Farmer Scroggins was delightedWhen he saw, in one united,Sport and culture for the millions such as he,When he saw his children pryingInto things he rarely scanned;When his house became a collegeWhere his children gathered knowledge,And that books and apparatus were in very great demand.Books were mingled with their pleasures,Curious eyes were open wide;Problems found a quick solution,Telling words found elocution,And they coaxed and coaxed and toasted him beside.
Farmer Scroggins was delightedWhen he saw, in one united,Sport and culture for the millions such as he,When he saw his children pryingInto things he rarely scanned;When his house became a collegeWhere his children gathered knowledge,And that books and apparatus were in very great demand.Books were mingled with their pleasures,Curious eyes were open wide;Problems found a quick solution,Telling words found elocution,And they coaxed and coaxed and toasted him beside.
Farmer Scroggins was delightedWhen he saw, in one united,Sport and culture for the millions such as he,When he saw his children pryingInto things he rarely scanned;When his house became a collegeWhere his children gathered knowledge,And that books and apparatus were in very great demand.
Farmer Scroggins was delighted
When he saw, in one united,
Sport and culture for the millions such as he,
When he saw his children prying
Into things he rarely scanned;
When his house became a college
Where his children gathered knowledge,
And that books and apparatus were in very great demand.
Books were mingled with their pleasures,Curious eyes were open wide;Problems found a quick solution,Telling words found elocution,And they coaxed and coaxed and toasted him beside.
Books were mingled with their pleasures,
Curious eyes were open wide;
Problems found a quick solution,
Telling words found elocution,
And they coaxed and coaxed and toasted him beside.
We should like to give all of the story, had we space, yet does not nearly every member of the C. L. S. C. know a John Scroggin who, under the influence of our magicalma mater, has seen “his house become a college?” It is, we believe, a familiar story not only in Detroit, but in Maine, California, and Texas.
There are two important circles inDetroit. The “Pansy Circle,” of which Mr. J. W. Green, a graduate of ’83, is president, numbers twenty-seven members. They hold their meetings at the home of the president, meeting weekly on Monday evening. The president and his wife are very enthusiastic over the C. L. S. C., and are well adapted to fill the important offices to which their club has elected them. From the president of the “Central” C. L. S. C., of the same city, we have received a most entertaining record of the past year’s work. “The circle began the year of ’83 and ’84 with a membership of forty-eight. The first regular meeting was held at the Conservatory of Music, September 19, when the officers were elected. We now have enrolled the names of seventy paying members, twenty-six of whom are members of the general Circle. The circle has held forty-one regular meetings, two of which were spent in listening to very interesting lectures by Professor Winder. The evening of January 24 was spent debating the “Free Trade” question. February 21 Rev. Dr. Reilly lectured for the circle on “Christian Evidences Historically Considered.” May 29 the circle debated the “Indian Question.” During the year we have given four entertainments, and one reception. The latter was given in honor of Dr. Vincent, on September 24, at the residence of our president. The William Cullen Bryant Memorial Day was celebrated November 2, 1883. It was a very enjoyable entertainment, consisting of readings from Bryant, with music interspersed, followed by an elegant collation. The second Milton evening was spent very pleasantly at the home of our vice president. The C. L. S. C. met to celebrate Longfellow’s birthday. The program comprised readings, several tableaux and music, after which refreshments were served. The Shakspere entertainment, given at the Conservatory of Music, was one of the most pleasant of the series, many members were present, the selections were finely rendered, and the music was unusually good. The commencement exercises were held at Conservatory of Music, July 2. I will let the reports which were in the papers give you the description: ‘The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle closed their season last Wednesday evening at the Conservatory of Music. The attendance was large and the program one of unusual excellence. The “Class History,” by Mrs. Gillett, was a pleasant record of the doings of the society the past year, and was bright and well written. An address by T. D. Hawley, covering the existence of the circle, and a beautiful tribute to the late Mrs. Clark, the first president, was one of the noticeable features of the evening. A prophecy by Miss Todd was highly amusing and full of local hits. The music was especially good, both vocal and instrumental. A fantasie on the zither and violin by Mrs. Boyle and W. J. Kohlaas was rapturously received.’”
There is a great deal due to the president of a circle. An energetic president will make a live circle. We do not wonder that atPendleton, Ind., the membership has increased twenty-five per cent., and that there was never such a manifestation of zeal and determination. Their president, Dr. A. S. Huston, puts life and skill into whatever he does. We hope to receive an extended report from Pendleton in the year.
No more systematic plan of work has come to our notice this year than that which we have received from the Alpha circle ofQuincy, Ill.This circle began its fall’s work by celebrating Garfield’s day; again on opening day, October 1, they met, elected officers and received new members. The circle, when reorganized, numbered about twenty-four members. They seem to have all the necessary elements for success—a large and live membership and an energetic president, of whom they write: “He is nothing less than a living library.” Their meetings are held each week. The weekly printed program cards contain the mottoes, the outline of study for each week, and the exercises which are arranged for each evening. We notice that they made the experiments in chemistry, and they write us that they had splendid success with them. The exercises are enlivened by music, and the Chautauqua songs stand prominent. The plan recommended inThe Chautauquanfor October—a pronouncing match on Greek names—was one of the features of a joint meeting of the Alpha and Beta circles on the last week of October; they write that it was hugely enjoyed. In order to help the participants in this “match” the back of the programs contained a key compiled for the Quincy circles, on how to pronounce classic names, giving rules for accent, syllabication, and sounds of the letters.
A friend who caught her inspiration for the C. L. S. C. work at Chautauqua itself, and who has induced several members to join the ranks, writes us of a new circle of eighteen members atTonica, Ill.An excellent feature of this circle is that though three of its members are to graduate in ’86, while the remainder are all new members, yet there is a delightful spirit of unity in the work. All doing the same reading irrespective of class distinctions, makes the local circle possible, and promotes a fund of good feeling and coöperative study, otherwise impossible. The circle at Tonica has only just started, and, of course, as yet has no plan of work to report. No doubt, as is generally the case with our Illinois friends, they will soon send us accounts of happy plans and successful work.
The reports whichMarshalltown, Iowa, send are frequent and always encouraging. The president writes: “Our circle would like to let the rest of the Chautauqua world knowthat we are still engaged in the good work. The ‘Alden’ circle, which met last year as two divisions of the same circle, this year adds twenty or more names to the class of ’88, and has organized as two separate circles. The evening circle retains the name of Alden. The new circle (formerly the afternoon division) has adopted the name of ‘Vincent,’ and has twenty-eight names recorded. The old members are glad vacation is over and the new ones take up the work with enthusiasm. October 14 the two circles celebrated the beginning of a new Chautauqua year by a grand banquet, which passed off very pleasantly.”
It is of great value to the C. L. S. C. to have the support of the local press. In no other way can so much and so effective work be done. A circle which lacks the will to extend its boundaries, and which selfishly is content with “our set,” can not reap the full benefit of our work. We need to take in others, to be always open to receive members, and to employ the best means to make ourselves and our hospitality known. The local paper is the best medium for this. Many of our friends have proven this so, among them the Chautauquans ofDe Soto, Mo., who send newspaper announcements of two meetings recently held, giving their program and entertainments, and cordially inviting others to join them. The effect can not but be good. The program which they offer recommends itself to every reader as meaning serious study and genuine culture, and the hearty summons to come and join them proves a catholicity of spirit even more desirable than culture.
In the neighboring state ofKansas, atWilliamsburg, the circle has followed a similar plan. They publish in their local papers a review of the extent of the C. L. S. C. work, describe its methods, and then call attention to their own goodly company of forty members, who are all anxious to receive cordially any one who may desire to undertake the reading. The Williamsburg circle holds monthly public meetings and does the work of the month through the medium of sub-circles, which meet more frequently—a plan which in several large circles we have known to work admirably.
The Invincibles who make up the Longfellow circle ofNew Orleans, La., entered upon their four years’ work in October. A friend has kindly given us an account of the work the members did during the summer months: “The summer circle was very pleasant; the C. L. S. C. studies not extending through the summer months, they were thrown on their own resources for a program. They read regularly from Emerson and Ruskin, also extracts from Hamerton’s, ‘Intellectual Life,’ Carlyle, and Dr. Holland, with a bit of poetry now and then. You see they are not starving, but eating ‘strong meat.’ In October the circle began the regular readings. Now, when you remember that though our thermometer runs along in the nineties for weeks at a time, and that though floods, epidemics and musquitoes interfere with steady work, these people have gone bravely through three years, and have done thorough work, you will not wonder that I am proud of my children.”
Wyoming Territorysends notice of a new organization of the C. L. S. C. atEvanston, called the “Unita Local Circle.” The circle was started October 7, and officers—two only, president and secretary—were elected. The spirit of the circle they sum up in the following concise and suggestive sentences: “Enthusiastic devotion to the ‘Chautauqua Idea.’ Plain informal meetings for mutual questionings, recitations to each other, map studies, and practical application of new truths taught, as per example, ‘Resolved, to try every method given for cooking the potato.’”
“Press on, reaching after those things which are before.”
Class badges may be procured of either President or Treasurer.
The price of ourClass Badgesis ten cents each.
The price of ’85 class paper is fifty cents per box, to be obtained of Mr. Henry Hart, P. O. Box 176, Atlanta, Ga.
The office from which the class has been obtaining their badges has been entirely burned out, and the design of our badge perished with the other contents. We now expect to have a copy of the original design within two weeks, and to be able to furnish more badges by December 1st. It is gratifying to know that the demand for the Lavender has largely increased this fall. This indicates a growing interest in the C. L. S. C. studies this season.
In order that an estimate may be made of the members of ’85 who will take their diplomas at Chautauqua next summer, it is desired that all expecting to be there will forward their names to the secretary, Miss M. M. Canfield, Treasurer’s Department, Third Auditor’s Office, Washington, D. C.
This pleasant testimony to the pleasure of class associations at Chautauqua many an ’85 will welcome. It is taken from a letter on Chautauqua which Mr. Underwood has received: “A very pleasant feature of Chautauqua is the pleasant associations, and especially is this the case among the members of the C. L. S. C. A bond of mutual sympathy exists between them. Reading the same books, with the same object in view, mind and heart culture, it is no wonder that they are a congenial company. There I felt a special pleasure. There are so many, many things to be said in favor of Chautauqua that I feel I have very imperfectly expressed them. The meeting of old friends and finding of new ones contributed another of my pleasant impressions. The recreation afforded by its lovely lake, its health and rest-giving facilities, its elevating influence in every way, have won for it well-deserved fame. My Chautauqua visit will afford me pleasant memories during the coming years, and if permitted, I hope to repeat it next year, and one event I shall look forward to with pleasure, will be the meeting again of our class of ’85.
“Very respectfully yours,Ella Holm.”
“We study for light, to bless with light.”
President—Rev. B. P. Snow, Biddeford, Maine.
Vice Presidents—Rev. J. C. Whitley, Salisbury, Maryland; Mr. L. F. Houghton, Peoria, Illinois; Mr. Walter Y. Morgan, Cleveland, Ohio; Mrs. Delia Browne, Louisville, Kentucky; Miss Florence Finch, Palestine, Texas.
Secretary—Rev. W. L. Austin, Dunkirk, New York.
The class of ’86 feels that it may exercise a little just pride in the fact that it enters upon its third year with a good 14,000 members, characterized, especially, by earnest, studious application to the work of the course. The class mean to be true to their name, the “Progressives,” and they hope that noise and show may not be the only signs they may give of progress.They trust that ’86 will not fail to make good and continue to maintain the strong and honorable place it now holds as a corps of the great C. L. S. C. army.
It will interest the whole membership of ’86 to know that Principal Fairbairn, of England, the distinguished lecturer on Philosophy this season at Chautauqua, accepted with great satisfaction, an election as honorary member of ’86, and entertains the warmest interest in his class.
Two who have won names in song are among our regular members, and have been elected class poets. One is the author of “No Sect in Heaven,” the other has written admirable verses forThe Chautauquan, and for other publications. One honored and earnest member, Professor C. C. Case, will in due time set to music some of the poetic utterances of these writers as class songs for ’86.
A special monogram note paper has been prepared for the class of ’86. It is much admired.
We are pained to record the death of our class-mate, Mrs. Lorica Bennett, of Gilmore, Iowa. Her devotion to the C. L. S. C. had for a long time been intense, and one of her last requests was that her testimony to its benefits be added to the list of those which appear inThe Chautauquan.
All items of interest pertaining to the class of 1888 should be sent to C. C. McLean, Jacksonville, Florida.
We are in receipt of a letter from Professor Walton N. Ellis, Chairman of Motto Committee, notifying us that the selection made is “Let us be seen by our deeds,” from the Latinspectemur agendo.
BY A. M. MARTIN,General Secretary C. L. S. C.
1. Q. How has the conquest of Cyrus been characterized? A. As the starting-point of European life.
2. Q. As an individual, of what does Cyrus stand out as the representative? A. Of the East.
3. Q. Of what empire was he the founder? A. The Persian empire.
4. Q. Where was the Persian empire situated? A. In Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.
5. Q. At what date did the Persian empire attain to great magnificence? A. About five hundred years before Christ.
6. Q. Contemporaneous with the Persian empire what republics flourished in the West? A. The republics of Greece.
7. Q. What two Greek historians have given us the history of Cyrus? A. Herodotus and Xenophon.
8. Q. How did Herodotus obtain his information for writing his history? A. By visiting the countries about which he wrote.
9. Q. What romance did Xenophon write, founded on the history of Cyrus the Great? A. The “Cyropædia.”
10. Q. Why may we assume that much Xenophon says about Cyrus is fiction? A. His narrative was apparently written for the purpose of conveying lessons in philosophy, morals, and military science, rather than that of stating historical facts.
11. Q. As what kind of a person does he portray Cyrus? A. As a model hero.
12. Q. What six empires or countries are specially associated with the life of Cyrus? A. Media, Persia, Lydia, Babylon, Judah and Scythia.
13. Q. When was Cyrus born? A. About six hundred years before Christ—B. C. 599.
14. Q. At the time of his birth who was king of Media? A. Astyages.
15. Q. Who was the king of Persia at this time? A. Cambyses.
16. Q. Whom did Cambyses marry? A. Mandane, the daughter of Astyages.
17. Q. What son was born to them? A. Cyrus.
18. Q. By reason of his dreams what did Cambyses fear? A. That Cyrus would usurp him.
19. Q. To whom did he give orders to have Cyrus destroyed? A. To Harpagus, an officer of his court.
20. Q. To whom did Harpagus deliver the child Cyrus, with orders to have him left in the forest and destroyed? A. A herdsman, Mitridates.
21. Q. What did Spaco, the wife of Mitridates, persuade her husband to do? A. To substitute Cyrus for her own dead child, and to expose the latter in the forest.
22. Q. About what age was Cyrus when he was discovered by his grandfather and restored to his mother? A. About ten years of age.
23. Q. What revenge did Astyages take upon Harpagus for not carrying out his instructions to have Cyrus destroyed? A. He made a feast to which he invited Harpagus, and after giving him of the flesh of his own son to eat, displayed to him his mutilated remains.
24. Q. In what manner did Harpagus seek to revenge himself against Astyages? A. He plotted the overthrow of his government by fostering discontent at home, and inciting Cyrus to attempt the conquest of his grandfather’s kingdom.
25. Q. When Cyrus made the attempt what was the result? A. Astyages was defeated, and Cyrus was established on the throne of the united kingdom of Media and Persia.
26. Q. What prominent empire or kingdom existed in Asia Minor at the time of Cyrus, of which Crœsus was the king? A. Lydia.
27. Q. For what was Crœsus celebrated? A. For his great wealth.
28. Q. With whom did Crœsus ally himself and attempt the conquest of the Persian empire? A. With the Lacedæmonians.
29. Q. When the two armies met at Pteria, in the eastern part of Asia Minor, what was the result of the battle that ensued? A. The conflict was continued all day, and at night each army withdrew from the field.
30. Q. What did Crœsus do after the battle? A. Thinking Cyrus was repulsed he returned to Lydia for fresh recruits, dismissing his army on the way, intending to renew the invasion in the spring.
31. Q. What course did Cyrus pursue? A. He followed after Crœsus, and forced him to renew the contest under the walls of Sardis.
32. Q. What did Cyrus oppose to the cavalry of Crœsus? A. His transport camels.
33. Q. What was the result? A. The camels threw the cavalry into confusion, and Crœsus met with overwhelming defeat,which was soon followed by the capture of Sardis and the taking of the king prisoner.
34. Q. What great empire in Asia was yet unconquered by Cyrus? A. Babylon.
35. Q. What river flowed through the city of Babylon? A. The river Euphrates.
36. Q. Who was king of Babylon when Cyrus attempted its conquest? A. Belshazzar.
37. Q. In what manner did Cyrus capture the city? A. He turned the Euphrates from its course, and marching his army by the dry bed of the river under the walls, surprised Belshazzar at a feast, and gained full possession of the city.
38. Q. To whom does the Bible narrative attribute the taking possession of Babylon? A. To Darius the Mede.
39. Q. How can this apparent contradiction be explained? A. On the probable theory that Darius held the sovereignty as the viceroy of Cyrus.
40. Q. How has a recently discovered inscription confirmed the truth of the Scripture narrative that Belshazzar was the king of Babylon at the time of its capture, although authorities in secular history give the name of Nabonnedus as the king? A. By proving that Nabonnedus, during the last years of his reign, associated his son, Bil-shar-uzur—which name is shortened to Belshazzar—with himself in the government, and allowed him the royal title.
41. Q. At the time of the capture of Babylon who were in captivity there? A. The Jews.
42. Q. How many years after the captivity did the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem take place? A. Seventy years.
43. Q. One year after the taking of Babylon what proclamation did Cyrus issue? A. A proclamation allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild their city and the Temple.
44. Q. After the conquest of Babylon of how large a territory did Cyrus find himself the sovereign? A. Nearly all of then known Asia.
45. Q. About how many years had he been engaged in these conquests? A. About thirty years.
46. Q. What northern tribe did he now try to conquer? A. The Massagetæ, one of the Scythian nations.
47. Q. By whom were they governed? A. By a queen named Tomyris.
48. Q. What was the result of the expedition? A. The Persian army was almost wholly destroyed, and the body of Cyrus was found among the slain.
49. Q. Who succeeded Cyrus to the throne of the Persian empire? A. His son Cambyses.
50. Q. What difficulties are experienced in tracing the connection between the secular history of the Persian domination and the narrative of the same epoch as given in the Bible? A. The proper names used to designate the same person are different in the secular and in the sacred histories, and the best scholars are not agreed in identifying the two.
51. Q. In what year was Alexander the Great born? A. In the year 356 B. C.
52. Q. At what age did he commence, and at what age end his career? A. He commenced when about twenty years old, and died at thirty-two years of age.
53. Q. Where was his native country? A. On the confines of Europe and Asia.
54. Q. What were some of the characteristics of the Asiatic civilization? A. Wealth and luxury; vast cities and splendid palaces; and enormous armies, magnificently equipped.
55. Q. What were some of the characteristics of the European civilization? A. Energy, genius and force; strong citadels and military constructions; and compact bodies of troops, thoroughly disciplined.
56. Q. What were the names of Alexander’s father and mother? A. Philip and Olympias, the latter being the daughter of the king of Epirus.
57. Q. What great philosopher had charge of the education of Alexander? A. Aristotle.
58. Q. In what great battle did Alexander take part, when eighteen years of age? A. The battle of Chæronea.
59. Q. What befell Philip, the father of Alexander, at the celebration of the wedding of his daughter? A. As the military procession was moving toward the theater he was stabbed to the heart by Pausanias, an officer of the guard, and immediately expired.
60. Q. At the time of Philip’s death what great expedition had he been planning? A. An expedition into Asia.
61. Q. What did Alexander, as successor to Philip on the throne, determine as to this projected expedition? A. To carry it out as designed by his father.
62. Q. How large an army did he have when he at length marched into Asia? A. Thirty-five thousand men, five thousand being cavalry.
63. Q. At what place did Alexander first encounter the Persian army, and in how large force? A. At the river Granicus. The Persian force is stated to have been from two to six hundred thousand.
64. Q. What was the result of the battle? A. The army of Alexander crossed the Granicus in the face of the enemy, and entirely routed the Persian army.
65. Q. After marching further into Asia, who advanced to meet him? A. Darius, the king of Persia, with a vast army, equipped in great splendor.
66. Q. Where did the hostile armies meet, and how did the battle that ensued result? A. On the plains of Issus. The Persian army was defeated and routed, the king saving himself by precipitate flight.
67. Q. Where did Alexander meet his first obstruction in his march along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean? A. At the great and powerful city of Tyre.
68. Q. What followed the taking of Tyre by Alexander, after a long siege? A. The slaughter of the inhabitants, and it is said that Alexander crucified two thousand of them along the seashore.
69. Q. Into what country did Alexander soon after march, and what city did he there found? A. Into Egypt, and founded the city of Alexandria.
70. Q. After again returning to Asia, where did Alexander encounter the Persian army, and with what result? A. On the plain of Arbela, where fifty thousand men under Alexander defeated and routed the army of Darius of from five hundred thousand to a million men, leaving the bodies of three hundred thousand of the slain on the field.
71. Q. To what three cities did Alexander now march that surrendered on his approach? A. Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire.
72. Q. To what position did Alexander now find himself elevated, at the age of twenty-six? A. To the summit of his ambition. Darius was dead, and he was the undisputed master of western Asia.
73. Q. For the following two or three years where did Alexander continue his expeditions and conquests? A. In Asia, meeting with a great variety of adventures.
74. Q. After his return to Babylon from an expedition into India how did he spend his time? A. In forming vast plans one day, and utter abandonment to all the excesses of dissipation and vice the next.
75. Q. What was the immediate occasion of his death? A. A prolonged carousal was followed by a violent fever, which soon terminated fatally.
76. Q. What became of the empire of Alexander after his death? A. It was for many years subjected to protracted civil wars, which resulted in its separation into numerous small kingdoms.
77. Q. Of what is the most famous passage in the Sixth Book of the “Iliad” descriptive? A. The parting of Hector and Andromache, his wife, bringing with her their little child.
78. Q. Who among the Greeks takes the honors of the seventh book of the “Iliad?” A. Ajax.
79. Q. What constitutes a prominent feature in the eighth book of the “Iliad?” A. Another account of the Olympian gods in council.
80. Q. Technically described, what is Homer’s verse? A. Dactylic hexameter.
81. Q. What is a dactyl? A. A foot of three syllables, of which the first is long and the other two short.
82. Q. In dactylic hexameter how many of these feet are there in a line? A. Six.
83. Q. Name a classic English poem written in dactylic hexameter? A. Longfellow’s “Evangeline.”
84. Q. What does the “Odyssey” mean? A. The poem of Odysseus, or Ulysses, king of the island of Ithaca.
85. Q. When Troy was taken for what place did Odysseus and his followers sail? A. Ithaca.
86. Q. On their way, to what land were they driven? A. That of the Cyclops, a savage race of one-eyed giants.
87. Q. Here, what did Odysseus do to the Cyclop Polyphemus? A. He put out the one eye of the monster, after he had eaten six of the hero’s comrades.
88. Q. What did Poseidon, the god of the sea and father of Polyphemus, do in revenge? A. He doomed Odysseus to wander far and wide over the sea to strange lands.
89. Q. When the “Odyssey” begins, ten years after the fall of Troy, where is Odysseus? A. In the island of Ogygia, at the center of the sea, where for seven years the nymph Calypso has detained him against his will.
90. Q. Meanwhile, what has befallen Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, in Ithaca? A. She has been courted by more than a hundred suitors, lawless, violent men, who feast riotously in the house of Odysseus as if it were their own.
91. Q. When Odysseus at length gets permission to sail from Ogygia, and starts on a raft, what occurs to him? A. Poseidon wrecks his raft, and he is thrown upon the island of the Phæacians, a rich and happy people near to the gods.
92. Q. Upon being entertained by the king of the Phæacians, what are the subjects of some of the adventures he relates? A. The enchantress Circe, the sweet singing Sirens, and the passage between Scylla and Charybdis.
93. Q. After Odysseus is taken back to Ithaca by a Phæacian crew, what is the fate of the suitors of Penelope? A. They are all slain in the palace by Odysseus, assisted by his son Telemachus and two trusty servants.
94. Q. What are some of the most noted translations of the Odyssey? A. Chapman’s, Pope’s, Cowper’s, Worsley’s, and Bryant’s.
95. Q. What part of the adventures of Odysseus does our author first give in an extended quotation from Worsley’s translation of the “Odyssey?” A. His stay in the country of the Phæacians.
96. Q. What was the name of the king of the Phæacians, frequently referred to in poetry containing classical allusions? A. Alcinous.
97. Q. Of what is the next extended quotation descriptive that is given by our author from Worsley’s translation of the “Odyssey?” A. The slaughter of the suitors of Penelope by Odysseus and his son.
98. Q. Of what are the remaining quotations given descriptive? A. Odysseus making himself known to Penelope, his wife, and to Laertes, his father.
99. Q. Who now intervenes to avert further bloodshed? A. Athene.
100. Q. In what manner is this accomplished? A. She stays the hand of Ulysses, raised in fell self-defense against the avenging kindred of the suitors, and enjoins a solid peace between the two parties at feud.
101. Q. In this appearance what familiar form does the goddess Athene assume? A. That of Mentor, ancient friend of Ulysses.
BY PROF. R. S. HOLMES, A.M.
The Chautauqua University is empowered by its charter to grant the degrees ordinarily conferred by American colleges. The chief of these are Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Philosophy, and Civil Engineer, to be awarded to undergraduates at the completion of certain prescribed courses of study, as the seal of their work and the sign of their graduation. The degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy are the leading post-graduate degrees. The Chautauqua University proposes to use the power granted by its charter whenever the occasion may demand. It believes that good and thorough study may be done at home; that good and thorough instruction may be imparted by correspondence; and when good home study and good instruction by correspondence are united, it believes that as good and thorough education will result as results from resident college training, and such education it proposes to recognize and crown.
The Chautauqua University does not contemplate the bestowal of degrees upon groups, or ranks, or classes of individuals who may for certain periods of time have been associated in the same studies and the same courses. It is the individual student, as an individual, who will receive the Chautauqua degree, and not he, until after tests severer than are required of students in the average college, and after more years than college students think they can spare from practical life. The student of the Chautauqua University is in practical life when he becomes a student, and remains in practical life while he is a student, consecrating to self culture those spare hours which his neighbor, who has graduated long ago, spends in idleness or in restless quest of amusement.
The Chautauqua University does not design to lower the standard of attainment essential to a degree. This does not mean cheap diplomas for the masses—it means education for those who have stood outside the gates of opportunity; it means lofty purpose, noble aim, self-sacrificing consecration to culture of mature hours and rigid discipline whose end is power. This institution opens no door to the multitudes of youth annually leaving our high schools, through which they can pass along some royal road to enter the portals and sit down in the palace of culture. To all of this class who can, it says go to college; climb the heights of Olympus; sit on the hill of Helicon; drink at the Pierian spring; walk in the groves of the academy; seek with Crito to catch Socrates as he passes out of his prison; put on the buskin; wear the laurel. For you we have nothing. But for the great majority of those who, year by year are passing from school into the practical avenues of life, the multitude who can not go to college, we rear an altar by the fireside, on which we kindle the fires of truth, by whose light they shall see clearly to read the mysteries of that world of knowledge into which their more fortunate companions have gone; and when the years havepassed, years of patient toil, of earnest endeavor, of unswerving purpose, of daily sacrifice upon those altars of spare moments of time, they, too, shall wear the laurel.
The Chautauqua University has no purpose of swelling Chautauqua ranks at the expense of established resident institutions. It offers no allurement to turn young men or young women away from college. It seeks to foster the college spirit, to create a desire for intimate knowledge of the liberal arts. It would see college graduates numbered not by tens, but by hundreds. It holds high the banner of college education. On it are inscribed the immortal names of Edwards, Hopkins, Woolsey, Dwight, and the long illustrious list of those who have made illustrious the institutions with which they were connected. It bids the young men of the nation to range themselves beneath their standard,if they can. But for those who can not, the young, gifted, anxious, who are longing to stand beside their former companions, but can not; for those also who could not, the mature, with vigorous powers, who by earnest labor and economic care have escaped the environments of early days, and are able now to give a leisure hour to study; for those, too, who would not, and who to-day regret and would atone for the mistake of by-gone days; for all these we raise the standard of the Chautauqua University, and bid them range themselves beneath it.Tandem fit surculus arbor—“The sapling has at last become a tree.”
But while Chautauqua takes this last step upward she forgets and abandons nothing of her past. The Assembly, with its years of wonderful influence, goes on to widen that influence. Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, serving a purpose of wide usefulness goes on to enlarge that usefulness with ever increasing numbers. The methods which have made her past so successful and memorable will characterize her future. The annual pilgrimage of tens of thousands to the shores of the beautiful lake will continue. Sermon and lecture, discussion and conversation, representations of the treasures of art, and the wonders of science, study and recreation, pathos and zest will still instruct, delight, arouse and rest her summer multitudes. But all this does not complete Chautauqua’s work for the world. There is a higher summit to be reached, and on its crest is reared the University, and only accurate learning and close scholarship can speak the open sesame that will give entrance to her inmost shrines.
It has been the burden of this article to impress our readers with the idea that diplomas in the Chautauqua University can not be had on call, but will be awarded only to high attainment after strenuous toil. But while we would speak on this subject in language that shall not be misunderstood, we would not go to the other extreme, and deter any from entering upon the work. Though our standards are high, they are not too high to be reached. Art may be long, and time fleeting; but art is not too long and time is not too fleeting to allow an earnest man or woman within their time to measure the length and breadth of the treasures art may hold.
The Chautauqua University appeals to a mighty constituency. There are a hundred thousand readers who, glancing over the columns of their daily or weekly paper, will stop to read with attentive interest the article or item which contains the word “Chautauqua.” The circle into which their lines of influence radiate is almost without circumference. That appeal has been answered. From this constituency, within the month just ending, hundreds of inquiries, prompted by the article in the October issue ofThe Chautauquan, have reached the University office. They come from the farthest eastward province of the Dominion of Canada, and from the remotest southern and western states of the American Union. Chief among the inquiries has been one concerning the courses of study to be pursued for the attainment of specific degrees, prompted, no doubt, by the following paragraph from our preliminary circular:
Among the degrees to be conferred by the Chautauqua University on the satisfactory completion by the candidate of prescribed courses, are the following:
A. B.—A Full Academic Course.
A. M.—A Post-Graduate Course in approved liberal studies.
B. S.—An Elective Course in Science, Art, and English.
Ph. B.—An Elective Academic Course.
Ph. D.—A Post-Graduate Course in Philosophy, and one or more other liberal studies.
In pursuance of our purpose to show how much we shall require, and still that such requirement may be met by him who will, and to answer the inquiries on the subject, we add our proposed course of study for the diploma and degree of Bachelor of Arts. This is not sent out as final, or as not subject to modification. It is, however, substantially the basis of all work in the Chautauqua University, and is as follows:
The completion of the following courses of study, and the possession of certificates from the directors of the various departments which these courses represent, will be required before the student will be recommended for the degree of Bachelor of Arts: Two full courses in Greek; three full courses in Latin; four full courses in Mathematics; two full courses in French or German; three full courses in English; two full courses in History; one full course each in Philosophy, Political Economy, Physics, Chemistry, Moral Philosophy, Astronomy, the History and Literature of Art, and two full courses in Biological Science. The student will not be required to pursue these courses exactly as prescribed, as wide opportunity will be given the individual to substitute other branches than those named, or more courses in particular departments than are here specified, as he may elect. But in every case full courses equal in number to those specified will be required. For the other degrees the scheme of study now pursued will form the basis, such omission and substitution being made as are suited to the particular degree; but in no case will a diploma be given for less than twenty-two full courses. With this outline of work before them, students will be able to begin at once without further inquiry. Select the courses which you will first attempt; and with purpose never to cease your effort till success has crowned it, we bid you enter the Chautauqua University.
We are often slow to believe that our pet institutions have points of attack. We become so enamored with their merits that we close our eyes to their dangers. Particularly is this true, we fear, in regard to the local circle. Its members rejoice so heartily in its existence that they are prone at times to forget that even a local circle is heir to the frailty of all human institutions, and that it may be threatened by dangers which, unless arrested, will destroy its usefulness. One danger at a time is sufficient to consider; certainly so when so serious a one as narrowness is announced.
The whole plan of the C. L. S. C. is broad—it is literally forallmen. Any department of the work which is conducted on any other principle fails to discharge its full allegiance. We fear that the local circle is in danger of losing sight of this great principle. Most natural is it for circles to so limit themselves. When a club of ten, twenty or thirty congenial members has been formed, when a pleasant plan of work has been adopted andthoroughly organized, it is comfortable and natural to decide that the circle is large enough; that a larger number would spoil the informality, would bring in an uncongenial element, would be unmanageable. The growth of the circle is stopped in the community, and the harm done is threefold. Probably the most serious evil is that the exclusiveness of the circle has abridged the usefulness of the C. L. S. C. Intended for all men who need a course of reading it naturally asks from its members fidelity to this underlying catholicity of spirit. The original plan of its founder did not include the local circle. His idea was to ask from every reader faithfulness to the broad and inspiring principle on which he had based the plan. Every member was to lead others to the well. The local circle has grown up and is undoubtedly a wonderful help in many ways, but it is in danger of keeping the C. L. S. C. from the very people who need it most. A circle once formed, and which has closed its doors to all outsiders, naturally spreads the idea that the C. L. S. C. is a sort of a private club, that only certain kinds of people are admitted, or it is suitable for only such and such people. Utterly false and harmful in the extreme to the work, it is but a logical result from this exclusiveness.
An injury almost as deplorable is the encouragement this limitation gives to the widespread social evil of “sets.” “Our set” is the bane of church union; it breaks up the harmony of Sabbath-schools; it divides our towns into a vast number of petty, jealous cliques. This spirit is contrary to the fundamental principles of our work, yet we encourage, rather than hinder it by narrowing our borders in the local circle.
Unless we do open our lines we suffer, ourselves. We lose the greatest aid which the C. L. S. C. has to offer—the inspiration which comes from working for a good cause. Sustained zeal is possible only when fed by unselfishness. Work becomes nerveless, narrow, crotchety, which has not the inspiration of being not only a help to oneself, but a help to others. To omit this labor for others is to leave out a most important part of the course.
But perhaps, it is argued, this is not practical. We have a habit, now-a-days, of declaring “not practical” a great many ideas whose utility is evident, but whose realization is attended with self-denial and constant effort. Do not be deceived.Allgood things are practical, if not always easy. Catholicity in the C. L. S. C. most certainly is so. Have you a large circle and do you hesitate before extending its boundaries, then you should form a second circle. Through the efforts of your members not only one but any number might be started, until there would not be a house in your town in which the C. L. S. C., if not a member, at least would be an acquaintance. These could meet separately each week, but monthly meetings, memorial celebrations and vesper services should beheld jointly. In every city where local circles exist, at least three joint meetings should occur in the year. Each society should be represented at these meetings, and provision should be made for social converse. This plan, so easily arranged, has been successfully tried in many places. It does not hinder the great work of a small circle, and removes the danger of narrowness. It may cost you self-denial and struggle, but the broader view of your true relations to men which you will get, the inspiration of seeing the work extended, and the increased friendliness in the inhabitants of your town will more than compensate.
Under the wholesome rule of the constitution, by which power regularly returns to the people for a new lease of it, we have just chosen a President of the United States. It is wise to remember the things which werenotbefore the people for their decision. There is, for example, the constitution under which we live with its securities for all well-defined rights under a judiciary made as independent as possible. There is also that system of local self-government vesting in states, cities, counties and towns, the control of business which is exclusively their own. There is the general policy of leaving the people to transact private business for themselves and relieving them of infantile dependence on the government. What a contrast to that Roman empire which gavepanem et circensesto the people and reduced the popular conception of government to that of a good fairy who furnished food and amusement—ran the bakeries and the theaters! But on the other hand, we may as wisely remember that a campaign may have fateful bearings on our dearest interests; highest moralities and most revered sanctities. It is conceivable that the result of an election might be the admission of polygamous Utah as a state, and the consecration of plural marriage as one of the allowable and honored modes of founding the American family. It is also conceivable that as the result of an election the laboring classes might be reduced to distress, and all of us along with them, by the establishment of free competition between our workmen and the men in blouses, and the women in wooden shoes, on the other side of the ocean. It is possible, too, that a new interpretation of the constitution which would seriously impair private rights might grow from the results of an election. Nor can we forget that thespiritof our public life is powerfully affected by the discussions and the management of political campaigns. The profuse spending of money to influence votes, the recklessness which breaks out in ballot-box stuffing and counting-out frauds is more dangerous than any proposition to alter the constitution; for it does alter it and sells out the governing of us to unscrupulous managers.
And therefore it is a happy result of our political system as our fathers gave it to us, that the people interest themselves in elections, discourage great changes in our laws, impose a conservative policy upon parties, demand respect for the sanctities of the family and of society, and frown upon corrupt practices in handling the national ballot-boxes or influencing the nation’s voters by bribes and unlawful promises.
We have for the twenty-fifth time chosen a President. The office has grown in its burdens, but it has not grown in its constitutional powers. For ten years there was a great danger that its wholesome powers would be seriously reduced by the so-called “courtesy of the Senate,” according to which the President became the clerk of the Senators for Federal appointments in each state. But since the pistol shot which killed President Garfield was fired, the so-called “courtesy” has ceased to be named except for condemnation; and the President retains the power Washington had to nominate office-holders in the several states. Probably there has never been a time when the highest office was more carefully and exactly defined by practice in harmony with the constitution. The President does not dictate to Congress, force nominations through the Senate, or interfere with the independence of the Federal courts. On the other hand one may search the newspapers in vain for a trace of distrust or criticism in any of these vital concernments. After the war there was a period during which the constitution underwent severe strain at several points. The criticisms of the times of Johnson and Grant turned mostly upon constitutional questions. The conflicts of politics bore upon that class of differences. To many it seemed doubtful whether our institutions could survive these struggles. Providence has been good to us; we have been good to ourselves and our children. The storms are overpast. The constitution exists unimpaired; it is universally accepted as the fundamental law. There has not been a breath of discussion about it in the late campaign. It is many quadrenniums since the like occurred; indeed we doubt if there ever was any such campaign in this respect. Here and there a man may be found to explain our peace as ignorant indifference; but he is profoundly wrong. The separate powers of the government are well defined, and the independence of each in its own domain is preserved. The single new machine—national supervision of congressional elections through U. S. Marshals—hadin it great possibilities of danger. It might have been so handled as to vest the power to hold the ballot-boxes in the President’s hands; but it has simply created salutary checks on frauds. Here and there an isolated case of improper interference may reach the record; but there is no fear abroad that our chief magistrate abuses his powers. The errors when they occur are only the blunders of individual officers, not an organized invasion of the people’s rights. So little has been said about this piece of machinery recently, that we half fear that some readers have forgotten or never heard of the Federal election laws. The sum of what we would say is that the late election marks the subsidence of those waves of constitutional disorder or conflict which had run high from the beginning of the war to the death of President Garfield. We have evidently entered upon a new field of partisan controversy; and no constitutional questions, only questions of expediency, are before us or are likely to be. The industrial problems as related to tariff questions, perhaps also some others, such as the expediency of National savings banks and life insurance bureaus for the poor, are likely to lead the political thought into channels which were never before open to it in the line of humanitarianism and the general welfare. In becoming a manufacturing nation we have traveled to new political outlooks. We have to adjust ourselves to the results of our tariff laws, whether or not we like either the laws or its results. The results are some millions of men and women earning wages in mills, whose fate and that of their children is in our hands. We shall be tempted to follies of protection as well as follies of free trade; to follies of philanthropy as well as follies of indifference and neglect. To thoughtful men the path to safety may well seem as narrow as the edge of that scimetar along which the Moslem saint skated into Paradise. Let us hope that the conservative genius of our people will not fail in these new fields of political activity; and that the buoyant hope of this growing people may continue to lift us out of the dangers of the failure of self-confidence. It is our happiness that we feel able to govern ourselves, equal to our problems, superior to our perils. If it should ever come to pass that the mass of our citizens lost the self-assurance for which foreigners sometimes unwisely rebuke them, they would begin to transfer the government to oligarchies, aristocracies, or “the man on horseback.” The campaign has had many unpleasant incidents—political mills can not be clean and quiet any more than other mills can—but a judicious observer will have noted with satisfaction that the plain men have everywhere felt equal to forming their own judgments about grave matters concerning which the so-called wise have differed most energetically. And inasmuch as the wise could not agree, it is safe to say that the wayfaring men have displayed as much sense as “their betters,” and more courage and consistency. We have been impressed by the experience of the campaign with the belief that the average American, who knows neither Latin nor science, does understand his principal business—that of governing this country.
The lectures of Principal A. M. Fairbairn, of England, on the Chautauqua platform last summer, were a valuable contribution to contemporary philosophy. Their subject is Modern Philosophy in its specifically English form. Starting with Locke, and passing along through the ideas of Berkeley, Hume, the Mills, Comte, and Herbert Spenser, the learned and brilliant lecturer gave us a history of modern speculation respecting the problem, “How is knowledge possible? What are its conditions? How does man come by it?” We have lately read over again these lectures in the careful reports made for theAssembly Herald; and we believe we shall render our readers a service by calling their attention to the importance of them and reminding those who have not files of them that they are on sale at this office. There is a very remarkable unity in the empirical philosophy which is associated with the names we have just given, and this unity was developed with rare skill by Principal Fairbairn. John Locke, the English founder of the school, formulated and determined the problem of philosophy for the English and the French peoples; and though each of them was original after his kind, Berkeley, Hume, the Mills, Comte and Herbert Spenser have worked upon lines which Locke laid down. Locke asked himself, how do ideas come into the mind? and answered his question by saying, there are no ideas in the mind until the senses have conveyed them in. In other terms, he undertook to disperse as a metaphysical mist the “innate ideas” in which philosophy believed when he began to write. In varying forms, the notion that there is nothing in the mind except what the senses have put there remains the creed of the empirical philosophy. The criticism of Principal Fairbairn upon the successive statements of the doctrine that the outer world is prior, and creates the inner world, is very keen and accurate. Locke was fond of saying that the mind was like a clean table, to which the senses brought ideas. Our critic asks: “Did you ever find a table that could grasp the significance of what was graved on it?” and adds, “It is the power to read the writing and weave it into a connected and reasonable and rational whole, which is the very thing to be explained. It is not how nature through the senses comes to me, but how I through the senses read nature.” And one of his strong and luminous statements is, that “Ideas can not get into the mind unless there is a mind to get into.”
The purpose of the critic throughout these lectures was to establish the priority of thought by disposing one by one of the various attempts to post-fix mind to matter. The attempts successively made to attach mind, ideas, thought, conscience, and philosophy to the tail of the material kite, all tended, of course, to skepticism. As a theologian Dr. Fairbairn was instinctively drawn to the task of reversing this order so as to attach matter as a tail to the kite of the spiritual world. No matter how plausibly stated, the theory that our knowledge and our minds are a result of material energy reduces any possible God to the status of a product of nature. If in reasoning about ourselves we shall finally conclude that our inner totality is simply and only a product of the external world, we shall be forced to conclude that all thought in the universe is of like origin. The skeptical result is inevitable. Whatever view we take of substance in nature we are compelled to decide whether or not it is so moulded as to express the thoughts of an infinite God. If we so believe we shall find it easy to explain how thought in us finds a cosmos in nature. If the infinite mind reveals his thought in the order and harmony of the external world, the fact easily explains why wefindorder and harmony there. It is not necessary to reduce the external world to a phantasmagoria of the mind in order to vindicate a place for God. Rather the most subtle and dangerous of skepticisms may lie in the teaching that innate ideas construct the harmonies of nature. Berkeley said we are reading God’s thoughts in the visible world; and hegelianism, to which Principal Fairbairn evidently leans, dispenses with matter while filling the universe with thought. It is equally easy to give matter reality as a plastic thing on which God writes his thoughts so that we may read them. This question of the reality of substance may very properly be the next one to command the attention of philosophy. But it must be remembered that the science which resolves matter into motion and force conspires with the philosophy which makes matter merely the expression of divine ideas.
But we do not wish to make our readers heads ache with philosophy; only to suggest to those who are interested in it that these lectures will afford them valuable instruction. At their close on the Chautauqua platform, Chancellor Vincent expressed in happy terms the admiration of thousands who heard these lectures for their vigor and eloquence. He said: “Principal Fairbairn, in behalf of Chautauqua I desire to saya very few words. We are glad that you came. We are sorry that you must go. You have commanded our admiration by the elegance, clearness and force of your diction, but preëminently by the vigor and freshness of your thought. You stand before us a great ‘phenomenon.’ [Applause.] For we have been accustomed to vigorous thought read from manuscript, we have been accustomed to vigorous thought put into memory and recited with accuracy, but this living, present, compact, vigorous thinking on one’s feet, that has held us spell-bound, is a very remarkable occurrence at Chautauqua.” [Applause.]
The saying “politics makes strange bed-fellows,” never had a more dramatic exhibition than in the case of Henry Ward Beecher. In the late campaign, he was violently handled by the only paper in New York which supported and defended him in his trial; and he has been on the same side with the papers which at that time most infamously abused him. The press is also fairly representative of the public around him; his life-long friends have now been opposed to him; and one friend of other years has been branded by him as “a continental liar,” whatever that may be. “It is,” say his present friends, “the fate of a prophet.” His older friends say “he is growing old.”
In England, in one county, 30,000 acres of good land are tenantless because the laborers and farmers have gone to manufacturing towns. To cure this evil Lady Catherine Gaskell wants to put a stop to educating the poor. She is a picturesque reformer who may be safely classed with the Roman pontiff. She would forbid the humble classes to wear clothes such as other people wear, send them to the fields at three o’clock in the morning, and keep them with the cattle. The dear soul is probably mad, at least “south by southwest.”
It is said that the Jesuits are creeping back into Rome and buying property in the names of private persons. The Pope is very busy and hopeful in his work of strengthening the church. One aspect of this matter of the Papacy and its Jesuit agents, is too much overlooked. Italy can not successfully fight either the Papacy or Jesuitorywith atheism. So long as the Catholics have the religion of the country they will actually rule it, whatever may be the form of government. A dreadfully perverted Christianity is still a positive force, advancing and aggressive. Atheism is not a force; it is a barren negation. A Protestant Italy is the want of liberty in that peninsula.
Wm. H. Vanderbilt has given $500,000 to the New York City College of Physicians and Surgeons. The gift is wise and generous, and it breaks a disagreeable silence. It is only by such gifts that very rich men can satisfy our moral sense. The vast wealth can be justified only as a stewardship for one’s fellow men; and we want to see the proofs that the stewardship is righteously exercised.
A Chinese pamphlet, instigated by the French invasion, and designed to inflame the passion of the celestials, says that Europeans are not human beings at all, but wild animals descended from monkeys. We fear that an imperfect copy of Darwin has fallen into the hands of this pamphleteer; but he gives us a chance to see ourselves as others see us.
October is the month of political parades in the political almanac. This year the display at some points was magnificent. Broadway, New York, with from thirty to sixty thousand men in line, in the picturesque costumes of contemporary politics, is the most imposing sight in the world. And our sober-sided people seem to like and enjoy this single form of public theatrical effects.
Now and then a good man is plentifully advertised as “a man with a conscience.” Would it not be easier and more wholesome to morals to confine this kind of advertising to the men who are without consciences? The men who have consciences must be very numerous.
The appointment of the Hon. Hugh McCullough as Secretary of the Treasury reminds us, not only that President Lincoln nominated him to the same office, but also that he returns to the most arduous office in the United States at the age of seventy-three. His health is perfect, and he has the vigor of middle age. The old men are holding out in American public life about as well as they do in English politics.
Mr. Wm. J. Stillman, an American artist and writer who has lived abroad for twenty-five years, makes a practical suggestion which all who have crossed the Atlantic just once will appreciate. He proposes that the eating on ocean steamers be done on the restaurant principle, each passenger paying for what he eats, at fixed prices. If the plan is adopted, it will considerably reduce the cost of that trip to Europe of which most of our readers are dreaming. Eating and a first voyage are antipathetic.
It is a very amusing thing (to us Americans) which Professor Goldwin Smith says in a recent number of theContemporary Review, that the organization of a government in England can not be long delayed. The fictitious constitution has broken down, he thinks, and a real one (somewhat like ours, but better) must be made for modern England. But the Professor always was hysterical.
The result of the French war in China is still in doubt. Three months ago the French papers were writing about their great victory and proposing that their Tonquin army conquer the Christian queen of Madagascar. Now the latest public statement is that the army in Tonquin is sufficient fordefensiveoperations. There is a gradual growth of manifestations of hostility by the Chinese against all foreigners, and an outbreak ispossiblewhich might arm the Christian world against China; but that seems to be the only door of escape for the French from a long and costly war.
The desperate condition of railroad property has been made more desperate by a rate-cutting war. There are more roads than are needed, and this state of things reduces the fares and freights to be divided among an increased number. The result is a still further reduction by reduced fares of passengers. The problem of this class of property is a difficult one; and it is a large one and closely related to the general prosperity. A first step would seem to be getting speculators out of the directorates.
The Northern Pacific Railroad recently transported a solid wheat train containing one hundred and ten cars. Ten years ago the whole region in which this wheat grew was a wilderness. But the farthest great wheat field has now been opened to culture. Wheat will not always be cheap, though it need not be scarce. With the rise in price will come a vast increase of production in the older states.
We are entertained by the solemn pleadings of certain journals that boys be allowed to take exercise, that the schools be restrained from spoiling their bodies while cultivating their minds. Any one who knows a boy when he sees one must “laugh consumedly” over this reform. Teachers will find special and boundless amusement in the idea that a boy can be kept from abundant and even violent exercise.
An interesting side-light on our civilization is the fact that some of the Sitting Bull Indians have been exhibiting themselves and their costumes and customs in a New York theater—“to make money to build houses and buy furniture,” the manager says. This is more heroic than taking scalps for glory.
Once when the superior generalship of General Lee was explained to General Grant, he replied with his usual modesty of tone: “I believe I beat Lee.” We are reminded of the incident by an elaborate explanation that England had all the points of success in her favor, and had them all properly counted in our two wars with her. And yet—we seem to have heard that—we came out ahead. These metaphysical victories are not very satisfactory. Artemas Ward said: “I pulled my enemy down on top of me and firmly inserted my nose between his teeth.” Still, his nose got the worst of it.
The humors of campaign politics are often good enough to keep. After the October election in Ohio a Republican paper said: “John R. McLean, the Democratic manager, married a wife a few days before the election, and after the state was lost to his party, wasthe only happy Democrat in Ohio.” We hope Mrs. McLean saw the neat compliment to herself.
Farmers are peaceable people, and yet the lawyers would starve to death if farmers did not furnish them lawsuits. A movement is on foot in New York state to settle farmers’ differences by arbitration. The Patrons of Husbandry recommend this method, and there is some prospect of its adoption on a considerable scale. We commend the plain common sense of it to our agricultural readers.
King Humbert distinguished the throne of Italy by visiting the plagued cities and following the cholera into hospitals. The Pope, as the pretender to the temporal throne of Rome, had to demonstrate also. He has called for an organized assault by prayer on the heart of the Virgin Mary. It is easier than visiting plague-infested towns, and safer. But the Pope proposes to pay those who pray. All who take part in the “rosary prayer” will get absolution for seven years—not from cholera, but from their sins.
How many people will be in the world in 2000 A. D.? is one of the questions pressing for settlement in the heads of statisticians. It is comforting to know that these interesting and romantic persons assure us that the United States will have six hundred millions, if nothing in the nature of a preventing Providence intervenes. It is a comfort to know that the jury have no personal interest in this verdict in our favor.
This country will have to make some laws on the subject of timber. The big forests are rapidly becoming only memories. We make some kinds of lumber from straw, and iron has taken the place of other kinds. But the woods have climatic uses, and a treeless land is exposed to evils more costly than the value of the timber we are wasting. The annual floods are one item of the cost of destroying trees; changes of climate, which can hardly be measured, are another item but little thought of. The trees are a part of natural economy of the earth.
Public debts are made with far too much carelessness; but people who wish to evade taxes so arising, repudiateen masse; and hence comes the interesting question: “Are we a nation of rascals?” If one judges by the number of worthless (or little worth) bonds of all sorts which are in existence, wearea nation of rascals. There must, in other words, be some rascally element in the national character, or all these promises to pay would not be dishonored. The genesis of the good-for-nothing bonds ought to be written philosophically; that may be a necessary preface to writing it with a moral purpose.