Dear XⒶemendation. I have sent you a new cipher by the usual conveyance. There is danger in clinging long to one form of a cipher in times like ours.Ⓐalteration in the MS

You have made a mistake. The tenth word in my ninth paragraph was not 888, but 889, hence your confusion of mind. You perceive now, that I said “arbitrary,” not “independent.” Read it with this new light and you will see that I have not “contradicted” myself.

Warn your friend that he is getting Christian Science history mixed up with history. There is aⒶalteration in the MS difference between the two. If you are sure he is a safe person and not in the clandestine service of the Holy Office, you may whisper to him certain of the facts—but on your life put nothing on paper! Tell him these:

The so-called “Fourth Person of the Godhead and Second Person in RankⒶalteration in the MS—Our Mother,”—was born a thousand and oddⒶalteration in the MS years ago, not twelve hundred, as claimed in the BullⒶalteration in the MS Jubus Jorum Acquilorum. There is (forbidden) documentary evidence of this. To-witⒶemendation: in a paper by one Mark Twain, (A.D. 1898 = A.M. 30)Ⓐalteration in the MS a revered priest of the

——

* Equivalent to A.D. 2901. Note by translator.

earlier faith, sometime Bishop of New Jersey, hanged in A.D. 1912 = A.M. 47.Ⓐalteration in the MS Also in the Introduction to the first edition (A.D. 1865 = A.M. 1)Ⓐalteration in the MS of Science and Health.Ⓐalteration in the MS Although the sole remaining copy of this Bible is locked behind heavy iron gratings in the Vatican at Eddyflats, (anciently called Boston,)Ⓐalteration in the MS with a perpetual lamp burning before it and has been under the guard, both night and day, of fifty papal soldiers for manyⒶalteration in the MS centuries and none allowed to touch it, not even the Pope, it has been examined within this present decade, and by a heretic, who carried awayⒶalteration in the MS that Introduction in his memory and delivered it to three other heretics, one of whom I know and have conversed with; and I assure you that the contents are as I have indicated. Do you remember the burning of one F. Hopkinson Smith, a philologistⒶalteration in the MS, two or three years ago on suspicion of having a familiar? That was the charge the Holy Office chose to bring against him, but it was false. He was the man who stole the secrets of the Introduction, and the Church pleases itself with the belief that it consumed the secrets with him. Let the Church go on thinking so, if it likes.

The BullⒶalteration in the MS Jubus Jorum Acquilorum to the contrary notwithstanding, Our MotherⒶalteration in the MS was born in the usual and natural wayⒶalteration in the MS. There is in safe hidingⒶalteration in the MS an ancient paperⒶalteration in the MS which clearly reveals to usⒶalteration in the MS that the statue of the Immaculate Conception which was dug up at Eddyburg,Ⓐalteration in the MS (where Rome once stood,)Ⓐemendation Ⓐalteration in the MS was not cast in honor of Her, but antedates HerⒶalteration in the MS. That paper is a chapter of travel. It was written in the declining days of the Ages of LightⒶalteration in the MS by one Uncle Remus, celebrated as a daringⒶalteration in the MS voyager and explorer in his time. He was with Columbus in the May-flower and assisted him in discovering America and Livingston. Livingston was an island. It is not now known where it was situated, nor what became of it. Since it was not worth keeping track of, the most intelligent historians think it was one of the Filopines.

The Bull Jubus Ⓐalteration in the MS to the contrary notwithstanding, the Popes do not wear female apparel solely in honor of Our Mother the first Pope; they do not call themselves “SheⒶalteration in the MS” solely in honor of Her; they do not bear Her name and no other solely in honor of Her. These are all falsehoods and evasions. A thoughtful and unprejudiced reading of section 3 of the “Final Revelation for the Government of My Church” will prove this. For instance, examine two or three of the commands, and consider how very suggestive they are:

a. “EveryⒶalteration in the MS Pope, immediately after her election, shall be consecrated with My NameⒶalteration in the MS and shall bear no other afterward.”

b. “She shall be distinguished from the others her predecessors and successors by a number solely, and in no other way. As thus: Her Divine Grace Pope Mary Baker G. Eddy II; Her Divine Grace Pope Mary Baker G. Eddy III;Ⓐemendation HerⒶalteration in the MS Divine Grace Pope Mary Baker G. Eddy IV, etc.; to the end that My NameⒶalteration in the MS and the worship of It shall abide in the earth until the Last DayⒶalteration in the MS.”

c. “She shall not depart fromⒶalteration in the MS the fashion of My garments while the centuries shall endure.”

Are not those laws plain enough? Do they not mean that She never had in HerⒶemendation mind any but a female Pope? Do not they mean that She was deliberately and purposely closing the augustⒶalteration in the MS function against the other sex in perpetuity? NoneⒶalteration in the MS can doubt it. How did the ancients understand those laws? I think that this question is convincingly answered in the fact that not a single male Pope was elected to the Christian ScienceⒶalteration in the MS Throne during the first two centuries Anno MatrisⒶtextual note.Ⓐemendation Ⓐalteration in the MS

Was not the change to male Popes an evasion? Was it not a usurpation? I think so. IndeedⒶalteration in the MS I know it was so regarded at the time. Do you know that the so-called Conquest of the Roman Catholic Church was not a conquest at all but a pure matter of trade? That isⒶalteration in the MS what it was—that andⒶalteration in the MS nothing more. The secret history of it is quite simple and business-like. Deadly, too; do not be indiscreet with it. The last female Christian ScienceⒶalteration in the MS Pope that ever reigned was Her Divine Grace Pope Mary Baker G. Eddy XXIV (A.M.Ⓐalteration in the MS 219–226). Her contemporary of Rome,Ⓐalteration in the MS His Holiness PiusⒶalteration in the MS XII, was the last Pope that ever reigned over the RomanⒶalteration in the MS Church. Throughout the world, with the exception of the Roman Catholic power, Christian Science had abolished Christianity. That is, by substituting itself for it. The Roman power was failing—Rome had to perish.Ⓐalteration in the MS This was plain. Her chiefs were as they had always been—bold and brilliant—and they set themselves the task of trading off their diminished powers atⒶalteration in the MS an inflated figure. With a strong Pope on the Science Throne they would have gotten nothing at all for them—which would be just their value after no very long time,—Ⓐalteration in the MSand the Scientists were in a safe position to tranquilly wait and assuredly win.Ⓐalteration in the MS But Mary Baker G. XXIV was a weak woman and over-anxiousⒶalteration in the MS to end the wearisome rivalry of the two Churches,Ⓐalteration in the MS therefore [begin page 321] she favored a merger. HerⒶalteration in the MS hierarchy were bitterly opposed to this, and fought it the best they could; but what could they do? Really nothing. They could advise and implore; sheⒶalteration in the MS could command Ⓐalteration in the MS. Her authority was from heaven; and had no limits. She alone, of all the world, possessed the divine prerogative of “demonstrating over” things. When she had demonstrated over a thing, heaven had spoken, and that settled it. She listened to the proposition of the other Pope's envoys. She retired to her sanctum sanctorum, and there in sacred privacy she demonstrated over it, assisting herself with the consecrated formula, “Liver, Lights, Blood, Bones—Ⓐalteration in the MSGood, All-Good, Too-Good—Mortal Mind, Immortal Mind, Syrup, Sawdust, Keno—ante and pass the Buck!”—and then she saw how it all was, and what was heaven's will concerning the Trade. She returned to the Hall of Audience and accepted the offeredⒶalteration in the MS terms of half-and-half;Ⓐalteration in the MS whereat the envoys smiled up their sleeves and were glad, for they were expecting her to pare their share down to as much as a shade or two below its immediate value, say twenty per cent of the whole.Ⓐalteration in the MS

By those strange terms the two Papacies were to consolidate their propertiesⒶalteration in the MS and powers; until the death of one of the Popes, both should reign; after that, the survivor should reign alone until death; after that, there should be but one Pope thenceforth.

Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy XXIV died first; it had been supposed she would. Then Pius XII relinquished his title, abolishedⒶalteration in the MS his Papacy and his Church, put on the late Pope's clothes,Ⓐalteration in the MS and became MistressⒶalteration in the MS of the World and of Christian Sciencedom, under the nameⒶalteration in the MS and style of Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy XXV, and went to demonstrating over things like an Old Hand. She (that is, he)Ⓐalteration in the MS was English, and in hisⒶalteration in the MS boyhood her name was Thomas Atkins.Ⓐalteration in the MS

She (that is, he) reigned sixteen years; and when she died she left the cards most competently stacked, and secure in the hands of such as knew the Game. It is eight hundredⒶalteration in the MS years ago, or nearly that at any rate, and sinceⒶalteration in the MS that dayⒶalteration in the MS Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy, Pope, has reigned 103 times, but has never been a woman in a single instance—nor a Christian.Ⓐalteration in the MS

That is the secret history of the “Conquest” you hear so much about, and it is authentic.Ⓐalteration in the MS

Another Private Letter

Write a history? A private one, for you and your friend? You mean a real history, of course? not the ruck of pious romances which the Government calls history and compels the nations to buy—every family a set, along with Science and Health, at a price so exorbitant that in a multitude of cases it costs a man of slender resources a year's earnings to meet the tax. I shall be glad to do it, and will set about it this day or at furthest to-morrow; for in my clandestine trade of antiquary and student of history I am like an artist who paints beautiful pictures and hungers for the happiness of showing them, but lives among the blind. I will show my pictures to you. It will refresh my life and fill it with satisfactions. There is peril in it, but even in that there should be and must be an element of pleasure. I will protect myself the best I can; and you also, at the same time. There is more or lessⒶalteration in the MS dangerⒶalteration in the MS in a cipher, but sympathetic ink is a secure vehicle—at least the kindⒶalteration in the MS I shall use is. It is an invention of my own. Go to the Church bargain-counterⒶalteration in the MS and buy a bottle or two of sacramental wine,—the white kind used to commemorate Our Mother's First Inspiration. When you receive a packet of blank paper by and by, wet it with that, and my writing will appear. It will fade out and disappear in the course of a few hours, but it will come back as often as you like if you heat the paper.

History of Holy EddypusⒶalteration in the MS Ⓐtextual note

Chapter 1

The World-Empire of Holy Eddypus covers and governs all the globe except the spacious region which has for countless ages borne the name of China, and which is the only country where an enlightened civilization now exists.

“Holy” is a word which in ancient times,—if our best scholars are [begin page 323] right—Ⓐalteration in the MSreferred to personagesⒶalteration in the MS and things worthy of homage, reverence, and worship. The word is still so applied, though with caution.Ⓐalteration in the MS

“Eddypus” is a combination; the first half of it preserves the familyⒶalteration in the MS name of the Founder of the only religion now permitted in the World-Empire; “pus” is an ancient word meaning (as asserted and settled by PapalⒶemendation decree seven centuries ago) a precious exudation, a sanctifying ointment. Hence pustule, an Eddymanian priestⒶalteration in the MS, a person full of pus; that is to say, holiness.

A number of other wordsⒶalteration in the MS in our language have their source in the Founder's name. In the third century of our era theⒶalteration in the MS OnlyⒶemendation True Religion displaced and abolished a religionⒶalteration in the MS of considerable antiquity called Christianity, and began to reign in its stead under the name it now bears, Eddymania.Ⓐalteration in the MS

From this word is derived the designation of the individual subject of the PapacyⒶemendation—Eddymaniac—and also the word which classifies its peoples in mass—Eddymanians, Eddymaniacs.

Also the word which has replaced the obsolete word Religion—Eddygush.

Also the one which gives name to Our Mother's natal day—Eddymas—in ancient times called Christmas.

Also the one which gives name to the sacred formulas, from Science and Health, chanted by the clergy before the altarⒶalteration in the MS during the Prostrations and other solemn ceremonies accompanying the Adoration of Our Mother—Eddymush.

Also the word indicative of such of theⒶalteration in the MS Sacred Writings as are in the prose form—Eddygraphs—the principal of these being Science and Health, the minor ones being the Sermons,Ⓐalteration in the MS Essays, Letters,Ⓐalteration in the MS Addresses, and the Advertisements soliciting investments in the Memorial Spoon.

Also the word which gives name to such of theⒶalteration in the MS Eddygraphs as are in verse-formⒶalteration in the MS—Eddyslush.

Also, we have these:

Eddygas, the spiritual intoxicant which rises to the brain from the Eddygraphs and entrances the mind in a delirium of uplifting and rapturous confusions, giving a foretaste of

Eddyville—formerly called heaven, in the ages preceding our era.

Eddycation—culture, enlightenment, wisdom, drawn from the Eddygraphs, the only intellectual nourishment permitted in the Em- [begin page 324] pire . At the timeⒶtextual note of the destruction of the secretⒶalteration in the MS libraries, in the beginningⒶalteration in the MS of our sixth centuryⒶalteration in the MS, the Papal command was, to burn all books andⒶalteration in the MS writings except the Eddygraphs, it being held that all knowledge not contained in these was valueless, also hurtful.Ⓐalteration in the MS Some books of the day, and one ancient one,Ⓐemendation Ⓐalteration in the MS escaped, and a few of us know where they are and how to get access to them. The ancient one is worth more than all the others together, and indeed is inestimably precious, it beingⒶalteration in the MS the sole record of the ancient life and times which can be regarded as historically accurate and trustworthy. This treasure, this mine of truth and virtue, is chiefly a record of its author's own life and experiences, and was ten centuriesⒶalteration in the MS old when it was discovered twenty years ago.Ⓐalteration in the MS It is called “Old Comradeships,”Ⓐtextual note and I shall frequently draw upon its stores of fact in this History. This immortal benefaction we owe to the pen of the reveredⒶalteration in the MS and scholarly Mark TwainⒶalteration in the MS, Bishop of New Jersey, hanged A.M. 12.Ⓐalteration in the MS

Eddycant—the Scientific Statement of Being; the formula “Blood, Bones, Hash—Mortal Mind, Immortal Mind, Vacant Mind—God, Good, All-Good, Good-God—Ante-up, Play Ball, Keno!” In its several forms this is the most august of the Sacred Incantations, and is uttered five times a day, with genuflexions and with the face turned toward BostonflatsⒶalteration in the MS Ⓐtextual note, in whatsoever quarter of the globe the supplicant may be. For failure the penalty is the Penalty of Penalties—Excommunication, with forfeiture of goods and of civil rights, degradation of the family, burial in unconsecrated ground at the cross-roads at midnight, with a stake through the breast, as if the man were a suicide. In all times ofⒶalteration in the MS danger or of sickness the Eddycant is recited, to save the supplicant by keeping him reminded that there is no such thing as danger or sickness.

Eddyfication—the processes which go to the building up of the Faith.

Eddyolatry—specialⒶalteration in the MS worship of the Founder.

Eddycal—formerly medical. Relating to treatment for removing imaginary fractures and illnesses, and raising the dead.

Eddyplunk—the Dollar.

Eddyphone—lightning-rod down which revelations and prophecies are transmitted from Eddyville to the Pope.

Eddycash—formerly ready-cash. Derived from Chapter I, verse i, ScientificⒶalteration in the MS Statement of Being: “On this Rock I have built My Church.”

And so on—there are many others.

Chapter 2

It appears that there was a destruction of libraries when our era was only a century old—a prodigious destruction, and nearly complete.Ⓐalteration in the MS During the following fifty years some books were privately made, and kept in concealment; then the most ofⒶalteration in the MS these were discovered and burned. Fifty years later—shortly after the Papal Consolidation—Ⓐalteration in the MSall the seats of liberal or profane learning were destroyed; also, collections called museums.Ⓐalteration in the MS Then, intellectual Night followed, everywhere but in China. It is believed that no more book-making was ventured for nearly four hundred years, and that then a number of ventures were made,Ⓐalteration in the MS in the way of histories—historiesⒶalteration in the MS founded largely upon tradition.Ⓐalteration in the MS These were swallowed up in the final raid—beginning of our sixth century—with the few exceptions already noted. No first centuryⒶemendation work of wholly unassailable historical veracity escaped that final raidⒶalteration in the MS except “Old Comrades.”Ⓐtextual note This great workⒶalteration in the MS was not found until twentyⒶalteration in the MS years ago. Its author had taken measures to have it lie hidden five hundred years;Ⓐalteration in the MS fate decided that it should not be seen by men for a thousand. Book-writing absolutelyⒶalteration in the MS ceased with the final raid. (So the Government thinks; there are those who know better.)Ⓐalteration in the MS

Of theⒶalteration in the MS books which survived that raid, the bulk are histories. They are precious, but in the nature of things they cannot be infalliblyⒶalteration in the MS accurate, for their facts must in many instancesⒶalteration in the MS have been handed down the centuries by word of mouth; still, there isⒶalteration in the MS internal evidence that their narratives are substantially correct. From their stories we are enabled to at least outline the historyⒶalteration in the MS of our world with reasonable correctness, evenⒶalteration in the MS if we have to leave patches of the skeleton unfilled, here and there, and the bones showing. I will makeⒶalteration in the MS an outline such as I have mentioned.

In the earliest timesⒶalteration in the MS there was a Christian Empire, and its seat was [begin page 326] at Rome, (now Eddyburg.) Then Columbus and UncleⒶalteration in the MS Remus followed, and discoveredⒶalteration in the MS America and Livingston.Ⓐalteration in the MS There was a Greek Empire, too, but we do not know when, nor just where it was located. Its capital was called Dublin, or Dubling. We only know that it flourished some time, then was overthrown by Louis XIV, King of England, who was beheaded by his own subjects for marrying the Lady Mary Ann Bullion when he already had other wives sufficient.Ⓐalteration in the MS

He was succeeded by his son, William the Conqueror, called the Young Pretender, who became embroiled in the Wars of the Roses, and fell gallantly fighting for his crown at Bunker Hill.Ⓐalteration in the MS

He was succeeded by his nephew Saxton Heptarky, so called on account of the color of his hair, and with him real history may be said to begin. The historic atmosphere clears, the clouds pass, and we move out of a mist of conjecture into the sunlight of fact. Comparatively. Doubtless a good deal of it is not fact, but it is near enough, and for this we should be grateful and refrain fromⒶalteration in the MS wanton fault-finding.

This King laid the foundations of England's greatness. He encouraged literature, he exaltedⒶalteration in the MS the arts, he fostered agriculture and extended commerce. He learned languages, he codified the laws,Ⓐalteration in the MS he granted Magna Charta and collected ship-money; and under his patronage Sir Francis Shakspeare translated the philosophies of William Bacon into tragic verse. From his lips we have the great saying, “Let me make the tax-rates of a country and I care not who makes its songs.” He had many romantic and perilous experiences, and after a career unexampled for brilliant exploits and hair-breadth escapes, was drowned by accident in a butt of Malmsey while hunting in the New Forest.Ⓐalteration in the MS

He was succeeded by his son, George III, who fell in the crusades. The crusades are frequently mentioned in the surviving histories; but what they were, and what their object was, is not explained. Constantly and always people fell in them, that is all we know. They are supposed to have been a kind of holy wars, undertaken for the introduction and enforcement of what was known as the Golden Rule, and it is thought by some authorities that the word Crusades,Ⓐalteration in the MS changed by the erosions of time, survives in our word Eddyraids. FlindersⒶalteration in the MS (vol. iv, ch. 14, “Glimpses of Antiquity,”) thinks there is reason to believe that about the beginning of our era the Golden RuleⒶalteration in the MS was being introduced with vigor into China by chartered propagators sent thither from America [begin page 327] and Europe, and he statesⒶalteration in the MS that the spirit of the RuleⒶalteration in the MS was identical with that of our so-called Brazen RuleⒶalteration in the MS, and the practice also. Our attempts to propagate it in China, during our early Eddyraids, resulted in disaster, and in the expulsion of all foreigners from the land. Few aliens have been admitted there since; none, indeed, that were suspected of having a religion, or of being in sympathy with Civilization.

Civilization is an elusive and baffling term. It is not easy to get at the precise meaningⒶalteration in the MS attached to it in those far distant times. In America and Europe it seems to have meant benevolence, gentleness, godlinessⒶalteration in the MS, justice, magnanimity, purity, love, and we gatherⒶalteration in the MS that men considered it a duty to confer it as a blessing upon all lowly and harmless peoples of remote regions; but as soon as it was transplanted it became a blight, a pestilence, an awful terror, and they whom it was sent to benefit fled from its presence imploring their pagan gods with tears and lamentations to save them from it. The strength of such evidence as has come down to us seems to indicate that it was a sham at home and only laid off its disguise when abroad.

George III was succeeded by his grandson,Ⓐalteration in the MS Peter the Hermit, called the Black Prince from the color of his armor. He wasⒶalteration in the MS of a noble nature, broad, liberal, and incandescent in his views. Under his beneficent patronage science and the mechanic arts flourished as they had never flourished before. It is one of the abiding glories of his reign that it was while he was occupying the throne that yellow journalism was invented by Ralph Waldo Edison. What that was we have no means of knowing, we only know that it was one of the abiding glories of his reign. We also know that he made numerousⒶalteration in the MS attempts to colonize America, and that several of them succeeded, in some degree. Sir Walter Raleigh settled Plymouth Rock, but was driven away by the Puritans and other Indians; after which he discarded armedⒶalteration in the MS force, and honorably bought a great tract of land and named it Pennsylvania, after himself. He prospered exceedingly, and after a few years was able to buy the legislature. As we learn from a chapter of “Old Comrades,” this custom continued in hisⒶalteration in the MS family down to the time of Mark Twain, Bishop of New Jersey,* who was himself present at an auction of this property, when one Quay was the purchaser.Ⓐalteration in the MS

——

* Hanged, A.M. 47.

To the initiated few there is a most interesting fact associated withⒶalteration in the MS PeterⒶemendation the Hermit'sⒶalteration in the MS reign—the translation of the Bible into English. Not many have heard of that book; therefore I will go into some particulars. Bible is its ancient name. It is that part of the Sacred Eddygraphs which follows nextⒶalteration in the MS after Science and Health, and is sometimes called the “Annex,” sometimes the “Apochrypha,” and in the day of its prosperity was the Book of the ChristiansⒶalteration in the MS. It is in two parts; one part was anciently called the OldⒶalteration in the MS Testament, the otherⒶalteration in the MS the New Testament. The earliest editions of Science and Health made constant reference to it, and reverently and pains-takingly endeavored to explain what it was about—this is known to be a fact—but that was all changed five centuries ago. At that dayⒶalteration in the MS our language had so radically changed, by the mutations of time, thatⒶalteration in the MS the Sacred Writings were no longer intelligible to the bulk of the people, and they murmured. Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy LII called the princes of the Church together in conclave from the ends of the earth to consider the question of a new translation, up-to-dateⒶemendation, and with him they searchingly canvassed the arguments that were offered for and against the proposition. It was finally decided not to translate Science and Health, but to re-write it altogether and expunge the most of the references to the Bible and medicate the others. The Revised Version was furnished by a revelationⒶalteration in the MS dictated to the Pope through the Eddyphone,Ⓐalteration in the MS he beingⒶalteration in the MS the only person qualified to receive revelations and demonstrate over them; he, in turnⒶalteration in the MS, repeated the words to his secretariesⒶalteration in the MS, and they wrote them down. The Bible of the ChristiansⒶalteration in the MS was left untouched, and soon none but philological experts could read it. Since it could not beⒶtextual note read it was not an embarrassment, therefore it was suffered to retain its place as an Annex, and still retains it; which is wise, for it doubles the price of the book and at the same time cannot limit the sale, that being compulsory.

Parcelsius (vol. 2, ch. 2) has this remark: “From odds and ends of history which have wandered to us down the centuries we inferⒶalteration in the MS that in allowing the book called the BibleⒶalteration in the MS to sink to oblivion in an unreadable language the Church of Our Mother had warrant in the policy of the abolished RomanⒶalteration in the MS Christian Church itself, which kept its Bible in a dead language in order that the common people might not be able to read it.”Ⓐalteration in the MS

The successor ofⒶalteration in the MS Peter the Hermit was Charles the BaldⒶtextual note, called the Unready. HisⒶalteration in the MS conduct toward the American colonies incensed the patriot George WishingtonⒶalteration in the MS, who hewedⒶalteration in the MS down a cherry tree, the emblem of British tyranny,Ⓐalteration in the MS and brought on the Declaration of Independence. Who this person was, originallyⒶalteration in the MS, we cannot now know; we only know that his destruction of the cherry tree was regarded as a patriotic act, and that it brought him at once into prominence and popularity by precipitating the Declaration. He did not write the Declaration, as someⒶalteration in the MS historians erroneously believe, but excusedⒶalteration in the MS himself on the plea that he could not tell a lie. It was the intention of the Americans to erect a stately Democracy in their land, upon a basis of freedom and equality before the law for all; this Democracy was to be the friend of all oppressed weak peoples, never their oppressor; it was never to steal a weak land nor its liberties; it was never to crushⒶalteration in the MS or betray struggling republics, but aid and encourage them with its sympathy. The AmericansⒶalteration in the MS required that these noble principles be embodied in their Declaration of Independence and made the rock upon which their government should forever rest. But George Wishington strenuously objected. He said that such a Declaration would prove a lie; that human nature was human nature, and that such a Declaration could not long survive in purity; that as soon as the Democracy was strong enough it would wipe its feet upon the Declaration and look around for something to steal—something weak, or something un-watched—and would find it; if it happened to be a republic, no matter, it would steal anything it could get.Ⓐalteration in the MS

Still the Declaration was put forthⒶalteration in the MS upon the desired plan, and the Republic did really set up fair temple upon that lofty height. WishingtonⒶalteration in the MS did not live to see his prophecy come true, but in time itⒶalteration in the MS did come true, and the government thenceforthⒶalteration in the MS made the sly and treacherous betrayal of weak republics its amusement, and the stealing of their lands and the assassination of their liberties its trade. This endeared it to the monarchies and despotisms, and admitted it to their society as a World Power. It lost itsⒶalteration in the MS self-respect, but after a little ceased to be troubled by this detail.

George Wishington fought bravely both by land and sea in the Revolution which emancipated his country from the dominion of England,Ⓐalteration in the MS and was drowned at Waterloo, so called on account of the looness [begin page 330] or lowness (shallowness?)Ⓐalteration in the MS of the sea at that point, a word whose exactⒶalteration in the MS meaning is now lost to us in the mists of antiquity.

Many legends cluster around his name. It is related of him that once in the wildsⒶalteration in the MS of Wessex, while wandering in the disguise of a journalist to pick up information concerning the enemy, a peasant woman who did not suspect that he was the AdmiralⒶemendation of the Fleet, set him to turn the cakes and he fell asleep and ate them, whereforⒶalteration in the MS she cuffed his ears. And once when he was a hunted refugee and almost in despair of his country's cause, he saw a spider, and from that moment took courage and went boldly on with his great purposes and succeeded. The point of this legend seems to have been lost in the lapse of time.

Wishington had a younger brother by the name of Napoolyun Bonyprat, but of him we know nothing.

Chapter 3

In the century which elapsed after the Separation of America and England, both countries grew by leaps and bounds in power and population, in mechanics, manufactures, commerce, and all forms of material prosperityⒶemendation. This was the century called the NineteenthⒶalteration in the MS by the Christians. There are many indications that it was the most remarkable century the world had ever seen; that the change from previous times was prodigious; that by comparison with its lightning advancement, all previous ages might be said to have stood still.Ⓐalteration in the MS

That century was sown thick with mechanical and scientificⒶalteration in the MS miracles and wonders, and it was these that had changed the face of the world. Also, in it occurred two stupendous events—unnoticed at the time—which were to totally change the face of the world again: the birth of Our Mother and of Her Church. The second of these happened at the very close of that extraordinary century; with the opening of the so-called Twentieth century the new religion entered with vigor upon its memorable career.

We are able to piece together a panoramaⒶalteration in the MS of that ancient period out of odds and ends of history and tradition which is absorbingly interest- [begin page 331] ing , though vague and dim in places and sometimes marred by details of a doubtful sort. It exhibits to us life in a dream, as it were, so different is it from life as we know it and live it. It is amazingly complex and wonderful, a sort of glorified and flashing and splendid nightmare, and frantic and tumultuous beyond belief.

It would seem that in the earliest days, time wasⒶalteration in the MS reckoned from the date of the Creation, and was expressed by the formula Anno Mundi, the Year of the World—abbreviated form, A.M.

Then came the Christians, and instituted Time-Series No. 2, expressing it by the formula Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord—abbreviated form, A.D.

Series No. 3 replaced this with the formula of our own era, Anno Matris Ⓐemendation Ⓐtextual note,Ⓐalteration in the MS the Year of Our Mother—abbreviated form, A.M.Ⓐemendation—a return to Series No. 1, as far as initials go.

It took the Christians three or fourⒶalteration in the MS centuries to become powerful enough to abolish A.M. and institute A.D.;Ⓐemendation it is claimed that we moved so much faster that we extinguished A.D. in America in 1960 and replaced it with our A.M.;Ⓐemendation in England in 1998; in many other countries within fifty years later; and everywhere except China in A.M. 226; then redated all time on a basis of B.M.B.G.Ⓐemendation and A.M.B.G., (before and after Mary Baker G.).Ⓐemendation Ⓐalteration in the MS

When Ⓐalteration in the MS our era begins, we know.Ⓐalteration in the MS It begins A.D. 1865.Ⓐalteration in the MS The Church says it marks the birth of Our MotherⒶalteration in the MS; some of us privately believe SheⒶalteration in the MS was born earlier, and that 1865 marks the birth of the first edition of HerⒶalteration in the MS Book. There were earlyⒶalteration in the MS historians (discredited now by command of the Church), whoⒶalteration in the MS asserted that She did not invent Christian Science, but “lifted” it from a man named Quim, or Quimber, or Quimby. In the ancient tongue “lifted” was an expression confined to poetry, and seems to have been in some sort the equivalent of our words took, conveyed, ravished.Ⓐalteration in the MS Other early historians (similarly discredited)Ⓐalteration in the MS asserted that Our Mother did HerselfⒶalteration in the MS putⒶalteration in the MS Her Book together—albeit in a notably crude form—Ⓐalteration in the MS and that a salaried polisher laboredⒶalteration in the MS it into literary shapeⒶalteration in the MS for Her and introduced examples ofⒶalteration in the MS grammar. Still other discreditedⒶalteration in the MS historians assertedⒶalteration in the MS that Our Mother's claim that Her Book was the veritable Word of God was necessarily true, because none but [begin page 332] He could understand it. Still other suppressedⒶalteration in the MS historians combatted this opinion, on ground of conviction that not even He could tell what it was about.Ⓐalteration in the MS

The Church to the contrary notwithstanding, we do not know the year of Our Mother's birth, nor how long She lived before—according to the Sacred Eddygraphs—She was caught up into heaven in a chariot of fire. That She passed alive to heavenⒶalteration in the MS may be true, but there is reason to believe that for a time it was forgotten, sinceⒶalteration in the MS the first mention of it occurs in an Encyclical of Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy LIII, as much as five centuries after Our Mother's (probable) translation. No, we do not know how long She lived in the earth, we only know that She never grew old. She was always young and beautiful. The ancientⒶalteration in the MS coins, medals, great seals, images, also portraits by the Old Masters,Ⓐalteration in the MS preserved in the Papal treasury at Bostonflats all testify to this. In none of these is She above 18. In all of them She is ethereal and girlish. It is so in the last portrait made of Her, which was painted from life by Dontchutellim only a month before the Ascension, and hangs before the great Altar of Adoration in the First Mosque—called the First Church, in Her lifetime. Admission one dollar, children and slaves half price. Certain early historiansⒶtextual note asserted that as soon as She became renowned She withdrew Her contemporaneous portraits from sale on the sacred bargain-counter, replaced them with picturesⒶalteration in the MS made of Her “when She was a bud,” and never suffered Herself to be limned again. Those historians have been placed upon the Index.Ⓐalteration in the MS “Bud” is anⒶalteration in the MS ancient term whose meaning cannot now be ascertained with certainty, but philologists think we have a descendant of it in our word brick—young, sweet, lovely, gracious, arch, sparklingⒶalteration in the MS, companionable, up-to-date, larky, unconventional, ready-for-anything, so it be innocent. This word brick—differently clothed, as to significance—Ⓐalteration in the MSexisted in the ancient language, and commonly meant a kind of building material, but it had also another meaning, not now determinable,Ⓐalteration in the MS but believed to representⒶalteration in the MS a specialty of the clergy and a part of their state equipment when conducting solemn spiritual functions, for Mark TwainⒶtextual note, Bishop of New Jersey, observes (ch. 7, vol. IIⒶemendation, “Old Comrades,”) that on twoⒶalteration in the MS occasions when he was the celebrant in charge of the ceremonies of the High Jinks Night of the Order of the Scroll and KeyⒶalteration in the MS, he [begin page 333] carried one in his hat. This Scroll and Key was evidently an order of monks, and had its seat at a place called Yale. Later—or perhaps previously—a university had its seatⒶalteration in the MS there. All present on the named occasions had bricks in their hats; therefore it is inferable that all present were ecclesiastics.Ⓐalteration in the MS What the nature of the function was, we have now no means of determining, and the Bishop throws no light upon it, further than to say it differed from Sunday-school.

Chapter 4

We are in the habit of speaking of the “dawn” of our era. It is a misleading expression inheritedⒶalteration in the MS from the ancients. It conveys a false impression, for it places before the mind's vision a picture of brooding darkness, with a pearly light rising soft and rich in the east to dispel it and conquer it. In the interest of fact let us seek a more truthfulⒶalteration in the MS figure wherewith to pictureⒶalteration in the MS the advent of Christian Science (as it was originally called) as a politicalⒶalteration in the MS force.

At noonday we have seen the sun blazing in the zenith and lighting up every detail of the visible world with an intense and rejoicing brightness. Presently a thin black line shows like a mourning-border upon one edge of the shiningⒶalteration in the MS disk, and begins to spread slowly inward, blotting out the light as it goes; while we watch, holding our breath, the blackness moves onward and still onward; a dimness gathers over the earth, next a solemn twilight; the twilight deepens, night settles steadily down, a chill dampness invades the air, there is a mouldy smell, the winds moan and sigh, the fowls go to roost—the eclipse is accomplished, the sun's face is ink-black,Ⓐalteration in the MS all things are swallowed up and lost to sight in a rayless gloom.

Christian Science did not create this eclipse unaided; it had abundant help—from natural and unavoidable evolutionary developments of the disease called CivilizationⒶalteration in the MS. Within certain strict bounds and limits Civilization was a blessing; but the very forces which had brought it to that point were bound to carry it over the frontier sooner or later, and that is what happened. The law of its being was Progress, [begin page 334] Advancement, and there was no power that could stop its march, or even slacken its pace. With its own hands it opened the road and prepared the way for its destroyer.

It was a strange and mad and wonderful world that lay shining under the skies when the thin and scarcely-noticed border-line of the Christian Science eclipse appeared upon the edge of the Sun of Civilization. The old writers call that world's brief period by a majestic name, a beautiful name—the Age of Light. We are moved to uncover when it falls upon our ear, as in some way vaguely realizing that we are standing in an august presence. When we look athwart the sombreⒶalteration in the MS centuries which lie between us and that fairⒶalteration in the MS time, it is as if we saw on theⒶalteration in the MS edge of the far horizon the white flash of a hidden sun across the fields of night.

From the old writers we catch many informing glimpses of that strange and enticing and drunken world; we have only to put them orderly together and we have it before our eyes and perceive what it was. The government of our section of the globeⒶalteration in the MS was a Republic, and was called the United States of America.Ⓐalteration in the MS There were many Provinces, or States—some think as many as fifty, some think a hundred. Each of these had a government of its ownⒶalteration in the MS—governor, law-making body, army, etc.,—and was itself a subordinate republic. The provincialⒶalteration in the MS law-making body was sometimesⒶalteration in the MS called Legislature, sometimes Asylum; the law-making body of the central or supreme government was called Congress, or Head Asylum. All grown-up men were eligible to these bodies, particularly idiots. Why this preference was shown is not now ascertainable. Indeed the preference is not anywhere stated in so many words, the fact is merely deduced from circumstantial evidence.

Every grown-up man had a vote, and highly valued it, though it was seldom worth more than two dollars. This is shown by an election-record of a legislature called Tammany, preservedⒶalteration in the MS in the Appendix to “Old Comrades.” The Tammany was a private property belonging to one Richard CrokerⒶemendation, and it governed a vast city whose remains are believed to lie under the extensive group of forest-clad hills and hillocksⒶalteration in the MS called the Great Mounds. It is thought that interesting revelations of the ancient life could be unearthed there if the Popes would allow excavations to be made. There are antiquaries who (privately) contend [begin page 335] that the colossal copper statue of Her Divine Grace Mary Baker G. Eddy Enlightening the World (now in Holy Square, Bostonflats), once stood upon the sea-verge near the Great Mounds, and was not there to represent Our Mother at all. This is unquestionably true, for Mark Twain, Bishop of New Jersey, (“Old Comrades,” vol. II, ch. 5) makes a reference to that very statue, and calls it “Charley's Aunt.” We search the old writers in vain to find out who she was, or by what noble service she won this splendid homage, we only know that she was Charley's Aunt, and that Mark Twain paid for the statue and presented it to “the city,” for he says so. There is evidence elsewhere that she had a nephew named Charles Frohman, or Fromton,Ⓐalteration in the MS and that he wrote a book, presumably upon architecture, called “The House ofⒶalteration in the MS the Seven Gables,” and another one called “The House that Jack Built,”Ⓐalteration in the MS but this is all we know of him with certainty. It is the irony of history that it so often tells us much aboutⒶalteration in the MS an illustrious person's inconsequential relatives,Ⓐalteration in the MS and gives us not a word about the illustrious person himself. That statelyⒶalteration in the MS copper colossus can have but one meaning:Ⓐalteration in the MS Charley's Aunt once filled the ancient world with her fame; and where is it now? Thus perishable are the mightiest deeds of our fleeting race! It is a pathetic thought. We struggle, we rise, we tower in the zenith a brief and gorgeous moment, with the adoring eyes of the nations upon us, then the lightsⒶalteration in the MS go out, oblivion closes around us, our glory fades and vanishes, a few generations drift by, and naught remains but a mystery and a name—Charley's Aunt! Ah, was it worth the hard fight, the weary days, the broken sleep, the discouragements of friends, the insults of enemies, the brief triumph at last, so bitterly won, at such desolating cost—was it worth it, poor lass? But you shall not have served in vain. There is one who loves you, one who mourns you, one who pities you and praises you; one who, ignorant of what you did, yet knows it was noble and beautiful; and banishing time and ignoring space, drops a worshipingⒶemendation tear upon that lost grave of yours made for you by friendly hands a thousand years ago, dear idol of the perished Great Republic, Charley's Aunt!

You have seen what the Government of the United States was. Take your stand, now,Ⓐalteration in the MS upon that resting-place for your feet—and look abroad over the land. You shall see what you shall see.

Figure to yourself—for the moment—that the aspects before you are those of the First Year of the century called by the ancients the Nineteenth. Next we will vault you over decade after decade until you stand in the First Year of the century called by the ancients the Twentieth. There will be contrasts.

Inasmuch as the authority most frequently drawn upon in Book Second will be his Grace Mark Twain, BishopⒶalteration in the MS of New Jersey in the noonday glory of the Great Civilization, a witnessⒶalteration in the MS of its gracious and beautiful and all-daring youth, witness of its middle-time of giant power, sordid splendor and mean ambitions, and witness also of its declining vigor and the firstⒶalteration in the MS stages of its hopeless retreat before the resistless forces which itself had created and which were to destroy it, it seems wise and well to halt here a moment, and say one or two words about this author and many about his invaluable book and how we became possessed of it.

Mark Twain is the most ancient writer known to usⒶalteration in the MS by his works. They have come to us exactly as they were when they left his hands— complete, undoctored by meddling scholars of later days, no word missing, no word added. All other literary remains of the early ages are fragmentary and disjointed, and in all cases have suffered from the impertinent so-called “emendations” and “explanations” of well-meaning archaeologists who may have been competent but may have been otherwise. Mark Twain antedates all these shreds and fragments; hence his title, The Father of History.

From his hand we have the greatⒶalteration in the MS historical work, in severalⒶalteration in the MS volumes, called “Old Comrades;” also a philosophical work, in one miniature volume, called “The GospelⒶalteration in the MS of Self,” with chapters treating of the “Real Character of Conscience,” “Personal Merit,” “The Machinery of the Mind,” “The Arbitrary and Irresistible Power of Circumstance [begin page 337] and Environment,” etc. Against advice, he ventured to publish this little book during his lifetime. From hints dropped here and there in the fragmentary histories above mentioned we gather that it cost him dear. We infer that many persons adopted his philosophy and proposed to mould their lives upon it; and that by and by, when Christian Science was become strong, it extinguishedⒶalteration in the MS both the philosopher and his disciples. There is abundant reason to believe that he was hanged. The date is uncertain; some authorities fix it at A.D. 1912 = A.M. 47; others distribute it forward, stage by stage, up to A.D. 1935 = A.M. 70. It could easily have been later, even, thanⒶalteration in the MS A.M. 70, for men lived to far greater ages then than they do now. Mark Twain was himself acquainted with an English peasant called “Old Parr,” who lived to be 152.

The Father of History does not say when nor where he was born, he only states that he was of high and ancient lineage.Ⓐalteration in the MS There is constructive confirmation of this in the fact that by his own showing he was several times the guest of kings and emperors, who called him in to ask his counselⒶalteration in the MS concerning matters of international politics.

He had a wife and family; indeedⒶalteration in the MS, random drippings from his gossipyⒶalteration in the MS pen rather clearly indicate that he had more than one family; for he oftenⒶalteration in the MS mentions by name “children” of his who must have been illegitimate, since he nowhere gives them the family surname. Among these are two sons whom he is so weakly fond of that he parades them literallyⒶalteration in the MS without discretion or shame—Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. In unguarded moments he quotes remarks of theirs which expose the fact that their mothers were of low origin and illiterate. From these revelations we get a flood of light upon the manners and morals of the clergyⒶalteration in the MS of the Bishop's time. Those people were as loose as are their successors of our own day. If anything, they were even more brazen in their immoralities than are our consecrated officialⒶalteration in the MS Readers of the Sacred Eddygraphs, and less concerned to throw an ostensible veil over their irregularities. Of the Bishop's accumulation of children we are able to classify twenty-six who did not bear his surname, and were manifestly born out of wedlock. If it had been unusual for a Bishop to have twenty-six children of this sort, this one would have covered up his record, not advertised it; therefore we know, and may state with con- [begin page 338] fidence , that in his day the high clergy kept harems, and that nothing was thought of it. One of the most admirable things about history is, that almost as a rule we get as muchⒶalteration in the MS information out of what it does not say as we get out of what it does say. And so, one may truly and axiomatically aver this, to-wit: thatⒶalteration in the MS historyⒶemendation consists of two equal parts; one of these halves is statements of fact, the other halfⒶalteration in the MS is inference, drawn from the facts. To the experienced student of history there are no difficulties about this; to him the half which is unwrittenⒶalteration in the MS is as clearly and surely visible, by the help of scientific inference, as if it flashed and flamedⒶalteration in the MS in letters of fire before his eyes. When the practised eye of the simple peasant sees the half of a frog projecting above the water, he unerringly infers the half of the frog which he does not see. To the expert student in our great science, history is a frog; half of it is submerged, but he knows it is there, and he knows the shape of it. Our Bishop had twenty-six children not born in wedlock, and took no pains to conceal it. In the vacancy beyond, we infer a harem, and we know it is there. In the place of a statement that the rest of the high clergy had harems we have a vacancy; by inference we insert a harem in that place, and we know it was there. It was a loose age, like our own.

The Father of History was a great reader; but like all lovers of literature, he had a small and choice list of books which were his favorites, and it is plain, although he does not say so, that he read these nearly all the time and deeplyⒶalteration in the MS admired them. We do not know what their character was, for he does not say, and no shred of one of them now remains, not even a paragraph—an immeasurable loss, the mere thought of which gives us a sharp pang, a sense of bereavement. We have nothing but the names; and they move our curiosity and our longing as do the names upon ancient monuments to the unknown great, whose informing epitaphs have been obliterated by the storms of time. No, we have only the names: Innocents Abroad; Roughing It; Tramp Abroad; Puddnhead Wilson; Joan of Arc; Prince and Pauper—and so on; there are many. Who wrote theseⒶalteration in the MS great books we shall never know; but that they were great we doⒶalteration in the MS know, for the Bishop says so.

The Father of History had many gifts, but it is as a philosopher that he shows best. But he had a defect which much crippled all his variedⒶalteration in the MS mental industries, and impaired the force and lucidity of his philo- [begin page 339] sophical product most of all. This was his lackⒶalteration in the MS of the sense of humor. The sense of humor may be called the mind's measuring-rod, also its focussing-adjustment. Without it, even the finest mind can make mistakes as to the proportions of things; also, as to the relations of things to each other; without it, images which for right and best effect should be absolutely perfect, are oftenⒶalteration in the MS a little out of focus, and by consequence are blurred and indistinct; also, they are sometimes so considerably out of focus as to present the image in a highly distorted form —indeed in a form which is actually grotesque. An illustration or two will make my meaning clear. An Appendix to the Bishop's Essay “On Veracity and How to Attain to It” consists of “Maxims for the Instruction of Youth.” There are several hundred of them. Examine this one:

“No real gentleman will tell the naked truth in the presence of ladies.”

Through the absence of the protecting faculty of humor he has been betrayed into a crass confusion of ideas. The “naked” truth is not always and necessarily indecent; and if he had possessed the sense of humor he would have perceived that his maxim, worded as he has worded it, was in the first place but half true, and that in the second place—owing to the labored solemnity of its form—was an absurdity. He had an idea, and it was a good enough one, but in his attempt to express it he failed to say what he thought he was saying. What he meantⒶalteration in the MS to convey, and what he should have said, was this:

“No real gentleman will utter obscenities in the presence of ladies.”

Again:

“We should never do wrong when people are looking.”

The first five words are true, and admirably stated; the rest of the maxim is idiotic. Idiotic because it almost as good as conveys the idea that when people are not looking we are privileged to do wrong!!! He would have seen this himself, but for his defect.

Again:

“Truth is the most precious thing we have. Let us economise it.”

His misapprehension of the true meaning of “economise” renders the maxim almost ridiculous, for it as good as advises the young to save up the truth—not tell it!! WhatⒶalteration in the MS he supposed he was saying will appear when we word it thus:

“The truth is precious; do not be careless with it.”Ⓐemendation

That is sufficient. In this form it is compact and valuable; to add words to it would only impair its compactness without increasing its value.

Again:

“We invariably feel sad in the presence of music without words; and often more than that in the presence of music without music.”

The first clause of that is true, and there is a recognizable pathos in it; but there is no sense in the other clause, because there is no such thing as music without music. Music consists of sounds; whenⒶalteration in the MS there are no sounds, there is no music. It seems almost a pity that some sarcastic person did not say to him, “There is something very impressive about a vacuum without vacancy!!” It would have been a hard hit, but deserved. If he had written his first clause and stopped there, there would be no fault to find; adding the other merely spoiled the whole thing. Many people do not know when to stop. It is a talent, and few possess it.

Finally:

“Let us save the to-morrowsⒶemendation for work.”

The to-morrows!!! Then what shall we do with the to-days? Play? It is amazing that a person of this Bishop's fine intelligence could set that down,Ⓐalteration in the MS and not perceive its obvious defect. Its defect is this: it makes all days play-days, because the moment a to-morrow arrives it becomes in that very moment a to-day,—hence, of course, a play-day. To-morrows are a pure abstraction, an unconcreted and unconcretable thing of the future; no man has ever stood in the actual presence of a to-morrow, a present to-morrow is an impossibility. Now then, how is a person to work in a day which can never have an existence? Do you not see that the maxim is an absurdity? Do you not perceive that it says, in effect, “Play all days—never work at all!!!” Instead of benefiting the young, this heedless and ill-consideredⒶalteration in the MS admonition could do them inestimable damage. For—read by the unthinking—it could be, and as a rule would be, supposed to advise perennial idleness!! Lacking the saving gift of humor, this good Bishop was betrayed into saying the very opposite of what he wanted to convey—which was this:

“Let us work, to-day, in order that we may play to-morrow.”

In thisⒶalteration in the MS form the maxim becomes at once clarified of confusion, and valuable both to young and old alike.

Of the severalⒶalteration in the MS hundred maxims set down in the Appendix not one lacked blunders, irrelevanciesⒶalteration in the MS and incongruities as laughable as those cited and corrected above. I have edited these deformities out of them all. It has cost me heavy labor, but I think it will be conceived,Ⓐalteration in the MS upon a careful consideration of the maxims which I have quoted, and of the corrective work which I have put upon them, that the little book has merit, and that my labors in relieving thatⒶalteration in the MS merit of its obscuring and obstructing cloudⒶalteration in the MS of defects were worthⒶalteration in the MS the fatigue those labors imposed upon me.

Our venerable historian was a man of great learning andⒶalteration in the MS large activitiesⒶalteration in the MS, in the several realms of science, invention, politics and philosophy. He was the founder of the Smithsonian Institute, and inventor of several notable aids to verbal communication—among them the electric telegraph, the phonograph, the telephone, and wireless telegraphy. For these and other contributions to science he received many decorations—among them the Black Eagle of Germany, the Double Eagle of Austria, the FrenchⒶalteration in the MS Legion of Honor, the GoldenⒶalteration in the MS Fleece, the Garter, the Victoria Cross, etc. For his “Veracity, and How to Attain It,” a system which was adopted as a text-book in all the schools and seats of learning, he “got the chromo.” The meaning of the word is lost, but the chromo was no doubt a prize of great cost and distinction awarded by the Government for moral teachings of an eminent character.

It is but seldom that the Father of History mentions a date, but we have one for the completion of “The GospelⒶemendation of Self” and for the beginning of “Old Comrades”—A.D. 1898 = A.M. 33. When he began “Old Comrades,”Ⓐemendation in Vienna (now EddyburgⒶtextual note), he intended to make it a record, of the most searching and intimate sort, of the life of every person whom he had known—not persons of illustrious position only, or of renown springing from high achievement, but interestingⒶalteration in the MS persons of all sortsⒶalteration in the MS and ranks, whether known outside their own door-yards or not. He carried out this intention faithfully. His idea was, that to write a minute history of persons, of all grades and callings, is the surest way to convey an intelligible history of the time; that it is [begin page 342] not the illustrious only who illustrateⒶalteration in the MS history, all grades have a hand in it. He also believed that the sole and only history-makers are circumstance and environment; that these are not within the control of men, butⒶalteration in the MS that men are in their control, and are helpless pawns who must move as they command.

He believed that while he wrote his personal histories, general history would flow in a stream from his pen, of necessity. His book confirms his theory. In it are intimate biographies of his multitude of friends, from emperors down through everyⒶemendation walk of life to the cobbler and the sheeny—whatever that may be—and the result is as he had expected: his book reveals to us the wide history of his time, spread upon pages luminous with its combined and individual life and stirring and picturesque ways and customs.

He believed that no man could writeⒶalteration in the MS the remorseless truth about his friend, except under thisⒶalteration in the MS condition: that the publishingⒶalteration in the MS of it be securelyⒶalteration in the MS guarded against while any one of that friend'sⒶalteration in the MS name and blood survived to read it and be hurt by it. He believed that nothing but the uncompromising truth could be supremely informing, and accurately convey the history of a period. And so, to enable himself to put away all embarrassment and be absolutely truthful, the Father of History resolved to write his book for a distant posterity who could not be hurt in their feelings by it; and to take sure precautions against the publishing of the work before that distant day should have arrived.Ⓐalteration in the MS

This made his pen the freest that ever wrote. As a result, his friends stand before us absolutely naked. They had not a grace that does not appear, they had not a deformityⒶalteration in the MS that is not present to the eye. There is not an entire angel among them, nor yetⒶalteration in the MS an entire devil. Evidently he was intending to wear clothes himself, and as constantly as he could he did; but many and many is the time that they slipped and fell in a pile on the floor when he was not noticing. It would surprise his shade and grieve it, to find that we know him naked as intimately as we know him clad. Indeed, we know him better than he knew himself; for he thought his main feature was an absence of vanity amounting to poverty, even destitution, whereas we are aware that in this matter he was a person with a close approach to independent means. We could point out other defects, other blemishes, but he has done us noble service, and for that he shall go unexposed.

At first it was his purpose to delay publication a hundred years; but he changed his mind and decided to extend the postponement to a period so remote that the historiesⒶalteration in the MS of his day would all have perished and its life thenⒶalteration in the MS exist in men's knowledge as a mere glimmer, vague, dim and uncertain. At such an epoch his history would be valuable beyond estimate. “It will rise like a lost Atlantis out of the sea; and where for ages had been a waste of water smothered in fog, the gilded domes will flash in the sun, the rush and stir of a tumultuous life will burst upon the vision, the pomps and glories of a forgotten civilization will move like the enchantments of an Arabian tale before the grateful eyes of an astonished world.”

He often takes on like that. In these moods he invents things—Ⓐalteration in the MSin accordance with his needs—like that word Atlantis. But we may allow him this small privilege, since he swerves from stern fact only when he has some fine words in his head and wants to spread them out on something and see them glitter.

He thought he would put off the publication a thousand years, but he gave up that idea because he wanted his book to be readable by the common people without necessity ofⒶalteration in the MS translation.Ⓐalteration in the MS “The epic of Beowulf is twelve hundred years old,” he says; “it is English, but I cannot read a line of it, so great is the change our tongue has undergone.” He examined, and found that theⒶalteration in the MS English of a period 450 years back in the past was quite fairly readable “by Tom, Dick and Harry.” Such is his expression. SinceⒶalteration in the MS he does not explain about these people it is inferable that they were persons of note in his day; and indeed so much so that their names fall from his lips unconsciously, he quite forgetting that he was writing for a far future which might have no source of information concerning the renowned of his time but himself. Again and again, as we dream over thisⒶalteration in the MS ancient bookⒶalteration in the MS and see its satisfied and self-important spectres go swaggering by, the thought rises in our minds, how perishableⒶalteration in the MS is human glory! Oh, Tom, Dick and Harry, so noted once, so remarked as ye passed along, so happy in the words caught in whispers from the vagrant airs, “Look—there they are!” where now is your fame? Ah, the pathos of a finite immortality!Ⓐalteration in the MS

It was in a book called Morte d'Arthur that he found an English still readable by Tom, Dick and Harry after a lapse of 450 years of [begin page 344] verbal wear and waste and change, and he copies several passages from that book in order that he may contrast their English with his own and critically note and measure the difference.

He was satisfied, and appointed his book to be published after the lapse of five centuries. In calculating that the man who could read the Morte Ⓐemendation d'Arthur Ⓐalteration in the MS passages without a glossary would be able to read his own book upon the same terms, he was quite within the likelihoods; but his book got delayed so many centuries beyond the date appointed, that when it finally reached the light it was BeowulfⒶalteration in the MS over again. No one could spell out its meanings but our half-dozen ripest philologists.

The material of his book is vellum. Its pages were secretly printed by a member of his family on a machine called a type-writer. He bound the volumes himself, then destroyed the original manuscript. The book was privately given into the hands of the President of the United States, and it was sealed up in a vault constructedⒶalteration in the MS especiallyⒶalteration in the MS for it below the foundations of the new Presidential palace, and a record made of the matter in the public archives, with a note appended authorizing the Government that should be in power five centuries later to take the book outⒶalteration in the MS and publish it at the rates currentⒶalteration in the MS at said remoteⒶalteration in the MS time, the proceeds of the sales to be applied to the education of a corps of specialists who should in the fulness of timeⒶalteration in the MS be required to contrive a copyright law recognizable by sane persons as not being the work of an idiot.

The Father of History believed that a million sets a year would be sold thenceforthⒶalteration in the MS so long as governments and civilizations should last, producing an annual revenue of several millions of dollars, and that in the course of ages a copyright law without ass's ears on it— might result.Ⓐalteration in the MS

The Presidential palace was in the capital city, whose name was Washington. It is not doubted that this spellingⒶalteration in the MS is a corruption of Wishington, the earlyⒶalteration in the MS patriot heretofore mentioned by me; there is much history to show that few names escape misspelling as the wearing centuries roll over them. Washington disappearedⒶemendation long ago, and its place was lost until the finding of the Bishop's great book revealed it. Shepherds digging for water came upon the vault after piercing through a depth of thirty feet of ancient rubbish, and they broke into [begin page 345] it and brought up the relic, all the volumes complete, and all sound, after an interment of ten centuries. This was three years ago. My uncle, who was passing by on a horseback journey, bought the find for three eddyplunksⒶalteration in the MS, and kept the dangerous property concealed until he found an opportunity to convey it safely to me. I keep it in a sufficiently secure place, and to me the learned come, ostensibly upon other errands, and thus the translation has been patiently worked out, and was completed forty-three days ago.

Here following I give a faithful translation of the Author's Introduction to his venerable work.

To the First Opener of this BookⒶalteration in the MS

I see this page now for the last time;Ⓐalteration in the MS you will be the next to see it— and there will be an interval between! There is a tie between us, you perceive: where your hand rests now, mine rested last—you shall imagine you feel some faint remnant of the warmth my hand's contact is communicating to the page as I write—for I am writing thisⒶalteration in the MS word of greeting and salutation, not type-writing it. You notice that this draws us together, you and me? that it removes the barriers of strangership, and makes us want to be friendly and sociable, and cosy and gossipy? Draw the table to the hearthstone; freshen up the fire with another log or two; trim the candlesⒶemendation; set out the wine and the glasses.

So there—you on your side, I on mine, we reach across and clink our goblets.Ⓐalteration in the MS I am come from my grave, where I have mouldered five hundred years—look me in the eye! There—clink again. Drink—to the faces that were dear to my youth—dream-faces these many centuries; to the songs I loved to hear—gone silent so long ago; to the lips that I have pressed in their bloom!

Don't shiver so—don't look crawly, like that; I am only a dead person, there is no harm in me; let us be friendly, let us dissipateⒶalteration in the MS together; there is but little time—you hear that clock striking?—when it strikes again I must go back to my grave. You will soon follow.

You shudder again! don't do that; death is nothing—it is peace; the grave is nothing—it is rest. Look kindly upon me; be friendly—I am only a poor dead person, and harmless. And once I was like you: try to see me as I was then; then I shall not seem unpleasant. Once I had hair; there is a little shred of it still hanging from this corner, above and back of where my left ear was—hold the candle—now you see. Like a rusty cobweb? Yes, but you should have seen it when I was alive; you should have seen it then! Lord, how it was admired! Not like Howells's, not like Aldrich's—much handsomer, every one said. And I had eyes then, too; handsomeⒶalteration in the MS, liquid, full of flash and fire!—and very dear to some, that I know; yes, some that looked into them as into mirrors, and saw their own love reflected there, and doubled. Put your finger in, and you can feel where they once were. You don't like to? Why? I would do as much for you. Will, some day. There, you shiver again! don't do that; I don't act so when you speak. Clink again. Drink—to the eyes that looked their happiness into mine out of glad hearts that held it a privilege; drink—to the eyes that shone, now dimmed and gone, the happy hearts now broken!

That is from a song. I knew it all, once; but the grave and the ages rot the memory. And this—put your finger on it—you see, it is only a thin column of bony knots, now, but once it was a neck—yes, and fair and round and comely; not like Howells's, not like Aldrich's, which were yellow and scrawny. And it had collars on it, in those days —white, polished, a fresh one every week, sometimes—I speak of my brisk young pre-ecclesiastical days. And over these time-stained and rusty ribs, that stick out, now, and look like the remains of a wrecked ship projectingⒶalteration in the MS out of the sands of the shore, I used toⒶalteration in the MS wear a snow-white shirt, and a low-cut vest, and as trim and natty a coat as ever you saw—called swallow-tail; it was for evenings, when I went to state banquets, and stood in the flooding light before the applauding aristocracy of learning and literature, and made great and moving speeches —for in my young days I was the nationalⒶalteration in the MS mouthpiece of poesy and science. I notice you are peering through my ribs to see my wine trickle down my spine—and your expression has aversion in it. Do not let it distress you, I am used to it and do not greatlyⒶalteration in the MS mind it; I am always leaking, like that. A handkerchief? Thanks. Just pass it up and down the front surface of my back-bone, please. Not quiteⒶalteration in the MS agreeable? [begin page 347] Let me, then . . . . Now it is better. I hate to be wet. As for myself, I can stand it, but it is not pleasant for company—live company, I mean. My own kind do not care. Do you see this aged umbrella? It is the only wearing apparel I have, yet I seldom raise it. I carry it rather for show than use; my neighbors haven't any. This one is a keepsake; it was given me by Howells. After he was done with it. To remember him by. It is not as good now as it was. I have to be careful with it, it is sensitive to weather. I have not exposed it for centuries. And I do not care for rainⒶalteration in the MS, anyhow; it passes right through, and I soon dry off. Howells and Aldrich were the dearest friends I ever had. ButⒶalteration in the MS Howells was the most thoughtful. It was Howells that gave me the umbrella. After he was done with it. Clink again. Drink to them! Aldrich was dear, bothⒶalteration in the MS were dear. But Howells was the most thoughtful.

Do you notice these arms? Only bones, now, and singularly long and thin. But they have clasped beloved forms, and known the joy of it. Wife—children—think of it! Clasp yours—every time you can—for there is a time coming, when— Drink—drink—and no more of this!

Do you see these hands? these jointed bones? these talons?Ⓐalteration in the MS these things that look like a stripped fan? Shake! Don't skringe like that! Look at them. Once they were fair and slender, eloquent with graceful motion, a dream of beauty, everybody said. Howells had no such hands. Nor Aldrich. But mine are no better than theirs, now. Look at them. They have been shaken by all the grades of the human race, in every quarter of the globe, and shaken cordially, too; and now—why now, they disgust you, I can see it in your eye! Clink! Drink—to all good hands that did their best, such as it was, and have finished their work and earned their rest, and gone to it!

Oh, and these legs and these feet—bamboo stems rising out of a splay of polished joints that look like broiled gizzards on skewers. And once they were shapely, and fine-clothed and patent-leathered, and could weave, and wave, and swing and swim in the dreamy waltz!Ⓐtextual note I will show you. Look at this! Do you like it—except the click-clack, and the screeching of the joints? Oil—give me oil! . . . .Ⓐalteration in the MS Now it goes better. The wine is in my head. Join me! Don't hold back like that! My arm around your waist. There—now we go! Oh, the days that will come no more! oh, my lost youth!

x x x x Ah—the clock!

! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... ! ... !

Midnight! Read my book. Read it in a charitable spirit, in a gentle spirit; for we have drunk together and are friends. Shake these poor bones that were once a hand! x x x I thank you. Goodbye, till we foregather again—yonder, with the worms!

A Character-Sketch—Incomplete Ⓐalteration in the MS

In the third chapter of his first volume there is a curious character-sketch of the Father of History which is sufficiently puzzling. The first division of it breaksⒶalteration in the MS off in the midst, and has no ending.Ⓐalteration in the MS

One perceives that a poetⒶalteration in the MS had paid the historian a majesticⒶalteration in the MS compliment; that it had produced a physical change in his skull, in the nature of an enlargement; that he had hopes that this mightⒶalteration in the MS mean a corresponding enlargement of his mental equipment, and also additions to the graces of his character. To satisfy himself as to these matters he went to a magician to get enlightenment. He calls this person a “phrenologist.” He nowhere explains, except figuratively, who or what the phrenologists were, and it seems probable that he was not able to classify them quite definitely; for whereas in the beginning of his thirdⒶalteration in the MS chapter he twice speaks ofⒶalteration in the MS them as “those unerring diviners of the human mind and the human character,” in later chapters he always refers to them briefly and without ornament as “those damned asses.”

In this place I will insert the first division of the fragmentary character-sketch; and, with diffidence, I will add a suggestion: Might not the historian have been mistaken concerning the poem? It does not mention him by name; may it not have been an apostrophe to his country, instead of to him?

It was in London—April 1st, 1900. In the morning mail came a Harper's Weekly, and on one of its pages I found a noble and beautiful poem, fenced aroundⒶalteration in the MS with a broadⒶalteration in the MS blue-pencil stripe. I copy it here.

Joseph B. Gilder.Ⓐtextual note

It made me blush to the eyes. But I resolved that I would do it, let it cost what it might.Ⓐalteration in the MS I believe I was never so happy before.

My head began to swell. I could feel it swell. This was a surprise to me, for I had always taken the common phrase about swell-head as being merely a figurative expression with no foundation in physical fact. But it had been a mistake; my head was really swelling. Already—say within an hour—the sutures had come apart to such a degree that there was a ditch running from my foreheadⒶalteration in the MS back over to my neck, and another one running over from ear to ear, and my hair was sagging into these ditches and tickling my brains.

I wondered if this enlargement would enlarge my mental capacities and make a corresponding aggrandizement in my character. I thought it must surely have that effect, and indeed I hoped it would. There was a way to find out. I knew what my mental calibre had been before the [begin page 350] change, and I also knew what my disposition and character had been: I could go to a phrenologist, and if his diagnosis showed a change, I could detect it. So I made ready for this errand. I had no hat that would go on, but I made a turban, after a plan which I had learned in India, and shut myself up in a four-wheeler and drove down PiccadillyⒶalteration in the MS, watching out for a sign which I had several times noticed in the neighborhood of New Bond street. I found it without trouble—

“Briggs and Pollard, American Phrenologists.”

What I desired was the exact truth. If I gave my real name and quality, these people would know all about me: might that not influence their diagnosisⒶemendation? mightⒶalteration in the MS they not be afraid to be frank with me? might they not conceal my defects, in case such seemedⒶalteration in the MS to be found, and exaggerate what some call the great features of my mind and character?Ⓐalteration in the MS in a word, might they not dishonorably try to curry favor with me in their own selfish interest instead of doing their simple and honest duty by me? Indeed this might all happen; therefore I resolved toⒶalteration in the MS take measures to hide my identity; I would protect myself from possible deception, and at the same time protect theseⒶalteration in the MS poor people from sin.

BriggsⒶalteration in the MS and Pollard were on hand up stairs. There were bald-headed busts all around, checkered off like township maps, and printed heads on the walls, marked in the same way. Briggs and Pollard had been drinking, but I judged that the difference between a phrenologist drunk and a phrenologist sober was probably too small to materially influence results. I unwound the turban and took a seat, and Briggs stood up behind me and began to squeeze my head between his hands, paw it here and there, and thump it in spots—all in impressive silence. Pollard got his note-book and pencil, and made ready to take down Briggs's observations in short-hand. Briggs asked my name; I told him it was Johnson. Age? I told him another one. Occupation? Broker, I said—in Wall street—Ⓐalteration in the MSwhen at home. How long a broker? Five feet eight and a half. Question misunderstood, said Briggs: how long in the broking business? Ⓐalteration in the MS Always. Politics? Answer reserved. He got other information out of me, but nothing valuable. I was standing to my purpose to getⒶalteration in the MS an estimate straight from the bat and the bumps, not a fancy scheme guessed out of the facts of my career. Briggs used a tape-measure on me, and Pollard wrote down the figures:

“Circumference, 46 inches. Scott! this ain't a human head, it's a prize pumpkin, escaped out of the county fair.”

It seemed an unkind remark, but I did not say anythingⒶalteration in the MS, for allowances must be made for a man when his beverages are working.

“Most remarkable craniological development, this is,” mumbled Briggs, still fumbling; “has valleys in it.” He drifted into what sounded like a lecture; not something fresh, I thought, but a flux of flatulentⒶalteration in the MS phrases staled by use and age. “Seven is high-water mark on the brain-chart of the science; the bump that reaches that altitude can no further go. Seven stands for A1, ultima thule—that is to say, very large; organ marked 7 is sovereign in its influence over character and conduct, and, combining with organs marked 6 (calledⒶalteration in the MS large), direct and control feeling and action; 5 (called full) plays a subordinate part; it and 6 and 7 press the smaller ones into their service; 4 (called average) have only a medium influence; 3 (called moderateⒶemendation) below par; medium influence, more potential than apparent; 2 (called deficient) leaves the possessor weak and faulty in character and should be assiduously cultivated; while organs marked 1 are very small, and render their possessor almost idiotic in the region where they predominate.

“In the present subject we find some interesting combinations. Combativeness 7, Destructiveness 7, Cautiousness 7, Calculation 7, Firmness 0Ⓐalteration in the MS. Thus he has stupendous courage and destructiveness, and at first glanceⒶalteration in the MS would seem to be the most daring and formidable fighter of modern times; but at a second glance we perceive that these desperate qualities are kept from breaking loose by those two guardians which hold them in their iron grip day and night,—Cautiousness and Calculation. Whenever this bloody-minded fiend would carve and slash and destroy, he stops to calculate the consequences; thenⒶalteration in the MS he quitsⒶalteration in the MS frothing at the mouth and puts up his gun; at this point his total destitution of Firmness surges to the front and he gets down in the dirt and apologizes. This is the low-downest poltroon I've ever struck.”

This ungracious speech hurt me deeply, and I came near to striking him dead before I could restrain myself; but I reflected that on account of drink he was not properly responsible for his acts, and also was probably the sole support of his family, if he had one,Ⓐalteration in the MS so I thought better of it and spared him for their sake; in case he had one.Ⓐalteration in the MS Pollard had a hatchet by him; I was not armed.

“Amativeness,Ⓐemendation 6.Ⓐalteration in the MS Probably keeps a harem. No; spirituality, 7. That knocks it out. A broker with spirituality! oh, call me early, mother, call me early, mother dear!Ⓐalteration in the MS Veneration, 7. My! can that be a mistake? No—7 it is. Oh, I see—here's the solution: self-esteem, 7. Worships himself! Acquisitiveness, 7; secretiveness, 7; conscientiousness, 0. A fine combination, sir, a noble combination.” I heard him mutter to himself, “Born for a thief.”

“Veracity? Good land, a socket where the bump ought to be! And as for—

There the first division breaks off. The Bishop makes no comment, but leaves it so. This silence is to me full of pathos; it is eloquent of a hurt heart, I think; I feel it, and am moved by it, after the lapse of ten centuries; centuries which have sweptⒶalteration in the MS away thrones, obliterated dynasties and the very names they bore, turned cities to dust, madeⒶalteration in the MS the destruction of all grandeurs their province, and have notⒶalteration in the MS suffered defeat till now, when this little, little thing rises up and mocks them withⒶalteration in the MS its immortality—the unvoiced cry of a wounded spirit!

The Bishop did not rest there. He had come to believe that the phrenologists were merely guessers, nothing more, and that they could rightly guess a man only when they knew his history. He resolved to test this theory. He waited several months, then went back to those experts clothed in his ecclesiastical splendors, with his chaplainⒶalteration in the MS and servants precedingⒶalteration in the MS and announcing him, and submitted his mentalities and his character to examination once more. His “regimentals,” as he calls them, disguised him, and the magicians were not aware that they had seen him before. This is all set down in the seventh chapter of volume IV and forms the first paragraph of the second division of the fragmentary character-sketch. The Bishop then summarises the results of his two visits, under the head of “Remarks of the Charlatan Briggs—with Verdicts.” Thus:

The fragment closes with this acrid comment:

“Phrenology is the ‘science’ which extracts character from clothes.”

Now then, with your feet planted in the First Year of the Nineteenth century, cast your eyes about you, and what do you see? Science had not been born, the GreatⒶalteration in the MS Civilization had not been born, the land was dully dozing there, not dreaming of what was about to happen! Look. What do you see? Substantially, what you see to-day, eleven centuriesⒶalteration in the MS later. The aspects are familiar. Twice in the week a stage-coach jogs along, over ill-kept roads, and carries its weary passengers a hundred miles in fourteen hours. The driver is a negro slave.Ⓐalteration in the MS Ox-wagons, few and far between, go creaking along these roads, dragging freight from distant great marts to towns and villages, at a pace of a hundred miles in the week. The driver is a negro slave. Mainly, the farms along the road are small, with rickety poor dwellings built of logs—a double-cabin for the white family, a cramped small one for the half-dozen slaves. The slaves sleep indiscriminately on the dirt floor, the married, the single, the children; they work eighteen hours a day; a rag or two is their clothing, their food is a peck of corn apiece per week; for sole entertainment they are allowed to attend church service on Sunday, and sit in the gallery, where they sleep off some part of the week's fatigue and praise God for the privilege. Sunday was the Christian holy day, or day of rest. It is the equivalent of our Mother-day, which supplantedⒶalteration in the MS it and occurs on Monday.

The white family are lazy and ignorant slatterns, and bear themselves as princes toward the slaves. I must note one little difference, here. These slaves were not the Church's property, as with us; all over the Union of States, from end to end, the families owned them; and owned them as absolutely as does our Church to-day throughout the globe—save China, of course, where slavery does not exist. The farm produced almost all the requirements of the family. The wooden plow, the wooden rake, the wooden harrow, the wooden flail—none of them in repair—were the implements of husbandry, and they differed in no respect from our own. The farm-sheep furnished wool; it was woven into rude fabrics on the premises on primitive looms; from the farm-flax was made a coarse linen; thus the clothing for white and black was furnished, and it was put together on the premises. Sometimes a little cotton was raised, and dyed with homely art, and made up into gala-dress for the women. Cotton was sometimes raised in considerable quantities on the larger farms, with an eye to sale and profit, but thisⒶalteration in the MS was a trade which could not flourish, because of the expense; forⒶalteration in the MS the slave then, as now, could ginⒶalteration in the MS only four pounds of cotton in a day, and profitⒶalteration in the MS was hardly achievable on those terms. The food was raised on the farm—meat and vegetables. The drinkⒶalteration in the MS was produced on the farm—cider, beer, and several kinds of strong beverages. Also, two drinks which are but names to us—tea and coffee. It isⒶalteration in the MS believed that they still exist in distant regions of the earth, but it is many generations since any wanderer of ours has come back to tell us whether this is true or not. Also, we know that the white family had constructions called pies; and tradition avers that they were only the projectilesⒶalteration in the MS which in the modern tongue are called “I would not live alway, I ask not to stay.”

There was aⒶalteration in the MS church, a whipping-post, stocks, a jail, a gallows, in every town and village; and in the public square was a fenced slave-pen, and near it an auction-block for the sale of slaves and vagrantsⒶalteration in the MS. They were sold in perpetuity, whereas our Church sells them for terms of years only.Ⓐalteration in the MS Do we miss something? Yes, the Inquisition. There was no Holy Office, neither was there a stake and chain in the square for the burning of heretics and suspected free-thinkers. Otherwise, as you see, this square is a familiar picture to us.

There were canals; and along them poked sleepy barges, drawn by animals and conveying freight and passengers at the gait of the present day.

Now we come to things which are unfamiliar.Ⓐalteration in the MS

In three or four of the large cities a journal was printed every week, for the distribution of intelligence among the people. It contained essays on morals, advertisementsⒶalteration in the MS of cheese, slaves and dried fish for sale, political news of a former month from the seat of government, and European news of the previous century.

There was an ocean commerce, carried on in sailing ships of a burdenⒶemendation ranging from 100Ⓐalteration in the MS to 350 tons, and there is reference to several of a tonnage reaching even five and six hundred. There were war ships of a thousand tons. All ships were built of wood.Ⓐalteration in the MS The average speed of a sailing vessel was under 150 miles a day. The war ships carried cannon capable of accurate and destructiveⒶalteration in the MS fire at two hundred yards; also capable of heavily damaging wooden hulks and fortress walls at a quarter of a mile when they could hit them.

There was an army—in all countries. It had cannon; also muskets, which could kill at seventy yards, and sometimes did it. In great European battles it often happened that 5,000Ⓐalteration in the MS dead were left upon the field, and 15,000Ⓐalteration in the MS wounded. Of the wounded, four-fifthsⒶalteration in the MS presently died of their hurts. In the track of war followed broken hearts, poverty, famineⒶalteration in the MS, pestilence and death. These miseries continued for thirty years after the war was forgotten. They were the important disasters of the war; the killed and wounded were a matter of small consequence.

This talk of war and ships will mean little or nothing to you, but you will recognize the domestic Ⓐalteration in the MS features, for they are not novelties to you. That is, the outside aspects, the things visible to the eye, are not. There are inside aspects which you do not see, and which are foreign to your experience.

For instance, in time of peace the peopleⒶalteration in the MS were comfortable and happy—the whites, I mean. They were free. They governed themselves. There were no religious persecutions, no burnings, no torturings. The Roman Catholics were on the other side of the water, working their mischiefs on the continent; the Americans were all Protestants—seventy-five kinds, but living kindly toward each other, and each [begin page 356] willing to let the others save themselves according to their own notions. In this multitudinosity of sects was safety, though they did not know that. They policed each other, they kept each other out of mischief. Their disunion was union, but they did not know it. It was a priceless possession for them and for their country, but they did not suspect it. They were always and sincerely and earnestly praying that God would gather His people together in one united whole—overlooking the fact that that was the very thing which had happened in Catholic Europe with miserable consequences. We do not now know what they were, but we know they were of a character to breed fear and detestation in the breasts of the Protestants. The Americans hated Catholicism with a deep and strong hatred, and it was their hope and prayer that it would never grow to a position of strengthⒶalteration in the MS and influenceⒶalteration in the MS in their Republic. Alas for that gentle dream!

There. You have now looked out over fair America reposing in peace and contentmentⒶalteration in the MS in the shelter and protection of liberal and wholesome laws honestly administered by men chosen for their proved ability, education and purity, under Chief Magistrates illustrious for statesmanship, patriotismⒶalteration in the MS, high principle, unassailable integrity and dauntless moral courage—and you have seen what you have seen.

There is not a whisper in the air, not an omen in the sky—yet the Great Civilization is aboutⒶalteration in the MS to burst upon the drowsing world!

But whether from hell or from heaven, is matterⒶalteration in the MS for this history to determine.

Along through the early months of theⒶalteration in the MS first year of the Nineteenth century a host of extraordinary men were bornⒶalteration in the MS—the future supreme lords and masters of science, invention and finance, creators of the Great Civilization. At the time, and for years afterward, no man suspected that these mighty births had happened, and the drowsing world drowsed on undisturbed.

Then, twenty-five and thirty years later, these wonderful men rose [begin page 357] up in a body, and began their miracles; at the same time, another crop of their like appeared in the cradles; another crop was born a generation later;Ⓐalteration in the MS thenceforth to the end of the century and beyond, these relaysⒶalteration in the MS wrought day and night at the Great Civilization and perfected it.

In theⒶalteration in the MS first band we have PriestleyⒶemendation, Newton, LyellⒶalteration in the MS, Daguerre, Vanderbilt, Watts, Arkwright, Whitney, Herschel, Galileo, Bruno, LavoisierⒶalteration in the MS, Laplace, Goethe, Fulton, a numberⒶalteration in the MS of others; and in the second and thirdⒶalteration in the MS we have Adams, Hoe, Darwin, Lister, Thompson, Spencer, Morse, Field,Ⓐalteration in the MS Graham Bell, Bunsen, KirchhoffⒶemendation, Edison, Marconi, Ericson, McCormick, Kinski, Krupp, Maxim, Cramp, CarnegieⒶalteration in the MS, Rockefeller, Morgan, Franklin, Lubbock, Pasteur, Wells, and many, many othersⒶtextual note.

We are on firm ground, now; and we stand, not in a shredding and shifting fog of conjecture, with glimpses of clear history showing through the rifts, but in a flood of light. I shallⒶalteration in the MS draw mainly from the stores of fact garnered up in “Old Comrades,” and subordinately from histories saved from the raids of laterⒶalteration in the MS centuries; but in this latter case I shall use no fact until IⒶalteration in the MS have closelyⒶalteration in the MS examined it and satisfied myself of its authenticityⒶemendation.

The first of the mighty revolutionizers to step forth with his miracle was SirⒶalteration in the MS Izaac Walton. He discovered the law of the Attraction of GravitationⒶemendation, or the Gravitation of AttractionⒶemendation, which is the same thing. He had noticed that whenever he let a thing go, it fell. He was surprised, and could not think why it should do that, the air being unobstructed and nothing to hinder it from falling up the other way, if it liked. Then the question arose in his mind, Does it always fall in the one direction? He was a professional scientist, and a ruleⒶalteration in the MS of the guild was, that nothing must be taken on trust; therefore he did not announce his discovery but kept it secret and began a series of experiments to prove his hypothenuse. Hypothenuse, in the ancientⒶalteration in the MS tongue, was scientific and technical, and meant theory. He made and recorded more than two thousand experiments with all manner of ponderable bodies, and in no instance did one of them fall in any direction but straight down.

He then publicly announced his discovery, and found to his chagrin that others had noticed it before. He was coldly received, now, and [begin page 358] many turned from him and sought other excitements. For a time he was sad and discouraged, having now no way to earn his living. But one day when he was in the orchard he saw an apple fall, and at once this great thought burst into his mind: The fact that it falls downward always is not the important question at all, but what makes it do it?

It was the turning point of his fortunes. It afforded him business; he began to think it out, and soon had all he could do. The result of his grand meditations was, the conviction that the core at the centre of the earth was of the nature of a magnet,Ⓐalteration in the MS and irresistibly attracted all weighable bodies, whether light or heavy. Thus was discovered the stupendous law of the Attraction of Gravitation; and from the hour of its announcement the name of Izaac Walton was immortal. He received the Victoria CrossⒶemendation, and was made a director of the Bank of England and Superintendent of the Mint.

At first there was no particular use for the law, except as regards apples; but as the years rolled on, zealous experimenters applied it with constant success to wider and still wider and ever widening fields, until at last it became the supreme law of the land, and many wondered how they had ever done without it.

Next, it bridged the seas and became international; and next it bridged space and became inter-stellar. Tycho Bruno presentlyⒶalteration in the MS announced the discovery that the world was turning over. Why this was so, he was not able to discover. Then John Calvin Galileo applied the law of IzaacⒶalteration in the MS Walton and found it was because the moon was attracting it,Ⓐalteration in the MS and the sun standing still and helping. His great-great-Ⓐalteration in the MSgrandson was afterward burnt at the stake for this, when Our Mother's Church came into power, because it conflicted with the Eddygraphs, which maintain that the world stands still and the sun and moon revolve around it.

Presently astronomers began to think that sinceⒶalteration in the MS the law had the sun and the moon for subjects, maybe its authority extended to the stars as well. To many conservative persons this seemed to be carrying speculation to an extravagance, and they scoffed. Ah, they little dreamed of what was about to happen!

About this time a man by the name of Herschel was examining [begin page 359] some spectacle-glasses one day, with an eye to buying, and by accident he held one glass a few inches above another one and caught a glimpse of a fly through the two. He noticed that theⒶalteration in the MS fly lookedⒶalteration in the MS as big as a dog. He had made a wonderful and revolutionizing discovery, without knowing the name of it. It was the telescope. He constructedⒶalteration in the MS a number of these—some of them forty feet long and of great power—and they were distributed among the observatories. With his telescope he discovered the moons of Jupiter and Saturn,Ⓐalteration in the MS and a planet named Uranus—supposed to be, at anyⒶalteration in the MS rate, though it was too far away for him to determine its name with certainty. These were the first heavenly bodies, floatingⒶalteration in the MS in remotenesses beyond the reach of the naked eye, that a human being had ever seen sinceⒶalteration in the MS the creation of the world. The event made a gigantic sensation in the earth.Ⓐalteration in the MS One of the telescopes came into the hands of an astronomer named Leverrier,Ⓐalteration in the MS and he turned it upon one of his favorite stars, which was away off on the frontier of the heavens, and immediately saw that it was disturbed about something, for its motions were jerky and irregular—even scandalous, as he said. What could be the reason of this? At once he thought of Izaac Walton's law, and said to himself, It is another case of the attraction of gravitation; the star is being pulled and hauled this way and that by the powerful attraction of an invisible orb which is heavier and stronger than itselfⒶalteration in the MS—an orb which the eye of man has never yet seen. With no guide but the uneasyⒶalteration in the MS star's perturbations he weighed the invisible orb, calculated its orbit, found out its name—which was Neptune—determined its period and its gait, and ciphered out whereabouts it would be at 10.40 p.m., Monday three weeks; then he wrote another professional, who was in Germany and nearer the place and had a stronger telescope than his own, to point his barrel at the indicated spot on the indicated night at the specified hour, and he would find a new planet there! It turnedⒶalteration in the MS out exactly so, and that prodigious fact—the inter-stellar jurisdiction of Izaac Walton's law—was established on foundations as firm as Gibraltar's!

Gibraltar. We cannot now know what Gibraltar was, but we easily perceive from the nature of the sentence that to the ancients it conveyed the idea of a peculiarⒶalteration in the MS steadiness and solidity.

Before the world had had time to get its breath it was shaken to its [begin page 360] marrow with another amazing thing. The distance of a star had never been measured; to do itⒶtextual note had alwaysⒶalteration in the MS been considered a thing not possible. All of a sudden, now, this feat was accomplished, by a man named Bessel. He found that the stars were billions and billions of miles away, and that the light from some of them was centuries on its flightⒶalteration in the MS before it reached the earth.

The world was dazed by this stunning and swift series of surprises, shocks, assaults; before it could recover from one and get itsⒶemendation bearings, another was upon it. And the massed result—what was it? A strange thing, indeed. From the beginning of time the earth had been the one large and important and dignified and stationaryⒶalteration in the MS thing in the universe, and a little way beyondⒶalteration in the MS gunshot, just overhead, there was a sun the size of a barrel-head, a moonⒶalteration in the MS the size of a plate, and a sprinkle of mustard-seed stars—Ⓐalteration in the MSthe whole to furnish light and ornament; and now, in the twinkling of an eye there had been a mighty stampede and the proudⒶalteration in the MS globe was shrunk to a potatoⒶemendation lost in limitless vacancy, the sun was a colossus and millions of miles removed, the stars, now worlds of measureless size, were motes on the verge of shoreless space.

That is what had happenedⒶalteration in the MS. The lid had been taken off the universe, so to speak, there was vastness, emptiness, vacancy all around and everywhere, the snug cosiness was gone, the world was a homeless little vagrant, a bewildered littleⒶalteration in the MS orphan left out in the cold,Ⓐalteration in the MS a long way from any place and nowhere to go.

A change? A surprise? It is next to unimaginable. What should you sayⒶalteration in the MS would happen if prisoners born and reared in the stench and gloom of a dungeon suddenly found their den shaken down by an earthquake some day, and themselves spilt out into a far-stretching paradise of brilliant flowers, and limpid streams, and summer-clad forests, set in a frame of mountains steeped in a dreamy haze,—aⒶalteration in the MS paradise which is a wonder and a miracle to theirⒶtextual note eager and ignorant eyes, a paradise whoseⒶalteration in the MS spiced airs bring refreshment and delight to their astonished nostrils, and whose prodigal sunlight pours balm and healing upon their sick souls, so long shut up in a smother of darkness?

No doubt they would say, They who told us there was nothing but the dungeon deceived us; we perceive that there was more than that and better than that; if there is still more to see and enjoy, beyond these wide horizons, point the way—lead on, and we will follow.

The guides were ready, and each in his turn they fell in at the head of the column and led it a day's march toward the shining far summits of the Great Civilization.

First came Priestley. He discovered oxygen. By diligent and patient prying and experiment he found out that a fifth part of the air was oxygen; that half of the earth's crust and of prettyⒶalteration in the MS much everything on it wasⒶalteration in the MS oxygen; and that eight-ninths of the ocean's weight was oxygen. He proved that if we remove the oxygen from the air, nothing is left but poison. First he proved it upon insects, then upon mice, then upon rats, then upon cats, then upon dogs and calves, and on up and up to the ignanodon, the giant saurians and the megatherium—for this was the scientific method. The scientist never allowed himself to be sure he could kill a man with a demonstration until he had followed the life-procession all the way up to that summit without an accident; he was then ready for man, and confident. When Priestley finallyⒶalteration in the MS arrived at the summit, with his chain of dead behind him and not a link missing, he offered to persuade man. Every facility was furnished him, and the worldⒶalteration in the MS of science looked on with profound interest. The experiment was conducted under the auspices of the Smithsonian InstituteⒶalteration in the MS, one of the foremost scientific bodies of the time. One hundred and forty-five men and one woman were confined in a room eighteen feet square called the Black Hole of Calcutta, with the air passages stopped up. Priestley said that in seven hours their breathing would exhaust the oxygen in the air, and that then they would all die. He was right, and thus the fact was established that the life-principle of atmospheric air was oxygen.Ⓐalteration in the MS The results were incalculably beneficent. From that date the law commanded that every man should have 144 cubic feet of air to sleep in, even if he must reside on a bench in the parkⒶalteration in the MS to get it, anything short of 144 being unwholesome and a peril to the man's health and the public's; from that date, by compulsion of the law, the herding of human beings togetherⒶalteration in the MS in deadly little coops and cells ceased, except among the poor.

To prove that oxygen constitutes one half of the earth's crust, Priestley extracted the oxygen from a ten-acre lot and reduced it to five. The land belonged to another person. This person reproached Priestley for not having chosen property of his own for the costlyⒶalteration in the MS experiment, but Priestley defended his act upon the argument that to choose his own would have been against nature, whereas to choose another man's was quite natural; indeed, inevitable. Thus dimly, gropingly, almost unconsciously, was delivered to an unperceiving and unsuspecting world the rudimentary idea of a mighty law—the law of Natural Selection! By and by it was to be re-discovered and patiently worked out by another man, whose labors would make it a benefaction to men, and upon whose name it would confer immortality.

But for the Bishop—who was present at the time—poor Priestley's connection with that illustrious law would have been unrecorded, and wouldⒶalteration in the MS presently have passed outⒶalteration in the MS of man's memory and been forgotten.

Yet Priestley could have suffered that loss and still have remained rich in achievement. Perhaps the most far-reaching and revolutionary of all his contributions to science was his discovery that without oxygen there is no combustion. He proved that you cannot set fire to anything unless oxygen be present with its help. ThisⒶalteration in the MS revelation created a world-wide excitement and apprehension, and this was natural, for it compelled the inference that the earth's life was in danger. The presence of oxygen being universal, in combination with the rocks, the plants, the earths, the airⒶalteration in the MS, the ocean, necessarily the opportunity for conflagration and annihilation was also always present. Priestley was assailed from all sides by the terrified human race, and required to give security for the globe or stop meddling with it. He was in great danger for a time, but got out of it by explaining—at least asserting—that the consuming of the globe was already going on, and hadⒶalteration in the MS been going on from the beginning; not by visible fire, but by the slow processes of decay and disintegration—fire, just the same, but not quick fire. He assured the people that there was no immediate danger. The world breathed freer, but was still disturbed. People said that these processes must gradually and ruinously shrinkⒶalteration in the MS the world's bulk, in time reducing empires to small States, States to counties, counties to townships, and by and by there would be standing room only, and not [begin page 363] enough of that. Priestley was asked if this was so, and he was obliged to concede that in his opinion it was. He was now the object of universal execration, and the enraged peopleⒶalteration in the MS resolved that the inventor of combustion should feel in his own person the consequences of his crime—as they regarded it. In this spirit they burned his house. They then drove him into exile.

It was now that Lavoisier moved to the head of the column and saved the earth. He had long been meditating upon the vexed subject of Lost Particles, and endeavoring to find out what became of them. When a boy he had gone North with the Geodetic Survey, and had helped to measure a meridian of longitude. He still had the figures by him, and now a fortunate idea was born to him. Without revealing his purpose, he now, in his age, went North and measured the same meridian again. To his unspeakable joy it measured the same length as before, to a quarter of an inch!

This could mean but one thing—in sixty years the globe had not lost a dust-particle of its bulk. The fact stood proved that Matter was eternal and indestructible; it could change its position, it could change its form, but it could not perish; every atom that was in the world at the Creation was still in it, not a new one had been added nor an old one lost. The globe was saved!

But he kept his secret; for he was a true scientist, and the true scientist proves his hypothenuse down to the last minute detail concerned in it or affected by it, before he is utterly convinced; and not until then can heⒶalteration in the MS be moved to proclaim his discovery. Lavoisier now introduced the scales into the workshop of science—an epoch-making departure from the old methods, and big with memorable results!Ⓐalteration in the MS That little, little man, with his matchbox and his scales—ah, he was a portent! He went stealthily about, burning and weighing, weighing and burning, and always he kept his secret and bided his time. If anyone left a pair of socks in his way he weighed them, then burnt them, then weighed the ashes and set down the figures in his book; the same with a chair, the same with a hat, the same with an umbrella, the same with a loaf, with a ham, with a picture, a bone, a note of hand, a government bond; whatever he found unwatched, he weighed it, burnt it, weighed it again, and set down the figures. And so he proved at last, and beyond [begin page 364] cavil, that the differenceⒶalteration in the MS betweenⒶalteration in the MS the weight of a thing before itⒶalteration in the MS is burnt and the weight of what remains of it after the burning exactlyⒶalteration in the MS represents the weight of the oxygen that has been set free. Set free, but not lost. It entered into the growing corn, the flower, the child, the passing dog, and became a part of it and a renewer of its decaying fibre and substance. Nothing deterred him in his mad zeal for science; whenⒶalteration in the MS he could not find other people's things to burn, he burnt his own; though this did not degenerate into a habit. He was often invited to leave localitiesⒶalteration in the MS, he being regarded in some sense as a burden; and this he did, without complaint or show of resentment, but only taking such things as were handy and necessary, and moving on.

He proved that the rains, the dews, the fogs,Ⓐalteration in the MS the hail, the snow,Ⓐalteration in the MS come from the ocean, the lakes and the rivers by evaporation, and that they are condensed in the upper air and returned whence they came, their bulk undiminished,Ⓐemendation their weight uncurtailed, and that they keep up this industry throughout the ages, gaining nothing, losing nothing. He proved that solids repeated the same history year after year, age after age: decaying, perishing, disappearing, only to return again in other forms—the vanished sheep as part of a hog, part of a tree, part of a deer, part of a cat, part of a fish, part of a king, part of a million things and creatures—but never an atom lost. He maintained that a heretic burnt was but a heretic distributed, and that every time Rome burnt one his released particles went to the making of a hundred Christians. Rome was willing to try it, but he escaped back to America, which was his native land.

It had always been supposed, up toⒶtextual note Herschel's time, that the stars were goldenⒶalteration in the MS nails in the floor of heaven, and were there primarily to hold the floor together, and incidentally to help the sun and moon light-up the earth, and thus save expense; but the telescope showed that those shining bodies were not nails but prodigious worlds, and their obedience to the lawⒶemendation of Gravitation proved that they were not of the furniture of heaven but of the family and kinship of the earth. A finer quality of creature, no doubt, but still kinsmen,Ⓐalteration in the MS in some subtle spiritual way, of the humble globe. The announcement gave universal satisfaction, and was indeed epoch-marking in its effect upon man's self-esteem, which it raised by many degrees, banishing from his char- [begin page 365] acter such remnants of humility as lingered in it, and causing him to carry himself with the air and aspect of a godling. He felt as a peasant feels who has found out that he belongs to the royal family.

At this pregnant moment appearedⒶalteration in the MS Kirchhoff and Bunsen and completed his contentment; for they proved that some of the materials employed in the construction of those grand orbs were identical with certain of the materials which form a part of our world's body, thus establishing actual blood-kinshipⒶalteration in the MS between them and us, on top of the spiritual relationship already discovered through the operation of Sir IzaacⒶtextual note Ⓐemendation Walton's law. In honor of this event, salutes were fired in all the principal cities, followed by fireworks at night. Bunsen and Kirchhoff's achievement was the outcome of an invention of theirs called the spectroscope, which resolved rays of light into the several colorsⒶalteration in the MS of which they were originally composed. It was found that these colors got their tints from metals and earths existent in the bodies from whenceⒶalteration in the MS the rays proceeded. These men could snare a ray from any star, take it apart, analyse it by chemical methods, and tell what the star was made of. They found familiar minerals and gases in the stars, also things new and unfamiliar: hydrogen in Sirius and the nebula of Orion; in the sun, sodium and potassium, calcium and iron; also a quite new mineral which they called helium. This very mineral was afterwards found in the earth. It proved to be valuable. A company was then formed, called the Heavenly Trust,Ⓐalteration in the MS for the exploring of the skies for new products, and placed in the hands of an experienced explorer, Henry M. Stanley. It was granted monopolistic powers: whenever it discovered a new product in the skies it could claim and hold the like product when found in the earth, no matter who found it nor upon whose premises it was discovered. The parent company worked the Milky Way personallyⒶalteration in the MS, but subletⒶalteration in the MS the outlying constellations to minor companies on a royalty. The profits were prodigious, and in tenⒶalteration in the MS years the small group of original incorporators came to be described by a word which was as new as anything they had found in the stars—billionaires.

Thus was launched upon the world the first of the greatⒶalteration in the MS Trusts. The idea was to be imitated later and distributed far and wide—with memorable consequences to the human race.

Spectrum analysis enabled the astronomer to tell when a star was [begin page 366] advancing head on, and when it was going the other way. This was regarded as very precious. Why the astronomer wanted to know, is not stated; nor what he could sell out for, when he did know. An astronomer's notions about preciousness were loose. They were not much regarded by practical men, and seldom excited a broker.

The great services of KirchhoffⒶemendation and Bunsen were frankly recognized, and they were elected to the legislature.

Meantime an obscure worker by the name of Dagger, or Dugger, or Daguerre, a citizen ofⒶtextual note Salem, Massachusetts, had been for some time privately developing a new and startling idea—the sun-picture—destined to be another revolutionizerⒶemendation. One day he was looking at himself in a bright square of tin-plate, and he noticed that the portrait displayed in it was exact, and beautifully soft and rich. He was charmed with his discovery, and sent and had the plate framed at once. But when it came back the portrait was gone. He was profoundly astonished, also troubled and frightened. As was natural in those days, he attributed the strange disappearance of the portrait to witchcraft. It was a carpenter who had made the frame, a man whose reputation had been under a cloud for some years, because of a suspicion that he had dealings with a familiar spirit in the form of a black cat. The suspicion was not without foundation, for he did possess a cat of that complexion, and many had seen it.

Dagger acted honorably in the matter, and with much charity. He did not denounce him to the authorities at once, but gave him twenty-four hours in which to restore the portrait, then he told the neighbors what he had done, and they told the Rev. Cotton Mather. A wide-spread consternation was the result and all the village clamored for the carpenter's life. He was put upon his trial the next day—a memorable episode, for it was the first of that series of Witch Trials which was to causeⒶalteration in the MS the hair of Europe to standⒶalteration in the MS Ⓐemendation up with horror and its mouth to discharge Vesuvian eruptionsⒶemendation of execration and malediction upon the American name—a natural thing, for Europe had been burning witches byⒶalteration in the MS the million for eight hundred years and knew how to feel about it when another country got itself tarred with that stick.

On the trial the carpenter proclaimed his innocence humbly and with seeming sincerity, and his old wife sat at his side with her with- [begin page 367] ered hand in his and pleaded for the court's mercy with moving tears and lamentations. The carpenter offered to prove that the tin plate would produce anyone's portrait without a wizard's help, and that without a wizard's help it would vanish again; and he begged the court and the people to make the test; whereat they all shuddered and refused, and reviled him for the horrid suggestion. He begged Dagger to be merciful and make the trial, but Dagger also was afraid and turned pale at the idea. Then, in his despair the prisoner made the test himself. He looked in the plate—there was his portrait; he removed the plate from before his face, and it was blank.

This was fatal. His jugglery stood proved. Many fled from the place in a frenzy of fright; and the court, with quaking voice and in great excitement, condemned the accused to immediate death by the awful torture called the peine fort et dure.

The sentence was carried out; from that moment Salem was mad. Trial after trial followed; children, servants, idiots became accusers and witnesses; one frail old creature after another was charged with witchcraft, and under the piteous spell of confusion and terror cast by the desertion of family and friends and the cursesⒶalteration in the MS and black looks of the community their poor intellects went to ruin and they confessed whatever fatalⒶalteration in the MS thing they were told to confess; and so, went to the scaffold and perished thereⒶalteration in the MS, glad of the refugeⒶemendation and peace of the friendly grave. To the number of nineteen poor souls.

But when the accusers began to hale the rich and the high and the influential to court, along with their black cats—ah, that was another matter! It was time to call a halt, and the halt was promptly called, and effectually. The Witch Madness was at an end, to be revived no more.

When Dagger's mind got straightened out and adjusted by and by, he began on his idea once more. By setting up tin plates in his back yard, and watching them from points out of range, he saw dogs and chickens produce their portraits and retire in safety, leaving no image behind. This went near to convincing him that the appearances and disappearances were in some mysterious way natural, and that they were also harmless. He then boldly made the test upon his wife's mother, whomⒶalteration in the MS he did not need, and who was not aware of what he was do- [begin page 368] ing , she being asleep, and the result was both disappointing and gratifying. After this he proceeded with the development of his great idea with confidence and courage. In the course of his experiments he discovered that by coating his plates with nitrate of silver the mirrored images would stay if he subjected them to a Turkish bath and then covered them with a protecting skin of collodion.

He took out a patent, went on the road, and soon made his tin-types lucrative and famous. He made canvas screens, and painted palatial balustrades on them, with flowering vines clambering about them; also lake scenes, with a sure-enough boat for farmers to sit in in sailor clothes and hold the tiller; also military parade grounds, with a fluted short pillar for the militia-man to stand by in his soldier clothesⒶemendation, or the village fireman to stand by and rest his helmet upon, with trumpet in one hand and spanner in the other;Ⓐalteration in the MS alsoⒶalteration in the MS Niagara Falls, for groupsⒶalteration in the MS to pose against and look pleasantⒶtextual note ten minutes while the camera labored. For balustrade scene he charged two dollars; for sailor in boat, and for militia or fireman, two and a half; for Niagara groups, five; for family, with poppa and momma in the middle and arms about waists,—Ⓐalteration in the MSthree dollars; with gold chains and rings manufactured out of brass-dust stuck on with white of an egg, three and a half; for sweethearts holding hands and looking sick and happy—plain, three dollars; with painted clothes and red cheeks, and conferred jewelry, price raised to the limit of probable competence.

Next came the grand development—paper photographs, printed by the thousand from the one form; next, the still grander development—the electrical instantaneous picture, which produced the surprising discovery that when a horse is in motion his limbs jumble themselves ungracefully up as do the legs of a spider who isⒶtextual note frizzling in a candle-flame; next, the most amazing development of all—the living picture: all life, all motion exactly and vividly reproduced on a screen before the spectator's eyes. All natural forces being now expended, Dugger invaded the domain of the supernatural, now, and scored an actual miracle: by help of the telescope he photographed stars which were so far away in the fathomlessⒶalteration in the MS deeps of space that even the telescope could not see them!

He was now requested to resign. This was just and proper, for he had [begin page 369] already privately gone yetⒶalteration in the MS one otherⒶalteration in the MS step beyond the jurisdiction ofⒶalteration in the MS international law and was beginning to photograph the wandering spirits of the departed and trying to collect from them.

The effects of these giant discoveries were in evidence everywhere; the atmosphere of the whole world was electric with them, the Nineteenth century was full of growing-pains, its every nerve was tingling with strange new sensations, all its muscles were straining under the tug of new and resistless forces. The nations reeled and staggered under the enthusingⒶalteration in the MS wine of new and noble ideas and ideals in philosophy, politics and religion conveyed to their thirsting lips by great men with great missions who rose up in every landⒶalteration in the MS and flooded the dark places with gracious light far-flung from their luminous minds.

With a clarion cry for liberty, equality and fraternity the French Revolution burst out and swept away the regal tyrannies of a thousand years and replaced them with the austere tranquillities of the Bartholomew Massacre and the Reign of Terror; the HuguenotsⒶemendation and the emigrésⒶemendation were hunted to their lairs and slaughtered, and piteous were the tales written downⒶalteration in the MS of treacheries, privations, and dangers experiencedⒶalteration in the MS by diarists who escaped. Rank was not a protection, but a peril; HenriⒶalteration in the MS IV was stabbed to death by Coligni on the altar-steps of Canterbury Cathedral; Coligni was shot by Charles IX from a window of the Louvre; Charles was guillotined by Louis XVI; Louis was assassinated by the Duke de Guise; the Duke was beheaded by Marat; Marat was butchered in the bath-tub the first time he was ever there, by Charlotte Corday, who was his own mother, but was deceived by his resemblance to Mirabeau; Charlotte Corday was burned at the stake for delivering France, but was afterwards canonized by the Pope for raising the siege of Orleans in the Hundred Years' War. Thus ended the French Revolution, but the turmoil continued in other oppressed countries until they also, like France, hadⒶalteration in the MS conquered their liberties and turned the sword of war into the pruning hook of peace. [begin page 370] The expression is the Bishop's, and he does not explain it. A pruning hook was probably an implement of agriculture, and may have been the same whichⒶalteration in the MS in another place he calls a shepherd's hook and says it was to catch sheep with.

Meantime Martin Luther had appeared upon the horizon—a stately figure, a mighty personality, and destined to begin a great work. He reformed religion and for this his name became an honored one and illustrious in all lands; but he was the beginner of a still greater work, although he died ignorant ofⒶalteration in the MS the importance which that work was to attain to in the world. He was the Father of Geology. One day he found a fossil animal; it was sticking out of a precipice. He brought it home and studied it. He could not make out how it had come to be where he had found it. It could not have entered the rock precipice by any force of its own weak body; therefore a supernatural force must have put it there. He reasoned that that force was God—no other was competent. Why did God put it there? There must have been a purpose; what was that purpose? LutherⒶalteration in the MS reasoned that it could have been a model, used in creating the animals of its kind, then concealed in the rock in order that it might be used again in case of need. If this theory was the right one, there would be other models in the cliff, storedⒶalteration in the MS there after they had served as patternsⒶalteration in the MS to make the various other creatures by. He looked—and found them. TheⒶalteration in the MS correctness of his theory was thus established to his satisfaction.

WithⒶalteration in the MS devout joy and gratitude he proclaimed his great discovery, and it aroused the interest of all; particularly that of the undergraduates of the University. They neglected their studies to help him find models. They never found any when he was by, but they found many when he was absent; and theirs were better than his. His were often only skeletons, often merely portions of such; whereas theirs were the animalⒶalteration in the MS complete: plump and shapely and beautiful cows no more than three inches high; little elephants, dogs, cats, monkeys, alligators, horses, chickens, crows, eagles, trout, salmon, turtles, all drawn to scale, all in the proper proportions according to the scale, all made out of well baked clay, with a vitreous glaze to protect themⒶalteration in the MS from the tooth of time.

The world was excited and entranced, Luther no less. He made [begin page 371] beautiful drawings of the animals as fast as they arrived, and had them engraved on steel to illustrate the great book he was writing about the matter. He issued the first volume, with steel reproductions of two hundred breeds of creatures, and was beginning on the next volume, when the zeal of the undergraduates carried them over the frontiers of discretion and they made a mistake.Ⓐalteration in the MS Their grandest discovery—which wasⒶalteration in the MS Man—hadⒶalteration in the MS made such a stupendous sensation in the world that it tempted them beyond their strength and they went ahead and discovered Woman.

A dampⒶalteration in the MS chill fell suddenly upon Luther's enthusiasm. Out of six hundred models captured and classified, this was the first female one. The fact was sodden with solemnity, pregnant with grave suggestion. There was no blinking the seriousness of the situation. The mathematics of the case figuredⒶalteration in the MS thus—and they did not whisper, butⒶalteration in the MS shouted: the chances stood 600 to 1 that female models had never been employed at allⒶalteration in the MS. The almost unavoidable inference deducible from these formidable figures was, that the females of the animal world had not been built from specialⒶalteration in the MS models, but generalized from the male models—Ⓐemendationa procedure eminentlyⒶalteration in the MS calculated to render them liable to those strange and multifariousⒶalteration in the MS defects of construction which had been observable in them from the beginning of time butⒶalteration in the MS which had persistently remained unaccounted for until now.Ⓐalteration in the MS Ⓐtextual note This argument was strongly reinforced by the fact that the females of all species are not only physically but mentally inferiorⒶalteration in the MS to the males, a truth conceded by every masculine person, and by the Bibles of all nations and creeds, without exception. Moreover several of the Bibles of best repute stated that the First Woman wasⒶalteration in the MS made out of a bone extracted from the First Man—with no mention of a model: fair presumptiveⒶalteration in the MS evidence that none was used; whereas the ManⒶalteration in the MS was made from a model, a model of baked clay,Ⓐalteration in the MS and moreover—this was a crusher, a demolisher!—when the Man was finished his model had ceased to existⒶalteration in the MS as a model, for it was Man, with the breath of life blown into it.

Now, therefore, whence came this baked miniature model of the First Man, fetched by the undergraduates, and reverently employed as a paper-weight by Luther these many weeks?

The students were in evil case, their situation was fraught with [begin page 372] danger; for they had fallen under grave suspicion, a suspicion which gathered force and currency day by day, bringing them cold looks at first, then more or less frank avoidance, then “not at homes” where they called, then open snubs on the street, then cessation of invitations to balls and parties, then curt notes from daughtered fathers and mothers desiringⒶalteration in the MS a discontinuance of their calls; thenⒶalteration in the MS utter ostracism from all society, high and low, withⒶalteration in the MS insolence and insultⒶalteration in the MS from mechanics and servants, sometimes accompanied by blows. Then at lastⒶalteration in the MS the beer cellars were closed against them.

So young they were, poor lads, to knowⒶalteration in the MS the anguish of death in life—to be flesh-clothed wandering spectres—to move among the living, yet be not of them! When the court assembled for their trial, it had been long monthsⒶalteration in the MS since they had amused their play-hours with planning gay and humorous ingenuities of defence—oh, that bright time seemed ages in the past! They had no smiles, now, no heart for anything, no care for what might befal.

The charge was read out to them: ProfaneⒶalteration in the MS conspiracy to improve on the plans of God. Without any word of defence, or plea of extenuatingⒶalteration in the MS circumstances, they confessed their guilt. In answer to questions, their story came out. In brief, it was to the following effect.

In theⒶalteration in the MS beginning they had acted quite innocentlyⒶalteration in the MS. They were stirred and interested by Luther's enthusiasm and by the marvelous and imagination-kindling nature of his theories concerningⒶalteration in the MS the origin of the strangely-placed bones, and they were eagerⒶalteration in the MS and anxious to help him in his sublime work and be in a humble way sharers in the glory which would come of it for him and for the Fatherland, they believing unquestioningly in his wisdom and knowledge and not doubting that the results would prove their trust well placed. They found bones and brought them to him; he praised their zeal, and these praises from the great man made them proud and happy, and intoxicatedⒶalteration in the MS them with desire to win to higher and still higher places in his favor and regardⒶalteration in the MS.

But presently the bones began to fail, and next they gave out. He was saddened by this. They were touched, and wished they could do something that mightⒶalteration in the MS bring back his smile again and the vanished gladness to his heart. And so, withⒶalteration in the MS the best intentions, they tried to manufacture bones. But this failed; it was an art above their ignorance; the things they made lacked many of the aspects of nature. Their [begin page 373] patron grew more and more despondent.Ⓐalteration in the MS They could not bear to see his sorrow; they could not sleep for trying to think of ways to relieve it.

Then, one day, among the toys in a shop window they came uponⒶalteration in the MS a small brown-painted and black-spottedⒶalteration in the MS clay dog, of accurate shape and just proportions, exceedingly life-like and natural, the head cunningly canted to one side, one ear hanging, the other archly cocked,Ⓐalteration in the MS the eyes alight with mischief. They felt a hope, and one said—

“Would he accept it? Would he, do you think?”

But another said—and sighed—

“Ah, if it were bones!”

They realized that it was not up to standard; still they tarried—thinking, thinking. They could not tear themselves away. Finally one said—

“We might try. Might we not try?”

Another said, reluctantly—

“I believe he would not take a whole dog. He has not had the whole of anything, yet.”

They still remained, and still gazed, lost in thinkings. At length one said—

“If we broke it?—If we brought him part of it?—”

They considered.Ⓐalteration in the MS Then gave it up, saying—

“No, the new break would show.”

After a little, one had a fortunate idea, and said—

“We need not find it. Let him find it himself, and then if doubts and questionings arise in his—”

“That is the thing! that is the very thing!” they cried out in one voice, and were going to race in andⒶalteration in the MS buy the dog; but one put out a hand and stayed them, saying—

“Wait, it will not do. How long must this dog have lain since he wasⒶalteration in the MS created?”

“Six thousand years.”

“He is painted. PaintⒶalteration in the MS would not last so long.”

That was true, asⒶalteration in the MS they all perceived. And one said—

“Even if he were washed he would not do. He would not last six thousand years without a hard strong protecting glaze.”

It was then that the clouds passed and they knew what to do. They [begin page 374] got the address of the house and place where the dog was made, and one of their number traveledⒶalteration in the MS that long journey to a far country, the others sparingⒶalteration in the MS of their scant means to provide the cost, and making the sacrifice without murmur or repining, out of the loyal love they bore their patron and the pity they had for him in his griefⒶalteration in the MS over his suspended triumphs and his diminished prosperities.

When the glazed dog was come they sought a good holeⒶalteration in the MS in the precipice and banked it inⒶalteration in the MS there with dry earth, with only the tip of its nose exposed. Then they joined theirⒶalteration in the MS patron daily in his search, and led him by the place, then back again, then forward again, trying always by furtive devices to get him to see the dog, yet without avail. But at last he found the creature, just as they in their despair were thinking of advertising it, a cost which they could ill afford. They had noble reward for all their hard work and kindly pains, for he burst into raptures and tears of joy, which moved them so that they were resolved that he should not suffer again as he had suffered before,Ⓐalteration in the MS if any sacrifice of time and labor and money on their part could save him from it. And they had a right to be proud and happy, for he saidⒶalteration in the MS this dog was worth a thousand skeletons, for it was the original model of the primal dog of Creation and beyond estimation precious.

They then arranged with the factory and imported models as needed, ordering them by letter, and having the animals properly sized-up to a standard and builtⒶalteration in the MS to agree with it, a horse longer than a cow, a cow longer than a bear, and so on. Thus were made and furnished all the animals of the earth, the air and the water thatⒶalteration in the MS they were acquainted with or could find pictures of. Then they were troubled as to what to do now. In talksⒶalteration in the MS with their patron they threw out cautious feelers, and when he mentioned a fresh animal and wished he had it, they showed such a flattering interest that he found highⒶalteration in the MS pleasure in telling them all about it and in drawing a picture of it. In two or three weeks they alwaysⒶalteration in the MS found it for himⒶalteration in the MS and fetched it.

By and by he ran out. Ran out of creatures he actually knew about; so then he began to tell about dragons and sea serpents and various kinds of devil-animals and hideous monstersⒶalteration in the MS which lived in far countries and wereⒶalteration in the MS known to him by reportⒶalteration in the MS and tradition only; but as he did not know their sizes nor shapes nor indeed any definite thing [begin page 375] about them, they offered no difficulties for the undergraduates and were not an embarrassment; more, they were an inspiration and a joy. The boys threw all their talents, all their young and flaming energies and ambitionsⒶalteration in the MS into these things, and loaded up the museum with a fiendishⒶalteration in the MS menagerie of grinning, rearing, wild-eyed, beclawed and spike-tailed horrors that gave everybody the dry gripes that even so much as glanced at them—except the patron, whoⒶalteration in the MS adored them, and labeled them with names to lock the jaw and break the ten commandments.

And still there was no rest for the weary. In theⒶalteration in the MS fulness of time the boys had bankrupted invention, their imaginations had gone dry,Ⓐalteration in the MS not another fiend could they contrive. The professor was a-hungerⒶalteration in the MS for more, he put on the pressure, put it on heavier and heavier; they did not know what to do nor where to turn.

It was then that they hit upon the great idea of finding the original working model of Man. That mighty find filled the whole world with thunders of jubilation and applause. Luther walked on the clouds, in the worshiping sight of the universe, his boys became illustrious in a day, so to speak. They lost their heads, and did that fatal, fatal thing—they found Woman. And through her they fell.

Such was their story; and some there were in thatⒶalteration in the MS hard assemblage that were touched by it; touched by its heedless and boyish but prodigal andⒶalteration in the MS whole-hearted generosities and untrumpeted sacrifices, and sorry for the poor lads as they sat there friendless and forsakenⒶalteration in the MS. But JudgeⒶalteration in the MS Jeffries was not of these. As sternly as in other days he had gloomedⒶalteration in the MS above the Bloody Assize, distributing death amongⒶalteration in the MS Wat Tyler's raggedⒶalteration in the MS ruck and rabble, so gloomed he now above these erringⒶalteration in the MS youths; and in tones wherein was no accent of compassion or regret he pronounced their doom—

“Death by the hand of the common headsman, confiscation of your goods, banishment of all whom you hold dear throughⒶalteration in the MS ties of blood, obliteration of the familyⒶalteration in the MS name from the registry of the church and of the commune!”

Companioned with Martin Luther's great soul was as great a heart, made all of gentleness and compassion. What he so finely said of Goethe he could with truth have said of himself: “His heart, which his friends knew, was as great as his intellect, which all the world [begin page 376] knew.”Ⓐalteration in the MS He was far away, at Rome,Ⓐalteration in the MS defending John Calvin from the wanton charge of nonconformity,Ⓐalteration in the MS but as soon as he heard of the sentence he left Servetus to protect Calvin and hastened to Canossa, where the Emperor Henry IV was visiting the Pope on a matterⒶtextual note of urgency; the Emperor yielded to the enchantments of anⒶalteration in the MS eloquence which had never been voiced in a bad cause and had never failed in a good one, and Luther carried with him thence pardon for the lads and rehabilitation of their fortunes and their namesⒶalteration in the MS.

But he suppressed his book.

The “model” theory fell with the book. But no matter, the first step in GeologyⒶalteration in the MS had been taken, notwithstanding; for, with the models gone, the fossil skeletons found by Luther still remained, and these could not be flung out of court. They were demonstrably genuine. They must be accounted for. Of one thing there was no doubt, no question, to-wit: all the animals were created in a single day, and all the rocks were created in another single day of the same week. Also, the rocks were made before the animals; then how did the animals get into the rocks?Ⓐalteration in the MS The creatures were too soft, they could not bore their way into the rocks—yet there they were. And not only there, but turned to stone. In a single day?Ⓐalteration in the MS

For a time the problem was difficult. But the science of the day presently solved it. It decided that “these fossils were created already dead and petrified.”

That settled it. For a while; indeed for a good while. Then the question came up, What was that for? This question was a natural product of a well known fact, to-wit: that in the world nothing was made in vain that was made. Therefore the petrified fossils had been made for a purpose, there was a business reason for their invention. What was that reason;Ⓐalteration in the MS what useful function were they intended to perform? There was worry again, and unrest. Many teeth were injured in trying to crack the new nut. No one was able to furnish a tranquiliz- [begin page 377] ing answer. Then the Church did it. She burnt an inquirer or two, and invited further and free investigation into “reasons and purposes which were no man's affair.” There were no takers.

By and by, afterⒶalteration in the MS a sleep, the matter was to stir again, when some inquiries into other things, not at first supposed to be related to it, should prepare the way. People had always believed that the world had been made right in the first place and had never been altered, except now and then by explosions and earthquakes sent as judgments upon people for misconduct, or as warnings to them to behave; and they believed that the oyster shells on the mountain tops had been left there by the DelugeⒶalteration in the MS. But by and by Lyell pointed out that the world was undergoing slow and steady and hardly noticeable changes all the time; and he claimedⒶalteration in the MS that whileⒶalteration in the MS some of the changes were certainly and manifestly prodigious, none were unachievable by the slow processes observedⒶalteration in the MS and proven, if a sufficiency of time for their work be conceded them—say some millions of years instead of six thousand.

It was then that the fossils got a new chance. It was found that the earth's crust consisted of distinctⒶalteration in the MS layers, one on top of another; that in the bottomⒶalteration in the MS layers were no fossils; that in the next layers above, were the fossils ofⒶalteration in the MS primitive and poorly contrived and inconsequential animals and plants; that in the succeedingⒶalteration in the MS layers, theseⒶalteration in the MS developed improvements; and so on, up and up, each layer improving the breeds, and now and then dropping one out of the scheme and leavingⒶalteration in the MS it extinct, like the dodo and the moa, the pterodactyl and the mastodon;Ⓐalteration in the MS until finally the surface is reached and we have an immense and highly organized fauna and flora; and then,Ⓐalteration in the MS belated ManⒶemendation appears.

That arrangement was lucid and satisfactory, and Geology had come to stay.

It was notⒶalteration in the MS recognized at first that the plants and animals of each layer were descendants of those of the preceding layers; that wasⒶalteration in the MS noticed later. It made immediate trouble, for it threatened the doctrineⒶalteration in the MS of “special creations.” Then DarwinⒶalteration in the MS studied the matter all out and found that there hadn't been any special creations. He found that the original investment had been only a microscopic germ, and that that had developed into a gnat, the gnat into a mosquito, the mosquito into a housefly, the housefly into a horsefly, the horsefly into a bug, the [begin page 378] bug into a ratⒶemendation, the rat into a cat, the cat into a dog, the dog into a raccoon, the raccoon into a kangaroo, the kangaroo into a monkey, the monkey into a man, who in time would develop into an angel and go up and wear a halo.

He was asked to resign. But no matter, he had settled the business,Ⓐalteration in the MS and it had to be accepted, there being no way to get around it.

All this happened just in time to powerfully reinforce Herbert Spencer, who was introducing his wonderful all-clarifyingⒶalteration in the MS law of Evolution, a law which he claimedⒶalteration in the MS was in force throughout the universeⒶalteration in the MS, and proved thatⒶalteration in the MS the never-resting operation of itsⒶalteration in the MS authority was exhibited in the history of the plants, the animals, the mountains, the seas, the constellations,Ⓐalteration in the MS the rise andⒶalteration in the MS development of systemsⒶalteration in the MS of morals, religions, governmentⒶalteration in the MS, policies, principles, civilizations: the all-supreme and resistless law which decrees slow, sure, implacable, persistent,Ⓐalteration in the MS unresting change, change, change, in all things, mental, moral, physical, out of one formⒶalteration in the MS into another, out of one quality and condition into another, shade by shade, step by step, never halting, never tiring, all the universe ranked and battalioned inⒶalteration in the MS the march, and the march eternal!

Oh, then they saw! even the stupidest perceived and understood. Evolution is a blind giant who rolls a snowball down a hill. The ball is made of flakes—circumstances. They contribute to the mass without knowing it. They adhere without intention, and without foreseeing what is to result. When they see the result they marvel at the monster ball and wonderⒶalteration in the MS how the contriving of it came to be originally thought outⒶalteration in the MS and planned. Whereas there was no such planning, there was only a law: the ballⒶalteration in the MS once started, all the circumstances that happened to lie in its path would help to build it, in spite of themselves.

The ball of the Great Civilization was well under way, in these days, and plowing along; and flake by flake it grew in bulk and majesty.Ⓐalteration in the MS Priestley contributed oxygen, Sir Izaac contributed Gravitation, Lavoisier contributed the Indestructibility of Matter, Herschel removed the speckled tent-roof from the world and exposed the immeasurable deepsⒶalteration in the MS of space, dim-fleckedⒶalteration in the MS with fleets of colossal suns sailing their billion-leagued remotenesses, Kirchhoff and Bunsen contributed Stellar Chemistry, Luther and BuffonⒶalteration in the MS, CuvierⒶalteration in the MS and Linnaeus contributed the [begin page 379] Origins of Life, Lyell contributed Geology and spread the six days of Creation into shoreless aeons of time comparable to Herschel's limitless oceans of space, Darwin abolished special creations, contributed the Origin of Species and hitched all life together in one unbroken procession of Siamese Twins, the whole evolved by natural and orderly processes from one microscopic parent germ, Herbert Spencer contributed the climaxing mighty law of Evolution, binding all the universe's inertnesses and vitalities together under its sole sway and command—and the History of Things and the Meanings of them stood revealed!Ⓐalteration in the MS

Each of these contributions was a circumstance; every circumstance begets another one; every new thing that is done moves many many minds to take up that thing and examine it, expand it, improve it, add to it, exploit it, perfect it. Each result of each effort breedsⒶalteration in the MS other efforts of other minds, and the original idea goes onⒶalteration in the MS growing, spreading, ramifying, and by small and hardly noticed degrees changing conditions. And so the snowball adds circumstance after circumstance to its bulk and importance; no contributorⒶalteration in the MS is much concerned about anybody's labors and purposes but his own, none of them is intending a snowball, but a snowball will result in spite of individual indifference, and the outcome will be a changed and quite unforeseen condition of things. The tallow candle may remain the universal and satisfactory light for a thousand years; but the first man who invents and introduces a small improvement on that light has made the first step on a long, long road, though he doesn't suspectⒶemendation it—the road to the electric. Many will follow, each with his small contribution; the electric may be three centuries away, but the law of Evolution is at work, and it will be reached.

IndividualsⒶalteration in the MS do not project events, individuals do not make events; it is massed circumstances that make them. Men cannot order circumstances, men cannot foresee the form their accumulation will take nor forecast its magnitude and force. But often a bright man has at the right moment detected the bigness and power of an accumulation, and has mounted it and riddenⒶalteration in the MS to distinction and prosperity on its back and gotten the credit of creating it.

The vastⒶtextual note discoveries which have been listed above created an intellectual upheaval in the world such as had never been experienced in it before from the beginning of time, nor indeed anything even remotely resembling it. The effects resulting were wholly new. Men's minds were free, now; the chains of thought lay broken; for the first time in the history of the race, men were free to think their own thoughts instead of other people's, and utter their conclusions without peril to body or estate. This marked an epoch and a revolution; a revolution which was the first of its kind, a revolution which emancipated the mind and the soul.

It opened the gates and threw wide the road to a gigantic material revolution—also the first of its kind. The factors of it followed upon each other's heels with bewildering energy and swiftness, each a surprise and a marvel, and each in its turn breeding other surprises, other marvels, by the natural lawⒶalteration in the MS of EvolutionⒶemendation, automaticallyⒶalteration in the MS directedⒶalteration in the MS and executed by the forcesⒶalteration in the MS inherent in massed circumstances.

The fell way in which the plans and foreordainings of men go down before the change-making orderly march of the serried battalions of blind Circumstance is impressively exhibited in the history of some of these things. For instance, at a certain time wise men were prophesyingⒶemendation the early extinction of slavery in America, and were forecasting the very date, with confidence. And they had their reasons, which were logicallyⒶalteration in the MS sound and mathematically sure: for slavery had ceased to pay, in some States,Ⓐemendation and had disappeared; it had now ceased to pay in the other States and was disappearing; its death was manifestly close at hand. But a very small circumstance can damage plans and prophecies, and can follow this up by breeding a posterity of quite natural and inevitable assistant circumstances,Ⓐalteration in the MS family by family, each an added force, each a damager; and in time the accumulation bowls down all resistance, and plan and prophecy are routed and swept away.

In the case of AmericanⒶalteration in the MS slavery, the first circumstance that got in [begin page 381] the way of the plan and the prophecy was a small thing, and not noticed by any one. But it was a breeder, as time would show. It was Arkwright's spinning-frames, an English invention. Its function was to make clothing-fabrics out of cotton. But there was no business for it, because it could not make a profit upon its work, for two reasons: its driving-power was too expensive and raw cotton too scarce and costly.

Another circumstance intervened now: Watt improved the steam engine, greatly increasing its effectiveness and correspondingly diminishing the cost of its output of force. This saved Arkwright's machine, and it began to turn out its cloth at a profit and call for increasingly large invoices of raw material—which raised the priceⒶalteration in the MS of American cotton.

That raise was a circumstance which bred another. AmericaⒶalteration in the MS had longⒶalteration in the MS ago been turning her cotton fields into cornfields because cotton was unprofitable; it was profitable, now, and she resumed its culture. Slavery had long ago ceased to be profitable and was disappearing; it was profitable, now, and the disappearing process stopped. ButⒶalteration in the MS raw cotton was still too expensive, both for Arkwright's best prosperity and the planter's, because a slave could pick the seeds of only four pounds of cotton in a day.Ⓐalteration in the MS

Then the next circumstance arrived. Eli Whitney tried to invent a machine which would gin the cotton. He made one which would do fifty men's work, then a hundred, then the double of that,Ⓐalteration in the MS and Arkwright and the planter experienced a boom. Slavery got a new impulse; the slave's price rose higher and higher, the demand for him grew more and more pressing; men began to breed him for the market, other men (pirates under the law) began to kidnap him in Africa and smuggle him into the country. Whitney went on improving his machine and—

So many people stole his invention and manufactured it that another circumstance resulted—the enactment of a rational patent law —the first that had ever existed anywhere; and out of this grew a colossal thing, the stupendous material prosperity of the Nineteenth century!

At last Whitney pushed his machine up to such a degree of effectiveness that it could do the work of 2,000 men and—

Slavery was gratefully recognized by press, pulpit and people, all over the land, as God's best gift to man, and the Prophecy which had once been so logically sound and mathematically sure drew the frayed remnants of its draperyⒶemendation about it and in sorrow lay down and died.

Defeated, not by thought-out plan and purpose, but by natural and logical and blindⒶalteration in the MS Evolution, each stage a circumstance whose part in a vast revolution was unforeseen and unpremeditated, the linked march a progress which no man planned nor was able to plan, the resulting compact and connected achievement the workⒶalteration in the MS of the miracle-accomplishing unintelligentⒶalteration in the MS forces that lay hidden from sight in the little drops that made up that irresistibleⒶemendation Ⓐalteration in the MS Ⓐtextual note tidal-wave of accumulated accidents.