now marching ahead with the
-class of ’86, and find the enthusiasm somewhat increased. Our meetings
-are conducted on the conversational plan, being led by one of the best
-instructors, a former Professor in our public schools. We find it
-more interesting to assign portions of the lesson to each member for
-discussion. We appoint a critic at each meeting, and at the close of
-the lesson he brings his criticisms before the circle. On Memorial Days
-we briefly discuss the life of our character, and give our individual
-opinions in regard to his characteristics, and each member gives a
-selection or quotation from one of his works. This is the fourth year for
-one of our members, who, before the organization of the circle, pursued
-the course alone.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=Nebraska= (Omaha).—Early in September a temporary organization of the
-C. L. S. C. was effected in our city, and the objects and requirements
-of the course were explained by an old Chautauquan. Shortly after,
-Dr. Vincent visited us, and by special request addressed the would-be
-Chautauquans, arousing the intelligent enthusiasm of a large number
-of listeners. A meeting was called at an early date, at which time
-the circle was permanently organized, officers elected, constitution
-and by-laws adopted, books ordered, and the “Omaha” C. L. S. C. was
-ready for work. By the help of several old Chautauquans the ’87s are
-greatly encouraged. The entire membership are highly pleased with
-the course of study, and are determined to complete the course. The
-program committee is appointed monthly, thereby affording great variety
-in the order of exercises. Thus far in our work we have profitably
-used individual recitations, concert drills, essays, conversations,
-round-tables, readings, addresses, spelling matches, etc. So great has
-been the interest shown, that notwithstanding regular meetings are held
-semi-monthly, extra meetings have been demanded. The committee aims to
-secure thorough and systematic reviews at each meeting of all subjects
-studied, and are meeting with admirable success in this attempt. The
-Chautauqua University is gaining power and popularity in the “Gate City,”
-and other circles are being organized in our midst.
-
- * * * * *
-
-=California= (Vallejo).—The circle of the Chautauqua University formed
-in this town is progressing finely. Meetings are held regularly, and the
-studies of the previous week are profitably and thoroughly discussed.
-From the nature of the work, and the interest manifested in the same,
-there is every assurance that our circle, which now numbers seven, will
-increase. Did the people but know the advantages, the real, genuine
-benefits to be derived through the C. L. S. C., I have no hesitancy in
-saying that we would not only have the above number of members, but that
-number of circles in the town.
-
-
-
-
-THE C. L. S. C. IN THE SOUTH.
-
-
-The local circle reports from the south are so encouraging that we can
-not refrain from devoting an extra corner to them alone. Most zealously
-must the friends of the movement have worked to have produced such
-abundant results. Circles have been reported this year from:—
-
-Hardinsburgh, Kentucky; president, Miss Anna L. Gardiner; secretary, Miss
-Anna R. Bassett.
-
-Jackson, Tennessee; president, Rev. F. P. Flanniker; vice-president, B.
-S. McClaren; secretary, T. J. Porter.
-
-Murfreesboro, Tennessee; secretary, H. H. Clayton, Jr.
-
-Richmond, Virginia; chairman, Wm. M. Coulling.
-
-Memphis, Tennessee; secretary, E. M. Schwalmeyer.
-
-Oxford, Mississippi; secretary, Miss Mattie E. Dennis.
-
-Also from the following places, though officers are not given: Fort Worth
-and Bonham, Texas; Petersburgh, Virginia; Slaughterville, Kentucky;
-Spartansburg, South Carolina.
-
-Two circles from Washington, D. C.; secretary of one is Frank P. Reeside,
-1219 D. Street, S. W.; of the other, Miss Nettie Love. Making _seven_
-circles now reported as at work in Washington, D. C.
-
- * * * * *
-
-In Independence, Missouri, there is a circle of forty-seven members.
-
- * * * * *
-
-From Nashville a lady writes: “The ‘Nashville’ local circle of the C.
-L. S. C. was organized at the rooms of the Y. M. C. A. the latter part
-of September, with a membership of about twenty. We have had three very
-interesting meetings, consisting of essays, lectures, questions on the
-lessons, etc. We meet every two weeks at the Y. M. C. A. rooms. We intend
-to give all the time we can to the work. All the members are deeply
-interested.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The secretary of a new circle in Salem, North Carolina, says: “We
-organized a circle in Salem on November 3, consisting of twenty-eight
-members, which has since increased to thirty-two. A president,
-vice-president and secretary were appointed. These officers, with
-a committee of two on instruction, are to arrange programs for
-entertainment at the monthly meetings of the circle. For the first
-meeting of the circle the program consists of reviews, in the form of
-questions given to each member, readings and recitations, also music. We
-began the readings in October, and have divided ourselves into a number
-of small circles for the more careful study of the weekly readings. So
-far we greatly enjoy the readings, and hope to derive profit from them,
-both in the increase of knowledge and improvement of literary taste.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-A gentleman who writes to Dr. Vincent from Richmond, Virginia, says in
-regard to the C. L. S. C.: “I believe there is a great field here, and
-that one with time to devote to it could do a great deal of good. I
-have every reason to believe that the leading paper here would do all
-in its power to help forward such a work, and I think that some of the
-Professors at the Richmond College would be willing to deliver a course
-of lectures. My idea is that by having numbers of little circles—or
-rather segments—formed in different parts of the city, a large, general
-circle could be formed, such general circle to meet once in two weeks
-for the purpose of hearing lectures, etc. The smaller societies could of
-course meet every week in their own localities, for discussion of the
-course being read. I think there is a desire for something of this kind
-in the minds of a great many people here, and I have very ambitious ideas
-as to the future of such a society. I would like quite a large number of
-C. L. S. C. circulars for distribution here as soon as possible.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-A circle of ’87s was organized in September at Jackson, Tennessee.
-Thirty-five members, two ministers, two lawyers, two editors, eleven
-teachers, merchants, etc. The circle has about as many ladies as
-gentlemen, and holds a meeting every Monday evening from 7:30 to 10
-o’clock, at a private residence. The studies for the week are taken up
-in order. Essays, discussions, lectures, query box, music, declamations,
-etc., constitute the program. Each exercise is limited to fifteen
-minutes, and every member prepares his exercise as he desires. Some have
-drawn maps of Greece at its different historical stages. One evening
-each month is devoted especially to some study which has been completed.
-American Literature was first Monday in December. Mark Twain, Hawthorne,
-Longfellow, Holmes and Whittier were treated by lectures and discussions.
-
-
-
-
-C. L. S. C. ROUND-TABLE.
-
-Held in the Hall of Philosophy August 9, 1883.
-
-
-REPORTS AND QUESTIONS.
-
-DR. VINCENT: There are persons in this world who unite in purely literary
-and intellectual enterprises. The union creates a sort of literary
-friendship. There are people who unite in sympathy, loving a common
-object, sharing in sorrow, sharing in joy, creating a friendship full of
-sentiment. There are people in this world who are united in practical
-efforts. They have a common aim. They agree upon a method; they coöperate
-for the result, and this is practical friendship.
-
-The charm of the C. L. S. C. is found in this, that it is a union in
-intellectual and literary activity, a union in affection, a union in
-practical aim and service. It aims to do three things:—To cultivate the
-intellect, to cultivate the heart, and to develop the executive forces of
-our natures. By this three-fold bond we are united as members of the C.
-L. S. C. We meet this glad day in this beautiful grove, under the play
-of this charming sunshine; we meet to remember, we meet to rejoice, we
-meet to resolve. And as the years go by may our memories grow sweeter,
-our rejoicing more intense, and our resolves stronger. And as we meet
-from year to year “to study the words and the works of God,” let us try
-“to keep our Heavenly Father in the midst.” The blending of the mottoes,
-felicitous only as a blending of mottoes, does not express the whole
-theological truth I would convey.
-
-Mr. Robertson said, in writing one of his charming letters to his
-brother, “I have through all these years been seeking God, and I am just
-awakening to the fact that all these years it is God who has been seeking
-me.” We need not try to keep our Heavenly Father in the midst. In the
-boundlessness of his grace, he is glad to come into the midst and here
-to abide, and if we have any longing of heart after him, however feeble
-it may be, it is because he is already there, breathing into us his own
-life, and giving to us a measure of his own joy. Let us pray to him.
-
-We thank thee, our Father, that through the year thou hast been with
-us, and that thou hast guided us; that in hours of prosperity thou hast
-held us, and in hours of sorrow thou hast given us comfort. And on this
-beautiful afternoon, in this sacred place, we meet and make mention of
-thy name and of thy love. We thank thee for thy great kindness to us. We
-confess our great sinfulness against thee, and our utter unworthiness
-before thee. We ask for the gifts of grace which thou art ready to
-bestow, and we open our hearts by the leadings of thy spirit, that thy
-spirit may enter in and abide with us.
-
-Bless the homes we represent; bless the circles of which we are members;
-bless the vast sweep of the circle with which we are connected, and may
-all the members of our fraternity have thy presence and thy grace. And
-with all their seeking, may they seek spiritual power, and seeking, may
-they find. Enlighten our understanding with thy wisdom, inspire our
-hearts with thy love; strengthen our wills with all holy purposes. Bring
-us after these reunions, and after the separations, after all the joys
-and sorrows, the gains and the losses of human life, into thine own
-immediate presence, and we shall praise thee, the only God, Father, Son
-and Holy Ghost. Amen.
-
-After a song Dr. Vincent said:
-
-Is any body here from Monteagle? Are any here who were present this year
-at Lakeside, Monona Lake, Lake Bluff, Ocean Grove? Have we any one here
-who could make us a brief report of the C. L. S. C. work at any of these
-assemblies? Where is Dr. Hurlbut? Kansas Assembly—Dr. Hurlbut presided
-there.
-
-DR. HURLBUT: I would state that we recognized the C. L. S. C. at Kansas,
-and we had a very pleasant time. When we called for the members of the C.
-L. S. C. to have a meeting I found but five, but we had a Round-Table.
-And the next day we had twenty present, and when we came to the day for
-the recognition of the members of ’83, we found three members of the
-class. We marched the three members of ’83 in procession, and took them
-down to the tabernacle and made a speech to them. We had a number of
-Round-Tables, and distributed the circulars, and a great many people said
-that they were going to join. This was in Ottawa, Kansas.
-
-On the afternoon of graduation an address was delivered by Dr. G. P.
-Hays, an old Chautauquan, who delivered an admirable address. In the
-evening we had a camp fire, and though there were only about twenty
-members present, we had a fine camp fire. We had a good place to hold it,
-and we gave notice that we would admit no one but members of the C. L. S.
-C., but we made an exception that any who wished to join, or if they had
-any friends whom they wished to represent, or if there were any members
-of the C. L. S. C. in the towns where they lived, they might come. We
-made a procession three hundred strong by actual count, all interested
-in the C. L. S. C., to a greater or less degree. We had some interesting
-addresses. Mr. Hatch, a member of the C. L. S. C. of that city, made a
-very interesting address, and Dr. Hays spoke, and one or two others from
-the places around, and we had a few solemn words from Prof. Sherwin, and
-a few more solemn words from Prof. Beard. At the close of the camp fire
-we found that the C. L. S. C. stock had gone up above par. People wanted
-to know all about it. One old gentleman from the country came up to the
-president and said that he did not know any thing about this C. L. S. C.
-that we were talking about, but he was going to join if it did not cost
-more than a dollar, and he joined that night. You will find that the next
-year there will be over two hundred members of the C. L. S. C. present.
-
-DR. VINCENT: That is a very refreshing report in every sense.
-
-DR. HURLBUT: I could tell you all about Island Park.
-
-DR. VINCENT: Let us hear from that.
-
-A GENTLEMAN: I could tell you about Monteagle.
-
-DR. VINCENT: Let us hear it.
-
-A GENTLEMAN: There were some sixteen or eighteen of the C. L. S. C.
-present. We did not have very many meetings, but we met once or twice and
-agreed to form a procession and give Dr. Vincent a welcome when he came.
-This we did. We met in a body and called on him, and had a very pleasant
-talk from him.
-
-DR. VINCENT: That was not all that was done by the C. L. S. C. at
-Monteagle. I was greeted very warmly by the C. L. S. C. members at
-Monteagle. I found Monteagle literally a very high place, something over
-2000 feet above the sea. To my surprise there were more than twenty
-members of the C. L. S. C. at our Round-Table. Going up the mountain on
-the railway a young gentleman came to me and introduced himself. He said,
-“I am a member of the C. L. S. C., and my sister is a member. She is on
-the train, and very anxious to see you.” I saw her, and found her to be
-an enthusiastic C. L. S. C. She knew all about the Memorial Days, and
-knew all about everything in connection with the C. L. S. C. work, the C.
-L. S. C. column, the news from the various states, the mottoes, and all
-the special directions that had been given. She had read all the reading
-for the year and much on the Seal Course. I think she had completed the
-White Crystal Seal. She said she was all alone in the town where she
-lived. She had done everything that was required, even to the buying a
-badge, and wearing it, and observing the five o’clock hour. She said that
-next year there would be a large number from her town.
-
-I am always afraid of obtruding Chautauqua on these other centers, lest
-they suggest that Chautauqua be a little more modest. I therefore do not
-allow the name to be used too much.
-
-DR. HURLBUT: In Kansas, I know that one person wrote to a newspaper
-and said that there was one evil that ought to be nipped in the bud.
-He said that this evil was the peddling around of Chautauqua ideas by
-professionals through the country.
-
-DR. VINCENT: I am always sensitive about speaking too much of Chautauqua.
-At Lakeside I made my first speech without naming Chautauqua, and I did
-the same at Framingham, until others came to me and said that I need not
-be so particular, that they considered themselves in some degree a part
-of Chautauqua. I found the same spirit at Monteagle. I did not see a
-thing, or hear a syllable at Monteagle, that did not indicate a hearty
-sympathy with the Chautauqua work. I never was more royally treated.
-
-At one Round-Table on errors of speech they criticised several of
-my mispronunciations, and what was the worst of it, when I sent for
-Webster, Webster sustained those southerners. They got an idea that I
-rather enjoyed the pointing out of my errors. We had a good time in the
-correction of errors in speech. We had also a recognition speech. We
-formed in procession, one graduate of ’83, and I had the satisfaction of
-extending the right hand of fellowship to the one in the procession at
-that service.
-
-Mr. Van Lennep told me that they kept up their Round-Tables every day
-until the close of the Assembly, and that they numbered seventy strong
-and raised a fund of $500 toward building a hall of philosophy at
-Monteagle. (Applause.)
-
-This is a sort of reunion meeting; for songs, for questions, for
-statements of difficulties, and for reports. Are there any large local
-circles represented here? Is there a local circle of one hundred members
-represented here to-day? Let the leader of that circle stand up and raise
-the hand. Are there any? Mr. Martin, of Pittsburgh, has such a circle.
-
-MR. MARTIN: I would say that we have a circle in Pittsburgh that has
-enrolled something like seven or eight hundred members altogether.
-Occasionally one or two hundred of them will drop out, so we do not claim
-that we have a circle quite up to that number all the time. We have
-fifty-four graduates enrolled as a sort of executive committee to keep
-up our Local Circle movement. We have monthly meetings, and also have
-numerous weekly meetings in different parts of the city. These weekly
-meetings are usually reported to the central circle, and the members
-attend more or less at our monthly meetings.
-
-As an alumni association, we have got up on a little higher plane, and
-during the past year we held three meetings. Our first meeting was a
-reunion and banquet at one of the leading hotels. Our second meeting
-was a very enthusiastic one, conducted by the members of the alumni
-association in the eastern part of our city. At our last and final
-meeting we had Bishop Warren to address us. We had one of the largest
-churches in the city filled, and charged an admission fee as well. We
-felt rich. We have a fund of about $60 to start with next year. We expect
-to bring a large number of ’83 members into our alumni association. We
-are still enthusiastic over the C. L. S. C. We were enthusiastic five
-years ago, have been every year since, and propose to continue to be
-enthusiastic as long as the C. L. S. C. exists. (Applause.)
-
-DR. VINCENT: That is good. Is there any one here who can make some
-report from Monterey Circle? They had an unusual time last year. Is Miss
-Hudson present? Although she has not been at Monterey, she has been
-in communication with the Monterey people. Would you object to make a
-statement as you have it?
-
-MISS HUDSON: I can give a few facts.
-
-DR. VINCENT: Please do so. Miss Myrtie Hudson, of Ann Arbor.
-
-MISS HUDSON: I have received quite enthusiastic reports from Monterey.
-There were present in July twenty-five members to graduate. I do not know
-how large the class was through the state, but they had about that number
-present. The exercises held were in the hall, which was beautifully
-decorated for the occasion. An address was delivered and the diplomas
-were given out by Dr. Stratton, our president of the branch of the
-Pacific coast. He was one of the graduates of ’83. Dr. Wythe, the author
-of our book on biology, was also one of the graduates.
-
-I have received this message from there to-day, that the book, “The Hall
-in the Grove,” has been of very great value in their work, and they want
-to make the suggestion, that it would be a good idea to have this book
-read by members in the first year, instead of the fourth year.
-
-DR. VINCENT: The suggestion of having “The Hall in the Grove” read in the
-first year instead of the fourth year is a very good one.
-
-MRS. BARLOW, of Detroit: I would like to speak in behalf of “The Hall in
-the Grove.” I was a graduate of ’82. We have a large circle in Detroit,
-but I do not know the membership, because I have not been able to attend
-very frequently. Our president of that circle, Mrs. A. L. Clark, who
-has been president for five years, died this summer. I suppose that she
-intended to come to Chautauqua this year. I waited here some minutes,
-thinking some one else from Detroit would speak of her. I wish you could
-know what a work she did in Detroit, what an influence she had in the
-community of young people, not always among the wealthy, but among those
-in the stores, and those who had no other way of cultivation. No one
-knows how much they owe to Mrs. Clark.
-
-About “The Hall in the Grove.” I have tried in our neighborhood for four
-years to organize a local circle, but have failed. But this last summer
-I had two copies of “The Hall in the Grove” which I have circulated very
-industriously, and I hope to organize a circle in October.
-
-DR. VINCENT: I intended to speak at the proper time, concerning Mrs.
-Clark, this devoted worker. There is no woman in connection with our
-Circle who has done more hearty work. I have received from many members
-of the Circle tributes to her worth and work.
-
-MRS. BARLOW: Mrs. Clark had a very large class of colored adult people
-that she taught every Sabbath in the Y. M. C. A. room. They would have
-filled almost any house. A great many of them have been converted, I have
-no doubt, from her work.
-
-DR. HURLBUT: I had the privilege last winter in Washington City of
-visiting a circle composed entirely of colored people, and I thought I
-should like to make a little mention of that circle. It was a circle of
-between thirty and forty people of color. They met at a private house, a
-handsome residence, with every thing about it in the finest taste. The
-exercises that night in that circle impressed me wonderfully. From the
-conversation that I had with the members I learned that some of them
-were teachers in the city of Washington, and one was a member of the
-Washington Board of Education. Another had read five times as much as
-we required on geology last year. One of the city teachers read a paper
-of great interest. Every person connected with the circle belonged to
-what we call the African race. I never in my life was impressed with the
-earnestness, thoroughness, efficiency and downright energy in the C. L.
-S. C. work of any class of people more than I was on that occasion with
-that of these members in Washington City.
-
-MR. BRIDGE: You have not spoken about New England.
-
-DR. VINCENT: At Framingham, Mass., we have an Assembly which opens
-immediately after the close of Chautauqua Assembly, and this year a
-little before the close. Last year we had four hundred and forty recorded
-members present at that Assembly, and the sales of the books are reported
-as being double what they were the year before. And I believe the
-prospects for this year are much more brilliant.
-
-After various announcements Dr. Vincent said: Turn to the nineteenth
-number. We must sing “Day is Dying in the West,” or it would not seem
-natural. The other evening we omitted it, and a few of us came back and
-sang it.
-
-After the song, the Round-Table was dismissed with the benediction by
-Rev. Mr. Alden.
-
-
-
-
-QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
-
-1. FIFTY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF
-SALVATION”—FROM CHAPTER 15 TO THE END OF THE BOOK.—2. FIFTY QUESTIONS AND
-ANSWERS ON “HOW TO GET STRONG AND HOW TO STAY SO.”
-
-By A. M. MARTIN, GENERAL SECRETARY C. L. S. C.
-
-
-I.
-
-1. Q. What was the difference between the dispensation under the Old
-Testament and the one under the New? A. The first was a preparatory
-dispensation, its manifestations, for the most part, being seen and
-temporal; the second was a perfect system of truth, spiritual in its
-character and in the methods of its communication.
-
-2. Q. What difference would there be in the methods adapted to move men’s
-nature under different dispensations? A. The same methods under all
-dispensations would be necessary, varied only to suit the advancement
-of the mind in knowledge, the difference existing in the habits and
-circumstances of men, and the character of the dispensation to be
-introduced.
-
-3. Q. What would be an essential requisite under any dispensation, after
-the way for its introduction was prepared? A. Such manifestations of God
-to men as would produce love in the human heart for the object of worship
-and obedience.
-
-4. Q. According to the constitution which God has given the soul, what
-must it feel before it can feel love for the giver of spiritual mercies?
-A. It must feel the want of spiritual mercies; and just in proportion
-as the soul feels its lost, guilty and dangerous condition, in the same
-proportion will it exercise love to the being who grants spiritual favor
-and salvation.
-
-5. Q. What is the only possible way by which man could be made to hope
-for and appreciate spiritual mercies, and to love a spiritual deliverer?
-A. To produce a conviction in the soul itself of its evil condition, its
-danger as a spiritual being, and its inability, unaided, to satisfy the
-requirements of the spiritual law, or to escape its just and spiritual
-penalty.
-
-6. Q. What does the degree of kindness and self-denial in a benefactor,
-temporal or spiritual, create? A. The degree of affection and gratitude
-that will be awakened for him.
-
-7. Q. At the advent of Jesus how was the moral law generally applied
-by him? A. It was applied to the external conduct of men, not to the
-internal life. If there was conformity to the letter of the law in
-external manners, there was a fulfillment, in the eyes of the Jew and the
-Gentile, of the highest claims that God or man held upon the spirit.
-
-8. Q. How did Jesus apply the divine law? A. He taught that all wrong
-thoughts and feelings were acts of transgression against God, and as such
-would be visited with the penalty of the divine law. Thus he made the law
-spiritual and its penalty spiritual.
-
-9. Q. What does Jesus declare to be the consequence of these spiritual
-acts of transgression against God? A. Exclusion from the kingdom and
-presence of God, a penalty which involves either endless spiritual
-suffering, or destruction of the soul itself.
-
-10. Q. What was then necessary in order that man’s affections might be
-fixed upon the proper object of love and obedience? A. That a spiritual
-God should, by self-denying kindness, manifest spiritual mercy to those
-who felt their spiritual wants, and thus draw to himself the love and
-worship of mankind.
-
-11. Q. In order to the accomplishment of this end, without violating the
-moral constitution of the universe, what would be essentially necessary?
-A. That the holiness of God’s law should be maintained.
-
-12. Q. What does Jesus uniformly speak of as being necessary previous
-to accepting him as a Savior? A. That the soul should feel the need of
-salvation.
-
-13. Q. What is the testimony of the Scriptures as to God manifesting
-himself in self-denying kindness for mankind? A. The testimony of the
-Scriptures is that God did thus manifest himself in Christ as suffering
-and making self-denials for the spiritual good of men.
-
-14. Q. What would be impossible for a human soul, exercising full faith
-in the testimony of the Scriptures as to his needs and his ransom by
-Christ, not to do? A. Not to love the Savior.
-
-15. Q. Previous to the introduction of Christianity, in what efforts had
-all the resources of human wisdom been exhausted? A. To confer upon man
-true knowledge and true happiness.
-
-16. Q. What are two insuperable difficulties which would forever hinder
-the restoration of mankind to truth and happiness from being accomplished
-by human means? A. First, human instruction, as such, has no power to
-bind the conscience; and, second, truth, whether sanctified by conscience
-or not, has no power to produce love in the heart.
-
-17. Q. To what are the laws which govern physical nature analogous? A. To
-those which the Gospel introduces into the spiritual world.
-
-18. Q. Men can not love God for what he truly is, unless they love him
-as manifested how? A. As manifested in the suffering and death of Christ
-Jesus.
-
-19. Q. To deny the divine and meritorious character of the atonement is
-to shut out what from the soul? A. Both the evidence and the effect of
-God’s mercy.
-
-20. Q. What is the influence of faith in Christ upon the moral
-disposition of the soul? A. It assimilates the moral feelings of man to
-God, and produces an aversion to sin.
-
-21. Q. What is the influence of faith in Christ upon the moral sense,
-or conscience of believers? A. By faith in Jesus Christ the conscience
-is not only guided by a perfect rule, but it is likewise quickened and
-empowered by a perfect sense of obligation.
-
-22. Q. What is the influence of faith in Christ upon the imagination? A.
-It controls and purifies the imagination of believers.
-
-23. Q. What would a religion from heaven be designed ultimately to bless?
-A. The whole world.
-
-24. Q. What does the best good of mankind as a family require? A. That
-they should be the instruments of disseminating this religion among
-themselves.
-
-25. Q. What is the great principle by which the operation of spreading
-this religion would be carried on? A. The principle of self-denial,
-or denying ourselves the ease and pleasure of selfishness in order to
-perform acts of benevolence.
-
-26. Q. How does the Gospel of Christ possess all the characteristics
-of a universal religion? A. It is adapted to human nature; not to any
-particular country or class of men, but to the nature of the race.
-
-27. Q. In the instructions of Christ to regulate the conduct of men, how
-were their lives to be spent? A. In efforts to impart those blessings
-which they possessed to their brethren of the human family who possessed
-them not.
-
-28. Q. In what did Christ teach the principle of self-denial? A. By his
-precepts, by his example, and especially by his identifying himself with
-those in need.
-
-29. Q. What is faith in Jesus Christ therefore directly designed
-and adapted to do and to produce? A. To strengthen men’s benevolent
-affections, and to produce in believers that active desire and effort for
-the good of others which will necessarily produce a dissemination of the
-light and love of the Gospel throughout the whole habitable world.
-
-30. Q. What are three of the most important means of grace? A. Prayer,
-praise and preaching.
-
-31. Q. In order that men may receive the greatest benefit from prayer,
-what is essential? A. That there should be strong desire and importunity
-in prayer.
-
-32. Q. In order to offer acceptable prayer, what should men possess? A. A
-spirit of faith and dependence upon Christ.
-
-33. Q. What are two important means to impress the mind with religious
-truth? A. Music and poetry.
-
-34. Q. Among the means which God appointed to disseminate his truth
-throughout the world, what holds a first and important place? A. The
-living preacher.
-
-35. Q. What is the agency of God in carrying on the work of redemption
-and giving efficiency to its operations? A. The Holy Spirit.
-
-36. Q. What is evidence to the world of the divine efficacy and power of
-the doctrines of the gospel system? A. Its effects in restoring the soul
-to moral health.
-
-37. Q. The discussion of religious subjects for the past few years,
-both in Europe and America, has been mainly between what two classes?
-A. Between those who believe in the divine authority of the Christian
-religion as a rule of duty, and those who believe in the authority of
-conscience and reason as the highest guides of man.
-
-38. Q. How does each class receive the Messiah and his teachings? A. One
-as of God, and the other as of man.
-
-39. Q. In what light and as what means does one view consider a written
-revelation? A. In the light of the moral wants of man, and as adapted and
-necessary means in order to human development.
-
-40. Q. What proposition is attempted to be proven in this connection?
-A. That a written revelation is a demand of man’s moral constitution,
-without which his moral culture is impossible.
-
-41. Q. What is a first fact connected with this inquiry? A. Man is a
-cultivating and a cultivable being, and he is the only being created that
-possesses the double capability to receive and to impart culture.
-
-42. Q. What are three endowments by which men are particularly
-distinguished from irrational beings? A. Written language, faith and
-conscience.
-
-43. Q. What fact is fairly settled in reference to man aiding himself by
-a written language? A. That without aiding himself by a written language
-man can not ascend even to the first stages of civilization.
-
-44. Q. In what way only can the character of God be known? A. Only by
-faith; and it is the character of God that is the element of moral
-culture.
-
-45. Q. Upon what does the character of conscience in all religious duties
-depend? A. Upon faith.
-
-46. Q. What is said of reason, faith and conscience without revealed
-truth? A. Without revealed truth reason has no data, faith is false, and
-conscience is corrupt.
-
-47. Q. As there can be no moral culture with a false faith and a corrupt
-or dead conscience, what is a moral necessity in order to the culture of
-the human soul? A. Revelation of objective truth, rendered efficient by
-the perceived presence and authority of God.
-
-48. Q. What is the conclusion reached as to how the moral culture of the
-soul must be accomplished? A. By a system of truth, revealed objectively
-in written language, by divine authority; and that the Christian
-Scriptures contain that system of truth.
-
-49. Q. In view of the reasonings and facts presented by the author, to
-what conclusion is it his opinion unprejudiced readers should come? A.
-That the religion of the Bible is from God, and divinely adapted to
-produce the greatest present and eternal spiritual good of the human
-family.
-
-50. Q. Of what does he consider the demonstration conclusive? A. That
-the Gospel is the only religion possible for man in order to perfect his
-nature and restore his lapsed powers to harmony and holiness.
-
-
-II.
-
-1. Q. What proportion of men either erect or thoroughly well-built will
-be seen among those usually passing a given point on Broadway, in New
-York? A. Scarcely one in ten.
-
-2. Q. What is said of the training ordinarily had by farmers, merchants,
-mechanics and laborers, who constitute a very great majority of
-Americans? A. No one of the four classes has ordinarily had any training
-at all aimed to make him equally strong all over.
-
-3. Q. What is said of regular exercise among the great majority of the
-women of this country? A. No regular exercise is common among the great
-majority of the women of this country which makes them use both their
-hands alike, and is yet vigorous enough to add to the size and strength
-of their shoulders, chests and arms.
-
-4. Q. What is the character of the popular sports and pastimes of
-boyhood and youth to supply the lack of inherited development? A. Good as
-these sports are, as far as they go, they are not in themselves vigorous
-enough, or well enough chosen to remedy the lack.
-
-5. Q. What does a leading metropolitan journal say an inquirer will
-see by standing at the door of almost any public or private school or
-academy at the hour of dismissal? A. He will see a crowd of under-sized,
-listless, thin-faced children, with scarcely any promise of manhood to
-them.
-
-6. Q. What is stated in reference to the play-grounds of our cities
-and towns? A. It is not a good sign, or one that bodes well for the
-future, to see them so much neglected; and many of our large cities are
-wretchedly off for play-grounds.
-
-7. Q. What description is given of the physical appearance of the
-majority of the girls in any of our cities or towns, as seen passing to
-and from school? A. Instead of high chests, plump arms, comely figures,
-and a graceful and handsome mien, you constantly see flat chests, angular
-shoulders, often round and warped forward, with scrawny necks, pipe-stem
-arms, narrow backs, and a weak walk.
-
-8. Q. What does a distinguished surgeon say as to the ability to endure
-protracted brain-work without ill result? A. It is not brain-work that
-kills, but brain-worry.
-
-9. Q. What does our author state there ought to be in every girls’ school
-in our land, for pupils of every age? A. A system of physical culture
-which should first eradicate special weaknesses and defects, and then
-create and maintain the symmetry of the pupils, increasing their bodily
-vigor and strength up to maturity.
-
-10. Q. What is the first thing most women should do in order to get
-health and strength and the bloom of perfect physical development? A. The
-first thing is to bring up the weaker muscles by special effort, calling
-them at once into vigorous action, and to restore to its proper position
-the shoulder, back, or chest which has been so long allowed to remain out
-of place.
-
-11. Q. What is the next step after the symmetry is once secured? A. Then
-equal work for all the muscles, taken daily, and in such quantities as
-are found to suit best.
-
-12. Q. In our Christian lands what do we find in regard to the fathers
-and mothers of the great men? A. We find that the great men have almost
-invariably had remarkable mothers, while their fathers were as often
-nothing unusual.
-
-13. Q. What does our author say as to the means of getting a vigorous and
-healthy body kept toned up by rational, systematic, daily exercise, by
-every girl and woman? A. The means of getting it are so easily within the
-reach of all who are not already broken by disease, that it is never too
-late to begin, and that one hour a day, properly spent, is all that is
-needed to secure it.
-
-14. Q. Had the lungs and also the muscles of the man had vigorous daily
-action to the extent that frequent trial had shown best suited to that
-man’s wants, of what is there very little doubt? A. That a large majority
-of the ailments would be removed, or rather would never have come at all.
-
-15. Q. What is well nigh essential to attain success and length of
-service in any of the learned professions, including that of teaching? A.
-A vigorous body.
-
-16. Q. To win lasting distinction in sedentary, in-door occupations
-which tax the brain and the nervous system, what does all professional
-biography teach? A. Extraordinary toughness of body must accompany
-extraordinary mental powers.
-
-17. Q. What are all that people need for their daily in-door exercises?
-A. A few pieces of apparatus which are fortunately so simple and
-inexpensive as to be within the reach of most persons.
-
-18. Q. What appliances can be readily fitted up for the home gymnasium?
-A. A horizontal bar, a pair of parallel bars, or their equivalent for
-certain purposes, a pair of pulling-weights, and a rowing-weight, to
-which may be added a pair of dumb-bells.
-
-19. Q. What may be accomplished with these few bits of apparatus? A.
-Every muscle of the trunk, nearly all those of the legs, and all those of
-the arms, can, by a few exercises so simple that they can be learned at a
-single trying, be brought into active play.
-
-20. Q. To what extent should these articles of the home gymnasium be
-used? A. Every member of the family, both old and young, should use them
-daily, enough to keep both the home gymnasium and its users in good
-working order.
-
-21. Q. What is said of the shaping power of teachers with children in
-school? A. When children are with their teacher in school is almost the
-best time in their whole lives to shape them as the teacher chooses, not
-morally or mentally only, but physically as well.
-
-22. Q. With what should prompt and vigorous steps be taken to acquaint
-every school teacher in this country? A. With such exercises as would
-quickly restore the misshapen, insure an erect carriage, encourage habits
-of full breathing, and strengthen the entire trunk and every limb.
-
-23. Q. What did President Eliot of Harvard say a few years ago of
-a majority of those coming into that university? A. That they had
-undeveloped muscles, a bad carriage, and an impaired digestion, without
-skill in any out-of-door games, and unable to ride, row, swim or shoot.
-
-24. Q. What do both the physician and experience tell us rest the tired
-brain? A. Nothing rests a tired brain like sensible physical exercise,
-except, of course, sleep.
-
-25. Q. When exposure to out-of-door air is associated with a fair share
-of physical exertion, what does Dr. Mitchell say it is an immense
-safeguard against? A. The ills of anxiety and too much brain work.
-
-26. Q. In a country like ours, where the masses are so intelligent,
-concerning what does our author consider the ignorance of the people as
-marvelous? A. As to what can be done to the body by a little systematic
-physical education.
-
-27. Q. Of what do few people seem to be aware on this subject? A. That
-any limb, or any part of it, can be developed from a state of weakness
-and deficiency to one of fullness, strength, and beauty, and that equal
-attention to all the limbs, and to the body as well, will work like
-results throughout.
-
-28. Q. What course of exercise with many has resulted in largely reducing
-superfluous flesh with fleshy people? A. Vigorous muscular exercise,
-taken daily and assiduously.
-
-29. Q. What contributes to keeping some people thin? A. Most thin people
-do not keep still enough, do not take matters leisurely, and do not rest
-enough; while, if their work is muscular, they do too much daily in
-proportion to their strength.
-
-30. Q. What is the character of the physical exercises the late William
-Cullen Bryant continued up to the last year of his life? A. Immediately
-after rising he began a series of exercises performed with dumb-bells,
-a pole, a horizontal bar, and a light chair swung around his head,
-continued for a full hour and sometimes longer.
-
-31. Q. What does a former business associate of Mr. Bryant, who knew him
-intimately, say of his health? A. “During the forty years that I have
-known him, Mr. Bryant has never been ill—never been confined to his bed
-except on the occasion of his last accident. His health has always been
-good.”
-
-32. Q. What two classes of men are there in our cities and larger towns
-that more than almost any others need daily and systematic bodily
-exercise in order to make them efficient for their duties, and something
-like what men in their line ought to be? A. The police and firemen.
-
-33. Q. What are some of the ways of developing the muscles of the leg
-below the knee? A. Walking, and at the same time pressing hard with the
-toes and the soles; running on the soles and toes; hopping on one foot;
-jumping.
-
-34. Q. What are some of the methods of developing the muscles of the
-front thigh? A. Holding one foot out, either in front or back, and then
-stooping down wholly on the other; jumping, fast walking and running.
-
-35. Q. What exercise is especially recommended for strengthening the
-sides of the waist? A. Hopping straight ahead on one foot, and then on
-the other.
-
-36. Q. What kind of a walk does a man usually have who is not strong in
-the abdominal muscles? A. A feeble walk.
-
-37. Q. What is said of the development of men generally above the waist?
-A. It is not an uncommon thing, especially among Englishmen, to find a
-man of very strong legs and waist, yet with but an indifferent chest and
-shoulders, and positively poor arms.
-
-38. Q. With the use of what can the muscles above the belt be nearly all
-thoroughly developed? A. With the use of dumb-bells.
-
-39. Q. What is a simple method for improving the ordinary grip of
-the hand? A. Take a rubber ball in the hand, or a wad of any elastic
-material, even of paper, and repeatedly squeeze it.
-
-40. Q. What will expand the chest? A. Anything which causes one to
-frequently fill his lungs to their utmost capacity, and then hold them
-full as long as he can.
-
-41. Q. What practice of breathing is a great auxiliary to enlarging the
-lung room? A. The practice of drawing air slowly in at the nostrils until
-every air-cell of the lungs is absolutely full, holding it long, and then
-expelling it slowly.
-
-42. Q. Beside light gymnastic exercises in school, what should a teacher
-insist upon with his pupils? A. He should insist upon the value of an
-erect position in school hours, whether the pupils be standing or sitting.
-
-43. Q. What care should be taken in regard to school chairs? A. That they
-should have broad and comfortable seats, and that the pupil never sits on
-a half of the seat or on the edge of it, but far back on the whole of it.
-
-44. Q. What weight of dumb-bells should be used in ordinary exercises
-with them by pupils? A. Dumb-bells of a pound each would be fit for
-pupils under ten years of age. For older pupils the same work with two
-pound bells will prove generally vigorous enough.
-
-45. Q. What are some of the daily exercises recommended for girls and
-women? A. The use of dumb-bells, walking, riding, and, with girls,
-running.
-
-46. Q. Beside these things, what ought a girl or woman to determine to do
-while sitting? A. To sit with the head and neck up, trunk erect, and with
-the shoulders low.
-
-47. Q. How ought every man in this country whose life is in-door to
-divide his time? A. So that come what may he will make sure of his hour
-of out-of-doors in the late afternoon, when the day’s work is nearly or
-quite done.
-
-48. Q. What two things ought consumptives to determine to do when
-sitting? A. To sit far back on the chair, and to sit at all times upright.
-
-49. Q. To what does a great German anatomist attribute the principal
-cause of pulmonary diseases? A. To the breathing of foul air.
-
-50. Q. What is it far from uncommon for delicate persons to do who take
-good care of the small stock of vigor they have? A. To outlive sturdier
-ones who are more prodigal and careless.
-
-
-
-
-CHAUTAUQUA NORMAL COURSE.
-
-Season of 1884.
-
-
-LESSON V.—BIBLE SECTION.
-
-_The World of The Bible._
-
-By REV. J. L. HURLBUT, D.D., AND R. S. HOLMES, A.M.
-
-Upon a map of the world mark out a section between 42° and 27° north
-latitude, and 54° and 12° east longitude (Greenwich). This will include a
-rectangle having the Black Sea on the north; the Caspian and Persian Gulf
-on the east, the Sinaitic peninsula on the south, and Rome on the west; a
-section of 1050 miles north and south, by 2400 east and west; an area of
-2,520,000 square miles, about two-thirds the size of the United States.
-Within these limits were transacted all the events of Bible history. This
-area should be considered in connection with two maps, overlapping each
-other in the center, those of the Old Testament, and the New Testament
-world.
-
-I. The Old Testament world will embrace the lands between 54° and 31°
-east longitude, or from the Nile to the Persian Gulf; and between 42° and
-27° north latitude, or from the Black Sea to the Red Sea.
-
-1. Observe the location of the following _Seas_, and draw such portions
-of them as are included in the map. 1. The Caspian, in the northeast
-corner. 2. The Persian Gulf, southeast corner. 3. The Red Sea, on the
-south. 4. The Mediterranean Sea, on the west. 5. The Black Sea on the
-north. 6. The Dead Sea, due north of the eastern arm of the Red Sea.
-
-2. Locate the following _Mountain Ranges_: 1. Mount Ararat, the nucleus
-of the mountain system, situated between the Caspian, Black, and
-Mediterranean. 2. The Caspian range, branching from Ararat eastward, and
-following the border of the Caspian Sea. 3. Mount Zagras, running from
-Ararat southeasterly, toward the Persian Gulf. 4. Mount Lebanon, from
-Ararat southwesterly, toward the Red Sea. (Anti-Lebanon, the mountains
-of Palestine, Mount Seir and Mount Sinai, are all parts of this great
-range.) 5. Mount Taurus, from Ararat westward, following the northern
-shore of the Mediterranean.
-
-3. Next draw the important _Rivers_, nearly all following the line of
-the mountain ranges. 1. The Araxes, from eastward into the Caspian Sea.
-2. The Tigris, called in the Bible Hiddekel, from Ararat, following the
-Zagras Mountain, into the Persian Gulf. 3. The Euphrates, from Ararat
-westward to Mount Taurus, then southward, following the course of
-Lebanon, then southeasterly through the great plain, until it unites with
-the Tigris. 4. The Orontes, between two parallel chains of the Lebanon
-range northward into the Mediterranean. 5. The Jordan, between the same
-chains of Lebanon southward into the Dead Sea. 6. The Nile, in Africa,
-northward into the Mediterranean.
-
-4. This world has its great Natural Divisions, somewhat like those of the
-United States. 1. The eastern slope, from Mount Zagras eastward to the
-great desert. 2. The central plain, between Zagras and Lebanon. 3. The
-Mediterranean Slope, between Lebanon and the great sea.
-
-5. These natural divisions suggest the arrangement of the _Lands_.
-1. Locate the lands of the eastern slope; Armenia, Media, Persia. 2.
-The lands of the central plain, as follows: Between Mount Zagras and
-the river Tigris. Assyria and Elam; between the Tigris and Euphrates.
-Mesopotamia and Chaldea; the great desert. Arabia; between the desert and
-Lebanon, Syria. 3. The lands of the Mediterranean; Egypt, the wilderness,
-Palestine, Phœnicia, Asia Minor, though the last does not appear in Old
-Testament history.
-
-6. Locate the following cities, and name the Bible events associated
-with them. 1. Eden, the original home of the human race, probably at the
-junction of the Tigris and Euphrates. 2. Babylon, the capital of Chaldea,
-on the Euphrates. 3. Shushan, or Suza, the capital of Persia, and the
-place of Esther’s deliverance. 4. Nineveh, on the Tigris, the capital of
-Assyria. 5. Haran, in Mesopotamia, a home of Abraham. 6. Damascus, the
-capital of Syria. 7. Jerusalem, in Palestine. 8. Tyre, in Phœnicia. 9.
-Memphis, on the Nile, in Egypt.
-
-II. _The New Testament World._ This extends from Asia Minor to Italy, and
-from the Black Sea to Mount Sinai, between the same parallels as the last
-map, and from 12° to 42° east longitude; and represents the lands of the
-eastern Mediterranean.
-
-1. Upon this map locate five _Seas_. The Mediterranean; Dead Sea; Black
-Sea; Ægean Sea (between Asia Minor and Europe); Adriatic Sea, between
-Greece and Italy.
-
-2. Locate also five _Islands_. Cyprus, in the northeastern corner of the
-Mediterranean; Crete, south of the Ægean; Patmos, in the Ægean; Sicily,
-southwest of Italy, and Melita, now Malta, south of Sicily.
-
-3. Arrange and bound the lands by their continents. 1. African lands.
-Egypt, Libya, and Africa proper. 2. Asiatic lands. Palestine, Phœnicia,
-Syria, Asia Minor. 3. European lands. Macedonia, Greece, Illyricum, Italy.
-
-4. Locate definitely the provinces of Asia Minor, which may be
-arranged thus: Three on the north, bordering on the Black Sea. Pontus,
-Paphlagonia, Bithynia; three on the west, bordering on the Ægean Sea.
-Mysia, Lydia, Caria; three on the south, bordering on the Mediterranean;
-Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia; four in the interior; north, Galatia; east,
-Cappadocia; south, Pisidia; west, Phrygia; central, Lycaonia.
-
-5. Notice the location of several important _Cities_. Alexandria, in
-Egypt; Jerusalem, in Palestine; Damascus and Antioch, in Syria; Tyre,
-in Phœnicia; Tarsus, in Cilicia; Ephesus, in Lydia; Philippi and
-Thessalonica, in Macedonia; Athens and Corinth, in Greece; and Rome, in
-Italy.
-
-6. Notice with regard to the New Testament world. 1. There were many
-lands, yet but one government, the Roman Empire. 2. There were many
-tongues, yet one language everywhere spoken, the Greek. 3. There were
-many races, but one people found everywhere, the Jews. 4. There were many
-religions, yet no deep-seated belief, and consequently, everywhere a
-hunger for the Gospel.
-
-
-SUNDAY-SCHOOL SECTION.
-
-LESSON IV.—THE TEACHER’S WEEK-DAY WORK.
-
-I. _Its Necessity._—The teacher’s purpose is the conversion and spiritual
-education of the scholar; a purpose too great to be compassed in the
-session of the Sunday-school. Consider the following facts:
-
-1. _The brief time which the Sunday-school affords; a half hour_ to the
-lesson; fifty-two half hours in a year; less than one school week of the
-secular school. What progress could be expected from a year’s study, in
-which the school time is only a week?
-
-2. _The difficult subjects of Sunday-school teaching_; upon themes which
-are the loftiest contemplated by the human mind; worthy of the ablest
-intellects; yet to be simplified to the understanding of childhood and
-youth by the teacher.
-
-3. _The lack of preparation on the part of the pupil._—The teacher
-can not take for granted _any_ study at home by the class, but must
-supplement their absolute neglect by his own increased diligence and
-skill.
-
-4. _The natural aversion of the scholar’s heart to the teacher’s
-efforts._—The pupil does not desire to be saved and to learn about
-salvation; all his unregenerate nature is hostile to the subject, and the
-teacher has dull hearts as well as unprepared minds to contend against.
-
-5. _The intervening time of a week between the sessions of the school_ is
-sufficient to efface even what impression is produced by the lesson.
-
-With all these hindrances it is plain that the teacher who is to succeed,
-must supplement his Sunday with week-day work.
-
-II. The next question is, _What shall the week-day work of the teacher
-be?_ Our space forbids more than a mere outline.
-
-1. _A daily study by the teacher of teaching methods_, in order to best
-employ the brief time at command for actual work. It is said Napoleon’s
-battles were fought in detail in his own mind before even the enemy were
-in sight, and his force, will and genius were sufficient to carry out the
-details. A study of the methods employed by the best secular teachers
-would furnish means for planning all the details of any Sunday half hour.
-
-2. _A daily study of the lesson itself._—The teacher’s preparation will
-occupy another lesson in this series; but when once that art has been
-learned, a part of the teacher’s week-day work should be to practice it
-daily.
-
-3. _A daily watching the methods of life of the class of society from
-which one’s pupils come._—If they are children or youth or adults, if
-from the lower, middle or higher walks of society, the teacher should
-know the influences which surround the life and the methods which govern
-it, in order to rightly fit the teaching to the life.
-
-4. _A sedulous scrutiny of the face of every child met in daily
-life._—Such care will prevent ever passing a scholar of the class without
-notice, and will reveal the workings of the child heart, and give an
-insight into child nature that will be of great value.
-
-5. _A careful listening to the conversation of children, and entering
-into conversation with them whenever practicable._
-
-6. _Earnestly seeking an interest in the things which are of interest to
-the pupil._—It will furnish a common ground of meeting in the class on
-Sunday. _Community of interest will result._
-
-7. _Daily seeking contact with the pupil, either personal or by some
-means which will recall the teacher to the pupil’s mind._—If the teacher
-is daily present with the pupil there is hope that the teacher’s
-influence and teachings will be also.
-
-8. _Daily endeavoring by all means in the teacher’s power to render the
-pupil’s daily life pleasanter._
-
-III. But how can all these things be accomplished?
-
-1. By a regular attendance on the weekly teachers’ meeting. That is an
-essential part of a teacher’s week-day work.
-
-2. By systematic visiting of pupils in their homes. This will insure an
-acquaintance which could in no other way be obtained.
-
-3. By cultivating the reading habit in the pupil. How? By giving some
-good weekly paper or magazine which you have finished; by loaning good
-books; by interesting the family in such organizations as the Chautauqua
-Literary and Scientific Circle.
-
-4. By inviting pupils to entertainments, to the teacher’s home in winter,
-and to the woods and fields in summer.
-
-5. By establishing little class Normal classes, and teaching some of the
-many interesting things parallel to the general work of the Sunday-school.
-
-This brief outline may serve as a nucleus for thought by the student, and
-may suggest a general plan, of which the details can be wrought out by
-the individual teacher.
-
-
-LESSON V.—THE TEACHER’S PREPARATION.
-
-I. _The Necessity of Preparation._—All that was adduced in the last
-lesson to show the importance of the week-day work, might well be
-repeated as arguments for the preparation of the lesson.
-
-1. _It is necessary from the limitation of time._—The teacher must study
-his subject thoroughly, in order to employ to the utmost that precious
-half hour of the lesson.
-
-2. _It is necessary from the nature of the subjects._—No one should
-venture to instruct upon the all-important, the profound, the difficult
-themes of the Gospel, who has not given them special and intense thought.
-
-3. _It is necessary from the condition of the pupil._—Because the scholar
-is unprepared, careless, unthinking, the teacher must be alert, able,
-equipped. Any one can teach a genius, but it requires a genius to teach a
-dullard.
-
-II. _The general aims of preparation._—In the teacher’s study of the
-Scripture three aims should at all times be kept in view.
-
-1. _His first aim should be to interpret the meaning of the Word._—We
-should study, not to interject into the Scriptures our own views, or the
-doctrines of our school of thought, but to ascertain what God meant in
-the Book, to learn “the mind of the Spirit.”
-
-2. _His second aim should be to satisfy the needs of his own spiritual
-nature._—No man can feed others unless he has himself been fed. Let the
-teacher fill his own heart with the Word of life, and then he will be
-able to inspire his class with hunger for the truth.
-
-3. _His third aim should be to supply the needs of his class._—He is
-a teacher as well as a learner, and must ever study with the full
-knowledge of his scholar’s needs, seeking in the lesson for that which is
-especially fitted for them and can be adapted to them.
-
-III. _The Departments of Preparation._—(We condense here the outline of
-Dr. Vincent, in the “Chautauqua Normal Guide.”) There are five lines
-of investigation and preparation to be followed by the teacher; not
-necessarily in this order, but embodying these departments.
-
-1. _The Analysis of the Lesson-Text._—The teacher who seeks to know the
-contents of the lesson will find them under the following seven elements.
-1. The _time_ to which the lesson belongs, year, period, relation to last
-lesson, etc. 2. The _places_ referred to in the lesson, or where its
-events occurred; their location, history, associations. 3. The _persons_,
-who they were; what is known of them; the characters displayed. 4. The
-_facts_ or _thoughts_ of the lesson; facts if historical; thoughts if
-ethical or doctrinal, as the Epistles. 5. The _difficulties_ encountered
-in the explanation of the lesson, whether in its statements, or their
-relation to other parts of Scripture. 6. The _doctrines_ or general
-principles taught. 7. The _duties_ inculcated in the lesson or to be
-drawn from it.
-
-2. _The Collation of Parallel Passages._—Every text which will shed light
-upon a fact or a thought in the lesson should be searched. Spurgeon says:
-“The best commentary on a passage of Scripture is the spirit of God;” and
-that it reveals itself in the parallel passages.
-
-3. _The Exploration of the Lesson-Text_, for its central topic; the
-underlying spiritual thought which runs through it and is to be presented
-from it.
-
-4. _The Adaptation of the Lesson to the Class._—This subject receives
-more full and suggestive treatment in Lesson vii. The teacher must
-prepare his lesson with the condition and characteristics of his pupils
-in his mind.
-
-5. _The Preparation of the Teaching Plan._—The teacher should know not
-only what he is to teach, but _how_ he is to teach it; in what order of
-thought; with what opening sentences, illustrations, application, and
-closing utterances.
-
-IV. _Hints on Preparation._—1. Begin early in the week, as soon after the
-teaching of the last lesson as possible. 2. Read the lesson often; at
-least once each day, and thoughtfully. 3. Pray much over the lesson; for
-by communion with the Author of the Word we enter into knowledge of the
-Word. 4. Use all the helps accessible, in the line of commentaries, Bible
-dictionaries, etc. 5. Study independently, using the thoughts of others
-to quicken your own thought, and not in place of it. 6. Talk with others
-about the lesson, in the family, in the teachers’ meeting, and in social
-life. 7. Do not expect to use all your material. All the knowledge gained
-will add power to the teaching of that portion of the knowledge imparted.
-
- * * * * *
-
-THE ART OF READING.—I used to believe a great deal more in opportunities
-and less in application than I do now. Time and health are needed, but
-with these there are always opportunities. Rich people have a fancy for
-spending money very uselessly on their culture because it seems to them
-more valuable when it has been costly; but the truth is, that by the
-blessing of good and cheap literature, intellectual light has become
-almost as accessible as daylight. I have a rich friend who travels more,
-and buys more costly things than I do, but he does not really learn more
-or advance farther in the twelvemonth. If my days are fully occupied,
-what has he to set against them? only other well occupied days, no more.
-If he is getting benefit at St. Petersburg he is missing the benefit I
-am getting round my house and in it. The sum of the year’s benefit seems
-to be surprisingly alike in both cases. So if you are reading a piece
-of thoroughly good literature, Baron Rothschild may possibly be as well
-occupied as you—he is certainly not better occupied. When I open a noble
-volume I say to myself, “now the only Crœsus that I envy is he who is
-reading a better book than this.”—_Philip G. Hamerton._
-
-
-
-
-EDITOR’S OUTLOOK.
-
-
-DRESS AND INCOME
-
-Dress is fast becoming a science. Particularly is this true of the dress
-of women. The modern fashion magazine with its suggestions and plans,
-shows how nearly dress is a formulated science. All this is right and
-necessary. When used rightly there is no weapon in a woman’s hands
-more powerful than effective dressing. It makes even a plain woman
-attractive, and a fair one doubly so. It gives her a peculiar influence
-which every earnest, true-hearted woman should seek rather than avoid.
-To be effective, dress must be studied. But the thought which women
-give to dress leads them often to give it undue importance, to make it
-a paramount object rather than a means to influence. Most especially
-is this true among a large class of self-supporting women and wives of
-salaried men. The old charge of Polonius:
-
- “Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
- But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy”
-
-is often literally carried out by them, and in many cases this class
-dresses in a more costly style and with more taste than any other in the
-community. Nor is it mere outside show. They do not wear silk dresses and
-coarse boots, nor velvet mantles and no gloves. Their wardrobe is almost
-invariably complete and in taste. They are sensibly, neatly and richly
-dressed women. They have studied and mastered the science of dressing
-well. They live within their incomes, too; but in almost every case their
-salaries give them nothing but food and raiment. At the end of a year,
-beyond their wardrobes and the amount of rather questionable prestige
-which their good clothes have given them in a certain circle—rarely a
-circle which is superior to their own—they have nothing, and here lies
-the wrong. No matter how small an income may be it ought to be so used
-that it will do more. If for a year’s work we have simply the necessaries
-of life, we have achieved small success. But few people put their money
-where it yields substantial return; few devote a fair portion of their
-earnings to increase the value of their work or to multiply implements of
-work. We rarely find persons who devote a fair amount of their salaries
-to charities, but we do often find salaries of from six hundred to one
-thousand dollars yielding seal-skin sacks and velvet gowns. Are such
-garments consistent with the steady course of self-culture which every
-person should pursue, or with the tithe which every moralist, not to say
-Christian, should devote to the world of woe about us? Common sense tells
-us that we can not live like the wealthy unless we are wealthy.
-
-It is among the salaried class particularly that this evil exists.
-Perhaps the cause springs from the way in which they earn their
-livelihood. Money comes to them regularly and surely; they see no reason
-why it should cease, and so give less attention to strict economy than
-the man whose success depends upon the care and thrift with which he
-lives. Their future promotion depends upon their faithfulness, not upon
-their economy, so that often a man of moderate salary keeps a more
-expensive establishment than a man of moderate wealth. In the latter
-case future business advancement depends upon the amount he can save to
-invest, in the former simply upon his sticking to his work. Salaried
-people too often live like school boys upon their annual allowance.
-Whatever the cause, there is a large class of people among us much
-inferior to what they might be, both in usefulness and ability, simply
-from the wholly selfish expenditures of their incomes.
-
-
-STEAM IS NOT AN ARISTOCRAT.
-
-One of the careless outcries of dissatisfied persons is that the “rich
-are growing richer and the poor poorer.” This is half true. The rich
-are growing richer—and so, too, are the poor. The wealth of the world
-has been enormously increased, and all classes have profited by it.
-Even paupers fare better at public expense than they did fifty years
-ago. Steam has multiplied the world’s wealth. The increase is most
-conspicuous in the bank accounts of the rich. But the poor live in
-better houses, have better food and clothing, and get a good many things
-once considered luxuries. Doubtless some who cry “the poor are growing
-poorer,” have an honest fear that the tendency of things is to crush down
-into bitter poverty all but the few rich. They see the growth of large
-fortunes, but they fail to see the greater growth of general wealth, nor
-do they stop to figure out the problem. For example: Suppose Vanderbilt
-has $150,000,000. Then suppose it divided among 50,000,000 of people.
-We should get just _three dollars apiece_! Suppose that the very rich
-of the country are equal in wealth to twenty Vanderbilts—a very large
-estimate. Then, their united wealth, if distributed, would give us only
-_sixty dollars apiece_! That is the most we could get out of dividing up
-the big piles of wealth. Any one sees that it would not pay to divide.
-The rich have not a great deal of our money in their pockets—if they
-have any. For, an honest inquiry will show that the general average of
-wealth, and of all that wealth brings to us, is higher by a much larger
-proportion than that sixty dollars apiece represents. The worst view we
-can possibly take of it is that we have paid sixty dollars apiece, out of
-a vast increase in wealth, to men who have managed great enterprises that
-have enriched us all. _Perhaps_ these men have taken it all for nothing.
-Nobody believes it; but suppose they have. Then we have still obtained
-a great gain at small cost. We get, on the average, twice as much for
-our labor as people did fifty years ago. We live in more comfort than
-people used to do. We are not growing poorer. We raise here no question
-of monopolies. Our point now is that the poor are not growing poorer, but
-richer—that there is no such tendency at work in modern society as the
-one honestly feared by many—this piling up of all wealth in few hands.
-Steam is not an aristocrat, but a plain Republican who impartially helps
-us all when we help ourselves.
-
-
-THE PRESENT POLITICAL OUTLOOK.
-
-In a very few months we shall know the names of the presidential
-candidates, one of whom, in all probability, will be the next chief
-executive of the nation. The Republican National Convention has been
-called to meet in Chicago June 3, next. The calling of other conventions
-will soon follow. In a short time we shall have the candidates, and
-then will ensue a contest of which it is safe to predict that it will
-be close, exciting, and warmly fought. In contemplating the present
-political situation, we see it is little different from that of 1880.
-Less change has come in the quadrennium than might have been anticipated.
-The same two great parties confront each other, and their apparent
-relative strength is much the same as it was when last in the national
-arena they measured swords; it can hardly be said that there is greater
-likelihood of the success of either than there was four years ago. For
-years there has been no little talk about the old parties having done
-their work, and the time having come for them to die and new parties to
-succeed them; and yet, we enter the presidential campaign of 1884 with
-the two old parties in the field as influential as ever. Small progress,
-if any, has been made during the past four years in the work of bringing
-new parties to strength and prominence. The supersession of the parties
-which for so many years have been competitors for the reins of government
-is a thing of the future still, and seems a thing not of the near future.
-Of the new political organizations which from time to time have arisen,
-it is to be said that, generally, their strength is evidently waning
-rather than increasing. Some of them, in state elections, have held the
-balance of power and been important factors, but there is no probability
-that such will be the case in the approaching presidential contest.
-The influential parties of the past are the influential parties of the
-present. One of them is to win in November next, and both now appear
-with about the same chances of success as in 1880.
-
-The fall elections of 1882 gave great confidence to the Democratic party.
-Their ticket in New York received 192,000 majority, in Pennsylvania
-40,000, and in Massachusetts 14,000. They had some grounds certainly for
-the assurance that in the next presidential fight they would wrest from
-their opponents the power which had been theirs for more than a score
-of years. But the situation has taken on a decidedly changed aspect.
-From the state elections of October last, indeed, Democrats might still
-derive courage and hope. They carried Ohio, and showed much greater
-strength in Iowa than in former years; though, to be sure, causes for
-these results of a local and temporary character were not wanting. But
-the November elections served to render the prospects more dubious.
-In New York the Republicans elected their candidate for Secretary
-of State by 17,000 majority; in Pennsylvania their state ticket was
-carried by a majority of 16,000; and in Massachusetts Mr. Robinson was
-elected Governor over General Butler by a majority of 10,000. Virginia
-was carried by the Democrats; but this Democratic victory, it is well
-argued by a keen political writer, is to prove a real blessing to the
-Republicans by breaking the complications of their party with “Mahoneism”
-and repudiation. All things considered, then, neither party can be seen
-to have gained since the last presidential election, and to stand a
-better chance of success than four years ago. The “Solid South” is still
-solid. Not an electoral vote from the states once in rebellion will be
-given to the Republican candidates. Among many doubtful things, this at
-least is certain. The solid vote of the South is secure in the hands of
-the Democrats. In addition to this, they will need, to win, forty-five
-electoral votes from the North. If they are successful in securing these,
-the next incumbent of the presidential office will be a Democrat. The
-result of the approaching contest, since party issues of account are now
-notably wanting, must turn very much upon the character of the party
-candidates and the personal and official conduct of the representatives
-of the two parties at Washington in the intervening time. From what has
-been seen in New York, Pennsylvania, and other states, it is evident
-that there is a very large and growing body of voters in the land who
-will not be fettered to party, whether right or wrong. They claim the
-right to turn their backs upon their party when its action becomes
-offensive, and take an independent position. These “independents” hold
-the balance of power at the present time. They can give New York and
-Pennsylvania to either party; they can fix the result of the presidential
-election. If good behavior on the part of party leaders and the choice of
-unexceptionable candidates will secure their votes, it will certainly be
-good policy to make use of the measures.
-
-
-SPANISH BULL FIGHTS.
-
-There are found, even where we have the best civilization, some degraded
-classes who delight in cruel, bloody sports, in witnessing scenes
-most revolting to persons of humane feelings and better culture. But
-desperadoes, pugilists, and other fighting men, with those who have a
-fiendish satisfaction in the sufferings and blood of the dumb animals
-they torture, are counted alien from our Christian civilization. Their
-characters and their crimes are detested by all good citizens. But when
-deeds of cruelty and blood are not only endured and condoned, but raised
-to the dignity of national sports, it shows a state of society that can
-hardly be called civilized. Ancient Rome had her gladiatorial shows for
-the gratification of those eager to witness the bloody spectacle. The
-tournaments of chivalrous knights in the mediæval times, who slew each
-other as an exhibition of their strength and skill, were of the same
-character. In Spain and Portugal even to the present day bull fights are
-a national amusement, in which nearly all classes find pleasure. Our
-attention is just now called to this. A suggestive note from a gentleman
-of culture and refined sensibilities, says: “A king of Spain brought home
-a young wife, whose first duty was to give the signal for the beginning
-of a bull fight. The same monarch is visited by a German prince, in whose
-honor these brutalities are perpetrated on a more magnificent scale than
-usual.” And so it is. Alas for European civilization in the nineteenth
-century!
-
-The preparation for these sports is extensive. The ring is of vast
-dimensions, in the center of which is a pit, or wide area, sunk in
-terraced granite, with galleries rising on all sides, sufficient to seat
-at least ten thousand people who usually crowd the place on Sabbath
-afternoon. The fighters and their assistants are trained to their
-business, and handle their weapons skillfully. Some are mounted on horses
-with long slender spears, used simply to torture and exasperate, but to
-inflict no deadly wound. The “killer” is a swordsman on foot, who baffles
-and confuses the bull, drawing his attention this way and that, playing
-his red cloak before his eyes, and watching his opportunity to plunge
-the sword to the hilt into the neck of the animal. They are well paid,
-and often amass large fortunes. But no verbal account of a bull tourney
-can present the rapid changes, the dangers and escapes, the skill, the
-picturesqueness, and the horror of the actual thing. The acts, brilliant
-or repulsive, occur in rapid succession, presenting only glimpses of
-dramatic, ghastly pictures, which fade out instantly to re-form in new
-phases. The poor, gaunt, dilapidated horses used are a cheap contribution
-to the occasion, and forced into position to be killed by the horns of
-the bull, as he, in turn, is doomed to die by the sword of the killer,
-with not the slightest chance to survive the bloody fray. A fierce,
-powerful bull has been known to kill five horses in ten minutes. The
-first rush against a horse is a sight horrible to witness. You hear the
-horns tearing the tough hide, crashing the ribs, dragging the entrails
-from the quivering body. When two or more of the poor animals are
-struggling on the earth in the ring, now reeking with blood, others, with
-bandaged eyes, and hideously gashed sides, are spurred and goaded on to a
-similar fate. A witness tells of seeing “a horse and rider lifted bodily
-on the horns, and so tossed that the horseman was flung from his saddle,
-hurtled over the bull, and landed solidly on his back, senseless.” The
-grooms bore him off white and rigid, but the eager spectators heeded
-him not. They were wildly cheering the bull’s strength and prowess.
-Occasionally a man is horribly mangled, killed in the ring, or maimed for
-life; so a surgeon attends in the ante-room, and (alas! the mockery,) a
-priest is at hand, with his holy wafer for the last sacrament in case of
-any accident to a good bull-fighting Catholic. Yet things so unutterably
-repulsive are witnessed with apparent delight by richly dressed Spanish
-gentlemen and ladies of the highest rank.
-
-The performance, as at present maintained, is far below that of
-other days, when the nation had more vigor. The dumb animals are, by
-arrangements in the ring, put to a much greater disadvantage, and the
-necessity for great dexterity and courage no longer existing, the class
-of fighting men do not, in these respects, compare well with their
-predecessors.
-
-Spain, once a powerful nation, having a class—not numerous—of highly
-cultivated citizens, and a literature by no means despicable, has
-fallen into a sad condition, neither respected nor feared as formerly.
-The brutal sports in which she delights could never be introduced or
-tolerated in really refined society, or by cultured people, but when
-retained as a relic of earlier barbarism they have an educating force,
-and nurture to still greater strength the evil passions that made
-them possible. Some things among us may have a dissipating, if not
-demoralizing, tendency, and should be abandoned. Our voice is not against
-all amusements. Innocent recreations are healthy. Our minds and bodies
-need them. Only let them be suitable, and of an elevating tendency.
-
-
-
-
-EDITOR’S NOTE-BOOK.
-
-
-The list of C. L. S. C. graduates of the class of ’83 is published in
-this number of THE CHAUTAUQUAN—1300 strong. The states represented
-are California, Maine, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania,
-Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Maryland, Iowa, Illinois,
-Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, New
-Jersey, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Connecticut, Missouri, District
-of Columbia, New Hampshire, Colorado, Dakota, Kentucky. Canada is also
-represented, and in far-away China there is one graduate. The members
-are from thirteen different denominations: Methodist, Presbyterian,
-Congregational, Episcopal, Baptist, Christian, United Presbyterian,
-Reformed, Unitarian, Universalist, Friends, Roman Catholics, Seven Day
-Baptists. In its ranks are teachers, housekeepers, ministers, lawyers,
-clerks, students, mechanics, farmers, merchants, dressmakers, milliners,
-music teachers and stenographers.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The presidential campaign for 1884 was opened in December by the
-Republican National Committee fixing June as the time, and Chicago as the
-place for holding the National Convention. Chautauqua was discussed as
-a proper place for this convention to meet. The _Graphic_, of New York,
-furnished a number of good illustrations of the hotels, steamboats, and
-lines of railroads with which the Lake is favored, but these attractions
-were not strong enough—the atmosphere of the place is not the kind
-political conventions breathe. To be sure, President Grant and President
-Garfield both honored themselves and Chautauqua by visiting the Assembly,
-but a national political convention, even of the Republican type,
-would find “water, water, everywhere,” and nothing stronger to drink.
-Chautauqua is dead as a place for holding a national political convention.
-
- * * * * *
-
-James Russell Lowell, our Minister to England, enjoys so excellent a
-reputation in that country, that people who ought to know better, are
-beginning to talk about his “Un-Americanism.” It is a foolish business.
-Mr. Lowell is an American of the Americans. But Americanism does not
-consist in a capacity for getting the ill-will of foreigners, or in
-abusing them when one lives abroad. Mr. Lowell worthily represents the
-people of the United States among the English people, and the honors paid
-to him in choosing him to unveil the statue of Fielding, and electing
-him Rector of the University of Glasgow, are honors paid to this nation.
-There is no place for the petty jealousy of his growing popularity in
-England. It is a thing to be proud of. The author of the “Biglow Papers”
-will always be known on both sides of the ocean as a Yankee of the
-Yankees.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Somebody has said of the “House of Representatives,” “it is too big for
-business, too big for harmony, too big for economy, too big for any
-practical purpose whatever,” and the prospect is that it will be larger,
-rather than smaller. Speaker Carlisle found it almost unwieldy when he
-organized the four hundred and one members into committees. We venture
-the assertion that no officer in the United States Government in his
-official capacity passes through a more trying ordeal than the Speaker
-of the House. He must face his work every day of the session, in the
-hall where he presides; and as for ambition and jealousy, tact and skill
-in manipulation, the representatives of the people are so well along in
-all these things that to ask one man to appoint this company to places
-on committees, and then to legislate for the people, is too much. A new
-method of appointing committees ought to be adopted.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Mr George Ticknor Curtis has rendered the American public a valuable
-service in his two volumes on the life of James Buchanan, published by
-the Harper Brothers. If this material had been precipitated upon the
-public mind in the dark days of the civil war, it would have been as
-fuel to the flame of public passion, or if it had come to light even
-during the years immediately after the war, the result would have
-been much the same. Mr. Buchanan’s task during the last days of his
-administration was a hard one. He was expected to both _wait_ and to be
-in a _hurry_ in discharging his duties as President; besides, it required
-more than human sagacity to determine what would be the wisest course
-for his administration to pursue. The time when he vacated the White
-House, and Mr. Lincoln went into it, makes a joint in American history
-which must be studied as with a microscope, if the student would reach a
-correct judgment of the men who acted and the events that transpired. The
-correspondence which passed between Mr. Buchanan and several members of
-his old cabinet, after he retired to private life is like the glare of an
-electric light turned on those turbulent times. By these letters one can
-read his way out of the heretofore inexplicable darkness of those caverns
-of history.
-
- * * * * *
-
-John Brown, of Ossawatomie fame, has been glorified in poetry and song.
-There has been a bewitching charm about his name to a multitude of
-people, and the events of the past decade have contributed largely to
-this spell. As we settle back into our normal condition and study the
-naked facts of his history, we are led to wonder how the man exerted such
-a tremendous influence over his countrymen. If it be true that Sherman,
-Doyles and Wilkinson, with others, whom Brown and his men murdered, had
-entered into a conspiracy to destroy the Browns, this did not justify
-John Brown and his men for murdering them in cold blood. Not even in
-warfare would such heartless butchery be defensible. It may yet appear
-that the endorsement which the American people gave to John Brown, and
-the glory they have attached to his memory were unworthily bestowed, and
-that the people were misled. The close study of American history as made
-between 1858 and 1865 may put a new face on many of our biographical and
-national stories of men and events.
-
- * * * * *
-
-John Pender, a member of the English Parliament, compliments the Western
-Union Telegraph Company, in a speech on the government assuming control
-of telegraph lines, in these words: “I have thought it desirable to
-refer to my visit to America, and say something about the Western Union
-system, because it is a system which is, probably, in its efficiency,
-only to be compared with our own system in England, which is worked by
-the Government, with this difference, that being worked as a private
-enterprise, and being stimulated more or less by competition, I think
-the Western Union has shown greater results during the last ten years
-than our system has under government management. I think the science of
-electricity has received more encouragement and been more developed,
-and the reduction of rates has, during that time, also been greater in
-America than in England; and, altogether, I think it would be well if our
-Government took a leaf out of the book of the Western Union Company.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-December the sixteenth was John G. Whittier’s birthday. He is now
-seventy-six years old. In Haverhill, Massachusetts, a thrifty
-manufacturing town, Mr. Whittier spent his boyhood, in a lonely farm
-house half hidden by oak woods, with no other house in sight of it. He
-says, on stormy nights
-
- “We heard the loosened clapboards tost,
- The board-nails snapping in the frost;
- And on us, through the unplastered wall,
- Felt the light-sifted snow-flakes fall.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-The London (England) _Chronicle_ speaks the following sensible words
-concerning the new honor conferred on Tennyson: “It will seem very
-strange for us to have to think of Alfred Tennyson as Lord Tennyson,
-and he is too aged, and his life-impression too decidedly fixed, for
-the changed name to get established. Just as we speak of Shakspere, and
-Wordsworth, and Bulwer Lytton, and Browning, so we shall think and speak
-of Tennyson. A poet’s proper crown is not a peerage, but a nation’s
-admiration and love, and the world’s uplifting by his words of trust and
-hope, his visions of the perfect, the beautiful, and the true, his subtle
-readings of human hearts and motives. England, and the English speaking
-races of the world, crowned Tennyson long ago, and the peerage crown
-seems but a little thing, only needing a passing word.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Among the many “happy ideas” hit upon in connection with the C. L. S.
-C., that of Memorial Days deserves prominent place and mention. Several
-of these days are named for men whose genius and literary greatness have
-received the world’s recognition. These days are not memorials to the
-cold letters that spell the names of Milton, Addison, and Shakspere,
-but to genius and greatness in literature as represented by them. And
-the design is not to keep in memory a mere literal sign, a name, but to
-pay our homage to the literary or other merit with which the name is
-associated. And this with the ulterior view of kindling aspirations and
-inspirations in our own minds and hearts.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Seventy-five million dollars are invested in the rubber business of this
-country, of which $30,000,000 are in the boot and shoe manufacture.
-The annual products are $250,000,000, made by 15,000 persons at 120
-factories. Thirty thousand tons of raw rubber are used each year. The
-forests along the equator, which Humboldt declared inexhaustible, are
-dwindling, and the rapid increase of cost of rubber (from 50 cents to
-$1.25 per lb. in six years) is leading to search for cheaper substitutes.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Rev. Dr. John Hall says: “The churches of New York cost $3,000,000
-per year; the amusements $7,000,000; the city government $13,000,000. It
-is not an extravagant demand that the churches should have more money.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-Ella A. Giles, in _The Nation_, furnishes a description of a seminary
-for colored girls in Atlanta, Ga., under the auspices of the Baptist
-Home Missionary Society. Here is a testimony she jotted down in one of
-their meetings: “Dis chile didn’t do no teachin’ in vacation,” said a
-big mulatto woman, with great pomposity. “’Twan’t ’cos she didn’t know
-’nuff, ’xactly, nor ’cos there wasn’t heaps dat needed to be teached. On
-every side ignorant niggers is as thick as flies. But my _preferment_ was
-doin’ suthin’ else fur my blessed Savior. Needn’t think I didn’t work for
-Jesus, my young sisters. I tell ye I worked mighty hard! I visited heaps
-o’ sick niggers, an’ I ’low I wan’t lazy. Don’t win ye no crown jes to
-go an’ _look_ at sick folks, unless ye _do_ suthin’ fur um. I feel like
-as if my stomach was light and freed from bile, ’cos I nussed the sick,
-an’ puttin my shoulder to the wheel, didn’t look back like Lot’s wife
-and turn unto a pillow of salt, but minded my blessed Lord an’ Savior
-an’ visited the sick—fur to please Jesus. I likes dis yeah school. Laws!
-I’s mo’n fifty years ole or thar-’bouts, an’ till I kum yeah I nebber
-know’d dat workin’ fur Christ meant nussin’ sick folks an’ goin’ to see
-the widowers an’ childless in affliction, an’ keepin’ unspotted from de
-world.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-One cold day in December, from the City Hall steps in New York City,
-the Rev. Henry Kimball gave away two cheeses, cut in pound chunks, two
-barrels of crackers, a barrel of turnips, a barrel of hominy done up in
-brown paper pound packages, and five bags of Indian meal. One hundred and
-twenty women, seventy little girls, and a colored man came to get their
-baskets filled. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-At a meeting of naturalists held recently in New York, Prof. D. Cope, of
-Philadelphia, alluded to the small provision that is made for original
-research in this country, and the stress that is on almost all original
-investigators to throw themselves away as teachers in order to gain
-a livelihood. It is important that we have original investigation in
-science, but capitalists must furnish the money to defray the expenses.
-But because a man or woman turns to teaching rather than investigation,
-they do not throw themselves away. Teaching is as high and honorable a
-calling as investigating nature’s laws.
-
- * * * * *
-
-A new feature lately introduced in the public schools of New Haven is
-called “newspaper geography.” The pupils are in turn required to find on
-the map places referred to in the paper.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The South Carolina Legislature has passed a bill declaring unlawful all
-contracts for the sale of articles for future delivery. Speculation
-in cotton never received a harder blow than this. If some of our
-legislatures in northern states, say New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois,
-should adopt such a law, and then enforce it, what a torpedo it would be
-among speculators in oil and grain, and stocks of all kinds.
-
- * * * * *
-
-One of the students in the University of Berlin, Germany, is 69 years of
-age. The aged members of the C. L. S. C. find themselves in the fashion.
-Our motto is a good one: “Never be discouraged,” not even in old age.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union celebrated its tenth anniversary
-on December 23. We are told that this organization numbers 100,000
-members, and that they are scattered all over the land. Here we find the
-cause of the stir and hubbub in the country on the temperance question.
-It began in the Ohio crusade, among the women. They used prayer and
-religious songs and earnest entreaties, flavored with the spirit of
-Christianity, and they have won; yes, they have won the grandest victory
-of which mention is made in history for temperance and our unfortunate
-fellow men. Celebrate the return of the anniversary of the crusade. Do it
-with songs and shouts of joy, and continue to work till the end.
-
- * * * * *
-
-We find the following summary of an interview with Whittier in the
-_Sun_: “Whittier said that Hawthorne, Emerson, Longfellow, and himself
-had always been friends. There were no jealousies, and each took a pride
-in the work and successes of the others. They would exchange notes upon
-their productions, and if one saw a kindly notice of the other it was
-always cut out and sent to him. Hawthorne was by the others regarded
-as the greatest master of the English language. Whittier describes
-himself as unlike any of the rest, for he never had any method. When
-he felt like it he wrote, and neither had the health nor the patience
-to revise his work afterward. It usually went as it was originally
-completed. Emerson wrote with great care, and would not only revise
-his manuscript carefully, but frequently reword the whole on the proof
-sheets. Longfellow, too, was a very careful writer. He would lay his
-work by and then revise it. He would often consult with his friends
-about his productions before they were given to the world. ‘I was not so
-fortunate,’ says the Quaker poet. ‘I have lived mostly a secluded life,
-with little patience to draw upon, and only a few friends for associates.
-What writing I have done has been for the love of it. I have ever been
-timid of what I have penned. It is really a marvel to me that I have
-gathered any literary reputation from my productions.’”
-
- * * * * *
-
-So large a number of the complete sets of THE CHAUTAUQUAN for 1880-1881
-have been received by us that we withdraw the offer made in the January
-issue of the magazine.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The prospect is good that we shall have erected at Chautauqua in the
-spring about six new cottages, to be used by the School of Languages.
-They will be located on the new land recently purchased by the
-Association. This will introduce public buildings on that part of the
-grounds, and make the lots for private cottages more desirable. The
-outlook on the Lake from this point is one of the finest to be found
-between Jamestown and Mayville.
-
-
-
-
-C. L. S. C. NOTES ON REQUIRED READINGS FOR FEBRUARY.
-
-
-PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
-
-P. 177.—“Diomedes,” diˈo-meˌdes. A legendary hero of the Trojan
-war—second in bravery to Achilles. Much space is devoted by Homer in
-the _Iliad_ to his exploits. He was a favorite of Minerva, and from her
-received the gift of immortality. In his combats with the Trojans he
-spared neither gods nor men, if Minerva assisted him. For this reason
-Minerva speaks to him:
-
- “War boldly with the Trojans, Diomed;
- For even now I breathe into thy frame,—
- …
- Lo! I remove the darkness from thine eyes,
- That thou mayst well discern the gods from men;
- And if a god should tempt thee to the fight,
- Beware to combat with the immortal race.”
-
-P. 179.—“Clemens of Alexandria.” One of the early Christian fathers, who
-lived at the close of the second and beginning of the third centuries.
-Educated in the heathen philosophy, he was converted to Christianity,
-and became a presbyter in the church. Clemens wrote much, using the
-scientific methods of the philosophers in his exposition of the doctrines
-of Christianity. His principal themes were exhortations to the heathen to
-abandon idolatry, and treatises on Christian and Greek literature.
-
-“Minucius Felix,” Marcus. A native of Africa, but he came to Rome, where
-he successfully practiced law until he was converted. He is said to have
-been renowned for his eloquence. His most important work for Christianity
-was _Octavius_, a dialogue between a Christian and a heathen upon the
-merits of their respective religions.
-
-P. 187.—“Reductio ad absurdum.” Reducing to an absurdity.
-
-P. 189.—“Petrifaction,” pĕtˌri-făcˈtion. Turning into stone of an animal
-or vegetable substance.
-
-P. 199.—“Zeleucus,” ze-leuˈcus. A law-giver among the Locrians (see
-Grecian History), who lived about 660 B. C. His laws were eminently
-severe, but were observed by his people for a long time. Zeleucus is said
-to have come to his death because a transgressor of one of his own laws.
-He had decreed that no one should enter the senate house armed, on a
-penalty of death. In a time of great excitement in war Zeleucus broke the
-decree. It was remarked to him, and immediately he fell on his sword, in
-vindication of the law.
-
-P. 222.—“Daguerreotype,” da-gĕrˈo-tīp. So called from Daguerre, the
-discoverer of this method of taking pictures.
-
-P. 230.—“Permit me to write the ballads of a nation, and I care not
-who makes her laws.” The idea is said to have originated with Andrew
-Fletcher, of Saltoun, who wrote: “I knew a very wise man that believed
-that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care
-who made the laws of a nation.”
-
-P. 241.—“Modus operandi.” Manner of operation.
-
-“Die.” The piece of metal on which is cut a device to impress on coins,
-medals, etc.
-
-P. 254. “Socinian.” Lælius Socinus was an Italian theologian (1525-1562).
-His study led him to doubt certain doctrines, among them that of the
-Trinity. His nephew, Faustus, who by his skeptical spirit had made
-himself very obnoxious to the church, decided in 1574 to become a
-religious reformer, and from the manuscripts of his uncle he elaborated
-what was called the Socinian system. The negations of the system include:
-The Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personality of the devil, the
-native and total depravity of man, the atonement and eternal punishment.
-It affirms that Christ was a divinely appointed man, and that in the
-imitation of his virtues we find our salvation. The American Cyclopædia
-says of the former use of this term: “The name Socinian, which is so
-often given to those who hold Unitarian opinions as a term of reproach,
-was for a century the honorable designation of a powerful and numerous
-religious body in Poland, Hungary and Transylvania.… The Racovian
-catechism, so called from its place of publication (Raków, in Poland),
-compiled mainly from the writings of Socinus, is still the text-book
-of faith and worship in many Hungarian and Transylvanian churches.”
-Unitarianism is now the term applied to the doctrines of Socinianism.
-
-P. 258.—Translation of Latin in foot-note: The constant presence of
-Christ in the heart brings pleasant communion, gracious consolation, much
-peace.
-
-P. 260.—“Subjectively.” By “moral light revealed subjectively” is meant
-the light or truth which is natural, or in the mind of every subject or
-thinker, and opposed to the light which comes _objectively_, or through
-an object, as, in this case, the light which comes from the Bible.
-Subjective and objective are terms of mental philosophy, of common use,
-and applied generally to certainty or truth. “Objective certainty,” says
-Watts, “is when the thing is true in itself; subjective when we are
-certain of the truth of it. The one is in things, the other in our minds.”
-
-P. 266.—“Logos,” loˈgos. The _word_, literally. In ancient thought it
-had two significations, one philosophical, where it meant the reason,
-or that principle which regulates the affairs of the world; the other
-theological, referring, as in the Gospel of St. John, to a distinct
-person which both creates and redeems; here it is applied to man’s reason.
-
-P. 273.—“Lacon.” The author of Lacon was Caleb Colton, an English writer,
-born in 1780. He was educated at Cambridge and received a vicarage in
-1818, but soon became so dissipated as to utterly ruin his prospects. He
-was obliged to flee to America on account of debts incurred in gambling,
-but afterward went to France, where in 1832 he committed suicide. “Lacon,
-or Many Things in Few Words,” is a collection of maxims, and is best
-known of his writings.
-
-
-HOW TO GET STRONG.
-
-P. 19.—“Navvy.” Short for navigator, formerly slang, but now a recognized
-term applied to those employed in excavating canals, making dykes and
-like work.
-
-“Longshoremen.” Said to be abbreviated from _along shore men_. “The Slang
-Dictionary” says that all people who get their livings by the side of the
-Thames below bridges are called Long Shore folk. The particular class to
-which Mr. Blaikie refers is that of laborers employed about wharves.
-
-P. 25.—“Tom Brown of Rugby.” The hero of the story, “Tom Brown’s School
-Days,” by Thomas Hughes.
-
-“Hares and Hounds.” A game sometimes called “paper hunt.” A team of any
-number of players is formed, from which one is chosen as the hare. To him
-is given a start of a few minutes called “law.” He starts off with a bag
-of cut paper called “scent,” which he scatters as he runs. When “law”
-is up the hounds or remainder of the team start in pursuit, following
-“scent” as closely as possible. The game continues until the hare is run
-to the ground or the players baffled.
-
-P. 27.—“Turners.” During the time that Napoleon controlled Prussia
-Friedrich Jahn, a German patriot, conceived the idea of forming schools
-in which the young men should be trained in gymnastic exercises and in
-patriotic sentiments, in order that eventually they might drive the
-French from the country. These schools were called _Turnvereine_. The
-first one was established in 1811, and when in 1813 the country was
-called to arms, the Turners rendered signal service. Though for a time
-prohibited in Germany, they were afterward reorganized and have been
-introduced into various countries.
-
-P. 41.—“Tantalus.” A character of Greek mythology, who, having given
-offense to the gods, was punished in the lower world by confinement in a
-river where the water always recedes from his lips, and the branches over
-his head, laden with fruit, withdraw from his hand.
-
- “So bends tormented Tantalus to drink,
- While from his lips the refluent waters shrink.
- Again the rising stream his bosom laves,
- And thirst consumes him ’mid circumfluent waves.”—_Darwin._
-
-P. 50.—“La Ligne.” The line.
-
-“Dumas,” düˌmäˈ. French novelist and dramatist. (1803-1870.)
-
-P. 53.—“Sebastian Fenzi,” se-băsˈtian fentˈse.
-
-P. 62.—“Nathalie,” nâ-ta-lēˈ; “Farini,” fâ-rēˈnē.
-
-P. 81.—“Periauger,” pĕrˈi-auˌger. One of several forms of the word
-pirogue. A kind of canoe formed out of a tree trunk.
-
-P. 85.—“Choate,” chote. (1799-1859.) Choate was sixty years of age when
-he died, instead of fifty-five.
-
-P. 86.—“O’Connell.” (1775-1847.) The Irish statesman.
-
-P. 87.—“Brougham.” See THE CHAUTAUQUAN for November.
-
-“Canning.” (1770-1827.) A British statesman.
-
-P. 135.—“Double-first.” In the English universities one who wins the
-highest honors in both the classics and mathematics is said to win “a
-double-first.”
-
-P. 136.—“Mazzini,” mät-seeˈnee. (1805-1872.) An Italian patriot and
-revolutionist. He early devoted himself to bringing about the unity of
-Italy, then divided and oppressed by Austria. In 1831 he was banished,
-thereupon he formed a political organization to secure the liberty of
-Italy and union of the states. In every way he worked to gain his ends.
-In 1849 he assisted Garibaldi in his struggles for Italy’s freedom, and
-later directed an insurrection in northern Italy. Mazzini was the author
-of several works. Carlyle says of him: “I have had the honor to know M.
-Mazzini for a series of years, and I can, with great freedom, testify to
-all men that he, if I have ever seen one such, is a man of genius and
-virtue—a man of sterling veracity, humanity and nobleness of mind.”
-
-P. 147.—“Bowdoin,” boˈdwin.
-
-P. 156.—“Thwart.” A nautical term applied to the bench of a boat, on
-which the rowers sit.
-
-P. 176.—“Palmerston,” pāmˈer-ston. (1784-1865.) Prime minister of England.
-
-“Thiers,” te-erˈ. (1797-1877.) French statesman and historian.
-
-P. 193.—“Adipose tissue,” adˈi-pōse. The fatty matter distributed through
-the cellular tissues of the body.
-
-
-
-
-NOTES ON REQUIRED READINGS IN “THE CHAUTAUQUAN.”
-
-
-GERMAN HISTORY.
-
-P. 251, c. 1.—“Lutzen,” lŭtˈsen. A small town of Prussian Saxony, near
-Leipsic. The battle between Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein took place
-November 16, 1632. Napoleon defeated the allied Prussians and Russians
-here in 1813.
-
-“Treaty of Passau,” pâsˈsow. A town of Bavaria, at the confluence of the
-Inn and Danube. This treaty was concluded in 1552 between Charles V.,
-of Germany, and Maurice, of Saxony. It guaranteed religious freedom to
-the German Protestants until a diet should be summoned to arrive at a
-new settlement. In 1555 this diet was summoned at Augsburg, where peace
-was made and the princes left free to establish the Lutheran or Catholic
-faith.
-
-“Pusillanimity,” pū-sil-la-nĭmˈi-ty. Weakness; cowardice.
-
-P. 251, c. 2.—“Brabant,” brâ-bântˈ. One of the ancient divisions of the
-Netherlands, lying south of Holland.
-
-“Aix-la-Chapelle,” aiks-lă-shă-pel. Called in German, Aachen; situated in
-Rhenish Prussia. This treaty was made in 1668. Louis gained by the war
-several strong towns in the Netherlands.
-
-“Stahremberg,” stahˈrem-berg. This was the second invasion of Vienna by
-the Turks. It occurred in 1683.
-
-“Sobieski,” sō-bi-ĕsˈki. (1629?-1696.) A Pole, educated in Paris. The
-Cossacks having risen against the Polish government he joined the army
-and so distinguished himself that he was given the chief command. The
-Turks invading the country, Sobieski made a record which caused him to
-be elected king upon the death of the monarch then ruling. His victory
-at Vienna freed all Europe from the fear of the Turks, and Sobieski was
-called the savior of christendom. His last years were embittered by civil
-and domestic troubles.
-
-“Ryswick,” rizeˈwik.
-
-“Spanish Succession.” By the death of Charles II., of Spain, the house
-then on the throne became extinct. His two brothers in-law, Louis XIV.,
-of France, and Leopold I., of Austria, both claimed the throne for
-princes of their families. Charles in a second will had appointed Philip,
-the grandson of Louis XIV., as his successor, but Germany, England and
-Holland contested the will. The war lasted thirteen years. The allies
-gained several victories, but Philip secured the throne, although obliged
-to give up several provinces.
-
-“Blenheim,” blĕnˈheīm. A village of Bavaria on the Danube. This battle
-took place August 13, 1704.
-
-“Duke of Marlborough.” He commanded the English forces, while Prince
-Eugene led the Austrians.
-
-“Frederick the Great.” (1712-1786.) During the forty-six years of his
-reign Frederick waged three important wars—the first and second Silesian
-wars and the Seven Years’ war. The cause of each was his claim to the
-province of Silesia. After the close of the third, in 1763, Frederick
-devoted himself to the restoration and improvement of his country. It is
-said that at his death he left to his nephew and successor, “a surplus
-of $50,000,000, an army of 220,000 men, a territory increased by nearly
-30,000 square miles, and an industrious, intelligent and happy population
-of 6,000,000.”
-
-P. 252, c. 1.—“Jena,” jēˈna, or yāˈnä; “Auerstädt,” öuˈer-stät.
-
-“Rhine-Bund.” The confederation of the Rhine.
-
-“Deutscher-Bund.” The German Confederation.
-
-P. 252, c. 2.—“Zollverein,” zŏllˈver-eīn. A commercial league formed in
-Germany for the purpose of establishing a uniform rate of customs.
-
-“Versailles,” ver-sailzˈ.
-
-“Wallenstein,” vâlˈlen-stine. (1583-1634.) An Austrian general.
-
-“Cuirassier,” kwē-ras-sērˈ.
-
-P. 253, c. 1.—“Croats.” Inhabitants of Croatia, a province of
-Austro-Hungary.
-
-“Gefreyter,” ga-friˈter. Corporal.
-
-“Saxe-Lauenberg,” sax lowˈen-boorg. A German duchy.
-
-“Saxe Weimar,” sax vīˈmar.
-
-
-SELECTIONS FROM GERMAN LITERATURE.
-
-P. 253, c. 1.—“Humboldt.” (1769-1859.) Humboldt has been one of the most
-expert and far reaching scientists of modern times. His love for research
-led him to explorations early in life. In 1790 he travelled through the
-principal countries of Europe, afterward publishing the discoveries made
-by him on this journey. After this, for some years he was employed in
-mining enterprises. In 1829 he joined an expedition to the Ural and Altai
-mountains. In 1799 Humboldt went to South America; on this journey he
-made extensive observations in various departments of science. The latter
-part of his life was spent at the Prussian court.
-
-P. 253, c. 2.—“Orinoco,” Oˌrĭ-noˈco. Said to mean coiling snakes.
-
-“Heine.” (1799-1856.) Heine was of Jewish parentage, but abandoned his
-religion and adopted the Lutheran. His first book on his travels in
-Italy was very successful. After this followed his first book of songs,
-which contained many pieces of rare beauty. It filled all Germany with
-enthusiasm. Heine spent his last years in great suffering, a victim to
-spinal disease.
-
-P. 254, c. 1.—“Candide,” kŏnˈdēd. The hero of a novel bearing the same
-name, by Voltaire.
-
-“Eldorado,” ĕl-do-rāˈdō. The gilded land. A name given to a land
-abounding in gold and other rich products. The Spanish conquerors of
-South America first applied the name to a region in South America which
-they reported to be filled with riches of every variety.
-
-P. 254, c. 2.—“Dight,” dīt. To deck; to dress.
-
- Storied windows richly _dight_,
- Casting a dim, religious light.—_Milton._
-
-“Schleiermacher,” schleīˈer-mä-ker. (1768-1834.) One of the most
-influential theologians of modern times. His first published work,
-“Discourses on Religion,” startled all Germany. After this followed many
-volumes of sermons and religious writings which won him favor. In 1802 he
-became court preacher, and two years later went into the university at
-Halle as a preacher and professor; afterward he became a pastor at Berlin.
-
-“Dialectician,” dī-a-lek-tĭshˈan. One who is versed in logic.
-
-“Romanticism,” ro-mănˈti-cĭsm. Romantic, fantastic, or unnatural ideas or
-feelings.
-
-P. 255, c. 1.—“Schopenhauer,” shoˈpen-howˌer. (1788-1860.) He studied in
-the German universities, and afterward devoted himself to philosophical
-studies. His works on the will are the best known.
-
-“Zoöphytes,” zōˈo-fit. “Mollusca,” mol-lŭsˈca. “Annelida,” an-nĕlˈi-da;
-“Arachnida,” a-răchˈni-da. “Crustacea,” krus-tāˈshe-a; “Pisces,” pīsˈsēz;
-“Reptilia,” rep-tilˈi-a; “Aves,” āˈvēs; “Mammalia,” mam-māˈli-a.
-
-P. 255, c. 2.—“Bellum omnium contra omnes.” War of all against all.
-
-
-READINGS IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE.
-
-P. 255, c. 2.—“Foraminifera,” fo-rămˌi-nĭfˈe-ra.
-
-P. 257, c. 1.—“Hot Springs.” These are in reality Artesian wells,
-the water rising from great depths. In some places the warm water is
-utilized, as in Würtemberg, where manufactories are warmed by the water
-sent through them in pipes. The water is usually pure and the temperature
-quite uniform. Among the most famous examples of hot springs are those
-of Arkansas—fifty-seven in number—those of Virginia, and the geysers of
-Iceland.
-
-“Wells of Bath.” Bath is the chief town of Somersetshire, England, and
-takes its name from its baths. The springs which furnish these are four
-in number, and discharge nearly 200,000 gallons of water a day.
-
-Many interesting examples of changes in level might be noted. Scotland
-in less than an hundred years has been raised from 15 to 20 feet.
-As distinctly have the coast lines been traced, says Hugh Miller,
-as “between two contiguous steps of a stair, covered the one by a
-patch of brown, the other by a patch of green, in the pattern of the
-stair-carpet.” In Norway and Sweden a rising has been proven to be going
-on in the northern part, and a sinking in the southern part.
-
-
-SUNDAY READINGS.
-
-P. 259, c. 2.—“Cervantes,” cer-vânˈtēs, sä-a-veˈdrä. (1547-1616.) A
-Spanish author. The work referred to is “Don Quixote.” Of it a writer
-in the _American Cyclopædia_ says: “In this work Cervantes hit the
-vulnerable point of his age. The common sense of the world had long
-rebelled against the mummeries of knight errantry, and the foolish books
-that still spoke of chivalry of which not a vestige remained. People
-who had smiled when the idea presented itself to their minds, burst out
-in laughter when Cervantes gave it the finishing stroke.” Beside “Don
-Quixote,” Cervantes wrote several satires, dramas and stories.
-
-“Knight-errantry,” nītˈ ĕr-rant-re. The character, manners and adventures
-of wandering knights.
-
-“Butler,” Samuel. (1612-1680.) An English poet. He led an uneventful
-life, being employed at different times as amanuensis or secretary to
-men of high standing. When fifty-one years of age he wrote _Hudibras_,
-his “fine satire.” The hero, Sir Hudibras, is said to have been drawn
-from Sir Samuel Luke, a Puritan officer. The poem ridicules by satire and
-exaggeration the actions, severity, morals and dress of the Puritans. It
-was never entirely finished. Butler was very popular with Charles II.,
-and his court for a time, but finally died in poverty.
-
-
-COMMERCIAL LAW.
-
-P. 260, c. 1.—“Inhibition,” ĭn-he-bĭshˈun. Restraint, hinderance.
-
-“Judicature,” jūˈdi-ca-tūre. The administration of justice.
-
-P. 260, c. 2.—“Common-law.” According to the _American Cyclopædia_,
-common-law in the United States means the entire English law, including
-even the foreign elements intermingled with it, in distinction from the
-civil law generally received among European nations, and from the canon
-law, except so far as adopted in the ecclesiastical courts of England.
-Burrill defines it as “the unwritten law, or that body of customs, rules
-and maxims which have acquired their binding power and the force of law,
-in consequence of long usage, recognized by judicial decisions, and not
-by reason of statutes now extant.” Of its origin, Sir Matthew Hale says
-it is as “undiscoverable as the head of the Nile.”
-
-“Norman-French.” The language of Normandy, a former northwestern province
-of France. By the Norman conquest (1066) Norman French became the
-language of the court and of equity in England.
-
-
-READINGS IN ART.
-
-The “Readings in Art” are compiled and condensed from “Architecture,
-Classic and Early Christian,” by T. R. Smith and G. Slater.
-
-P. 262, c. 1.—“Archaic.” Old; ancient; characterized by antiquity or
-obsoleteness.
-
-“Mausoleums,” mau-so-lēˈums. A tomb or monument. From Mausoleus, king of
-Caria, to whom Artemisia, his widow, erected a stately monument.
-
-“Votive offerings.” From Latin _votum_—a vow. A tablet, picture,
-or anything dedicated by the vow of the worshipers. “Additional
-embellishments of flowers and _votive_ garlands.”—_Motley._
-
-“Doric.” There are several different accounts of the origin of the Doric
-order. It is stated that Dorus, a king of Achaia, built a temple in
-Argos, and this was found by chance to be in that manner which we call
-Doric. Some say the arrangement of the order was that of a primitive
-log hut. It is so called from Doris. Beside the Doric temples mentioned
-here there are fragments of this style of architecture to be seen in the
-temple of Theseus at Athens, in the Propylæa on the Acropolis, in the
-temple of Zeus at Olympia, and in various other localities in Greece and
-southern Italy. The form of the Doric building was the same as in the
-Ionic and Corinthian.
-
-“Ictinus,” ic-tiˈnus. He was the architect of several Doric temples; the
-Parthenon, the temple of Apollo at Phigalia, and the one at Eleusis. No
-details of his life are known.
-
-“Rock.” This rock is the Acropolis.
-
-“Entablature,” “cella,” “pediment.” See notes in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for
-November.
-
-“Flat pitch.” A roof that has less than the usual elevation in the center.
-
-P. 262, c. 2.—“Stylobate,” styˈlo-bāte. Literally a basement to a column.
-It is synonymous with pedestal, but is applied to an uninterrupted and
-unbroken base, while pedestal is an insulated support.
-
-“Entasis,” ĕnˈta-sĭs. A gentle, almost imperceptible swelling of the
-shaft of a column.
-
-“Ionic.” This style of architecture was so called from Ionia, where it
-took its rise. Its origin is not certain. A writer says: “The explanation
-of Vitruvius is that the Ionian colonists, on building a temple to
-Diana, wished to find some new manner that was beautiful. Following the
-method which they had pursued with the Doric (proportioning the column
-according to the dimensions of a man), they imparted to this the delicacy
-of the female figure.” The distinctive feature in the three orders is
-the capital of the column. In the Doric this is very simple; a curved
-moulding, round like the shaft, is surmounted by a large square block
-or _abacus_. In the Ionic the capital has two scroll-like ornaments,
-called volutes. There are more mouldings used, and the proportions are
-more slender. Asia Minor contains numerous remains of Ionic architecture.
-The Erectheium at Athens is the best known. The temple of Diana was
-included among the seven wonders of the world, as was the Mausoleum of
-Halicarnassus, another Ionic temple recently discovered.
-
-“Vestiges.” Latin, Vestigium. Marks of the foot on the earth. Tracks,
-traces, signs. “What vestiges of liberty or propriety have they
-left.”—_Burke._
-
-“Corinthian.” Vitruvius says of this order that it was arranged “to
-represent the delicacy of a young girl whose age renders her figure
-more pleasing and more susceptible of ornaments which may enhance her
-natural beauty.” The Corinthian capital is the most ornamented of the
-three orders. It is generally formed of various arrangements of acanthus
-leaves, and is much larger and more showy than the others. The monument
-of Lysicrates at Athens is the best example of this style.
-
-“Cyclopean,” cy-clo-pēˈan. Pertaining to a class of giants, who had but
-one eye in the middle of the forehead. They were said to inhabit Sicily,
-and to be assistants in the workshops of Vulcan, fabled to be under Mt.
-Etna.
-
-P. 263, c. 1.—“Jupiter Capitolinus.” This temple was built in the early
-days of Rome, and is said to have derived its name from the builders
-discovering, during the excavation, a freshly bleeding head (_caput_).
-According to the interpretation of the sages this sign indicated that the
-place should become the head of the world. The temple was dedicated to
-Jupiter as king of the gods. From it the hill on which it was situated
-took its name of the Capitoline.
-
-“Appian Way.” The way or road from Rome to Brundusium, constructed partly
-by Appius Claudius, B. C. 313.
-
-“Q. Metellus Macedonicus,” me-telˈlus măc-e-dŏnˈi-cus.
-
-“Roman.” In the ground plan of Roman architecture there is a great
-difference from the Egyptian and Greek styles. The first employed the
-ellipse, the circle, the octagon, and combinations of these various forms
-in their plan, while the rectangle was the almost inevitable form in the
-two latter. Instead of the massive blocks of stone of former buildings,
-the Romans used small stones cemented with a cement of extraordinary
-power. They could build anywhere and of anything. The roofs were arched
-and in domes; the openings almost invariably arches; the columns and
-ornaments were generally varieties of Greek styles.
-
-“Tetra style.” Having a portico of four columns in front. Tetra is the
-Greek word for four.
-
-“Vitruvius,” vi-trūˈvi-us. See notes in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for October.
-
-“Pseudo peripteral,” sūˈdō pe-rĭpˈte-ral. A peripteral temple had a
-single row of columns all around it. The variation of the style which
-existed in this temple led to its being called _pseudo_, or falsely
-peripteral.
-
-“Maison Carrée,” mā-zong kăr-rā. The _Square House_, as the name
-signifies, is a beautiful Corinthian temple, of rectangular form. The
-temple was built when all France was under the rule of Rome. Although
-the Square House was injured in the wars of the middle ages, it has been
-restored, and is now used as a museum.
-
-“Nimes,” neem. A city of France, about sixty miles northwest of
-Marseilles.
-
-“Baalbec,” bâlˈbek.
-
-P. 263, c. 2.—“Flavian.” The emperor Vespasian, who began the Colosseum,
-belonged to the house of Flavius, hence the name.
-
-“Esquiline,” esˈqui-line; “Cœlian,” cœˈli-an.
-
-“Pantheon,” pan-theˈon. Meaning _all the gods_. “In the year B. C. 27, on
-the occasion of the victory of Actium, when universal peace was declared,
-the great edifice was dedicated to all the gods, and figures of these in
-gold, in silver, in bronze, and in precious marbles were placed in niches
-within it, and hence the name Pantheon.” It is now a Christian church
-dedicated to the Virgin and All Saints, and is called the Rotunda.
-
-P. 264, c. 1.—“Santa Sophia.” The church was not dedicated to a saint,
-but to the spirit of wisdom (_sophia_ is the Greek for wisdom), the
-second person in the Trinity.
-
-“Procopius.” See notes on “Greek History” in THE CHAUTAUQUAN for November.
-
-“San Vitale,” san ve-tâˈlā.
-
-
-SELECTIONS FROM AMERICAN LITERATURE.
-
-P. 264, c. 2.—“Vaudois,” vō-dwâ. A religious denomination called
-sometimes the Waldenses, founded in the twelfth century, in Italy.
-
-P. 265, c. 1.—“Nautilus,” nâuˈti-lŭs. A mollusk having a coiled univalve
-shell of many chambers. As the animal grows new chambers are continually
-formed, and the parts vacated are partitioned off into air-tight chambers
-by thin, smooth plates.
-
-P. 265, c. 2.—“Triton,” trīˈton. A marine deity in Greek mythology,
-having the form of a man above, and of a fish below, and bearing a
-conch-shell trumpet.
-
-P. 266, c. 1.—“Antennæ,” an-tĕnˈnæ. A projection on the head of an
-insect; a feeler.
-
-“Vernier,” vërˈni-er. A small movable scale, sliding along the fixed
-scale of an instrument, and subdividing its divisions into more minute
-parts.
-
-
-UNITED STATES HISTORY.
-
-P. 267, c. 2.—“Esquimaux,” ĕsˈke-mō; “Algonquins,” al-gonˈkins;
-“Iroquois,” ĭr-o-kwoizˈ; “Mobillians,” mo-beelˈli-ans; “Dacotas,”
-da-koˈtas.
-
-P. 268, c. 1.—“Erickson,” ĕrˈik-son; “Terra incognita,” unknown land.
-
-P. 268, c. 2.—“Amerigo Vespucci,” â-mā-rēˈgo ves-pootˈche; “Ponce
-de Leon,” poneˈdā lā-oanˈ; “Fernando Cortes,” fer-nanˈdo kor-tĕsˈ;
-“Tabasco,” ta-băsˈco; “Montezumas,” mon-te-zuˈma.
-
-
-
-
-BANQUET TO CHAUTAUQUA TRUSTEES.
-
-GIVEN BY THE CITIZENS OF JAMESTOWN, N. Y.
-
-
-In the parlors and dining hall of the Sherman House in Jamestown, N. Y.,
-on Wednesday evening, January 9th, the Chautauqua Trustees assembled for
-a banquet, preparatory to their annual meeting.
-
-After an hour or more of social personal greeting the company, about
-fifty in number, filed into the dining hall and took the places indicated
-on their cards of invitation at the tables beautifully adorned with
-fruits and flowers.
-
-Ex-Governor R. E. Fenton, of New York, acting as presiding officer of the
-evening, took his place at the head of the table, having on his right
-President Lewis Miller, Vice President F. H. Root, Esq., and others, and
-on his left Prof. J. H. Worman and other members of the Chautauqua Board
-of Trustees. At the other end of the main table were Robert N. Marvin,
-Esq., Dr. J. H. Vincent, Dr. J. T. Edwards, Rev. W. G. Williams, of
-Jamestown, Mr. Clem Studebaker, of Indiana, and distinguished residents
-of several other states.
-
-After more than two hours spent at a most sumptuous repast (eleven
-courses were on the bill of fare), the rarest delicacies of Southern
-climes being lavishly provided, as well as the more common edibles
-of our colder northern soil and streams, Ex-Governor Fenton, rising
-in his place, gave the guests of the hour words of warmest greeting.
-[We give a condensed report of remarks offered.] He said: “We welcome
-you, gentlemen, not so much because of what you are at your homes,
-although that is, no doubt, a matter of congratulation from neighbors
-and friends, not so much as representatives of a great religious
-denomination whose membership is numbered by the millions—I speak of the
-various branches of Methodism, whose institutions are confessedly based
-upon religious intelligence and conviction, and therefore a subject
-of congratulation. We welcome you, gentlemen, mainly because you have
-come to the shores of our beautiful lake and founded an institution
-elevating in its influence, purifying in its character; which has found
-its way through the sunny South, along the shores of the lakes, around
-and over the plains, and over the mountains, even to the Pacific Coast.
-Stopping not there, you have found your way to the islands of the seas,
-and to the peoples in the countries beyond the seas. If I should say
-less than this, Mr. Flood, who speaks through more than thirty-five
-thousand monthly CHAUTAUQUANS, would spring to his feet. I might say
-more, but, gentlemen, this enterprise is carried forward not alone by
-Methodists, for, in a catholic spirit, you have opened the doors to all
-denominations and all people and invited them to join you, and those who
-aspire to or desire to witness genuine moral and intellectual progress.
-And, gentlemen, we welcome you to our town. We should be glad, had it not
-been for the inclemency of the weather, to have shown you the social and
-public progress of our people. I might speak of our nine churches always
-well-filled on the Sabbath day and at other seasons when opened, and of
-one denomination about to build another church with a capacity three
-times as large as the old one.
-
-“We should be glad to have you look at our manufacturing interests, to
-see how extensive they are, to visit our grand Union School building. We
-should be glad to introduce you to our merchants, and have you see all
-that we are doing—these things, the result of the enterprise and industry
-of our people. We have no princely fortunes here, but we are prospering,
-and though we have had but little time to go abroad, yet we promise you,
-gentlemen of Chautauqua, that a portion of our leisure days, increasing
-as the years go by, shall be devoted to visiting you in the summer season
-at Chautauqua. [Applause.] And now I ask you all to drink (water) to the
-health of Dr. Vincent, who, by his great devotion, great abilities and
-organizing power, with the calm judgment and wise counsels of President
-Miller, have done so much to make Chautauqua a success.” [Long continued
-applause.]
-
-Dr. Vincent said substantially:
-
-“Gentlemen of Jamestown:—You have listened, as have we, the
-representatives of the Chautauqua movement, to the kind words of your
-fellow-townsman, and it is a source of very great regret to me that I
-was not apprised in advance, of the fact that I was expected to deliver
-a speech on this occasion; otherwise I should have talked less to my
-fascinating friend, Mr. Marvin, beside me, and eaten less, so that I
-might be in better shape to speak.
-
-“Governor Fenton has said something about the Chautauqua Idea. It is an
-‘enterprise’ which has a future, a destiny which I think will transcend
-all the attainments and achievements of the past. And those of us who are
-engaged in this movement, and have watched it from its very beginning,
-and who know something of the dreams of those who look out into the
-future, are more likely to promise large things than those who simply
-watch it from the outside. We may be disappointed. Chautauqua may stand
-still one of these days and become a plain little village on the lake.
-It will never be what Jamestown is, but it depends upon Jamestown, as a
-representative city, for much of the support, and of the sympathy which
-all such enterprises demand. We have been tempted to think that from
-Jamestown we have had comparatively little sympathy. I say _tempted_,
-for the temptation has never had the slightest effect upon my mind; but
-once in awhile it has been said: ‘Jamestown, at the other end of the
-lake, fancies that you may build up an organization at the northern
-end of the lake that will interfere with interests at the south end.’
-Frivolous indeed as these suggestions were, they were strong enough to
-secure utterance and cause trifling annoyance. As I recall the history
-of Chautauqua, I remember that we have had pretty much the whole of
-Jamestown present again and again at our great Assembly gatherings. So
-far as the citizens of Jamestown are concerned, we have never had for a
-moment any serious doubt of their confidence in the enterprise, and their
-willingness to aid us as far as they can, and there is not the slightest
-reason for misunderstanding or rivalry, but every reason for mutual faith
-and coöperation. [Applause.] And I should not be surprised, gentlemen,
-if, in years to come, the boys of Jamestown would go up to Chautauqua to
-the best boys’ school on the continent [applause], and meet there the
-best teachers from the best institutions, both of America and Europe,
-teachers qualified not only to communicate knowledge to the boys there
-assembled, but qualified to develop manhood and high ideals of character
-and true intellectual strength and physical culture. A gentleman said
-to me in the East the other day, ‘What we need in America to-day is a
-first-class school for boys, a school of the very highest order, in
-which intellect, manners, body, heart, social faculties, and all, shall
-be symmetrically developed,’ and I have confidence that, within a very
-few years, just such a school will be planted at Chautauqua; and when I
-think of the larger institution, for which we now have a charter from the
-state legislature, an institution which will bring its students from all
-parts of the United States, I see a number of colleges constituting a
-university crowning those heights, and commanding large sections of land
-on both sides of this lake, and awakening a new and increased enthusiasm,
-not only about the lake of Chautauqua, but all over the land, in the
-great cause of popular education. [Applause.]
-
-“Now, I do not betray any great plans which have already been devised,
-but I give utterance to dreams and hopes which I know exist in the minds
-of a great many Chautauqua workers, when I say that the Chautauqua
-Literary and Scientific Circle, reaching as it does fifty thousand
-families in all parts of this land, is silently gaining a constituency
-which will be increased in less than five years to one hundred thousand,
-and which, in the course of ten years, will number two hundred thousand
-men and women, the most of them parents, who will be looking about for a
-place in which to educate their children; and if this city, increasing
-in wealth, increasing in culture, increasing in enthusiasm in the
-great educational work, will only lay hold of the largest conceptions
-concerning the Chautauqua of the future, the sums of money which in
-the future you may be induced to contribute to the founding of this
-enterprise will receive response from one hundred thousand homes all over
-the land, and the grandest endowments possessed by any institution on the
-continent in the near future for the Chautauqua University. [Applause.]
-For here is a little fact, of which you need but to be reminded for a
-moment, that to-day in the houses of the C. L. S. C. are growing up boys
-and girls, coming from the farms and from the villages, who are to handle
-the millions in the next twenty-five years. And when Tom comes from the
-field and goes into business and makes his money, and remembers the new
-interest awakened in him by his father and mother, he is inspired by a
-public spirit, he looks at the half million, more or less, which he is
-disposed to contribute, and the institution which he will help will be
-his father’s and mother’s _Alma Mater_, and his own _Alma Mater_, and
-we may expect in this way the largest and grandest endowments of any
-institution on the continent. I have been drinking strongly of this cold
-water, and it always makes me feel like talking, and I thank you for the
-privilege given me of expressing the dreams which come to my mind of the
-institution which you have so greatly honored, and whose annual meeting
-brings us together so pleasantly to-night.” [Long continued applause.]
-
-Governor Fenton:—“I want to introduce to you one of our citizens
-representing the great manufacturing industries of our city, a gentleman
-who can talk well about them. I call upon Mr. William Hall.”
-
-Mr. Hall said: “Mr. Chairman, I am afraid that you have raised the
-expectations of our friends in this announcement. I never made any
-pretensions to an ability to talk, never made any pretensions to
-eloquence, and, really, if I ever had, the speech to which you have
-just listened would have completely blotted out anything that I might
-have been tempted to say; but this much I can say, I can make a plain
-statement, that I have always felt the greatest sympathy myself for the
-enterprise which has been founded upon our lake. Yet it is true, that,
-busied by the cares of the new enterprises, I may at times have forgotten
-to express those feelings and show that sympathy—but it has always
-been present in my heart. I dare not step out into the world, to speak
-concerning Chautauqua, but I can speak of its effect upon the people in
-my factories, with whom I daily associate, and in whose interests I feel
-the liveliest interest. Many have come from foreign shores to make their
-homes here. They have vague ideas of the efforts and blessings which they
-are to strike in this American soil, and everything influences and turns
-their thoughts, views, feelings and aspirations. Some of them have never
-owned a bit of land in the world. They are now inspired with self-respect
-in finding themselves in possession of a better home, and I am looking
-to see what this influence coming from Chautauqua will be upon them.
-They can not attend Chautauqua as much as I would like to have them. The
-Chautauqua meetings come in a busy season. But they do go up there as
-often as they can, and they are influenced. They do judge of the American
-character. They get large aspirations by listening to those speakers.
-They come home, and it is amusing and instructive to hear them talk
-over what takes place up there. They speak very largely of Dr. Vincent.
-There is no man in my factory who attends there but thinks Dr. Vincent
-is the greatest man. They say: Dr. Vincent was as great a man as any he
-introduced. I am glad he is becoming popular on account of the influence
-he can exert upon them and their children who are to be the future
-inhabitants of this town. They are to hold in their hands the destinies
-of wide reaches of this country, and it is important that they should
-come under good influences. I do not know of better influences than those
-coming down to us from Chautauqua, and though we cannot be at Chautauqua,
-our hearts are there, and our sympathies are there with you, and, Doctor,
-when you throw the pebble in the pool, I may not follow the pebble in its
-fall, but I hear the waves ripple by my door.” [Applause.]
-
-Governor Fenton: “The people of Jamestown all recognize and admire the
-devotion of President Miller of Chautauqua. Only one thing we cannot
-fully understand why he should live in Akron instead of Jamestown.”
-[Laughter and applause.]
-
-Lewis Miller, Esq., spoke briefly: “Akron is in Ohio. [Applause.] It is
-the place of my birth.” He gracefully acknowledged the good will of the
-citizens of Jamestown in honoring the Chautauqua Board by this banquet
-and reception. The management hopes ever to conduct the affairs for which
-they are associated to the advantage of the local interests about the
-lake, and, while Chautauqua was not organized for the purpose of merely
-benefiting this local circle about the lake, yet we expect its influence
-will extend until it reaches the uttermost parts of this country and
-possibly of others. [Applause.]
-
-Governor Fenton called upon Rev. W. G. Williams, of Jamestown, to speak.
-
-Mr. Williams said: “I certainly had not the remotest idea that Governor
-Fenton would ask me to say a word. I can bring a very competent
-witness here at my side who will testify that at nine o’clock the last
-possibility of a speech in me vanished; and yet it gives me great
-pleasure to corroborate the words of others representing Jamestown, as to
-the excellent character of this city of which we are residents. I suppose
-I ought to call myself a resident now, though I have only been here about
-a year. I have been greatly pleased with all the evidences of prosperity
-commented on by the speakers before me, and I want to say just a word
-in reference to one point mentioned by Dr. Vincent in his remarks—the
-lack of sympathy on the part of this town with Chautauqua. I had seen
-the situation as an outsider, being a resident of another town, and had
-heard the remark made quite frequently, and now residing nearly a year
-in Jamestown, and having carefully observed the facts, I want to bear
-testimony to the strongest sympathy of the people in Jamestown with the
-work in Chautauqua, and also to the fact that this sympathy is growing. I
-believe that Dr. Vincent in looking forward to that future of achievement
-will find that Jamestown will not lack, but will always be ready with
-appreciation of the work.”
-
-Referring to his religious and ecclesiastical connections in Jamestown,
-Mr. Williams said: “We are enlisted as Methodists with our Baptist,
-Presbyterian, and Congregational brethren. We are orthodox in Jamestown,
-I believe, trying to do an orthodox work, and in this we are working in
-sympathy and in coöperation with Chautauqua, and I join with others in
-extending a hearty welcome, representing, if I may, the churches of the
-town to these gentlemen, who come to represent a great institution at
-Chautauqua.” [Applause.]
-
-Gov. Fenton told a story about Dr. Flood’s failing to obtain an original
-story from a notable writer, at the other end of the lake, and about his
-own recommendation of a novel which was substituted therefor.
-
-Dr. Flood said:—“Gov. Fenton takes proper credit for ‘Lavengro’ appearing
-in THE CHAUTAUQUAN. There is a gentleman who makes his home, during the
-summer season, at the head of the lake, and there was a time when the
-lower end came to the rescue of the upper end. A gentleman had guaranteed
-to furnish an original story, but when the time came for the work to
-begin, he failed, and I failed to pay the thousand dollars. Governor
-Fenton, anxious, doubtless, for the reputation of the upper end of the
-lake, did suggest that I ought to examine ‘Lavengro.’ I went to George
-Borrow and borrowed. I borrowed generously, and I do not doubt in the
-least but the one hundred and seventy-five thousand readers of THE
-CHAUTAUQUAN were quite as well pleased with ‘Lavengro’ as they would have
-been with the original story, unless our friend, President Miller, would
-have been better pleased with the other story, because it was to be on
-the greenback line and opposed to monopolies.
-
-“THE CHAUTAUQUAN was born in two cities; in Jamestown and Meadville. It
-is a little remarkable, but nevertheless a fact, the three states that
-furnish the most subscribers to THE CHAUTAUQUAN, New York, Pennsylvania
-and Ohio, are the three states associated with the birth of the magazine.
-It got its name in Ohio. The name was given when Doctor Vincent and
-I were riding in the cars in Ohio. The magazine was printed first in
-Meadville, Pa., and it was shipped to Jamestown, from which point the
-first number was mailed to subscribers, after which the offices were
-removed to Meadville. I am gratified that the citizens of Jamestown
-have at last been awakened from a sort of Rip Van Winkle sleep on this
-question of Chautauqua, and have, with a sort of exclamation point at
-this banquet, met the Board of Trustees and the management of Chautauqua
-with a very hearty and cordial reception.
-
-“This is the line where we cross from the first decade into the second
-decade of Chautauqua history.” Here the speaker told a laughable incident
-connected with a dissolute fellow who disturbed a Free Methodist
-watch-meeting by an untimely blowing of a horn and the exclamation, “My
-name is Gabriel, and I come once in a hundred years.” [Laughter.] “Now,
-Mr. President, our name is Chautauquans, and to Jamestown we come for the
-first time in ten years. We hope to come more frequently in the future.”
-[Applause.]
-
-Governor Fenton introduced Mr. Marvin, who, after a little pleasantry,
-spoke concerning the idea broached by Dr. Vincent. “It has been said
-that the citizens of Jamestown have not manifested quite as much warmth
-of feeling toward the Chautauqua association which you have founded upon
-this lake, and which is in such a prosperous condition. This is not true.
-We have been in sympathy with you. Our heart’s feelings have been with
-you, though I am free to say, perhaps we have not sufficiently manifested
-it. We are glad to have you present on this occasion, and we hope in the
-future that we may make ourselves known to you more strongly than in the
-past. [Applause.] But I should say that, strictly from a business point
-of view, there is not that wealth in Jamestown that many of you think.
-But few of our citizens are wealthy. Many are well-to-do, but what they
-have is so invested in their various enterprises that they have not
-that ready money to invest in outside operations. Perhaps this fact has
-controlled to some extent the monied interests which otherwise would have
-gone to assist you at Chautauqua.
-
-“Now gentlemen, we rejoice that you have come to the shores of the lake.
-We rejoice that you have founded that city in the woods, and we hope to
-bear stronger proofs of our sympathy hereafter.”
-
-Dr. J. T. Edwards, of Randolph, being introduced humorously referred to
-the royal furnishings of the banquet, the superabundance of which might
-make, as Dr. Holmes has wittily said, many families happy. Looking upon
-the delicious oysters he had been reminded of two speakers at a feast in
-Egg Harbor—one was classic and made references to Brutus and Cassius and
-other men unknown to the lowly oystermen—the other by one who swinging
-his arms and with loud voice exclaimed: “Fellow-citizens, the last time
-I had the pleasure of visiting your town, I came to the conclusion that
-the Egg Harbor oysters were superior to those of Saddle Rock.” [Laughter
-and applause.] This was saying the right thing in the right place, and at
-once took hold of the Egg Harbor oystermen. We can not always do it.
-
-Becoming more serious, the speaker said he believed this to be the best
-age of the world, and Chautauqua a grand achievement resting on this
-beautiful lake, more like the beautiful Windermere than any he had
-elsewhere seen, made classic by the writings of Coleridge and Wilson,
-and others. I extend my congratulations also on this occasion, and feel
-myself to be present with these citizens of Jamestown.
-
-Dr. J. H. Worman being introduced by ex-Governor Fenton, said: “In a
-large place in the city of Berlin, among the many paintings in the
-gallery of the king there is one that attracted my attention when I was
-a boy. It is a coronation scene of King William IV. He is in the act
-of taking from the people their promise of being faithful to him. And
-to-night as Dr. Vincent spoke to you of the promise that had come to
-him from this side, I was reminded of that picture, and I see now in
-place of the king coming to ask his subjects their faith, this leader of
-Chautauqua standing before me asking your fealty for the good work begun
-upon this lake; and, as was written under the picture in letters that are
-never to be effaced, crowned by many a jewel: ‘This yes is mine’—so I see
-written upon your hearts in undying language, the promise to Chautauqua
-and its honored leader, a YES for the support of that enterprise, that
-it may never die so long as civilization has a home on this lake.” [Long
-continued applause.]
-
-At a late hour the company separated for their homes and places of
-entertainment, all being impressed with the genuine friendship of the
-citizens of Jamestown for the Chautauqua Assembly.
-
-
-CHAUTAUQUA TRUSTEES.
-
-The annual meeting of the Trustees of the Chautauqua Assembly was held in
-the gentlemen’s parlors of the Sherman House, Jamestown, N. Y., January
-9th and 10th, Lewis Miller, Esq., President of the Board, in the chair.
-There were present Vice President F. H. Root, of Buffalo, Dr. J. H.
-Vincent, Mr. Clem Studebaker, of Indiana, Dr. J. T. Edwards, Revs. J.
-Leslie, H. H. Moore, and a number of others. The old board of officers
-was reëlected with this exception: Mr. W. A. Duncan, of Syracuse, was
-elected trustee and secretary of the Assembly and superintendent of the
-grounds. Mr. Duncan is a leading Congregationalist of Syracuse, N. Y. He
-is a man of fine business tact, of indefatigable industry, of executive
-force, and a thorough Christian gentleman. Mr. Duncan has had large
-experience in the management of Chautauqua matters, having been Dr.
-Vincent’s right hand man for several years, and will enter upon his work
-under the most auspicious circumstances. Dr. Vincent outlined his work
-for the summer of 1884, but the details of his plans were not arranged so
-that he could inform the board who the lecturers would be on any given
-days in August next. The finances of the Assembly were found to be in
-a more satisfactory condition than some trustees had expected. Taken
-all in all the business of the Assembly is in a healthy condition, and
-the program for the coming season promises to be an unusually brilliant
-one. A number of new cottages will be erected when the spring opens,
-the facilities for reaching the grounds will be improved, and the hotel
-accommodations will be excellent and at prices to suit the purses of all
-visitors. The business transacted was of a routine character, but the
-results will be apparent the coming summer in the improved condition of
-the grounds and public buildings at Chautauqua.
-
-
-
-
-C. L. S. C. GRADUATES.
-
-
-The following list of graduates of the Class of 1883 appears according
-to states. It has been prepared with great care by the office secretary,
-Miss Kate F. Kimball.
-
-
-_Maine._
-
- Anderson, Nancy Elizabeth
- Bartlett, Mrs H B
- Deering, Mary E
- Gammon, Josie E
- Haight, Mrs Emma C
- Littlefield, Pauline D
- Munger, Annie R
- Palmer, Annie L
- Plummer, Mary Eliza
- Poole, John William
- Shapleigh, Miss Annie E
- St. Clair, Ashley Orbun
- Stetson, Josiah Walter
- Russell, Maria J
-
-
-_New Hampshire._
-
- Abbot, Emily H
- Abbot, Charles W
- Adams, Frank E
- Adams, Mary T
- Bales, Miss Mary Louise
- Barclay, Belle C
- Bishop, Channing
- Bishop, James M
- Bishop, Margaret A
- Bragdon, Frederick Augustus
- Brook, Jennie B
- Bryant, Jenny A
- Buttrick, Mrs Laura A
- Byam, Mrs Rosette M
- Center, Marion E
- Everett, Charles Fitch
- Hitchcock, Mrs Hiram
- Sanborn, Ella F
- Sanborn, Lizzie E
- Thompson, Henry S
- Thompson, Mary C
- Tibbets, Mrs Jane N
- Tibbets, Lucy W
-
-
-_Vermont._
-
- Anderson, Fayette S
- Carleton, Nellie R
- Cobb, Mrs Lymna H
- Collins, Mrs Carrie F
- Macomber, Candace Worth
- Rood, Eliza Nears
- Todd, Helen M
- Woodard, Mary Sophia
-
-
-_Massachusetts._
-
- Adams, Mrs Rebecca J
- Allbe, Edward Payson
- Allen, W Isadore
- Balch, Julia Norris
- Ballou, Sarah H
- Barber, Sara J
- Barlow, Maria A
- Barlow, Susie Gordon
- Barrett, Clifford M
- Beard, Mrs Augusta M
- Bigelow, Lettie Selma
- Blancher, Mary Adams
- Bosworth, Mrs Luthera E
- Brainard, M Llewellyn
- Butters, M Belle
- Campbell, Eliza F
- Carr, Geneva E
- Clark, Alice M
- Coates, Arthur B
- Comey, M Emma
- Conant, Mrs Charlotte J
- Coolidge, Mrs Sarah Isabella
- Cutler, Mrs Leonard
- Day, Edward
- Deane, Anna L
- Dight, Alexander
- Dight, Mrs Georgia J Ingalls
- Dodge, Fred Howard
- Downe, Mrs Mary A
- Drew, Miss Mary Eliza
- Eberle, Lydia Eaton
- Ellis, Miss Clara M
- Fairfield, Lizzie W
- Farnham, Clara Charlotte
- Fisk, Ella W
- Fisk, Sarah E
- Fletcher, Mrs Agnes B
- Fraser, John Crane
- French, Addie E M
- Full, William
- Gardner, Annie Hazeltine
- Gates, Miss Lauretta Maria
- Hagen, Hattie S
- Hale, Helen S
- Haskell, Mrs Ella L
- Haskins, Mrs Leander M
- Hayes, Cordelia W
- Hills, Miss Helen M
- Ingraham, H A
- Jewett, Annie R
- Jones, Anna Maria
- Josselyn, Abbie P
- Kendall, Ina C
- Knight, Annie Adams
- Lane, Rosie A
- Le Baron, Mrs Sara E
- Lee, Laura Ella
- Little, Eliza A
- Longhead, Mary E
- Macy, Ida
- Mason, Myra C (Mrs E B)
- Matthews, Maria
- Maynard, Sarah M
- Mitchell, Emma Josephine
- Morey, Miss Kate
- Morrell, Susan A
- Morse, Miss Hattie F
- Noon, Alfred
- Oakman, Fannie W
- Oaks, Fred Leslie
- Orne, Mary E C
- Plummer, Sarah C
- Poole, Benj Franklin
- Porter, Mrs Angeline M
- Pratt, Ellen M
- Prior, Clara T
- Ray, Harlan E
- Root, Amelia N
- Ryder, Cecelia N
- Sadler, Carra Virginia
- Sears, Mrs C W
- Snow, Alice Marcella
- Spilsted, Ellena S
- Smith, Anna Willis
- Stanley, John W
- Stewart, Caroline W
- Swett, Mrs M Angie
- Thayer, Mrs Louise S
- Tilden, Miss Chestina
- Tilden, Cora B
- Tilden, Elizabeth T
- Tobey, Martha
- Warner, Miss Isabel
- Warner, Mrs Isabelle A
- Whitaker, Mrs Helen S
- Whiting, Jennie M
- Whiting, Mary A
- Whiting, Waldo B
- Winslow, Arthur Francis
- Wight, Mary F
- Woodman, Emma N
-
-
-_Rhode Island._
-
- Abbott, Emma L
- Barrows, Miss Ann M
- Fish, Jennie Oliver
- Manchester, Emma L
- Olney, Lizzie Elzina
- Owen, Celia W
- Phillips, Mary A
- Potter, Amelia
-
-
-_Connecticut._
-
- Adams, Henry M
- Bond, Sara Moody
- Botsford, Mrs Carrie A
- Clark, Agnes L
- Danforth, Sarah A
- Gibbs, Sarah L
- Goddard, Katherine A
- Greene, Miss M Wilhemene
- Griswold, Nellie P
- Holmes, Harriet E
- Hotchkiss, Henry E
- Johnson, Mrs Truman
- Jones, Mrs Emma F
- Kerr, Ella Esther
- Kerr, M Agnes
- Lockwood, M Emma
- Mead, Hannah H
- Mead, Mrs Whitman L
- Minor, Katie E
- Morgan, Hattie J
- Rice, Fannie L
- Roberts, Emily
- Shekleton, Joseph Wilson
- Stoddard, Sarah Gilbert
- Towne, Luella Frances
- Treat, Clarence Bell
- Williamson, Mrs H L
- Wood, Rev Melvin C
-
-
-_New York._
-
- Abell, Mary L
- Abbott, G Elliott
- Agard, Eaton J
- Avery, Mary S
- Babcock, Anna W
- Bain, Arvilla E Morse
- Bannister, Miss Alice G
- Barnhart, Jeremiah
- Bartlett, Miss Clara A
- Beal, Letta M
- Bean, Clarence H
- Bedell, Ada M
- Bell, Richard E
- Benedict, Clara J
- Bennett, Mrs Hattie C
- Blowers, Mrs De Ann J
- Blythe, Adell
- Boardman, Stella
- Boomhour, Clara A
- Botsford, Mary H
- Bowen, Kate C
- Bowers, Abraham H
- Bradley, Mary E
- Brady, Edwin C
- Bramley, Mary E
- Brower, Mrs Carrie L
- Brown, Ellen S
- Burnett, Frederick J
- Burnett, Lida
- Burns, Mary A
- Burnell, Miss Sarah
- Bush, Arthine A
- Carter, Bella C
- Chase, Satie L
- Chriswell, Emma J
- Clark, Edwin H
- Clark, Mary E
- Clawson, E Augusta
- Clawson, E Gertrude
- Common, Lizzie
- Conger, Mrs Charlotte
- Cooper, Charles J
- Corbett, Mary T
- Corbett, Sophia C
- Crane, Elizabeth W
- Cronise, Mrs Dora A
- Cross, Phebe A
- Curtis, Jennie Norton
- Curtis, Miner
- Curtiss, Clara E
- Davis, Miss Sarah J
- Day, Franklin
- Deane, Harriet Eliza
- De Lano, Mary
- Dennison, Mrs Elizabeth A
- Dennison, Minnie E
- Derby, Orville P
- Donnan, Mrs Wm A (Matilda)
- Drake, Miss E E
- Dransfield, Lizzie B
- Dunning, Anna G
- Dunning, Floyd M
- Ecker, Miss Rose E
- Eddy, Elmora E
- Elmore, Arthur B
- Emigh, Annie
- English, Mrs Frank P
- Evarts, Martha J
- Ewell, Mrs Carrie F
- Farrar, Rev Hubbard C
- Farrar, Mrs Rev H C
- Fenton, Ellen
- Field, Mrs M B
- Flint, Mrs Chas A
- Foster, Mary Celinda
- Frederick, Anna B
- Freeman, Nettie B
- Frisbee, Ettie H
- Frost, James S
- Galbraith, Martha J
- Geer, Louise E
- Genung, Adriana B
- Gese, Mary E
- Gifford, Joseph C
- Gillett, Edward C
- Goodell, Mrs Ella C
- Goodwin, Eliza Steele
- Gould, Julia N
- Gould, Louis Agassiz
- Gould, Lydia E Wakeman
- Grant, Emeline N
- Grant, Maria L
- Griffiths, John D
- Halbert, Susan Frances
- Hadley, Mrs A Irene
- Hale, Emily J
- Hall, Mrs E G W
- Hall, J Duane
- Hallock, Henry Tuthill, M D
- Hamilton, Mrs J Lucelia
- Hammond, E Eleonora
- Hancock, Emily S
- Hart, Miss A M
- Hart, Miss Hattie A
- Haviland, M Alice
- Hawkins, Edna
- Hawley, Helen A
- Haydock, Minnie M
- Hayward, Mrs Adele
- Healy, Mrs Dorus
- Hearn, Mrs Juliet
- Hedges, Mrs S C
- Heist, Ellen N
- Holland, Julia Bryant
- Holmes, Richard
- Honeywell, J R
- Hopkins, Elisha B
- Hopkins, Sarah W
- Horton, Mary D
- Hughes, Emma
- Hughes, Mary E
- Hull, Miss Rachel J
- Hunt, Hester A
- Hunt, Mrs Minerva J
- Hurn, Mrs John M
- Hurst, M Emma
- Hutchinson, Mrs Anna Eliza
- Hutchinson, Arthur
- Jackson, William
- Jennings, Carrie F
- Johnson, Mary E G
- Jones, Celia J
- Jones, Delia
- Jump, Mrs J B
- Kantz, Matie J
- Karr, Miss Ella Austie
- Karr, Margaretta Ayres
- Kennedy, Eva H
- Keyes, Harriet H
- Kimball, Miss Marie A
- King, Maria
- Kirk, Anna E
- Kirk, Lizzie L
- Kirk, Susie A
- Lamphier, Miss Anna M
- Lamphier, Miss L Jennie
- Lathrop, Hattie A
- Leffingwell, Jane E
- Leonard, Lucy
- Lestie, Hannah Gibson
- Letterman, Kate
- Lewis, Mrs Daniel
- Lindsley, Lillian E
- Longwell, Elizabeth J
- Longwell, Mary
- Losee, Jennie A
- Lowe, Harriet A P
- Luetchford, Carrie C
- Luetchford, Marian A
- Lyman, Mary A
- Lyon, Rosa B
- Macadam, Minnie
- MacDonald, Josephine
- Mapes, Miss Josie
- Martin, Mrs Hannah R
- Martin, Helen M
- Martin, Jennie E
- Mathews, Eleanor M
- Matthews, Belinda
- McCullough, Miss Harriet E
- McKenna, John T
- McWharf, J Morton, M D
- Mead, Amelia J
- Mekeel, Margaret Dimon
- Mills, Mary
- Mellinger, Agnes W
- Merriam, Belle A
- Merwin, Mary A
- Mills, Agnes W
- Mills, Louise Payne
- Monroe, Josaphine
- Montgomery, Isabella C
- More, Mary
- Morgan, Camelia M
- Morse, Elzina
- Murphy, Emma Hyall, A M
- Murray, Adda Hurd
- Newton, R G
- Niles, Miss Katie C
- Niles, Mary R
- Norris, L Alice
- Otis, Elizabeth G
- Pangborn, Lucia E
- Parker, James Wilson
- Parsons, Miss Lucy A
- Payne, Satie D
- Peck, A L
- Perrine, Miss M J
- Phelps, Julia A
- Phillips, Mrs Florrie E
- Pierie, Jennie M
- Pinneo, M E Bingham
- Piper, George John
- Platt, Mrs Mary J
- Pool, Helen Emma
- Powell, Caroline A
- Powell, Mary A
- Powers, S L
- Pratt, Hattie S
- Pratt, Mary B
- Prentice, Eliza A
- Redhouse, Mrs Sarah Petty
- Reed, Erminia Kate
- Reed, Mary L
- Reed, Phebe A
- Reeves, Miss Ella D
- Robbins, Fannie J
- Robertson, Mrs Lizzie M
- Robinson, Rena Wiltse
- Romeo, Mrs John
- Rorrison, Clara M
- Roup, Barna C
- Savage, Helen C
- Sawyer, Mrs Walter W
- Scofield, Helen
- Scott, Mrs Wm
- Seymons, Joseph Lucius
- Seymour, Eliza Ann
- Shattuck, George Sidney
- Shaw, Mrs McKendres
- Short, Mrs Belle F
- Sibley, Margery J
- Simon, Joseph E
- Skiff, Mrs Ellen M
- Smith, Anna L
- Smith, Miss Clarissa
- Smith, Edson L
- Smith, Frank
- Spencer, S Amelia
- Spicer, Mary C
- Staats, Anna Kellogg
- Stebbins, Lulu A
- Steelman, Mrs Mary B
- Stevens, Mrs Sarah P
- Stewart, M Belle
- Stickney, Ella M
- Stillman, Carrie Elliott
- Stoddard, Miss Frances M
- Stone, Addie H
- Stone, George Bryant
- Strong, Julia
- Strong, Mrs M Francena B
- Sykes, Perlio A
- Taylor, Eliza Jeannette
- Thornell, Helen M
- Thornell, Miss Mary J
- Titus, Mary Louisa
- Tompkins, Sophia Vanderbilt
- Trott, Lois E
- Tuttle, Edwin Jr
- Twining, Emma A
- Twining, Mary E
- Upton, Mrs Frank S
- Vanderpoel, Mrs Mary E
- Vaughan, Jennie A
- Villefen, Zilpha
- Walker, Charles Eugene, M D
- Walter, Ella R
- Ward, Miss Jennie L
- Ware, Miss Minnie
- Ware, William T
- Wark, Eleanora
- Warren, Miss Juliette
- Washburn, Wm H
- Webber, Julia D
- Webber, Alice L
- West, Mrs Emma Case
- White, Mrs Mary V W
- Whitlock, Betsey A
- Whitney, Emma E
- Wildman, Fidelia D
- Williams, Elizabeth S
- Willis, Mary Angell
- Wirt, Ella Louise
- Wood, Mary L
- Wray, Miss Mary H
- Wright, Mary Emily
-
-
-_New Jersey._
-
- Angle, John Wesley
- Ashton, Mary
- Baird, Miss Maggie J
- Baker, Abram
- Baker, Mary Estelle
- Baldwin, Annie M
- Baldwin, Sarah Marinda
- Brackett, Mrs Addie
- Canfield, Carrie
- Carman, Emily F
- Carpenter, Jeannette
- Chase, Eliza E
- Chevallier, Carrie E
- Chevallier, Julia Augusta
- Collins, Emma C
- Collins, Sarah E
- Cook, Miss Anna M
- Corwin, Rachael Crary
- Davis, Anna Sheppard
- Dougall, Mary Agnes
- Downes, Adelaide T
- Downes, Maria A
- Downes, Mary W
- Eddy, Harriet E
- Ferris, Ella L
- Franklin, Mrs C H
- Freeman, Miss Minnie C
- Fulton, Joseph
- Hait, Mary Hasbrouck
- Harrison, Miss Mary A
- Heazelton, Anna M
- Hudson, Emma L
- Hunt, Mrs N Adeline
- Ingling, Elizabeth C
- Ingling, Wm H
- Jackson, Sarah Fulton
- James, Rettie F
- Jones, Stephen H
- Kirby, Ida H
- Kitchell, Clifford C
- Kitchell, Lizzie F
- Lippincott, Mary R
- Locke, George R
- Luckey, Hattie L
- McMurtry, Fannie A
- Minch, Emma M
- Morris, Mrs Lydia H
- Morse, Silas Ruttilus
- Mulliner, Mary R
- Newell, Augusta S
- Nichols, Anna Lavinia
- Parker, Miss Lizzie
- Peck, Mrs S O, Jr
- Pudney, Cassie S
- Richmond, S Luther
- Robertson, Emma J
- Rowland, Rachel D
- Sayre, Laura B
- Schuyler, Erwin H
- Schuyler, Isabel V
- Scott, Mrs Lucy A
- Shipman, Wm H
- Smith, Harry G
- Stanton, Mrs L Loisanna T
- Strong, Rachel H
- Thompson, Sallie H
- Van Alstyne, J
- Wallace, Miss Sarah
- White, Mary
- White, Edmund C
- Wilkins, Anna K
-
-
-_Pennsylvania._
-
- Adams, Anna M
- Agnew, Mary Jane
- Annos, Mrs Fannie B
- Askin, Alfred H
- Austin, Frank A
- Baker, Carrie E
- Baker, Mattie A
- Barnetson, Edwin
- Barrett, Mamie Gertrude
- Beach, Hessie Cecil
- Beale, Mary Rosalie
- Benney, William M
- Black, Mrs Emma F
- Black, Mrs A M
- Bradley, Rev J Wharton
- Bradley, Mrs Minnie R
- Browning, Miss Laura C
- Buchanan, Mattie A
- Bunn, Mary R
- Burns, Miss Sarah
- Byles, Mrs Martha J
- Clemens, Henry Sweitzer
- Cole, Alice L
- Coles, Mary E
- Collier, Nettie A
- Comly, Elizabeth F
- Crawford, H Emma
- Crawford, Mrs J Lynn Johnston
- Culbertson, Miss J A
- Cummings, Mrs E J
- Daggett, Ida B
- Dale, Anna M
- Deens, Anna
- Dinsmoor, Alice A
- Dorand, Miss A J
- Drown, Belle
- Drury, Ann Elizabeth
- Easterbrooks, Susie G
- Easton, Mrs Ida Lois
- Edwards, Jonathan
- Elliott, Miss Maggie
- Emerson, Mrs Carrie B
- Emig, Flora A
- Emig, Mary J
- Esler, Anna P
- Fentemaker, Chas D
- Frick, Bella R
- Fulton, Mrs S C
- Galbraith, Margaret E
- Gates, Mrs Augusta Hillier
- Gehman, Abram E
- Gibbon, Mary G
- Gilliford, Alice L
- Goetz, Rev George
- Griffith, Emily M
- Hack, Adelia M
- Harris, Mrs Abbie E
- Haynes, Mrs J T
- Haynes, Jennie
- Hench, Annie E
- Herring, Miss Bella
- Hershey, ⸺
- Hines, Thomas Bryson
- Holloway, Lida M
- Hulburt, Chas A
- Hulburt, Mary C
- Jewett, Mary E
- Jones, Miss H Frances
- Jones, Jared Emory
- Kennedy, Mary J
- Kernick, E M
- Kernick, Mrs Lizzie A
- Kerr, Miss Ella A
- Kingsley, Flora
- Kirk, Mercie Ann
- Kirker, Mrs F H
- Kirkland, Alfred Potter
- Landsrath, Mrs Emily B
- Laughlin, Rebecca P
- Lenhart, Lyde A
- Line, Albert Allan
- McGeary, Wm S
- McKee, Miss Mary
- Moorhead, Hattie
- Murdough, Lucinda H
- Murrmann, Adam
- Mushiltz, J H
- Nutting, Louisa M
- Parker, Esther, M A, N S
- Parsons, John W
- Patterson, Mrs A C
- Patterson, Julia
- Payne, Mrs E C
- Peiffer, Hattie E
- Perkins, Georgie
- Philpot, Miss Sallie
- Poppino, Anna M
- Poppino, Sadie L
- Pratt, Mrs A D
- Ripley, Ossie L
- Searle, K F
- Shaffer, William H
- Starkweather, Amelia M
- Strayer, Emma S
- Sherwood, William S
- Smith, Julia A
- Smith, Mrs Lillie E
- Smith, Maggie A
- Snyder, Hallie S
- Taggart, Mary A
- Taylor, Mrs Mary L
- Thorpe, Lizzie A
- Tull, Hannah
- Vail, Anna L
- Van Camp, Albert
- Vera, J Adams
- Wachter, Mrs Flora A
- Wallace, Maria J
- Warden, Mary E
- Warner, Vinnia A
- Watkins, Mrs M A
- Watts, Edwin L
- Weaver, Mattie R
- Weiser, William Franklin
- West, Clara Cloud
- West, Louise
- Wharton, Mrs Fanny B
- Wheeler, Mrs C S
- Wheelock, DeForest A
- Wiley, Hallis
- Williams, Rev Geo L
- Winters, Robert S
- Wyckoff, Miss Oriana
- Youngs, Sidney M
-
-
-_Delaware._
-
- Maloney, Anna
- Morris, Wm Thos
-
-
-_Maryland._
-
- Belt, William H S
- Cargell, John Marcus
- Cromwell, Thos Anna Sallers
- Kern, Miss Anna
- Kern, Miss J Causin
- Kerr, Lizzie L
- Lemmon, Y Ella S
- Thomson, Bessie G
- Trump, Lizzie
- Trump, Mrs Sarah C
- Waite, Mary M
-
-
-_District of Columbia._
-
- Brown, Mrs Carrie E C
- Brown, Olippard B
- Graham, Euphemia E
- Graham, Octavia
- Hamilton, Frank
- Hayes, Annie M
- Lacy, Anderson P
- Lehman, Harriet P
- Longan, Martha C
- McLean, Marion J
- Olcott, Mindwell Griswold
- Porter, Carrie
- Robinson, Emily
- Walker, Addie Lucy
- Walker, Geo Harold
- Wise, Huldap J
-
-
-_Virginia._
-
- Harrison, Margaret Norwood
- Kindred, Mary Tinsley
-
-
-_South Carolina._
-
- Hinton, Edmund
- Deal, Celia Emma
-
-
-_Georgia._
-
- Bunn, Porcia M
- Oliver, Mrs Sarah P
- Roy, Mrs J E
- Sengstacke, Rev J H H
-
-
-_Florida._
-
- Harward, Miss Jennie E
- Thompson, Jay J
- Waterman, Miss Grace G
-
-
-_West Virginia._
-
- Atkinson, George Wesley
- Fleming, Melissa
- Faulkner, Mattie V
- Kendall, Mrs Roanna L
- Moss, Harry P
- Tavennes, Emma B
- Watkins, Wm
- Wayman, John Francis
- Wilding, George Cleaton
- Young, Miss Ella
-
-
-_Ohio._
-
- Allen, Maria L
- Alsdorf, Mrs Allie
- Ballard, Florence
- Ballard, Laura W
- Ballard, Miss Lucy B
- Barber, Mrs E L
- Barber, Gershon M
- Beckwith, Ellen C F
- Beecher, Alice M
- Beswick, Alexander M
- Bethel, John Clemens
- Bownocker, Wm A
- Brown, Miss Clara J
- Brown, Mrs Martha A
- Brown, Miss Mary J
- Brown, Mrs Vinolia A
- Bushnell, Ellen Willes
- Camp, Alice Brown
- Camp, Hortense
- Canfield, Pauline Emerson
- Cannon, May T
- Casler, Ellen J E R
- Chase, Sylvia L
- Chesbrough, Isaac M
- Christianas, Alice
- Cist, Charles M
- Clark, Ardelia
- Clark, Luetta
- Cooke, Mary A
- Cottrell, Miss Mattie E
- Craine, Maud S
- Crawford, Robert Sampson
- Curtis, Albert W
- Davies, Richard R
- Donaldson, Annie
- Dunaway, Mary E
- Dunlap, Rev Geo W
- Dunlap, Henrietta L
- Earle, Mary H
- Edgar, Maggie B
- Etheridge, Annie M
- Fleet, Ruth B
- Frazer, Orrin F
- French, John M
- French, Richmon Elroy
- Fritz, Benj F
- Gee, Susan Scott
- Hall, Miss Kate
- Hamilton, Lucinda E
- Heald, Theodocia C
- Henderlick, Miss Kate
- Hine, Mary A
- Hitchcock, Miss Ann C
- Holcomb, J DeLos
- Hulburt, Mrs Carrie C
- Hulburt, Julia
- Hull, Mrs Kate P
- Humphrey, Charlotte
- Humphrey, Orleia F
- Hurley, Miss Florence
- Hutchinson, Ophelia Head
- Irwin, Elizabeth A
- Jeffrey, Mrs Josephine A
- Jenning, Alice
- Jennings, Juliet Wallace
- Jordan, Mrs Lucy
- Joyce, Carrie W
- Keller, Mrs Lide J
- Kemble, Emma J
- Kemmerlein, Amelia
- Kent, Eugene E
- King, Miss Mary M
- Knapp, Mrs S G
- Knox, Janet
- Kolbe, Julia Clara
- Lakeman, Clifford F
- Laurie, Clara A
- Laurie, Fannie S
- Lingo, Harry H
- Longnecker, Mrs J M
- Lyman, Susan Elizabeth
- McClelland, Harriet A
- McConnell, Anna
- McCoy, Lillian
- McCreary, Jennie
- McGowan, Mary
- McVay, Emma C
- Mann, Mrs Rosella M P
- Matteson, Mrs H E
- Mayes, Lucy K
- Meeker, Mrs L C
- Miller, Emily H
- Millikin, Mattie R
- Mixer, Chas A
- Moore, Miss Carrie M
- Moore, Jennie H
- Moore, Miss Lizzie
- Nordyke, Callie E
- Norris, Carrie E
- Ober, Reuben H
- Parrett, Anna D L
- Parrott, Alice Maude
- Parsons, Mrs Loverne E
- Pennell, William W
- Perkins, Mary A
- Pixley, Elmira Adaline
- Pratt, Harriett S
- Pritchard, T C
- Ranney, Luther Kelsey
- Reed, Emma J
- Reid, Mrs Alma
- Roath, Katie M
- Rogers, Julia A
- Rood, Alice Stone
- Saxton, Josephine
- Scott, Mrs Emma H
- Sherwin, Clara N
- Sholes, Mrs Adelia J
- Simons, Cynthia A
- Smellie, Alice A
- Smith, Laura Pease
- Smith, Mrs Jacob A
- Smith, Wm H
- Smith, Corinthia M
- Snyder, L M
- Stone, Clara E
- Stone, Harlan M
- Taggart, R D
- Taneyhill, Charles Wesley
- Thayer, Mrs H N
- Turpin, Sallie H
- Twaddle, Mrs Sabra A
- Walker, Frank Baker
- Walker, Alma E
- Weitzell, Mrs M A
- Welty, Rachel
- West, Fannie E
- West, Mary L
- White, Mrs Maria J
- Wigton, Mattie M
- Williams, Evan A
- Wilcox, Jennie E
- Wood, Mary E H
- Wright, Kate M
- Yeagley, Lafayette
- Young, Elizabeth J
- Ziegler, Mrs R J
-
-
-_Indiana._
-
- Allis, Mrs J M
- Arnold, Eva
- Baker, Mrs D H
- Baylor, Adelaide
- Beckett, Millard Julian
- Birdsell, Emma A
- Blair, Jesse Harvey
- Bowman, Jennie
- Chantler, Mary E
- Claypool, Mrs J H
- Coulter, Mrs Anna Richards
- Curtiss, Geo Lewis
- Curtiss, Mary
- Donnohue, M Josephine
- Elder, Harriet E
- Emery, Mrs A W
- Forrest, Ruth Angell
- Forest, William H
- Foulke, Hattie E
- Foulke, Lizzie E
- Francis, George
- Frazer, Harriet D
- Furnas, Walton C
- Hanna, Rebecca
- Harris, Emma Burnett
- Holloway, Martha A
- Hubbard, Martha O
- Hull, Mrs G W
- Langsdale, Mary E B
- Latham, Mabel
- Lemen, Mrs J R
- Lemen, Jno R
- Liddell, Elizabeth M
- Matthews, Sarah A
- McHenry, Lula M
- McIntosh, Mrs Leon
- Merrifield, Kate E
- Moore, Jennie A
- Palmer, Jessie Dana
- Patterson, Florence
- Plumer, Jane
- Poindexter, Bertha F
- Sering, Eliza B
- Simmons, Belle
- Smith, Elvira A
- Spain, M Ella
- Stewart, Mrs M E
- Stout, Lelia E
- Talburt, Carrie B
- Taylor, Ida
- Thompson, Phebe C
- Tingley, Mrs Ellen K
- Tompkins, Sabra A
- Towers, Josiah M
- Treatman, Alice Amelia
- Tuttle, Ellen Eunice
- Van Slyke, Mrs W M
- Van Slyke, Rev W M
- Watts, Margaret A
- Weeks, Harvey Russell
- Williams, Carrie R J
- Williams, Drue T
-
-
-_Illinois._
-
- Banks, Alma E
- Bonnell, Mary L
- Bridges, Flora
- Brown, Miss Margaret
- Calder, Mrs Laura A
- Carpenter, Mrs Josie E
- Carson, Elizabeth
- Cassell, Mrs Mary L
- Chamberlain, Isadore
- Chase, Emma
- Clark, Mrs Mary L
- Cook, Florence E
- Crane, Mrs Richard T
- Dennis, Lucy A
- Dike, Julia C
- Dungan, George Wesley
- Fitch, Georgia
- Frazier, Mrs Ennie
- Graves, Mrs Mary Brooks
- Hall, Lydia A
- Haller, Mary A S
- Hemenway, Eliza M
- Higgins, Mrs Mary E
- Hunter, Thomas C
- Hurst, Nannie R
- Joslyn, Mrs Mary
- Kean, Anna Rebecca
- Keever, Emily Vernera
- Knowles, Wiley
- Lewis, Carrie N
- McKillop, Katie K
- Metcalf, Ella R
- Metcalf, Henry K
- Miller, Mrs A F
- Miller, Ruth Lee
- Moore, Charles Saeger
- Nelson, Delia J
- Neville, Mary E
- Nixon, Mrs Ruth P
- Oliver, Fanny E
- Osburn, Mrs Sarah E
- Paddock, Mrs Ella M
- Parmenter, Mary A
- Payne, Miss Agnes S
- Perkins, Martha A Steele
- Poore, Anna C
- Rexford, Alma Zerniah
- Richmond, Bel Garido
- Rietmann, Miss Greda S
- Sanburn, Althea O
- Slack, Rev Charles
- Slack, Mary
- Spray, Mary A
- Stewart, Olivia
- Swezey, Ida T
- Trott, Mrs Augusta J
- Veech, Grace A
- Wallace, Wm
- Walton, Sarah Isabel
- Warren, Benjamin
- Waterbury, M Julia
- Welty, Mrs Gertrude B
- Wessling, Christian
- West, Abbie
- Wilson, Mrs Josephine M
- Yocum, Kate
-
-
-_Kentucky._
-
- Bailey, Henry Webster
- Bailey, Mrs Lucy
- Earle, Mary Jane
- Fields, John Clarence
- Schaal, John G
- Shouse, Mrs Vassie Rucker
- Standish, Mary E
-
-
-_Tennessee._
-
- Havey, Mrs Delia E
- Latting, Bettie B
- Latting, Emma L
- Milton, Louisa R
- Pepper, John R
- Rawlings, Miss L
- Shumand, Lizzie Allen Frank
-
-
-_Alabama._
-
- Silsby, Edwin C
- Silsby, Nettie B
-
-
-_Mississippi._
-
- Calhoon, Mrs Sallie John
- Lamkin, Miss Augusta
-
-
-_Wisconsin._
-
- Adair, Alzina M
- Alden, Violet M
- Bellis, Mrs Adelaide
- Bowes, Mary E W
- Boynton, Roxanna
- Brown, Elizer Adeline
- Brown, Frances Lillie
- Christie, Jennie M
- Cowan, Mrs Alice Ayer
- Denniston, Mrs Margaret
- Dodson, Mrs Lizzie Abbott
- Dodson, Lizzie S
- Doney, Sarah J
- Drake, Clara Belle
- Foss, Nellie
- Ford, Edna H
- Hillman, Amanda F
- Hooley, Samuel H
- Jenkins, Mary J
- Macnish, Mrs Sarah
- Millard, Mrs William
- Moe, Miss Amelia A
- Morris, Lucy E
- Ozame, Ray A
- Rhodes, Kittie Clyde
- Rogers, Mrs Viola J
- Pickard, Emma A
- Rounds, Flora C
- Sears, Nancie D
- Sedgwick, Mrs Estelle J
- Skewes, Emma
- Smiley, Caroline M
- Stair, Caroline M
- Talbot, Jane Crandall
- Ward, Minerva C
- Whittemore, Sarah C
- Williston, Clara H
-
-
-_Minnesota._
-
- Blakeley, Ellen L
- Clary, Anna L
- Clary, Smith B
- Culver, May E
- Downer, A T
- Fitz, J Henry
- Gould, Rossa Anna
- Hanson, Anna Adeline
- Houpt, Mrs Charles Henry
- Hoy, Mrs Emma C
- Lathrop, Charlotte E
- McEwan, Janet C Smith
- Page, Zena B
- Stinchfield, Miss Abbie
- Stinchfield, Mattie J
- Stone, Ella B
- Teitsworth, George Wilson
- Tompkins, T G
- Trowbridge, Noble A
- Van Valkenburgh, Kate M
- Wilberton, Mrs Sarah D
-
-
-_Michigan._
-
- Bell, Helen M
- Campbell, Emma Pengra
- Cartwright, Susan M
- Cawley, Sarah C
- Chambers, Phebe
- Cole, Lela
- Comstock, Addie A
- Cook, Mrs E H
- Cooley, Miss Hattie A
- Eldridge, Miss Carrie L
- Ely, Minnie Owen
- Finster, Mrs H C
- Firman, Adella Curtis
- Floyd, Myrtle Jessie
- Giddings, Kate Isabel
- Greene, Emma R
- Greene, Jas W
- Hood, Mrs Cyrus J
- Hubbard, Mabel E
- Johns, Emma C
- Kendrick, Mrs Minnie A
- Kesling, Marcia C West
- La Fleur, Mrs Fred
- La Fleur, Fred C
- Laidlow, Mrs T W
- Lovell, Miss A
- Lyman, Allie R
- Major, Libbie L
- Mallory, Mrs Rosie E
- McIlwain, Mrs Alexander
- Metcalf, Joseph W
- Metcalf, Miss Lizzie
- Millis, Frank
- Morgan, Miss Libbie
- Morgan, Mary Elizabeth
- Murray, Mrs C Adelia
- Nash, Mary E
- Osborn, Annette J
- Potter, Mrs Kate E
- Rice, Emma
- Robson, Adda Grace
- Rollins, Fred E
- Rowe, Mary A
- Russell, Mrs Abbie M
- Schenck, Linna A
- Sigler, Mrs H F
- Sinclair, Lizzie C
- Smith, Mrs H Darsen
- Sparling, John G
- Sparling, Anna Maria
- Steere, Grace E
- Stevens, Anna E
- Tillson, Minnie Bennett
- Toncray, Josephine E
- Travis, Clara
- Turrell, C W
- Van Auken, Mrs M Antoinette
- Woodhams, Nettie F
- Yale, Mrs Sarah A
-
-
-_Iowa._
-
- Alcott, Sarah E
- Barclay, Mrs Belle C
- Beall, Ennie
- Beall, Randolph S
- Bean, Samuel M D
- Bingham, Mary Upham
- Bowman, Mary A
- Brooks, Anna B
- Brownell, Mrs Julia Emeline
- Cheesman, S Madeleine
- Cooper, Emma P
- Cowles, Mrs Alice S
- Davidson, Mrs Jas
- Gillespie, Esther L
- Grout, Angie B
- Hawkinson, Hattie J
- Harris, Rachel S
- Hetherington, Sue W
- Hill, Ellen D A
- Hoyt, Mrs S C
- Huntoon, Mrs Emma M
- Karr, Mrs Anna W
- Lawrence, Mrs Abbie Orilla
- Lorang, Mrs Wilma
- Manwell, Mrs C H
- Marvin, Mary M
- Maxwell, Edith A
- May, Rev Eugene
- McCartney, Alice Cary
- McIntyre, Mrs Hattie A
- McKinley, Rev Russell A
- Merriman, Mrs Isa M
- Moseley, Ettie D
- Neally, Mrs Martha H
- Newman, Frank E
- Nve, Mrs Ada M
- O’Bryan, Amelia C
- Pollock, Mrs Mary G L
- Price, Theresa M
- Rutledge, Cyrus Felton
- Schooley, Laura
- Smith, Mrs Sarah B
- Stever, Juliet H
- Tatham, Florence Adelia
- Tatham, Cora Louise
- Thomas, Annie M
- Wallace, Eva
- Waterbury, Mary L
- Watts, Mrs Eliza A
- Weaver, Annie E
- Wolfe, Frederick C
- Wolfe, Elvira J
-
-
-_Missouri._
-
- Bourne, Mrs Anna R D
- Bradford, Mrs Geo H
- Burrell, Arthur S
- Cox, Thomas S
- Hayden, Miss Carrie J
- Henderson, David Rees
- Keach, Mrs Julia M
- Kibbey, Francis Marion
- Langhoun, Mamie
- Martin, Oliver M
- Purmort, Mrs Emeline Clark
- Stephens, Margaret M
- Wohlberg, John
- Woods, Mary Agnes
-
-
-_Louisiana._
-
- Williams, G B
-
-
-_Dakota Territory._
-
- Davis, Rose A
- Dresbach, Annie E
- Hood, Angie C
- Hood, Benjamin F
- Hughes, George Thomas
- Miller, Mrs Ella V
- Small, Abbie M
- Smith, Burton W
- Stanley, Chas H
- Stevens, Mrs C B
- Wilder, Frances Durand
-
-
-_Nebraska._
-
- Edmundson, Elizabeth
-
-
-_Kansas._
-
- Bradbury, Jennie E
- Hill, Miss Rebecca
- Holmes, Mrs Alice B
- Johnson, Mrs Abbie C
- Sickner, Mrs A W
- Stoddard, Mrs Addie S
- Watson, Clara A
-
-
-_Texas._
-
- Armstrong, Ramsey C
- Bell, A C
- Edwards, Thos Geo
- Starr, Georgie Mehaffey
- Watkins, Georgie Isham
-
-
-_Colorado._
-
- Cooper, Mrs Anna M
-
-
-_Washington Territory._
-
- Strobach, Placie Howard
-
-
-_California._
-
- Allen, Mrs L M
- Austin, Almira L
- Barrows, Edward C
- Bennett, Mrs A G
- Burritt, Alice, M D
- Carrick, Mary A
- Chapin, Mrs Alice E
- Chapman, M A
- Crane, Mrs E T
- Curtis, Wm Tontes
- Gafney, Mrs Lucy M
- Gardiner, Mrs Anna J
- Gosbey, Mrs Sarah F
- Greathead, Mrs Estelle H
- Hunt, Mrs Jno W L
- Huse, Alice Redman
- Lacklison, Ellen
- Lakin, Mrs Mary E
- Lynds, D M
- McBride, Miss Mattie
- McCowen, Mary E P
- McKee, Minnie Hubbard
- Merriam, Bessie Broughton
- Merritt, Harriet J
- Miller, Mrs Mira E
- Minard, Clara Cheeney
- Muzzy, Miss Sarah
- Polhemus, Lucretia E
- Pond, N Flotilla Watson
- Reynolds, Emily M
- Russell, Mrs Caroline B
- Stone, Miss Henrietta
- Stratton, Dr C C
- Summers, Mrs J H
- Thompson, Miss Gertrude H
- Walker, Cornelia
- Wallace, May Frances
- Walton, Mrs Sarah E
- Warboys, Mrs Jennie
- Wells, Alice M
- Wood, Emma Alfaretta
- Wrench, Mrs Lydia M
- Wythe, Dr Joseph H
-
-
-_Province of Ontario._
-
- Annand, James
- Barnett, Kate H
- Chubbuck, Charles Edward D
- Donogh, John Ormsby
- Ellis, Robert B
- Frost, Maria E
- Greene, Rev Josius
- Hughes, Annie A
- Keith, Mary
- Langille, Adalena D
- Law, Arminda Myrtal
- Lawe, John W
- McLeay, Jno A
- Peake, William Henry
- Philp, Rev Joseph
- Strachan, Richard
- Wilson, Charles James
-
-
-_China._
-
- Bainbridge, Miss Lisle
-
-
-
-
-TALK ABOUT BOOKS.
-
-Köstlin’s “Life of Luther”[C] is really an important contribution to our
-biographical literature. The fourth centennial has just been celebrated
-in all Protestant countries, and much valuable information given to the
-people from the pulpit and the press. The Reformation and the principal
-agent God used to accomplish it are now discussed as they have not been
-before for five centuries—yet the subject is by no means exhausted. This
-latest book from the pen of a learned German so well qualified, and
-thoroughly furnished for his work, will be read with unusual interest
-by thousands whose attention has recently been directed to the life and
-time of the great reformer. The Professor, whose larger work in two
-volumes is a classic, has also wrought well in this, and given us a real
-biography that presents its subject fairly. All essential facts are
-freely admitted, even when disparaging, and any one by attentive reading
-will gain a better knowledge of Luther, of his homes and his friends. The
-author, who did his work well, doubtless appears to better advantage in
-his own vernacular than in the translation, which, though creditable as
-very plain English, might be improved by re-casting some sentences, and
-by a little more careful proof reading.
-
-“The Old Testament Student” is a well filled, ably conducted monthly
-magazine, published at Chicago for the “American Institute of Hebrew,”
-subscription price, $2.00. It can hardly fail to be useful to all Bible
-students, particularly those who desire a more thorough acquaintance with
-the original.
-
-“Mottoes of Methodism”[D] is an unassuming but beautiful little volume,
-and would be found a real treasure in any Christian family. It is simply
-a selection of brief suggestive passages from the prose writings of John,
-and the poetry of Charles Wesley; harmonized with a passage of Scripture
-for each day of the year. Some other title, we think, as “Themes
-for Daily Meditation,” “Helpful Suggestions from Reliable Sources,”
-would better indicate the character of the book, which is intensely
-evangelical, but, in no sense, distinctively Methodistic.
-
-[C] “Life of Luther.” By Julius Köstlin, with illustrations from
-Authentic Sources, translated from the German. New York: Charles
-Scribner’s Sons. 1883.
-
-[D] “Mottoes of Methodism.” Selected and arranged by Rev. Jesse T.
-Whitley. New York: Phillips & Hunt. Cincinnati: Walden & Stowe. 1883.
-
-
-BOOKS RECEIVED.
-
-“Judith; a Chronicle of Old Virginia.” By Marion Harland. Illustrated.
-Philadelphia: Our Continent Publishing Co. New York: Fords, Howard and
-Hurlburt. 1883.
-
-“Mexico and The Mexican; or Notes of Travel in the Winter and Spring
-of 1883.” By Howard Conkling. With illustrations. New York: Taintor
-Brothers, Merril & Co. 1883.
-
-“Suggestions to China Painters.” By M. Louise McLaughlin. Cincinnati:
-Robert Clarke & Co. 1884.
-
-“Oregon; The Struggle for Possession.” By William Barrows. Boston:
-Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1884.
-
- * * * * *
-
- [Illustration: ROYAL BAKING POWDER
-
- Absolutely Pure.]
-
- This powder never varies. A marvel of purity, strength and
- wholesomeness. More economical than the ordinary kinds, and can
- not be sold in competition with the multitude of low test, short
- weight, alum or phosphate powders. _Sold only in cans._ ROYAL
- BAKING POWDER CO., 106 Wall Street, New York.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Transcriber’s Notes:
-
-Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
-
-Page 253, “mutally” changed to “mutually” (were mutually exerted)
-
-Page 272, repeated word “in” removed (given anonymously to the world in
-1849)
-
-Page 273, “carniverous” changed to “carnivorous” (the Lepidosiren was
-carnivorous)
-
-Page 287, “inclosng” changed to “inclosing” (inclosing black, shining
-grains)
-
-Page 293, “pre-presided” changed to “presided” (Dr. Hurlbut presided
-there)
-
-Page 298, “north” changed to “south” (three on the south, bordering on
-the Mediterranean)
-
-Page 298, “Napolean” changed to “Napoleon” (Napoleon’s battles were
-fought)
-
-Page 304, “app led” changed to “applied” (here it is applied to man’s
-reason)
-
-Page 305, “Ornioco” changed to “Orinoco” (P. 253, c. 2.—“Orinoco,”)
-
-Page 313, “Reid, M lma” changed (as a best guess) to “Reid, Mrs Alma”
-
-Page 313, “Russell, Mrs Abbie M” moved from end of list to correct place
-in alphabetical order
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, February
-1884, No. 5., by The Chautauquan Literary and Scientific Circle
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAUTAUQUAN, VOL. 04 ***
-
-***** This file should be named 55132-0.txt or 55132-0.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
- http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/1/3/55132/
-
-Produced by Emmy, Juliet Sutherland and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
- This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
- most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
- restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
- under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
- eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
- United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
- are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
- the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
- you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
- to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
- agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
- within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
- legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
- payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
- Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
- Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
- Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
- you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
- does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
- License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
- copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
- all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
- works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
- any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
- electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
- receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
- distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
- Dr. Gregory B. Newby
- Chief Executive and Director
- gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-